WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, asked federal judges on Thursday to dismiss tax and gun cases against him, citing a ruling in Florida this week that threw out a separate prosecution of former President Donald Trump.
The requests in federal court in Delaware and California underscore the potential ramifications of US District Judge Aileen Cannon’s dismissal Monday of the classified documents case against Trump and the possibility that it could unsettle the legal landscape surrounding Justice Department special counsels.
Both Hunter Biden and Trump were prosecuted by special counsels appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland. In dismissing the Trump case, Cannon ruled that the appointment of the special counsel who prosecuted Trump, Jack Smith, violated the Constitution because he was appointed directly to the position by Garland instead of being nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate.
Smith’s team has said the Justice Department followed long-establishment precedent — for instance, the Trump-era appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller to investigate Russian election interference was upheld by courts — and has appealed Cannon’s dismissal to a federal appeals court in Atlanta.
In a pair of filings Thursday, lawyers for Hunter Biden said the same logic should apply in his cases and should result in the dismissal of a pending tax prosecution in Los Angeles — currently set for trial in September — and a separate firearm case in Delaware, in which Hunter Biden was convicted in June of three felony charges.
Hunter Biden’s team had raised similar arguments before, unsuccessfully, but they say there’s now good reason to reconsider them. Both of Hunter Biden’s cases are being overseen by judges nominated by Trump. Cannon, the judge who threw out Trump’s case, was also nominated by the former Republican president.
“Based on these new legal developments, Mr. Biden moves to dismiss the indictment brought against him because the Special Counsel who initiated this prosecution was appointed in violation of the Appointments Clause as well,” Hunter Biden’s lawyers wrote. They also cited an opinion this month by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas that questioned the propriety of a special counsel appointment.
“The Attorney General relied upon the exact same authority to appoint the Special Counsel in both the Trump and Biden matters, and both appointments are invalid for the same reason,” the lawyers added.
Smith and the special counsel who prosecuted Hunter Biden, David Weiss, are different in that Smith was hired from outside the Justice Department while Weiss was working as the US Attorney in Delaware at the time of his appointment.
A spokesperson for Weiss said they are aware of the filings from Hunter Biden’s legal team and “will respond in due course.”
In her ruling, Cannon noted that a special counsel’s powers are “arguably broader than a traditional United States Attorney, as he is permitted to exercise his investigatory powers across multiple districts within the same investigation.”
Hunter Biden’s lawyers pointed out Thursday that that’s exactly what happened in his case, as Weiss in his role as special counsel filed cases against Biden in California and Delaware and separately brought charges against a former FBI informant charged with lying about the Bidens.
“Mere US Attorneys do not have that power. Given that Congress requires a US Attorney to be nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate, it makes no sense to assume that Congress would allow the Attorney General to unilaterally appoint someone as Special Counsel with equal or greater power than a US Attorney,” Hunter Biden’s lawyers wrote. “That is what has been attempted here.”
Jurors found Hunter Biden guilty in June of lying about his drug use in 2018 on a federal form to buy a firearm that he had for about 11 days. The trial put a spotlight on a dark period in Hunter Biden’s life during which he became addicted to crack cocaine after the 2015 death of his brother, Beau. He has said he’s been sober since 2019.
Hunter Biden faces up to 25 years in prison when he is sentenced in the gun case by US District Judge Maryellen Noreika, though as a first-time offender he would not get anywhere near the maximum, and there’s no guarantee the judge would send him to prison. She has not set a sentencing date.
The tax case centers on at least $1.4 million in taxes prosecutors say he failed to pay over four years. The back taxes have since been paid.
The long-running federal investigation into the president’s son had looked ready to wrap up with a plea deal last year, but the agreement imploded after a judge raised questions about it. Hunter Biden was subsequently indicted in both cases.
Hunter Biden seeks dismissal of tax, gun cases, citing decision to toss Trump’s classified docs case
https://arab.news/4s4xz
Hunter Biden seeks dismissal of tax, gun cases, citing decision to toss Trump’s classified docs case
- Biden's lawyers are now saying that like in Trump's case, Biden was also prosecuted by a special counsel appointed by the US attorney general, and should therefore be dismissed
- A district judge on Monday dismissed the classified documents case against Trump, ruling that the appointment of a special counsel who prosecuted Trump was not valid
US says Israel has narrowed down targets for strike on Iran, NBC reports
- Israel has repeatedly said it will respond to Iran’s missile attack on Oct. 1
There is no indication that Israel will target nuclear facilities or carry out assassinations, the report said citing unnamed US officials, adding that Israel has not made final decisions about how and when to act.
