Trump files $100 million claim against US Justice Department over raid on his Florida home

Trump files $100 million claim against US Justice Department over raid on his Florida home
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Bozeman, Mont., Aug. 9, 2024. (AP)
Short Url
Updated 13 August 2024
Follow

Trump files $100 million claim against US Justice Department over raid on his Florida home

Trump files $100 million claim against US Justice Department over raid on his Florida home
  • Trump, the Republican party’s nominee in the 2024 presidential race, is seeking punitive damages of $100 million and to recover at least $15 million in legal costs, according to his claim

WASHINGTON: Donald Trump has filed a $100 million claim against the US Justice Department alleging the 2022 FBI raid on his Florida home to recover classified documents was “political persecution.”
The claim, which was filed last week but only came to light on Monday, accuses Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray of seeking to “injure” the former president.
Trump was charged in Florida with 31 counts of “willful retention of national defense information” for refusing to return top-secret documents taken from the White House when he left office.
A federal judge dismissed the case last month on the grounds that Special Counsel Jack Smith, who brought the charges, was unlawfully appointed.
FBI agents, acting on a search warrant approved by a federal judge, raided Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence on August 8, 2022, to recover classified documents, including records from the Pentagon and CIA, which were allegedly being kept unsecured at his home.
Trump, the Republican party’s nominee in the 2024 presidential race, is seeking punitive damages of $100 million and to recover at least $15 million in legal costs, according to his claim.
“Garland and Wray should have never approved a raid and subsequent indictment of President Trump because the well-established protocol with former US presidents is to use non-enforcement means to obtain records of the United States,” the claim alleges.
“Garland and Wray decided to stray from established protocol to injure President Trump,” the claim says, in what it alleged was “a clear intent to engage in political persecution.”
The Justice Department has 180 days to respond to the claim, which was filed under the Federal Tort Claims Act. If the parties are unable to reach a settlement the suit would go to federal court.
Trump has a history of filing civil suits and then withdrawing them at the last minute.
He was convicted in New York in May of 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up hush money payments made to a porn star.
Trump also faces charges in Washington and Georgia related to efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election he lost to Democrat Joe Biden.


Thousands protest in France after Macron picks Barnier as prime minister

Thousands protest in France after Macron picks Barnier as prime minister
Updated 45 sec ago
Follow

Thousands protest in France after Macron picks Barnier as prime minister

Thousands protest in France after Macron picks Barnier as prime minister
*
Left-wing parties accuse Macron of stealing elections

*
Demonstrations in 130 locations across France

*
New PM Barnier faces tricky government formation

*
Far-right warns Barnier he is under surveillance

PARIS: Thousands of people took to the streets across France on Saturday to protest President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to appoint center-right Michel Barnier as prime minister with left-wing parties accusing him of stealing legislative elections.
Macron named 73-year-old Barnier, a conservative and the European Union’s former Brexit negotiator, as prime minister on Thursday, capping a two-month-long search following his ill-fated decision to call a legislative election that delivered a hung parliament divided in three blocs.
In his first interview as government chief, Barnier said on Friday night that his government, which lacks a clear majority, will include conservatives, members of Macron’s camp and he hoped some from the left.
Barnier faces the daunting task of trying to drive reforms and the 2025 budget, as France is under pressure from the European Commission and bond markets to reduce its deficit.
The left, led by the far-left France Unbowed (LFI) party, has accused Macron of a denial of democracy and stealing the election after Macron refused to pick the candidate of the New Popular Front (NFP) alliance that came top in the July vote.
Pollster Elabe published a survey on Friday showing that 74 percent of French people considered Macron had disregarded the results of the elections with 55 percent believing he had stolen them.
In response to the appointment of Barnier, whose center-right Les Republicains party is only the fifth bloc in parliament with less than 50 lawmakers, left-wing party leaders, unions and student bodies called for mass protests on Saturday ahead of new action, including possible strikes on Oct. 1.
The LFI party said 130 protests would take place across the country.
Barnier was continuing consultations on Saturday as he looks to form a government, a tricky job given he faces a potential no-confidence vote especially with an urgent draft budget for 2025 due to be discussed in parliament at the start of October.
NFP and the far-right National Rally (RN) together have a majority and could oust the prime minister through a no-confidence vote should they decide to collaborate.
The RN gave its tacit approval for Barnier citing a number of conditions for it to not back a no-confidence vote, making it the de facto kingmaker for the new government.
“He is a prime minister under surveillance,” RN party leader Jordan Bardella told BFM on Saturday. “Nothing can be done without us.”

Central London site revealed for Queen Elizabeth II memorial

Central London site revealed for Queen Elizabeth II memorial
Updated 6 min 6 sec ago
Follow

Central London site revealed for Queen Elizabeth II memorial

Central London site revealed for Queen Elizabeth II memorial
  • The site is close to the ceremonial route of The Mall and to the Buckingham Palace home of her son King Charles III
  • It is also near statues of her parents King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother

LONDON: A national memorial to Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II will be located in London’s St. James’s Park, which holds “historical and constitutional significance and personal connection” to the late monarch, the UK government said Saturday.
The site is close to the ceremonial route of The Mall and to the Buckingham Palace home of her son King Charles III.
It is also near statues of her parents King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother.
“The memorial is intended to provide not only a fitting monument but also a space for contemplation and community, and will be of an appropriate scale and ambition to match the impact of Queen Elizabeth II on national life, The Commonwealth and indeed the rest of the world,” said the government.
There will be other memorial projects in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that the queen’s “enduring legacy of service and devotion to our country will never be forgotten.
“The national memorial will be located in St. James’s Park, right in the heart of the capital, providing everyone with a place to honor the Late Queen and connect with the shared history we cherish,” he added.
Sunday marks the two-year anniversary of the death of Elizabeth, who spent a record 70 years and 214 days on the throne.


