Donald Trump Poll News

Devin Nunes to Newsmax: Trump Won't Return to Twitter Even If Musk Buys It (Newsmax/"National Report")

By Sandy Fitzgerald | Wednesday, 05 October 2022 02:37 PM EDT

Even if Elon Musk's latest offer to buy Twitter at his original price quote goes through, former President Donald Trump won't be going back because of all the problems that are still there, Devin Nunes, the CEO of Trump Media and Technology Group, said on Newsmax Wednesday.

"Can all these big tech companies go in and start to cancel him," Nunes, a former GOP representative from California, told Newsmax's "National Report." "We've built our systems from the ground up, so we're not reliant on any big tech at all. Twitter I'm sure is using a lot of the big tech companies."

First Musk will have to come up with the cash to spend $44 billion on the purchase, and after that, he'll have to figure out which tech companies can cancel Twitter "if he doesn't operate the platform the way the Democrats and the left in this country want him to operate it," said Nunes.

"Third, he's got thousands of employees there who hate conservatives, hate anybody that is center-right and are very extreme, so Musk has to deal with that problem, too," he added.

But while Trump has supported Musk's takeover bid, "he's not going to go back to the past…we have established Truth Social against big tech…we're not going to go back to the past for the reasons that I was explaining just a few seconds ago…they can't take us down. They've tried."

Meanwhile, there have been some issues with the Truth Social app not being approved for Android phones, but now Samsung is allowing the app on its Samsung Galaxy models, said Nunes.

"The good part about that is now roughly about 80% of the phones in the United States can download the Truth Social app," said Nunes. "This is the first time I'm talking about it on TV."

Nunes also on Wednesday talked about Trump's multimillion-dollar lawsuit filed against CNN, and said he believes Trump can win.

"Even though I think the courts have become very, very biased, but it really just depends on what judge you get," said Nunes. "Hopefully this lawsuit that the president filed will get a good judge who understands that the only way we're going to stop this bifurcation of America, the splitting of America. The temperature has to be lowered, and you can't have news organizations that are out there that are spewing hatred."

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Original Article

US Appeals Court Hands Trump Setback in Mar-a-Lago Documents Case (Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)

Sarah N. Lynch Wednesday, 05 October 2022 02:09 PM EDT

A U.S. appeals court Wednesday granted the Justice Department's request to expedite its appeal of a lower court order appointing a special master to review records the FBI seized from former President Donald Trump's Florida estate.

The decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit to fast-track the government's appeal represents a setback for Trump, who had opposed the request.

Last week, the Justice Department had asked the 11th Circuit to address concerns it still has with U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon's appointment of Senior Judge Raymond Dearie, who is tasked with reviewing more than 11,000 records the FBI found inside Mar-a-Lago in order to weed out anything that may be privileged.

Cannon's order blocks the Justice Department from relying on those records for its ongoing criminal investigation until Dearie's review is complete.

In its filing, the Justice Department said this prohibition is hampering its probe, and that it needs to be able to examine non-classified records that may have been stored in close proximity to classified ones.

Those non-classified records, the department said, "may shed light" on how the documents were transferred to or stored at the Mar-a-Lago estate, and who might have accessed them.

Original Article

Reagan Biographer Shirley to Newsmax: Book Highlights Trump's Greatest Speeches (Newsmax/"National Report")

By Sandy Fitzgerald | Wednesday, 05 October 2022 01:48 PM EDT

Former President Donald Trump ranks among the greatest presidential speech makers in American history, so it made sense to pull together some of his top addresses into a new book, Craig Shirley, a presidential historian and biographer for late President Ronald Reagan who also wrote the book's introduction, said on Newsmax Wednesday.

"It was a mutual agreement by Humanix and myself, and they eventually came to me and said 'we think there's a book here,' " Shirley said on Newsmax's "National Report" about the book, "The Greatest Speeches of Donald J. Trump," which came out this week.

Shirley said he and his wife, Zorine, went through about 100 of Trump's speeches and ended up picking 27 to go in the book.

And, he added that while he wouldn't put Trump in the ranks of Reagan or late Presidents John F. Kennedy or Franklin Delano Roosevelt, he'd rank him right behind them.

"With all his speeches, there's a general patriotic message, the pro-American message," said Shirley. "There's a unity message … looking forward to a future of prosperity, of the future, of hope for future."

However, Trump's speeches are often "smothered" by the liberal national media, and that's why a focus needs to be put on them, said Shirley.

"They are quite good, and they almost uniformly called for the unity of the American people," said Shirley. "You can't help but think of the contrast with Joe Biden's nervous speech a couple of weeks ago, where he castigated the American people."

The book includes Trump's July 4 address at Mount Rushmore and his inauguration speech, and Shirley called the Rushmore address "one of the great patriotic speeches by an American president."

He called the inauguration speech "courageous."

"For him to go into the belly of the beast and castigate them and tear them apart, to say you are the problem with America. I thought it was that that was gutsy," said Shirley. "I thought it was eloquent and I thought it hit the nail on the head with what's wrong with America, with the elites running America to the ground just as the elites are running America into the ground today."

Trump, Shirley added, "is one of the few members of the Republican Party willing to call the establishment what they are, which is corrupt."

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GOP Highlights Gaffes to Target Biden's Competence (Newsmax)

By Theodore Bunker | Wednesday, 05 October 2022 11:40 AM EDT

President Joe Biden's recent gaffes have become fodder for Republicans looking to cast doubt on his competence ahead of the upcoming midterms and the 2024 presidential election, The Hill reports.