US and Israeli officials said a response could come during the current Yom Kippur holiday, according to the report.
Israel has repeatedly said it will respond to Iran’s missile attack on Oct. 1, launched in retaliation for Israeli strikes in Lebanon and Gaza and the killing of a Hamas leader in Iran.
Center-left set to win as pro-Ukraine Lithuania votes
- Lithuania’s main parties all agree on the need for strong support for Ukraine and to maintain or increase defense spending
- The Baltic state of 2.8 million people has been warily eyeing perceived threats from neighboring Russia
VILNIUS: Lithuanians vote Sunday in elections likely to deliver a change of government but keep much else the same, including the NATO and EU member’s strong support for Ukraine and moves to bolster defense policy.
The vote is likely to see the center-left replace the ruling conservatives, and could also see a new populist party whose leader is on trial for alleged anti-Semitic comments enter parliament for the first time.
The Baltic state of 2.8 million people has been warily eyeing perceived threats from neighboring Russia, fearing it could be the next target if Moscow were to succeed in its ongoing war against Ukraine, which began in 2022.
Lithuania’s main parties all agree on the need for strong support for Ukraine and to maintain or increase defense spending, currently around three percent of GDP.
Opinion polls show the Social Democratic Party, which last led the government from 2012 to 2016, ahead of 14 other parties and coalitions, with the latest survey predicting they will secure around 20 percent of the vote.
The ruling center-right Homeland Union-Lithuanian Christian Democrats are expected to receive around 15 percent, with six or seven parties likely to cross the electoral threshold in total.
Despite the potential change in government, no major changes in foreign policy are anticipated.
“There is no real alternative to what Lithuania chose 20 years ago,” political analyst Linas Kontrimas told AFP, referring to the country joining the European Union and North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
President Gitanas Nauseda, who was re-elected for a second term this May with backing from the Social Democrats, is believed to support a change in government.
During the campaign, Nauseda — who defeated current Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte in the presidential vote — met with leaders of all parliamentary parties except the conservatives, who have been in frequent conflict with him during their four-year term.
“I voted for the authorities to work together, not against each other, to solve the problems of the Lithuanian people,” Nauseda said after casting an early vote, although he did not reveal his party preference.
Other opposition parties have united against the ruling conservatives.
“The time of the conservatives is over,” Social Democratic leader Vilija Blinkeviciute, a former social security and labor minister, told reporters.
The Social Democrats have pledged to increase progressive taxation, tax luxury goods and provide additional funding for social services, as well as cut taxes for families with children, raise pensions and offer VAT relief on food.
The election has also been marred by controversy surrounding a new populist party, Nemunas Dawn, led by former long-time MP Remigijus Zemaitaitis, which is expected to win parliamentary seats.
Last year, Zemaitaitis gave up his seat in parliament after facing criticism over alleged anti-Semitic comments.
He is currently on trial for incitement to hatred, although he denies the charge and insists he only criticized the Israeli government’s policies in the Gaza Strip.
Most political parties have vowed to exclude Zemaitaitis from any ruling coalition.
“I think we are facing not only a geopolitical threat, but also an internal political threat,” Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis, the leader of the conservatives, told reporters after he cast his early vote.
During World War II, 90 percent of Lithuania’s Jewish population of approximately 208,000 were killed, often with the help of local collaborators, and the country’s historical memory of the Holocaust remains a subject of intense debate.
The first round of Sunday’s election will allocate roughly half of the 141 parliamentary seats through proportional representation, with the remaining seats to be decided in runoff rounds on October 27.
Doctor deems Harris in ‘excellent health.’ Her team aims to contrast with Trump’s scant medical info
Doctor deems Harris in ‘excellent health.’ Her team aims to contrast with Trump’s scant medical info
- Trump has released very little health information, including after his ear was grazed by a bullet during an assassination attempt in July in Pennsylvania
- Asked if she thought Trump’s mental acuity had declined, Harris said, “I invite the public to watch his rallies and be the decision-maker”
WASHINGTON: Vice President Kamala Harris is in “excellent health” and “possesses the physical and mental resiliency” required to serve as president, her doctor said in a letter released Saturday that summarizes her medical history and status.
