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Laura Loomer

National Security Agency Chief Fired At Conspiracy Theorist's Urging

On Wednesday afternoon, President Donald Trump had a visitor in the White House Oval Office: far-right conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer, a self-described "proud Islamophobe" who is controversial even among fellow Trump supporters.

During that April 2 meeting, as reported by New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman, Jonathan Swan and Ken Bensinger, Loomer "pressed for him to fire National Security Council staff members whom she deemed disloyal to him."

One day later, Trump fired Gen. Timothy D. Haugh, the head of the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command, along with other top national security staff members identified by Loomer as "disloyal," according to Democrats on the House and Senate intelligence committees.The move stunned intelligence officials, who had clue that it was coming.

But a U.S. official told the Times that Loomer, a far-right activist and close confidante of Trump, called for Gen. Haugh’s removal during her Oval Office meeting on Thursday. The official said Trump then ordered Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to fire the cyber defense chief.

In statements to the Times, both Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia and Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut condemned the ouster of Gen. Haugh.

Loomer seemed to take credit for Haugh's firing, writing in a post on X that he “had no place” serving in the administration because he had been chosen for the job by Gen. Mark A. Milley, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who became a sharp critic of Trump.

“Why would we want an NSA Director who was referred to Biden after being hand selected by Milley,” Loomer posted. “Why would we want Milley’s hand picked choice for NSA DIRECTOR? We do not! And he was referred for firing.”

The Times journalists reported, that"Ms. Loomer's rhetoric and actions have been so extreme that she has alienated others even on the far right. She has shared a conspiracy theory on social media calling the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks an 'inside job.' During the 2024 campaign, Ms. Loomer said that 'the White House will smell like curry' if Kamala Harris were elected — a jab at her Indian heritage…. But on Wednesday afternoon, she sat with the president in the Oval Office, plying him with claims about staff members whom she insisted he should dismiss."

Trump's meeting with Loomer elicited strong reactions on social media.

Former MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan tweeted, "The National Security Adviser had to go to the Oval Office to defend his own staff from being fired by the president, because a woman who said 9/11 was an inside job was in the Oval personally briefing the president. Trump's America, folks. Insane."

CNN's Jake Tapper posted, "As she meets with President Trump and advises firings in the National Security Council, a brief reminder of who Laura Loomer is, in her own words." And Tapper's "reminder" included Loomer's 9/11 conspiracy theories and racist comments attacking former Vice President Harris.

The firings "are a sharp break with precedent," as the Times reported.Presidents normally maintain top military officers in their posts even when they were nominated by a president of a different party.

Sen. Warner praised Gen. Haugh and said firing him wouldn't make the country safer. He tweaked the Trump White House for sharing national security secrets on a consumer messaging application and ousting National Security Council staff because Loomer urged it.

The Virginia senator Warner said the firing of a “nonpartisan, experienced leader” like Gen. Haugh was “astonishing.”


Gay Valimont

Defeated Democrats Slash GOP Margins By Half In Florida Special Elections

While Democrats lost both special Congressional elections in Florida, the party clearly overperformed, narrowing the margins considerably in deep-red districts. The Republican victories, expected by most analysts, gave some relief to GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson, who has struggled to pass legislation with a tiny majority.

In Florida’s Sixth District, Republican Randy Fine defeated his Democratic opponent Josh Weil by 14 points. While that appears to be a comfortable victory, that is less than half the margin tallied by the Republicans last fall, when President Donald Trump and Mike Waltz, the current national security adviser who previously held that seat, won by over 30 points.

Even more troubling to the GOP was Democrat Gay Valimont’s performance in Florida’s First Congressional District, where she lost to Republican Jimmy Patronis. The Republican margin there was 14.8 points, only five months after Trump won the same district by 37 points. In Florida too, Democrats flipped a major Trump county. Valimont won Escambia County -- where Trump won by nearly 20 points last November -- by just over three points on Tuesday.

“When Democrats are outperforming or winning, it’s a big psychological boost in a time when Democrats are feeling pretty low,” noted Democratic pollster John Anzalone in a New York Times interview. “They’re going to be dealing with the political environment that Trump has created, which is not good right now for Republicans.”

Susan Crawford

Wisconsin Voters Deliver Powerful Rebuke To Musk And Trump In Judicial Race

Winning by ten points in Wisconsin’s special Supreme Court election, Judge Susan Crawford delivered a stunning rebuke to President Donald Trump and his centibillionaire sidekick Elon Musk, both of whom endorsed and supported her right-wing opponent Brad Schimel.

The decisive Wisconsin defeat was taken as a stark warning for next year’s Congressional midterm elections, with Musk himself bemoaning the prospect of a Democratic Congress. "Losing this judge race has good chance of causing Republicans to lose control of the House. If they lose control of the House, there will be non-stop impeachment hearings, there will be non-stop hearings and subpoenas, they're going to do everything to stop the [Trump] agenda,” he told Fox News before the results came in.

Crawford exulted in her victory speech that she had beaten “the world’s richest man,” plutocratic mastermind of Trump’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency and its chaotic, deeply unpopular crusade to wreck federal agencies. Athough he spent an estimated $25 million against her, turning the Wisconsin race into the most expensive judicial election in American history, she defeated him and Schimel by 55-45 percent.

The Tesla boss’s humiliation was underscored by a campaign trip to the Badger State two days before the election, when he handed out million-dollar checks and donned a “cheesehead” hat. Just hours before voters went to the polls, his auto company’s board asked him to step down as its chief executive.

While Republicans attributed the Wisconsin outcome to Democratic intensity and lower propensity to vote among the Trump base, the results also pointed to potential disenchantment among voters who went Republican last fall. High turnout in Democratic strongholds like Dane County and Milwaukee drove the liberal surge – but Crawford also appears to have flipped a few major counties that backed Trump in 2024

With over 95 percent of the vote counted, the Democratic-backed judge won Kenosha, Racine, Outagamie and Sauk counties, all of which went Republican last year. Her margin in Kenosha County, one of the state’s largest, was roughly five percent.

Trump himself tried to brush off Schimel’s defeat. On Truth Social he emphasized instead that Wisconsin voters approved an amendment to the Wisconsin state constitution requiring voters to display photo identification before casting a ballot. The state already requires voter ID by law, but the constitutional change will protect the law from being changed.