The Republican National Committee recently picked up on a slip Biden made last week when he asked if a recently-deceased congresswoman, Indiana Republican Jackie Walorski, was attending an event. The RNC included the moment on a list of Democrat fails from that week and criticized the White House for not confirming whether he apologized, though reports say that he did apologize to Walorski's family later after signing a bill honoring her.

"It's not a great look," an unnamed Democratic strategist told the Hill. "And we all know it only feeds into the criticism of the president and his age. [Biden] has to be really careful to not give the other side easy fodder."

GOP lobbyist Bruce Mehlman, who served in former President George W. Bush's administration, said that "Biden gaffes are mostly exploited by opponents as evidence of senescence rather than for the substance of the statements themselves."

Republican strategist Doug Heye told the Hill, "Part of the challenge with what Biden said about Walorski is that it was just completely mishandled by the White House. It's very easy and it's the obvious thing to do to just say, 'he misspoke' and then you move on. But by continuing to do the 'front of mind' thing, it stretched any credibility and made it a bigger issue than it was."

Some Democrat strategists dismissed Biden's gaffes as overblown, saying that they won't have a sizable impact on voters.

"The RNC may have some fun with it, they may be giving themselves high fives, but in the end I don't think it makes much of a difference at all," said Democratic consultant Jim Manley. "Everyone knows he has a habit of misspeaking from time to time."

Another unnamed Democrat strategist said, "It's already baked in. People elected Joe Biden knowing he can put his foot in his mouth. It's like pointing out that Donald Trump lies. People know this about him and I don't think it makes much difference."

They added, "Sure, Republicans will use this against him and they should. But it won't matter."

Original Article

Gallup: FBI, CIA Job Approval Ratings Improve (Newsmax)

By Charlie McCarthy | Wednesday, 05 October 2022 11:05 AM EDT

Americans look upon the FBI and CIA more favorably than in recent years, a new Gallup poll found.

The CIA received an excellent or good job approval rating from 52% of respondents, and the FBI earned the same from 50%, Gallup survey results showed.

Last year, 41% said the CIA was doing a good or excellent job, and 44% said that of the FBI — the lowest job approval rating of the bureau in at least 19 years, and the CIA’s second-lowest rating ever recorded.

Gallup in 2021 documented double-digit declines since 2019 in positive job ratings of eight government agencies and departments, including the CIA and FBI.

The FBI's approval rating in the new survey differed sharply among partisan groups.

Only 29% of Republicans said the FBI was going an excellent or good job, while 79% of Democrats agreed. Just 47% of independents said likewise.

The poll results announced Wednesday come after the FBI’s raid of former President Donald Trump’s Florida home in connection with a federal investigation into his handling of documents.

Many Republicans also resent the FBI’s investigation into alleged ties between Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and the Russian government, as well as a probe into the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack that has led to the arrests of hundreds of defendants.

Gallup indicated Republicans and Democrats both increased their approval rating for the CIA, which was saw jumps of 13 points (GOP) and 14 points (Dems).

The IRS (34%) and Justice Department (35%) received the lowest ratings for an excellent-good job approval among government agencies in the poll.

A total of 41 percentage points separate Democrats (65%) and Republicans (24%) excellent-good ratings for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The latest Gallup survey also showed that Americans have soured on the Federal Reserve Board as it tries to battle inflation. Positive views of the Fed has deteriorated this year, falling to 37% from 44% last year.

The Postal Service (60%) and NASA (56%) received the best overall scores among government agencies in the poll.

The Gallup poll was conducted Sept. 1-16 through telephone interviews with 812 U.S. adults. The margin of error is 4 percentage points.

Original Article

Judge: Durham Can't Use Danchenko's Alleged Russian Intel Links at Trial (Newsmax)

By Charlie McCarthy | Wednesday, 05 October 2022 09:12 AM EDT

A federal judge dealt several blows to special counsel John Durham in the case against Igor Danchenko, the alleged principal source of the discredited Steele dossier.

Judge Anthony Trenga on Tuesday night ruled that Durham's evidence cannot include details from the FBI's earlier counterintelligence investigation into the main source for British ex-spy Christopher Steele's discredited dossier, the Washington Examiner reported.

With the trial set to begin Tuesday, Durham sought to use evidence about Danchenko, a Russian-born lawyer, including his alleged links to Russian intelligence.

Durham previously said Danchenko was the subject of an FBI counterintelligence investigation as a potential national security threat from 2009-11. The special counsel wanted findings from that investigation to be used at trial.

"The Court will exclude the details of the investigation," Trenga ruled Tuesday. "The probative value of these unproven allegations, i.e., Danchenko sought to facilitate the sale of classified information and that he had contact with Russian intelligence services, which would have to be established through multiple levels of hearsay, is of only marginal relevance in terms of proving the materiality of Danchenko's allegedly false statements. The evidence's low probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice and confusion of the issues."

The judge, a George W. Bush appointee who sits on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, also denied Durham's request to provide other evidence, including showing that Danchenko allegedly misled about the sourcing for the unfounded "pee tape" claims that Steele put into his dossier.

Danchenko has been charged with five counts of lying to the FBI as part of Durham's probe into the origins of the original investigation into the 2016 Trump campaign's alleged collusion with Russian agents during the presidential race.

Durham said Danchenko, hired by the FBI In March 2017, remained a "confidential human source" (CHS) during special counsel Robert Mueller's probe into the accusations against the Trump campaign.

The special counsel accused Danchenko of anonymously sourcing a fabricated claim about Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort to Hillary Clinton ally Chuck Dolan, who spent years working for Russian businesses and the Russian government.

Danchenko also was accused of lying to the FBI about a phone call he claims he received from Sergei Millian, an American citizen born in Belarus.

