Whatever she said about Donald Trump in the past means squat, given his "positive success" in running the country.

Rep. Elise Stefanik's (R-NY), who is a dogged Trump surrogate and shortlisted to join his ticket as V.P., appeared on CNN's "Out Front" ahead of the debate and was confronted with a series of digs she lobbed publicly over the years slamming the former president's character and policy shortfalls.

"On the issue though, of President Trump — obviously your views have changed and that is a fact congresswoman for many things you said many areas of policy on which you have vehemently disagreed with the former president," said Burnett. "Here are a few things that you have said in the past that stood out to me."

The congresswoman was then played a montage of various statements dating back years knocking the 45th president including: "I think she has an insulting to women", "I disagree with his belief that we should have a religious test for immigrants to this country," "I don't think that's who we are, that's not according to our Constitutional principles."

Burnett then asked Stefanik why she's shifted her positions.

"I mean, at one point you said in 2015, there's no place for what Trump said about Muslims in this country — why has your view on Trump changed?"

And Stefanik, whose grin throughout the interview suddenly straightened out to stoic, clapped back and went on a fulsome explanation of how she is so proud for being so bold as to back the MAGA leader.

"I'm proud to be the first member to endorse him, for his reelection," she said. "We saw the success, and the most successful president in my lifetime..."

She rattled off Trump's particular effort to "rebuild the nation's military."

But she claimed her support of Trump has cost her nonstop scorn from the left.

"I was smeared by Democrats for doing so," she said.

"Now we're seeing the failure of Joe Biden," she said. "So I'm proud to be a top surrogate. And you know what more and more people who maybe were hesitant ten years ago, it's about President Trump — they are now supporting him today. We welcome them."

Watch below or click here.

'Your views have changed': CNN reminds Elise Stefanik of past public Trump disdainwww.youtube.com

A federal judge, who has been involved in former President Donald Trump's Jan. 6 Capitol election insurrection criminal case — took some creative license in his decision to nix a federal approval for Indiana's Medicaid expansion plan.

Chief Judge James "Jeb" Boasberg paraphrased pop phenom Taylor Swift's track "Exile" in the middle of his formal 66-page ruling.

"Because they’ve seen this film before (and they didn’t like the ending), Defendants seek to leave out the side door," reads the Memorandum Opinion.

The mention was cited at the bottom of the page to: "Taylor Swift, Exile, on Folklore (Republic Records 2020)."

The line harks directly to the lyrics of "Exile" that features the chorus: "I think I've seen this film before / And I didn't like the ending /I'm not your problem anymore / So who am I offending now? / You were my crown, now I'm in exile, seein' you out / I think I've seen this film before /So I'm leaving out the side door."

The mention was cited at the bottom of the page to: "Taylor Swift, Exile, on Folklore (Republic Records 2020)."

The line harks directly to the lyrics of "Exile" that features the chorus: "I think I've seen this film before / And I didn't like the ending /I'm not your problem anymore / So who am I offending now? / You were my crown, now I'm in exile, seein' you out / I think I've seen this film before /So I'm leaving out the side door."

POLITICO reporter Kyle Cheney admired the move, tweeting: "Judge Boasberg sneaks a Taylor Swift reference into a 66-page opinion overturning HHS' approval of Indiana's Medicaid waiver."

"Did not have Judge Boasberg pegged as a Swiftie," former prosecutor and MSNBC legal expert Joyce Vance responded.

This is not only disrespectful to litigants but it makes opinions harder to read," Constitutional attorney Anthony Michael Kreis wrote Thursday. "Stop it. You’re a judge. You aren’t cool. (Unless I know you personally.)"

After losing his bid to fill the congressional seat in the Colorado district ditched by Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) — Ron Hanks is tossing a lit match at the GOP tinderbox.

"I don’t take anything that happens personally. But what I do see is the Republican Party has basically made itself irredeemable,” the MAGA hardliner who served as a combat veteran for 32 years told The Independent.

The choice of words was curious as it harks back to former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's nose-pinching remarks disparaging MAGA and Trump's base of supporters back in 2016.

“Just be grossly generalistic, you could put half of Trump’s supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables, right” she said to laughs and claps.

She considered those who fit in the basket and saluted Trump's rhetoric on social media to be "irredeemable."

The candidate who ran on his Jan. 6 attendance bonafides in the state's 3rd district was outdone on Tuesday with a double digit loss by a newcomer to politics in attorney Jeff Hurd, who Hanks likened to an "empty suit" who was backed by the “establishment” Colorado Republican old guard.

Each was vying to replace fellow GOP lawmaker Boebert, who fled for more conservative pastures in the 4th district seat that had been vacated by retired Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO) where she took a primary victory.

But Hanks appeared to fear — even relish — that the Republican Party will likely meet certain doom.

“This party should fall,” Hanks said. “This party should collapse. We are so infiltrated with people that have impure motives that we can’t trust people in our own party. It’s like having the enemy wearing our uniform in war.”

For Hanks there was just no sunny side to admire now that his campaign fell short.

He claimed it's also proven in the numbers.

“And so I think we’ve set ourselves up here for a Republican party that can’t redeem itself, and that’s just cold analytics,” said Hanks.

And worst of all, it could lead to more divide in an already fractured country.

“Right now, we’ve got a government that we don’t own, that we can’t control, that we cannot even get a foothold into — and I guess we have to remember the goodness in this, because if it gets to civil war... it’s going to be hard to know who’s on the wrong side.”

To hawk limited edition coffee mugs as merch, former President Donald Trump complained about being "tortured" when he was arrested.

The black mugshots lure potential donors with a penchant for Trump with the question: "Do you like coffee?"

It then features a pair of "limited edition" mugs with the black and white version of Trump's mugshot snapped when the 45th president was booked into Fulton County Jail last August.

It has since become a searing image and rallying cry for MAGA diehards, emblazoned on T-shirts, mugs and can sleeves under the banner "Never Surrender."

“President Trump’s mugshot serves as a reminder to the American people that Joe Biden is weaponizing our Justice Department against his opponent, and that despite enduring these unprecedented political attacks, President Trump continues to fight to secure our border, rebuild our economy, and end the chaos that Biden’s weakness has created around the world,” Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said at the time.

Some were baffled by Trump's claim that he suffered when he was processed like any other American citizen.

"What does Trump mean by this," asks @NethingButNot. "Like they inconvenienced/annoyed him or that they did something painful/harmful like pulling his fingernails out?I highly doubt the Secret Service allowed Atlanta PD to truly torture Trump."

@FudginPolitics also was lost on the accusation to curry cash from donors.

"Trump thinks torture includes photographs and fingerprinting," the post reads. "Was he strip-searched? How many criminals are laughing at him?"

"Trump is claiming he was 'tortured ' while getting his mug shot taken at the Fulton County jail," writes another Twitter/X user. "John McCain knew all about REAL TORTURE, unlike Trump who has NO IDEA what 'TORTURE ; is or he would have REQUIRED Hospitalization.

The late Arizona senator had been highly respected for his military service where he suffered being tortured as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. Trump has repeatedly disdained McCain's sacrifice, saying in 2015, "He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren't captured."

And Robt Wright took comedic license to knock Trump's torture claim, tweeting: "Seeing Trump's mug decorating a mug will torture anyone."

A playbook belonging to Republican Sen. Ted Cruz — which appears to show how he aims to raise cash to get him reelected for another term in office — was found in the Senate refectory and scooped up by a reporter who posted it online.

Pablo Manríquez, co-publisher of "Capitol Press" and who describes himself on X as a "hill reporter and oil painter," landed on the tranche of briefing papers that contain innocuous information about the weather in New York this week, but also phone numbers and addresses of such notables such as billionaire Ron Lauder and Wall Street scion John Loeb.

"Someone, presumably a staffer, left a folder full of briefing documents on TED CRUZ donors in the Senate Refectory," Manríquez wrote on X. He then posted a thread of some of the senator's detailed itinerary and talking points to schmooze would-be deep-pocketed donors.

Cruz, 53, is being challenged by 40-year-old Rep. Colin Allred (D-TX), who served three terms in office and, before becoming a civil rights attorney, played four seasons in the NFL.

The documents offer a glimpse into the methods and tidbits that Cruz is prompted to bring up, as well as specific dollar amounts he should seek from each person. The document also coaches him on what to say during the meetups.

Raw Story reached out to Cruz's reps Tuesday night and didn't receive a response as of publishing.

The documents outline a busy week for the Texas senator.

In D.C., the documents show Cruz is to appear at a Capitol Grille dinner, and will hope to compel eight donors who've pledged $19,500. So far, they've paid nothing.

On Wednesday, Cruz will head up to New York City to lunch with Lauder at the posh eatery Cipriani. He's then expected to meet with Loeb at the Knickerbocker Club.

Afterward, Cruz's plans call for heading to billionaire Mike Novogratz's home, the address of which appears unredacted.

When Manríquez was challenged about posting all the documents on his feed would effectively force Cruz's camp to alter their schedule, he seemed unbothered.

"Not sure why this was revealed here but if the intent was to confront Cruz [sic], you've [sic] just ensured they change literally every time and location," writes @JefeJengibre.

Manríquez wrote back: "Then he should give me an exclusive on all his donor relations, as a thank you."

Cruz is hunting for financial support in New York City, where he once slammed for its questionable "values."

Cruz said, "there are many, many wonderful, wonderful working men and women in the state of New York, but everyone understands that the values in New York City are socially liberal or pro-abortion or pro- gay-marriage, [and] focus around money and the media.”

The dig prompted outcry throughout the city and a rare pledge of support for then-candidate Donald Trump.

Fox News anchor Jesse Watters hopes we forget Wildwood, New Jersey. Or he possibly forgot about it.

It was a rally along the Jersey Shore back on May 11, that featured former President Donald Trump awkwardly heaping praise to a fictional, flesh-eating serial killer.

"'Silence of the Lambs' — has anyone ever seen a 'Silence of the Lambs?','" Trump asked.

“They’re emptying out their mental institutions into the United States, our beautiful country,” Trump said. “And now the prison populations all over the world are down. They don’t want to report that. The mental institution population is down because they’re taking people from insane asylums and from mental institutions — you know what the difference is, right? An insane asylum is a mental institution on steroids.”

And so when the presumptive Republican nominee and minted convict appeared in Washington D.C. on Thursday to speak to the House Republican caucus — he reportedly complimented Hannibal

"Apparently, the former president made reference to Hannibal Lecter and said, nice guy, quote, he even had a friend over for dinner," CNN's Jim Acosta reported Wednesday morning. "So we've seen Trump out on the campaign trail praising Hannibal Lecter."

"Apparently, he did it again this morning," he added. "Not sure we fully understand the context of that."

But Watters maintains it was more "fake news".

"We weren't inside the room," said Watters. "But neither was CNN. And that's the point."

He continued: "So we do what journalists do — we went to our sources who were actually there."

He then asked what was asked of the sources: Did Trump really call a flesh-eating serial killer a nice guy?"

Watters answered his own question.

"No. Trump was joking that if he said something about Hannibal Lecter the fake news media would say he was praising him. And CNN took the bait."

Social media users brutally fact-checked Watters.

"TRUMP DID IT ON VIDEO," wrote @AntiToxicPeople.

"They love gaslighting," said @DeathMetalMKF.

