Donald Trump

Subterms

    More stories

    • 200 Shares179 Views

      in US Politics

      Republican 2024 race heats up as Trump rival Nikki Haley announces run – as it happened

      by

      Welcome to the 2024 Republican primary field, Nikki Haley! 03:30Here’s who else you will probably be up against in your quest for the White House:First of all, there’s Donald Trump. Not only has he already declared his run, but poll after poll indicate he’s the frontrunner among potential GOP contenders. Consider him the final boss of this election’s Republican primary – but as any video gamer knows, your last adversary isn’t always the most difficult to overcome. The former president, after all, has no shortage of liabilities.There’s also Florida governor Ron DeSantis, who is so widely expected to run that Trump has already started attacking him. He’ll campaign on taking his divisive culture wars legislation national, while touting the southern state as an economic success story.Republican senator Tim Scott is expected to soon announce his own bid for the White House, bringing the number of South Carolinians in the GOP’s field to two. And don’t forget about Mike Pence. The former vice-president may have fallen out with Trump, but he’s betting the Republican rank and file will give him a second chance.Who else? Speculation is endless, but other good bets are Trump’s former secretary of state Mike Pompeo, senator Ted Cruz and perhaps Virginia governor Glenn Youngkin.The ranks of challengers to Donald Trump for the Republican nomination in 2024 are growing, with his former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley announcing her candidacy today and other Republicans like former vice-president Mike Pence, senator Tim Scott and Florida governor Ron DeSantis expected to throw their hats in the ring in the weeks or months to come. Meanwhile, a somber Washington is marking five years since the deaths of 17 adults and children in the Parkland, Florida mass shooting, with Democrats reiterating their calls for more stringent gun control.Here’s what else happened today:
      Senator Dianne Feinstein said she will not stand for re-election in 2024. The 89-year-old Democrat is the oldest sitting lawmaker in Congress, and several candidates have already emerged for her seat.
      Pence plans to challenge a subpoena from special counsel Jack Smith with an unusual legal strategy that, if successful, could shield him from having to cooperate with the investigation into Trump’s campaign to undo the 2020 election.
      Senators received a classified briefing on the UFOs shot down over North American airspace, but no big revelations emerged.
      George Santos insisted (again) that he won’t be going anywhere.
      Trump will have to pay $110,000 for defying a subpoena from the New York attorney general, after a judge turned down his challenge to the penalty.
      Meanwhile, national security council spokesperson John Kirby has said the objects downed over North America could be “benign” after all, the Guardian’s Julia Carrie Wong reports:Three unidentified objects shot down by US fighter jets since Friday may turn out to be balloons connected to “benign” commercial or research efforts, a White House official said on Tuesday.The US has not found any evidence to connect the objects to China’s balloon surveillance program nor to any other country’s spy program, national security council spokesperson, John Kirby, told reporters.“We haven’t seen any indication or anything that points specifically to the idea that these three objects were part of the [People’s Republic of China’s] spying program, or that they were definitively involved in external intelligence collection efforts,” he said.Instead, a “leading explanation” may be that the objects were operated privately for commercial or research purposes, Kirby said, though no one has stepped forward to claim ownership.The unidentified object shot down by a US fighter jet over northern Canada on Saturday was a “small, metallic balloon with a tethered payload below it”, according to a Pentagon memo to US lawmakers obtained by CNN.Three objects shot down by US jets may be ‘benign’ balloons, White House saysRead moreEarlier today, senators received a classified briefing on the three UFOs and the Chinese spy balloon shot down recently over North America.According to Punchbowl News, there were no big revelations from the briefing, at least none that the lawmakers would share publicly. The military still isn’t sure what the three objects destroyed by America jets since Friday were doing, other than that it’s possible they were meant for surveillance, and were destroyed because of their potential threat to civilian air traffic.“Nothing is clear at this point — other than that they exist,” said Democratic senator Bob Menendez.As for the downed Chinese spy balloon, the military has already gleaned “very valuable information” from parts recovered so far, Republican senator Thom Tillis said, though he did not reveal what exactly they learned.Republicans are rubbing their hands together with glee at the news that Dianna Feinstein will step down.“Sen. Dianne Feinstein is retiring. She is the second Senate Democrat to retire this year. Who will be next? Joe Manchin? Jon Tester? Bob Casey? Tammy Baldwin?” the National Republican Senatorial Committee wrote in an email shortly after the California lawmaker’s announcement.Democrats are expected to have a tough time maintaining their two-seat Senate majority in the 2024 elections, where lawmakers like Manchin, Tester and Sherrod Brown, all of whom represent red states, will be up for re-election. There’s also a chance the GOP could flip a seat in a swing state, such as Casey’s in Pennsylvania, or Baldwin’s in Wisconsin.But the GOP should know better than to think Feinstein’s retirement has anything to do with all that. At 89 years old, Feinstein is the older person in Congress and the subject of reports of declining health. It’s hard to see her campaigning for another term, even in deep-blue California.The Lincoln Project – a group formed by anti-Trump conservatives in the run-up to the 2020 election and which has maintained a high profile – is out with a statement about Nikki Haley’s run for president.Haley, the statement says, is “a candidate with more ambition than principles. Her once promising career checked the right boxes and seemed to show her willingness to stand on principle. But then Donald Trump came along and exposed the GOP as ideologues willing to break our democratic institutions.“Like all the other power hungry and ambitious politicians who make up the modern GOP, she fell in line.”The release also quotes from a New York Times op ed by the former Republican operative (and author of It Was All a Lie) Stuart Stevens, a senior Lincoln Project adviser: “No political figure better illustrates the tragic collapse of the modern Republican party than Nikki Haley.