The Full Belmonte, 8/15/2023
“A grand jury in Atlanta indicted Trump late last night for his role in failed efforts to overturn Georgia's 2020 election results. The 41-count indictment also names 18 others, including former Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani and former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows. All 19 defendants are accused of violating the state's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO.” [NPR]
The indictment Trump feared most
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney receives indictment papers from County Court Clerk Ché Alexander in Atlanta last night. Photo: Megan Varner/Getty Images
“‘Most indicted president.’ That was our Axios AM headline on Aug. 2 — 13 days ago.
After last night's indictment in Fulton County, Ga., it's even more true — now 91 felonies instead of 78.
Any one of them could send former President Trump to prison for years.
In charges announced at 10:54 p.m. ET, a grand jury in Atlanta indicted Trump and 18 allies after a two-year probe of efforts to flip Georgia's 2020 election results.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis used a mobster statute — Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) — to charge Trump and his co-defendants with violating the oath of office, conspiracy to commit forgery, filing false documents and more.
Why it matters: It's RICO. It's unpardonable by any president, since it's a state charge. The specifics are damning and hard to spin.
Many close to Trump have long thought that if one case could bring him down, it's this.
The big picture: We're living history, as former President Trump becomes the only sitting or former president to face criminal charges ... to face criminal charges twice ... and three times ... and four.
‘A criminal enterprise’: The indictment says the defendants, including Donald John Trump, ‘conspired and endeavored to conduct and participate in a criminal enterprise in Fulton County, Georgia, and elsewhere.’
The next paragraph calls it a ‘criminal organization.’
The allies include former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows ... former Trump Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark ... + lawyers Rudy Giuliani, Jenna Ellis, John Eastman, Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis speaks to the media in Atlanta after last night's indictments. Photo: Elijah Nouvelage/Reuters
Willis said at a late-night news conference that she plans to try Trump and the 18 other defendants together.
Those charged have until noon Friday, Aug. 25, to surrender.
The gist of the four criminal cases against Trump, via CNN:
Manhattan prosecutors' hush-money case: 34 counts against Trump.
DOJ special counsel's classified documents case: 40 counts against Trump.
DOJ special counsel's election subversion case: 4 counts against Trump.
Atlanta prosecutors' Georgia election meddling case: 13 counts against Trump.
Between the lines: Courts now will lead a fact-finding and reckoning for what's happened in the 2 years and 9 months — 1,015 days — since Election Day 2020.
We'll be living in complexity: All this legal action — and perhaps even trials (civil and criminal, state and federal) — will be the essential, deafening context to what's looking like a 2024 rematch of that election.
Trump has five trials scheduled between now and May.
As you can see in this clever Axios timeline, Trump's scheduled court dates (including civil fraud and defamation suits) are interspersed with the Iowa caucuses ... and Super Tuesday ... and, if Trump lasts as a candidate, the Republican National Convention.
What's next: Now ‘the country must brace itself for what will surely be described as the Trial of the Century,’ the N.Y. Times' Peter Baker writes.
‘Which will be followed by the next Trial of the Century. And then the next. And then the next.’
Searchable version of the 98-page indictment.” [Axios]
Case loaded with breathtaking ambition
Photo: Jon Elswick/AP
“The scope of the Georgia case contrasts sharply with federal indictments by special counsel Jack Smith, Axios' Erin Doherty writes.
Smith's case narrowly charged former President Trump as a sole defendant, with six unidentified co-conspirators.
Fulton County D.A. Fani Willis' case ties together 161 acts, with 19 defendants and 30 unindicted co-conspirators, across 7 states + D.C.
Trump's tweets were the play-by-play to the alleged conspiracy: 12 of the 161 acts were simply citing Trump statements made on Twitter.
Between the lines: The indictment alleges that members of the ‘criminal enterprise’ unlawfully accessed voting equipment and voter data in Georgia — and then distributed that stolen data to members in other states.