"I think they're trying to convince themselves at this point," wrote @Double_Anarchy3.

LIVE: Donald Trump holds MAGA rally in New Jerseywww.youtube.com

A Texas man was nabbed after authorities said he lodged surly threats to an FBI agent working on the Hunter Biden investigation.

Timothy Muller, 43, was brought into custody outside of his Fort Worth home Thursday morning, according to the six-page criminal complaint and first reported by Politico's senior legal affairs reporter Kyle Cheney.

It details how Muller placed phone calls and sent texts to the FBI agent's government-issued cell phone.

"You can run, but you can’t [expletive] hide," according to one alleged voicemail left by Muller. "So, here's how it's going to go, [Trump's] going to win the re-election and then we're gonna [expletive] go through the FBI and just start throwing you [expletive] into jail. Or, you can steal another election, and then the guns will come out, and we’ll hunt you [expletive] down and slaughter you like the traitorous dogs you are in your own [expletive] homes. In your own [expletive] beds. The last thing you’ll ever hear are the horrified shrieks of your widow and orphans. And then you know what we’re going to do? … We’re going to slaughter your whole [expletive] family."

Muller also allegedly sent several text messages to the agent, including "Did you [expletive] really think you were going to disenfranchise 75 million Americans and not die? Lol."

The threats came after President Joe Biden's 54-year-old son was found guilty in a Delaware federal court on all three felony counts in his trial related to lying on a 2018 revolver purchase.

Muller was hit with interstate threatening communications and influencing, impeding, or retaliating against a federal official.

If convicted on both charges, he faces up to 30 years in prison.

An appellate court yet again declared that Democrat Katie Hobbs is the rightful governor of Arizona as it rejected Republican Kari Lake’s latest challenge to her 2022 election loss, unanimously backing the lower court's decisions.

In Judge Sean Brearcliffe's 23-page opinion, he surgically explained the various reasons why Lake's appeal efforts came up short.

"The court did not ignore the evidence Lake offered; Lake’s expert’s methodology was contradicted at trial by election officials put forward by Hobbs," the papers say. "In the court’s ruling, it specifically weighed Lake’s evidence against testimony offered by election officials ,and found that the election officials’ testimony―that meaningful verification had occurred―was more credible."

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He concluded that the "substantial evidence" secured the favorable result to Hobbs because "we cannot say the trial court’s determination was clearly erroneous."

One of the arguments that Lake and her supporters have tried to peddle is blaming Maricopa County Co-Elections Director Scott Jarrett for being untruthful about the printer issues that affected some of the 2022 Voting Centers on Election Day, according to AZ Law.

ALSO READ: 'Most powerful thing': Witness details Trump's last moments before 'shocking' verdict

The Court of Appeals analyzed it and determined: "At best, this is a misunderstanding between an attorney and a witness that was ironed-out during a trial."

Lake, a MAGA loyal Republican who is campaigning to win a U.S. Senate seat, filed her initial election challenge in December 2022 after she was bested in the governor’s race by Democrat Katie Hobbs by more than 17,000 votes.

The candidate never conceded to Hobbs and protested that the election was stolen, despite her claims failing to convince judges in December 2022 and May 2023 trials, as well as multiple appeals in between the two.

And yet whatever setback legally, Lake has stayed defiant, and continue to preach that the election was somehow compromised.

“Everything I’ve ever said about the elections is true and I stand by it,” Lake said in March.

Lake's critics on Twitter were quick to relish her latest defeat.

"Waste of tax payers money," writes @resist_xrp_user.

One created a composite of Lake up in age with grey hair, circa 2050 and still fighting to overturn the 2020 election. Another mockup of a Ben & Jerry's ice cream flavor called "Kari Lake Lost" featuring "salty MAGA tears" and "big chunks of election denial."

"When Kari Lake loses either in her primary or in the general will she pursue a claim to be the 'real' senator from Arizona," asks @marysjogren1.

Debby Williams appeared to indulge on the defeat in court for Lake. "Another loss for Kari Lake!"

"How many times has Hobbs won the election now," reads a post by @gatesisthedevil. "I’ve lost count."

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) has defeated rival Catherine Templeton and Marine Corps veteran Bill Young to notch a Republican primary victory to defend her South Carolina House seat.

"We did it - You, Lowcountry voters did it," Mace celebrated on X. "A thousand times over - THANK YOU!"

The victory was also independently confirmed by AP and the New York Times, among others.

The win hands firebrand Mace the chance to serve a third term representing South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District.

Her GOP victory defeats former Speaker Kevin McCarthy's attempt to funnel funds and backing to Templeton in an effort to beat Mace.

Templeton, who served as the state's former director of labor, licensing, and regulation openly admitted it was Mace’s vote to oust McCarthy as House speaker last year that “absolutely” inspired her to run against Mace.

McCarthy contributed to Templeton's campaign through his leadership PAC.

Prior to taking home the win, Mace suggested that McCarthy had it out for her.

Mace was one of the so-called "Crazy Eight" — lawmakers who unceremoniously removed McCarthy in October.

Late last year, the House of Representatives passed a motion to vacate, with Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz spearheading the effort and Democrats voting with a handful of Republicans.

"It’s about revenge,” Mace told NBC News about her South Carolina competitor.

The Mace race was just one of McCarthy's projects. Next week House Freedom Caucus chair Bob Good’s primary in Virginia, as well as Reps. Eli Crane (R-AZ) and Matt Gaetz (R-FL) — have primaries.

MAGA leader and presumptive GOP nominee former President Donaldendorsed Mace.

"Nancy Mace worked hard campaigning across South Carolina in support of our Record-Breaking WIN," he wrote.

