By Kirsty Needham SYDNEY (Reuters) – A former U.S. Marine Corps pilot may have been “lured” from China to Australia by security agencies before his arrest, his lawyer said outside court on Monday after an extradition hearing in Sydney. Daniel Duggan, 54, is facing extradition to the United States on charges of breaking U.S. law by training Chinese military pilots to land on aircraft carriers. He was arrested by Australian federal police in a rural town in New South Wales state in October, shortly after returning from China, where he had lived since 2014. In the same week, Britain had issued a warning to its former defence staff not to train Chinese People’s Liberation Army pilots at a South African flying academy where Duggan had also worked. On Monday, Duggan’s extradition case was adjourned until May, as his lawyers seek access to documents from Australian government agencies for his defence. Outside court, Duggan’s lawyer Dennis Miralis said the pilot had been given a security clearance by the Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation to start a new aviation job before he returned from China, but an arrest warrant was issued while he was on the plane home and his security clearance was revoked. He said such a “lure” was legal under U.S. law, but it would be “a matter of grave significance” if Australian security agencies had given Duggan a security clearance to provide “a false sense that he would be able to return to Australia”. “We are exploring at this stage whether or not he was lured back to Australia by the U.S., where the U.S. knew he would be in a jurisdiction where he would be capable of being extradited,” he added. ASIO did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Duggan, who is being held in a maximum-security prison, is an Australian citizen who renounced his U.S. citizenship. Before moving to China in 2014, he had lived in Australia for a decade and has six children in Australia. Miralis said Duggan was concerned that political tensions between the U.S. and China were affecting his case. In a statement released to media, Duggan said he rejected the allegations against him. “The insinuation that I am some sort of spy is an outrage,” he said in the statement. Britain’s air force chief said this month intelligence agencies in Australia and Britain had shared information to warn pilots against working for Beijing. Australian police are investigating a former British military pilot suspected of involvement in the training of Chinese military pilots at a flying school in South Africa, a Sydney court was told on Friday. (Reporting by Kirsty Needham. Editing by Gerry Doyle) Brought to you by www.srnnews.com

By Kirsty Needham SYDNEY (Reuters) – A former U.S. Marine Corps pilot may have been “lured” from China to Australia by security agencies before his arrest, his lawyer said outside court on Monday after an extradition hearing in Sydney. Daniel Duggan, 54, is facing extradition to the United States on charges of breaking U.S. law by training Chinese military pilots to land on aircraft carriers. He was arrested by Australian federal police in a rural town in New South Wales state in October, shortly after returning from China, where he had lived since 2014. In the same week, Britain had issued a warning to its former defence staff not to train Chinese People’s Liberation Army pilots at a South African flying academy where Duggan had also worked. On Monday, Duggan’s extradition case was adjourned until May, as his lawyers seek access to documents from Australian government agencies for his defence. Outside court, Duggan’s lawyer Dennis Miralis said the pilot had been given a security clearance by the Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation to start a new aviation job before he returned from China, but an arrest warrant was issued while he was on the plane home and his security clearance was revoked. He said such a “lure” was legal under U.S. law, but it would be “a matter of grave significance” if Australian security agencies had given Duggan a security clearance to provide “a false sense that he would be able to return to Australia”. “We are exploring at this stage whether or not he was lured back to Australia by the U.S., where the U.S. knew he would be in a jurisdiction where he would be capable of being extradited,” he added. ASIO did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Duggan, who is being held in a maximum-security prison, is an Australian citizen who renounced his U.S. citizenship. Before moving to China in 2014, he had lived in Australia for a decade and has six children in Australia. Miralis said Duggan was concerned that political tensions between the U.S. and China were affecting his case. In a statement released to media, Duggan said he rejected the allegations against him. “The insinuation that I am some sort of spy is an outrage,” he said in the statement. Britain’s air force chief said this month intelligence agencies in Australia and Britain had shared information to warn pilots against working for Beijing. Australian police are investigating a former British military pilot suspected of involvement in the training of Chinese military pilots at a flying school in South Africa, a Sydney court was told on Friday. (Reporting by Kirsty Needham. Editing by Gerry Doyle) Brought to you by www.srnnews.com

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said on Sunday that he confronted President Joe Biden about a lack of negotiations on the $31.4 trillion U.S. debt ceiling last week and told the president he is putting the economy at risk. McCarthy, the top Republican in the House of Representatives, first met with Biden on Feb. 1. But a standoff has since ensued between Republicans who want to use the debt ceiling to exact spending cuts from the White House, and Biden, who wants the debt ceiling raised without strings attached. “I just saw the president again on St. Patrick’s Day, Friday,” McCarthy told reporters in Orlando, Florida, where House Republicans are holding a retreat this week. “I sat down with him and said, you said we’d meet again. Every day that passes, you put the economy in jeopardy,” he said. White House officials were not immediately available for comment. Biden has called on McCarthy and House Republicans to produce a fiscal 2024 budget before negotiating on spending. The president released his own $6.8 trillion spending plan nearly two weeks ago, which Republicans have rejected outright. House Republicans are now working on their own budget, which is expected to call for deep cuts in discretionary nondefense spending. The hardline House Freedom Caucus has released its own spending plan, which calls for resetting nondefense spending to pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels and eliminating multiple Biden programs. “I said: look, we’re not going to raise taxes and we’re not going to pass a clean debt ceiling. But everything else is up for negotiation,” McCarthy said. The California Republican said he urged Biden to consider work requirements for social programs, border security and federal permitting reform for energy, as well as reduced spending. Biden’s proposal and the hardline Republican response are early salvos in a budget negotiation that Republicans hope will lead to spending cuts. But the political standoff has raised concerns about a possible first-ever default sometime this summer, when the Treasury is expected to exhaust its ability to keep government borrowing below the congressionally enacted ceiling.   (Reporting by David Morgan; additional reporting by Nandita Bose; editing by Don Durfee and Chris Reese) Brought to you by www.srnnews.com

