Tag: Nears

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Politics

Texas Home Passes Voting Invoice as G.O.P. Nears a Onerous-Fought Victory

Texas House Passes Voting Bill as G.O.P. Nears a Hard-Fought Victory

The House’s vote on Friday most likely signaled the end of drama that began in late May when, in the closing hours of the Texas Legislature’s regular session, Democratic House members fled the chamber to stop Republicans from passing a similar bill.

An irate Mr. Abbott called a special session to begin in early July, urging legislators to consider a voting bill along with proposals to direct more money toward border security, restrict transgender youths’ participation in interscholastic athletics and limit access to abortion, among other conservative priorities. More than 50 House Democrats, led by their progressive wing, organized two charter flights from Austin to Washington, where they were initially greeted as heroes by congressional Democrats in their shared fight to enact new federal voting protections.

Their momentum was short-lived.

In the days after their arrival, groups of Texas House Democrats met with Vice President Kamala Harris and Senator Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, a key vote in the push to pass Democrats’ federal voting bills. But before their first week in the capital had ended, several of the Texas lawmakers tested positive for the coronavirus, turning their planned media tour and congressional pressure campaign into a series of videoconferences that failed to attract much attention.

They remained ensconced at a hotel in downtown Washington, unable to use the swimming pool because Republicans had stationed a videographer on the deck waiting to film any of them appearing to violate their pledge to work tirelessly for voting rights.

In the hours after the July special session ended, Mr. Abbott called a second one to begin two days later. But the potential arrests of Democrats who failed to appear in the statehouse chamber, promised by Mr. Abbott and State House Republican leaders, failed to materialize. By then, the Democrats had quietly returned to the state, with many going about their daily lives without incident.

By the end of last week, a trickle of State House Democrats began returning to the State Capitol, ending the walkout and allowing the business of the chamber to resume. While Texas Democrats celebrated their fight against new voting restrictions, Republicans moved swiftly to enact their proposals.

For all of the energy Democrats poured into their flight from Austin and attempts to pressure Congress, the scene inside the Texas State House chamber on Thursday and Friday was largely one of an ordinary day of legislating, devoid of fireworks or protesters in the gallery. Only a somewhat greater number of television cameras hinted at the stakes of the vote.

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Politics

U.S., allies warn extra terrorist assaults possible as Afghanistan withdrawal deadline nears

U.S., allies warn more terrorist attacks likely as Afghanistan withdrawal deadline nears

Afghans trying to leave the country continue to wait around Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan on August 26, 2021.

Haroon Sabawoon | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

The US and its allies have warned that further terrorist attacks are likely in Kabul as the deadline for military withdrawal from Afghanistan draws nearer.

Two suicide bombers struck on Thursday near the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, where thousands of people are still hoping to be evacuated after the Taliban came to power.

The US Central Command confirmed on Thursday evening that 13 US soldiers were killed and 18 wounded. British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said Friday that between 60 and 80 Afghans were also killed in the explosions.

ISIS-K, an Afghan-based branch of the terrorist group, has claimed responsibility for the attack.

The warnings came as the US and allies resumed evacuations from Kabul. About 12,500 were flown out in the 24-hour period that ended at 3 a.m. ET on Friday. Coalition forces have evacuated around 105,000 people in the past two weeks. Around 110,600 evacuations have been carried out since the end of July.

President Joe Biden said earlier this week that ISIS-K was a growing threat to the airport, adding that it was because of this that he was “so determined to limit the duration of the mission”.

U.S. Marine Corps General Kenneth McKenzie, Jr. said in a Pentagon briefing Thursday that ISIS will likely attempt to continue the attacks before the evacuations are complete.

On Friday, Wallace said the threat of further attacks in the area increases as the deadline for Western troops to leave the country draws nearer.

“The threat will obviously increase the closer we get to our exit,” he told Sky News. “The narrative will always be that certain groups like IS want to claim when they leave the US that they have driven the US or the UK.”

Wallace also shot at the Biden administration, saying that the West “seems to think that it is fixing problems; it is not, it is managing them”. He added that nation-building support should be carried out “in the long run as an international force”.

British forces evacuations ended

At around 4:30 a.m. on Friday, the UK approved the closure of its processing center at the Baron’s Hotel in Kabul and evacuated its officers. Wallace told BBC News that the last 1,000 eligible people at the airfield would be processed and flown out on Friday.

However, he admitted that not everyone can get out and told LBC radio that up to 150 UK nationals may not have made it yet as evacuation efforts are in their final hours.

Australia has suspended all evacuation flights from Afghanistan following the bombings, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced on Friday, claiming it is no longer safe to continue evacuation.

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Politics

U.S. Says 1,500 People in Afghanistan as Withdrawal Deadline Nears

U.S. Says 1,500 Americans in Afghanistan as Withdrawal Deadline Nears

WASHINGTON – Mindestens 1.500 amerikanische Bürger bleiben nur noch wenige Tage vor dem geplanten US-Abzug aus dem Land in Afghanistan, aber Beamte räumten am Mittwoch die Realität ein, dass Zehntausende afghanische Verbündete und andere, die einem hohen Risiko von Taliban-Repressalien ausgesetzt sind, zurückbleiben würden.

Das Geräusch von Schüssen und Wolken aus Tränengas und schwarzem Rauch erfüllten die Luft um den internationalen Flughafen in Kabul, der Hauptstadt, als sich am Mittwoch Tausende von Afghanen vor den Toren versammelten, um vor dem endgültigen Abflug des amerikanischen Militärs am 8. 31, nach 20 Jahren Krieg.

Als im Rahmen einer Luftbrücke alle 45 Minuten Militär- und Regierungscharterflüge starteten, sagten Beamte der Biden-Regierung, sie hätten seit dem 14. August, dem Tag, bevor Kabul an die Taliban fiel, etwa 82.300 Menschen evakuiert. Rund 4.500 von ihnen waren amerikanische Staatsbürger, 500 weitere sollen bald abreisen.

Außenminister Antony J. Blinken sagte jedoch, die Regierung versuche, rund 1.000 US-Bürger aufzuspüren, die sich immer noch in Afghanistan aufhalten und auf eine hektische Flut von E-Mails, Telefonanrufen oder anderen Nachrichten, die ihre Evakuierung anbieten, nicht reagiert hätten.

„In dieser kritischen Phase konzentrieren wir uns darauf, Amerikaner und ihre Familien so schnell wie möglich aus Afghanistan in Flugzeuge zu bringen“, sagte Blinken vom Außenministerium.