“There was a time not very long ago when she was everything the party thought it needed to win” – a reference to Haley’s youth (she became a governor at 38 and is still only 51) and background, as a successful Indian American conservative.“Trump has a pattern of breaking opponents who challenge him in a primary. Ms Haley enters the race already broken. Had she remained the Nikki Haley who warned her party about Mr Trump in 2016, she would have been perfectly positioned to run in 2024 as its savior. But as Ms Haley knows all too well, Republicans aren’t looking to be saved.”Here’s an interview with Rick Wilson, a Lincoln Project co-founder, about the Republican primary and the danger Trump still poses:‘They will bend the knee’: Lincoln project cofounder cautions against dismissing TrumpRead moreDianne Feinstein, California’s Democratic senator who is the longest serving female lawmaker in the chamber’s history, has announced she will not seek re-election in 2024:I am announcing today I will not run for reelection in 2024 but intend to accomplish as much for California as I can through the end of next year when my term ends. Even with a divided Congress, we can still pass bills that will improve lives.— Senator Dianne Feinstein (@SenFeinstein) February 14, 2023
      Feinstein’s decision had been widely expected, and several Democrats kicked off campaigns to succeed her even before the senator’s announcement. These include Katie Porter and Adam Schiff, both progressive House lawmakers. Barbara Lee is reportedly also planning to toss her hat in the ring for the seat representing the Democratic bastion.At 89, Feinstein is the oldest sitting in Congress, and was first elected in 1992.Lauren Gambino sends in the thoughts of Chairman Harrison – Jaime Harrison, chair of the Democratic National Committee, who spoke to reporters earlier about Nikki Haley’s announced presidential run:“There’s a lot of questions about Nikki Haley and about what she really stands for,” said Harrison, who led the South Carolina Democratic party when Haley was governor of the southern state, after Haley pointed to her conservative record on abortion and gun rights and her refusal to expand Medicaid in her state.“If she says that she wants to do for the nation what she did for South Carolina,” Harrison said, “God bless us all.”Speaking of George Santos, as Chris was earlier, our columnist Arwa Mahdawi wonders whether, of all the scandals dogging the New York Republican, it might be the one about dogs that finally brings him to heel. She writes:There are lies, there are damned lies, and then there is George Santos’s CV. In the short time that he has been in the public eye, the 34-year-old has been accused of fabricating almost every facet of his life.During his election campaign, Santos claimed to be a “proud American Jew” whose grandparents “survived the Holocaust”. After being challenged, Santos clarified that he was raised Catholic and argued that he had always said he was “Jew-ish”.His education and work history appear to be fabrications. He has said his mother was working in the World Trade Center on 9/11, yet records show she was in Brazil. He has said that he “lost four employees” in the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting in Florida, but the New York Times has not been able to verify these claims. He has claimed to have been a college volleyball star (unlikely) and a producer on Spider-Man (untrue). No one is even sure what Santos’s real name is.I could go on and on with the lies, but I need to get to the scandals. There is the scandal about his former life as a drag queen in Brazil, which he originally denied, then appeared to admit. (To be clear: the only outrageous thing about his alleged drag-queen past is that he is now active in a party that demonises and wants to criminalise drag queens as part of a broader anti-LGBTQ+ agenda.) There is the $365,000 in campaign funds he can’t account for.And then there are the multiple dog-related scandals.Last week, Politico reported allegations that Santos spent 2017 cruising around Pennsylvania’s Amish Country buying puppies from dog breeders with cheques that bounced.A few days after allegedly writing $15,125 in bad cheques to breeders, Santos held an adoption event at a pet store in New York. It’s not clear if he made money from this, but adoption fees can range from $300 to $400. Santos was charged with theft by deception, but those charges were dropped when he claimed his chequebook had been stolen.The other dog-related scandal? The congressman is accused of promising to raise funds for a homeless man’s dying dog in 2016, then taking off with the money.Will George Santos’s dog scandals finally bring him down? | Arwa MahdawiRead moreJoe Biden has released a statement on the shooting at Michigan State, in which three students were killed and five wounded last night. Here it is:.css-cumn2r{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}Jill [Biden] and I are praying for the three students killed and the five students fighting for their lives after last night’s shooting at Michigan State University. Our hearts are with these young victims and their families, the broader East Lansing and Lansing communities, and all Americans across the country grieving as the result of gun violence.Last night, I spoke to Governor [Gretchen] Whitmer and directed the deployment of all necessary federal law enforcement to support local and state response efforts. I assured her that we would continue to provide the resources and support needed in the weeks ahead.Too many American communities have been devastated by gun violence. I have taken action to combat this epidemic in America, including a historic number of executive actions and the first significant gun safety law in nearly 30 years, but we must do more.The fact that this shooting took place the night before this country marks five years since the deadly shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, should cause every American to exclaim “enough” and demand that Congress take action.As I said in my State of the Union address last week, Congress must do something and enact commonsense gun law reforms, including requiring background checks on all gun sales, banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, closing loopholes in our background check system, requiring safe storage of guns, and eliminating immunity for gun manufacturers who knowingly put weapons of war on our streets. Action is what we owe to those grieving today in Michigan and across America.Here’s our report on the Michigan shooting.And here’s Richard Luscombe on the response from Whitmer:‘We can’t keep living like this’: Michigan governor denounces campus shootingRead moreFollowing Letitia James’s tweet, here’s the New York attorney general’s formal response to the appeals court ruling which said Donald Trump must pay a $110,000 fine for refusing to comply with subpoenas in a fraud investigation of his company and financial affairs:.css-cumn2r{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}Once again, the courts have ruled that Donald Trump is not above the law.
