(WASHINGTON) — ABC News on Wednesday obtained new details after major questions were left unanswered when Biden administration officials on Tuesday said the Taliban had killed the terrorist allegedly responsible for planning the 2021 Kabul, Afghanistan, airport bombing.
The attack took the lives of 13 U.S. service members and scores of civilians.
ABC News spoke to a U.S. official with knowledge of the matter to get more answers Wednesday morning.
Was the U.S. involved, even in indirect ways, such as intelligence-sharing?
While officials, such as White House spokesman John Kirby and Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, have publicly stated the U.S. had no role in the Taliban operation that they say killed the ISIS-K leader, it was unclear whether the U.S. could have played a subtler indirect part, such as by sharing intelligence.
When ABC News asked the U.S. official whether there was coordination of any kind with the Taliban, the official replied, “None at all.”
While the U.S. also sought to target the ISIS-K terrorist, the Taliban killed him on its own, according to the official.
Why hasn’t the Taliban taken credit?
Another curious aspect of the story is that the Taliban has so far not taken credit for the apparent high-level blow against its ISIS-K nemesis.
The U.S. assesses the reason is that the Taliban did not know it had killed this particular terrorist, according to the official.
How did the U.S. learn of the death, if the Taliban didn’t notify it?
A senior Biden administration official on Tuesday said the U.S. did not learn of the death from the Taliban, but would not elaborate.
The U.S. official on Wednesday went slightly further, saying the U.S. learned of the death through its own intelligence capabilities, according to the official.
Why won’t U.S. officials name the ISIS-K planner?
So far, administration officials have refused to give the name of the planner, with Kirby telling reporters on Wednesday, “I’m just not at liberty to reveal that.”
The U.S. official told ABC News the reluctance to give the name is due to concerns doing so would reveal intelligence sourcing, according to the official.
When did the death occur?
The White House and Pentagon said the Taliban attack that killed the planner took place “in recent weeks.” The U.S. official specified that it occurred in “early April.”
Was there any airstrike involved in the killing of the ISIS-K planner?
The official said the terrorist was killed in a Taliban ground attack.
ABC News’ Justin Gomez and Ben Gittleson contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — Two Senate lawmakers have unveiled bipartisan legislation to require the Supreme Court create a code of conduct amid recent controversies surrounding Justice Clarence Thomas.
The high court is the only branch of government that operates without a code of conduct. Senators Angus King, I-Maine, and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, on Wednesday introduced a bill to change that.
“A healthy democracy requires trust: trust in systems, trust in institutions, and trust in leaders. Americans deserve to have confidence that every part of their government — especially the highest court in the land — is acting in an ethical manner,” King said in a statement.
Murkowski, too, said it’s “critical the public has full faith that their institutions are functioning, including the judicial branch.”
The legislation would force the court to create a code of conduct, post it publicly online and appoint an individual tasked with handling any complaints of potential violations.
However, it doesn’t lay out what those rules should be — instead giving the court the power to enact its own guidelines.
The court is facing fresh scrutiny over Justice Thomas’ ties to wealthy Republican donor Harlan Crow. ProPublica reported Thomas for years has accepted luxury trips and private travel from the donor and didn’t report it on his annual financial disclosure filings.
Thomas has said it’s been his understanding that “this sort of personal hospitality from close personal friends, who did not have business before the Court, was not reportable.”
The revelation was met with swift condemnation from Democrats.
Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, will hold a hearing next week regarding the ethical rules that govern the nine justices and possible reforms to those rules.
Durbin invited Chief Justice John Roberts to testify, warning Roberts the “status quo is no longer tenable.”
Roberts on Tuesday declined the invitation, stating such a scenario would be “exceedingly rare.”
The chief justice also sent Durbin a five-page statement signed by all nine justices detailing the court’s ethics and practices. Roberts said they all adhere to it, despite there being no independent enforcement of such rules.
In the statement, the justices wrote they aimed to provide clarity on how they address ethical issues, stating they look to “judicial opinions, treatises, scholarly articles, disciplinary decisions, and the historical practice of the court and the federal judiciary” or advice from colleagues.
It’s unclear if King and Murkowski’s bill will gain traction in Congress, as Republicans have been less critical of the Thomas controversies. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said last week he had “total confidence” in Roberts to handle any internal issues that arise at the court.
