Prosecutors say Trump team’s version of events “inaccurate, distorted”

WASHINGTON>> Prosecutors in the classified documents case against former President Donald Trump told a judge Friday that defense lawyers had painted an “inaccurate and distorted picture of events” and had unfairly sought to “cast a cloud of suspicion” over government officials who were simply trying to do their jobs.

The comments came in a court filing aimed at urging a judge to reject a Trump team request from last month that sought to force prosecutors to turn over a trove of information that defense lawyers believe is relevant to the case.

But special counsel Jack Smith’s team said the defense was creating a false narrative about how the investigation began and was trying to “cast a cloud of suspicion over responsible actions by government officials diligently doing their jobs.”

Half of U.S. adults say Israel has gone too far

WASHINGTON>> Half of U.S. adults say Israel’s 15-week-old military campaign in Gaza has “gone too far,” a finding driven mainly by growing disapproval among Republicans and political independents, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC.

Broadly, the poll shows support for Israel and the Biden administration’s handling of the situation ebbing slightly further across the board. The poll shows 31% of U.S. adults approve of Biden’s handling of the conflict, including just 46% of Democrats. That’s as an earlier spike in support for Israel after the Hamas attacks Oct. 7 sags.

NSA gets new leader as 2024 elections loom

WASHINGTON>> Air Force Gen. Timothy D. Haugh took the helm of the National Security Agency and the Cyber Command on Friday, as the intelligence agencies and military brace for renewed efforts by foreign adversaries to influence the U.S. elections this year.

Haugh replaces Army Gen. Paul M. Nakasone, who took over in 2018 and helped focus the NSA and Cyber Command on countering foreign efforts to interfere in U.S. elections. The NSA collects communications intelligence, and Cyber Command conducts operations on computer networks.

Securing the presidential election against interference and looking for operations that take advantage of new artificial intelligence strategies will be Haugh’s first tasks.

World Court says it has jurisdiction in part of Ukraine’s genocide case

THE HAGUE, Netherlands>> The United Nations’ top court said Friday it has jurisdiction to rule on a request by Ukraine for a declaration that Kyiv is not responsible for genocide, but not on other aspects of a Ukrainian case against Russia.

The two countries have at times accused each other of genocide. Ukraine filed its case at the International Court of Justice just days after Russia’s February 2022 invasion, alleging that Moscow used trumped-up claims of genocide to justify its attack.

But the court said it could not rule on that issue. Instead it will rule on whether Ukraine violated the convention — as Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed. A final, legally binding decision is likely years away.

“Even if the Russian Federation had, in bad faith, alleged that Ukraine committed genocide and taken certain measures against it under such a pretext ... this would not in itself constitute a violation of obligations” under the genocide convention, court President Joan E. Donoghue said.

The court said it did not have jurisdiction to rule on whether Russia’s invasion violated the 1948 genocide convention and whether Moscow’s recognition of two breakaway republics in eastern Ukraine also amounted to a breach of the convention.

— Denver Post wire services