Grand jury investigating 2020 election interference hands up indictment
The federal grand jury hearing evidence in special counsel Jack Smith's investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election handed
2023-08-02 05:51
Witness says Rep. Ronny Jackson handcuffed and 'briefly detained' during rodeo while trying to assist with medical emergency
Republican Rep. Ronny Jackson of Texas was handcuffed and placed on the ground face-first by local law enforcement while he was trying to assist a teenage girl in medical distress at a rodeo over the weekend, according to a witness who spoke to CNN.
2023-08-02 05:21
Trump claims special counsel will indict him over January 6 on Tuesday evening
Former president Donald Trump says a third criminal indictment against him will become public at 5.00 pm ET, just hours after the Washington, DC grand jury hearing evidence in the probe into his attempts to overturn the 2020 election ended work for the day. The ex-president appeared to announce the impending charges against him late Tuesday in a post to his Truth Social website. “I hear that Deranged Jack Smith, in order to interfere with the Presidential Election of 2024, will be putting out yet another Fake Indictment of your favorite President, me, at 5:00 P.M,” he wrote. He suggested that the reason charges for attempting to overturn the 2020 election unlawfully did not appear against him after he left office in 2021 is because “they” wanted to do so in the thick of his 2024 primary election campaign. He added: “Prosecutorial Misconduct!” In a second post, the ex-president suggested the new charges were filed to distract from Republican efforts to promote unproven claims of corruption against President Biden. The former president has a history of making public new criminal charges against him before they have been disclosed by prosecutors. After a Florida grand jury charged him with unlawfully retaining national defence information and obstruction of justice, Mr Trump announced the new case against him in a Truth Social post while the case was still sealed. Mr Trump currently is set to go on trial in two separate criminal cases next year: The federal case against him in Florida is schedule to go before a jury in May 2024, and he will stand trial in a New York State courtroom on charges of allegedly falsifying business records starting in March 2024. The charges thought to be filed against the ex-president were revealed in a target letter sent to his attorneys last month. It is understood that prosecutors were investigating him for violating three parts of the US criminal code covering conspiracy to defraud the United States, deprivation of rights under colour of law, and witness tampering. More follows... Read More It's Kamala Harris vs. Ron DeSantis in the fight over Florida's new teachings on slavery Trump says ‘fake’ charges coming today from Jan 6 grand jury — live updates Trump allies in Michigan charged for illegally accessing voting machines
2023-08-02 05:18
Poland rushes troops to border, Belarus denies helicopter violation
By Agnieszka Pikulicka-Wilczewska WARSAW (Reuters) -Poland said on Tuesday it was rushing troops to its eastern border after accusing Belarus,
2023-08-02 04:58
Son of Colombia's president pleads not guilty to money laundering charges
BOGOTA (Reuters) -The eldest son of Colombian President Gustavo Petro, Nicolas Petro, on Tuesday pled not guilty to charges of
2023-08-02 04:51
Harris Rejects DeSantis Invitation to Discuss Black History
Vice President Kamala Harris publicly rejected Republican presidential challenger Ron DeSantis’s invitation to visit Florida to discuss the
2023-08-02 03:26
Trump news — latest: New indictment speculation in Jan 6 case as grand jury leaves courthouse
Donald Trump’s Save America PAC is reportedly running out of cash as a result of the extensive legal bills his campaign is facing as it fights fires on several fronts. The PAC began last year with $105m but is now down to just $4m, according to The New York Times, after paying off costly lawyers’ fees picked up defending Mr Trump in a variety of cases concerning everything from his business practices and personal history to his retention of classified documents since leaving the White House. Meanwhile, Fani Willis, district attorney of Fulton County, Georgia, has said that her investigation into the 45th president’s energetic efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in the Peach State is “ready to go”, suggesting a potential indictment could be imminent. Separately, another indictment is also looming from Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith, who is also probing Mr Trump’s efforts to overturn the vote and his role in inciting the Capitol riot of 6 January 2021. On Tuesday, the grand jury assigned the case met again heightening anticipation. Whichever materialises first will represent the Republican’s third of the year. Read More Mar-a-Lago property manager is the latest in line of Trump staffers ensnared in legal turmoil Trump's early work to set rules for nominating contest notches big win in delegate-rich California What is an indictment? Donald Trump is facing his third and fourth of 2023
2023-08-02 03:21
Republicans demand yet more information on Hunter Biden plea deal
A trio of Republican House committee chairs is demanding information from the Department of Justice on the pending plea and diversion agreements between prosecutors and Hunter Biden as part of their ongoing effort to inflict political damage on his father, President Joe Biden. In a letter to US Attorney General Merrick Garland, House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan, Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, and Ways and Means Committee Chair Jason Smith said the decision by Delaware US Attorney David Weiss to allow Hunter Biden to plead guilty to two misdemeanour tax charges and enter into a deferred sentencing agreement on a single charge of lying on a gun background check form “raise serious concerns ... that the Department has provided preferential treatment toward Mr. Biden in the course of its investigation and proposed resolution of his alleged criminal conduct”. Mr Biden, who is President Biden’s youngest and only surviving son, has admitted to what have been well-documented struggles with alcohol and drugs, and during an aborted plea hearing last week said he’d been in and out of rehabilitation facilities on numerous occasions over the last few decades. During that court appearance, US District Judge Maryellen Noreika objected to a provision of the diversion agreement which stated that she — not prosecutors — would be responsible for determining whether Mr Biden might have breached the agreement’s terms, which would necessitate new criminal charges. The judge said the provision in question was “not standard” and “different from what I normally see” and suggested it violates the separation of powers in the US Constitution because it would put the judicial branch in the position of making a