US agency investigates special counsel Jack Smith over Trump cases
Republican Senator Tom Cotton reportedly urged the agency to examine if Smith's actions were intended to influence the 2024 election. The Office of Special Counsel, which oversees federal employee conduct, has not yet commented on the matter.
Smith was appointed in 2022 to oversee cases against Trump, including charges of attempting to overturn the 2020 election results and mishandling classified documents. Trump dismissed the charges as politically motivated, and both cases were dropped after he won the 2024 election, in line with Justice Department policy against prosecuting sitting presidents.
The Office of Special Counsel operates independently from Justice Department special counsels like Smith's former office. While it cannot file criminal charges, it may refer findings to the Justice Department. The Hatch Act's strictest penalty is termination, which no longer applies to Smith since he resigned.
Since returning to office, Trump has taken action against perceived adversaries, revoking security clearances, targeting law firms involved in past cases against him, and cutting federal funding to universities. Last month, the FBI opened investigations into former FBI Director James Comey and ex-CIA chief John Brennan, both vocal Trump critics. Comey's daughter, a federal prosecutor handling Jeffrey Epstein's case, was also abruptly dismissed. - AFP
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The Star
2 hours ago
- The Star
World economies reel from Trump's tariffs punch
ASIA/SOUTH-EAST ASIA (AFP): Global markets reeled at the weekend after President Donald Trump's tariffs barrage against nearly all US trading partners as governments looked down the barrel of a seven-day deadline before higher duties take effect. Trump announced late Thursday that dozens of economies, including the European Union, will face new tariff rates of between 10 and 41 per cent. However, implementation will be on August 7 rather than Friday as previously announced, the White House said. This gives governments a window to rush to strike deals with Washington setting more favorable conditions. Neighboring Canada, one of the biggest US trade partners, was hit with 35 percent levies, up from 25 percent, effective Friday -- but with wide-ranging, current exemptions remaining in place. The tariffs are a demonstration of raw economic power that Trump sees putting US exporters in a stronger position, while encouraging domestic manufacturing by keeping out foreign imports. But the muscular approach has raised fears of inflation and other economic fallout in the world's biggest economy. Stock markets in Hong Kong, London and New York slumped as they digested the turmoil, while weak US employment data added to worries. Trump's actions come as debate rages over how best to steer the US economy, with the Federal Reserve this week deciding to keep interest rates unchanged, despite massive political pressure from the White House to cut. Data Friday showed US job growth missing expectations for July, while unemployment ticked up to 4.2 percent from 4.1 percent. On Wall Street, the S&P 500 dropped 1.6 percent, while the Nasdaq tumbled 2.2 percent. - Political goals - Trump raised duties on around 70 economies, from a current 10 percent level imposed in April when he unleashed "reciprocal" tariffs citing unfair trade practices. The new, steeper levels listed in an executive order vary by trading partner. Any goods "transshipped" through other jurisdictions to avoid US duties would be hit with an additional 40 percent tariff, the order said. But Trump's duties also have a distinctly political flavor, with the president using separate tariffs to pressure Brazil to drop the trial of his far-right ally, former president Jair Bolsonaro. He also warned of trade consequences for Canada, which faces a different set of duties, after Prime Minister Mark Carney announced plans to recognize a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly in September. In targeting Canada, the White House cited its failure to "cooperate in curbing the ongoing flood of fentanyl and other illicit drugs" -- although Canada is not a major source of illegal narcotics. By contrast, Trump gave more time to Mexico, delaying for 90 days a threat to increase its tariffs from 25 percent to 30 percent. But exemptions remain for a wide range of Canadian and Mexican goods entering the United States under an existing North American trade pact. Carney said his government was "disappointed" with the latest rates hike but noted that with exclusions the US average tariff on Canadian goods remains one of the lowest among US trading partners. - 'Tears up' rule book - With questions hanging over the effectiveness of bilateral trade deals struck -- including with the EU and Japan -- the outcome of Trump's overall plan remains uncertain. "No doubt about it -- the executive order and related agreements concluded over the past few months tears up the trade rule book that has governed international trade since World War II," said Wendy Cutler, senior vice president of the Asia Society Policy Institute. On Friday, Trump said he would consider distributing a tariff "dividend" to Americans. Notably excluded from Friday's drama was China, which is in the midst of negotiations with the United States. Washington and Beijing at one point brought tit-for-tat tariffs to triple-digit levels, but have agreed to temporarily lower these duties and are working to extend their truce. Those who managed to strike deals with Washington to avert steeper threatened levies included Vietnam, Japan, Indonesia, the Philippines, South Korea and the European Union. Among other tariff levels adjusted in Trump's latest order, Switzerland now faces a higher 39 per cent duty. - AFP
Malay Mail
3 hours ago
- Malay Mail
Europe is breaking its reliance on US climate data amid Trump-era science cuts