By Karen Freifeld NEW YORK (Reuters) – A lawyer called to testify behind closed-doors in New York on Monday may challenge the claims of a key witness before a grand jury decides whether to charge former President Donald Trump over hush money paid to a porn star, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Sunday.     Robert Costello has been asked to appear before the grand jury at the request of Trump’s lawyers because he may have information that calls into question events as described by Michael Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer, the source said. The Manhattan District Attorney’s office has asked Cohen to be available on Monday as a rebuttal witness, if needed, according to a second source, who did not want to be named. Cohen testified before the grand jury twice last week.        Trump, whose supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 to overturn his 2020 election defeat, said Saturday that he expects to be arrested on Tuesday and called for protests. He said “illegal leaks” indicated an arrest on Tuesday, but provided no evidence, and his spokesman said Trump had not been notified of any impending arrest. The Manhattan District Attorney’s office earlier this month invited Trump to testify before the grand jury probing the payment, which legal experts said was a sign that an indictment could be close. Trump declined the offer, a person familiar with the matter said. No U.S. president, while in office or afterward, has faced criminal charges. Trump, who is seeking the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, has said he would continue campaigning even if charged with a crime. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office has been investigating a $130,000 hush payment made by Cohen, Trump’s estranged former fixer, to porn star Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign. Sources have said Bragg’s office has been presenting evidence to a grand jury about the payment that was made to Daniels in return for her silence about an affair she said she had with Trump a decade earlier. The grand jury will determine whether there is sufficient evidence to formally charge Trump with a crime. The proceedings are not public. Costello’s testimony is expected to focus on the payment to Stormy Daniels and how that came about, the first source said. Costello is better known for his representation of former Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani. Cohen consulted with Costello years ago, and was given a retainer agreement but never signed it, the first source said. Cohen also waived attorney-client privilege in 2019, the source added. ‘WITCH HUNT’ Cohen was sentenced to prison in 2018 after pleading guilty in federal court to campaign finance violations tied to hush money payments to Daniels and another woman during Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, among other crimes. Trump has denied the affair with Daniels happened and called the investigation by Bragg a political persecution. “THE WITCH HUNT NEVER ENDS, BUT WE WILL MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!” Trump posted on social media on Sunday.  Talk of a Trump arrest could be boosting his support, New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu, a fellow Republican, told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday. “It’s building a lot of sympathy for the former president,” said Sununu, a relative moderate, who is considering his own presidential run and appeared to be trying to avoid alienating Trump supporters. Asked if Trump had special responsibility to ensure protests did not turn violent, Sununu said “well, sure” but quickly added this was a broader societal responsibility, saying “you can’t just put it on the former president.” Trump’s former national security adviser H.R. McMaster and former economic adviser Gary Cohn on Sunday both urged Trump supporters to respond peacefully to any developments this week. Prominent Republicans, such as Trump’s former Vice President Mike Pence and House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy, suggested a possible prosecution by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat, would be politically motivated. Trump also took to social media on Sunday to accuse President Joe Biden of playing a role in the Manhattan probe but offered no evidence. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for Bragg declined to comment on Sunday. Legal experts have said if Trump were indicted that any trial could still be more than a year away, possibly coinciding with the final months of the 2024 presidential campaign. (Reporting by Karen Freifeld in New York and by Arshad Mohammed, Michelle Nichols, Kanishka Singh and Nandita Bose in Washington; Writing by Arshad Mohammed; Editing by Mark Porter, Chris Reese and Diane Craft) Brought to you by www.srnnews.com

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, the chamber’s No. 2 Democrat, said on Sunday that he will quarantine after testing positive for COVID-19, adding to a number of lawmakers from both parties who have been absent from the Senate. “Thankfully, I am fully vaccinated and boosted and only experiencing minor symptoms,” Durbin said in a tweet. The Illinois Democrat said he would follow Center for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, which call for five days of quarantine for those who test positive. Two other Democrats, Senators Dianne Feinstein and John Fetterman, have been absent from the Senate for health reasons. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell entered a rehabilitation facility last week after fracturing a rib in a fall earlier this month. Democrats hold a narrow 51-49 majority in the Senate, which is expected to vote this week on legislation to repeal the 1991 and 2002 Authorizations for the Use of Military Force, or AUMFs, against Iraq. (Reporting by David Morgan; Editing by Chris Reese) Brought to you by www.srnnews.com