Texas Weekly Online

Texas-trans-white
Menu
Menu

Author: shailender

Pro-Trump ‘troll’ who spread Hillary text-to-vote memes in 2016 has conviction tossed by appeals court

Pro-Trump ‘troll’ who spread Hillary text-to-vote memes in 2016 has conviction tossed by appeals court

An appeals court has reversed the conviction of a pro-Trump influencer charged with spreading false information on social media to suppress Democratic voter turnout during the 2016 election, voiding conspiracy charges and a monthslong federal prison sentence handed down by a jury in Brooklyn, New York. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit on Wednesday unanimously voided the conviction of Douglass Mackey on federal conspiracy charges and remanded the case back to the U.S. Court in the Eastern District of New York to enter a new judgment of acquittal. The unanimous three-judge panel said in their ruling that “no rational jury” could have found that Mackey, 36, “knowingly” joined others in an illegal conspiracy aimed at influencing the outcome of the 2016 election or depriving people of their right to vote. “The jury’s verdict and the resulting judgment of conviction must be set aside,” Chief Judge Debra Ann Livingston wrote. TRUMP ADMINISTRATION SWARMS SCOTUS WITH EMERGENCY REQUESTS AND SEES SURPRISING SUCCESS The verdict is a win for Mackey, a self-styled right-wing influencer and self-described “troll,” who amassed roughly 58,000 followers on Twitter in the run-up to the 2016 election.  Mackey, who used the handle “Ricky Vaughn,” used his account to post false information designed to support then-presidential candidate Donald Trump, including memes designed to look like Hillary Clinton ads that told voters they could submit their ballots via text message. Mackey was convicted in 2023 on conspiracy charges and sentenced to seven months in federal prison. The three-judge panel ruled Wednesday that Mackey’s posts, including the false memes he posted, were not sufficient evidence to prove that he had violated U.S. conspiracy laws, “even assuming that he did so with the intent to injure other citizens in the exercise of their right to vote,” they said.  SCOTUS DENIES FLORIDA AG REQUEST TO ENFORCE CONTROVERSIAL IMMIGRATION LAW “The government was obligated to show that Mackey knowingly entered into an agreement with other people to pursue that objective,” Chief Judge Debra Ann Livingston and Judges Reena Raggi and Beth Robinson wrote. “This the government failed to do.” The decision was praised by Mackey, who immediately posted on social media about the verdict. “HALLELUJAH!” Mackey said on X after the appellate court ruling on Wednesday. Mackey proceeded to thank God, his family, wife, lawyers and others who supported him during the trial in subsequent posts. He then threatened to pursue legal action over his conviction. “Now we sue,” he said.

Federal judge blocks Trump’s birthright citizenship ban for all infants, testing lower court powers

Federal judge blocks Trump’s birthright citizenship ban for all infants, testing lower court powers

A federal judge in New Hampshire blocked President Donald Trump’s executive order banning birthright citizenship and granted nationwide class certification status to all infants impacted by the order on Thursday. U.S. District Judge Joseph LaPlante said that he will issue a written ruling by the end of the day further explaining his decision. The injunction also narrows down the scope of the class to infants, removing parents from the case.  In his order, LaPlante ruled that deprivation of citizenship, as held by the 14th Amendment, and changes in longstanding policy would create “irreparable harm.” TRUMP TO BEGIN ENFORCING BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP ORDER AS EARLY AS THIS MONTH, DOJ SAYS Still, it is almost sure to be quickly appealed by the Trump administration. It comes after the Supreme Court reviewed the case earlier this year, and ruled 6-3 in late June that plaintiffs seeking nationwide relief must file their cases as a class action lawsuit — narrowing the instances in which lower district courts can issue so-called universal injunctions. That high court ruling narrowly focused on the authority of lower courts, and justices did not wade into the legality of Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship, which served as the legal pretext for the case. Still, Justice Department officials told a federal judge last week they plan to begin enforcing Trump’s birthright citizenship order as early as July 27, in recognition of a 30-day stay included in the Supreme Court’s ruling, showing they plan to act quickly.  Trump’s order, signed on the first day of his second White House term, directs all U.S. government agencies to refuse to issue citizenship documents to children born to illegal immigrants, or who do not have at least one parent who is an American citizen of lawful permanent resident. NINTH CIRCUIT REJECTS TRUMP’S BID TO REINSTATE BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP ORDER The order, signed by Trump on his first day in office, was immediately challenged in January by more than 22 U.S. states and immigrants’ rights groups, which argued the effort to end birthright citizenship was both unconstitutional and “unprecedented,” and threatened more than 100 years of legal precedent.  It was almost immediately blocked by lower courts, before eventually making its way to the Supreme Court for review in May. The high court’s decision also touched off a flurry of new lawsuits from the ACLU and other immigration advocacy groups, who re-filed class action lawsuits in federal courts in Maryland and in New Hampshire, where LaPlante reviewed the request Thursday. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Lawyers for the Trump administration stressed last week that the Supreme Court’s ruling did not preclude it from taking other actions before that date, and told U.S. it plans to “immediately” begin developing and issuing public guidance on the order. Advocates have warned possible fallout from the order could prove “catastrophic.”

