WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, asked federal judges on Thursday to dismiss tax and gun cases against him, citing a ruling in Florida this week that threw out a separate prosecution of former President Donald Trump.
The requests in federal court in Delaware and California underscore the potential ramifications of US District Judge Aileen Cannon’s dismissal Monday of the classified documents case against Trump and the possibility that it could unsettle the legal landscape surrounding Justice Department special counsels.
Both Hunter Biden and Trump were prosecuted by special counsels appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland. In dismissing the Trump case, Cannon ruled that the appointment of the special counsel who prosecuted Trump, Jack Smith, violated the Constitution because he was appointed directly to the position by Garland instead of being nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate.
Smith’s team has said the Justice Department followed long-establishment precedent — for instance, the Trump-era appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller to investigate Russian election interference was upheld by courts — and has appealed Cannon’s dismissal to a federal appeals court in Atlanta.
In a pair of filings Thursday, lawyers for Hunter Biden said the same logic should apply in his cases and should result in the dismissal of a pending tax prosecution in Los Angeles — currently set for trial in September — and a separate firearm case in Delaware, in which Hunter Biden was convicted in June of three felony charges.
Hunter Biden’s team had raised similar arguments before, unsuccessfully, but they say there’s now good reason to reconsider them. Both of Hunter Biden’s cases are being overseen by judges nominated by Trump. Cannon, the judge who threw out Trump’s case, was also nominated by the former Republican president.
“Based on these new legal developments, Mr. Biden moves to dismiss the indictment brought against him because the Special Counsel who initiated this prosecution was appointed in violation of the Appointments Clause as well,” Hunter Biden’s lawyers wrote. They also cited an opinion this month by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas that questioned the propriety of a special counsel appointment.
“The Attorney General relied upon the exact same authority to appoint the Special Counsel in both the Trump and Biden matters, and both appointments are invalid for the same reason,” the lawyers added.
Smith and the special counsel who prosecuted Hunter Biden, David Weiss, are different in that Smith was hired from outside the Justice Department while Weiss was working as the US Attorney in Delaware at the time of his appointment.
A spokesperson for Weiss said they are aware of the filings from Hunter Biden’s legal team and “will respond in due course.”
In her ruling, Cannon noted that a special counsel’s powers are “arguably broader than a traditional United States Attorney, as he is permitted to exercise his investigatory powers across multiple districts within the same investigation.”
Hunter Biden’s lawyers pointed out Thursday that that’s exactly what happened in his case, as Weiss in his role as special counsel filed cases against Biden in California and Delaware and separately brought charges against a former FBI informant charged with lying about the Bidens.
“Mere US Attorneys do not have that power. Given that Congress requires a US Attorney to be nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate, it makes no sense to assume that Congress would allow the Attorney General to unilaterally appoint someone as Special Counsel with equal or greater power than a US Attorney,” Hunter Biden’s lawyers wrote. “That is what has been attempted here.”
Jurors found Hunter Biden guilty in June of lying about his drug use in 2018 on a federal form to buy a firearm that he had for about 11 days. The trial put a spotlight on a dark period in Hunter Biden’s life during which he became addicted to crack cocaine after the 2015 death of his brother, Beau. He has said he’s been sober since 2019.
Hunter Biden faces up to 25 years in prison when he is sentenced in the gun case by US District Judge Maryellen Noreika, though as a first-time offender he would not get anywhere near the maximum, and there’s no guarantee the judge would send him to prison. She has not set a sentencing date.
The tax case centers on at least $1.4 million in taxes prosecutors say he failed to pay over four years. The back taxes have since been paid.
The long-running federal investigation into the president’s son had looked ready to wrap up with a plea deal last year, but the agreement imploded after a judge raised questions about it. Hunter Biden was subsequently indicted in both cases.
