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Malaysia to summon two Goldman Sachs units ahead of 1MDB case

The Goldman Sachs company logo is seen in the company's space on the floor of the NYSE in New York
The Goldman Sachs company logo is seen in the company's space on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, (NYSE) in New York, U.S., April 17, 2018. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

March 18, 2019

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Malaysian prosecutors on Monday said they would issue summonses to units of U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs in London and Hong Kong, requiring them to respond by June to criminal charges filed against them last year.

Soon after being elected in May, 2018, a new government charged three units of Goldman Sachs for misleading investors by making untrue statements and omitting key facts in relation to bond issues totaling $6.5 billion for state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

On Monday, only the Singapore unit of Goldman Sachs appeared at a pre-trial hearing in a Kuala Lumpur court as a respondent.

“Fresh summonses will be served on the United Kingdom and Hong Kong offices of Goldman Sachs ahead of the next court hearing on June 24,” prosecutor Aaron Paul Chelliah told reporters.

The 1MDB scandal played a major role in the electoral defeat that ended Najib Razak’s near decade in power, and a new government led by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad promptly re-opened corruption investigations.

Najib, who has consistently denied wrongdoing, is facing multiple criminal charges, mostly linked to 1MDB, and has been barred from leaving the country.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) has estimated that a total of $4.5 billion was misappropriated by high-level 1MDB fund officials and their associates between 2009 and 2014, including some of the funds that Goldman Sachs helped raise.

Malaysia has said it was seeking up to $7.5 billion in reparations from Goldman Sachs, including $600 million in fees paid to the bank for the bond issues.

Goldman Sachs has consistently denied wrongdoing and said certain members of the former Malaysian government and 1MDB lied to it about how proceeds from the bond sales would be used.

A separate Kuala Lumpur court also set April 15 for prosecutors to serve documents to the defense for former Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng.

Ng, a Malaysian, was charged on Dec. 19 last year with abetting the bank to provide misleading statements in the offering prospectus for the 1MDB bond sales.

Prosecutor Zaki Arsyad told the court he needed more time to obtain documents as most of them were overseas.

Ng was originally set to be extradited to the United States to face money laundering charges filed against him by the DoJ.

Malaysia, however, has said it may postpone the extradition until Ng can face a domestic trial first.

Tim Leissner, another former Goldman Sachs official, and Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho have also been charged in the United States over the alleged theft of billions of dollars from 1MDB. Leissner has pleaded guilty.

Low, whose whereabouts is unknown, has issued denials of any wrongdoing and has refused to return to Malaysia, saying that the case against him is politically motivated.

(Reporting by Rozanna Latiff; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)

Source: OANN

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Final verdict looms for ex-Bosnian Serb leader Karadzic

Nearly a quarter of a century since Bosnia's devastating war ended, former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic is set to hear the final judgment on whether he can be held criminally responsible for unleashing a wave of murder and destruction.

United Nations appeals judges will on Wednesday rule whether to uphold or overturn Karadzic's 2016 convictions for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, as well as his 40-year sentence. They will also rule on an appeal by prosecutors against his acquittal on a second count of genocide during Bosnia's war, Europe's bloodiest conflict since World War II.

The appeals judgment comes at a time when the global project to hold leaders accountable for crimes is under pressure — last week, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Washington will revoke or deny visas to International Criminal Court personnel seeking to investigate alleged abuses committed by U.S. forces in Afghanistan or elsewhere, and may do the same with those who seek action against Israel.

Amnesty International described the move as "the latest attack on international justice and international institutions by an administration hell-bent on rolling back human rights protections."

Karadzic was convicted by a different court, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, but should the judges overturn his convictions, it would likely be seen as another damaging blow to international courts.

As the leader of Bosnia's Serbs during the country's devastating 1992-95 war, Karadzic is one of the most senior figures tried by the Hague war crimes court. His case is considered as key in delivering justice for the victims of the conflict which left over 100,000 people dead and millions homeless.

Bosnian Serb wartime military commander Ratko Mladic is also awaiting an appeal judgment of his genocide and war crimes conviction, which earned him a life sentence.

