List of All Articles with Tag 'cs'

Former President Donald Trump said Tuesday he could soon be facing his third criminal indictment of the year. No president or former president has ever been charged with one crime, let alone three, so terms like "historic" and "unprecedented" no longer feel large enough to explain what is going on here.

Donald Trump has reached out to his top allies on Capitol Hill to strategize how they can help defend him against potential criminal charges over his effort to overturn the 2020 election -- the latest example of Republicans racing behind the scenes to use their power and platforms to shield the former president without knowing details yet about the criminal investigation.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Tuesday suggested that indicting former president Donald Trump for any crime stemming from his attempt to remain in office against the wishes of voters after losing the 2020 election would mean the Department of Justice is “criminalising political differences” and going after Mr Trump because prosecutors dislike him. Mr DeSantis, who currently trails Mr Trump in most polls of 2024 Republican primary voters, was speaking to CNN anchor Jake Tapper when he was asked about Mr Trump’s claim that he has received a letter from prosecutors informing him that he could soon be indicted a second time by a Washington, DC grand jury that has been investigating events leading up to the January 6 attack on the Capitol, when a riotous mob of the ex-president’s supporters tried to stop certification of his loss to Joe Biden. The Florida governor replied: “ So here's the problem. This country is going down the road of criminalising political differences, and I think that’s wrong”. Rather than address the possibility of charges against Mr Trump stemming from the January 6 investigation, Mr DeSantis instead pivoted to attack Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg, who earlier this year charged Mr Trump with multiple felony counts of having allegedly falsified business records relating to a 2016 hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels. Mr DeSantis claimed that Mr Bragg “stretched” the statute under which he charged the ex-president in order to “target” him, and said “most people, even people on the left” have agreed that such a case wouldn’t have been brought had Mr Trump been “a normal civilian”. He also invoked the 2016-2018 Justice Department probe into Russia’s 2016 campaign of interference in that year’s presidential election as a “number one example” of both the DOJ and FBI being “weaponised against people they don’t like,” and called that investigation — which found that the Russian government’s efforts on Mr Trump’s behalf had been “sweeping and systematic” — “not a legitimate investigation” and alleged, falsely, that it had been opened to “drive Trump out of office”. Mr DeSantis then claimed his aim as president would be to “restore a single standard of justice” and “end weaponisation of these agencies” by firing FBI Director Christopher Wray, a Trump appointee who has become a conservative hate object for failing to protect Mr Trump while not acting to target the ex-president’s Democratic enemies. Asked whether he was advocating for ignoring evidence of criminality on Mr Trump’s part, he replied that what he was actually saying was that “going after somebody on the other side of the political spectrum” was “wrong”. “I think we've gone down the road in this country of trying to criminalise differences in politics rather than saying, okay, you don't like somebody then defeat them in the election, rather than trying to use the justice system,” he said. Read More Michigan charges 16 fake electors for Donald Trump with election law and forgery felonies DeSantis pushes AI-generated attack ad featuring fake Trump voice Matt Gaetz launches bill to defund Jack Smith probe as Trump asks Capitol allies help

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has announced criminal charges against 16 people who signed certificates falsely declaring that Donald Trump won the 2020 presidential election, part of a nationwide scheme to upend the results in states that the former president lost to Joe Biden. The outcomes of presidential elections rest on slates of electors who decide their votes based on the outcome of their states’ popular vote. As then-President Trump sought a spurious legal effort to reject the outcome, his allies arranged slates of “alternate” electors in several states to cast their votes for him, despite his loss. Ms Nessel’s announcement arrived the same day that the former president said he has received a target letter from federal prosecutors indicating that he is the subject of an investigation into his efforts to overturn election results, suggesting that he could imminently be facing charges. The criminal charges in Michigan against the so-called “fake” electors appear to be the first. They each face eight felony counts, including election law forgery and conspiracy. Her office also has not ruled out charges against other potential defendants, she said. Those 16 people met in the basement of the state’s Republican Party headquarters and signed certificates falsely claiming that they were “the duly elected and qualified electors for president and vice president of the United States of America for the state of Michigan,” Ms Nessel said in prepared remarks on 18 July. “That was a lie,” she said. “They weren’t the duly elected and qualified electors, and each of the defendants knew it.” Those electors then attempted to deliver those documents to the state Senate and to the US Senate, where Vice President Mike Pence presided over the congressional certification of electoral college votes, and where Mr Trump and his allies allegedly pressured him to use those false slates of electors to overturn the election’s outcome and keep Mr Trump in office. “This plan – to reject the will of the voters and undermine democracy – was fraudulent and legally baseless,” Ms Nessel said. “The false electors’ actions undermine the public’s faith in the integrity of our election, and not only violate the spirt of the laws enshrining and defending our democracy, but, we believe, also plainly violated the laws by which we administer our elections in Michigan and peaceably transfer power in America.” Ms Nessel, an elected Democratic official, dismissed arguments that the prosecutions are politically motivated. “But where there is overwhelming evidence of guilt, in respect to multiple crimes, the most political act I can engage in as a prosecutor is to take no action at all,” she said. Ms Nessel’s office had previously referred the cases to the US Department of Justice but indicated earlier this year that she was reopening the “parallel investigation” into election crimes in the state, citing “clear evidence” for a prosecution. Prosecutors in Georgia have also indicated that fake electors from that state may also face criminal charges, as Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis pursues a separate investigation into the former president’s efforts to reject election results in that state. “Every serious challenge to the election had been denied, dismissed, or otherwise rejected by the time the false electors convened. There was no legitimate legal avenue or plausible use of such a document or an alternative slate of electors,” Ms Nessel said in a statement accompanying the announcement of charges. “There was only the desperate effort of these defendants, who we have charged with deliberately attempting to interfere with and overturn our free and fair election process, and along with it, the will of millions of Michigan voters,” she added. “That the effort failed and democracy prevailed does not erase the crimes of those who enacted the false electors plot.” Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith has focused his office’s attention in several states, including interviews with the office of Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, who provided a tranche of documents that included communications between the state’s election officials and Mr Trump’s former lawyers and members of his campaign as the former president’s allies targeted the critical battleground state. Mr Smith is investigating an array of schemes pursued by Mr Trump and his allies to reject 2020 results, including the fake electors plot. This is a developing story Read More Trump news – live: Trump could be indicted for a third time as soon as this week in Jan 6 probe Trump says he is about to be arrested again after letter confirms he’s target of Jan 6 grand jury

