Texas Weekly Online

Texas-trans-white
Menu
Menu

Author:

Trump slams NY court system, boasts he’s going ‘to win’ Empire State

Trump slams NY court system, boasts he’s going ‘to win’ Empire State

Former President Trump ripped the New York justice system in comments ahead of court Monday while touting that he believes he can win the historically blue Empire State this election cycle.  “The criminal justice system is on trial in New York,’” Trump said Monday morning, reading an excerpt from legal expert and lawyer Alan Dershowitz. He then added, “I love this state. I love the people of the state. I’m running hard in New York.” “I think we’re going to win New York,” he said.  Trump also cited other cases he has faced in the state while slamming the court system as “corrupt.”  TRUMP WARNS TROUBLE BREWING WITH STRENGTHENED RUSSIA-CHINA TIES AS HE’S STUCK IN ‘ICEBOX’ COURTROOM BIDEN MOCKED FOR APPARENT SMALL SHOWING OF SUPPORTERS IN DEM CITY: ‘NOBODY CARED’ Trump is back in Manhattan for his 19th day in court, where his former attorney Michael Cohen faces ongoing cross-examination. The case focuses on the prosecution team trying to prove Trump falsified business records 34 times to conceal a $130,000 payment to former pornography star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election to quiet her claims of an affair with Trump.  Trump has pleaded not guilty in the case and has maintained his innocence.  Trump’s legal team said last week they expect to wrap up questioning with Cohen early Monday morning. Closing arguments could begin as early as Tuesday.  Trump’s remarks Monday morning included lamenting that the court’s earlier than typical start time, which began at 8:45 a.m. as opposed to its usual 9:30 a.m. start, which he said prevented him from campaign obligations.  NY V. TRUMP TO RESUME WITH CONTINUED CROSS-EXAMINATION OF MICHAEL COHEN AS TRIAL NEARS CONCLUSION “I’m here instead of campaigning. As you know, I was supposed to be in a very different state this morning, and the judge actually decided to call it early. And yet it looks like we’re going have a very big gap between days, and it’s going to be determined right now in court. But we’re here about an hour early today. I was supposed to be making a speech for political purposes. And I’m not allowed to have anything to do with politics because I’m sitting in a very freezing cold courtroom for the last four weeks. It’s very unfair,” Trump said.  Trump also slammed the case again as a political attack against him at the hands of the Biden administration.  “It’s an attack on [President Biden’s] political opponent. That’s all it is. All of the things you saw over the last four weeks, most of it should have never even been brought up. And then on top of that, there’s no crime. And we go on day after day. And I have to tell Iowa, ‘I’m sorry, I won’t be able to make it.’ I tell New Hampshire, ‘Sorry, I won’t be able to make it. I’m sitting in an ice box all day,’” he said.  Trump has largely been kept away from the campaign trail amid the trial, as he is required to be in court four days a week unless presiding Judge Juan Merchan makes a rare exception, such as on Friday when Trump attended his son Barron’s high school graduation. Trump has made a few campaign stops since last month, including holding a rally that has been described as historic in deep blue New Jersey. At least 80,000 supporters joined Trump on the beaches of Wildwood last weekend for a rally.  NY V TRUMP: AS ‘STAR WITNESS’ MICHAEL COHEN TESTIFIES, TRUMP ALLIES FLOCK TO COURT TO ‘SUPPORT THEIR FRIEND’ He is expected to hold his next rally in the Bronx, another historically deep blue area, which will be his first New York rally since 2016. Trump has also repeatedly floated holding a rally at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan ahead of the election. 

Progressive and establishment Democrats compete for US House seats in Oregon primaries

Progressive and establishment Democrats compete for US House seats in Oregon primaries