      For years, he tried to stall and thwart our lawful investigation into his financial dealings, but today’s decision sends a clear message that there are consequences for abusing the legal system.
      We will not be bullied or dissuaded from pursuing justice.”James, a Democrat, began her investigation while Trump was president. Trump and three of his adult children – Donald Jr, Ivanka and Eric – were all deposed. Last month, footage showed Trump took the fifth amendment more than 400 times.Trump was fined in state court in April last year. He appealed. A judge capped the fine at $110,000. In September, James unveiled a wide-ranging civil lawsuit against the four Trumps, alleging false filings in order to enrich themselves and secure loans.The lawsuit seeks to bar all four Trumps from executive roles in New York, and to stop the Trump Organization acquiring commercial real estate or receiving loans from state-based entities for five years.Trump denies wrongdoing. In November he sued James, claiming a “relentless, pernicious, public, and unapologetic crusade” which would cause “great harm” to his company, brand and reputation.It was reported that Trump’s lawyers sought to stop him filing the suit. Trump withdrew two suits against James in January, shortly after he and a lawyer were fined $1m for a “frivolous” suit against Hillary Clinton.New York’s attorney general Letitia James announced that a court has ordered Donald Trump to pay $110,000 for defying a subpoena from her office:Today, the court again ruled in our favor and upheld an order that Donald Trump was in contempt of court and must pay my office $110,000. There are consequences for abusing the legal system. https://t.co/ZKbzLduSkJ— NY AG James (@NewYorkStateAG) February 14, 2023
      Last year, James successfully petitioned a judge to charge the former president $10,000 for each day he refuses to comply with a subpoena she sent him for documents related to her investigation of his business practices. We’ll see if Trump pays up this time.The ranks of challengers to Donald Trump for the Republican nomination in 2024 are growing, with his former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley announcing her candidacy today and other Republicans like Mike Pence, Tim Scott and Ron DeSantis expected to throw their hats in the ring in the weeks or months to come. Meanwhile, a somber Washington is marking five years since the deaths of 17 adults and children in the Parkland, Florida mass shooting, with Democrats reiterating their calls for more stringent gun control.Here’s what else has happened today so far:
      Pence plans to challenge a subpoena from special counsel Jack Smith with an unusual legal strategy that, if successful, could shield him from having to cooperate with the investigation into Trump’s campaign to undo the 2020 election.
      Senators received a classified briefing on the UFOs shot down over North American airspace, but no big revelations have emerged from it yet.
      George Santos insisted (again) that he won’t be going anywhere.
      Florida governor Ron DeSantis remains coy about his widely expected run for president.Here’s his quip when asked about his plans today:Reporter: “Nikki Haley announced her presidential run today. Do you plan on following suit?”Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), laughing: “Wouldn’t you like to know?” pic.twitter.com/K0pB4DlNpo— The Recount (@therecount) February 14, 2023
      In less serious political news, Republican House lawmaker and admitted fabulist George Santos was back on Twitter to reiterate that has isn’t going anywhere:Let me be very clear, I’m not leaving, I’m not hiding and I am NOT backing down.I will continue to work for #NY03 and no amount of Twitter trolling will stop me.I’m looking forward to getting what needs to be done, DONE!— George Santos (@Santos4Congress) February 14, 2023
      Many people, including some fellow Republicans, would like him to resign.Joe Biden has called again for banning assault weapons as he marks five years since the Parkland high school shooting:Five years ago, a gunman committed an act of horror at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.Today, we mourn the 17 loved ones lost. And pray for the countless loved ones left behind.For the lives lost and the lives we can save, we must ban assault weapons. pic.twitter.com/CRR4g6oLXK— President Biden (@POTUS) February 14, 2023
      Assault weapons were banned in the United States from 1994 to 2004, but Republicans have rejected reimposing the restrictions.Democratic lawmakers in Congress are marking the five-year anniversary of a gunman killing 17 children and adults at a high school in Parkland, Florida with calls for new gun control measures.“My heart aches for the 17 lives stolen five years ago – and for the devastated families, friends, and classmates left to pick up the pieces,” the House Democratic whip Katherine Clark said in a statement. “Summoning strength out of agony, Parkland students and parents have helped lead our nation’s march toward a future free from the scourge of gun violence. They have advanced that fight in the streets and in the halls of power – rallying Americans to action with extraordinary courage.”She connected the attack to yesterday’s shooting at Michigan State University, saying, “As Americans were just reminded by the horrendous shooting in East Lansing, Michigan, there is much more work to do. We are only in the second month of 2023, and our country has already faced the horror of 67 mass shootings. Students, teachers, parents – everyone lives in fear awaiting the next tragedy. And while gun violence terrorizes communities across America, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle don assault rifle lapel pins in the halls of Congress, displaying their allegiance to weapons of war over American lives.”Maxwell Frost, a young Democratic gun control activist who was recently elected to the House from Florida, tweeted that he visited the site of the shooting:Today marks 5 years since the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas in Parkland. Last night, MSU also faced the pain of gun violence, a pain that is all too common across this country. My heart today is with Parkland & MSU as they continue & begin this lifelong journey of healing. pic.twitter.com/JtgBcRQvfQ— Congressman Maxwell Alejandro Frost (@RepMaxwellFrost) February 14, 2023
      Florida’s Republican governor Ron DeSantis called for a moment of silence in remembrance of the victims:Today, I ask all Floridians to pause for a moment of silence at 10:17am to honor the 17 innocent lives lost at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre. We will continue to honor their memory in word and in deed and extend our sympathies to the Parkland community.— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) February 14, 2023
      DeSantis’s Republican allies in Florida’s legislature are pushing to allow people to carry concealed weapons without a permit in the state. The governor has said he will sign the bill when it passes. More

