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WASHINGTON (AP) — One year after the Jan. 6, 2021 , U.S. Capitol attack, Attorney General Merrick Garland said the Justice Department was committed to holding accountable all perpetrators “at any level” for “the assault on our democracy.” That bold declaration won't apply to at least one person: Donald Trump. Special counsel Jack Smith's move on Monday to abandon the federal election interference case against Trump means jurors will likely never decide whether the president-elect is criminally responsible for his attempts to cling to power after losing the 2020 campaign. The decision to walk away from the election charges and the separate classified documents case against Trump marks an abrupt end of the Justice Department’s unprecedented legal effort that once threatened his liberty but appears only to have galvanized his supporters. The abandonment of the cases accusing Trump of endangering American democracy and national security does away with the most serious legal threats he was facing as he returns to the White House. It was the culmination of a monthslong defense effort to delay the proceedings at every step and use the criminal allegations to Trump's political advantage, putting the final word in the hands of voters instead of jurors. “We always knew that the rich and powerful had an advantage, but I don’t think we would have ever believed that somebody could walk away from everything,” said Stephen Saltzburg, a George Washington University law professor and former Justice Department official. “If there ever was a Teflon defendant, that’s Donald Trump.” While prosecutors left the door open to the possibility that federal charges could be re-filed against Trump after he leaves office, that seems unlikely. Meanwhile, Trump's presidential victory has thrown into question the future of the two state criminal cases against him in New York and Georgia. Trump was supposed to be sentenced on Tuesday after his conviction on 34 felony counts in his New York hush money case , but it's possible the sentencing could be delayed until after Trump leaves office, and the defense is pushing to dismiss the case altogether. Smith's team stressed that their decision to abandon the federal cases was not a reflection of the merit of the charges, but an acknowledgement that they could not move forward under longstanding Justice Department policy that says sitting presidents cannot face criminal prosecution. Trump's presidential victory set “at odds two fundamental and compelling national interests: On the one hand, the Constitution’s requirement that the President must not be unduly encumbered in fulfilling his weighty responsibilities . . . and on the other hand, the Nation’s commitment to the rule of law,” prosecutors wrote in court papers. The move just weeks after Trump's victory over Vice President Kamala Harris underscores the immense personal stake Trump had in the campaign in which he turned his legal woes into a political rallying cry. Trump accused prosecutors of bringing the charges in a bid to keep him out of the White House, and he promised revenge on his perceived enemies if he won a second term. “If Donald J. Trump had lost an election, he may very well have spent the rest of his life in prison,” Vice President-elect JD Vance, wrote in a social media post on Monday. “These prosecutions were always political. Now it’s time to ensure what happened to President Trump never happens in this country again.” After the Jan. 6 attack by Trump supporters that left more than 100 police officers injured, Republican leader Mitch McConnell and several other Republicans who voted to acquit Trump during his Senate impeachment trial said it was up to the justice system to hold Trump accountable. The Jan. 6 case brought last year in Washington alleged an increasingly desperate criminal conspiracy to subvert the will of voters after Trump's 2020 loss, accusing Trump of using the angry mob of supporters that attacked the Capitol as “a tool” in his campaign to pressure then-Vice President Mike Pence and obstruct the certification of Democrat Joe Biden's victory. Hundreds of Jan. 6 rioters — many of whom have said they felt called to Washington by Trump — have pleaded guilty or been convicted by juries of federal charges at the same courthouse where Trump was supposed to stand trial last year. As the trial date neared, officials at the courthouse that sits within view of the Capitol were busy making plans for the crush of reporters expected to cover the historic case. But Trump's argument that he enjoyed absolute immunity from prosecution quickly tied up the case in appeals all the way up to the Supreme Court. The high court ruled in July that former presidents have broad immunity from prosecution , and sent the case back to the trial court to decide which allegations could move forward. But the case was dismissed before the trial court could get a chance to do so. The other indictment brought in Florida accused Trump of improperly storing at his Mar-a-Lago estate sensitive documents on nuclear capabilities, enlisting aides and lawyers to help him hide records demanded by investigators and cavalierly showing off a Pentagon “plan of attack” and classified map. But U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the case in July on grounds that Smith was illegally appointed . Smith appealed to the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, but abandoned that appeal on Monday. Smith's team said it would continue its fight in the appeals court to revive charges against Trump's two co-defendants because “no principle of