Politics

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Donald Trump on Thursday appealed a judge’s dismissal of his claim that the writer E. Jean Carroll defamed him by accusing him of rape, though a jury that awarded her $5 million for defamation and sexual abuse did not make such a finding.

The former U.S. president, who is seeking the Republican nomination for a second White House term, filed a notice of appeal from U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan’s Aug. 7 dismissal of the claim against Carroll.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Leslie Adler)

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By Nandita Bose

SALT LAKE CITY (Reuters) – President Joe Biden will visit a Utah veterans’ medical center on Thursday to mark the one-year anniversary of the signing of legislation providing aid to veterans sickened by gases from military toxic burn pits.

Biden is at the end of a three-state swing through the American West to invigorate his reelection bid by touting the economy, new infrastructure projects and legislative accomplishments to Americans, many of whom are unhappy about the direction of the country.

Biden will meet with veterans at the George E. Wahlen Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Salt Lake City to highlight the one-year anniversary of the PACT Act, which has already provided 4.1 million veterans with free screenings for toxic exposures and processed nearly 459,000 claims.

The U.S. military used burn pits to dispose of waste on foreign bases until the mid-2010s. Fumes from burning everything from rubber, chemical waste and ammunitions to human feces have caused rare cancers and respiratory illnesses in veterans.

Under the law, certain cancers and ailments, including hypertension, are presumed to be connected to the burn pits and the need for veterans to prove they were connected was eliminated.

The bill is expected to cost an estimated $180 billion over the first four years. It would benefit nearly 3.5 million veterans who developed cancer and other illnesses after being exposed to fumes from the pits.

The issue is personal to the president. Biden has said he believes there may have been a connection between the brain cancer that killed his son Beau Biden at age 46 and the burn pits that Beau was exposed to during his military service.

The White House and the Biden campaign are eager to win over skeptical Americans about the effectiveness of his policies to boost the economy and fight global warming.

Some Americans who voted for Biden in 2020 say they believe the economy has fared poorly under his stewardship and they might not vote for him in the 2024 election, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released last week.

About half of the respondents who voted for Biden in 2020 said they have heard little or nothing of his major policy initiatives to reduce inflation or boost spending on infrastructure.

(Reporting By Jarrett Renshaw and Nandita Bose; Editing by Leslie Adler)

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By Jacqueline Thomsen and Kanishka Singh

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. special counsel investigating Donald Trump obtained a search warrant for the former president’s Twitter account in January and the company delayed complying, according to a U.S. appeals court opinion on Wednesday.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit affirmed the federal trial judge’s decision to hold Twitter, now known as X, in contempt and fine it $350,000.

The ruling said that Twitter had raised First Amendment concerns about a nondisclosure order issued over the warrant, as the company wanted to notify Trump about it.

“Under the circumstances, the court did not abuse its discretion when it ultimately held Twitter in contempt and imposed a $350,000 sanction,” the ruling said.

Trump, in a post on his social media site Truth Social, said the Justice Department “secretly attacked my Twitter account, making it a point not to let me know about this major ‘hit’ on my civil rights.” Prosecutors will often ask judges that targets of subpoenas issued in criminal probes not be notified in order to protect their investigations, a practice the appeals court cited in Wednesday’s ruling.

A spokesperson for Smith declined comment and a spokesperson for X did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Wednesday’s opinion did not identify which judge held Twitter in contempt.

While Trump’s tweets are publicly viewable, the company also holds non-public information on accounts like direct messages, drafts of tweets, location data and the type of device used to send tweets.

The opinion said the warrant was related to Smith’s investigation into the events surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021, siege on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of Trump while he was still president.

Republican Trump last week pleaded not guilty to an indictment that charged him with plotting to overturn his November 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden.

Trump is the front-runner for the Republican 2024 presidential nomination.

(Reporting by Jacqueline Thomsen and Kanishka Singh in Washington; editing by Grant McCool)

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(Reuters) – Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Wednesday suspended a county prosecutor after accusing her of being soft on crime, making her the second elected Democratic law-enforcement official to be removed by the Republican presidential hopeful.

DeSantis issued an executive order suspending Monique Worrell, the lead prosecutor in Orange and Osceola counties, and replacing her with Orange County Judge Andrew Bain, who the governor appointed to the bench in 2020.

“Worrell’s practices and policies have too often allowed violent criminals to escape the full consequences of their criminal conduct,” DeSantis said in a statement.

