“Don’t forget, I fired Comey, had I not fired Comey you might not be talking about the beautiful book,” Trump said, suggesting that, had he not replaced the then-FBI Director James Comey with Christopher Wray, an investigation may have ended his four years in the White House. Of course, if he had fired Comey to obstruct an investigation by the Department of Justice, it would by very definition be Obstruction of Justice and, arguably, an impeachable offense because it undermines the very checks and balances that make the US government function. Republican Chair Richard Burr oversaw, also found that members of the Trump campaign worked with Russian intelligence to help him win the 2016 election.
WATCH: Trump Brags to Mark Levin He Stayed in Office Four Years Only Because He Fired James Comey https://t.co/3wcC8UmR4Y
Greetings to the esteemed US Attorney at @USAO_DC! I hope your new job is going well, despite the multiple challenges you’re no doubt facing. Here’s a present for you in the Obstruction case against trump. Hope you indict him or explain the declination! xoxo – @allisongillhttps://t.co/mdMKlzEaku
Donald Trump brokered a deal this weekend to clear the North Carolina GOP Senate field for Rep. Ted Budd, the candidate he endorsed in June but who has failed to emerge so far as the clear frontrunner.
During a meeting at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday, Trump pledged to endorse former GOP Rep. Mark Walker, who is currently in third place in the Senate primary, if Walker leaves the race and runs again for the House instead, according to multiple sources present at the gathering.
“Trump offered Walker the endorsement, and it’s expected to get rolled out this week,” said Jack Minor, Walker’s former chief of staff.
Walker, who was rumored for weeks to be considering a House run, has not formally announced his plans to drop out of the Senate race. Candidate filing in North Carolina begins at noon Monday.
Despite the former president’s endorsement and the multimillion-dollar backing from Club for Growth’s super PAC, Budd has failed to surpass former Gov. Pat McCrory, who is also seeking the Republican nomination for Senate. Walker for months has trailed both Budd and McCrory in polling and fundraising.
The new 7th District congressional seat that Walker would run for resembles the district Walker represented from 2015 through 2020. Budd currently represents much of that area in Congress.
Both Budd and Walker are campaigning as Trump loyalists, in contrast with McCrory, a Republican with more appeal to moderates.
As part of the deal brokered during the Saturday meeting — which was also attended by Republican congressional candidate Bo Hines, Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) and Club for Growth President David McIntosh — Hines will receive Trump’s endorsement to run in the 4th Congressional District, Minor confirmed.
Until recently, Hines has campaigned as a candidate in the 7th District. Trump’s maneuvering moves him out of that race and into the 4th District contest, thus clearing room for Walker to run in the 7th.
A primary match-up between Hines and Walker could also have become messy, potentially resulting in Cawthorn and other members of the House Freedom Caucus endorsing Hines over Walker, a former Republican Study Committee chair.
A spokesperson for Hines said the campaign would not comment on the matter until Monday.
The new arrangement amounts to a truce between several key conservatives in North Carolina — and settles a game of Republican musical chairs that has been underway in the state.
Walker, a former pastor who has actively courted the evangelical Christian vote, has bashed Budd for his reliance on Club for Growth funding. The group’s super PAC is spending $10 million to support Budd in the race.
“President Trump deserves a lot of credit for bringing together North Carolina conservatives and proposing a path that truly benefits the voters,” McIntosh said in a statement Sunday, when asked about his attendance at the Mar-a-Lago meeting.
Spokespeople for Trump and Budd did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The parties involved in the meeting offered conflicting accounts of who was the driving force behind it. Some said it was McIntosh, while others pointing to Cawthorn, who passed out fliers bearing the title “Congressman Cawthorn’s plan for North Carolina” — a map that showed Walker running in the 7th District and Hines in the 4th District.
Multiple sources said McIntosh played a significant role in putting the plan together, including one who said McIntosh offered “encouragement” for Hines to agree to switch races and run in the 4th District, where Hines currently resides. Walker previously represented more than two-thirds of what will now become the 7th District.
Cawthorn won his seat as a first-time, 24-year-old candidate in 2020 against a Trump-endorsed candidate. But he received Trump’s “total endorsement” this spring, with the former president announcing he would support Cawthorn in the future in “whatever he wants to do.”
A spokesperson for McCrory’s campaign pushed back on the notion that Budd will benefit from Walker leaving the Senate race.
“Our polls show that Gov. McCrory’s large lead expands in this scenario,” said Jordan Shaw, an adviser to McCrory’s campaign. “That’s because Walker’s supporters want someone who isn’t bought, paid for, wholly owned and operated by a D.C. special interest group. That obviously eliminates Congressman Budd and benefits Gov. McCrory.”
A McCrory internal polling memo from October showed McCrory ahead by 15 percentage points in the three-way race. Shaw said the poll found his lead grew by another point in a head-to-head matchup with Budd.
A survey commissioned by the Club for Growth last month, meanwhile, had McCrory up by just three points.
New: A meeting at Mar-a-Lago this weekend seems to have settled a game of Republican musical chairs in NC. Notably, Trump has agreed to endorse Mark Walker if he leaves the Senate race and runs for House. https://t.co/rTHgxIUZGz
DOE removed the anti-bullying page following an inquiry about the site’s LGBTQ resources.
The Florida Department of Education has removed an anti-bullying portal from its website, including links to LGBTQ advocacy groups.
DOE removed the anti-bullying page after the Florida Capital Star, a right-leaning online publication, inquired about the LGBTQ resources listed on the site, sparking a content review on the page. The inquiry precipitated related changes to the DOE webpage for the Office of Safe Schools, created under the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act, until DOE can review the content.
When pulling the bullying portal, the department removed links to state anti-bullying policy, LGBTQ advocacy groups and other bullying prevention resources.
Lawmakers this spring passed the Parents’ Bill of Rights, which states that public schools cannot infringe on the “fundamental rights” of parents to direct the upbringing of their child — extending to decisions about education, health care and mental health. Gov. Ron DeSantis‘ administration and DOE has used the legislation to ban blanket mask mandates in schools. But during the 2021 Session, debate centered around fears from LGBTQ advocacy groups and allies that the legislation could reveal to parents the gender identity or sexual orientation of children who came out at school before coming out at home.
The bullying portal included links to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ StopBullying.gov and its page addressing bullying in LGBTQIA+ Youth. Until this fall, the page instructed educators to protect children’s privacy, guidance that could run afoul of the Parents’ Bill of Rights.
“Be careful not to disclose or discuss sexual identity issues with parents or anyone else, without the young person’s prior permission, unless there is an immediate threat to their safety or wellbeing,” the page read.
Groups like the pro-LGBTQ civil rights group Equality Florida criticized the DeSantis administration for pulling the website, calling it a “staggering escalation of its anti-LGBTQ agenda.”
In a statement, Equality Florida Executive Director Nadine Smith called for the links to be reinstated.
“Attacks on LGBTQ students from Tallahassee are fueling a toxic, dangerous environment on the ground,” Smith said. “From the passage of explicitly anti-transgender legislation this year to proposed legislation that would jail doctors and parents for providing lifesaving medical care to transgender children, a politically-motivated assault on the LGBTQ community is putting young people at risk. Vulnerable youth deserve better than a DeSantis Administration intent on putting them in harm’s way in order to score cheap political points.”
Other links removed from the DOE website included the department’s model policy against bullying and harassment for school districts and a checklist for school districts when developing anti-bullying policy.
DOE’s Office of Safe Schools, which answers to the Education Commissioner, currently Richard Corcoran, was created after the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School to provide safe learning environments for students and educators.
A former D.C. National Guard official is accusing two Army generals of lying about the military’s response to the Jan. 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol.
Col. Earl Matthews, who at the time was the top attorney for then-D.C. National Guard commander Maj. Gen. William Walker, wrote a memo to the select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack that was obtained by Politico.
