Harvard Uni alleges Trump illegally cut US$2.6 billion
Harvard University has appeared in court to make the case that President Trump's administration has illegally cut US$2.6 billion form the University's funding. Correspondent Nick Harper spoke to Ingrid Hipkiss.
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RNZ News
25 minutes ago
- RNZ News
Watchdog agency launches probe into former Trump prosecutor Jack Smith
By Kaanita Iyer , CNN Special Counsel Jack Smith delivers remarks in Washington, DC, on 1 August, 2023. Photo: Getty via CNN Newsource The Office of Special Counsel has launched an investigation into former special counsel Jack Smith, who led criminal probes into President Donald Trump's handling of classified documents and alleged efforts to subvert the 2020 election. The investigation into potential Hatch Act violations comes as Trump and his allies have sought retribution against his political enemies and those who brought investigations against him. The Hatch Act limits certain political activities of government workers. It is supposed to stop the federal government from affecting elections or going about its activities in a partisan manner. According to the OSC's explanation of the rule, it applies to federal employees as well as state and local employees who work with federally funded programmes. While the Office of Special Counsel - which is distinct from the special counsels, like Smith, who are appointed to oversee politically sensitive Justice Department investigations - is an independent agency created by Congress. It is currently helmed by a Trump appointee in an acting capacity after the president fired the previous head of the office, who was appointed by President Joe Biden for a five year term. The office handles allegations of whistleblower retaliation and Hatch Act investigations, according to its website. CNN has reached out to a representative for Smith and to the White House for comment. The New York Post first reported the news. In 2021, a report found that 13 administration officials from Trump's first term violated the Hatch Act, including former adviser Kellyanne Conway, whom the Office of Special Counsel had previously recommended be removed from her job. Biden's press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre received a warning letter in 2023 for violating the Hatch Act by using the term "mega MAGA" from the briefing room podium. The rule is a workplace guideline, and violating it is not a crime. Responses can vary significantly after employees violate the rule, from a slap on the wrist to loss of a job. Smith no longer works for the federal government after he resigned from the Justice Department earlier this year - months after he formally dropped the classified documents and election subversion cases following Trump's victory in the 2024 election. Smith's two-year investigation into Trump was historic, marking the first time a former occupant of the White House faced federal criminal charges. Trump and his allies rallied against Smith, attacking his probes as a weaponization of the federal government. Trump had vowed to fire Smith once he retook the office, shattering previous norms around special counsel investigations. The Office of Special Counsel investigation comes after Trump ally Sen. Tom Cotton claimed earlier this week that "Smith used his DOJ role to influence the election" in favour of Biden's and Vice President Kamala Harris' campaigns, pointing to Smith filing a brief within 60 days of Election Day - which could violate a separate Justice Department rule that goes beyond the Hatch Act. Richard Painter, the top ethics lawyer in the George W Bush administration, told CNN he has "never seen a prosecutor found to violate the Hatch Act for pleading with a court". "If Jack Smith was making public announcements close to the election and putting up press releases, that is something he'd have to be extremely careful about," said Painter, now a law professor at the University of Minnesota. "But this was a case that'd been pending ever since the summer of 2023, and for him to continue the case with the filings with the courts that he filed, I don't think that is a violation of the Hatch Act." It is unclear what exactly the Office of Special Counsel is investigating as a possible violation of the Hatch Act. Painter also cast doubt on the independence of the agency under the Trump administration. Earlier this year, Trump fired Hampton Dellinger, a Biden appointee, and picked US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer to serve as interim head of the office. Trump's nominee for the position, Paul Ingrassia, awaits Senate confirmation. "A political appointee is going to do what the president wants. So, you know, it's not really functioning as an independent agency," Painter told CNN. CNN has reported that insiders and independent watchdogs are raising alarms over the historically a non-partisan agency, saying it has been "captured" by loyalists from the very administration it's supposed to police. "The office is a shell of its former self," a former federal ethics official previously told CNN in an interview. - CNN
RNZ News
an hour ago
- RNZ News
