The fate of a controversial judicial nominee who has faced stern GOP opposition may come down to attendance, leading to pressure on <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/u-s-senate" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Senate</a> Republicans to &#8220;show up&#8221; after several of them did not vote during a key juncture last week.
Conservative activists sounded off as U.S. Attorney Kevin Ritz of Tennessee, whom President Joe Biden picked to become a U.S. Circuit Judge for the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, could pass his final confirmation test <a href="https://www.democrats.senate.gov/2024/09/12/schedule-for-monday-september-16-2024" target="_blank" rel="noopener">as early as Monday</a>.
Warning of Democrats pushing &#8220;radical and unqualified judicial nominees,&#8221; Judicial Crisis Network President Carrie Severino told The Daily Wire, &#8220;With a tightly divided chamber, Senate Republicans not showing up for key judicial votes is an own goal.&#8221;
May Mailman, director of the Independent Women’s Law Center, said, &#8220;Wake up Senate Republicans. Here we have an attorney accused of unethically pursuing criminal charges, using his government post to pick and choose winners.&#8221;
She also told The Daily Wire, &#8220;That’s exactly the weaponized DOJ our nation cannot survive. Nothing could be more concerning for a lifetime judicial appointment. Show up for this, because American citizens deserve a fair judiciary.&#8221;
Republican lawmakers have raised <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0Tj566sjYE" target="_blank" rel="noopener">concerns</a> about claims that Ritz has acted unethically as a prosecutor, including allegations that he misrepresented the terms of a plea deal and went too soft on defendants accused of gun crimes.
Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) charged the White House did not <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0Tj566sjYE" target="_blank" rel="noopener">&#8220;properly&#8221;</a> consult herself and Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN) about Ritz, given they are his home-state senators and would traditionally have <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/02/politics/senate-judicial-nominations-blue-slips-durbin/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">&#8220;blue slip&#8221; authority</a> to block him.
During his confirmation hearing, Ritz said he had a &#8220;clean ethical record,&#8221; <a href="https://news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/biden-sixth-circuit-pick-pressured-by-republicans-over-ethics" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to Bloomberg</a>. Democrats shrugged off the criticism and said Republicans set a precedent of <a href="https://demandjustice.org/the-path-forward-for-president-bidens-judicial-nominees/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ditching</a> home-state deference under the Trump administration.
<a href="https://www.amiracist.com/">Am I Racist? Is In Theaters NOW — Get Your Tickets Here!</a>
The Senate is <a href="https://www.senate.gov/history/partydiv.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">narrowly controlled</a> by the Democrats thanks to the independent members who caucus with them. Overall, there are 49 Republicans, 47 Democrats, and four independents with an election coming up that could shift the balance.
By an 11-10 <a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/us-senate-panel-advances-tennessee-prosecutors-nomination-6th-circuit-2024-05-09/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">vote</a> along party lines, the Judiciary Committee advanced Ritz&#8217;s nomination in May, and last week the Senate voted 49-42 to <a href="https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1182/vote_118_2_00239.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">invoke cloture</a> in a move that paved the way to a final vote expected to happen late Monday afternoon.
Nine senators, <a href="https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1182/vote_118_2_00239.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">including eight Republicans</a>, did not vote on cloture for Ritz. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) joined with the Republicans who did show up in opposing it. All voting Democrats and the other independents voted to move forward.
Sen. Joe Manchin (I-WV) <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/my-own-little-filibuster-joe-manchin-vows-to-block-any-judicial-nominee-without-gop-support" target="_blank" rel="noopener">vowed</a> earlier this year — when he was still registered as a Democrat — that he would reject any judicial nominee who did not get GOP support, but he ended up voting last week to advance Ritz&#8217;s nomination anyway.
Axios <a href="https://www.axios.com/2024/09/13/manchin-schumer-judicial-confirmations-biden-trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> a Manchin spokesperson said the senator &#8220;was not prepared to play&#8221; along with the opposition to Ritz, claiming it was &#8220;largely based on political reasons as to how the WH handled the process, and not on his qualifications.&#8221;
The outlet said Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is planning <a href="https://www.axios.com/2024/09/10/schumer-judges-confirmation-biden-trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a &#8220;blitz&#8221;</a> of votes on judicial picks in the final weeks of Biden&#8217;s administration to beat the 234 mark achieved under former President Donald Trump. Biden <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/senate/3152480/schumer-durbin-good-fortune-beat-trump-record-judges/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly has 209</a>.
Severino lamented how Manchin sided with Democrats in the Ritz cloture vote, telling The Daily Wire, &#8220;It’s disappointing to see Senator Joe Manchin kowtowing to Senator Schumer. So much for his purported moderation and independence.&#8221;

Sunset at US Capitol Building In Washington DC

‘Show Up’: GOP Attendance Could Make Or Break Vote On Divisive Biden Nominee

Republicans Urged To 'Show Up' For Final Vote On Divisive Biden Judicial Nominee

Biden Administration

Carrie Severino

Chuck Schumer

Congress

Joe Manchin

Judge

Marsha Blackburn

Politics

Tennessee

U.S. Senate

Active U.S. Military members responded to Democrat presidential nominee <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/kamala-harris" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kamala Harris</a>&#8216; false claim during last week&#8217;s debate about the Biden-Harris administration supposedly removing all military personnel from combat zones.
&#8220;As of today, there is not one member of the United States Military who is in active duty in a combat zone, in any war zone around the world, for the first time this century,&#8221; Harris falsely boasted during the debate.
During the debate, Harris was not fact-checked by ABC moderators, who have been widely ridiculed for their anti-Trump bias. Active military members, however, did chime in.
Video shows military members watching Harris during the debate, with the caption, &#8220;full of lies.&#8221;
After Harris makes her false claim, one of the military members turns the camera around on himself and other members and says, &#8220;So where the f*** are we, right now?&#8221;
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Kamala Harris just got hit with the biggest fact check in human history <a href="https://t.co/LDeniMIO88">pic.twitter.com/LDeniMIO88</a>
— Kevin Dalton (@TheKevinDalton) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheKevinDalton/status/1834727297959837815?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 13, 2024</a></blockquote>
As highlighted by those in active duty, tens of thousands of U.S. Military members are indeed serving in hostile areas and recognized combat zones.
For example, there are about 2,500 military personnel in Iraq, and around 900 in Syria, fighting Islamic State militants, <a href="https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/3900019/us-iraq-higher-military-commission-continues-talks-on-security-cooperation/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to the Department of Defense.
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Moreover, a Reuters <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/what-are-us-troops-doing-middle-east-where-are-they-2024-01-30/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> from February points out that there are roughly 30,000 U.S. troops scattered in the Middle East, with thousands of additional troops sent to the region since the start of the war in the Gaza Strip, which was sparked during Harris and President Joe Biden&#8217;s tenure.
Harris&#8217; response also seems to dismiss the sacrifices of military members who have been killed or injured on her watch, following the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan.
In January, for example, three Army Reserve soldiers were killed at a U.S. base in Jordan, during a drone attack from an Iran-backed militia, The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/29/us/us-soldiers-killed-jordan.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. More than 30 other service members were injured.
Since then, eight service members were <a href="https://www.wusf.org/politics-issues/2024-09-13/politifact-fl-harris-debate-remarks-us-military-combat-zones-misleading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">injured</a> in a drone attack in Syria, and two U.S. Navy SEALS drowned during a mission tied to Iran.
Moreover, families of U.S. troops who have been injured following the withdrawal are harshly criticizing Harris for her lie.
Brad Illerbrunner, whose son was seriously injured in Iraq in December, said Harris&#8217; remarks at the debate “really [hit] below the belt,&#8221; the New York Post <a href="https://nypost.com/2024/09/14/world-news/vet-families-rip-kamala-harris-over-claim-no-troops-in-combat-zones/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. &#8220;She doesn’t even recognize that our own troops are getting hurt.”
“We’re still in war zones,” he said, adding that the VP is “trying to snow the public.”

