update - thuggish ICE Chicago capo reprimanded by judge for brutality towards women and children
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Trump sued over botched rollout of steep new fee — with no way to pay
President Donald Trump's "Big, Beautiful Bill" has run into an unforeseen snag that has triggered a lawsuit.
The legislation, signed by Trump earlier this year, cuts over $1 trillion in Medicaid and food assistance programs, and phases out renewable energy and electric vehicle credits, while extending enormous tax cuts that go almost exclusively to wealthy voters. But one of the lesser-discussed changes this bill made was to impose a $100 annual fee on asylum seekers in the United States.
According to Politico, however, this was set up in such an unclear way that there isn't even a way for asylum seekers to pay this fee, leading to a lawsuit against the administration.
"The fees, which are new, were part of the GOP’s domestic policy and tax law President Donald Trump signed on July 4, but the administration’s rollout has been plagued by mishaps: The two agencies collecting the fees initially released different instructions, and only one has offered a vehicle to pay the annual fee," said the report. "Payment notices to asylum seekers have been sporadic, and misinformation has run rampant on social media."
Some asylum seekers are afraid that the inability to pay will be used as an excuse to remove them from the country. Meanwhile, "Some asylum seekers who have opted to pay the immigration courts $100 say there’s no way to know whether that’s the correct way to pay or whether the federal government will ask them to pay again."
“It just feels like people are being cornered from every angle, and the lack of clarity just causes that much more fear and intimidation,” Boston area immigration lawyer Robin Nice told Politico. “It’s hard to know if it’s weaponized incompetence in how they’re rolling it out, or if it’s straight up malicious ... but it’s really hard to advise clients.”
American Immigration Council fellow Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a frequent critic of the Trump administration's immigration policies, was aghast at the development.
"Here’s how badly managed the Trump admin is; asylum seekers had to file a class action lawsuit because they were ordered to pay a fee but there was no payment system set up to accept their money," he wrote in a post on X.
President Donald Trump's "Big, Beautiful Bill" has run into an unforeseen snag that has triggered a lawsuit.
The legislation, signed by Trump earlier this year, cuts over $1 trillion in Medicaid and food assistance programs, and phases out renewable energy and electric vehicle credits, while extending enormous tax cuts that go almost exclusively to wealthy voters. But one of the lesser-discussed changes this bill made was to impose a $100 annual fee on asylum seekers in the United States.
According to Politico, however, this was set up in such an unclear way that there isn't even a way for asylum seekers to pay this fee, leading to a lawsuit against the administration.
"The fees, which are new, were part of the GOP’s domestic policy and tax law President Donald Trump signed on July 4, but the administration’s rollout has been plagued by mishaps: The two agencies collecting the fees initially released different instructions, and only one has offered a vehicle to pay the annual fee," said the report. "Payment notices to asylum seekers have been sporadic, and misinformation has run rampant on social media."
Some asylum seekers are afraid that the inability to pay will be used as an excuse to remove them from the country. Meanwhile, "Some asylum seekers who have opted to pay the immigration courts $100 say there’s no way to know whether that’s the correct way to pay or whether the federal government will ask them to pay again."
“It just feels like people are being cornered from every angle, and the lack of clarity just causes that much more fear and intimidation,” Boston area immigration lawyer Robin Nice told Politico. “It’s hard to know if it’s weaponized incompetence in how they’re rolling it out, or if it’s straight up malicious ... but it’s really hard to advise clients.”
American Immigration Council fellow Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a frequent critic of the Trump administration's immigration policies, was aghast at the development.
"Here’s how badly managed the Trump admin is; asylum seekers had to file a class action lawsuit because they were ordered to pay a fee but there was no payment system set up to accept their money," he wrote in a post on X.
Trump’s first-ever Antifa indictment signals DOJ is opening a much bigger case against left-wing groups
Donald Trump’s Department of Justice is moving swiftly to prosecute alleged members of “Antifa” after the president signed an executive order declaring the militant antifascist movement a “domestic terrorist organization.”
Last week, two people facing attempted murder and weapons charges over an “ambush” at an immigration detention center in Texas this summer were hit with additional terrorism-related offenses. A trial is tentatively scheduled to begin next month.
The charges against Autumn Hill and Zachary Evetts are the first against anyone accused of being a member of Antifa, a longtime boogeyman for the Trump administration as it searches for legal tools for a broader crackdown against left-wing dissent and protests.
Administration officials have repeatedly tied acts of political violence to Antifa, while also claiming without evidence that the movement is being financially supported by groups that support Democratic candidates — what critics fear is an attempt to criminalize political opposition itself.
The latest indictment signals that the Justice Department has opened a wider investigation into the movement, which Trump and prosecutors are calling a criminal “enterprise” that can be prosecuted like the Mafia.
Evetts and Hill, who is named in the indictment as Cameron Arnold, were among 10 people arrested this summer after a shooting outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Alvarado, Texas, on July 4.
A 12-page indictment accuses Evans and Hill of providing material support to terrorists as well as attempted murder and firearms offenses. Neither are accused of firing at officers, but prosecutors say they were part of a “North Texas Antifa Cell” that “planned and coordinated” the attack using encrypted messaging apps.
The indictment describes Antifa as a “militant enterprise made up of networks of individuals and small groups, primarily ascribing to a revolutionary anarchist or autonomous Marxist ideology.”
That “enterprise” calls for “the overthrow of the United States government, law enforcement authorities and the system of law,” according to prosecutors.
The use of the word “enterprise” is raising alarms for legal experts.
An “enterprise” investigation opens the door for federal law enforcement to dig into the finances, membership, communications and overall structure of a targeted group.
But Antifa encompasses individuals and loosely affiliated groups in a broader militant subculture — often physically confronting far-right groups in the streets — rather than a specific organization.
Thomas E. Brzozowski, the former counsel for domestic terrorism in the Justice Department’s national security division, told Raw Story that investigating Antifa as an “enterprise” gives the FBI the resources to investigate “anybody that would in their view fall under this bucket, which is pretty broad, even if you are not involved in perpetrating violence in the furtherance of this ideology.”
Brzozowski, who served under the Biden and Obama administration as well as Trump’s first administration, warned that the government’s “amorphous definition” of Antifa “encompasses such a wide array of ideologies, that is a broad spectrum of people that are otherwise unconnected.”
“That’s a problem, in my view,” he said.
Two people accused of aiding an attack on an ICE facility in Texas this summer are the first to face terrorism-related charges after Trump’s Antifa order labeled the movement a ‘domestic terrorist organization’ (AP)
A federal inquiry could end up focusing not only on people who are accused of committing acts of violence but anyone who appears remotely connected, including people who attended the same protests, and the left-leaning nonprofit groups and political figures who support them.
Republican officials have already spent years repeatedly smearing protests as the work of “Antifa” or “paid protesters,” often lumped in as one and the same, working in lockstep with Democratic elected officials.
The Department of Homeland Security was recently forced to delete several public statements about a Democratic congresswoman who is accused of assaulting federal officers during a chaotic scrum outside an ICE facility in New Jersey. Last month, the administration baselessly accused LaMonica McIver of “Antifa-aligned domestic extremism” — a statement that was removed from Homeland Security’s website after her attorneys brought a federal judge’s attention to it.
In his executive order designating Antifa a domestic terror organization, Trump directed “all relevant executive departments and agencies” to “utilize all applicable authorities to investigate, disrupt and dismantle any and all illegal operations — especially those involving terrorist actions — conducted by Antifa or any person claiming to act on behalf of Antifa, or for which Antifa or any person claiming to act on behalf of Antifa provided material support, including necessary investigatory and prosecutorial actions against those who fund such operations.”
Chip Gibbons, policy director at Defending Rights & Dissent, said the order “appears to be a greenlight to law enforcement and intelligence to spy on and investigate left-wing political speech.”
The order is “sweeping in its rhetoric yet almost certainly empty of formal legal effect,” Brzozowski wrote in Lawfare earlier this month.
“That emptiness is by design. The damage is in the announcement,” he wrote.
Even if the order doesn’t survive legal challenges, it can “still do the work of law in the streets, on bank compliance desks, and across social media platforms,” according to Brzozowski. “The chilling effect is not hypothetical; it is the point.”
State officials are also taking notice. Earlier this month, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton directed state law enforcement to “identify, investigate, and infiltrate these leftist terror cells.”
“There can be no compromise with those who want us dead,” he said.
Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI director Kash Patel appear to have opened a wider probe into Antifa following the president’s executive order targeting the movement as a criminal ‘enterprise’ (AFP via Getty Images)
The Trump administration is also considering designating Antifa a foreign terrorist organization, which could expose alleged members to a wider array of sanctions and investigations, as well as “watchlisting, surveillance, and criminal liability under counterterrorism statutes,” according to Brzozowski.
“The chilling effect would be immediate and profound,” he wrote last week. “When anti-fascism itself becomes suspect, the state’s power to monitor and silence expands dramatically”
On July 4, the group wore masks and black clothing as they descended on the outskirts of the facility, armed with fireworks and 10 firearms — four of which were purchased by an unnamed co-conspirator.
That co-conspirator allegedly fired an AR-style rifle, striking a police officer working at the facility in the neck.
Only one member of the alleged “Antifa Cell” — described in court filings as “Co-conspirator-1” — is accused of firing at law enforcement on July 4.
