Wednesday, May 13, 2026
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Alaska Trump Chair Kelly Tshibaka analyzes Supreme Court decision favoring presidential immunity

Alaska political leader and conservative champion Kelly Tshibaka, who chairs the Trump campaign for the 49th state, said the Supreme Court opinion in Trump vs. United States is well written, based on precedent, and follows the rule of law.

Must Read Alaska asked Tshibaka to give us her views on the ruling that upheld his presidential immunity, a decision that was issued on Monday by the Court.

“It took courage for the Court to issue an opinion that absolutely protects presidential immunity rather than capitulates to the political pressures of current events,” Tshibaka said.

The Supreme Court found Trump is immune from Jan. 6 statements he made to Vice President Mike Pence, the Department of Justice, and likely to the public via social media.

He is also immune from prosecution for his speech the day of the protest on Jan. 6, 2021, when dozens of protesters entered the U.S. Capitol after door guards opened up the entries.

“The President possesses ‘extraordinary power to speak to his fellow citizens and on their behalf,” the ruling said.

Now, the lower court in D.C. will be forced to decide which alleged acts in his indictment were “official,” and which ones were “unofficial.” It will only be able to prosecute “unofficial” acts and Special Counsel Jack Smith will have to a high hill to climb in proving what constitutes “unofficial.”

Read the ruling for yourself at this link.

The Court also held presidential immunity is extended to not only his official duties, but also to conduct “within the outer perimeter of his official duties.”

The justices determined it was necessary to go far in protecting the immunity of the president because otherwise it would result in “hesitation to execute the duties of his office fearlessly and fairly.”

“This Presidential immunity decision may affect the other lawfare cases against Trump, as well,” said Tshibaka, who is a Harvard-trained lawyer. “After defining the vast extent of presidential immunity, the Court did not determine whether it would apply to specific conversations Trump had with state officials and remanded that to the District Court to decide.”

Tshibaka continued, “I’m intrigued that, while the Court knew it was issuing an expansive decision protecting presidential immunity, it also denied a request from Trump’s advisor, Steve Bannon, just one business day before this Trump vs. United States opinion, to delay his prison sentence. Bannon argued that his actions and conversations were covered by Trump’s executive privilege. While executive privilege is different in law than presidential immunity, they flow from the same principle.”

She observed that much of the hyper-partisan rhetoric on either side of this issue reveals a lack of knowledge about the actual case.

“We must be advocates for due process based in the rule of law, not political outcomes that we want to achieve for partisan objectives,” Tshibaka said. “True advocates for the Constitution would celebrate this decision not only as applied to President Trump, but also as it will be applied to President Biden. When Biden is not prosecuted for acts because of Trump v. United States, that also will be a victory for the rule of law and the country.”

This case “protects the official acts of President Trump as much as it does President Biden, other presidents, and the future of America,” Tshibaka said. “Critics are focused on the potential outcome of election, not on the continued integrity of the Constitution and balance of power of our co-equal branches of government.”

Among official duties might be the video that Trump posted on Jan. 6 on Twitter, telling protesters to go home in peace. It’s a video that the prior Jack Dorsey Twitter management removed just five minutes after Trump posted it on Jan. 6, 2021, and subsequently shut down his Twitter account, so the public could never see what he actually said:

Kelly Tshibaka, former candidate for U.S. Senate and now host of the podcast, TV, and radio show STAND, was named the chairwoman for the Alaska Trump organization in February.

Denali National Park fires prompt closures

Aircraft and firefighters have been working the Riley Fire west of the railroad and north of the Denali National Park entrance since Sunday. The fire, located across from Glitter Gulch, blew up on Sunday afternoon. Aircraft have made numerous water and retardant drops. About 50 firefighters are working directly on the fire’s edge and using a ridge line to prevent the fire from spreading south.

The Park Road into Denali National Park is currently closed and the situation remains dynamic. Vehicles are being turned around at the park entrance. All tour and transit buses scheduled to run on Monday have been cancelled with the exception of camper buses, which will on run on their scheduled pickup routes for eastbound campers who are leaving.

The Denali Visitor Center and all other public facilities, trails, campgrounds and other areas will remain closed Monday, the National Park service said.

