International
US seeks six months in jail for ex-Trump aide Bannon
AFP
The US Justice Department asked a judge Monday to sentence Donald Trump’s former aide Steve Bannon to six months in prison for refusing to testify in Congress’s probe of the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol.
Bannon, a longtime political strategist and vocal advocate for the Republican former president, was found guilty in July on two counts of contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena to testify.
The Justice Department said in a sentencing recommendation that the 68-year-old Bannon should receive the six-month sentence and pay a fine of $200,000 because he repeatedly sought to delay the proceedings by hinting he might cooperate.
Bannon “has pursued a bad-faith strategy of defiance and contempt,” the department said.
The investigation by a special House committee depicted Bannon last week as knowing in advance of the plan by hardline Trump supporters to attack the Capitol to prevent Democrat Joe Biden from being confirmed as the next president.
It also showed him advocating for Congress to block Biden — who defeated Trump in the November 2020 election — from becoming president.
“The rioters who overran the Capitol on January 6 did not just attack a building — they assaulted the rule of law upon which this country was built and through which it endures,” the department said.
“By flouting the Select Committee’s subpoena and its authority, the defendant exacerbated that assault.”
The maximum sentence for contempt of Congress is 12 months, and a $100,000 fine.
The department’s recommendation of six months in prison is at the top end of the standard sentencing guidelines, a calculation based on the context of the crime and the defendant’s own justice record.
Sentencing is set for October 21.
But Bannon, who currently runs a streaming political commentary website, “Bannon’s War Room,” could appeal the sentence, delaying its implementation well into next year.
International
ICE set to become America’s largest security force under Trump’s $75B immigration overhaul
President Donald Trump’s “great and beautiful law” is set to transform U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) into the largest security agency in the country, with a projected budget of $75 billion—a figure that surpasses the military budgets of nearly every country in the world, according to experts.
Under the budget Trump signed on July 4, ICE will receive $45 billion through 2029 to build new detention centers—62% more than the entire federal prison system—which would enable the agency to detain 116,000 people daily, according to analysis by the American Immigration Council (AIC).
An additional $30 billion will fund operations, allowing the hiring of 10,000 new agents to join the existing 20,000, reaching an annual deportation capacity of 1 million people, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
The budget also includes $4.1 billion to recruit 3,000 new Border Patrol agents and 3,000 Customs officers, DHS stated.
These allocations will give immigration enforcement more funding than all other U.S. law enforcement agencies combined, including the FBI, Secret Service, Department of Justice, DEA, and ATF, according to a Cato Institutereport.
ICE’s $75 billion budget would also surpass the military budgets of all but five countries: the United States, China, Russia, India, and Saudi Arabia, according to an analysis by the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC).
A “dramatic” and “outrageous” increase
Civil rights organizations have voiced alarm over the sweeping expansion, especially amid growing reports of human rights violations—including the deaths of 11 migrants in ICE custody since the start of the 2025 fiscal year in October, nearly matching the 12 deaths recorded during all of the previous year.
“We find it outrageous to see such a dramatic increase in funding for an agency that has spent the last several months terrorizing communities, families, and neighborhoods across the country,” said Neera Tanden, president of the Center for American Progress (CAP), during a virtual press call.
Frank Sharry, founder of America’s Voice, a group advocating for immigration reform, described the expansion as “a shocking advance of authoritarianism,” citing incidents in which U.S. citizens have been mistakenly detained by ICE.
“This is empowering an American-style secret police force that could very well go beyond targeting innocent undocumented immigrants to include legal immigrants and U.S. citizens,” Sharry warned.
International
Harvard faces Federal pressure over immigration docs, autonomy dispute intensifies
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ordered Harvard University on Wednesday to hand over documents related to its foreign students, issuing an administrative subpoena after the university allegedly refused to comply voluntarily.
This move marks a new escalation in the ongoing conflict between Donald Trump’s administration and academic institutions. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which operates under DHS, demanded access to “relevant documents” for “immigration law enforcement purposes since January 1, 2020,” according to an official statement.
“Harvard, like other universities, has allowed foreign students to abuse their visa privileges and promote violence and terrorism on campus,” said DHS Deputy Secretary Tricia McLaughlin, who added that the university has “repeatedly refused to cooperate” with previous requests.
Harvard is among several universities facing potential loss of federal funding following reports by Trump’s “Federal Task Force to Combat Antisemitism,” which accused the school of enforcing affirmative action policies and failing to promote what the administration refers to as “diversity of thought.”
Asked about the escalating conflict during a separate meeting on Wednesday, Trump stated, “Harvard has been terrible — completely antisemitic,” but added that he was optimistic the pressure would work and believed that “of course, the government and the university will reach an agreement.”
According to The Harvard Crimson, the university did provide some documentation related to foreign students in April and May, but the government deemed it insufficient and consequently moved to ban its exchange programs and bar international students and scholars.
In June, Harvard sued the Trump administration over this ban. That same month, a federal judge indefinitely blocked the order while litigation continues.
A Harvard spokesperson reaffirmed the university’s commitment to the law but described the DHS demands as “unjustified” and a form of “retaliation” for defending its autonomy against what it considers government overreach — particularly regarding whom private universities may admit, hire, and what they are allowed to teach.
Additionally, Harvard filed another lawsuit in April to reclaim nearly $2 billion in frozen federal funding, which the government has withheld over alleged antisemitic practices.
In its statement on Wednesday, DHS said the administrative subpoena was its “only remaining option” to compel Harvard to comply, and urged other academic institutions facing similar demands to “take note of Harvard’s actions and the consequences.”
International
Mexico launches probe into alleged $25 million bribe to ex-president Peña Nieto
Mexico’s Attorney General announced on Tuesday that an investigation has been opened ex officio into the alleged payment of a multimillion-dollar bribe to former Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto by two Israeli businessmen to secure the sale of spyware software.
The Israeli newspaper The Marker reported last Friday that, amid a legal dispute, two businessmen claimed to have handed the former president $25 million in exchange for being awarded contracts to purchase the Pegasus software.
The ex-president (2012-2018) dismissed the allegations as “completely false” in a message on social media platform X.
“We have opened an investigation file,” Attorney General Alejandro Gertz said during the usual press conference held by Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.
“We will request that Israeli authorities share this media-based information so that we can include it in the investigation,” Gertz added.
On Monday, in an interview with Radiofórmula, Peña Nieto reiterated that the accusation is “a completely baseless insinuation.”
The reports link the businessmen to the sale of Pegasus, a spyware associated with espionage scandals in Colombia, Mexico, and other countries.
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