List of All Articles with Tag 'politics'

Weeks into Ukraine's highly anticipated counteroffensive, Western officials describe increasingly "sobering" assessments about Ukrainian forces' ability to retake significant territory, four senior US and western officials briefed on the latest intelligence told CNN.

President Joe Biden on Tuesday said that he plans to soon visit Vietnam in an effort "to change our relationship," with the Southeast Asian nation.

Former Vice President Mike Pence's national security adviser Keith Kellogg -- who endorsed Donald Trump's reelection campaign on Tuesday -- urged Pence to finish certifying the 2020 election "TONIGHT" while the US Capitol was still secured during the January 6, 2021, insurrection.

Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus criticised Texas governor Greg Abbott for deploying “cruel and inhumane” tactics like razor-tipped buoys as part of his controversial effort to lock down the US-Mexico border. “Today was eye-opening,” Rep Sylvia Garcia of Texas wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, sharing a video of orange buoys used in the Rio Grande which are separated with blade saw-like barbed disks. “Seeing the barbaric, inhumane, and ungodly practices in my home state of Texas. This is beyond politics and crosses a line into human rights violations.” “Everyone needs to see what I saw in Eagle Pass today,” said Texas congressman Joaquin Castro in his own dispatch from the border. “Clothing stuck on razor wire where families got trapped. Chainsaw devices in the middle of buoys. Land seized from US citizens. Operation Lone Star is barbaric — and Governor Abbott is making border communities collateral damage.” The Texas governor has insisted that the buoys and razor wire he’s installed across the border between the state and Mexico will save lives by deterring migration. However, as The Independent has reported, advocates and Texas troopers are warning the tools are already putting people at risk. In July, a Texas state border medic named Nicholas Wingate went public with allegations that the border barriers were already causing severe injuries, and that he and his fellow troopers were ordered, as part of the governor’s Operation Lone Star, to push exhausted migrants back into the river and refuse to offer them water. (The state denies this order existed.) “I believe we have stepped over a line into the inhumane,” he told his superiors, in messages shared with media outlets. Last week, Mexican officials informed the state of Texas that two bodies were found in the Rio Grande: one ensnared in Governor Greg Abbott’s controversial floating border wall, and another in a nearby area. Critics allege the border build-up cause these deaths, though the cause of death for the two people found hasn’t been determined yet. Despite years of border security installations and billions invested across multiple state and federal administrations, migration continues to increase, hitting a record in December. “It’s been proven time after time that these so-called prevention through deterrence strategies don’t work,” Fernando García of the Border Network for Human Rights told The Independent last month. “They have not stopped immigration flows, but what they have done is they have put immigrants at risk.” “It’s very likely that with [the floating buoy wall] they are looking for more remote and isolated places to come across so that whenever they are in danger by heat exhaustion, by drowning, they will not have anybody to help them,” he added, saying he worries it could be a record year for migrant deaths in the Rio Grande. Members of Congress and human rights activists aren’t the only ones taking issue with the border barriers. Last month, a local kayak guide in Eagle Pass named Jessie Fuentes sued the state, arguing it doesn’t have authority to erect a floating border barrier in the Rio Grande. “You’ve taken a beautiful waterway and you’ve converted it into a war zone,” he toldThe Independent. The Department of Justice has also sued the state, arguing it violated federal waterways laws. Texas has insisted it has legal authority to carry out such measures, some of which it argues are allowed under a controversial reading of the US Constitution granting states war powers when theyr’e under invasion. Legal experts told The Independent this is a mistaken reading of the clause, which was intended to cover invasion by military forces, not regular immigration by civilians. “The theory that Abbott is relying on here is that the influx of undocumented individuals is an actual invasion. That also doesn’t pass muster,” Katherine Yon Ebright, counsel at the Brennan Center’s Liberty & National Security Program, told The Independent. Read More How governor Greg Abbott is using an obscure ‘invasion’ legal theory for a border power grab in Texas Republicans and Democrats agree: They want to kill migrants at the US-Mexico border Buoys, razor wire, and a Trump-y wall: How Greg Abbott turned the Rio Grande into an immigration ‘war zone’ After a glacial dam outburst destroyed homes in Alaska, a look at the risks of melting ice masses District attorney threatens to charge officials in California's capital over homelessness response Judge is asked to block Florida law making it a crime to drive people who are in the US illegally

Ohio voters rejected Tuesday an effort to raise the threshold to amend the state's constitution ahead of a November referendum on whether to constitutionally guarantee abortion rights there, handing abortion rights advocates a critical victory.

Donald Trump branded a Georgia prosecutor “a young racist” and claimed she had an “affair” with a gang leader, speaking to a rally just days before he is expected to face a criminal indictment from her office. The three-times indicted former president took shots at Fulton County district attorney Fani Willis, who is investigating him for his conduct in the state during the 2020 presidential election. “There’s a young racist in Atlanta ... They say she was after a certain gang and she ended up having an affair with the head of the gang or a gang member,” claimed Mr Trump during a speech in New Hampshire on Tuesday. “This is a person who wants to indict me. She’s got a lot of problems. But she wants to indict me to try and run for some other office … Wants to indict me for a perfect phone call, this was even better than my perfect call on Ukraine.” And he added: “I challenged the election in Georgia, which I had every right to do… and they want to indict me because I challenged the election.” It was not immediately clear what Mr Trump may have been referring to. Ms Willis is expected to soon indict him for illegally trying to reverse Joe Biden’s victory in the state, which paved his way to the White House. Mr Trump’s alleged election interference included his infamous phone call to Georgia secretary of state Brad Raffensperger, in which he demanded that he “find” him the 11,780 votes he needed to beat Mr Biden. Ms Willis has also investigated a scheme to put in place an alternate slate of presidential electors. Even if Mr Trump wins the 2024 election he cannot fire Ms Willis, unlike special counsel Jack Smith, as state crimes are not subject to presidential pardon. Mr Trump has already been indicted on federal charges that he tried to overturn the 2020 election and a separate federal case over alleged retention of government documents at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida. He has also been charged by the Manhattan DA in a hush-money case linked to the 2016 presidential election. That case relates to allegations he paid off a porn actress he had allegedly had an affair with while his wife was nursing their newborn son. He has pleaded not guilty in all of the cases and strongly denied any wrongdoing. Earlier this year the former president was found liable for sexually assaulting a magazine columnist, E Jean Carroll, in a New York department store in the mid-1990s. Read More Trump vows to keep campaigning on his criminal cases despite prosecutors seeking order to stop Trump lawyers request date for protective order hearing – while completely ignoring judge’s instructions Trump doubles down on attacking Chris Christie’s weight Trump plans Iowa State Fair stop, though he won't attend candidate chat with GOP Gov. Kim Reynolds Trump and Biden tied in hypothetical 2024 rematch, poll finds

The man identified as the lover of Lindsay Shiver, who is charged with plotting to kill her former Auburn football player husband, rejected claims that the pair hired a hitman. Terrance Bethel, 28, told the Daily Mail that the now-infamous WhatsApp messages sent between him, Ms Shiver, and 29-year-old Faron Newbold were misunderstood and overblown by police. The outlet previously reported that Ms Shiver confessed during an interview with police to sending photos of her husband Robert Shiver to Mr Newbold, along with the message: “kill him.” Mr Bethel suggested that the messages were sent “out of frustration,” and insisted to the outlet that the charges would be dropped. After a Daily Mail reporter approached Mr Bethel asking for more insight into the WhatsApp messages, he reportedly responded that the police “have had both of my phones for three weeks. They’ve been through every single message - there’s nothing there.” He added, “None of us have anything to hide. People are taking everything at face value and defaming us.” From the outside looking in, this entire case is shocking. Mr Shiver was a college football star while Ms Shiver was a beauty pageant queen. The woman who once bragged on Instagram about her “perfect marriage”—and frequently posted photos of tropical family vacations—was accused last month of plotting to kill her husband of 13 years. The pair had already filed for divorce and are pursuing vicious counterclaims. Both are seeking custody of their three children as well as full use of their $2.5m Georgia mansion. She, Mr Bethel and Mr Newbold had been held in custody until, surprisingly, Mr Shiver helped them post bail. All three of the accused were granted emergency bail on 1 August. Ms Shiver was seen leaving Nassau’s Fox Hill Prison on Tuesday morning. The mother-of-three is required to wear an ankle monitor and stay in the Bahamas until her next court date on 5 October. Similarly, their next divorce hearing is reportedly set for 31 October. Mr Shiver filed for divorce for “adulterous conduct,” according to reports, while attorneys for Lindsay Shiver denied the affair, writing: “Any extramarital relationship defendant has had was during the parties’ separation and legally condoned by husband.” Read More College football star reportedly helped wife post bail after arrest for hitman plot to kill him Chilling text shows Lindsay Shiver telling lover and ‘hitman’ to ‘kill’ husband in Bahamas murder plot A football star’s wife bragged of her ‘perfect marriage’. Now she’s charged with hiring a hitman to kill him Trump doubles down on attacking Chris Christie’s weight Trump plans Iowa State Fair stop, though he won't attend candidate chat with GOP Gov. Kim Reynolds Trump and Biden tied in hypothetical 2024 rematch: poll

US District Judge Tanya Chutkan scheduled a hearing for Friday at 10 a.m. ET on the scope of a protective order -- the rules imposed for the handling of evidence -- in the special counsel's election subversion case against former President Donald Trump.

A federal judge in Texas on Monday ordered three attorneys for Southwest Airlines to attend "religious-liberty training" from a conservative legal advocacy group as punishment for allegedly violating his ruling in a religious discrimination case brought against the company by a fired flight attendant.

Donald Trump’s lawyers appeared to ignore the judge’s orders in their latest filing in the case related to the former president’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election. Special counsel Jack Smith and the Trump defence team submitted their suggestions for when a hearing may be held on a proposed “protective order”. Last week, the special counsel’s office requested an order restricting what Mr Trump can share about the case. The judge ordered that a date between 9 and 11 August be agreed upon. The special counsel said his team would be available on any of those days while Mr Trump’s team ignored the judge’s order and suggested 14 or 15 August, CBS News noted. In a filing on Monday night, the special counsel office wrote that Mr Trump was attempting to “litigate this case in the media”. This came after Mr Trump objected to the proposal that public discussion of the discovery evidence in the case be restricted. “The defendant’s principal objection to it—as defense counsel stated publicly yesterday, and in conference with Government counsel—is that it would not permit the defendant or his counsel to publicly disseminate, and publicize in the media, various materials obtained from the Government in discovery,” the office wrote. “But there is no right to publicly release discovery material, because the discovery process is designed to ensure a fair process before the Court, not to provide the defendant an opportunity to improperly press his case in the court of public opinion.” The filing came shortly after Mr Trump’s attorneys requested that the judge in charge of the case give permission to the ex-president to use large parts of the discovery materials in the case during his campaign to return to the White House. Over the course of 13 pages, the attorneys responded to the government’s motion for a protective order banning Mr Trump from sharing any of the material that is set to be handed over by the prosecution during the pre-trial discovery process. Mr Trump faces charges of conspiracy and obstruction of an official proceeding. The defence lawyers argued that the standard protective order would mean that the judge, Tanya Chutkan, would be able to “censor” Mr Trump and put in place “content-based restrictions” on his “political speech”. Prosecutors pointed to Mr Trump’s frequent “public statements on social media regarding witnesses, judges, attorneys, and others associated with legal matters pending against him”. They had asked the judge to impose an order barring Mr Trump from sharing discovery materials “directly or indirectly to any person or entity other than persons employed to assist in the defense, persons who are interviewed as potential witnesses, counsel for potential witnesses, and other persons to whom the Court may authorize disclosure”. Read More Trump will have mugshot taken ‘if warranted’ after expected indictment, Georgia Sheriff says Who are the 2024 presidential election candidates? Meet the Republicans and Democrats campaigning Trump rails against ‘bulls***’ charges in latest angry rant over indictment

A day after Donald Trump's posts on Truth Social were cited by prosecutors in a filing that requested strict rules on how the former president could use evidence, Trump ranted about his mounting legal issues while speaking to a large crowd in Windham, New Hampshire.

Donald Trump’s attacks against Chris Christie turned uglier than ever on Tuesday as the former president spoke at a rally in New Hampshire, the site of the second Republican statewide nominating contest. Mr Trump has long leaned on jabs aimed at making fun of the former New Jersey governor’s weight in Truth Social postings and other comments about his once-ally. But on Tuesday, America’s 45th president took the stage in front of cheering supporters and demeaned his combative primary opponent as a “fat pig”, while mockingly imitating an aide advising him against doing so. “Sir, please do not call him a fat pig,” said the twice-impeached former president, who is currently facing nearly 80 criminal charges in three indictments. It was an otherwise unnotable moment for Mr Trump that is, however, worth understanding as a revealing preview of his debate strategy should he eventually end up onstage with Mr Christie and his other GOP rivals like his former vice president, Mike Pence, later this summer and into the fall. The GOP debates are set to be the bloodiest televised fight for the former president in years, following a largely sleepy set of debates against now-President Joe Biden in 2020 and the tame performance, by comparison, of Hillary Clinton in 2016. There’s no indication that either Mr Trump or Mr Christie, who has made a name for himself in recent weeks with aggressive attacks of his own against his rival, will hold anything back should they come face-to-face in front of the cameras. And there are other Republicans who will be on that debate stage who have likely learned the lessons of 2016 and 2020 and plan to take on Mr Trump in his own commandeering manner, if only to avoid the fates of Jeb Bush and other Republicans who were bullied into submission by him in his first presidential run. Several Republicans including most prominently Mr Christie have attacked Mr Trump over his leadership and electoral track record, blaming him for poor GOP perfomances in the House and Senate. Mr Christie has also taken a sharp edge against the former president’s campaign to overturn the lawful results of the 2020 election, which has now resulted in four criminal charges against Mr Trump as well. Mr Christie and to a lesser extent other Republicans like Asa Hutchinson have argued that Mr Trump’s growing legal baggage makes him an untenable candidate for the GOP to field against an incumbent Democratic president, Joe Biden, in 2024. Read More Trump ramps up attacks on indictment at New Hampshire rally as lawyers ignore judge’s orders - latest Trump and Biden tied in hypothetical 2024 rematch, poll finds Trump rails against ‘bulls***’ charges in latest angry rant over indictment Judge rejects challenge to Ohio school district’s transgender bathroom policy Trump and Biden tied in hypothetical 2024 rematch, poll finds Who are the 2024 presidential election candidates? Meet the Republicans and Democrats campaigning