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Houston is the desired destination of all 68 teams selected in this year’s men’s NCAA basketball tournament. But before reaching the Final Four and having an opportunity to win a national title, teams must first navigate their regional schedules set up by the selection committee.

It won’t be an easy path for any of the teams as March Madness brings the potential for upsets along the way. Brackets surely will get busted by those unanticipated surprises and some teams will become Cinderella stories.

A look at the complete tournament schedule from the First Four to the final game so you can follow along the journey.

All Times EDT.

Final Four

At NRG Stadium, Houston

Follow the madness: Latest Men’s NCAA Tournament College Basketball Scores and Schedules

National semifinals

Saturday, April 1

San Diego State 72, Florida Atlantic 71

Connecticut 72, San Diego State 59

National championship

Monday, April 3

San Diego State (31-6) vs. Connecticut (30-8), 9 p.m.

East Region

First round

Thursday, March 16

At Amway Center, Orlando, Fla.

Duke 74, Oral Roberts 51

Tennessee 58, Louisiana-Lafayette 55

Friday, March 17

At Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio

Michigan State 72, Southern California 62  

Marquette 78, Vermont 61

Fairleigh Dickinson 63, Purdue 58

Florida Atlantic 66, Memphis 65 

At Greensboro, Coliseum, Greensboro, N.C.

Kentucky 61, Providence 53

Kansas State 77, Montana State 65

Second round

Saturday, March 18

At Amway Center, Orlando, Fla.

Tennessee 65, Duke 52

Sunday, March 19

At Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio

Michigan State 69, Marquette 60

Florida Atlantic 78, Fairleigh Dickinson 70

At Greensboro, Coliseum, Greensboro, N.C.

Kansas State 75, Kentucky 69

Regional semifinals 

Thursday, March 23

At Madison Square Garden, New York

Kansas State 98, Michigan State 93 (OT)

Florida Atlantic 62, Tennessee 55

Regional final 

Saturday, March 25

At Madison Square Garden, New York

Florida Atlantic 79, Kansas State 76 

South Region

First round

Thursday, March 16

At Legacy Arena at BJCC, Birmingham, Ala.

Maryland 67, West Virginia 65

Alabama 96, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 75

At Amway Center, Orlando, Fla.

Furman 68, Virginia 67

San Diego State 63, College of Charleston 57

At Golden 1 Center Sacramento, Calif.

Missouri 76, Utah State 65

Princeton 59, Arizona 55

Friday, March 17

At Ball Arena, Denver

Baylor 74, UC Santa Barbara 56

Creighton 72, North Carolina State 63

Saturday, March 18

At Legacy Arena at BJCC, Birmingham, Ala.

Alabama 73, Maryland 51

At Amway Center, Orlando, Fla.

San Diego State 75, Furman 62

At Golden 1 Center Sacramento, Calif.

Princeton 78, Missouri 63

Sunday, March 19

At Ball Arena, Denver

Creighton 85, Baylor 76

Regional semifinals

At KFC Yum! Center, Louisville, Ky.

Friday, March 24

San Diego State 71, Alabama 64

Creighton 86, Princeton 75

Regional final

At KFC Yum! Center, Louisville, Ky.

Sunday, March 26

San Diego State 57, Creighton 56

Midwest Region

First round

Thursday, March 16

At Legacy Arena at BJCC, Birmingham, Ala.

Auburn 83, Iowa 75

Houston 63, Northern Kentucky 52

At Wels Fargo Arena, Des Moines, Iowa

Texas 81, Colgate 61

Penn State 76, Texas A&M 59

Friday, March 17

At Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, N.C.

Xavier 72, Kennesaw State 67

Pittsburgh 59, Iowa State 41

At MVP Arena Albany, N.Y.

Miami (Fla.) 63, Drake 56

Indiana 71, Kent State 60

Second round

Saturday, March 18

At Legacy Arena at BJCC, Birmingham, Ala.

Houston 81, Auburn 64

At Wells Fargo Arena, Des Moines, Iowa

Texas 72, Penn State 67

Sunday, March 19

At Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, N.C.

Xavier 84, Pittsburgh 69 

At MVP Arena Albany, N.Y.

Miami (Fla.) 85, Indiana 69

Regional semifinals

At T-Mobile Center, Kansas City, Mo. 

Friday, March 24

Miami (Fla.) 89, Houston 75

Texas 83, Xavier 71

Regional final

At T-Mobile Center, Kansas City, Mo.