"In Congress, she is fighting to Secure the Border, Strengthen our Military, Support our Veterans, Uphold the Rule of Law, Stop Political Weaponization, and Protect and Defend our always under siege Second Amendment."

Smartmatic, the voting company accused of manipulating the 2020 election tally for President Joe Biden, subpoenaed four Fox Corp. board members as part of its $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News.

The company notched a small court victory now that the move will force Anne Dias, Jacques Nasser, Chase Carey, and Roland Hernandez to produce critical documentation, The Washington Post reported Monday.

The board members are supposedly key to Smartmatic's case alleging that executives at Fox not only were privy to repeated and unsubstantiated claims of election fraud made by allies of former President Donald Trump were bogus but were unwilling to move a finger to pull back on the perpetuation of them.

“The Board members witnessed Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch’s control of Fox News; exchanged relevant emails that Smartmatic has used in depositions and will mark as trial exhibits; attended meetings during and after Fox News broadcast the defamatory publications; and discussed the 2020 election and the competitive threats Fox News faced to its brand,” Smartmatic lawyers wrote to Judge David Cohen earlier this year.

“Accountability and responsibility do not stop with Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch,” the company's lead attorney J. Erik Connolly, told The Post. “Smartmatic plans to pursue Fox’s board members as well to determine why they allowed the company’s most valuable asset, Fox News, to spread disinformation about the 2020 election.”

Smartmatic brought a lawsuit against Fox in 2021. It accused some of its personalities and guests (such as attorneys Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell) of undermining the company's reputation as a trustworthy voting steward.

Fox has tried to suggest its network’s First Amendment-protected right to permit coverage of the election, and that happened to involve voting fraud questions.

It joined Dominion Voting Systems to debunk suggestions it had rigged the election against Trump.

In April, Fox News agreed to pay Dominion Voting Systems $787.5 million to dodge a trial that likely would have exposed how the network promoted unsubstantiated stories that the 2020 presidential election was corrupted.

One legal expert says a surprising person should want Judge Juan Merchan to lift his gag order against the newly convicted former President Donald Trump.

Elliot Williams, former Deputy Assistant Attorney General, appeared on CNN's "The Situation Room" to argue Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg should not challenge Trump's new demand to have his gag order lifted.

"If I were the prosecution here, why not throw this out," he said. "It's almost in their interests to have the gag order lifted because you can almost assume that this defendant [Trump] is going to keep speaking out in a manner that the judge could actually use it."

The former president's attorneys submitted a letter Monday arguing the order creates “continued restrictions on the First Amendment rights of President Trump."

Trump was found guilty of all 34 counts of falsifying business recordsto fudge a series of payments executed by his then fixer Michael Cohen to buy the silence of women alleging affairs with him in order to corrupt the 2016 election.

Trump denied the affairs and plans to appeal the verdict.

Merchan muzzled defendant Trump to protect him from spewing disparaging statements against witnesses, jurors, court staff, and his and Bragg.

Trump was found to have violated the terms of the gag order, forcing Merchan to fine him $1,000 apiece, and then threaten to jail him if he failed to stop.

“This is a scam," Trump said. "There’s a rigged trial. It shouldn’t have been in that venue. We shouldn’t have had that judge.”

That kind of lack of remorse may come back to bite Trump, Williams argued.

"So what we in English recall remorse, what lawyers would call acceptance of responsibility — is a factor that plays an at sentencing," said Williams. "And a defendant that is not showing this remorse or acceptance of responsibility can be can under the lobby sentence much higher."

Tim Parlatore, who used to represent Trump in his federal classified documents case before he quit it, agreed with Williams.

"Elliott's absolutely right," he told Blitzer. "I mean, there's a difference between what I want a judge to order my client to do and what I as an attorney would tell my client to do.

"I think that it is in the prosecution's best interest to allow him to speak so that they could use things as sentencing."

Conversely, Parlatore thinks Trump's campaign should run interference against his attorneys.

"Quite frankly, I think it's in the campaign's best interest to leave the gag order in place because he gets a lot more support from saying, 'Hey, I'm not allowed to talk!'"

Watch the clip below or click here.

'Absolutely right:' Expert's shocking reason Alvin Bragg should lift hush money gag orderwww.youtube.com

Former President Donald Trump's onetime lawyer Jenna Ellis can't practice law for three years, according to a new report.

Ellis agreed to the suspension of her Colorado law license after pleading guilty to participating in a conspiracy to overturn Trump's election loss in Georgia in 2020, according to NBC's local affiliate 9 News.

Ellis turned prosecution witness when she admitted to one count of aiding and abetting false statements.

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Ellis became the third attorney associated with the former president to plead guilty in the sprawling racketeering case in Fulton County, where Trump and 18 others were indicted for their roles in attempting to invalidate the state's 2020 election results to President Joe Biden.

Pro-Trump attorneys Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro also took guilty pleas.

As part of her guilty plea, Ellis was required to pay $5,000 to the Georgia secretary of state, perform 100 hours of community service, and write an apology letter to the residents of Georgia.

When she was first censured by Colorado's Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel (OARC) in March 2023, Ellis admitted to making 10 “misrepresentations” on TV and social media during Trump's post-election battle to consolidate power after being defeated at the ballot box.

The result which found that Ellis' misconduct caused "significant actual harm" by being a part of having "undermined the American public's confidence in the presidential election process" was actually a reprieve given two watchdog groups sought to have the attorney be disbarred.

"Attorneys are often disbarred after being convicted of a felony, particularly where the conviction flows from criminal acts committed while acting as an attorney," the court papers read, the news outlet reported. "However, disbarment is not automatic, even for felony convictions."

"While disbarment is the presumptive sanction for [Ellis'] misconduct, it is significant that her criminal culpability was due to her conduct as an accessory, not as a principal," the stipulation says.

