Trump breaks silence on 'burn bags' claim
The clip has Hanson saying the nation's intel agencies 'knew' that there was no Trump campaign collusion with Russia and calling out a conspiracy of the 'top people' in U.S. intelligence 'conspiring with a sitting president of the United States to destroy Donald J. Trump' – and pictures grainy video clips of Barack Obama . Members of Trump's national security team are overseeing declassification of material from the Russia probe dating to Trump's 2016 campaign against Democrat Hillary Clinton .
A series of explosive headlines have followed. The effort to put new and sensational information into the public sphere comes as Trump continues to beat back questions about the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, fueled by his own recent comments that the sexual offender 'took' staff from his spa at Mar-a-Lago . On Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee, chaired by Iowa Republican Charles Grassley, 91, released a bombshell 29-page classified file related to the Russia probe.
The annex from former Special Counsel John Durham 's report contains emails and other documents purporting to show a Clinton plan to link the Trump campaign to Russia. One such email, purporting to come from Leonard Benardo of the George Soros-backed Open Society Foundations states: 'Julie [Clinton Campaign Advisor] says it will be a long-term affair to demonize Putin and Trump,' one of his emails disclosed in the Durham annex states. 'Now it is good for a post-convention bounce. Later the FBI will put more oil into the fire.'
However Benardo told investigators he hadn't seen seen the July 25, 2016 email, didn't know who Julie was, and wouldn't have used that concluding phrase. The partly-redacted documents says some analysts noted that Benardo's emails appeared authentic and he had been hacked by the Russians, but others noted it was possible they were 'fabricated or altered,' undermining the central claim that there was a coordinated plot to destroy Trump's presidency. Investigators couldn't find the specific emails in question, but they did uncover messages that used the exact same language.
Special Counsel John Durham later wrote that Clinton campaign advisor Julianne Smith 'was, at minimum, playing a role in the campaign's efforts to link Trump to Russia.' Durham said the emails gave 'at least some credence' to the idea that such a plan existed. He was appointed during Trump's first term to investigate the origins of the Russia probe.
Durham also noted that regardless of whether the so-called 'Clinton Plan' was true or based on unreliable intelligence, investigators should have been more skeptical about politically charged information. Notably, the Clinton campaign helped fund the now-debunked Steele dossier, classifying the expense as legal services. Clinton herself told investigators is 'looked like Russian disinformation to [her].' Trump dove into the 'burn bag' story despite a day earlier not initially catching the drift of a question about it.
Trump, who has accused former President Barack Obama of 'treason' over recent disclosures by his Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, kept up the drum beat on Truth Social. 'The Russia, Russia, Russia hoax is now totally undisputed! The facts are all there, in black and white,' he wrote, sprinkling in all-caps. 'It is the biggest scandal in American History. The perpetrators of this crime must pay a big price. This can never be allowed to happen in our Country again!'
Trump also posted a video clip by Devin Nunes, the former California GOP lawmakers who oversaw a report released by Gabbard. Trump quotes Nunes, who now runs his media company in his TV appearance, writing: 'What we now know for sure is not only was this a plan by Hillary Clinton, but this is also a plan of the Soros Society…the same people doing the same nonsense—from 2016 all the way up until the raid at Mar-a-Lago.
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The Guardian
a minute ago
- The Guardian
Ghislaine Maxwell: could talking about Epstein be her get out of jail free card?
