Wisconsin Right Now

  Donald Trump’s campaign announced Friday that they raised $34.8 million in small-dollar donations in the aftermath of the former president’s conviction on 34 felonies in a hush money trial. "Today, the Trump campaign announced a record-shattering small-dollar fundraising haul following the sham Biden Trial verdict totaling $34.8 million – nearly double the biggest day ever recorded for the Trump campaign on the WinRed platform," the Trump campaign posted on Truth Social, the social media platform Trump created after he was banned from Twitter. One of Trump's main fundraising websites crashed within minutes after the verdict was announced on Thursday, an early indication that the conviction may trigger a flood of donations from supporters. "From just minutes after the sham trial verdict was announced, our digital fundraising system was overwhelmed with support, and despite temporary delays online because of the amount of traffic, President Trump raised $3...

  State prosecutors rested their case against former President Donald Trump on Monday, capping off four weeks of testimony from 20 witnesses. The first-ever trial of a former President was one step closer to a conclusion after prosecutors concluded their case Monday. Next up: Trump's attorneys will get a chance to present their defense. The case centered around Trump's alleged sexual encounter with an adult film actress in 2006 and a $130,000 payment to her in 2016 to keep her quiet ahead of the 2016 election. Trump has pleaded not guilty and denied the encounter happened. Prosecutors allege that Trump covered up the payment to Stormy Daniels and another hush money payment to former Playboy model Karen McDougal ahead of the election and covered them up as legal payments. Trump, 77, is the first former U.S. president to be charged with a felony. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg charged Trump with 34 counts of falsifying business records related to money paid t...

  Lawmakers have threatened to revoke the appropriations for a federally-funded scholarship program that an audit found favors liberally leaning students over conservatives by a ratio of 10 to 1. The Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation was established in the 1970s to award scholarships to students who “demonstrate outstanding potential for and who plan to pursue a career in public service.” An audit of those scholarships performed by the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute, though, reported strong liberal bias at the taxpayer-funded foundation. “While this role suggests these programs should include scholars who reflect a breadth of views, values, and interests, their participants instead display a stark ideological tilt,” AEI said in its report . The foundation does have members of both parties on its board, including U.S. Rep. Kay Granger, R-Texas, and U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kans. Notably, President Joe Biden's Education Secretary Miguel Cardona also si...

  With less than half a year until the 2024 presidential election, former President Donald Trump holds a sizable lead over incumbent President Joe Biden in several swing states. While the overall national polling varies and shows a tighter race, Trump holds significant leads in several swing states. According to Real Clear Politics , Trump leads in a slew of key battleground states like Arizona (+5.2), Georgia (+4.6), Michigan (+0.8), Nevada (+6.2), North Carolina (+5.4), Pennsylvania (+2.0), and Wisconsin (+0.6). Other polling has shown Trump with a dominant lead in the Sun Belt while performing less well against Biden in some rust belt swing states. “As the old saying goes, good gets better and bad gets worse, and it’s clear President Biden is in bad shape right now,” Colin Reed, a Republican strategist, former campaign manager for U.S. Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., and co-founder of South and Hill Strategies, told The Center Square. “Five and a half months is an eternit...

  As rioters take over college campuses setting up encampments, committing acts of violence, vandalism and  antisemitism forcing some graduation ceremonies to be canceled, a coalition of Jewish groups has sued Palestinian groups arguing they are “collaborators and propagandists for Hamas.” The global law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP, the National Jewish Advocacy Center, the Schoen Law Firm, and the Holtzman Vogel law firm sued AJP Educational Foundation Inc., otherwise known as American Muslims for Palestine, and National Students for Justice in Palestine. The  lawsuit was filed  in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern Division of Virginia, Alexandria Division.  The plaintiffs are nine American and Israeli victims of the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel. They include survivors of the attack, family members of those Hamas murdered, and civilians still under fire from and displaced by Hamas’ continued aggression. The lawsuit alleges the plaintiffs continue to be...

  U.S. House committees are investigating “ideological bias” of National Public Radio (NPR), a nonprofit news organization established by Congress and partially funded by taxpayers. NPR has come under fire after its former editor Uri Berliner  said  it had "lost America's trust" and criticized NPR’s Chief Executive Officer, Katherine Maher, for her focus on combating “misinformation” and reportedly criticizing the First Amendment.  Maher,  who is connected  to several global economic organizations, including the World Bank and World Economic Forum, has donated solely to Democratic political candidates, The Center Square first  reported .  The House investigation is being spearheaded by House Energy and Commerce Committee chair Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-WA, and Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Chair Morgan Griffith, R-VA. An oversight hearing is scheduled for Wednesday to examine NPR’s alleged “viewpoint discrimination.”   “NPR is entrusted ...