Danchenko said Millian told him about a conspiracy of cooperation between former President Donald Trump and the Russians.

Trenga said that both "the government and Danchenko agree that the fact of a prior counter-intelligence investigation should be admitted at trial," but the defendant "wishes to exclude the details of the investigation," the Examiner reported.

The special counsel's team last week argued that simply mentioning the probe's existence and its closure would be misleading.

Prosecutor Michael Keilty said "the FBI closed the investigation because they mistakenly believed" Danchenko had left the United States, "but it wasn't because they hadn't found anything on Mr. Danchenko."

Original Article

Republican-Led House Would Probe Biden's Woke Military (Dreamstime)

By Charlie McCarthy | Wednesday, 05 October 2022 09:03 AM EDT

A Republican-controlled Congress would investigate the Biden administration's wokeness in the military, conservative House members said.

Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., said the administration's woke defense policies will be a focus if the GOP regains control of the House in the midterms.

"I think it's one of our very top priorities to clean up the mess the administration has made with the excessive and dangerous COVID mandates on our troops at a time where we have historically low recruitment," said Banks, chairman of the Republican Study Committee, Military.com reported.

Banks was asked whether the GOP would block diversity and equity initiatives, such as critical race theory.

"Those are issues that we've been very passionate about in the minority, and I guarantee we'll be just as passionate about them when we get the majority," Banks told Military.com.

House Armed Services Committee ranking member Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., in line to be chairman of the committee if Republicans regain the majority, told the website: "All this wokeness in the military, we are going to be aggressively trying to root that stuff out."

Republican efforts to roll back a vaccine mandate or other administration initiatives probably would be futile because President Joe Biden likely wouldn't sign GOP-sponsored bills.

Also, Democrats could maintain control of the Senate – something that could prevent such bills from even reaching Biden's desk.

However, Republicans controlling the House could result in messaging bills, as well as hearings and investigations concerning vaccine mandate, diversity initiatives, and anti-extremism efforts, Military.com reported.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., announced the party's "Commitment to America" agenda last month, though it was vague on the party's plans for defense policies.

Regarding defense, the GOP plan promises to:

• Support our troops.
• Invest in an efficient, effective military.
• Establish a Select Committee on China.
• Exercise peace through strength with our allies to counter increasing global threats.

"When it comes to the posture hearings and the legislative process of the NDAA [National Defense Authorization Act], I think you can expect more of the same from what you've seen the last couple of years," said Banks, an Armed Services Committee member, Military.com reported.

NBC News reported last month that lawmakers who are allies of former President Donald Trump plan to question the Joint Chiefs of Staff chair, Gen. Mark Milley, if Republicans regain control of Congress.

Milley, a critic of the former president, would face grilling about several issues, including the chaotic U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, the military becoming too "woke," and military readiness, sources told NBC News.

Original Article

Biden to Focus on Hurricane Victims in Florida, Not Politics (Newsmax)

JOSH BOAK Wednesday, 05 October 2022 07:47 AM EDT

President Joe Biden will visit hurricane-ravaged Florida with a pledge that federal, state and local governments will work as one to help rebuild homes, businesses and lives — putting politics on mute for now to focus on those in need.

Hurricane Ian has resulted in at least 84 people confirmed dead, including 75 in Florida, as hundreds of thousands of people wait for power to be restored. Ian’s 150 mph winds and punishing storm surge last week took out power for 2.6 million in Florida. Many people are unable to access food and water.

Biden planned to meet Wednesday with residents and small business owners in Fort Myers, Florida, and to thank government officials providing emergency aid and removing debris.

With the midterm elections just a month away, the crisis had the potential to bring together political rivals in common cause at least for a time.

Joining Biden in Florida will be two of his most prominent Republican critics: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Sen. Rick Scott, according to the White House and Scott's spokesman. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre suggested Tuesday that it would be inappropriate for them to focus on political differences.

“There will be plenty of time, plenty of time, to discuss differences between the president and the governor — but now is not the time,” Jean-Pierre told reporters at a White House briefing. “When it comes to delivering and making sure that the people of Florida have what they need, especially after Hurricane Ian, we are one. We are working as one.”

Biden typically waits to visit the scene of a natural disaster, to ensure his presence and the fleet of vehicles that accompany him will not hinder the rescue efforts.

Before the storm hit, the president had intended to visit the Florida cities of Orlando and Fort Lauderdale last week, where he planned to stress his efforts to strengthen Social Security and Medicaid. Biden has accused Scott of wanting to end both programs by proposing that federal laws should expire every five years, although the Florida senator has said he wants to preserve the programs.

Biden and DeSantis have had a multitude of differences in recent years over how to fight COVID-19, immigration policy and more. In recent weeks, they tussled over the governor's decision to put migrants on planes or buses to Democratic strongholds, a practice that Biden has called “reckless.”

The hurricane changed the purpose and tone of Biden's first trip to Florida this year.

DeSantis confirmed Tuesday he'd be meeting with Biden in the hurricane zone and he praised the administration's Federal Emergency Management Agency for declaring an emergency before Ian made landfall.

“That was huge because everyone was full steam ahead. They knew they had the ability to do it," DeSantis said. "We appreciate it. I think FEMA’s worked very well with the state and local.”

The White House message of bipartisan unity marks a difference from Biden's predecessor, Donald Trump, who at times threatened to withhold aid to Democrat officials who criticized him, including Govs. Gavin Newsom of California and Andrew Cuomo of New York.

Trump threatened to withhold federal money from California after wildfires, saying its state officials were to blame for the deadly conflagrations, tweeting in 2018: “Billions of dollars are given each year, with so many lives lost, all because of gross mismanagement of the forests. Remedy now, or no more Fed payments!”

