Politics
George Santos Due In Court, Expected To Plead Guilty In Fraud Case
Former U.S. Rep. George Santos is scheduled to appear in court Monday afternoon, and a source close to the situation says the New York Republican is anticipated to plead guilty to many counts in his federal fraud case.
The individual could not publicly discuss the terms of the plea and spoke with The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity. Santos and his solicitors did not respond to demands for comment.
The case has been scheduled to go to trial early next month. The Monday afternoon court date on Long Island was scheduled on Friday, at the request of prosecutors and Santos’ attorneys. The letter making the request did not say what it was about.
George Santos Due In Court, Expected To Plead Guilty In Fraud Case
George has pleaded not guilty to several alleged financial offenses, including lying to Congress about his riches, claiming unemployment benefits while working, and using campaign contributions to cover personal costs.
The 36-year-old was once regarded as a rising political star after successfully flipping the suburban district that includes the affluent North Shore of Long Island and a portion of the New York City borough of Queens in 2022.
But his personal story began to disintegrate before he was sworn into office. At the time, reports surfaced that he had lied about having a job at top Wall Street firms and a college degree, among other aspects of his history.
New doubts arose concerning his campaign finances.
In May 2023, he was initially indicted on federal charges but refused to resign from office. Santos was dismissed from Congress after an ethics inquiry revealed “overwhelming evidence” that he had breached the law and used his public position for personal gain.
George had previously maintained his innocence, but in a December interview, he stated that a plea agreement with prosecutors was “not off the table.”
When asked if he was terrified of going to prison, he told CBS 2 at the time, “I think everybody should be afraid of going to jail, it’s not a pretty place, and uh, I definitely want to work very hard to avoid that as best as possible.”
Separately, in Manhattan federal court, Judge Denise Cote dismissed a lawsuit in which Santos claimed that late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, ABC, and Disney violated his copyright and unjustly enriched themselves by using videos he created on the Cameo app for a “Jimmy Kimmel Live” segment. The judge determined that Kimmel utilized the clips, which were also placed on YouTube, for criticism and commentary, which is fair use.
George began selling personalized films on Cameo shortly after being ousted from Congress in December. He later launched, but swiftly abandoned, a long-shot bid to return to Congress as an independent early this year.
In a Sunday radio interview, Santos said he has found solace in being a “somewhat private civilian” again.
“I really don’t miss the rubber chicken dinners, rah-rah-rah parties, and fundraisers,” he stated of his previous life.
With his criminal trial approaching, he stated in the WABC interview that he is “terrified.”
“This is not an easy procedure to go through. “It really hurts, and it affects your psychological health,” he told host Cindy Adams.
As the trial date approached, Santos wanted a largely anonymous jury. His lawyers said in court filings that “the mere risk of public ridicule could influence the individual jurors’ ability to decide Santos’ case solely on the facts and law presented in Court.”
He also requested that potential jurors complete a written questionnaire assessing their perceptions of him. His attorneys said that the survey was necessary because “for all intents and purposes, George has already been found guilty in the court of public opinion.”
George Santos Due In Court, Expected To Plead Guilty In Fraud Case
Judge Joanna Seybert agreed to publicize jurors’ identities but rejected the questionnaire.
Prosecutors, meanwhile, had been seeking to admit as evidence some of the financial falsehoods Santos told during his campaign, including that he’d worked at Citigroup and Goldman Sachs and that he ran a family-run firm with approximately $80 million in assets.
Two Santos campaign aides have previously admitted to offences relating to the former congressman’s campaign.
Nancy Marks, his former treasurer, pleaded guilty to a fraud conspiracy charge in October, accusing Santos of orchestrating a scheme to falsify his campaign financial records with a fictitious loan and contributors. A lawyer for Marks stated at the time that his client would be willing to testify against Santos if asked.