(WASHINGTON) — Bipartisan legislation set to be introduced Wednesday aims to provide more oversight of federal prisons as part of a renewed push to address reports of scandal and abuse.
The bill would create a hotline for prisoners to report misconduct to an accountability office. It would also mandate federal watchdog inspections, congressional reporting requirements and response plans from the U.S. Bureau of Prisons.
Titled the Federal Prison Oversight Act, the proposal builds on similar efforts last year and follows multiple investigations led by Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia that spotlighted misconduct and sexual abuse of inmates at the hands of prison guards.
“My bipartisan investigations of corruption, abuse, and misconduct in the Federal prison system revealed an urgent need to overhaul federal prison oversight,” Ossoff said as his office prepared to introduce the bill on Wednesday. “I am bringing Republicans and Democrats together to crack down on corruption, strengthen public safety, and protect civil rights.”
If the legislation passes through the divided Congress and is signed into law, the Justice Department’s inspector general would also be directed to conduct risk assessments of the 122 federal prison facilities run by the Bureau of Prisons. Investigators would then score the level of risk at each penitentiary, with higher-risk facilities receiving more scrutiny.
The bill is cosponsored by Republican Sen. Mike Braun of Indiana and Democratic Majority Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“Today’s bill is the latest step in support of that mission to improve oversight and fulfill one of the fundamental purposes of the prison system: to provide safe and humane conditions of confinement and ensure the successful return of incarcerated individuals to the community,” Durbin said.
In December, former federal prison inmates testified about the abuses they faced while incarcerated. The testimony and accompanying Senate investigation laid the groundwork for the new bill, which takes a more expansive view of sexual misconduct to identify abusive behavior by prison staff.
Briane Moore told lawmakers in December that she was raped by an officer at a federal facility in West Virginia. She said the officer would take her to private areas of the facility to abuse her out of sight of surveillance cameras.
“I knew he had the power to prevent me from being transferred to a prison closer to my family closer to my daughter,” Moore said. “He was a captain with total control over me. I had no choice but to obey.”
Through more independent accountability protections, the new oversight bill aims to curb the potential for prison guards to wield their power over inmates in abusive ways. The legislation has broad support from prison reform and management stakeholders, including a prison workers union which represents 30,000 correctional officers, the American Civil Liberties Union and the prison reform group Families Against Mandatory Minimums.
“There is a crisis in our nation’s prisons and jails,” FAMM President Kevin Ring said in a statement. “Families with incarcerated loved ones and correctional officers have known about this crisis for years – and now Congress is on notice.”
Federal authorities have identified other concerning problems, beyond what the Senate highlighted. A February report from the Justice Department’s inspector general found the Bureau of Prisons “has not been able to identify the prevalence and scope of inmate-on-staff sexual harassment,” which particularly affects female officers.
(WASHINGTON) — The United States on Wednesday will announce steps designed to deter North Korea from launching a nuclear attack on South Korea, according to Biden administration officials.
The commitments, which the officials said will be called the “Washington Declaration,” coincide with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s visit to Washington, D.C. as U.S. President Joe Biden will host Yoon for a bilateral meeting and a state dinner at the White House on Wednesday.
The U.S. plans to “to make our deterrence more visible, through the regular deployment of strategic assets,” an official said. The steps include a visit by a U.S. nuclear ballistic submarine to South Korea for the first time in four decades; the strengthening of joint U.S.-South Korean military training and simulations; and creating a “Nuclear Consultative Group,” defined as “a regular bilateral consultation mechanism that will focus on nuclear and strategic planning issues,” according to the official.
Meanwhile, South Korea will pledge to not go nuclear, the officials said. This comes amid growing calls from the South Korean public for the country to have nuclear capabilities of its own.
In addition to commitments on nuclear deterrence, the U.S. and South Korea on Wednesday will highlight their security cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region; the need for diplomacy to address North Korea’s “profoundly destabilizing” rhetoric and actions; Seoul’s improved relations with Japan; their support for Ukraine amid Russia’s invasion; substantial South Korean investment in the U.S.; educational initiatives; cultural connections; and cooperation on issues regarding green technology, according to the officials.
The two countries will also announce a new student exchange program that will increase the number of Korean students coming to the U.S. and Americans studying abroad in South Korea, an official said, as well as a new volunteer initiative and an executive training program in technology for mid-career professionals.