At an appeals hearing last year, prosecution lawyer Katrina Gustafson told a five-judge panel that Karadzic "abused his immense power to spill the blood of countless victims. Justice requires that he receive the highest possible sentence — a life sentence."

Last week, Bosnian war wounds were revived when it was revealed that the white supremacist suspected in the mosque shootings that left at least 50 people dead in New Zealand appeared to show admiration for Karadzic and his legacy. In a video, the self-proclaimed white supremacist is seen driving apparently on his way to the attack and listening to a wartime Bosnian Serb song praising Karadzic and his fight against Bosnia's Muslims.

Bosnian war survivors believe that appeals judges must keep in place his 10 convictions and his sentence.

"We expect that he'll get (the punishment) he deserves," said Sehida Abdurahmanovic, who lost 30 relatives in the Bosnian war's bloody climax, the 1995 massacre of some 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica. "We expect (the appeals court) to confirm the first-instance verdict and that he will not be allowed at any price to avoid the responsibility for genocide."

But Karadzic supporters are hoping for a reduction in his sentence or even acquittal.

"I believe that, at worst, the (appeals) verdict will be much, much more favorable than the first-instance verdict," said Momcilo Krajisnik, Karadzic's political right-hand man during the war. "If we are lucky, he will be a free man."

Krajisnik, himself, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for persecuting and forcibly expelling non-Serbs and crimes against humanity. He was released in 2014 after serving two-thirds of his sentence.

Azir Osmanovic, 36, curator of the Srebrenica memorial, who survived the massacre as a child but whose older brother's remains have not been found, fears that Karadzic's sentence could be reduced.

"We believe that for the crimes he had organized here in Bosnia-Herzegovina he does not deserve 40, but rather 400 years in prison," he said.

Karadzic was also tried for an orchestrated campaign to drive the Muslims and Croats from Serb-held territories in Bosnia, as well as the more than three-year siege of Sarajevo, Bosnia's capital.

Karadzic remained at large for years before he was arrested in Serbia in 2008 as a disguised new-age therapist.

A U.N. peacekeeper in Srebrenica ahead of the massacre, Boudewyn Kok has been returning to the eastern Bosnian town annually to pay his respect to the victims. This year, he came with his teenage son so he could tell him about what happened in Srebrenica.

"But unfortunately, the war crimes court has no death penalty," Kok said.

___

Stojanovic reported from Belgrade, Serbia. Sabina Niksic contributed to this story from Sarajevo, Bosnia.

Source: Fox News World

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Brexit supporters reject UK attorney general’s additional legal opinion: The Telegraph

Britain's Attorney General Geoffrey Cox is seen outside Downing Street in London
FILE PHOTO: Britain's Attorney General Geoffrey Cox is seen outside Downing Street in London, Britain March 14, 2019. REUTERS/Toby Melville

March 15, 2019

LONDON (Reuters) – Brexit-supporting lawmakers have rejected an additional legal opinion by Britain’s top government lawyer on Prime Minister Theresa May’s divorce deal assurances, The Telegraph reported.

Attorney General Geoffrey Cox had attempted to win over Brexit-supporting lawmakers with additional legal advice, the newspaper reported.

His original opinion published on Tuesday that the legal risk remained that Britain might be unable to get out of the backstop helped convince Brexit-supporting lawmakers to oppose the deal.

But in additional advice, Cox stated that Britain will be able to break out of the Irish backstop if it is having a “socially destabilizing effect on Northern Ireland”, which would be considered a “fundamental change” of circumstances, the newspaper said.

A so-called ‘star chamber’ of eurosceptic Conservative lawyers, which includes Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) deputy leader Nigel Dodds, produced a five-page analysis of the advice and concluded that it is “erroneous” and “badly misconceived”.

In the legal advice, Cox said the Vienna convention enables the UK to break off the backstop in the event that there has been an “unforeseen and fundamental change of circumstances”.

“It is in my view clear and undoubted in those exceptional circumstances that international law provides the [UK] with the right to terminate the Withdrawal Agreement,” Cox said.

“If that were to happen, the [UK] would no doubt offer to continue to observe the unexhausted obligations in connection, for example, with citizens’ rights.”

Brexiteers rejected the advice.

