Trump appointee Pirro left trail of 'stiffed' creditors dating back to 2006: report

Tom Boggioni
May 10, 2025 
RAW STORY


Jeanine Pirro (Photo by Jim Lamparski for Reuters)

According to a report from NOTUS, Donald Trump's replacement hire to serve as the interim U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C., has hundreds of thousands of dollars dating back to 2006 that have reportedly never been paid.

As Dave Levinthal of NOTUS wrote, Fox News personality Jeanine Pirro's unsuccessful run for the U.S. Senate resulted in vendors left hanging according to FEC reports to the tune of $600,000.

As he wrote, "Pirro’s 2006 U.S. Senate campaign failed for years to file mandatory financial reports with the Federal Election Commission, despite repeated warnings from regulators," with one regulator warning in 2024, "The failure to timely file a complete report may result in civil money penalties, an audit or legal enforcement action."

Reporting, "The Pirro committee’s $600,000 in total debts involved nearly two-dozen creditors, including Mercury Public Affairs ($37,640), Verizon ($1,859.28) and the U.S. Postal Service ($1,627.30)," Levinthal reported that in 2019 the Pirro for Senate committee claimed, "... these debts, based on contract, are not collectable as the [New York state] 6-year [statute] of limitations has long passed.”

In May of the same year, the FEC allowed the committee to abandon filing reports with the admonition, “... administrative termination of your reporting obligation does not relieve the committee of any legal responsibility for the payment of any outstanding debt or obligation.”

You can read more here.


MSNBC host urges viewers to 'Google it' while digging into Jeanine Pirro's sketchy history

Tom Boggioni
May 10, 2025 
RAW STORY

Jeanine Pirro walks on the hallway during a break at Manhattan criminal court in New York, US, on Friday, May 10, 2024. JEENAH MOON/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

On Saturday morning's edition of MSNBC's "The Weekend," co-host Jonathan Capehart expressed both dismay and surprise that Donald Trump selected Fox News personality Jeanine Pirro to serve as Washington, D.C.'s interim U.S. attorney considering her history.

Speaking with his co-hosts, he claimed it doesn't take much effort to dig up Pirro's sketchy background when it comes to law enforcement and offered some tips to viewers.

"Talk about failing upward!" he exclaimed before continuing, "She's not qualified."

Point out the longtime friendship between Pirro and Trump, Capehart continued, "They are such good friends that at the end of his first term as president, didn't he, yeah, he gave her former husband, tax cheat ex-husband Al a pardon."

"And folks, do yourself a favor just Google 'Jeanine Pirro,' 'husband,' 'FBI,' 'Bernie Kerik,'" he advised.

"See, there's a whole thing, a scandal from 20 years ago where she is caught on tape talking to the former New York police commissioner about bugging her husband's boat for reasons you can read in that story if you Google it," he continued.

You can watch below or at the link.

'Bombastic talking head': MSNBC panel mocks Trump's 'reality show' pick Jeanine Pirro

Fox News

Alex Henderson

May 10, 2025
ALTERNET

President Donald Trump has picked far-right Fox News host Jeanine Pirro to serve as interim U.S. attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice's (DOJ) Washington, D.C. office. Trump's Pirro announcement followed his decision not to nominate the current interim U.S. attorney for that office, Ed Martin, permanently.

Pirro has a background as a prosecutor: in the past, she served as DA in Westchester County, New York. But in recent years, Pirro's main focus has been working as a Fox News pundit.

Trump's decision to appoint Pirro to DOJ drew a biting response from a Saturday morning, May 10 panel on MSNBC's "The Weekend." And the three hosts — The Washington Post's Jonathan Capehart, Politico's Eugene Daniels and Never Trump conservative Elise Jordan — agreed that Pirro is being hired for her loyalty to Trump, not because she brings a long DOJ resume to the table.

Capehart complained, "She's not qualified to do any of this stuff." And Daniels responded, "For Trump, she is."

