Former President Donald Trump is getting interviewed by a probation officer on Monday as part of the process leading up to sentencing after a jury returned a guilty verdict in his New York hush money trial. Sources told The New York Times the discussion would be conducted virtually while Trump is at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, and one of his lawyers, Todd Blanche, would be present. The probation officer may collect information about Trump’s personal history and criminal record for a report that the judge, who in this case is Juan Merchan, can use to help decide a punishment. “The pre-sentence report is a chance for the defendant’s lawyer to say good things about the defendant, like that the defendant is in a counseling program or has a steady job and takes care of an ailing family member,” says the New York court system’s website. “The pre-sentence interview is a chance for the defendant to try to make a good impression and explain why he or she deserves a lighter punishment.” Jurors convicted Trump last month on all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to allegedly cover up a tryst with adult film star Stormy Daniels as part of a “catch-and-kill” scheme to influence the 2016 presidential election. Trump, who denied the affair and pleaded not guilty to the charges, vowed to appeal. CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP Merchan scheduled sentencing for July 11, just days before Trump is expected to receive the GOP’s presidential nomination at the Republican National Convention. Legal experts doubt the 77-year-old Trump will end up behind bars, though the Secret Service has reportedly coordinated with local jail officials just in case. Possible alternatives to imprisonment include probation or community service. “President Trump and his legal team are already taking necessary steps to challenge and defeat the lawless Manhattan DA case,” Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said in a statement over the weekend, referring to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. Three other criminal cases on the state and federal levels hang over Trump as he seeks a second White House term, prompting the former president to say he is the victim of a politically motivated “witch hunt.” It is unclear whether any of those cases will reach the trial stage before the November contest.

Country singer Maren Morris announced on social media that she is bisexual. The 34-year-old star posted the news to social media on Sunday, sharing several photos of herself with her 1.5 million followers on Instagram. “’Happy to be the B in LGBTQ+, happy pride!” Morris wrote in the caption. The images were from her RSVP Redux tour stop in Phoenix, Arizona, on Saturday. A few of the pictures show the singer waving a Pride flag.   View this post on Instagram   A post shared by ????? ?????? (@marenmorris) The news comes less than a year after the singer filed for divorce from her singer-songwriter husband, Ryan Hurd, following five years of marriage. The Grammy Award winner has a 3-year-old son, Hayes Andrew, with Hurd.  Fans have been questioning Morris on her sexuality for some time as she was perceived to be acting very affectionate with female friends in photos. An image from April 23 showed her kissing and embracing photographer Sonya Jasinski. The country star has been an outspoken advocate for LGBT issues. During a highly publicized appearance in April, Morris defended taking her young son to a drag show.  “We were doing a benefit at Bridgestone last year when they were doing the drag ban in Tennessee,” Morris told Kelly Clarkson during an appearance on her podcast, as The Daily Wire reported. “There were drag queens like throughout, entertaining as well, and one actually danced with me when I was singing my song, ‘The Middle.’ And it was just amazing and fun.” “My son loves watching me, like sit in the makeup chair and just is like fascinated with the colors … it was just like completely harmless,” she went on. CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP “But I think it’s just such an amazing expression of artistry, and so I just think like normalizing it and making it seem like these are just people that love dressing up too, is an amazing thing,” Morris said. “It was an all-ages show so, it was completely family-friendly.” “Yes, I introduced my son to some drag queens today, so Tennessee, f***ing arrest me,” the singer previously said during the Love Rising concert in Nashville in 2023. Morris was referring to legislation that would prohibit minors from attending drag shows. Last fall, the “My Church” singer said that many country music fans are “misogynistic and racist and homophobic and transphobic” and that certain “hyper-masculine” country is, in her opinion, “butt rock.” “I don’t want to say goodbye, but I really cannot participate in the really toxic arms of this institution anymore,” Morris said about her decision to move away from the genre.  Katie Jerkovich contributed to this article. 

