Friday, November 18, 2022

Things are moving fast. . .

 


arstechnica.com

Twitter mayhem, staff cuts have advertisers bailing on the platform

by Ashley Belanger - Nov 18, 2022 4:20 pm UTC
5 - 6 minutes

Twitter advertisers pausing ads over brand safety, cybersecurity concerns.

Advertisers pulling out of Twitter as the platform remains unstable under Elon Musk’s leadership have many reasons to be concerned about brand safety, Reuters reported.

Major brands pausing advertising include Audi of America, United Airlines, General Mills, General Motors, Volkswagen, Modelez International (which makes popular products like Oreos), and Omnicon (which manages advertising for brands like McDonalds and Apple). Beyond the damage of brand impersonations through the Twitter Blue paid verification scandal, spokespersons for these groups have pointed to increases in hate speech on the platform and cuts to Twitter support staff as most worrying.

“We felt there is a risk our advertising would appear next to the wrong messages," Mondelez CEO Dirk Van de Put told Reuters.

The owner of Hite Digital, a Miami ad agency that manages campaigns for major brands, Molly Lopez, confirmed to Ars that it’s not just brand safety that led her to direct all 18 of her clients to pause Twitter ad spending this morning. As Musk continues with layoffs and firings of Twitter staff, she’s also concerned about cybersecurity issues and lack of Twitter support, realizing that there’s likely fewer employees looking after common advertiser issues.

“I am very confident that bad actors, whether they be foreign or domestic, are absolutely looking to capitalize on the fact that one of the biggest technology companies in the world potentially has lost more than half of its current workforce overnight,” Lopez told Ars.


 

Lopez doesn’t think it’s safe right now for clients to store credit card information on Twitter. She's also worried that if there are any issues with ads—like if a brand overspends or misdelivers—there’s seemingly not a support staff available to quickly resolve campaign issues. Where previously, those kinds of issues might be resolved within a week, Lopez said that currently, sending an email to Twitter is like crying for help into a black hole. No response is expected, and after directing digital campaigns for brands for 12 years, Lopez told Ars that’s not a way for brands to comfortably do business.

“Things are spreading extremely quickly and without any of the former systems and checks and balances that were in place prior to the Musk takeover that gave brands at least a little bit of help in terms of combating misinformation and impersonation,” Lopez told Ars.

“The current situation is unpredictable and chaotic, and bad actors and unsafe behaviors can thrive in such an environment,” Interpublic Group, one of the largest advertising companies, wrote in an email to clients, according to The Wall Street Journal. “At this moment, we cannot confidently state that Twitter is a safe place for brands.”

Reuters reported that not every major brand is fleeing Twitter, though. L’Oreal denied reports that it had paused advertising, Gilead Sciences (an HIV drug maker) said it’s still running ads while monitoring the situation, and recently Musk’s company SpaceX just started advertising on Twitter.

Lopez told Ars that Twitter has been most beneficial to brands she has advised that have loyal, niche customer bases. She said that, while Twitter has seemingly become a chaotic place for all brands due to impersonation, the only brands who have historically experienced some sort of controversy seem to be most at risk of reputational damage. Other brands with less scandal in their pasts have less to worry about and likely fewer reasons to abandon the platform. At least one of the brands that Lopez manages, which she describes as a food and beverage brand hit hard by the Twitter fake account scandal, is considering pursuing legal action against Twitter.

As advertisers and ad agencies continue monitoring the Twitter chaos, Lopez has directed her clients that are pausing ad spends on Twitter to redirect those funds to some of Twitter’s most obvious competitors in the attention economy: Meta, TikTok, and Reddit. Earlier this year, CNBC predicted that's exactly what would happen if Musk took over.

Ashley Belanger / Ashley Belanger is the senior tech policy reporter at Ars Technica, writing news and feature stories on tech policy and innovation. She is based in Chicago.

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Democracy in Pakistan has A History of Assassination

 

www.aljazeera.com

Imran Khan’s life under threat: Pakistan judge cites intel report


 

Abid Hussain
3 - 4 minutes

The Islamabad High Court chief justice cites an intelligence report suggesting fears of another assassination attempt on the former prime minister.

