Politics

By Peter Eisler and Nathan Layne

(Reuters) – A sheriff in Barry County, Michigan, already under state investigation for alleged involvement in an illegal breach of a vote-counting machine, sought warrants in July to seize other machines in an effort to prove former President Donald Trump’s claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election, documents reviewed by Reuters showed.

The proposed warrants sought authorization to seize vote tabulators and various election records from the offices of the Barry County and Woodland Township clerks, the documents showed. The two jurisdictions have not been previously identified as targets in the sheriff’s investigation into suspicions that machines in the county were rigged to siphon votes from Trump.

The warrants were submitted in July to the office of Barry County Prosecuting Attorney Julie Nakfoor Pratt, a Republican, who told Reuters she declined to endorse them because she felt the sheriff lacked sufficient evidence to support his suspicions that the machines were rigged.

Reuters obtained copies of the documents under a Freedom of Information request filed with the prosecutor’s office.

The requests suggest Barry County Sheriff Dar Leaf, a Republican, was seeking to broaden his investigation of alleged election fraud even as he faced investigation from the state attorney general’s office.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat, has identified Leaf as a target in a statewide investigation into alleged illegal breaches of vote tabulators in at least three counties.

Nessel last month alleged Leaf was involved in the breach of a voting machine taken without authorization in 2021 from Irving Township, another jurisdiction in Barry County. Leaf has denied wrongdoing and told Reuters that no one in his office was involved in improperly accessing the machine. Leaf’s proposed warrants also included voting machines from Irving Township.

Last month, Nessel requested appointment of a special prosecutor to consider charges against Leaf and eight other targets in the state probe because the list includes Matthew DePerno, the Republican nominee to challenge Nessel for attorney general in November’s elections.

Leaf did not respond to a request for comment on the proposed warrants.

Pratt, the prosecutor, told Reuters previously that she declined to endorse the warrants because “I didn’t see evidence of a crime” in the material Leaf provided in support of the requests. “I didn’t see probable cause” for seizing voting equipment, Pratt added.

Barry County Clerk Pamela Palmer and Woodland Township Clerk Nancy Stanton could not be reached immediately for comment. Palmer, A Republican, told Reuters previously that the vote count in Barry County was accurate and confirmed by multiple audits.

Leaf’s investigation has become a clarion call for adherents of Trump’s disproven claims that he was robbed of reelection by widespread voter fraud.

A member of the so-called “constitutional sheriffs” movement, which holds that sheriffs have supreme law enforcement authority within their counties, exceeding that of state and federal agencies, and even the U.S. president, Leaf has appeared repeatedly at events around the country organized by proponents of Trump’s rigged election claims.

Reuters has previously reported that Leaf has been aided in his investigation by key Trump allies, but his efforts to get access to voting machines in the county have been blocked by state and federal judges who said he failed to provide credible evidence to support his claims that the equipment was rigged.

The state investigation into illegal breaches of voting equipment concluded that criminal charges should be filed against Leaf for his alleged role in helping a private investigator get access to the Irving County vote tabulator, which was found to have been taken to the Detroit area, broken open and examined by computer technicians working in concert with key national figures backing Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

(Reporting by Peter Eisler and Nathan Layne; Editing by Jason Szep and Jonathan Oatis)

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By Sarah N. Lynch

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Justice Department’s search of former President Donald Trump’s home this month turned up a “limited” number of documents potentially subject to attorney-client privilege, federal prosecutors said in a court filing on Monday.

The new disclosure by the Justice Department could bolster a request by Trump’s legal team to appoint a special master to conduct a privilege review of the items the FBI seized from Trump’s Florida estate during its unprecedented Aug. 8 search.

At the same time, however, the department also revealed that its filter team has already completed its review of the materials – a sign that Trump’s request for a special master could be too late.

A special master is an independent third-party sometimes appointed by a court in sensitive cases to review materials potentially covered by attorney-client privilege to ensure investigators do not improperly view them.

