Oath Keepers founder secretly backed lawsuit to break government — because of ‘Lord of the Rings’: report
https://www.rawstory.com/media-library/why-are-people-accusing-lord-of-the-rings-author-jrr-tolkien-of-being-racist-against-orcs.png?id=24831130&width=980https://www.rawstory.com/media-library/pentagon-press-secretary-john-kirby-gave-reporters-details-of-an-alleged-russian-plot-to-produce-a-gruesome-video-that-would-justify-invading-ukraine-kevin-dietsch-afp.jpg?id=29376190&width=980https://www.rawstory.com/media-library/look-john-boltons-resignation-letter-is-scathing-and-just-two-sentences-long.jpg?id=24838050&width=980https://www.rawstory.com/media-library/german-foreign-minister-annalena-baerbock-says-moscow-needs-to-show-serious-steps-towards-de-escalation-hannibal-hanschke-pool-afp.jpg?id=29376130&width=980https://www.rawstory.com/media-library/donald-trump.jpg?id=29375952&width=980https://www.rawstory.com/media-library/donald-trump-melania-trump.jpg?id=26038440&width=980
Notorious Capitol rioter Jenna Ryan, who once claimed she wouldn’t go to prison because she’s white and blonde, has been released after serving a 60-day sentence.
"Best. Birthday. Ever!!!" Ryan wrote on Twitter on Thursday, shortly after the Dallas Observer reported that Federal Prison Camp Bryan confirmed the North Texas real estate agent had been released.
"There's no word yet on whether she dropped the 30 pounds she’d hoped to shed or how much yoga she did," the Observer reported, noting that Ryan reported early to prison in December, prompting speculation that she wanted to be behind bars for Christmas so she could write about it in her book.
Ryan flew to DC on a private plane before live-streaming the insurrection.
"She posed in front of a broken window and called Jan. 6 'one of the best days of [her] life,'" the Observer noted. "Since then, Ryan's given numerous interviews to tell her side of the story but has at times accused the media, including this publication, of 'slander' and 'libel.' She also asked for, but did not receive, a pardon from former President Donald Trump."
Last March, Ryan infamously wrote on Twitter: **"Sorry I have blonde hair white skin a great job a great future and I'm not going to jail. Sorry to rain on your hater parade. I did nothing wrong."
Prosecutors later cited the tweet in seeking jail time after Ryan pleaded guilty.
Ryan returned to Twitter with a vengeance following her release on Thursday, and it quickly became clear her political views have not changed. She retweeted Donald Trump Jr. and other MAGA accounts, and shared a story from conspiracy theorist Alex Jones' InfoWars site titled, "The Mind Control Police: The Government’s War on Thought Crimes and Truth-Tellers."
Best. Birthday. Ever!!!
— Jenna Ryan (@Jenna Ryan) 1645136079
https://www.rawstory.com/media-library/indicted-pro-trump-rioter-jenna-ryan.jpg?id=25459673&width=980
Some experts have predicted that Donald Trump will invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination if or when he is deposed as part of New York Attorney General Letitia James' civil fraud investigation.
But MSNBC legal analyst Joyce Vance, a former federal prosecutor, said Thursday night she believes Trump will be "unable to resist running his mouth."Vance was part of a panel discussing a New York judge's decision Thursday saying Trump, as well as his adult children Ivanka and Don Jr., must sit for depositions in the case. The Trumps are expected to appeal the ruling.
Asked what Trump's lawyers could have done differently, Vance responded, "Well, the problem that they have ... is that Trump is his own worst enemy."
"Trump is that nightmare of a client that you don't want to have as a lawyer, because he cannot stop talking, and we saw that throughout the Trump presidency," she said. "We saw it when he often revealed in tweets or in statements information that was then used against him, that formed the basis for understanding misconduct that he was engaging in. And he didn't do it just once or twice. He did it almost on such a regular basis that you couldn't help a little bit but feel sorry for all the lawyers around him. Or at least I often found myself wondering how they tolerated it."
"And so you can have the best possible strategy," Vance added. "I don't know what that is in a situation where you're uncovering copious amounts of evidence of potential fraud, but perhaps you would look into finding that there was liability with somebody other than Trump, or you would say that somebody else was responsible. But he keeps saying that he runs the business, that he keeps the numbers. And when he makes statements like that five-pager he put out (Tuesday), he takes responsibility squarely for himself. I think if he is deposed, he'll be unable to resist running his mouth, and ultimately he'll continue to be his own worst enemy in this scenario."Watch the full segment below.
MSNBC 02 17 2022 22 10 13 www.youtube.com https://www.rawstory.com/media-library/donald-trump.jpg?id=24990569&width=980
Former president Donald Trump likely will have to start selling some of his properties to raise cash in the wake of Mazars USA's decision to drop his company, according to New York Times investigative reporter Susanne Craig.
Appearing on MSNBC on Thursday night, Craig pointed out that in addition to Mazar's USA's decision, the Trump Organization and Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg are currently under criminal indictment in Manhattan, meaning "covenants could be breached" on the company's loans.
"He has just in the coming couple of years, hundreds of millions of dollars in loans that he's going to have to re-negotiate," Craig said, adding that Trump appears to have retained another Texas-based firm to replace Mazars USA.
"He's moved to at least get another firm in place at least for some of his accounting, but what happens to all these loans?" she said. "If this was a public company, you'd be like, 'Wow!' It would just be so much trouble for them. I think their stock would tank. There would be so many ramifications."Craig said the first major loan coming up is later this year, for $100 million on Trump Tower in New York City. She said despite declining occupancy rates in the building, she expects Trump to be able to refinance the loan, though possibly at a higher interest rate, because the lender is friendly to his company.
"But there are other loans that are going to be more difficult," she said, pointing to Trump's Doral resort in Florida, which is losing "a huge amount of money" despite him pumping $200 million in capital into it.
"I think when he comes up against that, there could be some problems," she said, adding that Deutsche Bank is the lender for Doral. "Deutsche Bank has been signaling that they may not want to do new business with him. None of this is good news. and when you think about how he's going to have to handle this immediate debt, there's going to be potentially higher rates, and in some cases I wonder who the lender is going to end up being."
Craig added that she was surprised by Trump's recent decision to sell his DC hotel.
"That's the last asset that he actually put a lot into, and he's selling it. He must need cash, or he wouldn't be selling it," she said. "And I think we're going to potentially see other asset sales here. Very few of the main assets, golf courses that he has, are making money. He's got golf courses overseas, none of them are making money. It's the exception when he has a business that is making money."
"I think that's what you're going to see as he moves forward in order to keep these other properties going," she said. "You start looking for where you can raise cash, and you do that by selling assets."
Watch below.
MSNBC 02 17 2022 21 23 53 www.youtube.com https://www.rawstory.com/media-library/trump-towers-profits-magically-grew-by-3-million-in-2010-which-helped-them-borrow-another-73-million.jpg?id=24488002&width=980
On CNN Thursday, former Republican Philadelphia City Commissioner Al Schmidt tore into House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), following reports he will back pro-Trump challenger Harriet Hageman to unseat Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) over her work on the House January 6 Committee.
"I want to start with this news," said anchor Erin Burnett. "Congresswoman Cheney, in terms of what she stands for and as she votes, conservative as it comes, lifelong voting Republican, her record is pristine. What's your reaction to [McCarthy] endorsing the Trump-backed opponent?"
*RELATED: **'No moral core': GOP's Adam Kinzinger eviscerates Kevin McCarthy after he backs Liz Cheney's primary challenger*
"In fact, Congresswoman Cheney is probably more conservative than ... Kevin McCarthy, when you look at it," said Schmidt. "I don't think there's anything that illustrates the absurdity of this litmus test that Republicans are being judged by right now. Even considered a RINO [Republican In Name Only] simply because you are telling the truth of the 2020 election and want to get to the bottom of what caused and who is behind and who participated in the insurrection of January 6th."
Watch below:
Al Schmidt slams Kevin McCarthy's push to unseat Liz Cheney www.youtube.com https://www.rawstory.com/media-library/republican-city-commissioner-ridiculous-allegations-of-voter-fraud-in-philadelphia-have-zero-evidence.jpg?id=24978772&width=980
On Thursday's edition of CNN's "OutFront," former federal prosecutor and legal analyst Shan Wu weighed in on the court ruling that former President Donald Trump and his family can be deposed in New York State's civil investigation of his family businesses.
