Attorney General Barr Hunter Biden will not name special counsel for investigation
Outgoing Attorney General William Burr said on Monday that he saw no reason for a special counsel to handle the criminal investigation of President-elect’s........»»
US Justice Dept names special counsel to probe Biden’s son
The US Justice Department on Friday escalated its investigation into President Joe Biden's son Hunter, naming a special counsel amid allegations he engaged in illicit business deals overseas. Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Delaware federal prosecutor David Weiss, who recently investigated Hunter Biden on tax and gun charges in a case that remains open. Weiss, who opened his probe in 2019, recently revealed that he was investigating Biden along other lines, and Garland said Weiss had requested special counsel status to be able to pursue his probe more widely. "Upon considering his request, as well as the extraordinary circumstances relating to this matter, I have concluded that it is in the public interest to appoint him as special counsel," Garland said. Deals in China, Ukraine Hunter Biden has come under investigation in Congress over business deals he did in China, Ukraine, and elsewhere during and after his father's 2009-2017 term as vice president. A former business associate told Congress recently that Hunter had gotten his father involved in telephone calls with his foreign partners several times. Republicans allege Joe Biden used his political position to help his son -- a claim the president denies. The move comes as Joe Biden is running for reelection, possibly in a rematch with former president Donald Trump, himself accused of felony crimes in the investigation by another Justice Department special counsel, Jack Smith. Garland gave no hint on the subject matter of Weiss' expanded probe, saying his elevation to the special counsel "reaffirms" the independence and authority of his investigation. Last month, the 53-year-old Hunter aborted a plea deal with Weiss over gun and tax charges after a judge pointed out inconsistencies in the agreement. The deal would have seen Biden avoid prison: he would have been sentenced to probation on two tax avoidance counts, and be forced into a counseling and rehabilitation program for the firearms charge. But the deal fell apart after Judge Maryellen Noreika queried why the gun charge was included in a tax case, and whether the agreement protected Biden from charges that might arise from a wider investigation of his business dealings. Biden then entered a not-guilty plea, and the two sides were expected to work out a new agreement. But in a filing in Delaware court on Friday, Weiss said those talks had reached an impasse and withdrew the offer of a plea deal. Instead, he indicated that the tax charges could be expanded to other venues. Republicans say DOJ protecting Biden There was no comment from the White House on Weiss's elevation to special counsel. In a social media post, a Trump spokesperson alleged that the Biden family had been "protected by the Justice Department for decades." "There is overwhelming evidence and credible testimony detailing their wrongdoing of lying to the American people and selling out the country to foreign enemies for the Biden Cartel's own financial gain," the spokesperson said, without offering evidence. Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy indicated that the Congressional probe of Hunter Biden will continue. "This action by Biden's DOJ cannot be used to obstruct congressional investigations or whitewash the Biden family corruption," he said on social media. The post US Justice Dept names special counsel to probe Biden’s son appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Trump expects arrest, more indictments
WASHINGTON (AFP) — As special counsel Jack Smith winds down his high-stakes investigation of Donald Trump’s alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, the former US president faces a slew of potential charges. The 77-year-old Trump said Tuesday he had received a letter from Smith confirming he was a target of the probe and added that he expected to be arrested and indicted soon. The special counsel, who was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland in November, declined to comment, but US media reports said the letter cited three federal criminal statutes: conspiracy to defraud the United States; obstruction of an official proceeding, and deprivation of rights. Trump has already been indicted and pleaded not guilty in two other criminal cases — for mishandling top secret government documents after leaving the White House and for allegedly paying 2016 election-eve hush money to a porn star. Here is a look at the charges Trump — the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination — may face in connection with efforts to overturn his election loss to Democrat Joe Biden and the January 6, 2021 storming of the US Capitol by his supporters: The conspiracy statute makes it a crime if “two or more persons conspire either to commit any offense against the United States, or to defraud the United States.” Daniel Richman, a former federal prosecutor who now teaches at Columbia University, said the statute is “very broad” and can be applied in a number of ways to Trump’s conduct before and after the election, which he baselessly claimed was “stolen.” “I’m assuming that a fraudulent effort to mislead Congress and to delay or prevent the certification of the election would be very plausible,” Richman told AFP. It could be applied to Trump’s attempts to pressure Mike Pence into not certifying Biden’s election victory at the January 6 joint session of Congress — which the then-vice president ultimately refused to do. It could also be used to prosecute Trump for another failed bid to stay in power — the submission of false slates of electors in seven states which Biden won. Michigan charged 16 “false electors” this week with conspiracy, forgery and fraud for their role in the scheme, which was guided by two attorneys close to Trump, Rudy Giuliani and John Eastman. Trump also called the secretary of state in Georgia and urged him to “find” enough votes to reverse Biden’s victory in the southern state, according to a recording of the phone call. Giuliani and Eastman, along with other Trump associates, are believed to be a focus of Smith’s investigation and there would need to be other defendants in addition to Trump for prosecutors to bring a conspiracy charge. Conspiracy to defraud the government is punishable by up to five years in prison. The charge of corruptly obstructing, influencing or impeding an official proceeding — the January 6 joint session of Congress — has been brought against more than 300 Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol that day. When it comes to Trump, “there could be multiple obstruction counts, there could be a multiple-prong obstruction conspiracy with different aspects to it,” Richman said. “One basis for an obstruction charge might be dealings that Trump and those around him had with witnesses in the case, those testifying before congressional committees, or doing other things to cover their tracks after January 6,” he said. Trump did not personally go to Congress on 6 January, but before his supporters stormed the Capitol he delivered a fiery speech nearby repeating his election-fraud falsehoods and urging the crowd to “fight like hell.” Obstruction of an official proceeding carries a maximum prison term of three years. Deprivation of rights This statute stems from the post-Civil War era in US history when it was used to prosecute attempts to prevent formerly enslaved African Americans from exercising their voting rights. It makes it a crime “for a person acting under color of law to willfully deprive a person of a right or privilege protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States.” That includes the right to vote and have it counted. “In more recent times, the statute has been used against election fraud or election misconduct,” Richman said. “What’s important about this charge, unlike the others, is it really puts front and center that the victims are not just government actors,” the former prosecutor said, but ordinary Americans who risked being deprived of their votes. Deprivation of rights is punishable by up to 10 years in prison. The post Trump expects arrest, more indictments appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Prosecutors tell Trump lawyers he is target of classified docs probe: reports
