The second batch of documents includes 295 pages of heavily redacted witness memoranda and notes from FBI interviews, CNN reported. The Justice Department is expected to release a new tranche of memos at the beginning of each month for the next eight years.
A summary of Cohen’s interview sheds new light on efforts to build a Trump Tower in Moscow amid the 2016 campaign and how much Trump knew about the negotiations.
“Cohen told Trump he spoke with a woman from the Kremlin who had asked specific and great questions about Trump Tower Moscow, and that he wished Trump Organization had assistants that were that good and competent,” an FBI summary said, according to BuzzFeed News.
Sekulow said it was “not necessary to elaborate or include those details because the transaction did not take place.” Per a summary of the interview, Sekulow also said that “Cohen should not contradict Trump and that it was time to move on.”
Cohen in 2018 pleaded guilty to making false statements to Congress about the effort to build a Trump Tower in Moscow during the 2016 presidential campaign.
Rosenstein also told FBI interviewers that he was “angry, ashamed, horrified and embarrassed” over the handling of Comey’s ouster in May 2017. He said that by May 9 he had come to the realization that White House officials’ narrative regarding Comey’s firing was “inconsistent with my experience and personal knowledge.”
He claimed that he refused to attend a press conference on Comey’s dismissal. He also said he emphasized to a Justice Department official that the department could not “participate in putting out a false story.”
Hicks told investigators that Trump was “angry, surprised, and frustrated” after Rosenstein appointed Mueller as a special counsel after Comey’s dismissal.
The Justice Department in April released a 448-page report detailing Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference. The investigation did not establish that there was a conspiracy between Russia and the Trump campaign to influence the 2016 election.
But the report noted that the former special counsel was unable to “conclusively determine” whether Trump committed obstruction of justice.
That theory has gained increased attention amid the House impeachment inquiry into Trump’s dealings with Ukraine. Trump appeared to reference it during a July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Former administration officials have dismissed the allegations. Tom Bossert, who served in the administration between 2017 and 2018, said in September that he once told Trump the claim is a “completely debunked” conspiracy theory.
Image caption
La policía de Forest Grove no ha podido detrminar el origen del ruido que no deja dormir a los habitantes de la localidad.
Un sonido metálico y agudo no les está permitiendo dormir a los habitantes de un suburbio de la ciudad de Portland, en el noroeste de Estados Unidos.
Y a pesar de los esfuerzos de la policía y los bomberos, que han cortado el suministro de luz, el sistema de alarmas y las redes de gas, hasta ahora no ha sido posible identificar el origen del molesto ruido.
“Es sin duda un ruido insoportable”, le dijo a la cadena ABC Dave Nemeyer, jefe del servicio de rescate de Forest Grove, un barrio ubicado a 40 kilómetros del centro de Portland.
“Lo primero que pensamos es que era el sonido de los frenos del tren. Pero no hay vías de ferrocarril cerca. Después pensamos que era una fuga de una tubería de gas, pero estaban cerradas”, agregó.
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Escuche el sonido aquí
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El sonido es una mezcla de una irritante alarma de incendio y el de una más gentil flauta traversa.
Comenzó a escucharse desde la semana pasada, especialmente durante la noche, y ha afectado también el comportamiento de las mascotas.
“El pitido es una inusual combinación de tono alto y un ambiguo punto de origen que dificulta la posibilidad de encontrar de dónde proviene“, le dijo el ingeniero de audio Tobin Cooley a la agencia de noticias Reuters.
“Las altas frecuencias como ésta son sonidos bastantes direccionales que van mezclados con otras notas de baja frecuencia que pueden venir desde cualquier lugar cercano a alguna vivienda del sector, por eso me sorprende que ninguno de los vecinos pueda decir de dónde viene el sonido”, agregó.
Desconcierto
A pesar del análisis hecho por los expertos, y pese a que los bomberos de Forest Grove siguen reuniendo pistas para hallar el origen del sonido, nadie sabe muy bien cómo continuar con la investigación.
“Hay una orden de capturar a la persona que esté creando un sonido así, en la noche, con el propósito de molestar a los vecinos”, dijo a los medios el capitán de la policía, Mike Herbs.
Image copyright Forest Grove Fire and Rescue
Image caption
Los bomberos cerraron el suministro de energía, gas y el sistema de alarmas. Y nada.
“Pero en este punto no tenemos información que nos pueda conducir a la conclusión de que es algo premeditado. Seguimos investigando“.
A pesar del desconcierto y el insomnio reinante, lo cierto es que esta no es la primera vez que un sonido de estas características azota el sueño de los habitantes de Forest Grove.
Algunas personas que vivieron en la localidad le dijeron a varios medios que décadas atrás habían escuchado el mismo ruido. Y algunos hasta bromearon que podría tratarse de un fenómeno extraterrestre.
“Tal vez sea porque volvió la serie de televisión “X files” (“Expedientes secretos”). Voy a estar pendiente del sonido”, le dijo Chester Epperson, un habitante de Forest Grove, a la cadena de noticias NBC.
The Dutch-led joint investigation team (JIT) named the men as Igor Girkin, Sergei Dubinsky and Oleg Pulatov from Russia, as well as Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko.
The JIT, which is seeking to try the suspects under Dutch law, had previously said it had a “long list” of persons of interest and appealed again for witnesses as the investigation continues.
Who are the suspects?
The most prominent of the four is Igor Girkin (also known as Strelkov), who prosecutors say is a former colonel in Russia’s FSB intelligence service. He was given the minister of defence title in the rebel-held eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk.
He is believed to be the highest military officer in the area who was in direct contact with the Russian Federation. In a statement Mr Girkin said: “I can only say that militia did not shoot down the Boeing.”
Image copyright Reuters
Image caption
An investigator inspects the wreckage of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17
The others charged are:
Sergei Dubinsky (known as Khmury), who prosecutors say was employed by Russia’s GRU military intelligence agency, was a deputy of Mr Girkin and was in regular contact with Russia
Oleg Pulatov, known as Giurza, who the JIT says was a former soldier of GRU special forces and deputy head of the intelligence service in Donetsk
Ukrainian national Leonid Kharchenko, who has no military background but led a combat unit as a commander in Eastern Ukraine, according to prosecutors
“These suspects are seen to have played an important role in the death of 298 innocent civilians”, said Dutch Chief Prosecutor Fred Westerbeke.
“Although they did not push the button themselves, we suspect them of close co-operation to get the [missile launcher] where it was, with the aim to shoot down an airplane.”
Investigators, he added, had “evidence showing that Russia provided the missile launcher”.
The passenger jet left Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport at 10:15 GMT on 17 July 2014 and was due to arrive at Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia the following day.