The Justice Department previously named the gunman as Benjamin Hanil Song, who is being separately charged with three counts of attempted murder of federal agents. Song has not been prosecuted as a member of Antifa.
The indictment accuses Evetts and Hill of aiding and abetting the attack.
The Independent has requested comment from their attorneys, who have disputed the government’s allegations and stated that prosecutors have not presented evidence linking them to an “Anfifa Cell.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi announced the charges on social media, claiming that they prove “Antifa is a left-wing terrorist organization.”
“They will be prosecuted as such,” she added.
“We’re arresting anarchists who seek to harm law enforcement,” said FBI director Kash Patel.
“Antifa isn’t a protest movement, it’s a domestic terrorist organization,” he wrote. “The media can pretend otherwise. We won’t.”
The Independent has always had a global perspective. Built on a firm foundation of superb international reporting an
Donald Trump’s Department of Justice is moving swiftly to prosecute alleged members of “Antifa” after the president signed an executive order declaring the militant antifascist movement a “domestic terrorist organization.”
Last week, two people facing attempted murder and weapons charges over an “ambush” at an immigration detention center in Texas this summer were hit with additional terrorism-related offenses. A trial is tentatively scheduled to begin next month.
The charges against Autumn Hill and Zachary Evetts are the first against anyone accused of being a member of Antifa, a longtime boogeyman for the Trump administration as it searches for legal tools for a broader crackdown against left-wing dissent and protests.
Administration officials have repeatedly tied acts of political violence to Antifa, while also claiming without evidence that the movement is being financially supported by groups that support Democratic candidates — what critics fear is an attempt to criminalize political opposition itself.
The latest indictment signals that the Justice Department has opened a wider investigation into the movement, which Trump and prosecutors are calling a criminal “enterprise” that can be prosecuted like the Mafia.
Evetts and Hill, who is named in the indictment as Cameron Arnold, were among 10 people arrested this summer after a shooting outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Alvarado, Texas, on July 4.
A 12-page indictment accuses Evans and Hill of providing material support to terrorists as well as attempted murder and firearms offenses. Neither are accused of firing at officers, but prosecutors say they were part of a “North Texas Antifa Cell” that “planned and coordinated” the attack using encrypted messaging apps.
The indictment describes Antifa as a “militant enterprise made up of networks of individuals and small groups, primarily ascribing to a revolutionary anarchist or autonomous Marxist ideology.”
That “enterprise” calls for “the overthrow of the United States government, law enforcement authorities and the system of law,” according to prosecutors.
The use of the word “enterprise” is raising alarms for legal experts.
An “enterprise” investigation opens the door for federal law enforcement to dig into the finances, membership, communications and overall structure of a targeted group.
But Antifa encompasses individuals and loosely affiliated groups in a broader militant subculture — often physically confronting far-right groups in the streets — rather than a specific organization.
Thomas E. Brzozowski, the former counsel for domestic terrorism in the Justice Department’s national security division, told Raw Story that investigating Antifa as an “enterprise” gives the FBI the resources to investigate “anybody that would in their view fall under this bucket, which is pretty broad, even if you are not involved in perpetrating violence in the furtherance of this ideology.”
Brzozowski, who served under the Biden and Obama administration as well as Trump’s first administration, warned that the government’s “amorphous definition” of Antifa “encompasses such a wide array of ideologies, that is a broad spectrum of people that are otherwise unconnected.”
“That’s a problem, in my view,” he said.
Two people accused of aiding an attack on an ICE facility in Texas this summer are the first to face terrorism-related charges after Trump’s Antifa order labeled the movement a ‘domestic terrorist organization’ (AP)
A federal inquiry could end up focusing not only on people who are accused of committing acts of violence but anyone who appears remotely connected, including people who attended the same protests, and the left-leaning nonprofit groups and political figures who support them.
Republican officials have already spent years repeatedly smearing protests as the work of “Antifa” or “paid protesters,” often lumped in as one and the same, working in lockstep with Democratic elected officials.
The Department of Homeland Security was recently forced to delete several public statements about a Democratic congresswoman who is accused of assaulting federal officers during a chaotic scrum outside an ICE facility in New Jersey. Last month, the administration baselessly accused LaMonica McIver of “Antifa-aligned domestic extremism” — a statement that was removed from Homeland Security’s website after her attorneys brought a federal judge’s attention to it.
In his executive order designating Antifa a domestic terror organization, Trump directed “all relevant executive departments and agencies” to “utilize all applicable authorities to investigate, disrupt and dismantle any and all illegal operations — especially those involving terrorist actions — conducted by Antifa or any person claiming to act on behalf of Antifa, or for which Antifa or any person claiming to act on behalf of Antifa provided material support, including necessary investigatory and prosecutorial actions against those who fund such operations.”
Chip Gibbons, policy director at Defending Rights & Dissent, said the order “appears to be a greenlight to law enforcement and intelligence to spy on and investigate left-wing political speech.”
The order is “sweeping in its rhetoric yet almost certainly empty of formal legal effect,” Brzozowski wrote in Lawfare earlier this month.
“That emptiness is by design. The damage is in the announcement,” he wrote.
Even if the order doesn’t survive legal challenges, it can “still do the work of law in the streets, on bank compliance desks, and across social media platforms,” according to Brzozowski. “The chilling effect is not hypothetical; it is the point.”
State officials are also taking notice. Earlier this month, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton directed state law enforcement to “identify, investigate, and infiltrate these leftist terror cells.”
“There can be no compromise with those who want us dead,” he said.
Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI director Kash Patel appear to have opened a wider probe into Antifa following the president’s executive order targeting the movement as a criminal ‘enterprise’ (AFP via Getty Images)
The Trump administration is also considering designating Antifa a foreign terrorist organization, which could expose alleged members to a wider array of sanctions and investigations, as well as “watchlisting, surveillance, and criminal liability under counterterrorism statutes,” according to Brzozowski.
“The chilling effect would be immediate and profound,” he wrote last week. “When anti-fascism itself becomes suspect, the state’s power to monitor and silence expands dramatically”
On July 4, the group wore masks and black clothing as they descended on the outskirts of the facility, armed with fireworks and 10 firearms — four of which were purchased by an unnamed co-conspirator.
That co-conspirator allegedly fired an AR-style rifle, striking a police officer working at the facility in the neck.
Only one member of the alleged “Antifa Cell” — described in court filings as “Co-conspirator-1” — is accused of firing at law enforcement on July 4.
The Justice Department previously named the gunman as Benjamin Hanil Song, who is being separately charged with three counts of attempted murder of federal agents. Song has not been prosecuted as a member of Antifa.
The indictment accuses Evetts and Hill of aiding and abetting the attack.
The Independent has requested comment from their attorneys, who have disputed the government’s allegations and stated that prosecutors have not presented evidence linking them to an “Anfifa Cell.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi announced the charges on social media, claiming that they prove “Antifa is a left-wing terrorist organization.”
“They will be prosecuted as such,” she added.
“We’re arresting anarchists who seek to harm law enforcement,” said FBI director Kash Patel.
“Antifa isn’t a protest movement, it’s a domestic terrorist organization,” he wrote. “The media can pretend otherwise. We won’t.”
The Independent has always had a global perspective. Built on a firm foundation of superb international reporting an
Trump's $40B Argentine giveaway hits major snag as banks balk at loan: report
A Donald Trump proposal to bail out struggling Argentina with a $40 billion loan is bumping up against economic reality with banks being asked to provide half of the amount demanding collateral or federal assurances.
According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, financial institutions, including JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Goldman Sachs, are “struggling” to come up with a loan they would feel comfortable with.
With Trump pushing to assist Argentine President Javier Milei’s government, the plan was to create a financial package made up of a “$20 billion currency swap with the U.S. Treasury Department and a separate $20 billion bank-led debt facility,” the Journal is reporting.
According to the report, it is turning out to be far easier to make the proposal than it is to make it a reality.
“While banks normally arrange these types of rescue facilities on their own, Treasury has been controlling the broader package and banks feel they can’t act without backing from Washington, some of the people said," the Journal reported.
"The loan facility hasn’t been finalized and might not come together if the banks’ collateral question isn’t resolved, they said. U.S. banks haven’t been lending to Argentina, and the country has been shut out of the international capital markets for years.”
The report adds that Argentina has already been the recipient of 20 bailouts from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) since the 1950s — and that has bankers nervous.
There is also a risk to the U.S Treasury which would “swap $20 billion for a roughly equivalent amount of Argentine pesos,” which are rapidly depreciating.
According to Brad Setser, a former deputy assistant Treasury secretary for the Obama administration, ”The risks from these operations are unusually large. Should the peso depreciate, which many think is not only likely but necessary, the Treasury would be left holding assets that have fallen in value.”
A Donald Trump proposal to bail out struggling Argentina with a $40 billion loan is bumping up against economic reality with banks being asked to provide half of the amount demanding collateral or federal assurances.
According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, financial institutions, including JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Goldman Sachs, are “struggling” to come up with a loan they would feel comfortable with.
With Trump pushing to assist Argentine President Javier Milei’s government, the plan was to create a financial package made up of a “$20 billion currency swap with the U.S. Treasury Department and a separate $20 billion bank-led debt facility,” the Journal is reporting.
