Michael Cohen was one of the earliest to flip on Trump, and Trump called him a rat. Trump denies any wrongdoing, but this is not the first time we've seen evidence of this kind of behavior.ĬHANG: And others who have worked for Trump, I mean, not just his personal lawyers have spoken out about that, right?īERNSTEIN: Most recently, his former and once loyal-to-a-fault Attorney General Bill Barr said of the recent indictment on Fox News, if even half is true, he's toast. But what we do know - and we just saw in the recent indictment, as alleged - Trump has asked his lawyers to commit crimes for him, suggesting lying to the Justice Department and, according to his lawyers' notes, implying he should destroy or dispose of documents. We don't know the specifics of what happened in this case yet. Why did he do that? What's your sense?īERNSTEIN: So as we've seen, Trump often thinks he has a better idea of how to handle legal issues than his own lawyers, and he often overrules them. That said, Trump does have some lawyers like Chris Kise, who appeared today in Florida, who have stayed with him through a number of cases.ĬHANG: Now, Trump fired the lawyers who had been representing him on this Mar-a-Lago documents case, but he fired them, like, the day after he was indicted. Then he has a cadre of political advisers and a cadre of legal advisers, and there's friction. Why do you think we keep seeing this?īERNSTEIN: Well, for starters, he has an unusual number of legal issues - two special counsel investigations, two impeachments, a criminal conviction for his company and a criminal indictment in Manhattan and maybe dozens of civil suits. So Trump always seems to have an unusual number of lawyers and seems to move quickly through those lawyers. Joining us to discuss why Trump goes through so many legal teams is NPR's Andrea Bernstein. They're just the latest members of the Trump legal team after two other attorneys quit this case last week. When he appeared today at a federal courthouse in Miami, he was represented by attorneys Christopher Kise and Todd Blanche. “The lack of leadership and coordination, combined with delays in meeting the basic needs of the island, more than eighteen months after receiving a presidential disaster declaration, has left far too many children and elderly citizens in unhealthy and unsafe conditions, families in severely damaged homes, and communities without adequate infrastructure to sustain a decent quality of life,” Leahy and the Senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer, said in a letter to the White House on Tuesday.We continue our coverage on former President Trump. And Trump has repeatedly criticized the island’s leaders, pointing at the island’s financial woes and crumbling infrastructure. Since then, his administration has been slow to deliver the aid to Puerto Rico that Congress has already approved for the island. Trump last year called the disaster response in Puerto Rico an “ incredible, unsung success”, drawing swift condemnation from residents and political leaders lamenting the death of thousands of Puerto Ricans during the storm. “Nearly 3,000 American lives were lost in the historic storms that devastated Puerto Rico and destroyed its infrastructure, and the island is still struggling to recover,” the House appropriations committee chairwoman, Nita Lowey, said in a joint statement with Senator Patrick Leahy. “Just at the time when harvesting was starting, Hurricane Michael hit and crops were completely destroyed across most of our state,” Perdue said.ĭemocratic lawmakers have said the House will insist on further aid for Puerto Rico for a larger disaster aid measure won’t clear Congress. The measure has wide support from both Democrats and Republicans and is ardently backed by Trump loyalists such as the Georgia senator David Perdue and the North Carolina senator Thom Tillis whose states were slammed by hurricanes last fall. Lawmakers from southern states like Florida, Georgia and North Carolina, which were hit by hurricanes Michael and Florence last year, are especially keen to pass a disaster relief package soon. The debate over additional aid for Puerto Rico is part of a wider discussion about disaster relief for several states struck by natural disasters like hurricanes, tornadoes and wildfires in recent years.Ī disaster aid package cleared a procedural hurdle by a 90-10 vote and is expected to pass the Senate as early as late this week, which would set up talks with the Democratic-controlled House.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |