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Trump Pushes for Federal Election Interference Case to be Televised

Donald Trump is pushing for his federal election interference trial in Washington to be televised, joining media outlets that say the American public should be able to watch the historic case unfold. 

Federal court rules prohibit broadcasting proceedings, but The Associated Press and other news organizations say the unprecedented case of a former president standing trial on accusations that he tried to subvert the will of voters — warrants making an exception. 

The Justice Department is opposing the effort, arguing that the judge overseeing the case does not have the authority to ignore the long-standing nationwide policy against cameras in federal courtrooms. The trial is scheduled to begin on March 4. 

Lawyers for Trump wrote in court papers filed late Friday that all Americans should be able to observe what they characterize as a politically motivated prosecution of the Republican front-runner for his party’s presidential nomination in 2024. The defense also suggested Trump will try to use the trial as a platform to repeat his unfounded claims that the 2020 election that he lost to Democrat Joe Biden was stolen from him. Trump has pleaded not guilty. 

“President Trump absolutely agrees, and in fact demands, that these proceedings should be fully televised so that the American public can see firsthand that this case, just like others, is nothing more than a dreamt-up unconstitutional charade that should never be allowed to happen again,” Trump’s lawyers wrote. 

The request for a televised trial comes as the Washington case has emerged as the most potent and direct legal threat to Trump’s political fortunes. Trump is accused of illegally scheming to overturn the election results in the run-up to the violent riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, by his supporters. 

Trump has repeatedly sought to delay the Washington trial date until after the 2024 election. But U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who was nominated for the bench by Democratic President Barack Obama, appears determined to keep it as scheduled. 

On Friday in Florida, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who is handling the separate classified documents prosecution of Trump, pushed back multiple deadlines in a way that makes it highly unlikely that case can proceed to trial in May, as had been planned. Trump is facing dozens of felony counts under the Espionage Act. He has pleaded not guilty. 

Lack of transparency can sow distrust, say news outlets

The news outlets wrote in their request to Chutkan last month that a lack of transparency can sow distrust in the legal system. They said that is particularly dangerous in a case where “a polarized electorate includes tens of millions of people who, according to opinion polls, still believe that the 2020 election was decided by fraud.” 

“It would be a great loss if future generations of Americans were forever deprived of being able to access and view the events of this trial even years after the verdict, which would immeasurably improve the ability of future journalists and historians to retell accurately and meaningfully analyze this unique chapter of American history,” Rebecca Blumenstein, president of editorial for NBC News, wrote in a court filing. 

Some state courts allow cameras in the courtroom. The public has been able to watch proceedings held by the judge overseeing the Georgia election case against Trump and 18 co-defendants. 

Photographers have been permitted to take photos of Trump inside the courtroom during his civil fraud trial in New York, but the trial has not been broadcast. 

Cameras could affect witnesses, says Justice Department

The Justice Department has said that knowledge that cameras are in the courtroom can affect lawyers and witnesses in “subtle ways” and lead to grandstanding. Noting the “ever-increasing acrimony in public discourse,” prosecutors said witnesses who testify on camera may also be harassed or threatened. 

“When a witness’s image is captured on video, it is not just a fleeting image, but it exists indefinitely,” the government said. “Were there an appeal and retrial, witnesses who were subjected to scrutiny and harassment on social media may be unwilling to testify again.” 

The coronavirus pandemic led the federal courts to temporarily relax its rules, allowing the public to listen to many proceedings over the telephone or videoconference. The U.S. Supreme Court has continued to provide a live audio feed of its arguments since the pandemic began. 

The policymaking body of the federal courts adopted a new policy in September that allows judges to provide live audio access to non-trial proceedings in civil and bankruptcy cases. It does not apply in criminal cases. 

News outlets had previously asked the federal courts’ policymakers to revise the rules to allow broadcasting, at least in cases where there is an extraordinary public interest. The chair of the advisory committee last month agreed to establish a subcommittee to study the issue, though it’s highly unlikely any rules changes would come before Trump’s trial. 
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High-Profile Third-Party Candidates Crowd Into US Presidential Field

When West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin announced Thursday that he will not seek reelection in 2024, speculation immediately turned to whether or not the centrist Democrat is considering a third-party bid for the presidency.

