January 6 Defendant William Pope Wins Hard-Fought Trial Delay as Presidential Pardons Loom

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After a pitched battle between federal prosecutors and Jan. 6 defendant William Pope, U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras has agreed to delay Pope’s trial, saying it could be a waste of resources given the possible issuance of pardons by President-elect Donald J. Trump.

Pope, 38, of Topeka, Kansas, was scheduled to begin trial in Washington, D.C., Dec. 2 on five criminal charges, including a felony civil disorder count and four misdemeanors.

“I’m relieved that my four-year battle with the government is almost over,” Pope told Blaze News. “I’m going to win.”

Contreras adopted Pope’s reasoning from a Nov. 13 filing that said a long trial would be a waste of court resources given the post-election realities in Washington, D.C.

“Unfortunately, the prosecutor’s facial expressions won’t make it into the court transcript,” Pope wrote on X after the court’s ruling.

(Read more from “January 6 Defendant William Pope Wins Hard-Fought Trial Delay as Presidential Pardons Loom” HERE)

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‘People Violate Laws Anytime They Want’: PA County Dems Defy State Law to Count Hundreds of Illegal Votes

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Democrats on the Bucks County Board of Commissioners voted to illegally count misdated and undated ballots in an attempt to swing Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate election in favor of ousted Democrat incumbent Sen. Bob Casey, D-Penn.

The vote comes after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court already ruled those ballots were not allowed to be counted, per state law.

Diane Ellis-Marseglia, one of the Democrats, admitted she knew it was against the law, but voted to count the ballots anyway.

“I think we all know that precedent by a court doesn’t matter anymore in this country. And people violate laws anytime they want,” she said. “For me if I violate this law, it’s because I want a court to pay attention to it.”

Democrat Bob Harvie also voted in favor. Neither Marseglia nor Harvie responded to a request for comment from The Federalist. Republican Gene DiGirolamo voted against counting the ballots. (Read more from “‘People Violate Laws Anytime They Want’: PA County Dems Defy State Law to Count Hundreds of Illegal Votes” HERE)

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We Need To Have A National Conversation About ‘Toxic Femininity’

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We’ve spent several years now talking about “toxic masculinity,” though I’m not sure what exactly it means. It’s a great example of what Andrew Hofer calls “Trojan terminology” — think “white supremacy,” “settler colonialism,” “anti-racism” etc. These are all phrases where Hofer notes there’s “a larger debate we need to have about the use of neologisms to sneak in all sorts of extra baggage that people disagree about.”

In the case of toxic masculinity, the vast majority of violence has always been committed by men. We can be honest about that and take reasonable steps to address male violence and misogyny. However, the rise of internet culture, and whatever else our woke montagnards are currently banging on about, doesn’t mean a problem inherent to the human condition has suddenly become uniquely “toxic.” By any historical standard, life for women in the West is the best it’s ever been. Not that reality stopped Democrats spending a tens of millions of dollars on ads implying hoards of abusive husbands are threatening their wives if they vote for Kamala Harris.

But by successfully branding men as toxic, no one hesitates anymore before disparaging men, whereas huge swaths of Americans are loathe to criticize feminism or make generalizations about women. Even when we can say that feminism has become, very literally, toxic.

Last week saw the rise of a TikTok trend that went by the moniker of “Make Aqua Tofana Great Again.” For those of you that are not feminist history nerds, Aqua Tofana was a deadly cocktail of arsenic and belladonna that was sold and marketed to women in 17th century Italy, who used it to off hundreds of men that were allegedly abusive or otherwise problematic. Anyway, the first video on this got 1.3 million likes and MATGA was off to the races.