charging decision that is an executive branch function. Legal experts have opined that the provision at issue was an attempt by the department to protect Mr Biden from a situation in which a future Republican administration would manufacture charges against him. The current GOP frontrunner for the party’s 2024 presidential nomination, Donald Trump, has repeatedly pledged to jail Mr Biden, his father, and numerous other prominent Democrats. The GOP representatives asked Mr Garland to provide them with data on how often, if at all, the Delaware US Attorney’s office and the Justice Department have included similar provisions in diversion agreements. They also demanded information on who — prosecutors or Mr Biden’s defence attorneys — suggested that the agreement should place a final decision on new charges in a judge’s hands, and asked Mr Garland to provide a list of pretrial division agreements for other defendants who’ve been charged with the same gun-related offence as Mr Biden, as well as “all documents and communications referring or relating to each similar pretrial diversion agreement entered into by the Department in the last ten years”. Additionally, the committee chairs asked Mr Garland to provide a “generalized description of the nature of the Department’s ongoing investigation” into Mr Biden and an “explanation of why the Department originally agreed to a plea agreement” with Mr Biden if there are ongoing probes into him. It is unlikely that Mr Garland will provide any response that satisfies the GOP representatives, as the Justice Department’s policy for decades has been to not comment on ongoing investigations, even in response to congressional inquiries. Read More House Oversight chair admits GOP can’t back up Biden bribery accusations Hunter Biden’s ex-business partner testifies to Congress. Here’s what to know Biden acknowledges Hunter’s daughter Navy in public for first time
2023-08-02 02:58
Watch as Kamala Harris speaks at African Methodist Episcopal Church Quadrennial Convention
Watch as US vice president Kamala Harris delivers remarks at the 20th Women’s Missionary Society of the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church Quadrennial Convention. Ms Harris has travelled to Florida to speak at the event, which comes coincidentally after Florida governor Ron DeSantis challenged her to come to the state. In a letter sent on Monday, Mr DeSantis, who is seeking the Republican Party’s nomination in the 2024 presidential election, touted Florida as the “number one state in the nation for education”. The vice president has been busy over the last few weeks, which saw her already visit Florida in July. Ms Harris was on a trip to speak at an event in Jacksonville, where she spoke out against some changes to how African-American history is taught in Florida. During her visit to the Ritz Theatre and Museum in Jacksonville, Harris lamented how damaging it is when schools don't discuss historical crimes as part of the curriculum. Read More DeSantis wants to meet with Kamala Harris over Florida’s Black history curriculum Biden goes west to talk about his administration's efforts to combat climate change Tim Scott rebukes DeSantis for new Florida Black history curriculum on slavery
2023-08-02 02:50
New Jersey Lt Gov Sheila Oliver dies after being hospitalised for undisclosed medical issue
New Jersey Lt Gov Sheila Oliver has died one day after being hospitalised for treatment for an undisclosed medical issue while serving as acting governor. Ms Oliver was taken to Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston on Monday, while Governor Phil Murphy was in Italy on a family vacation. Her family confirmed her death at the age of 71 in a statement on Tuesday. “It is with incredible sadness and a heavy heart that we announce the passing of the Honorable Sheila Y. Oliver, Lieutenant Governor of the State of New Jersey,” the family said in a statement to ABC7. “She was not only a distinguished public servant but also our cherished daughter, sister, aunt, friend, and hero.” No cause of death has been released. In a statement, Gov Murphy said he and his family were “incredibly saddened to learn of the passing of our dear friend, colleague, and partner in government.” Ms Oliver, a Democrat, was selected as Gov Murphy’s running mate in 2017, and was a “trailblazer in every sense of the word”, he said. In 2010, she became the first Black woman to serve as Speaker of the General Assembly, and was the second Black woman in US history to lead a house of a state legislature. “I knew then that her decades of public service made her the ideal partner for me to lead the State of New Jersey. It was the best decision I ever made.” Democratic Senate President Nicholas Scutari is serving as acting governor, the governor’s spokesperson Mahen Gunaratna said. The governor will be returning to the US “soon”, Mr Gunaratna added. Along with serving as Gov Murphy’s top lieutenant, Ms Oliver also oversaw the Department of Community Affairs, which coordinates state aid to towns and cities and supervises code enforcement. She had been twice elected to the lieutenant governor’s role in 2017 and 2021, becoming the second person to hold the post in New Jersey. Born and raised in Newark, Ms Oliver earned a degree in sociology from Pennsylvania’s Lincoln University before being elected to the Essex County board of chosen freeholders in 1996. Ms Oliver had served on the New Jersey assembly since 2004. “She brought a unique and invaluable perspective to our public policy discourse and served as an inspiration to millions of women and girls everywhere, especially young women of colour,” Gov Murphy said in a statement. “Beyond all of that, she was an incredibly genuine and kind person whose friendship and partnership will be irreplaceable.” Ms Oliver’s family requested privacy, and said details of a memorial service would be provided at a later date. Read More New Jersey sues federal highway officials in bid to stop New York City's plan to charge big tolls Manhattan architect, family man and accused serial killer: Who is Gilgo Beach suspect Rex Heuermann? Chris Christie slams Trumps as ‘Corleones with no experience’ New Jersey Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver, first Black woman to serve as state Assembly speaker, dies at 71 The first generation of solar panels will wear out. A recycling industry is taking shape Blue blood from horseshoe crabs is valuable for medicine, but a declining bird needs them for food
2023-08-02 01:26
New Jersey Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver dies at 71
New Jersey Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver has died, her family said. She was 71.
2023-08-02 00:59
DeSantis defends record on abortion following rebuke from leading anti-abortion group
Ron DeSantis on Tuesday defended his record delivering "pro-life protections" as Florida governor following criticism from the Susan B. Anthony anti-abortion group over his reluctance to embrace a national ban.
2023-08-02 00:56