Er versuchte auch, Afghanen, die mit dem US-Militär oder der US-Botschaft zusammengearbeitet hatten, und möglicherweise Hunderttausenden von Menschen, die die extremistische Ideologie der Taliban in Frage stellten, zu versichern, dass „sie nicht vergessen werden“.

Er verglich Bilder und Berichte von Afghanen, die auf dem Flughafen von Kabul im Gedränge zur Evakuierung niedergetrampelt wurden, um „in den Magen geschlagen zu werden“, sagte Blinken, es sei Aufgabe der Taliban, ihre sichere Überfahrt zu gewährleisten.

Er signalisierte, dass eine solche Vereinbarung mit einer Mischung aus wirtschaftlichem und diplomatischem Druck und der Verlockung internationaler Hilfe erreicht werden könnte, aber er würde nicht über sein Vertrauen in die Taliban sprechen, ihr Wort zu halten, außer vage zu zitieren, was er ihre Öffentlichkeit nannte und private Verpflichtungen, um Menschen die Ausreise zu ermöglichen.

„Lassen Sie mich das ganz klar sagen: Es gibt keine Frist für unsere Arbeit, um den verbleibenden amerikanischen Bürgern zu helfen, die sich dazu entschließen, dies zu tun, zusammen mit den vielen Afghanen, die uns in diesen vielen Jahren zur Seite gestanden haben und dies tun wollen gehen und waren dazu nicht in der Lage“, sagte Blinken. „Diese Bemühungen werden über den 31. August hinaus jeden Tag fortgesetzt.“

Ein Taliban-Sprecher, Zabihullah Mujahid, sagte am Mittwoch, Afghanen mit gültigen Reisedokumenten würden nicht daran gehindert, den Flughafen zu betreten, wenn sie dort von amerikanischen und afghanischen Streitkräften eingelassen würden.

In seinem ersten Sit-down-Interview mit einer westlichen Medienorganisation seit der Ankunft der Taliban in Kabul bestritt Mujahid Berichte, wonach die Gruppe beginnen würde, Afghanen vom Flughafen fernzuhalten, die auf seinen Aussagen während einer täglichen Pressekonferenz beruhten früher.

„Wir haben gesagt, dass Leute, die keine richtigen Dokumente haben, nicht gehen dürfen“, sagte er. „Sie brauchen Pässe und Visa für die Länder, in die sie reisen, und können dann mit dem Flugzeug ausreisen. Wenn ihre Dokumente gültig sind, werden wir sie nicht fragen, was sie vorher gemacht haben.“

Er bestand auch darauf, dass die Taliban denen vergeben würden, die gegen sie kämpften, und dass Frauen die Schule und Arbeit besuchen dürfen, im Rahmen dessen, was er als islamische Prinzipien bezeichnete. Menschenrechtsvertreter haben solche Zusicherungen als unaufrichtig abgetan, und viele Afghanen haben sich aus Angst vor Belästigung und Gewalt in ihren Häusern versteckt.

Herr Mujahid räumte ein, dass Frauen auf Reisen von drei Tagen oder länger einen männlichen Vormund brauchen würden. Gerüchte, dass die Taliban Frauen zwingen würden, in ihren Häusern zu bleiben oder ihr Gesicht zu bedecken, seien unbegründet, sagte er, aber er bestätigte, dass Musik in der Öffentlichkeit nicht erlaubt sei.

„Musik ist im Islam verboten“, sagte er, „aber wir hoffen, dass wir die Leute davon überzeugen können, solche Dinge nicht zu tun.“

Beamte des Weißen Hauses sagten am Mittwoch, dass 90 US-amerikanische und alliierte Flugzeuge innerhalb von 24 Stunden schätzungsweise 19.200 Menschen ausgeflogen hätten.

Mindestens 500 waren amerikanische Staatsbürger und ihre Familien, sagte Blinken und schlossen sich Afghanen an, die Angestellte der jetzt geschlossenen US-Botschaft in Kabul waren, und anderen, die für das amerikanische Militär und andere Regierungsbehörden gearbeitet hatten, einige seit 2001, die sich für die Teilnahme qualifizieren ein spezielles Einwanderungsvisum, um in den Vereinigten Staaten zu leben.

Kongressbeamte sagten Anfang dieser Woche, dass die Biden-Regierung schätzungsweise 50.000 Afghanen identifiziert habe, die für das Sondervisum in Frage kommen. Auch ehemalige Sicherheitskräfte, Regierungsbeamte und Menschen, die sich für Frauenrechte, Rechtsstaatlichkeit und andere Säulen der Demokratie einsetzten, wurden evakuiert.

Eine am Mittwoch veröffentlichte neue Schätzung des Verbands der Kriegsverbündeten kam zu dem Schluss, dass mindestens 250.000 Afghanen – und vielleicht mehr als eine Million – Anspruch auf einen beschleunigten Einwanderungsstatus haben könnten. Die Interessenvertretung arbeitete mit der American University zusammen, um Arbeitsverträge und andere Dokumente zu analysieren, die diese Afghanen benötigen, um ihre Berechtigung nachzuweisen.

Herr Blinken konnte keine genauere Zahl nennen und stellte fest, dass es für die US-Regierung schwierig gewesen sei, selbst herauszufinden, wie viele Amerikaner sich in Afghanistan aufhalten könnten.

Er sagte, das Außenministerium habe mindestens 6.000 Amerikaner – viele von ihnen mit doppelter afghanischer Staatsbürgerschaft – durch das Durchsuchen verschiedener Datenbanken identifiziert. Beamte haben mehr als 20.000 E-Mails verschickt und 45.000 Telefonanrufe in ganz Afghanistan getätigt, um US-Bürgern die Möglichkeit zu geben, das Land zu verlassen, sagte er.

Aktualisiert

August 25, 2021, 7:58 Uhr ET

Tausende weitere US-Bürger könnten in Afghanistan leben, hätten sich aber nicht bei der US-Botschaft registriert und könnten sonst nicht gefunden werden, räumte ein hochrangiger Beamter des Außenministeriums später ein.

Stunden bevor Herr Blinken sprach, forderten die Abgeordneten des Kongresses die Biden-Regierung auf, die Frist vom 31. August zu verlängern, um sicherzustellen, dass alle Amerikaner und afghanischen Verbündeten Afghanistan sicher verlassen können.