In the memo, Matthews called Gen. Charles Flynn and Lt. Gen. Walter Piatt, director of Army staff, “absolute and unmitigated liars” for their recollections of the Capitol riot.
Matthews said the men lied in their testimonies to Congress about how they responded to pleas for the D.C. Guard to be deployed on Jan. 6, what they told the Department of Defense’s Office of Inspector General in a report released last month and that the Army has a document about the riot that is “worthy of the best Stalinist or North Korea propagandist,” Politico reported.
Army spokesman Mike Brady said in a statement Monday it stands by “all testimony and facts provided to date, and vigorously reject any allegations to the contrary.”
Asked about the memo, Matthews told Politico that the Army “has never failed us and did not do so on January 6, 2021.”
“However, occasionally some of our Army leaders have failed us and they did so on January 6th,” Matthews continued. “Then they lied about it and tried to cover it up. They tried to smear a good man and to erase history.”
The memo comes weeks after Walker, who is now the House sergeant-at-arms, demanded the inspector general’s report to be retracted because it contradicted his account of when he was told to send troops to the Capitol.
The watchdog’s report revealed that Walker had been called twice by then-Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy informing him that the D.C. National Guard had been approved to help Capitol Police, once at 4:35 p.m. and again 30 minutes later.
D.C. National Guard personnel hadn’t arrived at the Capitol until hours after the initial breach, which has been the subject of much scrutiny.
A spokesperson for the Jan. 6 panel declined to comment to The Hill. The Hill has reached out to the Pentagon inspector general and D.C. National Guard for comment.
According to Matthews’s memo, senior military and law enforcement officials, including himself and Walker, pleaded to deploy the Guard to the Capitol in a call that occurred around 2:30 p.m. Both Flynn and Piatt suggested that the Guard take over D.C. police’s traffic duties so that they could be deployed to the Capitol, the memo added.
“LTG Piatt stated that it would not be his best military advice to recommend to the Secretary of the Army that the D.C. National Guard be allowed to deploy to the Capitol at that time,” Matthews wrote, adding “LTGs Piatt and Flynn stated that the optics of having uniformed military personnel deployed to the U.S. Capitol would not be good.”
In a separate document obtained by Politico, the D.C. National Guard says that Piatt and Flynn suggested the D.C. guard “stand by” at 2:37 p.m. Four minutes later, Flynn further advised the Guard to stand by until McCarthy and then-acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller received the requests.
Both Piatt and Flynn have denied to Congress that they said the Guard shouldn’t deploy to the Capitol.
“The Army’s actions on January 6th have been well-documented and reported on, and Gen. Flynn and Lt. Gen. Piatt have been open, honest and thorough in their sworn testimony with Congress and DOD investigators,” Brady, the Army spokesman, said in a statement.
“As the Inspector General concluded, actions taken ‘were appropriate, supported by requirements, consistent with the DOD’s roles and responsibilities for DSCA, and compliant with laws, regulations, and other applicable guidance,’ ” he added.
Asked on Monday whether there was any motivation to review or further investigate the timeline of events and discrepancies between the D.C. National Guard and the Army’s accounts, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby that “there will be no such effort.”
The Department of Defense Inspector General’s office said it “welcomes inquiries and discussion regarding our oversight work,” in a statement to The Hill.
“These discussions are a cornerstone of transparency and provide our organization the opportunity to affirm our independent and objective oversight,” it said. “We stand behind the conclusions in our review of the Department of Defense’s role, responsibilities, and actions to prepare for and respond to the protest and its aftermath at the U.S. Capitol campus on January 6, 2021.”
In October, former President Trump announced the creation of a new company, Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG). Its signature product is a new social media site, Truth Social. According to an investor presentation, Truth Social and the larger company will “be a fountainhead of support for American freedoms as the first major rival to ‘Big Tech.'” TMTG will “even the playing field” of a media landscape that “has swung dangerously far to the left.”
Initially, TMTG suggested that Truth Social was based on “proprietary” technology. It was later forced to admit that the code was taken from Mastodon, an open-sourced decentralized social network that anyone can use. Gab, an existing social media network geared toward the far right, already uses Mastodon. So neither the technology nor the concept is new.
TMTG promised that “TRUTH Social plans to begin its Beta Launch for invited guests in November 2021.” But November 2021 came and went without the Beta Launch or any update from the company. The Truth Social homepage is a single static page that collects email addresses.
TMTG was also subject to criticism for failing to announce “anyone involved in building its supposed technology.” The only people identified as involved in the company’s operation were Trump and Scott St. John, a game show producer that will supposedly be involved in TMTG’s streaming service, TMTG+, which is supposed to launch sometime in 2023.
An updated version of the TMTG investor report lists a “Technology Team,” but the members of the team are identified only by their first name and last initial. TMTG’s Chief Technology Officer (CTO) is Josh A. Who is Josh A? He may have worked for Apple, or Little Debbie Snacks, or Gab. TMTG does not specify. The “Technology Team,” TMTG warns, is “subject to change.” But don’t worry, if Josh A departs for greener pastures, TMTG can rely on their Chief Product Officer (CPO) Billy B.
On Monday, TMTG announced that Congressman Devin Nunes (R-CA) will be retiring from Congress to become the company’s CEO in January. Nunes has no experience in the media business and once sued a fictional cow for making fun of him on Twitter.
Writing in Bloomberg, Matt Levine concludes there is “almost no sign that TMTG is actually building a social network or a streaming platform or anything else.” Nevertheless, TMTG projects 121 million monetizable users and $3.6 billion in revenue by 2026. (In 2021, it more conservatively projects $1 million in revenue.)
Will TMTG’s rosy predictions come true? It seems very unlikely. But, critically, Trump does not have to meet these projections — or even stand up a real company — to make lots of money.
SPAC to the future
Just a few weeks after TMTG launched, it announced that it was merging with Digital World Acquisition Company (DWAC), which is a publicly-traded Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC). A SPAC, also known as a blank check company, is formed specifically to merge with another company and take it public. In this case, investors in DWAC would pay Trump $293 million in exchange for 18% to 25% of TMTG, which doesn’t really operate yet as a business.
Prior to merging with TMTG, a share of DWAC was valued at $10. Shortly after the merger was announced, DWAC stock, perhaps buoyed by Trump fans, was trading as high as $175 per share. It has since settled in at around $43, which still values TMTG at almost $1.6 billion. That’s not bad for a company that has no product, no users, no publicly identified executives, and no revenue. It is trading at $43 because that is what people are willing to pay for it.
TMTG has not “completed its merger with DWAC or made associated securities filings.” But if the deal closes in the first quarter of 2022, Trump and DWAC investors are likely to make a lot of money. Trump will get the proceeds from the initial deal and the investors will be able to realize a return by selling their shares. Trump will collect his money long before anyone figures out if TMTG is a real company — much less a profitable one.
The SEC has questions
In its initial SEC filing, DWAC represented that it had “not selected any specific business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, initiated any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any business combination target.”
Multiple media outlets, however, reported that DWAC CEO Patrick Orlando was involved in discussions with Trump months before DWAC began trading. The SEC is now seeking information “about [DWAC’s] trading policies and communications between the SPAC and Mr. Trump’s company.”
If the investigation determines that the deal between DWAC and TMTG was agreed to in advance, DWAC’s SEC filing could be considered “false or misleading with respect to [a] material fact.” That could be a violation of federal securities laws.
The money PIPE
The SPAC deal, if it is completed, will earn Trump $10 a share. But the company is currently trading at over $40 a share. How does Trump capture even more of that cash as soon as possible?
