Donald Trump Poll News

Rep. Tenney to Newsmax: Send Funding for IRS Agents to Border Rep. Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y.

By Sandy Fitzgerald | Tuesday, 04 October 2022 09:43 AM EDT

Rep. Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y., has introduced legislation to redirect $80 billion to the border rather than spending it to hire new IRS agents, and told Newsmax on Tuesday the money, allocated through the Inflation Reduction Act, would be "wasted" otherwise.

But she told Newsmax's "Wake Up America" that her legislation won't pass while Democrats continue to hold the House, even while her office and "all the offices in Congress have been dealing with taxpayer advocacy issues."

"People are still not up to date on their taxes because of the IRS' inadequacies," said Tenney, noting the delays are not only because of the COVID-19 pandemic but because the IRS is focused on the wrong things, particularly dealing with middle-and-lower-income taxpayers.

The Inflation Reduction Act allows the $80 billion to hire 87,000 new IRS agents — who Tenney slammed as being "Gestapo-like people" — for tax enforcement the Biden administration says will target only higher-income people.

But Tenney, like other critics, said the auditors will target lower-income taxpayers.

"Our country was founded on the concept of you are innocent until proven guilty, but we know under the IRS, we've empowered them, and now you're guilty until proven innocent," she said. "This is only going to affect the lower and middle-income taxpayers because they can't afford lawyers and accountants for compliance."

Further, the inflation legislation is the "biggest climate bill, the biggest Green New Deal bill we've ever signed in American history," said Tenney.

"They weren't talking about inflation because spending causes inflation," she said. "The cartels are running the border. They're making hundreds of millions of dollars with human trafficking and drug trafficking … why are we focused on going after the most beleaguered citizens in the nation?"

Tenney acknowledged her legislation won't be approved while Democrats hold the House majority, but if the Republicans retake the House, which she thinks they will, the bill will have a chance.

She also said the border crisis has caused the fentanyl overdose epidemic, but said the Biden administration does not want to address it.

"This has been going on for years with opioids," she said. "We did a lot under the Trump administration to combat opiates in our communities through community block grants and other ways to help us in these small communities. This affects everyone. It is killing 300 people a day and a lot of those are in the 18 to 25 age group. It's a tragedy."

But the progressives' border policy is "so radical, it's almost like they know what to do, but they're paralyzed by what could be done and [they] refuse to do it."

"We're hoping that we can take back the House and make sure that we hold them accountable and do something about protecting the American citizens," she added.

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Pelosi Tells Colbert Dems Will Take House, Throws Shade at Trump (Newsmax)

By Sandy Fitzgerald | Tuesday, 04 October 2022 07:41 AM EDT

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is predicting that Democrats will hold the House majority after the upcoming midterm elections, telling talk show host Stephen Colbert that her party will win more seats and reminding him, while cracking a joke, that former President Donald Trump is "not on the ballot now."

"I believe that we will win the – hold the House, and we will hold the House – by winning more seats," the California Democrat, appearing on CBS's "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" Monday night, commented. "We won the forty seats, then we lost some when Trump was on the ballot. We lost some of the Trump districts, but we held enough seats to hold the House with him on the ballot."

Then, she said, "He's not on the ballot now. Oh, did I say his name? I didn't mean to."

Colbert told her that "we'll have the videotapes fumigated," and she responded that "perhaps you could bleep that out."

Colbert noted that the "prognosticators" predicted a "crazy red wave," and it still appears that Republicans will take the House, but Pelosi disagreed.

"When we won in 2020, and again, fewer seats, but still holding the House, we started right away to prepare for the next election in terms of organization," Pelosi said. "When you mobilize, you must own the ground to take out the vote. You have to do that with inspiration and how we put together our messaging – and that's the second 'M,' and the third is money. So we're getting ready for the election. That was in December of 2020."

However, then Jan. 6 happened, said Pelosi, resulting in the "greatest influx of candidates" coming forward."

"Young people, people of color, people of different generations, different backgrounds, and the rest – the beautiful diversity of America came forward," said Pelosi. "They didn't pay attention to those pundits who said 'You can't win.' They went in with courage and confidence that they could win."

The Supreme Court's ruling overturning Roe v. Wade also created a "different attitude" about whether the Democrats could win, Pelosi added.

"We always believed that we could win, because we knew we had to because our democracy was on the ballot," she said. "Our planet was on the ballot. A woman's – everything was on the ballot in this election, more than in regular majorities come and go."

She also told Colbert, who told her that the polls aren't reflecting what she was saying, that she doesn't believe in the polls and that the candidates are "doing very well in their districts."

Pelosi compared the election to a horse race, noting that she's originally from Maryland, a "horse racing state."

"In Maryland, when you're in the lead – which we believe we are, we're in the lead. You're in the stretch, we made the turn," she said. "Five weeks from tomorrow is the election and voting starts even sooner than that. When you're in the lead, and you're in the stretch, you whip the lead. And that's what we are doing: we're whipping the lead to ensure a Democratic victory."

