Biden admin quietly dismisses over 350K asylum applications from immigrants since 2022: TRAC
As the White House finalizes plans for a U.S.-Mexico clampdown that would shut off asylum requests and automatically deny entrance to migrants once a threshold is met, the Biden administration has continued to allow hundreds of thousands of migrants to remain in the U.S. with what amounts to amnesty, according to a report. A report released last month by Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), a nonpartisan data gathering organization that tracks immigration cases and backlogs shows that since 2022, over 350,000 asylum cases filed by migrants were closed by the U.S. government on the basis that those who filed did not have a criminal record or were not deemed a threat to the U.S. Once cases are terminated without a decision on the merits of their asylum claim, the migrants are removed from the legal system, and they are not required to check in with authorities. It also means the migrants can legally go anywhere they want inside the U.S. without having to worry about being deported. BIDEN IS SAID TO BE FINALIZING PLANS FOR MIGRANT LIMITS AS PART OF A US-MEXICO BORDER CLAMPDOWN The New York Post reported that a memo sent out by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) principal legal advisor Kerry Doyle in 2022 told agency prosecutors to dismiss cases for migrants who do not pose a threat to national security. TRAC’s data shows that in the same year, there were 173,227 applications for asylum filed. Of those applications, immigration judges ordered 36,250 of the applicants be removed from the U.S., granted asylum to 31,859 applicants. The other 102,550 applications were reportedly dismissed or taken off the books. In 2023, there were 248,232 asylum applications filed, of which 52,440 applicants were ordered to be removed, 43,113 were granted asylum, and 149,305 were dismissed or taken off the books. IMMIGRATION JUDGES RAMP UP PACE CLOSING DEPORTATION CASES, BUT BACKLOG EXPLODES AS BORDER CRISIS GROWS So far in 2024, there have been 175,193 asylum applications and 113,843 applications dismissed. The numbers are much higher than under the Trump administration, when in 2019 – before the pandemic – there were 87,018 asylum applications filed with 52,223 applicants removed from the country, 24,109 granted relief and 4,746 applications dismissed. When cases are closed, migrants are no longer faced with deportation or removal proceedings. They are also not obligated to leave the U.S. as they are no longer being monitored by ICE. BIDEN’S REVERSAL OF TRUMP POLICIES CREATED BORDER CRISIS, EXPERT SAYS: ‘INTENTIONALLY UNSECURED IT’ The applicants whose cases are dismissed are able to apply for asylum again or they can seek out other forms of legal status like a family-based or employment-based visa, or even Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). The immigration court backlog has grown from 2.8 million at the end of Fiscal Year 2023 to nearly 3.6 million in FY 2024, with immigration judges being unable to keep up with the current flow of new cases into the system. The number of new cases filed as well as the number of cases completed by immigration judges are both on pace to exceed all-time highs this year, the TRAC report notes, though the pace of completions will be unable to stem the growing backlog. ‘FEARMONGERING’: CHINESE MIGRANT SURGE HEARING DISMISSED BY HOUSE DEMS DESPITE NATIONAL SECURITY CONCERNS The president has been weighing additional executive action since the collapse of a bipartisan border bill earlier this year. The number of illegal crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border has declined for months, partly because of a stepped-up effort by Mexico. Still, immigration remains a top concern heading into the U.S. presidential election in November and Republicans are eager to hammer Biden on the issue. The Democratic administration’s effort would aim to head off any potential spike in crossings that could occur later in the year, as the fall election draws closer, when the weather cools and numbers tend to rise. Four people familiar with Biden’s plans were not authorized to speak publicly about the ongoing discussions and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. The move would allow Biden, whose administration has taken smaller steps in recent weeks to discourage migration and speed up asylum processing, to say he has done all he can do to control the border numbers without help from Congress. The restrictions being considered are an aggressive attempt to ease the nation’s overwhelmed asylum system, along with a new effort to speed up the cases of migrants already in America and another meant to quicken processing for migrants with criminal records or those who would otherwise be eventually deemed ineligible for asylum in the United States. The people told the AP that the administration was weighing some of the policies directly from a stalled bipartisan Senate border deal, including capping the number of encounters at an average of 4,000 per day over a week and whether that limit would include asylum-seekers coming to the border with appointments through U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s CBP One app. Right now, there are roughly 1,450 such appointments per day. Fox News Digital’s Michael Lee and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
3 South Dakota counties to vote on returning to ballot tabulation by hand
Voters in at least three rural South Dakota counties are set to decide Tuesday whether to return to counting ballots by hand, the latest communities around the country to consider ditching machine tabulators based on unfounded conspiracy theories stemming from the 2020 presidential election. The three counties, each with fewer than 6,000 residents, would be among the first in the U.S. to require old-school hand counts, which long ago were replaced by ballot tabulators in most of the country. A number of other states and local governments have considered banning machine counting since the 2020 election, but most of those efforts have sputtered over concerns of cost, the time it takes to count by hand and the difficulty of hiring more staff to do it. ‘ELECTION INTERFERENCE’ CLAIMS MUDDY BATTLEGROUND STATE POLITICS AMID COMPETITIVE RACES Experts say counting the votes by hand is less accurate that machine tabulation. Supporters of the South Dakota effort aren’t deterred by such worries. “We believe that a decentralized approach to the elections is much more secure, much more transparent, and that the citizens should have oversight over their elections,” said Jessica Pollema, president of SD Canvassing, a citizen group supporting the change. Like efforts elsewhere, the South Dakota push for hand counting has its origins in false claims pushed by former President Donald Trump and his allies after the 2020 presidential election. They made claims of widespread voter fraud and spread conspiracy theories that voting machines were manipulated to steal the election. There has been no evidence to support such claims, but they have become embedded in many places that voted heavily for Trump. The citizen initiatives in South Dakota to prohibit tabulating machines are set to appear on Tuesday’s primary ballot in Gregory, Haakon and Tripp counties. Similar petition efforts for future measure votes are underway in more than 40 other counties in the conservative state, Pollema said. At least four counties have rejected attempts to force hand counting. Earlier, the Fall River County Commission voted in February to count ballots by hand for the June election, and Tripp County counted its general election ballots by hand in 2022. If the measure passes Tuesday, Gregory County Auditor Julie Bartling said the county will have to increase the number of precincts to lessen the burden of hand counting. That will force it to buy more assisted voting devices for disabled voters. The county also will face the difficult task of hiring more election workers. Bartling, who runs elections in the county, opposes the initiative and said she has “full faith in the automated tabulators.” Todd and Tripp County Auditor Barb DeSersa said she also opposes attempts to require hand counting of all ballots because the process isn’t as accurate. She said the 2022 hand count left election workers exhausted. “I know the ones that have done it the last time didn’t want nothing to do with it this time, so I think once they do it once or twice, they’ll get tired of it, and it’ll be harder to find people to volunteer to do that,” DeSersa said. DeSersa’s office estimated it would cost $17,000 to $25,000 for elections in Tripp County to be counted by hand, compared to about $19,000 to $21,000 using tabulators. Haakon County Auditor Stacy Pinney said she initially estimated hand counting will cost between $750 and $4,500, but “overall, an election cost is hard to determine at this point.” According to a state attorney’s analysis for Haakon County, it would take two election workers using a tabulator three to four hours to count all the ballots. It would take 15 to 20 election workers between five and 15 hours to do a hand count, depending on the number of contested races. The three counties have a combined 7,725 