Ukrainian President Volodymyr has once again cancelled elections within the nation, preferring to continue his rule by unilateral fiat.

A growing opposition movement to Zelenskyy is very visible, and the Ukraine President has refused to consider a need to negotiate with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

KYIV (Reuters) -Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy dismissed as irresponsible any notion of holding an election in wartime as talks have heated up recently whether Kyiv should be voting when under Russia’s assault.

Calling for unity to avoid pointless political discussion, Zelenskiy’s comments appeared to rule out any suggestion Ukraine should hold a vote to demonstrate its democratic credentials remain in good order.

[…] In his nightly video address, Zelenskiy said it was critical to concentrate on the military challenges facing Ukraine as it tries to push out Russian forces occupying nearly one-fifth of its land more than 20 months after launching their invasion.

“We all understand that now, in wartime, when there are many challenges, it is utterly irresponsible to engage in topics related to an election in such a frivolous manner,” he said. (read more)

(more…)

Much is being made of the New York Times/Siena poll of background states [Full Poll DATA HERE].  Indeed, the professional Democrats are apoplectic with the results, and the deeper you dig into the poll the worse it looks for Joe Biden.

(NYT) – Trump leads Biden in five of the six states — Pennsylvania, Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and Michigan — which would likely be enough to give him the 270 electoral votes needed to win. Biden leads in the sixth state, Wisconsin.  Trump leads by at least four percentage points in each of the other five states:

[NYT Article Link] – [ Crosstabs Link ]

Extending the results, if the election were held today, President Trump would win over 300 electoral votes.  However, lesser discussed is the structure of the race that is specific to MAGAnomics and President Trump.  Within the poll, President Trump is carrying the largest coalition of support amid black Democrats (22%) and Latinos (40%) in Republican history.  This is very unique to President Trump and not transferable to any other Republican candidate.

Within that reality, you find the reason for Politico [SEE HERE] and David Axelrod [SEE HERE] to sound the alarms.  “Not ‘bed-wetting,’” but legitimate concern, Axelrod wrote, as he simultaneously suggested that Joe Biden drop out of the race.  Axelrod says, “the stakes of miscalculation here are too dramatic to ignore. Only @JoeBiden can make this decision,” he continued. “If he continues to run, he will be the nominee of the Democratic Party. What he needs to decide is whether that is wise; whether it’s in HIS best interest or the country’s?”

(more…)

First things first.  Did you notice the byline on the NBC report we discussed about U.S. and EU officials beginning talks with Ukraine about peace-talks to end the stalemate.  For those who didn’t notice, Kristen Welker was one of the reporters who wrote the article {NBC LINK}.  Then today, Zelenskyy appears on NBC Meet the Press, with Kristen Welker, to discuss the status of the Ukraine war and say there is no “stalemate.”  Funny, but not accidental, how that happens.

The full interview link is here (and below); however, during the interview Welker asked Zelenskyy about President Trump saying he would end the conflict within 24 hours.  Zelenskyy scoffs at the possibility and rejects that any peace negotiations could take place.  WATCH (3 mins): 

.

I’m going to try and put the absurd nature (literally his World War Reddit disposition) of Volodymyr Zelenskyy over there on the side for a moment [that’s not easy], and accept his pronouncements are with what he genuinely believes, with the full weight and support of the U.S. State Dept/CIA to frame his reference.

(more…)

This should not come as a big surprise, after all, President Donald Trump has an actual record of accomplishment on the two metrics that CBS/YouGov are polling, peace and prosperity.

According to the CBS/YouGov Poll, American voters view President Donald Trump as the better presidential candidate to create peace globally and specifically make their financial future more positive.  Both of these points are exceptionally important.

CBS – With views of things in America continuing to be bad and now hitting their most negative marks of the year, one might expect an incumbent president to trail in a pre-election poll — as Joe Biden does in this one. But that’s only half the story. The other half is that Donald Trump holds distinct advantages in his own right when voters look forward: More voters think they’d be better off financially if Trump wins in 2024, and more voters think it’s Trump who can keep the U.S. out of a war, if he wins. (link)

(more…)

After several interesting hearings and court filings last week, U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon has indicated she is likely to postpone the trial schedule requested by Special Counsel Jack Smith due to the scope of material evidence and the need for defense attorneys to review slow production by the prosecution.

As noted by journalist Julie Kelly, who has attended the hearings, “On Friday morning, [Cannon] announced a stay, or suspension, of all pre-trial deadlines as she prepares a formal order to explain her thinking and very likely issue a new trial date.”

Bad News / Good News – Before getting to the great summary outline provided by Kelly, it is worth remembering one of the challenges in the case, which fortunately Judge Cannon has great familiarity with.

You might remember when the issue of defining “classified documents” surfaced, Judge Cannon appointed a “special master” to review the documents and make determinations.  The prosecution filed an appeal to that approach and won within the 11th Circuit based on an outlook the Jack Smith team is relying on.

Essentially the appellate court ruled on the DOJ calling the material “classified” and “vital to national security”, by saying in the court’s determination they have no authority to question the decision of the executive branch when it comes to matters of national security. {Go Deep}

(more…)

Washington DC saw a massive assembly of pro-Hamas, pro-Palestinian groups today.  Tens of thousands of people protesting against Israel in support of Hamas and the Palestinian cause shouted, “from the river to the sea,” an increasingly popular slogan calling for the elimination of the nation state of Israel.

