List of All Articles with Tag 'politics'

KHARTOUM (Reuters) -A massive fire broke out on Wednesday near a military complex containing an arms factory in southern Khartoum

Former President Donald Trump took to Truth Social to share his furious reaction to the news that prosecutors are ready to ask a Washington, DC grand jury to indict him for violating the Espionage Act and for obstruction of justice. The charges may drop as soon as tomorrow, further complicating Mr Trump’s 2024 campaign for the White House. “No one has told me I’m being indicted, and I shouldn’t be because I’ve done NOTHING wrong, but I have assumed for years that I am a Target of the WEAPONIZED DOJ & FBI, starting with the Russia, Russia, Russia HOAX, the ‘No Collusion’ Mueller Report, Impeachment HOAX #1, Impeachment HOAX #2, the PERFECT Ukraine phone call, and various other SCAMS & WITCH HUNTS. A TRAVESTY OF JUSTICE & ELECTION INTERFERENCE AT A LEVEL NEVER SEEN BEFORE. REPUBLICANS IN CONGRESS MUST MAKE THIS THEIR # 1 ISSUE!!!” Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social on Wednesday afternoon. The Independent reported earlier on Wednesday that prosecutors are ready to ask grand jurors to approve an indictment against Mr Trump for violating a portion of the US criminal code known as Section 793, which prohibits “gathering, transmitting or losing” any “information respecting the national defence”. It is understood that prosecutors intend to ask grand jurors to vote on the indictment on Thursday, but that vote could be delayed as much as a week until the next meeting of the grand jury to allow for a complete presentation of evidence, or to allow investigators to gather more evidence for presentation if necessary. Mr Trump also quoted a line from a report by Trump ally John Solomon of Just The News: “An American Bar Association report in 2022 seemed to agree with Trump’s assertion that ‘guidelines support his contention that presidents have broad authority to formally declassify.’” On 5 June, Mr Trump went on an all-capitalised rant about the classified documents case, writing: “HOW CAN DOJ POSSIBLY CHARGE ME, WHO DID NOTHING WRONG, WHEN NO OTHER PRESIDENT’S WERE CHARGED, WHEN JOE BIDEN WON’T BE CHARGED FOR ANYTHING, INCLUDING THE FACT THAT HE HAS 1,850 BOXES, MUCH OF IT CLASSIFIED, AND SOME DATING BACK TO HIS SENATE DAY WHEN EVEN DEMOCRAT SENATORS ARE SHOCKED.” “ALSO, PRESIDENT CLINTON HAD DOCUMENTS, AND WON IN COURT. CROOKED HILLARY DELETED 33,000 EMAILS, MANY CLASSIFIED, AND WASN’T EVEN CLOSE TO BEING CHARGED! ONLY TRUMP - THE GREATEST WITCH HUNT OF ALL TIME!” he added in the post on Monday. More follows...

Javier Salazar, the sheriff of Bexar County, Texas, is recommending criminal charges against those involved with flights that sent 49 mostly Venezuelan migrants from El Paso to Martha’s Vineyard last year, what was widely derided as a political stunt orchestrated by Florida governor Ron DeSantis. A statement from the sheriff’s office says it has completed an investigation launched last September and recommended several counts of unlawful restraint, both misdemeanours and felonies, to the office of the Bexar County district attorney. Meanwhile, Casey DeSantis, Florida’s first lady and the wife of the aspiring Republican presidential candidate, has been branded a “Walmart Melania” after she wore a leather jacket emblazoned with a map of the Sunshine State, an alligator and the legend “Where woke goes to die” during a campaign stop in Iowa to promote her husband. Elsewhere, a Vice documentary about the candidate’s earlier career as a US Navy lawyer serving at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility in Cuba has been mysteriously dropped from Showtime’s schedules, according to The Hollywood Reporter, with no explanation given. Read More Federal judge blocks DeSantis ban on gender-affirming care for Florida trans youth: ‘Gender identity is real’ Chris Christie gave Trump legitimacy. Now he can’t stop Trump in 2024 Mike Pence suffered the wrath of Trump. Now the ex-vice president wants his old boss’s job in 2024