A few hours after take-off, the plane lost contact with air traffic control about 50km (30 miles) from the Russia-Ukraine border.
At the time, an armed conflict was raging on the ground in eastern Ukraine between Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian government forces, and several government military aircraft had been downed in the previous weeks, while air strikes were carried out on rebel-held areas.
The plane crashed in the Donetsk area, in territory controlled by separatists. Parts of the wreckage were found distributed over an area of about 50 sq km (19 square miles).
In October 2015, the Dutch Safety Board concluded the plane had been hit by a Buk missile, causing it to break apart in mid-air.
Media captionAn animated video from the Dutch Safety Board shows the damage to the plane and how it was caused
Russia responded by denying any of its anti-aircraft missile systems had ever crossed the Ukrainian border. Its foreign ministry has accused the JIT investigation of being “biased and politically motivated”.
Under Article 61 of Russia’s constitution, no Russian citizen can be extradited to another state.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the BBC before the charges were announced that his country had been given “no chance to take part” in the official investigation.
However, unnamed Dutch officials told news agencies that Russia had refused to co-operate with their investigation.
A former rebel official in Donetsk, Andrei Purgin, said it was “absurd” to accuse the separatists of involvement in downing the plane, Russia’s Interfax news agency reports.
Asked by AFP news agency, Ukrainian security services said they had “no information” on Leonid Kharchenko’s whereabouts or whether he was even still alive.
What reaction has there been to the charges?
UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said Russia “must co-operate fully with the prosecution and provide any assistance it requests” in accordance with UN Security Council resolution 2166, which was passed in response to the downing of MH17.
“The international community stands together against the impunity of those responsible for the despicable murder of 298 innocent people,” he added.
Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg said the bringing of charges marked an “important milestone in the efforts to uncover the full truth and ensure that justice is done”.
Who were the victims?
A total of 283 passengers, including 80 children, and 15 crew members were killed on the flight.
Image copyright Various
Image caption
Those killed were from across the world
The dead included 193 Dutch nationals, 43 Malaysians, 27 Australians, 12 Indonesians, 10 Britons, four Belgians, four Germans, three Philippine nationals, one New Zealander and one Canadian.
Image caption
“It’s a start” – Silene Fredriksz, mother of one of the victims
Speaking ahead of Wednesday’s announcement, Silene Fredriksz, who lost her son Bryce, said that in the five years since the downing of MH17, some relatives had died not knowing the truth.
“We all get older… I hope that I will know the truth before I close my eyes,” she said.
Barry Sweeney, father of 28-year-old British victim Liam, said he was still looking for the truth.
“It’s not going to bring anyone back, but if I found out why it happened, it would bring a bit of closure,” he said.
OXFORD, Mich. – Three people — all believed to be students — have been killed, six other people are injured and a suspected shooter is in custody after a shooting at Oxford High School on Tuesday, authorities said.
You can watch live coverage in the stream posted above.
The shooting happened around 12:55 p.m. Tuesday (Nov. 30) in the section of the school where many history classes take place, Local 4 has learned.
Police said they responded to the active shooting situation with multiple patrol and EMS units, along with SWAT and aviation units.
The Oakland County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that one suspected shooter is in custody, and officials recovered a handgun, they said.
Officials don’t believe there are any other threats at this time, but they are still searching the school. A lockdown was issued, and has not yet been lifted.
One shooting victim was shot in the face, sources told Local 4. That student’s condition has not been confirmed.
Buses are showing up at the school to bring students home. Evacuated students were told to convene at the Meijer north of the school.
Michigan State Police troopers were also called to the high school to assist, authorities said.
Messages from Oxford Community Schools
2 p.m. update:
“This afternoon there was an active shooter at Oxford High School,” district officials said in a message to parents. “Oakland County Sheriff’s Department has secured the scene. Oxford High School students and staff are systematically being evacuated to the Meijer Garden Center and may be picked up there. Any students with their own transportation have been allowed to leave. All other district schools are in lockdown for safety purposes and are in no danger.
“Students at middle and elementary schools may be picked up by their parents at any time. Busing transportation will be delayed at Oxford Middle School and elementary schools until the needs of the high school students have been met. We will continue to share information with you as we can.”
2:45 p.m. update:
“Bus transportation will be delayed this afternoon due to the situation at Oxford High School,” Oxford Middle School Principal Dacia Beazley said. “If your child rides a bus home, they will remain in their classroom until buses arrive.
“Normal student pick up will happen in the parent pick up line at this time. Students who walk home will be dismissed at 2:33 p.m.
Please communicate with your child via text messaging if his/her pickup plan has changed. If your student is not responding to text, please call our office at 248-969-1804.”
A map of Oxford High School and the nearby Meijer where students are being sent after an emergency situation on Nov. 30, 2021. (WDIV)
Stay with ClickOnDetroit for updates.
Emergency vehicles on the scene of a Nov. 30, 2021, shooting at Oxford High School. (WDIV)Police vehicles on the scene of a Nov. 30, 2021, shooting at Oxford High School. (WDIV)Medical officials on the scene of a Nov. 30, 2021, shooting at Oxford High School. (WDIV)An aerial view of the Oxford High School campus. (WDIV)
CHICAGO – An historic and deadly polar vortex gripped a wide swath of the nation Wednesday, with temperatures plunging far below zero and wind chill numbers as extraordinary as they are dangerous.
Chicago’s temperature tumbled to 21 degrees below zero, a record for the date and closing in on the city’s all-time record of minus 27 set in 1985. The wind chill dipped to an even more startling 51 degrees below zero.
The National Weather Service said the temperature reached minus 28 degrees in Minneapolis, poised to break a record dating back more than 100 years. The wind chill: minus 49.
Wind chill temperatures in dozens of towns across Minnesota and North Dakota plummeted to 60 degrees below zero or less, the National Weather Service said. The early leader was Ely, Minnesota, with a very cool minus 70 degrees.
“One of the coldest arctic air mass intrusions in recent memory is surging south into the Upper Midwest before spreading across much of the eastern two-thirds of the country,” the National Weather Service said, warning of “life-threatening wind chills, likely leading to widespread record lows and low maximum temperatures.”
Thousands of flights into and out of airports in the region were delayed or canceled, including more than 1,000 flights at Chicago airports alone.
Amtrak pulled the plug in Chicago, announcing the “extreme weather conditions and an abundance of caution” led the service to cancel all trains to and from the city on Wednesday. Short-distance services are also canceled on Thursday, Amtrak said.
Light rail was also a mess, with some suburban lines shutting down Wednesday. The Chicago Transit Authority, which shuttles about 1.6 million riders on a typical weekday, said it was experiencing significant delays.
Even the Postal Service took notice, announcing that due to concerns for the safety of its employees, mail won’t be delivered Wednesday in parts of at least 10 states.
