Latest news with #constitutionalCrisis
Yahoo
a day ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Justice Department files misconduct complaint against federal judge handling deportation case
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department on Monday filed a misconduct complaint against the federal judge who has clashed with President Donald Trump 's administration over deportations to a notorious prison in El Salvador. Escalating the administration's conflict with U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg, Attorney General Pam Bondi said on social media that she directed the filing of the complaint against Boasberg 'for making improper public comments about Donald Trump and his administration.' The complaint stems from remarks Boasberg allegedly made in March to Chief Justice John Roberts and other federal judges saying the administration would trigger a constitutional crisis by disregarding federal court rulings, according to a copy of the complaint obtained by The Associated Press. The comments 'have undermined the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary,' the complaint says, adding that the administration has 'always complied with all court orders.' Boasberg is among several judges who have questioned whether the administration has complied with their orders. The meeting took place days before Boasberg issued an order blocking deportation flights that Trump was carrying out by invoking wartime authorities from an 18th century law. The judge's verbal order to turn around planes that were on the way to El Salvador was ignored. Boasberg has since found probable cause that the administration committed contempt of court. The comments were supposedly made during a meeting of the Judicial Conference, the federal judiciary's governing body. The remarks were first reported by the conservative website The Federalist, which said it obtained a memo summarizing the meeting. Boasberg, the chief judge in the district court in the nation's capital, is a member of the Judicial Conference. Its meetings are not public. The complaint calls for an investigation, the reassignment of the deportations case to another judge while the inquiry is ongoing and sanctions, including the possible recommendation of impeachment, if the investigation substantiates the allegations. Trump himself already has called for Boasberg's impeachment, which in turn prompted a rare response from Roberts rejecting the call. The complaint was filed with Judge Sri Srinivasan, chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. More than 250 Venezuelans who were deported to a Salvadoran mega-prison known as the Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT, were sent home to Venezuela earlier this month in a deal that also free 10 U.S. citizens and permanent residents who had been held by Venezuela. But the lawsuit over the deportations and the administration's response to Boasberg's order remains in his court.
CNN
10-07-2025
- Politics
- CNN
South Korea's former President Yoon Suk Yeol back in custody over insurrection probe
Former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is back in custody over an independent investigation into his declaration of martial law last year. According to the independent counsel leading the probe, the Seoul Central District Court approved a warrant for Yoon's re-arrest early Thursday morning, because of concerns over the destruction of evidence. Yoon's shocking December declaration plunged South Korea into a constitutional crisis and was widely condemned as striking at the heart of the nation's democracy. He reversed course within six hours, after lawmakers forced their way into parliament and voted unanimously to block it. Yoon was detained in January on charges of leading an insurrection, becoming the first president in South Korean history to be arrested while in office. He was released in March after the Seoul court canceled his arrest warrant for technical reasons. In April, the Constitutional Court unanimously ruled to remove Yoon from office, calling his actions a 'grave betrayal of the people's trust.' He has since faced multiple criminal investigations. According to the independent counsel, Yoon is now facing charges including abuse of power and obstruction of official duties. In a leaked warrant request, the counsel alleged that Yoon declared martial law in an attempt to overcome political gridlock caused by the opposition party's majority in the National Assembly and its impeachment of several senior officials. He is accused of deploying troops to block lawmakers from entering the national assembly building to overturn the decree and of giving orders to 'break down the doors' of parliament and 'drag people out, even if it takes firing guns.' Yoon's lawyers deny he ordered the use of firearms. The counsel also alleges that Yoon instructed his commander to prioritize the arrest of key political figures, including the then opposition leader Lee Jae-myung, who is now the country's president. He is further accused of ordering the presidential security service to obscure communication records from secure phones used afte the martial law was lifted. In addition, Yoon is accused of obstructing warrant executions by the Corruption Investigation Office (CIO) in December and January by mobilizing the presidential security detail and authorizing the use of force. Yoon's lawyers said the warrant request was 'rushed and unjustified' and called the investigation 'flawed and politically motivated.' They said the independent counsel's questions during Yoon's investigation were only at a basic level regarding the allegations, and that the warrant request did not include any treason charges. They added that most individuals involved have already been detained and are standing trial, so all relevant evidence has been secured and there is no risk of evidence being destroyed. Independent counsel teams were established to investigate Yoon following his removal from office, and the election of Lee in a snap presidential election in June.
