Saturday, September 20, 2025

Declassified Durham Report Annex Exposes FBI Role in Prolonging Trump-Russia Hoax.

PULSE POINTS

WHAT HAPPENED: A newly declassified annex from special counsel John Durham’s report on the Trump-Russia hoax reveals the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) dismissed intelligence suggesting Hillary Clinton’s campaign fueled the allegations.

👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: The FBI, Hillary Clinton’s campaign, John Durham, Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director John Ratcliffe, and other high-ranking officials from the Obama administration.

📍WHEN & WHERE: The Trump-Russia hoax emerged during the 2016 election cycle, with subsequent revelations relating to it being disclosed up to the present day.

💬KEY QUOTE: “Based on the Durham annex, the Obama FBI failed to adequately review and investigate intelligence reports showing the Clinton campaign may have been ginning up the fake Trump-Russia narrative for Clinton’s political gain.” – Sen. Grassley

🎯IMPACT: The revelations raise further questions about the FBI’s handling of politically charged intelligence, with implications for public trust in federal agencies.

IN FULL

A declassified annex to John Durham’s report has revealed that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) dismissed intelligence suggesting that allegations of collusion between President Donald J. Trump’s 2016 campaign and Russia may have been fueled by Hillary Clinton’s campaign or Russian disinformation. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) released the annex, which remains partially redacted, after years of calls for transparency.

The document highlights how the FBI was informed of intelligence indicating that some of the information it received about Trump’s campaign might have been linked to Clinton’s campaign or was a product of Russian disinformation. Despite this, the FBI reportedly dismissed the intelligence as “not credible” without taking investigative steps to verify or refute the claims. Durham’s report criticized the FBI’s handling of this information.

Sen. Grassley, a leading figure in investigating Russiagate, stated, “Based on the Durham annex, the Obama FBI failed to adequately review and investigate intelligence reports showing the Clinton campaign may have been ginning up the fake Trump-Russia narrative for Clinton’s political gain.” Grassley emphasized the damage caused by what he described as one of the biggest political scandals in U.S. history.

The annex also notes that top officials, including then-CIA Director John Brennan, briefed former President Barack Obama, former President Joe Biden, and other high-ranking officials about intelligence concerning a “purported Clinton campaign plan” to link Trump to Russia. The fraudulent Steele Dossier, funded by Clinton’s campaign and the DNC, was cited as a key element in the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane investigation, which Durham found was mishandled.

During an interview, former Director of National Intelligence (DNI) and current Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director John Ratcliffe stated, “What hasn’t come out yet and what’s going to come out is the underlying intelligence… part of this was a Hillary Clinton plan, but part of it was an FBI plan to be an accelerant to that fake Steele dossier.” Ratcliffe added that the declassified annex underscores inconsistencies in testimony from figures like Clinton, Brennan, and former FBI Director James Comey.

Image by Paul Morigi Photography.

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D.C. Bar Association Continues Its Anti-Trump Lawfare, Recommends Jeff Clark Be Disbarred.

PULSE POINTS

WHAT HAPPENED: Acting Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) Director Jeff Clark has been recommended for disbarment in a politically motivated case brought before the District of Columbia Bar. The complaint against Clark dates back to the 2020 election when he drafted an unpublished letter outlining legal paths for certain lawmakers to challenge the election results.

👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Jeff Clark, the D.C. Bar, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the former Biden government.

📍WHEN & WHERE: The Bar Association determination was issued Thursday, 31, 2025.

💬KEY QUOTE: “A majority of the Board recommends that Respondent be disbarred. We recognize that there are no factually comparable prior disciplinary cases.” — The D.C. Bar’s Board of Professional Responsibility

🎯IMPACT: Unless the District of Columbia Court of Appeals intervenes, Clark will face the suspension of his ability to practice law within 30 days as his case continues to proceed.

