Trump judge faces online backlash after smiling, posing for cameras in courtroom: ‘Partisan Democrat clown’
The New York judge presiding over the civil fraud trial of former President Donald Trump was blasted on social media on Monday after cameras caught him smiling for the cameras as the trial got underway.
Conservatives on social media immediately reacted with outrage on Monday when New York City Judge Arthur Engoron was briefly shown in the courtroom smiling and taking off his glasses to seemingly pose for cameras that were filming inside the courtroom.
“This New York City judge is a partisan Democrat clown,” Article III Project founder and president Mike Davis posted on X, formerly Twitter. “Disgraceful.”
“Just smiling and laughing as they turn our country into a third world banana republic,” State Freedom Caucus Network Comms Director Greg Price posted on X.
“Democracy disappearing right before our eyes…,” Trump adviser Stephen Miller wrote in response to Price’s post.
“The Democrat Party’s kangaroo court is in session,” Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., posted.
DONALD TRUMP IN COURT AS CIVIL TRIAL GETS UNDERWAY
“We have a serious crisis in our judicial system,” author Julie Kelly posted on X. “So many demons.”
“A show trial,” Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton posted on X. “Literally.”
The New York State Office of Court Administration declined to comment when contacted by Fox News Digital.
Trump was defiant both before entering the courtroom and during a lunch recess on Monday.
The former president dismissed Engoron as a “Democrat” and an “operative” in a brief appearance in front of reporters. Trump stated that “this is a rigged court” in his heated statement. He also took aim at Attorney General Letitia James, labeling her a “radical-left attorney general.”
TRUMP CIVIL TRIAL ARISING FROM NY ATTORNEY GENERAL LETITIA JAMES’ LAWSUIT SET TO BEGIN MONDAY
“This rogue judge refuses to acknowledge that we won 80% of this case in the appellate division,” Trump said, claiming Engoron has “contempt for his own court system.”
“This is a judge that should be disbarred,” Trump said. “This is a judge that should be out of office. This is a judge that some people say could be charged criminally for what he’s doing. He’s interfering with an election.”
Trump’s lawyers had previously pointed to James’ promises to voters that she would “get Trump” if elected.
James declared that “justice will prevail” as she entered the courthouse.
James arrived with her legal entourage Monday morning and briefly spoke in front of the media. She accused Trump of fraudulently inflating the value of his businesses and his net worth and stated that “no one is above the law.”
Fox News Digital’s Anders Hagstrom and Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
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White House: More aid for Ukraine coming ‘soon’
White House: More aid for Ukraine coming ‘soon’
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Go to Source: Politico
Tennessee, Kentucky bans on transgender procedures for minors upheld in federal court
Minors will be barred from receiving transgender-affirming procedures in Tennessee and Kentucky, a federal appeals court upheld in a ruling Thursday.
Judge Jeffrey Sutton’s recent decision overturns previous summer rulings, affirming Tennessee’s law implemented in January that restricts puberty blockers, hormone therapy and transgender surgeries for minors. Kentucky has an identical law.
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti called it a “big win for democracy” in a statement following the ruling.
“Decisions that are not clearly resolved by the Constitution should be resolved by the people through their elected representatives,” he said. “I am so proud of our team who stood strong against the overwhelming resources arrayed against Tennessee in this case.”
OREGON MIDDLE SCHOOL WON’T SAY WHETHER STUDENT FILMED ATTACKING SMALLER GIRL IS TRANSGENDER
Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron agreed with Skrmetti in a separate statement.
“These gender interventions, billed as medical care, cause permanent harm to vulnerable children and their health,” he said in a press release. “Despite full-throated denials by Governor (Andy) Beshear and his far-left activists, our children would still be under attack without SB 150.”
Following lawsuits from families with transgender children in both states, two federal judges granted preliminary injunction motions, but the recent appeals opinion means the bans can resume enforcement.
CALIFORNIA BECOMES FIRST US STATE TO RECOGNIZE ‘TRANSGENDER HISTORY MONTH’
“As doctors, legislators, and citizens work through the risks and benefits of various treatments for children with gender dysphoria, lawyers and litigants debate the right standard for reviewing such constitutional challenges,” Sutton wrote in the opinion. “When the Constitution is not neutral about the issue, skeptical judicial review applies to the law from the start.”
Sutton later added: “The government has the power to reasonably limit the use of drugs, as just shown. If that’s true for adults, it’s assuredly true for their children, as also just shown.”
