— San Francisco religious leader criticizes toppling of statue in Golden Gate Park.
— Trump tries to tie destruction of statues to Democrats, including Biden.
— Trump stages comeback rally in less-than-fun arena amid pandemic.
Blls comment: "Thanks to a Bogus ticket scam".
SAN FRANCISCO
-- San Francisco Archbishop Salvadore Cordileone criticized the pulling
down of the Junipero Serra statue in Golden Gate Park.
“What is
happening to our society? A renewed national movement to heal memories
and correct the injustices of racism and police brutality in our country
has been hijacked by some into a movement of violence, looting and
vandalism,” he said in a statement Saturday night.
Serra was an
18th century Roman Catholic priest who founded nine of California’s 21
Spanish missions and is credited with bringing Roman Catholicism to the
Western United States.
Serra forced
Native Americans to stay at those missions after they were converted or
face brutal punishment. His statues have been defaced in California for
several years by people who said he destroyed tribes and their culture.
___
TULSA, Okla. —
President Donald Trump is seeking to tie the destruction of monuments
and statues around the country to Democratic leaders, including his
likely rival in the presidential election, Joe Biden.
Speaking to
supporters in Tulsa, Trump says “the choice in 2020 is very simple. Do
you want to bow before the left-wing mob or do you want to stand up tall
and proud as Americans?”
Statues have
been destroyed in numerous cities amid continuing anti-racism
demonstrations following the May 25 police killing in Minneapolis of
George Floyd, the African-American man who died in police custody.
The statues
targeted included a bust of Ulysses Grant, who was the U.S. president
after he was the general who finally beat the Confederates and ended the
Civil War. Also torn down in a San Francisco park was a statue of
Francis Scott Key, who wrote the “Star Spangled Banner.” Key owned
slaves.
Trump says:
“Biden remains silent in his basement in the face of this brutal assault
on our nation and the values of our nation. Joe Biden has surrendered
to his party and to the left-wing mob.”
___
TULSA, Okla. —
President Donald Trump has returned to the rally stage Saturday night
only to find the venue about two-thirds full, a surprising and
undoubtedly disappointing turn of events for a politician who values
crowd size.
Trump launched
his first rally in 110 days amid the coronavirus pandemic. Empty seats
could be seen throughout the upper deck as Trump seemingly blamed
protesters, saying “we had some very bad people outside that were doing
bad things.” The lower deck was full, except for an area behind the
television cameras where the view of the stage was blocked.
The vast
majority of those in attendance bucked the guidance of health care
experts and did not wear a mask, following the lead of a president who
has insisted on not wearing a mask in public.
Trump
applauded those in attendance as warriors. His campaign has planned for
Trump to also speak at an outdoor venue before going inside the arena,
but that event was canceled.
___
TULSA, Okla. —
A memorial to Black Wall Street in the Greenwood District of Tulsa has
been covered with tarp by residents who say they don’t want it used as a
photo opportunity by the Trump administration as the president holds a
campaign rally nearby.
The tarp was
placed following a news conference that included Tiffany Crutcher, the
twin sister of Terence Crutcher, a black man killed by a Tulsa police
officer in 2016.
“This is not a
photo op, that’s not what this is,” said Nehemiah Frank, editor of the
online Black Wall Street Times in Tulsa, in a video posted following the
news conference which called for the campaign rally to be canceled and
for peaceful protests.
“This is a
place to come pay respects to people that died a horrible murder from
racism,” Frank said as the video showed signs attached to the blue tarp,
including one reading “This is sacred ground, not a photo op.”
The Greenwood
District was the site of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre in which
black-owned businesses were burned and an estimated 300 people were
killed.
Nazi did the same thing, burnt books and destroyed Statues.
In his return to the campaign trail Saturday in Tulsa, Okla., President Trump criticized demonstrators and politicians who have pushed to have portraits and statues of historic figures removed.
“The
unhinged left-wing mob is trying to vandalize our history, desecrate
our monuments, our beautiful monuments, tear down our statues and
punish, cancel and persecute anyone who does not conform to their
demands for absolute and total control," Trump said. “This cruel
campaign of censorship and exclusion violates everything we hold dear as
Americans," the president added. “They want to demolish our heritage so
they can impose their new repressive regime in its place." Several
politicians have called to have the 11 statues of Confederate officers
and leaders currently located in the National Statuary Hall in the U.S.
