Transcript

8.12.25 · Washington Post

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Speaker 1: Welcome to the reading of The Washington Post for Tuesday,
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August twelfth, twenty twenty five. As a reminder, Radio I
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is a reading service intended for people who are blind
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or have other disabilities that make it difficult to read
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printed material. Your reader today is Roger Hamperian. Today's front
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page headlines for The Washington Post are as follows Trump
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ready's federal moves on d C crime, takes over d
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C police surge already visible on city streets as her
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leadership is tested, Bowser steps cautiously. US will get cut
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of sales to China by Nvidia, a m d security
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branch stealthily shapes Iran's economy. The first article from the
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front page of today's edition is titled Trump orders federal
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takeover of d C police, deploy's National Guard. The mayor
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calls the actions unsettling and unprecedented, but says d C
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has little choice but to cooperate. By Michael Bernbaum and
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Perry Stein. President Donald Trump announced Monday that he was
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placing the d C Police under direct federal control and
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would deploy the National Guard to the streets of Washington
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to fight crime. An extraordinary flex of federal power. That
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strips city leadership of its ability to make law enforcement
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decisions and could expose residents of the nation's capital to
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unpredictable encounters with a domestically deployed military force. The decision
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to take over the DC Police and deploy eight hundred
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National Guard troops comes as the President has been slamming
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America's cities as places where crime is out of control,
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despite two years of declines that have brought homicide levels
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in many major cities to their lowest levels in decades.
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The administration has already mobilized FBI agentcy in recent days
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in overnight shifts to help local law enforcement prevent carjackings
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and violent crime. Officials said. Because the District of Columbia
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is not a state, the federal government has unusually sweeping
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powers to intervene over the objections of its residents and leaders,
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giving the President an opportunity to use it as a
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laboratory for a militarized approach to urban crime fighting. Under
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the City's Home Rule Act, the President can take over
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the DC Police for a period of up to thirty
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days by declaring special conditions of an emergency nature exist.
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After that time, the police would revert to local control
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unless Congress passes a law to allow a longer period
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of federal control. Whether the administration would want to extend
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the takeover beyond thirty days is unclear. In recent actions,
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including sending the National Guard to Los Angeles, Trump made
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high profile declarations, then allowed the federal deployment to fade
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out over time. A longer period of federal accountability for
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local DC crime could raise the political risk for Trump.
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At an afternoon news conference, Mayor Muriel E. Bowser, Democrat,
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said she intended to comply with the order, making clear
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that she believed she had little power under the Home
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Rule Act to do otherwise, though she said a legal
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review was under way. She also sought to downplay the
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order's impact on day to day policing. We are at
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a thirty year violent crime low. We're not satisfied. We
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haven't taken our foot off the gas, and we continued
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to look for ways to make our city safer, she said.
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While his action today is unsettling and unprecedented, I can't
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say that given some of the rhetoric of the past,
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that were totally surprised. Bowser added that she was seeking
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a meeting with Attorney General pam BONDI to discover the
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takeover the fact that we have more law enforcement and
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presence in neighborhoods that could not you know, that may
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be positive, she said. Trump has portrayed crime in the
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nation's capital as spiraling upward. Bowser has noted repeatedly that
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violent crime has declined for the past two years after
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a sharp post pandemic spike in twenty twenty three. Terry Cole,
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the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration whom Trump named
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as the commissioner of the d C Police, met Monday
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evening with d C Police Chief Pamela A. Smith and
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related to her that the federal team involved in this
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know that they don't know the city and they are
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looking for the d C Police Department to lead the effort,
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a DC Police official said, speaking on condition of anonymity
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because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
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A Trump Administration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity
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because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly,
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disputed that Cole had said that federal officials did not
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know the city or that d C would take the lead,
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but said that he had relayed a desire for a
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collaborative relationship. Smith tasked her widely respected number two executive
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assistant Chief Jeffrey Carroll, with leading the relationship between the
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d C Police and their federal partners, the d C
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Police official said, Trump, however, portrayed a sweeping vision of
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law enforcement on the streets of Washington, declaring that federal agents,
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d C Police, and the National Guard would use physical
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force to intimidate lawbreakers in the district. They fight back
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until you knock the hell out of them because it's
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the only language they understand. Trump told reporters at a
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White House news conference. It's a disgusting thing. It's becoming
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a situation of complete and total lawlessness. And we're getting
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rid of the slums too. Trump added, I know it's
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not politically correct. You'll say, oh, so terrible. No, We're
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getting rid of the slums where they live. Trump's rhetoric
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brought an angry response from the members of the d
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C Council. This is a manufactured intrusion on local authority.
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Violent crime in the district is at the lowest rates
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we have seen in thirty years. Federalizing the Metropolitan Police
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Department is unwarranted because there is no federal emergency, The
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council members said in a joint statement, it is our
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police officers who should be leading the efforts to keep
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our communities safe, not the National Guard. The administration's actions
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are unprecedented, unnecessary, and unlawful. There is no crime emergency
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in the District of Columbia d C. Attorney General Bryan Swab, Democrat,
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said in a statement, we are considering all of our
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options and will do what's necessary to protect the rights
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and safety of district residents. Bowser suggested a legal challenge
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to Trump's emergency declaration would be unlikely to succeed. We
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could contest that, but the authority is pretty broad, she
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said at our news conference. The National Guard deployment is
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separate from the takeover of the police force and could
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last longer. Those troops will be able to take direct action,
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including conducting arrests. According to national security legal experts, the
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ability of the National Guard to take such law enforcement
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action results from the district's lack of statehood. Because of that,
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Trump can mobilize the DC National Guard in the same
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fashion that a governor could do in a state. In
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the rest of the country, the armed forces are typically
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not allowed to take direct part in civilian law enforcement.