Hunter Biden seeks dismissal of tax, gun cases, citing decision to toss Trump’s classified docs case
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Hunter Biden seeks dismissal of tax, gun cases, citing decision to toss Trump’s classified docs case
- Biden's lawyers are now saying that like in Trump's case, Biden was also prosecuted by a special counsel appointed by the US attorney general, and should therefore be dismissed
- A district judge on Monday dismissed the classified documents case against Trump, ruling that the appointment of a special counsel who prosecuted Trump was not valid
US archbishop’s meeting with Putin denounced as ‘betrayal of Christian witness’
- “Russia has given us what’s most precious of all, which is the Orthodox faith, and we are forever grateful,” Alexei told Putin, alluding to Russian missionaries who brought the faith to Alaska when it was a czarist territory
ALASKA: An American Orthodox archbishop’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska, in which they exchanged warm greetings and gifts of holy icons — is drawing a denunciation by Ukrainian Orthodox bishops in the US They called it a “betrayal of Christian witness” in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine war.
Archbishop Alexei — the bishop of Alaska for the Orthodox Church in America, the now-independent offspring of the Russian Orthodox Church — met Friday with Putin at the Fort Richardson National Cemetery in Anchorage following Putin’s summit with US President Donald Trump. Putin also placed flowers at the graves of Soviet-era airmen killed during World War II.
“Russia has given us what’s most precious of all, which is the Orthodox faith, and we are forever grateful,” Alexei told Putin, alluding to Russian missionaries who brought the faith to Alaska when it was a czarist territory. He added that he visits Russia regularly and that when his priests and seminarians go there, they report back, “I’ve been home.”
Putin told him: “Please feel at home whenever you come.”
But critics said the meeting conferred legitimacy on Putin, on top of his being hosted by Trump on US soil despite an arrest warrant issued in 2023 from the International Criminal Court, accusing Putin of war crimes in the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Severe criticism from one church’s leaders
Leaders of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA blasted the meeting between the archbishop and Putin.
“Such gestures are not merely unfortunate — they are a betrayal of the Gospel of Christ and scandalous to the faithful,” the statement said, signed by the New Jersey-based church’s top two leaders, Metropolitan Antony and Archbishop Daniel.
The Russian regime “is responsible for the invasion of the independent and peaceful nation of Ukraine and for the death of hundreds of thousands, for the disappearance of countless innocents, for the tearing of families apart, and for the deliberate destruction of Ukraine,” the statement said. “To extend warm words of welcome and admiration to this ‘leader’ is nothing less than an endorsement of his actions.”
The statement said that while the church preaches love and forgiveness, it “can never excuse or whitewash evil.”
The meeting between the archbishop and Putin is notable in how American churches are embroiled in controversies involving Orthodoxy in Ukraine, which arose even before the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and have worsened since. Orthodox Christianity is the majority religion in Russia and Ukraine.
There are multiple Eastern Orthodox jurisdictions in the United States, rooted in various immigrant communities of different nationalities. That includes Russia with the OCA and Ukraine with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA. They generally share communion and cooperate in some areas but have separate hierarchies.
Putin gave Alexei icons of St. Herman — an early Russian missionary to Alaska — and of the Mother of God, which the archbishop received making the sign of the cross and kissing each icon. Alexei gave the Russian president an icon he had previously received as a gift upon becoming bishop.
The two did not discuss the war during the brief conversation, according to a video recording.
Alaska archbishop explains himself
In a follow-up message emailed to Alaska priests, defending the visit, Alexei noted he had overseen three days of special services in Orthodox parishes across Alaska, in which worshippers offered prayers for peace in the name of Alaska saints and the Mother of God.
“When I expressed gratitude in that public moment, it was not praise for present politics, but a remembrance of the missionaries of earlier generations … who brought us the Orthodox faith at great cost,” Alexei said.
He also defended the icon exchange. “I must be clear: the veneration we give to holy icons is directed not to the one who gives them, but to the saint or feast they represent,” he said. “Even if the greatest sinner were beside me, the honor passes not to him but to heaven itself.”
He added: “I know that sacred gestures can be misunderstood, and I grieve if this has caused confusion or scandal.” He said it’s important “to open whatever small door may be given for a pastoral word of peace.”
Moscow Patriarch Kirill has strongly supported the war, saying Russian soldiers who die in the line of duty in Ukraine have all of their sins forgiven and presiding over a council that declared the Russian invasion a “holy war.”
Putin himself regularly displays Orthodox piety — reflected in his making the sign of the cross at the Soviet graves and kissing the icons he gave to Alexei. Putin recently asserted without elaboration that one of the conditions for peace would have to be “providing an adequate environment for the Orthodox Church and the Christian faith in Ukraine.”
