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Trump Pleads Not Guilty
Former President Trump appeared in a Manhattan courtroom on Tuesday and was formally charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
District Attorney Alvin Bragg alleged that Trump concealed the true nature of payments to then-lawyer Michael Cohen in order to “conceal damaging information and unlawful activity from American voters before and after the 2016 election.”
The former President was calm as he entered the court, but the scene outside was not. Protestors hurled insults and held signs, blew whistles and shouted down speakers (including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene) and occasionally scuffled.
Trump said only 10 words in the courtroom, including “not guilty.” The judge did not impose a gag order, which would have been unconstitutional according to House Republicans. After the arraignment, Trump returned to Mar-a-Lago and gave a speech, in which he called the indictment “an insult to our country.” He continued:
”We are a nation in decline. And now these radical left lunatics want to interfere with our elections by using law enforcement. We can’t let that happen,” he said. “I have no doubt nevertheless that we will make America great again.”
It was not difficult for prosecutors to level the accusations against the former President, but it will be difficult to make the charges stick. Trump is expected to appear in court again on December 4th.
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Finland Joins NATO
As Finland’s flag unfurled in Brussels, Russia’s border with NATO doubled.
Three months after Russian tanks rolled across the Ukrainian border in 2022, Finland applied for membership in NATO (along with Sweden). It was accepted, and yesterday the move became official.
Russia has responded with a vague threat of “counter-measures” and a promise to beef up forces along the Finnish border—despite its struggles in Ukraine.
The reaction in Finland was much different. "It is a great day for Finland and I want to say that it is an important day for NATO,” said Finnish President Saul Niinisto.
Russia has invaded Finland before. If it did so again, Russia would theoretically be invading 30 other countries at the same time—including the United States.
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Two Cousins. Two Days. Two National Championships.
Angel Reese and Jordan Hawkins are stars for their college basketball teams, future pros, and NCAA title winners. They’re also cousins.
The two grew up playing hoops together in Maryland (Jordan says Angel often got the best of him), and over the long weekend they lead LSU and UConn to National Championships.
Reese had 15 points and 10 rebounds in the Tigers’ win over Iowa (as well as a controversial post-game celebration), and Hawkins scored 16—including the most important shot of the game—in the Huskies’ victory over San Diego State.
In his post-game presser, Hawkins defended his cousin against criticism for gesturing at Iowa player Caitlin Clark: “Angel, she has the heart of a lion. She's not worried about any of that.”
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➤ The Chinese spy balloon gathered a lot more sensitive data than the Pentagon admitted. Anonymous U.S. officials say that China flew the balloon in figure eight patterns above military bases and sent the data to Beijing in real time. (Details)
➤ The indictment has provided a serious fundraising boost to former President Donald Trump. His campaign is reporting $7 million in donations since the Manhattan DA’s announcement, and the newest merchandise for sale is a t-shirt with a fake Trump mugshot. (More)
➤ A Democratic lawmaker in North Carolina is expected to flip Republican, a move that would deliver a GOP supermajority in the NC state legislature. (Read)
➤ The Tennessee state House is expelling three Democrats because of their unruly behavior during a gun control protest. Three lawmakers led chants with a bullhorn during a House session, and their GOP colleagues quickly filed a resolution in response. (Read)
➤ Congress isn’t getting any younger. The median age in the 118th Congress is 59—the highest in U.S. history. (Read)
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➤ Lionel Messi is likely finished with Paris Saint-Germain. The club is asking Messi to take a pay cut, and the world’s best soccer player is saying no. (More)
➤ The Baltimore Ravens have offered WR Odell Beckham Jr. a deal. (Read)
➤ The NFL rumor mill is reporting that Bill Belichick is attempting to trade QB Mac Jones. (More)
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Market Report 4/4/23
▼ |
Nasdaq Natl. Assoc. of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations |
12,126.33 |
– 0.52% |
▼ |
S&P S&P Global Rating |
4,100.60 |
– 0.58% |
▼ |
DOW J Dow Jones Industrial Average |
33,403.04 |
– 0.59% |
▲ |
BTC Bitcoin |
$28,579.3 |
+ 1.47% |
▲ |
ZIM ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Ltd. |
$19.54 |
+ 14.47% |
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➤ Sir Richard Branson’s aerospace company, Virgin Orbit, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. (Details)
➤ Only 37% of viewers finished Amazon’s Lord of the Rings adaptation. The production cost Jeff Bezos $450 million dollars and gained him the anger of Tolkien purists everywhere. (Read)
➤ An AI-powered search engine called Perplexity AI has raised $26 million and is eyeing Google’s market share. (More)
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➤ The four most distant galaxies ever observed have been spotted by the James Webb Telescope. (Read)
➤ NASA has announced the crew for the Artemis II mission to the moon. (Read more)
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➤ Kid Rock shot up a few cases of Bud Light and offered some choice fingers (and words) to Anheuser-Busch. The American Badass likes beer, but he apparently doesn’t like transgender influencers. (Watch)
➤ Harry Potter may be headed for a streaming reboot. Warner Bros. is trying to seal the deal with J.K. Rowling. (Read More)
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Daily Quote
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“I never thought anything like this could happen in America.”
– Donald Trump
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Today’s Trivia
Who was the oldest Senator in U.S. history?
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Show me the
answer
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