CNN
10-07-2025
- Politics
- CNN
South Korea's former President Yoon Suk Yeol back in custody over insurrection probe
Former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is back in custody over an independent investigation into his declaration of martial law last year. According to the independent counsel leading the probe, the Seoul Central District Court approved a warrant for Yoon's re-arrest early Thursday morning, because of concerns over the destruction of evidence. Yoon's shocking December declaration plunged South Korea into a constitutional crisis and was widely condemned as striking at the heart of the nation's democracy. He reversed course within six hours, after lawmakers forced their way into parliament and voted unanimously to block it. Yoon was detained in January on charges of leading an insurrection, becoming the first president in South Korean history to be arrested while in office. He was released in March after the Seoul court canceled his arrest warrant for technical reasons. In April, the Constitutional Court unanimously ruled to remove Yoon from office, calling his actions a 'grave betrayal of the people's trust.' He has since faced multiple criminal investigations. According to the independent counsel, Yoon is now facing charges including abuse of power and obstruction of official duties. In a leaked warrant request, the counsel alleged that Yoon declared martial law in an attempt to overcome political gridlock caused by the opposition party's majority in the National Assembly and its impeachment of several senior officials. He is accused of deploying troops to block lawmakers from entering the national assembly building to overturn the decree and of giving orders to 'break down the doors' of parliament and 'drag people out, even if it takes firing guns.' Yoon's lawyers deny he ordered the use of firearms. The counsel also alleges that Yoon instructed his commander to prioritize the arrest of key political figures, including the then opposition leader Lee Jae-myung, who is now the country's president. He is further accused of ordering the presidential security service to obscure communication records from secure phones used afte the martial law was lifted. In addition, Yoon is accused of obstructing warrant executions by the Corruption Investigation Office (CIO) in December and January by mobilizing the presidential security detail and authorizing the use of force. Yoon's lawyers said the warrant request was 'rushed and unjustified' and called the investigation 'flawed and politically motivated.' They said the independent counsel's questions during Yoon's investigation were only at a basic level regarding the allegations, and that the warrant request did not include any treason charges. They added that most individuals involved have already been detained and are standing trial, so all relevant evidence has been secured and there is no risk of evidence being destroyed. Independent counsel teams were established to investigate Yoon following his removal from office, and the election of Lee in a snap presidential election in June.
Free Malaysia Today
09-07-2025
- Politics
- Free Malaysia Today
Ramasamy backs calls for RCI on judicial appointments
Former Penang deputy chief minister P Ramasamy claimed that the decision not to extend the contract of former top judges was widely perceived as a deliberate move to weaken an otherwise vibrant judiciary. PETALING JAYA : Former Penang deputy chief minister P Ramasamy has backed calls for a royal commission of inquiry (RCI) to examine delays in judicial appointments. On Monday, Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli and several other PKR MPs proposed an RCI and a parliamentary select committee hearing following delays in the appointment of top judicial positions, including the chief justice. In a statement today, Ramasamy claimed that the decision not to extend the contract of top judges had been widely perceived as a deliberate move to weaken an otherwise vibrant judiciary. He said the decision, along with recent appointments to the Federal Court and the 'opaque' decision-making process of the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) regarding the extension of terms for retiring judges, raised questions about transparency and the influence of the executive in judicial matters. 'This sustained interference by the executive portends a constitutional crisis of unprecedented scale,' he claimed. 'The judiciary – the final bulwark for the rights of Malaysian citizens – is being battered by unchecked executive power. 'There must be an RCI to investigate these serious allegations.' Claims of a constitutional crisis surfaced ahead of the mandatory retirement of chief justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat and Court of Appeal president Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim last week. Chief Judge of Malaya Hasnah Hashim is currently serving as acting chief justice while Federal Court judge Zabariah Yusof has been made acting Court of Appeal president. In a statement yesterday, the Attorney-General's Chambers said any suggestion of a constitutional crisis was unfounded as the appointments were proceeding in accordance with the Federal Constitution.
Irish Times
15-06-2025
- Politics
- Irish Times
US democracy is in danger, but what about Ireland?
