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$39.7 MILLION LAWSUIT: J6er and Chicago Election Expert SUES U.S. Government Over Jan. 6 “Lawfare,” Pre-Dawn FBI Raid, and Political Retaliation

A federal civil-rights and tort lawsuit has been filed in Chicago, accusing the Biden-era Department of Justice and FBI of weaponizing law enforcement against an independent election-integrity advocate, using excessive force, retaliatory prosecution, and coordinated media smears tied to January 6 narratives.

Lawrence J. Ligas, a longtime grassroots election expert and independent voter, has filed a $39.7 million pro se federal lawsuit against the United States and individual federal actors over his January 6 prosecution and a pre-dawn FBI raid on his home.

The case, Ligas v. United States of America, et al., was filed December 29, 2025, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and assigned to Robert W. Gettleman.

Ligas alleges excessive force, retaliatory charging, and coordinated reputational harm — all, he says, to silence an independent who refused to echo the government’s preferred story about Donald J. Trump and January 6.

According to the complaint, Ligas traveled to Washington, D.C., on January 6, 2021 as an independent observer interested in election transparency, not as part of any group.

He maintains he did not storm the Capitol, did not breach barricades, and did not engage in violence or property damage.

Ligas alleges prosecutors attempted to coerce a plea that would have required him to falsely blame President Trump and claim Trump asked him to be “front and center” on January 6.

When he refused and asserted his right to trial, Ligas says the DOJ added a new felony obstruction charge — a move he characterizes as punishment for non-cooperation.

He further notes his criminal case was dismissed with prejudice by a D.C. judge — vindication he says came from the court, not from a political pardon.

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Nicolas Maduro and Wife Indicted in Southern District of New York After Being Captured, Flown Out of Country During Venezuela Attack

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife have been indicted in the Southern District of New York following his capture during a US military operation in the middle of the night. 

“Nicolas Maduro has been charged with Narco-Terrorism Conspiracy, Cocaine Importation Conspiracy, Possession of Machineguns and Destructive Devices, and Conspiracy to Possess Machineguns and Destructive Devices against the United States,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said. 

Explosions were reported across Venezuela’s capital, Caracas, early this morning.

This comes after Trump confirmed that US forces conducted the first land strike against a drug trafficking facility in Venezuela earlier this week. “There was a major explosion in the dock area where they load the boats up with drugs,” Trump told reporters at Mar-a-Lago.

President Trump announced the successful “large scale strike against Venezuela and its leader,” adding that Maduro and his wife were captured and flown out of the country.

The President further announced that a news conference will be held at his Mar-a-Lago home this morning at 11 am ET.

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YOU CAN’T MAKE THIS UP: Portland Rolls Out PAID “Immigration Leave” — City Workers Get 40 Hours Off for Deportation Hearings While Taxpayers Foot the Bill, No Questions Asked

The City of Portland has officially rolled out a new taxpayer-funded benefit: paid “Immigration, Naturalization, and Citizenship Leave” Human Resources Administrative Rule (HRAR) 6.15.

City officials have now committed public funds to cover paid leave for immigration court proceedings—including deportation hearings while blocking basic oversight, all while the city is facing a $66 million shortfall.

As of January 1, 2026, city workers in Portland, Oregon, can now clock out for up to 40 hours a year — without losing pay or benefits — to deal with immigration-related legal matters for themselves or for family members.

Eligible employees may use this leave for activities such as:

  • Obtaining legal support or meeting with immigration or criminal defense attorneys
  • Attending interviews or tests related to naturalization or citizenship
  • Appearing at state or federal criminal court proceedings
  • Deportation hearings
  • Matters involving “unlawful detention” related to immigration status.

For the first 40 hours each year, this leave is paid and coded in the payroll system as IMLV, with the employee remaining on regular payroll the entire time.

The policy does not stop with the employee.

HRAR 6.15 explicitly allows this paid leave to be used to support:

  • A spouse
  • A child
  • A parent
  • A sibling
  • Or anyone with a “close association” equivalent to family.

Perhaps the most controversial aspect of the policy is its strict privacy mandate.

Under HRAR 6.15, supervisors and managers are prohibited from asking about or collecting information related to:

  • An employee’s immigration status
  • Citizenship status
  • Country of birth

Employees are also instructed not to provide such information to the city, except where strictly required by state or federal law

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Distraught Cape Cod widow told ‘forever home’ is one of 13 set to be demolished to make way for new bridge… with neighbors whose properties were spared dreading the thundering traffic

A distraught Cape Cod widow will see her home of more than 24 years demolished to make way for a new bridge.

Joyce Michaud, 80, is among 13 unlucky residents who will have their properties flattened by Massachusetts officials as part of the $2.1 billion project to replace the Sagamore Bridge.

Michaud’s three-bedroom home will bulldozed to make room for workers’ equipment, and will eventually become a basin to catch storm water rolling off the bridge, The Boston Globe reported. 

