The FBI holds two more informant files on the Biden family’s business ventures, triggering the House Oversight Committee on Friday to subpoena two more banks, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) exclusively told Breitbart News.

Greene, a member of the House Oversight Committee, said the FBI holds at least two more FD-1023 forms referenced in the FBI informant document reviewed by the Committee Thursday. Greene expects the Committee will work to review those forms next week.

On Thursday the committee viewed an FBI informant file that revealed the alleged existence of two pieces of evidence showing President Joe Biden received $5 million from Ukrainian energy company Burisma, Committee Republicans told reporters.

“He requested it, he and Hunter Biden requested $5 million each,” Greene said. “‘Pay me $5 million, pay my father $5 million, and we will take care of your problems for you,’” Greene described the alleged request the Bidens made of Burisma.

In 2015, Burisma was under suspicion of money laundering and public corruption. Prosecutor Victor Shokin investigated the case before his termination due to pressure applied by then-Vice President Joe Biden, who threatened to withhold $1 billion in U.S. aid from Ukraine if the Ukrainian government did not fire the prosecutor investigating Burisma.

In exchange for that, the informant file alleges, Joe Biden and Hunter Biden received $5 million each in small sums through separate bank accounts.

Joe Biden bragged about the firing during a 2018 appearance at the Council of Foreign Relations. “I said, ‘I’m telling you, you’re not getting the billion dollars.’ I said, ‘You’re not getting the billion. I’m going to be leaving here in,’ I think it was about six hours,” Biden told the audience. “I looked at them and said, ‘I’m leaving in six hours. If the prosecutor is not fired, you’re not getting the money.’ Well, son of a bitch. He got fired.”

In connection with Biden’s Burisma business deal, Greene told Breitbart News the House Oversight Committee issued two subpoenas Friday to compel information about the Bidens’ Ukrainian transactions. Before Friday, the Committee subpoenaed at least four banks — Bank of America, Cathay Bank, JPMorgan Chase, and HSBC USA N.A –and one individual.

“We’re giving out subpoenas for two more banks. And this has to do with bank accounts related to Ukraine. So, we’re digging deeper into this,” she said. “We were hoping to find, you know, actual transactions that relate to this 1023 form.”

Greene described Thursday’s inspection of the 1023 form. She told Breitbart News she took notes inside the secured area but had to leave the notes inside the secured room per FBI policy. Once she finished reviewing the documents and taking notes, she made a second batch of notes outside the secure area.

“But as soon as I filed my notes, it was really fresh in my mind, because I read it a couple times,” she said. “So I made my own notes separately — in a separate room, not in the SCIF, but in a separate room.”

“The form references two separate 1023 [forms],” she said, referring to two additional FD-1023 forms mentioned in the FBI informant document.

“It’s on white paper, printed paper, eight by 11 normal paper. It looks like just a report,” she said.

“The form is written in chronological time,” Green continued. “The date of the 1023 that I read yesterday is June 30, 2020. But it tells chronological order, starting in 2015, 2016.”

Greene believes the form is credible because the FBI believes the informant is credible. The informant is reportedly a “highly credible” FBI source with a history dating back to the Barack Obama administration.

“The FBI told us [that] they just think he’s their best one,” she said. “Everything he hands over is true. Everything he hands over is valuable. Everything he hands over is accurate.”

In addition, Greene revealed the form indicated Hunter Biden’s position on Burisma’s board, in which he received about $80,000 per month, were monthly installments of a $5 million total cut owed Hunter Biden in the deal with his father.
“The reason why he was on the board, taking a ridiculous salary, and getting paid these side bribes was literally because his father is the Vice President of the United States. And Hunter and [Joe] Biden have a business partnership, where Hunter goes out —and he does the groundwork — in order for his father to make the decisions and the policy changes for — to get payment.”

“He’s [Joe Biden] on a telephone call talking about it, he’s on video and an interview talking about it, where he literally withheld the U.S. aid from Ukraine and demanded that they fire Victor Shokin,” Green said. “And it happened. It happened.”

When a reporter questioned Joe Biden Thursday about the alleged $5 million payment, he jokingly responded, “Where’s the money?”

Federal prosecutors unsealed a 49-page indictment on Friday that made multiple explosive allegations in charging former President Donald Trump with 37 felony counts.

No trial date has been set, but the case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who Trump appointed to the Southern District of Florida bench in 2020. Trump is scheduled to appear before Cannon on Tuesday.

Special Counsel Jack Smith said during a press conference on Friday that the former president will get “a speedy trial on this matter, consistent with the public interest and the rights of the accused.”

Even with a speedy trial, Trump’s legal woes are sure to affect his bid for another term in the White House. He also faces a trial in New York, where the Manhattan district attorney has secured an indictment against him for allegedly falsifying business records. He also faces a separate federal criminal investigation from Smith over his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election, and he faces a criminal investigation in Georgia over the same matter.

The following are some of the most explosive allegations and details contained in the indictment:

1. The contents of classified materials recovered throughout the course of the investigation

The indictment states:

The classified documents [Trump] stored in his boxes included information regarding defense and weapons capabilities of both the United States and foreign countries; United States nuclear programs; potential vulnerabilities of the United States and its allies to military, attack; and plans for possible retaliation in response to a foreign attack.

The former president allegedly had in his possession classified documents from the Central Intelligence Agency, the Department of Defense, the National Security Agency, the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, the National Reconnaissance Office, the Department of Energy, and the Department of State and Bureau of Intelligence and Research.

2. Trump allegedly showed members of the media classified material in a recorded interview in which he acknowledged that the material was still classified

The indictment states:

In July 2021, at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey (“The Bedminster Club”), during an audio-recorded meeting with a writer, a publisher, and two members of his staff, none of whom possessed a security clearance, [Trump] showed and described a “plan of attack” that [Trump] said was prepared for him by the Department of Defense and a senior military official. [Trump] told the individuals that the plan was “highly confidential” and “secret.” [Trump] also said, “as president I could have declassified it,” and, “Now I can’t, you know, but this is still a secret.”

A few months later, the former president is accused of showing a representative of his political action committee “a classified map related to a military operation and told the representative that he should not be showing it to the representative and that the representative should not get too close.”

3. Trump had a co-conspirator who was charged in connection with the alleged crimes

Prosecutors charged Waltine Nauta with Conspiracy to Obstruct Justice, Withholding a Document or Record, Corruptly Concealing a Document or Record, Concealing a Document in a Federal Investigation, Scheme to Conceal, and False Statements and Representations.

Nauta was a member of the United States Navy stationed as a valet in the White House while Trump was in office. In August 2021, Nauta became Trump’s executive assistant and served as Trump’s “personal aide or ‘body man,’” the indictment says.

4. Prosecutors say that Trump committed five specific examples of trying to obstruct the investigation

The indictment states that Trump “endeavored to obstruct the FBI and grand jury investigations and conceal his continued retention of classified documents” by, among other things:

1. suggesting that his attorney falsely represent to the FBI and grand jury that [Trump] did not have documents called for by the grand jury subpoena;
2. directing defendant [Waltine Nauta] to move boxes of documents to conceal them from [Trump]’s attorney, the FBI, and the grand jury;
3. suggesting that his attorney hide or destroy documents called for by the grand jury subpoena;
4. providing to the FBI and grand jury just some of the documents called for by the grand jury subpoena, while claiming that he was cooperating fully; and
5. causing a certification to be submitted to the FBI and grand jury falsely representing that all documents called for by the grand jury subpoena had been produced-while knowing that, in fact, not all such documents had been produced.

5. Three of Trump’s lawyers are witnesses in the case

The indictment makes mention of three Trump attorneys who are witnesses in the case: Trump Attorney 1, Trump Attorney 2, and Trump Attorney 3.

Conservative attorney Marina Medvin said that she has “never seen anything like that” in a criminal case.

“And Trump’s NY lawyer Cohen is reportedly a witness against him in NY,” she added. “All of his criminal cases share that in common.”

And Trump’s NY lawyer Cohen is reportedly a witness against him in NY.

All of his criminal cases share that in common…

— Marina Medvin 🇺🇸 (@MarinaMedvin) June 9, 2023

A close aide to Donald Trump has been indicted in Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation of the former president’s handling of classified documents, two sources confirm to Fox News.

Walt Nauta, who served as a Trump personal aide and valet in the White House and later at Mar-a-Lago, was the second to be indicted in Smith’s investigation, following Trump’s indictment on Thursday night.

The exact charges Nauta faces was not immediately clear.

The indictment from a federal grand jury in Miami remains under seal, and there was no immediate confirmation from the Justice Department.

Sources told Fox News that Nauta was seen on surveillance video moving boxes of sensitive material from a storage area at a time when the government had sought information about those documents. At some point, he reportedly had stopped speaking with investigators.

It is unclear whether other current or former Trump aides or associates could be charged in the classified documents investigation.