US prosecutors have told Donald Trump's lawyers that he is the target of a probe into his handling of classified documents after leaving the presidency, in a sign he might be indicted, US media reported Wednesday night. The notice came from the office of special counsel Jack Smith, The New York Times, CNN and other news outlets said, and gives the clearest sign yet that prosecutors are moving closer to charging the former president, who is seeking a return to the White House in 2024. The Times, citing "two people familiar with the matter", said it was not clear when Trump's team had been told he was the subject of the investigation. Special counsel Smith, named by Attorney General Merrick Garland, has been looking into a cache of classified documents that Trump had stored at his Mar-a-Lago residence after leaving the White House. The FBI carted away some 11,000 papers after serving a search warrant on Mar-a-Lago in August, and Trump could face obstruction-of-justice charges after spending months resisting efforts to recover the trove. Trump has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. "No one has told me I'm being indicted, and I shouldn't be because I've done NOTHING wrong," Trump posted on his Truth Social network Wednesday. "I have assumed for years that I am a Target of the WEAPONIZED DOJ & FBI," said Trump, who has already been indicted in a separate case. Investigators have been scrutinizing several suspected attempts to obstruct them from getting access to documents and footage from a security camera near the storeroom at Mar-a-Lago where documents were kept. Trump has openly acknowledged taking and storing the documents, undermining his lawyers' suggestion that he took the stash inadvertently in the confusion of a chaotic departure. Meanwhile, investigators have obtained an audio recording of Trump in which he acknowledged he held onto a classified Pentagon document after he left the White House, according to US media. On Monday, US media also reported that Trump's lawyers met with Justice Department attorneys. John Rowley, James Trusty and Lindsey Halligan were seen by reporters arriving at the DoJ building in Washington but did not make any comment. The Washington Post reported at the time that Trump's lawyers had come to make their case that their client should not face any charges. One expert told MSNBC that Wednesday's news would suggest an indictment is in the offing. "If a prosecutor tells you that you are the target of their investigation, it means they expect to indict you," former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti said. "When I was on the other side of the aisle, when I was a federal prosecutor, when I told someone they were a target, that's what I meant." 'Dramatic and divisive' Trump has already been charged with dozens of financial crimes as part of an alleged hush-money scheme to silence a porn star claiming she had sex with him, and is due to go on trial next March, in the middle of primary election season. The former president is facing a growing list of Republican primary opponents, including his former vice president Mike Pence, who avoided taking an absolute position when asked about the probe during a CNN town hall interview Wednesday night. "Let me be clear that no one's above the law," Pence said. "I would just hope there would be a way for them to move forward without the dramatic and drastic and divisive step of indicting a former president of the United States," he added. Fellow 2024 candidate and former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson took a stronger tack, urging Trump to drop out of the presidential race. "Donald Trump is the target of an ongoing criminal investigation and he should step aside & put the good of the country above his candidacy," he tweeted Wednesday night. In addition to the hush-money and documents probes, Trump is being investigated over his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss in the southern state of Georgia and his involvement in the January 2021 storming of the US Capitol by his supporters. Other politicians have been found to have kept government documents at their private homes in recent months. In January, Garland named a separate special counsel to examine whether President Joe Biden violated any law after the discovery of some classified documents at his former office and in the garage of his home in Wilmington, Delaware. Pence was recently cleared of any wrongdoing over materials he uncovered at his home in Indiana. The post Prosecutors tell Trump lawyers he is target of classified docs probe: reports appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Trump lawyers meet with Justice Dept over documents probe
Donald Trump's lawyers met with Justice Department attorneys on Monday as an investigation into the former president's handling of classified documents appears to be nearing an end, US media reported. John Rowley, James Trusty, and Lindsey Halligan were seen by reporters arriving at the Justice Department building in Washington but did not make any comment. The Washington Post, citing an unidentified "person familiar with the situation," said Trump's lawyers had come to make their case that the former president should not face any charges. A special counsel named by Attorney General Merrick Garland has been looking into a cache of classified documents that Trump had stored at his Mar-a-Lago residence after leaving the White House. The FBI carted away some 11,000 papers after serving a search warrant on Mar-a-Lago in August, and Trump could face obstruction of justice charges after spending months resisting efforts to recover the trove. Several sources with knowledge of the investigation told the CBS News network that they believe that a charging decision in the case of the documents is imminent. Trump, meanwhile, posted on his Truth Social platform on Monday that he was the victim of the "greatest witch hunt of all time!" "How can DoJ possibly charge me, who did nothing wrong, when no other presidents were charged when Joe Biden won't be charged for anything," Trump wrote. Trump, who is seeking the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, was apparently referring to the discovery of some classified documents at Biden's former office and in the garage of his home in Wilmington, Delaware. Garland, the attorney general, named a special counsel in January to examine whether the Biden cache violated any law. The Justice Department and Trump's attorneys did not immediately respond to inquiries from AFP about the meeting. The classified documents case is one of several legal challenges that threaten to derail Trump's 2024 election bid. Trump was charged by New York prosecutors in April with 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up alleged hush money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016. Trump is also being investigated over his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss in the southern state of Georgia and his involvement in the January 2021 storming of the US Capitol by his supporters. The post Trump lawyers meet with Justice Dept over documents probe appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Biden’s son Hunter indicted on gun charges
US President Joe Biden's son Hunter was indicted Thursday for illegally buying a gun when he was using drugs, casting a new shadow over his father's campaign for reelection next year. Hunter Biden, 53, was charged with two counts of making false statements when claiming on forms required for the 2018 gun purchase that he was not using drugs illegally at the time. A third charge said that, based on the false statements, he illegally possessed the gun during an 11-day period in October that year. If convicted on all three felony charges, Biden could in theory face 25 years in prison, though in practice they are seldom punished by any jail time. In attesting that he was not an unlawful user of drugs when he bought the Colt Cobra revolver, Biden "knew that statement was false," the Justice Department said. The indictment came two days after Republicans in Congress opened an impeachment probe against Democrat Joe Biden, alleging that when he was vice president he benefitted financially from his son's foreign business dealings. The legal troubles of Hunter Biden present a target for political rivals of his father, who is bidding for a second term in the White House. Hunter is a Yale-trained lawyer and lobbyist-turned-artist, but his life has been marred by alcoholism and crack cocaine addiction. Without offering any evidence, Republicans have accused Biden's Justice Department of protecting his son and have accused Weiss, a Republican appointee, of going easy on Hunter. Representative James Comer, a Republican from Kentucky who will be leading the impeachment inquiry, welcomed the filing of the gun charges, calling it a "very small start." "Mountains of evidence reveals that Hunter Biden likely committed several felonies and Americans expect the Justice Department to apply the law equally," Comer said. Twice-impeached former president Donald Trump reacted on his Truth Social platform. "This, the gun charge, is the only crime that Hunter Biden committed that does not implicate Crooked Joe Biden," he said. - Plea deal collapsed - But a leading Democrat, Keisha Lance Bottoms, ex-mayor of Atlanta and a former senior adviser to Joe Biden, questioned why Hunter had been charged. "Can anyone tell me how many people have been federally indicted for purchasing a gun while dealing with substance abuse issues?" Bottoms said on X, formerly known as Twitter. "I don't know the answer, but in my over 29 years as an attorney, I have never heard of it." The gun charges were filed by Justice Department special counsel David Weiss, who has been investigating Hunter Biden since 2018 over various allegations, mostly related to his overseas business deals. Two months ago a plea deal between Biden and Weiss, covering the gun charge as well as alleged tax violations, went sour. Biden agreed to plead guilty in federal court in Delaware to two minor tax charges. In exchange he was offered probation, as he had already paid what he owed the government along with penalties. Weiss agreed to suspend the felony gun charge if Biden completed "pretrial diversion," which often involves counseling or rehabilitation. But in a dramatic July 26 hearing, the deal collapsed over whether Biden would have been immune from any other charges also investigated by Weiss, including possible crimes related to his business dealings in Ukraine, China and elsewhere. The judge mentioned the possibility that Biden could be charged as having acted as a lobbyist for foreign governments without registering with the Justice Department. Three weeks later, after the deal collapsed, Weiss dropped the tax charges and said an indictment on the gun charge would come by the end of September. As the 2024 election race swings into gear, Republicans in the House of Representatives on Tuesday formally opened an impeachment inquiry against President Biden. They alleged, without offering hard evidence, that while vice president in 2015-2016, Biden intervened to protect an allegedly corrupt Ukrainian energy company, Burisma, where Hunter Biden sat on the board. Republicans allege Joe Biden and his family reaped large sums for helping Burisma. The post Biden’s son Hunter indicted on gun charges appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Trump arrested in Georgia racketeering case