According to the report, it is turning out to be far easier to make the proposal than it is to make it a reality.
“While banks normally arrange these types of rescue facilities on their own, Treasury has been controlling the broader package and banks feel they can’t act without backing from Washington, some of the people said," the Journal reported.
"The loan facility hasn’t been finalized and might not come together if the banks’ collateral question isn’t resolved, they said. U.S. banks haven’t been lending to Argentina, and the country has been shut out of the international capital markets for years.”
The report adds that Argentina has already been the recipient of 20 bailouts from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) since the 1950s — and that has bankers nervous.
There is also a risk to the U.S Treasury which would “swap $20 billion for a roughly equivalent amount of Argentine pesos,” which are rapidly depreciating.
According to Brad Setser, a former deputy assistant Treasury secretary for the Obama administration, ”The risks from these operations are unusually large. Should the peso depreciate, which many think is not only likely but necessary, the Treasury would be left holding assets that have fallen in value.”
Trump’s ‘election integrity’ chief claimed president has future powers to declare voting emergency
It was clear from the outset that Donald Trump’s administration would include high-ranking government officials who either endorsed his false claim that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him, or refused to publicly admit he lost.
The president continues to hammer a baseless narrative that the election was rigged against him, vowing publicly that it must never “happen again” as he deploys officials to prepare for midterm elections with the balance of power in Congress — and his agenda — at stake.
Before she was tapped as Trump’s “election integrity” official at the Department of Homeland Security, Heather Honey reportedly told a group of right-wing activists in March that the president could declare a “national emergency” to effectively take control of local election administration.
She said the move would follow an “actual investigation” of the 2020 election, if it revealed “manipulation” of the results, according to The New York Times, which had a recording of the call.
“We have some additional powers that don’t exist right now,” she said. “[W]e can take these other steps without Congress and we can mandate that states do things and so on.”
She added that she does not know whether such federal control of elections would be “feasible” or if the people surrounding the president “would let him test that theory.”
But in the months that followed, the president has launched an aggressive effort to radically reshape elections, from redrawing congressional maps to promising an executive order he says would eliminate mail-in voting altogether.
“We’re going to start with an executive order that's being written right now by the best lawyers in the country to end mail-in ballots because they’re corrupt,” Trump said in August.
Trump has also backed a measure from Republicans in Congress that would upend how states register people to vote online or through automatic or same-day registration, an effort fueled by a bogus claim that noncitizens are fraudulently voting in federal elections.
“We don’t want it to happen again. We can never let what happened in the 2020 election happen again,” Trump said in the Oval Office Tuesday.
He suggested FBI director Kash Patel and intelligence director Tulsi Gabbard are investigating the results.
“I know Kash is working on it. Everybody’s working on it. And certainly Tulsi is working on it. We can’t let that happen again to our country,” he said.
Heather Honey also alarmed state election officials on a call last month where she reportedly infused a discussion about voting safeguards with rhetoric that echoed right-wing conspiracy theories.
On the September 11 call with the National Association of Secretaries of State Elections Committee, she discussed her current role and Homeland Security’s election security-related work, among other issues, a group spokesperson told The Independent.
Honey, a protege of prominent election conspiracy theorist Cleta Mitchell, was tapped earlier this year to serve as deputy assistant secretary for election integrity in Homeland Security’s Office of Strategy, Policy and Plans to oversee the nation’s election infrastructure.
But she complained that the agency’s employees tasked with combating election misinformation had “strayed from their mission,” according to The New York Times.
She also mentioned a report routinely touted by conspiracy theorists to support bogus claims that voting machines were rigged to favor Democrats, The Times reported, citing people familiar with the call.
The Trump administration has repeatedly hinted at efforts to investigate voting machines based on the president’s debunked allegations that they were rigged to support Democrats in 2020 (AP)
Top administration officials have repeatedly refused to admit Trump lost the 2020 election, including Attorney General Pam Bondi, who repeatedly evaded answering affirmatively that Joe Biden won during her under-oath Senate confirmation hearing.
But officials who explicitly embraced Trump’s election lies are working across the government in positions that critics fear could be weaponized against election administration.
Kurt Olsen, a former Trump campaign lawyer who worked on “Stop the Steal” efforts to overturn election results, is working for the administration as a “special government employee,” according to The Wall Street Journal.
He is reportedly “asking intelligence agencies for information about the 2020 election,” including voting machines, the WSJ reported.
Ed Martin, another “Stop the Steal” lawyer and defense attorney for January 6 rioters, was tapped to lead a “weaponization working group” at the Department of Justice to review what he believes are “political” prosecutions against the president.
Marci McCarthy, who spread false claims about voting machines in Georgia when she was chair of the DeKalb County Republican Party, also was hired as director of public affairs at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, or CISA, in Homeland Security.
Nearly all of CISA’s election experts were purged from the agency earlier this year.
After hearing about the administration’s cuts to the agency, state officials left last month’s call with Honey “confused and anxious” as she “made unspecified claims of censorship at the agency,” according to The Times.
She reportedly also referred to a report that right-wing activists have used to undermine voting machines and suggested states would plan to use “fusion centers” — law enforcement collaborations typically used for large-scale events like the Super Bowl — for election security issues.
The CISA cuts have dismantled “nearly all” of Homeland Security’s capacity to protect election infrastructure, according to David Becker, executive director of the Center for Election Innovation and Research
“The hiring of an election conspiracy theorist with no election knowledge or expertise is the culmination of this reversal,” Becker told ProPublica earlier this year. “DHS now appears poised to become a primary amplifier of false election conspiracies pushed by our enemies.”
The Independent has requested comment from DHS.
“Anyone who cares about the right to vote needs to be clear-eyed about what’s at stake right now,” Joanna Lydgate, CEO of the States United Democracy Center, said in a statement to The Independent. “We know who these people are, the lies they've told about elections, and the actions they've taken to undermine our system. It’s now more important than ever to be paying attention to what they’re saying and doing because they have the backing of the federal government.”
It was clear from the outset that Donald Trump’s administration would include high-ranking government officials who either endorsed his false claim that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him, or refused to publicly admit he lost.
The president continues to hammer a baseless narrative that the election was rigged against him, vowing publicly that it must never “happen again” as he deploys officials to prepare for midterm elections with the balance of power in Congress — and his agenda — at stake.
Before she was tapped as Trump’s “election integrity” official at the Department of Homeland Security, Heather Honey reportedly told a group of right-wing activists in March that the president could declare a “national emergency” to effectively take control of local election administration.
She said the move would follow an “actual investigation” of the 2020 election, if it revealed “manipulation” of the results, according to The New York Times, which had a recording of the call.
“We have some additional powers that don’t exist right now,” she said. “[W]e can take these other steps without Congress and we can mandate that states do things and so on.”
She added that she does not know whether such federal control of elections would be “feasible” or if the people surrounding the president “would let him test that theory.”
But in the months that followed, the president has launched an aggressive effort to radically reshape elections, from redrawing congressional maps to promising an executive order he says would eliminate mail-in voting altogether.
“We’re going to start with an executive order that's being written right now by the best lawyers in the country to end mail-in ballots because they’re corrupt,” Trump said in August.
Trump has also backed a measure from Republicans in Congress that would upend how states register people to vote online or through automatic or same-day registration, an effort fueled by a bogus claim that noncitizens are fraudulently voting in federal elections.
“We don’t want it to happen again. We can never let what happened in the 2020 election happen again,” Trump said in the Oval Office Tuesday.
He suggested FBI director Kash Patel and intelligence director Tulsi Gabbard are investigating the results.
“I know Kash is working on it. Everybody’s working on it. And certainly Tulsi is working on it. We can’t let that happen again to our country,” he said.
Heather Honey also alarmed state election officials on a call last month where she reportedly infused a discussion about voting safeguards with rhetoric that echoed right-wing conspiracy theories.
On the September 11 call with the National Association of Secretaries of State Elections Committee, she discussed her current role and Homeland Security’s election security-related work, among other issues, a group spokesperson told The Independent.
Honey, a protege of prominent election conspiracy theorist Cleta Mitchell, was tapped earlier this year to serve as deputy assistant secretary for election integrity in Homeland Security’s Office of Strategy, Policy and Plans to oversee the nation’s election infrastructure.
But she complained that the agency’s employees tasked with combating election misinformation had “strayed from their mission,” according to The New York Times.
She also mentioned a report routinely touted by conspiracy theorists to support bogus claims that voting machines were rigged to favor Democrats, The Times reported, citing people familiar with the call.
The Trump administration has repeatedly hinted at efforts to investigate voting machines based on the president’s debunked allegations that they were rigged to support Democrats in 2020 (AP)
Top administration officials have repeatedly refused to admit Trump lost the 2020 election, including Attorney General Pam Bondi, who repeatedly evaded answering affirmatively that Joe Biden won during her under-oath Senate confirmation hearing.
But officials who explicitly embraced Trump’s election lies are working across the government in positions that critics fear could be weaponized against election administration.
Kurt Olsen, a former Trump campaign lawyer who worked on “Stop the Steal” efforts to overturn election results, is working for the administration as a “special government employee,” according to The Wall Street Journal.
He is reportedly “asking intelligence agencies for information about the 2020 election,” including voting machines, the WSJ reported.
