Thursday evening summary
Thanks for reading along! These are the key events from this evening:
- The 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard came out in defense of Assange, warning that his arrest is a threat to “Americans and journalists”.
- The city of Chicago is suing actor Jussie Smollett for the costs of investigating the attack against him, which officials allege was faked.
- Stormy Daniel’s former lawyer, Michael Avenatti, was indicted on 36 counts in Los Angeles today for a long list of financial crimes, including tax fraud, bank fraud, and embezzlement, which collectively could come with a 335 year prison sentence if he’s convicted.
It wasn’t that long ago that Michael Avenatti was eyeing a presidential run and appearing regularly on prime time news shows.
Now, Stormy Daniel’s former lawyer is facing more than a life sentence, after federal prosecutors issued a 36-count indictment against him today.
Charged by a grand jury in California, Avenatti stands accused of a slew of financial crimes, including bank fraud, tax fraud, perjury, and embezzlement.
The LAT is describing some real cartoon villain allegations against Michael Avenatti in today's indictment: https://t.co/lnzvCGG69u pic.twitter.com/iZxWFImG5P
— Josh Barro (@jbarro) April 11, 2019
Avenatti maintains he is innocent, claiming he is victim of having made “powerful enemies” through his work representing “Davids vs. Goliaths”.
I intend to fully fight all charges and plead NOT GUILTY. I look forward to the entire truth being known as opposed to a one-sided version meant to sideline me.
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) April 11, 2019
As the LA Times reports:
‘Michael Avenatti allegedly stole from his clients, and he stole from the IRS,’ said Ryan L. Korner, the chief of Internal Revenue Service criminal investigations in Los Angeles. ‘The money was used to fuel a lavish lifestyle that had no limits, including making mortgage payments on a multimillion-dollar home in Laguna Beach and purchasing a private plane’.
The breadth of Avenatti’s alleged crimes is clear in the maximum sentence he would face if convicted on all counts: 335 years in prison.
In a separate federal case in New York, Avenatti faces up to 47 more years if convicted on charges of trying to extort more than $20 million from Nike, the sportswear giant. An indictment in that case is expected soon”.
The city of Chicago is officially suing actor Jussie Smollett, for reportedly refused to pay the costs associated with the investigation into an attack against him that was allegedly staged.
In a civil complaint filed by the city’s Law Department today, officials accused the former Empire star of failing to respond to a requested reimbursement of more than $130,000 for the costs associated with investigating the falsified crime.
MORE: In the complaint city attorneys say Smollett told one of the Osundairo brothers before the alleged attack "he was unhappy with the way his employers handled the racist and homophobic letter he had allegedly received and as a result wanted to stage an attack".
— Rob Elgas (@RobElgasABC7) April 11, 2019
Smollett maintains his innocence, and continues to argue that the attack against him was real.
As NBC Chicago reports:
‘As part of this legal action, the Law Department will pursue the full measure of damages allowed under the ordinance’, the statement from Chicago said. It didn’t say what those damages could be.
The municipal code stipulates that the city can triple the amount originally demanded if someone fails to pay an initial amount. That means the city could demand more than $390,000 from Smollett.
When city raised the issue of Smollet reimbursing Chicago, the actor’s lawyers said it was city officials ‘who owe’ Smollett ‘an apology — for dragging an innocent man’s character through the mud’. They added: ‘Jussie has paid enough’.
Gabrielle Canon here taking over for Adam Gabbatt.
Tulsi Gabbard weighed in this afternoon, on the arrest of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, tweeting that it sent a censorship signal out to political critics.
The arrest of #JulianAssange is meant to send a message to all Americans and journalists: be quiet, behave, toe the line. Or you will pay the price.
— Tulsi Gabbard (@TulsiGabbard) April 11, 2019
The presidential candidate has defended Assange before. At a meet-and-greet in New Hampshire in February, she told a crowd that WikiLeaks “spurred some necessary change”.
US presidential candidate @TulsiGabbard this evening: WikiLeaks spurred 'necessary change'
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) February 17, 2019
Background: https://t.co/u9e5ecXLDKpic.twitter.com/c4d98sQraV
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Summary
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was arrested in London this morning. Assange has been found guilty of breaching bail, and the US has charged him with involvement in computer hacking with Chelsea Manning.
