(TStarnes) – The federal judge overseeing the 2020 election case against former President Donald Trump imposed a limited gag order on him Monday. That means Biden’s weaponized Justice Dept. has banned Trump from making statements targeting prosecutors, possible witnesses, and the judge’s staff.

The order from U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan is a milestone moment in the federal case that accuses Trump of illegally conspiring to overturn his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden.

Mollie Hemmingway, the editor of the Federalist, blasted the Obama-appointed judge.

“Terrifying, republic-destroying attack on free elections, freedom of speech as judge prohibits leading GOP contender from talking about the corruption of his government opponents, or criticizing the government that seeks to imprison him for political differences,” she wrote on Twitter.

Special counsel Jack Smith’s team had raised alarm about a barrage of statements disparaging prosecutors, the judge and prospective witnesses. Those comments, prosecutors said, risked undermining public confidence in the court system and causing witnesses or people who might be picked as jurors for trial to feel harassed and intimidated.

Chutkan said there would be no restrictions on statements criticizing the Justice Department generally or statements about Trump’s belief that the case is politically motivated.

The judge said Trump can’t mount a “smear campaign” against prosecutors and court personnel.

“No other criminal defendant would be allowed to do so, and I’m not going to allow it in this case,” she said.

Trump’s lawyers fiercely opposed any gag order, saying it unconstitutionally hinder his political speech. A Trump spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the judge’s ruling.

Sean Davis, the co-founder of the Federalist, called on the former president to defy the order.

“A corrupt Biden White House just used its corrupt DOJ to get a corrupt left-wing judge to ban Trump from criticizing his actual opponent in the 2024 election: DOJ. Trump needs to defy this insane order and dare them to arrest him to prove how insane this all is,” he wrote on Twitter.

In seeking a gag order, Smith’s team accused the 2024 GOP presidential front-runner of using online attacks to try to taint the jury pool.

Trump’s lawyer John Lauro accused prosecutors of “seeking to censor a political candidate in the middle of a campaign.” But the judge shot back that Trump “does not have a right to say and do exactly as he pleases.”

“You keep talking about censorship like the defendant has unfettered First Amendment rights. He doesn’t,” Chutkan said. “We’re not talking about censorship here. We’re talking restrictions to ensure there is a fair administration of justice on this case.”

Chutkan, who was appointed by President Barack Obama, repeatedly warned Trump’s lawyer to keep politics out of the courtroom, and she cut him off when he suggested the case was politically motivated.

Prosecutor Molly Gaston on Monday had told the judge Trump’s lawyers were arguing their client is “above the law” and not subject to the same rules as other defendants. Gaston said Trump knows that his posts “motivate people to threaten others,” and she argued those can not only pollute the jury pool but also can chill witnesses.

“We have no interest in stopping the defendant from running for office or defending his reputation,” she said.

Chutkan also read aloud statements Trump has made about her, deriding her as a “radical Obama hack.” Although she said she was “less concerned” about statements that Trump has made about her, she said his free speech doesn’t extend to language that knowingly invites threats and harassment of “people who are simply doing their jobs.”

The gag order proposal underscored the unprecedented complexities of prosecuting the GOP presidential primary front-runner, who has made the line of attack central to his campaign. And it presented a big test for Chutkan, who must balance Trump’s First Amendment right to defend himself publicly with the need to protect the integrity of the case.

It marked the beginning of what could be an extraordinary fight over what limits can be placed on the speech of a defendant who is also running for America’s highest public office. Any gag order from Chutkan is likely be challenged on appeal and could ultimately end up before the U.S. Supreme Court, legal experts have said.

toddstarnes.com/uncategorized/obama-appointed-judge-slaps-trump-with-gag-order/

(TStarnes) – The U.S. military has selected roughly 2,000 troops to prepare for a potential deployment to support Israel, U.S. defense officials said.

The troops are tasked with missions like advising and medical support, the officials said, and they are from across the U.S. armed services. They aren’t intended to serve in a combat role, the officials said. No infantry have been put on prepare-to-deploy order.

From the Wall Street Journal:

The troops are currently stationed both inside the Middle East and outside, including Europe, the officials said. It isn’t clear under what circumstances the U.S. could deploy the troops or to where, but the Pentagon decision signaled it is preparing to support Israeli troops should Israel launch a ground incursion into Gaza.