(BENTONVILLE, Ark.) — Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, a Republican who says his party should not be looking in the rearview mirror, is taking a little bit of a look back this week as he formally kicks off his campaign for the White House on Wednesday from his hometown.
“It’s really exciting to have it in Bentonville,” Hutchinson said in an interview with ABC News on Tuesday. “First of all, it reflects me.”
It was 37 years ago, outside the same county courthouse where Hutchinson had tried his earliest cases as an attorney, that he announced his first campaign for statewide office. It’s where, in the 1970s, he put in the town’s first FM radio station, and where the now 72-year-old raised his four children.
To mark the campaign kickoff, Hutchinson has sprinkled bits of his heritage in the program.
A marching band from Springdale High School, Hutchinson’s alma mater, will supply music, while cheerleaders from Gravette, a small town where he went to grade school, will provide extra pep. His wife of 50 years, Susan, is expected to introduce him.
“It reflects the rural roots that are a part of me,” Hutchinson said. “The other part of the story, about Bentonville, is that it tells the story of America, from entrepreneurs that didn’t rely upon the government.”
Naming Sam Walton, Don Tyson and J.B. Hunt, Hutchinson recalled an era that was “just simply America, and now you see the growth, but you still have the same small-town values that made it special.”
Attendees on the town square, and those watching Hutchinson take on a national stage, can expect him to talk more about his background, but he’s also promised new policy initiatives.
Don’t expect to hear ‘Trump’
While Hutchinson has cast himself as a Republican foil to former President Donald Trump, even calling for Trump to drop out of the race following his indictment, don’t expect to hear the name “Trump” in his speech.
A source familiar said to expect, instead, a focus on looking forward — as opposed to leaders on both sides looking in the rearview mirror.
“It was a very backward look that Joe Biden gave in his announcement,” Hutchinson said Tuesday, reacting to President Joe Biden’s video announcing his reelection campaign. “It was more about the past and 2020, and I was disappointed there wasn’t more of a forward-looking.”
“We don’t need a replay of 2020. We don’t need a Biden-Trump contest again. It didn’t look pretty in 2020. It will look even worse in 2024. We’ve seen that movie. We don’t need to see it again,” he added. “That’s why President Biden is really focusing on Trump because he would love to have a replay of that.”
For Hutchinson, looking ahead includes a trip to Washington this weekend for the White House Correspondents Dinner before returning to Iowa for several small-scale campaign events.
The race for enthusiasm
Hutchinson made his 2024 bid official earlier this month in an exclusive sit-down interview with ABC This Week co-anchor Jonathan Karl — but Wednesday marks his formal launch with supporters in his home state.
The term-limited governor was succeeded after eight years by former Trump White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Hutchinson’s campaign pointed out that all three of his Republican predecessors had Democrats succeed them in office, until him.
That executive experience bookended decades of public service including three consecutive terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, serving in the George W. Bush administration as administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration and later as the nation’s first Undersecretary of Homeland Security for Border Protection.
But his career in public service began in Bentonville, as a city attorney, before President Ronald Reagan appointed him as U.S. attorney for the Western District of Arkansas in 1982. He was the youngest U.S. attorney in the nation at the time and notably, prosecuted a white supremacist militia group, the Covenant, the Sword, and the Arm of the Lord.
In his interview with Karl, Hutchinson acknowledged it would take “a lot of hard work and good messaging” to raise his national profile and break through a crowded field.
He’s currently polling in the single digits, well behind some of his other official competitors in the race — Trump, former South Carolina Gov. and U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy — and some thought to be running like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
But Hutchinson isn’t fazed by what may be a brutal primary season. He feels called to serve.
“I think the Republican base will see that our best chance of moving forward with conservative principles is through new ideas and new leadership,” he said. “That’s what’s beautiful about our democracy is that you can go retail politics, you can do policy, and that’s what wins votes.”
(WASHINGTON) — Chief Justice John Roberts on Tuesday declined an invitation to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee at a hearing about Supreme Court ethics.
Sen. Dick Durbin, chairman of the influential panel, sent a letter to Roberts last week inviting him or “another Justice whom you designate” to appear before the committee on May 2 for a hearing “regarding the ethical rules that govern the Justices of the Supreme Court and potential reforms to those rules.”