Read our latest Assange coverage here.
In non-Assange news...
•Gregory Craig, former White House counsel for Obama, has been charged with lying to US authorities, becoming the first prominent Democrat to be prosecuted as part of Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Craig was charged with giving false information to the justice department about his work alongside Paul Manafort for pro-Russian politicians in Ukraine
•Donald Trump distanced himself from Julian Assange, falsely claiming: “I know nothing about WikiLeaks”, after the group’s founder was arrested in London. Trump repeatedly praised WikiLeaks during his 2016 campaign, including saying he ‘loved’ the organization. At a White House press conference Trump said of WikiLeaks: “It’s not my thing.”
•Stacey Abrams, the 2018 Georgia governor candidate, refused to rule out running for president at an event in New York. Abrams offered veiled criticism of some of her would-be rivals, saying while she respects “most of the folks” in the race, she was wary of using a presidential run as “a vanity exercise”.
•Top Democrats in the House and Senate wrote to attorney general Bill Barr to demand he release the unredacted Mueller report to Congress. The group, including Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer and Adam Schiff, were reiterating a previous request to Barr that he release the report in full. Barr has said he will pass the report to Congress after redacting sensitive information.
The chances of former presidential hopeful and pizza magnate Herman Cain winning a seat on the Federal Reserve now appear virtually non-existent after four Senate Republicans said they would oppose his nomination.
Cain, who dropped out of the 2012 Republican presidential race amid allegations of sexual harassment, was the left-field choice of Donald Trump to serve on the Federal Reserve’s board of governors.
On Thursday Senators Mitt Romney – the eventual 2012 Republican presidential nominee – Lisa Murkowski, Cory Gardner and Kevin Cramer all said they would vote no on Cain’s nomination. Republicans control 53 seats in the Senate, making Cain’s confirmation very unlikely.
Gregory Craig, who was charged this afternoon with lying to US authorities, is the first prominent Democrat to face criminal prosecution as a result of Mueller’s investigation. He was charged in relation to his work alongside Paul Manafort for pro-Russian politicians in Ukraine.
Craig is charged with giving false information to the justice department officials who regulate work in the US by lobbyists, lawyers and other representatives of foreigners under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (Fara). He is also charged with concealing details of his work from the same officials.
He and his law firm, Skadden Arps, worked in 2012 for Ukraine’s ministry of justice. Manafort, a veteran Republican operative, meanwhile worked as a consultant to Viktor Yanukovych, Ukraine’s pro-Kremlin president, who was later ousted.
Craig and Skadden produced a report to help the Yanukovych government defend its prosecution of a former Ukrainian prime minister, which critics said had been politically motivated. Craig also coordinated public relations work to boost the government’s image.
Craig wanted to avoid registering as a foreign agent in order to protect his ability to work in the US government in the future, according to the indictment, and so Skadden could avoid disclosing the $4m it was secretly receiving for its work from a wealthy Yanukovych backer.
When Skadden was asked by the Fara unit for information on its Ukraine work, the firm submitted a response signed by Craig that failed to disclose Craig’s contacts with US media on behalf of Ukraine as part of a public relations strategy.
Updated
Senate confirms former oil lobbyist as head of interior
The Senate has voted to confirm David Bernhardt, a former a former oil and gas and water lobbyist, as Secretary of the Interior.
Bernhardt, who was previously deputy secretary, has been acting secretary since Ryan Zinke – who was plagued by scandal – stepped down in December.
Before joining the administration Bernhardt worked at a Washington law and lobbying firm on behalf of mining companies, oil and gas giants, a politically powerful western water agency and other groups that have business before the interior department.
“David Bernhardt is a walking conflict of interest who is selling out our public lands to his former clients in the fossil fuel industry,” said Michael Brune, executive director of environmental organization Sierra Club.
“Like Ryan Zinke before him, Bernhardt is clearly more interested in doing favors for his corporate polluting friends than in responsibly managing our shared public spaces. We will not back down in our efforts to hold Bernhardt accountable for his abuse of ethical norms and his dangerous, pro-polluter agenda.”
