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Assassination attempt on Trump roils American politics on eve of GOP convention

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Assassination attempt on Trump roils American politics on eve of GOP convention
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CHICAGO — A would-be assassin is plunging the already tense American political climate into full-blown hysteria as the chaos from bullets flying at former President Donald Trump’s political rally in a Pennsylvania field spread throughout the 2024 electoral landscape.

The historic moment of shocking political violence has put the country on edge heading into the Republican National Convention, which begins Monday in Milwaukee and has morphed from a routine political ritual into a landmark event for a deeply divided nation.

Bloodied from a bullet he said pierced his ear, Trump was rushed off the stage by Secret Service agents Saturday in Butler, Pa. “It is incredible that such an act can take place in our country,” Trump posted on social media soon after the incident.

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Now, a political system that already was strained to the breaking point must grapple with the fallout from a rifle shot that came perilously close to killing the GOP presidential candidate. President Joe Biden, Trump’s Democratic opponent, condemned the violent act.

“We cannot allow for this to be happening, we cannot be like this,” said Biden, who for the last two-plus weeks has faced mounting calls to exit the 2024 race due to his age and who spoke with Trump after the shooting.

Trump called for national unity in a social media post early Sunday morning. “In this moment, it is more important than ever that we stand United, and show our True Character as Americans, remaining Strong and Determined, and not allowing Evil to Win,” he wrote.

That message was echoed by political leaders in both parties as prayers and message of support for Trump provided a rare bipartisan rallying cry.

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Yet the horror of what happened to Trump also provoked deep anger and outrage, as shock quickly turned to blame, which began to fly before the shooter and any potential motive had been identified. The FBI identified early Sunday that 20-year-old Pennsylvania resident Thomas Matthew Crooks is the individual who fired at Trump.

Crooks killed one rallygoer and injured two others before being killed by the Secret Service.

Already seen as a persecuted figure by many in his party, Trump again was cast as a man whose critics will stop at nothing to keep him from public office.

Such sentiments seem certain to feature prominently at the convention this week as aggrieved supporters vent their frustrations among thousands of Trump’s faithful followers.

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“First they tried to silence him. Then they tried to imprison him. Now they try to kill him,” Florida U.S. Rep. Cory Mills wrote on X.

A top Trump campaign aide and a leading candidate to be his running mate both said rhetoric from Biden and Democrats contributed to the climate that led to the shooting.

“Leftist activists, Democrat donors and now even (Biden) have made disgusting remarks and descriptions of shooting Donald Trump,” Trump senior adviser Chris LaCivita said on X. “It’s high time they be held accountable for it, the best way is through the ballot box.”

LaCivita seemed to be referring to comments Biden made to donors recently saying “it’s time to put Trump in a bullseye.”

Ohio U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance, who is speaking at the convention and on Trump’s short list of potential VP candidates, said Biden’s campaign has portrayed Trump as “an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs.”

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“That rhetoric led directly to President Trump’s attempted assassination,” Vance added.

Other Republicans seized on those comments to criticize Biden.

U.S. Rep. Mike Collins shared Biden’s “bullseye” remarks on X and said “Joe Biden sent the orders.”

Democrats have long accused Trump of stoking political violence, from suggesting his supporters should treat rally protesters roughly to inciting the deadly mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 to try and stop the certification of Biden’s victory.

Now the message is being thrown back at Trump’s opponents in the heat of an already explosive campaign that has seen a remarkable whiplash of events, from Trump’s 34 felony convictions to Biden’s disastrous debate performance and now the most high-profile political assassination attempt since a gunman shot President Ronald Reagan in 1981.

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The fraught moment is rife with fears of more violence.

“This is not a normal election year and this incident will only escalate the tension in America,” said Jennifer Mercieca, a Texas A&M University professor of communications and journalism and author of a book on Trump’s rhetoric. “The fear is that this act of violence will trigger more suspicion between Americans and more acts of violence.”

Amid the heated rhetoric, some across the political spectrum are urging calm.

U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson said on the Today Show Sunday that “we’ve got to turn the temperature down in this country.”

“We need leaders of all parties, on both sides, to call that out and make sure that happens so that we can go forward and maintain our free society that we all are blessed to have,” Johnson said.

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Former Democratic U.S. Rep. Rick Boucher told USA TODAY the shooting should be “a moment for national introspection about the level of vitriolic rhetoric that characterizes many campaigns.”

“Candidates and some aspects of the news media should take this opportunity to step back and consider how to express political differences in a more constructive and less threatening manner,” Boucher added.

Shannon Bow O’Brien, a University of Texas professor who focuses on American politics, the presidency and political history, said “this sort of political violence deserves to be treated seriously and not as a way to lob cheap shots.”

Yet after nearly paying the ultimate price for his political crusade, Trump has moved ever closer to martyr status and the anger stoked by his travails is especially raw now heading into the convention.

