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Tag: Criminal investigations

  • Australia to block former military pilots flying for China

    Australia to block former military pilots flying for China

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    CANBERRA, Australia — Australia’s defense minister said on Wednesday he had told the nation’s military to review secrecy safeguards in response to concerns that Beijing was recruiting pilots to train the Chinese People’s Liberation Army.

    Defense Minister Richard Marles ordered the review after asking the Defense Department last month to investigate reports that China had approached former Australian military personnel to become trainers.

    “In the information that has now been provided to me by Defense, there are enough concerns in my mind that I have asked Defense to engage in a detailed examination about the policies and procedures that apply to our former Defense personnel, and particularly those who come into possession of our nation’s secrets,” Marles told reporters.

    Marles declined to say whether any Australian had provided military training to the Chinese.

    He said a joint police-intelligence service task force was investigating “a number of cases” among former service personnel.

    “What we are focused on right now is making sure that we do examine the policies and the procedures that are currently in place in respect of our former Defense personnel to make sure they are adequate,” Marles said. “And if they are not, and if there are weaknesses in that system, then we are absolutely committed to fixing them.”

    Australia‘s allies Britain and Canada share Australia’s concerns that China is attempting to poach military expertise.

    Britain’s Defense Ministry last month issued an intelligence alert warning former and current military pilots against Chinese headhunting programs aimed at recruiting them.

    Armed Forces Minister James Heappey said authorities will make it a legal offense for pilots to continue with such training activities.

    Sky News and the BBC reported that about 30 British former military pilots are currently in China training PLA pilots. The reports said the pilots are paid annual salaries of 240,000 pounds ($272,000) for the training.

    Canada’s Department of National Defense was also investigating its own former service personnel, noting they remained bound by secrecy commitments after they leave the Canadian Armed Forces.

    The Australian Defense Department will report to the minister by Dec. 14.

    Neil James, chief executive of the Australian Defense Association think tank, said Australian laws on on treason, treachery and secrecy protection were convoluted and depended on circumstances.

    “For example, it’s pretty hard to charge anyone with treason outside wartime,” James told Australian Broadcasting Corp.

    James said there were no circumstances in which former Australian military personnel should be working with the Chinese.

    “Most people in the Defense Force would be disgusted if people are actually doing this, because you’re potentially training people to kill Australians in the future,” James said. “That’s just not on. It’s a moral obligation and a professional one as much as it’s a legal one.”

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  • NYC probes battery-linked fire that injured over 3 dozen

    NYC probes battery-linked fire that injured over 3 dozen

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    NEW YORK — Authorities on Sunday were investigating a New York City high-rise fire that injured over three dozen people and was traced to a faulty lithium-ion battery, the latest in a fast-growing series of battery blazes that have fire officials concerned.

    The Red Cross said Sunday it provided temporary lodging and some emergency money to two people displaced by Saturday’s fire, which spurred a dramatic and rare rope rescue 20 stories above Manhattan’s East 52nd Street, a few blocks from the United Nations’ headquarters.

    In an updated patient count, the Fire Department said Sunday that a total of 43 civilians, firefighters and police officers were injured.

    Two civilians were taken to a hospital in critical condition and two in serious condition, the fire department said.

    NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital said it received 34 patients from the fire and had released 28 as of Sunday evening. The hospital wouldn’t provide specifics on individual patients’ conditions.

    Officials were looking into whether the 37-story apartment building had a fire alarm, whether any doors were left open, and other questions. Authorities have pinpointed the cause of the blaze as a lithium-ion battery related to a “micromobility” device, a term for e-bikes, electric scooters and other items that help people get around.

    Chief Fire Marshal Daniel Flynn said there were at least five bikes in the apartment where the fire started. Investigators believe an occupant did bike repairs, Flynn said.

    Citywide, nearly 200 blazes and six fire deaths this year have been tied to “micromobility” device batteries, marking “an exponential increase” in such fires over the last few years, Flynn said at a news conference Saturday.

    Among the victims: an 8-year-old girl killed when an electric scooter battery sparked a fire in Queens in September, and a woman and a 5-year-old girl killed in August in Harlem by a fire that was blamed on a scooter battery.

    The Fire Department has repeatedly urged users of such batteries to follow the manufacturer’s charging and storage instructions, employ only the manufacturer’s cord and power adapter, stop using a battery if it overheats, and follow other safety guidance.

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  • Mother seeks further investigation into death of sons who died after firefighters failed to properly search burning home | CNN

    Mother seeks further investigation into death of sons who died after firefighters failed to properly search burning home | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    The mother of two boys who died following a house fire in Michigan earlier this year is pushing for an independent investigation after two firefighters were accused of lying about properly searching for survivors.

    Zyaire Mitchell, 12, and his brother Lamar, 9, died soon after a fire at their home in Flint on May 28.

    Several weeks later, an investigation led by the fire department found two firefighters tasked with the initial search of the room the children were in lied about properly sweeping for victims. Almost seven minutes later, the children were found by other firefighters. Both later died at a hospital from smoke inhalation, their mother said. State fire investigators ruled faulty electrical wiring caused the fire.

    In his July report, Flint Fire Department Chief Raymond Barton determined the two firefighters — Daniel Sniegocki and Michael Zlotek — should be terminated from the department, “due to the nature of the incident in question, and the actions or lack of action possibly contributing to the loss of life of two victims.”

    But instead, the city accepted the resignation of one of the firefighters and a second was “disciplined,” Barton said in August, without elaborating on what disciplinary actions were taken. On Friday, the city provided CNN with a copy of a letter sent to Zlotek dated July 28 detailing his two-week suspension.

    Barton refused to comment further on the investigation or its outcomes when contacted by CNN on Saturday.

    Attorney Robert Kenner, who is representing the boys’ mother, said he thinks there is an indication of racial bias in the way the investigation has been handled because the children were Black.

    “I can’t say in good faith that these firemen intentionally failed at their responsibility because these boys were African Americans, I would never say that,” Kenner said. “I think the way it was handled subsequent to the boys being found was a disparity in how others have been treated.”

    Speaking at a press conference Friday, the boys’ mother, Crystal Cooper, said, “Only if I could just give six minutes, my babies would still be here with me. I just want justice for them. They didn’t deserve this. Every day is a struggle knowing that I won’t see them anymore.”

    Kenner accused the city of a coverup and on Friday called for another investigation.

    “There was an investigation by a Chief Raymond Barton and, what he found, was that two firemen — Daniel Sniegocki and Michael Zlotek — fabricated and lied on a report and said that they checked the room,” Kenner said. “Based on what they said, the chief did his own investigation and what was uncovered was they couldn’t have checked the room, they didn’t even mention anything about a bed, the location of the bed, the location of items.”

    “No parent should ever have to go through this,” the attorney added. “No parent. So, what we’re calling for, we’re calling for a thorough investigation, an earnest investigation, no cover-ups, no change in documents. We’re calling for the truth.”

    Kenner on Saturday told CNN the decision not to terminate the firefighters came from the office of Flint Mayor Sheldon Neeley.

    A representative of Flint Firefighters Local 352 told The Flint Journal that the two firefighters are being scapegoated in the matter because they failed to search a small room on the second floor of the home due to extreme heat and low visibility.

    CNN has reached out to the union for comment.

    “The mayor is in a hotly contested race right now and made the decision not to terminate based on political reasons,” Kenner claimed. “He’s tied to the fire union and didn’t want to upset the union or other constituents.”

    Neeley is facing former Mayor Karen Weaver in the election on Tuesday.

    Neeley, the mayor, told CNN, “There is absolutely no truth to the allegation that there is a cover up.”

    “We continue to lift this family in prayer, and we are sad to see their pain shamefully exploited,” he added.

    CNN has attempted to contact Zlotek and Daniel Sniegocki for comment.

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  • DA to review cases involving LA cop accused of CBS tip off

    DA to review cases involving LA cop accused of CBS tip off

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    LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles County prosecutors will look into past cases involving a former police captain who allegedly tipped off CBS executive Les Moonves that a woman had filed a confidential police report accusing him of sexual assault, the district attorney’s office said Friday.