MOST AMERICANS BELIEVE TRANS ATHLETES SHOULD COMPETE AGAINST THOSE WITH SAME BIOLOGICAL GENDER: POLL
So far, more than 20 states have adopted laws prohibiting transgender surgeries, puberty blockers and hormone therapy for minors, including Florida, Alabama and Montana. Last month, the Texas Supreme Court permitted the state’s ban on transgender medical procedures for minors to take effect.
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Bowman defends fire alarm scandal by repeating talking point about being ‘in a rush’ to vote
New York Democratic Rep. Jamaal Bowman spoke with reporters on Monday about the controversy surrounding his pulling of a fire alarm in Congress amid potential government shutdown chaos and reiterated his claim that his action was a simple mistake.
“You know, I don’t know why this has gotten so much attention,” Bowman told reporters outside his office on Monday. “I was literally just in a rush to go vote, man.”
When asked if he fears any repercussions from his actions Bowman said, “Listen, I take responsibility for what I did, you know, but like I said, I was in a rush to go vote. And, you know, the investigation will sort everything else out.”
Bowman said he has been in touch with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., since “day one” when asked about Georgia GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s comparison between Jan. 6 efforts to interfere with government proceedings and his situation, calling the comparison “preposterous.”
REP. BOWMAN SHOCKS MEDIA, CONSERVATIVES WITH ‘GARBAGE’ STATEMENT AFTER PULLING FIRE ALARM
Bowman, a member of the group of House progressives known as “The Squad,” is being investigated by Capitol Police after pulling a fire alarm Saturday morning in one of the House of Representatives’ three office buildings amid the chaos of lawmakers scrambling to avert a government shutdown.
Bowman has claimed he made a mistake while trying to open a locked door as Republicans have accused him of trying to delay an official proceeding. His press secretary sent out a memo of talking points Monday to all House Democratic offices requesting their help in defending him.
Additionally, some Republicans are calling for Bowman to be expelled from the House over the incident.
Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., said on “FOX & Friends” that she will unveil a resolution to expel Bowman as a result.
“This is the United States Congress. It’s not a New York City public high school,” Malliotakis told host Ainsley Earhardt Monday.
“And of all people, Jamaal Bowman knows the old fire alarm trick because he was a high school principal. And quite frankly, when he was the high school principal, there were serious ramifications if a student were to do that… including expulsion.”
Supporters of Bowman, including fellow Squad member Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., defended him from expulsion calls.
“But they’re filing a motion to expel a member who in a moment of panic was trying to escape a vestibule,” she said of Bowman in a Sunday interview. “Give me a break.”
“[Bowman] apologized,” Ocasio-Cortez continued, referencing her colleague’s statement. “And [Republicans] are protecting someone who has not only committed wire fraud, not only defrauded veterans, not only lied to congressional investigators, but is openly gloating about it, is absolutely humiliating to the Republican caucus.”
Fox News Digital’s Elizabeth Elkind and Chad Pergram contributed to this report
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The Supreme Court opens its new term with a case about prison terms for drug dealers
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court opened its new term Monday with a case about prison terms for drug dealers and rejections of hundreds of appeals, including one from an attorney who pushed a plan to keep former President Donald Trump in power.
The court turned away attorney John Eastman’s effort to have a lower-court ruling thrown out that said Eastman and Trump had “more likely than not” committed a crime by trying to keep Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election.
Justice Clarence Thomas, who once employed Eastman as a law clerk, did not take part in the court’s consideration of Eastman’s appeal.
CLARENCE THOMAS RELEASES FIRST FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE SINCE FACING BARRAGE OF ETHICS ATTACKS
The only case argued Monday concerns the meaning of the word “and” in a federal law dealing with prison terms for low-level drug dealers. The length of thousands of sentences a year is at stake.
“I think this is a very hard case,” Justice Amy Coney Barrett said during 90 minutes of arguments that did not suggest how the court might rule.
The term is shaping up as an important one for social media as the court continues to grapple with applying older laws and rulings to the digital age.
Several cases also confront the court with the continuing push by conservatives to constrict federal regulatory agencies. On Tuesday, the court will hear a challenge that could disrupt the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
The court also is dealing with the fallout from major rulings a year ago that overturned Roe v. Wade and expanded gun rights. A gun case will be argued in November. Limits on mifepristone, a drug used in the most common method of abortion, could be before the court by spring.
