U.S. officials on May 14 asked a federal judge to order Steve Bannon, an ex-adviser to former President Donald Trump, to prison.

Mr. Bannon was convicted of contempt of Congress in 2022 and sentenced to four months in prison, but his sentence has been on hold due to his appeal of the conviction.

A U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit panel on Friday upheld the conviction, ruling against Mr. Bannon.

A lawyer representing Mr. Bannon said that he would be asking the full appeals court to consider the case, but U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) lawyers said Tuesday that “there is no legal basis” to keep Mr. Bannon’s sentence on pause.

“There is no longer a ‘substantial question of law that is likely to result in a reversal or an order for a new trial,’” they said, noting that the panel rejected all of Mr. Bannon’s arguments.

The request was submitted to U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, who stayed the sentence in 2022 because he found that Mr. Bannon was raising “a substantial question of law that is likely to result in a reversal or an order for a new trial.”

The substantial question centers on how to determine if a defendant intentionally defies a congressional subpoena and what evidence the defendant should be able to introduce, Judge Nichols, an appointee of President Trump, said at sentencing. “This case also raises substantial questions about the effect of the congressional subpoena recipients, invocation of the Speech or Debate Clause, and questions regarding whether and to what extent the Committee was formed and operate[s] in compliance with its rules,” he said at the time.

Mr. Bannon was subpoenaed by the since-disbanded U.S. House of Representatives panel investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol but declined to provide documents or testimony because he was directed by his lawyer not to comply. The lawyer said that President Trump invoked executive privilege, and the matter of privilege would have to be worked out before Mr. Bannon cooperated.

“Long-standing constitutional principles, exhaustively recognized and identified by the Department of Justice for decades in binding opinions, make clear that any such definition when executive privilege has been invoked, violates the fundamental doctrine of separation of powers. It is the president’s or a former president’s prerogative to determine when and over what to invoke executive privilege and only a court, not a committee issuing the subpoena, can be the arbiter of whether executive privilege applies and how far its breadth extends,” David Schoen, who is representing Mr. Bannon, told The Epoch Times in an email.

“It is unconscionable to hold a private citizen criminally liable for responding to a subpoena in the manner his lawyer told him is the only manner the law permits and especially when a constitutional principle like executive privilege is involved,” Mr. Schoen added.

The appeals court panel said that the defense of citing legal counsel “is no defense at all.”

“As both this court and the Supreme Court have repeatedly explained, a contrary rule would contravene the text of the contempt statute and hamstring Congress’s investigatory authority. Because we have no basis to depart from that binding precedent, and because none of Bannon’s other challenges to his convictions have merit, we affirm” the conviction, U.S. Circuit Judge Bradley Garcia, an appointee of President Joe Biden, wrote for the unanimous panel.

There are two steps that Mr. Bannon can take following the rejection. He can ask the full appeals court to consider the case or hold an en banc session. He can also take the matter to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Mr. Schoen said that Mr. Bannon and his representatives planned to ask the full appeals court to consider the case.

The DOJ officials said that, regardless of which steps Mr. Bannon takes, he should be ordered to report to prison.

They noted that federal law requires a person found guilty and sentenced to a term of imprisonment to be detained as an appeal is considered unless “the appeal is not for the purpose of delay and raises a substantial question of law or fact likely to result in reversal.”

Officials did not challenge Judge Nichols’ initial finding that Mr. Bannon raised “a substantial question of law,” but stated that, in light of the new ruling, there is no longer such a question.

“The D.C. Circuit rejected defendant’s appeal on all grounds, including the primary argument on appeal: the requisite mental state required for a contempt of Congress violation,” DOJ lawyers wrote. “Consequently, there is no longer a ‘substantial question of law that is likely to result in a reversal or an order for a new trial.’ Under these circumstances, the court ‘shall order’ defendant ‘be detained,’ so the stay of sentence must be lifted.”

Judge Nichols has not yet reacted to the request.

The appeals court panel stayed the issuance of its mandate until seven days after the disposition of a petition for rehearing or for rehearing by the full court. The DOJ acknowledged that stay but said it “does not divest” Judge Nichols of his authority to lift the stay of the sentence.

Peter Navarro, another former adviser to President Trump, started serving his contempt of Congress sentence in March after U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, denied his request to postpone the sentence pending appeal.

The decision was upheld by the District of Columbia Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court.

Michael Cohen is testifying about invoices, check stubs and checks for 2017 — admitting that the description for the check stubs were false statements.

He testified that payments earmarked by Donald Trump’s company as “legal retainers” were actually for “the reimbursement to me of the hush money fee” to Stormy Daniels, plus a bonus and other non-legal-related fees.

Presumptive 2024 GOP presidential nominee Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records related to a $130,000 payment Cohen made to porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election.

Follow live updates here.

Trump Allies, Potential VP Contenders Attend Trial

Trump’s unprecedented trial in Manhattan is featuring support from GOP lawmakers and politicians who have been floated as potential running mates for Trump’s 2024 run.

Outside the courtroom Tuesday, Trump was flanked by North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Florida Rep. Byron Donalds, Florida Rep. Cory Mills and former 2024 GOP contender Vivek Ramaswamy, all of whom are defenders of the 45th president and could be in the running as potential vice presidential picks. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson also notably appeared in support of Trump’s battle against 34 counts of falsifying business records, Fox News Digital reported.

“Vivek is here right now, so he can speak for himself – he said, ‘This is a sham trial. It’s politically motivated. It’s an assault on the leading candidate for U.S. president.’… He’s going to talk to you. The speaker of the House is here. We have Byron Donalds, Cory is here. We have a lot of great people here to talk to you,” Trump said outside of the courtroom Tuesday.

The lineup comes after the former president was joined Monday by Ohio Sen. JD Vance, who has also been floated as a potential running mate, New York Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville, and his son Eric Trump. Eric Trump is also in court with his father again Tuesday.

A Trump campaign official told Fox News Digital that the supporters all volunteered to join Trump in court to support their friend, and were not invited by the campaign.

Appeals Court Denies Trump Gag Order Challenge

A New York appeals court on Tuesday affirmed a gag order against former President Trump in his hush money criminal case.

The order, imposed on Trump by Judge Juan Merchan, bars Trump from publicly commenting on witnesses, prosecutors, court staff or the judge’s family. It does not prevent him from attacking Merchan or Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D).

Trump has railed against his gag order as a violation of his First Amendment rights, arguing it prevents him from responding to political attacks being levied by high-profile witnesses and others.

“Justice Merchan properly determined that petitioner’s public statements posed a significant threat to the integrity of the testimony of witnesses and potential witnesses in this case as well,” the decision from the five-judge panel reads.

Communities throughout the United States are suffering while they try to find money to house, clothe, feed, educate, and provide medical care for millions of illegal immigrants caught and released into the country by President Joe Biden. However, the left-wing nonprofit organizations paid to serve migrants are profiting pleasantly.

According to an examination by the Free Press of three of the most prominent nonprofit organizations paid by the Biden administration for migrant services, their revenues have more than tripled since 2018, and each of their CEOs makes more than $500,000 a year.

One, Global Refuge, saw its revenue rise from $50 million in 2018 to more than $200 million in 2022. Documents show that Global Refuge housed more than 2,500 migrant children in 2019 at a cost of $30 million. It housed just 1,443 in 2022 at a cost of $82.5 million. In that same period, Global Refuge CEO Krish O’Mara Vignarajah saw her salary rise from $244,000 a year to $520,000. Before coming to Global Refuge, she served as former first lady Michelle Obama’s policy director.