Capitol building removed. Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Senate
Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., took to the Senate floor this
week to ask for unanimous consent to have the statues removed. The
motion was blocked by Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo. Trump has previously
said he will not even consider renaming U.S. military bases that carry
the names of the Confederate legacy. He suggested this attitude again
Saturday during his rally, saying: “We’re not conforming, that’s why
we’re here, actually.” Trump, who touted the Republican Party as
the "party of Abraham Lincoln" Saturday night, also said the call to
remove historic statues and portraits is a form of “censorship.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi earlier this week had four portraits of Confederate sympathizers removed from the Capitol.
Democrats like AOC will use any and all CROOKED means to steal the 2020 election, what a classy bitch.
U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez appeared to take pleasure Saturday night in reports that the turnout for President Trump’s Tulsa, Okla., rally was lower than expected. In
a Twitter post, Ocasio-Cortez claimed the Trump campaign had been
scammed by teenage anti-Trump activists who allegedly reserved scores of
tickets for the Tulsa event online – then failed to show up, thus
preventing others from being able to attend. “Actually you just
got ROCKED by teens on TikTok,” the New York Democrat wrote in response
to a Twitter message by Trump 2020 Campaign chief Brad Parscale, who
argued that “Radical protestors” in Tulsa had prevented some of the
president’s supporters from entering the BOK Center, where the rally was
held. Tim
Murtaugh, a Trump 2020 Campaign spokesman, reiterated the Parscale
claim of protester interference, The New York Times reported. TV
images showed much of the upper tier of Tulsa's BOK Center remained
empty during the rally, with other space visible in the lower seating
areas as well -- a different result than the big turnout the Trump
campaign had predicted during the week. Ocasio-Cortez claimed that
teens “flooded the Trump campaign w/ fake ticket reservations &
tricked you into believing a million people wanted your white
supremacist open mic enough to pack an arena during COVID.
U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., claims she knows why
many seats were empty at President Trump's rally in Tulsa, Okla., on
Saturday night.
“Shout out to Zoomers. Y’all make me so proud,” Ocasio-Cortez added. In a separate message, Ocasio-Cortez thanked “KPop allies,” a term referring to fans of Korean pop music. “KPop allies, we see and appreciate your contributions in the fight for justice too,” the congresswoman wrote. It wasn’t clear if Ocasio-Cortez knew of the alleged scheme in advance, or if she was reacting to media reports. An Iowa woman posted a video on TikTok last week, encouraging people to participate in the alleged scam, CNN reported. “All
of those of us that want to see this 19,000 seat auditorium barely
filled or completely empty go reserve tickets now and leave him standing
alone there on the stage,” the woman, identified as Mary Jo Laupp, told
her TikTok follwers. Thousands of other TikTok users posted similar messages as the plan spread online, The New York Times reported. “It
spread mostly through Alt TikTok -- we kept it on the quiet side where
people do pranks and a lot of activism,” YouTuber Elijah Daniel, 26,
told the Times. “K-pop Twitter and Alt TikTok have a good alliance where
they spread information amongst each other very quickly. They all know
the algorithms and how they can boost videos to get where they want.” Many
of those participating in the alleged scam deleted their posts after 24
to 48 hours in a bid to limit word of the plan from spreading on
mainstream social media, the Times report said. “These kids are smart and they thought of everything,” Daniel told the paper. KPop
activists were previously linked to campaigns to raise money for Black
Lives Matter, fight racist hashtags on Twitter and disrupt the
eyewitness app of the Dallas Police Department, Vulture.com reported.
