The investigation was launched in April 2021 after a white former police officer, Derek Chauvin, was convicted of murdering George Floyd, a Black man, by kneeling on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes after he had been handcuffed.

The city has agreed to negotiate an agreement with the Justice Department on reforming the police department known as a consent decree, which will be overseen by a federal judge, the DOJ said.

US Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the findings at a press conference outside the federal courthouse in Minneapolis alongside Mayor Jacob Frey and Police Chief Brian O’Hara.

The killing of Floyd in May 2020, captured in a bystander’s cellphone video, sparked protests across the US decrying police brutality and racism in the criminal justice system. In Minneapolis, protesters damaged property, including a police precinct house that was set ablaze.

Many people in Minneapolis complained that Chauvin’s excessive use of force against Floyd was not exceptional, and that the city’s police officers had long abused the rights of Black residents.

The Justice Department’s investigation was launched to see if the city government or the police department had a “pattern or practice” of using excessive force or discriminatory policing. – Rappler.com

Blinken will hold meetings in China on June 18-19 and may meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping, sources said. He will be the highest-ranking US government official to visit China since Biden took office in January 2021.

In a pre-trip briefing on Wednesday, June 14, US officials said they have no expectation the trip will yield a breakthrough in how the US and China deal with each other. That followed a tense evening phone call with Blinken on Tuesday during which Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang told the US to stop meddling in China’s affairs.

The visit, which could set the stage for a flurry of other diplomatic engagements including a meeting between Xi and US President Joe Biden later in the year, would show that the two rivals have not given up on diplomacy.

“Both sides want to show the rest of the world that they are managing the relationship responsibly,” said Andrew Small, a senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund’s Asia program.

“For China, the most important audience is the global south. For the US, it’s partners and allies. So even going through the motions has some utility for both Washington and Beijing.”

Bilateral ties have deteriorated across the board, raising concerns that their rivalry could veer into conflict over Taiwan, which China claims as its own. The two are also at odds over issues ranging from trade and microchips to human rights.

Particularly worrisome for China’s neighbors has been its reluctance to allow regular military-to-military talks between Beijing and Washington, despite repeated US attempts. US officials said on Wednesday that setting up crisis communication channels to reduce risk was a top priority.

“Anything that would lead to greater cooperation, greater dialogue and a lessening of tensions between Beijing and Washington is to be welcomed,” United Nations spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters on Wednesday.

While Blinken’s main goal will be “candid, direct, and constructive” discussions, the US officials said, breakthroughs are not likely on any major issues, including the flow of fentanyl precursors and Americans detained in China.

Eyeing Biden-Xi meeting

A meeting on the sidelines of a G20 summit last November in Bali briefly eased fears of a new Cold War, but following the dispute over an alleged Chinese spy balloon in February, high-level communication between the countries has been rare.

Beijing, frustrated by what it sees as the Biden administration’s weaponization of economic policies, has sought to expand ties with countries in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Xi has recently received several European leaders including French President Emanuel Macron and made a diplomatic push to court others, including US ally Saudi Arabia.

US officials expect Blinken’s visit will pave the way for more bilateral meetings in the coming months, including possible trips by US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.

“Beijing agreed to the visit because it seems to be the one thing that is blocking many other things, such as working-level dialogues and the visits by other cabinet members,” said Yun Sun, director of the China Program at the Stimson Center think tank in Washington.

Those meetings could lead to one between the countries’ leaders when they attend a September G20 meeting in India and the November Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in San Francisco.

“Xi does want to come to San Francisco,” said Sun. “[Aside from] APEC, he also wants a bilateral with Biden. That means the groundwork must be paved starting from now.” – Rappler.com

For Americans growing up between the 1950s and the 1980s, religion was a predictable presence on television: There were weekly Sunday morning shows and religious programming that issued end-time warnings, sought monetary contributions, or staged faith healings. But none of those covered news.

Pat Robertson, who died on June 8, changed this. Today, there are entire networks devoted to religious broadcasting, which include Christian television that reaches millions of Americans, often with a conservative perspective on current events.

As a scholar of religion and politics in America, I believe it is important to understand the impact of the medium, and how it came to have such influence.

The growth of Christian media

American Christians have historically used new media to spread the gospel. In the 19th century, evangelicals used pamphlets and advertising techniques. The early 20th century produced a religious radio subculture that is still thriving in programs like the ones offered by Focus on the Family or Moody Radio.

By the early 1950s, preachers like Robert Schuller and Billy Graham had energetically taken to television. Such programming thrived during the Cold War, and in 1966, Robertson’s The 700 Club debuted.

The 700 Club was distinct from other programs in its willingness to blend theological themes with political commentary and explicit engagement with news. In the 1970s, this approach became more widespread because of two related political trends.

Pat Robertson’s lasting influence on American politics: 3 essential reads

First, Protestant organizations, mostly fundamentalist ones like the Moral Majority, took to popularizing Christian conservatism. These organizations rallied national support to influence politicians to oppose abortion rights and the Equal Rights Amendment, among other causes.

Second, around the same time, beginning with Ronald Reagan’s presidency, conservative politicians started to harness evangelicals as a voting bloc. As a result, many of these politicians began paying closer attention to Robertson for indications of this bloc’s concerns.

The televangelists

These political changes were reflected in the rapid growth of Christian shows on cable television.

In addition to Robertson’s long-standing talk show, the end-times prophecy show Jack Van Impe Presents and others began to normalize the idea of addressing what was happening in the news from a Biblical perspective. Such shows claimed they were providing viewers with “real” explanations that media and liberal politicians covered up. These shows also presented conservative talking points as facts.

During this period, American “televangelists” experienced several withering scandals. Evangelist Jimmy Swaggart, for example, was discovered with a prostitute, and televangelist Jim Bakker was convicted of fraud.

In the long term, however, these scandals did little to diminish the influence of such preachers. Robertson’s story demonstrates this.

To the surprise of many, Robertson entered the Republican presidential primary in 1988. Though he dropped out of the race somewhat early, his candidacy might have helped prove that far-right evangelicalism was now anything but marginal. Following this, Robertson co-founded, along with Ralph Reed, the Christian Coalition, which worked to advance politically many of the key issues circulated in Christian media, such as concerns about abortion, anxiety around religious pluralism, and contesting the secularization of public institutions.

Influence of Christian media

Religious broadcasting grew hugely in the 1990s and 2000s. Christian media increasingly commented on current events. And, critically, it began to have an influence on the wider culture.

For example, from the mid-1990s, popular films and novels like Left Behind suggested that viewers with the “wrong” religious or political beliefs would suffer damnation. Such films and literature attracted tens of millions of viewers and readers.

Furthermore, the kinds of issues and arguments long advanced in Christian media – such as concerns about the content of popular entertainment, or resistance to changing family dynamics – regularly exploded into widespread public concern, and conservative critics began to influence political policy.

The 700 Club and the Christian Broadcasting Network regularly devoted airtime to critiques of educational policy, which in time gained ground in the Republican Party. Robertson was also instrumental in popularizing Christian schools, like his Regent University, rooted in the idea that public institutions were not trustworthy.

Why this matters

The power of these programs is more than simply the stories covered or guests interviewed – it is their social impact on religious beliefs.

At times, Christian news can present ideas that are often highly emotional and conspiratorial as facts. For example, on election night in 2016, Robertson floated the idea that Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger conspired with Martin Luther King Jr. to orchestrate “black genocide.”

This way of viewing the world moved closer to the center of conservative politics since the 1980s, a period of time when the Christian right acquired more influence in American politics.

The themes central to Christian television were more consistently those of the Republican Party. Consider how in some corners of the media in the 1980s, Reagan began to be depicted as though he was God’s agent on Earth. In the 1990s, the growth of multinational corporations and trade deals was decried as part of a demonic “new world order.” And today, when Islamophobia is on the rise, some Christian television channels often depict and celebrate former president Donald Trump as a “fighter in chief” who defends Christians despite his personal faults.

These attitudes were reflected in many of the contemporary news programs themselves.

For example, Robert Jeffress of Dallas’ First Baptist Church called Islam a “false religion” that is “inspired by Satan himself.” Such claims have been widespread since September 11, 2001, alongside assertions – made by Robertson and Jerry Falwell two days after that event – that the attacks had occurred because America expanded gay rights, legalized abortion, and removed prayer from schools.

Such comments reached millions of people without facts ever being addressed.

Further, Christian Broadcasting Network news regularly featured stories about Christians persecuted globally, such as in Turkey.

While such persecution clearly does occur in places across the world, CBN and other outlets often framed these stories alongside claims that American Christians were censored or otherwise embattled by liberalism or secularism. These latter claims helped produce an overall sense that Christians were beleaguered in America.

Amplifying one view?

