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USA Today
07-07-2025
- Politics
- USA Today
California governor plans to tour 8 GOP-leaning SC counties in effort to engage rural voters
The governor of California is touring several South Carolina cities as part of a Democratic Party-led effort to connect with rural voters in Republican-leaning communities. California Gov. Gavin Newsom will stop in several Palmetto State cities on July 8 and 9 as part of the South Carolina Democratic Party's (SCDP) "On the Road With Governor Newsom." This tour will make stops in eight South Carolina counties, connecting with communities that face economic and environmental challenges, while building political connections in traditionally red districts, according to the SCDP. Why SC Democratic Party chose California Gov. Gavin Newsom SCDP said it chose Newsom for his leadership in California, the state with the largest economy in the country. The party highlighted his efforts to launch a state tax refund in 2022 and establish a program offering two years of free tuition to community college students. "As governor of the nation's most populous state, Newsom has delivered real results for working families in rural communities," SCDP wrote in a press release. "His record shows what's possible when leaders invest in working families." Christale Spain, the chair of the SCDP, said in a press release that this series is about "showing up and building trust." 'We're proud of the gains we are making, but we're even more focused on what's ahead," Spain said. Why were these SC counties chosen for this tour? Newsom will speak in several Upstate counties on July 9, including Laurens, Pickens, and Oconee. He also plans to stop in Marion, Chesterfield, Florence, Kershaw, and Chesterfield counties. SCDP said the counties Newsom will visit have faced obstacles such as job loss and devastation from natural disasters, including wildfires and hurricanes. Several Upstate counties faced severe damage from Hurricane Helene in September 2024 and the Table Rock Complex Fire in March 2025. More: What started the Table Rock Fire? Wildfire now measures over 11,000 acres, 9 percent containment Each of these counties holds a strong Republican voter base Each of these SC counties on the tour also holds a strong Republican voter base. President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance won roughly 76% of the votes in Pickens County, 70% in Laurens County, and 81% in Oconee County. Trump held a massive rally in Pickens in 2023 as he campaigned for the presidency, with thousands cramming into a rural city with a population of just over 3,000. The Secret Service informed news outlets that approximately 5,000 people were able to pass through the event gate in the hours leading up to the rally, while roughly 10,000 others were still waiting in line. Gavin Newsom's tour to focus on grassroots organizing SCDP said bringing Newsom to these Republican stronghold districts is part of its focus on grassroots organizing, local empowerment, and building long-term political connections throughout the state. More: Donald Trump in Pickens SC: Trump rally concludes after tens of thousands flood downtown "He's coming to meet folks in town that have been hollowed out by decades of Republican control," Spain said in a press release. "This is about building partnerships, uplifting communities, and showing rural voters they aren't forgotten." Bella Carpentier covers the South Carolina legislature, state, and Greenville County politics. Contact her at bcarpentier@
Middle East Eye
12-06-2025
- Business
- Middle East Eye
US Senate permits arms sales to Qatar, UAE amidst controversy over jet gifted to Trump
Arms sales to Qatar and the United Arab Emirates have been given the go-ahead after a Democratic Party-led effort to halt them failed in a US Senate vote on Wednesday. The resolutions failed 39-56, allowing the deal to proceed. Democrats had introduced legislation in the Republican-controlled Senate to block weapons sales to the two Gulf states over allegations of corruption. Lawmakers alleged that the Pentagon's acceptance of a $400m Qatari jet and an Emirati firm's recent investment in a Trump-affiliated cryptocurrency had compromised the integrity of the sales. The resolutions sought to stymie a $1.9bn weapons sale to Qatar and a $1.3bn weapons sale to the UAE. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters The Qatar sale consisted of eight MQ-9 Reaper drones, a model previously employed by the US in Gaza and Yemen, along with Hellfire II missiles and 227-kg bombs. The second resolution opposed the sale of six Chinook helicopters to the UAE. Arms sales to the UAE have previously faced criticism over the UAE's support for the Rapid Support Forces, a Sudanese faction accused by some, including the US State Department, of committing acts of genocide. Corruption accusations Democrats say the weapons sales are tainted with corruption. Qatar recently gifted the Pentagon a $400m jet, which will be refurbished to serve as Air Force One before being retired to US President Donald Trump's presidential library. The jet had become the centre of political controversy after Democrats likened the gift to a bribe. How Turkey and Qatar are playing an outsized role in Trump's new Middle East Read More » Additionally, last month, an Emirati firm invested $2bn in a Trump-affiliated cryptocurrency. Democratic Senator Chris Murphy, who backed the resolution opposing the arms sales, alleged that these deals compromised the integrity of the sales. 'My case is that so long as the relationship is corrupted by the gifts to Trump, we can't move forward on these arms sales… there are legitimate underlying policy debates on the two sales, but my case here is you should look beyond the merits of the sale and really focus on the corruption,' Murphy stated earlier this week. The resolutions to block the arms sales failed, however, with five Democrats joining Republicans to support the sales. Senate Republicans dismissed the resolutions as political theatre, with Senate Foreign Relations Committee chair Jim Risch saying they 'make arms sales to some of our closest allies in the Middle East about partisan politics'. Republican Senator Rand Paul voted "present" on the resolutions.