Ed Martin, another “Stop the Steal” lawyer and defense attorney for January 6 rioters, was tapped to lead a “weaponization working group” at the Department of Justice to review what he believes are “political” prosecutions against the president.
Marci McCarthy, who spread false claims about voting machines in Georgia when she was chair of the DeKalb County Republican Party, also was hired as director of public affairs at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, or CISA, in Homeland Security.
Nearly all of CISA’s election experts were purged from the agency earlier this year.
After hearing about the administration’s cuts to the agency, state officials left last month’s call with Honey “confused and anxious” as she “made unspecified claims of censorship at the agency,” according to The Times.
She reportedly also referred to a report that right-wing activists have used to undermine voting machines and suggested states would plan to use “fusion centers” — law enforcement collaborations typically used for large-scale events like the Super Bowl — for election security issues.
The CISA cuts have dismantled “nearly all” of Homeland Security’s capacity to protect election infrastructure, according to David Becker, executive director of the Center for Election Innovation and Research
“The hiring of an election conspiracy theorist with no election knowledge or expertise is the culmination of this reversal,” Becker told ProPublica earlier this year. “DHS now appears poised to become a primary amplifier of false election conspiracies pushed by our enemies.”
The Independent has requested comment from DHS.
“Anyone who cares about the right to vote needs to be clear-eyed about what’s at stake right now,” Joanna Lydgate, CEO of the States United Democracy Center, said in a statement to The Independent. “We know who these people are, the lies they've told about elections, and the actions they've taken to undermine our system. It’s now more important than ever to be paying attention to what they’re saying and doing because they have the backing of the federal government.”
North Carolina adopts new Trump-backed US House districts aimed at gaining a Republican seat
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina's Republican legislative leaders completed their remapping of the state's U.S. House districts on Wednesday, intent on picking up one more seat for President Donald Trump's push to retain GOP control of Congress in next year's midterm elections.
The boundaries approved by the state House aim to thwart the reelection of Democratic U.S. Rep. Don Davis, an African American who currently represents more than 20 northeastern counties in what's been the state's only swing seat. The state Senate already approved the plan in a similar party-line vote Tuesday.
Security clears the gallery after an outburst during a redistricting bill debate at the Legislative Building, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025, in Raleigh, N.C. (AP Photo/Chris Seward)© The Associated Press
Republicans hold majorities in both General Assembly chambers, and Democratic Gov. Josh Stein cannot veto redistricting maps under state law. So the GOP’s lines can now be implemented unless anticipated litigation by Democrats or voting rights advocates stops them. Candidate filing for 2026 is scheduled to begin Dec. 1.
Republican lawmakers made crystal clear that their proposed changes answer Trump’s call for GOP-led states to secure more seats for the party nationwide, so that Congress can continue advancing his agenda. Democrats have responded with rival moves in blue states. A president’s party historically loses seats in midterm elections, and Democrats currently need to gain just three more seats to flip House control.
Rep. Gloristine Brown, D-Pitt, speaks on a redistricting bill at the Legislative Building, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025, in Raleigh, N.C. (AP Photo/Chris Seward)© The Associated Press
“The new congressional map improves Republican political strength in eastern North Carolina and will bring in an additional Republican seat to North Carolina’s congressional delegation,” GOP Rep. Brenden Jones said during a debate that Republicans cut off after about an hour.
Black Democratic state Rep. Gloristine Brown accused mapmakers of purposefully diluting African American votes in her region with the plan.
“North Carolina is a testing ground for the new era of Jim Crow laws,” Brown said. “You are silencing Black voices and are going against the will of your constituents.”
North Carolina the latest state in remapping battle
Republican-led Texas and Missouri revised their maps. Democrats then asked California voters to approve a map in their favor. Jones accused California Gov. Gavin Newsom of ramping up the redistricting fight.
“We will not let outsiders tell us how to govern, and we will never apologize for doing exactly what the people of this state has elected us to do,” Jones said.
Rep. Pricey Harreison, D-Guilford, holds an alternative map as she speaks on a redistricting bill at the Legislative Building, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025, in Raleigh, N.C. (AP Photo/Chris Seward)© The Associated Press
By exchanging several counties in Davis’ current district with another coastal district, Republicans have calculated based on election data that they can increase their dominance from holding 10 of the state's 14 House seats to 11, in a state where Trump got 51% of the popular vote in 2024 and statewide elections are often close.
Rep. Beth Helfrich, D-Mecklenberg, left, refers to a stack of public comments held by Rep. Julia Greenfield, D-Mecklenberg, right, during debate on a redistricting bill at the Legislative Building, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025, in Raleigh, N.C. (AP Photo/Chris Seward)© The Associated Press
District altered has elected Black lawmakers for decades
Davis is one of North Carolina’s three Black representatives. Map critics argue this latest GOP map should be sued over as an illegal racial gerrymander in a district that has included several majority Black counties, electing African Americans to the U.S. House continuously since 1992.
North Carolina GOP pushes through new congressional map
“It is morally reprehensible and legally indefensible — and it will be challenged in court,” former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, who heads the national Democratic Party's redistricting efforts, said in a news release.
Republicans countered that the redrawing was based not on race but on gaining political advantage, an allowable aim based on recent federal and state court decisions.
Davis won in district that also chose Trump
Davis, a political moderate, was already vulnerable — he won his second term by less than 2 percentage points, and the 1st District was one of 13 nationwide where both Trump and a Democratic House member was elected last year, according to the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia.
Davis on Tuesday called the replacement map “beyond the pale.” He still plans to run in 2026 if the map stands, his campaign spokesperson confirmed Wednesday — either in the 1st or the adjoining 3rd District represented by GOP Rep. Greg Murphy, a district also altered in the legislation.
Hundreds of Democratic and liberal activists swarmed the legislative complex this week and accused GOP legislators of doing Trump’s bidding through a speedy and unfair redistricting process.
During Wednesday’s debate, General Assembly police cleared the House gallery of dozens of protesters who disrupted the proceedings.
State GOP leaders say Trump won North Carolina all three times that he’s run for president and thus merits more GOP support in Congress. Senate leader Phil Berger called it appropriate "under the law and in conjunction with basically listening to the will of the people.”
Stein said in a video released Wednesday that passing the map was “disgraceful” and he would veto it if he could.
House Minority Leader Robert Reives warned Republican colleagues that one day they'd be targeted by the same Trump-backed GOP that's going after Davis should they fail to toe the party line.
"Mark this day because one day they’re coming to you, they’re going to ask you to do something that you just can’t do,” Reives said. “And because we have set the precedent that only one person in the party matters, you’re going home.”
__
Associated Press writer David A. Lieb in Jefferson City, Missouri, contributed to this report.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina's Republican legislative leaders completed their remapping of the state's U.S. House districts on Wednesday, intent on picking up one more seat for President Donald Trump's push to retain GOP control of Congress in next year's midterm elections.
The boundaries approved by the state House aim to thwart the reelection of Democratic U.S. Rep. Don Davis, an African American who currently represents more than 20 northeastern counties in what's been the state's only swing seat. The state Senate already approved the plan in a similar party-line vote Tuesday.
Security clears the gallery after an outburst during a redistricting bill debate at the Legislative Building, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025, in Raleigh, N.C. (AP Photo/Chris Seward)© The Associated Press
Republicans hold majorities in both General Assembly chambers, and Democratic Gov. Josh Stein cannot veto redistricting maps under state law. So the GOP’s lines can now be implemented unless anticipated litigation by Democrats or voting rights advocates stops them. Candidate filing for 2026 is scheduled to begin Dec. 1.
Republican lawmakers made crystal clear that their proposed changes answer Trump’s call for GOP-led states to secure more seats for the party nationwide, so that Congress can continue advancing his agenda. Democrats have responded with rival moves in blue states. A president’s party historically loses seats in midterm elections, and Democrats currently need to gain just three more seats to flip House control.
Rep. Gloristine Brown, D-Pitt, speaks on a redistricting bill at the Legislative Building, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025, in Raleigh, N.C. (AP Photo/Chris Seward)© The Associated Press
“The new congressional map improves Republican political strength in eastern North Carolina and will bring in an additional Republican seat to North Carolina’s congressional delegation,” GOP Rep. Brenden Jones said during a debate that Republicans cut off after about an hour.
Black Democratic state Rep. Gloristine Brown accused mapmakers of purposefully diluting African American votes in her region with the plan.
“North Carolina is a testing ground for the new era of Jim Crow laws,” Brown said. “You are silencing Black voices and are going against the will of your constituents.”
North Carolina the latest state in remapping battle
Republican-led Texas and Missouri revised their maps. Democrats then asked California voters to approve a map in their favor. Jones accused California Gov. Gavin Newsom of ramping up the redistricting fight.
“We will not let outsiders tell us how to govern, and we will never apologize for doing exactly what the people of this state has elected us to do,” Jones said.
Rep. Pricey Harreison, D-Guilford, holds an alternative map as she speaks on a redistricting bill at the Legislative Building, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025, in Raleigh, N.C. (AP Photo/Chris Seward)© The Associated Press
By exchanging several counties in Davis’ current district with another coastal district, Republicans have calculated based on election data that they can increase their dominance from holding 10 of the state's 14 House seats to 11, in a state where Trump got 51% of the popular vote in 2024 and statewide elections are often close.