At least four deaths were linked to the weather system, including a man struck and killed by a snow plow in the Chicago area, a young couple whose SUV struck another on a snowy road in northern Indiana and a Milwaukee man found frozen to death in a garage.
Almost 40,000 homes and businesses were without power in Indiana, Illinois,
Homeless shelters and warming centers were abuzz across the region. In Chicago, officials added 500 shelter beds and tapped more than 100 religious leaders to make calls and checks on senior citizens. Five Chicago Transit Authority buses were dispatched to give homeless people a place to warm up who might not want to go to a shelter.
“Everyone of us has a role to check on somebody who is maybe a neighbor on the block who is elderly, infirm or needs extra help,” Mayor Rahm Emanuel said.
The weather was headed east. New York’s forecast high for Thursday’s high was 16 degrees, with a wind chill of minus 15. The city Housing Authority activated its Situation Room, with heating response teams prepped to respond to heat and hot water emergencies.
Philadelphia enacted “Cold Blue,” including 24-hour outreach to find people who are homeless and transport them to safe indoor spaces.
Pets were also a concern, Chicagoland Dog Rescue warned.
“Don’t leave your pets outside unattended in this weather, period,” the rescue organization warned on Twitter. “Make sure your gates are latched and your dog(s) cannot escape your yard.”
The weekend could finally bring relief. In Des Moines, Iowa, the temperature barreled down to minus 20 on Wednesday with a wind chill of minus 40. But Allan Curtis, a meteorologist with the Des Moines branch of the National Weather Service, said the temperature on Saturday could exceed 40 degrees above zero.
“It may as well be basketball shorts weather,” Curtis said.
Madhani reported from Chicago, Bacon from McLean, Virgina. Contributing: Austin Cannon, Des Moines Register; The Associated Press
KHARKIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian forces fought village by village Saturday to hold back a Russian advance through the country’s east, while the United Nations worked to broker a civilian evacuation from the last defensive stronghold in the bombed-out ruins of the port city of Mariupol.
An estimated 100,000 civilians remain in the city, and up to 1,000 are living beneath a sprawling Soviet-era steel plant, according to Ukrainian officials. Ukraine has not said how many fighters are also in the plant, the only part of Mariupol not occupied by Russian forces, but Russia put the number at about 2,000.
Russian state media outlets reported Saturday that 25 civilians had been evacuated from the Azovstal steelworks, though there was no confirmation from the U.N. Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency said 19 adults and six children were brought out, but gave no further details.
A top official with the Azov Regiment, the Ukrainian unit defending the plant, said 20 civilians were evacuated during a cease-fire, though it was not clear if he was referring to the same group as the Russian news reports.
“These are women and children,” Sviatoslav Palamar said in a video posted on the regiment’s Telegram channel. He also called for the evacuation of the wounded: “We don’t know why they are not taken away and their evacuation to the territory controlled by Ukraine is not being discussed.”
Video and images from inside the plant, shared with The Associated Press by two Ukrainian women who said their husbands are among the fighters refusing to surrender there, showed unidentified men with stained bandages; others had open wounds or amputated limbs.
A skeleton medical staff was treating at least 600 wounded people, said the women, who identified their husbands as members of the Azov Regiment of Ukraine’s National Guard. Some of the wounds were rotting with gangrene, they said.
In the video the men said that they eat just once daily and share as little as 1.5 liters (50 ounces) of water a day among four people, and that supplies inside the besieged facility are depleted.
One shirtless man appeared to be in pain as he described his wounds: two broken ribs, a punctured lung and a dislocated arm that “was hanging on the flesh.”
“I want to tell everyone who sees this: If you will not stop this here, in Ukraine, it will go further, to Europe,” he said.
AP could not independently verify the date and location of the video, which the women said was taken in the last week in the maze of corridors and bunkers beneath the plant.
The women urged that Ukrainian fighters also be evacuated alongside civilians, warning they could be tortured and executed if captured. “The lives of soldiers matter too,” Yuliia Fedusiuk told AP in Rome.
In his nightly video address late Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy switched into Russian to urge Russian troops not to fight in Ukraine, saying even their generals expect that thousands more of them will die.
The president accused Moscow of recruiting new soldiers “with little motivation and little combat experience” so that units gutted early in the war can be thrown back into battle.
“Every Russian soldier can still save his own life,” Zelenskyy said. “It’s better for you to survive in Russia than to perish on our land.”
In other developments:
— Ukrainian Deputy Agriculture Minister Taras Vysotsky said in televised remarks that Russian forces have seized hundreds of thousands of tons of grain in territory under their control. Ukraine is a major grain producer, and the invasion has pushed up world prices and raised concerns about shortages.
— A Russian rocket attack destroyed the airport runway in Odesa, Ukraine’s third-most populous city and a key Black Sea port, the Ukrainian army said.
— The bodies of three men were found buried in a forest near the Kyiv suburb of Bucha, the head of Kyiv’s regional police force said. The men, whose bodies were found Friday, had been tortured before they were shot in the head, Andriy Nebytov wrote on Facebook. Ukrainian officials have alleged that retreating Russian troops carried out mass killings of civilians in Bucha.
— Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview that Russian and Ukrainian negotiators talk “almost every day.” However, he told Chinese state news agency Xinhua, “progress has not been easy.”
— Two buses sent to evacuate residents from the eastern town of Popasna were fired upon, and contact with the organizers was lost, Mayor Nikolai Khanatov said: “We know that (the buses) reached the town and then came under fire from an enemy sabotage and reconnaissance group.”
Getting a full picture of the unfolding battle in eastern Ukraine has been difficult because airstrikes and artillery barrages have made it extremely dangerous for reporters to move around. Also, both Ukraine and Moscow-backed rebels have introduced tight restrictions on reporting from the combat zone.
But Western military analysts suggested that the offensive in the Donbas region, which includes Mariupol, was going much slower than planned. So far, Russian troops and the separatists appeared to have made only minor gains in the month since Moscow said it would focus its military strength in the east.
Numerically, Russia’s military manpower vastly exceeds Ukraine’s. In the days before the war began, Western intelligence estimated Russia had positioned near the border as many as 190,000 troops; Ukraine’s standing military totals about 200,000, spread throughout the country.
Yet, in part because of the tenacity of the Ukrainian resistance, the U.S. believes the Russians are “at least several days behind where they wanted to be” as they try to encircle Ukrainian troops in the east, said a senior U.S. defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the American military’s assessment.
With plenty of firepower still in reserve, Russia’s offensive still could intensify and overrun the Ukrainians. Overall the Russian army has an estimated 900,000 active-duty personnel. Russia also has a much larger air force and navy.