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An Army official said that there were no plans for
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troops to engage in law enforcement at this point, but
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that they could conduct arrests if needed. Army spokesman Colonel
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Dave Butler said that National Guard troops should be in
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position later this week. Since most live locally, the troops
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will serve in shifts of two hundred eight to provide
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round the clock presence. Butler said the troops for now
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will be focused on providing logistical and administrative support to
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free police officers to conduct law enforcement. In some cases,
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the troops will provide presents at intersections that can be
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a deterrent to crime. Administration officials have not specified where
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the National Guard troops would be deployed. Bondi repeatedly spoke
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at the news conference about crime as it affects tourists,
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suggesting one focus of the administration's crackdown. Trump has repeatedly
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complained about crime in Washington and the city's homeless population,
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but was spurred to further action in recent days by
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an assault on a former US Doege Service staffer who
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was injured in an alleged carjacking. A person familiar with
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internal White House deliberations, said Monday, speaking like others on
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condition of anonymity to speak about internal considerations. Soon after
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the attack, the DC police arrested a boy and a girl,
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both fifteen, from Maryland, and charged them with unarmed carjacking
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of Edward Coorstein, who is also known by the nickname
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big Balls. Trump last week posted an image of Corstine's
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smeared in blood, sitting shirtless on the ground, warning that
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if d C doesn't get its act together and quickly,
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we will have no choice but to take federal control
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of the city. At the news conference where he announced
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his plans, Trump was flanked by top officials, including Bondie,
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US Attorney Jeanine Piro, FBI director Cash Patel, Defense Secretary
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Pete Hegsef, and Interior Secretary Doug Bergham. Wrongdoers will not
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be allowed to turn our capital into a wasteland for
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the world to see, he said, adding that world leaders
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who visit Washington should not see graffiti or signs of
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urban decay. If our capital is dirty, our whole country
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is dirty, and they don't respect us, he said. Trump
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said that Chicago and New York City two other major
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Democratic consult controlled cities could be next. Trump can't take
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over their police forces, but he could theoretically deploy the
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National Guard, as he did in California earlier this year.
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Trump's move could hold significant risks for DC residents, with
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federal officials and troops who have literal or no training
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in urban law enforcement, empowered and even encouraged to use
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physical force to maintain order. In addition to the temporary
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takeover of the police and the deployment of the National Guard,
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administration officials said that they would seek to expand the
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ages at which juveniles can be charged as adults under
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d C law. The city's Attorney General prosecutes most juvenile crime.
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The U S Attorney for d C, the federal prosecutor,
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handles adult cases in the district, and can charge sixteen
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and seventeen year olds as adults if they are accused
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of certain violent crimes, including murder, rape, armed robbery, and burglary.
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Piro has advocated that teenagers as young as fourteen be
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funneled into the adult justice system. City leaders have disputed
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Trump's characterization of crime in Washington, saying that the nation's
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capital is safer than it was a year ago. Violent
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crime is down twenty six percent compared with this time
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in twenty twenty four, according to d C Police data,
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Homicides are down twelve percent. The twenty twenty three homicide
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spot turned Washington into one of America's deadliest cities, but
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the crisis has significantly eased in Washington and across the nation,
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and in twenty twenty four, homicide rates were at their
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lowest in decades, according to the data that The Washington
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Post collected from more than one hundred police departments in
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large US cities. Reports of burglaries and robberies have also
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dipped by double digit percentages. The National Guard deployment will
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be another example of the President's increasing use of US
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military forces to carry out his objectives on American soil,
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an approach that has been used only sparingly over history.
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Earlier this year, the President tested legal limits when he
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bypassed California Governor Gavin Newsom, Democrat and unilaterally deployed thousands
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of National Guard troops to protests over immigration and customs
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enforcement raids in Los Angeles, an unprecedented move that is
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being challenged in court. Newsom had repeatedly asserted that the
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National Guard's presence was not needed. The FBI had already
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begun dispatching some one hundred twenty agents to overnight shifts
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in recent days. Several people familiar with the matter told
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The Washington Post, speaking on the condition of anonymity, to
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discuss staffing plans that had not been made public. The
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FBI officers were tasked with assisting local law enforcement in
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preventing carjackings and other crimes. Congressional reaction to the plan
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predictably fell along partisan lines. President Trump is right, we
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can't allow crime to destroy our nation's capital. House Speaker
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Mike Johnson, Republican of Louisiana wrote on X. Representative Nancy Pelosi,
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Democrat of California, a former House speaker, set on X
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that Trump was activating the d C Guard to distract
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from his incompetent mishandling of tariffs, health care, education, and emigration,
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just to name a few blunders. The next article from
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the front page of today's edition is titled Signs of
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Trump's takeover of d C policing are in view, with
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more to come. Federal law enforcement officers have begun approaching
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homeless campsites and policing graffiti. Large shifts of National Guard
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troops were expected by the end of the week by
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Aaron Cox, Katy Tarrant, and Kyle Swenson. Even before President
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Donald Trump announced Monday that he would take over DC policing,
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city residents started to feel it. Social media posts showed
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FBI officers on the streets over the weekend in areas
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known for nightlife, including the U Street Corridor and the
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Navy Yard neighborhood, where a curfew preventing teens from gathering
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in big groups has been in place. Residents shared images
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of officers wearing Immigration and Customs enforcement uniforms under the
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Key Bridge in Georgetown on Sunday. The next morning, the
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Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms and Explosives posted an
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image of officers standing next to FBI agents and Park
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Police officers, alongside pictures of confiscated firearms and narcotics. Trump
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promised much more to come. He said his initiative would
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inject an overwhelming presence into d C, with seven federal
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agencies expanding their reach into city life. The Drug Enforcement
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Administration began sending agents to homelan camp sites. The US
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Park Police was tasked with addressing graffiti in federal parks.
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National Guard troops were expected to staff intersections and work
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in shifts of two hundred starting later this week. Trump
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said that more than five hundred federal agents were deployed
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last week and that the effort will eventually be supplemented
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by an additional eight hundred troops from the DC National Guard.
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You'll have more police, and you'll be so happy because
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you'll be safe when you walk down the street, Trump
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said at his Monday morning news conference. You're going to
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see police, or you're going to see FBI agents. Going
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to have a lot of agents on the street, and
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you're going to have a lot of essentially military. US
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Army spokesman Colonel Dave Butler said that most National Guard
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troops live locally and that the idea is to deploy
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them in shifts of two hundred soldiers each to provide
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a round the clock presence. The troops for now will
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be focused on providing logistical and administrative support to free
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up d police officers, similar to their support role at
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the southern US border. In some cases, the troops may
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be stationed at intersections to serve as a deterrent to crime.