Another nonprofit group, Endeavors, was awarded more than 1 billion dollars in 2022, of which it spent $533,000 on a music therapist, $4.6 million on “consulting services,” $1.4 million on conferences, and $700,000 on lobbyists. Despite past scandals involving self-dealing among top executives, in 2022, Southwest Key Programs was awarded almost $800 million, of which it gave more than $1 million to its CEO.

Each nonprofit organization benefits from the Department of Health and Human Services’s Unaccompanied Children Program. When children are caught illegally crossing the border without parents, Border Patrol must, by law, turn them over to HHS, whose Office of Refugee Resettlement is charged with housing, feeding, and educating them until their parents or a sponsor can be found. HHS does not provide these services. They contract with nonprofit outfits that do, hence the big payouts to Endeavors, Global Refuge, and Southwest Key Programs.

Under the leadership of HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra, the Unaccompanied Children Program has been plagued by fraud and abuse. One director quit after Becerra threatened to fire her if she didn’t discharge children to sponsors faster.

“If Henry Ford had seen this in his plants,” Becerra told ORR staff in 2022, “he would never have become famous and rich.” But the CEOs of the nonprofit organizations Becerra pays sure are getting rich.

Profiteering at the nonprofit groups involved in the Unaccompanied Children Program is a tiny fraction of the problem. The Biden administration has opened the spending floodgates through many other federal programs including State Department funding for the United Nations’s Regional Refugee and Migrant Response Plan;

Federal Emergency Management Agency funding for the Emergency Food and Shelter Program, which is not to be confused with FEMA funding for Shelter and Services Program; or HHS funding for refugee entrant and assistance programs. Billions of dollars flow from taxpayers to far-left nonprofit groups allegedly to provide services without oversight for millions of migrants.

“We could afford to take, in a heartbeat, another 4 million people,” Biden said while campaigning for president in 2019. “The idea that a country of 330 million people cannot absorb people who are in desperate need and who are justifiably fleeing oppression is absolutely bizarre, absolutely bizarre.”

It’s easy to afford the housing, food, education, and medical costs of millions of new migrants when you are spending other people’s money, as Biden always is. It is even easier to spend that money when you know it is going to your political allies. It is past time for Congress to cut off the border crisis gravy train.

Inflation, as measured by the producer price index, rose to 2.2% for the year ending in April, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported on Tuesday.

April marks the third straight rise in the headline inflation rate, the opposite of the trend sought by the Federal Reserve and a warning sign for President Joe Biden.

Most economists had forecast annual inflation would tick up by this much, so the reading was in line with expectations.

On a month-to-month basis, the price index increased by 0.5%, more than expected.

“Net, net, inflation at the producer level is back on the front burner this month and consumers are sure to feel the heat as higher production costs will feed into the inflation they see in the goods and services they buy,” said Chris Rupkey, chief economist at FWDBONDS.

Core PPI inflation, which strips out volatile food and energy metrics, rose to 2.4%, also in line with expectations.

The Fed has raised its interest rate target to 5.25% to 5.50%, the highest since the dot-com bubble at the turn of the century.

Recent inflation reports have come in hotter than anticipated, with the consumer price index rising to 3.5% in March. Because of the hotter inflation prints, coupled with the insulation of the strong jobs market, many investors began to expect that the Fed would hold off on cutting rates until after the November election.

The labor market has remained above water despite the interest rate increases.

But the most recent jobs report showed some signs of slowing down.

The economy added 175,000 jobs in April versus 315,000 the month before, and the unemployment rate rose a tenth of a percentage point to 3.9%.

Additionally, the number of new applications for unemployment benefits rose by 22,000 to 231,000 last week, the highest number of jobless claims in about nine months.

The most recent data show job openings fell 3.7% in March to just under 8.5 million, the lowest level of openings since February 2021. The job opening numbers fell below expectations, continuing a trend of slowly declining job openings over the past few years.

A softening labor market could cause the Fed to cut sooner rather than later, but if inflation remains elevated, the situation will be difficult for the central bank. Top Fed officials have said bringing inflation down to its normal level is its highest priority.

Higher interest rates are bad news for Biden in an election year. Biden’s economic approval ratings have been hamstrung by high inflation coupled with the higher interest rate environment. Higher rates make things like buying a home or taking out a loan much more expensive for voters.

Red Lobster abruptly closed the doors of at least 50 restaurants nationwide Monday — including over a dozen in New York and New Jersey, blindsiding seafood chain employees.

TAGeX Brands, a restaurant liquidator, revealed it is auctioning off kitchen items and furniture from shuttered Red Lobster locations as part of its “largest restaurant equipment sale ever.”

Fourteen locations in New York and New Jersey were “temporarily closed” for the foreseeable future, according to Red Lobster’s website, as the struggling company weighed a possible Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.

The shutdown locations include Lakewood, Buffalo, Amherst, Williamsville, Rochester, Poughkeepsie, Stony Brook, Kingston, Scarsdale and Nanuet in New York and Ledgewood, Lawrenceville, East Brunswick and Bridgewater in New Jersey.

Red Lobster — which has 649 locations nationwide — has not publicly commented on the closures.

Employees and customers at a Red Lobster in Buffalo were greeted with a sign taped on the glass window that marked the restaurant’s closure, according to WKBW.

“This location is closed. We look forward to serving you at another Red Lobster location in the future,” the sign read.

Ramon Garcia, an employee, told the outlet that he learned of his store’s shutdown from a fellow worker.

Corporate officials allegedly only reached out when they informed the workers that they had three days to clear everything out of the location.

“This happened out of nowhere. All the people that we work with, they’re losing their jobs and not knowing what to expect after that,” Garcia said. “It’s taking a toll on them.”

“I didn’t know we were going bankrupt, but I kind of knew, if you know what I’m saying,” Garcia said. “They were cutting back on a lot of stuff.”

Last month, Red Lobster mulled a decision to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy to restructure its debts, according to a report.

The seafood chain has sought advice from law firm King & Spalding on how to shed some long-term contracts and renegotiate a chunk of its leases, people with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg.

In January, Thai Union Group PCL, a Thailand-based seafood giant that owns Red Lobster, revealed its intention to pursue an exit from its minority investment, blaming rising costs and the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The combination of COVID-19 pandemic, sustained industry headwinds, higher interest rates and rising material and labor costs have impacted Red Lobster, resulting in prolonged negative financial contributions to Thai Union and its shareholders,” Thai Union Group’s CEO Thiraphong Chansiri said.

“After detailed analysis, we have determined that Red Lobster’s ongoing financial requirements no longer align with our capital allocation priorities and therefore are pursuing an exit of our minority investment.”

Thai Union paid $575 million to Golden Gate Capital, Red Lobster’s then-parent company, for a 25 percent stake in the restaurant chain in 2016.

The group claimed Red Lobster logged a share loss of $19 million during the first nine months of 2023.

The restaurant also blamed the “Ultimate Endless Shrimp” deal, which allows customers to spend $20 on all-you-can-eat shrimp, for its $11 million loss in the third quarter last year.

Union Group CFO Ludovic Regis Henri Garnier told Restaurant Business Magazine that the initiative was intended to help “boost traffic” but “it didn’t work” as the prices were raised to $25.