Act 19 from the indictment cites a meeting where Trump and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows requested a strategy for ‘delaying and disrupting’ the Jan. 6 congressional certification of electoral ballots.
Photo: Jon Elswick/AP
Trump's legal team said in a statement: ‘We look forward to a detailed review of this indictment, which is undoubtedly just as flawed and unconstitutional as this entire process has been.’
Rudy Giuliani said: ‘It's just the next chapter in a book of lies with the purpose of framing President Donald Trump and anyone willing to take on the ruling regime.’
The bottom line: Trump is likely to spend a significant portion of 2024 sitting in courtrooms instead of hitting the campaign trail.” [Axios]
Young environmental activists prevail in first-of-its-kind climate change trial in Montana
BY AMY BETH HANSON AND MATTHEW BROWN
“HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Young environmental activists scored what experts described as a ground-breaking legal victory Monday when a Montana judge said state agencies were violating their constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment by allowing fossil fuel development.
The ruling in this first-of-its- kind trial in the U.S. adds to a small number of legal decisions around the world that have established a government duty to protect citizensfrom climate change.
If it stands, the ruling could set an important legal precedent, though experts said the immediate impacts are limited and state officials pledged to seek to overturn the decision on appeal.
District Court Judge Kathy Seeley found the policy the state uses in evaluating requests for fossil fuel permits — which does not allow agencies to look at greenhouse gas emissions — is unconstitutional.
It marks the first time a U.S. court has ruled against a government for violating a constitutional right based on climate change, said Harvard Law School Professor Richard Lazarus.
‘To be sure, it is a state court not a federal court and the ruling is based on a state constitution and not the U.S. Constitution, but it is still clearly a major, pathbreaking win for climate plaintiffs,’ Lazarus wrote in an email.
The judge rejected the state’s argument that Montana’s emissions are insignificant, saying they were ‘a substantial factor’ in climate change. Montana is a major producer of coal burned for electricity and has large oil and gas reserves….” Read more at AP News
The Biden administration issued guidance on how colleges can still consider race in admissions.
“Officials from the Education and Justice departments said schools can use targeted outreach and recruiting initiatives that consider factors such as race, geography, financial resources and a parent’s education level, so long as targeted groups didn’t receive preference in the admission process itself. They also provided examples of what types of essays would be allowed. The Supreme Court ruled in June that schools can’t consider race as a factor on its own when making admission decisions, but can take into account how race affected the applicant’s life.” [Wall Street Journal]
The death toll from the Maui wildfires increased to at least 96.
“Crews are continuing the painstaking search for victims in the rubble. Some survivors believe the official death toll is low, having seen cars full of people overtaken by flames as traffic out of Lahaina came to a standstill in the rush to flee. About 4,500 customers remained without power in Maui County early Monday, according to data from PowerOutage.us, and cellphone carriers AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile said they were working to restore service. Many Maui residents have launched their own relief efforts, shuttling supplies to the fire-devastated region by boat.” [Wall Street Journal]
Gas prices
“Gas prices in the US have climbed to the highest level in nearly 10 months. The national average for a gallon of regular gasoline hit $3.85 on Monday, according to AAA, with 11 states averaging $4 a gallon or higher. That's the highest level since October 19 and comes just weeks ahead of Labor Day weekend when millions of Americans will hit the roads. Gas prices have increased by 28 cents over the past month and 32 cents since July 4 as a result of higher oil prices caused by Russia and Saudi Arabia cutting supply and extreme heat sidelining some US refineries. Earlier this month, Saudi Arabia also extended its oil production cut at least until September, which could threaten to drive gasoline prices even higher in the coming weeks.” [CNN]
The Smithsonian has at least 30,700 human bones and body parts in storage.
“How we know: The Post spent a year examining the National Museum of Natural History’s collection of human remains. It includes mummies, skulls and teeth, and 255 brains.
Key takeaways: Many parts were taken without consent and used to further racist theories. After years of lagging efforts, the museum plans to return more remains to descendants.”
Read this story at Washington Post
Hunter Biden said the Justice Department reneged on a plea deal.
“Lawyers for President Biden’s son said late Sunday a major part of the botched deal—the younger Biden’s agreement to enroll in a diversion program for gun offenders to avoid a felony gun-possession charge—should stand. U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika gave prosecutors until noon on Tuesday to respond. A spokesman for Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss, who on Friday was named special counsel to continue the investigation and prosecution related to Hunter Biden’s tax and business dealings, declined to comment. The dispute is threatening to become a factor in the 2024 presidential race as the elder Biden seeks re-election.” [Wall Street Journal]
University of Chicago Agrees to $13.5 Million Settlement in Financial Aid Antitrust Case
School is one of 17 accused of colluding to limit financial aid and drive up tuition prices
“The University of Chicago has agreed to pay $13.5 million to settle a lawsuit in which it was accused of illegally colluding with other top universities to limit financial aid to students, making it the first defendant in the case to settle, according to a court filing Monday.
The lawsuit, filed in Illinois federal court in January 2022, accuses 17 colleges and universities, including most members of the Ivy League, Duke University, Vanderbilt University and the California Institute of Technology, of engaging in price fixing by using a shared methodology to calculate applicants’ financial need.
Under a decades-old federal antitrust exemption that expired in the fall, schools were allowed to collaborate on their aid formulas, but only if they didn’t consider applicants’ financial circumstances in their admission decisions. The suit alleged that these schools do weigh applicants’ ability to pay in certain circumstances, including by giving an edge to children of wealthy donors or when considering who to admit from wait lists. As a result, the suit says, the schools shouldn’t have been eligible for the antitrust exemption.
The schools worked together under what was called the 568 Presidents Group, a reference to the section of the 1994 legislation that provided the exemption. The University of Chicago withdrew from the group around 2014, which plaintiffs say set it apart from the other defendants who remained involved. The group dissolved last year.
The University of Chicago said in a court filing that its settlement isn’t an admission of liability, but that settling would allow the school to avoid the distraction and expense of continued litigation….” Read more at Wall Street Journal
Six former Mississippi officers plead guilty to state charges for torturing two Black men
Six white former Mississippi law officers pleaded guilty to state charges Monday for torturing two Black men in a racist assault after recently admitting their guilt in a connected federal civil rights case. (Aug. 14)
“BRANDON, Miss. (AP) — Six white former Mississippi law officers pleaded guilty on Monday to state charges for torturing two Black men in a racist assault. All six had recently admitted their guilt in a connected federal civil rights case.
In the gruesome crimes committed by men tasked with enforcing the law, federal prosecutors saw echoes of Mississippi’s dark history, including the 1964 killing of three civil rights workers after a deputy handed them off to the Ku Klux Klan. Locally, the sheriff whose deputies committed the crimes this year called it the worst case of police brutality he had ever seen.
Prosecutors say some of the officers nicknamed themselves the ‘Goon Squad’ because of their willingness to use excessive force and cover up attacks including the assault that ended with a deputy shooting one victim in the mouth.
In January, the officers entered a house without a warrant and handcuffed and assaulted the two men with stun guns, a sex toy and other objects. The officers mocked them with racial slurs throughout a 90-minute torture session, then devised a cover-up that included planting drugs and a gun, leading to false charges that stood against the victims for months.
Their conspiracy unraveled after one officer told the sheriff he had lied, leading to confessions from the others. The charges against the victims weren’t dropped until June after federal and state investigators got involved, according to their attorney.
The men include five former Rankin County sheriff’s deputies — Brett McAlpin, Hunter Elward, Christian Dedmon, Jeffrey Middleton and Daniel Opdyke — and a former police officer from the city of Richland, Joshua Hartfield, who was off duty during the assault.
Elward pleaded guilty to aggravated assault for shooting his handgun in the victim’s mouth in what authorities called a ‘mock execution,’ thinking the weapon would dry fire without a bullet in the chamber….” Read more at AP News
Ecuador was calm and peaceful. Now hitmen, kidnappers and robbers walk the streets
BY REGINA GARCIA CANO
“GUAYAQUIL, Ecuador (AP) — Belen Diaz was walking home from college one evening when a motorcycle carrying two men made a menacing U-turn.
Terrified that she was about to be robbed for the eighth time in three years, the teaching student banged on a cab window until the driver drove her home. Diaz got away safe, but there was an unrelated fatal shooting the next day outside her gated community of two-story homes on the edge of the Ecuadorian port city of Guayaquil.
Ecuador was one of the calmest countries in Latin America until about three years ago. Today, criminals prowl relatively wealthy and working-class neighborhoods alike: professional hitmen, kidnappers, extortionists and thousands of thieves and robbers. Mexican and Colombian cartels have settled into coastal cities like Guayaquil and grabbed chunks of the trade shipping hundreds of millions of dollars of cocaine from neighboring Colombia and Peru to countries overseas.
One of the candidates in a special Aug. 20 presidential election had a famously tough stance on organized crime and corruption. Fernando Villavicencio was fatally shot in broad daylight Wednesday despite a security detail that included police and bodyguards.
‘No one is safe from the insecurity in the country,’ Anthony Garcia, who packs shrimp, said after the Villavicencio assassination. ‘We are at the hands of drug trafficking, of evil in its entirety.’
The country’s National Police tallied 3,568 violent deaths in the first six months of this year, far more than the 2,042 reported during the same period in 2022. That year ended with 4,600 violent deaths, the country’s highest in history and double the total in 2021.
The causes are complex. All, though, revolve around cocaine.
Cartel-aided gangs are battling for control of the streets, prisons and drug routes to the Pacific. Dwindling state coffers, political infighting, corruption and soaring debts created funding gaps in social and law-enforcement programs. The COVID-19 pandemic turned hungry children and unemployed adults into easy recruits for criminal groups.
Criminals are increasingly demanding payments from businesses and terming the fee a ‘vacuna’ — vaccine — as in immunity from crime.
“COVID came and went and left us vaccines, but a different type of vaccines,” said Holbach Muñeton, president of the National Federation of Provincial Chambers of Tourism of Ecuador.
Shopping and dining is a different experience these days. Convenience stores, auto part shops and pharmacies have floor-to-ceiling metal bars that prevent customers from entering from the sidewalk. Malls have metal detectors at the entrances. The bars and restaurants that survived the pandemic have fewer tables and close early.
Reports of robberies have soared. Data from the National Police show 31,485 cases were reported last year, about 11,000 more than in 2020….” Read more at AP News
Companies embedded in China’s ailing manufacturing, construction and export industries are reporting weaker sales, with some warning of further trouble to come.
PHOTO: YING TANG/ZUMA PRESS
China’s economic slump is damaging big American companies with deep roots in the country.
“The slowdown is impacting sales across a range of businesses, from chemical giants DuPont and Dow to heavy-equipment suppliers such as Caterpillar. Some companies expressed disappointment with Beijing’s stimulus measures and cut their outlook for the country into this year. Some executives warned of a global knock-on effect as customers elsewhere also feel the pain from reduced demand in China. Meanwhile, China’s latest property crisis is threatening to spill over into the broader economy, worrying investors and causing a broad market selloff.” [Wall Street Journal]
Currency Crisis
A woman walks past a currency exchange office in Moscow on Aug. 14.Yuri Kadobnov/AFP via Getty Images
“Russia’s Central Bank announced on Monday that it will convene an emergency meeting on Tuesday after the ruble fell to a 16-month low against the U.S. dollar—indicating that Western sanctions and international isolation over Russia’s war in Ukraine are taking a bite out of the country’s economy. According to new central bank data, the ruble is trading at a rate just above 101 to the U.S. dollar—a value loss of around 30 percent since the year began.