    “Our office is dismayed” by the allegations against Cory Palka and will look at cases in which he was a witness to determine whether they must be reviewed and defense counsel notified, the DA’s office said in a statement.

    Past prosecutions could be compromised by questions about Palka’s credibility, although the office said it was still trying to figure out the number of cases in which he played a role.

    The prosecutor’s office also said it would consider criminal charges against Palka if investigators present them with evidence of police misconduct.

    Palka, who formerly was in charge of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Hollywood Division, was something of a minor celebrity himself. He posed with performers receiving stars on the Walk of Fame, ran security for the Oscars awards show, was photographed on red carpets and even landed a bit part playing himself on the television drama “Bosch.”

    Video footage of Palka went viral during the racial injustice protests in Los Angeles in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death when he took a knee with protesters on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood.

    However, from 2008 to 2014, Palka not only was a cop but he provided private security for Moonves at the Grammy Awards, which CBS produced.

    Now he is the subject of an LAPD internal investigation, and the state attorney general’s office is probing any criminal elements after a report by the New York attorney general’s office said he conspired with CBS to conceal sexual assault allegations against Moonves.

    Palka, who retired as a commander last year after nearly 35 years with the LAPD, did not return requests for comment, nor did an attorney for Moonves and CBS.

    The report, which didn’t name Palka, was part of a settlement announced Wednesday by New York Attorney General Letitia James in which CBS and Moonves, its former president, agreed to pay $30.5 million for keeping shareholders in the dark while executives tried to prevent the allegations from becoming public.

    Weeks after the #MeToo movement erupted with sex abuse allegations against film mogul Harvey Weinstein in 2017, Phyllis Golden-Gottlieb reported to police in the Hollywood Division that she had been sexually assaulted by Moonves in 1986 and 1988 when they worked together at Lorimar Productions, the studio behind “Dallas” and “Knots Landing.”

    A law enforcement official briefed on the matter confirmed that Golden-Gottlieb, who died this summer, was the woman involved in the leak by Palka. The official was not authorized to speak publicly and did so on condition of anonymity.

    Golden-Gottlieb went public with her accusations at the time Ronan Farrow reported on allegations against Moonves in The New Yorker in September 2018. Within hours of that publication, Moonves quit.

    Nearly a year later, the woman filed a police report, which was marked “confidential” in three places. Within hours, Palka tipped off CBS and later met personally with Moonves and another CBS executive, the New York AG’s report said.

    The report said the complainant had requested confidentiality. It cited the California Constitution, which prohibits disclosure of confidential information to “a defendant, a defendant’s attorney, or any other person acting on behalf of the defendant that could be used to locate or harass the victim or the victim’s family.”

    The captain told CBS that he instructed police officers investigating the complaint to “admonish” the woman not to go to the media with her allegations. He also put CBS officials in touch with the lead investigator.

    When the allegations ultimately became public, the captain sent a note to a CBS contact saying, “We worked so hard to try to avoid this day.” He sent Moonves a note saying he was sorry and, “I will always stand with, by and pledge my allegiance to you.”

    Moonves acknowledged having relations with three of his accusers, but said they were consensual. He denied attacking anyone, saying in a statement at the time that “Untrue allegations from decades ago are now being made against me.”

    The Los Angeles County district attorney declined to file criminal charges against Moonves in 2018, saying the statute of limitations from Golden-Gottlieb’s allegations had expired.

    ———

    Associated Press writer Michael R. Sisak in New York contributed.

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  • Exclusive: DOJ mulling potential special counsel if Trump runs in 2024 | CNN Politics

    Exclusive: DOJ mulling potential special counsel if Trump runs in 2024 | CNN Politics

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    Washington
    CNN
     — 

    As Donald Trump inches closer to launching another presidential run after the midterm election, Justice Department officials have discussed whether a Trump candidacy would create the need for a special counsel to oversee two sprawling federal investigations related to the former president, sources familiar with the matter tell CNN.

    The Justice Department is also staffing up its investigations with experienced prosecutors so it’s ready for any decisions after the midterms, including the potential unprecedented move of indicting a former president.

    In the weeks leading up to the election, the Justice Department has observed the traditional quiet period of not making any overt moves that may have political consequences. But behind the scenes, investigators have remained busy, using aggressive grand jury subpoenas and secret court battles to compel testimony from witnesses in both the investigation into Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election and his alleged mishandling of national security documents kept at his Palm Beach home.

    Now federal investigators are planning for a burst of post-election activity in Trump-related investigations. That includes the prospect of indictments of Trump’s associates – moves that could be made more complicated if Trump declares a run for the presidency.

    “They can crank up charges on almost anybody if they wanted to,” said one defense attorney working on January 6-related matters, who added defense lawyers have “have no idea” who ultimately will be charged.

    “This is the scary thing,” the attorney said.

    Trump and his associates also face legal exposure in Georgia, where Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is investigating Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election in the Peach State and expects to wrap her probe by the end of the year.

    Indicting an active candidate for the White House would surely spark a political firestorm. And while no decision has been made about whether a special counsel might be needed in the future, DOJ officials have debated whether doing so could insulate the Justice Department from accusations that Joe Biden’s administration is targeting his chief political rival, people familiar with the matter tell CNN.

    Special counsels, of course, are hardly immune from political attacks. Both former special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation and special counsel John Durham’s investigation into the origins of the FBI’s Russia probe came under withering criticism from their opponents.

    The Justice Department declined to comment for this story.

    The Justice Department has brought in a brain trust for high-level advice on the Trump investigations, according to people familiar with the moves.

    Top Justice officials have looked to an old guard of former Southern District of New York prosecutors, bringing into the investigations Kansas City-based federal prosecutor and national security expert David Raskin, as well as David Rody, a prosecutor-turned-defense lawyer who previously specialized in gang and conspiracy cases and has worked extensively with government cooperators.

    Rody, whose involvement has not been previously reported, left a lucrative partnership at the prestigious corporate defense firm Sidley Austin in recent weeks to become a senior counsel at DOJ in the criminal division in Washington, according to his LinkedIn profile and sources familiar with the move.

    The team at the DC US Attorney’s Office handling the day-to-day work of the January 6 investigations is also growing – even while the office’s sedition cases against right-wing extremists go to trial.

    A handful of other prosecutors have joined the January 6 investigations team, including a high-ranking fraud and public corruption prosecutor who has moved out of a supervisor position and onto the team, and a prosecutor with years of experience in criminal appellate work now involved in some of the grand jury activity.

    Taken together, the reorganization of prosecutors indicates a serious and snowballing investigation into Trump and his closest circles.

    The decision of whether to charge Trump or his associates will ultimately fall to Attorney General Merrick Garland, whom President Joe Biden picked for the job because his tenure as a judge provided some distance from partisan politics, after Senate Republicans blocked his Supreme Court nomination in 2016.

    Attorney General nominee Merrick Garland at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

    Several former prosecutors believe the facts exist for a potentially chargeable case. But Garland will have to navigate the politically perilous and historic decision of how to approach the potential indictment of a former President.

    In March, Garland avoided answering a CNN question about the prospect of a special counsel for Trump-related investigations, but said that the Justice Department does “not shy away from cases that are controversial or sensitive or political.”

    “What we will avoid and what we must avoid is any partisan element of our decision making about cases,” Garland said. “That is what I’m intent on ensuring that the Department decisions are made on the merits, and that they’re made on the facts and the law, and they’re not based on any kind of partisan considerations.”

    Garland’s tough decisions go beyond Trump. The long-running investigation of Hunter Biden, son of the president, is nearing conclusion, people briefed on the matter say. Also waiting in the wings: a final decision on the investigation of Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz, after prosecutors recommended against charges.

    It likely won’t take long after the midterms for focus to shift to the 2024 presidential race. That could incentivize top DOJ officials to make crucial charging decisions as quickly as possible, including whether to bring charges against Trump himself or other top political activists, other sources familiar with the Justice Department’s inner workings say.

    “They’re not going to charge before they’re ready to charge,” one former Justice Department official with some insight into the thinking around the investigations said. “But there will be added pressure to get through the review” of cases earlier than the typical five-year window DOJ has to bring charges.

