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Year: 2024

Stefanik files ethics complaint against Trump trial judge alleging Harris campaign paid his daughter’s company

Stefanik files ethics complaint against Trump trial judge alleging Harris campaign paid his daughter’s company

Rep. Elise Stefanik has filed an ethics complaint against New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan “for his illegal conflict of interest in the sham Manhattan trial against President Trump,” alleging the Harris campaign has a “newly active financial relationship” with a company led in part by his daughter. The filing with the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct came on the same day that Merchan decided to postpone Trump’s sentencing in New York v. Trump until after the November presidential election.   Trump was found guilty in an unprecedented criminal trial on all 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree, following a six-week trial stemming from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s investigation.   However, Stefanik, R-N.Y., is now asking the Commission to launch a “fresh inquiry concerning Justice Merchan’s conflict and take any appropriate action resulting from it.”  JUDGE MERCHAN DELAYS TRUMP SENTENCING UNTIL AFTER ELECTION  “On August 20, 2024, Vice President Harris’s campaign submitted its first Federal Election Commission (FEC) report that documented expenses and donations through July 31, 2024. In the report… a July 30, 2024, disbursement appears in the amount of $468.00 from Vice President Harris’s campaign to Authentic Campaigns Inc. (Authentic) for web hosting services,” Stefanik wrote in her complaint. “This indicates that one of the very first things that Harris did upon taking over the Biden campaign infrastructure is to hire this firm, Authentic.  “Authentic is a digital consulting and marketing firm that services Democrat candidates. Loren Merchan, Justice Merchan’s daughter, is its president,” Stefanik added. “Vice President Harris changed web hosting companies from AWS to Authentic immediately after becoming the presumptive Democrat presidential nominee.  “This is merely the beginning of a new contract with a new campaign, regardless of the amount reimbursed. Sure, there’s an immediate benefit, but this is a play at a potential larger benefit for Authentic and Merchan down the road,” Stefanik said in her complaint.  JUDGE MERCHAN SUED FOR FINANCIAL DISCLOSURES AMID CONCERNS OF DAUGHTER’S DEMOCRAT WORK Stefanik continued by saying that the code of conduct “dictates that a judge must recuse from a case where a relative up to and including the sixth degree has a financial interest in the outcome of the case.”  “Ms. Merchan is related to Justice Merchan in the first degree. Authentic has a newly active financial relationship with Vice President Harris’s campaign,” Stefanik concluded.   The Harris campaign and the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct did not immediately respond Saturday to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.  Fox News’ Brooke Singman contributed to this report. 

Trump claims no ‘lifts’ or ‘stands’ will be allowed at debate with Kamala Harris

Trump claims no ‘lifts’ or ‘stands’ will be allowed at debate with Kamala Harris

Former President Donald Trump claims that the upcoming presidential debate will not allow for adjustments to the nominees’ height behind the podium. Trump made the comment in a Saturday post on his proprietary social media platform Truth Social. “No boxes or artificial lifts will be allowed to stand on [sic] during my upcoming debate with Comrade Kamala Harris,” Trump wrote. “We had this out previously with former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg when he was in a debate, and he was not allowed a “lift.” HARRIS CAMPAIGN AGREES TO ABC PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE RULES WITH SOME ‘ASSURANCES’: REPORT “It would be a form of cheating, and the Democrats cheat enough,” the former president added. “‘You are who you are,’ it was determined!” It is not immediately clear if Trump was relaying the outcome of discussions with ABC ahead of the debate or was speculating. The post references Trump’s past feud with the former New York City mayor, who the former president taunted as “Mini Mike Bloomberg” during his 2020 Democratic nomination bid. TRUMP SLAMS ABC AHEAD OF PIVOTAL NETWORK-HOSTED DEBATE: ‘THEY’RE THE WORST, THEY’RE THE NASTIEST’ Trump repeatedly claimed Bloomberg requested to stand on a box behind his podium during his Democratic primary debate — but this claim was never substantiated that the former mayor ever made such a request. “The president is lying,” a spokesperson for Bloomberg’s 2020 campaign fired back at the time. “He is a pathological liar who lies about everything: his fake hair, his obesity, and his spray-on tan.” Harris clarified her own height during an interview with “Today” host Katie Couric earlier this year, correcting the interviewer when she claimed the vice president is 5’2″. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “I am 5’4″ and a quarter — sometimes 5’4″ and a half,” Harris told Couric. “And with heels — which I always wear — I’m 5’7’ and a half, thank you very much.” Trump’ own height has been variously reported as 6’2″ and 6’3″.

At least five killed as ethnic violence flares in India’s Manipur

At least five killed as ethnic violence flares in India’s Manipur

State government orders all schools in the state to remain shut citing security concerns after latest spurt of violence. At least five people, including one civilian, have been killed as violence flared between two warring ethnic communities in the restive northeastern Indian state of Manipur, according to authorities. Manipur has been rocked by periodic violence for more than a year between the predominantly Hindu-majority Meitei and the mainly Christian Kukis over economic benefits, and government jobs and education quotas. A court had ordered the state government to share the benefits enjoyed by the Kukis to the Meitis, fuelling the tension. A new round of clashes and exchange of gunfire took place on Saturday in the district of Jiribam, located on India’s border with Myanmar. “Fighting has been going on between armed groups of both the communities since the morning,” said Krishna Kumar, deputy commissioner of Jiribam. One person, a civilian, was shot dead while sleeping and another four “armed persons” were killed in a “subsequent exchange of fire”, the Press Trust of India news agency reported. Officers responding to the attack “were fired upon by suspected Kuki militants but the police team retaliated robustly and repelled the attack”, a police statement said. A state of 3.2 million people, Manipur has been divided into two enclaves since an ethnic conflict began in May 2023 – a valley controlled by the majority Meiteis and the Kuki-dominated hills. The areas controlled by the Meitei and Kuki tribes are separated by a stretch of no-man’s land monitored by federal paramilitary forces. Amid the violence, the state government ordered all schools in the state to remain shut on Saturday “to protect the safety of the students and teachers”. Attacks that began earlier this week have seen the use of drones to drop explosive devices in what authorities have called a significant escalation. The Indian Express newspaper, citing an unnamed security source, said the rockets appeared to be “improvised projectiles” made using “galvanised iron pipes attached to explosives”. Police say they suspect that the drones were used by Kuki armed groups, a claim the group denied. More than 225 people have been killed and some 60,000 have been displaced since the tensions erupted last year. Adblock test (Why?)

Kosovo closes two of four border crossings with Serbia after protests

Kosovo closes two of four border crossings with Serbia after protests

Kosovo’s Interior Ministry blamed the closures on ‘masked extremists’ blocking traffic into Serbia. Kosovo has closed two of its four border crossings with Serbia, the government said, after protesters on the Serbian side blocked roads and turned away passengers carrying Kosovo documents. The closures at the Brnjak and Merdare crossings – both located in Kosovo’s northern region with a majority ethnic Serb population – came into effect overnight from Friday to Saturday. Kosovar Interior Minister Xhelal Svecla said the move was due to “masked extremist groups in Serbia” selectively blocking transit for travelers. “And all this in plain sight of the Serbian authorities,” he said. At least two other crossings between Serbia and Kosovo remain open. What prompted the Serbian protests? On Friday, dozens of demonstrators in Serbia blockaded the crossings to prevent traffic entering Serbia from Kosovo. They said they were protesting against the closure of parallel administrations that ethnic Serbs in northern Kosovo had set up to rival the official ones. The Serbian government in Belgrade – which has never recognised the independence of Kosovo, its former southern province – finances a parallel health, education and social security system in Kosovo for the latter’s ethnic Serb population. The Serbian demonstrators told media their border blockade would last until Kosovo police were “withdrawn from the north of Kosovo and the usurped institutions are returned to the Serbs”. They also demanded that the NATO-led peacekeeping force in Kosovo (KFOR) “take over control in the north of Kosovo”. The border blockade began a few days after police in northern Kosovo raided and then closed five administrative offices linked to the Belgrade government. Protesters gather to partially block the road near the main Kosovo-Serbia border crossing in Merdare, Serbia, on September 6 [Valdrin Xhemaj/Reuters] Longstanding tensions Kosovo’s Foreign Minister Donika Gervalla-Schwarz told reporters on Friday the Serbian protests were “yet more proof” that Belgrade was trying to provoke and destabilise its southern neighbour. Animosity has persisted between Serbia and Kosovo since a war in the 1990s between Serbian armed forces and Kosovo’s ethnic Albanian secessionists. Kosovo declared independence in 2008. But Serbia has refused to recognise the move and has encouraged ethnic Serbs living in Kosovo to remain loyal to Belgrade. Tensions ratcheted up a notch earlier this year, when Kosovo made the euro the only legal currency, effectively outlawing the use of the Serbian dinar. Adblock test (Why?)

Mexico arrests alleged cartel kingpin tied to 43 missing students

Mexico arrests alleged cartel kingpin tied to 43 missing students

Gildardo Lopez Astudillo’s arrest comes weeks before the 10th anniversary of the students’ disappearance. Authorities in Mexico say they have arrested an alleged cartel chief linked to the decade-old disappearance of dozens of students. Gildardo Lopez Astudillo, the suspected cartel leader, was detained on charges of “organised crime” and taken to the Altiplano maximum security prison in south-central Mexico, Reuters news agency reported, citing a federal security source. This is the second time Lopez Astudillo, known as “El Gil”, has been jailed since the cartel he allegedly leads was accused of orchestrating the disappearance and suspected murder in 2014 of 43 students in Iguala, a case that rocked the nation and ignited years of protests. The arrest of Lopez Astudillo comes as relatives prepare demonstrations to mark the 10th anniversary of the students’ disappearance. He was first arrested in 2015 before being released in 2019 after a judge found the evidence against him was obtained illegally. Lopez Astudillo later served as a protected witness for the prosecution’s office, offering alleged details about the criminal group’s involvement in the students’ disappearance, according to the El Pais newspaper. What happened to the missing students? In September 2014, the 43 students who had been travelling to a political demonstration in Mexico City were, investigators believe, kidnapped by the Guerreros Unido drug cartel, in collusion with corrupt police. The exact circumstances of their disappearance are still unknown, but a truth commission set up by the government has branded the case a “state crime”, saying the military shared responsibility, either directly or through negligence. Arrests have been made or ordered for dozens of suspects, including military personnel and a former attorney general who led a controversial investigation into the mass disappearance. The remains of only a few of the victims have been identified. [embedded content] Adblock test (Why?)