Transcript of Breaking: Trump DOJ Suffers Massive Loss as Judge Won't Charge Don Lemon

We have a significant development this afternoon. The Trump Justice Department tried to indict journalist Don Lemon. We have confirmation of that. They failed. They brought a criminal complaint in front of a federal magistrate judge, and, well, the judge refused to sign it. This is a significant development, and it comes as the Trump DOJ has begun making arrests concerning protesters at a Minneapolis Church Service. I'm going to break down some of the things we've seen today because it is it's important for you to know about. They are trying to go after journalists. They did try to bring criminal charges against John Lemon. So make sure to like, comment, share, and subscribe. Get this everywhere. If you want to support my work, please consider subscribing to my sub stack by clicking the link below, especially at a time where they're literally trying to charge journalists. We now know from Scott McFarlon and CBS News that multiple sources tell him that a federal criminal complaint was brought forth by the Trump Justice Department, and a magistrate judge refused to sign it. He refused to sign the criminal complaint. Now, here's the thing. This is significant because just because this criminal complaint wasn't signed doesn't mean this is the end of it.

They could always the panel a grand jury, the Justice Department, and go that route. Although if you have a judge saying, I'm not going to sign this criminal complaint against Don Lemon, then I can't imagine you'll have a grand jury that agrees to indict this journalist. Now, significantly, folks, it's It's unclear what criminal charges Lemon would face, but there had been rumors floating around suggesting that the Trump Justice Department would look at indicting him under the FACE Act, which prohibits protesting and essentially interrupting church services or religious institutions, or charge him under what is called the Ku Klux Klan Act, which is a very different piece of legislation. We don't know what they were trying to bring charges for, but obviously a judge didn't think there was even enough to sign a criminal complaint. That is stunning. But the Trump Justice Department did begin arresting individuals today associated with the protests at the church. Remember, Lemon was just filming the protest. He wasn't participating in the protest, which is why criminal charges were never even able to be brought against Lemon. But Nome announced today that agents arrested Nkema Levy-Armstrong, who, according to them, played a key role in orchestrating the church riots.

That's what they called it in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Why do I show you this? Well, because Because Armstrong in this image can be seen being arguably cuffed and being taken away by a federal agent. That's what Christie Nome posted. I want you to see what the White House posted. Look at her face in this image. She's crying in this image. This is a fake image. The White House doctored an image of Armstrong in an effort to try to gain more virality or sympathy from their side. They have her crying in this image, but the real image doesn't have her crying. That is a significant misstep by the Justice Department or by this White House, because it completely undercuts their prosecution of her. Well, if you look at federal law, the statutes, you are not allowed to release information like that to the news media publicly about a criminal defendant. Why? Because every criminal defendant has a presumption of innocence in this country. When you doctor an image showing one crying when she wasn't crying, you are actively prejudicing her defense. Read number 2 with me. At no time shall personnel of the Department of Justice furnish any statement or information for the purpose of influencing the outcome of a defendant's trial, nor shall personnel of the Department furnish any statement or information which could be reasonably be expected to be disseminated by means of public communication if such information may be reasonably expected to influence the outcome of a pending trial.

In addition, the statute Disclosures should include only incontrovertible factual matters and should not include subjective observations. Incontrovertible factual matters. This is a fake image. It's a doctored image. That is not her face. That is not the original image. That is not an incontrovertible factual matter. I guarantee you the Justice Department will have to face this in court, ultimately, when her attorney goes and says, You know what? They have completely completely undermined her defense by prejudicing her this way. Here we are. Now, Donald Trump is upset. He is upset right now because he doesn't think that the polls are accurately capturing his popularity. He's now saying that he's suing the pollsters. This is from Trump literally seconds ago. So something has to be done about fake polls. They are truly out of control. We have the greatest economy in the history of our country. We have the strongest border. Okay, continue. He goes on to talk about the New York Times. The New York Times and so many others print polls that are knowingly false. Their 2024 election coverage was so bad and so wrong, and yet they never get called out for it. But I am calling them out with the lawsuit that I have filed, which is making its way to the courts.

They have to pay a price for fake and fraudulent news. So between trying to arrest journalist Dawn Lemon and suing the New Times, he's going after journalists in ways we've never seen before. So make sure to like, comment, share, and subscribe. Please consider subscribing to my sub stack by clicking the link below to support my work. Today is the 53rd anniversary of Roe versus Wade, and I spoke to Amanda Zawarski today. Who had a horrific experience in Texas, almost lost her own life because of Texas's abortion ban. I want you to take a listen to what she had to say. This is Amanda Zawarski. I am super honored today to be joined by Amanda Zawarsky. Now, Amanda, I really want to just get right into it. A lot of folks have heard your story on the campaign trail and over the past couple of years, but for those who haven't, share what happened to you. What is your story?

