US Justice Dept. asks Epstein associate Maxwell to speak to prosecutors
(This story has been corrected to fix the spelling of Ghislaine in paragraph 1)
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The Independent
44 minutes ago
- The Independent
Higher US tariffs part of the price Europe was willing to pay for its security and arms for Ukraine
France's prime minister described it as a 'dark day' for the European Union, a 'submission' to U.S. tariff demands. Commentators said EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen's handshake with President Donald Trump amounted to capitulation. The trouble is, Europe depends mightily on the United States, and not just for trade. Mirroring Trump, Von der Leyen gushed that the arrangement she endorsed over the weekend to set U.S. tariff levels on most European exports to 15%, which is 10% higher than currently, was 'huge.' Her staff texted reporters insisting that the pact, which starts to enter force on Friday, is the 'biggest trade deal ever.' A month after NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte ingratiated himself with Trump by referring to him as 'daddy,' the Europeans had again conceded that swallowing the costs and praising an unpredictable president is more palatable than losing America. 'It's not only about the trade. It's about security. It's about Ukraine. It's about current geopolitical volatility. I cannot go into all the details,' EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič told reporters Monday. 'I can assure you it was not only about the trade,' he insisted, a day after 'the deal' was sealed in an hour-long meeting once Trump finished playing a round of golf with his son at the course he owns in Scotland. The state of Europe's security dependency Indeed, Europe depends on the U.S. for its security and that security is anything but a game, especially since Russia invaded Ukraine. U.S. allies are convinced that, should he win, President Vladimir Putin is likely to take aim at one of them next. So high are these fears that European countries are buying U.S. weapons to help Ukraine to defend itself. Some are prepared to send their own air defense systems and replace them with U.S. equipment, once it can be delivered. 'We're going to be sending now military equipment and other equipment to NATO, and they'll be doing what they want, but I guess it's for the most part working with Ukraine,' Trump said Sunday, sounding ambivalent about America's role in the alliance. The Europeans also are wary about a U.S. troop drawdown, which the Pentagon is expected to announce by October. Around 84,000 U.S. personnel are based in Europe, and they guarantee NATO's deterrent effect against an adversary like Russia. At the same time, Trump is slapping duties on America's own NATO partners, ostensibly due to concerns about U.S. security interests, using Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act, a logic that seems absurd from across the Atlantic. Weaning Europe off foreign suppliers 'The EU is in a difficult situation because we're very dependent on the U.S. for security,' said Niclas Poitiers at the Bruegel research institution in Brussels. 'Ukraine is a very big part of that, but also generally our defense is underwritten by NATO.' 'I think there was not a big willingness to pick a major fight, which is the one (the EU) might have needed with the U.S.' to better position itself on trade, Poitiers told The Associated Press about key reasons for von der Leyen to accept the tariff demands. Part of the agreement involves a commitment to buy American oil and gas. Over the course of the Russia-Ukraine war, now in its fourth year, most of the EU has slashed its dependence on unreliable energy supplies from Russia, but Hungary and Slovakia still have not. 'Purchases of U.S. energy products will diversify our sources of supply and contribute to Europe's energy security. We will replace Russian gas and oil with significant purchases of U.S. LNG, oil and nuclear fuels,' von der Leyen said in Scotland on Sunday. In essence, as Europe slowly weans itself off Russian energy it is also struggling to end its reliance on the United States for its security. The Trump administration has warned its priorities now lie elsewhere, in Asia, the Middle East and on its own borders. That was why European allies agreed at NATO's summit last month to spend hundreds of billions of dollars more on defense over the next decade. Primarily for their own security, but also to keep America among their ranks. The diplomacy involved was not always elegant. 'Europe is going to pay in a BIG way, as they should, and it will be your win,' Rutte wrote in a private text message to Trump, which the U.S. leader promptly posted on social media. Rutte brushed off questions about potential embarrassment or concern that Trump had aired it, saying: 'I have absolutely no trouble or problem with that because there's nothing in it which had to stay secret.' A price Europe feels it must pay Von der Leyen did not appear obsequious in her meeting with Trump. She often stared at the floor or smiled politely. She did not rebut Trump when he said that only America is sending aid to Gaza. The EU is world's biggest supplier of aid to the Palestinians. With Trump's threat of 30% tariffs hanging over European exports — whether real or brinksmanship is hard to say — and facing the prospect of a full-blown trade dispute while Europe's biggest war in decades rages, 15% may have been a cheap price to pay. 'In terms of the economic impact on the EU economy itself, it will be negative,' Poitiers said. 'But it's not something that is on a comparable magnitude like the energy crisis after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, or even COVID.' 'This is a negative shock for our economy, but it is something that's very manageable,' he said. It remains an open question as to how long this entente will last. ___
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Ghislaine Maxwell's life could be in danger in prison, reporter warns
Ghislaine Maxwell's life may be in jeopardy behind bars after she allegedly shared new information about Jeffrey Epstein with the U.S. Department of Justice, according to one of the top reporters covering the scandal. Julie K. Brown, the Miami Herald journalist whose 2018 reporting helped bring Epstein and Maxwell back into the spotlight, said the 63-year-old British socialite is not safe inside the Federal Correctional Institute in Tallahassee, Florida. In a podcast, she said: 'It is so easy to cover up a crime in jail. The cameras are broken, guards fall asleep - they are, for the most part, very corrupt.' Brown added that Maxwell's recent decision to cooperate with federal investigators had put a target on her back and claimed that she 'wouldn't necessarily be safe anywhere.' Concerns over her safety have loomed long before she agreed to speak with the DOJ, which now includes former Trump lawyer Todd Blanche as Deputy Attorney General. Her lawyer, David Markus, previously described the intense surveillance his client faced in custody following her 2020 arrest. The scrutiny was widely believed to be an attempt to avoid a repeat of Epstein's death in August 2019, when he was found dead in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Centre in Manhattan. Speaking on the Daily Beast podcast, Brown told host Joanna Coles: 'Look at Epstein. He was probably one of the most high-profile prisoners that we've ever had, and he still was managed to be found dead. Anything's possible.' A November 2023 report by the Justice Department's Inspector General raised fresh concerns about conditions inside the Tallahassee prison, where Maxwell is serving her 20-year sentence. The review found 'weaknesses with inmate search procedures and limited security camera coverage.' Two inmates died at the facility last year - one at the federal prison, and another at the adjacent detention centre, with no cause of death released. Maxwell has also reportedly been threatened behind bars. A Daily Mail report says that two inmates discovered she had received extra food from a kitchen worker to help her maintain a vegan diet. They allegedly threatened her unless she gave them her entire $360 monthly commissary allowance. Maxwell allegedly reported the pair, and they were placed in solitary confinement for nearly 50 days. Upon their release, Maxwell is said to have become so paranoid about retaliation that she stopped using the showers. Brown also said in the podcast that Maxwell could also face pressure to clear Donald Trump's name if she wants to secure a reduced sentence or early release. She said: 'My guess is they're going to try to find something, because this story isn't going away for Trump. So my guess is they're going to try to figure out some way to have her make a public statement of some sort that Trump wasn't involved.' Maxwell is currently appealing her 2021 conviction for grooming minors for Epstein's abuse. In a petition filed with the Supreme Court on Monday, her legal team argued that she should have been shielded from prosecution under Epstein's controversial 2007 plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney's Office in Florida.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
CNN fact-checks Trump's Beyoncé $11 million payment claim
A CNN fact check poured cold water on President Donald Trump's claim that Kamala Harris' campaign paid megastar Beyoncé $11 million for an endorsement. The famous singer endorsed Harris at a campaign rally in Houston just weeks before the election last November in a last-minute bid to jolt support for the Democratic nominee. Trump has alleged that Harris's political team illegally paid for the support, and that they should be prosecuted for it. 'I'm looking at the large amount of money owed by the Democrats, after the presidential e lection , and the fact that they admit to paying, probably illegally, eleven million dollars to singer Beyoncé for an endorsement (she never sang, not one note, and left the stage to a booing and angry audience!)' Trump wrote on Saturday. The Truth Social post also alleged that Oprah Winfrey was paid $3 million for 'expenses' and MSNBC's Al Sharpton was given $600,000. 'These ridiculous fees were incorrectly stated in the books and records,' Trump claimed. 'You are not allowed to pay for an endorsement. It is totally illegal to do so. Can you imagine what would happen if politicians started paying for people to endorse them. All hell would break out! Kamala, and all of those that received Endorsement money, broke the law. They should all be prosecuted!' However, an article from CNN's fact checker Daniel Dale asserted that Trump's allegation was baseless. Evidence of the $11 million payment has not been reported. The White House did not respond to the Daily Mail's request for evidence of the multi-million dollar payment. Harris' campaign has denied paying for endorsements and Beyoncé's mother, Tina Knowles, has called the allegations a 'lie.' 'Beyonce did not receive a penny for speaking at a presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harrris' (sic) Rally in Houston,' Knowles wrote on her Instagram. According to an Federal Election Commission (FEC) filing , Harris' campaign payed the signer's production company, Parkwood Production Media, $165,000 for 'campaign event production.' Additionally, a spokesperson for Harris' campaign said last year that the political operation did not pay for celebrity endorsements, but they did concede that they had to cover costs associated with the production, like staff and equipment. Another denial came when a spokesperson for Beyoncé told PolitiFact last year that the claim the singer was paid millions was 'beyond ridiculous.' Harris' campaign paid a non-profit led by Sharpton a total of $500,000, FEC filings show. The Democrat's political operation also paid Harpo Productions, a company owned by Oprah, $1 million for a live stream event. Trump last spoke about the alleged endorsement payment in February. 'They go out and they pay Beyoncé, as an example. Somebody just showed me something. They gave her $11 million,' the president said at the time. In a May post on Truth Social the president again slammed the alleged payment to Beyoncé while also suggesting that Bruce Springsteen accepted money for his performance at a Harris rally.