Former US president Donald Trump was arrested at a Georgia jail on Thursday on racketeering and conspiracy charges for trying to overturn the 2020 election results in the southern state. During a brief session lasting less than 30 minutes, the 77-year-old Trump was booked on 13 charges at Atlanta's Fulton County Jail, according to records published by the sheriff's office. Trump's height was listed by the jail as six foot three inches (1.9 meters), his weight as 215 pounds (97 kilograms) and his hair color as "Blond or Strawberry." Other defendants in the racketeering case who have surrendered to the Georgia authorities in recent days have had a mugshot taken. The billionaire has been criminally indicted four times since April, setting the stage for a year of unprecedented drama as he tries to juggle multiple court appearances and another White House campaign. In posts on his Truth Social platform shortly before leaving his New Jersey golf club for the flight to Atlanta, Trump said he was being arrested for "having the audacity to challenge a RIGGED & STOLLEN (sic) ELECTION." "This is yet another SAD DAY IN AMERICA!" he added. Trump was able to dodge having a mugshot taken during his previous arrests this year: in New York on charges of paying hush money to a porn star, in Florida for mishandling top secret government documents, and in Washington on charges of conspiring to upend his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden. But Fulton County Sheriff Pat Labat said standard procedure in Georgia is to take a defendant's photograph before they are released on bond -- set at $200,000 in Trump's case. The arrest comes one day after Trump spurned a televised debate in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, featuring eight of his rivals for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination -- all of whom lag well behind him in the polls. He still stole the spotlight, though, with all but two of the candidates saying they would support him as the party's nominee even if he were a convicted felon. During a pre-recorded interview with former Fox News talk show host Tucker Carlson -- which aired on social media at the same time as the debate -- Trump dismissed the criminal cases filed against him as "nonsense." Trump said the Justice Department had been "weaponized" under Biden to hamstring his White House bid. Court dates in election race A tight security perimeter was set up for Trump's booking at the Fulton County Jail, which is under investigation for a slew of inmate deaths and deplorable conditions. Fani Willis, the Fulton County district attorney who filed the sweeping racketeering case, had set a deadline of noon (1600 GMT) on Friday for Trump and the other 18 defendants to surrender. Trump and 11 others have turned themselves in so far. Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows surrendered on Thursday and was released on $100,000 bond. Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, who served as Trump's personal lawyer when he was in the White House and vigorously pushed the false claims that Trump had won the 2020 election, was booked and released on Wednesday. John Eastman, a conservative lawyer who is accused of drawing up a scheme to submit a false slate of Trump electors to Congress from Georgia instead of the legitimate Biden ones, has also been booked and released. A few dozen supporters of the former Republican president gathered outside the jail, including Sharon Anderson who spent the night in her car. "I think this is a political persecution and now that's turned into a political prosecution," Anderson told AFP. Trump is the first US president in history to face criminal charges. His various trials, if they take place next year, may coincide with the Republican presidential primary season, which begins in January, and the campaign for the November 2024 White House election. Special counsel Jack Smith has proposed a January 2024 start date for Trump's trial on charges of conspiring to overturn the last election with a lie-fueled campaign that culminated in the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol by his supporters. Trump's attorneys have countered with a suggested start date well after the election -- April 2026. Willis, the Georgia district attorney, initially proposed that the racketeering case begin in March next year, the same month Trump is scheduled to go on trial in New York on charges of paying hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels. On Thursday, after one of the defendants asked for a speedy trial, she proposed that it begin for all 19 in October of this year, a move met with an immediate objection from Trump's lawyers. The Florida case, in which Trump is accused of taking secret government documents as he left the White House and refusing to return them, is scheduled to begin in May. The post Trump arrested in Georgia racketeering case appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
The legal woes of Donald Trump
Former US president Donald Trump is facing four criminal indictments, all filed since March -- with the Republican frontrunner in the 2024 White House race possibly navigating a series of trials as he campaigns. On Thursday, he was formally arrested on 13 counts in the southern state of Georgia in connection with his alleged efforts to interfere with the results of the 2020 election, which he lost to Democrat Joe Biden. Trump has already been indicted in federal court in connection with election interference in multiple states, and over his handling of classified documents, making him the first former US president to face federal criminal charges. The twice-impeached Trump has also been charged in New York with making election-eve hush money payments to a porn star. Here are the key cases involving the 77-year-old one-term president -- and others that could materialize: Georgia election meddling Trump stands accused in Georgia of pressuring state officials to overturn Biden's election victory -- incidents that were also referred to in a federal indictment. Evidence includes a taped phone call in which he asked Georgia's then-secretary of state to "find" enough votes to reverse the result. Fulton County's top prosecutor Fani Willis has charged Trump with 13 felony counts including violating Georgia's Racketeer Influenced And Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, as well as six conspiracy counts over alleged efforts to commit forgery, impersonate a public official and submit false statements and documents. Eighteen co-defendants also were indicted, including Trump's former personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, for pressuring local legislators over the result after the election, and Trump's White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows. 2020 election interference Special Counsel Jack Smith had already slapped Trump with four federal charges related to efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. Trump is charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States, as well as conspiracy to obstruct and obstruction of an official proceeding -- the January 6, 2021, meeting of a joint session of Congress held to certify Biden's election victory. He is also charged with conspiracy to deny Americans the right to vote and to have one's vote counted. The indictment mentions six co-conspirators but none are identified -- Trump, currently the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, is the only named defendant. Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, as Congress met to certify the presidential election results. Before what was ultimately a deadly attack, Trump delivered a fiery speech urging the crowd to "fight like hell." Classified documents Trump, in another indictment brought by Smith, is accused of endangering national security by holding onto top secret nuclear and defense documents after leaving the White House. Trump kept the files -- which included records from the Pentagon, CIA, and National Security Agency -- unsecured at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida and thwarted official efforts to retrieve them, according to the indictment. Trump was initially charged with 31 counts of "willful retention of national defense information," each punishable by up to 10 years in prison. A count was added related to a classified document "concerning military activity in a foreign country." He also faces charges of conspiracy to obstruct justice, making false statements, and other offenses. The federal judge in the case has set a trial date of May 20, 2024, at the height of the presidential campaign. Stormy A New York grand jury indicted Trump in March over alleged hush money payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels. Prosecutors say the money was paid prior to the 2016 election to silence Daniels over claims she had a tryst with Trump in 2006 -- a year after he married Melania Trump. Late in the campaign, Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen arranged a payment of $130,000 to Daniels in exchange for her pledge of confidentiality, prosecutors said. That case, in which he faces 34 felony counts, is due to go to trial next March, in the middle of the Republican primary election season. Other probes Trump was found liable in a civil case for sexually abusing and defaming a former magazine columnist, E. Jean Carroll, in 1996, and ordered to pay her $5 million in damages. In New York, state Attorney General Letitia James has filed a civil suit against Trump and three of his children, accusing them of fraud by over-valuing assets to secure loans and then under-valuing them to minimize taxes. James is seeking $250 million in penalties as well as banning Trump and his children from serving as executives at companies in the city. Trump has denied all wrongdoing. The post The legal woes of Donald Trump appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Garland denies Hunter Biden probe being interfered with
