- Ukraine war live updates: Secret Pentagon and NATO files leaked; Russia formally charges American reporter with espionage CNBC
- U.S. Will Send Ukraine Weapons ‘No Matter the Expense’: Pentagon Newsweek
- Russia-Ukraine war news: Evan Gershkovich denied consular access, U.S. says The Washington Post
- The United States Has Given Ukraine All The Heavy Trucks, Tankers And Recovery Vehicles the Ukrainians Need To Breach Russian Defenses Forbes
- What Are c-UAS Laser Guided Rocket Systems? Kyiv Gets Experimental Weaponry Newsweek
- View Full Coverage on Google News
Tag Archives: formally
Switching parties, Rep. Tricia Cotham is formally welcomed to NC House GOP caucus – Raleigh News & Observer
- Switching parties, Rep. Tricia Cotham is formally welcomed to NC House GOP caucus Raleigh News & Observer
- North Carolina lawmaker officially leaves Dems for GOP, says turning point was American flag criticism Fox News
- ‘Still the same person’: Tricia Cotham avoids policy specifics in announcing flip from Dems to GOP ABC11
- Democrats and Gov. Cooper should blame themselves for Tricia Cotham’s party switch | Opinion Charlotte Observer
- Tricia Cotham once spoke of her abortion. Will she help NC Republicans restrict it? | Opinion Charlotte Observer
- View Full Coverage on Google News
Switching parties, Rep. Tricia Cotham is formally welcomed to NC House GOP caucus – Raleigh News & Observer
- Switching parties, Rep. Tricia Cotham is formally welcomed to NC House GOP caucus Raleigh News & Observer
- North Carolina lawmaker officially leaves Dems for GOP, says turning point was American flag criticism Fox News
- ‘Still the same person’: Tricia Cotham avoids policy specifics in announcing flip from Dems to GOP ABC11
- Democrats and Gov. Cooper should blame themselves for Tricia Cotham’s party switch | Opinion Charlotte Observer
- Tricia Cotham once spoke of her abortion. Will she help NC Republicans restrict it? | Opinion Charlotte Observer
- View Full Coverage on Google News
Microsoft Activision Deal Formally Receives Letter of Objections From EU – PlayStation LifeStyle
- Microsoft Activision Deal Formally Receives Letter of Objections From EU PlayStation LifeStyle
- Microsoft ‘confident’ it can address EU concerns after receiving antitrust warning over Activision deal | VGC Video Games Chronicle
- Microsoft “listening” as EU joins others in formally contesting Activision Blizzard deal Eurogamer.net
- Regulatory Warfare: Microsoft concedes PlayStation’s market dominance, blames Sony for spreading FUD about US$69 billion Activision Blizzard deal in the EU Notebookcheck.net
- Report: Microsoft has received a list of EU concerns regarding its Activision purchase Neowin
- View Full Coverage on Google News
Alec Baldwin has been formally charged in ‘Rust’ shooting
CNN
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Actor and producer Alec Baldwin has been criminally charged in connection with the 2021 fatal shooting on the set of the movie “Rust,” the Santa Fe County, New Mexico, district attorney’s office told CNN Tuesday.
The charges against Baldwin and the set’s armorer, Hannah Guiterrez Reed, include two counts of involuntary manslaughter, the DA’s office said. Attorneys for both defendants previously insisted their respective clients are innocent.
“Negligent use of a deadly weapon charges were also filed against ‘Rust’ assistant director David Halls, who has pleaded no contest and has entered into a plea agreement that is pending approval,” according to a media statement issued by the DA’s office.
“Today we have taken another important step in securing justice for Halyna Hutchins,” District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies said in a statement to CNN on Tuesday. “In New Mexico, no one is above the law and justice will be served.”
Carmack-Altwies told CNN earlier this month she would charge Baldwin and the film’s armorer with involuntary manslaughter, accusing them of failing to perform safety procedures that could have prevented the accident that resulted in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
Hutchins was struck and killed by a live round of ammunition fired from a prop gun being held by Baldwin, who maintains he did not pull the gun’s trigger.