Democrats Score 'Major Upset' In Deep-Red Pennsylvania State Senate District

Democrats Score 'Major Upset' In Deep-Red Pennsylvania State Senate District

If a special election in Pennsylvania’s very red 36th state senate district offers any guidance, a wave of voter anger is looming over the MAGA Republicans. In what experts described as “a major upset,” voters who chose Donald Trump last fall by 15 points, voters yesterday elected a local Democrat and rejected the GOP nominee for the open seat.

Democrat James Andrew Malone, the mayor of East Petersburg, defeated Republican Josh Parsons, a Lancaster County Commissioner, by a scant 482 votes, or just under one percent. But Malone’s narrow victory is seen as a bellwether because the Republicans were expected to win the seat easily.

Berwood Yost, a pollster at Franklin and Marshall College, noted that Republicans had easily won the Lancaster County district for decades. In 2022, Ryan Aument, the Republican who then held the seat, had run unopposed. When Aument stepped down to take another position he left an opening for Democrats.

But neither Yost nor other Keystone State experts anticipated the Democratic surge that propelled Malone. On Tuesday, Yost told a local radio station that it was “hard for me to imagine that there would be an upset here. Let's remember Josh Shapiro, who is the current governor, who is a talented politician, he couldn't win Lancaster County over [2022 Republican gubernatorial nominee] Doug Mastriano - even though he carried many other places in the state.”

In a statement released on Tuesday night, Democratic National Committee chairman Ken Martin called the Pennsylvania special election a “shockwave” that reflects voter anger over the Trump administration’s first two months of cuts and chaos.

“In a district that went to Trump by 15 in 2024 and has a 23-point Republican voter registration advantage, Malone’s victory is a loud and clear rebuke to Republicans’ threats to the programs Pennsylvania families rely on – from Social Security and Medicaid to our public schools,” Martin said.

“To protect working Americans, Democrats like Senator-elect Malone are competing everywhere, and in special elections throughout the country, we continue to overperform as voters join us in fighting back against the Trump-Musk agenda,” the DNC chief concluded.

Parsons, a MAGA Republican who echoed Trump on immigration, crime and the economy, had failed to show up for a candidate forum to debate Malone and a Libertarian Party candidate two weeks ago -- imitating the recent behavior of many GOP elected officials.

Over The Randy Rainbow! 'Wicked' Parody Crushes Trump And Musk

Over The Randy Rainbow! 'Wicked' Parody Crushes Trump And Musk

Spoofing Donald Trump's "chaotic AF" new administration, Broadway genius Randy Rainbow satirizes the hit song "Defying Gravity" from the smash hit movies Wicked.

“It time to cry buh-bye democracy," Randy warbles. "And watch this guy defy democracy. Would someone stop this clown!?”

Kicking off the video with his usual faux interview -- with both Trump and Elon Musk -- Randy rips the pair for abuse of power, attacking American allies, and failing to reduce food prices as promised. He then breaks into song, portraying both Elphaba and Glinda, the witches played by Oscar-nominated Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande in the film.

It's as glorious as Trump's regime is ignominious.

- YouTubeyoutu.be


This company grew 32,481%

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'Keep Calm-ala And Carry-on-ala': Harris Shows Up For SNL Cold Open

'Keep Calm-ala And Carry-on-ala': Harris Shows Up For SNL Cold Open

Vice President Kamala Harris stopped over in New York yesterday evening for a surprise cold open cameo on Saturday Night Live -- the last episode of the show before the election.

The Democratic presidential nominee appeared in a sketch with Maya Rudolph, who regularly portrays Harris.

"I wish I could talk to someone who's been in my shoes," said Rudolph, "a Black South Asian woman, running for president, preferably from the Bay Area" -- and then turned to a mirror to face the vice president herself , dressed in an identical outfit.

"I'm just here to remind you, you got this," said Harris. "Because you can do something your opponent cannot do: You can open doors" -- a slap at Donald Trump, whose stumble while opening the door of a garbage truck for a gag trolling President Joe Biden went viral last week.

"Take my palm-ala," Rudolph told Harris as she offered her hand. "The American people want to stop the chaos."

"And end the dram-ala," Harris continued.

"Because what do we always say?" asked Rudolph.

"Keep calm-ala, and carry on-ala," they said in unison as Harris laughed and the audience burst into cheers.

At one point, Rudolph laughed and Harris replied, "I don't really laugh like that, do I?

"A little bit," Rudolph grinned.

- YouTubeyoutu.be

'Historians For Harris' Warn Of  Fateful Parallel Between 2024 And 1860

'Historians For Harris' Warn Of  Fateful Parallel Between 2024 And 1860

On November 1, a group of more than 500 historians -- including distinguished academics, bestselling authors, and award-winning documentarians -- issued the following statement about the upcoming presidential election and its ominous resonance with the turning point that preceded the Civil War. The full list of signers is posted here.

As American historians, we are deeply alarmed by the impending election. Since 1789, the nation has prospered under a Constitution dedicated to securing the general welfare, under a national government bound by the rule of law in which no one interest or person holds absolute power. In 1860, an elite interest dedicated to human slavery attempted to shatter the Union rather than accede to the constitutional rule of law by accepting the outcome of the election, plunging the nation into Civil War.

Today, Donald Trump, openly hostile to democracy and to American constitutional customs, seeks to return to office as president. He has flagrantly defied the rule of law. He repeatedly sought to thwart the result of the free and fair election of 2020. His performance has persuaded many of those who worked most closely with him that he is an authoritarian. Now a convicted felon, he has stated his intention to use his power to intimidate, prosecute and imprison his political critics and opponents, whom he designates as “the enemy within.” Given the free hand that he would enjoy today by the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity decision, we take his threats with utmost seriousness as a clear and present danger to American democracy.

Kamala Harris has dedicated her life to affirming the rule of law and democracy. As a prosecutor and California attorney-general, she pursued justice without fear or favor. As U.S. Senator, she confronted those who would aid and abet the malign use of authority. As Vice President, she has worked to find solutions to urgent problems, domestic and foreign. As a presidential candidate, she has called out her opponent as a disgrace to his oath as president to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution.

We believe, based on our study of the past, that the nation stands at an unprecedented historical as well as a political crossroads. On the outcome of this election, no less than the election of 1860, hangs the fate of both the spirit and the letter of the Constitution. We appeal to our fellow citizens, whether conservative, independent, or liberal, regardless of party affiliation, to vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. We make this call not as partisans but as historians who believe in the pursuit of a more perfect Union—and we urge all Americans to join us.

