Headlines for Friday, May 5, 2023
đ˝There is no greater power than a community discovering the truth and working together to make sure an injustice is not repeated
đ˝A well informed citizenry is the best defense against tyranny. - Thomas Jefferson
đ˝There is no greater power than a community discovering the truth and working together to make sure an injustice is not repeated
NEWS HEADLINES FOR MAY 5, 2023
The New York Times: Justice Dept. Intensifying Efforts to Determine if Trump Hid Documents: Federal prosecutors investigating former President Donald J. Trumpâs handling of classified documents have obtained the confidential cooperation of a person who has worked for him at Mar-a-Lago, part of an intensifying effort to determine whether Mr. Trump ordered boxes containing sensitive material moved out of a storage room there as the government sought to recover it last year, multiple people familiar with the inquiry said.
The New York Times: Legal Moves in Trump Case Reveal Challenges of Prosecuting a President: A month after the Manhattan district attorneyâs office unveiled criminal charges against Donald J. Trump, the complexities of prosecuting a former president and current contender for the White House are becoming increasingly clear. On Thursday alone, a flurry of activity at what was supposed to be an ordinary court hearing illustrated that reality.
The Wall Street Journal: In Trump Probe, Special Counsel Zooms In on Possible Criminal Charges: Special counsel Jack Smith is racing through a roster of interviews in his wide-ranging investigations related to former President Donald Trump, including with former Vice President Mike Pence and other top aides, as he contemplates filing charges, according to people familiar with the matter. The steps prosecutors are taking, the people say, suggest Mr. Smith is in the late stages of his inquiry into Mr. Trumpâs efforts to remain in power after the 2020 election. The special counsel is also considering whether the former president tried to obstruct a separate probe into the handling of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort by withholding material sought by the Justice Department.
Forbes: Trump Regrets Complying With DOJ Subpoena: âI . . . Should Not Have Returned Documents: Former President Donald Trump suggested on his Truth Social account that he should have ignored the Justice Departmentâs subpoena for classified documents he kept at Mar-A-Lago and repeated his claims that he âdid everything rightâ when he brought a trove of top-secret records to his Florida estate Friday as the DOJ is reportedly intensifying its probe into the matter.
NBC News: Judge questions DOJ's handling of a Jan. 6 rioter who 'scuffled' with an officer who died by suicide: U.S. District Judge Jia M. Cobb on Friday asked a federal prosecutor to explain the Justice Department's handling of a misdemeanor case against a Jan. 6 defendant who admitted that he "scuffled" with officers inside the Capitol, including an officer who later died by suicide. David Walls-Kaufman, a Washington, D.C., resident, was supposed to be sentenced on Friday, but Cobb delayed imposing the sentence after receiving information from the officer's family. The family is pursuing a civil suit that accuses Walls-Kaufman of assault and playing a role in the death of Jeffrey Smith, a Metropolitan Police Department officer who died by suicide following the Jan. 6 attack. Cobb, on Friday, asked the department for their view of the evidence of the alleged assault, noting he was only charged with a misdemeanor.
CBS News: Pressure mounting on Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg to charge Marine veteran in Jordan Neely's death: There are more calls for criminal charges in the chokehold death of Jordan Neely on the subway. Activists are calling on Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg to charge the Marine veteran, who was questioned by police and let go, after video showed him holding Neely in the chokehold. Law experts said it's a murky case that weighs heavily on whether people in that subway car thought they were in danger.
Fox News: North Carolina advances flurry of conservative bills as GOP supermajority looms over Dem gov's veto threats: North Carolina lawmakers this week approved dozens of bills in a marathon legislative session as state Republicans continued riding a wave of momentum in the aftermath of a high-profile defection of a Democratic legislator. The state Senate on Thursday passed legislation that would ban most abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy, making exceptions for rape, incest, fetal abnormality, or danger to the life of the mother. North Carolina law currently allows abortion up to 20 weeks.
The Washington Post: Kemp poised to sign bill that allows ouster of local Georgia prosecutors: Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) is poised to sign legislation as early as Friday that would create a commission with the power to remove local prosecutors from office, a move Democrats in the state have decried as a power grab that usurps the will of local voters. Atlanta-area prosecutor Fani Willis, who is considering bringing charges against former president Donald Trump and his allies over 2020 election interference, has been one of the most outspoken opponents of the legislation, suggesting she is among those being targeted by its Republican sponsors.
CNN: 2 Supreme Court justices did not recuse themselves in cases involving their book publisher:Â
Two Supreme Court justices did not recuse themselves from cases that came before the court over the past decade involving a publishing company thatâs paid them in lucrative book deals. In two separate copyright infringement cases concerning the publishing conglomerate Penguin Random House, the high court declined to take up the appeals, with the court saying in 2013 that it wouldnât hear the first case, and the second case being turned away from the court in 2019 and again in 2020. In both cases, the publisher won at the lower court level, and those decisions stood.
CNBC: DeSantis used Floridaâs whirlwind legislative session as a potential presidential launching pad: Floridaâs legislative session is set to end Friday, capping a 60-day Republican blitz to send major bills to Gov. Ron DeSantis as he sets the tone for his anticipated presidential campaign announcement. DeSantis, who is widely seen as former President Donald Trumpâs top rival for the 2024 Republican nomination, has long been expected to reveal his political plans after the session adjourns. He could announce a presidential exploratory committee as soon as mid-May, NBC News reported last week.
The New York Times: Left-Leaning Groups Seek Florida Ballot Measure to Expand Abortion Access: A coalition of organizations that support abortion rights is planning to spend millions of dollars in an effort to place a measure protecting abortion rights on Floridaâs ballot next year. The initiative, first reported by Politico and confirmed by a representative for Planned Parenthood, aims to limit âgovernment interference with abortionâ before a fetus is considered viable â often around 24 weeks of pregnancy â âor when necessary to protect the patientâs health, as determined by the patientâs healthcare provider,â according to the text of the proposed amendment.
Vanity Fair: Report: Donald Trumpâs Legal Outlook Does Not Appear to Be Improving: Earlier this week, we learned that special counsel Jack Smithâwho is investigating Donald Trumpâs attempt to overturn the 2020 election and the insurrection that followedâhad reportedly taken an extra special interest in Mike Penceâs grand jury testimony on the matter. Thatâs a turn of events that is unlikely to go over great with the ex-president, but what of Smithâs other criminal investigation into Trump, the one involving his handling of highly classified documents (and possible obstruction)? It appears thereâs equally not-great news for the former guy on that front too.
New York Daily News: Trump demands Manhattan hush money indictment be moved to federal court; says DA Alvin Bragg âpolitically motivatedâ to bring charges: Donald Trumpâs lawyers demanded Thursday that his trial in the porn star hush money case be moved from state to federal court because Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg was âpolitically motivatedâ to seek an indictment. Trumpâs papers, filed in Manhattan Federal Court, came as Bragg asked the state judge now hearing the case to bar Trump from publicly discussing evidence in the matter.
The Independent: Mar-a-Lago insider cooperating with Special Counsel probe into Trumpâs hoard of secret documents, report says: A Mar-a-Lago insider is helping Special Counsel Jack Smithâs investigation into the former presidentâs handling of top secret documents at his luxury Florida estate, a report says. Federal investigators have issued a string of new subpoenas in the probe and are trying to discover if Mr Trump ordered boxes containing confidential documents to be moved out of a storage room as the government attempted to recover them, sources told The New York Times.
The Hill: DOJ finds âinsider witnessâ in Trump Mar-a-Lago documents probe: report: The Justice Department has found an âinsider witnessâ as investigators probe former President Trumpâs handling of classified documents, according to a new report. The New York Times, citing people familiar with the matter, reported that the unidentified person now cooperating confidentially with the investigation has worked for Trump at Mar-a-Lago.
The New York Times: North Carolina Legislature Passes 12-Week Abortion Ban: North Carolina hastily approved legislation on Thursday that would ban most abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy, setting the stage for a likely test of the Republican Partyâs new, but slim, supermajority. After an emotional, five-hour debate, the Senate, by a vote of 29-20, approved a ban the House had already passed the night before. The bill now goes to the stateâs Democratic governor, who has called it âextreme,â and said he would veto it. He has 10 days to act.
Washington Monthly: Once Again, Voting Rights and Democracy Are Under Siege in North Carolina: The North Carolina Supreme Court issued another strike against democracy last month, overturning two gerrymandering decisions from last year and letting state legislators draw unfair maps to keep themselves in power. âThrow the bums outâ doesnât work when the bums rig the game. Coupled with the U.S. Supreme Courtâs decision in Rucho v. Common Cause in 2019âwhich took federal courts out of the partisan gerrymandering businessâvoters in the Tar Heel State now have nowhere to turn to prevent anti-democracy abuses of the voting process.
NBC News: Justice Thomas defenders mke the case for Supreme Court ethics reform: In pushing back on recent claims that Justice Clarence Thomas is guilty of ethics lapses, Republicans and allies leaping to his defense have been quick to cite examples of liberal Supreme Court justices making similar misjudgments or nondisclosures. At a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday, Republican senators pointed to the conduct of liberals like the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, now-retired Justice Stephen Breyer and serving justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson.
The New York Times: The Devolution of Ron DeSantis: At the beginning of the year, Ron DeSantis looked as if he might be the answer to all of the Republican Partyâs problems. For the first time in decades, a conservative politician rose to national prominence on issues that unified the partyâs populist base with its beleaguered establishment â and without triggering a Resistance from Florida Democrats. He seemed to offer Republicans a path beyond the divisions and defeats of the last 15 years.
USA Today: Ron DeSantis says he's fighting 'woke' companies like Disney. But it's just a PR move: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantisâ Mickey Mouse dilemma goes beyond the debate about the proper use of state power to combat "woke" corporations. DeSantis' critics on both the right and left missed the main plot: woke companies from Disney to BlackRock won special deals from the governor, in a way that undermines the credibility of his crusade against them. The Walt Disney Company is now suing DeSantis, claiming he orchestrated âa targeted campaign of government retaliation,â which it said stemmed from the companyâs criticism of the Parental Rights in Education Act, dubbed the "Don't Say Gay Bill" by critics. This move follows Disneyâs attempt to defenestrate the power of a DeSantis-appointed governing board and DeSantisâ retaliatory suggestions to bring other amusement parks to the state, impose new tax levies and regulations on Disney, and even to locate a state prison near Disney World.
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