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Mr. Trump has boasted that, if he returns to the White House, he will dispatch forces without any request for intervention by local authorities. “You look at what is happening to our country — we cannot let it happen any longer,” Mr. Trump said. He said the group sees it as likely that Mr. Trump would be drawn to the authoritarian “theatrics” of sending troops into Democratic cities. “There’s talk that he would try to rely on the Insurrection Act as a way to shut down lawful protests that get a little messy. But isolated instances of violence or lawlessness are not enough to use federal troops.”In a statement, a Trump spokeswoman, Karoline Leavitt, said, “As President Trump has always said, you can’t have a country without law and order and without borders.

Persons: Trump, “, Mr, ” Anthony Romero, ”, Karoline Leavitt Organizations: White, American Civil Liberties Union, Democratic, Trump, “ Locations: Iowa, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco

☆ Vehement Dissent From Supreme Court’s Liberal Wing Laments Vast Expansion of Presidential Power
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-01 | by ( Charlie Savage | More About Charlie Savage | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Supreme Court’s three Democratic appointees railed in dissent against the conservative majority’s ruling that former President Donald J. Trump has some immunity for his official actions, declaring that their colleagues had made the president into “a king above the law.”Writing that the majority was “deeply wrong,” Justice Sonia Sotomayor added that beyond its consequences for the bid to prosecute Mr. Trump for his attempt to subvert the outcome of the 2020 election, it would have “stark” long-term consequences for the future of American democracy. “The court effectively creates a law-free zone around the president, upsetting the status quo that has existed since the founding,” she wrote, in an opinion joined by the other two Democratic appointees, Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson. Insulating the president of the United States — the most powerful person in the country and possibly the world, she noted — from criminal prosecution when he uses his official powers will allow him to freely use his official power to violate the law, exploit the trappings of his office for personal gain, or other “evil ends.”

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Sonia Sotomayor, Mr, ”, Elena Kagan, Ketanji Brown Jackson Organizations: Democratic, United Locations: “, United States

☆ Republican-Appointed Judge Denounces Republican Distortions of Jan. 6
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-25 | by ( Charlie Savage | More About Charlie Savage | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A Republican-appointed judge on Thursday denounced as “shameless” the attempts by prominent Republican politicians to recast the Jan. 6 riot in a positive light, including by portraying the Trump supporters who sacked Congress as having done nothing wrong and by calling those convicted of crimes political prisoners or hostages. “In my 37 years on the bench, I cannot recall a time when such meritless justifications of criminal activity have gone mainstream,” wrote Judge Royce C. Lamberth of the Federal District Court in Washington. “I have been dismayed to see distortions and outright falsehoods seep into the public consciousness.”The remarks, made in a seven-page filing that Judge Lamberth described as notes for what he had said on Thursday at a resentencing hearing for a Jan. 6 rioter, amounted to a scathing and extraordinary broadside against a vast web of conspiracy theories and falsehoods about the Capitol attack that have permeated the right. Criticizing the rioter, James Little, for displaying “a clear lack of remorse,” the judge used the occasion to also “set the record straight” about what he portrayed as a broader disinformation campaign, citing the evidence he has absorbed from presiding over many Jan. 6 prosecutions.

Persons: Trump, “, ”, Royce C, Lamberth, James Little Organizations: Republican, Federal, Court Locations: Washington

A Radical AgendaTo be sure, some of what Mr. Trump and his allies are planning is in line with what any standard-issue Republican president would most likely do. For example, Mr. Trump would very likely roll back many of President Biden’s policies to curb carbon emissions and hasten the transition to electric cars. He has said he would fundamentally re-evaluate “NATO’s purpose and NATO’s mission” in a second term. After some demonstrations against police violence in 2020 became riots, Mr. Trump had an order drafted to use troops to crack down on protesters in Washington, D.C., but didn’t sign it. “You look at any Democrat-run state, and it’s just not the same — it doesn’t work,” Mr. Trump told the crowd, calling cities like New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco crime dens.

