One city not eager to comply with President Trump’s new immigration plans is Portland.

The city will be actively working to try and prevent its immigrants from deportations, according to a new report from KATU ABC 2. 

One immigrant who ” came to the United States from El Salvador when he was just a teenager”, Francisco Aguirre, told ABC: “I can’t imagine leaving my kids behind.”

He added: “I flee the violence there because my life, you know, was in danger, and if I stay, I will get killed. My relatives got killed back in El Salvador, and I did not have any other choice to just run away one day when I could, you know.”

Portland pastor Mark Knutson has vowed to try and protect Aguirre, calling the Augustana Lutheran Church in Northeast Portland a sanctuary.

Knutson reflected on the sacredness of sanctuary, saying,“The idea was if ICE were to dare breach this sacred space, this holy grail, and violently drag a man out of this church, with all the cellphones and technology, even back 10 years ago, can you imagine the pictures of a man being dragged?” 

The report says that the church even has an alarm system—if ICE arrives, the bell will sound.

Under President Trump, tensions at Augustana Lutheran Church have risen, fueled by his executive order prioritizing deportations of “inadmissible and removable aliens.” Trump, when asked about ICE raids, stated, “I don’t want to say when, but it’s going to happen. It has to happen.”

Knutson is organizing community action. “You’ll see this church overflowing with leaders from the community, everyday people here to stand in solidarity. That’s going to send a message to this administration that we in Oregon are not going to go for this.”

For many, deportation can mean tragedy. Aguirre, a congregant, lost his son Moses, who was killed after fleeing to El Salvador out of fear of deportation. “He was playing soccer when they shot him,” Aguirre said.

The fear of deportation has overwhelmed Portland’s immigrant community. Immigration attorney Vanesa Pancic noted, “I think my office missed 50 phone calls, missed 50 phone calls yesterday. I don’t know how you guys got through my office yesterday.”

While the timing and scope of deportations remain uncertain, Aguirre remains hopeful. “I dream of becoming a pastor to help unite people through God’s word,” he said.

In Oregon, nearly 90,000 citizens live with undocumented family members, according to a 2016 report by the American Immigration Council.

Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times,

The federal government’s method of searching through information incidentally collected on U.S.-based individuals violates the U.S. Constitution’s Fourth Amendment, a federal judge has ruled.

“To countenance this practice would convert Section 702 into precisely what Defendant has labeled it – a tool for law enforcement to run ‘backdoor searches’ that circumvent the Fourth Amendment,” U.S. District Judge LaShann Dearcy Hall said in the ruling, which was released on Jan. 21.

Government officials acquired information on the defendant, Agron Hasbajrami, a legal permanent resident who they arrested in 2011 and charged with providing material support to a terrorist organization. The information was gathered under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which lets authorities spy on people.

After Hasbajrami pleaded guilty, authorities disclosed that some of the evidence they used in the case was the fruit of information they obtained without a warrant under a FISA supplement called Section 207, which enables authorities to conduct surveillance on non-U.S. persons reasonably believed to be outside the United States.

The authorities had gathered some evidence on Hasbajrami as they targeted non-Americans believed to be located outside the country and other communications from Hasbajrami because, they said, they at one point mistakenly thought he was a non-U.S. person.

Hasbajrami moved to suppress the evidence. After the motion was denied, he pleaded guilty on the condition he be allowed to appeal the denial.

A federal appeals court in 2019 largely upheld the denial, finding that the government’s incidental collection of information on Hasbajrami as they carried out surveillance was lawful because the surveillance was lawful in the first place. The appeals court also remanded back to the district court the examination of whether the government’s so-called back door searches of the Section 702 database violated the Constitution.

Hall, in the new decision, concluded they did. While the government’s collection of the evidence was lawful, that doesn’t automatically mean the subsequent database searches were, she said.

“In other words, simply acquiring defendant’s communications under Section 702, albeit lawfully, did not, in and of itself, permit the government to later query the retained information,” Hall wrote.