Original Article

Peter Navarro to Newsmax: 'Hubris Defined by the Democratic Party' (Newsmax/ "Eric Bolling: The Balance")

By Charles Kim | Tuesday, 04 October 2022 06:38 AM EDT

Adviser to former President Donald Trump, Peter Navarro, told Newsmax Monday that recent comments by Vice President Kamala Harris and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., show that “hubris is defined by the Democratic Party.”

“It's like your head just wants to explode with how stupid and arrogant these people are,” Navarro said during “Eric Bolling: The Balance” Monday. “Hubris is defined right now by the Democrat Party and the only one you can't hold responsible is [President] Joe Biden because he doesn't know who he is, where he is.”

Navarro was reacting to comments made recently by both Harris and Pelosi on two separate issues that appeared to be racist in nature.

During a Democratic National Committee event, Harris seemed to imply that communities of color in Florida would get federal disaster aid before others after Hurricane Ian devastated much of the state last week.

“We have to address this in a way that is about giving resources based on equity, understanding that we fight for equality, but we also need to fight for equity,” the New York Post reported Harris saying during the event. “If we want people to be in an equal place sometimes, we need to take into account those disparities and do that work.”

Her comment immediately drew a backlash from Florida’s Rapid Response Director Christina Pushaw.

“This is false. [Harris’] rhetoric is causing undue panic and must be clarified,” Pushaw said in a post on Twitter. “FEMA Individual Assistance is already available to all Floridians impacted by Hurricane Ian, regardless of race or background.”

Then at a press briefing Friday by Pelosi, the speaker said that instead of sending illegal migrants to northern Democratic-run cities and states, they should remain in the southern border states to “pick crops.”

“We have a shortage of workers in our country,” the Daily Mail reported Pelosi saying during the press conference. “You see even in Florida, some of the farmers and the growers saying 'why are you shipping these immigrants up North? We need them to pick the crops down here.’ But that doesn't mean that we don't recognize our moral responsibility as well.”

Navarro said this is why Republicans have to stay “focused” on the midterm elections which are coming up in about a month.

“We have to stay focused on this November election,” he said. “If we don't take back the House of Representatives and the Senate for Trump Republicanism, [Harris] is going to still be there as Senate President, breaking ties like she's been doing, and spending us into the poor house. Pelosi is going to be doing the same thing on immigration, and weaponizing investigatory powers of Congress, even as she ‘insider trades.’”

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Peter Navarro to Newsmax: 'Hubris Defined by the Democratic Party' (Newsmax/"Eric Bolling The Balance")

By Charles Kim | Tuesday, 04 October 2022 08:35 AM EDT

Adviser to former President Donald Trump, Peter Navarro, told Newsmax on Monday that recent comments by Vice President Kamala Harris and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., show that "hubris is defined by the Democratic Party."

"It's like your head just wants to explode with how stupid and arrogant these people are," Navarro said during "Eric Bolling The Balance" on Monday. "Hubris is defined right now by the Democrat Party and the only one you can't hold responsible is [President] Joe Biden because he doesn't know who he is, where he is."

Navarro was reacting to comments made recently by both Harris and Pelosi on two separate issues that appeared to be racist in nature.

During a Democratic National Committee event, Harris seemed to imply that communities of color in Florida would get federal disaster aid before others after Hurricane Ian devastated much of the state last week.

"We have to address this in a way that is about giving resources based on equity, understanding that we fight for equality, but we also need to fight for equity," the New York Post reported Harris saying during the event. "If we want people to be in an equal place sometimes, we need to take into account those disparities and do that work."

Her comment immediately drew a backlash from Florida's Rapid Response Director Christina Pushaw.

"This is false. [Harris'] rhetoric is causing undue panic and must be clarified," Pushaw said in a post on Twitter. "FEMA Individual Assistance is already available to all Floridians impacted by Hurricane Ian, regardless of race or background."

Then at a press briefing Friday by Pelosi, the speaker said that instead of sending illegal migrants to northern Democratic-run cities and states, they should remain in the southern border states to "pick crops."

"We have a shortage of workers in our country," the Daily Mail reported Pelosi saying during the press conference. "You see even in Florida, some of the farmers and the growers saying 'why are you shipping these immigrants up North? We need them to pick the crops down here.' But that doesn't mean that we don't recognize our moral responsibility as well."

Navarro said this is why Republicans have to stay "focused" on the midterm elections which are coming up in about a month.

"We have to stay focused on this November election," he said. "If we don't take back the House of Representatives and the Senate for Trump Republicanism, [Harris] is going to still be there as Senate President, breaking ties like she's been doing, and spending us into the poor house. Pelosi is going to be doing the same thing on immigration, and weaponizing investigatory powers of Congress, even as she 'insider trades.'"

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Original Article

OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 6:04 PM PT – Monday, October 3, 2022

According to Emerson College and The Hill, Trump endorsed Senate hopeful Doctor Mehmet Oz (R-PA.) is catching up to Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman (D-PA.) in the polls.

The survey showed Fetterman with 45 percent of the support and Oz with 43 percent. Those numbers are well within the margin of error.

Questions were raised about Fetterman’s health after he suffered a stroke in May. It is a top concern for many voters.

Oz’s campaigning across the state combined with him picking up key endorsements from some police associations have tightened the race.

