Latest news with #Fourteenthamendments
The Intercept
09-05-2025
- Politics
- The Intercept
'I Don't Know.' Trump's Preferred Response to All Kinds of Questions
President Donald Trump keeps saying he doesn't know what his own administration is up to. Three times in the last week, Trump responded to questions about his signature policies by expressing ignorance. Is he truly clueless? Is he fully aware of the answer but using ignorance as a cover? Whatever the case, the White House doesn't want to talk about it. 'I don't know. I really don't.' The first instance came in comments to NBC News' Kristen Welker on May 4. Though Trump has twice placed his hand on a bible and sworn, to the best of his ability, to 'preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States,' he seemed to have forgotten those oaths on 'Meet the Press.' Asked whether everyone in the United States is entitled to due process — the constitutional rights enshrined in both the Fifth and the Fourteenth amendments — Trump was foggy. 'I don't know. I'm not, I'm not a lawyer,' he said. 'I don't know.' When reports surfaced May 7 that Trump planned to deport hundreds of immigrants to Libya, a reporter put the question to him: 'Is your administration sending migrants to Libya?' 'I don't know,' Trump replied. 'You'll have to ask the Department of Homeland Security.' While fielding questions that same day in the Oval Office, Trump was asked whether he agreed with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's comments about potential tariff exemptions for products that families rely on, such as baby car seats. Trump, again, appeared vexed. 'I don't know, I'll think about it,' the president said. 'I don't know. I really don't.' 'I don't know. I'm not, I'm not a lawyer.' Trump repeatedly cast his predecessor, President Joe Biden, as senile and inept. 'He can't do an interview. He's incompetent,' Trump said of Biden while he was running for president in 2020. 'To be president, you have to be sharp and tough and so many other things.' During last year's presidential campaign Trump derided Biden's 'hazy memory' and dusted off his 'Sleepy Joe' dig from the prior election cycle. 'I'm not sure that Biden knows what the hell's going on,' Trump said last year. 'I don't think he knows he's alive, actually.' In 2020, Trump bragged about passing a mental competence test. 'I aced it,' he said of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment test, noting it was 'very hard,' specifically the last five questions. The test is not, however, supposed to be hard if you aren't suffering from some form of dementia. During a press gaggle last month, Trump boasted about the results of a more recent test. 'I wanted to be a little different than Biden. I took a cognitive test and I don't know what to tell you other than I got every answer right,' he boasted. Asked if it was the same one he had taken in 2020, Trump replied: 'I think it's a pretty well-known test. Whatever it is, I got every one.' A little more than a minute later, Trump was asked about the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland father sent to a notorious prison in El Salvador for alleged ties to the MS-13 gang. 'How do you plan to respond to the Supreme Court ruling and the other courts about the gentleman who was in Maryland who was put in the El Salvador prison?' asked a reporter. 'Is that the one that was not Tren de Aragua but he was MS-13?' Trump said. 'Just the one that they've said needs to come back,' the reporter responded. 'Was he MS-13? 'Cause I only know about that,' Trump offered. 'I mean, I don't know which one.'
CBS News
01-04-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Pennsylvania mail-in ballots don't need accurate envelope dates, federal judge rules
Election boards in Pennsylvania's 67 counties may not invalidate mail-in ballots simply because they lack accurate, handwritten dates on their exterior return envelopes, a federal judge ruled Monday. The decision by U.S. District Judge Susan Paradise Baxter, the latest in a long-running legal dispute over what is a small percentage of votes cast in the state, was issued more than two months after the state Supreme Court announced it also would consider the issue. Baxter wrote that most counties did not try to argue that the exterior dates, which are not used to show whether a ballot was received in time, serve an important state interest in regulating elections. The Republican National Committee and one county, Berks, did argue the dates help combat voting fraud, Baxter wrote. "Absent from the record, however, is any evidence demonstrating how this requirement furthers that purported interest," the judge wrote. The exterior envelope dating mandate violates the U.S. Constitution, she ruled, by impairing the right to vote under the First and Fourteenth amendments. RNC spokesperson Abigail Jackson said it will appeal the decision, and Jeff Bukowski, Berks County's lawyer, said he will discuss a potential appeal with the county commissioners. Jackson described the external envelope signature requirement as a commonsense safeguard. The voter and groups that sued, including Democratic campaign organizations and a teachers' union, called the exterior envelope dates "nothing more than a 'compliance test'" to show how state voters "'can follow written instructions,'" Baxter said. She ruled there is no state interest in requiring the signatures and noted that more than 10,000 votes statewide were invalidated as a result of the dating mandate in the 2022 election. "Such disenfranchisement burdens the right to vote and there is no valid state interest to weigh this against," Baxter wrote. A decision by Baxter throwing out the envelope date mandate in a separate case was eventually reversed by the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, but it was decided on a different issue. Lower courts have repeatedly deemed it unconstitutional or illegal to throw out such ballots. But higher courts — including the state Supreme Court most recently on Nov. 1 — have blocked those decisions from taking effect. New envelope designs have helped reduce the number of invalidated votes.
