The delays are over, the Dems got his tax returns.
The Democrats got one more month before the noise take back control. In the meantime, the committees overseeing accountability will finally get a look at Washed Up 45's taxes.
The former president tried to get the Supreme Court to put a hold on the request. It rejected his request and now the U.S. Treasury has released his taxes to the Democrats.
The Court rejected the emergency request to block the House Ways and Means Committee from obtaining his records, clearing the way for the panel to receive them.
"Treasury has complied with last week's court decision," a spokesperson for the department told Insider on Wednesday. CNN first reported the news.
The department declined to confirm whether the committee had obtained or seen the records yet, and its chairman, Rep. Richard Neal, also did not say. The Massachusetts congressman told reporters at the Capitol on Wednesday that Democrats plan to meet together as a caucus to discuss next moves, though he did not delve further into the matter. A spokesperson for the lawmaker did not immediately return Insider's request for comment.
Neal had first requested the records in April 2019, shortly after Democrats won the House in the 2018 midterm elections. Washed Up 45 had legally challenged releasing his returns over the years, yet the Supreme Court last week ultimately dismissed his bid.
Neal had asked for the former president's personal tax returns and those of his businesses from the Internal Revenue Service as part of an investigation into the agency's auditing process. Washed Up 45 had infamously broke with tradition when he refused to publicly release his tax records during his 2016 campaign and kept them under wraps during his term in office. The former president had defended that he was under audit, though records can still be released then.
It's unclear what House Democrats' plans are for Washed Up 45's records, and whether they will be released publicly. The party has little time, however, to review the returns as Republicans are set to take over the lower chamber on January 3 and don't intend to take up the issue.
Christine McVie passed away from a brief illness. Iconic singer from Fleetwood Mac.
An iconic vocalist and frontwoman for the band Fleetwood Mac died peacefully at the age of 78. It's a tragic day for rock and soul.
Christine McVie has passed away.
Born Christine Anne Perfect on July 12, 1943, the British singer-songwriter is best known for her deep and smoky voice and being responsible for some of Fleetwood Mac’s biggest hits, including “You Make Loving Fun,” “Don’t Stop,” “Say You Love Me,” and “Songbird.”
Her family announced the news on her official Facebook page, saying she died in the hospital on Wednesday morning.
″[W]e would like everyone to keep Christine in their hearts and remember the life of an incredible human being, and revered musician who was loved universally,” the family said in a statement.
Fleetwood Mac also posted to McVie’s Facebook page, saying she was “one-of-a-kind, special, and talented beyond measure."
“A few hours ago I was told that my best friend in the whole world since the first day of 1975, had passed away,” bandmate Stevie Nicks said in a handwritten note posted to Instagram.
She added that one song has been “swirling around” in her head since she found out McVie was sick, quoting the lyrics to HAIM’s “Hallelujah”: “I had a best friend/But she has come to pass.”
She was a key singer and keyboardist for the English-American rock band. She joined the group in 1970 and almost immediately became an iconic vocalist and good friend to the surviving members.
She release three solo albums which had focus on love and relationships. She married John McVie.
Christine McVie and Stevie Nicks.
The McVies moved with band founder Mick Fleetwood to the United States in 1974, where they would soon meet Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham, forming the team that would catapult the band to superstardom.
McVie’s “warmth and gravitas balanc[ed] the contributions of her younger new bandmates,” wrote Variety’s Chris Morris, with her sultry voice and skills as a songwriter and keyboardist providing a key foundation for the band’s growth into a “pop music juggernaut.” She wrote several of the songs on the newly reformed Fleetwood Mac’s first album together, the eponymous Fleetwood Mac, including “Say You Love Me” and “Over My Head,” which were both Billboard Top 20 singles.
1977’s smash hit Rumours — which spawned headlines for both its musical genius and the infamous personal turmoil among the band members’ relationships
Fleetwood Mac is an iconic band.
Fleetwood and John McVie were there at the founding of Fleetwood Mac and were the only ones to remain all the way through. McVie departed in the 1990s, when she was seemingly done forever with the rock star life. By 2014, she had changed her mind.
“I just wanted to embrace being in the English countryside and not have to troop around on the road. I moved to Kent, and I loved being able to walk around the streets, nobody knowing who I was,” she said of her hiatus during a 2022 interview with the Guardian.
“Then of course I started to miss it. I called Mick and asked: ‘How would you feel about me coming back to the band?’” she said. “He got in touch with everybody and we had a band meeting over the phone and they all went: ‘Come baaaack!!’ I felt regenerated and I felt like writing again.”
Fleetwood Mac were introduced to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.
Warner Bros. Discovery is laying the hammer on its franchises. CNN, a product of Turner Media is under the branding. Its new boss Chris Licht has decided to push for company wide lay offs of staff, on air personalities and continuing its hardline stance to keeping news straight forward.
Licht, who took over as chief executive of the network in May, described the cuts in an all-staff memo as a “gut punch” to the organization and told employees that “it is incredibly hard to say goodbye to any one member of the CNN team, much less many.”
