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  • House Republicans allege Biden family members received millions in payments from foreign entities in new bank records report | CNN Politics

    House Republicans allege Biden family members received millions in payments from foreign entities in new bank records report | CNN Politics

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    Washington
    CNN
     — 

    House Oversight Chairman James Comer laid out new details to support allegations that members of Joe Biden’s family including his son Hunter received millions of dollars in payments from foreign entities in China and Romania including when Biden was vice president, according to a memo obtained by CNN.

    New bank records cited in the memo were obtained by the committee through a subpoena and include payments made to companies tied to Hunter Biden. Republicans also alleged that Hunter Biden used his familial connections to help facilitate a meeting in 2016 between a Serbian running for United Nations Secretary-General and then-national security adviser to the vice president Colin Kahl.

    The foreign payments raise questions about Hunter Biden’s business activities while his father was vice president, but the committee does not suggest any illegality about the payments from foreign sources. The bank records by themselves also do not indicate the purpose of the payments that were made.

    The memo marks Comer’s most direct attempt to substantiate his allegations that Biden family members have enriched themselves off the family name. Comer has suggested that Biden may have been improperly influenced by the financial dealings, particularly by his family’s foreign business partners.

    But the latest report does not show any payments made directly to Joe Biden, either as vice president or after leaving office.

    Comer has been publicly teasing information for months about the paper trail committee Republicans have uncovered through subpoenas sent to multiple banks and trips to the Treasury Department to review records.

    Comer and other Republicans on the committee held a press conference Wednesday morning to tout their findings.

    “These people didn’t come to Hunter Biden because he understood world politics or that he was experienced in it, or that he understood Chinese businesses. They wanted him for the access his last name gave him,” Rep. Nancy Mace, a South Carolina Republican, said during the news conference.

    On Wednesday, Comer was asked about specific policy decisions Biden made while president or vice president that may have been directly influenced by these foreign payments. Comer failed to name any and instead pointed to then-vice president Biden traveling around the world and discussing foreign aid in the last year of the Obama administration, and added they think there are decisions Biden made as president that “put China first and America last.” Comer said the committee “will get into more of those later.”

    Ahead of the memo’s release, White House spokesperson Ian Sams said in a statement to CNN, “Congressman Comer has a history of playing fast and loose with the facts and spreading baseless innuendo while refusing to conduct his so-called ‘investigations’ with legitimacy. He has hidden information from the public to selectively leak and promote his own hand-picked narratives as part of his overall effort to lob personal attacks at the President and his family.”

    Abbe Lowell, counsel for Hunter Biden, said in a statement, “Today’s so-called “revelations” are retread, repackaged misstatements of perfectly proper meetings and business by private citizens. Instead of redoing old investigations that found no evidence of wronging by Mr. Biden, Rep. Comer should do the same examination of the many entities of former President Trump and his family members.”

    The top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, Rep. Jamie Raskin, said in a statement to CNN, “Chairman Comer has failed to provide factual evidence to support his wild accusations about the President. He continues to bombard the public with innuendo, misrepresentations, and outright lies, recycling baseless claims from stories that were debunked years ago.”

    Bank records cited in the committee’s memo show that within five weeks of then-Vice President Biden’s meeting with Romanian President Klaus Iohannis in 2015, a Romanian who Hunter Biden was doing legal consulting for, Gabriel Popoviciu, started sending money to Rob Walker, a business associate of Hunter’s.

    Walker received more than $3 million from November 2015 to May 2017 and wired approximately $1 million in various installments to Hunter Biden, his business associate James Gillian, and Hallie Biden, the widow of the president’s oldest son, Beau Biden who died in May 2015. Hallie Biden and Hunter Biden were romantically involved for a period after Beau’s death.

    It has long been known that Hunter Biden did legal work for Popoviciu, a wealthy Romanian business executive who was convicted in 2016 on corruption charges.

    Comer’s memo raises questions about why Popoviciu was paying a Biden family business associate directly instead of the law firm where Hunter Biden worked at the time or the other firm Hunter reportedly referred Popoviciu to.

    Former President Donald Trump’s former lawyer Rudy Giuliani was also involved with Popoviciu, which Comer’s memo does not mention.

    Committee Republicans obtained the bank records from subpoenas to four different banks.

