Ex-IRS contractor who leaked Trump’s tax returns sentenced to 5 years in prison
Charles Littlejohn, the ex-IRS contractor responsible for leaking former President Trump’s tax returns, was sentenced to five years in prison on Monday. Judge Ana Reyes condemned Littlejohn’s actions when handing down the sentence, saying the leak was “an intolerable attack on our constitutional democracy.” The sentence also includes 36 months of supervised release and a $5,000 fine. “The press tells us Democracy dies in darkness. It also dies in lawlessness,” the judge said. “There are numerous lawful means to bring things to light. Trump was under no obligation to expose his returns. People could vote for someone else. They could run against him.” Federal prosecutors said Littlejohn sought his job as an IRS consultant specifically for the purpose of leaking Trump’s returns in 2019. Littlejohn had done work for Booz Allen from 2008 to 2013, but he returned to the company as an IRS consultant in 2017. Prosecutors say the career move was meant to grant him access to private tax information that would allow him to leak Trump’s tax returns. The DOJ says Littlejohn considered Trump to be a threat to democracy. “[Littlejohn] weaponized his access to unmasked taxpayer data to further his own personal political agenda, believing that he was above the law,” prosecutors alleged during the trial. IRS CONSULTANT PLEADS GUILTY FOR LEAKING TAX RETURNS OF TRUMP AND NATION’S ‘WEALTHIEST INDIVIDUALS’ TO MEDIA “A free press and public engagement with the media are critical to any healthy democracy, but stealing and leaking private, personal tax information strips individuals of the legal protection of their most sensitive data,” they added. Judge Reyes echoed prosecutors’ words when handing down the sentence, saying Littlejohn had clearly concocted a long-term plan to violate Trump’s privacy. “He did not make a snap judgment. He made a series of decisions. This court cannot let others view this conduct as acceptable. I need to send the strongest possible message that we are a nation of laws,” Reyes said Monday. Trump’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. This is a developing story. Check back soon for updates.
Drone from Iran proxy evaded US defenses because it was mistaken for US drone: official
A U.S. official confirmed to Fox News the drone from an Iranian proxy that killed 3 American service members in Jordan and injured others got past the air defenses for Tower 22 because it was mistaken for a U.S. drone expected to return to the base at the same time. The Wall Street Journal initially reported on this development on Monday. A U.S. official confirmed the information to Fox News. President Biden has vowed to take action against Iranian-backed militants in the Middle East after the drone attack at Tower 22, a post in Jordan near Syria’s border, over the weekend. According to U.S. officials who spoke with the Journal, the enemy drone was launched from Iraq by a militia backed by Tehran, but Iran rejected “baseless” claims it was linked to the attack. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin addressed the attack when he returned to work at the Pentagon on Monday after nearly a month’s absence because of prostate cancer. “Let me start with my outrage and sorrow for the deaths of three brave U.S. troops in Jordan and for the other troops who were wounded. The president and I will not tolerate attack on U.S. forces. And we will take all necessary actions to defend the U.S. and our troops,” Austin said, while meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., who serves on the House Armed Services, Foreign Affairs and Intelligence committees and is a former U.S. Army special forces commander, told Fox News’ Harris Faulkner on Monday that Iran “has gotten the message loud and clear that they can get away with it.” IRAN SAYS CLAIMS IT IS LINKED TO JORDAN DRONE ATTACK, DEATHS OF US SOLDIERS ARE ‘BASELESS’ 34 AMERICAN SERVICE MEMBERS INJURED, 8 EVACUATED FROM JORDAN FOLLOWING ATTACK “To the extent we do respond, it will be feckless,” he said. “I’ve talked to soldiers out in the field and to commanders that are out in the Middle East right now. We’re bombing empty warehouses in the middle of the night so that the administration can check the box to look like they’re doing something in response but they’re still beholden to this appeasement strategy when it comes to Iran.” “This is blood on this administration’s hands,” added. Waltz also reacted to the breaking news about the base mistaking the drone for its own. “At