Among the bigger unknowns is whether any disputes will reach the court involving the prosecution of Trump or efforts to keep the Republican off the 2024 ballot because of the Constitution’s insurrection clause.
Apart from cases, the justices are discussing a first-ever code of conduct, though disagreements remain, Justice Elena Kagan said recently.
The push to codify ethical standards for the justices stems from a series of stories questioning some of their practices. Many of those stories focused on Thomas and his failure to disclose travel and other financial ties with wealthy conservative donors, including Harlan Crow and the Koch brothers. But Justices Samuel Alito and Sonia Sotomayor also have been under scrutiny.
On Monday, Thomas did not explain his decision to stay out of Eastman’s case, which involved emails that Eastman was trying to keep from the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol.
Some of those emails, since made public, are between Eastman and another lawyer, Kenneth Chesebro, in which they mention Thomas as their best hope to get the Supreme Court to intervene in the election outcome in a case from Georgia.
Trump, Eastman and Chesebro are among 19 people who have been indicted in Fulton County, Georgia, for their efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
Life at the court has more or less returned to its pre-COVID-19 normal over the past two years, though arguments last much longer than they used to and Sotomayor, who has diabetes, continues to wear a mask on the bench . One other change that resulted from the coronavirus pandemic remains: The court is livestreaming audio of all its arguments. Cameras remain forbidden.
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GOP lawmaker Issa demands answers from Newsom, Senate leaders on Laphonza Butler’s Maryland residency
FIRST ON FOX: Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., is expected to send a letter to California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., on Monday afternoon expressing concern over Newsom’s recent appointee to replace the late Democrat Sen. Dianne Feinstein.
Newsom tapped Laphonza Butler, the president of EMILY’s List – a Democratic political action committee (PAC) dedicated to electing pro-abortion Democratic women to office – for the vacant interim Senate seat late Sunday evening.
However, Butler’s home address is listed in Silver Spring, Maryland, and Issa is questioning the constitutionality of her ability to take office while residing in a different state than the one she will represent.
“We’re not talking about the question of majority, we’re talking about 38 million Californians who have an absolute right to have somebody who puts California first – not who puts the District of Columbia first or Maryland, where she’s a resident, first,” Issa told Fox News Digital in an interview Monday.
NEWSOM NAMES LAPHONZA BUTLER, FORMER KAMALA HARRIS ADVISER, TO FILL FEINSTEIN’S VACANT SENATE SEAT
“It’s not that he couldn’t find somebody,” he continued. “Instead, [Newsom] chose the most progressive African American woman he could find, seemingly for political purposes.”
Issa expects he will have a handful of co-signers on the letter.
Newsom’s office told Fox News Digital that Butler moved to the suburbs near Washington, D.C., when she became EMILY’s List president in 2021, and that she has a house in California. The governor’s office added that Butler will re-register to vote in California before she is sworn in.
“The quid pro quo of agreeing to pay your California taxes in return for becoming a senator is not an acceptable bargain,” Issa said. “That’s a privilege the rest of us don’t get.”
According to California law, to be eligible for a Senate bid, a person must be a U.S. citizen, a resident of California, and a registered voter in the state.
MEET THE FORMER UNION BOSS WHO IS GAVIN NEWSOM’S SENATE REPLACEMENT FOR THE LATE DIANNE FEINSTEIN
Butler’s EMILY’s List biography had her residence listed as Silver Spring, Maryland, earlier Sunday evening, but it was removed from the profile shortly after it was announced she would be appointed to the position. An FEC filing from Aug. 31 also showed a Maryland address.
The seat is a highly contested one ahead of the 2024 election, and the governor’s decision has significant implications for the deep blue bastion that is seen as the poster child for Democratic policies.
Butler will finish out the remainder of Feinstein’s term in Washington, D.C., ahead of the 2024 election. In a statement, the governor described Butler as an “advocate for women and girls, a second-generation fighter for working people, and a trusted adviser to Vice President Harris.”
“As we mourn the enormous loss of Sen. Feinstein, the very freedoms she fought for – reproductive freedom, equal protection, and safety from gun violence – have never been under greater assault,” Newsom added. “Laphonza will carry the baton left by Sen. Feinstein, continue to break glass ceilings, and fight for all Californians in Washington, D.C.”
