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Fox News’ Sean Hannity set to be deposed as part of billion-dollar election lawsuit

August 31, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Fox News host Sean Hannity, a close ally of former President Donald Trump, is set to be deposed on Wednesday as part of a billion-dollar defamation lawsuit against his network.

The $1.6 billion dollar suit was filed against Fox News last March by the voting machine company Dominion, which was at the center of numerous unproven conspiracy theories surrounding the 2020 election.

According to the lawsuit’s court docket, Hannity’s deposition would be the latest in a string of scheduled depositions of some of Fox’s biggest names. Fox News hosts Tucker Carlson and Jeannine Pirro were scheduled to be deposed last week, and former Fox Business host Lou Dobbs was scheduled for earlier this week according to the docket, though it has not been confirmed if those depositions occurred.

Experts say the depositions could be “potentially very important,” and that they could play a key role in the direction of the case moving forward.

“The critical issue here is the state of mind of Fox and those individual people,” Floyd Abrams, one of the country’s leading experts on First Amendment law, told ABC News. “What did they say about Dominion, and did they believe it?”

“In order for Dominion to win, it has to show that what was said was not just false, but that it was known or suspected to be false,” said Abrams, who has argued over a dozen cases before the Supreme Court.

In its complaint against Fox, Dominion alleges that the network pushed “outlandish, defamatory, and far-fetched” accusations that the voting company had rigged the 2020 election in order to “lure back viewers” so it could boost ratings and make a profit.

“Fox sold a false story of election fraud in order to serve its own commercial purposes, severely injuring Dominion the process,” Dominion said in its complaint.

In a statement, a Fox News spokesperson said, “We are confident we will prevail as freedom of the press is foundational to our democracy and must be protected, in addition to the damages claims being outrageous, unsupported, and not rooted in sound financial analysis, serving as nothing more than a flagrant attempt to deter our journalists from doing their jobs.”

Dan Webb, an attorney who was recently added to Fox’s legal team, has also said that Fox News was simply doing its duty by reporting on the allegations.

“There are very few events in the last 50 years in this country that I think are more newsworthy than our president alleging that our entire Democratic system was put on its head by a voting machine company stealing votes,” Webb told The Washington Post.

A Dominion spokesperson declined to comment.

Roy Gutterman, an expert on free speech at Syracuse’s Newhouse School of Public Communications, said depositions in these kinds of cases can get heated.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if eventually they get down to some very blunt questions: Did you know these statements you were putting on the air were false? What kinds of information were you basing that on?” Gutterman said.

“No one’s going into this deposition without being thoroughly prepared,” said Gutterman. “There will be lawyers from both sides of the room, and it can get pretty rancorous, but you have to answer the questions.”

The Fox News suit is part of a string of lawsuits Dominion has filed against those it says helped push false accusations that it helped sway the election — a group that includes several of Trump’s close allies.

Efforts by attorneys Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell to have the lawsuits against them thrown out were denied by a judge last summer.

Powell, who promised to “release the Kraken” in what turned out to be a series of unsuccessful legal challenges alleging voter fraud, had argued that that “no reasonable person” would have believed her theories were “truly statements of fact.”

After Dominion’s suit against Giuliani was filed last January, he called it “another act of intimidation by the hate-filled left-wing to wipe out and censor the exercise of free speech, as well as the ability of lawyers to defend their clients vigorously.”

At the first public hearing of the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, former Attorney General Bill Barr said in a clip played by the committee that the baseless allegations that Dominion machines switched votes from Joe Biden to Trump were “complete nonsense” and “amongst the most disturbing.”

“I told them it was crazy stuff and they were wasting their time on it, and they were doing a great disservice to the country,” Barr said of the Dominion conspiracy theories. “I saw absolutely zero basis for the allegations, but they were made in such a sensational way that they obviously were influencing a lot of people.”

US Army grounds entire fleet of Chinook helicopters after engine fires

August 31, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — The United States Army said Tuesday it has grounded its entire fleet of Chinook cargo helicopters after fuel leaks caused a “small number” of engine fires.

