His company a few weeks ago. There were huge financial penalties he was ordered to pay in that case. He is going to appeal the judgment, going to appeal the ruling in that case. But he in the meantime has to put up a bond while he files that appeal. We have been watching this because the amount of the judgment against him was so e huge, the bond he has to put up is huge, roughly a half billion dollars. So his lawyers told the court as the deadline for filing the bond, for posting the bond approached, his lawyers told the court that they had been unable to obtain a bond. They said they had reached out to 30 Different Insurance Companies but nobody would help him post a bond of that size. At that point, it looked like new yorks attorney general, who brought this fraud case in the first place, the a. G. Might be about to start seizing trumps Bank Accounts and seizing his properties to secure the judgment. But then, you may recall, there was sort of a lastminute f reprieve for trump. A new York Appeals Court lowered the bond to less than half of what had originally been ordered. They did not explain why they were doing that, but thats what they did. They brought the bond amount down from nearly 500 million to 175 million. That would be all that trump would have to put up while he appeals this Fraud Judgment against him. They also in addition to reducing the amount he had to put up, they gave him more time. The deadline was extended so hee would have until later this week to put up that new 175 million bond. Well, as of this last hour, we just got confirmation in Court Documents that trump has posted that reduced amount of bond. He secured a 175 million bond through something called Knight Specialty Insurance Company in los angeles. Su knight, knight specialty insurance. That company is part of an Insurance Group that is chaired by a major republican donor. Make of that what you will. But that move tonight would appear to mean that the former president has satisfied his financial obligations in that huge fraud case for now, at least, until his appeal is heard and that is not expected to be at least until this fall. So thats one of the two big developments thats just happened this evening. T theres another. In trumps other New York State case, which is a criminal case, not a civil case, this is the hush money case that is due to start two weeks from today, the judge in that case has tonight just issued an expanded gag order on mr. Trump. Last week, this judge issued an order that banned trump from attacking witnesses or prosecutors or jurors or court staff, as well as their relatives. After that gag order, trump started publicly attacking not only the judge who actually is and remains sort of fair game for criticism under the gag s order, but he also repeatedly e went after the judges daughter, including identifying her by name on social media. Now, the new York District attorney, the prosecutor has brought this case, asked the judge to expand the gag order to include Family Members of the judge and Family Members of the d. A. , of the prosecutor. Tonight, the judge has done just that. So again, the gag order still doesnt apply to the judge himself or the prosecutor himself, but it does now include their families. In expanding the gag order in that way, the judge did not mince words. He said tonight, quote, this pattern of attacking Family Members of Presiding Jurists ana attorneys assigned to his cases serves no legitimate purpose. It merely injects fear in those assigned or called to participate in the proceedings that not only they but their Family Members as well are, quote, fair game for defendants vitriol. The average observer must now e after hearing defendants recent attacks draw the conclusion that if they become involved in these proceedings even tangentially, they should worry not only for themselves but for their loved ones as well. Such concerns will undoubtedly interfere with the Fair Administration of justice and constitutes a direct attack on the rule of law itself. Again, that case, that criminal case, the first ever criminal case brought against a former president of the United States, it is slated to get under way id a new york courtroom two weeks from today. Thats when Jury Selection will start. The judge tonight making clear that attacks on his Family Members, Family Members of the prosecutor, will hence forth not be tolerated and will be subject to punishment by the court if en they continue. So both of those stories breaking within the last hour or so. Well keep you apprised if there is further development in the story. Theres no reason in legal terms why there should be further development, but you never know when its about misbehavior and attacking people and trying to meddle with the rule of law. Sometimes these things develop in a way the sheer docket could not predict. All right, did you ever hear the one about the Cartier Jewelry, the shopping spree at cartier in new york city . This was a fake story but a good one. The fake story was that when the president of ukraine came to new york city to give a speech to the u. N. General assembly, the story was his wife who came to new york with him, she spent her time in new york at cartier. Buying over a Million Dollars worth of jewelry for herself. Now, this of course is