States should consider bar exam alternatives, chief justices say
The report, opens new tab comes from the Committee on Legal Education and Admissions Reform, an 18-month collaboration between the Conference of Chief Justices and the Conference of State Court Administrators. It said state supreme courts should take a more active role in legal education and attorney admissions in order to address unmet legal needs, declining public confidence in courts and the legal system, and barriers to public service legal careers. State supreme courts oversee attorney licensure.
The report recommended encouraging hands-on learning opportunities for lawyers and law students, reforming the bar admissions process and examining alternatives to the bar exam, streamlining character and fitness reviews, supporting public service attorneys, and encouraging attorneys to practice in rural areas.
To date, six states have enacted alternative attorney licensing pathways that don't rely solely on the bar exam, and another seven are considering such alternatives, according to the report. Such moves can lower costs for law graduates and get them into practice sooner while also helping states encourage public service careers and legal access in rural areas, the committee found.
State supreme courts should also encourage a law school accreditation process that 'promotes innovation, experimentation, and cost-effective legal education,' the report said.
Nearly all states currently require graduation from an American Bar Association-accredited law school in order to be licensed, though the Supreme Courts of Florida, Texas and Ohio are reviewing their requirements.
The Trump administration has threatened to revoke the ABA's status as the federal government's designated accreditor of law schools, citing diversity and inclusion efforts by the group that the administration says are discriminatory.
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Chief state court judges to examine bar admissions nationwide
Trump executive order says ABA's role as law school accreditor may be revoked
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Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
The crude oil market bets Trump's India threats are hollow
LAUNCESTON, Australia, Aug 11 (Reuters) - The crude oil market's rather sanguine reaction to the U.S. threats to India over its continued purchases of Russian oil is effectively a bet that very little will actually happen. President Donald Trump cited India's imports of Russian crude when imposing an additional 25% tariff on imports from India on August 6, which is due to take effect on August 28. If the new tariff rate does come into place, it will take the rate for some Indian goods to as much as 50%, a level high enough to effectively end U.S. imports from India, which totalled nearly $87 billion in 2024. As with everything related to Trump, it pays to be cautious given his track record of backflips and pivots. It's also not exactly clear what Trump is ultimately seeking, although it does seem that in the short term he wants to increase his leverage with Russian President Vladimir Putin ahead of their planned meeting in Alaska this week, and he's using India to achieve this. Whether Trump follows through on his additional tariffs on India remains uncertain, although the chances of a peace deal in Ukraine seem remote, which means the best path for India to avoid the tariffs would be to acquiesce and stop buying Russian oil. But this is an outcome that simply isn't being reflected in current crude oil prices. Global benchmark Brent futures have weakened since Trump's announcement of higher tariffs on India, dropping as low as $65.81 a barrel in early Asian trade on Monday, the lowest level in two months. This is a price that entirely discounts any threat to global supplies, and assumes that India will either continue buying Russian crude at current volumes, or be able to easily source suitable replacements without tightening the global market. Are these reasonable assumptions? The track record of the crude oil market is somewhat remarkable in that it quickly adapts to new geopolitical realities and any price spikes tend to be shortlived. The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 sent crude prices hurtling toward $150 a barrel as European and other Western countries pulled back from buying Russian crude. But within four months the price was back below where it was before Moscow's attack on its neighbour as the market simply re-routed the now discounted Russian oil to China and India. In other words, the flow of oil around the globe was shifted, but the volumes available for importers remained much the same. But what Trump is proposing now is somewhat different. It appears he wants to cut Russian barrels out of the market in order to put financial pressure on Moscow to cut a deal over Ukraine. There are effectively only two major buyers for Russian crude, India and China. China, the world's biggest crude importer, has more leverage with Trump given U.S. and Western reliance on its refined critical and other minerals, and therefore is less able to be coerced into ending its imports of Russian oil. India is in a less strong position, especially private refiners like Reliance Industries ( opens new tab, which will want to keep business relationships and access to Western economies. India imported about 1.8 million barrels per day of Russian crude in the first half of the year, or about 37% of its total, according to data compiled by commodity analysts Kpler. About 90% of its Russian imports came from Russia's European ports and was mainly Urals grade. This is a medium sour crude and it would raise challenges for Indian refiners if they sought to replace all their Urals imports with similar grades from other suppliers. There are some Middle Eastern grades of similar quality, such as Saudi Arabia's Arab Light and Iraq's Basrah Light, but it would likely boost prices if India were to seek more of these crudes. If Chinese refiners were able to take the bulk of Russian crude given up by India, it may allow for a re-shuffling of flows, but that would not appear to be what Trump wants. Trump and his advisers may believe there is enough spare crude production capacity in the United States and elsewhere to handle the loss of up to 2 million bpd of Russian supplies. But testing that theory may well lead to higher prices, especially for certain types of medium crudes which would be in short supply. It's simplistic to say that higher U.S. output can supply India's refiners, as this would mean those refiners would have to be willing to accept a different mix of refined products, including producing less diesel, as U.S. light crudes tend to make more products such as gasoline. For now the crude oil market is assuming that the Trump/India/Russia situation will end as another TACO, the acronym for Trump Always Chickens Out. But the reality is likely to be slightly more messy, as some Indian refiners pull back from importing from Russia, some Chinese refiners may buy more and once again the oil market goes on a geopolitical merry-go-round. Enjoying this column? Check out Reuters Open Interest (ROI), your essential new source for global financial commentary. ROI delivers thought-provoking, data-driven analysis of everything from swap rates to soybeans. Markets are moving faster than ever. ROI can help you keep up. Follow ROI on LinkedIn, opens new tab and X, opens new tab. The views expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Dire warning issued by former officials after Kash Patel's 'purge' of FBI