Director Joel Souza was also shot and injured.
Baldwin did not take firearm training on the “Rust” movie set seriously, prosecutors said in probable cause documents outlining evidence in the case.
“A training session for at least an hour or more in length was scheduled, but the actual training consisted of only approximately 30 minutes as according to (armorer Hannah Gutierrez) Reed, Baldwin was distracted and talking on his cell phone to his family during the training,” the document states.
Gutierrez Reed is also charged with involuntary manslaughter, with prosecutors stating she did not insist on Baldwin’s safety training, did not check each round loaded into the firearms, and did not follow appropriate safety protocols in storing ammunition.
“Gutierrez Reed was reckless in her responsibility to ensure set safety with the firearm. She failed to correct Baldwin from committing the dangerous and reckless safety violations by pointing the weapon at/towards people and by having his finger on the trigger,” according to the probable cause statement against Gutierrez Reed.
“The photos and videos clearly show Baldwin, multiple times, with his finger inside
of the trigger guard and on the trigger, while manipulating the hammer and while drawing, pointing, and holstering the revolver,” prosecutors said.
Repeated FBI testing on the weapon determined it could not fire without the trigger being pressed. In interviews with CNN and ABC Baldwin has claimed he did not pull the trigger.
CNN has reached out to representatives for both Baldwin and Gutierrrez Reed.
Baldwin has maintained he was not aware the gun he fired during a rehearsal contained a live round. In a statement to CNN on Jan. 19, his attorney called the prosecutors’ decision “a terrible miscarriage of justice.”
“This decision distorts Halyna Hutchins’ tragic death and represents a terrible miscarriage of justice. Mr. Baldwin had no reason to believe there was a live bullet in the gun – or anywhere on the movie set,” Baldwin’s attorney Luke Nikas said in his statement.
“He relied on the professionals with whom he worked, who assured him the gun did not have live rounds. We will fight these charges, and we will win.”
An attorney for Gutierrez Reed said he believes jurors will find his client not guilty.
“We were expecting the charges but they’re absolutely wrong as to Hannah – we expect that she will be found not guilty by a jury and she did not commit manslaughter,” attorney Jason Bowles said in a statement to CNN earlier this month when the indictment was first released.
“She has been emotional about the tragedy but has committed no crime.”
Baldwin and Gutierrez Reed each face two counts of involuntary manslaughter so that a jury can decide which specific count may be more appropriate, Carmack-Altwies previously told CNN.
If convicted, “they will only be sentenced to one count,” the prosecutor said.
In either case, a conviction is punishable by up to 18 months in jail and up to a $5,000 fine, prosecutors said.
But one count would involve a firearm enhancement, or an added penalty, because a firearm was involved. In that case, the crime could be punishable by up to five years in jail, prosecutors said.
Biden formally announces Ron Klain is stepping down as White House chief of staff and will be replaced by Jeff Zients
CNN
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President Joe Biden announced White House chief of staff Ron Klain will step down next week and will be replaced by Jeff Zients, the former Obama administration official who ran Biden’s Covid-19 response operation.
Biden said there will be an “official transition” event at the White House next week to “thank Ron for his tireless work and officially welcome Jeff back to the White House in this role.”
Biden hailed Klain in a statement Friday morning, saying when he was elected president he “knew” he wanted Klain to be his chief of staff calling him “as tough, smart, determined, and persistent as anyone I have ever met.”
On Zients, Biden said he is “confident that Jeff will continue Ron’s example of smart, steady leadership, as we continue to work hard every day for the people we were sent here to serve.”
The announcement confirms earlier reporting by CNN and other news outlets.
In his resignation letter Friday, Klain said it had been “quite a journey” serving Biden, writing that 36 years ago he joined Biden’s then-Senate staff on the day he returned from his honeymoon.