    The report also alleges that in 2016, Vuk Jeremic, a Serbian politician who was running for UN secretary-general, tried to use his business relationship with Hunter Biden and his associates to get a meeting with Kahl, who was then an aide in Biden’s vice president’s office.

    In a June 2016 email, Jeremic wrote to Hunter Biden and a business associate, Eric Schwerin, asking to “meet with VPOTUS National Security Advisor Colin Kahl” related to the UN secretary-general election.

    Schwerin instructed Hunter Biden to “Think about how you want to respond,” according to the report.

    In a July 2016 email, Jeremic followed up via email saying, “[m]y meeting with Colin did not last very long, but didn’t go too bad, I think. What is suboptimal is that OVP seems to be outside the decision-making loop on the UNSG elections issue. Colin promised to get better informed on what’s going on at the moment,” according to the report.

    Republicans said they intend to pursue more communications related to the matter, but concluded it appears that “a Biden administration official met with Jeremic to discuss the UN Secretary General election at the direction of Hunter Biden and/or his business associates.”

    Kahl did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Jeremic’s attorneys told the committee in a letter last month he would not cooperate with a request for documents and testimony due to separation of powers issues and because House rules limit subpoenas to people “within the United States.”

    The memo also alleges that two Chinese nationals made payments of $100,000 to Hunter Biden’s professional corporation through a Chinese-backed energy company. Republicans claim that at least one of those individuals had ties to the Communist Party of China.

    The memo alleges that those two individuals were connected to CEFC, a Chinese energy conglomerate, had a business relationship with Hunter Biden.

    Committee Republicans claim one of the individuals “used CEFC to bribe and corruptly influence foreign officials.”

    The memo includes a copy of a bank transaction showing that on August 4, 2017, CEFC Infrastructure wired $100,000 to Owasco P.C, Hunter Biden’s professional corporation.

    The memo also includes details from the bank records on how money was moved between companies, including a $100,000 payment to one of Hunter Biden’s companies that was then funded by a Chinese based firm tied to the CEFC, the Chinese energy conglomerate.

    Comer alleges the transaction “disproves President Biden’s claim that his family received no money from China.”

    In the report, the committee acknowledged there “exist legitimate commercial transactions with China-based entities and individuals.”

    “However, the pattern of behavior engaged in by the Bidens and their Chinese counterparties—memorialized in relevant bank records—signals an attempt to layer companies and cloud the source of money,” the committee alleges.

    Comer has previously revealed that members of Biden’s family received just over $1 million indirectly from State Energy HK Limited, a Chinese company.

    Senate Republicans in 2020 first detailed how Walker made wire transfers to companies associated with Hunter Biden and president’s brother, James, after receiving a $3 million wire from the Chinese company.

    The latest GOP memo claims Walker also sent some of that money to Hallie Biden and an unknown bank account identified as “Biden.”

    Committee Republicans said they are continuing to trace bank records and have written to additional witnesses involved in certain transactions to request documents as well as interviews.

    According to the report, Republicans intend to pursue legislative changes – a key step needed to justify their investigation if fights over subpoenas head to court.

    Those changes include laws that require additional reporting about the finances of a president or vice president’s family members, public disclosure of foreign transactions involving the family members of senior elected officials and an expedited law enforcement review of any suspicious bank activity reports related to a president or vice president’s immediately family members.

    Comer left the door open on whether his committee would investigate the foreign business dealings of former President Donald Trump and his family ahead of making any legislative recommendations to address influence peddling. To date however, Comer has not looked into Trump’s financial dealings or pursued an investigation into the classified documents that he had at Mar-a-Lago.

    “We’re going to look at everything when we get ready to introduce the legislation to ban influence peddling” Comer said. “This has been a pattern for a long time. Republicans and Democrats have both complained about Presidents’ families receiving money.”

    On the foreign business dealings of Trump’s son-in law, Jared Kushner, specifically, Comer said, “I’m not saying whether I agreed with what he did or not, but I actually know what his businesses are. What are the Biden businesses?”

    This story has been updated with additional reporting.

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  • Biden to meet with congressional leadership again on Friday as threat of national debt default looms | CNN Politics

    Biden to meet with congressional leadership again on Friday as threat of national debt default looms | CNN Politics

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    Washington
    CNN
     — 

    President Joe Biden and top congressional leadership will meet again on Friday after they emerged from their hour-long meeting in the Oval Office on Tuesday with little to show that they’re moving toward a deal to raise the debt ceiling and avoid a default that would have catastrophic economic consequences.