How Orthodox factions in Ukraine are affected
Ukraine’s Orthodox population has been torn by schism. There are currently two main Orthodox groups with similar-sounding names there.
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church has historically been under the Moscow Patriarchate, which claims jurisdiction in Ukraine. Meanwhile, the breakaway Orthodox Church in Ukraine received recognition as an independent church by the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople.
Both churches have denounced the Russian invasion, but the UOC has remained under suspicion even though it has tried to assert it is also independent of Moscow’s control. (Neither should be confused with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA, which operates on American soil.)
Ukraine’s parliament last year passed a law banning religious groups tied to the Russian Orthodox Church or any other faith group supporting Russia’s invasion. The measure was widely seen as targeting the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, and the Ukrainian government has insisted that church take various steps to show its independence, which its leader has refused to do, asserting the government’s process is flawed and citing the church’s proclamation of its independence in 2022.
The Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations — a coalition that includes the Orthodox Church of Ukraine — issued a statement supporting the government’s insistence that the UOC comply with its demands. It said Russia has broadly violated religious liberties in occupied Ukrainian territories. It contended that Ukraine honors religious freedom and pluralism while maintaining the right to make sure religion isn’t being used to abet the invasion.
“It is widely known that the Russian Federation uses religion, particularly the Russian Orthodox Church, as a weapon to pursue its neo-imperial goals in various countries,” the statement said.
Trump says arranging Putin-Zelensky peace summit
- Putin told Trump that he was ready to meet Zelensky, a source familiar with talks told AFP
- The White House was the venue for an extraordinary — and pointed — meeting gathering Trump with Zelensky plus the leaders of Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Finland, the European Commission and NATO
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said Monday he had started arranging a peace summit between Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky and Russia’s Vladimir Putin, after intensive talks with Zelensky and European leaders at the White House.
Trump said he had spoken by phone with Putin — whom he met in Alaska last week — following a “very good” meeting with the Europeans and the Ukrainian president in the White House.
“At the conclusion of the meetings, I called President Putin, and began the arrangements for a meeting, at a location to be determined, between President Putin and President Zelensky,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform.
Trump, 79, said that he himself would then hold a three-way summit with the Ukrainian and Russian leaders.
“Everyone is very happy about the possibility of PEACE for Russia/Ukraine,” Trump wrote.
Putin told Trump that he was ready to meet Zelensky, a source familiar with talks told AFP.
The US president also said he had discussed security guarantees for Ukraine as part of a peace deal with Russia, with Europe taking the lead and coordinating with Washington.
Trump said earlier that Putin had agreed to Western security guarantees for Ukraine, despite the Russian leader ruling out Kyiv’s long-held dream of joining the NATO alliance.
“During the meeting we discussed Security Guarantees for Ukraine, which Guarantees would be provided by the various European Countries, with a coordination with the United States of America,” Trump said on Truth Social.
The White House was the venue for an extraordinary — and pointed — meeting gathering Trump with Zelensky plus the leaders of Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Finland, the European Commission and NATO.
Zelensky also met one-on-one in the Oval Office with Trump in their first encounter in the heart of the US presidency since their acrimonious blow-up there in February.
The Ukrainian president said the meeting was their “best” yet.
This time the atmosphere was far calmer than when Trump and Vice President JD Vance berated Zelensky in front of TV cameras less than six months ago for not being “grateful” for US support.
Trump even complimented Zelensky on his black jacket, after the Ukrainian was criticized by right-wing media because he failed to change his trademark war-leader’s outfit for a suit during the February visit.
The US president meanwhile expressed optimism over the chances of ending Russia’s invasion .
“In a week or two weeks, we’re going to know whether or not we’re going to solve this or is this horrible fighting going to continue,” Trump said as he opened the meeting.
The presence of the European leaders however also underscored continuing nervousness about Trump’s pressure on Kyiv to make concessions to Moscow.
Trump had pushed Ukraine ahead of the meeting to give up Crimea and abandon its goal of joining NATO — both key demands made by Putin.
Trump said that during the White House talks on Monday they also “need to discuss the possible exchanges of territory” between Russia and Ukraine.
Reports had said Putin was pushing for Ukraine to cede its eastern Donbas region, much of which is still partly in Kyiv’s hands, in exchange for freezing the frontline elsewhere.
