Trump names lawyers to lead his impeachment defense team

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Former U.S. President Donald Trump’s office on Sunday said trial lawyers David Schoen and Bruce L. Castor will lead Trump’s legal team during his Senate impeachment trial.

The announcement follows news that Trump had abruptly parted ways on Saturday with the two lead lawyers working on the team.

U.K. Businesses Call for Clear Roadmap to Reopening the Economy

The U.K. should work with businesses to create a clear and effective plan for the reopening of the economy, the country’s biggest business lobby group said.

The government should give firms clarity over what will count as higher risk activities and whether there will be a return to tiered restrictions, the Confederation of British Industry said in a letter to Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng on Monday. The roadmap should be published alongside details of how long support measures will last and in what form, it said.

Many businesses are struggling for survival after enduring the worst recession in three centuries last year. A further contraction is expected this quarter after renewed measures to slow the spread of Covid-19 shuttered large swathes of the economy.

The group also called for authorities to identify what conditions must be met for restrictions to be loosened, how vaccines and mass testing could contribute to reopening and plans for particularly vulnerable industries like travel and hospitality.

“Businesses are currently completely in the dark when planning for the weeks and months ahead and this is hindering investment,” CBI Director-General Tony Danker said. “Let’s move now to a plan for 2021 that is detailed, practical and instills confidence.”

Herald afternoon quiz: February 1

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U.K. PE Firm Is Said to Mull Sale of Skincare Brand Eve Lom

U.K. private equity firm Manzanita Capital is exploring options including a sale of skincare brand Eve Lom, which is famous for its cleanser balm, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

The London-based buyout firm is working with an adviser to seek a buyer for the asset, which could fetch as much as $200 million in a deal, the people said. The skincare brand has drawn preliminary interest from potential suitors in Asia, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the information is private.

Facialist Eve Lom founded the eponymous brand in the 1980s after she opened her first beauty salon in London and started selling cleansing balm, according to the website of retailer Space NK, the parent of Space Brands, which houses the skincare brand.

One of Eve Lom’s bestsellers is its wax-based cleanser starting from $24 for travel size. Most of its products are marketed as being free from harmful additives and synthetic fragrance and dyes.

Deliberations for the sale are at an early stage, and the owner may decided to keep the business, the people said. A representative for Manzanita Capital declined to comment.

— With assistance by Benjamin Robertson

Knotel Files for Bankruptcy as Pandemic Strains Office Rentals

Knotel has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Delaware court after the WeWork rival was pressured by the coronavirus.

The company, which manages and rents short-term office space, has had to grapple over the past year with companies and governments mandating that workers stay at home.

It listed both estimated liabilities and assets of $1 billion to $10 billion. The company has obtained debtor-in-possession financing from an affiliate of Newmark of about $20 million in cash.

In March of last year, New York-based Knotel said it was cutting or furloughing half of its staff, or about 200 workers, in response to the coronavirus.

Covid-19 cast doubt on the business model of Knotel and other flexible office space and co-working companies that rely on people working near other other.

Biden Withdraws $27.4 Billion in Spending Cuts Proposed by Trump

President Joe Biden on Sunday withdrew all the spending cuts proposed by former President Donald Trump during his final days in office.

Biden said in a letter to Congress that he was reversing all 73 spending cuts that Trump had requested, which touched virtually every cabinet-level agency as well as federal programs such as the National Endowments of the Arts and Humanities.

Under the 1974 Budget and Impoundment Control Act, the president can request that Congress rescind budget authority that it had previously approved.

The cuts, known as rescissions, totaled $27.4 billion, according to a Jan. 14 letter to Congress from the Trump White House. The proposed cuts had come after Trump grew frustrated with some of the spending included in a December spending bill.

“I will sign the Omnibus and Covid package with a strong message that makes clear to Congress that wasteful items need to be removed,” Trump said in a statement as he signed the bill into law in late December. “I will send back to Congress a redlined version, item by item, accompanied by the formal rescission request to Congress insisting that those funds be removed from the bill.”

The proposed cuts would have also hit the legislative branch of the federal government, the District of Columbia, the Peace Corps and the U.S. Agency for International Development, among other initiatives.