List of All Articles with Tag 'politics'

The federal judge who will initially preside over Donald Trump’s criminal indictment in the classified documents case was appointed by the former president and delivered him a series of controversial and favourable rulings during the investigation. US District Judge Aileen Cannon, who was appointed to the bench in 2020 during Mr Trump’s final year in office, is scheduled to preside his federal court case in Miami when he faces seven counts in an indictment involving his alleged mishandling of sensitive records removed from the White House and kept at his Mar-a-Lago property. ABC News first reported the development. Last year, Judge Cannon appointed a “special master” to review materials seized by federal law enforcement and restricted the FBI from using those documents as part of the investigation until she completed a review, effectively freezing the US Department of Justice probe. That order was ultimately thrown out entirely by a federal appeals court. The three-judge panel sharply criticised Judge Cannon’s order, writing that it is “extraordinary for a warrant to be executed at the home of a former president – but not in a way that affects our legal analysis or otherwise gives the judiciary license to interfere in an ongoing investigation.” “The law is clear,” the panel wrote. “We cannot write a rule that allows any subject of a search warrant to block government investigations after the execution of the warrant. Nor can we write a rule that allows only former presidents to do so.” Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart, who signed a warrant for federal authorities to search Mar-a-Lago in August 2021, will preside over Mr Trump’s first court appearance in Miami on 13 June. With a relatively brief career before her federal appointment, Judge Cannon, among a crowd of Federal Society acolytes that have reshaped the federal judiciary, was confirmed by the US Senate by a vote of 56-21. She previously served as an assistant US attorney for the Justice Department in the Southern District of Florida. If she does not recuse herself from the case and she remains a trial judge, she could play a potentially critical role in the case’s development, including whether to set a trial before or after presidential primary elections and the general election in 2024. She also could determine whether to admit certain evidence, decide on motions or dismiss arguments entirely. She also would preside over sentencing, if there is a conviction. Her decisions also would be subject to the review of a federal appellate court. Read More Trump indictment — live: Trump’s brazen classified document admission revealed amid MAGA meltdown over charges Obstruction, witness tampering, conspiracy: The federal charges against Donald Trump How Trump’s second indictment unfolded: A timeline of the investigation into Mar-a-Lago documents

Rep. Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin, whom national Republicans had tried to recruit, announced Friday he will seek reelection in the House instead.

Walt Nauta, an aide to former President Donald Trump, was indicted in special counsel Jack Smith's investigation into the mishandling of classified documents from the Trump White House, according to a source familiar.

DUBAI Sudan's warring sides have agreed on a nationwide, 24-hour ceasefire from Saturday morning, U.S. and Saudi Arabian

First lady Dr. Jill Biden will hit the 2024 fundraising circuit next week, marking her first solo efforts to promote her husband's reelection campaign.

Donald Trump immediately started to fundraise off his fresh indictment on seven counts in the federal probe into his handling of classified information. Mr Trump is set to appear in court on Tuesday at a federal courthouse in Miami. If convicted, he could face a sentence of more than a century in prison. “This is nothing but a disgusting act of Election Interference by the ruling party to ELIMINATE its opposition and amass total control over our country,” Mr Trump wrote in a message to supporters. “The Deep State thought they had destroyed our campaign when a Soros-backed prosecutor indicted and even ARRESTED me earlier this year,” Mr Trump added in reference to his arraignment in the New York hush-money case involving adult actor Stormy Daniels. “But then, we SHOCKED them as our campaign grew even stronger... We broke fundraising records. 3 independent polls showed us beating Joe Biden by 7 POINTS. In fact, polls show I’m the ONLY Republican who can beat Crooked Joe,” he added. “So, after a state prosecutor failed to break us, the Deep State sharpened their attacks and unleashed a FEDERAL prosecutor to TRY and take us down.” “But let me be as clear as possible: No matter how viciously they attack me, I will NEVER, EVER SURRENDER our country to the radical Left and I will NEVER end this presidential campaign that puts YOU first,” he said. The 45th president has now been indicted for the second time in less than three months. The new charges stem from his alleged illegal retention of national security information. It was Mr Trump himself who initially shared the news that he had been indicted again. He did so in several posts on his social media platform Truth Social the day after it was reported that federal prosecutors had planned to ask a grand jury to indict Mr Trump. “The corrupt Biden Administration has informed my attorneys that I have been Indicted, seemingly over the Boxes Hoax,” Mr Trump wrote. “I never thought it possible that such a thing could happen to a former President of the United States, who received far more votes than any sitting President in the History of our Country, and is currently leading, by far, all Candidates, both Democrat and Republican, in Polls of the 2024 Presidential Election,” he claimed, calling himself “an innocent man”. “This is indeed a DARK DAY for the United States of America. We are a Country in serious and rapid Decline, but together we will Make America Great Again!” he wrote. The seven-count indictment reportedly includes one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice, one count of making false statements, and at least one count of unlawful retention of national defence information. Trump attorney James Trusty appeared on CNN on Thursday saying that one count in the indictment concerns a violation of Section 1512 of the US criminal code, which refers to witness tampering. The charges against Mr Trump come a few days after his legal team met with Justice Department officials as they failed to convince the authorities not to indict their client. The investigation began last year when the National Archives and Records Administration found more than 100 documents marked classified while going through 15 boxes taken from Mar-a-Lago, Mr Trump’s Palm Beach, Florida residence.