“We want to keep it on the menu. And of course we need to be much more careful regarding what are the entry points and what is the price point we are offering for this promotion.”

In March, Red Lobster appointed veteran bankruptcy expert Jonathan Tibus as its new CEO.

Red Lobster has since sought a buyer to take over operations, according to CNBC.

The outlet reported last month that one firm was interested in purchasing the company, but the deal never came to fruition.

Judge Judy wants inquiring minds to know that a recent National Enquirer article claiming she is seeking a new trial for the long-convicted Menendez brothers is “unequivocally false.”

So false in fact, that longtime small screen magistrate is taking the Enquirer and InTouch Weekly owner Accelerate360 to court for defamation. The lawsuit that the never litigation shy Judy Justice host and her lawyer Eric M George filed today in state court in Florida seeks unspecified “general and special damages,” and a jury trial.

Just because the damages aren’t specific, don’t think Judy Sheindlin is looking for pennies on the dollar.

“When you fabricate stories about me in order to make money for yourselves with no regard for the truth or the reputation I’ve spent a lifetime cultivating, it’s going to cost you,” Judge Judy told Deadline this AM of the InTouch and Nation Enquirer articles of last month claiming she believed Lyle and Erik Menéndez had not received fair justice in their 1996 second trial for the murder of their parents in 1989. “When you’ve done it multiple times, it’s unconscionable and will be expensive. It has to be expensive so that you will stop.”

The allegations by Roy Rosselló, a former member of boy band Menudo, in a recent Peacock Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed docuseries that then RCA executive José Enrique Menéndez repeatedly raped him as a teen has put a new emphasis on the Menéndez brothers’ claims that the shotgun killing of their parents was to stop the ongoing sexual abuse in their Beverly Hills home and not to inherit millions. Netflix has announced they are working on a documentary about the incarcerated for life brothers, and of course Ryan Murphy is making the case the subject of the second installment of his hugely successful Monster franchise on the streamer with Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.

Based in part on Rosselló’s statements and newly discovered family correspondence, lawyers for Lyle and Erik Menéndez filed a habeas petition in LA Superior Court earlier this month hoping to overturn the duo’s life sentences.

None of this seems to have anything to do with Judge Judy – despite what InTouch and the National Enquirer have printed.

“The article was unequivocally false,” proclaims the 20-page filing Monday by attorney George for Sheindlin. Identifying the embryotic source of the InTouch and Enquirer pieces as a Fox Nation documentary, today’s filing in the Sunshine State paints a picture that makes the A360 Media publications look dumb as well as deliberately defaming Judge Judy.

“It entirely misquoted its source material, which identified the speaker of the challenged statements by name—an individual identified onscreen in the docuseries as ‘Judi Zamos,’ and as an ‘Alternate Juror, First Trial,’” this morning’s filing says of the InTouch article. “Judge Sheindlin has never gone by the name Judi Zamos, nor was she an alternate juror in the Menendez trial.”

“After Plaintiff publicly indicated that she would seek to right the wrong done to her reputation, Defendants removed the April 10 article from the online edition of InTouch Weekly,” the document goes on to damningly state. “As of the date of this filing, however, the article continues to appear in internet search engine results and in other accounts controlled by Defendants, including the News Break account run by Defendants. Worse yet, as discussed below, Defendants subsequently chose to proceed with the publication of the defamatory piece, as a front-page story no less, in their April 22 National Enquirer print edition.”

Now, as former CEO David Pecker made crystal clear in his recent testimony in Donald Trump’s so-called hush money trial, it’s not like the now Dan Dolan-run Enquirer hasn’t played fast and loose with the truth for a good headline before.

Actually, it isn’t even the first time Judge Judy and the tabloid have gotten into a dust-up.

Back in 2017 the Enquirer published a retraction of previously pieces stating that Sheindlin was suffering “from ‘brain disease,’ was ‘fighting’ both Alzheimer’s and depression, and is ‘hiding a heartbreaking medical crisis.’” Also portraying syndication superstar Sheindlin as unfaithful in her marriage and more, the Enquirer went on to say: “None of these statements are true, and we unequivocally retract them.”

Now, Sheindlin, who saw a third season of of Judy Justice on Amazon Freevee debuted earlier this year and is heading to synodcation this fall, has rarely come up short in any of her off-screen legal tussles – just ask some ex-producers and packaging agents. Also, due to letters sent in the past few weeks, Accelerate360/A360 Media knew this lawsuit was coming and had an opportunity to take it all down online and offer a retraction – so this isn’t going to be friendly.

That rancor will be even more pointed in the stark manner in which Sheindlin lays out how such potential defamation has hurt her, her media empire and her bank accounts.

“By tarnishing Plaintiff’s reputation as a fair-minded and good judge of character and facts, Defendants’ lies have injured Plaintiff by deterring viewers from watching her shows,” today’s filing bluntly says.

“These lies have injured and, as they continue to circulate, continue to and will injure, Plaintiff by discouraging parties from bringing their disputes before her because of the injury to Plaintiff’s reputation as a fair-minded and good judge of character and facts,” it adds. “These lies have injured and, as they continue to circulate, continue to and will injure, Plaintiff by injuring her reputation in legal circles, reducing her opportunities to pursue new contacts and businesses because of the injury to Plaintiff’s reputation as a fair-minded and good judge of character and facts.”

A second senior Russian defense official was arrested on bribery charges, officials said Tuesday, days after President Vladimir Putin replaced the defense minister in a Cabinet shake-up that fueled expectations of more such purges.

Lt. Gen. Yury Kuznetsov, the 55-year-old chief of the Defense Ministry’s main personnel directorate, was arrested in a raid early Monday on his suburban Moscow villa, Russian media reported. He was detained on charges of bribery and jailed pending an investigation and trial, according to the Investigative Committee, Russia’s top state criminal investigation agency.

Kuznetsov is accused of accepting an “exceptionally large bribe,” a charge punishable by up to 15 years in prison. The committee alleged he received the bribe in his previous post as head of the military General Staff’s directorate in charge of preserving state secrets, a position he held for 13 years.

In the raid, agents of the Federal Security Service, or FSB, broke down the doors and windows of his home while he was asleep, the reports said, seizing gold coins, luxury items and over 100 million rubles (just over $1 million) in cash.

His wife, who previously worked in several Defense Ministry structures, was also reportedly interrogated.

On Sunday, Putin reshuffled his Cabinet as he starts his fifth term in office, replacing Sergei Shoigu, who served as defense minister for 11 1/2 years, with Andrei Belousov, an economics expert and former deputy prime minister. Putin named Shoigu the secretary of Russia’s Security Council, a role roughly similar to the U.S. national security adviser, replacing Nikolai Patrushev.

Patrushev, a hawkish and powerful member of Putin’s inner circle who held the job for 16 years, was appointed a presidential aide. Alexei Dyumin, the governor of the Tula region and often mentioned as a potential Putin successor, also was named a presidential aide.

Patrushev will oversee Russian shipbuilding industries in his new job, but may later also deal with other duties, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday.

He rejected notions that Shoigu’s reshuffle represented a demotion, describing his new role as a “very senior job with broad responsibilities.”

While Shoigu, who had personal ties with Putin and accompanied him on vacations in the Siberian mountains over the years, was given a new senior position, the future of his close entourage in the Defense Ministry appeared in doubt under Belousov.