temporary immunity applies to them.” In New York, jurors spent weeks last spring hearing evidence in a state case alleging a Trump scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election through a hush money payment to a porn actor who said the two had sex. New York prosecutors recently expressed openness to delaying sentencing until after Trump's second term, while Trump's lawyers are fighting to have the conviction dismissed altogether. In Georgia, a trial while Trump is in office seems unlikely in a state case charging him and more than a dozen others with conspiring to overturn his 2020 election loss in the state. The case has been on hold since an appeals court agreed to review whether to remove Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis over her romantic relationship with the special prosecutor she had hired to lead the case. Associated Press reporter Lisa Mascaro in Washington contributed.Rep. Katie Porter was granted a temporary restraining order by a judge Tuesday after she alleged that her former partner engaged in “harassment and threats” that harmed her relationship with her family and her professional reputation. The temporary domestic violence restraining order mandates that Julian Willis, Porter’s ex-boyfriend who she lived with “for brief periods of time,” according to filings with the Orange County Superior Court, stop contacting the congresswoman, her children and her current and former colleagues. The restraining order also mandates that Willis stay away from Porter. A court hearing has been scheduled for Dec. 17 for a permanent restraining order. Porter, 50, sought the restraining order after allegedly enduring “psychological abuse” as well as “three months of ongoing threats and harassment,” including a message on Saturday, Nov. 23 that “prompted that (Porter) consider suicide,” according to the declaration Porter filed with the court on Tuesday, Nov. 26. “Julian’s struggles with mental health and substance abuse have created an unsafe and unpredictable situation for me, my children, my family and my work colleagues,” Porter said in her declaration. Since Aug. 27, Willis, 55, has sent Porter more than 1,000 text messages and emails “with the clear intent to threaten and harass me,” Porter said in the filing. He continued to contact her despite her telling him to stop and blocking his texts, she said. “He stated that his goal was to ‘force me into prolonged psychiatric treatment’ and that he intended not to stop, even if I had to be hospitalized as a suicide risk,” she said. Willis, when reached by email Wednesday, said he could not comment at this time. He offered to provide one piece of documentation, but the Southern California News Group could not independently verify its validity on Wednesday. Willis told Politico Tuesday that Porter only sought a restraining order to prevent him from suing her and talking to the media. He sent 82 text messages during a 24-hour span in September, Porter said, and 55 on Nov. 12 before she blocked him from texting her. In her court filing, Porter included numerous screengrabs of text messages and emails that she said are from Willis to her, her children and colleagues. Willis, who is listed as a New Jersey resident in court documents, also allegedly attempted to extort Porter and spread false information about her, including false diagnoses of a sexually transmitted disease, to her family, journalists, and current and former coworkers, the congresswoman said. “Other threats have included statements that he will publicly humiliate me, ‘beat (me) down,’ bankrupt me, have harmful newspaper articles published about me, cause me to lose my job at UC Irvine, report me to Child Protective Services, remove my children from my custody and sue me for seven figures,” Porter alleged. “Julian has made it clear that he intends to cause significant harm to my professional reputation,” Porter said in her declaration. “His false allegations and threats to my co-workers have harmed our ability to work by creating repeated interruptions that my co-workers and I have found disruptive, concerning and threatening.” The restraining order covers Porter’s three children, who range in ages from 12 to 18 years old. Porter sought to add other adult family members to the restraining order, but the judge denied the request, saying adults not living in Porter’s home would need to request their own protective order. The order says Willis must remain at least 100 yards away from Porter and her children, their schools, Porter’s home, job and vehicle. It also says Willis cannot contact Porter’s current or former employees or co-workers to discuss Porter. Communication with government employees about other subjects, the judge said, is not prohibited by the temporary order. It’s specifically a “domestic violence restraining order,” which helps people who have been abused or threatened with abuse. “This is a very unfortunate situation,” Porter said in a statement. “Mr. Willis has suffered from well-documented mental health and substance abuse issues. As the records filed today show, those issues have gotten increasingly worse since I ended the relationship and asked him to leave my house. “In recent weeks, his threats against my family and my colleagues have escalated in both their frequency and intensity, and I feel I must ask for this order from the court. I sincerely hope he can get the help he needs.” Willis was involved in an altercation that occurred at Porter’s town hall event in Irvine in 2021. Far-right opponents disrupted the gathering, and a physical altercation broke out. Willis was cited and released for his