The growing regularity of such examples has significant implications for American politics.

First, assertions that religious liberty is being violated around the world are put out endlessly in what I call “the resonance chamber of American public life,” in which repetition, aided by social media, helps claims to achieve legitimacy. Second, stories on the Christian news channels are constantly tailored to the idea that viewers are being persecuted.

By presenting itself as authoritative, trustworthy journalism, Christian news reassures viewers that they do not need to consult mainstream media in order to be informed. More dangerously, I argue, it authorizes a particular, often conspiratorial way of viewing the world. It denounces neutrality or accountability to multiple constituencies as burdensome or even hostile to Christian faith. – Rappler.com

Jason C. Bivins is a professor in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at North Carolina State University. He is the author of Religion of Fear: The Politics of Horror in Conservative Evangelicalism and The Fracture of Good Order: Christian Antiliberalism and the Challenge to American Politics.

“President Trump Raises Over $6.6 Million and Counting Since Deranged Jack Smith Announced Political Prosecution,” Trump’s campaign wrote in an email to supporters on Wednesday, referring to the US special counsel investigating him.

Over $4.5 million came from digital fundraising while $2.1 million was raised from a donor event on Tuesday at Trump’s Bedminster Club in New Jersey.

A spokesman for Trump, who is the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, later emailed Reuters stating that fundraising had passed the bar of $7 million since the indictment was announced on Thursday.

In the indictment, Trump was accused of illegally retaining classified government documents after leaving the White House and then conspiring to obstruct a federal probe of the matter.

He has sought to frame the charges as a Democratic-led attack to knock him out of the 2024 race – and one ultimately designed to hurt Republicans, 30% of whom are considered unwavering Trump supporters.

“They’re not coming after me, they’re coming after YOU,” Trump wrote in a fundraising email earlier on Wednesday, the day after he was arraigned and pleaded not guilty to all 37 counts in court.

Polling suggests Trump’s strategy is working: A vast majority of Republicans – some 81% – believe the charges are politically motivated, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll completed on Monday.

Trump also enjoyed a fundraising bump from charges in New York as part of a case involving hush money paid to a porn star. After word emerged in March that Trump was going to be charged, his campaign raised $7 million in three days, according to senior adviser Jason Miller.

Trump’s nearest rival, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, has a roughly $85 million political war chest, currently held in a state account. – Rappler.com

China’s foreign minister Qin Gang urged the United States to stop meddling in its affairs and harming its security in a phone call with his US counterpart on Wednesday, June 14, a tense preview to Antony Blinken’s visit to Beijing expected in coming days.

Qin told Blinken to respect China’s core concerns, such as the Taiwan issue, in an effort to arrest declining relations between the superpowers, according to China’s foreign ministry.

Blinken stressed the need for communication “to avoid miscalculation and conflict” and said the US would continue to raise areas of concern as well as potential cooperation with China, the State Department said in a brief summary of the call.

If Blinken’s trip goes ahead, it will be the first visit to China by Washington’s top diplomat in five years and the highest profile visit of US President Joe Biden’s administration, which has clashed with Beijing over issues ranging from spy allegations to a semiconductor tussle.

The Chinese foreign ministry has yet to reveal information on Blinken’s trip, but a US official last Friday, June 9, said Blinken would be in Beijing on June 18, giving no other details.

Blinken cancelled a planned trip to Beijing in February over a suspected Chinese spy balloon that flew over the United States.

Visits by US officials to Taiwan, the democratically governed island that Beijing considers an integral part of China, have also magnified tensions between the world’s two largest economies.

“Since the beginning of the year, Sino-US relations have encountered new difficulties and challenges, and the responsibility is clear,” Qin told Blinken, according to the foreign ministry’s readout.

The United States should “stop interfering in China’s internal affairs, and stop harming China’s sovereignty, security and development interests in the name of competition,” Qin added. – Rappler.com

Trump’s plea, entered before US Magistrate Judge Jonathan Goodman in a federal court in Miami, sets up a legal battle likely to play out over coming months as he campaigns to win back the presidency in a November 2024 election. Experts say it could be a year or more before a trial takes place.

Trump, wearing a blue suit and a red tie, frowned and leaned back in his chair but did not speak during the 47-minute hearing.

He was allowed to leave court without conditions or travel restrictions and no cash bond was required. Goodman ruled that he was not allowed to communicate with potential witnesses in the case.

