TheDrewSteeleShow

The White House, Democrats, and their allied media outlets have been pushing outright disinformation by claiming there is “no evidence” to support an impeachment inquiry into Democrat President Joe Biden, contradicting mounds of evidence uncovered by House Republicans and already in the public sphere. The left’s message since the launch of the impeachment inquiry into Biden seems clear and coordinated: several media outlets, Democrats, and the White House itself have all used phrases such as “without evidence,” “no evidence,” or “no direct evidence” to describe the House GOP effort that Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced earlier this week. But their claims are, quite simply, disinformation and easily disproven as the House Republicans have actually amassed quite a bit of evidence this year before proceeding to the next stage of the ongoing investigation — a massive escalation — with an impeachment inquiry.

Gun Owners of America (GOA) secured a temporary restraining order Wednesday against New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s (D) ban on concealed carry. --------------- Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) announced on Wednesday that he will not run for reelection. Romney released a video statement explaining why he has declined to run for reelection, stating that he helped pass reforms such as the so-called bipartisan infrastructure bill, the Electoral Count Act reform bill, which was conceived in the wake of the January 6 protests, and emergency coronavirus aid funding. ------------------ President Joe Biden’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is releasing more than 60,000 border crossers into American cities and towns every single month, federal investigators reveal. DHS Inspector General (IG) Joseph Cuffari issued the report this month, focusing primarily on the revelation that Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is losing track of nearly 2-in-10 border crossers that the agency is releasing into the United States interior.

Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) kicked Washington into high gear on Tuesday by announcing the House will begin an impeachment inquiry of President Joe Biden, tasking three committee chairs with differing styles to lead the investigation. Per McCarthy, Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) will lead the inquiry in coordination with Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) and Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO). --------------------- Iranian dictator Ayatollah Ali Khamenei celebrated the demise of “the arrogant power of America” in a speech in Tehran on Monday, the 22nd anniversary of the September 11 attacks on the U.S. homeland by radical Muslim terrorists. Khamenei’s remarks, in which he celebrated that America “has weakened and will become weaker,” preceded a report by the Associated Press claiming on Monday that leftist American President Joe Biden agreed to waive sanctions on third-party countries to allow the transfer of $6 billion in frozen funds to Iran out of banks in South Korea – a further concession as part of a prisoner swap first reported in early August ------------------ In the wake of Hurricane Idalia, Gov. Ron DeSantis implemented measures to expedite the removal of storm debris from waterways in Florida’s Big Bend region. The move aims to not only address immediate environmental concerns, but also to bolster economic recovery for communities heavily reliant on their water-based industries.

President Joe Biden falsely claimed he visited Ground Zero in New York City the day after the World Trade Centers were hit and collapsed, marking the 22nd anniversary of the September 11, 2001, Islamic terrorist attacks on the United States. During remarks at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, Biden gave a speech to American troops in which he claimed to have been at Ground Zero in New York City on September 12, 2001. ------------------ Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis visited Ground Zero in New York City on Monday, speaking with multiple families who lost loved ones during the Islamic terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. ------------- As Americans mark the 22nd anniversary of the September 11, 2001, Islamic terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 Americans, President Joe Biden’s administration is overseeing a surge in illegal aliens crossing the United States-Mexico border who are on the government’s “Terrorist Watch List.”

Twenty-two years now: For all that the anniversary can bring so many of us back to that bright September morning like it was yesterday, ever-more Americans have no memory of 9/11 at all. Today’s college graduates were born after the planes hit the Towers, the Pentagon and that Pennsylvania field. Most barely even recall the Iraq War, for all that it lingered on for years. What was once a universal experience — everyone could talk about where they were that day and how it changed their lives — is becoming history. “Never forget” takes on a whole new meaning. --------------------- New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) issued an order Friday suspending, for 30 days, state residents’ rights to carry guns for self-defense in Albuquerque. The ban applies to concealed and open carry. ----------------- Ryan Walters, the school district’s superintendent, said this is a move to indoctrinate children with harmful Marxist ideology and a way to pit children against their parents. “I hear from parents every day that are concerned with this woke left-wing indoctrination of schools, this gender theory that continues to be thrust upon our kids,” Walters told Fox New Digital. “It’s completely inappropriate.”