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon of the Southern District of Florida over the weekend issued an order saying she was inclined to appoint a special master.

She ordered the Justice Department to respond to Trump’s request, and also to provide under seal a more detailed list of the items seized from Trump’s home.

On Monday, the Justice Department said it will comply with the request and file the information under seal by Tuesday.

In the department’s filing, prosecutors said the filter team was following procedures it set forth in the warrant for addressing any materials that may be covered by attorney-client privilege, which includes showing them to the court for a determination.

The department along with Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) are currently conducting a classification review of the materials seized, it said, adding that ODNI is separately spearheading an “intelligence community assessment of the potential risk to national security” that could arise if they were ever exposed.

The search at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, which was ordered by Attorney General Merrick Garland, marked a significant escalation of one of several federal and state investigations Trump is facing involving his time in office and in private business.

The department is investigating Trump for the unlawful retention of national defense information, a violation of the Espionage Act, and it is also investigating whether he tried to obstruct the criminal probe.

In an unusual move last week, the Justice Department unsealed a redacted copy of the legal document that outlined the evidence it used to convince Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart to authorize a search warrant.

It revealed that Trump had retained records pertaining to the country’s most closely-guarded secrets, including those involving intelligence-gathering and clandestine human sources.

The U.S. National Archives first discovered Trump had retained classified materials in January, after he returned 15 boxes of presidential records he had kept at Mar-a-Lago.

After the FBI searched his home this month, it carted away additional material, including 11 more sets of classified records.

(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by Scott Malone and Bill Berkrot)

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said President Joe Biden has not been briefed on classified materials recovered from former President Donald Trump’s home.

The U.S. Justice Department’s search of Trump’s home this month turned up a “limited” number of documents potentially subject to attorney-client privilege, federal prosecutors said in a court filing on Monday.

(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt and Nandita Bose in Washington, Editing by Rosalba O’Brien)

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By Trevor Hunnicutt

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The White House on Monday said it is “appropriate” that the U.S. intelligence community is reviewing potential national security risks if former President Donald Trump took ultra-sensitive material to his residence after his term ended.

The White House is not involved in that probe of materials recovered during a search of Trump’s Florida residence, the Biden administration said.

National Intelligence Director (DNI) Avril Haines said in a letter to lawmakers on Friday that her office is working with the Justice Department to “facilitate a classification review” of documents including those recovered during the Aug. 8 search of Trump’s Florida residence Mar-a-Lago.

“It is an appropriate action for the director and the intelligence community to undertake,” National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters.

The Justice Department on Friday disclosed that it was investigating Trump for removing White House records because it believed he illegally held documents including some involving intelligence-gathering and clandestine human sources – among America’s most closely held secrets.

In the letter to lawmakers seen by Reuters, Haines said that DNI “will also lead an Intelligence Community (IC) assessment of the potential risk to national security that would result from the disclosure of the relevant documents” including those seized. She said the DNI was aiming not to interfere with the ongoing criminal investigation.

The FBI’s extraordinary search of Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach ended with the seizure of 11 sets of classified records including some labeled “top secret” as documents that could gravely threaten national security if exposed.

The search was part of a federal investigation into whether Trump illegally removed and kept documents when he left office in January 2021 after losing the 2020 election to President Joe Biden and whether Trump tried to obstruct the probe.

Trump, a Republican who is considering another presidential run in 2024, has described the court-approved search as politically motivated. On Friday, he again again described it as a “break-in.”

(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; Additional reporting by Christopher Gallagher and Michael Martina; Editing by Chris Reese and Cynthia Osterman)

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DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina U.S. Senate candidate Cheri Beasley pitched herself Monday as a bridge between law enforcement and the Democratic party, appealing to moderate voters in one of the nation’s most competitive races for a seat in the narrowly divided chamber.

