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- Hunter Biden Scores $1.7 Million in Damages From Former Overstock CEO in Defamat...
AP Photo/Jae C. Hong A federal judge in Los Angeles awarded $1.7 million in punitive damages to Hunter Biden on Friday as part of a defamation case against Patrick Byrne, the former CEO of Overstock.com. Byrne claimed in 2023 that Biden pledged to get his father, then-President Joe Biden, to unfreeze $8 billion in Iranian assets in exchange for an $800 million bribe. The younger Biden’s lawsuit says Byrne made this claim in an interview in June of that year, and again in a social media post the day after the Oct. 7 attacks. “The clear implication of Byrne’s October 8, 2023 posts was that Plaintiff’s allegedly criminal and corrupt actions had contributed to the terrorist attacks by Hamas,” the complaint stated. On Friday, Judge Stephen Wilson of the Central District of California issued a ruling awarding Hunter Biden punitive damages: Here, the evidence is clear and convincing that defendant has engaged in intentional misrepresentation with conscious disregard towards plaintiff’s rights. Defendant’s defamation went far beyond mere negligence. In fact, defendant has admitted that after the offending article was published, defendant repeatedly reposted the article across social media platforms and encouraged his followers on those platforms to promote it further. In fact, during the pendency of this litigation, even while Defendant was defying the Court’s orders and failing to appear at hearings, Defendant appeared on talk shows and restated the same defamatory statements at issue in the case. Biden sought $1 in nominal damages, which Wilson granted. The judge also ordered Byrne to pay about $35,000 in court sanctions. “This is a complete vindication for Hunter Biden against the false statements made about him by Patrick Byrne,” said Bryan Sullivan, an attorney for Biden. “As found by the court, Byrne had no basis to say that Hunter had any involvement with Iran whatsoever.” Byrne is a longtime supporter of Donald Trump and has promoted conspiracy theories about the 2020 election and Covid vaccines. He resigned as CEO of Overstock in August 2019 after he disclosed having a romantic relationship with convicted Russian spy Maria Butina.The post Hunter Biden Scores $1.7 Million in Damages From Former Overstock CEO in Defamation Case first appeared on Mediaite. [TheTopNews] Read More.8 hours ago - Scott Jennings Calls on Hospitalized McConnell To Release Statement Because Peop...
CNN commentator Scott Jennings advised Sen. Mitch McConnell’s to give a public update on the senator’s condition to quell rumors about it. McConnell, 84, has been in the hospital since June 14, when paramedics received a call about an unconscious person who had apparently endured cardiac arrest at the senator’s home. His office has neither said why he is in the hospital nor given a timetable for his possible return to the Senate. That lack of transparency has fueled speculation that McConnell is unconscious or possibly even dead. Jennings said on Tuesday that he had spoken with his longtime friend via phone for nearly 20 minutes about current events. On Friday, CNN issued a statement clarifying that Jennings’ anecdote is not the network’s reporting. On Friday’s edition of The Source, Kaitlan Collins asked Jennings if McConnell is aware of the speculation about his health. “Conspiracy theories are prolific, as you’ve seen on social media,” Collins said. “Are they aware of that? Is he aware of that?” “I don’t know how much of that he is personally aware of,” Jennings responded. “He’s never concerned himself much with internet chatter or conspiracy theories or frankly, what people think of him all that much.” He then suggested that McConnell’s staff put out a statement because “everybody sort of seems to think he’s either dead or incapable of chatting”: But I have told the people in his office that I am in regular contact with that I think some of the narrative around this is being driven by people who, frankly, are posting untrue, unhinged conspiracy theories, and that’s some transparency here, would make a lot of it go away. To be honest with you, I was surprised when he called me, and one of the reasons I put out my tweet when I did my post, sorry, when I did, was that I just thought, hey, everybody sort of seems to think he’s either dead or not capable of chatting. And since I had talked to him, I thought that was valuable information. Now, when he plans to go back to work, I have no idea. I don’t know anything about his medical records. I’m not his doctor. I’m not in his family, and I’m not in a position to make any pronouncements about that. My advice has been a statement to the people of Kentucky on the day of or before… [TheTopNews] Read More.8 hours ago - MS NOW’s Chris Hayes Worries That Trump Will Replace Kash Patel With ‘More D...MS NOW’s Chris Hayes said he is concerned that President Donald Trump may fire FBI Director Kash Patel and replace him with a more competent director