SC reserves ruling on Panamagate case, Predictions

Copy from  Dawn.com

 

What are the possible outcomes of the case? And what are politicians saying about it? Read on to find out.

As the Supreme Court (SC) reserved its judgement in the Panama Papers case after hearing arguments from all sides, politicians and analysts weighed in on the possible outcomes of the case.

The long-drawn-out trial that began with the Panama Papers leak last year was followed by the formation of a joint investigation team (JIT) probe into the Sharif family's assets.

A week after the submission of the JIT report, the SC resumed its hearings on Monday, deliberating over arguments presented by lawyers representing the defendants — the Sharif family and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar — and the petitioners; the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), the Jamaat-i-Islami, and Awami Muslim League chief Sheikh Rashid.

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The PM's possible options

Justice (retd) Shaiq Usmani

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The prime minister has the powers to dissolve the assembly without any reason, so he could take that route if he wishes. Provincial assemblies would remain in such a scenario, unless they too decide to dissolve themselves. But there is no problem in Punjab right now [so they might not opt for this].

All of this [the case] is based on financial irregularity. The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) could be ordered to investigate [the case], by registering a First Information Report and submit its findings to the court.

The petition was filed against PM Nawaz Sharif, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and Captain Safdar, so if the decision is unfavourable for the defendants, it would be against these three and not Maryam Nawaz, as she is not an office holder.

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'PM's disqualification likely'

Legal expert Ahsanuddin Sheikh

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The chief of the bench, Justice Ejaz Afzal, has said that the court has not been satisfied so I feel that the case is going towards disqualification.

Two judges have already said that the PM should be disqualified according to Article 184 (3).

Read more: 13 damning remarks made by Justice Khosa on Panamagate

Although that was a minority judgement, it has persuasive value. Based on this and today's proceedings, I feel that a disqualification is likely.

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Possible outcomes

Legal expert Asad Rahim Khan

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The first possible outcome is that the court dismisses the petition citing, among other reasons, lack of evidence in the JIT report.

The second possibility is that the PM is disqualified through Articles 62 and 63 ─ the Sadiq and Ameen clauses ─ for contradictory statements, as well as unrelated offences of perjury or submission of false documents.

Third, the court may send a reference premised on assets beyond means to the accountability court, in keeping with the defendants' arguments that a fair and full trial take place under Article 10A, a fundamental right afforded any citizen of Pakistan.

That said, it is well possible that the court rules that due process concerns have already been met for the purposes of disqualification, and that a trial may occur in addition to, rather than in spite of, said disqualification.

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'SC needs to be solid in its reasoning'

Analyst Nusrat Javed

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It was important to reserve judgement on the case (as opposed to a short order) because the SC needs to be very solid in its reasoning; for example, whether it chooses to disqualify the prime minister or to send the case to a trial court ─ because what the SC decides in this case will set a precedent for future cases.

This will set a precedent because rather than approaching election tribunals, the people will directly reach out to the SC and ask it to disqualify future ministers and prime ministers on the basis of Article 184(3).

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'No good news for Nawaz'

PPP's Qamar Zaman Kaira

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As a layman, it appears that there is no good news for Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Sheikh Rashid was correct in saying that the SC should become the protectors of the JIT because if they [Sharif family] are let off, no one knows what will happen to the the team's members.

It is possible that the court believes Nawaz's fate has already been written, so it is better to proceed with the main judgement.

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'Qatari ex-PM did not come because case based on lies'

JI Emir Sirajul Haq

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For the first time we have seen that a law, which had been very effective against the weak, has now become effective against the powerful.

Qatar's Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabber Al-Thani did not come because he knew that the case was based on lies.

We demand that the case should be decided according to Articles 62 and 63.

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'Decision likely in a week'

PTI's Fawad Chaudhry

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The SC's decision is expected to be announced in a week or a maximum of 10 days.

The Sharif family's lawyers did not tell the court how Hassan, Hussain and Maryam Nawaz became billionaires.

Naeem Bokhari said in court that the PM has been continuously dishonest and has lied on the floor of the assembly, in the court and to the JIT.

Honest leadership is required to lead Pakistan, which Nawaz Sharif is not.