Joined by more than a dozen current and former law enforcement officers at a news conference in Durham, Beasley announced new legislative priorities to strengthen public safety and mend the frayed relationship between her party and the police force.

The Democrat committed to working with Republican lawmakers to secure funding for local law enforcement to train officers on deescalation techniques, mindful responses to behavioral health crises and alternatives to using force. She also told sheriffs she would fight for federal funding to help rural departments address officer shortages and the ongoing opioid crisis.

With the Senate in a 50-50 deadlock, North Carolina is one of the few states where Democrats have strong potential to flip a seat this November. Beasley, former chief justice of the state Supreme Court, will face off this fall against Republican U.S. Rep. Ted Budd, who is endorsed by former President Donald Trump.

Beasley distanced herself Monday from the “defund the police” movement — a progressive push to divest funds from police department budgets and reallocate them to social services and other community resources.

Popularized by Black Lives Matter activists during the 2020 George Floyd protests, the slogan spun into a political weapon for Republican candidates in the last election cycle, giving them a mechanism to paint their Democratic opponents as anti-law enforcement.

“I do not support defund the police,” Beasley said Monday. “I know that police officers need more funding … for recruitment, retention, training, mental health and addressing the opioid crisis. We’ve got to be more realistic about the kinds of issues that they’re dealing with in our communities.”

Beasley is among several Democratic candidates in competitive races who have recently spoken out against the polarizing political movement.

U.S. Rep. Val Demings, a Florida Democrat and former Orlando police chief who’s challenging U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio for his seat, pledged in a recent campaign ad to protect Floridians from “crazy” ideas like “defund the police.” And Democratic Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak, who is fighting for a second term in one of the nation’s most contentious gubernatorial races, has called unjustified police shootings “isolated instances” and lauded the state’s high law enforcement budget.

Budd said Monday that it’s “dishonest” for Beasley to portray herself as favored by law enforcement. He touted his own endorsements from the North Carolina Troopers Association, a separate union that represents most border patrol agents, and many local sheriffs as evidence that he’d be the best candidate to support officers and deputies.

Beasley’s campaign is in “a desperate place when it comes to law enforcement,” Budd said after a speech to Christian ministers and their spouses at a Greenville church.

Durham County Sheriff Clarence Birkhead said Beasley has been rightfully critical of law enforcement, noting that she was the first chief justice in the nation to call out racial bias in the justice system after a white Minneapolis police officer murdered Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, in May 2020.

But Birkhead also described her as the only candidate in the race “who law enforcement officers can truly count on.”

“She has demonstrated her knowledge and her leadership and her advocacy,” the sheriff said. “Folks like her opponent talk a big game about supporting us, but his (Budd’s) record speaks otherwise.”

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Hannah Schoenbaum is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow her on Twitter @H_Schoenbaum.

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republican Senator Marco Rubio took aim on Monday at U.S. regulatory approval of a bid by chip intellectual property company Alphawave to purchase U.S.-based OpenFive, alleging national security risks posed by Alphawave’s ties to China’s Wise Road Capital.

On Friday, the Toronto and London-based Alphawave, which licenses its technology to chipmakers to produce chips, said it had received all regulatory clearances, including from the powerful U.S. Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS).

The $210 million deal is expected to close next month.

But the deal has drawn fire from Republican China hawks in Congress, including the influential Rubio, who has advocated for CFIUS to review deals related to China that he saw as posing national security risks.

Earlier this year, he called on CFIUS to scrutinize the Alphawave deal, citing Chinese private equity firm Wise Road Capital’s 10% stake in Alphawave and the two companies’ 2021 agreement giving Wise Road Capital the ability to license Alphawave technology to increase its customer base in China.

Rubio on Monday accused the administration of President Joe Biden of “yet again” demonstrating its “total unwillingness” to take seriously the threat of China aggressively buying and stealing U.S. intellectual property. “American competitiveness will suffer in the long term as a result,” he warned.