ABC News Hosts Presidential Debate Between Donald Trump And VP Kamala Harris At The National Constitution Center In Philadelphia

Active Military Members Hit Kamala With The Ultimate Fact Check

Active Military Members Hit Kamala Harris With The Ultimate Fact Check

Elections

Kamala Harris

Military

The following is an edited transcript of a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/podcasts/morning-wire/following-the-migrant-crisis-money-trial-9-14-24" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Morning Wire interview</a> between Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief John Bickley and Lora Ries, Director of the Border Security and Immigration Center at The Heritage Foundation.
The concerns raised by citizens of Springfield, Ohio about the impact of a massive influx of Haitian migrants were amplified this week after former President Trump brought the town up in his debate with Vice President Harris. While the legacy media has attempted to dismiss the concerns raised by residents there, more details have emerged, revealing troubling and far deeper issues driving the crisis in the small Rust Belt town. We sat down with an expert to follow the money on mass migration in the U.S., and zero in on the Biden-Harris administration’s role in promoting it. 
* * *
JOHN: Joining us now is Lora Ries, Director of the Border Security and Immigration Center at Heritage. Lora, thanks for joining us. Now, there’s been so much attention on Springfield, Ohio this week because of the debate. We had a committee hearing on Tuesday night where a lot of people came forward from the community talking about situations that are extremely alarming, including some deaths. We&#8217;ve had the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/diversity-killed-his-son-but-he-wishes-a-white-man-did-it">tragic death</a> of the 11-year-old due to a Haitian migrant who was driving erratically, hitting a school bus. We also had a report that came out Tuesday night from one of the residents saying that her mother, she believes, was killed by a Haitian driver. But the overarching story here is that there are 60,000 people in this town and a reported 20,000 Haitians who are now working in the area, which is obviously a massive population and culture shift. What do we know so far about this situation?
LORA: Yes, unfortunately, Springfield is just one example of so many communities, whether it&#8217;s small towns, but even large cities that have been suffering under the crush of humanity, dropped off in their communities and towns and cities throughout the country, under the Biden-Harris administration. Because when you look at the numbers that Customs and Border Protection reports – over 10.2 million enforcement actions, inadmissible aliens encountered nationwide, the vast majority of which are being released into the U.S. according to DHS Secretary Mayorkas. Plus another well over two million known “gotaways.” They&#8217;re coming to our towns, and so right now the spotlight is on Springfield, and rightly so, because American citizens there are suffering from too many people and too few resources. If you are literally increasing the population by one-third of people, no matter where they&#8217;re from, communities can&#8217;t sustain that. The public schools, the classrooms are overflowing with students, most of whom don&#8217;t speak English or it&#8217;s not their first language, which then triggers the need for translators and other services that the schools and districts weren&#8217;t prepared for and don&#8217;t have the money for. Same thing for healthcare, long waits in emergency rooms to see a doctor, to see a specialist – and the cost to all of this. And that doesn&#8217;t even get to the crime that the citizens there are reporting on and people being killed. So it is a microcosm right now in the spotlight and rightly so. And if it is waking up more Americans to what is happening under this administration due to their open border policies, then I&#8217;m glad more Americans are waking up to the situation.
JOHN: Now again, the reports are around 20,000, specifically Haitians in this area. What have we seen from the Biden administration regarding their policy with Haitians in particular?
LORA: So this population could have come in at least three different ways under this administration. First of all, the Secretary of Homeland Security has created dozens of immigration parole programs – unconstitutionally and unlawfully – to bring in tens of thousands of inadmissible aliens each month. One such program is for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans. And so each month, 30,000 aliens without visas from those four countries come into the U.S. and are resettled. So that&#8217;s one way this Haitian population could be in Springfield.
Another is a program called Temporary Protected Status, which is, Congress intended it to be, about protecting foreign nationals who were already in the U.S. when either a natural disaster, like a volcano or a hurricane happens in their home country, or there are temporary emergency situations. And that&#8217;s the language, the clause that the Mayorkas DHS used for Haiti. The problem is this TPS gets extended over and over and over again, over sometimes decades for some countries. And so it is no longer “temporary.” It becomes a permanent form of relief. And Secretary Mayorkas also ”re-designates” Haiti, just did so, for TPS. Now re-designation is nowhere in the immigration statute. But what that does is it moves the date to more recent waves of Haitians who have illegally come into the U.S. to make them eligible for this protection. That was not the intent of Congress at all.
The third way this population could be there is if they were resettled as refugees. However, many Haitians have not been in Haiti for a number of years. They were safely resettled in the third country, including Mr. Joseph, who was the one who killed the young boy and injured 20 other students on that school bus you mentioned. He left Haiti, I want to say in 2014, but he didn&#8217;t come to the U.S. until 2022. That means he was safely resettled in a third country and would not be eligible for refugee protection here in the U.S.
<h4><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/podcasts/morning-wire/following-the-migrant-crisis-money-trial-9-14-24" target="_blank" rel="noopener">LISTEN: Catch the full interview on the Saturday Extra edition of Morning Wire</a></h4>
JOHN: And you made a point there that the people who have this protected status have come over illegally. They were illegal immigrants, then granted protected status after the fact, correct?
LORA: Right. If you were here legally, you don&#8217;t need TPS. Right. So it&#8217;s, in essence, it&#8217;s for someone who&#8217;s here, either they snuck across the border or they came in with a visa and overstayed. But if they were here lawfully, they wouldn&#8217;t need TPS. For the parole, Mayorkas is mass paroling inadmissible aliens into the country. What that means is the law requires you to go get a visa with the State Department overseas and then come to the U.S. So all of these parolees do not have a visa because he&#8217;s directed would-be illegal aliens, “Hey, don&#8217;t cross illegally over the border between ports of entry. Use the CBP Mobile One application, make an appointment, go to a port of entry, and we will parole you in and give you work authorization.” For now they still don&#8217;t have visas. It doesn&#8217;t make them lawful. CBP is reporting those as enforcement actions. And so if they were here lawfully, CBP would not be reporting them.
JOHN: Now, there&#8217;s been a lot of conflicting reports about what’s happening in Springfield. We have a reporter on the ground looking into many of them. One report we&#8217;re hearing is that residents are seeing migrants using specific debit cards or credit cards. If that’s true, where would those be coming from? Could they be coming from NGOs?
LORA: They could be. We&#8217;ve seen that in other locations, New York City for example, but all the way throughout Mexico and Central America. The Biden-Harris administration has set up quite an infrastructure with NGOs from Panama North all the way to the U.S. and throughout the U.S. to facilitate this mass migration, and whether that&#8217;s transporting them, giving them debit cards. The UNHCR has been involved in giving debit cards to the migrants in Central America. We give billions of dollars through the State Department to UNHCR and other organizations. And so it&#8217;s consistent with that, I couldn&#8217;t pinpoint which NGO this Springfield population may have received such cards from, but it&#8217;s consistent with what this administration has been doing.
JOHN: You know, we hear the term “non-governmental organizations,” but you&#8217;re saying they work in coordination with the federal government. And they receive federal funds, correct?
LORA: Absolutely. Billions of dollars. This has truly become an industrial complex. These NGOs, including faith-based organizations, like Catholic Charities or Lutheran Immigrant Refugee Services or HIAS, the Hebrew equivalent, Church World Services, the list goes on and on. For many of these groups, they now receive more money through federal grants than they do from church donations and so they&#8217;ve become very addicted to it. Many of them, if not all of them, are 501c3, they&#8217;re tax exempt, and yet they&#8217;re spending money to hire lobbyists to advocate for more immigration and to lobby against immigration enforcement. So it&#8217;s become a very corrupt, but lucrative business for these groups that this administration relies so heavily on to carry out its open border agenda.
JOHN: Have we seen any congressional action related to these NGOs? Are there any investigations going on to look into how these are being possibly abused?
LORA: There have been some. There have been letters to organizations, to corporations. The most promising aspect was in H.R.2, the Secure the Border Act which the House passed in May of 2023. There was a section in there about defunding money to these NGOs that facilitate illegal immigration. It drew quite the debate when it was being considered in the House Homeland Security Committee. And the lobbyists that these NGOs hire came out in force to lobby against this provision calling for the stripping of funds. Of course, that bill now sits on Senator Schumer&#8217;s desk, not going anywhere. And then meanwhile, Congress continues to fund, through each year&#8217;s appropriations bill as well as the supplemental bill they passed this April for Ukraine and Israel. But it is billions of dollars going through multiple departments, whether it&#8217;s the State Department, DHS, Health and Human Services, for example, in the Ukraine, Israel supplemental. The State Department received $3.5 billion for “Vulnerable Populations” in the migration and refugee assistance. And the president&#8217;s International Disaster Assistance Fund for “Vulnerable Populations” received $5.6 billion. So these are slush funds that can be used easily to facilitate mass migration.
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JOHN: Now, finally, there’s been a lot of discussion about the sanctuary city status in some of these cities, particularly New York City as of late. Are some of these small towns sanctuary cities without people realizing it? Or do they have certain designations as places that are friendly to the resettlement of massive populations like this?
LORA: It can be a range of how expressly political leaders declare the city or town to be a sanctuary locality. I mean, in some cases you have mayors going on the record – Athens, Georgia, mayor comes to mind, before Laken Riley was killed, being a sanctuary jurisdiction. But in other communities it could be simply a sheriff or a mayor directing law enforcement not to cooperate with ICE — if ICE places a detainer on a criminal alien to prevent a criminal from being released back onto the street. So it can be a de facto sanctuary jurisdiction, or it could be a very public express, sanctuary jurisdiction, where they pass a law or a resolution.
JOHN: Final question – about the media’s coverage of this story. We’ve seen a dismissive and even aggressive attack on those highlighting this development in Springfield from the legacy media. What are we to make of that?
LORA: There is plenty of evidence of citizens standing up at a town hall or commission meeting saying what is happening on the ground and asking their political leaders, “What do you expect from us? If you&#8217;re protecting these illegal aliens, who&#8217;s protecting us?” Plenty of video interviews of people who live in the community, citizens explaining what&#8217;s happening. And so for the media and the Left to gaslight or attempt to the rest of America saying, ”This really isn&#8217;t happening in Springfield, things are fine.” Well, that&#8217;s consistent with how they&#8217;ve been treating the open border for the past three plus years, but it&#8217;s not working. And to just dismiss the concern, real concerns of American citizens shows the contempt that the elite managerial class has for U.S. citizens and their “America Last” attitude.
JOHN: Well, as I said, we’re on the ground there digging into this – and making sure those concerns get the attention they deserve. Lora, thank you so much for coming on, and we’d love to talk to you again.
LORA: Sure, happy to.
JOHN: That was Lora Ries, Director of the Heritage Border Security and Immigration Center – and this has been a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/podcasts/morning-wire/following-the-migrant-crisis-money-trial-9-14-24" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Saturday Extra edition of Morning Wire</a>. 
***
<h4><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/podcasts/morning-wire/following-the-migrant-crisis-money-trial-9-14-24" target="_blank" rel="noopener">LISTEN: Catch the full interview on the Saturday Extra edition of Morning Wire</a></h4>

