Latest news with #TrumpAllies
CNN
21 hours ago
- Politics
- CNN
Brother of AG Pam Bondi and a former Ed Martin aide lose bid to take over DC Bar
Bradley Bondi, the brother of Attorney General Pam Bondi, overwhelmingly lost his bid to be the next president of the DC Bar in a closely watched election that drew national attention, the organization announced Monday. The powerful organization plays a limited role in enforcing ethics rules, but critics of President Donald Trump raised concerns over Bondi running the group at a time of increasing tension between the legal profession and the Trump administration. Diane Seltzer, an employment law attorney who ran on a platform of supporting members during a time of 'great uncertainty' won the election receiving 34,982 votes. Bondi garnered 3,490 votes. 'I trusted that our members would elect a president-elect who they know will be fierce for them and hear them with respect to the issues that matter [to them],' Seltzer said after learning about the election results. Alicia Long, a former adviser to Trump US Attorney nominee Ed Martin and who now serves as principal DC US Attorney under Jeanine Pirro, also lost decisively in a bid to be the treasurer of the organization. The failed bids of Trump allies Bondi and Long come as the Trump administration has targeted top law firms in the country with executive orders, directing them to stop hiring employees, suspending their security clearances and stopping them from doing business with the federal government. 'I am disgusted by how rabid partisans lurched this election into the political gutter, turning a professional campaign into baseless attacks, identity politics, and partisan recrimination. Never before has a DC Bar election been leveraged along partisan lines in this way, an explicit call for members to vote based not on what's best for the institution but according to their political affiliations,' Bondi said in a statement provided to CNN on the outcome of the DC Bar election. 'Their tactics, which included smearing me over my family and peddling conspiracies about my intentions, were not just an assault on my integrity but on the D.C. Bar's very mission.' According to the press release from the DC Bar, there were over 89,000 members of the DC bar eligible to vote in this year's election. The organization received a 43% member turnout for the election.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump's past feuds don't bode well for Elon Musk
WASHINGTON − If history is any guide, and there is a lot of history, the explosive new falling-out between President Donald Trump and Elon Musk is not going to end well for the former White House adviser and world's richest man. The political battlefield is littered with the scorched remains of some of Trump's former allies who picked a fight with him or were on the receiving end of one. Lawyer Michael Cohen. Political adviser Steve Bannon. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Defense Secretary James Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. John Bolton, John Kelly and Chris Christie, to name just a few. 'If what happened to me is any indication of how they handle these matters, then Elon is going to get decimated,' said Cohen, the former long-term Trump lawyer and fixer who once said he'd 'take a bullet' for his boss. Musk, he said, "just doesn't understand how to fight this type of political guerrilla warfare." 'They're going to take his money, they're going to shutter his businesses, and they're going to either incarcerate or deport him,' Cohen said. 'He's probably got the White House working overtime already, as we speak, figuring out how to close his whole damn thing down.' Cohen had perhaps the most spectacular blowup, until now, with Trump. He served time in prison after Trump threw him under the bus by denying any knowledge of pre-election payments Cohen made to a porn actress to keep her alleged tryst with Trump quiet before the 2016 election. More: President Trump threatens Elon Musk's billions in government contracts as alliance craters Cohen felt so betrayed by Trump that he titled his memoir 'Disloyal,' but the Trump administration tried to block its publication. Cohen ultimately fought back, becoming a star witness for the government in the state 'hush money' case and helped get Trump convicted by a Manhattan jury. More: Impeachment? Deportation? Crazy? 6 takeaways from the wild feud between Trump and Elon Musk Some suffered similar legal attacks and other slings and arrows, including Trump taunts and his trademark nasty nicknames. Trump vilified others, casting them into the political wilderness with his MAGA base. When Sessions recused himself from the Justice Department's investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 election, Trump savaged him, calling his appointment a 'mistake' and lobbing other epithets. Sessions resigned under pressure in 2018. When he tried to resurrect his political career by running for his old Senate seat in Alabama, Trump endorsed his opponent, who won the GOP primary. After firing Tillerson, Trump called the former ExxonMobil chief lazy and 'dumb as a rock.' Trump still taunts Christie, an early supporter and 2016 transition chief, especially about his weight. Trump also had a falling-out with Bannon, who was instrumental in delivering his presidential victory in 2016 and then joined the White House as special adviser. 'Steve Bannon has nothing to do with me or my presidency,' Trump said in 2018, a year after Bannon's ouster from the White House. 'When he was fired, he not only lost his job, he lost his mind.' Trump's Justice Department even indicted Bannon in 2020 for fraud, though the president pardoned him before leaving office. One of Trump's biggest feuds was with Bolton, whom he fired as his national security adviser in 2019. Trump used every means possible to prevent Bolton's book, 'The Room Where it Happened,' from being published, Bolton told USA TODAY on June 5. That included having the U.S. government sue his publisher on the false premise that Bolton violated a nondisclosure agreement and was leaking classified information, Bolton said. Bolton said Musk is unlike most others who have crossed swords with Trump in that he has unlimited amounts of money and control of a powerful social media platform in X to help shape the narrative. Musk also has billions in government contracts that even a vindictive Trump would have a hard time killing, as he threatened to do June 5, without significant legal challenges. Even so, Bolton said, "It's going to end up like most mud fights do, with both of them worse off. The question is how much worse the country is going to be off." This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump's past feuds don't bode well for Elon Musk
CNA
6 days ago
- Business
- CNA
White House calls South Korea election 'fair', expresses concern about Chinese influence
WASHINGTON: The White House said on Tuesday (Jun 3) that South Korea's election, which saw liberal party candidate Lee Jae-myung win the presidency, was fair, but it expressed concern about Chinese interference. "The US-ROK Alliance remains ironclad. While South Korea had a free and fair election, the United States remains concerned and opposed to Chinese interference and influence in democracies around the world," a White House official said in an emailed response to a Reuters request for comment made at an earlier White House briefing. "ROK" refers to the Republic of Korea. The official did not elaborate on the reference to alleged Chinese interference or connect it directly to the South Korean election. However, US President Donald Trump's right-wing allies have taken aim at Lee, who has spoken of the need to balance Seoul's relations with China and the United States. Laura Loomer, a far-right activist who has jockeyed her way up from online agitator to self-appointed Trump adviser, posted "RIP South Korea" on X on Tuesday after Lee's victory became clear. "The communists have taken over Korea and won the Presidential election today," she wrote. "This is terrible," she added. Loomer has shown herself to be highly influential: Several high-ranking White House officials were fired this year after she presented Trump with a list of national security staffers she perceived to be disloyal. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a statement congratulating Lee, and like the White House, spoke about the two countries' "ironclad" alliance. He made no mention of concerns about China. "The United States and the Republic of Korea share an ironclad commitment to the Alliance grounded in our Mutual Defense Treaty, shared values, and deep economic ties," Rubio said. "We are also modernising the Alliance to meet the demands of today's strategic environment and address new economic challenges." Rubio also said the United States would continue to deepen trilateral cooperation with South Korea and Japan, "to bolster regional security, enhance economic resilience, and defend our shared democratic principles." CHINA POLICIES UNDER SCRUTINY As South Korea's ousted former president, Yoon Suk Yeol, fought for his political life earlier this year, he raised unsubstantiated claims about possible fraud in South Korea's elections as one reason for his announcement of a martial law decree that had prompted his ouster. His backers adopted "Stop the Steal" slogans and expressed hopes that Trump would intervene to help, but that never came. "Most of the 'election fraud' allegations I've seen reek of conspiracy theories and paranoia," said Evans Revere, former US Deputy Ambassador for East Asian Affairs. "It's unfortunate that a White House spokesperson would allude to these, especially since Lee's margin of victory was substantial and his conservative opponent quickly and unhesitatingly conceded his loss." Last week, without providing evidence, Trump ally Mike Flynn, a retired general who briefly served as the president's national security adviser during his first term, referred in a post on X to "signs of fraud" in the South Korea election, and said a fraudulent outcome would only benefit the Chinese Communist Party. Another Trump ally, Steve Bannon, explored a similar theme of Chinese election interference on his WarRoom channel last week. Lee's past comments about China, including his statement that a conflict over Taiwan would have nothing to do with South Korea, have provided fodder for those in the US government inclined to mistrust him, said Revere. His policy approach on China, Taiwan, Russia, Japan, and alliance- and trade-related concerns will be under close scrutiny in Washington and could lead to "differences" between the two allies, he added.
New York Times
7 days ago
- Business
- New York Times
Justice Dept. Drops Biden-Era Push to Obtain Peter Navarro's Emails
The Justice Department has abruptly dropped its effort to force Peter Navarro, President Trump's trade adviser, to turn over hundreds of his emails dating to the first Trump administration to the National Archives, according to a court filing on Tuesday. The decision to drop the civil lawsuit was disclosed in a one-page notice filed in Federal District Court in the District of Columbia. The department offered no explanation for the move, but it is one of many recent actions it has taken to dismiss criminal and civil actions taken against Trump allies. Mr. Navarro, 75, had long resisted the government's request that he give the archives emails from his personal ProtonMail account relating to his role as a White House adviser, as required by the Presidential Records Act. Defiance is Mr. Navarro's default. He served about four months in the geriatric unit of a federal prison in Miami after refusing to comply with a subpoena to appear before a congressional committee investigating his false claims about the 2020 election. In 2022, the Biden Justice Department sued Mr. Navarro, one of the main architects of Mr. Trump's second-term tariff policy, to retrieve the communications. The lawsuit charged him with 'wrongfully retaining presidential records that are the property of the United States, and which constitute part of the permanent historical record of the prior administration.' The lawsuit accused Mr. Navarro of using his private email account to conduct public work, including an effort to influence the White House response to the pandemic. Those emails were needed to preserve the historical record, officials at the archives said. Mr. Navarro unsuccessfully petitioned the Supreme Court to dismiss the suit last year. A federal magistrate judge earlier reviewed about 900 messages, determining that more than 500 were not presidential records. He ordered additional hearings to decide how many of the remaining 350-plus emails needed to be turned over to the government. Mr. Navarro's lawyer did not immediately return a request for comment. Stanley Woodward, who represented Mr. Navarro in both his civil and criminal cases, recused himself after Mr. Trump appointed him in April to serve as associate attorney general.
