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“Around the country, MAGA extremists are lining up to take on those bedrock freedoms,” Mr. Biden said, using Mr. Trump’s Make America Great Again slogan to describe the former president’s allies. While he had repeatedly and consistently said he intended to run, Mr. Biden stoked renewed speculation by delaying his kickoff for months. Mr. Biden tapped Julie Chávez Rodríguez, a senior White House adviser and granddaughter of the iconic labor leader Cesar Chávez, as his campaign manager. But the operation is expected to be overseen from the White House by top presidential aides. While polls show that most Democrats have favorable opinions about Mr. Biden, a majority of them would still rather he not run again.

Companies Tesla Inc FollowJan 20 (Reuters) - Elon Musk, Tesla Inc's (TSLA.O) chief executive, is likely to be called to testify on Friday in a jury trial over his 2018 tweet that he had "funding secured" to take the electric carmaker private, which shareholders allege cost them millions in trading losses. The billionaire entrepreneur is listed as the third possible witness on Friday, after a securities expert and a Tesla investor, in the class action trial in San Francisco federal court. Fearing leaks to the media, Musk tried to protect the "everyday shareholder" by sending the tweet, which contained "technical inaccuracies," Spiro said. The defendants include current and former Tesla directors, whom Spiro said had "pure" motives in their response to Musk's plan. The trial resumes after a day off on Thursday.

☆ Crypto lending unit of Genesis files for U.S. bankruptcy
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Jan 19 (Reuters) - The lending unit of crypto firm Genesis filed on Thursday for U.S. bankruptcy protection from creditors, toppled by a market rout along with the likes of exchange FTX and lender BlockFi. Genesis Global Capital, one of the largest crypto lenders, froze customer redemptions on Nov. 16 after FTX stunned the financial world with its bankruptcy, fuelling concern that other companies could implode. Genesis' lending unit said it had both assets and liabilities in the range of $1 billion to $10 billion in its filings with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. Genesis Global Holdco, the parent group of Genesis Global Capital, also filed for bankruptcy protection, along with another lending unit Genesis Asia Pacific. The two firms are fighting over a crypto lending product called Earn that they jointly offered.

Former top FTX attorney Daniel Friedberg also opposed Sullivan & Cromwell's hiring, saying Thursday that the law firm had conflicts of interest stemming from its connections to Miller. Sullivan & Cromwell has told the court it should not be disqualified simply because it performed some pre-bankruptcy work for FTX. A Sullivan & Cromwell spokesperson has said the firm had a "limited and largely transactional" relationship with FTX prior to the bankruptcy and never served as primary outside counsel to any FTX entity. Serving as primary bankruptcy counsel to FTX would likely allow Sullivan & Cromwell to reap hundreds of millions of dollars in fees, legal experts have said. FTX has sought bankruptcy court permission to pay top Sullivan & Cromwell attorneys more than $2,000 per hour.

☆ Brian Walshe searched 'Can you be charged with murder without a body?' History says yes.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Julianne Mcshane | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

Brian Walshe, center, listens at his arraignment Wednesday at Quincy District Court, in Quincy, Mass., on a charge of murdering his wife, Ana Walshe. Craig F. Walker / The Boston Globe via AP, PoolThe remains of Ana Walshe, 39, who was last seen around New Year's Day, have not been recovered. via Cohasset PoliceProsecutors also said that Brian Walshe searched Dec. 27 for “what’s the best state to divorce for a man” — and that “rather than divorce, it is believed that Brian Walshe dismembered Ana Walshe and discarded her body,” Beland said. Joseph Romano's lawyers filed to appeal the conviction in 2006 but were denied based on the strength of the circumstantial evidence, court records show. And the lack of a body most likely wouldn't serve as a mitigating factor in sentencing, Cevallos said: “A murder conviction’s a murder conviction."

☆ Biden has 'no regrets' about handling of classified documents
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Jeff Mason | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

APTOS, Calif., Jan 19 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden said on Thursday he has "no regrets" about his handling of classified documents found at his home and former office and that he believes the matter will be resolved. "I think you're gonna find there's nothing there," Biden told reporters as he toured storm damage in California. Biden said he has been doing as instructed by his lawyers after "a handful of documents were filed in the wrong place." Biden’s legal team acknowledged last week it had found classified documents relating to his time as vice president in the Obama administration at his Delaware home, including some in his garage. Aides previously found another batch of classified documents at his residence and at a Washington think tank he was associated with.