Kai Bird

Sidney Blumenthal

Ken Burns

Ron Chernow

Beverly Gage

Eddie Glaude

Jon Meacham

Sean Wilentz


SNL's Cold Open Features Scarlett Johansson In Merciless Katie Britt Burn

SNL's Cold Open Features Scarlett Johansson In Merciless Katie Britt Burn

Saturday Night Live's State of the Union cold open begins with Mikey Day as the highly animated POTUS, torching Speaker Mike Johnson. But he soon turns over the screen to Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL), "who will do me more good than anything I can say here."

Sitting in her “strange, empty kitchen” and describing herself as a “scary mom” and “the craziest bitch in the Target parking lot,” SNL’s cold-open Katie Britt delivers a “shockingly violent” retort to the State of the Union, featuring a sex trafficking incident that she blames on Joe Biden. She insists the incident is entirely real -- “except the year, where it took place, and who was president when it happened.”

Special guest Scarlett Johansson delivers an inspired performance as Sen. Britt. Many reviewers called it the best cold open of the season, but then she had such great material for this one. Not a moment you want to miss!

State of the Union Cold Open - SNLyoutu.be


Watch Trump Stumble Over January 6 Lie, Mistaking Haley For Pelosi

Watch Trump Stumble Over January 6 Lie, Mistaking Haley For Pelosi

In a bizarre moment at a New Hampshire rally, Donald Trump blamed his Republican rival, former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley, for the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol -- a false charge he has often made against former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).\

““Look at all the people back there — you got a lot of people. This is supposed to be a quaint little area. This is not quaint at all,” Trump told a crowd of supporters in Concord, N.H., remarking about the crowd size, adding later: “You know when [Haley] comes here she gets like nine people, and the press never reports the crowds you know.”

Trump continued, turning to lies he has often uttered to deflect his own responsibility for the Capitol insurrection -- except that he usually attacks Pelosi, not Haley. “By the way, they never report the crowd on January 6. You know Nikki Haley, Nikki Haley, Nikki Haley, you know, they — do you know they destroyed all of the information, all of the evidence, everything, deleted and destroyed all of it. All of it,” he said. “Because of lots of things … like Nikki Haley was in charge of security — we offered her 10,000 people, soldiers, National Guards, whatever they want. They turned it down. They don’t want to talk about that. These are very dishonest people.”

The crowd of Trump supporters in Concord reportedly fell silent as he ranted about Haley. His remarks were entirely false, as noted by The Hill among other outlets:

“On January 6, the Speaker, a target of an assassination attempt that day, was no more in charge of Capitol security than Mitch McConnell was,” then-Pelosi spokesperson Drew Hammill explained to The Associated Press in July 2021. “This is a clear attempt to whitewash what happened on Jan. 6th and divert blame."

The National Guard isn’t directed by the House Speaker.

Footage played during one of the hearings conducted by the House select committee investigation the Jan. 6 insurrection also showed Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) speaking with Cabinet members and governors regarding the Capitol attack."

The Biden-Harris campaign swiftly posted a mocking reference to Trump's mental stumble on X: “A deeply confused Trump confuses Nancy Pelosi and Nikki Haley multiple times: Nikki Haley was in charge on January 6. They don’t want to talk about that.”

At COP 28, Nations Reach Historic Agreement To End Reliance On Fossil Fuels

At COP 28, Nations Reach Historic Agreement To End Reliance On Fossil Fuels

DUBAI, UAE -- Representatives from nearly 200 countries struck a deal at the COP28 climate summit on Wednesday to start reducing global consumption of fossil fuels to avoid the worst consequences of climate change -- envisaging the eventual end of the oil economy

After two weeks of hard-fought negotiations, the Dubai agreement sends an unmistakable message to political and business leaders that the world must quickly phase out fossil fuels, the planet's only hope to prevent a worldwide climate catastrophe.

COP28 President Sultan al-Jaber called the deal "historic" but added that its true success would be in its implementation.

"We are what we do, not what we say," he said. "We must take the steps necessary to turn this agreement into tangible actions."

“Humanity has finally done what is long, long, long overdue,” said the European Union’s climate commissioner, Wopke Hoekstra. “Thirty years we’ve spent to arrive at the beginning of the end of fossil fuels.”

While more than 100 countries had pushed for an agreement to "phase out" oil, gas and coal use, they encountered opposition from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the Saudi Arabia-led oil-producing bloc, which insisted that the world can slash emissions without shunning fossil fuels.

That debate pushed the summit past its deadline, causing some delegate and observers to worry that the negotiations would end without an agreement.

"This is a moment where multilateralism has actually come together and people have taken individual interests and attempted to define the common good," said U.S. climate envoy and former Secretary of State John Kerry. The Danish minister for climate and energy Dan Jorgensen, who was seen embracing Kerry after the deal was approved, exulted: "We're standing here in an oil country, surrounded by oil countries, and we made the decision saying let's move away from oil and gas."


Eric Hovde

Wisconsin GOP Senate Wannabe Keeps Predicting Recessions That Don't Happen

Sunwest Bank CEO Eric Hovde, a potential challenger to Wisconsin Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, is slated to address the bank’s Annual Economic Forum in Newport Beach, California, on Thursday.

Hovde will deliver the keynote address at the event, an announcement for which says that attendees will “Gain clear insights on the U.S. economy, real estate, global markets, and more.”

So far, however, Hovde’s predictions about the U.S. economy have been less than accurate.

Hovde ran for the U.S. Senate in 2012. In a radio ad for his unsuccessful campaign, he asserted that a government default on the national debt was imminent and would likely lead to a global depression.

In a March 2012 interview on the “Vicki McKenna Show” in Madison, Wisconsin, he said the U.S. would face a debt crisis similar to one in Greece within the next three to four years. In another appearance on McKenna’s program, he warned the national debt would lead to anarchy in the streets within the next five years.

Hovde made an even more dire prediction in a July 2012 appearance on a show hosted by right-wing host Charlie Sykes, saying the U.S. would fall into recession within the next 12 months.

None of these predictions came to fruition.

Hovde’s alarmist predictions were not limited to his political campaign. In 2022, he told the Business Observer website in Florida that he believed the U.S. was on the brink of a global recession.

“I think we’re headed into a global recession, where there are really no bright spots,” Hovde said. “I think this recession is going to go longer and be more severe and last a minimum of 18 months, and probably more likely 24 to 36 months.”

