This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
A federal appeals court has shut down an attempt by city officials in Medford, Oregon, to require a private business operator to build – and pay for – a special road and bridge for the town.
The ruling in the fight between Medford officials and KOGAP Enterprises came from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and ordered the lower court to hold a hearing and enter a judgment in favor of KOGAP.
"The government cannot use the permit process to pressure private businesses or individuals to subsidize public infrastructure," explained a lawyer for Pacific Legal Foundation, which worked on behalf of KOGAP, Brian Hodges.
"The Supreme Court has repeatedly held that it is unconstitutional to single out property owners to shoulder massive costs for the public. We are thrilled that the court applied that precedent today in defense of Oregonians' property rights."
KOGAP is family owned, and has spent 20 years converting an old sawmill location into Stewart Meadows Village, a mixed use development covering some 100 acres.
For that project, it has built miles of streets, recreation trails and multiple bridges already.
But then the city demanded, in order to approve a minor revision in its previously approved development, the family must build a public road and bridge, and pay the $700,000 costs, even though its benefits would be for "future developments."
Explained the foundation, "The city's latest demand that KOGAP fund a massive building project to benefit future developers was a road too far."
The city's own lawyers had warned officials they were imposing an "unlawful exaction," an unconstitutional demand of private citizens and businesses.
But officials moved forward with the demand anyway, the PLF said.
Now the 9th Circuit has killed the demand for nearly three-quarters of a million dollars.
"[T]he record does not contain a basis upon which the district court could have held that the City demonstrated rough proportionality between the project's expected impacts and the exaction imposed. … We reverse the district court's orders granting summary judgment to the city and direct entry of summary judgment for KOGAP on remand," the ruling said.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
When a Georgia state prosecutor, Fani Willis, was ordered off of the organized crime case she had assembled against President Donald Trump and others, a judge set a deadline of Friday morning to appoint a replacement or the case would be dismissed entirely.
No prosecutor wanted it. Many refused it.
So Peter Skandalakis, chief of the Prosecuting Attorneys' Council of Georgia, appointed himself to meet that deadline.
He still could now review the evidence and recommend a dismissal anyway.
The case has involved scandal after scandal after scandal for Georgia. Willis hired her paramour to help develop the case, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars of tax money on him. The two apparently took exotic vacations together, and Willis claimed she paid him back her share … in cash.
Eventually the courts ordered the paramour, Nathan Wade, off the case, and an appeals ruling later said Willis herself, and her office, were contaminated by the apparent conflicts of interest and had to be gone.
A report at the Washington Examiner said the "sweeping racketeering" case has been suspended by uncertainty for weeks now.
The report said Skandalakis confirmed no one else would accept the assignment of working on Willis' failure.
Steve Sadow, representing Trump, repeated his suggestion that the case be dropped entirely.
"This politically charged prosecution has to come to an end," he said in an interview with the Washington Examiner. "We remain confident that a fair and impartial review will lead to a dismissal of the case against President Trump."
The case claims Trump and others tried to overturn the state's 2020 presidential election.
"The filing of this appointment reflects my inability to secure another conflict prosecutor to assume responsibility for this case," Skandalakis said in a Fulton County Superior Court filing.
Four defendants pleaded guilty: bail bondsman Scott Hall, who admitted to misdemeanor conspiracy charges; former Trump lawyer Sidney Powell, who pleaded guilty to six misdemeanor counts; Trump legal adviser Jenna Ellis, who pleaded guilty to a felony count of aiding and abetting false statements; and attorney Kenneth Chesebro, who pleaded guilty to a felony count of conspiring to file false documents, the Examiner reported.
Other defendants include Giuliani, Meadows, John Eastman, Jeffrey Clark, Ray Smith, Austin Cheeley, Scott "Matt" Shafer, Shawn Still, Caroline Wooten Kutti, Harrison Floyd, Kurt Hilbert, Mike Roman, David Lee, and Robert Cheeley, all of whom have pleaded not guilty.