Dr. Joshua Simmons, an Army colonel and physician to the vice president, wrote that Harris, 59, maintains a healthy, active lifestyle and that her most recent physical last April was “unremarkable.”
She “possesses the physical and mental resiliency required to successfully execute the duties of the Presidency, to include those as Chief Executive, Head of State and Commander in Chief,” he wrote in a two-page letter.
Harris’ campaign hopes the release of her medical report will draw a contrast with Republican Donald Trump, who has shared only limited information about his health over the years, and raise questions about his fitness to serve, according to a campaign aide who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.
Trump has released very little health information, including after his ear was grazed by a bullet during an assassination attempt in July in Pennsylvania.
Steven Cheung, a spokesperson for the Trump campaign, said Saturday that Trump has voluntarily released updates from his personal physician as well as detailed reports from Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, who, before he was elected to Congress, was Trump’s physician at the White House. Jackson also treated Trump after the assassination attempt.
“All have concluded he is in perfect and excellent health to be Commander in Chief,” Cheung said in a statement. The campaign press office provided links to some of Trump’s past medical reports. They included: https://tinyurl.com/yckc495b and https://tinyurl.com/4z27pk2f
If Trump, who is 78, were to be elected next month, he would be the oldest president in US history by the time his term ends in 2029.
Harris addressed the issue on Saturday before she traveled to North Carolina.
“It’s clear to me that he and his team do not want the American people to really see what he is doing and if he is fit to be the president,” she told the reporters accompanying her.
Asked if she thought Trump’s mental acuity had declined, Harris said, “I invite the public to watch his rallies and be the decision-maker.”
Simmons, who said he has been Harris’ primary care physician for the past 3 1/2 years, said the vice president has a history of seasonal allergies and urticaria, or hives. She has been able to “dramatically” improve her symptoms over the past three years with an immunotherapy medication that helps the body become less sensitive to allergens.
Simmons said Harris’ latest blood work and other test results were “unremarkable.” Her blood pressure is not worryingly high and she is at low risk for heart disease.
According to the summary of an exam conducted six months ago, Harris’ vital signs showed a blood pressure of 128 over 74, a heart rate of 78 beats per minute, pulse oximetry of 100 percent on room air with a respiratory rate of 16 breaths per minute and a temperature of 98.7 degrees. Pulse oximetry measures the amount of oxygen in a person’s blood.
Simmons reported that Harris’ head, eyes, ears, nose and pharynx are normal.
Also in the report: Harris wears contact lenses for mild nearsightedness; her family history includes maternal colon cancer; she is up to date on preventive care recommendations, including having a colonoscopy and annual mammograms, as well as routine immunizations.
Harris’ mother, Shyamala Gopalan, was 70 when she died of colon cancer in February 2009.
The vice president “maintains a healthy, active lifestyle, despite her busy schedule,” including “vigorous daily aerobic exercise and core strength training,” Simmons reported. She eats a healthy diet, does not use tobacco products and drinks alcohol “only occasionally and in moderation,” he wrote.
As Harris’ office released the medical report, her campaign highlighted recent media reports raising questions about Trump’s health and mental acuity and his reluctance to provide detailed information about the state of his health and medical history.
Trump eagerly questioned President Joe Biden’s physical and mental fitness when the 81-year-old sought reelection. Since Biden dropped out of the race and was replaced by Harris on the Democratic ticket, Trump’s health has drawn more attention.
Last November, Trump marked Biden’s birthday by releasing a letter from his physician that reported the former president was in “excellent” physical and mental health. The letter posted on Trump’s social media platform contained no details about his weight, blood pressure and cholesterol levels, or the results of any tests to support its claims.
New Zealand ship didn’t sink because its captain was a woman, the ‘appalled’ defense minister says
- Defense Minister Judith Collins was reacting to comments on social media directed at the woman captain of a navy ship that sank off the coast of Samoa
WELLINGTON, New Zealand: New Zealand’s defense minister issued stinging rebukes of what she said were “vile” and “misogynistic” online remarks by “armchair admirals” about the woman captain of a navy ship that ran aground, caught fire and sank off the coast of Samoa.
“Seriously, it’s 2024,” Judith Collins told reporters Thursday. “What the hell’s going on here?”
After days of comments on social media directed at the gender of Commander Yvonne Gray, Collins urged the public to “be better.” Women members of the military had also faced verbal abuse in the street in New Zealand since the ship — one of nine in the country’s navy — was lost on Sunday, Collins said.
