The news out of New York this week should outrage anyone who believes in the rule of law. The state’s appellate court tossed out the obscene half-billion-dollar penalty imposed on Donald Trump by state Attorney General Letitia James, yet it still clung to the claim that he committed “fraud” by overstating his real estate portfolio.
From the beginning, this case was political lawfare disguised as “justice.” It criminalized the very elasticity of property valuation that defines high-stakes real estate.
If America tolerates this ruling, the day will come when the crime isn’t fraud at all — it’s being the wrong person with the wrong politics at the wrong time.
Anyone who has bought or sold a home knows “value” isn’t some sacred number. A property is worth only what someone will pay, and until that moment, its worth floats in a haze of market analysis, comparable sales, zoning quirks, and fickle buyer demand. That’s why developers hire licensed professionals — because even they can’t pin down “true” value in advance.
Trump, like every major builder, relied on staff and advisers to draft annual financial statements for lenders and insurers. James labeled his optimistic estimates “fraud.” That leap should terrify every business owner.
New York’s civil fraud statute doesn’t require proof of harm. No bank cried foul. Deutsche Bank and other institutions profited, collecting interest and repayment in full. As even Reuters admitted, sophisticated lenders conducted their own underwriting and discounted Trump’s numbers before loaning a dime. Yet James waved off reality, claiming the real harm was to the “system” — a conveniently nebulous principle that gave her license to weaponize her office against her state’s most famous political enemy.
The trial spotlighted Trump Tower’s penthouse, once valued as if it were three times its actual size, and Mar-a-Lago, valued as if it could be sold tomorrow as a private estate despite deed restrictions that limit it to club use. But what the press rarely notes: Every statement carried disclaimers telling banks to do their own due diligence. That’s not fraud; that’s called salesmanship. What made it criminal, apparently, was Trump’s name.
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The trial court swallowed James’ theory whole, slapping Trump with a penalty that swelled past $500 million with interest. The appellate court rightly found the punishment excessive under the Eighth Amendment. Punishing a man for hundreds of millions when no bank lost a penny was not justice — it was confiscation. Even then, the majority kept the fraud finding alive, while dissenting judges argued liability was never proven, and one urged outright dismissal.
Trump may have dodged financial annihilation, but James’ poison seed remains. If prosecutors can retroactively decide your numbers looked “too rosy,” then every loan application in America becomes a potential indictment. This case was never about protecting banks. It was about showing that the state can destroy anyone it chooses, facts and damages be damned.
And here’s the warning every American should feel in their gut: If the state can do this to a billionaire with armies of lawyers and accountants, imagine what it can do to you. One overly confident estimate on your house, one set of books a bureaucrat decides to “reinterpret,” and suddenly you’re a fraud. Your life’s work? Gone in the name of “justice.”
That isn’t the rule of law. It’s tyranny weaponized through balance sheets. If America tolerates this, the day will come when the crime isn’t fraud at all — it’s being the wrong person with the wrong politics at the wrong time.
President Trump gave reporters new information as to why he stopped associating with infamous sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, the president was asked about Epstein taking some of his employees from Mar-a-Lago, Trump's prized resort and golf course in Palm Beach, Florida.
Trump said on Monday that Epstein betrayed him years ago by hiring multiple people who had worked at the Florida resort. On Tuesday, Trump confirmed that at least some of them were young women.
'I think that was one of the people. He stole her.'
A reporter asked, "Were some of the workers that were taken from you — were some of them young women?"
Trump at first replied that he did not want to say before eventually confirming.
"Well, I don't want to say, but everyone knows the people that were taken. And it was the concept of taking people that work for me is bad. But that story's been pretty well out there. And the answer is yes. They were."
The reporter then asked what kind of roles the young women had while working for Trump.
"In the spa. Yeah. It's people that work in the spa," the president clarified before boasting about the great amenities at the Mar-a-Lago spa. "People were taken out of the spa — hired by him. In other words, gone. And other people would come and complain, 'This guy is taking people from the spa.'"
Trump said he "didn't know" that Epstein was poaching his employees and confronted him over the issue afterward.
"I didn't know that. And then when I heard about it, I told him. I said, 'Listen. We don't want you taking our people.' Whether it was spa or not spa, I don't want him taking people. And he was fine. And then not too long after that, he did it again, and I said, 'Out of here.'"
Immediately after those remarks, a female reporter asked the president about one of Epstein's victims.
RELATED: Trump blasts Democrats on Epstein files during Scotland trip: 'The whole thing is a hoax!'
