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How Italy’s far-right leader learned to stop worrying and love migration
How Italy’s far-right leader learned to stop
worrying and love migration
Giorgia Meloni is presiding over a sharp spike in
regular and irregular arrivals.
BY JACOPO
BARIGAZZI
AUGUST 30,
2023 4:00 AM CET
https://www.politico.eu/article/italy-far-right-leader-giorgia-meloni-migration/
Before
becoming Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni was one of the most strident
voices on migration in the European Union. As an opposition politician, she
warned darkly of efforts to substitute native Italians with ethnic minorities
and promised to put in place a naval blockade to stop migrants crossing the
Mediterranean.
During her
time in office, she has taken a markedly different tack — presiding over a
sharp spike in irregular arrivals and introducing legislation that could see as
many as 1.5 million new migrants arrive through legal channels.
Coming at a
time when the right and far right are in ascendance ahead of the European
Parliament election next spring, Meloni’s policies represent an important
course correction for the Continent’s conservative bloc, as fiery rhetoric
yields to the cold practicalities of governing.
“Once in
government, you need to find solutions, instead of scapegoats,” said Claudio
Cerasa, the editor of the Italian centrist daily Il Foglio.
Meloni is
presiding over a country that is economically stagnant and in demographic
decline. Over the last decade, Italy has shrunk by some 1.5 million people
(more than the population of Milan). In 39 of its 107 provinces, there are more
retirees than workers.
It’s
numbers like these that prompted Italy’s Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti
to warn earlier this month that no reform of the pension system would “hold up
in the medium-to-long term with the birth rate numbers we have today in this
country.”
Meloni’s
legal migration decree estimates Italy needs 833,000 new migrants over the next
three years to fill in the gap in its labor force. It opens the door to 452,000
workers over the same period to fill seasonal jobs in sectors like agriculture
and tourism as well as long-term positions like plumbers, electricians, care
workers and mechanics.
“This is a
super pragmatic behavior,” said Matteo Villa, a migration expert at the ISPI
think tank in Italy. “There has been a change in narrative.”
Given
Italy’s rules on family reunification, which allow residents to bring in
relatives, “it’s easy to predict that over something like 10 years, these
figures will triple,” bringing in about 1.5 million migrants, said Maurizio
Ambrosini, a professor of sociology and an expert on migration at Milan’s
university.
Meloni
government’s, he added, “has been pushed to implement a more realistic policy”
by the entrepreneurial class that makes up an important part of its support.
Nicola
Procaccini, an MEP close to Meloni who is also the co-chair of the European
Conservatives and Reformists Group, to which Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party
belongs, denied any change of line: “We do in government what we have also
argued before: There is no such thing as a nation that can do without a
moderate amount of migration but it must be little, sustainable and governed.”
Irregular arrivals
While
Meloni has continued to take a hard line on irregular arrivals, there’s little
sign it’s being effective. The number of
people arriving by boat after crossing the Mediterranean has more than doubled
this year, to 106,000 so far this year, compared to 53,000 over the same period
last year, according to government data.
Meloni’s
policies came under fire in February when about 100 migrants drowned after the
coastguard failed to deploy to assist a boat that capsized off the Calabrian
coast near the town of Cutro. Since then, her government has turned its
attention to rescue boats run by NGOs, accusing them of incentivizing migrants
to risk the crossing. Earlier this month, Italy temporarily seized three ships
that had brought in migrants saved at sea.
The number
of people arriving by boat after crossing the Mediterranean has more than
doubled this year, to 106,000 so far this year, compared to 53,000 over the
same period last year, according to government data | Vincenzo Pinto/AFP via
Getty Images
Across the
Mediterranean, Meloni joined European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen
to strike a controversial pact with Tunisia, exchanging aid funding for
stricter efforts to prevent migrants from making the crossing. Since the
memorandum of understanding was signed in July, however, arrivals increased by
nearly 40 percent.
Italian
Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi stressed that, since the start of the year,
Tunisia has blocked the departure of more than 40,000 migrants. “These are
encouraging but still not sufficient results,” he added.
Meloni’s
about-turn hasn’t gone unnoticed by her allies on the right, especially in the
far-right League Party that’s part of her coalition government.
“Where did
the Prime Minister Meloni who was saying ‘naval blockade’ go?” asked Attilio
Lucia, a member of the League and the deputy mayor of Lampedusa, the tiny
island where most migrants arrive. “I hoped….now that we finally have a
right-wing government the situation would change … but the right is getting
worse than the left.”
Gregorio Sorgi contributed reporting.
‘It’s a fucking trap!’ The Great Euro Conspiracy Theory
‘It’s a fucking trap!’ The Great Euro Conspiracy
Theory
Are we marching toward a digital dictatorship? Will
they stop you buying meat?