Sunday, March 26

Miami (Fla.) 88, Texas 81

West Region

First round

Thursday, March 16

At Wells Fargo Arena, Des Moines, Iowa

Kansas 96, Howard 68 

Arkansas 73, Illinois 63

At Golden 1 Center Sacramento, Calif.

Northwestern 75, Boise State 67

UCLA 86, UNC-Asheville 53

Friday, March 17

At Ball Arena, Denver

Gonzaga 82, Grand Canyon 70

TCU 72, Arizona State 70

At MVP Arena Albany, N.Y.

Saint Mary’s 63, Virginia Commonwealth 51

Connecticut 87, Iona 63 

Second round

Saturday, March 18

At Wells Fargo Arena, Des Moines, Iowa

Arkansas 72, Kansas 71

At Golden 1 Center Sacramento, Calif.

UCLA 68, Northwestern 63

Sunday, March 19

At Ball Arena, Denver

Gonzaga 84, TCU 81

At MVP Arena Albany, N.Y.

Connecticut 70, Saint Mary’s 55

Regional semifinals

At T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas

Thursday, March 23

Connecticut 88, Arkansas 65

Gonzaga 79, UCLA 76

Regional final

At T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas

Saturday, March 25

Connecticut 82, Gonzaga 54

First Four

At UD Arena, Dayton, Ohio

Tuesday, March 14

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 75, Southeast Missouri State 71

Pittsburgh 60, Mississippi State 59

Wednesday, March 15

Fairleigh Dickinson 84, Texas Southern 61

Arizona State 98, Nevada 73

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HOUSTON — The World Series championship trophy and ring ceremonies are over in Houston. 

The pageantry, parades and sellout crowds in downtown Cincinnati have been replaced by the gloomy forecast of a 100-loss season. 

The Budweiser Clydesdales have gone back to their stables in St. Louis with hopes of prancing back onto the field at Busch Stadium in October. 

The glorious season-openers  have come to an end, leaving New York Mets fans to anxiously worry about Cy Young winner Justin Verlander’s health, Texas Rangers fans to hope that Jacob deGrom’s opening-day dud isn’t a sign of things to come and San Diego Padres fans to pray they aren’t a reincarnation of the Worst Team Money Can Buy after an 0-2 start.

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As LSU cruised to a 102-85 win over Iowa in the women’s NCAA Tournament championship game on Sunday, the Tigers’ Angel Reese mocked March Madness sensation Caitlin Clark.

Reese hit Clark with the ‘you can’t see me’ taunt made famous by John Cena, and then pointed to her ring finger.

It was Clark who busted out the ‘you can’t see me’ taunt during Iowa’s win over Louisville in the Elite Eight last week, which drew the praise of the pro wrestler-turned-actor Cena. Clark waved her hand in front of her face as she had a historic 40-point triple-double.

Clark certainly did her part to help the Hawkeyes on Sunday, scoring a game-high 30 points. Reese, meanwhile, had 15 points plus 10 rebounds for LSU, but earned another honor over Clark when she was named the most outstanding player of the women’s NCAA Tournament. 

‘I don’t care about anybody else and what they have to say about me,’ Reese said. ‘That’s the difference between me and a lot of people. I don’t. The biggest goal for me is the national championship. I don’t care to be All-American. I don’t care to be defensive player of the year, player of the year. The biggest goal is to be a national champion, and that’s what I did.’

Follow the madness: Latest Women’s NCAA Tournament College Basketball Scores and Schedules

Afterward, Clark said that she ‘honestly no idea what happened,’ when asked about Reese’s taunt. 

Clark’s coach, Lisa Bluder, also commented on the moment.

‘I’m sure she was really proud of her accomplishment, and I would be really proud of my accomplishment if I won the national championship,’ Bluder said. ‘We are all different people, with different ways to show emotions. I’ve got to focus on what I can control.’

Clark, the consensus national player of the year, might have invited some payback Sunday. She followed up her ‘you can’t see me’ taunt in the Elite Eight with a savage wave-off of South Carolina freshman guard Raven Johnson during the Final Four showdown on Friday night.

Reese called Clark a ‘hell of a player’ but said she was just waiting for the moment to call out the ‘you can’t see me’ taunt.

‘I don’t take disrespect lightly,’ Reese said during ESPN’s postgame interview.

“They’re still my SEC girls,’ Reese said.

While basking in the glory of LSU’s first national championship in program history, Reese was unapologetic about her gestures toward Clark.

