Washington
Trump’s lawyers spar with judge in Washington election interference case
A tense hearing has unfolded in one of former United States President Donald Trump’s four criminal cases, as his defence team questioned the legitimacy of the proceedings.
Thursday’s hearing took place before US District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan in Washington, DC, where Trump faces four felony counts for attempting to overturn the 2020 US presidential election.
Trump himself was not present at the proceedings. But from the outset, defence lawyer John Lauro cast doubt on the validity of the charges and the timing of the case.
“We may be dealing with an illegitimate indictment from the get-go,” Lauro told the court.
He also asserted that a recent Supreme Court decision granting presumptive immunity to a range of presidential actions should result in the case’s outright dismissal.
“We want an orderly process that does justice to the Supreme Court opinion,” he said.
But it was Lauro’s suggestion that the court’s actions were unfair that sparked a sharp exchange with Judge Chutkan.
Lauro called the proceedings “enormously prejudicial” to Trump, who is currently running as the Republican nominee in the 2024 presidential election.
“This process is inherently unfair, particularly during this sensitive time,” Lauro told Chutkan.
The judge quickly shot back, saying her concern was only the four criminal counts in front of her court. “The timing of the election,” she explained, was “not relevant” to her decisions.
“This court is not concerned with the electoral schedule,” she said. “That’s not something I’m going to consider.”
Lauro pushed back throughout the hearing. “We’re talking about the presidency of the United States,” he said at one point.
But Chutkan was quick to tamp down that argument. “I’m not talking about the presidency of the United States. I’m talking about a four-count indictment,” she replied.
She questioned whether Trump’s defence team may be angling to delay the trial until after the election. Lauro, meanwhile, said prosecutors were “rushing to judgement” with their court filings.
Chutkan, however, dismissed any suggestion that the case was progressing too quickly.
“This case has been pending for over a year,” she said. “We’re hardly sprinting to the finish here.”
Thursday’s hearing was one of the first in nearly a year’s time, something Chutkan and Lauro joked about at the start of the day.
“Life was almost meaningless without seeing you,” Lauro in a lighthearted moment with the judge.
“Enjoy it while it lasts,” Chutkan responded.
The Washington, DC, criminal case had been delayed multiple times, as courts weighed the question of Trump’s immunity from prosecution. Trump had claimed “absolute” immunity for any action taken while he was president, from 2017 to 2021.
On July 1, the Supreme Court issued a decision, dismissing any claims to absolute immunity but nevertheless granting broad “presumptive immunity” to any “official” actions the president might take.
The decision itself did not clearly delineate what counts as an “official” or “unofficial” action, but it suggested that interactions with government officials like the vice president would be protected from prosecution.
The ruling was therefore seen as a broadening of presidential power, beyond what is established under the US Constitution.
In August, in response to the Supreme Court’s decision, the prosecution in the Washington, DC, case — led by Special Counsel Jack Smith — issued an updated indictment against Trump that zeroed in on actions it considered “unofficial”.
Those included actions Trump took as a presidential candidate in the 2020 election cycle, and actions taken by his re-election campaign.
The four counts Trump faces remain the same. He is accused of conspiracy to defraud the US, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, attempting to obstruct an official proceeding and conspiracy to prevent the free exercise of rights under the US Constitution.
Those charges stem from his actions after the 2020 election, which he lost to President Joe Biden, a Democrat. Trump repeatedly claimed that the result was “rigged”, and he and his allies are accused of pressuring election officials to change the outcome.
After he encouraged his supporters to continue fighting the results, thousands swarmed the US Capitol building, in an attempt to interrupt the certification of the Electoral College votes on January 6, 2021.
On Thursday, Trump’s defence team formally resubmitted his plea of not guilty to the superseding indictment. Trump has pleaded not guilty in all the criminal cases against him so far.
When Lauro, the defence lawyer, suggested that the recent Supreme Court case would nullify interactions included in the updated indictment, Chutkan was firm.
“No, they did not decide that,” she said. “I have to decide.”
ASHBURN, Va. – The Washington Commanders have released their 2026 Training Camp schedule, with eleven open practices between August 1 and August 19, including five open to all fans and six reserved for season ticket members.
For the fifth straight year, training camp will take place at the team’s football operations headquarters in Ashburn, Virginia.
Open practices for all fans are scheduled for August 1, August 7, August 8, August 18 and August 19.
Season ticket member practices will be held August 3, 4, 5, 10, 11 and 12.
All sessions begin at 8:30 a.m., with gates opening at 7:30 a.m.
Fans can claim free tickets beginning June 23 at 10 a.m. General admission fans may request up to six tickets and one parking pass for a single day of camp. Season ticket members can claim tickets for two member‑exclusive days in addition to one general admission day. All parking will be on site at the BigBear.ai Performance Center and requires a parking pass.
The team plans several themed events throughout camp, including Back Together Weekend on August 1, Military Appreciation Day on August 7 and Kids Day on August 8. Local youth football and community groups will also be hosted throughout the summer.
For more information visit the Washington Commanders online.
The Source: Information in this article comes from the Washington Commanders.
The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on Washington’s National Mall is set to be drained again for repairs after algae and peeling paint appeared just weeks after a US$14.7 million renovation, while President Donald Trump threatened prison time for anyone caught damaging the pool.
The DC Water authority issued a permit to drain the 609-metre rectangular pool, it said on Monday, while the repair company said it would fix the pool as part of its warranty.
Peeling paint and algae growth have been visible in the pool since soon after Trump declared the renovation project complete on June 6. Critics have raised concerns about the no-bid contract to recoat the pool before the nation’s 250th anniversary celebrations next month, as well as for the ducks that use its water. Workers from the National Park Service earlier this week poured hydrogen peroxide into the pool to combat the algae.
Trump, without evidence, has blamed vandals for the state of the landmark. On Monday, he echoed a weekend threat by US Attorney Jeanine Pirro to prosecute people accused of attempting to destroy the pool.
“Please remember that there is a 10-year prison sentence for the destruction, or even the attempted destruction, of such things – Which will be fully enforced!” Trump earlier wrote in a social media post. Destruction of federal property can carry a maximum prison sentence of 10 years.
It was not immediately apparent what criminal or civil violation someone might commit reaching into the pool.
Half a year can be an eternity in the NBA.
Seven months ago, as Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks headed toward a divorce, Young’s value within the league had never been lower.
On Monday, Young and the Washington Wizards agreed to a new four-year, maximum-salary contract worth approximately $212.9 million, according to a league source. The fourth year of the contract will be a player option.
Young’s first-year salary is estimated to be $49.5 million, which amounts to 30 percent of the projected 2026-27 salary cap of $165 million. During the 2029-30 season, the final year of the contract, Young will earn $56.9 million if he accepts his player option.
Wizards officials would love it, of course, if Young can return to the form that made him an All-NBA Third Team player during the 2021-22 season. But at the very least, they place significant value on knowing that their team’s offense will start with him on most occasions, and that he will be around to shoulder a large portion of the scoring load while the team’s young players, who comprise the team’s long-term nucleus, continue to improve.
Wizards get the No. 1 draft pick. Will it make a difference?
David Aldridge
That Young will receive such large annual salaries no doubt will come as a shock to many observers, especially after Young’s reputation took a beating toward the end of his Hawks tenure. The NBA rumor mill, which is often inaccurate, predicted months ago that any new deal between Young and the Wizards would average no more than $40 million annually.
But in recent weeks, Wizards decision-makers became convinced that, with the NBA’s new anti-tanking measures compelling more teams to compete, Young was going to command maximum-salary contract offers from other franchises through either a straight free-agent signing or a sign-and-trade proposal.
Because the Wizards hold Young’s Bird rights, the Wizards had the latitude to offer Young up to a five-year contract with 8 percent annual raises. But Young’s new four-year deal instead features 5 percent year-over-year raises, the maximum year-over-year raise that any other team could have offered Young as a non-Bird free agent. For Washington, the difference between signing Young to 5 percent raises instead of 8 percent raises will amount to a total savings of $8.9 million over four years.
Wizards officials are not concerned that Young’s new contract will age poorly and prevent them from making future moves to improve their roster. Anthony Davis, who is due to earn $58.5 million in 2026-27, and Young are now Washington’s highest-paid players on its young roster, but the person with the third-largest salary is big man Alex Sarr, who will be paid the relatively small sum of $12.3 million this season. At the earliest, the Wizards do not expect to approach the dreaded first apron until the 2028-29 season, when any new rookie-scale contract extensions for Sarr and Kyshawn George would go into effect.
Plus, Wizards officials reason that Young, who will turn 28 years old in September, will remain in his prime years through the end of his contract. The onerous large contracts that age the worst — potentially Jimmy Butler’s current deal with the Golden State Warriors and Paul George’s current deal with the Philadelphia 76ers, for example — tend to be contracts in which players already are past their primes at the start of their contracts.
Young is by no means a perfect player. Undersized at 6 feet 1, and undeniably more focused on the offensive end of the floor, he tended to be a significant defensive liability throughout his Hawks tenure. That trend could worsen if he begins to lose a step (or two) over the next several years.
At the same time, though, Wizards officials have always known that their lineups would have to feature enough positional size and enough defensive-oriented players to compensate for Young’s shortcomings — in the same way that the defensive liabilities of LaMelo Ball, Jalen Brunson, Luka Dončić, Kyrie Irving and Donovan Mitchell (and others) are compensated for by their respective teams.
The Wizards’ decision-makers believe Davis and youngsters Bilal Coulibaly, Davis, George, Sarr and whomever they pick first overall in Tuesday night’s draft will develop into strong enough defenders to help Young.
Young appeared in only five games for Washington last season after his trade from Atlanta for CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert. That was a large enough sample size to demonstrate how his gravity and his passing skill could create open shots for his new teammates. George, Tre Johnson and others should receive more wide-open 3-point looks when Young directs the offense, and Sarr and Davis should feast on lobs from Young in pick-and-rolls.
Only 16 players in NBA history have averaged at least 20 points and 10 assists per game in the same season, according to Basketball Reference. Young is one of those players, and he has done it three times, during the 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons. The only other players who have had at least three seasons of at least 20 points and 10 assists per game are James Harden (four times), Kevin Johnson (three times), Magic Johnson (three times), Oscar Robertson (five times), Isiah Thomas (four times) and Russell Westbrook (five times).
The franchise expects Young to make Washington’s offense more efficient and, because opponents will have to take the ball out of their net more often, give Washington’s defense more opportunities to set itself.
July 6 is the first day when new free-agent contracts may be signed and made official.
-
Movie Reviews50 seconds agoFilm Review: Soy Frankelda – SLUG Magazine
-
World13 minutes ago
U.S. and Iran Offer Conflicting Accounts of Nuclear Discussions
-
Health36 minutes agoVideo: Why Milder Symptoms Could Make This Ebola Outbreak More Dangerous
-
Lifestyle51 minutes agoWorking hard as ever, Wendell Pierce aims for an annual trifecta: TV, film and theater
-
Education58 minutes agoThe Patriot Housewife Whose Plays Helped Push America Toward Revolution
-
Technology1 hour agoThe best robot vacuum deals available during Prime Day
-
World1 hour agoTurkey detains over 200 suspects, including alleged ISIS militants, in sweeping raid ahead of NATO summit
-
Politics1 hour agoTrump foe wins crucial Dem primary as 2028 presidential speculation swirls
