Indiana
Will convicted felon Donald Trump remain on Indiana’s ballot in November?
 
																								
												
												
											 
Trump reacts to guilty verdict after jury convicted him on all 34 felony charges
Donald Trump was found guilty of falsifying business records to hide a hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.
Former President Donald Trump easily secured enough delegates to make Indiana’s November ballot for president and, despite his historic criminal conviction Thursday, there he will likely remain.
It’s the immediate question on voters’ minds as the jury read its verdict convicting Trump of 34 counts of falsifying business records related to hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels during his 2016 presidential campaign.
Though Indiana has its own set of stringent signature qualifications for making it on the ballot ― which Trump did in February ― state law does not prohibit a convicted felon from holding federal office. Neither does the U.S. Constitution.
Live updates: Former President Donald Trump found guilty on all counts in hush money case
What does Indiana law say?
Indiana law says a person is disqualified from running for state or local elected office for a slew of reasons, including having a felony conviction. Candidates are also disqualified if they offer a “bribe, threat or reward” to secure a seat, are on active military duty or serve as a nonjudicial court employee.
But that section of Indiana law “does not apply to a candidate for federal office,” it says.
The only parameters listed in the U.S. Constitution are that a candidate be 35 years old, a natural-born citizen and a resident for at least 14 years.
It’s voters’ choice
So it’s up to voters, not the legal system, to decide whether they want a convicted felon to serve as president of the United States. Pundits everywhere are likely trying to predict whether the conviction may alter the Republican math: It certainly has emboldened his base of support, but what about moderate voters?
In Indiana, Trump remains popular. But Nikki Haley, Trump’s opponent on the Indiana Republican primary ballot, still pulled nearly 22% of the statewide vote in May, despite having already announced she was dropping out of the race in what some experts say could have been a warning sign.
Indiana’s moderate Republican Sen. Todd Young isn’t commenting. More conservative Indiana lawmakers like Sen. Mike Braun and Rep. Jim Banks, meanwhile, are resolutely digging their heels in behind Trump.
Banks tweeted a picture of the Appeal to Heaven flag, which was carried by rioters at the Capitol on Jan. 6.
Trump’s sentencing is scheduled for July 11, just days before the Republican convention. Since he’s a first-time offender, he might get a light sentence, such as home confinement or a short jail sentence, legal experts say. He also could appeal the decision.
Can one hold federal office while in behind bars?
“Well, while it might pose logistical problems, there aren’t any laws stopping anyone,” University of Colorado law professor Paul Campos told USA Today.
Contact IndyStar state government and politics reporter Kayla Dwyer at kdwyer@indystar.com or follow her on Twitter@kayla_dwyer17.
 
																	
																															Indiana
Indiana University reverses course, allows student newspaper to resume print
 
														 
	In a reversal, Indiana University Bloomington Chancellor David Reingold will allow the Indiana Daily Student to resume print editions this semester.
	In a letter to the IDS editors, Reingold said he will allow the paper to use its budget through the end of the fiscal year as the editors see fit. He also called for a “reset” with the paper and asked to “affirm what unites us.”
	IDS co-editors-in-chief Andrew Miller and Mia Hilkowitz described it as a win for student media but cautioned the campus community against considering the matter resolved.
	“We do want to make sure that we ourselves and our community and our faculty and our alumni and everybody keep the administration here to their word,” Miller said to WFIU/WTIU News. “Thus far, it’s been kind of hard to trust their word, quite honestly.”
	“The last time IU had a committee to look at student media, they didn’t fully follow their recommendations,” Hilkowitz said, referring to a recently announced task force on press freedom and the existing student media plan.
	“We would want more confirmation that that’s going to be binding. Also, I’m going to stand by the fact that I think our staff and the faculty and students of the media school deserve an apology.”
	The university’s decision to end print editions coincided with it firing the director of student media Jim Rodenbush, who refused to remove news from a planned Homecoming edition at the university’s direction.
	Earlier Thursday,Rodenbush filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of Indiana claiming IU violated his First Amendment rights.
	Since then, the perception that IU censored its student paper has cost the school at least $1 million in donations and provoked the ire of faculty.
	Reingold said the perception that he attempted to censor editorial content was “not grounded in fact.”
	“Indiana University has never attempted to censor editorial content, period,” he wrote. “The IDS is, and remains, editorially independent.”
	He did not address the directive given to Rodenbush to remove news from the Homecoming print issue.
	The chancellor admitted the “campus has not handled recent matters as well as we should have. Communication was uneven and timing imperfect.”
	He stopped short of an apology, saying that the decision to end print editions was a long-term financial plan to staunch the paper’s nearly $300,000 annual deficit.
	The student media plan calls for limiting print to a few special editions per semester, but it also calls for preserving the IDS print product as a “critical learning experience for student media workers.”
	Ethan Sandweiss is a multimedia journalist for WFIU and WTIU.
Indiana
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem to speak in NW Indiana Thursday
 
														 
CHICAGO (WLS) — Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem will visit northwest Indiana Thursday.
She’s expected to bring updates on the immigration enforcement that’s happening across the area.
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Secretary Kristi Noem will give an update on recent immigration enforcement deemed “Operation Midway Blitz,” which Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino has called “wildly successful” in an interview with ABC News earlier this week.
She will be joined by Indiana governor Mike Braun in Gary along with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and acting ICE Director Todd Lyons, among others.
SEE ALSO: Court pauses order requiring CBP Chief Bovino to meet with judge daily on immigration operations
Her visit has been met with some criticism, though, from other local northwest Indiana leaders.
Gary’s Mayor Eddie Melton said his office was not involved with planning the event and is not participating.
Hammond’s Mayor Thomas McDermott also posting on Facebook, criticizing how the press conference was announced.
Counter-protests are expected later Thursday morning.
RELATED | Chicago federal intervention: Tracking surge in immigration enforcement operations | Live updates
Bovino says nearly 3,000 people have been arrested in the Chicago area, as part of “Midway Blitz.”
The expanded immigration enforcement started in September.
Wednesday night, Governor Pritzker sent a letter to Secretary Noem, requesting a pause in ICE enforcement this weekend in and around homes, schools, hospitals, parks and place of worship, so children can safely celebrate Halloween.
The governor referenced an incident in his letter this past weekend in Old Irving Park – in which he says, federal agents reportedly interrupted a children’s Halloween parade and deployed tear gas without warning – on residents peacefully celebrating the holiday.
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Indiana
Indiana BMV reports another text-related scam impacting Hoosiers
 
														 
INDIANAPOLIS — Officials with the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles are warning Indiana residents of a new scam that is being sent to Hoosiers via text.
According to a news release from the Indiana BMV, the scam asks the user for overdue payments over text, including traffic violations or unpaid tolls. The text reportedly “strongly” mimics the BMV’s mobile website and improperly cites Indiana code.
Officials said the messages should be considered fraudulent. The BMV is urging people who receive the message to delete it immediately and not click on any links.
This is not the first time that the Indiana BMV has been the subject of scam texts. According to previous reports, a scam was sent out to some Indiana residents from the “Indiana Department of Vehicles” regarding outstanding traffic tickets in early June.
“We want to make it clear that these messages are not from the Indiana BMV,” the release said. “The BMV does not send SMS text messages about outstanding penalties. In fact, the fees outlined in the messages are not ones that the agency actually collects.”
For a list of known BMV-related scams, click here.
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