Month: July 2024

Former President Donald Trump announced on Monday that he has chosen Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance to be his 2024 vice-presidential running mate. Trump’s decision ends months of speculation over who would join the presumptive Republican presidential nominee’s ticket for his rematch against President Joe Biden in November.  Vance, 39, was one of several people rumored to be on Trump’s vice presidential shortlist earlier this year, and one of three names elevated to finalist status in recent weeks (alongside North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio). Insiders say that Vance’s youth and ‘celebrity status’ amongst conservatives were a big draw for Trump.

Moments after Trump revealed his pick during the roll call vote at the opening day of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, the crowd on the convention floor broke into chants of “JD!” “JD!”  He and Vance are expected to formally accept their party’s nominations during the convention.

Trump’s announcement on his Truth Social platform read: After lengthy deliberation and thought, and considering the tremendous talents of many others, I have decided that the person best suited to assume the position of Vice President of the United States is Senator J.D. Vance of the Great State of Ohio. J.D. honorably served our Country in the Marine Corps, graduated from Ohio State University in two years, Summa Cum Laude, and is a Yale Law School Graduate, where he was Editor of The Yale Law Journal, and President of the Yale Law Veterans Association. J.D.’s book, “Hillbilly Elegy,” became a Major Best Seller and Movie, as it championed the hardworking men and women of our Country. J.D. has had a very successful business career in Technology and Finance, and now, during the Campaign, will be strongly focused on the people he fought so brilliantly for, the American Workers and Farmers in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Minnesota, and far beyond….As Vice President, J.D. will continue to fight for our Constitution, stand with our Troops, and will do everything he can to help me MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN. Congratulations to Senator J.D. Vance, his wife, Usha, who also graduated from Yale Law School, and their three beautiful children. MAGA2024!

Vance rose to national fame with the 2016 publication of his memoir “Hillbilly Elegy,” which detailed his journey from his childhood (riddled by drug addiction and abuse), to him going on to earn a Yale Law School degree, which opened doors for him in Silicon Valley — the book was later turned into a 2020 Netflix feature film starring Glenn Close and Amy Adams.

Vance was later elected to the Senate in 2022, with no prior political experience. Once a fierce critic of the former president (notably comparing him to an ‘opioid’ and saying he could be “America’s Hitler)” Vance changed his tune about Trump ahead of his 2022 Senate race, and has since become one of the staunchest champions of the former president’s “Make America Great Again” agenda, particularly on trade, foreign policy and immigration.  Vance went so far as to delete his past controversial tweets about the former president, and secured Trump’s support in Ohio’s GOP primary. Trump noted at a pro-Vance rally during the 2022 midterms: “He’s a guy that said some bad s— about me .. But I have to do what I have to do [by endorsing him for Senate]. We have to pick somebody that can win.”

Senator Vance and his wife, Usha Vance, who works as a litigator, live in Cincinnati with their three children: ages 7, 4 and 2.

Editorial credit: Consolidated News Photos / Shutterstock.com

On Monday, a federal judge in Florida dismissed the classified documents case against former President Donald Trump, siding with defense lawyers who said the special counsel who filed the charges was illegally appointed by the Justice Department. The criminal case was widely regarded as the most serious of all the legal threats that Trump faced.

According to court documents (SEEN HERE), U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon granted Trump’s dismissal of the case, ruling the appointment of special counsel Jack Smith violates the Appointments Clause of the Constitution. Cannon raised questions about the “broad power” given to Smith, noting that as of September 2023, Smith recorded more than $12.8 million in direct expenses from what Cannon called an “indefinite appropriation.

Smith was appointed in November 2022 to lead the investigation and ensuing prosecution of Trump for allegedly mishandling and refusing to turn over classified documents, including documents related to national security — the former president was indicted on 37 felony charges. Smith also serves as special counsel in the Washington case against Trump over his role in attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election and in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

In her 93-page ruling, Judge Cannon also argued that the Appointments Clause gives Congress a larger role in the appointment of a special counsel, writing: “The Framers gave Congress a pivotal role in the appointment of principal and inferior officers. That role cannot be usurped by the Executive Branch or diffused elsewhere. In the end, it seems the Executive’s growing comfort in appointing ‘regulatory’ special counsels in the more recent era has followed an ad hoc pattern with little judicial scrutiny.”

Cannon also wrote in the order: “The Special Counsel’s position effectively usurps that important legislative authority, transferring it to a Head of Department, and in the process threatening the structural liberty inherent in the separation of powers. If the political branches wish to grant the Attorney General power to appoint Special Counsel Smith to investigate and prosecute this action with the full powers of a United States Attorney, there is a valid means by which to do so.”

In a statement on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump said that the dismissal “should be just the first step” and that the three other cases – which he dubbed “Witch Hunts” – should also be thrown out.

The decision by Cannon is expected to be appealed, and may eventually be overturned by a higher court; however, the judge’s order is a significant legal and political victory for Trump as he prepares to accept the Republican nomination in Milwaukee this week.

Editorial credit: Jonah Elkowitz / Shutterstock.com