"Mr. President," the reporter began just before 2 p.m., "did one of those stolen, you know, persons, did that include Virginia Giuffre?"
Giuffre had claimed in a 2016 deposition that Epstein's partner in crime, Ghislaine Maxwell, trafficked her after picking her up from Mar-a-Lago. According to the Washington Post, Giuffre said her father had worked in the maintenance department at Mar-a-Lago and got her a "summer job" as a locker room attendant.
"I don't know. I think she worked at the spa. I think so," Trump responded to the question. "I think that was one of the people. He stole her. And by the way, she had no complaints about us, as you know."
Giuffre said in the deposition that Maxwell wanted to hire her as a "traveling masseuse," which eventually led to her allegedly being instructed to have sex with people even though she was 16 and 17 years old.
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Trump had famously said in 2019 that he "wasn't a fan" of Epstein and that he had a "falling-out with him" about 15 years prior.
Recently, White House communications director Steven Cheung said in a statement, "The fact is that the president kicked him out of his club for being a creep," referring to Epstein.
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A total of 11 aircraft violated the restricted airspace over New Jersey during President Donald Trump's July Fourth weekend visit, prompting a fighter jet to be scrambled, according to authorities.
The First Air Force — also known as Air Forces Northern, which is headquartered at Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida — announced in a statement that 11 civilian aircraft breached the temporary flight restriction airspace over Bedminster, New Jersey, where President Trump was spending the holiday weekend.
'No excuses! Stay sharp, stay legal, and stay out of restricted airspace.'
"This morning’s intercept, followed by two later [temporary flight restriction] violations, brings the total to 11 unauthorized incursions into restricted airspace this weekend," the First Air Force stated on Sunday.
North American Aerospace Defense Command scrambled a fighter jet to intercept unauthorized aircraft violating the temporary flight restriction in the airspace over the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, approximately 40 miles west of New York City.
Around 2:40 p.m. on Saturday, a fighter jet intercepted a civilian aircraft and executed a "headbutt" maneuver before safely escorting the plane out of the restricted airspace, Fox News reported.
The headbutt maneuver is an aerial interception technique used by military planes to visually alert and redirect an unauthorized aircraft that has violated restricted airspace. The military airplane will fly in close proximity to the unauthorized aircraft before cutting in front of the nose of the civilian aircraft, according to Newsweek.
An F-16 jet carried out a headbutt maneuver on a "general aviation aircraft" near the airspace around Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort on April 4, Newsweek reported.
As Blaze News reported in March, F-16 fighter jets intercepted two unauthorized aircraft that had breached a temporary flight restriction in Florida when President Trump was at Mar-a-Lago in West Palm Beach.
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James Gagnon — a former NORAD Operations Division Operations Standards Branch chief — revealed the procedure for when an aircraft violates the temporary flight restriction.
"When an aircraft enters a TFR that is not in contact with air traffic control and fighters are available, we'll have the fighter aircraft escort them out of the TFR," Gagnon explained.
"It's these people who are not on a flight plan or are flying VFR (Visual Flight Rules)," Gagnon continued. "They're not talking to anybody, and FAA doesn't know who they are. It's much easier when you're talking to the guy."
NORAD noted that if the pilot of the unauthorized aircraft does not respond, the military plane will employ "more aggressive tactics such as dropping flares and performing 'headbutt' maneuvers, the rough equivalent of giving someone a shove and saying, 'Hey, you!'"
A NORAD spokesperson told Reuters that the fighter jet involved in the intercept was an F-16.
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The First Air Force cautioned pilots: "These TFRs are in place for a reason. No excuses! Stay sharp, stay legal, and stay out of restricted airspace."
NORAD warned pilots, "It is critically important for North American flight safety that temporary flight restriction (TFR) violations are avoided. All pilots must familiarize themselves with updates to restricted airspace, including reviewing new and existing FAA [Notice to Airmen] that impact their flight plans and activities. Adhering to FAA restricted airspace protocols is mandatory, regardless of geographical region, airframe, or aircrew."
Gen. Gregory M. Guillot, the commander of NORAD, stated on Sunday, "NORAD and the FAA aim to keep the skies over America safe, with close attention paid to areas with temporary flight restrictions (TFR) to ensure flight safety, national security, and the security of the president."
Guillot stressed, "TFR procedures are mandatory, and the excessive number of TFR violations this weekend indicates some civil aviators are not reading Notice to Airmen, or NOTAMs, before each flight as required by the FAA."
Guillot warned that any unauthorized aircraft in temporary flight restriction airspace will be intercepted by an armed fighter aircraft from NORAD.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, pilots who violate TFRs can face fines and certificate suspensions or revocations, depending on the severity of the violation.
