Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp moves to quash subpoena in Fulton County election probe
CBSN
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp is seeking to dismiss a subpoena brought by the Fulton County District Attorney's office regarding a grand jury's investigation into former President Donald Trump's behavior after losing the 2020 election. In court documents filed Wednesday, Kemp's attorneys said the governor received a subpoena on Aug. 4 after a scheduled July interview was canceled.
Kemp's attorneys argue the subpoena "is barred by sovereign immunity," "improperly seeks to invade established common law executive and attorney-client privileges" and is being sought for "improper political purposes."
Kemp was previously scheduled to provide the grand jury with recorded video testimony on July 25, but his attorneys said the district attorney's office canceled the voluntary interview after the governor asked about the scope of it.
More employees of the Environmental Protection Agency were informed Wednesday that their jobs appear in doubt. Senior leadership at the EPA held an all-staff meeting to tell individuals that President Trump's executive order, "Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing," which was responsible for the closure of the agency's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion office, will likely lead to the shuttering of the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights as well.
In her first hours as attorney general, Pam Bondi issued a broad slate of directives that included a Justice Department review of the prosecutions of President Trump, a reorientation of department work to focus on harsher punishments, actions punishing so-called "sanctuary" cities and an end to diversity initiatives at the department.
The quick-fire volley of tariffs between the U.S. and China in recent days has heightened global fears of a new trade war between the world's two largest economies. Yet while experts think the battle is likely to escalate, they also say the early skirmishes offer hope for an agreement on trade and other key issues that could head off a larger conflict.