Employees at the company had been anxiously bracing for the layoffs since Licht informed them last month that “unsettling” changes lie ahead.
Licht said that on Wednesday the company would notify a “limited number of individuals,” largely paid contributors, that they have been let go. He said the company “will notify impacted employees” on Thursday. Licht said at the conclusion of the cuts he will “follow up with more details.”
“It will be a difficult time for everyone,” Licht candidly said in his memo.
CNN declined to say on Wednesday how many employees precisely would be impacted by the layoffs.
The layoffs come as media companies are being battered by brutal economic headwinds that have taken a bat to the advertising sector. Licht noted in October, when he signaled large cuts were coming, that there is “widespread concern over the global economic outlook” and that CNN “must factor that risk into [its] long-term planning.”
CNN, which still posts profits in the hundreds of millions of dollars, was spared from the cuts that wreaked havoc on the industry during the pandemic. Prior to this year, the last major cuts to occur at the organization were in 2018 when less than 50 people lost their jobs as the company restructured its digital business.
The cuts to the organization also come after CNN’s former parent company, WarnerMedia, merged earlier this year with Discovery, creating a media juggernaut laced with billions of dollars in debt and a need to slash costs across the board. The merger had just been completed in April when the company announced it was shuttering streaming service CNN+ a month after it was launched
David Zaslav, chief executive of Warner Bros. Discovery, the company that was formed when WarnerMedia and Discovery became one, has promised investors that he will find more than $3 billion in savings in the combined organization.
After Licht took over as head of CNN, he conducted a months-long review of the business. That review led to him identifying changes that should be made, Licht said in October. Some of those changes have already been implemented, as CNN has made smaller cuts to parts of its business in the last several months.
Licht said in his all-staff memo on Wednesday that employees affected by this week’s cuts will be notified “through an in-person meeting or via Zoom, depending on your location.”
“In those meetings, you will receive information specific to you about notice period or any severance that would apply, and your anticipated last day,” Licht said. “I want to be clear that everyone who is bonus eligible will still receive their 2022 bonuses, which are determined by company performance.”
Licht acknowledged that the cuts will “affect both our departing colleagues and those who remain” and promised to provide employees “resources designed to support” them.
“Let’s take care of each other this week,” Licht said.
What better way to close out the year than owing the woman who makes more than you!
The divorce is final and now Ye (Kanye West), the controversial media mogul must fork over child support for his four children. He will be likely have supervised arbitrators when he sees Kim Kardashian. He will likely have supervised visition when seeing North, Saint, Chicago and Psalm, the pair's four children.
Kim K and Ye have reached a divorce settlement that includes joint custody of their four children and dividing up their real estate assets, media reports said on Tuesday.
Though they will have joint custody of their children, ages 3, 4, 6 and 9, Kardashian will receive $200,000 a month in child support, as they will spend most of their time with her, the New York Post reported.
The celebrity couple were married in 2014, and Kardashian filed for divorce last year, citing irreconcilable differences.
Details of their divorce settlement were reported by several media outlets, citing Los Angeles County Superior Court documents. Reuters was not immediately able to confirm the documents' authenticity.
The parents must agree on what school the children will attend and other decisions involving therapy, counseling or religious activities, the Post said, citing the court document.
Kanye West lost numerous deals and endorsements after spewed anti-semitic conspiracy theories. He was seen with closeted white nationalist Nick Fuentes and openly gay white nationalist Milo Yiannopoulos.
Ye says he is definitely running in 2024.
The kids are getting bigger,
The decision makes it really hard for Ye to bond with his children. On top of that, his actions lead to strong concerns he would pose a danger to his children.
The children will not be allowed to move more than 60 miles (100 km) from Kardashian's home in Hidden Hills near Los Angeles before they finish high school or turn 19 years old, the Post reported. Each parent will have access to the children on their birthdays and other special occasions, the Post said.
Ye has agreed to transfer one Hidden Hills property to Kardashian, who will also keep properties in Malibu and Riverside, California, and Harrison, Idaho, the Post said.
Neither party will pay the other spousal support, and they will each pay their own debts, Sky News reported. They will split the cost of their children's private security, schooling and university, Sky said.
A Kardashian spokesperson declined to comment. Representatives of Ye did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Prince William and Princess Catherine will condemn racism from his godmother but not the racist press who relentless attacks his sister-in-law. The very racist press in the United Kingdom and United States that attacks on Duchess Meghan of Sussex is ignored by King Charles III, Queen Consort Camilla, the Prince of Wales and the royal family.
The Queen Consort's Baroness Susan Hussey was forced to resign after she made an inappropriate comment towards a Black Briton and thus doubled down on the remark.
She was apparently saying racist remarks towards Meghan and her husband Prince Harry.
Hussey, the Buckingham Palace staff member who resigned after making "unacceptable" comments this week, once reportedly criticized Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan's relationship.
Earlier on Wednesday, domestic abuse activist Ngozi Fulani claimed via Twitter that she was asked racially insensitive questions by “a member of staff, Lady SH” during an event at Buckingham Palace one day earlier. “Mixed feelings about yesterday’s visit to Buckingham Palace. 10 mins after arriving, Lady SH approached me [and] moved my hair to see my name badge,” the Sistah Space founder wrote via the organization’s Twitter account.
