Good morning, and welcome to the Epoch Times News Brief for Tuesday, March 19, 2024. I’m Bill Thomas.
We’re diving into a mix of critical developments and thought-provoking studies, each echoing the complex narratives that shape our world.
Judge Makes Shocking Decision on Gun Control for Illegal Immigrants
Heriberto Carbajal-Flores, an illegal immigrant, was charged with carrying a semi-automatic pistol despite knowing he was unlawfully in the United States.However, U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman dismissed the case against him, ruling that the law banning illegal immigrants from possessing guns violated the Second Amendment. The judge, appointed under President Barack Obama, stated that a lifetime disarmament based on alienage or nationality alone did not have roots in the history and tradition of the United States.
Lawyers for Mr. Carbajal-Flores had argued in the most recent motion to dismiss that the government could not show the law in question was “part of the historical tradition that delimits the outer bounds of the right to keep and bear arms.”
The government opposed the motion, noting that neither of the cited decisions applied to illegal immigrants and that the defendant ignored other rulings that did—including a 2023 ruling that found illegal immigrants don’t enjoy Second Amendment rights. The government also offered examples of laws that prohibited certain categories of people from carrying guns, including “individuals who threatened the social order through their untrustworthy adherence to the rule of law.”
But Judge Coleman ruled for the defendant, finding that the laws against untrustworthy people contained exceptions for people who signed loyalty oaths and were deemed nonviolent.
The ruling received mixed reactions. Larry Keane, a lawyer for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, wrote on X, “Illegal aliens in US are not part of the political community and thus do not have 2A rights.”
Kostas Moros, a lawyer who represents the California Rifle & Pistol Association, said that he also saw the issue that way.
Matthew Larosiere, another lawyer, disagreed, writing in an analysis that all immigrants, even ones in the country illegally, are part of “the people” in the Second Amendment. His argument rested in part on the 14th Amendment, which applies to “any person within” the country.
The case highlighted the debate over the interpretation of the Second Amendment and its application to illegal immigrants.
Incident Involving Customs Officer Using CCP Propaganda ‘Exceptionally Concerning,’ Congressman Says
U.S. lawmakers are demanding an inquiry into a U.S. customs officer who used Chinese communist hate propaganda in his official capacity against artists belonging to the New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts.The incident occurred on March 11 at Chicago’s O'Hare International Airport when the customs officer, who spoke Chinese with a mainland accent, told his nearby co-workers in English: “They’re Falun Gong. They’re political. They’re illegal,” as he screened Teresa Du, a tour manager with Shen Yun Performing Arts, which showcases “China before communism” in performances around the world.
Ms. Du is a natural-born U.S. citizen, and all artists are either U.S. citizens or hold valid visas.
The discriminatory behavior of this customs officer toward American citizens raised severe concerns among lawmakers and prompted Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) to write a letter to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, highlighting the “allegations of discrimination by a customs officer against U.S. citizens based on constitutionally protected religious beliefs.” He said the officer’s behavior was “due to the agent’s apparent sympathies with the Chinese Communist Party.”
“Is this officer working to assert Chinese policy through his official U.S. government position?” Mr. Perry wrote in his letter.
Other lawmakers, including Rep. Brian Babin (R-Texas) and Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), also expressed disapproval and called for a thorough investigation.
Mr. Babin, who represents Ms. Du’s home state, said it was “totally inexcusable for this to happen in the United States at the hands of an American official.”
“There should be a thorough investigation, and if it proves to be accurate, the customs official should be terminated immediately,” he told The Epoch Times, adding that we should never allow the Chinese regime “to have influence over our federal government.”
Mr. Bacon told NTD that “there should be some disciplinary action taken” for the behavior of a law enforcement-type official at the airport harassing an American citizen. “We have freedom of religion here, and we should protect that,” Mr. Bacon said.
Shen Yun Performing Arts, founded in 2006 by Chinese artists who fled communist persecution, has faced opposition from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for many years.
Rep. Russ Fulcher (R-Idaho) questioned the motivation behind targeting Shen Yun and expressed concerns about the CCP’s infiltration into the United States.
Mr. Perry has been alarmed about evidence of the CCP’s infiltration of America, including reports of several Chinese police stations operating on U.S. soil.
“You’ve got to wonder, who’s watching the watchmen?“ he said, referring to the customs officer. “How was this person vetted? How did [he] get to this position?”
He said immediate investigation is critical to protect all U.S. citizens’ First Amendment rights. He stressed the urgent need to “ascertain and prevent officers with foreign sympathies from gaining and using an official position to assert their personal beliefs on others,” adding that he expects the findings of the investigation to be shared with Congress.
New Study Shows Nearly 70 Percent Probability That COVID Leaked From Wuhan Lab
A recent study published in the journal Risk Analysis suggests that the virus that causes COVID-19 may have originated from China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV).Although the study did not definitively prove the origin of the virus, it found a 68 percent likelihood of an “unnatural” origin. Since the outbreak began in December 2019, animal sources and a lab leak have been the two key hypotheses for the origin of SARS-CoV-2. While a wide range of animals, including bats, have been suspected to be the source of the virus, “no animal has yet been identified as the natural or intermediary host of the virus,” researchers noted.
