The Justice Department had former FBI director James Komi indicted, again,
he's accused of threatening President Trump in the Instagram post. Trump's former personal lawyer announced the move against one of Trump's critics, so how strong is the case?
Hi, Martinaz, that is Steve Inskeep, and this is a first from NPR News.
King Charles told Congress the United States and United Kingdom have more in common than just the word United. "I was, is an indispensable punch. We must not disregard everything that is sustained as for the last 80 years." How did the King assert himself and his speech before Congress? And this Supreme Court considers a case that could allow mass deportations. The administration wants to cancel a temporary protected status that protects many thousands of people.
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The Justice Department is prosecuting former FBI director James Komi, again. A new indictment accuses Komi of threatening President Trump. He has alleged crime is posting a photo on Instagram.
It's the administration's second try at indicting Komi who was a long-time Trump critic.
NPR's Kerry Johnson is with us, Kerry. What's the basis for this new indictment?
“Well, last May, Jim Komi posted a photo of the number's 86-47 arranged in shells on the beach.”
86 being a slang term for "get rid of" and 47 being the 47th American President Donald Trump. Komi deleted the photo. He said he thought it was a political message. Not a threat, but now a grand jury in North Carolina has made a federal case out of this. It's charged Komi with two felonies, including allegedly threatening the life of the President. Here's the acting attorney general Todd Blanchard and news conference yesterday.
Well, this case is unique, and this indictment stands out because of the name of the defendant.
His alleged conduct is the same kind of conduct that we will never tolerate.
And that we will always investigate and regularly prosecute. All right, so it sounds like the Justice Department is saying that Komi is getting treated just like everybody else. Is that so?
“We have evidence to suggest otherwise, including post from President Trump himself.”
He's been demanding that Jim Komi and other people who investigated Trump be prosecuted. DOJ, of course, charged Komi with different alleged crimes last year in Virginia over some testimony he gave to Congress, but a judge threw out that case because the prosecutor who was a former personal lawyer for Trump was not legally appointed. Authorities are appealing that decision they said from the state yesterday that Komi investigation will continue.
And Jim Komi is not the only member of his own family to be the target of an alleged retribution campaign. Last year for no clear reason, the Justice Department fired Komi's daughter Maureen from her job as a federal prosecutor in New York, a judge just allowed her wrongful termination case to move ahead in federal court. All right, so what happens now for James Komi and what about the legal process next? Komi is going to get his day in court and just
like last year he'll have to appear as a defendant where he can enter up Lee on these new charges. DOJ official said he's going to get a trial by jury of his peers and Komi says he's prepared to defend himself. I'm still innocent, I'm still not afraid and I still believe in the independent federal judiciary. So let's go. Yeah, some lawyers I spoke with wonder if this case will ever get to a trial. That's because prosecutors would need to prove Komi had some understanding of the
threatening nature of this post under Supreme Court precedent. And so far the evidence is he thought this was political speech protected by the first amendment. Is this action against James Komi part of a broader pattern that maybe we're seeing at the Justice Department? It is the Justice Department under the acting attorney general Todd Blanche really seems to be intensifying its effort to go after Trump's perceived enemies. Last week it charged the Southern Poverty Law Center with
misleading donors for paying informants to infiltrate hate groups yesterday. It indicted a former aide to Dr. Anthony Fauci for allegedly trying to conceal documents about the COVID pandemic. People who spend decades at DOJ worry, juries, and judges are losing confidence in its work and one of those former lawyers wrote a new report about how DOJ is being used for political payback. Jonathan Warblusky called it vengeance, masquerading, is justice. That's MPR's Carrie Johnson,
Carrie thanks.
They wore white tie at the White House. Charles took note of Trump's changes to the House and noted
“that the British troops made their own changes to the building when they burned it in 1814.”
The king also presented Trump with a ship's bell from a World War II vessel that was called Trump. Charles's Day of Diplomacy also included an address to Congress. The bond of kinship and identity between America and the United Kingdom is priceless and eternal. MPR political reporter later more has been following the king's visit. So, Elena, what stood out to you from the king's speech, not the yac Colin Firth film, but suffering what King Charles said? Yeah, well, the king's trip
to the U.S. this week has been in many ways symbolic. It's a state visit tied to the celebration of America's 250th birthday. And his speech Tuesday was the first time in nearly 35 years that a British monarch addressed a joint session of Congress. But at the same time, it's also tradition for the royal families to remain politically neutral. And though this speech wasn't overtly political, the king did come with a clear message. At a moment when we're seeing a growing appetite for
isolationist policies in this country, he argued that the U.S. and its European allies are stronger together. I was, is an indispensable partnership. We must not disregard everything that has sustained us for the last 80 years. Instead, we must build on it. And that did feel like
a counter argument to what we've heard from President Trump who's long been critical of European
leaders in NATO. Prime Minister Kear Starmer is the head of the U.K. government to the king
“is a figurehead, though. So what makes the king's comments notable or have the weight?”
