Trump's playbook has short term benefits, EM characteristics: Analyst
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New York Post
12 minutes ago
- New York Post
Letitia James' political crusade against Donald Trump was an abomination of the law
New York Attorney General Letitia James is going to need a bigger fish or a smaller trophy wall. For months, James has paraded her victory over President Donald Trump in her civil judgment of half a trillion dollars. It did not matter that many of us denounced the judgment as grotesque and raw lawfare. Now, however, the appellate court has replaced that mounted Marlin with a mere minnow. It threw out the financial penalty as unconstitutional and unwarranted. Advertisement Even that downsized catch may have to be pulled down, since Trump can appeal the decision to leave the injunctive relief — including limits on doing business in New York — in place. The problem is that this over-stuffed guppy has cost the people of New York tens of millions of dollars in staff, security and other costs. It was all just the cost of doing business with James, who ran on the pledge to bag Trump on something — anything! — if elected. For James, it was worth it. For her base, the case was never about the merits or the law. James offered lawfare against political opponents, and New York Democrats elected her with a gleeful malice. Advertisement They were thrilled as James suggested that she was going to seize Trump buildings after the judgment and sought a massive bond. Notably, even the judges who sided with James on her ability to bring this case were critical of her ethics or judgment in running on bagging an individual on unnamed crimes or civil actions. They simply chose not to do anything about it. That blindness was broken by Judge David Friedman, who, on the appeal, offered an unblinking account of how James abused the legal system. Advertisement 'Plainly, her ultimate goal was not 'market hygiene' . . . but political hygiene, ending with the derailment of President Trump's political career and the destruction of his real estate business. The voters have obviously rendered a verdict on his political career. This bench today unanimously derails the effort to destroy his business.' The five appeals court judges fractured on the rationale for their opinions. Two of the judges — Dianne T. Renwick and Peter H. Moulton — correctly found that 'the court's disgorgement order, which directs that defendants pay nearly half a billion dollars to the State of New York, is an excessive fine that violates the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution.' The rest of the judges found other reasons to negate the damages while preserving the fraud judgment. In the end, James could not get a single vote on appeal to support Judge Arthur Engoron's ridiculous fine. Engoron, like James, will continue to enjoy the status of a folk hero in New York. But he will go down in history as a judge who yielded to the demands of the mob rather than the law. Advertisement Yet nothing will change. With the exception of Judge Friedman, the mild rebukes of the appellate court of James show how Trump remains persona non grata, a disfavored figure who is entitled to no consideration, let alone sympathy, in New York. The most courage that Judge Moulton could summon was to say, 'One can reasonably question whether a candidate running for the top law enforcement position in statewide government should make such pointed statements.' I suppose one could also reasonably question whether a judge faced with blatant, open targeting of a political opponent should do more than a judicial shrug. Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro professor of public interest law at George Washington University and the author of the best-selling book 'The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage.'
The Hill
12 minutes ago
- The Hill
Trump administration launches national security investigation into wind turbine imports
The Trump administration has launched a national security probe into imports of wind turbines and their components – a move that could ultimately lead to higher tariffs for wind energy. The probe, which marks the latest salvo in the administration's efforts to stymie wind energy, was announced in a Federal Register notice on Thursday. 'On August 13, 2025, the Secretary of Commerce initiated an investigation to determine the effects on the national security of imports of wind turbines and their parts and components,' says the notice. It does not explicitly lay out the reasons for or evidence behind the probe, and the Bureau of Industry and Security did not immediately respond to questions from The Hill. But the administration requested information from the public on topics including the role of foreign supply chains, the impact of foreign government subsidies and predatory trade practices and whether there's any ability to weaponize foreign-built wind turbines and their parts. The investigation was initiated under section Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act. Such probes are supposed to determine the national security impacts of imports and allow the administration to make adjustments, including tariffs, based on their results. It comes after the administration already earlier this week increased steel and aluminum tariffs for hundreds of products including wind turbines. The probe was being launched as President Trump continues his efforts to stifle renewable energy buildout, including by repealing subsidies and setting up new hurdles for approval.
