ET Williams

The Doctor of Common Sense

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Judge Engoron Puts Trump on Witness Stand, Fines Him $10,000 For ‘Violating’ Gag Order – Then Warns, “Don’t Do It Again Or It’ll be Worse”

Far-left Judge Engoron put Trump on the witness stand after he blasted the former president and accused him of potentially violating the gag order with his remarks to the press. He also fined Trump $10,000.

Radical Marxist New York Attorney General Letitia James is seeking $250 million in ‘damages’ when there is no victim in this fraud case and she is also seeking to ban Trump and his sons from operating any businesses in New York.

President Trump briefly spoke with the press during the mid-morning break. He criticized Michael Cohen as a “discredited witness” and called Arthur Engoron a “partisan judge.”

“He’s a felon, convicted felon for lying, went to jail for lying, and this is their only witness,” Trump said to reporters. “When you think about it, it’s pretty amazing.”

“The financial statements that we use were very conservative,” the former president added. “In addition to that, we have a disclaimer, which is go out and do your own due diligence, don’t necessarily believe what you read. In fact, don’t believe what you read, and here are the financials. You can look at them, and you can do whatever you want with it, but do not do anything in terms of considering them without analysis or due diligence.”

“Our country has become a laughing stock all over the world,” Trump told the press.

“I stated the last time that any future violations would be severely punished. Why should there not be severe sanctions for this blatant, dangerous disobeying of a court order?” Engoron said according to NBC News.

Trump’s lawyer told the judge he asked Trump about his remarks. Trump told him he was referring to Michael Cohen.

“Language sometimes is not clear, but this is clear to me,” he said, adding he’d take the matter “under advisement.” – according to NBC News.

Judge Engoron put Trump on the witness stand and asked him about his remarks to reporters. He asked Trump if he was referring to Cohen during his remarks. Trump said ‘yes.’

President Trump was CLEARLY referring to Michael Cohen, but the far-left judge wasn’t buying it and fined Trump $10,000!

“First of all, my principal law clerk is very close to me…”You and I can see each other and we are close but not as close, and there’s a barrier between us so wouldn’t that be at best somewhat ambiguous as to whom you were referring?” Judge Engoron said.

The judge warned Trump: “Don’t do it again or it’ll be worse.”

BREAKING: Judge Engoron Puts Trump on Witness Stand, Fines Him $10,000 For ‘Violating’ Gag Order – Then Warns, “Don’t Do It Again Or It’ll be Worse”

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Obama Criticizes Israel over Gaza: ‘Don’t Harden Palestinian Attitudes for Generations’

Former President Barack Obama originally said Israel should “dismantle” Hamas, but has now criticized Israel for the way it is “dismantling” the Palestinian terror organization.

In a statement Monday, Obama wrote:

As I stated in an earlier post, Israel has a right to defend its citizens against such wanton violence, and I fully support President Biden’s call for the United States to support our long-time ally in going after Hamas, dismantling its military capabilities, and facilitating the safe return of hundreds of hostages to their families.

But even as we support Israel, we should also be clear that how Israel prosecutes this fight against Hamas matters.

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Still, the world is watching closely as events in the region unfold, and any Israeli military strategy that ignores the human costs could ultimately backfire. Already, thousands of Palestinians have been killed in the bombing of Gaza, many of them children. Hundreds of thousands have been forced from their homes. The Israeli government’s decision to cut off food, water and electricity to a captive civilian population threatens not only to worsen a growing humanitarian crisis; it could further harden Palestinian attitudes for generations, erode global support for Israel, play into the hands of Israel’s enemies, and undermine long term efforts to achieve peace and stability in the region.

A siege of Gaza would be lawful under international law, as an expert recently noted. Moreover, as Israel’s ceremonial president, Isaac Herzog, has noted, Gaza only obtains 7% of its water from Israel in any case.

Obama ignored Israel’s long record as one of the best, if not the best, countries in the world in upholding human rights and international humanitarian law in war against a ruthless, terrorist enemy.

As Harvard Law School professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz has said: ““No other country with comparable internal and external threats has as good a human rights record as Israel.”

Obama’s own approach to terrorism came under criticism when he was president for being ineffective. Foreign Affairs wrote:

[W]hereas [George W.] Bush’s approach was sometimes marred by an overly aggressive posture, Obama has sometimes erred too far in the other direction, seeming prone to idealism and wishful thinking. This has hampered his administration’s efforts to combat the terrorist threat: despite Obama’s laudable attempts to calibrate Washington’s response, the American people find themselves living in a world plagued with more terrorism than before Obama took office, not less.

Obama allowed the rise of ISIS, the so-called “Islamic State,” after a hasty retreat from Iraq and after mocking the group as the “JV team” in explaining why his adminstration was not being more assertive in standing up to radical Islamic terror — a phase he almost never used.

Politico reports that Democrats are starting to worry about a backlash among Arab-American voters in swing states like Michigan, who are upset that most elected Democrats — with very prominent exceptions — have supported Israel against Hamas.