"Several prosecutors were contacted and, while all were respectful and professional, each declined the appointment. Out of respect for their privacy and professional discretion, I will not identify those prosecutors or disclose their reasons for declining."
He said the move will let him decide the "best course of action" for the future of the case.
Willis named Trump, Rudy Giuliani, Mark Meadows, and a long list of political aides, lawyers, and Republican electors as co-defendants.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Retiring California Democrat Rep. Nancy Pelosi's partisan committee that was purported to be "investigating" the events in Washington on Jan. 6, 2023, spent some $17.4 million of taxpayer money.
Their result was an evidence-edited and message-orchestrated claim that President Donald Trump somehow was at fault.
That was the day Trump held a rally for supporters, encouraging them to peacefully protest what was perceived as the faulty results of the 2020 president election.
Some went to the Capitol, some went inside and some vandalized various parts of the building.
Actually that election now is known to have been skewed by several undue influences. One was that Mark Zuckerberg handed out cash like candy to local elections officials who often used it to recruit voters in Democrat districts.
The other was the FBI's decision to try to suppress information about Biden family scandals contained in a laptop computer abandoned by Hunter Biden. A poll after the election said had those details been reported routinely, like other election issues, Biden likely would have lost.
The FBI falsely claimed at the time the information was Russian disinformation, even though agents knew the evidence was factual.
Pelosi, then speaker of the House, assembled a partisan team, refusing to seat GOP nominees. She then picked Democrats and two Trump-hating Republicans to be on the team, which ignored evidence supporting Trump and amplified claims of his responsibility, even to the point of hiring producers and others to assemble videos "dramatizing" their claims against Trump.
Now a report at the Center Square explains its investigation has confirmed while the projected budget for the committee was $9.3 million, House disbursements confirm the political scheme cost taxpayers at least $17.4 million.
U.S. Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, is on a new committee appointed by House Speaker Mike Johnson assigned to review security failures that day and confirmed the original committee "didn't spend taxpayer money properly after The Center Square told him about the final costs of the panel's investigation."
"They wasted it, wasted it," he confirmed. "That was a sham committee. (Liz) Cheney. (Adam) Kinzinger. It was a joke."
He cited Cheney, who shortly later was thrown out of her congressional office by her own voters, and Kinzinger, another Republican who decided against seeking re-election. He later took a job with a leftist network.
Dan Savickas, of the Taxpayers Protection Alliance, a non-partisan nonprofit, told the Center Square the more than doubling of the budget was not appropriate.
"The median budget for a House committee is $6 million a year, so for the Jan. 6 committee to spend $17.4 million is excessive," he confirmed. "And anytime a committee is grandstanding, specifically Jan. 6, to fit a narrative instead of holding people accountable and getting the story is bad. That's why they hired documentary filmmakers."
Bennie Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat who orchestrated the committee's work, wouldn't comment, but a communications director, Yasmine Brown, said, "The work of the committee speaks for itself, and the chairman continues to stand by it."
The report explained, "An undetermined amount was spent on three dozen contractors and consultants. Many worked for a few months or less than a year, rather than all 18 months like full-time staff. They are listed in the committee's report but do not show up in a list of expenditures the U.S. House posted online disclosing its spending."
Those include a former ABC News executive, a longtime ABC producer and more.
Boasted Melinda Arons, a former Nightline employee, "I was part of the first ever team of former television journalists brought in by the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol to produce the historic live hearings laying out the committee's evidence to the country."
The J6 committee hired "freelancers with backgrounds in producing and editing graphics as well as video and audio footage – prominent features of the committee's 10 nationally televised hearings from June to December 2022," the report said.
The anti-Trump conclusions from the committee later have "come into question," the report said.
