Trump Can’t Block New York District Attorney’s Tax Subpoena Bloomberg•Trump loses court fight to block tax subpoena in N.Y.
Scroll back up to restore default view.(Bloomberg) — President Donald Trump suffered another setback in his effort to guard his financial information as a federal appeals court refused to block the Manhattan district attorney’s subpoena to his accountants for tax records.The 3-0 ruling by the federal appeals court in Manhattan moves the case closer to a possible showdown in the U.S. Supreme Court. If Trump loses there, he may run out of legal ways to halt District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. from obtaining the records.The court soundly rejected Trump’s claim that his broad presidential immunity prevents state prosecutors from investigating his affairs or obtaining records from his accountant. A lawyer for Trump argued before the panel last month that Trump could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue, echoing his famous 2016 boast, and that criminal charges or even a subpoena for his records would be legally out of bounds.“The decision of the Second Circuit will be taken to the Supreme Court,” Trump’s lawyer, Jay Sekulow, said in a statement. “The issue raised in this case goes to the heart of our republic. The constitutional issues are significant.”QuickTake: How Trump’s (Private) Tax Returns Could Become PublicThough the ruling was narrow — the court made clear it wasn’t weighing in on whether Trump could be prosecuted or himself required to turn over records — it is still a significant blow to the president. Since declaring his candidacy more than four years ago, he has resisted all demands that he disclose his financial data. Trump has also sued to block congressional subpoenas.“Presidential immunity does not bar the enforcement of a state grand jury subpoena directing a third party to produce non‐privileged material, even when the subject matter under investigation pertains to the president,” Chief Circuit Judge Robert Katzmann said in a 34-page opinion.Read More: Trump Isn’t Immune From Demand for Tax Records, Judge RulesThe appeals court moved with unusual haste, issuing its decision just 12 days after arguments. A lower-court judge in New York ruled last month that Trump can’t stop his accountants, Mazars USA LLP, from providing eight years of taxes and other financial documents to Vance, whose office is investigating whether the Trump Organization falsified business records to disguise hush payments to two women who claimed they had sex with him.The court on Monday agreed with U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero that Trump isn’t entitled to an injunction blocking Mazars from complying with the subpoena. Marrero said Trump was seeking “virtually limitless” immunity from criminal investigation. The appeals panel praised Marrero’s “well‐articulated opinion.”
PHOTO: Then-House Speaker nominee Rep. Bob Livingston, R-La., speaks during the House session on the four articles of impeachment against former President Bill Clinton in Washington, D.C., Dec. 19, 1998. (AP, FILE)“I picked up the phone to call the State Department, or the NSC [National Security Council], to let them know that she was trashing Trump,” Livingston said. “I had several people tell me the ambassador was doing a terrible job.”Yovanovitch has disputed this, telling congress „the notion that I am disloyal to President Trump” is “fictitious.”(MORE: Former ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch says she felt threatened, was told to ‘watch my back’: Impeachment deposition)Livingston’s name first surfaced in the House impeachment inquiry after he was identified by a former White House official as someone who repeatedly complained about the ambassador. But he says those complaints were in no way connected to a simultaneous efforts by Giuliani and others to see Yovanovitch replaced.The official, former National Security Council Director for Ukraine Catherine Croft said during her deposition before House impeachment investigators that she „received multiple calls” from Livingston while she was at the White House, telling her that Yovanovitch should be fired, according to her opening statement obtained by ABC News.Asked by ABC News whether there was any connection between his alleged push to oust Yovanovitch and Giuliani’s, Livingston said, „The simple answer is that no, there was no connection between our clients nor of our efforts and those of Mr. Giuliani.” Livingston declined to comment on whether he had been contacted by investigators or prosecutors.
PHOTO: Rudy Giuliani arrives to campaign for Republican Senate hopeful Mike Braun, Nov. 3, 2018, in Franklin Township, Ind. (Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Images)(MORE: Rudy Giuliani’s relationship with arrested men is subject of criminal investigation: Sources)The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York declined to comment on the matter. However sources familiar with the investigation say Livingston is not a target of the probe.Two of Giuliani’s associates, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, have been indicted in a campaign finance case in the Southern District of New York. Both men have pleaded not guilty. According to the indictment, Parnas sought Yovanovitch’s ouster earlier this year along with their efforts to get Ukrainian officials to investigate the president’s political rival, former Vice President Joe Biden, and his son.For her part, Yovanovitch defended her record as an experienced and respected diplomat and called all of the efforts to oust her a „mystery.””Honestly, it’s a mystery to me,” she told members of Congress during her recent deposition. “But all I can conclude from everything that I’ve seen over the last 5 or 6 months is that they felt that our policy to try to make Ukraine stronger and more resilient, through the anticorruption policies … were problematic for them.”