‘All year I was critiqued about who I was,’ Reese said. ‘I don’t fit the narrative. I don’t fit in a box that y’all want me to be in. I’m too hood. I’m too ghetto. Y’all told me that all year. But when other people do it, y’all say nothing. So this was for the girls that look like me, that’s going to speak up on what they believe in.’

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If the playing of the 87th Masters Tournament is half as interesting as all the lead-in conjecture this week, it will be one that will be remembered for years to come.

As official practice rounds begin Monday morning, storylines are coming from all directions, starting with what could be a contentious Champions Dinner on Tuesday night as six former champions are now part of the controversial LIV Golf tour and expected to be in attendance.

As for the course itself, for the second year in a row, one of the second nine par 5s has been lengthened. This time, it’s the iconic 13th. It’s a move that has been talked about since Augusta National Golf Club bought land from neighboring Augusta County Club in 2017. This year, it’s a reality.

On the course, it’s one of those years that the top players in the world are peaking at just the right time for the Masters. They are the new Big Three; Defending champion Scott Scheffler, Jon Rahm and Rory McIlroy. This is McIlroy’s ninth try to complete the career Grand Slam. He’s coming off his best finish here, a solo second last year thanks to a final-round 64.

LIV’s First Big Moment at Masters? The Champions Dinner

Some former champions, such as Fred Couples, have expressed their displeasure with the breakaway LIV Golf tour. Since last year’s Champions Dinner, six former champions have joined the league and are expected to be in attendance Tuesday night.

Live Leaderboard: Latest Masters Tournament Scores, Schedules, Pairings and more

That includes three-time champion Phil Mickelson, who skipped the dinner and the tournament last year in the wake of comments critical of the PGA Tour and his support of LIV. He joined LIV in June, and was followed by former Masters champions Bubba Watson, Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia, Patrick Reed and Charl Schwartzel.

Scheffler, who will host the dinner as the defending champ, joked with Watson that maybe there should be a separate table for the LIV golfers. Nick Faldo, a three-time champ, joked that perhaps it might be wise to use “plastic knives and forks.”

In all, there are 18 LIV golfers in the Masters field, including four-time major champion Brooks Koepka. All of them have been sensitive to criticism that, because they are banned by the PGA Tour and have only played three events this season (including one in Orlando that ended Sunday), they might have lost their edge. They also play 54 holes tournaments, not the normal 72.

The PGA Tour has banned LIV members from playing its events. But the four majors, including the Masters, are allowing those who qualified to play.

GOLFWEEK: All the latest news from the Masters and around the links

“Most of us will get four cracks at it this year (in the major championships), and hopefully we get maybe a win out of it,” said Cameron Smith, the current British Open champ and LIV’s highest player in the world rankings. “Maybe we just show a really hearty effort. I think for us, internally, there’s a lot of chatter going around about, ‘These guys don’t play real golf anymore.’ And I think it’s (crap) to be honest. And we just want to show people that.’

‘I think there is a big rivalry right now between the Tour and LIV,’ said Joaquin Niemann, another LIV member. ‘I think there is a lot of players that – I don’t know if they don’t like us or they don’t like the decisions that we take – but it’s going to be fun.’

‘I think it’s going to be more fun knowing that they hate us,’ Niemann said. ‘Then go to the majors and beat them.’

Will Augusta National pair them all together? It’s doubtful. The former champions are normally paired with amateurs. Will the fan reaction be muted?

And what if a LIV golfer wins? That could very well happen, especially since Smith is unquestionably one of the game’s top players. He’s shown he can win here, with top-10 finishes in each of the past three years. He tied for second in 2020, becoming the first golfer in tournament history to break 70 in all four rounds, tied for 10th in 2021 and tied for third last year.

Lucky, or Unlucky, New 13th Hole at Augusta National?

Back to the lengthening of the 13th hole. The tee was moved straight back and up the hill 35yards, making it play at 545 yards. It will be more difficult for players to draw their ball around the dogleg right corner on the par-5. That means fewer player will go for the water-guarded green in two shots, and eagles will be rarer. But there were only three there last year.

Last year, when the other second-nine par-5, the 15th, was lengthened by 20 yards to 550 yards, there was zero eagles recorded.

The change on No. 13 puzzles two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson.

‘It will change the hole,” Watson said. “It’s now driver (off the tee) and maybe a long iron into the green. Will they take out trees on the bend? That’ll determine how much harder it is when it comes to going for it in two. There’s probably going to be a lot more lay-ups. A few years ago, they wanted the roars back on Sunday. Now you’re taking away the roars? That’s kind of weird.’

