Tag Archive for: DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Biden Admin Revives Russian Election Interference Bogeyman Just In Time For November

President Joe Biden’s administration launched new accusations of election interference at Russia nine weeks before the 2024 election.

The Department of Justice alleged Wednesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered several Russian companies to target Americans through the use of influencers and social media pages to spread propaganda and interfere with the election in a campaign titled “Doppelganger.” As a result of the indictment, the DOJ is charging two Russian-based employees of RT, a Russian state-controlled media outlet, with “conspiring to commit money laundering and to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act,” according to a press release.

Some internet domains discussed in the indictment, according to the DOJ, were used to try to influence American voters and push Russian propaganda to lower international support for Ukraine and sow discord.

It’s not clear that the operation made a dent in American political discourse. One account cited in the indictment, a Twitter profile named “CNN California,” had just 7 followers. The indictment laid out a scheme to hire American political commentators for a new YouTube Channel, which garnered only 16 million views in nearly 2,000 videos across 10 months, for an average of just 8,000 views per video.

In all, the scheme had a budget of around $10,000,000, according to the DOJ.

The accusations come just two months before the presidential election and days after Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg admitted that he regretted censoring social media posts at the behest of the Biden administration around the 2020 election and COVID-19 pandemic.

The Wednesday news made its way to CNN before the indictment became public, which left social media users drawing parallels to the 2016 election. In 2016, CNN was among the outlets that extensively covered the conspiracy theory pushed by Democrats that Russia and the Trump campaign were colluding. (RELATED: ‘Uncorroborated Intelligence’: Durham Report Torches FBI, DOJ For Handling Of Trump-Russia Probe)

“This is deadly serious and we are going to treat it accordingly,” Garland said Wednesday of skepticism towards the claims following the 2016 conspiracy theory push.

This marks the third election cycle in a row that Democrats have made an issue out of foreign election interference.

After the 2016 election, Democrats pushed Big Tech to censor information pertaining to COVID-19 and the Hunter Biden laptop story on social media platforms. In a series titled the “Twitter files,” Elon Musk released documents detailing how the social media platform suppressed a New York Post story regarding Biden’s laptop. The decision was influenced by former Democratic-appointed intelligence officials who falsely alleged that the laptop story had the hallmarks of a Russian disinformation operation.

Many Democrats also claimed Trump had not legitimately won the 2016 election due to vague instances of “Russian interference.”

“Today’s announcement exposes the scope of the Russian government’s influence operations and their reliance on cutting-edge AI to sow disinformation,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a press release.

“Companies operating at the direction of the Russian government created websites to trick Americans into unwittingly consuming Russian propaganda. By seizing these websites, the FBI is making clear to the world what they are, Russian attempts to interfere in our elections and influence our society. The FBI will continue to work with our partners to expose and shutdown these covert influence campaigns,” he continued.

In August, it was revealed that the Iranian government had been behind a hack of the Trump campaign.

AUTHOR

Reagan Reese

White House correspondent. Follow Reagan on Twitter.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

‘Election Interference’: Bragg Case Gag Order Puts Unprecedented Limitations On Trump Campaign

Allies close to former President Donald Trump are furious with the gag order imposed on him and his campaign by New York State Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, telling the Daily Caller it is hamstringing his campaign like no other has been before.

On Tuesday, the start of week three of Trump’s Manhattan trial, Merchan held the 2024 Republican presidential nominee in contempt of court and issued a $9,000 fine for repeatedly violating a gag order. Merchan has also threatened jail time if Trump continues to violate the order.

Trump and his campaign have been barred from speaking about Matthew Colangelo, a lead prosecutor in the case who spent two years serving in the Biden administration’s Department of Justice (DOJ) as acting associate attorney general. After working near the top of the DOJ under Attorney General Merrick Garland, Colangelo joined the Manhattan District Attorney’s office as senior counsel in December 2022.

Many have raised questions about Colangelo’s move from DOJ to work in the Manhattan DA’s office at the same time District Attorney Alvin Bragg was investigating Trump for a $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.

Bragg, who ran for office on convicting Trump as Manhattan District Attorney, indicted Trump on 34 counts of falsifying business records, all of which the former president plead not guilty to.

Trump and his campaign are also not allowed to speak about his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, or the jury. Cohen, who is a key witness in the case, has come under fire for discussing the case on TikTok while raising money for himself.

These limitations apply to the entire campaign, tying the hands of the Trump political operation to fight back on a critical issue in the presidential race, one source familiar with the situation told the Caller.

“The gag order says it applies to the president himself, and then it prevents him from instructing or ordering anybody else to do it. So, legally, that basically applies to anybody who works for him. And since he is considered basically the chairman of the campaign or the top dog on the campaign, the campaign applies to everybody who is on campaign staff.”

The source also said they know Democrats are watching Trump’s every move, including his social media posts and campaign website, and described the gag order as “probably the most explicit example of campaign interference, where you’re actually telling your campaign … what they can and can’t say.”

“The Democrats are following very closely, whatever is said on TRUTH social, whatever is posted on the campaign website, and then it’s immediately getting filtered up to Alvin Bragg who has very easy channels of communication, which are pretty firmly established between the Democrats and in his office,” the source familiar said.

The restrictions are unlike any placed on a presidential campaign before in American history and put Trump on the back foot, Mike Davis, founder and president of the Article III Project, told the Daily Caller.

“This unconstitutional and un-American gag order is yet another weapon used by Biden and his henchmen to silence his chief political rival, President Trump. Michael Cohen and others can go make money trashing Trump, yet he can’t respond due to this illegal gag order,” Davis said. “So as a result, all of Trump’s opposition can run roughshod over him without worrying about what Trump will say to counter their arguments. This gag order sets a dangerous precedent moving forward.”

The source familiar echoed that sentiment, stating the order “greatly prohibits” the ability of the campaign to fight back.