Politicians’ responses to natural disasters have the power to make or break political careers.

As Florida's governor for eight years, Jeb Bush maintained a steady response to a parade of hurricanes and was rewarded with sky-high approval ratings. President George W. Bush and Louisiana lawmakers’ more troubled response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005 still hangs over their legacies.

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, the Republican who welcomed President Barack Obama to his state to survey Hurricane Sandy damage just days before the 2012 general election, said that during natural disasters “the best political strategy is to have no political strategy, to do your job.”

Christie ended up the target of some in his own party who believed that his warm welcome for Obama helped cement the Democrat’s reelection, but he has no regrets.

“At core this is what government is there for, it’s to protect the safety and the welfare of the people,” Christie said in an interview Tuesday. “The only thing that should be on the president’s mind, on Gov. DeSantis’s mind, on (Sen.) Marco Rubio’s mind is the turmoil and the tragedy that’s happened to people’s lives and how we can make it better.”

Christie noted that the comparisons to Sandy aren’t exact — Biden is two years away from being a candidate himself, and DeSantis is weeks, not days, from facing voters in his reelection bid. But Christie said any attempts to score political points would be admonished at the polls.

“Playing games is not what this is about,” Christie said. “This is a pretty transparent time and people will get it — that’s not what they want, and they’ll punish you for it.”

Original Article

Tudor Dixon to Newsmax: Michigan's 'Quiet Republicans' Can Bring Victory (Newsmax/"Prime News")

By Eric Mack | Tuesday, 04 October 2022 10:04 PM EDT

Noting a discrepancy among polling results in the Michigan gubernatorial race, GOP nominee Tudor Dixon tells Newsmax there are "quiet Republicans out there" who know another term for Democrat Gov. Gretchen Whitmer would be "devastating."

"If we have another four years of Gretchen Whitmer, it will be devastating," Dixon told Tuesday's "Prime News" with Jenn Pellegrino, pointing to The Trafalgar Group poll Sept. 30 that had Dixon trailing by mere points outside the margin of error.

"We trust what they do over at the Trafalgar polling group. We understand that they know how to find those quiet Republicans, and we know those quiet Republicans are out there."

Dixon touted her positions on crime, the economy, parental rights in education, and damage done during Whitmer's COVID-19 shutdowns on business, including holding children outside of schools and Whitmer advocating for teaching inappropriate sex and gender indoctrination.

"It should be the basics reading, writing and math, get the sex and gender talk out of our schools," Dixon, emphatically endorsed by former President Donald Trump, said. "We want to protect our kids. It's got to be first and foremost, but we know Gretchen Whitmer won't."

As far as making up the ground in the final weeks before the Tuesday, Nov. 8 midterm, Dixon said the silent minority is ready and willing to rise up against Democrats in the key battleground state of Michigan.

"I have had so many people come and whisper in my ear: 'I'm voting for you,'" Dixon told Pellegrino. "I've been telling that story around the state and now I have people coming up to me after we have rallies, and we have events, saying, 'I'm not going to whisper anymore: I'm voting for you.'

"So as long as we all stick together and we are strong together, I believe we will be a mighty force in November."

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Trump Asks SCOTUS to Intervene in Special Master, Mar-a-Lago Case (Newsmax)

By Nick Koutsobinas | Tuesday, 04 October 2022 06:43 PM EDT

On Tuesday, former President Donald Trump's legal team requested the Supreme Court intervene in the legal battle concerning the review documents seized from his Mar-a-Lago home.

Trump's lawyers, in their argument, request the Supreme Court vacate the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' ruling that said the Justice Department could continue using classified documents seized from the president's home for their investigation.

"This unwarranted stay should be vacated as it impairs substantially the ongoing, time-sensitive work of the Special Master," Trump's lawyers wrote in their filing on Tuesday. "Moreover, any limit on the comprehensive and transparent review of materials seized in the extraordinary raid of a President's home erodes public confidence in our system of justice."

Trump's lawyers continued to argue that last month's unanimous ruling by the three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit compromised "the integrity of the well-established policy against piecemeal appellate review" and ignored "the District Court's broad discretion without justification," NBC News reported.

But in the 11th Circuit's ruling, they stated that the Justice Department could access the classified records. Their decision also included a reversal from a Florida district judge's decision who sided with Trump to grant the former president's request for a special master to review all records seized at Mar-a-Lago — including intelligence records.

​​"Plaintiff has not even attempted to show that he has a need to know the information contained in the classified documents. Nor has he established that the current [Biden] administration has waived that requirement for these documents," the appeals court judges wrote, according to The Hill.

Additionally, the 11th Circuit cast doubt on whether Florida District Judge Aileen Cannon could grant the appointment of a special master.

The request from Trump's team comes on the heels of the Justice Department's move to expedite its appeal in challenging the appointment of a special master.

Original Article

Dick Morris to Newsmax: No Downside in Trump Suing CNN for Reporting 'Lies' (Newsmax/"The Chris Salcedo Show")

By Jay Clemons | Tuesday, 04 October 2022 06:23 PM EDT

Political strategist, best-selling author, and TV host Dick Morris sees no downside to former President Donald Trump's $475 million defamation lawsuit against CNN.

"Oh yeah. It's about time. How much is the guy going to take? So many of the misstatements and lies about Trump have been broadcast on CNN," Morris told Newsmax on Tuesday afternoon, while appearing on "The Chris Salcedo Show."

Morris added that Trump has routinely "excoriated [CNN] in public. He's [also] cost them half their viewership," a reference to the network's declining TV ratings, shortly after Trump left office in January 2021.