Mixed feelings about yesterday's visit to Buckingham Palace. 10 mins after arriving, a member of staff, Lady SH, approached me, moved my hair to see my name badge. The conversation below took place. The rest of the event is a blur. Thanks @ManduReid & @SuzanneEJacob for support🙏🏾 pic.twitter.com/OUbQKlabyq
She added that Hussey asked “where do you really come from?” and “what part of Africa are you from?” despite Funlani’s repeated assertions that she was born in the United Kingdom.
Buckingham Palace announced later that day that Hussey had resigned from her position amid the allegations. “We take this incident extremely seriously and have investigated immediately to establish the full details,” a royal spokesperson said in a statement. “In this instance, unacceptable and deeply regrettable comments have been made.”
The spokesperson continued: “In the meantime, the individual concerned would like to express her profound apologies for the hurt caused and has stepped aside from her honorary role with immediate effect. All members of the Household are being reminded of the diversity and inclusivity policies which they are required to uphold at all times.”
Fulani, for her part, told The Guardian that she “never felt so unwelcome or so uncomfortable” as she did during her visit to Buckingham Palace.
“I was almost forced to say that I’m not really British,” she explained. “I don’t know what she meant by ‘my people’. It was incomprehensible for her to consider that I have British citizenship. When she heard my parents were from the Caribbean she said, ‘Finally we are getting somewhere.’ … It was overt racism.”
Ngozi Fulani was offended by royal aide who is close to King Charles III.
Hussey — who is also the godmother of Prince William and was one of Queen Elizabeth's closest confidantes — was quoted in Tom Bower's 2022 biography, "Revenge: Meghan, Harry and the War Between the Windsors."
Bower said Hussey was having lunch with a group of theater executives and directors in 2017 when the topic turned to the duchess.
Hussey "became unexpectedly serious about the couple's future," Bower wrote, before telling the directors "that will all end in tears, mark my words."
Bower also wrote that Queen Elizabeth handpicked Hussey to visit the duchess and give her "help and advice" for adjusting to royal life. In a book, Hussey made offensive claims that the duchess was a total diva and was making the royal family a "laughing stock."
She was leaking to assholes like Piers Morgan, Sharon Osbourne and that turkey neck Angela Levin.
All the hate on Meghan has made Black Britons angry, countries under the commonwealth to dissolve and folks calling for the monarchy to be abolished.
I would say, that King Charles III, a serial adulterer and all out douchebag, will not have a long reign.
Prince William already made himself so fucking toxic after not backing Harry when he was telling the junk food media that Meghan was having difficulty and thought suicide was an option. Every freaking comparison to Catherine and made up stories about how Meghan was this or that is enough for me to say that the royal family is on the decline.
No one can be Queen Elizabeth II. She kept the British crown under control despite the noise. Now that she's passed away, her sons are in the news, her daughters are in the news, her best friend is in the news and of course, her grandchildren and great-grandchildren are in the news.
Brooklyn stand up. Hakeem Jeffries is in the leadership.
Conservatives often call Americans living in New York City and San Francisco, coastal elitists. They already are calling a moderate lawmaker from Brooklyn a radical.
I remember a few years back, he name checked, Jeffrey Shaun King by calling him "team gentrification" after the grifter called for a primary challenger when he refused to back Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Medicare for All.
He said the extreme left's noise damaged easy pickups in swing states.
He said to Charlamagne Tha Rapist that King isn't battle ready. He said that King does not want to appear on that Summer Jam screen, in reference to Jay-Z destroying rivals during his performance.
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) will be the Democratic leader. He was selected as the Minority Leader after Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) announced she would no longer seek leadership roles. She along with Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) and Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC) announced they will step aside so they can have a diverse group of lawmakers run the party and help President Joe Biden fight off the noise of the Republican Party.
He is the first African American to hold the title of Minority Leader. If the Democrats retake the House in 2024, Jeffries could be the next House Speaker (which is a tall order given the Republican friendly gerrymandered maps in Florida, Texas, Ohio, Tennessee, New York, Georgia and Alabama).
Showing rare party unity after their midterm election losses, the House Democrats moved seamlessly from one history-making leader to another, choosing the 52-year-old New Yorker, who has vowed to “get things done,” even after Republicans won control of the chamber. The closed-door vote was unanimous, by acclamation.
“It’s a solemn responsibility that we are all inheriting,” Jeffries told reporters on the eve of the party meeting. “And the best thing that we can do as a result of the seriousness and solemnity of the moment is lean in hard and do the best damn job that we can for the people.”
It’s rare that a party that lost the midterm elections would so easily regroup and stands in stark contrast with the upheaval among Republicans, who are struggling to unite around GOP leader Kevin McCarthy as the new House speaker as they prepare to take control when the new Congress convenes in January.
Wednesday’s internal Democratic caucus votes of Jeffries and the other top leaders came without challengers.
