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Trump joins list of ex-presidents around the world who have been prosecuted in criminal cases

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Trump joins list of ex-presidents around the world who have been prosecuted in criminal cases

The legal indictment of former President Trump is unprecedented, however solely so far as U.S. historical past goes.

All over the world, quite a few former heads of presidency have ended up within the dock and sometimes behind bars, in democracies younger and previous.

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was inaugurated as president of Brazil on Jan. 1, about three years after he emerged from spending 20 months in jail. He was convicted of cash laundering and different corrupt practices throughout his earlier time period as president, from 2003 to 2010.

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Not solely was a former president prosecuted and despatched to jail, however being an ex-con didn’t stop him from searching for election once more. (His conviction was finally annulled by Brazil’s excessive court docket.)

All over the world, presidents and prime ministers are sometimes faraway from workplace by legal investigations, or alleged crimes come again to hang-out them after they’ve left workplace. It’s so frequent that it not often raises too many eyebrows.

In South Korea, three former presidents have been convicted of corruption expenses — one whereas in workplace, who was impeached, and two after leaving workplace — and sentenced to lengthy jail phrases. All had been finally given decreased sentences or pardoned.

In Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu ran for election late final 12 months though he was on trial for corruption. His social gathering and its coalition companions received, and he’s as soon as once more prime minister after two earlier tenures from 1996 to 1999 and 2009 to 2021. They’re utilizing their energy to try to alter the Israeli judiciary to reduce future accountability, a transfer that has triggered huge demonstrations all through the nation by offended Israelis who say they’re defending democracy.

Does the relative ease with which former chief executives are prosecuted counsel that the wheels of justice and accountability are stronger in different international locations? Not essentially.

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Usually it’s the very weak point of the system and absence of guardrails that permit straightforward prosecution and removing of leaders.

Peru, with its shaky political system, would possibly maintain the world document on this entrance. Nearly each Peruvian president within the final 38 years has been convicted of crimes whereas in workplace, faces prosecution or is combating extradition from one other nation to keep away from having to confront justice.

And but one of many world’s oldest and most secure democracies, France, has additionally punished alleged wrongdoing on the highest ranges of presidency.

Nicolas Sarkozy, president of France from 2007 to 2012, was repeatedly investigated for a number of corruption expenses after he left workplace. He was convicted in 2021 of tampering with a judicial case to his profit and sentenced to 3 years in jail. He denied guilt. One other case opened towards the politically conservative however stylistically flamboyant former president in 2013 accused him of getting accepted hundreds of thousands of {dollars} from Libyan dictator Moammar Kadafi to illegally finance his 2007 marketing campaign. Sarkozy additionally denied these allegations.

It appears the USA is nearly distinctive amongst democracies in the way in which with which it treats its former presidents with child gloves. Different democracies don’t afford their leaders the identical stage of near-immunity that U.S. custom does. Consultants say that is due partly to a U.S. want to take a position stability within the viability of its leaders.

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Nevertheless, by no means earlier than Trump had a chief govt routinely flouted norms.

“We’ve been very fortunate within the U.S. to not often have presidents who’ve exhibited such blatant disregard for the regulation,” stated Mark Schmitt, director of the political reform program on the New America suppose tank in Washington, D.C.

The exception, he famous, was Richard Nixon, who was compelled to resign however pardoned by his successor Gerald Ford earlier than any indictments might be handed down.

“We’re not a lot ‘averse to accountability’ as fortunate, however there could also be some options of our system that may assist with that, such because the nonpolitical civil service and the nominal independence of companies such because the Federal Reserve,” Schmitt stated.

Trump supporters have expressed disbelief on the Manhattan grand jury determination to indict the previous president, who withstood an unprecedented two impeachments whereas in workplace.

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The previous president’s allies have maintained that indicting him is “un-American.” And in some methods, up till this level, it has been.

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Judge rules illegal immigrants have gun rights protected by 2nd Amendment

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Judge rules illegal immigrants have gun rights protected by 2nd Amendment

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A federal judge in Illinois has found that the Constitution protects the gun rights of noncitizens who enter the United States illegally.

U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman on Friday ruled that a federal prohibition on illegal immigrants owning firearms is unconstitutional as applied to defendant Heriberto Carbajal-Flores. The court found that while the federal ban is “facially constitutional,” there is no historical tradition of firearm regulation that permits the government to deprive a noncitizen who has never been convicted of a violent crime from exercising his Second Amendment rights.

