big fish casino update

big fish casino update You knew bad news was coming when Mayor Scott Gillingham’s office issued a news release Tuesday — a full day before the 2025 preliminary operating budget was to be revealed — trumpeting the fact that Winnipeg “Leads Canada in Property Tax Affordability.” Read this article for free: Already have an account? To continue reading, please subscribe: * You knew bad news was coming when Mayor Scott Gillingham’s office issued a news release Tuesday — a full day before the 2025 preliminary operating budget was to be revealed — trumpeting the fact that Winnipeg “Leads Canada in Property Tax Affordability.” Read unlimited articles for free today: Already have an account? Opinion You knew bad news was coming when Mayor Scott Gillingham’s office issued a news release Tuesday — a full day before the 2025 preliminary operating budget was to be revealed — trumpeting the fact that Winnipeg “Leads Canada in Property Tax Affordability.” For veterans of the civic budget process, that was a pretty clear tell that the news wasn’t going to be good. And when the , there were details of a one-year 5.95-per-cent property tax increase. The budget documents make it patently clear that while this is the largest single-year increase in Winnipeg in more than quarter-century, it is still one of the smallest single-year property tax hikes in the country. And that it appears, right now, to be a one-off for 2025; in 2026 the expectation is the annual tax increase will return to 3.5 per cent. RUTH BONNEVILLE / FREE PRESS Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham and Coun. Jeff Browaty respond to questions from the media Wednesday after presenting the City of Winnipeg’s preliminary 2025 multi-year budget. And further, even after the proposed hike is applied to our tax bills, Winnipeg will, arguably, continue to pay the lowest property taxes in the nation. Those are all good points. Even so, it remains unclear whether Winnipeggers are prepared to buy what the mayor and council are going to try to sell over the next few months. It is true that the proposed tax increase will, according to city calculation, add about $120 per year to a home worth $371,000. Obviously, the impact will be greater for more valuable homes, but even then, it is not unfair to characterize this as a modest increase in the tax burden of individual homeowners. The problem is that right now, any increase in taxation or living expenses is an open declaration of war with inflation-weary Canadians. Just about everyone — even those who have been barely impacted by inflation — are obsessed with the cost of living, and their angst is scaring the crap out of governments at all levels. In response, many have undertaken “affordability rebates,” desperate and indiscriminate handouts of taxpayer money meant to soothe our inflation-raddled minds. With inflation still a concern and interest rates running high, can Gillingham sell Winnipeggers on what is likely the city’s largest proposed property tax increase this century? He and Coun. Jeff Browaty, chair of the finance committee, worked diligently Wednesday to create a favourable context for this budget. They emphasized that next year’s tax increase comes with a promise of no service cuts or facility closures. Both also stressed that there are actual enhancements in transit, police, fire and paramedic services, along with a six-year pledge of $1 billion for road renewal. These are all strong, well-presented arguments. But they do not change the fact they are trying to sell a budget that does not make life more affordable to a populace obsessed with affordability. Why would Gillingham take such a risky approach? Given all the pressures he’s facing, there really isn’t any opportunity for him to kick this can down the road. The city’s population grew by 65,000 people last year and none of the current funding formulas set by the province or federal government are tied to population growth. Provincial funding has increased modestly this year but there are very real concerns that federal funding could be greatly reduced in the very near future. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, poised to form government after next year’s general election, has signalled his intention to massively reduce transfers to municipalities for basic infrastructure and housing, arguing that local governments are bloated and wasteful. “Municipal governments, don’t ever let them bulls—t you, are bursting with cash and they’re wasting it all,” he said in a recent interview with an Ontario newspaper. There is nothing even remotely true about what Poilievre is saying. Municipalities may be somewhat wasteful — all governments are — but they are hardly swimming in cash. A more accurate statement is that municipalities are struggling under the dual burdens of increasing populations and rapidly rising costs in providing services. But in this political day and age, rational and factual are simply no match for bluster and hyperbole. Along with girding the city treasury for a cutback in federal funding, Gillingham might also be trying to piggyback this tax hike on an even larger property tax hike that the