“Saying they are ‘exceptional’ does not make them so in the eyes of international law,” their lawyers said.

“Hungary undoubtedly thought there was something ‘exceptional’ about the collapse of Soviet tyranny and the liquidation of the other State Party with which Hungary had concluded the treaty in question. But that was not enough.”

(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge; editing by Michael Holden)

Source: OANN

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Ryanair pilots in Portugal vote for pay agreement

A Ryanair Boeing 737-8AS plane takes off at the Riga International Airport
A Ryanair Boeing 737-8AS plane takes off at the Riga International Airport, Latvia March 15, 2019. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins

April 2, 2019

(Reuters) – Irish-based carrier Ryanair said on Tuesday its pilots based in Portugal have voted for a labor agreement for the next four years, taking another step to head off any risk of another round of damaging strikes ahead of its peak summer season.

The agreement governing pay and conditions was negotiated between Ryanair and the Portuguese pilot union SPAC to cover all of the airline’s directly employed pilots in Portugal, the carrier said.

Ryanair has been struggling with labor relations since it bowed to pressure to recognize unions for the first time almost a year ago.

The airline had said in October that it had reached an agreement with its Portuguese pilots on seniority and home base issues, looking at the time to end a damaging series of strikes that had hurt its business.

It had said that the Portuguese deal – covering issues such as leave allocation and promotion – would allow talks with Portugal’s SPAC union on a full collective labor agreement.

Separately, Ryanair said on Tuesday that passenger traffic grew 9 percent to 10.9 million in March.

(Reporting by Noor Zainab Hussain in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)

Source: OANN

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No plan yet for Barr to brief U.S. Congress on Mueller findings: sources

U.S. Attorney General William Barr leaves his house after Special Counsel Robert Mueller found no evidence of collusion between U.S. President Donald Trump’s campaign and Russia in the 2016 election in McClean, Virginia
U.S. Attorney General William Barr leaves his house after Special Counsel Robert Mueller found no evidence of collusion between U.S. President Donald Trump’s campaign and Russia in the 2016 election in McClean, Virginia, U.S., March 25, 2019. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

March 26, 2019

By Mark Hosenball

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Justice Department and FBI have yet to notify key congressional committees and leaders of any plan to brief them in detail on the findings of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe, five congressional officials said on Tuesday.

Attorney General William Barr on Sunday delivered to Congress his summary of Mueller’s confidential report on a 22-month investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

Barr said Mueller concluded there was no collusion between President Donald Trump’s campaign team and Moscow. Mueller did not decide one way or the other on whether Trump was guilty of obstruction of justice, but Barr and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein decided there was not enough evidence to charge the president.

It marked a political victory for Trump but Democrats are suspicious over Barr’s handling of the issue of obstruction and are demanding he give them a full copy of Mueller’s report by next week. They also want him and the FBI to brief them on the findings.

The five congressional officials and one law enforcement source said none of the intelligence or judiciary committees in the House of Representatives and Senate had been notified yet of any plans for briefings.

The “Gang of Eight” — Republican and Democratic leaders in Congress and top members of its intelligence committees — are usually the first lawmakers to be briefed on sensitive intelligence and law enforcement matters but they have not been told of any briefing plans either, the sources said.

The Justice Department has said Barr and Mueller’s team are working “expeditiously” to determine what parts of the report may be released.

Their review would ensure that secret grand jury material and information pertaining to other cases that Mueller has referred to federal prosecutors is not publicly disclosed.

(Reporting by Mark Hosenball; Additional reporting by Sarah Lynch; Editing by Tom Brown)

Source: OANN

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Kentucky freshman Herro announces intention to enter NBA draft

FILE PHOTO: NCAA Basketball: NCAA Tournament-Midwest Regional-Auburn vs Kentucky
FILE PHOTO: Mar 31, 2019; Kansas City, MO, United States; Kentucky Wildcats guard Tyler Herro (14) drives against Auburn Tigers guard Jared Harper (1) during the first half in the championship game of the midwest regional of the 2019 NCAA Tournament at Sprint Center. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

April 12, 2019

Kentucky freshman guard Tyler Herro on Wednesday announced his intention to declare for the NBA draft via a social media post but left his options open for a return to the school.

