Chris Wallace says he’s leaving CNN after three years and, at age 77, is eager to see what a transformed media environment has to offer. “When I look at the media landscape right now, the people who are going independent, whether it’s podcasting or streaming, that seems to be where the action is,” he said Tuesday. It’s hard to find a clearer sign of how the business is changing. Wallace is the quintessential broadcast newscaster, son of the CBS News legend Mike Wallace, worked at both ABC and NBC News and was host of “Fox News Sunday” for 18 years before exiting for CNN in 2021. He was hired to be a leading personality for the CNN+ streaming service, which the company abandoned a month after its launch in 2022. That forced him to cobble together a role at CNN, with a Saturday morning political show and a broader interview program on Max, and appearances on the network as a commentator. Wallace called the exit amicable. CNN CEO Mark Thompson called him “one of the most respected political journalists in the news business” and said that he wishes him the best. Thompson likely faces some hard decisions in the future, with CNN’s television ratings cratering and an increased emphasis on digital looming. Wallace said having control over what he does is more appealing to him at this stage of his career. Don’t expect big changes in his brand — he’ll likely stick with interviews and political analysis, and not favor one political side over another — and he said he’s already heard some expressions of interest. Retirement’s not in the blood. His father worked well into his late 80s at “60 Minutes.” Besides, Chris Wallace said, “nobody in my family wants me to retire.” (AP)
Voters in a Southern California city rejected a measure that would have allowed residents who aren’t U.S. citizens to vote in local elections. Measure DD was rejected by 60% of the voters in Santa Ana, a city of about 310,000 in Orange County that’s southeast of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Times reported Monday. Santa Ana, a predominantly Latino community, had more votes for Vice President Kamala Harris than President-elect Donald Trump. Experts say the rejection of the measure may indicate that voters, especially Latino voters, are shifting their attitudes about immigration. “This is kind of in line with trends we’ve been seeing in both polling and elections of the Latino community getting more conservative on issues of immigration,” said Jon Gould, dean of the School of Social Ecology at the University of California, Irvine. The measure faced steep opposition from local officials and conservative groups such as Policy Issues Institute, which claimed it would be costly and litigious and upend citizens’ rights. Carlos Perea, an immigrant rights advocate who supported the measure, said those groups “hit the panic button.” The results reflect Trump’s influence in a year when the former president campaigned heavily against illegal immigration said Perea, executive director of the Harbor Institute for Immigrant and Economic Justice. It’s illegal for people who are not U.S. citizens to vote for president or other federal offices, and there is no indication of widespread voter fraud by citizens or noncitizens, though many leading Republicans have turned the specter of immigrants voting illegally into a major issue. They argue that legislation is necessary to protect the sanctity of the vote. But a growing number of communities across the United States are passing laws allowing residents who aren’t U.S. citizens to vote in local elections, such as city council and mayoral races. Supporters say it’s only fair since they live in the communities and pay taxes. San Francisco passed Proposition N in 2016 to allow noncitizens with children under 18 years old to vote in school board elections. Prop N passed after two similar measures were rejected in 2004 and 2010. Other states with municipalities that allow residents without citizenship to vote include Maryland, Vermont, and recently, Washington, D.C., New York City granted local voting rights to noncitizens in 2022, but a state judge struck down the law months later and stopped it from ever going into effect. The city is now in the process of appealing the decision. (AP)
New details about a tense incident that occurred prior to Israel’s execution of the “exploding pagers” operation were reported by Kan News this week. The report said that during one of the operations conducted by an elite unit of the IDF in the months leading up to the ground war in Lebanon, the soldiers seized various materials and equipment from a Hezbollah facility and brought it back to Israel Among the equipment was a pager – which was transferred to the Mossad. When Israel unexpectedly realized that they would have to carry out the pager operation earlier than they planned because Hezbollah had begun to express suspicions about them, one security official remembered that one pager had been brought into Israel. A frantic search for the pager began that lasted several hours as officials tried to track it down. After a thorough investigation, they discovered that the Mossad had neutralized the device as soon as they received it. Only then was the order given to detonate the pagers. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Monday officially confirmed that Israel carried out the pager operation. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