Hundreds of millions of dollars in military assistance has flowed into Ukraine since the war began, but Russia’s vast armories mean Ukraine’s needs are nearly inexhaustible.
Mariupol officials have described dire shortages of food, water and medicine. U.N. humanitarian spokesman Saviano Abreu said the world organization was negotiating with authorities in Moscow and Kyiv, but he could not provide details of the ongoing evacuation effort “because of the complexity and fluidity of the operation.”
“There is, right now, ongoing, high-level engagements with all the governments, Russia and Ukraine, to make sure that you can save civilians and support the evacuation of civilians from the plant,” Abreu told AP. He would not confirm video posted on social media purportedly showing U.N.-marked vehicles in Mariupol.
Ukraine has blamed the failure of numerous previous evacuation attempts on continued Russian shelling.
___
Associated Press journalists Jon Gambrell and Yuras Karmanau in Lviv, Mstyslav Chernov in Kharkiv, Yesica Fisch in Sloviansk, Lolita C. Baldor in Washington, Trisha Thompson in Rome and AP staff around the world contributed to this report.
CNN host Don Lemon was visibly flabbergasted by Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who claimed white supremacy was “actually not a real problem in America” during his program on Tuesday.
Carlson downplayed the evidence of the rise of white supremacy throughout the US and described it a “hoax … Just like the Russia hoax.”
Lemon was speechless after he replayed a portion of Carlson’s segment for his program.
“Wow,” Lemon said, after an extended pause. “Hold on a second. Was that not the dumbest thing you’ve ever heard?”
The FBI reported that since October, the majority of roughly 100 domestic terrorism-related arrests involving a racial motive were “motivated by some version of what you might call ‘white supremacist violence.'”
CNN host Don Lemon was visibly flabbergasted by Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who claimed white supremacy was “actually not a real problem in America” during his program on Tuesday.
Carlson downplayed the evidence of the rise of white supremacy throughout the US and described it a “hoax … Just like the Russia hoax.”
“It’s a conspiracy theory used to divide the country and keep a hold on power,” Carlson said on his program. “That’s exactly what’s going on.”
“If you were to assemble a list, a hierarchy of concerns, the problems this country faces, where would white supremacy be on the list? Right up there with Russia, probably,” Carlson added. “It’s actually not a real problem in America.”
Lemon was speechless after he replayed a portion of Carlson’s segment for his program.
“Wow,” Lemon said, after an extended pause. “Hold on a second. Was that not the dumbest thing you’ve ever heard?”
The FBI — which has received criticism for its handling of domestic terrorism concerns following the El Paso shooting that killed at least 22 people in Texas — reported that since October, the majority of roughly 100 domestic terrorism-related arrests involving a racial motive were “motivated by some version of what you might call ‘white supremacist violence.'”
The gunman in the El Paso shooting promoted white supremacist views in a purported manifesto.
From left, Melody Stout, Hannah Payan, Aaliyah Alba, Sherie Gramlich and Laura Barrios comfort each other during a vigil for victims of the shooting Saturday, Aug. 3, 2019, in El Paso, Texas. A young gunman opened fire in an El Paso, Texas, shopping area during the busy back-to-school season, leaving multiple people dead and more than two dozen injured. (AP Photo/John Locher)
“We take domestic terrorism or hate crime, regardless of ideology, extremely seriously,” FBI director Christopher Wray said at a congressional hearing in July. “We are aggressively pursuing it using both counterterrorism resources and criminal investigative resources and partnering closely with our state and local partners.”
The FBI was reportedly investigating around 850 domestic terrorism cases — 40% of which involved racial extremism, according to CBS News. The FBI also determined there were eight mass shootings in the country involving attackers who promoted white supremacy since 2017, according to The New York Times.
Additionally, the FBI Agents Association on Tuesday urged Congress to declare domestic terrorism a federal crime: “Acts of violence intended to intimidate civilian populations or to influence or affect government policy should be prosecuted as domestic terrorism regardless of the ideology behind them.”
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, left, speaks alongside Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley, right, during a vigil at the scene of a mass shooting, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2019, in Dayton, Ohio. A masked gunman in body armor opened fire early Sunday in the popular entertainment district in Dayton, killing several people, including his sister, and wounding dozens before he was quickly slain by police, officials said. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
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President Donald Trump addressed the El Paso shooting on Monday and said the gunman was “consumed by racist hate.”
“In one voice, our nation must condemn racism, bigotry, and white supremacy,” Trump said at his press conference.
Lemon referred to Carlson’s monologue in light of the victims of the El Paso shooting.
“Yet, Tucker Carlson of Fox News is saying white supremacy is not a real problem in America,” Lemon said. “I wonder how the families of the victims in El Paso feel about his statement.”
Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids occurred in small towns where the workforce is made up largely of Latino immigrants. USA TODAY
DETROIT – Forty years ago, Jimmy Al-Daoud came from Greece to the U.S. legally as a 6-month-old baby, along with his Iraqi Christian parents, who were refugees.
The Hazel Park resident struggled with mental illness, homelessness and was convicted 20 times of crimes such as stealing power tools, assault and marijuana possession. In 2005 and 2018, an immigration judge ordered him removed from the U.S. despite the fact he had lived in the U.S. almost his entire life.
On June 2, agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported him to Iraq after a federal appeals court decision in April opened the door for Iraqi deportations.
This week, Al-Daoud, 41, died in Iraq after struggling as a homeless man on the streets of Najaf and Baghdad to find insulin he needed for his diabetic condition, according to friends, the American Civil Liberties Union and U.S. Rep. Andy Levin, D-Mich.
For the past two years, Iraqi-American Christian leaders in Michigan have said that deporting Chaldeans back to Iraq would be a virtual death sentence. Al-Daoud’s death on Tuesday has confirmed their fears, say advocates.
“Jimmy Al-Daoud, a Chaldean resident of Oakland County, should have never been sent to Iraq,” said Levin. “For many reasons, it was clear that deporting Jimmy to a country where he had never been, had no identification, had no family, had no knowledge of geography or customs, did not speak the language and ultimately, had no access to medical care, would put his life in extreme danger. Jimmy died tragically yesterday of a diabetic crisis. His death could have and should have been prevented.”
ICE officials told the Free Press on Thursday that Al-Daoud cut off his tether in December and had absconded until police caught him in April for vehicle larceny. ICE said they provided him with enough medication to ensure his care when they deported him in June.
A video in June of Al-Daoud in Iraq that the ACLU says was taken by another deported Iraqi national shows him explaining how ICE agents deported him despite his pleas to stay.