Herro said he will work with an agent, within new eligibility rules, in order to get feedback from teams on where he might land in the draft. If his draft stock is not as high as he had hoped, he said he will return to the Kentucky program.

“If the evaluations tell me I need to elevate my game further, I would be thrilled to return to Kentucky and help this team compete for a championship,” Herro said in a statement. “Whatever happens over the next couple of months, I want to thank (Kentucky fans) for (their) support this season and throughout this process.”

Herro averaged 14.0 points this past season, second on the Wildcats. He led the team with 60 made 3-pointers, while shooting 93.5 percent from the free throw line, a Kentucky single-season record. He led the Wildcats with 32.6 minutes per game.

The 6-foot-5, 195-pounder was a five-star recruit out of Whitnall High School in the Milwaukee area, where he was first team all-state in Wisconsin and averaged 32.9 points per game.

Kentucky coach John Calipari offered his support to Herro via a Twitter post Friday.

“What I’m most proud of is how Tyler became not only an efficient offensive player but an efficient defensive player,” Calipari wrote. “He’s wired and driven like only a few others I’ve coached. I’ve had an absolute ball coaching him. Whatever he decides to do in the end, I will support.”

–Field Level Media

Source: OANN

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Monitor says Thai election campaign ‘heavily tilted’ to benefit junta

Thailand's Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha arrives to attend a weekly cabinet meeting days after the general election, at Government House in Bangkok
Thailand's Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha arrives to attend a weekly cabinet meeting days after the general election, at Government House in Bangkok, Thailand, March 26, 2019. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha

March 26, 2019

By Patpicha Tanakasempipat and Juarawee Kittisilpa

BANGKOK (Reuters) – The run-up to Thailand’s weekend vote was “heavily tilted” to benefit a party close to the ruling military junta, an Asian election monitor said on Tuesday, and criticized a messy ballot-counting process that created mistrust.

Persistent confusion about results two days after Sunday’s vote have diminished hopes that the first election since a 2014 military coup would end nearly 15 years of political turmoil in Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy.

The Bangkok-based Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) stopped short of declaring outright fraud in the election, in which both a pro-junta party and an opposition party linked to a self-exiled former premier have claimed victory.

“The environment at large is heavily tilted to benefit the military junta,” Amaël Vier, an official of the civil society group that seeks to promote democratic elections, told a news briefing.

“A lot of people still express distrust towards the electoral process.”

Asked if the election had been free and fair, another ANFREL official declined to comment directly, however.

“So many things have to be considered together,” said its mission head, Rohana Nishanta Hettiarachchie. “It is unfair to conclude that the whole process was free and fair or not.”

Thailand’s Election Commission was not immediately available for comment. It has previously declined to comment on accusations of cheating.

With only partial results reported, the party backing junta leader Prayuth Chan-ocha has said it is gathering coalition partners to form a government.

But the main opposition Pheu Thai party, loyal to ousted former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, has alleged “irregularities”, and is considering legal challenges, while also saying it is putting together a coalition government.

It could be days or even weeks before it is clear whether either Prayuth’s party or the “democratic front” has won enough seats to form a stable government.

Unofficial results for 350 directly elected “constituency seats” in the House of Representatives released on Monday by the Election Commission showed Pheu Thai leading with 137 seats, versus 97 seats for Prayuth’s party.

But official results, including 150 more “party seats”, would not be available until May 9, the election body said.

A fuller picture could emerge on Friday, when the election commission releases vote totals for each constituency, used to determine the allocation of party seats, in a complex formula.

Even before May 9, but parties are making their own calculations on the basis of partial results and seeking coalition partners to form a government.

The commission has blamed delays and irregularities in early partial results on “human error.”

Junta leader Prayuth, who as army chief seized power in 2014, is expected to speak later on Tuesday after a cabinet meeting.

Since 2004, Thailand has been racked by street protests organized by both opponents and supporters of Thaksin, occasionally spilling into violence.

Parties linked to Thaksin have won every election since 2001, but the populist telecoms billionaire was thrown out by the army in 2006, and a government led by his sister was ousted in 2014.

