NEW: Pro-Trump Hackers Threaten To Reveal Docs From Fulton County Case

A collective of computer hackers has set a Saturday deadline for authorities to comply with various demands or face the release of confidential documents from President Donald Trump’s ongoing case in Fulton County, Georgia.

The group, which previously took the website for District Attorney Fani Wills offline for several hours, is threatening to release documents obtained from within the state’s court system unless it is paid a ransom, according to Business Insider.

In a message posted online Saturday, in both English and Russian, the hacking group called LockBit said the stolen documents “contain a lot of interesting things and Donald Trump’s court cases that could affect the upcoming US election.”

Initially, LockBit set a Saturday, March 2, deadline for the payment, according to the cybersecurity reporter Brian Krebs.

It has since moved up that deadline to 8:49 a.m. ET on Thursday, February 29, LockBit’s restored website shows.

The collective, run by a hacker using the pseudonym LockBitSupp, has previously been targeted and marginally disrupted by the FBI before reconvening after a February 20th online raid by law enforcement.
In an online statement teasing the release of documents, LockBitSupp warned that the FBI acted so quickly to disrupt his organization because of the sensitive nature of Willis’ criminal case against Trump. The hacker teased the FBI for failing to stop him the first time and said he is a fan of the former president.

Judge in hush money case rejects most of Trump’s defense arguments

New York state Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan elaborated on his decision to deny Donald Trump’s pretrial motion to dismiss the Manhattan District Attorney’s hush money case — first announced at the Thursday hearing — in a lengthy order dense with legal citations and little color — a stark contrast to state civil Judge Arthur Engoron’s style of railing against Trump in colorful language throughout his civil fraud trial. 

 — first announced at the Thursday hearing — in a lengthy order dense with legal citations and little color — a stark contrast to state civil Judge Arthur Engoron’s style of railing against Trump in colorful language throughout his civil fraud trial. 

In addition to denying the motion to dismiss, Merchan also denied Trump’s request to hold a hearing to investigate the former president’s claims that he’s being selectively prosecuted by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and about media leaks during the grand jury proceedings ahead of the 34-count indictment.

“Defendant merely advances an uncorroborated claim that his political aspirations have been prejudiced — but he does not explain how or why. In fact, this claim runs contrary to defendant’s repeated assertions that his political campaign for President of the United States has actually been bolstered by the criminal charges,” Merchan wrote.

The judge knocked Trump’s claims that the Manhattan district attorney targeted him but ignored Hillary Clinton’s allegedly improper recording of campaign expenses as legal payments to hire a research firm to the prepare the “Steele Dossier.”

Merchan also declined to winnow down the charges against Trump to reflect only one count for each of the 11 Michael Cohen reimbursement invoices. 

Russia used an advanced hypersonic missile for the first time in recent strike, Ukraine claims

Ukraine claims it has evidence Russia fired an advanced hypersonic missile – one that experts say is almost impossible to shoot down – for the first time in the almost 2-year-old war.

The government-run Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise said in a Telegram post that debris recovered after a February 7 attack on the Ukrainian capital pointed to the use of a Zircon hypersonic cruise missile by the Russian military.

“Markings on the parts and fragments, the identification of components and parts, and the features of the relevant type of weapon” point to the first-ever use of the Zircon in combat, said the institute, which is part of Ukraine’s Justice Ministry.

The Telegram post was accompanied by a video showing dozens of pieces of debris believed to be from the new missile.

Ukrainian authorities reported four people were killed and 38 others injured in Kyiv during the February 7 attacks, but no casualties have been directly attributed to the alleged Zircon missile.

There was also no mention of the launch platform for the missile, though previous reports in Russian state media say it has been deployed on a warship.

Experts say the Zircon, if it lives up to what the Russian government says about it, is a formidable weapon.

Its hypersonic speed makes it invulnerable to even the best Western missile defenses, like the Patriot, according to the United States-based Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance (MDAA).