☆ Hunter Biden had access to dad's Corvette that was stored in garage where classified docs were found, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Pictures of Hunter Biden in his dad's Corvette raise questions about his access to classified documents. They are dated to 2017, when classified documents may have been in the Biden garage, it said. The four images, whose metadata the outlet said it examined, appear to show Hunter Biden in the driver's seat of his father's Corvette in July 2017. Revelations about classified documents pose a political headache for the Biden White House. The Republican Party has long targeted Hunter Biden for some of his past business dealings, and allegations of influence peddling.

☆ Biden's approval at 40%, near lowest of his presidency - Reuters/Ipsos poll
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Jason Lange | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON, Jan 19 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden's public approval rating was close to the lowest level of his presidency this week amid criticism from Republicans over classified documents found in his home in recent months, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll. The three-day national poll, which closed on Sunday, showed 40% of Americans approved of Biden's performance as president, versus 39% in a Reuters/Ipsos poll a month earlier. The Justice Department has appointed special counsels, meant to be independent of political influence, to probe both Trump's and Biden's handling of documents. The Reuters/Ipsos poll also showed general dissatisfaction with Washington's leadership. The Reuters/Ipsos poll, conducted throughout the United States, gathered responses from 1,035 adults, using a nationally representative sample.

Tesla investor Glen Littleton is seeking damages on behalf of shareholders who traded the company's stock in the days after Musk posted his plan to take the company private on Twitter in August 2018. Musk's lawyer disputed this characterization, saying that the billionaire was "serious" about taking the company private in 2018, but ultimately encountered shareholder opposition. Musk believed that financing was not an issue and was "taking steps" to make a deal happen, Spiro told the jury. The self-employed investor said he viewed Musk's "funding secured" statement as "absolute." Spiro said on Wednesday that Tesla's stock price jumped in response to Musk saying he was considering taking the company private, which he said was true.

Musk, who is expected to be called as a witness in San Francisco federal court this week, has built a cult-like following for his irreverent humor, marketing skills and vision. Legal experts said a jury trial can turn on a key witness and the attorney who questions Musk needs to establish control, minimizing Musk's ability to use his charisma. In the current case, Musk sat for a daylong deposition in 2021 with lead shareholder attorney Nicholas Porritt. The jury is likely to see the "greatest hits" from that interview, according to trial attorney Renato Mariotti, who is not involved in the case. Reporting by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Del., and Jody Godoy in San Francisco; Editing by Noeleen Walder and Matthew LewisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ After criticism for silence, Biden White House takes questions on classified documents
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Peter Nicholas | Peter Nicholas Is A Senior National Political Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

A White House official, Ian Sams, spoke to reporters Tuesday about documents dating back to Biden’s vice presidency — the first time the White House has solicited questions about the classified materials. Sams, a senior adviser to the White House Counsel’s office, said in the press briefing that because of an ongoing Justice Department investigation, the White House is limited in what it can responsibly disclose. At issue is whether the White House kept quiet about documents that had been stored improperly in hopes of sparing Biden the political fallout from such a disclosure. Biden’s personal attorneys found more classified documents while searching his home in Wilmington on Dec. 20. Yet the White House didn't acknowledge the found documents until a CBS News report earlier this month.

Aides previously found another batch of classified documents at his residence, and at a Washington think tank where he had an office after his time as vice president in the Obama administration. The White House has largely been on the defensive since the initial revelations that the documents had been found. The department is separately probing Trump's handling of highly sensitive classified documents that he retained at his Florida resort after leaving the White House in January 2021. Sams said the White House had received a "few letters" from the Republican-led House Oversight Committee on the issue, is reviewing them and will make a determination about its response in due course. The White House reiterated on Tuesday Biden's commitment to cooperating with the Justice Department’s investigation.