The study pointed out that a bat coronavirus called RaTG13, which shares a 96.1 percent similarity with SARS-CoV-2, was being studied at the WIV. The researchers used a risk analysis tool to evaluate COVID-19 data based on 11 criteria and concluded that the virus is more likely of unnatural origin. The study authors emphasized the need to include the tool in outbreak investigations.
Multiple U.S. agencies, including the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, believe that the virus leaked from the WIV. In April 2023, the U.S. House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic requested interviews with virologist Shi Zhengli, but the Chinese embassy opposed the request.
Documents also revealed that U.S. scientists worked with the WIV to engineer new coronaviruses in 2018. The study highlighted unusual actions at the WIV, including its transfer to military control, renovation of the ventilation system, and removal of a virus database. The facility also had instances of poor biosecurity measures.
Dr. Robert Redfield, former head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, claimed that he was sidelined for suggesting a lab leak as a possible origin.
“It was told to me that they wanted a single narrative and that I obviously had a different point of view,” he said. “Science has debate, and they squashed any debate.”
Jack Smith Responds to Edward Meese’s Amicus Brief, Calls It ‘Meritless’
Special counsel Jack Smith rejects claims that he lacks legal authority to prosecute former President Donald Trump for retaining classified documents, dismissing the arguments as “meritless.”President Trump has been charged with 40 counts related to allegedly mishandling classified documents by keeping them after he left the White House in 2021 and obstructing officials from having them returned to the government.
Mr. Smith was appointed on Nov. 18, 2022, to prosecute the government’s case against President Trump.
Former U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese III has argued in another amicus brief calling for the dismissal of the case, saying that U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland overstepped his statutory authority by appointing a special counsel in this case.
According to Mr. Meese, “Smith does not have authority to prosecute this case” because this can only be done by a person “properly appointed as federal officers to properly created federal offices.”
Mr. Meese has submitted several amicus briefs in cases that Mr. Smith is prosecuting against President Trump, arguing that the “legality of Jack Smith’s appointment is a potentially fatal flaw in this entire prosecution, and as such must be resolved before this case proceeds to trial in the district court.”
The argument is based on the Constitution’s Appropriations Clause, which stipulates that only Congress can create a federal office, subject to presidential nomination and Senate confirmation.
“Neither Smith nor the position of Special Counsel under which he purportedly acts meets those criteria,” Mr. Meese said in the brief.
“He wields tremendous power, answerable to no one. And that is a serious problem for the rule of law,” he added.
Mr. Smith dismisses Mr. Meese’s arguments as lacking precedent and rejects the need to resolve the legality issue before trial. Mr. Smith has already pushed back on claims that he lacked the authority to prosecute President Trump in a March 7 court filing.
Trump Lawyers Say Posting $464 Million Bond ‘Impossible’ in NY Fraud Case
President Trump’s attorneys are urging a New York appeals court to remove or lower the $464 million bond that President Trump must pay in less than a week as he tries to appeal a more than $350 million judgment from a civil fraud case. They argue that enforcing such a high bond requirement would cause “irreparable injury on Defendants” and “defeat or impair [this Court’s] appellate jurisdiction.”The New York Attorney General’s office, which brought the lawsuit, argues that the appeals court has no authority to do so. The bond President Trump would have to put up would include backdated interest at 9 percent, adding another $100 million to the court-ordered fine, which defense attorneys say has been improperly classified as disgorgement of ill-gotten gains.
Defense attorneys submitted a nearly 5,000-page reply brief on March 18, reopening arguments that had not been accepted during trial after New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron had already entered a summary judgment finding President Trump liable for fraud.
They pointed out, as they had repeatedly, that the case named no victims, and therefore no one would be harmed in a delay of payment. They argued that the judgment seeks to destroy a successful business that “employs many hardworking New Yorkers” and has contributed “$300 million in taxes to public coffers.” They also revealed that 30 companies have rejected their bond applications.
A $454 million bond would require President Trump to have $1 billion in cash reserves, and four brokers have tried to obtain one so far to no avail.
The appeals court is expected to issue a ruling in the coming weeks.
Justice Engoron had ruled for the plaintiffs on all claims, setting disgorgement at more than $350 million in line with the calculation an expert witness called by the state devised. The defense argues that the judgment is riddled with errors and that the disgorgement award is unconstitutional. They claim that the case has no victims or damages and that their business partners were aware of the disclaimers in the financial statements.
The defense also criticizes the trial court’s handling of the statute of limitations and argues that the attorney general misapplied certain statutes. The appeals court has temporarily stayed some of the nonmonetary penalties, and counsel for Allen Weisselberg, former Trump Organization CFO, has joined the appeal.
That concludes today’s briefing.
We’re almost out of time, but before we go, if today’s your birthday, you’re celebrating with big-time movie star Bruce Wills! He was born on this day in 1955 (68).
Legendary actor Glenn Close was born on this day in 1947, so today, she celebrates birthday number 76.
Stay safe, stay informed, and have a great day!