The trio led by Jeffries, who will become the Democratic minority leader in the new Congress, includes 59-year-old Rep. Katherine Clark of Massachusetts as the Democratic whip and 43-year-old Rep. Pete Aguilar of California as caucus chairman. The new team of Democratic leaders is expected to slide into the slots held by Pelosi and her top lieutenants — Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland and Democratic Whip James Clyburn of South Carolina — as the 80-something leaders make way for the next generation.
But in many ways, the trio has been transitioning in plain sight, as one aide put it — Jeffries, Clark and Aguilar working with Pelosi’s nod these past several years in lower-rung leadership roles as the first woman to have the speaker’s gavel prepared to step down. Pelosi, of California, has led the House Democrats for the past 20 years, and colleagues late Tuesday granted her the honorific title of “speaker emerita.”
“It an important moment for the caucus — that there’s a new generation of leadership,” said Rep. Chris Pappas (D-NH) ahead of voting.
While Democrats will be relegated to the House minority in the new year, they will have a certain amount of leverage because the Republican majority is expected to be so slim and McCarthy’s hold on his party fragile.
Jeffries said he hopes to find “common ground when possible” with Republicans but will “oppose their extremism when we must.”
On the other side of the Capitol, Jeffries will have a partner in Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer as two New Yorkers are poised to helm the Democratic leadership in Congress. They live about a mile (1.6 kilometers) apart in Brooklyn.
“There are going to be a group, in my judgment, of mainstream Republicans who are not going to want to go in the MAGA direction, and Hakeem’s the ideal type guy to work with them,” Schumer said in an interview, referencing Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan.
Jeffries has sometimes been met with skepticism from party progressives, viewed as a more centrist figure among House Democrats.
But Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) a progressive and part of the “squad” of liberal lawmakers, said she has been heartened by the way Jeffries and his team are reaching out, even though they face no challengers.
“There’s a genuine sense that he wants to develop relationships and working partnerships with many of us,” she said.
Clark, in the No. 2 spot, is seen as a coalition builder on the leadership team, while Aguilar, as the third-ranking leader, is known as a behind-the-scenes conduit to centrists and even Republicans.
Clyburn, now the highest-ranking Black American in Congress, will seek to become the assistant democratic leader, helping the new generation to transition.
The election for Clyburn’s post and several others are expected to be held Thursday.
Jeffries’ ascent comes as a milestone for Black Americans, the Capitol built with the labor of enslaved people and its dome later expanded during Abraham Lincoln’s presidency as a symbol the nation would stand during the Civil War.
“The thing about Pete, Katherine and myself is that we embrace what the House represents,” Jeffries said, calling it “the institution closest to the people.”
While the House Democrats are often a big, diverse, “noisy family,” he said, “it’s a good thing.” He said, “At the end of the day, we’re always committed to finding the highest common denominator in order to get big things done for everyday Americans.”
The House’s two new potential leaders, Jeffries and McCarthy, are of the same generation but have almost no real relationship to speak of — in fact the Democrat is known for leveling political barbs at the Republican from afar, particularly over the GOP’s embrace of former President Donald Trump. Jeffries served as a House manager during Trump’s first impeachment.
“We’re still working through the implications of Trumpism,” Jeffries said, “and what it has meant, as a very destabilizing force for American democracy.”
Oklahoma country singer passed away hours after marrying his wife. Jake Flint died hours after his wedding, according to several news reports.
Flint died in his sleep Saturday, his publicist told The Oklahoman. He was 37.
Earlier Saturday he had married his wife Brenda. She posted about his death on her Facebook page, stating the couple should have been “going through wedding photos” together. Instead, she has to “pick out clothes to bury my husband in.”
“People aren’t meant to feel this much pain,” she said in the post. “My heart is gone and I just really need him to come back.”
Flint’s social media page describes his music as Oklahoma/Texas Red Dirt Country. He was in the midst of a multistate tour, with his next performance slated for Dec. 2 in Claremore, Oklahoma, according to NBC News.
He had recently released his third album, “Jake Flint”, which his social media describes to be inspired by “everything from classic Texas Singer/Songwriters to 90′s grunge rock.”
Flint had previously released two other albums, “I’m Not OK” in 2016 and “Jake Flint” in 2020.
Brenda Cline, Flint’s former manager, also confirmed the singer’s death on her Facebook page.
“Jake was even more than that to me, I loved him much like a son,” Cline said in part in her post. “The funniest, most hilarious, hardest working, dedicated artist I have ever worked with in my career.”
NPR reported the cause of his death has not been determined at this time.
The Penis State with the dickhead governor. Shout out to Tiffany Cross.
MSNBC fired her earlier this month because she took a cue from folks like me. She and folks like me think Florida's move to the Republicans led the state into extremism.
Ron DeSantis is a moron and potential candidate for 2024 if Washed Up 45 implodes.
The quiet civil war between these two is a part of the Floridah noise.
Real noise.
A man dies after he drove his car into a fireworks store in West Melbourne. It was sparked by a car accident, killing the driver as fireworks exploded and smoke filled the sky.
It was sparked by a car accident, killing one driver as fireworks exploded and smoke filled the sky.
The area was full of firefighters and equipment to put out the massive fire.