“Leaving and returning to your staff several times since, my work for you has defined my life, both personally and professionally,” Klain wrote to Biden, adding he was “filled with gratitude.”
Klain promised to complete “an orderly handoff” to his successor and promised to do “whatever I can to help your campaign” should Biden choose to run for reelection.
“The halfway point of your first term – with two successful years behind us, and key decisions on the next two years ahead – is the right time for this team to have fresh leadership,” Klain said. “I have served longer than eight of the last nine Chiefs of Staff and have given this job my all; now it is time for someone else to take it on.”
Klain touted Biden’s policy record in the first two years of his presidency, comparing him to some of the most notable Democratic presidents of the last century as he touted “the most significant economic recovery legislation since FDR” and praised him for managing “the largest land war in Europe since the Truman era.”
“You did it all in the middle of the worst public health crisis since the Wilson era, with the smallest legislative majority of any newly elected Democratic president in a century,” Klain wrote.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who has maintained an extremely close relationship with Klain through the last two years, praised his tenure as critical to “one of the most historic and productive first two years of a presidency in generations.”
Schumer, a New York Democrat, spoke by phone with Zients before the decision was officially announced and said the two agreed to maintain the “same close relationship with the White House Chief of Staff that I had with Ron.”
“He’s organized, focused, and deliberate, exactly the right person to lead the Biden administration and ensure the American people see and feel the benefits of these new laws,” Schumer, who often spoke to Klain by phone several times a day, said of Zients in a statement.
In replacing Klain with Zients, Biden is turning to a consultant with more business experience than political background as he enters the third year of his presidency.
The decision to pick Zients surprised some internally given that there were differences in Biden’s and Zients’ management styles early on in the administration. But Biden was impressed with his job as the coronavirus response coordinator when Zients inherited what officials described as a “largely dysfunctional” effort by the Trump administration.
Zients is expected to focus on managing the White House and implementing Biden’s legislative and policy agenda, while other senior advisers – namely senior adviser Anita Dunn and deputy White House chief of staff Jen O’Malley Dillon – take the lead on Biden’s political operation as Biden gears up for a reelection campaign.
The balance of power is expected to be similar to the split portfolios of then-White House chief of staff Jack Lew and David Plouffe, a senior adviser to former President Barack Obama who managed political operations. Klain is also expected to remain involved from the outside and additional political advisers are expected to be hired.
A White House official touted Zients as having the ideal set of skills and relationship with Biden to lead the White House in a year that will be focused on implementing key pieces of Biden’s legislative agenda. Officials pointed to Zients’ experience as Biden’s Covid-19 response coordinator and his roles as director of the National Economic Council and acting director of the Office of Management and Budget under Obama. Zients has also worked closely with Biden’s other senior advisers.
Klain’s departure comes at a difficult time for Biden, with a special counsel investigating his handling of classified information after his time as vice president and with the administration and the president’s family facing renewed scrutiny by the GOP-controlled US House of Representatives. An official familiar with Klain’s plans said his decision to step down is not related to the investigation underway about classified documents found at Biden’s private office and Delaware residence, with the decision being made before the special counsel was announced.
Klain has been mulling his exit since November’s midterm elections, according to a person familiar with the matter, who said people inside the White House have watched closely for clues as to his intentions. Klain is known to email staff at all hours and even check on gas prices in the middle of the night – a work pace that many of his colleagues viewed as unsustainable in the long run.
Klain himself has noted publicly – and in a more detailed manner privately – the grueling and exhausting nature of the position. But his deeply ingrained presence in nearly every aspect of the West Wing, along with his decades-long relationship with Biden, has made him crucial to the administration’s first two years.
Klain’s departure could preface other shifts inside the West Wing, as senior staff either shift over to the expected reelection campaign or decide themselves to depart the administration after two years. A talent search process has been underway, led by Zients, to identify potential replacements for top posts.
This story has been updated with additional reporting.