Sam Miele, a former Santos fundraiser, pleaded guilty a month later to a federal wire fraud charge, admitting he impersonated a high-ranking congressional aide while raising funds for Santos’ campaign.
SOURCE | AP
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Politics
Trudeau Examining Retaliatory Tariffs After Trump Meeting
Senior officials report that days after meeting with President-elect Donald Trump, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is already examining possible retaliatory tariffs on certain items from the United States.
According to a government official, Trudeau has begun considering which goods to target with tariffs in retaliation and is ready for any scenario. The official emphasized that no decision has been made.
Since they were not permitted to speak in public, the individual spoke under the condition of anonymity.
This action’s announcement would not go over well, and Trump might conclude that Trudeau is unreliable again. Trudeau has frequently made controversial remarks in the past, which caused Trump to question his moral character.
Following a G7 summit in Quebec in 2018, Trudeau declared that all seven G7 nations had signed an accord.
Trump, however, attacked Trudeau shortly after, claiming that the US did not sign the declaration.
Trump wrote, “I have instructed our U.S. Reps not to endorse the Communique based on Justin’s false statements at his news conference and the fact that Canada is charging our U.S. farmers, workers, and companies massive Tariffs.”
Then, in 2019, US President Donald Trump referred to Justin Trudeau as “two-faced” when he appeared to make fun of him in a video during a NATO leaders’ meeting.
The White House intensified its trade rant and criticized Trudeau more harshly than ever, calling him a traitor who wasn’t worthy of President Donald Trump’s time.
In a nationally televised interview, Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro stated, “Any foreign leader who engages in bad faith diplomacy with President Donald J. Trump and then tries to stab him in the back on the way out the door has a special place in hell.”
On Tuesday, Trudeau called an emergency meeting with opposition leaders to present a more cohesive front in response to Trump’s tariff threat. Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-François Blanchet, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, and Poilievre were present.
Trudeau, Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland represented the federal government.
Meanwhile, Canadian premiers are pressing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to increase defence expenditures and border security to allay the fears of US President-elect Donald Trump.
Following a conference of premiers, Doug Ford of Ontario stated that he has been pressuring Trudeau’s administration for months to demonstrate that Canada is concerned about the security and economic concerns of the United States.
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Politics
Biden Pardoning Hunter Sparks Anger From Both Sides of the Isle
Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers have criticized President Joe Biden’s decision to pardon his son Hunter on Sunday after he was found guilty of federal felonies related to guns and taxes.
Before the convictions in the Delaware and California cases, President Biden had stated that he would not commute his son’s sentence or grant him a pardon. The pardon was granted just weeks before Hunter Biden was scheduled to be sentenced for his guilty plea to tax crimes and trial conviction in the gun case.
The president’s broad pardon includes any “offences against the United States which he has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 1, 2014 through December 1, 2024,” in addition to the tax and firearms offences committed by the younger Biden.
When he announced his decision to pardon his son, President Biden said prosecutors “treated Hunter differently” and accused Republicans of unjust treatment.
“From the day I took office, I said I would not interfere with the Justice Department’s decision-making, and I kept my word even as I have watched my son being selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted,” the statement added.
Biden’s Pardon “Self-Serving”
Lawmakers from both parties claimed that Biden’s choice to pardon his son was self-serving and would exacerbate the decline in American trust in democracy and the rule of law.
After Trump’s first term in office, Biden promised Americans he would restore standards and respect for the rule of law. However, he broke his public promise to Americans by using his position to assist his son.
Colorado’s Democratic governor, Jared Polis, swiftly expressed his disappointment and claimed that the action would “tarnish” the outgoing president’s reputation.
The leader of the Democratic Senate campaign arm, Senator Gary Peters of Michigan, referred to Mr. Biden’s decision to pardon his son as “wrong.”
In a statement, Mr. Peters stated that “a president’s family and allies shouldn’t get special treatment.” “This misuse of authority undermines confidence in our government and gives others the confidence to manipulate the law to their advantage.”
