Your First Look at Today's Top Stories

Having trouble viewing this email? View the web version.

Sponsored By

Wednesday, April 5, 2023

Trump Pleads “Not Guilty” in Arraignment Hearing

Wall Street Journal: Donald Trump pleaded not guilty Tuesday to felony charges of falsifying records to hide hush-money payments made to suppress potentially damaging sexual allegations during the 2016 presidential campaign. Before his arraignment hearing, Mr. Trump was formally booked and fingerprinted. While the process was routine, the case is anything but: The indictment marks the first time in U.S. history that a former president has faced criminal charges (Wall Street Journal). Donald Trump Jr.: The 9th Circuit just awarded Trump $121,962.56 in attorney fees from Stormy Daniels. Order just released. This in addition to the roughly $500k she already owes him (Twitter). Spencer Brown: Following Tuesday’s arraignment, both sides of the case will have the opportunity to file motions as the case heads toward trial, with the next hearing expected to take place on December 4 — another sign that Bragg’s case against Trump will carry well into the next presidential election cycle (Townhall). Byron York: For prosecutor Bragg, Trump indictment is a campaign promise kept. Alvin Bragg … is an elected official. He ran for his current office in 2021. In that campaign, he won a Democratic primary crowded with fellow Democrats who promised that, if elected, they would go after Trump. Now, having been elected, Bragg is going after Trump (Washington Examiner).

President Trump Gives Speech from Mar-a-Lago After Arraignment

Julio Rosas: Former President Donald Trump returned to his estate at Mar-a-Lago to a crowd of cheering supporters in the ballroom, where he railed against the “election interference” being brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg over alleged payments that were used as hush money to Stormy Daniels… Trump also called out Bragg for not prosecuting serious crimes committed by everyday New Yorkers, resulting in major crimes being at high levels. The indictment brought by Bragg has been called weak not just by Trump’s supporters, but also talking heads at liberal mainstream media outlets (Townhall). Townhall: TRUMP: “The only crime that I have committed is to fiercely defend our nation from those who seek to destroy it” (Twitter). Tucker Carlson: Trump was criminally charged because he’s planning to challenge Joe Biden in the presidential election. It’s that simple (Twitter).

Report: Parents Felt Pressured to Transition Children, Kids Reported Declining Mental Health After Transition

Daily Wire: Parents were often “pressured” into transitioning their children to treat gender dysphoria, after which the parents reported worse mental health outcomes for their children, according to a new study. The data collected came from families with children who began to identify as transgender between the ages of 11 and 21. The study found that gender dysphoria impacted girls much more often than boys, 75% of the gender dysphoric children were biological females. Girls were also much more likely to socially transition or more in order to match their gender identity. A history of mental health issues was a defining trait of most children who later struggled with gender dysphoria (Daily Wire). National Review: Fifty-seven percent of parents reported that their gender-dysphoric children had preexisting mental health issues (National Review).

Teacher Union-Backed Candidate Wins Chicago’s Mayoral Election

Fox News: The Windy City decided on its new mayor Tuesday after a tight race between two blues, with a progressive, Bernie Sanders-endorsed Democrat taking the keys to the Chicago mayor’s office. Progressive Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson defeated his moderate opponent, former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas, to take the Chicago mayor’s race. Vallas garnered the support of the Chicago police union and major business groups while Johnson got the backing of Chicago’s teacher’s union (Fox News). Chicago Tribune: With a campaign was bankrolled largely by political funds tied to CTU and affiliated unions, Johnson focused his run around themes of equity, championing working people and addressing the root causes of crime. He spoke regularly about “investing in people,” and his platform includes new taxes that he says will mostly affect wealthier people, such as a higher real estate transfer tax on properties worth more than $1 million. Johnson has also pitched a head tax on Chicago employers, a levy on financial transactions and a jet fuel tax, and proposed raising the hotel tax. Some of these would require a change of state law (Chicago Tribune).

Democrats Win Majority in Wisconsin’s Supreme Court

Wall Street Journal: Wisconsin voters elected Judge Janet Protasiewicz as the new state Supreme Court justice after a contentious election for the critical swing seat, setting the stage for challenges to the state’s 1849 law banning most abortions and a potential redrawing of its current electoral maps. The race was the most expensive such judicial contest in U.S. history, demonstrating how state courts have become the focus of increasingly partisan politics. Judge Protasiewicz currently serves on a lower court and was heavily backed by the Democratic Party. Because the governor is a Democrat and the state legislature is led by Republicans, the Wisconsin Supreme Court has become a valuable venue for interest groups trying to effect change but facing legislative stalemate (Wall Street Journal). NBC: Protasiewicz’s victory will allow the court’s new liberal majority to determine the future of several pivotal issues the bench is likely to decide in the coming years, including abortion rights, the state’s gerrymandered legislative maps and election administration — including, possibly, the outcome of the 2024 presidential race in the battleground state (NBC).

