A cable cabal of anti-Trump legal pundits reportedly meet for a weekly Zoom call to discuss the latest on former President Donald Trump’s legal troubles and then spread their consensus views on left-leaning networks, according to a report.
The weekly meetings are scheduled for Fridays and are hosted by Norman Eisen, a CNN legal analyst and former Obama official, Politico Magazine reported Tuesday.
The group includes anti-Trump GOP commentators Bill Kristol and George Conway, liberal Harvard professor Laurence Tribe, former Nixon White House counsel John Dean, MSNBC legal analyst Andrew Weissmann, and former CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin, according to the outlet.
The meetings have a “distinct anti-Trump tilt to it,” one group participant admitted to Politico.
Another legal TV commentator who does not participate in the Zoom calls told the outlet. “It runs the risk of creating the impression that there is an agreement or cooperation or conspiracy across mainstream media entities.”
The person, who was “surprised to hear” that weekly meetings were occurring, added that the clandestine sit-downs could feed into some “false” or “damaging perceptions.”
Ankush Khardori, who wrote Politico story, said the call serves as a chance to discuss different legal arguments and “generate and shape content for Trump-hungry consumers.”
Their views, however, run the risk of a group-think mentality.
“Do some of the people on the call align their positions as a result of their discussions? Yes, probably,” Khardori said. “That can sound nefarious, but it is also the natural result of a group discussion that is working properly. People refine and clarify their positions. They find points of agreement that might surprise them. Their areas of disagreement become narrower, more precise.”
One source told the outlet that there was some discussion and skepticism among the legal pundits over the current hush money trial against Trump in Manhattan.
The GOP presidential frontrunner faces 34 counts of falsifying business records in relation to alleged payments he made to porn star Stormy Daniels prior to the 2016 election.
“Skepticism and some ambivalence about the merits of the case and whether it should have been brought in the first place has been something of a running theme across some of the calls,” Khardori wrote.
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Conway, a contributor for The Atlantic, often weighs in on Trump’s cases on MSNBC, along with Weissman, who also hosts a podcast called, “Prosecuting Donald Trump.”
Toobin, a former CNN legal analyst and New Yorker writer, who was caught by colleagues masturbating on a Zoom call, has returned to CNN as a semi-regular guest.
He often provides commentary on various legal topics like Trump’s ongoing indictments, Special Counsel Robert Hur’s report on President Biden and more recently the Supreme Court’s unanimous decision to toss Colorado’s Trump ballot ban.
Others who frequently join the Zoom meeting include liberal Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin, CNN commentator Karen Agnifilo, Weissman’s podcast host Mary McCord, Harry Litman, Barbara McQuade and Joyce White Vance, according to Politico.
“It feels almost like a seminar in law school,” one group participant told Politico.
The Zoom calls include “deliberation, debate and discussion.”
Social media accounts expressing support for a Pakistan-based terror group linked to al Qaeda appear to have posted recent videos from a Pakistan mosque targeted by Indian airstrikes.
Sky News has found videos posted on TikTok, YouTube and Google that appear to be filmed at the Markaz Taiba Mosque in Muridke. The captions and usernames contain expressions of support for the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and a group called ‘313’.
Sky News has found and geolocated multiple videos that appear to be filmed in the area where the captions include either or both ‘313’ and LeT.
Some of the videos show men in the streets with guns. Another post captioned a video of children doing martial arts training inside the targeted mosque, “we are little soldiers, and we fight the non-believers”.
Image: The caption of the video reads ‘we are little soldiers, and we fight the non-believers’. It uses the hashtag ‘313’.
The caption uses the hashtag #جہاد313, which translates to ‘313’ jihad.
‘313’ appears to refer to the 313 Brigade, a proscribed terror organisation in Pakistan.
In a TikTok video posted to the Google page for Markaz Taiba Mosque in Muridke, a man can be seen walking along the street with a gun.
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The account that posted that video wrote in their description, “Lashkar Taiba, Mujahid Force, ‘313’ and Markaz Taiba Muridke”, self-proclaiming their support for the groups.
Image: This screenshot from the Google user labels Lashkar-e-Taiba and ‘313’ and includes the location name Muridke
Gunmen opened fire on tourists, killing 26 people and injuring dozens in a popular holiday spot near Pahalgam, Kashmir, on 22 April.
LeT were accused by India of involvement in the Pahalgam attack through their proxy the Resistance Front, which claimed responsibility for the attack.
LeT, which is designated as a terrorist organisation by the UN Security Council and the UK, focuses on fighting Indian control in Kashmir and is based in the Punjab region of Pakistan.
Pakistan denies allegations of terror camps operating in the country. This region has been in the control of the Punjabi government since 2010. The Punjab government condemned the Indian strikes, and declared a state of emergency across Punjab.