    House Republicans want to attach spending reductions to a debt ceiling increase and have passed a debt limit plan that does just that. But Biden and congressional Democrats have insisted on passing a clean increase on the debt limit before addressing a framework for spending.

    Although expectations for the meeting were low, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy told reporters that he didn’t see any new movement since his last meeting with the president to discuss the matter in February.

    “I would hope that he’d be willing to negotiate for the next two weeks so we could actually solve this problem and not take America on the brink,” McCarthy said outside the West Wing following the meeting.

    The California Republican said he asked the president for areas where he’d engage on spending reductions, but “he wouldn’t give me any.”

    Speaking alongside McCarthy, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell attempted to assuage fears of a default, stating that “the United States is not going to default. It never has and it never will. However, elections have consequences. We now have divided government. We didn’t have a divided government last year.”

    However, McCarthy would not offer concrete assurances about preventing default.

    “I’m speaker of the House,” he said. “I’m not the leader of the Senate. I’m not the president … I’ve done everything in my power to make sure it will not default. We have passed a bill that raised the debt limit. Now, I haven’t seen that in the Senate.”

    “So,” the speaker continued, “I don’t know.”

    House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer also told reporters outside the White House that McCarthy was the only leader in the meeting who would not take default off the table.

    “Instead of (McCarthy) giving us a plan to remove default, he gave us a plan to take default hostage and that is a shame, because that makes things more complicated,” Schumer said.

    Jeffries said that the meeting attendees are organizing their respective teams “to have a discussion about a path forward around the budget and the appropriations process, and everyone agreed.”

    “That’s progress,” he added.

    Officials had indicated Biden’s goal for the meeting was to move spending negotiations onto a separate track, removing the threat of default while giving Republicans assurances he will engage in good-faith negotiations about federal spending.

    Tuesday’s meeting – comprised of the four congressional leaders as well as a handful of congressional and White House aides – marked the first in-person, top-level discussions on the matter at the White House in months.

    Biden had not formally held a meeting with McCarthy since February, when the two last discussed the debt ceiling at the White House.

    McCarthy has signaled opposition to a short-term debt limit lift. He also said that Congress will need deal in principle to lift debt limit by next week.

    Heading into Tuesday’s meeting, McCarthy had more leverage than many expected him to have and House Republicans remain largely behind him.

    “There isn’t a single bright line or ‘must have’ that I am married to,” South Dakota GOP Rep. Dusty Johnson, a key McCarthy ally, told CNN. “The totality of the deal has to make real and substantial change to how our country spends and borrows. There are lots of different ways to get there.”

    Many House Republicans believe the speaker has built trust within their ranks over the last several months – a testament, they say, to a leader who barely clinched the speakership after a historic 15 rounds of voting.

    A source close to McCarthy said the speaker – after months of listening sessions and meetings – feels comfortable with where his conference’s hard lines and negotiable provisions lie. He’s spent the last several days touching base with Republican members across the ideological spectrum and speaking with Louisiana GOP Rep. Garret Graves, who he selected to take lead as a policy adviser on this issue.

    Asked what would be a victory in negotiations with the White House, North Dakota Republican Rep. Kelly Armstrong said, “Kevin getting us the best deal he can after the White House engages in good faith negotiations.”

    “I recognize what I want and what can get 60 votes in the Senate may not be the same,” he added.

    McConnell – known as a Senate deal maker with stronger ties to Biden than McCarthy – has signaled that he won’t come to rescue Democrats in negotiations.

    “The solution to this problem lies with two people, the president United States, who can sign a bill and deliver the members of his party to vote for it, and the Speaker of the House,” McConnell told reporters after Tuesday’s meeting. “There is no sentiment in the Senate – certainly not 60 votes – for a clean debt ceiling. So there must be an agreement and the sooner the president and the speaker can reach an agreement, the sooner we can solve the problem.”

    In the Senate, all but six Senate Republicans have vowed to oppose raising the debt ceiling “without substantive spending and budget reforms,” backing McCarthy’s position.

    The US hit the debt ceiling set by Congress in January. That forced the Treasury Department to begin taking extraordinary measures to keep the government paying its bills. And Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen recently warned that the US could default on its obligations as soon as June 1 if Congress doesn’t address the debt limit.