this point, I’m speculating, and we’ll asking for briefings on exactly what happened. Did our defensive measures fail? Had they captured one of their drones and reversed engineered theirs? This is the cat and mouse game that’s going on,” Waltz said. “But bigger picture, we’re shooting down these $30,000-40,000 drones with $2-3 million missiles – it’s not sustainable, and from my position as the chairman of military readiness, we’re going to be pressing the Pentagon, how are we reacting when you can throw thousands of these things at very little cost – can literally buy them on Chinese websites, like Alibaba…” “That’s a broader issue of how we have to adjust in the tactical space, but strategically, we have a fundamental, in this administration, misunderstanding of deterrents. They’re so obsessed with non-escalation that it’s actually inviting escalation and now people are dead because of it,” he said. In the latest update later Sunday, U.S. Central Command said that the number of U.S. personnel with injuries increased from 25 to at least 34 service members, but the number was expected to fluctuate as service members continue to seek follow-on care. Eight personnel that received injuries required evacuation from Jordan to higher level care, but they are in stable condition, CENTCOM said. All other service members are being fully evaluated for follow-on care. The three service members killed have not yet been identified. This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Trump accuser E. Jean Carroll teases how she’ll spend $83.3M court win: ‘Not going to waste a cent’
E. Jean Carroll, a former columnist who alleges former President Trump raped her in a New York City department store dressing room in the 1990s, has teased how she plans to spend the $83.3 million judgment she won in her defamation case if and when she sees those funds. “I’m not going to waste a cent of this,” Carroll told the New York Times from her lawyer’s office Saturday. “We’re going to do something good with it.” “I’m going to be able to buy some premium dog food now,” she added, promising at least some luxury for her pets, a Great Pyrenees and a pit bull. The interview was her first since a jury on Friday found that Trump had maliciously damaged Carroll’s reputation in 2019 after she went public with her accusations, and he insisted she was lying. Jurors awarded her $18 million to compensate for the personal harm she experienced, then added $65 million more to punish Trump – and maybe deter social media attacks. E. JEAN CARROLL’S CLAIMS AGAINST TRUMP, LIFESTYLE BACK UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT AFTER EYE-POPPING VERDICT A different jury concluded last May that Trump was responsible for sexually abusing Carroll in the Bergdorf Goodman store’s dressing room on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan in 1996. Those jurors awarded Carroll $5 million. If both judgments stand, Trump would owe her a total of $88.3 million. Trump and his lawyers have promised to appeal. As she and her lawyers prepare to fight the promised appeals and push for the full judgment to be awarded, Carroll said they are also making plans for what to do with the money. “I can’t say what they are yet. We will all talk and come up with a great plan,” she told the Times. “I can’t possibly guess what Donald Trump will ever do or not do,” Carroll said Saturday, asked what she thinks will come next. “Can’t make a guess.” Carroll told the Times the feeling upon learning the amount of the sum “was so overpowering,” and that she “couldn’t feel the elation.” “This morning, around 8 or 9, having my first cup of tea, is when I truly felt calm enough to feel what we had accomplished,” Caroll said. “I felt they were my brothers and sisters on that jury,” she added. “They were like me. They were New Yorkers.” Carroll’s lead lawyer, Roberta A. Kaplan, claimed to the Times that Trump might think twice about attacking Carroll on Truth Social after Friday’s decision. TRUMP CANNOT ASSERT PRESIDENTIAL IMMUNITY IN E JEAN CARROLL DEFAMATION LAWSUIT, APPEALS COURT RULES “He cares about money,” Kaplan said. “And this is a lot of money to Donald Trump. And I don’t think he wants another judgment at the same amount.” “Absolutely ridiculous! I fully disagree with both verdicts, and will be appealing this whole Biden Directed Witch Hunt focused on me and the Republican Party,” Trump posted on Truth Social shortly after the verdict was read on Friday. “Our Legal System is out of control, and being used as a Political Weapon. They have taken away