☆ Trump boasts that Mar-a-Lago was a secure place to keep classified documents, despite evidence that it clearly wasn't
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Joshua Zitser | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

"Mar-a-Lago is a highly secured facility, with Security Cameras all over the place, and watched over by staff & our great Secret Service," wrote Trump. In the post, Trump compared Mar-a-Lago to President Joe Biden's "flimsy, unlocked, and unsecured" private residence in Wilmington, Delaware. This was recently spotlighted by the Justice Department investigation into the mishandling of classified documents and presidential records at Mar-a-Lago. The New York Times reported that of the more than 100 classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago, most were located in a non-secure storage area. During its August 2022 raid, FBI agents found classified documents in Trump's "45 Office" — located above Mar-a-Lago's main ballroom.

☆ There's a simple reason Biden didn't keep visitor logs at the Delaware home where he held classified documents — it's not an official residence
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The White House said there are no visitor logs for Joe Biden's Delaware home. Biden is facing criticism after classified documents from his time as VP were found there. It is not standard for visitor logs to be kept at a president's private residence, the WH said. The White house counsel office said that it is not standard for presidents to keep visitor logs at private residences. Visitor logs are kept at the White House.

"Like every President across decades of modern history, his personal residence is personal," the White House Counsel's office said in a statement. The Secret Service, which is tasked with protecting current and past presidents and their families, does not "independently maintain our own visitor logs because it’s a private residence," agency spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said. The Republican chairman of the House of Representatives Oversight Committee, James Comer,on Sunday demanded visitor logs for Democrat Biden's house in Wilmington after classified documents were found in his office and garage there. Democrats have unsuccessfully sought visitor logs for Trump's Florida home for years. Biden restored the tradition of keeping White House visitors logs, including publishing them regularly, after the Trump administration ended doing that, the White House counsel noted in Monday's statement.

The White House and U.S. Secret Service said Monday they do not maintain visitor logs for President Joe Biden’s personal home in Wilmington, Del., a day after a top House Republican called for their release. “Like every President across decades of modern history, his personal residence is personal,” White House counsel’s office spokesman Ian Sams said in a statement. The White House acknowledged on Saturday that more pages with classified markings were discovered at Biden's Delaware home than had been previously disclosed. On Saturday, the White House said additional pages marked classified from the Obama administration were found at Biden’s Wilmington residence, in addition to the two batches that were previously disclosed earlier in the week. In a Sunday interview with CNN”s “State of the Union,” Comer was pressed why his committee was focused on Biden’s documents but not Trump’s.

WASHINGTON, Jan 16 (Reuters) - No visitor logs exist for President Joe Biden's home in Wilmington, Delaware, where classified documents from his vice presidential days were found, as it is a private residence, the White House Counsel's office said on Monday. But upon taking office, President Biden restored the norm and tradition of keeping White House visitors logs, including publishing them regularly, after the previous administration ended them," the White House Counsel's office said in a statement. Biden's Republican predecessor, Donald Trump, declined to release logs of visitors to the White House during his four years in office, in a break with prior norms. The Republican chairman of the House of Representatives Oversight Committee on Sunday demanded visitor logs for Democrat Biden's house in Wilmington after classified documents were found in his office and garage. The White House says Biden's team has turned over the documents it found.

☆ Top Democrat Adam Schiff criticizes Biden, saying mishandled classified documents may have been a security risk
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Rep. Adam Schiff addressed the discovery of classified docs in Joe Biden's office and residence. "We have asked for an assessment in the intelligence community of the Mar-a-Lago documents," Schiff said. "I think we ought to get that same assessment of the documents found in the think tank, as well as the home of President Biden." Schiff said it was right that Biden was facing a special-counsel investigation into his handling of classified information. When pressed on whether the White House should've been more forthcoming on the issue, Schiff said he would "reserve judgement" until the investigation had been conducted.

☆ GOP Rep. looking into Biden's mishandling of classified docs said he won't do the same for Trump
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The new GOP oversight chair is looking into Biden's mishandling of classified documents. Speaking to CNN, he said: "We just want equal treatment here, with respect to how both former President Trump and current President Biden are being treated with the document issue." Comer asked why Trump's Mar-a-Lago home was searched by the FBI and why Biden's home wasn't, saying: "it's not fair." Asked if seeking more information of Trump would be a priority, Comer said: "That will not be a priority." Indicating the clip, Jake Tapper asked him: "Do you only care about classified documents being mishandled when Democrats do the mishandling?"