IN FULL

President Donald J. Trump‘s Acting Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) director, Jeff Clark, has been recommended for disbarment in a politically motivated case brought before the District of Columbia Bar. The complaint against Clark dates back to the 2020 election when he drafted an unpublished letter outlining legal paths for certain lawmakers to challenge the election results. At the time, Clark was serving at the Department of Justice (DOJ) as Assistant Attorney General.

“A majority of the Board recommends that Respondent be disbarred. We recognize that there are no factually comparable prior disciplinary cases. But that is not surprising given the underlying facts. In making this recommendation, we are mindful of the need to maintain the integrity of the legal profession and deter the respondent and other attorneys from engaging in similar misconduct,” the D.C. Bar’s Board of Professional Responsibility wrote in their recommendation, issued on Thursday.

“Lawyers must observe the highest standard of professional conduct. At a minimum, they must be honest. While dishonesty is always intolerable, the facts here are significantly aggravating to warrant disbarment: Respondent was prepared to cause the Justice Department to tell a lie about the status of its investigation of an important national issue (the integrity of the 2020 Presidential election),” it continues.

“Lawyers cannot advocate for any outcome based on false statements, and they certainly cannot urge others to do so. Respondent persistently and energetically sought to do just that on an important national issue. He should be disbarred as a consequence and to send a message to the rest of the Bar and to the public that this behavior will not be tolerated,” the D.C. Bar recommendation concludes.

Critics soundly argue that the recommendation is a clear and disturbing attempt to punish an attorney for simply stating their legal opinion, a point that was repeatedly brought up and acknowledged by the board during a hearing last year. Even more troubling, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)—under the former Biden government—never provided a reason for their raid on Clark’s home, an incident some contend was thinly veiled political harassment.

Unless the District of Columbia Court of Appeals intervenes, Clark will face the suspension of his ability to practice law within 30 days as his case proceeds. Notably, former FBI attorney Kevin Clinesmith, who lied on a FISA warrant targeting the Trump campaign, only received a sentence of 12 months’ probation and 400 hours of community service, along with only losing his law license for one year. Clinesmith is currently an “active member” in “good standing” with the Bar.

Curiously, it was controversial U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg who issued the unusually light punishment to Clinesmith.

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Researchers Create New Hybrid Bird Flu for Vaccine.

PULSE POINTS

WHAT HAPPENED: Researchers in Japan have engineered a new strain of bird flu, combining genetic material from two wild viruses to create a pathogen known as Vac-3.

👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Japanese scientists, U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH)- funded researchers, and U.S. institutions such as the University of Georgia, Mount Sinai, and Texas Biomed.

📍WHEN & WHERE: The study was published last week in NPJ Vaccines, involving experiments conducted in Japan.

🎯IMPACT: The research raises biosecurity concerns over gain-of-function experiments and the potential for man-made pandemics.

IN FULL

A recent study published in NPJ Vaccines reveals that Japanese scientists have engineered a novel strain of bird flu by combining the genetic components of two different wild influenza viruses. The synthetic virus, designated Vac-3, was created in the lab, propagated in chicken eggs, and inactivated with formalin for use as a whole-particle vaccine in long-term tests involving nonhuman primates. This strain—formally named A/duck/Hokkaido/Vac-3/2007 (H5N1)—was artificially assembled and does not occur in nature.

This development comes in the wake of disclosures about U.S. government-funded experiments involving lab-created H5N1 bird flu variants. Some of those strains reportedly caused 100 percent mortality in exposed mammals. In those cases, scientists employed synthetic DNA to construct the viruses and, under a $59 million federal contract, deliberately infected live cows. Japan has also been cooperating with U.S. researchers on additional influenza-related projects, including hybrid viruses combining horse and human flu genes that reportedly replicate much faster than naturally occurring strains.

The Japanese research team emphasized that Vac-3 stimulated more robust immune responses than current flu vaccines, mainly because it retained its full genetic content, including viral RNA. Their approach, called whole-particle vaccination, is designed to activate the body’s innate immune sensors and “rewire” immune responses.