A coalition of former FBI, intelligence, diplomatic, and national security officials has accused FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino of orchestrating a political 'purge' of the bureau. In an extraordinary open letter the group said that the mass firings of senior agents threaten the FBI's independence and could turn it into a 'personal enforcement arm of a political figure.' The letter, signed by members of a group calling itself The Steady State, comes after Patel and Bongino abruptly fired several high-ranking officials last week. They included former Acting Director Brian Driscoll, Washington Field Office chief Steven Jensen, and veteran agents Walter Giardina and Michael Feinberg. All were told to clear their desks by Friday. 'It is not about reform. It is about control,' the group wrote. 'The aim, it seems, is to transform the FBI from a respected, constitutionally grounded investigative service into a personal enforcement arm of a political figure… We have seen these dynamics abroad - leaders who demand loyalty from security services not to the law, but to themselves. These regimes do not end well.' The statement accused the Trump administration of installing Patel and Bongino in leadership despite 'not having resumes that meet the basic standards' to run what it called 'the world's premier law enforcement agency.' The officials said the agents were targeted for not showing personal loyalty to President Donald Trump, calling the FBI's independence 'a democratic necessity.' From bureau veterans to sudden targets The firings landed hardest on officials with deep experience in national security, counterterrorism, and high-profile investigations. Driscoll, a veteran of the bureau's Hostage Rescue Team and a former leader of its Critical Incident Response Group, served as acting director after Christopher Wray's departure and was regarded inside the bureau as a hero having resisted Trump administration demands to turn over the names of agents who worked on January 6 investigations. The Justice Department's former Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, who has since been confirmed to serve as an appellate court judge, accused Driscoll and former FBI Acting Deputy Director Robert Kissane of insubordination, after they tried to fend off his efforts to collect a list of the names of all those people. He said the requests were meant to 'permit the Justice Department to conduct a review of those particular agents' conduct pursuant to Trump's executive order' on 'weaponization' in the Biden administration. Responding to Bove's request, the FBI provided personnel details about several thousand employees, identifying them by unique employee numbers rather than by names. Driscoll, nicknamed 'The Drizz,' told his colleagues in a farewell message on Thursday that he was given no explanation for his removal. 'I understand that you may have a lot of questions regarding why, for which I have no answers,' Driscoll told colleagues in a farewell email. 'No cause has been articulated at this time. Please know that it has been the honor of my life to serve alongside each of you.' He wrote: 'Our collective sacrifice for those we serve is, and will always be, worth it. I regret nothing. You are my heroes and I remain in your debt.' Jensen, who oversaw the Washington Field Office - one of the bureau's busiest - was told his termination would be effective immediately. 'I intend to meet this challenge like any other I have faced in this organization, with professionalism, integrity and dignity,' he wrote in his own farewell note. 'Never waver in your resolve to answer the call to protect the American people and uphold the Constitution,' he added. Giardina, who worked on cases involving Trump aide Peter Navarro, and Feinberg, who has said he faced retaliation over his friendship with former FBI counterintelligence official Peter Strzok, were also shown the door. Giardina had been recently targeted by Republican Senator Charles Grassley for his involvement in several Trump-related cases. Numerous senior officials including top agents in charge of big-city field offices have been pushed out of their jobs, and some agents have been subjected to polygraph exams, moves that former officials say have roiled the workforce and contributed to angst. Former Las Vegas Special Agent-in-Charge Spencer Evans was also told to leave on Friday. Numerous special agents in charge of field offices have been told to retire, resign or accept reassignment. In April the bureau also reassigned several agents who were photographed kneeling during a racial justice protest in Washington that followed the 2020 death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers. The Steady State's letter painted the dismissals as part of a broader campaign to dismantle the FBI's 'long-standing independence' and replace it with political loyalty tests. 'The FBI has long been a bulwark against such corruption… Its independence is not a bureaucratic feature; it is a democratic necessity,' the letter read. They urged remaining agents to hold the line: 'The nation is watching, and will be inspired by the FBI. And history will remember.' Former FBI agent Phil Kennedy, an outspoken critic of the current leadership, posted the letter on social media and referred to the firings as 'the recent FBI purge,' calling it a 'Bureau bloodbath.' The mass terminations are the latest wave in a months-long shakeup under Patel and Bongino, which has seen senior leaders reassigned, forced into retirement, or subjected to polygraph exams. Some firings have targeted agents involved in politically sensitive cases, including the January 6 Capitol riot investigations and former Special Counsel Jack Smith's prosecutions of Trump. The controversy deepened in February when thousands of bureau employees were ordered to complete questionnaires detailing any involvement in January 6 cases. Weeks later, then-Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove ordered a list of all current and former personnel connected to those investigations, sparking fears the data would be used to identify and remove them. The FBI Agents Association has condemned the firings, warning that 'firing agents without due process will make the country less safe.' 'There is a review process when employment actions are taken against Agents. FBI leadership committed - both publicly and directly to FBIAA - that they would abide by that process. We urge them to honor that commitment and follow the law,' the group added. The group urged bureau leadership to honor the review process 'so that the FBI could remain independent and apolitical.' The FBI, Patel, and Bongino have declined to comment on the dismissals or the accusations in the Steady State letter. Trump, asked earlier this year if his administration planned to remove employees tied to January 6 probes, called the FBI 'corrupt' and said Patel would 'straighten it out,' but did not answer directly.
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
JD Vance's attempt to link Democrats to Epstein renews calls to ‘release the files'
Four days after JD Vance reportedly asked top Trump administration officials to come up with a new communications strategy for dealing with the scandal around the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, he appears to have put his foot in it, sparking a new round of online outrage even as he tried to defuse the furor. In an interview with Fox News broadcast on Sunday, the vice-president tried to deflect criticism of the administration's refusal to release the Epstein files by blaming Democrats. He accused Joe Biden of doing 'absolutely nothing' about the scandal when he was in the White House. 'And now President Trump has demanded full transparency from this. And yet somehow the Democrats are attacking him and not the Biden administration, which did nothing for four years,' he said. Epstein's former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, was convicted of conspiring with Epstein to sexually abuse multiple minor girls and sentenced to 20 years in federal prison during the Biden administration. If Vance's attempt to switch public blame onto Democrats was the big idea to emerge from his strategy meeting with attorney general Pam Bondi and FBI director Kash Patel, which according to CNN he convened at the White House last week, then their labours appear to have backfired. (Vance denied to Fox that they had discussed Epstein at all, though he did acknowledge the meeting took place.) Within minutes of the Fox News interview being broadcast, social media began to hum with renewed cries of 'release the files!' Clips of Vanc smearing Democrats quickly began to circulate on X. 'We know that Jeffrey Epstein had a lot of connections with leftwing politicians and leftwing billionaires … Democrat billionaires and Democrat political leaders went to Epstein island all the time. Who knows what they did,' he said. Vance also repeated Trump's previously debunked claim that Bill Clinton had visited Epstein's private island dozens of times. Clinton has acknowledged using Epstein's jet, but denied ever visiting his island. 'Fine. Release all the files,' was the riposte from Bill Kristol, the prominent conservative Never Trumper who urged the documents to be made public with 'no redactions of clients, enablers, and see-no-evil associates'. Jon Favreau, Barack Obama's former head speechwriter, replied: 'Release the names! Democrats, Republicans, billionaires, or not. What are you afraid of, JD Vance?' Favreau added that Trump's name 'is in the Epstein files'. That was an apparent reference to a report in the Wall Street Journal last month that a justice department review of the documents conducted under Bondi had found that the president's name did appear 'multiple times'. Other social media users used the Fox News interview as an excuse to re-run video of Trump in the hosting Epstein and Maxwell at Mar-a-Lago. Epstein died in August 2019, during Trump's first presidency, while the financier and socialite was awaiting trial in a Manhattan jail; the death was ruled a suicide. Sign up to This Week in Trumpland A deep dive into the policies, controversies and oddities surrounding the Trump administration after newsletter promotion The White House has been caught in a bind over the Epstein affair which spawned conspiracy theories among many of Trump's supporters, which now senior figures in the administration had actively encouraged during the 2024 campaign. In July the justice department announced that there was no Epstein client list and that no more files would be made public, a decision that clashed with earlier statements from top Trump officials, including Bondi's statement in February that a client list was 'sitting on my desk right now to review'. The decision triggered an immediate and ongoing uproar that crossed the partisan political divide. Among the most viral clips in the aftermath of that reversal was video of Vance himself telling the podcaster Theo Von, two weeks before the election: 'Seriously, we need to release the Epstein list, that is an important thing.' In his Fox News interview Vance also warned that 'you're going to see a lot of people get indicted' after Trump accused Obama of 'treason' and called for his predecessor to be prosecuted. The director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, has passed documents to the justice department that she claims show that the Obama administration maliciously tried to hurt Trump by linking Russian interference in the 2016 election to him. Obama has dismissed Trump's call for his prosecution as weak and ridiculous.