“The campaign can’t go out there and defend him from those attacks. The campaign can talk about the case, sure, but they can’t respond to the direct attacks against him, which is totally outrageous,” they said. “So it does not only violate the president’s First Amendment rights, but it’s a direct assault on the campaign and their ability to fight this trial in the middle of the election.”

The source familiar added that the gag order should embolden Trump’s supporters and allies who are not tied to the campaign to stand up for him, since Trump and his campaign legally cannot.

Garrett Ventry, a Republican strategist, said Democrats cannot beat Trump at the polls so they are now interfering with the election instead. He also mentioned that Merchan donated to Biden, and that Bragg campaigned on putting Trump in jail.

“Judge Merchan’s gag order against President Trump is wildly unconstitutional and it is the peak of election interference. The entire campaign they’re running against President Trump has been lawfare. They can’t beat him at the polls,” Ventry said. “Joe Biden’s numbers are tanking and we’re even seeing collusion, with the former number three at Joe Biden’s DOJ being one of the prosecutors on this case in the Manhattan DA’s office.”

“Think about this, too. Alvin Bragg ran his entire entire campaign on putting Donald Trump in jail even before these charges ever happened. So you have an unfair prosecutor, you have a Democrat judge who donated to Joe Biden, you have a pretty much Democrat jury pool all going after President Trump. People who hate him,” he continued. “He can’t expect a fair trial now and now he’s not even allowed to and his campaign is not even allowed to speak back and fight out against the Democrat law fair.”

The source familiar with the situation explained that a key part of the gag order is on the “potential participation” of witnesses, because it’s unclear to the campaign if and when certain witnesses will be called.

Another source told the Caller that it’s “a pretty firm bet” that Cohen is going to be called as a witness, saying “he’s the only ‘eyewitness’ to this entire case. Without him, they don’t have a case.”

“Judge Merchan’s unconstitutional gag order is an egregious violation of President Trump’s First Amendment rights and a direct assault on our campaign in the middle of the election. Unfortunately for Joe Biden and his corrupt Democrat cronies, their unprecedented weaponization of our government is backfiring, Americans see the truth about this sham show trial, and President Trump will ultimately win on November 5th,” Karoline Leavitt, National Press Secretary for the Trump campaign, told the Caller in regards to the gag order.

Ventry also said that Republicans in Congress “need to step up” and “use every tool and measure they have” to defend Trump and hold these “rogue judges and prosecutors accountable for blatant election interference and an unconstitutional gag order.”

House Judiciary Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan sent a letter Tuesday to Attorney General Merrick Garland, regarding Colangelo, requesting documents and communications from Colangelo’s tenure at the Biden DOJ.

The Caller obtained a copy of the letter before it was sent. Jordan demanded a number of personnel files related to Colangelo’s hiring, employment and termination at the DOJ, a number of documents and communications from January 2021 to December 2022, and documents and communications related to Trump or his organization.

AUTHOR

HENRY RODGERS

Chief national correspondent. Follow Henry Rodgers On Twitter

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Federal Appeals Court Says Texas Law Allowing Police To Arrest Illegal Migrants Can Take Effect

A federal appeals court reversed on Saturday a lower court’s freeze on a Texas law enabling local police to arrest illegal migrants.

Last week, U.S. District Court Judge David Alan Ezra blocked Texas’ SB 4 from taking effect while the Department of Justice’s lawsuit against Texas proceeds. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a temporary stay over the weekend, which would allow the law to take effect on March 9 if the Supreme Court does not intervene.

“Texas has the constitutional right to defend itself because of President Biden’s ongoing failure to fulfill his duty,” Republican Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott said last week. “We will not back down in our fight to protect Texas. This case will ultimately be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.”

Ezra, a Reagan appointee, ruled last week that the state’s law “threatens the fundamental notion that the United States must regulate immigration with one voice.”

“If allowed to proceed, SB 4 could open the door to each state passing its own version of immigration laws,” he wrote. “The effect would moot the uniform regulation of immigration throughout the country and force the federal government to navigate a patchwork of inconsistent regulations.”

The DOJ sued Texas over its law in January. Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed it into law in December in response to record levels of illegal crossings.

AUTHOR

KATELYNN RICHARDSON

Contributor.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.


All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

DOJ Conducting Criminal Probe Into Dem. Rep. Cori Bush: REPORT

The Department of Justice (DOJ) is reportedly conducting a criminal probe of Democratic Missouri Rep. Cori Bush, who has repeatedly pushed to defund the police, after spending taxpayer money on private security for herself.

According to Punchbowl News, the Justice Department has subpoenaed the House Sergeant at Arms for records relating to the misspending of federal security money. The Daily Caller first reported in April that Bush and members of the far-left Democratic Party group in Congress called “the Squad” spent thousands of campaign funds on private security.

According to the Statement of Disbursements of the House records, Bush also spent taxpayer funds on a day of private security for herself between Jan. 1 to March 31.

Bush, a freshman Democrat who has vocally pushed to defund the police, spent over $30,000 on her own security, according to her April Quarterly 2021 financial report.

  • On Jan. 18, 2021, Bush spent $1,060.00 on security from Whole Armor Executive Protection in Bowie, Maryland.
  • On Jan. 21, 2021, Bush spent $5,000 on security from Nathaniel Davis, Jr in her home state.
  • On Jan. 25, 2021, Bush spent $530.00 on security from Nathaniel Davis in Palo Alto, Calif.
  • On Feb. 17, 2021, Bush spent $7,743.75 on security from RS&T Security Counseling LLC in New York City.
  • On Feb. 25, 2021, Bush spent $5,000 on security from Sandler, Reiff, Lamb, Rosenstein & Birk in Washington DC.
  • On Feb. 26, 2021, Bush spent $5,812.00 on security from RS&T Security Counseling, LLC in NYC.
  • On March 15, 2021, Bush spent $5,000 on security from Nathaniel Davis Davis, in Saint Louis, Missouri.
  • On March 15, 2021, Bush spent $2,456.25 on security from RS&T Security Consulting LLC in NYC.