Trump news: Trump returns to Twitter and formally demands Facebook reinstatement
‘Meet the Press’ anchor reveals the ‘most powerful person’ shaping the 2024 election
Donald Trump is reportedly poised to return to Twitter as part of his 2024 campaign and representatives have petitioned Facebook parent Meta for his account on that platform to be reinstated, according to reporting by NBC News.
Meanwhile, Mr Trump’s former “fixer” Michael Cohen has met with New York prosecutors as part of an investigation into the Trump Organization’s involvement in paying hush money to Stormy Daniels.
Mr Trump’s former personal attorney arrived for a meeting with the Manhattan district attorney’s office on Tuesday, leaving roughly 90 minutes later where he told CNN he would likely be meeting with investigators again.
The apparent ramping up of the probe comes as newly-released logs reveal who paid a visit to Mr Trump’s White House in the days running up to the January 6 Capitol riot.
The visitor logs, which were obtained by the House select committee investigating Jan 6, reveal the president met with several far-right election deniers and conspiracy theorists including Sidney Powell.
The former president also continues to sound off about the parallel investigations into the discovery of classified materials at Mar-a-Lago and classified documents at President Joe Biden’s home and an office he once used.
Trump poised to return to Twitter as campaign demands Facebook reinstatement, report says
While Donald Trump was granted access to his Twitter account back on 19 November following the takeover of the company by Elon Musk and the decision to reverse the ban imposed on the former president in the wake of the Capitol riot, he has to tweet.
That could all change according to reporting by NBC News, which states that his 2024 campaign advisers have been workshopping ideas for his first tweet.
In addition, the campaign has also approached Facebook parent Meta to unblock his account on that platform which was also suspended two years ago.
“We believe that the ban on President Trump’s account on Facebook has dramatically distorted and inhibited the public discourse,” Trump’s campaign wrote in its letter to Meta on Tuesday, according to a copy reviewed by NBC News.
The campaign would like a meeting to discuss reinstatement. Meta has said it will announce a decision in the coming weeks.
Since his ban from the principal social media platforms, Mr Trump founded his own — Truth Social — but does not enjoy the audience and bully pulpit he had on the other sites. While he has 4.8 million followers on Truth Social, he had 88 million on Twitter and 34 million on Facebook.
Oliver O’Connell18 January 2023 14:26
Full story: Trump preparing return to Twitter and Facebook, report says
As the 2024 race for the White House nears, the former president is set to once again use some of the largest and most influential social media platforms after he was booted from them following the January 6 insurrection, according to NBC News.
Oliver O’Connell19 January 2023 03:30
‘You have the right to remain silent, you know’: Conway schools Trump over latest post
Conservative lawyer George Conway reminded Donald Trump that all of his posts — be they on Truth Social or perhaps soon another platform — could come back to haunt him in a court of law.
Mr Conway, a longtime Trump foe, reminded the former president of the most basic of rights — the right to remain silent if one is suspected of a crime as set out by the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution.
People are protected from being compelled to give testimony that could incriminate them. Mr Trump offers written testimony on social media in written form often multiple times a day.
“You have the right to remain silent, you know. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law,” posted Mr Conway on Truth Social in response to the former president’s most recent attempt at explaining away the presence of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago.
“Do you understand these rights, @realDonaldTrump?”
Oliver O’Connell19 January 2023 02:30
Trump calls classified folders ‘cool keepsake’ while lashing out at ‘Gestapo’ FBI
Another day, another protestation of innocence from former president Donald Trump regarding the trove of classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago.
Mr Trump argues that he kept the inexpensive folders marked “classified” or “confidential” as a “cool” keepsake before accusing the “Gestapo” — the FBI — of taking these empty folders and counting them as classified documents.
Further, the former president then floated the conspiracy theory that “Trump Hating Marxist Thugs’ would “plant documents while they’re in possession of the material”.
He ended with a defiant: “I DID NOTHING WRONG. JOE DID!”
Oliver O’Connell19 January 2023 01:30
How ominous is the debt limit problem?