Islamabad, Pakistan – A top Pakistani judge, citing an intelligence report, says the life of former Prime Minister Imran Khan is at risk due to fears of another assassination attempt on the politician.

Aamer Farooq, the chief justice of the Islamabad High Court, made the remarks on Friday while hearing a petition filed by a traders’ body over road closures in the national capital during political protests.

Earlier this month, Khan, 70, was shot in the leg by an attacker in the city of Wazirabad while holding a “long march” to Islamabad to demand immediate elections.

A supporter of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was killed and more than a dozen others wounded in the attack, forcing the party to suspend its march.

The cricketing icon-turned-politician accused Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah and military officer General Faisal Naseer of plotting the attack.

Khan did not provide any evidence for his allegations, which were rejected by the government and the army. The suspect was arrested and is being interrogated by the police.

During the hearing on Friday, the police presented before the court an intelligence report which suggested there is a possibility of another attack on Khan once he rejoins the march to Islamabad.

Judge Farooq also asked the PTI to submit a new application to seek permission to hold its rally in Islamabad. He urged the police to ensure the security of the marchers when they reach the city.

Keep reading

list of 4 items

 

During the hearing on Friday, the police presented before the court an intelligence report which suggested there is a possibility of another attack on Khan once he rejoins the march to Islamabad.

Judge Farooq also asked the PTI to submit a new application to seek permission to hold its rally in Islamabad. He urged the police to ensure the security of the marchers when they reach the city.

Khan, who is recuperating from his bullet wound at his residence in Lahore, has been addressing the marchers through a video link after the “long march” resumed on November 10.

He is expected to rejoin the march when it reaches Rawalpindi later this week.

Privacy Policy

Since his removal from power in April this year after losing a vote of confidence in parliament, Khan has been holding rallies across Pakistan to press the government to call early elections, otherwise due late next year.

The PTI chief blamed his removal on a “foreign conspiracy” hatched by the United States in collusion with his political opponents and his detractors in the powerful military. Islamabad and Washington have repeatedly denied the charges.

However, in a recent interview to the British newspaper Financial Times, Khan made a U-turn, saying he was willing to move on from the controversy.

“As far as I am concerned, it’s over, it’s behind me. The Pakistan I want to lead must have good relationships with everyone, especially the United States,” he said.

Source: Al Jazeera

 


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SLOW NEWS LEAKS: Evidence of Undersea Explosives @ NordStream Natural Gas Pipelines

 Intro: Let's keep them guessing

✓

www.aljazeera.com

Traces of explosives found at Nord Stream pipelines, Sweden says


 

Al Jazeera
2 - 3 minutes

Swedish prosecutors confirm gas pipelines were sabotaged as probe continues in attempt to identify suspects.

"Investigators have found traces of explosives at the site of the damaged Nord Stream pipelines, confirming that gross sabotage had taken place, a Swedish prosecutor said on Friday.

Swedish and Danish authorities are investigating four holes in the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines which link Russia and Germany via the Baltic Sea and have become a flashpoint in the Ukraine crisis.


 

Denmark last month said a preliminary investigation had shown that the leaks were caused by powerful explosions.

“Analysis that has now been carried out shows traces of explosives on several of the objects that were recovered,” the Swedish Prosecution Authority said in a statement.

“The investigation is highly complex and comprehensive. The ongoing probe will determine whether any suspects can be identified,” it added.

The prosecutor’s office declined to give further comment.

Seismologists in Denmark and Sweden have previously said they had registered tremors in the immediate vicinity of the leaks and that the signals did not resemble those from earthquakes.

The September 26 ruptures of the seabed pipelines, spewing gas into the ocean that bubbled to the surface in the week that followed, triggered warnings of public hazards and fears of environmental damage.

A section measuring at least 50 metres (164 feet) is missing from Nord Stream 1, the Swedish daily Expressen reported on October 18 after filming what it said were the first publicly released images of the damage.

Russia’s defence ministry last month said that British navy personnel blew up the pipelines, a claim that London said was false and designed to distract from Russian military failures in Ukraine.


 

The Kremlin has also previously said the probe was set up to frame Russia.

Meanwhile, some Western nations have suggested Russia was behind the ruptures, a claim Moscow denies.

 RELATED CONTENT

 

www.bostonglobe.com

Debris from ruptured pipelines shows traces of explosives, Sweden says



 

Yvonne Abraham
5 - 6 minutes
 
By Melissa Eddy New York Times,Updated November 18, 2022, 2 hours ago

"Debris collected from the site of the ruptured Nord Stream gas pipelines has revealed evidence of explosives, indicating an act of “gross sabotage,” Swedish prosecutors said Friday, backing up European authorities’ earlier assertions that blasts had deliberately targeted the critical infrastructure.

A series of undersea explosions ripped holes in the Nord Stream pipelines in late September, damaging the links built to carry Russian natural gas to Germany and rendering them unusable. The statement from the Swedish prosecutors provides the first public forensic confirmation that explosives were found at the site.

“Analyses now carried out show residues of explosives on several of the foreign objects found” at the site, said Mats Ljungqvist, the prosecutor in charge of the Swedish investigation.

He did not give further details on the evidence collected or a potential suspect.

Denmark and Germany are also carrying out investigations into the explosions. European authorities have called the leaks “a deliberate act” aimed at exacerbating an energy dispute between Europe and Russia that has escalated since Russian troops invaded Ukraine in February.

Ljungqvist said in a statement that “extensive seizures” had been made and that the area surrounding the sites where the pipes were damaged had been thoroughly documented. Investigators are now carrying out more “advanced analysis,” he said, “with the aim of drawing more reliable conclusions about the incident.”

He described the Swedish investigation as “very complex and extensive” and said that it would continue with the aim of indicating “whether anyone can be suspected of a crime,” without elaborating further.

The two main leaks occurred on each of the pipelines, which consist of a twin strand of pipes, in busy international waters: one northeast and the other south of the Danish island of Bornholm. The Danish authorities said last month that “powerful explosions” had caused the Nord Stream 1 and 2 natural gas pipelines to rupture, although they declined to say who might have caused them.

A submersible drone operator who filmed the site for the Swedish tabloid Expressen after Swedish authorities finished their initial investigation said last month that he could not tell from his images the extent to which Swedish investigators had removed debris from the sea floor, or from the ruptured pipeline itself. The images by the drone operator, Trond Larsen, showed a gaping end of a pipe that appeared to have been sheared off.

Nord Stream AG, the company that owns and operates the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, has said it was allowed to send its own investigative teams to each of the main sites in the waters that fall under Danish and Swedish economic control.

This month, the company said its preliminary survey of the damage site examined by the Swedish prosecutor had shown unnatural craters as deep as 10 to 16 feet and about 800 feet apart. The section of the pipe between the craters was destroyed, and debris had been scattered, Nord Stream said.

Russia has accused the British navy of targeting the pipelines. London has denied any involvement and called the claim a distraction.

Since the blasts, NATO and its European partners have increased patrols around critical infrastructure in the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, which is home to a vast network of cables and pipelines connecting Norway — Europe’s most important energy exporter since Russia invaded Ukraine — to Britain and the European mainland."

"Traces of explosives" found near undersea Nord Stream gas pipelines hit by "gross sabotage" - CBS News

www.cbsnews.com › World
8 hours ago · Helsinki — Investigators found traces of explosives at the Baltic Sea site where two natural gas pipelines were damaged in an act of "gross ...
www.telegraph.co.uk

First pictures of Nord Stream pipeline show 50m hole after 'powerful explosions'

By Verity Bowman 18 October 2022 • 10:25am
3 minutes

A massive tear and twisted metal can be seen in video footage, with much of the stretch of pipe either missing or buried under the seabed

An explosion in the Nord Stream 1 pipeline last month destroyed 50 metres of pipe, new underwater images show. 

A massive tear can be seen in video footage, with much of the stretch of pipe either missing or buried under the seabed. 

"It is only an extreme force that can bend metal that thick in the way we are seeing," Trond Larsen, a drone operator with the Norwegian company Blueye Robotics, told the Danish newspaper Expressen.

Mr Larsen, who piloted the submersible drone, said you could also see "a very large impact on the seabed around the pipe".

The two Nord Stream pipelines were damaged by explosions under the Baltic Sea at the end of September, causing four leaks.

While the explosions took place in international waters, two of them were in the Danish exclusive economic zone and two of in the Swedish zone. 

Swedish and Danish officials have been conducting investigations since the explosions. 

On Tuesday, Danish officials confirmed that there had been "extensive damage" to the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines in the Baltic Sea off Denmark, and that the cause of the damage was "powerful explosions". 

Swedish authorities announced on October 6 that they had conducted an underwater inspection of the site and collected "pieces of evidence", and that the inspection backed up suspicions of probable sabotage.

The pipelines, which connect Russia to Germany, have been at the centre of geopolitical tensions as Russia cuts gas supplies to Europe in suspected retaliation against Western sanctions over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

World leaders have called the explosions an act of sabotage, while Moscow has sought to pin the blame on the West, suggesting the US stood to gain. Washington has denied any involvement.

Nord Stream One

The damaged pipelines discharged huge amounts of methane into the air for several days Credit: Blue Eye Robotics

The damaged Nord Stream pipelines discharged huge amounts of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, into the air for several days.

The Kremlin said on Tuesday that the international investigation into the explosions was set up with the intention of blaming Russia.

Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin's spokesman, said "elementary logic" showed that damage to the pipeline was a blow to Russia's interests.

He said the investigation was being conducted "secretively" and without Moscow's involvement.

✓ 

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Ho! Ho! Ho! The 2 Santa's Strategy

 Republicans Prepare to Attack America with Santa Claus



thomhartmann

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

2022/11/18 · 07:17

Here’s how it works, laid it out in simple summary:

To set up its foundation, the Two Santas strategy dictates, when Republicans control the White House they must spend money like a drunken Santa and cut taxes on the rich, all to intentionally run up the US debt as far and as fast as possible.


They started this during the Reagan presidency, and tripled down on it during the presidencies of Bush and Trump.


Massive tax cuts and uncontrolled spending during Republican presidencies produced three results: they stimulated the economy with a sort of sugar high, making people think that the GOP can produce a good economy; they raised the national debt dramatically (it’s at $31 trillion today, 100% of which tracks back to Reagan’s, Bush Jr.’s, and Trump’s massive tax cuts and Bush’s two illegal off-the-books wars); and they made people think that Republicans are the “tax-cut Santa Clauses.” 


Then comes part two of the one-two punch: when a Democrat is in the White House, Republicans must scream about the national debt as loudly and frantically as possible, freaking out about how “our children will have to pay for it!” and “we have to cut spending to solve the crisis!”


The “debt crisis,” that is, that they themselves created with their massive tax cuts and wild spending.


Do whatever it takes: shut down the government, crash the stock market, and damage US credibility around the world if necessary.


This will force the Democrats in power to cut their own social safety net programs and even the crown jewel of the New Deal, Social Security, thus shooting their welfare-of-the-American-people Santa Claus right in the face.


And, sure enough, here we are again with a Democrat in the White House.


Following the script, Republicans are again squealing about the national debt and saying they will refuse to raise the debt ceiling, possibly crashing the US economy. 


And, once again, the media is preparing to cover it as a “Debt Crisis!” rather than what it really is: a cynical political and media strategy devised by Republicans in the 70s, fine-tuned in the 80s and 90s, and since then rolled out every time a Democrat is in the White House.


Politically, it’s a brilliant strategy that was hatched by a fellow most people have never heard of: Jude Wanniski.


Republican strategist Wanniski first proposed his Two Santa Clauses strategy in The Wall Street Journal in 1974, after Richard Nixon resigned in disgrace and the future of the Republican Party was so dim that books and articles were widely suggesting the GOP was about to go the way of the Whigs.  


There was genuine despair across the GOP, particularly when Jerry Ford couldn’t even beat an unknown peanut farmer from rural Georgia for the presidency.


Wanniski argued back then that Republicans weren’t losing so many elections just because of Nixon’s corruption, but mostly because the Democrats had been viewed since the New Deal of the 1930s as the “Santa Claus party.”


On the other hand, the GOP, he said, was widely seen as the “party of Scrooge” because they publicly opposed everything from Social Security and Medicare to unemployment insurance and food stamps. 


The Democrats, he noted, had gotten to play Santa Claus for decades when they passed out Social Security and unemployment checks — both programs of FDR’s Democratic New Deal — as well as their “big government” projects like roads, bridges, schools, and highways that gave a healthy union paycheck to workers and made our country shine.


Even worse, Democrats kept raising taxes on businesses and rich people to pay for all that “free stuff” — and Democrats’ 91% top tax rates on the morbidly rich didn’t have any negative effect at all on working people (wages were steadily going up until the Reagan Revolution, in fact).


It all added, Wanniski theorized, to the public perception that the Democrats were the trueparty of Santa Claus, using taxes on the rich to fund programs for the poor and the working class.


Americans loved the Democrats back then. And every time Republicans railed against these programs, they lost elections. . .

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Darling Kari. . ."There's a Fox in the Hen-House"

 Scramble 


 

1

www.dailymail.co.uk

Kari Lake REFUSES to accept losing Arizona gubernatorial election and says she's hired lawyers

Vanessa Serna

Kari Lake REFUSES to accept shock loss in Arizona gubernatorial election and says she's hired lawyers to contest result: Brands victorious Dem rival Katie Hobbs 'a fox in the henhouse' for refusing to recuse herself from oversight role 

, updated

  • Kari Lake refuses to accept her loss in the Arizona gubernatorial race and hired lawyers to review the results 
  • Lake, who is a Republican, lost her race against Democrat rival Katie Hobbs and suggested her loss was due to faulty voting machines 
  • The Republican candidate called Hobbs, who served as Secretary of State, a 'fox' in the 'hen house' 
  • Lake, a former television news anchor and loyal ally of former President Trump, made denial of Biden's 2020 election win a key tenet of her campaign
  • Hobbs is set to replace Republican Governor Doug Ducey who has served since 2015  

Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake has refused to accept her shock gubernatorial defeat - and revealed she's calling in lawyers to contest it after branding her victorious Democrat rival Katie Hobbs 'a fox in the henhouse.' 

Lake, a high-profile Republican candidate tipped as a new star of the MAGA movement, lost her race to Democrat Katie Hobbs and has since suggested that voter fraud was the culprit. 

The Republican candidate wasn't ready to accept her defeat and called Hobbs, who served as Secretary of State and overlooked elections, as being a 'fox in the hen house.' 

Hobbs was Arizona's secretary of state until her recent gubernatorial win. She had broad oversight over the Grand Canyon State's electoral process, with Lake claiming it was inappropriate for her to maintain that role while running for Arizona's highest office.

Arizona was struck by issues during its recent midterm elections, but so-far there's no evidence it swung the result in Hobbs' favor.  

'I am still in this fight with you,' Lake said in a video on Twitter. 'For two years, I've been sounding the alarm about our broken election system here in Arizona - and this past week has confirmed everything we've been saying. 

'Well, we called for Katie Hobbs to recuse herself over a year ago. They ridiculed us. It turns out we were right. They fox was guarding the hen house, and because of that, voters have been disenfranchised when we raise concerns.' 

Lake has hired lawyers to contest the results. . .

READ MORE


2

www.dailymail.co.uk

Kari Lake travels to Mar-a-Lago after election loss

Nikki Schwab, Associated
9 - 11 minutes

Looking to the future Kari? Defeated Arizona governor candidate Lake visits Mar-a-Lago for lunch after Trump's 2024 announcement as she hires lawyers to contest her election loss 

By Nikki Schwab, Senior U.S. Political Reporter and Associated Press , updated

  • Failed Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake visited former President Donald Trump 's Florida club Mar-a-Lago Thursday 
  • The Washington Post reported that Lake received a standing ovation when she showed up for a luncheon hosted by The America First Policy Institute
  • In a video posted online Thursday she said she's hired lawyers to contest her election loss  

Failed Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake visited former President Donald Trump's Florida club Mar-a-Lago Thursday as she's hired lawyers to contest her election loss.

The Washington Post reported that Lake received a standing ovation when she showed up for a luncheon hosted by The America First Policy Institute, an advocacy group created by former Trump advisers. 