Bush sent out a tweet in Dec. 2020 criticizing former President Barack Obama for not calling to defund the police.

“With all due respect, Mr. President — let’s talk about losing people. We lost Michael Brown Jr. We lost Breonna Taylor. We’re losing our loved ones to police violence. It’s not a slogan. It’s a mandate for keeping our people alive. Defund the police,” Bush said in the tweet.

The Daily Caller contacted Bush’s office about the reported DOJ criminal probe, to which they did not immediately respond.

AUTHOR

HENRY RODGERS

Chief national correspondent. Follow Henry Rodgers On Twitter.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Department Of Justice Acknowledges Hunter Biden Laptop Content Is Legitimate For First Time

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has acknowledged the legitimacy of Hunter Biden’s infamous laptop data for the first time in a new court filing.

In a Tuesday court filing from DOJ prosecutors, which came in response to Biden’s request to have his federal firearm charges dismissed, investigators acknowledge the legitimacy of data found on Biden’s laptop prior to the 2020 election. The court filings described how IRS and FBI investigators had obtained a search warrant for tax violations on Biden, leading them to “various” backup data accounts.

The documents additionally note that investigators later came into “possession” of the laptop that Biden had previously “left at a computer store,” emphasizing that investigators had “already obtained” a large portion of the data from Apple.

“In August 2019, IRS and FBI investigators obtained a search warrant for tax violations for the defendant’s Apple iCloud account. In response to that warrant, in September 2019, Apple produced backups of data from various of the defendant’s electronic devices that he had backed up to his iCloud account,” the court documents stated.

“Investigators also later came into possession of the defendant’s Apple MacBook Pro, which he had left at a computer store. A search warrant was also obtained for his laptop and the results of the search were largely duplicative of information investigators had already obtained from Apple.”

Following the initial report on Biden’s laptop from the New York Post, backlash from Democratic officials, various media outlets and social media platforms ensued. Democratic operatives and their allies attempted to cast the findings from the laptop as “Russian disinformation” and alleged that reporting on it was a form of pro-Trump election interference.

A letter was soon released by 51 former intelligence officials who falsely claimed that the content on Biden’s laptop was a “Russian information operation.”

The “Russian disinformation” narrative pushed by officials then led to both Facebook and Twitter censoring the NY Post’s reporting, with sites like Politico claiming the story was false by using the former intel officials’ letter. President Joe Biden called the laptop contents “Russia disinformation” during his 2020 campaign, also using the intelligence officials’ letter as support.

However, while the rumors of Russia interference circled, the FBI reportedly knew that the contents within Biden’s laptop were real due to an interview with Biden’s former business associate, Tony Bobulinski. The  agency had previously interviewed Bobulinski on Oct. 23, 2020, after the report broke, in which he confirmed the authenticity of the laptop’s contents, noting that he had additional records on multiple cell phones.

The DOJ and FBI have since shied away from Biden’s laptop contents, with IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley confirming the authenticity of the laptop during testimony to Congress in June 2023, according to the New York Post.

The new filings come as a response to Biden’s investigation for gun charges which his legal team attempted to argue in December should be dismissed. Biden was indicted in September of 2023 on three federal gun charges after he had allegedly illegally purchased a revolver as he was battling a drug addiction.

While Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty to the charges in October of 2023, he could potentially face up to 25 years in prison.

AUTHOR

HAILEY GOMEZ

General assignment reporter.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. All rights reserved.

Biden Admin Urges Colleges To Continue To Racially Discriminate Following SCOTUS Ruling On Affirmative Action

The Biden administration urged colleges and universities on Monday to continue to racially discriminate in an effort to make their student body diverse, following the Supreme Court’s ruling on affirmative action.

The Supreme Court ruled in June that Harvard University and the University of North Carolina’s use of race-based admissions policies were unconstitutional, halting the practice across higher education institutions. The U.S. Department of Education’s (DOE) Office for Civil Rights and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division released guidance encouraging universities to skirt the decision by weighing “ways a student’s background, including experiences linked to their race, have shaped their lives and the unique contributions they can make to campus.”

“For higher education to be an engine for equal opportunity, upward mobility, and global competitiveness, we need campus communities that reflect the beautiful diversity of our country,” U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in a statement. “The resources issued by the Biden-Harris Administration today will provide college leaders with much-needed clarity on how they can lawfully promote and support diversity, and expand access to educational opportunity for all following the Supreme Court’s disappointing ruling on affirmative action.”

The guidance notes that through the admissions process, schools can consider how applicants’ backgrounds, such as their experiences with racial discrimination or the racial composition of their neighborhoods, can “position them to contribute to campus in unique ways.”

“For example, a university could consider an applicant’s explanation about what it means to him to be the first Black violinist in his city’s youth orchestra or an applicant’s account of overcoming prejudice when she transferred to a rural high school where she was the only student of South Asian descent,” the guidance states.

Institutions are encouraged to partner with K-12 schools to create pathway programs, and may give preferential treatment to students in the program during the admissions process if they were admitted to the program based on non-racial criteria, the guidance states.

Colleges and universities are able to target programs and areas in an effort to recruit students to contribute to a diverse student body, the guidance states. The guidance explains that schools can reach out directly to schools that predominately serve students of color and those by limited financial means in an effort to recruit applicants.

“By ensuring that the group of applicants they ultimately consider for admission includes a robust pool of talented students from underrepresented groups, institutions better position themselves to attain the student body diversity and related educational benefits they seek,” the guidance states.

The guidance also encourages universities to create race-affiliated groups, such as clubs or activities, to encourage students to “celebrate their shared identities, interests, and experiences.” If clubs, seminars or activities have a race-related theme, it must be open to all regardless of race, the guidance states.