If Manchin does decide to mount an outside challenge to the candidates nominated by the Democratic and Republican parties, he won’t be alone.

When U.S. voters go to the polls to elect a president in 2024, they may be confronted with more familiar names on the ballot than they are used to seeing, as relatively high-profile third-party candidates seek to take advantage of a year in which the likely candidates of the two major parties are suffering from low favorability ratings.

President Joe Biden is currently expected to be the nominee of the Democratic Party, and despite a crowded primary field, Donald Trump is the favorite to win the Republican nomination. Both men have public approval ratings well below 50%, and a majority of Americans have, for months, been telling pollsters that they do not want to see a rematch of the 2020 election, in which Biden unseated Trump.

Alternative candidacies declared

Voter dissatisfaction with the choices on offer from the two major parties has led to a number of alternative candidates and organizations considering their chances.

Manchin is associated with No Labels, an organization that bills itself as politically centrist and is building the infrastructure necessary to place candidates for the presidency and vice presidency on the ballot in all 50 states. No Labels has said its ticket will contain one former Democrat and one former Republican.

Because he has frequently made common cause with Senate Republicans during his time in Washington, Manchin has been mentioned as a possible member of the group’s ticket.

On Thursday, Jill Stein, a physician who has run as the presidential nominee of the environmentally focused Green Party, announced that she will seek the party’s nomination again in 2024. Stein ran on the Green Party ticket in 2012 and 2016, but sat out the 2020 contest. In 2016, Stein received 1.4 million votes and the opprobrium of many Democrats, who blamed her for contributing to Hillary Clinton’s loss to Trump.

Another candidate who has announced an independent bid is Robert F. Kennedy Jr. He is the nephew of former President John F. Kennedy and the son of former Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. An environmental attorney, Kennedy has made a name for himself as a prominent anti-vaccine activist, and a purveyor of conspiracy theories.

Also planning an independent run is Cornel West, a prominent left-wing public intellectual who has taught at a number of prestigious universities, including Harvard and Princeton. West first declared that he was seeking the nomination of the People’s Party, then the Green Party, before deciding to run as a true independent.

The Libertarian Party has not yet nominated a candidate for president but is expected to do so before the election. In recent years, its presidential candidates have reliably come in third in the popular vote. The party’s high-water mark was in 2016, when candidate Gary Johnson won a little more than 3% of all votes cast.

Favorable conditions

In an email exchange with VOA, Kyle Kondik, managing editor of Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, said that third-party candidates could significantly disrupt the 2024 presidential elections.

“The conditions are ripe for third party candidates to get a bigger share of the vote than they typically do,” Kondik wrote. “If Biden and Trump are nominated, both have weak favorability numbers, meaning a significant slice of the electorate will hold an unfavorable view of both candidates.

“This is what happened in 2016, when third party candidates got 6% of the vote. Third party candidates very often poll better than they perform, but they still, collectively, should get some level of combined support.”

More so than in a typical presidential year, Kondik said, there are multiple third-party candidates with relatively high levels of name recognition who can appeal to a range of demographics.

“There also will likely be a lot of different third party candidates, all potentially appealing to different kinds of voters: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for the conspiracy-minded, Jill Stein and Cornel West for the far left, a Libertarian for some conservatives, and a No Labels candidate for moderates.”

Arcane system

It is important to point out that in U.S. presidential elections, there is no requirement that the winner receive a majority of the vote. The winner is the individual who receives 270 or more votes in the electoral college — an arcane system under which the candidate who receives the most votes in each state is awarded that state’s electors, the number of whom is determined by the state’s population.

This means that not only can someone who receives less than 50% of the popular vote become president, but that under certain circumstances, a candidate can win the presidency despite losing the popular vote to his or her opponent. This has happened several times in U.S. history, most recently when Donald Trump won the 2016 election.

