Follow live as disgraced former President Trump shows up to answer his four count federal indictment on charges over his failed attempt to overturn his humiliating defeat to Joe Biden in the 2020 election… and the potentially explosive situation outside the courthouse in DC.

Within the hour, former president and indicted felon Donald Trump will stand before a magistrate judge to enter a plea, but his case will be heard by US District Judge for the District of Columbia Tanya Chutkan on four felonies related to his involvement in the attempt to undermine the integrity of US elections.

Like the two other judges overseeing Trump’s criminal cases–New York Superior Court Judge Juan Marchan and US District Judge for the Southern District of Florida Aileen Cannon–the 61-year-old Chutkan was born outside the United States.  She was nominated to the federal bench by Barack Obama in 2013 after spending more than a decade as a public defender before joining the law firm of Boies, Schiller & Flexner in 2002.

Self-described Democrat and unrealistic presidential candidate Cornell West has more than half a million dollars in past-due taxes dating back to 2005, a review of records by the Daily Beast shows.  A vocal advocate for the poor who asserts rich people need to pay more taxes to ensure a healthy society, West owes a total of $543,778.78 to the federal government; a past-due tax bill of around $170,000 for local taxes in Los Angeles County that had not been paid since 2012 was settled this past June.

A college professor and author, West is running for the Democratic presidential nomination in a campaign run by Moscow-linked 2016 spoiler Jill Stein.

“Taxation without representation is now reflected in policies that allow the wealthy to be coddled and under-taxed while the perennially poor, working poor, and ‘new poor’ are ignored and rendered invisible,” West wrote in his 2012 book The Rich and the Rest of Us with co-author Tavis Smiley “Economic justice in America has been overshadowed by greed, because unequal taxation benefits the rich at the expense of everyone else.”

We would also like to point out that every asshole Republican still going on TV defending this loser is doing so by claiming he didn’t know any better, that “being wrong about the election isn’t a crime,” while he’s still carrying on with this “CROOKED ELECTION” bullshit. Worth questioning when the audience is going to start picking up on that dissonance and turn their rage on said Republicans.

Contrary to the anti-liberal rhetoric of its undersized governor, a Florida city is so pleased with a program it implemented in 2021 to cut down on the number of non-criminal calls its police officers respond to that it’s city council has voted to expand the program, WTSP CBS-10 in Tampa Bay reports.

In response to the BLM protests of 2020, St. Petersburg, Florida instituted a program in 2021 that would send social workers, mental health professionals and/or other non-armed professionals to 9-1-1 calls that did not present an immediate physical danger to the caller or another.  The city found that the non-police workers were able to spend more time with the person in need and help them to successfully de-escalate the situation while assisting them to find available solutions to pressing problems.  Although no firm data was presented, advocates say the program has cut down on the number of arrests, the number of calls police must respond to, and the number of repeat calls to the same residence.

With the endorsement of the St. Petersburg Police, the city council will vote Thursday to increase the budget of the program from $1.2 million to $1.6 million, allowing the program to increase its hours of operation beyond its current 8 a.m. to midnight window to operate at least until 2 a.m. seven days per week.

People who pick their noses have a three-times greater likelihood of contracting Covid, a new study of hospital workers published in peer-reviewed journal PLOS (Public Library of Science) ONE shows, reports the Washington Post.

The study examined three behaviors–picking one’s nose, having a beard, and biting one’s fingernails–that weaken health and hygiene guidelines in hospitals to see if there was an associated increase in Covid infection.  While only around a third of subjects reported having a beard or biting nails, nearly 85% said they picked their noses at least once in the previous month.  The three conditions were studied because they impacted the ability of facemasks to seal properly and efficiently.

The study found 17% of nose-pickers got Covid, versus just 6% of people reporting the other habits.  Researchers–both independent and those involved in the study–not that the coronavirus typically accesses the human system through the nose, so contaminating the nasal cavity with a finger will increase transmission, as would scrapping the mucus, potentially exposing blood vessels under the layer of mucus.

At a New Hampshire campaign stop, Florida Republican Governor and wannabe presidential candidate Ron DeSantis used violent threats common in modern GOP politics, saying that he was going to start “slitting throats on day one” if he’s elected President.

Newsweek reports DeSantis made the statement Sunday that was recorded by New Hampshire Public Radio when asked about his priorities if he should be elected President.  DeSantis went on a rant about his perceived bias in government against conservatives saying, “We’re going to have all these Deep State people, you know we’re going to start slitting throats on day one.”

The barbeque was hosted by former Playgirl model and one-time Massachusetts Republican Senator Scott Brown, who lost a Senate race in New Hampshire before being named ambassador to New Zealand by Donald Trump in 2017.

We already wrote this piece. We have to write it again because, well, there are still no coincidences to be found in the timing of the newest “explosive” Hunter Biden revelations coming the same week that disgraced former President Trump was hit with the one indictment in which he is truly and most unambiguously fucked when it comes to the facts of the case, the judge, and the jury pool – not to mention how much more politically radioactive the whole coup attempt is with independent voters compared to Trump’s hoarding of stolen classified documents and the Stormy payoff in Manhattan.

“Today is yet another dark day in America as Joe Biden continues to weaponize his corrupt Department of Justice against his leading political opponent Donald J Trump. Less than 24 hours ago, Congress heard testimony from Hunter Biden’s longtime business partner that Joe Biden joined Hunter’s business calls over 20 times. This directly contradicts Biden’s lie that he never discussed business with his son. Today’s sham indictment of Donald Trump is yet another desperate attempt to distract attention away from the mounting evidence of Joe Biden’s direct involvement in his family’s illegal influence peddling scheme – one of the greatest political corruption scandals in history,” wrote ghoulish Congresswoman Elise Stefanik in a statement on Tuesday.

It’s no coincidence that former Hunter Biden business partner Devon Archer told House Oversight Committee investigators that he was present about 20 times circa 2015 in which Hunter called his dad and put him on speakerphone the day before Trump was indicted again because Republicans made sure there would be a “non-coincidence.” No, they couldn’t time it exactly down to the day, but they made sure it was close enough so that they could claim the timing wasn’t coincidental.

Impeached Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton will make an appearance in a Houston courtroom Thursday in another legal issue he’s facing:  an eight-year-old felony indictment for financial fraud for defrauding investors in a tech start-up, the Associated Press reports.

Brian Wice, the state’s special prosecutor assigned to Paxton’s securities fraud case, successfully argued to move the case from Paxton’s home county to Houston.  Paxton continues to move to return the trial to his home county outside Dallas because he believes he’ll get favorable treatment in Republican-leaning Collin County.

The hearing is essentially a status update for the Court on the case, which has been delayed for years due to various frivolous motions from Paxton.  The latest issue will be trying to advance the case as Paxton faces 20 articles of impeachment, which also includes the securities fraud allegation.

So yeah, Devon Archer wasn’t under oath when the House Oversight Committee Republicans interviewed him on Monday. We get it. Why far right Texas Congressman Chip Roy is such a bitch that he can’t own up to that we don’t know. Well, we have an idea why but some specifics on the matter would be nice. It is funny to see Maria Bartiromo frustrated with this dodgy bullshit though.

The House Oversight GOP on Thursday published the full transcript of former Hunter Biden business partner Devon Archer’s interview with committee investigators and it’s simply not what the fanboys wanted to see at all. Rather than waste time sorting through it, here’s one key exchange:

“If someone were to conclude from this that this is evidence, this Form 1023 is evidence that Joe Biden was bribed by [Burisma founder] Mykola Zlochevsky, would you disagree with that conclusion?” asks the Republican investigator, lawyer, whatever.”Yeah, I would,” Archer answers.

A new Noble Predictive Insights survey finds Dem Arizona Congressman Ruben Gallego leading both incumbent douchebag at 34 percent to edgelord “independent” Senator Kyrsten Sinema’s 26 percent and fascist MAGA psychopath “legitimate Governor” Kari Lake’s 25 in a hypothetical three-way 2024 race for Sinema’s seat. One-on-one Gallego leads Lake 45 to 35 percent.

Neither of the two women have declared yet for the race as Lake is just out of her fucking mind and Sinema is probably entertaining the top spot on the “No Labels” presidential ticket. The survey also tested Gallego against Reptilian 2022 Senate loser Blake Masters and already-declared GOP candidate Pinal Sheriff Mark Lamb, leading them 44 to 36 and 40 to 36 percent, respectively.

At least three of the now-former DeSantis 2024 campaign staffers let go in a cost-cutting purge late last month have found themselves new employment with the Florida state government, Axios reports, proving that the heels-wearing Sunshine State governor is not so cold-hearted after all and will help his most loyal people get right back on their feet using taxpayer dollars.

Some asshole rats chewing on broadband cables knocked out the internet to hundreds of homes in the town of Tring, Hertfordshire, England for four days this week, the Independent reports.