Ukraine has rejected any such move.
The Europeans nevertheless lined up to praise Trump as they called for a lasting peace to end Russia’s invasion.
“I’m really excited. Let’s make the best out of today,” NATO chief Mark Rutte said as the US president went round the table asking them to comment.
French President Emmanuel Macron, however, called for a separate four-way meeting including Europeans to deal with a grinding conflict that is on their doorstep.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz meanwhile contradicted Trump’s call to go straight for a full peace deal instead of an immediate ceasefire, calling for a truce before any leaders’ summit.
He also sounded a note of caution after the talks, saying Ukraine must not be forced to give up territory to Russia.
Russian strikes overnight killed at least seven people in Ukraine, including two children.
Over 150 people are still missing after devastating flooding in northwest Pakistan
- Pakistan has seen higher-than-normal monsoon rains since June 26 that have killed at least 645 people across the country, with 400 deaths in the northwest
PESHAWAR, Pakistan: Anguished Pakistanis searched remote areas for bodies swept away by weekend flash floods as the death toll reached 277 on Monday, while one official replied to the lack of evacuation warnings by saying people should have built homes elsewhere.
A changing climate has made residents of northern Pakistan’s river-carved mountainous areas more vulnerable to sudden, heavy rains.
More than 150 people were still missing in the district of Buner in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province after Friday’s flash floods.
Villagers have said there had been no warning broadcast from mosque loudspeakers, a traditional method for alerting emergencies in remote areas. The government has said the sudden downpour was so intense that the deluge struck before residents could be informed.
Emergency services spokesman Mohammad Suhail said three bodies were found on Monday. The army has deployed engineers and heavy machinery to clear the rubble.
On Sunday, provincial chief minister Ali Amin Gandapur said many deaths could have been avoided if residents had not built homes along waterways. He said the government would encourage displaced families to relocate to safer areas, where they would be assisted in rebuilding homes.
Residents said they were not living near streams, yet the flood swept through their homes. In Buner’s Malak Pur village, Ikram Ullah, aged 55, said people’s ancestral homes were destroyed even though they were not near the stream, which emerged in the area because of the flood. He said large boulders rolled down from mountains with the flood.
In flood-hit Pir Baba village, Shaukat Ali, 57, a shopkeeper whose grocery store was swept away, said his business was not near a river or stream but had stood for years alongside hundreds of other shops in the bazar. “We feel hurt when someone says we suffered because of living along the waterways,” Ali told The Associated Press.
Pakistan has seen higher-than-normal monsoon rains since June 26 that have killed at least 645 people across the country, with 400 deaths in the northwest. The National Disaster Management Authority issued an alert for further flooding after new rains began Sunday in many parts of the country.
In a statement, the military said the Pakistan Air Force played a key role in flood relief operations by airlifting 48 tons of NGO-provided relief goods from the port of Karachi to Peshawar, the regional capital. It said the air force established an air bridge to ensure the swift delivery of supplies.
On Monday, torrential rains triggered a flash flood that struck Darori village in northwestern Swabi district, killing 15 people, government official Awais Babar said.
He said rescuers evacuated nearly 100 people, mostly women and children, who had taken refuge on the roofs of homes. Disaster management officials said the floods inundated streets in other districts in the northwest and in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif chaired a high-level meeting Monday to review relief efforts in flood-hit areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as well as northern Gilgit-Baltistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
At the meeting, officials estimated flood-related damages to public and private property at more than 126 million rupees ($450,000), according to a government statement.
The UN humanitarian agency said it had mobilized groups in hard-hit areas where damaged roads and communication lines have cut off communities. Relief agencies were providing food, water and other aid.
Flooding has also hit India-administered Kashmir, where at least 67 people were killed and dozens remain missing after flash floods swept through the region during an annual Hindu pilgrimage last week.
In 2022, catastrophic floods linked to climate change killed nearly 1,700 people in Pakistan and left hundreds of thousands homeless.
UK politicians urge PM Starmer to impose sanctions on Israel
- 12 lawmakers sign letter demanding recall of parliament
- UK should end all arms sales, back war crimes investigation, they say
LONDON: A group of politicians from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have urged British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to impose immediate sanctions on Israel.
In a letter, the 12 lawmakers expressed their “deep concern and opposition” to what they described as the UK government’s support for Israel’s actions in Gaza.