US Attorney General Merrick Garland on Friday denied allegations that the Justice Department interfered with an investigation of President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter. Prosecutors announced earlier this week that Hunter Biden had reached a plea deal on minor tax and gun charges with the US Attorney in his home state of Delaware. Hunter Biden is due to appear in court on 26 July after agreeing to plead guilty to two federal tax charges and admitting to illegally possessing a gun despite having a history of drug use. A whistleblower from the Internal Revenue Service alleged in testimony before the Republican-led House Ways and Means Committee released this week that the Justice Department headed by Garland had slowed the probe into Hunter Biden. Garland, in remarks to reporters on Friday, noted that the US Attorney in Delaware, David Weiss, had been appointed by former President Donald Trump, a Republican. Garland said he personally had given Weiss the authority to continue his investigation into Hunter Biden and “prosecute any way in which he wanted to.” Joe Biden’s son is also facing one count of illegal possession of a firearm. “I don’t know how it would be possible for anybody to block him from bringing a prosecution given that he has this authority,” the attorney general said. “He was given complete authority to make all decisions on his own.” Hunter Biden, 53, is the only surviving child of Joe Biden’s first marriage, which tragically ended in 1972 when his wife and baby daughter were killed in a car accident. Hunter Biden’s business dealings, especially during the time his father was vice president, have been a major target of Joe Biden’s political opponents, and continue to be probed by congressional Republicans. Hunter Biden became a regular focus of Trump’s attacks ahead of the November 2020 presidential election for his work in Ukraine and China. In his memoir, “Beautiful Things,” Hunter Biden insisted he has never done anything unethical and dismissed allegations that he displayed a lack of judgment by accepting a lucrative position on the board of Ukrainian energy company Burisma while his father was Barack Obama’s vice president. Under the plea agreement, Hunter Biden is unlikely to face prison time but will be sentenced to probation. According to the charges, Hunter Biden, a Yale-trained lawyer and lobbyist, failed to file his tax returns on time on earnings of more than $1.5 million for 2017 and 2018. In both years, he owed more than $100,000 in taxes on those earnings. Hunter Biden is also facing one count of “possession of a firearm by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance.” Hunter Biden has admitted having drug problems in the past and detailed his struggles with crack cocaine in his 2021 memoir, released months after his father took office. Hunter Biden and his wife attended a state dinner at the White House on Thursday for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Asked about his attendance at the event, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said “it is not uncommon for family members to attend events at the White House.” The post Garland denies Hunter Biden probe being interfered with appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Trump took secret docs, put national security at risk: indictment
Federal prosecutors unsealed a wide-ranging indictment of Donald Trump on Friday, accusing the former US president of endangering national security by holding on to top secret nuclear and defense documents after leaving the White House. The 76-year-old Trump, the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, took hundreds of classified government documents in cardboard boxes to his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, the 49-page charge sheet said. Trump kept the files -- which included records from the Pentagon, CIA, and National Security Agency -- unsecured at Mar-a-Lago, which regularly hosted large social events, the indictment said. On at least two occasions, Trump showed classified documents on US military operations and plans to people not cleared to see them at his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club, it said. Trump faces 37 separate counts in the indictment including 31 counts of "willful retention of national defense information" relating to specific documents. A conviction on each count carries up to 10 years in prison. "We have one set of laws in this country, and they apply to everyone," said Special Counsel Jack Smith, who brought the historic indictment against Trump, the first former US president ever to face federal criminal charges. "Laws that protect national defense information are critical to the safety and security of the United States, and they must be enforced," Smith said, adding that he would seek to ensure that Trump receives a "speedy trial." Other charges facing the twice-impeached Trump include conspiracy to obstruct justice, punishable by up to 20 years in prison, withholding a document or record, which also carries a potential 20-year sentence, and making false statements. Trump's personal aide, Walt Nauta, was named as a co-conspirator, and charged with six counts for helping Trump hide documents, which were kept at various locations in Mar-a-Lago, according to the indictment, including a ballroom, a bathroom, Trump's bedroom, and a storage room. "The classified documents Trump stored in the boxes included information regarding defense and weapons capabilities of both the United States and foreign countries," the indictment said. Other records dealt with US nuclear programs and potential vulnerabilities of the United States and its allies to military attack along with plans for retaliation, it said. "The unauthorized disclosure of these classified documents could put at risk the national security of the United States, foreign relations, the safety of the United States military, and human sources," according to the indictment. Trump hater Trump is to appear in court in Miami at 3:00 pm (1900 GMT) on Tuesday for the first hearing in the case. According to US media, the case will initially be handled by Aileen Cannon, 42, a Trump-appointed judge who made rulings favorable to the former president during a court review of documents seized in an August 2022 FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago. A trial is not expected to begin for several months and there is nothing to prevent Trump from pursuing a second term in the White House while facing charges. According to the indictment, Trump directed his aide Nauta to conceal boxes containing documents from the FBI and his own attorney and suggested to his lawyers at one point that they hide or destroy documents being sought. The indictment also recounted a conversation between Trump and one of his attorneys about the documents in which the former president reportedly said "Wouldn't it be better if we just told them we don't have anything?" Trump responded to the indictment with a string of posts on his Truth Social platform, calling Smith, the special counsel, "deranged" and a "Trump hater." "Under the Presidential Records Act, I'm allowed to do all this," Trump said. "There was no crime." In a defiant video Thursday, Trump also declared his innocence and framed the indictment as election interference by a Justice Department "weaponized" by President Joe Biden. "They come after me because now we're leading in the polls again by a lot against Biden," Trump said. Biden said Friday that he would have no comment on the case and has had no contact with Attorney General Merrick Garland, who appointed Smith as special counsel to conduct the Trump probe. "I have not spoken to him at all and I'm not going to speak with him," Biden told reporters. Trump was already the first former or sitting president to be charged with a crime, indicted in New York in March in a case involving election-eve hush money payments to a porn star who said she had an affair with him. Smith is also looking into whether Trump should face charges over the January 2021 assault on the US Capitol by his supporters. And Georgia prosecutors are investigating whether Trump illegally attempted to overturn the 2020 presidential election outcome in the southern state. The post Trump took secret docs, put national security at risk: indictment appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Trump indicted in classified documents probe
