Supreme Justice Barrett refuses again to block Biden’s student-debt relief plan
WASHINGTON — U.S. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett refused for the second time to block President Joe Biden’s student-loan relief plan, turning away two Indiana men who contended the plan will force some borrowers to pay higher state taxes.
Barrett made no comment, summarily rejecting the request to stop the program while the case is on appeal. She spurned a similar bid Oct. 20, in each case acting without seeking a response from the government or referring the matter to the full nine-member court.
The Biden plan is designed to take effect this month, though a federal appeals court in a different case has put the program on temporary hold. The program would forgive as much as $20,000 in federal loans for certain borrowers making less than $125,000 per year or $250,000 for spouses. It could affect more than 40 million people.
Barrett is assigned to handle emergency matters from the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which previously rejected the Indiana men. A different federal appeals court, the St. Louis-based 8th Circuit, paused the program last month while considering a challenge by six Republican-led states.
—Bloomberg News
Trump associate Tom Barrack not guilty on foreign lobbying charges
NEW YORK — Longtime Trump pal Tom Barrack was found not guilty of using his access to the former president to influence foreign policy on behalf of the United Arab Emirates.
A federal jury in Brooklyn also ruled that Barrack did not lie in an interview with the FBI. Barrack’s personal assistant, Michael Grimes, who got his start at the private equity bigwig’s company after DJing at Barrack’s son’s eighth-grade graduation,was also acquitted.
The jury came to a decision after a seven-week trial that included testimony by Rex Tillerson, President Donald Trump’s first secretary of state, and by former Secretary of Treasury Steve Mnuchin.
Barrack himself took the stand for five days, maintaining that he served as no one’s agent but his own, and his goal had always been to further his lifelong passion for building a bridge between Middle East nations and the U.S.
Trump and Barrack first met in the 1980s, when Trump bought the Plaza Hotel, and the two became friends.
Federal prosecutors accused Barrack of leveraging his access to Trump for power and money, including $374 in investments from UAE sovereign wealth funds to his company, Colony Capital.
—New York Daily News
Judge rules against group suing to stop Obama Presidential Center
CHICAGO — The long-waged fight by the group Protect Our Parks to halt construction of former President Barack Obama’s Jackson Park museum and campus has reached the end of the road in the federal district courts. But the plaintiffs plan to take the case to the appellate level, continuing a yearslong battle against a project that is well underway.
This week, U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey entered a final judgment in favor of the defendants — including the Obama Foundation, several federal agencies and the city of Chicago — in the Northern District of Illinois.
The Obama Foundation celebrated the decision as a milestone, declaring the decision “a victory for all who have worked alongside us on this journey to bring investment and opportunity to Chicago’s South Side. With its decision today, the court is making it possible for us to deliver on our commitment to create a world-class destination that will attract people from around the globe and stand as a reminder to all — but particularly young people in Chicago — that individuals have the power to be the change they want to see.”
But Richard Epstein, an attorney for Protect Our Parks, said his team supported the decision, which essentially cuts off their so-far unsuccessful endeavor at the district level and allows them to take arguments up to the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
—Chicago Tribune
Divided UN Security Council takes no position on North Korea
UNITED NATIONS — At the ninth meeting of the U.N. Security Council this year on the issue of North Korea, the divisions within the body once again prevented any action to curb the increasing tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
The 15 members of the U.N.'s most powerful body failed to agree on a joint statement in New York on Friday. Instead, a number of countries — including the United States, Britain and France — separately condemned Pyongyang's ongoing missile tests."The unity of the Security Council in this matter is essential to ease tensions, overcome the diplomatic impasse and the negative action-reaction cycle," Assistant Secretary-General Khaled Khiari warned.
The country led by strongman Kim Jong Un is currently testing missiles again at an unusually high frequency.
According to the South Korean military, North Korea had already tested more than 25 missiles this week, including an intercontinental ballistic missile.
Observers also fear that North Korea's first nuclear test in years could be imminent.
U.N. resolutions prohibit North Korea from testing ballistic missiles of any range, some of which are capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.
A number of Security Council countries such as the United States, Britain and France strongly condemned the tests on Friday.
A unified approach by the council failed in the past due to resistance from China, which is seen as North Korea's closest international partner.
—dpa
