Good morning and we start today with a story that has been bubbling all week but yesterday became significantly more uncomfortable for President Joe Biden.
It involves the potential mishandling of government documents. The White House confirmed on Thursday a batch of confidential papers had been found in the president’s home in Wilmington, Delaware. US attorney-general Merrick Garland appointed a special counsel to investigate the discovery, which followed an earlier finding this week.
Garland called the circumstances surrounding the discovery of the documents “extraordinary” as he appointed Robert Hur, a Washington-based lawyer and former federal prosecutor, to the role of special counsel.
The second batch of documents was discovered in Biden’s garage in Wilmington, where he keeps his classic 1967 green Corvette.
The latest revelations are embarrassing for the president, who had accused his predecessor Donald Trump of being “irresponsible” when confidential documents were seized by the FBI after a raid on the former president’s Mar-a-Lago mansion last year.
The president is also facing awkward questions over the timing of the discoveries. The first batch of documents was found on November 2, less than a week before the midterm elections, but their existence was only confirmed this week. The second group of papers was found by Biden’s legal team in December.
Biden’s advisers insist there is no equivalence between the Mar-a-Lago findings and this week’s revelations but it is likely to sour some of the president’s recent successes and could affect the timing of an announcement for a 2024 run for the White House, which was expected in the coming weeks.
Dig deeper: Here is everything we know so far about the discovery of the sensitive documents.
Do you think there is equivalence between the Mar-a-Lago seizures and this week’s discoveries? Will the episode prove damaging for the president? Email me at [email protected] or hit reply on this email — Gordon
Five more stories in the news
1. Exclusive: Carlyle sounds out Wall Street bankers over CEO role As the private equity titan tries to conclude a months-long search for a new leader, it has entered talks with two Wall Street veterans, the FT reports. The search for a new chief executive was launched following the abrupt departure of Kewsong Lee in August.
2. Apple CEO takes pay cut The iPhone maker is targeting a more than 40 per cent cut to Tim Cook’s pay package in 2023, at the request of the chief executive following shareholder criticism. Apple’s compensation committee decided to award Cook total “target compensation” of $49mn, down from a target of $84mn a year before, according to a regulatory filing yesterday.
3. China takes ‘golden shares’ in Alibaba and Tencent units Even as it backs away from heavy-handed crackdowns, Beijing is taking a greater role in overseeing China’s powerful tech groups by snapping up small equity stakes in their local operations. The “golden shares” come with special rights over certain business decisions, allowing the state to exert influence on private companies.
4. SEC sues Gemini and Winklevoss’s Genesis exchange The crackdown on the cryptocurrency industry is accelerating. The latest enforcement action focuses on the crypto asset-lending programme Gemini Earn, which according to the regulator was not properly registered as a securities offering. To keep up with the rapid developments in the cryptocurrency industry premium subscribers can sign up to the FT’s weekly newsletter.
4. Easing inflation paves way for Fed to opt for quarter-point rate rise Easing inflation in the US has set the stage for the Federal Reserve to reduce the size of future interest rate rises to 0.25 percentage points. The consumer price index for December, published yesterday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, registered an annual increase of 6.5 per cent, the lowest level in more than a year.
You are seeing a snapshot of an interactive graphic. This is most likely due to being offline or JavaScript being disabled in your browser.
How well did you keep up with the news this week? Take our quiz.
The day ahead
Bank earnings Thanks to interest rate rises, analysts estimate JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup and Wells Fargo will report collective net interest income for the final three months of 2022 of almost $60bn when they report today. BlackRock, which plans to cut 500 staff, also releases results. Here is a preview of what to expect from today’s bank announcements.
Economic data The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index is forecast to report a preliminary reading of 60.5 in December, a slight improvement from 59.7 the previous month, as inflation continues to ease. The metric has sat near historic lows in the past several months.
Kishida visits White House Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida meets US president Joe Biden today, ending a week of visits to five G7 nations to build consensus for the economic group’s annual summit hosted by Japan in May.
Trump Organization sentencing A New York judge will pass sentence on the former US president’s business after it was convicted last month on tax fraud charges.
Czech presidential elections The Czech Republic starts the first of a two-day election to decide the country’s next head of state. Incumbent president Miloš Zeman cannot run again, having served two five-year terms, but former prime minister Andrej Babiš has confirmed his candidacy. European diplomatic correspondent Henry Foy previews the vote.
What else we’re reading
A trillion-dollar blind spot for asset managers Despite the ongoing ESG push, firms continue to compete to work for authoritarian states with records of human rights abuses, writes Toby Nangle, former global head of asset allocation at a fund manager.
You are seeing a snapshot of an interactive graphic. This is most likely due to being offline or JavaScript being disabled in your browser.
The fight for Disney A buzz of excitement shot through Hollywood after Bob Iger returned to Walt Disney in late November. But behind the fanfare, signs of tarnish had appeared on the Iger halo, blemishes that the activist Nelson Peltz is now making the centrepiece of one of the US’s biggest proxy battles in years.
Taiwan must not suffer the same fate as Ukraine The democratic world failed to deter a Russian attack on Ukraine — we must not make the same mistakes with China, writes former Nato secretary-general Anders Fogh Rasmussen. He lays out the lessons the west can learn from the war in Ukraine to prevent one in the Taiwan Strait.
How do the Federal Reserve and ECB differ on tackling climate change? An apparent gulf opened up this week between central banks on either side of the Atlantic over their role in battling climate change. Federal Reserve chair Jay Powell told a conference the US central bank must “stick to our knitting”. The European Central Bank takes a different view. Should central banks lead the fight against climate change? Read this explainer to find out.
South Korea’s women face ‘boys’ club’ at work For the 26th straight year, South Korea has recorded the worst gender pay gap among OECD economies. The country also has one of the largest gender gulfs in labour force participation. “From the companies’ perspective, female employees are considered to give up their career after marriage and childbirth,” says Kim Nan-joo, a researcher at the Korean Women’s Development Institute.
Take a break from the news
The FT weekend podcast features a discussion of AI art and the future of human creativity following a recent magazine story. The piece prompted readers to create their own AI works of art. You can see them here.