"In an op-ed for Politico in January 2023, Georgetown Professor Donell Harvin, who oversaw the District of Columbia's assessment of threat intelligence, wrote that '(t)he events of Jan. 6 represented the most telegraphed and predictable attack on the homeland in history.' Further, Harvin noted that the committee devoted only 44 pages in the annexes to the security and intelligence issues, roughly 5% of the 845-page report."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Already, mortgage-fraud charges have caught up with New York Attorney General Letitia James and ex-FBI chief James Comey, both of whom were involved in multiple lawfare cases against President Donald Trump.
A third name soon could be on that list, ardent anti-Trumper Rep. Eric Swalwell of California.
A columnist's post at the Gateway Pundit explains Swalwell apparently has no residence in California, which he represents, possibly running afoul of legal requirements.
It is columnist Joel Gilbert who charges that Swalwell, who has been criticized in recent years for his "alleged ties to the Chinese spy 'Fang Fang,'" and his "removal from the House Intelligence Committee over national security concerns," might be in serious trouble.
It's because Swalwell, on legal documents, formally has declared that his Washington, D.C., property is his "principal residence." That affirmation comes on his public Deed of Trust for his home.
He made that statement as a condition for a loan on the property.
He apparently has no residence listed, either as owned or rented by him, in California, the report said.
"Under Article I, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution, members of Congress must be 'inhabitants' of the state they represent at the time of their election," Gilbert wrote. "In California, maintaining this inhabitancy means holding tangible, verifiable ties to the state, such as owning or renting a residence, registering to vote, paying state income taxes, and possessing a California driver's license."
In fact, the California Elections Code insists a domicile is "the place in which his or her habitation is fixed" and "the place where a person intends to return and remain."
The report explained, "If Swalwell's true domicile is in Washington, DC, the city where he has declared his principal residence, he may no longer meet the basic requirement of being a California 'inhabitant.' Public records searches have not revealed any home ownership or lease under Eric Swalwell's name in California."
The report noted, "Failure to maintain a legitimate residence in California could expose Swalwell to legal, ethical, and electoral repercussions. A false declaration of residency risks tax violations, misrepresentation to lenders, and challenges to his eligibility for re-election."
The report noted that Swalwell's listed indebtedness has remained unchanged mostly since 2011, and he holds more than $50,000 in student loan debt, more than $15,000 in credit card debt to American Express and Chase Bank, and more than $1 million for a home loan.
The column charges, "It is time for Eric Swalwell to come clean. As he declared his Washington, DC house as his principal residence, while not disclosing any verifiable domicile in California, he is deceiving both his lenders and his voters. The law is clear: a member of Congress must remain an inhabitant of the state they represent. By abandoning any genuine California address, Swalwell risks disqualification and betrays the very district that elected him."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
PALM BEACH, Florida – As the head of BBC and its news chief resigned over the weekend amid a firestorm for deceptively editing Donald Trump's remarks on Jan. 6, 2021, the president wasted no time threatening a $1 billion lawsuit if the network does not retract its "false" and "defamatory" statements by Friday.
Fox News reports the president's "litigation counsel sent a scathing notice of intent to bring a civil action lawsuit on Sunday to BBC Chair Samir Shah, along with general counsel Sarah Jones. The letter, which has been obtained by Fox News Digital, demands that 'false, defamatory, disparaging, and inflammatory statements' made about Trump must be retracted immediately."
Attorneys for Trump said statements by the network's "Panorama" documentary were "fabricated and aired by the BBC," leaving him no other option than to seek legal remedy.
"Failure to comply will leave President Trump with no choice but to pursue any and all legal rights and remedies available to recover damages for the overwhelming financial and reputational harm that the BBC has caused him to suffer, with all rights and remedies being expressly reserved by President Trump," the letter states.
"In the Panorama documentary, titled 'Trump: A Second Chance,' which was first broadcast on October 28, 2024 – a week before the 2024 United States presidential election – the BBC intentionally sought to completely mislead its viewers by splicing together three separate parts of President Trump's speech to supporters," the letter continues.
"The documentary showed President Trump telling supporters: 'We're gonna walk down to the Capitol, and I'll be there with you and we fight. We fight like hell and if you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore.'"
Trump's actual statement was: "We're going to walk down, and I'll be there with you, we're going to walk down, we're going to walk down any one of you but I think right here, we're going to walk down to the Capitol, and we're going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women."
Also edited out, according to the letter, was Trump indicating: "I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard."
The letter was written by Trump attorney Alejandro Brito, who noted: "Due to their salacious nature, the fabricated statements that were aired by the BBC have been widely disseminated throughout various digital mediums, which have reached tens of millions of people worldwide. Consequently, the BBC has caused President Trump to suffer overwhelming financial and reputational harm."
"Consequently, the BBC lacks any viable defense to the overwhelming reputational and financial harm it has caused President Trump to suffer."
Lawyers for the president believe "the BBC's reckless disregard for the truth underscores the actual malice behind the decision to publish the wrongful content, given the plain falsity of the statements."
Trump is seeking "a full and fair retraction of the documentary and any and all other false, defamatory, disparaging, misleading, and inflammatory statements about President Trump in as conspicuous a manner as they were originally published," along with compensation and an immediate apology.
The British Broadcasting Corporation is now examining its options.
"We will review the letter and respond directly in due course," a BBC spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
Meanwhile, BBC Chairman Samir Shah is reacting to the controversy, saying: "This issue has led to over 500 complaints. These are now being dealt with in the normal way. It has also prompted further reflection by the BBC.
"The conclusion of that deliberation is that we accept that the way the speech was edited did give the impression of a direct call for violent action. The BBC would like to apologize for that error of judgement."
As WorldNetDaily reported Sunday, two top officials at the BBC both quit the state-funded, left-leaning media giant Sunday amid fierce pressure after allegedly twisting Trump's words to make it look like he was inciting a riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
BBC boss Tim Davie, a 20-year veteran at the network who has been in charge for the last five years, resigned after "reflecting on the very intense personal and professional demands of managing this role over many years in these febrile times."
"Like all public organizations, the BBC is not perfect, and we must always be open, transparent and accountable," Davie added. "While not being the only reason, the current debate around BBC News has understandably contributed to my decision."
Also leaving her post is Deborah Turness, the CEO of BBC News.
"The ongoing controversy around the Panorama on President Trump has reached a stage where it is causing damage to the BBC – an institution that I love," Turness said.
"The buck stops with me," she added. "While mistakes have been made, I want to be absolutely clear recent allegations that BBC News is institutionally biased are wrong."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
There are some odd members of Congress already.
The New York Post recently generated a list of them, to include Rep. Barbara Lee, who wanted a $26 per hour minimum wage to "increase diversity," Sen. Kay Hagan, who was the "empty chair" at a debate with her opponent, Bernie Sanders, the perennial leftism promoter who claimed conservatives are donating to hospitals to make the VA look bad, Sen. Mary Landrieu, who called her own constituents racists and sexists, Nancy Pelosi, who once, after Republican Rep. Tom Marino gave a speech mentioning that Pelosi had done nothing on immigration reform when she ruled the House, chased him down two aisles, gesturing wildly and hurling imprecations until a group of fellow lawmakers intervened.
And that doesn't even get into the Democrats' "squad."
But now there's been the suggestion that the "diversity" of Congress should be expanded further.
Much further.
With a "furry" member.
A report at the Free Beacon explains Sam Smeltzer, known online as Elyon Badger, is campaigning for Congress on schemes to tax the rich, and fight for furries.
"A 'furry' who identifies as a honey badger, celebrated the assassinations of Charlie Kirk and UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, and was banned from X for saying 'america deserved 9/11' is running in the Democratic primary for a competitive House seat in Michigan," the report explained.
Smeltzer is a 36-year-old IT contractor from Lansing and dresses as a honey badger at political events and more.
He wants to represent the state's 7th District.
