Travis King, the U.S. Army private who dashed across the North Korean border last year, will plead guilty to desertion and four other charges, his lawyer said Monday. If the plea deal is accepted, nine separate charges against King, including possession of child pornography, will be dropped, The Associated Press reported. King, 23, ran into North Korea in July 2023 after he was released from a South Korean prison where he spent two months on assault charges. As officers were taking King back to the U.S. to face disciplinary action, the soldier joined a civilian tour group and ran across the heavily guarded North Korean border. He remained in North Korean custody for two months before he was returned to the U.S. to face numerous charges, including allegations that he solicited a Snapchat user to “knowingly and willingly produce child pornography.” King’s lawyer Franklin D. Rosenblatt told the AP that the soldier “wants to take responsibility for the things that he did.” Tickets for “Am I Racist?” are on sale NOW! Buy here for a theater near you. “Travis is grateful to his friends and family who have supported him, and to all outside his circle who did not pre-judge his case based on the initial allegations,” Rosenblatt added. The private is also accused of assaulting officers, illegally possessing alcohol, and making a false statement. King will have the opportunity to speak at a hearing at Fort Bliss, Texas, on September 20. “If Pvt. King’s guilty plea is accepted, the judge will sentence King pursuant to the terms of the plea agreement,” a spokeswoman for the Army Office of Special Trial Counsel said in a statement, according to The Washington Post. “If the judge does not accept the guilty plea, the judge can rule that the case be litigated in a contested court-martial.” North Korea claimed that King said he crossed the border because he “harbored ill feelings against inhuman mistreatment and racial discrimination within the U.S. Army” and “was disillusioned at the unequal American society.” The Pentagon could not verify that King made these statements to the North Koreans, and North Korea regularly releases completely false statements that attempt to paint the U.S. as an evil empire. WATCH THE TRAILER FOR ‘AM I RACIST?’ — A MATT WALSH COMEDY ON DEI King was the first American soldier to voluntarily cross into North Korea since 1982. American civilian Otto Warmbier was detained and imprisoned by the communist country in 2016 on phony charges of subversion before he was released 17 months later in a coma; he died shortly after coming home to the U.S.

Special counsel Jack Smith filed a superseding indictment against Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on Tuesday after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled this year that Trump was immune from prosecution for actions taken within the realm of his job responsibilities. The new indictment has the same four charges that Trump faced when he was first indicted, including 2 felony counts of obstructing an official proceeding, 1 felony count of conspiracy to defraud the United States, and 1 felony count of conspiracy against rights. While all the charges remain the same, some of Trump’s alleged conduct was removed from the new indictment, including allegations that he tried to use the DOJ to support his claims that the election had been rigged. “The superseding indictment, which was presented to a new grand jury that had not previously heard evidence in this case, reflects the Government’s efforts to respect and implement the Supreme Court’s holdings and remand instructions in Trump v. United States,” the special counsel’s office claimed. Smith, a left-wing prosecutor who was appointed by the Biden-Harris Department of Justice (DOJ), argued that Trump did not have any presidential responsibilities related to the post-election transition of power. A new line in the superseding indictment said: “The Defendant had no official responsibilities related to the certification proceeding, but he did have a personal interest as a candidate in being named the winner of the election.” Tickets for “Am I Racist?” are on sale NOW! Buy here for a theater near you. The New York Times noted that the superseding indictment comes just days before Trump’s legal team was set to present to the presiding judge in the case, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, how they believe the Supreme Court ruling altered the case moving forward. The new indictment also comes just 69 days before the presidential election. DOJ guidelines do not allow prosecutors to take steps that could influence an upcoming election. Smith’s other case against Trump in Florida over Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified materials was thrown out by District Court Judge Aileen Cannon earlier this year because she ruled that Smith’s appointment to special counsel was unconstitutional. The indictment “is DISMISSED because Special Counsel Smith’s appointment violates the Appointments Clause of the U.S. Constitution,” Cannon wrote in an order granting Trump’s motion to dismiss. This is a breaking news story; refresh the page for updates.

Days after independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suspended his campaign and said he would seek to have his name removed from battleground state ballots, the Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC) voted to keep Kennedy on the state’s general election ballot. Kennedy sent a letter to the WEC on Friday, requesting that his name be removed from the ballot, but the commission, which is made up of three Democrats and three Republicans, voted 5-1 on Tuesday to approve Kennedy’s and two other candidates’ names for the ballot, WKOW reported. A motion to remove Kennedy from the ballot after the initial vote failed in a 3-3 split. The commission cited a state law that says candidates cannot decline their nomination after filing for ballot access. “We know Trump and Kennedy are playing games,” said Democratic elections commission member Mark Thompson, according to the Associated Press. “Whatever games they’re playing, they have to play them with Kennedy on the ballot.” Tickets for “Am I Racist?” are on sale NOW! Buy here for a theater near you. Independent candidate Cornel West and Green Party candidate Jill Stein also made the Wisconsin ballot after legal challenges to their candidacies. The Wisconsin Supreme Court rejected Democrats’ attempts on Monday to boot Stein from the state’s ballot. Stein was accused by Democrats of taking votes from Hillary Clinton in 2016 when Trump defeated her with the help of Wisconsin’s electoral votes. Trump won Wisconsin in 2016 by just over 22,000 votes. The WEC’s decision comes after Michigan Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said that Kennedy must also remain on Michigan’s general election ballot, meaning the Democrat-turned-independent could sway the vote tallies for Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump in two vital swing states. WATCH THE TRAILER FOR ‘AM I RACIST?’ — A MATT WALSH COMEDY ON DEI Kennedy endorsed Trump last week and said he would push to remove his name from the ballot in “10 battleground states,” fearing he would act as a “spoiler.” The ex-Democrat blasted his former party after suspending his 2024 campaign, saying, “In the name of saving democracy, the Democratic Party set itself to dismantling it, lacking confidence in its candidate, that its candidate could win in a fair election at the voting booth, the DNC waged continual legal warfare against both President Trump and myself.” Both Wisconsin and Michigan have played important roles in the last two presidential elections. Trump won both states on his way to the White House in 2016 and then lost both states to Joe Biden in 2020. Whoever pulls out victories in Wisconsin and Michigan in 2024 will have a much easier path to 270 electoral votes.

‘Minor party candidates cannot withdraw'

Respect and implement

'some of her worst moments'

'Vice President Harris does not support an electric vehicle mandate'