BY BJARKE
SMITH-MEYER
AUGUST 29,
2023 7:00 AM CET
BRUSSELS ―
A conspiracy theory is spreading across Europe. It has nothing to do with
lizards in human form or the Freemasons or COVID, and there’s every chance
you’ve never heard of it. But give it time. You will.
It is why
Marc Friedrich, a 47-year-old bestselling finance author, is warning about
microchips being implanted under people’s skin and why Jörg Meuthen, a member
of the European Parliament, is raising the specter of secret government
surveillance. Already, public rallies have been held in Amsterdam.
On the
surface, the issue is unlikely to inspire much excitement. But that, its
detractors say, is exactly why it's so invidious. It’s a digital version of the
euro — “cash” stored and used for payments on a smartphone, as opposed to
purchases made by credit card or bank transfer or by old-fashioned paper and
coins — which the European Central Bank hopes to introduce in 2026. At the last
count, only about a third of people in Europe have heard of it, let alone
understand it.
Friedrich
does. “It’s a fucking trap,” he said, by way of explanation.
The
47-year-old German is making a name for himself opposing digital currencies on
YouTube where his videos have amassed more than 350,000 subscribers. For him,
this isn't a conspiracy theory, it's genuine fear about where the world's
heading. “They’ll say, ‘Hey, it’s easier, it’s tidier, you don’t have to put
your fingers on these dirty notes and you don’t get COVID virus’ or something
like that. ‘A robber can’t steal your money anymore — but you can have a chip
under your skin.’
“It’s the
perfect tool for surveillance and a digital dictatorship.”
It should
be made clear at this point that the ECB's plan does not include putting chips
under people's skin.
According
to psychologists, many of the same groups who associated themselves with
non-mainstream views during the pandemic have latched onto this issue too. The
question is why.
While
there’s no easy way to decide where legitimate criticism ends and conspiracy
theories begin — justifiable reasons to oppose the digital euro continue to be
put forward — psychologists say it’s noteworthy that an otherwise niche topic
has become a lightning rod for people who have become increasingly agitated by
such things.
Something
changed during the pandemic. A study published in the science journal Plos One
last October suggested COVID conspiracies acted like a gateway drug to other
theories.
“If you
believe the government lied to you about COVID numbers or that they leaked the
virus intentionally … what else could they have lied about?” said Javier
Granados Samayoa, a postdoctoral fellow at the Annenberg Public Policy Center
of the University of Pennsylvania and lead author of the report. “And when
you’re out there looking for information and communicating with [like-minded]
people, they are most likely to get information about other conspiracy theories
and that can lead them down the rabbit hole.”
This is
exemplified by viewers’ comments on Friedrich’s YouTube videos, which include
remarks like, “If you don’t need your eyes to see NOW, you’ll need them later
to cry;” “I believe the decline is consciously brought and wanted;” and “I
fight for freedom!”
The digital
euro is an ideal fit for people afraid that those in charge have malevolent
intent, Granados Samayoa said.
“Bankers
are a perfect representation of people who have power over you, and you don’t
really know what’s going on,” he said. “These kinds of stories match the
conspiracy theorists' general concerns.”
That’s a
view shared by Peter Ditto, professor of psychological science at the
University of California and a specialist in political conspiratorial thinking,
who suggested that the tumult of recent years has contributed to a new era of
old theories. Even putting the COVID pandemic aside, the financial crisis, the
Donald Trump U.S. presidency, Brexit, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have
upended many old certainties.
When people
feel they’re living through “politically chaotic” times, conspiracy theories
flourish, he said — and especially when they are already suspicious about
ulterior motives of the media, governments and the courts.
That makes
it easier to believe there are “global elites who are trying to create a
digital money so there won’t be any more real money in the world,” he said.
Loonies, idiots
Policymakers
insist one of the benefits of the digital euro and other so-called CBDCs
(central bank digital currencies), such as those being floated in the U.K.,
U.S. and Russia, is to ensure there's a form of digital cash backed by the
state amid cryptocurrencies and plans by Big Tech to introduce their own money.
Legislation
to allow the digital euro’s introduction will come before European lawmakers in
the coming months. EU Finance Commissioner Mairead McGuinness has already urged
MEPs to dial back the “Big Brother” rhetoric while the Commission has outlined
design features it says will safeguard payment privacy and has proposed laws
that would force retailers to still accept cash.
Michiel
Hoogeveen, a Dutch MEP who will lead scrutiny of the laws on behalf of the
European Conservatives and Reformists group and is skeptical about the project,
said there was a difference between those who peddle conspiracy theories and
those who have legitimate concerns.
"We
had people who were protesting against COVID, they had a podium, they were very
successful on being on social media as an influencer, donations were pouring
in, and now COVID is gone, the rules were lifted, so they need to move to the
next big thing," he said. “My job is to read about their concerns, listen
to their concerns … not by saying, ‘You’re a looney, you’re an idiot,’ but to
say, ‘OK, I understand where you’re going,’ … and try to lure people into a
more acceptable area of the debate.”