Original Article Oann

OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 5:10 PM PT – Monday, October 3, 2022

On Monday, 45th President Donald J. Trump sued CNN for alleged defamation. Trump is seeking $475 million in damages.

In a Truth Social post, Trump claimed that the once prestigious network is now the “purveyor of disinformation, defamation and Fake News.”

In the 29-page lawsuit, it is mentioned how CNN has had a history of criticizing the former president. However, it is indicated that the criticism against Trump has heightened in the recent months out of fear that the 45th President will run for office again in 2024.

“As a part of its concerted effort to tilt the political balance to the left, CNN has tried to taint the Plaintiff,” the suit said.

The lawsuit listed many examples of how the network has defamed the Florida resident. Some of those examples include comparing Trump to Hitler, using the defamatory label of ‘racist’ to describe Trump and by referring to Trump’s claim that the 2020 election was stolen as ‘Trump’s big lie.’

A CNN spokesperson has declined to comment on the lawsuit.

Original Article Oann

Report: National Archives Requested Trump's Records With Kim Jong Un (Newsmax)

By Luca Cacciatore | Monday, 03 October 2022 09:26 PM EDT

An email from May 2021 shows that the National Archives requested former President Donald Trump's lawyers account for his correspondence with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

The message was a part of the National Archives' push to obtain records they had seemingly lost after Trump left office and released publicly on Monday after over 50 Freedom of Information Act requests were filed.

In the email, National Archives General Counsel Gary Stern asked Trump's legal team for their assistance in receiving lost documents relevant under the Presidential Records Act, including several ones specifically requested.

"The original correspondence between President Trump and North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un were not transferred to us," Stern stated, also requesting Trump hand over the letter former President Barack Obama gave him on his first day in office.

"It is also our understanding that roughly two dozen boxes of original Presidential records were kept in the Residence of the White House over the course of President Trump's last year in office and have not been transferred to NARA," he added.

The news comes as Trump mounts a legal battle against the Justice Department for approving the Federal Bureau of Investigation's raid on the former president's Mar-a-Lago residence in South Florida.

Trump has consistently claimed that he had a standing order as president allowing him to declassify any document he so chose, meaning that the sensitive files housed on his property were not violating record law.

"He had a standing order that documents removed from the Oval Office and taken to the residence were deemed to be declassified the moment he removed them," Trump's office told Just the News founder John Solomon.

"The power to classify and declassify documents rests solely with the president of the United States," the statement added.

Original Article

EWTN/RealClear Poll: Majority of Catholics Don't Want Biden or Trump to Run Former President Donald Trump, left and President Joe Biden. (AP)

By Jay Clemons | Monday, 03 October 2022 08:15 PM EDT

A new joint poll from EWTN News and RealClear Opinion reveals nearly 6 in 10 Catholic voters maintain that President Joe Biden, the nation's second Catholic president, should not seek a second term in 2024.

The Catholic voters also expressed similar opposition to former President Donald Trump running for office two years from now.

For this survey, which chronicled the responses of 1,581 Catholic voters over a four-day span (Sept. 12-15), only 22.2% said they favored President Biden — already this nation's oldest president — from pursuing the White House again in 2024.

That figure was nearly tripled by the 58.4% of respondents who prefer Biden retire at the end of his term in January 2025.

Also, nearly 52% of Catholic voters said they either disapproved or strongly disapproved of the president's job performance after 20-plus months in office, with 47% of that subset casting a "strongly disapprove" vote.

On the flip side, 32% of respondents approved of President Biden's work to date, and 14% "strongly approved" of his time in the White House.

Also, just 2% of voters didn't have a substantive opinion on Biden, either way.

Regarding Trump, the EWTN/RealClear findings report that 63.3% of Catholic respondents don't want the 45th president to seek reelection in 2024 — despite being the consensus favorite to secure the Republican Party's 2024 nomination.

Conversely, 26.7% of Catholic respondents support Trump's presumptive presidential bid.

Among the other survey highlights:

• More than 73% of Catholic voters support limiting abortion rights to 15 weeks or less; and just 13.4% of Catholic voters favor abortion up to the moment of birth.
• 67.4% of Catholic voters support public funding for pregnancy resource centers, compared to 18.3% opposing public funding for the centers.
• More than 34% of Catholic voters consider inflation to be "the most important issue facing the nation." The other most-pressing issues involved the U.S. economy (19.7%), abortion rights (10.1%), and immigration (10.1%).
• Nearly 74% of Catholic voters are concerned about the so-called "COVID deficit" theory with schoolchildren, in which the students incurred intellectual and/or social-development deficits during the coronavirus-infused shutdowns of schools across America (2020 and 2021).
• Approximately 60% of Catholic voters oppose introducing Critical Race Theory (CRT) into classrooms, compared to 29% of Catholic voters who support it.
• 75.6% of Catholic voters oppose biological boys, or trans girls, competing on biological girls' sports teams — with particularly high opposition tallies from Hispanic Catholics (77.3%) and Black Catholics (80.3%).
• More than 53% of Catholic voters believe that supporting "transgender ideology" would conflict with Catholic teachings, while 30.3% believe it would not.

