National and international media news & headlines compiled by CLG

SCOTUS to take up Trump Colorado ballot case –Oral arguments will take place on Feb. 8. | 5 Jan 2024 | The Supreme Court on Friday announced it would hear former President Donald Trump’s appeal of a Colorado Supreme Court decision to disqualify him from the ballot under the 14th Amendment. Oral arguments will take place on Feb. 8, the Washington Post reported. In late December, the Colorado Supreme Court determined that Trump was ineligible for the presidency under the “insurrection” provision of the 14th Amendment due to his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. Trump’s attorneys swiftly vowed to appeal the decision and formally requested the Supreme Court’s intervention on Wednesday. The Colorado Republican Party independently appealed the ruling.

Jeffrey Epstein Fixer’s Office Burglarized Hours Before Document Dump –Michael Sitrick, a renowned Hollywood crisis manager, says New Year’s Day break-in at his Brentwood offices where thieves stole computer servers “has to be a coincidence” | 5 Jan 2024 | Sitrick & Company, the global crisis public relations firm who has a client list of the rich and powerful — including Jeffrey Epstein — was burglarized over the New Year’s holiday by thieves who stole company computers and servers just hours before a trove of long-sealed court documents related to the admitted pedophile were released. Michael Sitrick said his penthouse offices at 11999 San Vicente Boulevard, along with other occupants of the four-story building in Brentwood that bears his company’s name Sitrick & Co., was broken into by unknown thieves just as explosive new documents about Epstein’s proclivities with underage girls were made public. “It didn’t cross my mind,” Sitrick told Los Angeles magazine over the phone Thursday when asked if he was concerned about the timing of the burglary, just hours before a years-long records fight ended when a judge ordered the release of roughly 900 pages of documents from the 2015 federal civil case Giuffre v. Maxwell.

37 Epstein Documents Released in Their Entirety | 3 Jan 2024 | On Wednesday, Judge Loretta Preska confirmed the release of the initial names from Jeffrey Epstein’s extensive client list, comprising over 150 individuals. Concurrently, a collection of previously sealed documents was made public. Following the release, the Court Listener website experienced a crash due to the overwhelming public interest… Three individuals, known in the court documents as Doe 105, Doe 107, and Doe 110, have made appeals. Documents related to Does 105, 107, and 110-110 are being withheld. Here is a compilation of some names featured in the document trove where Virginia Roberts (now Giuffre), who accused Prince Andrew, ordered a deposition back in 2016.

First batch of Jeffrey Epstein court documents –The Southern District of New York on Wednesday published a batch of 40 documents related to a civil case involving Jeffrey Epstein. | 3 Jan 2024 | The Southern District of New York on Wednesday published a batch of 40 documents related to a civil case involving Jeffrey Epstein.

State Employees Search Amos Miller Farm, Seize Property | 4 Jan 2024 | Three Pennsylvania State Troopers and seven other individuals spent several hours inside a building on Amos Miller’s Lancaster County farm while conducting a search on Jan. 4, 2024, eventually leaving with multiple coolers containing Miller’s property. Attempts were made by The Lancaster Patriot to enter the facility during the search, but a Pennsylvania State Trooper said, “we’re conducting a search warrant inside this building right now,” and told the reporter to leave the building until the search was completed. The search was conducted by employees of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, with Pennsylvania State Police offering assistance as needed. A search warrant was issued on Jan. 3, 2024, by Magisterial District Judge B. Denise Commins and included an affidavit of probable cause completed by Sheri Morris, Acting Bureau Director of Food Safety with the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture.

Wyoming judge dismisses effort to bar Trump from ballot –Secretary of State Chuck Gray celebrated the judge’s dismissal of what he called a ‘repugnant lawsuit’ | 5 Jan 2024 | A Wyoming district court judge dismissed a lawsuit aiming to remove former President Donald Trump and Republican Sen. Cynthia Lummis from election ballots, sparking celebration from Wyoming Republican Secretary of State Chuck Gray. “I am extremely pleased with Judge Westby’s decision to dismiss Mr. Newcomb’s outrageously wrong and repugnant lawsuit to remove Donald Trump and Cynthia Lummis from the ballot in Wyoming,” Gray said in a press release provided to Fox News Digital. “I have been working to make sure that Donald Trump will be able to be on the ballot, and I am happy our motion to dismiss this lawsuit was granted. I will continue to fight against this nationwide effort in order to protect the integrity of our elections and ensure that the people of Wyoming can choose who to elect for themselves.”

