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Unclear what charges president’s son will face but he has been under investigation for potential tax and gun law violations. This blog is now closed
In a court filing, federal prosecutors have said they plan to indict Hunter Biden by 29 September, Reuters reports. It is unclear what charges he will face.
The president’s son has been under federal investigation since 2018 for potential violations of tax and gun laws. In July, he was expected to plead guilty to charges related to failing to declare some income, and enter a diversion program to resolve a gun charge, but the deal unexpectedly fell apart amid scrutiny from a federal judge in Delaware, and after prosecutors made clear that the investigation into Biden’s business dealings remains ongoing.
It’s 6pm ET. Here’s a recap of today’s developments:
Federal prosecutors are seeking to bring a new indictment against Hunter Biden by the end of September, according to court documents. The exact charges the president’s son would face were not immediately clear, but he has been under investigation in Delaware on gun and tax charges.
Donald Trump is making “daily extrajudicial statements that threaten to prejudice the jury pool” in the federal criminal case dealing with his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, attorneys for special counsel Jack Smith said in a court filing.
A watchdog group is suing to remove Trump from the 2024 presidential ballot, saying he violated the constitution and is disqualified from holding future office. The lawsuit is so far one of the strongest challenges to Trump’s eligibility to seek re-election.
Trump should “absolutely” be held accountable in court for attempting to overturn the 2020 election and inspiring the January 6 attack on Congress if the evidence proves it, said Kamala Harris, speaking after a former leader of a far-right group involved in the riot was sentenced to 22 years in jail.
The judge presiding over the Georgia election subversion case denied Kenneth Chesebro’s request to separate his case from Sidney Powell, a co-defendant in the case. Both Powell and Chesebro’s trials will begin on 23 October.
Mitch McConnell rejected speculation about his future as Republican leader in the US Senate, telling reporters: “I’m going to finish my term as leader and I’m going to finish my Senate term.” The remarks came amid intense speculation about the 81-year-old Kentucky senator’s health, after two recent freezes in front of reporters, one on Capitol Hill in July and another in McConnell’s home state last week.
A federal judge ordered Texas to remove floating barriers that were placed in the Rio Grande to block migrants from illegally crossing the US-Mexico border, in a tentative win for the Biden administration. Texas governor Greg Abbott said the state would appeal.
Democrats worried about Joe Biden’s re-election prospects are “fucking bedwetters” and should not worry so much, the former Obama campaign manager Jim Messina said. Polling shows Trump is the clear leader in the Republican race to face Biden next year. Polling also shows Trump and Biden in a close race, and Biden’s approval ratings remain stubbornly low, even regarding an economy most observers consider to be in good shape.
A federal judge ordered Texas to remove floating barriers that were placed in the Rio Grande to block migrants from illegally crossing the US-Mexico border, in a tentative win for the Biden adminstration.
The US district court judge David Ezra ordered Texas to relocate the buoys, currently near the city of Eagle Pass, to an embankment on the Texas side of the river by 15 September.
The order came as part of a lawsuit filed by the Biden administration against Texas, who argued that the barrier illegally disrupts navigation and was installed without permission from the US army corps of engineers.
“Governor Abbott announced that he was not ‘asking for permission’ for Operation Lone Star, the anti-immigration program under which Texas constructed the floating barrier,” Ezra wrote in a 42-page order.
Unfortunately for Texas, permission is exactly what federal law requires before installing obstructions in the nation’s navigable waters.
He added that the state “did not present any credible evidence that the buoy barrier as installed has significantly curtailed illegal immigration across the Rio Grande River”.
The ruling is a setback for the Texas governor, Greg Abbott, who said the state would appeal. He said:
Today’s court decision merely prolongs President Biden’s willful refusal to acknowledge that Texas is rightfully stepping up to do the job that he should have been doing all along.
The former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee warned that if Donald Trump is prevented from winning in the 2024 presidential election, then it will be the last election “decided by ballots rather than bullets”.
Huckabee, in an episode on his TBN show, argued that the former president’s various legal battles are part of a political motivated scheme from the Biden administration. He said:
Here’s the problem: if these tactics end up working to keep Trump from winning or even running in 2024, it is going to be the last American election decided by ballots rather than bullets.
He also accused the justice department, IRS and FBI of “conspiring to hide the Biden family crimes, while all the time being obsessed with charging Donald Trump with crimes”.
Mitch McConnell is the longest-serving Republican party leader in Senate history, in place since 2007. His power over his caucus has rarely been questioned but health scares including the freezes and a series of falls have stoked speculation about whether he will finish his seventh six-year term, which ends in January 2027.