This marks the Kremlin’s weakest currency level since Russia invaded Ukraine more than 18 months ago. Now, only a handful of fiscally stricken nations—such as Turkey, Nigeria, and Argentina—are having a worse monetary year. ‘The whole world is laughing at us now,’ said Vladimir Solovyov, a Russian TV presenter considered Moscow’s top media propagandist.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s economic advisor, Maxim Oreshkin, wrote a column for a state media outlet blaming ‘loose monetary policy’ for the weak currency and worsening inflation. The nation’s central bank furthered his argument, citing Russia’s shrinking trade balance; the country’s account surplus fell 85 percent year on year in the last seven months, shrinking to just $25.2 billion.
Much of that is due to Western sanctions, which have restricted trade revenue, increased costs of imports, and made migrant labor less attractive in Russia during a time when Moscow is battling its worst labor shortage in decades. Still, Russia’s GDP exceeded expectations by growing 4.9 percent in its second quarter, mostly due to consistent oil revenue deals and intense government spending on war production efforts.
To stop inflation from rising further, Russia’s Central Bank raised interest rates last month. And on Thursday, it halted foreign-currency purchases for the rest of the year. But economists maintain that inflation will reach as high as 6.5 percent by the end of 2023.
If the Kremlin does not shore up its currency soon and decrease inflation fears, the nation’s economic crisis could spill into the streets. ‘It is important for the Central Bank of Russia to understand that until now, unfortunately, the dollar exchange rate is not only an economic indicator, the exchange rate has a significant impact on the social rights of our citizens,’ wrote Russian Sen. Andrey Klishas on Telegram.” [Foreign Policy]
“High treason. Niger’s military junta charged ousted President Mohamed Bazoum with high treason on Sunday for trying to derail peace negotiation efforts through his exchanges with foreign leaders and international organizations. He was also charged with threatening the country’s internal and external security. If found guilty, Bazoum could face the death penalty.
The announcement came hours after the junta said it was open to dialogue with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Last Thursday, ECOWAS ordered the deployment of a ‘standby force’ to Niger following the coup leaders’ failure to reinstate Bazoum by its Aug. 6 deadline; no such unit has been deployed to the West African country as of yet. What that force might look like, including whether it will have military intervention capabilities, is also still unclear.
Since the West African nation’s coup on July 26, Bazoum and his family have been held captive in the presidential palace, where reports indicate he is running out of food and living without electricity, water, or medical attention. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has since called for his release.” [Foreign Policy}
“Nature’s wrath. Intense flooding and landslides in northern India over the weekend have killed at least 58 people, local officials announced on Monday. That includes the roughly nine people killed when a Hindu temple collapsed in Shimla, the capital of Himachal Pradesh state. Rescue efforts are still underway as thousands of people are stranded by downed power lines, broken railways, and flooded roads.
Meanwhile, the death toll from Hawaii’s wildfires in Maui reached 96 people on Sunday, days after the historic town of Lahaina was decimated. That count is expected to rise as search efforts continue. Last week’s blaze was the island’s worst natural disaster in history as well as the United States’ deadliest wildfire since 1918. ‘It’s the kind of extreme weather that we climate scientists have been warning about for decades,’ climate scientist Peter Gleick told FP’s Christina Lu and Brawley Benson. ‘It just now seems to be happening everywhere, all at once.’” [Foreign Policy]
“The votes are in. Far-right populist Javier Milei won roughly 30 percent of Argentina’s presidential primary vote on Sunday, securing his candidacy for October’s general election. As founder of the Freedom Advances party, Milei—an admirer of former U.S. President Donald Trump—has turned heads for his polarizing views. He has called for abolishing the nation’s central bank, legalizing the sale of human organs, and making it easier to own handguns. He also claims climate change is a lie and that sex education will destroy traditional concepts of family.
