Three news to start your week: August 28
Donald Trump's federal election interference trial set for March 2024
(Financial Times)
The beginning of Donald Trump's federal criminal trial in March 2024 on accusations of alleged election meddling in the lead-up to the January 6 Capitol riot will present a new logistical difficulty for the former president as he runs for another four years in office.
Trump's request to postpone the trial until after the upcoming election was denied by US District Judge Tanya Chutkan in Washington. The former president "will have to make the trial date work, regardless of his schedule," according to Chutkan.
She instead set the trial's start date for March 4, 2024, the day before "Super Tuesday," when Republican voters are anticipated to cast ballots in more than a dozen states to choose the party's presidential nominee.
DOJ charged over 3,100 with pandemic relief fraud
(New York Times)
According to information provided by the department, as of this week, the federal authorities had accused 3,195 people of pandemic fraud crimes and seized more than $1.4 billion in relief monies.
Included were the findings of a three-month "sweep" against COVID-19 fraud that was completed in July and involved more than 50 US attorneys' offices and numerous federal, state, and local law enforcement organizations.
Three hundred seventy-one individuals were charged with crimes due to the sweep, and 119 were found guilty or entered guilty pleas. According to the Justice Department, 25 defendants had connections to multinational crime networks, while 63 defendants had ties to violent crime.
American Airlines fined $4.1M for keeping fliers on planes too long
(Wall Street Journal)
Due to the excessively long wait times experienced by passengers on numerous flights, American Airlines faces a significant punishment.
Authorities claim that between 2018 and 2021, 43 American aircraft forced passengers to wait more than three hours on the tarmac before being allowed to board, violating federal regulations that were put in place more than ten years ago to prevent such delays.
The US Transportation Department announced that the $4.1 million punishment assessed was the highest ever for protracted tarmac delays. American will receive a credit for half of the fine for the customer compensation it has already provided.