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SICK! Vegas Teens Who Mowed Down and Murdered Retired Police Chief on His Bike Laugh in Court, Flip Off Officer’s Family (VIDEO)

The Vegas teens who callously mowed down a biking retired police chief over the summer laughed in court on Tuesday and flipped off the deceased officer’s family.

As previously reported, Jesus Ayala, who just turned 18, is facing murder charges after he fatally struck 64-year-old retired police chief Andreas Probst. On August 14th, two teens allegedly stole a Hyundai, took the vehicle on a hit-and-run crime spree, and recorded it with a phone.

According to 8 News Now, the Vegas teens who mowed down the police chief, stole 3 vehicles and tried to kill a second cyclist all in a 2-hour time span. On August 29th, Las Vegas Police Detectives found the phone recording on social media and determined it was intentional.

A video posted to social media shows the phone recording from inside the stolen car as Ayala, who was 17 at the time, intentionally commits a hit-and-run. Ayala shouts expletives out the window after he randomly hits a car. After the hit-and-run, Ayala and Keys saw a bicyclist up ahead and went for it.

Ayala intentionally swerved the car and hit the bicyclist. 64-year-old Andreas Probst was hit at a high speed and flew over the car. The impact broke the windshield. “Hit his ass,” the teens said before Probst slammed into the windshield.

Jesus Ayala sped off and left the crash scene. Probst was taken to a nearby hospital and was pronounced dead.

The teens not only showed zero remorse after they murdered Probst, they disrespected the victim’s family. They laughed in court, scowled at the victim’s family and flipped them off.

KTNV reported:

A trial date has been set for the two teenagers accused of intentionally hitting and killing retired California police chief Andreas Probst. That date is almost a year from now, on September 16, 2024.

Despite the serious felony charges of 18-year-old Jesus Ayala and 16-year-old Jzamir Keys, the two were seen giggling, conversing and even gesturing the middle finger at the Probst family in court Tuesday.

The two also seemingly covered their faces from the media with their right hands.

The scene made wife and daughter Crystal and Taylor Probst livid. Daughter Taylor said the callous conduct was shocking.

“How can you sit there after taking a man’s life and act like such an entitled pr***?” said Taylor Probst. “They were sniggering, laughing and trying to mad-dog and intimidate us, which didn’t work.”

SICK! Vegas Teens Who Mowed Down and Murdered Retired Police Chief on His Bike Laugh in Court, Flip Off Officer’s Family (VIDEO)

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Off-duty pilot who tried to shut off plane engines mid-flight took psychedelic mushrooms

PORTLAND, Ore. (KATU) — The off-duty pilot facing 83 attempted murder charges after he allegedly tried to shut off the engines of a plane mid-flight admitted to taking psychedelic mushrooms two days beforehand, new arrest documents claim.

Joseph David Emerson, 44, was riding in the cockpit of the plane as an authorized occupant on Sunday evening when he unsuccessfully tried to disrupt the engines about halfway between Astoria and Portland, according to a probable cause affidavit.

On Tuesday, he appeared in a Multnomah County courtroom on 83 counts of attempted murder, and a single count of endangering an aircraft. His attorney entered a plea of not guilty.

In the official criminal complaint, Emerson is stated to have been sitting in the cockpit’s jumpseat when, after chatting with pilots for several minutes, suddenly said “I’m not okay,” before pulling the handles of the fire suppression system, which are used to stop engine fires and shut off fuel to the engines.

One of the pilots grabbed Emerson while the other declared an inflight emergency. He initially resisted, but records say Emerson settled down after a roughly 30-second struggle.

The court documents state Emerson wasn’t able to fully pull down the handles and fully shut off the engines. If he had, “then it would have shut down the hydraulics and the fuel to the engines, turning the aircraft into a glider within seconds.”

Witnesses said Emerson peacefully walked to the back of the plane, and once seated in the back he reportedly told a flight attendant, “You need to cuff me right now or it’s going to be bad.” They put his wrists in a pair of flex cuffs.

Once the airplane made an emergency landing at the Portland International Airport, Port of Portland Police put Emerson under arrest.

During a police interview, Emerson said he was having “a nervous breakdown,” hadn’t slept for 40 hours, and felt dehydrated and tired. He admitted to pulling the handles and said he did it because “I thought I was dreaming and I just wanna wake up.”

Emerson said he had taken “magic mushrooms” about 48 hours before the incident. He told police he’d been struggling with depression for six months and that one of his friends recently died.

“The officer and Emerson talked about the use of psychedelic mushrooms and Emerson said it was his first time taking mushrooms,” a probable cause document said.

One of the officers in the interview said that Emerson didn’t outwardly look like he was under the influence.

When asked if he was trying to kill himself, Emerson did not answer the officer’s question, and instead reiterated that he was “trying to wake up and did not feel like ‘this was real,’ though it felt real now,” a probable cause document said.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office – District of Oregon said Emerson is also facing a federal charge of interfering with flight crew members and attendants.

In the documents, arresting officers stated that at one point Emerson said that he “tried to kill everybody.”