On the brink of hitting the nation’s legal borrowing limit on Thursday, the government is resorting to “extraordinary measures” to avoid a default.
But — take a breath — the phrase technically refers to a bunch of accounting workarounds. Yes, accounting.
Oliver O’Connell19 January 2023 00:30
Voices: Why Kevin McCarthy can’t quit George Santos
Another day, another George Santos headline. Several of them, actually.
Eric Garcia explains why Kevin McCarthy – let alone the rest of GOP leadership – likely can’t afford to quit Mr Santos for one simple reason.
Oliver O’Connell18 January 2023 23:30
Renewed Stormy Daniels hush money probe see Cohen meet with Trump prosecutors
Donald Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, said he met for 2½ hours Tuesday with Manhattan prosecutors who have revived a years-old investigation into payments made to a porn star to keep her quiet about an alleged extramarital tryst.
Cohen said he had been “ordered not to disclose” any of the people present at the meeting or to discuss prosecutors’ area of interest in any detail.
Cohen meets Trump prosecutors amid renewed hush money probe
Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer Michael Cohen says he met Tuesday for about 2½ hours with Manhattan prosecutors, who are again investigating hush money payments he made to a porn star who said she had an extramarital affair with the former president
Oliver O’Connell18 January 2023 23:00
Voices: The dangerous troll under the Republican House bridge
Republican Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy has repeated his intention to keep Democratic representatives Eric Swalwell, Adam Schiff, and Ilhan Omar off the House intelligence committee. The move is widely seen as revenge for Democrats removing Republicans Marjorie Taylor Greene and Paul Gosar. It is also, though, a reiteration of Republican commitment to government by trolling.
Oliver O’Connell18 January 2023 22:30
Trump wants Obama questioned on classified papers
In a busy day of Truth Social posts, former president Donald Trump wonders:
Why aren’t they asking President Obama what’s going on with his Administration? Crooked Hillary took and illegally deleted and acid washed 33,000 Emails AFTER getting a Subpoena for those Emails from the United States Congress, and who knows how many Classified Documents Joe took, especially pertaining to Ukraine and China. Maybe Trump Hating Special “Prosecutor” Jack Smith, who is doing the dirty work for his Marxist Democrat friends, should do the right thing for our Country!
He adds in a follow-up post:
Our Country has become the Investigation Capital of the World. Actually, that’s all we do, and it’s only good for our many enemies. They could not be happier as they brilliantly plot our demise!!!
Oliver O’Connell18 January 2023 22:11
Trump claims he kept classified folders as ‘cool’ keepsakes
Donald Trump insisted on Wednesday in posts on Truth Social that many of the documents marked “classified” found at Mar-a-Lago — of more than 300 in total — were in fact empty folders marked “classified” that he had taken as “cool” keepsakes.
Mr Trump went on to reiterate his baseless accusation claiming that federal law enforcement agents would plant more classified documents among the seized materials in order to further incriminate him.
John Bowden has the details.
Oliver O’Connell18 January 2023 22:00
Trump news: Trump returns to Twitter and formally demands Facebook reinstatement
‘Meet the Press’ anchor reveals the ‘most powerful person’ shaping the 2024 election
Donald Trump is reportedly poised to return to Twitter as part of his 2024 campaign and representatives have petitioned Facebook parent Meta for his account on that platform to be reinstated, according to reporting by NBC News.
Meanwhile, Mr Trump’s former “fixer” Michael Cohen has met with New York prosecutors as part of an investigation into the Trump Organization’s involvement in paying hush money to Stormy Daniels.
Mr Trump’s former personal attorney arrived for a meeting with the Manhattan district attorney’s office on Tuesday, leaving roughly 90 minutes later where he told CNN he would likely be meeting with investigators again.
The apparent ramping up of the probe comes as newly-released logs reveal who paid a visit to Mr Trump’s White House in the days running up to the January 6 Capitol riot.