As people
decide the real reasons for digital currencies may be more sinister than they
first appear — and politicians realize egging them on can be a vote-winner —
authorities might find it harder to convince the public they will protect
privacy and safeguard the use of cash.
“My
impression is that in fact they do not even want to do that, because government
surveillance and a cashless society is their final aim,” said Meuthen, a German
Center Party member of the European Parliament. “I'm deeply worried that the
project of the digital euro is not only a project to develop a useful
additional instrument of future payments, but that the real intention is the
start of replacing any kind of cash payments.”
Undesirable purchases
Among
people's biggest concerns ― roundly rejected by governments and central banks ―
is that digital currencies will allow the state to restrict what people can
buy. In Europe those allegations often relate to meat or fuel, as a way of
controlling obesity or climate change. In the U.S. populist politicians argue
some sectors of society could be prevented from buying guns.
“It will
allow them to prohibit undesirable purchases like fuel and ammunition,” Florida
Governor Ron DeSantis, Donald Trump’s chief rival for the Republican bid for
the White House, said during a debate. “The minute you give them the power to
do this, they're going to impose a social credit system on this country. CBDC
is a massive threat to American liberty.”
And in the
U.K., Nigel Farage, one of the architects of Britain's departure from the EU,
used a BBC interview about the closure of his bank account in July to bring up
the unrelated issue of the digital pound.
"I am
now a champion and a crusader for men and women who have been closed down by
the banks and I want cultural changes within the banks and I want legal changes
and I do not want cash driven out of the system in a push towards central bank
digital currencies," he said.
Nazi Germany
In the face
of such remarks, policymakers fear an uphill battle.
Responses
to a recent consultation on the digital pound “suggest concern about a desire
by the authorities to reach into people’s privacy, which is absolutely at odds
with what we should do, and indeed would," Bank of England Governor Andrew
Bailey said in a speech in July. "There are stories of skepticism around
the benefits to be expected from the iPhone, and going further back, railways.”
The Bank of
England and Treasury are considering the conclusions of the consultation. A
decision on whether to move ahead with a digital version of the pound won’t be
taken for a couple of years. Negotiations over the legislation in the EU are
expected to go beyond June's Parliament elections.
Back in
Germany, Friedrich warned “liberty and our democracy are in danger” — and he
can see some ugly historical parallels.
“I hope
there is no plan but for me it makes no sense to create a digital euro unless
you want to control people,” he said. “When my grandfather was dying I asked
him everything about Nazi Germany. I know how it happens.”
Donald Trump allegedly inflated his net worth by as much as $2.2bn in 2014
Donald Trump allegedly inflated his net worth by
as much as $2.2bn in 2014
Lawyers for Letitia James, the New York attorney
general, claim the ex-president then used that blown up value for business
deals
Martin
Pengelly
@MartinPengelly
Thu 31 Aug
2023 06.00 BST
In 2014, a
year before entering politics and two years before winning the White House,
Donald Trump inflated his net worth by as much as $2.2bn, lawyers for the
attorney general of New York state alleged in court filings recently made
public.
Letitia
James, a Democrat, is seeking summary judgment in her multimillion-dollar civil
suit against the Trump Organization over its financial affairs.
Her office
said in the documents: “Mr Trump’s net worth in any year between 2011 and 2021
would be no more than $2.6bn, rather than the stated net worth of up to $6.1bn,
and likely considerably less if his properties were actually valued in
full-blown professional appraisals.”
According
to the state filing, corrections to financial statements for the 10-year period
in question would reduce Trump’s stated net worth by “17% [to] 39% in each
year, or between $812m to $2.2bn, depending on the year”.
Trial is
set for October. James’s lawyers argued no trial was needed “to determine that
defendants presented grossly and materially inflated asset values … and then
used those … repeatedly in business transactions to defraud banks and
insurers”.
James is
seeking $250m and for Trump and his sons to be disqualified from running
businesses in New York.
Lawyers for
Trump were due to file a response.
The former
president denies all wrongdoing, claiming political persecution in civil
lawsuits concerning his business affairs and a defamation claim arising from a
rape allegation as well as over 91 criminal counts regarding election
subversion, retention of classified documents and hush-money payments.
He did not
immediately comment on the New York estimation of how much he inflated his net
worth. But he has regularly accused James of being motivated by politics,
including in a failed countersuit.
Trump’s
financial affairs – his taxes and related claims about his personal wealth –
became a national obsession in 2016, when he beat Hillary Clinton for the White
House. Maggie Haberman, of the New York Times, has reported that Trump made up
his excuse for not following convention and releasing his tax returns literally
on the fly, on a campaign plane.
