Month: July 2024

The FBI said in a press release that it has gained access to the phone of the suspected gunman (identified as Thomas Matthew Crooks) who opened fire during former President Donald Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in which one supporter was killed and two others were wounded before Secret Service agents shot dead 20-year-old Crooks. The agency is continuing its search for a motive of the gunman’s attempted assassination of  Trump.

The shooting, which left Trump bleeding from one ear, is being investigated as an assassination attempt. Per the bureau’s press release, federal investigators announced on Sunday that they had obtained Crooks’s cellphone, but had issues with bypassing its password protections to access date; however, investigators then shipped the phone to a lab in Virginia, where agents successfully gained access. The agency said its technical specialists have gained access to Crooks’ phone and continue to analyze his electronic devices for clues, as well as working to determine the motive behind the attack on Trump, but no clear picture has yet emerged. The FBI also stated that it had completed nearly 100 interviews of law enforcement personnel, event attendees and other witnesses, and had also completed a search of the suspect’s car and residence.

The FBI and DHS had previously said in a joint bulletin  hat Crooks had received “several packages, including some marked as possibly containing hazardous material,” in the past several months based on a review of his shipping history, and also purchased 50 rounds of ammunition at a gun shop before traveling to the rally. A search of his home and vehicle had previously found “suspicious devices” that were sent to the FBI’s laboratory for evaluation.

Little information has been discovered regarding Crooks, who left behind no immediately available manifesto or record of the attack. He was registered as a Republican voter and donated $15 to a Democratic-allied organization but did not maintain a large online presence.  The AR-style 556 rifle used by the shooter was legally purchased by his father and officials said there was no indication that the suspect suffered from any mental health issues.

In the meantime, the FBI and Homeland Security said they are concerned about the possibilities of retaliatory acts, or “follow-ons”, stating: “we cannot rule out the possibility that some [domestic violent extremist] or other actors may attempt follow-on or retaliatory acts of violence in response to this assassination attempt.”

Editorial credit: Gianna Song / Shutterstock.com

New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez was found guilty of all 16 federal charges against him on Tuesday, July 16, following an eight-week corruption trial that centered around his level of involvement with Egypt’s government. The decision came after a New York City jury delivered the guilty verdict on their third day of deliberations. Immediately after the verdict, Majority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer called for Menendez’s resignation: “In light of this guilty verdict, Senator Menendez must now do what is right for his constituents, the Senate, and our country, and resign.”

Menendez had pleaded not guilty to 16 federal charges including bribery, fraud, acting as a foreign agent and obstruction. Menendez declined to testify in his own defense, telling reporters during the trial: “From my perspective, the government has failed to prove every aspect of its case.”

Prosecutors claimed the New Jersey Democrat, 70, accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes in the form of cash, gold bars, mortgage payments and more in exchange for the senator’s political clout, with the FBI discovering gold bars and more than $400,000 in cash stashed in places including jackets and shoes throughout his home. Federal prosecutor Paul Monteleoni said during his closing argument on July 8: “It wasn’t enough for him to be one of the most powerful people in Washington. Robert Menendez wanted all that power and he also wanted to use it to pile up riches for himself and his wife.”

The defense maintained that all of the actions in the indictment fell within the scope of Menendez’s position and that prosecutors failed to prove he took any bribes, with , defense attorney Adam Fee mocking the government’s case as “cherry-picked nonsense” and accused prosecutors of “fudging” the facts: “The only honest verdict I submit here is to acquit him on each count. His actions were lawful, normal and good for the country.”  The defense also told jurors that Menendez and his wife, who has also been charged in the case, led separate lives and she had financial concerns that she kept from her husband.

Three New Jersey businessmen who were also charged alongside Menendez, along with the governments of Egypt and Qatar, were the alleged recipients. Two of those co-defendants, Wael Hanna and Fred Daibes, were also convicted of all counts they faced.

Menendez has served as senator for New Jersey since 2006; he is the first sitting member of Congress to be charged with conspiracy by a public official to act as a foreign agent. The recent trail marked the second time the senator was charged with corruption; back in 2015, an indictment against him ended in a mistrial in 2018 after a jury failed to reach a verdict on all counts. He has repeatedly refused to resign, though he did step down as the chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee following the initial indictment in September 2023.

Menendez’s wife got permission to delay her trial while she undergoes treatment for grade 3 breast cancer. Menendez will be sentenced on Oct. 29 and faces a sentence of more than 200 years in prison.

Editorial credit: lev radin / Shutterstock.com

Former President Donald Trump announced on Monday that he has chosen Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance to be his 2024 vice-presidential running mate. Trump’s decision ends months of speculation over who would join the presumptive Republican presidential nominee’s ticket for his rematch against President Joe Biden in November.  Vance, 39, was one of several people rumored to be on Trump’s vice presidential shortlist earlier this year, and one of three names elevated to finalist status in recent weeks (alongside North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio). Insiders say that Vance’s youth and ‘celebrity status’ amongst conservatives were a big draw for Trump.

