WORLD POETRY DAY TUESDAY, 3/21/23
(It's also the first full day of springtime for Trump, the day the former president had expected to be arrested by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's (pictured) over his investigation of possible financial crimes in connection with 45's payment of hush money to two women, including porn star Stormy Daniels. Though an indictment didn't look likely Tuesday, the New York Police Department Monday erected barricades around Manhattan's Criminal Court in anticipation of MAGA protesters.)
House Republicans … are attempting to counter Bragg’s next move with their demand the “George Soros-funded” DA turn over documents in the case and come in for a grilling/hearing.
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Kishida Counters Xi – Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida made a surprise visit to Kyiv Tuesday for a “show of unity” with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the second day of Chinese leader Xi Jingping’s three-day Kremlin sleepover with Russian dictator Vladmir Putin (AP).
Xi, who is said to be on a “peace mission” to Moscow, has invited Putin (charged with war crimes by the International Criminal Court last week) to Beijing later this year.
Kishida, who also will meet with Polish President Andrzej Duda before returning to Tokyo Thursday, is chairman of the Group of Seven summit this May in Hiroshima. Can a country in the Pacific become a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization?
--TL
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...meanwhile...
MONDAY 3/20/23
Weekend of Trump’s Discontent – This is what Donald J. Trump posted on his Truth Social media outlet Saturday: “The far and away leading Republican candidate and former President of the United States of America will be arrested on Tuesday of next week!” (Per The Guardian.)
Trump continues; “Protest, take our nation back!”
Which of His Myriad Cases?: Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (pictured above) is expected to charge Trump under his investigation of $130,000 in "hush money" paid to porn star Stormy Daniels prior to the 2016 presidential election by then-Trump fixer Michael Cohen and whether the payments violated campaign finance laws.
Signals, Maybe, But Not Words: Bragg did not confirm speculation he will issue the charges. “As with all our investigations, we will continue to apply the law evenly and firmly and speak publicly only when appropriate,” he said in a private email to his office employees, according to Politico.
Meanwhile: A Trump spokesman “walked back” Trump’s Truth Social rant, saying there is no notification from the Manhattan DA that he has “decided to take his witch-hunt to the next level. President Trump is rightfully highlighting his innocence and the weaponization of our injustice system.” (Per ABC News.)
In the private email according to Politico, Bragg warned “we do not tolerate attempts to intimidate our office or threaten the rule of law in New York.” His office has been coordinating protection with the New York Police Department and the Office of Court Administration.
Above the Law?: Former Vice President Mike Pence -- who a week earlier finally called out his ex-boss for being “wrong” about his ability to overturn the Electoral College count on January 6, 2021 -- told ABC News’ Jonathan Karl Saturday on This Week it would be a “politically charged” mistake for Bragg to have Trump arrested.
“I’m taken aback at the idea of indicting a former president of the United States, at a time when there’s a crime wave in New York City that – the fact that the Manhattan DA thinks that indicting President Trump is his top priority. I think is, just tells you everything you need to know about the radical left in this country.”
But Wait, There’s More: Cohen told MSNBC Sunday he has been re-called as a “rebuttal” witness to testify Monday in the hush-money case. Cohen’s former legal advisor, Robert Costello, also is expected to testify, and has signaled to a Trump attorney that he has information that counters Cohen’s previous testimony pinning the hush-money payment on Trump, and thus exonerates him, a person familiar with the matter told the Associated Press.
Mixed Signals?: House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) called for calm in the face of potential arrest of the ex-president. “I don’t think people should protest this stuff,” he said at a House GOP issues retreat, The Hill reports. So as to not upset Trump too much, the speaker – who condemned Trump’s complicity in the January 6th Capitol insurrection before visiting him at Mar-a-Lago in February 2021 – suggested that the ex-president was calling on others to “educate people about what’s going on.”
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Also This Week – The Federal Reserve meets Tuesday and Wednesday to set interest rate increases. There is speculation on Wall Street the Fed will hold off on another increase, otherwise expected to be 0.5% to fight inflation, because of the recent failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank.
Update: The Fed will hike interest rates by 0.25% this week, CNBC says.
Senate: The full Senate is in session Tuesday through Friday.
House: The full House of Representatives is in session Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
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USB Merges with Credit Suisse – USB is calling it a merger, though it looks more like a takeover of troubled fellow Swiss bank Credit Suisse. According to USB, the two entered into a merger agreement Sunday after intervention of the Swiss Federal Department of Finance, Swiss National Bank and Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Committee. Shareholders of the failing bank will receive one USB share for every 22.48 shares of Credit Suisse. USB will write off 16-billion Swiss francs (US $17.28-billion) of Credit Suisse debt and will appoint “key personnel” to Credit Suisse. USB hopes to complete the merger by the end of this year.
The "merger" will cost USB $3 billion to take over Credit Suisse, The Wall Street Journal reports.
--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa