There is less than a year and a half to go until the next US presidential election and one hopeful, former US president Donald Trump, is hoovering up all of the media attention albeit for all the wrong reasons.
Not that it matters to his supporters who, as our US Correspondent Martin Wall reports, were outside the federal courthouse in Miami chanting “We love Trump” as he pleaded not guilty to 37 criminal charges.
It may not have been anywhere near the 50,000 people city authorities had forecast, but of those who turned up by far the greater numbers were supporting the front-runner to secure the Republican nomination to contest the election.
It seems extraordinary that a man facing 37 charges over his handling of classified documents from his one-term stint in the Oval Office even has a chance to seek to return to the White House again.
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Not to mention that he is already facing a separate criminal trial in New York in late March next year arising from allegations that he paid hush money to an adult film star before the 2016 presidential election.
But none of this seems to damage his standing with his millions of supporters and he has been using his legal woes to claim victimhood.
As Wall reports, in a series of messages on his social media platform on Tuesday before departing for the court, the former president again claimed the process was a “witch hunt”.
Mr Trump has alleged that the prosecution is aimed at interfering with the 2024 election in which he is the front-runner to win the Republican Party nomination.
He hit out at US president Joe Biden over his handling of classified material as well as former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton about having a private email server.
Wall has a report on the court proceedings here.
And his account of mingling with the crowd outside the courthouse can be found here.
The White House has been seeking to stay out of it, with Mr Biden refusing to comment on Mr Trump’s legal battles in recent days.
It is going to be a fascinating 16 months until election day in America.
Oireachtas Report
From time to time, Oireachtas committees are established to conduct in-depth examinations of specific issues with a view to developing recommendations for Government.
The Committee on the Eighth Amendment is one example, as is the new Committee on Assisted Dying, which met for the first time this week.
The Committee on Autism, chaired by Fine Gael Senator Micheál Carrigy, was set up to consider matters relating to the services and supports provided by the State for people with autism. It has been working away quietly on the issue for most of the last year.
In our lead story, Jack Horgan-Jones reports how the committee was “shocked and alarmed” to learn about the financial impact of autism.
Among its 109 recommendations is a suggestion that the State should subsidise travel for disability workers returning to Ireland to fill positions to help tackle a staffing crisis in autism services.
It also recommends new laws be put in place to oversee the enforcement of the State’s autism strategy, as well as a range of payments for families and individuals with autism, and measures targeted at improving conditions in the sector.
The report is being officially launched at Leinster House this morning.
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Best Reads
Budget-demands alert! Fine Gael is holding a special parliamentary party meeting this evening on the upcoming budget – still four months away let’s not forget. Jennifer Bray has been finding out what the party’s politicians want to see included, with members set to call for a €15 increase in the State pension, a €500 hike in the rent credit and the reintroduction of mortgage-interest relief.
The Government’s proposed hate crime law is currently being debated in the Seanad. Sarah Burns reports on Minister for Justice Helen McEntee’s contribution. She said that the proposed legislation has been subjected to “deliberate misinformation and distortion” from “fringe commentators and US-based social media personalities”. Ms McEntee said the legislation was not “radical, as some would claim” but instead “proportionate”, evidence-based and in line with that in other countries similar to Ireland.
In her column Miriam Lord has a look at how Taoiseach Leo Varadkar made a touching plea for TDs to behave themselves.
Outside the world of politics, tributes have been paid to Aslan frontman Christy Dignam, whose death was announced on Tuesday. Tony Clayton-Lea writes that Chirsty was “born to sing” noting his father’s love of opera and his teenage years when he was “struck by the twin musical forces of The Beatles and David Bowie.
“There was no going back for him”.
Playbook
Dáil proceedings start with an opportunity for TDs to ask about Topical Issues at 9.12am.
A People Before Profit Private Members’ Bill on bringing in equal pay for young workers – the standard minimum wage rate of €11.30 per hour only applies to people over 20 – is debated from 10am.
Leaders’ Questions is at noon followed by questions on policy or legislation and Taoiseach’s Questions.
Government Business from 2.49pm starts with statements on the impact of its five-year policy for rural Ireland before debates on lobbying and road traffic legislation in the evening.
The weekly Dáil votes are at 9.04pm.
Representatives of the Health Service Executive are before the Committee on Health at 9.30am to be quizzed on the implementation of the cross-party Sláintecare plan.
DAA chief executive Kenny Jacobs is to appear at the Committee on Transport, which is examining the Dublin Airport operator’s plan for the summer as well as recruitment and training issues.
The Committee on Budgetary Oversight will hear from international aid organisation Oxfam from 5.30pm.
The full Dáil, Seanad and Committee schedules can be found here; here; and here.
