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Trump affadavit: I don't have documents NY attorney general is seeking

Donald Trump has told a New York court he doesnt have any of the documents the states attorney general Letitia James wants as she continues her criminal probe into his business dealings.

The former president is facing fines of $10,000 a day and was held in civil contempt by state court judge Arthur Engoron on Monday, and appealed the ruling two days later.

In a single-page, two-paragraph affadavit filed by his lawyers this afternoon seeking to overturn the fines, Trump argues:

To the best of my knowledge, (i) I do not have any of the documents requested in the subpoena dated December 1, 2021 in my personal possession; and (ii) if there are any documents responsive to the subpoena I believe they would be in the possession or custody of the Trump Organization.

Engoron denied the request to end the fines and overturn the contempt ruling on Friday, saying he was not satisfied with the affidavit and that there was no evidence he had conducted a thorough search for the records sought by James.

I am surprised he doesnt seem to have any documents, theyre all with the organization, the judge said.

I will consider your request to terminate the fine, he told Trumps lawyer Alina Habba. But if you dont hear from me, the clock is still ticking.

James says her investigation has turned up evidence the Trump Organization, which manages hotels, golf courses and other real estate around the world, has given banks and tax authorities misleading financing information in order to obtain financial benefits such as favorable loans and tax breaks.

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Updated at 15.17EDT

Thats all from the US politics blog for today, and indeed the week. Please join us again on Monday.

Donald Trump learned that he would continue to be fined $10,000 a day by a court in New York for failing to hand over documents pertaining to the states criminal probe of his business dealings.

State court judge Arthur Engoron was scathing of a two-paragraph affadavit submitted by the former presidents lawyers claiming he didnt have any of the documents wanted by New Yorks attorney general Letitia James.

Heres where else our day went:

A quick reminder that you can follow developments in the Russia-Ukraine conflict on our 24-hour live news blog here.

The Biden administration has expressed its dismay to Indonesia over the Asian countrys invitation to Russian president Vladimir Putin to attend the G20 summit in Bali later this year.

Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, said at her afternoon briefing:

The president has expressed publicly his opposition to President Putin attending the G20... weve conveyed our view that we dont think they should be a part of it publicly, and privately as well.

The UK, US and Canada staged a coordinated walkout of a G20 session in Washington DC earlier this month in protest against Russias invasion of Ukraine.

Biden has also publicly called for Russia to be expelled from the G20 group of the worlds leading industrial nations.

Indonesias president Joko Widodo said Friday he had spoken to Putin and the Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskiy by phone this week, and that both said they would attend the G20 gathering, according to the Associated Press:

I reiterated the importance of ending the war immediately. I also emphasized that peaceful efforts should continue and Indonesia is ready to contribute to these peaceful efforts.

Psaki said it was too early to predict what the summit would look like, or if both leaders would attend:

Theres a lot that can happen between now and then but we certainly havent seen an indication to date of Russias plan to participate in diplomatic talks constructively.

Joe Biden had a very constructive call with Mexicos president Andrs Manuel Lpez Obrador on Friday, the White House secretary Jen Psaki said at her afternoon briefing.

She said the two leaders spoke mostly about immigration, and the Biden administrations planned termination of Title 42 Covid-19 restrictions next month:

The majority of the conversation was about migration and continued work on coordination, economic coordination, on taking steps to reduce migration to the border.

They have been a partner in that over the last several months.

Lpez Obrador, meanwhile, said in a Spanish language tweet that he had a cordial conversation with Biden, and that his foreign minister Marcelo Ebrard would visit Washington DC next week to discuss the Summit of the Americas, scheduled to take place in Los Angeles in June.

The White House said their call lasted 52 minutes, ending just before 2 pm, the Associated Press reports.

Senior Biden administration officials said ahead of the conversation that it would also address Russias invasion of Ukraine, global economic challenges, the pandemic, climate change and the trade in illicit drugs.

Psaki said during her briefing that she didnt have full details of the conversation, but that the virtual conference had been very constructive.

Biden had been expected to press Mexico on tightening sanctions against Russia.

Donald Trump has told a New York court he doesnt have any of the documents the states attorney general Letitia James wants as she continues her criminal probe into his business dealings.

The former president is facing fines of $10,000 a day and was held in civil contempt by state court judge Arthur Engoron on Monday, and appealed the ruling two days later.

