Judge denies Trump’s effort to dismiss DC case over selective prosecution claim
ABC News
(NEW YORK) — In her second move since resuming control over Donald Trump’s federal election interference case, Judge Tanya Chutkan denied the former president’s motion to dismiss the case based on selective and vindictive prosecution.
Chutkan found “no evidence” that prosecutors abused their authority or behaved vindictively when bringing their case against the former president.
In denying Trump’s motion, Chutkan criticized what she called Trump’s “improper framing” that the allegations against him are a “theory…that it is illegal to dispute the outcome of an election and work with others to propose alternate electors.”
“At this stage, the court cannot accept Defendant’s alternate narrative,” Chutkan wrote.
Before the federal case was frozen for more than half a year, defense attorneys attempted to have the case thrown out by arguing that Trump was selectively prosecuted and unfairly targeted “to prevent him from becoming ‘the next President again.'”
“After reviewing Defendant’s evidence and arguments, the court cannot conclude that he has carried his burden to establish either actual vindictiveness or the presumption of it, and so finds no basis for dismissing this case on those grounds,” Chutkan wrote in a 16-page order.
Chutkan found that Trump failed to provide evidence for either prong of the two-part test to prove selective prosecution – that he was singled out for prosecution or that the case was motivated by a discriminatory purpose.
“Finding no evidence of discriminatory purpose in the sources Defendant cites, the court is left only with his unsupported assertions that this prosecution must be politically motivated because it coexists with his campaign for the Presidency,” Chutkan wrote.
Earlier in the day, Chutkan set a hearing for Aug. 16 at 10 a.m., which Trump is not required to attend.
This will be the first time in seven months the parties will appear in Chutkan’s courtroom. Chutkan also denied Trump’s motion to dismiss the case on statutory grounds.
Trump last year pleaded not guilty to charges of undertaking a “criminal scheme” to overturn the results of the 2020 election by enlisting a slate of so-called “fake electors,” using the Justice Department to conduct “sham election crime investigations,” trying to enlist the vice president to “alter the election results,” and promoting false claims of a stolen election as the Jan. 6 riot raged — all in an effort to subvert democracy and remain in power.
The former president has denied all wrongdoing.
Trump originally faced a March 4 trial date before his appeal effectively paused the proceedings.
(WASHINGTON) — Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance is set to attend a high-dollar fundraiser in the Hamptons next weekend, according to a copy of the invitation obtained by ABC News.
The event is set to be hosted by a number of big-name Trump donors, including billionaire hedge-fund manager John Paulson and Omeed Malik, the president of the investment firm 1789 Capital.
Trump’s former secretary of commerce, Wilbur Ross, is also listed as a host for the fundraiser, which is billed as an “afternoon event with next Vice President of the United States.”
The fundraiser is set to be held in Southampton, New York, next Sunday, the invite said. Tickets to the roundtable event cost $25,000, with an “attendee” ticket going for $5,000. Inclusion in the host committee costs $50,000 per person, the invite said.
A person familiar with the event said it is expected to raise somewhere in the millions.
Notably, the event is also set to be cohosted by two former George W. Bush appointees. Cliff Sobel was the ambassador to the Netherlands under Bush, as well as ambassador to Brazil under the Bush and Obama administrations. Jeffrey served as Under Secretary, Economic, Energy and Agricultural Affairs after being nominated by Bush in 2007.
The event comes as both Trump and Vance have been on an aggressive fundraising blitz in recent weeks, with under three months to go until the election. Vance has been crisscrossing the country, raising money in California, Texas, North Carolina, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Minnesota.
Trump’s fundraiser at the home of billionaire financier Howard Lutnick’s home in Bridgehampton, New York, earlier this month was similarly backed by wealthy allies including Malik, Paulson and Richard Kurtz. Lutnick said that event brought in $15 million for the campaign and the Republican Party.
Trump’s campaign and the Republican National Committee’s joint fundraising operation together raised a total of $138.7 million in the month of July — an uptick from their June fundraising total — and entered August with $327 million in cash on hand, the campaign said.
It trailed the $310 million the Harris campaign said it raised in July, as they entered August with $377 million cash on hand. That haul was buoyed by the $200 million the campaign said it raised within a week of President Joe Biden dropping out of the race.
It’s unclear how much the operation had raised before Harris took over the campaign. The money was raised by the Biden and Harris campaigns, the Democratic National Committee, and their joint fundraising committees.
