Badlands News Brief

Trump's Trick & Boomerangs

The News Cycle is almost impossible to track these days. At least, to do so fully.

That’s where we come in.

In the Badlands News Brief, the Badlands Media team hand picks news items of interest from the previous days to give you an overview of the biggest goings-on relevant to the Truth Community.

Some items feature original commentary from members of our growing team of citizen journalists. Feel free to follow the corresponding link to see their other work.

Now, onto the news from Tuesday, April 4 …

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Trump Says "Never Thought It Could Happen In America" After Historic "Fake Case" Arraignment

Following his Tuesday arraignment in New York in front of a "Trump-hating judge," former President Donald Trump went hard against his enemies in front of a crowd at Mar-a-Lago.

"This fake case was brought only to interfere with the upcoming 2024 presidential election and it should be dropped immediately," said Trump. "I never thought anything like this could happen in America."

"The only crime that I've committed is to fearlessly defend our nation from those who seek to destroy it," said Trump, before going off on Manhattan DA Alan Bragg.

"The criminal is [Alvin Bragg] … he should be prosecuted, or at a minimum, he should resign," he continued.

And in perhaps the best line of the night; "I have a Trump hating judge with a Trump hating wife and family, whose daughter worked for Kamala Harris and now receives money from the Biden/Harris campaign...It's right out of the old Soviet Union. That's where we are!" — ZeroHedge

Our Take: “At this point, not much has happened beyond what we expected. Trump arguably never intended on pleading guilty. The legitimacy of the indictment is questionable, owing to the fact the payments made to Michael Cohen were not "known" to Trump—which is critical to establish to make good on the conspiracy charge levied by Bragg.

Although it isn't obvious how serious the charges are, the fact that the substance of the charges is repeatedly obscured by pundits and the DA is quite telling. By substance, I mean, what are the events that occurred, what evidence exists to prove those events happened, and are those events demonstrable of wrongdoing?

In this case, the DA's case rests on the presumed knowledge of Trump, that he knew the payments he was making to Cohen were compensation for "campaign contributions." Bragg, the DS media, and others continue to argue Trump committed a felony, but they avoid speaking to the details, I argue, to overinflate the substance of the charges. In other words, just like with a witch hunt, the accusation has more power to persuade in the court of public opinion than the actual actions taken by an alleged suspect. And since the basis of the crime (the substance) is rather obscure and hard to understand, most people won't evaluate the actions themselves; they'll assume guilt—and that's the point.

Most normies assume Trump "is surely guilty of something. Where there's smoke there's fire, right? But this assumption can only hold sway because it's never critically examined. And this fact alone is enough to assert this entire event is a smear combined with a shady attempt to make charges stick that would never stick under reasonable circumstances.

In the witch trials of the past, the methods of evaluating whether a witch was a witch all but guaranteed that the suspect would suffer or be killed. Similarly, the goal here appears to be to do the most damage possible to Trump—guilty until proven innocent—so that the court of public opinion sides with the DS instead of the patriots.

All this being said, I suspect Trump and his allies know exactly what they are doing and have likely anticipated all of this. It is revealing more about the defunct status of the legal and justice system, which is one of the core problems holding back the causes of freedom in the US and abroad.” — Justin Deschamps

Another Take: “Does this man look worried to you?

Or does he look expectant, even content as a plan plays out in full view of the American Public?

- Legal Precedents Set

- Spotlight on weaponized, partisan nature of Swamp AGs, drawing bipartisan criticism

- Legal and Mass Psychological Shielding Stripped from former Heads of State/Politicians

- Narrative Shielding established for DOJ & Local/State AGs for RICO investigations/indictments/convictions to come (h/t @justhuman)

- The REAL Witch Hunt rolls on.” — Burning Bright

The Deep Cut: “Wouldn't it be something if, now that Narrative Shielding is in place and Legal Precedents are set for State AG's and DA's to go after former Heads of State for alleged felonies ... New York AG's and DA's do just that?

And wouldn't it be something if the greatest DOJ asset of all time, a New Yorker who helped set said precedents and establish said shielding in the Collective Mind, and who is also a former President, leads an America First revival Presidential Campaign at the same time?

Game on.” — Burning Bright

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Dershowitz: ‘This Is a Fixed Case if It’s Tried in Manhattan’

During an appearance on Monday’s broadcast of FNC’s “Hannity,” Harvard law professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz vowed to fight any gag order placed on former President Donald Trump pertaining to his sealed grand jury indictment.