Chris
Christie, the former New Jersey governor then a Trump supporter, reportedly
told him there was no legal prohibition against releasing returns under audit.
Trump reportedly said he would ask his lawyers, but never proved to have done
so.
Christie is
now challenging Trump for the presidential nomination next year, as a rank
outsider willing to say Trump should never return to the White House. His
extreme legal predicament notwithstanding, Trump dominates polling.
Trump never
released his taxes but dogged and prize-winning reporting unearthed plentiful
evidence of sharp practice. Late last year, Democratic members of the Congress
released six years of Trump’s tax returns. Covering 2015 to 2020, they provided
plenty of embarrassing information.
Reporting
on proof that Trump and his wife, Melania, “paid $641,931 in federal income
taxes in 2015 … $750 in 2016 and 2017, nearly $1m in 2018, $133,445 in 2019 and
$0 in 2020”, the Guardian said: “Such numbers reflect heavy business losses and
undermine Trump’s self-perpetuated narrative of commercial wealth and success –
a crucial part of his brand during his successful 2016 campaign.”
In the
filings made public on Wednesday, lawyers for the New York attorney general
seemed confident they would win their case.
“Notwithstanding
defendants’ horde of 13 experts,” they wrote, “at the end of the day, this is a
documents case, and the documents leave no shred of doubt that Mr Trump’s
[statements of financial condition] do not even remotely reflect the ‘estimated
current value’ of his assets as they would trade between well-informed market
participants.”
Among
seasoned Trump-watchers, news of the contention that Trump inflated his net
worth generated attention but little surprise.
Tim
O’Brien, a Bloomberg editor and author of the biography TrumpNation: The Art of
Being the Donald, simply said: “Of course.”
Trump, Under Oath, Says He Averted ‘Nuclear Holocaust’
Trump, Under Oath, Says He Averted ‘Nuclear
Holocaust’
During a deposition in his civil case, the former
president offered a series of defenses, digressions and meandering explanations
of his political and professional dealings.
By Ben
Protess, Jonah E. Bromwich and William K. Rashbaum
Aug. 30,
2023
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/30/nyregion/trump-deposition-excerpts.html
Under oath
and under fire, Donald J. Trump sat for a seven-hour interview with the New
York attorney general’s office in April, part of the civil fraud case against
him and his company.
But as
lawyers from the office grilled Mr. Trump on the inner-workings of his family
business, which is accused of inflating his net worth by billions of dollars,
he responded with a series of meandering non sequiturs, political digressions
and self-aggrandizing defenses.
Asked about
his authority at the Trump Organization while he was in the White House, Mr.
Trump responded that he considered the presidency “the most important job in
the world, saving millions of lives.”
An empire
under scrutiny. Letitia James, New York State’s attorney general, has been
conducting a yearslong civil investigation into former President Donald Trump’s
business practices, culminating in a lawsuit that accused Trump of “staggering”
fraud. Here’s what to know:
The origins
of the inquiry. The investigation started after Michael Cohen, Trump’s former
personal lawyer and fixer, testified to Congress in 2019 that Trump and his
employees had manipulated his net worth to suit his interests.
The
findings. James detailed in a filing what she said was a pattern by the Trump
Organization to inflate the value of the company’s properties in documents
filed with lenders, insurers and the Internal Revenue Service.
Trump’s
lawsuit. In December 2021, Trump sued James, seeking to halt the inquiry on the
grounds that the attorney general’s involvement in the investigation was
politically motivated. In May, a federal judge dismissed the suit.
Invoking
the Fifth Amendment. In August, Trump faced questions by the attorney general
under oath. He declined to answer anything and invoked his right against
self-incrimination, leaving James with a crucial decision: whether to sue the
former president or seek a settlement.
Fraud
lawsuit. In September, James’s office rebuffed a settlement offer from Trump’s
lawyers. Days later, she filed a lawsuit against Trump and his family business,
accusing them of a sweeping pattern of fraudulent business practices. In
October, Trump filed a suit in Florida, accusing James of trespassing on his
right to privacy and seeking to halt her case.
The
possible penalties. James is seeking to bar Trump and three of his adult
children — Eric, Ivanka and Donald Trump Jr. — from ever running a business in
the state again. Her office has also referred the findings to federal
prosecutors in Manhattan.
“I think
you would have nuclear holocaust, if I didn’t deal with North Korea,” he
explained, and then added: “And I think you might have a nuclear war now, if
you want to know the truth.”
Although
Mr. Trump invoked his constitutional right against self-incrimination when
initially questioned by the office last year, he answered questions from the
attorney general, Letitia James, and her lawyers in the April deposition, a
transcript of which was unsealed on Wednesday.
The
transcript shows a combative Mr. Trump, who was named as a defendant in the
case alongside his company and three of his children, at times barely allowing
lawyers to get a word in. The former president frequently seems personally
offended by the idea that his net worth is being questioned.