    • 138 Shares199 Views

      in US Politics

      Donald Trump ‘not above the law’, New York attorney general says

      by

      Donald Trump ‘not above the law’, New York attorney general saysLetitia James celebrates court ruling ordering ex-president to pay $110,000 fine for refusing to comply with subpoenas Donald Trump is “not above the law”, the attorney general of New York state said on Tuesday, celebrating an appeals court ruling which said the former president must pay a $110,000 fine for refusing to comply with subpoenas in a fraud investigation of his company and financial affairs.In a statement, Letitia James said: “Once again, the courts have ruled that Donald Trump is not above the law.“For years, he tried to stall and thwart our lawful investigation into his financial dealings, but today’s decision sends a clear message that there are consequences for abusing the legal system. We will not be bullied or dissuaded from pursuing justice.”James, a Democrat, began her investigation while Trump, a Republican, was president. Trump and three of his adult children – Donald Jr, Ivanka and Eric – were deposed.Last month, released footage of Trump’s deposition showed that he took the constitution’s fifth amendment against self-incrimination more than 400 times.Trump was fined for contempt in New York state court in April 2022. He appealed. A judge capped the fine at $110,000.In September, James unveiled her wide-ranging civil lawsuit against the four Trumps, alleging false filings in order to enrich themselves and secure loans.The lawsuit seeks to bar the former president and his three children from executive roles in New York and to stop the Trump Organization from acquiring commercial real estate or receiving loans from state-based entities for five years.Trump denies wrongdoing. In November he counter-sued, claiming a “relentless, pernicious, public, and unapologetic crusade” which would cause “great harm” to his company, brand and reputation.It was reported then that Trump’s own lawyers sought to stop him from filing the suit. In January, shortly after he and a lawyer were fined $1m for a “frivolous” suit against Hillary Clinton, whom he beat in the 2016 presidential election, Trump withdrew two suits against James.Trump is now one of two declared candidates for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024. Unlike Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor and United Nations ambassador who jumped into the race on Tuesday, Trump is subject to extensive legal jeopardy.In New York, where the Trump Organization and its chief financial officer were recently convicted of tax fraud, prosecutors are also examining a hush money payment made to the porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016. New York will also stage a trial over the writer E Jean Carroll’s claim that Trump raped and then defamed her, allegations Trump denies.Prosecutors in Georgia are thought to be close to indicting Trump over his attempts to overturn election results there.In Washington DC, Jack Smith, a special counsel appointed by the US attorney general, Merrick Garland, is investigating Trump’s attempted election subversion, including his incitement of the deadly January 6 Capitol attack, and his retention of classified information.TopicsDonald TrumpUS politicsNew YorknewsReuse this content More

    • 113 Shares179 Views

      in US Politics

      Republican senator Tim Scott preparing presidential run – report

      by

      Republican senator Tim Scott preparing presidential run – reportOnly Black Republican in Senate set to challenge Donald Trump for nomination, Wall Street Journal says South Carolina senator Tim Scott is reportedly taking steps to seek the Republican presidential nomination in 2024.DeSantis’s corporate donors under fire for ‘hypocrisy’ over Black History MonthRead moreReporting the news, the Wall Street Journal cited anonymous sources “familiar with his plans”. Jennifer DeCasper, a senior adviser, said the senator was “excited to share his vision of hope and opportunity and hear the American people’s response”.A stringent conservative but also the only Black Republican in the US Senate, Scott, 57, has worked publicly if unsuccessfully with Democrats on attempts to agree to policing reform.Last August, he appeared to confirm his ambition for a presidential run.His book, America: a Redemption Story, contained small print including a description of “a rising star who sees and understands the importance of bipartisanship to move America forward” and saying “this book is a political memoir that includes his core messages as he prepares to make a presidential bid in 2022”.Scott’s publisher, Thomas Nelson, apologised for what it called an “error … not done at the direction or approval of the senator or his team”.Concrete steps made by Scott have included appointing co-chairs of a fundraising Super Pac and plans to speak in South Carolina and Iowa, two early voting states.The report about Scott’s plans came two days ahead of an expected campaign launch by another South Carolina Republican, Nikki Haley, a former governor who was US ambassador to the United Nations under Donald Trump.Still the only declared candidate for the 2024 nomination, Trump spoke in New Hampshire and South Carolina last month. He has already secured support from the other South Carolina senator, Lindsey Graham, the governor, Henry McMaster, and US House members.The Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, is Trump’s only serious challenger in polling concerning the notional field, in which Scott generally scores 1% or less. Last week, a Washington Post-ABC News poll showed Haley performing better but splitting the anti-Trump vote, thereby handing victory to the former president in a putative three-way race.Trump has begun to attack DeSantis but has not turned his fire on Haley, despite her preparing to renege on a vow not to run if he did.Both Scott and Haley are often mentioned as potential vice-presidential picks, Haley representing youth and diversity (Haley is 51 and Indian American).On Monday, John Barrasso of Wyoming, chair of the Republican Senate conference, told the Journal that Scott “truly believes that God is great and America is great and we are provided with incredible opportunities. So I think a Ronald Reagan ‘Morning in America’ hopeful America vision is one that Tim has, lives and breathes and is really needed in our country.”On the flip side, Ed Kilgore, a Democratic operative turned columnist, suggested Scott might actually have his eye on 2028.Scott, Kilgore wrote for New York Magazine, might really be “engaging in a sort of starter presidential campaign in order to build contacts and positive name ID for a future run … a respectable start, a signature moment or two, and a graceful exit from the 2024 contest may be the real goal”.TopicsUS elections 2024RepublicansUS politicsUS CongressUS SenateSouth CarolinaDonald TrumpnewsReuse this content More

    • 150 Shares169 Views

      in US Politics

      Georgia grand jury report on Trump election pressure to be partially released

      by

      Georgia grand jury report on Trump election pressure to be partially releasedJudge ruled certain sections will be made public this week, including one involving witnesses who may have lied under oath Portions of a Georgia grand jury’s report on whether Donald Trump and allies committed crimes when they tried to overturn the 2020 election will be made public this week, but the entirety of the report will remain secret until the Fulton county prosecutor decides whether to bring charges, a judge ruled on Monday.The sections that will be made public are the report’s introduction, conclusion and a section discussing whether some of the witnesses who testified before the special purpose grand jury lied under oath. The section does not identify which witnesses may have lied.Those sections will be made public on the court docket on 16 February, Robert McBurney, a Fulton county judge ruled on Monday.The decision is the latest development in a closely watched investigation opened by Fani Willis, the Fulton county district attorney, into efforts to overturn the results of the November 2020 election. Last month, Willis appeared in court to say she opposed releasing the report in full until she decided whether to file criminal charges, a decision she said at the time was “imminent”.Untouchable review: Trump as ‘lawless Houdini’ above US justiceRead moreTrump – who infamously pressed Georgia’s top election official to “find 11,780 votes” to overturn the election – and allies could face a range of criminal charges under Georgia law. It is a state crime to intentionally try to get someone to commit election fraud or to interfere with an official who is carrying out election duties. Willis is also reportedly considering bringing Rico racketeering charges against Trump.In an eight-page ruling, McBurney said he had reviewed the report and that the grand jury had fulfilled its purpose. But releasing the entirety of the report before Willis makes a decision on criminal charges could violate the due process rights of those named in the report, he wrote.“By all appearances, the special purpose grand jury did its work by the book. The problem here, in discussing public disclosure, is that that book’s rules do not allow for the objects of the District Attorney’s attention to be heard in the manner we require in a court of law,” he wrote.Trump was issued subpoena for folder marked ‘Classified Evening Briefing’ discovered at Mar-a-LagoRead more“The consequence of these due process deficiencies is not that the special purpose grand jury’s final report is forever suppressed or that its recommendations for or against indictment are in any way flawed or suspect. Rather, the consequence is that those recommendations are for the District Attorney’s eyes only – for now.”TopicsUS politicsDonald TrumpGeorgiaUS elections 2020newsReuse this content More