The suspension takes effect on July 2.

In a letter submitted as part of the settlement agreement, Ellis argued "Stop The Steal" campaign was both "cynical" and misleading, while also claiming there are bad actors on both sides.

"I do not do this as a political calculation," said Ellis. "I was wrong to be involved."

The American public is getting face-planted with Not Safe For Work details involving Donald Trump's alleged condom-less romp with porn star Stormy Daniels and getting robbed of the more salient trial that could expose his actions related to the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

"I'm devastated," said Alyssa Farah Griffin, who worked as Trump's White House Communications Director.

Her CNN appearance revealed how she texts with fellow officials who worked at the pleasure of the president before he was voted out of office in 2020.

They are collectively frustrated in their text thread that Americans may go to the ballot box on November 5 having only been able to evaluate Trump on his garish falsifying business records trial — and be shortchanged from a far more significant election subversion verdict.

"I've got a text thread with former Trump White House officials who testified against him in January 6," she told Jake Tapper on "The Lead." "And we just are stunned that this is the case we're getting before the election.

The House Jan. 6 Committee spent a year and a half to build a final report having logged more than 1,000 interviews with witnesses. The panel pushed for criminal prosecution.

Griffin believes much of that evidence, not to mention the kinds of testimony from the mouths of former Vice President Mike Pence and former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows among others would have been game-changing.

"That with all the evidence that was done, the Committee work that Department of Justice — it's very likely the public will not get a resolution on the January 6 charges ahead of the election," said Griffin. "It is so for much more important than anything that's been debated in this courtroom today and it also is what would have influence with voters."

The federal criminal case is on ice until the Supreme Court rules on whether or not they subscribe to Trump's personal belief that as president he is untouchable from criminal prosecution.

Watch below or click the link.

'We just are stunned': ex Trump WH aide shares shock in text thread with former officialswww.youtube.com

In a lengthy sit-down with independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., MSNBC's Ari Melber on "The Beat" confronted the third-party candidate about his suspected bromance with former President Donald Trump, his opponent and presumptive Republican nominee for the 2024 election.

Melber mentioned how RFK Jr. "seems warm" to Trump and "he is clearly warm towards you."

"I would definitely disagree with that," he said. "He just called me a 'radical effing liberal." (A Republican group reportedly is launch that profane campaign.)

Melber doubled down. "But he also said you're a common sense guy and you guys in public have exchanged warm words; I think that's fair. And you said you're proud —

"I have said good things about President Biden too," RFK interjected.

Melber then confirmed that Kennedy voted for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton when she ran against Trump in 2016.

"What, since 2016, in his first term and then him refusing to leave office peacefully and January 6th and everything since then has made you warmer towards him," asked Melber.

Said Kennedy: "I can explain I'm running against him so obviously I don't want him to be president of the United States and I don't think he did a good job.

"And if you go look at my speeches, my statements, I am not mean-spirited and I think President Trump's and President Biden's administrations have been catastrophic for this country; they've run up a $34 trillion debt."

He then added that Trump and Biden have "both been catastrophic."

At one point both Melber and Kennedy clashed with the latter accusing the host of stoking vitriol.

"What have I said today that is vitriolic," Melber asked.

Kennedy snapped back: "... that is more vitriolic, more polarized, more poisonous and at any time since the American Civil War; and it's all being amplified by the social media algorithms. And it's hard to see a way out of that."

He continued: "If somebody doesn't come along and say, 'I'm not going to participate in that, and even people act crazy on both sides, I'm not going to be part of that craziness—'"

Melber played a medley of recorded statements Trump made over the past decade including denigrating migrants and praising White Nationalists and "convicted seditionists."

"People don't see what you seem to be saying, which is a type of false equivalence; do you see something different about that this election," Melber told Kennedy.

"This is why I say you're feeding the vitriol," Kennedy countered. "You're trying to get me to hate on President Trump."

Melber disagreed. He said he has laid out Trump's own statements and actions and that Trump is right now saying he has a "license to kill, license to coup, will pardon all those people — you seem to be saying, discussing that as vitriolic. No, it's not."

Watch below or click here.

'You're trying to get me to hate on President Trump': RFK spars with MSNBC's Ari Melberwww.youtube.com

Donald Trump perked up when he heard his own voice played aloud in court.

"That was the voice we heard first," said legal analyst Terri Austin during an appearance on CNN's "Out Front." "We were all surprised. I thought we were gonna hear [Michael] Cohen or [Keith] Davidson or someone else — but we heard Trump and I think everybody looked up including Donald Trump because he heard his own voice."

The startling moment came on another day in the Lower Manhattan court where former President Donald Trump is defending himself against 34 charges of fudging business records to hide six-figure payments to an alleged mistress in order to keep sexual tales quiet and manipulate the 2016 election.

The recording is about two minutes long and dated Sept. 6, 2016.

It was captured by Trump's former attorney and fixer Michael Cohen. Both men can be heard conversing.

"I need to open up a company for the transfer for all of that info regarding our friend David," Cohen said in the secretly recorded phone call. "I am all over that, and I spoke to Allen [Weisselberg] about it when it comes time for the financing."

"What financing?" Trump counters.

"We'll have to pay him something," Cohen said.

Cohen was explaining in cryptic terms the purchase the rights to McDougal’s story from The National Enquirer parent company American Media Inc., (AMI).

"Pay with cash ... check," Trump stated, according to the transcript.

Cohen cautions: “No, no!”

Trumps attorney Emil Bove attempted to question the legitimacy of the recording, suggesting because it was coming from Cohen's phone, it may have been "subject to the risk of manipulation."

Austin believes the shift in Trump's body language in court when he heard his own recorded voice amplified for everyone — especially the jury — to listen to was significant.