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Butler said, Trump named Terry Cole, the head of the DEEA,
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as interim commissioner of the DC Police. Cole told Police
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Chief Pamela A. Smith on Monday evening that the federal
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team is hoping for the Metropolitan Police Department to lead
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the effort. According to a police official who spoke on
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the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to
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speak publicly, Cole described Trump's takeover of the department as
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more of a collaboration, and he stressed that officials would
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meet and work together to figure out where to deploy resources.
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The official said. Washington boasts more city officers per capita
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than any other large city in the United States. According
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to the FBI's latest figures, there are nearly five d
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C Police officers per one thousand residents, ahead of New
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New York, Chicago, Detroit, and Baltimore. The figure does not
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include the agencies deployed by Trump, nor the droves of
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other officers with numerous agencies that have some jurisdiction in
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the district, including the US Capitol Police, Metro Transit Police,
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Supreme Court Police, and Amtrak Police. At a joint news
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conference Monday afternoon, the city's mayor and police chief warned
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about potential perils of the takeover, but also framed it
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as a possible opportunity. The fact that we have more
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law enforcement presence in neighbourhoods, you know, that may be positive.
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Mayor Muriel E. Bowser, Democrat, said, but it will be
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a disaster if communities won't talk to the police. Bowser
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also said it would be a disaster if people who
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are committing crimes are antagonized into committing crimes. Smith said
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additional federal policing resources could be helpful to the district
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in executing warrants or deploying more officers to areas of
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the city where DC police patrol, including to U Street
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alongside the Nightlife Task Force, to drug free zones, to
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areas with juvenile curfews, and to neighborhoods where violent crime
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is highest. What you will see is an enhanced presence,
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Smith said, adding that after Trump's announced takeover Monday morning,
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she spent an hour on the phone with the US
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Marshals discussing how federal resources will be deployed in the city.
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She said she had more meetings later Monday to further
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sketch out how to deploy resources. Our relationship with our
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federal partners is not new. Smith said, we do this
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on a daily basis. Several civil rights leaders said they
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knew little about what to expect, but offered a premer
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for residents on the limits of police powers. People still
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have their constitutional rights. This is not suspending that. Alicia Yass,
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Supervising Policy Council for the ACLU of DC, said in
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an interview, if a police officer or other law enforcement
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do approach people in a public place, they still have
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the right to remain silent. Yas also noted that bystanders
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can record police interactions as long as they maintain a
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safe distance and do not interfere with law enforcement. Trump
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said his surge was already targeting homeless people in the Capitol,
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saying that authorities had started getting rid of the people
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from underpasses and public spaces from all over the city.
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Al a fifty year old man living on a discarded
19:31
couch under Georgetown's Whitehurst Freeway, said he was burning a
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citronella candle to keep away the mosquitoes Sunday when he
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was approached by DEA agents in flak jackets. Al who
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declined to give his last name for privacy reasons. Said
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he has lived on the street for decades and struggled
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with addiction, but was familiar with police activity in DC.
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He has been removed from at least five encampments in
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as many years, but this was the first time al
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I had seen DEA agents patrolling the streets. He said.
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They jumped out and asked if I had any drugs
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or alcohol on me, which I didn't. Al said agents
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looked over his possessions for around ten minutes before leaving,
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he said. On Monday morning, al said outreach workers from
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the city arrived to tell him he had to be
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out of the area by Wednesday. Then they gave me
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a packet of pretzel goldfish, he said. Aware of Trump's
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push to remove the unsheltered from d C streets, al
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had a simple response and go where. The next article
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from the front page of today's edition is titled d
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C Mayor Bowser sticks with cautious approach amid Trump's takeover.
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Bowser continued with the cautious approach she has taken over
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the past several months and said there as little d
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C could do to prevent Trump's unprecedented actions. By Megan Flynn,
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Jenny Gathwright and Olivia George. DC Mayor Muriel Bowser Democrats,
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faced one of the greatest tests of her leadership in
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her decade long tenure Monday, as President Donald Trump took
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over the d C Police Department and deployed the d
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C National Guard onto city streets, a stunning moment in
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the history of the city's limited self rule. For now,
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Bowser continued with the cautious approach she has taken over
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the past several months and said there is little the
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city could do to prevent Trump's unprecedented actions, Although she
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disputed Trump's characterization of d C as a riddled with
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surging violence, the city will co operate as the law requires,
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she said. My message to residence is this, we know
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that access to our democracy is tenuous. That is why
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you have heard me and many Washingtonians before me advocate
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for full statehood for the District of Columbia, Bowser said,
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And while this action to day is unsettling and unprecedented,
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I can't say that given some of the rhetoric of
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the past, that were totally surprised fearing the kind of
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intervention that materialized Monday. Bowser has sought to avoid antagonizing
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the president with the kind of resistance that other democratic
22:10
mayors nationwide have not hesitated to display. In large part
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given d c's unique vulnerability to federal intervention, Bowser is
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presiding as a three term mayor over the most drastic
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escalation in federal intervention in d C affairs in years.
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Not since the nineteen nineties, when control of much of
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d c's criminal justice system was permanently transferred to the
22:32
federal government and a federal control board oversaw city finances
22:37
as it teetered on the edge of bankruptcy, has DC
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faced such intervention. Speaking at the White House, Trump painted
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d C as a hellscape overtaken by violent gangs and
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bloodthirsty criminals, roving mobs of wild youth, drugged out maniacs,
22:53
and homeless people, and said his executive actions would rescue
22:57
our nation's capital. Violent crime is down twenty six percent
23:01
compared with last year and has reached a thirty year low,
23:04
according to police data, which Bowser pointed to Monday. We're
23:08
not experiencing a spike in crime. She said. Trump is
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able to temporarily take control of d C police through
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a vague provision in the d C Home Rule Act,
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which gave d C residents the right to elect a
23:21
mayor and council. By declaring that emergency special conditions exist,
23:26
the president can require the mayor to provide police services
23:29
to the president for federal purposes. Congress would have to
23:32
approve an extension beyond thirty days. Behind the scenes, Monday,
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officials grappled with whether the city has legal grounds to
23:41
sue the Trump administration over the takeover, and whether it
23:44
is the right political choice, Bowser said. D C Attorney
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General Brian Swab, Democrat, was exploring possible legal action against Trump,
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but she seemed lukewarm on taking that step. What would
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I point you to is the Home Rule Charter that
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gives the president the ability to determine the conditions of
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an emergency, Bowser told reporters. We could contest that, but
24:08
the authority is pretty broad. Trump had been bringing up
24:11
crime in d C throughout his campaign and during the
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first months of his second term, a focus of Republicans
24:18
in Congress as well, after the city experienced a historic
24:21
crime spike in twenty twenty three that Bowser said Monday,
24:25
the city has since gotten under control. Trump drew attention
24:29
to high profile cases involving federal employees, including the former U.