Trump Asks U.S. Supreme Court to Overturn Colorado Decision to Remove Him From 2024 Ballot | 3 Jan 2024 | The Colorado Supreme Court last month disqualified Trump from the 2024 ballot. All seven Colorado Supreme Court justices were appointed by Democrats — three of the justices dissented to the ruling. The legal theories are based on Section 3 of the US Constitution’s 14th Amendment which states public officials who have “engaged in insurrection or rebellion against” the US may be disqualified from public office. Trump has not been charged with engaging in insurrection or rebellion against the United States. The state’s high court stayed their ruling and left room for an appeal. The ruling was set to go into effect on January 4, 2024; however, Trump will remain on the ballot pending appeal.

Maine Democrat who barred Trump from ballot met with Biden twice, called Electoral College ‘white supremacy’ | 30 Dec 2023 | The Maine official who moved to disqualify former President Donald Trump from the state’s 2024 Republican primary ballot on Thursday visited the White House this year to meet with Joe Biden and previously referred to the Electoral College as a “relic of white supremacy.” On two separate occasions this year – once in March and another time in June – Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, a Democrat, was invited to the White House, according to White House visitor logs. Bellows’s first trip came after she was invited to attend a Women’s History Month event held on March 22 at the White House, where she met with Biden and snapped a photo with him. Bellows took to social media to share the photo she took with Biden at the March event and described the “amazing” experience she had meeting the president [sic].

Maine GOP state lawmaker moves to impeach state secretary over Trump ballot removal | 29 Dec 2023 | A Maine Republican state lawmaker wants to impeach the Maine secretary of state who removed former President Donald Trump from the primary ballot. GOP state Rep. John Andrews said he wants to pursue impeachment against Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows after she disqualified Trump from the 2024 Republican primary ballot on Thursday. In her ruling, Bellows cited Section 3 of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which bans from office those who “engaged in insurrection.” Andrews said in a statement that he filed a request with the Maine Revisor’s Office saying he wanted “to file a Joint Order, or whichever is the proper parliamentary mechanism under Mason’s Rules, to impeach Secretary of State Shenna Bellows.”

California lawmaker proposes ending funding for illegal immigrant healthcare | 4 Jan 2024 | After national outrage over California providing billions of dollars in taxpayer-funded healthcare to illegal immigrants, one state legislator introduced a bill to “revoke all taxpayer funding for health care for illegal immigrants in the California State Budget.” According to State Assembly member Bill Essayli (R–Woodcrest), the California provision of taxpayer-financed healthcare to illegal immigrants will cost 4 billion as the state faces a 68 billion budget deficit for the 2024-2025 fiscal year. “It is unconscionable to spend billions of taxpayer dollars to give universal healthcare to illegal immigrants when our own citizens cannot afford their own healthcare on top of historic inflation and the highest cost of living in the nation,” said Essayli in a public statement announcing AB 1783, noting that health insurance premiums paid by Californians increased by 9.6% in the last year. California not only faces a record budget deficit, but also a major doctor and healthcare staffing shortages.

Texas border town fire department hemorrhaging $21,000 a day dealing with migrant-related calls –Eagle Pass emergency services go to Rio Grande daily to treat migrants, fire chief says | 30 Dec 2023 | An Eagle Pass Fire Department first responder arrives at either the Rio Grande or a Customs and Border Protection (CPB) holding facility nearly every hour to address a migrant-related emergency, costing an extra 21,000 a day, according to the Texas city’s fire chief. “There’s not a day where we don’t go to the river’s edge to transport patients, and the city swallows the cost,” Fire Chief Manuel Mello told Fox News. The Eagle Pass Fire Department has been averaging about 45 EMS calls a day – about 30 of them migrant-related – since mid-September, Mello said. Before that, a busy day would be around 30 calls in total. The department spends roughly 700 on each call, meaning migrant-related responses alone costs “approximately 21,000 in total” each day, according to Mello.