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said on Tuesday that plans are in progress to appeal a temporary block on the state's new, restrictive abortion law, previewing a likely emotional court battle that could take months to resolve. Reynolds told reporters at the Iowa Capitol that her staff is working with lawyers in Attorney General Brenna Bird's office to work out the details, so “it's just a matter of time,” she said. The Republican-controlled Legislature approved the measure to ban most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy during a special session last week, and it went into effect Friday, immediately after Reynolds signed it. The ACLU of Iowa, Planned Parenthood North Central States and the Emma Goldman Clinic launched a legal challenge and on Monday, Judge Joseph Seidlin granted their request to pause the law as the courts assess its constitutionality. Abortion providers said they scrambled to fit in as many appointments as possible before the governor signed the bill, making hundreds of calls to prepare patients for the uncertainty and keeping clinics open late. After the ruling, providers at Planned Parenthood and the Emma Goldman Clinic indicated they were relieved but conscious of the long legal fight ahead. “I think the bill that we passed is constitutional, especially with the changes that we’ve seen," said Reynolds, who alluded to the Iowa Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court reversing previous rulings that affirmed a woman's fundamental right to abortion. “We passed it, it went into law, and for three days we were saving babies,” she said. “I think the right to life is the most important right that we have.” Read More Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide

Sixteen fake electors who signed certificates falsely claiming President Donald Trump won Michigan in the 2020 election have been charged with crimes, state Attorney General Dana Nessel announced Tuesday.

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Special counsel Jack Smith's team has contacted former Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, who Donald Trump pressured to overturn the 2020 election, a source familiar with the outreach confirms CNN.

Rep Matt Gaetz of Florida said on his podcast Tuesday morning that he will in the coming days introduce a bill to defund Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into former President Donald Trump. “In the coming hours, the coming days, I will be introducing legislation under my name, in the House of Representatives, as a freestanding bill, to defund the Jack Smith investigation,” Mr Gaetz said. “And one reason why is the election interference feature. Another reason why: the lack of transparency.” Mr Gaetz’s announcement comes just hours after Mr Trump said he’s recieved a letter from Mr Smith’s investigation into the events of January 6 informing him that he is the target of a grand jury investigation in Washington, DC. “Deranged Jack Smith, the prosecutor with Joe Biden’s DOJ, sent a letter (again, it was Sunday night!) stating that I am a TARGET of the January 6th Grand Jury investigation, and giving me a very short 4 days to report to the grand Jury, which almost always means an Arrest and indictment,” Mr Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. It is as of now unclear what charges Mr Trump may face, though he’s already been indicted for allegedly mishandling classified documents in Florida and allegedly participating in a hush money payment scheme in New York. But if Mr Trump is indicted again for his participation in efforts to overturn the result of the 2020 presidential election and subvert American democracy, it could dampen his odds of being returned to office in next year’s election — a prospect he and his supporters are arguing amounts to election interference. Mr Trump has in recent weeks repeatedly attacked Mr Smith, who was appointed as special counsel by Attorney General Merrick Garland last year. Mr Smith has been charged with overseeing two Department of Justice investigations into the former president, one regarding January 6 and the other regarding his handling of classified material. Read More Democratic lawmaker screams at ‘exhausting’ Matt Gaetz on House floor House Ethics Committee revives ‘misconduct’ probe into rep Matt Gaetz Christopher Wray hits back at Gaetz after Republican presses him on trust in the FBI

The US and Europe are struggling to provide Ukraine with the large amount of ammunition it will need for a prolonged counteroffensive against Russia, and Western officials are racing to ramp up production to avoid shortages on the battlefield that could hinder Ukraine's progress.