Daniels elaborated, "The qualifications that he has for a lot of these people — and we're looking at 21 different Fox News personalities or contributors who have joined the second Trump Administration…..The qualifications aren't: Can they run the department? It's: Do they have loyalty to him? And more importantly, do they have disdain for the organization of which they're a part? He also tells people that he likes folks who look the part. Right? And you know, whether that means they're pretty or they're handsome or they look strong."

Daniels noted that when Trump picks nominees, he is thinking like "the producer of a reality show" — and by that standard, Pirro fights right in.

Jordan agreed, interjecting, "And he loves having someone who is a bombastic talking head is and is going to fight."

Watch the full video below or at this link.

'Why are we not talking about his mental acuity?' MSNBC host nails growing Trump problem

Tom Boggioni
May 10, 2025 

RAW STORY


Donald Trump (Photo via Reuters)

During an MSNBC panel on recent proclamations from Donald Trump that have left observers baffled, "The Weekend" co-host Jonathan Capehart expressed dismay that there is not more attention being paid to the president's state of mind.

With former Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-VA) commenting on Trump's nonsensical tariff claims, Capehart couldn't contain himself and exclaimed, "I wrote down this note immediately: why are we not talking about his mental acuity? How?"

Co-host and former GOP speechwriter Elise Jordan offered, "The last interview he did with [NBC's] Kristen Welker, he did not look as sharp and he looked, at least at a minimum, tired. At worst case, he is not as sharp as he used to be."

Comstock then jumped in with, "I mean he's talking about how it's great that those, right the [container] ships coming over are empty, that means we're saving money, it is literally economically illiterate."

"His own people –– look at Steve Moore, Heritage Foundation, a guy who opposes tariffs has been saying to people behind the scenes, actually, he's been saying it on Fox News, this is insane," she added. "

"You can tell –– Ken Griffin who gave money, huge money to Republicans last year, including Trump, has said this has made us 20 percent poorer in a month done permanent damage to the American brand and this isn't going to be something we can turn around from now. You know, and what he [Trump] does is he burns down the house and then he comes in and says, 'Oh, the market went up.' Well, no."

You can watch below or at the link

'We're not playing': DHS spokesperson reveals plans on CNN to arrest members of Congress

Tom Boggioni
May 10, 2025
RAW STORY


Victor Blackwell, Tricia McLaughlin (CNN screenshot)

During an appearance on CNN Saturday morning where she was tasked with defending the questionable arrest of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka by a mob of armed ICE agents outside of an DHS facility, a spokesperson for the agency stated there are plans to arrest more lawmakers in the coming days.

Speaking with host Victor Blackwell, Tricia McLaughlin, Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs at DHS and former advisor to failed GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, kept insisting that Mayor Baraka was arrested for "storming" the facility despite video showing him being taken into custody outside the chain-link gate.

After she grimly recited that the mayor and members of Congress who were also in attendance "put law enforcement at risk, this actually put the detainees, as well, at risk," she added more arrests would be forthcoming.

"Victor, I think that we should let viewers know there will likely be more arrests coming," McLaughlin claimed. " We actually have body camera footage of some of these members of Congress assaulting our ICE enforcement officers, including body slamming a female ICE officer. So we will be showing that to viewers very shortly."

'You say a video of members of Congress body slamming ICE officials?" a skeptical Blackwell asked.

"That's correct sir, it's disgusting," she replied.

"Okay, and so, if you have that video, are you suggesting that members of Congress will be arrested who were there yesterday?" the CNN host pressed.

"This is an ongoing investigation and that is definitely on the table," she shot back.

"Who has the video?" Blackwell asked.

"ICE does and we will be releasing that shortly," she replied before later adding, "We're not playing."

You can watch below or at the link:

‘I didn’t break any laws’: Newark mayor slams ‘humiliating’ arrest at ICE facility

Erik De La Garza
May 9, 2025 

RAW STORY

(Screengrab via CNN)

Ras Baraka, the Democratic mayor of Newark, New Jersey, didn’t waste any time defending himself after his arrest outside an ICE facility sparked a chaotic scene that included protesters and several members of Congress who were on site.

