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‘Unusual’: Judge Cannon Denies Special Counsel Request for a Protective Order in Trump Espionage Act Case
Judge Aileen Cannon has denied the Special Counsel’s request for a protective order in the Dept. of Justice’s prosecution of Donald Trump under the Espionage Act.
The Dept. of Justice had requested a protective order surrounding discovery related to classified documents, which will be a key challenge in this case that deals with top government secrets.
Judge Cannon claimed a “lack of meaningful conferral,” meaning the prosecutors and defense attorneys for Donald Trump and Walt Nauta, his co-defendant, the judge says, have not sufficiently discussed the matter. DOJ can refile.
The Guardian’s Hugo Lowell notes, “we had expected Trump to appeal the Section 3 P/O [protective order] and add to delay but the Judge denying the P/O is unusual.”
“Sure they can refile but it seems unusual for judge to straight up deny a section 3 p/o as opposed to asking defense to make objections,” Lowell also wrote. “Is there another instance where that’s happened? All these small delays will start to add up.”
“Also govt have indicated that they made efforts to confer last week and Trump team wasn’t interested,” he added.
Former U.S. Dept. of Justice national security official Brandon Van Grack explains that it is the Trump defense team that is causing what Cannon called a “lack of meaningful conferral.”
“Very odd to deny the motion vs requiring defense counsel to articulate objections,” Van Grack writes. “On Monday, DOJ explained it had reached out to defense counsel on Friday, who did not wish to confer that day or over the weekend. Defense counsel cant get classified docs w/o a protective order.”
On Tuesday, CNN had reported: “On Monday, prosecutors said in a court filing that the defendants were stonewalling on explaining why they opposed Smith’s proposal for a protective order to be issued before the classified discovery is turned over to the defendants.”
Responding to Van Grack’s observation, civil liberties and national security journalist Marcy Wheeler points out that Cannon appears to be pushing boundaries – in a legal area where she is not the decision maker.
“And as DOJ noted in their motion, CIPA [the Classified Information Procedures Act] says the judge SHALL impose a protective order,” Wheeler writes. “This is another Cannon procedural issue, not (yet) the glaring siren of concern. But WHETHER to impose a protective order is not up to her.”
Andrew Weissmann, the popular MSNBC commentator who spent 20 years at DOJ, including as the FBI General Counsel, exclaimed: “Oy.”
He added, “When one side does not meet, it is hard to confer. This legitimizes defense delay tactic.”
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U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) is accusing Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. of lying during his Senate testimony this week, and warning that the HHS chief’s efforts to destroy faith in the measles vaccine will lead to children dying.
“It’s not a small thing that Trump’s Cabinet thinks Congress and the American people are so dumb that they can tell brazen lies over and over. We can’t normalize this,” Senator Murphy urged.
“The way in which Trump and Trump’s cabinet lie through their teeth, unapologetically and brazenly, to Congress and the American people, is outrageous,” Murphy said in video (below) he posted online Friday. “And I really worry that we risk normalizing it by not calling it out when it happens.”
He called the exchange he had with RFK Jr. “maddening” and “heartbreaking,” and said the HHS Secretary “essentially says that he’s no longer recommending that families get the measles vaccine. That’s going to kill hundreds, if not thousands of kids in this country.”
Murphy then played a clip from Kennedy’s testimony (which NCRM covered earlier this week), and, he said, caught Kennedy in a lie.
RELATED: ‘None of That Is True’: RFK Jr. Fact-Checked Repeatedly in Heated Senate Hearing
“By the way,” Kennedy told Murphy, “I said at the [House] hearing this morning that I was recommending the measles vaccine,” and told him to “look at the transcript.”
“So guess what I did?” Murphy says. “I went and checked the House transcript. It’s hours of testimony. I and my staff watched all of it, and guess what? Nowhere, nowhere in that transcript does he say he recommends the measles vaccine.”