Donald Trump said Thursday he has been indicted over his handling of classified documents after leaving office, the US ex-president's most serious legal threat yet as he pursues a second White House term. "The corrupt Biden Administration has informed my attorneys that I have been Indicted, seemingly over the Boxes Hoax," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform as he broke the bombshell news of a historic moment for the United States: the first time a sitting or former commander-in-chief has faced federal charges. There was no immediate confirmation from the Justice Department. Trump attorney Jim Trusty told CNN that his client has been indicted on seven charges including the willful retention of documents in violation of the Espionage Act, making false statements, obstruction of justice and a count of conspiracy. Though the precise details of the charges were not immediately clear, people familiar with the matter told The New York Times the conspiracy charge was related to obstruction of justice. In his post, Trump, who is running for president again, said he has been summoned to a federal courthouse in Miami next Tuesday -- the day before his 77th birthday. His announcement came a day after US media said federal prosecutors had informed his lawyers that he is the target of the probe into his handling of classified documents. Trump was already the first former or sitting president to be charged with a crime -- in his case over election-eve hush money payments to a porn star who said she had an affair with him. That indictment was handed down by Manhattan's district attorney in March. In a statement after his initial online posts, the Trump campaign lashed out at what it called an "unprecedented abuse of power," and called for the indictment to be thrown out. 'Dark day' In a defiant video released after he shared the news, Trump repeatedly declared his innocence and framed the indictment as a form of election interference by a Justice Department "weaponized" by the Biden administration. "They come after me because now we're leading in the polls again by a lot against Biden," Trump said in the clip. "Our country is going to hell and they come after Donald Trump... We can't let this continue." Fellow Republicans swiftly stood by him, including Speaker of the House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy, who has had a rollercoaster relationship with Trump. "Today is indeed a dark day for the United States of America. It is unconscionable for a President to indict the leading candidate opposing him," McCarthy said in a statement. "I, and every American who believes in the rule of law, stand with President Trump." Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a rival for the GOP presidential nomination, echoed Trump's claims of a "weaponized" DOJ, adding on Twitter that he would "excise political bias" if elected president. The Twitter account of Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee posted a repeated Trump slogan: "WITCH HUNT." Special counsel Jack Smith, named by US Attorney General Merrick Garland, has been looking into a cache of classified documents that Trump had stored at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida after leaving the White House. The FBI carted away some 11,000 papers after serving a search warrant on Mar-a-Lago in August, and obstruction-of-justice charges could be a result of his resisting efforts to recover the trove. Trump eventually turned over 15 boxes containing almost 200 classified documents to the National Archives in January 2022 but was subpoenaed for any outstanding records in his possession. When asked about the charges Thursday night, Smith's spokesman Peter Carr told AFP: "We are declining to comment." The White House said it learned of the indictment from media coverage and a spokesperson declined to comment on the news, noting that the DOJ "conducts its criminal investigations independently," CNN reported. Mounting legal woes Some Democratic lawmakers spoke out following Thursday's revelation. Trump's indictment "is another affirmation of the rule of law," House Democrat Adam Schiff said. "For four years, he acted like he was above the law," he added. "But he should be treated like any other lawbreaker. And today, he has been." Trump has repeatedly denied wrongdoing in the documents case, telling a Fox News town hall event on June 1 that "everything I did was right." But he has openly acknowledged taking and storing the documents, undermining his lawyers' suggestion that he took the stash inadvertently in the confusion of a chaotic departure. "This evidence just adds to the mound of stuff that already exists, and no one piece is the 'be all and end all,' but when you put them all together, the case is so strong," former Watergate prosecutor Jill Wine-Banks told MSNBC. "You cannot imagine his getting away with this." The latest indictment comes with Trump facing numerous other probes as he bids to be the Republican nominee to challenge Joe Biden for the presidency in 2024. Smith is also looking at whether Trump should face charges over the 2021 US Capitol riot, and Georgia prosecutors are investigating whether Trump illegally attempted to overturn the 2020 presidential election outcome there. Trump has already been charged with dozens of financial crimes as part of the alleged hush money scheme to silence the porn star, and is due to go on trial next March, in the middle of primary election season. The post Trump indicted in classified documents probe appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Biden’s son Hunter to plead not guilty to gun charges
US President Joe Biden's son Hunter will plead not guilty to charges of illegally buying a gun when he was using drugs, his lawyer said Tuesday. Hunter Biden, 53, was charged last week with two counts of making false statements when claiming on forms required for a 2018 gun purchase that he was not using drugs illegally at the time. On Tuesday, Hunter Biden's lawyer, Abbe David Lowell, asked the judge presiding over the case in the eastern state of Delaware to hold the first court appearance by video conference instead of requiring his client to attend in person. Hunter Biden currently lives in California. "Mr. Biden understands both the charges against him and his rights... and we believe the Court can be assured of that fact by conducting this initial appearance by video," Lowell said in the letter to US Magistrate Judge Christopher Burke. "Mr. Biden also will enter a plea of not guilty, and there is no reason why he cannot utter those two words by video conference," Lowell said. "Mr. Biden is not seeking any special treatment in making this request," he added. "He has attended and will attend any proceedings in which his physical appearance is required." Hunter Biden is also facing a third charge, based on the same statements, that he illegally possessed the gun during an 11-day period in October 2018. If convicted on all three felony charges, he could face 25 years in prison, though in practice the offenses are seldom punished by any jail time. The indictment came two days after Republicans in Congress opened an impeachment probe against Joe Biden, a Democrat, alleging that when the elder Biden was vice president he benefited financially from his son's foreign business dealings. They alleged, without offering hard evidence, that while vice president in 2015-2016, Biden intervened to protect an allegedly corrupt Ukrainian energy company, Burisma, where Hunter Biden sat on the board. The gun charges against Hunter Biden were filed by Justice Department special counsel David Weiss, who has been investigating him since 2018 over various allegations, mostly related to his overseas business deals. A plea deal between Hunter Biden and Weiss, covering the gun charge as well as alleged tax violations, collapsed two months ago. Hunter Biden is a Yale-trained lawyer and lobbyist-turned-artist, but his life has been marred by alcoholism and crack cocaine addiction and his indictment has cast a shadow over his father's campaign for reelection next year. The post Biden’s son Hunter to plead not guilty to gun charges appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Federal charges for five police over beating death of African American
Five police officers already charged in the murder of Tyre Nichols, a young African American who died after being beaten, now face federal indictment, the Justice Department announced Tuesday. Videos showed the officers, who are all Black, repeatedly kicking and punching Nichols during a traffic stop close to his home in the US city of Memphis on January 7, three days before he died in hospital. "The country watched in horror as Tyre Nichols was kicked, punched, tased, and pepper sprayed," Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a brief video statement posted online. The department said the five officers, who have been fired, "willfully deprived Nichols of his constitutional rights," resulting in "bodily injury and the death of Nichols." A federal grand jury in Memphis, located in the US South, on Tuesday charged the five former officers with federal civil rights, conspiracy, and obstruction offenses, the Department of Justice said. The officers -- Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Justin Smith, Emmitt Martin III, and Desmond Mills Jr. -- have already been charged by state prosecutors in Tennessee with second-degree murder, aggravated assault, kidnapping, official misconduct, and "official oppression." They have pleaded not guilty. Nichols, 29, was stopped by the five, who were members of a special police anti-crime squad called the Scorpion Unit, for an alleged traffic violation, according to police. He was beaten viciously by the officers, in scenes recorded in body camera and security camera footage that triggered outrage when made public later that month. Vice President Kamala Harris attended Nichols' funeral in February and Nichols' family members were invited to President Joe Biden's State of the Union address in Washington several days later. The post Federal charges for five police over beating death of African American appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Hawaii fire death toll nears 100, anger grows