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'A PPP PM would have been served with contempt'

PPP's Sherry Rehman

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A strategy of pressuring and threatening is being followed.

Had a PPP prime minister said what Nawaz Sharif said at the Lowari Tunnel inauguration ceremony yesterday, he would have been served a contempt of court notice.

Come out and say in clear terms who you think is creating this conspiracy.

Read More

"I'll be back soon, so stand-by!"

 

Emily Shugerman, New York: Senator John McCain has responded to the outpouring of good wishes he has received after it was announced he was suffering from brain cancer, saying "I'll be back soon, so stand-by!" The Senator's office had announced the day before that he had been diagnosed with a glioblastoma, one of the most common but also one of the most malignant types of brain tumours.
The news was met with a flood of support for the feisty 80-year-old Senator, who has worked in public service since graduating the US Naval Academy in 1958.

Mr McCain thanked his well-wishers on Thursday, tweeting: "I greatly appreciate the outpouring of support - unfortunately for my sparring partners in Congress, I'll be back soon, so stand-by!"
The 30-year Senate veteran is known for taking a principled stance on issues, even if it means disagreeing with his party – and his president.
Shortly before his diagnosis was revealed, Mr McCain had issued a statement urging his fellow Republicans delay their long-awaited vote on Obamacare in order to receive feedback from citizens, governors, and members of both parties.

The Senator has also been an outspoken critic of the President, first vowing not to vote for him over the Access Hollywood tapes, and later pushing for a thorough investigation of Mr Trump's ties to Russia.
The President in a statement on Wednesday called Mr McCain a "fighter".
"Melania and I send our thoughts and prayers to Senator McCain, Cindy, and their entire family," he said. "Get well soon."
Experts have said Mr McCain's tumour – which doctors discovered during a surgery to remove a blood clot over his left eye – is a particularly aggressive variety. Treatment will likely include surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. Even with treatment, median survival for glioblastoma is 12 to 18 months.
In their statement, Mr McCain's office said the Senator is "confident that any future treatment will be effective". 
(Published in Independent.co.uk on 20th July, 2017)

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T r u m p ’ s L i e s

(This article originaly published in New York Times on 20th July, 2017)

Many Americans have become accustomed to President Trump’s lies. But as regular as they have become, the country should not allow itself to become numb to them. So we have catalogued nearly every outright lie he has told publicly since taking the oath of office. Updated July 20: The president is still lying, so we've added to this list, and provided links to the facts in each case.

