Latest news with #politicaltensions
RNZ News
4 days ago
- Politics
- RNZ News
Mistakenly deported man Abrego Garcia returns to US to face migrant transport charges
By Sarah N. Lynch and Luc Cohen , Reuters Picture obtained from the X account of Salvadorean President Nayib Bukele, @nayibbukele, showing US Senator Chris Van Hollen (R) holding a meeting with Salvadoran migrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a US resident wrongfully deported to his home country, at a hotel in San Salvador on 17 April 2025. Van Hollen met with Salvadoran Abrego Garcia, whose wrongful deportation has triggered a political firestorm over President Donald Trump's hard-line immigration policies. Photo: AFP / Supplied Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the man mistakenly deported from Maryland to El Salvador by the Trump administration, has returned to the United States to face criminal charges of transporting illegal immigrants within the US, Attorney General Pam Bondi says. Abrego Garcia's case has become a flash point for escalating tensions between the executive branch and the judiciary, which has blocked a number of Trump's signature policies. The US Supreme Court ordered the Trump administration to facilitate Abrego Garcia's return, with liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor saying the government had cited no basis for what she called his "warrantless arrest." Bondi said Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele agreed to return Abrego Garcia to the US after US officials presented his government with an arrest warrant. The indictment was filed in federal court in Tennessee on 21 May, more than two months after Abrego Garcia's deportation. "The grand jury found that over the past nine years, Abrego Garcia has played a significant role in an alien smuggling ring," Bondi said in a press conference. In a statement, Abrego Garcia's lawyer, Andrew Rossman, said it would now be up to the US judicial system to ensure he received due process. "Today's action proves what we've known all along - that the administration had the ability to bring him back and just refused to do so," said Rossman, a partner at law firm Quinn Emanuel. Abrego Garcia was deported to El Salvador, despite an immigration judge's 2019 order granting him protection from deportation to El Salvador after finding he was likely to be persecuted by gangs if returned there, court records show. Critics of President Donald Trump pointed to the erroneous deportation as an example of the excesses of the Republican president's aggressive approach to stepping up deportations. US District Judge Paula Xinis has opened a probe into what, if anything, the Trump administration had done to secure his return, after his lawyers accused officials of stonewalling their requests for information. Officials countered by alleging that Abrego Garcia was a member of the MS-13 gang. His lawyers have denied that Abrego Garcia was a member of the gang and said he had not been charged with or convicted of any crime. The indictment alleges that Abrego Garcia worked with at least five co-conspirators to bring immigrants to the United States illegally, and then transport them from the border to other destinations in the country. Abrego Garcia often picked up migrants in Houston, the indictment said. The indictment also charges Abrego Garcia and two unidentified co-conspirators with transporting firearms illegally purchased in Texas for resale in Maryland. Abrego Garcia also transported illegal narcotics purchased in Texas for resale in Maryland and was on some occasions accompanied on those trips by members and associates of MS-13, according to the indictment. - Reuters
ABC News
4 days ago
- Business
- ABC News
Musk claims Trump is in 'Epstein files'
Samantha Donovan: Well, as most observers predicted, the relationship between the American president, Donald Trump, and tech billionaire, Elon Musk, has blown up in spectacular fashion. After rising tensions between the pair over a big spending bill that Mr. Musk believes will blow out the nation's debt, he's now alleging the president features in the so-called Epstein files, the dossiers the late sex trafficker, Jeffrey Epstein, kept on the rich and powerful as leverage. Isabel Moussalli reports. Isabel Moussalli: From Seattle, Washington to Austin, Texas, Americans aren't surprised by a bit of fallout between their president and the world's richest man. Opinion: Yeah, they're two very different guys that I think it was doomed from the beginning. Opinion: Looks like a lot of petty fighting, a lot of male hubris just out on display. Opinion: How fast it's going downhill, it is pretty impressive, but yeah, it's not surprising in any form. Isabel Moussalli: During the US election campaign, tech billionaire Elon Musk was right by Donald Trump's side, even donating more than $250 million to his campaign. Then after the victory, President Trump gave Elon Musk a controversial role, running the Department of Government Efficiency, with the aim of slashing trillions of dollars from government spending, mainly by cutting jobs. Last week, he left that role and has been criticising the president's signature bill, which is forecast to increase government debt. But the feud may go deeper. Emma Shortis: There has been some suggestion that it goes back to a briefing on China that Elon Musk was scheduled to go to in the Pentagon that Trump was deeply uncomfortable with and that the two clashed over that, over access to power. Isabel Moussalli: Dr Emma Shortis is the Director of International and Security Affairs at the Australia Institute. Emma Shortis: The Trump administration is also backgrounding that Elon Musk is upset that Trump's so-called big, beautiful bill takes away tax breaks and subsidies for electric vehicles, which of course will directly affect Elon Musk's companies. But look, I think more broadly, it is a fairly straightforward clash of enormous male egos. Isabel Moussalli: President Trump has now expressed he's disappointed by Elon Musk's stance. Donald Trump: Elon and I had a great relationship. I don't know if we're well anymore. I was surprised because we had a wonderful send-off. He said wonderful things about me. Couldn't have nicer, said the best things. He's worn the hat. Trump was right about everything. And I am right about the great, big, beautiful bill. Isabel Moussalli: And he said Elon Musk's EV subsidies should be removed. Now there has been an even more dramatic escalation. Mr Musk took to his social media platform, X, to say the following, "'Time to drop the really big bomb. Donald Trump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they haven't been made public. Have a nice day.'" This relates to long-running speculation about the evidence gathered on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. In 2019, he was arrested on sex trafficking charges, but took his own life in prison. Many court documents have been made public while others have remained sealed. And some suggest that's been done to cover up some of Epstein's high-profile associates. Emma Shortis: Trump had suggested really that he would release the so-called Epstein files, which have evidence about what went on in Epstein's kind of empire, I suppose. And those documents have not been released. And Elon Musk has tweeted overnight that the reason they haven't been released, he's alleging the reason they haven't been released is because Trump is named. Isabel Moussalli: Mr Musk didn't provide any evidence for his claim that Donald Trump is named in the Epstein files. So is his latest statement based on fact or fiction? Emma Shortis: Of course, I think without having seen the documents, that's difficult to say. I think it's unlikely that Trump isn't named, that at some point in those files, there had been widespread suggestions that he has been, because of course, those powerful circles in New York of moneyed Democrats and Republicans are very small and Epstein moved across all of them. So it would be almost surprising if Trump wasn't somehow named or associated with Epstein, but the allegation is a very serious one given what Epstein himself is accused of doing. Isabel Moussalli: Professor Gordon Flake from the Perth US Asia Center doesn't believe this latest controversy will have a big impact on President Trump. Gordon Flake: We have been told probably literally hundreds of times that this is going to be something that moves the dial on Donald Trump and it never proves to be true. I mean, what would not have thought that somebody had been convicted with 34 felony accounts would be, you know, it would turn to the presidency. So I'm a little bit sceptical that something like this is gonna fundamentally change the debate around Trump or the Trump presidency. Isabel Moussalli: As for the relationship between Elon Musk and Donald Trump, Professor Flake believes the back and forth criticism will continue to flow and continue to distract from serious policy issues. Samantha Donovan: Isabel Moussalli.
CBC
26-05-2025
- Business
- CBC
Metro Vancouver scales back director pay, strikes committee to restructure
Recent cost overruns to the tune of billions of dollars have raised serious questions about how Metro Vancouver is run. In response, the regional district ordered an independent governance review. That report described Metro Vancouver's board as too large and difficult to manage. It also pointed to growing political tensions, a culture of mistrust, and a lack of proper oversight. Now members voted to cut some perks and improve accountability. For what that will look like, The Early Edition's Stephen Quinn was joined by Board Chair Mike Hurley.