In 1965, a Norwegian woman gave birth to a baby girl in a private hospital. Seven days later she returned home with a baby. When the baby developed dark curls that made her look different from herself, Karen Rafteseth Dokken assumed she just took after her husband’s mother. It took nearly six decades to discover the true reason: Rafteseth Dokken’s biological daughter had been mistakenly switched at birth in the maternity ward of the hospital in central Norway. The girl she ended up raising, Mona, was not the baby she gave birth to. The babies — one born on Feb. 14 and the other on Feb. 15, 1965 — are now 59-year-old women who together with Rafteseth Dokken are suing the state and the municipality. In their case, which opened in the Oslo District Court on Monday, they argue that their human rights were violated when authorities discovered the error when the girls were teenagers and covered it up. They claim Norwegian authorities had undermined their right to a family life, a principle enshrined in the European human rights convention, and demand an apology and compensation. Rafteseth Dokken, now 78, was in tears as she described learning so many years later that she got the wrong baby, according to Norwegian broadcaster NRK. “It was never my thought that Mona was not my daughter,” she said in court on Tuesday. “She was named Mona after my mother.” Mona described a sense of never belonging as she grew up. That sense of uncertainty pushed her in 2021 to do a DNA test, which showed that she was not the biological daughter of those who raised her. But the woman who raised the other baby knew long before. A routine blood test in 1981 revealed that the girl she was raising, Linda Karin Risvik Gotaas, was not biologically related. The woman raising her, however, did not pursue a maternity case. Norwegian health authorities were informed of the mix-up in 1985, but refrained from telling the others involved. Both women who were swapped at birth have said in interviews that it was a shock to learn about the mix-up, but the knowledge made pieces of their lives fall into place, explaining differences both in terms of appearance and demeanor. Kristine Aarre Haanes, representing Mona, said the state “violated her right to her own identity for all these years. They kept it secret.” Mona could have learned the truth when she was a young adult, but instead “she did not find out the truth until she was 57.” “Her biological father has died. She has no contact with her biological mother,” added Aarre Haanes. Circumstances surrounding the 1965 swap at Eggesboenes hospital are unclear, but media reports by NRK suggest there were several cases during the 1950s and 1960s where children were accidentally swapped at the same institution. At the time babies were kept together while their mothers rested in separate rooms. In other cases the errors were spotted before the children were permanently placed with the wrong families, according to the reports. An official from the Norwegian Ministry of Heath and Care Services said the state was unaware of similar cases and that there were no plans for a public inquiry. Asgeir Nygaard, representing the Norwegian state, is fighting the case on the grounds […]
Italian authorities say a network of European art forgers who painted fake Warhols, Banksys and Picassos and then tried to sell them to unsuspecting buyers with the help of complicit auction houses has been dismantled. Thirty-eight people have been placed under investigation, including six in Spain, France and Belgium. Italian authorities say the network could have done 200 million euros ($212 million) in economic damage by flooding the art market with fake works. Italy’s culture ministry said Monday the seizures in Italy, France, Spain and Belgium netted 2,100 fake works attributed to more than 30 famed artists, including Andy Warhol, Amedeo Modigliani, Banksy, Pablo Picasso, Joan Mirò, Francis Bacon, Wassily Kandinsky, Henry Moore and Gustav Klimt. The operation uncovered a network of forgers in Spain, France and Belgium who produced the works, said Eurojust, the European Union agency for judicial cooperation. Fake Warhols and Banksys were the most commonly forged and the fakes were exhibited at shows in Mestre and Cortona, Italy, with a catalogue published, the authorities said. Eurojust said the network was able to use complicit auction houses in Italy that issued forged certificates and stamps of authenticity, some 500 of which were also seized. The investigation began in March 2023 when Italian authorities discovered 200 fakes during the search of the home of a Pisa businessman that prompted them to monitor e-commerce sites of auction houses to see if others were involved in the network. Those arrested are accused of conspiracy to forge and deal in contemporary art, Eurojust said. (AP)