Mr. Trump
is seeking to have the case thrown out. A judge could rule on that effort next
month, but for now, the case appears headed to trial in early October.
Below are
some of the highlights from the transcript of his deposition:
Mr. Trump
refers to his time in the Oval Office with a notable understatement.
The former
president was asked by Kevin Wallace, a senior lawyer in Ms. James’s office,
about his relationship to his company. He said that he was not the final
decision maker, though he later suggested he might be involved in “something
major, final decisions, whatever.”
KEVIN
WALLACE: Mr. Trump, are you currently the person with ultimate decision-making
authority for the Trump Organization?
DONALD J.
TRUMP: No.
MR.
WALLACE: Who would that be?
MR. TRUMP:
My son Eric is much more involved with it than I am. I’ve been doing other
things.
Mr. Trump
claims to have protected the world from nuclear war while in office.
In an
exchange soon after that, Mr. Trump acknowledged that those other things
included having been president.
MR. TRUMP:
I was very busy. I was — I considered this the most important job in the world,
saving millions of lives. I think you would have nuclear holocaust, if I didn’t
deal with North Korea. I think you would have a nuclear war, if I weren’t
elected. And I think you might have a nuclear war now, if you want to know the
truth.
Mr. Trump
declines to say who has expressed interest in buying Mar-a-Lago.
During the
deposition, Mr. Trump claimed to own “the greatest pieces of property in the
world” and said that if he were ever to put them up for sale, the prices
offered would be staggering. At one point, Mr. Wallace decided to test one of
those assertions.
MR. TRUMP:
I’ve had people say, if you ever sell Mar-a-Lago, please call me. That’s not
for sale.
MR.
WALLACE: Who, for example, has told you that?
MR. TRUMP:
Well, I rather not say because I don’t want to embarrass them, and I may be
putting some of these people on the stand.
Later in
the session, Mr. Trump said while he didn’t know who the specific people were
who had made such offers, “I know they’re very rich people.”
Mr. Trump
derides his annual financial statements, saying that he never felt they would
be taken seriously.
The
attorney general’s case against Mr. Trump focuses on his annual financial
statements, which she says overvalue his property by up to $2.2 billion each
year.
Each of Mr.
Trump’s financial statements includes a number of disclaimers, which
acknowledge that Mr. Trump’s accountants had not reviewed or authenticated his
claims. During the interview, Mr. Trump refers to those disclaimers, saying
that they essentially render the statements meaningless.
MR. TRUMP:
I never felt that these statements would be taken very seriously, because you
open it up and right at the beginning of the statement, you read a page and a
half of stuff saying, go get your own accounting, go get your own this, go get
your own that.
MR.
WALLACE: So why did you get these statements prepared?
MR. TRUMP:
I would say more for maybe myself just to see the list of properties. I think
more for myself than anything else. Sometimes an institution would like to see.
Mr. Trump
then went on to say that his properties were even more valuable than was
reflected in the statements themselves.
Mr. Trump
attacks the case.
The former
president frequently used the deposition to attack the case itself. At one
point he told Mr. Wallace that the banks from which he had received loans were
“shocked” at the lawsuit.
MR. TRUMP:
The banks — the banks are shocked by this case. That’s my opinion, because
they’ve never had anything like this. Do you know the banks were fully paid? Do
you know the banks made a lot of money? Do you know I don’t believe I ever got
even a default notice, and even during Covid, the banks were all paid? And yet
you’re suing on behalf of banks, I guess. It’s crazy. The whole case is crazy.
Mr. Trump
describes the value of his brand.
When asked
during the deposition what might have been left out of his annual financial
statements, Mr. Trump at first seemed to dispute the premise of the question,
saying, “They list everything in the kitchen sink here.” But he then
elaborated.
MR. TRUMP:
The biggest thing that is not included is my brand. My lawyers never bring it
up, but the brand is the biggest, and cause you can, maybe you can double or
triple my statement. But my brand is — if I wanted to create a good statement,
I would put — I’d start off with Sentence 1, my brand is worth billions and
billions of dollars.
Mr. Trump’s
friends say he is “the most honest person in the world.”
Asked about
policies and procedures to ensure that the Trump Organization complies with the
law, he said: “That’s why we have law firms. You know, we have law firms that
do this.”
MR. TRUMP:
And friends of mine have said, you are the most honest person in the world. So
we’ve done a good job. Don’t get credit for it. That’s OK.
The lawyers
fought.
Depositions
are often contentious, and there were a few highlights from the exchanges
between Mr. Wallace and lawyers for Mr. Trump, Christopher M. Kise and Alina
Habba.
CHRISTOPHER
M. KISE: We’re going to be here until midnight if you keep asking questions
that are all over the map.
MR.