all First Amendment Rights.” Carroll referenced the issue of abortion access after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year, claiming her win against Trump was for all women. “This win, more than any other thing, when we needed it the most — after we lost the rights over our own bodies in many states — we put out our flag in the ground on this one. Women won this one. I think it bodes well for the future,” she said. Carroll sued Trump for defamation in 2019, saying his statements about her rape allegations were false and damaged her reputation. That claim wound up being bogged down for years over the legal question of whether, in denying the allegations, Trump had been fulfilling his duties as president. Trump claimed that the presidency shield him from liability. In the meantime, New York changed its law to give sexual abuse survivors a fresh chance to sue civilly over attacks that happened in the distant past. Carroll was one of the first people to take advantage, filing a new legal claim against Trump alleging that he had raped her. She also sued over things he had said about her after leaving the White House. Trump was not criminally charged with sexually assaulting Carroll. Under state law, too much time had passed since the alleged assault in 1996 for a criminal case to be considered against him. Amid court proceedings and immediately following, supporters of the president and social media critics have sounded off about previous remarks Carroll has made that raised concerns about her recounting, including her 2019 interview on CNN, where she argued “most people” view rape as “sexy.” Trump, along with his supporters, have argued his hands were tied amid the trial as the judge barred some evidence from being shown to the jury, including the Anderson Cooper interview. Trump said in a Truth Social post Thursday that Carroll allegedly changed the timeline of her recounting of the incident due to previously claiming that she still had the Donna Karan dress she wore the day of the attack, though the dress had not yet been manufactured. The judge presiding over the case also barred Trump’s legal team from arguing he did not sexually assault Carroll, or “that she fabricated her account of the assault, or that she had any motive to do so.” During last year’s trial, Trump’s legal team and critics drew parallels between Carroll’s allegations and an episode of “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” which included a plot line where a character discussed role-playing a rape fantasy in Bergdorf Goodman. Carroll said during last year’s trial that she was “aware” of the 2012 episode, but had not seen it. Fox News’ Emma Colton and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
‘Kharkiv is their priority’: Deadly Russian attacks hit Ukraine’s northeast
Kharkiv, Ukraine – Like an enormous scalpel out of a surreal horror movie, a Russian missile sliced off an entire section of a five-storey apartment building, killing 10 people and wounding 60. After putting out the fire in last week’s predawn attack, rescue workers found the victims buried in the rubble that used to be the walls, ceilings and furniture of their apartments. “We dug out a guy, alive, but his family – a wife and an eight-year-old daughter – were dead,” one of the distressed rescue workers, with his hands and uniform black from the soot and dust, told Al Jazeera on Wednesday. The strike hit Building 7 on Proskury Street in northern Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city that sits only 40km (25 miles) from the Russian border. Ukrainian officials said Kharkiv was targeted by 15 Russian missiles of three types in one of the largest attacks on the city since the war began 23 months ago. There were remodelled S-300 missiles, parts of air defence systems that intercept and destroy other missiles midair, and X-22 hypersonic missiles designed to destroy warships. The largest and most lethal weapons were Iskanders, 7-metre-long monsters that cost $3m, weigh almost 4 tonnes and carry up to 480kg (1,058 pounds) of explosives – or a nuclear warhead. Ukrainians in Kharkiv dodge shards of glass and rush to survive when Russia intensifies shelling [Mansur Mirovalev/Al Jazeera] Ukrainian officials have not yet specified what missile type hit Building 7, but a military expert said Russia “most likely” used an S-300 missile. “They’re not precise, this is moral and psychological pressure to destroy the city further,” Lieutenant-General Ihor Romanenko, former deputy chief of Ukraine’s General Staff of the Armed Forces, told