It’s looking increasingly unlikely that former President Donald Trump will face criminal trials in Washington, Georgia, or Florida before the 2024 election as delays pile up in the court system. Heading into 2024, speculation abounded as to whether the former president would have to campaign while under some kind of detention by authorities.
By the second week of May, it became clear that the cases faced prolonged pre-trial periods with the possibility of President Trump halting DOJ’s prosecutions after his would-be inauguration in January.
Judge Aileen Cannon, who is overseeing his Florida documents case, said on May 7 that she was indefinitely postponing her May 20 trial date—prompting a wave of commentary criticizing the pace at which she was undertaking pre-trial proceedings.
The Georgia Court of Appeals said just a day later that it would hear Trump’s challenge to an earlier ruling not to disqualify Fulton County prosecutor Fani Willis. That case, which involves more than a dozen other defendants, saw fireworks earlier this year as Willis was confronted about a prior affair with one of her prosecutors, Nathan Wade.
Former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani told The Epoch Times that “Willis botched this case by filing late, charging 19 defendants, and hiring her boyfriend, so this delay is on her.” He was critical of Cannon, saying she was “inexperienced, made terrible rulings, and has favored Trump at every possible turn, and this indefinite delay is a big win for the former president.”
Only one of his criminal trials has started in New York but that case, involving “hush money” to adult film actress Stephanie Clifford, is seen as the least likely to result in jail time. The highly criticized legal strategy by prosecutor Alvin Bragg has also cast doubt on whether Democrats will have an opportunity to brand Trump a convicted felon before the election.
The Supreme Court has yet to rule on Trump’s immunity appeal from Washington and isn’t expected to until the end of its term in June. If it ruled in favor of the former president with partial or absolute immunity, the justices would likely delay the resolution of the Washington trial while creating potential complications for the other charges Trump faces.
Pre-trial proceedings could continue in Washington with additional determinations about the nature of Trump’s conduct on Jan. 6. According to Politico, that could entail an evidentiary hearing in which D.C. Judge Tanya Chutkan allows witnesses to testify about the former president’s conduct.
Whatever the outcome of Trump’s various prosecutions, the next seven to eight months will likely inform how politicians pursue and undertake the office of president.
—Sam Dorman
NEW ASYLUM PROCESS FOR MIGRANTS
The Biden administration proposed a new immigration rule on May 9 that would accelerate both the asylum process for migrants as well as authorities’ ability to reject requests by those believed to be linked to terrorists or have committed a serious crime.
The change comes amid rising public disapproval of the immigration and border policies of President Joe Biden, with many Americans holding him responsible for the current surge in illegal immigration.
Certain mandatory bars to asylum are already enforced by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) if the migrant in question presents a risk to national security or public safety, such as conviction of a serious crime.
However, under current rules, the question of ineligibility does not come into play until the immigration judge makes a final decision.
The DHS also said that anyone who is deemed a public safety threat is already taken into custody.
Under this proposed rule, asylum officers will be permitted to consider refusing asylum during an initial screening process which the DHS said happens “days” after an individual is encountered.
The DHS released a statement saying that the new rule would “expeditiously remove individuals who pose a threat to the United States.”
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas described the rule change as another step in the DHS’s “ongoing efforts to ensure the safety of the American public.”
He also argued that “it is only Congress that can fix what everyone agrees is a broken immigration system.”
Since Biden took office and rolled back Trump-era immigration policies, Customs and Border Patrol have reported more than 8 million encounters with illegal immigrants at the southern border.
Both he and the Democrats have repeatedly blamed the Republicans for failing to pass an immigration and border security bill recently negotiated in the Senate.
Republicans put the blame for the influx of illegal immigration on Biden for dismantling the Trump-era immigration policies and failing to take executive action.
“If the president wanted to actually secure the border and close it, sure he could,” Josh Hawley (R–Mo.) told The Epoch Times on May 9. “But he won’t because he does not want to.
“I mean, he would lose support from those in his base who want the border open on principle.”
This rule change comes as the Biden administration continues to look for ways to expand “lawful pathways” for migrants to the United States.
Those “pathways” include the Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela parole program, which, to date, has brought in 435,00 individuals from those four countries.
—T.J. Muscaro
BOOKMARKS
Trump solicited a $1 billion fundraising boost from oil executives during a dinner at Mar-a-Lago last month, The Washington Post reported. In return, he said he would ease taxes and regulations for the oil industry.
Gavin Newsom will meet with Pope Francis at the Vatican next week to discuss climate change. The meeting is part of an initiative to promote electric vehicles.
The Harlem Children’s Zone is raising $300 million to open savings accounts for low-income children across the country. Each student chosen for the pilot program will receive $10,000 in grant money to invest as they choose.