update - Trump announces pardon for convicted mega coke trafficker Honduran ex president

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Here's where all the legal cases against Trump stand since his return to the White House


A judge on Wednesday dismissed the Georgia election interference case against President Donald Trump and others, bringing an end to the last of four criminal cases filed against him that threatened to upend his finances and take away his freedom as he sought a return to the White House.

The Georgia dismissal came after a new prosecutor in the case declined to pursue the charges.

Since Trump's reelection last year, four separate criminal cases — including his hush money conviction and federal allegations of election interference and illegally hoarding classified documents — have either been dropped, resolved or put aside. On the civil side, several high-profile lawsuits against Trump have been quietly working their way through the appeals process.

Here's a look at some of Trump’s criminal and civil cases and where they stand now:

New York hush money case

Trump became the first former U.S. president convicted of felonies when a New York jury found him guilty in May 2024 of falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment to a porn actor who said the two had sex.

Though Trump could have faced jail time, Manhattan Judge Juan M. Merchan in January sentenced him instead to what’s known as an unconditional discharge, leaving his conviction on the books but sparing him any punishment.



Trump was set to take office just days later, and Merchan said he had to respect Trump’s upcoming legal protections as president, even wishing him “Godspeed as you assume your second term in office.”

Trump is trying to get the conviction erased, a push that was given new life in November when a federal appeals court ordered a lower court to reconsider its decision to keep the case in state court instead of moving it to federal court.

Georgia election interference case

In August 2023, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis charged Trump and 18 others with participating in a scheme to illegally try to overturn his narrow loss to Democrat Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.

Willis cited Trump’s January 2021 phone call to Georgia’s secretary of state, an effort to replace Georgia’s Democratic presidential electors with ones who would vote for Trump, harassment of a Fulton County election worker and the unauthorized copying of data and software from elections equipment.

But the case stalled over revelations Willis had been in a relationship with the man she appointed to prosecute it. A state appeals court in December removed Willis from the case and the state Supreme Court later declined to hear her appeal.

Pete Skandalakis, the executive director of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia, took over the case in November after he said several prosecutors declined to take it. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee issued a brief order dismissing the case in its entirety Wednesday after Skandalakis said he has decided not to pursue it further.

Federal election case

Special counsel Jack Smith charged Trump in August 2023 with conspiring to overturn the results of his election loss to President Joe Biden in the run-up to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. Prosecutors allege Trump and his allies knowingly promoted election fraud lies in a bid to push state officials to overturn Biden’s win and pressure Vice President Mike Pence to disrupt the ceremonial counting of electoral votes.

But Smith moved to drop the case after Trump won reelection in November. Longstanding Justice Department policy says sitting presidents cannot face criminal prosecution.

Classified documents case

In a separate prosecution, Smith charged Trump in June 2023 with illegally retaining classified documents he took from the White House to Mar-a-Lago after he left office in January 2021, and then obstructing government demands to give them back. Prosecutors filed additional charges the following month, accusing Trump of showing a Pentagon “plan of attack” to visitors at his golf club in New Jersey.

Smith also moved to drop that case after Trump's election victory.

Sexual assault lawsuits

In May 2023, a federal jury found that Trump sexually abused writer E. Jean Carroll in the mid-1990s and later defamed her. The jury awarded Carroll $5 million.

In January 2024, a second jury awarded Carroll an additional $83.3 million in damages for comments Trump had made about her while he was president, finding that they were defamatory. A federal appeals court panel upheld the jury's finding in September. Trump has since asked the full appellate court to hear arguments and reconsider the ruling.


Trump also appealed the first jury decision, but a federal appeals court in December upheld it and then declined in June to reconsider. In November, Trump asked the Supreme Court to hear his appeal.

New York civil fraud lawsuit

New York Attorney General Letitia James sued Trump in 2022, alleging he habitually exaggerated his wealth and the value of marquee assets like Trump Tower and Mar-a-Lago.

In February 2024, a New York judge ordered Trump to pay $355 million in penalties, but an appeals court in August threw out that massive financial penalty while narrowly endorsing a lower court’s finding that he engaged in fraud by padding his wealth on financial statements provided to lenders and insurers.

The appeals court judges ruled that the penalty — which had soared to $515 million with interest tacked on each day — violated the U.S. Constitution’s ban on excessive fines. At the same time, they left in place other punishments, including bans on Trump and his two eldest sons from serving in corporate leadership for a few years.

James filed a notice of appeal with the state’s highest court, the Court of Appeals, in September.

The Associated Press

 

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Challenge to GOP's gerrymander in crucial battleground state suffers early loss


A panel of Republican-appointed federal judges dealt an early blow to a lawsuit seeking to have the North Carolina GOP's mid-decade gerrymander of state congressional districts tossed as a violation of the Voting Rights Act.

North Carolina Republicans already aggressively redrew their congressional maps after winning control of the state Supreme Court this decade, creating a map to reliably elect 10 Republicans and four Democrats in a state that routinely has razor-thin statewide results.



However, earlier this year, the legislature did yet another redraw in response to President Donald Trump's demand for Republicans to create extra seats for themselves, reconfiguring the 1st and 3rd Districts to try to draw out Democratic Rep. Don Davis, who represents a heavily Black area of the state.

Plaintiffs, including the state NAACP, argued in a suit that the redraw is a scheme to deprive Black voters of their rights.


But in an order on Wednesday, a three-judge panel consisting of Allison Rushing and Richard Myers, two Trump appointees, and Thomas Schroeder, an appointee of former President George W. Bush, disagreed and declined to grant a preliminary injunction.

"We conclude that ... Plaintiffs, at this stage of the case, have failed to make a clear showing that the General Assembly likely enacted S.B. 249 with the intent to 'minimize or cancel out the voting potential' of black North Carolinians living in CD 1 or 3," said the opinion. “Because Plaintiffs at this point in the litigation have not made a clear showing that they are likely to succeed on the merits of any claim advanced in their motions, a preliminary injunction is unwarranted.”

While litigation will continue, the ruling makes it all but guaranteed the GOP's new map will be used in the 2026 midterms.

This comes as Republicans suffer setbacks on some other redistricting fronts, including retaliation from Democrats in California, and a court ruling that suspended the GOP's gerrymander of Texas — though the Supreme Court has put that order on hold and may overrule it in coming days.

 

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Analysis shows steep drop in Trump’s public appearances


A fresh review of President Donald Trump’s publicly documented schedule suggests his second-term workday has shifted noticeably, with fewer official appearances and later start times compared with his first four years in office.

Trump, now 78, returned to the White House in 2024 as the oldest person ever elected to the presidency.

Public events drop compared with first term
The New York Times, drawing on records compiled by the database Roll Call, reported a significant decline in Trump’s public activity. Between January 20 and November 25 in 2017, he logged 1,688 official events.

Over the same period this year, that number stood at 1,029 — a reduction of 39 percent, according to the Times and The Express.


The analysis also noted a shift in the timing of the President’s workday. During his first term, Trump typically began official duties at around 10:31 a.m.. In his second term, the average start time has moved to 12:08 p.m., although his end-of-day routine remains close to 5 p.m. in both years.

Recent medical evaluation
The White House faced renewed questions last month after confirming that Trump underwent an MRI at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

In a statement, presidential physician Dr. Sean Barbabella described the appointment as a “scheduled follow-up evaluation” that included imaging, lab tests and routine assessments. He said the President “continues to demonstrate excellent overall health.”

Trump acknowledged having the MRI but did not specify which part of the body was scanned, telling reporters that he was pleased with the results.

Ongoing questions about Trump’s health
Trump has repeatedly said he is in strong physical and cognitive condition since returning to office, but scrutiny has persisted. According to The Express, observers have pointed to a dark mark visible on his hand in several public photographs, sometimes appearing to be covered with makeup. Commentators have questioned whether the mark could reflect bruising or a medical issue, though no official explanation has been offered.

Sources: The Express, The New York Times, Roll Call

 

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Trump says land action against alleged Venezuela drug cartels to start ‘soon’


The US will start taking action to stop suspected Venezuelan drug traffickers on land “very soon”, Donald Trump has said.

“You probably noticed that people aren’t wanting to be delivering by sea, and we’ll be starting to stop them by land also,” he said.

“The land is easier, but that’s going to start very soon,” Trump said, during a speech via video to US military service members.

“We warn them: Stop sending poison to our country,” the US President added.

Trump has been evaluating whether to take military action against Venezuela, to combat what the US claims is President Nicolas Maduro’s role in supplying illegal drugs.

Earlier this week the US government designated the Cartel de los Soles, which it alleges is headed by Maduro, as a foreign terrorist organisation, giving it greater powers to target and dismantle.

Maduro has denied the allegations and says they are a “ridiculous fabrication” meant to “justify an illegitimate and illegal intervention against Venezuela”.


The Venezuelan communications ministry has not yet commented on Trump’s latest remarks.

US forces in the region so far have focused on counter-narcotics operations, carrying out at least 21 strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean and Pacific since September, killing at least 83 people.

Reports of looming action have proliferated in recent weeks as the US military has deployed forces to the Caribbean amid worsening relations with Venezuela.

Military aircraft including B-52 bombers have been spotted on tracking websites flying off the northern coast of South America, and north of Caracas, the Venezuelan capital.

The US military has built up an unusually large force in the Caribbean Sea and the waters off Venezuela, including the world’s largest warship, aircraft carrier USS Gerald R Ford, and its carrier strike group.

There are dozens of F-18 Super Hornet jets on board the carrier, which the Pentagon said would bolster US firepower and make it easier to attack air defence systems in Venezuela.

With agencies

 

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Trump to ‘permanently pause migration from all third world countries’


President Donald Trump has vowed to “permanently pause” migration from “all third world countries” after a National Guard member was killed in an attack near the White House.

