Month: August 2022

On Thursday, a federal judge ruled that the Justice Department must release a redacted version of the warrant affidavit for the search of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence. U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart ordered the public release of the affidavit by noon Friday.

Judge Reinhart ordered the Justice Department to send him proposed redactions last week for the document by Thursday. The department said unsealing the document would compromise the investigation into Trump’s handling of potentially classified documents that he took with him to his Palm Beach, Fla., residence when he left the White House. U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said releasing the affidavit would reveal probable cause that led prosecutors to believe a crime had been committed, and that evidence might be found at Mar-a-Lago.

On Thursday, Reinhart said the Justice Department convinced him that portions of the affidavit should remain sealed because “disclosure would reveal (1) the identities of witnesses, law enforcement agents, and uncharged parties, (2) the investigation’s strategy direction, scope, sources, and methods, and (3) grand jury information.”  He added: “I further find that the government has met its burden showing that its proposed redactions are narrowly tailored to serve the government’s legitimate interest in the integrity of the ongoing investigation and are the least onerous alternative to sealing the entire affidavit.”

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Prosecutors said on Thursday that two Florida residents have pleaded guilty in a scheme to sell a diary and other items belonging to President Joe Biden’s daughter, Ashely Biden, to the conservative group Project Veritas for $40,000. Ashley Biden, a 41-year-old social worker, is the daughter of the president and first lady Jill Biden.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damian Williams’ office said in a statement that Aimee Harris and Robert Kurlander pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen property:  “Harris and Kurlander sought to profit from their theft of another person’s personal property, and they now stand convicted of a federal felony as a result.” While authorities didn’t identify Ashley Biden or the organization that paid, the details of the investigation have been laid out in court filings and public statements from Project Veritas.

Prosecutors said in a court filing that Ashley Biden was moving out of a friend’s Delray Beach, Florida, home in spring 2020 when she stored the diary, tax records, a digital device with family photos, a cellphone and other items there.  Harris then moved into the same room, stole the items and got in touch with Kurlander, who contacted Project Veritas, which asked for photos of the material and then paid for the two to bring it to New York. The activist group, which considers itself a news organization, paid the two $20,000 apiece, prosecutors said.

Project Veritas said it turned the journal over to law enforcement and never did anything illegal. Founder James O’Keefe has said that Project Veritas ultimately did not publish information from the diary because it could not confirm it belonged to Ashley Biden.

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On Wednesday, President Biden announced his plan to tackle student loan debt, cancelling up to $20,000 of debt for those who received Pell Grants. The president’s plan includes $10,000 in loan forgiveness for borrowers who earn less than $125,000 annually and did not receive Pell Grants. The plan also extends the pause on federal student loan payments to Dec. 31, and allows undergraduate debt holders to cap repayment at 5% of their monthly income.

Biden said in his announcement Wednesday that the plan will fully cancel student debt for 20 million people: “That’s 20 million people who can start getting on with their lives,  All this means that people can finally start to crawl out from under that mountain of debt.”

Biden’s three-part plan includes giving aid for COVID-19-related hardships, making the student loan system more manageable and reducing the cost of college and holding schools accountable when they hike tuition. Biden said the plan will help as many as 43 million borrowers and entirely wipe away loan debts for 20 million people.

The $10,000 figure would fulfill a campaign promise from Biden and mark the largest forgiveness of federal student loans per individual to date. It’s believed that canceling the debt will cost the government about $300 billion.

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Democratic candidate Maxwell Frost won his primary in Florida on Tuesday, potentially becoming the first member of Generation Z to hold a seat in Congress. Those born between 1997 and 2012 are considered members of Gen Z; Frost was born in 1997.

The 25-year-old Frost is the projected Democratic challenger in Florida’s 10th District after defeating party establishment candidate and state Sen. Randolph Bracy among a field of eight other candidates. Frost tweeted: “We won! Thank you so much to all of our supporters, endorsers, volunteers and staff. We won because of our message: Love. That no matter who you are, you deserve healthcare, a livable wage, and to live free from gun violence. We made history tonight.”

Frost just meets the requirements to run for a seat in the House; lawmakers in the lower chamber must be at least 25 when they are sworn in.  If he wins in November, he will become the youngest member of Congress. Presently, the youngest is 27-year-old Rep. Madison Cawthorn, R-N.C., who lost his primary earlier this year.

Frost will face Republican military veteran Calvin Wimbish for the Orlando-based seat, in a predominately Democratic district. Frost has a number of key national endorsements from progressive leaders, including Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.

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