    Matters could also be complicated by the situation in Georgia, where Willis is investigating Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election there. Willis has said she’s aiming for a special grand jury to wrap up its investigative work by the end of the year.

    Willis has observed her own version of a quiet period around the midterm election and is seeking to bring witnesses before the grand jury in the coming weeks. Sources previously told CNN indictments could come as soon as December.

    Key Trump allies, including South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham and former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows are among witnesses that have tried to fight off subpoenas in the state probe into efforts to interfere with the Georgia 2020 election.

    How those disputes resolve in Georgia – including whether courts force testimony – could improve DOJ’s ability to gather information, just as the House Select Committee’s January 6 investigation added to DOJ’s investigative leads from inside the Trump White House.

    The months leading up to the election have provided little respite from the political and legal activity around the investigations. The DC US Attorney’s Office–which is still shouldering the bulk of the January 6 investigations–has dealt with burnout in its ranks, as prosecutors are taking to trial or securing guilty pleas from more than 800 rioters who were on the grounds of the Capitol and still look to charge hundreds more.

    Trump has also foiled the DOJ’s efforts to keep things quiet in the weeks leading up to the election, leading to a steady barrage of headlines related to the investigation.

    Trump’s legal team successfully put in place a complicated court-directed process for sorting through thousands of documents seized from Mar-a-Lago, to determine whether they’re privileged and off limits to investigators. But the Justice Department and intelligence community have had access for weeks to about 100 records marked as classified that Trump had kept in Florida.

    The outcome of the intelligence review of those documents may determine if criminal charges will be filed, according to one source familiar with the Justice Department’s approach.

    Yet in both investigations, under-seal court activity never subsided, with the Justice Department trying to force at least five witnesses around Trump to secretly provide more information in their grand jury investigations in Washington, DC, CNN has previously reported.

    On Tuesday a federal judge ordered Trump adviser Kash Patel to testify before a grand jury investigating the handling of federal records at Mar-a-Lago, according to two people familiar with the investigation.

    Judge Beryl Howell of the DC District Court granted Patel immunity from prosecution on any information he provides to the investigation— another significant step that moves the Justice Department closer to potentially charging the case.

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  • LAPD captain’s allegiances probed in tipoff to CBS exec

    LAPD captain’s allegiances probed in tipoff to CBS exec

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    LOS ANGELES — As the former captain in charge of the Hollywood Division of the Los Angeles Police Department, Cory Palka was a star himself.

    The towering cop with a telegenic smile hobnobbed with celebrities getting stars on the Walk of Fame, ran security for the Oscars awards show and even landed a bit part playing himself on the television drama “Bosch” about a talented but troubled maverick LAPD detective.

    But Palka’s ties to the entertainment industry and his allegiances were under scrutiny Thursday after prosecutors said he leaked a sexual assault victim’s confidential police report to the accused, former CBS leader Les Moonves, for whom Palka served as a private bodyguard for years.

    The LAPD said it was conducting an internal affairs investigation into Palka’s conduct and the state attorney general was probing any criminal elements after a report said he conspired with CBS to conceal sexual assault allegations against Moonves.

    The report, which didn’t name Palka, was part of a settlement announced Wednesday by New York Attorney General Letitia James in which CBS and Moonves, its former president, agreed to pay $30.5 million. About $6 million is going to sexual assault and harassment programs. The rest will go to shareholders kept in the dark while executives tried to prevent allegations from becoming public and at least one benefited by unloading shares before news broke.

    Weeks after the #MeToo movement erupted with sex abuse allegations against film mogul Harvey Weinstein in 2017, Phyllis Golden-Gottlieb reported to police in the Hollywood Division that she had been sexually assaulted by Moonves in 1986 and 1988 when they worked together at Lorimar Productions, the studio behind “Dallas” and “Knots Landing.”

    A law enforcement official briefed on the matter confirmed that Golden-Gottlieb, who died this summer, was the woman involved in the leak by Palka. The official was not authorized to speak publicly and did so on condition of anonymity.

    Jim Gottlieb said in an email to The Associated Press that he was “shocked and very disappointed” that his mother’s report was leaked to CBS. He said his mother was never looking for money, she just didn’t want Moonves to “get away with what he did” and was satisfied that her report contributed to his downfall.

    “We would like to think the police are looking out for us, the victims, and not the perpetrators,” Gottlieb said. “This sounds just like what you hear about certain police departments being in cahoots with organized crime.”

    Attorney Gloria Allred, who represented Golden-Gottlieb, said in nearly a half-century of legal practice, she had never heard of police tipping off a suspect to an investigation and said it could have a chilling effect on other women coming forward to report abuse.

    “It’s very, very disturbing,” Allred said. “It’s really outrageous if they did that. And I have to ask, what were their motives if that, in fact occurred? Why were they, for example, trying to curry favor with CBS? Did they receive anything in return?”

    Golden-Gottlieb went public with her accusations at the time Ronan Farrow reported on allegations against Moonves in The New Yorker in September 2018. Within hours of that publication, Moonves quit.

    Nearly a year earlier, the ink was just drying on her police report — which was marked “confidential” in three places — when Palka tipped off CBS, the report said. Palka then met personally with Moonves and another CBS executive.

    The New York AG’s report said the complainant had requested confidentiality. It cited the California Constitution, which prohibits disclosure of confidential information to “a defendant, a defendant’s attorney, or any other person acting on behalf of the defendant that could be used to locate or harass the victim or the victim’s family.”

    The captain told CBS that he instructed police officers investigating the complaint to “admonish” the woman not to go to the media with her allegations. He also put CBS officials in touch with the lead investigator.

    CBS immediately went into damage control mode, with an executive alerting a member of the news staff to stay close to the phone because they “have a situation.” He told another staffer not to miss any messages and added: “I wouldn’t bother you if this wasn’t serious.”

    When the allegations ultimately became public, Palka sent a note to a CBS contact saying, “We worked so hard to try to avoid this day.” He sent Moonves a note saying he was sorry and, “I will always stand with, by and pledge my allegiance to you.”

    From 2008 to 2014, Palka had provided private security for Moonves at the Grammy Awards, which CBS produced.

    Jessica Levinson, a professor at Loyola Law School and former president of the Los Angeles Ethics Commission, said a police officer has to adhere to legal and ethical obligations as a member of the force and can’t violate those duties when providing private security. Typically, those two roles wouldn’t be in conflict.

    “The question is on a case by case basis as to whether or not it leads to divided loyalty,” Levinson said. “But the truth is, most of the time it really shouldn’t be a tough call.”

    Patti Giggans, executive director of the nonprofit Peace Over Violence in Los Angeles, said she expects the scandal to have repercussions that extend beyond victims being afraid to report assaults to the LAPD to advocates reevaluating relationships they have built with detectives.

    Palka, who retired as a commander last year after nearly 35 years with LAPD, said in his LinkedIn profile that he grew up with eight siblings in a low-income housing project in the Mar Vista community and had spent most of his life in Los Angeles.

    Video footage of Palka went viral during the racial injustice protests in Los Angeles in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death when he took a knee with protesters on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood.

    He was incident commander at the Academy Awards and “numerous high profile events related to the entertainment industry,” his profile said.

    In Hollywood, he was a frequent fixture on red carpets and at Walk of Fame ceremonies, posing with celebrities like Lynda Carter, Jack Black and Stacy Keach. He was personally thanked during Mark Hamill’s star ceremony and posed with Hamill, Harrison Ford and George Lucas.

    The Hollywood Chamber Community Foundation’s honored him in 2019 as one of the “Heroes of Hollywood.”

    “Celebrity always equates to power and influence,” said attorney Debra Katz, who specializes in sexual-harassment law. “It becomes very troubling when you have a town of celebrities that have access to the police — when they have a dual role where they provide security and they hobnob with one another.”

    Palka did not return requests for comment Thursday, nor did an attorney for Moonves and CBS.

    Moonves acknowledged having relations with three of his accusers, but said they were consensual. He denied attacking anyone, saying in a statement at the time that “Untrue allegations from decades ago are now being made against me.”

    The Los Angeles County district attorney declined to file criminal charges against Moonves in 2018, saying the statute of limitations from Golden-Gottlieb’s allegations had expired.

