Chronicle briefs for Nov. 14
DOJ urges judge to reject Trump’s ‘shell game’ in fight over documents seized from Mar-a-Lago
WASHINGTON – The Justice Department accused Donald Trump and his lawyers of “gamesmanship” in the fight over documents seized from the former president’s Mar-a-Lago home.
Trump is claiming he had broad power to designate White House records as “personal” under federal law and that the Justice Department can’t second-guess that decision. But Trump is also arguing that if a court-appointed special master disagrees the documents are “personal,” he should be able to argue that they’re covered by executive privilege.
The Justice Department derided that position in a newly unsealed brief made public on Monday.
Trump “has indicated that he asserts executive privilege only if the special master rejects his assertion that a document is a personal record and determines that it is a presidential record,” the government said. “That is a shell game, and the special master should not indulge it.”
U.S. District Senior Judge Raymond Dearie, the special master overseeing the review of thousands of records seized by the FBI at Mar-a-Lago this summer, has until Dec. 16 to make recommendations to a federal judge in Florida about whether any documents should be kept out of the government’s hands.
Strike by 48,000 University of California academic workers likely to disrupt all 10 campuses
LOS ANGELES – About 48,000 unionized academic workers across the University of California’s 10 campuses – who perform the majority of teaching and research at the state’s premier higher education system – walked off the job Monday morning, calling for better pay and benefits.
The systemwide strike includes teaching assistants, postdoctoral scholars, graduate student researchers, tutors and fellows, as well as workers at the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, and it’s expected to cause major disruptions in classes and day-to-day campus life.
Union leaders say the strike, which began Monday morning, will be the largest at any academic institution in history. UCLA workers joined the picket line at 8 a.m. local time Monday at multiple locations across campus, as did groups at UC San Diego, UC Santa Cruz and UC Merced.
UC Irvine strikers planned to begin demonstrating on campus at 8:30 a.m., while some other universities were set for 9 a.m., including UC Davis and UC San Francisco.
Turkey accuses U.S. of complicity in Istanbul attack that killed 6
ISTANBUL – Turkish authorities arrested a woman Monday they suspect was behind the deadly bombing in central Istanbul a day earlier, saying she had been sent to Turkey from Syria by Kurdish militants to carry out the attack.
The bombing Sunday on a crowded shopping street popular with both Turks and tourists killed six people – all of them Turkish nationals – who belonged to three different families, according to officials. It was the deadliest such attack in Turkey in more than five years, raising painful memories of the days when bombings by Kurdish and Islamic State militants often struck Turkish cities.
Turkey accused the United States of complicity in the attack because the U.S. has long maintained a military partnership with a Kurdish-led militia in Syria. Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu, during a visit to the site of the attack Monday, dismissed condolence messages from the United States, saying this was like “the killer is among the first ones returning to the scene.”
The United States is an ally of Turkey in NATO, but Soylu’s accusation of complicity was rooted in the long-standing U.S. partnership with a Kurdish-led militia in northeastern Syria formed to battle the Islamic State, which ruled a so-called caliphate in parts of Syria and Iraq for years.
John Aniston, ‘Days of Our Lives’ star, dead at 89, daughter Jennifer Aniston announces
John Aniston, a longtime star of the soap opera “Days of Our Lives” and the father of actress Jennifer Aniston, died Friday at age 89, his daughter announced Monday.
The Greek-born actor played Victor Kiriakis on more than 3,000 “Days of Our Lives” episodes spanning more than three decades, earning him a lifetime achievement honor at the Daytime Emmy Awards this year.
A cause of death has not been released.
“You were one of the most beautiful humans I ever knew,” Jennifer Aniston wrote in an Instagram tribute featuring photos of her with her dad over the years.
“I am so grateful that you went soaring into the heavens in peace – and without pain,” the “Friends” actress continued. “And on 11/11 no less! You always had perfect timing. That number will forever hold an even greater meaning for me now. I’ll love you till the end of time. Don’t forget to visit.”
Aniston appeared on dozens of series and films throughout an acting career that began in the early 1960s, including roles on popular shows such as “Mission: Impossible,” “Kojak,” “Star Trek: Voyager,” “The West Wing” and “Gilmore Girls.”
Born in Crete, Greece, John Aniston grew up in Pennsylvania and studied theater at Pennsylvania State University before joining the U.S. Navy.
Aniston was married to actress Nancy Dow, who was Jennifer’s mother, from 1965 to 1980. He married Sherry Rooney in 1984.