Earlier, in a sign of growing uncertainty in Senate Republican ranks, McConnell’s fellow Kentuckian, Rand Paul, cast doubt on the assurances from congressional physician.
Paul, once a practising opthalmologist, told reporters:
When you get dehydrated you don’t have moments when your eyes look in the distance with a vacant look and you’re sort of basically unconscious with your eyes open. That’s not a symptom of dehydration.
Dr Brian P Monahan has also said “several medical evaluations” of McConnell included “brain MRI imaging, EEG [electroencephalogram] study and consultations with several neurologists for a comprehensive neurology assessment”.
“It is a medical mistake to say someone doesn’t have a seizure disorder because they have a normal EEG,” Paul said.
My point is that I’m just trying to counter the misinformation from the Senate doctor. It is basically not believable to come up and say that what’s going on is dehydration. It makes it worse.
Paul also said his remarks had “nothing to do with [McConnell’s] fitness to serve and whether he’s doing a good job or a bad job”.
Mitch McConnell rejected speculation about his future as Republican leader in the US Senate, telling reporters:
I’m going to finish my term as leader and I’m going to finish my Senate term.
Mitch McConnell says he has “no announcements to make” about stepping down or retiring as Senate minority leader after recent health scares:
“I’m gonna finish my term as leader and I’m gonna finish my Senate term.” pic.twitter.com/Osade57gBM
The remarks on Wednesday came amid intense speculation about the 81-year-old Kentucky senator’s health, after two recent freezes in front of reporters, one on Capitol Hill in July and another in McConnell’s home state last week.
“I think Dr [Brian P] Monahan covered [the question of my health] fully,” McConnell said, regarding two public letters in which the congressional physician has discussed possible causes of the freezes and cleared his patient to continue working.
The first letter said McConnell might be suffering the after-effects of a concussion, sustained in a fall in March, or from dehydration. The second letter said McConnell was not suffering from a “seizure disorder”, a stroke or a “movement disorder such as Parkinson’s disease”. That letter also called McConnell’s freeze in Kentucky last week a “brief episode”.
“I have no announcement to make on that subject,” McConnell said.
The exact charges Hunter Biden would face were not immediately clear, but appeared related to a gun possession charge in which he was accused of illegally possessing a gun.
The latest development comes a month after Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed David Weiss special counsel to oversee the ongoing investigation into the president’s son, who has also been under investigation by federal prosecutors for his business dealings.
Hunter Biden has said in court filings that prosecutors reneged on a plea deal that would have resolved the charges in his tax and firearms case.
The special counsel appointed to oversee the federal investigation into Hunter Biden intends to seek a grand jury indictment of the president’s son before the end of September, his office said in a new filing.
Special counsel David Weiss’ office wrote:
The Speedy Trial Act requires that the Government obtain the return of an indictment by a grand jury by Friday, September 29, 2023, at the earliest. The Government intends to seek the return of an indictment in this case before that date.
In a court filing, federal prosecutors have said they plan to indict Hunter Biden by 29 September, Reuters reports. It is unclear what charges he will face.
The president’s son has been under federal investigation since 2018 for potential violations of tax and gun laws. In July, he was expected to plead guilty to charges related to failing to declare some income, and enter a diversion program to resolve a gun charge, but the deal unexpectedly fell apart amid scrutiny from a federal judge in Delaware, and after prosecutors made clear that the investigation into Biden’s business dealings remains ongoing.
The health concerns surrounding top GOP senator Mitch McConnell and the second-highest-ranking Republican in the House of Representatives Steve Scalise could affect delicate negotiations aimed at keeping the government funded beyond the end of September, the Guardian’s Mary Yang reports:
Lawmakers are returning to Capitol Hill as they race to reach a short-term funding deal by the end of the month to keep federal agencies open and avert a government shutdown. But worries about the health of two top Republicans loom over the high-stakes talks as politicians’ age has become a growing concern.
Speaking to reporters last week in Kentucky, Mitch McConnell, the 81-year-old Senate Republican leader, appeared to freeze for 30 seconds after calling the possibility of a shutdown “a pretty big mess”. The incident raised questions about his health and mirrored an earlier incident where he suddenly paused for several seconds while speaking to reporters at the US Capitol.
In July, McConnell stopped mid-sentence during a weekly Republican news conference, stoking concerns about his ability to lead months after sustaining a concussion from a fall that kept him away from Capitol Hill for six weeks.
