https://www.scmp.com/rss/515343/feed Former US president Donald Trump has been indicted in four different investigations: two by Department of Justice Special Counsel Jack Smith, one by the state of New York and one by the state of Georgia.  The first federal case concerned Trump's handling of classified documents and the second his alleged attempt to remain in power after losing the 2020 presidential election. The New York case centres around alleged hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels. And in Georgia, Trump and 18... en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Reuters Reuters Newly released records in the ⁠now-dismissed classified documents case against US President Donald Trump raise fresh concerns over national security risks and potential private business motivations, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee said. The records, handed over by the US Department of Justice as part of the Republican-led panel’s investigation into former US Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigations into Trump, show FBI investigators said in a 2023 memo that the classified... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3347915/new-records-trump-documents-case-raise-concerns-over-business-conflict-us-lawmaker?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3347915/new-records-trump-documents-case-raise-concerns-over-business-conflict-us-lawmaker?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 25 Mar 2026 19:29:59 +0000 Reuters Reuters A US judge permanently barred the Justice Department on Monday from releasing a prosecutor’s report on the criminal case accusing US President Donald Trump of unlawfully retaining classified documents following his first term in office. Florida-based US District Judge Aileen Cannon found that releasing the report would be a “manifest injustice” to the Republican president and two ‌former associates who were charged alongside him because it would detail substantial allegations of criminal... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3344380/us-judge-permanently-blocks-release-report-trump-classified-documents-case?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3344380/us-judge-permanently-blocks-release-report-trump-classified-documents-case?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 23 Feb 2026 17:47:49 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse A federal judge in Florida on Thursday set a February 2027 trial date for US President Donald Trump’s US$10 billion defamation lawsuit against the BBC. Trump filed the suit against the British broadcaster last year over the editing of his speech ahead of the US Capitol riot in a documentary on the flagship BBC current affairs show Panorama. Trump alleges that the BBC’s editing of his January 6, 2021 speech made it appear that he had explicitly urged supporters to attack the Capitol, where... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3343374/trumps-us10-billion-bbc-defamation-suit-going-trial-2027-florida?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3343374/trumps-us10-billion-bbc-defamation-suit-going-trial-2027-florida?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 12 Feb 2026 16:00:12 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Former special counsel Jack Smith defended his prosecution of Donald Trump on Thursday with Republican critics in the US Congress, citing overwhelming evidence that he led a “criminal scheme” to overturn the 2020 presidential election results. Although Smith, who led two failed prosecutions against Trump, never got his day in court, the televised hearing before the House Judiciary Committee provided the opportunity he has long sought to make his case to the American public. A veteran federal... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3340901/trump-engaged-criminal-scheme-overturn-election-ex-special-counsel?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3340901/trump-engaged-criminal-scheme-overturn-election-ex-special-counsel?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 22 Jan 2026 16:02:11 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Former Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith told lawmakers in a closed-door interview on Wednesday that his team of investigators “developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt” that US President Donald Trump had criminally conspired to overturn the results of the 2020 election, according to portions of his opening statement obtained by Associated Press. He also said investigators had accrued “powerful evidence” that Trump broke the law by hoarding classified documents from his first term... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3336829/jack-smith-tells-us-lawmakers-his-team-had-proof-beyond-reasonable-doubt-against-trump?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3336829/jack-smith-tells-us-lawmakers-his-team-had-proof-beyond-reasonable-doubt-against-trump?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 17 Dec 2025 17:04:55 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press A grand jury declined for a second time to reindict New York Attorney General Letitia James on Thursday, refusing to resurrect a mortgage fraud prosecution encouraged by US President Donald Trump, according to a person familiar with the matter. It is another major blow to the Justice Department after the dismissal of earlier charges against James and another long-time Trump foe, former FBI director James Comey, in a stunning rebuke of the Trump administration’s efforts to prosecute the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3336133/us-justice-department-fails-again-reindict-letitia-james-blow-trump?