PHOTO:Former US Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch flanked by lawyers, aides and Capitol police, leaves the Capitol, Oct. 11, 2019. (Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images)(MORE: Rudy Giuliani’s high-dollar foreign clients could present legal problems: Experts)Yovanovitch said she believed she was “in the way” as Giuliani and his associates’ pursued their own interests — both business and political.As ABC News has previously reported, Manhattan investigators are looking into the business relationship between Giuliani and his Soviet-born associates, focusing on whether Giuliani had to register as a foreign agent with the Justice Department for his work for his foreign clients, according to sources.Giuliani did not respond to calls and emails seeking comment.Livingston, now a powerhouse Washington lobbyist, has been actively lobbying on behalf of three Ukrainian clients through his firm Livingston Group, records filed under the Foreign Agent Registration Act show. Only one of the clients is connected to Ukrainian politics, he said.Politics Trump Ukraine scandal: House impeachment vote just made things trickier for Republicans USA TODAY Opinion• Pelosi: ‘Sad day’ as House debates impeachment Impeachment proceedings have just entered into much more difficult and dangerous terrain for congressional Republicans.To this point, Republicans have been able to focus on partisanship and process, not the substance of what President Donald Trump did.There’s no question about the partisan motivation behind the impeachment drive. The left has wanted to impeach Trump for something, anything, since before he took office.And the criticisms of the process were on the mark. Impeachment hearings commenced without a full vote of the House. Secret proceedings with damaging information were promptly leaked.The Intelligence Committee took the lead, even though intelligence matters aren’t at the heart of the matter. Other members of Congress were locked out of the hearings and denied even access to transcripts of the testimony. The president had no ability to have counsel present or to question witnesses.The new process is fair enough These process criticisms hit home. But the resolution adopted by the House Thursday may change the landscape.Although it was a vote to continue the existing investigations as impeachment proceedings, that now has been approved by the entire body, not simply dubbed as such by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. That will eliminate any legal question as to whether the broader impeachment investigative powers have been triggered.They have.Under the resolution, the Intelligence Committee is the lead investigative body and is charged with issuing a report. But it is the Judiciary Committee that will consider and vote on impeachment charges.The Intelligence Committee has to conduct at least one open hearing and can publicly release transcripts. Judiciary Committee proceedings will be public and participation by Trump’s lawyers will be permitted.Republicans are still complaining about the process. But if the Intelligence Committee promptly makes transcripts publicly available, the process is fair enough. 2 questions the GOP can no longer avoid If the public perceives it as such, that will require congressional Republicans to address two questions they have heretofore been able to largely avoid:
Key point: Beijing is confident in its nuclear deterrence and so doesn’t need to threaten to use nukes first.China has reaffirmed its policy of never being the first in a conflict to use nuclear weapons. Experts refer to this policy as “no first use,” or NFU.The NFU policy reaffirmation, contained in Beijing’s July 2019 strategic white paper, surprised some observers who expected a more expansive and aggressive nuclear posture from the rising power.Notably, the United States does not have a no-first-use policy. “Retaining a degree of ambiguity and refraining from a no first use policy creates uncertainty in the mind of potential adversaries and reinforces deterrence of aggression by ensuring adversaries cannot predict what specific actions will lead to a U.S. nuclear response,” the Pentagon stated.Chinese state media posted the government’s white paper in its entirety. „Nuclear capability is the strategic cornerstone to safeguarding national sovereignty and security,” the paper asserts.“This is standard language,” explained David Santoro, a nuclear expert with the nonprofit Pacific Forum. “China’s nukes serve to prevent nuclear coercion and deter nuclear attack.”Then the surprise. “China is always committed to a nuclear policy of no first use of nuclear weapons at any time and under any circumstances, and not using or threatening to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear-weapon states or nuclear-weapon-free zones unconditionally,” the white paper adds.This NFU clause surprised Gregory Kulacki, a nuclear expert with the nonprofit Union of Concerned Scientists. “Ever since I took this job 17 years ago, U.S. colleagues of all political and intellectual persuasions have been telling me that sooner or later China would alter, adjust, amend or qualify the policy that China will never, under any circumstances, use nuclear weapons first,” Kulacki wrote.Oil rises on U.S.-China hopes and improved outlook Reuters•
World Romania parliament gives green light to minority liberal govt AFP•
Romanian Prime Minister Ludovic Orban is applauded by members of his cabinet after a vote for a new government at the Romanian Parliament in Bucharest on November 4, 2019 (AFP Photo/Daniel MIHAILESCU)Bucharest (AFP) – Romania’s pro-European liberals on Monday succeeded in getting parliamentary approval to form the next government, ending months of political uncertainty and paving the way for the new prime minister to appoint an EU commissioner.The EU member’s previous left-wing government — besieged by protests over controversial judicial reforms and a perceived failure to fight corruption — collapsed in a no-confidence vote last month.President Klaus Iohannis then tasked Ludovic Orban, chief of the National Liberal Party (PNL), to form a new government, but his proposed minority line-up needed parliamentary approval.A total of 240 lawmakers of the 465-member parliament — just enough for the simple majority needed — voted in favour of Orban’s government.”Our objective is to re-establish the confidence in Romania of our Euro-Atlantic partners,” the former transport minister, 56, told lawmakers from his PNL and four small parties whose support he secured before the vote.Orban is expected to appoint a new EU commissioner after nominees from the previous Social Democrat (PSD)-led government were rejected, leaving the new European Commission unable to start work.”We will make a decision as soon as possible, after consulting the president and after a hearing in the parliament,” Orban said after the vote.He blamed PSD leader Viorica Dancila for the rejection of the first candidates in Brussels.Incoming European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen — who wants her new team to be up and running by December 1 — has urged Romania to propose a new EU commissioner „without delay”.- Presidential race -The crucial parliamentary vote also comes just ahead of a first round of presidential elections on Sunday with incumbent Iohannis, a former PNL leader himself, the clear front-runner.The 17 cabinet members — all from the PNL except for the defence and foreign ministers who have no party affiliation — will be sworn in later on Monday.Among its priorities, the government — seen as a transitional one until the next parliamentary elections in late 2020 — aims to keep the annual budget deficit under three percent of output, the EU limit, and to reverse the judicial reforms introduced by the PSD.Dancila, whose government collapsed in the October 10 no-confidence vote, is also running in the weekend’s presidential elections, but her chances are seen as slim.The PSD boycotted Monday’s vote. Afterwards, Dancila accused Iohannis of „confiscating the executive power”.”The aim of this government is to give Iohannis a second (presidential) term, and this is an insult to democracy,” Dancila said. Since taking power in late 2016, the PSD government faced massive protests and criticism from Brussels over reforms seen as helping politicians to escape corruption sentences.
