Good morning everyone,

There has been a lot of disagreement in the legal world of Trump’s removal from the ballot. This week Maine has joined Colorado in removing Trump from the ballot which has gotten the attention of the U.S. Supreme Court. Lets dive in!

In today’s edition:

• Stock Watching

• U.S. Supreme Court Asked to Take Up Trump’s 14th Amendment Case

• Federal Judge Rejects Menendez Request to Delay Corruption Trial

• Maine Secretary of State Removes Trump from 2024 Ballot

• Nikki Haley Backtracks on Civil War Causes

CONGRESSIONAL STOCK WATCHER

• A suspicious stock trade by Representative Michael Guest.

  • He bought stock in an online slots company called Evolution Gaming.

  • The stock has now risen 25% since.

  • Guest is Chairman of the House Ethics Committee.

• Representative Cory Mills just announced his support for a ban on congressional stock trading.

  • We have not seen Representative Mills trade any stock while in Congress.

• Representative Eric Sorensen has cosponsored the TRUST in Congress Act.

  • This bill would ban congressional stock trading.

  • We have not seen Sorensen trade any stock while in Congress.

• Senator Tommy Tuberville opposes a ban on congressional stock trading.

  • He said it would really cut back on the number of people who wanted to serve.

• The House Subcommittee on Investor Protection has 23 members.

  • Those members have personally traded approximately $393M of stock while in office.

  • We have seen 6 of them violating the STOCK Act.

  • None have been investigated.

• Evolution Gaming stock has now risen 26% since Representative Michael Guest bought it last month.

  • Guest is the Chairman of the House Ethics Committee.

  • Evolution Gaming is an online slots company.

• Senator Thomas Carper had bought stock in Fidelity National Financial.

  • Carper sits on the Senate Committee on Finance.

  • The stock has now risen over 41% .

• US Representative Chris Deluzio just said:

  • “It’s ridiculous that crooks trading on inside information are still in Congress.

  • End the corruption. Ban congressional stock trading.”

  • We have not seen Deluzio trade any stock while in office.

• Senator Tommy Tuberville bought up to $315K of stock in Cleveland-Cliffs a few months ago.

  • Cleveland-Cliffs is a steel producer.

  • Tuberville sits on the Senate Subcommittee on Commodities.

  • The stock has risen over 44% since his trades.

Be on the Lookout:

Recently Senators and Representatives have increasingly taken sides in the banning of Congressional stock trading. Many of those that are pro-ban have not recorded any trades during their time in office. Some have made less money since they have taken office. Those that are against it have concerns that it may turn away potential members of Congress. Some of those opposed sit on the house ethics committee and have been previously recorded to have suspicious trades that have not been investigated.

U.S. Supreme Court Asked to Handle Trump’s 14th Amendment Case

December 29, 2023- Former President Donald Trump has been removed from the ballot in Maine and Colorado after their courts ruled that his alleged participation in the January 6 capitol riots. The Republican Committee for the state of Colorado asked the Supreme Court to overturn the ruling late Wednesday.

The Republicans are arguing that the office of the presidency is not covered by the 14th Amendment as well as Trump’s removal being a 1st Amendment violation to the Republican party in the state of Colorado.

The argument the Supreme Court of Colorado used is the same one that stopped former Confederates from holding office at the end of the civil war. The amendment cites that those “those that having previously taken an oath” to support the Constitution and then “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” against the U.S. cannot hold public office.

Trump has continued to deny his participation in the events of January 6th and his legal team has done the same.

The Supreme Court has not yet given a definitive answer.

Federal Judge Rejects Sen. Menendez Request to Delay Corruption Trial

December 29, 2023- Former Senator Bob Menendez’s request to delay his corruption trial has been denied. Menendez’s legal team made the request citing the “unprecedented foreign agent charge against a sitting senator” as well as the many documents left to go through for discovery.

Federal Prosecutors noted that when the original trial date was set in October there was no disagreement from any party and that very little has changed since then. U.S. District Court Judge Sidney Stein also agreed that an extension was not needed.

Stein reiterated the federal prosecutors in arguing that both parties have a large burden with discovery but since it is consistent it does not justify a two month adjournment.

Menendez’s legal team received 3 terabytes of data which turned out to be over “6.7 million documents, which is over 15 million pages” in discovery. The court had realized a discovery vendor made an error which misled Menendez’s legal team to believe they had received 735 terabytes of data. This confusion is likely part of the reason there was an extension request.

The charges against Menendez allege that he used his office to get financial gifts and benefits from Egypt in exchange for information that benefitted Egypt’s government. He is also being accused of acting as a foreign agent which is a lofty charge for former senator.

Maine Secretary of State Removes Trump from 2024 Ballot

December 29, 2023-Maine’s Secretary of State, who oversees elections, has used the 14th Amendment to remove former President Trump from the 2024 primary. Maine is following Colorado’s Supreme Court in its decision to remove Trump. Both decisions have drawn bipartisan condemnation, but mostly from Republicans. Gov. Desantis condemned the move, saying it opens “Pandora’s box” where people could unilaterally remove politicians from the ballot.

Some Democrats condemned the move. Democratic Rep. Jared Golden, said that the legal process must be finished before Trump can be removed from the ballot.

Other states have had their attempts to remove Trump fail. Arizona, Michigan and Minnesota have had their attempts fail. The matter is already going to the Supreme Court, who has agreed to consider taking the case of whether Trump can remain on the ballot.

Nikki Haley Backtracks on Civil War Causes

December 29, 2023- Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley had to backtrack on the causes of the Civil War after being asked at a town hall in New Hampshire about its causes. Haley listed multiple causes but did not include slavery, which the audience member then said was "astonishing" that her response did not include the word "slavery." Her statements were lambasted by both her other Republican competitors, such as Ron Desantis, but also President Biden, who linked to the video and responded with "It was about slavery." Among black Republicans was condemnation. Florida Rep. Byron Donalds, one of the most prominent elected black Republicans, condemned Haley's remarks.

Haley backtracked in a New Hampshire radio interview, saying that "of course" it was about slavery. This comes at a pivotal time for Haley, who has only a few weeks until the New Hampshire primaries. She is in second-place behind Former President Trump in the state, and wants to show she is a more palatable choice for moderate Republicans and swing voters. New Hampshire's moderate Republican Gov. Chris Sununu endorsed Haley, giving more credit to her campaign. Haley tried to cover for the gaffe by saying she would pardon President Trump if she were elected President, and if he were found guilty of a crime.

• The Red Cross issues guidelines for civilians on cyberwarfare - Anthony J. Daw

• Netanyahu announces targets in Gaza, cuts off supplies to Palestine - Bianca Bridger

• Several people arrested in Mexico for manufacturing bomb drones - Narcosis

• Fighting continues in Southern Israel - OurWarsToday

• Hamburg experiences bomb threat on Iranian airline - Tessaron

To access all the benefits of an Atlas News subscription, sign in or subscribe.

Thanks for reading.

Join the fastest-growing news company in the world.

Covering geopolitics, global conflict, terrorism, crime, business, wall-street, underreported stories, and places in the world you've never heard of. Comments, twitter-style brief updates, long-form articles, full podcasts, and documentaries. Join 30,000+ members today on the Atlas News App.

Join Atlas News Today

Atlas News

What do you think of today’s Atlas Newsletter?

🔥 Absolutely MINT

👍🏼 Good stuff, needs more

🔫 Absolute Trash

Login or Subscribe to participate in polls.

If you'd like to get involved with Atlas News, please contact us with your experience or ideas. If you're a solid fit, we'll be in touch.

Advertise with us || Contact Us

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ©2023 Atlas News.1A