The Justice Department special counsel who filed charges against Trump says in his first public statement that the country has “one set of laws and they apply to everyone” while he outlined the charges against the former president.

Jack Smith spoke to reporters briefly in Washington on Friday but did not take questions.

“Adherence to the rule of law is a bedrock principle of the Department of Justice and our nation’s commitment to the rule of law sets an example for the world,” Smith said.

He said prosecutors would seek a speedy trial and “very much look forward” to presenting their case.

Trump is scheduled to appear in court Tuesday in South Florida.

Watch:

Boris Johnson has sensationally quit Parliament, saying he was forced out in a political witch-hunt over Partygate.

In an angry late-night statement, the former Prime Minister said he was standing down as an MP ‘with immediate effect’. His departure stunned Rishi Sunak and there was dismay in No 10 at the prospect of a fresh round of Tory bloodletting.

Mr Johnson’s decision to go comes three and a half years after he won a landslide election victory, and will raise fresh doubts about whether the Conservatives can hang on to power at next year’s election.

Just 24 hours earlier, Mr Johnson, 58, was handed the findings of the controversial Commons privileges committee inquiry into Partygate, which sealed his fate.

The inquiry, led by Labour’s former deputy leader Harriet Harman, is understood to have ruled that he lied to Parliament when he said no rules were broken during lockdown gatherings in No 10 – a claim he has always denied.

The committee is thought to have advised that he should be suspended for at least ten days, triggering a by-election in his west London constituency.

Mr Johnson said last night he was the victim of a ‘witch-hunt’ by forces seeking ‘revenge for Brexit’.

He said the 14-month inquiry had not produced a ‘shred of evidence’ that he lied to Parliament about lockdown gatherings in No 10. And he accused Ms Harman’s committee of setting out to destroy him.

‘I did not lie, and I believe that in their hearts the committee know it,’ he said. ‘Their purpose from the beginning has been to find me guilty, regardless of the facts. This is the very definition of a kangaroo court.’

Mr Johnson’s decision to go came just hours after his close ally Nadine Dorries quit when she was blocked from receiving a peerage in his resignation honours.

Their departures mean the PM faces a difficult double by-election. And Tory whips were last night on red alert for the possibility of more resignations among Mr Johnson’s supporters.

In a 1,000-word resignation statement, Mr Johnson took a swipe at Mr Sunak, who allies accuse of wanting to destroy his predecessor. He said the Tory majority he won in 2019 was ‘clearly at risk’ under his successor.

Mr Johnson urged the PM to adopt a ‘pro-growth’ agenda, including tax cuts to boost the economy. ‘Our party needs urgently to recapture its sense of momentum and its belief in what this country can do,’ he said. ‘We must not be afraid to be a properly Conservative government.’

Former Cabinet minister Sir John Redwood said: ‘Boris urges a new commitment to the 2019 manifesto, Brexit wins, lower taxes and growth. The Government should take this seriously.’

Mr Johnson’s decision to go all but ends any prospect of him returning as Tory leader before the next election, although he left the door open to a future comeback, saying he was stepping back ‘at least for now’.

It also ends Tory dreams of a truce with Mr Sunak that could have seen Mr Johnson campaign for the party in the Red Wall, where his popularity remains high.

Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner said the British public were ‘sick to the back teeth of this never-ending Tory soap opera played out at their expense’. Allies last night warned that Mr Sunak faces the renewed threat of a Tory civil war. One former Cabinet loyalist said there would be ‘hell to pay’ over Mr Johnson’s treatment.

Tory MP Michael Fabricant condemned the ‘disgraceful treatment of a political leader who has made world history’.

And Sir James Duddridge hinted that Mr Johnson would one day return, saying: ‘History will recognise the great work Boris did on Brexit, Ukraine and Covid. He is a titan amongst minnows. This is the conclusion of a chapter, not the end of the book. We will hear more about Boris over the coming days, months and years.’

In a message on a Tory WhatsApp group, Andrea Jenkyns declared ‘the Blob has won’, and appeared to lay the blame at Mr Sunak’s door, saying: ‘Well done, Rishi, for starting this nonsense’.

Tory sources had indicated they would not ask Conservative MPs to block any punishment recommended by the privileges committee. With no legal recourse to challenge its findings, Mr Johnson felt he had no choice but to go. The former PM said his removal set a ‘dangerous and unsettling precedent’.

‘It is very sad to be leaving Parliament – at least for now – but above all I am bewildered and appalled that I can be forced out, anti-democratically, by a committee chaired and managed, by Harriet Harman, with such egregious bias,’ he said.

Tory whips were last night mobilising to calm Mr Johnson’s supporters and prevent a mutiny. Mr Sunak now faces the prospect of fighting two potentially destabilising by-elections.

Labour sources have predicted the party will ‘win big’ in Mr Johnson’s Uxbridge and South Ruislip seat, where the former PM had a majority of just over 7,000.

Richard Mills, chairman of the Uxbridge and South Ruislip Conservative Association, said Mr Johnson had been an ‘outstanding’ advocate for the community ‘contrary to external perception’.

Expressions of anger and shock at the nature of Mr Johnson’s exit, as well as emotional tributes to his charisma and his political achievements, dominated the social media feeds of pro-Boris MPs, peers and campaigners last night.

Peter Cruddas, a Tory donor and the brains behind efforts to restore Mr Johnson to No 10, said: ‘Parliament just put two fingers up to the British electorate and said we don’t care who you voted for or the manifesto, we are in charge and we will do what we want. Parliament have forced out a democratically elected PM and MP and his manifesto. Democracy is dead.’

Former Tory MEP David Campbell Bannerman blamed ‘a kangaroo court under Harriet Harman’, adding: ‘Expect more by-elections.’

Mr Fabricant, awarded a knighthood on Mr Johnson’s honours list yesterday, criticised the ‘disgraceful treatment of a political leader who has made world history by achieving Brexit and leading the Conservatives to a landslide general election victory’.

Emotions were running high when Christian Wakeford, the MP for Bury South who crossed the floor to join Labour in 2022, wrote that Mr Johnson would not ‘be missed much’.

Tory MP Mark Jenkinson hit back: ‘You literally owe your seat to him, you traitorous twerp.’

Mr Johnson’s shock resignation came on the day his honours list was finally released. He rewarded key allies, handing Jacob Rees-Mogg a knighthood and making Priti Patel a dame.

After months of wrangling, Downing Street finally approved the recommendations made by the former prime minister, who left office last September.

In common with other former prime ministers, Mr Johnson used the 45-strong list to reward key political allies, including a string of serving MPs. As well, former Tory aides Ross Kempsell, 31, and Charlotte Owen, 29, will become some of the youngest-ever life peers.

As well as Mr Rees-Mogg, fellow loyal MPs Conor Burns, Simon Clarke and Mr Fabricant, and former Tory chairman Ben Elliot, all received knighthoods.

Mr Johnson led the Conservatives to a landslide election victory in 2019 – but was given a fixed penalty notice over Downing Street lockdown parties and then forced out by his own MPs after three years in office, following a string of scandals.

Dame Priti Patel, who served under Boris Johnson as home secretary and was nominated in the former prime minister’s long-awaited resignation honours list, tweeted a message of support for Mr Johnson on Friday evening, describing him as ‘a political titan’.

‘Boris is a political titan whose legacy will stand the test of time.’

Tory MP for Morley and Outwood, Dame Andrea Jenkyns, who was revealed on Friday to have been nominated for the honour by Boris Johnson, has said she will not resign in the wake of the former prime minister’s resignation.

‘Its (sic) a great honour to serve my constituents & our great country. The unjust events & @BorisJohnson resignation tonight has made me more determined to stand up to the blob wherever they reside.’

But Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper MP said: ‘Good riddance.’

In a rallying call to his followers, Boris Johnson used his resignation statement to deliver a stinging attack on Rishi Sunak’s Government.

‘When I left office last year the government was only a handful of points behind in the polls. That gap has now massively widened,’ he said.

‘Just a few years after winning the biggest majority in almost half a century, that majority is now clearly at risk. Our party needs urgently to recapture its sense of momentum and its belief in what this country can do.

‘We need to show how we are making the most of Brexit and we need in the next months to be setting out a pro-growth and pro-investment agenda. We need to cut business and personal taxes – and not just as pre-election gimmicks – rather than endlessly putting them up. We must not be afraid to be a properly Conservative government.

‘Why have we so passively abandoned the prospect of a Free Trade Deal with the US? Why have we junked measures to help people into housing or to scrap EU directives or to promote animal welfare?

‘We need to deliver on the 2019 manifesto, which was endorsed by 14 million people. We should remember that more than 17 million voted for Brexit. ‘

The shock announcement came just hours after huis close ally Nadine Dorries also quit her seat.

The ex-Tory minister, a close ally of Boris Johnson, has represented the longstanding Tory seat of Mid-Bedfordshire since 2005.

