Former FBI director and prominent Donald Trump critic James Comey was indicted Thursday on two criminal counts as the US president escalated a campaign of retribution against political foes.The charges came days after Trump publicly urged Attorney General Pam Bondi to take action against Comey and others he sees as enemies — a stunning departure from the principle that the Justice Department must be free of White House pressure. Comey was charged with making false statements and obstruction of justice in connection with the probe he conducted into whether Russia interfered in the 2016 election that Trump won and if he colluded with the Russians.Trump hailed the indictment, saying Comey is “one of the worst human beings this Country has ever been exposed to.”Trump has waged a relentless blitz in his second term against enemies real and perceived, but the charges against Comey are the most dramatic instance yet.Comey faces up to five years in prison if convicted according to federal prosecutor Lindsey Halligan, who was appointed by Trump just days ago. She is a former personal lawyer to the president who has no experience as a prosecutor.”No one is above the law,” Bondi said in a statement as the Justice Department announced charges against Comey for committing “serious crimes.”Trump said earlier Thursday he has nothing to do with the charging of Comey but he had already hinted publicly that he appointed Halligan to go after him and others.In a video posted on Instagram, Comey said “I’m not afraid” and denied any wrongdoing.- Russian influence -Trump fired Comey in 2017 amid a probe into whether any members of the Trump campaign had colluded with Moscow to sway the 2016 presidential vote.During Trump’s second term, Comey has been an outspoken critic of what he says are the president’s efforts to use the justice system as a tool for political gain.  Trump’s first stint in the White House was dogged by controversy over Russian involvement in trying to influence the 2016 election in which he surprised many by winning the White House — as well as his own links to Russia.Since returning to power this year, he has moved quickly to use his powers to attack the investigation into the election.His intelligence chiefs have issued reports casting the original probes as politically motivated and flawed. Trump himself repeatedly calls the entire issue the “Russia hoax.”However, the intelligence community’s original findings that Russia meddled in the tumultuous 2016 US election have been backed up by committees both in the House of Representatives and the Senate.Halligan, the prosecutor, was working under intense pressure from Trump because the five-year statute of limitations on Comey’s testimony to Congress that is at the heart of the case expires Tuesday.She was appointed to the high-profile post of US attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia following the resignation last week of the previous US attorney, Erik Siebert.Siebert stepped down after reportedly telling Justice Department leaders there was insufficient evidence to charge Comey or New York Attorney General Letitia James, who is also in Trump’s crosshairs for bringing a civil case against him for business fraud.- Convicted felon Trump -Trump, the first convicted felon to serve as US president, has taken a number of punitive measures against his perceived enemies and political opponents.He has stripped former officials of their security clearances, targeted law firms involved in past cases against him and pulled federal funding from universities.Trump was the target of several investigations after leaving the White House in 2021.The FBI raided his Mar-a-Lago home in 2022 as part of a probe into mishandling of classified documents and Trump was charged by Special Counsel Jack Smith with plotting to overturn the results of the 2020 election.Neither case came to trial, and Smith — in line with a Justice Department policy of not prosecuting a sitting president — dropped them both after Trump won the November 2024 vote.