The visitor logs, which were obtained by the House select committee investigating Jan 6, reveal the president met with several far-right election deniers and conspiracy theorists including Sidney Powell.
The former president also continues to sound off about the parallel investigations into the discovery of classified materials at Mar-a-Lago and classified documents at President Joe Biden’s home and an office he once used.
Trump poised to return to Twitter as campaign demands Facebook reinstatement, report says
While Donald Trump was granted access to his Twitter account back on 19 November following the takeover of the company by Elon Musk and the decision to reverse the ban imposed on the former president in the wake of the Capitol riot, he has to tweet.
That could all change according to reporting by NBC News, which states that his 2024 campaign advisers have been workshopping ideas for his first tweet.
In addition, the campaign has also approached Facebook parent Meta to unblock his account on that platform which was also suspended two years ago.
“We believe that the ban on President Trump’s account on Facebook has dramatically distorted and inhibited the public discourse,” Trump’s campaign wrote in its letter to Meta on Tuesday, according to a copy reviewed by NBC News.
The campaign would like a meeting to discuss reinstatement. Meta has said it will announce a decision in the coming weeks.
Since his ban from the principal social media platforms, Mr Trump founded his own — Truth Social — but does not enjoy the audience and bully pulpit he had on the other sites. While he has 4.8 million followers on Truth Social, he had 88 million on Twitter and 34 million on Facebook.
Oliver O’Connell18 January 2023 14:26
How ominous is the debt limit problem?
On the brink of hitting the nation’s legal borrowing limit on Thursday, the government is resorting to “extraordinary measures” to avoid a default.
But — take a breath — the phrase technically refers to a bunch of accounting workarounds. Yes, accounting.
Oliver O’Connell19 January 2023 00:30
Voices: Why Kevin McCarthy can’t quit George Santos
Another day, another George Santos headline. Several of them, actually.
Eric Garcia explains why Kevin McCarthy – let alone the rest of GOP leadership – likely can’t afford to quit Mr Santos for one simple reason.
Oliver O’Connell18 January 2023 23:30
Renewed Stormy Daniels hush money probe see Cohen meet with Trump prosecutors
Donald Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, said he met for 2½ hours Tuesday with Manhattan prosecutors who have revived a years-old investigation into payments made to a porn star to keep her quiet about an alleged extramarital tryst.
Cohen said he had been “ordered not to disclose” any of the people present at the meeting or to discuss prosecutors’ area of interest in any detail.
Cohen meets Trump prosecutors amid renewed hush money probe
Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer Michael Cohen says he met Tuesday for about 2½ hours with Manhattan prosecutors, who are again investigating hush money payments he made to a porn star who said she had an extramarital affair with the former president
Oliver O’Connell18 January 2023 23:00
Voices: The dangerous troll under the Republican House bridge
Republican Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy has repeated his intention to keep Democratic representatives Eric Swalwell, Adam Schiff, and Ilhan Omar off the House intelligence committee. The move is widely seen as revenge for Democrats removing Republicans Marjorie Taylor Greene and Paul Gosar. It is also, though, a reiteration of Republican commitment to government by trolling.
Oliver O’Connell18 January 2023 22:30
Trump wants Obama questioned on classified papers
In a busy day of Truth Social posts, former president Donald Trump wonders:
Why aren’t they asking President Obama what’s going on with his Administration? Crooked Hillary took and illegally deleted and acid washed 33,000 Emails AFTER getting a Subpoena for those Emails from the United States Congress, and who knows how many Classified Documents Joe took, especially pertaining to Ukraine and China. Maybe Trump Hating Special “Prosecutor” Jack Smith, who is doing the dirty work for his Marxist Democrat friends, should do the right thing for our Country!
He adds in a follow-up post:
Our Country has become the Investigation Capital of the World. Actually, that’s all we do, and it’s only good for our many enemies. They could not be happier as they brilliantly plot our demise!!!
