Obama's Clemency Plan Targets Broader Problem Of Oversentencing

CNN's Kaitlan Collins describes the mood inside the courtroom during Trump's hush money trial as Stormy Daniels testified about her relationship with the former president.

Conservative podcast host Steve Bannon exploded with anger Monday after a New York judge threatened former President Donald Trump with jail. Bannon unleashed a rant after Justice Juan Merchan fined Trump $1,000 for each of four violations of a gag order. The judge previously fined Trump for nine other violations. During the Monday hearing, Merchan also said jail could be a future sanction. "It's all this to smear Trump," Bannon opined.

Advocacy groups, congressional Democrats, and U. S. President Joe Biden's reelection campaign on Monday pointed to new government reports on Medicare and Social Security as proof that the key programs must be protected from Republican attacks. The annual trustee reports show that Social Security is projected to be fully funded until 2035, a year later than previously thought, while Medicare is expected to be fully funded until 2036, five years beyond the earlier projection. Former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee to face Biden in November, "proposed cutting Social Security and Medicare every year he was in office, he's said repeatedly he would cut them, his allies openly plan to target them, and just this weekend he dismissed them as bribes," noted James Singer, a spokesperson for the Democrat's campaign. "Let's be clear, Donald Trump will steal the hard-earned Social Security and Medicare benefits Americans have been paying into their entire lives and he'll use it to fund tax cuts for rich people like him," Singer warned.

The weather outside may have been beautiful in New York City, but inside the courtroom it was STORMY! One of the most anticipated witnesses of Donald Trump's 1st criminal trial (of 4) made her debut on Tuesday morning. Glamorous, blonde hair back in a low bun, glasses and dressed demurely for court, she still overtook the room with her bigger than life personality. Before Stormy Daniels even takes the stand, though, the defense tries to block Stormy from going into details about the sex she had with Donald Trump.

Just as disturbing as Johnson’s anti-Americanism was how he pretended it's in the name of the law. First, he showed contempt for our trial and jury system by declaring, in the middle of Trump’s first criminal trial and before three others, that “President Trump has done nothing wrong and he continues to be the target of endless lawfare.” Worse, Johnson threatened to interfere with the process: “It has to stop and you’re going to see the United States Congress address this in every possible way that we can because we need accountability,” Johnson said.

Adult film star Stormy Daniels took the stand Tuesday about an alleged sexual encounter with Donald Trump in a Lake Tahoe hotel, and she did not hold back. New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan denied a request for a mistrial, so Trump took to Truth Social to cry big MAGA tears over it. Trump didn't seem to like his sexual (alleged!) encounter publicly noted in court.