NORAD is a joint organization between the United States and Canada that is tasked with "the missions of aerospace warning and aerospace control for North America," and includes "monitoring of man-made objects in space and the detection, validation, and warning of attack against North America whether by aircraft, missiles, or space vehicles, through mutual support arrangements with other commands."
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From its founding more than a century ago, the FBI has been regarded as the premier law enforcement agency in the world. But during my time as an acting section chief at FBI headquarters, I saw firsthand how the bureau lost its way over the past four years, weaponizing against law-abiding American citizens solely based on their politics.
Now, with President Donald Trump’s return to the White House and a new FBI director in charge, the bureau has a chance to reclaim its legacy. Here’s how.
Kash Patel’s focus on getting back to basics and focusing on the mission is exactly what the FBI needs.
Under Joe Biden, FBI leadership turned the bureau into a political weapon, sacrificing public safety in the process. Top officials redirected personnel and resources away from genuine threats, including foreign terrorism and Chinese espionage, and toward prosecuting Jan. 6 defendants.
While violent crime surged across the country, the FBI prioritized ideological targets. Agents scrutinized traditional Catholic services, harassed parents who spoke out at local school board meetings, and carried out Attorney General Merrick Garland’s unprecedented order to raid President Trump’s home at Mar-a-Lago.
Most FBI employees serve the public with integrity. But Director Kash Patel needs to act swiftly to fire the bad actors who damaged the bureau’s credibility in recent years. He should also dismiss any career personnel who resist or slow-roll President Trump’s tough-on-crime agenda.
The Department of Government Efficiency is reviewing every agency to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse — and it must make a long stop at the Hoover Building. Patel should cut unnecessary travel and rein in wasteful spending, especially inflated payments to confidential human sources.
The bureau — or the DOGE — should also conduct a full audit of contracts with outside organizations, just as other agencies have already begun to do.
But more than just overspending on unnecessary travel, the FBI can be reorganized to promote more efficiency — not just for the sake of saving taxpayer dollars, but for the sake of ensuring speed and effectiveness in enforcing the law. For instance, the Bureau could easily do without the intelligence branch and merge its personnel and mission into other FBI units.
The FBI is not an intelligence agency. It is, rather, a law enforcement agency that uses intelligence. The bureau should not try to be a domestic version of the CIA.
Any reorganization should also move FBI headquarters out of Washington, D.C. Right now, about one-third of FBI personnel work in the Washington area. That’s a terrible idea.
Threats to our country are not concentrated in and around the District of Columbia. FBI headquarters should be moved to Huntsville, Alabama, Quantico, Virginia, or to other established FBI locations outside the Beltway. This would save taxpayer money, refresh the culture at the bureau, and enhance the quality of life for FBI personnel and their families.
For future hiring and recruitment, Patel should ensure the end of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives at the bureau and reinstate merit-based hiring. The bureau’s DEI office was shut down after President Trump’s election in November, but Patel must make sure that the diversity scourge does not return under a different name.
We need the best and the brightest at the FBI — regardless of what they look like — so that they can protect every American of every race, color, and creed.
Director Patel has already brought about a sea change at the bureau. Applications for new agents are breaking records, signaling renewed public trust in the bureau. a The FBI has already apprehended three of the top 10 most wanted criminals in just three months — after finding zero in total last year. The FBI has also brought to justice one of the terrorists who killed 13 Americans during President Biden’s abandonment of Afghanistan.
These results show that Patel’s focus on getting back to basics and focusing on the mission is exactly what the FBI needs.
More work remains — not just over the next four years, but well beyond. Long-term reform requires congressional action. Lawmakers must strengthen legal penalties for FBI employees who abuse their positions, whether for personal gain or to serve a political agenda.
Congress also has a duty to impose serious oversight. Without it, the bureau will repeat the abuses of the recent past.
The FBI remains one of America’s most powerful institutions, with a long record of service and sacrifice. With strong leadership and sound policy, it can rebuild trust — and become better than ever.
California Sen. Adam Schiff declared on Sunday that the FBI’s raid on former Trump National Security Advisor John Bolton’s home was “clearly retribution.” But if criticizing FBI raids amounts to inciting violence, then Schiff is guilty of the very offense he once accused President Donald Trump of committing. The FBI searched Bolton’s home on Friday […]
It seems that in the hands of the FBI, no document was safe from the whim of agents eschewing public transparency.
If Trump wants to restore the trust in our government that was so badly damaged under Biden, he must comprehensively reform the government’s records management ecosystem.
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