Latest news with #RichardDurbin
New York Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- New York Times
Durbin Demands Tapes of Ghislaine Maxwell Interviews
Senator Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, on Monday demanded all recordings and transcripts of the July 24 and 25 Justice Department interviews with Ghislaine Maxwell, the longtime partner of Jeffrey Epstein who is serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking. In a letter to Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who conducted the interviews, Mr. Durbin also demanded that the Justice Department commit to offering no pardon or commutation of Ms. Maxwell's sentence in exchange for information, citing 'serious questions about the potential for a corrupt bargain between the Trump Administration and Ghislaine Maxwell.' The letter, a copy of which was obtained by The New York Times, was co-signed by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, Democrat of Rhode Island, who also sits on the Judiciary Committee. Because Democrats are in the minority and have no subpoena power, their demands may carry little weight with Mr. Blanche. But the letter reflected how Democrats are trying to keep pressure on the Trump administration on an issue that has, at least for now, cleaved from the president a portion of his typically loyal MAGA base that is demanding a release of files that the administration has refused to make public. Mr. Epstein, a financier and convicted sex trafficker who died in 2019, was well connected and his friends included Mr. Trump. In the letter, Mr. Durbin noted that the meetings between Mr. Blanche and Ms. Maxwell last week were highly unusual. Such interviews would typically be conducted by line prosecutors more familiar with the details of the case, and more able to determine on the spot if Ms. Maxwell was lying, he noted in the letter. That Mr. Blanche himself conducted such interviews, Mr. Durbin wrote, led him and Mr. Whitehouse to believe that the meetings were 'another tactic to distract from DOJ's failure to fulfill Attorney General Bondi's commitment that the American people would see 'the full Epstein files.'' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
New York Times
17-06-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Senate Democrats Want Noem to Testify After Senator Is Pushed and Handcuffed
Senate Democrats on Tuesday called on Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, to testify at a hearing on Capitol Hill about the forcible removal of Senator Alex Padilla of California from a news conference she was holding last week. In a letter to the committee's Republican chair, the Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee also said they wanted to question her about the Trump's administration's immigration enforcement, including the use of masked agents to make arrests, whether immigration officials were defying court orders and the justification of mass deportations via the Alien Enemies Act. The group of 10 senators, which includes Mr. Padilla, characterized the California senator's treatment by federal agents last week as part of a pattern of abuses of presidential power. He was shoved out of a room, told to drop to his knees in a hallway and handcuffed. 'The treatment of Senator Padilla is the latest in a string of attacks on our constitutional order,' the senators wrote, according to a copy of the letter obtained by The New York Times. Though Ms. Noem has come to the Capitol several times in the past month for hearings related to her department's budget, she has not come before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Republicans control the committee and its subpoena power, and Democrats cannot call hearings or compel testimony. According to the senators' letter, the top Democrat on the committee, Senator Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, has sent eight letters and briefing requests to the Homeland Security Department that have gone unanswered. Mr. Padilla has characterized his attendance at a news conference in Los Angeles week as part his effort to seek responses from the Trump administration over its immigration policy. Federal agents removed and handcuffed him after he tried to ask Ms. Noem a question about the enforcement efforts. A Homeland Security spokeswoman accused him of engaging in 'disrespectful theater' and said that the Secret Service mistook him for an attacker because he was not wearing his Senate security pin. In a 20-minute speech on the Senate floor on Tuesday, Mr. Padilla said that the incident heightened his concerns that the Trump administration was violating the due process rights of immigrants and infringing on Americans' constitutional rights to free speech and peaceful protest. At times getting choked up, Mr. Padilla described being 'physically and aggressively forced out of the room, even as I repeatedly announced I was a United States senator.' And he said that as he was handcuffed and 'marched down a hallway,' he was concerned that he might be arrested or detained. Ultimately, he was not. But likening Mr. Trump to an authoritarian, Mr. Padilla said that his experience suggested that the Trump administration might take bold steps to quiet dissent. 'If that is what the administration is willing to do to a United States senator for having the authority to simply ask a question, imagine what they'll do to any American who dares to speak up,' he said.
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Meta sues developers of 'nudify' apps for running ads on its platforms
June 12 (UPI) -- Meta is suing a company for an app that allows people to create AI-generated nude or sexually explicit images without their consent, the social media company said Thursday. Meta filed a lawsuit in Hong Kong to prevent, Joy Timeline HK limited, the company behind CrushAI Apps, from advertising its apps on Meta's platforms. The company initially ran ads on Facebook and Instagram to promote CrushAi. "This follows multiple attempts by Joy Timeline HK Limited to circumvent Meta's ad review process and continue placing these ads, after they were repeatedly removed for breaking our rules," Meta said. "This legal action underscores both the seriousness with which we take this abuse and our commitment to doing all we can to protect our community from it," Meta said. "We'll continue to take the necessary steps -- which could include legal action -- against those who abuse our platforms like this." Sen. Richard Durbin, D-IIl., sent a letter in February to warn Mark Zuckerberg about allowing his companies to run ads by Joy timeline that break Meta's standards. To tackle more online harm, Meta said it is increasing its "enforcement methods." "We've developed new technology specifically designed to identify these types of ads," Meta said. "Even when the ads themselves don't include nudity and use matching technology to help us find and remove copycat ads more quickly." Meta said it's working with "experts and specialist teams" to upgrade their system in picking up these ads. "Since the start of the year, our expert teams have run in-depth investigations to expose and disrupt four separate networks of accounts that were attempting to run ads promoting these services," said Meta.