After the march and protest, the angry pro-Hamas groups converged on the White House, scaling the fence and waving the Palestinian flag.  The chant changed to “long live the Intifada,” a nod of approval to the protests against Israel from within the West Bank and Gaza.

.

WASHINGTON DC – Tens of thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters massed in Washington, DC, Saturday afternoon before descending upon the White House to chant, “Allahu akbar” and “F–k Joe Biden” as they accused the president of genocide and demanded a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

“From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” the crowd dotted with Palestinian flags and signs cried at the start of the event, which drew attendees from across the country.

(more…)

The judge in the New York City case against Donald Trump and the Trump organization has transparently been a little goofy.  From the first day when he posed for the cameras, to the sketchy application of legal review within the case, Judge Arthur Engoron exhibits the classic traits of being weird and unstable.

There is a pattern amid the deployment of Lawfare that deserves some background context.  Whenever Lawfare is deployed there are always background characters who are seemingly needed to keep the bizarre interpretations of Lawfare tactics on track.

We saw this play out with Debra Katzenberg, Monica McLean and David Laufman controlling Kavanaugh accuser Christine Blasey-Ford.  We saw it again with Mary McCord playing the role in the background of the Trump Lawfare impeachment to guide Jerry Nadler and Adam Schiff.  We saw it again with Andrew Weissmann and Norm Eisen guiding Special Prosecutor Jack Smith from the backbench of Lawfare.  In each case the principal activity is guided by Lawfare ideologues who use position to influence.

In the Judge Engoron example, court clerk Allison Greenfield has been passing notes and instructions to Engoron as the case has progressed.  The activity has become so disconcerting that Trump’s lawyers have called it out in court as it happens {Breitbart Link}.  In response to the sunlight upon the visible activity, Judge Engoron has now expanded his gag order to prohibit Trump’s lawyers from drawing attention to the activity of Ms. Greenfield.

NEW YORK — The judge overseeing Donald Trump’s ongoing civil fraud trial issued another gag order on Friday — this time prohibiting all lawyers working on the trial from “from making any public statements, in or out of court, that refer to any confidential communications, in any form, between my staff and me.” (link)

(more…)

Crypto conman Sam Bankman-Fried has been found guilty on all seven counts of fraud and conspiracy. The evidence was overwhelming and the three former executives who worked side by side with him testified against him.

Former Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison and former FTX executives Gary Wang and Nishad Singh, said SBF directed them to commit crimes, including the looting of FTX and lying to lenders and investors about the companies’ finances.

NEW YORK, Nov 2 (Reuters) – FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was found guilty on Thursday of defrauding customers of his now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange in one of the biggest financial frauds on record, a verdict that cemented the 31-year-old former billionaire’s fall from grace.

A 12-member jury in Manhattan federal court convicted him on all seven counts he faced after a monthlong trial in which prosecutors made the case that he stole $8 billion from the exchange’s customers out of sheer greed. The verdict came just shy of one year after FTX filed for bankruptcy in a swift corporate meltdown that shocked financial markets and erased his estimated $26 billion personal fortune.

The jury reached the verdict after just over four hours of deliberations. Bankman-Fried stood and clasped his hands together as the verdict was read.

Bankman-Fried had pleaded not guilty to two counts of fraud and five counts of conspiracy.

(more…)

Everything about the case in New York City against the Trump organization business operations is ridiculous.  There are no victims.  There was no fraud.  All of the lenders did their own due diligence.  All of the loans were paid back without issue and the statement of financial condition was factual and accurate.

Additionally, the statute being used as the predicate for the case is a consumer fraud statute, intended to protect borrowers from predatory lenders. In the four corners of this case, Trump is the borrower, and the banks were the lenders.  New York is flipping the statute to claim the borrower defrauded the lenders, despite the lenders denying there was any fraud and there was no harm.   The entire case is ridiculous.

In this brief video segment, Trump defense lawyer Alina Habba reviews the current status of the case.  WATCH:

.

(more…)

Several people have pointed out this conversation between Joe Rogan and Twitter owner Elon Musk.   There are a couple of interesting aspects to the conversation; one of the more interesting is not generally being noticed.

The primary point, raised by many, is how Elon Musk discusses the scale and scope of U.S. government involvement in the operation of Twitter as an information and discussion platform.  Almost all of those making this note are unfamiliar with our multi-year research and outlines long before Elon Musk entered the picture.

As affirmed during the conversation, the FBI and various government agencies, under the auspices of the Dept of Homeland Security (DHS), were in a direct relationship with Twitter offices to control information on the platform.  This is not a surprise to CTH readers.  The instructions on content removal, content moderation, and demands to remove accounts, were part of the DHS broader initiative to control information.  This part of the discussion begins at 05:46, prompted. WATCH:

.

While the govt involvement in the operation of Twitter is interesting, readers here will not be surprised.  However, there is a statement by Joe Rogan, at 11:40, that seems to fly under the radar, even to Elon Musk, that deserves an equal amount of attention.

In response to Musk saying the ratio of censorship on the Twitter platform was a multiple of 10 times greater for “right-wing” or centrist views, Rogan ponders how and why accounts like the Taliban were not removed.   Thus, yet again, the issue that brought me to the political sphere many decades ago surfaces.

The Taliban, as a totalitarian ideology, is not on the right side of the political continuum.  Totalitarianism, or the presence of big oppressive government, falls on the left side of the political continuum.  The far-left is totalitarianism.  The furthest right is the absence of government.  This is an ideological mistake that happens frequently and needs to be addressed when the mistake is made.

(more…)