Travis Gettys is a senior editor for Raw Story based in northern Kentucky. He previously worked as a web editor for WLWT-TV and a contributing writer for the Kentucky Enquirer, and he also wrote for the award-winning Sadly, No! blog. He has covered national, state and local politics, breaking news, criminal investigations and trials, sports and a variety of community issues, with a special emphasis on racial justice, right-wing extremism and gun safety.
Jon Stewart explained why he believes American conservatives feel a closer affinity to Vladimir Putin than Nancy Pelosi.
The former "Daily Show" host and host of the new Apple TV + series “The Problem With Jon Stewart” said hardline conservatives have longseen the Russian president as a “an ideological brother,” and even his invasion of Ukraine can't shake their admiration for the autocratic leader, reported the New York Times.
"For years it’s been pretty clear that they would much rather do a deal with Putin than Pelosi," Stewart told the newspaper's "Sway" podcast.
Former President Donald Trump needs more time to find an expert witness willing to testify on his behalf in his classified documents case.
Trump's defense said it needs a month at least to secure experts. They apparently had one ready to go before the expert notified counsel that they needed to bail.
"Defense counsel have been diligently working to identify and engage potential expert witnesses, but the process is not complete," Trump's team said, noting the recent six-week hush money trial in New York City "made the timing of the expert-notice deadline challenging."
Trump, along with his body-man Walt Nauta, and Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Oliveira stand accused of scheming to conceal the hoarding of classified documents after losing the 2020 election and relocating them from White House to "various locations at The Mar-a-Lago Club including in a ballroom, a bathroom and shower, an office space, his bedroom, and a storage room," according to the indictment.
All three defendants pleaded not guilty.
The request to delay — in a case that has already moved at a snail's pace at the discretion of U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon — was met with widespread frustration and cynicism.
Former New York prosecutor Karen Agnifilo seems to think the case is already lost at sea.
"She should just grant an indefinite extension since the trial is never happening so long as she is the judge," she wrote in regard to Cannon. "Just stop the charade already."
@MimiMelange also tried to bluntly call out the reason for the delay, posting: "He. Has. No. Witnesses."
"Any true expert who sees the evidence is gonna bow out from trying to argue in trump's favor," writes @cjoblonskiwicz.
Daily Show host Jon Stewart slammed corporations Monday night for exploiting the "decades-long struggle of gay people for acceptance and equality."
The blistering takedown came during Stewart's opening segment, in which he blasted companies like Burger King, Skittles and Target for financially exploiting Pride Month.
"Remember when you were fired from that bank job after you were outed? Well, Burger King does," Stewart said to laughs, "with a burger that has two bottom buns!"
Stwart said the example was very much real — "not a funny make 'em up."
He then set his sights on candy giant Skittles.
"Scarred by conversion therapy? Skittles is releasing a colorless version of Skittles," Stewart said, again to laughs, "apparently not wanting to confuse gay people with competing rainbows."
He then showed an ad for Oreo, about a family "overcoming a father's deep conservative values." In the ad, a woman named Amy is introduced to her partner's family, including her partner's apparently disapproving father. At the end of the video, the father seems to have had a change of heart — painting a rainbow flag on their fence.
"Did I do it right?" the father asks.
An incredulous and bewildered Stewart can't help but ask, "What the f---?"
"The next time you waste an enormous amount of paint to apologize to your daughter for making her and her girlfriend walk on f---ing eggshells all f---ing weekend, not even saying anything, just standing there with your little glowering beard face, in the shadows ... you paint the fence and give her an Oreo?"
Stewart then launched into Target, which said it would scale back Pride Month merchandise this month.
"What? How will I learn to 'live, laugh, lesbian?'"
He then asks the difficult question, of why Target is "apparently less proud of pride this year," and plays a CNN clip which reports the retail giant has faced backlash over recent collections that celebrate LBTQ people.
"That's the burden corporations must bear," Stewart said. "They care almost too much about the human condition, often finding themselves in the crosshairs of ideologues and fundamentalists. But they stand by their values. Sometimes for a couple of months!"
"This is just another example of our two-tiered system of justice," read the statement issued by The Legal Aid Society, The Bronx Defenders, New York County Defender Services, and Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem, according to Business Insider.
The four New York City-based public-defender organizations said Monday: "All people convicted of crimes should be allowed counsel in their probation interview, not just billionaires."
Blanche's attendance raised Thomas Eddy's eyebrows.
"In fairness, at least when clients are detained pending sentence, it will be a procedural nightmare to permit attorneys to attend," Rochester, New York defense attorney Thomas Eddy, told Business Insider. "How much trouble do you think Trump would get into today if Blanche wasn't there to muzzle him?".
Ivette Davila-Richards, deputy press secretary for Mayor Eric Adams' office, denied to the outlet that Trump was given white glove treatment, stating: "It's common — it's not unusual, and it's been an option from even before COVID."
"No exceptions are being made because it's President Trump," Davila-Richards said.
The president was said to have answered questions for less than 30 minutes with a probation officer.
“Earlier today, President Trump completed a routine interview with [the] New York Probation Office. The interview was uneventful and lasted less than thirty minutes,” a source familiar with the proceedings told CNN, adding: “The President and his team will continue to fight the lawless Manhattan DA Witch Hunt.”
