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Trump Says 37 Felony Counts “Ridiculous” and “Baseless”
Former President Donald Trump slammed his historic federal indictment as “ridiculous” and “baseless” in his first public appearances since the charges were unsealed on Saturday, portraying the 37 felony counts as an attack on his supporters as he attempted to turn dire legal peril into political advantage.
Speaking at Republican state conventions in Georgia and North Carolina, Trump portrayed the Department of Justice’s indictment as an attempt to undermine his chances of re-election to the presidency in a second term.
“They’ve launched one witch hunt after another to try and stop our movement, to thwart the will of the American people,” Trump said in Georgia, before promising the crowd, “In the end, they’re not coming after me.” They’re pursuing you.”
The technique is well-worn for Trump, who remains the front-runner for the GOP nomination in 2024 despite escalating legal difficulties, including criminal charges filed against him in New York in March. In the face of an investigation, Trump has repeatedly attempted to delegitimize law enforcement officers and depict himself — and his supporters — as victims, even when he is charged with serious crimes.
Trump also promised on Saturday that he would remain in the race even if convicted in the case.
“I’ll never leave,” he said in an interview with Politico aboard his jet following his address in Georgia. He also anticipated that he would not be convicted and avoided questions about whether he would pardon himself if re-elected.
“I don’t think I’ll ever have to,” Trump declared. “I didn’t do anything wrong.”
The indictment, which was unsealed on Friday, alleges Trump with deliberately ignoring Justice Department orders that he surrender secret documents, involving advisers in his efforts to conceal the data, and even instructing his lawyers that he planned to disobey a subpoena for materials housed at his property.
The indictment alleges that he kept documents in a ballroom and a restroom at his Mar-a-Lago property, among other locations.
Trump is scheduled to appear in federal court in Miami on Tuesday. He was accused with personal aide Walt Nauta, who prosecutors claim transferred items from a storage area to Trump’s home for him to see and then lied to investigators about the move. Nauta accompanied Trump to Georgia, where he joined him at a Waffle House stop where he signed autographs, posed for selfies, and told fans, “We did absolutely nothing wrong.”
Earlier Saturday, Trump was greeted like a hero at the Republican National Convention in Georgia, where he slammed the investigation as “a political hit job” and accused his political opponents of launching “one hoax and witch hunt after another” to prevent his reelection.
“The ridiculous and baseless indictment by the Biden administration’s weaponized Department of Injustice will go down as among the most horrific abuses of power in the history of our country,” he stated.
He also used his speech to attack President Joe Biden and his Democratic opponent in 2016, Hillary Clinton, accusing them of mishandling secret material and claiming he was treated unfairly because he is a Republican. But Trump forgot an important distinction: only he has been accused of purposefully obstructing investigators by refusing to return the relevant records.
In the Clinton investigation, for example, FBI agents decided that, while she was exceedingly careless in handling sensitive emails on a private server, there was no indication that she intended to breach the law. And, while the Biden inquiry is still ongoing, no evidence has surfaced to show that he purposefully withheld the data or even knew they existed, with his representatives turning over records after they were discovered and freely submitting to FBI searches.
Trump also harped on Georgia’s involvement in his 2020 failure, reiterating his lies about winning the state and justifying his efforts to reverse Biden’s victory, which is the subject of another current investigation, this time by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. Willis has stated that any indictments will most likely be issued in August.
The probe revolves around a phone call in which Trump instructs Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find 11,780 votes” – just enough to overcome Biden and overturn Trump’s narrow loss in the state. Trump has praised the phone call as “perfect,” and he lashed out on Saturday at both Willis and the special counsel in the Mar-a-Lago case.
Despite the new criminal allegations, supporters applauded him on in Georgia and North Carolina, where he appeared at a state GOP convention banquet on Saturday night.
About 100 supporters greeted Trump when he landed at the Columbus, Georgia, airport, some brandishing “Witch Hunt” banners. Jan Plemmons, 66, wearing a large foam “Make America Great Again” hat, termed the government allegations “absolutely ridiculous” and declared her readiness to campaign alongside Trump. To Michael Sellers, 67, it was “criminal what they’re doing to him.”