“He lied through his teeth, and he did it because all of these MAGA sycophants have gotten used to lying. Donald Trump does it all the time, so they think they can do it as well. But we can’t normalize this because you can’t run a country if your leaders are lying to you every single day,” the Connecticut Democrat warned.
“RFK Jr. doesn’t support the measles vaccine, and he shouldn’t pretend that he does. He undermines the vaccine on a daily basis and whether we like his conspiracy theory positions or not, he should just be honest with the American people. They should all be honest with the American people, and none of us should normalize or get used to this amount of lying.”
Watch the video below or at this link.
So I hope you watch and share this video about the lies RFK Jr. told this week before the House and Senate. It’s a not a small thing that Trump’s Cabinet thinks Congress and the American people are so dumb that they can tell brazen lies over and over. We can’t normalize this. pic.twitter.com/W9dJJQtm6A
— Chris Murphy 🟧 (@ChrisMurphyCT) May 16, 2025
READ MORE: ‘It Meant Assassination’: Trump Blasts ‘Dirty Cop’ Comey for ‘8647’
President Donald Trump is attacking the FBI Director he fired, Jim Comey, who is reportedly under investigation over a photo of sea shells formed into the numbers 8647. Top Trump law enforcement and intelligence officials claim it is a call for the assassination of the 47th President, although “86” is generally understood to mean “reject” or “eject,” and, since the 1930s, in restaurant parlance, has meant a menu item is unavailable.
“He knew exactly what that meant,” President Trump told Fox News’ Bret Baier in an interview that will air Friday evening. “A child knows what that meant.”
“If you’re the FBI Director and you don’t know what that meant, that meant ‘assassination.’ And it says it loud and clear,” Trump alleged.
READ MORE: GOP Plan Redefines Dependent Child as ‘Under 7’—But Adds Loophole for Married Couples
“Now, he wasn’t very competent, but he was competent enough to know what that meant, and he did it for a reason, and he was hit so hard because people like me, and they like what’s happening with our country. Our country’s become respected again,” the President claimed. “And he’s calling for the assassination of the president.”
Baier interjected, saying: “Obviously, he apologized and said he —”
“Well, he apologized because he was hit,” Trump also claimed. “Look, he’s a very bad —”
When asked what he wants to see happen to the former Director of the FBI, Trump said he did not want to weigh in, and would let his Attorney General handle it.
“I don’t want to take a position on it because that’s gonna be up to Pam [Bondi] and all of the great people, but I will say this. I think it’s a terrible thing. And when you add his history to that, if he had a clean history, he doesn’t.”
“He’s a dirty cop. He’s a dirty cop. And if he had a clean history, I could understand if there was a leniency. But I’m going to let them make that decision.”
READ MORE: ‘Mad King’: Trump Teases ‘Fourth’ Term to U.S. Troops Overseas
Trump Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard told Fox News on Thursday night she thinks Comey should go to prison for posting the “8647” photo.
Asked, “Do you believe Comey should be in jail?” Gabbard replied, “I do.”
“Any other person with the position of influence that he has,” she added, “people who take very seriously what what a guy of his stature, his experience, and what the propaganda media has built him up to be?”
“I’m very concerned for the president’s life. We’ve already seen assassination attempts,” she continued. “I’m very concerned for his life, and James Comey, in my view, should be held accountable and put behind bars for this.”
But others commenting via social media were quick to point to a number of “86” posts apparently made by right wing influencers and even a former member of Congress, as well as T-shirts for sale during the Biden years.
Will @MarshaBlackburn ask for @amazon to be investigated for selling “8646” shirts and merch?
Or is it only worthy of FBI investigations when it’s “8647”?
We’ll hang up and listen. pic.twitter.com/yHoLSVinM0
— The Tennessee Holler (@TheTNHoller) May 16, 2025
Watch the video below or at this link.