LONGTIME SEN. DIANNE FEINSTEIN PASSES AT AGE 90
Butler thanked Newsom for the appointment in a statement on Monday.
“I am honored to accept Gov. Newsom’s nomination to be a U.S. Senator for a state I have long called home,” she said.
Butler will be the only Black woman serving in the U.S. Senate and the first openly LGBTQ+ lawmaker to represent the Golden State in the upper chamber.
Other top Democrats vying for the seat in 2024 include Democrat Reps. Adam Schiff, Barbara Lee and Katie Porter.
Fox News’ Houston Keene and Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.
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White House accuses Republicans of trying to turn border crisis into ‘political stunt’
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre is accusing Republicans of trying to turn the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border into a “political stunt” as she insists President Biden is “doing everything that he can” to deal with the influx of migrants.
Jean-Pierre made the remark Monday when asked by Fox News correspondent Hillary Vaughn if Biden sees a “border that is effectively closed.”
“What I’m saying is that the president, without the help, without the help of Republicans, is doing everything that he can to deal with the border,” she responded.
“While Republicans try to push forth a CR to limit – to take away – the federal agents that we see at the border… they’re trying to politicize it and make it worse,” Jean-Pierre continued, referencing recent efforts to avert a government shutdown. “That’s what Republicans are trying to do and turn it into a political stunt. The president is actually dealing with the issue that’s in front of him by getting record funding, 25,000 federal agents at the border. That is something that this president has been able to do.”
Jean-Pierre also said there are “three things” Biden has done to “move forward” when it comes to his plan to tackle the border crisis.
“There’s enforcement. And so we’ve deployed additional troops and federal agents to the border and removed or returned more than 250,000 individuals since May 12 alone,” she said.
NEW YORK GOV. HOCHUL WANTS TO ‘LIMIT’ WHO CROSSES BORDER, SAYS IT’S ‘TOO OPEN RIGHT NOW’
“And deterrence, we’ve had the largest expansion of pathways in decades,” Jean-Pierre continued. “And we’ve made clear that attempting to cross the border unlawfully will result in prompt removal, a five-year ban on re-entry and potential criminal prosecution.
“And let’s not forget the diplomacy that we have done with the region, including Mexico, to deal with this issue, because… this is a regional issue that we’re seeing as it relates to unlawful migration,” she also said.
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Gaetz promises motion to vacate McCarthy ‘this week,’ urges speaker to reveal ‘secret side deal on Ukraine’
Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., on Monday demanded House Speaker Kevin McCarthy reveal the details of a supposed “secret side deal” on Ukraine he claims was negotiated with Democrats and President Biden in order to avoid a government shutdown, before fellow Republicans are presumably set to vote on the speaker’s potential ouster later this week.
After addressing the House floor, Gaetz told reporters on the steps of the Capitol that he still planned to introduce a motion to vacate McCarthy’s speakership “this week,” but not Monday as not all members were in town yet. Gaetz repeated that his fight against McCarthy, R-Calif., was not personal, despite the speaker’s assertion otherwise.
Gaetz fell short of introducing his promised motion to vacate McCarthy but accused McCarthy of stepping outside the Republican conference in order to negotiate an agreement on a resolution over the weekend that avoids a government shutdown for another 40 days.
“The speaker of the House gave away to Joe Biden the money for Ukraine that Joe Biden wanted. It is going to be difficult for my Republican friends to keep calling President Biden feeble while he continues to take Speaker McCarthy’s lunch money in every negotiation,” Gaetz said.
“Ukraine has lost the support of a majority of the majority. The last time there was a freestanding Ukraine vote on this floor, it was last week, 101 Republicans voted for it, 117 Republicans voted against it. According to the Hastert Rule, which Speaker McCarthy agreed to in January, you cannot use Democrats to roll a majority of the majority, certainly on something as consequential as Ukraine,” he said. “So for all the crocodile tears about what may happen later this week about a motion to vacate, working with the Democrats is a yellow brick road that has been paved by Speaker McCarthy. Whether it was the debt limit deal, the C.R. or now the secret deal on Ukraine.”
HOUSE GOP MEMBERS SEEK TO EXPEL GAETZ AMID RENEWED THREAT TO VACATE HOUSE SPEAKER MCCARTHY
“It is becoming increasingly clear who the speaker of the House already works for, and it’s not the Republican conference,” Gaetz said. “Mr. Speaker, I would ask that these questions be answered soon because there may be other votes coming today or later this week that could – be implicated by the answers to these questions. Members of the Republican Party might vote differently on a motion to vacate if they heard what the speaker had to share with us about his secret side deal with Joe Biden on Ukraine. I’ll be listening. Stay tuned.”