Associated Press
31-03-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
Pennsylvania mail-in ballots don't need accurate envelope dates, federal judge rules
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Election boards in Pennsylvania's 67 counties may not invalidate mail-in ballots simply because they lack accurate, handwritten dates on their exterior return envelopes, a federal judge ruled Monday. The decision by U.S. District Judge Susan Paradise Baxter, the latest in a long-running legal dispute over what is a small percentage of votes cast in the state, was issued more than two months after the state Supreme Court announced it also would consider the issue. Baxter wrote that most counties did not try to argue that the exterior dates, which are not used to show whether a ballot was received in time, serve an important state interest in regulating elections. The Republican National Committee and one county, Berks, did argue the dates help combat voting fraud, Baxter wrote. 'Absent from the record, however, is any evidence demonstrating how this requirement furthers that purported interest,' the judge wrote. The exterior envelope dating mandate violates the U.S. Constitution, she ruled, by impairing the right to vote under the First and Fourteenth amendments. Jeff Bukowski, Berks County's lawyer, said he will discuss a potential appeal with the county commissioners. Phone messages were left Monday with lawyers for the state and national Republican Party groups that intervened in the case and lost the ruling. The voter and groups that sued, including Democratic campaign organizations and a teachers' union, called the exterior envelope dates 'nothing more than a 'compliance test'' to show how state voters ''can follow written instructions,'' Baxter said. She ruled there is no state interest in requiring the signatures and noted that more than 10,000 votes statewide were invalidated as a result of the dating mandate in the 2022 election. 'Such disenfranchisement burdens the right to vote and there is no valid state interest to weigh this against,' Baxter wrote. A decision by Baxter throwing out the envelope date mandate in a separate case was eventually reversed by the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, but it was decided on a different issue.
Yahoo
01-03-2025
- Yahoo
Lawyer of Luigi Mangione says murder suspect's rights were violated in McDonald's arrest
Evidence police turned up when arresting Luigi Mangione, the lead suspect in the slaying of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, should not be allowed in court, according to his lawyer. Police making the arrest at a McDonald's restaurant in Altoona, Pennsylvania, failed to follow basic protocol, according to Blair County court filings released Friday. Officers questioned and searched Mangione without reading him Miranda rights afforded by the Constitution, making any statements or evidence they uncovered then inadmissible in court, Mangione's lawyer argues. The motion to suppress evidence in Pennsylvania is the latest turn in the case that's captured global attention as the celebrity suspect has racked up charges in two states and on the federal level. The court documents also reveal new details about how police made the arrest. Mangione's capture came at the end of a days-long manhunt for a suspect in the execution-style killing. Police celebrated the ignominious end to the search and touted evidence they found on him. Mangione had a gun in his backpack that investigators linked to shell casings at the scene of the Thompson's murder in Manhattan. 'Any reasonable person in [Mangione's] position would have thought he/she was being restrained, detained and otherwise not free to leave,' writes Thomas M. Dickey, Mangione's lawyer in Pennsylvania. "The curtailment of [Mangione's] liberty and the detaining of the Defendant at this time" violated the Fourth and Fourteenth amendments. State prosecutors in Pennsylvania could not be immediately reached for comment. Dickey did not respond to repeated requests for comment. The development in the case in Pennsylvania comes a week after Mangione's Manhattan attorney argued in New York state court that he had been unlawfully searched during his arrest and that she would try to have any evidence uncovered and excluded from court. The filing out of Pennsylvania offers new details on how Altoona police approached and ultimately detained the lead suspect in the CEO slaying. On December 9, at around 9:30 a.m., two officers arrived at the McDonald's where Mangione had been for about 30 minutes, according to the court filings. The officers entered and blocked Mangione from leaving as he sat at a corner table by 'forming a human law enforcement wall' around him, Dickey writes. The aggressive posture of the officers effectively detained Mangione, he says. Then officers told Mangione to provide identification and ordered him to put his hands on his head. 'At no time did the two (2) officers indicate that [Mangione] was free to go,' Dickey argues. 'Nor did they explain the reasons as to why Defendant was being detained; other than that, he looked suspicious and/or overstayed his welcome as a customer at McDonald's.' More police soon arrived. As many as 10 officers blocked him from leaving. The effective detainment and further questioning came without officers reading Miranda rights to Mangione, which include his right to remain silent and the right to an attorney. At one point Mangione "shook his head" to say he didn't want to talk to police and an officer said he wasn't in custody, according to Dickey. "This was materially false, inaccurate and contrary to law," the lawyer contends. Police only informed Mangione he was under investigation about 15 minutes into his detainment, Dickey says, and only read him Miranda rights after almost 20 minutes of questioning. Officers also searched his bag. Among the items police found in Mangione's backpack were a handgun, a suspected 3D-printed silencer, a red notebook police have called a manifesto, nearly $8,000, almost $2,000 in foreign currency, a Polaroid camera and a Greyhound bus ticket from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh. Mangione faces a range of changes across different courthouses. Pennsylvania prosecutors have charged him with forgery, carrying an unlicensed firearm and presenting a false ID to law enforcement, among other charges. New York state prosecutors delivered an 11-count indictment against Mangione charing him with first-degree murder and murder as an act of terrorism among other crimes. Federal prosecutors have charged him with murder, use of a firearm silencer in committing a violent crime and interstate stalking. The federal charges carry an added weight: prosecutors could argue Mangione deserves the death penalty if he's found guilty. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Police arrested Luigi Mangione improperly at McDonald's, lawyer says
USA Today
01-03-2025
- USA Today
Lawyer of Luigi Mangione says murder suspect's rights were violated in McDonald's arrest
Lawyer of Luigi Mangione says murder suspect's rights were violated in McDonald's arrest Luigi Mangione's Pennsylvania attorney says police arrested the lead suspect in the slaying of a healthcare CEO improperly. He hopes evidence discovered then will not be allowed in court. Show Caption Hide Caption Luigi Mangione illegally searched during arrest, lawyer says Luigi Mangione is accused of fatally gunning down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on a Manhattan street in December. Evidence police turned up when arresting Luigi Mangione, the lead suspect in the slaying of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, should not be allowed in court, according to his lawyer. Police making the arrest at a McDonald's restaurant in Altoona, Pennsylvania, failed to follow basic protocol, according to Blair County court filings released Friday. Officers questioned and searched Mangione without reading him Miranda rights afforded by the Constitution, making any statements or evidence they uncovered then inadmissible in court, Mangione's lawyer argues. The motion to suppress evidence in Pennsylvania is the latest turn in the case that's captured global attention as the celebrity suspect has racked up charges in two states and on the federal level. The court documents also reveal new details about how police made the arrest. Mangione's capture came at the end of a days-long manhunt for a suspect in the execution-style killing. Police celebrated the ignominious end to the search and touted evidence they found on him. Mangione had a gun in his backpack that investigators linked to shell casings at the scene of the Thompson's murder in Manhattan. 'Any reasonable person in [Mangione's] position would have thought he/she was being restrained, detained and otherwise not free to leave,' writes Thomas M. Dickey, Mangione's lawyer in Pennsylvania. "The curtailment of [Mangione's] liberty and the detaining of the Defendant at this time" violated the Fourth and Fourteenth amendments. State prosecutors in Pennsylvania could not be immediately reached for comment. Dickey did not respond to repeated requests for comment. The development in the case in Pennsylvania comes a week after Mangione's Manhattan attorney argued in New York state court that he had been unlawfully searched during his arrest and that she would try to have any evidence uncovered and excluded from court. New details on arrest The filing out of Pennsylvania offers new details on how Altoona police approached and ultimately detained the lead suspect in the CEO slaying. On December 9, at around 9:30 a.m., two officers arrived at the McDonald's where Mangione had been for about 30 minutes, according to the court filings. The officers entered and blocked Mangione from leaving as he sat at a corner table by 'forming a human law enforcement wall' around him, Dickey writes. The aggressive posture of the officers effectively detained Mangione, he says. Then officers told Mangione to provide identification and ordered him to put his hands on his head. 'At no time did the two (2) officers indicate that [Mangione] was free to go,' Dickey argues. 'Nor did they explain the reasons as to why Defendant was being detained; other than that, he looked suspicious and/or overstayed his welcome as a customer at McDonald's.' More police soon arrived. As many as 10 officers blocked him from leaving. The effective detainment and further questioning came without officers reading Miranda rights to Mangione, which include his right to remain silent and the right to an attorney. At one point Mangione "shook his head" to say he didn't want to talk to police and an officer said he wasn't in custody, according to Dickey. "This was materially false, inaccurate and contrary to law," the lawyer contends. Police only informed Mangione he was under investigation about 15 minutes into his detainment, Dickey says, and only read him Miranda rights after almost 20 minutes of questioning. Officers also searched his bag. Among the items police found in Mangione's backpack were a handgun, a suspected 3D-printed silencer, a red notebook police have called a manifesto, nearly $8,000, almost $2,000 in foreign currency, a Polaroid camera and a Greyhound bus ticket from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh. What's next for Mangione? Mangione faces a range of changes across different courthouses. Pennsylvania prosecutors have charged him with forgery, carrying an unlicensed firearm and presenting a false ID to law enforcement, among other charges. New York state prosecutors delivered an 11-count indictment against Mangione charing him with first-degree murder and murder as an act of terrorism among other crimes. Federal prosecutors have charged him with murder, use of a firearm silencer in committing a violent crime and interstate stalking. The federal charges carry an added weight: prosecutors could argue Mangione deserves the death penalty if he's found guilty.
