Trump’s “Secretary of Retribution” Reveals Plan to Steal a Swing State

Donald Trump’s cronies are already making plans to overturn North Carolina’s election results if a majority of the state’s voters choose Kamala Harris for president.

Ivan Raiklin, a supporter of the former president who calls himself Trump’s future “secretary of retribution,” has prepared a plan to deliver North Carolina’s 16 electoral votes to Trump, regardless of how the votes go. Raiklin, an attorney and military veteran, has close ties to people in Trump’s inner circle, including Michael Flynn, Trump’s former national security adviser who was pardoned by the former president. 

Raiklin told his plan to an audience at the Christian nationalist ReAwaken America Tour over the weekend in Selma, North Carolina, after being introduced by Flynn, according to Rolling Stone. Raiklin claimed that Hurricane Helene’s devastation may hurt Republican turnout in the state and give Democrats the edge on November 5, so he asked the crowd to pressure the state’s Republican leadership to ignore a favorable Democratic result.

Specifically, the leaders he mentioned were North Carolina state House Speaker Tim Moore and embattled Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson, who presides over the state Senate. Raiklin’s plan involves the state legislature reacting quickly in January 2025 before the election results are certified by Congress, but only if Trump loses.

“If it’s legit, we don’t have to worry, right?” Raiklin told the partisan audience. “But who thinks it’s going to be legit? You think they’re just going to give it to you? No, there’s going to be a fight!”

Raiklin told the crowd to “apply the necessary motivation” to the state’s Republicans, who control both houses of the legislature, by telling the senators and representatives that “they have the political obligation to remedy an illegitimate election.”

In Raiklin’s mind, this process, which he said is “the only way … we can address” the “calamity in western North Carolina” in a “legal, moral, ethical manner under our Constitution,” would be livestreamed on Rumble and Elon Musk’s X, adding that he hoped the “radical left media” would “start to cry.”

Raiklin’s plan is far-fetched, but not far off from the many fake-elector schemes attempted after Trump lost the 2020 presidential election. While each one of those was thwarted, Raiklin’s cryptic language could incite MAGA-aligned protesters to attempt to force the state’s legislature to overturn a possible Democratic victory, which could turn into a mini-January 6. It all depends on whether Raiklin’s half-baked plan garners any support, or if he’s exposed as a blustering troll.

A federal judge on Tuesday ordered the Army to release all of its records related to Donald Trump’s controversial visit to Arlington National Cemetery in August.

American Oversight, a nonprofit organization dedicated to government transparency, filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia asking for the records to be made public under the Freedom of Information Act.

Senior Judge Paul Friedman granted the group’s request, which asked for “any report—including, but not limited to, an incident report filed with U.S. Army Military Police Corps officials and/or any other military officials at Arlington National Cemetery—regarding the alleged incident reported to have taken place during the August 26, 2024, visit by former President Trump to Arlington National Cemetery.”

On August 26, Trump visited the cemetery to attend a wreath-laying ceremony for 13 U.S. service members who were killed in an attack at Kabul’s airport during the U.S. evacuation of Afghanistan three years before. After the event concluded, Trump campaign staff recorded the former president smiling and giving a thumbs-up sign next to military graves, footage of which was later used in campaign ads.

When a cemetery employee tried to stop the campaign from taking photos or video, as such political activity is illegal, they were physically shoved by a Trump staffer. The employee opted not to press charges against the staffer, and wished to remain anonymous out of fear of retaliation from Trump’s supporters. Trump, meanwhile, denied any wrongdoing. His campaign said it would release footage that would show that no laws were broken, but to date has not.

The judge gave the Army an October 25 deadline to release the requested records. Such material could prove damaging and embarrassing to the former president, possibly showing how the physical altercation was instigated and how Trump reacted to it. With the election only weeks away and Trump already having a poor reputation with military veterans, the former president is probably hoping no one pays attention when the truth finally comes out.

A federal judge has declared that Rudy Giuliani must hand over his most valuable possessions in just seven days to the Georgia election workers he defamed.

On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman ordered Giuliani to relinquish his possessions, including his Manhattan penthouse, to the mother-daughter duo Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss. Since winning their defamation lawsuit against the former New York mayor and Donald Trump attorney last year, the pair have been waiting for Giuliani to pay up the $148 million judgment.