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3336133/us-justice-department-fails-again-reindict-letitia-james-blow-trump?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 11 Dec 2025 21:30:28 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press The day before Honduras elects a new president, the main topics of conversation shifted from domestic matters to US President Donald Trump and the former Honduran president he said he will pardon. Trump cannonballed into the deep end of Honduran politics this week, first endorsing presidential candidate Nasry “Tito” Asfura from the conservative National Party and then announcing the pardon of ex-President Juan Orlando Hernandez – of the same party – sentenced to 45 years in a US prison for... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3334677/trump-interference-honduran-election-stokes-division-voters-say?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3334677/trump-interference-honduran-election-stokes-division-voters-say?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 30 Nov 2025 11:49:27 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press A judge on Wednesday dismissed the Georgia election interference case against US President Donald Trump and others after the prosecutor who recently took over the case said he would not pursue the charges. Pete Skandalakis, the executive director of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia, took over the case last month from Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who was removed over an “appearance of impropriety” created by a romantic relationship with the special prosecutor she... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3334280/new-prosecutor-drops-charges-against-trump-georgia-election-fraud-case?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3334280/new-prosecutor-drops-charges-against-trump-georgia-election-fraud-case?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 26 Nov 2025 16:40:31 +0000 Reuters Reuters A US federal appeal court on Thursday said Donald Trump deserves another chance to show his New York state hush money criminal case belonged in federal court, providing a fresh opportunity for the US president to try to erase his conviction. Trump has argued that presidents are immune from prosecution over their official acts. The 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan said a federal district judge should have more closely reviewed whether a 2024 Supreme Court decision on presidential... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3331835/trump-gets-another-shot-erasing-his-hush-money-conviction?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3331835/trump-gets-another-shot-erasing-his-hush-money-conviction?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 06 Nov 2025 16:43:59 +0000 Bloomberg Bloomberg A US federal appeal court found that a Florida federal judge had been too slow in resolving months-old requests to lift her order blocking full disclosure of a US Justice Department report on the criminal investigations into US President Donald Trump and gave her 60 days to act. In a brief, unsigned ruling on Monday, a three-judge panel said US District Judge Aileen Cannon had yet to deal with motions filed in February by two liberal-leaning advocacy groups seeking the second volume of... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3331400/court-says-judge-too-slow-deciding-ex-special-counsel-jack-smiths-trump-report?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3331400/court-says-judge-too-slow-deciding-ex-special-counsel-jack-smiths-trump-report?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 03 Nov 2025 22:31:26 +0000 Reuters Reuters New York Attorney General Letitia James, a long-time critic of US President Donald Trump, pleaded not guilty in federal court on Friday to charges related to allegedly lying on mortgage documents. James, a Democrat who last year secured a US$450 million civil fraud judgment against Trump, is one of three perceived enemies that the Republican president’s administration has brought criminal charges against in the past month, along with former FBI director James Comey and former national security... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3330281/trump-foe-letitia-james-pleads-not-guilty-mortgage-fraud-charges?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3330281/trump-foe-letitia-james-pleads-not-guilty-mortgage-fraud-charges?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 24 Oct 2025 17:04:25 +0000 Bloomberg Bloomberg US President Donald Trump said he believed the Justice Department probably owes him compensation, following a report that he was seeking some US$230 million after he faced multiple federal investigations. “As far as all the litigation, everything that’s going on, yeah, they probably owe me a lot of money,” Trump told reporters on Tuesday at the White House. The New York Times reported earlier that Trump had initiated administrative claim processes alleging violations of his rights. The... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3329860/trump-says-us-justice-department-probably-owes-him-lot-money-over-probes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3329860/trump-says-us-justice-department-probably-owes-him-lot-money-over-probes?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 21 Oct 2025 23:34:00 +0000 Reuters Reuters New York Attorney General Letitia James, a long-time foe of US President Donald Trump, was indicted for bank fraud on Thursday, a person familiar with the matter said, as the administration seeks to use government power against those who have pursued investigations into him or publicly resisted his agenda. The details of the indictment, returned by a grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia, were not immediately clear. The US Justice Department has been probing mortgage fraud allegations... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3328441/letitia-james-ny-attorney-general-and-trump-foe-indicted-bank-fraud?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3328441/letitia-james-ny-attorney-general-and-trump-foe-indicted-bank-fraud?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 09 Oct 2025 21:21:11 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Hours after the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, FBI Director Kash Patel declared online that “the subject” in the killing was in custody. The shooter was not. The two men who had been detained were quickly released, and Utah officials acknowledged that the gunman remained at large. The false assurance was more than a slip. It spotlighted the high-stakes uncertainty surrounding Patel’s leadership of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation when its credibility – and his own –... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3325455/charlie-kirk-killing-trumps-fbi-chief-kash-patel-faces-scrutiny-over-manhunt-blunder?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3325455/charlie-kirk-killing-trumps-fbi-chief-kash-patel-faces-scrutiny-over-manhunt-blunder?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 13 Sep 2025 23:32:50 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press A federal appeals court on Monday upheld a civil jury’s finding that US President Donald Trump must pay US$83.3 million to E. Jean Carroll for his repeated social media attacks and public statements against the longtime advice columnist after she accused him of sexual assault. The 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Trump’s appeal of the defamation award, calling the jury’s damages awards “fair and reasonable”. A three-judge panel, citing hundreds of death threats Carroll faced, said the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3324800/appeal-court-upholds-e-jean-carrolls-us833-million-defamation-judgment-against-trump?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3324800/appeal-court-upholds-e-jean-carrolls-us833-million-defamation-judgment-against-trump?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 08 Sep 2025 16:46:13 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press American Republican Governor Mike Kehoe said on Friday that he would call Missouri lawmakers into a special session to redraw the state’s US House districts as part of a growing national battle between Republicans and Democrats seeking an edge in next year’s congressional elections. Kehoe made the announcement just hours after Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed into law a new congressional voting map designed to help Republicans gain five more seats in the 2026 midterm elections. It marked a win... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3323736/missouri-prepares-redraw-electoral-maps-trump-pushes-retain-us-house?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3323736/missouri-prepares-redraw-electoral-maps-trump-pushes-retain-us-house?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 29 Aug 2025 23:32:34 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Donald Trump ran on a promise to use the powers of the government for revenge against those he believed wronged him. He now appears to be fulfilling that campaign promise while threatening to expand his powers well beyond Washington. On Friday, the FBI searched the home of John Bolton, Trump’s first-term national security adviser-turned-critic, who last week in an interview called the administration “the retribution presidency”. Trump’s team has opened investigations of Democrat Letitia James,... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3322946/trump-ran-promise-revenge-hes-making-good-it?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3322946/trump-ran-promise-revenge-hes-making-good-it?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 23 Aug 2025 19:12:46 +0000 Reuters Reuters In a triumph for Donald Trump, a New York state appeal court on Thursday threw out an around half-billion-dollar penalty against the US president, in a fraud case that had been one of his biggest legal setbacks before his return to the White House. The decision by the Appellate Division in Manhattan is a defeat for New York Attorney General Letitia James, who Trump accused of bringing the civil fraud lawsuit to advance a political witch hunt and deny him a second term. A trial judge had ordered... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3322709/trumps-excessive-us515-million-fraud-penalty-dismissed-appeal-court?