NY Judges Scrutinize ‘Troubling’ $450 Million Penalty in Trump Fraud Case: ‘No One Lost Any Money’

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Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron ordered in February former President Donald Trump to pay an approximate $450 million penalty in a civil fraud case in which there were no victims. Now, a New York appellate court is raising questions regarding the “troubling” penalty and Attorney General Letitia James’ justification for bringing the case in the first place.

James accused Trump of inflating his personal wealth to get better loan terms. Trump, for example, valued his Mar-a-Lago estate at between $427 million and $612 million, Forbes reported. Engoron, however, cited a one-off local Palm Beach County appraiser who valued the property as low as $18 million. Some experts have reportedly valued the sprawling property in the hundreds of millions.

As my colleague Mark Hemingway explained earlier this year, “Trump took out loans over several years, as real estate moguls are wont to do. For him to get approved for those loans, the banks did their own due diligence about Trump’s finances and ability to pay back the loans and decided to give them to him. Trump paid back the loans, and everyone made money.”

Enogoron ultimately ordered Trump to pay $354 million plus an additional $100 million in interest. Trump posted a $175 million bond in April and appealed the ruling.

Trump’s team argued on Thursday before the New York Appellate Division, First Judicial Department that the case was a “clear-cut violation of the statute of limitations,” and that the statute used to bring charges against the former president ultimately did not justify the action taken. (Read more from “NY Judges Scrutinize ‘Troubling’ $450 Million Penalty in Trump Fraud Case: ‘No One Lost Any Money’” HERE)

COVID Lockdowns Led to Spike in Kids’ Vision Problems, 1 in 3 Now Nearsighted, Study Finds

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There was a significant spike in myopia after the COVID-19 pandemic, research has shown.

“During the pandemic, many countries implemented nationwide lockdowns to curb the spread of the virus,” [Researcher Dr. Yajun Chen] said.

“Prolonged indoor living reduced outdoor activity for children and adolescents while increasing screen time, potentially exacerbating the ocular burden on this population and worsening the myopia crisis” . . .

“Diet may play a role, but I think the greatest reason for the increase, especially coming out of the pandemic, is due to lockdowns and being indoors more,” [senior medical analyst Dr. Marc Siegel] told Fox News Digital.

With increased screen time, kids and teens have fewer opportunities for the eye muscles to have to adapt, Siegel said. (Read more from “NY Judges Scrutinize ‘Troubling’ $450 Million Penalty in Trump Fraud Case: ‘No One Lost Any Money’” HERE)

Photo credit: Flickr

Dana Carvey Makes a Brilliant, Doddering Joe Biden on ‘Saturday Night Live’ Premiere (VIDEO)

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For the first time ever, “Live from New York, it’s ‘Saturday Night’!” made me tear up a little. . .

[I]t was a big and brilliant move to bring back “SNL” legend Carvey as a doddering President Joe Biden. I squealed when he took the stage.

After so many lame attempts to capture the essence of the cuckoo prez — Jason Sudeikis, Woody Harrelson, Jim Carrey, Mikey Day — the excellent Carvey finally batted it out of the park.

“A lot of people forget I’m president,” he said next to Rudolph’s Kamala Harris. “Including me!” . . .

He confusedly wandered offstage, creepily sniffed Kamala’s hair and inexplicably whispered “The. Rich. Don’t. Pay. Their. Fair. Share.”

[Editor’s note: the clip featuring Biden begins at about 10:30]

(Read more from “Dana Carvey Makes a Brilliant, Doddering Joe Biden on ‘Saturday Night Live’ Premiere (VIDEO)” HERE)

Walz Education Appointee: ‘Overthrow’ America Because It’s ‘Irreversibly Racist’

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A professor appointed by Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to help lead a public education project has called for the “overthrow” of America, arguing the country is “irreversibly racist.”

Macalester College education Professor Brian Lozenski (pictured) made the statements during a 2022 event online, National Review reported Wednesday.

With Walz as the running mate of Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, his decisions about state leadership are attracting renewed scrutiny.

Lozenski was appointed by “Walz’s state education department to help write the statewide ‘implementation framework’ (similar to a curriculum) for Minnesota’s new ‘ethnic studies’ standards,” according to the report.

In the video from the May 27, 2022 event, Lozenski said he supports critical race theory because it is “anti-state” and anti-U.S.

(Read more from “Walz Education Appointee: ‘Overthrow’ America Because It’s ‘Irreversibly Racist’” HERE)

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Kamala Harris Doesn’t Care About White People

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In the long-ago of 2005, just days after Hurricane Katrina made landfall near New Orleans, a young Kanye West blurted out on live television during a fundraising drive with comedian Mike Meyers that “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.”

It was perhaps an early sign of West’s mental instability, but at the time it ended up defining the media narrative about Katrina and Bush, who was lambasted by the media for being indifferent to the fate of New Orleans because it was mostly poor black people who had been killed or displaced by the storm.

It didn’t matter that the main cause of the problems in New Orleans during and immediately after Katrina — lack of evacuation, widespread looting, poor emergency response and coordination — was corruption at the local and state level, not incompetence at FEMA. (New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin would later be indicted and convicted in federal court on multiple corruption charges.)

But in the moment that didn’t matter. The national news media unfairly blamed President Bush. Every major media outlet ran a now-infamous photo of him looking down on hurricane-ravaged New Orleans from the window of Air Force One, cementing the narrative that the president was detached and indifferent to events on the ground.

It would come to be known as Bush’s “Katrina moment,” and it heralded the effective end of his administration. Democrats sailed to a massive victory in the 2006 midterms, campaigning on Bush’s allegedly flat-footed Katrina response and the unpopular war in Iraq, rendering the president impotent for his last two years in office. (Read more from “Kamala Harris Doesn’t Care About White People” HERE)

Biden-Harris DOJ Sues State Over Effort to Remove Non-Citizens From Voter Rolls

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The Department of Justice (DOJ) sued Alabama Friday over its effort to remove non-citizens from the state’s voter rolls.

Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen initiated an effort in August to remove noncitizens from the voter rolls after identifying 3,251 registered voters that had been issued noncitizen identification numbers by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The lawsuit alleges Alabama’s removal of voters from its state registration list within 90 days of the election violates federal law, according to the DOJ’s press release.

“The right to vote is one of the most sacred rights in our democracy,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division said in a statement Friday. “As Election Day approaches, it is critical that Alabama redress voter confusion resulting from its list maintenance mailings sent in violation of federal law.”

Clarke said officials around the country should “take heed of the National Voter Registration Act’s clear and unequivocal restrictions on systematic list maintenance efforts that fall within 90 days of an election.”

“I was elected Secretary of State by the people of Alabama, and it is my Constitutional duty to ensure that only American citizens vote in our elections,” Allen said in a statement to the Daily Caller News Foundation. (Read more from “Biden-Harris DOJ Sues State Over Effort to Remove Non-Citizens From Voter Rolls” HERE)

Family Devastated by Fentanyl Tragedy: A Mother’s Heartbreak After Both Daughters Overdose

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In a heartbreaking tale from Memphis, Tennessee, Brenda Diggs now finds herself caring for five grandchildren after losing both of her daughters to fentanyl overdoses within a few short months. The devastation has left her grappling with an unfathomable loss, a situation that has become all too familiar in communities across the nation.

Brenda, speaking with local news outlet WREG, expressed the overwhelming sense of responsibility she feels for her grandchildren, saying, “I’m about all they’ve got, except for their uncles. I just don’t know. It’s mind-boggling.”

Kenia Everette Wooten, Brenda’s eldest daughter, was just 42 when her life was tragically cut short. Despite early struggles, including becoming a teen mother at 15, Kenia had been on a path to recovery. However, after sustaining a severe ankle injury at work, she was prescribed medication that led to an addiction to pills. “She lost her self-esteem,” Brenda recalled, “and I guess she thought building her self-esteem and having sex with guys would make her feel better about herself.”

The turning point came on January 22, 2022, when Brenda received the devastating news of Kenia’s death. “I went in, and lo and behold, Kenia was on the floor. The paramedics were there, but she was dead on the floor,” she recounted, still haunted by that day. The cause: an accidental overdose of fentanyl.

Just three months later, Brenda faced another tragedy when her younger daughter, 34-year-old Keshia Diggs, also fell victim to the same deadly substance. Recently released from prison, Keshia had been battling her own demons. On March 25, 2022, Brenda became alarmed when Keshia failed to return home. A search of her bedroom revealed the unimaginable: “The smell just almost knocked me out,” she said, recounting the horror of finding her daughter unresponsive. Keshia, too, was a victim of an accidental fentanyl overdose.

Brenda’s pain is compounded by the knowledge that the opioid crisis continues to devastate families across the country. David Fuller, an overdose prevention specialist with the Memphis Area Prevention Coalition, emphasized the pervasive threat of fentanyl. “It’s so powerful that once a user becomes addicted to fentanyl, other drugs are not going to cut it because they’re not strong enough,” he stated. Fuller lamented the tragic frequency of such stories, saying, “I wish I could say that that was the first one of those stories that I’ve heard. But it’s absolutely not.”

The increasing prevalence of fentanyl in counterfeit pills and other drugs has caught many users unaware. “They thought they were doing heroin or something else,” Fuller explained, underscoring the urgent need for awareness and prevention.

Photo credit: Flickr

Walz’s Alleged Ties to Chinese Communist Party Deepen on Eve of VP Debate With Vance

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Rep. James Comer (R-KY) has subpoenaed Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas about unspecified allegations of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) connections against Democrat Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

In a letter accompanying the subpoena released on Thursday, Comer said the House Oversight and Accountability Committee received information from a whistleblower about “serious concern among Department of Homeland Security (DHS) personnel regarding a longstanding connection between” Tim Walz and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

The letter was issued just one day before Walz is set to debate Trump vice-presidential pick JD Vance in the televised debate on Tuesday. Per the Hill:

Specifically, Comer pointed to a nonclassified chat that DHS employees used on Microsoft Teams titled “NST NFT Bi-Weekly Sync” that he said contains relevant information, in addition to further classified and unclassified documents in the control of DHS. The acronym stands for “Nation State Threat — National Functional Team,” according to the committee.

Comer did not go into detail about what kind of concerns were raised about Walz’s alleged connection to China but said the information came through a whistleblower.

(Read more from “Walz’s Alleged Ties to Chinese Communist Party Deepen on Eve of VP Debate With Vance” HERE)

‘Third Lebanon War’ Begins

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The Third Lebanon War has officially begun, according to Israel’s Army Radio, as Israel Defense Forces (IDF) ground forces crossed into Lebanon early Tuesday morning to remove Hezbollah outposts that threaten Israeli communities.

The IDF apparently crossed into Lebanon at the “finger” or “panhandle” of Israel’s Galilee region, near the town of Metula, which was Israel’s northernmost town until the capture and annexation of the Golan Heights.

In a statement, the IDF said:

In accordance with the decision of the political echelon, a few hours ago, the IDF began limited, localized, and targeted ground raids based on precise intelligence against Hezbollah terrorist targets and infrastructure in southern Lebanon. These targets are located in villages close to the border and pose an immediate threat to Israeli communities in northern Israel.

The IDF is operating according to a methodical plan set out by the General Staff and the Northern Command which IDF soldiers have trained and prepared for in recent months.

The Israeli Air Force and IDF Artillery are supporting the ground forces with precise strikes on military targets in the area.

These operations were approved and carried out in accordance with the decision of the political echelon. Operation “Northern Arrows” will continue according to the situational assessment and in parallel to combat in Gaza and in other arenas.

The IDF is continuing to operate to achieve the goals of the war and is doing everything necessary to defend the citizens of Israel and return the citizens of northern Israel to their homes.

(Read more from “‘Third Lebanon War’ Begins” HERE)

Ryan Routh Pleads Not Guilty to Charges Alleging Attempted Assassination of Trump

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Ryan Routh pleaded not guilty to federal charges in connection with an alleged attempt to assassinate Donald Trump at the former president’s golf club in Florida.

Routh, 58, appeared in federal court in West Palm Beach on Monday for his arraignment, which lasted fewer than five minutes. Routh’s lawyers entered a not guilty plea on his behalf.

Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart, who notably signed off on the Mar-a-Lago search warrant in the confidential documents case, presided over the arraignment.

Routh had previously been charged with possession of a firearm as a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number for the incident that took place at Trump International Golf Club on Sept. 15.

He was indicted last week with three new charges — attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate, possessing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence and assaulting a federal officer — on top of the two federal firearms charges. (Read more from “Ryan Routh Pleads Not Guilty to Charges Alleging Attempted Assassination of Trump” HERE)