Rep. Beth Helfrich, D-Mecklenberg, left, refers to a stack of public comments held by Rep. Julia Greenfield, D-Mecklenberg, right, during debate on a redistricting bill at the Legislative Building, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025, in Raleigh, N.C. (AP Photo/Chris Seward)© The Associated Press
District altered has elected Black lawmakers for decades
Davis is one of North Carolina’s three Black representatives. Map critics argue this latest GOP map should be sued over as an illegal racial gerrymander in a district that has included several majority Black counties, electing African Americans to the U.S. House continuously since 1992.
North Carolina GOP pushes through new congressional map
“It is morally reprehensible and legally indefensible — and it will be challenged in court,” former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, who heads the national Democratic Party's redistricting efforts, said in a news release.
Republicans countered that the redrawing was based not on race but on gaining political advantage, an allowable aim based on recent federal and state court decisions.
Davis won in district that also chose Trump
Davis, a political moderate, was already vulnerable — he won his second term by less than 2 percentage points, and the 1st District was one of 13 nationwide where both Trump and a Democratic House member was elected last year, according to the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia.
Davis on Tuesday called the replacement map “beyond the pale.” He still plans to run in 2026 if the map stands, his campaign spokesperson confirmed Wednesday — either in the 1st or the adjoining 3rd District represented by GOP Rep. Greg Murphy, a district also altered in the legislation.
Hundreds of Democratic and liberal activists swarmed the legislative complex this week and accused GOP legislators of doing Trump’s bidding through a speedy and unfair redistricting process.
During Wednesday’s debate, General Assembly police cleared the House gallery of dozens of protesters who disrupted the proceedings.
State GOP leaders say Trump won North Carolina all three times that he’s run for president and thus merits more GOP support in Congress. Senate leader Phil Berger called it appropriate "under the law and in conjunction with basically listening to the will of the people.”
Stein said in a video released Wednesday that passing the map was “disgraceful” and he would veto it if he could.
House Minority Leader Robert Reives warned Republican colleagues that one day they'd be targeted by the same Trump-backed GOP that's going after Davis should they fail to toe the party line.
"Mark this day because one day they’re coming to you, they’re going to ask you to do something that you just can’t do,” Reives said. “And because we have set the precedent that only one person in the party matters, you’re going home.”
__
Associated Press writer David A. Lieb in Jefferson City, Missouri, contributed to this report.
Trump ally who wants Jack Smith in jail says grand jury will investigate Mar-a-Lago raid ‘conspiracy’
One of Donald Trump’s key legal allies claims that an upcoming grand jury in Florida will be investigating the federal law enforcement raid at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago compound and a Democratic “conspiracy” against the president.
Mike Davis told The Charlie Kirk Show this month that his “buddy” — U.S. attorney Jason Reding Quiñones in the Southern District of Florida — has received court approval to impanel a grand jury that “should be fully up and running by January.”
A court document that appears to match that description recently appeared on the south Florida court’s website.
The order, first reported by Bloomberg, does not mention what the jury will be investigating, but it has a start date of January 12, 2026.
“I would say to these lawfare Democrats, who launched this unprecedented Republic-ending, Russian-collusion hoax, conspiracy against President Trump, his top aides and his supporters over the last eight years … lawyer up,” Davis said on the podcast, which aired October 17. “Justice is definitely coming.”
Quiñones was appointed by Trump in February and sworn into office in August.
The Department of Justice declined to comment to The Independent.
The Independent has requested comment from Davis.
In 2023, following the FBI’s raid of Mar-a-Lago in 2022, a federal grand jury indicted Trump for allegedly withholding classified documents and obstructing law enforcement attempts to retrieve them.
A separate grand jury in Washington, D.C., accused the president of conspiring to overturn his 2020 election loss and failing to stop a mob of his supporters from storming the halls of Congress to do it by force.
Those sprawling investigations were helmed by now-former special counsel Jack Smith, who dismissed the cases as he ran out of time to successfully prosecute the president before he returned to office in January.
After Trump’s election in 2024, Davis said Smith should “go to prison for engaging in a criminal conspiracy against President Trump.”
Trump — after campaigning on a theme of “retribution” and pledging to be a “warrior” and “justice” to those who were “betrayed” by the government — has since publicly demanded his Justice Department prosecute his perceived political enemies.
A grand jury at a federal courthouse in Fort Pierce, Florida will convene in January. Davis claims that prosecutors there are investigating a Democratic ‘conspiracy’ against Trump (Getty Images)
In quick succession, grand juries indicted former FBI director James Comey, New York Attorney General Letitia James, and former national security director John Bolton.
Republicans in Congress have urged the Justice Department to open a criminal investigation into former CIA director John Brennan, who — like Comey — is accused of lying to Congress about a federal investigation into allegations of Russian interference in U.S. elections in 2016.
Trump and his allies have derided the “Russiagate” investigation — which determined Russian actors sought to boost Trump while damaging his then-opponent Hillary Clinton with a flood of disinformation — and vowed to seek revenge against those involved.
The Justice Department opened a criminal investigation into allegations that national security officials conspired to link Trump to Russia’s election interference campaign in an effort to delegitimize his campaign, following claims from Trump’s intelligence director Tulsi Gabbard that the Obama administration “manufactured and politicized intelligence to lay the groundwork for what was essentially a years-long coup” against Trump.
Federal law enforcement searched Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property in 2022, kicking off allegations that Democratic officials are using ‘lawfare’ to politically thwart the president and his allies (Getty Images)
Trump’s allies have also demanded sweeping prosecutions of Democratic officials, including former presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama, as well as progressive fundraising groups and an array of ideological opponents the administration alleges are tied to acts of terrorism.
According to Davis, federal prosecutors are drawing up a plan to prosecute what he called “Democrat lawfare” against the president, alleging a long-running conspiracy to undermine Trump, his officials and supporters.
Davis claims that prosecutors are mulling a case involving conspiracy against rights, which makes it a federal crime to conspire to injure, threaten, or intimidate someone exercising their civil rights — a charge with foundations in the Reconstruction era, when the Ku Klun Klan and racist militias prevented recently emancipated Black Americans from exercising newly granted rights in the aftermath of the Civil War.
Davis suggests Trump was similarly persecuted.
“That’s where this all leads,” Davis wrote on X Tuesday. “We need a special grand jury in Fort Pierce, Florida. That’s ground zero for the Mar-a-Lago raid. It’s time to drag every name into the light. Every last one will face justice.”
One of Donald Trump’s key legal allies claims that an upcoming grand jury in Florida will be investigating the federal law enforcement raid at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago compound and a Democratic “conspiracy” against the president.
Mike Davis told The Charlie Kirk Show this month that his “buddy” — U.S. attorney Jason Reding Quiñones in the Southern District of Florida — has received court approval to impanel a grand jury that “should be fully up and running by January.”
A court document that appears to match that description recently appeared on the south Florida court’s website.
The order, first reported by Bloomberg, does not mention what the jury will be investigating, but it has a start date of January 12, 2026.
“I would say to these lawfare Democrats, who launched this unprecedented Republic-ending, Russian-collusion hoax, conspiracy against President Trump, his top aides and his supporters over the last eight years … lawyer up,” Davis said on the podcast, which aired October 17. “Justice is definitely coming.”
Quiñones was appointed by Trump in February and sworn into office in August.
The Department of Justice declined to comment to The Independent.
The Independent has requested comment from Davis.
In 2023, following the FBI’s raid of Mar-a-Lago in 2022, a federal grand jury indicted Trump for allegedly withholding classified documents and obstructing law enforcement attempts to retrieve them.
A separate grand jury in Washington, D.C., accused the president of conspiring to overturn his 2020 election loss and failing to stop a mob of his supporters from storming the halls of Congress to do it by force.
Those sprawling investigations were helmed by now-former special counsel Jack Smith, who dismissed the cases as he ran out of time to successfully prosecute the president before he returned to office in January.
After Trump’s election in 2024, Davis said Smith should “go to prison for engaging in a criminal conspiracy against President Trump.”
Trump — after campaigning on a theme of “retribution” and pledging to be a “warrior” and “justice” to those who were “betrayed” by the government — has since publicly demanded his Justice Department prosecute his perceived political enemies.
A grand jury at a federal courthouse in Fort Pierce, Florida will convene in January. Davis claims that prosecutors there are investigating a Democratic ‘conspiracy’ against Trump (Getty Images)
In quick succession, grand juries indicted former FBI director James Comey, New York Attorney General Letitia James, and former national security director John Bolton.
Republicans in Congress have urged the Justice Department to open a criminal investigation into former CIA director John Brennan, who — like Comey — is accused of lying to Congress about a federal investigation into allegations of Russian interference in U.S. elections in 2016.
Trump and his allies have derided the “Russiagate” investigation — which determined Russian actors sought to boost Trump while damaging his then-opponent Hillary Clinton with a flood of disinformation — and vowed to seek revenge against those involved.
The Justice Department opened a criminal investigation into allegations that national security officials conspired to link Trump to Russia’s election interference campaign in an effort to delegitimize his campaign, following claims from Trump’s intelligence director Tulsi Gabbard that the Obama administration “manufactured and politicized intelligence to lay the groundwork for what was essentially a years-long coup” against Trump.