By DAVID LEONHARDT and STUART A. THOMPSON UPDATED July 20, 2017

 Jan. 21 “I wasn't a fan of Iraq. I didn't want to go into Iraq.” (He was for an invasion before he was against it.)  Jan. 21 “A reporter for Time magazine — and I have been on their cover 14 or 15 times. I think we have the all-time record in the history of Time magazine.” (Trump was on the cover 11 times and Nixon appeared 55 times.)  Jan. 23 “Between 3 million and 5 million illegal votes caused me to lose the popular vote.” (There's no evidence of illegal voting.)  Jan. 25 “Now, the audience was the biggest ever. But this crowd was massive. Look how far back it goes. This crowd was massive.” (Official aerial photos show Obama's 2009 inauguration was much more heavily attended.)  Jan. 25 “Take a look at the Pew reports (which show voter fraud.)” (The report never mentioned voter fraud.)  Jan. 25 “You had millions of people that now aren't insured anymore.” (The real number is less than 1 million, according to the Urban Institute.)  Jan. 25 “So, look, when President Obama was there two weeks ago making a speech, very nice speech. Two people were shot and killed during his speech. You can't have that.” (There were no gun homicide victims in Chicago that day.)  Jan. 26 “We've taken in tens of thousands of people. We know nothing about them. They can say they vet them. They didn't vet them. They have no papers. How can you vet somebody when you don't know anything about them and you have no papers? How do you vet them? You can't.” (Vetting lasts up to two years.)  Jan. 26 “I cut off hundreds of millions of dollars off one particular plane, hundreds of millions of dollars in a short period of time. It wasn't like I spent, like, weeks, hours, less than hours, and many, many hundreds of millions of dollars. And the plane's going to be better.” (Most of the cuts were already planned.)  Jan. 28 “The coverage about me in the @nytimes and the @washingtonpost has been so false and angry that the Times actually apologized to its dwindling subscribers and readers.” (It never apologized.)  Jan. 29 “The Cuban-Americans, I got 84 percent of that vote.” (There is no support for this.)  Jan. 30 “Only 109 people out of 325,000 were detained and held for questioning. Big problems at airports were caused by Delta computer outage.” (At least 746 people were detained and processed, and the Delta outage happened two days later.)  Feb. 3 “Professional anarchists, thugs and paid protesters are proving the point of the millions of people who voted to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” (There is no evidence of paid protesters.)  Feb. 4 “After being forced to apologize for its bad and inaccurate coverage of me after winning the election, the FAKE NEWS @nytimes is still lost!” (It never apologized.)  Feb. 5 “We had 109 people out of hundreds of thousands of travelers and all we did was vet those people very, very carefully.” (About 60,000 people were affected.)  Feb. 6 “I have already saved more than $700 million when I got involved in the negotiation on the F-35.” (Much of the price drop was projected before Trump took office.)  Feb. 6 “It's gotten to a point where it is not even being reported. And in many cases, the very, very dishonest press doesn't want to report it.” (Terrorism has been reported on, often in detail.)  Feb. 6 “The failing @nytimes was forced to apologize to its subscribers for the poor reporting it did on my election win. Now they are worse!” (It didn't apologize.)  Feb. 6 “And the previous administration allowed it to happen because we shouldn't have been in Iraq, but we shouldn't have gotten out the way we got out. It created a vacuum, ISIS was formed.” (The group’s origins date to 2004.)  Feb. 7 “And yet the murder rate in our country is the highest it’s been in 47 years, right? Did you know that? Forty-seven years.” (It was higher in the 1980s and '90s.)  Feb. 7 “I saved more than $600 million. I got involved in negotiation on a fighter jet, the F-35.” (The Defense Department projected this price drop before Trump took office.)  Feb. 9 “Chris Cuomo, in his interview with Sen. Blumenthal, never asked him about his long-term lie about his brave ‘service’ in Vietnam. FAKE NEWS!” (It was part of Cuomo's first question.)  Feb. 9 “Sen. Richard Blumenthal now misrepresents what Judge Gorsuch told him?” (The Gorsuch comments were later corroborated.)  Feb. 10 “I don’t know about it. I haven’t seen it. What report is that?” (Trump knew about Flynn's actions for weeks.)  Feb. 12 “Just leaving Florida. Big crowds of enthusiastic supporters lining the road that the FAKE NEWS media refuses to mention. Very dishonest!” (The media did cover it.)  Feb. 16 “We got 306 because people came out and voted like they've never seen before so that's the way it goes. I guess it was the biggest Electoral College win since Ronald Reagan.” (George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama all won bigger margins in the Electoral College.)  Feb. 16 “That’s the other thing that was wrong with the travel ban. You had Delta with a massive problem with their computer system at the airports.” (Delta's problems happened two days later.)  Feb. 16 “Walmart announced it will create 10,000 jobs in the United States just this year because of our various plans and initiatives.” (The jobs are a result of its investment plans announced in October 2016.)  