"The judge said he reviewed thousands of documents for this investigation, [Attorney General Letitia James] did uncover copious evidence of financial fraud, that's a significant thing to say, isn't it?" asked anchor Erin Burnett.
"It's very significant," said Wu. "Frankly, with all these different legal cases that the Trump legal team keeps losing, this one is unique because it's an example of a judge passing on what we talk about as the merits of the case."
*READ MORE: **'Unconstitutional attack on our Country!' Trump rages against NY AG in angry new statement*
Wu then elaborated on why this could be bad news for Trump and his family.
"He has reviewed actual documents here and actually said that the evidence here is damning enough that if the New York AG didn't do anything at all, didn't have investigation, it would be a dereliction of duty," Wu explained. "So there's fire within the smoke."
Watch below:
David Cay Johnston on Trump New York civil case ruling www.youtube.com https://www.rawstory.com/media-library/cnn-legal-analyst-reveals-the-most-ridiculous-thing-about-papadopouloss-challenge-to-muellers-authority.jpg?id=24479866&width=980
Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) on Thursday tore into his own party's leader in the House of Representatives for backing the pro-MAGA primary opponent of Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY).
Hours after McCarthy made the highly unusual move as House GOP leader to endorse a primary opponent of an incumbent lawmaker, Kinzinger took to Twitter to slam the decision.
"Kevin McCarthy... at one point fancied himself the new generation conservative for reaching out to Silicon Valley, etc.," he wrote. "Now, we see he is a man with no moral core. Sad to see, honestly. Not the man I thought I knew. Sleep [probably] doesn’t come easily to him."
*READ MORE: **Ivanka was 'very intertwined' in Trump's business — and her 'brand' is officially dead: Donny Deutsch*
The decision to back Cheney's primary challenger came days after the Republican National Committee passed a censure resolution condemning both Cheney and Kinzinger for taking part in the House Select Committee investigating the January 6th Capitol attacks.
Both Cheney and Kinzinger have remained defiant in the face of being rebuked by their own party, and have vowed to continue their work on the committee.
Kevin McCarthy, aka @GOPLeader at one point fancied himself the new generation conservative for reaching out to Silicon Valley, etc. Now, we see he is a man with no moral core. Sad to see, honestly. Not the man I thought I knew. Sleep prolly doesn\u2019t come easily to him.https://twitter.com/katvnews/status/1494474243160956932\u00a0\u2026
— Adam Kinzinger (@Adam Kinzinger) 1645145601
https://www.rawstory.com/media-library/republican-minority-leader-kevin-mccarthy.jpg?id=27977014&width=980
On CNN Thursday, chief legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin outlined the biggest problem for former President Donald Trump if he has to plead the Fifth when testifying about his finances in the civil suit by the state of New York — which is now a strong possibility after a judge ruled he cannot be exempted from giving testimony.
"Former President Trump and his kids argued that sitting for a deposition would violate, they say, their constitutional rights; this judge certainly disagreed," said anchor Wolf Blitzer. "What do you make of this ruling?"
"Well, it was very straightforward," said Toobin. "This is a legitimate investigation, and the attorney general of New York has subpoena power, she subpoenaed the former president and his two children and they have a choice. They could testify, or they could take the Fifth. The problem with taking the Fifth is, first of all, it is embarrassing, but that is no bar to doing it, but in a civil case, as opposed to a criminal case, a jury could draw what is called an 'adverse inference.' The jury could assume, if it comes to that, that you did something wrong, that there is an incriminating answer there."
*READ MORE: **'Unconstitutional attack on our Country!' Trump rages against NY AG in angry new statement*
"So that is why the Trump family wants to avoid having to take the Fifth," added Toobin. "But the answer to that is too bad. That is what the law is, and so it is not a surprise that the judge ruled this way."