Shoigu’s deputy, Timur Ivanov, was arrested last month on bribery charges and was ordered to remain in custody pending an official investigation. His arrest was widely interpreted as an attack on Shoigu and a possible precursor to his dismissal.

The shake-up appeared to be an attempt to put the defense sector in sync with the rest of the economy and tighten control over soaring military spending amid allegations of rampant corruption in the top military brass.

Speaking Tuesday at the upper house of parliament, Belousov said Putin has given him the task to more closely integrate the defense sector into the national economy.

“It’s not an easy task, it’s comprehensive and primarily implies optimization of military spending,” he said. “First and foremost, optimization means increasing efficiency.”

He credited Shoigu with overseeing the modernization of the military but emphasized the importance of attaining Russia’s goals in Ukraine with minimal casualties.

Belousov also cited the need to increase supplies of modern artillery and missile systems, drones and electronic warfare assets. He said the military would continue bolstering its ranks with volunteers, noting there is no need for another round of mobilization.

A partial mobilization of 300,000 reservists that Putin ordered in fall 2022 amid the military setbacks was widely unpopular, prompting hundreds of thousands to flee abroad to avoid being drafted.

In an apparent jab at Shoigu and his entourage who were widely criticized by pro-Kremlin military bloggers of hiding setbacks in Ukraine from Putin, Belousov said he would proceed from the “ironclad principle: it’s possible to make mistakes but it’s inadmissible to lie.”

Shoigu has been widely seen as a key figure behind Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine in February 2022, and many Russian hawks criticized him for overstating Russian military capabilities.

He and the chief of the General Staff, Gen. Valery Gerasimov, had faced strong criticism from Russian hawks for military setbacks, including the failure to capture Kyiv early in the war and a Russian retreat from northeastern and southern Ukraine later that year.

The shake-up came as Russian troops pressed new offensives, trying to take advantage of a slowdown in Western aid to Ukraine in what many observers see as a decisive moment in the war.

The Kremlin sought to ease widespread bewilderment over choosing an economics expert with no military record as defense minister by emphasizing that Gerasimov, who directs the fighting in Ukraine, has kept his post.

Peskov also dismissed the allegations that the shake-up and the arrests of senior Defense Ministry officials could disorganize the military and affect events in Ukraine.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday confirmed the reopening of a mosque in Istanbul converted from an ancient Byzantine Orthodox church, in the face of Greek protests.

Erdogan discussed the church in a meeting in Ankara with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on a trip that was meant to strengthen the countries’ relations.

“The Kariye mosque in its new form will remain open to everyone,” Erdogan told a news conference alongside the Greek leader.

“We have opened our Kariye mosque for worship and visits after painstaking restoration work.”

Mitsotakis had appealed against the conversion of the Holy Saviour in Chora, decorated with 14th-century frescoes of the Last Judgement that are still treasured by Christians.
He complained to Erdogan about the latest move.

“I discussed with Mr. Erdogan the conversion… I expressed my dissatisfaction to him,” the Greek premier said after meeting with the Turkish leader.

“It is very important to preserve the unique cultural value of this monument, which is listed as UNESCO world heritage, so that it can remain accessible to all visitors.”

Church to mosque

The church was converted into Kariye Mosque half a century after the 1453 conquest of Constantinople by the Ottoman Turks.

It became the Kariye Museum after World War II, when Turkey sought to create a more secular republic from the ashes of the Ottoman Empire.

Erdogan in 2020 ordered the building to be reconverted into a Muslim place of worship.

His order came followed a similarly controversial ruling on the UNESCO-protected Hagia Sophia cathedral in Istanbul.

At the time of the Kariye Mosque’s reopening on May 6, Greece’s foreign affairs ministry called the move a “provocation”.

Erdogan said Monday he attached “great importance” to “protecting any monument that constitutes an item of UNESCO cultural heritage and to making it accessible for the benefit of our nation and all humanity.”

The changes were seen as part of Erdogan’s efforts to galvanise his more conservative and nationalist supporters. Erdogan’s ruling AKP party has Islamist roots.

Trade target

Despite the disagreement, the two leaders said they were working to normalise relations after decades of tension.

Erdogan called it an “extremely productive, honest and constructive meeting”.

“We think that strengthening the spirit of cooperation between Turkey and Greece will be beneficial for both countries and for the region,” Erdogan said.

He said the two sides had agreed to raise their bilateral trade from $6 billion to $10 billion.

“We have shown that, besides existing disagreements, we can turn over a new leaf,” Mitsotakis said.

“We wish to intensify our bilateral contact. We continue on a positive path.”

The two countries signed a cooperation agreement on disaster and emergency management, following a devastating earthquake in Turkey in February and forest fires in Greece last year.

The House Oversight Committee announced Monday it will move forward with contempt of Congress charges against Attorney General Merrick Garland over his refusal to comply with a subpoena for audio recordings of President Biden’s interview with former Special Counsel Robert Hur.

Hur investigated the 81-year-old president’s handling of classified documents, and released transcripts of the pair’s interaction revealed the president confused key dates during the sitdowns.

The Republican-controlled panel will hold a hearing May 16 in which members can debate and consider adding amendments to the contempt resolution before recommending the measure to the full House of Representatives for a vote.

“The House Oversight and Judiciary Committees issued lawful subpoenas to Attorney General Garland for the audio recordings of President Biden’s interview with Special Counsel Hur, yet he continues to defy our subpoenas,” House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) said in a statement.

A subpoena was issued against Garland on Feb. 27 for transcripts, notes, video, and audio files related to Hur’s probe.

The Justice Department has provided Congress with a transcript of Hur’s Oct. 8 and Oct. 9 interviews with Biden, which showed the president forgetting such things as the year his son Beau died of brain cancer and the year Donald Trump was elected president.

The attorney general has refused to provide lawmakers with audio tapes of the lengthy interviews, with the DOJ fearing that they will be used to score political points.

“These audio recordings are important to our investigation of President Biden’s willful retention of classified documents and his fitness to be President of the United States,” Comer said. “There must be consequences for refusing to comply with lawful congressional subpoenas and we will move to hold Attorney General Garland in contempt of Congress.”

Hur, a former Trump-appointed US attorney for the District of Maryland, submitted his findings about Biden’s handling of classified information in early February.

His 388-page bombshell report noted there was evidence that the commander in chief “willfully retained and disclosed classified materials,” but his team concluded there wasn’t enough to prove it “beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Hur also expressed concern that a jury would perceive the oldest president in US history as a “sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”

The Biden administration is under fire after reportedly withholding intelligence on the locations of senior Hamas officials to pressure Israel into giving up its planned invasion of Rafah.

Biden officials have reportedly offered to supply Israel with intelligence on top Hamas officials in exchange for assurances that the Israeli military will not conduct a full-scale invasion of Rafah, which Israeli officials have repeatedly promised to do in order to take out the remaining battalions of Hamas left in the Gaza Strip, according to The Washington Post.

Critics blasted the proposal, accusing President Joe Biden of withholding information that could finish the Israel-Hamas war faster, as well as potentially lead to the rescue of hostages still held by Hamas.