She had been linked with a seat in the House of Lords in Boris Johnson’s resignation honours list but her appointment is believed to have been blocked by officials.

Downing Street denied blocking the appointments, but there was fury among supporters of Mr Johnson.

In a reference to Mrs Dorries’ upbringing, one said: ‘The posh Oxbridge boys in No 10 and the House of Lords Appointments Commission (Holac) have made sure a girl born on one of the poorest streets in Liverpool did not get to the House of Lords.’

One Whitehall source said Holac, which vets the appointment of peers, was concerned about the precedent that would be set by allowing MPs to join the Lords mid-term.

But an ally of Mr Johnson said: ‘This is Rishi’s revenge. It’s war now.’

Ms Dorries, 66, who was also a health minister under Mr Johnson, this afternoon tweeted: ‘I have today informed the chief whip that I am standing down as the MP for Mid Bedfordshire, with immediate effect.’

The Times earlier reported Ms Dorries, as well as Sir Alok Sharma – president of the Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow, were struck from Mr Johnson’s trimmed-down honours list to avoid potentially damaging by-elections as they would have stood down to take the peerages.

Tory high command is said to have feared the prospect of a difficult double-by-election if Mrs Dorries and Sir Alok were allowed to go to the Lords.

And shortly afterwards a number of senior officials who were implicated in the partygate scandal have been nominated in Boris Johnson’s resignation honours list.

Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner said it was ‘sickening’ that those who held ‘boozy lockdown bashes’ during the pandemic in Downing Street had been recognised by the former prime minister.

Martin Reynolds, formerly Mr Johnson’s principal private secretary in No 10, has been nominated for a peerage.

He has admitted emailing Downing Street staff to invite them to come for drinks in the No 10 garden to ‘make the most of this lovely weather’ on May 20, 2020.

The ‘bring your own booze’ event took place at a time when rules and guidance restricted gatherings of more than two people and workplaces were meant to maintain social distancing.

In his evidence to the Commons’ Privileges Committee investigation into whether Mr Johnson misled MPs over his response to the scandal, Mr Reynolds admitted the wording, which he has said he signed off but did not draft, had been ‘totally inappropriate’.

Mr Johnson returned to Parliament in 2015, having previously represented Henley in the Commons between 2001 and 2008 and serving two terms as mayor of London.

He was promoted to foreign secretary by Theresa May when she took over from David Cameron, but he later resigned over her Brexit policy.

He succeeded her as prime minister in 2019 and would go on to secure a landslide victory at that year’s snap winter general election.

He announced his resignation from No 10 in July 2022 after he lost the support of his party over his handling of sexual assault allegations against former deputy chief whip Chris Pincher.

In his statement on Friday, in which he appeared to leave the door open for a return to Westminster, Mr Johnson was critical of Mr Sunak’s administration, questioning the decision to increase taxes and abandoning the prospect of a free trade deal with the US.

Mr Johnson held his Uxbridge seat with a majority of 7,200 votes at the 2019 contest, with Labour his closest rival.

The by-election is likely to be tricky for Mr Sunak’s party, with Labour more than 10 points ahead of the Tories in most opinion polls.

Polling released by Savanta suggested Sir Keir Starmer’s outfit currently holds a 14-point lead over the Tories in Mr Johnson’s former west London constituency.

Mr Johnson led the Conservatives to a landslide election victory in 2019 – but was given a fixed penalty notice over Downing Street lockdown parties and then forced out by his own MPs after three years in office, following a string of scandals.

He resigned in July 2022 and his final speech in Downing Street appeared to hint at a comeback – including a reference to Cincinnatus, who was recalled from his farm to save ancient Rome from crisis.

Just months later, he emerged as an early front-runner to be the next prime minister.

His replacement Liz Truss crashed and burned after 45 days in the job, and had resigned after her policy programme spooked the financial markets.

At the time polling suggested he was still deeply unpopular with the public at large, although not as unpopular as Ms Truss and he had significant support among Tory members.

Mr Johnson largely kept a low profile following his resignation, apart from a tribute to the late Queen and continuing his steadfast support for Ukraine until in March, he found his political future was in the hands of the Privileges Committee.

He faced a grilling which lasted more than three hours from the committee where he insisted he ‘did not lie to the House’ over his reassurances about Covid guidance being followed in Downing Street during the pandemic.

He told the panel it would have been ‘utterly insane’ for him to have misled Parliament.

But even before becoming prime minister, he had been accused of racism and homophobia, as well as multiple affairs, and was forced to apologise to Parliament for failing to properly declare outside earnings totalling more than £50,000 on several occasions.

Despite this he seemed to continue defying political gravity, rising ever upwards from MP to mayor of London to foreign secretary and, eventually, into Number 10 itself.

He even built up a reputation for being able to win in unexpected places, starting with his bid for the London mayoralty in 2008.

Although not quite the Labour stronghold it is now, the capital was still a daunting prospect for a Conservative after two terms of ‘Red’ Ken Livingstone, but Mr Johnson managed not only to win but then retain the mayoralty in 2012.

And then, in December 2019, his promise to ‘Get Brexit done’ saw him lead the Conservatives to a landslide victory, picking up swathes of traditionally Labour territory.

But even with his majority, Mr Johnson was confronted by significant challenges.

He did manage to secure a Brexit deal, but his decision to reopen the question of the Northern Ireland Protocol suggested Brexit was not ‘done’ while also opening him to accusations he was reneging on an agreement with the UK’s international partners.

Then came the pandemic, derailing many of his plans to ‘level up’ the country and seeing him admitted to an intensive care unit as he was struck down with Covid.

MPs became rebellious as he broke manifesto pledges on tax rises, U-turned on social care, backtracked on rail promises and continued to impose Covid restrictions that some felt draconian.

And still scandal dogged him. Just as he appeared unassailable – leading in the polls, presiding over a successful Cop26 and a triumphant Tory conference – it all started to fall apart.

First came the Owen Paterson affair and then the revelations of partygate that saw him become the first prime minister to receive a criminal penalty while in office, before finally the Chris Pincher scandal brought an avalanche of ministerial resignations and his exit from Downing Street.

Last fall, President Biden vowed to impose “consequences” on Saudi Arabia for its decision to slash oil production amid high energy prices and fast-approaching elections in the United States.

In public, the Saudi government defended its actions politely via diplomatic statements. But in private, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman threatened to fundamentally alter the decades-old U.S.-Saudi relationship and impose significant economic costs on the United States if it retaliated against the oil cuts, according to a classified document obtained by The Washington Post.

The crown prince claimed “he will not deal with the U.S. administration anymore,” the document says, promising “major economic consequences for Washington.”

Eight months later, Biden has yet to impose consequences on the Arab country and Mohammed has continued to engage with top U.S. officials, as he did with Secretary of State Antony Blinken in the seaside Saudi city of Jiddah this week.

It is unclear whether the crown prince’s threat was conveyed directly to U.S. officials or intercepted through electronic eavesdropping, but his dramatic outburst reveals the tension at the heart of a relationship long premised on oil-for-security but rapidly evolving as China takes a growing interest in the Middle East and the United States assesses its own interests as the world’s largest oil producer.

The U.S. intelligence document was circulated on the Discord messaging platform as part of an extensive leak of highly sensitive national security materials.

A spokesperson with the National Security Council said “we are not aware of such threats by Saudi Arabia.”

“In general, such documents often represent only one snapshot of a moment in time and cannot possibly offer the full picture,” the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss an intelligence matter.

“The United States continues to collaborate with Saudi Arabia, an important partner in the region, to advance our mutual interests and a common vision for a more secure, stable, and prosperous region, interconnected with the world,” the official added.

The Saudi Embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment.

Mohammed, 37, is the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, after his father King Salman appointed him to be prime minister in 2022.

Biden, who pledged to make Saudi Arabia a “pariah” as a presidential candidate, scarcely communicates with the crown prince but the president’s top aides have gradually rebuilt ties with him hoping the two nations can work together on pressing issues, including a long-sought peace deal in Yemen, a sustained cease-fire in Sudan, counterterrorism challenges and continued disagreements over the supply of oil.

The improved rapport has disappointed human rights advocates who hoped for a sharper break with the kingdom in light of Mohammed’s role overseeing the war in Yemen and the U.S. intelligence community’s assessment that he ordered the 2018 murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.

Mohammed denies ordering the killing but has acknowledged that it happened “under my watch.”

U.S. officials say the U.S.-Saudi relationship is too important to let languish given Riyadh’s economic and political clout and Beijing’s courtship of traditional U.S. partners in the Middle East.

“Together, we can drive real progress for all our people, not only to address the challenges or crises of the moment, but to chart an affirmative vision for our shared future,” Blinken said at a joint news conference in Riyadh on Thursday alongside Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan.

Blinken met with the crown prince, also known as MBS, for an hour and 40 minutes on Tuesday during this three-day visit to the kingdom, U.S. officials said. The men had a “candid, open” conversation that included U.S. efforts to broker normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia, the conflict in Yemen, human rights and the fighting in Sudan.

Following Blinken’s meetings, differences appeared to remain over Saudi Arabia’s ambitions to generate nuclear power, seen by Washington and others as a potential proliferation risk, and the notion that the United States has a right to admonish the kingdom over its human rights record.

Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister noted that while Riyadh would welcome U.S. support in building its civilian nuclear program, “there are others that are bidding,” a not-so-subtle reminder that the kingdom could deepen its cooperation with China on the initiative.

On human rights, he struck a defiant note, saying Saudi leaders “don’t respond to pressure.”

“When we do anything, we do it in our own interests. And I don’t think that anybody believes that pressure is useful or helpful, and therefore that’s not something that we are going to even consider,” he said.

Blinken’s visit caps a steady stream of high-level U.S. meetings in the kingdom in recent months, including trips by national security adviser Jake Sullivan, CIA Director William J. Burns, Biden’s top Middle East adviser Brett McGurk, and his senior energy security official Amos Hochstein.

The surge of meetings appeared to serve as a counterweight to the frosty personal relations between Biden and Mohammed, said David Ottaway, a Gulf scholar at the Wilson Center, noting that the two leaders have not spoken since their meeting in Riyadh last July.

“The Biden administration decided it had to figure out how to work with MBS even if Biden and he still do not talk to each other,” Ottaway said.

The oil-rich country has sought to present itself as a global player unmoored to Washington. In recent months, Riyadh has been on a diplomatic tear, winding down hostilities in Yemen, restoring relations with arch-nemesis Iran, inviting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad back into the Arab League after a decade-plus ban, and ending its regional tiff with Qatar.

“Riyadh is returning to a more traditional foreign policy that avoids conflict and favors accommodation with rivals,” said Bruce Riedel, a Middle East expert at the Brookings Institution.

The dramatic changes in Saudi foreign policy come as Washington seeks Saudi help on some regional matters. Days before Blinken’s arrival, Saudi Arabia announced it would deepen oil production cuts in July on top of a broader OPEC Plus agreement to limit oil supply in an effort to raise prices — a move opposed by the Biden administration.

“The administration has a big agenda for Blinken to work with the Saudis: Keeping the cease-fire in Yemen, getting one in Sudan, fighting ISIS, and above all keeping oil prices from rising out of control,” Riedel said.

Most difficult of all appears to be normalizing ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel, particularly as Israeli-Palestinian tensions worsen under the far-right coalition government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“Biden has put a big priority on securing Saudi public recognition of Israel. That is unlikely absent serious progress on the Palestinian front,” Riedel said. “The Palestinian issue still has deep resonance in the kingdom, especially with King Salman.”

Some moves by the Saudi government have pleased U.S. officials, including its assistance to Ukraine announced during a foreign minister visit to Kyiv in February and its plans to purchase a large order of Boeing jetliners.

Saudi Arabia’s relationship with China, which the United States considers its top economic and security competitor, was also raised during Blinken’s news conference in Riyadh. The top U.S. diplomat denied any suggestion that the United States was forcing Saudi Arabia to choose between Washington and Beijing.

A second leaked U.S. intelligence document from December warned that Saudi Arabia plans to expand its “transactional relationship” with China by procuring drones, ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and mass surveillance systems from Beijing. But U.S. officials say those warnings were exaggerated and did not come to fruition.

Saudi’s foreign minister, when asked during Thursday’s news conference about his country’s relationship with China, insisted it was not a threat to Saudi Arabia’s long-standing security partnership with the United States.

“China is the world’s second-largest economy. China is our largest trading partner. So naturally, there is a lot of interaction … and that cooperation is likely to grow,” he said. “But we still have a robust security partnership with the U.S. That security partnership is refreshed on an almost daily basis.”

Oregon State University welcomed children to a drag show that involved nudity- with one performer baring her breasts and using them to lift weights.

The performance, which was branded the ‘Illegal Drag Show’, was held at the LaSells Stewart Center on the University campus in Oregon, Washington, last Friday.

It had been set up by LGBTQ+ group Rainbow Continuum and a poster for the event openly encouraged attendees to ‘Be Gay. Do Crime’ – while also advertising it to all ages.

In footage captured at the show and first reported by Campus Reform, a biological woman can be seen undressing and exposing her breasts to the audience.

One woman in the audience can be heard saying: ‘Cover your eyes’ as the performer begins undressing on the stage, while another says: ‘Are you fricking kidding me? Oh my god.’

The unknown performer then starts hanging five lb. weights from her breasts and receives a large round of applause from the audience.

After retrieving a barbell weight from behind the curtain, the performer then proceeds to hang that from her breasts.

In another video, a young child has been brought on the stage by one of the drag queens and interviewed.

Responding to an unintelligible question by the drag queen, the child responds: ‘He’s a full grown man.’

Rebecca Lang, Students for Life President at Oregon State, told Campus Reform: ‘The show consisted of extremely explicit sexual content including sexually provocative performances by men and women in drag and costumes.’

Lang also said that at least two children she spotted in the audience were so small they had to be seated on the laps of adults.

She added: ‘[They] were subjected to not only references but physical moves and sexually explicit dances by both biological men and women, and extreme nudity as well.’

In a promotion for the event, Rainbow Continuum said: ‘Queer people across the nation are under legislative attack, but we will NOT let them stop our partying!

‘The show will be June 2nd, 7pm at LaSells. We’ve got a great lineup of local queer talent sure to raise the roof just in time for it to get replaced.’

It comes after the state of Montana announced it would ban people dressed in drag from reading to kids at public schools and libraries.

Governor Greg Gianforte signed the bill because he ‘believes it’s wildly inappropriate for little kids, especially preschoolers and kids in elementary school, to be exposed to sexualized content.’

The bill initially sought to ban minors from attending drag performances, which were defined as shows that ‘excited lustful thoughts.’

The legislation was later amended to ban minors from attending sexually oriented or obscene performances on public property.

The law received intense public testimony at an earlier committee hearing in February.

Pottery Barn promoted a book by transgender activist Jazz Jennings telling the story of a transgender-identifying child in a video this week.

Jennings, a biological male who began to “transition” at age 3, read from the book “I Am Jazz” on a Wednesday Instagram post from Pottery Barn Kids, the children’s brand of the furniture chain Pottery Barn. The book, written by Jennings, features a child who claims to have “a girl brain but a boy body.” The video has been liked more than 350 times and has more than 650 comments.

“From the time she was two years old, Jazz knew that she had a girl’s brain in a boy’s body. She loved pink and dressing up as a mermaid and didn’t feel like herself in boys’ clothing. This confused her family, until they took her to a doctor who said that Jazz was transgender and that she was born that way,” the book’s description on Amazon says.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Pottery Barn Kids (@potterybarnkids)

Jennings, now 22, was one of the first children to undergo a so-called “transition.” Jennings has had health issues after having transgender surgery, which started when he was still a minor, and has undergone a total of three “corrective” surgeries.

Many in the comments below the video blasted Pottery Barn for partnering with Jennings.

“This is DISGUSTING. I’ll go take my money elsewhere. Such a shame you had to go this route,” one user wrote.

“Pulling another bud light lol Who in their right mind would read this to their kids ??,” another commented.

“I seriously cannot believe this. Enough is enough. Leave. The. Kids. Alone. We’re all DONE,” another person added.

A previous book featured by Pottery Barn Kids was Sophie Beer’s “Love Makes A Family”: “Whether a child has two moms, two dads, one parent, or one of each, this simple preschool read-aloud demonstrates that what’s most important in each family’s life is the love the family members share,” the Amazon description reads.

Pottery Barn’s website currently allows customers to purchase an LGBT-themed mug and a rainbow-themed doormat. Some of the proceeds go to the Trevor Project, a group that supports children socially “transitioning” and undergoing transgender procedures.

The move from Pottery Barn to promote Jennings comes as beer brand Bud Light has faced enormous backlash after a partnership with activist Dylan Mulvaney and some customers moved to boycott Target after it sold female swimwear that was “tuck-friendly.”

Bud Light’s sales have plummeted following its partnership with Mulvaney, and Target has lost about $13 billion in market capitalization.

Two lawyers who represented Donald Trump in the months before the former president was indicted on federal charges over his handling of classified documents resigned Friday morning.

The attorneys, Jim Trusty and John Rowley, did not explain in detail why they had resigned, other than to say in a joint statement that “this is a logical moment” to do so given his indictment Thursday in U.S. District Court in Miami.

Trusty and Rowley also said they will no longer represent Trump in a pending federal criminal probe into his alleged efforts to overturn Georgia’s 2020 election results.

