Editor’s note: In 2011, a jury found Rod Blagojevich guilty of 18 counts of corruption for actions during his time as governor of Illinois, including that he tried to leverage his authority over who would replace Barack Obama in the U.S. Senate. The Illinois Democrat was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison, but the sentence was commuted by former President Donald Trump in February 2020. Trump, who had Blagojevich on “Celebrity Apprentice” after he was arrested and impeached, said that Blagojevich received a “ridiculous sentence.” Afterwards, Blagojevich declared himself a “Trumpocrat.” — If it weren’t for Donald J. Trump, today — May 23, 2024 — would be the day I finally would be coming home. Four years ago, President Trump commuted my 14-year prison sentence after I spent eight years there for the non-existent crimes of practicing politics. I broke no laws. It was all political talk, initiated by an emissary sent to me by then-President-elect Barack Obama. None of us broke any laws. It was politics, nothing more than political horse-trading. But as Obama went on to serve eight years in the White House, I went on to serve eight years in the Big House. In my case, dishonest prosecutors weaponized unfettered power to criminalize the routine and necessary political practices of horse-trading and fundraising, concocting them into bogus charges in a sham indictment. They succeeded in ejecting a twice-elected governor from office, undoing an election, and framing an innocent man. They did this out in the open, in the full glare of the media, and they got away with it. Because of their success against me, they grew bolder. “If we could do this to a Governor,” they reasoned, “why not try it on a President?” Enter Joe Biden, Merrick Garland, Jack Smith, Alvin Bragg, Fani Willis, and Letitia James. Partisan prosecutions and lawsuits for invented crimes, politicized courts with politically appointed judges, rigged trials where novel legal theory is used as the basis for shameful indictments, and a news media with its own political agenda pushing false narratives instead of objectively seeking the truth. What they’ve been doing is no small thing. It is an issue far greater than a Democrat governor or a Republican president. This issue goes to the very heart of Constitutional government and the right of the people to participate freely in fair elections. We are facing the greatest constitutional crisis in our history since the Civil War. The politics of prosecution, persecution, and political destruction have replaced what Lincoln described as “government of the people, by the people, and for the people.” The use of criminal prosecutions and partisan courts to interfere with the political process is Soviet-style KGB politics. It’s the politics of the police state, not the politics of what Lincoln fought to preserve. Those who would abuse the justice system by using it not to dispense justice but instead to use as a political tool are traitors to our constitution and to our country. This is treason. It is the abuse of the power of the justice system and the courts to overthrow the people’s right to self-government. As the former Democrat Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer warned only a few short years ago, “These uncontrolled criminal prosecutors are a threat to our separation of powers.” Former FBI Director James Comey, Former US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, Robert Mueller, Bragg, Willis, and Smith have become political power players abusing prosecutorial power to interfere in active elections and serve their partisan political objectives. There is no practical check and balance against them. They can do whatever they want to whomever they want because they lack any accountability. It’s a shame our nation’s politics are so divided. In this era of hyper-partisanship, too many people put their hatred for the other side above their love of country. I was a Democrat governor persecuted by Bush-appointed Republican prosecutors. Trump is the Republican nominee for president being persecuted by political allies of President Biden. The cancer of the politics of prosecution spreads to both parties, but what Democrat prosecutors and Democrat courts are now doing to Trump during a presidential campaign is a breathtaking abuse of the justice system akin to what we see in totalitarian dictatorships. I urge the American people to wake up, speak out, and vote. The stakes couldn’t be higher. We must look past the political labels. These politically motivated prosecutors are leading us down the inevitable slippery slope of payback when the party out of power takes power only to do unto others what was just done to them. On this day when I would otherwise be returning home, I want to once again thank President Trump for his kindness to me and my family. Better than giving me my freedom back, he gave my young daughters their father back. I hate what they are doing to him, and I hate what they are doing to the rule of law, our Constitution, our democracy, and our country. *** The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Editor’s note: In 2011, a jury found Rod Blagojevich guilty of 18 counts of corruption for actions during his time as governor of Illinois, including that he tried to leverage his authority over who would replace Barack Obama in the U.S. Senate. The Illinois Democrat was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison, but the sentence was commuted by former President Donald Trump in February 2020. Trump, who had Blagojevich on “Celebrity Apprentice” after he was arrested and impeached, said that Blagojevich received a “ridiculous sentence.” Afterwards, Blagojevich declared himself a “Trumpocrat.” — If it weren’t for Donald J. Trump, today — May 23, 2024 — would be the day I finally would be coming home. Four years ago, President Trump commuted my 14-year prison sentence after I spent eight years there for the non-existent crimes of practicing politics. I broke no laws. It was all political talk, initiated by an emissary sent to me by then-President-elect Barack Obama. None of us broke any laws. It was politics, nothing more than political horse-trading. But as Obama went on to serve eight years in the White House, I went on to serve eight years in the Big House. In my case, dishonest prosecutors weaponized unfettered power to criminalize the routine and