After a tumultuous year filled with anxiety and a legal battle about its future in the U.S., TikTok may have just been thrown a lifeline by the man who was once its biggest foe: Donald Trump. President-elect Trump, who tried to ban the social media platform the last time he was in the White House, has repeatedly pledged during his most recent campaign to oppose a ban on the short-form video app, which could happen as soon as mid-January if the company loses a court case that’s currently underway in Washington. For months, TikTok, and its China-based parent company ByteDance, have been embroiled in a legal battle with the U.S. over a federal law that forces them to cut ties for national security reasons or stop operating in one of their biggest markets in the world. The measure, signed by President Joe Biden in April, gives ByteDance nine months to divest its stakes, with a possible three-month extension if a sale was in progress. If that happens, the deadline could be extended into the first 100 days of Trump’s presidency. The companies have claimed that divestiture is not possible, and the law, if upheld, would force them to shut down by Jan. 19, just a day before Trump’s second inauguration. Attorneys for both sides have asked a federal appeals court reviewing the case to issue a ruling by Dec. 6. The losing side is expected to appeal to the Supreme Court, which has a conservative majority and could decide to take up the case, potentially dragging out the process even longer. When reached for comment, the Trump transition team did not offer details on how Trump plans to carry out his pledge to “save TikTok,” as he said on a Truth Social post in September while encouraging people who care about the platform to vote for him. But Karoline Leavitt, a spokeswoman for the transition team, indicated in a statement that he plans to see it through. “The American people re-elected President Trump by a resounding margin giving him a mandate to implement the promises he made on the campaign trail,” Leavitt said. “He will deliver.” During a March interview with CNBC, Trump said he still believed TikTok posed a national security risk but opposed banning it because doing so would help its rival, Facebook, which he has continued to lambast over his 2020 election loss. He also denied changing his mind on the issue because of Republican megadonor Jeff Yass, a ByteDance investor that Trump, at the time, said that he had only met “very briefly.” He said Yass “never mentioned TikTok” during their meeting. Still, ByteDance – and groups connected to Yass – have been attempting to exert their influence. Lobbying disclosure reports show that this year, ByteDance paid veteran lobbyist and former Trump campaign aide David Urban $150,000 to lobby lawmakers in Washington in favor of TikTok. The company has also spent more than $8 million on in-house lobbyists and another $1.4 million on other lobbying firms, according to Open Secrets. Meanwhile, in March, Politico reported Kellyanne Conway, a former senior Trump aide, was being paid by the Yass-funded conservative group Club for Growth to advocate for TikTok in Congress. A spokesperson for the organization said Conway was hired as a consultant to conduct polling. Conway and […]
A police officer has been arrested in connection with facilitating a suicide bomb attack at a mosque on the premises of a police compound in northwest Pakistan. Provincial police chief Akhtar Hayyat announced the arrest of police constable Mohammad Wali at a news conference in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, on Tuesday. Wali, who worked with the Peshawar police, is alleged to have shared a map of the compound with the suicide bomber who carried out an attack on the mosque on Jan. 29, 2023, killing 101 people, mostly police officers, and wounding 250 others. Hayyat said Wali had joined the outlawed Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a breakaway faction of the Pakistani Taliban, which orchestrated the attack, in 2023. The arrest was made in a raid on Monday and Wali had confessed to his role in the attack, the chief added. Police last year released CCTV images from the blast scene showing the suicide bomber in a police uniform approaching the site pushing a motorcycle, giving the impression it had broken down. Hayyat said it is alleged that the uniform had been provided by Wali. The assault on the mosque inside the police facility was one of the deadliest attacks on security forces in recent years. (AP)
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In the midst of ongoing regional conflict, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has introduced its newest naval asset, the INS “Drakon,” a cutting-edge Dolphin AIP-class submarine poised to enhance Israel’s combat capabilities across multiple operational fronts. The submarine was officially named today in a ceremony held at the “Kiel” shipyard in Germany, attended by key figures including the Commander in Chief of the Israeli Navy, Vice Admiral David Saar Salama; Zeev Landau, Deputy Director General of the Israel Ministry of Defense and Head of the Defense Procurement Directorate (DPD); and Israel’s Ambassador to Germany, Ron Prosor. The INS Drakon’s name, meaning “Dragon,” was selected as a symbol of strength and power and incorporates the Hebrew letters ד׳, ק׳, ר׳, in homage to the legacy of the IDF’s previous INS Dakar and its crew. The ceremony also marked the beginning of construction on the next generation of IDF submarines, part of the “Dakar” class, which are slated for delivery in the early 2030s. Equipped with advanced technologies, the INS Drakon is expected to join the IDF fleet in 2025. Upon its arrival in Israel, it will bolster the navy’s strategic operations with its extended range and capability-enhancing systems, allowing it to serve as a powerful tool for defense and deterrence across multiple operational arenas.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte has called on Western allies to provide Ukraine with further support “to change the trajectory of the conflict” with Russia. Speaking ahead of a meeting Tuesday in Paris with French President Emmanuel Macron, Rutte said: “We must do more than just keep Ukraine in the fight.” He added: “We need to raise the cost for Putin and his enabling authoritarian friends by providing Ukraine with the support it needs to change the trajectory of the conflict.” Rutte, who did not provided details about the military equipment and weapons needed for that purpose, said it was “very concerning” that Russia was getting “closer to its allies, China, Iran and North Korea.” The comments come as the U.S., South Korea and Ukraine say North Korea has sent thousands of troops to Russia to support its war against Ukraine. “Russia, working together with North Korea, Iran and China, is not only threatening Europe… but also the Indo-Pacific and North America. So we must stand together,” Rutte said. Macron reiterated his call for a “strong Europe” as being key to NATO but also as a response to “what the U.S. administration rightly expects” in an apparent reference to the election of Donald Trump for a second term. During his first in the White House, Trump pushed the European NATO allies to spend more on defense, up to and beyond 2% of gross domestic product, and to be less reliant on U.S. military cover. “For too long, Europe has avoided bearing the burden of its own security, believing that it could, in a way, receive the dividends of peace without any time limit,” Macron said. (AP)
President-elect Donald Trump will nominate former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee as ambassador to Israel, Trump announced Tuesday. Huckabee is a staunch defender of Israel and his intended nomination comes as Trump has promised to align U.S. foreign policy more closely with Israel’s interests as it wages wars against the Iran-backed Hamas and Hezbollah. “Mike has been a great public servant, Governor, and Leader in Faith for many years,” Trump said in a statement. “He loves Israel, and the people of Israel, and likewise, the people of Israel love him. Mike will work tirelessly to bring about Peace in the Middle East!” (AP))
This morning (Tuesday), the emergency aviation drill of the Israel Airports Authority and Israel’s emergency response system took place, with the participation of the Israel Airports Authority, Magen David Adom, the Israel Police, Fire and Rescue Services, the IDF, and other agencies. The “Phoenix” emergency drill simulated a scenario of a plane crash involving 290 passengers. The Magen David Adom objective in the drill was to assess the activation of emergency protocols and the coordination between all the participating agencies, including the Israel Airports Authority, Israel Police, firefighters, and the IDF, to assess the mobilization of forces, rapid response to the scene, deployment of MDA staff and volunteers on-site, handling and rapid evacuation of casualties, and more. The drill simulated a situation in which the MDA national dispatch center received a report from the control tower of a malfunction on a plane, which then crashed on the runway. As a result, Magen David Adom forces from the Yarkon, Ayalon, Dan, Sharon, Jerusalem, and Lachish regions were required to quickly reach Ben Gurion Airport to provide medical assistance and treatment to 290 simulated casualties from the plane. The drill involved dozens of Magen David Adom emergency vehicles, including 8 mobile intensive care units, 20 life-support ambulances, 4 mass casualty incident stations, 2 jeep ambulances, medicycles, 2 regional command posts, the national command vehicle, a Unimog, an intensive care bus, and hundreds of paramedics, EMTs, and first aid providers.