WALLACE: Chris, we’re going to be here until midnight if your client answers
every question with an eight-minute speech. So let’s get down to business.
Ben Protess
is an investigative reporter covering the federal government, law enforcement
and various criminal investigations into former President Trump and his allies.
More about Ben Protess
Jonah E.
Bromwich covers criminal justice in New York, with a focus on the Manhattan
district attorney's office, state criminal courts in Manhattan and New York
City's jails. More about Jonah E. Bromwich
William K.
Rashbaum is a senior writer on the Metro desk, where he covers political and
municipal corruption, courts, terrorism and law enforcement. He was a part of
the team awarded the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News. More about
William K. Rashbaum
John Eastman warns that freedom of speech is 'gone' after Fulton County charges
THE
INGRAHAM ANGLE
John Eastman warns that freedom of speech is
'gone' after Fulton County charges
Eastman
will appear for an exclusive interview on the 'Ingraham Angle' Tuesday at 7pm
Brooke
Singman By Brooke Singman Fox News
Published
August 29, 2023 6:30pm EDT
EXCLUSIVE:
Former Trump attorney John Eastman warned that "freedom of speech" is
"gone" in an exclusive interview with Fox News’ Laura Ingraham
Tuesday night.
Former
President Trump, Eastman, and 17 others were charged out of Fulton County
District Attorney Fani Willis’ investigation into alleged efforts to overturn
the 2020 election in Georgia.
"We
did nothing wrong," Eastman told Ingraham in a multi-part interview. Part
one of the interview will air at 7:00 p.m. ET Tuesday on the "Ingraham
Angle" on Fox News Channel.
"We
were challenging the election for what even Vice President Pence described as
serious allegations of fraud and numerous instances of officials violating
state law," Eastman said. "And if we can't speak out about that, then
our freedom of speech, our right to petition the government for redress of
grievances are gone."
Eastman was
charged with nine counts of crimes, including racketeering, conspiracy to
commit forgery, and filing false documents. He turned himself in to the Fulton
County Jail last week and accepted a bond of $100,000.
Eastman, a
former dean of Chapman University law school in Southern California, is facing
charges related to his advice to Trump on how the former president could
overturn the 2020 election.
John
Eastman, a former Trump attorney, turned himself into the Fulton County Jail
Tuesday morning on charges related to his advice to Trump on how the former
president could overturn the 2020 election. He accepted a $100,000 bond.
(Fulton County Sheriff's Office)
Eastman has
slammed the indictment for targeting attorneys for "zealous advocacy on
behalf of their clients," and said each defendant should be entitled to
rely on the advice of lawyers and past legal precedent.
"The
people that I was representing had a right to counsel," Eastman told
Ingraham. "And what's going on here with the bar complaint against
everybody involved in any of the litigation, this Fulton County complaint, the
unindicted coconspirators in the federal action, they're trying to stifle
people from being able to get representation in election challenges."
He added:
"They’ve made that very clear that that's what they're up to, and we can't
allow it to happen."
Eastman
said that if "disputed questions of constitutional law all of a sudden
become criminal, we could throw the entire legal profession, the entire legal
academy in jail."
"The
fact of the matter is, throughout our history, significant leaders in Congress
have argued that Congress doesn't have authority under the 12th Amendment, that
the founders specifically designed it that way so that the president wouldn't
owe his job to Congress," Eastman explained, adding that it is "a
core separation of powers principle that the founders adopted."
Trump was
charged with one count of violation of the Georgia RICO Act, three counts of
criminal solicitation, six counts of criminal conspiracy, one count of filing
false documents and two counts of making false statements.
Trump has
been indicted four times, making him the first president in United States
history to face criminal charges.
Willis and
Fulton County prosecutors charged Trump’s senior political aides.
In addition
to Eastman, former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and top
attorneys Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, Jenna Ellis, Kenneth Chesebro, and Jeff
Clark, were charged out of the investigation.
Others
indicted include: Georgia lawyer Robert Cheeley, former campaign strategist
Michael Roman, chairman of the Georgia Republican Party David Shafer, publicist
Trevian Kutti, former Georgia elections supervisor Misty Hampton Hayes, the VP
of Black Conservative Federation Harrison William Prescott Floyd, Stephen Lee,
former Georgia GOP official Cathleen Alston Latham, Shawn Micah Tresher Still,
Scott Graham Hall, and Ray Stallings Smith III.
All of the
defendants face at least one count of violating the Georgia RICO Act—the
Racketeer Influenced And Corrupt Organizations Act.
Other
charges the defendants are facing include Solicitation of Violation of Oath by
a Public Officer; Conspiracy to Commit Impersonating a Public Officer;
Conspiracy to Commit Forgery in the First Degree; Conspiracy to Commit False
Statements and Writings; Conspiracy to Commit Filing False Documents;
Conspiracy to Commit Forgery in the First Degree; Filing False Documents; and
Solicitation of Violation of Oath by a Public Officer.