Moments after Trump revealed his pick during the roll call vote at the opening day of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, the crowd on the convention floor broke into chants of “JD!” “JD!”  He and Vance are expected to formally accept their party’s nominations during the convention.

Trump’s announcement on his Truth Social platform read: After lengthy deliberation and thought, and considering the tremendous talents of many others, I have decided that the person best suited to assume the position of Vice President of the United States is Senator J.D. Vance of the Great State of Ohio. J.D. honorably served our Country in the Marine Corps, graduated from Ohio State University in two years, Summa Cum Laude, and is a Yale Law School Graduate, where he was Editor of The Yale Law Journal, and President of the Yale Law Veterans Association. J.D.’s book, “Hillbilly Elegy,” became a Major Best Seller and Movie, as it championed the hardworking men and women of our Country. J.D. has had a very successful business career in Technology and Finance, and now, during the Campaign, will be strongly focused on the people he fought so brilliantly for, the American Workers and Farmers in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Minnesota, and far beyond….As Vice President, J.D. will continue to fight for our Constitution, stand with our Troops, and will do everything he can to help me MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN. Congratulations to Senator J.D. Vance, his wife, Usha, who also graduated from Yale Law School, and their three beautiful children. MAGA2024!

Vance rose to national fame with the 2016 publication of his memoir “Hillbilly Elegy,” which detailed his journey from his childhood (riddled by drug addiction and abuse), to him going on to earn a Yale Law School degree, which opened doors for him in Silicon Valley — the book was later turned into a 2020 Netflix feature film starring Glenn Close and Amy Adams.

Vance was later elected to the Senate in 2022, with no prior political experience. Once a fierce critic of the former president (notably comparing him to an ‘opioid’ and saying he could be “America’s Hitler)” Vance changed his tune about Trump ahead of his 2022 Senate race, and has since become one of the staunchest champions of the former president’s “Make America Great Again” agenda, particularly on trade, foreign policy and immigration.  Vance went so far as to delete his past controversial tweets about the former president, and secured Trump’s support in Ohio’s GOP primary. Trump noted at a pro-Vance rally during the 2022 midterms: “He’s a guy that said some bad s— about me .. But I have to do what I have to do [by endorsing him for Senate]. We have to pick somebody that can win.”

Senator Vance and his wife, Usha Vance, who works as a litigator, live in Cincinnati with their three children: ages 7, 4 and 2.

Editorial credit: Consolidated News Photos / Shutterstock.com

On Monday, a federal judge in Florida dismissed the classified documents case against former President Donald Trump, siding with defense lawyers who said the special counsel who filed the charges was illegally appointed by the Justice Department. The criminal case was widely regarded as the most serious of all the legal threats that Trump faced.

According to court documents (SEEN HERE), U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon granted Trump’s dismissal of the case, ruling the appointment of special counsel Jack Smith violates the Appointments Clause of the Constitution. Cannon raised questions about the “broad power” given to Smith, noting that as of September 2023, Smith recorded more than $12.8 million in direct expenses from what Cannon called an “indefinite appropriation.

Smith was appointed in November 2022 to lead the investigation and ensuing prosecution of Trump for allegedly mishandling and refusing to turn over classified documents, including documents related to national security — the former president was indicted on 37 felony charges. Smith also serves as special counsel in the Washington case against Trump over his role in attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election and in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

In her 93-page ruling, Judge Cannon also argued that the Appointments Clause gives Congress a larger role in the appointment of a special counsel, writing: “The Framers gave Congress a pivotal role in the appointment of principal and inferior officers. That role cannot be usurped by the Executive Branch or diffused elsewhere. In the end, it seems the Executive’s growing comfort in appointing ‘regulatory’ special counsels in the more recent era has followed an ad hoc pattern with little judicial scrutiny.”

Cannon also wrote in the order: “The Special Counsel’s position effectively usurps that important legislative authority, transferring it to a Head of Department, and in the process threatening the structural liberty inherent in the separation of powers. If the political branches wish to grant the Attorney General power to appoint Special Counsel Smith to investigate and prosecute this action with the full powers of a United States Attorney, there is a valid means by which to do so.”

In a statement on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump said that the dismissal “should be just the first step” and that the three other cases – which he dubbed “Witch Hunts” – should also be thrown out.

The decision by Cannon is expected to be appealed, and may eventually be overturned by a higher court; however, the judge’s order is a significant legal and political victory for Trump as he prepares to accept the Republican nomination in Milwaukee this week.

Editorial credit: Jonah Elkowitz / Shutterstock.com