Category Archives: Law (US)

Trump lawyers argue impeachment case is ‘flimsy’ as trial looms

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White House’s brief also claimed process has been a ‘charade’ and Trump did ‘absolutely nothing wrong’ in dealings with Ukraine

Lawyers acting on behalf of Donald Trump on Monday branded the impeachment case against him “flimsy” and a “dangerous perversion of the constitution”, setting the stage for the opening of his long-awaited Senate trial on Tuesday.

As the president prepared to jet off to Davos, where he is set to give a keynote speech at the World Economic Forum on Tuesday, the White House submitted its formal trial defence brief, a 110-page document in which it also claimed the impeachment process has been a “charade” and insisted Trump did “absolutely nothing wrong” in his dealings with Ukraine.

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Alan Dershowitz and Ken Starr join Trump impeachment legal team

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Dershowitz is known for defending Jeffrey Epstein while Starr led the investigation that culminated in Bill Clinton’s impeachment

The White House has unveiled Donald Trump’s legal team for his Senate impeachment trial, a list of attorneys whose own ageing controversies threaten to overshadow their efforts to defend the president.

As the impeachment process enters a major new phase next week, Trump’s defense team will include Alan Dershowitz, known for defending the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and Kenneth Starr, the dogged prosecutor who led the investigation that culminated in the 1998 impeachment of former president Bill Clinton and lost a university post in 2016 for mishandling sexual assaults on campus.

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Weinstein trial: new chapter in #MeToo movement with high stakes for many

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The trial is likely to be one of the most high-profile judicial events of the century, and will be closely watched by thousands

The rape trial of the fallen movie mogul Harvey Weinstein begins on Monday in a Manhattan courtroom, opening a critical new chapter in the #MeToo movement that seeks justice for victims of alleged sexual assault at the hands of powerful men.

Related: Weinstein set to face his toughest legal challenge yet in New York trial

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Rosanna Arquette set to attend Harvey Weinstein trial

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Actor accuses Weinstein of derailing her career after she ‘resisted his advances’

The actor Rosanna Arquette, one of Harvey Weinstein’s most prominent accusers, says she plans to attend the trial of the disgraced film producer when it starts in New York on Monday.

Arquette will not be giving evidence in the case, but she said she will be there to lend support to the handful of women who have been allowed to give testimony in court of Weinstein’s alleged sexual misconduct and abuse.

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More than 200 members of Congress urge US supreme court to reconsider Roe v Wade

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Appeal in an amicus brief in a Louisiana case was signed by 205 Republicans and two Democrats

More than two hundred members of Congress have urged the US supreme court to reconsider the landmark 1973 Roe v Wade ruling which legalized abortion nationwide.

The appeal came in an amicus brief in a Louisiana case, and was signed by 205 Republicans and two Democrats, and calls on the high court to revisit the ruling, which affirmed that access to safe abortion is a constitutional right.

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Jeffrey Epstein: woman sues estate alleging encounter when she was 14

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Lawsuit filed in Florida says teen was approached in 2003 when she was ‘a vulnerable child without adequate parental support’

A woman who says she was 14 when she had a sexual encounter with the financier Jeffrey Epstein at his mansion sued his estate in Florida court on Monday for coercion, inflicting emotional distress and battery.

The lawsuit filed in Palm Beach county asks for an undisclosed amount of money. The lawsuit doesn’t give the woman’s name and only refers to her as “JJ Doe”.

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Weinstein accusers’ lawyers could get 10 times more than clients, sources say

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Lead attorney for women could receive 25% of payout in settlement which would end most civil lawsuits

Lawyers representing alleged victims of Harvey Weinstein could get as much as 10 times more than some of the accusers themselves if a controversial settlement deal goes ahead, legal sources have told the Guardian.

Last week it was reported that more than 30 women accusing the disgraced Hollywood mogul of sexual misconduct had reached a tentative settlement deal. If approved in court, the settlement will bring to an end most of the civil lawsuits pending against him.

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Eight sexual assault cases added to Harvey Weinstein investigation

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The disgraced Hollywood mogul has not been charged in the cases, which are being reviewed by Los Angeles prosecutors

Prosecutors in Los Angeles are reviewing eight cases accusing disgraced film mogul Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault, an official said Thursday.

The Los Angeles and Beverly Hills police departments each brought four investigations to prosecutors, according to Ricardo Santiago, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.

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The decade that shook America

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2010 to 2020 was a contradictory decade that will confound future historians with a simple question: how did America go from Obama to Trump?

Lin-Manuel Miranda was touring his award-winning musical, In the Heights, to his parents’ homeland of Puerto Rico. Donald Trump was awarding first prize on his reality TV show, The Apprentice, to a corporate lawyer turned mobile cupcake entrepreneur.

The year was 2010 and, in the decade that followed, these two hustlers from New York with fiercely devoted followings would come to represent the two faces of America.

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Donald Trump: supreme court to rule on release of bank, tax and finance records

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  • Congress and prosecutors have sought Trump’s tax returns
  • Court likely to issue a ruling in June during election campaign

The supreme court said on Friday it will hear Donald Trump’s pleas to keep his tax, bank and financial records private, a major tussle between the president and Congress that could also affect the 2020 presidential campaign.

Related: Trump: New York prosecutors subpoena eight years of tax returns

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Weinstein reaches $25m settlement with more than 30 women – report

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If approved, settlement would bring most of the civil lawsuits pending against him to an end

More than 30 women who were allegedly subjected to sexual misconduct by the disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein have reportedly reached a $25m settlement which, if approved, would bring to an end most of the civil lawsuits pending against him.

The New York Times reported on Wednesday that a tentative deal had been agreed involving Weinstein’s numerous alleged victims in the US, Canada, Britain and Ireland. The proposal is awaiting final approval from the courts and from individuals involved, the newspaper says, but once those last hurdles are cleared payouts would be made by insurance companies handling the bankruptcy of the Weinstein Company.

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Impeachment inquiry: Nadler may add Mueller counts against Trump

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The Democratic chairman of the House judiciary committee, Jerry Nadler, has not ruled out including evidence from the Mueller report in articles of impeachment against Donald Trump that could be published as early as next week.

On Sunday, Nadler told CNN’s State of the Union evidence showed the president’s conduct in the Ukraine scandal was part of “a pattern”, indicating “that the president put himself above this country several times”.

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Trump impeachment inquiry: House judiciary committee releases report

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The House judiciary committee released a report on the constitutional grounds for impeachment on Saturday. Shortly after that, Donald Trump once again insisted the whole thing was a “witch hunt” and “a total hoax”.

Related: White House dismisses invitation to take part in key impeachment hearing

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The supreme court gutted the most powerful law for fair 2020 elections. Can Democrats revive it? | Myrna Pérez

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The Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act in 2013. Can the Democrats’ new bill revive it in time?

On Friday the House of Representatives showed the country that it will not tolerate racial discrimination at the polls. It passed the Voting Rights Advancement Act, a bill that would restore the 1965 Voting Rights Act to its full strength. Our country needs that reform and others to make the 2020 election free and fair for all.

Since its founding, America has moved slowly towards granting suffrage to more and more Americans, bringing more people into the electoral process. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 has been instrumental to that progress. But in 2013 the supreme court dramatically weakened that law.

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Alabama woman who joined Isis is not US citizen, judge rules

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Hoda Muthana, 25, and son left in limbo in Syria after federal judge sided with Trump administration

A judge sided with the Trump administration on Thursday in ruling that an Alabama woman who joined the Islamic State group was not a US citizen, leaving the 25-year-old and her son in limbo in Syria.

Hoda Muthana, an American-born woman who left Alabama to join Isis in 2014, has said she “deeply regrets” joining the terrorist group and wants to return to the US with her young son.

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National Coming Out Day marked by worry over supreme court LGBTQ case

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National Coming Out Day festivities across the US were tempered this year by anxiety that some LGBTQ people may have to go back into the closet so they can make a living, depending on what the supreme court decides about workplace discrimination.

Related: The US decision on LGBT workers could turn employers into the gender police | Arwa Mahdawi

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Judge rejects Trump’s ‘repugnant’ immunity claim in tax-return ruling

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Judge rules Manhattan’s district attorney could subpoena eight years of Trump’s personal and corporate returns

Donald Trump suffered a major setback in the long struggle to conceal his tax returns on Monday, when he lost a federal court ruling in New York.

Related: Jeff Daniels to play Comey on TV – and Brendan Gleeson to play Trump

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US government files civil lawsuit against Snowden over publication of memoir

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Suit contends whistleblower published Permanent Record ‘in violation of non-disclosure agreements’ with both CIA and NSA

The US government on Tuesday filed a civil lawsuit against Edward Snowden, a former CIA employee and National Security Agency (NSA) whistleblower, over the publication this week of his memoir.

Snowden, the suit contends, “published a book entitled Permanent Record in violation of the non-disclosure agreements he signed with both CIA and NSA”.

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New York prosecutors subpoena eight years of Trump’s tax returns

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Manhattan district attorney Cyrus Vance sent subpoena to accounting firm Mazars USA, which says it will ‘fully comply’

Donald Trump faces a new battle over the release of his tax returns after New York prosecutors issued a subpoena for them.

Trump is the first US president in nearly 40 years not to release his tax information, despite having promised to do so during his 2016 election campaign. He has resisted pressure from Democrats and watchdogs demanding greater transparency.

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