Federal Judge Tosses Vindman Lawsuit Against Trump Allies
By Michael Katz | Tuesday, 08 November 2022 10:48 PM EST
A federal judge on Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit filed by a key witness in the first impeachment of former President Donald Trump, Breitbart reported.
Retired Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman filed the lawsuit in February, alleging witness intimidation by Donald Trump Jr., Rudy Giuliani, and two Trump White House staffers.
Vindman's lawsuit alleged that, following his subpoena to testify as part of the House investigation, Vindman became the target of "a dangerous campaign of witness intimidation by President Trump and a group of conspirators" to deter him from testifying.
The Hill reported among the defendants listed in the federal suit were Trump Jr., Giuliani, and Trump advisers Dan Scavino and Julia Hahn.
The 29-page ruling was issued by Judge James Boasberg, a Barack Obama appointee to the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. He said Vindman's complaint failed to make an adequate showing the defendants conspired against him.
"Plaintiff's pled facts, taken as true, certainly suggest that Defendants leveled harsh, mean-spirited, and at times misleading attacks against him," Boasberg wrote, according to The Hill. "But political hackery alone does not violate (the law at issue)."
In 2019, Vindman testified about a phone call in which Trump was alleged to have offered a quid pro quo to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a phone call that led to Trump's impeachment. The alleged deal involved an exchange of U.S. military aid for an investigation into Democrat presidential candidate Joe Biden's son, Hunter, and his ties to Ukrainian businesses during the run-up to the 2020 presidential election.
Hunter Biden was on the board of a Ukrainian energy company, Burisma, that was under investigation at a time when Biden allegedly insisted Ukraine fire the head prosecutor.
Following the Senate's acquittal of Trump, Vindman was fired from his post at the White House National Security Council, and he retired from the military soon thereafter. He alleged he was a victim of "bullying" and "retaliation" by the Trump White House, which he blamed for ending his military career.
https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/alexander-vindman-lawsuit-donald-trump/2022/11/08/id/1095497/
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Trump Defeats Niece in Inheritance Lawsuit
Tuesday, 15 November 2022 10:50 AM EST
Donald Trump has defeated his niece Mary Trump in a lawsuit where she accused the former U.S. president and two of his siblings of defrauding her out of a multimillion-dollar inheritance.
In a decision Monday, Justice Robert Reed of a New York state court in Manhattan said Mary Trump released her claims against her relatives in a 2001 settlement over the estate of Donald Trump's father, Fred Trump Sr.
Reed's decision came the same day a federal judge in Manhattan handed Donald Trump another legal victory, dismissing a lawsuit by his former lawyer Michael Cohen over being returned to prison in alleged retaliation for writing a tell-all memoir.
Mary Trump's case had its roots in the 1981 death of her father Fred Trump Jr., Donald Trump's older brother, who left Mary, then 16, a profitable real estate portfolio.
Now a 57-year-old psychologist, Mary Trump claimed that her uncles Donald and Robert Trump and aunt Maryanne Trump Barry were supposed to protect her interests but instead "squeezed" her out of tens of millions of dollars.
She claimed she learned of the fraud only when the New York Times published a 2018 Pulitzer Prize-winning probe into Donald Trump's finances, including his alleged efforts to avoid taxes.
But the judge said the settlement, which gave Mary Trump more than $2.7 million, "clearly and unambiguously" released the defendants from Mary Trump's claims.
He also said the settlement was neither unfair, nor "a case where defendants' alleged threats precluded the exercise of plaintiff's free will."
Maryanne Trump Barry is a retired federal judge. Robert Trump died in August 2020.
"Yesterday's decision is both incorrect and disappointing," Mary Trump's lawyer Roberta Kaplan said in a statement. "Given the age of the defendants, not to mention the fact that one of them intends to announce today that he is running again for President, we intend to seek an expedited appeal."
Donald Trump is 76, and Maryanne Trump Barry is 85. A lawyer for Donald Trump and Robert Trump's estate had no immediate comment. Barry's lawyer Gary Freidman declined to comment.
Some of Mary Trump's allegations about Donald Trump were in her own 2020 tell-all, "Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man." Her book and Cohen's "Disloyal: A Memoir" were best-sellers.
In seeking a dismissal of Mary Trump's lawsuit, Donald Trump accused his niece of trying to reopen the 2001 settlement to further her own political agenda and cash in on the family name.
Trump is separately suing Mary Trump, the Times and three reporters for more than $100 million. He claims they plotted to exploit his tax records to fulfill personal vendettas and desires for acclaim and money at his political expense.
The cases are Mary L. Trump v Donald J. Trump et al, New York State Supreme Court, New York County, No. 654698/2020, and Donald J. Trump v Mary L. Trump et al in the same court, No. 453299/2021.
https://www.newsmax.com/finance/streettalk/donald-trump-mary-inheritance-lawsuit/2022/11/15/id/1096465/
Poll: Record Low 7% of Voters View Mitch McConnell Favorably
WENDELL HUSEBØ14 Nov 2022
Sen. Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) favorability has hit a record low, according to Civiqs polling released Monday.
Just 7 percent of voters view McConnell favorably, while 81 percent view him unfavorably. Among the Republican party, only 18 percent of Republicans approve of McConnell. Sixty-one percent disapprove.
Civiqs polling, which dates back to 2018, indicated McConnell has never sunk to a low favorability rating of 7 percent. In February 2021, McConnell’s approval rating was 8 percent, reaching 12 percent in June 2021. Since then, it has gravitated between 8 and 11 percent.
During the last two years of the Trump administration, McConnell enjoyed a much better favorability rating, reaching as high as 31 percent in February and October 2020.
McConnell’s low favorability rating comes as he is seeking reelection Wednesday as the Republican Senate leader after potentially losing one more Senate seat than Republicans controlled before the 2022 election. If Republican Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker loses in the Georgia runoff, Democrats will gain a seat.
Some Republicans have opposed holding the election Wednesday, noting the Georgia election is outstanding. Others remain supportive of McConnell because it appears no senator has directly challenged McConnell for leader.
Under McConnell’s Senate leadership, the national debt has soared more than $20 trillion, illegal immigration has continued, real wages for American workers have remained stagnant, Obamacare was enacted in 2010, big banks were bailed out in 2008, and social media companies have silenced individuals without repercussions. Dr. Anthony Fauci remains unaccountable for allegedly twice lying to Congress.
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/11/14/record-low-7-voters-view-mitch-mcconnell-favorably/