Trump’s aide Walt Nauta, who is also charged in the case, appeared in court alongside Trump but will not have to enter a plea until June 27 because he does not have a local lawyer. He, too, was released without having to post bond and was ordered not to talk to other witnesses.

Supporters chanted “We love Trump” as his motorcade departed the courthouse at 3:55 pm EDT (1955 GMT), roughly two hours after it arrived.

It was the second courtroom visit for Trump in recent months. In April, he pleaded not guilty to state charges in New York stemming from a hush-money payment to a porn star.

Trump is the first former president to be charged with federal crimes.

Authorities had prepared for possible violence, recalling the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, but Miami Mayor Francis Suarez told reporters that there had not been any security problems.

Trump has repeatedly proclaimed his innocence and accuses Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration of targeting him.

During a stop at Versailles, a Cuban restaurant, after the hearing, Trump told supporters that the United States was “rigged,” “corrupt,” and “in decline.”

“We’ve got a government that’s out of control,” he said. Florida’s Cuban-American community is a substantial Republican voting bloc in the politically competitive state.

He then flew back on his private jet to his New Jersey golf club, where he was due to address supporters at 8:15 pm EDT (0015 GMT on Wednesday, June 14).

Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is handling the case, accuses Trump of risking national secrets by taking thousands of sensitive papers with him when he left the White House in January 2021 and storing them in a haphazard manner at his Mar-a-Lago Florida estate and his New Jersey golf club.

Photos included in a grand-jury indictment released last week showed boxes of documents stored on a ballroom stage, in a bathroom and strewn across a storage-room floor.

Those records included information about the secretive US nuclear program and potential vulnerabilities in the event of an attack, the indictment said.

The 37-count indictment alleges Trump lied to officials who tried to get them back.

It also alleges Trump conspired with Nauta to keep classified documents and hide them from investigators. Nauta has worked for Trump at the White House and at Mar-a-Lago.

Republican voters, rivals line up behind Trump

Trump’s legal woes have not hurt his standing with Republican voters.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Monday showed Trump still led rivals for the Republican nomination for the 2024 presidential election by a wide margin, and 81% of Republican voters viewing the charges as politically motivated.

Most of Trump’s Republican presidential rivals have lined up behind him and accused the FBI of political bias, in a sharp turn from the party’s traditional support for law enforcement.

Vivek Ramaswamy, one of those candidates, said outside the Miami courthouse that he would pardon Trump if he were elected.

Espionage Act cited in charges against Trump

Trump faces charges that include violations of the Espionage Act, which criminalizes unauthorized possession of defense information, and conspiracy to obstruct justice. He would serve a maximum of 20 years in prison if convicted.

Legal experts say the evidence amounts to a strong case, and Smith has said Trump, who will turn 77 on Wednesday, will have a “speedy” trial.

The judge assigned to the case, Aileen Cannon, was appointed by Trump in 2020 and issued a ruling in his favor during the investigation last year that was reversed on appeal. Goodman, the magistrate judge who conducted Tuesday’s hearing, is not expected to play an ongoing role.

Experts say the complexities of handling classified evidence and legal maneuvering by Trump’s lawyers could delay a trial by more than a year. His defense team is in flux after two lawyers quit the case on Friday.

In the meantime, Trump is free to campaign for the presidency and could take office even if he were to be found guilty.

Trump accuses Biden of orchestrating the federal case to undermine his campaign. Biden has kept his distance from the case and declines to comment on it.

In his first presidential run in 2016, Trump called for imprisoning Democratic rival Hillary Clinton for using private email while serving as secretary of state, leading to chants of “lock her up” at campaign rallies. Then-FBI Director James Comey criticized Clinton for carelessness but did not recommend criminal charges. – Rappler.com

WASHINGTON, DC, USA – Three guests at the White House’s Pride party on Saturday, have been banned from future events after going topless on the South Lawn, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Tuesday, June 17.

“The behavior was simply unacceptable. We’ve been very clear about that. It was unfair to the hundreds of attendees who were there to celebrate their families,” Jean-Pierre said.

Rose Montoya, a transgender activist, posted video to her Instagram and TikTok accounts showing her with her dress pulled down, covering her naked breasts on the White House lawn during the party, standing next to trans men with their shirts off.

“Individuals in the video certainly will not be invited to future events,” Jean-Pierre said, adding that the event was intended to celebrate the LGBTQ community and families. Thousands of people were invited to the event.