Al Jazeera. “Kharkiv is their priority, because [President Vladimir] Putin can’t forgive the fact that a Russian-speaking city didn’t want to become part of the Russian world,” he said. Moscow habitually denies it targeted civilians. Russia “doesn’t hit civilian infrastructure and residential areas, unlike the Kyiv regime”, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said. The Itar Tass news agency reported that Russia delivered “pinpointed strikes on the quarters for mercenaries”. Hitting Kharkiv The city with a pre-war population of 1.5 million is Ukraine’s most vulnerable urban centre. Russia lies north and east of it, and the border of Moscow-annexed Luhansk region is about 150km (90 miles) to the southeast. Almost 5,000 windows in 222 buildings were broken by the blasts and shockwaves throughout the region on January 23, officials said. In Building 7, communal workers, working quickly and efficiently, yanked out razor-sharp glass shards and covered each gaping hole with yellow, honeycomb-like rectangles of strand board to keep the biting cold away. They checked each apartment for natural gas leaks, fixed damaged entrance doors and started removing bricks the blast broke in half, pieces of glass, plastic and other debris. It was business as usual on the verge of exhaustion. “Their salaries are 5,400 hryvnia [$145] a month, but the amount of work is colossal – to collect it all, load [onto trucks] and take away,” district head of communal services Vera Fyodorovna told Al Jazeera. Two excavators were fumbling for the debris near Building 7, just 30 metres (about 100 feet) away from where another Russian bomb landed in April 2022. Since day one of the full-scale invasion, Russian forces have tried to seize Kharkiv, dispatching armed personnel carriers almost to the city centre. Moscow has deployed strategic bombers, ballistic or cruise missiles, and Iranian or Russian-made drones that only take minutes to reach the city from across the border. Unlike the capital, Kyiv, which received advanced Western air defence systems within months, Kharkiv remains almost defenceless. Residents and authorities have had to adapt quickly as any delays mean lost lives. The city’s subway system served as a 24/7 bomb shelter – and some stations occasionally became classrooms for the schoolchildren waiting out the air raids. The Kharkiv subway system has long served as a bomb shelter [Mansur Mirovalev/Al Jazeera] Public gatherings, museum exhibitions and even classes in community centres were banned. Gyms and swimming pools warn their patrons about each air raid, but let them decide whether to leave or stay. Daring Ukrainian missile and drone attacks forced Moscow to relocate the strategic bombers to airfields hundreds of kilometres away from the border. They do not cross into Ukrainian airspace any more, but their speed gives an additional boost to the missiles they launch. Each time satellites spot their takeoff, Kharkiv residents receive warnings and information on possible trajectories via Telegram or Viber channels. Old-fashioned air raid sirens also begin howling – but many residents are so used to their high-pitched sound that they simply do not wake up. That is why Tamara Karnaukhova woke up only when her balcony door fell on her bed. Tamara Karnaukhova, pensioner, pictured in her damaged kitchen [Mansur Mirovalev/Al Jazeera] The retired 76-year-old did not know whether to stay in her modest one-bedroom apartment in Building 7 or run away. The shockwave crumbled most of the windows and damaged the front door. “I wasn’t scared, I was confused,” she told Al Jazeera. After the blast, she ran downstairs as smoke gushed from broken windows and glass cracked under her feet. While she was at her neighbour’s, marauders sneaked into her apartment, rummaging in the kitchen but taking no valuables. Karnaukhova still cannot fathom why Russia invaded. “Do they need land? Resources?” she wondered aloud. “They already have it all.” ‘Lost count’ When the war began, Valerii Ivakhno joined a volunteer group that rides around in a minivan and hands out hot drinks, snacks and porridge to shelling victims. His 85-year-old mother’s apartment in central Kharkiv was heavily damaged in 2022, and he spent all of his savings to renovate it. But on Tuesday morning, the brand-new windows were knocked out. Luckily, his mother knew the “be between two walls” rule and rushed to the corridor seconds before the shards of glass showered her bed. Ivakhno said he is glad
What is Tower 22, the Jordan-based US outpost targeted in a drone strike?