In April, Hovde predicted recession again but this time said it would be partially caused by energy policy.

“Until we truly get to the heart of inflation and start changing some of our economic and energy policies, then we may enter a recession this year, and I think we will be stuck in this difficult slowdown for some time to come,” Hovde wrote in a Sunwest Bank newsletter.
Hovde has met with the National Republican Senatorial Committee about a possible 2024 run. He did not immediately respond to a request to comment for this story.

Reprinted with permission from American Journal News.

Jonathan Turley

What Fox Analyst Turley Gets Wrong About Trump (Nearly Everything)

Following news of former President Donald Trump’s recent federal and Georgia indictments, Fox News utilized its top legal contributor Jonathan Turley to promote faulty arguments in Trump’s defense. Fox News invited the George Washington University law professor to comment about Trump indictments in 22 appearances between August 1 and August 25, more than any other legal contributor.

A federal grand jury indicted Trump over his attempt to overturn the 2020 election results

  • Trump’s first August indictment focused on his attempts to overturn the 2020 election results. While Trump’s infamous claims of nonexistent voter fraud and appeals to illegally overturn the election were a central focus of the indictment, legal experts have pointed out that he is being charged for his alleged criminal actions, not for his speech.
  • On August 1, a federal grand jury indicted Trump on four charges. As CBS reported, these charges include “conspiracy to defraud the United States; conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding; obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding; and conspiracy against rights.” [CBS, 8/2/23]
  • The indictment specifically stated Trump had a right to free speech, even if his claims were false. The second page of the indictment noted that Trump “had a right, like every American, to speak publicly about the election and even to claim, falsely, that there had been outcome-determinative fraud during the election and that he had won.” [The Washington Post, 8/19/23]
  • While Trump’s spoken words and social media posts are used as evidence in the indictment, that evidence is used to prove the motive behind his actions. As noted by legal experts, “Trump is being prosecuted for his deeds, not his words.” While Trump had the right to claim the election was stolen, he did not have the right to attempt to throw out the lawful results through a criminal conspiracy. [Media Matters, 8/10/23]
  • Former U.S. Attorney Barb McQuade told Salon: An indictment does not require “a recitation of all of the evidence.” She added, “All that is required is a brief, plain statement of the charge.” The Salon piece also quoted Hofstra University’s School of Law professor James Sample arguing it’s “reasonable” to anticipate the release of new evidence later into the trial. [Salon, 8/3/23]

Jonathan Turley pushed a false narrative that Trump is being charged for “free speech” and claims the indictment is a threat to the First Amendment.

  • Turley incorrectly claimed that DOJ special counsel Jack Smith was indicting Trump for misinformation. He stated that Trump is “being indicted for spreading lies. That's what the indictment says over and over again, and they insist that he knew they were lies.” [Fox News, The Story with Martha MacCallum, 8/3/23]
  • Turley stated Trump is “being charged with lying” and argued the indictment raises “free speech concerns.” He stated, “There are legitimate free speech concerns raised by these charges. Essentially he's being charged with lying and the government is saying you can make false statements in an election, but not if you know that they're false. But they don't really establish that he knew that they were false, even if that theory is correct.” [Fox News, America Reports, 8/3/23]
  • Turley argued that Trump is protected from charges in the January 6 indictment because of the First Amendment. He claimed, “It does not appear that this was motivated by new evidence, and in order to get a conviction, he [Smith] will have to use material that, in my view, is clearly protected by the First Amendment.” [Fox News, Special Report with Bret Baier, 8/1/23]
  • Turley floated the idea that indicting Trump and penalizing him over his actions on January 6 would “criminalize false political speech.” He claimed, “It's unlikely he [Trump] will get a trial put in front of the Florida trial, but they very well could help him out in moving these issues to the appellate court and asking them is this the criminalization of disinformation? Are you about to criminalize false political speech? Because in the past, the Supreme Court has been extremely skeptical of laws that attempt to do that.” [Fox News, Your World with Neil Cavuto, 8/3/23]
  • Turley pushed the notion that indicting Trump would be a “slippery slope” to criminalizing incorrect speech. He stated, “If you start to criminalize issues like that, you find yourself on a slippery slope where the Department of Justice can arrest politicians for not accepting what they deem the evident truth.“ [Fox News, The Story with Martha MacCallum, 8/2/23]
  • Turley claimed that the indictment and upcoming trial of Trump is a “free speech killing case.” He said, “If free speech defines us as a nation, this is a free speech killing case, and we need to deal with those implications.” [Fox News, America Reports, 8/2/23]
  • On Fox host Brian Kilmeade’s radio show, Turley accused Smith of inventing new law to go after Trump and attacking the First Amendment. Turley stated, “Smith is trying to create new law here, and he doesn't cite any new evidence. That should disturb people. There's got to be some point where you say enough -- when you start to take a hatchet to the First Amendment in this quest to nail Trump.” [Fox Radio, Brian Kilmeade Show, 8/2/23]

Trump was also indicted in Fulton County, Georgia, for his attempt to overturn election results in the state — not his “free speech”

Similar to the federal grand jury indictment, the Georgia indictment laid out Trump’s many comments and speeches as part evidence of motive for his attempts to overturn the 2020 election results.

  • District Attorney Fani Willis charged Trump and 18 others up to 20 years in prison for racketeering, specifically violating the Georgia Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. According to the indictment, Trump and more than a dozen allies, including former chief of staff Mark Meadows and lawyers Rudy Guiliani and John Eastman, “refused to accept that Trump lost, and they knowingly and willfully joined a conspiracy to unlawfully change the outcome of the election in favor of Trump.” [Reuters, 8/15/23; Insider, 8/14/23]
  • Willis began her investigation two years ago after Trump’s January 2021 phone call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger was leaked. During the call, Trump suggested Raffensperger could help “find 11,780 votes” because “we won the state.” [The Associated Press, 7/31/23]
  • The investigation followed several main investigative threads. These include Trump’s call with Raffensperger, his attempt to get fake electors to certify his victory, his false claims of election fraud, his harassment of election workers, and Trump-associated Sidney Powell’s unauthorized access to Georgia’s election equipment. [The Associated Press, 7/31/23]
  • New York University law professor: “It’s not *the speech* that's criminal. It’s what the speech *does*: constitute an element of another crime.” New York University School of Law assistant professor Noah Rosenblum debunked the free speech argument, also writing, “Here, Trump is charged with conspiracy. But the lies he made about the election are part of showing his knowing fraud — an element of a crime.” [Twitter/X, 8/1/23]
  • Legal expert Marc Elias has asserted that to prove Trump guilty, prosecutors do not need motive. The government “does not need to prove motive” and jury’s will be instructed as such. [Popular Information, 8/3/23]
  • There is “no First Amendment right to use speech to subvert an election, any more than there is a First Amendment right to use speech to bribe, threaten, or intimidate.” In a piece for Slate, University of California, Los Angeles School of Law professor Richard L. Hasen also poked holes in the First Amendment defense, writing, “Trump did not just state the false claims; he allegedly used the false claims to engage in a conspiracy to steal the election.” [Slate, 8/1/23]