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S Doge Service employee who was the victim of an
24:37
assault and attempted carjacking last week, reigniting the president's interest
24:42
in d C crime and taking over the city's police,
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But other than rebutting the present's characterization of the city,
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Bowser largely referred reporters Monday to the language of the
24:53
d C Home Rule Act, which requires her co operation
24:57
when asked how she would respond to the president its actions.
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Part of her matter of fact posture throughout Trump's second term,
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she avoided directly condemning the president. The mayor had often
25:08
been silent as Trump lobbed threats to take over the city,
25:12
while otherwise trying to find areas of common interest, such
25:15
as repurposing under used federal buildings. Her strategy has been
25:20
marked by a kind of cautious cooperation, welcoming joint efforts
25:25
to clean up parks and fountains, clearing certain homeless encampments
25:29
identified by federal officials, and avoiding any fiery, combative rhetoric
25:33
that could invite the prison's ire. Yet, as was evident Monday,
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the approach had its limits. It's not like we are
25:41
on our best behavior. We're going to be rewarded for that,
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said DC Council Member Briann k Nadeaux, Democrat Ward One.
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What this is about as punishing Democrats and punishing blue cities.
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Just six percent of DC voters cast their ballots for
25:57
Trump last year. Had more forcefully pushed back on Trump
26:02
during her first term, particularly during the twenty twenty racial
26:06
justice protests after the police murder of George Floyd. That
26:10
was the last time Trump activated the DC National Guard
26:13
on d C streets and considered assuming control of DC police.
26:19
Bowser had testified to Congress that if that had happened,
26:22
it would have been a complete disaster and that officials
26:25
feared they would lose control of the city. Asked Monday,
26:29
whether she feared she could lose control of the city
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or an impending disaster, Bowser said she would work every
26:35
day to make sure it's not a complete disaster, but
26:38
also described the potential consequences of federalizing the police. What
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could be a disaster is if we lose communities who
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won't call the police. It would be a disaster if
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communities won't talk to the police if a crime has
26:51
been committed, and could help solve that crime. She said,
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we are going to work every day to get this
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emergency put to an end, the so called emergency and
27:02
continued to do our work. Implementation of Trump's orders remained
27:06
unclear Monday, with scant details included in the executive order
27:11
beyond Trump saying that the d C Police Department was
27:14
needed for federal purposes such as protecting federal buildings and
27:17
national monuments, and broadly to maintain law and order in
27:21
the nation's capital. The U. S. Attorney General is tasked
27:25
with monitoring the emergency in d C and regularly updating
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Trump on the matter. Bowser emphasized that her police chief
27:33
was still in charge of the department. The extent of
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the National Guard's future role in the city is still
27:39
coming into focus. The d C Council is likely to
27:42
face significant pressure as Trump and Jeanine Piro, the U. S.
27:46
Attorney for d C, also take aim at some of
27:49
the city's criminal justice policies that they demanded be changed.
27:54
Piero excoriated the council on Monday for passing laws she
27:57
saw as too leaning on criminals. H asked lawmakers in
28:01
a letter last week to examine policies focused on second
28:04
chances for people incarcerated longer than fifteen years, lighter sentences
28:09
for youth offenders, and record sealing for residents convicted of crimes.
28:14
Bowser is already suggesting she will cooperate with Piero to
28:17
some extent. She said Monday that she made a commitment
28:21
to Piro to examine the laws at issue and potentially
28:24
work on a major Omnimus package to address Piro's concerns,
28:28
some of which Bowser agrees with. Meanwhile, lawmakers have varying
28:32
appetites for changing the policies. A debate on those subjects
28:36
is coming, said council member Matthew Fruman, Democrat Ward III.
28:41
Brooke Pinto, Democrat Ward II, who chairs the Council's Public
28:45
Safety Committee, stopped short of saying how she planned to
28:48
respond to Piro's request, but said she is always open
28:51
minded to ensure that our legal ecosystem is one that
28:55
advances safety and justice. Ankeit Jane, a shadow Senate for DC,
29:01
acknowledge that the mayor and other local leaders are in
29:03
a difficult situation when it comes to navigating the relationship
29:07
between d C and the federal government, but said he'd
29:10
be wary of any efforts to appease the president by
29:13
changing local laws. If the DC Council thinks that certain
29:17
laws are bad on the merits, then they are of
29:20
course welcome to change them, he said. But changing laws
29:23
to get on the President's good side, I don't think
29:26
i'd recommend that approach. Still, members of the Council were
29:30
generally more forceful than Bowser in their condemnations of Trump
29:33
on Monday. I can't sit there and watch the institution
29:37
that I'm a part of be demonized and not react
29:40
at all, Fruhman said. These are perilous times, and the
29:43
President has been very clear over an extended period of
29:46
time that he doesn't mean us well and doesn't respect
29:50
our autonomy. Fruman, however, said he had a lot of
29:53
sympathy for Bowser's muted approach. Her administration is on frontline
29:58
trying to work with these folks today to make it
30:01
be as constructive as possible, and that is a giant,
30:04
giant challenge, he said. The mayor is in a difficult position,
30:08
added council member Christina Henderson, Independent at Large. We all
30:13
have to move differently in this environment and try to
30:16
maintain the limited home rule that we do currently have.
30:20
In anticipation of Trump's announcement, a few hundred residents gathered
30:24
on the stretch of sixteenth Street in front of Lafayette Square,
30:27
blocks from the White House, for a protest and booed loudly.