Former President Donald Trump, as well as South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, former Vice President Mike Pence, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie are leading President Joe Biden in a head-to-head matchup, the latest CNN poll found. The survey asked respondents who they would choose in a series of hypothetical head-to-head matchups, all including Biden and various GOP candidates. -------------- House Oversight Committee chairman Rep. James Comer (R-KY) said Thursday on Newsmax TV’s “Rob Schmitt Tonight” that he believes he has the votes in the House to open an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden. Comer said, “I do believe that we have the votes for impeachment inquiry. I think that with the revelation of all these emails, you know that Joe Biden was communicating with Hunter Biden about his business about all of the corruption that he was involved in. I think that was the straw that broke the camel’s back with a few of the Republicans that were a little nervous about going the route of impeachment inquiry. They realized that we need this tool to be able to win in court because that’s where we’re headed. We’ve just about picked all the low-hanging fruit.” -------------- Gov. Ron DeSantis fired back at an audience member who claimed the governor “allowed” the Jacksonville shooting at a Dollar General where the suspect allegedly intended to target Black people. “You don’t get to come here and blame me for some madman,” DeSantis said to the audience member. “That is not appropriate and I’m not going to accept it.

Special Counsel David Weiss plans to indict Hunter Biden before the end of the month, according to a new court filing. “[T]he Speedy Trial Act requires that the Government obtain the return of an indictment by a grand jury by Friday, Sept 29, 2023, at the earliest,” Weiss wrote Wednesday. ------------------- A liberal watchdog group filed a lawsuit in Colorado to try to use the Fourteenth Amendment to remove former President Donald Trump from the 2024 presidential ballot. Although Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics (CREW) is based in Washington, DC, the group filed suit Wednesday on behalf of several Colorado voters trying to keep Trump off the ballot due to his alleged involvement in the January 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol. ---------------- The co-founder of the parental rights group Moms for Liberty was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis to the Florida Commission on Ethics Wednesday. Tina Descovich co-founded the nonprofit Moms for Liberty, which was founded in 2021 by parents and former school board members.

In a potential signal of shifting attitudes on how the war in Ukraine is covered in the legacy media, the New York Times is starting to slowly acknowledge the endemic corruption that has been a defining feature of the former Soviet state as officials have admitted that money for military contracts has “vanished”. Following the dismissal of Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov amid a slew of corruption scandals surrounding the war effort against Russia, the New York Times acknowledged that the “enduring challenge of corruption in Ukraine” has “emerged as a rare area of criticism of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s leadership.” ---------------------- President Joe Biden used his Labor Day address to attack his predecessor, Donald Trump, by claiming that the famed real estate mogul “didn’t build a damn thing.” Speaking in the swing state of Pennsylvania — a heavy working-class state — during a Labor Day rally, President Biden said that infrastructure became a “punchline” under Trump. ----------------- A Florida judge ruled that Gov. Ron DeSantis’ redistricting map is unconstitutional and has directed it to be withdrawn. In his ruling, Circuit Judge J. Lee Marsh declared the map reduces the ability of Black voters to pick a representative of their choice in North Florida, according to documents obtained by the New York Times. “For those reasons, this Court will declare the enacted map unconstitutional and enjoin the Secretary of State from using that map in future congressional elections,” Marsh’s ruling said. “This Court will return the matter to the Legislature to enact a new map which complies with the Florida Constitution.”