Not running to win

Experts say it is extremely unlikely that a candidate who is not the nominee of one of the two major parties will actually win the presidency. However, that does not mean their collective presence in the race will have no effect.

“I think we can be pretty confident that none of those people or any other sort of third party candidate is going to be elected president in 2024,” said Hans Noel, an associate professor of government at Georgetown University.

“What’s vastly more likely, though, is that one of those candidates, or some combination of them being on the ballot affects the outcome of the election,” Noel told VOA.

The difficulty, Noel said, is trying to discern which of the major party candidates is more likely to lose voters to third-party alternatives. On balance, Noel said, and especially if a former Democrat like Manchin receives the No Labels nomination, it seems most likely that the presence of third-party candidates will hurt Biden more than it will hurt Trump.

Seth Masket, a professor of political science and director of the Center on American Politics at the University of Denver, agreed that the most likely role that any third party candidates will play next November is that of a spoiler.

Masket said that you have to look back only as far as the 2016 race between Clinton and Trump to see that, even in years when the two major party nominees are unpopular, they still command the loyalty of the vast majority of their voters.

“This was a telling election where you had two of the least popular party nominees in the history of polling,” Masket told VOA. If in any year, you were going to see a lot of defection from the major parties, it would have been then, and it really didn’t happen. Ninety percent of the Democrats voted for Clinton and 90% of Republicans voted for Trump.” 
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US House Republicans Plan Shutdown-Averting Measure Amid Credit Warning

U.S. House of Representatives Republicans aim to release a stopgap measure to avert a partial government shutdown Saturday, the morning after the Moody’s credit agency lowered its outlook on the government’s credit ratings to “negative.” 

A knowledgeable source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said plans for the release of the continuing resolution, or “CR,” were still in flux. It was also unclear what form the measure would take.  

U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson has spent days in talks with members of his slim 221-212 Republican majority about several CR options. The Republican-controlled House and Democratic-led Senate must agree on a vehicle that President Joe Biden can sign into law before current funding expires on November 17.  

Moody’s cited political polarization in Congress as a factor in making its decision to lower the credit outlook, saying Washington may not be able to reach agreement to make its growing deficits more affordable. 

The U.S. recorded a $1.7 trillion deficit last year — the largest outside of the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic — and rising interest rates mean that the cost of servicing that debt will continue to grow. 

Just a few months ago, Congress brought the U.S. to the brink of defaulting on its more than $31 trillion in debt, a move that would have shaken world financial markets. 

With a potential shutdown only days away, some Republicans have called for a “clean” CR that would run to mid-January and have no spending cuts or conservative policy riders that Democrats oppose.  

But hardline conservatives continue to press for a measure with spending cuts, policies including tighter security at the U.S.-Mexico border, and an unorthodox structure with staggered deadlines for different segments of the federal budget. 

Many lawmakers warn that a prolonged partisan fight over a stopgap measure could prevent Congress from averting a shutdown.  

As House Republicans debated their options this week, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer took an initial procedural step toward moving his own stopgap measure. 
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Police Investigate Fentanyl-Filled Envelopes Sent to US Election Offices

Authorities were hunting Thursday for whoever sent suspicious letters — including some containing fentanyl — to elections offices in at least five states this week, delaying the counting of ballots in some local races in the latest instance of threats faced by election workers around the country.

The letters were sent to elections offices in the presidential battlegrounds of Georgia and Nevada, as well as California, Oregon and Washington, with some being intercepted before they arrived. Four of the letters contained fentanyl, the FBI and U.S. Postal Inspection Service reported in a statement to elections officials Thursday.

“Law enforcement is working diligently to intercept any additional letters before they are delivered,” the statement said.

The Pierce County auditor’s office in Tacoma, Washington, released images of the letter it received, showing it had been postmarked in Portland, Oregon, and read in part, “End elections now.”

In Seattle, King County Elections Director Julie Wise said that letter appeared to be the same one her office got. She said it was very similar to one King County received during the August primary, which also contained fentanyl.

