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☆ Bidzina Ivanishvili: Credit Suisse ordered to pay $926 million to Georgia's former prime minister
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-26 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Credit Suisse was ordered to pay $926 million to Georgia’s former prime minister Friday for losing part of his fortune, in a Singapore court ruling that represents one of the biggest legal awards made against the bank. Credit Suisse (CSGKF) said it would appeal the decision. Billionaire businessman Ivanishvili, who was Georgia’s prime minister in 2012 to 2013, had placed $1.1 billion under the custodianship of Credit Suisse Trust in 2005, the court heard. It should have prevented Patrice Lescaudron, an adviser at Credit Suisse Trust in Singapore who was later convicted of fraud, from having access to them. AppealThe $926 million to be paid by Credit Suisse will be reduced by $79 million it had already paid in December.

☆ DeSantis doesn't rule out pardoning Trump, Jan. 6 defendants if elected president
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-25 | by ( Kevin Breuninger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

DeSantis, Trump's top rival in the 2024 Republican presidential primary race, was asked on a conservative talk show if he would consider pardoning the former president, should he be charged with federal crimes. The governor was also asked if he believed the next Republican president should look at pardoning defendants charged in relation to the Jan. 6, 2021, storming of the U.S. Capitol. The governor filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission on Wednesday and then confirmed his candidacy in a live Twitter discussion with Elon Musk that was plagued with technical difficulties. Trump is the clear front-runner in most polls of the Republican primary, with DeSantis his closest competitor. The New York criminal case is set for trial starting March 25, 2024, in the thick of the primary election season.

Persons: Ron DeSantis, Donald Trump, DeSantis, Clay Travis, Trump, Buck Sexton, Elon Musk, Jack Smith, Trump's, General Merrick Garland Organizations: Florida Gov, Republican, Justice, Trump, U.S . Capitol, Justice Department, Capitol, Federal, Commission, Manhattan, The New, DOJ, FBI Locations: Florida, The New York, Lago

☆ Georgia's flagship airline bans president over Russia flights criticism - TASS
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-21 | by ( Felix Light | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

TBILISI, May 21 (Reuters) - The founder of Georgia's national airline Georgian Airways has banned the country's president from using its services after she said she would boycott the airline over its resumption of flights to Russia, Russia's TASS news agency reported on Sunday. Russia announced this month it was lifting a four-year old ban on direct flights with Georgia and removing a decades-old visa requirement for Georgians travelling to Russia. President Salome Zourabichvili urged Georgian authorities to thwart the Russian initiative, an appeal they ignored. Many Georgians oppose any rapprochement with Moscow whose troops garrison two breakaway regions - Abkhazia and South Ossetia - that make up around one fifth of the country's territory. President Zourabichvili, whose position is largely ceremonial and whose relations with the government are strained, has warned that deepening ties with Russia could jeopardise the country's chances of the EU one day.

☆ A woman who threatened to bomb staffers at a Democratic campaign office for 'being on the wrong team' vomited when FBI agents approached her
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Azmi Haroun | Kelsey Vlamis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A Georgia woman pled guilty to threatening to bomb a local Democratic party building. Jessica Higginbotham planned to bomb the Athens Democratic Senatorial Committee Campaign building during the 2022 elections. When FBI agents confronted her about it, she vomited and lied at first, according to the DOJ. Local police and the FBI sprung into action after being alerted about the text, prosecutors said. "When she saw the agents approach her, she vomited," prosecutors said in a press release, adding that she first denied sending the message, but later admitted to it.

☆ Georgia to resume flights to Russia this week, drawing EU and Ukrainian criticism
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

May 16 (Reuters) - Georgian Airways will resume direct flights to Russia from Saturday, the country's civil aviation authority said, drawing criticism from Ukraine and the European Union. "The world is isolating Russia to force it to stop the war, but Georgia is welcoming Russian airlines and sending its own to Moscow. All while 20% of Georgian territory remains occupied by Russia with impunity," Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko said on Twitter. The EU said it regretted that Georgia was resuming flights to Russia at a time when the bloc has closed its airspace to Russian planes in response to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. "This latest decision by Georgia's authorities raises concerns in terms of Georgia's EU path," EU foreign affairs spokesman Peter Stano said.