The Treasury department, which heads CFIUS, OpenFive, Alphawave, Wise Road Capital and the Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

CFIUS has taken a hard line with Wise Road Capital in the past. In December 2021, the private equity firm and U.S. chipmaker Magnachip Semiconductor Corp announced that they had terminated their $1.4 billion merger agreement after CFIUS said the deal posed “risks to national security.”

OpenFive also leases chipmaking intellectual property to chipmakers.

(Reporting by Alexandra Alper, Editing by Rosalba O’Brien)

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By Sarah N. Lynch

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Justice Department’s search of former President Donald Trump’s home this month turned up a “limited” number of documents potentially subject to attorney-client privilege, federal prosecutors said in a court filing on Monday.

The new disclosure by the Justice Department could bolster a request by Trump’s legal team to appoint a special master to conduct a privilege review of the items the FBI seized from Trump’s Florida estate during its unprecedented Aug. 8 search.

At the same time, however, the department also revealed that its filter team has already completed its review of the materials – a sign that Trump’s request for a special master could be too late.

A special master is an independent third-party sometimes appointed by a court in sensitive cases to review materials potentially covered by attorney-client privilege to ensure investigators do not improperly view them.

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon of the Southern District of Florida over the weekend issued an order saying she was inclined to appoint a special master.

She ordered the Justice Department to respond to Trump’s request, and also to provide under seal a more detailed list of the items seized from Trump’s home.

On Monday, the Justice Department said it will comply with the request and file the information under seal by Tuesday.

In the department’s filing, prosecutors said the filter team was following procedures it set forth in the warrant for addressing any materials that may be covered by attorney-client privilege, which includes showing them to the court for a determination.

The department along with Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) are currently conducting a classification review of the materials seized, it said, adding that ODNI is separately spearheading an “intelligence community assessment of the potential risk to national security” that could arise if they were ever exposed.

The search at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, which was ordered by Attorney General Merrick Garland, marked a significant escalation of one of several federal and state investigations Trump is facing involving his time in office and in private business.

The department is investigating Trump for the unlawful retention of national defense information, a violation of the Espionage Act, and it is also investigating whether he tried to obstruct the criminal probe.

In an unusual move last week, the Justice Department unsealed a redacted copy of the legal document that outlined the evidence it used to convince Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart to authorize a search warrant.

It revealed that Trump had retained records pertaining to the country’s most closely-guarded secrets, including those involving intelligence-gathering and clandestine human sources.

The U.S. National Archives first discovered Trump had retained classified materials in January, after he returned 15 boxes of presidential records he had kept at Mar-a-Lago.

After the FBI searched his home this month, it carted away additional material, including 11 more sets of classified records.

(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by Scott Malone and Bill Berkrot)

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The White House on Monday said it is “appropriate” that the U.S. intelligence community is reviewing potential national security risks from disclosure of materials recovered during a search of former President Donald Trump’s Florida residence.

National Intelligence Director (DNI) Avril Haines told lawmakers in a letter last week that her office is working with the Justice Department to “facilitate a classification review” of documents including those recovered during the Aug. 8 search.

The White House is not involved in the assessment of the risk associated with those documents, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters.

(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt, Christopher Gallagher and Michael Martina; Editing by Chris Reese)

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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Monday called the leaders of two U.S. veterans groups assisting Afghans who have fled from the country on the eve of the one-year anniversary of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Biden spoke to the leaders of the veterans-led #AfghanEvac and Honor the Promise groups to express his appreciation for their work resettling Afghan allies in the United States since the U.S. ended the 20-year war in Afghanistan.

“They discussed the substantial efforts that have been undertaken by the U.S. government, veterans, and by so many Americans of all stripes to welcome nearly 90,000 Afghans to our country over the past year and the U.S. government’s ongoing efforts to build a sustainable model to support relocation efforts and honor our commitments,” National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said.