“To hold otherwise would effectively allow law enforcement to amass a repository of communications under Section 702—including those of U.S. persons—that can later be searched on demand without limitation. But this approach undermines the purpose of the warrant requirement, which is ’to interpose a ‘neutral and detached magistrate’ between the citizen and ’the officer engaged in the often competitive enterprise of ferreting out crime,’” Hall added.

The judge denied the remaining portion of Hasbarjami’s motion, which asked for the government to hand over the evidence it collected.

A U.S. Department of Justice spokesperson declined to comment.

An attorney for Hasbarjami did not respond to a request for comment.

Government watchdogs hailed the ruling.

“This is a major constitutional ruling on one of the most abused provisions of FISA,” Patrick Toomey, deputy director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s National Security Project, said in a statement.

“In light of this ruling, we ask Congress to uphold its responsibility to protect civil rights and civil liberties by refusing to renew Section 702 absent a number of necessary reforms, including an official warrant requirement for querying US persons data and increased transparency,” Andrew Crocker and Matthew Guariglia, with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, added.

President Donald Trump’s nominee for CIA director, John Ratcliffe, said during his recent confirmation hearing that Section 702 provides an “indispensable national security tool” and that he opposed requiring warrants for queries of the database.

Former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard from Hawaii, whom Trump selected as his national security adviser, also says she supports Section 702.

Section 702 has been repeatedly reauthorized by Congress, most recently in 2024.

Section 702 is set to expire on April 15, 2026.

Described as an “Asian female” in her 20s, the FBI and Seattle Police are seeking help identifying a serial bank robber linked to five Seattle heists between June 28, 2024, and January 13, 2025.

FBI spokesperson Steve Bernd noted, “Once we start seeing someone do multiple jobs or violent bank robberies, it’s something the bureau will put more priority to.”

The FBI identified the targeted banks as Wells Fargo on Queen Anne (6/28), US Bank on NE 45th (9/7), US Bank on NE 63rd (10/31), Key Bank on Holman Road (11/21), and US Bank on Edmunds (1/13), according to KOMO News.

KOMO News reports that the suspect is described as an Asian woman, 18-25 years old, 5’3″ to 5’5″, often wearing a hat and facemask. She typically handed tellers a note demanding money during the robberies. 

Help the #FBI and Seattle Police Department identify a serial bank robber. If you have information, let us know here: https://t.co/1ci6yDdaYq or call 1-800-CALL-FBI or the Seattle Police Department. pic.twitter.com/SFewsiHQlM

— FBI Seattle (@FBISeattle) January 22, 2025

Bernd said: “She’s using notes, what we call a note job, but the last one, she actually displayed a weapon. She didn’t point it at the teller, but she indicated that she had one, so that’s concerning to us because she hadn’t done that before.” 

“If that’s indicative of what she’s willing to do if the teller isn’t doing what she’s asking, that’s alarming,” he continued. 

Authored by Jacob Burg via The Epoch Times,

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday, releasing additional government files associated with the assassinations of former President John F. Kennedy (JFK), former Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy (RFK), and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Trump promised at his pre-inauguration rally in Washington on Jan. 19 that he would release the remaining records on the assassinations of JFK, RFK, and King in the coming days.

“That’s a big one,” Trump said while signing the order at the Oval Office.

“A lot of people have been waiting for this for years, for decades. And everything will be revealed.”

The FBI accused Lee Harvey Oswald, a former U.S. Marine who had defected to the Soviet Union for a period after embracing Marxism, of assassinating JFK in 1963.

Nightclub owner Jack Ruby shot and killed Oswald as authorities were moving him from Dallas police headquarters to the county jail just two days after the assassination, stirring decades of speculation and conspiracy theories.

JFK’s assassination coincided with a period of increasing mistrust in the federal government, and many Americans still believe Oswald was part of a larger plot to kill the president.

Gallup’s most recent poll, conducted in October 2023, found that 65 percent of U.S. adults reject the theory that a lone gunman killed JFK.

Trump and former President Joe Biden previously released thousands of documents related to JFK’s death.