The United States military announced on Sunday that three US soldiers were killed and at least 34 were wounded in a drone attack targeting Tower 22, a remote logistics outpost near the Jordan-Syrian border. The attack has elicited a strong reaction from Washington with President Joe Biden pledging to hold the attackers to account. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iran-backed armed groups in the region, claimed the attacks, saying it was in response to US support to Israel’s war on Gaza, which has killed more than 26,000 people. Here is what we know about the drone strike and the attack site: What is Tower 22 and where is it located? Tower 22, which houses a small US logistics outpost, is located in Jordan’s northeast close to the borders with Iraq and Syria. Public information about the outpost is limited. However, according to media reports, Tower 22 serves as a supply hub for the nearby US garrison of al-Tanf located across the border in Syria. At least 350 US Army and Air Force soldiers are also stationed there. It is unclear what type of weapons are kept at the outpost and the nature of air defences used. Since the beginning of Syria’s war in 2011, Washington has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to help Amman set up an elaborate surveillance system known as the Border Security Programme to stem infiltration by armed fighters from Syria and Iraq. Al-Tanf, located on the Baghdad-Damascus highway, had been key in the fight against the ISIL (ISIS) armed group and has assumed a role as part of a US strategy to contain Iran’s military build-up in eastern Syria. Currently about 2,500 US troops are stationed in Iraq while 900 deployed in north-east Syria. Jordan has a close security pact with the US and is one of the few regional allies who hold extensive exercises with American troops. Jordan’s army is one of the largest recipients of Washington’s foreign military financing. What do we know about the drone strike in Jordan? The killing of three US service members in an overnight drone strike is the first since Israel launched its brutal military campaign in Gaza on October 7, which has killed more than 26,000 people and triggered responses from regional armed groups. The unmanned aerial strike targeted the living quarters in Tower 22 wounding 34 soldiers, some of whom sustained minor cuts or brain trauma, according to media reports. The US military said that at least eight of the wounded soldiers were flown out of Jordan for treatment. Experts have raised questions about why the outpost’s air defences failed to detect the drone. The identity of the soldiers killed in the attack has not been released yet. How has the Biden administration reacted? President Biden said he will hold those responsible to account. “While we are still gathering the facts of this attack, we know it was carried out by radical Iran-backed militant groups operating in Syria and Iraq,” Biden said in a statement. Iran has denied it was behind the attack. “Iran had no connection and had nothing to do with the attack on the US base,” Tehran’s mission to the United Nations said in a statement on Monday published by the state news agency IRNA. “There is a conflict between US forces and resistance groups in the region, which reciprocate retaliatory attacks.” How have others reacted to the attack? Jordan condemned the “terrorist attack” and said it was cooperating with ally Washington to secure its frontier and “fight terrorism” on Sunday. Former US President Donald Trump also condemned the attack, blaming it on the Biden administration: “This brazen attack on the United States is yet another horrific and tragic consequence of Joe Biden’s weakness and surrender.” US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell, as well as Senator Roger Wicke, all attributed the attack to Iran. Democratic leaders including Chuck Schumer, Jacky Rosen and Hakeem Jeffries also voiced in favour of holding those responsible accountable. Heartbroken and outraged by the death of three U.S. service members and the wounding of many others during the horrific terrorist attack in the Middle East. Praying hard for all affected. Every single malignant actor responsible must be held accountable. — Hakeem Jeffries (@RepJeffries) January 28, 2024 Israel’s Foreign Affairs Minister Israel Katz said: “We stand united in our values and battle against a common enemy. Their sacrifice will always be remembered. Rest in peace. Wishing a speedy recovery to the injured.” Egypt’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs also released a statement, affirming the country’s “strong condemnation of any terrorist acts that threaten the security and stability of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, expressing full solidarity with Jordan in this delicate situation”. Have there been other attacks on US interests in the region? The latest attack comes amid an increasing risk of spillover of the Gaza war as tensions rise and spread in the region. The US-based, non-profit think tank, Institute for the Study of War, reported that Iran-backed militias have launched over 170 attacks targeting US bases in Iraq and Syria since Israel’s war on Gaza in the wake of the deadly Hamas attack on October 7. On January 21, the US Central Command said that Iranian-backed groups attacked the Ain al-Assad airbase in Iraq. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq has claimed responsibility for dozens of attacks against bases housing US troops in Iraq and Syria. The group said on Sunday that it will continue its attacks as a response to “the massacres committed by the Zionist entity [Israel] against our people in Gaza” on the “strongholds of the enemies.” Israel has been dragged to the International Court of Justice by South Africa over the accusations of genocide committed in Gaza. The group on Monday carried out a drone strike on Israel. Iranian-backed Militants Attack Al-Assad Airbase, Iraq At approximately 6:30 p.m. (Baghdad time) time Jan. 20, multiple ballistic missiles and rockets were launched by Iranian-backed militants in Western Iraq targeting al-Assad Airbase. Most
Two vessels freed following Somali pirate hijackings
The rise in pirate activity off Somalia suggests the impact of the Gaza war continues to spread across the region. One Sri Lankan and one Iranian vessel are reported to have been freed following hijackings by Somali pirates. Seychelles forces rescued a Sri Lankan fishing boat on Monday, according to President Wavel Ramkalawan’s office. Meanwhile, the Indian Navy said it had freed an Iranian-flagged fishing vessel. The attacks on the vessels “by armed Somali pirates”, according to the Seychelles statement, raise further concerns over security in the region’s waters. Amid the war in Gaza, Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels have waged a campaign targeting ships in the Red Sea. “Seychellois special military forces boarded the boat with utmost courage to take complete control of the vessel and rescue our Sri Lankan brothers,” the presidency said in the statement. Sri Lanka had earlier reported that diplomats were talking with Somali authorities trying to ascertain the whereabouts of a fishing vessel and its six crew members. The apparent abduction had come two weeks after Sri Lanka said it would join the US-led operation to protect merchant vessels sailing in the Red Sea against the Houthi attacks. Meanwhile, the Indian Navy announced that it had freed an Iranian fishing vessel hijacked off the coast of Somalia. “The fishing vessel had been boarded by pirates and the crew taken as hostages,” Indian Navy spokesman Commander Vivek Madhwal said, naming the vessel as the Iranian-flagged Iman. An Indian naval warship had “ensured the successful release of all 17 crew members along with the boat,” he added. The suspected hijackings in waters off Somalia have raised concerns that Somali pirates have resumed activity, a decade after they caused chaos in international shipping. The hijacking of the Sri Lankan vessel occurred in international waters about 840 nautical miles (1,555km) east of Somalia, 1,100 nautical miles (2,040km) from Sri Lanka and north of Seychelles, Sri Lankan Navy spokesman Captain Gayan Wickramasuriya said. Two to three armed men had arrived in a 23m (75-foot) vessel, boarded the fishing trawler, fired shots apparently to warn away other fishing boats nearby, and taken away the fishing trawler and the fishermen, said Susantha Kahawatta, a top official in Sri Lanka’s Fisheries Department. Kahawatta added that all details of the abduction were provided by fishermen in the other trawlers, and they identified the attackers as Somali. Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels have launched scores of attacks in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden in response to Israel’s war in Gaza against the Palestinian militant group Hamas. International naval forces previously patrolling the Gulf of Aden have diverted north into the Red Sea in a bid to halt the attacks. That has sparked fears that Somali pirates could seek to exploit the vacuum. A first successful case of Somali piracy since 2017 was recorded in December. Adblock test (Why?)
SC orders all courts to shun practice of mentioning caste or religion of litigants in cases
The Supreme Court has ordered its Registry, all High Courts and subordinate courts to stop the practice of mentioning the caste or religion of litigants in case papers.