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3322709/trumps-excessive-us515-million-fraud-penalty-dismissed-appeal-court?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 21 Aug 2025 15:09:19 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Federal officials have opened an investigation into Jack Smith, the former special counsel who investigated then-candidate Donald Trump before his re-election, for alleged illegal political activity. The Office of Special Counsel, an independent federal agency, on Saturday confirmed the investigation after reporting by other news organisations. Smith was named special counsel to investigate Trump by then-Attorney General Merrick Garland in November 2022. Trump and his Republican allies,... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3320564/officials-investigate-ex-trump-prosecutor-over-alleged-illegal-political-activity?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3320564/officials-investigate-ex-trump-prosecutor-over-alleged-illegal-political-activity?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 02 Aug 2025 20:56:29 +0000 Reuters Reuters The Trump administration and its allies are trying to obtain voter data from states and inspect voting equipment, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday, in moves it said had caused concern among state and local election officials. The Post said “the most unusual activity” was in Colorado, where it said a consultant who was working with the White House had asked county clerks whether they would let federal officials or a third party examine voting machines. “That’s a hard stop for me,” it... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3318462/trumps-voter-fraud-claims-fuel-fresh-push-access-election-data-report?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3318462/trumps-voter-fraud-claims-fuel-fresh-push-access-election-data-report?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 16 Jul 2025 11:38:08 +0000 Reuters Reuters The FBI has opened a criminal investigation into mortgage fraud allegations against New York Attorney General Letitia James, who US President Donald Trump has publicly targeted because she pursued legal action against him, several American media outlets reported on Thursday. James has joined attorneys general from other states in challenging Trump’s second-term agenda. After Trump’s first term in office, she brought a civil fraud lawsuit against him that resulted in millions of dollars of... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3309638/fbi-opens-criminal-investigation-trump-legal-foe-letitia-james?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3309638/fbi-opens-criminal-investigation-trump-legal-foe-letitia-james?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 08 May 2025 23:30:17 +0000 US President Donald Trump launched a bitter attack against the “illegal” media and his political enemies on Friday, as a speech at the Department of Justice turned into a grievance-filled diatribe. Trump – the first convicted felon to sit in the White House – was meant to be talking about law and order at an organisation supposed to be insulated from political pressure. But instead the 78-year-old Republican spent much of his time rehearsing complaints that predecessor Joe Biden had “weaponised”... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3302490/trump-blasts-foes-and-media-speech-us-department-injustice?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3302490/trump-blasts-foes-and-media-speech-us-department-injustice?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 14 Mar 2025 21:54:35 +0000 The Justice Department has moved to fire a swathe of senior FBI leaders and began a massive probe into agents who helped investigate the 2021 Capitol riot, beginning to reshape the US’ pre-eminent law enforcement agency under President Donald Trump. Senior officials of the Federal Bureau of Investigation based in Washington who oversee agency branches and top agents leading field offices across the country were leaving their jobs, according to people familiar with the moves. Some leaders were... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3297016/us-justice-department-fires-fbi-leaders-starts-probe-agents?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3297016/us-justice-department-fires-fbi-leaders-starts-probe-agents?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 01 Feb 2025 08:05:50 +0000 Trump administration officials are moving to fire FBI agents engaged in investigations involving US President Donald Trump in the coming days, two people familiar with the plans said on Friday. It was not clear how many agents might be affected, though scores of investigators were involved in various inquiries touching Trump. Officials acting at the direction of the administration have been working to identify individual employees who took part in politically sensitive investigations for... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3296996/fbi-agents-involved-trump-investigations-about-be-fired-insiders-say?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3296996/fbi-agents-involved-trump-investigations-about-be-fired-insiders-say?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 31 Jan 2025 21:10:41 +0000 US prosecutors on Wednesday moved to end the criminal case against two associates of US President Donald Trump for allegedly helping to obstruct a probe into Trump’s mishandling of classified documents, a court filing showed. The pair, Trump’s personal valet Walt Nauta and property manager Carlos De Oliveira, did not object to the prosecutor’s decision, according to the filing. The move would end the final remaining portion of the two prosecutions of Trump by Special Counsel Jack Smith, who... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3296740/us-drops-classified-documents-case-against-trump-co-defendants?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3296740/us-drops-classified-documents-case-against-trump-co-defendants?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 29 Jan 2025 18:39:17 +0000 The Justice Department said on Monday that it had fired more than a dozen employees who worked on criminal prosecutions of US President Donald Trump, moving rapidly to pursue retribution against lawyers involved in the investigations. The abrupt action targeting career prosecutors who worked on special counsel Jack Smith’s team is the latest sign of upheaval inside the Justice Department and reflects the administration’s determination to purge the government of workers it perceives as disloyal... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3296519/us-justice-department-says-it-has-fired-employees-involved-trump-prosecutions?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3296519/us-justice-department-says-it-has-fired-employees-involved-trump-prosecutions?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 27 Jan 2025 22:53:12 +0000 The official US presidential and vice-presidential portraits of Donald Trump and J.D. Vance were released on Thursday, just days ahead of their inauguration. Trump’s portrait bears a notable resemblance to his mugshot from August 2023 at Fulton County Jail in Georgia, with the US president-elect glaring at the camera. Vance, meanwhile, appears to have a small smile on his face while his arms are crossed. Both men are pictured wearing dark blue suits and blue ties. “In just four days, Donald J.... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3295100/trumps-official-portrait-released-and-it-looks-his-mugshot?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3295100/trumps-official-portrait-released-and-it-looks-his-mugshot?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 16 Jan 2025 23:00:06 +0000 US Special Counsel Jack Smith concluded that Donald Trump engaged in an “unprecedented criminal effort” to hold on to power after losing the 2020 election, but was thwarted in bringing the case to trial by the president-elect’s November election victory, according to a report published on Tuesday. The report details Smith’s decision to bring a four-count indictment against Trump, accusing him of plotting to obstruct the collection and certification of votes following his 2020 defeat by... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3294682/us-justice-department-releases-final-report-trump-bid-overturn-2020-election?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3294682/us-justice-department-releases-final-report-trump-bid-overturn-2020-election?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 14 Jan 2025 07:46:37 +0000 The US Justice Department can publicly release special counsel Jack Smith’s investigative report on President-elect Donald Trump’s 2020 election interference case, a federal judge said Monday in the latest ruling in a court dispute over the highly anticipated document days before Trump is set to reclaim the White House. But a temporary injunction barring the immediate release of the report remains in effect until Tuesday, and it’s unlikely US District Judge Aileen Cannon’s order will be the last... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3294608/judge-allows-release-report-trumps-2020-election-interference-case?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3294608/judge-allows-release-report-trumps-2020-election-interference-case?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 13 Jan 2025 18:28:17 +0000 US Special Counsel Jack Smith, who led the federal cases against Donald Trump on charges of trying to overturn his 2020 election defeat and mishandling of classified documents, has resigned, as the Republican US president-elect prepared to return to the White House. Smith resigned on Friday from the US Department of Justice, according to a court filing on Saturday to US District Judge Aileen Cannon, asking her to lift a court order she issued blocking release of his final report. Notice of... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3294394/trump-prosecutor-jack-smith-resigns-us-justice-department?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3294394/trump-prosecutor-jack-smith-resigns-us-justice-department?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 11 Jan 2025 22:29:05 +0000 US president-elect Donald Trump doesn’t have to go to jail, pay a fine or perform community service as a result of his New York hush money conviction. A judge ended the case Friday with a sentence of an unconditional discharge, closing the case with no punishment. But unless the conviction for falsifying business records is someday overturned, Trump will have felonies on his criminal record, which will affect some of his rights. Here are some of the potential impacts and some things that won’t... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3294334/felon-trump-can-vote-after-sentencing-cant-own-gun-has-turn-over-dna?