WASHINGTON—As the government shutdown rolls into the weekend, Republicans are making something very clear: this may be the &#8220;Schumer Shutdown,&#8221; but it&#8217;s a different New Yorker who&#8217;s really to blame.
It started on Wednesday, when Vice President JD Vance surprised the White House press corps at the day&#8217;s briefing.
&#8220;The reality here, and let&#8217;s be honest about the politics, is that Chuck Schumer is terrified he’s going to get a primary challenge from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez,&#8221; Vance <a href="https://x.com/bennyjohnson/status/1973442899892191464">said.</a>
From there, it was off to the races. House Speaker Mike Johnson took the talking point and ran with it, highlighting an alleged rift between New York&#8217;s senior senator and the congresswoman from Queens in several interviews and <a href="https://x.com/SpeakerJohnson/status/1973501784909029810">on X,</a> where he proclaimed &#8220;Chuck Schumer is driving his party OFF A CLIFF because he’s TERRIFIED of AOC and the far left. That’s not leadership.&#8221;
All manner of prominent Republicans have invoked the looming Schumer-AOC contest as the reason for the shutdown, including Treasury Secretary <a href="https://x.com/EricLDaugh/status/1973727982280663179">Scott Bessent,</a> Senators <a href="https://x.com/SenBillCassidy/status/1973756759904039089">Bill Cassidy</a> (LA), <a href="https://x.com/TomCottonAR/status/1973024614487056463">Tom Cotton</a> (AR), and <a href="https://www.marshall.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/senator-marshall-chuck-schumer-is-afraid-that-aoc-will-primary-him/">Roger Marshall</a> (Kansas), as well as <a href="https://x.com/RepDonaldsPress/status/1973172460943274034">Reps. Byron Donalds (FL)</a>, and <a href="https://x.com/NancyMace/status/1973223980036501796">Nancy Mace</a> (SC).
Congressman Mike Lawler (R-NY) told The Daily Wire that the &#8220;Schumer Shutdown&#8221; has &#8220;nothing to do with policy and everything to do with politics.&#8221;
&#8220;Chuck is so consumed by the threat of a primary challenge from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez that he’s willing to put his own job security ahead of the American people,&#8221; Lawler said.
He slammed Schumer for &#8220;cowardice&#8221; and said his actions only &#8220;hurt hardworking New York taxpayers.&#8221;
This is hardly the first time lawmakers have blamed the opposing party and their policies for shutting the government down. In 2013 it was Harry Reid and Obamacare; in 2017, Donald Trump and the border wall. But this time around, Republicans are going beyond blaming Democrats or even Democratic leaders. Notably absent from these conversations is House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) who has been as active on the issue as Schumer.
The attempt to drive a wedge between Schumer and AOC — whether to alienate the moderate and radical wings of the Democratic Party, or signal that there&#8217;s no daylight between them — seems to be as much about defining the post-shutdown conversation as it is about assigning blame. Like President Donald Trump, who is leveraging the shutdown to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-meeting-set-to-axe-democrat-agencies">curtail the federal government</a>, congressional Republicans seem intent on using this shutdown to their advantage.
On Friday afternoon, Senate Democrats for the fourth time <a href="https://www.senate.gov/legislative/votes_new.htm">blocked</a> a continuing resolution that would reopen the government. Republicans&#8217; rhetorical strategy continued apace.
NRSC spokeswoman Joanna Rodriguez pointed The Daily Wire an <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/09/26/schumer-government-shutdown-democrats-strategy">Axios report</a> that indicates Schumer &#8220;has been plotting this government shutdown with far-Left radical activists for months.&#8221;
She said she believes Democrats&#8217; low approval ratings are &#8220;only going to keep getting worse&#8221; because Schumer and &#8220;rank-and-file Democrats&#8221; including Georgia Senator John Ossoff are &#8220;more focused on appeasing the deranged rage of their liberal base that wants illegal aliens to have free healthcare.&#8221;
&#8220;There are two very big reasons why Chuck Schumer would make a toxically-leftist policy like free healthcare for illegals as his &#8216;why&#8217; for this shutdown: crazy Democrat primary voters love it, so it could help in an AOC primary. And he is desperate to win over this radical group of openly socialist Senate candidates leading in Democrat primaries across the country that want to end Schumer’s reign as Senate Democrats’ leader if any of them win in the midterms next year,&#8221; Rodriguez said.
Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL) <a href="https://mariodiazbalart.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/rep-diaz-balart-schumers-shutdown-shows-democrats-are-disarray">observed</a> that the continuing resolution, already passed by the House, is the &#8220;same clean bill Senate Democrats — including Schumer — voted for in March.&#8221;
So, what changed?
Sources with knowledge of the issue told The Daily Wire it all began after Schumer voted to fund the government until Sept. 30, <a href="https://www.npr.org/2025/03/13/nx-s1-5327600/house-democrats-outrage-spending#:~:text='Deep%20sense%20of%20outrage%20and%20betrayal':,Democrats%20react%20to%20Schumer%20announcement&amp;text=When%20Senate%20Minority%20Leader%20Chuck,the%20face%2C%22%20she%20said.">reportedly</a> receiving backlash from Democrats.
A month later, a <a href="https://www.dataforprogress.org/blog/2025/4/4/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-leads-chuck-schumer-in-hypothetical-2028-matchup-by-19-points">poll</a> showed AOC leading Schumer in a hypothetical 2028 matchup by 19 points.
“Because Schumer allowed the government to be funded several months ago, the Left wing rose up against him,&#8221; Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) said on his <a href="https://x.com/tedcruz/status/1973513750926991502">podcast</a> this week. &#8220;You want to understand why we have a shutdown? It’s one thing: Schumer is looking over his left shoulder and he sees AOC running up behind him — and he is terrified he is going to lose his job,” Cruz said.
Perhaps the surest sign Republicans&#8217; strategy is working is that AOC keeps responding. On Tuesday, she told <a href="https://x.com/BreitbartNews/status/1973186304205865213">MSNBC</a> that the shutdown is &#8220;so not about me.&#8221; Two days later, she and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) — the leaders of the Democrat Party&#8217;s radical wing — released a <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5535687-sanders-ocasio-cortez-aca-subsidies-shutdown/">three-minute video</a> on the shutdown.
The next day, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-says-schumer-jeffries-are-leading-democrats-s-rcna235300">NBC</a> pressed AOC again about a possible Senate run. The congresswoman equivocated, saying “I think the answer is that people are sick of politics being determined by these horse races.&#8221;
Schumer&#8217;s office did not respond to a request for comment.

Untitled design (50)

Republicans Are Calling It The ‘Schumer Shutdown.’ Why Are They Making It All About AOC?

