List of All Articles with Tag 'erica'

Former president Donald Trump’s attorney Alina Habba said on Fox News that she is “ashamed” and “embarrassed” to be a lawyer after the former president was indicted. Ms Habba spoke on Jesse Watters’s show amid news that a federal grand jury indicted Mr Trump on charges related to his allegedly unlawful retention of national defence information. Mr Trump’s attorney said the indictment was a distraction from supposed impropriety on behalf of President Joe Biden, pointing to the fact that House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer was planning to hold FBI Director Christoper Wray, whom Mr Trump nominated to lead the bureau in 2017, in contempt of Congress for supposedly withholding documents. But Mr Comer retracted the contempt vote after the FBI agreed to share documents, The New York Times reported. “Every single time there is a coordinated dance that is becoming obvious to the American people because they are smart,” she said. Ms Habba said that the indictments of the twice-impeached former president were the equivalent of a “shiny ball” meant to distract people. “I'm embarrassed to be a lawyer at this moment,” she said. “Honestly, I am ashamed. I'm ashamed to be a lawyer. I'm ashamed that this is the state of our country.” Ms Habba said the indictment showed the United States had a two-tiered system of justice. “And it is so obvious that there's this dual-system of justice,” she said. “This is selective prosecution, selective persecution. It is absolute persecution. It is Russia third world stuff, and it should not be happening.” Mr Trump first broadcast the indictment on his Truth Social networking platform on Thursday, one day after The Independent had reported that federal prosecutors planned to ask a grand jury to indict Mr Trump. “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,” Mr Trump said, denying his guilt and proclaiming he is an “innocent man.” Mr Trump said he has been summoned to appear at a federal courthouse in Miami on Tuesday by 3.00 pm ET. Read More Trump indictment - live: Trump says he’s ‘an innocent man’ as he faces seven charges in documents case Donald Trump has been indicted in Mar-a-Lago classified documents case Ivanka and Jared split over attending Trump 2024 launch – follow live Why was Donald Trump impeached twice during his first term? Four big lies Trump told during his 2024 presidential announcement

Former president Donald Trump on Thursday said his lawyers have been told he has been indicted on charges related to his alleged unlawful retention of national defence information at his Palm Beach, Florida home. Writing on his Truth Social platform, the ex-president wrote: “The corrupt Biden Administration has informed my attorneys that I have been Indicted, seemingly over the Boxes Hoax”. The ex-president followed the bombshell claim with a series of allegations against his successor in the White House, President Joe Biden, stemming from the discovery documents bearing classification markings at several locations linked to the sitting president. In a subsequent post, Mr Trump said he has been summoned to appear at a federal courthouse in Miami on Tuesday, 13 June, at 3.00 pm ET. “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 said, adding that he is “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 added. More follows... Read More Trump says he is ‘an innocent man’ as he’s being indicted over secret documents case James Watt, sharp-tongued and pro-development Interior secretary under Reagan, dies at 85 Funeral director thought to be Capitol rioter dubbed ‘#BlackBonoHelmet’ is arrested

Months after his identity was gleaned by online sleuths working to track down the names of those who attacked the US Capitol on January 6, a Long Island funeral home director has been arrested. The arrest of Peter Maloney – of Bayport, New York – was announced on Wednesday in a press release from the Department of Justice, which accused him of “spray[ing] police officers with ... insecticide” on at least two occasions, and also helping other rioters gang up on and violently assault persons who they mistook for news reporters. He was dubbed #BlackBonoHelmet online by the group, which has identified other Americans yet to be arrested in connection to the attack He faces two felony counts and five misdemeanors for his participation in the assault; the felony charges include assault of a police officer, a more serious charge than many others who simply followed the mob into the Capitol, illegally, before leaving would later receive. It’s a far lighter list of charges than members of the far-right Oathkeepers militia received, however; leaders of that group were charged with seditious conspiracy against the United States. FBI agents who compiled evidence against him argued that Mr Maloney’s decision to come equipped with insecticide and body armour showed his intent to commit violence before the attack even began. His arrest coincides with a much more high-profile nabbing of a January 6 conspirator this week — Bob’s Burgers and Arrested Development fans reacted with disbelief and disgust as actor Jay Johnston, known for his roles on the shows, was arrested and charged with felony obstruction of peace officers among several misdemeanors. He was previously fired from the former show after being ID’d online by Sedition Hunters, the very same group responsible for sniffing out Mr Maloney’s identity. Apparently indicating the limits of the Justice Department’s capabilities, spokespersons for the group noted on Twitter just last month that it had been more than two years since Mr Maloney’s identity had been confirmed positively by the website’s sleuths. Read More Bank records raise questions about home remodel in Texas Attorney General Paxton's impeachment Trump knew how to correctly declassify documents, White House official tells prosecutors Bob’s Burgers actor arrested and charged in connection with Jan 6 Capitol riot