☆ A retired Georgia couple is fighting back against a railroad company that wants to take land their family has owned for generations
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-13 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

A retired Georgia couple is battling a railroad company that wants their land. The couple is part of a group fighting Sandersville Railroad's plan to use the eminent domain process. The Institute for Justice has accused the railroad company of abusing eminent-domain power. Blaine and Marvin Smith own separate parcels of land, both of which Sandersville's push for eminent domain would impact. Institute for JusticeBen Tarbutton III, a representative for Sandersville Railroad, said the company disagreed "with the assertions made by the Institute for Justice."

☆ US Vice President Harris fundraises for 2024 in Georgia
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-12 | by ( Nandita Bose | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON, May 12 (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris will kick off fundraising for Democrats' 2024 re-election campaign in the swing state of Georgia on Friday, as she and President Joe Biden start to tap donors who contributed over $1 billion to the 2020 campaign. Harris will headline the Democratic Party of Georgia's "Spring Soiree" fundraiser - a gathering expected to have hundreds of attendees. Biden and Harris face significant political headwinds in their bid for a second term, including low approval numbers and concerns about Biden's age. Political strategists have said Harris's appeal as a fundraiser for the re-election campaign will be tested in the coming months. Harris's 2020 campaign 'Kamala Harris for the People' raised over $40 million, with nearly 57% coming from large contributors, according to campaign finance records.

☆ Georgia fake-elector defendants accept immunity in Trump probe
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is expected to disclose this summer whether former President Donald Trump and others will be charged with crimes related to interfering with the 2020 election. Also in the filing, Debrow said, "All eight of the electors who were offered immunity accepted." With immunity, those eight would be free to testify against any defendants. Willis' probe began soon after a recorded January 2021 phone call in which Trump asked Georgia's top election official to "find" the votes to reverse Biden's victory. He faces other investigations, including a pair of U.S. Justice Department probes into his handling of classified materials after leaving the White House and his efforts to alter 2020 election results.

☆ Georgia fake elector defendants accept immunity in Trump probe
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump attends a campaign event in Manchester, New Hampshire, U.S., April 27, 2023. Also in the filing, Debrow said, "All eight of the electors who were offered immunity accepted." With immunity, those eight would be free to testify against any defendants. Willis' probe began soon after a recorded January 2021 phone call in which Trump asked Georgia's top election official to "find" the votes to reverse Biden's victory. Trump, who is seeking the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, has denied wrongdoing and accused Willis, an elected Democrat, of targeting him for political gain.

☆ The same year Clarence Thomas sent a child to a private boarding school on Harlan Crow's dime, a parent testified that the academy used children for free labor
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Grace Eliza Goodwin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The school Clarence Thomas sent a child to has been accused of forcing students into hard labor. A ProPublica report found that Harlan Crow footed the school's $6,000-a-month bill for Thomas. Thomas has been accused of judicial misconduct for not reporting gifts he received from Crow. These activities could go on "for as long as 8 hours," the parent wrote. Justice Thomas has been accused of judicial misconduct after a series of reports from ProPublica detailed his acceptance of unreported lavish gifts from Crow.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at the National Rifle Association (NRA) annual convention in Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S., April 14, 2023. CARROLL SAYS TRUMP CALLED HER 'THAT ADVICE LADY'Carroll said her encounter with Trump at the Bergdorf Goodman store occurred in late 1995 or early 1996. It also includes two other women who have accused Trump of sexual misconduct, which Trump also denies. Trump pleaded not guilty to those charges on April 4 at a New York state courthouse, a three-minute walk from Tuesday's trial. Carroll is also suing Trump for defamation after he first denied her rape claim in June 2019, when he was still president.

☆ State leaders targeting climate investing have quiet stakes in the fossil fuel industry
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Brian Schwartz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +12 min

Fitzpatrick is among a group of powerful Republican state leaders who have waged similar fights against environmentally conscious investing as they held personal investments in, or saw political support from, the fossil fuel industry. Some of the state officials have received campaign donations from fossil fuel companies or their executives. "He has never 'had private briefings tied back to the fossil fuel industry' nor does he personally direct or execute trades himself. Hegar co-signed an open letter in 2021 with other state financial officers that was addressed to the U.S. banking industry and defended the fossil fuel industry. He also co-signed the 2022 letter to Biden from a slate of other state financial officers defending the fossil fuel industry.