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Chuck Schumer

Democratic Party

JD Vance

Leftism

New York

The Trump administration froze around $18 billion in infrastructure projects for New York City on Wednesday, citing &#8220;unconstitutional&#8221; diversity, equity, and inclusion &#8220;principles.&#8221;
Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought <a href="https://x.com/russvought/status/1973386129320665329">announced</a> the move on Wednesday, <a href="https://x.com/russvought/status/1973388530215735570">adding</a> that the billions of dollars in now-frozen funding were earmarked for the Hudson Tunnel and the Second Avenue Subway.
&#8220;Roughly $18 billion in New York City infrastructure projects have been put on hold to ensure funding is not flowing based on unconstitutional DEI principles,&#8221; Vought wrote on X. &#8220;More info to come soon from [the U.S. Department of Transportation].&#8221;
The Hudson Tunnel project seeks to build a new passenger rail tunnel under the Hudson River and fix the existing North River Tunnels for Amtrak and NJ Transit traffic, CBS News <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/government-shutdown-new-york-infrastructure-funding-trump-schumer-jeffries/">reported</a>. The project focusing on the Second Avenue Subway aims to extend the Q line into Harlem and add new stations.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has <a href="https://www.schumer.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/schumer-announces-gateway-tunnel_nations-largest-infrastructure-project--will-receive-massive-688-billion-in-fed-funds-largest-federal-transportation-grant-in-history-the-money-for-gateway-is-now-allocated-and-all-systems-go-marks-long-effort-by-senator">made</a> the Hudson Tunnel project a top priority in recent years, securing billions of dollars in federal funding for what he called &#8220;the nation’s largest public works project.&#8221; Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), who represents parts of Brooklyn, have spearheaded Democratic resistance to Trump’s government funding proposal.
Jeffries told Vought to &#8220;get lost.&#8221;
&#8220;Again with this guy (and his baseless threats),&#8221; Jeffries <a href="https://x.com/RepJeffries/status/1973413881549631872">said</a>. &#8220;Russ, you are the poster child for privilege and mediocrity. Get lost.&#8221;
Schumer and Jeffries are getting ripped by the Trump administration after their party refused to agree to a deal with Republicans to keep the government funded.
The Trump administration&#8217;s decision to hold funding also comes shortly after the president threatened to withhold federal funding from New York City if socialist candidate Zohran Mamdani wins the mayoral election in November. Mamdani is currently leading by a significant margin in the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/polls/nyc-mayoral-election-polls-2025.html">polls</a>.
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&#8220;He is going to have problems with Washington like no Mayor in the history of our once great City. Remember, he needs the money from me, as President, in order to fulfill all of his FAKE Communist promises,&#8221; Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115287641147640374">wrote</a> on Truth Social on Monday. &#8220;He won’t be getting any of it, so what’s the point of voting for him? This ideology has failed, always, for thousands of years. It will fail again, and that’s guaranteed!&#8221;
The administration&#8217;s freeze, however, does not appear to be tied to the mayor&#8217;s race, and it remains unclear which &#8220;DEI principles&#8221; the White House is concerned about.
New York Democratic leaders have been in the crosshairs of the Trump administration this week. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy blasted New York Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul on Tuesday over allegations that the state is handing out commercial driver licenses (CDLs) to illegal immigrants with no name given on the CDL.
&#8220;Kathy Hochul continues her campaign to make New York one of the most lawless states in the country. &#8230; ALL illegally issued CDLs endanger American families on the road. My recent emergency action to restrict CDLs will work to counteract these disastrous, America-Last policies,&#8221; Duffy <a href="https://x.com/SecDuffy/status/1973190834926584160">wrote</a> on X.

Donald Trump/Chuck Schumer

Trump Freezes $18 Billion For NYC Infrastructure Over ‘Unconstitutional DEI Principles’

Donald Trump

Executive

New York City

Politics

Russ Vought

Trump Administration

As climate alarmists gather in New York City for “Climate Week,” a new mobile billboard has popped up that chips away at the alliance between Democrat Governor Kathy Hochul and radical environmental groups.
The mobile billboard features images of Hochul wearing a MAGA-style hat saying “Make Nuclear Great Again,” photos of the vehicle obtained by The Daily Wire show. The mobile billboard highlights Hochul’s recent promise to bring a new nuclear power plant to New York.
The billboard features a quote from Hochul describing plans for the new plant as “a model of 21st century nuclear design.” The mobile first started driving around New York City on Monday and will continue until Wednesday.
<div id="attachment_976045" style="width: 1290px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-976045" class="size-full wp-image-976045" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/MBB_6.jpeg" alt="" width="1280" height="960" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/MBB_6.jpeg 1280w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/MBB_6-300x225.jpeg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/MBB_6-768x576.jpeg 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px" />Mobile billboard drives through NYC: Daily Wire.</div>
Nuclear power is a form of energy frequently opposed by environmentalist groups who prefer things like wind or solar power. The Daily Wire reached out to multiple environmentalist groups like the Sierra Club, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and Greenpeace that have previously expressed support for Hochul, yet also oppose nuclear energy.
The Sierra Club <a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/nuclear-free" target="_blank" rel="noopener">says</a> that it is “unequivocally opposed to nuclear energy” and wants to work to “phase out nuclear as quickly as possible.” The Natural Resource Defense Council has also <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/stories/nuclear-power-101" target="_blank" rel="noopener">expressed</a> skepticism about nuclear energy.
Both those organizations <a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/making-oil-companies-pay" target="_blank" rel="noopener">praised</a> Hochul’s <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/press-releases/governor-hochul-signs-bill-make-polluters-pay" target="_blank" rel="noopener">establishment</a> in December of a “Climate Superfund” that her office claimed <a href="https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-hochul-signs-landmark-legislation-creating-new-climate-superfund" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shifted</a> “the cost of climate adaptation from everyday New Yorkers to the fossil fuel companies most responsible for the pollution.&#8221;
Additionally, Greenpeace <a href="https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/climate/issues/nuclear/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">says</a> that nuclear energy is “dirty, expensive, and dangerous” and argues that it’s “bad for the economy.” The organization previously <a href="https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/greenpeace-usa-applauds-new-york-governor-hochuls-moratorium-on-crypto-mining/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">applauded</a> Hochul after she signed a moratorium on crypto mining.
President Donald Trump, who ripped into solar and wind power on Tuesday during his speech to the United Nations, took executive action in May “to modernize nuclear regulation, streamline nuclear reactor testing, deploy nuclear reactors for national security, and reinvigorate the nuclear industrial base.”
Shortly after Trump’s announcement, Hochul <a href="https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-hochul-directs-new-york-power-authority-develop-zero-emission-advanced-nuclear-energy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">directed</a> the New York Power Authority “to develop and construct a zero-emission advanced nuclear power plant.”
That decision was met with criticism from some environmentalists who accused her of adopting Trump policies. The group Public Power NY <a href="https://publicpowerny.org/press-releases/public-power-ny-responds-to-hochuls-order-for-new-york-power-authority-to-build-nuclear-energy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> the decision was “based on promises from Donald Trump&#8221; that &#8220;shows just how unserious she is about New Yorkers&#8217; energy bills and climate future.”
Hochul, who is running for re-election, is viewed favorably by fewer than 50% of New Yorkers, <a href="https://sri.siena.edu/2025/09/16/hochul-approval-favorability-ratings-up-a-little-favorability-best-since-jan-24-majority-hochul-works-hard-demonstrates-honesty-integrity-plurality-gets-things-done-provides-dec/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to recent polling.