Feb. 16 “When WikiLeaks, which I had nothing to do with, comes out and happens to give, they’re not giving classified information.” (Not always. They have released classified information in the past.)  Feb. 16 “We had a very smooth rollout of the travel ban. But we had a bad court. Got a bad decision.” (The rollout was chaotic.)  Feb. 16 “They’re giving stuff — what was said at an office about Hillary cheating on the debates. Which, by the way, nobody mentions. Nobody mentions that Hillary received the questions to the debates.” (It was widely covered.)  Feb. 18 “And there was no way to vet those people. There was no documentation. There was no nothing.” (Refugees receive multiple background checks, taking up to two years.)  Feb. 18 “You look at what's happening in Germany, you look at what's happening last night in Sweden. Sweden, who would believe this?” (Trump implied there was a terror attack in Sweden, but there was no such attack.)  Feb. 24 “By the way, you folks are in here — this place is packed, there are lines that go back six blocks.” (There was no evidence of long lines.)  Feb. 24 “ICE came and endorsed me.” (Only its union did.)  Feb. 24 “Obamacare covers very few people — and remember, deduct from the number all of the people that had great health care that they loved that was taken away from them — it was taken away from them.” (Obamacare increased coverage by a net of about 20 million.)  Feb. 27 “Since Obamacare went into effect, nearly half of the insurers are stopped and have stopped from participating in the Obamacare exchanges.” (Many fewer pulled out.)  Feb. 27 “On one plane, on a small order of one plane, I saved $725 million. And I would say I devoted about, if I added it up, all those calls, probably about an hour. So I think that might be my highest and best use.” (Much of the price cut was already projected.)  Feb. 28 “And now, based on our very strong and frank discussions, they are beginning to do just that.” (NATO countries agreed to meet defense spending requirements in 2014.)  Feb. 28 “The E.P.A.’s regulators were putting people out of jobs by the hundreds of thousands.” (There's no evidence that the Waters of the United States rule caused severe job losses.)  Feb. 28 “We have begun to drain the swamp of government corruption by imposing a five-year ban on lobbying by executive branch officials.” (They can't lobby their former agency but can still become lobbyists.)  March 3 “It is so pathetic that the Dems have still not approved my full Cabinet.” (Paperwork for the last two candidates was still not submitted to the Senate.)  March 4 “Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my ‘wires tapped’ in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!” (There's no evidence of a wiretap.)  March 4 “How low has President Obama gone to tap my phones during the very sacred election process. This is Nixon/Watergate. Bad (or sick) guy!” (There's no evidence of a wiretap.)  March 7 “122 vicious prisoners, released by the Obama Administration from Gitmo, have returned to the battlefield. Just another terrible decision!” (113 of them were released by President George W. Bush.)  March 13 “I saved a lot of money on those jets, didn't I? Did I do a good job? More than $725 million on them.” (Much of the cost cuts were planned before Trump.)  March 13 “First of all, it covers very few people.” (About 20 million people gained insurance under Obamacare.)  March 15 “On the airplanes, I saved $725 million. Probably took me a half an hour if you added up all of the times.” (Much of the cost cuts were planned before Trump.)  March 17 “I was in Tennessee — I was just telling the folks — and half of the state has no insurance company, and the other half is going to lose the insurance company.” (There's at least one insurer in every Tennessee county.)  March 20 “With just one negotiation on one set of airplanes, I saved the taxpayers of our country over $700 million.” (Much of the cost cuts were planned before Trump.)  March 21 “To save taxpayer dollars, I’ve already begun negotiating better contracts for the federal government — saving over $700 million on just one set of airplanes of which there are many sets.” (Much of the cost cuts were planned before Trump.)  March 22 “I make the statement, everyone goes crazy. The next day they have a massive riot, and death, and problems.” (Riots in Sweden broke out two days later and there were no deaths.)  March 22 “NATO, obsolete, because it doesn’t cover terrorism. They fixed that.” (It has fought terrorism since the 1980s.)  March 22 “Well, now, if you take a look at the votes, when I say that, I mean mostly they register wrong — in other words, for the votes, they register incorrectly and/or illegally. And they then vote. You have tremendous numbers of people.” (There's no evidence of widespread voter fraud.)  March 29 “Remember when the failing @nytimes apologized to its subscribers, right after the election, because their coverage was so wrong. Now worse!” (It didn't apologize.)  March 31 “We have a lot of plants going up now in Michigan that were never going to be there if I — if I didn’t win this election, those plants would never even think about going back. They were gone.” (These investments were already planned.)  April 2 “And I was totally opposed to the war in the Middle East which I think finally has been proven, people tried very hard to say I wasn’t but you’ve seen that it is now improving.” (He was for an invasion before he was against it.)  