"His campaign has drawn local buzz including an October front-page photo shoot in Michigan's Between the Lines LGBT newspaper that touts his 'honey badger energy,'" the report said.
Explained the publication, "The campaign is the latest example of the online-activist wing of the Democratic Party rising up to challenge mainstream leaders and a window into how these activists have merged online memes with fringe political views and support for violence."
For example, Smeltzer posted memes online after Charlie Kirk, co-founder of Turning Point USA, was assassinate in Utah just weeks ago.
He included the statement, "I for one, celebrate the death of every Nazi."
Also cited the assassinate of United Health chief Brian Thompson, allegedly by Luigi Mangione with, "Seeing the public support of the man who took action has actually started to cure my depression."
And he said America deserved 9/11.
"In an email interview with the Washington Free Beacon, Smeltzer said he is running a 'healthcare and tax the rich campaign' and wants to use a role in Congress to advocate for fellow furries," the report said.
Furries are individuals who identify as animals, sometimes wearing costumes and prancing about on all fours, depending on their fantasy.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
A "democrat socialist" politician, supporting much the same agenda as communism demands, was elected to be the next mayor of New York City, and Zohran Mamdani used his victory speech to threaten President Donald Trump.
That may not go well.
"Yeah, I thought it was a very angry speech, certainly angry toward me. I think he should be very nice to me. I'm the one that has to approve a lot of things coming to him, so he's off to a bad start," Trump said during an interview with Fox.
Mamdani had boasted, "So hear me, President Trump, when I say this: to get to any of us, you will have to get through all of us."
The Gateway Pundit explained Trump also pointed out, "You talk about danger. I think it's a very dangerous statement for him to make. He has to be a little bit respectful of Washington. Because if he's not he doesn't have a chance of succeeding."
Trump spent much of his business career in New York, creating buildings, boosting the economy and providing jobs.
The president said, "I'm so torn because I would like to see the new mayor do well because I love New York. I really love New York. When I left New York for Washington, New York was doing really well, but there were some bad signs. The bad sign was a guy named De Blasio. So, the signs of De Blasio—that was the beginning, and it was bad."
He continued, "This one, we're going to look— for a thousand years, communism has not worked. Communism, or the concept of communism, has not worked. I tend to doubt it's going to work this time."
Mamdani, in fact, has talked about his extremism, including such concepts as taking the means of production, having the government run grocery stores, and more. Within hours of his election, he was demanding people send him more money, and he's openly talked about massive tax hikes.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Jay Jones, a Democrat in Virginia, is the state's newly elected attorney general despite his record of openly calling for the murder of Republicans and their children, demonstrating to just what extremes leftist voters have plunged.
But there was one bright spot in what otherwise turned out to be a dark election, including a vote by New York City residents to install policies that essential advocate for communism in city hall.
It was in Loudoun County's school board race, a locale where officials long have pushed the transgender ideology onto children against their parents' wishes.
There, Amy Riccardi unseated "trans-crazed incumbent Arben Istrefi," according to a report at the Federalist.
The loser "recently voted in favor of keeping Policy 8040, which allows students to use restrooms and locker rooms of the opposite sex and requires the use of 'preferred pronouns' to start grooming children into pursuing irreversible medical 'transition' procedures," the report explained.
The agenda that is used to skew curriculum, classes, social events and more has caused multiple horrors in the district already.
For example, a high-school girl was raped by an offender protected by the agenda, and that crime was covered up.
Further, two boys were unjustifiably punished for objecting to a girl in their locker room, and they are in court over that agenda point.
The report explained, "As Riccardi pointed out, students in LCPS are required to accommodate these gender-confused students at every turn and forced to simply accept opposite-sex individuals invading their spaces."
She charged, "LCPS has a policy they put in place, and it is what it is right now and the politics of this, six members of the School Board have dug in on this policy multiple times now, including my opponent, and I'm not comfortable with boys in girls' locker rooms. I'm not comfortable with boys in girls' sports or girls' bathrooms."