who will do his bidding. On Friday, MS NOW reported that Patel was summoned to the White House as he waited to board the FBI jet for a flight to Chicago. The official reason for the trip was a visit to the FBI Field Office there, but the director’s girlfriend, Alexis Wilkins, is set to perform at a music festival in the city. Patel has used the FBI jet on multiple occasions to visit Wilkins. MS NOW said senior administration officials have become increasingly frustrated with Patel’s jet-setting ways, which have included a visit to the Winter Olympics, where Patel chugged beer with U.S. men’s hockey players after they won the gold medal. Shortly before being called to the White House, the director angrily tweeted about MS NOW’s coverage of him. That post included a screenshot of an article from the outlet with an image of a blue and white jet ski. “Nah, my jet ski is gold plated….dumbass,” he wrote. On Friday’s All In, Hayes told Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) that Trump firing Patel could be a double-edged sword: So often in this era, one finds oneself reaching for the old joke about the food being terrible and the portions are so small. There’s a little bit of Kash Patel, which is like, do you want someone who’s more focused on like spending 16 hours a day building the Donald Trump aspiring dictator secret police? Some J. Edgar Hoover 2.0 who answers to a person who’s the largest threat to American democracy in my lifetime? Or do you want someone who seems to mostly want to spend his time on jet skis and seeing his girlfriend? Like, I do worry a little bit that a more determined person with the power that Patel has been granted could genuinely pose a graver threat to American democracy. Raskin replied, “Yeah, I mean, that’s quite a choice between petty corruption and authoritarianism. Unfortunately, they tend to go together, and it would be great to have a real law enforcement professional take over.” Watch above via MS NOW.The post MS NOW’s Chris Hayes Worries That Trump Will Replace Kash Patel With ‘More Determined Person’ first appeared on Mediaite. [TheTopNews] Read More.10 hours ago
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Adrienne Murray has rare access to Microsoft's Quantum Lab in Denmark. [TheTopNews] Read More.10 hours ago - Meta Removes A.I. Feature on Instagram After Days of Backlash
Users and Hollywood agencies raised privacy and copyright concerns about the new tool, Muse Image. [TheTopNews] Read More.10 hours ago - DHS Investigators Weigh Criminal Referral of Corey Lewandowski: Report
AP Photo/Josh Reynolds Investigators with the Department of Homeland Security have uncovered evidence suggesting former Trump advisor Corey Lewandowski may have improperly influenced the awarding of government contracts during his time at the agency, according to a Friday report from The Wall Street Journal. The Journal reported that Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin and White House officials have already been briefed on the inquiry, with investigators now considering whether to refer the matter to the Justice Department for possible criminal review. According to the article, the investigation remains active, a referral is not expected in the immediate future, and Mullin’s department is cooperating. Lewandowski, who served as President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign manager, worked as an unpaid senior advisor to then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem before both were ousted from the department earlier this year. Although he served as a “special government employee,” the Journal reported that Lewandowski wielded unusually broad authority inside DHS, including involvement in personnel matters and contracting decisions. According to sources cited by the outlet, investigators are examining numerous contracts approved during Noem’s tenure and are looking into the extent of Lewandowski’s role in those decisions. The report said some department officials were surprised by how directly involved he appeared to be in the contracting process, with people familiar with the approvals saying Lewandowski personally signed certain contracts despite not serving as a full-time federal official. In a statement to the Journal, a representative for Lewandowski disputed the allegations, saying he denied issuing contracts while at DHS and that he had not been contacted by investigators regarding the ongoing inquiry. A White House spokeswoman referred the Journal’s request for comment to DHS, while a DHS spokeswoman declined to comment. DHS Inspector General Joseph Cuffari leads the probe, with a spokesman for his office telling the Journal that the office follows “a longstanding policy of neither confirming or denying specific investigations,” but pointed to previously announced audits examining DHS contracting practices.The post DHS Investigators Weigh Criminal Referral of Corey Lewandowski: Report first appeared on Mediaite. [TheTopNews] Read More.10 hours ago
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