“I was deported 2½ weeks ago,” he said in the video posted on Facebook, wearing a red shirt and sitting on the street. “I’ve been in the United States since 6 months old. … Two and a half weeks ago, immigration agent pulled me over and said I’m going to Iraq. And I refused. I said I’ve never been there. I’ve been in this country my whole life. … They refused to listen to me. … They wouldn’t let me call my family, nothing. … I begged them, I said, ‘Please, I’ve never seen that country. I’ve never been there.’ However, they forced me.”
Al-Daoud described his stay in Iraq as confusing and desperate.
“I don’t understand the language,” he said in the June video. “I’ve been sleeping in the streets. I’m diabetic. I’m take insulin shots. I’ve been throwing up, throwing up … trying to find something to eat. I got nothing over here.”
Levin and the ACLU confirmed that the video is of Al-Daoud.
Al-Daoud suffered “from mental health issues and had diabetes that required insulin twice per day,” said ACLU Michigan spokeswoman Ann Mullen. “He died in part due to not having access to quality health care despite being able to periodically receive insulin.”
It’s unclear whether Al-Daoud was born in Iraq or Greece, said the ACLU. Some documents show he was born in Greece, others in Iraq.
Leaving Iraq, his parents “made their way to Greece, where they applied for refugee status in the U.S.,” Mullen said. The family was in Greece just a few months before being admitted into the U.S. in 1979.
His death has outraged some in metro Detroit’s Iraqi Christian community, one of the largest in the U.S.
Officials with ICE in Detroit told the Free Press in a statement that Al-Daoud has a long history of criminal convictions over the past 20 years. Spokesman Khaalid Walls said Al-Daoud entered the U.S. “lawfully in 1979, before violating the terms of his status due to several criminal convictions.”
Under law, legal immigrants can be deported if they commit certain crimes.
ICE Detroit office said: “Al-Daoud has an extensive criminal history involving no less than twenty convictions between 1998-2017, to include assault with a dangerous weapon; assault and/or battery; domestic violence; contempt of court-failure to appear; breaking and entering; malicious destruction of a building; malicious destruction of property; assaulting, resisting, or obstructing a police officer; disorderly conduct; home invasion; possession of marijuana; larceny; breaking and entering a vehicle, and receiving and concealing stolen property.”
In 2012, Al-Daoud was arrested after he stole power tools from a garage in Ferndale, reported WWJ at the time. He was described in the story as a homeless man.
A Michigan appeals court later threw out the conviction after he served his time because he had represented himself in court without the judge warning him of the risks, reported the Associated Press in 2015.
ICE said that “Al-Daoud’s immigration case underwent an exhaustive judicial review before the courts ultimately affirmed he had no legal basis to remain in the U.S. He was ordered removed from the United States to Iraq on Nov. 8, 2005.”
In 2017, Al-Daoud became part of the ACLU lawsuit filed against ICE to block the deportations. ICE had arrested about 1,400 Iraqi nationals living in the U.S., most with criminal convictions who had final orders of deportation.
Before President Donald Trump took office, they were allowed to stay, but the Trump administration sought to remove them after striking a deal with Iraq to take them back. Many were able to have their cases reheard in immigration courts and temporarily had their deportations halted, but in December, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the ACLU, saying the deportations could not be blocked. In April, the full court refused to rehear the case, which means the deportations can continue.
“He was later granted a motion to reopen his immigration case but was again ordered removed to Iraq on May 14, 2018,” said ICE spokesman Walls. “Al-Daoud waived his right to appeal that decision.”
Levin said he’s trying to help get Al-Daoud a Catholic burial in Iraq. Christians are a minority in Iraq, where they are increasingly persecuted.
“At the moment, Iraqi authorities will not release Jimmy’s body to a Catholic priest without extensive documentation from his family members in the U.S.,” Levin said. “This seems to be a cruel irony, indeed. I am working with the Iraqi government to make sure this process happens as quickly and smoothly as possible.”
“Jimmy’s death has devastated his family and us,” said Miriam Aukerman, ACLU of Michigan senior staff attorney, who is litigating the Hamma v. Adducci lawsuit filed against ICE on behalf of Iraqi nationals. “We knew he would not survive if deported. What we don’t know is how many more people ICE will send to their deaths.”
Aukerman said Al-Daoud was “sleeping on benches in Najaf with no food, no money, nothing but the clothes on his back.”
According to ICE Detroit officials, “Al-Daoud was released from ICE custody on Dec. 18, 2018, pursuant to a Nov. 20, 2018, federal court decision, which ordered the release of Iraqi nationals who had been detained for removal.”
Al-Daoud then “immediately absconded from ICE’s noncustodial supervision program by cutting his GPS tether on the day of his release.”
ICE said he “remained an absconder until he was arrested by local law enforcement for larceny from a motor vehicle in April 2019. At his June 2, removal, he was supplied with a full complement of medicine to ensure continuity of care.”
Al-Daoud had first arrived in Najaf and then ended up in Baghdad, said Levin’s office and the ACLU.
In the June video taken a couple of weeks after his deportation – believed to be in Baghdad, according to Levin’s office – Al-Daoud recounted being thrown off the property of a place where he was trying to sleep because he was homeless.
“I was kicked in the back a couple of days ago,” Al-Daoud said, by a man who told him to “get off the guy’s property. I was sleeping on the ground. He claimed it was his property. I begged him, I said, ‘Please, I’ve never seen this country. I don’t understand the language. Nobody speaks English.’ “
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Epstein was awaiting trail on sex trafficking charges when he was found dead in his cell
Staffing shortages at the prison where disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein was found dead at the weekend left gaps in his supervision, US media report.
The justice department and the FBI have both launched investigations into his death in New York, amid questions surrounding the circumstances.
Epstein, 66, was facing sex trafficking and conspiracy charges, which carried jail sentences of up to 45 years.
A post mortem examination was performed on Sunday.
New York City’s chief medical examiner, Barbara Sampson, said more information was needed before the cause of death was determined.
A private pathologist observed the examination at the request of Epstein’s representatives, Dr Sampson added.
Guards at New York’s Metropolitan Correctional Center had been forced to work overtime to make up for the staffing shortages, according to US media.
Image copyright Reuters
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Epstein faced up to 45 years in jail if convicted
One of the corrections officers was reportedly on his fifth straight day of overtime shifts, while another guard had been forced to work overtime, Serene Gregg, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 3148, told the Washington Post newspaper.
“If it wasn’t Mr Epstein, it would have been somebody else, because of the conditions at that institution,” she told the newspaper.
“It was only a matter of time for it to happen. It was inevitable. Our staff is severely overworked.”
Ms Gregg said she has long complained about the work conditions at the facility.
The guards failed to follow several protocols leading up to Epstein’s death, according to the New York Times.