Federal law enforcement searched Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property in 2022, kicking off allegations that Democratic officials are using ‘lawfare’ to politically thwart the president and his allies (Getty Images)
Trump’s allies have also demanded sweeping prosecutions of Democratic officials, including former presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama, as well as progressive fundraising groups and an array of ideological opponents the administration alleges are tied to acts of terrorism.
According to Davis, federal prosecutors are drawing up a plan to prosecute what he called “Democrat lawfare” against the president, alleging a long-running conspiracy to undermine Trump, his officials and supporters.
Davis claims that prosecutors are mulling a case involving conspiracy against rights, which makes it a federal crime to conspire to injure, threaten, or intimidate someone exercising their civil rights — a charge with foundations in the Reconstruction era, when the Ku Klun Klan and racist militias prevented recently emancipated Black Americans from exercising newly granted rights in the aftermath of the Civil War.
Davis suggests Trump was similarly persecuted.
“That’s where this all leads,” Davis wrote on X Tuesday. “We need a special grand jury in Fort Pierce, Florida. That’s ground zero for the Mar-a-Lago raid. It’s time to drag every name into the light. Every last one will face justice.”
More than 30 people killed by US strikes on ‘narco’ boats, as Trump launches first attack in Pacific waters
Donald Trump’s administration has struck another alleged drug-carrying vessel, killing two people on board, in what appears to be the first attack in the Pacific Ocean.
Tuesday’s operation announced by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth brings the death toll from the administration’s campaign to more than 30, as the United States declares itself at war with drug cartels in an expanding military campaign across South America.
The vessel “was known by our intelligence to be involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, was transiting along a known narco-trafficking transit route, and carrying narcotics,” according to Hegseth.
Two “narco-terrorists” were killed in the strike off Colombia’s coast, he said Wednesday.
The latest strike — believed to be the eighth attack since September — raises the death toll from the administration’s attacks to at least 34 people, who Hegseth compared to the terror group behind 9/11.
“Narco-terrorists intending to bring poison to our shores, will find no safe harbor anywhere in our hemisphere,” Hegseth added. “Just as Al Qaeda waged war on our homeland, these cartels are waging war on our border and our people. There will be no refuge or forgiveness — only justice.”
Officials did not immediately identify the group or country accused of running drugs in the Pacific.
Critics have argued the campaign amounts to illegal extrajudicial killings, while members of Congress and civil rights groups are pressing the administration for evidence and the legal memos shared among White House officials to justify the attacks.
Two people who survived a recent strike in the Caribbean were sent to their home countries, Ecuador and Colombia, after Trump hailed the destruction of a “very large DRUG-CARRYING SUBMARINE.”
The apparent repatriation of people labeled “terrorists” by the government — rather than face prosecution in the United States — also raises additional legal questions about the operations, including whether to treat survivors as wartime detainees or transfer them to military or criminal authorities for prosecution.
Ecuadorian officials said there was “no report of a crime” brought against the Ecuadorian survivor, who is not being detained. A Colombian citizen who survived the attack remains hospitalized after his repatriation but is expected to be prosecuted.
Colombia President Gustavo Petro said a U.S. strike in September targeted a civilian boat in distress — not a drug-smuggling vessel — and accused Trump of “murder.”
Trump, on his Truth Social, called Petro “an illegal drug leader” and accused his government of “ripping off” American aid.
The majority of the cocaine smuggled into the United States arrives from the Pacific Ocean, but the Trump administration largely focused its attacks off the coast of Venezuela and the Caribbean in an apparent military-led campaign against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
Last week, Trump said he authorized the CIA to perform covert operations inside Venezuela, marking a significant escalation of his aggressive campaign against Maduro’s regime and drug cartels that Trump claims are fueled by Maduro’s government.
Trump told reporters at the White House that he “authorized” CIA operations because Venezuela “emptied their prisons into the United States of America” and flooded the country with drugs.
Last month, the administration declared the United States is formally engaged in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels that the president has labeled “unlawful combatants,” according to a confidential notice to members of Congress.
The notice appears to invoke extraordinary wartime powers to justify a series of missile strikes targeting boats off the coast of Venezuela and in the Caribbean.
Trump said defense officials are now “looking at land” strikes in Venezuela.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the latest strike. The Trump administration is facing questions over the legality and ethics of the attacks (Reuters)
In January, Trump issued an executive order designating Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua as a foreign terrorist organization, paving the way for his order invoking the Alien Enemies Act to summarily deport suspected gang members. Neither the Alien Enemies Act nor “foreign terrorist organization” designations allow for lethal force.
Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez has accused the Trump administration of trying to “force a regime change” in the country.
“I want to warn the population: we have to prepare ourselves because the irrationality with which the U.S. empire operates is not normal,” Padrino said in televised remarks this month. “It’s anti-political, anti-human, warmongering, rude and vulgar.”
Donald Trump’s administration has struck another alleged drug-carrying vessel, killing two people on board, in what appears to be the first attack in the Pacific Ocean.
Tuesday’s operation announced by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth brings the death toll from the administration’s campaign to more than 30, as the United States declares itself at war with drug cartels in an expanding military campaign across South America.
The vessel “was known by our intelligence to be involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, was transiting along a known narco-trafficking transit route, and carrying narcotics,” according to Hegseth.
Two “narco-terrorists” were killed in the strike off Colombia’s coast, he said Wednesday.
The latest strike — believed to be the eighth attack since September — raises the death toll from the administration’s attacks to at least 34 people, who Hegseth compared to the terror group behind 9/11.
“Narco-terrorists intending to bring poison to our shores, will find no safe harbor anywhere in our hemisphere,” Hegseth added. “Just as Al Qaeda waged war on our homeland, these cartels are waging war on our border and our people. There will be no refuge or forgiveness — only justice.”
Officials did not immediately identify the group or country accused of running drugs in the Pacific.
Critics have argued the campaign amounts to illegal extrajudicial killings, while members of Congress and civil rights groups are pressing the administration for evidence and the legal memos shared among White House officials to justify the attacks.
Two people who survived a recent strike in the Caribbean were sent to their home countries, Ecuador and Colombia, after Trump hailed the destruction of a “very large DRUG-CARRYING SUBMARINE.”
The apparent repatriation of people labeled “terrorists” by the government — rather than face prosecution in the United States — also raises additional legal questions about the operations, including whether to treat survivors as wartime detainees or transfer them to military or criminal authorities for prosecution.
Ecuadorian officials said there was “no report of a crime” brought against the Ecuadorian survivor, who is not being detained. A Colombian citizen who survived the attack remains hospitalized after his repatriation but is expected to be prosecuted.
Colombia President Gustavo Petro said a U.S. strike in September targeted a civilian boat in distress — not a drug-smuggling vessel — and accused Trump of “murder.”
Trump, on his Truth Social, called Petro “an illegal drug leader” and accused his government of “ripping off” American aid.
The majority of the cocaine smuggled into the United States arrives from the Pacific Ocean, but the Trump administration largely focused its attacks off the coast of Venezuela and the Caribbean in an apparent military-led campaign against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
Last week, Trump said he authorized the CIA to perform covert operations inside Venezuela, marking a significant escalation of his aggressive campaign against Maduro’s regime and drug cartels that Trump claims are fueled by Maduro’s government.
Trump told reporters at the White House that he “authorized” CIA operations because Venezuela “emptied their prisons into the United States of America” and flooded the country with drugs.
Last month, the administration declared the United States is formally engaged in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels that the president has labeled “unlawful combatants,” according to a confidential notice to members of Congress.
The notice appears to invoke extraordinary wartime powers to justify a series of missile strikes targeting boats off the coast of Venezuela and in the Caribbean.
Trump said defense officials are now “looking at land” strikes in Venezuela.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the latest strike. The Trump administration is facing questions over the legality and ethics of the attacks (Reuters)
In January, Trump issued an executive order designating Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua as a foreign terrorist organization, paving the way for his order invoking the Alien Enemies Act to summarily deport suspected gang members. Neither the Alien Enemies Act nor “foreign terrorist organization” designations allow for lethal force.
Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez has accused the Trump administration of trying to “force a regime change” in the country.
“I want to warn the population: we have to prepare ourselves because the irrationality with which the U.S. empire operates is not normal,” Padrino said in televised remarks this month. “It’s anti-political, anti-human, warmongering, rude and vulgar.”
Melania used as 'window dressing' in 'pump and dump' fraud scheme resulting in millions lost
Two men behind cryptocurrency promoted by Argentine President Javier Milei and First Lady Melania Trump have been accused of engaging in fraud and exploiting “celebrity association and ‘borrowed fame’ to sell legitimacy to unsuspecting investors,” according to a new legal filing reported by The Independent.
According to Wired, a federal class action lawsuit was first brought in April against Benjamin Chow and Hayden Davis, co-founders of the crypto exchange Meteora and the venture capital firm Kelsier Labs. The duo were accused of a multimillion-dollar scam involving a single memecoin and eventually racketeering.
A new version of the complaint, submitted to court on Tuesday, "drags in the first lady, accusing Chow and Davis of pumping and dumping at least 15 crypto coins, one of which was $MELANIA," The Independent reports.