The Army has identified the cause of the leaks among an “isolated number” of Boeing H-47 Chinooks and is working to resolve the issue, according to Army spokeswoman Cynthia Smith.

“While no deaths or injuries occurred, the Army temporarily grounded the H-47 fleet out of an abundance of caution, until those corrective actions are complete,” Smith said in a statement Tuesday. “The safety of our Soldiers is the Army’s top priority, and we will ensure our aircraft remain safe and airworthy.”

A U.S. official told ABC News there are about 70 aircraft that teams are looking at because they have a part that is suspected to be connected to the problem.

The Wall Street Journal was first to report the grounding.

The Army has about 400 Chinooks in its fleet around the world, using them to transport troops and equipment as seen in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The CH-47F, one of the latest versions of the Chinook, is the Army’s only heavy-lift cargo helicopter supporting combat and other critical operations, according to the Army’s website.

DOJ alleges ‘obstructive conduct’ by Trump’s legal team in efforts to retrieve classified records

August 31, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — The Justice Department on Tuesday responded to former President Donald Trump’s call for a “special master” to review materials the FBI seized at his Mar-a-Lago estate.

Trump’s lawyers have said the review is needed to deal with matters they argue may be covered by executive privilege.

In their 36-page filing, top department officials laid out in extraordinary detail their efforts to obtain highly classified records they allege were improperly stored at Mar-a-Lago since Trump’s departure from the White House, and the resistance, which they describe outright as obstructive conduct, that they were met with by Trump’s representatives in their efforts to have them handed over.

The government included multiple exhibits to support its argument, including one photo purporting to show an FBI photograph of documents recovered from a container in Trump’s personal office with colored cover sheets showing classification markings including TOP SECRET/SCI, with one showing a marking that appears to refer to information obtained by confidential human sources.

Officials revealed that after they issued a grand jury subpoena to Trump’s attorneys on May 11 to obtain all remaining classified documents at Mar-a-Lago, “the government also developed evidence that government records were likely concealed and removed from the Storage Room [at Mar-a-Lago] and that efforts were likely taken to obstruct the government’s investigation,” according to the filing.

“This included evidence indicating that boxes formerly in the Storage Room were not returned prior to counsel’s review,” officials added in the filing, referring to a lawyer for Trump who said all the records from the White House “were stored in one location,” the storage room, and “that there were no other records stored in any private office space or other location at the Premises and that all available boxes were searched.”

The DOJ said in its filing that the subpoena return date was May 24, but Trump’s team asked for an extension that the government initially denied before offering an extension until June 7. A lawyer for Trump contacted the DOJ on June 2 “and requested that FBI agents meet him the following day to pick up responsive documents,” according to the filing.

This gets to the June 3 visit by a small group of FBI agents and Jay Bratt, the head of DOJ’s counterintelligence division, which ABC News has widely reported on. In the filing, the DOJ said the information produced during this visit was “a single Redweld envelope, double-wrapped in tape, containing the documents,” suggesting that counsel for Trump was handling the documents in a manner that was classified.

“When producing the documents, neither counsel nor the custodian asserted that the former President had declassified the documents or asserted any claim of executive privilege,” the filing said. “Instead, counsel handled them in a manner that suggested counsel believed that the documents were classified: the production included a single Redweld envelope, double-wrapped in tape, containing the documents.”

In its filing, the DOJ also revealed that during this visit, Trump’s lawyers allowed a visit to the storage room but prohibited government personnel from looking through the boxes that remained in the storage room.

“Critically, however, the former President’s counsel explicitly prohibited government personnel from opening or looking inside any of the boxes that remained in the storage room, giving no opportunity for the government to confirm that no documents with classification markings remained,” the filing said.

The DOJ said, “The individual present as the custodian of records produced and provided a signed certification letter.”

The Justice Department on Monday said its team tasked with identifying potential attorney-client privileged materials that were seized in the search on Aug. 8 has already completed its review and is in the process of addressing possible privilege disputes.

Judge Aileen Cannon has indicated she was leaning toward granting a request from Trump’s legal team to appoint a special master to intervene in the ongoing review of documents.

Trump’s lawyers have until Wednesday to file their response to a federal judge.

A hearing is currently set for Thursday at 1 p.m. in West Palm Beach where Judge Cannon will hear arguments from both sides on the request.

University officials respond to gang rape allegations involving punter Matt Araiza and others

August 31, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(SAN DIEGO) — San Diego State University officials made their first public statements addressing a civil lawsuit filed against former punter Matt Araiza and two other football players of allegedly gang-raping a 17-year-old girl.

“To be absolutely clear, we take allegations of sexual assault very seriously and do not support any actions or behaviors that cause harm to others,” Athletic Director John Wicker said Monday at a press conference.

The university officials pushed back against criticism of how the school handed the sexual assault allegations, with Wicker telling reporters, “It is absolutely not true that we swept this under the rug,” at the press conference.

Wicker defended the university’s handling of the accusations, saying because the alleged assault was said to have happened at an off-campus party, “the San Diego Police Department had the jurisdiction over this matter” and the university allowed SDPD’s request to investigate the sexual assault allegations.

“We are committed to hold accountable students who violate the universities policies,” said Head Coach Brady Hoke at the press conference.

Wicker alleged SDPD asked the university not to investigate the allegations because they felt it would “impede or negatively impact their investigation.”

The Buffalo Bills released rookie Araiza on Saturday after he was named in the lawsuit along with two of his San Diego State University teammates. The 22-year-old NFL rookie has denied the accusations.

“This afternoon, we decided that releasing Matt Araiza was the best thing to do. Our culture in Buffalo is more important than winning football games,” Buffalo Bills General Manager Brandon Beane said in a statement posted to the team’s Twitter account on Saturday.

Beane added that the team had spoken to the accuser’s lawyer and that “we tried to be thorough, and thoughtful and not rush to judgment.”

“With the serious nature of allegations and we just can’t, we don’t have the means to put all the facts together. And there’s multiple versions of what happened and you know, he’s a football coach. I’m a GM like we don’t have access to everything. And so that’s more important than playing football. And so we want Matt to focus on that,” he said.

Beane also said the team’s investigation into the allegations is ongoing.

In a statement to ABC News, Araiza’s parents alleged a “war” was waged on their son and alleged he has been “extorted, discriminated against, harassed and the subject of multiple and continuous threats of violence and death.”

“He has been released from his job and our entire family continues to receive horrific threats of violence and death. We have all been canceled. Every member of our family. Salacious rumors grew as fact. There are multiple witness reports to deny the claims that are made against him. The legal system is designed to find the facts and make decisions. They should be allowed to do that,” Araiza’s parents said in a statement.

An attorney for Araiza told ABC News in a statement that he does not understand why the university is receiving backlash as they were just following the SDPD’s directive.

“As far as SDSU, I feel sorry that the school has been raked over the coals since this story broke. It is my understanding that the San Diego Police Department told them to back off and let them (SDPD) do the investigation, and then SDSU complied with that directive,” Kerry Armstrong, an attorney for Araiza, said in the statement.

Armstrong denied the accusations of rape against his client and alleged he has several witnesses who talked to his investigator and will “back up much of Araiza’s story.” Armstrong also said he does not know what happened in the bedroom, but alleged that Araiza was not present.

Debates over diversity in the classroom push teachers out of schools

August 31, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — At the end of the 2021 school year, sixth-grade teacher Anita Carson decided to resign.

Carson, of Polk County, Florida, told ABC News that she didn’t want to leave her students behind. But when new laws began to restrict what teachers could teach about diversity, she said it would make “an already hard job — even if you love it — really unmanageable.”

Across the country, legislation has forced strict limitations on classroom curriculum and discussions concerning race and LGBTQ issues.

Schools and libraries have reported a massive increase in book-banning efforts from legislators and parents on topics like racism, race, sexual orientation, gender and more.

The U.S. has 300,000 teacher and school staff vacancies according to the National Education Association. And the culture wars over censorship and diversity in the classroom have pushed out teachers like Carson from schools.

“We are seeing that teachers are personally targeted. They’re targeted in social media, they’re targeted in everyday life,” said Emily Kirkpatrick, the executive director of the National Council of Teachers of English. “It is leading towards an extinguishing of the passion of why teachers got into the profession in the first place.”

The fight over education

Several bills across the nation have broadly targeted race, gender and sexual orientation in classroom education.

Supporters of these bills say that students should not feel shame, guilt or discomfort based on school lessons. Many teachers have reported heavy vetting when it comes to books and curriculum; several math textbooks in Florida were rejected for allegedly having racial “indoctrination.”

“We can and should teach this history without labeling a young child as an oppressor or requiring he or she feel guilt or shame based on their race or sex,” said Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt when he signed an anti-race education bill in May 2021. “I refuse to tolerate otherwise during a time when we are already so polarized.”

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis shared similar sentiments when signing the now-blocked Stop WOKE Act, which limited education on race and was deemed unconstitutional by a judge.

“No one should be instructed to feel as if they are not equal or shamed because of their race,” DeSantis said in June. “In Florida, we will not let the far-left woke agenda take over our schools and workplaces. There is no place for indoctrination or discrimination in Florida.”

Some teachers say these efforts will block them from discussing the nation’s past and present accurately.

They also say these efforts are eroding the quality of public education and making it harder for students and teachers from marginalized groups to succeed.

“We have a nationwide challenge with getting students to read and to want to read,” Kirkpatrick said. “Teachers work so hard to find books that will appeal to students and that students can identify with and relate to. And so what legislators are doing is making that extraordinarily difficult, if not impossible.”

Stories from teachers who left

Michael James, a former special education teacher in Escambia County, Florida, resigned after he alleged that pictures of historic Black figures like Martin Luther King Jr. and Harriett Tubman were taken down from his classroom walls because they were inappropriate.

The district has refuted the claims, saying officials were “astounded by Mr. James’ allegations, as his demeanor in the classroom that day was very friendly and accommodating.”

The district claims officials told James he would have to change his board to accommodate state standards and that he obliged, though James said he did not agree to this.

James told ABC News that he taught in a diverse school district where 34.6% of students are Black and felt it was important that his students see themselves represented in the classroom.

“Bottom line — this is all about small precious children that need to be protected, loved and rigorously educated and not treated less than others in a higher income area or poorly because of race or income,” James said in a statement.

Similarly, 2022 Kentucky Teacher of the Year Willie Carver resigned from his position at Montgomery County High School after he says he faced harassment from parents and residents over his sexuality, as well as restrictions on what educators could teach about race.

“The last year began with me hearing administrators telling us not to teach racial things and us having to push back pretty hard,” Carver told ABC News. “I have very few students of color. It is all the more important for us to make sure they feel seen or that they feel represented. It’s also all the more important that my students who are white have experiences with perspectives outside of their own, especially when they’re faced with such racism at home, often, or in their communities.”

Carver, a gay man, also said his school district did little to defend him from attacks on his identity from a local woman who claimed he was “grooming” children in a student-run LGBTQ group.

Carver is now working as an academic adviser at the University of Kentucky.

Montgomery superintendent Matt Thompson told ABC News in an email, “Mr. Carver is a wonderful English and French teacher. We wish him well in his new endeavor.”

Carson, the former Florida teacher, now works as a community organizer for the local political advocacy group Equality Florida. The activist group fights against the very bills that pushed Carson to leave her work as an educator. She said if parents can come to understand what’s being taught in the classroom, kids would benefit.

“This idea that teachers are trying to hide things from parents when we’ve been spending decades, begging for parents’ involvement and having curriculum nights and parent conferences and constantly having events that parents can come to … it’s incredibly false and toxic,” Carson said.

She said these bills pit parents against teachers and severely limit conversations about how to best serve the students.

“I left teaching but I could not leave advocating for my kids and advocating for students,” Carson said.

Sterling K. Brown, Regina Hall talk their satirical church comedy ‘Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul.’

August 31, 2022 by WDNY Radio

In the new satirical comedy Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul., Sterling K. Brown plays Lee-Curtis Childs, a pastor at a Southern Baptist megachurch trying to rebuild his congregation after a huge scandal.

The film is not afraid to dive into deep topics – sexual impropriety, hypocrisy and pride, to name a few – and Brown tells ABC Audio he knows that will possibly upset some people. And that’s OK.

“I’m somebody who’s grown up in the church, has a deep affinity for it, but I feel like there’s some critical thought that could be examined,” Brown says. “Nothing is perfect, everything can be looked at further.”

One of the biggest topics the film handles is marriage. Specifically, Brown says, it asks “what constitutes the breaking of a covenant” and “when is the right time to be out” of a marriage.

Regina Hall, who plays Brown’s wife, Trinity, in the film, agrees, saying that marriage is “defined in this movie specifically, as, ‘are you a Christian?’ And, if so, ‘how much you are willing to endure?'”

“Trinity is a Christian,” Hall says. “She just has to endure Lee-Curtis. That’s a bit of a measure on her Christianity.”

Brown says he was – at first – a bit hesitant to take on a role some might find controversial.

“Not enough to not let me do it,” he says. “But, yeah. I hear my mom’s voice all the time … my mama will ask with every role that I do, ‘Now how does this honor God?’ And I’ll be like, ‘Well, Mama, God made us. And he made each and every one of us and God didn’t make no mistakes.’”

Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul. is in theaters everywhere and streaming on Peacock this Friday.

Billy Gibbons says ZZ Top’s shows with Jeff Beck & Ann Wilson will be “a very interesting gathering”

August 31, 2022 by WDNY Radio

ZZ Top has more than two dozen upcoming U.S. shows scheduled this fall as part of the famed Texas trio’s 2022 Raw Whiskey Tour.

Among the concerts are six late-September dates that will feature British rock-guitar legend Jeff Beck as an opening act; the first three also will include a set by Heart frontwoman Ann Wilson.

ZZ Top singer/guitarist Billy Gibbons notes that he’s performed with both Beck and Wilson before and says it’s possible that they may all end up onstage together during the upcoming shows, which are scheduled to take place in three different Texas cities — on September 23 in Del Valle, September 24 in Dallas and September 25 in the Houston suburb of The Woodlands.

“[I]t’s going to be a very interesting gathering, having an expanded lineup on the stage,” Gibbons tells ABC Audio. “Let’s go for it.”

Gibbons also reveals that he recently had a conversation with Beck, one of his guitar heroes, who mentioned a couple of ZZ Top songs he was hoping to jam on with the group.

“He said, ‘Listen … I’ve been polishing my chops. I got ‘La Grange’ down,'” Gibbons reports. “He said, ‘Can we do “Rough Boy”?’ I said, ‘Well, we’ve done it in the past … There’s no reason why we can’t stretch it out.'”

ZZ Top’s upcoming U.S. tour dates are mapped out from a September 17 concert in Catoosa, Oklahoma, through a November 13 show in Pompano Beach, Florida. The band’s 2022 itinerary winds down with a five-date Las Vegas residency at The Venetian Resort, scheduled from December 3 to December 10.

Check out the band’s full schedule at ZZTop.com.

Animal cookies sold at Target recalled for possible metal contamination

August 31, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced a voluntary recall of fudge-coated animal cookies that were sold at Target stores across the U.S.

Stauffer’s voluntarily recalled its 44-ounce Market Pantry White Fudge Animal Cookies “because they may contain metal,” according to the FDA.

The affected products distributed to Target come in a bear-shaped clear plastic jug and have a best-by date of Feb. 21, 2023, with lot number Y052722 and UPC code 085239817698.

“The recall was initiated when metal (wire) was found inside a portion of the cookies,” the FDA wrote in the recall notice. “Foodborne foreign objects that are hard, sharp, and large are more likely to cause serious injury or dental injury. Foodborne foreign objects that are flexible, not sharp, and smaller in length are more likely to cause minor injuries such as transient choking or small lacerations in the gastrointestinal system.”