“It was really humiliating and painful,” Baraka, who said he's now facing a federal trespassing charge, told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on Friday.

Speaking out just hours after his release from federal custody, Baraka, a candidate for governor of New Jersey, took to CNN to tell his side of the story – and denounce the charges. He said he was there in support of members of Congress and his capacity as mayor, not to protest, and was wrongfully “targeted.”



“After they told us to leave, we left and they began to try to arrest me,” Baraka said. “I shouldn't say us. They targeted me and came after me specifically and arrested me.” He also slammed comments from Alina Habba, acting U.S. Attorney for New Jersey and longtime Trump ally, that accused the Newark mayor of ignoring multiple warnings.

“The reality is, Alina Habba wasn't there,” he said. “She doesn't know what happened. I was there for over an hour in that space, and nobody ever told me to move."

“Not a single person,” he added. “Not an officer from ICE, not any of the security guards, nobody told me to leave that place.”

But Baraka said he has no regrets.

“I don't have any regrets at all,” Baraka told Collins. “I would do it again. I have a right to go to those facilities as the mayor of the city.”

“And it is not federal property,” he added. “It is, in fact, private property. GEO is privately owned.”

Watch the video below via CNN or at the link here: 

Former head of crypto platform Celsius sentenced 12 years


By AFP
May 8, 2025


Founder and former CEO of crypto lender Celsius Alexander Mashinsky has been sentenced to 12 years in prison on fraud charges 

- Copyright GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File David Dee Delgado

The founder and former CEO of bankrupt cryptocurrency trading platform Celsius, Alexander Mashinsky, was sentenced Thursday to 12 years in prison on fraud charges.

Mashinsky, 50, pleaded guilty last December to securities fraud in a deal that reduced the level of charges he faced.

The sentence comes down nearly three years after the startup’s collapse as a cryptocurrency platform, which offered customers the ability to invest in digital currencies, including its own coin, CEL.

According to the indictment, Celsius executives took more than $4 billion in customers’ assets to finance the platform’s operations, make unsecured loans and invest in high-risk items.

Mashinsky was also accused of manipulating the price of CEL by using customers’ funds to purchase the currency, artificially inflating its price.

At its peak in late 2021, Celsius had more than one million clients and held more than $25 billion in assets.

But the company hit hard times in the spring of 2022 as the value of cryptocurrencies plummeted.

Facing deep customer withdrawals, Celsius on June 12, 2022 froze over $4.7 billion in customer accounts before filing for bankruptcy protection a month later.

A progress report published in March found that 93 percent of the frozen assets had been recovered and returned to former Celsius customers.

The 2022 cryptocurrency collapse affected a number of other startups in the field, including FTX, the second-largest crypto exchange that filed for bankruptcy in November 2022.

Nearing 100, Malaysian ex-PM Mahathir blasts ‘old world’ Trump


By AFP
May 8, 2025


Ex-Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad is giving President Donald Trump three months before Americans force him to rethink his global tariff strategy - Copyright AFP JADE GAO

Isabelle LEONG and Jan HENNOP

Former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad is giving President Donald Trump three months before his fellow Americans force him to rethink his stringent global tariff strategy, accusing the US leader of “living in an old world”.

Speaking to AFP in an interview two months ahead of his 100th birthday, the plain-speaking Mahathir said: “Trump will find that his tariffs are hurting America, and the people in America will end up against him.”

The US president’s stop-start tariff rollout will hit Asian nations hard — including Malaysia, which faces a 24 percent levy in July unless the two countries can strike a deal.

“It’s going to cause America a lot of problems, so I give Trump three months,” said Mahathir, who ruled Malaysia in two stints lasting nearly a quarter of a century.

Still working a five-day week from his office in the administrative capital Putrajaya, the sprightly nonagenarian remains as outspoken as ever.

“Donald Trump is irrational. I don’t think he thinks carefully about what he’s doing,” said Mahathir.

“His policies on migration — and also trying to reduce the cost of government, sacking thousands of people — all these things are not good.