Roberts replied on Tuesday that testimony by the chief justice is “exceedingly rare,” noting it’s only happened twice: once in 1921 and again in 1935.
He also attached a five-page statement on court ethics and practices signed by all nine justices, which Roberts said they all adhere to despite there being no independent enforcement of such rules.
The invitation for Roberts to appear before the committee came after ProPublica reporting revealed close ties between Justice Clarence Thomas and wealthy GOP donor Harlan Crow, including real estate Thomas and his family sold to Crow and extensive travel by Thomas that Crow facilitated or paid for. Those connections were not revealed on Thomas’ disclosure reports.
In his letter, Durbin, D-Ill., noted that the last time the Judiciary Committee heard from sitting justices on ethics was in 2011.
“Since then, there has been a steady stream of revelations regarding Justices falling short of the ethical standards expected of other federal judges and, indeed, of public servants generally. These problems were already apparent back in 2011, and the Court’s decade-long failure to address them has contributed to a crisis of public confidence. The status quo is no longer tenable,” Durbin wrote.
Durbin said last week the hearing would still take place even in Roberts’ absence and that there hadn’t been discussion of subpoenaing Roberts.
California Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s continued absence as she recovers from shingles means the panel is deadlocked between Democrats and Republicans, rather than Democrats’ normal one-seat majority, and only a majority of members could vote to approve a subpoena for Roberts’ testimony. It’s unclear if any Republicans would back such a move.
Democrats have been up in arms following the ProPublica reports.
“This is beyond party or partisanship,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted earlier this month. “This degree of corruption is shocking — almost cartoonish. Thomas must be impeached.”
Republicans, meanwhile, have largely fallen in line behind Thomas.
“I have total confidence in the chief justice of the United States to deal with these court internal issues,” Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said this week, suggesting any ethics reforms should be left to the Supreme Court to determine.
Crow has repeatedly maintained his relationship with Thomas included no wrongdoing and that he never tried to influence Thomas’ work on the court.
“We have never asked about a pending or lower court case, and Justice Thomas has never discussed one, and we have never sought to influence Justice Thomas on any legal or political issue. More generally, I am unaware of any of our friends ever lobbying or seeking to influence Justice Thomas on any case, and I would never invite anyone who I believe had any intention of doing that,” Crow said in a statement after the first ProPublica report was published.
In a statement, Thomas said, “Harlan and Kathy Crow are among our dearest friends, and we have been friends for over twenty-five years. As friends do, we have joined them on a number of family trips during the more than quarter century we have known them. Early in my tenure at the Court, I sought guidance from my colleagues and others in the judiciary, and was advised that this sort of personal hospitality from close personal friends, who did not have business before the Court, was not reportable. I have endeavored to follow that counsel throughout my tenure, and have always sought to comply with the disclosure guidelines. These guidelines are now being changed, as the committee of the Judicial Conference responsible for financial disclosure for the entire federal judiciary just this past month announced new guidance. And, it is, of course, my intent to follow this guidance in the future.”
(NEW YORK) — President Joe Biden launched his reelection campaign Tuesday, capping off months of speculation over his electoral future and laying the groundwork for a potential rematch with former President Donald Trump.
Biden comes into the race with the benefits of incumbency, a string of accomplishments while Democrats controlled Congress and the virtual guarantee of clinching his party’s nomination over two long shot challengers. But he also faces tepid approval ratings, widespread apathy among Democratic voters and a campaign that will be very different from 2020, which was largely virtual amid the spread of COVID-19.
Democrats are bullish on Biden’s chances, touting him as a powerful voice against a GOP that is anticipated to either nominate Trump or another politician aligned with his brand of politics, which Biden has sought to label “MAGA” extremism as he highlights his support for abortion access, domestic manufacturing and other issues.
At the same time, Republicans are buoyed by polling showing the president facing headwinds, including from his own party — even though Trump’s approval ratings are also underwater — as well as what they call a long list of looming problems like inflation, immigration, crime and economic uncertainty.
Here are five takeaways as Biden’s reelection bid gets underway.
Biden has primary challengers, but don’t expect 2020-style race
As of now, Biden technically has two primary challengers — author Marianne Williamson, who also ran for the Democratic nomination in 2020, and lawyer and activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a member of the famed political family who is notorious for his anti-vaccine stances.