April 2 “Now, my last tweet — you know, the one that you are talking about, perhaps — was the one about being, in quotes, wiretapped, meaning surveilled. Guess what, it is turning out to be true.” (There is still no evidence.)  April 5 “You have many states coming up where they’re going to have no insurance company. O.K.? It’s already happened in Tennessee. It’s happening in Kentucky. Tennessee only has half coverage. Half the state is gone. They left.” (Every marketplace region in Tennessee had at least one insurer.)  April 6 “If you look at the kind of cost-cutting we’ve been able to achieve with the military and at the same time ordering vast amounts of equipment — saved hundreds of millions of dollars on airplanes, and really billions, because if you take that out over a period of years it’s many billions of dollars — I think we’ve had a tremendous success.” (Much of the price cuts were already projected.)  April 11 “I like Steve, but you have to remember he was not involved in my campaign until very late. I had already beaten all the senators and all the governors, and I didn’t know Steve.” (He knew Steve Bannon since 2011.)  April 12 “You can't do it faster, because they're obstructing. They're obstructionists. So I have people — hundreds of people that we're trying to get through. I mean you have — you see the backlog. We can't get them through.” (At this point, he had not nominated anyone for hundreds of positions.)  April 12 “The New York Times said the word wiretapped in the headline of the first edition. Then they took it out of there fast when they realized.” (There were separate headlines for print and web, but neither were altered.)  April 12 “The secretary general and I had a productive discussion about what more NATO can do in the fight against terrorism. I complained about that a long time ago and they made a change, and now they do fight terrorism.” (NATO has been engaged in counterterrorism efforts since the 1980s.)  April 12 “Mosul was supposed to last for a week and now they’ve been fighting it for many months and so many more people died.” (The campaign was expected to take months.)  April 16 “Someone should look into who paid for the small organized rallies yesterday. The election is over!” (There's no evidence of paid protesters.)  April 18 “The fake media goes, ‘Donald Trump changed his stance on China.’ I haven’t changed my stance.” (He did.)  April 21 “On 90 planes I saved $725 million. It's actually a little bit more than that, but it's $725 million.” (Much of the price cuts were already projected.)  April 21 “When WikiLeaks came out ... never heard of WikiLeaks, never heard of it.” (He criticized it as early as 2010.)  April 27 “I want to help our miners while the Democrats are blocking their healthcare.” (The bill to extend health benefits for certain coal miners was introduced by a Democrat and was co-sponsored by mostly Democrats.)  April 28 “The trade deficit with Mexico is close to $70 billion, even with Canada it’s $17 billion trade deficit with Canada.” (The U.S. had an $8.1 billion trade surplus, not deficit, with Canada in 2016.)  April 28 “She's running against someone who's going to raise your taxes to the sky, destroy your health care, and he's for open borders — lots of crime.” (Those are not Jon Ossoff's positions.)  April 28 “The F-35 fighter jet program — it was way over budget. I’ve saved $725 million plus, just by getting involved in the negotiation.” (Much of the price cuts were planned before Trump.)  April 29 “As you know, I've been a big critic of China, and I've been talking about currency manipulation for a long time. But I have to tell you that during the election, number one, they stopped.” (China stopped years ago.)  April 29 “I've already saved more than $725 million on a simple order of F-35 planes. I got involved in the negotiation.” (Much of the price cuts were planned before Trump.)  April 29 “We're also getting NATO countries to finally step up and contribute their fair share. They've begun to increase their contributions by billions of dollars, but we are not going to be satisfied until everyone pays what they owe.” (The deal was struck in 2014.)  April 29 “When they talk about currency manipulation, and I did say I would call China, if they were, a currency manipulator, early in my tenure. And then I get there. Number one, they — as soon as I got elected, they stopped.” (China stopped in 2014.)  April 29 “I was negotiating to reduce the price of the big fighter jet contract, the F-35, which was totally out of control. I will save billions and billions and billions of dollars.” (Most of the cuts were planned before Trump.)  April 29 “I think our side's been proven very strongly. And everybody's talking about it.” (There's still no evidence Trump's phones were tapped.)  May 1 “Well, we are protecting pre-existing conditions. And it'll be every good — bit as good on pre-existing conditions as Obamacare.” (The bill weakens protections for people with pre-existing conditions.)  May 1 “The F-35 fighter jet — I saved — I got involved in the negotiation. It's 2,500 jets. I negotiated for 90 planes, lot 10. I got $725 million off the price.” (Much of the price cuts were planned before Trump.)  May 1 “First of all, since I started running, they haven't increased their — you know, they have not manipulated their currency. I think that was out of respect to me and the campaign.” (China stopped years ago.)  May 2 “I love buying those planes at a reduced price. I have been really — I have cut billions — I have to tell you this, and they can check, right, Martha? I have cut billions and billions of dollars off plane contracts sitting here.” (Much of the cost cuts were planned before Trump.)  May 4 “Number two, they’re actually not a currency [manipulator]. You know, since I’ve been talking about currency manipulation with respect to them and other countries, they stopped.” (China stopped years ago.)  May 4 “We’re the highest-taxed nation in the world.” (We're not.)  May 4 “Nobody cares about my tax return except for the reporters.” (Polls show most Americans do care.)  May 8 “You know we’ve gotten billions of dollars more in NATO than we’re getting. All because of me.” (The deal was struck in 2014.)  May 8 “But when I did his show, which by the way was very highly rated. It was high — highest rating. The highest rating he’s ever had.” (Colbert's Late Show debut had nearly two million more viewers.)  May 8 “Director Clapper reiterated what everybody, including the fake media already knows — there is ‘no evidence’ of collusion w/ Russia and Trump.” (Clapper only said he wasn't aware of an investigation.)  May 12 “Again, the story that there was collusion between the Russians & Trump campaign was fabricated by Dems as an excuse for losing the election.” (The F.B.I. was investigating before the election.)  May 12 “When James Clapper himself, and virtually everyone else with knowledge of the witch hunt, says there is no collusion, when does it end?” (Clapper said he wouldn't have been told of an investigation into collusion.)  May 13 “I'm cutting the price of airplanes with Lockheed.” (The cost cuts were planned before he became president.)  May 26 “Just arrived in Italy for the G7. Trip has been very successful. We made and saved the USA many billions of dollars and millions of jobs.” (He's referencing an arms deal that's not enacted and other apparent deals that weren't announced on the trip.)  June 1 “China will be allowed to build hundreds of additional coal plants. So, we can’t build the plants, but they can, according to this agreement. India will be allowed to double its coal production by 2020.” (The agreement doesn’t allow or disallow building coal plants.)  June 1 “I’ve just returned from a trip overseas where we concluded nearly $350 billion of military and economic development for the United States, creating hundreds of thousands of jobs.” (Trump’s figures are inflated and premature.)  June 4 “At least 7 dead and 48 wounded in terror attack and Mayor of London says there is ‘no reason to be alarmed!’” (The mayor was specifically talking about the enlarged police presence on the streets.)  June 5 “The Justice Dept. should have stayed with the original Travel Ban, not the watered down, politically correct version they submitted to S.C.” (Trump signed this version of the travel ban, not the Justice Department.)  June 20 “Well, the Special Elections are over and those that want to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN are 5 and O!” (Republicans have won four special elections this year, while a Democrat won one.)  June 21 “They all say it's 'nonbinding.' Like hell it's nonbinding.” (The Paris climate agreement is nonbinding — and Trump said so in his speech announcing the withdrawal.)  June 21 “Right now, we are one of the highest-taxed nations in the world.” (We're not.)  June 21 “You have a gang called MS-13. ... We are moving them out of the country by the thousands, by the thousands.” (The real number of deportations is smaller.)  June 21 “Your insurance companies have all fled the state of Iowa.” (They haven't.)  June 21 “If [farmers] have a puddle in the middle of their field ... it's considered a lake and you can't touch it. ... We got rid of that one, too, OK?” (The Obama environmental rule to limit pollution in the country’s waters explicitly excludes puddles.)  June 21 “Gary Cohn just paid $200 million in tax in order to take this job, by the way.” (Cohn sold Goldman Sachs stock worth $220 million.)  June 21 “We’re 5 and 0.” (Republicans have won four special elections this year, while a Democrat won one.)  June 22 “Former Homeland Security Advisor Jeh Johnson is latest top intelligence official to state there was no grand scheme between Trump & Russia.” (Johnson, who had a different title, didn't say that.)  June 23 “We are 5 and 0 ... in these special elections.” (Republicans have won four special elections this year, while a Democrat won one.)  June 27 “Ratings way down!” (CNN's ratings were at a five-year high at the time.)  June 28 “Democrats purposely misstated Medicaid under new Senate bill — actually goes up.” (Senate bill would have cut the program deeply.)  June 29 “General Kelly and his whole group — they’ve gotten rid of 6,000 so far.” (The real number of gang members deported is smaller.)  July 6 “As a result of this insistence, billions of dollars more have begun to pour into NATO.” (NATO countries agreed to meet defense spending requirements in 2014.)  July 17 “We’ve signed more bills — and I’m talking about through the legislature — than any president, ever.” (Clinton, Carter, Truman and F.D.R. had signed more at the same point.)