MixCollage-23-Sep-2025-04-07-PM-3120

Mobile Billboard Trolls Kathy Hochul In NYC As She Faces Criticism From Climate Activists

Climate Change

Environmentalists

Greenpeace

Kathy Hochul

Nuclear Power

A New York judge on Tuesday threw out two state charges of murder related to terrorism against Luigi Mangione, the man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in December.
Judge Gregory Carro tossed charges of murder in furtherance of an act of terrorism and murder in the second degree as a crime of terrorism, saying that the evidence presented to the grand jury did not support terrorism charges, ABC News <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/luigi-mangione-returns-court-1st-time-5-months/story?id=125617908">reported</a>. A second-degree murder charge against the 27-year-old suspect remains in place.
Mangione made his first court appearance in five months on Tuesday after he was arrested in December and accused of killing Thompson, a 50-year-old husband and father of two, in Midtown Manhattan. Thompson was shot from behind on the morning of December 4, 2024, as he was walking near the Hilton hotel in Midtown, which was hosting an annual investor&#8217;s conference.
Mangione also faces federal charges and other state charges in Pennsylvania, where he was arrested five days after Thompson was gunned down. The suspect&#8217;s defense team argued that the New York state charges should be dismissed, claiming that Mangione faces double jeopardy due to the overlap between the federal and state charges, according to <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/new-york-judge-dismisses-state-terrorism-charges-luigi-mangione-keeps-rcna231594">NBC News</a>. The judge called the defense&#8217;s argument &#8220;premature.&#8221;
In April, Mangione was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/luigi-mangione-indicted-on-federal-charge-of-murder-making-him-eligible-for-death-penalty">indicted</a> by a federal grand jury on multiple charges, including murder through the use of a firearm, a count that makes him eligible for the death penalty. Attorney General Pam Bondi said that the DOJ would pursue the death penalty for Mangione, arguing that Thompson&#8217;s killing &#8220;was an act of political violence.&#8221;
Police arrested Mangione at a McDonald&#8217;s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, after a five-day manhunt. Investigators said that a backpack that Mangione was carrying when he was arrested contained the alleged murder weapon, a fake ID, and a diary. Mangione&#8217;s defense team has argued that the evidence seized during Mangione&#8217;s arrest should be suppressed, claiming that police conducted a warrantless search of Mangione&#8217;s belongings.
One entry in the diary found in Mangione&#8217;s backpack discusses how someone should &#8220;wack the CEO at the annual parasitic bean-counter convention,&#8221; according to a court filing.
&#8220;It’s targeted, precise, and doesn’t risk innocents. Most importantly, the point is self-evident,&#8221; the entry added.
&#8220;I finally feel confident about what I will do,&#8221; another entry states, according to authorities. &#8220;The target is insurance. It checks every box.&#8221;
Hearings for Mangione&#8217;s case are set to begin on December 1, but a trial date has not been scheduled. Mangione pleaded not guilty to the state charges in New York and Pennsylvania as well as to the federal charges.

Luigi Mangione

Judge Tosses Two Terrorism Charges Against Luigi Mangione

Courts

Judge

U.S.

Just days ago, Rudy Giuliani <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/rudy-giuliani-hospitalized-after-vehicle-struck-from-behind-at-high-speed?author=Tim+Pearce&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Rudy+Giuliani+Hospitalized+After+Vehicle+%E2%80%98Struck+From+Behind+At+High+Speed%E2%80%99">made headlines</a> for surviving a car accident after stopping on the side of a highway to help a woman reporting domestic violence.
This recent act of public service from &#8220;America’s Mayor&#8221; reflects a lifetime of public service, from taking down the Mafia in the Southern District of New York’s famed 1980s &#8220;Commission Trial,&#8221; to prosecuting high-profile terrorism cases that were tied to the first World Trade Center bombing in the 1990s with Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew McCarthy.
Unfortunately, that history of fearless, nonpartisan justice stands in sharp contrast to the SDNY’s posture today, where partisan lawfare seems to dominate.
That’s why it’s so encouraging that a group of judges <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/08/18/us-news/judges-approve-trump-pick-jay-clayton-to-remain-interim-us-attorney-for-southern-district-of-new-york/">ruled</a> in late August that Trump appointee Jay Clayton can remain in place as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.
Clayton has the potential to restore the SDNY back to its former glory during the Giuliani years.
He is a longtime Republican who clerked for a Reagan-appointed judge and served as head of the Securities and Exchange Commission during the first Trump administration.
For far too long, the SDNY has seemed to specialize in partisan lawfare.
For example, SDNY Judge Lewis Kaplan presided over journalist E. Jean Carroll’s 2019 civil <a href="https://www.npr.org/2024/01/26/1226626397/trump-defamation-trial#:~:text=What%20this%20case%20is%20about,former%20president%20was%20also%20liable.">lawsuit</a> against Trump, which accused the sitting president of rape and defamation.
Carroll <a href="https://dailydodge.com/e-jean-carroll-testifying-in-civil-case-says-she-cant-recall-date-of-alleged-trump-attack/">couldn’t remember</a> what year the alleged assault took place, never mentioned it in her diary, and claimed that the numerous similarities between her account and a 2012 &#8220;Law and Order&#8221; episode were an “astonishing” coincidence.
But despite all these holes in Carroll’s story, the Left saw a chance to undermine Trump and leaped at it. Democrat billionaire megadonor Reid Hoffman <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/anafaguy/2023/05/10/what-was-reid-hoffmans-role-in-funding-e-jean-carrolls-case/">funded</a> the entire lawsuit through his nonprofit American Future Republic, and it was anti-Trump commentator George Conway who <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usxxlZosnNs">urged</a> Carroll to sue in the first place.
Kaplan not only oversaw this farce but also put his thumb on the scale for Carroll. He <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-rape-case-lawyers-banned-from-speaking-about-dna-judge-rules-2023-3">ruled</a> male DNA found on Carroll’s dress inadmissible, even after Trump offered to provide a sample. He <a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/trump-fails-narrow-rape-accusers-case-trial-looms-2023-03-28/">admitted</a> additional defamation charges that punished Trump for defending himself on social media. He even <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23793781-tacopina-mistrial-filing/">interrupted</a> a line of questioning from Trump’s lawyer in a way that signaled clearly to the jury where his sympathies lay.
<div id="attachment_968215" style="width: 875px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-968215" class="size-large wp-image-968215" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-2173736897-865x576.jpg" alt="Jocelyn Strauber, commissioner of New York City's Department of Investigation, speaks during a new conference at the US Attorney's Office-Southern District of New York (SDNY) in New York, US, on Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. New York City Mayor Eric Adams was indicted on bribery and fraud charges following a federal corruption investigation, calling into question the political future of the man in charge of running the biggest US city. Photographer: Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images" width="865" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-2173736897-865x576.jpg 865w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-2173736897-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-2173736897-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-2173736897.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 865px) 100vw, 865px" />Photographer: Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images</div>
The SDNY also conveniently <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/new-york-city-mayor-eric-adams-charged-bribery-and-campaign-finance-offenses">charged</a> New York City Mayor Eric Adams with bribery shortly after he started <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/15/nyregion/eric-adams-mexico-border-migrants.html">speaking out</a> against the Biden administration’s open border policies.
When the Trump administration ordered the charges dropped, multiple prosecutors <a href="https://www.npr.org/2025/02/13/nx-s1-5297120/eric-adams-federal-prosecutors-resignations">resigned</a> in outrage after failing to make a single peep about the lawfare campaign against Trump.
These partisan prosecutions even extend to the realm of antitrust enforcement. 
 