Authorities in Georgia suspect that election offices in Fulton County, which includes Atlanta and is the largest voting jurisdiction in one of the nation’s most important presidential swing states, was a likely target. They were working to intercept any letters. In the meantime, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said officials were sending the overdose-reversal drug naloxone to the office as a precaution.

“This is domestic terrorism, and it needs to be condemned by anyone that holds elected office and anyone that wants to hold elective office anywhere in America,” said Raffensperger, a Republican.

It was not immediately clear how authorities came to suspect that a letter might have been sent to Georgia’s biggest election office. Raffensperger said the state alerted all 159 of its counties of the possible threat Wednesday but believes only Fulton County is being targeted.

In California, the United States Postal Service intercepted two suspicious envelopes that were headed to election facilities in Los Angeles and Sacramento.

Authorities in Lane County, Oregon, which includes the University of Oregon, were investigating a piece of mail that arrived at the local election office Wednesday. No one who came in contact with it had experienced any negative health effects, said Devon Ashbridge, spokesperson for the Lane County Elections Office in Eugene.

The incident prompted officials to close the office and delayed an afternoon pickup of ballots. Ashbridge declined to provide further details.

“Someone attempted to terrorize our elections staff, and that’s not OK,” Ashbridge said.

On Wednesday, authorities in Washington state said four county election offices had to be evacuated as election workers were processing ballots cast in Tuesday’s election, delaying vote-counting.

Election offices in King, Skagit, Spokane and Pierce counties received envelopes containing powders. Local law enforcement officials said the substances in King and Spokane counties field-tested positive for fentanyl. In at least one other case, the substance was baking soda.

Pierce County Auditor Linda Farmer released images of the envelope and letter her office received. The letter contained a warning about the vulnerability of “ballot drops” and read: “End elections now. Stop giving power to the right that they don’t have. We are in charge now and there is no more need for them.”

The letter featured an antifascist symbol, a progress pride flag and a pentagram. While the symbols have sometimes been associated with leftist politics, they also have been used by conservative figures to label and stereotype the left, and the sender’s political leanings were unclear.

Elections offices in two Washington counties — King and Okanogan — also received suspicious envelopes while processing ballots during the August primary, and the letter sent to King County tested positive for traces of fentanyl. Those letters remain under investigation by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and FBI.

Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs called the incidents in his state “acts of terrorism to threaten our elections.”

White House spokesperson Olivia Dalton said the Biden administration was aware of the investigation: “We are grateful for the election and poll workers who served this week to ensure the security of our democratic processes.”

Fentanyl, an opioid that can be 50 times as powerful as the same amount of heroin, is driving an overdose crisis deadlier than any the U.S. has ever seen as it is pressed into pills or mixed into other drugs. Briefly touching fentanyl cannot cause an overdose, and researchers have found that the risk of fatal overdose from accidental exposure is low.
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Republican Debate Candidates Narrow to 5

The third Republican presidential debate took place Wednesday in Miami, Florida, featuring fewer candidates than past debates. The candidates tried to set themselves apart from each other and from front-runner Donald Trump with several international issues. VOA’s Senior Washington Correspondent Carolyn Presutti brings us the highlights.
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Takeaways From the Third 2024 Republican Presidential Debate

Five candidates seeking to halt Donald Trump’s march toward the 2024 Republican presidential nomination gathered in Miami on Wednesday for the party’s third debate while the former president held a separate campaign rally across town.

Here are some takeaways from the debate:

Laying blame

One night after a stinging series of election losses at the hands of Democrats, the candidates vented their frustrations on the debate stage.

“I’m sick of Republicans losing,” Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said.

DeSantis has long contrasted his successful reelection last year in Florida with Republican setbacks in the last few elections, including Trump’s loss in 2020. Earlier in the day, his campaign argued that backing Trump cost candidates seats in races such as the one for governor of Kentucky, where Republican Daniel Cameron lost to Democrat Andy Beshear.

