Trump claims he’s been indicted in federal classified documents case; no word from DOJ – National & International News – THU 8Jun2023

Trump claims he’s been indicted in classified documents case.

Supreme Court sides with Black voters in AL in gerrymander case.

EU finally agrees refugee plan after over a decade of crisis.

NATIONAL NEWS

Trump claims he’s been indicted in classified documents case, begins fundraising

Earlier today, attorney’s for former President Trump were officially notified that Trump was a “target” of a criminal investigation into the mishandling of classified documents.

This afternoon, Trump himself announced on social media that he had been indicted and that he’d be in court next Tuesday. He immediately used this announcement to boost fundraising for his 2024 presidential campaign. Sources close to Trump have told members of the media that the Justice Department had called to inform Trump’s attorneys of the indictment. As of this writing, the Justice Department has yet to comment on the news.

Not official yet

Trump’s claims of an indictment should be treated with caution. In mid-March, Trump claimed he was going to be indicted the following week in a New York case over his hush-money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels. At the time, the New York grand jury had not concluded its work and was still interviewing witnesses. The indictment didn’t actually come until a couple of weeks after Trump said it would. 

A federal grand jury believed to be connected to the classified documents case has recently convened in Florida. Some have speculated that any indictment would come from there. Trump is alleged to have committed or commissioned crimes in order to illegally retain sensitive documents, even after the FBI and National Archives had asked for their return. This intrigue largely unfolded at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home in Florida.

An ABC News correspondent, citing anonymous sources, said, “there appears to be at least seven counts here. This ranges from everything from the willful retention of national defense information to conspiracy to a scheme to conceal to false statements and representations”.

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Supreme Court sides with Black voters in AL in gerrymander case

In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court has found that a Congressional voting district map drawn by the state’s Republican controlled legislature violated the Voting Rights Act. The decision came as a surprise since the conservative court has weakened the Act’s power in previous decisions. Conservative Justices John Roberts and Brett Kavanaugh joined the Court’s three liberals in the decision. 

Following the 2020 Census, Alabama redrew its Congressional map with 7 voting districts, only one of which had a Black majority. Since over one quarter of Alabama’s population is Black, a lower federal court ruled last year that this map “likely” violated the Voting Rights Act by deliberately diluting the Black vote. That court nevertheless allowed the map to be used in the 2022 elections. However, Alabama will now have to draw a new map for next year’s elections.

Today’s ruling will likely have implications for a similar case from Louisiana, and different but related cases in Georgia and Texas. This fall, the Court will here a case from South Carolina where Black voters were stripped from a district to make a safe seat for Republicans.

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INTERNATIONAL NEWS

EU finally agrees refugee plan after over a decade of crisis

The European Union has at last agreed to a framework for each member country to take on some share of the responsibility for receiving and hosting refugees from outside of Europe. Under the agreement, any EU country that refuses to accept refugees (as some have) will have to pay €20,000 per refugee they turn away. Some critics of the deal have said it does not go far enough because it does not compel certain countries to actually accept refugees.

Since 2010, tens of thousands of refugees a year have been arriving to Europe, either through perilous sea voyages or on foot. Each of those years, thousands of live have been lost at sea attempting dangerous crossings from Turkey and North Africa. The refugees have come in waves over the years from various countries including Syria, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tunisia, Yemen and other impoverished and war-torn countries.

Despite promises to do so, the bloc has never before agreed on a scheme to share out newcomers sensibly. As a result, Italy and Greece have borne the lions’ share of the burden for receiving and hosting refugees. Meanwhile, many wealthier countries have refused to accept even one refugee. 

Turkey, on Europe’s doorstep, has an estimated 5 million refugees from various countries within its borders, nearly all of them hoping to reach Europe. Turkey has periodically used these refugees as pawns by allowing them to cross into Greece to extract concessions from Europe.

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