    ———

    Associated Press writer Michael R. Sisak in New York contributed.

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  • Man arrested in connection with 42-year-old homicide cold case using new DNA technology | CNN

    Man arrested in connection with 42-year-old homicide cold case using new DNA technology | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department has arrested a man in connection with the killing of 25-year-old Sandra DiFelice, nearly 42 years after her death.

    Paul Nuttall, 64, was arrested on charges of “open murder” with the use of a deadly weapon, sexual assault with the use of a deadly weapon and burglary while in possession of a deadly weapon, police said in a statement Monday.

    In Nevada, a person accused of murder will generally be charged with “open murder,” meaning a general allegation of murder which includes, “Murder in the First Degree and all necessarily included offenses. These would include Murder in the Second Degree and possibly Voluntary Manslaughter and Involuntary Manslaughter based upon the specific facts of the case,” according to Clark County’s website.

    CNN has reached out to Nuttall’s public defender but has not yet heard back.

    DiFelice was allegedly brutally raped and murdered inside her home on December 26, 1980, according to police.

    In February 2021, DiFelice’s daughter – who at the time of the incident was three years old and at her grandparents’ house – called cold case detectives at the police department to ask for an update on the investigation.

    Detectives reviewed the investigation, and “upon a review of that investigation, in conjunction with our DNA forensics lab, they were able to determine that there was additional evidence that could be submitted for processing using new DNA technology. During that processing of the evidence, DNA recovered from under the fingernails of Sandra DiFelice identified the suspect of Sandra DiFelice’s murder as Paul Nuttall,” Lt. Jason Johansson said during a news conference.

    Nuttall was originally named as a person of interest during the initial stages of the investigation, police said during the news conference. Authorities said his fingerprint was found in DiFelice’s home, but it was determined that Nuttall knew DiFelice’s roommate and that explained why his fingerprint was there, police said during the news conference.

    Nuttall is currently in custody at the Clark County Detention Center, according to online records.

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  • Records: Lying officers unpunished in 2018 inmate death

    Records: Lying officers unpunished in 2018 inmate death

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    SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Three former Illinois prison guards face life behind bars after the 2018 fatal beating of a 65-year-old inmate in a case marked by the unpunished lies of other correctional officers who continue to get pay raises, records obtained by The Associated Press and court documents show.

    Juries convicted Department of Corrections Officer Alex Banta in April and Lt. Todd Sheffler in August of federal civil rights violations owing largely to the cooperation of the third, Sgt. Willie Hedden. Hedden hopes for a reduced sentence — even though he admitted lying about his involvement until entering a guilty plea 18 months ago.

    But Hedden’s account of what happened to Western Illinois Correctional Center inmate Larry Earvin on May 17, 2018, is not unique. Similar testimony was offered by six other correctional officers who still work at the lockup in Mount Sterling, 249 miles (400 kilometers) southwest of Chicago.

    Like Hedden, all admitted under oath that initially, they lied to authorities investigating Earvin’s death, including to the Illinois State Police and the FBI. They covered up the brutal beatings that took place and led to Earvin’s death six weeks later from blunt-force trauma to the chest and abdomen, according to an autopsy reports.

    Documents obtained by The AP under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act indicate that none of the guards has been punished for the coverup. Despite admitting their indiscretions, Lts. Matthew Lindsey and Blake Haubrich, Sgts. Derek Hasten, Brett Hendricks and Shawn Volk and Officer Richard Waterstraat have flourished — three have been promoted, one has been on paid leave, and on average, they’ve seen salary hikes of nearly 30% and increases in pension benefits.

    Even if fired from their jobs now, they’d keep the extra money from salary hikes — tied to promotions or contractual agreement — and the accompanying boosts in retirement benefits.

    Phone numbers associated with the officers are not connected, or messages weren’t returned. None has responded to a request through the Corrections Department to speak to them.

    Corrections spokeswoman Naomi Puzzello said an internal review of the Earvin incident has been postponed until the federal probe is complete. She promised that Corrections will take “all appropriate steps” to punish misconduct. But it has no authority “to take past wages from an employee or impair a pension,” she said.

    Banta and Sheffler are in federal custody, awaiting sentencing — Banta on Tuesday and Sheffler on Jan. 6. Hedden’s sentencing has not been scheduled.

    Hedden testified in April that he ascribed to “the culture at Western” which called for roughing up troublemakers while escorting them to the segregation unit used to discipline inmates who break rules or threaten prison safety.

    Western’s warden was replaced in 2020 in efforts that Gov. J.B. Pritzker said last spring were a part of changing the culture, which also have included initiatives to address the use of force and establish a more affirmative approach to inmates.

    Accountability, however, matters, too, said Jennifer Vollen-Katz, executive director of the John Howard Association, a prison watchdog.

    “There is a disturbing lack of transparency around staff discipline when it comes to Corrections,”Vollen-Katz said. “It’s really hard to have faith in culture change … when you have staff that behave like this and there seem to be little or no repercussions.”

    The Justice Department also has a stake. Lying to the FBI is a felony. Timothy Bass, the U.S. attorney’s lead prosecutor on the case, said he couldn’t comment on whether there would be further prosecutions.

    The officers whose stories changed only when the investigation intensified were clear about their reasons when testifying under oath at the trials.

    “There’s an unwritten rule, the saying that goes around that ‘Snitches get stitches…,’” Volk testified, explaining his untruthful interview with the Illinois State Police the week following the Earvin incident. “You’re part of a brotherhood with everybody out there and you don’t want to be the guy that snitches.”

    Lindsey was in charge of segregation that day and testified he saw Hedden, Sheffler and Banta bring Earvin into the segregation unit’s vestibule, where there are no security cameras. He was among several witnesses who reported seeing Earvin punched, kicked and stomped before motioning to Sheffler through an interior window to stop.

    Lindsey told no one what he had seen. When the FBI called in late summer 2018, he lied for “fear of retaliation,” according to his recent testimony.

    Since May 2018, Lindsey has been promoted and his salary has increased 42% to $105,756, according to records disclosed by Corrections.

    Hasten, too, said he “was just scared of the retaliation,” adding that his wife also works at the prison. His salary has grown 17% to nearly $79,000 even after voluntarily changing to a lower-paying job at Western.

    Hendricks and Volk were also in the segregation vestibule with Sheffler, Hedden and Banta. Hendricks testified that he was shocked by the violence against Earvin, who was handcuffed behind the back and face down on the ground. But when asked why he lied to investigators, he admitted: “I didn’t want to tell on my coworker.”

    Hendricks has since received a promotion and pay increases totaling nearly 30%.

    When state police officers talked to Haubrich, they were focused on rough treatment of Earvin that began in his housing unit. They were unaware that it had continued in the segregation entrance. But like Hendricks, Haubrich volunteered nothing about the brutality he had seen because he “was covering the backs of my fellow officers and brothers.”

    Haubrich has been on paid leave from the prison since May 2018, watching his salary increase nearly 30% to $96,396. That’s also the case for Lt. Benjamin Burnett, escorted off the prison grounds days after the attack with Haubrich, along with Hedden and Banta.

    Waterstraat, who’s been promoted with a 44% pay increase, didn’t come clean with authorities until faced with a grand jury.

    ———

    AP Researcher Jennifer Farrar in New York contributed.

    ———

    Follow Political Writer John O’Connor at https://twitter.com/apoconnor

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  • Michigan State president: Post-game melee ‘unacceptable’

    Michigan State president: Post-game melee ‘unacceptable’

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    ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan State President Samuel Stanley called actions by Spartans players involved in a postgame melee with members of rivalry Michigan’s team “unacceptable” and said Sunday those involved would be held responsible by coach Mel Tucker.

    “I’m extremely saddened by this incident and the unacceptable behavior depicted by members of our program,” Stanley said in a statement. “On behalf of Michigan State University, my heartfelt apology to the University of Michigan and the student athletes who were injured.

    “There is no provocation that could justify the behavior we are seeing on the videos. Rivalries can be intense but should never be violent.”

    The scuffle broke out in the Michigan Stadium tunnel out after fourth-ranked Wolverines beat the Spartans 29-7 Saturday night. Social media posts showed at least three Michigan State players pushing, punching and kicking Michigan’s Ja’Den McBurrows in and near a hallway that does not lead to either locker room.

    Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh said Saturday that a second player, who he did not identify, was also attacked and that one player was injured and might have a broken nose.

    “Two of our players were assaulted,” Harbaugh said. “I saw on the one video. 10 on one. It was pretty bad. It needs to be investigated.”

    Tucker said in a tweet Sunday that his program will cooperate with law enforcement and the Big Ten in any investigation.

    “As Spartans, our program has a responsibility to uphold the highest level of sportsmanship. While emotions were very high at the conclusion of our rivalry game at Michigan Stadium, there is no excuse for behavior that puts our team or our opponents at risk,” Tucker said. “In complete cooperation with law enforcement, the Big Ten Conference and MSU and UM leadership, we will evaluate the events in Ann Arbor and take swift and appropriate action.”

    University of Michigan Deputy Police Chief Melissa Overton said an investigation is underway in partnership with Michigan State police, and Michigan’s athletic department and football program.

    “Coach Tucker will be holding the players involved responsible, and our football team and university will be cooperating with all related investigations by law enforcement and the Big Ten Conference,” Stanley said.

    ———

    More AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://twitter.com/AP—Top25. Sign up for the AP’s college football newsletter: https://bit.ly/3pqZVaF

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  • Hong Kong customs seize record meth haul worth $140 million

    Hong Kong customs seize record meth haul worth $140 million

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    HONG KONG — Hong Kong customs seized 1.8 metric tons (2 tons) of liquid methamphetamine in the city’s biggest-ever meth bust, authorities said Saturday.

    The drugs, which were seized Oct. 23, had been concealed in bottles labeled as coconut water in a cargo shipment that arrived in Hong Kong by sea, according to a government statement. The haul is estimated to be worth 1.1 billion Hong Kong dollars ($140 million).

    Authorities found that 1,800 bottles out of the total 7,700 bottles contained liquid meth. The bust is the largest on record among meth cases in terms of the amount and market value.

    Authorities are still investigating the case, and no arrests have been made.

    The stash of drugs were bound for Australia, and had been shipped from Mexico via Hong Kong, according to authorities who spoke Saturday at a news conference. In Australia, the market value of the drugs could reach about HK$8 billion ($1 billion).

    The cargo had raised suspicion as it was unusually large for a coconut water shipment from Mexico.

    The meth haul is the second found in shipments from Mexico to Australia in less than two weeks.

    Custom officials earlier this month seized about $5.9 million worth of crystal meth concealed in a shipment of electrical transformers that were also bound for Australia from Mexico.

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  • 17 Australian women, children return from Syrian camp

    17 Australian women, children return from Syrian camp

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    CANBERRA, Australia — Four women and their 13 children who were held in a Syrian camp since the Islamic State group fell in 2019 have become only the second group of Australians to be repatriated from the war-torn country, Australia’s government said on Saturday as political opponents warned the families pose a domestic security risk.

    In confirming the latest group’s arrival in Sydney, Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil said the newcomers could face “law enforcement action” if a counterterrorism investigation team of police and security officers found evidence of any offense.

    The mothers, who were partners of Islamic State supporters, could face ongoing controls including ankle monitors and curfews or could be charged with entering the former Islamic State stronghold of al-Raqqa in Syria.

    “Informed by national security advice, the government has carefully considered the range of security, community and welfare factors in making the decision to repatriate,” O’Neil said in a statement.

    Australian officials had assessed the group as the most vulnerable among 60 Australian women and children held in the al-Roj camp in northeast Syria.

    Eight offspring of two slain Australian Islamic State fighters are the only other group to have been repatriated by Australia from the Syrian camps. The fighters’ children and grandchildren were returned by the previous Australian government in 2019.

    Opposition home affairs spokesperson Karen Andrews called on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to explain what steps had been taken to ensure the wider Australian community would be safe from the potentially radicalized arrivals.

    “It is inexcusable the actions that have been taken by the Albanese government in putting Australian lives at risk to extract women and children from the camps in Syria — the risk that is now in our Australian communities here,” Andrews said.

    Albanese said he would follow all security advice on what risk the women and children posed, but did not divulge what the advice was.

    “Our first and only priority is to keep Australians safe,” Albanese said.

    Sydney resident Kamalle Dabboussy, who had lobbied the government for years to return his daughter Mariam with her three children, said their reunion in a Sydney hotel room had been emotional.

    “It’s been an overwhelming day, a joyous day,” Dabboussy told reporters.

    “There were hugs and tears. It was a very emotional moment,” he added.

    Dabboussy said what happened next to the mothers and children was up to authorities, who are currently interviewing the women.

    The United States, Germany, France, Britain, France, Italy, Canada, the Netherlands, Belgium and Canada have already repatriated citizens from Syrian camps.

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  • Deaths of 8 in Oklahoma home investigated as murder-suicide

    Deaths of 8 in Oklahoma home investigated as murder-suicide

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    BROKEN ARROW, Okla. — The deaths of eight family members — including six children found in a burning Oklahoma home — are being investigated as a murder-suicide, authorities said Friday. Police are trying to determine whether both adults were involved in the killings.

    The children, who ranged in age from 1 to 13, were the victims, Broken Arrow Police Chief Brandon Berryhill said during a news conference. He did not provide their identities, ages or explain their relationships to one another except to say they were family members believed to be living in the home.

    Police said both adults who live in the home were considered “primary suspects” because they were found dead in the front of the home while the children were all found in a bedroom, where the fire was contained. A police spokesman declined to say whether authorities believe the two adults were both responsible for the killings or whether it could be just one of them.

    “It’s because investigators are still trying to piece together what happened with eight people dead,” police spokesman Ethan Hutchins said in an email to The Associated Press.

    Hutchins also said police would not be able to identify the dead adults until the medical examiner’s office has completed its work.

    The causes of death are still under investigation, but Broken Arrow Fire Department Chief Jeremy Moore said it doesn’t appear that anyone died because of the fire. Guns were recovered from the home, the police chief said.

    “To arrive on scene yesterday and to see the looks on our first responders’ and firefighters’ faces just absolutely broke my heart,” Moore said Friday.

    Sara Abel, a spokeswoman for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said the agency is assisting local police in tracing guns found in the home but she did not have any details about the type or number of firearms.

    The fire was reported about 4 p.m. Thursday in a quiet residential area of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, 13 miles (20 kilometers) southeast of Tulsa.

    The two adults found dead in the front of the house had injuries that “appeared to be criminal in nature,” Moore said.

    The children were found dead in another area of the home, he said.

    Kris Welch told the Tulsa World that the couple had rented the home from her for the past eight years. She said they seemed like “a regular family” but that she had gotten “some weird vibes from him.”

    “He wore some T-shirts that were kind of dark and strange,” Welch told the newspaper. “And she was quiet. She hardly ever spoke, honestly. I always wondered about that.”

    Neighbor Traci Treseler told the newspaper that the kids always kept to themselves. She had thought only three children lived in the house and was surprised to find out there were six, she said.

    A week ago, a similar tragedy occurred in Wisconsin, where four children and two adults were found in a burning apartment in a suspected murder-suicide.

    In Broken Arrow, Catelin Powers said she was driving with her children nearby when she saw a column of smoke near her house, so she drove past to investigate.

    “When I got closer to the house, I saw smoke pouring out from the very top of the house, which looked like maybe the attic,” she told The Associated Press on Thursday.

    Two men and a woman on her phone were standing in front of the house, Powers said, when another man emerged from the front door dragging an apparently unconscious, unresponsive woman. “Her arms were flopped to her sides,” she said.

    Suspecting the woman was dead, Powers said she drove on so her children would be spared the sight.

    Tragedy has struck before in Broken Arrow, which is Tulsa’s biggest suburb with almost 115,000 residents. In 2015, two teenaged brothers killed their mother, father, two younger brothers and 5-year-old sister at their home — which was about 6 miles (10 kilometers) south of Thursday’s fatal fire.

    The home where the 2015 killings occurred was later demolished and the site was transformed into a community park.

    ———

    Associated Press reporters Jake Bleiberg, Terry Wallace and Jamie Stengle in Dallas contributed to this report.