U.S. President Joe Biden Unveils Immigration Order Severely Limiting Asylum-seeker Crossings

Follow The Money: Funding The Biden-Harris Migrant Crisis

Alejandro Mayorkas

Border Crisis

Morning Wire

U.S. Customs and Border Protection

Vice President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/kamala-harris" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kamala Harris</a> struggled throughout her first solo interview as the Democrat presidential nominee that aired on Friday, including on trying to differentiate herself from President Joe Biden.
During the interview with 6abc Action News (WPVI-TV), Harris was asked if she could name just &#8220;one or two&#8221; policy areas where she could say that she was different than Biden.
&#8220;Well, I’m obviously not Joe Biden, and you know, I offer a new generation of leadership,&#8221; she claimed. &#8220;And so, for example, thinking about developing and creating an opportunity economy where it&#8217;s about investing in areas that really need a lot of work, and maybe focusing on, again, the aspirations and the dreams, but also just recognizing that at this moment in time, some of the stuff we could take for granted years ago, we can&#8217;t take for granted anymore.&#8221;
&#8220;For example, another plan that I have that is a new approach is to expand the child tax credit to $6,000 for young families for the first year of their child&#8217;s life,&#8221; she continued. &#8220;Because that is obviously a very critical a stage of development of a child, and a lot of young parents need the help to buy a car seat or their crib or clothes for their kids. And so my approach is about new ideas, new policies that are directed at the current moment. And also, to be very honest with you, my focus is very much in what we need to do over the next 10-20 years to catch up to the 21st century around, again, capacity, but also challenges.&#8221;
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Again, Harris was unable to give any kind of an answer about how she is different than Biden.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Reporter: How are you different from Joe Biden?
Kamala: *Nervously repeats herself and fails to explain how she’s different from Joe Biden* <a href="https://t.co/ALh0vE5aZh">pic.twitter.com/ALh0vE5aZh</a>
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) <a href="https://twitter.com/TrumpWarRoom/status/1834716706666578202?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 13, 2024</a></blockquote>