meant to be a shocking story, right . Oh, we shouldnt give ukraine any more support. Nobody should. Clearly, the leaders of ukraine are just stealing it all so they can buy Diamond Rings for themselves or whatever. Totally fake story. It originated apparently in russia. No surprise. It was a pretty obvious fake from the outset, even though it had all this detail that was supposed to make it more believable. The detail didnt help. The day on which this person was supposed to have bought all this jewelry at cartier was a day that she and her husband were not in new york, and that was very Public Knowledge because they were doing lots of Public Events in a whole different country on that day. They were in canada on the day this supposed shopping spree happened in new york city. So it was obvious, including in the supposed damning details d from the very outset. But lots of people spread that story around. In the United States, one english language russian Disinformation Site in particular, one that is supposed to look like an American News a site, a site called dc weekry, that was particularly effective at spreading that fake story about the Cartier Jewelry shopping spree that never ng happened. Then a couple months later, d. C. Weekly was doing another one of them, same idea. Another totally fake but good story. This time it wasnt Cartier Jewelry, this time it was yachts. Big boats. This story, again, fake story, included a photo of these two big yachts that you could look up by name on the internet. Ha theyre real yachts. But the fake story about them was that this time, these two yachts had been bought by the president of ukraine himself. So it wasnt the wife buying jewelry. This time, it was the president of ukraine himself buying boats. 75 million he spent buying these two yachts. And again, the whole point of this fake story is very obvious. Right . Russian Disinformation Site is spreading this around, russia obviously wants people to believe this story. They want people to think, oh, why should we, why should anyone keep providing support to ukraine to fight back against russia having invaded them, why should ukraine get any support from any other country . Ai theyre just stealing the support. Theyre stealing the money, Buying Yachts with it. And dont i remember hearing Something Else about them buying Diamond Rings with it, too . Just like the jewelry one was obviously false, the supposed details of it were easily disproven, same thing with the fake story about the yachts. I mean, there were two yachts that were supposedly at the center of the scandal. Again, the details are supposed to make it more believable, right . These are real yachts you can look up on the internet machine. But the story was these were just sold to the leader of ukraine. Again, both these boats exist. H theyre real, theyre a knowable thing. They are both for sale now, though. Because they have not just beenh sold to the president of ukraine. Or to anyone. Ukraine didnt buy them. He didnt buy them. The president of ukraine has no yachts. Its a fake story that appears to have originated in russia, created for pretty obvious reasons. You dont have to think this through. The strategy behind this is as obvious as a brick. B youre waging war on another country if you can spread lies about that other country and make their allies around the world stop supporting them, then you will cut off their support and their supplies sooner and beat them in the war. Its very simple stuff, obvious why russia would be doing stuff, even if theyre doing it so hamhandedly. The strategy is painfully obvious. The execution is obviously fake. And i mentioned that the yachts fake story was spread by the same russian Disinformation Site that the jewelry fake story was spread by. When you start seeing multiple fake easily disproven, widely discredited stories spread by the same entity that itself is a red flag, makes it all even more obviously fake. But you know, when it came to the yachts one, republican senator j. D. Vance of ohio decided he believed it. He decided to take that one and run with it. He spread that story himself, the yachts one. He mentioned it as if it was a true thing on Steve Bannons podcast. While senator vance was there talking about all the reasons that we should cut off ukraine and just let russia take that country and do what they want. D we definitely shouldnt support ukraine anymore because theyre just taking our money and Buying Yachts. Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor greene, not only spread the same story about the yachts. She linked to a version of it. She decided to spread it onlineo directing her followers to follow the link that she posted to a russian think tank. In a russian think tank that the State Department quite recently has described as a, quote, pillar of russias disinformation and propaganda ecosystem. Shes a sitting congresswoman. She linked to this site that Tht State Department has publicly described as, quote, registered in russia and directed by russias foreign intelligence service. The sbr. So on the one hand, maybe we can be happy that russias Disinformation Operations that are targeting us and trying to change our policies as a country, trying to interfere in our alliances, on the one hand, we can be sort of happy that