They want Starmer to recall parliament from its summer recess so that he can impose sanctions and immediately end all arms sales to Israel.
They said also that the UK should support a ceasefire to protect civilians, back an independent war crimes and genocide investigation and press for the “unimpeded” delivery of aid to Gaza.
The signatories include Northern Ireland’s First Minister Michelle O’Neill, Social Democratic and Labour Party leader Claire Hanna, Scottish National Party Westminster leader Stephen Flynn and Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth.
Hanna told the BBC: “Today the SDLP is leading parties in giving expression to the despair and anger at the UK government’s failure to stand up to Netanyahu.
“Our voice may be the only tool we have but together it is a powerful one — reflecting the depth of feeling of our constituents and highlighting the failure of the prime minister and his government to do all in their power to protect the people of Gaza.”
Starmer has been accused of failing to take strong action against Israel for its military action in Gaza that has killed more than 62,000 people since October 2023.
Israel has been widely accused of perpetrating a genocide against Palestinians, not only through its bombing of the territory but also by mass forced displacement and the cutting off of humanitarian aid.
The UK last year suspended 30 out of 350 arms export licenses for weapons used in Gaza but this did not include parts for the F-35 fighter jet.
Starmer said last month that the UK would recognize a Palestinian state in September unless Israel agreed to a ceasefire and committed to a two-state solution.
The letter sent to him described this deadline as “far too late.”
“Every day of delay means more children starve, more families are torn apart and more lives are lost,” it said.
“As a signatory to the Genocide Convention, the United Kingdom has a binding obligation to prevent acts that may amount to genocide and to ensure accountability for those responsible.
“Continued political, diplomatic and military support to a government accused of committing such acts is not only morally indefensible but risks placing the UK in breach of its international legal duties.”
Starmer has also faced growing pressure from within his own party. More than 100 Labour politicians signed a letter last month calling for the UK to recognize a Palestinian state.
Norway wealth fund excludes six companies linked to West Bank, Gaza
- Currently the fund holds stakes in 38 Israeli companies, totalling $1.9 billion in investments, down from 61 companies totalling 23 billion crowns, as of June 30
OSLO/COPENHAGEN: Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest, said on Monday it had decided to exclude another six companies with connections to the West Bank and Gaza from its portfolio, following an ethics review of its Israeli investments.
The $2 trillion wealth fund did not name the companies it had decided to exclude but said these would be made public, along with specific reasons for each company, once the divestments were completed.
One possibility could be that among them are Israel’s five largest banks, which have been under review by the fund’s ethical watchdog.
The latest exclusions bring to 23 the number of Israeli companies the fund has been divesting from since June 30. That number may rise.
“More companies could be excluded,” Finance Minister Jens Stoltenberg told reporters.
Currently the fund holds stakes in 38 Israeli companies, totalling 19 billion crowns ($1.9 billion) in investments, down from 61 companies totalling 23 billion crowns, as of June 30, the fund’s operator, Norges Bank Investment Management, said in a letter dated Monday.
Review
The latest announcement follows an urgent review launched this month after reports that the fund had built a stake in an Israeli jet engine group that provides services to Israel’s armed forces, including the maintenance of fighter jets.
The reports spurred a fresh debate about the fund’s investments in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories ahead of elections on Sept. 8, with some parties calling for the fund to divest from all Israeli companies, a step the government has ruled out.
Norway’s parliament in June rejected a proposal for the fund to divest from all companies with activities in the occupied Palestinian territories.
“This debate helps sharpen our practices,” said Stoltenberg.
Critics say only a complete withdrawal from investing in Israeli companies would protect the fund against possible ethical breaches.
Stoltenberg said that, from now on, the ethics watchdog and NBIM would have more frequent and faster exchanges of information between them to identify problematic companies quicker.
Ethical exclusions from the fund are based on recommendations from the fund’s watchdog, though NBIM can also divest from companies if it assesses that a company can pose too much of a risk to the fund, whether the risk is ethical or not.
“With more exchanges of information between the Council on Ethics and Norges Bank, it is possible that there could be more divestments of that kind in future,” said Stoltenberg.
Last Monday, the fund announced it was terminating contracts with all three of its external asset managers who handled some of its Israeli investments.