Consumers in possession of the product are “urged to stop consuming” it and return it to the place of purchase for a full refund.

The FDA hasn’t reported any injuries tied to the possible contamination.

Scoreboard roundup — 8/30/22

August 31, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Tuesday’s sports events:

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

INTERLEAGUE
Arizona 3, Chicago White Sox 2
Minnesota 8, San Francisco 3
Kansas City 15, San Diego 7

AMERICAN LEAGUE
Tampa Bay 12, Boston 4
LA Angels 8, Toronto 3
Houston 3, Baltimore 1
Detroit 9, Texas 8
Seattle 4, Cleveland 0
Oakland 4, NY Yankees 1

NATIONAL LEAGUE
LA Dodgers 8, Miami 1
Washington 3, Cincinnati 2
Pittsburgh 5, Philadelphia 0
Colorado 1, NY Mets 0
Milwaukee 9, Chicago Cubs 7
St. Louis 6, Atlanta 3

NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE PRESEASON
NY Jets 31, NY Giants 27
Pittsburgh 19, Detroit 9

WOMEN’S NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION PLAYOFFS
Seattle 76, Las Vegas 73
Connecticut 68, Chicago 63

MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER
Atlanta 3, DC United 2
Orlando City 2, New York City FC 1
LA Galaxy 2, New England 1

Graham faces backlash after claiming violence could break out if Trump prosecuted

August 31, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina is facing backlash after claiming political violence will break out if former President Donald Trump is indicted for mishandling presidential records.

President Joe Biden on Tuesday, while not mentioning Graham by name, appeared to call him out at a political rally in Pennsylvania, saying, “the idea you turn on a television and see senior senators and congressmen saying if such and such happens, there’ll be blood in the street. Where the hell are we?”

Graham’s comments came at a time when Trump supporters’ threats against law enforcement have escalated following the Mar-a-Lago search and at least one man citing it attacked an FBI field office in Cincinnati, Ohio, and was later killed by police.

Law enforcement officials told ABC News they were investigating social media posts apparently linked to the suspect that called for violence in the days after the FBI search.

During an appearance on Fox News on Sunday, the former chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee said there “will be riots in the street” if Trump faces legal ramifications for taking at least 184 classified documents to his Mar-a-Lago estate after leaving office.

After months of the Justice Department and National Archives negotiating with Trump’s legal teams to get him to return the documents, the FBI executed a search warrant on Aug. 8 at Mar-a-Lago. But since then, Graham and many other Republicans have argued that Trump is facing a double standard from how the DOJ treated Hillary Clinton.

Specifically, Clinton, Trump’s 2016 Democratic rival for president, was not charged after probes into her use of a private email server containing classified information while she was secretary of state.

The two cases are not the same, however. In both cases, the FBI launched criminal investigations, obtaining search warrants to obtain or access relevant documents. But in Clinton’s case, the FBI said in findings released in July 2016, the classified information had been improperly transmitted via carelessness, not in an attempt to circumvent the law.

The caliber of “classified information” found on Hillary Clinton’s private servers was not the same as what was found at Mar-a-Lago, particularly as it relates to highly-sensitive Special Access Programs. According to the Department of Justice’s report on the Clinton case, investigators found seven email chains on Clinton’s servers that were “relevant to” and “associated with a Special Access Program, while it appears Trump was keeping SAP materials themselves at Mar-a-Lago.

Trump’s case is ongoing, but an unsealed search warrant and property receipt from the FBI raid confirmed that the former president took properly marked classified documents from the White House.

Experts have said it’s highly unlikely that the Justice Department would have pursued such a search warrant without significant evidence. “The department does not take such a decision lightly,” Garland said during the press conference following the FBI search.

