The Full Belmonte, 4/4/2024
Special counsel Jack Smith fires back at Judge Cannon’s order that could disrupt Trump classified documents case
“The prosecutor asked U.S. Judge Aileen M. Cannon to rule quickly on Donald Trump's claim that he is protected by the Presidential Records Act, so the government can appeal before trial. The filing represents the most stark and high-stakes confrontation yet between Cannon and the special counsel, illustrating the extent to which a ruling that legitimizes Trump's position could eviscerate the historic case.”
Read more at Washington Post
Trump Trials
“The judge overseeing Trump’s Manhattan criminal trial denied Trump’s request to postpone the start date.” [New York Times]
“Federal prosecutors, frustrated by the pace of Trump’s classified documents case, pressed the judge overseeing it to move faster.” [New York Times]
“The billionaire whose company gave Trump a $175 million bond got rich by offering high-interest car loans to people with bad credit.” [New York Times]
‘Angry’ Biden not changing Israel policy after deadly strike on aid workers
“The Biden administration has no plans to change its policy toward Israel after the ally’s forces killed seven humanitarian aid workers.
President Joe Biden was privately enraged by the deadly strike and in a public statement upbraided Israel for it, calling for “accountability” to those responsible and demanding more humanitarian assistance be allowed into Gaza. But two senior administration officials said that is as far as he and the White House will go for now.”
Read the latest at POLITICO
(Rick Wilking/Reuters/File)
Eclipse
“The highly anticipated solar eclipse is just days away but many people are scrambling to make — or modify — plans due to changes in the forecast for Monday's event. Severe thunderstorms are possible in parts of the Southern Plains and Lower Mississippi Valley, including in the path of totality. These storms could obscure the view for some but are more likely to bring risks for post-eclipse travelers. Totality, when the moon will entirely block the sun, will occur along a more than 100-mile-wide path from Texas to Maine, passing over cities like Dallas, Indianapolis, Cleveland and Buffalo, New York. But parts of Texas — including Dallas — Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana are at an increased risk of thunderstorms with heavy clouds as the event draws near.” [CNN]
Trump's $43M dinner
Illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios
“Former President Trump is on track to raise $43 million at a fundraiser in Palm Beach on Saturday, in what many billionaire Republican donors are considering the kickoff for the general election, campaign sources tell me.
Why it matters: That haul would eclipse the $26 million raised by President Biden last week at his celebrity-studded Radio City Music Hall event, which was billed as the largest fundraiser in political history.
Trump's "Inaugural Leadership Dinner," led by hedge-fund billionaire John Paulson, tops out at a "Chairman level" of $824,600, which includes "dinner seating at President Trump's table."
The event will feature former first lady Melania Trump and three of Trump's former primary opponents — Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Vivek Ramaswamy and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum.
A source familiar with the planning tells Axios: ‘This event is greatly exceeding expectations and shows the Republican Party is united behind President Trump.’
How it works: Sources tell me the eye-popping total was achieved with personal phone calls by Trump, "peer-to-peer asks" (in this case, some literal billionaire-to-billionaire conversations) and a persuasive deck about the electoral outlook by campaign co-manager Susie Wiles.
The other side: A source involved in Biden's fundraising was skeptical of the total being touted for Saturday's event, telling me that ‘getting everyone to max out in April" is ‘not a sustainable way to fund a campaign.’” [Axios]
Ukraine lowers its conscription age to 25 to replenish its beleaguered troops
“Ukraine lowered its draft-eligible age for men from 27 to 25 on Wednesday, reflecting the strain that more than two years of war with Russia has put on its military and the need to infuse its depleted ranks with new conscripts.” Read More at AP News
Iranian protesters in Tehran burn U.S. and Israeli flags during a gathering to condemn the killing members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards in Syria. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
WORLD NEWS
US braces for retaliation after attack on Iran consulate — even as it says it wasn’t involved
“After an airstrike widely attributed to Israel destroyed an Iranian consulate building in Syria, the United States had an urgent message for Iran: We had nothing to do with it. But that may not be enough for the U.S. to avoid retaliation targeting its forces in the region. Read more.
Why this matters:
The U.S. remains Israel’s indispensable ally and unstinting supplier of weapons, responsible for some 70% of Israeli weapon imports and an estimated 15% of Israel’s defense budget. That includes providing the kind of advanced aircraft and munitions that appear to have been employed in the attack.
Israel hasn’t acknowledged a role in the airstrike, but Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said Tuesday the U.S. has assessed Israel was responsible. Multiple arms of Iran’s government served notice they would hold the United States accountable for the fiery attack.
American forces in Syria and Iraq already are frequent targets when Iran and its regional allies seek retaliation for strikes by Israelis, notes Charles Lister, the Syria program director for the Middle East Institute. U.S. officials have recorded more than 150 attacks by Iran-backed militias in Iraq and Syria on U.S. forces at bases in those countries since the war between Hamas and Israel began on Oct. 7.” [AP News]
“In some ways, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization — celebrating its 75th anniversary today — is stronger than ever.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has injected the military alliance with a renewed sense of purpose. European allies are finally spending more on defense. And with Finland and Sweden’s recent accession, it has grown to 32 members from the original 12 in 1949.
In other ways, NATO is grappling with more complex challenges than ever as it prepares for a leaders’ summit in Washington in July.
Even as the alliance tries to prevent a broader NATO-Russia clash, it’s being drawn into more direct involvement in Europe’s biggest land conflict since World War II.
In an effort to shield Ukraine aid from vagaries in US policy, NATO is proposing to assume the coordination of weapons deliveries to Kyiv alongside a $100 billion fund for five years. That’s a shift from its previous attempts to avoid fueling Russian President Vladimir Putin’s narrative that NATO is party to the conflict.
While French President Emmanuel Macron’s comments about the possibility of Western ground troops in Ukraine drew pushback from counterparts, many officials quietly acknowledge it’s not wise to rule anything out in light of Russia’s aggression.
Inside the alliance, doubts are growing about US commitment to European security with the possible return to the White House of Donald Trump, who’s threatened to withdraw.
Trump aside, the US for a while now has been shifting focus to Asia and China’s rising military might. That has the transatlantic alliance looking increasingly to the Pacific, even if it wouldn’t welcome Asian states as members.
NATO so far has succeeded in preventing major conflicts on its territories for 75 years. The question is if it can repeat that success in the decades ahead.” —Natalia Drozdiak [Bloomberg]
WATCH: NATO foreign ministers are meeting in Brussels to mark the alliance’s 75th anniversary.
“The limits of US influence over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government became apparent this week after Israeli forces in Gaza killed seven aid workers — bringing the total number to 196, according to the United Nations — and carried out a deadly airstrike on Iran’s embassy compound in Damascus. Benny Gantz, a member of Israel’s war cabinet, ramped up pressure on Netanyahu by calling for early elections.” [Bloomberg]
Relatives and friends carry the body of Saif Abu Taha, a staff member of aid group World Central Kitchen, at his funeral in Rafah on Tuesday. Photographer: Said Khatib/AFP/Getty Images
“Mexico’s once-frugal president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, is stoking the largest budget deficit since the 1980s as he expands welfare programs to help his party win the June election. The strategy has boosted his candidate, Claudia Sheinbaum, who’s leading the presidential race to succeed him by 23 points, according to Bloomberg’s polling tracker.” [Bloomberg]
“Argentine President Javier Milei has managed to maintain public support even while slashing federal aid for local governments, devaluing the peso, announcing 70,000 state job cuts, and doing away with price controls. But as Manuela Tobias and Kevin Simauchi report, annual inflation has still soared to 276%, piling pressure on Milei to show some success in easing that pain before voters rebel at his shock therapy.” [Bloomberg]
“Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is preparing to punish ruling party lawmakers caught concealing political funds, as he seeks to move on from a scandal that sent his voter support to record lows. Two senior politicians will be told to resign from the Liberal Democratic Party, while dozens of others will face lesser penalties, public broadcaster NHK reported.” [Bloomberg]
“South Africa’s former speaker of parliament, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, handed herself over to the authorities after facing the threat of arrest over graft charges.” [Bloomberg]
“Kuwaitis go to the polls today for the fourth time in as many years to choose a new parliament after ruler Emir Sheikh Mishaal Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah dissolved the previous one less than two months ago when lawmakers used language deemed unconstitutional.” [Bloomberg]
“Separatist militants from Jaish al-Adl, a Sunni group that operates around the Iran-Pakistan border, killed at least five members of Iran’s security forces in multiple attacks in the country’s southeast, state media reported.” [Bloomberg]
College will cost up to $95,000 this fall. Schools say it’s OK, financial aid can numb sticker shock
“A number of private colleges — some considered elite and others middle-of-the-pack — have exceeded the $90,000 threshold for the first time this year as they set their annual costs for tuition, board, meals and other expenses. That means a family with three children could expect to shell out more than $1 million by the time their youngest child completes a four-year degree. But the sticker price tells only part of the story. Read more.
Why this matters:
The sticker prices don’t always provide apples-to-apples comparisons because some colleges include costs like health insurance and travel expenses, while others don’t.
Many colleges with large endowments have become more focused in recent years on making college affordable for students who aren’t wealthy. Lower-income families may be required to pay just 10% of the advertised rate and, for some, attending a selective private college can be cheaper than a state institution.
But many prospective students this year are facing significant delays and anxiety in finding out how much aid they will be offered by colleges. This is due to major problems with the rollout of a new U.S. Department of Education online form that was supposed to make applying for federal aid easier. Many colleges rely on information from the form for determining their own aid offers to students.” [AP News]
The FDA approved a new test to predict sepsis in hospitals.
“It’s a first: The tool, approved this week, uses artificial intelligence to predict the complex condition, which contributes to at least 350,000 deaths a year in the U.S.
How it works: It creates a snapshot of a patient’s risk of sepsis by analyzing 22 elements of health, including blood-based measures, temperature and heart rate.”
Read this story at Washington Post
Angel Reese Hans Pennink/Associated Press
“College basketball: The L.S.U. star Angel Reese declared for the W.N.B.A. draft two days after Iowa eliminated her team in the Elite Eight.” [New York Times]
“N.F.L.: The Houston Texans acquired the star wide receiver Stefon Diggs from the Buffalo Bills, a big swing for a young Houston team now expected to compete for a Super Bowl.” [New York Times]