    A breach of the US debt ceiling risks sparking a 2008-style economic catastrophe that wipes out millions of jobs and sets America back for generations, Moody’s Analytics has warned. The impact could include delayed Social Security payments, late paychecks for federal employees and veterans and a direct hit to Americans’ investments.

    Stocks fell Tuesday morning as investors awaited updates on the debt ceiling and inflation.

    Along with news about the White House, investors are also bracing for the April Consumer Price Index data due on Wednesday, which could give more clues into the Federal Reserve’s planned trajectory in its fight against inflation.

    This story and headline have been updated with additional developments.

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  • New York City mayor announces plan to transport willing migrants to locations outside the city ahead of expected surge | CNN

    New York City mayor announces plan to transport willing migrants to locations outside the city ahead of expected surge | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced Friday the city will ship willing migrants to other neighboring New York communities ahead of a surge of migrants expected to arrive in the city following the expiration of Title 42 next week.

    Adams said the new program “will provide up to four months of temporary sheltering in nearby New York counties, outside of New York City, to single-adult men seeking asylum who are already in the city’s care.”

    The program will launch with two hotels located in the small hamlets of Orange Lake and Orangeburg, with the potential to expand, the mayor said. Adams’ spokesperson, Fabien Levy, told CNN there is capacity for up to three hundred migrants between the two hotels initially, with the potential to “expand.”

    Orange Lake is a hamlet in Orange County in upstate New York. The population was 9,770 at the 2020 Census. Orangeburg is a hamlet in the town of Orangetown in New York’s Rockland County, where around 4,600 people live, according to Census data.

    “Despite calling on the federal government for a national decompression strategy since last year, and for a decompression strategy across the state, New York City has been left without the necessary support to manage this crisis,” Adams said. “With a vacuum of leadership, we are now being forced to undertake our own decompression strategy.”

    Adams said the mayors and county executives in both areas have been notified. CNN has reached out to local leaders in both Orange Lake and Orangeburg for their response to the mayor’s plan. CNN has also asked New York Gov. Kathy Hochul for her response to the mayor’s plan to transport migrants outside the city.

    The announcement comes on the heels of an internal briefing memo obtained and first reported by CNN that shed light on a variety of options city officials were weighing to help weather the expected surge.

    Tents in Central Park, a retrofitted airplane hangar at John F. Kennedy Airport and building temporary tiny homes were some of the options noted in the memo, which says the city is anticipating 800 migrants will arrive in the city every day from the southern border after Title 42 is scheduled to lift Thursday. Since last spring, the city has processed tens of thousands of migrants and a total of 37,500 people are currently in the city’s care, the memo says.

    The 5-page draft memo, which outlines the city’s needs and possible “solutions,” says New York City is already seeing an increase in arrivals. On Wednesday alone, officials recorded approximately 500 arrivals. Title 42, the pandemic-era rule that allows immigration agents to swiftly return migrants to Mexico, is scheduled to end on May 11.

    US Customs and Border Protection officials already have seen an uptick in migrants crossing the US-Mexico border in anticipation of the expiration of Title 42, CNN has reported. There have been around 7,000 daily encounters on the US southern border in recent days, a number expected to rise in the coming weeks.

    CNN spoke with three different sources in Adams’ administration who confirmed the authenticity of the planning document. A fourth source at one of the city agencies that would be tasked with helping to set up shelter and other resources for migrants, confirmed the agency had reviewed the memo. The document details a series of potential options the Adams administration is exploring that are not yet finalized, the sources explained to CNN.

    The document outlines possible locations for housing migrants at existing buildings including the campuses of York and Medgar Evers colleges; the YMCA at the Park Slope Armory in Brooklyn; and at a massive 135,000 square foot recreation center in Staten Island.

    Listed as another possible “solution” is a proposal to retrofit unused airplane hangars at John F. Kennedy International Airport, which would require help from the state and the Port Authority, which operates the airport, to build out “dormitory style residential services.”

    Parking lots at the Mets baseball stadium at Citi Field is one of the places being considered to house migrants ahead of an expected surge.