provincial government has planned for Manitobans next year. Winnipeg Jets Game Days On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop. The former Progressive Conservative government launched an aggressive, multi-year effort to remove the education portion of property taxes. In its first two years, homeowners received enormous rebate cheques that profoundly lowered the total property tax bill. The NDP government kept the rebate program intact after winning the 2023 general election, although it capped payments at $1,500. Now homes valued at $285,000 or less will effectively pay no education property tax, but those whose homes are worth more will see significant increases in total property taxes. Gillingham and council could be wagering that they can slide a one-year 5.95-per-cent hike past homeowners who may have lost track of how much they are paying in property tax. Put it all together, and this budget is very risky business. Exactly how risky won’t be known until the next municipal election. dan.lett@winnipegfreepress.com Dan Lett is a columnist for the , providing opinion and commentary on politics in Winnipeg and beyond. Born and raised in Toronto, Dan joined the in 1986. . Dan’s columns are built on facts and reactions, but offer his personal views through arguments and analysis. The ’ editing team reviews Dan’s columns before they are posted online or published in print — part of the our tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about , and . Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider . Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support. Dan Lett is a columnist for the , providing opinion and commentary on politics in Winnipeg and beyond. Born and raised in Toronto, Dan joined the in 1986. . Dan’s columns are built on facts and reactions, but offer his personal views through arguments and analysis. The ’ editing team reviews Dan’s columns before they are posted online or published in print — part of the our tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about , and . Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider . Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support. Advertisement AdvertisementBy MIKE FITZPATRICK AP Sports Writer NEW YORK — Same iconic statue, very different race. With two-way star Travis Hunter of Colorado and Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty leading the field, these certainly aren’t your typical Heisman Trophy contenders. Sure, veteran quarterbacks Dillon Gabriel from top-ranked Oregon and Cam Ward of No. 15 Miami are finalists for college football’s most prestigious award as well, but the 90th annual ceremony coming up Saturday night at Lincoln Center in New York City (5 p.m. PT, ESPN) offers a fresh flavor this year. To start with, none of the four are from the powerhouse Southeastern Conference, which has produced four of the past five Heisman winners – two each from Alabama and LSU. Jeanty, who played his home games for a Group of Five team on that peculiar blue turf in Idaho more than 2,100 miles from Manhattan, is the first running back even invited to the Heisman party since 2017. After leading the country with 2,497 yards rushing and 29 touchdowns, he joined quarterback Kellen Moore (2010) as the only Boise State players to be named a finalist. “The running back position has been overlooked for a while now,” said Jeanty, who plans to enter the 2025 NFL Draft. “There’s been a lot of great running backs before me that should have been here in New York, so to kind of carry on the legacy of the running back position I think is great. ... I feel as if I’m representing the whole position.” With the votes already in, all four finalists spent Friday conducting interviews and sightseeing in the Big Apple. They were given custom, commemorative watches to mark their achievement. “I’m not a watch guy, but I like it,” said Hunter, flashing a smile. The players also took photos beneath the massive billboards in Times Square and later posed with the famous Heisman Trophy, handed out since 1935 to the nation’s most outstanding performer. Hunter, the heavy favorite, made sure not to touch it yet. A dominant player on both offense and defense who rarely comes off the field, the wide receiver/cornerback is a throwback to generations gone by and the first full-time, true two-way star in decades. On offense, he had 92 catches for 1,152 yards and 14 touchdowns this season to help the 20th-ranked Buffaloes (9-3) earn their first bowl bid in four years. On defense, he made four interceptions, broke up 11 passes and forced a critical fumble that secured an overtime victory against Baylor. Hunter played 688 defensive snaps and 672 more on offense – the only Power Four conference player with 30-plus snaps on both sides of the ball, according to Colorado research. Call him college football’s answer to baseball unicorn Shohei Ohtani. “I think I laid the ground for more people to come in and go two ways,” Hunter said. “It starts with your mindset. If you believe you can do it, then you’ll be able to do it. And also, I do a lot of treatment. I keep up with my body. I get a lot of recovery.” Hunter is Colorado’s first