Giuliani was convicted last year of defaming Freeman and Moss, and inflicting emotional and reputational harm, in spreading lies that they tampered with ballots while working the polls in 2020.

After Giuliani failed to declare bankruptcy and still evaded accountability, the judge’s order Tuesday means that the election workers will finally have justice (and all of Giuliani’s prized assets) in just a week’s time. Some of that stuff may include: around two dozen watches (including a commemorative 9/11 watch), a signed Joe DiMaggio jersey, and a 1980 Mercedes.

This comes as just another blow for Giuliani, who formally lost his license to practice law in September.

“Last December, a jury delivered a powerful verdict in their favor, and we’re proud that today’s ruling makes that verdict a reality,” said Aaron Nathan, a lawyer representing Freeman and Moss. “This outcome should send a powerful message that there is a price to pay for those who choose to intentionally spread disinformation.”

The mother-daughter duo will also be entitled to an estimated $2 million in legal fees that Giuliani says Trump still owes him. One of Giuliani’s biggest assets is still up in the air: his Palm Beach, Florida,  condominium. 

While the judge has scheduled a hearing for Monday about Giuliani’s condo, it’s unclear how the former Trump lawyer will shake down the Republican nominee for the legal fees he’s owed.

This story has been updated.

After backing out of several major interviews at the last minute, Donald Trump has one last major appearance on the horizon: The Joe Rogan Experience.

The Republican presidential nominee will be meeting with the former Fear Factor host on Friday, reported Politico. It’ll be the first time that Trump has appeared on Rogan’s podcast.

Over the last several months, Trump has made a concerted effort to reach young, male voters by signing up for a slew of interviews with podcasters, including Twitch ban-ee Adin Ross; the Lex Fridman Podcast; Six Feet Under, hosted by wrestler Mark Calaway (perhaps better known as The Undertaker); and Theo Von’s podcast, This Past Weekend.

Meanwhile, Trump has aggressively dodged more mainstream news appearances, including going so far as to break election tradition by refusing to sit for a 60 Minutes interview in September, which he reportedly backed out of last-minute over fears that the rigorous show would fact-check him.

Rogan shared an odd moment with Trump in August, when the podcasting behemoth appeared to side with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over the MAGA leader before the independent presidential candidate bent the knee to Trump. Trump then chose to clap back, writing on Truth Social that he was looking forward to Rogan getting “booed” at a UFC tournament.

Following the first presidential debate between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris last month, Rogan gave the Democratic presidential nominee her flowers, commenting on air that whoever helped coach her had done a “fucking amazing job.”

“See, the difference in that debate was not a difference in, like, who’s gonna have better policies? Who’s gonna be better for the country?” Rogan told comedian Tom Segura at the time. “The … debate, in my opinion, was who was better prepared. She was way better prepared.”

Harris has also been in talks to sit down with Rogan for an interview, reported Reuters.

Donald Trump is a total flake.

Citing “changes in Trump’s schedule,” the Republican nominee canceled on his old friend Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and former Representative Tulsi Gabbard at the last minute on Tuesday. Trump was supposed to join the two for a virtual Make America Healthy Again town hall at 2 p.m., but abruptly canceled the event just hours before.

This is actually the second time that Trump has scrapped his plans with Kennedy, according to an email from RFK Jr.’s team, with the previous virtual event canceled allegedly due to Hurricane Milton.

Is Trump questioning his alliance with Kennedy, who pulled out of the race in August in support of Trump, or is the 78-year-old just feeling a bit sleepy?

Hours before ditching the virtual town hall, during a speech in Miami on Tuesday, Trump slammed Kamala Harris for taking a day off. “She’s sleeping right now, she couldn’t go on the trail,” he said, trying and failing to repurpose his “Sleepy Joe” content. “You’d think when you have 14 days left you wouldn’t be sleeping. She’s not doing anything today. I should take one of those.”

In reality, Harris is not taking a day off; she’s doing interviews with NBC and Telemundo in Washington, D.C.

Over the past week, it seems as though Trump has bitten off more than he can chew, with the former president now canceling several appearances, including a speech at an NRA convention and The Shade Room, giving the same vague “scheduling conflicts” excuse.