"And now, [Trump] wants to cost them a final $500 million," says Morris, a former adviser to Presidents Trump and Bill Clinton, and the host of "Dick Morris Democracy" on Newsmax.

As part of his defamation suit, Trump claims that CNN wants to thwart a possible run for the White House two years from now.

However, the way Morris sees it, President Joe Biden won't be Trump's opponent in the 2024 presidential election.

"You're beating a dead horse" with Biden impeachment talk in 2023, says Morris. "Biden's not going to run. He'll hang on as a lame duck."

For his best-selling book, "The Return: Trump's Big 2024 Comeback," Morris outlines the potential of an "October Surprise" or two, involving Biden and/or Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In a nutshell, Morris believes Biden and Putin have their proverbial backs to the wall, politically. And one "wagging the dog" hypothetical involves Putin amping up his threats of using nuclear weapons "to distract attention away from his defeats in Ukraine" … and Biden then ratcheting up the anti-nuke rhetoric against Putin, knowing the Russian president has no plans to initiate nuclear warfare across the globe.

"They both need to change the subject" of failing as leaders, Morris says of Putin and Biden.

From Morris's perspective, the Democrats will then use Biden's tough talk against Putin, as a means of rallying the country "in a time of national crisis" — just in time for the midterm elections (Nov. 8).

That layered scenario aside, Morris predicts the Republicans will take over the House chamber in November.

The Senate Republicans may even claim its majority, says Morris, which would drastically limit Biden's powers as a "lame-duck" president for the final two years in office.

"The Democrats are cornered, and they'll do anything" to win the midterms, says Morris.

And if that plan should fail, Morris opines the Democrats can always fall back on propping up Hillary Clinton for a 2024 presidential run — as a "centrist" candidate.

"Hillary will say, '[Biden] went too far to the left. I'll move ya back to the center,'" reasons Morris.

Note: Get Dick Morris' new book "The Return" on Trump's secret plan for 2024. See It Here!

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Original Article

Dick Morris to Newsmax: No Downside in Trump Suing CNN for Reporting 'Lies' (Newsmax/"The Chris Salcedo Show")

By Jay Clemons | Tuesday, 04 October 2022 06:23 PM EDT

Political strategist, best-selling author, and TV host Dick Morris sees no downside to former President Donald Trump's $475 million defamation lawsuit against CNN.

"Oh yeah. It's about time. How much is the guy going to take? So many of the misstatements and lies about Trump have been broadcast on CNN," Morris told Newsmax Tuesday afternoon, while appearing on "The Chris Salcedo Show."

Morris added that Trump has routinely "excoriated [CNN] in public. He's [also] cost them half their viewership," a reference to the network's declining TV ratings, shortly after Trump left office in January 2021.

"And now, [Trump] wants to cost them a final $500 million," says Morris, a former adviser to Presidents Trump and Bill Clinton, and the host of "Dick Morris Democracy" on Newsmax.

As part of his defamation suit, Trump claims that CNN wants to thwart a possible run for the White House two years from now.

However, the way Morris sees it, President Joe Biden won't be Trump's opponent in the 2024 presidential election.

"You're beating a dead horse" with Biden-impeachment talk in 2023, says Morris. "Biden's not going to run. He'll hang on as a lame duck."

For his best-selling book, "The Return: Trump's Big 2024 Comeback," Morris outlines the potential of an "October Surprise" or two, involving Biden and/or Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In a nutshell, Morris believes Biden and Putin have their proverbial backs to the wall, politically. And one "wagging the dog" hypothetical involves Putin amping up his threats of using nuclear weapons "to distract attention away from his defeats in Ukraine" … and Biden then ratcheting up the anti-nuke rhetoric against Putin, knowing the Russian president has no plans to initiate nuclear warfare across the globe.

"They both need to change the subject" of failing as leaders, Morris says of Putin and Biden.

From Morris's perspective, the Democrats will then use Biden's tough talk against Putin, as a means of rallying the country "in a time of national crisis" — just in time for the midterm elections (Nov. 8).

That layered scenario aside, Morris predicts the Republicans will take over the House chamber in November.

The Senate Republicans may even claim its majority, says Morris, which would drastically limit Biden's powers as a "lame-duck" president for the final two years in office.

"The Democrats are cornered, and they'll do anything" to win the midterms, says Morris.

And if that plan should fail, Morris opines the Democrats can always fall back on propping up Hillary Clinton for a 2024 presidential run — as a "centrist" candidate.

"Hillary will say, '[Biden] went too far to the left. I'll move ya back to the center,'" reasons Morris.

Note: Get Dick Morris' new book "The Return" on Trump's secret plan for 2024. See It Here!

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Congress Members, Ex-White House Officials Back Iranian Protests

By Luca Cacciatore | Tuesday, 04 October 2022 06:10 PM EDT

A group of Congress members, former U.S. officials, and prominent activists pledged their support to the ongoing anti-government protests in Iran, a video released on Tuesday highlighted.

Iranian American For Liberty, an organization that opposes the current Mullah regime, featured GOP Reps. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, Claudia Tenney of New York, and Mary Miller of Illinois in their compilation of endorsements for the protestor cause.

"As protests intensify across Iran, I am honored to continue standing with the brave Iranian people as they demand freedom and justice," Tenney wrote on Twitter. "Their courage in the face of the Islamic Republic's terror and brutality is nothing short of heroic."

David M. Friedman, former President Donald Trump's U.S. Ambassador to Israel; State Department official Len Khodorkovsky; and Trump-era national security adviser Victoria Coates also lent their support.

Ellie Cohanim, who was born in Tehran and served as the U.S. Deputy Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism under Trump, delivered a special message in Iran's native language Farsi towards those seeking freedom.

"I'm recording this message to say I proudly support you, the Iranian people," a translation of Cohanim's statement read. "I urge you to not give up until freedom from [the] Islamic Republic is achieved."

IAL Executive Director Bryan E. Leib told Newsmax that the video was put together in opposition to Ayatollah Khamenei, whose government has received criticism for corruption allegations, enforcing strict Sharia law, and murdering dissidents.

"We organized this video message from congressional leaders and former senior Trump administration officials to send a clear and strong message to the Iranian people who are fighting for freedom from the Khamenei regime – We hear you. We see you. We support you." Leib said.

Renewed calls developed after the Guidance Patrol, known as Iran's "morality police," allegedly beat 22-year-old Mahsa Amini to death after claiming she was wearing her hijab improperly, The Guardian noted.

The government has consistently denied any wrongdoing in her death and has claimed Amini suffered from underlying health conditions that caused her brain to swell.

Original Article

Lawyers: Arizona GOP Chair Pleaded Fifth to Jan. 6 Panel (AP)

BOB CHRISTIE Tuesday, 04 October 2022 05:44 PM EDT

Arizona Republican Party Chair Kelli Ward refused to answer questions during a deposition of the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 breach at the Capitol, an attorney for the panel revealed Tuesday during a court hearing in Phoenix.

Attorney Eric Columbus told a federal judge that Ward asserted her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination when she complied with a subpoena from the House committee.

The detail about Ward's deposition came at a hearing where lawyers urged a federal judge to block the committee from getting her phone records while she appeals. U.S. District Judge Diane Humetewa ruled on Sept. 23 that Ward's arguments that her phone call records should be secret did not pass legal muster.

Ward attorney Laurin Mills cast the phone records fight as one with major implications for democracy, on par if not bigger than the violence that unfolded at the Capitol.

"This is the first time in American history that a select committee of the United States Congress controlled by one party has subpoenaed the records of the state chair of the rival party," Mills said.

He said the outcome will set important precedent, not just for the current case but for others that will come when Republicans ultimately control Congress.

The House Committee investigating the attack on the Capitol is seeking phone records from just before the November 2020 election to Jan. 31, 2021. That would include a period where Ward was pushing for former President Donald Trump's election defeat to be overturned and while Congress was set to certify the results.

Kelli Ward and her husband Michael Ward were presidential electors who would have voted for Trump in the Electoral College had he won Arizona. Both signed a document falsely claiming they were Arizona's true electors, despite Democrat Joe Biden's victory in the state.

Columbus said that investigators get telephone records all the time, and noted that congressional investigators can't arrest or charge anyone with a crime. And he noted Congress does not know all that is involved with Ward's action to overturn President Joe Biden's 2020 win.

"Dr. Ward was deposed by the select committee and she declined to answer on every substantive question under her rights under the Fifth Amendment," he said. "There are other aspects of her involvement that are not at this point fully understood."

Ward is hardly the first witness to refuse the committee's questions. Others who have asserted their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination include Trump allies Michael Flynn, Roger Stone, and lawyer John Eastman.

Original Article

Lawyers: Arizona GOP Chair Pleaded Fifth to Jan. 6 Panel (AP)

BOB CHRISTIE Tuesday, 04 October 2022 05:44 PM EDT

Arizona Republican Party Chair Kelli Ward refused to answer questions during a deposition of the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 breach at the Capitol, an attorney for the panel revealed Tuesday during a court hearing in Phoenix.

Attorney Eric Columbus told a federal judge that Ward asserted her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination when she complied with a subpoena from the House committee.

The detail about Ward's deposition came at a hearing where lawyers urged a federal judge to block the committee from getting her phone records while she appeals. U.S. District Judge Diane Humetewa ruled on Sept. 23 that Ward's arguments that her phone call records should be secret did not pass legal muster.

Ward attorney Laurin Mills cast the phone records fight as one with major implications for democracy, on par if not bigger than the violence that unfolded at the Capitol.

“This is the first time in American history that a select committee of the United State Congress controlled by one party has subpoenaed the records of the state chair of the rival party,” Mills said.

He said the outcome will set important precedent, not just for the current case but for others that will come when Republicans ultimately control Congress.

The House Committee investigating the attack on the Capitol is seeking phone records from just before the November 2020 election to Jan. 31, 2021. That would include a period where Ward was pushing for former President Donald Trump's election defeat to be overturned and while Congress was set to certify the results.

Kelli Ward and her husband Michael Ward were presidential electors who would have voted for Trump in the Electoral College had he won Arizona. Both signed a document falsely claiming they were Arizona's true electors, despite Democrat Joe Biden's victory in the state.

Columbus said that investigators get telephone records all the time, and noted that congressional investigators can't arrest or charge anyone with a crime. And he noted Congress does not know all that is involved with Ward's action to overturn President Joe Biden's 2020 win.

"Dr. Ward was deposed by the select committee and she declined to answer on every substantive question under her rights under the Fifth Amendment," he said. “There are other aspects of her involvement that are not at this point fully understood.”

Ward is hardly the first witness to refuse the committee’s questions. Others who have asserted their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination include Trump allies Michael Flynn, Roger Stone and lawyer John Eastman.

Original Article

Conservative Group Sues FBI Over Alleged Big Tech Collusion (Newsmax)

By Luca Cacciatore | Tuesday, 04 October 2022 04:48 PM EDT

America First Legal filed a lawsuit against the Federal Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday for allegedly failing to disclose communications between the agency and Big Tech companies, court filings showed.

The group, founded by ex-staffers under former President Trump, is specifically targeting the FBI's communications with platforms like Facebook, whose CEO previously admitted to censoring information surrounding the contents of Hunter Biden's laptop.

