Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has given her clearest indication yet that any indictments related to the election-tampering case against former US President Donald Trump and others are expected to come in August. Willis has requested that local judges not schedule trials and in-person hearings for much of this time. Willis and her team have been investigating the 45th president’s alleged actions to overturn his defeat to Joe Biden in the 2020 election.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has reportedly announced his candidacy for the US presidency and told donors that former President Donald Trump cannot win the 2024 election. Speaking on a call organized by Never Back Down, which is supporting DeSantis, he said only he could win the Republican primary and general election. While praising Trump’s efforts, he pointed out that President Joe Biden had undone many of his achievements over the last four years. Reports suggest DeSantis may formally announce his candidacy next week.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is going to be a presidential candidate for the US Republican Party and will formally announce his campaign against Donald Trump next week. DeSantis is confident, with strong financial support and more $80m expected to be transferred from his state account to his Super PAC, which has already raised more than $30m, focusing on his legislative accomplishments. However, he was dealt another blow this week after Disney scrapped plans to build a $1bn office complex in Orlando that was expected to bring more than 2,000 jobs with an average salary of $120,000. Sources say Disney’s feud with Mr. DeSantis, which had escalated into a bitter fight over control of the entity that oversees Disney World, played a major factor. The Fox News commentator Dagen McDowell said on Thursday, “Ron DeSantis does not have an economic plan as of yet, and today Disney just pulled a $1 billion investment out of Florida.”
The FBI has been accused of misusing Section 702, a powerful digital surveillance database, more than 278,000 times against crime victims, January 6 riot suspects, and people arrested protesting the death of George Floyd. The FBI took data from 19,000 donors to a congressional candidate, believing that the campaign was a “target of foreign influence”. Section 702 was established in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks to target foreign intelligence and terrorism, and it is authorised to search this database only when foreign intelligence information is believed to be produced or when evidence of crimes is sought. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court has warned the FBI about its compliance errors and delays in fixing them, despite stating regular queries for instances of abuse. FBI officials say the database has already been fixed since the discovery of the errors. This misuse poses a potential problem for the FBI as it could weaken Congress’s support to renew the law as it is set to expire at the end of this year.
Former New Jersey Governor, Chris Christie, is said to be preparing another run for president, with many believing it a kamikaze mission to take Trump down. Recent polls show 70% of people wouldn't even consider Christie, and a more recent poll showed that just 3% of Republican-leaning voters would be "very satisfied" with him as a nominee. However, Christie has already launched his campaign against Trump, suggesting this is his path to victory. However, political watchers believe nobody wants to be the one to leap and make that case.
US Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch has called the emergency measures taken during the COVID-19 pandemic the biggest infringement of civil liberties since the founding of the country. In an eight-page statement, Gorsuch criticised actions taken by governments across the United States, including school closures, vaccine mandates and restrictions on church services, as well as intervening in reproductive rights, gun control and native American rights. Following the expiration of the public health emergency, the court did not issue a judgment on a planned hearing on Title 42, which prevented asylum seekers entering the country.
Two former FBI agents and self-proclaimed whistleblowers at a hearing of the House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponisation of the Federal Government have admitted to receiving money from former president Donald Trump's advisor Kash Patel. The two agents accused the FBI of removing them from service because of their conservative political beliefs and claimed that the FBI was unlawfully retaliating against whistleblowers who complained about the bureau's treatment of suspects involved in the US Capitol riot on 6 January. Democratic Rep. Stacey Plaskett stated: "MAGA Republicans are a threat to the rule of law in America."
MIT economics professor Daron Acemoglu has published a book called Power and Progress that examines the past millennium of technological progress, its imbalances and the need for proper incentives and regulatory safeguards to be put into place. While it was assumed neoliberal globalisation would always be beneficial, Acemoglu's research shows that major technological disruption such as the Industrial Revolution can flatten wages for an entire class of working people, involving distributional conflict and power dynamics. He argues capital takes what it wants in the absence of constraints and technology is a tool that can be used for good or ill. Acemoglu says it's not automatic and economists must remember this process as it can create growth but not enrich the masses.