But both Williamson and Kennedy’s paths are expected to be choked off due to low interest from Democratic voters and a Democratic National Committee (DNC) that is in lockstep behind the president.
The DNC intends to empty its war chest to keep Biden in the White House and passed a resolution during its February winter meeting expressing its “full and complete support” for Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. That means the party won’t be hosting primary debates for Williamson and Kennedy to take shots at Biden and, overall, the two candidates will lack institutional support.
While some have chafed at this — and Williamson called it out on social media — it is in keeping with how past incumbent presidents have campaigned, including Trump in 2020, despite others technically seeking the GOP nomination against him then.
“Biden beat Trump because of what he was going to do ,and will now beat him again by talking about what he has done and how he will finish the job. So, while Republicans continue to tear each other apart in a blood sacrifice to MAGA extremists, he can just keep doing his job and doesn’t really need to hit the campaign trail hard until the general,” said Democratic strategist Eddie Vale.
“While the announcement means that fundraising and building the campaign infrastructure begins, the President and Vice President can continue to focus on their day jobs at least until the end of the year,” Karen Finney, a former DNC official with ties to the White House, added in a text message to ABC News.
Still, Republicans are eager for Biden to eventually hit the campaign trail, even if he isn’t likely to quickly set up events. They argue that he largely got a pass during 2020 because of the pandemic, something Trump often highlights.
“He can’t hide in the basement,” said GOP pollster Robert Blizzard.
Biden’s rollout is normal
Biden’s announcement, made in a video released on social media on Tuesday morning, comes more than a year and a half before the 2024 general election, but it echoes past announcements by incumbent presidents other than Trump.
Barack Obama announced his 2012 reelection on April 4, 2011, and George W. Bush announced his 2004 reelection campaign on May 16, 2003.
Trump marked an aberration from that pattern, launching his 2020 reelection campaign on his first day in office in 2017.
“This is how presidents usually run for reelection, especially when they have a really good record of accomplishments to run on,” Vale said.
Dem enthusiasm could be a problem: Will they rally?
Polling has repeatedly suggested Biden faces a challenge in winning majority approval overall and even from Democrats.
Biden’s approval rating sat at just 34% in an ABC News/Ipsos poll released earlier this month, and multiple surveys have suggested that a majority of Democratic voters would rather see someone else be the party’s presidential nominee next year.
Voters have also repeatedly expressed concerns over Biden’s age — at 80, he is already the oldest president in U.S. history, and he would be 86 at the end of a second term.
“Yes, they’d rather he be younger. But they’re all for him,” former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Thursday of Democratic voters. “There’s a little, shall we say, sidebar stuff. But by and large, people understand there’s so much at stake in this election that it’s really important for us to go full strength, full strength Joe Biden.”
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., echoed that later Tuesday, saying he had “no doubts” about the president’s competence. “Next November … it’s going to be a pretty clear choice,” he said.
Other lawmakers also emphasized Biden’s legislative work with the two-year Democratic majority in Congress during his first term.
Democrats have sought to tamp down on concerns over Biden’s poll numbers, noting that when asked who they’d vote for in matchups with people like Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Democratic voters largely come home.
“The data point we should be focused on is not hypotheticals about who they want to run but who they say they are voting for, and Democrats have had unwavering support for President Biden in every head-to-head,” said Democratic pollster Molly Murphy.
High-profile Democrats have already started falling in line behind Biden, with Obama, his old boss, tweeting that Biden has “delivered for the American people — and he’ll continue to do so once he’s re-elected.” Likewise, Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, who ran against Biden for the Democratic nomination in 2020, this time quickly endorsed him for 2024.
Not every Democratic figure approves of the early unity behind Biden, however. Progressive DNC member Nina Turner tweeted that the committee “refusing to hold a single primary debate is undemocratic and robs the voters of choice.”
Biden to continue focus on “MAGA extremists”
In the lead up to his campaign launch, Biden railed against “MAGA extremists” — a reference to Trump’s Make America Great Again slogan — and his Tuesday video suggests that he’ll keep up that strategy.
“Around the country, MAGA extremists are lining up to take on those bedrock freedoms, cutting Social Security that you paid for your entire life while cutting taxes for the very wealthy, dictating what healthcare decisions women can make, banning books and telling people who they can love, all while making it more for you to be able to vote,” Biden said in his announcement.