    According to the document, the Adams administration is also considering erecting tents in the city’s public parks and public parking lots. The memo lists Central Park, Prospect Park in Brooklyn and Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Queens as possible options. The parking lots at Citi Field – the home of the New York Mets – and the Aqueduct Racetrack are also on the list of possible options. Coney Island and Orchard Beach, visited by hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers in the summer months, are also listed as options.

    Levy, Adams’ spokesperson, declined to comment on the specific proposals outlined in the document but told CNN, “While we do not discuss internal deliberations, we’ve been clear that the burden of caring for asylum seekers shouldn’t fall on any one city alone.”

    Levy told CNN the city resorted to housing migrants who arrived this week in “old NYPD training gyms” after running out of shelter space.

    “We have reached our limit of new shelters that we can open right now, and we currently have no other option but to temporarily house recent arrivals in gyms,” Levy said. “This week alone, we received hundreds of asylum seekers every day, and with Title 42 set to be lifted next week, we expect more to arrive in our city daily. We are considering a multitude of options, but, as we’ve been saying for a year, we desperately need federal and state support to manage this crisis,” he said.

    Building structures in public places such as the city’s parks is likely to face fierce criticism from local officials and advocates who have at times been critical of the city’s response to the migrant crisis. In the last year, as he has struggled to respond to the needs of arriving migrants, Adams has said the city’s budget would be affected. He said it might be necessary to cut back on social and municipal services for residents in order to meet the need. New York City officials project they will spend $4.3 billion on the influx of migrants by the end of June 2024.

    Included in its list of possible solutions, the memo also details a proposal to erect “temporary housing in containers or tiny homes.” The document references similar models used in New Jersey and London to serve homeless populations there.

    The memo also lists options the city has previously used or considered using in the last year, including erecting tents on Randall’s Island, and using cruise ships to house migrants.

    An administration official who would only speak on background, because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly, said, “all of these items are being discussed. While we may not yet know what may come to fruition, we have to let New Yorkers know that all options are on the table, especially given the fact that more than 60,000 asylum seekers have arrived in New York City since last year.”

    Adams has repeatedly requested aid from Washington, saying migrant arrivals in New York City and other major cities in the northeast equate to a humanitarian crisis that should be handled by the federal government. Adams continues to criticize the Biden administration, saying the federal government has “abandoned” the city to deal with the migrant crisis on its own.

    “New York has received the brunt, close to 60,000 of those who are coming to the city to participate in the American Dream and we’re not giving them the resources,” the mayor said Thursday during an unrelated event.

    Adams also recently said the financial burden of the migrant crisis is “decimating the foundation of our city” and has said every municipal service in New York City will be impacted.

    On Friday, some city officials voiced their disappointment after the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) awarded $30.5 million dollars in humanitarian aid funding – only a fraction of the amount that the city requested in March.

    “Despite the City’s $350 million request, FEMA’s initial grant provides a paltry $30.5 million, which is not anywhere close to enough to cover the cost of assistance for asylum seekers,” said a joint statement from New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and Finance Chair Justin Brannan.

    US Rep. Dan Goldman called the allocation of funds from FEMA’s Emergency Food and Shelter Program “woefully insufficient,” adding that he vows to continue to work with his colleagues and the Adams administration to push for “sufficient” federal funding.

    “New York has spent more than $1 billion to support the more than 60,000 migrants that have come to our city seeking a better life, yet FEMA has allotted only $30.5 million to New York City to contribute to this expense,” Goldman said in a statement Friday. “It is incumbent on the federal government to pay its fair share for these unexpected immigration-related expenses.”

    The Department of Homeland Security announced the allocation of the humanitarian support in a statement and named Texas and California as the top three recipients.

    “This first round of funding was focused primarily on the needs of border communities due to the urgencies they are confronting,” the department said. “Several interior cities also received funding. The City of New York received the most of any interior city by a significant margin given its challenges.”

    The department says it will award “approximately $360 million in additional funds through the new Shelter and Services Grant Program” later this fiscal year.

    CNN has reached out to Mayor Adams’ office for comment.

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  • Hunter Biden’s aggressive new legal strategy initially caused anxiety at White House | CNN Politics

    Hunter Biden’s aggressive new legal strategy initially caused anxiety at White House | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    The White House initially reacted with anxiety toward a decision by Hunter Biden’s lawyer to pursue an aggressive legal strategy against increasing Republican attacks on him, sources familiar with the matter told CNN.