DOJ threatens to sue Texas over anti-illegal immigration law; Abbott prepared for Supreme Court fight | 28 Dec 2023 | The Biden administration on Thursday threatened to sue Texas if it moves forward with a new anti-illegal immigration law signed this month by Gov. Greg Abbott – but the Republican governor says he is prepared to take the fight to the Supreme Court. Abbott signed the legislation, SB 4, this month, which allows law enforcement to arrest illegal immigrants and allows state judges to order them removed from the country. In a letter to Abbott, first reported by the Houston Chronicle, the Department of Justice says it will “pursue all appropriate legal remedies to ensure that Texas does not interfere with the functions of the federal government.” The letter says that the law “intrudes into a field that is occupied by the federal government and is preempted,” citing a 2012 Supreme Court ruling, U.S. v Arizona, which found that the federal government has the power to enforce immigration law, according to the outlet.

U.S. supersonic bomber crashes | 5 Jan 2024 | A long-range U.S. B-1B Lancer bomber has crashed outside Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota, military officials said, noting the accident took place as the aircraft wrapped up a training mission. The Ellsworth air base confirmed the incident in a statement on Thursday night, saying the bomber went down around 6pm local time while attempting to land at the installation. “At the time of the accident, it was on a training mission. There were four aircrew on board. All four ejected safely,” the statement said, adding that an investigation had been launched. Unconfirmed images making the rounds on social media were alleged to show a fire outside the military base, though officials offered few details about the aftermath of the crash.

Venezuela Rejects Arrival of British Military Ship HMS Trent | 28 Dec 2023 | On Thursday, the Venezuelan Foreign Affairs Minister Yvan Gil issued a statement rejecting the arrival of a British Navy ship to the coasts near Guyana. The Bolivarian diplomacy considered that this act constitutes a provocation affecting the resolution of the Essequibo controversy between Venezuela and Guyana. A statement issued by the Venezuelan Foreign Affairs Ministry said, in part: “The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela categorically rejects the arrival of the HMS Trent, a vessel from the British Navy, to the coasts of Guyana, which becomes an act of hostile provocation and a violation of the recent Argyle Declaration, assumed as a roadmap to address the territorial controversy over Guayana Esequiba between Venezuela and Guyana. The presence of the military vessel is extremely serious, since it is accompanied by statements made by political and military spokespersons of the dispossessor of Guayana Esequiba, who insists on meddling in this controversy.”

Almost 100 killed in ‘terror attack’ at memorial to Iranian general | 3 Jan 2024 | At least 95 people have been killed and over 200 injured by two explosions that ripped through a memorial to mark the fourth anniversary of the death of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in Iran’s south-central city of Kerman on Wednesday, according to media reports. The blasts reportedly occurred close to the grave site of the former Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander. Iranian media noted that officials at the scene have described the incident as a terrorist attack, and that two bags containing bombs are thought to have exploded in a crowded area, having been remotely detonated.

A Gen Z Israeli explained why he’s refusing to fight Hamas. Now Israel has sent him to military prison | 28 Dec 2023 | A Gen Z Israeli is going to military prison after refusing to enlist in the country’s military amid its war with Hamas, saying he won’t be part of an “eye for an eye” cycle of violence. Tal Mitnick, an 18-year-old from Tel Aviv, is one of several young Israelis defying Israel’s mandatory military service, but he is the first to be sent to military prison during his country’s war with Hamas… Mitnick was sentenced on Tuesday to 30 days in prison after refusing to enlist in the Israel Defense Forces, a spokesperson for the IDF told Business Insider. In a lengthy personal statement shared with Business Insider, Mitnick said that he supports Palestinian people and does not want to contribute to Israel’s attacks on Gaza.

John Lennon Actor Lenn Johnston Acts for Peace in Times Square –“WAR IS GONE!” Billboard Urges Action | 30 Dec 2023 | In a powerful action against wars of all kinds, esteemed John Lennon actor Lenn Johnston unveils his latest Peace initiative in Times Square, in revival of Lennon’s 1970 Peace Campaign. This weekend, Lenn shares Peace Cards to be waved by the people in the crowd on New Year’s Eve for their billion-or-so viewers. Many around the world might participate in Peace efforts, if encouraged by those gathered live. Every 15 minutes, the Peace Billboard appears; those with Peace Cards can then wave them overhead. Lenn provides these free cards in front of the Hard Rock Cafe, near 43rd & Broadway, and encourages everyone to work for Peace in 2024. Lenn’s iconic Billboard, proclaiming “WAR IS GONE! – If you halt it,” stands as a beacon in turbulent times, advocating the end to the many forms of large-scale violence plaguing our world.