Tuesday marks the one year anniversary of Biden declaring an end to the war. The final weeks of America’s longest war were chaotic as the U.S.-backed Afghan government collapsed, a grisly bombing killed 13 U.S. troops and 170 others, and thousands of desperate Afghans descended on Kabul’s airport in search of a way out before the final U.S. cargo planes departed.

Biden continues to face criticism from immigrant refugee advocates that the administration has fallen short in resettling Afghans who assisted the U.S. war effort.

As of last month, more than 74,000 Afghan applicants remained in the pipeline for special immigrant visas that help military interpreters and others who worked on government-funded contracts move to the United States and pave the way for them to receive a green card. That total counts only the principal applicant and does not include spouses and children. More than 17,000 of that pool of applicants had received a critical chief of mission approval, according to White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre Monday.

John Kirby, coordinator for strategic communications at the White House National Security Council, said the administration is continuing efforts to approve the visa process.

“We understand the frustration by many,” Kirby said. “Quite frankly, we share that frustration and we try as hard as we can to to streamline the process.”

Shawn VanDiver, a Navy veteran and founder of #AfghanEvac,” said on Twitter after his call with Biden that he was “glad to hear him say that this issue matters to him and that he recognizes the impact this has had on #Afghans, our volunteers, and the world.”

Days after the unexpected fall of Kabul last year, national security adviser Jake Sullivan promised the White House would “conduct an extensive hot wash” and “look at every aspect” of the withdrawal from top to bottom.” The administration has not said when the review might be released to the public.

Biden last week issued a statement honoring 13 U.S. troops who were killed in the final days of the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan at Kabul International Airport as they assisted with the evacuation of Afghans who assisted the American war effort.

Jean-Pierre said she did not have any details on how Biden would mark Tuesday’s anniversary. The president is scheduled to travel to Wilkes Barre, Pa., on Tuesday to deliver a speech on his efforts to reduce gun crime in the U.S.

——

Associated Press White House correspondent Zeke Miller contributed reporting.

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Republican Senator Marco Rubio on Monday blasted U.S. regulatory approval of a bid by chip intellectual property company Alphawave to purchase U.S.-based OpenFive, over alleged national security risks posed by the buyer’s ties to China’s Wise Road Capital.

On Friday, the Toronto and London-based Alphawave, which licenses its technology to chipmakers, said it had received all regulatory clearances, including from the powerful U.S. Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS).

The $210 million deal is expected to close next month.

The deal has drawn fire from Republican China hawks in Congress, including the influential Rubio, who has advocated for CFIUS to review deals related to China that he saw as posing national security risks.

Earlier this year, he called on CFIUS to scrutinize the Alphawave deal, citing Chinese private equity firm Wise Road Capital’s 10% stake in Alphawave and their 2021 agreement allowing Wise Road Capital to license Alphawave technology to increase its customer base in China.

Rubio on Monday accused President Joe Biden’s administration of “yet again” demonstrating its “total unwillingness” to take seriously the threat of China aggressively buying and stealing U.S. intellectual property. “American competitiveness will suffer in the long term as a result,” he warned.

The Treasury department, which heads CFIUS, OpenFive and Wise Road Capital did not respond to requests for comment. Alphawave declined to comment.

Liu Pengyu, a spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, said China opposes attempts to politicize or interfere politically in mergers and acquisitions.

“Some U.S. politicians are … accusing China of “stealing” intellectual property rights but are short on delivering solid evidence,” Liu added.

CFIUS has taken a hard line with Wise Road Capital in the past. In December 2021, the private equity firm and U.S. chipmaker Magnachip Semiconductor Corp said they had terminated their $1.4 billion merger agreement after CFIUS said the deal posed “risks to national security.”

OpenFive also leases chipmaking intellectual property to chipmakers.

(Reporting by Alexandra Alper; Editing by Rosalba O’Brien and Richard Chang)

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