The president’s comments are a further escalation of immigration measures ordered by Trump since two soldiers were shot Wednesday, one of whom remains in hospital. Investigators believe an Afghan national was behind the attack.

“I will permanently pause migration from all third world countries to allow the U.S. system to fully recover, terminate all of the millions of Biden illegal admissions, including those signed by Sleepy Joe Biden’s autopen, and remove anyone who is not a net asset to the United States,” Trump said on his social media platform, Truth Social.

The president said he would end all federal benefits and subsidies for “non-citizens”, adding he would “denaturalize migrants who undermine domestic tranquility” and deport any foreign national deemed a public charge, security risk, or “non-compatible with Western civilization.”

He did not provide any details on what he meant by the apparently contradictory “permanently pause” or which countries would face migration bans.

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has already indefinitely suspended all immigration requests involving Afghan nationals after the attack, which is believed to have been carried out by Rahmanullah Lakanwal. The 29-year-old Afghan national resided in Washington state and had no known criminal history.



Police at the scene of the shooting near the White House, Washington, D.C. (Mike Ryan)
Sarah Beckstrom, 20, was injured in the ambush and later died. Fellow Guardsman Andrew Wolfe, 24, was “fighting for his life”, Trump said.

The president has pursued an aggressive immigration agenda since his return to the White House, and, in June, he announced a travel ban on immigrants from 19 countries, including Afghanistan.

Officials from the Department of Homeland Security said Trump has ordered a widespread review of asylum cases approved under Biden’s administration and Green Cards issued to citizens of 19 countries.



Sarah Beckstrom, 20, has died from her injuries in the shooting (Reuters)
In a second Truth Social post, Trump claimed that hundreds of thousands of people poured into the U.S. totally “unvetted and unchecked”, during what he described as the “horrendous” airlift from Afghanistan.

He said his administration's goals are aimed at significantly reducing “illegal and disruptive populations”, suggesting that measures would be taken to achieve this outcome, adding that “Only REVERSE MIGRATION can fully cure this situation”.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe told Fox News that Lakanwal worked with the CIA while in Afghanistan as a “member of a partner force in Kandahar, which ended shortly following the chaotic evacuation”.

The Independent has always had a global perspective. Built on a firm foundation of superb internation

 

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MAGA turns on Kristi Noem


It’s not every day that President Donald Trump’s own Homeland Security secretary sends the MAGA world into a fury — but Kristi Noem managed it with a single Fox News appearance.

What she appeared to think would be a victory lap about immigration policy instead sparked a wave of outrage from some of the loudest voices on the right as she touted how the Trump administration has “sped up” legal immigration.

The remarks that set off MAGA


Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem heavily complimented President Donald Trump’s immigration policies during a recent Fox News appearance, calling him a “visionary” and “our greatest president ever.” By: Francis Chung – Pool via CNP / MEGA© Knewz (CA)
Noem appeared on Fox & Friends where host Lawrence Jones asked her about the government’s recent decision to add new fees to H-1B visas for high-skilled foreign workers.

Jones wanted to know the Trump administration’s stance, especially given the president had just told Fox News host Laura Ingraham that America doesn’t have enough “talented” workers.

“Now, we’re going to keep using our visa programs. We’re just going to make sure that they have integrity, that we’re actually doing the vetting of the individuals who come into this country, that they want to be here for the right reasons, that they’re not supporters of terrorists and organizations that hate America,” Noem said.

“And that’s what I think is so remarkable: Under the Trump administration, we’ve sped up our process and added integrity to the visa programs, to green cards, to all of that,” she continued.




“But also, more people are becoming naturalized under this administration than ever before — more people becoming citizens — because we’re not just streamlining and building some processes back into our immigration policies,” she said.

“We’re also making sure that these individuals that are coming into our country and get that privilege actually are here for the right reasons,” she reiterated before getting in a dig at former President Joe Biden.



“The Biden administration let thousands of terrorists into this country. They opened the southern border. They abused our asylum programs, abused our protective programs and visa programs, and we fixed all of it,” Noem claimed.

High praise for the commander-in-chief followed.

“It’s remarkable what President Trump has done, and it’s because he’s a great leader,” Noem said. “He’s a visionary, and this man is going to go down as a legend in history as our greatest president ever.”

Conservatives erupt


President Donald Trump and Fox News host Laura Ingraham got into a tense back-and-forth over H-1B visas in a recent interview, with Trump insisting “you do have to bring in talent” and telling her, “No, you don’t,” when she argued the U.S. has “plenty of talented people here” — a remark that immediately sparked backlash from the right. By: Yuri Gripas – Pool via CNP / MEGA© Knewz (CA)
As Noem’s comments made their way across conservative circles, the reactions from many commentators were not kind, Mediaite reported.

“We do not want or need more people to become citizens,” podcaster Matt Walsh of The Daily Wire wrote on social media in response to a clip of Noem’s remarks.