Roughly 99 percent of the assassination files have been released as of 2023, according to the National Archives.

However, Biden had agreed to delay the disclosure of additional records, stating the necessity of protecting “against identifiable harms to the military defense, intelligence operations, law enforcement, and the conduct of foreign relations that are of such gravity that they outweigh the public interest in disclosure.”

An ongoing and devastating avian influenza outbreak has severely dented the nation’s egg-producing hen population, driving wholesale prices into record-high territory and far surpassing the price explosion seen a few years ago when the bird flu first emerged. This is an alarming trend, and egg prices at the supermarket will likely rise further in the weeks and months ahead.

The latest wholesale data from Urner Barry shows that the price for a dozen eggs has jumped to a record high of $5.4, exceeding the previous peak of $4.65 set in December 2022. Rising wholesale prices are expected to continue pressuring supermarket prices higher.

According to the USDA’s bird flu dashboard, 15.5 million birds across the Lower 48 have been infected by avian influenza over the last 30 days.

About 20 million egg-laying hens died in the fourth quarter of 2024 because of the escalating health crisis, denting the nation’s egg-laying population. 

“Unlike in past years, in 2024, all major production systems experienced significant losses, including conventional caged, cage-free, and certified organic types,” USDA wrote in a report earlier this month. 

The end result is this: 

Well, the egg shortage is definitely real. pic.twitter.com/rI9kRqVGRR

— Brad Stephenson (@Shuttlecock) January 23, 2025

Egg update pic.twitter.com/A6P7efjpka

— Matthew Zeitlin (@MattZeitlin) January 22, 2025

tf is this shit at my grocery store? egg shortage? for real? pic.twitter.com/2Jri48UQv7

— Chaos In Roswell (@ChaosInRoswell) January 22, 2025

Apparently there’s an egg shortage now.. $10 a dozen and limits 😭 wtf man pic.twitter.com/Q66k0csxrq

— Tazz (@bitcointazz) January 22, 2025

Readers may want to consider building or purchasing chicken coops to secure their own egg supply, as shortages are expected to persist. Additionally, a growing trend among some Americans involves sourcing clean food from mom-and-pop farms or utilizing their own land for food production. It may be time for folks to shift away from toxic food supply chains controlled by mega-corporations. 

Authored by Susan Crabtree via RealClearPolitics,

President Trump’s decision to launch his second term by declaring a national emergency at the U.S. border triggered an avalanche of opposition from Democratic governors, liberal members of Congress, and pro-migrant organizations vowing to challenge the constitutionality of his sweeping executive actions.

In Monday’s inaugural address, Trump pledged that “all illegal entry will immediately be halted.” The national emergency declaration includes provisions allowing for the deployment of additional military resources to finish the border wall, among other efforts.

“We will have the military at the southern border, but there are other elements of the United States government that will be working throughout the country,” an incoming White House official said during a Monday morning call with reporters.

The executive action targeting children of illegal immigrants, along with a raft of border-related orders Trump signed to overhaul U.S. immigration and border security, attracted condemnation from Pope Francis, as well a host of left-leaning groups.  

In an interview Sunday on Italian television, Francis labeled the mass deportation of illegal immigrants “a calamity,” remarks signaling a return to the friction between the pontiff and Trump that marked the president’s first term in the White House.

“This, if it’s true, will be a disgrace, because it will make poor unfortunates who have nothing foot the bill for [global] imbalances,” the pope said. “That doesn’t work. You don’t solve things that way. You just don’t.”

Francis, who has made illegal immigrant and refugee rights a top priority of his papacy, is the most prominent voice pushing back against Trump’s sweeping changes to U.S. immigration policy to implement mass deportations.

Other self-anointed U.S. leaders of the Trump resistance also denounced the stricter immigration policies and pledged not to follow the new federal birthright law while fighting it in court.

“That’s unconstitutional. We will not follow an unconstitutional order,” Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, who is eyeing a 2028 presidential run, told reporters Monday. Pritzker blasted Trump’s deportation plans, which reportedly could begin in cities across the country, including Chicago, as early as Tuesday.