Original Article

Trump Team Objects to DOJ Request That Court Expedites Special Master Appeal (Newsmax)

By Luca Cacciatore | Monday, 03 October 2022 07:26 PM EDT

Former President Donald Trump's legal team has objected to the Justice Department's request to expedite an appeal that would allow them to continue reviewing classified documents alongside an independent special master.

In a Monday filing, Trump's lawyers argued that expediting the Mar-a-Lago file review case could cause "prejudice" to the former president by granting less time to him than the government.

"Certainly, the Government is free to file its brief at its earliest convenience. However, no good cause has been shown as to why President Trump should have significantly less time than the Government and less time than that provided under the Rules to prepare and brief his arguments before this Court in this unprecedented case," his attorneys wrote.

"The Government, on the other hand, cannot possibly be prejudiced if this appeal is not expedited and President Trump is afforded the few extra days provided under the Rules to file his brief," they added.

The filing also claims that the public and political nature of the case should "countenance against any rush to judgment," adding that "the public interest is served best by [a] transparent and thorough consideration of all the issues."

"The Government has not and cannot possibly articulate any real risk of loss or harm resulting from a more deliberative process," it read.

According to The Hill, the Justice Department is seeking an expedited timeline starting with an opening brief by Oct. 14, a Trump response by Nov. 4, and a department rebuttal by Nov. 11.

On the other hand, Trump's team is pulling to make the final two dates Nov. 14 and Nov. 21, respectively.

The move comes after the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals temporarily stayed a lower court ruling that blocked the Justice Department review in September, with a final decision in the high-profile legal battle still up in the air.

Original Article

DOJ Moves to Quash Subpoena for Trump in FBI Dismissal Case (Newsmax)

By Charles Kim | Monday, 03 October 2022 05:30 PM EDT

President Joe Biden's Department of Justice took action Monday to try to stop former President Donald Trump from getting a deposition subpoena from former FBI agent Peter Strzok, and former FBI attorney Lisa Page's wrongful termination lawsuit.

The agency released several exhibits in a court filing Saturday to stop a request to subpoena Trump in the case, including the Aug. 8, 2018, letter to Strzok firing him from his deputy assistant director position at the FBI.

"In your adjudication, I removed all the politics, pundits, commentary, and the media from reporting the decision point which I must address," Deputy Director David Bowdich wrote to Strzok at the time. "When I strip away all the 'noise,' I am left with the facts and extremely damaging impact to the organization, which will take years to overcome.

"As Deputy Assistant Director you were expected to be a leader who was beyond reproach and set an example for not only our direct subordinates, but others throughout the organization who watched and observed your behavior and actions. You failed to do so repeatedly and put your own interests about the interests of the organization. Though it pains me to do so, it is for this reason that I am dismissing you from the rolls of the F.B.I."

Both Strzok, who played a key role in both the Hillary Clinton email and the early part of the Russian collusion investigation, and Page, were fired from the agency after texts between the couple were released calling out their bias against then President Trump.

The pair filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against the DOJ and FBI in 2019 and sought to depose the former president for his disparaging remarks, and alleged role in their firing.

According to the court document, however, Bowdich testified that Trump had no role in his decision to fire Strzok and Page and had never discussed the issue with him during their private meetings.

"[I] Never saw the President [Trump] get involved in the termination of anyone beyond the politically-appointed [former] Director [James Comey]," Bowdich testified, according to the document.

Bowdich further testified that he "absolutely" did not recall Comey's successor, FBI Director Christopher Wray ever mentioning that Trump sought the pair's firing during their private meetings, and that he was trying to keep Wray away from deciding Strzok and Page's fate at the bureau.

"I had looked at those texts over, and over, and over, again," Bowdich said in his testimony cited in the document. "I was seeing the damage that it was doing to our organization."

Original Article

Trump Sues CNN for Defamation, Saying News Org. Fears 2024 Run for Reelection A general view of a CNN logo on a building in Washington, D.C. (AP)

By Jeffrey Rubin | Monday, 03 October 2022 04:54 PM EDT

Former President Donald Trump has filed suit against CNN for defamation, according to a Bloomberg news service report. It said the ex-president claims the cable news network has escalated a campaign of libel and slander against him because it fears he’ll run for re-election in 2024.

As reported by Bloomberg, the suit, filed by Trump lawyers Monday in a federal court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, asserts that CNN has attempted to taint Trump “with a series of ever-more scandalous, false, and defamatory labels of ‘racist,’ ‘Russian lackey,’ ‘insurrectionist,’ and ultimately ‘Hitler.’”

News reports from various wire services say Trump is seeking at least $475 million in damages.

“Beyond simply highlighting any negative information about the plaintiff and ignoring all positive information about him, CNN has sought to use its massive influence — purportedly as a ‘trusted’ news source — to defame the plaintiff in the minds of its viewers and readers for the purpose of defeating him politically,” Trump’s lawyers wrote, according to the Bloomberg account of the court filing.

CNN didn’t immediately respond to that news service.

Trump has sued other perceived critics, albeit with limited success. For instance, a suit accusing his 2016 election rival Hillary Clinton and others of conspiring against him with fake claims of campaign collusion with Russia was tossed by a judge last month, reports say.