Separately,
in his investigation into alleged election interference, Special Counsel Jack
Smith charged Trump with conspiracy to defraud the United States; conspiracy to
obstruct an official proceeding; obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an
official proceeding; and conspiracy against rights. Trump has pleaded not
guilty to all charges.
In the
indictment, Smith describes six "co-conspirators," but those
co-conspirators have not yet been charged, and it is unclear if they will be.
John Eastman, Giuliani, Powell, Clark, and Chesebro have been identified as
co-conspirators. The sixth co-conspirator is unknown.
DeSantis tells Biden: Keep your IRA money
.jpeg)
WHITE HOUSE
DeSantis tells Biden: Keep your IRA money
The governor is blocking Biden’s IRA benefits from
Floridians. There’s not much Dems can do about it.
By JENNIFER
HABERKORN
08/30/2023
04:30 AM EDT
Updated:
08/30/2023 11:10 AM EDT
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/08/30/desantis-refuses-biden-climate-ira-money-00113397
President
Joe Biden is offering one of his White House challengers hundreds of millions
of dollars to spend in his state. The only problem: that opponent is refusing
to take it.
The
Inflation Reduction Act makes Florida eligible for some $350 million in energy
efficiency incentives. But Gov. Ron DeSantis has rejected the funding and other
measures, creating the most prominent blockade by any Republican governor
against Biden’s economic agenda.
And there’s
nothing the White House can do besides hope he changes his mind.
The
rejection has the potential to create significant ripple effects, politically
and economically, in the coming months. As the president and his Cabinet
members go around the country boasting about the IRA, rebates for
energy-efficient purchases — the majority of the funding that DeSantis has
refused — have played a particularly prominent role. That’s not just because
they underpin the administration’s climate agenda but because they provide
direct rebates to consumers.
DeSantis
says he will halt campaigning during Hurricane Idalia
The IRA
allows governors the authority to block a handful of its programs, and with it,
the power to blunt the political impact of legislation that some Democrats
believe will be a key factor in the 2024 election.
Through a
veto of his legislature’s request, DeSantis turned down $5 million to set up
the rebate program for consumers who buy energy efficient appliances and
retrofit their homes. It also effectively blocked $341 million to fund the
program because the state would need the administrative money to apply for the
program, according to people familiar with Florida’s budget process. However,
federal Energy Department rules allow a state to accept the second pot of money
even if they don’t take the first. If Florida doesn’t apply for the full $346
million by next August, the law allows DOE to provide Florida’s money to other
states.
The
governor also rejected $3 million in IRA funds to help the state fight
pollution and rebuffed the Solar for All program which would have paid to help
low-income people access solar panels. DeSantis also vetoed $24 million in
grants from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
So far,
DeSantis is the only governor to signal that he will block the energy rebates.
But on the smaller sums of money, he has company. He’s one of four to turn down
pollution mitigation funding from the IRA. The others are the Republican
governors of South Dakota and Iowa, and Kentucky’s governor, who is a Democrat.
The states that haven’t applied for the solar fund are all led by Republicans.
They include Florida, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota and South Dakota.
The Biden
administration has explored ways around the energy rebate blockade but has come
up empty so far, according to federal and state officials. The IRA was written
in a way that requires the rebates to go through a state energy office. Unlike
many federal laws, there is no federal fallback option or way to circumvent an
obstinate governor.
That leaves
the Biden administration hoping Florida will reconsider — and that the IRA
funding doesn’t snowball into a political litmus test for GOP governors as
Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion, and the Obama administration’s high speed rail
funding, did a decade ago.
So far, the
White House hasn’t publicly hit DeSantis by name over the rejection of funds,
perhaps in hopes that he changes his mind before time runs out next August.
“It’s
unfortunate that some officials are putting politics ahead of delivering
meaningful progress for hard working Americans,” said White House spokesman
Michael Kikukawa. “Despite this, President Biden and his administration are
working with cities, counties, businesses, nonprofits, and other entities in
the Sunshine State to ensure Floridians benefit from the lower costs and
stronger economy delivered by his agenda.”
There’s
reason to think Florida wants the funds: the state’s energy office requested
them and the state legislature approved it before DeSantis vetoed a grant for
the program.
“It’s clear
from Administration conversations with Florida’s state energy office that they
want the rebate funding,” said an administration official granted anonymity to
speak freely. “After all, that’s why the request for accessing the
administrative funding was in the budget line DeSantis vetoed in the first
place — because the state energy office asked for it.”
Administration
officials expressed confidence that Florida residents will ultimately get
access to the rebates — even if they have to wait until after the Republican
primary concludes or, at worst, the presidential election.