Pete Buttigieg has come third in a poll of likely Iowa Democratic voters – ahead of more vaunted figures including Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren and Beto O’Rourke.
In a Monmouth University poll Buttigieg was the choice of 9% of likely caucus-goers, although Joe Biden – who is yet to enter the race – had a big lead, with 27% support among those surveyed. Bernie Sanders was the choice of 16% of responders.
Buttigieg also placed third in Iowa in a March poll by Emerson.
Updated
Former Obama White House counsel Gregory Craig indicted
Gregory Craig, a former White House counsel for then president Barack Obama, has been indicted for allegedly making false statements to Robert Mueller during the special counsel’s Russia investigation.
Yesterday lawyers for Craig said they expected their client to be indicted. According to the New York Times:
They expect[ed] him to be charged with making false statements to the Justice Department officials examining whether he was required to register under the law for work he did in 2012, while he was a partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom.
The work, on behalf of the government of Viktor F. Yanukovych, then the president of Ukraine, was linked to Paul Manafort, who at the time was a political consultant earning tens of millions of dollars for his representation of Mr. Yanukovych.
Updated
Ohio’s governor has said he will sign a bill which bans abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected – which is typically before most women even know they are pregnant.
Mike DeWine, a Republican, confirmed he will sign the legislation, which passed the Ohio legislature on Wednesday.
It will make Ohio the sixth state to vote to ban abortions after the first detectable fetal heartbeat, which can come as early as five or six weeks into pregnancy.
Several states have introduced the legislation in an attempt to push a Roe v Wade reconsideration from the newly conservative-heavy supreme court.
Democrats repeat demand for unredacted Mueller report
A group of top House and Senate Democrats, including Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer and Adam Schiff, have written to attorney general Bill Barr demanding he release the full, unredacted, Mueller report to Congress.
In a letter to Barr the Democrats said they wanted to “restate” that the report should be handed over in full.
You have outlined four kinds of information that you plan to redact from this report: grand jury information, classified information, information that may impede an ongoing investigation, and information that may affect the privacy and reputational interests of third parties. We acknowledge that there may be legitimate reasons for withholding some of this information from public view.
As recent precedent makes clear, however, the Department of Justice has no legitimate reason for withholding these materials from Congress. In every other instance where a federal grand jury was used to probe the alleged misconduct of a sitting president—namely, in the Watergate and Starr investigations—the Department of Justice worked with the relevant federal court to release the grand jury information to the House Judiciary Committee. That has not happened in this instance, despite numerous direct requests, nor have you provided us with any legitimate reason for failing to follow the Department’s precedent.
Trump: 'I know nothing about Wikileaks'
Donald Trump has just held a press conference at the White House, where he claimed: “I know nothing about WikiLeaks, it’s not my thing.”
Trump’s response came after he was asked if he still loved the organization – now that Julian Assange has been arrested and the US is seeking his extradition from the UK.
Trump repeatedly praised WikiLeaks during the campaign, including saying he ‘loved’ the organization.
Trump 2016: “I love Wikileaks.”
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) April 11, 2019
Trump 2019: “I know nothing about Wikileaks.”
Trump also said he “absolutely” believes there was “unprecedented” spying on his 2016 campaign. On Wednesday US attorney general Bill Barr said he believed “spying did occur”.
Neither Trump nor Barr offered any proof for their claims.
Trump was speaking ahead of a meeting with South Korea president Moon Jae-in, a day after Kim Jong-un vowed to deliver a “serious blow” to hostile countries he accused of using sanctions to bring the regime “to its knees”.
Asked if he would consider lifting sanctions, Trump said he would not:
“No we want sanctions to remain in place,” he said. Trump said he actually had the option of increasing sanctions, but didn’t want to do that “because of my relationship with Kim Jong-Un”.
We’re running live coverage of all the Assange developments here:
Updated
Elizabeth Warren has released a new plan to properly tax large companies.
Warren’s proposal, the Real Corporate Profits Tax, would place a 7% tax on corporate profits above $100 million. The Massachusetts senator estimates the tax would raise $1tn in new revenue over 10 years.
