Biden campaign ridicules ‘Broke Don’ after rival’s fundraising deficit revealed: Latest

In a Friday filing in the Ninth Circuit, lawyers for indicted FBI informant Alexander Smirnov argued that “the Court should reject the district court’s cynicism and order Mr. Smirnov released on the conditions previously imposed (by the Magistrate Judge) and proposed (by Mr. Smirnov).”

Mr Smirnov has been arrested twice over the same charges in February. He was accused of providing “false derogatory information” about the Bidens.

His attorneys argued that he should be released from detention, since a magistrate judge in Nevada had initially granted Mr Smirnov’s release on various conditions. But a California district court judge ruled that he posed a flight risk so should remain in custody.

In the latest filings, his attorneys assert that the 22 February order “in which the district court recited the Government’s representations regarding flight risk…is particularly troubling.” They claimed that the “existence of the February 22 order was not disclosed until some point between” 5 March and 12 March.

“In addition to not disclosing the existence of the February 22 order on the docket sheet until the first week of March, the contents of that order were unknown to the undersigned counsel until March 18, 2024,” the lawyers wrote, adding that the order “were suddenly found to include ‘reasons’ for the district court’s detention decision.”

An attorney who unsuccessfully sued to overturn former President Donald Trump’s 2020 loss in Michigan was ordered held on $10,000 bond Thursday after she appeared in a Michigan court on an outstanding warrant.

Stefanie Lambert turned herself in Thursday morning after having been arrested in Washington, D.C. earlier this week as a result of a bench warrant issued by a Michigan judge.

Lambert is facing felony charges of improperly accessing voting equipment in a search for evidence of a conspiracy to steal the 2020 election from Trump. She had failed to appear at a March 7 hearing, resulting in the warrant.

Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Jeffrey Matis ordered Lambert to be taken into custody for purposes of fingerprinting and DNA. She returned to the courtroom Thursday wearing a maroon uniform and with her hands cuffed. Matis then ordered that Lambert post a $10,000 cash bond to be released.

Prosecutors argued Thursday during proceedings before Matis that Lambert’s actions had forced the entire case “to come to a screeching halt.” Also facing charges in the case are former state GOP Rep. Daire Rendon and Matthew DePerno, former Republican state attorney general candidate.

“Her disruption here has been immense,” said Timothy Maat, a prosecutor from Muskegon County.

The March 7 hearing that Lambert had missed — leading to the warrant — concerned a fingerprint and DNA order that Lambert had refused to comply with.

Lambert’s lawyer, Dan Hartman, blamed her missed March 7 appearance on a “breakdown in communication with her former attorney.”

On Friday, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene pulled off her most audacious stunt yet when she filed a motion to vacate to stage a no-confidence vote for Speaker Mike Johnson. The reason for filing that motion? Johnson did what he is supposed to do: pass spending bills to keep the government open.

The move went perfectly for Greene, who has shown little desire to legislate but an eagerness for attention. It turned out to be the perfect spectacle in Congress. Greene even brought her boyfriend, right-wing media provacateur Brian Glenn, along for the action. As soon as she exited the floor, reporters, including myself, swarmed her with questions — but she waited to speak until she descended the Capitol steps so she could have her moment in front of the cameras.

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris arrived in Puerto Rico on Friday as part of a whirlwind trip to tout the federal aid the U.S. territory has received following deadly hurricanes and attend a Democratic fundraiser.

Her visit comes days after U.S. President Joe Biden launched a campaign targeting Latino voters ahead of the November general elections. While those in Puerto Rico cannot vote in U.S. presidential elections despite being U.S. citizens, more than 5 million Puerto Ricans live in the U.S. mainland.

Accompanying Harris for the roughly five-hour visit to the island was U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and Department of Housing and Urban Development Deputy Secretary Adrianne Todman. Welcoming them was Gov. Pedro Pierluisi, a Democrat whose New Progressive Party has long pushed for statehood.

Hours before Harris’ arrival, a couple dozen protesters gathered in Puerto Rico’s capital to decry the island’s territorial status and demand a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war.

“We find her presence disrespectful,” said Joselyn Velázquez, protest spokeswoman, as a group around her waved Palestinian flags.

Nearby, one demonstrator stood on a U.S. flag while others gathered additional U.S. flags and set them on fire.

“She is not welcome here,” said one protester.

Harris was scheduled to visit a home in the northern municipality of Canovanas, located near the capital, as well as visit a community center in San Juan. She also is slated to address a campaign reception before flying back to the U.S. mainland Friday evening.

It is Harris’ first visit to Puerto Rico as vice president, having visited as a U.S. senator in 2017 after devastating hurricanes Irma and Maria pummeled the island.

Advocacy groups in Oklahoma have criticised a statement from authorities over the death of non-binary teenager Nex Benedict, saying that the set of facts put out is “violently in opposition” to the experiences of members of the LGBTQ+ community.

On Thursday the Tulsa County district attorney announced that no charges would be brought against the other students involved in the altercation with Benedict, and that the incident was a case of “mutual combat”.

The teenager was beaten by other students inside a bathroom on 7 February, at the Owasso High School in Oklahoma. They died the following day, with the coroner later the death to be by suicide.

In his statement, Tulsa County DA Steve Kunzweiler said: “When I review a report and make a decision to file a charge I must be convinced – as is every prosecutor – that a crime was committed and that I have reasonable belief that a judge or jury would be convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that a crime was committed.

“From all the evidence gathered, this fight was an instance of mutual combat.”