The video did not mention Trump by name, though the line coincided with images of Trump, DeSantis and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., seemingly allowing Biden to tie whomever the 2024 GOP nominee is to Trump even if the former president doesn’t win the primary.
“As we’ve seen in polling, they are speaking to and taking action to address the very real concerns Americans continue to have about threats to our democracy and basic freedoms in this moment of generational change,” Finney argued.
Republicans rejoice
Republicans, meanwhile, heralded Biden’s official entry into the 2024 race, boasting that his low approval ratings will clear a path to retake the White House next year.
Trump released an over four-minute video lambasting Biden’s record on the economy, foreign policy, immigration and more, saying it would be Democrats’ “worst nightmare” should the two debate and that “there has never been a greater contrast between two successive administrations in all of American history.”
When asked about Biden’s announcement, GOP pollster John McLaughlin, who does work for Trump’s campaign, said, “Wish the election were tomorrow.”
(NEW YORK) — Donald Trump “banged the door closed and lunged at her,” an attorney for writer E. Jean Carroll told jury members as she recounted what Carroll said happened in 1996 at the Bergdorf Goodman department store, during the opening statements of Carroll’s defamation and battery case against the former president, Tuesday in Manhattan federal court.
But Trump attorney Joe Tacopina told the jury in his opening statement that Carroll’s defamation and battery claims are an “affront to justice,” accusing the writer of taking Trump to court “for money, for political reasons and for status.”
Carroll, who brought the lawsuit in November, alleges that Trump defamed her in a 2022 Truth Social post by calling her allegations “a Hoax and a lie” and saying “This woman is not my type!” when he denied her claim that Trump raped her in a Bergdorf Goodman department store dressing room in the 1990s.
She added a charge of battery under a recently adopted New York law that allows adult survivors of sexual abuse to sue their alleged attacker regardless of the statute of limitations.
Carroll’s attorney, Shawn Crowley, said she was taking jurors “back to an evening in 1996” when Carroll said she bumped into Trump in the department store.
“Trump was famous in New York City. His name was on a bunch of buildings and his face was in the tabloids,” Crowley said. “Carroll was a well-known writer,” she said, and when Trump asked for her help selecting a gift Carroll agreed, thinking it would make for a good story.
“She thought it would be something to laugh about with her friends later,” Crowley said.
The pair moved through the store, joking and laughing, and eventually made their way to the lingerie department on the sixth floor where Trump tossed a lace body suit at her and asked her to try it on, Crowley said, before leading her by the arm to the dressing room, where he lunged at her.
“Ms. Carroll will tell you she was shocked,” Crowley said
In 2019, when Carroll decided to write about the alleged encounter, Crowley said that “Donald Trump’s response was explosive.”
“Suddenly Ms. Carroll was all over the headlines. The most powerful person in the world … had branded her a liar.”
Tacopina, in his opening statement, told jurors that “you can hate Donald Trump” — but that the appropriate place to express those feelings is at the ballot box and not in a court of law.
“She’s abusing the system,” Tacopina said of Carroll. “You cannot let her profit from this process.”
Tacopina insisted that Carroll’s “story isn’t true” and she lacks the facts to convince the jury otherwise.
“E. Jean Carroll cannot produce objective evidence to back up her claim, because it didn’t occur,” Tacopina said. “She can’t tell you the date that she claims to have been raped. She can’t tell you the month that she claims to have been raped. She can’t tell you the season. She can’t even tell you the year she claims to have been raped by Donald Trump.”
Tacopina said Carroll “falsely alleged that he raped her,” and that’s why Trump publicly attacked her.
“E Jean Carroll fabricated a story about Donald Trump while he was president and then made that story the center of her life and her lifestyle,” Tacopina said.
The nine-member jury of six men and three women is weighing Carroll’s defamation and battery claims and deciding potential monetary damages.
“Battery refers to the unjustified touching of another person without the consent of the person touched, with the intent to cause bodily contact that a reasonable person would find offensive,” Judge Lewis Kaplan instructed the jurors.
Trump has repeatedly denied Carroll’s allegations. The trial is expected to last around five days.
Two women are expected to testify during the trial that Carroll told them about the alleged attack shortly after it occurred. Two other women are expected to testify that Trump sexually assaulted them, claims that he denies, as Carroll’s attorneys try to show a pattern of conduct.
