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Apr 17, 2025 - World

A special correspondent with The Daily Beast connected President Donald Trump's first New York real-estate deal in the 1970s to his desire to punish Harvard University today for defying his authority. According to writer Michael Daly, the common link between the two episodes is the billionaire Pritzker family; Jay Pritzker ran afoul of Trump when the two entered into an ill-fated partnership to manage New York's Hyatt Hotel in 1975, while niece Penny Pritzker currently serves as Harvard's most senior member on its board of governors. Trump vowed revenge on the Pritzkers for asking him to pay his part to upgrade the hotel "at a time when [Trump's] dependence on junk bonds and outsized sense of his own brilliance in other projects had left him at the brink of ruin," Daly wrote. "He narrowly escaped and revealed a taste for revenge that has become familiar to many of us in recent days." Trump finally settled two lawsuits with the Pritzkers and sold his share of the hotel to the family for $140 million in October 1996.“They attacked me when I was down,” Daly quoted Trump as saying. “Now I’m doing great again and it’s my turn. I always said, the first time I got back on my feet, the Pritzkers would be the first people I’d go after.” ALSO READ: 'We know where this leads': How Trump’s crackdown puts Jewish people in peril Fast-forward to 2025 and Trump's beef with Harvard University. His administration sent what Daly called an "extortion letter" this week to Penny Pritzker, representing Harvard's board, as well as to Harvard's president, demanding that the university do away with its diversity, equity, and inclusion programs or forfeit billions in federal funds."Harvard responded in a letter from its lawyers, but... [Penny] Pritzker joined the university’s president in refusing to submit to shameless threats," Daly wrote.As he is wont to do, Trump typed out his outrage on Truth Social this week, writing, "Harvard is a JOKE, teaches Hate and Stupidity, and should no longer receive Federal Funds."Penny Pritzker has not commented about Harvard's decision, but the war of words continues through Penny's brother, Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D-IL), who has compared Trump to Hitler and declared, “We don’t have kings in America.”Read The Daily Beast article here.

Apr 17, 2025 - World

Investigative journalist and author Kurt Eichenwald, a former New York Times reporter, revealed suspicions that a wrongly deported Maryland man "has already been murdered."Eichenwald wrote about his theory on the Blue Sky social media platform on Thursday."Does anyone else believe Kilmer Abrego Garcia has already been murdered by Salvadoran government & Trump Admin knows?" the journalist asked. "Senators aren't allowed to see him, the DOJ risks contempt, El Salvador says they won't ever return him. I strongly suspect this is the secret they're hiding."On Wednesday, Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) traveled to El Salvador in an attempt to visit with Garcia but was denied entry into the infamous Cecot maximum security prison. Garcia was said to be held at the facility after the Trump administration defied a judge's order against deporting him.ALSO READ: 'Alarming': Small colleges bullied into silence as Trump poses 'existential threat'“I don’t know about his health status which is why I wanted to meet with him directly," Van Hollen told reporters on Wednesday. Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele has refused to return Garcia to the U.S., saying he “can’t smuggle” the man back into the country. The U.S. Supreme Court, however, has ordered the Trump administration to "facilitate" his return.Does anyone else believe Kilmer Abrego Garcia has already been murdered by Salvadoran government & Trump Admin knows? Senators aren't allowed to see him, the DOJ risks contempt, El Salvador says they won't ever return him. I strongly suspect this is the secret they're hiding.— Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald.bsky.social) April 17, 2025 at 11:16 AM

Apr 17, 2025 - World

Two people injured after man took control of plane at knifepoint before being shot by another passengerA US man has been shot dead after hijacking a small passenger plane and injuring two passengers in the Caribbean nation of Belize.Fourteen passengers were onboard the aircraft when the hijacker, identified as Akinyela Sawa Taylor, took control of the flight at knifepoint. Two passengers were injured, including one who was stabbed in the back. Continue reading...

Apr 17, 2025 - World

Three law school professors are disputing a claim from President Donald Trump's administration that information regarding immigrants sent to an El Salvador prison is classified. In court last month, the Trump administration invoked the “state secrets” privilege when a federal judge demanded information about immigrants deported to an El Salvador prison under the Alien Enemies Act, reported CBS News. In a March filing from the Justice Department, lawyers wrote, “no further information will be provided” to the federal court in Washington, D.C., due to the privilege. This week, Politico reported that Justice Department lawyer Drew Ensign wrote in a Sunday filing, “It would be inappropriate for this Court to hastily order production of these sensitive documents." But in an extensive analysis for Lawfare, Professors Curtis Bradley, Jack Goldsmith and Oona Hathaway argued that the administration must comply with a 2022 statute that mandates disclosure of any deals Trump has worked out with El Salvador's president, Nayib Bukele. The transparency statute "imposes on the executive branch a duty to disclose to Congress and to publish certain binding and nonbinding executive agreements within specified time periods," the legal experts wrote. The matter has some bearing in the case of a Maryland man, Kilmar Ábrego García, who is currently in an El Salvadoran jail. The government admitted in court that it had accidentally deported him. The lawyers for García's family have also requested documentation, according to Newsweek. "It is possible that the executive branch views the agreement as not legally binding. But even if so, it still has a duty under the statute to disclose and publish nonbinding agreements if they 'could reasonably be expected to have a significant impact on the foreign policy of the United States,'" cited the law school professors. "The State Department’s regulations specify that among the factors to be considered in determining whether an agreement is covered include 'whether, and to what extent, the instrument . . . affects the rights or responsibilities of . . . individuals in the United States; . . . and is of Congressional or public interest,'" they explained. "An agreement to house a large number of migrants removed from the United States to a notorious supermax prison in another country plausibly meets this standard." However, they noted that even if the administration maintains the agreement doesn't fall under the statute, there's another route. "The [2022] transparency rules require the executive branch to disclose a nonbinding agreement if it is 'the subject of a written communication from the Chair or Ranking Member of either of the [congressional foreign affairs] committees to the Secretary,'" said the Lawfare post. It means Democrats can obtain a copy of the agreement. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) has already requested a copy of the agreement, according to a letter posted to her Senate website. The disclosure to Congress applies to classified information, too. Read the full report here.

Apr 17, 2025 - World

Lawyer says officials were looking for someone else while taking Juan Francisco Mendez in Massachusetts on MondayA Massachusetts family is demanding answers from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice), complaining its agents smashed a car window with a large hammer and detained a man whom they say had applied for asylum.A lawyer for the family also claims agents were not looking for the man in the car, Juan Francisco Mendez, when they grabbed him on Monday in New Bedford while he was driving to a dental appointment. He is now believed to have been taken into Ice detention. Continue reading...