Heisman finalist in 30 years. The junior from Suwanee, Georgia, followed Coach Deion Sanders from Jackson State, an HBCU that plays in the lower level FCS, to the Rocky Mountains and has already racked up a staggering combination of accolades this week, including The Associated Press Player of the Year. Hunter also won the Walter Camp Award as national player of the year, along with the Chuck Bednarik Award as the top defensive player and the Biletnikoff Award for best wide receiver. “It just goes to show that I did what I had to do,” Hunter said. Next, he’d like to polish off his impressive hardware collection by becoming the second Heisman Trophy recipient in Buffaloes history, after late running back Rashaan Salaam in 1994. “I worked so hard for this moment, so securing the Heisman definitely would set my legacy in college football,” Hunter said. “Being here now is like a dream come true.” Jeanty carried No. 8 Boise State (12-1) to a Mountain West Conference championship that landed the Broncos the third seed in this year’s College Football Playoff. They have a first-round bye before facing the SMU-Penn State winner in the Fiesta Bowl quarterfinal on New Year’s Eve. The 5-foot-9, 215-pound junior from Jacksonville, Florida, won the Maxwell Award as college football’s top player and the Doak Walker Award for best running back. Jeanty has five touchdown runs of at least 70 yards and has rushed for the fourth-most yards in a season in FBS history – topping the total of 115 teams this year. He needs 132 yards to break the FBS record set by Heisman Trophy winner Barry Sanders at Oklahoma State in 1988. In a pass-happy era, however, Jeanty is trying to become the first running back to win the Heisman Trophy since Derrick Henry for Alabama nine years ago. In fact, quarterbacks have snagged the prize all but four times this century. Gabriel, an Oklahoma transfer, led Oregon (13-0) to a Big Ten title in its first season in the league and the No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff. The steady senior from Hawaii passed for 3,558 yards and 28 touchdowns with six interceptions. His 73.2% completion rate ranks second in the nation, and he’s attempting to join quarterback Marcus Mariota (2014) as Ducks players to win the Heisman Trophy. “I think all the memories start to roll back in your mind,” Gabriel said. Ward threw for 4,123 yards and led the nation with a school-record 36 touchdown passes for the high-scoring Hurricanes (10-2) after transferring from Washington State. The senior from West Columbia, Texas, won the Davey O’Brien National Quarterback of the Year award and is looking to join QBs Vinny Testaverde (1986) and Gino Torretta (1992) as Miami players to go home with the Heisman. “I just think there’s a recklessness that you have to play with at the quarterback position,” Ward said. Finalists: QB Dillon Gabriel, Oregon; WR/CB Travis Hunter, Colorado; RB Ashton Jeanty, Boise State; QB Cam Ward, Miami When: Saturday, 5 p.m. PT Where: Lincoln Center, New York City TV: ESPN

NPFL: Abdullahi happy with positive spirit in Akwa United’s camp ahead Remo Stars clash

Elon Musk Peddles Political Influence Abroad, Endorsing Germany's Far-Right Party

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump appears to be siding with Elon Musk and his other backers in the tech industry Trump, on Saturday, praised the use of visas to bring skilled foreign workers to the U.S. The topic has become a flashpoint within his conservative base. “I’ve always liked the visas, I have always been in favor of the visas. That’s why we have them," Trump said. In fact, Trump has in the past criticized the H-1B visas, calling them “very bad” and “unfair” for U.S. workers. During his first term as president, he unveiled a “Hire American” policy that directed changes to the program to try to ensure the visas were awarded to the highest-paid or most-skilled applicants. Despite his criticism of them and attempts to curb their use, he has also used the visas at his businesses in the past, something he acknowledged in his interview Saturday. “I have many H-1B visas on my properties. I’ve been a believer in H-1B. I have used it many times. It’s a great program," Trump told the newspaper. He did not appear to address questions about whether he would pursue any changes to the number or use of the visas once he takes office Jan. 20. Trump's hardline immigration policies, focused mostly on immigrants who are in the country illegally, were a cornerstone of his presidential campaign and a priority issue for his supporters. But in recent days, his coalition has split in a public debate largely taking place online about the tech industry's hiring of foreign workers. Hard-right members of Trump's movement have accused Musk and others in Trump's new flank of tech-world supporters of pushing policies at odds with Trump's “America First" vision. Software engineers and others in the tech industry have used H-1B visas for skilled foreign workers and say they are a critical tool for hard-to-fill positions. But critics have said they undercut U.S. citizens who could take those jobs. Some on the right have called for the program to be eliminated.