Since Ghislaine Maxwell met with federal prosecutors last week, the imprisoned British socialite's legal team has portrayed her as a beacon of truth willing to discuss all matters related to her child sex-trafficking co-conspirator Jeffrey Epstein's many crimes. 'Ghislaine answered every single question asked of her over the last day and a half. She answered those questions honestly, truthfully, to the best of her ability,' attorney David Oscar Markus told reporters. 'She never invoked a privilege. She never refused to answer a question.' Maxwell's highly unusual two-day sit-down with the deputy attorney general, Todd Blanche – who served as Donald Trump's criminal defense attorney before working for his justice department – came as the US president tiptoes through a political minefield related to Epstein and his own social links to the disgraced former financier. But Blanche's meeting – held amid rumors and denials of a pardon for Maxwell shortly before her sudden move on Friday to a Texas prison – did not just show Trump's flagging efforts at damage control over the Epstein scandal. Maxwell is simultaneously pursuing several other strategies to be freed from her 20-year federal prison sentence. And, some experts believe, Maxwell's ultimate aim is probably not really revealing the whole truth and everything she knows about Epstein, Trump and other powerful figures. Instead, it is all about earning her freedom. Maxwell's team is pushing the US supreme court to consider her appeal, which contends that she was shielded from prosecution in Epstein's controversial 2007 plea agreement – an argument that has been opposed by the same justice department that has now met with her. Maxwell is also trying to make the most of a congressional subpoena, threatening to invoke her fifth amendment right against self-incrimination unless she is given immunity. Her legal team has also suggested clemency – which Trump could grant immediately. This broad-spectrum approach, which several longtime defense attorneys said represented sound legal strategy, has prompted skepticism about whether any discussions reflect an actual desire to reveal truth. More, Maxwell's track record of alleged lying undermines whatever truths Trump officials claim they want to reveal in highly publicized meetings. 'If I were representing her, I would be doing exactly the same thing. The supreme court petition has virtually no chance of success. The issues raised are not novel or of general relevance to other cases,' said Ron Kuby, a longtime defense attorney whose practice focuses on civil rights. Kuby told the Guardian that the supreme court agrees to take on 'only the smallest fraction' of petitions. 'Filing a supreme court petition is akin to playing the lotto, you can't win unless you play, but your likelihood of winning is slim, so it's a last-ditch effort that defendants use when they have enough money for full due process.' The parallel strategy of actively pursuing clemency with the Trump administration is sound because Trump could commute her sentence or issue a pardon, Kuby said. 'Because these are all federal convictions, he can let her out of jail tomorrow,' he added. As for why Maxwell would seem willing to shed light on Epstein despite a low likelihood of a positive outcome, 'she has nothing to lose. 'The question isn't 'why would she meet with them'? She'll do anything for people who can help with this,' Kuby said. Eric Faddis, a trial attorney and founding partner of the Colorado firm Varner Faddis, voiced similar sentiments about Maxwell's strategy. 'For anyone who's been sentenced to 20 years in prison, it would behoove them to explore all potential avenues to try and better their legal position, and it looks like that's what Maxwell is doing here,' Faddis said. Other legal experts agree. 'Maxwell's attorneys are doing everything they can to keep her out of prison,' said John Day, a former prosecutor in New Mexico who founded the John Day Law Office. The Epstein controversy swirling around Trump may prove an excellent opportunity that few could have foreseen. 'This is a moment in time that wasn't there before, where she suddenly has an opening to try to get a change in her situation,' Day said. 'Up until the Epstein case resurfaced and the Epstein-Trump issues came to the forefront of people's attention, Maxwell was just doing her time. 'Suddenly, she is trying to make the case that she has information, and she has information that's worth trading for, and she's hoping, her lawyers are hoping, that somehow someone is going to decide that it's worth giving her a break.' Should Maxwell receive any favorable outcome, it might do little to promote truth and much to foment uncertainty. 'If there is some kind of a deal that came out of the nine hours that Todd Blanche met with her, then any information that comes out of that is always going to be seen in the context of 'what was the deal?'' Day said. Indeed, Trump's handling of the Epstein files has done little but sow doubt. The Trump justice department released a memo insisting there was no Epstein client list, and decided not to release extensive case files, despite his campaign promise to do so. This backtracking on releasing documents helped fan the flames of controversy that came after the publication of a Wall Street Journal article claiming that Trump contributed a 'bawdy' letter to a birthday present for Epstein – compiled by Maxwell. Shortly after the story ran, Trump announced that he had directed his justice department to request the unsealing of grand jury transcripts in Epstein and Maxwell's criminal cases. This purported push for transparency, vis-a-vis Bondi's request for unsealing, does not appear to have quelled backlash against Trump. The Wall Street Journal on 23 July reported that Bondi told Trump his name appeared in the Epstein files on multiple occasions. Epstein, whom prosecutors stated abused girls as young as 14, had long enjoyed the company of numerous high-profile men in his circle – among them Trump and Britain's Prince Andrew. Epstein killed himself in jail awaiting trial six years ago. Trump's camp has insisted that a pardon is not in the works, with a senior administration official saying: 'No leniency is being given or discussed. That's just false. The president himself has said that clemency for Maxwell is not something he is even thinking about at this time.' But at other times, Trump's comments on the issue have raised eyebrows, with him saying: 'I'm allowed to do it, but it's something I have not thought about.' He has also remarked: 'Well, I'm allowed to give her a pardon, but nobody's approached me with it. Nobody's asked me about it' and that 'Right now, it would be inappropriate to talk about it.' Top congressional Republicans are toeing the line when it comes to the idea of potential presidential relief, including the House speaker, Mike Johnson. 'Well, I mean, obviously that's a decision of the president,' Johnson said on Sunday on NBC's Meet the Press. 'I won't get in front of him. That's not my lane.' The political benefit for Trump from a pardon – however unlikely – remains nearly nil, as it would do little to support his prior claims about wanting the truth revealed. 'The giant problem here – although what we have seen is that people are capable of believing all kinds of things if Trump says they are true – I don't think there's anything that Ghislaine Maxwell can say that will put any of this to rest,' Kuby said. 'Certainly, the optics of giving an actual convicted child [abuser] clemency does not easily align with the right wing's purported concern about child abuse.'