Former president Donald Trump warned on Wednesday that “left-wing lunatics are trying very hard to bring back COVID lockdowns and mandates ” to allegedly interfere with the 2024 presidential election. “The left-wing lunatics are trying very hard to bring back COVID lockdowns and mandates with all of their sudden fear-mongering about the new variants that are coming. Gee-whiz, you know what else is coming? An election,” the 2024 presidential candidate claimed in a video posted to X. -------------------- Hurricane Idalia has made landfall in Florida’s Big Bend region Wednesday as a strong Category 3 storm. Idalia made landfall near Keaton Beach in the Florida Big Bend around 7:45 a.m. It maintained its status as a “major” hurricane at the time of landfall with maximum sustained winds of 125 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC). --------------- Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) inexplicably froze during a press gaggle on Wednesday in Covington, Kentucky, just over a month after a similar incident at the U.S. Capitol. When asked if he would seek reelection in 2026, McConnell briefly laughed before mumbling something inaudible and gazing into the distance with a frozen posture and unblinking eyes for an extended time, according to WLWT’s video.

The Cedar Key, Florida, mayor issued a mandatory evacuation order to residents on Tuesday as the municipality braces for Hurricane Idalia’s expected 10 to 15-foot storm surge that is “not at all survivable,” according to officials. Idalia strengthened to a Category 2 hurricane on Tuesday, with maximum sustained winds of 100 mph as it prepares to make landfall Wednesday in Florida’s Big Bend region. Cedar Key Mayor Heath Davis’s evacuation order went into effect at 12:45 p.m. local time, and he urged residents to complete the evacuations by 4:00 p.m. Cedar Key is an island city off the northwest coast of Florida in the Gulf of Mexico. ------------------ A judge dismissed a lawsuit brought by six University of Wyoming Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority sisters seeking to block a trans-identifying male from joining. The sorority sisters will now be forced to accommodate Artemis Langford (whose given name is Dallin), a 6’2″, 260-pound man who believes he is a woman. Wyoming U.S. District Court Judge Alan Johnson, after hearing allegations of sexual deviancy on Langford’s part, ultimately dismissed the case on Friday and stated that redefining “woman” to include males was “Kappa Kappa Gamma’s bedrock right as a private, voluntary organization — and one this Court may not invade.” Johnson notably used Langford’s preferred she/her pronouns in his decision and repeatedly referred to Langford as a “transgender woman.” ------------------ The confidence of American households in the health of the U.S. economy unexpectedly declined in August, with optimism about the future dropping near to levels typically associated with the approach of a recession.

Florida is bracing for a “major” hurricane as now Tropical Storm Idalia strengthens. It is expected to make landfall on the west coast of the state this week, according to the latest projections from the National Hurricane Center (NHC), as Gov. Ron DeSantis warns those in the path of the storm to “expect power outages.” ---------------- Preparations are underway as Tropical Storm Idalia is expected to reach landfall as a Category 3 hurricane by Wednesday, per the National Hurricane Center. Monday afternoon, DeSantis reiterated that Florida has a large amount of resources staged and ready to respond to damage and destruction brought by Idalia. At a press conference Monday, the governor said Tropical Storm Idalia is continuing to gain strength and will become a hurricane Monday. DeSantis urged Floridians to listen to local evacuation orders ahead of the storm. -------------- 3:39 New Hampshire Secretary of State David Scanlan told NBC News on Monday he is “not seeking to remove any names” from the Republican primary ballot after Turning Point USA Founder Charlie Kirk urged his supporters to call Scanlan’s office following reports Scanlan was weighing using the Fourteenth Amendment to keep former President Donald Trump off the ballot.

Gov. Ron DeSantis issued a strong condemnation of a Saturday shooting at a Dollar General in Jacksonville where the suspect allegedly intended to target Black people. DeSantis spoke with Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters early Saturday evening. “Able to speak with Sheriff T.K. Waters in Jacksonville about the horrific shooting that took place,” DeSantis said in a video. “This shooting, based on the manifesto that they’ve discovered from the scumbag that did, this – was racially motivated.” ------------------------- Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott criticized the Biden administration’s handling of the southern border in a new video, which also jabs at Florida Democrats. In a release, Scott lamented the Biden administration’s and its members as “incompetent” for insisting the border is secure, despite record numbers of illegal immigrants and deadly drugs flowing through the U.S. – Mexico border. ------------- On Saturday’s broadcast of FNC’s “One Nation,” former Ukrainian Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin said he believed that both President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden were bribed. According to the former prosecutor general, he said his firing by then-Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko was done at the behest of then-Vice President Biden, who once boasted about it in a discussion with the Council on Foreign Relations. “I have said repeatedly in my previous interviews that Poroshenko fired me at the insistence of the then-Vice President Biden because I was investigating Burisma,” Shokin said through a translator.