Trusty had made multiple appearances on television news shows Thursday evening and Friday morning to discuss the indictment of Trump in his capacity as his lawyer.

Trump first announced the two lawyers were leaving his cases in a post on his Truth Social platform.

He said he would now be represented by Todd Blanche, a New York lawyer who is representing him in another criminal case in Manhattan Supreme Court.

Trump is charged there in a state grand jury indictment with falsifying business records related to a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels shortly before the 2016 presidential election.

He has pleaded not guilty in that case.

“We will be announcing additional lawyers in the coming days,” wrote Trump, who is due to appear Tuesday in Miami court on the indictment charging him with several crimes.

Trump is charged over his retention of hundreds of classified government documents at his residence at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, after he left the White House, as well as with obstruction for his failure to return those records in the face of demands from U.S. officials.

In a joint statement, Trusty and Rowley wrote: “This morning we tendered our resignations as counsel to President Trump, and we will no longer represent him on either the indicted case or the January 6 investigation.”

“It has been an honor to have spent the last year defending him, and we know he will be vindicated in his battle against the Biden Administration’s partisan weaponization of the American justice system,” the attorneys said.

“Now that the case has been filed in Miami, this is a logical moment for us to step aside and let others carry the cases through to completion,” they wrote. “We have no plans to hold media appearances that address our withdrawals or any other confidential communications we’ve had with the President or his legal team.

The federal indictment lodged against former president Donald Trump includes seven charges that carry a maximum 75-year prison sentence if convicted on all counts.

Trump was indicted by a federal grand jury Thursday on criminal charges relating to his alleged mishandling of classified White House documents that were recovered at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida and allegations he tried to obstruct the government’s attempts to retrieve them.

The charges against Trump include: willfully retaining the national defense documents, conspiring to obstruct justice, withholding the documents, corruptly concealing the records, concealing a document in a federal investigation, scheming to conceal and making false statements, sources told ABC News.

All seven charges “break out from an Espionage Act charge,” his lawyer Jim Trusty confirmed to CNN.

“It does have some language in it that suggests what the seven charges would be. Not 100% clear that all of those are separate charges, but they basically break out from an Espionage Act charge,” Trusty said.

Each charge could carry a prison sentence.

Retaining classified documents

Trump is accused of hoarding hundreds of classified materials inside his Palm Beach resort that were recovered in two separate FBI raids last year.

He claimed he declassified everything that came from the White House.

A section of the Espionage Act prohibits any individual — including the president — from “willfully retain[ing]” national defense information and “fail[ing] to deliver it to the officer or employee of the United States entitled to receive it.”

The statute carries a maximum sentence of 10 years and/or a fine.

Conspiring to obstruct justice

The ex-commander-in-chief is accused of telling others to mislead government officials while they were working on gathering the classified documents in his possession, a crime that would constitute an obstruction of justice charge.

Federal law prohibits anyone from making “threats or force” that would “influence, intimidate, or impede” any US officials from conducting their work.

The statute carries a maximum sentence of 10 years and/or a fine.

Withholding a document or record

Investigators allege that Trump purposely leafed through some of the boxes of top-secret government documents in an apparent effort to retain some of the material.

Similar to the Espionage Act charge, the unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents or material charge prohibits an individual from “knowingly removing such documents or materials without authority and with the intent to retain such documents or materials at an unauthorized location.”

The statute carries a maximum sentence of 5 years and/or a fine.

Corruptly concealing a document or record

The corruptly concealing a document charge includes language for both threatening others to mislead a federal investigation and illegally retaining classified documents, both of which Trump is accused of doing.

The charge targets “whoever corruptly alters, destroys, mutilates, or conceals a record, document, or other objects, or attempts to do so, with the intent to impair the object’s integrity or availability for use in an official proceeding; or otherwise obstructs, influences, or impedes any official proceeding, or attempts to do so.”

The charge carries one of the heftiest sentences — Trump could face a 20-year punishment and/or a fine.

Concealing a document in a federal investigation

Trump could face another two decades if convicted of purposefully hiding the classified documents while federal investigators were searching for them inside his private residences last year.

“Whoever tampers with evidence, such as by altering, destroying, or concealing a record, document or other tangible objects with an intent to obstruct or impede a court proceeding can be punished,” according to the statute.

The statute carries a maximum sentence of 20 years and/or a fine.

Scheme to conceal

Trump is accused of knowingly hiding the classified documents while and immediately after serving within the “executive, legislative, or judicial branch of the Government of the United States,” according to the statute.

The statute carries a maximum sentence of 5 years and/or a fine.

If found to have been involved in domestic terrorism, the charge could land Trump an 8-year sentence.

False statements and representations

Finally, for allegedly lying about keeping top-secret government papers inside his private home, Trump could face charges for making false statements and representations.

The statute carries a maximum sentence of 5 years and/or a fine.

If convicted on all seven charges, the ex-president could face a 75-year prison sentence.

A Trump-appointed Florida federal judge who previously selected a special master in the FBI’s Mar-a-Lago investigation might now oversee the criminal case brought against former President Donald Trump by special counsel Jack Smith.

Judge Aileen Cannon, a district court judge in Florida who gave Trump a temporary win when she appointed Judge Raymond Dearie to be the special master in the Mar-a-Lago saga in September, has been assigned to oversee the criminal case against Trump in southern Florida, according to multiple outlets. Dearie was picked by Cannon to be the short-lived special master after his name was put forward by Trump.

Trump revealed Thursday evening that Smith, who was hand-picked by Attorney General Merrick Garland, had informed him he was being indicted related to his alleged mishandling of classified records and that he had been summoned to appear in a Miami federal courthouse on Tuesday afternoon.

Cannon was nominated by Trump to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida in May 2020, and she was confirmed by the Senate in November 2020. If she remains the overseer of Trump’s criminal case, this means she could oversee a jury trial and be empowered to decide what prison sentence Trump would receive if convicted.

Cannon ruled in September that she “temporarily enjoins the Government from reviewing and using the seized materials for investigative purposes pending completion of the special master’s review or further Court order.”

She said at the time that her ruling “shall not impede” the classification review and intelligence assessment being conducted by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence related to the records seized in the FBI’s unprecedented August raid of Trump’s Florida resort home. Nevertheless, an ODNI spokesperson told the Washington Examiner in September it had “paused” the classification review following consultation with federal prosecutors.

Cannon’s own pause on the DOJ’s use of classified documents was then reversed by an appeals court later in September, and the entire special master process was tossed out by a higher court in December.

Trump said he had been summoned to appear at the federal courthouse in Miami on Tuesday at 3 p.m. The former president is believed to face at least seven criminal charges, although the indictment has not been unsealed.

“The corrupt Biden Administration has informed my attorneys that I have been Indicted, seemingly over the Boxes Hoax,” Trump posted on his Truth Social social media site Thursday evening, declaring, “I AM AN INNOCENT MAN!”

DOJ says former President Donald Trump was recorded in 2021 acknowledging that he had kept “secret” military documents from his time in office without first declassifying them.

The tape has been obtained by federal prosecutors, who secured an indictment of Trump on charges including willful retention of national defense information after retrieving thousands of documents from his Mar-a-Lago resort.

CNN obtained the transcript of a portion of the meeting where Trump is discussing a classified Pentagon document about attacking Iran:

“As president, I could have declassified, but now I can’t,” Trump says, according to the transcript.

“Secret. This is secret information. Look, look at this,” Trump says at one point, according to the transcript. “This was done by the military and given to me.”

“Well, with Milley – uh, let me see that, I’ll show you an example. He said that I wanted to attack Iran. Isn’t that amazing? I have a big pile of papers, this thing just came up. Look. This was him,” Trump says, according to the transcript. “They presented me this – this is off the record, but – they presented me this. This was him. This was the Defense Department and him. We looked at some. This was him. This wasn’t done by me, this was him.”

Trump continues: “All sorts of stuff – pages long, look. Wait a minute, let’s see here. I just found, isn’t that amazing? This totally wins my case, you know. Except it is like, highly confidential. Secret. This is secret information. Look, look at this.”

Special Counsel Jack Smith indicted Trump on seven counts as part of an investigation into Trump’s mishandling of government documents after leaving the White House in January 2021.

Trump’s attorney, Jim Trusty, told CNN Thursday night that the ex-commander-in-chief had received a summons to appear in Miami federal court on Tuesday afternoon.

Trusty added the summons included references to a violation of the Espionage Act and charges of obstruction of justice, destruction or falsification of records and potentially conspiracy.

“Again, this is not Biblically accurate because I’m not looking at a charging document,” he noted.

It’s not clear whether any of the charges stem from the recorded July 2021 meeting.

Trump has maintained that he declassified all documents he took with him when he began his post-presidential life at Mar-a-Lago.

During the meeting, the former president apparently discussed “a four-page report” from the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark Milley, which contained plans for an Iran strike involving massive numbers of US troops.

Prosecutors in Smith’s office have reportedly questioned Milley as a witness for their investigation.

A July 2021 article in The New Yorker quoted Milley as saying Trump wanted to move forward with the strike after the 2020 election, to which the general responded, “If you do this, you’re gonna have a f—king war.”

But Trump blamed Milley the same month for having authored the military plan, according to the meeting transcript reported by CNN.

“Well, with Milley — uh, let me see that, I’ll show you an example. He said that I wanted to attack Iran. Isn’t that amazing? I have a big pile of papers, this thing just came up. Look. This was him,” he said. “They presented me this — this is off the record, but — they presented me this. This was him. This was the Defense Department and him. We looked at some. This was him. This wasn’t done by me, this was him.”

“All sorts of stuff — pages long, look. Wait a minute, let’s see here. I just found, isn’t that amazing? This totally wins my case, you know. Except it is like, highly confidential. Secret. This is secret information. Look, look at this,” Trump added.

The meeting occurred at the former president’s golf resort in Bedminster, N.J., where staff and communications aide Margo Martin were discussing an autobiography of former chief of staff Mark Meadows.

Top Republicans and conservatives from around the country were outraged on Thursday in response to the news that former President Donald Trump had been indicted.

A federal grand jury in Florida reportedly indicted the former president on seven charges in the criminal investigation into his handling of classified material after leaving office. While no one has seen the charges, reports indicated that they range from willful retention of national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice, and false statements.

Elon Musk

Twitter owner Elon Musk responded, “There does seem to be far higher interest in pursuing Trump compared to other people in politics.”

“Very important that the justice system rebut what appears to be differential enforcement or they will lose public trust,” Musk continued.

Ron DeSantis

“The weaponization of federal law enforcement represents a mortal threat to a free society,” DeSantis, who is also running for president, said in a statement. “We have for years witnessed an uneven application of the law depending upon political affiliation.”

“Why so zealous in pursuing Trump yet so passive about Hillary or Hunter?” he continued. “The DeSantis administration will bring accountability to the DOJ, excise political bias and end weaponization once and for all.”

Kevin McCarthy

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said that it was a “dark day for the United States of America” and added that House Republicans would “hold this brazen weaponization of power accountable.”

Ted Cruz

Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) responded: “Indicting Donald Trump is the culmination of what Merrick Garland has been pushing for since he became Attorney General. The weaponization of our Department of Justice against enemies of the Biden admin[istration] will do enormous damage to the rule of law & have a lasting impact.”

Mike Pence

“I’m deeply troubled to see this indictment move forward,” Pence said in an interview to conservative talk radio host Hugh Hewitt. “Yesterday on the road in Iowa, I had said I had hoped that the DOJ would see it’s way clearer not to move forward here. But let me be very clear: No one is above the law.”

Mitt Romney

“Mr. Trump brought these charges upon himself by not only taking classified documents, but by refusing to simply return them when given numerous opportunities to do so. These allegations are serious and if proven, would be consistent with his other actions offensive to the national interest, such as withholding defensive weapons from Ukraine for political reasons and failing to defend the Capitol from violent attack and insurrection.”

An attack ad released by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign used AI-generated images of former President Donald Trump hugging Dr. Anthony Fauci.

AFP reported Wednesday that three of the images in the 44-second attack ad are fakes.

As audio of Trump explaining why he never fired Fauci plays, a collage of six images of the two men together are shown – with three real pictures and three deep fakes.

The words ‘Real Life Trump’ were placed over the collage.

‘It was sneaky to intermix what appears to be authentic photos with fake photos, but these three images are almost certainly AI generated,’ Hany Farid, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley and expert in digital forensics, misinformation and image analysis told AFP.

Farid and two other experts interviewed by AFP noted that the images had unusual characteristics, which often expose photos as being AI creations.

‘These images contain many signs indicating that they were AI-generated,’ Matthew Stamm, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at Drexel University, who specializes in detecting falsified images and videos, told AFP.

Trump’s hair, Stamm said, gave it away.

‘For example, if you look closely at Donald Trump’s hair in the top-left, bottom-middle, and bottom-right images, you can see that it contains inconsistent textures and is significantly blurrier than other nearby content such as his ears or other regions of his face,’ he said.

The photo on the upper lefthand side of the collage also appears to show Trump kissing Fauci on the face in the White House briefing room.

However, on closer inspection, the words behind the two men are jibberish – and not ‘The White House: Washington’ – what a real photo would show.

Instead a back-and-forth over the use of the images played out on Twitter.

WATCH:

Donald Trump became a household name by FIRING countless people *on television*

But when it came to Fauci… pic.twitter.com/7Lxwf75NQm

— DeSantis War Room 🐊 (@DeSantisWarRoom) June 5, 2023

DeSantis’ Rapid Response Director Christina Pushaw tweeted out Thursday a Truth Social post from Trump that showed DeSantis riding a rhinoceros.

A RINO – a ‘Republican in name only’ – is a dig against Republicans who are too moderate or not aligned enough with Trump.

‘I think this might be an AI-generated image. Who knows?’ Pushaw commented about the clearly fake image.

Matt Wolking, a spokesperson for the Never Back Down PAC, which is supporting DeSantis, told The Verge that the Trump campaign’s use of deepfakes has been more problematic.

‘No campaign has pushed more misleading deepfakes, false photoshops, and outright fabrications than the Trump campaign,’ Wolking said. ‘It is 100 percent true that Donald Trump empowered and embraced Fauci — he even gave him a presidential commendation,’ he added.

Wolking declined to answer whether the DeSantis campaign used AI technology on the ad.

‘You’ll have to ask the campaign,’ he said.

Trump spokesperson Jason Miller highlighted the reports about the images on Twitter Thursday.

‘DeSanctimonious!!!’ Miller exclaimed.

Donald Trump Jr. responded directly to Pushaw’s rhino posting.

‘It’s also hilarious to watch the DeSantis campaign actually try to justify getting caught red-handed using Deep Fake images in their ad with the caption “real life Trump,” by comparing it to my dad posting a joke meme of Ron riding his favorite animal,’ Trump Jr. said.

Police bodycam footage has captured a suspected UFO sighting in Las Vegas after residents reported seeing ’10ft aliens with large shiny eyes.’

A Vegas officer’s camera picked up the object at about 11:50 pm on April 30 after a resident reported something ‘100 percent not human’ on their property, local TV channel 8 News Now reported.

The footage shows a bright blue ball of light travelling through the dark sky at speed.

Approximately 39 minutes after the first call, another resident contacted 911, saying that there were two unknown entities in his backyard after he saw an object fall from the sky.

‘There’s like an 8-foot person beside it and another one is inside us [sic] and it has big eyes and it’s looking at us — and it’s still there,’ the homeowner told police in audio obtained by the TV channel.

‘In my backyard. I swear to God this is not a joke, this is actually — we’re terrified,’ the caller claimed.

‘They’re very large. They’re like 8 foot, 9 feet, 10 foot. They look like aliens to us. Big eyes. They have big eyes. Like, I can’t explain it. And big mouth. They’re shiny eyes and they’re not human. They’re 100 percent not human,’ he claimed.

The responding officers expressed their trepidation at the odd events.

‘I’m so nervous right now,’ one officer can be heard telling his partner.

‘I have butterflies, bro — saw a shooting star and now these people say there’s aliens in their backyard.’

‘I don’t believe in it but what I saw right now, I do believe in it,’ one of the reported witnesses said to police.

The area of the alleged sighting was searched and the witnesses interviewed but no new information was found.

The LVPD has since closed the case, 8 News Now reported.

It comes after a former intelligence officer turned whistleblower has recently claimed the US has a trove of parts and equipment from ‘non-human origin’ UFOs which have crash landed on earth.

David Charles Grusch said the US and other nations are also engaged in top-secret operations that attempt to ‘reverse-engineer’ the pieces to create weapons.

But Grusch also claims that the information has been illegally withheld from Congress as the government tried to hide the finds, which are involved in an ’80-year arms race’ to take advantage of the technology.

He told The Debrief: ‘We are not talking about prosaic origins or identities. The material includes intact and partially intact vehicles.

‘The existence of complex historical programs involving the coordinated retrieval and study of exotic materials, dating back to the early 20th century, should no longer remain a secret.’

Grusch, who served in Afghanistan and worked for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) and National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), has handed over details of the alleged operations to Congress and the Intelligence Community Inspector General.

He has also filed a complaint against the Department of Defense and claims he’s been ostracized for his decision to blow the whistle.

The 36-year-old worked on the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force from 2019-2021.

An Asian-American teenager who could help end affirmative action has been pictured for the first time, as he spoke out against racist discrimination he says he suffered.

Jon Wang, 18, got a 1590 on his SAT and a 4.65 high school grade point average but was rejected by six top schools.