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  • Texas chief says state police ‘did not fail’ in Uvalde

    Texas chief says state police ‘did not fail’ in Uvalde

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    AUSTIN, Texas — Texas’ state police chief said Thursday that his department “did not fail” Uvalde during the hesitant law enforcement response to the Robb Elementary School shooting, as a Republican congressman joined angry parents of some of the 19 children killed in the May attack in calling for him to resign.

    Col. Steve McCraw, the head of the Texas Department of Public Safety, acknowledged mistakes by officers while several Uvalde families confronted him in Austin over multiple outrages: why police waited more than 70 minutes before entering the fourth-grade classroom and killing the gunman, false and shifting accounts given by authorities, and records that remain withheld more than five months later.

    But McCraw defended his agency, and during a meeting of the state’s Public Safety Commission, made the case that failures uncovered to date did not warrant his removal while saying he was not shirking from accountability. Uvalde families bristled and asked how DPS could not have failed, given that troopers were among the first on the scene.

    “I can tell you this right now, DPS as an institution, right now, did not fail the community,” McCraw said. “Plain and simple.”

    Significantly, Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales said for the first time after the meeting that McCraw should also lose his job, becoming the first major figure in the GOP to call for a change at the top of Texas’ state police force. Gonzales, a former Navy officer, represents the sprawling South Texas district that includes Uvalde.

    “DPS Director McCraw should RESIGN immediately,” Gonzales tweeted. His office has not responded to a message seeking further comment Thursday.

    McCraw said a criminal investigation into the police response to the shooting led by Texas Rangers would be wrapped up by the end of the year and turned over to prosecutors. He offered no indication as to whether the findings would result in charges against any of the nearly 400 officers who went to the school where two teachers were also killed. Two officers have been fired in response to their actions at the scene and others have been placed on leave.

    The meeting Thursday at Texas state police headquarters was the first public update on Uvalde in weeks, although little new information was revealed. McCraw and Uvalde families addressed the state’s four-member public safety commission, which oversees Texas state police.

    Each of the board members were appointed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, a longtime supporter of McCraw. The board did not ask McCraw any questions about Uvalde before moving on to other business.

    Families of children killed in the attack have spent months accusing the Department of Public Safety of slow-walking the investigation, withholding information and trying to minimize its responsibility. There were 91 state troopers on the scene, including some that body camera later revealed were among the first officers to arrive.

    Last week, the department fired one of seven troopers subject to an internal investigation into their actions during one of the deadliest classroom shootings in U.S. history.

    Jesse Rizzo, whose 9-year-old niece Jacklyn Cazares was among the victims, said misleading and false comments from authorities about the police response has compounded the small town’s grief and eroded trust in law enforcement.

    “The aftermath that came after that was absolutely unacceptable, hurtful, painful,” Rizzo said. “Every single time seemed like lie after lie, disinformation.”

    McCraw on Thursday apologized for the department originally saying that the gunman had been able to gain access to the school because a teacher had propped open an exterior door with a rock. The teacher had gone back and shut the door, but it did not lock.

    McCraw insisted his department “did not fail the community,” drawing condemnation from the assembled Uvalde families.

    “If you’re a man of your word then you would retire,” Brett Cross, the uncle of 10-year-old victim Uziyah Garcia, told McCraw. “But unfortunately it doesn’t seem like you’re going to do that because you keep talking in circles.”

    Another of the state troopers under internal investigation was Crimson Elizondo, who resigned and later was hired by Uvalde schools to work as a campus police officer. She was fired less than 24 hours after outraged parents in Uvalde found out about her hiring.

    ———

    Associated Press writer Jake Bleiberg contributed from Dallas.

    ———

    More on the school shooting in Uvalde: https://apnews.com/hub/uvalde-school-shooting

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  • Feds: Theft of frozen beef in Nebraska uncovers crime ring

    Feds: Theft of frozen beef in Nebraska uncovers crime ring

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    LINCOLN, Neb. — An investigation into the theft this summer of several semitrailers loaded with frozen beef from Nebraska has led to arrests and uncovered a multimillion-dollar theft ring targeting meatpacking plants in six Midwestern states, federal authorities said.

    The U.S. Department of Homeland Security reported Tuesday that the discovery of the Miami-based theft ring began in June with a Nebraska investigation into the theft of semitrailers loaded with nearly $1 million in frozen beef from areas near Grand Island and Lincoln.

    The investigation, led by the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office in Nebraska and Homeland Security’s Major Crimes Task Force in Omaha, determined that the theft ring was targeting beef and pork packaging plants in Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, North Dakota and Wisconsin.

    Charging documents say federal investigators used phone records and GPS tracking devices on trucks being driven by three men from Miami to place the men in and around meatpacking plants where trailers of meat products were stolen. The documents don’t say what the men did with the meat. Lancaster County Sheriff’s Capt. Michael Peschong said Wednesday that officials are still investigating those details.

    “We haven’t nailed down the exact details on where all the meat stole ended up yet,” Peschong said.

    Investigators said they have identified approximately 45 thefts that occurred across the six Midwest states totaling $9 million in loss.

    On Oct. 20, investigators arrested 38-year-old Yoslany Leyva Del Sol, 37-year-old Ledier Machin Andino, and 39-year-old Delvis L. Fuentes, all of Miami, in south Florida. Online court documents show they are charged with transporting stolen goods and money laundering in Florida’s federal court.

    Lopez was released on bond last Friday and plans to plead not guilty, according to his attorney, Omar A. Lopez of Miami. Del Sol’s bond hearing is set for Thursday, said his attorney, Alfredo Izaguirre of Coral Gables, Florida. Del Sol also plans to plead not guilty, Izaguirre said.

    An attorney for Andino did not immediately return a phone message left for her.

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  • DOJ asks judge to force Trump White House lawyers to testify in Jan. 6 probe | CNN Politics

    DOJ asks judge to force Trump White House lawyers to testify in Jan. 6 probe | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    The Justice Department is asking a federal judge to force the top two lawyers from Donald Trump’s White House counsel’s office to testify about their conversations with the former President, as it tries to break through the privilege firewall Trump has used to avoid scrutiny of his actions on January 6, 2021, according to three people familiar with the investigation.

    The move to compel additional testimony from former White House counsel Pat Cipollone and deputy White House counsel Patrick Philbin just last week is part of a set of secret court proceedings. Trump has been fighting to keep former advisers from testifying before a criminal grand jury about certain conversations, citing executive and attorney-client privileges to keep information confidential or slow down criminal investigators.

    But the Justice Department successfully secured answers from top vice presidential advisers Greg Jacob and Marc Short over the past three weeks in significant court victories that could make it more likely the criminal investigation reaches further into Trump’s inner circle.

    Jacob’s testimony on October 6, which has not been previously reported, is the first identifiable time when the confidentiality Trump had tried to maintain around the West Wing after the 2020 election has been pierced in the criminal probe following a court battle. A week after Jacob spoke to the grand jury again, Short had his own grand jury appearance date, CNN reported.

    All four men previously declined to answer some questions about advice and interactions with Trump when they testified in recent months in the secret criminal probe. Trump lost the court battles related to Jacob and Short before the chief judge of the trial-level US District Court in Washington, DC, last month.

    Attorneys for the men whom the DOJ is seeking to compel have declined to comment for this story or haven’t responded to requests. Cipollone and Philbin didn’t respond to requests for comment. A spokesman for the Justice Department also declined to comment.

    All four men have been willing to be as cooperative as the law demands, leaving Trump’s team to handle the fight over certain details in the investigation, the sources say.

    The litigation around Cipollone and Philbin’s testimony may be important for investigators in the long run, given how close the pair was to the Trump leading up to and during the Capitol riot. Prosecutors are likely to aim for the grand jury to hear about their direct conversations with the then-President.

    The disputes – conducted under seal in court because they involve grand jury activity – may also spawn several more court fights that will be crucial for prosecutors as they work to bring criminal charges related to Trump’s post-election efforts.

    Witnesses the federal grand jury has subpoenaed, such as former White House officials Mark Meadows, Eric Herschmann, Dan Scavino, Stephen Miller and campaign adviser Boris Epshteyn, also could decline to describe their conversations with Trump or advice being given to him after the election, several sources familiar with the investigation say.