The death toll in Hawaii from the deadliest US wildfire in more than a century was expected to cross the 100-mark Sunday, fueling criticism that an inadequate official response contributed to the heavy loss of life. Officials updated the toll to 93 late Saturday but warned the figure was likely to rise as recovery crews with cadaver dogs continued the grim task of searching burned-out homes and vehicles in the epicenter of Lahaina. The historic coastal town on the island of Maui was almost completely destroyed by the fast-moving inferno early Wednesday morning, with survivors saying there had been no warnings. When asked Sunday why none of the island's sirens had been activated, Hawaii Senator Mazie Hirono said she would wait for the results of an investigation announced by the state's attorney general. "I'm not going to make any excuses for this tragedy," Hirono, a Democrat, told CNN's "State of the Union." "We are really focused, as far as I'm concerned, on the need for rescue, and, sadly, the location of more bodies." More than 2,200 structures were damaged or destroyed as the fire tore through Lahaina, according to official estimates, wreaking $5.5 billion in damage and leaving thousands homeless. "The remains we're finding are from a fire that melted metal," said Maui Police Chief John Pelletier. "When we pick up the remains... they fall apart." Among the ruins in Lahaina, a town of more than 12,000 and the former home of the Hawaiian royal family, an iconic, 150-year-old banyan tree remained standing but severely burned, AFP journalists saw. President Joe Biden said on Sunday he was "looking at" the possibility of visiting the island. Questions over alert system The wildfire is the deadliest in the United States since 1918, when 453 people died in Minnesota and Wisconsin, according to the non-profit research group the National Fire Protection Association. The death toll surpassed 2018's Camp Fire in California, which virtually wiped the small town of Paradise off the map and killed 86 people. Maui suffered numerous power outages during the crisis, preventing many residents from receiving emergency alerts on their cell phones. No emergency sirens were sounded, and many Lahaina residents have spoken of learning about the blaze because of neighbors running down the street. "The mountain behind us caught on fire and nobody told us jack," resident Vilma Reed, 63, told AFP. "You know when we found that there was a fire? When it was across the street from us." Reed, whose house was destroyed by the blaze, said she was depending on handouts and the kindness of strangers while sleeping in a car with her daughter, grandson, and two cats. In its emergency management plan last year, the State of Hawaii described the risk wildfires posed to people as being "low". Some residents who fled the flames have also expressed anger at a roadblock put up preventing them from returning to their homes. Maui police said members of the public would not be allowed into Lahaina while safety assessments and searches were ongoing -- even some of those who could prove they lived there. Some residents waited for hours hoping to be allowed in to comb through the ashes or look for missing pets or loved ones. When asked about growing anger at the response, Hirono told CNN she understood the frustration because "we are in a period of shock and loss." Maui's fires follow other extreme weather events in North America this summer, with record-breaking wildfires still burning across Canada and a major heat wave baking the US southwest. Europe and parts of Asia have also endured soaring temperatures, with major fires and floods wreaking havoc. Scientists say human-caused global warming is exacerbating natural hazards, making them both more likely and more deadly. The post Hawaii fire death toll nears 100, anger grows appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Trump indicted for election fraud, obstruction
Former United States president Donald Trump was indicted for the third time Tuesday allegedly for falsely claiming that he won the November 2020 presidential election and trying to prevent the proclamation of its winner, Democrat President Joe Biden. The criminal indictment of the 77-year-old frontrunning Republican nominee for the 2024 presidential election was handed down by a grand jury in Washington Special counsel Jack Smith charged Trump with conspiracy to defraud the US and conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding -— the 6 January 2021 joint session of Congress held to certify Biden’s election victory. Smith also accused Trump in the 45-page indictment of seeking to disenfranchise American voters with his false claims that he won the November 2020 presidential election. Trump is to be arraigned on Thursday before US District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan. The indictment is the most serious legal threat yet to the former president as he campaigns to return to the White House. He will go on trial in Florida in May of next year for allegedly mishandling top secret government documents. Trump also faces a criminal trial in New York for allegedly paying election-eve hush money to a porn star. Trump lashed out at the special counsel, calling him “deranged” and accusing him of issuing “yet another Fake Indictment” to “interfere with the presidential election.” “Why didn’t they do this 2.5 years ago?” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform. “Why did they wait so long?" “Because they wanted to put it right in the middle of my campaign,” he said. “Prosecutorial misconduct!” Trump has repeatedly attacked the investigation as a political “witch hunt” by the Department of Justice. The White House on Tuesday maintained silence on Trump’s historic indictment. Biden, who is seeking reelection next year, continued his beach vacation in Delaware, dining out with First Lady Jill Biden before seeing the film “Oppenheimer.” WITH AFP The post Trump indicted for election fraud, obstruction appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
SC junks celebrity doctor’s appeal
The Supreme Court on Tuesday disclosed that it has dismissed the appeal of celebrity doctor Joel Mendez to set aside the decision of the Court of Appeals affirming the seven-year jail term slapped against him by the Regional Trial Court of Quezon City for violating the provisions of Republic Act 8282 or the Social Security Act of 1997. In a six-page resolution dated 31 July 2023, the High Court’s First Division did not give merit to Mendez’s claim that the CA’s Former Special Eight Division — through Associate Justices Edwin Sorongon, Sesinando E. Villon and Marie Christine Azcarraga-Jacob — committed grave abuse of discretion when they outright dismissed his petition. This stemmed from the petition of Mendez before the SC invoking anew “extrinsic fraud” on the part of his lawyer in seeking reconsideration of the CA’s ruling. The doctor claimed that the failure of his former counsel to attend scheduled hearings for his presentation of evidence and his counsel’s failure to inform him of the hearings and that his presence was required during the proceedings were tantamount to “extrinsic fraud.” Extrinsic fraud refers to “fraudulent act of the prevailing party in litigation committed outside of the trial of the case, whereby the defeated party is prevented from fully exhibiting his side of the case by fraud or deception practiced on him by his opponent, such as by keeping him away from court; by giving him a false promise of a compromise; or where the defendant never had the knowledge of the suit, being kept in ignorance by the acts of plaintiff; or where an attorney fraudulently or without authority connives at his defeat.” The SC, though, held that Mendez’s contention that the failure to present his side due to his former counsel’s negligence constitutes extrinsic fraud, “is untenable.” “As a ground for the annulment of a judgment, extrinsic fraud must emanate from an act of the adverse party, and the fraud must be of such nature as to have deprived petitioner of their day in court,” said the SC. “The fraud is not extrinsic if the act was committed by petitioner’s own counsel. In this light, we have ruled in several cases that a lawyer’s mistake or gross negligence does not amount to the extrinsic fraud that would grant a petition for annulment of judgment,” it added. Also, the SC stressed that Mendez failed to comply with the 60-day period under Rule 65 of the Rules of Court within which to file the present petition questioning the CA decision, adding that Atty. Marc Anthony B. Antonio, one of Mendez’s former counsels, received a copy of the CA resolution dated 16 April 2019 on 2 May 2019. Mendez alleged that Antonio informed him about the resolution only on 19 June 2019. The court added that Mendez — instead of filing the present