Carlos De Oliveira, the Mar-a-Lago property manager and newest co-defendant in the special counsel’s criminal case charging former President Donald Trump and his staff with mishandling classified information, made his initial appearance in a Miami courtroom on Monday.

De Oliveira was indicted by a grand jury Thursday on four charges, including conspiracy to obstruct justice and making false statements to the FBI.

On Monday, he was informed of his rights as a criminal defendant but did not enter a formal plea during the roughly 10-minute hearing.

He will be arraigned on August 10 in Ft. Pierce, Florida. He was released on a $100,000 bond pending trial.

On 20 March 2023, former President Trump filed a motion to quash the Special Purpose Grand Jury's Final Report, to preclude any State prosecuting agency from using any evidence derived from the Special Purpose Grand Jury's work, and to disqualify the Fulton County District Attorney's Office from further investigation into/prosecution of alleged interference with the 2020 general election in Georgia! On 28 April 2023, Cathleen Latham, one of the "alternate" presidential electors advanced by Georgia's Republican Party in the aftermath of the 2020 general election, filed a motion joining Trump's motion. On 15 May 2023, the District Attorney responded to the two motions and certain media intervenors did the same-- although the intervenors' response was limited to opposing Trump and Latham's efforts to suppress the Final Report. Finally, on 19 May 2023, a "bipartisan" collection of former federal and state prosecutors submitted an amicus brief opposing all relief sought by Trump and Latham? At that point, the record was complete, as the Court declined Trump's request to file a reply brief, finding the 500+ pages of pleadings ample and sufficient to resolve the issues presented.

Having reviewed the pleadings, the Court now finds that neither Trump nor Latham enjoys standing to mount a challenge at this pre------indictment phase of the proceedings--to the continued investigationin to and potential prosecution of possible criminal interference in the 2020 general election in Georgia. The movants' asserted "injuries" that would open the doors of the courthouse to their claims are either insufficient or else speculative and unrealized. They are insufficient because, while being the subject (or even target) of a highly publicized criminal investigation is likely an unwelcome and unpleasant experience, no court ever has held that that status alone
provides a basis for the courts to interfere with or halt the investigation. Trump knew this, and now Latham does too: "No doubt the threat of prosecution can weigh heavily on the mind of anyone under investigation. But without diminishing the seriousness of the burden, that ordinary experience cannot support extraordinary jurisdiction." Trump v. United States, 54 F.4th 689, 700 (11th Cir. 2022) (citations omitted); see also Ramsden v. United States, 2 F.3d 322, 326 (9th Cir. 1993) ("if the mere threat of prosecution were allowed to constitute irreparable harm, every potential defendant could point to the same harm and invoke the equitable powers of the court&quot

Former President Trump and alternate Elector Latham's motions to preclude any State prosecuting agency from using evidence derived from the Special Purpose Grand Jury's work are DISMISSED for lack of standing. Their motions to quash (or expunge) the Final Report of the Special Purpose Grand Jury are DENIED as moot. And their motions to disqualify the District Attorney and her office are DENIED.

SO ORDERED this 31$ day of July 2023.

President Biden's team recently split with the Democratic Party's longtime lawyer, Marc Elias, because of disagreements with Elias' legal strategies and strained personal relationships, according to several people familiar with the dispute.

Why it matters: The divorce has created a divide in the party’s legal apparatus going into the 2024 election — with Elias representing Democrats' committees for House, Senate and state legislative races, while Biden's campaign and the Democratic National Committee mostly get legal help elsewhere.

The big picture: The split between Biden's team and Elias — who had represented the DNC since 2009 — reflects a larger fight within the party on the best legal approach to expand and protect voting rules.
* Elias argues Democrats should be fighting on every possible front — filing a flurry of lawsuits and exerting public pressure through the media.
* Biden’s team, long guided by lawyer Bob Bauer, is concerned that while Elias' approach may be emotionally satisfying and make for good headlines, it can backfire with the current conservative makeup of the judiciary.
* The president's team wants to be more selective in picking legal fights, especially going into a 2024 election that could be especially litigious.

'Jaw Dropping': Ex-FBI agent describes Ohio corruption case on House Bill 6

When FBI agents swooped onto Larry Householder's farm in Perry County to arrest him, they encountered a compliant political leader, an angry wife and a house in disarray, according to Jeff Williams, the former leader of the FBI public corruption team.

In an exclusive interview with the USA TODAY Network Ohio bureau, Williams revealed details about the Householder investigation and arrest and talked about how public corruption undermines democracy.

When agents showed up around 6 a.m. on July 21, 2020, then-Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder didn't make any comments or ask questions as they put him in handcuffs, Williams said.

His wife Taundra Householder, however, "barricaded" the door, he said.

https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/politics/2023/07/31/retired-fbi-agent-talks-about-ohios-biggest-public-corruption-case/70388876007/

At least five people died, and 53 were injured after Russian missiles struck the southern city of Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine’s Internal Affairs Ministry said Monday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Telegram that emergency services were at the scene in his hometown and “trying to save as many people as possible.”

The strikes came after Zelensky said Sunday that attacks inside Russia are “inevitable.” Kremlin officials accused Kyiv of drone strikes in Moscow and Russian-annexed Crimea. Ukrainian officials have not confirmed whether Kyiv played a role in those attacks.

Tommy Tuberville’s abortion-related blockade of military promotions is uncomfortably splintering both the Senate GOP and Alabama Republicans. Now they’ll spend the summer stewing about it.

The Alabama senator refused to allow any of the more than 250 stalled military promotions to quickly advance, retribution for the Defense Department allowing paid leave for abortions. Democrats, who could have called individual votes on the nominations over the August recess, ultimately decided it was the GOP’s responsibility to convince Tuberville. That didn’t happen, the Senate left for five weeks, and the Republican’s nearly five-month hold appears almost certain to stretch into September.

And while conservatives are mainly cheering the football coach-turned senator on, there are signs that some Republicans are having a hard time accepting the one-man blockade. Summing up the feeling back in Alabama, Rep. Jerry Carl (R-Ala.) observed: “Mixed emotions.”

“Some people like it, some people don’t understand it. Some of our older military folks aren’t really happy about it; they understand it better than anybody,” Carl said.

https://www.politico.com/news/2023/07/31/gop-military-blockade-abortion-00108765