actions during the altercation, and he was reportedly living at Porter’s Irvine home at the time. Having served three terms in Congress, Porter is set to leave at the end of this term after mounting an unsuccessful U.S. Senate bid rather than run for re-election this year. Still, her name ID is strong — she spent the days leading up to the general election campaigning for other House Democratic candidates — and she is rumored to be considering a bid for California’s governor in 2026. A recent survey conducted by researchers at USC, Cal State Long Beach and Cal Poly Pomona found that the Irvine Democrat was the favorite among 14% of respondents who were asked to pick between 13 people, declared and potential candidates for governor. For now, Porter has said she plans to resume teaching at UC Irvine Law next year while she weighs other options. If the judge does grant the permanent restraining order at the upcoming hearing, it can last up to five years, according to court filings.James, Quigley and Hayes combine for 59 points as No. 20 NC State women beat Coastal Carolina 89-68
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New Gartner research positioned Simpplr highest in Ability to Execute for a second consecutive year REDWOOD CITY, Calif. , Dec. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Simpplr, the leading AI platform for employee experience (EX) and productivity, today announced that Gartner has positioned Simpplr as a Leader in the 2024 Gartner® Magic QuadrantTM for Intranet Packaged Solutions (IPS). This marks two years in a row that Simpplr has been named a Leader and positioned highest for Ability to Execute among 15 other intranet packaged solutions providers. Gartner evaluated IPS vendors based on their ability to support six critical intranet Use Cases, including employee communications, knowledge services and frontline worker support. Gartner additionally considered vendor strengths across 15 product and business evaluation criteria such as product strategy and market responsiveness. Vendors were also evaluated against 13 critical capabilities, including AI, analytics, search, personalization and more. Get complimentary access to the 2024 Gartner® Magic Quadrant TM for Intranet Packaged Solutions . "We believe that being recognized as a leader for the second straight year validates our unwavering focus on transforming how people experience work," said Dhiraj Sharma , Simpplr Founder & CEO. "Employees need different things to succeed, which is exactly why we've built an AI-powered platform that brings everything together in one place. At Simpplr, we're creating much more than an intranet — we're creating digital spaces where people can truly thrive." For over a decade, Simpplr has delivered on its vision to provide employees with personalized single-point access to the people, information and resources they need to succeed. With a steady stream of innovations across AI, enterprise search and analytics, Simpplr delivers a powerful yet intuitive experience for intranet admins and end users. This approach helps enterprises like DocuSign, Penske and AAA streamline workflows, improve knowledge sharing, and better engage their teams to meet the demands of today's dynamic business environment. "Simpplr has been instrumental in transforming our intranet at 1st Franklin Financial Corporation into a dynamic cultural connection point for our decentralized network," said Karly Menard , Director of Internal Communications at 1st Franklin Financial Corporation. "Initially, it solved our need for a modern intranet solution. As we grew, it also became a vital resource for sharing tools, resources and daily information with our teams. Our engagement has skyrocketed, and collaboration within our network has never been easier." SIMPPLR 2024 RECOGNITIONS Simpplr being named a Leader in the 2024 Gartner® Magic QuadrantTM for Intranet Packaged Solutions is the latest addition to its list of recognitions in 2024, which include: COMPLIMENTARY ACCESS TO THE REPORT Get complimentary access to the 2024 Gartner® Magic QuadrantTM for Intranet Packaged Solutions . GARTNER DISCLAIMER Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Intranet Packaged Solutions, Mike Gotta , Gavin Tay , Larry Cannel , Priyanka Singh , 16 December 2024 Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product, or service depicted in our research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally, and MAGIC QUADRANT is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates and are used herein with permission. All rights reserved. ABOUT SIMPPLR Simpplr is the AI-powered platform that transforms employee experience and productivity. Harnessing AI, Simpplr provides employees with personalized, single-point access to people, information and resources across multiple platforms. This empowers employees to stay more connected, productive and engaged. For over a decade, Simpplr has been a trusted partner to 1,000+ leading brands, including AAA, Eurostar, Penske, Moderna, and Snowflake, creating transformative digital workplaces. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, CA, with additional offices in the UK, Canada , and India , Simpplr is backed by Norwest Venture Partners, Sapphire Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, and Tola Capital. Learn more at simpplr.com . View original content to download multimedia: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/simpplr-named-a-leader-in-the-2024-gartner-magic-quadrant-for-intranet-packaged-solutions-for-second-year-in-a-row-302335393.html SOURCE Simpplr
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