Her perspective will be joined to one other board member who appears to have a "reasonable" view of the schools' transgender beliefs, those held by Deana Griffiths. She has warned the board majority was using tax dollars "to violate the law and push ideology."
The report noted a majority of the board remains extremist, pursuing "their life's work to ensure that all female students in the district are in danger when they are at school."
The push for transgenderism was one of Joe Biden's main agenda points while he was in the White House, but since his departure it has started fading, with even the Supreme Court ruling against such forced indoctrination in one case. That ruling said schools cannot impose their religion on students when it violates the family's faith and beliefs, and the schools must provide opt-out options from their indoctrination.
Actually, following the science, transgender is a fantasy, as being male or female is embedded in the body down to the DNA level.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
President Trump Tuesday emphasized the importance of arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday on the issue of executive branch power to set tariffs.
Posted Trump: "Tomorrow's United States Supreme Court case is, literally, LIFE OR DEATH for our Country. With a Victory, we have tremendous, but fair, Financial and National Security. Without it, we are virtually defenseless against other Countries who have, for years, taken advantage of us. Our Stock Market is consistently hitting Record Highs, and our Country has never been more respected than it is right now. A big part of this is the Economic Security created by Tariffs, and the Deals that we have negotiated because of them. Thank you for your attention to this matter!"
The case involves whether or not the president can use "emergency powers" to unilaterally set tariffs on imports from other nations.
As CNN reports, Trump has relied on a 1970s-era emergency law, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, to levy the import duties. That law allows a president to "regulate … importation" during emergencies.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also emphasized the critical nature of the case.
"I'm actually going to go and sit, hopefully in the front row, and have a ringside seat," Bessent told Fox News Monday night.
The Supreme Court is set to hear arguments Wednesday at 10 a.m. Eastern time.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Eric Swalwell, a California Democrat in Congress, of course is famous for dating an alleged Chinese spy. And for recently demanding that any party member desiring to run for president pledge to destroy President Donald Trump's new White House ballroom on day one.
Now, he's the subject of a report that uncovered a "bizarre inconsistency" in his payments to one California man.
Swalwell's explanation of the payments to Darly Meyer is that "Darly protects me and my family."
But the report at Fox News outlined a long list of concerns.
For example, Federal Election Commission filings from Swalwell for Congress and his Remedy PAC, dating to 2021, reveal 75 payments to Meyer, ranging from $53 to $12,000.
The total from 27 payments last year passed $120,000, and he's on track for that total this year.
The reasons for the payments included travel expenses, car service, security services and salary.
Also, "personal travel expense reimbursement," and "event flowers reimbursement," the report said.
Meyer, the report said, also runs a limousine service called CYD Global Car, which offers rides on a luxury basis.
"He is also an administrator of a Facebook group called 'CaliHaitians – Haitians in Az, Ca, Nv, Hi, Or, Wa,' which bills itself as a 'progressive community' of Haitians living in the United States, which has over 3,000 members," the report said. It's "selective" in that it determines who can join.
Swalwell also responded on social media, insisting that Fox "emailed and asked why I've spent $350,000 on security." He turned sarcastic, saying, "Maybe I should send [the reporter] the bill?"
Fox reported it appears Meyer does not have a security license.
Former FEC commissioner Hans von Spakovsky explained the accounting "is the type of bizarre inconsistency that should catch the attention of the FEC."
He suggested the agency's auditing arm should investigate.
Fox reported Swalwell earlier raised eyebrows over his spending, as he's reported multiple transactions over luxury car services, expensive restaurants and lavish hotel visits in Dubai, Berlin, Parin and more.
"Fox News Digital previously reported on Swalwell's campaign dropping tens of thousands of dollars on Just Dreaming Yacht Charters, a San Francisco agency that offers 'relaxing and luxurious' private yachts for up to 40 passengers, as a fundraising expense," the report said.