This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
The Department of Justice has created a new strike force to assess the Obamagate evidence that has been declassified by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.
A report from the Washington Examiner confirms the panel was created this week to assess the evidence that was used to create the "Russiagate" scandal in which Democrats falsely accused Donald Trump, first as candidate and then as president, of colluding with Russia during the 2016 election.
The task force is to decide what legal steps might be coming.
Several of those involved in the scandalous behavior and schemes that attempted to undermine a duly elected president already have been referred for investigation and possible prosecution.
"The Department of Justice is proud to work with my friend Director Gabbard and we are grateful for her partnership in delivering accountability for the American people," Attorney General Pam Bondi said. "We will investigate these troubling disclosures fully and leave no stone unturned to deliver justice."
The DOJ said it is taking seriously the "alleged weaponization of the intelligence community."
Gabbard's office only days ago released government evidence suggesting "former President Barack Obama undermined President Donald Trump's 2016 election victory," the report said. "Obama's White House claimed at the time that Russia meddled with the election results, despite the intelligence community's prior assessments indicating no foreign interference in the months leading up to the election."
It was just a few weeks after Trump's stunning 2016 election victory over twice-failed Democrat candidate Hillary Clinton that Democrats in Obama's administration reversed course. That was when former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper's office ordered "the creation of a new assessment that details the 'tools Moscow used and actions it took to influence the 2016 election,'" the report said.
Then members of Obama's entourage "leaked false statements to the press alleging Russia attempted to interfere in the election's outcome," the report said.
Obama has continued to claim that his administration's interpretation of alleged Russian interference was accurate and unbiased, despite the facts that those opinions were based on possibly misinterpreted statements from sources known to be unreliable.
Gabbard already has referred Obama and others involved in the anti-Trump agenda to the DOJ for investigation and possible criminal charges.
"There is irrefutable evidence that details how President Barack Obama and his national security team directed the creation of an intelligence community assessment that they knew that was false," she confirmed.
"The evidence that we have found and that we have released directly point to President Obama leading the manufacturing of this intelligence assessment. There are multiple pieces of evidence and intelligence that confirm that fact."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Two senators are calling for the appointment of a special counsel to investigate, and possibly prosecute, the manipulation of America's security apparatus by Barack Obama and team of his supporters.
The call is coming from Senate Republicans Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and John Cornyn, R-Teas
Their request has been directed to Attorney General Pam Bondi, to appoint a special counsel to investigate evidence released by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who declassified papers she has characterized as showing plans by Obama and officials in his administration to hurt Trump.
The Washington Examiner reports both senators are on the Judiciary Committee.
They stated, in an announcement, "For the good of the country, we urge Attorney General Bondi to appoint a special counsel to investigate the extent to which former President Obama, his staff, and administration officials manipulated the U.S. national security apparatus for a political outcome."
They charged that evidence released by Gabbard has confirmed it is "evident that the entire Russia collusion hoax was created by the Obama administration to subvert the will of the American people."
There have been multiple calls for Obama and others to be investigated and even charged for making up stories about Trump and trying to undermine the agenda of a duly elected president.
"Gabbard has claimed Obama officials 'manufactured' evidence of 2016 Russian election interference and accused them of leading a 'treasonous conspiracy.' Gabbard revealed Wednesday she'd referred Obama and former senior aides to the Justice Department for criminal prosecution," the report noted.
A spokesman for Obama claimed the Democrat normally does not "dignify" White House statements with a response, but cited a Senate report from years ago that said Russians tried to influence the election but couldn't make a change in the results.
The Obama spokesman said the new allegations "are ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction."
Cornyn said, "There's no question the Russians tried to do what the Russians always tried to do, but there's no evidence of collusion. There is evidence that members of the Obama administration essentially started a witch hunt against President Trump, which fell under the heading of the Russia hoax investigation."
A federal appeals court has blocked New Jersey Democrats from moving ahead with an unlawful scheme to block President Trump from housing illegal aliens in privately run detention centers.
The 2-1 ruling is a warning shot to "sanctuary" jurisdictions around the country that are actively trying to thwart President Trump's mass deportation plans.
In 2021, New Jersey's Democratic governor Phil Murphy signed a law that bars state, local, and private entities from making contracts with the federal government to house illegal immigrants.
The appeals court called New Jersey's ban on private detention centers a "clever" ruse that flies in the face of the Constitution. The law was clearly "intended to ban immigration detention," the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit found.