The SDNY is currently <a href="https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/video/justice-department-sues-visa-monopolizing-debit-markets#:~:text=Description:%20Today%2C%20the%20Justice%20Department,developing%20new%20and%20innovative%20alternatives.&amp;text=Review%20the%20YouTube%20Terms%20of%20Service%20and%20the%20Google%20Privacy%20Policy%20.">playing host</a> to a Biden-era Justice Department lawsuit against Visa. Biden Attorney General Merrick Garland accused the company of driving up “the price of nearly everything” by monopolizing the debit transaction market.
In fact, it was Biden’s own inflationary policies that were driving up prices. Visa, which has a high market share because of its popularity but nothing close to a monopoly, just provided a handy scapegoat.
Meanwhile, the district always seems to drop the ball when it comes to getting actual justice for actual victims.
They <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/27/business/sam-bankman-fried-campaign-finance-charge.html#:~:text=Federal%20prosecutors%20pursuing%20the%20criminal,The%20authorities%20have%20said%20Mr.">failed</a> to charge crypto fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried until his whole fraudulent empire was collapsing around him, even though the writing was on the wall long before the crash.
By that point, it was already too late. Bankman-Fried was the <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ftx-sam-bankman-fried-political-donations-2022/">largest single donor</a> to Democrats in the 2022 midterms, ploughing <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/12/14/sbf-ftx-political-donations/">over $40 million</a> into PACs that helped Democrats keep the Senate and hold Republican gains in the House to historic lows.
Damian Williams, then the U.S. attorney for the SDNY, <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/united-states-attorney-announces-charges-against-ftx-founder-samuel-bankman-fried#:~:text=BANKMAN%2DFRIED%20was%20arrested%20yesterday,fraud%2C%20plain%20and%20simple.%E2%80%9D">made it clear</a> that these donations from SBF and his cronies were funded with “stolen customer money.” The people SBF defrauded might get their money back, but voters have no such remedy. There’s no way to un-air the ads his ill-gotten gains bankrolled.
The sex trafficking case against rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs provides another example of the SDNY’s failure. Maurene Comey, the lead prosecutor on the case, botched it so badly that the Justice Department <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrxDE8izOUc">fired</a> her just weeks after the verdict came down.
Although Combs was <a href="https://www.npr.org/2025/07/03/nx-s1-5454769/sean-combs-found-guilty-on-2-counts-but-acquitted-on-most-serious-charges">convicted</a> of prostitution offenses and faces up to 20 years in prison, the jury <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/jury-reaches-verdict-sean-diddy-combs-sex-trafficking-trial-rcna214785">found</a> him not guilty on the more serious charges of sex trafficking and racketeering.
Incidentally, Comey also <a href="https://apnews.com/article/justice-department-james-comey-maurene-trump-dda5d1f40f08346bd97696ce4791e8ec">worked</a> on district’s prosecution of Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell. That case <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/ghislaine-maxwell-sentenced-20-years-prison-conspiring-jeffrey-epstein-sexually-abuse">ended</a> with a conviction and a 20-year prison sentence but left so many unanswered questions that it’s difficult to call it an unqualified win.
During her confirmation hearings, Attorney General Pam Bondi <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/pam-bondi-senate-confirmation-hearing-attorney-general-nominee-planned-remarks/">promised</a> to end “partisan weaponization” and “restore confidence and integrity to the Department of Justice – and each of its components.”
The SDNY is a particularly dysfunctional component that’s been fouling the gears of our justice system for far too long.
By ending the disastrous tradition of “blue slips,” the administration can take a major step toward the restoration of truly impartial justice.
There is no better way to honor the now recovering “America’s Mayor” than by restoring one of his top legacies back to its former glory.
* * *
James Skyles is a legal policy analyst and the principal of Skyles Law Group. He has written for some of the largest legal publications in the United States, including Law.com and Law360.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

MixCollage-03-Sep-2025-10-30-AM-275

Giuliani’s DAs Tackled The Mob. Now The Same Office Targets Political Enemies.

Andrew McCarthy

Conservatives

Court

Democrats

E. Jean Carroll

Eric Adams

Leftists

Rudy Giuliani

Sam Bankman-Fried

Sean 'Diddy' Combs

Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), 78, has declared that he will not seek reelection next year — and that he plans to step aside in an effort to allow for younger Democrats to step into leadership positions.
As reported on Monday by The New York Times, Nadler said that watching former President Joe Biden over the last several years had moved him to consider making way for the next generation of leaders.
“Watching the Biden thing really said something about the necessity for generational change in the party, and I think I want to respect that,” Nadler explained, saying that he hoped the next person to fill his seat “can maybe do better, can maybe help us more.”
With 34 years in Congress, Nadler is both the longest-serving New Yorker and the longest-serving Jewish member of the U.S. House — and he claimed that he was a bit uncertain about bowing out at first because he believed he still needed to fight against President Donald Trump — but the writing may have been on the wall long before Nadler was willing to read it.
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The New York Rep. recently lost his leadership position in the House Judiciary Committee at the beginning of the current Congress when the party shifted its focus toward younger leaders — and he was expected to face a primary in his home district, likely from a number of candidates who are younger and more progressive than he is.
Nadler was involved in both Trump impeachment attempts &#8212; in 2019 and 2021 &#8212; <a href="https://time.com/5743613/jerry-nadler-trump-impeachment-probe/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">helping to lead</a> the former.
The news of Nadler’s retirement comes in the wake of a new congressional map in Texas that may net Republicans as many as five additional seats — and as several other states move to change their maps as well, either in retaliation to or in an effort to supplement Texas’ actions.
Nadler’s exit will not likely change the balance in Congress, however, since his district covers a large swath of Manhattan and is considered to be a safely blue district.