AFL partner Reed Rubinstein told Fox News: "The evidence is that during the 2020 Presidential election campaign, the FBI conspired and combined with large corporations, including Facebook, to censor and suppress the damning evidence of Biden family corruption and influence peddling found on Hunter Biden's laptop.

"This was done to help Joe Biden and the Democrats win the 2020 election. Now, arrogantly disregarding the law, the FBI is stonewalling AFL's efforts to expose the FBI's emails detailing the tradecraft behind this collusive attack on our elections and identifying the persons inside and outside of government who were responsible for it."

AFL's lawsuit comes less than two months after Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg revealed his site limited circulation of the Hunter Biden laptop story on the pretext it was part of a Russian disinformation campaign the FBI warned about.

"The background here is that the FBI came to us — some folks on our team — and was like, 'Hey, just so you know, you should be on high alert. We thought there was a lot of Russian propaganda in the 2016 election. We have it on notice that basically there's about to be some kind of dump that's similar to that,'" Zuckerberg told podcaster Joe Rogan.

Those comments led Republican Sens. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin to call on Facebook to hand over its communications between members of the organization and government agencies – a request still outstanding.

"The American people deserve to know whether the FBI used Facebook as part of their alleged plan to discredit information about Hunter Biden," the senators wrote to Zuckerberg.

Bannon Declares to Media: 'We're Going to Destroy the Democrat Party' Former adviser to former President Donald Trump, Steve Bannon leaves after a court appearance at New York State Supreme Court on Tuesday in New York City. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

By Jay Clemons | Tuesday, 04 October 2022 03:18 PM EDT

Steve Bannon had a simple message for Democrats Tuesday morning, shortly before being informed he would stand trial on fraud charges sometime next year.

"We're going to destroy the Democrat Party as a national political institution," said Bannon, while briefly talking to reporters at New York State Supreme Court Manhattan.

Bannon didn't go into greater detail on his proclamation, or whether this public pledge involves former President Donald Trump pursuing the White House again in 2024 — something for which Trump has yet to make official, even though he's the presumptive favorite to secure the Republican Party's nomination two years from now.

In the meantime, Bannon — a former Trump senior adviser — has a number of legal issues to sort through in the coming months.

His Tuesday appearance in Manhattan court revolved around charges of money laundering (two counts), attempt to commit conspiracy (three counts), and one count of scheming to defraud, allegedly related to the inner workings of his "We Build The Wall" nonprofit organization.

And back in July, Bannon was convicted on a contempt of Congress charge, after failing to comply with a subpoena from the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, unrest at the Capitol.

Bannon is slated for sentencing on the above conviction later this month.

During Tuesday's hearing, Acting Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan nixed Bannon's request for the trial being delayed until 2024.

Instead, that trial will likely begin in November 2023.

Judge Merchan also gave Bannon's legal team until February to peruse the evidence in the fraud case.

As Newsmax chronicled last week, prosecutors allege that Bannon duped donors who contributed to the "We Build The Wall" initiative, regarding construction of the wall at the United States-Mexico border.

Bannon allegedly promised private donors that all monies submitted would go to completing the southern border wall, which stretches from Texas to California.

Prosecutors have also accused Bannon of funneling hundreds of thousands of dollars to two other people — believed to be Brian Kolfage and Andrew Badolato, who pleaded guilty to federal charges in April.

The state-level charges in New York are separate from the federal charges Bannon once faced two years ago, before being pardoned by then-President Trump, prior to his leaving the White House in January 2021.

Bannon lawyer David Schoen reportedly said his client has become the target of political retribution from federal officials and plans to fight all charges to the end.

"[Bannon] is not guilty of anything that he's charged with, or of any crime," says Schoen.

Original Article

Rep. Bishop to Newsmax: Biden's Puerto Rico Trip Had 'Political Overtones' (Newsmax/"John Bachman Now")

By Sandy Fitzgerald | Tuesday, 04 October 2022 02:59 PM EDT

President Joe Biden's decision to visit Puerto Rico first rather than hurricane-slammed Florida had "political overtones" and his approach to emergency matters is "regrettable," Rep. Dan Bishop said on Newsmax Tuesday.

"Biden's approach to things like this is so regrettable, even the decision to go to Puerto Rico first has political overtones," said the North Carolina Republican on Newsmax's "John Bachman Now." "His comments there reinforce his unfortunate image as a purely political animal, and it's kind of pathetic, too, but most of all that divides Americans, one against the other at the worst time."

Biden's comments in Puerto Rico have come under fire from critics after he told an audience that he was "raised in the Puerto Rican community at home, politically," and Bishop called such comments "pathetic."

"Florida is the focal point in the minds of all Americans for the damage," said Bishop. "We, of course, are concerned about Puerto Rico as well but I certainly think the best thing the president can do is go to Florida."

North Carolina, which also suffered damages from Hurricane Ian, is still recovering from localized flooding, and thousands remain without power from the storm, which killed five people in the state, Bishop said.

"It was a multistate affair," the North Carolina Republican told Newsmax's "John Bachman Now." "Florida, I think, is where everyone's focus is and the damage was worse there. In North Carolina, we had some localized flooding, but we emerged relatively unscathed. We did have those five deaths and we regret every one of them. It was a doozy of a storm, and there's a lot of work to be done."

Bishop also on Tuesday commented on the Supreme Court's upcoming hearings on the Case of Moore v. North Carolina, after The New York Times reported that case challenges the independent state legislature rule which holds that legislatures, not courts or secretaries of state, hold the final say over the rules of federal elections.