President Trump roared back onto the campaign
trail Saturday night with a rally before thousands of supporters in
Tulsa, Okla., using the fiery and freewheeling appearance to mock
Democratic foe Joe Biden,
criticize those tearing down monuments to controversial historical
figures and decry what he described as the “disaster” demonstration in
Seattle. The rally, his first in months, comes amid prolonged
concerns about the coronavirus pandemic and a nationwide outcry over
racial injustice in the wake of George Floyd's death. Before an
enthusiastic and placard-waving crowd -- in an arena that still had
visible empty seats despite expectations of a packed house -- Trump
described his party as one of equality and justice but also hammered a
"law and order" message in response to those protests that escalated
into violence. Trump specifically tore into the occupation of
several blocks in Seattle by left-wing protesters, which covers an
abandoned police precinct, saying it is an example of the "radical
left." The occupants, whom Trump described as "anarchists," call their
area the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest, or CHOP. "We're not
talking about some little place, we're talking about Seattle," Trump
said, criticizing the Democratic officials in Seattle and Washington
state. He said he had a standing offer that "any time you want, we'll
come in" and straighten out the issues in Seattle "in an hour or less." But, he said: "I may be wrong, but it's probably better for us to just watch that disaster." Trump
added that a congressman on the flight to the rally told him he
shouldn't step in to end the CHOP occupation in order to let people see
"what radical left Democrats will do to our country." He also
cited "radicals" that targeted statues of Thomas Jefferson and
Christopher Columbus in recent days and said that a law should be passed
that burning the American flag results in a year in jail. While touting
his chances in November, Trump repeatedly used examples of protesters
tearing down monuments and the Seattle CHOP zone as a foil for his “law
and order” theme -- while insisting Biden, the presumptive Democratic
presidential nominee, would always "cave" to such "radical" parts of his
party. “Do you want to bow before the left-wing mob or do you want to stand up tall and proud as Americans?” he asked at one point. The
rally's scathing tone, impromptu digressions and political broadsides
reflected Trump slipping right back into his campaign element after the
pandemic-induced hiatus. Trump also called a Boeing official a “dumb son
of a b----,” in describing defense contract negotiations with the
company. He said he eventually saved “like a billion six or a billion
seven” in the negotiation. Tulsa marked the president's first
rally since early March, when both Trump and Biden canceled in-person
campaign events as the seriousness of the coronavirus crisis began to
set in. But Trump, who for months has been itching to get the country's
economy back to normal and get himself back in front of supporters
at his rallies, is the first to resume large in-person events. Trump
also claimed Saturday that the "silent majority is stronger than ever"
and touted Republicans as the "party of Abraham Lincoln" and "law and
order," in comments appearing to indicate how he will frame his
reelection campaign as the November election approaches. Trump
made the declarations at Tulsa's BOK Center -- which itself became an
epicenter of controversy amid protests outside and lingering concerns
over the potential coronavirus risk of holding the rally. In
advance of the Saturday event, Trump supporters had been lining up for
days to secure their seat in an arena that holds just under 20,000, and
the Trump campaign touted Monday receiving over 1 million ticket
requests. Nevertheless, there were a number of empty seats on the
upper levels inside. The campaign nixed plans for Trump to address an
overflow crowd at the beginning. In the arena, Trump accused the media
of dissuading would-be participants. Campaign manager Brad Parscale, on
Twitter, said, "Radical protestors, fueled by a week of apocalyptic
media coverage, interfered with @realDonaldTrump supporters at the rally." But
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. -- a frequent Trump target during
the rally -- tweeted in response that "teens on TikTok" had made "fake
ticket reservations & tricked you into believing a million people
wanted your white supremacist open mic enough to pack an arena during
COVID." But the rally, despite the hiatus, hit the familiar notes. Trump
early in his remarks touted reform to the U.S. Department of Veterans
Affairs, the breakneck pace at which the Senate has confirmed his
judicial nominees and tax cut legislation he signed into law. "I
stand before you today to declare that the silent majority is stronger
than ever before," Trump told the raucous crowd. "Five months from now
we're going to defeat sleepy Joe Biden... We're going to stop the
radical left. We're going to build a future of safety and opportunity
... Republicans are the party of liberty, equality and justice for all.