Worrell, elected in 2020, was not immediately available for comment. Fair and Just Prosecution, an organization of progressive prosecutors, criticized the move.

“This is a deeply disturbing abuse of power that overrules the will of voters and threatens the separation of powers,” the group’s executive director, Miriam Krinsky, said in a statement.

Worrell is not the first Florida prosecutor whom DeSantis has dismissed. Last August, he suspended the Democratic state’s attorney for Hillsborough County, Andrew Warren, who had pledged that he would not bring criminal cases against people seeking or providing abortions despite legal restrictions that Florida has placed on the procedure.

Warren’s lawyer accused DeSantis of targeting dissenting voices, but a federal judge upheld the suspension.

In public opinion polls, DeSantis is running a distant second behind former President Donald Trump in the race for the Republican nomination in the 2024 presidential election.

He replaced his campaign manager on Tuesday in an attempt to reboot his campaign.

DeSantis’ office sent a letter in April to Worrell’s office demanding that she hand over the criminal and judicial record of a suspect accused of killing three people, including a 9-year-old.

At the time, the governor criticized her office for failing to keep the suspect in jail for previous crimes. Worrell responded by saying she stood behind all decisions regarding the suspect’s juvenile and adult dispositions.

(Reporting by Brendan O’Brien in Chicago; Editing by Andy Sullivan)

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By Moira Warburton

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Democratic U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, 90, was briefly hospitalized following a minor fall in her San Francisco home, her office said on Wednesday, the latest incident involving a key member of the committee that approves federal judges.

“All of her scans were clear and she returned home,” after a short Tuesday night hospitalization, Feinstein’s office said in a statement.

Feinstein, a member of the Democrats’ narrow 51-49 majority in the Senate, has suffered from a number of ailments recently, including a bout of shingles that kept her out of action for a month in April and May.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he had spoken with Feinstein on Wednesday morning.

“She said she suffered no injuries and briefly went to the hospital as a precaution,” the top Senate Democrat said.

Feinstein is not the only senior lawmaker to suffer recent health scares. Top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell, 81, was hospitalized earlier this year for treatment of a concussion after a March fall and last month froze up for about 21 seconds during a regularly scheduled press conference.

Feinstein is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee that plays a critical role in confirming presidential appointments of federal judges.

When she returned to the Senate in May, an aide said she was continuing to suffer from a medical complication known as Ramsay Hunt syndrome. Feinstein had also previously suffered encephalitis.

She has at times shown signs of confusion, at one point telling reporters that she had been present and voting, rather than absent for part of the year.

First elected to the Senate in 1992, Feinstein has said she will not seek re-election in 2024.

Democrats’ 51-seat Senate majority includes three independents. Congress is currently in its summer recess, with most lawmakers in their home states rather than Washington.

(Reporting by Moira Warburton, Rami Ayyub and David Ljunggren; Editing by Susan Heavey and Jonathan Oatis)

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By Gram Slattery

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A staff shake-up by 2024 Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis is unlikely to presage a major strategy shift, according to several people close to the campaign, despite increasing pressure from some top donors to dramatically change course due to a slump in the polls.

DeSantis’ camp on Tuesday announced that it was ousting campaign manager Generra Peck and bringing in two top outside strategists. Replacing Peck, who is now the campaign’s chief strategist, is James Uthmeier, previously the governor’s chief of staff.

Those changes followed a staffing shakeup in July, when some 38 positions were slashed amid concerns about high spending on payroll. DeSantis promised a leaner operation and a sharper focus on smaller gatherings to enable him to connect better with voters.

Some donors — who campaigns need to stay afloat financially — have called on the governor to make a sharper course correction and adopt more moderate positions on divisive social issues such as abortion.

The Florida governor has been losing ground to former President Donald Trump, who holds a 34-point lead in the race for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.

Campaign insiders and donors say the replacement of Peck is unlikely to quell anxiety about the direction of DeSantis’ campaign.

Peck’s removal came four days after Robert Bigelow, the biggest individual donor to a group supporting the DeSantis candidacy, told Reuters he would not give more money unless the governor changes his approach because “extremism isn’t going to get you elected.”

Bigelow took particular issue with a six-week abortion ban that DeSantis signed this spring. The governor has also faced backlash for new Florida teaching standards that require public school students to be taught in Black history lessons that some slaves developed skills that “could be applied for their personal benefit.”

Uthmeier, a staunch conservative with no experience in national electoral politics, was chosen mainly due to his acumen as a manager rather than a strategist, according to two sources close to the campaign.