petition for certiorari within 60 days from 2 May 2019 — secured the services of a new lawyer and filed the petition only on 8 August 2019, or 98 days after Antonio received the CA Resolution dated 16 April 2019. “As keenly observed by the OSG (Office of the Solicitor General, Mendez blames yet again one of his former lawyers who allegedly belatedly informed him of the receipt of the CA Resolution dated 16 April 2019,” the SC said. “This is a self-serving allegation not supported by any evidence and, thus, deserves scant consideration. A party alleging a critical fact must support their allegation with substantial evidence, for any decision based on unsubstantiated allegation cannot stand without offending due process,” it added. To recall, the CA — in its August 2018 decision — denied the petition filed by Mendez seeking to annul the 18 July 2016 decision of QC RTC Branch 88 Presiding Judge Rossana Fe Romero which found her guilty of violating Republic Act 8282. It did not give weight to Mendez’s contentions, stressing that the SC has previously ruled that a lawyer’s neglect in keeping track of the case and his failure to apprise his client of the development of the case do not constitute extrinsic fraud. Mendez, who owns a chain of dermatology clinics in the country, was sentenced to a jail term ranging from six years and one day as minimum to seven years as maximum by the QC RTC. He was also ordered to pay SSS a total of P1,865,657.50 representing unpaid contributions from October 2011 to January 2013 with an interest of three percent per month from July 2015 until full payment. The post SC junks celebrity doctor’s appeal appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Trump indicted for trying to overturn 2020 US election
Donald Trump was indicted on Tuesday over his efforts to upend the results of the 2020 US election -- the most serious legal threat yet to the former president as he campaigns to return to the White House. It is the third criminal indictment of the 77-year-old Trump since March and charges him with three counts of conspiracy and one count of obstruction. Trump, the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, is already scheduled to go on trial in Florida in May of next year for allegedly mishandling top-secret government documents. The new charges, two of which carry maximum sentences of 20 years in prison, raise the prospect of Trump being embroiled in more legal proceedings at the height of what is expected to be a bitter and divisive presidential campaign. The indictment brought by special counsel Jack Smith accuses Trump of conspiracy to defraud the United States and conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding -- the 6 January 2021, joint session of Congress held to certify Democrat Joe Biden's election victory. Trump is also accused in the 45-page indictment of seeking to disenfranchise American voters with his false claims that he won the November 2020 presidential election. "Shortly after election day -- which fell on 2 November 2020 -- the Defendant launched his criminal scheme," the indictment, handed down by a grand jury in Washington, said. "The purpose of the conspiracy was to overturn the legitimate results of the 2020 presidential election by using knowingly false claims of election fraud," it said. Smith, a former war crimes prosecutor at the Hague, said the January 6 attack on the Capitol by Trump supporters was "an unprecedented assault on the seat of American democracy." "It was fueled by lies," Smith told reporters in brief remarks. "Lies by the defendant targeted at obstructing a bedrock function of the US government -- the nation's process of collecting, counting and certifying the results of the presidential election." Part of that plan, the indictment alleges, was to have then-vice president Mike Pence use his role as presiding officer over the January 6 joint session to throw out several states' votes. Pence ultimately refused, issuing a public statement saying that he did not believe the Constitution allowed him that power. As Trump's supporters later stormed the US Capitol, where Pence was in hiding, Trump tweeted that his vice president "didn't have the courage to do what should have been done." White House silence The White House on Tuesday maintained silence on Trump's historic indictment. Biden, who is seeking reelection next year, continued his beach vacation in Delaware, dining out with First Lady Jill Biden before seeing the film "Oppenheimer." Trump's campaign, meanwhile, issued a blistering statement, comparing his prosecution to "Nazi Germany in the 1930s" and stating that he had followed "advice from many highly accomplished attorneys" -- a likely line of defense at trial. The indictment mentions six co-conspirators but none are identified and Trump, who is to be arraigned on Thursday, is the only named defendant. The case is expected to be heard by US District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan, an appointee of former Democratic president Barack Obama. Smith said he is seeking a "speedy trial." Trump furious Trump lashed out at the special counsel, calling him "deranged" and accusing him of issuing "yet another Fake Indictment" to "interfere with the presidential election." "Why didn't they do this 2.5 years ago?" Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform. "Why did they wait so long? "Because they wanted to put it right in the middle of my campaign," he said. "Prosecutorial misconduct!" Trump has repeatedly attacked the investigation as a political "witch hunt" by the Department of Justice. Besides the classified documents charges, the former president also faces a criminal trial in New York for allegedly paying election-eve hush money to a porn star. Georgia prosecutors are also looking into whether Trump illegally attempted to overturn the 2020 election outcome in the southern state. As president, Trump was impeached by the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives for seeking political dirt on Biden from Ukraine and over the events of January 6 but he was acquitted by the Senate both times. Pence, who is competing against Trump in the Republican primary, said on Twitter -- now rebranded as X -- that Tuesday's indictment "serves as an important reminder: anyone who puts himself over the Constitution should never be President of the United States." The post Trump indicted for trying to overturn 2020 US election appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Biden’s son pleads not guilty on tax charges as deal derails
US President Joe Biden's son Hunter pleaded not guilty to minor tax offenses Wednesday as a deal with federal prosecutors derailed in a Delaware court. The surprise move came after Judge Maryellen Noreika raised questions over the original deal -- under which Biden had agreed to enter a guilty plea and admit to illegal gun possession -- and effectively placed it on hold. Biden, 53, whose legal troubles have cast a shadow over his father's reelection campaign, had reached an agreement with prosecutors that he would be sentenced to probation on two tax avoidance counts. The deal also specified that the firearms charge would eventually be erased if he adhered to a counseling-and-rehabilitation program. But the deal fell apart after Noreika queried why the gun charge was included in a tax case, and whether the plea agreement protected Biden from charges that might arise from a wider ongoing investigation of his business dealings, according to US media. When prosecutors could not resolve her questions, Noreika said she could not accept the deal, and Biden then entered a not guilty plea to close the session. That was expected to send the deal back to negotiations, which could become more complex. Prosecutor David Weiss confirmed to the court that his office is still examining other possible crimes by Biden. Weiss did not detail those possible crimes, but one issue mentioned in the court was possible violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act, relating to his business deals in China, Ukraine and other countries dating back to the early 2010s, when his father was vice president. Political attacks Republicans have accused Weiss of giving Biden a "sweetheart deal" with the plea agreement announced on 20 June. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Wednesday that Hunter Biden was "a private citizen. This was a personal matter." The case was "handled independently by the Justice Department under the leadership of a prosecutor appointed by President Trump," she added. The plea deal was to end a five-year investigation that Republicans have sought to use to politically harm his father Joe. According to the charges, Hunter, a Yale-trained lawyer and lobbyist, failed to file his tax returns on time on earnings of more than $1.5 million for 2017 and 2018. He was facing up to 12 months in prison for each tax charge and a possible maximum 10 years on a charge that, as a known drug user, he had illegally possessed a handgun in 2018. But prosecutors recommended probation on the tax charges after Biden paid the taxes and penalties, according to his attorney. In addition, the gun charge was to be suspended and then eliminated if Biden completed "pretrial diversion," which often involves counseling or rehabilitation. That would require Biden to remain sober as the charges arise from a long period when he says he struggled with addiction to alcohol, crack cocaine and other drugs. "The president, the first lady, they love their son and they support him as he continues to rebuild his life," Jean-Pierre said. The post Biden’s son pleads not guilty on tax charges as deal derails appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