Well, you know, Trump has very different views of Starmer and King Charles. He's made no secret of his long-time admiration for the British royal family. And he's repeatedly praised the king himself. At the same time, Trump has been increasingly vocal in recent weeks about his displeasure with Starmer, arguing that the U.K. has not provided adequate military support in the Iran War. And that's caused headaches for the king at home, where much of the British public
oppose this trip. It's the latest gripe, Trump has with NATO countries more broadly. And he's previously said he'd consider pulling the U.S. out of the historic post-warwear to alliance. So the royals may only have soft power. But hearing Charles lobby like that for NATO is striking. Yeah, there's been a lot of tension between the U.S. and NATO even before the war with Iran began. What did the king have to say about to any of that? Yeah, you know, it's interesting
because Charles never directly referenced Iran by name in his speech, but he didn't shy away
from discussing Ukraine. And there have been calls from many Republicans to stop sending military aid to the country in its war with Russia. European leaders have widely pushed back against that and pledged to keep supporting Ukraine. And, you know, King Charles stressed the importance of that support in his speech referencing how throughout history, the U.S. and the U.K. have stayed united in many major conflicts. He even reminded lawmakers how the first and only time that
NATO has invoked its mutual defense clause was in support of the U.S. after the September 11 attacks. Then he said this. Today, Mr. Speaker, that same unyielding resolve is needed for the defense of Ukraine and her most courageous people. And, eh, that was a moment that actually sparked a bipartisan standing ovation in the chamber. That's MPR political reporter, Elena Moore, thanks a lot. Thank you.
Today, the Supreme Court considers the Trump administration's effort to deport two large groups of people. They have been living legally in the U.S. under what's called temporary protected status. And, Pierre Legal Affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg joins us now to discuss this. Hi,
“there, Nina. Hi, there. Temporary protected status. What is that?”
It allows eligible individuals to live and work in the United States if they cannot return to their own countries, because of natural disasters, armed conflicts, and other, quote, "extraordinary or temporary conditions." Congress enacted the law to establish criteria for selecting, processing, and registering people fleeing such turmoil. And, since then, every president, Republican or Democrat, has embraced the program, except President Trump. He's trying to get rid of it,
and today, two countries are the test cases. Haiti, where a devastating earthquake, killed over 300,000 people in 2010, leaving to this day, robbing gangs, cholera epidemics, and no functioning government, and Syria, where a relatively small group of 7,000 has been granted
Protected status because civil war and Israeli bombing attacks.
made any secret of his views on these countries. And, here he is speaking to a crowd last year
“and using vulgarity. Why is it we only take people from all countries, right? Why can't we have”
some people from Norway, sweet and just a few? I'm guessing that TPS is not for places that are stable as Norway, but how exactly does it work? It applies only to people who have lived legally and continuously in the U.S. since their home country's most recent TPS designation. They're eligible to remain here, but under a very strict criteria. Ahilan, Arulan and Thumb, represents the Syrians in the case. They have to go through a betting process, which involves
“biometrics, background check, running them against all the federal government databases.”
Two misdemeanors, you're out. In addition, people with TPS status have to renew every 18 months and go through the process all over again. The Trump administration, however, contains that none of this matters because under the 1990 TPS statute, none of these judgments is subject to review by the courts at all. 21 attorney's general from red states are supporting that view, among them is Kansas Attorney General Chris Kobak. He notes that under TPS, some of the
“17 countries that have been designated as two dangers to go back to have been on the list for”
more than a decade. Canberra protected status was never intended to be a de facto amnesty that
status as its name suggests is temporary. Okay, he's right about the word "temporary," and somebody might say the Syrians have a war's over, so what's the counter-argument? Lawyers for the TPS recipients counter that the Trump administration has failed to comply with the procedure's mandated under federal law. They point to then secretary of Homeland Security Christy Nomes finding that even if Haiti is unsafe for them to return to, allowing them to stay here is "contrary" to the national
interest. The Haitians with TPS status prevailed in the lower courts on a preliminary basis,
but the Supreme Court has been critical of lower courts for stepping outside of their lane in
immigration cases, and the court has consistently deferred to the administration's judgments. Okay, and Pierre's Nina Tottenberg, thanks as always, could to see you. Good to see you, Steve. And that's a first for Wednesday, April 29th at the Muartinas. And I'm Steve Inskeb today's up first presented by Anna Yucananoff, Jason Breslo, Krishna Dev Calamarma, Aminel Bardisi and Adriana Gallardo. It was produced by Zianbach,
and Nia Dumas. Our director is Christopher Thomas. We get engineering support from Nisha Hynes and our technical director is Carly Strange. Our supervising producer is Michael Lipkin, who has the job of trying to supervise us. Do you want us to get tomorrow?