The State of Alaska has moved to the highest Preparedness Level 5. Power remains out for most customers in the Nenana Canyon area due to fire activity and response. Cooler temperatures are expected today and that will help with fire containment activities, the state fire website says.

“Campground reservations that haven’t already made it to their campsite will not be allowed entrance into the park.*  The decision on whether new campground reservations for 7/1 will be honored will be made on 7/1 after assessing current fire conditions. If you have not checked into your campsite and your reservation is cancelled due to the fire, you should get an automatic refund,” the Park Service wrote.

A federal Temporary Flight Restriction is also in place to provide safety for firefighting aircraft working on the Riley Fire. The Tri-Valley Community Center is the Evacuation Information Center at Mile 0.5 Healy Spur Road in Healy.

Monday has temperatures in the mid-60s and a chance of isolated thunderstorms in the afternoon. By Tuesday afternoon, a strong low pressure system is expected to bring westerly winds, followed by wetter, cooler weather.

Go to the Denali National Park and Preserve website for closure information.

Fairbanks Sen. Kawasaki puts a crown on Pride Month by promoting ‘BE GAY DO CRIME’ anarchy

Fairbanks state Sen. Scott Kawasaki polished off Pride Month celebrations with one final campaign message on June 30:

“Be Gay Do Crimes” and an image of a man wearing the “A” anarchy symbol on his wife-beater shirt.

Kawasaki, a Democrat who represents urban Fairbanks, mixed in the messages of abortion and sex education in his mishmash of leftist thoughts on Sunday, writing:

?️‍? Happy Pride Month Alaska!?️‍? As Alaska ends pride month, I wanted to remind friends and allies this year was challenging because of the anti-choice/abortion bans, legislative attacks on transgender neighbors and bills to allow discrimination in housing and employment. I am running against a well-funded, extremely conservative Republican who will upend the Senate Bipartisan Majority. My campaign needs your support and contributions today and your vote in the future! Please check out www.AlaskaScott.com or contact me directly at 907.590.0315 today! #akleg”

Kawasaki, after stringing together the phrases that identify him as part of the far left, thanked the Klondike Drag, which describes itself as “Fairbanks’ Queer Performers Group.”

The “Be Gay Do Crimes” meme, as described by a Reddit contributor named “Queer Satanic,” means “When your very existence is a crime, everything else about society and the so-called ‘social contract’ ought to be called into question, too, especially when the things society calls law are at odds with your literal survival.”

Crime in Kawasaki’s district is a growing concern, as this photo of lawlessness on Lackloy Drive in his district shows:

Junk piles up in Sen. Scott Kawasaki’s “Do Crime” Senate District P, along Lackloy Drive.

Running to replace Kawasaki is Leslie Wien Hadjukovich, a former aide to U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, former school board member, and a commonsense Republican who may not join the bipartisan caucus that put nine Democrats in power in the Alaska Senate, even though the Senate has a majority of Republican members.

Celebration: Anniversary of Wien’s historic flight from Anchorage to Fairbanks

One hundred years after Noel Wien and Bill Yunker flew an open-cockpit Hisso Standard J1 biplane from Anchorage to Fairbanks, aviation enthusiasts, family, and friends will mark that historic flight with a celebration in Fairbanks sure to attract plenty of political and civic figures.

It was in July 15, 1924 that Wien made history. At the time, there were no navigational aids or airstrips along the way and few roads to land on, if an emergency arose. A train track would guide the way; the Parks Highway wasn’t completed until 1971. It was wilderness, and the crude airstrip at Cantwell was not clear enough to land on.

Wien made a few aviation excursions with the biplane before the historic flight Wien’s first Alaska flight left the Delaney airstrip on June 4, 1924. Then he flew Anchorage’s first passenger flight and performed the state’s first aviation aerobatic show for the Fourth of July. On July 15, after several delays due to heavy forest fire smoke on the route, Wien and Yunker, who was the passenger and mechanic, departed the Delaney airstrip heading to Weeks Field in Fairbanks, making the trip in three hours and 45 minutes.

Wien, grandfather of Senate candidate Leslie Hajdukovich, had many other “firsts in flight” in Alaska, including the first bush flight to Livengood in support of mining operations, the first flight to Nome, and the first flight over the Arctic Circle. On that trip, he ran out of fuel and was forced to land on a gravel bar on his return flight. He walked 70 miles over three days, crossing rivers and tundra, with only three dry biscuits.

Wien is known as the “Father of Alaska Bush Flying.” His pilot certificate was No. 39, and wa signed by Orville Wright. He founded Wien Air Alaska in 1927, the first airline in Alaska and one of the first airlines in the United States. Among things he is known for is pioneering the use of jets for gravel runways, and innovating ways to carry both cargo and passengers in Boeing 737 jets.

Born in 1899, Wien died in 1977. His legendary status as an aviator was enshrined in the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 2010.

At the anniversary celebration on Tuesday in Fairbanks, hosted by former Rep. Jay Ramras, Gov. Mike Dunleavy will make remarks, followed by Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Sen. Dan Sullivan, and Richard Wien. The celebration starts at 5:30 p.m. at Pike’s Landing.

Steve Bannon reports to prison for contempt of House J-6 committee

On the same day that President Donald Trump won his presidential immunity case at the Supreme Court, his former advisor Steve Bannon became federal inmate No. 05635-509 in a Danbury, Connecticut prison.

Bannon was convicted of two counts of contempt of Congress in July of 2022, and sentenced to four months in prison. He gave no defense during the trial, which had testimony from two government employees, one of whom was the staff director to the House Select Committee.

The conviction was based on the fact that Bannon had refused to show up to take questions from the House Democrats’ Jan. 6 Committee, an inquisition that demanded he testify about Trump’s alleged attempts to overturn the result of the 2020 election and any involvement Trump had in the Jan. 6 protest at the Capitol.

“The defendant chose allegiance to Donald Trump over compliance with the law,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Molly Gaston told jurors during the trial.

The former strategist for Donald Trump asked the Supreme Court on Friday to pause his prison sentence while he appeals it, but the court denied his request.

Bannon’s lawyer had told the Supreme Court that Bannon was waiting for issues of executive privilege to be settled, and thus asked for an extended delay for the prison sentence. The court ruled that he had not been part of the executive branch on Jan. 6, and therefore was not subject to the executive privilege claim.

Bannon, age 70, spoke to reporters and a cheering crowd of supporters, calling himself “political prisoner,” as he entered the prison. By taking him out of the public square for four months, the Biden Justice Department ensures he will not be able to influence public opinion between now and the general election. Bannon has a popular podcast, and he recorded his last episode just hours before reporting to the prison gate.

The House Select Committee was retired when Republicans took over the House in January. It had been viewed by conservatives as a partisan witch-hunt, and was chaired by Democrat Rep. Bennie Thompson and Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, who closely aligns with the Democrats.

Former Trump adviser Peter Navarro was also sentenced to four months in federal prison and is finishing up that sentence, which began March 19. He was the first of the Trump White House to be convicted for contempt of Congress subsequent to the 2020 election in a case he said was the “partisan weaponization of the judicial system.” 

Unlike Bannon, Navarro did mount a defense and pled not guilty, saying he couldn’t cooperate with the committee because Trump had invoked executive privilege. The lower courts rejected his argument and said Navarro couldn’t prove Trump had invoked it.

It’s unclear what Monday’s Supreme Court ruling on executive privilege and absolute immunity of the president will have on Navarro and Bannon, but it appears that the legal system had been weaponized against them. If Trump is elected in November, however, he may have the power to pardon them both.

The House, now controlled by Republicans, has now voted to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress. The Justice Department, however, says it will not bring charges against the man who runs the Justice Department.

“We’re going to be as aggressive as we can and use every tool in our arsenal,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson last week, referring to pursuing criminal charges against Garland for contempt of Congress.

Steve Bannon’s podcast channel is at this link.

Breaking: Trump wins at Supreme Court on question of absolute immunity in Jan. 6 actions

The U.S. Supreme Court gave former President Donald Trump a win in Trump v. United States, in which the majority ruled that a former president has absolute immunity for his core constitutional powers, and could not be prosecuted for his official acts while in office. The case was remanded back to the lower court that had ruled against Trump in a matter involving whether he tried to stop the 2020 presidential election results from being certified.