He is one of the plaintiffs in a Supreme Court case seeking to end the practice over claims it unfairly discriminates against high-performing Asian Americans.

In January, the high court said it will take up lawsuits from anti-affirmative action group Students For Fair Admission claiming that Harvard University, a private institution, and the University of North Carolina, a state school, discriminate against Asian American applicants.

The suits claim that affirmative action – policies meant to favor members of historically disadvantaged groups – gives an edge to African Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans over Asian students.

A decision against the schools could mean the end of that practice and disregard race altogether in college admissions. Wang has sued a public and private college in the hopes of having the practice struck down at all universities nationwide.

He said despite his terrific scores – and a perfect score on his math SAT – he was rejected by Harvard, as well as MIT, CalTech, Princeton, Carnegie-Mellon and UC Berkeley.

Wang, who has come forward to speak for the first time alleges he was warned in advance that it’s ‘gospel’ that it’s ‘tougher to get in, especially as an Asian American’ by friends and guidance counselors.

Wang’s parents are both immigrants from China and said he felt pressure about advocating for himself publicly.

‘I was scared of getting backlash on social media for it,’ Wang told Fox News. ‘For fighting for what I think is a really important issue.’

Students for Fair Admissions, Wang said, were willing to be honest with him about his chances and about how he was being discriminated against.

‘I gave them my test scores, and then they must’ve ran the model on that… [they] told me I had a 20 percent chance of getting accepted to Harvard as an Asian American and a 95 percent chance as an African American,’ he said.

Wang now attends Georgia Tech and has no worries with potential backlash for his future career.

‘I feel like, if I’m looking back, 10 or 20 years from now, if I didn’t do it [speak up], I’d be pretty upset with myself,’ said Wang.

The Supreme Court’s decision to take up the case was praised by Republicans in Congress but criticized by others who say abolishing affirmative action is removing a guardrail against inequality.

Lower courts had previously rejected the challenges to admissions practices, citing more than 40 years of Supreme Court rulings that allow colleges and universities to consider race in admissions decisions in a bid to admit more students from underrepresented backgrounds. But the colleges and universities must do so in a narrowly tailored way to promote diversity.

The last time the issue came before the court was in 2016, when justices ruled in favor of the University of Texas and its admissions program in a 4-3 decision. That case had been brought by a white woman.

But the court has undergone a massive shake-up since then that’s seen three conservative justices appointed to the bench by Donald Trump.

Two members of 2016’s four-justice majority are gone from the court: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died in 2020, and Justice Anthony Kennedy retired in 2018.

The three dissenters in the case, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, remain on the court.

Roberts, who’s been known to side with the liberal justices on occasion as a moderating influence on the court, has also criticized using race as a major factor in public programs.

‘It is a sordid business, this divvying us up by race,’ he once wrote.

Former President Donald Trump said Thursday that his legal team has been told he’s been indicted in an investigation into his handling of classified documents. Trump has been summoned to appear in federal court in Miami on Tuesday afternoon.

TRUMP STATEMENT:

The corrupt Biden Administration has informed my attorneys that I have been Indicted, seemingly over the Boxes Hoax, even though Joe Biden has 1850 Boxes at the University of Delaware, additional Boxes in Chinatown, D.C., with even more Boxes at the University of Pennsylvania, and documents strewn all over his garage floor where he parks his Corvette, and which is “secured” by only a garage door that is paper thin, and open much of the time.

I have been summoned to appear at the Federal Courthouse in Miami on Tuesday, at 3 PM. I never thought it possible that such a thing could happen to a former President of the United States, who received far more votes than any sitting President in the History of our Country, and is currently leading, by far, all Candidates, both Democrat and Republican, in Polls of the 2024 Presidential Election. I AM AN INNOCENT MAN!

This is indeed a DARK DAY for the United States of America. We are a Country in serious and rapid Decline, but together we will Make America Great Again!

7 CHARGES:

Trump has been charged with seven counts in the indictment, according to another source familiar with the matter.

“We’re learning from our sources that there appears to be at least seven counts here. This ranges from everything from the willful retention of national defense information to conspiracy to a scheme to conceal to false statements and representations,” ABC News’ Katherine Faulders reported during a special report on the network.

The reported charges break down into the following three categories, according to The New York Times:

• Deliberate withholding of national defense secrets: Former President Donald Trump has been indicted on this charge, which involves the intentional act of not disclosing important information related to national defense. This charge likely falls under the purview of the Espionage Act, which deals with the protection of classified information.
• Conspiracy to obstruct justice: Trump faces an indictment for conspiring to obstruct justice, indicating that he is accused of collaborating with others to impede or hinder the proper functioning of the justice system. It’s important to note that the charge of conspiracy to obstruct justice requires the involvement of at least two parties who work together to obstruct the legal process.
• Issuance of false statements: Another charge outlined in the indictment is the alleged act of making false statements. This charge suggests that Trump is accused of intentionally providing inaccurate or misleading information to investigators. It is possible that this charge may also be considered a conspiracy charge, as it could require evidence of Trump and at least one other person agreeing to mislead investigators and taking overt actions to further that plan.

MEDIA SWARMS MIAMI COURTHOUSE

Earlier today, dozens of out-of-town reporters, photographers and TV camera crews gathered in front of the downtown federal courthouse in hopes of getting a morsel of news from a secret grand jury which has been reviewing evidence in the Justice Department’s probe into Trump’s handling of classified materials at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach.

THE BACKSTORY:

Special counsel Jack Smith has been overseeing the investigation into Trump’s handling of classified documents since he was appointed to the role in November.

Trump’s attorneys met earlier this week with Justice Department officials, including Smith. Experts widely viewed the meeting as a sign that Smith’s investigation was winding down.

On May 6, 2021, the National Archives first alerted Trump that it was seeking approximately two dozen boxes of records be returned to it as required by the Presidential Records Act. The National Archives warned Trump in late 2021 that they could escalate the issue to prosecutors or Congress if he continued to refuse to hand over the documents. He was also warned by former Trump White House lawyer Eric Herschmann that he could face serious legal jeopardy if he did not comply.

In January 2022, about 15 of the boxes were returned, at which time officials discovered there were hundreds of pages of classified material in the boxes. Federal law enforcement was notified of the discovery and later came to believe that there were more materials that had not been turned over, and a criminal investigation was subsequently launched.

In May 2022, a federal grand jury issued a subpoena seeking additional classified documents and, a few weeks later, the DOJ visited Mar-a-Lago and Trump’s legal team signed a written statement claiming that all the classified material had been returned. Over the course of the summer, investigators interviewed members of Trump’s staff and subpoenaed surveillance footage from the property.

On August 8, the FBI raided Mar-a-Lago recovered 27 boxes, 11 of which contained classified documents. Four sets were marked “Top Secret,” the highest level of classification the government can give information; three were marked “Secret,” the second-highest level, while another three were marked “Confidential,” the lowest classification level.  The remaining set was marked “Various classified/TS/SCI documents,” which is the abbreviation for “top secret/sensitive compartmented information,” a special category meant to protect the nation’s most important secrets — which if revealed publicly would harm US interests.

LAWMAKERS AND OFFICIALS REACT

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy: “It is unconscionable for a President to indict the leading candidate opposing him. Joe Biden kept classified documents for decades. I, and every American who believes in the rule of law, stand with President Trump against this grave injustice. House Republicans will hold this brazen weaponization of power accountable.”

Rep. Jim Jordan: “Sad day for America. God Bless President Trump/”

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy: “We cannot devolve into a banana republic where the party in power uses police force to arrest its political opponents. It’s hypocritical for the DOJ to selectively prosecute Trump but not Biden.”

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene: “Ultimately the biggest hypocrisy in modern day history,” she wrote on Twitter. “A complete and total failure to the American people. A stain on our nation that the FBI and DOJ are so corrupt and they don’t even hide it anymore.”

Rep. Matt Gaetz: “Imagine being naive enough to believe that the Biden Bribe evidence and Trump indictment happening the same day was a coincidence.”

President Joe Biden was allegedly paid $5 million by an executive of the Ukrainian natural gas firm Burisma Holdings, where his son Hunter Biden sat on the board, a confidential human source told the FBI during a June 2020 interview, sources familiar told Fox News Digital.

The sources briefed Fox News Digital on the contents of the FBI-generated FD-1023 form alleging a criminal bribery scheme between then-Vice President Joe Biden and a foreign national that involved influence over U.S. policy decisions.

The FD-1023 form, dated June 30, 2020, is the FBI’s interview with a “highly credible” confidential source who detailed multiple meetings and conversations he or she had with a top Burisma executive over the course of several years, starting in 2015. Fox News Digital has not seen the form, but it was described by several sources who are aware of its contents.

An FD-1023 form is used by FBI agents to record unverified reporting from confidential human sources. The form is used to document information as told to an FBI agent, but recording that information does not validate or weigh it against other information known by the FBI.

