Trump permanently shuts down his social media site after a month; may join another
Washington, Jun 3: Donald Trump has permanently closed his blog, a webpage where the former US president shared his fiery speeches and statements after being banned by social media giants, including Facebook and Twitter.
The page titled From the Desk of Donald J. Trump has been removed from Trump's website after going live less than a month earlier, his spokesperson Jason Miller told CNBC news on Wednesday.
It was just auxiliary to the broader efforts we have and are working on, Miller said, adding that the webpage will not be returning .
Hoping to have more information on the broader efforts soon, but I do not have a precise awareness of timing, Miller said.
Asked later whether the move was a precursor to 74-year-old Trump, a Republican, joining another social media platform, Miller said: Yes, actually, it is. Stay tuned!
The former president, who left office on January 20 indicating to run for the White House again in 2024, has long accused social media giants, including Facebook and Twitter where he had tens of millions of followers, of nursing a political bias and censoring conservatives.
Facebook, Instagram and other social media outlets also banned his account, alleging that his postings incite violence after a violent mob of his supporters stormed the Capitol on January 6.
Trump, who lost to his Democractic Party rival, Joe Biden in the November 4 presidential election, was accused of inciting riots in the US Capitol on January 6 which left five people, including a police officer, dead.
The short-lived blog, unveiled last month, was dubbed as a new communications platform at the time of its launch.
Miller had said that the Desk page was a great resource to find Trump's statements, but this is not a new social media platform.
Trump's blog struggled to engage with the people on a large scale, NBC News reported a week after its launch, citing data compiled with BuzzSumo.
After being banned by Twitter in January in an unprecedented move, Trump slammed the California-based microblogging site, vowing that he and his support base would not be silenced.
At the time of permanent suspension, Trump, who is now based in his resort in Florida, had 88.7 million followers and followed 51 people.
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SC seeks ED's response on journalist's bail plea in money laundering case
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to file its response within three days on a bail plea of journalist Mahesh Langa in a money laundering case linked to an alleged financial fraud.
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi also asked senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the jailed journalist, to file rejoinder, if needed, to the ED's response within two days of it being filed.
The top court fixed the case for further hearing on December 15.
During the brief hearing on Monday, Sibal said a journalist has been facing as many as six cases.
"The journalist is accused of extortion," the counsel for the ED said and sought a short adjournment on the ground that Solicitor General Tuhar Mehta was unavailable at the moment.
The top court on September 8 sought responses from the Gujarat government and the ED on Langa's bail plea.
While issuing the notices on Langa's bail plea, the bench asked, "What kind of a journalist is he?"
"With due respect, there are some very genuine journalists. But there are also people who on their scooter say we are 'patrakar' (journalists) and what they actually do everybody knows," the bench told Sibal.
Sibal replied that these are all allegations.
"In one FIR, he gets anticipatory bail, then a second FIR is lodged and again anticipatory bail is granted but now he is booked under a third FIR for income tax evasion. There are other things also against him," Sibal submitted.
He added that there is a background to the case also.
On July 31, the Gujarat High Court rejected Langa's bail plea in the money laundering case on the grounds that if released on bail, prejudice would be caused to the prosecution case.
On February 25, the ED said it arrested Langa in a money laundering investigation linked to an alleged financial fraud.
He was first arrested in October 2024 in a GST fraud case.
The money laundering case against Langa stems from two FIRs filed by Ahmedabad police on charges of fraud, criminal misappropriation, criminal breach of trust, cheating and causing wrongful loss of lakhs of rupees to certain people.