In a single-page, two-paragraph affadavit filed by his lawyers this afternoon seeking to overturn the fines, Trump argues:

To the best of my knowledge, (i) I do not have any of the documents requested in the subpoena dated December 1, 2021 in my personal possession; and (ii) if there are any documents responsive to the subpoena I believe they would be in the possession or custody of the Trump Organization.

Engoron denied the request to end the fines and overturn the contempt ruling on Friday, saying he was not satisfied with the affidavit and that there was no evidence he had conducted a thorough search for the records sought by James.

I am surprised he doesnt seem to have any documents, theyre all with the organization, the judge said.

I will consider your request to terminate the fine, he told Trumps lawyer Alina Habba. But if you dont hear from me, the clock is still ticking.

James says her investigation has turned up evidence the Trump Organization, which manages hotels, golf courses and other real estate around the world, has given banks and tax authorities misleading financing information in order to obtain financial benefits such as favorable loans and tax breaks.

Read more:

Updated at 15.17EDT

Armed citizens will soon be allowed to roam Florida with no requirement for any firearms training, the states Republican governor Ron DeSantis has said.

In what critics will see as another pitch for support from the partys rightwing base as he mulls a 2024 presidential run, DeSantis made the promise at a press conference Friday, the Miami Herald is reporting.

I cant tell you exactly when, but Im pretty confident that I will be able to sign constitutional carry into law in the state of Florida, DeSantis said, according to the newspaper.

The Legislature will get it done. I cant tell you if its going to be next week, six months, but I can tell you that before I am done as governor, we will have a signature on that bill.

Constitutional carry allows weapons to be carried without the need for a permit or training. It differs from open carry, which allows those with firearms to display them openly.

DeSantis is favored to win reelection in November, a springboard to a possible White House run in two years time. He has signed numerous culture war bills into law in recent weeks that will play well with his Republican base, including a dont say gay law that outlaws classroom discussions of sexual orientation or gender identity.

Florida has an unenviable record in mass shootings, notably the 2016 Pulse nightclub massacre in Orlando that left 49 dead, and the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school shooting in Parkland in which 17 students and staff were murdered by a former student.

Nikki Fried, Floridas agriculture commissioner responsible for issuing gun licenses, a and the only statewide elected Democrat, slammed DeSantiss promise in a statement:

This is absurd political pandering from the governor of a state that has experienced some of the worst mass shootings in our countrys history and in a nation where we have the highest rates of gun violence in the world.

Its an insult to the memories and families of every victim of gun violence. We should be passing laws to prevent gun violence.

Fried is among the frontrunners for the Democratic partys nomination to challenge DeSantis for governor later this year.

Heres where things stand midway through the day:

The environmental protection agency (EPA) on Friday followed through on Joe Bidens demand to allow E15 fuel to be sold in the summer, which the president hopes will help reverse, or at least arrest soaring prices at the pump.

Biden announced the move in Iowa earlier this month, claiming that the fuel with a higher ethanol content than regular gasoline would save families about 10 cents per gallon. Sales of plant-based E15 are usually banned at gas stations beyond 1 June because it creates denser levels of smog in higher temperatures.

The White House, which has blamed what it calls Putins price hike on gasoline supply shortages created by Russias war in Ukraine, welcomed the EPAs issuance of an emergency fuel waiver. In a statement, press secretary Jen Psaki said:

The waiver is a critical step to address the fuel supply crisis and follows President Bidens announcement earlier this month laying out actions to increase use of biofuels in order to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, accelerate the clean energy transition, build real US energy independence, support American agriculture and manufacturing, and save Americans money at the pump.

At current prices, E15 can save a family 10 cents per gallon of gas on average and many stores sell E15 at an even greater discount and todays waiver will allow families to pay that lower price for months to come.

Industry groups, however, doubt the impact of the plan. E15, they say, will be available only at about 2,300 of the nations more than 100,000 gas stations, concentrated in the Midwest and the South, including Texas.

Read the EPA statement here.

William Barr, Donald Trumps former attorney general, said in an interview on Thursday that it would be a big mistake for the Republican party to nominate Trump for president in 2024.

Appearing on the Newsmax television channel, Barr said Trump, who has hinted that he will run again, would not be a sound choice.

I dont think he should be our nominee the Republican party nominee, Barr said.

And I think Republicans have a big opportunity it would be a big mistake to put him forward.

In a poll in January 57% of Republican voters said they would choose Trump in 2024. Trump also won the less scientific Conservative Political Action Conference straw poll, in February, by a large margin.

Trump, who was impeached twice during his four years in the White House, has repeatedly teased his supporters with suggestions he will run again.

We did it twice, and well do it again, Trump told a crowd at the CPAC convention claiming again that he won the 2020 election.

Were going to be doing it again a third time.

Still, Barrs remarks will be sure to anger Trump, who has repeatedly clashed with his former attorney general since losing the 2020 election.

In Barrs book, One Damn Thing After Another: Memoirs of an Attorney General, he wrote that Trump had shown he has neither the temperament nor persuasive powers to provide the kind of positive leadership that is needed.

Trump, Barr said, has surrounded himself with sycophants and whack jobs from outside the government, who fed him a steady diet of comforting but unsupported conspiracy theories.

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Nancy Pelosi says the House will vote to pass Joe Bidens $33bn request for aid for Ukraine as soon as possible.

Speaking at her weekly press briefing on Friday morning, the House speaker framed the administrations request as one of a number of emergencies Congress needed to address urgently.

We have emergencies here. We need to have the Covid money, and time is of the essence because we need the Ukraine money... so I would hope that we can do that [soon], Pelosi said, according to Reuters.

The speaker, however, was unable to give any indication as to when any vote might be, saying only: We hope to as soon as possible pass that legislation.

Biden announced on Thursday plans to more than double US spending on military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine as the country fights the two-month old Russian invasion.

Funding for coronavirus relief, meanwhile, remains stalled in Congress. The White House wants more than $20bn; and a bipartisan $10bn agreement in principle was scuttled by Republican anger over the Biden administration planning to end the Title 42 immigration policy that blocked migrants because of the pandemic.

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Joe Biden and Mexicos president Andrs Manuel Lpez Obrador will discuss US plans to lift Covid-19 immigration restrictions at the southern border during a virtual conference at lunchtime, Reuters reports.

The two leaders will also talk about differences between the countries over how to respond to Russias invasion of Ukraine.

The meeting comes just days after a federal judge ordered the homeland security department to halt preparations to lift on 23 May the Trump-era Title 42 public health order that allows the expulsion of migrants to prevent the spread of the virus.

Mexican officials share concerns of the homeland security department that its repeal will create a spike in migration, are claims by Republicans in the US that a spike in gang activity and drug crimes will follow.

Mexico has also appeared reluctant to join the US and European allies in issuing sanctions against Russia.

We respect Mexico as a leader in the United Nations and we obviously hope that they will join us in imposing a cost on the Kremlin for what it is doing... by working with us to enforce sanctions implemented by the US and our partners, an anonymous senior Biden administration official told Reuters, acknowledging the inevitably different approaches by the countries.

Talking of Covid-19, the governments leading infectious diseases expert Dr Anthony Fauci is attempting clean-up over his comments in an PBS interview this week that the pandemic stage of the virus was over in the US.

Speaking at a virtual meeting hosted Friday by the National Press Club, Fauci said the pandemic was not over, and it was unlikely that the US would ever eliminate Covid-19 completely, Reuters reports:

When I said we are no longer in that fulminant acute phase, that does not mean that the pandemic is over. By no means is it over. We still are experiencing a global pandemic.

Fauci said health officials were instead hoping to get out of what he called the acute pandemic phase.

In his interview with PBS NewsHour posted on Tuesday, he pointed to decreases in deaths and hospitalizations and stated: Right now, we are not in the pandemic phase in this country, although he acknowledged that globally it was still ongoing.

On Wednesday, the White House press secretary Jen Psaki insisted: Theres no question that were in a different moment in our fight against Covid. But we also know Covid isnt over, and the pandemic isnt over.

At least 38 states this week reported an increase in new infections of Covid-19, fueled by the Omicron subvariant BA.2. Cases have spiked 50% in two weeks nationwide, the New York Times says.

Children younger than five will probably have to wait at least another two months before being able to receive Covid-19 vaccines, after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) set a series of hearings for June.

The reviews are typically the final step before authorizing the shots, the Associated Press reports. The FDA said it plans to convene its outside panel of vaccine experts on June 8, 21 and 22 to review applications from Moderna and Pfizer for child vaccines.

On Thursday, Moderna submitted data to the FDA that it hopes will prove its two low-dose shots can protect children younger than 6.

Pfizer is soon expected to announce if three of its even smaller-dose shots work for very young children, months after the disappointing discovery that two doses werent quite strong enough.

The announcement follows months of frustration from families impatient for a chance to vaccinate their young children, along with complaints from politicians bemoaning the slow pace of the process, the AP says.

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Trump claims he doesnt have documents New York attorney general is seeking as it happened - The Guardian US