‘[I thought:] “I’m all set. My kids don’t have to worry. I’m all set”,’ she told The Globe. ‘And now, I’m not.

‘It’s really hard to lose something that you thought was yours.’ 

The residence is being seized through eminent domain, which allows the state to take property for public use. 

An additional 17 properties will be partially acquired. Seven vacant properties will also be seized. 

Meanwhile neighbors who have been spared demolition say they are dreading the onslaught of traffic and noisy works which will take place for the next ten years during construction of the new bridge, which connected Cape Cod to the mainland.

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Anti-Marijuana Group Hires Trump’s Former Attorney General For Lawsuit To Block Rescheduling Move Directed By President

A leading marijuana prohibitionist group says it’s retained the legal services of President Donald Trump’s former attorney general, Bill Barr, to sue to reverse federal marijuana rescheduling if and when the pending rule is finalized. And they’ll also be filing a petition through the administrative process to keep cannabis strictly prohibited.

Trump earned bipartisan applause last month when he signed an executive order directing the current attorney general to complete the process of moving cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). The policy change wouldn’t legalize marijuana, but it would formally recognize the plant’s medical value, allow marijuana businesses to take federal tax deductions and remove certain research barriers.

Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) President Kevin Sabet called the move a “full betrayal” of the president’s “promise to keep all Americans safe and health” that amounts to a giant gift to Big Marijuana and its pushers who are now more incentivized to target children with their highly addictive products.”

“This rule, if finalized, will herald a public health disaster,” he said. “Thankfully, this decision does not legalize marijuana, but it gifts the industry with more than $2 billion in tax write-offs at a time when their advertising is inflicting carnage on America’s families.”

SAM described the reform as a “pyrrhic victory for the industry”—and one that they intend to fight with the legal assistance of Barr, who now serves as a partner at the firm Torridon Law.

Barr’s firm previously represented SAM last year in asking the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to extend the public comment period for the cannabis rescheduling proposal.

Because current Attorney General Pam Bondi has not yet signed off on the proposed rescheduling rule, which is the product of a scientific and legal review initiated under the Biden administration, no lawsuit has been filed yet. But should that happen, Sabet said SAM intends to sue in the court system while also petitioning DEA to move cannabis back to Schedule I.

Sabet said that advocates have “failed in their attempt to legalize their products, banking, and they were dealt a huge blow with the new law outlawing Delta-8 and other synthetic pot products.”

While there was some speculation that the executive order Trump signed would include a directive for Congress to pass a bipartisan marijuana banking bill, there weren’t expectations that the president would push for outright legalization through that action.

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5 States Cut SNAP Benefits for Unhealthy Food as Part of ‘MAHA’ Agenda

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), otherwise known as food stamps, has begun enforcing new healthy standards for recipients in five states as part of the Trump administration’s “Make America Healthy Again” agenda.

Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, Utah, and West Virginia have cut SNAP benefits off for soda, candy, and other junk foods as the first wave of at least 18 states that are transitioning to stricter standards for what can be purchased using food stamps, the Daily Nonpareil reported.

The move has been championed by Health Sec. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Agriculture Sec. Brooke Rollins.

“Thank you to the 18 governors who are leading the charge on SNAP reform to restore the health of Americans—especially our kids. Their courageous leadership is exactly what we need to Make America Healthy Again,” Kennedy said in December. “We cannot continue a system that forces taxpayers to fund programs that make people sick and then pay a second time to treat the illnesses those very programs help create.”

“President Trump has made it clear: we are restoring SNAP to its true purpose – nutrition,” added Rollins. “Under the MAHA initiative, we are taking bold, historic steps to reverse the chronic diseases epidemic that has taken root in this country for far too long.”

As the Daily Mail detailed, “Indiana is targeting soft drinks and candy, Utah and West Virginia will block SNAP purchases of soda and soft drinks, and Nebraska will ban soda and energy drinks.”

The state of Iowa has gone the furthest with the new standards, restricting SNAP for taxable foods including soda, candy, and some prepared items.

“This isn’t the usual top-down, one-size-fits-all public health agenda,” Indiana Gov. Mike Braun said in December. “We’re focused on root causes … and taking on the problems in government programs that are contributing to making our communities less healthy.”

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President Trump Issues the First Vetoes of His Second Term

It took about 11 months, but President Donald Trump has finally issued the first vetoes of his second term.

And like most things involving the president, the moves aren’t without their critics — including some you might not normally expect pushback from.

The “Miccosukee Reserved Area Amendments Act” is a bill aimed at expanding the land set aside for the Miccosukee Tribe inside Everglades National Park by officially including a section known as Osceola Camp.

Trump had a couple of issues with this.

The residential community in that area “was constructed in 1935, without authorization, in a low area that was raised with fill material,” Trump’s explanation read.

“None of the current structures in the Osceola Camp are over 50 years old, nor do they meet the other criteria to be considered for listing in the National Register of Historic Places,” Trump wrote to the House.