All 75 people on board evacuated to safety with only minor injuries after the vessel ran aground on the reef it was surveying about a mile off the coast of Upolu, Samoa’s most populous island. The cause of the disaster is not known.
“The one thing that we already know did not cause it is the gender of the ship’s captain, a woman with 30 years’ naval experience who on the night made the call to get her people to safety,” Collins said.
One of the posters was a truck driver from Melbourne, Australia, she added.
“I think that he should keep his comments to people who drive trucks rather than people who drive ships,” Collins said. “These are the sorts of people I’m calling out and I’m happy to keep calling them out for as long as it takes to stop this behavior.”
About 20 percent of New Zealand’s uniformed military members are women. Collins is New Zealand’s first woman defense minister and said she stood alongside Gray and Maj. Gen. Rose King, the country’s first woman army chief, who assumed her role in June.
“We are all appointed on merit, not gender,” said Collins.
The sinking prompted fears of a major fuel spill. On Thursday, officials in Samoa said while the vessel was leaking oil from three places, the amount was reducing each day and was dissipating quickly due to strong winds in the area.
Most of the ship’s fuel appeared to have burned out in the fire, according to a statement by the Marine Pollution Advisory Committee. Officials were due to meet with locals Thursday to discuss how to remove the vessel’s anchor and three shipping containers from the reef without further damaging the fragile marine ecosystem.
New Zealand’s government has ordered a military court of inquiry into the episode, which will be led by senior military officers. It will assemble for the first time on Friday.
Passengers, including civilian scientists and foreign military personnel, left the vessel on life boats in “challenging conditions” and darkness, New Zealand’s Chief of Navy Rear Admiral Garin Golding told reporters after the sinking.
Those on board have since returned to New Zealand by plane.
The specialist dive and hydrographic vessel had been in service for New Zealand since 2019, but was 20 years old and had previously belonged to Norway. The military said the ship, purchased for $100 million NZ dollars ($61 million), was not covered by replacement insurance.
The state of New Zealand’s aging military hardware has prompted warnings from the defense agency, which in a March report described the navy as “extremely fragile,” with ships idle due to problems retaining the staff needed to service and maintain them. Of the navy’s eight remaining ships, five are currently operational.
Golding said the HMNZS Manawanui underwent a maintenance period before the deployment.
North Kosovo ethnic tensions remain risk for violence, NATO official says
- The US and the European Union, Kosovo’s leading global allies, have criticized the Pristina government for taking unilateral actions in the north that could spark ethnic violence and risk the lives of some 4,000 NATO troops on duty there
PRISTINA: Persistent ethnic tension in north Kosovo could trigger a repeat of violence seen in the area last year, when four people died in a gunbattle and NATO peacekeepers were hurt in clashes, a senior official from the military alliance warned on Saturday.
Kosovo is predominantly ethnic Albanian but about 50,000 Serbs in the north reject Pristina’s government and see Belgrade as their capital. A former Serbian province, Kosovo declared independence in 2008 a decade after a guerrilla uprising.
US Navy Admiral Stuart B. Munsch, commander of the Allied Joint Force Command Naples — which oversees NATO’s peacekeeping in force in Kosovo — said the alliance remained concerned about the risk of repeated violence in the volatile north.
“Heated political rhetoric could inspire some non-government forces to commit violence such as what happened last year,” Munsch told reporters in Pristina.
“I would not say that definitely conflict is coming, I think there is a persistent risk,” he said, referring to a lack of progress in EU-mediated talks between Kosovo’s government and Serbia.
A police officer and three gunmen were killed in September 2023 when a group of heavily armed attackers entered from Serbia and attacked police in the village of Banjska.
Four months earlier, more than 90 soldiers were injured when Serb protesters attacked NATO peacekeepers.
Kosovo has accused Serbia of being behind the Banjska attack but Belgrade has denied the accusations.
The US and the European Union, Kosovo’s leading global allies, have criticized the Pristina government for taking unilateral actions in the north that could spark ethnic violence and risk the lives of some 4,000 NATO troops on duty there.
Kosovo rejects such criticism, and the issue has strained Pristina’s ties with its Western supporters.
As part of the EU-mediated dialogue, Kosovo and Serbia have been holding talks for more than a decade to normalize their relations, but there has been little progress.
Like the Serbs living in north Kosovo, Belgrade also considers Kosovo to be part of Serbia and refuses to recognize it as a state.