A spokesman for the White House National Security Council (NSC) has flatly rejected a report which claimed that China and Cuba have reached an agreement in principle to host a surveillance post. John Kirby appeared on MSNBC shortly after the publication of The Wall Street Journal’s report on Thursday; the report claimed that the cash-strapped Cuban government had accepted an offer by Beijing to set up a listening post on Cuban soil, within range of some US military installations. The article went on to claim that such a listening post could theoretically scoop up communications across much of the southeastern United States. “Officials familiar with the matter said that China has agreed to pay cash-strapped Cuba several billion dollars to allow it to build the eavesdropping station and that the two countries had reached an agreement in principle,” read the report. It continued: “An eavesdropping facility in Cuba, roughly 100 miles from Florida, would allow Chinese intelligence services to scoop up electronic communications throughout the southeastern U.S., where many military bases are located, and monitor U.S. ship traffic.” But Mr Kirby said that the Journal’s assertions were inaccurate when confronted by NBC’s Andrea Mitchell. "China and Cuba have now reached a secret agreement, we’re told, for China to establish an electronic facility which would allow Chinese intelligence agents to scoop up electronic communications throughout the southeastern US,” Mitchell began to Mr Kirby. “I’ve seen that press report, it’s not accurate,” Mr Kirby contended. “What I can tell you is that we have been concerned since day one of this administration about China’s influence activities around the world, certainly in this hemisphere and in this region, we’re watching this very, very closely.” Mitchell tried again: “You’re saying it’s not accurate that they’re planning this?” “I’m saying we’ve seen the report, it’s not accurate,” said Mr Kirby in response. It was a much stronger statement than he himself had made to the Journal initially. The paper quotes him as saying in response to their request for comment, “While I cannot speak to this specific report, we are well aware of – and have spoken many times to – the People’s Republic of China’s efforts to invest in infrastructure around the world that may have military purposes, including in this hemisphere.” “We monitor it closely, take steps to counter it, and remain confident that we are able to meet all our security commitments at home, in the region, and around the world,” he added in that statement. At a news briefing on Thursday, a spokesman for the Pentagon echoed Mr Kirby’s denial. “I’ve seen that reporting, I can tell you, based on the information that we have, that that is not accurate,” said Air Force Brig Gen Pat Ryder. The report’s publication comes at a time of tension between Washington and Beijing, with both sides accusing the other of purposefully inflammatory actions. Some of those actions have included trips to Taiwan by senior US officials, which have enraged the Chinese government as they mark the US’s continued defiance of China’s claims of sovereignty over the island. It also comes as many in the US, particularly on the left, argue that the time has come for an end to the US embargo of Cuba, the socialist nation shunned by the US since the Cold War, when it was firmly allied with the Soviet Union. The decades-long trade prohibition has left Cuba’s economy in a delicate state, and many argue serves no purpose in the modern era. Read More Biden and Sunak to focus on Ukraine and economic security in British PM's first White House visit AP-NORC poll finds both Democrats, Republicans skeptical of US spying practices Alabama senator says Space Command prefers Huntsville for HQ, but command has no comment Rishi Sunak and Joe Biden stress ‘unwavering support’ for Ukraine Sunak announces ‘Atlantic Declaration’ to boost UK-US ties after Biden talks AP-NORC poll finds both Democrats, Republicans skeptical of US spying practices

Former US vice president Mike Pence officially announced that he is running for the Republican nomination in the 2024 presidential election, pitting him against Donald Trump. In a speech in Iowa on his 64th birthday, Mr Pence trod a fine line between embracing the record of the Trump administration and attacking Mr Trump for his role in the deadly Capitol riot of 6 January 2021. In a CNN town hall on Wednesday evening, Mr Pence reasserted his conservative culture war credentials on abortion, gun rights, crime, school choice, and climate change. When asked about his estranged former boss, he called on the Department of Justice not to prosecute Mr Trump for his alleged mishandling of classified documents, immediately after saying that everyone should be treated equally under the law. Significantly, he refused to say he would pardon the ex-president if he won the White House. In an increasingly crowded GOP field, Mr Pence faces competition from the likes of Florida governor Ron DeSantis, former New Jersey governor Chris Christie, senator Tim Scott and ex-UN ambassador Nikki Haley. On Thursday, Mike and Karen Pence celebrated their 38th wedding anniversary on the campaign trail. Read More Mike Pence isn’t even a contender for 2024. Why are we pretending? Mike Pence suffered the wrath of Trump. Now the ex-vice president wants his old boss’s job in 2024 The Republican presidential field is largely set. Here are takeaways on where the contest stands.