Former President Donald Trump surrendered himself into custody and was booked by the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office on charges stemming from District Attorney Fani Willis’s indictment. ------------- Former President Donald Trump uploaded his Fulton County mugshot to Twitter on Thursday, marking his first post on the platform since 2021. ------------- Former President Donald Trump has grown his lead over Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) in Pennsylvania’s Republican presidential primary by 12 points since April, according to a Franklin & Marshall College poll, which also finds him to be neck and neck with President Joe Biden in a hypothetical general election. -------------- U.S. Customs and Border Protection employees received an agency email on Tuesday honoring “National Breast/Chestfeeding Month.” However, employees say they have yet to receive any significant message regarding the department’s relief/recovery efforts in the deadly Maui wildfire.

The 2024 GOP presidential primary is now officially underway as several candidates face off on the debate stage in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but the biggest elephant is not in the room. Former President Donald Trump, in a snub to debate network Fox News, instead sat with former Fox host Tucker Carlson for a taped interview rolled out right before the debate on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. ----------------- Fox News host Martha MacCallum introduced the topic of abortion during the Republican presidential primary debate on Wednesday as a “losing issue” for Republicans going into the 2024 presidential race. ----------------- Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) told reporters in the spin room that former President Donald Trump won the first Republican debate on Wednesday evening, even though he did not show up. ------------- Republican candidates revealed Wednesday night if they would support former President Donald Trump if he were “convicted in a court of law,” with some delaying raising their hand — including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who looked around first — and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson standing as the only individual who refused to make that pledge.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said Tuesday on Fox Business Network’s “Kudlow” that the House could launch an impeachment inquiry when they return in September. McCarthy said, “Somebody is lying in this process. And the only thing I realize here is the only stories that have not changed are the whistleblowers from the IRS. Their story has held up time and again, and it really looks like there’s two justice systems here. If the Biden administration continues to fight to withhold information that could really clear all this up. Did they take bribes? Did they deal in the business?” --------------- Most Republican likely primary voters trust former President Donald Trump to handle the issue of crime rather than his GOP competitors, a Rasmussen Reports survey released Monday found. The survey asked respondents, “Which candidate do you trust most on the issue of crime and law enforcement?” Most GOP likely voters, 51 percent, chose Trump, followed by ten percent who said Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and seven percent who said anti-woke businessman Vivek Ramaswmay. All others listed saw three percent support or less. Notably, Trump’s figure increased among “very likely” voters, ticking up to 54 percent who trust him to handle the issue of crime the most. -------------- Atlanta’s Morris Brown College is re-embracing mask mandates, years after initial panic over the coronavirus. While many universities and colleges have dropped coronavirus mandates — such as vaccine requirements and mask requirements — some clearly remaining open to reinstating them. Atlanta’s Morris Brown College is among those, sharing the announcement on social media this week.

COVID mask mandates are returning to Hollywood, with Lionsgate being the first major studio to reinstate masking and daily testing for its Los Angeles office workers. Lionsgate is requiring employees who physically work at its headquarters in Santa Monica to wear masks at all times when in the building, effective immediately, except when alone in an enclosed office or large open workspace. In addition, employees are required to submit to daily COVID testing and to report the results to the company, according to an internal memo obtained by Deadline. ---------------------- Former President Donald Trump will be turning himself in at the Fulton County jail in Georgia on Thursday for charges related to a grand jury alleging that he tried to illegally overturn the 2020 election. ---------------- Fitch Ratings recently affirmed Florida’s AAA credit rating, the highest achievable among the credit rating organization. The U.S. was downgraded to AA+. In Fitch’s full report, the company expressed an optimistic outlook for the Sunshine State’s financial situation. The group gave multiple reasons for handing Florida the best credit rating, one being the state’s “continued economic and population growth,” which Fitch said is a prime factor in their assessment that Florida’s revenue will outpace U.S. inflation over time.