Telegraph
a minute ago
- Telegraph
India will continue to buy Russian oil despite Trump tariffs
India still plans to buy Russian oil despite the threat of sanctions from Donald Trump, officials have said. The US president announced earlier this week that he planned to impose an unspecified penalty on India if it did not cut off imports of Russian crude oil, in addition to a general 25pc tariff. Mr Trump suggested on Friday that India had reduced the amount of oil it had purchased from Russia. He told reporters: 'I understand that India is no longer going to be buying oil from Russia. That's what I heard. I don't know if that's right or not. That is a good step. We will see what happens.' However, two senior Indian officials told the New York Times that there had been no change in policy, adding that New Delhi had 'not given any direction to oil companies' to cut back on imports. India has dramatically increased its purchases of Russian oil since Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. It now sources over a third of its oil from Moscow — up from less than one per cent before the war. Ukraine's allies have called on the US to impose hefty secondary tariffs against Russia's main trading partners, including India and China, in a bid to force Putin to end the war. But Mr Trump suggested earlier this week that he was not sure the tariffs would work. 'I don't know if it's going to affect Russia, because he [Putin] wants to, obviously, probably keep the war going,' he said. 'But we're going to put tariffs and the various things you put on. It may or may not affect them. But it could.' The report came as at least two vessels loaded with Russian oil bound for refiners in India were diverted to other destinations after Mr Trump's sanctions. Sanctions were imposed on more than 115-Iran linked individuals, entities, and ships, some of which transport Russian oil. According to trade sources, three ships – the Aframaxes Tagor and Guanyin, and the Suezmax Tassos – were scheduled to deliver Russian oil to Indian ports this month. All three are under US sanctions. Tagor was bound for Chennai on India's east coast, while Guanyin and Tassos were headed to ports in western India, according to Russian ports data. Tagor is now heading to Dalian in China, while Tassos is diverting to Port Said in Egypt, the data shows. Guanyin remains on course to Sikka in the western Indian state of Gujarat. An initial plan for imposing sanctions on Russia came from Lindsey Graham, a Republican senator, who threatened to put 500 per cent tariffs on Moscow and its trading partners. But Mr Trump appears to have watered down those threats, suggesting last month the tariff level would sit at around 100 per cent. A recent report found that China and India have already found ways to disregard or even evade Western sanctions, including by using front companies. Both nations have been found to be directly contributing to Russia's war effort, which includes a $1.4m explosive compound sales agreement between a private Indian company and two Russian companies. India was also the world's largest arms importer in 2024 behind Ukraine and Russia was its largest supplier, according to the defence think tank Sipri.