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“The noncitizen possession statute … violates the Second Amendment as applied to Carbajal-Flores,” the judge wrote. “Thus, the Court grants Carbajal-Flores’ motion to dismiss.”

Coleman, a President Obama appointee, cited the landmark Supreme Court decision in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen (2022), which established a new standard to determine whether a law violates the Second Amendment. Since Bruen, a multitude of federal and state gun control measures have been challenged in courts with mixed results. 

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The Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution states “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” (iStock)

In this case, U.S. v. Carbajal-Flores, the court considered whether people who enter the country illegally can be banned from owning firearms.

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Carbajal-Flores is an illegal immigrant who, on June 1, 2020, was found to be in possession of a handgun in the Little Village neighborhood of Chicago. He was subsequently charged with violating a federal law that prohibits any noncitizen who is not legally authorized to be in the U.S. from “possess[ing] in or affecting commerce, any firearm or ammunition; or to receive any firearm or ammunition which has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce.” 

In an April 2022 decision, Coleman denied Carbajal-Flores’ first motion to dismiss his indictment, finding that the ban was constitutional. However, Carbajal-Flores asked the court to reconsider that ruling following the Supreme Court’s decision in Bruen and appellate decisions in the Third and Seventh Circuit that considered whether people convicted of non-violent crimes can be prohibited from possessing firearms. 

CONGRESS POISED TO ROLL BACK ‘VETERAN GUN BAN,’ WITH RELUCTANT BIDEN BACKING

U.S. District Judge Sharon J. Coleman presents award to attorney Paula E. Litt

U.S. District Judge Sharon J. Coleman, left, presents an award for Excellence in Pro Bono and Public Interest Service to attorney Paula E. Litt, on May 1, 2019. (U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division)

Upon review, Coleman concluded that Carbajal-Flores’ illegally present status was not sufficient to deny him Second Amendment rights. The judge said the “plain text” of the Constitution “presumptively protects firearms possession by undocumented persons.” 

“Carbajal-Flores has never been convicted of a felony, a violent crime, or a crime involving the use of a weapon. Even in the present case, Carbajal-Flores contends that he received and used the handgun solely for self-protection and protection of property during a time of documented civil unrest in the Spring of 2020,” the judge wrote. “Additionally, Pretrial Service has confirmed that Carbajal-Flores has consistently adhered to and fulfilled all the stipulated conditions of his release, is gainfully employed, and has no new arrests or outstanding warrants.”

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The court determined that because there is insufficient evidence to suggest Carbajal-Flores is a danger to society, there is no historical analogue that would permit the federal government to deny him his gun rights. 

NRA SLAMS BIDEN’S SOTU SPEECH AS ATTACK ON ‘THE VERY FABRIC OF AMERICAN FREEDOM’

Gun store customer

A federal judge in Illinois has ruled that the Second Amendment protects the gun rights of illegal immigrants. (Kyle Grillot/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“The Court finds that Carbajal-Flores’ criminal record, containing no improper use of a weapon, as well as the non-violent circumstances of his arrest do not support a finding that he poses a risk to public safety such that he cannot be trusted to use a weapon responsibly and should be deprived of his Second Amendment right to bear arms in self-defense,” Judge Coleman wrote. “Thus, this Court finds that, as applied to Carbajal-Flores, Section 922(g)(5) is unconstitutional.”

The ruling has divided gun rights activists, with some arguing that noncitizens should not have rights protected by the Constitution.

Erich Pratt, senior vice president of Gun Owners of America (GOA), told Fox News Digital his group “has historically recognized the dangers unchecked illegal immigration presents, chiefly of which is a serious potential to swing the balance of power into the hands of anti-gun politicians.” 

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Pratt reiterated GOA does not support amnesty for illegal immigrants. 

“In this underlying ruling, the Second Amendment community undoubtedly has mixed feelings, because while illegal aliens are most certainly not part of ‘the People,’ everyone has a God-given right to defend themselves against violent acts like rape and murder,” he said. 

“Of course, the courts wouldn’t have to decide this question if Joe Biden and the Democratic Party would simply secure our borders.”

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Trump sues ABC News and George Stephanopoulos for defamation

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Trump sues ABC News and George Stephanopoulos for defamation

Former President Trump is suing TV journalist George Stephanopoulos and ABC News for defamation for saying he raped advice columnist E. Jean Carroll.

On a March 10 edition of “This Week with George Stephanopoulos,” the anchor said Trump was “liable for rape” during his interview with Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.). Stephanopoulos was pressing Mace, a rape victim herself, on how she could rationalize supporting Trump’s 2024 presidential candidacy.

Trump’s lawsuit, filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Miami, said the jury in the Carroll case found him liable for sexual abuse — not rape — and that Stephanopoulos defamed the presumptive Republican presidential nominee by using the term.

A jury ruled in January that Trump must pay Carroll $83.3 million in damages after finding Trump liable for defamation, the second case related to a 1996 incident that occurred when the two met in a New York department store.

In May, jurors rejected Carroll’s allegation that she was raped but found Trump responsible for the lesser charge of sexual abuse, along with defamation, and awarded Carroll $5 million in damages. Trump, who denied that the incident occurred, repeatedly mocked Carroll over her claims.

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Trump’s suit cites how Stephanopoulos himself reported that Trump was not liable for rape when he reported on the verdict of the previous Carroll case on May 10.

The suit also noted that the headline on an ABC News online story on the Mace interview first used the word “rape” and was later changed to “sexual abuse.”

Trump’s suit is asking for unspecified damages.

ABC News has not issued a comment on the matter.

The tense “This Week” interview was widely shared on social media. Mace took umbrage at Stephanopoulos’ question, claiming he was “rape-shaming” her by bringing up her own experience as a victim, which she has publicly discussed.

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Trump has previously sued media outlets, including the New York Times and CNN, with no success.

Trump sued the Times over its investigation of his finances, which led to the recent New York civil court ruling that has him on the hook for $454 million. The suit was dismissed in March and Trump had to reimburse the Times legal cost.

In 2022, Trump sued CNN for $475 million claiming the news network was waging a campaign against him by booking guests critical of his policies and speeches. The case was dismissed in 2023.

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Mark Milley and former CENTCOM commander to face grilling in Congress over Biden's Afghanistan withdrawal

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Mark Milley and former CENTCOM commander to face grilling in Congress over Biden's Afghanistan withdrawal

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Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark Milley, will testify before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday for the first time since retiring, potentially freeing him to offer new details about the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Joining Milley will be retired Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, who served as United States Central Command (CENTCOM) commander during the 2021 withdrawal. The pair have appeared before Congress to discuss failings in the operation before, but Republicans say they may have been more tight-lipped then because they were still serving under President Biden.

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Both Milley and McKenzie testified in 2021 that they had advised Biden to maintain a small U.S. force in Afghanistan, rather than committing to a full U.S. withdrawal. Milley himself has described the operation as a “strategic failure,” saying he has “lots of regrets.”

“It didn’t end the way I wanted it. That didn’t end the way any of us wanted it,” he told ABC News in September. “In the broader sense, the war was lost.”

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Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, left, will testify before the House Foreign Affairs Committee for the first time since retiring on Tuesday, potentially freeing him to offer new details about the botched U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

The Tuesday afternoon hearing comes after months of Republican investigations into Biden’s handling of the withdrawal. Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas., has repeatedly demanded the State Department turn over documents relating to the operation.

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Secretary of State Antony Blinken has so far refused to offer interview notes relating to the Afghanistan after action report, which blamed senior officials for failing to prepare for all outcomes in the operation.

General McKenzie Afghanistan Pentagon

Retired Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, former commander of the United States Central Command, listens during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the conclusion of military operations in Afghanistan. (Sarahbeth Maney/The New York Times via AP, Pool)

Despite the deaths of 13 U.S. servicemembers and the abandoning of tens of thousands of Afghan allies to Taliban rule, Biden strongly believes behind closed doors that he made the right decisions during the operation, according to an upcoming book.

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Following the withdrawal, “no one offered to resign, in large part because the president didn’t believe anyone had made a mistake. Ending the war was always going to be messy,” author Alexander Ward writes in the book, “The Internationalists: The Fight to Restore Foreign Policy After Trump.”

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President Joe Biden

Despite the deaths of 13 U.S. servicemembers and the abandoning of tens of thousands of Afghan allies to Taliban rule, President Biden strongly believes behind closed doors that he made the right decisions during the operation, according to an upcoming book. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Biden allegedly told his top aides, including White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan, that they had done their best given the situation and vowed to stand by them.

Fox News’ Nikolas Lanum contributed to this report.

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