30:31
After Trump began his news conference and his intentions for
30:34
the city came into focus. As she stood near the crowd,
30:37
council member Denise Lewis George, Democrat ward For said she
30:42
thought it was time for city leaders to stop compromising
30:45
and adopt a different strategy resistance. Despite everything the district
30:50
has done to sort of meet the president's asks, the
30:53
mayor has done to meet the president's asks, that wasn't
30:57
enough for him, She said. It was never going to
30:59
be enough, but now we fight. The block where Louis
31:03
George and the protesters stood was once the symbol of
31:06
Bowser's earlier resistance of Trump. It had been a central
31:09
gathering space for racial justice protesters. In twenty twenty, after
31:13
the murder of Floyd and Trump famously ordered federal police
31:17
to clear the protesters, Bowser had the words black Lives
31:21
Matter painted in yellow letters on the street. One of
31:24
her most memorable and visible rebuttals of the president, but
31:28
as Louis George and the protesters stood on the street,
31:31
those letters were gone. Bowser had them removed earlier this
31:35
year in response to a threat from a go P
31:38
lawmaker seeking to revoke millions in transportation funding for the city.
31:44
The next article from the front page of to Day's
31:47
edition is titled and Nvidia a m d. Agreed to
31:50
pay U s Government fifteen percent of AI ship sales
31:54
to China. Trump says he told Nvidia chief that I
31:58
want you to pay US as a country. Some some
32:01
experts say the highly unusual arrangement may be unconstitutional. By
32:06
Ivado and Grace Moon, US based chip makers in Vidia
32:11
and Advanced micro Devices have agreed to pay the United
32:14
States fifteen percent of their revenue from sales of artificial
32:18
intelligence ships in China, a highly unusual arrangement that some
32:22
experts warned may be unconstitutional. Under the financial agreement, the
32:27
companies will give the US government a portion of their
32:29
sales as a prerequisite to obtaining export licenses for China.
32:34
According to three people familiar with the matter, who spoke
32:37
on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to
32:40
discuss the matter. In public and Nvidia issued a statement
32:44
after The Financial Times first reported the arrangement Sunday. We
32:48
will follow rules the US government sets for our participation
32:52
in worldwide markets. While we haven't shipped eight twenty to
32:56
China for months, we hope export control rules will let
32:59
America compete in China and worldwide. A spokesman for Nvidia,
33:03
referring to the companies sought after H twenty aied ships,
33:07
said in a statement, America cannot repeat five G and
33:12
lose telecommunication leadership. America's AI tech stack can be the
33:17
world's standard if we raise. In April, the Trump administration
33:21
halted H twenty chip sales to China, citing security risks,
33:25
but announced a reversal of the decision in July, shortly
33:29
ahead of another round of trade talks with Beijing. The
33:32
H twenty had been in Nvidia's last AI ship allowed
33:35
to be sold in China after the Biden administration clamped
33:39
down on such sales starting in twenty twenty two. President
33:43
Donald Trump dismissed the H twenty as an old ship
33:46
that doesn't advance China's capabilities, though it still has a
33:49
market there. In a White House news conference on Monday,
33:53
He said he had had a great conversation with Nvidia
33:56
CEO Jensen Wang, whom he called a great guy, about
34:00
allowing the chips export. I said, if I'm going to
34:03
do that, I want you to pay US as a
34:05
country something because I'm giving you a release. The H twenty,
34:10
introduced in late twenty twenty three with the Chinese export
34:13
market in mind, lacks the power of Nvidia's most sophisticated ships,
34:18
but is still sought after in a nation that competes
34:20
with the US on AI development, even without the revenue
34:24
sharing provision. Trump's decision to ease the chipsale restrictions on
34:29
Nvidia was controversial, with officials from both parties expressing concern
34:33
that the flip flopping policy would erode international trust and
34:37
US export controls. The latest deal quickly drew criticism from
34:42
some scholars, who said it may violate constitutions prohibition on
34:46
taxes on exports. In addition to the policy problems with
34:50
just charging Nvidia and AMD a fifteen percent share of
34:54
revenues to sell advanced ships in China, the US constitution
34:58
flatly forbids export tax as Peter Harold, the White House
35:02
Senior Director for International economics under the Biden administration, said
35:06
in a Sunday post on social media. Christopher Padia, a
35:10
top export control official in the George W. Bush administration
35:15
who is now a senior advisor with the Brunswick Group
35:17
consulting firm, echoed those fears, describing the deal as unprecedented
35:22
and dangerous. Export controls are in place to protect national security,
35:28
not raise revenue for the government. Padilla said this arrangement
35:32
seems like bribery or blackmail or both. William Sevs, a
35:37
law professor at the California Western School of Law, said
35:41
it would generally be up to Nvidia or AMD, who
35:44
are directly affected by the arrangement, to challenge the administration
35:47
in court. We have already seen many situations where entities,
35:52
including corporations, universities and law firms would rather accept hefty
35:57
fines or settle lawsuits than challenge thedministration in court, and significantly,
36:02
this has occurred even in cases where the administration's actions
36:06
or allegations have little merit. He said. It would appear
36:09
that this is the cost of doing business with the administration.
36:13
Another person familiar with the administration's deliberations who spoke on
36:18
the condition of anonymity to give a frank assessment, said
36:21
the deal suggests that companies can pay for the right
36:24
to undermine our national security. The US government has traditionally
36:28
maintained that its export controls are based on national security imperatives,
36:32
not economic considerations. Wong met with Trump on Wednesday in
36:37
his latest lobbying trip to the White House. The executive
36:41
has been a frequent visitor this year. After the latest
36:45
meeting in which the fifteen percent arrangement was struck, the
36:48
President called Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnik and told him to
36:52
issue the licenses. According to a person familiar with the matter,
36:56
who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the matter sensitivity,
37:00
AMD did not respond to requests for comment, nor did
37:04
China's Commerce or foreign ministries. And Nvidia, the world's most
37:08
valuable public company, has emerged as a focus of the
37:11
U s China technological rivalry, with both nations dependent on
37:15
its AI ships to run supercomputers. The next article from
37:20
the front page of today's edition is titled how the
37:24
Revolutionary Guard stealthily shapes Iran's economy. In a remarkable disclosure,
37:29
the founder of a thriving Iranian tech company has revealed
37:33
the behind the scenes pressure that security forces exerted on
37:36
his firm by Yagana Torbati, one of the most successful
37:41
companies to emerge from Iran's decade old start up Boom
37:45
is a firm offering online classified ads similar to Craig's List,
37:50
that counts nearly half of the country's population as users.
