Trump Promotes ‘Sound of Freedom,’ a Conservative Hit About Child Trafficking – The New York Times

Skip to contentSkip to site index Politics Today’s Paper Politics|Trump Promotes ‘Sound of Freedom,’ a Conservative Hit About Child Predators https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/19/us/politics/trump-sound-of-freedom.html Share full article AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENT Supported bySKIP ADVERTISEMENT Trump Promotes ‘Sound of Freedom,’ a Conservative Hit About Child Predators Hosting a screening at his private club, the former president is the most prominent Republican to embrace a film lauded by both mainstream conservatives and far-right QAnon believers. Share full article Based on real-life events, “The Sound of Freedom” stars Jim Caviezel as Tim Ballard, a former federal agent who sought to rescue South American children from sex traffickers.Credit…Angel Studios By Anjali Huynh July 19, 2023 Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina called it an “amazing, gut-wrenching, emotional movie.” “Wow. Wow. Wow,” Senator Ted Cruz of Texas wrote of the film, urging supporters to see it. And on Wednesday, former President Donald J. Trump hosted an event featuring a screening of the movie, “Sound of Freedom,” at his private club in New Jersey, the most striking sign yet of how the unlikely box-office hit has captured the imagination of American conservatives. The movie, released July 4, was the second most-watched film in North America last weekend, behind “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning,” and has made $90.7 million as of Monday, according to data from Comscore. Based on real-life events, the movie stars Jim Caviezel as Tim Ballard, a former federal agent who sought to rescue South American children from sex traffickers. Its themes have resonated with a wide range of conservatives, including mainstream Republicans who have focused heavily on education and other children’s issues, evangelicals who have responded to the movie’s religious overtones, and far-right QAnon believers who have for years spread alarmist fears of child endangerment. The plot never directly invokes QAnon, the wide-ranging, pro-Trump conspiracy theory that falsely accuses leading Democrats of orchestrating a pedophilia ring, but the movement’s supporters have embraced the film. And Mr. Caviezel himself has promoted baseless QAnon theories. Appearing on Stephen Bannon’s podcast before the movie’s release, he commented that “there is a big storm coming,” a QAnon slogan. In 2021, he spoke at a QAnon convention. Image Mr. Caviezel in the film, which has been embraced by supporters of the QAnon conspiracy theory movement.Credit…Angel Studios The movie’s endorsement from presidential candidates echoes grass-roots energy around what Sarah Longwell, a Republican strategist, called the “mainstreaming of the center of the QAnon movement, which is that this is about protecting children.” In focus groups, Ms. Longwell said, Republican voters have brought up QAnon less explicitly than in the past and more frequently express concerns about schools “indoctrinating children” and transgender athletes competing in sports. A spokesman for Angel Studios, the company that produced the film, did not respond to a request for comment. Efforts to reach Mr. Caviezel were unsuccessful, but on Wednesday, he responded to critical coverage of the movie. Appearing on a conservative podcast, he repeated a quotation from the movie that refers to a Bible verse: “Better a millstone be hung around their necks that they be cast into the sea that they should ever hurt one of these little ones,” he said. Both Mr. Caviezel and Mr. Ballard attended the screening on Wednesday at Mr. Trump’s club. Experts on misinformation expressed misgivings about the movie’s message. “I do think that human trafficking is real and child trafficking is real and these are real problems,” said Kathryn Olmsted, a professor of history at the University of California, Davis, who has studied the role of conspiracy theories in American politics. “It’s just that this renewed, highly politicized focus on it is emblematic of increasing political polarization in our society.” The man at the center of “Sound of Freedom,” Mr. Ballard, is a former Department of Homeland Security agent who founded an anti-trafficking group and was appointed by Mr. Trump to a federal advisory panel on human trafficking. He has been accused of exaggerating his exploits. The movie depicts Mr. Ballard setting out to rescue two siblings who were sold by sex traffickers; he ultimately saves dozens of children. Daniela Peterka-Benton, the academic director for the Global Center of Human Trafficking at Montclair State University, said the movie’s focus on saviors rather than victims resulted in an incomplete, glamorized depiction of human trafficking. Most children, she said, are not “snatched away” but are trafficked by people they know. “It does a disservice to the victims; it does a disservice to people really fighting to end human trafficking and to provide services to survivors,” she said. “There’s so much more to it than just the rescue.” Nevertheless, politicians, commentators and Hollywood celebrities have praised the film. Ivanka Trump, Mr. Trump’s daughter, who has largely stayed out of politics since the 2020 election, promoted the film in June, writing on Twitter that it “sheds light on the harrowing reality” of human trafficking. Republicans — many of whom were far less worried about the Trump administration’s separation of migrant children from their parents — have also seized on the issue. Last week, Senate Republicans’ official Twitter account shared a video that pointed to New York Times reporting about migrant children forced to work dangerous jobs across the United States. The post misleadingly accused President Biden of having “created the largest child trafficking ring in U.S. history.” In liberal Manhattan, “Sound of Freedom” viewers at several theaters said they had come not for the politics, but because they wanted to see a good thriller. “I came because I believe that there’s child trafficking going on and there’s just not enough light being shed on it,” said Malaika Villamizar, 19. She was surprised to hear, however, that the movie had been promoted by Mr. Trump and other Republican politicians. She said she had heard about the film on TikTok. Anjali Huynh covers politics for The Times. More about Anjali Huynh A version of this article appears in print on , Section A, Page 22 of the New York edition with the headline: Trump Screens ‘Sound of Freedom,’ A Film Popular With Conservatives. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe Share full article AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENT Site Index Site Information Navigation © 2023 The New York Times Company NYTCo Contact Us Accessibility Work with us Advertise T Brand Studio Your Ad Choices Privacy Policy Terms of Service Terms of Sale Site Map Canada International Help Subscriptions Manage Privacy Preferences

The Republican Party continues its march into extremism as the front runner for the presidency, @[100044274887410:2048:Donald J. Trump], hosts a private screening of “Sound of Freedom”, a QAnon film being marketed directly to conservatives.

QAnon, an insane conspiracy theory that a random dude on 4chan troll board has a secret clearance nobody has heard of and has been posting for years that any day now a secret cabal of Democrats, Hollywood elites, and Jews will be exposed as belonging to a global child sex trafficking ring to harvest their blood to stay young with Donald Trump as the only person who can stop them, has been incorporated directly into the Trump campaign since 2019 and has been central to Republican political ideology for years.

The film has been a massive success among the target audience of the easily manipulated Trump supporters and has grossed about as much as the new Indiana Jones movie.

[https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/19/us/politics/trump-sound-of-freedom.html]

Special counsel informs Trump he is target in probe of efforts to overturn 2020 election – ABC News

The development indicates another indictment of Trump could be imminent.

Special counsel Jack Smith has informed former President Donald Trump by letter that he is a target in his investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election, sources familiar with the matter tell ABC News.

Trump also confirmed the development in a post on his Truth Social platform.

The letter, which sources said was transmitted to Trump’s attorneys in recent days, indicates that yet another indictment of the former president could be imminent.

The target letter mentions three federal statutes: conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud the United States, deprivation of rights under a civil rights statute, and tampering with a witness, victim or an informant, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.

There are no additional details in the letter and it does not say how the special counsel’s office claims Trump may have violated the statutes listed, sources said.

Trump, appearing Tuesday night at a town hall in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, told Fox News’ Sean Hannity that he received the letter on Sunday.

“It bothers me,” said the former president. “I got the letter on Sunday night. Think of it, I don’t think they’ve ever sent a letter on Sunday night. And they’re in a rush because they want to interfere, it’s election interference, never been done like this in the history of our country and it’s a disgrace what’s happening to our country.”

Target letters are typically given to subjects in a criminal investigation to put them on notice that they are facing the prospect of indictment.

Multiple sources tell ABC News that allies, aides and attorneys for the former president have been working to determine if anyone else received a target letter from the special counsel regarding the election probe.

“We can’t find anyone,” a source said Tuesday afternoon.

A lawyer for Trump’s former personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, told ABC News that the former New York City mayor had not received a letter as of Tuesday afternoon.

“Any speculation that Mayor Rudy Giuliani ‘flipped’ against President Donald Trump is as false as previous lies that America’s Mayor was somehow a Russian Agent,” Giuliani adviser Ted Goodman said in a statement. “In order to ‘flip’ on President Trump — as so many in the anti-Trump media are fantasizing over — Mayor Giuliani would’ve had to commit perjury because all the information he has regarding this case points to President Trump’s innocence.”

Trump previously received a target letter from Smith before he was indicted by a grand jury in Florida for his alleged mishandling of classified documents after leaving the White House and his alleged efforts to obstruct the government’s investigation.

Smith took control of the sprawling Justice Department investigation into the failed efforts by Trump and his allies to thwart his election loss upon his appointment as special counsel in November of last year, and in recent months dozens of witnesses have appeared to testify before a federal grand jury in Washington, D.C.

According to sources, prosecutors have questioned witnesses specifically about the efforts to put forward slates of so-called “false electors” that were to have cast electoral college votes during the certification for Trump in key swing states that he lost to Joe Biden.

Investigators have also sought information on Trump’s actions and his state of mind in the days leading up to and on Jan. 6, 2021, when thousands of Trump supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol, temporarily disrupting the certification and causing lawmakers and former Vice President Pence to flee the building.

Trump was indicted last month on 37 criminal counts related to his handling of classified materials, after Smith’s prosecutors said he repeatedly refused to return hundreds of documents containing classified information ranging from U.S. nuclear secrets to the nation’s defense capabilities. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

The former president has also pleaded not guilty to a 34-count indictment from the Manhattan district attorney charging him with falsifying business records in connection with a hush money payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels days before the 2016 presidential election.

ABC News’ Lalee Ibssa and Soo Rin Kim contributed to this report.

Editor’s Note: A previous version of this story stated the special counsel’s target letter to former President Trump flagged a potential charge under a section of the civil rights code that mentions “color of law.” In further reporting, sources clarified to ABC News that the section mentioned is 18 USC 241 and does not include that phrase.

24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events

We now know Trump is being charged by Jack Smith with conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud the United States, deprivation of rights under color of law, and tampering with a witness, victim or an informant, for his attempted coup.

[https://abcnews.go.com/US/special-counsel-informs-trump-target-probe-efforts-overturn/story?id=101404037]

Israeli Antiquities Are Stranded at Trump’s Florida Estate as Authorities Fail to Retrieve Them – Israel News – Haaretz.com

Search Haaretz – back to home page LOG INSUBSCRIBE NOWSUBSCRIBE NOW accessibility Open menu In the News Israel-Hamas War Live Updates Hamas – Israel Netanyahu – Biden Hanukkah Hostages Released Hamas Hostages Israelis Dead Israel Fake News Haaretz | Israel News Israeli Antiquities Are Stranded at Trump’s Florida Estate as Authorities Fail to Retrieve Them Israeli clay lamps, intended for a brief exhibition in Washington D.C. in 2019, got stranded in the U.S. due to the pandemic. Recently, they were found at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida Amir Tibon Nir Hasson Jul 18, 2023 Jul 18, 2023 Share in Twitter Save Save article to reading list Send in e-mailSend in e-mail Share in Facebook Share in Twitter Share in WhatsApp Send in e-mailSend in e-mail Save Save article to reading list Zen Read Print article Amir Tibon Nir Hasson Jul 18, 2023 Jul 18, 2023 Antiquities belonging to Israel have been kept for the past several months at former U.S. President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, and senior Israeli figures have unsuccessfully tried to have them returned to Israel. Comments In the News Gaza War Is a Threat to Israel’s Arab Neighbors, and a ‘Humanitarian Event’ to Gulf States U.S. Blocks UN Security Council Demand for Humanitarian Cease-fire in Gaza Netanyahu and His Allies Are Anti-economic and Anti-Zionist At Defense and Arms Expo, Israeli Cyber Is Out, but Surveillance Tech In Second West Bank Settler Suspected of Attacking Palestinians to Be Held Without Trial Peace Of Mind: Moving To Asssisted Living Paid by Attorney Rakefet Shfaim ICYMI Progressive ‘Freedom Fighters,’ I’m a Palestinian Israeli. I Don’t Need your ‘Liberation’ Hamas’ Campaign of Rape Against Israeli Women Is Revealed, Testimony After Testimony Many Israelis and Palestinians Have ‘Sobered Up’. I Refuse to Do the Same Israel’s Repulsive Embrace of Elon Musk Is a Cynical Betrayal of Jews, Dead and Alive Lost Biblical Monument in Jerusalem Is in Plain Sight, New Theory Claims Masterclass in Manipulation: Exposing Max Blumenthal’s Lies About Israel and October 7 haaretz Facebook Twitter Android Apple Email RSS Subscribe Newsletters Terms Contact Us My Cookies Advertise Accessibility Report an issue Accessibility manifest Download App© Haaretz Daily Newspaper Ltd. All Rights Reserved FAQ Contact us Terms and conditions Privacy policy Cancellation of digital subscriptions Management Editorial Newsletters Accessibility Advertise on Haaretz.com About HaaretzLoad more News Israel News U.S. News Middle East Jewish World World News Tech News Business Life and Culture Archaeology Life Science Sports Culture Books Travel in Israel Television Food Sports Converting to Judaism Columnists and Opinion Chemi Shalev Allison Kaplan Sommer Anshel Pfeffer David Rosenberg Opinion Haaretz Editorial Haaretz Cartoon Letters to the Editor Special Coverage Haaretz Hebrew and TheMarker הר הבית וורדעל מדויקת מבצע השפעה ישראל יאיר גולן יריד נשק סדרות מומלצות סרטים חדשים בקולנוע מפלס הכנרת שמות החטופים Partnerships Haaretz Labels Haaretz.com, the online English edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, gives you breaking news, analyses and opinions about Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish World. © Haaretz Daily Newspaper Ltd. All Rights Reserved

@[100044274887410:2048:Donald J. Trump] has boasted many times he is Israel’s best friend, but in reality he used his office to steal Israeli antiques and is refusing to return them.

[https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2023-07-18/ty-article/.highlight/israeli-antiquities-remain-stranded-at-trumps-estate-as-authorities-fail-to-retrieve/00000189-6448-dc6b-a3f9-ee593e850000]

Michigan AG charges participants in 2020 fake elector plot | CNN Politics

Sixteen fake electors who signed certificates falsely claiming President Donald Trump won Michigan in the 2020 election have been charged with multiple felonies, state Attorney General Dana Nessel announced Tuesday.

This is the first time any of the fake electors have been charged with a crime related to the scheme, versions of which took place in multiple states.

All 16 individuals were each charged with eight felonies: Two counts of forgery, one count of conspiracy to commit forgery, two counts of election law forgery, one count of conspiracy to commit election law forgery, one count of publishing a counterfeit record and one count of conspiring to publish a counterfeit record.

The group of fake electors from Michigan includes current and former state GOP officials, the Republican National Committee member, a sitting mayor, a school board member and Trump supporters who were the plaintiffs in a frivolous lawsuit that tried to overturn the 2020 results.

“This plan, to reject the will of the voters and undermine democracy, was fraudulent and legally baseless,” Nessel said in a video released Tuesday.

Nessel, a Democrat, initially referred the matter to federal prosecutors at the Justice Department, but she reopened the state probe in January. Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith is also actively investigating the fake electors plot, and some fake electors have testified to his grand jury.

CNN has reached out to the defendants seeking comment.

Michigan was one of the seven battleground states where the Trump campaign put forward slates of “fake electors” as part of their plan to undermine the Electoral College process, and potentially disrupt Congress’ certification of the 2020 election results on January 6, 2021.