Representative Jerry Nadler

Dem Who Led Trump Impeachment Effort To Bow Out Of Congress

Congress

Jerrold Nadler

Joe Biden

BROOKLYN, NY — Surrounded by law enforcement personnel, Attorney General Pam Bondi sternly told the world that a notorious drug lord who had finally pleaded guilty to U.S. drug trafficking charges would die in prison.
“This guy, ‘El Mayo,’ was living like a king,” Bondi said of Ismael &#8220;El Mayo&#8221; Zambada, the co-founder of the Sinaloa Cartel, as cameras flashed around her. ”Now he’s living like a criminal for the rest of his life.”
&#8220;Thanks to the relentless work of our prosecutors and our federal agents, El Mayo will spend the rest of his life behind bars. He will die in a U.S. federal prison where he belongs,&#8221; Bondi told reporters. &#8220;His guilty plea brings us one step closer to achieving our goal of the elimination of the drug cartels and the transnational criminal organizations throughout this world that are flooding our country with drugs and human traffickers and homicides.&#8221;
Her rhetoric and demeanor clearly spelled out the message that President Donald Trump&#8217;s Justice Department intends to send to those involved in the violent drug trade hurting so many Americans: they should be afraid, and any one of them might be next.
<div id="attachment_965195" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bondi-cartel-kingpin-will-die-in-a-u-s-federal-prison-where-he-belongs/attorney-general-pam-bondi-announces-sinaloa-cartel-co-founder-ismael-el-mayo-zambada-garcia-guilty-plea-2" rel="attachment wp-att-965195"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-965195" class="wp-image-965195 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/GettyImages-2232068243-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/GettyImages-2232068243-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/GettyImages-2232068243-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/GettyImages-2232068243-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/GettyImages-2232068243.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" /></a>U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi (R) speaks during a press conference at the U.S. Attorney’s Office on August 25, 2025, in the Brooklyn Heights neighborhood of the Brooklyn borough in New York City. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)</div>
The attorney general had traveled to Brooklyn straight from a two-hour Oval Office meeting with the president to make the announcement at the U.S. Attorney&#8217;s Office for the Eastern District of New York. The trip made clear that stopping the threat of drug cartels remains a top priority for the Trump administration.
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_campaign=summer&amp;utm_content=editorialsummersale&amp;utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial" target="_blank" rel="noopener">End of Summer Sale – Get 40% off New DailyWire+ Annual Memberships</a>
Zambada, for example, pleaded guilty on Monday to being one of the top leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel, described by the Justice Department as &#8220;one of the most violent and powerful drug trafficking organizations in the world.&#8221; He made billions of dollars importing dangerous drugs into the United States. The DOJ said he &#8220;operated with impunity at the highest levels of the Mexican drug trafficking world while being assured of his continued success and safety from arrest through his payment of bribes to Mexican government officials and law enforcement officers.&#8221; &#8220;El Mayo&#8221; controlled those corrupt officials, who in turn protected his cartel members and the shipments of his drugs smuggled into America.
&#8220;Numerous witnesses have testified, including at the trials of El Chapo and corrupt former Mexican Secretary of Public Security Genaro García Luna, that corruption at all levels was necessary to allow the Zambada Garcia’s criminal enterprise to function so effectively at such a large scale: from local police officers who escorted the drugs through Mexico, to corrupt officials who informed the Cartel of military actions, thwarted capture operations, and consulted with the Cartel about proceedings and investigations against it,&#8221; the DOJ release notes.
&#8220;El Mayo’s crimes have been so prolific that in the past two decades, he&#8217;s been indicted in no fewer than 16 federal courts across our country, 16 from the Western District of Texas to Chicago to here in the Eastern District of New York. He escaped justice for decades,&#8221; the attorney general noted. &#8220;But under President Trump&#8217;s leadership, he has finally been brought to justice.&#8221;
<div id="attachment_965225" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bondi-cartel-kingpin-will-die-in-a-u-s-federal-prison-where-he-belongs/attorney-general-pam-bondi-announces-sinaloa-cartel-co-founder-ismael-el-mayo-zambada-garcia-guilty-plea-3" rel="attachment wp-att-965225"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-965225" class="wp-image-965225 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/GettyImages-2232068319-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/GettyImages-2232068319-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/GettyImages-2232068319-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/GettyImages-2232068319-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/GettyImages-2232068319.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" /></a>Members of the NYPD listen as U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi speaks during a press conference at the U.S. Attorney’s Office on August 25, 2025, in the Brooklyn Heights neighborhood of the Brooklyn borough in New York City. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)</div>
In a statement on Tuesday, family members of U.S. citizens <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-judge-orders-mexican-cartel-pay-billions-for-killings-nine-women-children/">killed by the Juárez Cartel</a> in 2019 thanked Bondi and Trump for going after the cartels.
&#8220;We are deeply grateful to President Trump, Attorney General Bondi, and the entire Trump administration for their commitment to holding cartels accountable,” said Adriana Jones, the president of &#8220;American Families Against Cartel Terrorism.&#8221; Jones is the sister of Maria &#8220;Rhonita&#8221; Le Baron and the aunt of Howard Miller Jr., Krystal Miller, and Titus and Tiana Miller — all of whom were killed in the 2019 massacre. “The Sinaloa Cartel and Juárez Cartel both represent a clear and present danger, and their actions have caused immense loss, pain, and suffering. Thanks to the efforts of this administration, our nation is safer.&#8221;

Attorney General Pam Bondi Announces Sinaloa Cartel Co-Founder Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada Garcia Guilty Plea

Bondi’s Promise: Cartel Bosses Will ‘Will Die In A U.S. Federal Prison’ Where They Belong

Crime

Drug Cartels

Pam Bondi

Sinaloa Cartel

Governor Kathy Hochul’s administration recently blew nearly $500 million in potential savings for New York taxpayers by failing to move seniors to a federally funded Medicare plan. That’s half a billion dollars — gone — because Kathy Hochul couldn’t get her act together. That’s money that could have gone to tax relief, infrastructure, and keeping your utility bills lower.
When it comes to utility bills, National Grid customers in upstate New Yorker should brace themselves for a 15% increase in their bill starting next month. This amounts to about $216 more per customer per year, thanks to Governor Hochul’s green energy scam agenda. Likewise, Con Edison has proposed double-digit rate increases that will raise costs for downstate residents, driving up their utility bills as early as January 2026.
And that’s just the average cost increases. Many families and small businesses will be paying far more at a time when they are already struggling and can’t afford any more increases in their cost of living and doing business.
These increases are not a reflection of market forces or a sudden spike in demand, rather, they are a direct result of action by the governor’s Public Service Commission, which Hochul controls. This board approved the increases to fund her ambitious climate mandates. It’s typical of Albany: self-righteous politicians pushing you to “do your part” by paying more, even when you’re already struggling.
Why are these things happening? For starters, Kathy Hochul is incompetent and instead of addressing these problems and protecting you, she prioritizes politics. Currently, she’s focused on her crusade to illegally gerrymander New York’s congressional map – a scheme that the courts, and voters, already rejected. When the rules don’t work for the Democratic Party, Hochul tries to change them.
Hochul and her cronies describe mid-decade redistricting as “undemocratic,” yet in the same breath she and her fellow New York Democrats <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2025/07/24/new-york-redistricting-hochul-00475043" target="_blank" rel="noopener">have declared</a> they will engage in mid-decade redistricting. In other words – their words – they’re going to take undemocratic actions in order to “save democracy” in America. The hypocrisy and absurdity of this is unparalleled, and New York voters can see right through it. The voters and the courts in this state have already made it clear the people must have the ability to choose their representatives, rather than politicians manufacturing uncompetitive districts and forcing their preferred candidates down everybody’s throats.
New York voters overwhelmingly supported a nonpartisan redistricting process. However, Democrats ignored them, blatantly gerrymandered districts, and when they were thrown out by the courts, they corrupted the Court of Appeals to get their way. Now, they are looking to stomp on the Constitution again for another shot at rigging the system to protect their power. Meanwhile, New York taxpayers continue to struggle with rising costs and a deteriorating quality of life in their communities.
This is not leadership. It’s political wheeling and dealing at its worst, and taxpayers are footing the bill.
Albany’s ruling class has made their priorities clear: your paycheck, your bills, and your future come second to their grip on power.
Until we get a governor who will put people over politics, rein in spending, protect ratepayers, and actually focus on making New York affordable again, New Yorkers will keep paying for Kathy Hochul’s failures.
* * *
Robert G. Ortt was sworn into office as a New York State Senator for the 62nd District in January of 2015. He serves as the Republican Senate Minority Leader.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

NY Governor Hochul Delivers Remarks At MTA Board Meeting

While Gov. Hochul Is Busy Rigging Elections, NY Taxpayers Bear The Burden

Elections

Energy

Green New Deal

In a hilarious incident at the annual Men’s Day event in Brooklyn on Saturday, New York Democrat mayoral socialist candidate Zohran Mamdani tried to prove his manly prowess, and was left looking like the helpless girl tied to the railroad tracks in old-time movies.
Mamdani, 33, apparently eager to show off his physical strength, attempted to bench press 135 pounds, and had to have a heavily-muscled accomplice behind him help him complete the rep — twice.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Lolll Mamdani tried showing off at a “men’s day” event by doing the bench press and couldn’t do a single rep without help <a href="https://t.co/JNG2SLBfI9">pic.twitter.com/JNG2SLBfI9</a>
&mdash; Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) <a href="https://twitter.com/libsoftiktok/status/1959432709224435823?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 24, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Following Mamdani’s public humiliation, rival candidate and mayor Eric Adams, 64, shared a video from the same place showing him doing repeated bench presses with the same weight, commenting on X, “64 vs 33. A lifetime of hard work vs. a silver spoon. The results speak for themselves. The weight of the job is too heavy for &#8216;Mamscrawny.&#8217; The only thing he can lift is your taxes.”
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
64 vs. 33. A lifetime of hard work vs. a silver spoon. The results speak for themselves.
The weight of the job is too heavy for “Mamscrawny.” The only thing he can lift is your taxes. <a href="https://t.co/HR6fDPKn0B">pic.twitter.com/HR6fDPKn0B</a>
&mdash; Eric Adams (@ericadamsfornyc) <a href="https://twitter.com/ericadamsfornyc/status/1959444242352267682?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 24, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Another mayoral candidate, former New York Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo, chimed in, “It’s easy to talk, it’s hard to carry the burden. This guy can’t bench his own body weight, let alone carry the weight of leading the most important city in the world.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
It&#39;s easy to talk, it&#39;s hard to carry the burden. 
This guy can&#39;t bench his own body weight, let alone carry the weight of leading the most important city in the world. <a href="https://t.co/kKB61LGojY">https://t.co/kKB61LGojY</a>
&mdash; Andrew Cuomo (@andrewcuomo) <a href="https://twitter.com/andrewcuomo/status/1959432881643638957?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 24, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Mamdani’s underwhelming performance prompted swimmer and outspoken women’s rights advocate Riley Gaines to share a video of herself bench pressing 165 lbs, writing, “165lb relatively easy reps on bench when I weighed 130lbs. Take note,  @ZohranKMamdani.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
165lb relatively easy reps on bench when I weighed 130lbs
Take note, <a href="https://twitter.com/ZohranKMamdani?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ZohranKMamdani</a> <a href="https://t.co/TNyv28VkgE">pic.twitter.com/TNyv28VkgE</a>
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) <a href="https://twitter.com/Riley_Gaines_/status/1959686839385870822?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 24, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
“I&#8217;m not saying we should judge politicians for how much they can bench but I&#8217;m absolutely judging a politician for how much he can bench,” she quipped on X.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
I&#39;m not saying we should judge politicians for how much they can bench but I&#39;m absolutely judging a politician for how much he can bench <a href="https://t.co/IkgsxegoQ2">https://t.co/IkgsxegoQ2</a>
&mdash; Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) <a href="https://twitter.com/Riley_Gaines_/status/1959690987359637801?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 24, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
“Zohran Mamdani can’t bench press 135 lbs,” comedian Tim Young wrote. “So like a good socialist, someone else basically does all the work for him and he celebrates like he did it himself. Yikes.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Zohran Mamdani can’t bench press 135 lbs…
So like a good socialist, someone else basically does all the work for him and he celebrates like he did it himself.
Yikes. <a href="https://t.co/Cc0AYYeuTN">pic.twitter.com/Cc0AYYeuTN</a>
&mdash; Tim Young (@TimRunsHisMouth) <a href="https://twitter.com/TimRunsHisMouth/status/1959714102994948604?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 24, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&nbsp;

Zohran Mamdani Celebrates Union Endorsement As He Campaigns For New York City Mayor