„Die Berichte, die ich vor Ort bekomme, sind, dass unsere amerikanischen Bürger versuchen, herauszukommen“, sagte der Abgeordnete Michael McCaul aus Texas, der oberste Republikaner im Ausschuss für auswärtige Angelegenheiten des Repräsentantenhauses. „Unsere afghanischen Partner und Dolmetscher, die bei unseren Spezialeinheiten gedient haben, haben ihr Leben aufs Spiel gesetzt. Wir haben die moralische Verpflichtung, sie zu retten.“

Herr Blinken würde nicht diskutieren, ob auch nach dem Militäraustritt nächste Woche der Anschein der US-Botschaft in Kabul – einst eine der größten amerikanischen diplomatischen Vertretungen der Welt – geöffnet bleiben würde. Eine kleine Gruppe von US-Diplomaten bleibt in Afghanistan auf einer sicheren Basis am Flughafen in Kabul, um die Evakuierung zu überwachen und die Verhandlungen mit den Taliban fortzusetzen.

Während die Evakuierungsmission ablief, warteten die Staats- und Regierungschefs der Welt – und Millionen von Afghanen – mit Besorgnis darauf, die wahre Gestalt der Taliban-Herrschaft zu erkennen.

Während der letzten Machtübernahme der Gruppe riskierten afghanische Frauen, geschlagen, gefoltert oder hingerichtet zu werden, wenn sie ihre Häuser verließen. In den zwei Jahrzehnten, seit amerikanisch geführte Kräfte die Militanten von der Macht verdrängt haben, erwarten viele junge Frauen Grundrechte.

In den ersten Tagen, nachdem die Taliban Kabul und die nationale Macht am 15. August erobert hatten, forderten afghanische Demonstranten, dass die Militanten ihre Forderungen nach mehr Freiheit akzeptieren. Zu den Protesten gehörte auch ein Marsch von Frauen, die forderten, dass ihr Recht auf Bildung und Arbeit nicht verletzt wird.

Eine Aktivistin namens Fariha sagte, sie habe letzte Woche an der Demonstration teilgenommen, „um den Taliban zu zeigen, dass sie sich ändern müssen, weil wir es nicht tun werden“.

Die Taliban-Übernahme in Afghanistan verstehen

Karte 1 von 5

Wer sind die Taliban? Die Taliban entstanden 1994 inmitten der Unruhen nach dem Abzug der sowjetischen Streitkräfte aus Afghanistan 1989. Sie setzten brutale öffentliche Strafen ein, darunter Auspeitschungen, Amputationen und Massenhinrichtungen, um ihre Regeln durchzusetzen. Hier ist mehr über ihre Entstehungsgeschichte und ihre Bilanz als Herrscher.

Wer sind die Taliban-Führer? Dies sind die obersten Anführer der Taliban, Männer, die jahrelang auf der Flucht, untergetaucht, im Gefängnis und amerikanischen Drohnen ausgewichen sind. Es ist wenig über sie bekannt oder wie sie zu regieren planen, auch ob sie so tolerant sein werden, wie sie es vorgeben.

Was passiert mit den Frauen Afghanistans? Als die Taliban das letzte Mal an der Macht waren, verboten sie Frauen und Mädchen die meisten Jobs oder den Schulbesuch. Afghanische Frauen haben seit dem Sturz der Taliban viel gewonnen, aber jetzt befürchten sie, dass an Boden verloren wird. Taliban-Beamte versuchen, den Frauen zu versichern, dass die Dinge anders sein werden, aber es gibt Anzeichen dafür, dass sie zumindest in einigen Bereichen begonnen haben, die alte Ordnung wieder einzuführen.

„Wir können nicht atmen, wenn uns unser Recht auf Bildung und Arbeit beraubt wird und wir nicht in der Gesellschaft präsent sind“, sagte sie schluchzend.

„Es gibt Frauen, die nicht nach Europa oder in die USA gegangen sind – sie sind geblieben und bereit, bis zum Tod zu kämpfen“, sagte sie. „Wir haben 20 Jahre lang hart gearbeitet, um Bildung und Arbeit zu erlangen. Wir lassen uns von niemandem ignorieren.“

Trotz der Bemühungen der Taliban, die Afghanen ihrer Sicherheit zu versichern, deuten unheilvolle Anzeichen darauf hin, dass sie ihre brutale Taktik nicht aufgegeben haben. Am Dienstag zitierte der oberste Menschenrechtsbeauftragte der Vereinten Nationen „erschütternde und glaubwürdige“ Berichte, wonach die Taliban Zivilisten und nicht kämpfende Soldaten hingerichtet hätten.

Da die Zukunft der internationalen Hilfe für Afghanistan unklar ist, sagte Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel am Mittwoch, dass ihr Land seine Unterstützung für das afghanische Volk auch nach dem Abzug der US-Truppen beibehalten werde. Sie rief auch zu Gesprächen mit den Taliban auf.

„Unser Ziel muss es sein, so viel wie möglich zu bewahren, was wir in den letzten 20 Jahren an den Veränderungen in Afghanistan erreicht haben“, sagte Merkel in einer Sitzung des Parlaments, in der über die schnelle Übernahme Afghanistans durch die Taliban diskutiert wurde. “Darüber muss die internationale Gemeinschaft mit den Taliban sprechen.”

Deutschland hat im Juni sein letztes Kontingent von rund 570 Soldaten aus Afghanistan abgezogen, aber noch immer waren mehrere hundert Deutsche in der von der Regierung finanzierten Entwicklungsarbeit engagiert.

Zu den Sorgen um Afghanistan trägt auch die untergehende Wirtschaft bei, die für die vergangene Generation durch amerikanische Hilfe gestützt wurde, sich jetzt aber im freien Fall befindet. Banken sind geschlossen. Bargeld wird knapp, Lebensmittelpreise steigen. Kraftstoff wird immer schwerer zu finden. Regierungsdienste sind ins Stocken geraten, da Beamte ihre Arbeit meiden, weil sie Vergeltungsmaßnahmen befürchten.

Menschen, die versuchen zu fliehen, wenn sie es an den Taliban-Checkpoints schaffen, sind auf dem Flughafen von Kabul mit chaotischen Szenen konfrontiert. Mindestens sieben afghanische Zivilisten, darunter ein Kleinkind, wurden zu Tode getrampelt.

Am Mittwoch brachten die Taliban anscheinend etwa 200 Menschen in ein umzäuntes Gebiet, wo sie unter der prallen Nachmittagssonne zusammengepfercht wurden.

Als die Menschenmengen vor dem Flughafen weiter anschwellen, sagten amerikanische Beamte, sie seien besorgt, dass Terroristen, die mit dem Islamischen Staat verbunden sind, das Chaos ausnutzen könnten, indem sie dort einen Bombenanschlag oder einen Mörserangriff auf den Flugplatz veranstalten.

