Mois : août 2023

Amid mounting legal troubles for Trump, the GOP front-runner, and the news that those of the incumbent president’s son have intensified, the road to the White House for the first time will detour through the courthouse.

“The fact that we could have trials of both Hunter Biden and Donald Trump is going to obscure everything else that happens in the campaign,” said Brad Bannon, who heads a political polling and consulting firm that works for Democratic candidates. “It’s going to be difficult to talk about substantive issues for the candidates. This is going to be one big legal circus, and I don’t think that’s good for the nation.”

The conflict was on US District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan’s mind as she ruled that Trump would be restricted in what he could say about the case before her, telling him and his attorneys “to take special care in your public statements.”

“The fact that he is running a political campaign currently has to yield to the administration of justice,” Chutkan said of Trump during Friday’s hearing on his charges of trying to overturn the 2020 election. “If that means he can’t say exactly what he wants to say in a political speech, that is just how it’s going to have to be.”

It’s a position that neither the Justice Department nor the candidates would choose to be in. Prosecutors usually try to avoid any appearance of influencing elections, but can’t do so this cycle. Meanwhile the two front-running candidates, Trump and President Biden, will face the prospect of trials that could heavily influence their standing in the public eye during the heat of campaign season.

“We find ourselves with a number of indictments and potential charges now that really does thrust the DOJ into the middle of the political season, and I think puts them squarely in the crosshairs of the upcoming presidential election in a way that we’ve never seen before,” said Robert Mintz, a former federal prosecutor who is now in private practice.

The hearing in the former president’s case on Friday came in what has been his third set of charges since the beginning of the year: two sets brought by Trump special counsel Jack Smith and one indictment by the Manhattan district attorney. Two of the trials are set for spring, but Chutkan indicated Friday she would consider an accelerated timeline for this trial if Trump forces the issue through ill-advised public statements. Trump is expected to face a fourth set of charges from a district attorney in Georgia, also for actions related to the 2020 election.

Hunter Biden has long been a target of Republicans, who have alleged he engaged in various nefarious activities. But the Justice Department has specifically charged him with tax crimes and also could charge him with gun possession as a drug user. He was set to plead guilty and avoid jail time, but the plea deal fell apart when a judge questioned if it would mean no further charges on any topic. Biden’s legal team thought it would, but the Justice Department balked. On Friday, Weiss signaled that he could bring new charges against Hunter Biden and go to trial.

Meanwhile, Smith’s team is asking for the trial in the case involving Trump’s attempt to hold onto power to begin Jan 2, 2024, just weeks before the primaries kick off with the Iowa caucuses. The classified documents case is scheduled to begin next May in Florida, at a time when Trump, if he emerges victorious in the early states, might prefer to be shifting gears to the general election. A third trial, on charges in New York state court that he illegally paid hush money to a porn star during his 2016 presidential campaign, is set to begin in March.

That schedule could make it harder for Trump to campaign in crucial stretches of election season. The legal proceedings could also put restrictions on his speech and conduct, as Chutkan warned Friday.

While any trial for Hunter Biden won’t directly affect President Biden’s schedule, it would likely receive considerable media attention and could potentially shape public perception of the president.

Normally, Mintz said, federal prosecutors try not to bring indictments involving political candidates within a certain number of days of an election — a practice widely known as the 60-day rule — to avoid the appearance of political favoritism. But Trump’s and Hunter Biden’s actions and the long campaign season have made overlap unavoidable.

That has opened the Justice Department up to political attacks, which worries Sarah Krissoff, a former assistant US attorney who now is a defense attorney at a New York firm.

“The intersection between the election and these criminal prosecutions is going to undermine, if it hasn’t already, the public’s faith in the DOJ and the institutions around it,” she said. “It has, I think, a delegitimizing effect in the eyes of the public, which is concerning as a citizen.”

Bannon hopes the Hunter Biden case could have the opposite effect. The appointment of the Biden special counsel could defuse Republican claims that Justice officials have not equally scrutinized Trump and Hunter Biden. Although it could result in a trial that sends Hunter Biden to jail, a prosecution by a special counsel who Trump originally appointed as US attorney sends a message to voters that there’s no political interference, Bannon said.

“The reality is it may be bad for the Biden family, but it’s good for President Biden running for reelection,” Bannon said.

