The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected President-elect Donald Trump’s request to halt proceedings in his New York business records case, removing a potential barrier to sentencing scheduled for Jan. 10.

The court offered two reasons for refusing to grant the application. “First, the alleged evidentiary violations at President-elect Trump’s state-court trial can be addressed in the ordinary course on appeal,” a note on the Supreme Court’s docket read. “Second, the burden that sentencing will impose on the President-Elect’s responsibilities is relatively insubstantial in light of the trial court’s stated intent to impose a sentence of ‘unconditional discharge’ after a brief virtual hearing.”

After the Supreme Court’s decision, Trump wrote on TruthSocial that he appreciated the “time and effort of the United States Supreme Court in trying to remedy the great injustice done to me.” “For the sake and sanctity of the Presidency, I will be appealing this case, and am confident that JUSTICE WILL PREVAIL,” Trump wrote. (More)

Top officials within the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) worry that if their crimes against their own people are fully exposed, the backlash at home and internationally could undermine or even topple the regime, according to a well-positioned source within the Party security apparatus.

The officials are particularly concerned that their crimes of torture as well as the killing of Falun Gong practitioners for their organs will be exposed on an international scale, the source told The Epoch Times. The details of the crimes are so “inhuman,” he said, that if they break into the mainstream of public awareness, it would prompt widespread calls for accountability. Top CCP officials may face formal investigations, prosecution, and international tribunals, which would then destabilize the regime domestically, he said.

“This could lead not only to the collapse of the Party and the nation but also to the prosecution of all major CCP leaders,” he said, including CCP leader Xi Jinping “in an international court.” (More)

President Jimmy Carter was honored with an official state funeral at the Washington National Cathedral on Jan. 9. The invitation-only service, attended by dignitaries and members of Carter’s family, began at 10 a.m. ET. All five living presidents, including former President Barack Obama, President Joe Biden, and President-elect Donald Trump, attended.

Biden, who was tearful throughout the service, had been asked by Carter in late 2024 to deliver a eulogy at his funeral. Biden served in the Senate during Carter’s presidency and was the first senator to endorse his White House bid.

“Jimmy Carter’s life story ... [is] of a man who was at once driven and devoted to making real the words of his Savior, the ideals of this nation, the story of a man who never let the tides of politics divert him from his mission to serve and shape the world. The man had character,” Biden said. (More)

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