The U.S. Justice Department on Friday unveiled a 38-count criminal indictment against former President Donald Trump and an aide. Among the charges issued on Thursday by a Miami federal grand jury are, according to The New York Times:
- 31 counts against Trump with each count being related to a document he was alleged to have had in his possession after his term of office as president.
- 5 counts against Trump and aide Walt Nauta related to concealing possession of classified documents, including counts of conspiracy to to obstruct justice and withhold documents.
- 2 counts of false statements to the FBI by Trump and the aide. Read the indictment.
Trump, the first former U.S. president to face federal charges, is expected to turn himself into Miami authorities on Tuesday. Republicans in Congress are denouncing the indictment. Republican rivals for the GOP presidential nomination in 2024 are feeling pressure to defend him. Despite the charges, however, Trump can still be a viable GOP candidate for the 2024 presidential election, according to a New York law professor.
In other recent headlines:
S.C. General Assembly reaches budget deal after tense meeting. South Carolina House members and senators reached an agreement on the state’s $13 billion budget Thursday, just under 24 hours after a tense meeting where both sides seemed to be out of patience with each other.
S.C. Supreme Court accepts challenge to state’s 6-week abortion ban. South Carolina’s highest court will directly take up a legal challenge to the state’s latest six-week abortion ban less than six months after tossing out the last one.
U.S. Supreme Court gives voting rights law new lease on life. The main remaining power of the landmark 1965 law over racial bias in political mapmaking gets an unexpected reinforcement from the U.S. high court that had been weakening the law for years.
Statehouse bond reform, gun penalties remain hung up. State legislators still have not been able to get a bail bond reform bill or a bill to make it illegal for felons to carry firearms to the governor’s desk as the Legislature’s special session runs into its second month.
S.C. now has 66% more mental health counselors in schools since last year. South Carolina has gone from more than half of its schools lacking access to mental health counselors to 80% of them now having that access in the last year, according to a new report.
Fentanyl traffickers to get longer sentences. A new bill passed by the S.C. House threatens up to 25 years in prison for a first conviction of trafficking less than 14 grams of fentanyl, while a second conviction comes with a mandatory 25-year sentence. Punishment escalates up to 40 years for people caught with more than 28 grams.
We Can Do Better, South Carolina!