Der Islamische Staat in Afghanistan hat in den letzten Jahren Dutzende von Anschlägen verübt, von denen viele auf ethnische Minderheiten und andere Zivilisten abzielten.

John F. Kirby, der Chefsprecher des Pentagon, sagte Reportern am Mittwoch, dass amerikanische Offiziere in Kabul, darunter Konteradmiral Peter G. Vasely, der oberste Kommandant, und Generalmajor Christopher Donahue, der Chef der 82. Luftlandedivision, im Gespräch seien an ihre Taliban-Kollegen jeden Tag, um die sichere Durchreise von Amerikanern und afghanischen Verbündeten mit den entsprechenden Ausweisen zu Flügen zu gewährleisten, die Kabul verlassen.

Herr Kirby sagte, dass das Pentagon der Evakuierung amerikanischer Truppen und Ausrüstung in den letzten Tagen der Mission Vorrang geben werde. Etwa 5.400 amerikanische Soldaten seien jetzt auf dem Flughafen, nachdem 400 Soldaten, die für die Evakuierung nicht unbedingt erforderlich waren, in den letzten Tagen das Land verlassen hätten, sagte er.

Dennoch gibt es zahlreiche Berichte über Afghanen mit ordnungsgemäßem Papierkram, die an Taliban-Checkpoints und sogar an den Flughafentoren abgewiesen wurden, wo etwa 30 US-Konsularbeamte und Marinesoldaten ihre Ausweise überprüfen. In der vergangenen Woche wurden viele Tore zeitweise geschlossen, um Rückstände zu beseitigen.

Lara Jakes berichtete aus Washington und Michael Levenson aus New York. Die Berichterstattung wurde von Eric Schmitt in Washington, Matthieu Aikins und Jim Huylebroek in Kabul, Sharif Hassan in Kiew, Ukraine, Melissa Eddy in Berlin und Lauren Leatherby in New York beigesteuert.

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World News

As Haitian Chief’s Funeral Nears, Anger Burns within the Streets

As Haitian Leader’s Funeral Nears, Anger Burns in the Streets

CAP-HAÏTIEN, Haiti – Hours before mourners were due to pay tribute to assassinated President Jovenel Moïse at a state funeral on Friday – a moment many hoped would help heal a broken nation – the northern city of Cap-Haïtien burned with anger and frustration exposing the deep divisions in Haiti.

Black smoke from burning tires billowed across the streets on Thursday, a common form of protest in a country divided on geography, wealth and power. Large crowds of demonstrators ran through the narrow colonial streets and shouted: “You killed Jovenel and the police were there.”

Mistrustful of the elite who had come out of the capital, angry men tried to prevent the arrival of mourners from outside the city by throwing a cinder block at the leading car of a motorcade that had navigated through the fire and later over a concrete telephone pole A street.

“We sent someone alive, they sent him back a body,” shouted Frantz Atole, a 42-year-old mechanic, promising violence. “This country will not be silent.”

The state funeral planned for the Moïse family homestead, less than half an hour from downtown Cap-Haïtien, was to attract diplomats from around the world and officials from across the country. But the uproar before the ceremony raised questions about safety and whether everyone who wanted to pay tribute to Mr. Moïse would actually come to the funeral.

Two weeks after Mr Moïse was riddled with bullets in his own bedroom in the capital, Port-au-Prince – killed by a group of Colombian mercenaries, authorities say – the country is still circling the country with unanswered questions and seething with rage. Several members of Mr Moïse’s own security department were also questioned and taken into custody.

A new government was installed in the capital this week, with leaders vowing to get to the bottom of the horrific murders and to reach consensus between the country’s warring political factions and its angry civil society groups. But the unrest Thursday threatened to turn hopes for consensus into a naive, unrealized dream.

“The Port-au-Prince bourgeoisie is responsible. You are the reason for all of this, ”said Emmanuella Joseph, a 20-year-old high school student who cried into a washcloth by the roadside at the end of an ongoing protest. “All I ask is to close all roads so they don’t come.”

She added lamentably that the president’s killers were outsiders who had long interfered in the fate of the country. “What kind of nation comes and kills a president?”

Others shouted that the police and the Presidential Guard, whose members were not injured in the attack on the President’s home, were involved in the murder.

Cap-Haïtien was dressed in mourning on Thursday. It was once the capital of the French colony of St. Domingue, which claimed one of the world’s most brutal slave plantation economies and was later overwhelmed by the world’s most successful slave rebellion. Banners hung over the streets reading “Justice for President Jovenel” and “Thank you, President Jovenel. You gave your life for the struggle of the people and it will go on. “

In the immediate vicinity of the city’s main stone square, where rebel leaders were executed more than two centuries ago, mourners queued to sign books of condolence and light candles before a large photo of the president was taken in a government building.

“We live in such a fragile time,” said Maxil Mompremier in front of the Notre Dame de L’Assomption cathedral from colonial times, where Moïse’s supporters had previously gathered for a service. “Nobody understands what happened. Lots of people are scared. “

The assassination of the President of Haiti

Mr Moïse comes from the north of the country and was not known in the country’s center of power, Port-au-Prince, when he was elected as a candidate for the 2015 elections by the ruling party. Born in the nearby town of Trou-du-Nord, he later began his entrepreneurial career in Port-de-Paix, where he became President of the Chamber of Commerce.

The fact that he was killed far away in Port-au-Prince sparked old divisions between the less developed north and the capital and economic center of the country and deepened the rifts between the country’s small elite and its destitute majority.

“It occurs incessantly in the entire history of Haiti,” said Emile Eyma Jr., a historian from Cap-Haïtien, speaking of the resentments of the northerners. “It is dangerous that both the question of color and the question of regionalism are used as weapons for purely political reasons.”

The president’s wife, Martine Moïse, who was injured in the attack, has announced that her family will pay for the funeral. Planes arrived at the usually sleepy airport all day, with more to arrive on Friday.

But anger burned in the streets of this city.

“We’ll protest all night,” Mr. Atole vowed as the tires burned on a bridge behind him. “We’ll make it difficult for them in town.”

Harold Isaac contributed to the coverage.

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Health

Non-public fairness group nears a $30 billion deal to purchase Medline, report says

Private equity group nears a $30 billion deal to buy Medline, report says

A Medline Industries employee collects examination gloves to be included in personal protective equipment (PPE) kits that will be shipped to various healthcare facilities at their warehouse in Mundelein, Ill., On Monday, October 20, 2014. Bloomberg via Getty Images

Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

A group of private equity firms, including the Blackstone Group, Carlyle Group and Hellman & Friedman, are on the verge of a deal to buy medical device manufacturer and distributor Medline Industries, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The sale could be worth more than $ 30 billion for Medline, people familiar with the matter told the newspaper.