“It will not make America great,” he said, taking a jab at Trump’s MAGA election slogan.

Asked what he thought of some of Trump’s foreign policies — proposing to take over Greenland and seize control of the Panama Canal — Mahathir said the US leader was “living in an old world”.



– ‘Cannot stop China’ –



Throughout his long career, Mahathir was a proponent of a “Look East” policy — pushing Malaysians to find solutions in Asia rather than depending on Western nations.

As US tariffs loom, Mahathir has not changed his mind.

China has taken the brunt of the US president’s combative trade policies with 145 percent tariffs on many goods.

President Xi Jinping recently visited Malaysia, part of a three-stop tour to Southeast Asia, where the Chinese leader called for closer cooperation between the two nations.

“You cannot just stop China because its ability, its capacity is the same as those of Western countries,” said Mahathir.

“We find that the US, which for some time has been lauding itself as the world’s first power, does not want to accept China’s development.”

Malaysia aimed to remain friendly towards both Washington and Beijing, the veteran politician said.

“We don’t want to quarrel with China, but we don’t want to quarrel with America either,” he added.

“Malaysia’s policy is to be friendly with all countries.”

Mahathir, one of the 20th century’s last post-colonial stalwarts, will celebrate his birthday on July 10.

The former leader has been battling health problems, most recently when he was hospitalised after contracting a respiratory infection.

He spent nearly three months in hospital during another stay last year.

Although no longer in power — his fragile coalition which included long-time political foe and current Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim collapsed in 2020 — Mahathir’s views still carry much weight at home and across the region.

But asked what he thought was his most important legacy, Mahathir said it was “for others” to judge.

Japan’s Panasonic targets 10,000 job cuts worldwide


By AFP
May 9, 2025


Panasonic became a global household name in the latter half of the 20th century - Copyright AFP Philip FONG

Hiroshi HIYAMA

Japanese electronics giant Panasonic, which supplies batteries to Tesla, said Friday it will target 10,000 job cuts worldwide as part of efforts to boost profitability.

The cuts, which represent around four percent of the group’s workforce of nearly 230,000, will be implemented mainly in the current financial year to March, it said.

Panasonic said it would “thoroughly review operational efficiency at each group company, mainly in sales and indirect departments”.

It will “reevaluate the numbers of organisations and personnel actually needed”, a statement said.

“This measure targets 10,000 employees (5,000 in Japan and 5,000 overseas) at consolidated companies,” and will be executed “in accordance with the labour laws, rules, and regulations of each country and region”.

Panasonic became a global household name in the latter half of the 20th century, pioneering electronic appliances from rice cookers to televisions to video recorders.

The Osaka-based conglomerate is a major battery supplier for Elon Musk’s US electric vehicle maker Tesla, and also operates in the housing, energy and auto sectors.

Panasonic in February outlined a management reform programme to resolve “various structural issues” at the company.

“Through the current management reform, the company aims to improve profit by at least 150 billion yen ($1 billion),” it said Friday.

In its full-year earnings report, also released Friday, Panasonic forecast a 15 percent decline in net profit this year, and an eight percent slump in sales.

In the financial year to March 31, 2025, the group logged a 17.5 percent decline in net profit to 366 billion yen.

Panasonic is facing “ongoing business environment changes (such as) a slowdown in demand for EVs”, it said.

As for US trade tariffs, “their impact is not factored into this forecast”, Panasonic added.

“The company continues to monitor the tariff situation and aims to minimize the resulting impact by taking measures from both short-term and medium- to long-term perspectives.”

In an interview published in April, Panasonic Holdings CEO Yuki Kusumi told Japan’s Nikkei newspaper that personnel cuts would be necessary, without detailing their scale.

Job cuts would be needed “in order for us to perform at a competitive level against other firms”, he told the Nikkei.

In Panasonic’s history, the group has also gradually expanded its headcount during profitable periods, Kusumi stressed.