White House demands Speaker Johnson give Biden ‘authority and funding’ to ‘secure the border’
The White House is going after House Speaker Mike Johnson’s posture on the ongoing border security and supplemental funding talks in a new public memo on Monday morning. It comes after Johnson took a swipe at President Biden’s endorsement of those negotiations, arguing it was the Democratic administration’s policies and executive actions, not current law, fueling the border crisis. “Until recently, Speaker Johnson advocated for HR2 because, in his view, presidents needed new legal authorities in order to secure the border,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, referencing the border security bill that Democrats have called a nonstarter. “What’s more, the Trump Administration argued the same – with the full-throated endorsement of then Congressman Mike Johnson.” “If Speaker Johnson continues to believe – as President Biden and Republicans and Democrats in Congress do – that we have an imperative to act immediately on the border, he should give this administration the authority and funding we’re requesting to secure the border,” Jean-Pierre said. BORDER DEAL PRICE TAG LIKELY TO COST MORE THAN $14 BILLION, BUT GOP LAWMAKERS GROW RESTLESS TO SEE BILL TEXT Johnson spokesman Raj Shah hit back at Jean-Pierre, maintaining that Johnson has remained consistent that “national security starts at our own border.” “The Secure the Border Act would codify this principle into federal law and he continues to strongly urge the Senate and President to support it or similar legislation,” Shah told Fox News Digital. “But make no mistake, President Biden pledged on Friday to ‘shut down the border.’ However, with the stroke of a pen, he could begin by restoring Remain in Mexico, ending catch and release, reforming asylum, and parole standards. His refusal places our national sovereignty at stake.” Biden promised on Friday that he would “shut down the border” if the proposal being worked on in the Senate became law. Johnson said in response, “President Biden falsely claimed yesterday he needs Congress to pass a new law to allow him to close the southern border, but he knows that is untrue.” TEXAS-BOUND ‘TAKE OUR BORDER BACK’ CONVOY TO ‘SHED LIGHT’ ON MIGRANT CRISIS, ‘SEND A MESSAGE’ TO LEADERS The speaker wrote Biden a letter late last year calling on him to take executive action on the border. “As my letter stated, President Biden can begin to secure the border by ending catch-and-release, ceasing exploitation of parole authority, reinstating the Remain in Mexico program, expanding the use of expedited removal authority, and renewing construction of the border wall,” Johnson said Friday. TRUMP BLASTS BIDEN-BACKED BORDER BILL AT LAS VEGAS RALLY: ‘RATHER HAVE NO BILL THAN A BAD BILL’ “The President must start by using the broad legal authority he already possesses to reclaim our nation’s sovereignty and end the mass release of illegal aliens into our country,” Johnson added. Jean-Pierre’s Monday memo pointed out that Johnson’s letter also said, “Statutory reforms designed to restore operational control at our southern border must be enacted.” She also referenced past comments by then-President Trump calling on Democrats to pass border and immigration reform and close “loopholes” in the system. A bipartisan group of senators has been negotiating with the Biden administration for weeks on measures to stymie the ongoing migrant crisis. Republicans in the House and Senate have said such reforms are critical to their support for Democrats’ $106 billion supplemental funding request with money for Ukraine, Israel and other issues.
‘Conspiracy to end reservation’: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi slams BJP over recent UGC guidelines
Stepping up an attack, the Congress demanded the dismissal of UGC Chairman M Jagadesh Kumar over the draft guidelines for “de-reservation” of posts in higher education institutions.