Milei’s success surprised many local electoral officials; the main opposition party won 28 percent of the vote, and the ruling Union for the Homeland party only secured 27 percent—underperforming original polling predictions. Yesterday’s win marks ‘an end to the parasitic, corrupt, and useless political caste that exists in this country,’ Milei said. ‘A different Argentina is impossible with the same people as always.’” [Foreign Policy]
$900,000 AI job
Illustration: Allie Carl/Axios
“Corporate America is in an A.I. recruiting frenzy, with some big companies willing to pay salaries approaching seven figures for top talent, the Wall Street Journal reports (subscription).
Walmart, Accenture and firms in entertainment and manufacturing are ‘wooing data scientists, machine-learning specialists and other practitioners skilled at deploying the technology.’
A job posting that recently got a ton of attention: a Netflix ‘Product Manager - Machine Learning Platform’ position, offering compensation up to $900,000 annually.” [Axios]
Card delinquencies back up
Data: New York Fed Consumer Credit Panel/Equifax. Chart: Axios Visuals
“More Americans are falling behind on their credit card payments, Axios' Emily Peck writes.
Why it matters: Even as inflation declines, Americans are increasingly relying on credit cards to make their budgets work — or maintain their ‘levels of consumption,’
as Moody's Investors Service put it.
By the numbers: The rate of new credit card delinquencies has passed its pre-COVID level, clocking in at 7.2% in the second quarter, per a report out this month from the New York Fed.
Auto loan delinquencies were at 7.3% in Q2 — also higher than pre-pandemic levels.
Mortgage delinquencies remain very low.
Stunning stat: Credit card balances rose by $45 billion in the second quarter, rising past $1 trillion for the first time in the N.Y. Fed survey's history.
What to watch: Millions of Americans will soon have to start making student loan payments again — and undoubtedly some will rely on credit cards to maintain their lifestyles. That could potentially drive these delinquency rates higher.” [Axios]
Blind side of ‘The Blind Side’
Michael Oher with Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy on a football field in Oxford, Miss., in 2008. Photo: Matthew Sharpe/Getty Images
“Retired NFL star Michael Oher, who inspired the 2009 film "The Blind Side," filed a petition yesterday accusing Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy of tricking him into making them his conservators rather than adopting him, Axios' Jacob Knutson reports.
Why it matters: The filing in a Tennessee court alleges that the Tuohys enriched themselves at Oher's expense and asks a probate court to terminate their conservatorship over him.
Zoom out: The allegations undermine the premise of the Oscar-winning movie — that the Tuohys, a rich white family, took Oher, who is Black, into their home as their adopted son.
The petition claims they negotiated a deal that would pay them and their two birth children millions of dollars in royalties from the movie, which has grossed more than $330 million.
Sean Tuohy told the Daily Memphian that the conservatorship was created to satisfy the NCAA: ‘We're devastated ... But we're going to love Michael at 37 just like we loved him at 16.’” [Axios]
The women’s World Cup semifinals are underway.
“This morning: Spain defeated Sweden, 2-1, in a dramatic match in New Zealand. It sent Spain’s women to their first ever World Cup final.
Tomorrow: Australia plays England at 6 a.m. Eastern for a spot in Sunday’s final, also at 6 a.m. Eastern. Watch on Fox, Telemundo and Universo.”
Read this story at Washington Post
Michigan State students found a 142-year-old observatory buried on campus.
The observatory in about 1888. (Michigan State University Archives and Historical Collections)
“How? Construction workers hit a hard surface when installing hammock poles this summer. Students then unearthed part of the cobblestone foundation of the old building.
The history: It was the school’s first observatory for astronomy, dating to 1881. Next summer, it will become an archaeological dig site for undergraduates and local residents.”
Read this story at Washington Post