We are the party of Abraham Lincoln and we are the party of law and
order." Like in 2016, Trump promised that he will release a list
of names he could potentially choose from for Supreme Court nominees
earlier this week, and reiterated the promise Saturday night. "Think
how important it is... It's almost like we're a minority court," Trump
said, referencing two rulings that went against the positions his
administration took this week. "I'll be soon announcing a new list
of exceptional candidates" for the Supreme Court, he continued. "And
I'll only pick from that list." Trump said Biden could not release
his own Supreme Court list because his possible nominees would be too
radical. He also said that Biden would "stack" the tribunal with
"extremists." Additionally, Trump spent a significant amount of
time addressing criticism he got for what appeared to be a gingerly walk
down a ramp and an awkward sip from a glass of water at a West Point
graduation earlier this month. Trump defended himself, alluded that Joe
Biden had health issues instead of himself, then took a sip of water to
loud cheers from the crowd, before tossing the water out of the glass. "That's enough, I wanted to tell that story, does everybody understand that story?" the president concluded. Trump
also targeted China over trade concerns and the coronavirus. He said
that his trade efforts helped American farmers and at one point called
the coronavirus the "Kung Flu." Trump also criticized Biden for
not agreeing with his decision in the early stages of the coronavirus
pandemic to close off travel from the country. "He never did anything
against China, Joe Biden," Trump said. The president, in comments
on the South Lawn of the White House on Saturday, said he was excited to
get back among his supporters. "The event in Oklahoma is
unbelievable," he said. "The crowds are unbelievable, they haven't seen
anything like it and we will go there now, we'll give a hopefully good
speech, we're gonna see a lot of great people, a lot of great friends
and pretty much that's it." With states reopening after historic
economic lockdowns, the rally still raised concerns that it could be
a "super spreader" event, especially as six members of the Trump
reelection campaign tested positive for the coronavirus ahead of the
event.
TULSA, OKLAHOMA - JUNE 20: Supporters of U.S. President Donald
Trump gather to attend a campaign rally at the BOK Center, June 20, 2020
in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Trump is scheduled to hold his first political
rally since the start of the coronavirus pandemic at the BOK Center on
Saturday while infection rates in the state of Oklahoma continue to
rise. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
"Per
safety protocols, campaign staff are tested for COVID-19 before
events," Trump campaign Communications Director Tim Murtaugh said in a
statement. "Six members of the advance team tested positive out of
hundreds of tests performed, and quarantine procedures were immediately
implemented. No COVID-positive staffers or anyone in immediate contact
will be at today’s rally or near attendees and elected officials. As
previously announced, all rally attendees are given temperature checks
before going through security, at which point they are given wristbands,
facemasks and hand sanitizer." The campaign believes the staffers
were infected in Dallas at the Trump event there. All six are said to
be asymptomatic and the campaign is working with health authorities to
contact trace the staffers who tested positive. Biden in a
Saturday evening tweet slammed Trump for holding the rally despite the
coronavirus concerns -- Oklahoma has seen a recent bump in cases of the
disease. This followed the BOK Center asking the Trump
campaign this week for a written plan on how it would engage in social
distancing among the rally-goers. The Trump campaign appeared to dismiss
the arena's concerns, making clear that the event would be an on-brand
Trump rally. "We take safety seriously, which is why we’re doing
temperature checks for everyone attending, and providing masks and hand
sanitizer. This will be a Trump rally, which means a big, boisterous,
excited crowd," Murtaugh said in a statement. The
Saturday rally was originally scheduled for Friday, June 19. But that
day is the Juneteenth holiday, which celebrates the end of slavery
in the United States. Amid racial tensions over the death of George
Floyd, the Trump campaign changed the date of the event to Saturday. Fox
News' Mark Meredith, Brooke Singman, Adam Shaw, Russell Cosby, John
Roberts and Allie Raffa, and the Associated Press contributed to this
report.
TULSA,
Okla. (AP) — Supporters and detractors of President Donald Trump
continued to gather Friday in Tulsa, where Trump is scheduled to take
the stage for the first of his signature rallies during the coronavirus
pandemic.
Verbal clashes
sparked at times as hundreds of people converged amid a nationwide push
for racial justice and tensions over the continued health and economic
threats of COVID-19. And the gatherings happened on Juneteenth — a day
celebrating the end of slavery in the United States — in a city with a
long history of racial tension.
Trump’s event scheduled for Saturday night will be held just blocks
from the site of one of the worst racial massacres in U.S. history, and
Black leaders in Tulsa say they fear the president’s visit could lead to violence.
Oklahoma’s
Supreme Court on Friday rejected a request to require everyone attending
Trump’s rally in a 19,000-seat arena to wear a face mask and maintain
social distancing inside the arena to guard against the spread of the
coronavirus. The court ruled that the two local residents who asked that
the thousands expected at the BOK Center be required to take the
precautions couldn’t establish that they had a clear legal right to the
relief they sought. In a concurring opinion, two justices noted that the
state’s plan to reopen its economy is “permissive, suggestive and
discretionary.”
The
request was made by John Hope Franklin for Reconciliation, a nonprofit
that promotes racial equality, and the Greenwood Centre Ltd., which owns
commercial real estate, on behalf of the two locals described as having
compromised immune systems and being particularly vulnerable to
COVID-19.
While city
workers erected a high metal fence Friday to completely barricade the
Trump rally site, tempers heated as several Black Tulsans walked up to a
corner where the Trump faithful shouted religious messages through
bullhorns.
Abrienne Smith
squared off with one after the other of the Trump backers, talking
about killings of African Americans. Smith said she did it for her Black
son.
“I am worried
about him. He’s 4. I am scared for his life because of stuff like this,”
she said while pointing at the Trump supporters.
Pamela
Drake, an older African American woman, wore a red “Make America Great
Again” and carried a small American flag as she walked in sprinkling
rain to claim a place in line for the Trump rally. She and her friend,
Kathy Minartz, said they had no fear of catching the coronavirus or of
violent protests.
“When you have the Lord in your life, you’re protected,” Minartz said.
Meanwhile,
Tulsa’s Republican mayor, G.T. Bynum, rescinded a day-old curfew he had
imposed for the area around the BOK Center where some had camped out for days already ahead of the rally. The curfew took effect Thursday night and was supposed to remain until Sunday morning, however Trump tweeted Friday that he had spoken to Bynum and that the mayor told him he would rescind it.
Bynum said he
got rid of the curfew at the request of the U.S. Secret Service. In his
executive order establishing the curfew, Bynum said he was doing so at
the request of law enforcement who had intelligence that “individuals
from organized groups who have been involved in destructive and violent
behavior in other States are planning to travel to the City of Tulsa for
purposes of causing unrest in and around the rally.”
The mayor didn’t elaborate as to which groups he meant, and police Capt. Richard Meulenberg declined to identify any.
Although Trump
has characterized those who have clashed with law enforcement after
George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis as organized, radical-left “thugs”
engaging in domestic terrorism, an Associated Press analysis found that the vast majority of people arrested during recent protests were locals.
Trump on
Friday morning tweeted: “Any protesters, anarchists, agitators, looters
or lowlifes who are going to Oklahoma please understand, you will not be
treated like you have been in New York, Seattle, or Minneapolis. It
will be a much different scene!”
White House
press secretary Kayleigh McEnany clarified later that Trump’s tweet did
not refer to all protesters, rather only to those who are “violent.”
Bynum’s order said crowds of 100,000 or more were expected in the area around the rally.
Trump’s
campaign manager, Brad Parscale, told Fox News on Friday that those
unable to get into the arena are expected to attend what he described as
a “festival” outside where the president might also appear. The Trump
campaign said it takes “safety seriously,” noting that organizers are
providing masks, hand sanitizers and doing temperature checks for all
attendees.
McEnany
declined to say whether Trump was taking any additional personal
precautions ahead of the rally. The nation’s top public health
professionals strongly recommend wearing a mask when social distancing
can’t be maintained, as will be the case Saturday.
The city’s health director, Dr. Bruce Dart, has said he would like to see the rally postponed, noting that large indoor gatherings are partially to blame for the recent spread of the virus in Tulsa and Tulsa County.
The rally was originally scheduled for Friday, but it was moved back a day following an uproar that it otherwise would have happened on Juneteenth, which marks the end of slavery in the U.S., and in a city where a 1921 white-on-black attack killed as many as 300 people.
