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South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol arrested after stand-off with police

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South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol arrested after stand-off with police

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South Korea’s suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol was arrested on Wednesday morning following a predawn raid by police and investigators on his fortified hilltop compound.

Yoon’s detention followed a six-hour stand-off between law enforcement officials and members of the president’s security detail. It is the first time in South Korea’s history that a sitting president has been arrested.

The development marks the latest twist in a political crisis that was triggered by his failed attempt to impose martial law last month, and which has shaken confidence in the democratic integrity of Asia’s fourth-largest economy.

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Yoon was suspended from his duties after he was impeached by parliament in December following his attempt to impose martial law. The country is currently being led by finance minister Choi Sang-mok as acting president.

The operation on Wednesday, which began shortly after 4am, was the second attempt this month by the CIO to detain Yoon for questioning on insurrection and abuse of office charges.

An initial effort earlier this month was foiled by Yoon’s protection officers following a tense hours-long stand-off at the presidential residence. Yoon had previously refused to comply with investigators and had challenged their authority to bring him in for questioning.

“The rule of law has completely collapsed in this country,” Yoon said in a video statement recorded before his transfer to the headquarters of the country’s Corruption Investigation Office for questioning. “I’ve decided to appear for CIO questioning in order to prevent any bloodshed.”

According to South Korea’s state-owned news agency Yonhap, police and officials from the CIO arrived at the compound early on Wednesday and presented a warrant for Yoon’s arrest but were again initially prevented from entering by the Presidential Security Service.

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Yonhap also reported that about 30 lawmakers from Yoon’s conservative People Power party were at the compound and attempting to prevent officials from entering it.

But with hundreds of police gathered outside, some of them equipped with ladders and wire cutters to overcome barricades erected by Yoon’s protection officers, CIO officials were eventually allowed to enter the residence.

Yoon’s lawyers initially attempted to broker a deal whereby he would surrender voluntarily for questioning. But this was not accepted by CIO officials, and he was eventually arrested just after 10.30am and transferred to the investigative agency’s headquarters.

“Yoon’s arrest is the first step towards restoring our constitutional order,” said Park Chan-dae, floor leader of the leftwing opposition Democratic Party of Korea. “It underlines that justice is still alive.”

While Yoon’s powers have been transferred to Choi as acting president, he remains South Korea’s head of state while the country’s Constitutional Court deliberates on whether to approve his impeachment or reinstate him in office.

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The court held its first formal hearing into Yoon’s impeachment on Tuesday, but the session was adjourned after four minutes because the suspended president declined to attend, citing concerns for his personal safety.

The efforts by the CIO and police to detain Yoon for questioning relates to a separate, criminal process connected to his failed imposition of martial law. Yoon’s lawyers insist the CIO has no standing to pursue criminal insurrection charges against him.

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Trump fires last members of election commission, inciting fears of midterm ‘chaos’

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Trump fires last members of election commission, inciting fears of midterm ‘chaos’

Donald Trump has terminated the remaining members of the independent, federal commission that assists election administration officials nationwide just a few months before the midterm elections, multiple outlets reported Thursday.

The remaining three commissioners of the four-member bipartisan commission ⁠were forced out on Thursday in different ways. The one Republican appointee resigned and the other ⁠two, Democratic appointees were notified of their terminations via email from ​the White House presidential personnel office.

“On ‌behalf of President ‌Donald J Trump, I am writing to inform you that your position ‌as Commissioner of the Election Assistance Commission is terminated, effective immediately. Thank you for your service,” the email, seen by Reuters, said.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Election Assistance Commission serves as a “national clearinghouse of information on election ‌administration”, accredits testing laboratories and certifies voting systems, and maintains the national mail-voter registration form developed by the National ​Voter Registration Act of 1993, according to the commission’s website. The terminations follow Trump and top administration officials’ advocacy to change vote-by-mail requirements and investigations into the 2020 election outcome, which Trump lost to Democrat Joe Biden.

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“It is ⁠irresponsible and dangerous that this Administration remains dead set on ​causing chaos for ​our election officials across this ​country,” Arizona secretary of state Adrian Fontes said in a ​Thursday statement. “This ‌move undermines the integrity ​of nonpartisan ​election administration.”

The 2002 law that established the commission, the Help America Vote Act, states the president can appoint replacements to the commission.

It is unclear how Trump will move ahead with the commission.

Reuters contributed reporting

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Former Olympian pleads not guilty in reflecting pool vandalism charges

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Former Olympian pleads not guilty in reflecting pool vandalism charges

Former U.S. Olympian David Hearn (left) walks with his attorney Norman Eisen to speak to reporters and protesters gathered after his arraignment at the Superior Court of the District of Columbia in Washington, D.C. on Thursday.

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Former U.S. Olympic canoeist David Hearn pleaded not guilty to damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in D.C. Superior Court Thursday morning.

Federal prosecutors charged Hearn with a single count of destruction of property causing more than $1,000 in damage to the pool.

Hearn has previously claimed, which his attorneys repeated during a short press conference outside the court, that he simply touched the water in the pool out of curiosity.

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The Trump administration had just completed a $14 million renovation of the pool.

But shortly after the work finished, peeling paint and algae gathered in the water. The remodel has been largely criticized as a massive failure and waste of taxpayer dollars.

Superior Court Judge Carmen McLean released Hearn on his own recognizance. His next hearing is scheduled for Aug. 5.

Norm Eisen, one of Hearn’s attorneys, spoke to reporters outside of court following the hearing. He said the administration is using Hearn as a “scapegoat … for their own failures.”

“It is not a crime to touch the reflecting pool, to touch water in the United States of America,” he said.

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Prosecutors say there is a host of evidence against Hearn.

This is a developing story.

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Three more people charged with damaging Reflecting Pool after Trump’s multimillion-dollar restoration | CNN Politics

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Three more people charged with damaging Reflecting Pool after Trump’s multimillion-dollar restoration | CNN Politics

Three more people have been criminally charged with destruction of property at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

Officers say they detained Cameron Thiers, Sophie Dennison-Gibby and Justin Carreno one Saturday afternoon in June and described in court documents witnessing them peeling and removing pieces of blue paint from the Reflecting Pool.

One officer “witnessed Carreno reach down into the reflecting pool and pull up a piece of the blue paint,” according to the court documents.

The officer who detained Dennison-Gibby “found 1 additional piece of the reflecting pool liner” in her purse, the documents said.

All three incidents were recorded on the officers’ body worn cameras, they said in the court documents.

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Several “partnering law enforcement agencies assigned to the Reflecting Pool” working with US Park Police were involved in detaining the two men and one woman — including officers from Texas, Oklahoma, Montana and California.

One of the officers said in court documents that Thiers “admitted to removing a piece of blue sealant from the Reflecting Pool and still had it in his hand when I made contact with him.”

The three defendants were arraigned in court Wednesday and pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanor charges of destruction of property with a value less than $1,000. The judge ordered them to stay away from the Reflecting Pool.

Lawyers for Thiers and Dennison-Gibby declined to comment. CNN has reached out to Carreno’s attorney.

If found guilty of destruction of property, the defendants could be fined up to $1,000 and face a maximum of 180 days behind bars.

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The New York Times first reported that three additional people had been charged with damaging the Reflecting Pool.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that vandals caused major damage to the pool by gashing the lining after his administration spent more than $14 million on renovations, though he has not provided evidence to support that claim. The officers who charged Carreno, Thiers and Dennison-Gibby did not accuse them of gashing the lining.

Former Olympic canoeist David Hearn was indicted by a grand jury in Washington, DC, last week for allegedly damaging the Reflecting Pool. Hearn — unlike Carreno, Thiers and Dennison-Gibby – was charged with destruction of property with a value of more than $1,000 which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, if convicted. He is set to be arraigned in court Thursday.

Crews began draining the Reflecting Pool over the weekend to make repairs, according to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, for the second time in three months.

The move comes after weeks of problems – algae blooms, green-hued water, a chipping bottom and the administration’s allegations of vandalism – that have plagued the iconic landmark, making its woes the subject of national interest.

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