“Going topless in Washington DC is legal,” Montoya said in a followup video on TikTok, addressive conservative critics. – Rappler.com

The settlement on Monday, June 12, follows months of embarrassing disclosures that JPMorgan ignored internal warnings and overlooked red flags about Epstein because he had been a valuable client.

Epstein was a JPMorgan client from 1998 to 2013 and was kept on even after being arrested in 2006 on prostitution-related charges and pleading guilty two years later.

Monday’s accord would resolve claims against the largest US bank by potentially more than 100 victims, led by a former ballet dancer known as Jane Doe 1, who said Epstein abused them when they were young women and teenage girls.

Epstein killed himself at age 66 in a Manhattan jail cell in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

“It could be that the bank doesn’t want this to stay in the press,” said Carliss Chatman, a professor at Washington and Lee University School of Law in Virginia. “At a time Americans are questioning the banking system, associating Chase with human trafficking is not good for business.”

Davia Temin, chief executive of crisis management firm Temin and Co., said settling rather than fighting to the end sends “the right message across Wall Street.”

The settlement of the civil case requires approval by US District Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan.

“Any association with [Epstein] was a mistake and we regret it,” JPMorgan said in a statement. “We would never have continued to do business with him if we believed he was using our bank in any way to help commit heinous crimes.”

Monday’s settlement came three and a half weeks after Deutsche Bank, where Epstein was a client from 2013 to 2018, agreed to pay $75 million to end a similar lawsuit by Epstein victims.

“Deutsche Bank’s settlement…likely created momentum,” said Adam Zimmerman, a law professor who recently accepted a position at the University of Southern California. “A settlement with Epstein’s victims frees JPMorgan to begin to turn the page and change the narrative.”

The $290-million settlement amount was confirmed by David Boies, a lawyer for Epstein’s victims.

JPMorgan did not admit wrongdoing in agreeing to settle, according to a person familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

“The settlements signal that financial institutions have an important role to play in spotting and shutting down sex trafficking,” Sigrid McCawley, a lawyer for victims in both lawsuits, said in a statement.

Pointing the finger

JPMorgan still faces a lawsuit by the government of the US Virgin Islands, where Epstein owned two neighboring islands and was suspected of abusing victims in his mansion.

It is also suing former executive Jes Staley for shepherding Epstein’s relationship with the bank and concealing what he knew about his former friend.

JPMorgan wants Staley to cover its losses in both lawsuits and forfeit eight years of pay.

Last month, Rakoff said JPMorgan could be liable to Epstein’s victims if they could show Staley had firsthand knowledge that Epstein ran a sex-trafficking venture.

Staley left JPMorgan in 2013 and was later Barclays’ chief executive for six years.

He testified under oath on Saturday, June 10, two weeks after JPMorgan chief executive Jamie Dimon, in his own deposition, denied discussing Epstein’s accounts.

In a statement, the US Virgin Islands said it “will continue to proceed with its enforcement action to ensure full accountability for JPMorgan’s violations of law.”

The territory’s case is the largest remaining over Epstein, following civil lawsuits against his estate and the conviction of former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell for aiding his abuses. Maxwell is appealing her conviction and 20-year prison sentence.

Lawyers for Staley did not respond to requests for comment.

Staley has said he regretted befriending Epstein but denied knowing about his sex trafficking. It wasn’t clear whether his June 10 deposition was a factor in Monday’s settlement.

“Chase’s defense has been that Staley was a lone wolf and this wasn’t Chase’s culture, but more evidence had been coming out that may make it harder for Chase to point the finger at him,” Chatman said.

Another key JPMorgan executive who has been a focus of the litigation is Mary Erdoes, its asset and wealth management chief.

Epstein’s victims have portrayed her in court filings as a key defender of keeping Epstein as a client, including after former general counsel Stephen Cutler told her and Staley in 2011 the bank should terminate the relationship.

Dimon said in his deposition that Cutler had authority to override Erdoes and Staley and fire Epstein. Cutler was not immediately available for comment on Monday.

“While we regret any association with Jeffrey Epstein, we would never have continued to do business with him if we believed he was using our bank to commit heinous crimes,” a JPMorgan spokesperson said when asked about Erdoes’ involvement. “In fact, Mary Erdoes and others exited him as a client six years before he was charged with human trafficking.” – Rappler.com

Trump, the front-runner for the Republican nomination in the 2024 presidential election, is scheduled to be in a Miami federal courthouse on Tuesday at 3 pm EDT (1900 GMT) for an initial appearance in the case.

Accused of unlawfully keeping US national-security documents and lying to officials who tried to recover them, Trump has proclaimed his innocence and vowed to continue his campaign to regain the presidency in a November 2024 election.

Trump, who turns 77 on Wednesday, touched down in Miami at 2:54 pm (1854 GMT) in a private jet with his name emblazoned on the side.

Supporters gathered outside a nearby golf club he owns, where he was due to stay the night.

“I HOPE THE ENTIRE COUNTRY IS WATCHING WHAT THE RADICAL LEFT ARE DOING TO AMERICA,” he wrote on his Truth Social social-media platform before departing from New Jersey.

Trump’s legal woes have not affected his popularity among Republican voters.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Monday found that 81% of Republicans thought the charges were politically motivated. The poll also found Trump continues to lead his rivals for the party’s presidential nomination by a wide margin.

Some 43% of self-identified Republicans said Trump was their preferred candidate, compared to 22% who picked Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Trump’s closest rival. In early May, Trump led DeSantis 49% to 19%, but that was before DeSantis formally entered the race.

Trump accuses President Joe Biden, a Democrat, of orchestrating the federal case to undermine Trump’s campaign. Biden has kept his distance from the case and declines to comment on it.

Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie, a former governor of New Jersey and an adviser to Trump’s 2016 election campaign, was asked during a CNN townhall on Monday night if he thought the Biden Administration was weaponizing the Department of Justice against Trump.

“I don’t think so,” Christie said. “This evidence looks pretty damning.”

Miami braces for crowd

Trump spoke to an enthusiastic crowd in Georgia over the weekend and his campaign said he would make a statement on Tuesday night, when he returns to New Jersey.

With memories fresh of the January 6, 2021, assault by Trump supporters on the U.S. Capitol, officials have raised security concerns.

Miami police chief Manny Morales said the city was planning for a crowd size of up to 50,000 people and would close roads in the downtown area if necessary.

Special Counsel Jack Smith accuses Trump of taking thousands of papers containing some of the nation’s most sensitive national-security secrets when he left the White House in January 2021 and storing them in a haphazard manner at his Mar-a-Lago Florida estate, according to a grand jury indictment released last week.

As special counsel, Smith, who is heading the case, is given a greater degree of independence than other Justice Department prosecutors, to try to minimize political factors. He is also investigating Trump’s effort to overturn his 2020 loss to Biden.

Photos included in the indictment show boxes of documents stored on a ballroom stage, in a bathroom and strewn across a storage-room floor.

The indictment alleges Trump lied to officials who tried to get them back.

Trump is the first former or current president to face criminal charges, but legal experts say that does not prevent him from running for president – or taking office even if he is found guilty.

Legal experts, including Trump’s former attorney general William Barr, say the case is a strong one. The charges include violations of the Espionage Act, which criminalizes unauthorized possession of defense information, and conspiracy to obstruct justice, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

Any federal trial in Florida may not take place until after the November 2024 presidential election. Trump also is due to go on trial in March 2024 in a separate case in New York state court, stemming from a hush-money payment to a porn star. – Rappler.com

Advocates for migrants in the Mexican city of Nuevo Laredo, just across the border from Laredo, were informed of the suspension by a US consular official, a June 2 message reviewed by Reuters showed. No reason for the change was stated.

A website for the app, called CBP One, no longer lists Laredo as a city where asylum seekers can schedule appointments. Nuevo Laredo has long been notorious for widespread kidnapping and extortion of migrants.

US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) did not respond to requests for comment.

The appointments are a key part of a border system put in place by U.S. President Joe Biden last month when COVID-era restrictions known as Title 42 expired.

Biden’s administration opened up legal pathways, including via the app, while also implementing a strict new regulation that could deny asylum to many migrants crossing the border illegally.

Advocates and some Democrats argue that migrants should not be forced to wait in dangerous conditions in northern Mexico, particularly as demand outstrips the 1,250 CBP One appointments available per day.

The suspension was first reported by the Associated Press.

Lately, criminal groups in Nuevo Laredo have allegedly demanded payment from migrants headed to the port of entry, including those with CBP One appointments, according to a May report from the Strauss Center at the University of Texas at Austin.

An advocate in Nuevo Laredo, who requested anonymity due to safety fears, said criminals have demanded as much as $500 per person.

Human Rights First recorded over 13,000 reports of violent attacks against migrants in Mexico in 2021 and 2022. – Rappler.com