Yeah, absolutely. Thank you very much for having me and for giving me the opportunity to tell you my story. I live in Austin, Texas, and Texas has one of the most restrictive, cruel abortion bans in the country. Our trigger ban went into effect in 2022, and that's when I found myself pregnant with our first baby, and this was a baby that my husband and I were thrilled to be expecting. We were over the moon. Unfortunately, at 18 weeks, I suffered complications. I suffered from something called PPROM, which essentially meant that I was dilating prematurely. So saw the doctor, and we learned, unfortunately, that there was nothing they could do to reverse course, and we were definitely going to lose this baby that we desperately wanted. So that was in and of itself. But then on top of the grief, we were told standard procedure should have been to give me an abortion so that I could deliver the baby and I could start healing. Unfortunately, the trigger band went into effect the same week that I was diagnosed and that my water broke. So ending the pregnancy would have been an illegal abortion, even though we were with complete certainty going to lose her.

So I had to wait until I met the medical exception in Texas, which is life of the mother, which basically that I had to be on the brink of death before I could get care. And that's what happened. Three days later, I went into septic shock, nearly died. Fortunately, I survived, but I'm unable to carry children again as a result of what I went through.

Now, I do want to talk to you because today is the anniversary of Roe versus Wade, and the Texas abortion plan, obviously, is very antithetical to what Roe helped. How do you feel now, today, knowing that Roe versus Wade is no longer the law of the land?

It's devastating. What happened to me only happened because of Roe, because Texas made the decision to enact that trigger ban that prevented me from getting care. In the three and a half years since my ordeal, things have only gotten worse. More states have enacted more bans. More people are being harmed. People are dying as a result of these bans. It not only breaks my heart, it makes me sick to my stomach.

What is the current state of play when it comes to the abortion ban in Texas today?

It's still in effect. It's fully in effect. In fact, they're trying to further restrict it here in Texas, just like they are in other states, by using sneaky tactics, backdoor tactics. I think they're not going to stop until they can fully restrict access to abortion across the entire country.

I want to ask you because I think a lot of politicians and a lot of consultants nowadays They say, You know what, Democrats, and just generally people, shouldn't be talking about abortion anymore. That's not an issue that's really impacting anyone anymore. That's what I hear often. What do you say to someone like that?

Well, first of all, I would ask them to ask the millions of women and families in this country who are affected every single day because abortion, plain and simple, is health care. And not being able to have access to that health care is affecting people every single day all across this country.

What do What do you want, I guess, as you share your story to people, whether it's on my show or just generally, what do you want someone to know if they're in a similar position to the one that you were in? And they are scared, whether they're having complications or even they're not pregnant yet, but they're scared that they may one day end up in a situation like yours. What's something you would tell them?

I've had this conversation with a lot of people, and it's tough because I would actually have this conversation before you ever find yourself in a position like mine, before maybe you're even pregnant. I think you need to, number one, understand very clearly the laws in your state, and I think you need to understand very clearly what your physician would and would not be willing to do in an emergency. Based on that information, My husband and I tell people that they need to have a plan and they need to have two bags. They need to have one for when things go well, and hopefully, they go to the hospital and they bring home a healthy baby, and they need to have another bag in case they need to flee their state to get care, because that's the reality that we live in. It sounds extreme. Maybe it sounds cynical, but that's the reality that we live in.

I think it's very scary to even hear that coming from someone. So I appreciate you sharing your story. I appreciate you speaking up. And I guess before I let you go, my final question here really is just, what do you want people to take away in this moment in time, in this moment in history? We have a conservative President. We have a conservative Congress. They're not really acting on anything regarding reproductive rights. In fact, they're rolling it You have states like Texas doing the same. What do you want people to know in this moment?

I think elections matter. To your point, even Donald Trump, who has done enormous damage on abortion, is publicly softening his tone. That just goes to show you how unpopular these bands are and how much people want to restore access to basic health care. The way that we do that, the way we stop these extremists and these politicians as these lawmakers is we take it to the ballot box in November and we vote for what we want and who we want to represent us.

Amanda, thank you for sharing your story, and thank you for coming on.

Thanks for having me.

Hey, folks. Erin Parnas here. Thank you so much for watching the Parnas Perspective. Please consider subscribing to support our work as we grow this independent news media entity into something that rivals mainstream every single day. Thanks so much, and I'll see you soon.