From the Associated Press:
Her campaign estimates the proposal would hit roughly 1,200 firms. Those corporations would pay the tax on top of any liability under current tax rules, which, as Warren said in a Thursday blog post on her plan, is necessary because “our corporate tax code is so littered with loopholes that simply raising the regular corporate tax rate alone is not enough.”
Dubbing her pitch “the Real Corporate Profits Tax,” Warren wrote: “It will make our biggest and most profitable corporations pay more and ensure that none of them can ever make billions and pay zero taxes again.”
My new idea, the Real Corporate Profits Tax, would fix some huge holes in our corporate tax code. Giant companies like Amazon shouldn’t be able to get away with paying $0 in federal corporate income taxes. Add your name if you agree. https://t.co/uUrApinOKb pic.twitter.com/fHPIpOCjUy
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) April 11, 2019
Stacey Abrams won't rule out running for president
My colleague Lauren Aratani has been at the Women in the World Summit in New York City, where Stacey Abrams, the 2018 Georgia governor candidate has refused to rule out running for president.
Lauren reports that Abrams also threw just a little bit of shade at some of those running for the Democratic nomination. Abrams respects “most of the folks” in the race, she said, although she was wary of using it as “a vanity exercise”.
Here’s Abrams’ full response when she was asked by Tina Brown what was holding her back from running for president:
There’s nothing holding me back. I think you have to do things for the right reason and at the right time, not just because it’s available. I call it a vanity exercise. There are some folks that when they wake up and they see something’s open, they think “well, I should do it because it’s there.” Well, that’s not how I operate. Often when you come from an outside community, you don’t have that luxury.
My responsibility is number one, to figure out what I actually want now. That’s why I’m giving very careful consideration to the Senate. If I decide to run for the Senate, then I’m likely not going to run for anything else. I also have to think through what does it mean to say this is the thing I’m going to do for the next 12 years, next 18 years.
I also respect most of the folks running for president. I want to see whether that their approach to this campaign, this fight for the soul of our country, if they’re going to approach it in a way that I think will actually yield a result we need. I think that’s no urgency in making that second decision yet. I normally don’t have these ruminations out loud. It’s usually me and my spreadsheet, and I type in my algorithms...
Brown also asked Abrams if she thought the Democratic party was too far to the left. Abrams had an interesting answer:
It’s this a false narrative that is set from those on the far right, and then it’s repeated by punditry until it sounds like truth. Having access to healthcare is not a leftist idea, it’s a human idea. We’ve been talking about it since Truman. Having access to a planet that still exists is a pretty basic thing to want.
Making enough money to take care of your family, working full time and earning a wage that lets you take care of your family, that’s economic security. These are not leftist ideas, these are progressive ideas meaning that we’re moving forward from where we are.
We have to stop buying into this notion that because it’s different from now, it’s somehow normatively outside the box. We are asking for basic human rights to be whole and real in the united states. That is nothing un-American about it, in fact, it’s exactly who we are supposed to be.
Updated
CNN has released its April “power rankings” of the Democrats most likely to win their party’s nomination... and Pete Buttigieg has had quite the surge.
Buttigieg – powered by a series of strong performances in national TV interviews as well as several viral moments (speaking Norwegian, talking about his marriage to husband Chasten) – has rocketed to the edge of the top tier in this month’s rankings.
And it’s not just buzz, which, last time we checked, doesn’t pay for staff or TV ads in Iowa. It’s real money, too: Buttigieg raked in more than $7 million in the first three months of the year, eclipsing the likes of Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker and Amy Klobuchar in the process.
The ratings, compiled by Chris Cillizza and Harry Enten, have Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden tied for first place, with Kamala Harris in third. Beto O’Rourke is fourth, and Buttigieg fifth.
In London, Julian Assange has been found guilty of breaching bail in 2012 after being arrested at the Ecuadorean embassy on Thursday.
Judge Michael Snow said he will be sentenced next month at Southwark Crown Court. He said Assange had shown the “behavior of a narcissist who cannot get beyond his own selfish interest”.
You can follow our live coverage of Assange news here:
Bernie Sanders is way out ahead of his Democratic competitors in fundraising, according to unofficial fundraising totals from Politico.