Judge Cheryl Ann Krause, an Obama appointee, joined Judge Stephanos Bibas, an appointee of President Trump.
“Just as states cannot regulate the federal government itself, they cannot regulate private parties in a way that severely undercuts a federal function,” Bibas wrote.
The case was brought by CoreCivic, a private prison company that since 1996 has managed an immigration detention center in Elizabeth, New Jersey. A district judge sided with CoreCivic against New Jersey, which filed an appeal.
Shuttering the Elizabeth detention center would cripple ICE operations in New Jersey, the court said. The facility is in close proximity to major airports in the New York metropolitan area and was, until recently, the only major ICE detention center in the New Jersey.
Without it, ICE agents would have been forced to drive 250 miles to a detention center in the middle of Pennsylvania. The Trump administration opened a second ICE facility in New Jersey this May, in Newark.
"Though New Jersey does not want private immigration detention centers, the government often relies on them. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) does not build its own lockups, and it does not operate them alone. Instead, it contracts with private companies or local governments to help run them," the appeals court noted.
New Jersey entered the spotlight in May after a trio of Democratic lawmakers were involved in a scuffle outside the Newark facility, leading to the indictment of congresswoman LaMonica McIver (D) for obstruction and assault.
The state's attorney general, Matthew Platkin (D), condemned the appeals court's ruling, citing the chaotic incident at Delaney Hall.
“As recent events at Delaney Hall underscore, entrusting detention to for-profit companies poses grave risks to health and safety,” he said.
In another move that has rankled Dems, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that two military bases, one in New Jersey and another in Indiana, will be used to house immigrants facing removal.
The top prosecutor in New Jersey was fired by the Justice Department as a power struggle between the White House and a group of "rogue" federal judges came to a head.
Attorney general Pam Bondi fired career prosecutor Desiree Leigh Grace shortly after she was tapped to replace interim U.S. attorney Alina Habba, a former Trump lawyer and loyal supporter of the president.
The Justice Department cast Leigh's appointment as a corrupt conspiracy by "activist" judges and Democrats to derail Trump's chosen pick, Habba.
The president nominates U.S. attorneys, who then must receive confirmation by a vote of the Senate to serve permanently.
Trump named Habba to be New Jersey's top prosecutor in March and formally nominated her to the role on July 1, but her confirmation has been stalled as New Jersey Senators Cory Booker (D) and Andy Kim (D) refuse to support her.
Acting U.S. attorneys can serve for up to 120 days without Senate approval. District courts may extend that window or name their own pick.
A panel of judges in New Jersey chose the latter option, rejecting Habba in favor of Grace, a career prosecutor since 2016. A registered Republican, Grace led the criminal division in Habba's office before Habba chose her to be her deputy.
Grace is a more traditional - and for Democrats, more palatable - choice than Habba, who became known during the 2024 presidential campaign as Trump's outspoken attorney as he faced an onslaught of civil and criminal cases brought by his Democratic foes.
During her brief tenure as U.S. attorney, Habba brought federal charges against two Democrats in New Jersey who were involved in a scuffle with immigration enforcement. She later dropped trespassing charges against one of those Democrats, Newark mayor Ras Baraka.
"The firing of a career public servant, lawfully appointed by the court, is another blatant attempt to intimidate anyone that doesn’t agree with them and undermine judicial independence,” senators Kim and Booker said of Grace's firing. “This Administration may not like the law, but they are not above it.”
Meanwhile, Trump's DOJ condemned Habba's dismissal as an effort by partisan judges and Democrats in Congress to control Trump and step on his lawful authority.
"The district judges in NJ just proved this was never about law—it was about politics. They forced out President Trump’s pick, @USAttyHabba, then installed her deputy, colluding with the NJ Senators along the way. It won’t work. Pursuant to the President’s authority, we have removed that deputy, effective immediately. This backroom vote will not override the authority of the Chief Executive," said deputy attorney general Todd Blanche.
Attorney general Pam Bondi also ripped the "politically minded judges" who removed Habba from her role.
“Nonetheless, politically minded judges refused to allow her to continue in her position, replacing Alina with the First Assistant. Accordingly, the First Assistant United States Attorney in New Jersey has just been removed. This Department of Justice does not tolerate rogue judges — especially when they threaten the President’s core Article II powers,” Bondi posted on X.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
President Donald Trump on Tuesday unleashed his fury concerning the false and "treasonous" Russia-collusion plot to undermine him, and he named former President Barack Obama as the driving force.