But the Justice Department has already become a central villain in the Republican presidential primary, and Friday’s news only fueled the flames. Candidates frequently complained about the “sweetheart” plea deal Hunter Biden had reached with Weiss to settle misdemeanor tax charges and a separate gun charge before it suddenly fell apart last month. Now, despite Republicans previously demanding a special counsel in the matter, they’re calling this appointment a sham.

Trump has deployed his complaints about Justice Department officials to stoke the grievances that animate much of his base.

“Crooked Joe Biden has weaponized law enforcement … and ordered his top political opponent, me, arrested,” Trump complained this week at a campaign rally in Windham, N.H.

Republicans jumped Friday to depict Weiss, and Garland’s decision to ramp up his status, as untrustworthy — even without evidence. Even former UN ambassador Nikki Haley, who has warned her party that Trump’s ongoing legal troubles could bog it down in 2024, saw Friday’s announcement as an opportunity to impugn the department.

“I don’t think the American people trust the Department of Justice,” she said.

Meanwhile, few of his challengers have attacked Trump over his legal troubles. And that leaves the Justice Department in an unenviable position, Mintz said.

“We have the unprecedented situation in which a sitting president has a Department of Justice that has brought through a special counsel indictments against the individual who may be the nominee of the opposing party, it really does put the [department] in a very uncomfortable situation,” he said.

Material from Globe wire services was used in this report.

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Jim Puzzanghera can be reached at jim.puzzanghera@globe.com. Follow him @JimPuzzanghera. Jess Bidgood can be reached at Jess.Bidgood@globe.com. Follow her @jessbidgood.

PANAJI: Hundreds of people gathered at the Mardol police station on Tuesday evening to demand the arrest of the woman who was in the Mercedes-Benz SUV that killed three persons in Banastarim on Sunday.

Ponda deputy SP Ashish Shirodkar told the people that it was Paresh Sawardekar who was driving the car, and not his wife Meghana. « However, since the people were not ready to listen, I have assured them that I will bring the car owner Meghana to the police station by Wednesday noon, » Shirodkar, who took a volley of questions from the public, which included activists, politicians, and others, told TOI.
Cumbharjua MLA Rajesh Faldessai said that police told him that they would arrest the woman by Wednesday. « We have given them time till tomorrow to arrest the woman, » said Faldessai, a BJP MLA who alleged that the police are « hand in glove with the accused ».

Faldessai, North Goa zilla panchayat chairperson Siddesh Naik, as well as functionaries of other political parties, along with the public, questioned police as to how Paresh Sawardekar and his wife Meghana exchanged seats when the right-side door of their car was damaged.
Public: Woman was unable to stand, how could she move to another seat?
Police told us that the woman exchanged seats. We will not keep quiet until the victims get justice,” Faldessai said. He also assured the people that the culprit in the case will be punished.
Outside the police station, the people shouted, “We want justice”. Mardol police is investigating the case.
“The woman in the driver’s seat should be arrested and needs to be investigated,” said Naik, who is the son of North Goa MP and Union minister of state for tourism, Shripad Naik. “We have put this demand on behalf of the people of Divar and the people of Goa.” The Phadte couple who were killed in the acci dent were from Divar.
One of the group’s leaders, activist Rama Kankonkar, said that even 50 hours after the accident, when they asked police if the woman’s medical examination was done, they said that she had left the spot. “When an accident takes place… the airbags open. The woman was not able to stand, how could she (move to) another seat?” Kankonkar also said that police said that Sawardekar was traced at Marcel, where they picked him up.
“All the people gathered at the police station got a clear message from the cops that the case has been filed to compromise,” said Kankonkar, who added that the police told them that they have checked the CCTV footage from Khandepar to Banastarim, and it was found that the SUV was driven by Paresh.
“We need to start our own investigation by checking the CCTV footage,” Kankonkar said, adding that “police asked us to get eyewitness”. “When there was a woman and a man inside the car, why didn’t the police arrest the woman,” he asked. Kankonkar said that when both persons in the car were under the influence of alcohol, police should have conducted their medical examination, but they only did so for the man, and kept the woman safe.
“Yesterday, all day, when we asked the police where the woman was, they said they were not aware,” said Kankonkar. “It has now become well known that the woman is a relative of a politician, and we think that the police are working to safeguard her.”
Kankonkar also said that when he asked police whether the woman’s phone was traced, police had no answer. “If they want to safeguard the people, they will come to know who called whom,” he said.