The 16 fake GOP electors from Michigan met in Lansing on December 14, 2020, and signed certificates falsely proclaiming that Trump won the state and they were the rightful electors. They were rebuffed by police when they tried to enter the statehouse to deliver the papers, according to videos of the interaction, which took place while the real group of Democratic electors were meeting inside the building. President Joe Biden defeated Trump by a little more than 154,000 votes in the 2020 election.

In the view of the Trump campaign, these were “alternate” electors who could have somehow replaced Biden’s electors when Congress counted the electoral votes on January 6, 2021, handing Trump a second term. However, a wide array of legal experts, including many inside the Trump White House and Trump campaign, thought this plan was unconstitutional and possibly illegal.

The charged individuals are former Michigan GOP co-chair Meshawn Maddock; current Michigan GOP vice chair Marian Sheridan; RNC committeewoman Kathy Berden; Wyoming, Mich., Mayor Kent Vanderwood; Shelby Township clerk Stanley Grot; Grand Blanc school board member Amy Facchinello; local GOP officials Rose Rook and Mari-Ann Henry; pro-Trump lawsuit plaintiffs John Haggard and Timothy King; unsuccessful GOP candidates Clifford Frost and Michele Lundgren; as well as Hank Choate, James Renner, Mayra Rodriguez and Ken Thompson.

CNN has previously reported that Trump campaign officials, led by the former president’s attorney Rudy Giuliani, oversaw efforts to put forward fake slates of electors in seven key states, including Michigan.

An audio recording obtained by CNN early last year captured one of the now-charged fake electors from Michigan boasting that the Trump campaign directed the entire operation.

“We fought to seat the electors. The Trump campaign asked us to do that,” Meshawn Maddock, then the co-chair of the Michigan Republican Party, said at a public event at the time that was organized by the conservative group Stand Up Michigan, according to the recording.

The House January 6 committee uncovered evidence that Trump knew about the plan and that he spoke directly about it with RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, who is from Michigan. She testified that Trump and his allies told her the electors’ plan was important, and that the RNC later helped the Trump campaign assemble the slates of GOP electors.

Federal investigators from the special counsel’s office have asked key witnesses in their separate investigation about the role of higher-level Trump officials in the fake electors scheme, CNN has reported.

In the video released Tuesday alongside the charges, Nessel once again shot back against allegations that the 2020 presidential election was fraudulent, saying that the election in her state “was procedurally the same as in every previous modern presidential election.”

“These defendants may have believed the now long-debunked myths of vote tampering or ballot dumps,” Nessel said. “They may have felt compelled to follow the call to action from a president they held fealty to. They may have even genuinely believed that this was their patriotic duty.”

She continued, “But none of those reasons or feelings provide legal justification to violate the law and upend our Constitution and our nation’s traditions of representative government, self-determination, and a government by the people.”

Nessel also said that her office will continue to investigate efforts to overturn the 2020 election, and “has not ruled out potential charges against additional defendants.” She also pre-empted attacks that will surely come from Trump allies, who may claim the indictments are politically motivated.

“There will be those who claim these charges are political in nature. But when there is overwhelming evidence of guilt in respect to multiple crimes, the most political act I could engage in as a prosecutor would be to take no action at all,” Nessel said.

Michigan’s top elections official, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, praised the charges Tuesday, telling CNN’s Anderson Cooper on “AC360” that they are a “strong and bold statement” that is “rooted in facts and the law.”

“We hope, and I expect, this will have a deterrent effect for any plans that are afoot,” Benson continued, looking ahead to the 2024 election.

This story has been updated with additional reporting.

CORRECTION: This story has been updated with the correct spelling of fake elector Mari-Ann Henry’s name.

The walls are closing in.

CNN reports: Sixteen fake electors who signed certificates falsely claiming President Donald Trump won Michigan in the 2020 election have been charged with multiple felonies, state Attorney General Dana Nessel announced Tuesday.

[https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/18/politics/michigan-fake-electors/index.html]

Trump says he’s received a target letter from special counsel Jack Smith’s Jan. 6 investigators – POLITICO

Skip to Main Content POLITICO Politico Logo Congress Pro E&E News Search Search WASHINGTON & POLITICS Congress White House Elections Legal Magazine Foreign Affairs 2024 ELECTIONS News GOP Candidate Tracker STATE POLITICS & POLICY California Florida New Jersey New York GLOBAL POLITICS & POLICY Brussels Canada United Kingdom POLICY NEWS Agriculture Cannabis Cybersecurity Defense Education Energy & Environment Finance & Tax Health Care Immigration Labor Sustainability Technology Trade Transportation NEWSLETTERS Playbook Playbook PM West Wing Playbook POLITICO Nightly POLITICO Weekend The Recast Huddle All Newsletters COLUMNISTS Alex Burns John Harris Jonathan Martin Michael Schaffer Jack Shafer Rich Lowry SERIES & MORE Breaking News Alerts Podcasts Video The Fifty Women Rule Matt Wuerker Cartoons Cartoon Carousel POLITICO Live Upcoming Events Previous Events Follow us Twitter Instagram Facebook My Account Log In Log Out legal Trump says he’s received a target letter from special counsel Jack Smith’s Jan. 6 investigators It’s the clearest sign yet that Trump may soon face his third criminal indictment — this time for his effort to subvert the 2020 election results. While the specific crimes that former President Donald Trump may be charged with are not clear, Smith’s team has been eyeing potential obstruction charges related to Trump’s actions in the days leading up to Jan. 6 and on that day itself. | Giorgio Viera/AFP via Getty Images By Kyle Cheney 07/18/2023 09:32 AM EDT Updated: 07/18/2023 10:07 AM EDT Link Copied Donald Trump said Tuesday he expects to be indicted by special counsel Jack Smith’s Jan. 6 grand jury, citing a “target letter” he received from investigators on Sunday. Such a letter “almost always means an arrest and indictment,” Trump, who has already been criminally indicted twice in recent months, wrote on Truth Social. Trump said the letter, which is prosecutors’ typical precursor to a charging decision, offered him a chance to speak to the grand jury, which meets at the federal courthouse in Washington D.C., later this week. Targets of criminal investigations rarely speak to grand juries, and Trump has not exercised that right in the two other criminal cases in which he’s been charged. Legal Tracking the Trump criminal cases By POLITICO Staff The letter is the clearest sign yet that Smith is close to seeking an indictment for Trump’s role in the effort to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power on Jan. 6, 2021. While the specific crimes that Trump may be charged with are not clear, Smith’s team has been eyeing potential obstruction charges related to Trump’s actions in the days leading up to Jan. 6 and on that day itself — including pressuring his vice president, Mike Pence, to unilaterally block the certification of Joe Biden’s electoral victory. Investigators have also examined Trump’s consideration of a plan to seize voting machines from the states, his campaign of false claims that the election was stolen and his role in advancing a plan to assemble bogus slates of presidential electors to stoke a conflict ahead of Jan. 6. It’s unclear whether other figures associated with Trump’s effort are also in Smith’s sights. Investigators have interviewed dozens of prominent figures in Trump’s orbit, including Pence, in recent months. Attorneys John Eastman and Jeff Clark — two Trump associates considered key allies in his effort — had their phones seized last year. Trump revealed the target letter as he prepares to fight on another front to delay a criminal trial — also resulting from charges brought by Smith — related to his hoarding of national security secrets at his Mar-a-Lago estate. Trump’s attorneys will be in court in Fort Pierce, Fla. on Tuesday afternoon asking for the trial to be postponed until after the 2024 election, a prospect that Smith’s team has vehemently opposed. Trump is facing an extraordinary array of criminal charges and investigations. In addition to the two cases Smith has mounted, he’s facing charges in Manhattan for allegedly falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment scheme to a porn actress accusing him of an extramarital affair in 2016. And a district attorney based in Fulton County, Ga. has convened a grand jury that is expected to consider charging Trump and allies for efforts to subvert the 2020 election in Georgia. Many aspects of Smith’s Jan. 6 investigation were previously pursued by the House select committee on Jan. 6, which interviewed hundreds of figures associated with Trump’s scheme to seize a second term despite losing the election. The committee concluded that Trump was at the center of a complex, months-long effort to sow doubt about the election results and then orchestrate several attempts to reverse the outcome despite no evidence of significant fraud. The panel focused in particular on Trump’s effort to pressure state and local officials to appoint “alternative” slates of presidential electors in seven states won by Biden and then use those slates as a pretense to disrupt the Jan. 6 session of Congress — when the Constitution and federal laws require Congress to meet and certify the election. That session, also according to the Constitution and law, is managed by the vice president, who doubles as president of the Senate. When no state officials acquiesced, Trump turned to a cadre of lawyers, including Eastman, who promoted fringe alternatives to keep Trump’s prospects alive. Eastman famously pressured Pence and his top aides to violate provisions of the Electoral Count Act — the law that has governed the Jan. 6 session of Congress since 1887 — to advance the effort. Prosecutors and the select committee have also focused on Trump’s effort to assemble a massive crowd in Washington on Jan. 6, part of his plan to pressure Pence and GOP lawmakers to help reverse the results, and then to steer it toward the Capitol after Pence made clear he wouldn’t go along with the plan. Trump inflamed the crowd with his rhetoric and then stoked anger further when he attacked Pence — even as violence was underway at the Capitol — accusing him of lacking “courage.” Pence and lawmakers were forced to evacuate and delay the count of electoral votes for six hours while law enforcement and the National Guard worked to clear the mob. Filed under: Donald Trump, Donald Trump 2024, 2020 Presidential Candidates, 2020 Elections, Jack Smith, Trump Indictment POLITICO Link Copied About Us Advertising Breaking News Alerts Careers Credit Card Payments Digital Edition FAQ Feedback Headlines Photos POWERJobs Press Print Subscriptions Request A Correction Write For Us RSS Site Map Terms of Service Privacy Policy Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information and Opt Out of Targeted Advertising © 2023 POLITICO LLC

@[100044274887410:2048:Donald J. Trump] will be indicted again for his scheme to stop the peaceful transfer of power by planning on the DOJ to seize voting machines, assembling fake electors, his fake electors submitting fraudulent votes, pressuring state officials to ignore votes and hand him the election, and of course for sending an armed mob to the Capitol to stop his Vice President from participating in the certification of the election.

[https://www.politico.com/news/2023/07/18/trump-says-hes-received-a-target-letter-from-special-counsel-jack-smiths-jan-6-investigators-00106776]

Trump loses Georgia Supreme Court motion in election probe

The Georgia Supreme Court on Monday unanimously dismissed a longshot bid by former President Donald Trump to quash the special grand jury report that recommended criminal charges in the Fulton County district attorney’s probe of Georgia’s 2020 election.

The state Supreme Court also rejected Trump’s request that it bar Fulton DA Fani Willis from continuing to oversee the criminal investigation.

The ruling came weeks before Willis is expected to seek indictments in the probe of efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn President Joe Biden‘s 2020 electoral victory over him in the Peach State.

So far, no one has been criminally charged in the investigation. And the identities of more than a dozen people who the special grand jury recommended be prosecuted remain secret.

The state’s high court said Trump’s attorneys failed to show that the case presents “one of those extremely rare circumstances” that requires bypassing lower courts.

Trump’s legal team has a pending similar request in Fulton County Superior Court in Atlanta to bar the special grand jury’s work and report from being used in any future civil or criminal proceeding.

In a petition four days ago, Trump’s attorneys acknowledged that it would be highly unusual for the state Supreme Court to take the case, since that body normally reviews appeals from lower courts.

But they argued that the court should take up the matter directly, in part because of Trump’s status as a former president and a 2024 presidential candidate.

And, as they did in their petition in Fulton County court, the lawyers argued that the evidence compiled by the special grand jury in the election probe was “unlawfully obtained.”

In its dismissal Monday of Trump’s petition, the Supreme Court said it has “made clear that a petitioner cannot invoke this Court’s original jurisdiction as a way to circumvent the ordinary channels for obtaining the relief he seeks without making some showing that he is being prevented fair access to those ordinary channels.”

And Trump “makes no showing that he has been prevented fair access to the ordinary channels,” the justices wrote.

Trump’s lawyers did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the Supreme Court’s ruling.

The special grand jury heard evidence and testimony from dozens of witnesses last year, but it did not have the power to return indictments.

Last week, two regular Superior Court grand juries were empaneled, soon to be tasked with deciding whether to criminally charge Trump and his allies.

Willis’ criminal investigation began in 2021, shortly after the public revelation that Trump had called Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, and pressured him to “find” enough votes to reverse Biden’s win in the state.

Raffensperger rebuffed that request, which was part of an effort by Trump and his allies to either reverse his loss in the Electoral College to Biden, or to raise enough doubt about the results in several key swing states like Georgia to throw the decision about who would be president to the House of Representatives.

Trump is currently the leading candidate for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.

Since launching his campaign, he has already been indicted in two other criminal cases.

In New York state court in Manhattan, he has pleaded not guilty in Manhattan to charges of falsifying business records in connection with a 2016 hush money payment to a porn star, Stormy Daniels.

And he also has pleaded not guilty in Florida federal court to charges related to his retention of classified records after he left the White House.

The special counsel in the classified records case, Jack Smith, separately is investigating Trump for possible crimes in his attempt to reverse his loss in the 2020 election, and for his actions leading up to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot by a mob of his supporters at the U.S. Capitol.

A joint session of Congress met that day to certify Biden’s win in the Electoral College.

The Georgia Supreme Court unanimously dismissed a longshot bid by former President Donald Trump to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from leading a criminal probe into his efforts to reverse his 2020 election loss in that state.

-CNBC

[https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2023/07/17/georgia-supreme-court-rejects-trump-bid-to-block-grand-jury-report-from-use-in-election-probe.html]

Trump Plans to Expand Presidential Power Over Agencies in 2025 – The New York Times