It’s not clear why the dumbasses thought the wires were food, but either way locals are pissed. “Very frustrating,” one customer told the Independent. “Totally outrageous in the modern age.”

The news that scumbag Trump minion Boris Epshteyn is quite likely the still-unknown “Co-Conspirator 6” listed in Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith’s indictment of the disgraced former president over his failed post-2020 election coup attempt was met with elation among the other loyalists in the Orange Tyrant’s court, sources tell the Daily Beast, with one saying the Russian-born lawyer/MAGA operative/failed crypto salesman is “is so deeply, viscerally hated right now” and a second source saying it was “so sad!” coupled with a sarcastic meme sent via text.

“He’s the king of the court jesters,” the second source continued. “All he cares about is being close to Trump, and he’ll do or say whatever it takes to accomplish that. Mostly that means sticking his nose in everyone else’s business so he can run back to the boss and take credit or lay blame.”

Okay, ladies:  Line up!  He paints his body red and runs around a baseball stadium to support his favorite team!  He’s a Tucker Carlson fan!  He’s an avid Trump supporter!  He’s been the target of a Tucker Carlson conspiracy theory about January 6th!  He’s single (we assume), and he’s also an indicted felon.

That’s right, Rally Runner–he legally changed his name to reflect his role in the St. Louis Cardinals’ mythos; before that, he was known as Daniel Donnelly Jr.–was arrested in St. Louis on five charges for his role in the Republican-led domestic terrorist attack on Congress.

According to NBC News, Runner was the target of a conspiracy started by a lawyer for a number of charged January 6th insurrectionists who stated on Carlson’s program that Runner was “clearly a law enforcement officer” and an “agent provocateur” who was sent to stir up trouble in the crowd.  Carlson would pick up on the conspiracy and repeat it on his show.  In fact, Runner was a fan of Carlson’s who simply attacked the Capitol because he believed the other conspiracy theories Carlson broadcast.  “Disappointed is an understatement,” Runner said. “For years, I believed Tucker was a responsible reporter focused on stopping ‘Fake News’ just to be hit with this story.”

Officials in Mexico said on Wednesday they spotted a body among the floating barriers Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott ordered installed in the Rio Grande to block migrants from crossing, ABC News reports.

Mexico’s Foreign Relations Department said government workers were attempting to recover the body, but that there were problems including dangers from the buoys themselves.  Reports claim the obstacles are covered in razor wire and that razor wire was in the water between the buoys.

“We made clear our concern about the impact on migrants’ safety and human rights that these state policies would have,” the department said in a statement.  The Mexican government maintains the barrier violates a number of treaties and agreements, as well as impinges on Mexican sovereignty.  The US federal government also objects to Abbott’s dangerous art installation, saying it violates various laws and regulations regarding river navigation and structural safety issues.

Due to certain time-zone and diurnal clock issues being experienced by one half of National Zero’s editorial team we published at an ungodly hour this list of currently sitting Republican Senators who voted to confirm DC District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan to the bench in 2014, so if you missed it we would like to again ask readers to correct any fanboy complaining of an “Obama judge” by informing them she’s actually a “Cruz-RonAnon-Rubio-RandPaul-LindseyGraham-Obama judge.”

Not that you can directly respond to Lindsey Graham here, but his emotional meltdown during this Hannity hit over Chutkan and the venue – which under the provisions of the Sixth Amendment of the United States Constitution could not be charged anywhere other than DC – serves as a satisfying reminder that, even if the Dem Senate majority would’ve confirmed the judge with or without his yes vote, he and a number of other fierce Trump supporters in his chamber did not say no to her when the time came. There will be many more moments like this in the year to come, and with it many opportunities to mention that it wasn’t just the “RINOs” that handed Chutkan the gavel.

This is why Republicans hate public education:  they know that people who understood history recognize the words and intent of Fox’s Jesse Watters as similar to those of people encouraging vigilantism and political terrorism.

If Trump wins, after he pardons himself, welcome to the Revenge Tour.  Oh, he’ll be out for blood.  You think he’s going to let bygones be bygones?  He’s gonna put his men at Justice, and the Clintons, Obamas, the Pelosis, the Schiffs and yeah, of course, the Bidens every one of them will be legally assaulted.  Their family members, their foundations, their businesses, everything’s fair game after this.

Hey, Jesse, “their family members, their foundations, their businesses, everything’s fair game after this”–Guess what, bud?  Everything was fair game before this, but there was no evidence of any criminal activity by anyone besides the Trump cabal.