Persons: Trump, Biden’s, it’s, ” Mr, I’m, ” Organizations: U.S, NATO, Washington , D.C, Democratic Locations: United States, Mexico, Washington ,, Iowa, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco

A federal appeals court ruled on Friday that civil lawsuits seeking to hold former President Donald J. Trump accountable for the violence that erupted at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, can move forward for now, rejecting a broad assertion of immunity that Mr. Trump’s legal team had invoked to try to get the cases dismissed. The Supreme Court has held that the Constitution gives presidents immunity from being sued over actions taken as part of their official duties, but not from suits based on private, unofficial acts. The civil cases brought against Mr. Trump have raised the question of which role he was playing at the rally he staged on Jan. 6, when he told supporters to “fight like hell” and urged them to march to the Capitol. Essentially, the appeals court ruled that at this stage of the case, that question has yet to be definitively answered. It said Mr. Trump must be given an opportunity to present factual evidence to rebut the plaintiffs’ claims that the rally was a campaign event — scrutinizing issues like whether campaign officials had organized it and campaign funds were used to pay for it.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, “ Organizations: Capitol, U.S ., Appeals, District of Columbia, Mr

☆ F.B.I. Faulted Agents for Shooting at a Fleeing Suspect and Killing a Family Dog
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-19 | by ( Charlie Savage | More About Charlie Savage | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

faulted agents in 2019 for misusing their guns in two separate shootings, each an exceedingly rare internal finding of violations of its lethal force policy, according to documents obtained by The New York Times. The first involved an agent in Arkansas who shot at — but missed — a suspect who was driving away to flee arrest. The other involved an agent in California who fatally shot a family dog that he said bit him during a “family dispute” while he was off duty; he got a five-day suspension. While neither shooting, both of which took place in 2017, was a major imbroglio, their disclosure is notable. Under its deadly force policy, agents are only permitted to fire their guns, outside of practice ranges, if they reasonably believe that the target poses an imminent danger of death or serious physical injury to someone.

Organizations: The New York Times Locations: Arkansas, California

Two top officials on former President Donald J. Trump’s 2024 campaign on Monday sought to distance his campaign team from news reports about plans for what he would do if voters return him to the White House. Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita, who are effectively Mr. Trump’s campaign managers, issued a joint statement after a spate of articles, many in The New York Times, about plans for 2025 developed by the campaign itself, and trumpeted on the trail by Mr. Trump, as well as efforts by outside groups led by former senior Trump administration officials who remain in direct contact with him. Ms. Wiles and Mr. LaCivita focused their frustration on outside groups, which they did not name, that have devoted considerable resources to preparing lists of personnel and developing policies to serve the next right-wing administration. “The efforts by various nonprofit groups are certainly appreciated and can be enormously helpful. However, none of these groups or individuals speak for President Trump or his campaign,” they wrote, calling reports about their personnel and policy intentions “purely speculative and theoretical” and “merely suggestions.”

Persons: Donald J, Susie Wiles, Chris LaCivita, Trump, Wiles, LaCivita, ” Organizations: The New York Times, Trump Locations: The

In a second Trump presidency, the visas of foreign students who participated in anti-Israel or pro-Palestinian protests would be canceled. People who were granted temporary protected status because they are from certain countries deemed unsafe, allowing them to lawfully live and work in the United States, would have that status revoked. That policy’s legal legitimacy, like nearly all of Mr. Trump’s plans, would be virtually certain to end up before the Supreme Court. In interviews with The New York Times, several Trump advisers gave the most expansive and detailed description yet of Mr. Trump’s immigration agenda in a potential second term. In particular, Mr. Trump’s campaign referred questions for this article to Stephen Miller, an architect of Mr. Trump’s first-term immigration policies who remains close to him and is expected to serve in a senior role in a second administration.

Persons: Trump, Trump’s, Stephen Miller, Miller Organizations: Trump, Social, New York Times Locations: Israel, United States, U.S

Close allies of Donald J. Trump are preparing to populate a new administration with a more aggressive breed of right-wing lawyer, dispensing with traditional conservatives who they believe stymied his agenda in his first term. The allies have been drawing up lists of lawyers they view as ideologically and temperamentally suited to serve in a second Trump administration. Now, as Trump allies grow more confident in an election victory next fall, several outside groups, staffed by former Trump officials who are expected to serve in senior roles if he wins, have begun parallel personnel efforts. But in a striking shift, Trump allies are building new recruiting pipelines separate from the Federalist Society. In addition, The New York Times interviewed former senior lawyers in the Trump administration and other allies who have remained close to the president and are likely to serve in a second term.

Persons: Donald J, Trump Organizations: Justice Department, Trump, Federalist Society, The New York Times

Within hours of Judge Chutkan’s announcement at a hearing on Monday in Federal District Court in Washington that she would be imposing the order, Mr. Trump had already attacked it as an assault on his First Amendment rights. He then misrepresented the contents of Judge Chutkan’s ruling. “You know what a gag order is?” Mr. Trump, the current front-runner for the 2024 Republican nomination, asked the crowd. “You can’t speak badly about your opponent.”In fact, Judge Chutkan’s order leaves Mr. Trump free to criticize President Biden, along with his administration and the Justice Department. Judge Chutkan’s order leaves Mr. Trump free to attack her, too.

