The Indian Panorama

Tag: Alvin Bragg

  • Trump strips security clearance from political foes, including Tish James, Alvin Bragg

    Trump strips security clearance from political foes, including Tish James, Alvin Bragg

    WASHINGTON, D.C. (TIP): President Trump has revoked security clearances and access to classified information from a slew of his political opponents, including New York Attorney General Letitia James and Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg.

    “I have determined that it is no longer in the national interest for the following individuals to access classified information,” Trump announced in a presidential memo issued late Friday night before directly naming 15 of his most vocal critics, as well as the entire Biden family.

    The list notably includes all three Democrats who ran against him in the 2016 and 2024 elections: Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. It also names former U.S. representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger — two high-profile, anti-Trump Republicans — along with the two top law enforcement officials in New York, both of whom took the president to court and won. Attorney General James has brought multiple lawsuits against Trump and his businesses. In February 2024, a judge ruled in favor of her office in a civil fraud case against Trump, his sons and the Trump Organization, ordering them to pay more than $450 million she said they illegally obtained.

    When celebrating the “tremendous victory” for New York and the nation, James criticized the then-former president’s “fraudulent” and unjust ways to enrich himself and his family.

    “While he may have authored the ‘Art of the Deal,’ our case revealed that his business was based on the art of the steal,” James said at the time.

    Three months later, a jury in Manhattan found Trump guilty of falsifying business records in a hush-money scheme to conceal damaging information during the 2016 presidential election.

    “Trump went to illegal lengths to lie repeatedly in order to protect himself and his campaign,” Bragg said when announcing the all-count trial conviction, adding his office has a “solemn responsibility to ensure equal justice under the law regardless of the background, wealth or power of the accused.”

    On Friday, Trump appeared to remind James, Bragg and several of his opponents that he may, indeed, use power against his perceived adversaries — even if symbolically.

    In the memo, the president instructed the heads of federal agencies to “take all necessary actions, consistent with existing law,” to immediately revoke security clearances and access to classified information from those individuals.

    Along with preventing them from receiving classified briefings and obtaining information from members of the intelligence community, the action also revokes their “unescorted access to secure United States Government facilities.”

    While it’s unclear what type of security clearance those individuals had, the revocation is largely being perceived as symbolic.

    “It’s another petty, performative move designed to punish his perceived enemies, regardless of reality,” Kinzinger said Saturday, calling out the president’s “latest stunt.”

    “Reports are circulating that he’s decided to revoke my security clearance. The only problem? I don’t have one.”

  • Six supporters of Eric Adams mayoral campaign indicted

    Six supporters of Eric Adams mayoral campaign indicted

    NEW YORK CITY (TIP): Six supporters of Eric Adams’ New York City mayoral campaign were indicted in Manhattan Friday, accused of running a straw donor scheme meant to win influence in City Hall. Adams himself, and his campaign, were not implicated in the scheme, and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg doesn’t allege that Adams knew about it. The 27-count indictment lays out a case that the defendants collectively paid 29 separate straw donors to give to Adams’ campaign, between Aug. 13, 2020 and Sept. 23, 2021.

    The straw donors were not named in the indictment, but one of them was said to be a Democratic district leader in Manhattan. It wasn’t immediately clear who.

    The scheme was meant to take advantage of New York City’s public campaign matching funds program, where donations of up to $250 from city residents are matched 8-to-1 with public funds. So multiple smaller contributions mean more money for a campaign, as opposed to fewer, large donations – especially with individuals limited to giving $2,000.

    Dwayne Montgomery, Shamsuddin Riza, Millicent Redick, Ronald Peek, Yahya Mushtaq, Shahid Mushtaq and the construction safety company EcoSafety Consultants are all named in the indictment. The indictment identified Montgomery and Riza as relatives who facilitated the scheme. Yahya and Shahid Mushtaq are the owners of EcoSafety, and the indictment alleges that they made campaign contributions in the names of the company’s employees without their knowledge. Riza and his own construction company were charged in a separate, apparently unrelated state Supreme Court indictment earlier this year.

    Montgomery is alleged to be the ringleader of the scheme, and hoped to use the significant amount donated to help open doors in City Hall, once Adams took office.

    “Montgomery and an associate regularly updated a spreadsheet with all of the contributions associated with the fundraiser and the amount of matching funds they believed they had generated for the campaign,” said a press release from Bragg’s office. “They planned to use the contributions as leverage in potential future requests of the Mayor’s Office.”

    Evan Thies, the spokesperson for Adams’ 2021 campaign, emailed a statement distancing Adams from the case. “The campaign thanks the District Attorney’s office for their hard work on behalf of taxpayers,” Thies wrote. “There is no indication that the campaign or the mayor is involved in this case or under investigation. The campaign always held itself to the highest standards and we would never tolerate these actions. The campaign will of course work with the DA’s office, the Campaign Finance Board, and any relevant authorities.”