The Department of Justice is preparing to ask a Washington, DC grand jury to indict former president Donald Trump for violating the Espionage Act and for obstruction of justice as soon as Thursday, adding further weight to the legal baggage facing Mr Trump as he campaigns for his party’s nomination in next year’s presidential election. The Independent has learned that prosecutors are ready to ask grand jurors to approve an indictment against Mr Trump for violating a portion of the US criminal code known as Section 793, which prohibits “gathering, transmitting or losing” any “information respecting the national defence”. The use of Section 793, which does not make reference to classified information, is understood to be a strategic decision by prosecutors that has been made to short-circuit Mr Trump’s ability to claim that he used his authority as president to declassify documents he removed from the White House and kept at his Palm Beach, Florida property long after his term expired on 20 January 2021. That section of US criminal law is written in a way that could encompass Mr Trump’s conduct even if he was authorised to possess the information as president because it states that anyone who “lawfully having possession of, access to, control over, or being entrusted with any document ...relating to the national defence,” and “willfully communicates, delivers, transmits or causes to be communicated, delivered, or transmitted or attempts to communicate, deliver, transmit or cause to be communicated, delivered or transmitted the same to any person not entitled to receive it, or willfully retains the same and fails to deliver it on demand to the officer or employee of the United States entitled to receive it” can be punished by as many as ten years in prison. It is understood that prosecutors intend to ask grand jurors to vote on the indictment on Thursday, but that vote could be delayed as much as a week until the next meeting of the grand jury to allow for a complete presentation of evidence, or to allow investigators to gather more evidence for presentation of necessary. A separate grand jury that is meeting in Florida has also been hearing evidence in the documents investigation. That grand jury was empaneled in part to overcome legal issues posed by the fact that some of the crimes allegedly committed by Mr Trump took place in that jurisdiction, not in Washington. Under federal law, prosecutors must bring charges against federal defendants in the jurisdiction where the crimes took place. Another source familiar with the matter has said Mr Trump was recently informed that he is a “target” of the Justice Department probe, which began in early 2022 after National Archives and Records Administration officials discovered more than 100 documents bearing classification markings in a set of 15 boxes of Trump administration records retrieved from Mar-a-Lago, the century-old mansion turned private beach club where Mr Trump maintains his primary residence and post-presidential office. Over the course of the last year, grand jurors have heard testimony from numerous associates of the ex-president, including nearly every employee of Mar-a-Lago, former administration officials who worked in Mr Trump’s post-presidential office and for his political operation, and former high-ranking administration officials such as his final White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows. Mr Meadows has already given evidence before the grand jury and is said to be cooperating with the investigation into his former boss. It is understood that the former North Carolina congressman will plead guilty to several federal charges as part of a deal for which he has already received limited immunity in exchange for his testimony. Prosecutors are also prepared to ask grand jurors to indict Mr Trump on charges that he obstructed justice during the year-long investigation and caused false statements to be made to investigators by persons working for him. It is possible that such charges could stem from a declaration submitted to federal investigators roughly a year ago, when FBI agents and prosecutors visited his home to retrieve a sealed folder filled with 38 classified documents which Mr Trump’s attorneys turned over in response to a grand jury subpoena. According to court documents, the government subsequently developed evidence indicating that documents had been removed from a storage room where his attorneys had stated that all such documents were being stored in the days following the receipt of the grand jury subpoena. Using that evidence, which reportedly includes surveillance footage taken by cameras placed in the interior of Mar-a-Lago, prosecutors obtained a search warrant for the property that was carried out by FBI agents on 8 August last year. During that search, special agents discovered 103 documents bearing classification markings, including 18 marked “top secret,” 54 marked “secret,” and 31 marked as “confidential,” including a number of documents that were stored in Mr Trump’s personal office. 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A newly released Defense Department inspector general investigation found that a former senior Pentagon leader berated and belittled subordinates, cursed at them, made some employees cry, and generally created a toxic work environment.

Missouri's Republican Gov. Mike Parson on Wednesday signed into law two bills targeting the rights of transgender people in the state, including a ban on gender-affirming care for minors and a prohibition on trans women and girls from playing on sports teams that align with their gender.

Supreme Court Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch were flown to Italy. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson received a $1,200 "congratulatory floral arrangement" from Oprah Winfrey. And Justice Sonia Sotomayor received nearly $150,000 in book royalties from her publisher.

Hunter Biden's lawyers hope a recent federal appeals court ruling on access to firearms could help convince the Justice Department not to bring a gun-related prosecution against the president's son, sources close to his legal team tell CNN.

The FBI is willing to allow the full House Oversight Committee to review an internal law enforcement document that includes an unverified allegation that Joe Biden, while vice president, was involved in a bribery scheme involving a foreign national, sources familiar with the decision tell CNN.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will travel to southern Arizona on Wednesday -- his first visit to the US-Mexico border as a presidential candidate -- a day after taking credit for a pair of flights that recently carried migrants from Texas to California.

Former Vice President Mike Pence announced he's running for president on Wednesday, setting up a battle for the Republican nomination with his former boss, Donald Trump.

Alyssa Farah Griffin, a former White House communications director during the Trump administration who is now a CNN political commentator, voluntarily met with federal prosecutors in recent weeks, sitting for a formal interview as part of the ongoing special counsel probe related to January 6 and the former president's efforts to overturn the 2020 election, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.