"Barack Hussein Obama is the ringleader," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
"Hillary Clinton was right there with him and so was Sleepy Joe Biden, and so were the rest of them: [James] Comey, [James] Clapper, the whole group. They tried to rig an election and then they got CAUGHT! And then they did rig the election in 2020."
When asked whom the U.S. Justice Department should target in its probe of the matter, Trump responded: "It would be President Obama. He started it. And Biden was there with him, and Comey was there and Clapper, the whole group was there."
"If you look at those papers, they have him stone cold, and it was President Obama. It wasn't lots of people all over the place, it was them too. But the leader of the gang was President Obama. Barack Hussein Obama. Have you heard of him? Except for the fact that he gets shielded by the press for his entire life."
"Look, he's guilty," Trump continued. "It's there. He's guilty. This was treason. This was every word you could think of. They tried to steal the election. They tried to obfuscate the election. They did things that nobody's ever even imagined, even in other countries."
"They caught President Obama absolutely cold," Trump added.
"They tried to rig the election and they got caught, and there should be very severe consequences for that. When we caught Hillary Clinton, I said, 'You know, what? Let's not go too far here. It's the ex-wife of a president.' … I let her off the hook and I'm very happy I did. But it's time to start, after what they did to me, and whether it's right or wrong, it's time to go after people. Obama has been caught directly!"
"It's Obama. His orders are on the paper. The papers are signed, the papers came right out of their office. They sent everything to be highly classified. Well, the highly classified has been released. And what they did in 2016 and 2020 is very criminal, it's criminal at the highest level.
On Monday night, Trump posted similar thoughts on Truth Social, saying: "Obama himself manufactured the Russia, Russia, Russia HOAX. Crooked Hillary, Sleepy Joe, and numerous others participated in this, THE CRIME OF THE CENTURY!. Irrefutable EVIDENCE. A major threat to our Country!!!"
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has already turned over information about the case to the U.S. Justice Department for criminal referral, and Gabbard herself said on Sunday, "There must be indictments."
Meanwhile, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson indicated Monday that Congress may subpoena Obama over allegations of a coordinated plot against Trump.
"I think we have a responsibility to follow the truth, where it leads," Johnson told journalist David Brody.
"To do effectively the opposite of what that other team did – they were engaged in a partisan political plot to take down their foe in the other party. We need to be about the rule of law and bring an order to the chaos and searching out the truth because the American people are owed those answers."
"If it's uncomfortable for him, he shouldn't have been involved in overseeing this, which is what it appears to us has happened," Johnson said.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
A Democrat lawmaker in the state of Minnesota is keeping her word.
But that's really not as good as it sounds, as she's keeping her word to resign after she was convicted of burglary.
The Liberty Daily confirmed it is state Sen. Nicole Mitchell, a Democrat, who has released her plans to walk away from her public duties following her conviction by a jury.
Mitchell's lawyers, in a statement, said she wants to wrap up "outstanding legislative projects" and then will resign no later than Aug. 4.
She had been convicted by a jury of burglary for breaking into her stepmother's house.
Her lawyers said, "Senator Mitchell's constituents deserve for her legislative projects to be finalized or ready to hand off to her successor before she resigns."
The report explained Mitchell was arrested in April 2024 when Carol Mitchell, her estranged stepmother, called police to report a break-in.
"At the time, Detroit Lakes police found Mitchell in her stepmother's basement dressed in all black and carrying a flashlight covered with a black sock, Fox 9 reported," according to the report.
Erin Murphy, the Democrat leader in the state Senate, confirmed Mitchell has promised she would step down in convicted.
She had been under pressure from fellow lawmakers to leave.
"Mitchell, a meteorologist and Air Force officer, currently represents the Minnesota Senate's 47th district, and was first elected in 2022," the report said.
Broadcaster KSTP reported Mitchell was convicted on two felony charges, and Becker County Judge Michael D. Fritz will decide Mitchell's punishment on Sept. 10.
At the time of her arrest, Mitchell claimed to police she was in the home in order to retrieve some of her late father's belongings.
Later, at trial, she claimed to the jury she was checking on her stepmother, who has Alzheimer's.
She could face up to 20 years in prison for first-degree burglary.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Fed-up with claims the first lady of France was actually born a man, French President Emmanuel Macron is now suing American political commentator Candace Owens who has been championing the theory.