Is there anything more cynical than this? More repulsive?
The administration says it has intel on the wherabouts of the Hamas terror masters but will only share if Israel agrees not to eradicate Hamas.
This is an ally? This is a friend?https://t.co/ZmGIk2JY9m

— Caroline Glick (@CarolineGlick) May 11, 2024

“Is there anything more cynical than this? More repulsive? The administration says it has intel on the wherabouts [sic] of the Hamas terror masters but will only share if Israel agrees not to eradicate Hamas. This is an ally? This is a friend?” said Caroline Glick, the senior contributing editor at the Jewish News Syndicate.

Am I reading this right?!?! Has the U.S. had info on the locations of Hamas leaders (and presumably the hostages) that it’s kept from Israel up until now?? Methinks the White House has a bit of explaining to do. https://t.co/h0t00YfjEg

— Ilan Berman (@ilanberman) May 11, 2024

Ilan Berman, a senior vice president at the American Foreign Policy Council, posted: “Am I reading this right?!?! Has the U.S. had info on the locations of Hamas leaders (and presumably the hostages) that it’s kept from Israel up until now?? Methinks the White House has a bit of explaining to do.”

Big scoop from @washingtonpost: Biden, US intel have intel on locations of hostages, Hamas leaders but haven’t shared it with Israel.

That’s not how the WaPo spins it, but that’s exactly what this means.https://t.co/rswh6W3Q8T pic.twitter.com/600jaCK3y0

— Ed Morrissey (@EdMorrissey) May 12, 2024

HotAir managing editor Ed Morrissey said: “Biden, US intel have intel on locations of hostages, Hamas leaders but haven’t shared it with Israel. That’s not how the WaPo spins it, but that’s exactly what this means.”

The report comes after President Joe Biden said last week that the U.S. would freeze offensive military aid to Israel if the Israeli military invades Rafah.

“I made it clear that if they go into Rafah – they haven’t gone in Rafah yet – if they go into Rafah, I’m not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah, to deal with the cities – that deal with that problem,” Biden said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a member of the war cabinet that is currently in charge of the Israeli government, responded to Biden’s threat in a video statement

“If Israel needs to stand alone, it will stand alone,” Netanyahu said.

Snopes has reversed their previous “fact-check” which claimed that a diary purported to have been written by the president’s daughter Ashley Biden was a unproven to be authentic, indicating it was a fake. In a letter provided by Ashley Biden to a court during sentencing of those convicted for having stolen the diary, Biden herself confirmed the diary’s authenticity.

The diary, which resulted in scrutiny of President Joe Biden over a quote in the book that alleged he had taken “inappropriate” showers with his daughter, was found to have been stolen by two individuals and sold to Project Veritas, an investigative journalism outlet which declined to publish its contents.

The letter confirming veracity was written by the young Biden to Judge Laura Taylor Swain during the sentencing hearing for Aimee Harris, who was convicted in the diary theft and distribution. The fact-check organization Snopes, which previously cast doubts on the diary’s authenticity, stated the diary is authentic following that letter.

The letter from Ashley Biden stated, “I am deeply saddened that I even have to write this letter because my personal private journal was stolen and sold for profit.”

Adding to her words, she also stated that the diary will be used to “peddle grotesque lies by distorting my stream-of-consciousness thoughts.”

“Was I molested?” She had written in the diary. She also stated that she had been hyper-sexualized” as a child and had taken “probably not appropriate” showers with her father, Joe Biden.

The letter from the president’s daughter also stated, “After being the victim of a crime in my early twenties, I developed PTSD. The journal that was stolen was part of my efforts to heal. I am a private citizen, targeted only because my father happened to be running to be President. In other words, the extensive work I have done to move past my trauma was undone by Ms. Harris’s actions. The defendant’s actions have created a constant environment of anxiety, fear, and intimidation in which my innermost thoughts are constantly distorted and manipulated.”

Harris had said that the diary was left behind in a room that Ashley Biden was no longer staying in, where Harris had found herself and Biden’s possessions. This was also what Harris had told Project Veritas.

After allegedly stealing the diary, Harris and her accomplice in the act, Robert Kurlander, sold the diary to Project Veritas, headed by James O’Keefe at the time.

When the diary was then seized by law enforcement, O’Keefe made a statement about those that sold it to the organization.

“We had never met or heard of the tipsters. The tipsters indicated the diary had been abandoned in a room in which Ms. Biden stayed at the time, and in which the tipsters stayed in temporarily, after Miss Biden departed the room,” O’Keefe said. “The tipsters indicated that the diary included explosive allegations against then candidate Joe Biden.”

Rumble, the publicly-traded YouTube alternative that’s favored by conservatives, has filed a lawsuit against Google and its parent Alphabet

The lawsuit argues that Google owes Rumble upwards of $1 billion in damages for lost ad revenue as a client, and for illegally leveraging its dominance in ad technology to hamper Rumble’s ability to compete as an ad tech competitor.

This is the second lawsuit filed by the video company against Google. Rumble first sued Google in 2021 for illegally favoring YouTube videos in Google search results and within its Android mobile operating system.

That lawsuit is currently in discovery, after a judge decided against Google in its motion to dismiss the case.

The new lawsuit was filed in the Northern District of California — the same jurisdiction in which Rumble’s first lawsuit was filed.

The complaint alleges that Rumble would have received billions in ad if not for Google’s anticompetitive conduct in the ad marketplace. (Rumble was a publishing client of Google’s until it built its own ad tech stack in 2022.)

“Google exploits significant conflicts of interest that stem from its multiple roles in this electronically traded marketplace,” the complaint reads.

“As a result, it is able to pocket a supra-competitive portion of every advertising dollar that passes through the Ad Tech markets it controls, ad-revenue that rightly should have passed through to publishers like Rumble and its content creators.”

The lawsuit also alleges that Google abuses its monopoly in ad tech to illegally disadvantage Rumble as an ad tech competitor.

“Google unlawfully forecloses competition in the market for publisher ad servers in the market for ad buying tools for small advertisers, and in the separate markets for ad exchanges and ad networks,” the complaint reads.

“Google excludes competition by engaging in conduct unlawful under settled antitrust precedent, including through unlawful tying arrangements, a pattern and practice of exclusionary conduct targeting actual and potential rivals, and even a market allocation and price fixing agreement with Facebook, at one time its largest potential competitive threat in the publisher ad server and ad network markets.”

Rumble’s ad marketplace revenues are still small, but the company sees its ad tech and cloud product offerings as a growing part of its business.

Rumble’s full-year revenue for 2023 was $81 million. The vast majority of that revenue came from Rumble selling ads against the user-generated content on its platform.

Rumble’s new lawsuit is the latest litigation waged against Google for ad tech dominance.

The Justice Department and several U.S. states sued Google last year for illegally abusing its dominance in digital advertising and violating the Sherman Antitrust Act.

The EU fined Google $1.7 billion for illegally stifling online ad competition in 2019.

Dozens of other publishers in the U.S. and globally have also sued Google for the same reason.

Rumble feels uniquely positioned to take the lead in its legal battles with Google because it believes it’s been harmed by Google’s monopoly abuse both as a customer of its ad tech solutions and as a competitor.

However, the firm — which is headquartered in Canada but trades publicly in the U.S. — has not been called to testify against Google in the U.S. government’s current lawsuit against the tech giant.

The trial for Rumble’s search ad lawsuit is scheduled for next April in Oakland, California.

Former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki circled back when caught falsely claiming in a new book that President Joe Biden never checked his watch during a ceremony for soldiers killed during the 2021 U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Axios reported Psaki, now a host on MSNBC, wrote in “Say More” that “the president looked at his watch only after the ceremony had ended. Moments later, he and the First Lady headed toward their car.”