Amazon agreed Thursday to pay $2.5 billion to settle allegations from a US regulator that it used deceptive practices to enroll consumers in Amazon Prime and made it difficult to cancel subscriptions.The Federal Trade Commission’s lawsuit, filed in federal court in Seattle, alleged that Amazon knowingly tricked consumers into signing up for the $139-per-year Prime service during checkouts.”Today, we are putting billions of dollars back into Americans’ pockets, and making sure Amazon never does this again,” FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson said in a statement.The FTC, under the leadership of President Donald Trump, “is committed to fighting back when companies try to cheat ordinary Americans out of their hard-earned pay,” he added.In a statement, Amazon said the company “and our executives have always followed the law and this settlement allows us to move forward and focus on innovating for customers.”The online retail giant, which admitted no wrongdoing in the settlement, added that it worked “incredibly hard to make it clear and simple for customers to both sign up for or cancel their Prime membership and to offer substantial value for our many millions of loyal Prime members around the world.”Amazon will pay $1.5 billion into a consumer fund for refunds and $1 billion in civil penalties.The case centered on two main allegations: that Amazon enrolled customers without clear consent through confusing checkout processes, and that it created a deliberately complex cancellation system internally nicknamed “Iliad” — after Homer’s epic about the long, arduous Trojan War.The FTC alleged that Amazon’s checkout process forced customers to navigate confusing interfaces where declining Prime membership required finding small, inconspicuous links — while signing up for the service used prominent buttons.Crucial information about Prime’s price and automatic renewal was often hidden or disclosed in fine print, the FTC also alleged.- ‘Drop in the bucket’ -Under the settlement, made on what would have been the third day of testimony in front of a jury, Amazon must reform its Prime enrollment and cancellation processes.This includes introducing a clear option for customers to decline Prime membership, and refraining from vague or indirect references like “no thanks, I don’t want free shipping.”The company must also implement new disclosure requirements before charging consumers and always disclose the price and auto-renewal feature on the Prime sign-up page.Amazon said many of these changes have already been made.A top FTC official who brought the case under the previous Biden administration said Amazon and the executives named in the lawsuit got off easy with the settlement.”A $2.5 billion fine is a drop in the bucket for Amazon and, no doubt, a big relief for the executives who knowingly harmed their customers,” said former FTC chair Lina Khan.Critics maintained that the agreement came after it became clear that Amazon was on the defensive in the proceedings.In a pre-trial defeat, the court ruled last week that Amazon Prime subscriptions are subject to consumer protection laws and that Amazon had illegally obtained consumers’ billing information before fully disclosing subscription terms.The case is part of a volley of lawsuits launched in recent years in a bipartisan effort to rein in the power of US tech giants after years of government complacency.

An elderly US man who was body slammed to the ground as immigration agents raided his Los Angeles car wash said Thursday he is lodging a $50 million damages claim against the government.Surveillance video shows Rafie Shouhed being violently manhandled by several masked and heavily armed agents, who then took him into custody where he says he was held for nearly 12 hours without medical attention.”The way they treated me, the way they attacked me. I was begging (them), ‘I have a heart condition.'” Shouhed told reporters.Shouhed said he had gone out to speak to the men to find out what was happening.”They told me nothing. The only word they say: ‘You do not F with ICE,'” said Shouhed, who moved to the United States from Iran in the 1980s.ICE refers to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.The raid on Shouhed’s car wash this month was part of President Donald Trump’s ramped-up program against undocumented migrants as he looks to fulfill an election pledge to deport millions of people.The raids have been controversial, particularly in multiethnic Los Angeles, in part because they appear to target people simply because they speak Spanish or are working at locations like car washes.Video shows three masked men pinning Shouhed to the ground, with one of them appearing to put a knee on his neck.The 79-year-old said he told agents “I cannot breathe, I cannot breathe.”Attorneys acting for Shouhed said their client’s pleas, including his explanation that he had recently undergone heart surgery, were ignored.”He was held nearly 12 hours without medical attention. Even after agents admitted they knew he was a US citizen, he was kept in custody,” the claim says.Shouhed, a Trump voter, was released without charge. He was later treated in hospital for broken ribs, serious elbow injuries and traumatic brain injury, lawyers said.The legal claim is a precursor to a lawsuit.A spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security told AFP the September 9 raid had resulted in the arrest of “five illegal aliens from Guatemala and Mexico who broke our nation’s immigration laws, including one who was removed from the country twice in 2015.””The owner of Valley Car Wash, a US citizen, impeded the operation and was arrested for assaulting and impeding a federal officer.”Shouhed’s lawyer, Jim Desimone, said surveillance video showed that his client had been co-operative.”How many more people have to be seriously injured or die before we have a change in the way these ICE officers are… using brutal force first and asking questions later?”

Plans for a $1 million public toilet are raising a stink in Los Angeles, where locals say the cash-strapped city is flushing money down the drain.Officials last year approved a scheme to build a bathroom with two stalls at the entrance to the city’s popular Runyon Canyon hiking trail at a cost of $960,000.But people living nearby say the eye-watering price tag seems almost corrupt in a city that had to slash its fire department budget last year.It is “an epic waste of money,” park neighbor Shira Scott Astrof told the local ABC affiliate.Scott Weil of the Runyon Canyon Guardians, an action group of nearby residents, said he had found a supplier who would fit the same two-stall unit for half the price.”How does a city that is broke… have $500,000 extra dollars?” he said.The 160-acre (65-hectare) park sits a stone’s throw from the famed Hollywood sign, attracting thousands of hikers, dog walkers and tourists every day.It is not uncommon to see celebrities climbing the hillside trails, which offer fantastic views of the sprawl of Los Angeles.A spokesman for Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said the park, which is currently served by some scruffy — and often smelly — porta potties, welcomes two million people a year.”A project to install a prefabricated restroom at the front of the park… was approved by the (Recreation and Parks) Board last year after community outreach,” a statement said.”The City of Los Angeles is committed to ensuring all of LA’s parks are safe, clean, accessible, and enjoyable for Angelenos and visitors alike.”The office did not immediately respond to AFP requests to explain the price.In 2022 San Francisco made global headlines after approving a plan to spend $1.7 million on a public toilet.A public backlash led to a rethink and the final project cost $200,000.

US President Donald Trump warned Thursday that a government shutdown was looming, as the White House raised the stakes in a clash with Democrats by threatening mass federal firings.Republican Trump is in a tense showdown with congressional Democrats to agree on spending plans ahead of a fiscal deadline of midnight on September 30, after which key services will be cut.”Could be, yeah,” Trump told reporters when asked in the Oval Office if a shutdown was likely. “Because Democrats are crazed, they don’t know what they’re doing.” The White House earlier ordered government agencies to prepare for layoffs that would go beyond the usual practice of temporary furloughs during government shutdowns.In a memo obtained by AFP, the White House Office of Management and Budget told federal agencies to “use this opportunity to consider Reduction in Force (RIF) notices for all employees.”The move would add to the pain of government workers after large-scale firings masterminded by tycoon Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) earlier this year.Democrats have rejected Republican proposals, unless some of the spending cuts are reversed and existing health care subsidies are extended.Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries responded to threat of layoffs by telling the White House to “get lost.””We will not be intimidated,” he told reporters, describing OMB chief Russ Vought as “totally and completely out of control.””The Trump administration has made their intention clear: They want to continue to fire the civil servants who are hard-working American taxpayers.”- ‘Insane demands’ -A shutdown would see non-essential operations grind to a halt and hundreds of thousands of civil servants temporarily left without pay.But the White House memo also ordered agencies to submit proposed staff reduction plans, and to inform employees.It blamed “insane demands” by Democrats and accused them of breaking what it called a 10-year trend of reaching bipartisan agreement to avoid shutdowns at the same time of year.Shutdown battles have become a regular feature of US politics under both Republican and Democratic administrations in an increasingly paralyzed and polarized Washington.Senate Democrats rejected a stopgap funding bill last week that was hurriedly passed by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives as it sought to avert a shutdown.Trump in turn cancelled a meeting on Tuesday with Democratic leaders in Congress, saying he would not meet with them until they “become realistic” with their demands.With both chambers on recess this week and senators not returning until Monday, the day before the deadline, time is running out to keep the US government funded after the end of the fiscal year.Republicans hold a narrow majority in both chambers of Congress but, due to Senate rules, have to get some opposition support.House Republicans warned on Friday that their members will not return before the funding deadline, forcing the Senate to vote again and accept their proposal or face a shutdown.The bill, if passed, would still only be a temporary fix funding federal agencies through November 21.Congress last faced a shutdown in March, when Republicans refused talks with Democrats over Trump’s massive budget cuts and the layoff of thousands of federal employees. During the last showdown, lawmakers voted to keep the lights on through September with hours to spare, after Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announced he would back the Republican-drafted proposal.