Korea Herald
12-06-2025
- Politics
- Korea Herald
Special counsel probes of Yoon couple 'people's demand': presidential office
The presidential office said Thursday that the special counsel investigations into former President Yoon Suk Yeol and his wife Kim Keon Hee were launched in response to the people's demand. Kang Yu-jung, Lee's spokesperson, told a press briefing that "getting to the bottom of insurrection is the demand of the people, as the results of the presidential election show." The opposition People Power Party said that the special counsel investigations were of an "unprecedented size costing billions of won," with a total of 577 prosecutors and investigators. "The sheer size of the investigations is tantamount to a single district attorney's office," the People Power Party said in a statement Wednesday, saying the Democratic Party of Korea has "created its own district attorney's office." Tuesday's Cabinet meeting approved the ruling Democratic Party-led bills for opening special counsel investigations into the former first couple, with National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik asking President Lee Jae-myung to appoint special counsels to lead the investigations. The special counsels would look into allegations that Yoon committed either insurrection or treason by trying to impose martial law on Dec. 3. They would also scrutinize allegations that Yoon's wife Kim, meddled in the People Power Party's nomination process for a National Assembly seat in the 2022 by-election.
Korea Herald
10-06-2025
- Politics
- Korea Herald
Yoon, wife to face special counsel probes
577 prosecutors, investigators allotted to look into ex-first couple President Lee Jae-myung's Cabinet on Tuesday passed bills to open three special counsel investigations into former President Yoon Suk Yeol and his wife Kim Keon Hee. The bills are intended to "end the insurrection" that the Lee administration and the ruling Democratic Party of Korea accuse Yoon of instigating with his short-lived martial law decree on Dec. 3, 2024. At the second Cabinet meeting since Lee took office last week, the Democratic Party-led bills passed into law to bring together 577 prosecutors and investigators in total to investigate the former first couple. The combined size of the legal teams involved in the investigations is comparable to a district attorney's office. With Tuesday's passage, a special counsel investigation will look into if Yoon committed either insurrection or treason by trying to impose martial law. Yoon declared martial law late in the evening of Dec. 3, only to lift it six hours later following a National Assembly resolution that opposed it. The Democratic Party contends that Yoon attempted to provoke military action from North Korea with his hawkish policies to lay the groundwork for the declaration of martial law. Yoon's Ministry of National Defense playing anti-Kim Jong-un regime broadcasts along the inter-Korean borders from June 2024 was one example of the former administration deliberately seeking military confrontation with North Korea, according to the Democratic Party. Before their resumption last year, the border broadcasts had been used by the South Korean military as a psychological warfare tactic in the past, before they were halted in 2018 under then-President Moon Jae-in. The Democratic Party also claims that Yoon sent drones across the border into North Korea in October 2024, echoing Pyongyang's accusations that the South Korean military was behind the alleged drone infiltration. Yoon allegedly attempting to instigate an armed conflict with North Korea in the run-up to his martial law decree qualifies as "treason," the Democratic Party claimed, on top of being a "rebellion against the Constitution, which is to say, insurrection." Yoon's wife Kim is set to face a separate special counsel investigation that will scrutinize allegations she was involved in the then-ruling People Power Party's nomination of candidates for a National Assembly seat in the 2022 by-election. Another special counsel investigation would revisit the death of a Marine in July 2023. Cpl. Chae Su-geun, 20, died when he was swept away in moving water during a search and rescue operation to locate flood victims in a rain-swollen river in Yecheon, North Gyeongsang Province. The Democratic Party says Yoon's presidential office tried to impede the preliminary probe into Chae's death at the time to cover up possible wrongdoing at the top. Special counsels will be given as long as 170 days to investigate Yoon and his wife. Yoon was removed from office on April 4 in a unanimous ruling by the Constitutional Court over the martial law debacle, leading South Korea to hold an early presidential election on June 3.
The Hill
01-04-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
South Korea's Constitutional Court will rule Friday on whether to dismiss impeached President Yoon
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea's Constitutional Court said it will rule on whether to formally dismiss or reinstate impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol this Friday. It has been deliberating on Yoon's political fate over his ill-fated imposition of martial law that triggered a massive political crisis. Whatever decision is, it will likely deepen domestic divisions. Millions of people have rallied in Seoul and elsewhere to support or denounce Yoon in the past few months. Police said they'll mobilize all available personnel to preserve order and respond to acts of vandalism, arson and assault. The Constitutional Court said in a statement Tuesday that it would issue the ruling Friday. The opposition-controlled liberal National Assembly in December voted to impeach Yoon, a conservative, leaving his political fate in the hands of the Constitutional Court. Yoon is facing a separate criminal trial after he was arrested and indicted by prosecutors in January on rebellion charges in connection with his Dec. 3 martial law decree. The Constitutional Court's endorsement of Yoon's impeachment would officially drive him out of office and prompt a national election within two months to find a new president. If the court overturns Yoon's impeachment, Yoon would immediately return to his presidential duties. At the heart of the matter is Yoon's decision to send hundreds of troops and police officers to the assembly after imposing martial law. Yoon has insisted that he aimed to maintain order, but some military and military officials have said Yoon ordered them to drag out lawmakers to frustrate a floor vote on his decree and detain his political opponents. Yoon argues that he didn't intend to maintain martial law for long, and he only wanted to highlight what he called the 'wickedness' of the main liberal opposition Democratic Party, which obstructed his agenda, impeached senior officials and slashed his budget bill. During his martial law announcement, he called the assembly 'a den of criminals' and 'anti-state forces.' By law, a president has the right to declare martial law in wartime or other emergency situations, but the Democratic Party and its supporters say South Korea wasn't in such a situation. The Democratic Party-led impeachment motion accused Yoon of suppressing parliament's activities, attempting to detain politicians and others and undermining peace in violation of the constitution and other laws. Yoon has said he had no intention of disrupting National Assembly operations and detaining anyone. Yoon's martial law lasted only six hours because lawmakers managed to enter the assembly and vote to strike down his decree unanimously. No violence erupted, but live TV footage showing armed soldiers arriving at the assembly invoked painful memories of past military-backed dictatorships. It was the first time for South Korea to be placed under martial law since 1980.