Epstein, who had been placed on suicide watch after an apparent suicide attempt last month, was supposed to have a cellmate and checked in on by a guard every 30 minutes. Mr Epstein was reportedly left alone early on Saturday after his cellmate was transferred.
On Monday French government ministers also called for an investigation into Epstein, saying a US probe into the accused child sex trafficker had revealed links between Epstein and France.
What happens to the case against him?
Epstein – a convicted paedophile – was arrested on 6 July on new sex-trafficking charges. The indictment alleged that he paid underage girls to perform sex acts at his Manhattan and Florida mansions between 2002 and 2005.
According to the charges – which Epstein denied – the girls, some as young as 14, were given hundreds of dollars for sex acts.
Hundreds of pages of court documents unsealed on Friday – one day before Epstein’s death – included new details of the sexual abuse claims, including allegations by a woman that she was forced to have sex with Epstein’s powerful friends.
The documents shift the focus from Epstein to some of his high-profile associates, namely Ghislaine Maxwell, his former girlfriend.
Virginia Giuffre, an alleged victim of Epstein, claims Ms Maxwell recruited her as a masseuse for the hedge fund manager at age 15. In the same documents, Ms Giuffre alleges that Ms Maxwell introduced her to Britain’s Prince Andrew, and encouraged her to have sex with him.
Buckingham Palace has said that “any suggestion of impropriety with underage minors is categorically untrue”. The allegations were struck from the court’s record in 2015.
Without Epstein to stand trial, legal experts told CBS News that federal prosecutors were likely to dismiss the case against him.
Lisa Bloom, an attorney for several women who claim they were abused by Epstein, told CBS that she planned to file civil litigation against Epstein’s estate.
Media caption‘Any co-conspirators should not rest easy’
US Attorney General William Barr said on Monday: “Mr Epstein’s death raises serious questions that must be answered”. He also called for a “thorough” investigation.
What questions remain?
The death of the high-profile financier spurred a flurry of unsubstantiated conspiracy theories online.
But without the results from the post-mortem examination, questions still loom regarding the precise cause of death.
A city official told the New York Times that Dr Sampson was “confident” the cause of death is suicide by hanging, but she was awaiting further information from law enforcement.
Image copyright News Syndication
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Epstein was a known associate of Prince Andrew, Duke of York
Revelations that Epstein was left unsupervised after an apparent suicide attempt last month have also raised questions.
Who is Jeffrey Epstein?
Born and raised in New York, Epstein worked as a maths and physics teacher in the 1970s before moving into finance, creating his own firm: J Epstein and Co.
The company reportedly managed assets of clients worth more than $1bn (£800m). Epstein soon began spending his fortune – including on a mansion in Florida, a ranch in New Mexico, and reputedly the largest private home in New York.
Image copyright Getty Images
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Epstein was connected to the rich and powerful, including US President Donald Trump
But the specifics of Epstein’s work – including his client list – remained largely shrouded in secrecy. Reports of Epstein’s actual wealth varied, with his Virgin Islands-based firm generating no public records.
He was better known for his famous circle of friends and associates. Epstein was tied to US President Donald Trump, Prince Andrew, actor Kevin Spacey and high-profile lawyer Alan Dershowitz.
He first came under scrutiny from law enforcement in 2005, when the parents of a 14-year-old girl told police in Florida that Epstein had molested their daughter at his Palm Beach home. A police search of the property found photos of girls throughout the property.
But prosecutors forged a deal with the financier in 2008 and Epstein avoided federal charges – which could have seen him face life in prison. Instead, he received an 18-month prison sentence, during which he was able to go on “work release” to his office for 12 hours a day, six days a week. He was released on probation after 13 months.
A sheriff’s deputy in Los Angeles County, California, admitted to investigators that he lied about being shot by a sniper while walking to his car Wednesday.
Angel Reinosa, 21, had said he was shot in the shoulder of his ballistic vest, which led to a massive manhunt that included a helicopter with police snipers.
“Reinosa admitted he was not shot at as he previously claimed,” L.A. County Homicide Capt. Kent Wegener said late on Saturday. “He also told investigators he had caused the holes in his uniform by cutting it. There was no sniper, no shots fired, and no gunshot injury sustained to his shoulder.”
Reinosa confessed to fabricating the story about being shot after several inconsistencies were found in the course of the investigation. Officials say the young sheriff’s deputy did not provide a reason for making up the shooting.
“Much of his statement was self-serving,” Wegener said. “[It] didn’t make a whole lot of sense … There were several things that were curious,” the Homicide Bureau captain also said. “There was no ballistic evidence in the parking lot at all. No bullet was recovered … There were many things that didn’t add up.”
A criminal investigation into the matter has also been launched and Reinosa has been let go from the department, according to the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department Assistant Sheriff Robin Limon, who also said the department was “incredibly disappointed” in Reinosa’s behavior.
New York Assembly Democrats vote 15-11 to block a bill that proposed expanding college tuition aid for children of deceased and disabled military veterans in the wake of approving a state budget that set aside $27 million in college tuition aid for undocumented immigrants.
New York Assembly Democrats on Tuesday blocked a bill that proposed expanding college tuition aid for children of deceased and disabled military veterans after– having a week earlier– approved a state budget that set aside $27 million in college tuition aid for illegal immigrants.
The Assembly’s Higher Education Committee voted 15 to 11 on Tuesday to shelve the bill, effectively quashing its chances of going to the floor, the Post-Standard reported.
The decision came after committee chair Deborah Glick, D-Manhattan, and Speaker Carl Heastie said $27 million from the state’s budget would go towards supporting the Jose Peralta New York State DREAM Act, which allows illegal immigrants to qualify for state aid for higher education, Newsweek reported.
Glick said any expansion of college tuition aid to Gold Star families was not within the state’s budget and pointed to an already-existing program that provides $2.7 million to 145 students who are dependents of vets who served in combat zones, the New York Post reported.
“Assemblywoman Glick should be ashamed of herself,” said State Sen. Robert Ortt, R-Niagara. “We set aside $27 million dollars for college for people that are here illegally… Apparently, $2.7 million is all that the families of soldiers who are killed, get. If you’re a child of a fallen soldier, you do not rank as high and you know that by the money.”
Mike Whyland, a spokesman for Assembly Democrats, said the Republican-led bill “would have expanded the eligibility beyond the scope and should be considered within the context of the budget.”
When asked about objections by GOP lawmakers, he said: “It’s purely political and it’s unfortunate that they are using children as pawns.”
Assemblyman Will Barclay, R-Pulaski, surmised that the Democrats’ refusal had less to do with budget restraints and more to do with the bill’s author: a Republican, Steve Hawley, R-Batavia.
“We get so caught up in majority and minority issues here, we can’t see the forest through the trees,” Barclay said. “I don’t know how they don’t justify this.”
“The national left-wing media went apoplectic over the past few days,” Dobbs said. He put up a clip from CNN on Twitter that noted the cable network itself had said that the storm potentially could have hit Alabama, and noted how other media had jumped up and down to complain about Trump’s accuracy.
“It’s not exactly a mere loss of the sense of proportion on the part of the left wing fake news media,” Dobbs said. “This is madness, what we have witnessed over the last few days.”
….This nonsense has never happened to another President. Four days of corrupt reporting, still without an apology. But there are many things that the Fake News Media has not apologized to me for, like the Witch Hunt, or SpyGate! The LameStream Media and their Democrat…..
Customers in LaPlace, La., learn that a station has ran out of gas after waiting in line for more than an hour on Monday.
Scott Olson/Getty Images
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Scott Olson/Getty Images
Customers in LaPlace, La., learn that a station has ran out of gas after waiting in line for more than an hour on Monday.
Scott Olson/Getty Images
Although oil companies are still assessing the damage at the oil rigs, platforms and refineries that were struck by Hurricane Ida, signs point toward a limited impact on gasoline availability and prices.
AAA has warned of price volatility, and several analysts expect temporary price increases of several cents, but experts are not expecting a dramatic or prolonged disruption to the market.
“This is not Katrina,” says Richard Joswick, head of oil analytics at S&P Global Platts. After Hurricane Katrina made landfall — exactly 16 years earlier — gas prices immediately shot up by 45 cents and remained elevated for two months.
More than a million homes were left without power after Hurricane Ida made landfall Sunday night as a powerful Category 4 storm. The storm had strengthened rapidly, a phenomenon that is increasingly common for tropical storms as a result of global warming.
Oil companies checking for damages; Exxon is resuming normal operations
As Hurricane Ida approached, oil companies rushed to evacuate personnel and shut down operations in the Gulf of Mexico, as is standard practice for an approaching major storm.
On Sunday, the federal Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement reported that 95.65% of oil production in the Gulf of Mexico had been temporarily closed down, as well as 93.75% of natural gas production.
Those are eye-popping percentages. But the key question for oil markets is whether any of the infrastructure was damaged. If not, Gulf producers could restart drilling and pumping in a matter of days. However, if equipment was broken by the storms, they could remain offline much longer.
Companies are in the process of checking for damage. ExxonMobil reports that its Hoover platform was undamaged and is in the process of resuming normal operations. Shell has confirmed that three platforms that were in the storm’s path are “all intact and on location,” although the company doesn’t have an estimate for when production will resume. Other operators, including BP and Equinor, say it is too soon to provide an update.
The energy data company Enverus says that in general, “early reports do not suggest that there has been severe long-lasting damage to oil infrastructure.” U.S. crude prices dipped slightly on Tuesday, indicating that markets are not worried about a lack of supply.
Refineries grappling with widespread power outages
In addition to the offshore platforms in the Gulf of Mexico, a number of refineries along Louisiana’s Gulf Coast were affected by the storm. The Department of Energy reports that at least nine refineries have partially or fully cut production, with about 13% of U.S. refining capacity affected.
The storm’s most devastating winds passed just east of major refineries, but flooding damage remains a concern. And direct storm damage is not the only risk. Refineries also require electricity — and Hurricane Ida knocked out power for a large swath of Louisiana and Mississippi, with more than a million customers in the dark.
Damage assessments are still underway, and even if refineries make it through the storm unscathed, it’s not clear how long it will take to restore power to all the facilities. Some analysts are forecasting that it may take weeks, which could be a significant disruption to regional gasoline production.
The Environmental Protection Agency has issued a waiver for Louisiana and Mississippi, allowing winter gasoline to be sold in the area to address concerns about fuel supply. (Normally, the EPA requires the use of less-volatile, slightly more expensive fuel in the summer, because otherwise hot weather would create more dangerous fumes from gas.)
Impact on prices expected to be modest; U.S. is now less reliant on oil from the Gulf
Despite the substantial disruption to oil production and refining, most analysts anticipate a relatively limited impact to the market as a whole.
That’s not the same as no impact: Gasoline prices have already risen by several cents a gallon, and storm-influenced price fluctuations could continue for a few weeks. And gas prices were high this summer to begin with. But it’s a far cry from the intense, prolonged disruption that Hurricane Katrina memorably caused.
There are a few reasons for that. U.S. oil markets have changed dramatically over the last 16 years. The U.S. is less reliant on crude production in the Gulf of Mexico than it used to be, thanks to the rise of shale oil produced in Texas and New Mexico. The U.S. also exports more refined fuel products out of the Gulf now and, in a pinch, can redirect those exports to meet domestic needs.
Joswick, with S&P Global Platts, also says that the lengthy outages after Katrina had an impact on companies. “The refiners learned their lesson,” he says. “They hardened their facilities. They raised critical equipment up off the ground so it wouldn’t flood, for example.”
However, he notes, if a second storm strikes the area while production is still recovering, the damage could be far worse.
Border security talks between lawmakers in Congress broke down over the weekend, according to lawmakers and aides at the US Capitol, as the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal reported. Lawmakers face a February 15 deadline to pass new legislation or risk the government shutting down again.
“I think the talks are stalled right now. I’m not confident we’re going to get there,” Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard C. Shelby from Alabama, the lead Republican negotiator, said on Fox News, Sunday.
Lawmakers have been lobbying deals back and forth in attempts to come to an agreement on border security funding. The Trump administration has demanded $5.7 billion to fund construction of a physical barrier along the US border with Mexico, a proposal Democrats in Congress have refused. Democrats and Republicans have been trying to find a number between $1.3 billion and $2 billion that both sides would accept, according to the Post.
On NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, Trump’s acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney told moderator Chuck Todd that “you absolutely cannot” rule out a government shutdown at the end of the week.
Mulvaney said the border security talks are “all over the map, and I think it’s all over the map because of the Democrats. The president really does believe that there is a national security crisis and a humanitarian crisis at the border and he will do something about it.”
Mulvaney said Trump will find the money to fund the border wall elsewhere if lawmakers don’t agree to his $5.7 billion demand.
“You cannot take the shutdown off the table and you cannot take $5.7 billion off the table,” he said. “But if you end up some place in the middle, what you’ll probably see is the president say: ‘OK, and then I’ll go find the money someplace else.”
Trump has threatened to declare a national emergency in order to secure the funds for the wall. Experts are divided on whether or not such a move would be legal, and lawmakers on both sides have criticized that potential course of action, as Business Insider’s Michelle Mark previously reported.
“Some Republicans fear it sets a precedent that could later be used by a Democratic president to pursue liberal policies, while Democrats have called it a misuse of executive power,” Mark wrote.