Steve Bannon’s White House correspondent Natalie Winters piled on. “Not sure what is worse: this actually happening or the admin thinking this is a ‘win,'” she wrote on X.

“Kristi Noem basically saying, ‘We’re making sure AOC or Gavin Newsom have more voters in 2028,'” noted Ryan Girdusky, founder of the 1776 Project Political Action Committee.

And the criticism kept coming.

More outrage


When Fox News host Laura Ingraham recently pressed President Donald Trump on what was “MAGA” about welcoming large numbers of Chinese students to the U.S., he grew defensive, telling her, “Don’t forget MAGA was my idea. MAGA was nobody else’s idea,” insisting, “I know what MAGA wants better than anybody else, and MAGA wants to see our country thrive.” By: ZUMAPRESS.com / MEGA© Knewz (CA)
Right-leaning journalists accused Noem of bragging about exactly the opposite of what they believe Trump voters wanted.

“What is going on in the Trump admin? Who told them MAGA was all about mass immigration as long as the paperwork gets filed properly? We don’t need more paper Americans, we need fewer foreigners taking jobs that should go to actual Americans,” complained John Daniel Davidson, a senior correspondent for The Federalist.

Another The Federalist journalist, elections correspondent Brianna Lyman, chimed in, too, writing, “America didn’t vote for a legal invasion either, @Sec_Noem.”

Breitbart News immigration and fashion writer John Binder added skepticism about Noem’s claims.

“Aside from this being the opposite of what Trump voters voted for, I’m not sure how this is true. Biden naturalized almost 3.5M migrants in 4 years — the most ever by any POTUS,” Binder shared on X. “For Trump to beat this, USCIS would have to be naturalizing a million migrants every year.”

More people pile on


Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s praise of President Donald Trump’s immigration policies during a recent Fox News interview sparked strong pushback from many conservatives, highlighting divisions within the MAGA movement over the future of immigration. By: Francis Chung – Pool via CNP / MEGA© Knewz (CA)
Blowback also came from social media accounts that normally align with hard-line Trump politics.

“Trump is accelerating the flood of foreign workers into the workforce. And they are proud of it. Just listen to Secy Noem brag about it,” wrote the conservative X account War for the West, which positions itself against “neo-Marxist” movements.


“The biggest source of all is the employer-sponsored Green Card program. It allows employers to choose who immigrates to the United States. Why do we let corporations control this massive component of our immigration system?” War for the West added.

X account Oilfield Rando summed up the mood among angry supporters. “So MAGA straight up died this week huh,” noted the creator of conservative-leaning RandoLand, which reports on U.S. government spending.

 

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The 19 ‘third-world countries’ Trump has blocked migration from – and what it means


Donald Trump has said the US will “permanently pause” migration from all “Third World Countries” following the death of a National Guard member in a shooting near the White House.

He did not identify the countries he was referring to by name, but the Department of Homeland Security said it was re-examining green cards issued to people from 19 “countries of concern”.

It came after Trump announced the death of Sarah Beckstrom, 20, who was shot along with another National Guard member, Andrew Wolfe, 24, who remains in a critical condition.

Investigators say the shooting was carried out by an Afghan national who entered the US in 2021 under a resettlement programme.

Which countries are being targeted?
Writing about his latest migration crackdown on Truth Social, Trump did not name any of the countries being targeted or explain what he meant by “Third World”.

“I will permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries to allow the US system to fully recover, terminate all of the millions of Biden illegal admissions, including those signed by Sleepy Joe Biden’s Autopen, and remove anyone who is not a net asset to the United States,” he wrote.




Trump said he would end all federal benefits and subsidies for “non-citizens”, adding that he would “denaturalize migrants who undermine domestic tranquility” and deport any foreign national deemed a public charge, security risk, or “non-compatible with Western civilization”.



A picture of Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan national who is the suspect in the shooting of two National Guard members (Photo: Nathan Howard/Reuters)
Earlier, the director of US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), part of the Department of Homeland Security, said Trump had ordered a “full scale, rigorous reexamination of every Green Card for every alien from every country of concern”.

When asked which countries were considered to be “of concern”, USCIS pointed to 19 countries targeted in a previous immigration crackdown announced in June.

They are: Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.

The department has not provided further details about what the re-examination will entail.

USCIS has already stopped processing all immigration requests relating to Afghan nationals indefinitely, pending a review of “security and vetting protocols”.

Why are they being targeted?
Trump blamed the attack in Washington on the resettlement programme set up by President Joe Biden after the US military withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.

“Hundreds of thousands of people poured into our Country totally unvetted and unchecked,” Trump said. “We will fix it, but will never forget what Crooked Joe Biden and his Thugs did to our Country!”

Trump suggested the Afghan resettlement programme was an example of broader failures with US immigration policy that he was seeking to address.


Trump said his administration was aiming to achieve a “major reduction in illegal and disruptive populations”.

Going further, Trump blamed refugees for causing the “social dysfunction in America” and vowed to remove “anyone who is not a net asset” to the US.