Harris

WATCH: Harris Cannot Name A Single Way That She Is Different Than Biden

Joe Biden

A pro-life Christian <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pro-life-demonstrators-found-guilty-face-up-to-11-years-in-federal-prison" target="_blank" rel="noopener">convicted for joining a peaceful protest</a> at a Tennessee abortion facility has been ordered to report next month to a notoriously violent federal prison, he told The Daily Wire. 
Calvin Zastrow, 63, is expected to serve his six month sentence at the Federal Correctional Institute Thomson in Illinois beginning October 15. The Thomson facility has been the focus of intense media and lawmaker scrutiny over reports of rampant violence and abuse at the prison over the last few years.
Last year, a special management unit at Thomson was shut down after an NPR <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/02/14/1157035089/deadliest-federal-prison-thompson-correctional-center-closing">report</a> found there were five suspected homicides and two suspected suicides from 2019 until February 2023 in the unit. In October 2023, Sen. Joni Ernst  (R-IA) <a href="https://www.ernst.senate.gov/news/press-releases/ernst-demands-answers-on-sexual-misconduct-at-usp-thomson" target="_blank" rel="noopener">demanded</a> answers on how the facility handled some 275 reports of sexual misconduct against prison employees in 2022.
Just <a href="https://www.wgem.com/2024/09/05/illinois-sen-durbin-thomson-prison-still-problem-after-incident-landed-employee-hospital/">last week,</a> the prison was placed in lockdown when an employee was hospitalized after finding a suspicious substance in a housing unit. 
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Zastrow <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pro-lifer-targeted-by-biden-admin-sentenced-to-prison" target="_blank" rel="noopener">was sentenced</a> to six months in prison by Judge Aleta Trauger on July 3 over his participation in a peaceful protest at an abortion facility in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, in March 2021. During the protest, Zastrow and a group of other pro-lifers sat in a hallway in the office building of the Carafem Health Center Clinic where they prayed, sang hymns, and urged women not to get abortions. Zastrow and others were charged with conspiracy against rights and violating the FACE Act. 
Zastrow hopes to get a stay of sentence while he appeals his conviction in Tennessee. A federal judge is set to consider motions to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-89-year-old-woman-convicted-faces-over-a-decade-in-prison-for-peaceful-pro-life-protest" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dismiss convictions</a> on similar charges in Detroit. 
In the meantime, Zastrow told The Daily Wire that he is spending time with his family and ministering to others. 
“Our family is doing fantastic. We’re doing really good in the Lord. God is really awesome to us,” he said Wednesday, adding that he was also trying to raise awareness about the challenges faced by other imprisoned pro-lifers like Heather Idoni in Michigan. Idoni was sentenced to two years in prison over a pro-life protest in Washington, D.C. 
Zastrow also faces an upcoming <a href="https://www.justice.gov/d9/2024-06/2024_amended_complaint_united_states_v._zastrow.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">civil lawsuit</a> from the Department of Justice over his participation in a peaceful protest at the Planned Parenthood-operated Fort Myers Health Center. He said that the DOJ was trying to impose an injunction that could lead to him being permanently blocked from participating in pro-life sidewalk counseling. 
“That’s their end game, to silence us, and to get us off the streets and silence dissent against what they’re doing,” he said. “They’re going to make an example of us.&#8221;
Zastrow said the government gave him an offer to settle before the case went to trial and pay a $30,000 fine, but he refused. He replied to the offer with a message: “Baby murdering will end in the name of Jesus and so will all lawless tyranny upholding it.”
“So I proverbially poked them in the eye and said, &#8216;fight, fight, fight,'&#8221; he said. 
The Biden-Harris Justice Department has cracked down on pro-life protesters across the country, pursuing stiff penalties using Reconstruction-era civil rights laws to charge protesters with conspiring against rights. In Washington, D.C., one pro-life activist was sentenced to over five years in prison under the new legal strategy.

MixCollage-12-Sep-2024-12-25-PM-3686

Pro-Lifer Convicted Over Peaceful Protest Sentenced To Notorious Federal Prison

Abortion

Department of Justice

Nashville

Prison

Pro-Life Movement

A White House official was asked about a group of veterans who were critical of the Biden administration’s mishandling of the Afghanistan withdrawal and said there was no point in responding to a “handful of vets.”
White House National Security Council communications adviser John Kirby accidentally hit reply all to <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/kirby-no-use-responding-handful-vets-bidens-botched-afghan-withdrawal" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a Fox News inquiry</a> when he apparently meant to reply to White House staffers. In his response, Kirby diminished the concerns of veterans on the anniversary of 9/11.
&#8220;Obviously no use in responding. A ‘handful’ of vets indeed and all of one stripe,&#8221; Kirby said in his response.
Fox News said it had reached out to the White House on Wednesday afternoon with comments from four veterans, including Rep. Cory Mills (R-FL), who were unhappy with Kirby’s press conference on Monday. Fox included quotes from four veterans who said Kirby was “deflecting” from the Biden administration’s bungled withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.
&#8220;The bottom line is that the Biden-Harris administration chose politics over strategy, and Kirby, who I wouldn’t trust to guard my grocery list, is now trying to cover for them,&#8221; Mills said in one of the quotes.
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The situation began when the House Foreign Affairs Committee, chaired by Rep. Mike McCaul (R-TX), released a report that disputed the Biden administration’s long-held claim that the withdrawal was former President Donald Trump’s fault and that President Joe Biden was bound by an agreement Trump made with Afghanistan. Trump’s agreement established a deadline in 2021 but included conditions for withdrawal.
The report from McCaul found that State Department officials had no plan to help Americans and Afghan allies get out of the country while American troops were still there to protect them, Fox News reported. The report also determined that the Biden administration didn’t adequately respond to terror threats ahead of the withdrawal, leading to the deaths of 13 U.S. service members and more than 150 Afghan civilians. The botched withdrawal also left the Taliban with upwards of $7 billion in abandoned U.S. weapons and equipment and $57 million that had been given to the Afghan government before the Taliban took over.
In April 2021, Biden <a href="https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/article/2573268/biden-announces-full-us-troop-withdrawal-from-afghanistan-by-sept-11/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> that he would fully withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan before September 11, which precluded him from determining if conditions on the ground warranted the withdrawal.
After McCaul had released his report, Kirby attended <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2024/09/09/press-briefing-by-press-secretary-karine-jean-pierre-and-national-security-communications-adviser-john-kirby/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a White House briefing</a> to dismiss its findings and defend Biden by blaming Trump for the disaster that had happened under Biden’s watch.
&#8220;President Biden, for his part, faced a stark choice when he came to office: Abide by the flawed agreement and end America’s longest war, or blow up the deal, extend the war, and see a much smaller contingent of American troops back in combat with the Taliban,&#8221; Kirby said at the press briefing. &#8220;He chose the former and was able to buy additional time to prepare for that withdrawal all the way into summer, and we, as a nation, are safer for it.&#8221;