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DALLAS — Jasmine Carson has a message for everyone who thought this entire Final Four was supposed to be about a junior guard from Iowa. 

Transfers matter, too. 

Carson, one of nine newcomers for LSU this season, scored 22 points off the bench — in just 22 minutes — and third-seeded LSU rolled to a 102-85 win defeat of Iowa and Caitlin Clark to claim the 2023 national championship. 

It was an astonishing performance for Carson, on her third school after stops at Georgia Tech and West Virginia. She was averaging 8.4 points per game before Sunday and hadn’t scored in LSU’s three previous tournament victories. But she made 7 of 8 shots from the field and 5 of her 6 attempts from three.

The Tigers, who are in just year two of the Kim Mulkey era, were pretty good, too. LSU won the rebounding battles 36-26, turning 14 offensive boards into 14 second-chance points. They also tied a season high by hitting 11 three-pointers, including eight of their first 11 attempts and shot 54% from the field, leading for more than 34 minutes. 

Follow the madness: Latest Women’s NCAA Tournament College Basketball Scores and Schedules

With the win, Mulkey becomes the first coach in the women’s game to lead two schools to national championships (she won three at Baylor). One men’s coach, Rick Pitino, did the same at Kentucky and Louisville, though the Louisville title was later vacated. Previously, Mulkey became the first person to win titles as a coach and player. 

Clark started hot for Iowa, going 4-of-4 and scoring 14 points in the first quarter. But she was mostly cold after that, finishing with 30 points on 9-of-22 shooting.

The 2023 consensus player of the year also had eight assists, and turned the ball over six times. She got in foul trouble in the second quarter, too, and got a technical with 1:03 to play in the third after throwing the ball off the court after Iowa was called for a foul.

LSU built as much as a 21-point lead in the third quarter, and Iowa didn’t get closer than seven. Meanwhile, Monika Czinano, Iowa’s inside threat, fouled out with 6:25 to play. 

Reese was also in foul trouble early for LSU, but finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds, her 34th double-double. The All-American recorded double-doubles in all but two games this season. Alexis Morris scored 21, LaDazhia Williams had 20 points and Flau’jae Johnson chipped in 10. 

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McDonald’s Corp is temporarily closing its U.S. offices this week as it prepares to inform corporate employees about its layoffs as part of a broader company restructuring, the Wall Street Journal reported Sunday.

In an internal email last week to U.S. employees and some international staff, McDonald’s asked them to work from home from Monday through Wednesday so it can deliver staffing decisions virtually, the report said. It is unclear how many employees will be laid off.

“During the week of April 3, we will communicate key decisions related to roles and staffing levels across the organization,” the Chicago-based company said in the message viewed by the Journal.

McDonald’s also asked employees to cancel all in-person meetings with vendors and other outside parties at its headquarters, the report added.

McDonald’s did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for a comment.

The fast-food chain said in January that it would review corporate staffing levels as part of an updated business strategy, which could lead to layoffs in some areas and expansion in others.

McDonald’s is expected to begin announcing key decisions by Monday.

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Critical drug shortages in the U.S. are on the rise due to a deal that gave China dominance over the global supply chain, posing a national security threat, Sen. Josh Hawley told Fox News.

Drug shortages in the U.S. increased 30% in 2022 compared to the year prior, according to a Senate Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs report released last month. Some antibiotics, anesthetics, cancer treatments, emergency room supplies and kids’ medicines are among the drugs facing shortages. 

‘We are dependent on China overwhelmingly for our critical medical supply chains,’ Hawley, who sits on the committee, said. ‘You talk about being dependent, you talk about a national security threat, that’s a national security threat.’

‘That is a direct threat to our independence and to the health of our people,’ he said.

CHINA CONTROLLING THE GLOBAL DRUG SUPPLY CHAIN THREATENS U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY: HAWLEY

In some cases, 90% of the key ingredients originate in China or India, according to the Senate report. It also found that active drug shortages peaked in the U.S. at the end of 2022. 

‘We are dependent on China overwhelmingly for our critical medical supply chains,’ Hawley said. ‘You look at the precursors, the key precursors for making pharmaceutical drugs, prescriptions that Americans rely on, 60% of those are made in China or India.’

‘We should make these drugs, including the precursors in the United States of America,’ the Missouri Republican told Fox News. ‘We can start by withdrawing China’s most favored nation status, the sweetheart trade deal that we gave them 20 years ago.’

The U.S. Senate granted China most favored nation status ahead of Beijing joining the World Trade Organization. In practice, the U.S. is obligated to provide China with preferential treatment for trade deals and tariffs. 

Hawley recently proposed a bill that would rescind China’s most favored nation trade status. The legislation would also ‘subject imports from China to higher tariff rates,’ according to his office.

‘During COVID, China threatened to withhold a key precursor drug, a key precursor element for cancer treatments,’ Sen. Hawley told Fox News. ‘If they had gone through and done that, it would have cut our supply in half at all of our [Department of Veterans Affairs] hospitals across the country overnight.’ 

Additionally, the number of FDA-approved pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturers based in China more than doubled between 2010 – 2015, according to the Senate report. 

Bringing domestic drug manufacturing back to the states is also gaining bipartisan momentum in the House of Representatives.

Two Republicans and two Democrats last month launched the Domestic Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Caucus, which is intended ‘to reduce American reliance on foreign adversaries, head off potential supply chain disruptions, and ensure a steady supply of pharmaceuticals in the event of public health emergencies or natural disasters,’ according to a press release. 

‘Currently, only about 10% of our critical prescription drugs or their precursors are made in America, 90% made somewhere else,’ Hawley told Fox News. ‘Listen, not only is that bad for patients, it’s bad for workers.’

Bringing high-paying pharmaceutical jobs back to the U.S. would help the economy while simultaneously cutting reliance on Chinese manufacturing, the senator said. But building domestic drug manufacturing facilities could take years, which, in the case of any future world conflicts, could pose a threat.

‘If we don’t do anything now, ahead of the curve, we will be at their mercy,’ he told Fox News. ‘We need to bring good-paying jobs back to this country, making these critical supplies that we literally rely on to live.’

To watch the full interview with Hawley, click here.

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Former President Donald Trump announced he will speak from his home in Florida just hours after he appears in court in New York.

‘President Donald J. Trump, 45th President of the United States of America, will deliver remarks at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida on Tuesday, April 4, 2023, at 8:15PM EDT,’ reads a statement released by the former president Sunday.

The planned remarks will come shortly after Trump is scheduled to appear in a Manhattan courtroom for his arraignment at 2:15 p.m. Tuesday, a process that is expected to take less than an hour.

Afterward, the former president plans to fly back to his Florida home to deliver his remarks, though experts say it is still unknown just how much Trump will be able to say about the unfolding case.

Manhattan Acting Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, who is expected to oversee the arraignment, may move to put conditions on Trump’s release following the proceedings, which will ‘most likely’ include a gag order that would prevent him from publicly discussing the case.

‘I think it’s not only a possibility, but it’s extremely likely that there will be a gag order in the case,’ Duncan Levin, a former federal prosecutor, told Insider Friday.

Levin said Trump may be ‘very limited’ in what he is able to say, a reality that could hinder Trump’s aim to politically capitalize on the case.

‘This is a criminal case now, so the rules have changed, and the rules are no longer in his purview to make,’ Levin said. ‘He is a criminal defendant and, you know, we see hundreds of thousands of criminal defendants across the country every day who have a lot of rights stripped away from them and he is now one of them. These proceedings are going to change his life.’

The charges against Trump, which are currently under seal, are expected to be related to alleged ‘hush money’ payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels leading up to the 2016 election and how the payments were accounted for.

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Former President Donald Trump’s lawyer said Sunday he expects to make a motion to dismiss any charges brought by a Manhattan grand jury in District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s probe. 

‘We will take the indictment. We will dissect it. The team will look at every, every potential issue that we will be able to challenge, and we will challenge. And of course, I very much anticipate a motion to dismiss coming because there’s no law that fits this,’ Trump’s attorney Joe Tacopina told CNN host Dana Bash Sunday. 

‘And you have a situation where, you know, the federal government, the Department of Justice, turned this matter down,’ Tacopina continued on CNN’s ‘State of the Union.’ ‘The FEC, which governs federal election laws, said there’s no violation here. Yet somehow a state prosecutor has taken a misdemeanor and tried cobble together to make it a felony by alleging a violation of federal campaign violations. And the FEC said that doesn’t exist.’ 

In reference the grand jury’s vote to indict the former President of the United States, Tacopina called it a sign that ‘rule of law in the United States has died.’ 

‘Whether you send the right or the left or you’re a supporter or detractor of Donald Trump, this should really bother you,’ Tacopina said. ‘This should really shake the core of what we believe our justice system should be about. It should not be weaponized to go after political opponents.’ 