Gaetz further argued before the House that funding for Ukraine and the border should not be rolled into one massive spending package and should instead be considered as single-subject bills, noting the “spirit of the January agreement” the House Freedom Caucus reached with McCarthy during his speakership fight.
FORMER HOUSE SPEAKER FLOATS IDEA OF REMOVING GAETZ FROM HOUSE GOP CAUCUS, COMMITTEES
“You know how we should stand up for our border? Demand that the United States Senate take up our single subject appropriation bill that funded the border. It created Republican unity. We voted for it. It has the policy demands that the continuing resolution that Speaker McCarthy advocated for on this floor did not,” Gaetz said. “Our DHS funding bill requires E-Verify. And then hours later, after we passed that, the speaker wanted us to vote for a continuing resolution that didn’t include E-Verify.”
“Retreat is never a strategy to win anything,” he said.
Gaetz also claimed to have spoken with former President Donald Trump on the potential motion to vacate – but declined to elaborate further.
“You talk about chaos, as if it’s me, forcing a few votes and filing a few motions,” Gaetz told reporters. “Real chaos is when the American people have to go through the austerity that is coming if we continue to have $2 trillion annual deficits. You don’t know chaos until you’ve seen where this Congress and this uni-party is bringing us.”
Meanwhile, Fox News first reported Sunday that House GOP members are preparing a motion to expel Gaetz if the ethics committee report comes back with findings of guilt.
The House Ethics Committee has been investigating Gaetz since 2021 on allegations, including campaign finance violations as well as claims of taking bribes and using drugs – accusations the congressman has vehemently denied. Gaetz also denies allegations leaked from a Justice Department sex trafficking probe said to have involved an underage girl.
It takes a two-thirds vote to expel. And Republicans are treading on thin ice with their majority. The House is down to 433 members. It’s unclear where things stand with federally indicted Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y. If members are expelled, retire or die, the majority could be right on the edge for the GOP.
Fox News’ Kelly Phares and Chad Pergram contributed to this report.
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White House will stay out of looming fight over McCarthy’s Speakership
The White House on Monday said it had no intention to wade into the looming fight over whether Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) should retain the gavel.
Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters that it would be left to House Democratic leadership to determine whether Democrats would join with Republicans to save McCarthy if there is a motion to remove him from the Speaker’s chair.
“That’s something for House Republicans to figure out. What the president’s going to continue to do is deliver for the American people,” Jean-Pierre said.
“While [Republicans] are clearly showing chaos and not able to do that, deliver for the American people, he’s going to focus on growing the economy… that’s their decision to make,” she added. “That’s for Democratic leadership and House Democrats to figure out.”
Jean-Pierre’s comments echoed those made a day earlier by President Biden, who said he would “leave that to the leadership of the House and the Senate.”
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) announced over the weekend that he would force a vote on ousting McCarthy, following through on threats Gaetz has levied in recent weeks and answering a dare McCarthy himself made recently.
On Monday, Gaetz teased his plans to bring a motion to vacate against McCarthy. It came after the Speaker worked with Democrats to pass a continuing resolution and keep the government open, a reality the Florida Republican had been warning against for weeks.
It takes only one lawmaker to call for a motion to vacate in order to bring such an action up for a full House vote as part of a deal McCarthy struck with conservatives to secure the gavel earlier this year.
But it would require a majority of lawmakers in the House to oust McCarthy, raising the likelihood that some Democrats would have to back the California Republican in order for him to keep his position.
Gaetz focused his speech Monday on what he alleged was a “secret side deal” between McCarthy and President Biden about approving Ukraine funding in the future. The “clean” stopgap funding bill Congress approved just hours before a Saturday shutdown deadline did not include the White House’s requested boost to Ukraine aid by billions.
Biden on Sunday told reporters he and McCarthy had “just made” a deal about Ukraine, but provided no details. Jean-Pierre on Monday would not elaborate on whether the two leaders had reached some kind of agreement about bringing up Ukraine funding for a vote, but she instead pointed to the large bipartisan support for Ukraine aid in Congress.
Go to Source: Administration News | The Hill