Tuesday, March 19, 2024

3/19 WAKE-UP CALL: Trump Is Broke

Donald Trump’s lawyers said he has been unable to obtain a bond to guarantee payment of a $454 million civil-fraud judgment against him. The former president tried to negotiate a deal with some of the world’s largest suretors, but the amount was so large that they wouldn’t accept real estate as collateral and would require cash to guarantee the bond, according to a New York appeals court filing. A private company like the Trump Organization would need $1 billion in cash to obtain the bond and continue operating, an amount the company doesn’t have. Trump has asked to have the bond requirement waived while he appeals, arguing that paying now would cause him irreparable harm. If the court turns down his request and he can’t get the money, the state will look to seize his assets. The judgment stems from a ruling that found Trump falsely valued parts of his real estate empire for financial gain. The judge imposed $355 million in penalties, plus interest, so the debt grows daily.

➤TRUMP'S LAWYERS WANT ACCESS TO JUDGE'S RULING: Lawyers for Donald Trump and eight co-defendants filed an emergency appeal Monday of a Georgia judge's decision allowing Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to stay on the sweeping election fraud case against the former president. They contend the ruling doesn't go far enough by just forcing out special prosecutor Nathan Wade. Willis and Wade admitted to having an affair, but contended that Willis did not improperly benefit from having hired Wade to oversee the case against Trump and 14 others accused of illegally conspiring to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia. Trump lawyer Steven Sadow said the nine are seeking to disqualify Willis and the entire DA's office, which was the basis of an initial motion filed with Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee on Jan. 8. The defendants alleged Willis had a "clandestine" affair with Wade, the private lawyer she hired to manage the case and took vacations with him that created a professional conflict of interest. McAfee let Willis stay on the case, as long as she forced out Wade to preclude any appearance of a conflict of interest going forward.

➤TIKTOK SHOWDOWN: The U.S.’s potential TikTok ban tees up a legal showdown over free speech. A bill that requires Chinese parent ByteDance to sell the platform’s U.S. operations or face a ban sailed through the House last week; if the Senate passes it, the company would have six months to comply. Beijing has already signaled its opposition to a forced sale, so the next stop could be the federal courts to weigh the ban’s national security objectives against the First Amendment rights of TikTok and its users. Though the legislation doesn’t authorize enforcement actions against U.S. residents who try to use the app, judges in previous cases have recognized TikTok devotees’ free-speech rights. The government will likely need to show that measures less drastic than a ban wouldn’t work. ByteDance declined to comment.

➤TWH FEARS GAZA CRISIS:  Israel agreed to discuss its impending invasion of the southern Gazan city of Rafah. The proposed talks in Washington would take place in the coming days, the White House said. The Biden administration is worried that a full-scale operation to dislodge Hamas could worsen the humanitarian crisis in the enclave. More than one million Gazans are estimated to be starving, according to food-security experts. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has argued that Hamas militants have burrowed themselves among Rafah civilians and has vowed to proceed with invasion plans, defying growing international outcry. Separately, doctors running low on painkillers and antibiotics struggle to treat thousands of Palestinians who have lost limbs.

➤GAZA FAMINE 'IMMINENT':  Famine is "imminent" in the northern Gaza Strip and is projected to affect more than 200,000 Palestinians by May, the U.N.'s World Food Program warned, based on a report released Monday. The report was unveiled hours before President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in their first call in more than a month, discussed efforts to increase humanitarian assistance to the war-battered enclave. The report says 70% of the 300,000 Palestinians in northern Gaza face "catastrophic hunger." The almost complete lack of access that humanitarian aid organizations face in northern Gaza will likely compound the problems of hunger, healthcare, water and sanitation, the report said.

➤TRUMP JEWISH-AMERICAN COMMENT SPARKS BACKLASH: Former President Donald Trump again used an offensive stereotype about Jewish Americans, prompting immediate backlash from Jewish groups and leaders. "Any Jewish person that votes for Democrats hates their religion,” Trump said in an interview with Sebastian Gorka, a former White House aide. “They hate everything about Israel, and they should be ashamed of themselves because Israel will be destroyed.”

Trump singled out Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., during the interview posted Monday. Schumer is the nation's highest-ranking Jewish elected official and a longtime supporter of Israel. The New York lawmaker in a Monday post on X, formerly Twitter, accused the ex-president of again using "highly partisan and hateful rants."

➤RAMASWAMY NOT IN THE MIX FOR VEEP: Donald Trump has ruled out Vivek Ramaswamy as his running mate and is instead eyeing the entrepreneur for a Cabinet job, according to people familiar with the matter, as the Republican presidential nominee sizes up a possible administration. Trump personally told Ramaswamy he won’t be his vice presidential pick, according to people briefed on the discussion, but is considering him for posts including Homeland Security secretary. Some Trump allies see Ramaswamy as ideal for the job because they say he excels at public speaking and, as an Indian-American son of an immigrant, could neutralize criticism of sweeping immigration restrictions.


Their conversation is just one of many Trump has had recently with allies about administration positions as he seized hold of the Republican nomination. Loyalty, ideological compatibility and perceived electoral power are the metrics by which Trump is evaluating possible picks, according to people familiar with the process who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

➤INTERMITTENT FASTERS MAY BE AT RISK:  Intermittent fasting — when people only eat at certain times of day — has exploded in popularity in recent years. But now a surprising new study suggests that there might be reason to be cautious: It found that some intermittent fasters were more likely to die of heart disease. The findings were presented Monday at an American Heart Association meeting in Chicago and focused on a popular version of intermittent fasting that involves eating all your meals in just eight hours or less — resulting in at least a 16-hour daily fast, commonly known as “time-restricted” eating.

The study analyzed data on the dietary habits of 20,000 adults across the United States who were followed from 2003 to 2018. They found that people who adhered to the eight-hour eating plan had a 91 percent higher risk of dying from heart disease compared to people who followed a more traditional dietary pattern of eating their food across 12 to 16 hours each day.

⚾SNELL JOINS MLB GIANTS:  Blake Snell, who claimed his second Cy Young Award after two bounceback seasons, finally agreed to a deal just more than a week before Opening Day. Snell has agreed to a two-year, $62 million deal with the San Francisco Giants, a person with direct knowledge of the agreement told USA TODAY Sports. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal is not yet finalized. The deal includes an opt-out after the first season. Snell joins a staff that also includes Logan Webb, runnerup to Snell in the 2023 NL Cy Young balloting. Earlier this month, the Giants added third baseman Matt Chapman on a similar short-term deal with multiple opt-outs.

➤TUESDAY'S WEATHER MAP:



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