Harvard Uni alleges Trump illegally cut US$2.6 billion
Harvard University has appeared in court to make the case that President Trump's administration has illegally cut US$2.6 billion form the University's funding. Correspondent Nick Harper spoke to Ingrid Hipkiss.
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6 minutes ago
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Defence to explore potential plea deal in murder trial over brothers killed in Mexico
By Carrington Clarke , ABC Callum, left, and Jake Robinson with their family dog. Photo: Instagram/Supplied Lawyers for the four people charged in connection with the alleged murder of Australian brothers Callum and Jake Robinson have asked for another court delay, to give them more time to discuss a potential plea deal with prosecutors. Judge Oscar Padilla agreed to grant them until a new hearing date on 13 November, but he said this would be the last delay in the case and warned all the lawyers that they would be fined if they were not prepared for the next hearing. Three men - Jesús Gerardo, also known as "El Kekas"; Irineo Francisco and Ángel Jesús - all face charges of aggravated homicide, aggravated robbery, violent robbery and grand theft auto over the killing of the Australian brothers and their American travelling companion, Carter Rhoad, in April last year. Jesús Gerardo is also charged with forced disappearance. The prosecution said a fourth suspect, Ari Gisell, was facing charges of inciting a violent robbery, but was not charged with murder. The defendants' surnames have been withheld for legal reasons. It was Ari Gisell's lawyer who asked the judge for a delay to allow time for discussions to take place with the prosecution regarding a potential plea deal. His motion was then supported by the other defence lawyers. The lawyer said the prosecutor's office was seeking a 32-year sentence for his client, but he believed eight years would be more appropriate given the crime she was accused of. Ari Gisell was romantically involved with one of the other defendants at the time. Photo: Supplied / ABC None of the suspects has entered a plea to any of the charges at this point. Prosecutor Raúl Gerardo Cobo Montejano told the ABC that if the accused pleaded guilty, it was possible they would receive a reduced sentence. The legal manoeuvrer was a surprise to the families of the victims, who were watching proceedings via video link. The judge asked an advocate who was attending proceedings on behalf of "indirect victims" to talk to them privately about what had occurred in court. Last week's hearing was postponed to allow time for both sides to consider arguments about whether to combine El Kekas's forced disappearance charge with the other charges. But there seems to be a dispute within the prosecution's office about exactly what transpired in April. A rescue worker descends into a waterhole where human remains were found near La Bocana Beach in Ensenada, Mexico, on 3 May, 2024. Photo: AFP/ Guillermo Arias The lead prosecutor in the homicide case told the judge he did not agree with the theory that the victims were first kidnapped or detained before being killed, as his colleague had contended. The judge expressed exasperation that there was not a consistent theory from the prosecution office at this point in the case. Irineo Francisco has links to the Sinaloa cartel, according to court documents. Photo: Supplied / ABC The judge has allowed the forced disappearance charge to be rolled in with the other charges, but it is unclear which will be the working theory when the case resumes. Jake and Callum Robinson, and their American friend Carter Rhoad, were found dead after disappearing during a camping trip in Mexico's remote north-west in April last year. They had travelled south to surf while Jake, a 31-year-old doctor from Perth, was visiting Callum, 32, who was living in California after moving to the US to play lacrosse. Both Callum (left) and Jake Robinson are keen surfers. Photo: Supplied / Instagram The defendants' surnames have been withheld for legal reasons. Last week, the ABC revealed that two of the accused, Jesús Gerardo and Irineo Francisco, had suspected links to the Sinaloa cartel. Local authorities had previously said there was no evidence linking the killings to cartels, despite their frequent violent activity in the region. Jesús Gerardo. Photo: Supplied / ABC / Mexican police A court document said the men were transferred from the local Ensenada jail to the maximum-security El Hongo complex last August, after prison authorities raised concerns about their alleged cartel links. The Sinaloa cartel, which was once led by the high-profile crime boss El Chapo, is considered one of Mexico's most brutal. - ABC
RNZ News
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Disgraced US ex-congressman George Santos reports to prison
Former US Congressman George Santos arriving for a court hearing at a US district court in Long Island on 19 August, 2024. Photo: AFP/ Getty - Michael M Santiago Disgraced former Republican lawmaker George Santos, who was expelled from the US Congress for using stolen donor cash to bankroll a lavish lifestyle, reported to prison to start his seven-year sentence, authorities said. Santos, 37, had pleaded guilty to wire fraud and identity theft for his elaborate grifting while a lawmaker representing New York. He turned himself in on Friday (US time) at the federal prison in Fairton, New Jersey, the Bureau of Prisons told AFP. Despite his guilty plea, prosecutors insisted Santos's social media showed his claims of remorse "ring hollow" and Judge Joanna Seybert in April handed down a sentence of seven years and three months. The downfall of the congressman from Long Island came after it was revealed he had fabricated almost his entire backstory including his education, religion and work history. Santos was elected to the US House of Representatives in 2022 and indicted the following year for stealing campaign donors' identities and using their credit cards, among other charges. Santos used the stolen funds for Botox treatments and the OnlyFans porn website, as well as luxury Italian goods and vacations to the Hamptons and Las Vegas, according to an investigation by a congressional ethics committee. Santos's bizarre biographical fabrications included claiming to have worked for Goldman Sachs, being Jewish and having been a college volleyball star. He was ultimately doomed by the congressional probe that found overwhelming evidence of misconduct and accused him of seeking to "fraudulently exploit every aspect of his House candidacy". Santos was expelled from the House in 2023, becoming only the third person to be ejected as a US lawmaker since the Civil War, a rebuke previously reserved for traitors and convicted criminals. - AFP
RNZ News
3 hours ago
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Trump just made a problematic Ghislaine Maxwell situation look even worse
By Aaron Blake , CNN Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. Photo: AFP / US District Court for the southern district of New York Analysis : Interviewing Ghislaine Maxwell is the Trump administration's first big move to allay concerns about its hugely unpopular handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche on Friday (US time) wrapped up two days of interviews with Epstein's convicted associate . But there were already all kinds of reasons to be sceptical of this move and what it could produce, given the motivations of the two sides involved. And President Donald Trump epitomised all of them in a major way on Friday. While taking questions on his way to Scotland, Trump repeatedly held open the possibility of pardoning Maxwell for her crimes. "Well, I don't want to talk about that," Trump said initially. When pressed, he said, "It's something I haven't thought about," while conspicuously adding, "I'm allowed to do it." US President Donald Trump disembarks from Air Force One upon his arrival at Prestwick Airport, south of Glasgow on July 25, 2025, on the first day of his UK visit. Photo: AFP / Brendan Smialowski This wouldn't be the first time Trump has appeared to dangle a pardon over someone providing evidence that could impact him personally and politically. (In this case, he has demonstrated past personal ties to Epstein, and his administration is scrambling to clean up its botched handling of the Epstein files after previously promising to release them.) A similar situation played out during the Russia investigation, when Trump repeatedly left open the possibility of pardoning key witnesses like Paul Manafort , Michael Flynn and Michael Cohen. Critics alleged this amounted to obstruction of justice. Special counsel Robert Mueller's report didn't draw conclusions on possible obstruction, but it did cite Trump's pardon comments as "evidence" that Trump's actions "had the potential to influence Manafort's decision whether to cooperate with the government". Manafort indeed wound up being a decidedly uncooperative witness, with a bipartisan Senate report saying his repeated lies hamstrung its own investigation. And Trump later pardoned him in a move that could certainly be understood as a reward for his lack of cooperation. That bit of history looms large here, given the parallels. But Trump is really just exacerbating an already dubious situation. There were already plenty of reasons to be sceptical of this move to interview Maxwell, and nobody involved seems particularly bothered to address those problems or even combat the perception of them. Ghislaine Maxwell pictured in September 2013 in New York City. Photo: AFP / Getty Images The first reason is the state of play in Maxwell's criminal case. It might seem far-fetched that Trump would ever pardon a convicted child sex-trafficker like Maxwell (even though he did "wish her well" after she was charged). But there are other things his administration could do to help her. Among them would be taking actions in her ongoing appeal of her 2021 conviction. The Trump Justice Department has already taken highly suspect actions in another criminal case involving someone Trump wanted something politically from: New York mayor Eric Adams. The administration earlier this year moved to dismiss the charges against Adams while suggestively citing its desire for the New York Democrat to assist in its crackdown on illegal immigration. Multiple prosecutors resigned in protest, with one claiming it was a "quid pro quo" in her resignation letter. And the judge in the case appeared to sympathise. "Everything here smacks of a bargain: Dismissal of the indictment in exchange for immigration policy concessions," the judge said. Maxwell's lawyer, David Oscar Markus, has also been remarkably solicitous of Trump and the administration. Last week he called Trump the "ultimate dealmaker" while claiming that the Justice Department had violated a deal with Maxwell. This week, he praised the Trump administration's "commitment to uncovering the truth in this case" and said he and Maxwell were "grateful that the government is trying to uncover the truth". Markus on Friday also suggested an openness to a pardon. "The president this morning said he had the power to do so," Markus said, "and we hope he exercises that power in a right and just way." Indeed, also relevant here are the lawyers involved. Critics have cried foul that the DOJ official interviewing Maxwell was Blanche, rather than a non-political prosecutor who has been involved in the case who would have much more expertise. Not only is Blanche a top political appointee of Trump's; he's also his formal personal lawyer. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer Photo: AFP/ Getty - Kevin Dietsch "The conflict of interest is glaring," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said on Thursday on X. "It stinks of high corruption." What's more, Blanche appeared on a podcast last year with Markus and labelled him a "friend." "You are by far the best out there," Blanche said. But one of the biggest reasons to be sceptical is that Maxwell is someone the Trump Justice Department - the first one, at least - labelled a brazen liar. Back in 2020, the DOJ charged Maxwell with two counts of perjury - on top of the more serious charges she faced - while citing a 2016 civil deposition she gave. In the deposition, Maxwell claimed no knowledge of Epstein's "scheme to recruit underage girls for sexual massages", despite later being convicted of helping in the effort. She also claimed she didn't know about Epstein possessing sex toys, which was contradicted by witnesses at her trial. Maxwell's lawyers at the time said "the questions asked were confusing, ambiguous, and improperly formed". She was never actually tried for perjury. After her conviction on the more serious charges, prosecutors agreed to dismiss the perjury charges if her conviction stood, citing a desire to avoid further emotional trauma for the victims. But the Trump Justice Department in 2020 still called her credibility into question. In a 2020 filing, it said Maxwell's lies "should give the Court serious pause" about trusting her. It also said Maxwell's "willingness to brazenly lie under oath about her conduct … strongly suggests her true motive has been and remains to avoid being held accountable for her crimes". All of that would seem relevant to today, especially given Trump's demonstrated willingness to wield his power to help people who help him - whether using pardons or anything else. Maxwell, who has years left in her 20-year prison sentence, clearly has motivation to say things Trump wants. That doesn't mean the interviews of Maxwell couldn't glean something important. Even witnesses with credibility problems can provide important information, if it's corroborated with other evidence. But right now, Trump and Co aren't trying very hard to make this situation look kosher. And Trump's pardon comments take that to another level. -CNN
