Special counsel asks judge to pause his appeal in Trump’s classified documents case
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(NEW YORK) — Special counsel Jack Smith on Wednesday asked a federal appeals court to pause his appeal of the dismissal of President-elect Donald Trump’s classified documents case.
The move is part of Smith’s winding down of his two cases against Trump — the classified documents case and the federal election interference case — due to longstanding Department of Justice policy that prohibits a sitting president from facing criminal prosecution while in office.
“As a result of the election held on November 5, 2024, one of the defendants in this case, Donald J. Trump, is expected to be certified as President-elect on January 6, 2025, and inaugurated on January 20, 2025,” the filing said.
Smith asked to hold the appeal in abeyance and push the next filing deadline until Dec. 2 to “to afford the Government time to assess this unprecedented circumstance and determine the appropriate course going forward consistent with Department of Justice policy.”
Trump pleaded not guilty last year to 40 criminal counts related to his handling of classified materials after leaving the White House, after prosecutors said he repeatedly refused to return hundreds of documents containing classified information and took steps to thwart the government’s efforts to get the documents back.
District Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, dismissed the case against Trump and his co-defendants this summer, ruling that Smith’s appointment as special counsel was unconstitutional because he was not appointed by the president or confirmed by Congress.
Prosecutors then appealed that decision to the Atlanta-based United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.
The judge in Trump’s federal election interference case paused all upcoming deadlines in that case last week, following a request from Smith.
(WASHINGTON) — House Speaker Mike Johnson said transgender women cannot use women’s restrooms in the Capitol and House office buildings. This also applies to changing rooms and locker rooms, Johnson said.
“All single-sex facilities in the Capitol and House Office Buildings — such as restrooms, changing rooms, and locker rooms — are reserved for individuals of that biological sex,” the statement said Wednesday.
Johnson continued, “It is important to note that each Member office has its own private restroom, and unisex restrooms are available throughout the Capitol.”
Mace said Tuesday that the bill she introduced to ban transgender women from using women’s restrooms at the U.S. Capitol was “absolutely” in response to Rep.-elect Sarah McBride’s entering Congress.
“Yes, and absolutely. And then some,” Mace told reporters at the Capitol.
“I’m not going to stand for a man, you know, someone with a penis, in the women’s locker room,” she said.
In terms of how Johnson plans to enforce this policy is not entirely clear, but the speaker has “general control” of facilities, according to House rules.
After winning her election earlier this month to be Delaware’s sole representative in the House, McBride will be the first openly trans member of Congress.
McBride responded to Mace in a post on X, saying, “This is a blatant attempt from far right-wing extremists to distract from the fact they have no real solutions to what Americans are facing.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
ABC News’ Isabella Murray and John Parkinson contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday hammered former President Donald Trump as thin-skinned and a threat to U.S. democracy in a combative interview with Fox News.
The interview marked an opportunity for Harris to appear on a network that frequently criticizes her and praises her opponent, a notable moment after Republicans had panned her for only granting interviews with friendly reporters or podcasters. True to form, the interview was testy throughout, including multiple exchanges in which Harris and Fox News anchor Bret Baier repeatedly spoke over each other.
Harris raised Trump’s recent rhetoric about the “enemy within” and threats to use the military to go after political opponents on and supposed chaos on Election Day to suggest that he’s unfit for a second term in office, adding that it is “clear to me” that Trump is “unfit to serve, that he is unstable, that he is dangerous.”
“You and I both know that he has talked about turning the American military on the American people. He has talked about going after people who are engaged in peaceful protest. He has talked about locking people up because they disagree with him,” Harris told Fox News anchor Bret Baier.
“This is a democracy, and in a democracy the president of the United States in the United States of America, should be willing to be able to handle criticism without saying he’d lock people up for doing it,” she said.
The remarks mark an escalation of her rhetoric describing Trump as dangerous for the country as he escalates his rhetoric about internal threats from Americans, including “radical left lunatics,” raising concerns about how he’d use the military in a future administration.
‘Not a continuation of Joe Biden’s presidency’: Harris Harris also attempted to flesh out the differences Americans would see between President Joe Biden’s administration and her theoretical term in the White House, offering several examples after Republicans seized on her answer on ABC’s “The View” last week that “not a thing that comes to mind” when asked what she would have done something differently from Biden over the past four years.