"I think it means that he knows that there is some solid evidence against him," she said.

Watch below or click the link.

Jurors who arrive at former President Donald Trump’s first criminal trial on April 15 will be asked a wide array of questions including if they ever supported the Proud Boys or Antifa, court records show.

The 42 questions hundreds of Trump's prospective peers in his New York City trial were revealed Monday in a court document first reported by MSNBC's Katie Phang.

Among those questions: "Have you ever considered yourself a supporter of or belonged to any of the following: the QAnon movement, Proud Boys, Oathkeepers, Three Percenters, Boogaloo Boys, [and] Antifa?"

Jurors will also be asked if they read books or listen to podcasts by former Trump attorney and fixer Michael Cohen or former Manhattan prosecutor Mark Pomerantz, court records show.

"If so, please let us know if what you have heard or read affects your ability to be a fair and impartial juror in this case," the it reads.

Other questions target news publications or social media sites including the New York Times, Newsman, TikTok, and Trump's own Truth Social.

The questionnaire was included in a letter submitted by New York Justice Juan Merchan on Monday to defense attorneys as well as Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who filed the 34-count indictment against Trump.

Bragg charged Trump with "falsifying New York business records in order to conceal damaging information and unlawful activity from American voters before and after the 2016 election."

Trump pleaded not guilty.

Bragg accuses Trump of falsifying dozens of business records to keep hidden cash paid to adult film star Stormy Daniels weeks before the 2016 presidential election.

As Bragg contends, the scheme was part of a wider effort to spike unflattering stories, including supposed relations with former Playboy model Karen McDougal.

Matt Schlapp, who heads the American Conservative Union, reportedly paid nearly a half-million-dollar settlement to make a sexual assault accusation go away, CNN reported.

Schlapp paid his accuser 40-year-old Carlton Huffman $480,000 by tapping into an insurance policy, a source close to the matter told the network.

On Tuesday, Huffman said he decided to drop the lawsuit against Schlapp claiming it was a "misunderstanding."

“The claims made in my lawsuits were the result of a complete misunderstanding, and I regret that the lawsuit caused pain to the Schlapp family,” Huffman said. “The Schlapps have advised that the statements made about me were the result of a misunderstanding, which was regrettable."

CNN's reporting that Schlapp paid a significant sum to Huffman screams of contradiction.

For Huffman himself added in the same statement: "Neither the Schlapps nor the ACU paid me anything to dismiss my claims against them.”

CNN cited multiple sources privy to the allegations lodged by Huffman that there was in fact a financial settlement completed via an insurance company.

When the network reached Huffman, he didn't deny the monies made through an insurance policy, saying only, “I am only legally allowed to say five words, and that is ‘We have resolved our differences.’ Those are the only five words that I’m legally allowed to say.”

Huffman, who earned a rep as a staple in North Carolina GOP politics, was suing both Matt Schlapp and his wife Mercedes for $9.4 million in damages for sexual battery and defamation.

He originally accused Schlapp of “aggressively fondling” his “genital area in a sustained fashion” while he drove Schlapp back to his hotel from a bar while working a campaign event for failed candidate Herschel Walker.

“I’m not backing away,” Huffman said last year. “I’m not going to drop this. Matt Schlapp did what he did, and he needs to be held accountable.”

After the squashing of the lawsuit, Schlapp publicly waved his clean hands, stating: “From the beginning, I asserted my innocence."

"Our family was attacked, especially by a left-wing media that is focused on the destruction of conservatives regardless of the truth and the facts," he then added.

Going after the "Biden Crime Family" is costing House Oversight Chair James Comer (R-KY) and his family dearly — so he's passing around a figurative collection plate in the form of an email to raise support.

“I ask you to take the time to read this email in its entirety,” writes Comer, who along with Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-OH), have been spearheading an impeachment inquiry hinged on the theory that Biden laundered international bribes through his son Hunter's foreign business dealings.

“I spent a lot of time writing it and did my best to make every word count. ... If you don’t read it, nobody will.”

The Washington Post's columnist Philip Bump did read it, then knocked Comer for its "broad strokes" to claim "he’s fighting the good fight against nefarious foes and suffering damage that can only be treated with the soothing balm of cash."

Bump's focuses on Comer's platitudes to win over readers, with the congressman going so far as to say that he and his family are "being put through this," without explaining "what the 'this' is.”

Moreover, despite Comer's findings being sparse so far, he claims in the letter that he's nailed the Bidens.

“I’ve presented mountains of evidence confirming Joe Biden’s involvement in his family’s influence-peddling scheme," his email reads. "And I just had a group of the Biden family’s business confidants publicly testify about the first family’s criminal activity.”

But Bump fact-checked Comer.

"None of that is true, including the part about the 'group' of 'confidants'," he wrote.

Bump states Comer merely "chaired a hearing involving two people who had worked briefly with members of Biden’s family."

And yet, Comer's taking victory laps.

“At any other time in history,” his email adds, “that would have been the final nail in the coffin of the Biden Crime Family’s reign of corruption.”

Again, Bump injects sobriety: "If what he wrote had been true, perhaps," he writes. "But it wasn’t."

Comer shames Democrats for supposedly choosing "their party over their country and the truth at every turn."

“That’s why I am preparing criminal referrals as the culmination of my investigation,” he adds.

To do so, Comer is already hedging the next White House occupier.

“When President Trump returns to the White House it’s critical the new leadership at the DOJ have everything they need to prosecute the Biden Crime Family and deliver swift justice.”

Bump needles Comer's suggestion that he's banking on the next administration since Biden's DOJ hasn't proven supportive, writing, "It’s a clever pivot, from throwing up his hands at the inevitable inaction of the Biden Justice Department to making his efforts part of Donald Trump’s broader pledge of retribution."

