Good morning, and welcome to The Epoch Times News Brief for Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024. I’m Bill Thomas, we have some very compelling stories to share with you right now, and here’s what’s going on.
The Manhattan DA wants the court to alter its course regarding the case against Donald Trump, the president-elect picks another key member of his Cabinet, and California’s top court makes a critical decision regarding voter identification laws.
Also, the biggest storm in more than half a century is heading for the West Coast, and Russia issues a stern warning after Ukraine changed the way it uses U.S. missiles.
Manhattan DA Changes Course in Trump’s NY Criminal Case
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office has just agreed to delay sentencing in the business records case against Trump.Yesterday, Bragg sent a letter to New York Justice Juan Merchan, and it said his office believed that the court’s proceedings should be paused in order to “permit litigation” regarding Trump’s motion to dismiss the case.
The letter from Bragg’s office did not give in either to Trump’s efforts to dismiss the case over the issue of presidential immunity, nor his request to move the case to federal court, both of which it called “incorrect” arguments.
However, the document did say that “the People deeply respect the Office of the President, are mindful of the demands and obligations of the presidency, and acknowledge that Defendant’s inauguration will raise unprecedented legal questions.”
You may recall that earlier this year, a jury found Trump guilty on 34 felony counts, and sentencing in the case had been scheduled to take place on Nov. 26. However, both sides had recently requested a temporary postponement to the previous deadlines following the results of the presidential election.
Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung told The Epoch Times that “the Manhattan DA has conceded that this Witch Hunt cannot continue,” and he called it “a total and definitive victory for President Trump and the American People who elected him in a landslide.”
Cheung also said that right now, Trump’s legal team is working to get the case dismissed.
Trump Appoints Wall Street CEO as Secretary of Commerce
Yesterday, Trump nominated billionaire Howard Lutnick to be the new commerce secretary in his incoming administration.So you know, the 63-year-old Lutnick is the co-chair of the Trump-Vance transition team, and he had also been one of the leading contenders to become the next Treasury secretary.
Lutnick is currently the chairman and CEO of investment giant Cantor Fitzgerald, and he had received the endorsement for the Treasury post from a number of people in Trump’s inner circle, including billionaire Elon Musk.
Additionally, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who Trump has nominated to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, has also backed Lutnick, due to his support for bitcoin.
The Wall Street veteran is a long-time friend of Trump’s, and he supports many of the president-elect’s proposed policies, including those related to cryptocurrency, immigration, tariffs, and Israel.
The Department of Commerce is expected to play a crucial role in Trump’s tariff plans. The president-elect has proposed an across-the-board tariff of up to 20 percent on imports, and has even suggested that the income tax could be eliminated in favor of trade levies.
Last month, Lutnick appeared to endorse this strategy when he spoke at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally.
California Supreme Court Rules on Voter ID Challenge
The California Supreme Court has tossed out the state’s lawsuit against a voter ID law in the city of Huntington Beach, which is located around 40 miles southeast of Los Angeles.The lawsuit was filed earlier this year by Attorney General Rob Bonta and California’s secretary of state. It alleged that a new Huntington Beach law that requires voter ID is a violation of state legislation that bans local governments from requiring voter identification in elections.
So you know, Huntington Beach asked for the dismissal, and it was granted after the court considered the case. The judges pointed out that the city’s charter is “permissive and discretionary in character,” and that it “currently presents no conflict” with the state’s law concerning elections.
Huntington Beach City Attorney Michael Gates told The Epoch Times that the court’s decision is a great victory for his city, as well as “a black eye to the state.” He also said that Huntington Beach is moving forward with its voter ID program, which was an amendment to the city’s charter that voters approved on March 5.
The amendment defines voters as citizens of the United States who are residents of Huntington Beach and at least 18 years old. It also says that the city’s charter “shall prevail” if there’s a conflict between it and California’s election code.
The state attorney general is expected to continue fighting the voter ID law. Earlier this week, after the high court handed down its decision, Bonta said that existing state law prohibits cities from implementing voter ID regulations, that the court will eventually side with the state, and that the state remains confident in the strength of its case.
By the way, the court’s decision allows the state to file an amended lawsuit within 20 days. The attorney general’s office did not return a request for comment about whether or not he planned to refile it.
‘Bomb Cyclone’ Hitting California
Officials say a powerful weather system called a bomb cyclone could slam the San Francisco Bay Area this week, and they add that it’s been 60 years since the region has experienced similar conditions.Weather experts say that the front could dump up to 11 inches of rain in some areas, including northwestern Sonoma County, and that coastal flooding is a distinct possibility.
One meteorologist from the National Weather Service told The Epoch Times that these types of storms produce lots of rain, and models are forecasting that the highest downpours will fall north of the Golden Gate Bridge.
The weather expert called the cyclone “a really early start to winter.”
The weather service says that the San Francisco region can expect up to seven inches of rain, and a flood watch has been issued for parts of the Sacramento Valley.
The rainfall was expected to hit the southern region of the state later in the week, and the National Weather Service predicts that some gusty winds in Southern California could reach 55 miles an hour.
The gusty winds could last seven days and cause hazardous driving conditions, especially for trucks and other high-profile vehicles. The weather service also warned of possible downed trees and power lines.
Ukraine Has Fired First US-Made ATACMS Missiles Inside Russia
Yesterday, Russia’s Ministry of Defense said that Ukraine has just used U.S.-made long-range missiles to strike inside Russian territory.The ministry reported on the social media platform Telegram that the “enemy launched strikes by six ballistic missiles,” which targeted a facility in Russia’s Bryansk region. The department also said it had confirmed that U.S.-made “operational-tactical missiles” were used in the attack.
Russia went on to say that a number of anti-missile systems “shot down five missiles” and damaged another. However, it said that some fragments of the damaged projectile “hit the technical territory of the military facility” and caused “a fire that was quickly eliminated.”
Russia said that there were no casualties or damage.
Earlier this week, a number of anonymous U.S. officials said that President Joe Biden had authorized Ukraine to use long-range missiles provided by the Pentagon to strike targets in the Russian region of Kursk.
Ukraine had been seeking permission for a long time to use long-range weapons inside Russian territories, but Biden had remained opposed, fearing it could draw the United States and other NATO members into direct conflict with nuclear-armed Russia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has previously warned that if NATO allies allow Ukraine to strike inside Russian territory, it would be considered direct involvement in the war by those NATO allies.
Earlier this week, a spokesperson said that Putin had signed a new doctrine that lowers the threshold for using nuclear weapons, and it states that an attack on Russia by any nation using conventional missiles supplied by a nuclear power will be considered a joint attack.
And now, it looks like our time is just about up for today, so we’re going to call it a wrap for the Wednesday edition of The Epoch Times News Brief.
Don’t forget the News Brief Motto: We’re portable, affordable, and always on-demand.
And finally, as we do each and every day on this program, we wrap everything up with a very notable quote, and this one comes to us from Isaac Newton, who said: “We build too many walls and not enough bridges.”
Newton was a mathematician-physicist-astronomer-author and so much more. The gravity of his work is overwhelming.
For all of us here at The Epoch Times News Brief, I’m Bill Thomas.
The Epoch Times News Brief program is written each day by David Ross.
Thank you for making us your one-stop source for a concise, accurate, and unbiased daily synopsis of many of the news stories you need to know about.
Enjoy the remainder of your day, and we’ll see you right back here tomorrow for another edition of The Epoch Times News Brief.
For now, let’s all continue to watch out for one another, and have an absolutely superb day today. Bye for now.