    • Turley argued the Georgia indictment could have a “chilling effect” on people wanting to challenge election results

    Turley questioned if Trump’s actions in Georgia were actually a crime before claiming the indictment may hurt the ability to challenge elections. Turley stated, “Is it a crime to raise them [unproven election claims]? Is it a crime, even if these allegations were untrue, to make them, to a state legislature or to a court or to the public at large. The concern is that you can create a chilling effect.” [Fox News, Hannity, 8/14/23]

    • Turley insisted Trump did not commit a crime and that the indictment will criminalize election challenges. He stated, “It's excessive and I think it's also dangerous. It essentially criminalizes challenges to elections. … Democrats and Republicans challenge these elections routinely. … They aren't crimes. They are seeking judicial review.” [Fox News, America’s Newsroom, 8/15/23]
    • Turley again claimed the indictment could criminalize election challenges in the country and compared Trump’s actions to previous election challenges by Democrats. He insisted, “This is creating a slippery slope for all elections across the country. It is the criminalization of election challenges. And I can name off the top of my head 10 Democratic politicians that could be accused of similar conduct -- challenging elections with very little evidence.” [Fox News, Special Report with Bret Baier, 8/15/23]
    • Turley argued Trump’s tweets and speeches were being treated as a separate criminal act in the indictment when in fact they exist to display motive behind his actions. He said, “You look at this indictment, and every call, every tweet, every speech seems to be a separate criminal act that composes this conspiracy.” [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 8/15/23]
    • Turley warned the Georgia indictment would potentially set a precedent based around criminalizing what is in someone’s mind. He claimed, “We can all debate what was in Donald Trump's mind but is that really the basis of a criminal case? Is that what you want for future cases?” [Fox News, Hannity, 8/14/23]

    But Trump’s call to Raffensperger was not an earnest attempt to legally challenge Georgia’s election results

    • Trump did not mention a recount at any point during the call. Furthermore, Georgia had already undergone two recounts prior to the call. As Mediate’s Michael Luciano states, “By the time Trump unsuccessfully leaned on Raffensperger, Georgia had already conducted two recounts. Moreover, telling an elections official to “find” votes in one’s favor as Trump did is not “making a case for a recount.” That is asking the official to make one the winner of an election.” [Mediate, 8/24/23]
    • The call demonstrated how Trump was not willing to accept there were no remaining paths to challenge the election results in Georgia. As Washington Post columnist Philip Bump writes, “A candidate simply hoping to ensure that all avenues were closed — even after months of scrutiny and multiple recounts — would receive information that those avenues had already been demonstrably closed with resignation and acceptance. That was not the way Trump received Raffensperger’s pushback.” [The Washington Post, 8/25/23]

    While initially critical of Trump’s call to Raffensperger, Turley has been defending it

    • On January 3, 2021, Turley called Trump’s request for Raffensperger to “find” him votes, an “opportunistic move to secure the 16 electoral votes.” He wrote, “Telling Raffensperger to ‘find’ the votes on the Saturday before the certification is breathtaking. … I am mystified by the request as I am the logic. Such an opportunistic move to secure the 16 electoral votes would not work to change the outcome.” [Twitter/X, 1/3/21]
    • Over two years after critiquing the call, Turley claimed Trump’s call to Raffensperger, which initially sparked Willis’ investigation, was “widely misrepresented.” He stated that the call “has been taken as an invitation for fraud. There is, of course, a more obvious explanation and that is the Georgia officials were saying that further state recounts might not be necessary. And it would be natural for Trump to say look, you only need to find 11,000 [votes] to turn the outcome of this election. So I don't need that many votes. Thus, a state recount is justified.” [Fox News, Hannity, 8/14/23]
    • Turley argued that when Trump asked Raffensperger to “find” votes he was actually asking for a recount. He stated, “It makes perfect sense when you are challenging an election to say I only need around 11,000 votes. So if you do a statewide review, that's not a lot in a state like Georgia. That's not criminal. That's making a case for a recount” [Fox News, Hannity, 8/23/23]

    Turley has been criticized for his legal commentary for years

    • The Nation’s justice correspondent Elie Mystal described Turley as “essentially the poster child for Trump apologists with legal credentials.” Mystal also wrote that Turley is “best known for going on TV and arguing that Trump cannot be held accountable for whatever crimes were most recently revealed” and that “his role is defending or sanitizing the wildly illegal or unprecedented behavior of Trumpworld.” [Balls and Strikes, 9/20/22]
    • Stanford Law professor Robert Weisberg described Turley as someone who “gleefully reports court decisions that go against Biden or other Democrats—and almost never or barely mentions any that the GOP loses.” In a piece titled “What Happened to Jonathan Turley, Really?” Weisberg wrote that with Turley, “we see Republican sycophancy rendered in a sober scholarly tone with pearl-clutching sanctimonious nostalgia for some pre-political era of American law.” also claimed Turley was “the anti-left Paul Revere.” [Slate, 11/18/22]
    • University of North Carolina Law professor Carissa Byrne said Turley is not only “hypocritical” but has also made a “serious breach of academic ethics and professionalism.” [Twitter/X, 1/18/21, 1/18/21]

    Reprinted with permission from Media Matters.

    Right-Wing Media Figures Babble About ‘Demonic Possession' Of Democrats (VIDEO)

    Right-Wing Media Figures Babble About ‘Demonic Possession' Of Democrats (VIDEO)

    Right-wing media figures are ramping up apocalyptic political rhetoric that literally demonizes LGBTQ people, perceived political enemies, and progressive causes, with some absurdly suggesting that demons are using portals to enter Earth and wage “spiritual war” against humanity.