A Donald Trump-supporting New York billionaire says that he wants to buy embattled CNN from Warner Bros. Discovery. Grocery mogul John Catsimatidis told The New York Post that he would “go run the place tomorrow morning and all I’d want is $1 per year.” The news network has been hit by falling ratings and earlier this week under-fire CEO Chris Licht, who attempted to drag CNN to the right, was fired after a searing profile in The Atlantic. Greek-born Mr Catsimatidis, 74, refused to tell the newspaper how much he would be willing to offer for CNN. “It’s up to the investment bankers to come up with the numbers,” he said, as he suggested that finance to complete the deal would not be an issue. “We could always bring partners in, but I want to run the place,” he continued. “We are capable of putting down a substantial amount of money.” And he added: “I’d go run the place tomorrow morning, and all I’d want is $1 per year and a piece of the upside.” Mr Catsimatidis, who has a reported personal wealth of more than $4bn, is already in the media business having bought New York’s WABC radio station for $12.5m in 2019. “Whoever is running that company (CNN) is wrong,” Mr Catsimatidis said, telling the newspaper the network should not have fired Mr Licht, who supported the controversial Donald Trump town hall. “If the network is getting half a million (viewers) a night and they have Trump on and they get 3 million (viewers), to fire the CEO for getting that many people…” he said. But he insisted that if took over CNN he would continue to try and ensure that Republicans got equal coverage to Democrats. “I want the truth, not opinions. If people say there’s two truths, let’s voice both truths and let the viewers decide.” Read More How Chris Licht’s botched effort to drag CNN to the right ended with his own stunning downfall CNN CEO Chris Licht out days after devastating expose CNN’s own media reporter turns on embattled CEO The folly of trusting Trump claims two more victims. Why do they do it?

President Joe Biden on Thursday blasted efforts across the country to roll back LGBTQ+ protections, referring to proponents of the restrictions as "hysterical" and "prejudiced."

US President Joe Biden accidentally called UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak “Mr President” as the two met in the Oval Office of The White House during Mr Sunak’s two-day visit to Washington, DC. “Well Mr President ...I just demoted you, Mr Prime Minister,” Mr Biden said as he quickly corrected himself. Mr Biden assured Mr Sunak that the US-UK special relationship is in “real good shape” and that the US has no “closer ally than Great Britain,” adding that he was “delighted” to see the prime minister in the US capital. Mr Sunak welcomed Mr Biden’s “warm words” and lauded the “strength of our partnership, our friendship”. “We will put our values front and centre as we’ve always done,” he said. Mr Biden mentioned that Winston Churchill and Franklin Delano Roosevelt met in the very same place more than seven decades before, according to the Mirror. “They asserted to the strength of the partnership between Great Britain and the United States with the strength of the free world. I still think there’s truth to that assertion,” he said. Mr Sunak recalled that Mr Churchill was once found wandering the halls of the White House in the middle of the night, joking that he wouldn’t be. He has been staying at the presidential guest house, Blair House, during his hectic visit. The US government bought the property after Eleanor Roosevelt discovered Mr Churchill carrying a cigar as he headed towards the private area of the first family at about 3am. “There’s an awful lot of stories that are told, probably a bunch apocryphal about former prime ministers,” Mr Biden said. “Wondering around at 3am in the morning? Winston Churchill bothering Mrs Roosevelt,” Mr Sunak said. “Sir, don’t worry, you won’t see me there bothering you and the First Lady.” “In the past few months we have met each other in San Diego and then we met in Belfast and we met Hiroshima,” Mr Biden noted. “And now we’re here we’re going solve all the problems of the world in the next 20 minutes.” “Together, we’re providing economic humanitarian aid and security assistance to Ukraine in their fight against the Russians,” the president added. Mr Sunak said that “it’s daunting to think of the conversations that our predecessors had in this room when they had to speak of wars that they fought together, peace won together, incredible change in the lives of our citizens”. “And again, for the first time in over half a century, we face a war on the European continent,” he added in reference to Russia’s war in Ukraine. “And as we’ve done before, the US and the UK, have stood together to support Ukraine and stand up for the values of democracy and freedom and make sure that they prevail, as I know we will.” Read More Budget 2022: Hunt says UK in recession as he announces huge tax rises Jeremy Hunt increases energy windfall tax in budget Jeremy Hunt freezes tax allowances and hits 45p rate payers Watch live as Biden and Sunak hold press conference after White House talks Leaders reflect on Churchill’s early hours visits to Roosevelt Government must ‘speed up and scale up’ AI in education – Lord Hague