According to Democratic Representative Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington, the president’s action provided evidence of a two-tiered legal system that treated the wealthy and politically influential differently from regular citizens.
Representative Jason Crow, a Democrat from Colorado, expressed disappointment with President Biden’s decision in an interview. He pledged that he wouldn’t do this, which, in my opinion, will make it more difficult for us to discuss preserving democracy in the future.
Unprecedented Pardon
The Republican chairs of congressional probes investigating Biden’s family, including Rep. James Comer, criticized the president’s pardon, claiming that the evidence against Hunter was “just the tip of the iceberg.”
Meanwhile, the office of Special Counsel David Weiss firmly resisted President Joe Biden’s defence of his son Hunter’s pardon. The president said his son was “selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted” when he announced the pardon on Sunday.
“There was and has never been any evidence of vindictive or selective prosecution in this case,” the filing from Weiss’s team stated. Hunter Biden had earlier this year brought up the issue of selective prosecution, but two courts had rejected it, the statement noted.
While acknowledging that the pardon ends the matter, the agency cautioned against formally dismissing it, which would have withdrawn the charges against Hunter Biden. Instead, the office seeks to close the matter.
When Trump becomes office, he won’t be able to reverse the pardon. Additionally, because of its broad scope, the Trump Justice Department will not be able to resume the lengthy criminal investigation of the president’s son, according to clemency-focused attorney Samuel Morison, who worked for 13 years in the Justice Department’s Office of the Pardon Attorney.
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Politics
Carney says Canada Has Failed New Immigrants
Under Justin Trudeau’s leadership, Canada has failed to live up to its immigration values in recent years by allowing more people into the country than it could absorb, Former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney has told reporters.
Mark Carney, a special adviser to the Liberal Party of Canada, made the remarks during a Wednesday event at Cardus, a Christian think tank in Ottawa, Canada.
“I think what happened in the last few years is we didn’t live up to our values on immigration,” Mr. Carney said.
“We had many more foreign workers, students, and new Canadians than we could house, care for, socialize, and provide opportunities for. And, quite simply, we are failing Canadians and the folks we have admitted into Canada.”
The Trudeau government indicated earlier this fall that it would considerably reduce its immigration objective for permanent residents and temporary residents in Canada. These developments occurred following a rapid population increase and rising criticism of Trudeau’s immigration policies.
Statistics Canada just announced that on July 1, the population was 3% higher than a year ago. Between 1998 and 2018, annual population increase was less than 1.5%.
With the anticipated modifications to immigration targets, the Trudeau government expects Canada’s population to fall by 0.2% in 2025 and 2026 before returning to 0.8% growth in 2027. Numbers that are highly criticized by opponents of Trudeau’s failed immigration policies.
In a recent interview with the CBC, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that his government did not strike the correct balance on immigration following the COVID-19 outbreak.
He said he elected to ease its regulations in response to demand from businesses facing a labor shortage. He claimed that the authorities “lost track” during the procedure.
Trudeau then blamed the provinces for underfunding higher education, which pushed institutions to turn to foreign students to make money.
Meanwhile, Immigration Minister Marc Miller expects nearly five million temporary residents with expiring visas to leave Canada next year. Miller commented during a House of Commons citizenship and immigration committee meeting on Monday.
Miller said that he expects these permit holders to leave “voluntarily” and that the feds will be working with the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) to “investigate and prosecute those who violate immigration law.”
The minister clarified that isn’t the only path forward for students with expiring study permits. Some students get renewals, while others can get post-graduate work permits, allowing them to stay in Canada longer.
“We do work with CBSA to monitor these things,” stated Miller.
He added that more international students are making asylum claims “with very little hope,” the federal government will propose amendments to the immigration and asylum systems in the next few weeks.
Miller’s comments come after Trudeau said his government would slash its immigration targets by at least 20% next year.
Source: The Canadian Press
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