    Trump and his allies have used claims of confidentiality – both executive privilege and attorney-client privilege – with mixed results in multiple legal quagmires that surround the former President. Those include the January 6 federal criminal investigation, the Mar-a-Lago documents federal criminal investigation, Georgia’s Fulton County investigation of election meddling, and the House select committee probe of January 6 as well. Some of the privilege arguments Trump has raised have never been settled in federal court, and some of the fights could lead to the Supreme Court.

    Trump spokesman Taylor Budowich slammed the “weaponized” Justice Department in a statement and referred to the probes surrounding the former President as “witch hunts.”

    According to the sources, the Justice Department won a trial-level judge’s order at the end of September that said Jacob and Short must testify in response to certain questions over which Trump’s team had tried to claim presidential and attorney-client confidentiality.

    The sealed court case, stemming from the grand jury’s work, had been before the chief judge of the DC District Court, Beryl Howell. Howell refused to put on hold Jacob and Short’s testimony while Trump’s team appealed, a source said.

    The Trump team, meanwhile, took several days to respond to their loss before Howell in court. The Justice Department set a quick-turnaround subpoena date for Jacob, leaving him to head into the grand jury under subpoena on October 6, according to several sources.

    The DC Circuit Court of Appeals is still considering legal arguments from Trump’s defense lawyers and the Justice Department over his ability to make executive and attorney-client privilege claims.

    How that is resolved – either by the appeals court or even the Supreme Court, if Trump pursues it that far – could have significant consequences for the January 6 criminal investigation, and for multiple witnesses who may be refusing to share some of what they know because of Trump’s privilege claims.

    Among a large group of former top Trump officials, Jacob has been one of the most searing voices condemning the then-President’s actions after the election, especially regarding the pressure he and his election attorney, John Eastman, tried to place on then-Vice President Mike Pence to block the congressional certification of the presidential vote.

    Jacob has been a harsh critic of Eastman, who is also of interest to prosecutors, dating back to when Eastman tried to convince Pence’s office the vice president alone could override the vote. He told Eastman at the time the right-wing attorney was a “serpent in the ear” of the President, and wrote while Trump supporters stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021, “thanks to your bulls**t, we are now under siege.”

    Jacob added to a parade of star witnesses at public House select committee hearings this summer, speaking candidly about his disgust with what he witnessed inside the White House complex from his high-ranking position administration.

    “There is almost no idea more un-American than the notion that any one person would choose the American President, and then unbroken historical practice for 230 years, that the vice president did not have such an authority,” Jacob testified in July.

    But what Jacob and Short knew of Trump’s conversations, they wouldn’t disclose to the House nor to the grand jury until this month.

    In a taped House select committee deposition, Cipollone answered many questions about what happened inside the West Wing on January 6 but declined to describe communications between him and Trump.

    Cipollone’s and Philbin’s roles as White House lawyers raise complicated legal questions about whether Trump can claim confidentiality over the legal advice they gave him, as well as whether a former president can assert executive privilege to hold off criminal investigators.

    President Joe Biden has repeatedly declined to assert executive privilege around January 6 information, essentially leaving the fight for Trump to wage opposite the Justice Department.

    While the courts will look at each situation individually, history isn’t on Trump’s side. Federal prosecutors investigating former Presidents Bill Clinton and Richard Nixon were able to overcome attorney-client privilege assertions for White House counsel as well as executive privilege assertions so the grand jury could hear closely guarded information.

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  • Police: 6 who died in Wisconsin apartment fire had been shot

    Police: 6 who died in Wisconsin apartment fire had been shot

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    HARTLAND, Wis. — The six people found dead after an apartment fire in a southern Wisconsin village last week had been shot in an apparent case of murder-suicide, according to police.

    The bodies of a couple and their four children were found early Friday after firefighters were called to their burning apartment in Hartland. Ten of the remaining tenants in the four-unit building made it out safely.

    Hartland Police Chief Torin Misko said Monday evening that all victims had one gunshot wound. Connor McKisick, a father and stepfather to the four children, had a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Misko said.

    The others who died include Jessica McKisick, a 14-year-old girl, a 12-year-old girl and two 3-year-old boys, all who lived with Connor McKisick in one of the apartments. Police did not identify the children, but officials at the schools the girls attended said the older girl was Natalie Kleemeier and her younger sister Sofina Kleemeier.

    Misko said all of those who died had a single gunshot wound. He said there is also evidence of an ignitable liquid in the apartment where multiple guns were found.

    “This is a tragic incident for the family of the deceased, for our first responders and for the Hartland community,” Misko said.

    The incident remains under investigation by Hartland police with assistance from the Waukesha County Medical Examiner’s Office, the State Fire Marshal and Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation.

    Hartland is a village of approximately 9,100 people about 26 miles (42 kilometers) west of Milwaukee.

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  • Tennessee man violently arrested claims racial profiling

    Tennessee man violently arrested claims racial profiling

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    SOMERVILLE, Tenn. — A Tennessee man whose violent arrest for alleged traffic violations is under investigation by state police said Monday that he was stopped because he was a young Black man driving a nice car.

    Brandon Calloway and some of his family members spoke with an Associated Press reporter outside a courthouse in Fayette County, where he was scheduled to appear before a judge on charges filed against him in July. The hearing was rescheduled to Nov. 28.

    Calloway, 26, was arrested by Oakland Police and charged with disregarding a stop sign, speeding, disorderly conduct and evading arrest. Video footage of the confrontation leading up to the arrest, which spread on social media, shows officers chasing him through his home, attempting to stun him, and beating him bloody before dragging him away.

    One police officer has been placed on paid leave while the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation investigates the arrest. Once the TBI probe is complete, the state police agency will give the report to the district attorney, who will decide whether to pursue charges against the officers. The Oakland Police Department did not return a phone call seeking comment Monday.

    According to a police affidavit, Calloway drove through a stop sign about 7:30 p.m. on July 16. He was then clocked driving 32 mph in a 20 mph zone (51 kph in a 32 kph zone) before an officer attempted a traffic stop. Calloway continued driving until he reached a house, where he pulled into the driveway and ran inside, the affidavit says.

    The affidavit says that later Calloway and others were outside speaking with the first officer when a second officer arrived. The officers said they needed to detain Calloway, and he ran back inside the house. The officers kicked down the front door and followed Calloway upstairs, where he ran into a room and locked the door. Officers then kicked down that door, used a stun gun on him and began to hit him with a baton, the affidavit says.

    The confrontation happened in Oakland, a small town about 30 miles (50 kilometers) east of Memphis. Calloway, who runs a notary public business, said the beating left him with stitches in his head, speech problems and memory loss. He insists he would not have been stopped in the 2020 Chevrolet Camaro he was driving if he was white.

    “I just happened to get stopped in a nice car and my dad lives in a nice neighborhood,” said Calloway. “That was the only crime right there.”

    Calloway’s father, Ed Calloway, agreed, remarking that the situation “revealed the issues that we still have with the relationship between police and young African-American males, and this innate fear of being caught up in this situation.”

    “If he was white, no, he would never have gotten pulled over,” and the situation would not have escalated like it did, Ed Calloway said.

    Ed Calloway also said police unlawfully entered his house.

    “It was my home, it was my door that they kicked in,” he said, adding that his daughter suffered trauma when she saw “her brother’s blood all over the floor, all over the walls, throughout the house.”

    Brandon Calloway said he would like to see repercussions for the officers involved in his arrest. He said that he is feeling better from his injuries and is in therapy but gets “really bad anxiety” when he sees a police officer.

    His lawyer, Andre Wharton, said he is seeking transparency and accountability from the TBI investigation so that the Calloways can reach closure after the “disproportionate response” by police.

    “Closure comes when people realize that a system worked like it should — that it was open and honest and accountable,” Wharton said.

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  • 2 Chinese officers charged in plot to obstruct Huawei probe

    2 Chinese officers charged in plot to obstruct Huawei probe

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    WASHINGTON — Two men suspected of being Chinese intelligence officers have been charged with attempting to obstruct a U.S. criminal investigation and prosecution of Chinese tech giant Huawei, according to court documents unsealed Monday.