“If they try to prosecute President Trump for mishandling classified information after Hilary Clinton set up a server in her basement, there literally will be riots in the street. I worry about our country,” Graham said to Fox News host and former South Carolina GOP Rep. Trey Gowdy. Later in the program, Graham repeated the threat of violence again.

Graham again doubled down on his earlier remarks in Charleston on Monday, again likening Trump’s FBI search to the probe into Clinton, saying: “America cannot live with this kind of double standard. I thought what she did was bad, but she got a pass at the end of the day.”

Using less inflammatory language, he said that that there would be many “upset people” if Trump was prosecuted. “I reject violence. I’m not calling for violence. Violence is not the answer, but I’m just telling you,” he said.

Despite growing evidence against the former president, Trump and allies like Graham have repeatedly accused the Justice Department of being biased against him.

The Justice Department on Friday made public the redacted affidavit that supported the search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate. The affidavit outlines months of interactions between the National Archives and Records Administration and Trump’s team to secure the return of records that were improperly taken from the White House.

“Most Republicans, including me, believes when it comes to Trump, there is no law. It’s all about getting him. There’s a double standard when it comes to Trump,” Graham said.

Trump posted a video clip of Graham’s comments on his Truth Social media platform but without comment.

Asked for a response to Graham’s comments Monday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, “we have seen MAGA Republicans attack our democracy. We have seen MAGA Republicans take away our rights, make threats of violence, including this weekend …”

Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., tweeted on Monday about Graham’s remarks in contrast to the legislative victories that Democrats have seen throughout the summer.

“We are fighting for relief from prescription drug costs for Seniors, relief from inflation for working-class families, relief from mass shootings for parents, relief from the climate crisis for farmers. Republicans like @LindseyGrahamSC are promising riots,” he tweeted.

The Washington Post editorialized, “There is no excuse for this irresponsible rhetoric, which not only invites violence but also defies democratic norms.”

A new joint intelligence bulletin obtained by ABC News confirms that the FBI has seen an uptick in threats and acts of violence, including armed encounters, to its agents and law enforcement since their search of Trump’s Florida home.

Since the search, the FBI and DHS have identified multiple articulated threats and calls for the targeted killing of judicial, law enforcement, and government officials associated with the Palm Beach search, including the federal judge who approved the Palm Beach search warrant, according to the bulletin.

Graham has been a staunch defender of the former president, despite briefly breaking with Trump right after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

He’s currently resisting a grand jury probe into potential election interference in Georgia, fighting a subpoena to testify in connection with the investigation into Trump’s alleged effort to intimidate Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and other state officials into overturning his 2020 loss to President Joe Biden, asking Raffensperger to “find” enough votes to ensure his victory.

Graham had recently hired former president Trump’s first White House counsel, Donald McGahn, to be part of his legal team.

The probe is led by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who subpoenaed Graham in July. In fighting the order, Graham has argued, among other things, that he was acting “within [his] official legislative responsibilities” as a senator and chairman of the Judiciary Committee when he allegedly made calls to Georgia officials in the wake of the 2020 election.

On Monday, new court filings from the Fulton County District Attorney’s office blasted the temporary subpoena block granted to Graham by a federal appeals court. The motion mentions that the strength of Trump and Graham’s relationship weakens the senator’s push against testifying.

“Senator Graham’s repetition of his previous arguments does not entitle him to partial quashal, and the District Attorney respectfully requests that his motion be denied,” Donald Wakeford, Fulton’s chief senior assistant district attorney, wrote in a motion filed on Monday.

The Fulton County DA’s response comes after Graham told Gowdy on Sunday that he’s got a “good legal case” against testifying before a grand jury.

“If we let county prosecutors start calling senators and members of Congress as witnesses when they’re doing their job, then you’ve got out of kilter our constitutional balance here,” Graham said about the probe on Sunday to Gowdy.

“I’ve got a good legal case, I’m going to pursue it …. You love the law, I love the law. I’ve never been more worried about the law and politics as I am right now. How can you tell a conservative Republican that the system works when it comes to Trump?”

ABC News’ Aaron Katersky, Olivia Rubin and Will Steakin contributed to this report.

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