Obviously, a lot of people weren’t taking the election results well, but this is something altogether different. I have a feeling if there was a major social media trend where men were plotting to off women en masse for voting for Kamala Harris, we’d be on the receiving end of a another media jeremiad about online radicalization and the need to censor social media. Instead, I’m not sure a single major media outlet even picked up on the Aqua Tofana insanity, let alone the less subtle vitriol. Here’s a video about shooting random white men from a woman whose only coherent motivation seems to be that she can’t regulate her emotions. (Read more from “We Need To Have A National Conversation About ‘Toxic Femininity’” HERE)

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Could This Be the Real Reason Why Trump Nominated Matt Gaetz As Attorney General?

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Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) has been nominated to be our next attorney general. It’s triggered all the right people, as he would take a baseball bat to the Department of Justice. It’s a clear sign that the era of gangster antics from the rogue officials and agents here is over. Gaetz is indeed the king of controversy. He wallows in it so that this confirmation fight will be bloody. It just is since there are more than enough squishy Republicans who could make this fight a slog.

There have been many theories as to why Gaetz was selected. Is it 4-D chess? Is it a ploy to get Gaetz to resign from Congress? He did so yesterday, according to House Speaker Mike Johnson. Even Politico thought the ploy of Gaetz leaving would make it easier for Trump to select who he really wants to be a stretch. Yet, it might be one massive loyalty test (via Politico):

Once Gaetz’s selection was announced, the chatter among top Republicans on Capitol Hill quickly turned to four questions:

1. Was Trump aware of the coming Ethics report on its Gaetz investigation?

The committee was planning to vote Friday on whether to release the report, as Punchbowl first reported. But if “Gaetz is no longer a member of the House, the report likely won’t be formally released,” as Olivia Beavers and Jordain Carney report.

Frankly, it seems implausible to us that this won’t come out — if not on Friday, then during Gaetz’s confirmation hearings (assuming, of course, that Trump doesn’t try to end-run around those with recess appointments to the Cabinet). The House leaks like a sieve, and the Senate Judiciary Committee is definitely going to want to see at least the underlying evidence in the report.

2. Is this for real?

Pretty much every Hill Republican we spoke with thinks there’s something strange going on here. One theory we heard over and over from bewildered Republicans is that perhaps by picking him, Trump is giving Gaetz an out from the Ethics report (which seems possible), and that Gaetz is returning the favor by becoming a sacrificial lamb who will ease the way for Trump’s eventual pick for AG (which seems like a stretch).

A separate theory we heard goes like this: Maybe Gaetz is resigning only from this Congress — so as to stymie the Ethics probe for now — with an intent to be seated for the next Congress come January. We find that very hard to believe, both because it doesn’t sound like it would realistically slow the Ethics report’s release, and because House Speaker MIKE JOHNSON has already spoken to Florida Gov. RON DeSANTIS about holding a special election right away — which there would be no need for if Gaetz were planning to be seated in January.

(Read more from “Could This Be the Real Reason Why Trump Nominated Matt Gaetz As Attorney General?” HERE)

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Florida Sues FEMA For ‘Conspiring’ To Deny Disaster Relief To Trump Supporters

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Florida is suing FEMA for allegedly discriminating against supporters of President-elect Donald Trump after a Daily Wire report revealed a supervisor directed relief workers in the Sunshine State to “avoid homes advertising Trump.”

The suit, from Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, alleges that FEMA Director Deanne Criswell and now-fired supervisor Marn’i Washington conspired against the civil rights of Trump supporters in Lake Placid, Florida. The suit comes after whistleblowers told The Daily Wire they were directed to bypass the homes of people with Trump flags or yard signs when canvassing homes in Lake Placid to see if they qualified for hurricane assistance after Hurricane Milton.

“While the facts will continue to come out over the weeks and months, it is already clear that Defendant Washington conspired with senior FEMA officials, as well as those carrying out her orders, to violate the civil rights of Florida citizens,” the suit says.

The suit, which cites reporting from The Daily Wire, accuses both Criswell and Washington of illegally depriving Trump supporters of federal aid. Moody filed the suit Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Fort Pierce Division.

