The Daily Signal - Speaker Says Courts Weaponized Against Trump, Cohen Selling T-shirts of Trump Behind Bars, Sorority Sued for Allowing “Transgender Female” Member | May 14

Starting point is 00:00:01 I'm Brian Gottstein, and this is the Daily Signal Top News for Tuesday, May 14th. Here are today's headlines. House Speaker Mike Johnson spoke in New York on Tuesday to condemn the hush money criminal trial against former President Donald Trump. Daily signals Jarrett Stepman reported that Johnson blasted the trial as a sham and said that it's being used to manipulate the 2024 presidential election. I'm an attorney. I'm a former litigator myself. I am disgusted by what is happening here. What is being done here to our entire system of justice overall? The people are

Starting point is 00:00:48 losing faith right now in this country in our institutions. They're losing faith in our system of justice. And the reason for that is because they see it being abused as it is being done here in New York. The facts here are very important. Facts are always important in a trial, or at least they're supposed to be. The president's actions in this matter were previously reviewed and no charges were filed. Why is that? Because there's no crime here. Now, eight years later, suddenly they've resurrected this thing. They brought it back. And why is that? Well, just apply common sense. Everyone can see. It's painfully obvious they were now six months out from an election day. And that's the reason. That is the reason why they brought these charges here and across the

Starting point is 00:01:35 country. What we've got here is a partisan Democrat district attorney. We have a partisan Democrat district attorney. We have a Biden donor judge, and we have an assistant DA who was recently a top official at the Department of Justice, Biden's DOJ, and recently received over $10,000 in payments from the Democratic National Committee. The star witness here is Michael Cohen. I just listened to a few moments of his testimony this morning, and it is consistent with what he's already done. This is a man who is clearly on a mission for personal. revenge and who is widely known as a witness who has trouble with the truth. He is someone who has a history of perjury and is well known for it. No one should believe a word he says today. He lied to Congress. He lied to the IRS. He lied to federal election officials. Even Cohen's own lawyer

Starting point is 00:02:29 testified to a grand jury that he is not reliable. So there's nothing that he presents here. It should be given any weight at all by a jury and certainly not this judge. Former Trump lawyer, Cohen admitted to lying to Congress in 2017, which was among the crimes that led to him being disbarred. Trump is being charged with falsification of business records related to the hush money payments. Speaker Johnson said that Trump is innocent in this case and that anyone with common sense can see what's happening here. Johnson said that the court's gag order on Trump interferes with the former president's right to free speech during an election. He said that the whole trial represents a clear case where the judicial system has been weaponized against Trump

Starting point is 00:03:13 and is focused on punishing one presidential nominee while providing cover for another. Johnson said, the American people are not going to let this stand. Election Day cannot get here soon enough, and we will continue to shine a light on all of this in Congress because we have that constitutional responsibility. Donald Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen testified in the Trump hush money trial for a second day on Tuesday. He explained in his testimony how he eventually turned against the president. The now-d-dispired attorney said that he thought by remaining loyal to the former president, he would be shielded from federal charges related to payments he made to adult film actress, Stormy Daniels. Cohen said that he made the payment to Daniels to ensure that the story about her

Starting point is 00:04:01 sexual relations with Trump would not come out and would not affect Trump's chances of becoming president in 2016. Prosecutors pressed Cohen on his previous charges of lying to Congress and lying under oath. Cohen responded that he was trying to protect himself and Trump, and that he ended up doing things that he should not have done. Trump's lawyers cross-examined Cohen as well on Tuesday. They pressed him on comments he made about Trump, for instance, saying the former president deserved to be caged like an animal.

Starting point is 00:04:32 Trump's lawyers showed the jury a picture of a T-shirt that Cohen is selling on his website, which has an image of Trump behind bars and wearing an orange jumpsuit. Federal prosecutors on Tuesday requested the judge overseeing former Trump advisor Steve Bannon's criminal contempt of Congress case order Bannon to begin his four-month prison sentence. This is after the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld his conviction last week. Federal prosecutors said there is no legal basis for Judge Carl Nichols to put a stay on Bannon's sentence. According to ABC News, prosecutors wrote in their filing on Tuesday that it's not likely the sentence will be reversed or that there will be in order for a new trial. Following the demand by

Starting point is 00:05:18 the prosecutors to have Bannon begin his sentence, Mr. Vannon told ABC News, I'm shocked they want to silence the voice of MAGA. Oral arguments at the Supreme Court began Tuesday in the case of Weston Brook v. Kappa Kappa Kappa Gamma. Members of the Kappa Kappa Kappa Gamma. Members of the Kappa Gamma sorority filed suit, claiming that the sororities' national board members breached their fiduciary duty by disregarding the sorority's interests and bylaws by allowing a male who believes he's a woman to join the sorority in 2022. According to the Independent Women's Forum, the transgender male upended the privacy and intimacy of the sorority home, including by watching the women change, by taking unwanted photographs, and by asking invasive sexual questions.

Starting point is 00:06:05 J. Lynn Westenbrook, a former Kappa Kappa Gamma member and plaintiff in the case, spoke in front of the Supreme Court building. Here's some of which she said. We were gaslighted into believing that we were the problem, that we needed to sit down and shut up. All women should have the right to speak for their own safe spaces and not be threatened by outside voices. Hannah Holmire, a current Kappa Kappa Kappa Gamma member who is also a plaintiff spoke as well. I can attest to the toll it takes on young women, mentally knowing that at any point I could walk into the bathroom or step out of the shower to a 6 to 260-pound man is terrifying. To girls across our great country, and their mothers and fathers, if you think you're in a situation where this won't affect you, think again. odds are if we don't speak up to at least define women's spaces, you, your daughter, or any other women in your life will be affected.

Starting point is 00:07:09 And that'll do it for today's episode. Thanks for listening to The Daily Signal's top news. If you haven't gotten a chance, be sure to check out our morning show right here in this podcast feed, where we interview lawmakers, experts, and leading conservative voices. Also, make sure you subscribe to the Daily Signal wherever you get your podcast. and help us to reach more listeners by leaving a five-star rating and review. We read all of your feedback. Thanks again for listening. Have a great night, and we'll be back with you all tomorrow morning. The Daily Signal podcast is made possible because of listeners like you.

Starting point is 00:07:47 Executive producers are Rob Bluey and Kate Trinko. Hosts are Virginia Allen, Brian Gottstein, Mary Margaret O'Lehann, and Tyler O'Neill. Sound design by Lauren Evans, Mark Geinney, and John Pop. To learn more or support our work, please visit. DailySignal.com.

The Daily Signal - Speaker Says Courts Weaponized Against Trump, Cohen Selling T-shirts of Trump Behind Bars, Sorority Sued for Allowing “Transgender Female” Member | May 14

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