    • 113 Shares119 Views

      in US Politics

      Untouchable review: Trump as ‘lawless Houdini’ above US justice

      by

      ReviewUntouchable review: Trump as ‘lawless Houdini’ above US justice Elie Honig offers a powerful indictment of the former president and those who have failed to bring him downThis book by a former federal prosecutor is subtitled “How Powerful People Get Away With It” but its overwhelming focus is Donald Trump and Merrick Garland, the most famous unindicted miscreant of modern times and the attorney general most responsible for the failure, so far, to prosecute any of his offences.People vs Donald Trump review: Mark Pomerantz pummels Manhattan DARead moreElie Honig writes that a “staggering parade” of Trump’s henchmen have been indicted, convicted, imprisoned or all three: Michael Cohen, Roger Stone, Paul Manafort, Michael Flynn, Steve Bannon, Peter Navarro, Rick Gates, George Papadopoulos, Lev Parnas, Igor Fruman, Thomas Barrack, Elliott Broidy, Sam Patten, George Nader, Allen Weisselberg and – last but not least – the Trump Organization itself.And yet, somehow, “a lawless Houdini … stands at the epicenter of the carnage, untouched, undeterred, and, if anything, emboldened”.Honig thinks the district attorney of Fulton county, Georgia, is still “the most likely to indict Trump” for his efforts to tamper with election results. But Honig makes a powerful case that “the prime opportunities to hold Trump criminally accountable for his actions have passed”, as federal and state prosecutors, especially Garland, “have fumbled away their best chances and inexcusably allowed years to lapse without meaningful action”.In the last four years, justice department leaders have zigzagged between extremes. First there was the wildly political and persistently dishonest William Barr, whose efforts to keep Trump safe ranged from keeping his name out of the indictment of Cohen for illegal hush money paid to Stormy Daniels, to Barr’s flatly false assertion that evidence developed by the special counsel Robert Mueller was “not sufficient to establish that the president committed an obstruction of justice offense”.Then came Garland, who is the opposite of Barr but who so far has managed to be nearly as helpful to Trump as his predecessor.“The problem,” Honig writes, “is in seeking to … restore political independence [for the justice department], Garland has gone too far …“It’s one thing to do the job without regard to politics. But it’s another to contort ordinary prosecutorial judgement to avoid doing anything that might even be perceived as political or controversial.”Honig prosecuted more than a hundred members of the mafia. He recounts several such cases, highlighting the similarities between the chiefs of famous families like the Luccheses and Gambinos and the man at the top of the Trump Organization.One way in which they operate the same way is to make sure subordinates lie to protect their boss, without being directly ordered to do so. For example, Cohen perjured himself when he said Trump’s efforts to build a tower in Moscow ended before the Iowa caucuses in 2016. They actually continued for months, into the “heart of the presidential campaign”.Honig writes: “Trump never said to Cohen, ‘I need you to lie for me.’ Instead, Trump openly lied in public about the timing of the Russia deal ‘for all to see’ – including Cohen.“Therein lies the beauty of being a boss. Trump never said the magic words that would have obviously given rise to criminal liability.”Honig also focuses on the dubious ethics of the former Manhattan district attorney Cyrus Vance Jr, who bungled a chance to indict two of Trump’s children over the Trump Soho project, then did the same with an investigation of Trump himself.The lawyer for Donald Trump Jr and Ivanka Trump was Marc Kasowitz. As the New Yorker, ProPublica and WNYC reported, Kasowitz gave Vance a $25,000 campaign contribution in January 2012 – just five months before meeting with Vance about the Trump kids’ case.Vance returned Kasowitz’s contribution just before his meeting with Kasowitz. Three months after the meeting, Vance dropped the case against the Trumps. Incredibly, just a few weeks after that, “Vance accepted a brand new, even larger campaign contribution from Kasowitz, who personally donated almost $32,000 and raised at least $18,000 more.” Five years later – only after the New Yorker had reported those additional contributions – Vance returned Kasowitz’s contribution again!“This much is beyond dispute,” Honig writes. “The sequence here looked terrible.”But no one comes out looking worse than Garland. Trump was protected while he was in the White House by a decades-old justice department memoranda which concluded it was impossible to indict a sitting president. After 21 January 2021, Trump lost that protection. But for many months, Garland did nothing concrete to take advantage.Honig offers the seven-count indictment he says he would have brought against Trump if he were the prosecutor in charge. It would include:
      Count 1: obstruction of justice. The Mueller report’s description of Trump’s firing of the FBI director James Comey and his attempts to fire special counsel Mueller provides overwhelming evident that “Trump obstructed justice”.
      Count 2: campaign finance violations connected to hush money paid to two of Trump’s alleged former girlfriends.
      Count 3: bribery, extortion, foreign election aid and witness retaliating and tampering, all of which were the subject of Trump’s first impeachment.
      Count 4: conspiracy, obstruction of an official proceeding and election interference – the subject of the second impeachment.
      Myth America review: superb group history of the lies that built a nationRead moreHonig’s final conclusion: while “Garland plays by Marquess of Queensbury rules”, Trump is “a remorseless street brawler”. Garland could have brought criminal charges “but he didn’t, at least not in a timely manor … As many advantages as the system gave to Trump, and as aggressive and effective as he has been in explaining them, Garland still could have achieved some measure of justice, if he had just done his job.”This week brought the news that Jack Smith, the special counsel belatedly appointed by Garland to investigate Trump, had subpoenaed Trump’s former vice-president, Mike Pence, as part of his investigation of the former president’s post-election activities.Perhaps the justice department will manage to defy expectations and return an indictment against Donald Trump. This powerful book, however, offers very little hope for that most desirable outcome.
      Untouchable: How Powerful People Get Away With It is published in the US by Harper
      TopicsBooksLaw (US)US crimeUS politicsPolitics booksDonald TrumpJeffrey EpsteinreviewsReuse this content More

