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☆ US House rebuffs bid by Republican hardliners to end some sanctions
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( David Morgan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

WASHINGTON, July 18 (Reuters) - The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday turned back a bid by hardline conservatives to end five presidential emergency declarations that allow for sanctions against America's enemies in the Middle East and Africa. Trump, a hero to Republican hardliners, did use a 2019 national emergency declaration to fund construction of a wall at the U.S.-Mexico border over the opposition of congressional Democrats. "Trump was probably the first president to use the National Emergency Act and national emergency declarations for the express purpose of getting around Congress on a question of long term policy," Goitein said. Both Republicans and Democrats said they agreed with the objective of improving the national emergency system. "While I understand my colleagues' desire to reform the national emergency process, empowering terrorists, corrupt officials and war criminals is not the answer.

Persons: Lauren Boebert, Matt Gaetz, Paul Gosar, Eli Crane, Republican George W, Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump's, Biden, Hardliner, Kevin McCarthy, Joe Biden, somebody's, Gosar, Elizabeth Goitein, Trump, Goitein, Mike Lawler, David Morgan, Scott Malone, Lincoln Organizations: Republican, House, Four Republican, Democratic, Republicans, Democrats, Washington, Colorado firebrand, Hardliner Republicans, Freedom Caucus, Brennan Center for Justice, New York University, Trump, Emergency, Thomson Locations: East, Africa, Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Libya, Democratic Republic of Congo, Colorado, Iran, U.S, Mexico

☆ Trump lacked power to declassify secret nuclear arms document, experts say
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-18 | by ( Jonathan Landay | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/2] Former U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks following his arraignment on classified document charges, at Trump National Golf Club, in Bedminster, New Jersey, U.S., June 13, 2023. REUTERS/Amr Alfiky/File PhotoWASHINGTON, June 18 (Reuters) - Even when he was president, Donald Trump lacked the legal authority to declassify a U.S. nuclear weapons-related document that he is charged with illegally possessing, security experts said, contrary to the former U.S. president’s claim. The special status of nuclear-related information further erodes what many legal experts say is a weak defense centered around declassification. “The president is the executive branch and so he can declassify anything that is nuclear information,” he said. And it takes forever,” said Thomas Blanton, director of the National Security Archive.

Persons: Donald Trump, Amr Alfiky, Trump, ”, Steven Aftergood, David Jonas, Elizabeth Goitein, it’s, Thomas Blanton, Jonathan Landay, Don Durfee, Amy Stevens, Cynthia Osterman Organizations: U.S, Trump National Golf Club, REUTERS, WASHINGTON, Atomic Energy, Department of Energy, Department of Defense, Federation of Atomic Scientists, Prosecutors, Trump, Republican, Atomic Energy Act, DOE, Pentagon, AEA, U.S . National Nuclear Security Administration, Brennan Center for Justice, Constitution, DOD, National Security, Thomson Locations: Bedminster , New Jersey, U.S, declassify, declassification, United States, Florida

National security law experts were struck by the breadth of evidence in the indictment which includes documents, photos, text messages, audio and witness statements. They said this made a strong case for prosecutors’ allegation that Trump illegally took the documents and then tried to cover it up. Trump's greatest peril could lie in the conspiracy to obstruct justice charges, which carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. Legal experts said Trump's alleged years-long effort to conceal documents was likely a major factor in Special Counsel Jack Smith's decision to indict him. Legal experts disagree over whether Trump could pardon himself if he wins.

Persons: Donald Trump, Trump, ”, Elizabeth Goitein, Clark Neily, Mark MacDougall, Trump's, Jack Smith's, Wilkie D, Ferguson Jr, Walt Nauta, Chris Kise, Todd Blanche, Jane, Read, Brennan Center's Goitein, Cato's Neily, “, Todd Huntley, TRUMP, Jack Queen, Sarah N, Lynch, Amy Stevens, Cynthia Osterman, Howard Goller Organizations: White House, FBI, Brennan Center for Justice, DOJ, Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Cato Institute, U.S, United, REUTERS, Prosecutors, Georgetown University, Trump, Washington , D.C, Thomson Locations: Florida, Miami , Florida, U.S, New York, Washington ,

National security law experts were struck by the breadth of evidence in the indictment which includes documents, photos, text messages, audio and witness statements. They said this made a strong case for prosecutors’ allegation that Trump illegally took the documents and then tried to cover it up. Trump's greatest peril could lie in the conspiracy to obstruct justice charges, which carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. Cato's Neily said that based on his reading of the indictment, prosecutors likely have many witnesses who have given them similar accounts of Trump's efforts. Legal experts disagree over whether Trump could pardon himself if he wins.

Persons: Trump, Wilkie D, Ferguson Jr, Walt Nauta, Chris Kise, Todd Blanche, Jane, Read, Donald Trump, ”, Elizabeth Goitein, Clark Neily, Mark MacDougall, Trump's, Jack Smith's, Brennan Center's Goitein, Cato's Neily, “, Todd Huntley, TRUMP, Jack Queen, Sarah N, Lynch, Amy Stevens, Cynthia Osterman, Howard Goller Organizations: U.S, United, REUTERS, White House, FBI, Brennan Center for Justice, DOJ, Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Cato Institute, Prosecutors, Georgetown University, Trump, Washington , D.C, Thomson Locations: Miami , Florida, U.S, Florida, New York, Washington ,

National security law experts were struck by the breadth of evidence in the indictment which includes documents, photos, text messages, audio and witness statements. They said this made a strong case for prosecutors’ allegation that Trump illegally took the documents and then tried to cover it up. Trump has proclaimed his innocence and called the case a “witch hunt” orchestrated by political enemies. Cato's Neily said that based on his reading of the indictment, prosecutors likely have many witnesses who have given them similar accounts of Trump's efforts. Legal experts disagree over whether Trump could pardon himself if he wins.

Persons: Donald Trump, Trump, ”, Elizabeth Goitein, Clark Neily, Mark MacDougall, Trump's, Jack Smith's, Brennan Center's Goitein, Cato's Neily, “, Todd Huntley, TRUMP, Jack Queen, Sarah N, Lynch, Amy Stevens, Cynthia Osterman Organizations: White House, FBI, Brennan Center for Justice, DOJ, Cato Institute, Prosecutors, Georgetown University, Trump, Washington , D.C, Thomson Locations: Florida, New York, Washington ,

☆ F.B.I. Violated Surveillance Program Rules After George Floyd Protests and Jan. 6 Attack
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Charlie Savage | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

The total number of queries for Americans — and the frequency of compliance incidents — appears to have dropped as a result. Among other things, an intelligence community report last month said that the F.B.I. While Congress did so in 2012 and 2018, the program faces stronger headwinds this cycle, as Republicans who have adopted former President Donald J. Trump’s hostility toward the F.B.I. and surveillance have joined with civil libertarians who have long been critical of the law. Against that backdrop, privacy advocates have revived a proposal to require the government to obtain a warrant from the surveillance court before it may query the Section 702 repository using an American’s identifiers.

The U.S. government’s system for labeling and tracking classified documents appears to be broken, with potentially serious consequences for the country’s national security, lawmakers, former officials and scholars said Tuesday. Democratic and Republican lawmakers said there was a “systemic failure” if both the Obama and Trump administrations could not keep track of classified documents after their tenures ended. I don’t know how anybody ends up with classified documents. “We clearly don’t have an effective management system to oversee where classified documents go and how they’re retrieved,” said Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah. Goitein and others said the recent discoveries of classified documents present a political opportunity for the White House, and possibly Congress, to at last tackle the problem.

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