(Additional reporting by Panarat Thepgumpanat; Writing by Kay Johnson; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

Source: OANN

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An employee looks up at goods at the Miniclipper Logistics warehouse in Leighton Buzzard
FILE PHOTO: An employee looks up at goods at the Miniclipper Logistics warehouse in Leighton Buzzard, Britain December 3, 2018. REUTERS/Simon Dawson

April 26, 2019

LONDON, April 26 – British factories stockpiled raw materials and goods ahead of Brexit at the fastest pace since records began in the 1950s, and they were increasingly downbeat about their prospects, a survey showed on Friday.

The Confederation of British Industry’s (CBI) quarterly survey of the manufacturing industry showed expectations for export orders in the next three months fell to their lowest level since mid-2009, when Britain was reeling from the global financial crisis.

The record pace of stockpiling recorded by the CBI was mirrored by the closely-watched IHS Markit/CIPS purchasing managers’ index published earlier this month.

(Reporting by Andy Bruce, editing by David Milliken)

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Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad speaks at the opening ceremony for the second Belt and Road Forum in Beijing
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad speaks at the opening ceremony for the second Belt and Road Forum in Beijing, China April 26, 2019. REUTERS/Florence Lo

April 26, 2019

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Fewer than half of Malaysians approve of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, an opinion poll showed on Friday, as concerns over rising costs and racial matters plague his administration nearly a year after taking office.

The survey, conducted in March by independent pollster Merdeka Center, showed that only 46 percent of voters surveyed were satisfied with Mahathir, a sharp drop from the 71 percent approval rating he received in August 2018.

Mahathir’s Pakatan Harapan coalition won a stunning election victory in May 2018, ending the previous government’s more than 60-year rule.

But his administration has since been criticized for failing to deliver on promised reforms and protecting the rights of majority ethnic Malay Muslims.

Of 1,204 survey respondents, 46 percent felt that the “country was headed in the wrong direction”, up from 24 percent in August 2018, the Merdeka Center said in a statement. Just 39 percent said they approved of the ruling government.

High living costs remained the top most concern among Malaysians, with just 40 percent satisfied with the government’s management of the economy, the survey showed.

It also showed mixed responses to Pakatan Harapan’s proposed reforms.

Some 69 percent opposed plans to abolish the death penalty, while respondents were sharply divided over proposals to lower the minimum voting age to 18, or to implement a sugar tax.

“In our opinion, the results appear to indicate a public that favors the status quo, and thus requires a robust and coordinated advocacy efforts in order to garner their acceptance of new measures,” Merdeka Center said.

The survey also found 23 percent of Malaysians were concerned over ethnic and religious matters.

Some groups representing Malays have expressed fear that affirmative-action policies favoring them in business, education and housing could be taken away and criticized the appointments of non-Muslims to key government posts.

Last November, the government reversed its pledge to ratify a UN convention against racial discrimination, after a backlash from Malay groups.

Earlier this month, Pakatan Harapan suffered its third successive loss in local elections since taking power, which has been seen as a further sign of waning public support.

Despite the decline, most Malaysians – 67 percent – agreed that Mahathir’s government should be given more time to fulfill its election promises, Merdeka Center said.

This included a majority of Malay voters who were largely more critical of the new administration, it added.

(Reporting by Rozanna Latiff; Editing by Nick Macfie)

Source: OANN

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The German share price index DAX graph at the stock exchange in Frankfurt
The German share price index DAX graph is pictured at the stock exchange in Frankfurt, Germany, April 25, 2019. REUTERS/Staff

April 26, 2019

By Medha Singh and Agamoni Ghosh

(Reuters) – European shares slipped on Friday after losses in heavyweight banks and Glencore outweighed gains in healthcare and auto stocks, while investors remained on the sidelines ahead of U.S. economic data for the first quarter.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index was down 0.1 percent by 0935 GMT, eyeing a modest loss at the end of a holiday-shortened week. Banks-heavy Italian and Spanish indices were laggards.

The banking index fell for a fourth day, at the end of a heavy earnings week for lenders.

Britain’s Royal Bank of Scotland tumbled after posting lower first quarter profit, hurt by intensifying competition and Brexit uncertainty, while its investment bank also registered poor returns.

Weakness in investment banking also dented Deutsche Bank’s quarterly trading revenue and sent its shares lower a day after the German bank abandoned merger talks with smaller rival Commerzbank.

“The current interest rate environment makes it challenging for banks to make proper earnings because of their intermediary function,” said Teeuwe Mevissen, senior market economist eurozone, at Rabobank.

Since the start of April, all country indexes were on pace to rise between 1.8 percent and 3.4 percent, their fourth month of gains, while Germany was strongly outperforming with 6 percent growth.

“For now the current sentiment is very cautious as markets wait for the first estimates of the U.S. GDP growth which could see a surprise,” Mevissen said.

U.S. economic data for the first-quarter is due at 1230 GMT. Growth worries outside the United States resurfaced this week after South Korea’s economy unexpectedly contracted at the start of the year and weak German business sentiment data for April also disappointed.

Among the biggest drags on the benchmark index in Europe were the basic resources sector and the oil and gas sector, weighed down by Britain’s Glencore and France’s Total, respectively.

Glencore dropped after reports that U.S authorities were investigating whether the company and its subsidiaries violated certain provisions of the commodity exchange act.

Energy major Total said its net profit for the first three months of the year fell compared with a year ago due to volatile oil prices and debt costs.

Chip stocks in the region including Siltronic, Ams and STMicroelectronics lost more than 1 percent after Intel Corp reduced its full-year revenue forecast, adding to concerns that an industry-wide slowdown could persist until the end of 2019.

Meanwhile, healthcare, which is also seen as a defensive sector, was a bright spot. It was helped by French drugmaker Sanofi after it returned to growth with higher profits and revenues for the first-quarter.

Luxembourg-based satellite operator SES led media stocks higher after it maintained its full-year outlook on the back of the company’s Networks division.

Automakers in the region rose 0.4 percent, led by Valeo’s 6 percent jump as the French parts maker said its performance would improve in the second half of the year.

Continental AG advanced after it backed its outlook for the year despite reporting a fall in first-quarter earnings.

Renault rose more than 3 percent as it clung to full-year targets and pursues merger talks with its Japanese partner Nissan.

(Reporting by Medha Singh and Agamoni Ghosh in Bengaluru; Editing by Gareth Jones and Elaine Hardcastle)

Source: OANN

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U.S. President Donald Trump hosts Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day at the White House in Washington
U.S. President Donald Trump gives a thumbs up to his audience as he hosts Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day at the White House in Washington, U.S., April 25, 2019. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

April 26, 2019

By Jan Wolfe and Richard Cowan

(Reuters) – The “i word” – impeachment – is swirling around the U.S. Congress since the release of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s redacted Russia report, which painted a picture of lies, threats and confusion in Donald Trump’s White House.

Some Democrats say trying to remove Trump from office would be a waste of time because his fellow Republicans still have majority control of the Senate. Other Democrats argue they have a moral obligation at least to try to impeach, even though Mueller did not charge Trump with conspiring with Russia in the 2016 U.S. election or with obstruction of justice.

Whether or not the Democrats decide to go down this risky path, here is how the impeachment process works.

WHAT ARE GROUNDS FOR IMPEACHMENT?

The U.S. Constitution says the president can be removed from office by Congress for “treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.” Exactly what that means is unclear.

Before he became president in 1974, replacing Republican Richard Nixon who resigned over the Watergate scandal, Gerald Ford said: “An impeachable offense is whatever a majority of the House of Representatives considers it to be at a given moment in history.”

Frank Bowman, a University of Missouri law professor and author of a forthcoming book on the history of impeachment, said Congress could look beyond criminal laws in defining “high crimes and misdemeanors.” Historically, it can encompass corruption and other abuses, including trying to obstruct judicial proceedings.

HOW DOES IMPEACHMENT PLAY OUT?

The term impeachment is often interpreted as simply removing a president from office, but that is not strictly accurate.

Impeachment technically refers to the 435-member House of Representatives approving formal charges against a president.

The House effectively acts as accuser – voting on whether to bring specific charges. An impeachment resolution, known as “articles of impeachment,” is like an indictment in a criminal case. A simple majority vote is needed in the House to impeach.

The Senate then conducts a trial. House members act as the prosecutors, with senators as the jurors. The chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court presides over the trial. A two-thirds majority vote is required in the 100-member Senate to convict and remove a president from office.

No president has ever been removed from office as a direct result of an impeachment and conviction by Congress.

Nixon quit in 1974 rather than face impeachment. Presidents Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1998 were impeached by the House, but both stayed in office after the Senate acquitted them.

Obstruction of justice was one charge against Clinton, who faced allegations of lying under oath about his relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Obstruction was also included in the articles of impeachment against Nixon.

CAN THE SUPREME COURT OVERTURN?

No.

Trump said on Twitter on Wednesday that he would ask the Supreme Court to intervene if Democrats tried to impeach him. But America’s founders explicitly rejected making a Senate conviction appealable to the federal judiciary, Bowman said.

“They quite plainly decided this is a political process and it is ultimately a political judgment,” Bowman said.

“So when Trump suggests there is any judicial remedy for impeachment, he is just wrong.”

PROOF OF WRONGDOING?

In a typical criminal court case, jurors are told to convict only if there is “proof beyond a reasonable doubt,” a fairly stringent standard.

Impeachment proceedings are different. The House and Senate “can decide on whatever burden of proof they want,” Bowman said. “There is no agreement on what the burden should be.”

PARTY BREAKDOWN IN CONGRESS?

Right now, there are 235 Democrats, 197 Republicans and three vacancies in the House. As a result, the Democratic majority could vote to impeach Trump without any Republican votes.

In 1998, when Republicans had a House majority, the chamber voted largely along party lines to impeach Clinton, a Democrat.

The Senate now has 53 Republicans, 45 Democrats and two independents who usually vote with Democrats. Conviction and removal of a president would requires 67 votes. So that means for Trump to be impeached, at least 20 Republicans and all the Democrats and independents would have to vote against him.

WHO BECOMES PRESIDENT IF TRUMP IS REMOVED?

A Senate conviction removing Trump from office would elevate Vice President Mike Pence to the presidency to fill out Trump’s term, which ends on Jan. 20, 2021.

(Reporting by Jan Wolfe and Richard Cowan; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Peter Cooney)

Source: OANN

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New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft attends a conference at the Cannes Lions Festival in Cannes
FILE PHOTO: New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft attends a conference at the Cannes Lions Festival in Cannes, France, June 23, 2017. REUTERS/Eric Gaillard

April 26, 2019

(Reuters) – New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft’s lawyers on Friday are set to ask a Florida judge to toss out hidden-camera videos that prosecutors say show the 77-year-old billionaire receiving sexual favors for money inside a Florida massage parlor.

The owner of the reigning Super Bowl champions plans wants the video to not be used as evidence against him as he contests two misdemeanor counts of soliciting prostitution at the Orchids of Asia Spa in Jupiter, Florida, along with some two dozen other men.

His legal team is fresh off a win on Tuesday, when they successfully persuaded Palm Beach County Judge Leonard Hanser to block prosecutors from releasing the hidden-camera footage to media outlets, which had requested copies under the state’s robust open records law.

Kraft, who has owned the franchise since 1994, pleaded not guilty, but has issued a public apology for his actions.

His attorneys have argued in court papers that the surreptitious videotaping of customers, including Kraft, inside a massage parlor was governmental overreach and the result of an illegally obtained search warrant.

The warrant, Kraft’s lawyers claim, was secured under false pretenses because police officers cited human trafficking as a potential crime in their application. Prosecutors have since acknowledged that the investigation yielded no evidence of trafficking.

Palm Beach County prosecutors in a court filing on Wednesday said Kraft’s motion should be rejected because he could not have had any expectation of privacy while visiting a commercial establishment to engage in criminal activity.

That prompted an indignant response from Kraft’s attorneys, who said the prosecution’s position on privacy was “unhinged.”

“It should go without saying that Mr. Kraft and everyone else in the United States have a reasonable expectation that the government will not secretly spy on them while they undress behind closed doors,” they wrote.

(Reporting by Joseph Ax, editing by G Crosse)

Source: OANN

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