Muskan Sangwan, senior intelligence analyst at TRAC, a terrorism research and analysis consortium, told Sky News: “Brigade 313 is al Qaeda in Pakistan. It’s an umbrella organisation for members of several groups like Taliban, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Haqqat ul-Jihad-al-Islami, Jaish-e Muhammad, Lashkar-e-Taiba, and Jundullah.”
Ms Sangwan explained that ‘313’ refers to the number of companions said to have fought with the Prophet Mohammed in the Battle of Badr.
TRAC have seen a recent uptick in TikTok videos and other social media posts that refer to ‘313’.
Many of the accounts are linked to each other.
Ms Sangwan said: “They [the TikTok users] mostly use ‘313’ as a hashtag… trying to push that hashtag to as many people it can reach on social media.”
Sky News sought to verify the location by comparing before and after videos from the strike location, and using the video released by the Indian army conducting the strike.
One video showing damage at the strike location was posted by a user with 313 in their TikTok username.
Image: The TikTok account that posted video footage of the destruction in Muridke has 313 in the username
Below is satellite imagery that shows the destruction of the site.
Image: Satellite imagery shows Markaz Taiba Mosque after the strike on 7 May. Credit: Maxar
In one TikTok, the video is captioned “bring your arms and ammunition and go to war”. The text on the screen of the TikTok is ‘313’ and he is carrying a gun.
The group are comfortable with having an online presence. On the Google tag for Markaz Taiba Mosque in Muridke, men pose for a group photo. Almost all the people in the photo have used ‘313’ on TikTok.
Ms Sangwan explained: “With these people from Muridke, pushing this propaganda on social media would generate a lot of significance in terms of recruitment and in terms of gaining support from local people and from other people.”
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Anger in Pakistan after India strikes
India says it struck Markaz Taiba, a site in Muridke about 15 miles (25km) from the border, which has long been claimed to be a terrorist training site associated with LeT.
MEMRI, a US-based research group that monitors terrorist threats, told Sky News: “It has been known for decades that Lashkar-e-Taiba has its headquarters in Muridke.”
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Sky News contacted the Pakistan Ministry of Defence for comment. Khawaja Asif, Pakistan’s defence minister, told Sky News: “This appears to be a random video with background music added later – consistent with how TikTok trends often function. If this is to be considered credible evidence, we could produce millions of similar clips ourselves.”
Mr Asif also said that any suggestion that the mosque was used as a base by terrorists was a “completely false, social media made up hoax”.
On 7 May, after the strikes in Pakistan, the Indian subcontinent branch of al Qaeda issued a statement condemning India’s actions and encouraging its supporters to wage jihad against India.
The Data and Forensics team is a multi-skilled unit dedicated to providing transparent journalism from Sky News. We gather, analyse and visualise data to tell data-driven stories. We combine traditional reporting skills with advanced analysis of satellite images, social media and other open source information. Through multimedia storytelling we aim to better explain the world while also showing how our journalism is done.
Bodycam footage has captured the arrest of a US city mayor during a protest at a federal immigration detention centre.
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, who was released from custody hours after he was detained on Friday, has denied trespassing during a confrontation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.
He was at the facility, which opened in the New Jersey city last week, with three members of Congress and witnesses said his arrest came after he tried to join them in entering the centre.
Image: Ras Baraka (centre) has been released from custody. Pic: Reuters
In bodycam footage released by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), an agent can be heard telling him: “Listen, congressmen are different, congresswomen are different.
“Mr Mayor, anyone that is not a congresswoman or man, step back… It’s your last warning. You will be placed under arrest.”
A heated argument broke out after Mr Baraka’s entry was blocked and he left the secure area to rejoin protesters on the other side of the gate.
Minutes later, several ICE agents, some wearing face coverings, surrounded him and others on the public side.
Mr Baraka was dragged back through the gate in handcuffs, as protesters shouted: “Shame.”
Image: Protesters shout ‘let him out’ after mayor’s arrest. Pic: AP
Alina Habba, interim US attorney for New Jersey, said on X that Mr Baraka trespassed at the detention facility, which is run by private prison operator Geo Group, adding he had “chosen to disregard the law”.
The DHS said in a statement that the politicians had not asked for a tour of the Delaney Hall centre, which the agency said it would have facilitated.
The department said that as a bus carrying detainees was entering in the afternoon “a group of protestors, including two members of the US House of Representatives, stormed the gate and broke into the detention facility”.
After his release on Friday night, the mayor told waiting supporters: “The reality is this: I didn’t do anything wrong.”
Mr Baraka, a Democrat running to succeed term-limited Governor Phil Murphy, has embraced the fight with Donald Trump‘s administration over illegal immigration.
He has been a vocal critic against the construction and opening of the 1,000-bed detention centre, arguing that it should not be allowed to open because of building permit issues.
DHS said in its statement that the facility has the proper permits and inspections have been cleared.