Trump cultists

“If Trumpism is a cult, it’s the worst cult in history. Because people come and go as they please. Everything is wholly transparent, there’s – nothing is secretive about it, and people seem to be having a good time. They don’t seem terrified of reprisals. “If this is a cult, then so is Oktoberfest. I mean, Trump, I think what …

“There are no conspiracies here in the War Room, we don’t believe in them, but there’s also no coincidences. I’m just saying if you check the timing that when we started the interview with the great-grandmother who’s now up for sentencing for three years in federal prison for praying in the Capitol, that’s when an earthquake hit New York City. …

“I’m telling you. Philadelphia, Boston, New Jersey, New York and that whole area are not places that usually get earthquakes. God is pissed at this country like he’s never been before. Especially that area of the country. They’re the epicenter of the lawfare against President Trump. They’re the epicenter of the transgender movement. They’re the epicenter of where everyone is …

CNN reports: Three months after Rep. Lauren Boebert apologized for disruptive conduct at a Denver theater, the Colorado Republican attended a glitzy Republican gala headlined by former President Donald Trump in Manhattan, where her behavior once again raised eyebrows. At the December soiree, which was the New York Young Republican Club’s annual gala, multiple witnesses saw a server tell Boebert …

The Wall Street Journal reports: Online actors linked to the Chinese government are increasingly leveraging artificial intelligence to target voters in the U.S., Taiwan and elsewhere with disinformation, according to new cybersecurity research and U.S. officials. The Chinese-linked campaigns laundered false information through fake accounts on social-media platforms, seeking to identify divisive domestic political issues and potentially influence elections. The …

Politico reports: Arizona investigators probing Republicans’ efforts to overturn the state’s 2020 election results have subpoenaed two members of Congress who were among Donald Trump’s closest Capitol Hill allies in the scheme. The subpoenas to Reps. Andy Biggs and Paul Gosar, which have not previously been reported, ordered the two Arizona Republicans to testify before a grand jury. There is …

The New York Times reports: Even by a conspiracy theorist’s standards, the wild claims made by Representative Clay Higgins, Republican of Louisiana, stand out. The hard-right congressman, now in his fourth term in the House, has said that “ghost buses” took agent provocateurs to the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, to instigate the riot. He has claimed that the federal …

Axios reports: House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is facing new demands from Democrats to include humanitarian aid for a variety of global hot spots in a foreign aid package, Axios has learned. “He’s a bit boxed in,” one House Democrat said of Johnson. “He goes one way, he loses votes, he goes another way, he loses votes, and he’s got …

Reuters reports: A Georgia judge on Thursday rejected Donald Trump’s bid to dismiss criminal charges in the state’s 2020 election interference case against him, which the Republican former U.S. president argued violate his free speech rights. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee found that the indictment alleges statements by Trump and 14 others charged in the case were made …

“How’re you doing? I’m here at Mar-a-Lago supporting Kari Lake and it was a fantastic evening and our Trump is here, being the DJ, and I’ve just danced and everyone’s amazed. So I’m just going to say to you, please drop out of college because it’s going to ruin your lives. Do me a favor, drop out, they don’t teach …

“You have so many Democrats who seem hostile to religion, I think it’s partly why they’re losing voters of color because if you go into any Catholic Church – you and I are both Catholic – in any suburb in this country on a Sunday, it’s multi-generations of Hispanics and Asian Americans filling up those pews in some of those …

Reuters reports: The election campaign of former U.S. President Donald Trump and the Republican National Committee said on Wednesday they raised over $65.6 million in March, more than three times the amount raised in February. The March figures released by Trump and the RNC showed a rise in Trump’s fundraising after his last rival for the Republican nomination, former South …

NBC News reports: New York state police filed charges against a man whom they allege sent threatening messages to Judge Arthur Engoron and New York Attorney General Letitia James, a person with direct knowledge of the matter told NBC News. Engoron presided over former President Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial, in which Trump and executives at his company were hit …

NBC News reports: Nebraska legislators on Wednesday night blocked a late effort to change how the state allocates its Electoral College votes, despite public pressure from former President Donald Trump to shift to a winner-take-all system that would likely benefit him in the fall. The measure fell short, 8-36, in a procedural vote. While it’s possible supporters could take another …

Axios reports: Republican Senate candidates have flocked to Mar-a-Lago in recent months to raise funds for their campaigns, and the results have been lucrative, Axios has learned. Arizona Republican Kari Lake, a top Trump ally, raised $1 million at a Mar-a-Lago fundraiser on Wednesday, a source familiar with the event told Axios. Republican Bernie Moreno, who won a contentious GOP …

Bloomberg News reports: Donald Trump is being forced to turn to the rich and the elite as his rallies fail to whip up enough small-dollar donations to fund his campaign. A Saturday event in Palm Beach hosted by billionaire John Paulson is expected to generate $30 million for Trump from contributors writing six-figure checks. That’s likely to dwarf the haul …

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports: Officials have identified a man accused of trying to breach the gate at the FBI’s Atlanta headquarters Monday as 48-year-old Ervin Lee Bolling of South Carolina. Publicly available records show that Bolling lives in Easley, South Carolina, a town just outside Greenville. He works as an insurance broker at Bankers Life, where he has been employed …

Semafor reports: Donald Trump and Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen endorsed legislation that would take Omaha’s potentially decisive electoral vote out of play for Democrats, hours after conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s Tuesday X post suggesting it. Five hours and 10 minutes later, Pillen put out a statement supporting a bill that would convert the state to a winner-take all system in …

From the Justice Department: A Washington state man was sentenced to over seven years in prison today after he was previously convicted of assaulting law enforcement and other felony and misdemeanor charges stemming from his conduct during the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol. His actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. …

“Attorneys all the time raise not just conflicts, but the appearance of conflict. Some involve family members. Indeed, many on the left have long attacked Supreme Court Justices over their family members and their activities. “But with two weeks to go, it probably be easier to move the courthouse than the judge in this case. And the reason is that …