Donald Trump made the stunning admission that he held onto “secret” military information that he hadn’t declassified. “As president, I could have declassified, but now I can’t,” Mr Trump said during the meeting in 2021 after he left office, according to a transcript obtained by CNN. In the meeting, Mr Trump spoke about a classified Defence Department document regarding a supposed attack on Iran. The recording was obtained by prosecutors, in which Mr Trump states that he didn’t declassify the document he’s speaking about. On Thursday, Mr Trump was indicted on seven counts in the probe led by special counsel Jack Smith into the ex-president’s handling of classified documents. The indictment hasn’t been made fully public, meaning it’s not clear if any of those charges relate to the recording from 2021. But the recording does show that Mr Trump was aware that the documents he had brought with him from the White House after leaving office on 20 January that year were still classified. In public, Mr Trump has argued that all of the files he took to Florida had been declassified and he has claimed that the investigation is a witch hunt and an attempt to hinder his 2024 campaign to return to the White House. It was reported last week that prosecutors had procured the audio recording, which was made in 2021 at Mr Trump’s Bedminster, New Jersey resort with two individuals working on the autobiography of Mr Trump’s final White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows in addition to aides to the former president, such as Marco Martin, a communications staffer. The transcript implies that Mr Trump is showing the document he’s speaking about during the conversation. CNN reported that several sources have said that the sound from the recording includes the rustling of papers, indicating that Mr Trump may have been moving the document around. But’s it’s not clear if it was the document regarding Iran. “Secret. This is secret information. Look, look at this,” Mr Trump said. “This was done by the military and given to me.” At the time, Mr Trump was complaining about the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley. The meeting took place not long after a story published by The New Yorker outlined how Gen Milley told the Joint Chiefs during the last days of Mr Trump’s time in office to make sure that the then-president not give any illegal orders and that Gen Milley should be made aware if there were any concerns. “Well, with Milley – uh, let me see that, I’ll show you an example. He said that I wanted to attack Iran. Isn’t that amazing? I have a big pile of papers, this thing just came up. Look. This was him,” Mr Trump said, the transcript shows. “They presented me this – this is off the record, but – they presented me this. This was him. This was the Defense Department and him. We looked at some. This was him. This wasn’t done by me, this was him.” “All sorts of stuff – pages long, look. Wait a minute, let’s see here. I just found, isn’t that amazing? This totally wins my case, you know. Except it is like, highly confidential. Secret. This is secret information. Look, look at this,” Mr Trump added. “Secret” and “confidential” are both degrees of classified information. Federal prosecutors have probed Mr Trump’s handling of classified information and his obstruction of the investigation. Mr Trump’s attorney said the 45th president was summoned by the Department of Justice to appear in court on Tuesday in Miami. Mr Smith, the Special Counsel, is also investigating Mr Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election. Mr Smith was appointed in November to lead the Department of Justice’s documents and election probes by Attorney General Merrick Garland.

Former President Donald Trump acknowledged on tape in a 2021 meeting that he had retained "secret" military information that he had not declassified, according to a transcript of the audio recording obtained by CNN.

Donald Trump was indicted on seven charges relating to the storage of classified national defence documents dating from his presidency at his Mar-a-Lago mansion in Palm Beach, Florida. The 45th president of the United States will now appear in federal court in Miami on Tuesday, his lawyer has since confirmed. Should he ultimately be convicted, he could face a maximum combined sentence of 100 years in prison. Following the latest dramatic development to place his bid for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination in jeopardy, Mr Trump insisted on Truth Social: “I am an innocent man”. “The corrupt Biden Administration has informed my attorneys that I have been Indicted, seemingly over the Boxes Hoax,” he seethed in a separate post. The Department of Justice has been investigating the potential violation of the Espionage Act for some time but has so far not made any comment on the indictment. Mr Trump’s rivals for the nomination have rallied behind him by criticising the “weaponisation of federal law enforcement”. One of those is Florida governor Ron DeSantis, whose campaign has meanwhile been accused of sharing fake AI images of Mr Trump embracing Dr Anthony Fauci, in the hope of discrediting him. Read More What is an indictment? Here’s what Donald Trump is facing Will Donald Trump be arrested and jailed after classified documents indictment? Trump indicted in classified documents case in a historic first for a former president Trump indicted: What to know about the documents case and what's next

Biden administration officials are doubling down on efforts to stem the flow of migrants journeying to the US-Mexico border, capitalizing on nearly a month of low border crossings in the wake of the lifting of a Covid-era restriction.

The US Secret Service will meet Mr Trump's staff on Friday to plan his arrest and court appearance.

The last time former President Donald Trump was indicted, his successor left the White House the next day intent on going about his schedule without wading into the matter.