The indictment brought by special counsel Jack Smith alleged that after losing the election, Trump conspired to overturn it by spreading knowingly false claims of election fraud to obstruct the collecting, counting, and certifying of the election results. Trump moved to dismiss the indictment based on Presidential immunity, arguing that a President has absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for actions performed within the outer perimeter of his official responsibilities, and that the indictment’s allegations fell within the core of his official duties.

The District Court had denied Trump’s motion to dismiss, holding that former presidents do not possess federal criminal immunity for any acts. The D. C. Circuit affirmed that ruling. Both the District Court and the D. C. Circuit declined to decide whether the indicted conduct involved official acts.

“The President enjoys no immunity for his unofficial acts, and not everything the President does is official,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the majority opinion. “The President is not above the law. But Congress may not criminalize the President’s conduct in carrying out the responsibilities of the Executive Branch under the Constitution. And the system of separated powers designed by the Framers has always demanded an energetic, independent Executive.”

The ruling may delay the Jan. 6 case against the former president, who is charged by the Department of Justice for trying to subvert the election.

The vote was 6 to 3, with the three liberal women of the court voting against Trump, who had argued he was acting in his official capacity as the controversial 2020 election results were being finalized.

Special counsel Jack Smith was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland in November, 2022 to investigate whether “any person or entity unlawfully interfered with the transfer of power following the 2020 presidential election or the certification of the Electoral College vote held on or about January 6, 2021.” Smith is also in charge of the investigation involving classified documents and other presidential records at Mar-a-Lago, as well as the possible obstruction of that investigation.

A federal judge in May officially and indefinitely delayed Smith’s classified documents case against Trump.

This story will be updated as I read through the ruling.

Silence is deafening: Peltola, Alaska Democrats too fearful to admit the emperor has no clothes

The shock-and-awe effect on Democrats continues this weekend, a full three days after the stunning display of advanced dementia shown by President Joe Biden during Thursday’s 90-minute debate with former President Donald Trump.

Democrats across the country are speaking out — some trying to defend Biden, others calling for his withdrawal from the race. Four major newspaper editorial boards, including the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Atlanta Constitution, and even the Philadelphia Inquirer have called for Biden to drop.

But not the Alaska Democratic Party or Democrat Rep. Mary Peltola. They’re saying nothing.

Democratic National Committee former Vice Chair R.T. Rybak wrote on Facebook that Democrats must push President Joe Biden to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race.

“Our elected officials are staying shockingly silent in public, especially considering how many of them acknowledge privately that this has to happen,” Rybak wrote.

Former U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, a Missouri Democrat, tried to brush off the debate’s effect on Americans: “Less than a third of likely voters watched debate. Very low numbers for first time a President and former President debated. People were expecting huge audience. Nope, smallest audience in 20 yrs. I imagine most of those who watched were hard core for one candidate or the other.”

She neglected to mention that because of social media, the audience was record-breaking, with 242 million views on X.

Democrat operative James Carville, whose nickname is “the ragin’ cajun,” was more blunt.

“I didn’t think he should run for re-election,” said the former Clinton campaign aide. “There’s nothing I saw last night that would dissuade me of that opinion at all. I still think what I thought. I can’t be any simpler. And I think I have a slightly unique perspective because l’m aged myself. And unlike most people, I have some vague idea of what that job entails. That’s not a — that’s for somebody a lot younger than that. And that applies to Trump, by the way. That was my view, that is my view, I hardly think my view is gonna change.”

Carville said the party has few options.

“I don’t know, because it’s never faced anything like this before. There’s no historical wisdom that we could bring to bear. A majority of delegates could do whatever they want. But what I think will be pretty persuasive will be a flood of polling that came in over the next week. There’s nothing that Washington pays more attention to than a poll. Nothing. Totally predictable. I mean, I got back to my hotel three minutes after the debate started and I’m like, well, ‘this is a two-gummy night.’ Then pretty soon the whole thing blows up: ‘Oh, well, you were right, huh.’ (I was hearing that) from 20 different people,” he said.