Persons: Chutkan’s, Trump, ”, Biden, Mike Pence Organizations: Court, Republican, Justice Department Locations: Washington, Iowa

☆ Request for Gag Order on Trump Raises Free Speech Dilemma
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-22 | by ( Charlie Savage | More About Charlie Savage | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The request by prosecutors that a judge impose a gag order on former President Donald J. Trump in the federal election-subversion case presents a thorny conflict between the scope of his First Amendment rights and fears that he could — intentionally or not — spur his supporters to violence. There is little precedent for how the judge overseeing the case, Tanya S. Chutkan, should think about how to weigh strong constitutional protections for political speech against ensuring the functioning of the judicial process and the safety of the people participating in it. It is one more example of the challenges of seeking to hold to account a norm-shattering former president who is being prosecuted in two federal cases — and two state cases — as he makes another bid for the White House with a message that his opponents have weaponized the criminal justice system against him. “Everything about these cases is making new law because there are so many gaps in the law,” said Paul F. Rothstein, a law professor at Georgetown University and a criminal procedure specialist. “The system is held together by people doing the right thing according to tradition, and Trump doesn’t — he jumps into every gap.”

Persons: Donald J, Trump, —, Tanya S, ”, Paul F, Rothstein Organizations: White, Georgetown University, Trump

If President Biden were elected to a second term, he pledged to go to Congress to start any major war but said he believed he was empowered “to direct limited U.S. military operations abroad” without such approval when such strikes served critical American interests. “As president, I have taken great care to ensure that military actions carried out under my command comply with this constitutional framework and that my administration consults with Congress to the greatest extent possible,” he wrote in response to a New York Times survey of presidential candidates about executive power. “I will continue to rigorously apply this framework to any potential actions in the future,” he added. The reply stood in contrast to his answer in 2007, when he was also running for president and, as a senator, adopted a narrower view: “The Constitution is clear: Except in response to an attack or the imminent threat of attack, only Congress may authorize war and the use of force.”

Persons: Biden, “, ” Organizations: New York Times

Career civil servants include professional staff across the government who stay on when the presidency changes hands. Portraying federal employees as unaccountable bureaucrats, the Trump team has argued that removing job protections for those who have any influence over policymaking is justified because it is too difficult to fire them. Critics saw the move as a throwback to the corrupt 19th-century patronage system, when all federal jobs were partisan spoils rather than based on merit. Congress ended that system with a series of civil-service laws dating back to the Pendleton Act of 1883. Everett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, described Schedule F as “the most profound undermining of the civil service in our lifetimes.”

Persons: Trump, —, Critics, Everett Kelley Organizations: Trump, American Federation of Government Employees Locations: Pendleton

The federal prosecutors who charged former President Donald J. Trump with a criminal conspiracy over his attempts to overturn the 2020 election obtained 32 private messages from his Twitter account through a search warrant this winter as part of their investigation, court papers unsealed on Friday said. Questions have lingered about what prosecutors were looking for in Mr. Trump’s Twitter account ever since it was revealed last month that the government had served the warrant on Twitter in January. In an earlier release of documents, prosecutors disclosed that they had obtained some private messages from Mr. Trump’s account but not how many. Mr. Trump’s posts on the platform in the chaotic months after the election were mentioned several times in the indictment that the special counsel, Jack Smith, filed against him in Washington last month. What remains unclear is whether Mr. Smith’s team sought the warrant for Mr. Trump’s account merely to confirm that he had posted the messages that appeared in public, or whether they suspected that some private data in the account might also be important.

Persons: Donald J, Elon Musk, Trump, Jack Smith, Smith’s Organizations: Trump, Twitter, Justice Locations: Washington

Vivek Ramaswamy, the Republican presidential candidate whose strident and sometimes unrealistic proposals have helped him stand out in the crowded primary field, said in a policy speech on Wednesday that he would fire more than 75 percent of the federal work force and shutter several major agencies. Among the government organizations that Mr. Ramaswamy vowed to disband are the Department of Education, the F.B.I., the Food and Nutrition Service, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Mr. Ramaswamy, 38, also claimed he could make the changes unilaterally if he were to be elected president, putting forward a sweeping theory that the executive wields the power to restructure the federal government on his own and does not need to submit such proposals to Congress for approval. His pitch was another echo of former President Donald J. Trump, whom he has modeled himself after and who sought to expand political control over the federal work force near the end of his term. Like Mr. Trump, Mr. Ramaswamy has also attacked parts of the federal government as a “deep state.”

Persons: Vivek Ramaswamy, Ramaswamy, Donald J, Trump, ” Organizations: Republican, Department of Education, Food and Nutrition Service, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, Explosives

The United States government has seized nearly one million barrels of Iranian crude oil that it says was being smuggled to China in violation of U.S. sanctions against Iran, after it raised the threat of prosecution to get the tanker brought to American waters, newly unsealed court papers show. The seizure of the oil from the vessel, the M/T Suez Rajan, is part of a larger and shadowy conflict with Iran. After the tanker began to steam toward the United States last spring, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps seized two oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, prompting the U.S. military to increase patrols and deploy additional assets to protect shipping lanes. In July, Iranian state news media said the Guards’ navy commander had warned that Tehran would hold Washington responsible if the tanker’s oil was unloaded, without giving further details. On Wednesday, a high-ranking Israeli defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the seizure raised new fears that Iran could hijack more tankers in an effort to deter the United States from repeating the move.

Persons: Suez Rajan Organizations: United, Iran, Revolutionary Guards Corps, U.S, Guards Locations: United States, China, Iran, Strait, Hormuz, Tehran, Washington

The Trump campaign is taking no chances on a contested convention. Many of those changes, which favor Mr. Trump, remain in place. Mr. Trump himself has gotten involved deep in the weeds of convention politics. This loyalty has already delivered results for Mr. Trump’s campaign. This month, the Nevada Republican Party quietly announced it would not share political data or coordinate with super PACs — a blow to Gov.

Persons: Trump, —, Justice Department —, Trump’s, Cruz, Henson, Brian Jack, Susie Wiles, Chris LaCivita —, — Bill Stepien, Justin Clark, Nick Trainer —, Ron DeSantis, Jeff Roe, Cruz’s Organizations: Justice Department, Republican, Nevada Republican Party Locations: Louisiana , Colorado, Nevada, Milwaukee, Florida

☆ How Might Trump Challenge the March 4 Trial Date in the Federal Election Case?
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-29 | by ( Charlie Savage | More About Charlie Savage | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In particular, as Mr. Trump noted, the day after the trial would begin is Super Tuesday, when voters in over a dozen states will cast their primary votes. That is because Mr. Trump will not be required to attend until opening statements begin. But if she declines to change it, decisions by a Federal District Court judge over a prospective trial calendar are not usually considered subject to an immediate appeal. Mr. Lauro told the judge on Monday that the defense team would not be able to provide adequate representation to Mr. Trump if it had to be prepared by March 4. Such a trial date would deny his client the opportunity to have effective assistance of counsel, he added.

Persons: Trump, Lauro, Judge Chutkan Organizations: Federal, Court

☆ Comparing the Four Criminal Cases Against Donald Trump
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-15 | by ( Charlie Savage | More About Charlie Savage | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

An important part of the trial will be whether prosecutors can prove that Mr. Trump had the requisite criminal intent. Mr. Trump’s lawyers have signaled that they intend to argue that their client’s First Amendment rights are at stake. Mr. Smith sought to distinguish that from other illegal conduct he accused Mr. Trump of committing. The indictment is suffused with Mr. Trump’s false public statements about the election, and Mr. Smith called them integral to what he portrayed as Mr. Trump’s criminal plans. By staying away from those issues, Mr. Smith avoided entanglement with tough First Amendment objections that defense lawyers could raise about his speech that day.

Persons: Trump, disenfranchisement —, Smith, Trump’s, Rudolph W, Giuliani, John Eastman, Sidney Powell, Jeffrey Clark, Kenneth Chesebro, Boris Epshteyn Organizations: Capitol

☆ Why Naming Weiss Special Counsel in the Hunter Biden Case Isn’t Likely to Change Much
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-11 | by ( Charlie Savage | More About Charlie Savage | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

That means making Mr. Weiss a special counsel may be more of a cosmetic gesture — essentially formalizing what has already been the case — than a new reality. The attorney general’s move came against the backdrop of accusations by Republicans that Mr. Weiss had offered what they portrayed as a sweetheart plea bargain to the younger Mr. Biden because of political manipulations by Mr. Garland or by the White House. Functionally, the formalization of Mr. Weiss’s independence could serve as a shield against such accusations. A special counsel is a prosecutor who wields the same powers as a U.S. attorney but is granted broader day-to-day independence from supervision. In making the announcement, Mr. Garland reminded the public that he had already said Mr. Weiss, who was appointed by President Trump, was operating outside the normal system of hierarchical oversight and control for the Hunter Biden case.