The Guardian
a minute ago
- The Guardian
Dream turns to nightmare for midwest town in grip of US migrant crackdown
For 50 long years, life in Hamilton, a town of 63,000 people a half-hour north of Cincinnati, was in decline. Factories closed and thousands of residents moved away to Cincinnati, Columbus and beyond. The scourge of the opioid epidemic during the early 2000s sucked the life out of Butler county's seat of government. But then, slowly, immigrants came to town. And things began to get better. Inside Mary's Comida Casera, an unadorned Mexican restaurant serving Guanajuato food on Hamilton's southside, a telenovela plays on a pair of televisions while two elementary-age kids watch cartoons on a tablet in the corner. The restaurant, formerly a 136-year-old residential property, along with dozens of Latin American cafes, stores and businesses in the Jefferson and Riverview neighborhoods have helped bring life back to Hamilton's southside. This month, the community's growing presence was acknowledged when a huge mural titled Viva el Sueño – live the dream – was inaugurated in the Jefferson neighborhood. 'As a brown woman who's called this city home for over two decades, seeing public art that reflects our stories, struggles and dreams was incredibly moving,' says Mitzi Hernandez, a community leader who moved from Mexico City to Hamilton 23 years ago. 'It felt like we were finally being seen.' Nearly four in 10 residents in a host of census tracts immediately west and south of downtown Hamilton identify as Hispanic. Despite its relatively small size, the number of people in the city who speak a language other than English at home is almost double the Ohio average. Not only are immigrants contributing to the renewed vibrancy of life in Hamilton through festivals and community outreach work, their income, property and business tax dollars are padding the coffers of local and state authorities. But in the center of the neighborhood, a stone's throw across a grassy area from Mary's Comida Casera, lies a place that's increasingly striking fear into the hearts of Hamilton's immigrants: the Butler county jail. A report by the Journal-News newspaper that analyzed the jail roster on 8 July found that of the 384 people detained at that time, more than 90% were there on immigration-related charges. 'There's a real and growing concern,' says Hernandez. 'This fear isn't limited to just the Hispanic community – it impacts all immigrant groups.' The jail is run by Richard Jones, an outspoken sheriff who among his long list of anti-immigration policies recently joked that while Florida has 'Alligator Alcatraz', his town has a 'swamp squad' – posting images of inflatable crocodiles at the jail to his Facebook page this month. Many locals and rights groups called the posts 'cruel'. Jones and his populist, anti-immigrant messaging enjoy significant support among the local population. Since 2004, he has won every election for sheriff, often prevailing by three-to-one margins or running unopposed. He has appeared on Fox News calling for the death penalty for drug dealers. But his controversial views go beyond mere rhetoric. The detaining of hundreds of people on immigration charges earns the jail more than $24,000 a day or $720,000 a month in fees paid by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) – on top of $36 an hour in transportation fees the jail charges Ice. At this month's Butler County Fair, the sheriff's office display included two mangled cars that were involved in a fatal crash last year caused by an undocumented migrant from Mexico whose blood alcohol level was more than twice the legal driving limit. Why it picked this and not any one of the other 31 fatal crashes that happened in the county last year isn't apparent – emails, calls, voicemails and an in-person visit to the jail by the Guardian failed to secure an interview with Jones. On the other side of the jail walls is Ayman Soliman, an Egyptian-born, Cincinnati-based imam who was detained this month following the termination of his longstanding asylum status. His confinement on 9 July, allegedly related to membership of a group purportedly linked to the Muslim Brotherhood – an organization outlawed in Egypt but not by the United States – has sparked recriminations, mounting fear and anger, and violent responses to protests in south-west Ohio. Soliman's detention and the outpouring of anger that has followed are emblematic of the wider split in American society, between those who believe the repressive policies of the Trump administration are key to keeping the country safe, and those who think migrants are a cornerstone of the American way of life. During a court hearing on 22 July, Soliman appeared by video link in a yellow-and-white prison jumpsuit wearing brown glasses and a salt-and-pepper beard. When asked by the immigration judge whether he needed an interpreter he declined. Soliman's calm demeanor during the hearing belies what's at stake for him. Should he be deported to Egypt, he could face the death penalty; this month, an Egyptian news outlet accused him of being a leading member of the Muslim Brotherhood, which he has vehemently denied. His predicament has fueled a groundswell of anger linked to police beatings, felony charges and seemingly impromptu firings. On 17 July, Madeline Fening and photography intern Lucas Griffith, two CityBeat journalists, were among 15 people arrested on felony rioting charges following an until-then peaceful protest in downtown Cincinnati against Soliman's detention. Footage of the arrests shows the demonstrators walking across the John A Roebling Bridge before Kentucky police, whose jurisdiction extends across the city's Ohio River bridges, repeatedly punch, shoot pepper balls and violently subdue several participants. While the felony charges initially filed against the reporters have since been dropped (police claimed the journalists 'knowingly participated in a riot'), they still face several misdemeanor charges. In an environment in which the Trump administration has repeatedly vowed to go after elements of the media it deems are hostile to its positions, press freedom groups have assailed the charges. 