necessary political practices of horse-trading and fundraising, concocting them into bogus charges in a sham indictment. They succeeded in ejecting a twice-elected governor from office, undoing an election, and framing an innocent man. They did this out in the open, in the full glare of the media, and they got away with it. Because of their success against me, they grew bolder. “If we could do this to a Governor,” they reasoned, “why not try it on a President?” Enter Joe Biden, Merrick Garland, Jack Smith, Alvin Bragg, Fani Willis, and Letitia James. Partisan prosecutions and lawsuits for invented crimes, politicized courts with politically appointed judges, rigged trials where novel legal theory is used as the basis for shameful indictments, and a news media with its own political agenda pushing false narratives instead of objectively seeking the truth. What they’ve been doing is no small thing. It is an issue far greater than a Democrat governor or a Republican president. This issue goes to the very heart of Constitutional government and the right of the people to participate freely in fair elections. We are facing the greatest constitutional crisis in our history since the Civil War. The politics of prosecution, persecution, and political destruction have replaced what Lincoln described as “government of the people, by the people, and for the people.” The use of criminal prosecutions and partisan courts to interfere with the political process is Soviet-style KGB politics. It’s the politics of the police state, not the politics of what Lincoln fought to preserve. Those who would abuse the justice system by using it not to dispense justice but instead to use as a political tool are traitors to our constitution and to our country. This is treason. It is the abuse of the power of the justice system and the courts to overthrow the people’s right to self-government. As the former Democrat Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer warned only a few short years ago, “These uncontrolled criminal prosecutors are a threat to our separation of powers.” Former FBI Director James Comey, Former US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, Robert Mueller, Bragg, Willis, and Smith have become political power players abusing prosecutorial power to interfere in active elections and serve their partisan political objectives. There is no practical check and balance against them. They can do whatever they want to whomever they want because they lack any accountability. It’s a shame our nation’s politics are so divided. In this era of hyper-partisanship, too many people put their hatred for the other side above their love of country. I was a Democrat governor persecuted by Bush-appointed Republican prosecutors. Trump is the Republican nominee for president being persecuted by political allies of President Biden. The cancer of the politics of prosecution spreads to both parties, but what Democrat prosecutors and Democrat courts are now doing to Trump during a presidential campaign is a breathtaking abuse of the justice system akin to what we see in totalitarian dictatorships. I urge the American people to wake up, speak out, and vote. The stakes couldn’t be higher. We must look past the political labels. These politically motivated prosecutors are leading us down the inevitable slippery slope of payback when the party out of power takes power only to do unto others what was just done to them. On this day when I would otherwise be returning home, I want to once again thank President Trump for his kindness to me and my family. Better than giving me my freedom back, he gave my young daughters their father back. I hate what they are doing to him, and I hate what they are doing to the rule of law, our Constitution, our democracy, and our country. *** The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Actress Cate Blanchett is catching heat for referring to herself as “middle class” while speaking about the refugee crisis at a United Nations press conference in Cannes this week. The 55-year-old celebrity, who has an estimated net worth of $95 million, spoke about her time as a goodwill ambassador and stressed how she’s been trying to promote refugee filmmakers. “I’m white, I’m privileged, I’m middle class, and I think, you know, one can be accused of having a bit of a white savior complex, but to be perfectly honest, my interaction with the refugees in the field and also in resettled environments has totally changed my perspective on the world,” Blanchett said, per Marie Claire. She continued, “And also in resettled environments, has totally changed my perspective on the world. And I’m utterly grateful for that. And I think if you do have a platform, I want to be in dialogue with these people. I’ve met some extraordinary people with extraordinary creative talents and amazing perspectives.” According to the Pew Research Center, the median income of households classified as middle-class in 2020 was $90,131. In Cannes, Cate Blanchett reflects on her experience as a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador, and the importance of giving filmmakers who are refugees a platform to tell their stories. pic.twitter.com/GgcaBLMT9e — AP Entertainment (@APEntertainment) May 21, 2024 The Academy Award-winner went on to detail some of her criticisms about the movie business.  “When I look back at films that were made during the Second World War, even if the films didn’t — the narratives didn’t — directly deal with it, it was understood that a global crisis was going on,” Blanchett said of how films dealt with major global events in the past.  “It was just a texture behind the films that were being made. And given that this is a global challenge, a global crisis, I’m always bewildered as to why more films don’t speak directly or obliquely to this,” she continued, referring to the refugee crisis. CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP X users responded to Blanchett’s statements with mockery and derision. “She is disconnected from reality,” one person wrote.  “Cate Blanchett is ‘middle class’…and I am a giraffe,” another X user joked.  The actress is best known for starring in the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy and Marvel’s “Thor: Ragnarok.” She has been nominated for 8 Oscars, winning Best Supporting Actress for “The Aviator” (2004) and a Best Actress award for “Blue Jasmine” (2013).

The GOP-led House passed a bill with bipartisan support on Thursday to prevent noncitizens from voting in Washington, D.C., local elections as part of a push for election integrity. Fifty-two Democrats joined with 210 Republicans voting in favor of the legislation, while 143 Democrats and no GOP lawmakers opposed it. Twenty-five members, including seven Republicans and 18 Democrats, did not vote. The bill, H.R. 192, specifically bars noncitizens from voting in “an election for public office in the District of Columbia or in any ballot initiative or referendum in the District of Columbia.” It also repeals the Local Resident Voting Rights Amendment Act of 2022, a D.C. measure that allowed noncitizen residents of the nation’s capital to vote in local but not federal elections. Noncitizens are not allowed to vote in federal elections. “In Washington, DC, noncitizens including illegal aliens and foreign agents are allowed to vote in local elections,” Rep. August Pfluger (R-TX), who introduced H.R. 192, said in a post to X. “Noncitizen voting dilutes the voting power of the citizen voter.” His Democrat colleague Eleanor Holmes Norton, who is D.C.’s nonvoting delegate in the House, argued in a statement that D.C. residents should be able to govern their own local affairs without intervention by members of Congress. “D.C. laws are matters for the duly elected D.C. Council and mayor, not unaccountable members of Congress who do not represent D.C. residents,” Norton said. “The almost 700,000 D.C. residents are worthy and capable of governing their own local affairs.” House Republicans are pressing forward with election integrity bills with an eye toward the illegal immigration crisis, including legislation dubbed the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act that would require proof of U.S. citizenship for voter registration. CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) told Fox News on Thursday that the House would consider the SAVE Act “right after” the Memorial Day holiday, which is next week. “We’ll get that passed and that will solve that problem on the federal election basis. We’ve got to do that; we have an absolute responsibility,” Johnson said. The legislative push is unlikely to gain much headway outside the House given that the Senate and the White House are controlled by Democrats, but it still gives GOP lawmakers room to argue they are working to make voting more secure in a presidential election year.

'I’m white, I’m privileged, I’m middle class'

'no more listening to the dumbest dogshit'

You don’t belong in this town, as far as I’m concerned

Trump Reveals Latest Condition Biden Team Apparently Wants For Debates

The video appears to paint a different picture. What do you think?

She was arrested on numerous fraud and theft charges