Trump has been a vocal critic of CNN, lauding its lagging ratings and staff churn and celebrating reports that new leadershjp there is aiming to move the notoriously left-leaning news operation more to the center.

Recently, he posted this to his social media platform, Truth Social: “Fox News is really pushing the Democrats and the Democrat agenda. Gets worse every day. … If CNN ever went conservative, they would be an absolute gold mine, and I would help them to do so!”

Trump Sues CNN for Defamation, Saying News Org. Fears 2024 Run for Reelection A general view of a CNN logo on a building in Washington, D.C. (AP)

By Jeffrey Rubin | Monday, 03 October 2022 04:54 PM EDT

Former President Donald Trump has filed suit against CNN for defamation, according to a Bloomberg news service report. It said the ex-president claims the cable news network has escalated a campaign of libel and slander against him because it fears he’ll run for re-election in 2024.

As reported by Bloomberg, the suit, filed by Trump lawyers Monday in a federal court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, asserts that CNN has attempted to taint Trump “with a series of ever-more scandalous, false, and defamatory labels of ‘racist,’ ‘Russian lackey,’ ‘insurrectionist,’ and ultimately ‘Hitler.’”

News reports from various wire services say Trump is seeking at least $475 million in damages.

“Beyond simply highlighting any negative information about the plaintiff and ignoring all positive information about him, CNN has sought to use its massive influence — purportedly as a ‘trusted’ news source — to defame the plaintiff in the minds of its viewers and readers for the purpose of defeating him politically,” Trump’s lawyers wrote, according to the Bloomberg account of the court filing.

CNN didn’t immediately respond to that news service.

Trump has sued other perceived critics, albeit with limited success. For instance, a suit accusing his 2016 election rival Hillary Clinton and others of conspiring against him with fake claims of campaign collusion with Russia was tossed by a judge last month, reports say.

Trump has been a vocal critic of CNN, lauding its lagging ratings and staff churn and celebrating reports that new leadershjp there is aiming to move the notoriously left-leaning news operation more to the center.

Recently, he posted this to his social media platform, Truth Social: “Fox News is really pushing the Democrats and the Democrat agenda. Gets worse every day. … If CNN ever went conservative, they would be an absolute gold mine, and I would help them to do so!”

Original Article

Dick Morris to Newsmax: Hillary to Run as Centrist in 2024 Hillary Clinton speaks during the Clinton Global Initiative September 2022 Meeting at New York Hilton Midtown on Sept. 20, 2022 in New York City. (Noam Galai/Getty Images for Clinton Global Initiative)

By Nick Koutsobinas | Monday, 03 October 2022 04:42 PM EDT

Dick Morris, ex-adviser to former President Bill Clinton, predicted to Newsmax on Monday that Hillary Clinton will run for president in 2024 as a centrist.

Morris appeared on "American Agenda" and discusssed the next presidential election.

"What's going to happen here is very much what happened in '92," he told Newsmax. "And I know this because I wrote the strategy in '92 for Bill Clinton, which was: The Democrats lost with [Walter] Mondale in '84 and [Michael] Dukakis in '88, and they're smarting from those defeats, and you, Bill, need to go to them and say, 'I'll reform welfare as we know it, and I'll balance the budget. Vote for me and move to the center with me and we can win.' And they did.

"And now Hillary is going to say the same thing. She's gonna say, 'You lost the House, you lost the Senate because you were too leftist, follow me and I'll move you back to the center.'"

Morris predicts 2024 will shape up to be a rematch of the 2016 election, with Clinton running against former President Donald Trump.

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Original Article

Judge Denounces Yale Cancel Culture, Refuses to Hire Grads (Newsmax)

By Jay Clemons | Monday, 03 October 2022 04:36 PM EDT

A federal appellate judge confirmed that he will no longer consider graduates of Yale Law School for clerkships, citing the school's alleged penchant for "cancellation of views."

Judge James C. Ho of the New Orleans-based 5th Circuit Court of Appeal spoke to the Kentucky Chapters Conference of the Federalist Society last week and openly criticized the so-called intolerant practices trumpeted by Yale Law and its graduates.

"Yale not only tolerates the cancellation of views — it actively practices it," said Ho, a University of Chicago School of Law graduate who was nominated to his federal judiciary post by then-President Donald Trump in 2017.

During his address to the Federalist Society, Ho alluded to a school event in March when more than 100 Yale Law students loudly disrupted a free speech presentation headlined by Kristen Waggoner of the Alliance Defending Freedom and Monica Miller of the American Humanist Association.

The Yale students caused a disturbance, recalls Ho, prompting nearby classes to complain. Police apparently then had to escort the speakers safely out of the building and into a police vehicle after the presentation ended.

For that same event, Ho noted that Ellen Cosgrove, an associate dean at Yale Law, had apparently attended the event but "did nothing" to punish the "petulant" protesters.

"It turns out that, when elite law schools like Yale teach their students that there are no consequences to their intolerance and illiberalism, the message sticks with them," said Ho.

During his speech, Ho reportedly encouraged other presiding judges in positions of authority to refuse hiring Yale Law School graduates as law clerks.

"We're not just citizens," Ho reminded his audience. "We're also customers. Customers can boycott entities that practice cancel culture. … I wonder how a law school would feel if my fellow federal judges and I stopped being its customers."