All the President’s Lies

Trump told a public lie

Didn’t tell a public lie

Jan. 2017

Feb.

March

April

Inauguration

July

May

June

President Trump’s political rise was built on a lie (about Barack Obama's birthplace). His lack of truthfulness has also become central to the Russia investigation, with James Comey, the former director of the F.B.I., testifying under oath about Trump's “lies, plain and simple.”

There is simply no precedent for an American president to spend so much time telling untruths. Every president has shaded the truth or told occasional whoppers. No other president — of either party — has behaved as Trump is behaving. He is trying to create an atmosphere in which reality is irrelevant.

We have set a conservative standard here, leaving out many dubious statements (like the claim that his travel ban is “similar” to Obama administration policy). Some people may still take issue with this standard, arguing that the president wasn't speaking literally. But we believe his long pattern of using untruths to serve his purposes, as a businessman and politician, means that his statements are not simply careless errors.

We are using the word “lie” deliberately. Not every falsehood is deliberate on Trump's part. But it would be the height of naïveté to imagine he is merely making honest mistakes. He is lying.

Trump Told Public Lies or Falsehoods Every Day for His First 40 Days

The list above uses the conservative standard of demonstrably false statements. By that standard, Trump told a public lie on at least 20 of his first 40 days as president. But based on a broader standard — one that includes his many misleading statements (like exaggerating military spending in the Middle East) — Trump achieved something remarkable: He said something untrue, in public, every day for the first 40 days of his presidency. The streak didn’t end until March 1.

Told a public lie

Told a public falsehood

Didn’t tell a public lie or falsehood

First day without

a public lie

or falsehood

Jan. 2017

Feb.

March

On days without an untrue statement, he is often absent from Twitter, vacationing at Mar-a-Lago in Florida, or busy golfing.

The end of May was another period of relative public veracity — or at least public quiet — for the president. He seems to have been otherwise occupied, dealing with internal discussions about the Russia investigation and then embarking on a trip through the Middle East and Europe.

Visited a Trump

property and told

no public lies

or falsehoods

May

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

Washington Post reports Trump shared highly classified intelligence with Russians

15

16

17

New York Times reports Trump hoped Comey would “let this go,” referring to the Flynn investigation

Special counsel appointed in investigation of Russia’s ties to the Trump campaign

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

Trump’s trip

overseas

Trump’s Public Lies Sometimes Changed With Repetition

Sometimes, Trump can’t even keep his untruths straight. After he reversed a campaign pledge and declined to label China a currency manipulator, he kept changing his description of when China had stopped the bad behavior. Initially, he said it stopped once he took office. He then changed the turning point to the election, then to since he started talking about it, and then to some uncertain point in the distant past.

When Trump said China stopped manipulating its currency

April 21

“from the time I took office”

April 29

“during the election”

April 30

“as soon as I got elected”

May 1

“since I started running”

MAY 4

“since I’ve been talking about

currency manipulation”

The Public’s Mistrust of Trump Grows

Trump has retained the support of most of his voters as well as the Republican leadership in Congress. But he has still paid some price for his lies. Nearly 60 percent of Americans say the president is not honest, polls show, up from about 53 percent when he took office.

Would you say Donald Trump is honest?

60%

No

Inauguration

55

50

45

40

Yes

35

Dec.

2017

Feb.

March

April

May

June 7

Source: Quinnipiac

David Leonhardt is a New York Times columnist. Stuart A. Thompson is the graphics director for the Opinion section.

Sources: Politifact; Factcheck.org; The Washington Post Fact Checker; The Toronto Star

Nawal Asfour and Ian Prasad Philbrick contributed reporting.

Correction: June 23, 2017
An earlier version of this graphic included an incorrect total for the number of days Donald Trump told a lie during his first two months as president. It was 20, not 25.