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3294334/felon-trump-can-vote-after-sentencing-cant-own-gun-has-turn-over-dna?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 10 Jan 2025 17:38:35 +0000 A US federal judge on Tuesday temporarily blocked the public release of special counsel Jack Smith’s report on investigations into Donald Trump as an appeal court weighs a challenge to the disclosure of a much-anticipated document just days before the president-elect reclaims office. The ruling from US District Judge Aileen Cannon may represent a short-lived victory for Trump but it’s nonetheless the latest instance of the Trump-appointed jurist taking action in the Republican’s favour. The halt... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3293814/release-special-counsel-report-donald-trump-blocked-us-judge-aileen-cannon?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3293814/release-special-counsel-report-donald-trump-blocked-us-judge-aileen-cannon?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 07 Jan 2025 18:18:57 +0000 US president-elect Donald Trump is promising to replace the head of the National Archives, thrusting the agency back into the political spotlight after his mishandling of sensitive documents led to a federal indictment. “We will have a new archivist,” Trump told radio host Hugh Hewitt on Monday. The agency piqued Trump’s ire after it alerted the Department of Justice about potential problems with Trump’s handling of classified documents in early 2022. That set in motion an investigation that led... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3293660/trump-promises-replace-national-archivist-after-agencys-role-documents-case?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3293660/trump-promises-replace-national-archivist-after-agencys-role-documents-case?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 06 Jan 2025 21:33:11 +0000 US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts issued a defence Tuesday of judicial independence, which he said is under threat from intimidation, disinformation and the prospect of public officials defying court orders. Roberts laid out his concerns in an annual report released after a year where the nation’s court system was unusually enmeshed in a closely fought presidential race, with then-Republican US presidential candidate Donald Trump attacking its integrity as he faced criminal charges for... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3292978/supreme-court-chief-justice-says-judicial-independence-under-threat-trump-return-looms?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3292978/supreme-court-chief-justice-says-judicial-independence-under-threat-trump-return-looms?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 31 Dec 2024 23:41:19 +0000 An appeal court in the US state of Georgia disqualified the district attorney prosecuting Donald Trump for election interference on Thursday, but rejected the US president-elect’s bid to throw the case out. The Georgia Court of Appeal removed Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from the case citing the “impropriety” of an intimate relationship she had with the man she hired to be a special prosecutor. The trial judge had ruled earlier this year that Willis could remain on the case but... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3291616/georgia-court-boots-prosecutor-fani-willis-trump-2020-election-case?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3291616/georgia-court-boots-prosecutor-fani-willis-trump-2020-election-case?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 19 Dec 2024 16:32:08 +0000 Donald Trump on Monday lost a bid to overturn his criminal conviction stemming from hush money paid to a porn star in light of the US Supreme Court’s July ruling recognising immunity from prosecution for a president’s official acts. Justice Juan Merchan’s denial of Trump’s motion to dismiss the New York state case forecloses one avenue for the Republican president-elect to enter the White House on January 20 for his second four-year term without the stain of a criminal conviction. Trump’s... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3291096/judge-rules-against-trump-bid-throw-out-hush-money-conviction?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3291096/judge-rules-against-trump-bid-throw-out-hush-money-conviction?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 17 Dec 2024 01:20:47 +0000 ABC News has agreed to pay US$15 million toward Donald Trump’s presidential library to settle a lawsuit over anchor George Stephanopoulos’ inaccurate on-air assertion that the US president-elect had been found civilly liable for raping writer E. Jean Carroll. According to settlement documents made public Saturday, ABC will also post a note on its website expressing regret over the claim in a March 10 segment on Stephanopoulos’ This Week programme and pay US$1 million in legal fees to Trump’s... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3290839/abc-pay-us15-million-trump-library-settle-defamation-suit?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3290839/abc-pay-us15-million-trump-library-settle-defamation-suit?