The 19 countries targeted are primarily in Africa and the Middle East.

In June, Trump justified their inclusion as a matter of national security, following an attack on Colorado’s Jewish community, which was allegedly carried out by an Egyptian national.

A presidential proclamation gave individual reasons for why restrictions were being applied to each country. In most cases, they were either accused of being linked to terrorism (Iran, Somalia and Libya), or that their citizens tended to overstay visas (Chad, Congo and Equatorial Guinea).


What comes next?
As with previous crackdowns, the restrictions are likely to face challenges in the courts.

The measures announced in June expanded on the travel ban announced by Trump in 2017, during his first term in office. Dubbed the “Muslim ban”, it targeted seven predominantly Muslim countries: Libya, Sudan, Yemen, Somalia, Syria, Iraq and Iran.

It had to be amended twice to overcome court challenges, after opponents argued it was illegal and unconstitutional because it discriminated against people based on their faith.

A toned-down version was ultimately upheld by the US Supreme Court in 2018 but then rescinded by the Biden administration.



Protests against Trump’s first travel ban in 2017 (Photo: Reuters)
The travel ban announced in June was designed to avoid some of the legal pitfalls of Trump’s first attempt, placing less emphasis on religion.

In August, a judge in Washingon DC ruled that the federal law invoked by Trump did not give the State Department the power to deny visas to foreigners.


The decision, issued by US District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan, applied to 82 people from Afghanistan, Burma, Togo, Somalia and Iran who won the right to apply for visas under the so-called diversity visa programme.

However, the ruling accepted that immigration authorities were still allowed to deny the foreign citizens entry to the US by turning them away at a port of entry or instructing airline officials to refuse them boarding.

 

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Trump vows full pardon for drug-trafficking ex-foreign president


President Donald Trump used his Truth Social account on Friday to announce that he intends to grant a “Full and Complete Pardon” to former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernandez – a convicted drug trafficker sentenced last year to 45 years in U.S. federal prison for helping move massive quantities of cocaine into the United States.

The move comes after months of lobbying from several MAGA-aligned figures, including staunch ally Roger Stone, who has publicly urged Trump to pardon the former Honduran leader and cast doubt on the fairness of the conviction.

In announcing his new pardon plans Friday, Trump portrayed Hernandez, who was extradited to the U.S in 2024 and convicted after a lengthy trial, as the true victim. In his post, the president claimed Hernandez had been “treated very harshly and unfairly,” adding that the information came to him “according to many people that I greatly respect.”

“This cannot be allowed to happen, especially now, after Tito Asfura wins the Election, when Honduras will be on its way to Great Political and Financial Success,” Trump wrote about the Honduran presidential candidate he endorsed in a pair of social media posts.



“VOTE FOR TITO ASFURA FOR PRESIDENT, AND CONGRATULATIONS TO JUAN ORLANDO HERNANDEZ ON YOUR UPCOMING PARDON.”

Hernandez’s conviction followed years of reporting that he used Honduras’ government, military and police to protect cocaine shipments headed to the U.S. He has consistently denied involvement in narcotrafficking.

“Thank you for your attention to this matter,” Trump concluded Friday before adding, “MAKE HONDURAS GREAT AGAIN!”

 

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Trump's odd proclamation doesn't pass muster with legal expert


A legal expert on Friday said it's unlikely that President Donald Trump will have the legal ability to carry out his bizarre move after he claimed that all laws and pardons under former President Joe Biden signed by autopenwere null and threatened perjury against him if he claims otherwise.


No requirement in the Constitution has said that the president needs to physically sign documents, Berit Berger, a former federal prosecutor, told CNN on Friday afternoon.


"It's absolutely appropriate for a president to have directed a subordinate to sign for him or to use a document," Berger said.

It's unclear what Trump's legal mechanism is for undoing all the documents Biden signed with an autopen, she added. It's also difficult to know which exact documents were, in fact, signed by autopen, or which ones Trump has referred to.


Trump has threatened to charge Biden with perjury if he claims he did not use it for a law or pardon. But Berger argued that might not be the actual case, considering the precedent, and that the likelihood that the Department of Justice or Trump could create against him for using the autopen is slim.


Trump vows to cancel executive orders signed by Biden via autopen

"This would also seem very unlikely, again... a Supreme Court decision that granted President Trump wide immunity for acts that were done in his official capacity. Actually, President Biden would be able to rely on that same language and saying that anything that he did in his official capacity, and one could certainly argue that signing pardons or documents, whether he used an autopen or not, was actually in his official capacity. That same immunity would apply to him as well. I'm not exactly sure what perjury President Trump would be referring to but at least, the use of the autopen, given the fact that it has been used by so many presidents in the past, it's been done so widely, it would be very hard for me to imagine a situation where this would form the basis of any potential criminal liability."

Trump has not named any exact orders or documents. The autopen has been used among multiple administrations — not just Biden's administration.