John Kirby

Biden Official’s Reply-All Gaffe: Trivializing Veterans’ Afghanistan Concerns, ‘No Use In Responding’

John Kirby’s Reply-All Gaffe: Trivializing Veterans' Afghanistan Concerns, ‘No Use In Responding’

Afghanistan

Donald Trump

Fox News

Media

Trump Administration

A Cuban national who has been accused of murdering a woman in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/tennessee" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tennessee</a> was reportedly released into the country by the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/biden-administration" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Biden administration</a> last year, according to a new report. 
NewsNation <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/migrant-entered-via-cbp-one-222006710.html#:~:text=Dayren%20Roque%20Lopez%2C%2041%2C%20from,in%20a%20Cleveland%20residence%20Sunday." target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> Tuesday that 41-year-old Dayren Roque Lopez, who is suspected of murdering 25-year-old Dayana Garcia, was released into the United States in San Ysidro, California, in August 2023 using the Biden administration’s Customs and Border Protection One app. The app allows people seeking entry into the U.S. expedited processing and gives them a court date to hear their asylum claim. 
Lopez was arrested in Zavala County, Texas, on Monday after he was accused of murdering Garcia in Cleveland, Tennessee. He was caught almost 30 miles away from the Texas/Mexico border, according to police. 
Lopez had work authorization in the United States and was set to have a hearing on his immigration status in Memphis in November, according to NewsNation. 
Cleveland Police said that they were working with Texas Rangers to bring Lopez back to Tennessee to face first-degree murder charges. The suspect reportedly was arrested on domestic charges in February but was not convicted. 
Cleveland Police Chief Mark Gibson said that the circumstances around Garcia’s death were still under investigation, and officials were not ready to release the cause of death to the public. 
“We have been in contact with her family, and I&#8217;m sure we&#8217;ll start finding out a lot more information about her as time goes,” he <a href="https://kfoxtv.com/news/nation-world/man-wanted-for-tennesssee-womans-murder-arrested-in-texas-dayren-roque-lopez-zavala-county-bradley-county-cleveland-dayana-garcia" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. 
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Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) said the incident exemplifies the Biden-Harris administration’s failed immigration policies. 
“The accused murderer of a 25-year-old woman in Cleveland, Tennessee, is an illegal alien, someone who came in this country on the CBP One App,” she said. “You&#8217;ve heard me talk about this because it is another of those components that the Biden-Harris administration is using trying to make illegal aliens legal. This absolutely has to stop. This is why it is imperative that we close the border.”
Thousands of foreign nationals have been released into the U.S. through the CBP One app, which allows foreign nationals to schedule appointments to apply for asylum at ports of entry.

MixCollage-11-Sep-2024-12-52-PM-1419

Cuban National Suspected Of Murder In Tennessee Was Let In By Biden Admin

Cuba

Customs and Border Protection (CPB)

illegal immigrants

Immigration

Texas

Since the September 11 terror attacks that caused the United States to occupy Afghanistan for two decades, the threat of terrorism is once again growing in the Middle Eastern country.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee released a 353-page <a href="https://foreignaffairs.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/WILLFULL-BLINDNESS-An-Assessment-of-the-Biden-Harris%20Administrations-Withdrawal-from-Afghanistan-and-the-Chaos-that-Followed.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> this week that detailed some of the terror activity that has ballooned in Afghanistan spurred on by the U.S. withdrawal in 2021.
“From the inception of the United States’ presence in Afghanistan, a primary goal has been to incapacitate terrorist groups seeking haven in the region, particularly with the Taliban’s assent,” the report states, adding that the “administration failed to plan for alternative methods of countering terrorism following the withdrawal. Terrorism, as a result, has flourished under the Biden-Harris administration.”
The threat of terrorism has increased from one group in particular. ISIS-K is an offshoot of ISIS in Afghanistan and is responsible for the deaths of 13 U.S. service members and dozens of Afghans in a suicide bombing at Hamid Karzai International Airport during the U.S. withdrawal. The United Nations now <a href="https://documents.un.org/doc/undoc/gen/n24/212/98/pdf/n2421298.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">assesses</a> that ISIS-K, especially after a terror attack on the Crocus City Hall in Moscow in March, now represents the “greatest external terrorist threat to” Europe.
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ISIS-K and other terror organizations have been allowed to regroup and grow under Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, according to the report. The Haqqani Network, a sophisticated terror operation under the Taliban, and Al Qaeda, the terror group behind the 9/11 attacks on the U.S., have also reasserted themselves in Afghanistan
“Meanwhile, without a presence in Afghanistan, the United States is ill-positioned to counter the rise in terrorism in Afghanistan,” the report says. It goes on to call Al Qaeda “one of, if not the largest threat from Afghanistan following the Biden-Harris administration’s withdrawal.”
FBI Director Christopher Wray has repeatedly warned about the increasing threat environment for years, especially after the Hamas terror attack on Israel on October 7 of last year.
“Even before October 7, I would have told this Committee that we were at a heightened threat level from a terrorism perspective,&#8221; Wray <a href="https://www.ossoff.senate.gov/press-releases/watch-sen-ossoff-raises-with-fbi-director-terrorism-risk-along-southern-border-as-national-security-threat/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> the Senate Intelligence Committee in April. &#8220;In the sense that, it’s the first time I’ve seen in a long, long time, the threats from homegrown violent extremists — that is jihadist-inspired extremists — domestic violent extremists, foreign terrorist organizations, and state-sponsored terrorist organizations all being elevated at one time.” 
The terror threats rising in the Middle East have been made more <a href="https://homeland.house.gov/2023/11/15/fbi-director-wray-confirms-the-border-crisis-poses-major-homeland-security-threat-dhs-secretary-mayorkas-stonewalls/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pressing</a> by the chaos on the southern border, Wray has said.

Kamala Harris, Joe Biden

Terror Threats From Afghanistan Have ‘Flourished’ Under Biden-Harris Admin: Report

Terror Threats From Afghanistan Have Exploded Under Biden-Harris Administration

Terrorism

Big Lots filed for bankruptcy on Monday citing inflation and high interest rates as main reasons for the discount retail store&#8217;s financial troubles.
The home goods chain, which boasts bargain prices for furniture and decor also pointed to fewer people spending money on these things in the wake of the pandemic.
“The company has been adversely affected by recent macroeconomic factors such as high inflation and interest rates that are beyond its control,” Big Lots <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2024/09/09/big-lots-bankruptcy-plans-sale-and-store-closures.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a press release.
“The prevailing economic trends have been particularly challenging to Big Lots, as its core customers curbed their discretionary spending on the home and seasonal product categories that represent a significant portion of the company’s revenue,” the company said.
As part of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, Big Lots agreed to sell its business to a private equity firm, Nexus Capital Management for about $760 million, according to court records.
Big Lots runs more than 1,300 stores across 48 states and made around $4.7 billion in revenue over the year that ended in September 2023.
Nearly 300 stores will now close, the company said, but the remaining stores will continue to offer &#8220;extreme bargains.&#8221; Previously, Big Lots had told the Securities &amp; Exchange Commission (SEC) it planned to close only 35 to 40 stores.
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CEO Bruce Thorn said the bankruptcy filing will enable Big Lots to move forward with more financial stability, and they &#8220;remain committed to offering extreme bargains, enabling easy shopping in our stores and online, and providing an outstanding customer experience.&#8221;
Nexus&#8217; managing director said the firm is confident Big Lots&#8217; “greatest days are ahead” and they are “excited to have the opportunity to partner with Big Lots and help return this iconic brand to its status as America’s leading extreme value retailer.&#8221;
Big Lots will be sold during a court-supervised auction. Technically, Big Lots could sell to a different buyer if someone makes a higher bid than Nexus’ offer, but such a situation is unlikely.
About three months ago, Big Lots noted &#8220;substantial doubt about the Company&#8217;s ability to continue&#8221; in an SEC filing.
Brick-and-mortar retail stores have seen declining foot traffic for years now, but the pandemic dealt a particularly strong blow. Sky-high inflation in the years following COVID caused people to slow their discretionary spending dramatically as well.
Big Lots has also struggled to compete with similarly inexpensive retail chains that sell the same products, often for even lower prices, like Walmart.
Big Lots is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio.

Big Lots Earnings Disapoints Investors, Stock Price Falls

Big Lots Files For Bankruptcy Citing Inflation

Economy

Inflation

Interest Rates

U.S.

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) said over the weekend that his committee was delayed in releasing its long-awaited report about the Biden-Harris administration&#8217;s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan because the administration obstructed the investigation.
The damning 353-page <a href="https://foreignaffairs.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/WILLFULL-BLINDNESS-An-Assessment-of-the-Biden-Harris%20Administrations-Withdrawal-from-Afghanistan-and-the-Chaos-that-Followed.pdf">report</a> lays bare the administration&#8217;s failures as well as the ways that it &#8220;misled and, in some instances, directly lied to the American people at every stage of the withdrawal, from before the go-to-zero order until today.&#8221;
McCaul was <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/face-the-nation-full-transcript-09-08-2024/">asked</a> by CBS News&#8217; Margaret Brennan on &#8220;Face The Nation&#8221; on Sunday if the timing of the report&#8217;s release was related to the upcoming election.
&#8220;No,&#8221; McCaul responded. &#8220;It&#8217;s taken me two years to get to this point because of the obstruction. I&#8217;ve had to sort of subpoena after subpoena, move to compel, threaten to, you know, hold the secretary in contempt to get information, like after action reports, all these documents, testimonies that we finally got to.&#8221;
&#8220;Why is it important right now, Margaret? Because of the foreign policy is at stake,&#8221; he said. &#8220;What happened after Afghanistan impacted the world. Why? Because Putin responded by invading Ukraine two months after Afghanistan fell. Chairman Xi, Putin made an unwholly alliance in Beijing threatening the Pacific now. And then the Ayatollah reared his ugly head in the Middle East. And we&#8217;re seeing this.&#8221;
He said that the ISIS terrorist suspects who were <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/house-intel-chairman-on-8-isis-suspects-arrested-in-u-s-we-have-terrorists-that-are-actively-working-inside-the-u-s">arrested</a> on U.S. soil after illegally crossing the southern border were released from Bagram prison during the withdrawal.
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He said that the investigation will continue past the election because there are a lot of questions that investigators have not had answered yet.
&#8220;We have a lot of unanswered questions regarding the DOD,&#8221; he said. &#8220;You know, what happened on the ground? Why were these snipers left basically unprotected? Where was the surveillance equipment that was videotaping? Why don&#8217;t we have one video of the suicide bomber going off?&#8221;
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/RepMcCaul?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RepMcCaul</a> (R-TX), chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, says the committee’s investigation into the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan will go on “well after the election.”
WATCH: <a href="https://t.co/QezcFvEtdf">pic.twitter.com/QezcFvEtdf</a>
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) <a href="https://twitter.com/FaceTheNation/status/1832821176294330552?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 8, 2024</a></blockquote>

China Task Force Presser

House Foreign Affairs Chairman: Biden-Harris Admin Obstructed Afghanistan Investigation

Foreign Policy

Michael McCaul

Virginia Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin ripped the Biden-Harris administration on Thursday after it was revealed that a man arrested in the commonwealth for <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/man-charged-after-allegedly-chaining-up-children-inside-va-home-is-previously-deported-illegal-immigrant-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">allegedly chaining up children</a> inside a home is a previously deported illegal immigrant.
Franklin Viera Guevara, 29, an El Salvador native, was arrested in Fairfax County, Virginia, last month and charged with two counts of child neglect, two counts of child cruelty, and two counts of abduction. Police said they found two boys — ages 7 and 9 — chained up inside the home of Guevara&#8217;s girlfriend, 47-year-old girlfriend Wedni Del Cid Rodriguez, who is the boys&#8217; mother.
Fox News&#8217; Bill Melugin reported on Thursday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirmed that Guevara was deported in 2019 under the Trump administration before illegally making his way back into the U.S. &#8220;at an unknown date.&#8221;
&#8220;Another despicable crime committed by an illegal immigrant who is not supposed to be here. Too many innocent Virginians have suffered under the open border policies of the Biden-Harris Administration. Local officials in Fairfax County must uphold their duty to cooperate with ICE and keep Virginians safe. Enough is enough,&#8221; Youngkin wrote on X in response to the news. &#8220;Prosecute this criminal to the fullest extent of the law and deport him.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Another despicable crime committed by an illegal immigrant who is not supposed to be here. Too many innocent Virginians have suffered under the open border policies of the Biden-Harris Administration. Local officials in Fairfax County must uphold their duty to cooperate with ICE… <a href="https://t.co/OIUlGCeIjz">https://t.co/OIUlGCeIjz</a>
— Glenn Youngkin (@GlennYoungkin) <a href="https://twitter.com/GlennYoungkin/status/1831783904455598336?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 5, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The illegal immigrant suspect in the case is currently being held at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center on no bond, Fox 5 D.C. <a href="https://www.fox5dc.com/news/woman-boyfriend-charged-after-2-children-found-chained-up-fairfax-county-home" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
Guevara and his girlfriend Rodriguez allegedly told officers that they kept the children chained up to “scare them” and prevent them from leaving the apartment. Guevara also allegedly said that the couple would leave the young boys alone, chained up in the apartment. According to court documents, one of the boys got ahold of a phone and sent a photo of his chained ankle to their sister, and the sister called the police.
Rodriguez was also arrested and charged with two counts of child neglect, two counts of child cruelty, and two counts of abduction. She was released on bond after her arrest.
Last month, an illegal immigrant from Bolivia — who had been apprehended at the southern border and then released — was arrested in Virginia and charged with seven counts of possession of child porn and possession of obscene material with a minor, Fox News <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/illegal-migrant-caught-released-border-convicted-sex-crimes-virginia-child" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) said that 36-year-old Jose Fabricio Veizaga-Vargas is also a convicted sex offender &#8220;who victimized a minor in Northern Virginia.&#8221;
After his conviction, Veizaga-Vargas was sentenced to six months in prison, but his sentence was suspended. The ERO said that after his sentence was suspended, the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center refused to honor an ICE detainer request and released him from custody.

Glenn Youngkin

Youngkin Blasts Biden-Harris Admin’s ‘Open Border Policies’ After Illegal Immigrant Arrested For Allegedly Chaining Up Children

Youngkin Blasts Biden-Harris Admin's 'Open Border Policies' After Illegal Immigrant Arrested For Allegedly Chaining Up Children

Crime

Illegal Immigration

Virginia

The following is an edited transcript of a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/podcasts/morning-wire/trump-s-new-legal-peril-jack-smith-s-latest-move-9-2-24" target="_blank" rel="noopener">special Labor Day edition of Morning Wire</a>. Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief John Bickley sat down with former federal prosecutor Andy McCarthy to discuss what comes next for Donald Trump in lawsuits filed by Democrat prosecutors.
The &#8220;lawfare&#8221; effort against Donald Trump is not dead yet, as Special Counsel Jack Smith files a revised indictment and multiple appeals loom. While Democrats still hope to take down the former president, Team Trump says they’re confident that the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity ruling has doomed the cases against him.
* * *
JOHN: Joining us now to discuss is former federal prosecutor Andy McCarthy. So we’ve had some new developments in the “lawfare” effort against Donald Trump. Special prosecutor Jack Smith has revised and refiled charges against Donald Trump for election interference. Can you tell us what exactly we’ve just witnessed?
ANDY: Well, I think what we&#8217;ve witnessed is probably, from a prosecutor&#8217;s standpoint, the cleanest and most efficient way to deal with the Supreme Court&#8217;s opinion in the immunity case. Remember that when The Court decided the immunity decision on July 1, which held that the president has absolute immunity for core executive actions and, at the very least, presumptive immunity for everything he does within the ambit of his executive power, The Court basically directed the lower Court, which would be Judge Tanya Chutkan in Washington, to do a searching examination of the allegations in the indictment to sort out what allegations are based on or implicate official acts of the presidency and which ones don&#8217;t. Long story short, Smith was supposed to, by this coming Friday, make his submission about what he thought the case would look like going forward. And I think he decided rather than make a submission on Friday, he would simply supersede the indictment on Tuesday. And what he&#8217;s done in superseding the indictment is take out some of the allegations that can&#8217;t stand after the Supreme Court opinion. I should be clear, he hasn&#8217;t taken out any counts, like he hasn&#8217;t taken out any charges, but there are certain aspects of the evidence that can&#8217;t withstand the Supreme Court&#8217;s opinion and had to go, so he pared them down.
JOHN: And that&#8217;s because it relied on evidence connected to Trump&#8217;s official duties, is that correct?
ANDY: Not just his official duties, but his duties at the core of his article to constitutional executive power. What Chief justice Roberts said in the majority opinion was that that — Trump&#8217;s control over his subordinates in the executive branch exercising law enforcement authority, which is a plenary power of the executive branch — is something that Trump has absolute immunity for. So those allegations had to come out of the indictment.
<div id="attachment_788505" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-788505" class="size-large wp-image-788505" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/08/GettyImages-2168108886-864x576.jpg" alt="LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - AUGUST 23: Republican Presidential candidate, former U.S. president, Donald Trump speaks at II Toro E La Capra on August 23, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event focused on Trump’s proposed policy to eliminate taxes on tips for service industry employees." width="864" height="576" />Ian Maule/Getty Images</div>
JOHN: So where does that leave things now? What are the next steps for this case?
ANDY: The first thing that everybody is most concerned about, and I think rightly so, is — what&#8217;s the impact on the election? We&#8217;re seven weeks from the election where we&#8217;re going to have a new president on January 25. So I think this is really a big nothing. Because what people need to retain as they think about this is that the first thing that Judge Chutkan has to do, no matter when it&#8217;s done, is examine the superseding indictment to determine which allegations get immunity in which don&#8217;t. Whatever she decides about that. Immunity is one of the few issues in federal criminal law that a defendant is allowed to appeal pretrial. So whatever she decides, even if she leans in Jack Smith&#8217;s direction, Trump is going to be able to appeal that to the D.C. Circuit and then ultimately to the Supreme Court. So that issue has to be decided first, and then there are a slew of other issues that would have to be litigated before this case could get anywhere near being able to go to trial. So there&#8217;s no way that happens between now and the end of next January. So then we come to what happens after we have a new president. Obviously, if Trump wins the presidency, I imagine if he gets sworn in at 12:00, by 12:01 Jack Smith will be fired. And they&#8217;ll try at that point to dismiss the case. There may be some complications with that we can talk about. Obviously, it&#8217;s one approach if Trump wins, namely the case goes away or he does his best to make it go away. And then the other question is what happens if Harris wins? You would think, and I think this is probably right, that Harris will just retain Jack Smith and let him carry on and then, however long it takes to try the case or litigate these pre-trial issues, and then ultimately have a trial. He&#8217;ll be able to be back in business doing that. The alternative, which I think would be very sensible – but it would shock me, unfortunately, if Harris did that – would be for Harris to say, “Look this lawfare campaign has run its course. It hasn&#8217;t been good for the country. I&#8217;m supposed to be the candidate who&#8217;s making a pre-clean break from the past…” to the extent that she has appeal. It&#8217;s because she&#8217;s not Trump, she&#8217;s not Biden. And it would be a smart thing, I think, for her to say, “We&#8217;ve looked at the Supreme Court&#8217;s immunity decision, and it&#8217;s a very good decision for the executive branch. We don&#8217;t want to continue with a litigation against a 78-year-old former president that has the potential of cutting back on the executive branch&#8217;s immunity interests.” And if I were her, I would drop the case on that, for that reason — because let&#8217;s face it, the Democrats only ever brought this in order to have an impact on the election. Once the election&#8217;s over, does she really want this headache?
<h4><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/podcasts/morning-wire/trump-s-new-legal-peril-jack-smith-s-latest-move-9-2-24" target="_blank" rel="noopener">LISTEN: Catch the full interview with Andy McCarthy on a special Labor Day edition of Morning Wire.</a></h4>
JOHN: I can imagine the blowback from her own party if she did something like that being very severe. Now the picture you&#8217;ve painted here is that there will be immediate appeals from Trump&#8217;s team. If it is allowed to move forward, the appeals process, does this end up in the hands of the Supreme Court again?
ANDY: Yeah, it&#8217;ll end up in the hands of the Supreme Court again. And I think a second issue will end up in the hands of the Supreme Court, which is the question of whether, Jack Smith has been properly appointed under the Constitution. So that&#8217;s another, issue that&#8217;s out there that&#8217;ll have to be resolved pre trial. And I, I think it&#8217;s important to make our listeners understand there&#8217;s a difference between, obviously, immunity and guilt. If the courts were to rule against Trump on at least some of the allegations in Smith&#8217;s indictment, that is to say that those allegations are based on private conduct, not official acts, and the indictment can go forward as a prosecution, that wouldn&#8217;t mean that Trump is guilty. He still has a lot of arguments to make, with respect to the legal validity of the charges that have been filed. And even if that, even if he prevails there, you still have to go to trial and Smith still has to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt, including proving. Trump&#8217;s intent to commit fraud, which is, it may be harder to do than, than the prosecutor seems to think. So there&#8217;s a lot of rounds to be played here yet.
JOHN: You brought up a key issue, which is whether or not Special Counsel Jack Smith was actually appropriately appointed. Where does that stand now — and where do you see that going?
ANDY: Yeah. Well, it&#8217;s very interesting. So, the Florida case, the Mar-a-Lago documents case, was dismissed by Judge Aileen Cannon in what I thought was a scholarly 93 page opinion. No matter whether you agree with her bottom line or not, it&#8217;s clear that she worked very hard on it and took it very seriously and did I&#8217;d say better than workman-like job on the opinion. But she has found that Smith was not qualified to be special counsel because to be, to wield the kind of power a special counsel has you have to have one of two conditions: Either you have to be appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate, which Smith was not, or you have to have a position that&#8217;s created by an act of Congress, a statute. Smith, instead, was appointed under Justice Department rules and regulations that were promulgated during the Clinton administration. He also claims that there are a slew of congressional statutes that uphold his appointment but when you parse them carefully, I really don&#8217;t think they do. More important than what I think, Justice Clarence Thomas, in his concurring opinion in the recent immunity case, raised this very issue and went through those statutes and clearly doesn&#8217;t think that Smith is properly appointed. So, instead of doing what I think he should have done — this is Attorney General Garland — which is simply shift Smith, transfer him so that he&#8217;s under the supervision of the Biden appointed U.S. Attorney in South Florida. Then you make this whole issue under the appointments clause of the constitution go away and you could be up and running with that case again in five minutes. Rather than doing that, what he&#8217;s decided to do is appeal to the 11th Circuit, which I think is a peculiar choice because I think there&#8217;s a very good chance they&#8217;re going to lose in the 11th Circuit. In the meantime, the same issue is going to be raised in the Washington case in front of Judge Chutkan. I think in that case, she&#8217;s going to uphold Smith&#8217;s appointment because, regardless of whether she thinks Judge Cannon was right or wrong, Judge Cannon&#8217;s decision does not bind Judge Chutkan. Chutkan has to follow the law of the D.C. Circuit, and a few years back, the D.C. Circuit upheld a challenge on similar grounds to the status of Special Counsel Robert Mueller in connection with the Russia investigation. So, she&#8217;s going to uphold Smith&#8217;s appointment. I think the 11th Circuit, and I think the D.C. Circuit will uphold it as well, I think the 11th Circuit will agree with Judge Cannon that Smith is improperly appointed, which means that will land in the Supreme Court&#8217;s lap too, because when you have a dispute, In the circuits over,  an issue of this importance, the Supreme Court ultimately has to decide it.
<div id="attachment_788701" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-788701" class="size-large wp-image-788701" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/08/GettyImages-1480229648-864x576.jpg" alt="NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 04: (EDITOR'S NOTE: Alternate crop) Former U.S. President Donald Trump arrives for his arraignment at Manhattan Criminal Court on April 04, 2023 in New York City. With the indictment, Trump becomes the first former U.S. president in history to be charged with a criminal offense." width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/08/GettyImages-1480229648-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/08/GettyImages-1480229648-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/08/GettyImages-1480229648-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/08/GettyImages-1480229648.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Credit: Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images.</div>
JOHN: Sounds like a big mess, and two conflicting, sort of paradoxical moments there. To put a button on the lawfare campaigns against Trump, we&#8217;ve got the Atlanta case, we&#8217;ve also got the hush money case that&#8217;s being appealed. Just in sort of summary fashion, where do we stand with those two cases?
ANDY: Well, the Atlanta case is a clown show. I mean, at the moment it&#8217;s in complete suspense because you&#8217;ll also have immunity litigation in that connection. But before you can even get to that, there&#8217;s a big litigation under state law regarding whether Fani Willis, the prosecutor, has to be disqualified from the case. The lower Court has already disqualified the prosecutor-boyfriend that was involved in the case. And that decision, I don&#8217;t think made a lot of sense because it seemed to me that you could make an argument that both of them should go or neither of them should go, but having one go and the other stay doesn&#8217;t make much sense to me. So the Georgia Court, the Appellate Court, is going to hear arguments in that case, but not until December. So we&#8217;re a long way even from deciding the disqualification issue, and then they&#8217;ll have to figure out all the immunity stuff. So I think that case isn&#8217;t going anywhere. And if Willis ultimately gets removed, it could get transferred to another prosecutor who decides to drop the whole thing, which would be the best outcome, I think. As far as the Manhattan case, Trump is scheduled to be sentenced on September 18 on the 34 counts on which he was convicted at trial during the spring. But that case has now been complicated by the immunity issue as well, because I think, quite recklessly, the prosecutors introduced during the trial evidence of Trump&#8217;s official acts. I think it was foolish of them to do that because they didn&#8217;t need that evidence to prove the charges in the case but they did it anyway, even though they knew the Supreme Court was considering this very issue. So the problem they have is that they have this evidence in the case and the Supreme Court has said that the immunity evidence shouldn&#8217;t have come into the case. Trump did object. So right now the schedule is Judge Juan Merchan is supposed to decide the immunity issue on his schedule on September 16 and then Trump is supposed to get sentenced September 18. But the problem Merchan has is Trump has a right to appeal the immunity ruling. So even if Merchan rules against him as everyone expects, he should be able to appeal that to the Appellate Courts in New York and ultimately to the Supreme Court. And even the District Attorney Alvin Bragg has conceded that Trump has appellate rights and therefore has suggested or agreed with Trump that the sentencing should be postponed. As we are speaking today, Judge Merchan has not yet postponed the sentence, but I think he really is going to have to.
JOHN: Yeah, one would think. Andy, thank you so much for talking with us.
ANDY: My pleasure.
JOHN: That was former federal prosecutor Andy McCarthy and this has been a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/podcasts/morning-wire/trump-s-new-legal-peril-jack-smith-s-latest-move-9-2-24" target="_blank" rel="noopener">special Labor Day edition of Morning Wire</a>.
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