    Rhetoric about “demonic” influence and an existential, “spiritual” war has become a hallmark of right-wing punditry and Republican politics ahead of the 2024 elections, as Christian nationalism grows in popularity among Republican voters. Language that demonizes and dehumanizes political opponents has been a staple of right-wing commentary for years, but these recent accusations are not simple rhetorical flourishes; a number of media figures have begun to warn their audiences about occult rituals from the left and supposed portals to hell from which demons would enter the Earth. Last year, Trump ally and provocateur Roger Stone even claimed that a “Satanic portal” had opened over the White House after President Joe Biden took office.

    This sort of framing, which posits that political enemies are literal “demons” waging a “spiritual war,” stems largely from a right-wing Christian movement known as the New Apostolic Reformation. For years, the NAR movement has reportedly sought “to take dominion over politics, business and culture in preparation for the end times and the return of Jesus.” Rolling Stone described the core NAR belief in spiritual war in a profile of one of the movement’s leading figures, commentator and self-proclaimed prophet Lance Wallnau:

    NAR followers like Wallnau believe that America is specially anointed by God to project Christianity across the globe. And the NAR movement’s followers view foes of their quest as satanic. This is not metaphorical. They hold that the physical world is enveloped by a supernatural dimension, featuring warring angels and demons, and are convinced that demons afflict their enemies on behalf of the devil. The movement holds that these spiritual battles are reflected in earthly politics. As the late NAR founder C. Peter Wagner explained in a striking NPR interview in 2011: “I believe there’s a lot of demonic control over Congress … that needs to be dispersed.”

    Fiery rhetoric of a spiritual war coupled with demonization of opponents has created an atmosphere in which violence appears permissible and justifiable to followers. For instance, the violence at the Capitol on January 6 was largely undergirded and inspired by boisterous cries of spiritual warfare from prominent figures on the religious right — including Wallnau — who have conditioned their audiences to consider political violence a legitimate tactic.

    Over the last two years, right-wing media figures have increasingly adopted the scorched-earth rhetoric of movements like the NAR, setting the stage for a potentially dangerous political atmosphere in 2024. Here are a number of examples:

    Right-wing media figures say demons are using 'portals' to enter Earth

    On several occasions, prominent right-wing media figures have claimed that demons are using “portals” to attack conservative causes or even fearmongered that Satan created a “woke mind virus.”

    • Right-wing media gadfly Roger Stone — who observers have noted has increasingly adopted rhetoric around “spiritual war” — claimed on Eric Metaxas’ Salem radio show that “a demonic portal” had been visible above the White House since Biden’s inauguration. Stone suggested that through the “portal,” demons began to “populate the Biden administration,” arguing “you can’t tell whether they are men or women.”


    • Salem media host Charlie Kirksaid that “we’re in the midst of the most consequential spiritual war” in millennia because “there is no other way to explain the campaign of arson and destruction against our country other than diabolical, spiritually dark influences that are fighting for dominion over this nation.” He also argued that “witchcraft and the occult is a real thing, and there are portals to darkness and you have to be vigilant about this.” Kirk also alleged that Satan had created “the woke mind virus” to destroy America and called on religious leaders to “excommunicate … the demons of the woke.”
    • Conspiracy theorist and Infowars host Alex Joneswarned that the European Council for Nuclear Research had used the Large Hadron Collider for “satanic rituals” which he claimed “definitely has opened up a gate” to hell and let demons into the Earth “like paratroopers.” Jones has also claimed that an “alien offworld force” with demons as its agents is “working against us around the clock because they know we are about to go from our embryonic level to birthing into the next level.” What’s more, in his trial for defamation of the families of the Sandy Hook massacre, Jones attacked the judge and plaintiffs’ lawyers as “committed to occult ideology of the new world order” and implied they were “demonically possessed.”
    • Daily Wire host Michael Knowlessaid of reports of interactions with aliens: “Aliens are just demons for liberals who don't want to admit metaphysical reality."

    Right-wing media figures have labeled LGBTQ people and abortion 'demonic'

    Conservative media figures have also revved up their attacks on trans people, LGBTQ Pride month, and abortion by claiming they are inspired by “demons in our society.”

    • Knowles — who demanded this year that so-called “transgenderism” be “eradicated from public life entirely” — claimed that trans people are “demonic” and that demons are “always trans.”
    • On her prime-time Fox News show, Laura Ingrahamreferred to gender-affirming care as “a demonic campaign to destroy the natural biological order.”
    • Daily Wire host Candace Owens called trans people “demons in our society” and smeared “any actor, actress, individual that supports this” as “demonic.” Owens has also argued that surrogacy is “deeply demonic.”

    • On Fox, now-former host Tucker Carlson used the Covenant School shooting in Tennessee to falsely claim that “the trans movement is targeting Christians, including with violence,” and denounced the trans community as part of “a deranged and demonic ideology.”
    • On YouTube, BlazeTV’s Liz Wheeler said that “if you took the three most disgusting, demonic ideologies that you could possibly think of and put them all in one flag you would get the trans flag.”
    • Doomsday prophet and repeat Trinity Broadcast Network guest Jonathan Cahn recently declared that Biden had put the United States under “demonic possession” at the hands of an ancient goddess of “sexual immorality” by lighting up the White House in the colors of the rainbow for LGBTQ Pride.
    • Two days after a shooter killed five people in a Colorado Springs LGBTQ club, Infowars host Owen Shroyer ran footage of drag queens and questioned whether “these people are even human,” ranting: “Demon possession is real. Satanic agendas are real. I don’t know how else to describe any of this.”
    • BlazeTV host Steve Deacepartnered with far-right Christian filmmakers Chuck Konzelman and Cary Solomon to produce a right-wing movie that argued humanity is engaged in a spiritual war against demonic forces such as abortion and LGBTQ equality. On his podcast, in an episode titled “Hot Take: Demonic or Democrats?” Deace said that people who advertise drag story hours are “literally inhabited by a demon” and are “a manifestation of a demonic presence.”
    • Salem Radio host Eric Metaxas and his guest John Zmirak proclaimed that Satan himself was behind the LGBTQ rights movement, with Zmirak decrying “blasphemous drag queen rituals, in your church, mocking Christ” and comparing the Pride flag to an inverted pentagram, claiming Satan “wants you to use the pronoun they.” Metaxas then warned his audience that if they did not boycott companies that celebrate Pride Month, they would be comparable to Germans who failed to stop the Holocaust, saying, “The death camps were the result of good people saying, ‘I don’t want to deal with this. Just let me live my life.’”
    • Christian nationalist pastorJack Hibbs, whose sermons air on Fox Business Network, declared that transgender people are “satanic,” saying that in “the last days there’s going to be doctrines of demons and deceiving spirits. Wonder what that’s going to be like? You’re in it.” Per Right Wing Watch, Hibbs has also claimed that "demonism” has caused public support for trans rights.
    • Christian nationalist influencer and repeat Fox guest Sean Feucht has described abortion and the movement for trans rights as demonic, ascribing public support to “demons” and “the demonic spirit.” Feucht is closely associated with prominent NAR movement leaders and “apostles.”
    • Right-wing radio host Jesse Kellysaid that “we have a society so full of demons that baby murder is now popular” and also referred to the LGBTQ community as “the LGTBQ demon mob.”
    • Lance Wallnau, a contributor for The Victory Channel’s Christian nationalist show FlashPoint, has repeatedly invoked demons while discussing LGBTQ people. In an April show, Wallnau said that transgender people represent “a fundamental deception” and that accepting them has made society “sympathetic with evil.” Wallnau said that demons target people to make them trans, saying, “I believe a demon comes along that enters into that confusion that affirms that they are the opposite gender.” Per Right Wing Watch, Wallnau also claimed that people become trans because "Satan has taken 'em over with crazy talk about them being in the wrong bodies.”