Though the term “gain-of-function” is not used in the study, the methodology behind Vac-3 fits the criteria. The virus was produced by merging genes from different influenza viruses to enhance its immunogenic properties. According to a 2025 Executive Order from the White House, gain-of-function research includes work that alters a virus’s interaction with the immune system, such as increasing its ability to evade or overactivate immune defenses.

The research also introduces significant biosecurity concerns. In their testing, scientists exposed macaques to a deadly H5N1 strain to evaluate how long immunity from Vac-3 would last. This involved constructing a virus that had never previously existed, infecting primates with it, and later challenging them with a lethal strain, all conducted within a biosafety level 3 (BSL-3) laboratory. While the stated goal was vaccine development, such experiments could trigger future pandemics.

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Israeli NatSec Minister Says ‘Germany Is Returning to Supporting Nazism.’

PULSE POINTS

WHAT HAPPENED: Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir accused Germany of reverting to Nazism following comments by German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul on recognizing a Palestinian state.

👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Itamar Ben Gvir, Johann Wadephul, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

📍WHEN & WHERE: July 31, 2025, during Wadephul’s visit to Jerusalem.

💬KEY QUOTE: “80 years after the Holocaust, and Germany is returning to supporting Nazism.” – Itamar Ben Gvir

🎯IMPACT: The accusation highlights tensions between Israel and Germany concerning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

IN FULL

Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir has charged Germany with reverting to National Socialism in response to comments by German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul. Wadephul had observed at a recent United Nations (UN) conference on a so-called two-state solution to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians that “Israel is finding itself increasingly in the minority.”

Ben Gvir quickly condemned the statement, posting on X (formerly Twitter), “80 years after the Holocaust, and Germany is returning to supporting Nazism.” His remarks coincide with Wadephul’s visit to Jerusalem for meetings with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Wadephul recently said that “in view of the open threats of annexation [of Palestinian territories] by some in the Israeli government, a growing number of European countries are ready to recognize a state of Palestine without previous negotiations.”

Ben Gvir and his Otzma Yehudit party are staunch supporters of West Bank annexation, a stance echoed by other figures in Netanyahu’s coalition—although a complete annexation is not the official policy of Netanyahu and his Likud party, which have held varying, usually more moderate stances on annexing Jewish settlements in the West Bank over the years.

The clash reflects escalating tensions between Israel and Germany, as well as shifting European views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

France has already signaled its intention to recognize a Palestinian state at a United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) meeting in September, with Britain saying it will do the same unless Israel meets certain demands on aid.

However, President Donald J. Trump, while increasingly critical of Netanyahu, believes such recognition would amount to “rewarding Hamas” for its October 7, 2023, terror raid against Israel. He has even warned the Canadian government that, if it moves to recognize Palestinian statehood, it could derail U.S.-Canadian trade negotiations.

Image via Wikimedia Commons.

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Tulsi Gabbard: ODNI Was Pressured Into Obama-Directed Russia Narrative.

PULSE POINTS

WHAT HAPPENED: A whistleblower revealed that a supervisor threatened them to comply with an Obama administration Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI)-orchestrated Russia hoax intelligence assessment, despite knowing it was not credible.

👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: The whistleblower, Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard, former President Barack Obama, former DNI James Clapper, and other unnamed intelligence officials.

📍WHEN & WHERE: Events tied to the crafting of the 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA) on election security, following the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election.

💬KEY QUOTE: “Whistleblower reveals how they were threatened by a supervisor to go along with the Obama-directed Russia hoax ‘intelligence’ assessment, even though they knew it was not credible or accurate. The Whistleblower refused.” – Tulsi Gabbard

🎯IMPACT: Raises concerns about the integrity of intelligence assessments and highlights efforts by whistleblowers to expose political manipulation at the highest levels of government.