While the merger is pending, a SPAC and its target have the ability to privately sell more shares to raise capital. This is called a Private Investment in Public Entity (PIPE). On Saturday, TMTG announced a $1 billion PIPE investment. These shares will be purchased at a substantial discount from the current retail trading price. That means Trump, before TMTG has a single product or subscriber, could collect $1.3 billion.
But who is investing $1 billion in Trump’s virtually non-existent company? TMTG does not say. They identify the source of the cash as “a diverse group of institutional investors.” The identity of the investors is critical in light of Trump’s future political ambitions. He may run for president again in 2024. What if, for example, the investors include the Saudi sovereign wealth fund?
The structure of the PIPE deal, however, suggests that these investors are less interested in influencing a future president than fleecing retail traders for a quick buck. Levine notes that typically “in SPAC mergers, the PIPE investors can’t sell their stock the day after the merger closes.” Rather, the PIPE investors need to wait “a couple of months.” In this case, however, “DWAC and TMTG have promised the PIPE investors that they’ll be able to freely resell their stock the minute the merger closes.”
In other words, there seems to be a real push by these investors to flip these stocks immediately. The investors, whoever they are, seem to be keenly aware that time is not on their side. They want to be able to cash out before anyone gets too much information about how the company actually performs.
It’s a deal that makes Trump money and the investors money. The people holding the bag will be retail investors paying premium prices for a mirage of a company because they like Trump.
That group includes Marjorie Taylor-Green (R-GA), who bought between $15,000 and $50,000 worth of DWAC on the day it announced its merger with TMTG. She paid somewhere between $67.96 and $175 per share. That means she’s probably already lost about half of her investment — and possibly a lot more.
On his campaign website, Burns rages against LGBTQ rights and abortion. As you may recall, in 2016 Burns literally jumped out of his chair and fled a CNN interview after he was busted for lying about his military service and for lying about having a college degree. Burns later claimed he was “attacked” by CNN because he’s a black Trump supporter.
Dr. Mehmet Oz, the celebrity surgeon and host of television’s The Dr. Oz Show, has launched a campaign for Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate seat now held by Pat Toomey, who is retiring. If Oz wins the Republican nomination, he will be the first Muslim-born individual to be nominated for a Senate seat by a major American political party.
But Oz is not a Muslim in practice. The son of Turkish immigrants, the 61-year-old cardiothoracic surgeon, who gained celebrity as a frequent guest on The Oprah Winfrey Show, affiliates himself with the Swedenborgian Church of North America after being introduced to the church by his wife, Bryan Athyn.
Wikipedia says the Swedenborgian Church of America “is one of the few Christian sects that draws its faith from the Bible as illuminated by the teachings of Emmanuel Swedenborg. The church’s website says it is “an open-minded, forward-looking Christian church drawing its faith from the Bible as illuminated by the teachings of Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772). If you have serious questions about traditional Christian theology, yet wish to explore the deeper aspects of the Bible and the Christian faith, we may be what you are looking for. We worship a God of unconditional love, whose warmth and light can deepen your inner life and give direction to your spiritual journey.”
“When I meditate, I go to that place where truth lives,” Oz told Religion News Service. “I can see what reality really is, and it’s so much easier to form good relationships with him.”
In 2016, President Trump named Oz to the Council and Sports, Fitness and Nutrition. Oz subsequently endorsed the use of the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine to combat COVID-19, which Trump also touted in office.
Announcing his Senate campaign on the Washington Examiner‘s website on Tuesday (Nov. 30), Oz made an oblique reference to his Turkish American background, writing: “I witnessed my family’s sacrifices. My father grew up dirt poor (literally sleeping on a dirt floor) and loved this country as much as anyone already here.”
While his mother adhered to the secular vision of modern Turkey’s founder, Kemal Ataturk, Oz’s father was a strict Muslim, according to a 2012 interview for Henry Louis Gates Jr.’ PBS television programFaces of America. As a young man, Mehmet Oz said, he rebelled against both traditions and chose to align his views with Sufism, a mystical Islamic sect.