Medline Industries of Northfield, Illinois, manufactures 550,000 types of medical supplies for specialty medical facilities such as surgical centers, acute care facilities, nursing homes, hospice centers, and hospital laundries, according to the company’s website. Founded in 1910 by AL Mills, the family business now sells in more than 125 countries.

WSJ originally reported Medline’s interest in an April sale.

When CNBC reached them, Blackstone and Hellman spokesmen declined to comment. Carlyle and Medline representatives were not immediately available.

Read the full report in the Wall Street Journal here.

Categories
Politics

Texas Voting Invoice Nears Passage as Republicans Advance It

Texas Voting Bill Nears Passage as Republicans Advance It

In a statement on Saturday, President Biden called the proposed bill, along with similar measures in Georgia and Florida, “an attack on democracy” that disproportionately targeted “black and brown Americans”. He called on lawmakers to resolve the problem by passing democratic voting laws pending in Congress.

“It’s wrong and un-American,” said Mr. Biden. “In the 21st century, we should make it easier, not harder, for everyone eligible to vote to vote.”

Republican lawmakers have often cited voter concerns about electoral fraud – fears fueled by Trump, other Republicans, and the conservative media – to justify new election restrictions, despite no evidence of widespread fraud in the recent American election.

And in their campaign, Republicans have overcome objections from Democrats, constituencies, and big corporations. Companies like American Airlines, Dell Technologies and Microsoft spoke out against Texan law soon after the law was passed, but the pressure has so far been largely ineffective.

The final 67-page bill, known as SB 7, turned out to be the amalgamation of two bulk votes that had worked their way through state legislation. It contained many of the provisions originally put in place by the Republicans, but lawmakers dropped some of the strictest, such as an ordinance on the allocation of voting machines that would have closed polling stations in color communities, and a measure that would have allowed partisan election observers to record the voting process on video.

However, the bill contains a provision that could make it easier to overthrow an election. Texas electoral law found that reversing election results due to fraud allegations required evidence that illegal votes had indeed resulted in an illegitimate victory. If the bill is passed, the number of fraudulent votes required to do so should simply be equal to the difference in the winning votes. It wouldn’t matter who the fraudulent votes were cast for.

Democrats and constituencies were quick to condemn the bill.

“SB 7 is a ruthless law,” said Sarah Labowitz, director of politics and advocacy for the American Civil Liberties Union in Texas. “It is aimed at color voters and voters with disabilities in a state that is already the most difficult voting place in the country.”

Categories
Business

Fears for Bangladesh Garment Employees as Security Settlement Nears an Finish

Fears for Bangladesh Garment Workers as Safety Agreement Nears an End

“The Europeans are trying to entice the North American retailers toward contributing more to collective safety monitoring by watering down accountability,” Ms. Hajagos-Clausen said. “At one level, of course we want more brands to sign up — after all, the same factories produce for both American and European and other international brands. But all that’s happening here is a reduction in the credibility of the overall program, making it impossible to use the agreement as a possible blueprint for global coverage at a dangerous time for garment workers everywhere.”

Faruque Hassan, the president of the garment manufacturers association, did not respond to requests for comment. And while some Western brands like Asos have said publicly that they would support a legally binding agreement, most were not willing to comment while negotiations were going on. H&M, the Swedish retailer that was instrumental in the creation of the original accord, is also a leader of the current talks and remains “committed” according to Payal Jain, H&M’s head of sustainability global production.

Ms. Jain said H&M “strongly supported” a structure involving trade unions, employer organizations and the government, as well as clear accountability for brands, and increased fire and building safety capacity within the country.

“We are confident we can come to good solutions,” she added.

Bangladeshi factory workers, already dealing with pay cuts and late wages, will be counting on it. Garment exports, which account for 80 percent of Bangladesh’s annual export revenue, fell 17 percent in 2020. The country’s apparel sector was devastated as brands closed shops during the pandemic and canceled orders worth as much as $3.5 billion, leaving many factory owners facing ruin. The industry has seen a recovery, but the future remains uncertain — particularly with continuing lockdowns and virus outbreaks.

Owners of small and medium-size factories have long said they have been squeezed by the investments needed to meet safety standards. Now, their finances are suffering further as many global brands continue to drive order prices down in a tough trading environment. Brands have also asked the factories to undertake costly new Covid 19-related safety measures.

According to Mr. Posner, while improvements have unequivocally been made for worker safety in Bangladesh, the work is far from over. While the accord and alliance reached roughly 2,500 factories, it is well known by the industry that there are more than double that number of facilities, including subcontractors. A significant proportion of factories in Bangladesh remain unsafe.

“As the world starts to open up again and demand picks up further, no one in this equation can afford to take their eye off the ball,” Mr. Posner said. “The legacy of the accord is at stake.”

Categories
Health

Psychedelic drug increase in psychological well being remedy nears actuality

Psychedelic drug boom in mental health treatment nears reality

Magic mushrooms are seen in a grow room in the Netherlands in this 2007 file photo.

Peter Dejong | AP

Entrepreneur Dick Simon has never shied away from speaking up about business topics other CEOs might find too stigmatized to touch. He has spent years dedicated to improving U.S. business relations with Iran, and more recently, the Boston-based CEO has embraced another passion: improving the market for and medical community’s understanding of how psychedelic drugs can be used to treat mental illness. It’s a health, and emerging health business, that Simon came to appreciate through the firsthand frustration of watching people in his life suffering — not just from mental illness, but from the failure of existing and costly medical treatments.

Drugs long stigmatized, such as psilocybin and MDMA, are rising in profile as mental illness treatment options. Just last week, results from a phase 3 trial of MDMA combined with talk therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder showed results that were impressive.

“This is a pivotal event,” said Elemer Piros, a biotech analyst at Roth Capital Partners who covers the emerging alternative mental health treatment space. “It may not seem humongous, but it is one of the best and most rigorously executed trials in the space. And the results corroborate what we have seen time and time again from smaller studies over the past two decades,” he said, referencing remission rates double that of a placebo. “The magical experiences kept showing up, but no one had the courage to take it through to regulators.”

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The results of the MDMA study, whose senior author is Rick Doblin, Ph.D., founder and executive director of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), are expected to be published in Nature Medicine on Monday and FDA approval could come by 2023, according to a New York Times report.

