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A hearing in former President Donald Trump’s classified documents case is set to begin on Friday as Judge Aileen Cannon entertains a motion from the ex-commander-in-chief’s legal team that Jack Smith was unlawfully appointed as special counsel.
Smith has brought charges for allegedly mishandling classified information in Florida and for his attempts to overturn the 2020 election in Washington DC.
The Trump argument that Smith’s appointment was illegal stems from the claim that Attorney General Merrick Garland doesn’t have the legal authority to appoint a special counsel who hasn’t been confirmed by the Senate.
The Department of Justice has argued that the attorney general has the power to appoint “inferior officers” – including special counsels.
This comes after Trump paid a rare compliment to his counterpart Joe Biden in the run-up to their first face-to-face debate, describing the current US president as a “worthy” opponent.
In an episode of the “All In” podcast, hosted by Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, Mr Trump said he did not want to “underestimate” Mr Biden.
“I assume he’s gonna be somebody that will be a worthy debater. ... I don’t want to underestimate him,” he said.
Trump classified documents case hearing over Jack Smith’s appointment as special counsel set to begin
A hearing in former President Donald Trump’s classified documents case is set to begin on Friday as Judge Aileen Cannon entertains a motion from the ex-commander-in-chief’s legal team that Jack Smith was unlawfully appointed as special counsel.
Smith has brought charges for allegedly mishandling classified information in Florida and for his attempts to overturn the 2020 election in Washington DC.
The Trump argument that Smith’s appointment was illegal stems from the claim that Attorney General Merrick Garland doesn’t have the legal authority to appoint a special counsel who hasn’t been confirmed by the Senate.
The Department of Justice has argued that the attorney general has the power to appoint “inferior officers” – including special counsels.
In February, the Trump legal team filed a motion arguing that the appointments clause of the constitution “does not permit the Attorney General to appoint, without Senate confirmation, a private citizen and like-minded political ally to wield the prosecutorial power of the United States. As such, Jack Smith lacks the authority to prosecute this action.”
Cannon is giving more time to the challenge than other judges who have faced similar claims as other defendants have tried to argue that the work of the special counsel is invalid.
Gustaf Kilander21 June 2024 14:50
VIDEO: Biden preps at Camp David, Trump remains on campaign trail ahead of debate
Gustaf Kilander21 June 2024 14:45
Trump says foreign students who graduate from US colleges should ‘automatically’ get green cards
Trump has suggested that foreign students who graduate from US colleges should “automatically” receive green cards.
The former president made the suggestion on The All-In Podcast published on Thursday.
The comments are in stark contrast to his recent statements about making the biggest push for deportations of immigrants in the US illegally in American history.
The hosts of the podcast include tech venture capitalists David Sacks, Chamath Palihapitiya, and investor Jason Calacanis.
Calacinis asked Trump: “Can you please promise us you will give us more ability to import the best and brightest from around the world to America?”
“What I want to do, and what I will do, is you graduate from a college, I think you should get automatically, as part of your diploma, a green card to be able to stay in this country,” Trump said.
He added: “And that includes junior colleges too. Anybody graduates from a college, you go in there for two years or four years. If you graduate, or you get a doctorate degree from a college, you should be able to stay in this country.”
“You need a pool of people to work for your companies and they have to be smart people,” the former president told the podcast hosts.
“You need brilliant people and we force the brilliant people, the people that graduate from college, the people that are number one in their class from the best colleges,” he said. “You have to be able to recruit these people and keep the people.”
Gustaf Kilander21 June 2024 14:15
Biden allies ‘raising $10m’ to to fight Trump’s social media machine
The super PAC Future Forward USA Action, backed by the likes of Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz and LinkedIn founder Reed Hoffman, is reportedly raising at least $10 million to try and help better understand the algorithms that are helping Trump and his allies on social media platforms.
The plans also include collaborating with left-leaning influences to generate and spread new content online, two sources familiar with the plans told Reuters.
Amelia Neath, Martha McHardy21 June 2024 13:45
Trump classified documents judge was privately urged to pass it up by two federal judges
A series of hearings to dismiss the case is set to begin shortly before Judge Cannon, including one that questions the legitimacy of special counsel Jack Smith’s appointment...
Alex Woodward21 June 2024 13:15
Trump will get the final word at next week’s first presidential debate
That means Trump will now get the final word during closing statements at the first debate on CNN.
Alex Woodward has the details.
Oliver O'Connell21 June 2024 12:15
Motion after motion puts Trump Florida case in slow motion as 3-day hearing begins
The federal judge presiding over the classified documents case against former President Donald Trump is hearing arguments Friday on a long-shot defense effort to get the indictment thrown out based on the claim that the prosecutor who brought the charges was illegally appointed.
The arguments over the legality of special counsel Jack Smith’s appointment kick off a three-day hearing that is set to continue next week and bring further delays to a criminal case that had been scheduled for trial last month but has been snarled by a pileup of unresolved legal disputes. The motion questioning Smith’s selection and funding by the Justice Department is one of multiple challenges to the indictment the defense has raised, so far unsuccessfully, in the year since the charges were brought.
Tom Watling21 June 2024 11:45
Democrats are suddenly concerned about a law from 1873 — and with good reason
Eric Garcia writes:
On Thursday, Senator Tina Smith of Minnesota launched the next phase of Democrats’ push to protect abortion rights. She did so by introducing legislation to roll back the 1873 law that Democrats fear Republicans would use to ban medication abortion.
Continue reading:
Oliver O'Connell21 June 2024 11:15
Trump cuts fundraising deficit with Biden by half in two months
Donald Trump has cut the fundraising cash deficit with US president Joe Biden by at least half after he out-raised his counterpart by nearly double in May.
Mr Trump raised $56 million more than Mr Biden in May and $25 million more in April, despite being found guilty of 34 felonies at the end of that period.
Mr. Trump was a daunting $100 million behind Mr. Biden at the start of April.
Tom Watling21 June 2024 10:30
‘Prove Mike wrong’: MyPillow founder Mike Lindell’s THIRD lawyer deserts him in $5m dispute
Lindell, an avid Donald Trump supporter, launched the ‘Prove Mike Wrong’ challenge in 2021 and promised to pay the huge prize to anyone who could prove alleged evidence of 2020 election fraud false.
Computer forensics expert Robert Zeidman did just that, but Lindell refused to pay and tried to renege on his offer.
Here’s what happened next.
Oliver O'Connell21 June 2024 10:15