Trump on Comey: “He knew exactly what that meant … it meant assassination. It says it loud and clear … he’s calling for the assassination of the president … it’s gonna be up to Pam … he’s a dirty cop.” pic.twitter.com/fCkHnoXFjF
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 16, 2025
READ MORE: ‘Significant Damage’: Walmart’s ‘Magnitude’ Warning to Consumers Spurs Trump Tariff Critics
Image via Reuters
During a rally-style appearance before uniformed U.S. troops in Qatar on Thursday, President Donald Trump—serving as their Commander-in-Chief—floated the idea of a “fourth” term and falsely claimed victory in the 2020 election he lost. The appearance drew swift criticism for blurring the line between military service and political theater.
“As you know, we won three elections, okay?” Trump told the largely silent troops (video below). “And some people want us to do a fourth. I don’t know—I’ll have to think about that.”
“You saw the new, the new hat. The hottest hat is, it says, ‘Trump 2028: We’re driving the left crazy.'”
“When you see that. We didn’t need that hat, but, uh, it was it’s been an amazing period of time,” he concluded.
READ MORE: ‘Significant Damage’: Walmart’s ‘Magnitude’ Warning to Consumers Spurs Trump Tariff Critics
Noting that Trump was speaking “at the largest U.S. military installation in the Middle East,” CNN reported that the President “thanked the U.S. troops for political support.”
“There’s – nobody been stronger than the military in terms of backing us, nobody,” Trump said. “So, I just want to thank you all very much. Great honor. Thank you very much.”
CBS News national security coordinating producer Jim LaPorta, who has reported extensively on the military, wrote: “If this was a rally, the president’s remarks would be fine. But in front of service members who are expected to be apolitical, many Defense Department officials would find these remarks inappropriate.”
READ MORE: ‘Deeply Fascist’: Massive Banner of Trump on Government Building Sparks ‘North Korea’ Vibes
The Bulwark’s Sam Stein observed: “Treating the troops like they’re at a campaign rally and sowing doubt about the past and future of American elections — all in one soundbite.”
Democratic pollster and strategist Luke Martin called it “especially jarring to see Trump flirting with blowing a hole in the Constitution in front of an entire crowd of people who literally swore an oath to protect it with their life.”
Independent journalist Mike Rothschild noted: “Making a statement like this in front of active duty troops would have generated months of scandal, hearings, and resignations in years gone by. Now it’s just another Thursday with the Mad King.”
Watch the video below or at this link.
Trump speaking with the troops in Qatar: “As you know we won three elections. And some people want us to do a fourth. I don’t know. I’ll have to think about that. You saw the new hat?… It says Trump 2028.” pic.twitter.com/82mmClpFKe
— The Bulwark (@BulwarkOnline) May 15, 2025
READ MORE: GOP Plan Redefines Dependent Child as ‘Under 7’—But Adds Loophole for Married Couples
Image via Reuters
‘Lied Through His Teeth’: Senator Warns RFK Jr. Undermining Vaccine Will ‘Kill’ Kids
‘It Meant Assassination’: Trump Blasts ‘Dirty Cop’ Comey for ‘8647’
‘Mad King’: Trump Teases ‘Fourth’ Term to U.S. Troops Overseas
‘Significant Damage’: Walmart’s ‘Magnitude’ Warning to Consumers Spurs Trump Tariff Critics
‘Deeply Fascist’: Massive Banner of Trump on Government Building Sparks ‘North Korea’ Vibes
News4 days ago‘None of That Is True’: RFK Jr. Fact-Checked Repeatedly in Heated Senate Hearing
News3 days ago‘Deeply Fascist’: Massive Banner of Trump on Government Building Sparks ‘North Korea’ Vibes
News3 days ago‘Mad King’: Trump Teases ‘Fourth’ Term to U.S. Troops Overseas
News3 days ago‘Significant Damage’: Walmart’s ‘Magnitude’ Warning to Consumers Spurs Trump Tariff Critics
News2 days ago‘It Meant Assassination’: Trump Blasts ‘Dirty Cop’ Comey for ‘8647’
News2 days ago‘Lied Through His Teeth’: Senator Warns RFK Jr. Undermining Vaccine Will ‘Kill’ Kids