A new Louisiana law that requires the Ten Commandments to be displayed in every public classroom by Jan. 1 has been temporarily blocked after a federal judge granted a preliminary injunction on Tuesday. The judge said the law is “unconstitutional on its face” and plaintiffs are likely to win their case with claims that the law violates the First Amendment. The ruling marks a win for opponents of the law, who argue that it is a violation of the separation of church and state and that the poster-sized display of the Ten Commandments would isolate students, especially those who are not Christian. Proponents say that the measure is not solely religious, but that it has historical significance to the foundation of U.S. law. U.S. District Judge John W. deGravelles in Baton Rouge, issued the order in an ongoing lawsuit filed by a group of parents of Louisiana public school children. They say that the legislation violates First Amendment language forbidding government establishment of religion and guaranteeing religious liberty. The new law in Louisiana, a reliably Republican state that is ensconced in the Bible Belt, was passed by the state’s GOP-dominated Legislature earlier this year. The legislation, which has been touted by Republicans including former President Donald Trump, is one of the latest pushes by conservatives to incorporate religion into classrooms — from Florida legislation allowing school districts to have volunteer chaplains to counsel students to Oklahoma’s top education official ordering public schools to incorporate the Bible into lessons. In recent years, similar bills requiring the Ten Commandments be displayed in classrooms have been proposed in other states including Texas, Oklahoma and Utah. However, with threats of legal battles over the constitutionality of such measures, none have gone into effect. In 1980, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a similar Kentucky law was unconstitutional and violated the establishment clause of the U.S. Constitution, which says Congress can “make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” The high court found that the law had no secular purpose but rather served a plainly religious purpose. Louisiana’s legislation, which applies to all public K-12 school and state-funded university classrooms, requires the Ten Commandments to be displayed on a poster or framed document at least 11 inches by 14 inches (28 by 36 centimeters) where the text is the central focus and “printed in a large, easily readable font.” Each poster must be paired with the four-paragraph “context statement” describing how the Ten Commandments “were a prominent part of American public education for almost three centuries.” Tens of thousands of posters would likely be needed to satisfy the new law. Proponents say that schools are not required to spend public money on the posters, and instead that they can be bought using donations or that groups and organizations will donate the actual posters. (AP)
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Israeli President Yitzchak Herzog met with outgoing U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House today, where the two leaders discussed pressing issues related to the ongoing regional conflict and security concerns. During the meeting, held in the Oval Office, Herzog stressed Israel’s top priority, saying, “The most important thing now is to return the kidnapped people.” Biden affirmed his support, replying, “I agree.” In a symbolic gesture, President Herzog presented Biden with a special gift: a Jerusalem stone found at the foot of the Har Habayis, bearing Biden’s name in Hebrew – “Yosef.” (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has issued a powerful message to the Iranian people, urging them not to lose hope and envision a future free from the oppressive rule of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. In a direct address, Netanyahu shared his belief that ordinary Iranians hold the power to bring about change. “A few weeks ago, I spoke directly to the people of Iran. Millions worldwide, including millions within Iran, viewed that message,” Netanyahu began, noting the significant responses received from Iranian citizens. “Today, I want to speak to you again.” Netanyahu criticized Khamenei’s regime for its costly attack on Israel, estimating the recent missile assault at $2.3 billion. “Did he tell you how much that attack cost?” Netanyahu asked, highlighting the money “wasted on futile attacks” instead of supporting Iran’s infrastructure and economy. “The missiles did marginal damage to Israel,” Netanyahu continued, “but what damage did they do to you? That sum could have added