“They have not communicated with us. I’m reading the same things you are,” Pritzker continued. “This is indicative of what you’re going to see of the Trump administration for the next four years. It’s chaos.”

Refugees International, a nonprofit advocacy organization, deemed Trump’s first moves to tighten immigration laws “extreme” and “an attempt to reverse America’s proud legacy and tradition of providing refuge to people forced to flee their homes.”

“Make no mistake, these orders are not just about stopping irregular migration – they also target long-standing legal migration pathways in ways that will endanger vulnerable people, undermine border security, and harm the U.S. economy,” the group said in a statement.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, another presumed 2028 presidential contender, declared himself the leader of the Trump resistance just days after the president’s victory. On Monday, however, he was far more restrained. After weeks of searing criticism over state and local officials’ response to the Los Angeles wildfires, Newsom is walking a careful line with federal disaster aid on the line and with Trump set to visit the state on Friday.

Newsom, in a post on X.com, stressed the need to find “common ground” and efforts to reach “shared goals.”

“Where our shared principles are aligned, my administration stands ready to work with the Trump-Vance administration to deliver solutions and serve the nearly 40 million Californians we jointly represent,” he wrote.

Undeterred by the angry opposition, Tom Homan, Trump’s incoming “border czar,” Monday defended Trump’s crackdown. Homan estimated that more than 10 million illegal immigrants have flooded into the country during the Biden administration and argued that Biden and outgoing U.S. officials have “blood on their hands” for the death of 22-year-old nursing student Laken Riley and other U.S. citizens slain by immigrants living in the U.S. illegally.

Deportation raids targeting criminals will begin in major cities across the country Tuesday, Homan said, although he noted that the administration is reconsidering details of a planned Chicago ICE raid after a leak to the press about the operation occurred.

Earlier in the day, the Senate passed the Laken Riley Act on a bipartisan vote, with 12 Democrats joining Republicans to vote for the bill mandating the detention of more illegal immigrants charged with crimes. The measure now heads to the House, which passed a similar bill last month.

Gallego co-sponsored the Laken Riley bill but opposes ending birthright citizenship, another idea broached during the campaign and pressed by Trump on his first day in office.

“We need to address our broken immigration system and secure the border,” Gallego wrote on X.com, “But executive actions like this run contrary to the ideals of what makes our country great, and I will do all I can to fight this anti-American executive order.”

The battles lines over Trump’s expected revocation of birthright citizenship came into focus months ago. The immigration executive actions are a combination of campaign promises and policy ideas from the first term that never materialized.

Late Monday night, just hours after Trump signed the executive order ending birthright citizenship, the American Civil Liberties Union and several other immigration rights groups sued, accusing the administration of flouting the Constitution, congressional intent and longstanding Supreme Court precedent.

“Denying citizenship to U.S. born children is not only unconstitutional – it’s also a reckless and ruthless repudiation of American values,” Anthony Romero, executive director of the ACLU, said in a statement. “Birthright citizenship is part of what makes the United States the strong and dynamic nation that it is. This order seeks to repeat one of the gravest errors in American history, by creating a permanent subclass of people born in the U.S. who are denied full rights as Americans.”

The ACLU and the other groups are suing on the basis that ending the citizenship of children born to illegal immigrations violates the Fourteenth Amendment, which states that “all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States.”

“We will not let this attack on newborns and future generations of Americans go unchallenged,” Romero added. “The Trump administration’s overreach is so egregious that we are confident we will ultimately prevail.”

The incoming administration on Monday also shut down CBP One, an app that helped illegal immigrants and asylum seekers enter the United States.

House Homeland Security Committee chairman Mark Green applauded the flurry of immigration restrictions Trump imposed on his first day in office, deeming them a “restoration of American sovereignty at our borders.”

“We’re going to take the handcuffs [off ICE] that were placed on them by the Biden administration, and we’re going to put them on the bad guys,” Homan added during an appearance on Fox News Monday night.