☆ House GOP Seeks Biden Residence Visitor Logs as Classified-Document Saga Continues
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-15 | by ( Daniella Cheslow | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Republicans want to see visitor logs from the home of President Biden, who was at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta on Sunday. House Republicans are seeking two years of visitor logs from President Biden’s Delaware home as part of a push for more details about documents marked as classified that were found in Mr. Biden’s home and at a Washington office he used after his vice presidency. “Given the serious national security implications, the White House must provide the Wilmington residence’s visitor log,” House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R., Ky.) wrote in a Sunday letter to White House chief of staff Ron Klain .

☆ Biden: Americans should ‘pay attention’ to MLK’s legacy
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-15 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

But with the election behind him and a full six-year term ahead, Warnock fully embraced Biden at the service. “That, my friends, is God’s work,” said Warnock, adding that Biden “had a little something to do with it.”As Biden begins to turn his attention toward an expected 2024 reelection effort, Georgia is going to get plenty of his attention. “But at this inflection point, we know a lot of work that has to continue on economic justice civil rights, voting rights, protecting our democracy. … Are we a people who will choose democracy over autocracy? "I’ve spoken before parliaments, kings, queens, leaders of the world ... but this is intimidating,” Biden said in opening his sermon.

☆ House Oversight chair calls for release of visitor logs from Biden’s Delaware home
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-15 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Julie-Tsirkin-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Julie Tsirkin | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

WASHINGTON — House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., on Sunday asked for the release of visitors logs from President Joe Biden’s home in Delaware in a letter to White House chief of staff Ron Klain. “Given the serious national security implications, the White House must provide the Wilmington residence’s visitor log,” Comer wrote in the letter to Klain. The former president’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida was searched by the FBI last year after multiple attempts to obtain classified documents. The president is cooperating with the Justice Department and National Archives amid the discovery of the classified documents, she said. "He showed no interest in investigating the far more serious situation with about 100 classified documents at Mar-a-Lago with evidence in the public domain of obstruction.

☆ Republicans want Biden home visitor logs - but not Trump's
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-15 | by ( Doina Chiacu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Republicans have sought to compare the Biden documents case with that of former President Donald Trump, who faces a federal criminal probe of how he handled classified documents after he left the White House. Comer said he would not seek visitor logs for Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence, where more than 100 classified documents were found in an FBI search. There is no legal requirement that U.S. presidents disclose visitors at their home or at the White House. The Biden administration reinstated disclosures of official guests to the White House and released its first batch of records in May 2021. TRUMP VS. BIDEN DOCUMENT ISSUESRepublicans in the U.S. House of Representatives launched an investigation on Friday into the Justice Department's handling of improperly stored classified documents possessed by Biden.

☆ President Biden to give sermon at Martin Luther King's church in Atlanta
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-15 | by ( Steve Holland | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WILMINGTON, Del., Jan 15 (Reuters) - President Joe Biden will become the first sitting American president to speak at a Sunday service at Martin Luther King Jr.'s church in Atlanta as he seeks to bolster support among African Americans ahead of an expected run for re-election in 2024. Marking the national holiday celebrating the slain civil rights leader, Biden will deliver a sermon at Ebenezer Baptist Church at the invitation of its pastor, Democratic U.S. King was pastor of Ebenezer church from 1960 until his death. Many presidents, including Biden, have visited Ebenezer to honor King, usually during events around the time of his birthday. The Atlanta visit comes as Biden girds for what is expected to be an announcement of his re-election bid in the weeks ahead.

☆ Utah GOP Rep. Chris Stewart rejects notion that Biden was unaware of classified documents found in his possession: 'It just is nonsense'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-15 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Rep. Stewart rejected the notion that President Biden was unaware of classified documents in his possession. Biden last week said that he did not realize that he was in possession of the Obama-era documents. "I've dealt with classified documents almost my entire life. "This isn't the kind of thing that you just sit on your desk and you think, 'Oh, I forgot that they're classified.' The House Judiciary Committee on Friday announced that it would launch an investigation into the unearthing of the Biden materials.

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