Trump willingly promoted the coin, posting a promotion for it on her official X account on January 19, the day before her husband Donald Trump’s second inauguration, in which she directed her followers to its website and wrote: “The Official Melania Meme is live! You can buy $MELANIA now.”
The lawsuit claims Trump was used as “window dressing for a crime engineered by Meteora and Kelsier.” In the case of $MELANIA, Kelsier Labs "allegedly recruited a network of crypto influencers to promote the coin on social media for a fee."
And while the coin did well on its launch, according toThe Independent, "it has reportedly since lost 95 percent of its worth."
“Investors reasonably interpreted the use ofMelania Trump’s name and likeness as evidence of legitimacy and due diligence – trusting that no one of her stature would knowingly associate with a fraudulent venture,” the latest version of the complaint contends.“
"The misuse of Melania Trump’s name magnified the harm,” the amended complaint concludes.
“It corrupted public trust and injected an element of political and cultural credibility into what was, in reality, a standard pump-and-dump.”
Two men behind cryptocurrency promoted by Argentine President Javier Milei and First Lady Melania Trump have been accused of engaging in fraud and exploiting “celebrity association and ‘borrowed fame’ to sell legitimacy to unsuspecting investors,” according to a new legal filing reported by The Independent.
According to Wired, a federal class action lawsuit was first brought in April against Benjamin Chow and Hayden Davis, co-founders of the crypto exchange Meteora and the venture capital firm Kelsier Labs. The duo were accused of a multimillion-dollar scam involving a single memecoin and eventually racketeering.
A new version of the complaint, submitted to court on Tuesday, "drags in the first lady, accusing Chow and Davis of pumping and dumping at least 15 crypto coins, one of which was $MELANIA," The Independent reports.
Trump willingly promoted the coin, posting a promotion for it on her official X account on January 19, the day before her husband Donald Trump’s second inauguration, in which she directed her followers to its website and wrote: “The Official Melania Meme is live! You can buy $MELANIA now.”
The lawsuit claims Trump was used as “window dressing for a crime engineered by Meteora and Kelsier.” In the case of $MELANIA, Kelsier Labs "allegedly recruited a network of crypto influencers to promote the coin on social media for a fee."
And while the coin did well on its launch, according toThe Independent, "it has reportedly since lost 95 percent of its worth."
“Investors reasonably interpreted the use ofMelania Trump’s name and likeness as evidence of legitimacy and due diligence – trusting that no one of her stature would knowingly associate with a fraudulent venture,” the latest version of the complaint contends.“
"The misuse of Melania Trump’s name magnified the harm,” the amended complaint concludes.
“It corrupted public trust and injected an element of political and cultural credibility into what was, in reality, a standard pump-and-dump.”
Former FBI Director James Comey is going after the appointment of the prosecutor in his Virginia case, alleging that he lied to Congress.
In a court filing challenging U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan, Comey's lawyers cite another U.S. attorney, like Halligan, whom the Senate has not confirmed for the appointment.
The Senate Judiciary Committee vets all U.S. attorney appointments. Under federal law, interim U.S. attorneys serve for 120 days unless the Senate confirms them or district judges extend their term. If no one is confirmed after that period, the district court may appoint a replacement.
The 120-day limit was reached in New Jersey with Alina Habba, and the courts elevated the deputy to serve as U.S. attorney.
The same thing is unfolding in Los Angeles, where U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli was appointed. Lawfare's Roger Parloff noted that his appointment is now facing a court challenge due to his exceeding the 120-day limit. Speaking in an interview with far-right streaming host Glenn Beck, Essayli said, "We've got some tricks up our sleeves" to circumvent such requirements.
Parloff noted Essayli's comments can now be added to the "Annals of unwise public boasting."
In New Jersey, for example, President Donald Trump's administration attempted to reappoint Habba by naming her First Assistant U.S. Attorney and “Special Attorney” under another statute — a maneuver later ruled unlawful by a federal judge.
Comey listed all of these details in his challenge to Halligan's appointment.
Trump DOJ appointee admits having 'tricks up our sleeves' to bypass law
In a court filing challenging U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan, Comey's lawyers cite another U.S. attorney, like Halligan, whom the Senate has not confirmed for the appointment.
The Senate Judiciary Committee vets all U.S. attorney appointments. Under federal law, interim U.S. attorneys serve for 120 days unless the Senate confirms them or district judges extend their term. If no one is confirmed after that period, the district court may appoint a replacement.
The 120-day limit was reached in New Jersey with Alina Habba, and the courts elevated the deputy to serve as U.S. attorney.
The same thing is unfolding in Los Angeles, where U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli was appointed. Lawfare's Roger Parloff noted that his appointment is now facing a court challenge due to his exceeding the 120-day limit. Speaking in an interview with far-right streaming host Glenn Beck, Essayli said, "We've got some tricks up our sleeves" to circumvent such requirements.
Parloff noted Essayli's comments can now be added to the "Annals of unwise public boasting."
In New Jersey, for example, President Donald Trump's administration attempted to reappoint Habba by naming her First Assistant U.S. Attorney and “Special Attorney” under another statute — a maneuver later ruled unlawful by a federal judge.
Comey listed all of these details in his challenge to Halligan's appointment.
Trump DOJ appointee admits having 'tricks up our sleeves' to bypass law
Trump warned he's about to get America immersed in a new war
Lawmakers and experts alike are growing concerned about President Donald Trump's increasingly aggressive posture against Venezuela — and they're worried that he seems determined to start a war.
Dozens of warships and planes, along with thousands of American troops, have been deployed to the Caribbean Sea as part of an "armed conflict" Trump declared against drug trafficking groups he has designated international terrorists, and U.S. air attacks have targeted at least seven boats in recent weeks, reported the Washington Post.
“The U.S. is at a turning point — Washington needs to decide what it wants,” said Geoff Ramsey, a Venezuela expert at the Atlantic Council. “The president came to office campaigning to end endless wars, but he’s found himself now championing what may be America’s longest war, which is the war on drugs.”
Trump confirmed he authorized the Central Intelligence Agency to conduct covert operations in Venezuela and declared its president, Nicolás Maduro, was illegitimately elected and heading up a narcotics cartel, and the president has made clear that he intends to intensify pressure on the country and possibly even "stop them by land" – which sources told the Post would likely be a targeted operation on alleged trafficker encampments or airstrips.
“It would certainly ratchet things up if they began doing strikes on land, inside Venezuelan territory, especially if those strikes had a political purpose,” said State Department veteran Tom Shannon.
“This is where I think the administration is going to get itself in trouble," Shannon added. "They’re not being clear to the American people about what’s going on here. If it’s just drug trafficking, great. But they’ve got a way-oversized force and there’s an intimidation message here that is only being articulated through acts, and through the announcement of covert action inside Venezuela.”
Trump's instructions to the CIA are highly classified, but two sources familiar with the document say it gave the go-ahead on aggressive action against the Venezuelan government and associated drug traffickers but did not explicitly order the CIA to overthrow Maduro – although that outcome could be possible from the steps he authorized.
The CIA was behind “all the coups d’état in Latin America ... and presidents assassinated,” Maduro said in response to Trump's CIA order, and the country's defense minster, Vladimir Padrino, warned on state television that Venezuelans have to prepare, because the irrationality with which U.S. imperialism acts is not normal.”
Those statements were noteworthy, according to an expert on the region.
“This is the first time we have indicators that they are taking this threat seriously,” said Andrei Serbin Pont of the Latin American research group CRIES. “They understand that conventional capacities don’t stand a chance” against a possible U.S. intervention."
Venezuela's military, which is backed by contributions from Russia, China and Iran, is outdated and not used to combat, according to a retired Venezuelan army lieutenant colonel now living in the U.S.
“In the end, what is truly relevant, and why the regime is a threat, is its asymmetric capabilities in intelligence, infiltration, buying favors and disinformation," José Gustavo Arocha, the retired Venezuelan officer.
The country's military would not likely present much of a challenge to U.S. forces, but experts say military action carries the risk of a broader conflict.
“What began as a limited action against a handful of alleged drug smugglers could quickly expand to an interstate war, regime change," wrote Geoffrey Corn, a retired Army officer and director of Texas Tech University’s Center for Military Law and Policy, "and all the second and third order consequences the United States has experienced that are often harder to address than defeating the enemy in battle.”
Lawmakers and experts alike are growing concerned about President Donald Trump's increasingly aggressive posture against Venezuela — and they're worried that he seems determined to start a war.
Dozens of warships and planes, along with thousands of American troops, have been deployed to the Caribbean Sea as part of an "armed conflict" Trump declared against drug trafficking groups he has designated international terrorists, and U.S. air attacks have targeted at least seven boats in recent weeks, reported the Washington Post.
“The U.S. is at a turning point — Washington needs to decide what it wants,” said Geoff Ramsey, a Venezuela expert at the Atlantic Council. “The president came to office campaigning to end endless wars, but he’s found himself now championing what may be America’s longest war, which is the war on drugs.”
Trump confirmed he authorized the Central Intelligence Agency to conduct covert operations in Venezuela and declared its president, Nicolás Maduro, was illegitimately elected and heading up a narcotics cartel, and the president has made clear that he intends to intensify pressure on the country and possibly even "stop them by land" – which sources told the Post would likely be a targeted operation on alleged trafficker encampments or airstrips.