Susan Crabtree is RealClearPolitics’ national political correspondent.

Climate misinformation and disinformation, relentlessly pushed by far-left corporate media outlets, had their readership believing they were on the brink of perishing on a fiery planet—blaming everything from Taylor Swift’s private jet travels to cow farts in late 2024. 

Then came ‘Old Man Winter,’ unleashing a polar vortex across the eastern half of the US, bringing record-low temperatures in some regions. Multiple winter storms traversed the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, including an incredibly rare snowstorm that battered New Orleans (bordering Gulf of America waters) that nearly surpassed a snowstorm last seen 130 years ago. 

Over 40 million people are experiencing temperatures at or below 0ºF this morning, and 10 million are at or below -10ºF…incredible.

Cold temperature records being broken from Mexico to California, Washington, Minnesota to the East Coast.#natgas #Energy #oott pic.twitter.com/WiQ7x6oA0s

— Kirk 🇺🇸 Hinz | BAM ⚡️Weather (@Met_khinz) January 21, 2025

The cold blast (or what has felt like a ‘mini ice age’ this month) produced by the polar vortex does not align with the corporate media’s and the World Economic Forum’s global warming doom narrative. This may explain why ‘green’ politicians and unelected officials, along with MSM, have somewhat ignored the reality of a cold blast freezing the US to the core. 

These are not the headlines one would expect to see if the planet was actually on fire: 

• “Doesn’t Fit MSM Narrative”: Latest Arctic Ice Data Shows 26% Larger Than 2012

• Parts Of US Could Rival Coldest January Since 1977

• PJM Grid Declares “Max Generation Alert” As Polar Vortex Unleashes Mini Ice Age

The latest cold weather emergency comes from the Great Lakes region. X users citing ship tracking data indicate that at least one bulk carrier is stranded on Lake Erie due to rapidly expanding ice coverage by subzero temperatures. 

Meteorologist Tom Niziol wrote on X, “Lake Erie over 80% ice-covered, freighter Manitoulan is stuck in the ice just outside Buffalo Harbor.”

“Word is they will sit there until an icebreaker gets to them tomorrow,” Niziol said. 

Lake Erie over 80% ice-covered, freighter Manitoulan is stuck in the ice just outside Buffalo Harbor. Word is they will sit there until an ice breaker gets to them tomorrow. Great tool from @MarineTraffic shows its track today. Hmmm, left a day later than they should have? pic.twitter.com/TlxcIOAF4G

— Tom Niziol (@TomNiziol) January 22, 2025

Another X user posted drone footage of Manitoulin stuck on Lake Erie.

I captured the Manitoulin a Great Lakes freighter Stuck on Lake Erie from the ice last night. pic.twitter.com/xTNvT98bLi

— Peter J. Cimino (@peterjcimino) January 23, 2025

And another. 

Great lakes freighter stuck in the lake erie ice off Buffalo. pic.twitter.com/BV7e4TVSOT

— Matt (@mattluvscherie) January 23, 2025

NOAA ice cover data from the Great Lakes Ice Tracker shows that Lake Erie’s current ice coverage is 80%, well above the 50-year trend of 46% for this time of year. 

For the Great Lakes, the Great Lakes Ice Tracker shows ice coverage at 25%, which is in line with 50-year trends for this time of year. 

The ice emergency unfolding on Lake Erie that has paralyzed some marine shipping lanes is not a headline that one would see if MSM was actually right about their global warming propaganda. No wonder trust in MSM has collapsed to record-low levels.  

Authored by Mark Glennon via Wirepoints.org,

Illinois had some rare, good news yesterday.

Stellantis, the Big 3 auto maker, announced it will be investing $1.2 billion in its Belvidere assembly plant and bringing back about 1,500 jobs there.

You’ll never know who really got it done if you listen to Illinois’ leadership.

It was a  “dramatic turnabout,” as the Detroit Free Press put it.