 

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Major step taken toward contempt prosecution after DHS accused of ignoring court orders


U.S. District Judge James Boasberg issued an order on Friday demanding the Trump administration file affidavits from every official involved in the decision to carry out mass deportation flights under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, despite Boasberg's standing order to turn the planes around.

The order, which gives the administration one week to comply, is a major step toward a potential criminal prosecution of Trump administration officials for contempt of court.


"Defendants ... maintain, relying heavily on Judge Katsas’s concurring opinion for the D.C. Circuit panel, that [Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's] decision was proper and not contumacious. As a result, the Government posits that 'no further steps are warranted' because 'Defendants did not violate this Court’s order,' wrote Boasberg. However, he continued, "Given that the other two panel members (plus the majority of the en banc court) did not agree with J. Katsas, the Court is not prepared at this juncture to terminate its inquiry."

"Instead, it must determine whether Secretary Noem or anyone else should be referred for potential contempt prosecution," Boasberg continued.


This comes as Republicans in Congress allied with Trump have launched a series of misconduct allegations against Boasberg, questioning his impartiality and even trying to get him removed from office.

Earlier this month, Rep. Brandon Gill (R-TX) filed articles of impeachment against Boasberg for his role in authorizing nondisclosure orders for special counsel Jack Smith's criminal investigation, which involved seizing phone records from various GOP U.S. senators who were in contact with Trump over his coup plot in 2020. Republicans have attacked this as an abuse of power, even though such phone record reviews are commonplace in investigations of this scope.

 

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After DC Shooting, Trump Administration Freezes All Asylum Decisions


The shooting of two National Guard soldiers in Washington DC has now created exactly that kind of moment in the United States.

It has pushed the Trump administration to introduce new measures that reach deep into the immigration system. Those measures affect thousands of people who have nothing to do with the attack, yet now find their futures uncertain.



“The Strictest Possible Standards”
The administration has ordered a halt to all asylum decisions, reports BBC. USCIS director Joseph Edlow said the freeze will remain in place until the agency feels certain that every applicant has been vetted to the strictest possible standard.

Officers were told not to approve, deny, or close any asylum cases. They may work on them, but they may not take any final action.



The announcement came only hours after President Donald Trump said he would pause migration from what he called “third world countries.” The comments appeared after the shooting, which left one National Guard member dead.

Officials say the suspect is an Afghan national who entered the US in 2021 under a program for Afghans who had worked with American forces.



Raised Concerns
The administration has released few details about its next steps. It has already suspended immigration requests from Afghans while reviewing security rules.

It also ordered a new review of green cards issued to people from 19 countries named in an earlier White House proclamation. Those countries include Afghanistan, Haiti, Iran, Somalia, Cuba, and Venezuela.

President Trump has also promised to end federal benefits for noncitizens. He said this change would help the US recover from earlier policies that he believes harmed living conditions for Americans.

The reaction has raised concerns from the UN and from immigration lawyers. They point out that the attacker’s motive has not been confirmed and that mental health could have been a factor. They warn against blaming entire communities for the actions of one person.

The suspect has been arrested and is not cooperating with investigators. A second National Guard member remains in critical condition. The future of many asylum seekers now hangs in the balance as the immigration system waits for new direction.

Sources: BBC

 

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Fox News Suffers Major Blow in Smartmatic Lawsuit


According to court documents, Fox News host Bret Baier used profanity in text messages that expressed anger at President Donald Trump’s refusal to concede the 2020 election and criticized Trump campaign statements after Joe Biden’s victory.

The messages were released as part of voting‑machine company Smartmatic’s lawsuit against Fox News.

A judge rejected Fox’s request to pause the case as Smartmatic presses for a trial or settlement.

Smartmatic stated, “Today’s decision is an important victory for Smartmatic as we progress in our efforts to hold Fox accountable for its lies. The court made clear that Fox’s attempts to delay accountability won’t work, and its day of reckoning is coming.”

Fox previously settled a separate defamation suit with Dominion Voting Systems for $787.5 million and is now defending itself against Smartmatic, which has said it denies a recent federal indictment.

“While we respectfully disagree with the court’s decision not to pause the case at this time, it doesn’t change the fact that Smartmatic—a company that describes itself as putting ‘integrity over profits’ —has been indicted by a federal grand jury for international bribery and money laundering and has a criminal trial currently scheduled for next Spring. We continue to look forward to defending our First Amendment rights on summary judgment and at trial,” Fox News Media said.

This story was reported by content partner Modern Newsstand LLC.

 

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Trump floats theory Epstein files were doctored


President Donald Trump has stirred fresh controversy by hinting that unnamed things might have been “put in” to the infamous Jeffrey Epstein files — after he won the 2024 election.

Interest in Epstein’s crimes and connections to powerful or influential people — including Trump — surged in recent weeks as members of the House Oversight Committee released documents obtained from the predator’s estate.

The House of Representatives then succeeded in unlocking even more after securing enough signatures on a discharge petition to force a vote on a bill compelling the Justice Department to release its own trove of Epstein information.

At this point, Trump faced reporters and dropped a puzzling suggestion that an unnamed “they” might have altered the files.

The battle over the Epstein files


In one email released by lawmakers, Jeffrey Epstein declared, “I know how dirty Donald is.” In another, Epstein called President Trump the “dog that hasn’t barked,” writing that one of the financier’s victims “spent hours at my house with him.” By: U.S. Department of Justice / MEGA© Knewz (CA)
After obtaining tens of thousands of documents from the disgraced financier’s estate via a subpoena, Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released a handful of emails mentioning Trump.

Republicans accused Dems of cherry picking emails and responded by dumping thousands more — but Trump was in these, too.

By the time the dust had settled, it had been determined the president, who hasn’t been implicated in a crime, was mentioned more than 1,500 times in 20,000-plus messages — more than any other individual.

So, naturally, reporters grilled him.

Hit with questions


While being questioned about the Epstein files by reporters, President Donald Trump seemed to be suggesting that if anything damaging surfaces, it had to have been inserted after the fact — presumably by the previous administration. By: ZUMAPRESS.com / MEGA© Knewz (CA)
Trump fielded questions about the Epstein files while aboard Air Force One while traveling to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

He argued that “if they had anything [incriminating], they would have used it before the election, OK?”

He then added, “I can’t tell you what they put in since the election,” implying a possible post-win alteration of the files by unidentified enemies.

“But if they have anything, you don’t think they would’ve used it before the elections? They would have gladly used it before the election,” he reiterated.

Pressure campaign


Reports confirmed President Donald Trump and his allies pressured Reps. Lauren Boebert and Nancy Mace who, along with Reps. Thomas Massie and Marjorie Taylor Greene, were the only Republicans backing the Epstein files discharge petition, which had the support of all House Democrats. By: Rod Lamkey – CNP / MEGA© Knewz (CA)
Reporters pressed Trump further, with one journalist asking him about efforts to get two of the four Republican representatives who’d agreed to join Democrats in signing the discharge petition to remove their names.

“Why was your team encouraging Congresswoman [Lauren] Boebert and Congresswoman [Nancy] Mace to not pursue this?” a reporter asked.

Trump’s answer was blunt. “Because we think it’s bad to talk about it, because it gets away from the subject of how well the Republicans are doing,” he said.

What’s happened since


After Trump floated his theory that the Epstein files have been altered, the House and the Senate passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which Trump reluctantly signed into law after months of resistance — after it became clear the bill had overwhelming bipartisan support in Congress and would pass with or without his backing.


His stunning reversal was widely seen as a political calculation to move past the issue and, according to supporters, prevent it from becoming a further distraction to the Republican agenda.

Now the Justice Department must turn over all unclassified documents related to the government’s Epstein investigations by Dec. 19.

 

[mandrill]

Trump sets sights on ‘truly deranged’ late-night host


President Donald Trump took fresh aim at Late Night host Seth Meyers, calling the comedian “a truly deranged lunatic” and suggesting it is “probably illegal” to be “100% ANTI TRUMP,” Knewz.com can report.

Trump attacks Meyers


President Donald Trump called Seth Meyers “the WORST to perform, live or otherwise” and a “truly deranged lunatic.” By: MEGA© Knewz (CA)
Trump posted his tirade on Truth Social after Meyers mocked him on a recent episode of his NBC program.

“I watched his show the other night for the first time in years,” Trump wrote. “In it he talked endlessly about electric catapults on aircraft carriers which I complain about as not being as good as much less expensive steam catapults. On and on he went, a truly deranged lunatic.”

The president continued, “Why does NBC waste its time and money on a guy like this??? – NO TALENT, NO RATINGS, 100% ANTI TRUMP, WHICH IS PROBABLY ILLEGAL!!!”

Trump added that Meyers “may be the WORST to perform, live or otherwise.”

Imitating Trump


Former “Saturday Night Live” star and head writer Seth Meyers has hosted “Late Night” on NBC for nearly 12 years. By: NBC© Knewz (CA)
Meyers had used part of his monologue to lampoon Trump’s recent speech aboard the U.S.S. George Washington aircraft carrier, where the president asked members of the military to vote on whether steam or electric catapults were better for launching planes.

They responded, “Steam!” — prompting Trump to praise the older technology.

“They’re spending billions of dollars to build stupid electric,” Trump told a crowd of servicemembers. “And the problem [is], when it breaks, you have to send up to MIT, get the most brilliant people in the world [and] fly them out — it’s ridiculous.”

“The steam, they said they could fix it with a hammer and a blowtorch, and it works just as well, if not better. And I love the sight of that beautiful steam pouring off that deck — with the electric, you don’t have that,” he added.

Cracking catapult jokes


Seth Meyers recently called Donald Trump “the most unpopular president of all time.” By: ZUMAPRESS.com / MEGA© Knewz (CA)
Meyers played clips from Trump’s remarks and quipped, “Guy spends more time thinking about catapults than Wile E. Coyote. Next, they start complaining about how our troops don’t tie themselves to rockets anymore.”