☆ Georgia DA probing Trump says she will announce charging decisions during summer
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Kevin Breuninger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Fani Willis, the District Attorney of Fulton County, Georgia inside her office chambers in the Fulton County Justice Center Tower in Atlanta, Georgia on Tuesday, September 20, 2022. The Georgia prosecutor leading an election interference probe of former President Donald Trump and his allies said Monday she would announce charging decisions in the matter this summer. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said she plans to make her announcement during the Fulton County Superior Court's fourth term, which begins July 11 and ends Sept. 1. The probe began weeks after Trump urged Georgia officials to "find" him enough votes to overturn President Joe Biden's victory in the state. Law enforcement officials in Georgia were watching how Trump's arraignment in Manhattan played out, a source familiar with the Fulton County probe previously told NBC.

☆ NBC News poll: Nearly 70% of GOP voters stand behind Trump amid indictment, investigations
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( Mark Murray | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

And half of those who don't want the 80-year-old Biden to run say the president's age is a "major" reason why. Forty-six percent of Republican primary voters pick Trump as their first choice, while 31% select DeSantis as the 2024 candidate they favor. Businessman Vivek Ramaswamy has 2%.Meanwhile, DeSantis is the second choice of 33% of GOP primary voters, Trump is the second pick of 20%, and Haley is the second choice of 14%. Yet what also stands out in the poll are the nearly 70% of Republican primary voters who say they stand behind Trump despite the different investigations he's facing. Majorities don't want Biden, Trump to run for president in 2024The NBC News poll also comes just days before Biden's expected announcement for re-election.

☆ Trump operatives considered using breached voting data to decertify Georgia's Senate runoff in 2021, text messages show
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Zachary Cohen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

It’s unclear what if any evidence he has in his possession related to the Coffee County breach. Penrose and Logan were also named in a state-level criminal investigation in Michigan alleging they participated in a conspiracy to seize voting machines there. A local election official helped them gain access to sensitive voting data which they downloaded onto a portable hard drive. Bundren was part of the team enlisted by Trump’s lawyers to find evidence of widespread voter fraud after the 2020 election. Bundren helped oversee the multi-state push to access voting machines on behalf of the Trump legal team, according to several documents obtained by CNN.

☆ 18 states require personal finance education in schools—here's what they're teaching kids about money
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Kamaron Mcnair | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

As of this year, 18 states guarantee some form of personal finance education before students graduate, according to Next Gen Personal Finance (NGPF), a nonprofit that provides educational resources and advocates for financial literacy in schools. Personal finance is a huge umbrella. Setting the standardsWhen it comes to mandating personal finance education, it's not as simple as legislators or school boards agreeing that there need to be courses available. The National Council for Economic Education identifies six critical topic areas in their personal finance standards: Earning incomeSpendingSavingInvestingManaging creditManaging risk Developing the local standards can come down to "whoever's in the room," according to Chris Cannon, chief program officer at the Georgia Council on Economic Education, who worked on Georgia's personal finance education standards. NGPF also works on the policy side to help ensure when states are mandating personal finance education, they're doing so effectively.

☆ House GOP's attempt to shut down Alvin Bragg is unlikely to save Trump but could serve despots in training, say oversight experts
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-08 | by ( Warren Rojas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Donald Trump's formal arraignment in Manhattan criminal court sent House Republicans into a tizzy. Stretton wondered about House Republicans' attempt to defang state prosecutors they consider to be political persecutors. "It's hard to say what overstepping bounds are any more," Davis told Insider. "When you defend somebody before you've even seen the indictment, you're kind of hitching your wagon to all the investigations," Goldberg told Insider. He also warned that spotlight-chasing House Republicans risk drowning in unfinished business at the end of the term by floating new Biden-focused inquiries "every couple of weeks."

☆ Georgia's former president says he's dying in prison because of Putin, and calls on the US to save his life
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-07 | by ( John Haltiwanger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Georgia's ex-president, Mikheil Saakashvili, said he is dying in prison. Saakashvili is asking the US and its allies to help save his life by applying international pressure. He also warned that Georgia's government is "sliding toward the Kremlin." Georgia 'sliding toward the Kremlin'In his Politico op-ed, Saakashvili described himself as a "political prisoner" who continues to "defend democracy against Putin and his allies." Saakashvili warned that Georgia and other countries in the region "have continued sliding toward the Kremlin" amid Russia's ongoing and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

