September 6, 2023 - Your Daily Digest

Trump loses again, Greg Abbott loses too, Russian war crimes, and more

Today is September 6, 2023, and here are several major stories that you missed today. If you enjoy these daily digests and want to support my work to see more, regular content, then please consider becoming a monthly subscriber here:

1) Trump & Co. Suffers Major Legal Loses

Donald Trump and his co-conspirators suffered several legal losses today. First, in New York, United States District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan granted E. Jean Carroll’s partial motion for summary judgment in her defamation case against Donald Trump. Judge Kaplan rejected Donald Trump’s arguments that summary judgment should be denied, allowing the case proceed to trial. Because of this major ruling, the only outstanding question concerns how much damages Trump will be required to pay Carroll. A jury will decide this question at a later date. This comes months after Trump was found liable for sexual abuse in front of the same judge and forced to pay $5 million to Carroll. Expect Trump to appeal this ruling, and the eventual judgment issued, so stay tuned for more here.

Meanwhile, Trump suffered more bad news in the Mar A Lago documents case where an employee of the Club has agreed to cooperate with Special Counsel Jack Smith and his team, effectively flipping on Donald Trump. Yuscil Taveras, an employee at Mar A Lago is said to testify and corroborate the deletion of security footage by Trump’s team. According to reports, Special Counsel Smith warned Taveras that “he was likely to be charged with perjury for allegedly making false statements to investigators in grand jury testimony.” To avoid potential criminal charges, Taveras will now be a witness against Donald Trump and his two other co-defendants.

In a third loss for Trump and Co., Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro attempted to sever their cases from one another in Georgia. As you may know, both Powell and Chesebro invoked the Speedy Trial Act, requiring their case to be set for trial within the second term of their arrest. In this case, both were arrested late last month and their trial is scheduled for late October of this year. Today, both Powell and Chesebro sought to have their cases severed from one another to avoid being tried together. The trial court judge, however, rejected their efforts, requiring both to be tried together, in a major blow for both defendants. However, the trial court judge did throw some cold water on the Fulton County District Attorney’s attempt to have all 19 co-defendants, including Donald Trump, to be tried on the October date. It is likely, therefore, that Trump and Co. will be tried at a later date, while Powell and Chesebro will be tried later next month.

2) Russia Continues its War Crimes

Overseas, Russia continues its war crimes against Ukrainian citizens, this time in Donetsk in Eastern Ukraine. This morning, Russia launched a missile strike against the city of Kostiantynivka in Donetsk Oblast. This latest strike killed at least 16 people, including a child, and injured more than 20 others according to Ukrainian officials.

Additionally, the United Kingdom has become the latest country to recognize the Wagner Group as a terrorist organization, joining several other countries. To date, several countries, including: 1) Estonia; 2) Lithuania; 3) Ukraine; 4) France; and the 5) United Kingdom have designated Wagner as a terrorist organization. This latest move by the UK has prompted many to call for the country to label Russia as a terrorist state. It remains to be seen whether this will happen.

Meanwhile, the United States will deliver depleted uranium shells to Ukraine to help make the M1 Abrams tanks that the United States has committed to supplying operational. The first tranche of 10 tanks will arrive in mid-September. Ukrainian troops are currently being trained on how to use the tanks. The International Atomic Energy Agency has confirmed that the shells will not pose a radioactive hazard. More to come on this.

Finally, despite previously denying that a Russian drone fell onto its territory, today Romania notified NATO officials that the drone did fall onto its territory. According to local sources, NATO countries expressed their solidarity with Romania and claimed they will closely monitor the situation.

3) Greg Abbott Loses In Court

Greg Abbott, the Governor of Texas, suffered a major loss in court today as a federal judge ordered Abbott to remove the barriers and buoys he previously set up along the Rio Grande by September 15th and ordered that he cannot build anymore. These barriers perviously lead to the injury and death of multiple migrants and migrant children attempting to cross the border. Abbott, despite being called out for these inhumane policies, consistently double downed on these efforts. This is a temporary injunction and Texas will almost certainly appeal the ruling. However, for now, the buoys must be removed. Stay tuned as this case progresses in court.