IN FULL

President Donald J. Trump‘s Director of National Intelligence (DNI), Tulsi Gabbard, has released declassified whistleblower testimony. The whistleblower asserted that, within the Barack Obama-era Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), they were “threatened by a supervisor to go along with the Obama-directed Russia hoax ‘intelligence’ assessment, even though they knew it was not credible or accurate.” According to Gabbard, the whistleblower “refused” to comply despite the pressure.

“Yesterday we released the Whistleblower’s firsthand account of what happened in the crafting of the January 2017 ICA, their yearslong efforts to expose the egregious manipulation and manufacturing of intelligence carried out at the highest levels of government and the IC (detailed in our previous releases) and how they were repeatedly ignored,” Gabbard wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday. She thanked the whistleblower and others coming forward to “defend our democratic republic” and “ensure the American people know the truth.”

The whistleblower, who led the production of the Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA) on cyber threats to the 2016 Presidential Election, reported that the task was specifically ordered by then-DNI James Clapper. Clapper had stated during a secure video call that then-President Obama “had urgently requested a comprehensive analysis on election security.” However, the name of the supervisor who directly pressured the whistleblower remains redacted in the now-declassified written testimony.

“I was directed by [redacted] to focus on Russian attempts to access U.S. election-related infrastructure. IC reporting suggested many Russia-attributed IP addresses were making connection attempts that the IC could not explain the purpose of,” the whistleblower wrote. “Later, when presenting [redacted] with our findings, [redacted] directed us to abandon any further study of the subject, saying ‘it’s something else.’ In light of later development in open source reporting, I came to have concerns about this Russia-attributed cyber activity and the abrupt dismissal of the study effort.”

According to the written testimony, other nations that were identified as having attempted to influence the 2016 election were purposefully left out of the final report. “Key context was not included, and I was pressured to alter my views on the 2017 ICA’s Key Judgements, with the expressed intent by [redacted] that my concurrence was sought to enable [redacted] to sway the views of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA),” the testimony states.

Image by Gage Skidmore.

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Another Ivy League School Bends the Knee to Trump.

PULSE POINTS

WHAT HAPPENED: President Donald J. Trump secured a historic settlement with Brown University to restore fairness, merit, and safety in higher education.

👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: President Donald J. Trump, Brown University, and state workforce development organizations.

📍WHEN & WHERE: The agreement was announced on Wednesday, July 30, 2025.

💬KEY QUOTE: “Congratulations to Brown University on the settlement made with the United States Government. There will be no more Anti-Semitism, or Anti-Christian, or Anti-Anything Else! Woke is officially DEAD at Brown.” — President Donald J. Trump

🎯IMPACT: The agreement ensures compliance with anti-discrimination laws and restores federal grants to Brown University.

IN FULL

Another major Ivy League university has entered into a settlement agreement with the Trump White House to end unlawful racial discrimination in admissions and university programming. The settlement with Brown University will see the Ivy League institution provide the federal government with extensive data on admissions and hiring practices to ensure compliance with the Trump administration’s merit-based academic policies.

“Congratulations to Brown University on the settlement made with the United States Government. There will be no more Anti-Semitism, or Anti-Christian, or Anti-Anything Else!” President Donald J. Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social on Thursday morning. He added, “Woke is officially DEAD at Brown. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

In another major policy coup for President Trump, Brown says it will adopt the definitions of “male” and “female,” laid out in Executive Order 14168. This will, in effect, bar biological males at Brown from competing in women’s athletics, using women’s facilities and housing, or participating in female-specific programming. Importantly, the Ivy League school also says its medical institutions will no longer perform gender reassignment surgeries on minors or prescribe puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones.

Additionally, the university has agreed to pay $50 million over ten years to help fund state workforce development organizations. These groups must comply with anti-discrimination laws and support regional economic growth and career opportunities.