As you may remember, Gov. JB Pritzker announced to much fanfare in October 2023 that the Stellantis facility in Belvidere, idled with layoffs just before the previous Christmas, would be reopened. But no deal was ever signed and, last year, Stellantis indefinitely postponed any Belividere expansion, blaming “market conditions.”

But that was before Trump, his tariff threats and four days of meetings last week between Stellantis, Trump and his team.

Here is a headline on one of many stories linking yesterday’s good news about more jobs in Illinois to Trump’s pressure on Stellantis:

“Stellantis responds to Trump’s tariff threat, will restart Illinois plant and build new Durango in Detroit.”

And from the Wall Street Journal:

John Elkann, chairman of Jeep-maker Stellantis, wasted no time reassuring President Trump of the global automaker’s commitment to U.S. manufacturing. The scion of Italy’s famous Agnelli family met with Trump last week to emphasize the company’s support for American workers.

On Wednesday, following the meeting, Stellantis reaffirmed plans to reopen a now-idled factory in Illinois to make a new midsize truck, according to an internal memo reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

Pritzker, however, claims full credit for himself and his friends.

Not a word even acknowledging Trump’s role.

From Pritzker’s statement yesterday about Stellantis’ new announcement:

This would not be possible without proactive collaboration and coordination between the State of Illinois, Stellantis, UAW, the Biden-Harris Administration, and our champions in Congress, including Senator Durbin, Senator Duckworth, Representative Bill Foster, and Representative Eric Sorensen,” said Governor JB Pritzker.

“My administration has worked tirelessly with our partners to secure this investment and we are excited to see it come to fruition.

Illinois Senator’s Duckworth and Durbin were no better.

Their joint statement likewise doesn’t mention Trump.

One big loose end is that we still don’t know how much state money Illinois initially offered Stellantis as part of the initial deal that fell apart. Pritzker and the state never said and nobody in the media ever pressed him for an answer. Some or all of that money is presumably still on the table. In any event, that does not mean Trump’s role wasn’t essential to Stellantis’ new committment.

Why does Pritzker figure he can get away with deceit and ingratitude so extreme?

Because the Illinois press never calls him out on such things.

He knows they won’t lay a hand on him.

Authored by Ailsa Sherrington via CoinTelegraph.com,

Just days before US President Donald Trump’s inauguration, the crypto industry was taken relatively by surprise with the launch of Official Trump (TRUMP), which was swiftly followed by Official Melania (MELANIA) — two memecoins launched by the first family that have pumped and yo-yoed in the days that followed.

​​

The president’s memecoin hit a peak of $72 on Jan. 19, then dipped to $44 on Jan. 20 when MELANIA launched. The coin briefly recovered while the president was sworn into office and has since hovered around the $40 mark. At the time of writing, the president’s memecoin is $37 — down 49% from its peak.

If speculation is to be believed, more official memecoins by the Trump family are on the way. Though touted as “memecoins,” their significance is unprecedented.

It was difficult to imagine an incoming American president launching his own memecoin before Jan. 18. Now, it’s hard to picture TRUMP and other tokens not playing a pivotal role in the US political sphere.

As crypto lawyer Preston Byrne wrote in a blog post, “Crypto is going to be a bigger political football than it’s ever been. Everyone who cares about politics is going to care about it, with no exceptions.”

This includes Democrats and disgruntled investors, who, according to Byrne, are 100% likely to sue the project within two months.

Is TRUMP even illegal?

James Thurber, founder and former director of the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies, told the Guardian that Trump is blatantly profiting from his own pro-crypto agenda.

“There are shameful and major conflicts of interest with respect to his family business benefiting from his cryptocurrency policies,” Thurber said. 

Ryan Lee, chief analyst at Bitget Research, told Cointelegraph that TRUMP has “drawn new investors into the space.” But new audiences aren’t necessarily aware of what makes a sound investment. The launch of TRUMP and MELANIA has predictably made winners and losers, with some shedding millions of dollars as prices slumped.

Nearly 570,000 wallets have made a loss on TRUMP, compared to nearly 330,000 that made a profit. Source: 0xning

Byrne believes these lost investments will inevitably lead to litigation. But what is the legal basis?