“We stand ready to support institutions that recognize that such diversity is core to their commitment to excellence, and that pursue lawful steps to promote diversity and full inclusion,” the guidance states.

AUTHOR

REAGAN REESE

Contributor.

RELATED ARTICLE: Biden Official Casts Doubt On Ending Legacy Admissions After SCOTUS Ruling

EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.


All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

Trump Was Right Again And Again About The Biden Family’s Foreign Business Dealings

Former President Donald Trump’s assertions during the 2020 presidential campaign about the Biden family’s foreign business dealings have proven to be accurate.

Trump routinely criticized then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden about his son’s dealings with Ukrainian, Russian and Chinese associates when he was on the campaign trail, most notably at the presidential debates leading up to the November 2020 election.

WATCH:

“China ate your lunch, Joe. And no wonder your son goes in and, wha—, he takes out billions of dollars. He takes out billions of dollars to manage. He makes millions of dollars. And also, while we’re at it, why is it — just out of curiosity — the mayor of Moscow’s wife gave your son three and a half million dollars,” Trump said to Biden during a September 2020 presidential debate, according to an official transcript from the Commission on Presidential Debates.

“That is not true,” Biden retorted.

“What did he do to deserve it? What did he do with Burisma?” Trump pressed.

“None of that is true,” Biden shot back.

“My son did nothing wrong at Burisma,” Biden said later in the debate.

” I think he did,” Trump retorted.

“He doesn’t want to let me answer, because he knows I have the truth. His position has been totally thoroughly discredited,” Biden claimed.

“By who?” Trump asked.

“By everybody. Well, by the media, by our allies,” Biden answered.

Trump and Biden continued clashing at the September debate over the Biden family’s business dealings despite moderator Chris Wallace’s efforts to shift the conversation.

“And he threatened Ukraine —,” Trump said.

“Sir,” Wallace interrupted.

” — with a billion dollars,” Trump said.

“That is absolutely not true,” Biden said, before Wallace moved the conversation to racial issues.

Trump made similar comments about Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings at an October 2022 debate which took place after the New York Post’s reporting on Hunter Biden’s laptop was censored by Twitter and falsely categorized as Russian disinformationThe Daily Caller News FoundationThe New York TimesThe Washington Post and CBS News later verified the Hunter Biden laptop archive.

WATCH:

“You got three-and-a-half million dollars. Your family got three-and-a-half million dollars and you know someday, you’re gonna have to explain — why did you get three-and-a-half?” Trump asserted, according to the official debate transcript.

“I have not taken a penny from any foreign source ever in my life,” Biden responded.

“Number two, I don’t make money from China, you do. I don’t make money from Ukraine, you do. I don’t make money from Russia. You made three-and-a-half million dollars, Joe, and your son gave you— They even have a statement that we have to give 10% to the big man. You’re the big man, I think. I don’t know, maybe you’re not. But you’re the big man, I think. Your son said we have to give 10% to the big man,” Trump said later in the debate.

“I carried out U.S. policy. Not one, single, solitary thing was out of line. Not a single thing, number one. Number two, the guy who got in trouble in Ukraine was this guy, trying to bribe the Ukrainian government to say something negative about me, which they would not do, and did not do, because it never, ever, ever happened. My son has not made money in terms of this thing about — what are you talking about — China. I have not had it. The only guy that made money from China is this guy. He’s the only one. Nobody else has made money from China,” Biden hit back.

“His son didn’t have a job for a long time, was sadly no longer in the military service, I won’t get into that. And he didn’t have a job. As soon as he became vice president, Burisma — not the best, not the best reputation in the world — I hear they paid him 183,000 a month. Listen to this, 183, and they gave him a $3 million upfront payment, and he had no energy experience. That’s 100% dishonest,” Trump followed up.

“Look, there are 50 former national intelligence folks who said that what this, he’s accusing me of, is a Russian plan. They have said that this has all the characteristics — four, five former heads of the CIA, both parties, say what he’s saying is a bunch of garbage. Nobody believes it except him and his good friend Rudy Giuliani,” Biden said later on.

Joe Biden was citing a letter signed by 51 former intelligence officials which claimed Hunter Biden’s laptop was part of a “Russian information operation” without evidence to back it up. One of the letter’s signatories, former CIA official Michael Morrell, testified to the House Judiciary Committee about how Biden Secretary of State Tony Blinken orchestrated the letter, which Morrell signed to help Biden defeat Trump in the 2020 presidential election.

Trump’s assertions about Ukraine, China and Russia appear to be based on a Senate report released in September 2020 detailing Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings and the New York Post’s October 2020 reporting on the Hunter Biden laptop archive.

Trump made similar assertions on Twitter beginning in late 2019, before Biden won the 2020 Democratic presidential primary. Ahead of the 2020 presidential election, Trump tweeted on numerous occasions about the Biden family’s business dealings with ChineseUkrainian and Russian business partners.

Hunter Biden’s consulting firm was wired $3.5 million by Russian oligarch Elena Baturina in February 2014 as part of a consulting agreement, the Senate report found. Baturina was married to former Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov and her net worth is estimated at $1.3 billion.

Hunter Biden’s former business associate, Devon Archer, testified to the House Oversight Committee Monday about how Joe and Hunter Biden dined with Baturina in the spring of 2014 at a cafe in Washington, D.C., according to a transcript of Archer’s testimony.

Trump’s statement about Biden threatening Ukraine with a billion dollars was based on what then-Vice President Biden told the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) in September 2016 when Biden bragged about getting Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor Shokin fired in early 2016.

“You remember last year I was authorized to say we’d do the second tranche of a billion dollars. And he didn’t fire his chief prosecutor. And because I have the confidence of the president, I was there, and I said: I’m not signing it. Until you fire him, we’re not signing, man,” Biden told CFR. Biden made similar comments at a January 2018 event with CFR when he was out of office.