    The two men, Guochun He and Zheng Wang, are accused of trying to direct a person with the U.S. government whom they believed was a cooperator to provide confidential information about the Justice Department’s investigation, including about witnesses, trial evidence and potential new charges. One of the defendants paid about $61,000 for the information, the Justice Department said.

    The person the men reached out to began working as a double agent for the U.S government, and his contacts with the defendants were overseen by the FBI. At one point last year, prosecutors say, the unnamed person passed to the defendants a single-page document that appeared to be classified as secret and that contained information about a purported plan to charge and arrest Huawei executives in the U.S.

    But the document was actually prepared by the government for the purposes of the prosecution that was unsealed Monday, and the information in it was not accurate.

    The company is not named in the charging documents, though the references make clear that it’s Huawei, which was charged in 2019 with bank fraud and again the following year with new charges of racketeering conspiracy and a plot to steal trade secrets.

    Top FBI and Justice Department officials scheduled a Monday afternoon news conference to discuss a national security matter involving a foreign influence campaign. They did not say whether this case was what would be discussed.

    The Justice Department has issued arrest warrants for the pair, but it’s not clear whether they will ever be taken into custody.

    Spokespeople for Huawei and the Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately return messages seeking comment.

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  • Murdaugh uses public docs to sow doubt he killed wife, son

    Murdaugh uses public docs to sow doubt he killed wife, son

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    COLUMBIA, S.C. — Months after accusing disbarred attorney Alex Murdaugh of killing his wife and son, South Carolina investigators and prosecutors have released few details about the evidence that they believe connect him to the shootings

    That’s led Murdaugh’s lawyers to file a flurry of court documents requesting information from the prosecution, seeking to publicly weaken the case before the January trial has begun.

    The defense attorneys argue that there was unknown DNA found under Murdaugh’s wife’s fingernails. They also have a different suspect, Murdaugh’s friend Curtis Eddie Smith, arguing that he failed a lie detector test regarding the killings. Murdaugh has already admitted to asking Smith to arrange Murdaugh’s own death to defraud his life insurance company.

    Those defense documents even boosted a story from Smith that prosecutors later said had no evidence to back it up — that Paul Murdaugh killed his mother, Maggie, when he caught her with a groundskeeper at the family’s Colleton County hunting lodge and the groundskeeper then shot the son.

    Alex Murdaugh, 54, has proclaimed his innocence ever since June 2021, when he found the bodies, each shot several times. He has said through his lawyer he “loved them more than anything in the world.”

    It took more than 13 months for authorities to indict Murdaugh on two counts of murder and his trial is set to begin Jan. 23 after defense attorneys asked to hold it as quickly as possible.

    Even after the charges, prosecutors and investigators have released little on how they linked Murdaugh to the deaths or why a man who had no criminal history and was part of a wealthy, well-connected family that dominated the legal community in tiny Hampton County might have wanted to kill his own family members.

    In the months since the deaths, Murdaugh’s life has crumbled. He was fired from the law firm founded by his family for stealing money and then lost his law license. Prosecutors said he was a drug addict who helped run a money laundering and pain killer ring and stole about $8 million from settlements for wrongful death or injury he secured for mostly poor clients.

    As part of the back and forth about evidence in the upcoming murder trial, prosecutors have divulged slightly more of their case. Notably, there is a cellphone video of Murdaugh, his wife and son near dog kennels around 8:44 p.m. the night they are killed. Cellphone data indicates Murdaugh left at 9:06 p.m. and his frantic 911 call to report he found the bodies near the kennels came at 10:06 p.m.

    Murdaugh’s attorneys have requested a FBI report analyzing all the cellphone data, saying such records are crucial to their defense.

    “There is nothing to indicate … in the next 20 minutes, he butchers his son and wife, executes both of them in a brutal way,” defense attorney Dick Harpootlian said. “He’s then on the phone talking to another lawyer from his car in a very convivial way.”

    The defense also said they needed more complete gunshot residue reports after a few particles were found on Murdaugh. His attorney claim the particles likely landed on his clothing when he picked up a gun to protect himself after finding the bodies.

    Authorities have not tested Smith’s DNA and the defense said it has no findings from the source of genetic material found on the clothing of the victims.

    Murdaugh’s defense also wants complete notes from a blood spatter report after a small amount of his wife’s blood was found on his shirt. The lawyers said the blood came when Murdaugh “frantically attended his wife’s bloody corpse.”

    Prosecutors insisted they turned over every bit of evidence they have and what’s missing is mostly incomplete reports. They said the defense was aware of that when they had a friendly conversation just before the motions were filed.

    “This manner of conducting litigation says a lot about the defense’s true motives,” South Carolina Deputy Attorney General Creighton Waters wrote in his response.

    It’s clear from the pretrial back-and-forth that the prosecution does not have any eyewitnesses or video of how Maggie, 52, and their 22-year-old son, Paul, were killed on June 7, 2021. But prosecutors said people are frequently convicted through scientific evidence and circumstances that put them near the scene or give them a motivation for wrongdoing.

    “If every murder case needed a confession and an eyewitness, it would be open season out there,” Waters said in court Thursday.

    In the months before his murder trial, Murdaugh’s lawyers are focusing on Smith, who authorities said was supposed to shoot Murdaugh on the side of a lonely highway in September 2021.

    Murdaugh allegedly planned his own killing so his surviving son could collect on a $10 million life insurance policy. In the end, Smith said the gun fired as he and Murdaugh fought over the weapon, the bullet only grazing Murdaugh’s head.

    Smith’s attorneys say he did not kill Maggie or Paul Murdaugh. They argue Alex Murdaugh’s lawyers are looking for anyone else to blame for the killings, so they have seized on a lie detector test where Smith allegedly showed a reaction when asked if he shot the victims or was present when they were killed.

    Murdaugh’s lawyers said Smith knew the area around the dog kennels where the bodies were found because they were a drug drop. They also point out Smith’s DNA had not been tested as of mid-October.

    “I’m not saying he did it. I’m just saying it certainly sounds like he could have done it,” Harpootlian said.

    Prosecutors have pointed out that spike during the test could have been an emotional reaction as a result of Smith feeling guilty about the circumstances leading up to the crime, even if he had no involvement. They said Smith’s DNA is being tested now and results of lie detector tests aren’t admissible in court by themselves.

    Murdaugh’s attorneys also used court papers to make public a story Smith said he heard about Maggie Murdaugh’s affair directly leading to the killings. It didn’t explain how the groundskeeper avoided arrest or detection in the 16 months since.

    Prosecutors in court papers called it “salacious scuttlebutt that is offensive to the memory of his victims.”

    “It’s very telling they want to make this case about Eddie Smith,” Waters said.

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  • Search of landfill for suburban Detroit teen’s remains ends

    Search of landfill for suburban Detroit teen’s remains ends

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    LENOX TOWNSHIP, Mich. — Police have ended a five-month search at a rural landfill for the remains of a 17-year-old suburban Detroit girl who disappeared in early January.

    Investigators have said they believe Zion Foster’s body was placed in a dumpster, which later was emptied into a garbage truck and taken about 40 miles (65 kilometers) northeast of Detroit to Lenox Township.

    Searchers began combing through debris and garbage at the end of May at Pine Tree Acres landfill but came up empty even after going through 3,500 truckloads — 7,500 tons (6,800 metric tons) — of material from Michigan and Canada.

    Police believed they were in the right area based on GPS readings from the truck and other evidence.

    “Ending the search without recovering Zion’s remains is very difficult for all of us,” Detroit Police Chief James White said Friday. ”I can only imagine the pain Zion’s family is going through, and we all certainly share in that pain.”

    No one has been charged in her death, though a cousin, Jaylin Brazier, admitted in court that he was present when she died. He is in prison for lying to investigators.

    Investigators have submitted a warrant package to the Wayne County prosecutor’s office for review.

    “While this operation has concluded, our investigation has not, and we are confident in the work our investigators have done,” White said.

    Zion, a high school senior from Eastpointe, was wearing a fast-food uniform when she was last seen. Eastpointe borders Detroit, but Detroit police took charge because the death occurred in the city.

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