A recent Imperial College London study of psilocybin use in depression reported in The New England Journal of Medicine also produced positive results. Before the end of the year, clinical results also are expected from a study involving Compass Pathways — which IPO’d late last year — using its approach of guided psilocybin experiences as a treatment for drug-resistant depression.

“People still believe that ‘your brain on drugs’ commercial is the truth rather than all scientific evidence on major therapeutic benefits,” said Simon, who heads the Psychedelic Medicines for Mental Health Group at entrepreneurial network YPO and also serves on an advisory council at Mass General Hospital on the topic. (Dr. Sharmin Ghaznavi, Mass General Hospital Assoc. Director, Center for the Neuroscience of Psychedelics, will speak at the CNBC Healthy Returns Summit on Tuesday, May 11.)

A focus on depression treatment outcomes

There are example of stigmatized drugs in FDA-approved medical usage, ketamine, for example, as an anesthesia since the 1970s, and ultimately, used on an “off-label” basis to treat depression based on the existing FDA authorization. In 2019, a Johnson & Johnson ketamine-derived treatment for drug-resistant depression was the first new approach for the mental health condition specifically approved by the FDA in decades.

The current treatment approach of helping people to live with depression and PTSD, and on medication, creates a patient population and cost factor that is a burden on the health-care system. That may ultimately help the new drug companies gain acceptance if the clinical trials results continue to be positive.

A close friend of Simon’s almost lost a child suffering from mental illness. The individual was looking at a prognosis of never going back to school, never being able to work, at best not being a danger to themselves with medication. “That was not a prognosis you want for a 20-year-old,” he said. “They had tried everything, and eventually out of complete desperation, they started learning about the potential for psychedelic-assisted therapies, and it worked,” he told CNBC in an interview conducted late last year.

Now, he says, that person is off medication, in a relationship and leading a normal professional life.

Mental illness is among the most costly medical expenses in the U.S., and it has a high cost to employers in lost productivity. In 2019, 51.5 million adults were living with a mental illness in the U.S., and the number of people suffering and drug costs, already in the tens of billions of dollars annually, are projected to grow in the years ahead, with Covid-19 compounding mental health issues globally.

Roughly 7% of Americans suffer depressive episodes annually, and roughly 1% are resistant to treatment, the latter associated with a significantly higher economic burden including hospitalization. Americans who suffer depressive episodes have additional bouts within 2-5 years at a rate exceeding 40%, according to a recent Cowen & Company research report on Compass Pathways, and that risk increases with each new depressive episode.

“Covid has done a lot of terrible things, but it has elevated mental health visibility, and as a result of that there is lots of interest,” Simon said.

Public vs. professional acceptance of illegal drugs

Denver became the first city in the U.S. to decriminalize psychedelic mushrooms in 2019, and in a 2020 ballot measure, voters in Oregon made it the first state to decriminalize mushrooms and legalize them for treatment purposes. But investors behind the new drug treatment approaches are not focused on public acceptance, the trend of microdosing (for which they say data remains slim) or consumer recreational market potential, though many do find ideas about these drugs to be outdated.

“Consciousness is not the key here,” Simon said. “For purely medical use, there is a tremendous amount of data and traction for expanding use, which is where I’m focused.”

One of the biggest investors in the emerging field is Atai Life Sciences, a holding company for multiple biotech start-ups pursuing alternative treatments for depression, anxiety and addiction based on stigmatized drugs, and backed by venture capitalist Peter Thiel. It recently filed for an IPO.

Atai’s chairman Christian Angermayer — who says he has never touched a beer even though he comes from Bavaria where it is “our daily nutrition,” or smoked a joint or cigarette — is a personal believer in the power of psychedelics to have a positive influence on life. He described his first experience with psychedelics as “the single most meaningful thing” in his life.

“Nothing else even comes close,” Angermayer told CNBC in an interview conducted late last year.

But his personal experience is distinct from his role as an investor and executive focused on the mental health market needs. Angermayer was an early investor in Compass Pathways, where one of the founders, Lars Christian Wilde, suffered from drug-resistant depression and found help in psychedelics.

“We want to bring it back to the legal realm, but in the shamanistic setting of today, and that is with a therapist. We want to make it legal, but solely for doctors or psychotherapists in a clinical setting,” said Angermayer, who will speak at CNBC Healthy Returns on Tuesday. “These are not drugs you can take alone and not everyone can afford to go to the Amazon and see a shaman. We need to bring it into the medical system.”

Investment risks

A common thread among those closely watching, and investing in this space, is the personal experience with family and friends suffering from mental illness and struggling to find a successful medical treatment. “These people have been suffering for decades,” said Piros, who has a family member now struggling with depression and who has not yet found an effective medical therapy.

The new companies come with a high level of investment risk, common in the biotech space, with early trials showing promise but the business generating no revenue today. Advocates and investors in these alternative drug treatments say the economic argument is compelling when compared to current options.

Piros, who has spent more than two decades analyzing biotech companies, says investors need to be mindful that when you get involved with a development stage company it is not about the money being made already, but factors including how long the companies will have IP protection, when they can be expected to enter the market, and potential cash flows over a period between a decade to 15 years.

I’m not a medical professional or a researcher, but as a CEO and entrepreneur, I’m someone who is used to making things happen.

Dick Simon, heads the Psychedelic Medicines for Mental Health Group at entrepreneurial network YPO

Unlike biotechs working with brand new compounds which have a failure rate as high as 90%, the trials using psychedelic drugs that have been studied for decades are less likely to result in outright failures. Still, Piros said that the proper way to think about this new theme is as part of an existing investment risk tolerance for the biotech sector, and these new drugs should be no more than 10% of that existing allocation.

“It’s not chronic medicine, which as a business model is reasonably predictable and a great business model. It remains to be seen how this business model works, but … if we only need treatment for depression twice a year to be in remission that is a thousand times better than anything we can offer today, and PTSD has no approved drug,” Piros said. “It’s not like a crapshoot anymore.”

If a company like Compass makes it to market, its treatment approach could reach millions of Americans — estimates range from roughly 2 million to 4 million — not being served well by the current class of depression drugs. Pricing of the treatment could be $10,000, according to Cowen estimates, or as high as a $20,000, according to Piros, which he said is closer to the cost of current treatments. Depending on the number of patients who are resistant to current drugs that the therapy reaches, a 5%-7% market share could be worth billions. According to a Cowen estimate, $1 billion in annual sales; according to Berenberg Capital Markets, more than $2.5 billion; and according to Piros, possibly as much as $5 billion for a new, successful entrant at peak.

