NEW: Clinton Judge Dismisses Trump’s Defamation Case Against E. Jean Carroll

A federal judge on Monday dismissed President Trump’s defamation case against E. Jean Carroll.

In late June President Trump hit back at E. Jean Carroll with a defamation lawsuit, saying she falsely accused him of rape. This countersuit comes after a civil jury found him “guilty of sexual abuse and defamation,” but not rape, in May.

Filed in Manhattan federal court, Trump’s counterclaim cites Carroll’s post-verdict comments on CNN.

Trump sought a retraction as well as compensatory and punitive damages.

According to the court filing, Trump “has been the subject of significant harm to his reputation, which, in turn, has yielded an inordinate amount of damages sustained as a result.”

Judge Lewis Kaplan, a Clinton appointee, dismissed Trump’s case AND also granted E. Jean Carroll’s legal team authority to hand over tapes of Trump’s deposition to the Manhattan DA’s office.

Trump’s lawyers had previously tried to block the deposition tapes from being delivered to the DA’s office.

Fox News reported:

A federal judge dismissed a counterclaim by former President Donald Trump in the defamation case leveled against him by E. Jean Carroll on Monday.

Judge Lewis Kaplan of the Southern District of New York dismissed Trump’s claims that Carroll made false statements during the case that damaged his reputation.

Carroll was awarded $5 million in May in a similar case against Trump after a jury found that Trump had sexually abused Carroll in 1996 and then defamed her in 2022.

Kaplan also handed down another order granting Carroll’s legal team authority to deliver tapes of Trump’s deposition in the case to the Manhattan District Attorney’s office.

Trump’s legal team had sought to block the DA’s office from obtaining the tapes.

The Justice Department recently reversed course and said Trump can be held personally liable in E. Jean Carroll’s defamation lawsuit.

This is a reversal from the DOJ’s position that Trump was protected by the Westfall Act because he was president when he made the statements about E. Jean Carroll.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/08/new-clinton-judge-dismisses-trumps-defamation-case-against/

DEVELOPING: Atlanta Locks Down Courthouse Ahead of Looming Racketeering Charges

The Atlanta courthouse locked down ahead of Fani Willis’ decision to charge Trump over his efforts to challenge the 2020 election in Georgia.

“Law-enforcement officers surrounded the Fulton County courthouse on Monday in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, amid closed roads and traffic barriers put up to boost security ahead of a possible indictment of former U.S. President Donald Trump,” Reuters reported.

A judge last Monday denied Trump’s second bid to quash Fulton County DA Fani Willis’investigation into Trump’s efforts to challenge the 2020 election in Georgia.

Meanwhile, Fani Willis is reportedly ‘ready to go’ and gearing up to indict Trump possibly this week.

Fulton County prosecutors are preparing sprawling racketeering charges against Trump over his effort to challenge the 2020 election in Georgia.

According to a leak to The Guardian, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis will likely indict Trump in the first two weeks of August.

Fani Willis based her investigation on President Trump’s call with Georgia officials that was later doctored and leaked to the fake news outlet Washington Post. The WaPo published a completely fraudulent text of the call. These phony charges have already been debunked by The Gateway Pundit and others.

Orange barriers were set up a couple weeks ago and have led to speculation that Trump may be indicted over his 2020 phone call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger over his concerns over the 2020 election.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/08/developing-atlanta-locks-down-courthouse-ahead-looming-racketeering/

President Trump Responds to Jack Smith’s Request For ‘Protective Order’ (Gag Order) After Judge Gives Him Rushed Deadline

Trump’s counsel responded to Jack Smith’s request for a protective order (gag order) and addressed First Amendment issues.

“In a trial about First Amendment rights, the government seeks to restrict Frist Amendment right. Worse, it does so against its administration’s primary political opponent, during an election season in which the administration, prominent party members, and media allies have campaigned on the indictment and proliferated its false allegations,” Trump’s counsel wrote.

Trump’s attorneys said the government didn’t even respond to a draft of their brief until 11:51 am Monday.

“Without doubt, the Court’s decision to vary from the default Local Rules and allow President Trump less than one business day to respond to this important Motion is a concerning development, inconsistent with his due process rights,” Trump’s lawyers wrote.

They added, “Presiden Trump respectfully requests the Court allow the parties 14 days to respond to all written motions, as LCrR 47(b) provides and fundamental fairness requires.”

