Summary of the day
Here’s a recap of today’s developments:
A federal judge set a date for a second defamation trial brought by E Jean Carroll, the New York writer who last month won a $5m jury verdict against Donald Trump for sexual abuse and defamation. US district judge Lewis Kaplan signed an order on Thursday scheduling the trial for 15 January 2024, “unless this case has previously been entirely disposed of”.
US district judge Aileen Cannon, who is presiding over Donald Trump’s latest criminal case, issued her first order since the former president’s arraignment earlier this week. Cannon has ordered defense attorneys to contact the justice department to expedite the process of obtaining security clearances, suggesting that, for now, she may be interested in moving the proceedings along without delay.
The supreme court ruled that Native American children can continue to be protected under federal law against being removed from their tribal communities for fostering or adoption, rejecting a petition from a white couple who argued that the provision was a form of racial discrimination. The supreme court’s decision upholds decades of federal law that gives Native Americans and tribal members preference in the adoption or foster care of Native American children.
The supreme court’s decision was supported by Native Americans, tribal leaders and top Democrats. Following the announcement of the court’s 7-2 decision, several tribal leaders commended the supreme court’s ruling, calling it a “major victory for Native tribes, children and the future of our culture and heritage”.
Former New York mayor Bill de Blasio was ordered to pay $475,000 for misusing public funds on a police security detail during his failed 2020 presidential bid. De Blasio “plainly violated” the city’s prohibition on using public resources to advance a political campaign, the chair of New York’s conflicts of interest board said. The fine is the largest ever handed out by the board.
The mayor of Miami, Francis Suarez, entered the race for the Republican presidential nomination. Suarez will be an outsider in a crowded field dominated by two other Florida men: Donald Trump, the twice-indicted former president, and Ron DeSantis, the hard-right governor.
Jack Teixeira, the 21-year-old US airman accused of leaking confidential intelligence and defense documents online, was indicted by a federal grand jury, the Department of Justice said on Thursday. Teixeira, of North Dighton, Massachusetts, has been charged with six counts of willful retention and transmission of classified information relating to national defense, the justice department said.
Texas governor Greg Abbott’s decision to bus migrants to Los Angeles this week has been decried as a “despicable stunt”, as advocates in California reported that the group was not offered food during the 23-hour trip. Abbott has faced increasing scrutiny for his bussing program over the last year, which immigrants’ rights groups have said can be exploitative and cruel.
The Senate confirmed the former American Civil Liberties Union attorney Nusrat Jahan Choudhury as the first Muslim woman to serve as a federal judge on Thursday. Choudhury, 46, is also the first Bangladeshi American to serve in this lifetime position. She will serve as a judge on the US court for the eastern district of New York.
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Race has emerged as a central issue in the 2024 Republican presidential race, with the GOP’s primary field featuring five candidates of color: Miami mayor Francis Suarez, South Carolina senator Tim Scott, former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and radio host Larry Elder.
The candidates of color are considered underdogs in the field currently dominated by Donald Trump and Florida’s governor, Ron DeSantis. But AP reports that the Republican party’s increasingly diverse leadership suggests it may have a real opportunity in 2024 to further weaken the Democrats’ grip on African Americans and Latinos.
It writes:
Those groups have been among the most loyal segments of the Democratic coalition since Republican leaders fought against the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The Republican presidential contenders of 2024 walk a fine line when addressing race with the GOP’s overwhelmingly white primary electorate. In most cases, the diverse candidates in the Republican field play down the significance of their racial heritage. They all deny the existence of systemic racism in the United States even while discussing their own personal experience with racial discrimination. They oppose policies around policing, voting rights and education that are designed to benefit disadvantaged communities and combat structural racism.
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