Biceps In Airplane Mode: Mamdani Crushed By 135 Pounds In Painful Public Defeat

bench press

Zohran Mamdani

A tour bus carrying more than 50 people veered out of control and rolled over on an Upstate New York highway on Friday, killing at least five people and injuring dozens of others, authorities said.
At least one child was among the dead, according to trooper James O&#8217;Callaghan, a spokesperson for the New York State Police. He told reporters near the scene that most of the passengers were Asian or of Asian descent, including Chinese, Indians and Filipinos.
The accident took place on Interstate 90, part of the New York State Thruway, in Pembroke, New York, about 30 miles (48 km) east of Buffalo, while the bus was en route from Niagara Falls to New York City.
The National Transportation Safety Board was sending a team to investigate the accident, the agency said.
Multiple passengers ended up trapped in the wreckage and had to be extricated, while others were thrown from the bus when it rolled over across the highway before coming to rest on its side in a ditch along the shoulder of the road, O&#8217;Callaghan said.
The driver, who survived the accident, lost control while the bus was moving at &#8220;full speed,&#8221; he said, causing the vehicle to career into the median and then flip over. No other vehicles were involved.
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_campaign=summer&amp;utm_content=editorialsummersale&amp;utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial" target="_blank" rel="noopener">End of Summer Sale – Get 40% off New DailyWire+ Annual Memberships</a>
The driver was cooperating with investigators, O&#8217;Callaghan said, and police were in contact with the bus company, which was not publicly identified.
The bus was carrying 51 passengers, not counting the driver, and every person aboard suffered some kind of injury, O&#8217;Callaghan said.
An online statement by state police said &#8220;several fatalities&#8221; were confirmed. New York Governor Kathy Hochul said on the social platform X that police had confirmed that &#8220;five lives were tragically lost.&#8221;
After the crash, authorities closed the highway in both directions, causing massive traffic delays at the onset of one of the last weekends of the summer vacation season.
(Reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles and Rich McKay in Atlanta; Additional reporting by David Shepardson in Washington; Editing by Frank McGurty, Cynthia Osterman and Sandra Maler)

Brooklyn Queens Expressway

Tour Bus Rolls Over On New York Highway, Killing 5 And Injuring Dozens

Brooklyn

Car Crash

General

Every time someone fires at President Trump in court and misses, it makes him stronger.
The turning point in the 2024 election wasn&#8217;t even the assassination attempt or even Joe Biden dropping out.
It was the Mar-a-Lago raid. That raid turned the entire election on its head, because people rightly believed that Trump was being politically persecuted.
On Thursday, there was another case of someone firing at Trump legally and missing.
You might recall a decision that came down last year from a New York court and a trial judge that found Trump was liable for fraud. Why? Because when he was getting loans, he had supposedly made statements about his properties and the value of his properties, and then he got loans based on the value of the properties.
None of those loans were in default. He ended up paying back all of those loans. No lenders complained about any of this.
But New York State Attorney General Letitia James decided she was going to target him. So she jerry-rigged an entire case that violated the actual essence of the law — because the law was not designed for any of this.
James had actually put out a tweet in February 2024 celebrating the amount Trump was fined: $464,576,230.62.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/bss-ep-2265-member-exclusive?elementPosition=4&amp;row=2&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel">WATCH: The Ben Shapiro Show</a></h3>
According to <a href="https://www.wsj.com/us-news/law/ny-appeals-court-throws-out-500-million-civil-fraud-judgment-against-trump-c556d887?gaa_at=eafs&amp;gaa_n=ASWzDAguMmZjVZl0arP456l7GRMObgKK8fjnRl1FgKAaMZSg4XdNIVN6ckGrsP1q61I%3D&amp;gaa_ts=68a8cb47&amp;gaa_sig=ETQOYr5qhHGImG5q168H_WjgueZJuCsEXZ4qSbx65exAOqWJTG-CcWXTLUIgZKmmqjJpMqHND0VhTfBkJZBaXg%3D%3D">The Wall Street Journal</a>: 
<blockquote>A New York appeals court threw out a more than $500 million penalty against President <a href="https://www.wsj.com/topics/person/donald-trump">Trump</a> and his business empire, in a sharply splintered ruling that paves the way for further proceedings before the state’s highest court. 
The decision on Thursday from <a href="https://www.wsj.com/us-news/law/court-split-leaves-trumps-civil-fraud-appeal-stuck-in-slow-lane-8ca09956?mod=article_inline">a five-judge panel</a> of the New York Appellate Division’s First Department is a significant legal boost for Trump, freeing him, for now, from a massive penalty that caused him financial headaches last year. …
“While harm certainly occurred, it was not the cataclysmic harm that can justify a nearly half billion-dollar award to the State,” Justice Peter Moulton wrote…</blockquote>
This was a bizarre award in the first place, given the fact that the supposed crime was not committed against the state of New York. It was a misread of the law. Judge David Friedman said that the law that originally enabled Letitia James to sue President Trump was designed to protect consumers and the public marketplace from deception and consumer transactions. It was not designed to protect lenders, who were not the ones who were damaged.
The court <a href="https://prod-i.a.dj.com/public/resources/documents/Appeal.pdf">wrote</a>:
<blockquote>A.G. James&#8217;s suit turns section 63(12) on its head, the leniency with which the courts have construed the requirements for pleading and proving fraud under that section, a leniency that has been extended for the purposes of facilitating the use of the provision to prevent the exploitation of unsophisticated consumers, investors and small business, is here being used by Attorney General Letitia James to apply section 63(12) to a scenario to which that provision has never before been applied or even thought to apply.</blockquote>
The court basically said, “You have got to be kidding me. $500 million fine? Are you kidding me?”
So Letitia James put out a <a href="https://x.com/NewYorkStateAG/status/1958567967148449838">statement</a>, saying:
<blockquote>The First Department today affirmed the well-supported finding of the trial court: Donald Trump, his company and two of his children are liable for fraud. 
The court upheld the injunctive relief we won, limiting Donald Trump and the Trump Organization officers’ ability to do business in New York. It should not be lost to history: yet another court has ruled that the president violated the law, and that our case has merit. 
We will seek appeal to the Court of Appeals and continue to protect the rights and interests of New Yorkers. </blockquote>
She claimed that the part of the decision saying that her filing wasn&#8217;t illegal was a vindication for her.
But if the thing that she was bragging about went away, namely, a $500 billion penalty, then she lost.
And that&#8217;s the point that President Trump was making on Truth Social, <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115067582190707382">writing</a>:
<blockquote>TOTAL VICTORY in the FAKE New York State Attorney General Letitia James Case! I greatly respect the fact that the Court had the Courage to throw out this unlawful and disgraceful Decision that was hurting Business all throughout New York State. Others were afraid to do business there. The amount, including Interest and Penalties, was over $550 Million Dollars. It was a Political Witch Hunt, in a business sense, the likes of which no one has ever seen before. This was a Case of Election Interference by the City and State trying to show, illegally, that I did things that were wrong when, in fact, everything I did was absolutely CORRECT and, even, PERFECT. Every single Dollar was thrown out, even the penalties imposed on us by the Corrupt Judge, one of the most overturned in History, Arthur Engoron.
I wasn’t given a Jury and, during the course of the Trial, which lasted a long time, was not given one Ruling in my favor by this Political Hack, but worse than him, if that’s possible, was Letitia James, a Corrupt and Incompetent Attorney General who only brought this Case in order to hurt me politically. She is a Trump Deranged Lunatic! They made me bond the outrageous sum, which never happened before, and which cost me Millions of Dollars a month. It should have never been allowed to happen, and everyone knew it! Importantly, the Vote was 5 to 0. I am so honored by Justice David Friedman’s great words of wisdom, which should be read by everyone. I would also like to thank the Court for having the Courage to make this Decision, which is already going down as one of the worst business persecutions in the History of our Country. 
Sadly, there are other Cases against me that are equally disgraceful, including those headed up by Corrupt Judges, like Juan Merchan, whose daughter collected Millions of Dollars in Fees from Crooked Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, while her father shockingly REFUSED TO RECUSE himself from a vicious and corrupt trial, which is also under Appeal, one in which every Legal Pundit in New York said, “THERE WAS NO CASE!” — Even Editorial Boards said, “DO NOT DO THIS!” Judge Merchan gave me an unprecedented Gag Order, not letting me talk about him or his daughter, or the fact that the Appellate Judges thought he should not be doing the Case, but he did it anyway. Many Lawyers said that his daughter and him created the Greatest Conflict of Interest they had ever seen.</blockquote>
The bottom line: this was a big victory for Trump. Even CNN legal analyst Elie Hoenig, no ally of President Trump, said, “This is a huge win for Donald Trump, any way you cut it. And this is a stinging rebuke to the Attorney General Letitia James.”
That is correct.
And Trump just got stronger.