(WASHINGTON) — With less than a week until the Sept. 10 presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump hosted by ABC News, the network on Wednesday released the set of rules that will govern the matchup.
The debate, which will be moderated by World News Tonight anchor and managing editor David Muir and ABC News Live “Prime” anchor Linsey Davis, will mark the first in-person debate between Harris and Trump and will feature 90 minutes of debate time, with two commercial breaks.
The debate will be held in Philadelphia at the National Constitution Center and will have no audience in the room.
Microphones will be live only for the candidate whose turn it is to speak and muted when the time belongs to another candidate. Only the moderators will be permitted to ask questions.
A coin flip was held virtually on Tuesday to determine the podium placement and the order of closing statements; former President Trump won the coin toss and chose to select the order of statements. The former president will offer the last closing statement, and Vice President Harris selected the right podium position on screen, i.e., stage left.
There will be no opening statements, and closing statements will be two minutes per candidate.
Each candidate will be allotted two minutes to answer each question with a two-minute rebuttal, and an additional minute for a follow-up, clarification, or response.
Candidates will stand behind podiums for the duration of the debate and no props or pre-written notes will be allowed on stage. Each candidate will be given a pen, a pad of paper, and a bottle of water.
Campaign staff may not interact with candidates during commercial breaks.
The debate will be produced in conjunction with ABC station WPVI-TV and will air live at 9 p.m. ET on the network and on the ABC News Live 24/7 streaming network, Disney+ and Hulu.
ABC News will also air a pre-debate special, “Race for the White House,” at 8 p.m. ET, anchored by chief global affairs correspondent and This Week co-anchor Martha Raddatz, chief Washington correspondent and This Week co-anchor Jonathan Karl, chief White House correspondent Mary Bruce and senior congressional correspondent Rachel Scott.
As previously announced by ABC News, to formally qualify for the debate, the participants had to meet various qualification requirements, including polling thresholds and appearing on enough state ballots to theoretically be able to get a majority of electoral votes in the presidential election.
U.S. Secret Service Director is interviewed about the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump by ABC News’ Chief Justice Correspondent Pierre Thomas in Milwaukee, WI on July 15, 2024. — Jack Date / ABC
(WASHINGTON) — The United States Secret Service director told Congress on Monday that the attempted assassination against former President Donald Trump was the “most significant operational failure at the Secret Service in decades” and took full responsibility for the lapses in security that day.
“The Secret Service’s solemn mission is to protect our nation’s leaders. On July 13, we failed,” Secret Service Director Kim Cheatle testified before the House Oversight Committee. “As the director of the United States Secret Service, I take full responsibility for any security lapse. We are fully cooperating with ongoing investigations. We must learn what happened.”
In her first hearing before Congress, Cheatle also told the committee that she will move “heaven and Earth” to ensure that what occurred will never happen again.
“Our mission is not political. It is literally a matter of life and death, as the tragic events on July 13 remind us of that,” she said. “I have full confidence in the men and women of the Secret Service. They are worthy of our support in executing our protective mission.”
This is yet another consequential week for the Secret Service, which is tasked with providing security to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his visit to Washington, D.C. — something the director has been focused on while also overseeing the security for the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee last week.
Cheatle is facing a grilling before the House Oversight Committee over how her agency handled security around the attempted assassination of Trump.
She has faced calls from multiple Republicans and at least one Democrat to resign after the former president was targeted at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Rep. John Comer, R-Ky., chairman of the House Oversight Committee, told Cheatle in his opening statement that he is among those who believe she should resign.
Cheatle has said she will not resign.
Cheatle asked about why no agent was placed on roof the gunman fired from
The Secret Service director was asked Monday about her statements in an interview with ABC News about why no agents were placed on the roof of a building outside the security perimeter of the rally, where the suspected shooter fired from, because of the roof’s sloping nature.
“I should have been more clear in my answer when I spoke about where we placed personnel in that interview. What I can tell you is that there was a plan in place to provide overwatch, and we are still looking into responsibilities and who was going to provide overwatch, but the Secret Service in general, not speaking specifically to this incident, when we are providing overwatch, whether that be through counter-snipers or other technology, prefer to have sterile rooftops,” Cheatle said.
Cheatle also admitted that the FBI has told her the shooter flew a drone over the rally site, but she did not go into more details.