Two Democratic primaries for U.S. House seats in Oregon could help reveal whether the party’s voters are leaning more toward progressive or establishment factions in a critical presidential election year. The state’s 3rd Congressional District, which includes much of liberal Portland, will have its first open Democratic primary since 1996 with the retirement of U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer. Two candidates with similar platforms are leading in fundraising: Maxine Dexter, a doctor and two-term state representative, and Susheela Jayapal, a former county commissioner endorsed by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont. Jayapal is the sister of U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal from Washington state, who chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus. REPUBLICAN AIMING TO FLIP KEY SENATE SEAT IN DARK BLUE STATE GETS PRAISE FROM THESE TOP DEMS While outside money and claims of Republican meddling have marked the race, national Democrats can safely bet on holding the solidly blue district as they seek to overturn the GOP’s thin majority in the House. Party leaders are more keenly eyeing the state’s 5th Congressional District, which will likely be home to one of the most competitive races in the country. “This is one of the big swing districts nationally that both parties are really looking for to hold on to, or recapture, the House,” Ben Gaskins, associate professor of political science at Lewis & Clark College, said of Oregon’s 5th District. “I think that the big question is, to what degree are the Democratic voters really going to prioritize electability?” Eager to reclaim the 5th District after it was flipped by the GOP in 2022 for the first time in roughly 25 years, congressional Democrats are supporting Janelle Bynum. They see her as having a better chance of winning in November than Jamie McLeod-Skinner, the progressive who in the 2022 midterm primary ousted the Democratic moderate who long held the seat and then lost to Republican Lori Chavez-DeRemer in the general election, Gaskins said. “I think many Democrats are going to hold that against her,” he said of McLeod-Skinner’s narrow 2022 defeat. “She had a chance. She lost.” Key Democrats have endorsed Bynum, including Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek and three of the state’s U.S. representatives. The U.S. House Democrats’ fundraising arm, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, named Bynum to its “Red to Blue” program, noting Bynum previously defeated Chavez-DeRemer in legislative elections. The program provides organizational and financial support to Democrats running to flip GOP districts. Meanwhile, a late flood of spending from a political action committee on behalf of McLeod-Skinner has raised questions about whether Republicans are trying to tilt the scales in favor of a more progressive candidate whom they see as easier to beat in a general election. Rep. Richard Hudson, chairman of the campaign arm for House Republicans, said he had no knowledge of Republicans getting involved in the Democratic primary. The boundaries of the 5th District were significantly redrawn following the 2020 census. It encompasses disparate regions spanning metro Portland and its wealthy and working-class suburbs, as well as rural agricultural and mountain communities and the fast-growing central Oregon city of Bend on the other side of the Cascade Range. “I think candidates are trying to figure out exactly what the secret sauce is for this district, because there are just so many different interests here,” said Chris Koski, a political science professor at Reed College in Portland. McLeod-Skinner, an attorney who has served in multiple local governments, lives in central Oregon with her wife and pitches herself as someone who can bring together rural and urban voters. Her campaign website says that while attending high school in southern Oregon, she helped support her family “by mucking horse stalls and bucking hay.” This is her third time running for Congress. Bynum, from Washington, D.C., was elected to the Oregon House in 2016, representing the suburbs southeast of Portland. She has served on the chamber’s small business committee and is the owner of four McDonald’s franchises. Both women studied engineering and have similar policy stances. They support abortion protections, lowering health care costs and tackling climate change. As of late Friday, Bynum had outraised McLeod-Skinner by about $385,000. But much of the money in the race has been outside spending from super PACs. Such groups can’t contribute directly to campaigns, but can spend unlimited amounts of money on advertising for or against candidates. A PAC called Mainstream Democrats has spent nearly $380,000 in support of Bynum and the same amount opposing McLeod-Skinner, federal campaign finance filings show. Though both candidates have engineering degrees, the 314 Action Fund, which says it focuses on electing Democrats with science backgrounds to Congress, has spent more than $470,000 on ads and mailers in support of Bynum. The super PAC also has invested heavily in Oregon’s 3rd District, spending nearly $2.2 million on ads supporting Dexter, a pulmonologist. Another PAC, the recently created Voters for Responsive Government, has spent $2.4 million opposing Jayapal. Jayapal and McLeod-Skinner have criticized what they call “dark money” flowing into the races. Jayapal has suggested the 314 Action Fund’s spending in the 3rd District is linked to “MAGA Republican mega-donors.” Her campaign manager, Andrea Cervone, said in an email there has been “a growing trend across the country of billionaires and millionaires with a history of giving to MAGA Republicans” funneling money into Democratic primaries, but didn’t provide a specific example of how the group is linked to such donors. Cervone said the 314 Action Fund raised and spent much of its money in April, meaning the group won’t have to disclose its donors until the next federal filing deadline on May 20, the day before the election. 314 Action Fund’s president Shaughnessy Naughton said in an emailed statement that the group she founded has spent millions of dollars to “defeat MAGA Republicans.” “It is beyond the pale and an act of desperation for Susheela Jayapal’s campaign to make these false charges,” she said. In a statement this month in response to the comments about “dark money,” Dexter condemned

Balmorex Pro [Is It Safe?] Real Customers Expose Hidden Dangers

Balmorex Pro [Is It Safe?] Real Customers Expose Hidden Dangers

Balmorex Pro is a fast-acting pain support formula that diminishes all kinds of joint and muscle pain and swelling. The naturally derived formula is scientifically tested and features powerful age-old ingredients traditionally used in pain management.

Texas judge blocks Biden administration rule requiring more gun sellers to run background checks

Texas judge blocks Biden administration rule requiring more gun sellers to run background checks

A federal judge in Texas has temporarily blocked a new rule from the Biden administration that would force gun dealers to carry out background checks and secure licenses when selling firearms at shows and other venues outside traditional gun stores.  The order from U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in Amarillo will remain in effect until June 2 and covers Texas and members of gun rights groups, including the Gun Owners of America. The states of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Utah, he said, “will not be afforded relief at this stage of litigation.”  Kacsmaryk wrote that the new rule contradicted the language of the 2022 Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which expanded the category of gun sellers required to obtain licenses, according to Reuters. He also blamed the rule for not letting people who buy or sell guns for personal protection from being eligible for a licensing requirement exemption given to those who buy or sell firearms for a “personal collection.” The judge noted that this means that “the statute’s safe harbor provision provides no safe harbor at all for the majority of gun owners.” GROUPS SLAM BIDEN ADMINISTRATION OVER NEW ATF RULE: ‘WEAPONIZING EVERY TOOL’  “I am relieved that we were able to secure a restraining order that will prevent this illegal rule from taking effect,” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement. “The Biden Administration cannot unilaterally overturn Americans’ constitutional rights and nullify the Second Amendment.”  “Despite Congress having recognized the legality of private firearms sales by non-dealers, the Biden Administration issued a new regulation that would subject hundreds of thousands of law-abiding gun owners to presumptions of criminal guilt for engaging in constitutionally protected activities,” Paxton’s office said.  BIDEN MOVES TO REQUIRE MORE GUN SELLERS TO RUN BACKGROUND CHECKS  President Biden has previously said the rule will “keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers and felons” and that his administration “is going to continue to do everything we possibly can to save lives.”  The administration predicted that the rule will force some 20,000 firearms dealers to start conducting background checks, on top of the 80,000 federally-registered dealers that were already doing so.  “This final rule does not infringe on anyone’s Second Amendment rights, and it will not negatively impact the many law-abiding licensed firearms dealers in our nation,” Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Director Steve Dettelbach previously said. “They are already playing by the rules.”  Fox News’ Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.