“To my knowledge, no court in the United States has determined that memecoins are explicitly legal,” crypto lawyer Aaron Brogan told Cointelegraph.

That said, they have historically been difficult to prosecute. Brogan explained that memecoins may not be classified as securities under the Howey test.

“This is because they are basically inert. They don’t do anything and are not tied to any project with a goal of developing useful applications. They just sit onchain, and people buy them for the memes.”

This is likely why the Securities and Exchange Commission largely avoided memecoins during its Gary Gensler era, instead opting for comparatively “easier” targets like XRP and SOL.

“But regardless of why, launching a memecoin was less risky over the last four years than developing a bona fide project in cryptocurrency, which is probably the reason they have proliferated,” Brogan said.

So, memecoins exist in a sort of litigation vacuum, making it the best way for the Trump family to launch a token when all eyes were firmly on them. However, these memecoins are tied to arguably the most important people in the United States — so whether the intent or not, the value of TRUMP and MELANIA will likely serve as a litmus test of public sentiment.

As Byrne wrote:

“Trump Coin will now be tracked on CNBC financial shows, in newspapers, the price will be a reflection of the underlying tone of American society and the American project.”

Crypto lawyer Josh Lawler told Cointelegraph that the question is whether this should immediately place TRUMP and MELANIA into a different, regulated category.

“The unresolved and difficult question is whether the fact that a large segment of the global population is primed to turn this ‘consumer product’ into a major capital asset should automatically put it into a regulated category even though there is no ‘official’ communication of ongoing investment value,” he told Cointelegraph. 

“As of this moment in time, there is no law that would require that treatment.”

Democrats likely to sue anyway

Trump and his team of lawyers have clearly prepared for attacks from Democrats or others keen to see him bleed over these memecoins.

The terms of service on the TRUMP memecoin’s official website state that TRUMP is not intended to be, in any way, “an investment opportunity, investment contract, or security of any type.”

Lawler agrees that “an early assessment indicates that TRUMP is carefully crafted to avoid literal violation of laws including the Securities Act or the Foreign Emoluments Clause of the United States Constitution.”

And it is “absolutely unthinkable” that Trump would face legal threats from the federal government during his term, Brogan stated.

However, Byrne says that this won’t stop Democrats or certain investors from filing, say, a civil lawsuit. In fact, he’s banking on it.

The TRUMP terms include a class-action waiver and a clause requiring any litigation to be handled in arbitration (out of court), which serve to protect the project from civil lawsuits. Byrne wrote:

“This might make it tough for initial purchasers to bring a suit, but it’ll be easier for holders of tokens on secondary sales to argue that there’s no contractual privity between them and the project and so these terms shouldn’t apply.”

According to the crypto lawyer, there’s a 100% chance of a civil lawsuit within two months and a 90% chance of one filed in the next two weeks.

“I am absolutely certain this will happen. Someone will lose money, some lawyer will come up with a theory and file.”

Brogan agrees, telling Cointelegraph:

“Frankly, I think the torrent of legal filings is about to make Noah’s great flood look like a sun shower.”

What’s the worst that could happen?

As a man who became a convicted felon and then the 47th president of the US — in that order — it’s worth asking what, if anything, litigation will do to Trump. It may be difficult to legally pursue the leader of the “free world,” but it is not impossible.

“In Clinton v. Jones, the Supreme Court ruled that presidents are subject to suit for actions they took before becoming president,” Brogan explained.

“So, it is possible that some of these lawsuits will get through.”

The issue is that Trump has developed Kevlar-grade skin. Some civil lawsuits, perhaps a few TRUMP associates hounded by state attorneys general… will these attempts lead to any real form of enforcement? Of protection for investors?

“He’s cultivated a coalition of supporters who are not interested in policing traditional mores of public conduct,” Brogan argued, “and the dividend from that effort is that he can do whatever he wants.”