She also claimed that Biden’s critics engaged in “misinformation” and used the image of Biden checking his watch to make “him appear insensitive, concerned only about how much time had passed.”

Psaki denied that Biden checked his watch despite photo evidence, media fact-checks, and statements made by Gold Star parents of a U.S. service member killed in the Kabul airport attack who were in attendance during the ceremony at Dover Air Force Base.

“I watched you disrespect us all 5 different times by checking your watch!!! What the f*** was so important that you had to keep looking at your watch????” said a Facebook post from Shana Chappell, mother of Marine Lance Cpl. Kareem Nikoui.

Mark Schmitz, father of Marine Lance Cpl. Jared Schmitz, testified to Congress that “while I stood there on the tarmac watching you check your watch over and over again, all I wanted to do was shout out, ‘It’s two f***ing thirty, a**hole.’”

Psaki’s book also misattributed sentences taken from USA Today to The Washington Post to point out that Biden looked at his watch after the ceremony — even though the article said elsewhere that Biden checked his watch during the ceremony, too.

Axios received a statement from Psaki after its report was published, saying that the “detail in a few lines of the book about the exact number of times he looked at his watch will be removed in future reprints and the ebook.”

Psaki insisted her story was “really about the importance of delivering feedback even when it is difficult told through my own experience of telling President Biden that his own story of loss was not well received by the families who were grieving their sons and daughters.”

The book mishap drew blowback on social media.

“Jen Psaki lied in her book about an easily provable fact,” RealClearPolitics co-founder and president Tom Bevan said in a post to X.

In another post to X, Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL) said, “Calling Gold Star families liars — even when there’s photographic proof — is a pathetic partisan attempt to defend your boss and a bad look.”

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has abolished its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion program.

UNC Chapel Hill’s Board of Trustees voted Monday to cut funding for diversity programs in next year’s budget – and approved a change that would divert $2.3 million toward public safety and policing.

The vote to shift more funding to public safety comes as continued pro-Palestinian protests on UNC’s campus have resulted in several arrests in recent weeks.

The campus made national headlines after members of the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity took it upon themselves to shield the US flag after protesters replaced it with the Palestinian flag.

The budget committee vice-chair Marty Kotis said law enforcement has already been forced to react to protests, but they need more funding to keep the university ‘safe from a larger threat.’

‘It’s important to consider the needs of all 30,000 students, not just the 100 or so that may want to disrupt the university’s operations,’ Kotis said.

‘It takes away resources for others.’

Budget chair Dave Boliek said the decision gives the university an ‘opportunity to lead on this’ and get ahead of the vote by the University of North Carolina Board of Governors’ on its diversity policy.

Last month, the statewide board’s Committee on University Governance voted to reverse and replace its DEI policy for 17 schools across the state.

The change would alter a 2019 diversity, equity and inclusion regulation that defines the roles of various DEI positions — and it would appear to eliminate those jobs if the policy is removed.

The full 24-member board is scheduled to vote next week on the policy change. If the alteration is approved, it will take effect immediately.

In March, the University of Florida eliminated its chief diversity officer position, scrapping the program’s staff jobs and halting any contracts involving the subject because of a new law passed last year that was pushed by Republican Governor Ron DeSantis.

In that case, the $5 million that had been earmarked for the DEI program will be diverted into a faculty recruitment fund.

A conservative quest to limit diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives is gaining momentum in state capitals and college governing boards, with officials in about one-third of the states now taking some sort of action against it.

Republican lawmakers in about two dozen states have filed bills seeking to restrict DEI initiatives this year. They are countered by Democrats who have sponsored supportive DEI measures in about 20 states.

Altogether, lawmakers have proposed about 150 bills this year that would either restrict or promote DEI efforts, according to an Associated Press analysis.

Parishioners in a southern Louisiana Catholic church accosted and removed a suspicious-looking teenager armed with a gun as about 60 children readied themselves for their first Holy Communion service on Saturday, according to reports.

The Abbeville Police Department (APD) received the report at 10:35 a.m. from the St Mary Magdalen Church in Abbeville, Chief of Police Mike Hardy said in a Saturday press release. “The person was confronted by parishioners and escorted outside. Upon arrival, Officers arrested the suspect and placed him in custody.”

“The suspect, a 16 year old…is being charged with Terrorizing and 2 counts of Possession of a Firearm by a Juvenile,” Hardy added, according to the press release. The charges followed a police interrogation of the suspect in the presence of his parent and a psychological evaluation of the suspect at the Abbeville General Hospital Behavioral Unit, the press release noted.

No one was injured and police found no other threats after conducting a sweep of the parish premises with assistance from the Vermilion Parish Sheriff’s Office (VPSO), according to the press release.

The incident was livestreamed, according to reports. A portion of the video of the full service aired by local outlet KADN News 15 captured the incident, showing parishioners distracted from the consecreation liturgy by what appeared to be children’s voices in the background, while someone quietly interrupted the officiating priest, appearing to inform him of the incident. The priest could be seen asking the parishioners to resume sitting, then leading them in Hail Marys as parishioners grabbed their children and officers entered the church, at which point the priest took cover behind the altar.

“So guys, just get ahold of your children, go slowly. We did apprehend a young man. He is in custody, he is in the police custody,” an amplified voice could be heard saying. “Calm down and just get next to your child, and go slowly.”

“We are thankful to God that a tragedy was avoided,” Bishop J. Douglas Deshotel of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lafayette said of the incident, according to Catholic News Agency. “Let us pray for an end to all threats of violence to innocent human life.”

It appeared that the children ended up receiving the sacrament once the commotion died down. “The joy that these kids experienced today upon receiving their First Communion is beyond words. Congratulations!” the church posted on Facebook.

“While we realize this was a frightening experience for those in attendance, we are incredibly grateful to both parishioners and police officers for acting quickly to ensure the safety of all,” the church said in a statement via the Catholic Diocese of Lafayette, NBC News reported. The church also thanked the law enforcement agents and parishioners for their swift response to the incident and added that uniformed law enforcement agents would guard its masses from then on, according to the outlet’s report.

Chief Hardy in his statement thanked Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) staff, VPSO deputies, and the church’s leaders and laity “for their quick response and remaining calm throughout this matter.” The incident remained under investigation, he added.

The incident comes on the heels of a livestreamed May 5 incident in Pennsylvania showing homicide suspect Bernard Polite attempting to shoot at a pastor in mid-sermon. The gun failed to fire. Polite faces homicide charges after police later discovered his cousin’s body in his apartment.

Melinda French Gates is stepping down from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, three years after announcing her separation from Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.

In a statement posted on her Instagram account, she said that as part of her agreement to step down from the foundation, she will retain $12.5 billion that she plans to put toward her ongoing work supporting women and families.

“This is not a decision I came to lightly,” French Gates wrote.

“I am immensely proud of the foundation that Bill and I built together and of the extraordinary work it is doing to address inequities around the world.”

In a separate statement, Bill Gates said, “I am sorry to see Melinda leave, but I am sure she will have a huge impact in her future philanthropic work.”

Now worth $75.2 billion, the Gates Foundation has over the course of its three-decade lifespan made $77.6 billion worth of grant payments, making it one of the largest donor organizations in the world, with a focus on health and developmental goals.

