The Justice Department’s top national security official is resigning from his position after revelations that the department under President Donald Trump secretly seized records from Democrats and members of the media.
John Demers, a Trump appointee, will leave by the end of next week, a Justice Department official told The Associated Press on Monday. Demers, who was sworn in a few weeks after the subpoena for the Democrats’ records, is one of the few Trump appointees who has remained in the Biden administration.
Demers’ resignation comes amid questions about what he knew about the Justice Department’s efforts to secretly seize the phone data from House Democrats and reporters as part of the aggressive investigations into leaks. The Justice Department secretly subpoenaed Apple for metadata from House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff and another Democratic member of the panel, California Rep. Eric Swalwell, in 2018, as their committee was investigating Trump’s ties to Russia.
The records of at least 12 people connected to the House intelligence panel were eventually shared with the Justice Department by Apple after the subpoena was issued in 2018. The people included aides, former aides and family members. One was a minor.
Ruling junta puts ousted leader on trial; critics call charges bogus
Myanmar’s ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi went on trial Monday on charges that many observers say are an attempt by the junta that deposed her to eliminate her as a political force, erase the country’s democratic gains and cement the military’s power.
Suu Kyi’s prosecution poses yet another major setback for Myanmar, which had been making slow progress toward democracy when a February coup prevented elected lawmakers from her National League for Democracy party from taking office following last year’s landslide victory.
Nuclear plant facing ‘performance issue,’ not leak, company says
The French joint operator of a Chinese nuclear plant near Hong Kong said Monday the plant is dealing with a “performance issue” but is operating within safety limits, following a report of a potential radioactive leak.
The Taishan Nuclear Power Plant is jointly owned by China Guangdong Nuclear Power Group and French multinational electric utility Électricité de France, the main owner of Framotome, which helps operate the plant.
CNN reported Monday that Framotome had written to the U.S. Department of Energy warning of an “imminent radiological threat” and accusing Chinese authorities of raising acceptable limits for radiation outside the plant to avoid having to shut it down.
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