    Right-wing media personalities warn Democrats are 'demonic' and 'satanic'

    Far-right Christian media figures and prominent right-wing commentators have told their audiences that the left is engaged with “satanic worship” and “demonic forces,” rationalizing ideological opposition as a product of the “demon-possessed.”

    • Fox prime-time host Jesse Wattersclaimed that viewers should be afraid of “demonic teachers” interested in “turning their classroom into a drag show.”
    • Carlsonwarned on Glenn Beck’s show that there are “spiritual forces surrounding” Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), calling him “a force of darkness.”
    • On a FlashPoint broadcast, contributor and pastor Hank Kunnemantold viewers that “we don't wrestle against flesh and blood, but principalities, powers, spiritual wickedness in high places — you know, demonic entities.” Earlier in the episode, Wallnausaid that tragedies in society such as mass shootings should be understood through a lens where “you don’t deal with current events, you deal with a demonic spin cycle.”
    • BlazeTV founder and longtime conspiracy theorist Glenn Beck proclaimed that the 2020 election was not contested against Democrats, but against “Satan himself,” which he claimed was prophesied to him in a dream. Beck has an extensive history of linking progressives to “the devil” and warning of “demonic” influence.
    • Disgraced Trump ally-turned-podcast-host Steve Bannonsuggested that Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) is “satanic” because he “exudes … pure evil” and “hangs with Satanic Groomers.”
    • During his Christian nationalistReAwaken America Tour, former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn has frequently asserted that there is a “spiritual war” in America. He has also called former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) a “demon.”
    • Right-wing podcast host Benny Johnsonattacked the grand jury forewoman investigating Donald Trump’s 2020 election interference in Georgia, calling her “borderline demonic” and “demon-possessed.” He has also claimed that “you can see demonic forces at work" in Schiff's district, claiming that the congressman is “on the side of the demons.” Johnson has previously embraced the rhetoric of spiritual warfare, saying, “This rabbit hole goes down so far into the occult … This is a spiritual battle. This is a battle of possession, and there are stages of demonic possession, and we are in the oppression stage right now.”
    • Far-right pundit Stew Petersfearmongered about “SatanCon,” an event that is hosted by “a progressive church that doesn't worship the devil but instead uses the word to get attention,” claiming it was evidence of “full-blown satanic worship” in America. His guest, Sean Feucht, insisted that we are witnessing “the total unveiling of this demonic realm, this demonic spirit.” Feucht then warned that these alleged forces of Satan were “agitated and upset and trying everything they can do to intimidate Christians.”
    • On his BlazeTV podcast, Deacecalled the Democratic Party “a demonic construct, a satanically influenced entity, and a death cult.”

    Reprinted with permission from Media Matters.

    Right-Wing Media Promoted Fake Elector Scheme Now Being Probed By Grand Jury

    Right-Wing Media Promoted Fake Elector Scheme Now Being Probed By Grand Jury

    Right-wing media figures popularized and defended the Trump team’s last-ditch effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election through a scheme to nullify the election results, which is now under investigation by a special counsel — and some of the fake electors have reportedly already testified to a federal grand jury in Washington, D.C.

    The scheme, cooked up by former Trump lawyers John Eastman and Rudy Giuliani, sought to create “alternate” slates of electors in favor of former President Donald Trump in seven swing states that voted for Joe Biden. At the time, several right-wing media figures supported the scheme to undermine the 2020 election, with some calling for key states to appoint their own alternate electors. Other right-wing media figures such as One America News host Christina Bobb and “Stop the Steal” organizer Ali Alexander were directly involved in engineering the fake elector scheme.

    Individuals associated with Trump’s plot to appoint fake electors to overturn the outcome of the 2020 election have begun testifying before a federal grand jury. Last week, CNN reported:

    Special counsel Jack Smith has compelled at least two Republican fake electors to testify to a federal grand jury in Washington in recent weeks by giving them limited immunity, part of a current push by federal prosecutors to swiftly nail down evidence in the sprawling criminal investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

    The testimony, described to CNN by people familiar with the situation, comes after a year of relative dormancy around the fake electors portion of the investigation and as a parade of related witnesses are being told to appear before the grand jury with no chance for delay.

    That activity could signal that investigators are nearing at least some charging decisions in a part of the 2020 election probe, sources added.

    Now that the special counsel investigation is well underway and a related jury trial over the fake electors scheme in Wisconsin is set to begin, Fox News’ Mark Levin remains a vocally adamant defender of the scheme. On his radio show earlier this month, Levin claimed that “there’s no such thing as fake electors” and that the probe is “another novelty in the law that’s created by another Democrat prosecutor.”

    Levin's continued defense of Trump's fake elector scheme is just one example of a yearslong campaign by right-wing media outlets to sow distrust in our elections process — and their consistent refrain that investigating Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election is political persecution has also primed conservative audiences to view the upcoming 2024 election with skepticism.