EU governments prepare to go it alone on some data after Trump cuts Data on sea-level rise and extreme weather events put at risk by cuts to NOAA Efforts builds on 'guerrilla archiving' — a dash by independent scientists to preserve US data BRUSSELS, August 3 — European governments are taking steps to break their dependence on critical scientific data the United States historically made freely available to the world, and are ramping up their own data collection systems to monitor climate change and weather extremes, according to Reuters interviews. The effort — which has not been previously reported — marks the most concrete response from the European Union and other European governments so far to the US government's retreat from scientific research under President Donald Trump's administration. Since his return to the White House, Trump has initiated sweeping budget cuts to the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, the National Institutes of Health, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Centres for Disease Control and other agencies, dismantling programmes conducting climate, weather, geospatial and health research, and taking some public databases offline. As those cuts take effect, European officials have expressed increasing alarm that — without continued access to US-supported weather and climate data — governments and businesses will face challenges in planning for extreme weather events and long-term infrastructure investment, according to Reuters interviews. In March, more than a dozen European countries urged the EU Commission to move fast to recruit American scientists who lose their jobs to those cuts. Asked for comment on NOAA cuts and the EU's moves to expand its own collection of scientific data, the White House Office of Management and Budget said Trump's proposed cuts to the agency's 2026 budget were aimed at programmes that spread 'fake Green New Scam 'science,'' a reference to climate change research and policy. 'Under President Trump's leadership, the US is funding real science again,' Rachel Cauley, an OMB spokesperson, said via email. European officials told Reuters that — beyond the risk of losing access to data that is bedrock to the world's understanding of climate change and marine systems — they were concerned by the general US pullback from research. 'The current situation is much worse than we could have expected,' Sweden's State Secretary for Education and Research Maria Nilsson, told Reuters. 'My reaction is, quite frankly, shock.' The Danish Meteorological Institute described the US government data as 'absolutely vital' — and said it relied on several data sets to measure including sea ice in the Arctic and sea surface temperatures. 'This isn't just a technical issue, reliable data underpins extreme weather warnings, climate projections, protecting communities and ultimately saves lives,' said Adrian Lema, director of the DMI's National Centre for Climate Research. Reuters interviewed officials from eight European countries who said their governments were undertaking reviews of their reliance on US marine, climate and weather data. Officials from seven countries — Denmark, Finland, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Spain and Sweden — described joint efforts now in the early stages to safeguard key health and climate data and research programmes. Leaning on the US As a priority, the EU is expanding its access to ocean observation data, a senior European Commission official told Reuters. Those data sets are seen as critical to the shipping and energy industries as well as early storm warning systems. Over the next two years, the senior official said, the EU plans to expand its own European Marine Observation and Data Network which collects and hosts data on shipping routes, seabed habitats, marine litter and other concerns. The initiative was aimed at 'mirroring and possibly replacing US-based services,' the senior European Commission official told Reuters. Europe is particularly concerned about its vulnerability to US funding cuts to NOAA's research arm that would affect the Global Ocean Observing System, a network of ocean observation programmes that supports navigation services, shipping routes and storm forecasting, a second EU official told Reuters. The insurance industry relies on the Global Ocean Observing System's disaster records for risk modelling. Coastal planners use shoreline, sea-level, and hazard data to guide infrastructure investments. The energy industry uses oceanic and seismic datasets to assess offshore drilling or wind farm viability. In addition, the senior EU Commission official said, the EU is considering increasing its funding of the Argo programme, a part of the Global Ocean Observing System which operates a global system of floats to monitor the world's oceans and track global warming, extreme weather events and sea-level rise. NOAA last year described the programme, in operation for over 25 years, as the 'crown jewel' of ocean science. It makes its data freely available to the oil and gas industry, marine tourism and other industries. The United States funds 57 per cent of Argo's US$40 million annual operating expenses, while the EU funds 23 per cent. The White House and NOAA did not respond to questions about future support for that programme. The European moves to establish independent data collection and play a bigger role in Argo represent a historic break with decades of US leadership in ocean science, said Craig McLean, who retired in 2022 after four decades at the agency. He said US leadership of weather, climate and marine data collection was unmatched, and that through NOAA the US has paid for more than half of the world's ocean measurements. European scientists acknowledge the outsized role the US government has played in global scientific research and data collection — and that European countries have grown overly dependent on that work. 'It's a bit like defence: we rely heavily on the US in that area, too. They're trailblazers and role models-but that also makes us dependent on them,' Katrin Boehning-Gaese, scientific director of Germany's Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, told Reuters. 'Guerrilla archivists' A number of European governments are now taking measures to reduce that dependence. Nordic countries met to coordinate data storage efforts in the Spring, Norwegian Minister of Research and Higher Education Sigrun Aasland told Reuters. European science ministers also discussed the US science budget cuts at a meeting in Paris in May. Aasland said Norway was setting aside US$2 million to back up and store US data to ensure stable access. The Danish Meteorological Institute in February started downloading historical US climate data in case it is deleted by the US It is also preparing to switch from American observations to alternatives, Christina Egelund, Minister of Higher Education and Science of Denmark, said in an interview. 