Among the prominent speakers at the RNC is media personality Tucker Carlson, who predicted that someone would try to kill Trump.

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“If you begin with criticism, then you go to protest, then you go to impeachment, now you go to indictment and none of them work. What’s next? Graph it out, man. We’re speeding towards assassination, obviously,” Carlson said in an interview last year. “… They have decided — permanent Washington, both parties have decided — that there’s something about Trump that’s so threatening to them, they just can’t have him.”

A convention that already was expected to be extremely reverential of Trump could become something even more emotional and intense for the former president, who emerged from the shooting bloodied but defiant and rallying the party around him. Even before he was rushed off stage Saturday, Trump’s instinct was to project strength.

Surrounded by Secret Service officers, Trump raised his fist and yelled “Fight! Fight! Fight!”

Darren Samuelsohn contributed to this report

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Map: 2.3-Magnitude Earthquake Reported North of New York City

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Map: 2.3-Magnitude Earthquake Reported North of New York City

Note: Map shows the area with a shake intensity of 3 or greater, which U.S.G.S. defines as “weak,” though the earthquake may be felt outside the areas shown.  All times on the map are Eastern. The New York Times

A minor, 2.3-magnitude earthquake struck about 12 miles north of New York City on Tuesday, according to the United States Geological Survey.

The temblor happened at 10:17 a.m. Eastern in Sleepy Hollow, N.Y., data from the agency shows.

The Westchester County emergency services department said in a statement that it had not received any reports of damage.

As seismologists review available data, they may revise the earthquake’s reported magnitude. Additional information collected about the earthquake may also prompt U.S.G.S. scientists to update the shake-severity map.

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Source: United States Geological Survey | Notes: Shaking categories are based on the Modified Mercalli Intensity scale. When aftershock data is available, the corresponding maps and charts include earthquakes within 100 miles and seven days of the initial quake. All times above are Eastern. Shake data is as of Tuesday, March 10 at 10:30 a.m. Eastern. Aftershocks data is as of Tuesday, March 10 at 2:18 p.m. Eastern.

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Ed Martin, outspoken Justice Department lawyer, is formally accused of ethical violations | CNN Politics

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Ed Martin, outspoken Justice Department lawyer, is formally accused of ethical violations | CNN Politics

Ed Martin, an outspoken Trump administration official, is facing attorney discipline proceedings in Washington, DC, for a letter he sent to Georgetown Law about its diversity programs, the district’s professional conduct investigator announced on Tuesday.

Martin is formally accused of violating his ethical codes as an attorney for telling Georgetown Law’s dean last year that his Justice Department office wouldn’t hire students because of the school’s diversity, inclusion and equity initiatives programs, according to the filing from Hamilton Fox, the disciplinary counsel for DC who acts as a quasi-prosecutor on attorney discipline matters.

Unlike unsolicited complaints, Fox’s formal disciplinary complaint kicks off professional conduct proceedings for Martin in which he will need to respond and could be sanctioned or ultimately lose his law license.

Fox’s announcement on Tuesday marks the first major bar discipline proceeding against a high-profile administration official or attorney supporting President Donald Trump during Trump’s second term. Several Trump lawyers faced disciplinary proceedings after the efforts to overturn Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election, including Rudy Giuliani, who lost his law license.

“Acting in his official capacity and speaking on behalf of the government, he used coercion to punish or suppress a disfavored viewpoint, the teaching and promotion of ‘DEI,’” Fox wrote in the complaint. “He demanded that Georgetown Law relinquish its free speech and religious rights in order to continue to obtain a benefit, employment opportunities for its students.”

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Martin was removed from the top prosecutor job in DC after senators made clear he would not be confirmed to the role, but has remained at the Justice Department in several roles, including as pardon attorney.

“Mr. Martin knew or should have known that, as a government official, his conduct violated the First and Fifth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States,” Fox wrote.

Martin is being represented by a Justice Department attorney, a source told CNN.

A spokesperson for DOJ attacked Fox’s complaint. “The DC bar’s attempt to target and punish those serving President Trump while refusing to investigate or act against actual ethical violations that were committed by Biden and Obama administration attorneys is a clear indication of this partisan organization’s agenda,” DOJ said.

Martin had sent the letter to Georgetown Law while serving temporarily as US attorney for DC, a prominent Justice Department position, and told the school his federal prosecutors’ office wouldn’t hire Georgetown’s law school students. It came at a time when the Trump administration was beginning to crack down on universities for their DEI efforts.

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In his letter, Martin claimed a whistleblower told him that the school was teaching and promoting DEI.

Martin also violated attorney ethics rules by contacting judges of the DC court directly, Fox alleged, rather than going through official channels, once he was informed he was under investigation for his professional conduct. The DC Court of Appeals ultimately signs off on attorney discipline findings.

Early last year, Fox’s office had formally asked Martin to respond to a complaint it received by a retired judge regarding the Georgetown letter.