Wall Street Journal
The USS Ford is already in the region and the USS Eisenhower is expected to set sail from Norfolk, Virginia on Friday.

The Pentagon said in a statement to air force carriers were a “part of our effort to deter hostile actions against Israel or any efforts toward widening this war following Hamas’s attack on Israel.”

toddstarnes.com/military-2/bulletin-2000-u-s-troops-heading-to-israel/

(SNews) – A victim of deceased trafficker Jeffrey Epstein has tragically died after she spoke out to testify against Prince Andrew and Ghislaine Maxwell.

Carolyn Andriano’s testimony was crucial in convicting Maxwell, Epstein’s accomplice, on sex trafficking charges.

Earlier this year, Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in prison for her role in Epstein’s sex trafficking operation.

She also testified in support of fellow Epstein victim Virginia Roberts Giuffre’s rape allegations against Britain’s Prince Andrew.

However, Andriano, a former model, was found dead in a West Palm Beach hotel earlier this year, according to a new report from The Daily Beast.

There was no funeral or obituary and her death went unreported in the media until now.

West Palm Beach police opened an investigation into her death after it was concluded she died of an accidental drug overdose.

Her death has been shrouded in mystery for those who knew her, however, and her family believes there may have been foul play.

Andriano’s mother insists that she was drug and alcohol-free and pleaded with police to investigate her daughter’s death.

According to The Daily Beast, Carolyn Andriano had been texting her mother a lot shortly before she died.

She was reportedly excited about building her new life with her husband, John Pitts, and their five children.

The Daily Beast reported:

Carolyn Andriano, a victim of sex-trafficker Jeffrey Epstein whose testimony was crucial to putting away his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, has died.

There was no obituary or funeral service after she died earlier this year, and police in West Palm Beach, Florida, opened an investigation into her death.

After The Daily Beast reached out for comment, police spokesman Mike Jachles told us that the investigation was concluding and that Carolyn died of an accidental overdose.

The 36-year-old mother-of-five had planned to start a new chapter in North Carolina, at a new house with a fireplace and half-acre lot with a chicken coop.

Carolyn and her husband, John Pitts, had purchased the property just weeks before she was found unresponsive in a West Palm Beach hotel room on May 23.

Before her death, “she was ecstatic,” Carolyn’s mother, Dorothy Groenert, told The Daily Beast.

“She was all set up for a whole new lifestyle.”

Groenert says Carolyn’s death came as a shock because she was working on building a new life and texted her recently about being free of drugs and alcohol.

The way Groenert sees it, some things about her daughter’s overdose don’t make sense, and she wants cops to investigate further.

Andriano was an old friend of Giuffre’s and was drawn into Epstein’s sex trafficking ring when she was just 14 years old.

Both Andriano and Giuffre were recruited by Maxwell to provide sexual favors for Epstein and his powerful associates.

Andriano was a key prosecution witness at Maxwell’s trial last year.

At the time, she gave evidence only as Carolyn.

In an interview after the trial last year with the Daily Mail, she waived her legal right to anonymity to speak out.

She said Giuffre told her about meeting Prince Andrew in 2001 and showed her the infamous photo posing with the royal in Maxwell’s London home.

Andriano told the Daily Mail that Giuffre told her at that point that she had “slept with” Andrew.

Despite confirming the allegations against Andrew, Andriano says she blames Giuffre for delivering her into Epstein and Maxwell’s clutches in the first place.

Giuffre has admitted that she actively recruited young girls for Epstein, something she says she bitterly regrets.

Andriano testified against Maxwell during her trial and was instrumental in securing her conviction,

Four of the guilty verdicts were underpinned by allegations made by Andriano.

The most serious charge, child sex trafficking a minor, applied to Andriano alone and carries a maximum 40-year jail term.

The New York just noted that they all believed Andriano’s testimony wholeheartedly.

slaynews.com/news/epstein-victim-found-dead-testifying-against-prince-andrew-ghislaine-maxwell/

A mob of pro-Hamas supporters desecrated an Israeli flag Sunday in San Diego. When the raging mob discovered they were being filmed, the crowd turned on a Newsmax reporter. “Violence is justified when people are occupied,” one protester said.