    Right-wing media supported the fake electors scheme and presented it as a legitimate “remedy” for Trump’s 2020 loss

    • Right after Election Day and two days before the 2020 election was called in Biden’s favor, Fox host Sean Hannity suggested on his radio show that “the remedy” to a Trump loss would be state electors going against the popular vote. Hannity said that to his “understanding,” electors are “not required to vote in accordance with whatever the state popular vote is, if they think there is fraud that is taking place they do have the power to stop that in these states.” [Premiere Radio, The Sean Hannity Show, 11/05/20]
    • Mark Levin appealed directly to state lawmakers, tweeting on November 5, 2020, “Reminder to the Republican state legislatures, you have the final say over the choosing of electors, not any board of elections, secretary of state, governor, or even court.” (He would later claim in a November 12, 2020, tweet, “Again and again, I have to explain that I never said electors should be chosen by the legislatures.”) [Twitter, 11/05/20]
    • Writing for The Blaze on November 5, 2020, Daniel Horowitz stated that “state legislatures can have their revenge and have the final say” in the 2020 election. Horowitz also echoed Levin’s support of the scheme, adding, “Mark Levin reminded his audience today that state legislatures are the ones who choose the electors who directly vote for president in each state.” [The Blaze, 11/05/20]
    • In a November 21, 2020, tweet, Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton claimed that a Pennsylvania court decision against the Trump campaign was a “miscarriage of justice and nakedly political.” Fitton also claimed that “under the Constitution, it is ultimately up [to] the Pennsylvania legislature to protect election integrity and appoint a clean slate of electors.” [Twitter, 11/21/20]
    • Christina Bobb argued on the December 14, 2020 episode of her OAN show that by “having the GOP electors cast their votes in these states, it preserves the legal remedy should Donald Trump win, either in court or in a state legislature, in the future.” She also defended the use of alternate electors because of the supposed “possibility that this state could flip or turn because there’s enough election fraud in here that it’s still contested.” [OAN, 12/14/20]
    • On the same day, OAN reporter Pearson Sharp showed a misleading video of Trump’s fake electors being denied entry to the Michigan Capitol, which he said was evidence that “official state electors are being barred from performing their constitutional duties.” Sharp claimed that “that video is all you need to see to understand the lengths being taken to undermine the election.” [OAN, 12/14/20]
    • Former Fox Business host Lou Dobbs legitimized the efforts of the fake electors on the December 14, 2020, episode of Lou Dobbs Tonight. Dobbs uncritically reported that “Republican electors in Pennsylvania, Nevada, and Georgia [are] meeting separately today to cast their own votes for President Trump — a procedural move that keeps all of President Trump's legal options open.”[Fox Business, Lou Dobbs Tonight, 12/14/20]
    • Speaking with Bobb on December 15, 2020, former Arizona state Sen. Kelly Townsend claimed on OAN that the scheme was “absolutely legal and it’s not unprecedented.” Townsend would go on to defend the scheme further, claiming, “So it’s not treason. Some people are saying, ‘Oh, it’s treasonous, it’s seditious.’ It’s not any of that, it’s constitutional.” [OAN, 12/15/20]
    • On the July 31, 2022, edition of Fox News’ Life, Liberty, and Levin, host Mark Levin passionately defendedTrump's fake electors scheme, arguing that ,“you might think it's weird, you might think it's unethical, but it's not a crime.” [Fox News, Life, Liberty, and Levin, 7/31/22]

    Reprinted with permission from Media Matters.

    With Democratic Support, House Passes Rule To Permit Debt Ceiling Increase

    With Democratic Support, House Passes Rule To Permit Debt Ceiling Increase

    With Democrats providing critical support, the bipartisan deal to raise the debt ceiling passed a mandatory procedural vote in the House late Wednesday afternoon. The rules vote, which passed by 241-187, means that the debt ceiling bill will be approved well before Monday’s looming deadline for a default on U.S. government debt.

    Despite repeated assurances from Speaker Kevin McCarthy that he had enough votes from his own Republican caucus to pass the bill, the debt-ceiling rule failed to clear a 218-vote majority until Democrats joined in approval at the close of balloting. Final passage is expected on Wednesday evening.

    Aides to McCarthy told reporters that they still expect to achieve a “majority of the majority” – known as the “Hastert rule” after the disgraced former Republican Speaker Dennis Hastert who instituted it – when the final vote occurs. But the vital rules vote could only pass with the support of Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), who declared that Democrats would not let the Treasury default on its obligations, with potentially disastrous economic and geopolitical consequences.

    “House Democrats are going to make sure the country doesn’t default. Period. Full stop,” Jeffries told reporters after a party caucus meeting. Opponents of McCarthy, such as Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), have suggested that his failure to adhere to the Hastert rule could result in fresh pressure to oust him from the far-right House Freedom Caucus, whose leaders denounced the debt deal.

    Tara Reade, Discredited Biden Accuser, Apparently Defects To Moscow

    Tara Reade, Discredited Biden Accuser, Apparently Defects To Moscow

    Tara Reade, the woman who accused then-presidential candidate Joe Biden of sexually assaulting her, has apparently defected to Russia.

    Speaking in Moscow at a press conference hosted by the Russian government’s Sputnik news service, Reade claimed that she had felt her life endangered in the United States. She was accompanied at the event by Maria Butina, convicted of espionage in the United States in a scandal that embroiled leaders of the National Rifle Association.

    Reade proclaimed her intention to apply for Russian citizenship, with the assistance of Butina and Vladimir Putin.

    “I’m still kind of in a daze but I feel very good,” she said. “I feel very surrounded by protection and safety. And I just really appreciate Maria [Butina] and everyone who’s been giving me that at a time when it’s been very difficult to know whether I’m safe or not. I just didn’t want to walk home and walk into a cage or be killed, which is basically my two choices. I felt that while this election is gearing up and there’s so much at stake, I’m almost better off being here and just being safe.”

    Reade repeated her allegations of sexual abuse by Biden in 1993, when she worked in his Senate office, and further claimed she had been threatened recently after agreeing to testify at a Congressional hearing under the auspices of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL).

    “I only know that when I got off the plane in Moscow, I felt safe and I felt heard and I felt respected, and that has not happened in my own country.” She said that she had informed Gaetz of her trip to Moscow. According to her, Gaetz described her as a “whistleblower and added, “Tara, I’m worried about your safety in our country.”

    She added that “as a geopolitical analyst,” she is tired of the war in Ukraine and complained that “our economy is crashing.”