January 6th Pardons, Smartmatic Lawsuit, and Trump's Mortgage Fraud Allegations

January 6th Defendant Pardons and Legal Repercussions

• ⚖️ Judge Booseberg surprisingly reversed course, ordering refunds for restitution payments made by two January 6th defendants who were pardoned by Trump, provided their appeals were pending at the time of pardon.
• ⚠️ Taylor Toranto, a January 6th defendant pardoned by Trump, returned to Washington D.C. and was found wandering in Representative Jamie Raskin's neighborhood, prompting prosecutors to urge his immediate jailing.
• 🏛️ Despite the judge allowing Toranto to return home to Washington State, he ordered him not to return to D.C. until after the new year, with the judge prepared to incarcerate him if any orders are violated.

Trump's Executive Privilege in Civil Lawsuits

• 🔒 President Trump asserted executive privilege to block access to evidence in a civil lawsuit filed by police officers injured during the January 6th attack, claiming the documents are presidential communications protected from discovery.
• 🏛️ Attorneys for the police officers argue that communications related to Trump's campaign are not covered by executive privilege, as they pertain to candidate Trump, not President Trump.
• ⚖️ The case hinges on whether Trump's actions on January 6th were official or unofficial, a determination that will impact the disclosure of documents and potentially the outcome of the lawsuit.

Smartmatic's Defamation Lawsuit Against Fox News

• 📰 Smartmatic's lawyer argued that Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch authorized a plan for Fox News to embrace Donald Trump's false election fraud claims to regain viewers lost after calling Arizona for Biden on election night.
• 🗣️ Fox News's lawyer strongly contested these claims, stating that no disinformation campaign was ordered and that the Murdochs did not give any orders to cover Smartmatic or election fraud allegations.
• ⚖️ To win its $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit, Smartmatic must prove that Fox News executives knew the election fraud claims were false but allowed them to be broadcast, with a jury to decide potential damages.

Mike Lindell's Gubernatorial Ambitions and Legal Troubles

• 🗳️ Mike Lindell, CEO of MyPillow, has filed paperwork to run for governor of Minnesota, though he has not yet definitively decided to run.
• ⚖️ Lindell faces ongoing defamation lawsuits from Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic for falsely accusing them of manipulating the 2020 election results.

Trump Accused of Mortgage Fraud

• 🏠 ProPublica reported that Donald Trump allegedly committed mortgage fraud by pledging two properties near Mar-a-Lago as his principal residence in 1993, while they were used as investment properties and rented out.
• 🗣️ A White House spokesperson denied the allegations, stating that the mortgages were from the same lender and that it's illogical to believe the lender would agree to defraud itself.
• 🏠 The report also mentions a similar alleged tax fraud concerning a conservation easement at the Seven Springs estate.