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WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump publicly urged his Justice Department on Saturday to take action against his enemies, the latest in a series of moves that critics say have shattered the agency’s traditional independence.
In a social media post addressing “Pam” — apparently Attorney General Pam Bondi — Trump fumed over the lack of legal action against California Senator Adam Schiff and New York Attorney General Letitia James, both Democrats.
Schiff and James are among a handful of people who have been accused by a close Trump ally, Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte, of falsifying documents on mortgage applications.
“We can’t delay any longer, it’s killing our reputation and credibility,” Trump said.
On Friday, Trump fired the federal prosecutor who was overseeing the probe into James, after the attorney reportedly insisted there was insufficient evidence to charge her with mortgage fraud.
Erik Siebert, US attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, told staff of his resignation via an email on Friday, the New York Times and other US media outlets reported.
“I fired him, and there is a GREAT CASE, and many lawyers, and legal pundits, say so,” Trump said Saturday, apparently referencing the probe into James.
Schiff and James have separately clashed with Trump in prior years, leading investigations that the Republican president alleges were political witch hunts.
During Trump’s first term in the White House, Schiff, then a member of the US House, led the prosecution at the president’s first impeachment trial, which was based on allegations he pressured Ukraine to interfere in the 2020 election.
Trump was eventually acquitted by the Senate then, and again in 2021 when he was impeached a second time, this time for “incitement of insurrection” connected to the January 6, 2021 invasion of Congress by his supporters.
After Trump left the White House, James brought a major civil fraud case against him, alleging he and his company had unlawfully inflated his wealth and manipulated the value of properties to obtain favorable bank loans or insurance terms.
A state judge ordered Trump to pay $464 million in that suit, but a higher court later removed the financial penalty while upholding the underlying judgment.
“They impeached me twice, and indicted me (5 times!), OVER NOTHING. JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!” Trump wrote Saturday.
Trump has also been convicted of 34 felonies related to hush money payments to a porn star.
Earlier this month, a US appeals court upheld a jury’s $83.3 million penalty against Trump for defaming author E. Jean Carroll, whom he was found to have sexually assaulted.
Investigations into Trump over alleged mishandling of classified material and attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election were abandoned when he was re-elected last year.
Trump said he would be nominating White House aide Lindsey Halligan, who has been leading a review of the Smithsonian Institution’s content for “divisive or partisan narratives,” to fill Siebert’s position.
 

LONDON: A British couple held in Afghanistan for more than seven months on undisclosed charges arrived in the UK on Saturday after being released by the Taliban.
Peter and Barbie Reynolds, aged 80 and 76, respectively, who were freed on Friday, were pictured smiling and looking to be in good health as they arrived at Heathrow Airport.

The couple walked out of the arrivals area accompanied by their daughter and British special representative to Afghanistan Richard Lindsay.
The couple had lived in Afghanistan for 18 years and ran an education and training organization in the country’s central province of Bamiyan, choosing to remain in the country after the Taliban seized power.
They had been held for nearly eight months following their arrest as they traveled to their home in Bamyan province, central Afghanistan, in February. They had been held in a maximum security prison, and faced long periods of separation.
Their plight underlined the concerns of the West over the actions of the Taliban since they overthrew the country’s US-backed government in a 2021 lightning offensive.
Analysts say the move by the Taliban, which was facilitated by Qatar, could be part of a broader effort to gain international recognition.
Earlier this month, the Taliban said they had reached an agreement with US envoys on a prisoner exchange as part of an effort to normalize relations. The meeting came after the Taliban in March released US citizen George Glezmann, who was abducted while traveling through Afghanistan as a tourist.

It remains unclear what, if anything, the Taliban had been promised for the Reynolds’ release. However, Afghanistan’s list of needs is long.
The Western aid money that flowed into it after the 2001 US-led invasion has been severely cut as needs continue to mount, particularly after a magnitude 6 quake on Aug. 31. Its economy remains on shaky ground.
But Western nations remain hesitant to provide money to the Taliban government, citing their restrictions on women and personal freedoms.

‘Bewildered’ with arrest
After their return, Peter Reynolds told The Times that the and his wife had “begun to think that we would never be released, or that we were even being held until we were executed.”
“We are bewildered as to why any of this happened and are very happy that this ordeal is over,” he said.
Barbie said the toughest thing about the affair was “seeing my 80-year-old husband struggling to get into the back of a police truck with his hands and ankles chained.”
Their family has spoken of their “immense joy” on hearing that the Reynolds were released, and there were emotional scenes when they arrived in Doha on a flight from Kabul to be met by their daughter.
“This experience has reminded us of the power of diplomacy, empathy and international cooperation,” their four children said in a joint statement on Friday.
“While the road to recovery will be long as our parents regain their health and spend time with their family, today is a day of tremendous joy and relief.”
Qatar played a key role in helping to free the couple after mounting fears about their health.
During their arrest last February, the couple were first held in a maximum security facility, “then in underground cells, without daylight, before being transferred” to the intelligence services in Kabul, UN experts have said.
The couple married in Kabul in 1970 and have spent almost two decades living in Afghanistan, running educational programs for women and children. They also became Afghan citizens.
The Taliban authorities have not explained why the pair were detained.

‘We are Afghan citizens’

Speaking at Kabul airport on Friday before they left, Barbie Reynolds said the couple had been treated well.
“We are looking forward to returning to Afghanistan if we can. We are Afghan citizens,” she added.
Their son, Jonathan, echoed to the BBC that his parents were hoping to return to the country they love.
“They have not just a heart for the people of Afghanistan, but they have strategy as well, and the work they’ve been doing has been very fruitful and has a massively positive impact,” he said.
In July, independent UN human rights experts called on the Taliban government to free the couple, warning that they risked “irreparable harm or even death” as their health deteriorated.
Their family had made repeated pleas for their release, citing their failing health.
Taliban foreign ministry spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi said on Friday the couple “had violated the laws of Afghanistan” and were released from custody “following the judicial process.”
Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the “long-awaited news will come as a huge relief” to the family.
The British government advises against traveling to Afghanistan, warning that its ability to offer consular assistance is “extremely limited.”
Russia is the only country to have officially recognized the Taliban government, which has imposed a strict version of Islamic law and been accused of sweeping rights violations.
Dozens of foreign nationals have been arrested since the Taliban returned to power in August 2021 following the withdrawal of US-led NATO forces.