The America First Policy Institute was holding a 'Gala and Experience' at Trump's Palm Beach home and club, taking place on Thursday and Friday, The Post said. 

In a video posted online of remarks Lake made at Mar-a-Lago Thursday night, she said 'our elections are a circus run by clowns.' 

'They had to do everything they could to stop us - ballot harvesting - they had to shut down the machines on Election Day. But we know their tricks. And they think they can slow and pour cold water on a movement. It is not possible people. You cannot stop the American spirit,' she said. 'You cannot stop the Founding Fathers and the blood that we have, that we have inside of us.' 

She vowed to fight on. 


Lake then turned her attention to Trump, who was seated, tie-less in the front row. 

'I don't know what my future holds, other then I'm going to fight for this country, but I will do everything in my power to make sure this man gets back in the White House - we need him more than ever,' Lake said. 

Lake walked onstage to Fight Song, the ballad frequently used by Hillary Clinton's failed 2016 campaign. 

The Washington Post reported that Lake received a standing ovation when she showed up for a luncheon hosted by The America First Policy Institute, an advocacy group created by former Trump advisers. 

Just two days earlier, the club's glitzy ballroom was where Trump launched his 2024 presidential campaign. 

Going into the November midterms, Lake looked like one of the MAGA movement's brightest rising stars - a former television anchor who parroted Trump's 'big lie.'

She was even mentioned as a potential 2024 VP pick.   

But now her political future is in question. . ."

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Justice Delayed

 Another day in court . . .Roughly 27 years ago, playful banter at the luxury department store Bergdorf Goodman on Fifth Avenue in New York City took a dark turn when Defendant Donald J. Trump seized Plaintiff E. Jean Carroll, forced her up against a dressing room wall, pinned her in place with his shoulder, and raped her,' reads the new complaint.

Carroll will file the suit on November 24, the day the new state law goes into effect.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Trump rape accuser E Jean Carroll will use new NY law to file battery lawsuit against ex-president


 

Sophie Mann

Trump rape accuser E. Jean Carroll will use new NY law to file battery lawsuit against ex-president next week over claims he forced her to have sex with him in Bergdorf Goodman fitting room

, updated

  • Carroll's suit will test a new New York law that gives adult victims of sexual assault a one-time chance to file civil suits regardless of statutes of limitation
  • The former Elle advice columnist is already suing the former president for defamation following her initial claim of the rape
  • Carroll claims that the alleged assault has caused her 'significant pain and suffering, lasting psychological harms,' and the 'loss of dignity'
  •  Trump has vehemently denied the accusations, saying Carroll is 'totally lying' and calling her case a 'complete con job'

E. Jean Carroll, a former longtime advice columnist for Elle Magazine, is planning to bring a battery lawsuit against former President Donald Trump, who she claims raped her the 1990s in Bergdorf Goodman. 

With her suit, Carroll will test a new New York law, the New York Adult Survivors Act, which gives adult victims of sexual assault a one-time window to file civil lawsuits, despite expired statues of limitation.

She has previously sued him for defamation for claiming she lied about the alleged attack, and will next week sue Trump for defamation again over a second public denial he made about the claims.  

The author claimed in her 2019 book, which was serialized in New York Magazine, that Trump raped her in a dressing room at luxury department store Bergdorf Goodman after a chance encounter in the lingerie department during the mid-1990s.

Her version of the encounter alleges that following some banter about one of them trying on a bodysuit from the lingerie selection, Trump pinned her against a wall, yanked down her tights and forced himself upon her. . .

In her updated complaint, Carroll has included statements the former president has made about her since leaving office.

In an October 12 post to his Truth Social Platform, Trump wrote, 'And, while I am not supposed to say it, I will.'

'This woman is not my type! She has no idea what day, what week, what month...or what year this so-called 'event' supposedly took place,' he wrote. 'E. Jean Carroll is not telling the truth.

The comments are similar to one's Trump has previously made about the case, but they will have to be defended using a different strategy insofar as Trump was no longer a government official when he made them. 

Earlier this week, he vowed to run again as president in 2024. . ."

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