New York Times
06-06-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Democrats Threaten Trump Prosecutor Picks, Pointing to Past Vance Blockade
During his brief tenure in the Senate, Vice President JD Vance blocked Biden administration nominees for U.S. attorney, in a break with past practice. Now, a senior Democrat is citing that as a precedent for insisting on the same standard for President Trump's federal prosecutor nominees, potentially jeopardizing their confirmation. 'There shouldn't be one set of rules for Republicans and another for the Democrats,' said Senator Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the senior Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, who plans to adhere to what he is calling 'the Vance precedent' for Trump prosecutors unless Republicans offer some concessions. 'You expect me to just look the other way now?' he asked of Republicans at a Judiciary Committee hearing this week. U.S. attorney nominees traditionally sped through the Senate on an expedited basis once they cleared an F.B.I. background check and scrutiny by the Judiciary Committee. The panel does not conduct formal hearings on them, as it does on judges up for lifetime appointments. Mr. Durbin noted that Democrats had followed that practice in agreeing to confirm scores of prosecutors in Mr. Trump's first term. But beginning in June 2023, Mr. Vance, then a first-term Republican senator, said he would oppose moving ahead with all Justice Department nominees, excluding federal marshals, to protest what he contended was the politicization of the department and its pursuit of Mr. Trump in the courts. He said his goal was to 'grind this department to a halt.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Fox News
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Dems call budget bill ‘bureaucratic water torture' as GOP ‘glad to have the ball in our court'
Print Close By Charles Creitz Published May 23, 2025 Senate reaction to the House's passage of its "big, beautiful bill" was sharply divided, with Democrats warning of long-term harm to the working class and Republicans arguing it would help that very group. "Republicans' reconciliation bill dismantles the American Dream and strips health care, food assistance, and more away from millions of hardworking Americans," Senate Minority Whip Richard Durbin, D-Ill., fumed in a Thursday statement. "Republicans are taking a chainsaw to critical services that American families depend on and using them as a piggy bank for tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy." Durbin, who is retiring after a four-decade career in office, quipped that billionaires "win" and American families "lose – all thanks to President Donald Trump." REPUBLICANS READY LATE-NIGHT SESSION ON TRUMP'S 'BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL' AFTER GOP MUTINY The number-two Democrat urged four unnamed Senate Republicans to break with their party and have the "good sense to join Democrats" to stop the bill from reaching the White House. Two Republicans unlikely to heed that call were Sens. Roger Marshall of Kansas and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who both offered a "well done" verbal back-pat to House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. Marshall said the Senate must deliver the bill to Trump for America's betterment, as Graham cited the border security provisions in the legislation and welcomed the bill to his side of the Capitol. Back in Durbin's camp, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., took to the Senate floor to condemn the "dead of night" vote and claimed Republicans hoped "nobody would notice" their "rotten to the core" bill. Schumer was up late Wednesday, unsuccessfully forcing about a half-dozen motions-to-recess or adjourn as the Republicans held the Senate open to begin the process of undoing California's emissions waivers granted by former President Joe Biden. DEMS WARN HOUSE REPUBLICANS WILL PAY PRICE AT BALLOT BOX FOR PASSING TRUMP'S 'BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL' Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., pointed Fox News Digital to recent comments on the bill, in which he said its goal is truly to "make life better for people so they can afford to pay their mortgage, they can afford to put gas in the car, and afford for their groceries." "That's why we're doing this. This is part of our comprehensive economic plan," Thune said. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., echoed the "cloak of darkness" sentiment to Fox News Digital, saying the bill will "terminate health care for nearly 14 million Americans" and is "not what the people of Wisconsin signed up for." "You can bet I'm going to fight it," Baldwin said. Meanwhile, Sen. Ronald Wyden – the Oregon Democrat and ranking member of the Finance Committee – called the bill a "full-scale assault on Americans' health and safety." "This bill means kids will go hungry, seniors will face greater abuse and neglect in nursing homes, people with disabilities will lose care at home, and millions of working Americans will be subjected to humiliation and bureaucratic water torture just to get health care," Wyden said. "Millions will lose their health insurance, and many more will find it harder to get health care, leading to untold suffering and quiet deaths," Wyden added. Maryland Democrat Angela Alsobrooks told Fox News Digital on Thursday that the Big Beautiful Bill Act will account for the largest food stamp cuts in history. "[It's] beautiful for whom? Certainly not the millions of Americans who rely on SNAP to feed their children and on Medicaid to get their health care," Alsobrooks said, adding the GOP seems "obsessed" with seeing the "poor getting poorer and the rich getting richer." Alsobrooks said the majority of her fellow Old Line State residents agree with her sentiments. Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., echoed Alsobrooks' concerns about SNAP and Medicaid. "It's a terrible bill and every senator should reject it," Welch said. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP When reached for comment, fellow Vermonter Bernie Sanders directed Fox News Digital to a 20-minute floor speech the democratic socialist made a few days ago. "At a time when the richest people have never had it so good, they see Republican leadership working overtime to make the billionaire class even richer," Sanders said. "At a time when a majority of Americans are struggling to put food on the table and pay for health care, they see Republican leadership making life even more difficult for average Americans." Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., said conversely she is grateful to Trump and Johnson for their "diligent work." Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said that the Senate will carefully consider the House's final product and work to craft final legislation that meets the chamber's rules and prevents the "biggest tax hike in American history," if the Trump Tax Cuts were to expire. New Jersey Sen. Andy Kim released a video message to constituents about the passage on Thursday, calling it one of the most dangerous bills in history. "I want you to pay attention," he told Jerseyans, citing "disastrous things" in the legislation. Thune and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, are expected to make changes to the bill, but they hope to keep them minimal to preserve the "delicate balance" struck by the House, Thune said. The upper chamber hopes to have the final product to Trump by Independence Day. Print Close URL