Fox News
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Federal judge with history of anti-Trump remarks assigned to Hannah Dugan criminal case
The Milwaukee judge accused of helping an illegal immigrant evade Immigration and Customs Enforcement is back in the spotlight — this time because of the liberal federal judge presiding over her trial. U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman, 85, was randomly assigned to preside over the jury trial of Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan, who was indicted earlier this month for allegedly shielding an illegal immigrant from ICE in her courtroom. Adelman, a former Democratic lawmaker and outspoken judge, faces mounting criticism and scrutiny of his record as he handles the high-profile case. Adelman spent 20 years as a Democrat in the Wisconsin state Senate before then-President Bill Clinton nominated him in 1997 to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin. Though the judge hasn't been active in politics for years, critics note recent rulings and writings in which he's taken aim at President Donald Trump, Chief Justice Roberts and others. Some fear this continued political bias could risk his impartiality in presiding over Dugan's trial — or at least the perceptions of it, in the eyes of Trump allies. Adelman did not respond to a request for comment. In 2020, Adelman published an article for Harvard Law & Policy Review, titled, "The Roberts Court's Assault on Democracy" that set off a torrent of criticism from Trump allies and court commentators alike. The article accused Chief Justice John Roberts of breaking with his Senate confirmation testimony in 2005 — instead ushering in a "hard-right majority" on the Supreme Court, and "actively participating in undermining American democracy." Adelman also took aim at Trump, whose temperament he said "is that of an autocrat," but who he said "is also disinclined to buck the wealthy individuals and corporations who control his party." Adelman used the article to advocate for "righting the ship" of the high court, in part by embracing an approach similar to the Warren Court — known both for its landmark civil rights rulings and a slew of other progressive decisions. Adelman was later admonished by the Civility Committee for the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals for his remarks in the article. They found his remarks did not violate prohibited political activity under the Canons of Judicial Conduct, but issued the following rebuke: "The opening two sentences regarding the Chief Justice and the very pointed criticisms of Republican Party policy positions could be seen as inconsistent with a judge's duty to promote public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary and as reflecting adversely on the judge's impartiality," the committee said. Adelman later issued a public apology for those remarks. Adelman was also at the center of a major case involving Wisconsin's voter ID law, which sought to make it harder for citizens to vote. He blocked the law from taking force ahead of the elections — a decision that was later reversed by the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, which again issued a sharp rebuke of his ruling. In "our hierarchical judicial system, a district court cannot declare a statute unconstitutional just because he thinks (with or without the support of a political scientist) that the dissent was right and the majority wrong," the appeals court said, noting that Adelman did not rely on any Supreme Court precedent to base his decision. In light of his previous remarks and progressive rulings, court-watchers expect his behavior here to be closely scrutinized. It's unclear whether his behavior could assuage the concerns of longtime critics — among them, Mike Davis of the Article III Project, and conservative scholar Josh Blackman, who took aim at Adelman's 2020 remarks in a blog post at the time. This is due in part to the canons of judicial ethics, Fox News contributor Jonathan Turley noted in an op-ed for The Hill. "Because of these ethical principles, judges are usually highly restrained in their public comments, particularly about political or ideological matters," he said. Dugan's trial comes at a time when Trump and his allies have blasted so-called "activist" judges who they see as acting politically to block his agenda — suggesting her trial, and Adelman's behavior — will be under especially close scrutiny. But others noted that federal judges often take great caution to avoid the appearance of political bias, even more so in public remarks, understanding that doing so could violate the canons for judicial behavior. Many also see their roles on the court as a serious job that requires them to be impartial arbiters of the law — looking to precedent, rather than politics — as their guide. In presiding over Dugan's case, experts hope Adelman will do the same. "When I have served on panels with sitting federal judges, they often balk at even discussing the scope of constitutional rights out of concern for these canons," Turley noted in the an op-ed. "Federal judges are expected to speak through opinions in court decisions rather than in editorials or law review articles."