Florida Highway Patrol is leading the investigation into the crash that led to the fire.
The two-car crash happened as rush hour was gearing up in the busy intersection of West New Haven Avenue and John Rodes Boulevard, just off Interstate 95.
The crash resulted in a Dodge Durango SUV running straight through the front of the Phantom Fireworks store, which then quickly caught on fire.
FHP troopers said that the SUV rear-ended a pickup truck at the intersection.
“That’s when the vehicle struck her a second time and pushed her through the intersection and into the parking lot. As she got into the parking lot, she realized that the vehicle was not stopping and continued to push her,” Lt. Channing Taylor with FHP said.
The woman turned and the SUV continued straight, crashing through the front of the fireworks store.
The 53-year-old male driver was pronounced dead at the scene.
“We are in contact with the family and they were unable to provide any medical reasons or medical issues that the driver was having that might explain what happened,” Taylor said.
Business gone and a man looses his life.
Neighbor Chris Webb has been concerned about Phantom Fireworks within a residential area for years.
“A little bit upset thinking that it could have been worse. Knowing these people are right here. My own family stays here sometimes. It’s kind of scary to know that,” Webb said.
The FHP investigation is ongoing and one of the following steps will be to inspect the vehicles to see if there was any mechanical malfunction.
Viewer videos from Candy Tout Turner and David Pickell, respectively, show fireworks going off as the store burned.
"Once you saw the car like there were flames coming out through the side windows and under the car," said witness Andy Cambron.
"It was pretty loud and big and scary. It shook the building. We heard the tires screech of the car," said Colleen Walker, another witness.
The Brevard Fire Chief says it took about two hours to get it under control.
"The fire extended through every bit of the building so the crews were met with heavy fire conditions along with a lot of fireworks," Patrick Voltaire said. "We had to put up aerial master streams to challenge the fire. We couldn't make an attack too close to the building."
Eastbound lanes of Highway 192 were blocked momentarily and are now re-opened.
Officials say they are still investigating the cause of the crash.
Elmer Stewart Rhodes has now found himself on the listing of few Americans who were convicted of seditious conspiracy.
Rhodes and another associate were convicted and face the possibility of a hefty bid in federal time out. This also includes a handful of associates who escaped the sedition charges.
A Washington, D.C., jury found Rhodes guilty of sedition after three days of deliberations in the nearly two-month-long trial that showcased the far-right extremist group’s efforts to keep Washed Up 45 in the White House at all costs.
Rhodes was acquitted of two other conspiracy charges. A co-defendant — Kelly Meggs, who led the antigovernment group’s Florida chapter — was also convicted of seditious conspiracy, while three other associates were cleared of that charge. Jurors found all five defendants guilty of obstruction of an official proceeding: Congress’ certification of Biden’s electoral victory.
The verdict, while mixed, marks a significant milestone for the Justice Department and is likely to clear the path for prosecutors to move ahead at full steam in upcoming trials of other extremists accused of sedition.
Rhodes and Meggs are the first people in nearly three decades to be found guilty at trial of seditious conspiracy — a rarely used Civil War-era charge that can be difficult to prove. The offense calls for up to 20 years behind bars.
It could embolden investigators, whose work has expanded beyond those who attacked the Capitol to focus on others linked to Washed Up 45’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election. U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland recently named a veteran prosecutor, Jack Smith, to serve as special counsel to oversee key aspects of a probe into efforts to subvert the election as well as a separate investigation into the retention of classified documents at Washed Up 45’s Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago.
Garland said after the verdict that the Justice Department “is committed to holding accountable those criminally responsible for the assault on our democracy on January 6, 2021.”
“Democracy depends on the peaceful transfer of power. By attempting to block the certification of the 2020 presidential election results, the defendants flouted and trampled the rule of law,” Steven M. D’Antuono, assistant director in charge of the FBI Washington Field Office, said in an emailed statement. “This case shows that force and violence are no match for our country’s justice system
Jury didn't buy his bullshit.
Using dozens of encrypted messages, recordings and surveillance video, prosecutors made the case that Rhodes began shortly after the 2020 election to prepare an armed rebellion to stop the transfer of presidential power.
Over seven weeks of testimony, jurors heard how Rhodes rallied his followers to fight to defend Washed Up 45, discussed the prospect of a “bloody” civil war and warned the Oath Keepers may have to “rise up in insurrection” to defeat Biden if Washed Up 45 didn’t act.
Defense attorneys accused prosecutors of twisting their clients’ words and insisted the Oath Keepers came to Washington only to provide security for figures such as Roger Stone, a longtime Washed Up 45 ally. The defense focused heavily on seeking to show that Rhodes’ rhetoric was just bluster and that the Oath Keepers had no plan before Jan. 6 to attack the Capitol.
Rhodes intends to appeal, defense attorney James Lee Bright told reporters. Another Rhodes lawyer, Ed Tarpley, described the verdict as a “mixed bag,” adding, “This is not a total victory for the government in any way, shape or form.”
“We feel like we presented a case that showed through evidence and testimony that Mr. Rhodes did not commit the crime of seditious conspiracy,” Tarpley said.