    Much of the tension centered around Kevin Morris, the lawyer, bringing on attorney Abbe Lowell, who is known for his aggressive style and litigious nature. Since joining Hunter Biden’s legal team, Lowell has fired off letters demanding investigations into Biden’s opponents, filed a federal lawsuit in his defense and been involved in a child support dispute.

    According to multiple sources, senior White House officials and Democrats held a meeting late last year with Lowell, who was expected to be handling GOP-led congressional investigations into the president’s son but whose portfolio has since expanded.

    While some of the reticence at the White House around the new legal strategy has abated, sources told CNN, the initial anxiety about publicly pushing back against Hunter Biden’s detractors underscores some of the thorny issues that President Joe Biden must contend with as he runs for reelection.

    The president affirmed his support for his son in an interview that aired Friday on MSNBC, saying that the Justice Department’s investigation would not affect his presidency. “First of all, my son has done nothing wrong. I trust him. I have faith in him,” Biden told Stephanie Ruhle. “It impacts my presidency by making me feel proud of him.”

    A source close to Hunter Biden’s legal team said one reason the anxiety has died down is because the strategy has been successful. It’s also been assuaged in part thanks to the more open lines of communication between Lowell, the White House and President Biden’s personal attorney Bob Bauer, according to a person familiar with the matter.

    A senior Biden adviser insisted that the president’s advisers “don’t direct or advise” Hunter Biden’s legal team on what to do. The senior adviser stressed that Hunter Biden is a private citizen who has the right to make his own decisions about how to handle his legal strategy.

    A spokeswoman for Lowell declined to comment.

    Hunter Biden’s legal team also has been weighing the possibility of setting up a legal defense fund to help defray his legal bills, according to a person familiar with the matter. A key hurdle is whether they could create a fund with enough guardrails to protect against ethical conflicts for the Biden family.

    House Republicans have already launched an investigation into the Biden family’s business dealings, and a legal defense fund soliciting outside donations would be yet another target for congressional scrutiny.

    Late last year, shortly after Republicans won control of the House, Hunter Biden made it clear to the White House that he wanted to take a more aggressive approach in responding to attacks against him, according to a source familiar with this legal strategy.

    At the time, Republicans had made clear that the younger Biden was going to be their top target for congressional investigations. Hunter Biden was also still staring down a long-running federal criminal investigation focused on tax- and gun-related issues. And when there appeared to be no movement in the criminal probe for months, his lawyer Morris believed it was time to go on the offensive.

    As Hunter Biden and Morris moved ahead with their approach, a source familiar with the behind-the-scenes conversations described the White House as having a very negative reaction to the more aggressive strategy and surprise that Morris brought on Lowell.

    Multiple sources familiar with the legal strategy said the addition of Lowell caused tension even within the legal team. Josh Levy, one of Hunter Biden’s attorneys who had long been aligned with the Biden White House, resigned as Lowell joined the team.

    Levy declined to comment.

    The federal criminal investigation is ongoing, and Hunter Biden’s attorneys recently met with the Justice Department. Hunter Biden denies any wrongdoing.

    Since coming on board, Lowell has fired off letters calling for investigations into various officials. In one sent to the Office of Congressional Ethics, he requested an independent ethics review of GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s conduct for her public statements that “sound and read like school-yard insults rather than the work of a Member of Congress.”

    Another, sent to the Treasury Department’s inspector general, asked for a review of a former Donald Trump aide who allegedly acquired and published online financial activities of Hunter Biden, known as Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs). Hunter Biden’s legal team also recently filed a lawsuit accusing the aide of harassing Biden’s team.

    Earlier this week, Lowell traveled to Arkansas to represent Biden in a child support dispute that has become a proxy for Republican investigations, underscoring his wide-reaching involvement in his client’s legal troubles.

    Lowell also filed a lawsuit in March that accused a Delaware computer repair shop owner who worked on a laptop of trying to invade Biden’s privacy and wrongfully sharing his personal data for political purposes.

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  • Texas massacre suspect’s longtime partner is accused of helping him get food, clothes and transportation while he was on the run | CNN

    Texas massacre suspect’s longtime partner is accused of helping him get food, clothes and transportation while he was on the run | CNN

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    Coldspring, Texas
    CNN
     — 

    The longtime partner of the man accused of gunning down five people, including a 9-year-old, in a neighboring Texas home apparently helped the suspect while also cooperating with authorities – all while a massive manhunt was underway – a prosecutor said Wednesday.

    The suspected gunman, Mexican national Francisco Oropesa, was caught Tuesday and faces one count of first-degree felony murder – with four more counts expected – after the mass shooting Friday night, San Jacinto County criminal district attorney Todd Dillon said. The charge could be upgraded to capital murder – a death penalty offense in Texas – a source with his office told CNN.

    Oropesa’s longtime partner, Divimara Lamar Nava, faces a charge of hindering apprehension or prosecution of a known felon, a third-degree felony, online sheriff’s records show. She was booked Wednesday; It’s not clear if she has an attorney or when her court appearance will be.

    “Ms. Nava appeared to be cooperating up until the time that we arrested her,” Dillon said. However, “what we believe that Ms. Nava was doing is that she was providing him with material aid and encouragement, food, clothes, and had arranged transport to this house.”

    Nava was arrested at the same Montgomery County location where Oropesa was found Tuesday evening hidden in a closet under a pile of laundry, according to case records and San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers. Law enforcement had tracked her to the home, associated with a relative of Oropesa, a law enforcement source told CNN, about a 20-minute drive west of where the shooting unfolded in Cleveland, northwest of Houston.

    The district attorney, like other officials, has referred to Nava as the suspected killer’s “wife,” though public records suggest she is not married. “I don’t know if it’s common-law (marriage), or they’ve actually in fact been married,” Dillon said. “But they were living together as husband and wife.”

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    A man suspected of assisting Oropesa also is in custody in the San Jacinto County jail, the district attorney said. He’s being held on a possession of marijuana charge, and “we expect there to be more charges filed,” Dillon said.

    “Several arrests” have been made in connection with the slayings, and “others are hinging on what’s going on right now,” Chief Deputy Tim Kean of the San Jacinto County Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday morning. Fewer than five people have been arrested beyond Oropesa, he said.

    The massacre is among more than 180 US mass shootings this year.

    The manhunt had stretched from the US South into Mexico.

    Oropesa, 38, is accused of gunning down five people Friday night after he was asked to stop firing his rifle outside near his neighbor’s home.

    Wilson Garcia, whose wife and son were killed, and two others had asked Oropesa to shoot on the other side of his property because the gunfire was waking Garcia’s baby, he told CNN. The suspect refused and soon unleashed gunfire into the home where Garcia’s family and friends were gathered, he said.

    The victims – all Honduran nationals – have been identified as Garcia’s wife, Sonia Argentina Guzman, 25, and her son Daniel Enrique Laso-Guzman, 9; Diana Velázquez Alvarado, 21; Julisa Molina Rivera, 31, and José Jonathan Cásarez, 18.

    Authorities are waiting to learn whether the mass shooting weapon has been recovered. “As of now, we may have the weapon, but we have to wait for ballistics (testing),” Kean said at a news conference.

    Authorities now have 90 days to indict Oropesa, and the Mexican consulate will be formally notified Wednesday of his circumstances, a law enforcement source involved said.

    At least four times since 2009, Oropesa had entered the US unlawfully and been deported, according to an ICE source. An immigration judge first removed him in March 2009 before he was deported again in September 2009, January 2012 and July 2016, the source said.

    It’s unclear how long Oropesa had been in the US before last week’s attack. He and Nava have been together for about 12 years and share a home and a child, a source who knows the family told CNN, though they are not legally married. The woman in the Montgomery County booking photo is Nava, the source confirmed.

    In the end, it was information submitted through the FBI’s tip line that pointed investigators to the home where Oropesa was discovered, FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Jimmy Paul said Tuesday night.

    Federal, state and local authorities had devoted considerable resources to hunting for the fugitive, including a collective $80,000 reward for information leading to his arrest and more than 200 law enforcement officers on the case, officials have said.

    Officials’ efforts may have been stymied by a lack of trust in law enforcement. Some Latinos, particularly immigrants, fear contact with law enforcement could lead to questions about their immigration status and lead to deportation, they told CNN.

    After initial leads on Oropesa went cold over the weekend, authorities pleaded for tips – which eventually came in from Texas, Wyoming, Florida, Maryland and Oklahoma, the sheriff said.

    “We just want to thank the person who had the courage and bravery to call in the suspect’s location,” Paul said.