billions to your transportation and education budgets.” He emphasized the human cost, explaining how resources spent on attacks could instead provide world-class education, improved infrastructure, and healthcare in Iran. Netanyahu painted a vision of a free Iran, where individuals could speak freely, raise their children with optimism, and benefit from advancements like Israel’s desalination technology. “Imagine how your children’s lives would look if billions of dollars were invested in them instead of wasted on wars that can’t be won,” he said. “The tyrants of Tehran are the only force putting your family in danger,” Netanyahu asserted, addressing the economic toll and dangers posed by the regime’s actions. “Every day, that regime gets weaker. Every day, Israel gets stronger.” He concluded with a hopeful message: “Zan, Zendegi, Azadi – Women, Life, Freedom. Don’t lose hope. Israel and others in the free world stand with you. I have no doubt that one day in a free Iran, Israelis and Iranians will build a future of prosperity and peace.” (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
A doctor accused of criticizing the war in Ukraine in front of a patient was convicted Tuesday of spreading false information about the Russian military and sentenced to 5 1/2 years in prison, part of an unrelenting Kremlin crackdown on dissent. Dr. Nadezhda Buyanova, 68, was arrested in February after Anastasia Akinshina, the mother of one of her patients, reported the pediatrician to authorities. Akinshina alleged that Buyanova told her and her son that his father, a Russian soldier who apparently was killed in Ukraine, was a legitimate target for Kyiv’s troops and had blamed Moscow for the war. A video of the outraged Akinshina complaining about Buyanova was widely publicized, and chief of Russia’s Investigative Committee Alexander Bastrykin personally demanded a criminal case be brought against the doctor. Buyanova, who was born in western Ukraine, denied the accusation, insisting she never said what she was accused of saying. In a tearful closing statement to the court last week, she had urged it to acquit her. Her defense argued the prosecution failed to present evidence that the purported conversation took place, including any recordings of it, and alleged that her accuser fabricated the story out of animosity toward Ukrainians, according to the independent news site Mediazona, which reported all of the hearings in the trial. In her closing statement to the court, Buyanova said it was “painful” to read the accusations in the indictment, and broke down. “A doctor, especially a pediatrician, is not capable of wishing harm to a child, his mother, or traumatizing the child’s psyche. Only a monster is capable of this — and of the words that I allegedly said to them,” Mediazona quoted her as saying. Buyanova’s case drew national attention, with more than 6,500 people signing an online petition demanding her freedom and supporters regularly attending court hearings. As the judge read out the verdict, they shouted, “Disgrace!” before bailiffs escorted everyone from the courtroom. Her lawyer, Oscar Cherdzhyev, told reporters afterward that the verdict was “unexpectedly harsh” and “monstrously cruel.” “We didn’t expect this,” he said. “Spreading false information” about the army has been a criminal offense since March 2022, when Russia adopted a series of laws prohibiting any public expression about the invasion that deviated from the official narrative. Authorities started actively using them against critics and protesters. According to OVD-Info, one of Russia’s leading rights groups that tracks political arrests, more than 1,000 people have been implicated in criminal cases on charges related to speaking or acting out against the war. (AP)
Sarah Yasour, the head teacher at the kindergarten that was hit by an attack drone in the northern city of Nesher on Tuesday morning, was praised as a heroine for saving the lives of 20 children and the staff. The neis was especially potent since for unknown reasons, no sirens sounded in the city and she brought the children into the shelter only as a precaution, saving their lives. “We truly experienced a neis shel ha’nissim,” she said, thanking Hashem for the Hashgacha. She also thanked her staff, saying: “It wasn’t only me, it was all the staff. Together we made an immediate decision, only because we heard a very faint and distant siren from the Krayot area (Haifa suburbs), and we said, ‘Fine, we’ll go into the bomb shelter.'” “We were at the morning circle time with the children, all of us together, and when we heard the faint siren and I saw [an alert on my phone] that a drone had crossed into Israel, I said we’re not taking chances and within a few seconds, we all entered the bomb shelter. This decision simply saved us.” The drone hit the kindergarten only a moment after they entered the shelter. “We suddenly heard a loud noise and realized it must be close by. We didn’t understand the magnitude of the neis until we left the shelter. It hit right where we were sitting.” (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