US guardsman to appear in court over Pentagon documents leak
A 21-year-old national guardsman was due to appear in court on Friday, authorities said, after he was arrested on suspicion of leaking a trove of sensitive US government secrets. Jack Teixeira, an employee of the US Air Force National Guard, was to make an initial appearance in a Massachusetts federal court, a district court official told AFP. His dramatic arrest was broadcast live on US TV networks Thursday following a week-long investigation into one of the most damaging leaks of classified information since the 2013 dump of National Security Agency documents by Edward Snowden. US Attorney General Merrick Garland told reporters Thursday that Teixeira had been arrested "in connection with an investigation into alleged unauthorized removal, retention, and transmission of classified national defense information." News footage of the operation in the southern Massachusetts town of North Dighton showed the suspect dressed in red shorts and a T-shirt with his hands behind his head, backing slowly toward rifle-armed, camouflage-clad law enforcement personnel who took him into custody. Police in the small town in the northeastern state sought to reassure the community about the heavy law enforcement presence, saying in a statement that there was "no threat to public safety." The US National Guard Bureau said Teixeira had enlisted in September 2019 and was an IT and communications specialist who reached the rank of airman first class -- the third-lowest for enlisted air force personnel. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin issued a statement praising the Justice Department and FBI "for their swift arrest in connection with this investigation." Austin added that he was ordering a "review of our intelligence access, accountability, and control procedures within the (Defense) Department to inform our efforts to prevent this kind of incident from happening again." Teixeira's arrest came a day after The Washington Post reported that hundreds of pages of documents had been posted on the social media platform Discord by a man who worked on a US military base. Top secret material According to The New York Times, a "trail of digital evidence" pointed to Teixeira as the leader of the private group on Discord, called Thug Shaker Central, where the documents surfaced. The embarrassing security breach has revealed US unease over the viability of a coming counteroffensive by Kyiv's forces against Russian troops as well as concerns about Ukrainian air defenses and pointed to US spying on allies including Israel and South Korea. President Joe Biden addressed the leak earlier on Thursday during his visit to Ireland, saying he was "concerned". US media reported that the Biden administration is seeking to beef up its monitoring of social media sites and chat rooms after intelligence agencies failed to spot the leaked documents online for weeks. The Pentagon has also "begun to limit who across the government receives its highly classified daily intelligence briefs," CNN reported on Thursday. The alleged leaker reportedly went by the nickname "OG" and regularly posted documents in the chat group in question for months. The group of around 24 people, including some from Russia and Ukraine, bonded over their "mutual love of guns, military gear, and God," and formed an "invitation-only clubhouse in 2020 on Discord," reported the Post -- which like the New York Times cited unidentified members of Thug Shaker Central. OG told the group members that he spent "some of his days inside a secure facility that prohibited cellphones and other electronic devices," the Post report said. He first wrote down the contents of classified documents to share with the group, but later began taking photos, telling other members not to share them, the newspaper reported. OG had a "dark view of the government," and "spoke of the United States, and particularly law enforcement and the intelligence community, as a sinister force that sought to suppress its citizens and keep them in the dark," the Post said, citing one of the group's members. A Discord spokesperson told AFP that user safety is a priority and that content violating its policies can result in people being banned, servers being shut down, and police alerted. "In regards to the apparent breach of classified material, we are cooperating with law enforcement," the spokesperson said. "As this remains an active investigation, we cannot provide further comment at this time." The post US guardsman to appear in court over Pentagon documents leak appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
US airman arrested over Pentagon documents leak
FBI agents on Thursday arrested a 21-year-old national guardsman suspected of being behind a major leak of sensitive US government secrets -- including about the Ukraine war. Broadcast live on TV networks, the dramatic arrest was the culmination of a week-long investigation -- fuelled by frenzied media coverage -- into one of the most damaging leaks of classified information since the 2013 dump of National Security Agency documents by Edward Snowden. Addressing a news briefing, US Attorney General Merrick Garland named the suspect as Jack Teixeira, an employee of the US Air Force National Guard and the reported leader of the online chat group where the document trove first emerged. Arrested "in connection with an investigation into alleged unauthorized removal, retention, and transmission of classified national defense information," Teixeira was taken into custody without incident by FBI agents, Garland said. News footage of the operation, in the southern Massachusetts town of North Dighton, showed the suspect dressed in red shorts and a t-shirt with his hands behind his head, backing slowly toward rifle-armed, camouflage-clad law enforcement personnel who took him into custody. Police in the small town in the northeastern state sought to reassure the community about the heavy law enforcement presence, saying in a statement that there was "no threat to public safety." The US National Guard Bureau said Teixeira enlisted in September 2019 and is an IT and communications specialist who reached the rank of airman first class -- the third-lowest for enlisted air force personnel. He was expected to make an initial appearance in a Massachusetts federal court as early as Friday. The Pentagon has said the leak presents a "very serious" risk to US national security, and spokesman Brigadier General Pat Ryder on Thursday condemned it as a "deliberate criminal act." In response, the Defense Department is "examining and updating distribution lists, assessing how and where intelligence products are shared, and a variety of other steps," Ryder told journalists. Teixeira's arrest came a day after The Washington Post reported that hundreds of pages of documents had been posted on the social media platform Discord by a man who worked on a US military base. Top secret material According to The New York Times, a "trail of digital evidence" pointed to Teixeira as the leader of the private group on Discord, called Thug Shaker Central, where the documents surfaced. The embarrassing security breach -- which included top secret documents -- has revealed US unease over the viability of a coming counteroffensive by Kyiv's forces against Russian troops as well as concerns about Ukrainian air defenses and pointed to US spying on allies including Israel and South Korea. President Joe Biden addressed the leak earlier on Thursday during his visit to Ireland, saying he was "concerned" but that federal authorities were "getting close" to identifying the source of the leak. The alleged leaker reportedly went by the nickname "OG" and regularly posted documents in the chat group in question for months. The group of around 24 people, including some from Russia and Ukraine, bonded over their "mutual love of guns, military gear, and God," and formed an "invitation-only clubhouse in 2020 on Discord," reported the Post -- which like the Times cited unidentified members of Thug Shaker Central. OG told the group members that he spent "some of his days inside a secure facility that prohibited cellphones and other electronic devices," the Post report said. He first wrote down the contents of classified documents to share with the group, but later began taking photos, telling other members not to share them, the newspaper reported. OG had a "dark view of the government," and "spoke of the United States, and particularly law enforcement and the intelligence community, as a sinister force that sought to suppress its citizens and keep them in the dark," the Post said, citing one of the group's members. A Discord spokesperson told AFP that user safety is a priority, and that content violating its policies can result in people being banned, servers being shut down, and police alerted. "In regards to the apparent breach of classified material, we are cooperating with law enforcement," the spokesperson said. "As this remains an active investigation, we cannot provide further comment at this time." The post US airman arrested over Pentagon documents leak appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Bill Barr popped up in right-wing media after comments of electoral fraud: ‘That is either a lie or a fool or both’
Since he was confirmed as Attorney General, William Barr was somewhat of a hero in the right-wing media universe. They have foiled Russia’s investigation.........»»