The German frigate Hessen has fended off an attack against a civilian cargo ship in the Red Sea, Germany's armed forces, the Bundeswehr, said on X on Saturday evening. "An approaching
missile was destroyed," the army wrote. The Hessen has been deployed in the Red Sea since the end of February to protect merchant ships from attacks by the Houthi militia operating from
Yemen. The operation is part of the EU
MILITARY mission Aspides. On its fourth day of deployment, the frigate had already shot down two Huthi drones.
Donald Trump late on Friday filed a brief with the
Florida federal court overseeing his criminal case over alleged hush money payments, but he may have given away more than he intended to, according to one legal analyst. Trump and his co-defendants argued in the filing that a trial should be pushed further back than it already has. According to MSNBC, the filing came at the request of the judge. "In response to a request from the judge, Trump’s lawyers argued in court filing on Friday that despite the fact that a 70-day window to set a trial date will begin on May 20, Judge Aileen Cannon should hit pause to allow the defendants' lawyers time to examine any further documents produced by prosecutors," according to the report . ALSO READ: A criminologist explains why keeping Trump from the
White House is all that matters Political and legal commentator Allison Gill, better known as "Mueller, She Wrote," also flagged the filing on her
Social Media account. "Trump has just filed his speedy trial report - same as the DoJ's calculation that 70 days remain on the speedy trial clock. But it's got all kinds of weird extra info, and it doesn't include a footnote that they met and conferred with DoJ, and whether DoJ agrees with the filing," according to the analyst. She continued, saying that, in addition to the "regular calculations," Trump also "uses the report to complain, yet again, about the amount of discovery." "First, he brings up the CCTV video issue - that [Trump co-defendant] De Oliveira apparently can't figure out how to watch," Gill wrote. "The DoJ has already supplied a laptop and IT support for him to watch it, but apparently team Trump is still 'having issues.' Trump also says that he's asked for more discovery in motions that haven't been resolved yet." She added that Trump is "also contending that the speedy trial clock can't start ticking until all his pre-trial motions are decided by Cannon. And as you probably know, there are multiple pre-trial motions outstanding, both on the public docket and Cannon's weird secret docket." The "most telling" part, according to Gill, is the framing of the speedy trial clock. "But what I find the most telling, is that instead of framing the time left on the clock as a maximum amount of time to wait for trial after the pre-trial motions are resolved and after they figure out how to watch video footage, Trump frames it as a minimum." "'...seventy days must remain before trial begins.' He says that instead of 'the trial must begin within 70 days,'" she wrote . "That's not how an innocent man anxious to clear his name talks." CONTINUE READING Show less By Clay Jones Remember when nobody liked an butt-kisser? Remember when the teacher’s pet was the least popular kid in school? What happened? This is straight-up cultist: A few
Republicans in the House have introduced a bill to rename Dulles International Airport after Donald Trump . I first saw this story on Monday but I didn’t get past the headline because it was April Fools’ Day and I underestimated just how sycophantic and pathetic Republicans have become. CONTINUE READING Show less At the tail end of a three-part Truth Social rant on Saturday , Donald Trump raged at being placed under a gag order by Judge Juan Merchan tied to the upcoming trial related to the former president paying hush money to an adult film star, with the Trump saying he would gladly go to jail rather than have his right to speak abridged. To make his point, Trump compared him to
Human Rights icon Nelson Mandela who spent 27 years in jail for leading the African National Conference (ANC) for opposing the apartheid policies in
South Africa. In a bit of a stretch, the former president apparently sees a bit of himself in the career arc of Mandela who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 for his work. ALSO READ: No, Donald Trump, fraud is not protected by the First Amendment As part of his furious rant on Truth Social, he wrote: "Now, we have Merchan, who is not allowing me to talk , thereby violating the Law and the Constitution, all at once. It is so bad what he is trying to get away with - How was he even chosen for this case??? I heard he fought like hell to get it, and all of the rest of them also! If this Partisan
Hack wants to put me in the 'clink' for speaking the open and obvious TRUTH, I will gladly become a Modern Day Nelson Mandela - It will be my GREAT HONOR." Critics of Trump were quick to jump on his offer and honor his wishes, with X commenter writing, " Give him what he wants ." That was the general response by a majority of X users as you can see below after Politico's Kyle Cheney reported, "Trump says on Truth Social that it would me 'my great honor' to go to jail for violating Judge Merchan’s gag order and that it will make him a 'modern day Nelson Mandela.'" Harris Peskin replied , "It would be my great honor to host a Trump is in jail party," with Exile Bob adding, "I would like to attend this party." " Great idea . Let’s go!!" wrote an approving Dorene Brown to which X user Chidi added, "May his wish be granted." Wobbly Genius observed, " Ah, Yes… Nelson Mandela , who was so famously prosecuted for falsifying business records to pay off a porn star." "Cool. I will wait outside when he’s released 27 years later ," wrote another. In a longer post that detailed Mandela's history, Chris Swart concluded, "In the grand scheme of things, Trump eyeing jail time like it’s a badge of honour is akin to a toddler throwing a tantrum in a supermarket and then expecting to be carried out on the shoulders of cheering onlookers. The real 'honor' here might be in recognizing the vast chasm between facing consequences for one’s actions and the profound sacrifices made by true leaders like Mandela. But hey, in the world of Trumpian logic, why let reality spoil a perfectly good delusion?" " Can he be held at Rikers? And no internet," asked Chris. Fan of Walt was skeptical but conceded, " One way to find out ," with an agreeable Chica adding, "I say, let’s find out!" "Sometimes you gotta call the bluff," suggested Bob Anderson . A resigned Nancy Hughes was agreeable, writing, " Ok whatever it takes ." X user Debbie Margerum said it all with a meme: @kyledcheney — (@) CONTINUE READING Show less