In his closing remarks, Ho reiterated his words shouldn't be construed as an extension of "cancel culture."

"I don't want to cancel Yale. I want Yale to stop canceling people like me," Ho reportedly said.

As Newsmax chronicled in February, a survey conducted by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) revealed a strong majority of poll respondents agreed there was a "growing cancel culture that is a threat to our freedom," particularly among Republicans and independents.

Among the respondents, 73% acknowledged having previously heard of the phrase "cancel culture."

Also, 59% of were convinced that cancel culture had become a growing threat to American liberties, according to the survey.

Tillerson Takes Stand at Trump Ally Barrack's Foreign Agent Trial Former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson (Don Emmert/AFP via Getty Images)

Luc Cohen Monday, 03 October 2022 03:24 PM EDT

Former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson took the stand on Monday as a prosecution witness in the trial of Tom Barrack, the private equity executive and onetime fundraiser for Donald Trump who has been charged with acting as an illegal foreign agent.

Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn say Barrack, 75, used his influence with Trump's presidential campaign and administration to push the United Arab Emirates' interests without notifying the U.S. attorney general, as required by law.

Barrack has pleaded not guilty. His lawyers have said his contacts with Middle Eastern officials were part of his role running Colony Capital, now known as DigitalBridge Group Inc., and that the U.S. State Department and the then-president himself were aware of Barrack's interactions.

Tillerson, the former chief executive of Exxon Mobil Corp, served as Trump's secretary of state for slightly more than a year between 2017 and 2018.

The trial began with jury selection on Sept. 19. So far, prosecutors have displayed emails and text messages indicating that UAE officials provided feedback on what Barrack should write in an opinion article and what Trump, then a candidate, should say in a 2016 energy speech.

Barrack's defense has not yet had the opportunity to cross-examine the FBI agent who read those messages to the jury.

Original Article

Oath Keepers' Jan. 6 Trial Begins Newsmax

by Paul HANDLEY Monday, 03 October 2022 03:23 PM EDT

The trial of five members of the Oath Keepers opened Monday with prosecutors telling a jury that the group heavily armed itself on Jan. 6, 2021 to attack the Capitol to keep Donald Trump in the presidency.

Justice Department attorney Jeffrey Nestler said that Stewart Rhodes, the eyepatch-wearing former soldier and Yale law school graduate, knew exactly what he was doing when he led the militia's followers towards the Capitol.

Showing videos of the violent assault by dozens of group members dressed in military-style combat gear, Nestler said Rhodes directed them "like a general on the battlefield" as they sought to prevent 2020 election winner Joe Biden from being certified as the next president.

On Jan. 6, the Oath Keepers "concocted a plan for an armed rebellion … plotting to oppose by force the government of the United States," Nestler said.

"They did not go to the capital to defend or to help. They went to attack," he said.

But Rhodes' lawyer Phillip Linder, the first to present for the defense, rejected the government case, saying Rhodes had brought the Oath Keepers to Washington to provide security for Trump's speech that day and other pro-Trump events.

"The Oath Keepers are basically a peacekeeping force," Linder said.

"The real evidence is going to show our clients were there to do security for events that were scheduled for the 5th and 6th" of January 2021, he said.

They had created an armed "quick reaction force" on that day just in case they were needed — it would have been "defensive," he said, "if Trump called them in."

"Stewart Rhodes did not have any violent intent that day," he said.

The trial was the first in hundreds of cases from the Jan. 6 attack to make use of the rare charge of seditious conspiracy.

Carrying a potential 20-year prison sentence, it is a gamble for the Justice Department, which wants to underscore the seriousness of the event, in which Trump supporters sought to prevent Congress from certifying Joe Biden as the victor in the November 2020 presidential election.

Out of 870 people charged so far, the government has reserved sedition for just a few dozen of the attackers, mostly members of self-styled militia groups like the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys who allegedly planned and coordinated the assault.

Four other Oath Keeper leaders are standing trial with Rhodes: Kelly Meggs, Thomas Caldwell, Jessica Watkins, and Kenneth Harrelson. Another four will undergo a separate trial.

Defense attorneys had argued in filings that the Oath Keepers believed Trump would invoke the 1807 "Insurrection Act," deputizing them to protect the country.

Linder said Rhodes did believe the Insurrection Act could be invoked, but said he did not plan any attack on the Capitol.

"Rhodes is extremely patriotic.. he is a constitutional expert," the attorney said.

But Nestler said Rhodes told his followers that the possibility of Trump invoking the Act would provide legal protection for what they did at the Capitol.

"Rhodes' talk about the Insurrection Act was legal cover," Nestler said.

Despite being called on by many supporters to invoke it in the weeks and days before Jan. 6, Trump in fact never did, Nestler noted.

Instead, Rhodes and the others spoke on encrypted chats of launching a civil war to prevent Biden from becoming president.

"I'm personally gonna start the civil war myself," if Congress moves to certify Biden as president-elect, Caldwell wrote to the others, the jury was told.