Flight tragedy: British Airways rocked by second steward death over Christmas break as 52-year-old dies in hotel room during stopover –“These were two healthy people who suddenly dropped dead. There were no reported underlying health issues.” | 3 Jan 2024 | British Airways has been rocked by a second steward death over the Christmas break after a 52-year-old worker died in a hotel room during a stopover. The BA steward was found dead on December 23 after failing to report for duty. His flight from Newark to London Heathrow was cancelled, with passengers re-booked onto later flights… The sad news comes after another BA steward, also 52, collapsed and died while on duty in front of shocked passengers on New Year’s Eve. The steward tragically collapsed as the busy flight from London Heathrow to Hong Kong prepared to depart. A source said: “Crew are frantic. These were two healthy people who suddenly dropped dead. There were no reported underlying health issues. The crew were family men, and leave devastated families in shock and disbelief.”

Flight attendant reportedly dies in front of passengers before takeoff –This is the 2nd crew member death British Airways has suffered | 4 Jan 2024 | Horrified passengers on a British Airways flight shockingly witnessed a flight attendant die as the plane was about to take off from London, according to British news reports. A flight was about to depart London’s Heathrow Airport on New Year’s Eve for Hong Kong when the 52-year-old flight attendant tragically collapsed on the plane, The Sun reported. The plane’s doors had already been locked and passengers were sitting in their seats when the unidentified crew member collapsed. The captain reportedly requested anyone on the flight with medical experience to assist the crew member, but despite assistance from a passenger, medical professionals and police, the crew member died. The flight was canceled due to a “medical emergency,” The Sun reported… This is the second British Airways flight attendant to die in recent weeks, following the death of another crew member, also aged 52, on Dec. 23 in the U.S.
Biden’s America: 

Texas man and his friend head-stomp and beat frail Alzheimer’s sufferer who got confused and mistook their car for his daughter’s –The pair proceeding to stomp the senior’s head against the concrete several times. –The victim, who weighs less than 100 pounds, remains hospitalized with a pronounced black eye | 30 Dec 2023 | Frightening footage shows the moment a 67-year-old man was brutally accosted in a Houston parking lot after getting confused and mistaking his attackers’ car for his daughter’s. The victim attacked in the clip has since been identified as Florentino Hurtado, who relatives said was diagnosed with dementia and Alzheimer’s two years ago. The men seen carrying out the beating – which happened Saturday outside a local meat market – are believed to be Trayvion Lockridge and Derodrick Stephens, who are both in police custody following the assault. The pair – allegedly seen bombarding the senior with blows before stomping him to the ground – are being held on charges of aggravated robbery of a victim over the age of 65.

Police must use criminals’ self-provided names, pronouns says new California law | 2 Jan 2024 | new California law requires police departments to use individuals’ self-provided names and pronouns when posting their mugshots on social media, drawing concerns of potential abuse by criminals. Under AB 994, which entered effect on January 1, police and sheriff’s departments must use the name and pronouns given by arrested individuals upon posting a booking photo on social media. Law enforcement is now not allowed to post photos of individuals arrested for nonviolent crimes unless the suspect is determined by law enforcement to be a “fugitive,” an “imminent threat,” or if a judge orders the release of the suspect’s image, or there is “an urgent and legitimate law enforcement interest.” …According to former Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva, this law could easily be abused by criminals seeking to hide under multiple identities. “This…benefits criminals only by creating multiple identities for one individual and sowing confusion in police reports,” Villanueva told The Center Square. “This is shameless pandering to trans ideology and is a detriment to public safety. No one can possess two legal names at the same time.”

Harvard president resigns amid plagiarism scandal –With allegations piling up, Claudine Gay accused her opponents of racism as she stepped down | 2 Jan 2024 | Claudine Gay announced in a statement on Tuesday that she has resigned from her post as Harvard University’s president. Gay’s tenure was the shortest in the prestigious institution’s history, and ended with almost 50 accusations of academic theft. Over the last six weeks, Gay has been accused of almost 50 instances of plagiarism throughout her academic career. The scandal kicked off when conservative activist Chris Rufo discovered evidence that Gay had lifted material verbatim from other scholars for her 1997 dissertation, titled Taking Charge: Black Electoral Success and the Redefinition of American Policies. Conservative pundits had ridiculed Gay as a “diversity hire,” and accused her of building a “diversity empire” on campus using the university’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) office to denigrate white students, rename buildings which were named after white men, and push “critical race theory” workshops and seminars.