Mexico arrests alleged drug boss linked to 43 missing students

Mexico arrests alleged drug boss linked to 43 missing students
Updated 49 min 19 sec ago
Follow

Mexico arrests alleged drug boss linked to 43 missing students

Mexico arrests alleged drug boss linked to 43 missing students
  • Gildardo Lopez Astudillo is an alleged leader of the Guerreros Unidos cartel
  • He is accused of being behind the disappearance and suspected murders of the students from Ayotzinapa teachers’ college in 2014
MEXICO CITY: A suspected drug cartel boss allegedly linked to the disappearance a decade ago of 43 college students was arrested in Mexico after being released from prison in 2019, authorities said Friday.
Gildardo Lopez Astudillo, alias “El Gil,” is an alleged leader of the Guerreros Unidos cartel, accused of being behind the disappearance and suspected murders of the students from Ayotzinapa teachers’ college in 2014.
Lopez Astudillo had been arrested in September 2015 in the southern city of Taxco, Guerrero state, about 35 kilometers (21 miles) north of the town of Iguala from where the students vanished.
“Gildardo Lopez Astudillo was detained,” a federal security source with knowledge of the case told reporters Friday, asking for his name not to be used because he was not authorized to speak to media.
Lopez Astudillo had been transferred to the Altiplano maximum security prison in Mexico state, the source said.
He was arrested on charges of “organized crime,” although the investigation could be expanded, the source said.
In September 2014, the 43 students had been traveling to a political demonstration in Mexico City when investigators believe they were kidnapped by the drug cartel in collusion with corrupt police.
The exact circumstances of their disappearance are still unknown, but a truth commission set up by the government has branded the case a “state crime,” saying the military shared responsibility, either directly or through negligence.
Arrests have been made or ordered for dozens of suspects, including military personnel and a former attorney general who led a controversial investigation into the mass disappearance.
The remains of only a few of the victims have been identified.
Lopez Astudillo was released in 2019 — a move condemned by family members of the missing students — after a judge found the evidence against him was obtained illegally.
His arrest comes as relatives are preparing demonstrations to mark the anniversary of the students’ disappearance.

Ukraine says Russia launched 67 drones in overnight attack

Ukraine says Russia launched 67 drones in overnight attack
Updated 07 September 2024
Follow

Ukraine says Russia launched 67 drones in overnight attack

Ukraine says Russia launched 67 drones in overnight attack
  • Air defense units were scrambled into action in 11 regions across Ukraine
  • Drone debris was found next to the parliament building in the capital Kyiv

KYIV: Ukraine’s air force said on Saturday Russia launched a total of 67 long-range Shahed drones in a mass overnight attack, 58 of which it was able to shoot down.
The air force said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app that air defense units were scrambled into action in 11 regions across Ukraine.
Drone debris was found next to the parliament building in the capital Kyiv, the legislature said in a separate statement it posted on its official Telegram page along with several photographs.
It is rare for a Russian missile or drone to get so far into central Kyiv, as the city is protected by a network of Soviet-era and Western-donated air defense systems.
The hilltop government quarter in the city center is perhaps the best-defended site in Ukraine, as it also houses the offices of the president, cabinet and the central bank.
The pictures on Telegram showed at least four pieces of debris scattered on the ground near the parliament building. One piece lay at the foot of the steps to the building’s main entrance, while another hunk of metal looked riddled with shrapnel.
Reuters correspondents in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, heard a series of explosions shortly after 3 a.m. on Saturday, some of which resounded loudly around the city center, waking up its residents.
Since the start of its invasion in February 2022, Moscow has launched thousands of missiles and Shahed drones into Ukraine.
The Iranian-designed drone has been used by Russia since September 2022 as a cheap, more expendable alternative to missiles, which are expensive and harder to manufacture.
The propeller-powered Shahed flies at less than 200km per hour (125 miles per hour) but can be tricky for conventional air defense systems to track because it flies low and emits far less heat than a missile.
Kyiv’s air force said the drones were launched from two border regions in Russia as well as from the Russian-occupied peninsula of Crimea.


Zelensky meets Meloni in Italy, presses for more arms

Zelensky meets Meloni in Italy, presses for more arms
Updated 07 September 2024
Follow

Zelensky meets Meloni in Italy, presses for more arms

Zelensky meets Meloni in Italy, presses for more arms
  • The pair met in Cernobbio, northern Italy, on the margins of the European House-Ambrosetti forum
  • Italy has strongly supported Ukraine and has sent weapons to help it defend itself against Russian forces

CERNOBBIO, Italy: Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky met Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Saturday, her office said, as he presses allies for more weapons in his country’s fight against Russia.
The pair met in Cernobbio, northern Italy, on the margins of the European House-Ambrosetti forum, where Zelensky spoke on Friday and Meloni was due to speak on Saturday.
Italy has strongly supported Ukraine and has sent weapons to help it defend itself against Russian forces, while insisting that these must only be used on Ukrainian soil.
Before heading to Italy, Zelensky had on Friday pressed his case to allies meeting at the US Ramstein Air Base in Germany, where Washington unveiled $250 million in new military aid for Ukraine.
He also met German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
The gatherings came as Moscow’s forces advance in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas.
Russian President Vladimir Putin declared on Thursday that capturing the region was his “primary objective” in the conflict, which has dragged on for two and a half years.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban — who upset his European Union counterparts and Zelensky by meeting Putin in Moscow in July — is also attending the three-day Italian forum.
Zelensky rejected Orban’s calls at Cernobbio for a ceasefire, saying that Putin had never respected earlier accords.