Watch live as Joe Biden and Rishi Sunak hold a press conference after their meeting at the White House on Thursday (8 June). The war in Ukraine and artificial intelligence (AI) were two topics expected to be high on the agenda in their talks, which took place in Washington DC. Mr Biden and Mr Sunak met days after the Nova Kakhovka dam, which lies along the Dnipro river in Russia-held Kherson, was blown up. As a result of the incident, water gushed into nearby villages and towns in the region with a 42,000-strong population at risk of losing their homes, food, safe water and livelihoods. Ukraine has blamed Russia for an attack on the dam, and Mr Sunak said earlier this week that the destruction would be “new low” if Moscow was indeed responsible. “What I can say is if it is intentional, it would represent, I think, the largest attack on civilian infrastructure in Ukraine since the start of the war, and just would demonstrate the new lows that we would have seen from Russian aggression,” he said. Read More Budget 2022: Hunt says UK in recession as he announces huge tax rises Jeremy Hunt increases energy windfall tax in budget Jeremy Hunt freezes tax allowances and hits 45p rate payers

Chris Christie is punching back at Donald Trump after the former president responded to his campaign announcement with a juvenile video edit making fun of Mr Christie’s weight. The former New Jersey governor appeared on CNN on Wednesday after launching his campaign with a town hall event at St Anselm College a night earlier. During his interview, he was questioned by The Lead host Jake Tapper about a video Mr Trump posted on Truth Social of Mr Christie delivering remarks edited to appear as if the candidate is holding a plate of food while he talks. Mr Christie responded that the move reinforced, for him, the childishness of his opponent. “It just renewed in my own mind what a child he is. He’s a baby. Whenever you want to criticise him, in any way, that’s the way he responds,” Mr Christie said. Likening that behaviour to that of a toddler, he added that Mr Trump should be “sent to [his] room, not to the White House”. “It’s so juvenile. He is such a spoiled baby,” Mr Christie continued. He then noted that he had been struggling with his weight and health for many years, quipping derisively that Mr Trump was “breaking news” with his response. Separately, Mr Trump accused the former governor of having a fixation on the word “small” during his town hall event in another Truth Social statement. “How many times did Chris Christie use the word SMALL? Does he have a psychological problem with SIZE? Actually, his speech was SMALL, and not very good. It rambled all over the place, and nobody had a clue of what he was talking about. Hard to watch, boring, but that’s what you get from a failed Governor (New Jersey) who left office with a 7% approval rating and then got run out of New Hampshire,” barked the former president. “This time, it won’t be any different!” It was, generally, a sign of the aggressive tone that both Mr Christie and Mr Trump plan to adopt in the GOP primary, which has heated up this week with the addition of three separate candidates in the field. Comparatively, their fellow candidates in the Republican primary have shied away from directly attacking the former president or responding to his own jabs at them. Not so for the New Jerseyan two-time presidential candidate, who laid into his opponent during his appearance in New Hampshire this week and accused the entire Trump family of the same “grift” and corruption which they accuse the Biden family of undertaking. He also tore into the former president’s record, characterising Mr Trump as an inefficient president who failed to address a number of problems — but namely immigration reform — during his four years in the White House. Read More Mike Pence isn’t even a contender for 2024. Why are we pretending? Fox News host apologises for ‘milkshake’ Chris Christie comment Pence accuses Trump of treating abortion issue as an ‘inconvenience’ Trump ridicules Chris Christie’s weight in edited 2024 campaign launch video The Republican presidential field is largely set. Here are takeaways on where the contest stands. Doug Burgum, little-known governor of North Dakota, announces White House run