    • 163 Shares149 Views

      in US Politics

      Trump was issued subpoena for folder marked ‘Classified Evening Briefing’ discovered at Mar-a-Lago

      by

      Trump was issued subpoena for folder marked ‘Classified Evening Briefing’ discovered at Mar-a-LagoExclusive: Subpoena was issued last month after the folder was observed in Trump’s private quarters at the property Donald Trump’s lawyers turned over an empty manilla folder marked “Classified Evening Briefing” after the US justice department issued a subpoena for its surrender once prosecutors became aware that it was located inside the private quarters of the former president’s Mar-a-Lago resort, two sources familiar with the matter said.The previously unreported subpoena was issued last month, the sources said, as the recently appointed special counsel escalates the inquiry into Trump’s possible unauthorized retention of national security materials and obstruction of justice.Mike Pence subpoenaed in Trump special counsel investigations – reportsRead moreThe folder was seen in Trump’s residence by a team of investigators he hired to search his properties last year for any remaining documents marked as classified. The team transparently included the observation in an inventory of Mar-a-Lago and Trump properties in Florida, New Jersey and New York.Weeks after the report was sent to the justice department, the sources said, federal prosecutors subpoenaed the folder. The folder is understood to have not been initially returned because the lawyers thought “Classified Evening Briefing” did not make it classified, nor is it a formal classification marking.The backstory the justice department was told about the folder was that Trump would sometimes ask to keep the envelopes, featuring only the “Classified Evening Briefings” in red lettering, as keepsakes after briefings were delivered, one of the sources said.Around the same time that Trump’s lawyers turned over the empty folder – earlier reported by CNN – they also returned in December a box of presidential schedules at Mar-a-Lago of which a couple were marked as classified, and in January, a laptop on to which the contents of the box had been scanned last year by a junior aide.The mishandling of those materials appears to have been inadvertent – in which case, the justice department would be unlikely to include them in the criminal investigation, which has been far more focused on the documents that the FBI seized from Mar-a-Lago last summer.But the contentious saga reflects the deteriorating relationship between federal prosecutors who have become frustrated at Trump’s resistance towards the inquiry and his lawyers who have complained that the justice department has been unnecessarily heavy-handed at every turn.A spokesperson for the special counsel’s office declined to comment.Late last year, Trump hired a team of two private contractors with security clearances to search his properties after the department told his lawyers that they suspected the former president was still in possession of classified-marked documents even after the FBI search in August.The contractors found and immediately returned two documents, both marked as classified at the “SECRET” level, from boxes that appeared to have been unopened since they were shipped from the White House at the end of the Trump administration, the Guardian previously reported.Then, at Mar-a-Lago in December, the contractors found a box that mainly contained presidential schedules, in which they found a couple of classified-marked documents to also be present and alerted the legal team to return the materials to the justice department, the sources said.The exact nature of the classified-marked documents remains unclear, but a person with knowledge of the search likened their sensitivity to schedules for presidential movements – for instance, presidential travel to Afghanistan – that are considered sensitive until they have taken place.Trump documents: Congress offered briefing on records kept at Mar-a-LagoRead moreAfter the Trump legal team turned over the box of schedules, the sources said, they learned that a junior Trump aide – employed by Trump’s Save America political action committee who acted as an assistant in Trump’s political “45 Office” – last year scanned and uploaded the contents of the box to a laptop.The junior Trump aide, according to what one of the sources said, was apparently instructed to upload the documents by top Trump aide Molly Michael to create a repository of what Trump was doing while in office and was apparently careless in scanning them on to her work laptop.When the Trump legal team told the justice department about the uploads, federal prosecutors demanded the laptop and its password, warning that they would otherwise move to obtain a grand jury subpoena summoning the junior aide to Washington to grant them access to the computer.To avoid a subpoena, the Trump legal team agreed to turn over the laptop in its entirety last month, though they did not allow federal prosecutors to collect it from Mar-a-Lago.ABC News earlier reported the handover.“This is nothing more than a politically-motivated witch-hunt against President Trump,” a spokesman for Trump said in a statement. “The weaponized Department of Injustice has shown no regard for common decency and key rules that govern the legal system.”It was around the same time in January as the justice department retrieved the laptop that federal prosecutors in the office of the Trump special counsel Jack Smith issued a grand jury subpoena for the manilla folder marked “Classified Evening Briefing” observed in Trump’s Mar-a-Lago private quarters.TopicsDonald TrumpTrump administrationMar-a-LagoUS CongressUS politicsUS SenatenewsReuse this content More

    • 138 Shares109 Views

      in US Politics

      Koch brothers’ advocacy group courts far-right Republicans it vowed to thwart

      by

      Koch brothers’ advocacy group courts far-right Republicans it vowed to thwartAmericans for Prosperity Action recently invited two politicians who tried vigorously to overturn the 2020 presidential election At an event in California last weekend, the Koch family political network announced it would move away from Donald Trump, and invest in congressional elections in a bid to break from the far-right, Trump-supporting politicians who have come to the fore in recent years.Americans for Prosperity Action, founded by Republican megadonors Charles Koch and David Koch, who died in 2019, would be seeking to “turn the page on the past”, it said, in remarks that were covered extensively, and favorably, in the US media.But it didn’t take much to expose the hypocrisy of AFP Action’s commitment to move away from Maga politicians who, it said, “go against core American principles”.Present at the network’s meeting in Palm Springs were two of the reactionary and far-right Republicans AFP Action claims it is trying to thwart.In Eric Schmitt, a Missouri senator, and Andrew Ogles, a congressman from Tennessee, AFP Action had invited two newly elected men who tried vigorously to overturn the 2020 presidential election, and seem to have little interest in turning the page on history.Schmitt, who has invoked the “great replacement” conspiracy theory, has already backed Trump for 2024, while Ogles, a culture warrior whose campaign pitch was that the US needs to “go back to honoring God and country”, giddily accepted Trump’s endorsement last year.If, in inviting two politicians who appear to embody the essence of Trumpism, AFP Action exposed a separation between what it says and what does, then it should come as no surprise.For much of the last decade the Koch-funded group has pledged to move away from far-right Republicans, before sending tens of millions of dollars towards those very officials.As the investigative newsletter Popular Information put it: “The reality is that few individuals have spent more money to legitimize Trump and his allies than Charles Koch.”In 2020, Charles Koch, who has an estimated net worth of $68bn, told the Wall Street Journal he would focus on “building bridges across partisan divides to find answers to sprawling social problems”. In a book, published that year, Koch said he regretted his funding of the Tea Party, a far-right movement that emerged under Barack Obama’s presidency.At the beginning of 2021, AFP Action chided Republicans’ actions around the January 6 insurrection and their efforts to prevent Biden taking office. A total of 147 Republicans in Congress voted to overturn the results of the 2020 election.“Lawmakers’ actions leading up to and during last week’s insurrection will weigh heavy in our evaluation of future support,” the organization said.But the pledges from Koch and his network did not come to pass. AFP Action spent $63.4m in the two years leading up to the 2022 midterm elections. Popular Information reported that 86.7% of that spending went to candidates who had been endorsed by Trump.More than $5m of that spending went towards Schmitt’s campaign, according to Open Secrets, while AFP Action spent $302,453 supporting Ogles.In announcing its move away from Trump, AFP Action said: “The Republican Party is nominating bad candidates who are advocating for things that go against core American principles.”“To write a new chapter for our country, we need to turn the page on the past,” AFP Action said in an accompanying memo.“So the best thing for the country would be to have a president in 2025 who represents a new chapter. The American people have shown that they’re ready to move on, and so AFP will help them do that.”AFP Action said it would get involved in elections “earlier and in more primaries” in a bid to turn out more voters and elect what it described as “better people”.But in inviting Schmitt and Ogles – their attendance was first reported by the Washington Post – AFP Action sent a mixed message. Both candidates have tied themselves to a former president that Koch’s network says it is ready to ditch.Neither Schmitt nor Ogles replied to requests for comment, but they would appear to have a history of advocating for things that go against what some would define as core American principles.Ogles, a former county mayor who previously described himself as the “most conservative mayor in Tennessee”, said people were “defrauded out of a true and honest election” as he denied the legitimacy of Biden’s 2020 victory.Mitt Romney to mull Republicans’ ‘slide toward authoritarianism’ in biographyRead moreIn one of his first acts in Congress, Ogles joined with a gang of hard-right Republicans to vote against Kevin McCarthy for the House speaker, a move which triggered an embarrassing saga for the GOP and was condemned by Republican leadership.Ogles, who during his campaign for the House said conservatives need to “go after gay marriage”, used a flamethrower last July to illustrate what he thinks of Joe Biden’s policies.“We’re at war. This is a political war, a cultural war, and it’s a spiritual war,” Ogles said in his victory speech in November. “And as we go forward, we’ve got to get back to honoring God and country.”During his primary campaign, Ogles called for Biden and Harris to be impeached. He has also said Alejandro Mayorkas, the Department of Homeland Security secretary, should be charged with treason over the administration’s handling of immigration issues.Perhaps unsurprisingly, on Tuesday, Ogles was one of the Republicans who heckled Biden during his State of the Union address.During the weekend at AFP Action’s California retreat, Ogles probably found a kindred spirit in Schmitt, who has already said he will support Trump for president in 2024.As Missouri attorney general, Schmitt was one of the Republican attorneys general who challenged election results in Pennsylvania in 2020. He also signed on to a separate lawsuit, which attempted to overturn election results in Michigan, Georgia, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.While in the same office, Schmitt signed a lawsuit, with others, arguing LGBTQ people were not protected against discrimination under federal law.Since then, Schmitt has spoken of the “great replacement” conspiracy theory, which charges that Democrats are seeking to disempower white people through changing the racial makeup of the US. Democrats, Schmitt said, are “fundamentally trying to change this country through illegal immigration”.Neither candidate represents a break with the past, and it raises questions as to the seriousness of AFP Action’s new path. The organization did not respond to requests for comment.As Popular Information reported, this is not AFP Action’s first contradiction.In 2018, Koch criticized Trump’s presidency, and said he would be willing to back Democrats. AFP Action went on to spend $3,948,640 supporting Republicans and $2,835,924 opposing Democrats, Popular Information reported, and zero dollars on Democrats.Nikki Haley presidential run would sink DeSantis and hand Trump victory – pollRead moreGoing back further, Koch said in 2016 that he not support Trump – or Hillary Clinton – in the presidential election. But, Popular Information found: “He spent millions on ads that, while formally opposing Democratic Senate candidates, savaged Trump’s opponent Hillary Clinton.”Given Koch’s, and AFP Action’s history, it seems unlikely there will be much change in the future.And for all AFP Action’s talk of “bad candidates who are advocating for things that go against core American principles”, and of ending bipartisanship, it seems perfectly happy with the Republican members of Congress so far.On an AFP Action “national scorecard”, which gives elected officials scores out of 100 for their performance in office, so far every single Republican has a score of 100.TopicsUS politicsKoch brothersRepublicansDonald TrumpnewsReuse this content More