The judge has also agreed to allow excerpts of the so-called Access Hollywood tape on which Trump is overheard in 2005 bragging to then-host Billy Bush about groping women.
During the selection of the jury Tuesday morning, the judge told prospective jurors that he was looking to select jurors who are “willing and able to decide this case in a manner that is fair and impartial,” no matter what they may know about those involved.
“The name of the game here is utter fairness and impartiality,” Kaplan said. “The job of the jury will be to decide what did or didn’t happen at the department store, whether Ms. Carroll was or wasn’t raped” — and whether she should be compensated and whether defamation occurred, the judge said.
The judge began questioning prospective jurors with this question: “Is there anything about the nature of this case or the parties that would make it difficult for you to be entirely fair to both parties and to come to a just or impartial verdict?”
He asked prospective jurors about everything from their vaccine status to whether they watched The Apprentice, the reality game show that Trump hosted from 2004-2015.
The judge also asked whether they would find Carroll’s battery claim “less reliable” because she brought it 30 years after it allegedly happened.
Prospective jurors were asked whether they maintain a Twitter account, whether they’ve ever been wrongfully accused of misconduct, and whether they feel Trump has been unfairly treated by the press.
The former president was not present in court Tuesday.
Tacopina told the judge Thursday that Trump will decide whether or not to attend as the trial proceeds.
The civil trial is being heard a block from the criminal courthouse where Trump pleaded not guilty earlier this month to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in connection with an alleged hush money payment to an adult film actress.
Kaplan last week denied Trump’s attempt to delay the start of this week’s trial for a month after Trump’s attorneys sought a four-week delay on the grounds that a “cooling off” period was necessary following intense media coverage of Trump’s criminal indictment.
“There is no justification for an adjournment,” Kaplan ruled. “This case is entirely unrelated to the state prosecution.”
This week’s trial is taking place as Trump seeks the White House for a third time, while facing numerous legal challenges related to the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, his handling of classified material after leaving the White House, and possible attempts to interfere in the Georgia’s 2020 vote. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said Monday she would decide whether to file criminal charges against Trump or his allies this summer.
Carroll’s lawsuit is her second against Trump related to her rape allegation.
Carroll previously sued Trump in 2019 after the then-president denied her rape claim by telling The Hill that Carroll was “totally lying,” saying, “I’ll say it with great respect: No. 1, she’s not my type. No. 2, it never happened. It never happened, OK?” That defamation suit has been caught in a procedural back-and-forth over the question of whether Trump, as president, was acting in his official capacity as an employee of the federal government when he made those remarks.
If Trump is determined to have been acting as a government employee, the U.S. government would substitute as the defendant in that suit — which means that case would go away, since the government cannot be sued for defamation.
(WASHINGTON) — Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley on Tuesday made a her case for a “consensus” on abortion, an issue that continues to divide conservatives. But she stopped short of adopting strict stances — such as embracing or rejecting a national ban at a certain week in pregnancy — beyond saying the government needed to have some role and stressed that she wanted fewer abortions in the country.
“My record on abortion is long and clear. … I want to save as many lives and help as many moms as possible. That is my goal. To do that at the federal level, the next president must find national consensus,” Haley said in remarks at the anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America’s office in Virginia on Tuesday morning.
Haley, the first woman to serve as governor of South Carolina, reaffirmed her anti-abortion position, saying her priority as a candidate is to “save as many babies as we can while supporting women in difficult situations.”
But as leading Republicans like former Vice President Mike Pence have heartedly endorsed some sort of federal ban on abortion — and only days after prospective 2024 candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis quietly signed a six-week abortion ban into law — Haley took another stance.
“I do believe there is a federal role on abortion. Whether we can save more lives nationally depends entirely on doing what no one has done to date: finding consensus,” she said. “That’s what I will strive to do.”
“Abortion is a deeply personal topic for both women and men,” she said. “I understand why. Someone’s body and someone else’s life are not things to be taken lightly, and they should not be politicized. The issue should be addressed with sensitivity and respect, not judgment and hate.”
In the wake of Roe v. Wade being reversed by the Supreme Court last summer, a series of state-level laws on abortion access have since rippled across the country, leading to numerous legal and legislative battles.
Voters have also repeatedly backed abortion access when it is on the ballot, in Kentucky, Michigan, Vermont and elsewhere.