Trump, an early frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, is expected to be arraigned in New York City on Tuesday. 

The details of the indictment have not been released, as they typically remain under seal before the arraignment takes place. The charges are expected to relate to Trump’s 2016 alleged hush money scandal, which the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office has been investigating for five years. 

If the charges relate to the hush money scandal, prosecutors are expected to argue that the $130,000 sum given to Stormy Daniels and the $150,000 given to former Playboy model Karen McDougal were improper donations to the Trump campaign, which helped his candidacy during the 2016 election.

‘We are going to tape the indictment, evaluate all our legal options and pursue everyone most vigorously. This is a case of political persecution,’ Tacopina said Sunday. ‘Had he not been running for office right now for the office of the presidency, which by the way, the polls have shown since this has been announced, his numbers have gone up significantly. Had he not been running for presidency, he would not have been indicted.’

A LOOK AT DONALD TRUMP’S ARRAIGNMENT SCHEDULE AHEAD OF TUESDAY COURT APPEARANCE  

Tacopina said he did not have details yet on Tuesday’s schedule but said he does not expect Trump to make a ‘perp walk’ and isn’t sure if the former president will take a mugshot either. 

‘Not normal operating procedure. Yeah, it’s all up in the air,’ he said. ‘All the Tuesday stuff is still very much up in the air. The fact that we will very loudly and proudly say not guilty.’  

The lawyer said he has no reason now to believe that New York Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan, who will be presiding over the case, is biased, admitting Trump was ‘lashing out because he’s the victim.’ Tacopina also criticized the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office’s key witness, Michael Cohen.

‘Michael Cohen is a pathological, convicted liar,’ Tacopina said. ‘Perjury is like the banks, the IRS. Congress now is saying he lied to the FEC when they sent that letter saying there was no campaign violation. I heard him on CNN the other day saying that when he pled guilty under oath, when he became a new man, he really wasn’t guilty. He was forced to plead guilty. So that’s perjury. If that’s not true, he’s someone who is constitutionally incapable of telling the same story the same way twice. So I’m not really worried about what Michael Cohen is saying on this. The records and the facts will speak for themselves.’ 

Fox News’ Marta Dhanis and Andrea Vacchiano contributed to this report.

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Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., expressed support for former President Trump on Friday and blasted the indictment against him as politically motivated.

‘Here’s the thing about Donald Trump that makes him different,’ Banks said during an interview with radio host Tony Katz. ‘The man does not back down. That’s why I support Donald Trump. He doesn’t back down. He’s not going to back down on this, he’s going to fight back, and this is just the beginning, I think, of yet another chapter where Donald Trump is going to come back on top in the end.’

Banks also claimed the charges against Trump are ‘flimsy,’ describing them as ‘a despicable example of a political persecution’ and a result of Democrats weaponizing the justice system ‘because they’re afraid of him becoming the president again.’

Noting he was ‘not stunned’ by Trump’s indictment, Banks said, ‘I watched what the Democrats did when he was in the White House, from the fake Russia collusion hoax to two impeachments, to the sham Jan. 6 committee. You remember the Russian bounty story about troops in Afghanistan.’

‘I watched what the left did to this guy every single day he was in the White House and every single day since,’ Banks said. ‘I’m not surprised by how low and how far the Democrats will go to abuse their power to stop the most effective president of my lifetime from becoming president again.’

‘I’m not surprised by how low and how far are the Democrats will go to abuse their power to stop the most effective president of my lifetime from becoming president again.’

— Rep. Jim Banks

Banks went on to predict that Trump’s indictment will further embolden him and his supporters and that the Democrats will come to realize that it was ‘a political mistake on their part.’

‘Also keep in mind, Tony, that it is a federal crime to use the Justice Department to try to block someone from becoming the nominee of their party,’ Banks continued, adding that ‘there are so many angles of this that I believe are going to play out for years.’

‘It is obvious to the American people – you can count on this – it is obvious to the American people that these charges are politically timed, they’re political in nature. We’ve become used to these types of activities from the left against Donald Trump, and he’s going to fight back, and I believe he’s going to win,’ he said.

Trump, who endorsed Banks for his 2024 Senate run in Indiana, raked in more than $5 million in campaign donations within 48 hours of his indictment last Thursday.

Trump is expected to appear in court Tuesday in New York City over allegations that he gave hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in 2016 to keep her quiet ahead of that year’s presidential election amid her claims the two had a sexual encounter years earlier.

The former president has denied sleeping with Daniels or falsifying business records to keep the payment concealed.

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