A former nursing home employee has been convicted of sexual exploitation of a minor. In March 2023, while working at Friendship Home in Audubon, workers there reported the man sent cell-phone photos of himself masturbating and was taking videos of his co-workers. (Photo illustration by Iowa Capital Dispatch, with Friendship Home photo via Google Earth. Text-message photo is deliberately blurred.) A state-certified caregiver has been convicted of sexually exploiting a minor while employed by an Iowa nursing home. The defendant in the case, Martell Guider, is a 37-year-old male certified nursing assistant who has been accused of sexual impropriety at three Iowa nursing homes located in Audubon, Correctionville and Kalona. The most recent case, and the only one in which criminal charges were filed, involves Guider’s employment at the Pleasantview Home in Kalona. According to police and prosecutors, officials at Pleasantview confronted Guider sometime in January 2024 after multiple employees raised concerns that he was being inappropriate with a 17-year-old minor who was present at the home but not a resident. Police allege that after his supervisors talked to him about the complaints, Guider shared an explicit photo of the minor with his employer. According to the police, Guider had threatened the minor to induce her to send him the photos via the social-messaging platform Snapchat. Police allege that when asked about the photos, Guider acknowledged he had saved them for his sexual gratification, saying, “I screenshot it because, it’s like, OK, yeah, it’s a woman, she sent you a naked picture, wanna look at it maybe later when we have time.” According to the police reports, Guider’s colleagues at Pleasantview also complained that he had been making unwanted advances toward female coworkers in the nursing home. He was then barred from the care facility, according to police. Guider was charged with sexual exploitation of a minor by causing the minor to engage in a sex act, sexual exploitation through the use of photographs, possession of material depicting a minor engaged in sex, and first-degree harassment. In October, a jury convicted Guider of sexual exploitation by causing the minor to engage in a sex act. He was acquitted of the remaining charges, and was sentenced to five years of probation. A 25-year prison sentence was suspended by the court. District Court Judge Michael Carpenter recently denied Guider’s motion for a new trial, stating, “A sexual photograph of a minor shared by text message or social media can find its way to the internet and live forever. A defendant who solicits a minor to create a pornographic image of herself is victimizing a vulnerable victim in a way that causes a special sort of harm.” Guider has since appealed his conviction to the Iowa Supreme Court. Prior to his arrest in the Pleasantview case, Guider was fired from two other Iowa nursing homes amid allegations of sexual impropriety. The first of those cases dates back to April 2023, when a female caregiver at Audubon’s Friendship Home filed a complaint with the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing about Guider’s behavior. The woman – who filed similar complaints with management at the home and with city police – alleged Guider had been making suggestive remarks to female coworkers, had sent them photos of himself masturbating, had recorded video of one worker as she provided care for a resident, and had invited some of his female colleagues out to his car where he kept a bottle of Seagram’s Crown Royal. Audubon police have acknowledged they fielded at least two complaints about Guider’s conduct at Friendship Home but didn’t pursue the matter. Audubon Police Chief Coby Gust said the complainants provided text messages and photos and expressed concern that the man’s behavior could spill over into his interactions with vulnerable residents. “It kind of just fell off the radar as far as anything being pursued,” Gust told the Iowa Capital Dispatch. According to the complainant in the Friendship Home case, officials at the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing rejected her complaint about Guider in April 2023, allegedly telling her the issues she raised were best addressed by management at the home since they involved worker-to-worker conduct that had no actual or potential impact on residents. The complainant provided the Iowa Capital Dispatch with screenshots of Guider’s alleged text messages, which include two photos of a man’s genitals and two photos of a man holding a bottle of Crown Royal inside a vehicle. Six months after the incident in Audubon, Guider was working at Correctionville Specialty Care when he was the target of a complaint that he had raped a resident of the home. State records show the alleged victim in that case told management an employee took her to his car in the facility’s parking lot, told her he was a musician, played some of his music to her, offered her a drink of Seagram’s Crown Royal from a bottle he kept in his car, and then forced her to have oral sex with him. According to state inspectors, the alleged rape victim, who is not cognitively impaired, also alleged the worker sent her a video of himself masturbating and provided a copy of the video. After the woman reported the alleged rape, officials at Correctionville Specialty Care evicted the woman from the facility and dropped her off at a homeless shelter, according to state inspectors. Guider was terminated from employment at the Correctionville home, but state inspectors say the facility’s parent company, Care Initiatives of West Des Moines, continued to provide work for him in other Iowa nursing homes that it operates. Court records show the alleged victim in the Correctionville case reported the alleged rape to Woodbury County deputies in November 2023 and provided them with a copy of the video Guider had allegedly sent her. The records show a search warrant for the contents of Guider’s phone wasn’t sought by deputies until June 2024 – seven months after the woman reported the alleged rape. The warrant application suggests Woodbury County deputies didn’t know where to locate Guider – although, in March 2024, he had been arrested and jailed in Washington and Poweshiek counties in the sexual exploitation case. It’s not known what information Woodbury County authorities were able to extract from Guider’s phone once they obtained it. No charges have been filed in either the Correctionville case or the Audubon case. State records show Guider was working for Pete Howe Sanitation in 2017, when he was fired for keeping a bottle of Crown Royal in his work vehicle. Several months later, in May 2018, he was certified as a nursing assistant and was cleared by the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services to work in Iowa nursing homes.