On trial alongside Rhodes, of Granbury, Texas, and Meggs, were Kenneth Harrelson, another Florida Oath Keeper; Thomas Caldwell, a retired Navy intelligence officer from Virginia; and Jessica Watkins, who led an Ohio militia group.
Caldwell was convicted on two counts and acquitted on three others, including seditious conspiracy. His attorney, David Fischer, called the verdict “major victory” for his client and a “major defeat” for the Justice Department. He also said he would appeal the two convictions.
Jury selection for a second group of Oath Keepers facing seditious conspiracy charges is scheduled to begin next week. Several members of the Proud Boys, including the former national chairman Enrique Tarrio, are also scheduled to go to trial on the sedition charge in December.
In an extraordinary move, Rhodes took the stand to tell jurors there was no plan to attack the Capitol and insist that his followers who went inside the building went rogue.
Rhodes testified that he had no idea that his followers were going to join the mob and storm the Capitol and said he was upset after he found out that some did. Rhodes said they were acting “stupid” and outside their mission for the day.
Jurors heard how Rhodes spent thousands of dollars on an AR-platform rifle, magazines, mounts, sights and other equipment on his way to Washington ahead of the riot. They watched surveillance footage from the Virginia hotel where some Oath Keepers stashed weapons for “quick reaction force” teams prosecutors said were ready to get weapons into the city quickly if they were needed. The weapons were never deployed.
On Jan. 6, Oath Keepers wearing combat gear were seen on camera shouldering their way through the crowd and into the Capitol. Rhodes remained outside like a “general surveying his troops on the battlefield,” a prosecutor said. After the riot, Rhodes and other Oath Keepers went to an Olive Garden restaurant to celebrate, according to prosecutors.
Two Ohio militia members were also convicted for disruption of Congress but acquitted of sedition.
The trial revealed new details about Rhodes’ efforts to pressure Washed Up 45 to fight to stay in White House in the weeks leading up to Jan. 6. Shortly after the election, in a group chat that included Stone called “FOS” or “Friends of Stone,” Rhodes wrote, “So will you step up and push Trump to FINALLY take decisive action?”
nother man testified that after the riot, Rhodes tried to persuade him to pass along a message to Washed Up 45 that urged the president not to give up his fight to hold onto power. The intermediary — a man who told jurors he had an indirect way to reach the president — recorded his meeting with Rhodes and went to the FBI instead of giving the message to the former president.
“If he’s not going to do the right thing and he’s just gonna let himself be removed illegally then we should have brought rifles,” Rhodes said during that meeting, according to a recording played for jurors. “We should have fixed it right then and there. I’d hang (expletive) Pelosi from the lamppost,” Rhodes said, referring to Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Three other Oath Keepers previously pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy. The last time the Justice Department had secured such a conviction at trial, though, was in the 1995 prosecution of Islamic militants who plotted to bomb New York City landmarks.
Notice Elon Musk is calling for a boycott of Apple while tweeting from an iPhone.
Devastating blow to Elon Musk and Twitter. Apple executives have warned Twitter that if the company does not take action to curb hate, misinformation and the bot farm, they will no longer operate its app on the Apple Store.
Republicans also vow to investigate Apple and Google.
The billionaire CEO of Twitter and Tesla said Apple was pressuring Twitter over content moderation demands.
The action, unconfirmed by Apple, would not be unusual as the company has routinely enforced its rules and previously removed apps such as Gab and Parler.
Since he took over Twitter, he has released 75% of the staff. It led to global outrage from nations that saw staffers released without any warning. Twitter has been unfiltered since Musk's stench reigned over it.
It has shared racism, pirated movies, child pornography, adult content and constant misinformation.
Musk claimed on Monday in a series of tweets that Apple had threatened to remove the Twitter app from the App Store if he doesn't get things under control.
“Apple has also threatened to withhold Twitter from its App Store, but won’t tell us why,” Musk tweeted.
In other tweets fired off on Monday morning, he called Apple’s App Store fees a “secret 30% tax,” and ran a poll asking if “Apple should publish all censorship actions it has taken that affect its customers.” He also claimed that Apple has pulled most of its advertising from Twitter.
Apple’s App Store is the only way to distribute software to iPhones. If the Twitter app were pulled, the social network would lose one of its main distribution platforms, although the service is available for the web.
Only 12 Republicans in the U.S. Senate joined the 48 Democrats and two independents in passing a historical law that keeps equality and marriage as the law of the land. Once it likely clears the House of Representatives, President Joe Biden will sign it into law.
Before the circus of ignorance take control of the House on Jan. 3, Democrats hold lame duck sessions in which bills to keep government running are passed, Biden's nominees to the federal courts are confirmed, losing candidates pack their things, newly elected move in and the continuing go home to brag about how they survived an election.
The Respect for Marriage Act will be the game changer going into 2024 with Democrats already setting sights on making sure Republicans are held accountable for governance. They are going to assure voters that if the Republicans stray into culture wars like they often do, Democrats will keep the pressure on them.
This will be a barrier if the Supreme Court or a state challenges a federal law recognizing same sex marriage and interracial marriage.
12 Republican senators out of 50.
That will be 38 senator out of 100.
Only 3% of the Republicans seriously believe that marriage should be equal. That means they are against interracial marriage.
Interracial marriage is on the rise.
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT), Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH), Sen. Todd Young (R-IN), Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC), Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO), Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Sen. Shelly Moore Capito (R-WV) and Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) broke with the extremists to support the Democrats in passing this bill.
These senators realized that their party is out of touch. Most of these senators are out of touch.
About 60 percent of Americans support a federal marriage equality law, according to a Politico and Morning Consult poll conducted last summer. Notably, the bill also protects interracial marriages.
The Supreme Court's Clarence Thomas had signalled that he would support overturning the landmark Obergefell v. Hodges decision. He and the five assholes in the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade which gave women the right to privacy, choice to have a pregnancy or termination. It was overturned and it triggered Republican states to pass statewide bans.
The Flipper joins Dems in protecting marriage equality,
The measure now heads to the House and, assuming it passes, to President Joe Biden to be signed into law. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) told reporters Tuesday that the House plans to take up and pass the bill as soon as next Tuesday.
The bill does two things: It repeals the Defense of Marriage Act, the 1996 federal law that banned same-sex marriage, and it requires states to recognize valid same-sex marriages from other states. It also ensures the same protections for interracial marriages.
Actor and professor Clarence Gilyard, Jr. passed away from unknown illness.
Perhaps best known for his martial arts in the crime action drama Walker: Texas Ranger, Clarence Gilyard, Jr. Was one of the best. He passed away at the age of 66.
Gilyard Jr., a popular supporting actor whose credits include the blockbuster films “Die Hard” and “Top Gun” and the hit television series “Matlock” and “Walker, Texas Ranger,” has died at age 66.
His death was announced this week by the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where he taught stage and screen acting. Additional details were not immediately available Tuesday.
“Professor Gilyard was a beacon of light and strength for everyone around him at UNLV,” the school’s film chair, Heather Addison, said in a statement. “Whenever we asked him how he was, he would cheerfully declare that he was ‘Blessed!’ But we are truly the ones who were blessed to be his colleagues and students for so many years.”
Gilyard was a Moses Lake, Washington, native. He had a prolific career as an actor, starting in the 1980s with appearances in “Diff’rent Strokes,” ”The Facts of Life” and other shows. He then appeared in two of the biggest movies of the decade: “Top Gun,” in which he played Sundown, a radar intercept officer, and “Die Hard,” when he was featured as a villainous computer maven whose one liners included “You didn’t bring me along for my charming personality.”
In the 1990s, he was on the side of law enforcement in “Matlock,” playing opposite Andy Griffith, and “Walker, Texas Ranger,” which starred Chuck Norris. His other credits include “The Karate Kid: Part II,” a stage production of “Driving Miss Daisy” and an appearance alongside “Die Hard” star Bruce Willis in a commercial for DieHard batteries.
Gilyard was married twice and had six children. His first marriage, to Catherine Dutko, ended in divorce, and he married his second wife, Elena Castillo, in 2001.
He served as the consultant of the communications committee of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
After a long illness, Gilyard died in November 2022, at the age of 66.
Gilyard was born into a military family in Moses Lake, Washington, on Christmas Eve, in 1955, the son of Barbara and Clarence Darnell Gilyard Sr., a U.S. Air Force officer. Gilyard was the second of six children.
Clarence and Chuck Norris were iconic lawmen on Walker, Texas Ranger.
His family was originally from New Orleans, Louisiana, but Gilyard grew up on Air Force bases in Hawaii, Texas, and Florida. Raised primarily as a Lutheran, he became Catholic in the 1990s.
During his young adulthood, Gilyard lived in the San Bernardino suburb of Rialto, California, and attended Eisenhower High School. He was an excellent student, graduating in 1974, and afterward spent a year as an Air Force Academy cadet before leaving the service to attend Sterling College.
In college, he played football, and became a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity. He also received a tennis scholarship, but dropped out of school before completing his studies.
While living with his parents in high school, Gilyard was preoccupied with women, alcohol, and occasionally, drugs. His parents urged him to move out, so he relocated to Long Beach, California, with a friend. He attended California State University, Long Beach, majoring in acting, and worked as a waiter while seeking acting opportunities. He completed his bachelor's degree at California State University, Dominguez Hills.
Gilyard worked with a housemate at a clothing store, where he was promoted to manager. He left this to work briefly selling industrial chemicals. In 2003, Gilyard returned to school, receiving a master of fine arts in theatre performance at Southern Methodist University.
White terrorist was out on bail when he went back to his old ways.
White privilege once again raises its ugly head. Had this been a Black man who committed murder and given a bond to be out?
A white terrorist who killed three Black men was granted a "get out free card" and already abused it by staying in a dope spot. Notice, he is a man but the junk food media regard him as a teenager.
Some are calling it a travesty. Cause if this was a Black man who murdered three white people, rest assured he would not be getting a "get out free card."
This happened in Indianapolis.