[…]

“You know, the only disagreement I have with Joe is a great lawyer. I think he’s too much of an optimist. I cannot imagine an elected judge in the borough of Manhattan throwing out this case and having to go to his family and say, ‘I’m the lawyer who freed Donald Trump,’ or his friends or his business associates. All he has to do is remember what happened to me when I defended — just defended Donald Trump on the Senate, lost all of my friends, clients business associates, and no judge is going to want to be, quote, ‘Dershowitz-ed,'” he continued. “So you’re not going to have an opportunity to get a fair assessment of statute of limitations, change of venue. This is a fixed case if it’s tried in Manhattan.” — Breitbart

Our Take: “I think Dershowitz of all people would know. Jesus had a fairer trial in Jerusalem. Additionally, I read that the judge has banned TV live courtroom coverage, so it's really looking like this thing is rigged across the board. Maybe the no camera ruling is legit; some believe that cameras and snapshots would lead to even greater political posturing by the prosecution and that Marxist judge.

I think the general consensus is that the only way this issue gets justly resolved is by appeal.

I fully expect a Trump conviction; it's already a bought & paid for Democrat campaign ad. It will have to be overturned by a higher court.

As always, they hate you and me, we are their real target.This whole thing is happening because Trump is still standing in the way. The real question here: Does Brandon Have to claim this indictment as a campaign donation from Soros?

I don't agree with Mr. Dershowitz politically, but I applaud and welcome his stand to defend the Constitution and EVERY AMERICAN'S rights enumerated thereunder. Where have all the other Constitution defending liberals gone?” — Ryan DeLarme

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TD Bank biggest sector short anywhere in the world with $3.7 billion on the line

Turns out, the biggest short in the banking industry anywhere in the world isn’t in Switzerland or Silicon Valley, but rather, in the relatively tame financial centre of Canada.

In recent weeks, short sellers have upped their bearish bets against Toronto-Dominion Bank, and now have roughly US$3.7 billion on the line vis-à-vis Canada’s second-largest lender, according to an analysis by S3 Partners. That’s the most among financial institutions globally and puts TD ahead of the likes of France’s BNP Paribas SA and Bank of America Corp. — Financial Post

Badlands Sponsor & Financial Analyst Dr. Kirk Elliott Weighs in: “It's hard to find bright spots, trust, and confidence in traditional financial markets where layoffs and uncertainty are the norm. Institutions which were once trusted are now the focus of scrutiny. On top of the financial news, now 4 billionaires are being subpoenaed related to the US Virgin islands legal action against JP Morgan.  Investors (and even regular folks at this point) are starting to look toward gold and silver as they continue to lose trust in the system.”

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Putin Threatens to ‘Eliminate’ US World Dominance – Accuses the US and its Allies of Unleashing a New Type of “Hybrid War”

Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a threat to “eliminate” the U.S. dominance in the world according to a signed decree, per International Business Times.

The Russian president has called the United States a “source of major risks” to Russia and international peace in an 11,000-word doctrine titled, the Concept of the Foreign Policy of the Russian Federation, and posted on the Kremlin website.

“Russia’s course towards the United States is of a combined nature, taking into account the role of this state as one of the influential sovereign centers of world development and at the same time the main inspirer, organizer and executor of the aggressive anti-Russian policy of the collective West, the source of the main risks for the security of the Russian Federation, the international world, balanced, fair and progressive development of mankind,” according to the signed decree.

“In order to facilitate the adaptation of the world order to the realities of a multipolar world, the Russian Federation intends to give priority attention to eliminate the vestiges of dominance of the USA and other unfriendly states in world affairs, creation of conditions for the refusal of any state from neo-colonial and hegemonic ambitions,” the doctrine continued.

Putin further claimed that the U.S. and its allies were using the conflict in Ukraine to “unleash a new type of hybrid war” against Moscow. — The Gateway Pundit

Our Take: “So many questions and assumptions in regard to this ... geopolitical situation, we'll call it. Is it America that's the problem or is it the illegitimate regime that has been installed here? The American people certainly didn't vote to have the Nordstream pipeline blown up.

Is Putin talking about Joe Biden specifically, or the forces pulling his strings (and I ain't talking about Obama in the basement)? Is Putin as Based as he sometimes comes off, or are both Russia & China eager to cause damage & dissent in America like so many in military intelligence have warned?

We have some good minds here at Badlands, minds that have poured over these questions long and hard. Though not everyone here is in complete agreement as to just how cozy Putin and Xi are with Trump and the Patriots, it is certainly a hope we all share, and we all can agree that the shadowy government operating Biden's body parts is a far greater threat to the American lifestyle than Putin ever was.

Maybe Putin really is just an evil, sinister murderer; but even so, the megalomaniac globalists in control of a stolen U.S. and most of Europe are a far greater threat to mankind and to the U.S. specifically.” — Ryan DeLarme

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We hope you enjoyed this brief look back at the major news items you might have missed in this ever-escalating and ever-accelerating news cycle as the Information War continues to rage on around us.

The Badlands Media team will continue to combine our cognitive powers in order to slow things down and find the signal amidst the noise as this series expands.

As always, if you have any thoughts on these news items or the MANY others swirling in the digital ether, drop into the comments below to share them with your fellow Badlanders.

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