Republicans on Wednesday were also smarting from the success of a ballot issue in Ohio that enshrined the right to an abortion in the state constitution, as well as the loss of state legislative control in Virginia.

Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy blamed Ronna McDaniel, the chair of the Republican National Committee, instead of Trump, for the party’s recent performance.

“We’ve become a party of losers,” he lamented. “We have to have accountability in our party.”

McDaniel was Trump’s hand-picked choice to lead the RNC in 2017, and the committee was a sponsor of Wednesday’s debate.

Ramaswamy comes out swinging

It was clear from the outset that Ramaswamy, whose candidacy has faded since the first debate, was determined to be a spoiler and throw elbows in every direction.

Ramaswamy, a businessman with no political experience, attacked former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and DeSantis right out of the gate.

In an exchange regarding the conflict in Israel, Ramaswamy warned that the two leading candidates on the stage could drag America into a bloody war in Europe, while also channeling speculation that DeSantis wears lifts inside his boots.

“Do you want Dick Cheney in 3-inch heels? Because you’ve got two of them on stage tonight,” he said in reference to Haley and DeSantis, while invoking the Republican former vice president who was known for his neoconservative views.

“They’re 5-inch heels, and I don’t wear them unless I can run in them,” Haley later shot back. “They are not a fashion statement, they are ammunition.”

Ramaswamy wasn’t finished going after Haley. During a discussion over banning the Chinese short video app TikTok, he mentioned that Haley’s daughter used the platform. “You might want to take care of your family first,” he said.

“Leave my daughter out of your voice,” Haley countered, adding under her breath, “You’re just scum.”

Given his lagging poll numbers, the Miami debate could end up being Ramaswamy’s final one. Haley won’t miss him.

Haley and DeSantis go head-to-head on China

All eyes were on Haley and DeSantis, who were widely expected to go after each other in a bid to establish themselves as the top challenger to Trump in the Republican nominating contest.

After circling each other for half the debate, they finally went on the attack over the other’s dealings with China.

Both said their opponent had cozied up to Chinese industry as governors — Haley in South Carolina and DeSantis in Florida. Both, unsurprisingly, disagreed, leading to a heated exchange.

While all candidates on the stage portray themselves as tough on China, Haley has taken pains for months to establish herself as the top China hawk in the field.

The DeSantis campaign, meanwhile, has tried to attack Haley on that issue, accusing her of welcoming a Chinese company into her state.
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Republican Presidential Candidates Back Israel at Latest Debate

Five Republicans hoping to be their party’s candidate in next year’s U.S. presidential election debated Wednesday night, expressing support for Israel in its war against Hamas, while clashing over China and Russia.

Not appearing on the debate stage in Miami was Republican front-runner Donald Trump, who is seeking to return to the White House after losing the 2020 election.

Trump has not appeared at any of the three Republican debates, and while holding his own rally nearby on Wednesday called the event with his competitors “unwatchable.”

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who appears a distant second place in opinion polls, said Trump owes it to those watching the debates to appear and “explain why he should get another chance” to be the party’s nominee.

Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie pointed to Trump’s multiple current and impending legal trials, saying, “Anybody who’s going to be spending the next year and a half of their life focusing on keeping themselves out of jail and courtrooms cannot lead this party.”

With Israel’s military response to an October attack by Hamas militants in its second month, former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley said Israel needs to “eliminate Hamas.”

“We need to be very clear-eyed to know there would be no Hamas without Iran, there would be no Hezbollah without Iran, there would not be the Houthis without Iran, and there wouldn’t be the Iranian militias in Syria and Iraq that are trying to hit our military men and women, if it hadn’t been for Iran,” Haley said.

Senator Tim Scott said he would tell Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, “not only do you have the responsibility and the right to wipe Hamas off the map, we will support you.”

Republican candidates will next debate on Dec. 6.

Voters will begin selecting the party’s presidential nominee Jan. 15 with the Iowa caucuses, and after the state-by-state nominating contests conclude, the Republican nominee will officially be named at the party’s convention in July.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
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