Brown has also pledged to “improve the campus climate for Jewish students and combat anti-Semitism.” Consequently, the Trump White House will restore the university’s federal grants and reinstate its eligibility for future government funding. The settlement agreement also establishes a three-year monitoring period, ensuring Brown’s compliance.

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NEW IMAGES: What Trump’s New White House Ballroom Will Look Like.

PULSE POINTS

WHAT HAPPENED: President Donald J. Trump announced plans for a new White House State Ballroom to address the need for a larger event space on the White House complex.

👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: President Trump, McCrery Architects, Clark Construction, AECOM, White House Staff, the National Park Service, and the U.S. Secret Service.

📍WHEN & WHERE: Construction is set to begin in September 2025 on the site of the East Wing of the White House.

💬KEY QUOTE: “Presidents in the modern era have faced challenges hosting major events at the White House because it has been untouched since President Harry Truman. I am honored that President Trump has entrusted me to help bring this beautiful and necessary renovation to The People’s House.” – Jim McCrery, CEO of McCrery Architects.

🎯IMPACT: The new ballroom will provide a 650-person seating capacity, significantly improving the White House’s ability to host major events while preserving its historic and architectural integrity.

IN FULL

President Trump’s White House has announced a solution to what it calls a 150-year-old problem: the Commander-in-Chief’s inability to host large-scale events on the White House complex. President Donald J. Trump and his press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, announced today the construction of a new state ballroom.

The proposed White House State Ballroom will be approximately 90,000 square feet and accommodate 650 seated guests—a significant increase from the East Room’s 200-person capacity. President Trump has met with White House staff, the National Park Service, the White House Military Office, and the U.S. Secret Service to finalize design and planning details.

“The White House Ballroom will be substantially separated from the main building of the White House, but at the same time, its theme and architectural heritage will be almost identical. The site of the new ballroom will be where the small, heavily changed, and reconstructed East Wing currently sits. The East Wing was constructed in 1902 and has been renovated and changed many times, with a second story added in 1942,” reads a White House statement.

McCrery Architects, known for their classical designs, will lead the architectural efforts. CEO Jim McCrery expressed his gratitude for the opportunity, stating, “Presidents in the modern era have faced challenges hosting major events at the White House because it has been untouched since President Harry Truman. I am honored that President Trump has entrusted me to help bring this beautiful and necessary renovation to The People’s House.” Clark Construction and AECOM will head construction and engineering, respectively.

The project is expected to begin in September 2025 and will be completed well before President Trump’s term ends. The ballroom will be funded through donations from President Trump and other patriotic donors, with the U.S. Secret Service overseeing necessary security enhancements. The structure will replace the East Wing, maintaining architectural harmony with the White House while addressing the needs of future administrations.

White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles remarked, “President Trump is a builder at heart and has an extraordinary eye for detail. The President and the Trump White House are fully committed to working with the appropriate organizations to preserving the special history of the White House while building a beautiful ballroom that can be enjoyed by future Administrations and generations of Americans to come.”

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4.4-Magnitude Earthquake Shakes California.

PULSE POINTS

WHAT HAPPENED: A 4.4-magnitude earthquake struck Southern California on Thursday morning, shaking the Los Angeles region.

👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), residents of Southern California

📍WHEN & WHERE: California, July 31, 2025

🎯IMPACT: While felt widely, the quake caused no reported injuries or structural damage.

IN FULL

Southern California experienced a magnitude 4.4 earthquake Thursday morning, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The seismic event was recorded roughly four miles west of Muscoy, California, about 50 miles east of downtown Los Angeles. It occurred at 9:32 AM. Pacific Time and had a depth of just over three miles.

Although the quake was relatively moderate in magnitude, it was widely felt throughout the Los Angeles metro area. Residents from several communities reported mild to moderate shaking.

No injuries or property damage were immediately reported following the earthquake. Emergency response officials confirmed no significant transportation or infrastructure disruptions across the affected zones.

Southern California sits along several active fault lines and experiences frequent seismic activity, making preparedness a constant concern.

Image by ray_explores.

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This Country Is Mass Deporting Millions of Illegals.

PULSE POINTS

WHAT HAPPENED: Nearly one million Afghan migrants without proper documentation in Iran have been deported back to Afghanistan in recent weeks, with another million deportations targeted.

👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Afghan illegal immigrants, Iranian authorities, and the Taliban.

📍WHEN & WHERE: Iran, ongoing since 2023, with significant escalations in recent weeks.

💬KEY QUOTE: “We’ve always striven to be good hosts, but national security is a priority.” – Iranian government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani

🎯IMPACT: The deportations show that mass deportations are perfectly possible over a short timeframe, in countries with far fewer resources than in the West.

IN FULL

Iran has initiated a sweeping deportation campaign targeting Afghan migrants without legal documentation, resulting in the removal of nearly one million illegal immigrants over the past month alone. According to Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni, this figure represents approximately half of the estimated two million Afghans currently residing in the country.

The sudden surge in deportations comes in the wake of recent national security incidents linked to Iran’s conflict with Israel. Iranian authorities claim that some Afghan refugees were involved in serious security breaches, including piloting drones, collecting classified intelligence, and executing acts of sabotage. In one report aired on June 26, state-run television broadcast a confession from an Afghan national allegedly involved in a plot to bomb a power station located in southeast Tehran.

“We’ve always striven to be good hosts, but national security is a priority,” stated Iranian government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani. However, some critics argue the crackdown is being used to shift blame for intelligence failures onto the Afghan refugee population.

The Taliban has publicly urged its western neighbor to reconsider the pace of these expulsions, proposing a slower, more structured process. Afghans have already been returned to their homeland en masse from Pakistan, to its east.

The speed and scale of the removals appear to prove that mass deportations are not a logistical impossibility, as anti-deportation activists in the U.S. and other Western countries often contend. Notably, Afghans appear to be a disproportionate threat to public safety wherever they go, with British crime statistics indicating that they are over 22 times more likely to be convicted of sex crimes than locals, for instance.

Image by isafmedia.

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Trump Tariffs on the Line as Court Decision Looms.

PULSE POINTS

WHAT HAPPENED: A federal appeals court is reviewing President Donald J. Trump’s global reciprocal tariffs, just before another round of duties is set to take effect.

👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: President Donald J. Trump, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, five small businesses, and 12 Democrat-controlled states.

📍WHEN & WHERE: Thursday, at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C.

💬KEY QUOTE: “If our Country was not able to protect itself by using TARIFFS AGAINST TARIFFS, WE WOULD BE ‘DEAD,’ WITH NO CHANCE OF SURVIVAL OR SUCCESS.” – Donald Trump

🎯IMPACT: The decision could set a significant precedent for presidential authority under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

IN FULL

President Donald J. Trump’s global reciprocal tariffs are under review by the full 11-judge bench of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C. The hearing comes just hours before a new wave of trade duties is set to take effect.

The court will determine whether Trump exceeded his authority by imposing reciprocal tariffs on various U.S. trading partners. The appeal follows a May ruling by a three-judge panel of the Court of International Trade, which blocked the tariffs, stating that Trump’s use of emergency powers under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) was unjustified. That decision has been stayed pending the outcome of this new hearing.

On Thursday, Trump posted on Truth Social, calling this case “America’s big case” and defending his use of tariffs, stating, “To all of my great lawyers who have fought so hard to save our Country, good luck in America’s big case today. If our Country was not able to protect itself by using TARIFFS AGAINST TARIFFS, WE WOULD BE ‘DEAD,’ WITH NO CHANCE OF SURVIVAL OR SUCCESS. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

The challenge to Trump’s use of emergency powers has been brought by five small businesses and 12 Democrat-controlled states. They argue that the IEEPA is meant to address “unusual and extraordinary” threats in national emergencies, which they claim the tariffs fail to meet.

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