Bloomberg - Evening Briefing - Trump’s federal case

The indictment has been unsealed. A federal grand jury has charged former President Donald Trump with more than three dozen counts over his possession of and refusal to return highly classified US government documents, disclosure of which prosecutors said could gravely damage US national security and endanger military personnel. The Republican faces criminal allegations of willful retention of national defense information, corruptly concealing documents, conspiracy to obstruct justice and making false statements. As described by Special Counsel Jack Smith, those files included “information regarding defense and weapons capabilities” of the US and foreign countries, US nuclear programs, “potential vulnerabilities of the United States and its allies to military attack” and “plans for possible retaliation in response to foreign attack.”

US Special Counsel Jack Smith speaks during a news conference in Washington DC on Friday. Photographer: Ting Shen/Bloomberg

Trump’s former valet, Walt Nauta, was named as a co-conspirator. Trump has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, and before Friday’s unsealing, he received some potentially good news. Aileen Cannon, the Trump-appointed judge excoriated by legal experts and sharply reversed by an appeals court for unorthodox rulings in his favor, will initially preside over his case. Cannon is a member of the right-wing Federalist Society, which has helped source many of Trump’s judicial appointments.

Aileen Cannon Source: Bloomberg

Smith may have shifted the documents case from Washington to Florida to head off any venue challenges by Trump’s lawyers—some of whom just quit. If convicted, Trump could face around 20 years in prison. Such a sentence would be separate, however, from the potential penalties he faces if convicted in his New York prosecution for business fraud, or any sentencce he might face in a Georgia or federal prosecution for allegedly taking part in what a Congressional investigation said was an attempted coup, up to and including the Jan. 6 insurrection. —David E. Rovella

Trump’s indictment on federal charges catapults the US into new legal and constitutional territory. Noah Feldman writes in Bloomberg Opinion that the two key issues for Trump’s future are, obviously, whether Trump is convicted and whether he wins the presidency. Less obviously, he says, is that the timing matters a lot.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin says he will start placing tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus next month as his neighbor to the west drifts ever closer to Moscow. In Ukraine, more evidence emerged that Kyiv’s counteroffensive was underway, with reports of intense fighting along the southeastern front. In Kherson, rescuers and residents attempting to navigate floodwaters were forced to dodge shelling by Kremlin forces as more evidence surfaced of Russia being responsible for the destruction of the Kakhovka dam and the catastrophe that followed. in Washington, the Pentagon is set to announce a long-term arms package for Ukraine that’s heavy on air defense munitions and valued at more than $2 billion.

Ukrainian servicemen help a disabled resident from a boat during an evacuation from a flooded area in Kherson on June 8. Photographer: Genya Savilov/AFP

The US and five major allies condemned economic coercion and non-market policies regarding trade and investment in a joint declaration that didn’t cite China by name but clearly had Beijing in mind. The six countries expressed concern about practices they say “undermine the functioning of and confidence in the rules-based multilateral trading system.” 

A new, fragmented crypto banking system is emerging under the auspices of US securities regulators. Two months after the collapse of crypto-friendly Silvergate Capital and Signature Bank, the new landscape is marked by an aggressive Securities and Exchange Commission (witness its lawsuits this week against two big crypto exchanges). Now, crypto firms are turning to a handful of smaller regional lenders to open bank accounts. As a result, crypto’s new system is more fragmented, less US-centric and, at times, less advertised. 

UBS Group sealed an agreement with the Swiss government to cover 9 billion francs ($9.9 billion) of losses it could incur from the rescue of Credit Suisse, clearing the last major hurdle to closing the historic takeover. The accord was signed on June 9 and will cover a specific portfolio of Credit Suisse assets, corresponding to about 3% of the merged banks’ combined assets, the government said Friday. That represents about 44 billion francs.

Credit Suisse Group headquarters in Zurich. The last major piece of the UBS takeover of the troubled lender may now be in place. Photographer: Stefan Wermuth/Bloomberg

Despite elevated inflation and interest rates, consumer spending among Americans rose a strong 2.3% in April from a year earlier. That’s been the pattern for several months, Claudia Sahm writes in Bloomberg Opinion, and some have been calling it a mystery. They want to know why people aren’t cutting back when almost everything is more expensive. But Sahm writes that it’s less of a mystery if you pay attention to these details.

Samuel Chen’s early bet on Zoom Video Communications made him one of the pandemic economy’s big winners. Now, the little-known Taiwanese billionaire is emerging as a major health-care investor. His Digital Mobile Venture led a $100 million series D fundraising round this week for biotechnology firm Acepodia. He’s also accumulated a stake worth about $1.2 billion in anti-cancer therapy firm Polaris Group, and emerged in late 2021 as one of the biggest shareholders in Hong Kong-based Regencell Bioscience Holdings. 

• Bloomberg Opinion: The GOP must choose the right side of justice.
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• Bloomberg Opinion: Tesla GM deal good for EVs, bad for charger firms.
• Bloomberg Podcasts: It’s time to start investing in Japan again.
• New York pays over $300 a night for “budget” hotel rooms for migrants.

Construction is responsible for around 23% of all greenhouse gas emissions. Most originate in the manufacturing of building materials or transporting them to where they’re needed. But around 5.5% of emissions come directly from construction sites—predominantly through the burning of fossil fuels that power machinery and generators. Like air travel and ocean shipping, building things is a carbon-intensive endeavor that’s decidedly unsuited to sustainability. But that may be changing. 

Building cranes pierce the fog over Oslo, Norway. The European country is among the leaders in efforts to electrify the construction industry. Photographer: Cornelius Poppe/AFP

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