When Shokin was fired, Hunter Biden was being paid $83,000 a month as a board member of Ukrainian energy firm Burisma, another detail confirmed by Archer’s testimony. Archer also testified about a dinner Joe Biden attended a dinner with Burisma executive Vadim Pozharskyi and how the Biden family “brand” prevented Burisma from going out of business.

One of Hunter Biden’s former business partners, James Gillar, called Joe Biden “the big guy” in emails first reported by the New York Post. Another former business associate, Tony Bobulinski, confirmed to the outlet the “big guy” moniker was referring to Joe Biden.

Likewise, Archer confirmed to the House Oversight Committee “my guy” was a nickname Hunter Biden used to describe his father in an April 2014 email.

Archer told Daily Caller co-founder Tucker Carlson it was “categorically false” to say Joe Biden was not aware of his son’s business dealings, referencing a personalized letter Biden sent him in 2011. In the same interview, Archer said Shokin was a “threat” to Burisma’s business and recalled a purported raid on Burisma founder Mykola Zlochevsky’s property overseen by Shokin’s office.

In addition, Hunter Biden received payments from a Chinese firm, CEFC China Energy, whose chairman, Ye Jianming, was linked to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and People’s Liberation Army (PLA), according to the senate report.

IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley testified to the House Ways & Means Committee about a threatening text Hunter Biden allegedly sent a CEFC associate with Joe Biden in the room. Shapley provided a transcript of former Biden business associate Rob Walker’s interview with the FBI where Walker said Joe Biden met with CEFC officials in May 2017, shortly after his vice presidency concluded.

The House Oversight Committee revealed in late June a text allegedly sent by Hunter Biden on Aug. 3, 2017 to a CEFC associate about how the Bidens are “the best” at assisting his boss. The next day, Owasco P.C., one of Biden’s shell companies, was paid $100,000 by CEFC, the committee disclosed.

On Aug. 8, 2017, Hudson West III, a business entity formed by Hunter Biden and a CEFC business partner, was wired an estimated $5 million, the Senate report found.

Hunter Biden earned about $1 million from Hudson West III in 2017, according to his guilty plea agreement with Department of Justice (DOJ) prosecutors which fell apart in court. Biden admitted during his late July court appearance he made $664,000 from CEFC in 2017, court transcripts show.

IRS whistleblower Joseph Ziegler testified to the House Oversight Committee that Hunter Biden and his business associates took an estimated $17 million from Chinese, Ukrainian and Romanian business interests. The Oversight Committee released a memo in May 2023 outlining more than $10 million in alleged payments from foreign companies to Biden family members.

Two months prior, the House Oversight Committee released a memo showing Walker took $3 million from a Chinese energy company and allegedly sent $1.3 million worth of payments to Biden family members. Republican Kentucky Rep. James Comer, Chair of the House Oversight Committee, said in July more bank records would be released showing Hunter Biden’s alleged dealings with Russian business partners.

The White House said President Biden “was not in business with his son” when Shapley’s testimony was publicized, a shift from Biden denying any knowledge of his son’s business dealings.

“Any verifiable words or actions of my client, in the midst of a horrible addiction, are solely his own and have no connection to anyone in his family,” Hunter Biden’s lawyer said in the wake of Shapley’s testimony.

Hunter Biden was charged by the DOJ in June with two tax misdemeanors and a felony gun charge. Both IRS whistleblowers accused prosecutors of slow-walking and obstructing the Hunter Biden case based on their knowledge of the investigation.

The president’s son was expected to plead guilty to the tax charges and sign a diversion agreement for the gun charge, until a disagreement with the DOJ about the immunity clause hidden inside Biden’s diversion agreement caused Biden’s plea deal to implode. The DOJ investigation into Hunter Biden is still ongoing and

“He confirms President Biden was not involved in his son’s business,” White House spokesperson Ian Sams tweeted about Archer’s testimony. Sams told multiple media outlets the investigation into Hunter Biden’s business dealings is an “evidence-free wild goose chase” following Archer’s testimony.

The day after Devon Archer’s testimony to the House Oversight Committee, Trump was indicted by Special Counsel Jack Smith for charges related to his efforts to contest the 2020 presidential election results. Trump pleaded not guilty to the charges Thursday at an arraignment in Washington, D.C. He continues to lead the 2024 Republican presidential primary by wide margins.

The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

Jack Moore contributed to this report.

AUTHOR

JAMES LYNCH

Investigative reporter. James Lynch can be reached on Twitter @jameslynch32.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Trump Lawyer Says He’ll Use ‘Very Simple’ Strategy Of Pointing Out Jack Smith ‘Has The Entire Law … Wrong’

An attorney for former President Donald Trump said Thursday that Trump’s defense will use a “very simple” strategy should charges over the 2020 election be brought to trial.

Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges during his Thursday arraignment after Special Counsel Jack Smith secured a four-count indictment of Trump relating to his efforts to contest the results of the 2020 election. Smith previously secured a 37-count indictment against Trump in June based on an investigation into allegations surrounding classified documents.

“The legal strategy in this case I think is very simple: You attack the facts that Jack Smith put out that are wrong for instance, Jack Smith claiming, as you already pointed out, that Donald Trump did anything other than call for peace and patriotism on January 6th is wrong,” attorney Jesse Binnall told Fox News host Jesse Watters Thursday evening. “And then you attack the law, because Jack Smith has the entire law in this case wrong, and more importantly, he is ignoring the Constitution of the United States.”

WATCH:

“Here is how: The First Amendment gives you the right to speech, something that Jack Smith’s prosecutors are completely ignoring, but more than that, it also gives you the right to petition Congress for redress of grievances,” Binnall continued. “And in this case, when you are saying there was fraud in the election, there are problems in the election and we think you should seat electors X, instead of electors Y, that’s why the first petition clause clearly protects.”

