MAGA defender stuns CNN panel by twisting himself into 'pretzel' for Trump

President Donald Trump is drawing a great deal of criticism from a combination of Democrats and Never Trump conservatives for mixing the federal government with his private business ventures — which, detractors say, is a blatant conflict of interest. And a CNN panel went off the rails on Thursday night when Trump supporter Ben Ferguson went out of his way to defend the president.Ferguson argued, "We have a president that was really wealthy when he came in, and keeps doing business with his family. There's nothing wrong with it."But host Abby Phillip and others on the panel pushed back against Ferguson's argument.Phillip told Ferguson, "You would have been fine with the so-called Biden crime family if Biden had just been transparent — if Hunter Biden had just been transparent? If he had just been transparent and said, 'I'm using my dad's name to make money,' you would have said, 'Totally above board?'"Ferguson, however, doubled down on his defense of Trump, saying that "Burisma was massive corruption" and insisting that Hunter Biden's business activities couldn't be compared to those of President Trump or his son Donald Trump Jr. Ferguson also mentioned stock trades made by former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California). But when CNN's Bakari Sellers jump into, he argued that Ferguson was jumping through hoops to defend the Trumps while making a point of demonizing Democrats.Sellers told Ferguson, "You ask, what did he do that was unethical or illegal? And I wanted to answer that plain and simply. I take…. yoga, and I feel like you're doing a little yoga too for that pretzel that you got yourself into…. To utilize your phrase, the president makes $400,000 a year. This quarter, he's made over $1 billion — $1.2 to $1.4 billion — on crypto alone…. What I want to tell you that's unethical is the fact that when you make 3500 trades in one year, and you go up and you invest in a company, and then you sit in the Oval Office and you tell people, 'Wow, this company is great. This company is going to do X, Y, Z' or you ease regulations on this company and you trade and purchase stock in that company. That fundamentally is unethical. You can call it what you want."

MAGA group targets lawyer who represented Trump victim E. Jean Carroll

Ever since a jury found President Donald Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation in 2023, the Republican has vowed vengeance against the woman the court declared he forced himself upon in 1996. The Supreme Court has rejected Trump’s attempt to get the $5 million he owes Carroll overturned, and Carroll is now demanding that Trump pay her without further delay.In a new twist, a conservative legal group is attempting to punish the lawyer who successfully defended Carroll.“[National Legal and Policy Center] today filed a complaint with the Attorney Grievance Committee (AGC) of the New York State Supreme Court against Roberta Ann Kaplan for violating the Rules of Professional Conduct regarding the outside funding of E. Jean Carroll’s two defamation lawsuits against President Trump,” the NLPC announced on Thursday. “The lawsuits were funded by left-wing billionaire Reid Hoffman through a nonprofit called American Future Republic.”In their complaint, the NLPC claims that Carroll knowingly provided false information when she was asked during a deposition if her legal fees were bankrolled by outside sources. She said she did not, although she later said she made a mistake and her lawyers corrected the mistake as soon as possible. The NLPC also accused Kaplan of a having a “contingency fee she charged Carroll plus the legal fees she was getting from Hoffman” as being “‘excessive fees’ and thus violated New York ethics rules.”The NLPC described Hoffman as having “a near-pathological obsession with Trump and had a close relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.” It omitted to mention that Trump was close friends with Epstein, a child sex trafficker, for decades and was accused of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl in an encounter that Epstein facilitated. He is confirmed to have partied with Epstein privately, while young women were present, on several occasions.“As the complaint noted, it’s not clear Ms. Kaplan informed her client of Hoffman’s association with a sexual convict and his efforts to rehabilitate Epstein’s reputation to get Carroll’s informed consent to use Hoffman’s group to fund her lawsuits,” the NLPC added.Ironically, Trump himself has been accused of committing perjury during the case."That was his defense to sexual abuse. She's not my type," legal expert Adam Klasfeld explained in May. "And in this deposition, he was shown a picture that he was not aware included E. Jean Carroll, pointed to that picture, and confused her with Marla Maples. So clearly, she was his type. He confused her with his second wife."Another legal expert, Katie Phang, pointed out that it’s revealing that Trump and his supporters are not accusing Carroll of perjury regarding the substance of her claim — namely, that Trump sexually forced himself on her in a dressing room in 1996."But here's the thing: you notice how they're not going after her about the substantive testimony she provided about the sexual assault that she was victimized by Trump, right?" Phang observed. "They're not going after that. They're not going after the underlying facts of what she has alleged happened to her at the hands of Donald Trump. That is the tell."

Trump’s FBI is now targeting people involved in 2020 Georgia election

The FBI is pressing investigations into connected to Georgia's 2020 election, MS NOW reported Thursday. The FBI, along with former Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, seized the original Fulton County ballots from the 2020 election earlier this year.According to reporter Ken Dilanian, the FBI is now directing hundreds of staff to dig up private information on people involved in the election. Dilanian said that expanding the operation "suggests the review is part of a broader federal push tied to Trump-era election-fraud allegations, with investigators examining election materials and personnel linked to the case."It also suggests that after one year and six months, the Trump administration still hasn't found any evidence that he won the 2020 election. Still, looking directly at individuals is an escalation from seizing the ballots. Dilanian explained in the report that many of the claims have already been raised in public and courts, resulting in investigations by county and state officials. It's all happening under the politically charged midterm elections in which Trump is desperately trying to prove a need to pass his Safeguard American Voter Eligibility America Act (SAVE America Act). Locally, Republicans have pressed to put even tighter restrictions on voting rights and access. Trump famously called officials in Georgia, demanding they find 11,780 Trump votes, saying, "frankly we did win this election." That case was eventually dismissed.

DOJ targets Spanberger, Newsom gun laws with twin lawsuits after SCOTUS affirms Second Amendment rights

The Justice Department sued California and Virginia over state gun restrictions, targeting assault weapons bans and semiautomatic pistol laws.

New York, California among 25 states suing Trump admin over Medicaid work rule designed to prevent fraud

California, New York, Virginia and several other states are seeking an emergency court order.

Coalition of 25 states sues Trump admin over Medicaid work rule designed to prevent fraud

A coalition of 25 states is suing the Trump administration, arguing new Medicaid work requirement rules could strip millions of health coverage.

Government watchdog targets 'weapons of mass reproduction' after Supreme Court ruling

The Oversight Project unveils a plan to combat birthright citizenship effects through mass deportation, ICE at hospitals, and birth tourism crackdowns.

Feds Target Underage Sex Trafficking in Los Angeles