these efforts are so hamhanded and so obvious and so dumb. On the other hand, some of our elected officials are apparently not put off by any of those ci problems with it. Theyre jumping right in. Apparently, believing it all. Definitely spreading it. Even when spreading it means literally linking right to russias foreign intelligence service. Telling all your american followers, go here to check out the truth. O take it from me, your serving member of congress. After the Opposition LeaderAlexei Navalny was killed in a russian prison in february, russia tried another one of these things. They created fake Audio Recordings. They said they had intercepted fake Audio Recordings that purported to be two American Government officials, two u. S. State Department Officials talking amongst themselves about who america would pick next to be the new head of the russian opposition to putin now that navalny was dead. And again, the point of this was obvious. Theyre trying to make people think there is no real opposition to putin. Anybody saying in russia theyre opposed to putin is really just a creation of the United Stateso its all real russians love l putin. Theres really nobody who is actually opposed to him there. Its obvious why they would do w Something Like this. Its also obvious that this was another hamhanded fake. The supposed audio of these two americans hatching this plot with each other has them both ot speaking with really heavy russian accents. Theyre both americans who are native english speakers. They dont have accents when they speak english at all, but they have them speaking english like boris and natasha without the squirrel. Still, you do what you can. And every once in a while, maybe you hit the jackpot and a genius like j. D. Vance promotes what you made up on some very popular conservative podcast and then it becomes a Republican Party talking point as if its a real thing. You keep doing all this dumb incredibly trance parentally fake stuff, every once in a while, one of those guys will jump on board and help you get it done. Its all so dumb, its often funny, right . Its often hilarious except when its terrifying. A couple weeks after these Russian Disinformation websites started circulating the fake Audio Recording of u. S. Officials supposedly picking the new head of the opposition in russia, the person that was mentioned in that fake recording, the man who the american officials were supposedly picking to be the new navalny, he was physically attacked in front of his house. By a man with a hammer. This is a guy who was already exiled from russia. He is an opponent of Vladimir Putin so he cant live in russia anymore. He lives in lithuania. Still, they found him there. He was attacked outside his house. Sprayed him with tear gas, smashed him with a hammer, broke his arm, hospitalized him, nearly killed him. Again, this didnt happen in russia. Opponents of putin cant live in russia anymore. But opponents of putin get killed and attacked all over the world. Because russia does whatever it wants, and whatever country in the world, no matter what their laws are. Right . No matter even the threat of getting caught, they just act with impunity because theyre assuming if they keep doing it, theyll get away with it. In spain, they just murdered the Helicopter Pilot who defected to ukraine. In germany, they shot a guy in broad daylight in a park in berlin. Ig in the uk, they used a nerve agent to go after one guy. They used radioactive polonium e to go after another guy. An in the u. S. , they were reportedly trying to kill a guy in miami but they botched it. And the guy got arrested. 60 minutes reported Russian Military intelligence may be s behind the so called Havana Syndrome attacks on dozens of american intelligence officials and highranking u. S. Government personnel. Its not the u. S. Government saying russia is behind it, its 60 minutes reporting as of last night, but it is it is troubling what they turned up. I mean, this is a rogue state, right . This is a country that is Still Holding american Journalists Hostage right now. Evan gershkovich is locked up there for more than a year now. This is a country that is digging into deep new alliances with great neighbors like iran and north korea, including new reporting in the New York Times that russia is now helping North Korea Revivify its Nuclear Program in Exchange Fora north korea Arming Russia in its ongoing war against ukraine. Even if they hadnt just invaded a neighboring country and started the largest land war in europe since world war ii, with Everything Else they have done and are doing, with Everything Else they are up to, is this really the country you want to be backing up and helping by spreading their obviously fake propaganda about Cartier Jewelro and yachts to make us abandon our allies . Is this really the country you want to get behind and help out . Of course it is if youre in the Republican Party today. Because the other thing russia does today and that they have been doing for years now, is that they support donald trump. Right . The key witness in the botched House Republican impeachment effort against President Biden has been arrested and charged with making up his key claims against President Biden, prosecutors say he is linked to russian intelligence. In