From blockades to ballots: Serbian students confront government


By AFP
May 9, 2025


The country has been shaken by months of protests sparked by the deadly collapse of a newly renovated railway station roof in Novi Sad in November -- a tragedy widely seen as the result of deep-rooted corruption - Copyright AFP/File OLIVER BUNIC

Ognjen ZORIC, Anne-Sophie LABADIE

Serbian students leading an anti-corruption movement that has rocked the Balkan country for months maintained the pressure Friday with a march in the western city of Loznica — the first major protest since their call for early elections.

Many arrived the night before on foot from across Serbia and were welcomed by residents with flags and fireworks.

The country has been shaken by months of protests sparked by the deaths of 16 people when a newly renovated railway station roof collapsed in the northern city of Novi Sad in November — a tragedy widely seen as the result of deep-rooted corruption.

Students have blocked universities, streets and roads, marched across Serbia, cycled to Strasbourg, and run to Brussels — all while remaining nonpartisan in their message.

These actions have “helped raise awareness” and “reached parts of the public that the political opposition had never reached”, Dusan Vucicevic, a University of Belgrade political science professor, told AFP.

But as demonstrations have escalated, “people have been waiting for some political articulation,” he added, referring to tactics.

Earlier this week, students shifted gears and called for early parliamentary elections.

“We came to the point where we realised that this government is not going to fulfil our demands. This has lasted for almost six months, and they are acting like we don’t exist,” Andjela, a Belgrade Academy student, told AFP.

Students have demanded accountability for the tragedy, prosecution of those who attacked protesters, dismissal of charges against arrested students, and an investigation into the alleged use of a sound cannon during a demonstration in March.



– Looming polls –



Facing the greatest challenge of his 12-year rule, the Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has oscillated between calls for dialogue and accusations that the students are backed by foreign powers seeking a “colour revolution.”

Commenting on their demand for elections, he said Wednesday that students “won’t wait long” — though he offered no date.

Students have already begun preparing with a list of candidates they would support, which they say “would unite the largest number of Serbian citizens” by featuring the names of eminent individuals rather than politicians.

“Students won’t be candidates. It will be people we trust,” Andjela said, adding that a criteria for prospective candidates was still being established.

Vucicevic said the students’ strength lies in their emotional connection with the public, as well as in the fact that their “demands are political but not party-driven”.

“They focus on respect for law, social justice, and political accountability — universal values that resonate widely,” Vucicevic said.



– Public trust –



Most opposition parties — ranging from the left to the centre — have said they will support the students’ demands and assist them in organising.

However, parties have stated whether they would pull candidates in favour of the students’ preferred nominees.

Vucicevic pointed out that the opposition struggles with public trust — partly as a result of smear campaigns led by the government and pro-government media.

But students are shifting voter perception.

“Many anti-Vucic voters voted not for the opposition but against Vucic. In contrast, the student movement is growing a base of pro-student voters,” the political scientist said.

Parliamentary elections were last held in December 2023, with the ruling nationalist party claiming victory amid fraud allegations dismissed by Vucic.

The united opposition won 23.5 percent of the vote.

Protests have since prompted the prime minister’s resignation and the government’s fall.

A new government, led by a political novice and medical doctor, was elected by parliament in mid-April.

Activists hold ‘die-in’ protest at Soviet monument in Warsaw

"Russia is a terrorist state,” 

By AFP
May 9, 2025


The Russian ambassador walked past the protesters amid a heavy police presence - Copyright AFP/File OLIVER BUNIC

Magdalena PACIOREK

Pro-Ukrainian activists held a protest at a Soviet memorial in Warsaw where Moscow’s ambassador placed a wreath on Friday, as Russia celebrates World War II Victory Day.

Some two dozen protesters wrapped in white sheets, their clothes and faces splattered with a red substance imitating blood, lay at the foot of a monument at the cemetery for Soviet soldiers in Poland’s capital.

They chanted “terrorists” as Russia’s ambassador to Poland, Sergei Andreyev, made his way to the monument with a wreath to commemorate the Soviet defeat of Nazi Germany.

“The idea was that the path the ambassador would take to reach the monument would be lined with the graves of people who died innocently during the war” in Ukraine, Miroslaw Petryga, 70, who participated in the lie-in, told AFP.

Poland is a staunch ally of Kyiv, supporting Ukraine with military and political aid as it fends off a Russian invasion that is grinding through its fourth year.

“It was the gait of a man pretending not to see anything, with tunnel vision,” Petryga, a Ukrainian engineer who has lived in Poland for decades, said of Andreyev.

The ambassador walked past the protesters amid a heavy police presence and with a handful of supporters and security guards around him.



– ‘Make Russia small again’ –



The activists also scattered children’s toys at the entrance to the cemetery. The teddy bears, balls and other items were also splattered with a blood-like liquid to symbolise child victims of Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Some were wearing t-shirts with the slogan “Make Russia small again” and were collecting signatures under a petition to expel the Russian ambassador from Poland.

At the site, around a dozen people also gathered at a counter protest, wearing the St George ribbon, a historical symbol of Russian and Soviet military successes.

Minor scuffles and verbal altercations broke out between the groups.

A handful of people also showed up to lay flowers at the cemetery away from the protests.

“We should honour the memory of those soldiers who died in the World War,” said Natalia, a 67-year-old who held a black-and-white photo that she said showed her father who had fought in the war.

The Russian citizen and longtime Polish resident declined to give her full name.

– ‘Terrorist state’ –



In 2022, the year Russia launched the full-scale war, protesters at the Soviet mausoleum threw a red substance at Moscow’s envoy.

A year later Andreyev was blocked by activists from laying flowers at the monument.

The Kremlin is using its annual Victory Day parade in Moscow — marking 80 years since the end of World War II — to whip up patriotism at home and project strength abroad as its troops fight in Ukraine.

But for Natalia Panchenko from the pro-Ukrainian organisation Euromaidan, the day should serve as a reminder of Russia’s ongoing war.

“It is important to us that today, when people remember that there is a country called Russia, they do not remember Russia through Russian propaganda, but remember the real Russia,” Panchenko told AFP.

“And Russia is a terrorist state,” she said.

REST IN POWER

Groundbreaking Cameroonian curator Kouoh dies: Cape Town art museum


By AFP
May 10, 2025


The Venice Biennale said it was 'deeply saddened and dismayed' to learn of Kouoh's 'sudden and untimely passing' - Copyright AFP Arun SANKAR

Cameroonian curator Koyo Kouoh, the head of the biggest contemporary art museum in Africa and first African woman appointed to lead the Venice Biennale, has died Saturday, the Zeitz MOCAA museum said.

Born in 1967, Kouoh had headed the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA), in South Africa’s capital Cape Town, since 2019.

She was chosen last year to curate the next Biennale — one of the world’s most important contemporary art shows — opening in May 2026.

The Zeitz MOCAA “received news in the early hours of this morning, of the sudden passing of Koyo Kouoh, our beloved Executive Director and Chief Curator”, the museum said on social media.

The Venice Biennale said in a statement it was “deeply saddened and dismayed” to learn of Kouoh’s “sudden and untimely passing”.

“Her passing leaves an immense void in the world of contemporary art,” it said, adding that Kouoh had been set to present the 2026 Biennale’s title and theme in Venice on May 20 this year.

Born in 1967 and brought up between the Cameroon coastal city of Douala and Switzerland, Kouoh positioned the Zeitz MOCAA at the cutting edge of contemporary art by championing Pan-Africanism and promoting artists from the continent and its diaspora.

“Africa is for me an idea that goes beyond borders. It’s a history that goes beyond borders,” she told AFP in an interview in 2023.

When announcing her appointment to lead the legendary Venitian art show, Biennale president Pietrangelo Buttafuoco had hailed her as a “curator, scholar and influential public figure” who would bring the “most refined, young and disruptive intelligences” to the sprawling 130-year-old exhibition.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Saturday expressed her “deep sorrow” for the curator’s “premature” death.