Peltola posted that she is pro-fish. The Democrats focused on the importance of food stamps.

Rep. Peltola has been in the White House 15 times in the past 15 months, and was with Biden during eight of those visits, including one time when she was one-on-one with him, according to White House visitor logs.

Peltola is on the record saying Biden is one of the “smartest, sharpest people” she has met in Washington, D.C. But now, she is not coming to his defense.

Peltola told Axios she is “not thinking about anybody’s race but my own.”

Alaska Democrats across the state have clammed up as well, whistling past the graveyard of the Biden Administration. They appear to be waiting for instructions from the national party to know what to say.

The instructions haven’t been given to Peltola or Democrats in Alaska because there is a civil war in the Democratic Party right now, a struggle they created for themselves in 2020 when they put Biden in as their nominee, even though his dementia was already evident, but concealable by clever candidate handling personnel.

Now they are paying the piper, having to decide if Biden’s successor Vice President Kamala Harris or some other candidate can be subbed in, and how to convince Biden and, importantly, First Lady Jill Biden, to let go of the White House.

Incoming Anchorage mayor LaFrance takes part in parade featuring antisemitic-shouting by ‘Queers for Palestine’

On Saturday, June 29, the annual Anchorage festivities for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transexual, queer, pansexual, asexual, intersex, two-spirit — and their friends and children — took place in downtown Anchorage, capping off “Pride Month” promotion of LGBTQ+ identifying Alaskans.

Unlike parades in other cities across the country, participants kept their clothes on in Anchorage, although some of the fashion choices were questionable.

New to this year’s parade lineup was an entry with a large sign that spelled out, “Queers for Palestine,” with rainbow-attired members shouting for a free Palestine and yelling out antisemitic slogan, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” which is a slogan used by terrorist groups and their sympathizers, from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and Hamas, both of which call for Israel’s destruction.

Political luminaries who joined the parade and have not disavowed the antisemitism associated with it were incoming Mayor Suzanne LaFrance, Sen. Forrest Dunbar, Sen. Elvi Gray-Jackson, former acting Mayor Austin Quinn-Davidson, Assembly Chairman Chris Constant, Rep. Andrew Gray, and Rep. Jennie Armstrong.

Alaska Landmine received a video from a parade viewer that show the parade entry “Queers for Palestine.”

Price for Alaska oil is strong as new fiscal year begins

Alaska North Slope crude oil ended the fiscal year at $86.46 a barrel on Friday. It’s significantly higher than the revised revenue forecast issued by in March by the Alaska Department of Revenue, which predicted Alaska oil selling at an average of $78 per barrel for the upcoming fiscal year that begins Monday.

The mid-80s price is a strong start for the State of Alaska’s revenue picture. Oil is Alaska’s second top source of state revenue, following the annual transfer of earnings from the Alaska Permanent Fund.

Oil into the Trans Alaska Pipeline System is expected to increase for the upcoming fiscal year by about 13,100 barrels per day, according to the Department of Revenue. With new fields being developed by ConocoPhillips and Santos, and investments in existing fields being made by Hilcorp, the outlook for 2026 and 2027 could see the trend continue.

Alaska’s oil and gas jobs grew by 700 year over year in May, according to a recent Alaska Department of Labor report, which reported the increase at 9.5%. Every oil and gas industry job supports 15 additional jobs in Alaska, according to a study by McKinley Research Group. Some company leaders say that the oil sector is bustling this year.

Last week, oil going into TAPS dropped to just under 400,000 barrels per day, as annual summer maintenance schedules have begun on the North Slope. This is a normal cycle for the Alaska North Slope oil sector.

Adding credibility to the prediction of Alaska oil prices remaining stable in the coming year is the June 27 issuance of U.S. sanctions against Iran over its nuclear ambitions.

“Over the past month, Iran has announced steps to further expand its nuclear program in ways that have no credible peaceful purpose,” Blinken said. “We remain committed to never letting Iran obtain a nuclear weapon, and we are prepared to use all elements of national power to ensure that outcome,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.

The sanctions target companies based in the United Arab Emirates and 11 vessels used in the export of Iranian petroleum or petrochemical products.