The indictment comes as Trump maintains his lead in the Republican primary contest. Among the several investigations Trump has faced, the papers case has long been regarded as the most serious legal risk and the most likely to result in prosecution. However, Trump’s continued appeal among Republican voters is obvious in how his primary opponents have handled the federal indictment.
Mike Pence, whose appearance in North Carolina was the first joint appearance with his former boss since the ex-vice president announced his own campaign this week, condemned the “politicisation” of the Justice Department and urged Attorney General Merrick Garland “to stop hiding behind the special counsel and stand before the American people” to explain the basis for the federal investigation into Trump.
In an interview with The Associated Press following his speech, Pence said he had read the indictment but refused to share his personal reaction to its contents, which included photographs of boxes containing classified information stacked in a Mar-a-Lago bathroom and on a ballroom stage, or to criticise Trump.
“The very nature of a grand jury is that there is no defence presented,” Pence explained. “That’s why I said today that I’m going to urge patience, that I’m going to encourage people to pray for the former president, but also for all those in authority and for the country going forward.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Trump’s primary GOP competitor, did not mention Trump by name but linked his predicament to that of Clinton at a GOP conference in North Carolina on Friday night.
“Is there a different standard for a Democratic secretary of state versus a former Republican president?” DeSantis inquired. “I believe that there should be a single standard of justice in this country.” At the end of the day, my administration will put an end to the weaponization of government.”
Only Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson has specifically advocated for Trump’s candidature to be terminated among the declared Republican candidates. Hutchinson told reporters in Georgia that the Republican Party “should not lose its soul” in protecting Trump, and that the evidence thus far indicated that the former president treated national secrets “like entertainment tools.”
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Canadian Man Arrested for TikTok Video That Threatened Trudeau
A TikTok video that went live earlier this week has led to a Toronto man facing charges of threatening Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland. Andrew Marshall, 61, is facing two counts of uttering threats.
On Friday afternoon, the Ontario Court of Justice granted him bail with a surety and restrictions after the RCMP charged him on Wednesday.
Following Monday’s upload to TikTok, CBC Toronto conducted its own independent investigation of the video. Marshall vehemently opposes what he perceives as restrictions on free expression in Canada in it.
“I get them taken down all the time— I make videos — or all my comments, that are just simple comments,” Marsh says in the TikTok. “It’s just getting ridiculous, Marshall said.”
According to the CBC more and more people are threatening politicians. The commissioner of the RCMP has hinted that further measures may be necessary to ensure their safety.
In the TikTok video, Marshall explains in great detail how he would brutally assassinate Trudeau and Freeland “if it was up to him.”
Marshall attacks multiple groups throughout the roughly 11-minute TikTok video, including the media, Muslims, migrants, and the police who defend the government.
Among Marshall’s bail terms are the following: he must not communicate with Trudeau or Freeland; he must not use the internet to make social media posts or comments; he must not own any weapons; and he must not apply for a firearms permit.
During the bail hearing, the prosecution provided all of the evidence that is often not published.
Nate Jackson, Marshall’s attorney, stressed his client’s liberties and privileges as a Canadian in an email message.
“He has the right to freedom of speech, the right to reasonable bail and the right to a fair trial,” he said. “Having secured his release from custody, we will continue to defend Mr. Marshall’s Charter rights as his case proceeds.”
Neither Freeland’s nor the prime minister’s office would comment on the allegations, according to the CBC.
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Canada’s Unemployment Rate Hits its Highest Point Since 2017
As the job market remains dismal, the national unemployment rate in Canada has risen to its highest point since 2017. This has led some analysts to question whether the Bank of Canada should be reducing interest rates more quickly.
In spite of a net gain of 22,000 jobs, Statistics Canada reported on Friday that the unemployment rate increased to 6.6% from 6.4% the previous month. The rise was due to an uptick in part-time employment and a fall in full-time employment.
Outside of the pandemic years, the national unemployment rate has reached its highest position since May 2017, according to StatCan.