In a victory for voting rights and Alabama voters, the US Supreme Court has ruled that the state likely violated the Voting Rights Act with a congressional redistricting plan that diluted the voting power of Black voters. The state likely discriminated against Black voters with a Republican-drawn map that packs most of the state’s Black residents into a single district, out of seven, despite Black residents making up 27 per cent of the state’s population. A key ruling in the case of Allen v Milligan on 8 June means that the state will have to re-draw its congressional map to include a second majority-Black district. The surprise 5-4 decision on the conservative-majority panel was written by Chief Justice John Roberts, joined by liberal Justices Elena Kagan, Ketanji Brown Jackson and Sonia Sotomayor, with partial but crucial concurrence from conservative Brett Kavanaugh. Consertive justices Samuel Alito, Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas dissented. Last year, a lower court ordered the state to draw new political boundaries that would create at least two districts in which Black voters would be more likely to elect a representative to Congress that more closely resembles the state’s demographics. The Voting Rights Act was drafted to prevent that kind of race-based dilution of Black voters. But attorneys for the state argued the opposite – that considering race to redraw political boundaries would mark an unconstitutional consideration of “racial targets” and “race-based sorting”, in violation of the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause. The justices rejected that argument. A decision that sided with Alabama attorneys would have radically reduced Black voters’ political power and landed a critical blow to a state with a long history of racist violence and discrimination. Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act prohibits voting laws and election policies from discriminating on the basis of race. The state’s suggestion that “race should play no role whatsoever” to determine whether redistricting plans violate Section 2 would “rewrite” the law and “overturn decades of settled precedent,” according to the map’s challengers. Attorneys for President Joe Biden’s administration argued that Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act should be considered when “pervasive racial politics would otherwise deny minority voters equal electoral opportunities.” The map’s challengers argued that is precisely what is at stake in Alabama. The case stems from a lawsuit filed on behalf of Greater Birmingham Ministries, Alabama State Conference of the NAACP, and a group of voters represented by the American Civil Liberties Union and NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, among others. A group of Black voters filed a similar lawsuit in 2018 and lost. The state’s sole majority-Black district – currently represented by Democratic US Rep Terri Sewell – has a voting population that is 60 per cent Black, roughly one-third of the state’s Black population. The state’s remaining Black population is “cracked” across the First, Second and Third congressional districts – all represented by white Republicans. “This decision is a crucial win against the continued onslaught of attacks on voting rights,” according to a statement from NAACP Legal Defense and Educational senior counsel Deuel Ross, who argued the case before the court last October. “Alabama attempted to rewrite federal law by saying race had no place in redistricting. But because of the state’s sordid and well-documented history of racial discrimination, race must be used to remedy that past and ensure communities of color are not boxed out of the electoral process,” he added. This is a developing story Read More Supreme Court to review South Carolina congressional map for discrimination against Black voters Supreme Court rules in favor of Black voters in Alabama redistricting case Main suspect in 2005 disappearance of Natalee Holloway due to be extradited to US Alabama senator says Space Command prefers Huntsville for HQ, but command has no comment

California Governor Gavin Newsom has called on states to join him to adopt a 28th Amendment to the US Constitution that would enshrine constitutional protections and gun safety measures while preserving the Second Amendment’s right to bear arms. His proposal – which would require a convention of the states, with two-thirds of all state legislatures joining in support – would raise the federal minimum age to purchase a firearm to 21, mandate universal background checks and a “reasonable” waiting period for buying a gun, and prohibit all civilian purchases of assault weapons “that serve no other purpose than to kill as many people as possible in a short amount of time – weapons of war our nation’s founders never foresaw,” according to the governor’s office. “Our ability to make a more perfect union is literally written into the Constitution,” according to a statement from the Democratic governor of the nation’s most-populous state. “The 28th Amendment will enshrine in the Constitution common sense gun safety measures that Democrats, Republicans, Independents, and gun owners overwhelmingly support – while leaving the [Second Amendment] unchanged and respecting America’s gun-owning tradition,” he added. It’s a long-shot effort in a nation dominated by Republican-led state legislatures and a resistance to adopting gun safety measures widely supported by most Americans. A federal ban on so-called assault weapons expired in 2004, and congressional Republicans have refused to revive it, even as public massacres and mass shootings with AR-style rifles have surged. More than 18,000 people have died from gun violence, including suicide, in 2023, according to the Gun Violence Archive. There have been at least 279 mass shootings, in which at least four people were killed or wounded, as of 8 June. The nation is on pace to hit a record number of mass killings in 2023, with an average of one every week. This is a developing story Read More DeSantis defends flying migrants to California as he meets with sheriffs near border Florida officials share video boasting of role in California migrant flights Gavin Newsom suggests kidnap charges over Ron DeSantis’s migrant flights