  A high-ranking official with the New York Police Department said protesters had weapons including knives and hammers as well as pamphlets with "Death to America!" written on them. Michael Kemper, a NYPD's chief of transit, posted photos Friday of what police confiscated from the protesters. “For those romanticizing the protests occurring on college campuses, ‘Death to America!’ is one sentiment that runs counter to what we believe in, what we stand for, and what many have fought for on behalf of this country,” Kemper stated on X. “And if you think the words written on this piece of paper are disturbing … you should hear the vile, disgusting, hateful, & threatening words coming out of the mouths of far too many of these so called ‘peaceful protestors.’” Kemper posted a video of a pamphlet that stated, “Death to Israeli Real Estate” and “Death to America!” The pamphlet also stated, “DISRUPT/RECLAIM/DESTROY Zionist business interests everywhere!” NYPD Depu...

  President Joe Biden is reportedly considering bringing Palestinian refugees into the U.S., but news of that potential decision sparked a wave of criticism for Biden. A group of Republican lawmakers in the House and Senate sent a letter to the president condemning the alleged plan, which was reported by CBS News earlier this week. “U.S. and allied officials have very little access to Gazans living in the area, making it nearly impossible to conduct thorough vetting before admitting them into our country,” the letter said. “We must ensure Gazans with terrorist ties or sympathies are denied admission into the United States – no easy feat, given the fact that the Gazans were the ones who voted Hamas into power in 2006. Without thorough vetting, your administration may inadvertently accept terrorists posing as refugees into the interior. "This is especially the case as Hamas terrorists have a long track record of co-mingling with civilian populations in Gaza," the le...

  Pro-Palestinian protesters broke windows, barricaded doors and occupied a building at New York's Columbia University overnight after school officials said they would not cede to demands from demonstrators to divest assets from the Israeli government. The breach of Columbia's Hamilton Hall began around 12:30 a.m. on Tuesday by students and others who have refused to leave the so-called Gaza Solidarity Encampment on the campus grounds, according to published news reports. Hundreds of students created a human chain in front of the building to block campus police. Columbia faculty members were also involved in blocking security. Video footage showed the demonstrators, many of whom covered their faces with masks, smashing windows and unfurling a Palestinian flag from a window as they chanted "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free" and "Palestine will live forever." The protesters hung a hand-written sign reading "Hind's Hall" a...

  Four lawmen on the U.S. Marshals Task Force died Monday while serving an arrest warrant in North Carolina. A marshal and two officers from the Department of Adult Correction were confirmed killed early Monday evening in Charlotte. A Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department officer, one of five others injured in the standoff and shooting, died later in the evening at a hospital. The graphic scene unfolded as officers attempted to serve the warrant for a felony firearm arrest. A helicopter pilot recording for television decided against filing certain elements of the video footage for broadcast. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Johnny Jennings said Joshua Eyer, the officer who died later at the hospital, “certainly gave his life and dedicated his life to protecting our citizens.” Eyer earlier in April was named officer of the month. Sam Poloche and Alden Elliott, each with more than a decade of service, were identified as the members of the state Department of Adult Cor...

  Federal prosecutors on Monday began laying out what they say is election fraud in 2016 by former President Donald Trump. Trump, 77, is the first former U.S. president to be charged with a felony. Prosecutors and defense attorneys presented their opening statements to the jury of five women and seven men. Prosecutors said Trump corrupted the 2016 election, The Hill reported on Monday. "This case is about a criminal conspiracy and a cover-up," Manhattan prosecutor Matthew Colangelo said. "The defendant, Donald Trump, orchestrated a criminal scheme to corrupt the 2016 election, then covered it up." Trump will spend four days a week in court in New York for the next six to eight weeks on state charges that he disguised hush money payments to two women as legal expenses during the 2016 election. Judge Juan Merchan has not scheduled trial days on Wednesdays. On Monday, his defense attorneys said he had done nothing wrong. "President Trump is innoce...

  Several U.S. House Republicans introduced multiple pieces of legislation to defund National Public Radio following new allegations of “leftist propaganda” from the taxpayer-funded news source. House Freedom Caucus Chair Bob Good, R-Va., Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., and Rep. Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y., introduced similar legislation to prohibit federal funding for NPR, including barring local public radio stations from utilizing money from federal grants to “purchase content or pay dues to NPR.” Over the years, Republicans have made multiple attempts to defund NPR, citing similar complaints. The latest outrage follows an  editorial  from former NPR Editor Uri Berliner, who criticized the news source claiming it had "lost America's trust." Berliner criticized NPR’s coverage of alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, the COVID-19 lab leak theory and of Hunter Biden's abandoned laptop as examples of the outlet’s left-leaning bias. He described “...

  Jury selection is set to begin Monday in the first-ever criminal trial of a former U.S. president. Former President Donald Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts related to charges he paid hush money to adult film actress Stormy Daniels through a lawyer and covered it up as a legal expense before being elected president. Trump has attempted to delay the start of the New York state trial several times, including three longshot tactics judges rejected this week. What charges does Trump face in the New York hush money case?  Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has charged Trump with 34 counts of falsifying business records related to money paid to Daniels and another woman, former Playboy model Karen McDougal. Bragg has alleged Trump broke New York law when he falsified with the intent to commit or conceal another crime. Prosecutors allege Trump falsified internal records kept by his company, hiding the true nature of payments that involve Daniels ($130,...