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Calibri font and climax in Pakistan

Maryam Nawaz, daughter of Nawaz Sharif, the Prime Minister of Pakistan, has submitted a trust deed to Joint Investigation Team, formed by The Supreme Court, is said to be forged and was writen in Calibri font and the deed was finalised in 2006. But at that time the font Calibri was not available, it's commercial use started one year later in 2007. Moreover, the deed was completed on such a day wich was Saturday, a official holiday in UK. It raises concern about the authenticity of the document.

On thursday, a pannel of three judges of Supreme Court was hearing arguments from representative Raja of Maryam Nawaz, two sons of Nawaz Sharif- Hasan and Hossen Nawaz. But the judges warned that if the documents is found to be forged then Sharif's children will be awarded by 7 years jail.  Hearing of the case started on Monday last and it continued on thursday. According to media reports on this day pannel of judges, comprising 3 supreme court judge, expressed disapointment over lawyer of Sharif's family and accused him having a `Media Trial' outside the court.

If PM Nawaz is found guilty in this case, he would be disqualified and in that scenerio Pakistan would be in turmoil, his brother Shabaz Sharif could be next PM according to media reports. But is he capable to maintain the country? How the army will accept him and what will be their response no one can predict.

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France returns to polls to elect new parliament

• Taken from BBC

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Image copyrightAFP

Image captionThe French parliamentary elections are held in two rounds

French voters are heading to the polls to pick their new MPs, a month after electing political outsider Emmanuel Macron as president.

Mr Macron will be hoping the candidates for his centrist party, La Republique en Marche (Republic on the Move), will pick up the majority of the 577 seats.

The election is held in two rounds, with the second next Sunday.

Victory for Mr Macron's party would be a watershed moment, pushing the two established parties to the sidelines.

Both the centre-right Republicans and the Socialists failed to reach the presidential run-off last month, for the first time in France's post-war history.

Polls opened at 06:00 GMT and close at 18:00, with the first projections expected shortly afterwards.

However, few MPs are expected to be elected in this first round of voting.

Only candidates who win more than 50% of the vote will do so, otherwise all candidates who secure at least 12.5% of registered voters will go into the second round, where the winner takes the seat.

Image copyrightAFP

Image captionJean-Luc Mélenchon (C) campaigns in Marseille

Mr Macron's party, which was only established a little over a year ago, has fielded a selection of candidates from all walks of life - including students, the retired and a bullfighter.

• Can Macron's new party win majority he needs?
• Is Macron the anti-Trump?
• What are Macron's new policies?

LREM candidates have already won 10 out of the 11 seats voted for by French overseas constituencies, and opinion polls suggest they could make the same impact in the mainland.

The new president has already left an impression around the world, in particular for standing up to US leader Donald Trump on issues like climate change.

But the 39-year-old needs to gain a majority to push through the changes he has promised to reform France.

Meanwhile, parties like Marine Le Pen's far-right National Front (FN) and Jean-Luc Mélenchon's far-left France Unbowed are hoping to capitalise on voters turning their back on the mainstream Republicans and Socialists.

However, the winner-takes-all-system tends to favour the big parties, analysts say.

Image copyrightEPA

Image captionNew President Emmanuel Macron has fielded a list of candidates from all walks of life

A number of the constituency races will be worth watching:

• Will Manuel Valls, the unpopular Socialist ex-prime minister rejected as a candidate by both LREM and the Socialists, be ousted from his Essonne seat by Dieudonné MBala MBala, a notorious comic convicted of hate speech, or singer Francis Lalanne - in a 20-candidate contest described by some as a "circus"?

• Will it be third time lucky for Marine Le Pen in the Pas-de-Calais department of northern France - or will she fall to LREM novice Anne Roquet?

• Will LREM junior minister Mounir Mahjoubi, 33, oust Socialist Party leader Jean-Christophe Cambadélis, 65, from a seat in Paris that he has held for 20 years?

• Will Jean-Luc Mélenchon win his battle in Marseille against sitting Socialist Patrick Menucci and LREM first-timer, Corinne Versini?

Image copyrightAFP

Image captionMarine Le Pen (C) campaigns in Calais

The election is taking place amid heightened security after a series of devastating terror attacks in recent years.

Some 50,000 police officers will be on patrol on Sunday.

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