Imitating Trump, Meyers continued, “We used to strap our soldiers to the rockets, and they loved it, but then everything got woke and they said, ‘You can’t tie a person to a rocket.’ But we miss those days, and we’re bringing them back.”

Trump vs. comedy


President Donald Trump previously called Seth Meyers “a dope” and threatened to look into his contract with NBC. By: MEGA© Knewz (CA)
This isn’t the first time Trump has gone after Meyers in recent months. Over the summer, Trump ranted about a “rumor” that NBC had extended the comedian’s contract, despite the network already signing a four-year deal with him last year.

“He has no Ratings, Talent, or Intelligence, and the Personality of an insecure child,” Trump wrote at the time. “So, why would Fake News NBC extend this dope’s contract. I don’t know, but I’ll definitely be finding out!!!”

 

[mandrill]

Trump DHS faces growing opposition from judges he appointed


President Donald Trump's policiescracking down on undocumented immigrants by ramping up ICE authorities are facing sustained and growing push back from judges, according to a new analysis from Politico, including several that were appointed by him.

Politico's reporting on Friday concerned a policy Trump instituted back in July, calling for all individuals facing deportation proceedings to be jailed without the possibility of seeking a release. Though the Trump administration has defended its crackdown by claiming that it is being applied to dangerous and violent criminals, Politico noted that many of the immigrants targeted by this new policy "have lived in the U.S. for years, and sometimes decades, without incident and have been pursuing asylum or other forms of legal status."

The response to this rule sparked a "tidal wave of emergency lawsuits" claiming it violated immigration laws and immigrants' due-process rights. As of Friday morning, when its piece was published, Politico found that in an overwhelming percentage of these lawsuits, judges ruled against Trump's policy, with a good number of them being judges he himself appointed.

At least 225 judges have ruled in more than 700 cases that the administration’s new policy, which also deprives people of an opportunity to seek release from an immigration court, is a likely violation of law and the right to due process," the report explained. "Those judges were appointed by all modern presidents — including 23 by Trump himself — and hail from at least 35 states, according to a Politico analysis of thousands of recent cases."

The rate at which legal opposition to Trump's immigrant detention policy has grown is also considerable, with the number of judges who have ruled against the administration doubling in just the last month.

The scale of the push back feels even greater when considering the inverse: Politico found that only eight judges in the entire country, six of whom were Trump appointees, ruled in favor of the administration's position.

Judges have also grown "exasperated" by the volume of litigation flowing into their courts as a result of Trump's policy, making it difficult for them to keep up.

“The Court is unable to remain current on all new case authority supporting the Court’s conclusion, given the continued onslaught of litigation being generated by [the administration’s] widespread illegal detention practices,” U.S. District Judge Christina Snyder, a federal judge in California originally appointed by Bill Clinton, said in a comment from last week.

“Dozens of district courts across the nation — with more each day — have rejected DHS’s expansion of … mandatory detention,” U.S. District Judge Lynn Winmill, another Clinton appointee in Idaho. “This court joins the overwhelming majority.”

 

[mandrill]

Huge chunk of Trump’s voters poised to drop MAGA


President Donald Trump has been credited for his unique ability to maintain a base of loyal MAGA voters and others, but according to a new Politico report, "cracks are starting to show" as a major chunk of his 2024 base appears to be looking for the exits.

Politico's report is based on the findings of a new polling survey conducted on the current state and future of Trump's MAGA political movement. Notable amongst the findings was the fact that 38%, over one-third, of Trump's 2024 voters do not identify as part of his "MAGA" at all, and are therefore inclined to be far less loyal to him overall.

It's not just a personal branding issue with these voters, however, as those non-MAGA respondents were found to be far more discontented with the president's second term.


"And not only are they less loyal to Trump than self-identified MAGA Republicans," the report explained. "The poll suggests some of them have already begun to turn on him: Non-MAGA Trump voters are much more likely to blame Trump for the state of the economy, say he has too much power and be pessimistic about the future."

Politico's findings led it to suggest that Trump's 2024 coalition, far from representing a substantive and durable shift in the American electorate, was a rare mix based on a number of unique factors, and one that the future standard-bearers for the Republican Party and the MAGA movement will be hard-pressed to replicate.

The outlet noted that an early sign of these troubles came in the recent 2025 elections in places like New Jersey, Virginia and New York City, which saw Latino voters and young male voters, two groups that swung hard for Trump in 2024, break for Democrats by considerable margins. Overall, the findings presented a wide gap between the sentiments of MAGA loyalists and non-MAGA Trump voters, leaving whoever comes next for the GOP with a tough task heading into the 2026 midterms and the 2028 presidential race.

"There’s something in the MAGA Republican voter mentality — a kind of economic optimism — that is durable even amid the current turmoil. Trump’s definition of reality permeates their own," Politico concluded. "And the GOP has less than four years to turn Trump voters into reliable Republican voters."

 

[mandrill]