The Burisma executive sought the advice of the confidential source, a business professional, on gaining U.S. oil rights and getting involved with a U.S. oil company, the sources familiar with the document said. The Burisma executive was speaking with the confidential source to “get advice on the best way to go forward” in 2015 and 2016.

According to the FD-1023 form, the confidential human source said the Burisma executive discussed Hunter’s role on the board. The confidential human source questioned why the Burisma executive needed his or her advice in acquiring access to U.S. oil if he had Hunter Biden on the board. The Burisma executive answered by referring to Hunter Biden as “dumb.”

The Burisma executive explained to the confidential source that Burisma had to “pay the Bidens” because Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor Shokin was investigating Burisma, and explained how difficult it would be to enter the U.S. market in the midst of that investigation.

The confidential source further detailed that conversation, suggesting to the Burisma executive that he “pay the Bidens $50,000 each,” to which the Burisma executive replied, it is “not $50,000,” it is “$5 million.”

“$5 million for one Biden, $5 million for the other Biden,” the Burisma executive told the confidential human source, according to a source familiar with the document.

A source familiar said according to the document, the $5 million payments appeared to reference a kind of “retainer” Burisma intended to pay the Bidens to deal with a number of issues, including the investigation led by Shokin. Another source referred to the arrangement as a “pay-to-play” scheme.

Sources familiar told Fox News Digital that the confidential human source believes that the $5 million payment to Joe Biden and the $5 million payment to Hunter Biden occurred, based on his or her conversations with the Burisma executive.

The confidential source said the Burisma executive told him he “paid” the Bidens in such a manner “through so many different bank accounts” that investigators would not be able to “unravel this for at least 10 years.”

The document then makes reference to “the Big Guy,” which, has been said to be a reference to Joe Biden.

The Burisma executive told the confidential source that he “didn’t pay the Big Guy directly.”

Fox News Digital has learned that the confidential human source has been used by the FBI as a regular, reliable source of information since 2010 and has been paid approximately $200,000 by the bureau.

Sources said the Burisma executive appears to be at a “very, very high level” of the company. One source familiar suggested the confidential source could be referring to the head of Burisma, Mykola Zlochevsky, but said the name of the Burisma executive is redacted in the document.

Biden has acknowledged that when he was vice president, he successfully pressured Ukraine to fire prosecutor Viktor Shokin. At the time, Shokin was investigating Burisma Holdings, and at the time, Hunter had a highly-lucrative role on the board receiving thousands of dollars per month. The then-vice president threatened to withhold $1 billion of critical U.S. aid if Shokin was not fired.

“I said, ‘You’re not getting the billion. I’m going to be leaving here in,’ I think it was about six hours. I looked at them and said: ‘I’m leaving in six hours. If the prosecutor is not fired, you’re not getting the money,’” Biden recalled telling then-Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. Biden recollected the conversation during an event for the Council on Foreign Relations in 2018.

“Well, son of a bitch, he got fired,” Biden said during the event. “And they put in place someone who was solid at the time.”

Biden allies maintain the then-vice president pushed for Shokin’s firing due to concerns the Ukrainian prosecutor went easy on corruption, and say that his firing, at the time, was the policy position of the U.S. and international community.

In 2019, then-President Donald Trump, pressed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to launch investigations into the Biden family’s actions and business dealings in Ukraine —specifically Hunter Biden’s ventures with Ukrainian natural gas firm Burisma Holdings and Joe Biden’s successful effort to have Shokin ousted.

Trump’s request was regarded by Democrats as a quid pro quo for millions in U.S. military aid to Ukraine had been frozen. Democrats also claimed Trump was meddling in the 2020 presidential election by asking a foreign leader to look into a Democratic political opponent.

Trump was later impeached by the House of Representatives for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress — all stemming from the phone call and the question about the Bidens’ dealings. The Senate voted for acquittal in February 2020.

The confidential source, according to the sources familiar with the FD-1023 form, told the Burisma executive he should “get away” from the Bidens and said the executive should “not want to be involved” with them.

A source familiar with the document told Fox News Digital that the confidential human source goes on to detail a later conversation with the Burisma executive following the 2016 presidential election. The confidential source asked the Burisma executive if he was “upset” that Donald Trump won.

The source said the Burisma executive told the confidential source that he was “an oracle,” referring to his or her advice to “get away” from the Bidens due to fears of potential investigations into their dealings.

The House Oversight Committee had subpoenaed the FBI for the FD-1023 document. After a back-and-forth between the committee and the bureau, and amid threats of holding FBI Director Christopher Wray in contempt of Congress, the FBI allowed all committee members to view the document in a secure setting on Capitol Hill.

The revelations of the document came after a whistleblower approached GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., The whistleblower said the FBI was in possession of a document – the FD-1023 form dated June 30, 2020.

President Biden responded to questions Thursday about his alleged involvement in an international bribery scandal with a simple joke.

“Where’s the money?” he quipped when asked by a reporter for his response to Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., a member of the House Oversight Committee investigating the president, who said earlier in the day the allegations are “worse than has been reported so far.”

“I’m joking. It’s a bunch of malarkey,” Biden added.

Watch:

Joe Biden is asked his response to allegations in the FD-1023 document that he was invoked in an illegal bribery scheme:

“Where’s the money?”

pic.twitter.com/IXGbN7Z8Lk

— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) June 8, 2023

Mace, who reviewed the FD-1023 document an FBI whistleblower said proved Biden’s participation in the bribery scandal, told Fox News Digital on Thursday there is “damning evidence the sitting President of the United States sold out his country in an ongoing bribery scheme.”

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., and Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, were first approached by the whistleblower who said the FBI was in possession of the document, dated June 30, 2020, that explicitly detailed information provided by a confidential human source who alleged that Biden, while serving as vice president, was involved in a $5 million criminal bribery scheme with a foreign national in exchange for influence over policy decisions.

After being subpoenaed for the document, FBI Director Christopher Wray on Monday allowed Comer and House Oversight Committee ranking member Jamie Raskin, D-Md., to view the document in a secure sensitive compartment information facility.

The FBI agreed on Wednesday to allow the full Oversight Committee to view the document after Republicans on the committee threatened to hold Wray in contempt of Congress.

The information in the document, according to the whistleblower, reveals “a precise description of how the alleged criminal scheme was employed as well as its purpose” and details an arrangement that involved an exchange of money for policy decisions.

Tucker Carlson warned viewers Thursday to “cling” to their “taboos” to fight back against the “people in charge.”

Carlson’s second episode, “Cling to your taboos!” came out two days after the first episode released on Twitter on Tuesday. The Daily Caller co-founder began his new show, “Tucker on Twitter,” in June after departing from Fox News in April.

In the newest episode, Carlson called on Americans to “cling” onto taboos as elites target people for crimes they cannot define.

“When a crime has no definition, anyone can be guilty of it,” Carlson said. “It’s hard to relax in a country like that. The old system was better. Government operated on the basis of laws, not amorphous moral terror. Politicians couldn’t accuse you of something they couldn’t define. The legal code was straight forward. Child molestation was a crime. Having unfashionable opinions was not. Outside of the public sphere, the population mostly governed itself as it does in every society, and used taboos to do it.”

“You knew what was allowed and what wasn’t because the rules didn’t change very often. The taboos were organic. They derived from collective experience and instinct. The two most reliable guides to life. They evolved for a reason. They still do. Our job at this point is to protect them, despite the hectoring and the nonstop hectoring from the people in charge,” he added.

“So don’t let them talk you out of what you can smell. Don’t let them rationalize away your intuitive moral sense. Cling to your taboos like your life depends on them, because it does.”

Carlson criticized left-wing politicians for targeting “white supremacy” and anyone asking questions about the 2020 presidential election while ignoring the threat of child pornography and pedophilia. He raised the reports of child predators take advantage of Instagram’s algorithms and networking.

“So far this month, the FBI’s Washington field office has issued 11 press releases. Ten out of 11 have been about January 6th. Keep in mind that January 6th happened more than two-and-a-half years ago. Now you know why the Feds were ignoring kid touchers on Instagram. They’re too busy to respond. They’ve got much more important things to do, like finding white supremacists. White supremacists are America’s new child molesters. We’ve got zero tolerance for white supremacists because no one threatens the life of this country more than they do.”

After citing President Joe Biden calling white supremacy “the most dangerous terrorist threat to our homeland,” Carlson mocked the current elites of being more concerned about white supremacy than Mexican drug cartels or a possible nuclear war with Russia, while being unable to define the term.

He pointed to Emmanuel Cafferty, who was fired after being accused of making a white supremacy symbol with his knuckle in front of a Black Lives Matter protest. Cafferty said he did not know of any white supremacy symbol and simply just cracked his knuckle.

WATCH:

Ep. 2 Cling to your taboos! pic.twitter.com/45AeVdtwOu

— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) June 8, 2023