Oliver O’Connell18 January 2023 22:11
Trump claims he kept classified folders as ‘cool’ keepsakes
Donald Trump insisted on Wednesday in posts on Truth Social that many of the documents marked “classified” found at Mar-a-Lago — of more than 300 in total — were in fact empty folders marked “classified” that he had taken as “cool” keepsakes.
Mr Trump went on to reiterate his baseless accusation claiming that federal law enforcement agents would plant more classified documents among the seized materials in order to further incriminate him.
John Bowden has the details.
Oliver O’Connell18 January 2023 22:00
Kushner warned Trump against going down rabbit hole of bogus election claims
Jared Kushner warned Donald Trump against listening to the outside lawyers he’d gathered around himself during his attempt to overturn the 2020 election, telling his father-in-law that his legal team was sending him on “a funky ride”.
In his new book on the first two years of Joe Biden’s presidency, The Fight of his Life, author Chris Whipple writes that Mr Kushner “chose to make himself scarce” in the days leading up to the January 6 attack on the Capitol because he “knew there was nothing there” when it came to Mr Trump’s claims to be the victim of a stolen election.
Andrew Feinberg reports from Washington, DC.
Oliver O’Connell18 January 2023 21:30
Awkward video shows Trump ducking fan’s high five
Donald Trump has been captured on video awkwardly avoiding a high five after taking a photo with a group of supporters during what appears to be a round of golf at his private Florida club.
Lawyer Ron Filipkowski shared the footage on Twitter, in which the former president smiles for the camera and gives a thumbs up before climbing back into his golf cart, without high-fiving the supporter next to him, whose arm is grabbed by a man, preventing him from touching Mr Trump.
Gustaf Kilander has the story.
Oliver O’Connell18 January 2023 21:00
Trump to preside over memorial service for Diamond
Donald Trump has announced that he will preside over the memorial service for Diamond of the political vlogging duo Diamond and Silk.
“They were with me from the beginning and they never wavered,” Mr Trump said.
Oliver O’Connell18 January 2023 20:30
EU formally adopts law requiring Apple to support USB-C chargers
Washington
CNN Business
—
A landmark law requiring Apple and other electronics makers to adopt USB-C as a universal charging standard in the European Union has cleared its final procedural hurdle, after EU member states voted to approve the legislation on Monday.
The new law, which is targeted at smartphones, tablets, digital cameras, portable speakers and a wide array of other small devices, is the first of its kind anywhere in the world. It aims to streamline the number of chargers and cables consumers must contend with when they purchase a new device, and to allow users to mix and match devices and chargers, even if they were produced by different manufacturers.
Apple could be among the most affected by the legislation. The iPhone maker has historically required users to charge its mobile devices using a proprietary charging connector known as Lightning; under the new rules, Apple would be forced to migrate away from Lightning in its devices sold in the EU. That change, which Apple is reportedly testing for iPhones, could potentially extend to devices Apple sells in other markets as well.
The EU law must still be signed by the presidents of the EU parliament and European Council, according to a release, but those are considered formalities. Earlier this month, the legislation received final approval from EU lawmakers.
In addition to covering new, small electronics going on the market at the end of 2024, the rules will also extend to larger electronics such as laptops beginning in 2026. It will also commit European officials to streamlining standards for wireless charging, a technology that is only just becoming more widespread.
Justice Department formally appeals appointment of special master in Mar-a-Lago documents case
CNN
—
The Justice Department officially appealed the appointment of the special master, who is overseeing the review of documents seized from former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, in a brief filed with the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday.
The Justice Department centered their brief on sweeping criticism of lower court Judge Aileen Cannon’s actions, arguing she had no authority to interfere with their federal criminal investigation. The Justice Department is asking the federal appeals court to invalidate Cannon’s order and end the special master’s review of documents.
“District courts have no general equitable authority to superintend federal criminal investigations,” the brief said. “[I]nstead, challenges to the government’s use of the evidence recovered in a search are resolved through ordinary criminal motions practice if and when charges are filed. Here, however, the district court granted the extraordinary relief Plaintiff sought….”
The Justice Department also argued that Trump had no basis to interfere with the review of executive branch documents by the Justice Department, which itself is part of the executive branch.
Plus, department attorneys pointed out that Trump never made any claim of attorney-client privilege over the 11,000 documents taken from Mar-a-Lago in August that would have justified the appointment of a special master. The Justice Department argued that the filter procedures it has already employed were sufficient to shield any sensitive documents from investigators’ review.
“[Trump] has no plausible claim of such a privilege with respect to the records bearing classification markings or any other government documents related to his official duties,” the Justice Department brief said.
The Justice Department said all of the documents seized from Mar-a-Lago could be evidence of crimes.
The department argued investigators need access to the classified documents given they are looking at the potential crime of unauthorized retention of national defense information and also to be able to assess the potential risk to national security if it was disclosed. The department said investigators need access to the unclassified documents because they could be evidence that government records were unlawfully concealed or removed.
The federal appeals court granted the department’s request last month to block certain aspects of an order from Cannon. This appeal contests the entire order from Cannon, who granted Trump’s request to designate a third party to review the documents seized from his Florida estate.
The special master – Raymond Dearie, a senior federal judge based in Brooklyn – has already started the process for the review. If the department is ultimately successful in its appeal, the special master could be ordered to halt the review process.
This appeals process, however, will take at least several weeks. While a federal judge did grant the department’s request to expedite the appeal, Trump’s legal team still has until November 10 to file a response, and the 11th Circuit will not schedule oral arguments until after the department files a subsequent reply on November 17.
As it stands now, the special master’s review must be complete by December 16, a timeline set into motion by Cannon, a Trump appointee.
After the 11th Circuit stepped in last month to allow the Justice Department access to about 100 of the documents marked classified, Trump filed an emergency request asking the Supreme Court to intervene in that dispute. On Thursday, the high court refused his request.
The Supreme Court’s decision not to intervene means that, for now, the classified documents will stay out of the reach of the special master.
The department, in its Supreme Court filing, had argued that the 11th US Circuit found that Cannon “abused her discretion” and inflicted “a serious and unwarranted intrusion on the Executive Branch’s authority to control the use and distribution of extraordinarily sensitive government records.”
The DOJ says the seized documents taken from Mar-a-Lago during the FBI search amount to 21,792 pages. The collection excludes materials seized by the FBI that have already been filtered out for privacy and the 100 documents marked as classified found in the search.
There’s been a years-long pursuit from the National Archives and Records Administration, or NARA, to reclaim all records that belong to the federal government that were created during the Trump administration.
NARA’s back-and-forth with Trump and his liaisons led earlier this year to the return of boxes and envelopes full of records by former administration officials and lawyers. NARA’s findings in one of those collections prompted a Justice Department investigation into the mishandling of classified records and August’s search of Mar-a-Lago. NARA has said that certain presidential records from the Trump administration remain outstanding, citing information that some White House staff used non-official electronic systems to conduct official business.
The DOJ’s appeal of the appointment of a special master comes days after CNN reported that a Trump employee told the FBI about being directed by the former President to move boxes out of a basement storage room to his residence at Mar-a-Lago – after Trump’s legal team received a subpoena for any classified documents at the Florida estate.
The Trump employee initially denied handling sensitive documents or boxes at Mar-a-Lago, according to the source. But the FBI developed evidence that prompted investigators to go back to the witness, who revised their story to say Trump had given instructions to move the boxes, the source said.
The witness account of Trump’s actions after the subpoena was served in May coupled with the footage could be key to the federal criminal investigation that’s looking into a range of potential crimes, including obstruction, destruction of government records and mishandling of classified information.
The Department of Justice has previously alleged that classified documents at the resort were “likely concealed and removed” from a storage room at Mar-a-Lago as part of an effort to “obstruct” the FBI’s investigation into Trump’s potential mishandling of classified materials.
This is a breaking story and will be updated.