Original Article

Montana Judge Knocks Down Republicans' Tighter Voting Laws Newsmax

MATTHEW BROWN Monday, 03 October 2022 03:15 PM EDT

A Montana judge struck down as unconstitutional three laws that restricted voting in the state, saying there was no evidence of the widespread voter fraud that the 2021 Republican-sponsored laws ostensibly were targeting.

The laws ended same-day voter registration, imposed new identification requirements on students and restricted third-party ballot collections. The restrictions were put on hold in April under a temporary injunction later upheld by the Montana Supreme Court.

Election officials declined to say if they would appeal the latest ruling to the state high court. And with the election just over a month away, it's uncertain if justices would render a decision before Nov. 8.

Native American tribes that sued over the laws argued the student ID and ballot collection measures would hurt voters on remote reservations, where many people live far from polling places and are dealing with poverty and other challenges.

Montana Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen, who oversees elections in the state, requested the voting measures last year as Republicans around the country changed voting laws in the wake of the November 2020 election. The moves followed claims made by former President Donald Trump and parroted by his supporters that the election was stolen.

Judge Michael Moses said that the sponsors of the laws showed no proof that voter fraud was a problem following an August trial in which experts and voting officials from across the state testified.

"Voter fraud in Montana is vanishingly rare," Moses wrote in his nearly 200-page Friday ruling. He added that there were :significant signs" that the ballot collection law had a discriminatory purpose against Native American voters, and said the student ID law had been enacted by Republican lawmakers "to reduce voting by young people for perceived political benefit."

Jacobsen's own witnesses agreed during the trial that voter fraud wasn't a problem in Montana.

A spokesperson for the Republican secretary of state declined to say Monday if she planned to appeal the judge's ruling to the Supreme Court. But Jacobsen is “not going to let down the fight” to make Montana elections secure and accessible, spokesperson Richie Melby said.

If the laws were allowed to stand, they would directly impede the ability of many Native American to vote, said Jacqueline De León with the Native American Rights Fund, representing the Blackfeet Nation, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, Fort Belknap Indian Community, the Northern Cheyenne Tribe and native advocacy groups.

She said allowing third parties to pick up and deliver some voters' ballots was crucial for Native Americans unable to get to polling places because of poverty and a lack of transportation.

"These laws exploit the structural deficiencies in Native American communities, and the Legislature knew what the impact would be," De Leon said.

An audit by a previous Republican secretary of state found no problems in Montana during the 2020 election, according to court filings. The conservative Heritage Foundation found just one voter fraud conviction out of millions of votes spanning the past four decades in the state.

The Montana Democratic Party and youth groups also challenged the 2021 laws and argued tthat they were meant to make it more difficult for Native Americans, new voters, the elderly and those with disabilities to vote.

Moses has also declared unconstitutional a law that would not have allowed 17-year-olds who pre-register to vote to receive a ballot, through the mail or otherwise, until they turn 18, even if they would turn 18 on or before Election Day.

Original Article

White House Criticizes Crackdowns on Peaceful Protests in Iran Newsmax

Monday, 03 October 2022 02:55 PM EDT

The White House on Monday denounced the crackdown by Iranian security forces against peaceful protests in Iran, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.

"We're alarmed and appalled by reports of security authorities' responding to university students' peaceful protests with violence and mass arrests," she told reporters traveling with President Joe Biden to Puerto Rico.

The ongoing protests are in response to the death two weeks ago of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was beaten by security forces for wearing an "improper" hijab.

Jean-Pierre said university students in Iran are "rightly enraged" by her death and that the weekend crackdowns are the type of events that prompt young people in Iran to leave the country "and seek dignity and opportunity elsewhere."

She gave no indication that the crackdown would impact U.S. efforts to resurrect the Iran nuclear deal, which then President Donald Trump abandoned in 2018.

Original Article

Economic Issues Hurt Dems in Midterms: Monmouth Poll (Newsmax)

By Peter Malbin | Monday, 03 October 2022 02:08 PM EDT

Economic issues are more important factors than social issues in the November midterm elections, according to the latest Monmouth University Poll.

When asked which group of issues is more important in their support for Congress this year, economic concerns (54%) trump "democratic process" issues (38%) among all Americans, the Monmouth Poll found.

Republicans prioritize the economy (71%), as do Independents (61%), while Democrats prioritize rights (67%).

The poll revealed that about eight in 10 Republicans rank inflation, crime, and immigration at the top of their issues list. A similar number of Democrats prioritize climate change, racial inequality, elections and voting, gun control, and abortion, with about three-quarters also emphasizing jobs and inflation. Independents are more concerned about overall economic issues along with crime and immigration than they are by other issues.

"Democrats are all over the place when it comes to their key issues. This makes it difficult for the party to create a cohesive messaging strategy to motivate its base. Republicans, on the other hand, just have to hammer away at rising prices and 'the wolf is at the door' to get their voters riled up," said Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute.

He added: "A major problem for Democrats is their base messaging doesn't hold as much appeal for independents as the GOP issue agenda does. Even though truly persuadable independents are a rather small group these days, this small difference can have a major impact given the expectation that congressional control will hinge on a handful of very close contests."

President Joe Biden gets a net positive rating for handling the COVID-19 pandemic (50% approve and 47% disapprove), but only three in 10 Americans approve of the job Biden has done on inflation, the nation's top concern (30%).