US lawmakers see wave of new bills aiming to define antisemitism
Lawmakers in more than a half-dozen U.S. states are pushing laws to define antisemitism, triggering debates about free speech and bringing complicated world politics into statehouses. Supporters say it’s increasingly important to add a definition that lays out how to determine whether some criticism of Israel also amounts to hatred of Jewish people. In so doing, lawmakers cited the Oct. 7 attacks in which Hamas killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took about 250 hostages back to Gaza, which sparked a war that has killed more than 26,000 Palestinians. “For anybody that didn’t think that anti-Zionism could cross into antisemitism, the rest of the world could see that it had,” said Democratic Rep. Esther Panitch, the only Jewish member of Georgia’s Legislature and one of the sponsors of a bill that the state Legislature passed last week. Republican Gov. Brian Kemp is expected to sign. ANTISEMITISM IS GETTING WORSE AS MORE ‘SHOCKING’ AND ‘SCARY’ INCIDENTS ARE EXPOSED, DC RESIDENTS SAY Defined in 2016 by the the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, antisemitism is “a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.” But Kenneth Stern, the author of IHRA’s definition, said using such language in law is problematic. “There’s an increasingly large number of young Jews for whom their Judaism leads to an antizionist position,” said Stern, director of the Bard Center for the Study of Hate. “I don’t want the state to decide that issue.” GEORGIA LEGISLATORS APPROVE BILL DEFINING ANTISEMITISM IN STATE LAW Over the past three months, there has been a rise in protests around the country calling for a cease-fire in Gaza and the release of Israeli hostages. A coalition of organizations, including Jewish Voice for Peace and CAIR, issued a joint statement saying that the Georgia bill “falsely equates critiques of Israel and Zionism with discrimination against Jewish people.” Measures using the same definition of antisemitism — but in anti-discrimination laws — have advanced in legislative chambers in Indiana and South Dakota. A report from the Anti-Defamation League last year found major increases in antisemitic incidents in Georgia and Indiana, but not in South Dakota, where fewer than 10 a year were recently reported. Other legislation with the definition is pending in at least five other states this year. Bill supporters say that more than 30 states have adopted the definition in some way over the years. Before now, the legal definitions — including in New York, the state with the largest Jewish population — came primarily through resolutions or executive orders rather than forceful laws. In other parts of the country, Iowa incorporated the definition into law in 2022 and Virginia did the same last year, among others. Lawmakers say their bills are in response to the Oct. 7 attacks, though before that, the problem of antisemitism has been on the rise in the U.S. and globally. Since the Israel-Hamas war erupted, several states have passed resolutions condemning Hamas and voicing support for Israel. Thousands of entities around the world, including the U.S. State Department, major companies and colleges, have officially recognized the definition, with groups including the American Jewish Committee supporting it. However the U.S. Congress and American Bar Association have declined to do so. Among those urging lawmakers to vote no are chapters of the ACLU. “There is fundamental First Amendment harm whenever the state tries to silence pure speech on the basis of its viewpoint,” said said Brian Hauss, an ACLU lawyer. Backers of the laws emphasize that they’re not trying to ban speech but rather decipher between actions that amount to discrimination or hate crimes, which carry different degrees of severity. “This bill is entirely about conduct — adverse or unequal treatment that’s prohibited in state law,” said South Dakota state Rep. Fred Deutsch, a Republican whose father was a Holocaust survivor. “This bill doesn’t limit a person or organization’s freedom of speech or expression.” This week the chamber passed a measure by a 53-14 vote. Lara Freidman, president of Foundation for Middle East Peace, said the laws could elevate charges, such as those against a protester for property destruction to the level of a hate crime if the perpetrator is seen with a Palestinian flag. MAJOR LAW FIRM TO ACCUSE ELITE UNIVERSITIES OF CIVIL RIGHTS VIOLATIONS FOR ENABLING ANTISEMITIC MOBS Georgia State Rep. Ruwa Romman, a Democrat of Palestinian descent, said that the definition, when adopted by colleges, has stifled students’ right to free speech. “When they attempted to host a Palestinian poet or Palestinian culture night, the administration has preemptively canceled the events for fears of being antisemitic,” she said. Some protesters gathered in the capitol in Indiana this month before the House unanimously advanced a bill incorporating the definition there. “I don’t need to feel like as a student I’m going to be either censored or attacked or harassed,” said Yaqoub Saadeh, president of the Middle Eastern Student Association at Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis. How colleges are acting to prevent or stop antisemitism on campus has become a hot-button issue across the country. Last year, fallout from campus presidents’ testimony before Congress led to the resignation of presidents at Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania.