
Alina Habba: Trump's ex-lawyer replaced as federal prosecutor by judges
The judges instead selected her deputy, career prosecutor Desiree Leigh Grace, to take over the role. No reason was given for the decision.Habba has attracted controversy in the three months since taking office in March. During her tenure, she has filed assault charges against a Democratic congressman, and opened investigations into the state's Democratic governor and attorney general. US Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a post on Monday that she had the backing of Trump and the justice department, and dismissed criticism of her as "political noise."After the ruling from the 17 judges, he again took to X to accuse the judges of pushing "a left-wing agenda, not the rule of law". "When judges act like activists, they undermine confidence in our justice," he wrote.Exactly when Habba's term expires is the subject of some confusion. She was named by Trump on 24 March "effective immediately", meaning her 120 day term would expire on Tuesday. However she was officially sworn in four days later, on 28 March in an Oval Office ceremony.Both of New Jersey's senators - who are each Democrats - have opposed her nomination to be the US attorney for the state, arguing that she has pursued "frivolous and politically motivated" prosecutions and "did not meet the standard" for the office. It is uncommon for judges to oppose an interim prosecutor from staying on, absent confirmation from the US Senate. But a similar situation played out last week in New York, where judges also voted to block the interim US attorney from staying on. John Sarcone III departed the role, but will stay on as an "special attorney to the attorney general", according to the justice department. It is unusual for judges to choose someone other the interim US attorney, although choosing the first assistant "is generally a sensible choice," said University Richmond law professor Carl Tobias.He added that Desiree Grace "is well respected in the New Jersey legal world".
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The Independent
a few seconds ago
- The Independent
Donald Trump to open resort's second golf course on final day in Scotland
Donald Trump will officially open his new golf course in Aberdeenshire on the final day of his visit to Scotland. The US president's fifth day in Scotland on Tuesday follows a meeting and press conference with Sir Keir Starmer on Monday. Mr Trump will cut the ribbon on a second 18-hole course at his resort in Menie, Aberdeenshire before he flies back to the US on Air Force One. The president has played several rounds of golf during his Scottish trip, teeing off at his other resort in Turnberry, Ayrshire, on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. As they met at Turnberry for bilateral talks on trade and the situation in Gaza, Mr Trump and Sir Keir took part in what proved to be a lengthy press conference, with the president discussing a number of topics. The Republican Party leader spoke of his 'great love' for Scotland and said he wanted to see the nation 'thrive'. He returned to his long-running objections to wind turbines, branding them 'ugly monsters' and speaking of his admiration for North Sea oil and gas. Discussing the war in Ukraine, Mr Trump said he was 'very disappointed' in Russian President Vladimir Putin and suggested he would bring forward a deadline for Russia to agree to a ceasefire. The US president called Sir Sadiq Khan a 'nasty person', which prompted Sir Keir to come to the defence of his 'friend' the London Mayor. Construction of the new course in Menie began in 2023, with Mr Trump and his son Eric breaking ground on the project. Trump International Scotland claims the two courses will be the 'greatest 36 holes in golf'. The second course is expected to be dedicated to the president's mother, Mary Anne MacLeod, who was born on the Isle of Lewis. Critics say the Trump developments in Scotland have not delivered as many jobs as promised and work at the Menie site has caused environmental damage. Mr Trump and Sir Keir landed at Menie aboard Marine One, the president's helicopter, which was seen circling the new course before it touched down on Monday evening. The president then hosted a dinner at Menie with members of his family and guests including Scottish First Minister John Swinney. A demonstration took place in Balmedie, near the resort, on Monday. A small number of protesters sat at the roadside in the centre of the village, surrounded by cardboard signs bearing anti-Trump slogans.


The Guardian
a minute ago
- The Guardian
Ukraine war briefing: Zelenskyy praises Trump for trimming Putin deadline by about 25 days
Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday said Donald Trump showed a 'clear stance and expressed determination' after the US president said he would cut the 50-day deadline he set for Russia to negotiate peace in Ukraine. Trump on Monday set a new but still imprecise deadline of '10 or 12 days from today' for Russia to make progress towards peace or face consequences. Trump's previous deadlines to end the war have included 'one day … 24 hours' and 'about two weeks … within two weeks' as well as '50 days'. Two weeks had already passed since Trump threatened to act within 50 days, leaving 36 days remaining of the original deadline. The new ultimatum of '10 or 12 days' means the US president has given Putin about 25 fewer days to deliberate. Trump has threatened sanctions on both Russia and buyers of its exports unless progress is made. On Monday, Trump indicated he was not interested in talking directly to Putin. 'If you know what the answer is going to be, why wait? And it would be sanctions and maybe tariffs, secondary tariffs,' Trump said. 'I don't want to do that to Russia. I love the Russian people.' Zelenskyy said: 'I thank President Trump for his focus on saving lives and stopping this horrible war … Russia pays attention to sanctions, pays attention to such losses.' The Russian airline Aeroflot was forced to cancel dozens of flights on Monday after an established pro-Ukraine hacking group said it had carried out a cyber-attack. Dan Milmo reports how departure boards at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport turned red as flights were cancelled at a time when many Russians take their holidays. Irate passengers vented their anger on social media. One wrote: 'I've been sitting at the Volgograd airport since 3:30! The flight has been rescheduled for the third time!' Another posted: 'The call centre is unavailable, the website is unavailable, the app is unavailable.' A statement purporting to be from a hacking group called Silent Crow said it had carried out the operation with a Belarusian group called Cyber Partisans, and linked it to the war in Ukraine. 'Glory to Ukraine! Long live Belarus!' said the statement. Silent Crow said the cyber-attack was the result of a year-long operation that had deeply penetrated Aeroflot's network, destroyed 7,000 servers and gained control over the personal computers of employers including senior managers. It did not provide evidence. It threatened to shortly start releasing 'the personal data of all Russians who have ever flown Aeroflot'. Pjotr Sauer meanwhile reports how tens of thousands of passengers have seen their travel plans thrown into chaos in recent weeks, as Ukrainian drones repeatedly disrupt Russian airspace. The systematic Ukrainian campaigns aims to bring the war home to ordinary Russians, many of whom have otherwise experienced it only from their television screens. Pjotr Sauer writes that Ukrainian civilians live under the constant threat of being killed by missiles and drones, and Ukrainian officials have emphasised that life in Russia should not be comfortable for 'a population that, by and large, continues to support the war. The tactic seems to be bearing fruit: regular airport shutdowns and missed holidays have become a major talking point among the Russian public and a growing source of frustration.' Blackouts took place in parts of Russian-occupied Donetsk during a mass attack by Ukrainian drones on Monday, according to reports. The electricity distributor Donetskenergo said three substations were hit, leaving about 160,000 customers without power. The independent Russian-run Astra Telegram channel said the Donbas Palace Hotel in Donetsk city was also hit. Ukraine's Sumy region came under Russian attack on Monday into Tuesday evening, local officials reported. A man, 45, was injured by a drone while taking a cow out to pasture in the Krasnopil community, said Oleg Grigorov, head of the Sumy regional administration. A man, 66, was injured when his apartment was shelled. 'At around 5.45pm, the Russians attacked the Burynska community with four attack UAVs. The strike destroyed a local store,' Grigorov said. 'One of the saleswomen was injured – she was promptly provided with medical assistance and her life is not in danger. Damage was also recorded to residential buildings, a cultural centre, non-residential premises and cars.' The US-German defence company Auterion will provide 33,000 artificial intelligence guidance kits for Ukrainian drones funded by a $50m Pentagon contract. According to the company, the kits enable manually piloted strike drones to autonomously track and hit targets up to a kilometre away – one way of circumventing electronic jamming that can cut a drone off from its operator. 'We have previously shipped thousands of our AI strike systems to Ukraine, but this new deployment increases our support more than tenfold,' said the CEO of Auterion, Lorenz Meier.


Reuters
31 minutes ago
- Reuters
Trump administration files misconduct complaint against prominent judge Boasberg
WASHINGTON, July 28 (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department on Monday said it filed a misconduct complaint against Chief U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, a prominent judge in Washington, D.C., who has drawn President Donald Trump's ire. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced the complaint in a post on X days after Boasberg said he might initiate disciplinary proceedings against Justice Department lawyers for their conduct in a lawsuit brought by Venezuelans challenging their removal to a Salvadoran prison in March. The judge in April concluded the Trump administration appeared to have acted "in bad faith" when it hurriedly assembled three deportation flights on March 15 at the same time that he was conducting emergency court proceedings to assess the legality of the effort. The Justice Department's complaint focused on comments the conservative media outlet The Federalist this month reported that Boasberg made during a meeting of the judiciary's top policymaking body in March that was attended by Chief U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Roberts. The Justice Department, in a complaint reviewed by Reuters, said that during the meeting, Boasberg expressed his concern to Roberts and others that the Trump administration would disregard court rulings and trigger "a constitutional crisis.' The Justice Department argued those comments eroded public confidence in judicial neutrality and ran afoul of the judicial code of conduct. It accused him of then acting on his belief by issuing an order that blocked the president from using wartime powers to deport Venezuelan migrants. Justice Department Chief of Staff Chad Mizelle addressed the complaint to Chief Judge Sri Srinivasan of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Mizelle asked the federal appeals court to refer the complaint to a special investigative committee. He also requested that the deportations lawsuit be reassigned to a different judge. Boasberg's chambers did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. Boasberg, a former federal prosecutor, was first appointed to the bench by Republican President George W. Bush, who nominated him to the D.C. Superior Court in 2002. President Barack Obama, a Democrat, in 2011 appinted him to a U.S. District Court judgeship. Boasberg has been hearing a lawsuit brought on behalf of alleged Venezuelan gang members removed from the U.S. under the rarely invoked Alien Enemies Act. In an April order, Boasberg said there was "probable cause" to find the Trump administration in criminal contempt of court for violating his order to turn deportation flights around. The D.C. Circuit halted Boasberg's contempt finding days later, but has yet to rule on whether it should be reversed.