The increasingly uncontrollable issue of immigration is affecting almost every aspect of governance in developed countries, including education, crime, housing, foreign policy, and national identity. Millions of migrants are flooding across the southern US border each year, with President Biden claiming to be trying to stop it while at the same time increasing its flow. Similarly, the Conservative government in Britain said it would cut both legal and illegal migration while overseeing a historic surge in the latter, dispersing illegal immigrants around the country and housing them in expensive hotels. Governments in both countries seem to have lost control of both immigration and the arguments around the issue. The problem is increasingly fuelled by technological advances and the ease of movement and communication they bring. Modern politicians have been too hesitant to address who is needed and who is not, leading to accusations of heartlessness for restricting immigration and reputational damage from doing so. However, neither America nor Britain can save the rest of the world by taking in even a modest percentage of the global population, leading to increasingly disenchanted voters.
Texas militia member Donald Hazard has been sentenced to almost five years in prison after admitting to attacking police officers during the January 6th Capitol riots. The sentence was the length suggested by federal prosecutors. The court heard how the 44-year-old, who was part of a militia group called the Patriot Boys of North Texas, was “eager for violence” and had a tactical vest and helmet adorned with the Confederate battle flag. During the riots, Hazard clashed with officers and grabbed one, pulling him down concrete steps and knocking him unconscious. Another officer's head was injured after Hazard fell on him. Hazard entered the Capitol building briefly before being pushed out by officers. Black pepper spray was used on some of the police. Over 1,000 people have been charged with federal crimes related to the attack, and Hazard is the latest person to be sentenced.
Donald Trump has taken to social media to call himself the "victim" of the claimed weaponisation of the federal government. Trump made the comment following the Jim Jordan-led House Judiciary Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government hearing. Two suspended FBI agents and a fired agent spoke about how the agency had retaliated against them for claims they had made about it. The hearing came after the release of Trump-era Justice Department special counsel John Durham’s report, which was critical of the FBI’s investigation into Trump’s 2016 campaign.
The US government is just weeks away from running out of money if the “X-date” when the so-called debt ceiling is not raised arrives. Although the White House is playing down the dangers, it is typically dismissed as posturing to put pressure on Republican congress members. However, current conditions differ considerably from earlier episodes of the debt-ceiling standoff and complacency could cause a dangerous storm. If the June 1 deadline passes and the debt-ceiling has still not been raised, the government will likely be forced to drastically cut spending which may cause a recession with disastrous effects globally.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has visited New Hampshire as he makes preparations to launch his 2024 Republican presidential campaign. While meeting with GOP lawmakers in the state, DeSantis touted his aggressive agenda, which includes new laws that ban gender-affirming care for minors, restrict discussion of personal pronouns in schools, target drag shows and force people to use certain bathrooms. He also expressed support for the failed New Hampshire bill that would have required schools to inform parents if their child was being referred to as a different gender or name. Many supporters believe this and DeSantis's anti-LGBTQ+ messaging will help him gain backing in the state.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has met with New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu, a potential rival for the GOP presidential nomination, ahead of his campaign launch as he swung through the first-in-the-nation primary state. Sununu is seriously considering a presidential bid and has publicly criticised some of DeSantis’s policy moves, including the Florida governor’s still-escalating battle with Disney, which Sununu and some other Republicans consider at odds with "free market" conservatism. Support here could be pivotal in the governor’s efforts to pull ahead of clear front-runner and potential rival Donald Trump in 2024.
The University of Cambridge Footlights troupe is offering a “sensitivity reading” service to check comedians' jokes do not “punch down,” making fun of people less privileged than the comic. In recent years, most progressives agree that “punching up” -- making fun of authority figures -- is more effective than "punching down," but critics argue that mocking the less fortunate and successful has always been inherent to comedy and remains popular.
