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Kaieteur News
Friday March 23 ,2018
Dowd resigns as Trump’s lawyer amid disagreements on strategy Washington (CNN) President Donald Trump’s lead lawyer, John Dowd, has resigned from the President’s personal legal team handling the response to the Russia investigation. “I love the President and wish him well,” Dowd said in a statement to CNN. Dowd, who has urged the President to cooperate with special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe and resist at-
tacking him publicly, resigned as his disagreements with Trump intensified and the President stepped up his attacks on the special counsel. His departure raises questions about the direction of Trump’s legal strategy and could signal a more aggressive posture on Trump’s part. Just days before his resignation, Dowd said in a statement the investigation
should end, initially claiming he was speaking for the President before saying he was only speaking for himself. Two sources familiar with the matter said Trump had encouraged Dowd to speak out. But the statement only drew unwanted headlines and stoked turmoil within the President’s legal team, according to multiple sources. One source familiar with the decision described
Venezuela knocks three zeros off ailing currency amid hyperinflation
Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro holds a sample of the new hundred bolivars note during a meeting with the ministers responsible for the economic sector yesterday. (Miraflores Palace/Handout via REUTERS). CARACAS (Reuters) Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro ordered a re-denomination of the ailing bolivar currency yesterday, by knocking three zeroes off amid hyperinflation and a crippling economic crisis. The measure to divide the so-called bolivar fuerte - or “strong bolivar” - currency by 1,000 would take effect from June 4, the socialist leader said. It would not have any impact on the bolivar’s value. The move illustrates the collapse of the bolivar, which has fallen 99.99 percent against the U.S. dollar on the black market since Maduro came to power in April 2013. A $100 purchase of bolivars then would now be worth just a single U.S. cent. But Maduro, 55, presented the move as a positive development intended to protect Venezuela against currency speculators and a U.S.led “economic war” against the OPEC member. Critics said the currency measure was no panacea for Venezuela’s economic mess and just a psychological ploy to make Venezuelans forget the extent of the
hyperinflation.While the move sounds like a currency revaluation, economists consider it a currency re-denomination as the country is not changing the value of its official exchange rate. Venezuelans will not need to turn in the currency now in their wallets but all new currency printed or minted will be in the new denominations. Millions of Venezuelans are suffering from shortages of food and medicines during a fifth year of recession that critics blame on government incompetence and corruption, but Maduro says is due to Western hostility against him plus the fall of oil prices. “Venezuela has been victim of a brutal, economic war,” said Maduro, whose government has been targeted by the United States, European Union and Canada for sanctions over allegations of abusing democracy and rights. Maduro made the announcement during an event shown live on TV, flanked by aides and bankers, to discuss Venezuela’s new petro
cryptocurrency. Venezuela’s government similarly re-denominated its currency by knocking off three zeroes a decade ago. Prices in Venezuela rose 6,147 percent in the 12 months through February, according to estimates by the country’s opposition-led National Assembly, broadly in line with independent economists’ figures. Maduro is running for reelection on May 20 in a vote critics say is rigged to extend the socialists’ rule. The opposition coalition is boycotting the vote, though one leader Henri Falcon has broken ranks to run against Maduro. He is promising to dollarize Venezuela’s economy as a way to beat hyperinflation and regain investor confidence. “Amid the biggest economic collapse in the history of Latin America, the government of Nicolas Maduro attempts to hide hyperinflation by knocking zeros off the currency,” said Francisco Rodriguez, a Venezuelan economist and Wall Street analyst working as Falcon’s chief economic adviser.
Dowd’s resignation as a “mutual decision.” Despite public claims that he was happy with him, Trump complained privately in recent days that he thought Dowd was falling short of his duties, a source familiar with his thinking said. He questioned whether he had the energy or capacity to continue on in his role as the lead lawyer for the special counsel’s investigation. It was not immediately clear who would take over as the President’s lead personal attorney, but Trump earlier this week hired another veteran Washington attorney, Joseph diGenova, to join his legal team. DiGenova was expected to play a forward-facing role on the legal team, filling what Trump felt was a lack of voices publicly defending him and challenging the special counsel. DiGenova had publicly
argued that Trump had been “framed” by FBI and Justice Department officials. Dowd’s departure also raises questions about the fate of negotiations between the President’s attorneys and the special counsel’s team over a potential interview with the President as Dowd has been the main point of contact with the special counsel’s team throughout the investigation. One source said there is concern about the void Dowd will leave in his wake, particularly as Trump has had trouble finding top-flight lawyers to join his legal team. Jay Sekulow, one of Trump’s private attorneys, called Dowd a “friend” and said he “has been a valuable member of our legal team.” “We will continue our ongoing representation of the President and our cooperation with the Office of Special Counsel,” Sekulow said in a
statement. The New York Times and The Washington Post first reported Dowd’s resignation. As the investigation seems to be intensifying, the President, according to multiple sources, is convinced he needs to take the reins of his own legal strategy and Trump has recently pushed to bring new attorneys onto his team. The shift distressed some of his lawyers, namely Dowd, who felt blindsided and insulted by the President’s hire of diGenova and other shifts, privately threatening to quit before ultimately resigning on Thursday, two sources said. Trump had also continued to speak regularly with Marc Kasowitz, his longtime lawyer who stepped back from leading the team months ago but still remained involved.