  Lawmakers plan to interrogate the head of Eco Health Alliance, the group accused of conducting dangerous coronavirus research in Wuhan, China just before the COVID-19 pandemic. The Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic will hold a public hearing May 1 where Dr. Peter Daszak is expected to testify. Daszak is the president of Eco Health Alliance, a U.S. nonprofit health research company that used taxpayer-funded grants to conduct coronavirus research. The lawmakers on the committee also allege that newly obtained documents show Daszak’s previous testimony misled the committee or misrepresented the facts. “These revelations undermine your credibility as well as every factual assertion you made during your transcribed interview,” the letter said. “The Committees have a right and an obligation to protect the integrity of their investigations, including the accuracy of testimony during a transcribed interview. We invite you to correct the record.” One of those obt...

Former President Donald Trump called for special counsel Jack Smith to be sanctioned or censured for "attacking" the judge in Trump's classified documents case. Trump's comments on Thursday come after Smith and his team of prosecutors made it clear they think Judge Aileen Cannon's latest ruling was based on "an unstated and fundamentally flawed legal premise." Prosecutors objected to Cannon's order to produce proposed jury instructions under two different legal scenarios. Smith said both legal scenarios were flawed . In response to the judge's order, prosecutors said they need clarification on Cannon's position so they can appeal if needed. They asked the judge to decide before the trial if the Presidential Records Act "has an impact on the element of unauthorized possession" of classified documents. Failure to do so could make it impossible to prosecute Trump because of the double jeopardy clause in the Fifth Amendment, which...

  The Biden administration will pause its replenishment of the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserves because oil has become too expensive, the White House said. Earlier in his term, Biden drained about half of the U.S. oil reserves down to their lowest level in decades in order to try to lower gas prices, which surpassed a record national average of more than $5 per gallon in 2022 before coming back down. Now, Biden’s effort to replenish those reserves have been stalled. Critics warn that lower oil reserves are a national security issue for the U.S. If the reserves are low when a larger war or crisis occurs, refilling the reserves could be much more difficult and certainly more expensive. “It’s pure insanity to watch the Biden Administration cut American oil production and then claim they can’t refill our critical reserve because of the price,” Daniel Turner, founder and executive director for Power The Future, said in a statement. “Joe Biden drained the SPR for political...

  President Joe Biden is under fire after the White House banned religious imagery for Easter this year and then proceeded to make this year’s Easter officially “Transgender Visibility Day.” It’s unclear whether the White House choosing to mark the most important Christian holiday as a transgender holiday was an intentional decision or a political gaffe. “The Biden White House has betrayed the central tenet of Easter – which is the resurrection of Jesus Christ,” U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Banning sacred truth and tradition – while at the same time proclaiming Easter Sunday as ‘Transgender Day’ – is outrageous and abhorrent. The American people are taking note.” Biden posted on X Sunday honoring the new holiday. “On Transgender Day of Visibility, we celebrate the joy, strength, and absolute courage of some of the bravest people I know,” Biden wrote. “Today, we show millions of transgender and nonbinary Americans that w...

  A congressman from north Texas has introduced a bill that would require federal agents to screen everyone who enters the country illegally against the federal terrorist watch list. The bill was introduced as more than 200 known or suspected terrorists (KSTs) have already been apprehended attempting to enter the country this fiscal year. U.S. Rep. Roger Williams, a Republican whose district lies west and northwest of Fort Worth, introduced HR 7733, the Identifying Potential Terrorist at the Border Act of 2024. It would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to require U.S. Customs and Border Protection to “take into and maintain custody over an alien until the commissioner cross references the name of such alien with the terrorist screening database and a result for such cross reference is received by the commissioner.” When announcing the bill, Williams said, “We are a land of laws, and it is past time this Administration acts like it. [President] Joe Biden is encour...

  The Biden administration has removed a federal webpage dedicated to union transparency and accountability and apparently has no plans to replace it. The Center Square on Tuesday exclusively obtained a letter from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management to 10 U.S. senators defending its decision to remove a webpage built to hold unions accountable. After the accountability webpage disappeared last year, an OPM spokesperson told The Center Square "previous reports on official time are not currently available because OPM is reorganizing our website to improve navigation and customer experience." Since then, OPM has declined to comment on the issue multiple times. As The Center Square previously reported, the Office of Personnel Management created the webpage in question to track “official time,” a practice when federal employees who are union members conduct union business during normal work hours, which means taxpayers pick up the tab. The practice has gone on f...

  According to U.S. Customs and Border protection data , 9.4 million foreign nationals illegally entered the U.S. in fiscal years 2021, 2022, 2023 and through the end of February 2024. Including another more than 2 million gotaways, reported by The Center Square, combined, they total an estimated 11.4 million, more than the population of 43 U.S. states. They also total more than the population of all individual U.S. cities, including the largest city of New York City, and are greater than the populations of roughly 150 countries. With February’s record 256,094 illegal border crossers, and more than 120,000 gotaways in the first quarter of fiscal 2024, the number of illegal border crossers in fiscal 2024 through February total more than 1.6 million, the highest in U.S. history. Record numbers came through in the first quarter of fiscal 2024 both at the northern and southwest borders, the highest of any quarter and per month in U.S. history. If fiscal 2024 numbers c...