The state is trying to hold Emerson without bail. By law, he can request to have the preventative detention hearing within five days.

A Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson confirmed that Emerson self-reported he felt suicidal and was placed on a suicide watch shortly after being booked into the county jail early Monday morning.

The Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office said the remaining 83 charges of Reckless Endangering that Emerson faces will go to a grand jury.

https://katu.com/news/local/pilot-who-tried-to-shut-off-engines-of-plane-mid-flight-was-high-on-psychedelic-mushrooms-psilocybin-arrest-doc-says-alaska-horizon-portland-international-airport

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Who Is Mike Johnson?

Louisiana Republican Rep. Mike Johnson was elected speaker of the House Wednesday by a vote of 220-209.

Johnson, who had been a dark horse for the position, had been voted the GOP nominee the night before after Republicans plowed through three higher-profile candidates.

The new speaker has only been in politics since 2015 when he was elected to the state House, where he stayed until 2017.

The son of a firefighter, Johnson was elected to Congress in the 2016 election and serves on the House Judiciary and Armed Services Committees.

Johnson is currently in his second term as the vice chairman of the House Republican Conference, putting him in a leadership position that largely stays out of the limelight.

The Louisiana Republican — who would be the second Pelican State speaker nominee after the failed bid from House Majority Leader Steve Scalise — previously served one term as the influential Republican Study Committee chairman.

Johnson is an ally of former President Donald Trump and defended him during the Democrat-led House impeachment hearings. He also filed an amicus brief co-signed of 100 House Republicans to support Texas litigation seeking to overturn the 2020 election results in four states: Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. He was the Chairman of the conservative Republican Study Committee at the time.

“President Trump called me this morning to let me know how much he appreciates the amicus brief we are filing on behalf of Members of Congress,” Johnson posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Dec. 9, 2020. “Indeed, ‘this is the big one!’”The lawsuit, filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, tried to buy more time with the Supreme Court to allow investigations of purported voting issues to continue before the final electoral vote in the four swing states. The Supreme Court rejected the lawsuit. 

During the roll call to vacate ex-speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., earlier this month, Johnson voted against ousting him.

On several other issues, Johnson has aligned with the most conservative lawmakers in the caucus.

Last month, he voted against H.R. 5692, the Ukraine Security Assistance and Oversight Supplemental Appropriations Act, which passed. The bill appropriates federal dollars to assist Ukraine’s military in its defense against Russia and establishes an inspector general’s office to oversee aid.

Additionally, he opposed the temporary spending measure, known as a Continuing Resolution (CR), aligning with 90 other House Republicans, at the Sept. 30 deadline. He also supported measures to bolster border security within the CR, which aimed to restrict eligibility for asylum seekers. The bill did not garner enough support to pass.

In June, Johnson voted in favor of a resolution calling for the impeachment of President Joe Biden.

Prior to joining Congress, Johnson worked as a lawyer and was the senior spokesperson for the conservative Christian legal advocacy group Alliance Defending Freedom.House Majority Whip Tom Emmer’s bid for the speaker’s gavel collapsed shortly after he secured the most votes in a conference meeting, and he removed himself from the race after another vote within the chamber made it clear he lacked enough votes among Republicans to win a majority on the floor.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/who-is-mike-johnson-republican-candidate-speaker-house

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Dead’ Russian commander Viktor Sokolov seen on video after Ukraine claimed to have killed him

A new video was released Tuesday showing the commander of the country’s Black Sea Fleet attending a video conference — a day after Ukrainian special forces claimed it had killed him in a missile strike.

In video and photographs quietly put out by the Russian Ministry of Defense, Admiral Viktor Sokolov appears to be remotely taking part in a meeting with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and other top military brass.

The video was shown on Russian state television and reported on by the state-controlled news agencies TASS and Interfax, neither of which provided any information on when or where the footage depicting Sokolov was taken.

In response to the defense ministry’s purported “proof of life” video depicting Sokolov, Ukraine’s special forces said in a social media post Tuesday that it was clarifying information “regarding the destruction of the commander.”

“Since the Russians were urgently forced to publish a response with a seemingly living Sokolov — our units are clarifying the information,” the statement shared on Telegram read. “This is taking place as part of the procedure of collecting data on the results of the operation.”

The post also noted that some of the victims of the strike have not yet been identified because their bodies were in pieces.

Kyiv’s military said Monday it had killed Sokolov — one of Russia’s most senior naval commanders — along with 33 other officers in an attack Friday on the headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in the port of Sevastopol that also injured 105 personnel.

Earlier Tuesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov had declined to comment on the Ukrainian claim, referring reporters to the defense ministry.

“No, there has been no information from the Ministry of Defense,” Peskov told reporters when asked to weigh in on Sokolov’s reported death. “This is exclusively their prerogative. We have got nothing to say here.”

Russia’s military confirmed the strike on the naval headquarters and initially said one serviceman was killed, but later claimed the person was missing.

https://nypost.com/2023/09/26/dead-russian-commander-seen-on-video-after-ukraine-claimed-it-killed-him/