☆ U.S. VP Harris takes Biden's jobs message to Marjorie Taylor Greene's district
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Trevor Hunnicutt | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

WASHINGTON, April 6 (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday takes the Biden administration's jobs agenda to a right-wing Georgia congressional district represented by Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, an avid supporter of former President Donald Trump. Harris is announcing a further expansion, including an order for 2.5 million new solar panels involving Summit Ridge Energy, according to administration officials. But Dalton is the seat of a county where Trump won 2.4 votes for every one for Biden. "Instead, congressional Republicans want to roll back this progress and put investments in manufacturing, clean energy and good jobs at risk." Georgia is expected to again be one of the most contested states in the 2024 presidential election that may pit Biden against Trump once again.

☆ US blocks four Georgian officials from entering country over corruption -Blinken
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON, April 5 (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department on Wednesday blocked four Georgian judicial officials from entering the country due to their involvement in "significant corruption," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement. Blinken named the officials as Mikheil Chinchaladze, Levan Murusidze, Irakli Shengelia and Valerian Tsertsvadze. "These individuals abused their positions as court Chairmen and members of Georgia's High Council of Justice," Blinken said, adding that Washington would continue to stand with Georgians in support of democracy, the rule of law and accountability. Reporting by Katharine Jackson and Kanishka Singh; Editing by Rami AyyubOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Trump faces more legal threats beyond a hush money case. Here's the status of those probes
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Kevin Breuninger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

Cohen has since become a vocal critic of his former boss and testified before the grand jury hearing evidence in Bragg's probe. The grand jury was impaneled in January 2022 to hear evidence in Fulton County DA Willis' probe. Portions of that final report, which were released in February, show the grand jury determined that at least one witness may have lied under oath. New York civil caseTrump is also embroiled in a state-level civil fraud case filed by James, the New York attorney general. (L-R) Eric Trump, Donald Trump Jr., and Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump attend the ground breaking of the Trump International Hotel at the Old Post Office Building in Washington July 23, 2014.

☆ Trump's indictment may 'embolden' prosecutors to bring more charges against him for January 6 and his efforts to overturn the election, legal experts say
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-01 | by ( Hannah Getahun | Kelsey Vlamis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Former President Donald Trump was indicted on Thursday over a hush money settlement. Some legal experts say his indictment could affect the other investigations he faces. Although the charges have not yet been made public, ex-Manhattan prosecutors say that Trump risks felony-level state records-fraud charges that carry punishments of up to four years in prison. "He's testing what happens when a prosecutor charges a former sitting president," Ritter added. Likewise, as more grand juries solidify charges against Trump, the prosecutions look less politically motivated, a perception which may help embolden prosecutors who may otherwise be hesitant to bring charges."

Trump previously said he would continue campaigning for the Republican Party's nomination if charged with a crime. Shortly after, Trump appealed to supporters to provide money for a legal defense. Trump will have to travel to Manhattan for fingerprinting and other processing at that point. The Manhattan investigation is one of several legal challenges facing Trump, and the charges could hurt his presidential comeback attempt. No former or sitting U.S. president has ever faced criminal charges.

☆ No, Ron DeSantis can't stop Donald Trump's extradition from Florida to New York. Here's what happens now that he's been indicted.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Ron DeSantis can't stop extradition from Trump's home in Florida, but he could slow the process. DeSantis can't stop Trump's extradition, but he could slow it downThe standard method of interstate extradition in Florida, according to Holder and Bachner, involves the governors of each state. DeSantis is then required to make sure the indictment is valid before ordering Trump's extradition from Florida. The Florida extradition statute describes the governor's role as simply making sure the extradition demand meets all the legal requirements. It's unlikely that DeSantis will look too closely under the hood of the indictment, Bachner told Insider before news of the grand jury vote Thursday.

Biden's 2024 race will be different, aides and Democratic party officials say. The race to host the party convention is now down to two cities, sources say: Chicago and Atlanta. Chicago's pull is rooted in tradition, deep-pocketed donors and union ties, while Atlanta's appeal reflects the power of Georgia's grassroots networks and the importance to the party of Black voters and a racially diverse electorate. Top Democratic political officials in eight Midwestern states wrote Biden last week to push for a Chicago convention. CHICAGO, UNION TOWNHolding the convention in Chicago would put Biden in a Democratic powerhouse, where the party controls the legislature and executive branches.

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