Macron filed the 219-page complaint Wednesday in Delaware over "demonstrably false" claims about his wife Brigitte Macron.
"These outlandish, defamatory, and far-fetched fictions included that Mrs. Macron was born a man, stole another person's identity, and transitioned to become Brigitte; Mrs. Macron and President Macron are blood relatives committing incest; President Macron was chosen to be the President of France as part of the CIA-operated MKUltra program or a similar mind-control program; and Mrs. Macron and President Macron are committing forgery, fraud, and abuses of power to conceal these secrets," the lawsuit reads.
"These lies have caused tremendous damage to the Macrons," says the suit, which notes the allegations have subjected the couple to a "campaign of global humiliation, turning their lives into fodder for profit-driven lies."
"Owens has dissected their appearance, their marriage, their friends, their family, and their personal history – twisting it all into a grotesque narrative designed to inflame and degrade," the complaint alleges.
"The result is relentless bullying on a worldwide scale. Every time the Macrons leave their home, they do so knowing that countless people have heard, and many believe, these vile fabrications. It is invasive, dehumanizing, and deeply unjust."
"Faced with this relentless and unjustified smear campaign, the Macrons are left with no choice but to seek relief through this Court to set the record straight, prevent further harm, and hold Defendants accountable for their conduct."
The claims by Owens are similar to a theory floated in France by two women whom Brigitte Macron sued in 2021. While Mrs. Macron won the initial round in court, it was overturned on appeal and is now before the highest appeals court in France.
As WorldNetDaily previously reported, Owens says she was personally phoned by U.S. President Donald Trump in February when French President Emmanuel Macron was visiting Washington, D.C., and says the commander in chief urged her to stop discussing Brigitte because it was interfering with talks on ending Russia's war against Ukraine.
In a video she released on June 30, Owens said of Trump's call: "It is hard to catch my breath to comprehend that four days ago I'm ending a series about Brigitte Macron, and now I'm speaking to the president of the United States and the topic of conversation no matter which way you wanna slice it is about Macron's wife's penis. I mean there's no other way to say it."
She continued: "I explained to him that she has had this amazing doctor who specializes in transgenderism surgeries or feminization procedures. I'm talking to the president of the United States about this, guys. This is crazy this wacky. … But I'm just trying to get him to understand the truth.
"And then I explained to him why I don't feel so great about this request, because that's the more important part."
"Like you are requesting that I really, and despite your reasoning, which is very sound, that I stop telling the truth. And I said to Trump, and I will be honest, that at that moment I realized that one day this is gonna go into my autobiography and so I got to say something funny, and I just said, I said to him, 'You know, respectfully, Mr. President, it's not my fault that he married someone with a penis.'"
Owens responded to Macron's lawsuit in her Wednesday broadcast, saying: "I am ready for this fight. All sickos will be exposed."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Political gamesmanship over who's going to be the U.S. attorney in New Jersey continues, as Attorney General Pam Bondi on Tuesday immediately fired the replacement for President Trump's pick Alina Habba who had been ousted from her interim position by federal judges.
In a post on X, Bondi said Habba "has been doing a great job in making NJ safe again. Nonetheless, politically minded judges refused to allow her to continue in her position, replacing Alina with the First Assistant.
"Accordingly, the First Assistant United States Attorney in New Jersey has just been removed.
Bondi concluded: "This Department of Justice does not tolerate rogue judges – especially when they threaten the President's core Article II powers."
Axios reported the first assistant who got the ax is Desiree Leigh Grace. a nine-year career prosecutor who previously ran the New Jersey office's criminal division.
ABC News reports: "Federal law gives district judges the authority to name a United States attorney if the president's nominee is not acted upon by the U.S. Senate within 120 days.
"Previous Justice Departments have recognized that district judges have the authority to name a United States attorney if the president's nominee is not acted upon by the U.S. Senate within 120 days.
"It's unclear if the Trump Justice Department now believes it can bypass that process or if it plans to seek Senate confirmation for Habba."
Habba's term as interim U.S. attorney expires Friday night at 11:59 p.m., but a group of federal judges Tuesday refused to extend her time on the job after House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries pushed to oust her, citing her indictment of U.S. Rep. LaMonica McIver, D-N.J., who allegedly body-checked an ICE agent.
"The so-called U.S. Attorney in NJ maliciously indicted Congresswoman LaMonica McIver for doing her job," Jeffries said.
"Alina Habba is a woefully unqualified political hack who has to go.