Why was Trump allowed on stage while there was a threat?
Cheatle said that if the detail had information that there was a threat to the former president, they wouldn’t have brought Trump on stage, but she said the information wasn’t passed along to them.
“If the detail had been passed information that there was a threat, the detail would never have brought the former president out onto the stage,” she said. “That is what we do. That is who we are. We are charged with protecting all of our protectees. Distinguish between someone who is suspicious and someone who’s threatening. A number of times, protective events where suspicious people are identified, those individuals have to be investigated and determine what is it that identifies that person as suspicious.”
She said the Secret Service did not know the suspect had a weapon before former President Trump took the stage.
‘Clearly a breakdown’
Cheatle said she has read the intelligence regarding the threat from Iran against former President Trump. The Iranians have long pledged retribution against Trump and members of his administration for the killing Iranian military officer Qasem Soleimani in January 2020.
Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, who is the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said that when FBI Director Christopher Wray briefed congressional members, he was “incensed” that this threat information was not taken into account when planning for the rally.
“There was clearly a breakdown or a failure that day,” Cheatle said.
Cheatle also said that no personnel or assets were denied to Trump at the Butler rally.
But Cheatle was also grilled about whether her agency denied Trump’s security detail resources it requested in the two years before Saturday, as first reported by The Washington Post, something her agency initially denied but then admitted over the weekend.
In a statement to ABC News, Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi said, “In some instances where specific Secret Service specialized units or resources were not provided, the agency made modifications to ensure the security of the protectee. This may include utilizing state or local partners to provide specialized functions or otherwise identifying alternatives to reduce public exposure of a protected.”
“For the event in Butler, there were no requests that were denied,” she said.
Cheatle praised the agents guarding Trump for putting their lives on the line to protect him with their bodies even as shots were still being fired in their direction. She said that in less than three seconds, agents from Trump’s detail threw themselves onto the former president and helped to secure him.
“I would grade the agents and officers who selflessly threw themselves in front of the president and neutralized the threat an A. I think that we need to examine the events that led up to and prior to that day,” she said.
One shot took out gunman
Cheatle said there was one shot that took out the suspect from the Secret Service counter-sniper, whom she has spoken to since the assassination attempt.
Cheatle said she is “committed” to finding answers and has taken accountability and “will continue” to take accountability.
“I think that I’m the best person to lead the Secret Service at this time,” Cheatloe said, touting her increase in hiring and staffing since her tenure as head of the agency began in 2022.
She also said that if someone needs to be held accountable, she will do that.
“I’ve been a Secret Service agent for nearly 30 years. I have led with integrity, and I follow our core values of duty, justice, honor, loyalty and courage, and I am doing that in this case, and I assure this committee that I will provide answers when we have a full and complete report, in addition to cooperating with all of the other investigations that are ongoing,” Cheatle said.
House Speaker Johnson in attendance
The hearing room on Monday was packed, with standing room only, as opening statements were given by Chairman James Comer, R-Ky.; ranking member Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., and Cheatle. House Speaker Mike Johnson was also in attendance.
In a rare bipartisan statement, Raskin had joined Comer in demanding that Cheatle testify after the Department of Homeland Security asked that her appearance be delayed, resulting in Comer issuing a subpoena.
The DHS inspector general has opened three separate investigations into what went wrong, the FBI is currently leading a criminal investigation, and Johnson has pledged congressional resources for a separate investigation.
As the head of the agency, Cheatle said it was her responsibility to investigate what went wrong and ensure that it does not happen again.
“The buck stops with me,” she told ABC News Chief Justice Correspondent Pierre Thomas in an exclusive interview on July 15. “I am the director of the Secret Service, and I need to make sure that we are performing a review and that we are giving resources to our personnel as necessary.”
Cheatle was in Milwaukee last week overseeing security for the Republican National Convention and met with the former president on Tuesday, according to a source familiar with the situation.
“Secret Service is not political,” she told ABC News. “Security is not political. People’s safety is not political. And that’s what we’re focused on as an agency.”
Republicans also signaled they would question Cheatle about past statements that promoting diversity in the agency was a top priority.
The DHS pushed back against criticism of women in Trump’s security detail.
“In the days following the attempted assassination of former President Trump, some people have made public statements questioning the presence of women in law enforcement, including in the United States Secret Service,” DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and other senior leaders wrote in a statement. “These assertions are baseless and insulting.”