World Police find 41 migrants alive in truck in northern Greece Reuters•Police find 41 migrants alive in refrigerator truck in Greece ATHENS (Reuters) – Greek police found 41 migrants, mostly Afghans, hiding in a refrigerated truck at a motorway in northern Greece on Monday, officials said.The discovery came 10 days after 39 bodies, all believed to be Vietnamese migrants, were discovered in the back of a refrigerated truck near London. Two people have been charged in Britain and eight in Vietnam over the deaths.The refrigeration system in the truck where the migrants were found in northern Greece had not been turned on, and none of the migrants was injured, though some asked for medical assistance, a Greek police official said.Police had stopped the truck near the city of Xanthi for a routine check, arresting the driver and taking him and the migrants to a nearby police station for identification.Greece is currently struggling with the biggest resurgence in arrivals of migrants and refugees since 2015, when more than a million crossed into Europe from Turkey via Greece.Most of them are reaching Greek Aegean islands close to the Turkish coast via boats but a large number also come overland, using a river border crossing with Turkey.Road accidents, mainly in northern Greece, involving migrants trying to cross into other countries have become more frequent in recent years. Police have arrested dozens of people believed to be involved in human trafficking so far in 2019.About 34,000 asylum seekers and refugees are being held in overcrowded camps on the Aegean islands under conditions which human rights groups have slammed as appalling.The conservative government that came to power in July has vowed to move up to 20,000 off the islands and deport 10,000 people who do not qualify for asylum by the end of 2020.Arrivals of unaccompanied children have also increased. About 1,000 minors have arrived since July, the Greek labor ministry said, with the total number estimated at over 5,000. A fifth of them are now missing, the ministry said, pledging to build more facilities and shelters for migrant children.(Reporting by Lefteris Papadimas and Angeliki Koutantou; Writing by Renee Maltezou; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
Iran frets as anti-government protests take hold in Iraq and Lebanon
Protesters attacked the Iranian consulate in the Iraqi Shia holy city of Karbala on Sunday, as demonstrations continued to grow against Tehran’s influence in the country.
Crowds scaled the building’s concrete barriers and tried to take down the Iranian flag and replace it with the Iraqi one before three were shot dead by security forces.
Many demonstrators have accused Iran of propping up the “corrupt, inefficient” government they want to overthrow, as they have taken to the streets in the biggest mass protests since the US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003.
“I am the son of Karbala and there is no Iranian who can dictate to me,” one angry protester shook his fist as he spoke to a local TV station, in a clip widely shared on social media on Monday.
In recent days, they have been seen burning posters of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, which would have been unthinkable before the recent protests began last month.
In the 16 years since the fall of Saddam Huseein, a Sunni Muslim, Shia neighbour Iran has emerged as a key power broker in Iraqi politics.
Tehran closely backs both its Shia-led government and maintains control over a number of powerful armed groups in Iraq.
Iran has reportedly stepped in to prevent the ouster of Abdel Abdul Mahdi, Iraq’s prime minister, which has been called for by protesters and prominent political rivals.
Militias backed by Tehran have tried to help put down the rallies, which are growing in scale, deploying snipers and firing on unarmed demonstrators.
More than 250 people have been killed since the protests first erupted on October 1.
In another holy city, Najaf, demonstrators changed the name of Imam Khomenei road (after the late ayatollah) to “ Martyrs of October Revolution” road after those killed.
Elsewhere, in Lebanon, protesters have been chanting against what they see as the meddling of both Iran and Saudi Arabia in the Mediterranean country’s domestic affairs.
Protests against political corruption and mismanagement have been largely secular and peaceful, however supporters of the two biggest Shia parties, Hizbollah and Amal, have attempted to quash the rallies with violence.