active registered voters, according to a statewide report. Republican state Rep. Rocky Blare, who lives in Tripp County, said he will vote against the measure. “They can’t prove to me that there’s been any issues that I think have affected our election in South Dakota,” Blare said. Secretary of State Monae Johnson, a Republican, expressed confidence in tabulating machines, noting they have been used for years. In a statement, she pointed to “safeguards built in throughout the process and the post-election audit on the machines after the primary and general election to ensure they are working properly.” The June election will be the first with a post-election audit, a process included in a 2023 state law. It involves hand counting all the votes in two races from 5% of precincts in every county to ensure the machine tabulation is accurate. Johnson’s office said there was no evidence of any widespread problems in 2020 or 2022. One person voted twice, she said, and was caught. After repeated attacks against machine-counting of ballots in the 2020 presidential election, Dominion Voting Systems last year reached a $787 million settlement in a defamation case against Fox News over false claims the network repeatedly aired. The judge in that case found it was “CRYSTAL clear” none of the claims about Dominion’s machines was true, and testimony showed many Fox hosts quietly doubted the claims their network was airing. Since 2020, only a few counties have made the switch to hand counting. In California, officials in Shasta County voted to get rid of their ballot tabulators, but state lawmakers later restricted hand counts to limited circumstances. Officials in Arizona’s Mohave County rejected a proposal to hand count ballots in 2023, citing the $1.1 million cost. David Levine, a former local election official in Idaho who is now a senior fellow with the Alliance for Securing Democracy, said research has shown hand counting large numbers of ballots is more costly, less accurate and takes more time than machine tabulators. “If you listen to conspiracy theorists and election skeptics throughout the U.S., one reason the 2020 election was illegitimate was because of an algorithm. Hence, if you take computers out of the voting process, you’ll have a more
Blue city rethinking ‘sanctuary’ status amid migrant flood
A duo of New York City Council members is reaching across the aisle to introduce a bill to end the sanctuary policies enacted under former Mayor Bill de Blasio. Council members Robert Holden, a Democrat, and Joe Borelli, a Republican, plan to introduce legislation Thursday that would roll back the de Blasio-era policies and make it easier for the city’s law enforcement to cooperate with federal immigration authorities, according to a report from the New York Post. “Sanctuary city laws put all New Yorkers, both immigrants and longtime residents, in danger by preventing the NYPD and DOC from working with ICE,” Holden told the New York Post. “We do not need to import criminals, and only 23 years since 9/11, we have forgotten the deadly consequences of poor interagency communication. We must repeal these laws immediately.” NYC MAYOR RIPPED BY IMMIGRATION ACTIVISTS OVER ‘RACIST’ CLAIM THAT MIGRANTS MAKE ‘EXCELLENT SWIMMERS’ The bill, which is likely to face significant pushback from the city’s Democratic-majority council, would roll back restrictions that prohibit the New York City Police Department (NYPD) and Correction and Probation departments from cooperating with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The bill would also reverse a rule that prohibits city agencies from partnering with ICE on matters of federal immigration law, the New York Post report said. The bipartisan effort comes after several high-profile migrant crimes, including the murder of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley. HOUSE REPUBLICANS GRILL NYC MAYOR ERIC ADAMS ON GIVING MIGRANTS PREPAID DEBIT CARDS “Like most things in New York, sanctuary city policy is a social experiment gone off the rails,” Borelli told the New York Post. “All the problems with these local laws came out during the public-hearing process, but the Council just stepped harder on the gas pedal.” New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who took over for de Blasio, has in the past indicated an openness to loosening the city’s sanctuary policies, with the New York Post noting the mayor called for migrants that are “suspected” of “serious” crimes to be turned over to ICE. Adams has yet to indicate whether he would support the new legislation. His office did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment.
DOJ claims it can’t release Biden-Hur interview due to threat of AI deepfakes
The Justice Department cannot release audio from President Biden’s interview with Special Counsel Robert Hur due to the threat of potential deepfakes, the DOJ argued in a Friday court filing. The filing came as part of a legal challenge against Biden’s efforts to exercise executive privilege over the recording to keep it from the public. The DOJ acknowledged in its Friday filing that there is already enough public audio available to create AI deepfakes of both Biden and Hur, but it said releasing the true recording would make it more difficult to disprove any false versions. “The passage of time and advancements in audio, artificial intelligence, and ‘deep fake’ technologies only amplify concerns about malicious manipulation of audio files. If the audio recording is released here, it is easy to foresee that it could be improperly altered, and that the altered file could be passed off as an authentic recording and widely distributed,” the department wrote. Associate Deputy Attorney General Bradley Weinsheimer wrote in the filing that releasing the tape would “make it far more likely that malicious actors could pass off a deepfake as the authentic recording.” BIDEN ASSERTS EXECUTIVE PRIVILEGE OVER RECORDINGS FROM CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS PROBE Biden’s administration is facing a myriad of efforts from conservative legal groups and House Republicans to force the release of the audio. The DOJ has already released a transcript of the interview, which revealed multiple embarrassing moments for the president. BIDEN, NOT SPECIAL COUNSEL HUR, BROUGHT UP SON’S DEATH IN QUESTIONING Biden met with Hur for about five hours last year, when he was grilled about his handling of the classified documents. Hur’s report, released earlier this year, declared Biden to be a forgetful, but well-meaning elderly man. The report highlighted several instances where Biden could not recall key details about his life, including when he served as vice president and the year of his son Beau Biden’s death. Biden was outraged at the report and subsequently got caught in a number of false statements regarding his interview. For instance, he claimed that Hur brought up the topic of Beau’s death, despite the transcript showing that Biden had broached the topic. HUNTER BIDEN IS IN COURT IN DELAWARE. HERE’S WHAT HE DOESN’T WANT THE JURY TO HEAR “President Biden is apparently afraid for the citizens of this country and everyone to hear those tapes,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said after Biden exerted privilege over the recording. “They obviously confirm what the special counsel has found, and would likely cause, I suppose, in his estimation, such alarm with the American people that the president is using all of his power to suppress their release.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Some Republicans have speculated that the transcript of the interview may not line up with the audio, saying it may have been edited to prevent embarrassing Biden. Weinsheimer rejected those claims in Friday’s filing, saying only minor adjustments were made to the transcript, such as removing repeated words and filler words.
Trump lawyer spars with host over ex-Biden DOJ official tapped in New York hush-money case
Former President Trump’s attorney, Will Scharf, on Sunday previewed the planned appeal of Trump’s criminal conviction, and also hammered on the U.S. legal system’s “weaponization,” citing how a former official for the Department of Justice under the Biden administration helped Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg prosecute the criminal case against the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. Scharf, a member of Trump’s legal team who is also running for Missouri attorney general, said in an appearance on ABC’s “This Week” that the former president will comply with the pre-sentencing investigation in the meantime before appealing his conviction on 34 counts in the trial where Trump was accused of falsifying business records to hide payments to porn star Stormy Daniels to influence the 2016 election. The lawyer sparred with ABC host George Stephanopoulos over the motivations of the case itself, noting how prosecutor Matthew Colangelo stood directly over Bragg’s shoulder as the Manhattan DA announced the guilty verdicts at a press conference on Thursday. “I vehemently disagree that the district attorney in New York was not politically motivated here, and I vehemently disagree that President Biden and his political allies aren’t up to their necks in this prosecution. I think the fact that the Biden campaign…” Scharf said, before Stephanopoulos interjected. TRUMP SUPPORTERS FLIP AMERICAN FLAG UPSIDE DOWN IN PROTEST OF PERCEIVED WEAPONIZATION OF LEGAL SYSTEM “There’s no evidence here of that. Sir, there’s no – there’s not – I’m not going to let you continue to say that. There’s just zero evidence of that,” Stephanopoulos claimed. “Well, how about the fact that Matthew Colangelo was standing – was standing over Alvin Bragg’s shoulder when – when he announced this verdict,” Scharf said. “I mean, Colangelo was the number three official in the Biden Department of Justice who suddenly disappears and shows up as an assistant district attorney, right as Trump’s case in New York starts to proceed. You want to talk about political…” “After the decision was made there,” the host interjected, but Scharf pressed on. “You want to talk about political coordination, George, it’s right there in front of you,” the lawyer said. “This has nothing to do – this has nothing to do – no, it’s not. This has nothing to do with President Biden. Do you want to answer the question about the sentencing process or not?” Stephanopoulos said. “I completely disagree that this has nothing to do with President Biden,” Scharf said. “With respect to sentencing, as I said before, we’re going to vigorously challenge this case on appeal. I don’t think President Trump is going to end up being subject to any sentence whatsoever. And we look forward to getting this case into the – into the next court and taking this again all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary to vindicate President Trump’s rights.” Scharf deemed the hush-money ordeal a “zombie case” in New York that sat for years and could have been brought at any point after 2020. “And then suddenly, when President Trump announced his campaign for president, it was dusted off, rushed in front of a grand jury and then rushed into court,” the lawyer said earlier in the interview. “You want to talk about the politicization of the legal system, I mean this is exhibit A. It’s absolutely unprecedented in American history. It’s not the way that our campaigns are supposed to be run. We contest elections at the ballot box, not in the courts in this country.” HOW TRUMP GUILTY VERDICTS MAY IMPACT THE 2024 REMATCH WITH BIDEN On Friday, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, insisted Bragg and Colangelo appear for a June hearing on the “weaponization of the federal government” and “the unprecedented political prosecution” of Trump. Biden, as president, is not supposed to have authority over the state courts in New York, but Republicans allege Biden drove the prosecution of a political opponent during an election year. Trump’s legal team had repeatedly asked that Judge Juan M. Merchan recuse himself, citing a potential conflict of interest given he donated to Biden’s campaign and given that Merchan’s daughter, as the president of Authentic Campaigns – a group that represents Democrat politicians and political action committees – was fundraising off of the hush-money case. On appeal, Scharf said Trump’s legal team will again challenge Merchan’s failure to recuse on appeal despite “a clear due process violation” and also challenge aspects of the jury instructions themselves. “I think when you look at the jury instructions here, Judge Merchan essentially – I wouldn’t say rigged the deliberations but certainly steered the jury toward the verdict that he clearly wanted,” he said. “I think some of Judge Merchan’s evidentiary decisions really throughout the conduct of this trial were, frankly, astounding,” Scharf continued. “Not allowing Brad Smith to testify the way that he wanted. This is one of the world’s leading experts on federal election law. Severely limiting the scope of examination of Robert Costello, who I believe had absolutely damning information about the prosecution’s case. On decision after decision after decision, Judge Merchan, I think, departed from normal courtroom procedure, normal courtroom practice, to essentially stack the deck against President Trump.” Stephanopoulos suggested that Trump’s criticisms of Merchan and Bragg could complicate the sentencing process, but Scharf insisted Trump had every right to speak out, especially after the judge’s gag order. “I think it’s really important to note that President Trump is running for president of the United States of America. And he has an absolute constitutional right to comment on matters of public importance. And, unfortunately, this trial, which was, I believe, unjustly inserted into the presidential election cycle, is a matter of tremendous public importance,” Scharf said. “The weaponization of our legal system, the politicization of prosecution, these are all things that President Trump absolutely has to comment on. I think the fact that he labored under a gag order for as long as he did was manifestly unjust.”
Blue state sheriff says he’s ‘changing teams,’ urges support for Trump
A well-known conservative California sheriff joked that he was “changing teams” ahead of the 2024 election and urged people to support a “convicted felon.” “I think it’s time we put a felon in the White House,” Riverside Sheriff Chad Bianco said in a video posted to social media Saturday. Bianco’s comments come after former President Trump was convicted last week on 34 felony counts in New York, making the former president the first president to be convicted of a felony. TRUMP ‘UNLEASHED’ NOW THAT HIS CRIMINAL TRIAL IS OVER Bianco, who has openly teased the possibility of running for governor of California, said in the video that he has done all he could over three decades in law enforcement to “keep our community safe by arresting criminals and putting them in jail,” but lamented that leaders and California have become seemingly pro-criminal in recent years. “For the last five years I’ve been very critical about our governor for slashing our budgets from corrections, for letting prisoners out early, for closing our prisons,” Bianco said. “I’ve been critical of our state legislature for passing laws to make it harder to put people in prison. I’ve been critical for their changing laws that let prisoners out early. And I’ve been critical of our attorney general for seemingly not caring about crime.” The sheriff went out to lament the “love affair” the state’s leaders “have with criminals,” which he argued is based on a “belief that criminals are not responsible for their own actions.” “They’re a victim of society,” Bianco said. “It’s society’s fault. It’s businesses’ fault. It’s cops’ fault. It might be my fault.” BIDEN URGES RESPECT FOR LEGAL SYSTEM AFTER TRUMP CONVICTION WHILE PUBLICLY FLOUTING SCOTUS RULINGS Bianco noted that the state’s leaders blame the judicial system, laws and law enforcement for being “systemically racist,” leading to criminals being put in jail as a result of “bias.” But now they “let them out,” the sheriff continued, saying that they give criminals “housing, they give them money, they give them drugs and alcohol now.” Bianco added that he was “tired” of the problem before a tongue-in-cheek admission that maybe he had “been wrong.” “I think I am going to change teams,” Bianco said. “I think they’re on to something, but I don’t think they’re doing enough,” the sheriff quipped, before revealing that he thought putting a felon in the White House would be a good idea. “Trump 2024, baby, let’s save this country and make America great again,” Bianco concluded.
DNC keeps going after RFK Jr. super PAC, alleges Trump’s largest donor propping up candidacy
The Democratic National Committee filed another complaint against the main super PAC supporting Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., alleging that former President Trump’s largest donor is propping up the third-party run. In a supplemental complaint filed Thursday against American Values 2024, the DNC said the pro-RFK Jr. super PAC’s monthly disclosure report filed on May 20, 2024, did not accurately disclose Gavin de Becker’s most recent payment to the group as a loan. De Becker, a longtime friend of RFK Jr., is the founder of a California-based security and consulting firm that is the largest vendor to Kennedy’s campaign. The group instead disguised it as a “contribution,” which inflates their level of support and minimizes the extent to which Timothy Mellon, Trump’s largest donor, is propping up the super PAC, according to the DNC. Kennedy has racked up millions in debt with de Becker’s security firm as the Biden administration has repeatedly denied his requests for Secret Service protection while on the campaign trail. Kennedy’s uncle, President John F. Kennedy, and father, Robert F. Kennedy, a U.S. senator and presidential candidate, were both assassinated in the 1960s, RFK JR. WARNS TRUMP CONVICTION WILL ‘BACKFIRE’ ON DEMOCRATS AND IS ‘BAD FOR OUR DEMOCRACY’ RFK Jr. announced an independent presidential run in October, citing grievances with the Democratic establishment. “The PAC again has failed to accurately disclose Mr. de Becker’s $4 million payment on February 15, 2024, as a ‘loan,’ as evidenced by its reporting of a repayment to Mr. de Becker of one-half of that sum on April 25, 2024. Nor does American Values disclose that an additional repayment of $2 million towards the February 2024 loan remains outstanding,” the DNC complaint says. “This ongoing violation continues to mislead the public, the press, and potential donors as to the support for Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s campaign. The PAC’s practice of masking these loans as contributions also obscures the fact that the principal Super PAC supporting Mr. Kennedy’s campaign has faced anemic fundraising until it was repeatedly bailed out by one of Donald Trump’s largest donors, Timothy Mellon.” The DNC says that American Values 2024 reported $21 million in receipts between January and April 2024 and has received a $4 million loan from de Becker and a $4 million payment from Nicole Shanahan in the weeks prior to Kennedy selecting her as his running mate. “Three-quarters of the remaining $13 million in receipts come from the largest donor to Donald Trump’s Super PAC,” the supplemental complaint says, alleging American Values 2024’s actions constitute a violation of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 and thwart the purpose of the FEC to “protect the integrity of the federal campaign finance process by promoting transparency.” RFK JR UNLEASHES ON BIDEN, DEMS AFTER ACCUSING THEM OF ‘WEAPONIZING’ COURTS AGAINST TRUMP “Despite what AV24 may believe, the rules do apply to them. By continuing to inflate their fundraising numbers, and concealing the extent to which Timothy Mellon, Donald Trump’s largest donor, is propping up RFK Jr.’s candidacy, they are not only misconstruing election laws, they are deceiving the public,” DNC senior adviser Mary Beth Cahill said in a statement Friday. “The DNC is here to make sure RFK Jr.’s campaign plays by the rules and to remind voters that he is a spoiler for Donald Trump.” Tony Lyons, co-founder of American Values 2024, told CBS News on Thursday that the DNC’s latest complaint is “part of their concerted effort to silence and censor Bobby Kennedy, mislead the public about his views, his policies and his past.” “We will answer this officially to the FEC,” Lyons said. Fox News Digital reached out to the super PAC for added comment on Sunday. In March, the DNC filed its original FEC complaint against American Values 2024, alleging that the super PAC failed to properly disclose $10 million in payments from de Becker as “loans,” while repaying him $9.65 million. The DNC also filed a complaint in February in response to the super PAC announcing it would help Kennedy gather signatures in the battleground states of Georgia, Arizona and Michigan, as well as in Maryland, Massachusetts, South Carolina and West Virginia, to help get him on the ballot.
Federal judge shoots down ‘orchestrated campaign’ to remove Trump-appointed judge in classified documents case
A federal judge derided an apparent effort to get the judge overseeing former President Trump’s criminal classified documents case removed, arguing the Florida judge appeared to be the victim of an “orchestrated campaign.” Judge Aileen Cannon was the target of more than 1,000 complaints in a single week last month, with critics accusing her of intentionally stalling the criminal case against Trump until after the election, according to a report from CNBC. But 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals Chief Judge William Pryor shot down the effort, saying in a May 22 order that he “has considered and dismissed four of those orchestrated complaints as merits-related and as based on allegations lacking sufficient evidence to raise an inference that misconduct has occurred.” TRUMP GUILTY ON ALL COUNTS IN NY CRIMINAL TRIAL The order comes as Cannon has come under fire for her handling of the case, according to the CNBC report, which cited a recent “Justice Matters” podcast by former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner that accused the Florida judge of grinding the case to a halt. “She has brought the case to a screeching halt by declining to resolve motions in a timely manner and by refusing to even set a trial date. Judge Cannon is NOT an honest broker of the law, and the federal law requires a judge to be removed when his/her ‘impartially might reasonably be questioned,’” said Kirschner, who also pointed out that Cannon was appointed by Trump. The same podcast contained a link to a YouTube video that gave step-by-step instructions on how to file a complaint against Cannon with the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. WHAT’S NEXT FOR TRUMP LEGALLY? WHICH CASE MAY END UP BEFORE ELECTION DAY? In his order, Pryor noted that “many of the complaints” against Cannon “request that the Chief Circuit Judge remove her from the classified-documents case and reassign the case to a different judge” and “question the correctness of her rulings or her delays in issuing rulings in the case.” The chief judge also noted that the judicial-complaint process “is not the appropriate way to seek review of Judge Cannon’s orders, her orders are nevertheless subject to appellate review in normal course.” Pryor also argued in the order that there had been little evidence presented that would warrant action to remove Cannon. “Although many of the complaints allege an improper motive in delaying the case, the allegations are speculative and unsupported by any evidence,” the judge wrote. “The Complaints also do not establish that Judge Cannon was required to recuse herself from the case because she was appointed by then-President Trump.”
Hunter Biden’s drug use: What the prosecution needs to prove and what we already know
President Biden’s son Hunter Biden is slated to face an historical trial in Delaware on Monday, when prosecutors are expected to dive into the first son’s crack cocaine addiction and his purchase of a handgun. Biden’s trial will begin Monday in a federal court in Wilmington, Delaware, where he faces three felony firearm offenses regarding the 2018 purchase of a .38 revolver from a gun shop in the state. Biden has pleaded not guilty to the charges. The charges include: false statement in purchase of a firearm; false statement related to information required to be kept by federal firearms licensed dealer; possession of a firearm by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance. The total maximum prison time for the charges could be up to 25 years. Each count carries a maximum fine of $250,000, and three years of supervised release. HUNTER BIDEN IS IN COURT IN DELAWARE. HERE’S WHAT HE DOESN’T WANT THE JURY TO HEAR Biden has had well-documented and admitted struggles with addiction, most notably with crack cocaine. He has since gone into recovery and has been sober since 2019, according to sworn testimony in federal court last year. Prosecutors allege that in October 2018, Biden visited StarQuest Shooters & Survival Supply in Wilmington to purchase the Colt revolver, but say he lied about his drug addiction when he filled out a form for federal authorities to purchase the gun. Biden’s form was ticked “No” when asked if he is an unlawful user of a firearm or addicted to controlled substances. JUDGE BARS PROSECUTORS FROM USING SOME SALACIOUS EVIDENCE IN HUNTER BIDEN’S GUN TRIAL For the two charges related to the form, prosecutors in the case are working to prove to the jury that Biden filled out the form and knowingly made a false statement, and that he knowingly made the false statement because he believed he would not be able to purchase the gun otherwise. For the third charge, which relates to Biden’s possession of a firearm while allegedly addicted to substances, prosecutors must prove that Biden was an unlawful user of a firearm or addicted to drugs, and that he knowingly possessed the firearm as an unlawful user or while addicted to drugs. “Maybe it’s the ultimate test for a recovering addict – I don’t know,” Biden told Axios earlier this year regarding the importance of his sobriety ahead of his dad’s second election faceoff against former President Trump. “I have always been in awe of people who have stayed clean and sober through tragedies and obstacles few people ever face. They are my heroes, my inspiration.” Pretrial motions are currently hashing out the definitions of “addict” and “unlawful user” to provide to the jury ahead of eventual jury deliberations. Biden has repeatedly acknowledged his addiction struggles, most notably in his 2021 autobiography, “Beautiful Things: A Memoir.” “I spent more time on my hands and knees picking through rugs smoking anything that even remotely resembled crack cocaine. I probably smoked more parmesan cheese than anyone you know,” he said during an interview promoting the book. “I went one time for 13 days without sleeping, and smoking crack and drinking vodka throughout that entire time,” he added. He previously said his addictions stretch back years, including in the early 2000s when he began heavily drinking while working at law and lobbying firm Oldaker, Biden & Belair, the New York Times reported. In 2014, he was discharged from the Navy Reserves after he tested positive for cocaine use, while following his brother’s death in 2015, he reported a return to the use of alcohol. In 2016, Biden said his addiction to drugs spiraled, with him using crack cocaine, and going through a tumultuous divorce with his wife of 24 years, the New York Times reported. Biden’s defense team had worked to toss the Delaware case in the lead-up to the trial, including a last-ditch effort that was denied by the court last week. The defense team has argued Biden had just completed a rehab program before the gun purchase and was not an active drug user at the time. “Someone, like Mr. Biden who had just completed an 11-day rehabilitation program and lived with a sober companion after that, could surely believe he was not a present tense user or addict,” Biden attorney Abbe Lowell wrote in court documents. Biden was in possession of the firearm for about 11 days before police responded to a dumpster behind a shopping market, where they found the revolver, Fox News Digital previously reported. Biden was in a relationship with his late brother’s widow at the time, Hallie Biden, who allegedly threw the gun in the dumpster. AMERICANS GUILTY OF CHARGES SIMILAR TO HUNTER NEVER GOT ‘SWEETHEART’ DEAL TO KEEP THEM FROM PRISON: CRITICS Hallie Biden might be required to testify in the trial, and reportedly had an unexpected late-night visit from the president last month in the lead-up to the trial. The White House said the president did not discuss the trial with Hallie, instead visiting her “because of the approaching 9th anniversary of Beau’s passing,” the New York Post reported. Beau Biden, Hallie Biden’s deceased husband and the president’s eldest son, died of brain cancer on May 30, 2015. Hunter Biden is now married to Melissa Cohen, whom he has credited with helping him overcome his drug addiction. “The decision never felt rash or harebrained or reckless. It felt urgent,” Biden wrote in his memoir of his marriage to Cohen in 2019. “It felt like I’d been given a reprieve. I felt the astonishing luck of a man who’d agreed to meet a woman for coffee when it was all but impossible for him to leave a hotel room without a crack pipe in his hand, and who fell in love at first sight.” The trial will kick off on Monday with jury selection. Lowell has slammed the case as one that “selectively charged” Biden for political purposes, pointing to U.S. Attorney
Israelis urge Netanyahu to accept US proposal for Gaza ceasefire
NewsFeed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is under immense pressure from the families of captives and the White House to accept Biden’s proposal for a Gaza ceasefire, while his far-right allies are threatening to collapse the government coalition if he does. Published On 2 Jun 20242 Jun 2024 Adblock test (Why?)