It is one of the largest contributors to the World Health Organization, and played a key role in efforts to address the Covid pandemic.

In 2015, French Gates founded Pivotal Ventures, an initiative focused on advancing opportunities for women and minorities in the United States, especially in technology.

French Gates, 59, shares three children with Bill Gates. The couple divorced in August 2021.

Here is her statement in full:

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Melinda French Gates (@melindafrenchgates)

Former lawyer Michael Cohen took the witness stand Monday morning in the New York criminal case against former President Trump.

Cohen’s testimony is central to the case against Trump, as he is alleged to have been the go-between for Trump’s alleged hush money payments to pornography actress Stormy Daniels. Prosecutors with Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg’s office argue Trump falsified his business records in relation to the payments.

Cohen appeared visibly nervous as he took the stand. Prosecutors began by asking him about his family history and other innocuous topics. He also recounted how he came to work for Trump, revealing that he ultimately had a salary of some $525k per year at the time of the 2016 election.

Prosecutors have been building toward Cohen’s testimony for weeks, also calling Daniels to the stand last week.

Trump was joined by a large group of powerful supporters as he entered the courtroom on Monday. Among his retinue were Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-NY, Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., and Trump’s son, Eric Trump.

Cohen testifies that he spoke to Trump ‘every single day’

Former lawyer Michael Cohen testified Monday that he spoke to former President Donald Trump “every single day, and multiple times a day” before the 2016 election.

Cohen, who is a central witness in the prosecution’s case against Trump, noted that he could reach Trump via multiple cell phone numbers or even by stopping by his office, but added that Trump never used email and would often make comments about people “getting in trouble” or “gone down as a direct result of using emails.”

The former lawyer added that he was also frequently meet Trump in his office at variously points through the day, saying that he did not have to make an appointment with Trump because of Trump’s open door policy.

Trump, defenders show up in force ahead of Cohen testimony

Former President Donald Trump was joined by a bevy of high-profile supporters Monday morning outside the Manhattan courtroom, where the NY v. Trump trial will hear from key witness Michael Cohen.

As Trump spoke to the media early Monday morning, Republican supporters such as Ohio Sen. JD Vance, New York Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville, his son Eric Trump, and others were seen standing behind the 45th president for what is anticipated to be an action-packed day in court.

Trump’s comments ahead of court Monday focused on his argument the case is a “baseless, politically motivated prosecution” promoted by the Biden administration, while highlighting a recent poll showing him leading Biden in key battleground states.

“The New York Times just came out with a poll that shows us leading everywhere by a lot. This is the cover story. And I think you’ll find it very interesting, but I’m sure you’ve all read it. Leading in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Michigan, Georgia and Nevada. Nevada, we are leading actually by 12 points, which is generally a Democrat state,” Trump said.

‘Convicted liar’: Cohen claims he often lied and bullied people for Trump in trial testimony

Former lawyer Michael Cohen testified Monday that he would often lie to others for former President Donald Trump because it “was needed in order to accomplish the task.”

The former lawyer also said he would also often bull people because “the only thing on my mind was to accomplish the task, to keep him happy,” Cohen said, referring to Trump.

Cohen, who noted that he called Trump “boss” or “Mr. Trump” during his time working for the organization said that he enjoyed his time working for Trump, saying that the organization “was fantastic… working for him of those 10 years was an amazing experience… there were great times, there were less than great times, but for the most part, I enjoyed the responsibilities given to me.”

The former Trump lawyer added that Trump also liked to be frequently informed on tasks Cohen was carrying out, especially if that matter was troubling for Trump.

Cohen’s credibility has been questioned by Trump allies, with top GOP lawmakers Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio and Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., arguing that the former lawyer is a “convicted liar.”

Cohen pleaded guilting in 2018 to campaign finance violations, making false statements to Congress and tax evasion. He was sentenced to three years in prison.

After the head of the United Nation’s atomic watchdog agency warned that Iran has enough uranium to produce “several” nuclear bombs, a firebrand Iranian lawmaker declared on Friday that the Islamic Republic of Iran possesses atomic weapons.

“In my opinion, we have achieved nuclear weapons, but we do not announce it. It means our policy is to possess nuclear bombs, but our declared policy is currently within the framework of the JCPOA,” Ahmad Bakhshayesh Ardestani told the Iran-based outlet Rouydad 24 on Friday, according to an article published by the independent news organization Iran International in London.

The JCPOA is an abbreviation for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the formal name for the Iran nuclear deal. President Trump withdrew the U.S. from the JCPOA in 2018 because, his administration argued, the accord did not stop Iran’s drive to build atomic weapons.

The JCPOA provides massive economic sanctions relief to Iran in exchange for assurances it will not, within a limited time period, build a nuclear weapon.

Ardestani, who was re-elected to Iran’s quasi-parliament in March, added, “The reason is that when countries want to confront others, their capabilities must be compatible, and Iran’s compatibility with America and Israel means that Iran must have nuclear weapons,”

The Iranian parliament member noted, “In a climate where Russia has attacked Ukraine and Israel has attacked Gaza, and Iran is a staunch supporter of the Resistance Front, it is natural for the containment system to require that Iran possess nuclear bombs. However, whether Iran declares it is another matter.” Fox News Digital sent press queries to Iran’s Foreign Ministry in Tehran and its U.N. mission in New York.

Experts on Iran’s illegal nuclear weapons program warned about the seemingly speculative comments made by Ardestani. Jason Brodsky, the policy director of the U.S.-based United Against a Nuclear Iran, told Fox News Digital that “Ardestani is only a member of parliament, and he’s not in the inner core of the regime’s nuclear decision-making circle, so while his comments are interesting, I think they have to be weighed properly given his access and standing.”

Just two days before Ardestani’s announcement, the president of the Iranian Strategic Council on Foreign Relations, Kamal Kharrazi, told Al-Jazeera Network Qatar, “I announced two years ago, in an interview with Al-Jazeera TV, that Iran had the absorptive capacity and the capability to produce a nuclear bomb. Iran still has that capability, but we have not made the decision to produce a nuclear bomb. However, if the Iranian interests are threatened in this manner, we may change this doctrine. The military officials in Iran have announced that if our nuclear facilities would be attacked, we may change our military doctrine, with regard to the nuclear facilities.” The U.S.-based Middle East Media Institute (MEMRI) translated and published Kharrazi’s May 8 interview.

Brodsky said, “Kharrazi’s comments are part of an increasingly loud chorus of threats from Iranian officials that they will change Iran’s nuclear doctrine if Israel attacks them. The current advanced state of Iran’s nuclear program provides it with the luxury to make these threats as it hopes to deter Western policymakers from launching pressure campaigns on Tehran.”

Critics of the Biden administration’s Iran policy argue the White House strategy of de-escalation and containment targeting Iran’s atomic program has backfired. Iran’s regime – the world’s worst state-sponsor of international terrorism – is moving at an astonishingly fast pace to secure an operational nuclear weapon.

Nuclear security alarm bells are ringing over Iran’s illicit atomic program in Europe. Fox News Digital obtained the April intelligence agency report for Germany’s most populous state, Nordrhein-Westfalen.

The German intelligence report notes, “The Islamic Republic’s continued intensive procurement efforts by Iran in Germany continues” for its “nuclear and missile program.” The German experts added “proliferation-relevant activities by Iran to circumvent existing sanctions in favor of Iran’s nuclear and missile programs can still be assumed.” A State Department spokesperson previously told Fox News Digital, “As the president and the secretary have made clear, the United States will ensure one way or another that Iran will never obtain a nuclear weapon. We continue to use a variety of tools in pursuit of that goal, and all options remain on the table.”

