Ohio Voters Reject Proposal to Make it Harder to Amend State Constitution

On

Ohio voters on Tuesday resoundingly rejected a Republican-backed measure that would have made it more difficult to change the state’s constitution, setting up a fall campaign that will become the nation’s latest referendum on abortion rights since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned nationwide protections last year.  The defeat of Issue 1 keeps in place a simple majority threshold for passing future constitutional amendments. It would have raised that to a 60% supermajority, which supporters said would protect the state’s foundational document from outside interest groups.  While abortion was not directly on the special election ballot, the result marks the latestmore

Leave a comment

US Judge Sets Hearing on Evidence in Trump’s 2020 Election Case

On

A federal judge presiding over former President Donald Trump’s trial on charges of trying to overturn the 2020 election has ordered his attorneys and federal prosecutors to appear in court on Friday for a hearing to help determine how evidence can be used and shared in the case. U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan set the hearing for Friday at 10 a.m. ET (1400 GMT), shortly after Trump’s attorneys and members of U.S. Special Counsel Jack Smith’s office had clashed over when to schedule the proceeding. Prosecutors had said they were available all week, while Trump’s lawyers had asked formore

Leave a comment

Biden Designates National Monument Near Grand Canyon

On

Declaring it good “not only for Arizona but for the planet,” President Joe Biden on Tuesday signed a national monument designation for the greater Grand Canyon, turning the decades-long visions of Native American tribes and environmentalists into reality.  Coming as Biden is on a three-state Western trip, the move will help preserve about 4,046 square kilometers (1,562 square miles) just to the north and south of Grand Canyon National Park. It was Biden’s fifth monument designation.  Tribes in Arizona have been pushing the president to use his authority under the Antiquities Act of 1906 to create a new national monumentmore

Leave a comment

Prosecutors Ask Judge for Protective Order After Trump Social Media Post

On

The Justice Department has asked a federal judge overseeing the criminal case against former President Donald Trump in Washington to step in after Trump released a post online that appeared to promise revenge on anyone who goes after him. Prosecutors on Friday requested that U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan issue a protective order concerning evidence in the case, a day after Trump pleaded not guilty to charges of trying to overturn his 2020 election loss and block the peaceful transition of power. The order, different from a “gag order,” would limit what information Trump and his legal team couldmore

Leave a comment

Prosecutors Ask Judge to Issue Protective Order After Trump Post Appearing to Promise Revenge

On

The Justice Department has asked a federal judge overseeing the criminal case against former President Donald Trump in Washington to step in after Trump released a post online that appeared to promise revenge on anyone who goes after him. Prosecutors on Friday requested that U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan issue a protective order concerning evidence in the case, a day after Trump pleaded not guilty to charges of trying to overturn his 2020 election loss and block the peaceful transition of power. The order, different from a “gag order,” would limit what information Trump and his legal team couldmore

Leave a comment

Washington Closely Watching Niger After Coup

On

The White House says it’s closely watching a coup in Niger, as the US Embassy prepares to evacuate staff from the West African nation. With the coup plotters staring down a Sunday deadline to reinstate the deposed democratically elected president, analysts say Moscow and Beijing are also monitoring Niamey – and looking for opportunities to widen their influence. VOA’s Anita Powell reports from Washington. …

Leave a comment

Trump to Face Different Jury Pools in Two Federal Indictments

On

Former U.S. President Donald Trump will be facing two vastly different pools of possible jurors and judges with divergent views when he goes on trial in Washington, accused of illegally orchestrating an attempt to upend his 2020 election loss, and in Florida for allegedly trying to hoard classified national security documents. Trump was indicted by Justice Department Special Counsel Jack Smith on Tuesday in the Washington case, and Trump is set to make his first court appearance on Thursday afternoon. A federal court grand jury handed up a four-count indictment alleging that Trump conspired to defraud the United States tomore

Leave a comment

Breakdown of Sprawling Election-Meddling Indictment Against Trump

On

Donald Trump for years has promoted baseless claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him. In truth, Trump was the one who tried to steal the election, federal prosecutors said Tuesday in a sprawling indictment that paints the former president as desperate to cling to power he knew had been stripped away by voters. The Justice Department indictment accuses Trump of brazenly conspiring with allies to spread falsehoods and concoct schemes intended to overturn his election loss to President Joe Biden as his legal challenges foundered in court. The felony charges brought by special counsel Jack Smith are builtmore

Leave a comment

Reaction to Indictment of Former US President Donald Trump

On

Former U.S. President Donald Trump’s indictment on four federal charges for working to overturn his 2020 election loss drew reaction from across the political spectrum, including from his vice president at the time, Mike Pence, who said “anyone who puts himself over the Constitution should never be president of the United States.”  The indictment describes a series of events after the November election, culminating in the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters. The indictment says many in the “large and angry crowd” had been deceived by Trump into believing Pence could change the election results. more

Leave a comment

Trump Indicted Over Attempts to Overturn 2020 Election

On

Former U.S. President Donald Trump continues to defy expectations as he surges ahead of other Republican contenders for the presidential nomination despite multiple indictments against him — and with words of support from some of his own rivals. As he was indicted again Tuesday over his attempts to overturn the 2020 election, VOA’s Anita Powell looks at the unprecedented path of the former president. …

Leave a comment

Judge Assigned to Trump Case Known for Giving Capitol Rioters Stiff Penalties

On

The federal judge assigned to the election fraud case against former President Donald Trump has stood out as one of the toughest punishers of rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol in an attack fueled by Trump’s baseless claims of a stolen election. She has also ruled against him before.  Trump is to appear Thursday before U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, a former assistant public defender who was nominated to the bench by President Barack Obama. She often handed down prison sentences in January 6, 2021, riot cases that were harsher than Justice Department prosecutors recommended.  Trump was indicted Tuesday onmore

Leave a comment

Michigan Prosecutors Charge Trump Allies in Felonies Involving Voting Machines, Illegal ‘Testing’

On

LANSING, Michigan — A former Republican attorney general candidate and another supporter of former President Donald Trump have been criminally charged in Michigan in connection with accessing and tampering with voting machines after the 2020 election, according to court records. Matthew DePerno, a Republican lawyer who was endorsed by Trump in an unsuccessful run for Michigan attorney general last year, was charged with undue possession of a voting machine and conspiracy, according to Oakland County court records. Daire Rendon, a former Republican state representative, was charged with conspiracy to commit undue possession of a voting machine and false pretenses. Bothmore

Leave a comment

Trump Charged With Willfully Retaining US Military Plan to Attack Iran

On

Former President Donald Trump was charged Thursday with illegally retaining a classified document detailing an operational U.S. military plan of attack on Iran, and with two counts of attempting to “alter, destroy, mutilate or conceal evidence” during the investigation into the classified documents he took to his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida. VOA’s Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports. …

Leave a comment

Trump, Primary Rivals Mostly Ignore Case Against Him During Key Event

On

DES MOINES, IOWA — Donald Trump and his top rivals for the GOP presidential nomination took the stage one by one Friday night to address an influential gathering of Iowa Republicans, with none of the top-tier hopefuls mentioning that new federal charges had been filed against the former president just a day earlier. Instead, Trump’s competitors mostly reserved their sharpest criticism for President Joe Biden and a Democratic Party they argued had lost touch with mainstream America — failing to pounce on additional counts over Trump’s retention of classified documents that might have otherwise been an opportunity to cut intomore

Leave a comment

White House, Congress Disagree About Proposed US Missile Defense Plan

On

Differences are emerging between Congress and the White House concerning missile defense policy, as outlined in the proposed annual defense bill known as the National Defense Authorization Act. The $874 billion budget passed by the House on Friday calls for the military to maintain a “credible nuclear capability” to deter adversaries, while developing and deploying layered defense systems that can defeat complex missile threats “in all phases of flight.” In a statement last week, the White House criticized this section of the proposed NDAA on grounds that it would “undermine U.S. strategic deterrence” with China and Russia. “The Administration stronglymore

Leave a comment

FBI Director Rejects Claims of Political Bias Within the Bureau 

On

FBI director Christopher Wray defended his agency against Republican accusations of political bias Wednesday, dismissing claims he was “protecting” Democratic President Joe Biden’s family while going after former President Donald Trump, a Republican, and other conservatives.   “Absolutely not,” Wray retorted during a combative House Judiciary Committee hearing when asked by Republican member and staunch Trump supporter Matt Gaetz if he was “protecting the Bidens.”   “The FBI does not, has no interest in protecting anyone politically,” Wray said.   The hearing marked Wray’s first appearance before the oversight panel since Republicans recaptured the House of Representatives following the 2022 midterm elections.   Wray,more

Leave a comment

Former Trump Supporter Sues Fox News for Defamation

On

A former Donald Trump supporter who became the center of a conspiracy theory about January 6, 2021, filed a defamation lawsuit against Fox News on Wednesday, saying the network made him a scapegoat for the U.S. Capitol insurrection.  Raymond Epps, a former Marine who said he was forced from his Arizona home because of threats, is asking for unspecified damages and a jury trial.  He filed his lawsuit in Superior Court in Delaware, the same court where Dominion Voting Systems sued Fox for lies broadcast following the 2020 presidential election. Shortly before a trial was to begin this spring, Foxmore

Leave a comment

Iowa Republicans Pass Bill Banning Most Abortions After About 6 Weeks; Governor to Sign Friday

On

Iowa’s Republican-led Legislature passed a bill banning most abortions after roughly six weeks of pregnancy during a marathon special session Tuesday that continued late into the night. Governor Kim Reynolds immediately said in a statement she would sign the bill Friday.  The bill passed with exclusively Republican support in a rare, one-day legislative burst lasting more than 14 hours over the vocal — and sometimes tense — objections from Democratic lawmakers and abortion rights advocates protesting at the Capitol.   Just after 11 p.m., lingering protesters in the gallery booed and yelled “shame” to state senators in the minutes after themore

Leave a comment

Trump Can Be Held Liable in Writer’s Defamation Lawsuit After Justice Department Reverses Course

On

The Justice Department on Tuesday said that Donald Trump can be held personally liable for remarks he made about a woman who accused him of rape — a reversal of its position that Trump was protected because he was president when he made the remarks.  In a letter filed with the judge presiding over a defamation lawsuit that columnist E. Jean Carroll brought in Manhattan federal court in 2020, the department says it no longer has “a sufficient basis” to conclude that Trump was motivated in his statements about Carroll’s claims by more than an insignificant desire to serve themore

Leave a comment