The alliance says its speed has been put at Mach 8, or almost 9,900 kilometers per hour (6,138 mph). Hypersonic is defined as any speed above Mach 5 (3,836 mph).

“If that information is accurate, the Zircon missile would be the fastest in the world, making it nearly impossible to defend against due to its speed alone,” the alliance says on its website.

Trump says he would encourage Russia to ‘do whatever the hell they want’ to any NATO country that doesn’t pay enough

Former President Donald Trump on Saturday said he would encourage Russia to do “whatever the hell they want” to any NATO member country that doesn’t meet spending guidelines on defense in a stunning admission he would not abide by the collective-defense clause at the heart of the alliance if reelected.

“NATO was busted until I came along,” Trump said at a rally in Conway, South Carolina. “I said, ‘Everybody’s gonna pay.’ They said, ‘Well, if we don’t pay, are you still going to protect us?’ I said, ‘Absolutely not.’ They couldn’t believe the answer.”

Trump said “one of the presidents of a big country” at one point asked him whether the US would still defend the country if they were invaded by Russia even if they “don’t pay.”

“No, I would not protect you,” Trump recalled telling that president. “In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want. You got to pay. You got to pay your bills.”

President Joe Biden said Sunday that Trump “is making it clear that he will abandon our NATO allies” and outlined the potential consequences of Trump’s comments.

“Trump’s admission that he intends to give Putin a greenlight for more war and violence, to continue his brutal assault against a free Ukraine, and to expand his aggression to the people of Poland and the Baltic States are appalling and dangerous,” Biden said in a statement via his campaign.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, meanwhile, said Sunday that Trump’s comments about the alliance put European and American soldiers at risk.

“Any attack on NATO will be met with a united and forceful response,” Stoltenberg said in a statement. “Any suggestion that allies will not defend each other undermines all of our security, including that of the US, and puts American and European soldiers at increased risk.”

European Council President Charles Michel on Sunday described comments from Trump on NATO “reckless,” adding they “serve only Putin’s interest.”

Biden accuses Trump of bowing to Putin by encouraging Russia to invade NATO

President Joe Biden on Tuesday slammed Donald Trump after the former president said he would encourage Russia to invade countries that don’t meet their NATO obligations, saying such comments amount to bowing down to Vladimir Putin.

The remarks – Biden’s latest criticism of Trump from the White House – are some of his harshest criticism of his likely rival on foreign policy to date.

Speaking Saturday at a rally in South Carolina, Trump said he would encourage Russia to do “whatever the hell they want” to any NATO member country that doesn’t meet spending guidelines on defense. Biden said those comments sent a “dangerous and shocking” signal.

“Can you imagine a former president of the United States saying that?” Biden asked incredulously from the State Dining Room. “The whole world heard it. The worst thing is he means it.”

Biden began his speech by encouraging the House of Representatives to “immediately” hold a vote on the Senate-passed, $95 billion supplemental aid package that would provide assistance to Ukraine, Israel and US partners in the Indo-Pacific region, as well as humanitarian assistance to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

More than $60 billion from the Senate package would have been allocated to Ukraine, as the country prepares to mark the second anniversary of its full-scale invasion by Russia. Previous attempts to pass an aid package – combined with a border security bill – were scuttled after Trump came out in opposition.

Trump’s comment drew immediate consternation, not only from the American foreign policy establishment but from NATO allies, who have watched warily as Russia proceeds with its invasion of Ukraine.

For Biden, who has spent much of his career working on issues related to transatlantic security, the remark was particularly galling. When he heard about the remarks afterward, the president was aghast, according to a person familiar with the matter. He later issued a statement through his campaign decrying the sentiment.

The White House criticized Trump’s comments shortly after they were made.

“Encouraging invasions of our closest allies by murderous regimes is appalling and unhinged – and it endangers American national security, global stability, and our economy at home,” White House spokesperson Andrew Bates said in a statement on Saturday.