The Rev. Al Sharpton, who eulogized Floyd, spoke in Tulsa as hundreds gathered to observe Juneteenth. He challenged Trump directly, using the president’s own words.
“It’s lowlifes
that shoot unarmed people, Mr. President,” Sharpton said. “You couldn’t
be talking about us. Because we fought for the country when it wouldn’t
fight for us.”
Oklahoma has seen a recent spike in coronavirus cases, setting a daily high on Thursday
of 450. Health officials on Friday reported 125 new confirmed cases of
COVID-19 in Tulsa County, which is the most of any county in Oklahoma.
Statewide, there were 352 new cases and one new coronavirus death
reported Friday, raising the state’s total number of confirmed cases
since the pandemic began to 9,706 and its death toll to 367.
The actual
number of people who have contracted the virus is likely higher because
many people have not been tested and studies suggest that people can be
infected but not feel sick.
For most
people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms that clear up
within weeks. But for others, especially older adults and people with
existing health problems, the highly contagious virus can cause severe
symptoms and be fatal.
___
Murphy
reported from Oklahoma City. Associated Press writers John Mone in
Tulsa, Ken Miller in Oklahoma City and Zeke Miller in Washington
contributed to this report.
The woman who'll sing the national anthem prior to President Trump’s rally in Tulsa, Okla., on Saturday evening calls the opportunity "an honor." Cathy
Costello will perform at the city's BOK Center five years after her
husband, former state Labor Commissioner Mark Costello, was fatally stabbed by their son, who was found to have suffered a psychotic episode due to schizophrenia. Mark Costello died in his wife's arms. The
widow is now a national mental health advocate and has helped pass
related state and federal legislation, the Tulsa World reported. “It
is an honor to perform for the president of the United States and his
supporters,” Costello said. “Singing the national anthem in a room
filled with such patriotic spirit and enthusiasm will be a
once-in-a-lifetime experience. I am so thankful for this opportunity –
it will be a night to remember!” U.S. Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Okla.,
who helped select Costello to sing the anthem, said she is both a
talented performer and a steadfast supporter of the president. “She
was the clear choice for this incredible opportunity, and I look
forward to seeing her perform on Saturday!” Hern said in a statement. Saturday’s
rally will be Trump’s first since the coronavirus pandemic halted both
his and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s
in-person campaign appearances. The
BOK Center -- where Trump's rally is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. CT
Saturday -- has a capacity of 20,000 and the Trump 2020 Campaign has
claimed it has received 1 million ticket requests.
The U.S.
attorney for the Southern District of New York pushed back Friday night
against reports that he was resigning from the position.
Geoffrey Berman, who oversaw prosecutions of allies of President Donald Trump --
as well as a probe of Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani -- said he
learned he was stepping down when he read a press release about it, The
Associated Press reported. Reacting to the news of his departure, Berman said he would not be leaving right away. “I
will step down when a presidentially appointed nominee is confirmed by
the Senate. Until then, our investigations will move forward without
delay or interruption,” Berman said in a statement.
“I
will step down when a presidentially appointed nominee is confirmed by
the Senate. Until then, our investigations will move forward without
delay or interruption.” — Geoffrey Berman, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York
The earlier report that Berman was resigning came in a statement from Attorney General William Barr, the AP reported. The
attorney general said President Trump intends to nominate Jay Clayton,
chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, to replace Berman,
with the U.S. attorney in New Jersey, Craig Carpenito, serving on an
acting basis beginning July 3. Berman has been in the position for
more than two years. Barr's announcement late Friday, came after he
visited New York City and met with local police officials there.
Geoffrey Berman, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New
York, speaks during a news conference in New York City, April 23, 2019.