Persons: General Merrick B, David Weiss, Biden’s, Hunter, Garland, Weiss, general’s, Biden, President Trump, Hunter Biden Organizations: Trump, White House Locations: Delaware, U.S

☆ Trump and Longtime Aide Plead Not Guilty to New Charges in Documents Case
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( Charlie Savage | More About Charlie Savage | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Former President Donald J. Trump and an employee, Walt Nauta, pleaded not guilty on Thursday to additional criminal charges in the case accusing the former president of illegally holding onto secret national security documents after leaving office and conspiring to obstruct the government’s efforts to retrieve them. The plea to the added charges was entered for Mr. Trump by one of his lawyers after an updated indictment last month that accused him of seeking to delete security footage at his Mar-a-Lago residence and club. Mr. Trump, who was first charged and arraigned in person in June, chose not to appear at the federal courthouse in Fort Pierce, Fla.Last week, he signed a form forgoing his appearance and indicating that he would plead not guilty. During a 10-minute hearing Thursday, Todd Blanche, a lawyer for Mr. Trump, told a magistrate judge that he had discussed the expanded charges with his client, who “has authorized me to enter a plea of not guilty.”Two Trump employees whom prosecutors also accused of conspiring to delete the footage, Mr. Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, were also charged in the revised indictment and appeared at the hearing.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Walt Nauta, Todd Blanche, “, Nauta, Carlos De Oliveira Organizations: Mr, Trump Locations: Fort Pierce, Fla

A lawyer allied with President Donald J. Trump first laid out a plot to use false slates of electors to subvert the 2020 election in a previously unknown internal campaign memo that prosecutors are portraying as a crucial link in how the Trump team’s efforts evolved into a criminal conspiracy. The existence of the Dec. 6, 2020, memo came to light in last week’s indictment of Mr. Trump, though its details remained unclear. But even if the plan did not ultimately pass legal muster at the highest level, Mr. Chesebro argued that it would achieve two goals. In mid-December, the false Trump electors could go through the motions of voting as if they had the authority to do so. Then, on Jan. 6, 2021, Vice President Mike Pence could unilaterally count those slates of votes, rather than the official and certified ones for Joseph R. Biden Jr.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Mr, Kenneth Chesebro, “, Chesebro, Biden, Mike Pence, Joseph R Organizations: The New York Times, Trump

☆ How Jack Smith Structured the Trump Election Indictment to Reduce Risks
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-04 | by ( Charlie Savage | More About Charlie Savage | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In accusing former President Donald J. Trump of conspiring to subvert American democracy, the special counsel, Jack Smith, charged the same story three different ways. The charges are novel applications of criminal laws to unprecedented circumstances, heightening legal risks, but Mr. Smith’s tactic gives him multiple paths in obtaining and upholding a guilty verdict. That structure in the indictment is only one of several strategic choices by Mr. Smith — including what facts and potential charges he chose to include or omit — that may foreshadow and shape how an eventual trial of Mr. Trump will play out. The four charges rely on three criminal statutes: a count of conspiring to defraud the government, another of conspiring to disenfranchise voters, and two counts related to corruptly obstructing a congressional proceeding. Applying each to Mr. Trump’s actions raises various complexities, according to a range of criminal law experts.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Jack Smith, ”, Julie O’Sullivan, Smith Organizations: Georgetown University

☆ The next steps in the case include setting a timetable for getting to trial.
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-03 | by ( Charlie Savage | More About Charlie Savage | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The election case against former President Donald J. Trump will now move to the pretrial phase before Judge Tanya S. Chutkan after he pleaded not guilty on Thursday. The government has been asked to file a brief by Aug. 10 proposing a trial date and an estimate of how long it believes its part of the trial will take. Mr. Trump’s defense team will have to file a brief addressing those details by Aug. 17. The first hearing before Judge Chutkan to discuss such matters will be at 10 a.m. on Aug. 28, a magistrate judge, Judge Moxila A. Upadhyaya, said. If the classified documents case is any guide, prosecutors are likely to argue for a speedy trial while Mr. Trump’s defense team urges Judge Chutkan to put the matter off until after the 2024 election.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Tanya S, Judge Chutkan, Judge Moxila Organizations: Justice Department

Mr. Trump was booked and fingerprinted before entering the courtroom and offering a soft-spoken “not guilty” to each of the four counts lodged against him on Tuesday by Jack Smith, the special counsel. He was allowed to leave court without paying any bail or agreeing to any travel restrictions. A first pretrial hearing was set for Aug. 28. Mr. Trump arrived in Washington in the remarkable position of being under indictment in three separate cases as he is running for president again. In addition to the election case, he faces federal charges of mishandling classified documents and accusations in New York related to hush money payments to a porn star.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, “, Jack Smith Organizations: Capitol Locations: Washington, New York

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