The Washington D.C. prosecutor’s office that targeted January 6 protesters, including a 71-year-old great-grandmother known as the “Praying Grandma,” decided to drop charges of kidnapping and murder against a young woman who carjacked a vehicle carrying a sick woman then crashed the car, resulting in the sick woman’s death. Last week, Leslie Marie Gaines, who suffered from multiple sclerosis, was left in a Mazda SUV at MedStar Washington Hospital Center for a moment by her daughter, who went to get a wheelchair.  Kayla Kenisha Brown, 22, then carjacked the car and drove off. Eighteen minutes later, Brown crashed into the offices of the U.S. attorney and attorney general for Washington, D.C. Brown was detained at the site. Gaines was transported to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead. “Police can’t account for the 19 minutes between the carjacking and the crash, saying they have no images of the SUV during that time,” NBC Washington reported, despite the fact that the area of the city in which Brown drove reportedly has a multitude of cameras from which video could be taken. Brown was initially charged with felony murder, kidnapping, and carjacking. But then the murder and kidnapping charges were dropped, reportedly because the medical examiner has not ruled on what caused Gaines’ death. Adding kidnapping to the charge would result in more severe penalties against Brown. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office stated that the investigation is ongoing,” Fox5DC reported Friday, noting that the judge has ordered a “preliminary competency screening for Brown, with another hearing set for June 20.” Matthew Graves, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, whose office prosecuted the January 6 protesters, has stated about those protesters, “Much work has been done to hold members of the mob accountable for the crimes they committed.” He also opined, “We will never know all the weapons that were on the Capitol grounds because very few in the mob were actually arrested on Jan. 6.” This year, on the third anniversary of the January 6 protests, President Biden boasted, “Since that day more than 1,200 people have been charged for assaulting the Capitol. More than 900 have been convicted or pleaded guilty, Collectively to date, they have been sentenced to more than 840 years in prison.”

A 116-year-old Anglican church, along with artifacts and artworks, in Canada was “completely destroyed” in a massive blaze early Sunday morning, according to Toronto’s fire chief. Crews responded to a four-alarm fire at St. Anne’s Anglican Church around 8 a.m., just a little more than two hours before the church’s Sunday morning service was scheduled to take place, City News reported. Firefighters worked to stop the blaze as surrounding properties evacuated as a precaution in case the building collapsed. “The fire was deep-seated at the beginning … but as you can see the building is completely destroyed right now and as [are] all the artifacts inside,” Toronto Fire Services Deputy Chief Jim Jessop told reporters at the scene. Absolutely heartbreaking to see these drone shots of Toronto’s St. Anne’s church. It’s completely gutted. So much beauty, so much history, destroyed within hours. ?: @PatMorrell_CBC pic.twitter.com/dRIf3UHiiW — Lauren Pelley (@LaurenPelley) June 9, 2024 No one was injured in the fire, and authorities said they have not yet deemed it “criminal in nature.” The Ontario Fire Marshal and Toronto police returned to the scene on Monday to investigate the cause. “Nobody was here, the church was locked, secure, all the lights were off,” said Rev. Don Beyers, the parish priest at the church. “It’s a real mystery to us how this even happened.” Construction on the historic St. Anne’s building began in 1907 and was completed in 1908. It housed early paintings from the Group of Seven artists that were installed in the building in the 1920s, CBC reported. Some murals were displayed on the church’s dome, which collapsed in the fire. “The artwork was priceless,” Beyers said. “It was murals, beautiful murals. They were stunning. This was the only church that featured artwork by members of the Group of Seven. And I’m sorry to say that’s been lost, from what I can see.” Beyers also wrote a letter to St. Anne’s congregants, saying, “Yesterday’s fire was not the end of the story, but rather the beginning of a new chapter. We will rise from the ashes stronger and even more committed to our mission to be a church for all people.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP Around 100 Christian churches in Canada have been targeted by arsonists and vandals since 2021 — after researchers claimed to have found the remains of hundreds of Indigenous children buried near a residential school in British Columbia. Recent findings, however, appear to show that the anomalies found on radar were not graves but a septic field. Meanwhile, further research at two other locations in Canada that were once thought to be mass graves found that there were no graves of Indigenous children.

Activist and actor John Leguizamo took out a full-page ad in the New York Times on Sunday urging Emmy Award voters to nominate “non-white artists.”  The 63-year-old explained the move in an X post. “I know everyone is exhausted about inclusion, but not us who are not included. So that’s why I took this ad out in the NYTimes. White peoples (sic) are only 58.9% of the population but over represented in top positions across the board. They are the decision makers in tech, banking, corporations, medicine and streamers and Hollywood!” Leguizamo wrote.  I know everyone one is exhausted about inclusion but not us who are not included. So that’s why I took this add out in the NYTimes. White peoples are only 58.9% of the population but over represented in top positions across the board. They are the decision makers in tech,… pic.twitter.com/hj1nbWKwlu — John Leguizamo (@JohnLeguizamo) June 9, 2024 He continued, “America is better when it is inclusive. It is more profitable. It is more creative! Let’s not give up. I’m still woke! Are you?” then proceeded to tag prominent entertainment figures, including Whoopi Goldberg, Naomi Watts, Shaquille O’Neal, Missy Elliot, and others. Voting for the Emmys will begin this week on June 13, per the Deadline, and all ballots are due by June 24. Nominee selections will be announced on July 17. The 76th Emmy Awards show is scheduled to air on September 15. Leguizamo’s full-page ad pleaded for voters to prioritize “diversity and inclusion” when making their selections. “Please let this be the year we finally embrace change,” the Colombian-born actor wrote. “The year we truly find Equity, and see artists of color represented across not just one category, but ALL categories.” “I know you’re tired of hearing words like ‘inclusivity’ and ‘diversity’ – treading water while you try to understand how to put actions behind these sentiments. Look no further! It’s simple!” he wrote. CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP Leguizamo went on, “There are hundreds of prolific non-white artists who deserve to be considered for Awards this year, not because they are simply… Black, Brown, Indigenous or Asian but because they are truly great… exceptional artists who have achieved that greatness with a foot on their neck for far too long.” “Let this be a start of a new era,” the letter concluded. “Let us not continue to white wash our Awards shows. Instead let this year be the catalyst that inspires the Next Generation of minority and underrepresented artists… a generation who might finally see a reflection of themselves on that stage and think, ‘If they can, maybe I can too…’” 

From the moment Dee Dee Simon delivered her first note on America’s Got Talent, everyone watching was stunned. Even hard-to-please Simon Cowell’s jaw dropped in surprise as the contestant performed her rendition of Jennifer Hudson’s And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going. When she kicked off her heels and belted out the finale, audience members rose to their feet for a standing ovation. Needless to say, all four judges voted to keep her on the show! Although Dee Dee Simon is clearly an incredibly talented singer, that’s not her day job. During her introduction, she informed viewers that she’s actually a nurse at San Quentin State Prison! Here are a few more things you should know about this mind-blowing vocalist. 1. Dee Dee Simon has been a prison nurse for almost 20 years. As the contestant explained before her audition, she’s been treating patients at San Quentin State Prison for 19 years. When asked if any of the inmates had heard her voice, Dee Dee recounted a disastrous performance that ended in a riot! However, she tried again more recently with much better results. 2. She started singing when she was four years old. In a 2016 interview with KPIX, Dee Dee Simon revealed that she began to sing from a very young age. However, it was at her Baptist church that she really began to cultivate her talents. In fact, when she delivered her first solo at the Oakland Museum, that was the moment she realized how much she wanted to pursue a career in music. Screengrab from YouTube 3. This singer is an accomplished writer, as well. It seems like Dee Dee Simon really can do it all! According to her bio for Berkeley’s Music in the Park, she’s written two successful plays: Misery Loves Company and Coretta: the One-Woman Stage Play. She also penned a novel titled When a Man Loves a Woman! 4. It’s not the first time Dee Dee Simon has performed this song in a talent show. And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going seems to be quite a crowd-pleaser when Dee Dee Simon is behind the microphone! She won well-known California talent show Amateur Night at the Apollo with her performance of this song. In the past, this event has helped some major stars get their footing in the entertainment industry. Lauryn Hill, H.E.R., and Machine Gun Kelly are just a few names you might recognize! We couldn’t be more thrilled for Dee Dee Simon as she continues her America’s Got Talent journey. A voice like hers deserves to be heard by the world! You can find the source of this story’s featured image here. The post Everything You Need To Know About The Prison Nurse Blowing Away “America’s Got Talent” Judges appeared first on InspireMore.

'Good moment for white privilege'