Obama reiterates conclusion of attempted Russian interference in 2016 election
"Nothing in the document issued last week undercuts the widely accepted conclusion that Russia worked to influence the 2016 presidential election but did not successfully manipulate any votes," Obama's office said in a statement.
President Donald Trump accused Obama of "treason" on Tuesday, blaming him, without providing evidence, for leading an effort to falsely tie him to Russia and undermine his 2016 presidential campaign.
"These bizarre allegations are ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction," Obama's office said.
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The Independent
21 minutes ago
- The Independent
Canadian cities keep revoking MAGA singer's performance permits
Cities across Canada have canceled tour performances from Sean Feucht, a right-wing Christian musician with ties to the Trump administration and the Republican Party. The cancellations include Quebec City, where the city said it pulled a contract for Feucht's planned free Friday show at the ExpoCité venue due to 'new elements.' "The presence of a controversial artist was not mentioned in the contract between ExpoCité and the promoter of the concert scheduled to take place on its site this Friday," the city said in a statement. Performances have also been canceled in Halifax, Charlottetown, and Moncton. All told, six performances have been canceled, according to the National Post, as Feucht has faced criticism from local groups and certain elected leaders. "The city should not make its spaces available to propaganda groups that insult our communities and seek to divide us on the basis of our identities," municipal official Jackie Smith from the Transition Quebec party said in a statement to the CBC. "We don't want this hatred in our neighbourhoods." Other localities, as well as Parks Canada, which canceled a planned show at the York Redoubt historic site, cited safety concerns about Feucht. On social media, Feucht said he was being persecuted for his religious and political views. 'Here's the hard truth: If I had shown up with purple hair and a dress, claiming to be a woman, the government wouldn't have said a word,' he wrote on X. 'But to publicly profess deeply held Christian beliefs is to be labeled an extremist—and to have a free worship event classified as a public safety risk.' Over the years, Feucht has flouted Covid guidelines, appeared at the Trump White House, referred to abortion as the 'devil's sacrifice,' and compared discussion of sexual identity in schools to sexual indoctrination and grooming. The musician and religious leader, who has restaged planned concerts in fields and alternative venues amid the cancellations, also said he was getting death threats against his family and said the opposition to his tour was part of the ' devil's same playbook' that saw worship services limited during the Covid pandemic. Feucht gained national notoriety in 2020 by leading combination worship service-protest concerts around the country at a time when large gatherings, including religious ones, were prohibited under many local public health regimes. Since then, the musician has become well-acquainted with prominent figures on the right, appearing this year to perform at the White House, as well as hobnobbing with the likes of Congresswoman Lauren Boebert, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. Last month, Feucht, who has said he wants 'God in control of government,' was accused by former associates of financial mismanagement and exploiting staff across his variety of nonprofits and ministries, while he and his organizations snapped up millions of dollars in property. Feucht called the allegations ' a complete sham ' and said they came from 'embittered former volunteers who have been attacking the ministry for over a decade.'
The Independent
21 minutes ago
- The Independent
Migrant deported to notorious El Salvador prison demands $1.3M from Trump administration after savage beatings, vile conditions and 24-hour confinement
Federal agents arrested Neiyerver Adrian Leon Rengel outside his apartment in Texas on his 27th birthday. Two days later, he was deported to a brutal prison in El Salvador, where he was packed in a jail cell with more than a dozen other Venezuelan men for up to 24 hours a day, for four months. Inside El Salvador's Terrorism Confinement Center, Rengel 'endured physical, verbal and psychological abuse,' including routine beatings from guards using their fists and batons, according to his complaint to the Department of Homeland Security Thursday. The details of Rengel's removal from the United States, and his time spent in CECOT, constitute the first legal action against Donald Trump's administration in the wake of a prisoner swap that the release of 250 Venezuelans from the notorious Salvadoran jail. Rengel's administrative claim seeks $1.3 million in damages, alleging wrongful detention and personal injury. The claim is the first step towards a lawsuit against the administration, which has faced an avalanche of legal challenges related to the summary removal of dozens of immigrants to a foreign prison where they faced the prospect of indefinite detention. 'You don't have to be a constitutional scholar for the Rengel case to set off alarms,' according to Norm Eisen, executive chair of Democracy Defenders Fund, which filed the claim on Rengel's behalf. 'Detaining and disappearing someone without cause or access to legal recourse is illegal and abhorrent,' he added. 'This kind of conduct may be straight out of the Trump playbook on immigration, but it has nothing to do with the American Constitution or our values.' The Independent has contacted the Department of Homeland Security for comment. Rengel came to the U.S. in 2023 by appointment through the CBP One app, a Joe Biden-era program that allowed immigrants to schedule with immigration officers before arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border. He also applied for temporary protected status, with a pending immigration court date in 2028, according to his attorneys. After his arrest, agents falsely claimed his tattoos were affiliated with Venezuelan street gang Tren de Aragua, which he has adamantly denied, according to the complaint. He was not allowed to challenge that 'flimsy pretext for removal' under Trump's use of the Alien Enemies Act, which labels Venezuelan 'members' of Tren de Aragua 'alien enemies' who can be summarily deported. Federal authorities have wide discretion to determine membership, largely by pointing to their tattoos. Inside CECOT, Rengel was routinely beaten, and on one occasion, taken to an area of the prison without cameras where guards 'viciously' attacked him, according to his complaint. Rengel was also 'forced to witness guards severely beating' other detainees, the complaint says. CECOT guards 'would turn out the light, take a detainee out of the cell, and attack them outside their cell in front of Rengel and his cellmates,' according to the complaint. Rengel was imprisoned with 18 or 19 other Venezuelans inside a cell no larger than 10-by-10 feet, and the men were rarely allowed to leave, staying inside the cell up to 24 hours a day, the complaint says. They shared two toilets in the cell without any privacy, and the cell was only cleaned once a week, according to Rengel. The Red Cross visited the facility on June 12, and Rengel spoke with the group for 30 minutes — his only contact with the outside world during his imprisonment, according to the complaint. On July 18, following trilateral negotiations with the U.S. and Salvadoran and Venezuelan governments, Rengel and more than 250 other Venezuelans jailed inside the facility were returned to their home country. Rengel has since returned to his mother's home in Municipio Baruta, Venezuela, and is 'terrified to return to the United States given the horrendous treatment he endured,' according to his complaint. Court orders in several cases urged administration officials to 'facilitate' the return of immigrants wrongfully deported to CECOT, and the top judge in Washington, D.C., has threatened officials with contempt after defying his orders to turn the planes around in the first place. Officials claimed for months that the United States no longer has jurisdiction over deportees that were locked up in El Salvador. But authorities in that country recently told the United Nations that the 'legal responsibility for these people lie exclusively' with the U.S. government. Attorneys for Rengel argue that his release — along with the release of dozens of other Venezuelan detainees — demonstrate that the U.S. government has always had the ability to secure their release. 'Mr. Rengel's loved ones were cut off from contact, left with no answers, and forced to endure months of fear, confusion, and heartbreak," according to Juan Proaño, president of Latino civil rights organization LULAC, which is representing Rengel. 'While no amount of money will ever be able to make up for the deeply traumatic wounds Mr. Rengel now bears, our government has the responsibility to ensure he and his family have the resources they need as they cope,' Proaño said.
Daily Mail
21 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Grim new Social Security outlook revealed as checks set to shrink by huge sums
Social Security's retirement fund is set to run short in just seven years — which could end up slashing benefits for millions of Americans by thousands of dollars a year. According to latest projections, retirees could face automatic 24 percent benefit cuts as early as the end of 2032. This means a couple who both worked would receive $18,100 less each year if they retire at the start of 2033. The new forecast from the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB), released Thursday, moves up the insolvency date for both Social Security and Medicare trust funds. A projection just last month had funds lasting until 2033, but that has already been revised. A major factor is the impact of President Donald Trump's 'Big, Beautiful Bill ', which experts warned would speed up the use of funds. Social Security relies on its trust fund to provide monthly benefit checks to around 70 million Americans. Once the reserves are exhausted, federal law requires that benefits be cut to match incoming revenues. This means payments will continue, but at reduced levels. The cuts would also grow over time as scheduled benefits continue to outpace dedicated revenues, the CRFB said. By 2099, the size of the benefit cut would grow to well over 30 percent, the nonpartisan committee said. Depending on a couple's age, marital status and work history, the actual size of the benefit cut would vary. For example, the average single-earner couple would face a $13,600 cut in late 2032, while a dual-earner low-income couple would face an $11,000 annual cut. High-income couples could see a cut of closer to $24,000. While the absolute size of the cut would be smaller for a typical low-income couple than for a high-income couple, it would represent a larger share of their income and their past earnings, the CRFB said. The depletion of Social Security's trust funds would also be compounded by the insolvency of a Medicare trust fund. The hospital insurance trust fund, which is also known as Part A of Medicare, finances health care services related to hospital stays and skilled nursing facilities for eligible beneficiaries, which is mostly those aged 65 and over. This fund is also projected to be exhausted in late 2032, cutting payments by 11 percent. The forecast predicts that a dual-earning couple who retire at the start of 2033 would receive $18,100 less a year in vital benefits The latest CRFB estimates of potential benefit cuts are somewhat larger than those put forward in the most recent Trustees' report from June. The committee blamed changes brought in by the Trump administration's 'Big, Beautiful Bill.' Despite facing bipartisan criticism, the bill was signed into law earlier this month. It extends most of the tax cuts Trump signed into law in 2017, including slashing rates on estates and for corporations. Deductions for state and local taxes, as well as business owners, are included. The CRFB said the tax rate cuts and the increase in the senior standard deduction from the bill would reduce Social Security's revenue from the income taxation of benefits, increasing the required cut by about a percentage point upon insolvency. It warned if the senior standard deduction and other temporary measures are made permanent, the benefit cut would grow larger, hurting millions of Americans. 'Policymakers pledging not to touch Social Security are implicitly endorsing these deep benefit cuts for 62 million retirees in 2032 and beyond,' the committee added. 'It is time for policymakers to tell the truth about the program's finances and to pursue trust fund solutions to head off insolvency and improve the program for current and future generations.'