TOPSHOT-US-POLITICS-TRUMP

Still Winning: Court Kills $500M Anti-Trump Judgment

Ben Shapiro

Lawsuit

Letitia James

Opinion

A New York appeals court throws out the nearly half-billion-dollar penalty against Donald Trump in his civil fraud case, calling the fine &#8220;excessive&#8221; and unconstitutional. Texas leads a new push by red states to crack down on mail-order abortion pills, as Costco announces it will no longer stock mifepristone. The pace of deportations under President Trump surges to nearly 1,500 a day as the administration ramps up interior enforcement.
It’s Friday, August 22, 2025, and this is the news you need to know to start your day.
Morning Wire is available on video! You can watch today’s episode here:
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<h2>Trump’s Excessive Civil Fraud Fine Overturned</h2>
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-963949" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/MRN-8.22.25-Fri-SH1-1024x576.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/MRN-8.22.25-Fri-SH1-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/MRN-8.22.25-Fri-SH1-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/MRN-8.22.25-Fri-SH1-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/MRN-8.22.25-Fri-SH1-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/MRN-8.22.25-Fri-SH1.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></div>
Topline: A New York appeals court on Thursday handed Donald Trump a stunning legal victory, tossing out the nearly half-billion-dollar penalty in the civil fraud case brought against him by New York Attorney General Letitia James. 
In a major reversal, the court ruled that the disgorgement order, which directed Trump to pay nearly $465 million, was an &#8220;excessive fine that violates the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution.” While the court did not overturn the underlying ruling that found Trump liable for fraud, it stated that the &#8220;cataclysmic harm that can justify a nearly half billion-dollar award to the state&#8221; did not occur.
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President Trump celebrated the decision on Truth Social, calling it a “TOTAL VICTORY in the FAKE New York State Attorney General Letitia James Case!” One of the judges, David Friedman, appeared to agree with that assessment, writing that James’ “ultimate goal was not ‘market hygiene’ … but political hygiene, ending with the derailment of President Trump’s political career and the destruction of his real estate business.” 
The ruling allows Trump’s legal team to appeal the fraud finding to New York’s highest court. Meanwhile, the Department of Justice is conducting a separate investigation into whether James violated Trump’s civil rights and whether she committed mortgage fraud.
&nbsp;
<h2>Red States Escalate Fight Against Abortion Pills</h2>
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-963947" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/MRN-8.22.25-Fri-SH2-1024x576.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/MRN-8.22.25-Fri-SH2-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/MRN-8.22.25-Fri-SH2-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/MRN-8.22.25-Fri-SH2-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/MRN-8.22.25-Fri-SH2-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/MRN-8.22.25-Fri-SH2.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></div>
Topline: Republican-led states are escalating their efforts to restrict access to mail-order abortion pills, which now account for nearly two-thirds of all abortions in the U.S. 
Texas is leading the charge on two fronts. Attorney General Ken Paxton has issued cease-and-desist letters demanding that national organizations stop illegally shipping abortion pills into the state. The Texas legislature is also considering a bill that would allow private citizens to sue out-of-state manufacturers and distributors of abortion pills for wrongful death or harm. In Tennessee, Senator Marsha Blackburn (R) is calling on the DOJ to investigate whether abortion pill manufacturers misrepresented the drugs’ safety risks to the FDA. 
The battle is also playing out in corporate America. Last week, Costco announced it will no longer stock mifepristone at its U.S. pharmacies, citing low member demand. Lila Rose of the pro-life group Live Action celebrated the decision as a &#8220;major victory,&#8221; saying, &#8220;Costco is where you go to buy in bulk, not to buy pills or death in a bottle.&#8221; Pro-life activists are now pressuring other major retailers like Walgreens and CVS to follow suit.
<h2>Trump Ramps Up Deportations, Nears ‘Deporter-in-Chief’ Pace</h2>
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Topline: The pace of deportations under President Trump has surged to nearly 1,500 per day, a level rivaling the Obama administration, as the White House continues to ramp up interior immigration enforcement. 
According to The New York Times, daily deportations have hit nearly 1,500 a day. Unlike under the Obama administration, when most deportations were of aliens arrested at the border, these numbers reflect people arrested in the interior of the country, as the border has been effectively closed for months. The number of aliens held in detention has now reached nearly 60,000, and new detention centers are being brought online with the help of GOP governors. 
Immigration enforcement in federally controlled Washington, D.C., has been particularly effective. The Wall Street Journal reported that nearly half of the 465 arrests made since the federal takeover have been of illegal aliens. 
The crackdown has been met with defiance in sanctuary cities. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu recently held a press conference vowing not to cooperate with federal demands for &#8220;mass deportations.&#8221; An acting ICE field office director in Boston responded on Fox News, saying of Wu’s leadership, &#8220;I know what a safe Boston looks like and this isn’t it.&#8221;

MRN 8.22.25 Thumbnail V1

Morning Brief: Trump’s $500 Million Fine Tossed & President On Track To Be Deporter-In-Chief

Abortion

Deportations

Illegal Immigration

Texas

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