“The pro-life laws that have passed in strongly Republican states will not be approved at the federal level,” Haley said in her speech, a seeming nod to the belief that a national abortion ban is not politically feasible, even if she were president.
Haley did offer some broad ideas regarding abortion and reproductive rights, including supporting adoptive families, advocating for “pro-life doctors and nurses,” limiting elective late-term abortions, increasing access to contraception and, in a subtle rebuke of a minority of her Republican colleagues, opposing efforts to criminalize women who get abortions.
“Surely, we can all agree that abortion up until the time of birth is a bridge too far,” she said. “Only seven countries on earth allow elective late-term abortions. We’re talking brutal regimes like communist China and North Korea. We should be able to agree that contraception should be more available, not less. And we can all agree that women who get abortions should not be jailed. A few have even called for the death penalty. That’s the least pro-life position I can possibly imagine.”
In response to her speech, a Democratic National Committee spokesperson sought to paint Haley as an extremist “MAGA Republican” and pointed to her time as governor, when she signed a 20-week abortion ban in South Carolina in 2016.
“She’s already signed an abortion ban with no exceptions for rape or incest that threatened to throw doctors and nurses in jail,” DNC spokesperson Rhyan Lake said, in part. “2024 Republicans are clamoring to prove they’d be the most extreme, anti-choice nominee in history in a desperate chase to out-MAGA each other, and they’ll stop at nothing to completely ban abortion nationwide.”
(MIAMI) — As the Republican field for president takes shape around former President Donald Trump, with Gov. Ron DeSantis expected to launch his own campaign by the summer, a third Floridian is angling to possibly join the 2024 race.
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez is weighing a bid for the White House, recently telling ABC affiliate WMUR that he would be making a decision “shortly” on whether to run. Suarez has visited multiple early nominating states, including a visit last week to New Hampshire where he spoke at the Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College, a staple venue for many mulling a presidential campaign.
There, Suarez highlighted his profile and backstory as the Hispanic son of a former Miami mayor and the Republican executive of a major American city, who was easily reelected in 2021. He touted his policy credentials on the economy and anti-crime measures and criticized the Biden administration for its Middle East and China policies.
As he takes some of the typical early steps before running for president, Suarez is previewing his case to occupy a potential third lane in a Republican primary that has so far largely featured Trump and DeSantis’ conservative styles. Amid a surge in Hispanic support for the GOP in some parts of the country, including Florida, Suarez offers a more centrist tone on migration and climate issues than his state’s governor and Trump, the party standard-bearer.
On climate change, he told CBS in July that “the problem for us is not theoretical … it’s real.”
He’s also made national headlines by inviting corporate heavyweights and startups alike, from asset managers to cryptocurrency traders, to make Miami their place of business.
In New Hampshire on April 18, Suarez said a relationship with the Hispanic community would be critical for the Republican nominee in 2024. More than 70% of the city of Miami is Hispanic, according to the latest census data.
Suarez suggested the GOP nominate “someone that can communicate and connect with Hispanics … [someone who can] help Republicans win elections for a generation, not just for one presidency.”
The nominee should have another quality, he said. “I’d want that person to have a positive — I’m going to stress that word — positive vision for the future. I think we’re getting a lot of negativity, a lot of divisiveness.”
Suarez won his second term as mayor with some 79% of the vote in Miami. A year later, DeSantis carried the Democratic stronghold of broader Miami-Dade County, becoming the first Republican gubernatorial candidate to win there in two decades. DeSantis had lost the county by about 20 points in 2018.
In New Hampshire, Suarez echoed other Republican criticism that DeSantis’ outreach in the party and initial public appearances across the country have been lackluster: “He seems to struggle with relationships, generally. I look people in the eye when I shake their hands.”
The mayor’s remarks came as a growing number of Florida congressional delegation members endorsed Trump for president, even before DeSantis has announced his own bid.
“[R]etail politics matters. The ability to go in particular places like Iowa, New Hampshire … is at times [about] meeting with just a handful of voters at once,” Matt Terrill, the managing partner at Firehouse Strategies, told ABC News.
Terrill said Trump was skilled in that art. “Trump, when he was the president at the time, would be inviting congressional members on Air Force One — many of those members from Florida — he’d be calling up members constantly playing golf with them.”
Appearing on Fox News on Thursday, Suarez declined any invitations to criticize Trump.