Legal experts noted that much of the conduct Smith claimed was criminal in the indictment appeared to be protected by the First Amendment. Harvard University law professor Alan Dershowitz said that the indictment not only attacked the First Amendment, but also Trump’s Sixth Amendment right to counsel.

“Jack Smith is terrified that Donald Trump is going to be elected again because Jack Smith is actually the one terrified of democracy because democracy would bring accountability for him and quite honestly his out-of-control prosecutors in an out of control Justice Department,” Binnall added.

Trump’s top rivals for the Republican nomination for president in 2024, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, Republican Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, all condemned the indictment.

AUTHOR

HAROLD HUTCHISON

Reporter.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.


All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

Trump Releases Video Ripping ‘Weaponization’ Of U.S. Justice System

Former President Donald Trump will release a video Thursday slamming the “weaponization” of the U.S. justice system, the Daily Caller has learned.

“There is no more dire threat to the American way of life than the corruption and weaponization of our justice system. And it’s happening all around us. If we cannot restore the fair and impartial rule of law, we will not be a free country. As President, it will be my personal mission to restore the scales of justice in America. We want fairness and equality under the law. And to that end, I will appoint US attorneys, who will be the polar opposite of the Soros, district attorneys and others that are being appointed throughout the United States, very unfair to our population very unfair to our country. They will be the 100 most ferocious legal warriors against crime and communist corruption that this country has ever seen. As we completely overhaul the Federal Department of Justice and FBI, we will also launch sweeping civil rights investigations into boxes, local district attorneys, and that’s why we have. They are Marxists in many cases.,” Trump said in the video.

WATCH: 

“By refusing to charge capitalist crimes, the Soros prosecutors appear to be engaging in selective enforcement based on illegal racial discrimination. In Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles and every other city where these maniacs have taken over. The DA’s offices should face federal subpoenas of their staff, their emails and their records to determine whether they are blatantly violating federal civil rights law. As part of this effort, there should be a federal inquiry entered the service prosecutor, Austin, Texas, who charged the veteran with murder for defending himself against a threat by a heavily armed member of the radical left mob. I will also order the Department of Justice to establish a task force of protecting the right to self defense which is under siege nationwide. In addition, we will have a complete investigation of police state tactics by federal authorities to arrest conservatives. We will find out who ordered it and we will hold them totally accountable,” Trump continued.

“There is much more that we must do, we have to confront this radicalized law in schools. You take a look at what they have done to our schools, our beautiful schools. We have to reform the far left Bar Association’s and stop the purge of conservative lawyers from major law firms. I will do whatever it takes to save our legal system among the greatest achievements of Western civilization from the Marxist barbarians who seek to destroy it, and we will do that we will save it.,” Trump added.

(This is a developing story. More information will be added as it becomes available.) 

AUTHOR

HENRY RODGERS

Chief national correspondent.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved. Follow Henry Rodgers On Twitter.

White House, DOJ Worked Together To Conceal Biden’s Classified Doc Scandal: REPORT

The White House and the Department of Justice (DOJ) worked together to conceal the discovery of President Joe Biden’s classified documents for months, according to The Washington Post (WaPo).

Days after the first trove of documents was discovered at the Penn Biden Center, a senior official in the DOJ wrote a letter to Biden’s personal attorney, Bob Bauer, asking for him to cooperate in the inquiry, WaPo reported.

The official also asked Bauer to get the documents but to not look inside, and requested for him to disclose where more documents could be located, according to the outlet. More documents were discovered at Biden’s Delaware residence Dec. 20, Jan. 10 and Jan. 11.

The White House had initially endeavored to find out how the documents had gotten to the Penn Biden Center and other locations, but on Nov. 10, the DOJ said it would be taking over the investigation, two anonymous sources told WaPo.

Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco refused to say Wednesday if law enforcement officials told Biden administration officials  to stay quiet, according to the outlet.

Although the documents were originally discovered Nov. 2, the news was kept hidden for months and only surfaced after CBS published a report Jan. 9. The White House Counsel office refused to tell the Daily Caller when Biden first knew of the documents, and White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre claimed that the press office knew nothing of the documents until the CBS report.

Biden downplayed the significance of the classified documents on Thursday and said he has “no regrets.”

“I have no regrets in following what the lawyers have told me what they want me to do, it’s exactly what we’re doing. There’s no there there,” Biden said.

“Look, as we found a handful of documents that were filed in the wrong place, we immediately turned them over to the Archives and the Justice department. We are fully cooperating and looking forward to getting this resolved quickly. I think you’re going to find there’s nothing there,” he added.

AUTHOR

DIANA GLEBOVA

White House correspondent.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

REPORT: DOJ Decided Against Having FBI Agents Monitor Biden’s Lawyers As They Rifled Through Classified Docs

The Department of Justice (DOJ) considered having FBI agents monitor President Joe Biden’s lawyers as they rifled through classified documents before ultimately rejecting the idea, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported Tuesday.

Biden’s lawyers found classified materials at the Penn Biden Center think tank in Washington, D.C., just before the midterm elections. The president’s legal team then conducted a search of Biden’s properties for other such materials. The president’s lawyers and the DOJ discussed the possibility of having FBI agents monitor the search but later decided against it, according to the WSJ.

The two parties instead agreed to notify the DOJ of any classified materials they found, after which law enforcement would promptly remove the documents from the premises, according to the WSJ.

In addition to the materials found at the Penn Biden Center, Biden’s lawyers found additional documents next to his Corvette in the garage at his Wilmington, Delaware, home in December. More documents have been discovered at his home throughout January.

Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday appointed former U.S. Attorney Robert Hur as special counsel to investigate President Joe Biden’s handling of the classified documents. “The extraordinary circumstances here require the appointment of a special counsel for this matter,” Garland said in a statement.