David Wurmser, a former senior adviser for nonproliferation and Middle East strategy for former Vice President Dick Cheney, told Fox News Digital, “The distance from where Iran is purported to be to an actual deliverable device is still a ways away, provided the information that we have in our operating from is correct. And that is quite a proviso. We know that North Koreans have been interacting with the Iranians, and we know relations with North Korea go back many, many years.”

The communist state of North Korea previously aided Syria in building its illicit nuclear reactor. Israel’s air force knocked out the reactor in 2007.

Wurmser warned, “As since intelligence is generally incomplete and is inherently seeking to discover that which is given to being opaque with much hidden, we have to assume surprises. I realize in the Iraq war we imagined there was more there than there actually was – and there was more than what is popularly understood – but Iraq is actually a very rare circumstance. The Pakistani, the Russian, the Chinese, the Indian, and even the South African programs all were ahead of what we had expected when they were exposed. For that matter, that was the case with Libya as well.”

The non-proliferation expert noted, “So, on balance, I doubt Iran has a nuclear weapon yet, but I also doubt that the program is in a stable state, even a stable state regarding weaponization. I think Iran is pushing ahead and has every intention to go all the way. So time on this may still be there, but it is short and running out fast. And of course, the consequences of an Iranian bomb are catastrophic for the region, for Israel’s survival, and for the status of American power in the globe.”

The recent saber-rattling over Iran’s nuclear weapons program from regime officials and lawmakers coincides with International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi’s May 8 statement that his organization was working “very hard with [Iran] to prevent [nuclear weaponization] from happening.”

The Washington D.C.-based Institute for the Study of War wrote this suggests “that Iran has already obtained or is close to obtaining the ability to procure nuclear weapons.”

It seems no one is safe on the streets of the Big Apple these days – not even beloved hometown actor and Brooklyn native Steve Buscemi.

Buscemi, 66, was strolling through Kips Bay last week when a brute walked up and struck the “Boardwalk Empire” star in a broad-daylight attack – one of the latest unprovoked assaults in the five boroughs, law enforcement sources told The Post.

The actor suffered swelling to his face and left eye and was taken to Bellevue Hospital for treatment.

Meanwhile, his deranged assailant took off and is still on the lam, police sources said.

“Steve Buscemi was assaulted in Mid-Town Manhattan, another victim of a random act of violence in the city,” Buscemi’s publicist said in a statement to The Post.

“He is ok and appreciates everyone’s well wishes, though incredibly sad for everyone that this has happened to while also walking the streets of New York.”

Cops said the random attack happened around 11:48 a.m. on Wednesday in front of 369 Third Ave.

“I saw he was with a woman, and then through the corner of the window I saw him trip and fall backwards,” a worker in the area who witnessed part of the assault told The Post. “He right away got up and ran in the opposite direction. I didn’t see who hit him.

“It worries me for when we close because we close at 11 and it can get scary around that time,” said the woman, who asked to be identified only as Nat.

The NYPD released surveillance photos of the alleged attacker, a bearded man wearing a baseball cap, a blue t-shirt and black sweatpants.

The actor, a former FDNY firefighter, has a movie career that has spanned four decades, and includes roles in award-winning films like “Fargo” and “Reservoir Dogs.”

Buscemi earned wide acclaim for his portrayal of corrupt Atlantic City pol Enoch “Nucky” Thompson in the hit HBO series “Boardwalk Empire.”

Last week’s unprovoked attack makes him the second actor from the popular series to fall victim to random New York City street violence this year.

On March 31, actor Michael Stuhbarg, who played gangster Arnold Rothstein on the show, was out for a run on the Upper East Side when he was struck in the back of the neck with a rock.

The NYPD arrested a deranged vagrant, Xavier Israel, 27, in the assault, which took place around 7:45 p.m. near East 90th Street and East Drive.

Israel had previously been arrested for assault and robbery in 2022.

Stuhlbarg chased after the thug and into the hands of police stationed outside the Russian Consulate.

Meanwhile, an NYPD spokesperson said Sunday that Buscemi’s attack remains at large.

Buscemi has been a beloved figure in his native New York and famously rushed to the site of the World Trade Center after the 9/11 terror attacks to join his former fire company, Engine 55.

The former Emmy Award winner was one of New York’s Bravest in the 1980s.

In 2021, he dressed up as a character he played in the hit show “30 Rock” to hand out candy to children on Halloween from a stoop in Park Slope.

Former President Donald Trump is leading President Biden in five critical, toss-up swing states — all of which Biden won in 2020, a new set of polls revealed.

Surveys by the New York Times, Siena College and the Philadelphia Inquirer found that Trump was more popular than Biden among voters in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada and Pennsylvania, while Biden led among voters in only one battleground state, Wisconsin.

All six of the battleground states looked at in the polls were won by Biden in 2020, and victories in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin in 2024 would be enough for Biden to secure his re-election, as long as he did not lose any of the states he won four years ago.

The poll numbers revealed how issues like the cost of living, the economy, the Israel-Hamas war, and immigration have caused widespread dissatisfaction among Americans, all while raising concerns over Biden’s ability to improve their quality of life.

Nearly 70 percent of voters polled said the country’s political and economic systems need a major overhaul — and only 13 percent of Biden’s supporters believe he would be able to bring about such change during a second term.

Almost 40 percent of Trump supporters polled said the economy or cost of living was the most important issue in the election, with many doubting the Biden administration’s insistence that the economy is improving.

Many of the voters polled even admitted that even while they dislike Trump, he would be the candidate to drive much-needed change.

Trump and Biden are tied among 18- to 29-year-olds and among Hispanic voters, even though over 60 percent of the demographic voted for Biden in 2020.

Trump has also secured 20 percent of black voters’ support — the highest level of black support for any Republican presidential candidate since the Civil Rights Act of 1964, according to the Times poll.

The former president’s newfound popularity among young and nonwhite voters has seemingly opened up the electoral map, pushing him ahead in more diverse states like Arizona, Georgia and Nevada where Biden was previously successful.

Despite this, Biden seems to have maintained much of his foothold among older and white voters who, as a group, seem to be demanding fewer fundamental changes. As a result, Biden has become more competitive in swing states with a greater population of white people, like Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Abortion continues to be a hot-button issue among voters, with 64 percent in battleground states saying abortion should always or mostly be legal, including 44 percent of Trump supporters, according to the polls.

The surveys also found that nearly 20 percent of voters blame Biden more than Trump for the Supreme Court’s decision in 2022 to overturn Roe v. Wade, a shocking statistic that will likely drive the president to work to rebuild trust among that group of voters.

Still, voters prefer Biden over Trump to handle the issue of abortion by 11 points, 49 to 38 percent.

Trump, meanwhile, is polling well among voters who believe the political and economic systems need to be torn down, including 2 percent of “very liberal” voters who went for Biden in 2020, according to the polls.

Additionally, about 13 percent of voters who voted for Biden in 2020 but do not plan to again said his foreign policy on the war in Gaza was their most important issue. About 17 percent of those voters said they sympathized with Israel.

The polls surveyed 4,097 registered voters in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin from April 28 to May 9.