Trump’s lawyers called Jack Smith’s proposed ‘protective order,’ a gag order.

“However, the need to protect that information does not require a blanket gag order over all documents produced by the government. Rather, the Court can, and should, limit its protective order to genuinely sensitive materials,” they wrote.

Of course Jack Smith, as he has already demonstrated in the classified documents case, wants nearly ALL documents in the January 6 case marked sensitive and under a protective order.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/08/just-president-trump-responds-jack-smiths-request-protective/

New data shows Defence department spent billions on consulting firms PwC, Deloitte, EY, KPMG

Newly compiled data reveals Defence has spent nearly $4 billion on large consulting firms over the past decade, more than all other Australian government departments combined.

Key points:

The analysis prepared by the Greens confirms KPMG received the most money

PwC, Deloitte, EY and KPMG have received more than $3.7 billion since 2012

The findings were slammed by Greens senator David Shoebridge whose office analysed the data

The analysis prepared by the Greens confirms KPMG, which is facing fresh allegations of ripping off the department, is by far the largest recipient of defence contracts among the big four consulting firms.

Since 2012 defence contracts awarded to consultancy firms PwC, Deloitte, EY and KPMG have totalled more than $3.7 billion, with the great bulk of the department's spending occurring since 2016.

"Something's rotten in the centre of Defence to allow this to happen," said Greens senator David Shoebridge, whose office analysed a decade's worth of government contracting data.

According to the research, in each of the last six years, Defence's spending on the big four consultancies has been almost doubling year on year.

"With almost daily scandals now breaking where consultants have breached secrecy requirements when it suits them, there is a major national security risk with this," Senator Shoebridge claims.

"Something's gone wrong in the relationship between Defence and consultancies to see this large transfer of public wealth in just the past few years."

KPMG has easily emerged as the biggest beneficiary of the surge in spending by Defence on consultants, gaining more than $440 million in contracts in 2022 alone, up from $49 million in 2012.

"With billions of dollars in contracts comes hundreds, if not thousands, of staff embedded throughout Defence from cyberwarfare to data management and strategic assessments."

"This is not just an obscene waste of public money, it is also a major unchecked security risk," Senator Shoebridge said.

This week a moratorium has taken effect which prevents Defence employees taking new contracts with the department immediately after ending their employment.

The directive was outlined by Defence Chief General Angus Campbell and Department Secretary Greg Moriarty last week as part of overall government efforts to save millions of dollars on contractors and consultants.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-08-08/kpmg-defence-contracts-consultants-four-billion/102699506

‘Grave concerns for Victorian public servants’ following reports they could be pressured to do work that supports the Voice to Parliament's Yes campaign

Shadow attorney general and employment minister Michaelia Cash said she has "grave concerns" for Victorian public servants who oppose the Voice after reports revealed they could be pressured to undertake work supporting the Yes campaign.

Australia’s shadow attorney General has expressed “grave concerns” for Victorian public servants following reports they could be pressured to do work promoting the Voice to Parliament, regardless of their personal views.

New guidance from the Victorian Public Sector Commission indicates Victorian public servants “may be asked to undertake work” in support of the Yes campaign, with an unnamed “senior bureaucrat” telling the Herald Sun that: “Anyone who disagrees will have their card marked.”

Speaking to Sky News Australia, Western Australian Senator Michaelia Cash said she had “grave concerns” about the reports.

“I have really grave concerns for Victorian public servants who dare to actually articulate their own personal opinion, because I would hate to see action taken against them,” Senator Cash said.

The shadow attorney general and shadow employment and workplace relations minister said she was particularly concerned by the senior bureaucrat’s claim Victorian public servants could be punished for not wanting to do work to support the Voice.

“What I found incredibly disturbing is the senior bureaucrat… who said if you have a different opinion – in other words, if you don't agree with the Victorian government and you want to vote No – you may have your ticket clipped," she said.

“Well, I didn't even know what that means. But I can only assume it means that you could be, I don't know, detrimental action taken against you (or) not promoted.”

Senator Cash also said she had no doubt the senior bureaucrat did not want to be named out of fear of what might happen to them.

https://www.skynews.com.au/australia-news/voice-to-parliament/grave-concerns-for-victorian-public-servants-following-reports-they-could-be-pressured-to-do-work-that-supports-the-voice-to-parliaments-yes-campaign/news-story/ab7232ca471e9daf9e3ca2ef1c709676