'Our clients were doing their jobs and should have never been arrested in the first place,' said William Sharp, senior staff attorney for the ACLU of Kentucky, which is defending the journalists. 'A free press is critical to a functioning democracy, and those members of the press who, like our clients, merely cover a story enjoy the full protection of the US and Kentucky constitutions to do so. We look forward to zealously defending them in court.' The journalists and others face a preliminary hearing on 14 August. 'Journalists and journalism are under threat … It is disappointing that our efforts to cover a protest were deliberately misinterpreted as rioting,' says Ashley Moor, editor of CityBeat, in a statement provided through the ACLU of Kentucky. 'The suggestion that we were rioting was baseless and designed to intimidate us into silence and complicity.' All the while, the Kenton county police department has placed Zachary Stayton, the officer who repeatedly punched protest participant Brandon Hill, on administrative leave with pay, pending an investigation. Stayton had been previously the subject of a 2023 lawsuit for excessive use of force. At a preliminary hearing for Hill, who was hospitalized due to the severity of his injuries and who is one of four protestors still facing felony rioting charges, the judge declined to view the video of the punching, stating, 'The officer's testimony is sufficient.' Nor have Soliman's former colleagues escaped apparent punishment for speaking out about his predicament. For the past decade, the Rev Lizzy Diop worked as a chaplain at the Cincinnati Children's hospital, four of those years spent alongside Soliman. 'Cincinnati Children's has patients from around the world and quite a few from the Middle East. It's a big thing to travel to a new country with a new culture to get medical care – it's the most stressful time of their lives,' says Diop, who is one of three people Soliman has asked to be allowed to visit him in jail. 'The delight in somebody's eyes, and the joy they take in [caring for] the kids; he had that.' When Diop heard that Soliman had been detained, she was shocked. 'He's not somebody who talks a lot about himself, but early on, he said: 'I came from Egypt to the United States to save my life.'' Five days after his detention, she visited Soliman at the jail. Days later, after being interviewed by a local television station – a move she believed was explicitly cleared by her employers – Diop was fired from the hospital. 'I briefly talked to my manager and director, and we decided I would take PTO and meet off-campus and not wear any [hospital] gear [for the television interview],' she says. 'I was talking about a former employee and some particular interaction about visiting a friend who was incarcerated.' When Diop arrived at work the morning after the interview aired, her director told her she was facing serious disciplinary action for violating media policy. 'This is my dream job. It's a huge part of my identity. I felt like my world, my life, my self had been torn apart,' she says. 'I've been here for 10 years, and I've never had a disciplinary action; I got an 'exceeds expectations' review weeks before I was fired. I've done nothing but good work,' she says. Diop is still at a loss as to why she was fired. 'Have I messed with a donor? Have I caused [the hospital] to fear repercussions from the Trump administration? I don't have an answer, but those are the two things that I thought of that could have happened.' Diop isn't alone. Days after Adam Allen, another chaplain at Cincinnati Children's hospital, attended the vigil that preceded the bridge protest, the hospital fired him. 'They're firing people for speaking out,' Allen told the Cincinnati Enquirer. Cincinnati Children's hospital is regarded as one of the top hospitals in the US and receives hundreds of millions of federal government dollars every year for treatment and research. In March, the hospital was one of three healthcare facilities investigated by the federal government on discrimination charges for programs aimed at helping students from minority backgrounds. 'We don't comment on current or former personnel,' responded a Cincinnati Children's hospital spokesperson to the Guardian's query asking why Diop and Allen were fired. Back in Hamilton, leaders in the Hispanic communities are further panicked by the move last month to allow local law enforcement officers in Butler county to do the job of Ice agents such as detaining and arresting people suspected to be undocumented immigrants. At least 10 Butler county deputies have become certified Ice agents having taken part in a 40-hour training program. With nearly three-quarters of Hamilton's foreign-born population not US citizens, an overwhelming majority of the community is living in fear. 'There's anxiety, especially as we see Ice activity increasing in other states,' says Hernandez. 'But our community is incredibly resilient. We've faced hardship before. Moving to a new country in search of a better life takes courage, and despite fear, people continue to push forward. The most important thing we can do is come together.' There are signs that Republicans in Butler county, where almost 63% of voters backed Trump in November's presidential election, are growing uneasy with Jones's and the White House's anti-immigrant drive. On Friday, the Butler county prosecutor, Mike Gmoser, a self-declared 'lifelong conservative Republican', warned of 'potential liability' and legal implications for county leaders and authorities for imprisoning hundreds of people on immigration rather than criminal charges, and said he had sought the opinion of the state attorney general. Soliman last week filed a lawsuit challenging the termination of his asylum status, and his next court hearing is set for 12 August, taking his detention at Butler county jail to more than a month.
