Page 7 - Us Supreme Court

Biden slams Supreme Court's decision on Trump in effort to shift age focus

The American people must decide whether Donald Trump's assault on our democracy on Jan. 6 makes him unfit for public office, Biden said

Biden campaign's reset after debate looks a lot like business as usual

President Joe Biden's reset after his disastrous debate performance is looking more like a return to business as usual. Even as his campaign works to quell Democratic anxiety and reassure spooked donors, Biden has been putting the focus on presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump as a threat to the nation, and trying to get back to doing the job of president. The president's schedule this week includes a briefing on extreme weather, a campaign reception, a Medal of Honor ceremony and the traditional July 4th White House barbecue. Then he's off for a weekend at his home in Wilmington, Delaware. Nothing out of the ordinary, it all telegraphed. But Vice President Kamala Harris, in a Sunday night fundraiser, gave a nod to what she called the elephant in the room. The debate, she allowed, wasn't Biden's finest hour. Still, "if we put aside the style points, there was a clear contrast, she argued, going on to call out Trump as a threat to our democracy and a liar. For all of the pub

Donald Trump's immunity ruling may push election trial to 2025 or beyond

Now Chutkan will have to reassess each allegation in the indictment based on the Supreme Court's finding, and determine point-by-point which action by Trump was official conduct and which was private

Trump's lawyers seek to set aside New York verdict hours after SC ruling

Donald Trump's lawyers on Monday asked the New York judge who presided over his hush money trial to set aside his conviction and delay his sentencing scheduled for later this month. The letter to Judge Juan M Merchan cited the US Supreme Court's ruling earlier Monday and asked the judge to delay Trump's sentencing while he weighs the high court's decision and how it could influence the New York case, the people said. The people could not discuss details of the letter before it was made public and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. The Supreme Court on Monday ruled for the first time that former presidents have broad immunity from prosecution. Trump was convicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records, arising from what prosecutors said was an attempt to cover up a hush money payment just before the 2016 presidential election. Merchan instituted a policy in the run-up to the trial requiring both sides to send him a one-page letter summarising their argume

US SC says Donald Trump has immunity for official acts, not private ones

Trump made his immunity claim to the trial judge in October, meaning the issue has been litigated for about nine months

How Julian Assange, US prosecutors arrived at plea deal to end his case

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is back in Australia as a free man, having resolved through a plea deal a U.S. Justice Department case charging him with obtaining and publishing government secrets on his secret-spilling website. It was a stunning resolution to a polarizing drama that landed at the intersection of press freedom and national security, spanned three presidential administrations and played out across multiple continents. Here are some things to know: The negotiations The plea deal was the culmination of a lengthy negotiation process that accelerated in recent months and featured numerous proposals and counterproposals. About a year and a half ago, a lawyer for Assange made a presentation to federal prosecutors in Virginia that included a bold request: that they drop the case. That was untenable to the Justice Department, but months later prosecutors asked whether Assange would be open to resolving the case through a guilty plea. The Assange team was open to explorin

Federal prosecutor clashes with judge over restricting Trump's speech

A federal prosecutor in the classified documents case of Donald Trump clashed with the judge Monday as the judge was questioning a request to bar the former president from threatening comments about law enforcement agents involved in the investigation. Special counsel Jack Smith's team is seeking to make as a condition of Trump's freedom pending trial a prohibition on remarks that could endanger agents participating in the case. Prosecutors say those restrictions are necessary after Trump falsely claimed last month that the FBI was prepared to kill him when it searched his Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago, for classified documents two years ago. But prosecutor David Harbach, a member of Smith's team, encountered immediate pushback from U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, whose handling of the case has generated intense scrutiny. The judge questioned Harbach about how she could fashion an order that did not run afoul of Trump's First Amendment rights and whether prosecuto

US Supreme Court rejects bid to restrict access to abortion pills

In 2016 and 2021, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) made efforts to make it easier to prescribe and distribute the medication

Musk convincing Tesla investors for his pay. Now he must persuade a judge

Many major shareholders and some smaller ones voted against the pay package, frustrated by the size of the award, slowing business at Tesla and Musk's growing list of distractions

Byju's hedge fund ally can avoid arrest if he helps locate $533 million

The missing money is at the heart of a dispute between lenders owed $1.2 billion and the startup founded by entrepreneur Byju Raveendran

Harvey Weinstein's lawyers argue he was denied fair trial in LA rape case

Harvey Weinstein's lawyers argue in an appeal that he did not get a fair trial when he was convicted of rape and sexual assault in Los Angeles in 2022 and sentenced to 16 years in prison. The brief filed Friday with California's Second District Court of Appeal comes six weeks after his similar landmark #MeToo conviction and 23-year prison sentence in New York were overturned by the state's highest court. The California appeal argues the trial judge wrongly excluded evidence that the Italian model and actor he was convicted of raping had a sexual relationship with the director of a film festival that had brought both Weinstein and the woman to Los Angeles at the time of the alleged attack. Weinstein's lawyers argued that the judge deprived him of "his constitutional rights to present a defence and led to a miscarriage of justice. The attorneys say the judge was wrong to allow jurors to know about Weinstein's previous, now-vacated conviction in New York, and that the jury was unfairl

Hunter Biden's exes called as witnesses in gun trial to detail his drug use

Hunter Biden's ex-wife and a former girlfriend testified Wednesday in his gun trial about finding his crack pipes and other drug paraphernalia as prosecutors sought to show he still had a substance abuse problem when he filled out a form to buy a firearm. The courtroom grew quiet when Kathleen Buhle, who was married to Hunter for 20 years, walked in. She testified that she discovered her husband was using drugs when she found a crack pipe in an ashtray on their porch on July, 3, 2015, a day after their anniversary. When she confronted him, he acknowledged smoking crack, she said. The trial has quickly become a highly personal and detailed tour of Hunter Biden's mistakes and drug use. The proceedings are unfolding as the 2024 presidential election looms, and allies worry about the toll it will take on the president, who is deeply concerned about the health and sustained sobriety of his only living son. Prosecutors argue that the testimony is necessary to show Hunter Biden's state of .

As Trump denies allegations, here's how it could affect him at sentencing

Donald Trump has had plenty to say since his hush money trial conviction last week. He's claimed the case was rigged, incorrectly linked President Joe Biden to the state prosecution, called the star witness against him a "sleazebag" and said the judge was a "devil" and "highly conflicted". What he hasn't done is utter any variation of the words that might benefit him most come sentencing time next month: "I'm sorry." It's a truism of the criminal justice system that defendants hoping for lenient treatment at their sentencing are expected to take responsibility for their actions, even express remorse. But that flies in the face of Trump's longtime refusal to acknowledge any wrongdoing, a tone that he often strikes to portray strength and present himself as a fighter under ceaseless attack. While the strategy may resonate with his most loyal political supporters, it failed during his New York criminal trial and could complicate his legal team's efforts to avoid a tough sentence. "Th

US Presidential polls: Trump can vote for himself if he remains out of jail

Donald Trump may be convicted of a felony and reside in Florida, a state notorious for restricting the voting rights of people with felony convictions. But he can still vote as long as he stays out of prison in New York state. That's because Florida defers to other states' disenfranchisement rules for residents convicted of out-of-state felonies. In Trump's case, New York law only removes the right to vote for people convicted of felonies when they're incarcerated. Once they're out of prison, their rights are automatically restored, even if they're on parole, per a 2021 law passed by the state's Democratic legislature. If a Floridian's voting rights are restored in the state of conviction, they are restored under Florida law, Blair Bowie of the Campaign Legal Centre wrote in a post explaining the state of law, noting that people without Trump's legal resources are often confused by Florida's complex rules. So as long as Trump isn't sent to prison, he can vote for himself in Florida

Donald Trump's guilty verdict adds twist to 2024 race: A convicted felon

Trump's felony conviction provides Biden an opportunity to shake up the race by refocusing voters' attention on Trump's conduct

Former US Prez Trump found guilty on all 34 counts, sentencing on July 11

Donald Trump on Thursday became the first former US president to be convicted of a felony as a grand jury in New York found him guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records. The Biden Harris Campaign said no one is above the law while Trump said the verdict is a result of a rigged political system. Trump's sentencing is scheduled for July 11, four days before the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he will be formally nominated as the party's presidential candidate against incumbent Joe Biden in the November elections. This was a disgrace. This was a rigged trial by a conflicted judge who was corrupt. It's a rigged trial, a disgrace. They wouldn't give us a venue change. We were at 5 per cent or 6 per cent in this district, in this area. This was a rigged, disgraceful trial, said Trump shortly after the verdict was read. Trump is the presumptive presidential nominee of the Republican party. The real verdict is going to be November 5th by the people.

Trump spent decades fighting the law, law has finally caught up with him

As the Supreme Court, which has been a weak ally to justice in the Trump years, has noted in Trump rulings, no American, including presidents, is above the rule of law, Timothy L. O'Brien writes

In Donald Trump's conviction, imprisonment rare but not unprecedented

Prison time is rare for people convicted in New York state of felony falsification of business records, the charge Trump, a businessman-turned-politician, faced at his six-week trial

Trump hush money trial: Jury to rehear testimonies of key witnesses

The jury in Donald Trump's hush money trial ended its first day of deliberations without a verdict on Wednesday but asked to rehear testimony from key witnesses about the alleged hush money scheme at the heart of the history-making case. The 12-person jury was sent home around 4 p.m. after about 4 1/2 hours of deliberations. The process is to resume on Thursday, when jurors are expected to rehear the requested testimony and at least part of the judge's legal instructions meant to guide them on the law. The notes sent to the judge with the requests were the first burst of communication with the court after the panel of seven men and five women was sent to a private room just before 11:30 a.m. to begin weighing a verdict. It is not my responsibility to judge the evidence here. It is yours, Judge Juan M. Merchan told jurors before dispatching them to begin deliberations, reminding them of their vow during the selection process to judge the case fairly and impartially. It's unclear how

Prosecution rests its case in Donald Trump's hush money trial case

Donald Trump's hush money trial entered its final stretch as the prosecution's star witness Michael Cohen returned to the stand Monday. In his testimony last week, Cohen placed the former president directly at the center of the alleged scheme to stifle negative stories to fend off damage to his White House bid. Among other things, Cohen told jurors that Trump promised to reimburse him for the money he fronted and was constantly updated about efforts to silence women who alleged sexual encounters with him. Trump denies the women's claims. Defense attorneys resumed cross-examination of Cohen with a series of questions about his business dealings and other activities in the lead-up to the payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels. They further dug into Cohen's sources of income in the years since Trump originally took office, as well as income he has earned criticizing the former president. Prosecutors have said they will rest their case once Cohen's testimony concludes, though they could .