US Kills ISIS Leader in Syria

Reuters: The U.S. military killed a senior Islamic State leader in Syria on Monday, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Tuesday. CENTCOM named him as Khalid ‘Aydd Ahmad al-Jabouri in a statement, saying he was responsible for planning Islamic State attacks in Europe and Turkey and developed the group’s leadership structure in Turkey. No civilians were killed or injured in the strike, CENTCOM said, adding that Islamic State “continues to represent a threat to the region and beyond” (Reuters). ABC: The U.S. has roughly 900 troops in Syria as part of its effort to defeat ISIS in the region. In recent years American forces have killed or captured several ISIS leaders in the country. While U.S. forces are primarily in Syria to fight ISIS, they are also under near-constant attack by what the Pentagon calls Iran-backed militant groups. Late last month attacks by these groups killed one American contractor, injured another, and wounded at least 12 service members (ABC).

Senators Demand Answers Around Chinese Spy Balloon Data Transfer

Washington Examiner: Senators are ramping up their criticism of the Biden administration’s handling of the Chinese spy balloon that flew across the United States following reports that Beijing was able to transmit information it collected in real time. Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT), who has been outspoken since the balloon was flying over Malmstrom Air Force Base, home to one of the nation’s three nuclear missile silo fields, said the report proved the administration mishandled the incident (Washington Examiner). RNC Research: Despite reports confirming the Chinese spy balloon did, in fact, collect sensitive intelligence from U.S. military sites, Karine Jean-Pierre is STILL claiming Biden “took precautions in advance to ensure it didn’t get sensitive information” (Twitter). Senator Jon Tester: We knew all along that China’s invasion of our airspace was no accident. There’s nothing more important than keeping America safe (Twitter).

Russian Defector from Putin’s Inner Circle: “Our President has become a war criminal”

Daily Mail: A protection officer who worked directly for Vladimir Putin has defected from Russia, labelling the Kremlin despot a ‘war criminal’ for his invasion of Ukraine. Gleb Karakulov, 35, is a captain in the Federal Guard Service, known as the FGS or FSO, who escaped Russia to the safety via Istanbul. Now, he has revealed in an interview that Putin is so paranoid about his personal security, assassination attempts and health and that he opts to stay ‘in his bunker’ rather than make regular trips across the country like he used to. Karakulov added that the Russian despot is ‘mortally afraid’ of Covid and is isolating for the fourth year, and that he never uses a mobile phone out of fear of being bugged by the West – instead taking a special communications box with him (Daily Mail). Associated Press: Russia’s February invasion of Ukraine was a breaking point, he said. He told his wife he wanted out. He didn’t want their young daughter brainwashed in pre-school, where children were doing patriotic salutes and being told about bombs. With Russia’s September mobilization drive, Karakulov realized that if he quit his job, he was likely to be drafted into a war he didn’t want to fight. He learned that some of his colleagues had been dispatched to Ukraine and killed. He was outraged that no one in Russia acknowledged those deaths (Associated Press).

Finland Officially Joins NATO

Associated Press: Finland joined the NATO military alliance Tuesday, dealing a major blow to Russian President Vladimir Putin with a historic realignment of Europe’s post-Cold War security landscape triggered by Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. The Nordic country’s membership doubles Russia’s border with the world’s biggest security alliance. Finland had adopted neutrality after its defeat by the Soviets in World War II, but its leaders signaled they wanted to join NATO after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine sent a shiver of fear through its neighbors (Associated Press). National Review: Russian President Vladimir Putin has decried the expansion of NATO and threatened to take “retaliatory measures” in response to alleged security threats created by Finland’s membership in the military alliance. Russia has said it will strengthen its forces near Finland if the U.S.-led security alliance sends any additional troops or equipment to the country (National Review).

10.

Russia Assumes Presidency at the UN Security Council

This is a farce. Wall Street Journal: The United Nations has reached another grotesque moral milestone as Vladimir Putin’s Russia has assumed the presidency of the Security Council in April. Yes, the country that is bombing cities and civilians in Ukraine, and threatening nuclear war, takes over the body that is supposed to enforce international norms among nations. In one sense this is truth in advertising at last. The Security Council has done nothing to sanction Russia since its Feb. 24, 2022, invasion of its neighbor (Wall Street Journal). New York Times: Russia has taken over the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council. The panel, created to maintain world peace, met in New York on Monday under its new leadership: the country that has plunged Europe into its biggest conflict since World War II (Twitter).