School board officials in Cobb County, Georgia, voted four to three on Thursday to fire a teacher who read a book to fifth graders about “moving beyond the gender binary.” Katie Rinderle was a veteran teacher in the district who read the book titled “My Shadow is Purple” to the young students, WSB-TV reported Friday. The firing happened after a tribunal proceeding where leaders discussed if she would retain or lose her instructor’s position. ------------- President Joe Biden’s CBP One mobile app, which allows foreign nationals to schedule southern border appointments for release into the United States, has imported nearly 200,000 foreign nationals into American communities since the start of the year. For more than two years, Biden’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has implemented a number of programs in its expansive Catch and Release network — including the CBP One mobile app. ---------------- Former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden are virtually tied in a head-to-head matchup, the latest survey from the Economist/YouGov found. The survey asked respondents whom they would vote for if the choices were between Donald Trump and Joe Biden. Among all respondents, Trump leads by one point — 39 percent to Biden’s 38 percent. But among registered voters, Biden takes the one-point edge, 43 percent to Trump’s 42 percent. Notably, Trump maintains the edge among independents, leading Biden 32 percent to 25 percent. Another 11 percent of independents said they are not sure.

House Republicans are looking into President Joe Biden’s alleged use of a fake name to mask his identity as they ramp up an investigation into the first family. Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-KY) sent a letter on Thursday to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) requesting all unredacted records and communications regarding Biden’s official duties as vice president that overlapped with his son Hunter’s activities in Ukraine. ------------------ The New York Times unearthed what it said was a debate strategy document prepared by an outside political group supporting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), suggesting that he should defend former President Donald Trump and “hammer” rival Vivek Ramaswamy in the first Republican presidential primary debate in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, next week. ------------------- Herman Andaya, the head administrator for the Maui Emergency Management Agency, has resigned from his position just shortly after questions erupted about his handling of the wildfire disaster. Hawaii News Now reported Andaya’s departure Thursday when Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen announced that Andaya resigned for “health reasons.”

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said Wednesday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that the American people did not care about Republican lawmakers’ investigations into President Joe Biden’s son Hunter. Schumer said, “Let’s compare it to the Republicans. We’re investing, there are investigating. All they seem to do is want to investigate this, that and the other thing. That doesn’t help the American people. The contrast of yesterday, a former president being indicted for trying to deny an election, and this president today talking about investing in America, that’s going to sink in. It’s our job to make sure it sinks in.” ----------------- President Joe Biden opened his remarks at the White House on Wednesday by telling the children in attendance he knows “great ice cream places” nearby and to come to see him after his speech. Biden took the podium in the East Room of the White House to tout the Inflation Reduction Act, which does not reduce inflation despite its moniker and passed Congress along partisan lines last year. But before he began, he told those attendance, “I want to say one thing to your children.” ----------------

On Tuesday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Ingraham Angle,” 2024 Republican presidential candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis stated that the question in the wake of the indictments of his 2024 rival, former President Donald Trump is how we’ll respond and end weaponized government. DeSantis said that while he has removed Soros-backed prosecutors in Florida, Trump “had three years to fire Christopher Wray” and didn’t, let former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton “off the hook.” And “The swamp got worse in his four years.” ------------ Former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows filed a motion on Tuesday to remove the Fulton County, Georgia, indictment against him to federal court. Meadows was charged with two counts in a 41-count indictment that named himself, former President Donald Trump, and 17 others. Meadows is being charged under Georgia’s RICO statute and faces charges for soliciting an official to violate their oath of office. ------------- The organization Equality Florida launched its new program called “Parenting With Pride,” which advocates for the parents of LGBTQ youth to stand up against “right-wing extremism” from Gov. Ron DeSantis, Moms for Liberty and other conservative groups. The organization hosted a press conference Tuesday in Orlando with community activists to launch the effort.

A grand jury in Georgia returned ten indictments on Monday in Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’s investigation into former President Donald Trump. Lawyers for former President Donald Trump responded after midnight Tuesday morning to the late-night indictment in Fulton County, Georgia, by District Attorney Fani Willis, calling it “as flawed and unconstitutional as this entire process.” Former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows has been charged alongside former President Donald Trump and other defendants in Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’s investigation into the former president’s actions during the 2020 election in the state of Georgia. --------------------------- Amidst his presidential campaign and ongoing state litigation with the Walt Disney Company, Gov. Ron DeSantis said he has “moved on” from the battle, and wants Disney to do the same. “Apart from Florida, Disney has had a lot of problems and I think that the skirmish they got in with these young kids [K-3 Parental Rights bill] – I think that’s a symptom of why they’re not doing as well,” the governor said to CNBC. “Parents have lost some confidence.” -------------------- The New College of Florida Board of Trustees recently voted 7-3 to direct the president and staff to take the necessary and proper steps to terminate the gender studies program, beginning with the 2024 enrollees. Trustee Christopher Rufo motioned for the removal and said the program is “not compatible” with the mission, which is to “revive a classical liberal arts education.”

During this week’s broadcast of Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures,” Breitbart News politics editor Emma-Jo Morris was asked to lay out what she viewed to be the “most damning” aspect of the Hunter Biden-Joe Biden saga. Morris said while Hunter Biden was “important,” he acted on President Joe Biden’s behalf as a “bag man.” ---------------- Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL) filed articles of impeachment Friday against President Joe Biden (D), saying the action had been a long time coming. In his press release, Steube said the articles of impeachment were filed for the president’s alleged “high crimes and misdemeanors.” ------------- On Friday’s broadcast of CNN’s “The Source,” Hunter Biden attorney Abbe Lowell stated that David Weiss has no more power as a special counsel than he did before and noted that both Attorney General Merrick Garland and Weiss himself “have said for weeks, months, that he had all the authority he needed to bring any charge that was merited, at any time that was appropriate, in any place that made sense. … So, from a practical point of view, nothing really changed.”

Mike fills in

The Biden brand is an “abuse of soft power,” Devon Archer told Tucker Carlson during an interview released Wednesday on Twitter. Archer was Hunter Biden’s best friend in business. Together they sat on Burisma Holding’s board and co-founded BHR Partners, a Chinese state-backed investment fund. --------------- Former President Donald Trump is set to make his first appearance in federal court in Washington, DC, on Thursday in Special Counsel Jack Smith’s prosecution of January 6. Trump was indicted by a Washington, DC, grand jury on Tuesday on four counts, including conspiracy to defraud the U.S., conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights, in relation to the January 6 capitol riots. ----------------- On Wednesday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Hannity,” 2024 Republican presidential candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis accepted California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D) offer to have a debate between the two moderated by Hannity.

Special Counsel Jack Smith announced Tuesday evening that a grand jury in Washington, D.C., had indicted former President Donald Trump on charges relating to the January 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. The indictment was announced the day after President Joe Biden had been implicated in a long-running influence peddling-scheme by his son Hunter’s former business partner, Devon Archer, in testimony before the House Oversight Committee. ---------------- Former Vice President Mike Pence claimed in a statement that former President Donald Trump put “himself over the Constitution” and should “never be President of the United States” after Special Counsel Jack Smith indicted Trump on charges stemming from January 6. -------------- The federal judge assigned the January 6 case against former President Donald Trump was appointed by former President Barack Obama, who also happens to be an Obama donor. Appointed in 2014 to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia by Obama, Judge Tanya Chutkan has been known to give some of the harshest sentences for January 6 defendants, with some even going beyond government recommendations.