Currently, 38% approve of the job Biden is doing while 54% disapprove. His approval rating in Monmouth's polling through 2022 has hovered between 36% and 39%, while his disapproval rating has ranged from 54% to 58%. Biden gets an 84% approval rating from his fellow Democrats, but only 28% among independents and 6% among Republicans.

Monmouth concludes that Biden gets poor marks on issues that Americans consider pivotal, and this may bode well for the chances of Republicans in the midterms.

The Monmouth University Poll was conducted by telephone from Sept. 21-25 with 806 adults in the U.S. The question results in this release have a margin of error of +/- 3.5 percentage points. The poll was conducted by the Monmouth University Polling Institute in West Long Branch, New Jersey.

Original Article

Biden: Puerto Rico Hasn't 'Been Taken Very Good Care Of' (Ramunas Bruzas/Dreamstime)

DARLENE SUPERVILLE and DANICA COTO Monday, 03 October 2022 01:46 PM EDT

President Joe Biden on Monday will survey damage from Hurricane Fiona in Puerto Rico, where tens of thousands of people are still without power two weeks after the storm hit.

The Category 1 hurricane knocked out electrical power to the U.S. territory of 3.2 million people, 44% of whom live below the poverty line.

Power has been restored to about 90% of the island's 1.47 million customers, but more than 137,000 others, mostly in the hardest hit areas of Puerto Rico's southern and western regions, continue to struggle in the dark. Another 66,000 customers are without water.

Biden has pledged that the U.S. government will not abandon Puerto Rico as it starts to rebuild again, five years after the more powerful Hurricane Maria devastated the island in 2017.

On Monday morning, the president said he was going in part because people there "haven't been taken very good care of," and they were "trying like hell to catch up from the last hurricane."

During his visit, Biden planned to announce the administration will provide $60 million through last year's bipartisan infrastructure law to help Puerto Rico shore up levees, strengthen flood walls and create a new flood warning system so the island will be better prepared for future storms, the White House said.

"We see what you're going through, and we're with you," Biden told Puerto Ricans and Floridians in a message Sunday on his official Twitter account.

Florida is cleaning up after Hurricane Ian churned across that state last week, killing more than 60 people, decimating some coastal communities and flooding others. Biden plans to visit Florida on Wednesday to survey damage.

The president, accompanied by first lady Jill Biden and Deanne Criswell, the Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator, was to touch down Monday in Ponce, Puerto Rico, a city on the southern coast. Most of the storm damage is in southern Puerto Rico.

Puerto Rico Gov. Pedro Pierluisi said he would update Biden on recovery efforts.

"We will make sure to keep working together to ensure the continuity of a reconstruction already underway," the governor tweeted on Sunday.

Fiona caused catastrophic flooding, tore apart roads and bridges, and unleashed more than 100 landslides when it hit Puerto Rico on Sept. 18. At least two people died after being swept away by floods, and several others were killed in accidents related to the use of candles or generator during the island-wide power outage.

Government officials have estimated some $3 billion in damages, but warn that costs could rise significantly as evaluations continue.

Some people in Puerto Rico wondered whether Biden's visit would change anything as they recalled how President Donald Trump visited after Hurricane Maria hit as a more powerful Category 4 storm in 2017, and tossed rolls of paper towels into a crowd in a display that riled many.

Manuel Veguilla, a 63-year-old retired mechanic who lives in a remote community in the hard-hit northern mountain town of Caguas, said he didn't expect his life to improve in the aftermath of Fiona, which cut off his neighborhood from any help for a week.

"They always offer the lollipop to the kids," he said, referring to Biden's visit. "But in the end, the outcome is always the same. The aid goes to those who have the most."

Criswell, who discussed the aftermath of Fiona and Ian on four Sunday TV news programs, echoed Biden's promise to Fiona's victims.

"We have not left Puerto Rico," she said on CBS' "Face the Nation."

Criswell said on ABC's "This Week" that FEMA personnel were sent to the island before the storm hit and that "they're going to stay with the people of Puerto Rico" through the recovery efforts.

Biden recently told Pierluisi that he authorized 100% federal funding for a month for debris removal, search and rescue efforts, power and water restoration, shelter and food.

The lack of electrical power on the island led to the temporary closure of businesses, including gas stations and grocery stores, as fuel supplies dwindled amid heavy generator use. As a result, many cheered the Biden administration's decision to temporarily waive a federal law so that a British Petroleum ship could deliver 300,000 barrels of diesel.

Many also have begun demanding that Puerto Rico be fully exempted from the law, known as the Jones Act, that requires that all goods transported to Puerto Rico be aboard a ship built in the U.S., owned and crewed by U.S. citizens and flying the U.S. flag. This drives up costs for an island that already imports 85% of its food.

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., also said Puerto Ricans would not be forgotten.

Rubio said the island appeared to be "in better position to respond this time around" due to the prepositioning of personnel and supplies before the storm hit and because part of Puerto Rico's electrical grid had been rebuilt after Hurricane Maria.

"We will do everything we can, we always have, to support Puerto Rico now in the recovery after this, yet another devastating storm," Rubio said on CNN's "State of the Union."

Coto reported from San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Original Article