Bernie Moreno won the contest to become the GOP's candidate to represent Ohio in the Senate, according to The Associated Press.

The Donald Trump-endorsed Cleveland businessman bested Secretary of State Frank LaRose and state Sen. Matt Dolan in what has been described as a contest between the Republican old guard and the devotees of former President Donald Trump.

Come autumn, Moreno will battle incumbent Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH).

The Donald Trump-endorsed Cleveland businessman bested Secretary of State Frank LaRose and state Sen. Matt Dolan in what has been described as a contest between the Republican old guard and the devotees of former President Donald Trump.

Come autumn, Moreno will battle incumbent Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH).

Some of the attacks tested the candidates' support of Trump and whether they would back him on his third bid for the White House.

Moreno managed to defeat Dolan, who had the support of Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and former Sen. Rob Portman, by labeling him a RINO — or Republican in Name Only.

Trump's pick to become his plus-one as he marches toward November 5 as the presumptive GOP nominee is purportedly narrowing.

The search for former President Donald Trump's Vice President has been whittled down to three top (and young) lawmakers: Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL), Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) are the top choices, according to GOP strategist and conservative blogger Ryan Girdusky.

Among the trio, all are more than a decade younger than Trump's former Vice President Mike Pence (who is 64). Rubio, who is 52, is the oldest of the lot. Vance is 39 and Britt is 42.

Britt landed in D.C. last year but her name has been floating around Trump's orbit since January.

She's been described as a rising star in the party after serving as an aide to retired Sen. Richard Shelby.

Vance has telegraphed that he's not seeking to be considered for the V.P. but is MAGA through and through and came to Trump's defense when fingers pointed at him in the aftermath of Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol.

“If I had been vice president, I would have told the states, like Pennsylvania, Georgia and so many others, that we needed to have multiple slates of electors and I think the U.S. Congress should have fought over it from there,” Vance said last month.

As for Rubio, who once ran against Trump during his first bid, he had been considered to join his ticket back in 2016, only for Rubio to reject it, according to The Washington Times.

Those that didn't make Girdusky's three include other names that have been bandied about including: South Dakota Gov, Kristi. Noem, Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), Arizona senatorial candidate Kari Lake, and his former press secretary and current Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

Ditto for former rivals Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and recent presidential dropout former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley.

“He certainly tells a lot of people they’re on the list. But I have been told fairly confidently by very top people that they are not on the list — that the list is just those three,” Mr. Girdusky was quoted in The Washington Examiner.

The Trump campaign has knocked the veepstakes prognostication.

“That is trash,” Chris LaCivita, senior advisor to the Trump campaign, said. “Anyone who claims that they know or that they have heard is a damn liar.

Former president Donald Trump has "set the stage" for U.S. judges to pummeled with death threats by disparaging the judiciary system and those who have sworn to uphold it, according to a new report.

Trump, the frontrunner Republican in the 2024 presidential race, also faces 91 felonies in four criminal court cases he has cast as a political witch hunt.

That rhetoric, according to a federal judge who handles dozens of Jan. 6 cases, comes at a price.

“I could not believe how many death threats I got," U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth told Reuters Thursday.

The judge, who has overcome threats from drug cartels and terrorists loyal to al Qaeda, has fielded phone calls to his home with "graphic vows to murder him," he told Reuters.

“We had never even contemplated that one of us could get killed in this job,” he said.

Reuters reports a recent spike in the annual average of threats against federal judges, court staff and prosecutors. Before Trump's 2016 campaign the average was about 1,180. Afterward, it tripled to 3,810.

In chatrooms, the tenor has been boiling, according to the report.

“Hanging judges for treason is soon to be on the menu boys!” reads one anonymous entry on the pro-Trump forum Patriots.

“Donald Trump set the stage,” retired Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor, who is also a Republican, said before hanging up her robe in 2022.

She continued to say the former president “gave permission by his actions and words for others to come forward and talk about judges in terms not just criticizing their decisions, but disparaging them and the entire judiciary.”

New York Attorney General Letitia James is ready to seize former President Donald Trump's iconic New York City buildings if he can't come up with the cash to pay his $355 million civil fraud fine, a new report shows.

"If he does not have funds to pay off the judgment, then we will seek judgment enforcement mechanisms in court, and we will ask the judge to seize his assets," James told ABC News.

"We are prepared to make sure that the judgment is paid to New Yorkers, and yes, I look at 40 Wall Street each and every day," she said.

Trump was hit with a $354.8 million fine and about $100 million in pre-judgment interest on Friday after Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron ruled that the 45th president, his two grown sons Eric and Don Jr. as well as the Trump Organization's former CFO Allen Weisselberg committed widespread fraud for years to secure sweet deals and loans.

"This is a venial sin, not a mortal sin,” Engoron wrote in an unflinching 92-page opinion. “They did not rob a bank at gunpoint. Donald Trump is not Bernard Madoff. Yet, defendants are incapable of admitting the error of their ways.”

Former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner on MSNBC's "The 11th Hour" believes the events that take place on March 1st will determine if the criminal case against Trump for stashing top-secret government documents at Mar-a-Lago will go to trial before the 2024 election.

Judge Aileen Cannon has already met separately behind closed doors with both prosecutors and Trump’s defense team to determine what additional classified materials can be shared with the former president as part of discovery.

But come March 1st, Kirschner expects Trump's team to play their favorite card: Delay.

However, Kirschner said that even if Trump succeeds in getting Cannon to delay the classified documents trial, it may give Judge Tanya Chutkan an opening to begin the D.C. election subversion trial in late May.