Mamdani lands endorsement of a top Cuomo backer in NYC mayoral primary

Mamdani lands endorsement of a top Cuomo backer in NYC mayoral primary

Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani, the frontrunner in the race for mayor of America’s most populous city, on Thursday landed the endorsement of one of New York City’s most influential politicians. Democratic Rep. Adriano Espaillat, arguably the city’s most powerful Latino leader, is backing Mamdani, who, if elected in November, would become New York City’s first Muslim mayor. “Thank you @EspaillatNY for joining this campaign for an affordable NYC and for fighting Trump’s authoritarianism in DC,” Mamdani wrote in a social media post. “Adriano and I know that the only way we can protect this city is by standing firm in our values and standing up for working class and immigrant New Yorkers.” MAMDANI’S FAR-LEFT ALLIES MULL PRIMARY CHALLENGES AGAINST TOP NYC HOUSE DEMOCRATS  Mamdani and Espaillat are scheduled to team up at a campaign event on Thursday afternoon to formally announce the five-term congressman’s endorsement of the 33-year-old Ugandan-born state assemblyman from Queens. MAMDANI POLITICAL TSUNAMI SWAMPS DEMOCRATS AS PARTY SEARCHES FOR PATH FORWARD Espaillat’s endorsement of Mamdani, who two weeks ago convincingly defeated former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and nine other candidates to win the Democratic Party mayoral nomination, is seen as a setback for Cuomo. Cuomo, who resigned from office in 2021 during his third term as governor amid multiple scandals and who was aiming for a political comeback, was endorsed in the Democratic primary by Espaillat. And the two politicians teamed up at a rally on the eve of the kickoff of early voting in the primary election. While Cuomo lost the Democratic mayoral nomination to Mamdani, he’s running, as of now, on the November ballot as an independent, which state rules allow.  Democratic Mayor Eric Adams, who dropped his primary bid earlier this year amid sinking poll numbers in the wake of numerous controversies, is seeking re-election as an independent. THE PLOT TO STOP MAMDANI: DEMOCRATS SCRAMBLE TO PREVENT FAR-LEFT TAKEOVER IN NYC Also on the ballot in the general election are Jim Walden, a former federal prosecutor running as an independent, and Guardian Angels co-founder Curtis Sliwa, who, for a second straight election, is the Republican mayoral nominee. Espaillat, the chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, has been a vocal critic of President Donald Trump’s sweeping and controversial second-term immigration crackdown. And Espaillat, who backed Adams in the mayor’s 2021 election, was thought to have grown frustrated with the mayor’s working relationship with Trump on immigration enforcement. Adams’ poll numbers were sinking even before he was indicted last year on five counts, which accused the mayor of bribery and fraud as part of an alleged “long-running” scheme to personally profit from contacts with foreign officials. The mayor made repeated overtures to Trump and the Justice Department earlier this year dismissed the corruption charges, so Adams could potentially work with the Trump administration on its illegal immigration crackdown. RESURFACED MAMDANI PHOTO SPARKS SOCIAL MEDIA FIRESTORM  News of Espaillat’s endorsement of Mamdani was first reported by The New York Times. Mamdani surged to a primary victory thanks to an energetic campaign that put a major focus on affordability and New York City’s high cost of living. Mamdani made smart use of social media platforms, including TikTok, as he engaged low-propensity voters. He proposed eliminating fares to ride New York City’s vast bus system, making CUNY (City University of New York) “tuition-free,” freezing rents on municipal housing, offering “free childcare” for children up to age 5, and setting up government-run grocery stores. And thanks in part to the efforts of a massive grassroots army of volunteers, he rode a wave of support from younger and progressive voters to catapult into first place. Since his primary victory, Republicans have relentlessly painted Mamdani as an extremist and anchored him to Democrats across the country ahead of next year’s midterm elections. The attacks stretched from down ballot on the campaign trail all the way up to the White House, with Trump claiming that Mamdani was “a 100% Communist Lunatic.”