The rule came into play in arguments by former President Donald Trump's campaign, which held that changes such as ballot boxes and voting times enacted by state officials, were not legal because they didn't come from state legislatures.

"It is an extremely important case, but The New York Times and The Washington Post are not giving you the straight scoop," Bishop said. "Even the phrase they use, that it's testing the independent state legislature theory, that's sort of a subtle smear. What it does is, it goes to this issue that the United States Constitution says that the time-placing management manner for regulating elections will be determined in the states, 'by the legislatures thereof.'"

What the case stands for, Bishop said, is that in North Carolina, "we have a sharply partisan majority on the court."

"The four Democrats struck the legislature's plans down entirely, and they didn't do it based on some discreet language in our state constitution, they just did it on their policy preference grounds," said Bishop. "They had no such language, and so what, three of the justices said in a preliminary step here was the question is the extent of a court of power to strike down legislatures decisions about districting. It is fundamental to our democracy that the Constitution be honored as it's written that legislatures make those decisions."

The court in North Carolina could not strip the legislature of its authority and then allow the courts to draw elections maps, he added.

"It is the legislators who are more directly answerable to their constituents and why these things have got to be decided in a state legislature regardless of whether they are Democrat or Republican," said Bishop. "It is the responsibility of the states and the legislatures."

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Original Article

Trump: Herschel Walker 'Slandered, Maligned' by Media, Democrats (Newsmax/"Spicer & Co.")

By Charlie McCarthy | Tuesday, 04 October 2022 02:45 PM EDT

Former President Donald Trump defended Georgia U.S. Senate candidate Herschel Walker and commended the former football star for fighting back after being "slandered and maligned" by the media and Democrats.

A report Monday accused Walker of paying for a woman's abortion after the two conceived a child while they were dating in 2009.

"Herschel Walker is being slandered and maligned by the Fake News Media and obviously, the Democrats," Trump wrote via his Save America PAC and posted on Truth Social. "Interestingly, I've heard many horrible things about his opponent, [Democrat Sen.] Raphael Warnock, things that nobody should be talking about, so we don't.

"Herschel has properly denied the charges against him, and I have no doubt he is correct."

Trump further accused Democrats and progressives of playing dirty politics five weeks before the midterms.

"They are trying to destroy a man who has true greatness in his future, just as he had athletic greatness in his past," Trump continued. "It's very important for our country and the great state of Georgia that Herschel Walker wins this Election.

"With all that Herschel has accomplished, when you come from Georgia, and you see the name Herschel Walker when voting, it will be very hard to resist. Don't!"

Recent polls have shown a virtual toss-up race between Walker and Warnock.

Walker took to Twitter on Monday night to blast The Daily Beast, which initially reported the abortion story, and claimed the woman had a $575 receipt from a clinic and a bank deposit receipt that showed an image of a signed personal check for $700 from Walker.

"This is a flat-out lie – and I deny this in the strongest possible terms," Walker tweeted.

"This is another repugnant hatchet job from a Democrat activist disguised as a reporter who has obsessively attacked my family and tried to tear me down since this race started. He's harassed friends of mine, asking if I fathered their children. He's called my children 'secret' because I didn't want to use them as campaign props in a political campaign. Now, they're using an anonymous source to further slander me. They will do anything to hold onto power. It's disgusting, gutter politics.

"I'm not taking this anymore. I planning to sue The Daily Beast for this defamatory lie. It will be filed tomorrow morning."

Newsmax reached out to the Walker campaign to find out if a suit had been filed, and was awaiting a response.

Original Article

Trump: Herschel Walker 'Slandered, Maligned' by Media, Democrats (Newsmax/"Spicer & Co.")

By Charlie McCarthy | Tuesday, 04 October 2022 02:45 PM EDT

Former President Donald Trump defended Georgia U.S. Senate candidate Herschel Walker and commended the former football star for fighting back after being "slandered and maligned" by the media and Democrats.

A report Monday accused Walker of paying for a woman's abortion after the two conceived a child while they were dating in 2009.

"Herschel Walker is being slandered and maligned by the Fake News Media and obviously, the Democrats," Trump wrote via his Save America PAC and posted on Truth Social. "Interestingly, I've heard many horrible things about his opponent, [Democrat Sen.] Raphael Warnock, things that nobody should be talking about, so we don't.

"Herschel has properly denied the charges against him, and I have no doubt he is correct."

Trump further accused Democrats and progressives of playing dirty politics five weeks before the midterms.

"They are trying to destroy a man who has true greatness in his future, just as he had athletic greatness in his past," Trump continued. "It's very important for our country and the great state of Georgia that Herschel Walker wins this Election.

"With all that Herschel has accomplished, when you come from Georgia, and you see the name Herschel Walker when voting, it will be very hard to resist. Don't!"

Recent polls have shown a virtual toss-up race between Walker and Warnock.

Walker took to Twitter on Monday night to blast The Daily Beast, which initially reported the abortion story, and claimed the woman had a $575 receipt from a clinic and a bank deposit receipt that showed an image of a signed personal check for $700 from Walker.

"This is a flat-out lie – and I deny this in the strongest possible terms," Walker tweeted.

"This is another repugnant hatchet job from a Democrat activist disguised as a reporter who has obsessively attacked my family and tried to tear me down since this race started. He's harassed friends of mine, asking if I fathered their children. He's called my children 'secret' because I didn't want to use them as campaign props in a political campaign. Now, they're using an anonymous source to further slander me. They will do anything to hold onto power. It's disgusting, gutter politics.

"I'm not taking this anymore. I'm planning to sue The Daily Beast for this defamatory lie. It will be filed tomorrow morning."

Newsmax reached out to the Walker campaign to find out if a suit had been filed, and was awaiting a response.