“Hurricane season is not over, and the federal agency in charge of emergency response is embroiled in scandal – caught withholding aid from storm victims in Florida who support President Trump,” Moody said in a statement. “I am taking swift legal action to find out how far this political discrimination reaches and to make sure all Americans who fall victim to devastating storms are served, regardless of their political affiliation.” (Read more from “Florida Sues FEMA For ‘Conspiring’ To Deny Disaster Relief To Trump Supporters” HERE)

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Undecided Young Voters Reveal Why They Chose Trump: ‘Make America Normal Again’

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Former President and President-elect Donald Trump made inroads across several demographics, including young voters, and some are revealing why they opted to cast their ballot for Trump over Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

Many young men and women ditched the Democrat Party, ultimately supporting Trump’s America First agenda. There has been much speculation on what, specifically, drew younger voters to the Trump-Vance ticket this time around — from Trump choosing Sen. JD Vance (R-OH), a millennial, as his running mate to the campaign’s embrace of alternative media, attracting younger audiences with appearances on popular podcasts such as Theo Von’s and of course, Joe Rogan’s.

Several young voters spoke to the New York Times, revealing why they decided to take the leap for Trump.

One 23-year-old Virginia woman was apparently stunned by her own decision, telling the Times, “I can’t believe it, but I did end up voting for Donald Trump.” According to the outlet, her reasons included Trump choosing Vance, Trump’s position as a “strong” leader, as well as opposition to the “assumptions” Democrats make based on gender.

“I voted for Donald Trump. Like Abigail, I was really impressed with JD Vance, especially during the V.P. debate,” another participant — a 21 year old named George from Georgia, said. (Read more from “Undecided Young Voters Reveal Why They Chose Trump: ‘Make America Normal Again’” HERE)

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Trump’s Pick for Pentagon Is Hard-Core Anti-Woke, Will Fire the Loonies on Day 1

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President-elect Donald Trump stunned national security circles on Tuesday night by naming Fox News morning show co-host and Army veteran Pete Hegseth as his nominee for secretary of defense. Like all nominees to major roles in the U.S. government, reporters quickly poured through Hegseth’s many years of on-air moments and other public remarks, including his recent book “The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free.”

In the June 2024 book, Hegesth explains how he and the military finally parted ways in 2021. “And, in 2021, I was deemed an “extremist” by that very same Army. Yes, you read that right. Twenty years . . . and the military I loved, I fought for, I revered…spit me out,” Hegseth wrote. . .

He also joined Fox News that month to discuss his book and told the network, “I was in the National Guard during the inauguration of Joe Biden, so I served under Bush, served under Obama, served under Trump, and now was going to guard the inauguration because I was in the D.C. guard… ultimately, members of my unit in leadership deemed that I was an extremist or a white nationalist because of a tattoo I have, which is a religious tattoo. It’s a Jerusalem cross. Everybody can look it up, but it was used as a premise to revoke my orders to guard the inauguration.”

Hegseth, a long anti-woke advocate, concluded the interview with Fox’s Ainsley Earhardt by saying, “The Pentagon likes to say ‘our diversity is our strength.’ What a bunch of garbage. In the military, our diversity is not our strength. Our unity is our strength, and we need a commander-in-chief that understands that. Donald Trump certainly does.” . . .

Hegseth also wrote more about his tattoos, saying, “When I was doing a series for Fox Nation I did an interview while getting tattooed by the only tattoo artist in Bethlehem. I got Yehweh — Jesus in Hebrew. Also on my forearm, I have a Benjamin Franklin, effectively, political cartoon from the 1760s. It’s the Join or Die snake. I’ve got Deus Vult — God Wills It – which was the cry of the Crusaders on my bicep. I have a big flag with the AR-15 I carried in Iraq on my bicep. Then on my shoulder, I have my unit crest of who I served with in Iraq. My entire pec is a Jerusalem cross. Israel, Christianity and my faith are things I care deeply about.” (Read more from “Trump’s Pick for Pentagon Is Hard-Core Anti-Woke, Will Fire the Loonies on Day 1” HERE)

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Trans “Woman” Who Worked as Manager at Bezo’s Blue Origin, Allegedly Butchered Dad on Election Day; Also Worked HR, Married to another Trans “Woman” Writer

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A space rocket program manager butchered [his] father with an ice axe on Election Night after a breakdown following President-elect Trump’s victory — and was found smiling and clapping covered in [his] loved one’s blood, cops said.