“It would certainly ratchet things up if they began doing strikes on land, inside Venezuelan territory, especially if those strikes had a political purpose,” said State Department veteran Tom Shannon.
“This is where I think the administration is going to get itself in trouble," Shannon added. "They’re not being clear to the American people about what’s going on here. If it’s just drug trafficking, great. But they’ve got a way-oversized force and there’s an intimidation message here that is only being articulated through acts, and through the announcement of covert action inside Venezuela.”
Trump's instructions to the CIA are highly classified, but two sources familiar with the document say it gave the go-ahead on aggressive action against the Venezuelan government and associated drug traffickers but did not explicitly order the CIA to overthrow Maduro – although that outcome could be possible from the steps he authorized.
The CIA was behind “all the coups d’état in Latin America ... and presidents assassinated,” Maduro said in response to Trump's CIA order, and the country's defense minster, Vladimir Padrino, warned on state television that Venezuelans have to prepare, because the irrationality with which U.S. imperialism acts is not normal.”
Those statements were noteworthy, according to an expert on the region.
“This is the first time we have indicators that they are taking this threat seriously,” said Andrei Serbin Pont of the Latin American research group CRIES. “They understand that conventional capacities don’t stand a chance” against a possible U.S. intervention."
Venezuela's military, which is backed by contributions from Russia, China and Iran, is outdated and not used to combat, according to a retired Venezuelan army lieutenant colonel now living in the U.S.
“In the end, what is truly relevant, and why the regime is a threat, is its asymmetric capabilities in intelligence, infiltration, buying favors and disinformation," José Gustavo Arocha, the retired Venezuelan officer.
The country's military would not likely present much of a challenge to U.S. forces, but experts say military action carries the risk of a broader conflict.
“What began as a limited action against a handful of alleged drug smugglers could quickly expand to an interstate war, regime change," wrote Geoffrey Corn, a retired Army officer and director of Texas Tech University’s Center for Military Law and Policy, "and all the second and third order consequences the United States has experienced that are often harder to address than defeating the enemy in battle.”
Trump pardons Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, high-profile cryptocurrency figure
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has pardoned Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, who created the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange and served prison time for failing to stop criminals from using the platform to move money connected to child sex abuse, drug trafficking and terrorism.
The pardon caps a monthslong effort by Zhao, a billionaire commonly known as CZ in the crypto world and one of the biggest names in the industry. He and Binance have been key supporters of some of the Trump family's crypto enterprises.
"Deeply grateful for today’s pardon and to President Trump for upholding America’s commitment to fairness, innovation, and justice," Zhao said on social media Thursday.
Zhao’s pardon is the last move by a president who has flexed his executive power to bestow clemency on political allies, prominent public figures and others convicted of crimes.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced the pardon in a statement and later told reporters in a briefing that the White House counsel's office “thoroughly reviewed” the request. She said the administration of Democratic President Joe Biden pursued “an egregious oversentencing” in the case, was “very hostile to the cryptocurrency industry” and Trump "wants to correct this overreach.”
The crypto industry has also long complained it was subject to a “regulation by enforcement” ethos under the Biden administration. Trump’s pardon of Zhao fits into a broad pattern of the his taking a hands-off approach to an industry that spent heavily to help him win the election in 2024. His administration has dropped several enforcement actions against crypto companies that began during Biden’s term and disbanded the crypto-related enforcement team at the Justice Department.
Former federal prosecutor Mark Bini said Zhao went to prison for what “sounds like a regulatory offense, or at worst its kissing cousin.”
“So this pardon, while it involves the biggest name in crypto, is not very surprising,” said Bini, a white collar defense lawyer who handles crypto issues at Reed Smith.
Zhao was released from prison last year after receiving a four-month sentence for violating the Bank Secrecy Act. He was the first person ever sentenced to prison time for such violations of that law, which requires U.S. financial institutions to know who their customers are, to monitor transactions and to file reports of suspicious activity. Prosecutors said no one had ever violated the regulations to the extent Zhao did.
The judge in the case said he was troubled by Zhao’s decision to ignore U.S. banking requirements that would have slowed the company’s explosive growth.
“Better to ask for forgiveness than permission,” was what Zhao told his employees about the company’s approach to U.S. law, prosecutors said. Binance allowed more than 1.5 million virtual currency trades, totaling nearly $900 million, that violated U.S. sanctions, including ones involving Hamas’ al-Qassam Brigades, al-Qaida and Iran, prosecutors said.
“I failed here,” Zhao told the court last year during sentencing. “I deeply regret my failure, and I am sorry.”
Zhao had a remarkable path to becoming a crypto billionaire. He grew up in rural China and his family immigrated to Canada after the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. As a teenager, he worked at a McDonald’s and became enamored with the tech industry in college. He founded Binance in 2017.
In addition to taking pro-crypto enforcement and regulatory positions, the president and his family have plunged headfirst into making money in crypto.
A stablecoin launched by World Liberty Financial, a crypto project founded by Trump and sons Donald Jr. and Eric, received early support and credibility thanks to an investment fund in the United Arab Emirates using $2 billion worth of World Liberty's stablecoin to purchase a stake in Binance. Stablecoins are a type of cryptocurrency that are typically tied to the value of the U.S. dollar.
A separate World Liberty Finance token saw a huge spike in price Thursday shortly after news of the pardon was made public, with gains that far outpaced any other major cryptocurrency, according to data from CoinMarketCap.
Zhao said earlier this year that his lawyers had requested a pardon.
It is not immediately clear what impact Trump's pardon of Zhao may have for operations at Binance and Binance.US, a separate arm of the main exchange offering more limited trading options to U.S. residents.
___
Suderman reported from Richmond, Va.
Will Weissert And Alan Suderman, The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has pardoned Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, who created the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange and served prison time for failing to stop criminals from using the platform to move money connected to child sex abuse, drug trafficking and terrorism.
The pardon caps a monthslong effort by Zhao, a billionaire commonly known as CZ in the crypto world and one of the biggest names in the industry. He and Binance have been key supporters of some of the Trump family's crypto enterprises.
"Deeply grateful for today’s pardon and to President Trump for upholding America’s commitment to fairness, innovation, and justice," Zhao said on social media Thursday.
Zhao’s pardon is the last move by a president who has flexed his executive power to bestow clemency on political allies, prominent public figures and others convicted of crimes.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced the pardon in a statement and later told reporters in a briefing that the White House counsel's office “thoroughly reviewed” the request. She said the administration of Democratic President Joe Biden pursued “an egregious oversentencing” in the case, was “very hostile to the cryptocurrency industry” and Trump "wants to correct this overreach.”
The crypto industry has also long complained it was subject to a “regulation by enforcement” ethos under the Biden administration. Trump’s pardon of Zhao fits into a broad pattern of the his taking a hands-off approach to an industry that spent heavily to help him win the election in 2024. His administration has dropped several enforcement actions against crypto companies that began during Biden’s term and disbanded the crypto-related enforcement team at the Justice Department.
Former federal prosecutor Mark Bini said Zhao went to prison for what “sounds like a regulatory offense, or at worst its kissing cousin.”
“So this pardon, while it involves the biggest name in crypto, is not very surprising,” said Bini, a white collar defense lawyer who handles crypto issues at Reed Smith.
Zhao was released from prison last year after receiving a four-month sentence for violating the Bank Secrecy Act. He was the first person ever sentenced to prison time for such violations of that law, which requires U.S. financial institutions to know who their customers are, to monitor transactions and to file reports of suspicious activity. Prosecutors said no one had ever violated the regulations to the extent Zhao did.
The judge in the case said he was troubled by Zhao’s decision to ignore U.S. banking requirements that would have slowed the company’s explosive growth.
“Better to ask for forgiveness than permission,” was what Zhao told his employees about the company’s approach to U.S. law, prosecutors said. Binance allowed more than 1.5 million virtual currency trades, totaling nearly $900 million, that violated U.S. sanctions, including ones involving Hamas’ al-Qassam Brigades, al-Qaida and Iran, prosecutors said.
“I failed here,” Zhao told the court last year during sentencing. “I deeply regret my failure, and I am sorry.”
Zhao had a remarkable path to becoming a crypto billionaire. He grew up in rural China and his family immigrated to Canada after the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. As a teenager, he worked at a McDonald’s and became enamored with the tech industry in college. He founded Binance in 2017.
In addition to taking pro-crypto enforcement and regulatory positions, the president and his family have plunged headfirst into making money in crypto.
A stablecoin launched by World Liberty Financial, a crypto project founded by Trump and sons Donald Jr. and Eric, received early support and credibility thanks to an investment fund in the United Arab Emirates using $2 billion worth of World Liberty's stablecoin to purchase a stake in Binance. Stablecoins are a type of cryptocurrency that are typically tied to the value of the U.S. dollar.
A separate World Liberty Finance token saw a huge spike in price Thursday shortly after news of the pardon was made public, with gains that far outpaced any other major cryptocurrency, according to data from CoinMarketCap.
Zhao said earlier this year that his lawyers had requested a pardon.
It is not immediately clear what impact Trump's pardon of Zhao may have for operations at Binance and Binance.US, a separate arm of the main exchange offering more limited trading options to U.S. residents.
___
Suderman reported from Richmond, Va.
Will Weissert And Alan Suderman, The Associated Press