The DOJ did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller’s request for comment about the alleged plan.

AUTHOR

SARAH WEAVER

Social issues reporter.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Chinese Operatives Ran A Massive TikTok Campaign To Help Dems In The Midterm Elections

  • TikTok accounts operating on behalf of Chinese state media published content that criticized Republicans and favored Democrats ahead of the 2022 U.S. midterm elections, a Forbes investigation found.
  • Despite TikTok rules requiring accounts to disclose their government ties, at least three Chinese government-affiliated accounts with millions of views did not clearly describe their status to users.
  • “This opens a new dimension for conversation about TikTok,” Conor Healy, director of government research at surveillance research group IPVM, told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

TikTok accounts operating as voices of Chinese state media promoted messages that appeared to denigrate Republican candidates and favor Democratic ones ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, according to a Forbes investigation.

While the Chinese-owned social media app has verbally affirmed the need to crack down on election disinformation and foreign interference, several news-oriented accounts failed to disclose their affiliation with Chinese Communist Party (CCP) state-owned media on the platform, Forbes found. The accounts racked up tens of millions views on posts that covered divisive topics, such as abortion and race, as well as critical clips that mostly targeted Republican candidates ahead of the 2022 midterms.

“This opens a new dimension for conversation about TikTok,” Conor Healy, director of government research at surveillance research group IPVM, told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The accounts are managed by MediaLinks TV, which registered as a foreign agent for China with the Treasury Department in 2019 and distributes the U.S. branch of China Central Television (CCTV), CGTN, according to the company’s LinkedIn page. MediaLinks also operates the CCTV and CGTN apps, according to Apple.

The largest accounts are @Panadorama, @The…Optimist and @NewsTokss, the latter of which expressly covers U.S. national news, according to Forbes.

NewsTokss in particular ran content that overall shone Republican politicians in an unfavorable light and praised Democrats, Forbes found.

A video from July was introduced with the caption “Cruz, Abbott Don’t Care About Us,” referring to Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and the state’s governor, Greg Abbott, according to Forbes. Another from October criticized Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida for having “Done Absolutely Nothing.”

Some content swayed against Democrats; one NewsTokss video in October asked viewers whether President Joe Biden’s promise to enshrine abortion rights served as a “political manipulation tactic,” Forbes found.

None of the videos clearly disclosed their ties to CGTN or the Chinese government, but the accounts’ profile bios did spell out, “Material distributed by MediaLinks TV LLC on behalf of CCTV. More info at DOJ, D.C.,” Forbes reported.

“That’s not disclosure,” Healy said. Between May 8 and July 6, NewsTokss received 8.3 million views but only 57,600 profile views, suggesting many users who watched the videos may not have realized a foreign government was pushing the content, Forbes reported.

Further, by redirecting users to the Department of Justice (DOJ), MediaLinks shrouded its status as a foreign agent.

However, such high-profile accounts should be easily identifiable as state-run, Healy argued to the DCNF.

“Either they don’t care and don’t have the protocols in place to deal with this, or they’re letting it happen,” he said.

In September, TikTok announced a new pilot policy of “mandatory verification for accounts belonging to governments, politicians, and political parties through the midterm elections” in November.

“We plan to introduce our state-controlled media policy and corresponding labels globally next year as part of our continued focus on media literacy,” a spokesperson for TikTok told Forbes.

Chinese company ByteDance owns TikTok, causing suspicion that the company takes orders or signals from the CCP and prompting politicians to call for banning the app across the federal government.

Technology and China researchers have long expressed concerns about China’s election interference via social media content; cybersecurity firm Recorded Future warned ahead of the 2018 midterm elections found Chinese-run accounts “disseminating breaking news and biased content surrounding President Trump and China-related issues.”

CGTN did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.

AUTHOR

MICAELA BURROW

Reporter.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved. All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

NEW YORK: High School Teacher Accused Of Possessing Thousands Of Images, Videos Of Child Pornography

The Department Of Justice (DOJ) arrested and charged a New York high school teacher with possession of child pornography on Thursday.

Louis Carusone, a teacher at Brighton High School in Rochester, New York, has been accused of obtaining and distributing thousands of pictures and videos of child pornography, according to a DOJ press release. The investigation into Carusone began after an undercover officer allegedly found Carusone distributing child pornography through a peer-to-peer online sharing network.

“Law enforcement officials informed us last Friday night that they had just completed a search of Mr. Carusone’s home,” Brighton Central Schools Superintendent Kevin McGowan wrote in a statement. “We were told that devices belonging to Mr. Carusone had been seized and what the nature of their investigation was. We immediately placed Mr. Carusone on leave, froze his access to all electronic resources, and directed him to not be anywhere near BCSD property or to have contact with anyone at BCSD other than those who he would need to discuss his employment status with.”

Law enforcement found Carusone in possession of 2,030 pictures and 21 videos of child pornography after a search of his house, the DOJ reported. Carusone allegedly took photos and videos of his female students and also allegedly recorded children and adults in bathing suits at a waterpark.

Carusone will not be returning to work in the school district, the school’s statement said. The district is working to have Carusone’s teaching license revoked. (

Students will be able to meet with counseling staff from a local children’s advocacy center and the school will meet with all students in Carusone’s classes to address their questions and concerns, according to the school’s statement.

“We often talk about the trust placed in us and the need to care for and support each child as if they were our own children,” McGowan wrote. “This ethic of care can be seen throughout each day. However, the behavior and betrayal of one person in this incident was a failure in our obligation in every way. Our response now and in the coming days will be the first steps in reinforcing the great good that is done by so many in this organization and our commitment to a trusting relationship with all of you.”

The DOJ and Brighton High School did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

AUTHOR

REAGAN REESE

Contributor.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved. Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

‘The Left Is Out For Blood’: Biden’s DOJ ‘Weaponizing’ Law To Arrest ‘Political Enemies,’ Former Official Says

The Biden administration is “weaponizing” the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act to go after pro-life activists, an attorney who served under George W. Bush and Barack Obama told the Daily Caller.