13 minutes ago
Trump blames renewable energy for rising electricity prices. Experts point elsewhere
WASHINGTON -- With electricity prices rising at more than twice the rate of inflation, President Donald Trump has lashed out at renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power, blaming them for skyrocketing energy costs. Trump called wind and solar power 'THE SCAM OF THE CENTURY!' in a social media post and vowed not to approve wind or 'farmer destroying Solar' projects. 'The days of stupidity are over in the USA!!!' he wrote on his Truth Social site. Energy analysts say renewable sources have little to do with recent price hikes, which are based on increased demand, aging infrastructure and increasingly extreme weather events such as wildfires that are exacerbated by climate change. The rapid growth of cloud computing and artificial intelligence has fueled demand for energy-hungry data centers that need power to run servers, storage systems, networking equipment and cooling systems. Increased use of electric vehicles also has boosted demand, even as the Trump administration and congressional Republicans move to restrict tax credits and other incentives for EV purchases approved under the Biden administration. Natural gas prices, meanwhile, are rising sharply amid increased exports to Europe and other international customers. More than 40% of U.S. electricity is generated by natural gas. Trump promised during the 2024 campaign to lower Americans' electric bills by 50%. Democrats have been quick to blame him for the price hikes, citing actions to hamstring clean energy in the sprawling tax-and-spending cut bill approved last month, as well as regulations since then to further restrict wind and solar power. 'Now more than ever, we need more energy, not less, to meet our increased energy demand and power our grid. Instead of increasing our energy supply Donald Trump is taking a sledgehammer to the clean energy sector, killing jobs and projects,' said New Mexico Sen. Martin Heinrich, the top Democrat on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. The GOP bill will cost thousands of jobs and impose higher energy costs nationwide, Heinrich and other critics said. A report from Energy Innovation, a non-partisan think tank, found the GOP tax law will increase the average family's energy bill by $130 annually by 2030. 'By quickly phasing out technology-neutral clean energy tax credits and adding complex material sourcing requirements,' the tax law will 'significantly hamper the development of domestic electricity generation capacity,' the report said. Renewable advocates were more blunt. 'The real scam is blaming solar for fossil fuel price spikes,' the Solar Energy Industries Association said in response to Trump's post. 'Farmers, families, and businesses choose solar to save money, preserve land, and escape high costs of the old, dirty fuels being forced on them by this administration,' the group added. Wind and solar offer some of the cheapest and fastest ways to provide electric power, said Jason Grumet, CEO of the American Clean Power Association, another industry group. More than 90% of new energy capacity that came online in the U.S. in 2024 was clean energy, he said. 'Blocking cheap, clean energy while doubling down on outdated fossil fuels makes no economic or environmental sense,' added Ted Kelly, director of U.S. clean energy for the Environmental Defense Fund, a nonprofit advocacy group. Energy Secretary Chris Wright blamed rising prices on 'momentum' from Biden-era policies that backed renewable power over fossil fuel sources such as oil, coal and natural gas. 'That momentum is pushing prices up right now. And who's going to get blamed for it? We're going to get blamed because we're in office,' Wright told POLITICO during a visit to Iowa last week. About 60 percent of the state's electricity comes from wind. Not all the pushback comes from Democrats. Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, a Republican who backs wind power, has placed a hold on three Treasury nominees to ensure wind and solar have 'an appropriate glidepath for the orderly phase-out of the tax credits' approved in the 2022 climate law under former President Joe Biden. Grassley said he was encouraged by new Treasury guidance that limits tax credits for wind and solar projects but does not eliminate them. The guidance 'seems to offer a viable path forward for the wind and solar industries to continue to meet increased energy demand,' Grassley said in a statement. John Quigley, senior fellow at the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania, said the Republican tax law will increase U.S. power bills by slowing construction of solar, wind, and battery projects and could eliminate as many as 45,000 jobs by 2030. Trump administration polices that emphasize fossil fuels are 'an extremely backward force in this conversation,' Quigley said. 'Besides ceding the clean energy future to other nations, we are paying for fossil foolishness with more than money — with our health and with our safety. And our children will pay an even higher price.'