37:54
But when the company Devar decided it wanted to go
37:57
public on the Tehran Stock Exchange, ira UE's powerful Islamic
38:01
Revolutionary Guard Corps stepped in during the spring to block
38:04
the move, objecting to the firm's outspoken, independent minded chairman,
38:09
according to an internal letter he publicized last week. The
38:13
posting of the letter was remarkable in this secretive, authoritarian country,
38:18
but behind the scenes, this kind of intervention by the
38:21
IRGC in the Iranian economy has become commonplace, according to
38:26
Iranian private sector executives and experts on Iran's economy and politics.
38:31
And while the IRGC is well known for influencing the
38:35
economy through the major stakes the group has held at
38:38
one time or another in construction, telecommunications, oil, and other industries,
38:43
the move to block Davar's stock offering demonstrates how the
38:46
Revolutionary Guard also wields economic power under the radar, even
38:51
over companies it has no shares in. The IRGC is
38:56
Iran's most powerful security and intelligence organization, established shortly after
39:01
the nineteen seventy nine Islamic Revolution to preserve the country's
39:05
clerical rule. The executive who had rankled the Revolutionary Guard,
39:10
Davar's founder, Hessem Armanday, has a reputation for regularly criticizing
39:16
government actions, and Davar has in recent years resisted government
39:20
demands that turn over private user data and pressure to
39:23
sell company shares to government connected conglomerates. And Davar has
39:29
in recent years resisted government demands that it turnover private
39:33
user data and pressure to sell company shares to government
39:36
connected conglomerates, according to public statements by company officials and
39:41
interviews with people familiar with the company. Late last month,
39:45
Armaday disclosed the IRGC's veto of his plans to take
39:49
the firm public by publishing the letter sent June tenth
39:53
by a security official to an official at the Tehran
39:56
Securities Exchange on his LinkedIn profile. Thereby brought to your
40:00
attention that the intelligence organization of the Guards has declared,
40:05
mister hessem meir Amande's lack of qualification and consequently the
40:09
company's acceptance is contingent upon his absence. Read the letter
40:14
which said the IRGC order came April twenty seventh. The
40:18
letter was provided to his company by the Stock Exchange Armanday,
40:21
he said on LinkedIn on Wednesday. Even now with all
40:25
these pressures, I've neither lost hope nor have any plans
40:28
for emigrating or leaving Davar, Armanday wrote in a subsequent post.
40:33
A Davar spokesman declined to respond to detailed questions, and
40:38
Armandade did not respond to interview requests and detailed questions.
40:42
The spokesman for Iran's mission to the United Nations declined
40:45
to respond to questions. In response to a request for comment,
40:49
a spokesman for the Tehran Stock Exchange referred to April
40:52
comments by an exchange official in which he said that
40:56
the qualifications of the chief executives, boards of directors and
40:59
made shareholders of digital companies must be assessed by the
41:03
competent authorities. Iran's Deputy Minister for Information and Communications Technology,
41:09
Assan Chissat's criticized the IRGC's action in a post Monday
41:14
on x using the hashtag pound dvar in Persian. If
41:19
a founder doesn't have the right to stay in their
41:21
own company, no investor will confidently invest in the digital economy.
41:25
Chisat said the stock market is a tool for corporate
41:29
governance and transparency, not a tool for the arbitrary elimination
41:33
of individuals or managerial coercion. Iran has struggled for years
41:38
with an ailing economy, including persistently high inflation and unemployment,
41:43
which has fueled popular discontent. Economic experts attribute some of
41:48
that malaise to Western sanctions and some to the Iranian
41:51
government's mismanagement of the economy. The sort of pressure that
41:55
Armanday revealed in its post is further exacerbating the private
41:58
sector's woes by destroying fair competition, and is undermining Iran's
42:03
recent efforts to attract more foreign investments. Economic experts said
42:08
this leads to lower investment, of course, and it leads
42:11
to capital flight not only from investors in Davar, but
42:14
also in many other digital companies, many other companies that
42:18
are private, said Mahdi Gaudsey and, an economist at the
42:21
Vienna Institute for international economic studies. If they continue these
42:26
kinds of policies, they are helping the collapse of the
42:28
Islamic Republic. Davar, which enables Iranians to buy and sell
42:33
secondhand goods and find and rent homes, has about thirty
42:37
eight million active users, or nearly half the country's population
42:41
of ninety million people. According to a person familiar with
42:44
the company and a twenty twenty three report from a
42:46
Swedish investment company that has Davar shares in its extended portfolio,
42:52
Davar is highly profitable, said four people familiar with the company,
42:56
who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a
42:59
sensitive matter. A consortion of foreign investors, including Europeans, holds
43:04
fifteen percent of the shares of Davar's parent company, according
43:08
to its website. The consortium and the Swedish firm did
43:11
not respond to requests for comment. Iran's start up sector
43:15
began booming in the early twenty tens, drawing strength from
43:19
the partial lifting of international economic sanctions after the twenty
43:23
fifteen nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, but these
43:27
companies quickly came under pressure from Iranian security forces, with
43:31
Iranian hardliners accusing executives of being a vector for Western influence.
43:36
Some of those companies had received foreign funding, which the
43:39
hardliners found suspicious. Some of that pressure has focused on
43:44
Davar and its founder Armandai. People who know Armandade described
43:49
him as someone who speaks his mind, bucks consenses, and
43:53
is unafraid of open conflict. One person said that Armanday
43:57
sometimes wore shorts to meetings with government officials, casual wear
44:01
that may be typical in Silicon Valley but is highly
44:04
unusual in official meetings in Iran. On his mother's side,
44:08
he descends from a family of wealthy industrialists who built
44:10
their fortune before the Islamic Revolution of nineteen seventy nine,
44:14
and much of whose wealth was confiscated by the new
44:17
government when it took power. Armanday has been openly critical
44:21
of powerful institutions in Iran. In Iran, whenever you make money,
44:26
all of a sudden, some organization, some institution, some quasi
44:30
governmental place pops up to throw itself in the middle
44:33
of the game to take some portion of the money
44:35
from you, he said in an interview with the Tagbayi
44:39
sixteen podcast in twenty twenty four. In the past, Devar
44:43
has been pressured by security officials to share user data,
44:48
but resisted those requests to the extent possible, said two
44:51
people familiar with the company. Former executives at other Iranian
44:55
tech firms said in interviews that such demands were common
44:59
and that any companies felt they had no choice but
45:02
to comply. Another senior executive at Davar, Hessem's cousin, Ashkhan Armadai,
45:08
told an Iranian newspaper in twenty twenty three that the
45:11
company had been pressured by law enforcement officials to hand
45:15
over user data, but had refused to do so without
45:18
a court order. The response that we always give them
45:21
is that we will not give general user information under
45:24
any conditions to anyone except on a case by case
45:28
basis due to the existence of a private plaintiff and
45:31
pursuant to a court order, he said. Providing information about
45:36
ads and users without a court order is illegal. At
45:40
one point, a police official told Ashkan Armadai that they
45:43
would destroy Davar, he said in the interview. He was
45:47
briefly arrested and ultimately sentenced to a three month prison
45:50
sentence in connection with the case, though a court order
45:53
later acquitted him. One person familiar with the company said
45:57
Davar had also been pressured in the past few years
46:00
to sell some of its shares to a company part
46:03
owned by a conglomerate close to Iran's Supreme leader, Ietolah
46:07
Ali Kameni, who also oversees the Revolutionary Guard. On Wednesday,
46:12
after this article was initially published, Armanday wrote on LinkedIn
46:17
that he was unaware of such pressure and if he
46:19
had faced it, he would have disclosed it publicly. Davar's
46:23
difficulties with the Tehran Exchange started becoming apparent even before
46:27
the internal letter was disclosed. In May, Iran's Vice president
46:32
for Science and Technology, Hossain Assen, told Iran's Shark newspaper
46:37
that Davar had no problem being listed on the Tehran Exchange,
46:41
but added that the Security Institution has several concerns and
46:44
these concerns are correct. In response, an executive at Davar's
46:49
holding company speculated in a June interview with the same
46:52
newspaper that a quasi governmental institution or an affiliated institution
46:57
wanted control of the company. This appetite for digital companies
47:01
was not new. In twenty twenty three, hard Line newspaper
47:06
editor Hossain Shariatmadari, who was known to be close to Kameni,
47:11
wrote an editorial calling for the ownership of internet platforms
47:14
to be in the hands of the ruling system. By then,
47:17
several of the largest platforms had already sold their shares
47:20
to conglomerates connected to the Iranian power structure, though several,
47:24
including Davar, remained relatively independent. At the end of the day,
47:29
the IRGC they need their piece of cake, said Amen Sabbetti,
47:33
executive director of the Digital Impact Lab, which supports internet
47:37
freedom in Iran. He has also researched Iran's tech sector.
47:42
He compared the strong armed tactics to those of criminal groups.
47:46
The Revolutionary Guard became a major player in Iran's economy
47:49
after the end of the Iran Iraq War in nineteen
47:53
eighty eight, when Iran's political leaders were worried about the
47:56
masses of unemployed de mobilized soldiers, said Ali Alfauna, a
48:01
senior fellow at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington
48:05
who has researched the IRGC's role in Iran's economy. The
48:10
force was given a central role in reconstruction efforts, channeling
48:13
to profits into its own financial institutions and acquiring state
48:17
owned enterprises. He said. Since then, the IRGC has used
48:21
its intelligence force, which is separate from Iran's Intelligence Ministry,
48:26
to eliminate potential business rivals. Alfauna said Kameni and the
48:30
regime's other political leaders, who have faced repeated protests in
48:34
recent years, depend on the IRGC for survival. Alfana said
48:39
that support outcomes at the cost of granting the Guards
48:42
an increasingly unchecked role in the economy. Around the same
48:46
time that the Revolutionary Guard was seeking armand Dah's ouster
48:50
from his company. In April, the Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas
48:53
Aragachi wrote in The Washington Post that Iran is open
48:57
to welcoming businesses from around the world. But Sarah Bazubandi,
49:02
a non resident fellow at the Institute for Security Policy
49:06
at Kiel University in Germany, said Iran's economy had become
49:09
more isolated, inefficient, and undesirable for foreign investment in recent years.
49:15
Let's face it, these are a bunch of really incapable
49:18
corrupt entities and individuals, Bazubandi said of the IRGC and
49:23
other regime connected entities. They do not become successful in
49:28
business through the merit of their own amazing business skills
49:31
and ideas. They did it with guns, they did it
49:34
with terror and threats. Dozens of Iranian executives shared Amanda's
49:38
LinkedIn post and wrote comments in support, with several harshly
49:42
criticizing the Revolutionary Guard's actions. I wish we had a
49:46
good and responsible government that appreciated great and capable entrepreneurs
49:51
and startups, one of them wrote. Another said, exactly for
49:55
this reason, it is impossible to grow in Iran. The
50:00
next article from today's edition is titled New York judge
50:04
denies release of Epstein related grand jury transcript. The ruling,
50:09
following a similar rejection in Florida, noted that the material
50:12
contained almost nothing that wasn't already known by Perry Stein.
50:18
A federal judge in New York on Monday refused to
50:20
release transcripts from the grand jury that indicted Galaine Maxwell Jeffrey,
50:25
Epstein's imprisoned associate, saying that the request was unwarranted and
50:30
the material contained virtually nothing that wasn't already known. U
50:34
S District Judge Paul A. Engelmeyer ruled that the Justice
50:38
Departments pushed to unseal the documents citing great public interests
50:42
did not merit breaking the typical secrecy of grand jury proceedings.
50:47
He also wrote that the government's main argument that the
50:49
full Maxwell grand jury materials would bring to light meaningful
50:53
new information about Epstein and Maxwell's crimes where the government's
50:57
investigation into them is demonstras Engelmeyer, an appointee of President
51:03
Barack Obama, said he had considered unsealing the documents to
51:07
expose the government's argument as disingenuous, but decided against it.
51:12
A member of the public familiar with the Maxwell trial
51:15
record who reviewed the grand jury materials that the government
51:18
proposed to unseal would thus learn next to nothing new,
51:22
he wrote. Last month, the Justice Department asked three federal
51:26
judges who oversaw parts of the Epstein and Maxwell cases
51:29
to release grand jury transcripts amid the public farer over
51:33
the Trump administration's decision this year not to release any
51:37
more information from the Epstein files, but those requests have
51:41
not yielded results. A judge in Florida has rejected the
51:45
request to unseal transcripts from a grand jury investigation of
51:49
Epstein there several years ago, which did not result in
51:52
federal charges. A request to a judge in New York
51:55
who was overseeing the Epstein legal proceedings is pending. Maxwell's
52:00
attorneys had opposed the release, saying they had not seen
52:03
the material and cannot take an informed position. In refusing
52:08
the government's motion to unseal the transcripts in Maxwell's case,
52:12
Engelmeyer noted that grand jury proceedings are typically conducted in
52:16
secret and remained that way even after trial, with only
52:19
limited exceptions that should not be applied casually or promiscuously.