« Une immense déception ». Après deux semaines de combat le dos à la faillite, Romain Peugeot a renoncé ce jeudi à racheter le FC Sochaux Montbéliard (FCSM), le club de foot de ses ancêtres, qui fait un pas de plus vers la relégation et le dépôt de bilan.

Abandonné par son actionnaire chinois, le club quasi-centenaire espérait encore jeudi obtenir un sursis de la justice administrative pour retrouver la Ligue 2 et repartir de l’avant avec un budget en conséquence. Mais cet espoir s’est révélé vain.

« Le dépôt de bilan paraît inéluctable »

« Nous venons de prendre connaissance de la décision du tribunal administratif de Paris en date du 3 août 2023 qui refuse d’examiner la requête du FCSM au motif que l’urgence n’est pas démontrée, ce alors que le championnat de Ligue 2 débute ce samedi », a annoncé Romain Peugeot dans un communiqué adressé dans la soirée à l’AFP.

Le groupe d’investisseurs entourant Romain Peugeot, arrière-petit-fils du fondateur du club, « ne peut que regretter que son projet financé en totalité (…) ne soit pas pris en compte, en dépit des pièces communiquées le démontrant ». Or, « la solution que nous proposions n’est viable qu’en championnat de Ligue 2 ».

Selon son avocat Laurent Cotret, Romain Peugeot, appuyé par plusieurs collectivités locales, disposait des fonds nécessaires, à savoir 8,5 millions d’euros, pour assurer la pérennité du FCSM. « Le dépôt de bilan paraît inéluctable », a déclaré à l’AFP Florian Bouquet, président du conseil départemental du Territoire de Belfort. « C’est un coup de massue pour les salariés et les supporteurs, de même que pour les collectivités et les partenaires du club ». « C’est la fin d’une aventure qui a presque duré 100 ans ».

Annecy repêché en remplacement

Le club sochalien, 9e de L2 à l’issue du dernier exercice, tentait d’échapper à sa rétrogradation en National par la direction nationale du contrôle de gestion (DNCG), une émanation de la Fédération française de football (FFF).

Sa relégation profite à Annecy, 17e et relégué, qui sera repêché en deuxième division, dont la première journée débute samedi. Saisi jeudi matin, le comité exécutif de la FFF n’avait pas voulu se prononcer sur le recours de Sochaux en attendant la décision du TA et fait savoir qu’il ne statuerait pas si le recours du FCSM devait être rejeté.

Un premier recours devant le Comité national olympique et sportif français (CNOSF) avait déjà été rejeté mardi. Le club sochalien est la propriété du groupe immobilier chinois Nenking, en grande difficulté financière. « C’est maintenant à cet actionnaire qu’il appartient de prendre ses responsabilités », selon le communiqué de Romain Peugeot, un financier installé à Londres et âgé de 33 ans.

Les recours épuisés

« Tous les recours ont été épuisés », a reconnu pour l’AFP le député (Renaissance) du Doubs Nicolas Pacquot. Le « combat » désormais doit être « de jouer dans les jours qui viennent en National 1 », a-t-il dit, jugeant la National 3 comme un « scénario catastrophe » pour l’économie comme pour le territoire. « En sacrifiant les jaunes et bleus, ce soir la Fédération (française de football) a aussi sacrifié le centre de formation », a-t-il pointé.

Fondé en 1928 dans le berceau du constructeur automobile Peugeot, le club de Sochaux a été un modèle de stabilité durant près de 90 ans quand il était détenu par la famille du même nom, qui l’a vendu en 2014.

Interpellé par un syndicaliste de Stellantis Sochaux, qui s’est écrié « Peugeot, ton enfant se meurt », le constructeur automobile avait opposé ce jeudi une fin de non-recevoir. « Les activités marketing sont désormais centrées sur les sports qui nous permettent de mettre en avant les technos électriques et nos produits », avait répondu Stellantis, interrogé par France 3 Franche Comté.

Sochaux est un des fondateurs du premier Championnat de France professionnel, en 1932-1933. Les Lionceaux ont été champions de France à deux reprises (1935, 1938) et ont remporté la Coupe de France deux fois (1937, 2007), ainsi que la Coupe de la Ligue en 2004.