"We know that Donald Trump and his team of lawyers will try to convince Judge Cannon to try to kick the May 20th trial date," he said. "And you may not expect to hear this from me, but I almost hope that she does kick the May 20th trial date. Why? Because if the Supreme Court denies the stay in the absolute immunity issue and returns the case to [Judge] Tanya Chutkan in D.C. in the election interference case — would love to see her take that case and drop it on the docket for May 20th."

Kirchner also dug into the 45th president for failing to accept defeat after Judge Arthur Engoron hit him with a $350 million fraud verdict last week.

"[Trump] sings the song of a loser," he said. "He has an unabated string of losses. He has lost civil case after civil case... he lost a criminal case, albeit by proxy. His organization, his namesake, the Trump Organization that he headed up was criminally convicted of 17 felony counts for a 15-year-long criminal scheme to defraud. No, he wasn't at the counsel table, but he lost that case, right? That was his organization that he built, and he ran in a way that was corrupt."

Donald Trump is fighting to get time on his side as he urges the Supreme Court to halt his federal election trial while he continues to appeal his immunity case, according to a legal expert who's watching the case.

Every minute that clicks by as he works through appeals over his claim that the office of the president makes him immune from prosecution works in his favor, according to former litigator Lisa Rubin.

She pointed to the fact that the longer the court takes to decide, the more delay there is in his federal election interference case — and the closer he gets to a potential election win in November which could give him real power to either pardon himself or stop the prosecution.

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Earlier this month, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that he is not immune — meaning the federal case for election interference can go ahead. It had been paused while the immunity claim was being heard by the court.

But Trump on Monday urged the Supreme Court to continue the pause, saying it should remain until he can appeal the lower court's ruling.

"If the Supreme Court does not grant the stay that Trump is asking for, then all bets are off, Judge (Tanya) Chutkan goes back to pre-trial proceedings, even if at that point they were to grant a review, it would not impede her from returning the case to all of the motion practice and other things that need to happen to schedule a trial, or just setting that jury questionnaire in motion, which was supposed to happen in February," said Rubin while appearing on MSNBC with Alex Wagner.

But if the Supreme Court rules to continue the pause, Trump's trial edges closer to not happening before the election.

Rubin said the Supreme Court's not making an immediate decision suggests not all the justices are on the same page.

Rubin noted: "If on the other hand, we are waiting a few days, there is a school of thought on what we are waiting for is that there are a few folks that will dissent from whatever is going happen."

In Trump’s most recent filing to the court, he took aim at special counsel Jack Smith for opposing Trump’s request that the court pause the trial.

That final brief accused Smith of creating “the appearance of partisanship.”

It continued: “As before, there is no mystery about the Special Counsel’s motivation. Commentators across the political spectrum point to the obvious — the Special Counsel seeks to bring President Trump to trial and to secure a conviction before the November election in which President Trump is the leading candidate against President Biden.”

For Rubin, the former president's aim is to stall and, if the Supreme Court justices take their time, that means his efforts may prove to be successful.

"The court is giving those people time to write," she said. "Those could be dissent to the cert" — meaning enough justices agree to review the case — or "those could be dissent from a stay."

Either way, she submits, "The longer it takes to get to the ruling, the more likely it is that it will go in Donald Trump's favor, I believe."

Watch the video below or at this link.

The verdict in the $370 million fraud trial that could determine if Donald Trump can legally do business in the Empire State won't be coming until early to mid-February, a New York State court spokesperson told The Guardian.

A verdict was expected to be offered by Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron by January 31.

On Jan. 11 as closing arguments culminated, he said, “I will do my best" to meet that deadline.

Back in September, Engoron ruled that Trump and his eponymous corporation the Trump Organization were guilty of rampant fraud in a case brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James.

In his order, Engoron decided that Trump and his company duped banks, insurers, and other lenders by overhyping his assets and net worth to secure cushy deals and loans.

The consequences involved Trump's business licenses being rescinded and a court administrator assigned to keep tabs on the organization's operations.

Fatigue and a thickening caseload are testing Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor's reserve.

On stage during a Monday appearance at the University of California, Berkeley’s law school, the first Latina justice spoke to the demands of the gig's demands at her age since she was appointed by former President Barack Obama in 2009.

“And to be almost 70 years old, this isn’t what I expected,” Sotomayor told UC Berkeley Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky, according to Bloomberg Law. “But it is still work that is all-consuming, and I understand the impact the court has on people and on the country, and sometimes the world. And so it is what keeps me going.”

The crammed schedule for this term alone has been staggering, with the Court deciding some the most seminal issues of our time: abortion, gun, social media; and whether or not former President Donald Trump should be left on the presidential ballot.

“Cases are bigger," said Sotomayor. They’re more demanding. The number of amici are greater, and you know that our emergency calendar is so much more active. I’m tired.

"There used to be a time when we had a good chunk of the summer break. Not any more. The emergency calendar is busy almost on a weekly basis.”

When asked about the unflattering light the Supreme Court has in the country and confidence in the Constitution on the brink, the justice explained the only salve is to keep soldiering on.

“What choice do you have but to fight the good fight," she asked. "You can’t throw up your hands and walk away. And that’s not a choice. That’s an abdication. That’s giving up."

Inspiring her to fight the good fight are those freedom fighters who came before her, such as Justice Thurgood Marshall and Rep. John Lewis (D-G.A.), among others.

“How can you look at those people and say that you’re entitled to despair," she said. "You’re not," answering her own question.

She continued: "I’m not. Change never happens on its own. Change happens because people care about moving the arc of the universe towards justice.

"And it can take time, and it can take frustration."

As far as how decisions the Court made sit with her? Often not well.

“Why do you think I’m still writing," she asked. "I live in frustration. Every loss truly traumatizes me in my stomach and in my heart. But I have to get up the next morning and keep on fighting.”