Watch below:
Jeffrey Toobin says taking the Fifth could hurt Trump in civil trial www.youtube.com https://www.rawstory.com/media-library/melania-trump-is-the-only-person-who-can-stand-up-to-ivanka-and-win-journalist.jpg?id=24496571&width=980
Former President Donald Trump issued a rage-filled statement on Thursday after a judge ruled that he and two of his children had to testify in New York Attorney General Leticia James's civil lawsuit against the Trump Organization.
After starting off by attacking Hillary Clinton and baselessly accusing her of "breaking into my apartment," the twice-impeached former president took aim at James and her investigation.
"Failed Gubernatorial candidate, Letitia James, can run for the office of AG on saying absolutely horrendous and false things about Donald Trump, a man she doesn’t know and has never met, go on to get elected, and then selectively prosecute him and his family," Trump wrote.
*RELATED NEWS: **'His lawyers are regretting that': Former Trump aide says he made a big mistake this week*
The president then went on to falsely claim that he got more votes than any candidate in history, and then went on to say any investigations into him violated the United States Constitution.
"The targeting of a President of the United States, who got more votes while in office than any President in History, by far, and is a person that the Radical Left Democrats don’t want to run again, represents an unconstitutional attack on our Country—and the people will not allow this travesty of justice to happen. It is a continuation of the greatest Witch Hunt in history—and remember, I can’t get a fair hearing in New York because of the hatred of me by Judges and the judiciary. It is not possible!"
Read the full statement below.
NEW!\n\nPresident Donald J. Trump:\n\n\u201cSo, Crooked Hillary Clinton, one of the most corrupt politicians ever to run for President, can break into the White House, my apartment, buildings I own, and my campaign\u2014in other words, she can spy on a Presidential candidate and ultimately...pic.twitter.com/L0gP8aeDUF
— Liz Harrington (@Liz Harrington) 1645143568
https://www.rawstory.com/media-library/trump-is-in-an-uncontrollable-rage-mary-trump-says-somebody.jpg?id=25859919&width=980
A Republican candidate in Texas is facing backlash after posing semi-nude atop an oil "pump jack" in a Super Bowl campaign ad posted on TikTok.
Sarah Stogner is running for a seat on the Texas Railroad Commission, a powerful regulatory board that oversees the Lone Star State's oil and gas industry.
"They said I needed money. 🤣 I have other assets," Stogner wrote on Twitter above the video ad, which was originally posted on TikTok.
"My goal is to draw attention to the issues," Stogner added. "Use social media or it will use you. Next gen government must be fierce and fearless."
*READ MORE: **Ivanka was 'very intertwined' in Trump's business — and her 'brand' is officially dead: Donny Deutsch*
Stogner's ad prompted the San Antonio Express-News to rescind its endorsement of her in the GOP primary, calling the ad "disgraceful."
The ad, which shows Stogner* *wearing a wide-brimmed hat, boots, panties, and pasties over her nipples, had garnered 65,000 views as of Thursday.
The Dallas Morning News reported that Stogner's ad was doing exactly what she intended — bringing attention to her zero-dollar campaign in an often-ignored race for Railroad Commission.
“I’ve been screaming and jumping up and down about very important things that are technically complicated and kind of scary.” Stogner said. “But now that I’ve got your attention, you know, let’s talk about them.”
“Why do we get so upset as as a as a state as a nation, whatever, about sex?” Stogner added. "Let’s get angry about stuff that doesn’t have to do with love. Let’s get angry about pollution and lying and stealing and evil.”Stogner called the Express-News' decision to rescind its endorsement a "knee-jerk reaction." She also said she is a victim of sexism. Texas Monthly pointed out that the Express-News has not rescinded its endorsement of another GOP candidate who recently called for civil war on social media.
"When you have boobs, you get held to different standards," Stogner told the magazine.
Stogner is one of three GOP candidates challenging Republican incumbent Wayne Christian in the primary. Christian is currently embroiled a corruption scandal, while another Republican challenger recently died in a car crash. The winner of the GOP primary will face Democrat Luke Warford.Watch the ad as well as a report from below San Antonio's NBC affiliate below.
They said I needed money. I have other assets.pic.twitter.com/OI9z9EDRRG
— Sarah Stogner (@Sarah Stogner) 1644803849