Rapid population expansion in Canada has increased the overall labour pool, but the country’s unemployment rate has persisted in rising.
The summer job market was especially tough for students, according to StatCan. Not including the pandemic, the unemployment rate among students going back to school in the autumn was 16.7 percent, which is the highest level since 2012.
Two days after the Bank of Canada dropped interest rates for the third time in a row, reducing borrowing costs to alleviate economic pressure, the most recent reading of the Canadian job market follows suit.
According to TD Bank economist Leslie Preston, who wrote a note on Friday, the central bank is “giving the OK” to keep dropping rates due to the bad August jobs report. Preston predicts two more quarter-point decreases at the remaining decisions this year.
According to CIBC senior economist Andrew Grantham, there are indications that the labour market is quickly contracting more than initially thought, since the unemployment rate is nearly two percentage points greater than the record low of 4.9% in June 2022.
“Due to this, we believe the Bank should be contemplating a quicker rate of reductions in order to bring interest rates to less restrictive levels,” he informed clients in a letter on Friday morning.
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US Job Growth Falls Short of Expectations: Economy Struggles Under High Interest Rates
Last month, job growth in the United States was weaker than predicted, prompting concerns that the world’s largest economy is beginning to struggle under the weight of increased interest rates.
The Labour Department said that employers added 142,000 jobs in August, which was less than the nearly 160,000 economists predicted. It also stated that job gains over the preceding two months were weaker than expected.
However, the jobless rate went down to 4.2%, down from 4.3% in July.
The report is one of the most important indicators of the US economy and arrives at a vital time, as voters consider presidential candidates for the November election and the US central bank contemplates its first interest rate decrease in four years.
Analysts said the latest statistics kept the Federal Reserve on pace for a rate drop at its meeting this month, but did little to answer worries about the trajectory of the US economy or how much of a cut it should make.
“There has rarely been such a make-or-break number; unfortunately, today’s jobs report does not completely resolve the recession debate,” said Seema Shah, chief global strategist at Principal Asset Management.
Soaring prices in 2022 caused the Federal Reserve to hike its key lending rate to 5.3%, a nearly 20-year high.
Faced with increased borrowing costs for homes, vehicles, and other debt, the economy has slowed, helping to alleviate pressures that were boosting inflation but exacerbating market concerns.
As inflation has fallen to 2.9% in July, the Fed is under pressure to decrease interest rates to prevent additional economic deceleration.
Although job increases in August fell short of expectations, they were greater than in July, when a slowdown aroused anxieties and triggered several days of stock market volatility.
Last month, construction and health-care firms hired the most, while manufacturing and retailers laid off employees.
Ms Shah stated that the data in Friday’s report was mixed, but provided enough concerning indicators that the Fed should make a larger cut.
“On balance, with inflation pressures subdued, there is no reason for the Fed not to err on the side of caution and frontload rate cuts,” she told reporters.
Others, however, felt the advances were just steady enough to warrant a 0.25 percentage point decrease, as markets had long projected – though this could signal more cuts than expected in the coming months.
Paul Ashworth, Capital Economics’ senior North America economist, predicted that the Fed’s decision will be “close run.”
“The labour market is clearly experiencing a marked slowdown,” he said, adding that the new statistics were “overall still consistent with an economy experiencing a soft landing rather than plummeting into recession”.
Concerns about the economy are a major issue in the US election.
According to polls, a majority of Americans feel the US is in a recession, despite healthy 2.5% growth last year.
Donald Trump has declared that the economy is headed for a “crash,” and his team instantly latched on the latest data to criticise Vice President Kamala Harris, publishing a press release titled “warning lights flash as Kamala’s economy continues to weaken.”
Democrats have defended their performance, claiming that the United States survived the pandemic and inflation better than many other countries.
They believe the slowdown is a sign that the economy is returning to a more sustainable rate of growth following the post-pandemic boom.
“Although hiring has slowed, the US job market continues to generate solid job gains and wage growth that is consistently beating inflation,” the White House Council of Economic Advisors stated in a blog.
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