India will continue to buy Russian oil, government sources say
By Shivam Patel and Chandni Shah US President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrive to hold a joint press conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on 13 February, 2025. Photo: AFP India will keep purchasing oil from Russia despite US President Donald Trump's threats of penalties , two Indian government sources said, not wishing to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter. "These are long-term oil contracts," one of the sources said. "It is not so simple to just stop buying overnight." Trump last month indicated in a Truth Social post that India would face additional penalties for purchases of Russian arms and oil. On Friday, Trump told reporters that he had heard that India would no longer be buying oil from Russia. The New York Times on Saturday (local time) quoted two unnamed senior Indian officials as saying there had been no change in Indian government policy, with one official saying the government had "not given any direction to oil companies" to cut back imports from Russia. Reuters reported this week that Indian state refiners stopped buying Russian oil in the past week after discounts narrowed in July. "On our energy sourcing requirements ... we look at what is there available in the markets, what is there on offer, and also what is the prevailing global situation or circumstances," India's foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told reporters during a regular briefing on Friday. Jaiswal added that India has a "steady and time-tested partnership" with Russia, and that New Delhi's relations with various countries stand on their own merit and should not be seen from the prism of a third country. The White House in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Indian refiners are pulling back from Russian crude as discounts shrink to their lowest since 2022, when Western sanctions were first imposed on Moscow, due to lower Russian exports and steady demand, sources said earlier this week. The country's state refiners - Indian Oil Corp, Hindustan Petroleum Corp, Bharat Petroleum Corp and Mangalore Refinery Petrochemical Ltd - have not sought Russian crude in the past week or so, four sources familiar with the refiners' purchase plans told Reuters. On 14 July, Trump threatened 100 percent tariffs on countries that buy Russian oil unless Moscow reaches a major peace deal with Ukraine. Russia is the top supplier to India, responsible for about 35 percent of India's overall supplies. Russia continued to be the top oil supplier to India during the first six months of 2025, accounting for about 35 percent of India's overall supplies, followed by Iraq, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. India, the world's third-largest oil importer and consumer, received about 1.75 million barrels per day of Russian oil in January-June this year, up 1 percent from a year ago, according to data provided to Reuters by sources. Nayara Energy, a major buyer of Russian oil, was recently sanctioned by the European Union as the refinery is majority-owned by Russian entities, including oil major Rosneft. Last month, Reuters reported that Nayara's chief executive had resigned after the imposition of EU sanctions and company veteran Sergey Denisov had been appointed as CEO. Three vessels laden with oil products from Nayara Energy have yet to discharge their cargoes, hindered by the new EU sanctions on the Russia-backed refiner, Reuters reported late last month. - Reuters
RNZ News
20 hours ago
- RNZ News
US President Donald Trump fires labour statistics official over jobs numbers
A news ticker broadcasts the news of the firing of the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on 1 August, 2025. Photo: AFP / MICHAEL M. SANTIAGO By Kit Maher , Matt Egan and Alicia Wallace , CNN President Donald Trump has fired Dr Erika McEntarfer, the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, whom he accused, without evidence, of manipulating the monthly jobs reports for "political purposes". The BLS' monthly labour report Friday (US time) showed that the US economy added only 73,000 jobs in July, far below expectations. It also sharply revised down the employment growth that had been previously reported in May and June - by a combined 258,000 jobs. After the revisions, the jobs report showed the weakest pace of hiring for any three-month period since the pandemic recession in 2020. "In my opinion, today's Jobs Numbers were RIGGED in order to make the Republicans, and ME, look bad," Trump said in a Truth Social post. Although the May and June jobs numbers were worse than initially believed, revisions are normal in this process. The BLS' initial monthly jobs estimates are often based on incomplete data, so they are revised twice after the initial report - followed by an annual revision every February. Additionally, BLS economists use a formula to smooth out jobs numbers for seasonal variations and that can exacerbate revisions, when they fall outside economists' expectations. On Friday, Trump incorrectly called the revisions a "mistake". "McEntarfer said there were only 73,000 Jobs added (a shock!) but, more