One major donor called the move a “sideshow,” while a third called it principally “organizational” rather than a matter of strategy.

“No one would accuse James of being a moderate,” said one associate of Uthmeier, who requested anonymity to speak frankly.

That person acknowledged the campaign was fielding calls from donors who were advocating a shift to the middle, though the campaign was holding firm, saying their positions were consistent with those of the Republican primary electorate.

Some donors argue that DeSantis is alienating potential voters by advocating positions that are mostly attractive to the right wing of the Republican Party, which Trump already has an iron grip on.

NEW CAMPAIGN MANAGER, SAME STRATEGY

Uthmeier’s appointment had been in the works for weeks, said one person close to the process. Shortly before a donor retreat in Utah in July, during which some donors asked pointed questions about the direction of the campaign, Uthmeier had been tasked by the governor with reviewing the campaign’s books and giving DeSantis his evaluation of the operation, that person said.

Uthmeier, who was DeSantis’ legal counsel before he was chief of staff, has no experience with electoral politics, though he is widely seen as an effective manager.

“With him, the governor has basically imposed his will in Tallahassee,” said another person close to Uthmeier, referring to Florida’s capital city. “Can he accomplish the same goals when it comes to national politics? That’s to be determined right now.”

Joining Uthmeier as a deputy campaign manager will be David Polyansky, a seasoned political operative with deep knowledge of early nominating state of Iowa, who was previously with Never Back Down, the main outside spending group supporting DeSantis.

Marc Reichelderfer, a Tallahassee-based political operative will also take a major strategic position within the campaign, the first person said, though his title was not immediately clear.

Uthmeier is expected to lean heavily on those two people for strategic advice, the first person added.

Top donors are expected to receive a briefing on Thursday going over the most recent changes, according to that person and a donor.

(Reporting by Gram Slattery, editing by Ross Colvin and Alistair Bell)

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Jack Smith, the U.S. special counsel who is investigating Donald Trump, obtained a search warrant for the former president’s Twitter account in January and the social media platform delayed complying, a court filing on Wednesday showed.

The delay in compliance prompted a federal judge to hold Twitter in contempt and fine it $350,000, the filing showed.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington)

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By Jacqueline Thomsen and Kanishka Singh

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. special counsel investigating Donald Trump obtained a search warrant for the former president’s Twitter account in January and the company delayed complying, according to a U.S. appeals court opinion on Wednesday.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit affirmed the federal trial judge’s decision to hold Twitter, now known as X, in contempt and fine it $350,000.

The ruling said that Twitter had raised First Amendment concerns about a nondisclosure order issued over the warrant, as the company wanted to notify Trump about it.

“Under the circumstances, the court did not abuse its discretion when it ultimately held Twitter in contempt and imposed a $350,000 sanction,” the ruling said.

Spokespeople for X, Trump and special counsel Jack Smith did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Wednesday’s opinion did not identify which judge held Twitter in contempt.

While Trump’s tweets are publicly viewable, the company also holds non-public information on accounts like direct messages, drafts of tweets, location data and the type of device used to send tweets.

The opinion said the warrant was related to Smith’s investigation into the events surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021, siege on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of Trump while he was still president.

Republican Trump last week pleaded not guilty to an indictment that charged him with plotting to overturn his November 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden.

Trump is the front-runner for the Republican 2024 presidential nomination.

(Reporting by Jacqueline Thomsen and Kanishka Singh in Washington; editing by Grant McCool)

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By Sarah N. Lynch

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Former President Donald Trump’s attorneys on Tuesday asked the judge in his trial on charges of trying to overturn the 2020 election to delay scheduling a court hearing that will help determine how evidence can be used and shared in the case.

Trump’s attorneys and U.S. Special Counsel Jack Smith’s team clashed in a joint court filing over a hearing date before U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan to discuss the handling of evidence.

Prosecutors said they were available all week long. Trump’s lawyers asked for a postponement until early next week.

On Monday, Trump’s defense team opposed a request from prosecutors for Chutkan to impose a protective order to ensure confidential evidence is not shared publicly by Trump, suggesting he could use the information to intimidate witnesses.

Trump’s attorneys said limits would infringe on his right to free speech, protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Typically, defense lawyers do not oppose such protective orders because doing so can delay the government from producing the evidence it intends to use at trial in a process known as discovery.

Chutkan ordered both sides to propose a hearing date for this week to discuss their disagreements. The disagreement over a hearing date represented the latest effort by Trump’s team to delay or slow legal proceedings.