"She must be rejected by the Federal District Court judges who are considering whether to retain her."
A federal court has foiled state plans to circumvent national immigration enforcement, following a push to end the use of detention centers with a July 22 decision.
News broke this week that a federal appeals court ruled that New Jersey’s ban on the use of private immigration detention contracts is unconstitutional, as Fox News reported.
This is a big blow to advocates for illegal immigration who have been trying to diminish the impact of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the Garden State.
The court’s decision pertained to a 2021 law signed by New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, which barred the company CoreCivic from engaging in a contract with ICE.
The contract would have allowed for ICE, which is a subsidiary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), to operate its Elizabeth Detention Center.
U.S. Circuit Judge Stephanos Bibas, an appointee of President Donald Trump, weighed in, saying, ”Just as states cannot regulate the federal government itself, they cannot regulate private parties in a way that severely undercuts a federal function.
The judge added that the law "interferes with the federal government’s core power to enforce immigration laws."
New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin was not pleased with the circuit court decision and expressed his frustration on X, formerly Twitter.
“We are disappointed in the Third Circuit’s ruling this morning invalidating our law prohibiting private immigration detention.
Near the end of his comments, he promised that the state wasn’t done with the issue, saying, “We will continue to do all we can to defend these important goals and are evaluating our next steps in this case.”
Statement from Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin on the Third Circuit’s Decision in CoreCivic. pic.twitter.com/d0zh3Tru9l
— Attorney General Matt Platkin (@NewJerseyOAG) July 22, 2025
The decision from the 3rd Circuit was a split 2-1 decision, and the attorney general cited one concern from the dissenting judge in his comments:
“As recent events at Delaney Hall underscore, entrusting detention to for-profit companies poses a grave risk to health and safety, and as the dissenting judge noted, states retain broad latitude to protect the health and safety of people within their borders, particularly where, as here, there is no conflict with federal legislation,” Platkin said.
This is at sharp odds with the assertion by DHS and the Trump administration that the removal of illegal immigrants, who entered the nation in violation of current laws or overstayed without proper documentation, is part of their duty and required by federal legislation.
The White House barred the Wall Street Journal from traveling with President Trump on his upcoming trip to Scotland after the newspaper published a "fake" story tying President Trump and Jeffrey Epstein.
“Due to the Wall Street Journal’s fake and defamatory conduct, they will not be one of the thirteen outlets on board" Air Force One, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.
"Every news organization in the entire world wishes to cover President Trump, and the White House has taken significant steps to include as many voices as possible.”
The White House press pool has a limited number of slots for reporters covering the president's daily business.
An appeals court on Tuesday declined to overturn a prior ruling that allowed the White House to remove the left-leaning Associated Press from the pool's rotation. The White House cracked down after the AP refused to adopt Trump's renaming of the Gulf of Mexico, which he calls the Gulf of America.
Trump's critics have condemned his shakeup of the press pool as an attack on free speech, but the White House says they are ending the "special" treatment traditionally given to big news organizations.
"As the appeals court confirmed, the Wall Street Journal or any other news outlet are not guaranteed special access to cover President Trump in the Oval Office, aboard Air Force One, and in his private workspaces,” Leavitt said.
The Wall Street Journal drew Trump's ire after publishing an article about a "bawdy" letter that Trump supposedly sent to Epstein for his 50th birthday.
The letter allegedly contained an imagined conversation between the two men written inside a drawing of a naked woman.
Trump and many of his supporters have said the letter sounds nothing like Trump, and Trump promptly sued the Wall Street Journal and its billionaire owner, media mogul Rupert Murdoch, for $20 billion.
“The Wall Street Journal printed a FAKE letter, supposedly to Epstein,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
“These are not my words, not the way I talk. Also, I don’t draw pictures. I told Rupert Murdoch it was a Scam, that he shouldn’t print this Fake Story. But he did, and now I’m going to sue his ass off, and that of his third rate newspaper. Thank you for your attention to this matter! DJT.”
Trump's clash with the Wall Street Journal comes as the White House has been consumed by backlash over its handling of the Epstein files. Trump has urged his supporters to move on, calling the controversy a "hoax" being pushed by Democrats.
Another newspaper that has been critical of Trump, the New York Times, defended the Wall Street Journal and condemned the White House's action as retaliatory.
“The White House’s refusal to allow one of the nation’s leading news organizations to cover the highest office in the country is an attack on core constitutional principles underpinning free speech and a free press,” a New York Times spokesperson said.