52:25
In Florida, U. S. District Judge Robin L. Rosenberg similarly
52:29
cited such secrecy in her opinion last month, refusing to
52:33
release records from grand juries that investigated Epstein in two
52:37
thousand five and two thousand seven. The Justice Department could
52:41
appeal the judge's rulings, though it has not yet appealed
52:44
to July twenty third Florida ruling. Epstein's in custody death
52:48
while awaiting trial in twenty nineteen was ruled a suicide,
52:52
fueling speculation that the investigative files in his case could
52:56
implicate some of the sex offender's rich and powerful friends. Maxwell,
53:01
who was convicted of sex trafficking in twenty twenty one.
53:05
Was interviewed for two days in Florida last month by
53:08
a top Justice Department official. Her attorney says she was
53:12
questioned about one hundred different people. She was later transferred
53:15
to a minimum security Texas prison camp to continue serving
53:19
her twenty year sentence. The Justice Department indicated in a
53:23
court filing last month that the transcripts it has sought
53:26
to make public from the grand juries that indicted Epstein
53:30
and Maxwell include testimony from only two witnesses, both of
53:34
them law enforcement officers. The next article from today's edition
53:39
is titled woman sues abortion pill supplier says ex tricked
53:43
her into ending pregnancy. The case appears to be the
53:47
first time a woman has filed a wrongful death abortion
53:50
suit in federal court. By Pravina Somemuson Durham, a Texas
53:54
woman is suing a major supplier of abortion pills by
53:57
mail and a former sexual partner who she alleges terminator
54:02
her pregnancy by lacing her drink with medication he obtained
54:05
from the group. In the complaint filed Monday in Texas
54:09
federal court by a prominent anti abortion attorney, the woman
54:12
alleges that her ex partner bought the pills from aid Axis,
54:16
a nonprofit based in Europe, then pressured her to take
54:19
them for weeks in the spring, even though she told
54:22
him she did not want an abortion. Aid Axis is
54:26
one of the largest abortion pill suppliers. Since twenty twenty three,
54:30
U s doctors affiliated with the group have been able
54:33
to mail the medication to patients in all fifty states
54:36
under the protection of shield laws designed to safeguard providers
54:40
from prosecution in states with abortion bans. The Wrongful Death
54:44
lawsuit alleges that aid Access violated the Federal Comstock Act,
54:49
an eighteen seventy three law that bans the mailing of
54:52
obscene materials, including those related to abortion. Aid Access did
54:57
not immediately respond to her request for comment Monday. The
55:01
filing also accuses the woman's ex partner of violating Texas law,
55:05
which bans most abortions after six weeks and mandates that
55:09
legal abortions be performed by a licensed physician. Texas has
55:13
emerged as a hot bed of novel legal challenges to
55:16
abortion pills, now the most common way to end to pregnancy.
55:20
So far, legal efforts trying to halt access to medication
55:23
abortion have failed. Last month, the texasman filed a wrongful
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death lawsuit against a doctor in California whom he accused
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of mailing abortion pills that his girlfriend used to terminate
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her pregnancy. The attorney behind the case is Jonathan Mitchell,
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who is known for counseling private citizens on suing people
55:42
who facilitate abortions and who designed the Texas law that
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enables such cases. Until Monday, Mitchell had filed lawsuits only
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on behalf of men who wanted to bring legal action
55:53
against people who had helped their partners have an abortion.
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Mitchell was now representing the woman who says she did
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not consent to taking the abortion pills, and he declined
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to comment to The Washington Post. The Post is not
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naming the woman because of the nature of her allegations
56:09
in the civil suit. Monday's complaint appears to be the
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first time a woman has filed a wrongful death abortion
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lawsuit in federal court. The details paint a picture of
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two people who conceived and fought over how to proceed
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with devastating results. According to the complaint, some of this
56:27
is having the really sympathetic case and saying, look how
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irresponsible the defendants were. They were willing to give whomever
56:34
these medications, and that person took it and used it
56:37
in the farious ways, said Carmel Schocker, a law professor
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at Harvard Law School. The woman's former partner declined to comment.
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The pair lived next door to each other in Corpus Christi, Texas,
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where the ex partner was stationed as he trained to
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become a Marine Corps pilot. The complaint says about six
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months ago, the woman, who has three children from a
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previous marriage, suspected she was pregnant and texted him asking
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him what he would want to do. According to the lawsuit,
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he suggested an abortion. According to the text screenshots the
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woman included in her complaint, on February fourth, she took
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a pregnancy test that was positive. The next morning, her
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ex partner sent her a text saying he would get
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the two drugs needed to discontinue the pregnancy. According to
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the complaint, the woman told him to stop right there,
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The lawsuit states, on February eleventh, he allegedly told her
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that the abortion pills had arrived. According to the lawsuit,
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he repeatedly brought the abortion pills to the woman's home,
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but she refused to take them. He allegedly tried to
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pressure her into taking them for more than a month.
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During that time, he showed her a receipt for the
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pills he bought from Aid Access, The complaint alleges. In
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early April, he suggested that he and the woman spend
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time together in a trust building night, the complaint says,
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proposed that he would make warm, relaxing tea instead of alcohol,
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and the pair could catch up on a show they
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had been watching together. She agreed. She did so, the
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lawsuit says, because she viewed this as a last ditch
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opportunity to get on reasonable terms. On April fifth, he
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visited the woman's home and made her hot chocolate. According
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to the complaint, within thirty minutes of drinking it, she
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began hemorrhaging and cramping, the lawsuit states. In one text
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to her ex partner later that night, she wrote, I
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am gushing blood. It adds, due to time constraints, we
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will need to end this article at this time. This
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concludes the reading of the Washington Post for today, Tuesday,
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August twelfth, twenty twenty five. Your reader today has been
58:46
Roger Hamperion. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions
58:50
concerning this program, please feel free to call us at
58:53
eight five nine four two two sixty three nine zero.
58:57
Thank you for listening, and now please stay tis UN
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for continued programming on Radio I