Corey Burke considered the bloody rampage – in which [he] allegedly strangled, bit and hacked [his] 67-year-old father in the $800,000 Seattle home they shared – to be an “act of liberation,” charging documents allege.

Burke, 33, is a training program manager at Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos’ spacecraft company, according to [his] LinkedIn, and is married to prominent transgender writer Samantha Leigh Allen, public records show.

Photo credit: Facebook/Corey Burke

Burke told cops that the killing was meant to “help people change their attachment to their parents” and “had to happen today,” [he] told police, her face covered in her father’s blood, according to court documents.

Burke had been upset about election day and knew Trump would handily beat Vice President Kamala Harris when [he] allegedly snapped — apparently because when [his] father, Timothy Burke, refused to turn off the lights. (Read more from “Trans “Woman” Who Worked as Manager at Bezo’s Blue Origin, Allegedly Butchered Dad on Election Day; Also Worked HR, Married to another Trans “Woman” Writer” HERE)

Trump Makes Shock Pick For Attorney General

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President-elect Donald Trump announced via a TruthSocial post that he would be nominating Republican Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz to be his attorney general.

Trump wrote in a social media post that Gaetz is a “deeply gifted and tenacious attorney, trained at the William & Mary College of Law” who will end the “Weaponized Government.”

“Matt is a deeply gifted and tenacious attorney, trained at the William & Mary College of Law, who has distinguished himself in Congress through his focus on achieving desperately needed reform at the Department of Justice,” Trump wrote in the TruthSocial post.

“Few issues in America are more important than ending the partisan Weaponization of our Justice System. Matt will end Weaponized Government, protect our Borders, dismantle Criminal Organizations and restore Americans’ badly-shattered Faith and Confidence in the Justice Department,” he added.

(Read more from “Trump Makes Shock Pick For Attorney General” HERE)

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T-Shirt With Factual Message Gets Boy Suspended: Supreme Court Now Involved

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A coalition of many groups, organizations and states is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a school’s decision to apply its own political ideology to students’ speech, and censor by ejecting from class those with other perspectives.

It’s all over a student who wore a T-shirt stating “There are only two genders,” and was tossed from his school. Then he tried to wear one that said “There are CENSORED genders” and he got the same result. . .

One of the supporting briefs, filed by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, pointed out that the lower courts couldn’t even agree on why they were attacking the student’s rights.

“The district court denied L.M.’s request for a preliminary injunction and later entered final judgment against him, reasoning that the shirt constituted an impermissible ‘invasion of the rights of others’… The First Circuit affirmed on alternative grounds, adopting a novel test that would allow schools to censor speech that neither targets nor harasses a specific student,” the brief charges.

That precedent, FIRE said, allows schools to target “passive, silently expressed speech that targets no student in particular if the student’s expression (1) is reasonably interpreted to demean one of those characteristics of personal identity, given the common understanding that such characteristics are unalterable or otherwise deeply rooted and that demeaning them strikes a person at the core of his being, and (2) the demeaning message is reasonably forecasted to poison the educational atmosphere due to its serious negative psychological impact on students with the demeaned characteristic and thereby lead to symptoms of a sick school – symptoms therefore of substantial disruption.” (Read more from “T-Shirt With Factual Message Gets Boy Suspended: Supreme Court Now Involved” HERE)

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