“The left is out for blood, and Biden’s base is demanding prosecutions and the DOJ is providing them,” said Roger Severino, who served as an attorney at the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights division, the same division that enforces the FACE Act.

The Biden administration has charged at least 16 pro-life activists with a maximum of 11 years in prison for alleged violations of the act, which prohibits obstructing people seeking reproduction services. Pro-life activist Mark Houck allegedly pushed an abortion escort to the ground after a verbal confrontation. FBI agents swarmed Houck’s house and took him away at gunpoint months after the initial charges against him were dropped.

The DOJ charged the other 15 pro-lifers with allegedly obstructing entrances of abortion clinics and they face a maximum of 11 years in prison, when, under the law, first time violators of the FACE Act usually face a maximum of six months.

Past administrations have issued multi-year prison sentences for violations of the FACE Act in cases of a fatal shootingdeath threats, and damaging an abortion clinic with a Molotov cocktail, while people obstructing entrances to abortion clinics faced monetary fines and restraining orders.

Houck is being charged with the decade-long version of the FACE Act violation because the abortion escort “scraped his arm,” his attorney Peter Breen told the Daily Caller. “The charges shouldn’t apply at all, but even if they did, he’s being overcharged.”

“It’s outrageous that you would take a six-month misdemeanor … and turn it into a 10-year federal felony,” Breen added.

One of the other pro-lifers facing over a decade in prison, Paul Vaughn, never blocked the door of an abortion clinic, but was standing nearby, Breen claimed.

Severino, who served under both former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama from 2008 to 2015, said he’s “never heard of a charge being so excessive” as the 11-year maximum prison sentence and $350,000 fine put forth by the current administration for allegedly obstructing abortion clinic doors.

“This is law enforcement run amok. The FACE Act had always been enforced very rarely, because the pro-life movement is a movement of peace,” Severino said. “All of a sudden, they are inventing cases and doing sham prosecutions in an election year for purely political purposes to go after their political enemies.”

The DOJ did not respond to an inquiry from the Daily Caller asking if they have comment on whether the Biden administration has used the FACE Act more excessively than previous administrations.

The FACE Act also protects houses of worship and pro-life pregnancy centers, both of which have been firebombed across the country after the Dobbs decision. Thirty-three churches and 54 pregnancy centers have been attacked, according to the Catholic News Service. The DOJ has not prosecuted any cases of destruction against pro-life centers, Severino stressed.

The effort to arrest pro-lifers is specifically being pushed before the midterms, Department of Homeland Security official under the Trump administration, Ken Cuccinelli, told the Daily Caller.

“This has nothing to do with public safety. This is political virtue signaling to the radical-left base that has control of this administration,” Cuccinelli said.

“I think it will thoroughly backfire on them. I can’t think of a way they’ll get one more vote because they arrest these people, but I guarantee you, a lot [more] pro-lifers will stay home than might have for the midterm election,” he added.

AUTHOR

DIANA GLEBOVA

White House reporter.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

DOJ’s Highly Redacted Trump Affidavit Details Reasons For Raid

The Department of Justice’s (DOJ) redacted affidavit relating to the raid on former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home was released on Friday. The document shows that the DOJ pointed to a number of classified materials already obtained from Trump’s home as reason for the August search warrant request.

Though much of the affidavit was redacted, unsealed portions of it revealed that the latest search came after the FBI reviewed 15 boxes that Trump turned over to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in January, sparking further concern about other potential documents. Fourteen of these boxes had classification markings,” according to the affidavit.

The 14 boxes contained 184 documents – 25 of the documents had “top secret” markings, 92 were labeled “secret” and 67 had a “confidential” warning, according to the affidavit.

The affidavit also notes that the DOJ requested Trump secure the storage room at Mar-a-Lago, pointing out that the department sent a letter to “FPOTUS COUNSEL 1” on June 8, 2022. This letter “reiterated that the PREMISES are not authorized to store classified information and requested the preservation of the STORAGE ROOM and boxes that had been moved from the White House to the PREMISES.”

“As I previously indicated to you, Mar-a-Lago does not include a secure location authorized for the storage of classified information,” the letter reads, according to the affidavit. “As such, it appears that since the time classified documents [redacted] were removed from the secure facilities at the White House and moved to Mar-a-Lago on or around January 20, 2021, they have not been handled in an appropriate manner or stored in au appropriate location. Accordingly, we ask that the room at Mar-a-Lago where the documents had been stored be secured and that all of the boxes that were moved from the White House to Mar-a-Lago (along with any other items in that room) be preserved in that room in their current condition until farther notice.”

Multiple media organizations, including CNN and The New York Times, pushed for the affidavit – which would shed light on the reasoning behind the unprecedented raid – to be released because of intense public interest and the unparalleled nature of the situation.

Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart – who also signed off on the search warrant used in the FBI’s August 8 raid – ordered the DOJ to submit redactions to the affidavit after formally rejecting the department’s push to keep the document private. Reinhart approved the redactions on Thursday and noted the affidavit would be released by noon on Friday.

In the wake of the FBI’s search, Trump slammed the incident as being politically motivated. He encouraged the “immediate release of documents” relating to the search of his Florida home and, on August 22, filed a lawsuit asking for a “special master” to be appointed to independently oversee the review of various materials that had been taken.

The DOJ on Friday also released a document detailing its proposed redactions to the affidavit and reasons for the redactions – though notably the reasons for keeping portions of the affidavit under wraps were also redacted. In this document, the DOJ noted that the redactions are an effort to protect a “significant number of civilian witnesses.”

 

AUTHOR

SHELBY TALCOTT

Senior White House correspondent. Follow Shelby on Twitter

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.