A judge on Tuesday postponed a decision on whether to undo President-elect Donald Trump’s conviction in his hush money case as his lawyers argued that his election last week warrants dismissing the case altogether so he can run the country. New York Judge Juan M. Merchan had been set to rule Tuesday on their earlier request to throw out his conviction for a different reason — because of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling this summer on presidential immunity. Instead, he told Trump’s lawyers he’d delay the ruling until Nov. 19 so that prosecutors can give their view of what to do in light of Trump’s impending return to the White House. According to emails filed in court Tuesday, Trump’s lawyers and prosecutors had agreed in recent days to the one-week postponement. Because of the “unprecedented circumstances,” prosecutors need to consider how to balance the “competing interests” of the jury’s verdict and the presidency, prosecutor Matthew Colangelo wrote. Trump lawyer Emil Bove, meanwhile, argued that throwing out the case is “necessary to avoid unconstitutional impediments to President Trump’s ability to govern.” Trump’s lawyers and prosecutors had no immediate comment Tuesday. A jury convicted Trump in May of falsifying business records related to a $130,000 payment to a woman in 2016 to buy her silence about claims that she made about Trump. He denies any wrongdoing and maintains the prosecution was a political tactic meant to harm his latest campaign. Just over a month after the verdict, the Supreme Court ruled that ex-presidents can’t be prosecuted for actions they took in the course of running the country, and prosecutors can’t cite those actions even to bolster a case centered on purely personal conduct. Trump’s lawyers cited that ruling to argue that the hush money jury got some evidence it shouldn’t have, such as Trump’s presidential financial disclosure form and testimony from some White House aides. Prosecutors disagreed and said the evidence in question was only “a sliver” of their case. Trump’s criminal conviction was a first for any ex-president. It left the 78-year-old facing the possibility of punishment ranging from a fine or probation to up to four years in prison. The case centered on how Trump accounted for reimbursing his personal attorney for the Daniels payment. The lawyer, Michael Cohen, fronted the money. He later recouped it through a series of payments that Trump’s company logged as legal expenses. Trump, by then in the White House, signed most of the checks himself. Prosecutors said the designation was meant to cloak the true purpose of the payments and help cover up a broader effort to keep voters from hearing unflattering claims about the Republican during his first campaign. Trump said that Cohen was legitimately paid for legal services, and that the woman’s story was suppressed to avoid embarrassing Trump’s family, not to influence the electorate. Trump was a private citizen — campaigning for president, but neither elected nor sworn in — when Cohen paid the woman in October 2016. He was president when Cohen was reimbursed, and Cohen testified that they discussed the repayment arrangement in the Oval Office. Trump has been fighting for months to overturn the verdict and could now seek to leverage his status as president-elect. Although he was tried as a private citizen, his forthcoming return to the […]
Two people were killed after a rocket strike in Nahariya, a northern coastal city, a short while ago. Magen David Adom responded and found two victims in critical condition. Sadly, they were both Niftar a short while later. MDA EMT Dor Vaknin said that this was a warehouse hit by a rocket. Vaknin says “we arrived quickly at the scene, where there was significant destruction and an active fire. We conducted medical assessments on two men who were lying unconscious and suffering from severe injuries. Unfortunately, their injuries were too severe, and after our assessments, we had to pronounce both of them deceased.” The IDF reports that 10 rockets were launched in the attack, with some intercepted and others hitting populated areas or open spaces in the Western Galilee. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