Marion County Prosecutors revoked the bond of this white terrorist who turned 18 last Wednesday morning and celebrated with a female friend in her brother’s house, where Indy police detectives served a search warrant and claimed they found marijuana, ammunition and four guns.
the terrorist was out on bond at the time, wearing a GPS monitor on his ankle, and free pending trial because his attorney convinced a judge the search warrant linking him to the murder weapon was deficient. She threw out the evidence, the prosecutor appealed and now a higher court will need to rule.
The terrorist is now back inside the Marion County Adult Detention Center and facing a Wednesday hearing and charges of dealing marijuana, visiting a common nuisance, invasion of privacy and violating his pre-trial release conditions.
The terrorist’s attorney says Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department detectives have a vendetta against his client.
“It’s trumped up. They want him back in jail,” said David Hennessy. “I think they’re a little bitter. They messed up their own case.”
The mother of one of the terrorist’s alleged victims said she expected the accused killer would soon be back in jail after his release last month.
“I’m not surprised. This is what I expected because Caden Smith is clearly a criminal,” said Gladys Larsen whose son, Michael James, Jr., 22, was found shot to death in a secluded area near the 4400 block of South Meridian Street. “He is definitely someone who should remain in the Marion County jail.”
IMPD homicide detectives charge that James, Joseph Thomas, 18, and Abdullah Mubarak, 17, were killed over the course of two nights in October of 2021 as they met with the terrorist to look at or buy a gun.
Investigators said they later found that gun in a search of the relative’s home where the terrorist was staying on West Thompson Road, across I-465 from the murder scenes.
White terrorist murders a promising young Black teen.
Hennessy argued that the detectives could not have known the gun would be in the terrorist’s bedroom in the home and Judge Jennifer Prinz Harrison agreed, dismissing the evidence before prosecutors appealed her ruling and she ordered the defendant released on bail and tethered to a GPS electronic monitoring device with no restrictions beyond typical orders to stay away from witnesses in the case.
Hennessy said his client did not violate the pre-trial release order.
“We haven’t been informed of any protected area. There’s no limitations on the hours. There’s no limitations on his movements,” he said. “The violation is a product of the no-contact orders. When you have a no-contact order, you can’t have any guns. He didn’t have any guns. They said, ‘in the house’. Not his house. Not his guns.”
In the Notice of the Pre-Trial Release Violation, an IMPD detective wrote, “Mr. Smith is not to possess firearms or have firearms in the residence he is staying in. On 11/23/22, IMPD served a search warrant and found (Smith) having firearms in the house, one of which, was reported stolen out of Hamilton County, Indiana.”
“The police did not indicate where they found anything,” argued Hennessy. “On visiting a common nuisance, it has to be more than one time and you have to know what’s in the house.”
Gladys Larsen recently spent her second birthday and Thanksgiving without her son, and thinks the terrorist is to blame.
“He was actually released on GPS to go home with his family for the holidays and my son Michael James, Joseph Thomas and Abdullah Mubarak are no longer here, and Caden Smith decides to go on his birthday and hang out somewhere where there are guns and drugs so, yes, he is definitely someone who should remain in the Marion County jail.”
The suspect is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Former New Orleans rapper Christopher "B.G." Dorsey is rumored to be leaving federal time out in less than a month. It appears that 14 year sentence is commuted to less than 12 years.
Bryan "Baby" Williams, known as Birdman, the CEO of Cash Money Records and Rich Gang said that B.G. will be released within a few weeks. After numerous denials, it appears that he will get a conditional release.
In July 2012, B.G. was sentenced to 14 years behind bars after pleading guilty to firearm possession. He also pleaded guilty to obstructing justice and convincing an associate to claim ownership of the gun.
In September, U.S. District Judge Susie Morgan rejected a motion filed by another inmate on B.G.’s behalf. The motion requested for the judge to have the rapper’s 14-year sentence reduced.
B.G. first requested an early release in February after the Bureau of Prisons system went into lockdown due to violence in USP Beaumont. During that time, the rapper wrote that “murder and mayhem” were normal incidents at the federal facility where he was located. He added that the public had no idea what was really going on behind prison walls. In addition, he claimed his health issues make him more prone to catching COVID-19.
In June, B.G filed another motion, which was supported by letters from Birdman, Ronald "Slim" Williams, Wendy Day and Gary Payton Jr., to be released early. Unfortunately, Judge Morgan denied that motion as well.
B.G. along with Lil Wayne, Mannie Fresh, Juvenile, Turk and Birdman
B.G. got his start in hip-hop when he was 14 years old. He and Lil Wayne, then 11 signed to Cash Money under the group, The B.G.z.
The two would dissolve the group to join local rapper Juvenile, Turk and Lil Derrick (Bullet Proof) to become the Hot Boys. The album sold well in the South but what took Cash Money to its greatness was Juvenile's 400 Degrees.
B.G. went on to release five labels with the label. His debut Chopper City was released in 1996 when he was 15 years old.
The major label debut album Chopper City in the Ghetto went platinum.
B.G. had left Cash Money citing disputes over money. He has released 10 albums before he went federal time out.
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