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 14 Dec 2024 22:22:27 +0000 FBI Director Christopher Wray will step down from his post early next year, the bureau said on Wednesday, after Republican US president-elect Donald Trump signalled his intent to fire the veteran official and replace him with firebrand Kash Patel. Trump himself had appointed Wray, a fellow Republican, to his 10-year term in 2017, after firing his predecessor James Comey, who the then-US president soured on over the FBI’s investigations into alleged contacts between his 2016 campaign and... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3290401/fbi-director-christopher-wray-resign-being-fired-trump?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3290401/fbi-director-christopher-wray-resign-being-fired-trump?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 11 Dec 2024 20:29:22 +0000 Eager to preserve US president-elect Donald Trump’s hush money conviction even as he returns to office, prosecutors are suggesting various ways forward – including one based on how some courts handle criminal cases when defendants die. Trump’s spokesman called the ideas “pathetic”. In court papers made public on Tuesday, the Manhattan district attorney’s office proposed an array of options for keeping the historic conviction on the books. The proposals include freezing the case until Trump is... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3290237/da-has-unusual-ideas-halt-trump-hush-money-case-while-upholding-historic-conviction?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3290237/da-has-unusual-ideas-halt-trump-hush-money-case-while-upholding-historic-conviction?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 10 Dec 2024 23:42:51 +0000 Special counsel Jack Smith moved to abandon two criminal cases against Donald Trump on Monday, acknowledging that Trump’s return to the White House will preclude attempts to federally prosecute him for retaining classified documents or trying to overturn his 2020 election defeat. The decision was inevitable, since long-standing Justice Department policy says sitting presidents cannot face criminal prosecution. Yet it was still a momentous finale to an unprecedented chapter in political and law... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3288098/us-prosecutors-ask-judge-dismiss-2020-election-subversion-case-against-trump?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3288098/us-prosecutors-ask-judge-dismiss-2020-election-subversion-case-against-trump?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 25 Nov 2024 19:23:45 +0000 The judge in Donald Trump’s criminal hush money case ordered on Friday that sentencing be delayed indefinitely, a legal win for the US president-elect as he prepares to return to the White House. Trump was convicted of 34 felony counts in May after a jury found he had fraudulently manipulated business records to cover up an alleged sexual encounter with a porn star ahead of the 2016 election. Prosecutors argued that concealing the alleged tryst was intended to help him win his first run for the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3287812/sentencing-donald-trump-hush-money-case-delayed-indefinitely?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3287812/sentencing-donald-trump-hush-money-case-delayed-indefinitely?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 22 Nov 2024 17:26:36 +0000 Donald Trump’s November 26 sentencing in his New York hush money case was adjourned by the court as the judge weighs how to handle the prosecution in the wake of the former US president’s re-election victory. The sentencing was called off without explanation in a short note by the court. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg faces a deadline Tuesday to give the court his recommendation on how the case should play out. Last week, Justice Juan Merchan asked for the recommendation without... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3287289/trumps-hush-money-sentencing-adjourned-post-re-election-win-legal-battles-continue?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3287289/trumps-hush-money-sentencing-adjourned-post-re-election-win-legal-battles-continue?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 19 Nov 2024 16:00:37 +0000 A judge postponed a decision on whether to undo US president-elect Donald Trump’s conviction in his hush money case, after his lawyers called for freezing and ultimately dismissing the case so he can run the country. New York Judge Juan M. Merchan had been set to rule Tuesday on their earlier request to throw out his conviction because of a US Supreme Court ruling this summer on presidential immunity. Instead, he told Trump’s lawyers on Tuesday he would delay the ruling until November... https://www.scmp.com/news/us/us-elections/article/3286291/new-york-judge-pauses-proceedings-trump-hush-money-case?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/us/us-elections/article/3286291/new-york-judge-pauses-proceedings-trump-hush-money-case?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 12 Nov 2024 15:10:47 +0000 A US judge on Friday set aside pending deadlines in US president-elect Donald Trump’s 2020 election subversion case after federal prosecutors said they were grappling with the “unprecedented circumstance” of his impending return to the White House. US District Judge Tanya Chutkan in Washington approved a request from Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is prosecuting the criminal case, to set aside the deadlines, according to a court order, while they weigh its future. Prosecutors wrote the delay... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3285861/judge-pauses-donald-trumps-2020-election-case-after-us-election-victory?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3285861/judge-pauses-donald-trumps-2020-election-case-after-us-election-victory?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 08 Nov 2024 18:38:09 +0000 Donald Trump’s US presidential election victory on Wednesday will essentially end the criminal cases brought against him, at least for the four years he occupies the White House. US Justice Department officials on Wednesday were assessing how to wind down Special Counsel Jack Smith’s two criminal cases against the Republican president-elect, due to a long-standing policy that forbids prosecuting a sitting president, a person familiar with the matter said. The first former US president to face... https://www.scmp.com/news/us/us-elections/article/3285477/how-trumps-election-win-brings-his-criminal-cases-halt-and-shapes-future-legal-battles?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/us/us-elections/article/3285477/how-trumps-election-win-brings-his-criminal-cases-halt-and-shapes-future-legal-battles?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 06 Nov 2024 13:59:35 +0000 The federal judge presiding over Donald Trump’s election subversion case released a heavily redacted trove of evidence on Friday used by Special Counsel Jack Smith to bring charges against the former US president. Hundreds of the 1,889 pages were blank, marked “sealed”, and the bulk of the visible material – social media posts by Trump, transcripts and memos – had already been publicly disclosed previously. District Judge Tanya Chutkan rejected a request by Trump’s lawyers to keep the documents... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3283013/over-1800-pages-evidence-donald-trump-election-subversion-case-released?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3283013/over-1800-pages-evidence-donald-trump-election-subversion-case-released?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 18 Oct 2024 20:28:28 +0000 (Editor’s note: This report has been updated to remove from the “other issues” section a rule that would have required Georgia election officials to hand-count ballots but was blocked in court. The section now contains a new development about North Carolina.) America’s 2024 general election has many quirks like divergent voting processes, the outsize influence of “swing states” and uncertainties about how congressional results will affect the next president’s ability to govern. In the first of a... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3281618/how-are-votes-counted-us-presidential-election?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3281618/how-are-votes-counted-us-presidential-election?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 08 Oct 2024 19:08:58 +0000 Donald Trump laid the groundwork to try to overturn the 2020 election even before he lost, knowingly pushed false claims of voter fraud and “resorted to crimes” in his failed bid to cling to power, according to a newly unsealed court filing from prosecutors that offers new evidence from the landmark criminal case against the former president. The filing from special counsel Jack Smith’s team offers the most comprehensive view to date of what prosecutors intend to prove if the case charging Trump... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3280861/trump-resorted-crimes-bid-cling-power-after-losing-2020-election-prosecutors?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3280861/trump-resorted-crimes-bid-cling-power-after-losing-2020-election-prosecutors?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 02 Oct 2024 20:44:01 +0000 A Georgia judge on Thursday dismissed two criminal counts in the US state’s 2020 election interference case against Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and one other count against allies of the former US president. Fulton County Judge Scott McAfee found that state prosecutors did not have the authority to bring those charges, which related to the alleged filing of false documents in federal court. McAfee allowed the remainder of the case to move forward, including eight charges... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3278325/georgia-judge-dismisses-2-criminal-counts-against-trump-election-interference-case?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3278325/georgia-judge-dismisses-2-criminal-counts-against-trump-election-interference-case?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 12 Sep 2024 22:02:07 +0000 A New York judge on Friday delayed former US president Donald Trump’s sentencing in his hush money criminal case until after the November 5 election, writing that he wants to avoid the unwarranted perception of a political motive. Trump, the Republican nominee for president, had previously been scheduled to be sentenced on September 18. His lawyers in August asked Justice Juan Merchan to push back his sentencing date until after the vote, citing “naked election-interference objectives”,... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3277566/judge-delays-donald-trump-hush-money-sentencing-until-after-us-election?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3277566/judge-delays-donald-trump-hush-money-sentencing-until-after-us-election?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 06 Sep 2024 17:57:02 +0000