Sanders raised $18.2m in the first three months of 2019, according to Politico, while Kamala Harris hauled in $12m.
After that we have...
Beto O’Rourke: $9.4m;
Pete Buttigieg: $7m;
Elizabeth Warren: $6m;
Cory Booker: $5m.
Updated
Presidential candidate Kamala Harris has won her first Iowa endorsement, from a major state Democratic activist.
Jean Hessburg, a former Iowa Democratic Party executive director and the current chair of the party’s Women’s Caucus, told the Associated Press that she’s endorsing Harris because:
“She’s tough, she’s got heart. She’s quick on her feet, she’s sharp as they come and great on all the issues.”
Harris, US senator from California, said in a statement she was proud of the endorsement.
“Women will be a deciding voice in the 2020 Iowa Caucuses and I will do all I can to earn their support,” Harris said.
Donald Trump was excited to pump out a poll yesterday which supposedly showed him with a 55% overall approval rating.
There was just one problem. Trump tweeted a screengrab from Fox News, which had got the numbers wrong. Trump actually had a disapproval rating of 55% in that poll, conducted by the Georgetown Institute of Politics and Public Service.
Great news! #MAGA pic.twitter.com/haZ1HbVpNu
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 11, 2019
Mo Elleithee, director of Georgetown Politics, swiftly corrected Trump’s crowing. (The poll showed Trump with a 43% approval rating, although 58% of likely voters approved of his job on the economy.) But the president is yet to correct his tweet.
Despite Elleithee’s post, Trump is yet to correct his tweet.
I’m the Director of @GUPolitics & this graphic is incorrect.
— Mo Elleithee (@MoElleithee) April 11, 2019
The Battleground Poll shows 58% approval on the economy.
But it shows only 43% overall approval, & 52% disapproval.
The 55% number is the President’s unfavorable rating. (Only 40% favorable.)https://t.co/a00b6ljiJl https://t.co/nntXuHaUKj
Trump’s approval rating has been hovering around 43% for the past year.
Update: Fox News has sent this correction it issued on Fox Business last night.
“[Trump’s] tweet featured a poll that was not entirely accurate, which Fox Business would like to correct. According to a poll from Georgetown University, 58 percent of respondents approved of the president’s handling of the economy. That portion of the graphic was right. However, the graphic also showed that 55 percent of the respondents approve of the president, that number is not correct. The 55 percent number was those who have an unfavorable impression of President Trump.”
Updated
Extremely-longshot candidate Eric Swalwell’s campaign has received a boost (sort of): Swalwell’s dad has said he will vote for his son.
Hello! This is Eric Sr., Eric’s dad. I am a Republican but in 2020, I’m going to vote Democrat, for Eric Swalwell.
— Eric Swalwell (@ericswalwell) April 11, 2019
I'm not just going to vote for Eric because he’s my son. I’m going to vote for Eric because he’s the best person to do good & better our country for all Americans. pic.twitter.com/Z7edqF7CQp
Swalwell Jr, congressman from California, announced his campaign this week. He is running on an aggressive gun control platform, and is unlikely to be the next president.
Welcome to the Guardian's live coverage of US political news
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has been arrested in London and faces extradition charges to the US. Assange is due in court this morning. The Guardian is running live coverage of all the Assange developments here.
This blog will focus on US political news away from Assange. Today:
•Donald Trump is meeting with South Korean president Moon Jae-in this afternoon. The pair will have a working lunch, a day after Kim Jong-un vowed to deliver a “serious blow” to hostile countries he accused of using sanctions to bring the regime “to its knees”. Trump’s second summit with North Korea over denuclearization ended in failure in February.
•Democratic candidates for president are hitting the trail , with Kamala Harris and Rep Eric Swalwell out and about in Iowa, and Joe Biden speaking at an opioid crisis forum at 3pm. Julian Castro is appearing on a CNN town hall this evening.
•Mike Pence is due to visit Customs and Border Protection Border patrol station in Nogales, Arizona, this afternoon. Pence will be briefed by agents and tour the border wall. Meanwhile acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan and other officials will testify to Senate armed services committee hearing on Trump’s proposed space force at 9.30am.