    • 125 Shares179 Views

      in US Politics

      People vs Donald Trump review: Mark Pomerantz pummels Manhattan DA

      by

      ReviewPeople vs Donald Trump review: Mark Pomerantz pummels Manhattan DAProsecutor who helped convict John Gotti thinks Alvin Bragg let Trump slip from the hook. His memoir proves controversial Mark Pomerantz is a well-credentialed former federal prosecutor. As a younger man he clerked for a supreme court justice and helped send the mob boss John Gotti to prison. He did stints in corporate law. In 2021, he left retirement to join the investigation of Donald Trump by the Manhattan district attorney. Pomerantz’s time with the DA was substantive but controversial.Trump porn star payment a ‘zombie case’ that wouldn’t die, ex-prosecutor says in bookRead moreIn summer 2021, he helped deliver an indictment for tax fraud against the Trump Organization and Alan Weisselberg, its chief financial officer. At the time, Cy Vance Jr, the son of Jimmy Carter’s secretary of state, was Manhattan DA. Pomerantz also interviewed Michael Cohen, Trump fanboy turned convicted nemesis, pored over documents and clamored for the indictment of the former president on racketeering charges.For Pomerantz, nailing Trump for his hush money payment to Stormy Daniels, the adult film star who claims an affair Trump denies, didn’t pass muster. But that avenue of prosecution was a “zombie case” that wouldn’t die. It still hasn’t: a Manhattan grand jury again hears evidence.Pomerantz saw Trump as a criminal mastermind aided by flunkies and enforcers. He believed charges ought to align with the gravity of the crimes. But as Pomerantz now repeatedly writes in his memoir, Alvin Bragg, elected district attorney in November 2021, did not want to move against Trump. In early 2022, Bragg balked. In March, Pomerantz quit – and leaked his resignation letter.“I believe that Donald Trump is guilty of numerous felony violations of the penal law,” Pomerantz fumed. “I fear that your decision means that Mr Trump will not be held fully accountable for his crimes.”Now comes the memoir, People vs Donald Trump: An Inside Account. It is a 300-page exercise in score-settling and scorn. Pomerantz loathes Trump and holds Bragg in less than high regard. He equates the former president with Gotti and all but dismisses the DA as a progressive politician, not an actual crime-fighter.In a city forever plagued by crime and political fights about it, Bragg’s time as DA has proved controversial: over guns, trespassing, turnstile jumping, marijuana and, yes, the squeegee men.Bragg is African American. This week, a group of high-ranking Black officials protested against Pomerantz’s attacks. In response, Pomerantz called Bragg “respected, courageous, ethical and thoughtful” but said: “I disagreed with him about the decision he made in the Trump case.”In his resignation letter, Pomerantz wrote: “I have worked too hard as a lawyer, and for too long, now to become a passive participant in what I believe to be a grave failure of justice.”Trump, he now writes, “seemed always to stay one step ahead of the law”. That may conjure up images of Road Runner and Wile E Coyote but Pomerantz is serious. “In my career as a lawyer, I had encountered only one other person who touched all of these bases: John Gotti, the head of the Gambino organised crime family.”The Goodfellas vibe is integral to Trumpworld. In The Devil’s Bargain, way back in 2017, Joshua Green narrated how Trump tore into Paul Manafort, his then campaign manager, shouting: “You treat me like a baby! Am I like a baby to you … Am I a fucking baby, Paul?” It was if Trump was channeling Joe Pesci.With the benefit of hindsight, Pomerantz concludes that the US justice department is better suited to handle a wholesale financial investigation of Trump than the Manhattan DA. Then again, the attorney general, Merrick Garland, has a lot on his plate. An insurrection is plenty.Pomerantz’s book has evoked strong reactions. Trump is enraged, of course. On Truth Social, he wrote: “Crooked Hillary Clinton’s lawyer [Pomerantz says he has never met her], radically deranged Mark Pomerantz, led the fake investigation into me and my business at the Manhattan DA’s Office and quit because DA Bragg, rightfully, wanted to drop the ‘weak’ and ‘fatally flawed’ case. This is disgraceful conduct by Pomerantz, especially since, as always, I’ve done nothing wrong!”Really?In December, a Manhattan jury convicted the Trump Organization on 17 counts of tax fraud and the judge imposed a $1.6m fine. Alan Weisselberg pleaded guilty and testified against his employer. Trump and three of his children – Ivanka, Don Jr and Eric – are defendants in a $250m civil lawsuit brought by Letitia James, the New York attorney general, on fraud-related charges. That case comes to trial in October 2023, months before the presidential primary. Sooner than that will be the E Jean Carroll trial, over alleged defamation and a rape claim Trump denies.Significantly, state prosecutors say Pomerantz may have crossed an ethical line.“By writing and releasing a book in the midst of an ongoing case, the author is upending the norms and ethics of prosecutorial conduct and is potentially in violation of New York criminal law,” J Anthony Jordan, president of the District Attorneys Association of the State of New York, announced.Never Give an Inch review: Mike Pompeo as ‘heat-seeking missile for Trump’s ass’Read moreBragg accused Pomerantz of violating a confidentiality agreement. Pomerantz is unbowed. “I am comfortable that this book will not prejudice any investigation or prosecution of Donald Trump,” he states on the page. No formal ethics complaint has appeared.Pomerantz also offers a window on personalities that crossed his path. Cohen receives ample attention. Pomerantz lauds Trump’s former fixer for his cooperation but reiterates that Cohen pleaded guilty to perjury.His conduct left Pomerantz shaking his head. Cohen’s liking for publicity could be unsettling. So was his Oval Office tête-a-tête with Trump over the payment to Daniels. Pomerantz was disgusted. Trump and Cohen, he writes, defiled America’s Holy of Holies, its “sanctum sanctorum”.No harm, no foul. Cohen’s lawyer, Lanny Davis, announced: “Mr Cohen will continue to cooperate with DA Bragg and his team, speaking truth to power – as he has always done.” On Wednesday, Cohen met the Manhattan DA for the 15th time. Pomerantz is gone. The show goes on.
      People vs Donald Trump: An Inside Account is published in the US by Simon & Schuster
      TopicsBooksDonald TrumpUS politicsUS taxationRepublicansPolitics booksLaw (US)reviewsReuse this content More