(Associated Press)
Preet Bharara, who served in the New York position prior to Berman, disputed Barr's claim that Berman had resigned. “Doesn’t
sound like ‘stepping down,'” Bharara wrote on Twitter. “Why does a
president get rid of his own hand-picked US Attorney in SDNY on a Friday
night, less than 5 months before the election?” Katherine
Flaunders, a reporter with ABC News, wrote on Twitter that Barr had
offered Berman other jobs, including head of the Civil Division at the
Justice Department, but Berman declined the offers. The report of
Berman's ouster was likely to raise additional questions from
congressional Democrats who have accused Barr of politicizing the
Justice Department and acting more like Trump's personal attorney rather
than the nation's chief law enforcement officer. The news comes
just days after former national security adviser John Bolton claimed in
his tell-all book that Trump promised Turkish President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan he’d interfere in Halkbank case that was being prosecuted in the
Southern District. The office has prosecuted a number of Trump
associates, including Trump's former personal lawyer and fixer Michael
Cohen, who served a prison sentence for lying to Congress and campaign
finance crimes, and has also been investigating Giuliani and his
associates. Federal prosecutors in New York are investigating
Giuliani’s business dealings, including whether he failed to register as
a foreign agent, according to people familiar with the probe. The
people were not authorized to discuss the investigation publicly and
spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Berman,
a Republican who contributed to the president’s election campaign,
worked for the same law firm as Giuliani and was put in his job by the
Trump administration. But as U.S. attorney, he won over some skeptics after he went after Trump allies. He had recused himself from directly overseeing the Cohen investigation for reasons that were never disclosed. Berman
was appointed by then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions in January 2018,
months after Bharara was fired after refusing to resign along with
dozens of other federal prosecutors appointed by President Barack Obama. Three months later, FBI agents raided Cohen's offices, an act the president decried as a politically motivated witch hunt. Berman has taken a direct hand in other investigations that have angered Trump. His
office subpoenaed Trump’s inaugural committee for a wide range of
documents as part of an investigation into various potential crimes,
including possible illegal contributions from foreigners to inaugural
events. And weeks before the 2018 midterm election, Berman announced insider trading charges against an ardent Trump supporter, Republican Rep. Chris Collins.
Collins, who represented western New York, has since resigned. Under
Berman's tenure, his office also brought charges against Michael
Avenatti, the combative lawyer who gained fame by representing porn
actress Stormy Daniels in lawsuits involving Trump. Avenatti was convicted in February of
trying to extort sportswear giant Nike after prosecutors said he
threatened to use his media access to hurt Nike’s reputation and stock
price unless the company paid him up to $25 million. The Southern
District of New York is one of the nation’s premiere districts, trying
major mob cases and terror cases over the years. If the mastermind of
the Sept. 11 attacks had been tried in a court of law, it would have
been there. The Associated Press contributed to this story.
Former FBI assistant director Chris Swecker told "The Ingraham Angle"
Friday that officials in Tulsa, Okla. should be prepared for "the
worst" and to expect "every manner of anarchist" and anti-Trump elements
in the city ahead of Saturday's scheduled campaign rally.
"What
the public needs to understand and those that are coming to Tulsa need
to understand is the inter-federal perimeter is controlled by the Secret
Service. And they mean business," Swecker warned. "They're going to
plan for the worst. They're going to have, you know, a moderate level of
police force showing. "But
there's going to be a lot of resources out of sight and in the
background. And they're trained to deal with this type of thing," he
added. Earlier Friday, Trump warned
“anarchists” and other “agitators” not to disrupt his rally at the BOK
Center after an apparent threat that outside groups may be planning to
cause "unrest" prompted an emergency order from the mayor of Tulsa. "Oklahoma
is a kind of state that embraces conservative values and law and the
rule of law. And what you're going to see converging on Tulsa is every
manner of anarchist, anybody who's anti-Trump is going to show up,"
Swecker said. "You're going to have elements that are there to do
nothing but provoke the police. They're trained to do it. I've seen them
do it. They would spit on them. They will throw rocks out of that area,
out of the crowd and just commit all kinds of violence." The former FBI official went on to say that local authorities will be happy to have the help of the federal government.
"I
think the police are very happy that they're there. There is not some
mayor's decision. It's not, some governor's decision inside that federal
perimeter," Swecker said. "It is under the control of the Secret
Service. And these cops will be backed up. There'll be full support
behind them and there'll be plenty of resources behind them as well." Fox News' Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
“The
unhinged left-wing mob is trying to vandalize our history, desecrate
our monuments, our beautiful monuments, tear down our statues and
punish, cancel and persecute anyone who does not conform to their
demands for absolute and total control," Trump said.
