A long list of Republican governors travelled to Mar-a-Lago for a roundtable discussion with President Trump on a variety of topics. At the start of the meeting President Trump took questions from media. WATCH:
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Delivering a short ruling [pdf here], the Supreme Court has refused to intercede in the sentencing of President Trump in the Manhattan ‘hush money’ case. The court apparently is providing Judge Merchan the opportunity to correct his prior rulings which are likely to be overturned on appeal. The sentencing hearing is scheduled for Friday, January 10.e
Two of the high court’s Republican appointees, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett, joined the court’s three Democratic appointees to turn down Trump’s last-ditch attempt to avert the sentencing.
WASHINGTON DC – […] Trump has vowed to appeal to overturn his conviction, claiming that evidence and testimony was admitted that implicated his duties as president during his first term. Last summer, the high court ruled presidents were immune from criminal prosecution for some official acts. The high court’s brief order did not get into those issues in detail, but said Trump’s complaints of errors at his trial “can be addressed in the ordinary course on appeal.”
This is not the first time the 11th CCA has ruled in favor of Jack Smith. This is the same federal circuit court who said they defer any/all definitions of classified documents and national security matters to the executive branch, in a prior ruling that supported the lawfare operation.
Today the 11th CCA has ruled that part-1 of Jack Smith’s political report outlining the purposes and intents of his 3-year-long prosecution of Donald Trump for refusing to accept the fraudulent 2020 election. The second part of the report on the Mar-a-Lago documents case will not be released due to ongoing litigation against other defendants.
WASHINGTON – […] The Atlanta-based 11th Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling Thursday night left in place an order from U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon — the judge in one of those cases — that in its current form bars Attorney General Merrick Garland from releasing the report through at least Sunday.
The Justice Department could challenge Cannon’s order, triggering another round of emergency court proceedings. At the same time, Trump’s allies could challenge the appeals court ruling, perhaps by seeking relief from the Supreme Court. The high court on Thursday turned down Trump’s attempt to stave off sentencing for his criminal conviction in his New York hush money case.
President-elect Donald Trump, along with former presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, arrived at Washington National Cathedral ahead of Jimmy Carter’s funeral. President Trump and President Obama sat next to each other and engaged in extended conversation.
It is interesting to watch the body language and interpersonal dynamics in this video. President Trump shakes hands with Mike Pence. President Obama does not shake Trump or Melania’s hand – but shakes everyone else’s hands. George W Bush walks right past the Trump’s, then slaps Obama in the stomach and shakes hands with everyone else. President Obama and President Trump having lots of laughs. The Clinton’s walk in and ignore Bush, Obama and Trump. (I prefer to watch without sound) WATCH:
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George W Bush looks like he’s aged to catch Jimmy Carter.
President Donald Trump and former First Lady Melania Trump visit the Capitol Rotunda where former President Jimmy Carter lies in state. WATCH (short video):
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Brazilian former President Jair Bolsonaro has been accused of attempting to stage a coup to remain in office. Similar to the lawfare attacks against President Trump in 2020, Bolsonaro stands accused of fomenting a coup in 2023; his passport was taken to stop him from leaving the country.
Bolsonaro wants to attend President Trump’s inauguration. The two leaders have a lot in common, including the fact that both survived assassination attempts.
(Via Politico) – President-elect Donald Trump has invited Jair Bolsonaro to his upcoming inauguration, but the former Brazilian president may not be able to attend — he surrendered his passport to authorities while under investigation for allegedly helping plan and participate in a 2023 coup attempt in an effort to remain in office.
“My lawyer, Dr. Paulo Bueno, has already forwarded a request to Minister Alexandre de Moraes for me to have my passport returned so that I can attend this honorable and important historical event,” Bolsonaro wrote on X in Portuguese Wednesday, the two-year anniversary of the Jan. 8 coup attempt. (read more)
Within an article noting Vice Chairman Mark Warner meeting with Director of National Intelligence (DNI) nominee Tulsi Gabbard, it is noted, “The pre-hearing questionnaire also has not been sent to Gabbard as of yet,” implying the SSCI is purposefully slow walking the nomination. The SSCI did not have any issues sending their pre-hearing questionnaire to CIA Director nominee, John Ratcliffe.
Following the meeting, Senator Mark Warner said, “I had questions going in. I have questions coming out.” The main issue appears to be Mrs Gabbard standing on support for Ukraine, which the Republicans and Democrats on the SSCI fully support.
After the Assad removal operation was successful, Tulsi Gabbards previous meeting with removed Syrian leader Bashir Assad, takes on a new dimension. The SSCI does not like that Gabbard was seemingly a previous supporter of Assad in Syria and the Intelligence Community doesn’t like having their interests challenged; particularly as it revolves around Ukraine.
President Trump announced that billionaire founder of DAMAC Properties, Hussain Sajwani, will be investing $20 billion in new U.S. datacenters that will be used to operate high speed artificial intelligence (AI) systems. Noting, “at least $20 billion over a very short period of time.” Trump suggested that number could double, and that the company’s founder was inspired by his election victory.
The data centers will be used for AI, and the initial phase will be in Texas, Arizona, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Ohio, Illinois, Michigan and Indiana. Mr Sajwani confirmed during the press remarks that it was the election of President Trump that cemented the idea to build the massive data centers.
This investment appears to align with the AI interests of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs who were big boosters in the final weeks of the campaign. Following the announcement President Trump took questions from the press pool. WATCH:
Hussain Sajwani, has long-standing ties to President Donald Trump. His business, DAMAC Properties, worked with the Trump Organization on a Trump golf course in Dubai. Mr Sajwani and Elon Musk joined President Trump for the New Year celebration in Mar-a-Lago.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has announced that his platforms of Facebook, Instagram and Treads are going to change policies to permit free speech to reemerge on the social media networks.
According to the announcement, Zuckerberg admits his tech platforms have gone too far in their effort to control content, and censorship has been the outcome. While providing no apology for the intentional control mechanisms that have created censorship, Zuckerberg notes he has met with Donald Trump and sees a “new opportunity” to reset his social media control to allow free speech to return. WATCH:
Simultaneous to this announcement, Zuckerberg has offered Dana White a position on the board of directors. Apparently, White has accepted. Dana White is a strong supporter of President Trump and the position by Zuckerberg is clearly an effort to open a channel of communication with the Trump administration.
Putting the legislative package together is the obvious intention of Senate Republican leadership traveling to Mar-a-Lago to discuss the best process for the Border Security, Tax and Energy proposals.
President Trump initially wanted one big legislative package under reconciliation rules that permits Republicans to pass the legislation without Democrat party input. House Speaker Mike Johnson supported the same approach. However, the Senate republicans are worried they would have a harder time getting their personal indulgences in one bill.
Their Senate bribery system, their personal payment process through lobbyists, actually works better if they can negotiate each legislative proposal separately. Breaking the legislation into separate bills, especially the tax stuff, makes the payments from lobbyists much more targeted and lucrative.
WASHINGTON DC – Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) told reporters earlier Monday that Senate Republicans would soon be meeting with Trump “and talk about what he’d like to have done.”
“We’re all heading in exactly the same direction where we want to get to,” Barrasso told reporters, though he declined to discuss any details of the planned meeting.
Various House Republicans are expected to go down to Mar-a-Lago for meetings on reconciliation priorities throughout the weekend.