Republicans are rallying around 24-year-old former US marine Daniel Penny, who was caught on video pinning an agitated fellow subway passenger in New York City to the floor in a chokehold. The passenger, 30-year-old Jordan Neely, subsequently died from compression of the neck, according to the medical examiner. Penny has been charged with manslaughter and his attorneys claim he acted in self-defense. Florida governor Ron DeSantis urged America to show Penny its support. Former UN ambassador Nikki Haley called for New York's governor to pardon Penny, and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy donated $10,000 to his legal defense fund. Most Republicans have lauded Penny as a hero who sought to protect others in New York City, which is led by Democrats and has seen crime rates increasing. Some also believe the support offered to the veteran reflects a party-wide playbook based around stoking division and fear and taking advantage of the worst aspects of human nature to win elections.
Germany is preparing to publish its first comprehensive national security strategy. The strategy will be published some time next month, ahead of a Nato summit in July. The purpose of the strategy is to set out a conceptual framework for policymakers to plan foreign, defence and security policies. It will assess both long-term and immediate challenges, sending a useful signal to citizens, allies and rivals about how leaders see the world and their country's place in it. The new German strategy is built on three concepts: vigorous defence, resilience and sustainability. Germany's friends on both sides of the Atlantic are keen to see Berlin take more responsibility for European security, spend more on defence, and above all, think strategically. However, the initiative seems a useful way to flesh out the ideas contained in a landmark speech that Chancellor Olaf Scholz made just days after the war’s outbreak. This has become known as his Zeitenwende speech after the word he coined to suggest that Russia’s invasion marked a“historical turning point” or an“epochal shift in geopolitics.”
The US has failed to provide immigration assistance to most Afghans who helped American forces. The United Kingdom pledged to allow Afghans who assisted British forces to build a life in safety and security, but many are undergoing deportation. Despite the broad bipartisan support of both houses of US Congress and President Joe Biden, Congress has failed to live up to its commitments to Afghans. Most Afghans who came to the United States after the withdrawal of US military forces from the country arrived on what is called humanitarian parole, wherein people who may be otherwise ineligible for admission into the US are allowed to enter for humanitarian reasons, but in a few months, many humanitarian parolees will lose their status.
The National Archives has uncovered 16 records showing that former President Trump and his top advisers were aware of the correct declassification process when he was president and knew he was breaking rules by taking classified documents to Mar-a-Lago. The findings were revealed in a letter sent to Trump by archivist Debra Steidel Wall, who wrote: “The 16 records in question all reflect communications involving close presidential advisers, some of them directed to you personally, concerning whether, why, and how you should declassify certain classified records.” The documents will be turned over to Special Counsel Jack Smith as part of the criminal investigation into Trump’s handling of classified documents.
Meanwhile, the former Attorney General under the Trump administration and Bush administration, Bill Barr, hinted that the situation could “expose” former President Trump if he “played games” after the government requested the classified documents. “The problem is what did he do after the government asked for them back and subpoenaed them? And if there’s any games being played there, he’s going to be very exposed,” Barr said.
In a poll of 1,571 registered voters, conducted by Republican polling firm WPA Research, President Joe Biden would be vaulted to a massive lead over Trump if the former president faces further criminal charges arising from the federal and state criminal investigations into his conduct. The poll found that voters currently prefer Biden over Trump by a margin of 47% to 40%, including a 14-point lead for the sitting president amongst registered independents. Even if Trump were to receive all of the indicted votes, the president would still hold a 4-point lead.
London mayor Sadiq Khan has said he has cumulative post-traumatic stress disorder from dealing with a range of incidents including regular death threats, disasters and terror attacks. He affirmed, however, that he was not equating his symptoms with the severe PTSD experienced by refugees and similarly affected people. Khan said his work had required him to see more “ghastly stuff” than most, and cited an increase in threats on social media from supporters of former US President Donald Trump. He is currently running for a third term as mayor in upcoming elections.