It also underscored the logistical challenges that Trump’s team may have as it continues to represent him in two separate federal criminal cases brought by Smith’s office, one in Washington, D.C., and the other in southern Florida, where Trump is charged with retaining highly classified records after leaving the White House and obstructing the government’s efforts to have the records returned.

One of Trump’s attorneys, Todd Blanche, will be in federal court in Florida on Thursday for an arraignment, after the government filed a superseding indictment which charged Trump with additional criminal counts and also charged another one of his employees in the case.

In the joint Washington filing, Trump’s lawyers said Trump wished for both Blanche and his other lawyer John Lauro to be present for the hearing before Chutkan.

“Mr. Lauro is available on Thursday, with a preference for an afternoon setting. However, since we lost Friday as an option, we would respectfully request a setting on Monday (after 12:00 p.m.) or Tuesday (all day) to allow for both Mr. Blanche and Mr. Lauro to be present,” they wrote.

(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by Howard Goller)

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By Joseph Ax

(Reuters) -Ohio voters on Tuesday rejected a Republican-backed measure that would have made it harder to amend the state constitution, an initiative aimed at helping defeat a November referendum that would protect abortion access in the state.

The results in the special election were a crucial victory for abortion rights advocates, who would have faced the daunting prospect of securing a super-majority of voters this fall if the measure had passed.

The proposal, known as Issue 1, would have lifted the threshold for passing future changes to the state constitution to 60% of voters, up from 50%, as well as imposing more stringent standards for getting such measures on the ballot in the first place.

With more than 1.2 million votes counted, 60% of Ohioans had voted no, compared with 40% who voted yes, according to the Ohio secretary of state’s office. That margin was enough for Decision Desk HQ and the Associated Press to call the race.

“This measure was a blatant attempt to weaken voters’ voices and further erode the freedom of women to make their own health care decisions,” U.S. President Joe Biden said in a written statement on Tuesday evening. “Ohioans spoke loud and clear, and tonight democracy won.”

The election was the latest statewide battle over abortion more than a year after the U.S. Supreme Court eliminated a nationwide right. Advocacy groups on both sides of the abortion issue spent millions of dollars ahead of Tuesday’s vote.

Ballot initiatives have become powerful tools for abortion rights activists in states where abortion opponents, usually Republicans, control the legislature or hold the governor’s office.

Voters in Kansas and Kentucky, both solidly conservative states, rejected measures last year that would have declared that their state constitutions do not protect abortion rights.

On Tuesday, abortion rights groups in Arizona, a key presidential swing state, launched an effort to put the issue before voters in November 2024.

Republican Ohio Governor Mike DeWine signed a six-week abortion ban into law in 2019, which went into effect following the Supreme Court’s decision. The ban was put on hold in September after a legal challenge from abortion clinics; the Ohio Supreme Court has agreed to decide the case.

Some groups opposed to Tuesday’s ballot question had emphasized that the referendum went beyond abortion, arguing it is simply undemocratic to curb citizens’ power.

“This is much larger than one issue; it’s much larger than one party or one election,” said Jen Miller, the executive director of the League of Women Voters of Ohio. “This is about a freedom that Ohioans have had for more than a century.”

For instance, good government groups are working on a ballot question for 2024 that would amend the constitution to prevent gerrymandering, the process by which one party manipulates district lines to entrench power. If Tuesday’s referendum had succeeded, getting that issue on the ballot would be far more challenging.

Last year, Ohio Republicans drew sharply partisan state legislative and congressional maps and defied court orders to revamp them; November’s elections were held using maps that had been ruled unconstitutional.

Abortion rights opponents have called the November referendum extreme, claiming its vague language would allow minors to get abortions and gender-affirming surgery without parental consent.

Supporters note the amendment makes no mention of gender-affirming treatment or parental consent.

Tuesday’s election drew millions in outside spending, including from so-called “dark-money” groups that are not required to disclose their donors.

Illinois Republican mega-donor Richard Uihlein donated at least $4 million to the pro-Issue 1 campaign, according to campaign filings. Other groups supporting Tuesday’s referendum collected funds from Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America and The Concord Fund, a conservative dark-money group.

The anti-Issue 1 side got support from the Tides Foundation, a California-based social justice organization, and the Sixteen Thirty Fund, a liberal dark-money group.

(Reporting by Joseph Ax; additional reporting by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Cynthia Osterman and Lincoln Feast)

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