He added that, “the Miccosukee Tribe has actively sought to obstruct reasonable immigration policies that the American people decisively voted for when I was elected.” That appears to be a direct reference to the tribe’s publicized opposition — including a lawsuit against the Trump administration — to the “Alligator Alcatraz” detention center in Florida, as noted by The Associated Press.

The “Finish the Arkansas Valley Conduit Act,” meanwhile, is a bill designed to make it easier for rural Colorado communities to complete a long‑planned water pipeline project that will facilitate drinking water to people in the Arkansas River Valley.

Trump appeared to take specific issue with the price tag and repayment plans for this project.

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Medvedev’s forecast that Trump is an ‘establishment insider’ proved accurate

At the height of the 2024 U.S. presidential campaign, when then-candidate Donald Trump was running around telling anyone who would listen that he would end the Ukraine War within 24 hours of taking office, Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman of Russia’s national security council, raised doubts and called Trump an “establishment insider.”

“For all his apparent bravado as an ‘outsider,’ Trump is ultimately an establishment insider,” Medvedev said in September. He said the former president “would ultimately be unable to go against the anti-Russian line of the notorious Deep State, which is much stronger than any Trump.”

Once elected, Trump excited some of his base when he announced on social media that he would not be offering Cabinet positions to neocon warmongers like Mike Pompeo and Nikki Haley.

Before long, Trump proved that his new administration would be staffed with a new generation of Israel-first neocon warmongers.

Rachel Belvins, the podcaster, posted, “Trump really said ‘don’t worry, I’m not including ‘Pompeo and Haley’ only to turn around and choose people who would make us wish he brought them back. This is Trump’s Sec. of Defense, Pete Hegseth, who believes there’s no such thing as “dual loyalty” between the U.S. and Israel.”

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Washington State AG Warns Citizen Journalists to Stop Investigating Somali Daycares or Face Potential Hate Crime Charges

The Washington state attorney general released a statement on X Tuesday evening warning independent journalists to stop investigating fraudulent Somali daycare centers or they could be charged with a hate crime.

“My office has received outreach from members of the Somali community after reports of home-based daycare providers being harassed and accused of fraud with little to no fact-checking,” State AG Nick Brown stated. “We are in touch with the state Department of Children, Youth, and Families regarding the claims being pushed online and the harassment reported by daycare providers. Showing up on someone’s porch, threatening, or harassing them isn’t an investigation. Neither is filming minors who may be in the home. This is unsafe and potentially dangerous behavior.”

Harmeet Dhillon, the Assistant Attorney General for Civil rights, issued a warning of her own in reaction to the Washington state AG’s post.

“ANY state official who chills or threatens to chill a journalist’s 1A rights will have some ‘splainin to do,” she wrote on X, Wednesday morning. “[The DOJ Civil Rights Division] takes potential violations of 18 USC § 242 seriously!” Dhillon added.

This statute, known as the Deprivation of Rights Under Color of Law, makes it a crime for any person acting under the pretense of law to willfully deprive another individual of rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution or laws of the United States.

The clash of the AGs came after Youtuber Nick Shirley exposed about a dozen Somali-owned, state-funded childcare facilities in Minneapolis, Minnesota, that appeared to be completely deserted.

Shirley produced a 42-minute video, which has been viewed over 131 million times on X since it was posted on December 26,  alleging that Minnesota governor Tim Walz (D.) “knew about the fraud but never reported it.”

Inspired by Shirley’s bombshell report, citizen journalists in multiple states with large Somali populations have launched their own investigations in recent days.

In the Kent, Washington area Tuesday, YouTuber Chris Sims, a self-described “gonzo journalist,” visited seven suspicious Somali childcare sites and reported that they were “very unhappy” to see him.

Sims posted a video of him approaching a private home listed as a childcare facility that appeared to be not as advertised.

“There was no sign of kids or being a Daycare facility,” Sims wrote. “I was told by a few they weren’t Daycares despite receiving tax payer dollars. One yelled ‘Call the police’ behind the door.”

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Fraud claims, wine money, Sharia: Ethical storms around Ilhan Omar’s husband

A fresh wave of legal challenges facing Tim Mynett, the husband of US Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN), has brought renewed scrutiny to the couple. This attention focuses not only on business ethics but also on the apparent contradictions between Mynett’s commercial interests and the religious identity central to Omar’s public persona.

Mynett, a political consultant turned venture capitalist, is currently the subject of a lawsuit alleging fraud and breach of contract in connection with “eStCru,” a California-based wine business in which he is a partner.

The lawsuit, filed in Washington, DC, claims that Mynett and his business partner, Will Hailer, defrauded investor Naeem Mohd. According to court documents, Mohd alleges he was persuaded to invest $300,000 based on a guarantee of a 200% return within 18 months, but the plaintiff’s promises were never fulfilled.

Although the principal investment was reportedly repaid after a delay, the lawsuit alleges that the promised profits were never paid. It accuses the partners of misrepresenting the company’s financial health. Mynett has denied the allegations, characterizing the matter as a contract dispute.

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