Skip to contentSkip to site index Trump’s 2025 Plans The Trump Agenda Prosecuting Foes Immigration Crackdown Expanding Executive Power Legal Enablers Military Force in Mexico Donald J. Trump intends to bring independent regulatory agencies under direct presidential control.Credit…Doug Mills/The New York Times Trump and Allies Forge Plans to Increase Presidential Power in 2025 The former president and his backers aim to strengthen the power of the White House and limit the independence of federal agencies. Donald J. Trump intends to bring independent regulatory agencies under direct presidential control.Credit…Doug Mills/The New York Times Supported bySKIP ADVERTISEMENT Share full article 3446 By Jonathan Swan, Charlie Savage and Maggie Haberman Published July 17, 2023Updated July 18, 2023 Donald J. Trump and his allies are planning a sweeping expansion of presidential power over the machinery of government if voters return him to the White House in 2025, reshaping the structure of the executive branch to concentrate far greater authority directly in his hands. Their plans to centralize more power in the Oval Office stretch far beyond the former president’s recent remarks that he would order a criminal investigation into his political rival, President Biden, signaling his intent to end the post-Watergate norm of Justice Department independence from White House political control. Mr. Trump and his associates have a broader goal: to alter the balance of power by increasing the president’s authority over every part of the federal government that now operates, by either law or tradition, with any measure of independence from political interference by the White House, according to a review of his campaign policy proposals and interviews with people close to him. Mr. Trump intends to bring independent agencies — like the Federal Communications Commission, which makes and enforces rules for television and internet companies, and the Federal Trade Commission, which enforces various antitrust and other consumer protection rules against businesses — under direct presidential control. He wants to revive the practice of “impounding” funds, refusing to spend money Congress has appropriated for programs a president doesn’t like — a tactic that lawmakers banned under President Richard Nixon. He intends to strip employment protections from tens of thousands of career civil servants, making it easier to replace them if they are deemed obstacles to his agenda. And he plans to scour the intelligence agencies, the State Department and the defense bureaucracies to remove officials he has vilified as “the sick political class that hates our country.” “The president’s plan should be to fundamentally reorient the federal government in a way that hasn’t been done since F.D.R.’s New Deal,” said John McEntee, a former White House personnel chief who began Mr. Trump’s systematic attempt to sweep out officials deemed to be disloyal in 2020 and who is now involved in mapping out the new approach. “Our current executive branch,” Mr. McEntee added, “was conceived of by liberals for the purpose of promulgating liberal policies. There is no way to make the existing structure function in a conservative manner. It’s not enough to get the personnel right. What’s necessary is a complete system overhaul.” Mr. Trump and his advisers are making no secret of their intentions — proclaiming them in rallies and on his campaign website, describing them in white papers and openly discussing them. “What we’re trying to do is identify the pockets of independence and seize them,” said Russell T. Vought, who ran the Office of Management and Budget in the Trump White House and now runs a policy organization, the Center for Renewing America. The strategy in talking openly about such “paradigm-shifting ideas” before the election, Mr. Vought said, is to “plant a flag” — both to shift the debate and to later be able to claim a mandate. He said he was delighted to see few of Mr. Trump’s Republican primary rivals defend the norm of Justice Department independence after the former president openly attacked it. Steven Cheung, a spokesman for Mr. Trump’s campaign, said in a statement that the former president has “laid out a bold and transparent agenda for his second term, something no other candidate has done.” He added, “Voters will know exactly how President Trump will supercharge the economy, bring down inflation, secure the border, protect communities and eradicate the deep state that works against Americans once and for all.” The two driving forces of this effort to reshape the executive branch are Mr. Trump’s own campaign policy shop and a well-funded network of conservative groups, many of which are populated by former senior Trump administration officials who would most likely play key roles in any second term. Mr. Vought and Mr. McEntee are involved in Project 2025, a $22 million presidential transition operation that is preparing policies, personnel lists and transition plans to recommend to any Republican who may win the 2024 election. The transition project, the scale of which is unprecedented in conservative politics, is led by the Heritage Foundation, a think tank that has shaped the personnel and policies of Republican administrations since the Reagan presidency. That work at Heritage dovetails with plans on the Trump campaign website to expand presidential power that were drafted primarily by two of Mr. Trump’s advisers, Vincent Haley and Ross Worthington, with input from other advisers, including Stephen Miller, the architect of the former president’s hard-line immigration agenda. Some elements of the plans had been floated when Mr. Trump was in office but were impeded by internal concerns that they would be unworkable and could lead to setbacks. And for some veterans of Mr. Trump’s turbulent White House who came to question his fitness for leadership, the prospect of removing guardrails and centralizing even greater power over government directly in his hands sounded like a recipe for mayhem. “It would be chaotic,” said John F. Kelly, Mr. Trump’s second White House chief of staff. “It just simply would be chaotic, because he’d continually be trying to exceed his authority but the sycophants would go along with it. It would be a nonstop gunfight with the Congress and the courts.” The agenda being pursued has deep roots in the decades-long effort by conservative legal thinkers to undercut what has become known as the administrative state — agencies that enact regulations aimed at keeping the air and water clean and food, drugs and consumer products safe, but that cut into business profits. Its legal underpinning is a maximalist version of the so-called unitary executive theory. The legal theory rejects the idea that the government is composed of three separate branches with overlapping powers to check and balance each other. Instead, the theory’s adherents argue that Article 2 of the Constitution gives the president complete control of the executive branch, so Congress cannot empower agency heads to make decisions or restrict the president’s ability to fire them. Reagan administration lawyers developed the theory as they sought to advance a deregulatory agenda. Image Mr. Trump and his allies have been laying out an expansive vision of power for a potential second term.Credit…Christopher Lee for The New York Times “The notion of independent federal agencies or federal employees who don’t answer to the president violates the very foundation of our democratic republic,” said Kevin D. Roberts, the president of the Heritage Foundation, adding that the contributors to Project 2025 are committed to “dismantling this rogue administrative state.” Personal power has always been a driving force for Mr. Trump. He often gestures toward it in a more simplistic manner, such as in 2019, when he declared to a cheering crowd, “I have an Article 2, where I have the right to do whatever I want as president.” Mr. Trump made the remark in reference to his claimed ability to directly fire Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel in the Russia inquiry, which primed his hostility toward law enforcement and intelligence agencies. He also tried to get a subordinate to have Mr. Mueller ousted, but was defied. Early in Mr. Trump’s presidency, his chief strategist, Stephen K. Bannon, promised a “deconstruction of the administrative state.” But Mr. Trump installed people in other key roles who ended up telling him that more radical ideas were unworkable or illegal. In the final year of his presidency, he told aides he was fed up with being constrained by subordinates. Now, Mr. Trump is laying out a far more expansive vision of power in any second term. And, in contrast with his disorganized transition after his surprise 2016 victory, he now benefits from a well-funded policymaking infrastructure, led by former officials who did not break with him after his attempts to overturn the 2020 election and the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. One idea the people around Mr. Trump have developed centers on bringing independent agencies under his thumb. Congress created these specialized technocratic agencies inside the executive branch and delegated to them some of its power to make rules for society. But it did so on the condition that it was not simply handing off that power to presidents to wield like kings — putting commissioners atop them whom presidents appoint but generally cannot fire before their terms end, while using its control of their budgets to keep them partly accountable to lawmakers as well. (Agency actions are also subject to court review.) Presidents of both parties have chafed at the agencies’ independence. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, whose New Deal created many of them, endorsed a proposal in 1937 to fold them all into cabinet departments under his control, but Congress did not enact it. Later presidents sought to impose greater control over nonindependent agencies Congress created, like the Environmental Protection Agency, which is run by an administrator whom a president can remove at will. For example, President Ronald Reagan issued executive orders requiring nonindependent agencies to submit proposed regulations to the White House for review. But overall, presidents have largely left the independent agencies alone. Mr. Trump’s allies are preparing to change that, drafting an executive order requiring independent agencies to submit actions to the White House for review. Mr. Trump endorsed the idea on his campaign website, vowing to bring them “under presidential authority.” Such an order was drafted in Mr. Trump’s first term — and blessed by the Justice Department — but never issued amid internal concerns. Some of the concerns were over how to carry out reviews for agencies that are headed by multiple commissioners and subject to administrative procedures and open-meetings laws, as well as over how the market would react if the order chipped away at the Federal Reserve’s independence, people familiar with the matter said. Image The former president views the civil service as a den of “deep staters” who were trying to thwart him at every turn in the White House.Credit…John Tully for The New York Times The Federal Reserve was ultimately exempted in the draft executive order, but Mr. Trump did not sign it before his presidency ended. If Mr. Trump and his allies get another shot at power, the independence of the Federal Reserve — an institution Mr. Trump publicly railed at as president — could be up for debate. Notably, the Trump campaign website’s discussion of bringing independent agencies under presidential control is silent on whether that includes the Fed. Asked whether presidents should be able to order interest rates lowered before elections, even if experts think that would hurt the long-term health of the economy, Mr. Vought said that would have to be worked out with Congress. But “at the bare minimum,” he said, the Federal Reserve’s regulatory functions should be subject to White House review. “It’s very hard to square the Fed’s independence with the Constitution,” Mr. Vought said. Other former Trump administration officials involved in the planning said there would also probably be a legal challenge to the limits on a president’s power to fire heads of independent agencies. Mr. Trump could remove an agency head, teeing up the question for the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court in 1935 and 1988 upheld the power of Congress to shield some executive branch officials from being fired without cause. But after justices appointed by Republicans since Reagan took control, it has started to erode those precedents. Peter L. Strauss, professor emeritus of law at Columbia University and a critic of the strong version of the unitary executive theory, argued that it is constitutional and desirable for Congress, in creating and empowering an agency to perform some task, to also include some checks on the president’s control over officials “because we don’t want autocracy” and to prevent abuses. “The regrettable fact is that the judiciary at the moment seems inclined to recognize that the president does have this kind of authority,” he said. “They are clawing away agency independence in ways that I find quite unfortunate and disrespectful of congressional choice.” Mr. Trump has also vowed to impound funds, or refuse to spend money appropriated by Congress. After Nixon used the practice to aggressively block agency spending he was opposed to, on water pollution control, housing construction and other issues, Congress banned the tactic. On his campaign website, Mr. Trump declared that presidents have a constitutional right to impound funds and said he would restore the practice — though he acknowledged it could result in a legal battle. Mr. Trump and his allies also want to transform the civil service — government employees who are supposed to be nonpartisan professionals and experts with protections against being fired for political reasons. The former president views the civil service as a den of “deep staters” who were trying to thwart him at every turn, including by raising legal or pragmatic objections to his immigration policies, among many other examples. Toward the end of his term, his aides drafted an executive order, “Creating Schedule F in the Excepted Service,” that removed employment protections from career officials whose jobs were deemed linked to policymaking. Mr. Trump signed the order, which became known as Schedule F, near the end of his presidency, but President Biden rescinded it. Mr. Trump has vowed to immediately reinstitute it in a second term. Critics say he could use it for a partisan purge. But James Sherk, a former Trump administration official who came up with the idea and now works at the America First Policy Institute — a think tank stocked heavily with former Trump officials — argued it would only be used against poor performers and people who actively impeded the elected president’s agenda. “Schedule F expressly forbids hiring or firing based on political loyalty,” Mr. Sherk said. “Schedule F employees would keep their jobs if they served effectively and impartially.” Mr. Trump himself has characterized his intentions rather differently — promising on his campaign website to “find and remove the radicals who have infiltrated the federal Department of Education” and listing a litany of targets at a rally last month. “We will demolish the deep state,” Mr. Trump said at the rally in Michigan. “We will expel the warmongers from our government. We will drive out the globalists. We will cast out the communists, Marxists and fascists. And we will throw off the sick political class that hates our country.” Jonathan Swan is a political reporter who focuses on campaigns and Congress. As a reporter for Axios, he won an Emmy Award for his 2020 interview of then-President Donald J. Trump, and the White House Correspondents’ Association’s Aldo Beckman Award for “overall excellence in White House coverage” in 2022. More about Jonathan Swan Charlie Savage is a Washington-based national security and legal policy correspondent. A recipient of the Pulitzer Prize, he previously worked at The Boston Globe and The Miami Herald. His most recent book is “Power Wars: The Relentless Rise of Presidential Authority and Secrecy.” More about Charlie Savage Maggie Haberman is a senior political correspondent and the author of “Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America.” She was part of a team that won a Pulitzer Prize in 2018 for reporting on President Trump’s advisers and their connections to Russia. More about Maggie Haberman A version of this article appears in print on , Section A, Page 1 of the New York edition with the headline: Trump and Allies Seeking Vast Increase of His Power. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe 3446 Share full article 3446 AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENT Site Index Site Information Navigation © 2023 The New York Times Company NYTCo Contact Us Accessibility Work with us Advertise T Brand Studio Your Ad Choices Privacy Policy Terms of Service Terms of Sale Site Map Canada International Help Subscriptions Manage Privacy Preferences

@[100044274887410:2048:Donald J. Trump] is being completely open about his desire to convert America into an authoritarian state, by purging all government employees at every agency who he perceives as “disloyal” to him, and converting all traditionally independent agencies to be under the direct control of him, such as the FTC which oversees the business he would still own and operate while in office.

Make no mistake, in November 2024 American authoritarianism is on the ballot.

[https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/17/us/politics/trump-plans-2025.html?unlocked_article_code=shsZmm5crjneLqPLzJqfvAqkxg17aiQPEvPVyKfOYqMQjHpMDK_KV38ZdYht6JiZw2E0fNxDBe4CrLUQqTAAIkYlGctvXX6uYlj1IukM90_EuG5X3JjIL5x54PkpPShUEM4mTQ-sEwvGECHTRUl3k5QS_s3_6oxHzJ87r26vZu4_70Adt_aa7DYQ12zkg-FPpJLDcykysoiSY6527Eg57utTKSssrEJexldmvebjug38IjSM_dCOp9Ro_pzgBOowvyuc5ZG-_-cAPnQ2aTIjP0ThEIYPpA1QKtvc4y7attLydFFPSgekyOoJ_ZDjZK7KS39IAelerxL7idK08XU&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare]

Majority support Trump in 2024 GOP primary straw poll at Turning Point Action Conference | Washington Examiner

News White House Senate House Campaigns Business Justice Crime Sunday Talk Shows Washington Secrets Policy Defense & National Security Energy & Environment Education Immigration Finance & Economy Healthcare Foreign Policy Technology Infrastructure Space Think Tanks Opinion Columnists Editorials Beltway Confidential Watch Latest Clips The Debrief Reporter’s Notebook Restoring America Newsletters Subscriber Content Member Login Magazine Archive Quarterly Briefing Book of the Month Sign In | Subscribe My Account WEX Access Contact Us Logout Clear Search Sign In | Subscribe My Account WEX Access Contact Us Logout Friday, December 08, 2023 Friday, December 08, 2023 Sign In | Subscribe My Account WEX Access Contact Us Logout News White House Senate House Campaigns Business Justice Crime Sunday Talk Shows Washington Secrets Policy Defense & National Security Energy & Environment Education Immigration Finance & Economy Healthcare Foreign Policy Technology Infrastructure Space Think Tanks Opinion Columnists Editorials Beltway Confidential Watch Latest Clips The Debrief Reporter’s Notebook Restoring America Newsletters Subscriber Content Magazine Archive Quarterly Briefing Book of the Month Crosswords Turning Point USA Majority support Trump in 2024 GOP primary straw poll at Turning Point Action Conference by Julia Johnson, Politics Reporter July 16, 2023 03:13 PM Latest The child tax credit keeps getting smaller By: Timothy P. Carney Sex trafficking victims call on judge to recuse himself in Pornhub criminal case By: Breccan F. Thies Reps. Rashida Tlaib and Ayanna Pressley blasted online for Hanukkah tweets By: Jenny Goldsberry Videos Embattled Penn President Liz Magill faces growing calls for resignation Economy defies recession predictions with 199,000 jobs in November Trump indictments boosted his polling, but conviction could cost him reelection Hunter Biden indicted on criminal tax charges in California Newsletters Sign up now to get the Washington Examiner’s breaking news and timely commentary delivered right to your inbox. EXCLUSIVE — Attendees at the Turning Point Action Conference in West Palm Beach, Florida, overwhelmingly voted former President Donald Trump the winner of the Republican presidential primary straw poll. The results of the poll, conducted by the Trafalgar Group, were exclusively provided to the Washington Examiner. THREE TAKEAWAYS FROM DAY ONE OF TURNING POINT ACTION CONFERENCE Most conference-goers preferred Trump for the nomination, with 85.7% supporting the former president. Second, was businessman Perry Johnson with 7.8%, who spoke on day two of the event. Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) followed with 4.3%. An image of former President Donald Trump covered with messages written on sticky notes is displayed at an exhibit titled “Say What You Want” featuring images of 2024 presidential candidates, during the Turning Point Action conference, Saturday, July 15, 2023, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) Lynne Sladky/AP DeSantis did not attend the event in his home state. His campaign press secretary Bryan Griffin said in a statement on Saturday, “Governor DeSantis spent the day with Iowans and spoke to a packed house at the Tennessee GOP Statesman Dinner later that night. This was a day after he delivered the strongest interview at the Family Leadership Summit, which Donald Trump notably skipped. Ron DeSantis is campaigning to win.” For their second preference, half of the respondents chose Vivek Ramaswamy, who also spoke at the conference, further deviating from national polling. Twenty-one percent named Trump their second pick, and 13.5% said Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL). In a statement, founder and CEO Charlie Kirk said, “The straw poll demonstrates that President Trump remains the single most dominant force among the conservative grassroots. All the attacks against him have seemingly made him even stronger and more popular among the conservative faithful.” “What’s also clear is that Governor DeSantis’ decision not to come to this event probably hurt his showing in this poll. There are a lot of people here who have a lot of respect for the governor and what he’s done in Florida, but I was approached multiple times by attendees telling me they were disappointed he didn’t come, and that’s evident in the poll results,” he said. “Vivek showed up and gave a great speech, and he was the clear second-choice favorite among our people.” Kirk called Ramasamy’s results “remarkable” considering where he started, saying the 2024 hopeful is “running a great campaign, and his message is clearly resonating with primary voters. Also, the big losers in this poll are the RNC, the warmongers, and the primary debates. This event and its attendees are the pulse of the grassroots, and it’s clear there’s been a tectonic shift in the passions and priorities of base conservatives.” Presidential candidates former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and Miami Mayor Francis Suarez also spoke during the event. According to Turning Point Action, former Vice President Mike Pence, Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), former Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, and DeSantis were all invited but declined the invitation. Thirty percent of respondents said Kari Lake should be vice president, 24% said Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL), and 22% said Ramaswamy. Roughly half of the conference’s approximate 6,000 attendees were college-aged individuals between the ages of 18-21, while the other half were of varying ages. Only about half of the attendees responded to the poll. There was measurable support for the popular Florida governor from attendees, who were disappointed that they would not hear from him on this occasion, according to a source involved with the event. The source detailed enthusiasm for DeSantis from many conference-goers, some of whom posted positive thoughts and messages of support on a large cardboard cutout of his face outside the main hall. An image of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis covered with messages written on sticky notes is displayed at an exhibit titled, “Say What You Want,” featuring images of 2024 presidential candidates, during the Turning Point Action conference, Saturday, July 15, 2023, in West Palm Beach, Fla.(AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) Lynne Sladky/AP The poll also surveyed attendees on public policy issues, such as the war in Ukraine, which many of the speakers were vocally against. More than 95% said they are against United States involvement in the war in Ukraine. The southern border was voted the most important issue facing America, with nearly a quarter saying so. Just under 60% said they were excited for the Republican National Committee’s primary debate next month, which Trump notably may not attend. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER Further, two-thirds said they don’t trust the RNC to get voters to the polls in 2024. A majority, 77%, also said they don’t plan to donate to the party. Interestingly, nearly 90% said the GOP should “embrace early voting and vote banking.” National polling from Morning Consult shows Trump has 56% of support among potential primary voters. Behind him is DeSantis with 17%. Latest The child tax credit keeps getting smaller By: Timothy P. Carney Sex trafficking victims call on judge to recuse himself in Pornhub criminal case By: Breccan F. Thies Reps. Rashida Tlaib and Ayanna Pressley blasted online for Hanukkah tweets By: Jenny Goldsberry Videos Embattled Penn President Liz Magill faces growing calls for resignation Economy defies recession predictions with 199,000 jobs in November Trump indictments boosted his polling, but conviction could cost him reelection Hunter Biden indicted on criminal tax charges in California Newsletters Sign up now to get the Washington Examiner’s breaking news and timely commentary delivered right to your inbox. Turning Point USA News straw poll 2024 Elections Donald Trump Vivek Ramaswamy Ron DeSantis Share your thoughts with friends. Cookie Preferences About Examiner Magazine Archive Staff Policies and Standards Sitemap Terms Of Service Subscription Terms of Use Privacy Policy Your Privacy Choices Transparency In Coverage Advertise Contact Subscribe Newsletters Careers Facebook Twitter Copyright 2023. Washington Examiner. All Rights Reserved.

At the annual meeting of the far-right extremist group Turning Point USA, Donald Trump won their straw poll by a massive margin with 85.7%, businessman Perry Johnson with 7.8%, who spoke on day two of the event and Gov. Ron DeSantis followed with 4.3%.

[https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/campaigns/trump-2024-gop-straw-poll-turning-point-action]

Matt Gaetz Thinks Margot Robbie Is Really Hot

Skip to main content Manage SubscriptionLogin! subscribe Politics TV Interviews Entertainment Sports Podcasts Opinion UK Mediaite+ Mediaite Manage SubscriptionLogin! subscribe Politics TV Interviews Entertainment Sports Podcasts Opinion UK Mediaite+ Appeals Court Upholds Gag Order on Trump – But Allows Him To Criticize Jack Smith GOP Mega-Donor Slams ‘Disgraceful’ Last Months of Trump’s Presidency While Endorsing Haley on Fox News ‘I Am A Really Bad Person’: Michigan School Shooter Addresses Court Before Sentencing Elon Musk Trying to Get Disney Chief Bob Iger Fired After DealBook Disaster White House Dumps Council on American-Islamic Relations from Anti-Semitism and Islamophobia Materials Matt Gaetz Tries Appealing To Youngsters at TP USA Conference: ‘Margo Robbie Is Not Mid!’ Phillip NietoJul 15th, 2023, 5:51 pm Twitter share button Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) tried impressing young conservatives at a Turning Point USA conference on Saturday by referencing an online debate about the attractiveness of actress Margot Robbie. Recently, there has been an online debate about whether or not Robbie is attractive when she is not wearing makeup. The controversy originates from tweets referring to the actress as “mid,” a term used by members of Generation Z to refer to a mildly attractive female. This is her without makeup. Definitely mid. https://t.co/9sHshGY09z pic.twitter.com/Q4yLPC1dIE — Nick (@NicholasVerola) July 12, 2023 She is a hard 7. You used to find a Margot Robbie in every Blockbuster Video in 1995. pic.twitter.com/rGvrUg0F4z — Bizlet (@bizlet7) July 12, 2023 The Republican firebrand decided to reference this controversy during his speech at the Turning Point Action Conference in West Palm Beach, Florida, noting that the Barbie actress is a “ten.” “There’s this big online debate raging right now, and I just want to settle as one true north for the nature of truth itself,” said Gaetz. “Margot Robbie is not mid. A ten is a ten even with Common Core math.” The joke appeared to go over well with some of the young audience members as it was meant with claps and jeers in the auditorium. Watch the full clip above. Have a tip we should know? tips@mediaite.com Filed Under: Margot RobbieMatt GaetzTurning PointTwitter Previous PostNext Post Previous PostNext Post Load Comments Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. Tips Have a tip or story idea? Email us. Or to keep it anonymous, click here. Most Popular ‘We Heard Him With Our Own Ears!’ CNN’s Dana Bash Stunned By Trump Rival’s Claim Cops Incited Jan. 6 Rioters ‘I Have No Evidence But—’ NBC’s Chuck Todd Floats Trump Collusion With Debate Attack Dog Ramaswamy ‘I Was Shaking Listening to Him’: Van Jones Says Vivek Ramaswamy’s Debate Remarks ‘One Step Away From Nazi Propaganda’ ‘Pathetic and Disgusting’: McGovern Slams Marjorie Taylor Greene, Says ‘It’s Really Rich to Get a Lecture on Civility’ From Her Hot Mic Catches Megyn Kelly’s Post-Debate Panel Mocking Ron DeSantis’s Expression: ‘Looked Like You Shot His Dog’ You may also like: Kevin McCarthy Hit With Brutal, Since-Removed Community Note On X After Resigning: ‘He Just Quit’ Phillip NietoDec 6th, 2023, 6:37 pm ‘Whoa!’ Gutfeld Draws Stunned Gasps In Studio With Devastating Crack About Fox News Firing Tucker Carlson Caleb HoweDec 2nd, 2023, 2:30 pm Matt Gaetz Urges Against Expelling George Santos – ‘Whoever He Is’ Phillip NietoNov 30th, 2023, 5:18 pm The Appeal of Elon Musk’s ‘Go F*ck Yourself’ Rant Isaac SchorrNov 30th, 2023, 12:47 pm Elon Musk Deletes Falsehood-Ridden Pizzagate Meme After His Own App Calls Him Out Isaac SchorrNov 28th, 2023, 3:37 pm Mayor of Paris Quits ‘Global Sewer’ Twitter/X in Scorching Post: ‘The Weapon of Mass Destruction of Our Democracies’ Jamie FreveleNov 27th, 2023, 3:45 pm © 2023 Mediaite, LLC About Us Advertise Privacy Accessibility User Agreement Ethics & Diversity Policy Contact

Sex trafficker @[100044404090370:2048:Congressman Matt Gaetz] wants to remind you he’s a fucking creep.

[https://www.mediaite.com/online/matt-gaetz-tries-appealing-to-youngsters-at-tp-usa-conference-margo-robbie-is-not-mid/]

RFK Jr. says COVID was ‘ethnically targeted’ to spare Jews

News Metro Page Six Sports NFL MLB NBA NHL College Football College Basketball Post Sports+ Sports Betting Business Personal Finance Opinion Entertainment TV Movies Music Celebrities Awards Theater Shopping Lifestyle Weird But True Health Fitness Health Care Medicine Men’s Health Women’s Health Mental Health Nutrition Sex & Relationships Viral Trends Human Interest Parenting Fashion & Beauty Food & Drink Travel Real Estate Media Tech Astrology Video Photos Visual Stories Sub Menu 1 Today’s Paper Covers Columnists Horoscopes Crosswords & Games Sports Odds Podcasts Careers Sub menu 2 Email Newsletters Official Store Home Delivery Tips Menu Facebook Twitter Flipboard WhatsApp Email trending now Skip to main content Megyn Kelly reveals what Chris Christie told her during heated… Melania Trump wants husband Donald to tap Tucker Carlson for VP:… Internet sleuths connecting Shohei Ohtani to one team News exclusive RFK Jr. says COVID may have been ‘ethnically targeted’ to spare Jews By Jon Levine Published July 15, 2023 Updated July 23, 2023, 5:32 p.m. ET More On: Robert Kennedy Newly revealed 1994 photo of RFK Jr. with Jeffrey Epstein raises new questions about their relationship Cheryl Hines blasts Biden for refusing Secret Service protection for hubby RFK Jr. Vaccine expert slammed for predicting ‘Barbenheimer’ will spark COVID surge UFT harm to city kids and more: Letters to the Editor — July 23, 2023 Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. dished out wild COVID-19 conspiracy theories this week during a press event at an Upper East Side restaurant, claiming the bug was a genetically engineered bioweapon that may have been “ethnically targeted” to spare Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people. Advertisement Kennedy floated the idea during a question-and-answer portion of raucous booze and fart-filled dinner at Tony’s Di Napoli on East 63d Street. “COVID-19. There is an argument that it is ethnically targeted. COVID-19 attacks certain races disproportionately,” Kennedy said. “COVID-19 is targeted to attack Caucasians and black people. The people who are most immune are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese.” “We don’t know whether it was deliberately targeted or not but there are papers out there that show the racial or ethnic differential and impact,” Kennedy hedged. Advertisement In between bites of linguini and clam sauce, Kennedy, 69, warned of more dire biological weapons in the pipeline with a “50% infection fatality rate” that would make COVID-19 “look like a walk in the park.” “We do know that the Chinese are spending hundreds of millions of dollars developing ethnic bioweapons and we are developing ethnic bioweapons,” he claimed. “They’re collecting Russian DNA. They’re collecting Chinese DNA so we can target people by race.” see also FBI chief Christopher Wray confirms agency’s belief COVID came from Chinese lab leak Advertisement There has been a growing consensus among US intelligence agencies that COVID-19 was man-made and escaped from a lab in Wuhan, China — but there is no evidence it was designed to spare certain religious groups or ethnicities, and Kennedy offered no studies to support his claims. Kennedy’s remark echoes well-worn anti-Semitic literature blaming Jews for the emergence and spread of coronavirus which began circulating online shortly after the pandemic broke out, according to The Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry at the University of Tel Aviv’s 2021 Antisemitism Worldwide Report. A 2020 Oxford University study found nearly 1 in 5 British people believed Jews created the coronavirus pandemic for financial gain. Advertisement “No no no no no,” said Dr. Monica Gandhi Professor of medicine and infectious disease at the University of California, San Francisco, and a longtime critic of pandemic-related school closures. “I don’t see any evidence that there was any design or bioterrorism that anyone tried to design something to knock off certain groups.” Jewish organizations blasted Kennedy for his remarks. Kennedy is running as a Democratic candidate for president in a long-shot race against President Biden. John Lamparski/Getty Images Advertisement “This is crazy,” said Morton Klein, President of the right-leaning Zionist Organization of America. “It makes no sense that they would do that. I read everything. I was totally against the vaccine. . . I wanted to convince myself it was correct not to take it. I have never seen anything like this.” Klein, who said he had been advising Kennedy on Israel issues and called him a “good friend,” said the remark left him “worried.” The son of former Attorney General Robert Kennedy and nephew of former President Kennedy has in the past palled around with Nation of Islam leader and notorious anti-Semite Louis Farrakhan. Advertisement He also met with NOI leadership in Los Angeles in 2020 and told them the COVID vaccine had been “genetically modified to attack black and Latino boys.” While there has been speculation that Covid-19 was manmade and escaped from a lab, there is no evidence it was designed to spare certain religious groups or ethnicities. Getty Images The left-leaning Anti-Defamation League went further saying in a statement saying: “The claim that COVID-19 was a bioweapon created by the Chinese or Jews to attack Caucasians and black people is deeply offensive and feeds into sinophobic and anti-semitic conspiracy theories about COVID-19 that we have seen evolve over the last three years.” Advertisement Kennedy’s campaign has drawn in disaffected elements of both the right and left seeking an alternative to mainstream candidates. Some polls have shown him garnering 20% support among primary voters. Kennedy called The Post’s “mistaken,” tweeting Saturday that the event had been off the record, but event organizer Doug Dechert told The Post it was on the record. Advertisement What do you think? Post a comment. A second event attendee confirmed to The Post Dechert told him the same thing. “The U.S. and other governments are developing ethnically targeted bioweapons and that a 2021 study of the COVID-19 virus shows that COVID-19 appears to disproportionately affect certain races,” Kennedy tweeted — reiterating his remarks from the dinner. “The furin cleave docking site is most compatible with blacks and Caucasians and least compatible with ethnic Chinese, Finns, and Ashkenazi Jews. In that sense, it serves as a kind of proof of concept for ethnically targeted bioweapons.” “I do not believe and never implied that the ethnic effect was deliberately engineered,” he added — clarifying his recorded remarks. Share this: Filed under anti-semitism , china , Coronavirus , Robert Kennedy , 7/15/23 Load more… {{#isDisplay}} {{/isDisplay}}{{#isAniviewVideo}} {{/isAniviewVideo}}{{#isSRVideo}} {{/isSRVideo}} trending now Megyn Kelly reveals what Chris Christie told her during heated off-air confrontation at GOP debate: ‘He was pissed’ Melania Trump wants husband Donald to tap Tucker Carlson for VP: report Internet sleuths connecting Shohei Ohtani to one team ‘One down’: UPenn reportedly asking president to step down Friday over outrage at antisemitism testimony Georgia high school baseball star brain-dead after teammate accidentally hits him with bat during practice Nine-year-old sends dad to prison after catching six-minute bloody beating of mom on video https://nypost.com/2023/07/15/rfk-jr-says-covid-was-ethnically-targeted-to-spare-jews/?utm_source=url_sitebuttons&utm_medium=site%20buttons&utm_campaign=site%20buttons Copy the URL to share Post Sports+ Email Newsletters Mobile Apps Contact Us Tips Facebook Twitter Instagram LinkedIn Email YouTube © 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. 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Steve Bannon’s “chaos candidate” Robert F. Kennedy said COVID was “engineered” to ethnically target “Caucasians and black people” as a form of an attack, while sparing “Jews and Chinese.”

Kennedy complained that “the media” was twisting his words but the video of his comments is at the link.

[https://nypost.com/2023/07/15/rfk-jr-says-covid-was-ethnically-targeted-to-spare-jews/amp/]

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