mikkelwilliam/E+ via Getty Images Co-authored by Treading Softly When you expose your opinions to the public, you doubtlessly attract detractors. I have plenty of naysayers and detractors who diligently read my articles as closely and frequently as my supporters do. High Dividend Opportunities, #1 On Seeking Alpha HDO is the largest and most exciting community of income investors and retirees with over +8000 members. We are looking for more members to join our lively group! Our Income Method generates strong returns, regardless of market volatility, making retirement investing less stressful, simple and straightforward . Invest with the Best! Join us to get access to our Model Portfolio targeting 9-10% yield . Don't miss out on the Power of Dividends ! We're offering a limited-time 17% discount on our annual price of $599.99 via this link only: Sign Me Up!! Rida Morwa is a former investment and commercial Banker, with over 35 years of experience. He has been advising individual and institutional clients on high-yield investment strategies since 1991. Rida Morwa leads the Investing Group High Dividend Opportunities where he teams up with some of Seeking Alpha's top income investing analysts. The service focuses on sustainable income through a variety of high yield investments with a targeted safe +9% yield. Features include: model portfolio with buy/sell alerts, preferred and baby bond portfolios for more conservative investors, vibrant and active chat with access to the service’s leaders, dividend and portfolio trackers, and regular market updates. The service philosophy focuses on community, education, and the belief that nobody should invest alone. Learn More. Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have a beneficial long position in the shares of BRSP either through stock ownership, options, or other derivatives. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article. Treading Softly, Beyond Saving, Philip Mause, and Hidden Opportunities, all are supporting contributors for High Dividend Opportunities. Any recommendation posted in this article is not indefinite. We closely monitor all of our positions. We issue Buy and Sell alerts on our recommendations, which are exclusive to our members. Seeking Alpha's Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Erik Reynolds II's 22 points helped Saint Joseph's defeat Delaware State 76-58 on Saturday. Reynolds shot 6 of 16 from the field, including 4 for 13 from 3-point range, and went 6 for 6 from the line for the Hawks (9-4). Rasheer Fleming scored 13 points and added 14 rebounds, five assists, and three steals. Dasear Haskins had 12 points and shot 6 for 12, including 0 for 5 from beyond the arc. Kaseem Watson finished with 23 points and three steals for the Hornets (7-7). Martez Robinson added 13 points, seven rebounds and two steals for Delaware State. Muneer Newton also had 10 points and six rebounds. Saint Joseph's took the lead with 15:43 remaining in the first half and never looked back. The score was 33-20 at halftime, with Reynolds racking up eight points. Saint Joseph's outscored Delaware State by five points over the final half, while Reynolds led the way with a team-high 14 second-half points. The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .

By MICHAEL R. SISAK and JENNIFER PELTZ NEW YORK (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump’s lawyers urged a judge again Friday to throw out his hush money conviction, balking at the prosecution’s suggestion of preserving the verdict by treating the case the way some courts do when a defendant dies. They called the idea “absurd.” Related Articles National Politics | Trump wants to turn the clock on daylight saving time National Politics | Ruling by a conservative Supreme Court could help blue states resist Trump policies National Politics | A nonprofit leader, a social worker: Here are the stories of the people on Biden’s clemency list National Politics | Nancy Pelosi hospitalized after she ‘sustained an injury’ on official trip to Luxembourg National Politics | Veteran Daniel Penny, acquitted in NYC subway chokehold, will join Trump’s suite at football game The Manhattan district attorney’s office is asking Judge Juan M. Merchan to “pretend as if one of the assassination attempts against President Trump had been successful,” Trump’s lawyers wrote in a blistering 23-page response. In court papers made public Tuesday, District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office proposed an array of options for keeping the historic conviction on the books after Trump’s lawyers filed paperwork earlier this month asking for the case to be dismissed. They include freezing the case until Trump leaves office in 2029, agreeing that any future sentence won’t include jail time, or closing the case by noting he was convicted but that he wasn’t sentenced and his appeal wasn’t resolved because of presidential immunity. Trump lawyers Todd Blanche and Emil Bove reiterated Friday their position that the only acceptable option is overturning his conviction and dismissing his indictment, writing that anything less will interfere with the transition process and his ability to lead the country. The Manhattan district attorney’s office declined comment. It’s unclear how soon Merchan will decide. He could grant Trump’s request for dismissal, go with one of the prosecution’s suggestions, wait until a federal appeals court rules on Trump’s parallel effort to get the case moved out of state court, or choose some other option. In their response Friday, Blanche and Bove ripped each of the prosecution’s suggestions. Halting the case until Trump leaves office would force the incoming president to govern while facing the “ongoing threat” that he’ll be sentenced to imprisonment, fines or other punishment as soon as his term ends, Blanche and Bove wrote. Trump, a Republican, takes office Jan. 20. “To be clear, President Trump will never deviate from the public interest in response to these thuggish tactics,” the defense lawyers wrote. “However, the threat itself is unconstitutional.” The prosecution’s suggestion that Merchan could mitigate those concerns by promising not to sentence Trump to jail time on presidential immunity grounds is also a non-starter, Blanche and Bove wrote. The immunity statute requires dropping the case, not merely limiting sentencing options, they argued. Blanche and Bove, both of whom Trump has tabbed for high-ranking Justice Department positions, expressed outrage at the prosecution’s novel suggestion that Merchan borrow from Alabama and other states and treat the case as if Trump had died. Blanche and Bove accused prosecutors of ignoring New York precedent and attempting to “fabricate” a solution “based on an extremely troubling and irresponsible analogy between President Trump” who survived assassination attempts in Pennsylvania in July and Florida in September “and a hypothetical dead defendant.” Such an option normally comes into play when a defendant dies after being convicted but before appeals are exhausted. It is unclear whether it is viable under New York law, but prosecutors suggested that Merchan could innovate in what’s already a unique case. “This remedy would prevent defendant from being burdened during his presidency by an ongoing criminal proceeding,” prosecutors wrote in their filing this week. But at the same time, it wouldn’t “precipitously discard” the “meaningful fact that defendant was indicted and found guilty by a jury of his peers.” Prosecutors acknowledged that “presidential immunity requires accommodation” during Trump’s impending return to the White House but argued that his election to a second term should not upend the jury’s verdict, which came when he was out of office. Longstanding Justice Department policy says sitting presidents cannot face criminal prosecution . Other world leaders don’t enjoy the same protection. For example, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is on trial on corruption charges even as he leads that nation’s wars in Lebanon and Gaza . Trump has been fighting for months to reverse his May 30 conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records . Prosecutors said he fudged the documents to conceal a $130,000 payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels to suppress her claim that they had sex a decade earlier, which Trump denies. In their filing Friday, Trump’s lawyers citing a social media post in which Sen. John Fetterman used profane language to criticize Trump’s hush money prosecution. The Pennsylvania Democrat suggested that Trump deserved a pardon, comparing his case to that of President Joe Biden’s pardoned son Hunter Biden, who had been convicted of tax and gun charges . “Weaponizing the judiciary for blatant, partisan gain diminishes the collective faith in our institutions and sows further division,” Fetterman wrote Wednesday on Truth Social. Trump’s hush money conviction was in state court, meaning a presidential pardon — issued by Biden or himself when he takes office — would not apply to the case. Presidential pardons only apply to federal crimes. Since the election, special counsel Jack Smith has ended his two federal cases , which pertained to Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss and allegations that he hoarded classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate. A separate state election interference case in Fulton County, Georgia, is largely on hold. Trump denies wrongdoing in all. Trump had been scheduled for sentencing in the hush money case in late November. But following Trump’s Nov. 5 election victory, Merchan halted proceedings and indefinitely postponed the former and future president’s sentencing so the defense and prosecution could weigh in on the future of the case. Merchan also delayed a decision on Trump’s prior bid to dismiss the case on immunity grounds. A dismissal would erase Trump’s conviction, sparing him the cloud of a criminal record and possible prison sentence. Trump is the first former president to be convicted of a crime and the first convicted criminal to be elected to the office.‘Always really wary’: Socceroos star’s ‘frustrating’ injury blow in striker’s nervous wait