There is “no evidence” McConnell experienced a stroke during last week’s episode or has a seizure or movement disorder, such as Parkinson’s disease, Brian Monahan, the Capitol attending physician, wrote in a letter to McConnell on Tuesday. Monahan said he didn’t recommend treatment changes.
“I think we’ll end up with a short-term congressional resolution, probably into December, as we struggle to figure out exactly what the government spending level is going to be for next year,” McConnell told reporters in Kentucky. “The speaker and the president reached an agreement, which I supported, in connection with raising the debt ceiling to set spending levels for next year.”
He added that the House then passed spending bills below those levels, but “that’s not going to be replicated in the Senate”.
Just over five hours after attorneys made their opening arguments in former Trump White House official Peter Navarro’s contempt of Congress trial, Politico reports that both the defense and prosecutions have rested their cases:
DONE: Prosecution *and* Navarro defense have rested (the latter without calling witnesses). All that's left is closing arguments. That will start tomorrow AM.
That leaves closing arguments as the only unfinished business, which will take place tomorrow. After that, the jury is expected to start deliberations. Navarro was indicted for defying subpoenas from the congressional committee that investigated the January 6 insurrection last year.
Earlier in the trial today, Politico reports that prosecutors called three witnesses who worked for the committee and testified about the process for issuing Navarro the subpoenas, and how he did not respond to them. The defense called no witnesses.
Here’s footage of reporters pressing Mitch McConnell for more details about his health following two instances where he was temporarily unable to respond to questions in public – and the Republican Senate minority leader declining to provide any:
Sen. Min. Leader McConnell says a letter from Capitol Attending Physician Brian Monahan, saying he's fit to serve after recent freeze-ups, “should answer any reasonable question” about his health:
“Dr. Monahan covered the subject fully … I don't have anything to add to it.” pic.twitter.com/rOuAKn1dki
Mitch McConnell says he has “no announcements to make” about stepping down or retiring as Senate minority leader after recent health scares:
“I’m gonna finish my term as leader and I’m gonna finish my Senate term.” pic.twitter.com/Osade57gBM
In remarks to reporters gathered at the Capitol, top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell declined to share further details about his health troubles, but said he had no plans to step down as minority leader, or resign his seat:
McConnell punts when asked directly by me twice on cam what is afflicting him. Says he intends to finish his Senate term and his time as Leader. McConnell says everything is in the letter yesterday from the Capitol Attending Physician
McConnell says he’ll finish his term as leader as well as his Senate term, which is on the ballot in 2026 pic.twitter.com/YSO7dVzWGa
Here are more details from CNN of what Mitch McConnell told Republican senators in a closed-door meeting regarding recent concerns about his health:
McConnell went into “great detail” about what happened when he froze twice and the extensive tests he had conducted — and said he had “no cognitive issues,” according to Ron Johnson.
“He said he has no reason to not to continue as leader,” Johnson said. “He’s perfectly capable.”
Several senators said they were satisfied with his explanation.
“I was satisfied,” GOP Sen. Todd Young said
Sen. Rand Paul, who has been skeptical of McConnell’s explanation, declined to comment.
“I don’t like to go into personal conversations in our conference,” he said.
During lunch, McConnell went over his health history and said he was given a “clean bill of health” by doctors, according to John Kennedy. McConnell said he has only experienced freezing episodes twice — and they both happened to be in front of cameras.
No questions were asked
The 81-year-old Senate Republican leader attracted quite the audience when he spoke to reporters this afternoon:
.@LeaderMcConnell talks to reporters, emphasizing the need to maintain U.S. support for Ukraine in upcoming funding measures. “I hope the majority of my colleagues will feel the same way.” pic.twitter.com/ym1PAJrfYs
Donald Trump’s former chief of staff Mark Meadows has made his own request to be tried separately from the other 18 defendants in the Georgia election subversion case.
The Messenger reported the filing first:
New—
Just after a Georgia judge DENIES pro-Trump lawyers' Ken Chesebro and Sidney Powell's bids to sever their trials, Mark Meadows files his own motion to separate his case.
Background via @alemzs, @TheMessengerhttps://t.co/g48vHSJCJt pic.twitter.com/xkXApn9pPP
Meadows, who held the position in the last month’s of Trump’s term, including when he was trying to overturn his 2020 election loss, is also attempting to get his case tried in federal court. Legal experts say that could result in a jury pool that skews more conservative.
Last week, Meadows took the stand and testified in a hearing to determine wether that request will be granted.