'The potentially critical issue is when new observations data stop coming in,' the Institute's Lema said. While weather models could continue to operate without US data, he said the quality would suffer. Meanwhile, the German government has commissioned scientific organisations, including the center, to review its reliance on US databases. Since Trump returned to the White House, scientists and citizens worldwide have been downloading US databases related to climate, public health or the environment that are slated for decommissioning — calling it 'guerrilla archiving.' 'We actually received requests-or let's say emergency calls-from our colleagues in the US, who said, 'We have a problem here... and we will have to abandon some datasets', said Frank Oliver Gloeckner, head of the digital archive PANGAEA, which is operated by publicly funded German research institutions. About 800 of NOAA's 12,000-strong workforce have been terminated or taken financial incentives to resign as part of Trump's Department of Government Efficiency cuts. The White House 2026 budget plan seeks to shrink NOAA even further, proposing a US$1.8 billion cut, or 27 per cent of the agency's budget, and a near-20 per cent reduction in staffing, bringing down the NOAA workforce to 10,000. The budget proposal would eliminate the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, NOAA's main research arm, which is responsible for ocean observatory systems including Argo, coastal observing networks, satellite sensors and climate model labs. It is also reducing its data products. Between April and June, NOAA announced on its website the decommissioning of 20 datasets or products related to earthquakes and marine science. NOAA did not respond to requests for comment. Gloeckner said there were no legal hurdles to storing the US government data as it was already in the public domain. But without significant funds and infrastructure, there are limits to what private scientists can save, said Denice Ross, a senior fellow at the Federation of American Scientists, a nonprofit science policy group and the US government's chief data officer during Joe Biden's administration. Databases need regular updating — which requires the funding and infrastructure that only governments can provide, Ross said. Over the last few months, the Federation and EU officials have held a series of talks with European researchers, US philanthropies and health and environment advocacy groups to discuss how to prioritise what data to save. 'There is an opportunity for other nations and institutions and philanthropies to fill in the gaps if US quality starts to falter,' she said. — Reuters
Malay Mail
9 hours ago
- Malay Mail
Trump pressures, Delhi holds firm, but state oil refiners quietly pull back after Russian discount dips
Indian officials deny policy change on Russian oil imports Foreign ministry emphasises independent energy decisions Trump has threatened tariffs on Russian oil buyers Russia remains India's top oil supplier NEW DELHI, Aug 3 — India will keep purchasing oil from Russia despite US President Donald Trump's threats of penalties, two Indian government sources told Reuters on Saturday, not wishing to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter. On top of a new 25 per cent tariff on India's exports to the US, Trump indicated in a Truth Social post last month that India would face additional penalties for purchases of Russian arms and oil. On Friday, Trump told reporters he had heard that India would no longer be buying oil from Russia. But the sources said there would be no immediate changes. 'These are long-term oil contracts,' one of the sources said. 'It is not so simple to just stop buying overnight.' Justifying India's oil purchases from Russia, a second source said India's imports of Russian grades had helped avoid a global surge in oil prices, which have remained subdued despite Western curbs on the Russian oil sector. Unlike Iranian and Venezuelan oil, Russian crude is not subject to direct sanctions, and India is buying it below the current price cap fixed by the European Union, the source said. The New York Times also quoted two unnamed senior Indian officials on Saturday as saying there had been no change in Indian government policy. Indian government authorities did not respond to Reuters' request for official comment on its oil purchasing intentions. However, during a regular press briefing on Friday, foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said India has a 'steady and time-tested partnership' with Russia. 'On our energy sourcing requirements ... we look at what is there available in the markets, what is there on offer, and also what is the prevailing global situation or circumstances,' he said. The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment. India's top supplier Trump, who has made ending Russia's war in Ukraine a priority of his administration since returning to office this year, has expressed growing impatience with Russian President Vladimir Putin in recent weeks. He has threatened 100 per cent tariffs on US imports from countries that buy Russian oil unless Moscow reaches a major peace deal with Ukraine. Russia is the leading supplier to India, the world's third-largest oil importer and consumer, accounting for about 35 per cent of its overall supplies. India imported about 1.75 million barrels per day of Russian oil from January to June this year, up 1 per cent from a year ago, according to data provided to Reuters by sources. But while the Indian government may not be deterred by Trump's threats, sources told Reuters this week that Indian state refiners stopped buying Russian oil after July discounts narrowed to their lowest since 2022 – when sanctions were first imposed on Moscow – due to lower Russian exports and steady demand. Indian Oil Corp, Hindustan Petroleum Corp , Bharat Petroleum Corp and Mangalore Refinery Petrochemical Ltd have not sought Russian crude in the past week or so, four sources told Reuters. Nayara Energy – a refinery majority-owned by Russian entities, including oil major Rosneft, and major buyer of Russian oil – was recently sanctioned by the EU. Nayara's chief executive resigned following the sanctions, and three vessels laden with oil products from Nayara Energy have yet to discharge their cargoes, hindered by the new EU sanctions, Reuters reported last week. — Reuters