importantly, that a major mistake was made by them, 258,000 Jobs downward, in the prior two months," Trump said on Truth Social. "Similar things happened in the first part of the year, always to the negative. The Economy is BOOMING under 'TRUMP'." Trump said McEntarfer "faked" the jobs numbers before the election to try to boost former Vice President Kamala Harris' chances in the 2024 presidential election. "We're doing so well. I believe the numbers were phony, just like they were before the election, and there were other times. So, you know what I did? I fired her, and you know what? I did the right thing," Trump told reporters Friday on the South Lawn. Trump has also threatened the firing of Federal Reserve Chaie Jerome Powell. Photo: AFP McEntarfer was confirmed by the Senate 86-8 in January 2024 for a term of four years. CNN has reached out to McEntarfer for comment. Until Trump replaces McEntarfer, Deputy Commissioner William Wiatrowski will serve as Acting Commissioner, the administration said. Trump has previously criticised the BLS for its jobs data and revisions, and he told reporters Friday evening he's "always had a problem with these numbers". In 2016, during his first presidential campaign, Trump claimed that the unemployment rate was significantly higher than the BLS let on. In 2024, he accused former President Joe Biden's administration of orchestrating a cover-up, after the BLS reported that it had overcounted jobs by 818,000 over the previous 12 months. "I was thinking about it this morning, before the numbers that came out. I said, 'Who is the person that does these numbers?' And then they gave me stats about before the election," Trump said. "We need people that we can trust," he added. Trump and his administration have also praised the BLS data when it has been favourable to them. During Trump's first term, former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said, in March 2017, that the jobs data was no longer "phony", after the BLS issued a strong jobs report. A month ago, current White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt posted on social media that the economy had beaten expectations for jobs in four straight BLS labour reports. The BLS is nonpartisan, and businesses and government officials rely on the accuracy of its data to make determinations about investment, hiring, spending and all sorts of key decisions. "It's outrageous for anyone in government to question the integrity of the BLS," said Jason Furman, a Harvard professor and former Obama economic adviser. "Accurate statistics are essential to the economy." Furman doubted that replacing McEntarfer would compromise the BLS, but he said even the possibility or appearance of that notion "would be bad". "Countries that have tried to fake those statistics have often ended up with economic crises as a result," Furman said. Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics, said the BLS data is at the "highest standard", and "as accurate as it can be". "Anything that undermines that or even the perception of that high standard is deeply worrisome," Zandi said. "I've never seen anything even close to this." At Moody's, Zandi said he has hired a number of former BLS economists, whom he called "fantastic". "They do great work," Zandi said. "They are critical to a well-functioning economy." Democratic Virginia Senator Mark Warner accused Trump of working the referees. "Firing the ump doesn't change the score," Warner said in a statement. "Americans deserve to know the truth about the state of the Trump economy." Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer said she supported replacing McEntarfer. "A recent string of major revisions have come to light and raised concerns about decisions being made by the Biden-appointed Labor Commissioner," Chavez-DeRemer said on X. "I support the President's decision to replace Biden's Commissioner, and ensure the American People can trust the important and influential data coming from BLS." The BLS jobs survey is widely considered by economists to be robust. It samples more than 100,000 businesses and government agencies each month, representing roughly 629,000 individual worksites. As part of larger cost-cutting taking place around practically every part of Trump's government, the BLS is laying off staff and, as a result, reducing the scope of its work. For example, the BLS posted a notice in June stating it stopped collecting data for its Consumer Price Index in three cities - Lincoln, Nebraska; Buffalo, New York; and Provo, Utah - and increased "imputations" for certain items - a statistical technique that, when boiled down to very rough terms, essentially means more educated guesses. That worried Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. In testimony before Congress in June, Powell said he believed the BLS data to be accurate, but he was upset about what could become a trend. "I wouldn't say that I'm concerned about the data today, although there has been a very mild degradation of the scope of the surveys," Powell said at the time, in response to a question about survey data quality. "I would say the direction of travel is something I'm concerned about." - CNN