“We don’t expect 5% penetration two years after launch, more like five to seven years after launch, and going beyond 5% is crazy. But that is still a very large chunk of value,” Piros said. “We don’t need to go to the consumer angle.”

Many factors would influence the overall size of the market, from patients who are designated as good candidates for the new treatments, to the number of treatments needed, the infrastructure required for the guided sessions, which need to be in controlled environments like existing treatment centers that currently administer ketamine, and physician acceptance. Compass is creating 100 centers to train medical professionals and offer guided therapy, and plans to grow to 3,800 centers in a peak year.

Medical resistance

Getting the medical establishment to embrace these treatments may be among the most difficult parts of the journey. Piros said he has discussed alternative treatments with psychiatrists on behalf of his family, but they told him they would not be interested until there are decades of placebo-controlled trial data behind the drugs. “These were young doctors, fully up to date on the latest trials and literature. It’s going to be a long road before full acceptance.”

Cowen expects the existing anti-depression drugs in the SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor) class, which account for upwards of 75% of prescriptions, to remain the first line of choice in therapy, but its analysts also wrote in a recent report that surveying and interviews it has conducted with doctors indicate roughly 30% of patients are resistant to these drugs and as many as 1 in 4 patients might be considered for new treatment alternatives.

The executives in the field know the history, and even with seven decades of research into use of psychedelics culminating in the latest, more rigorous work, they expect continued resistance. But they are determined, and now with a growing body of clinical trial data to back up psychedelics.

“There are those who have been out there in the wilderness metaphorically, major institutions carrying on research over the last decade. How do I help them get past the stigma society still has around this work?” Simon asked. “How do you get veterans groups who don’t like the fact that 22 veterans a day commit suicide, and each year more die in suicide than in all wars since 9/11, how do you engage them, across the political spectrum? I’m not a medical professional or researcher, but as a CEO and entrepreneur, I’m someone who is used to making things happen.”

After his initial psychedelic trip, Angermayer said the first thought he had was that he needed to call his parents and tell them how much he loved them. The second thought: “This must be legal as a treatment. … We’re several years away. It’s not tomorrow, but it’s not in ten years,” he said. 

If you are having thoughts of suicide, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 (TALK) or go to SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for a list of additional resources.

For more exclusive insights from our reporters and speakers, sign up for our Healthy Returns newsletter to get the latest delivered straight to your inbox weekly. For a front row seat at CNBC Events, you can hear directly from the visionary executives, innovators, leaders and influencers taking the stage in “The Keynote Podcast.” Listen now, however you get your podcasts.

Categories
Business

U.S. Readies Small Enterprise Grants as P.P.P. Nears Finish

U.S. Readies Small Business Grants as P.P.P. Nears End

The federal government is preparing to open two new industry-specific aid programs for small businesses, one of which has been in the works for months as the signing of the pandemic aid, the Paycheck Protection Program, is nearing its end.

The Small Business Administration hopes to apply for a $ 16 billion grant fund by the end of this week for live event businesses such as theaters and music clubs. The program, called the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant, was slated to begin nearly two weeks ago, but its application system failed and collapsed, hampering thousands of desperate companies that had waited months for the promised help.

On Saturday, the agency released more details on its upcoming Restaurant Revitalization Fund, a $ 28.6 billion support program for bars, restaurants and food trucks whose sales have been devastated by the forced shutdowns states imposed in response to the pandemic . The fund was created last month as part of the $ 1.9 trillion economic support package. A seven-day trial will begin within the next two weeks to help the agency avoid the technical fiasco that plagued the event program.

The agency has not announced a specific start date for either of the two funding programs.

“Help is here,” said Isabella Casillas Guzman, the agency’s administrator, of the restaurant program. “We’re rolling out this program to ensure these companies meet payroll, buy supplies, and get what they need to transition to today’s Covid-restricted market.”

Both programs offer recipients up to $ 10 million in grants to compensate for a portion of their lost sales. However, it is expected that both programs, where the money is distributed based on prioritization rules based on availability, will run out of money quickly. In particular, the money in the restaurant fund is lagging far behind its needs, agency officials have recognized.

“Everyone should apply on day one,” Patrick Kelley, director of the agency’s Office of Capital Access, told attendees in a webinar organized last week by the Independent Restaurant Coalition. Lawmakers predicted demand of at least $ 120 billion for the restaurant fund, Kelley said, but provided less than a quarter of that amount.

The Restaurant Fund Law provided an exclusive 21-day period for businesses that are majority-owned by women, veterans, or socially disadvantaged people. The SBA said the group includes those who are black and Hispanic, as well as Native Americans, Americans from the Asia-Pacific region, and Americans from South Asia.

That time alone will almost certainly run out of restaurant funds. Applicants are asked to self-certify their eligibility for the priority period, according to the Small Business Administration.

Participants in the fund’s seven-day pilot phase will be randomly selected from among current paycheck protection program borrowers who meet the criteria for the priority period, the agency said. You will help test the system, but will not receive grants until the application system is opened to the public.

The SBA has released few details about the technical breakdown that destroyed its application system for the Live Events Grant program. On the day it was supposed to open, frustrated applicants spent more than four hours reloading a broken site before the agency closed it. No applications were accepted.

“After our vendors had fixed the main cause of the initial technical problems, more in-depth risk analysis and stress tests identified other problems that affect application performance,” said Andrea Roebker, spokeswoman for the agency, on Friday. “The providers address and mitigate them quickly and work tirelessly with our team so that the application portal can be reopened as quickly as possible and we can provide this important help.”

A spokeswoman for Salesforce.com, whose technology supports the system, said the company “worked with SBA to resolve initial technical issues and we are continuing to work together to improve website performance.”

The restaurant fund is managed by a different part of the agency and uses a different technology system than the closed events program. After waiting nearly four months for this program to start, industrial companies can’t hold out much longer, said Audrey Fix Schaefer, a spokeswoman for the National Independent Venue Association, a trade group.

“Landlords can’t last forever. Eviction notices come. People say, “We can’t do this anymore,” she said.

The Paycheck Protection Program, launched just weeks after the pandemic broke out, extended $ 762 billion in unsuccessful loans to millions of businesses last year.

It is slated to end by May 31, but it seems likely that its funding will run out before then. According to an SBA spokesman, the program had $ 44 billion left by mid-week.

Categories
Politics

McConnell will vote to acquit Trump as impeachment trial nears finish

McConnell will vote to acquit Trump as impeachment trial nears end

Senate Republican minority leader Mitch McConnell arrives at the U.S. Capitol on February 5 of the second impeachment trial of former U.S. President Donald Trump on February 13, 2021 in Washington, DC.

Almond Ngan | AFP | Getty Images

Mitch McConnell, chairman of the Senate minority, emailed his Republican counterparts on Saturday that he would release Donald Trump in the former president’s second impeachment.

“During a close conversation, I am convinced that impeachments are primarily an instrument of elimination and therefore we have no jurisdiction,” wrote McConnell. The Kentucky Senator also stated that criminal misconduct by a president during his tenure after he has left office can be prosecuted.

McConnell had refused to initiate impeachment proceedings before President Joe Biden was inaugurated, stating that there was insufficient time. McConnell said in his email that he still regards the verdict as a “vote of conscience”.

The final vote on Trump’s conviction was due to take place on Saturday afternoon, less than a week after the trial began and a month after the House indicted Trump on an article inciting the January 6 riot in the U.S. Capitol.

Senators initially voted 55-45 on Saturday morning to call witnesses to the trial, an unexpected development that would likely have delayed the verdict. The Senate then reversed course and will now move forward to end the trial without a witness.

Democrats need two-thirds of the Senate to vote for a conviction, which means that at least 17 Republicans would have to vote with all Democrats and Independents to convict Trump. Only six out of 50 Republican senators believed the trial should take place at all.

In this screenshot from a webcast by congress.gov, a roll-call vote is being held on a motion to summon witnesses on the fifth day of former President Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial at the U.S. Capitol on February 13, 2021 in Washington, DC.

Congress.gov | Getty Images

All Democratic Senators voted to hear witnesses along with five Republicans: Susan Collins from Maine, Lindsey Graham from South Carolina, Lisa Murkowski from Alaska, Mitt Romney from Utah, and Ben Sasse from Nebraska.

The call for testimony came after further details of an explosive dispute between House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy and Trump emerged on a phone call Friday night as the Capitol uprising unfolded in which Trump appears to be on the side of the United States Rioters stood and said they were more “angry” with the election results than McCarthy.

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, DR.I. suggested that the process be halted to remove McCarthy and Senator Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala. Senator Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., Supported Whitehouse’s call in a tweet on Saturday morning. Senator Mitt Romney, R-Utah, said he would also endorse witnesses if both sides ask.

“One way to clear it up? Suspend the process to oath McCarthy and Tuberville and get facts,” Whitehouse wrote in a tweet. “Ask intelligence to submit communications to the White House for review regarding VP Pence’s safety during the siege. What did Trump know and when did he know?”

In this screenshot from a webcast from congress.gov, Senior House Impeachment Head Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) speaks on the fifth day of former President Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial at the U.S. Capitol on February 13, 2021 in Washington, DC.

Congress.gov | Getty Images

During the trial, Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., The chief impeachment manager called to subpoena Rep. Herrera Beutler, R-WA, to inform her of her testimony regarding her communication with McCarthy.

Trump attorney Michael van der Veen responded by saying “We should close this case today” and that the call for witnesses shows that the House has not properly investigated the riots.

Bruce Castor, one of Trump’s defense lawyers, said Saturday he would call “many” witnesses. The Senate is still working on the next steps, as dismissing witnesses can take days or even weeks.

The process was unprecedented in many ways. No president before Trump has ever been tried and tried twice, and a former president has never been tried in the Senate. If the process closes as expected this weekend, it will be the shortest impeachment process ever recorded.

It is also noteworthy that the senators serving as the jury in the trial are themselves witnesses to the events that, according to prosecutors, instigated Trump.

Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA) questions Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta as he testifies during a House Appropriations Committee hearing on the fiscal year 2020 working budget on April 3, 2019 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.

Al Drago | Getty Images

The break-in at the Capitol forced a joint session of Congress to vacate their chambers, ruining the process of confirming President Joe Biden’s electoral college victory. Five people, including a US Capitol police officer, died as a result of the attack.

Before the siege began, Trump held a rally in front of the White House calling on a crowd of his supporters to march to the Capitol to protest the election results and to pressure Republicans, including then Vice President Mike Pence, for them To question results.

“If you don’t fight like hell, you will have no more land,” Trump said at the rally, one of many statements before, during and after the uprising that the Democrats took as evidence of incitement.

Nine House Democrats selected as impeachment managers in the process argued that Trump has direct responsibility for the invasion. Led by Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., The executives presented within two days that Trump should be convicted and disqualified for ever holding federal office again.

Trump laid the groundwork for the attack over the months by relentlessly spreading the “big lie” that the 2020 elections were stolen by widespread electoral fraud. Managers said Trump set his “Stop the Steal” rally on Jan. 6 as the final stand to reverse the election result, then whipped his supporters and directed them to the Capitol.

“He had gathered thousands of violent people, people he knew to be violent, people he had considered violent,” property manager Madeleine Dean said at the trial. “And then he pointed to us, lit the fuse and sent an angry mob to fight the supposed enemy – his own Vice President and members of Congress – when we confirmed an election.”

Their presentation contained never-before-seen video and audio evidence, including security footage in the Capitol that showed lawmakers running to safety from the mob.

Trump’s lawyers denied that the former president had instigated the attack and placed particular emphasis on his use of the words “peaceful and patriotic” during his speech at the pre-insurrection rally. Trump’s rhetoric, they said, was a fully protected speech under the First Amendment and no worse than what Democrats have said in the past.

The urge to expel Trump from the future office amounts to a “culture of constitutional repeal,” said defense attorney Michael van der Veen.

The defense team also had problems with the legal process. They argued that the impeachment process itself was unconstitutional as Trump was a private citizen and no longer a president. They also said the process was rushed and Trump was deprived of procedural rights.

Van der Veen warned that the process would transform the impeachment power of Congress into a “mechanism for enforcing state control over which individuals can and cannot become president”.

They started their presentation on Friday noon; They finished less than three hours later, although they had up to 16 hours to represent their case.

Trump’s legal roster was released less than two weeks before the first day of the trial when the Senate met to review and vote on whether it had jurisdiction over the former president.

Castor received scathing reviews from Democrats and Republicans for making a tortuous, tangential argument. Senator Bill Cassidy, a Republican who had previously voted to dismiss the trial on constitutional grounds, voted with the Democrats after listening to Trump’s lawyers.

In Trump’s first impeachment trial, only one GOP senator, Mitt Romney of Utah, voted to condemn Trump.

That process, in which the Senate examined articles on abuse of power and obstruction of Congress in connection with Trump’s pressure on Ukraine to investigate Biden and his son, took nearly three weeks – allegedly the shortest in US history.

If Trump’s second trial ends on Saturday, it will have lasted five days.