The federal government’s current funding expires at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday, February 16.
La agencia de noticias norcoreana KCNA informó que este viernes se realizó una competición de artillería de las fuerzas especiales del Ejército Popular norcoreano (KPA) bajo la supervisión de presidente de Corea del Norte, Kim Jong-un.
Las maniobras fueron realizas en el marco del 57 aniversario de la fiesta nacional del “Songun”, celebración que prioriza el sector militar para la defensa del país.
Fueron empleados distintos activos militares, desde aviones y lanzaderas de misiles hasta cañones autopropulsados, que dispararon munición de distintos calibres, detalló hoy la agencia de noticias norcoreana.
Kim supervisó la competición, que tuvo por objetivo acertar a los blancos en una operación que simulaba la ocupación de las islas surcoreanas de Baengnyeong y Yeonpyeong.
Ambas islas se encuentran en la Línea Limítrofe del Norte y ejerce de frontera marítima entre las dos Coreas, aunque no es reconocida por Pyongyang.
Según KCNA, “los aviones recibieron la orden de salir sin cesar de golear a los enemigos” y los combatientes “se infiltraron sigilosamente en las islas desde el agua, con una lluvia de fuero sobre sus enemigos antes de que recuperaran sus sentidos”.
Kim expresó su “gran satisfacción por el éxito de la competición” y aconsejó al KPA realizar en el futuro más ejercicios “simulando una verdadera batalla para redondear la coordinación entre todos los servicios y armas”.
Las pruebas norcoreanas se producen en respuesta a los ejercicios militares de EE.UU. y Corea del Sur, denominadas Ulchi-Freedom Guardian, que este año se realizan entre el 21 y el 31 de agosto.
La cúpula militar norcoreana ha condenado en varias ocasiones las maniobras conjuntas y llegó a amenazar con lanzar una “venganza despiadada” y “castigar” a EE.UU. y a Corea del Sur por sus ejercicios militares conjuntos.
Pyongyang sostiene que estos ensayos militares se realizan en el marco de la defensa de su soberanía ante la constante amenaza de Estados Unidos y sus aliados en la región.
WASHINGTON — If a Supreme Court vacancy emerges next year, Mitch McConnell will fill it, the Senate majority leader said Tuesday.
The comment, however, diverges from his decision in 2016 to not consider President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nomination of Merrick Garland after the sudden death of Justice Antonin Scalia earlier that year.
At a chamber luncheon in Paducah, Kentucky, on Tuesday, McConnell was asked by a member of the audience, “Should a Supreme Court justice die next year, what will your position be on filling that spot?”
“I would fill it,” he responded, smirking, which drew loud laughter.
McConnell said that while the 2017 GOP tax cuts could be repealed by future Congresses, judicial confirmations are more permanent.
“What can’t be undone is a lifetime appointment,” McConnell said. “That’s the most important thing that we have done for the country, which cannot be undone.”
The majority leader said earlier that the biggest decision he had made in his Senate career was his choice not to consider Garland’s nomination.
“I made the call in 2016 that we would not fill the vacancy created by the death of Justice Scalia in the last year of the previous administration, a decision of enormous consequences,” he said. “You may have recalled the level of controversy that it produced. I thought I was on pretty firm ground because if I knew the shoe had been on the other foot, the guys on the other side would have done the same thing. That provided an opportunity for the American people to speak up about who they wanted to make that decision.”
In a tweet Tuesday night, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called McConnell a hypocrite.
Shortly after Obama nominated Garland in March 2016, McConnell said on the Senate floor, “The American people may well elect a president who decides to nominate Judge Garland for Senate consideration. The next president may also nominate someone very different. Either way, our view is this: Give the people a voice in the filling of this vacancy.”
He then told Garland that afternoon by phone that the Senate would not consider his nomination. McConnell consistently cited the so-called “Biden Rule,” an informal understanding that a president should not be able to name a judge to the Supreme Court during an election year. McConnell and then-Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, would not even allow a hearing on Garland’s nomination. The bet paid off when Trump was elected and was able to nominate conservative Neil Gorsuch to the court.
Asked for a comment Tuesday night, McConnell spokesman David Popp referred NBC News to an interview the majority leader did with Fox News in October 2018 and said “it’s not a reversal” because “2020 (would not) be the same as 2016.”
In that interview, host Chris Wallace asked McConnell what he would do if Trump were to name someone to the Supreme Court in the final year of his first term in 2020.
“Well, I understand your question of what I told you is what the history of the Senate has been. You have to go back to 1880 to find the last time a vacancy created in a presidential election year on the Supreme Court was confirmed by a Senate of a different party than the president,” McConnell said.
McConnell has conveyed this reasoning several times — the decision not to consider Garland’s nomination was because the Senate was held by a different party than the president leading into an election. His answer Tuesday is consistent with that claim.
Since Trump became president, the Senate has confirmed two justices to the Supreme Court — Gorsuch in 2017 and Brett Kavanaugh in 2018 — both of whom are considered conservative. Republicans were able to confirm the two nominees after they triggered the nuclear option in 2017, lowering the vote threshold so that a Supreme Court pick could be confirmed by the Senate with a simple majority rather than facing the previous 60-vote threshold.
There are several justices on the Supreme Court who have served for several decades. Justice Stephen Breyer is 80 years old and has served since 1994. Justice Clarence Thomas is 70 and has served since 1991, the longest-serving justice currently on the court. And Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is 86, has served since 1993 and has suffered a series of health-related issues, including recently when she underwent surgery for lung cancer. She returned to the court in February.
Rebecca Shabad is a congressional reporter for NBC News, based in Washington.
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Las calles se inundaron en la isla de San Martín, que forma parte de los territorios de Francia en ultramar.
Irma es el segundo huracán más fuerte registrado en el océano Atlántico.
De categoría 5, la máxima en la escala Saffir-Simpson, Irma golpea desde este miércoles el Caribe con rachas de vientos que alcanzan los 295 km/h. Tras alcanzar Puerto Rico, el huracán continuará en dirección hacia República Dominicana, Cuba, Bahamas y el sur de Florida.
A su paso por las islas de Anguila, Antigua, Barbuda, San Bartolomé y San Martín, la tormenta causó enormes destrozos incluyendo inundaciones, daños severos a edificaciones sólidas y causando interrupciones en las comunicaciones.
BBC Mundo muestra algunas de las imágenes que registran el impacto de este fenómeno meteorológico.
But while the settlement was celebrated by some, other lawyers involved in the lawsuit said the deal would fall far short of what abuse survivors deserve. Tim Kosnoff, a lawyer who had partnered with Rothweiler’s firm in the suit, said to NPR that the agreement, which is not yet finalized, was a “rotten, chump deal” and a “failure.”
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