Martin instead wrote to the judges on the DC court complaining about Fox.

“In that letter, he stated that he would not be responding to Disciplinary Counsel’s inquiry, complained about Disciplinary Counsel’s ‘uneven behavior,’ and requested a ‘face-to-face meeting with all of you to discuss this matter and find a way forward,’” Fox wrote.

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“He copied the White House Counsel ‘for informational purposes because of the importance of getting this issue addressed,’” Fox said.

The top judge in the DC courts told Martin the court wouldn’t meet with him about the disciplinary matter and that he would need to follow procedure.

With Fox’s complaint, there will now be several steps ahead of bar discipline authorities looking at Martin’s action, and Fox didn’t specify how Martin should be reprimanded or punished if the discipline boards and the court ultimately determine he violated his ethical codes.

Spokespeople for the Justice Department didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment on Tuesday morning.

In recent days, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced her office would have a more powerful role in reviewing attorney discipline complaints against Justice Department attorneys, potentially setting up an approach that could keep the department at odds with the bar on behalf of DOJ attorneys facing their own individual disciplinary proceedings.

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CNN’s Paula Reid contributed to this report.

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Europe and Asia battle for LNG as Iran war chokes supply

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Europe and Asia battle for LNG as Iran war chokes supply

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Asian and European buyers are battling to source liquefied natural gas after the war in the Middle East choked off shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, blocking a fifth of global supplies.

In an indication of the intensifying contest for LNG since the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran, a handful of gas carriers have abruptly changed course while sailing to Europe and swung towards Asia instead, according to ship monitoring data analysed by the FT.

Countries across Asia are highly dependent on oil and gas sent through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway where shipping has slowed to a near standstill.

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Most of the LNG produced in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates is ordinarily shipped through the strait to Asia, and Asian LNG prices surged almost immediately after war broke out, creating an incentive to divert US gas to the region.

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Taiwan, South Korea and Japan are among the countries that need to source LNG to make up for supplies they will not receive from the Gulf, said Massimo Di Odoardo, head of gas and LNG analysis at consultancy Wood Mackenzie.

Taiwan relied on Qatar for more than 30 per cent of its gas consumption in 2025, according to Citigroup, while for South Korea and Japan the figures were 15 per cent and 5 per cent respectively. Asia typically uses more gas than Europe in the hotter summer months because of more air-conditioning use, creating urgency for Asian utilities to secure cargoes.

The vast majority of LNG is sold under long-term contracts rather than on the spot market, but some buyers are able to change the final destination of their purchases and some sellers are willing to break contracts if prices rise high enough.

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By Thursday, surging European gas prices and rocketing shipping rates had swung the balance back against diversion of US LNG to Asia, according to data company Spark Commodities.

The decision on where to send gas carriers can depend on the relative levels of the European gas price, Asia’s JKM benchmark for LNG and shipping rates.

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For European buyers, the battle with Asia for LNG supplies is eerily familiar to the situation four years ago after Russia slashed pipeline natural gas flows to the continent following Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Competition for spare cargoes then pushed prices to record levels.

On Monday, European gas prices reached as high as €69.50 per megawatt hour, more than double their level before the Iran conflict began. Even so, prices are still far from the €342 per megawatt hour reached in 2022.

JKM gas prices also more than doubled since the start of the war to $24.80 per 1mn British thermal units by Monday, equivalent to €73.10/MWh.

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European buyers have learnt from their experience in 2022. “Europe has more weapons at its disposal in this extreme price scenario to try and fight,” said Alex Kerr, a partner at law firm Baker Botts.

Buyers had started putting clauses in contracts to say that suppliers would face much higher penalties if they diverted cargoes for commercial gain, Kerr said.

There is also much more LNG on the market now that is not committed to set destinations, largely because of new projects starting in the US.

While producers such as Qatar impose strict rules on where its LNG can be sent, almost all US exports are allowed to sail wherever buyers want. Several analysts said there had also been an increase in the willingness of some producers to break contracts for financial advantage.

This makes diversions more likely, while the reluctance of some European buyers to sign long-term supply contracts before the outbreak of war this month could prove costly.

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Expectations of a global supply glut convinced some European buyers that it would be cheaper to wait until later in the year to sign supply deals.

Wood Mackenzie’s Di Odoardo said the buyers had also held off on LNG purchases because new EU legislation on methane emissions made it unclear whether they could incur penalties in the future.

The risk of prices rising as Europe and Asia fight for available cargoes is increasing every day the Strait of Hormuz stays almost closed.

Gas is more difficult to store and to carry in tankers than oil, making its markets more vulnerable to shortages and price shocks.

“The longer the Strait remains shut, the greater the risk that the shipping disruption turns into a genuine gas shortage, as tankers cannot load and facilities have limited storage,” said consultancy Oxford Economics in a research note.

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Additional reporting by Harry Dempsey in Tokyo. Data visualisation by Jana Tauschinski

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