“Trump has immanentized the crypto revolution,” Byrne concluded in his blog post. “We will each remember this day until we die, because we will be dealing with the consequences of this for the rest of our lives.”

Via Headline USA,

The Senate advanced the nomination of Pete Hegseth as President Donald Trump’s defense secretary Thursday on a largely party-line vote, despite party-line opposition from Democrats and defections from two notorious RINOs who – like most in the Senate – voted in favor of confirming grossly incompetent Biden Defense secretary Lloyd Austin.

Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine predictably broke rank with the Republican majority to elevate the former Fox News star, distinguished military veteran, accomplished author and Harvard graduate.

The vote was 51-49, with a final vote on confirmation expected Friday.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., implored his colleagues to think seriously, “Is this the best man we have to lead the greatest military in the world?”

In what has become a standard part of the Democrat playbook, Hegseth has been subjected to salacious personal smear attacks, accusing him of heavy drinking and infidelity—both of which Democrats routinely engage in with impunity and which would not impugn his competence as a military leader if true. Hegseth has denied many of the allegations.

Mukowksi, in a lengthy statement, said that his behaviors “starkly contrast” with what is expected of the U.S. military. She also noted his past statements that women should not fill military combat roles.

“I remain concerned about the message that confirming Mr. Hegseth sends to women currently serving and those aspiring to join,” Murkowski wrote on social media.

Murkowski said behavior that Hegseth has acknowledged, “including infidelity on multiple occasions,” shows a lack of judgment.

“These behaviors starkly contrast the values and discipline expected of service members,” she said.

“Above all, I believe that character is the defining trait required of the Secretary of Defense, and must be prioritized without compromise,” she said.

Trump is standing by Hegseth, and the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee has dismissed the claims as factually inaccurate.

It will take a simple majority senators to confirm Hegseth’s confirmation. Most Republicans, who hold a 53-seat majority in the chamber, have signaled they will back the nominee, though Vice President JD Vance could be called in to break a tie vote.

“I am ironclad in my assessment that the nominee, Mr. Hegseth, is prepared to be the next secretary of defense,” the chairman, Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., said in a statement on the eve of voting. “The Senate needs to confirm this nominee as fast as possible.”

Wicker said he had been briefed a third time on the FBI background investigation into Hegseth. He said “the allegations unfairly impugning his character do not pass scrutiny.”

A new president’s national security nominees are often the first to be lined up for confirmation, to ensure U.S. safety at home and abroad. Already the Senate has overwhelmingly confirmed Marco Rubio as secretary of State in a unanimous vote, and it was on track to confirm John Ratcliffe as CIA director later Thursday.

During a fiery confirmation hearing, Hegseth swatted away allegations of wrongdoing one by one—dismissing them as “smears”—as he displayed his military credentials and vowed to bring “warrior culture” to the top Pentagon post.

Among the allegations levied against Hegseth is a claim that he sexually assaulted a woman at a Republican conference in California, which he has maintained was a consensual encounter.

A new claim emerged this week in an affidavit from a former sister-in-law who said Hegseth was abusive to his second wife to the point that she feared for her safety. Hegseth has denied the allegation. In divorce proceedings, neither Hegseth nor the woman claimed to be a victim of domestic abuse.

Schumer said Thursday that Hegseth was unqualified for the job because of his personal behavior, including drinking, and his lack of experience.

“One of the kindest words that might be used to describe Mr. Hegseth is erratic, and that’s a term you don’t want at DOD,” Schumer said.

“He has a clear problem of judgment.”

A Princeton- and Harvard-educated former combat veteran, Hegseth went on to make a career at Fox News, where he hosted a weekend show. Trump tapped him as the defense secretary to lead an organization with nearly 2.1 million service members, about 780,000 civilians and a budget of $850 billion.

Hegseth has promised not to drink on the job if confirmed.

Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, herself a combat veteran and sexual assault survivor, has signaled her backing after initially opposing the choice. It is believed that Ernst herself may have been engaged in a soft campaign for the spot but that intra-party pressure and backlash led her to reconsider.