“You’re not Joe Biden, you’re not Donald Trump, but, but nothing comes to mind that you would do differently?” Baier asked.
“My presidency will not be a continuation of Joe Biden’s presidency, and like every new president that comes into office, I will bring my life experiences, my professional experiences, and fresh and new ideas,” she told Baier.
Harris specifically raised her plans to offer increased housing assistance to first-time home buyers and provide funds to start small businesses.
Still, she added that her administration would mark a turning of the page from what she called the divisiveness of the Trump era in U.S. politics.
Redirecting Her election would mark a change “from the last decade in which we have been burdened with the kind of rhetoric coming from Donald Trump that has been designed and implemented to divide our country and have Americans literally point fingers at each other,” she said.
Pressed on immigration Baier also pressed Harris on immigration and high levels of border crossings for much of the Biden administration.
Harris did not directly respond to a question about how many undocumented immigrants were released into the country, instead panning Trump for opposing a bipartisan plan that would have beefed up border security. She did, however, express sympathy for families who had loved ones killed by those who crossed the border illegally.
“Those are tragic cases. There’s no question about that. There is no question about that, and I can’t imagine the pain that the families of those victims have experienced for a loss that should not have occurred,” Harris said.
“So that is true. It is also true that if border security had actually been passed nine months ago, it would be nine months that we would have had more border agents at the border, more support for the folks who are working around the clock trying to hold it all together to ensure that no future harm would occur.”
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden weighed in Friday on unsubstantiated claims that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, are abducting and eating cats and dogs, saying the narrative is “simply wrong” and has “no place in America.”
“This has to stop, what he’s doing. It has to stop,” he added, referring to former President Donald Trump.
Throughout this past week, former President Donald Trump and his allies have continued to double down on the unsubstantiated narrative that Haitian immigrants are eating pets in Springfield.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre reiterated the president’s message condemning attacks on Haitian migrant communities in Springfield, Ohio, during a press briefing Friday.
“It is extremely sad and concerning, that a community is facing this type of danger and vitriol, and as the president said today, I think very forcefully, this needs to stop. And there is absolutely no place – absolutely no place, in this country, you know, certainly in our political discourse for this type of vitriolic, smearing hateful language,” she said, emphasizing the danger of “hateful conspiracy theories.”
Jean-Pierre, who herself is Haitian-American, said that she takes it personally when “any community, any vulnerable community is attacked, not just not just a community that I belong to,” when asked by reporters.
She also noted that the federal government has been working with Springfield officials since the spring, with “one-stop clinics” available to migrant communities to help, which she said have served more than 37,000 people.
“We’ve delivered resources to Ohio as well to cities, states and nonprofits across the country. Since the spring, DHS (Department of Homeland Security) has been directly engaged with the city of Springfield and local officials to make sure they have the support they need. And we want to do more. We would like to do more. That’s why we did the bipartisan proposal, with the Senate early – at the end of last year – obviously early into this year. And it was stopped,” Jean-Pierre said.
But in order to help more, Jean-Pierre said, “we need more funding, we need more.” She repeatedly laid blame on Congressional Republicans, who she said is at fault for spiking the bipartisan border legislation that would have provided funding for places like Springfield.
“It was stopped because the former president said that bill, that particular proposal would hurt him and help Joe Biden. And so, Republicans in Congress stopped that. It would have given more resources to cities like Springfield, Ohio. But I don’t want to miss the point here that the administration has indeed provided more than $1.3 billion in grant funding to jurisdiction[s] around the country to help with the influx and what they’re dealing with. We want to do more, but we’ve been blocked in doing so,” she said.
On Thursday, Jean-Pierre called the claims towards Haitian immigrants a “very bizarre and very hateful smear” that the “police department has debunked.”
She also noted that Haitian communities are fearful, keeping children home from school and facing threats to their property.
“So many Americans like Karine, as she pointed out a proud Haitian-American, a community that’s under attack in our country right now. It’s simply wrong. There’s no place in America,” Biden said.
Springfield Mayor Rob Rue told ABC News on Friday that such rumors are “factually not true” and promised that “your pets are safe in Springfield.”
The city of Springfield previously told ABC News in a statement that “there have been no credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community.”
ABC News’ Emily Chang and Armando Garcia contributed to this report.