The cartoonish elements of what's happening in the United States shouldn't blind us to the very real threat to its democracy. It is very likely only a matter of time before the Trump administration openly refuses to abide by court orders. Then the country will be in a bona fide constitutional crisis . Donald Trump himself is utterly unmoored from the norms that have governed presidential behaviour since the foundation of the republic, when its first president fretted about the quasi-monarchical status of his office. His modern successor seems frequently frustrated at his lack of absolute power, at the checks and balances so carefully built into the system by the United States's founding fathers. His senior staff have freely advertised their hostility to the idea that the courts can restrain the executive in any way. California governor Gavin Newsom accuses Trump of escalating unrest with military deployments in Los Angeles. Video: Reuters It is possible that the financial markets – and in particular the need for stability in the debt markets through which the US finances its gargantuan deficit – will temper Trump's instincts to undermine US democracy and the rule of law. That is what has happened with his trade policy, and both democracy and the rule of law, after all, have been rather good for US business. READ MORE But this is not a column about Trump; rather about what lessons we can take from observing him. Back home, as we watch the US National Guard on city streets, it should prompt us to mind our democracy. Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty, and all that. As a recent report by the Electoral Commission attested, our democracy is actually in reasonable shape. People believe elections are fair, that their votes matter and by and large trust the institutions of State. They have a decent knowledge of the system and are engaged in politics because it affects their daily lives. [ 'There's a menace, an edge to life in America that wasn't there before. And the possibility of dark stuff' Opens in new window ] But it would be foolish to get complacent. The small but vociferous far right is a new reality in Irish politics, eager to use disinformation and outright mendacity to blame people not born in the Republic for all of the State's woes. They are not numerous, but they are not insignificant either. The way the far right tried to use the tragedy of the Carlow shooting for their own political ends shows they are relentless and unscrupulous in seeking to undermine decency and democracy. We hear a lot about the threat the far right poses. We hear less about the far left. But the attachment of some of the far left to the norms of our parliamentary democracy, despite having a parliamentary presence, unlike the far right, is sketchy enough. Is there any such thing as a political genius? With Helen Lewis Listen | 39:17 This week, a group called Red Network split from People Before Profit because they feared PBP would support a Sinn Féin government which would inevitably 'coalesce with the establishment and leave untouched the real government, the permanent government – the State bureaucracy, army chiefs and head guards'. [ People Before Profit activists quit party over possibility of Sinn Féin-led government Opens in new window ] The reaction of many people is to giggle at this in a People's Front of Judea vs The Judean People's Front sort of way. But the programme of the group is explicitly antiparliamentary democracy. As Ronan McGreevy reported, the group rejects the 'fake democracy of the Dáil, or Stormont for that matter' and seeks for it to be replaced by a 32-county workers' republic where 'assemblies of workers in workplaces and communities elect delegates, who are recallable, to a workers' national assembly'. It wants a 'working-class revolution – mass protests and strikes leading to workplace occupations and a challenge to the old state'. This is quite in keeping with People Before Profit's theology, which regards 'people power' as expressed by the 'working class' on 'the streets' as inherently morally and politically superior to the bourgeois complacency of parliamentary democracy. As Mick Barry told the Dáil a few years ago, 'what the parliament does, the streets can undo'. People Before Profit are of course entitled to their views of how the State should work, though it sounds rather similar to mob rule. But why does nobody bother to challenge them on any of this during their numerous media appearances? Across the world, the challenge to democratic norms is led by populist actors, parties and movements. You can find them on both the far right and the far left. And they are gaining ground. A notable international survey recently published by Ipsos found that a 'profound pessimism' is settling in across 31 large democracies, driven by three things: economic discontent; a sense that there is a gap between elites and ordinary people; and opposition to immigration. None of these are especially strong in the Republic right now, but it's not hard to imagine how they could be. In this way, the greatest threat to Irish democracy comes from a sense that it is not delivering materially for people. In the US and elsewhere, too many people have lost faith in politics as usual because they believe it has stopped working for them. Here, that manifests itself in two principal issues – housing and the cost of living . There was worrisome news on both fronts this week. The Government announcements on housing – and the tacit admission that rents will rise – show that things are likely to get worse before they get better. And there is no guarantee they will get better. News that child poverty has surged reminds us that the cost of living is eating up steady increases in average incomes and that the pinch is, as ever, felt most acutely at the bottom. On neither issue does the Government inspire confidence that it is equipped to meet the magnitude of the challenges that face the State. If that remains so, dire political consequences will be inevitable.