Republican
governors used their opposition to high speed rail funding and Medicaid
expansion dollars during the Obama era to showcase their fiscal conservative
bonafides and the extent of their opposition to a Democratic president. In that
vein, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem’s spokesman Ian Fury said that she
“absolutely believes that the federal government’s wasteful spending, much of
it at the behest of President Biden, is the single largest cause of the
inflation crisis that our nation finds itself in.”
But
Democrats believe the situation is different now compared to a decade ago.
DeSantis’ decision could serve as a line of political attack: with another
hurricane looming amid possibly the hottest summer on record, the governor is
placing opposition to Biden over helping Floridians weatherize their homes, and
helping protect them from pollution or buy energy efficient appliances.
“He’s
senselessly making the state more vulnerable,” said Rep. Darren Soto (D-Fla.),
who is on a House panel that works with the White House on implementation. “A
lot of other states that are majority Republican haven’t been this foolish.”
The
DeSantis administration did not return repeated requests for comment.
The Florida
Democratic Party plans to put public pressure on DeSantis to reverse course.
Party Chair Nikki Fried said many people don’t yet know about the fallout of
the veto. Still, she doubts DeSantis would reverse course. “He is not one who
admits that he made a mistake or changes his course,” she added.
Soto is
urging the administration to work with local officials where it can. The
climate funding, for instance, can go to localities instead of a state. Three
Florida cities have taken it up.
“My main
goal is to get the money to Florida so my advice to the White House has been
work with the local government and go around the state in every way possible,”
he said.
The
administration does not have a work around option when it comes to the rebates
program, however. That program is supposed to help consumers cover part of the
cost of projects such as insulating homes, installing a heat pump or upgrading
to Energy Star appliances. The administration projects that the $8.5 billion
program will save consumers up to $1 billion in energy costs and support an
estimated 50,000 jobs in construction and other sectors.
Half of the
money is supposed to go to households with incomes at or below 80 percent of
the area median income. White House climate and energy adviser John Podesta
said rejecting the rebates is a disservice to low-income households.
“Governors
who are interested in servicing those communities would be well advised to kind
of take that money and put those programs into effect, and then make those
rebates available,” Podesta told reporters recently.
Other
states are eager to take their piece of the money Florida has rejected. Sen.
Jack Reed (D-R.I.) has asked the Energy Department to send Florida’s money to
his and other states. Rhode Island “could utilize additional funds that
Florida’s Governor may not accept for purely partisan reasons,” Reed wrote to
the Energy Department.
In
Kentucky, Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear, who is up for reelection this fall, has
applied for “a number of federal grants,” according to John A. Mura, spokesman
for the Kentucky energy and environment cabinet. But, “local governments are
best situated to apply for and administer the Climate Pollution Reduction Grant
funds,” he said.
Florida’s
rejection of IRA money is not absolute. The state has accepted other pots of
money, including $3.75 million to support urban tree canopies and access to
nature, $209,000 for pollution control and $78.7 million to several state and
local entities to protect against climate change — a fund that is made up of
the IRA and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
Here’s the latest on the storm.
Victoria
Kim
Updated
Aug. 31,
2023, 2:27 a.m. ET48 minutes ago
48 minutes
ago
Victoria
Kim
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2023/08/30/us/hurricane-idalia-landfall-florida
Here’s the latest on the storm.
Idalia was
making its way through South Carolina overnight on Thursday, dumping heavy
rains, flooding streets and imperiling coastal communities with the double
threat of storm surge and high tides.
The center
of the storm passed just north of Charleston around midnight, its maximum wind
speeds having slowed to 60 miles per hour. In an early sign that some
waterfront communities had been spared the worst, the fire chief of Edisto
Beach, S.C., said there was “zero to minimal damage” there even after waves had
breached sand dunes that protect homes earlier in the night.
The storm
hit the Big Bend region of Florida’s Gulf Coast as a Category 3 hurricane
Wednesday morning and passed through Georgia during the day, sending water
rushing into homes, causing hundreds of thousands of households to lose power
and leaving some picturesque costal villages in its track unrecognizable to
residents.
Even after
being downgraded to tropical storm, forecasters warned, Idalia could bring
strong winds and amplify what were expected to be higher-than-usual high tides
because of a “supermoon” making its closest orbital pass to Earth. The tropical
storm was expected to move off the coast of the Carolinas on Thursday morning.
Here’s what
to know:
As Idalia continues on its path north, it was
expected to bring to parts of North Carolina heavy rains and the possibility of
tornadoes. Some school districts canceled classes for Thursday as a precaution.
Two deaths from car crashes early Wednesday in
Florida were attributed to the weather conditions: one in Gainesville and one
in Pasco County, north of Tampa.
More than 300,000 customers in Florida, Georgia
and South Carolina were without power early Thursday, according to
PowerOutage.us, which tracks outages across the United States.
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