    It’s not clear if law enforcement had tracked Oropesa’s wife to the home before or after the tip was sent to the FBI.

    Once they had zeroed in on the house, members of the Texas Department of Public Safety, US Marshals Service and US Customs and Border Patrol’s tactical unit, known as BORTAC, entered the home and brought the suspect into custody, an FBI Houston spokesperson said.

    Evelyn Echeverria, 16, had been lying in bed around 6 p.m. when she heard helicopters flying above her home, she told CNN.

    “I headed out and saw a lot of cops and maybe 20 minutes later they came out with him,” said Echeverria, who took video of the apprehension. “He came out handcuffed. He looked like he was cooperating with the officers.”

    Officers led Oropesa through the yard of a house, then gathered around him as he sat in a law enforcement vehicle, witness videos show.

    “We are so happy,” Jefrinson Rivera, the partner of Velázquez Alvarado, told CNN of the arrest.

    The sheriff’s office said the home where Oropesa was found is in the small city of Cut and Shoot, while the FBI Houston office tweeted it is in adjacent Conroe. The BORTAC unit has played a key role in several high-profile US operations, including the mass shooting last year at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, where its members fatally shot that gunman, authorities said.

    More than a dozen family members and friends were gathered Friday in the Cleveland home, said Garcia, whose wife and son were killed. They were helping his wife get ready for a church event, he said.

    But their evening was disturbed by gunshots fired by Oropesa outside his home next door, the father said. The shots were waking up Garcia’s baby and making him cry.

    Sonia Argentina Guzman and her son, Daniel Enrique Laso-Guzman, were shot and killed by a neighbor Friday in Cleveland, Texas, officials said.

    About 10 to 20 minutes before the suspected gunman opened fire, Garcia and two others walked over to Oropesa to ask that he instead shoot on the other side of his property, he said.

    The suspect refused, and Garcia said he would call police.

    “We walked inside and my wife was talking to the police, and we called five times because he was being more threatening,” Garcia recalled.

    At some point, they watched as Oropesa walked off his property and cocked his gun, Garcia said. Concerned, he told his wife to come inside the house.

    “My wife said, ‘You go inside, I don’t think he will fire at me because I’m a woman, I’ll stay here at the door.’”

    Soon after, the gunman charged into Garcia’s home, first shooting his wife, Argentina Guzman, in the doorway before killing three other adults and Garcia’s son Daniel, the grieving father said.

    Diana Velázquez Alvarado, 21, was one of the five people killed. Her partner, 23-year-old Jefrinson Rivera, said they had been together for six years.

    “One of the people who died saw when my wife fell to the ground,” Garcia told CNN. “She told me to throw myself out the window because my children were already without a mother. So one of us had to stay alive to take care of them. She was the person who helped me jump out the window.”

    The victims were shot “almost execution style” at close range above the neck, Capers told local media.

    Officers responded to the scene as fast as they could, the sheriff said. But his small force covers a large county, he said, and the home is about 15 minutes outside town.

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  • 5 things to know for May 3: Border, Texas shooting, Writers strike, Fed meeting, Sudan | CNN

    5 things to know for May 3: Border, Texas shooting, Writers strike, Fed meeting, Sudan | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Many airline employees have gone for years without pay raises, even after enduring difficult working conditions during the pandemic. Pilots for American Airlines voted to strike this week, and Southwest pilots plan to vote as well, but they won’t be walking off the job anytime soon — if at all — due to a labor law that places considerable hurdles in the way of any union that wants to strike.

    Here’s what else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On with Your Day.

    (You can get “CNN’s 5 Things” delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up here.)

    In preparation for an expected surge of crossings at the US-Mexico border next week, the Biden administration plans to send an additional 1,500 active-duty troops to the border to free up Department of Homeland Security agents. The troops will take on strictly administrative roles, officials said, and will join around 2,500 National Guard troops already in place. The surge of migrants is expected because Title 42, the Trump-era policy that allowed authorities to quickly turn away certain migrants at the border during the pandemic, expires on May 11. Encounters between border agents and undocumented immigrants are at around 7,000 per day at the moment and are expected to rise dramatically next week, despite a warning from the State Department and DHS about a new, more punitive policy related to border crossings.

    The man suspected of gunning down five people at a neighbor’s home in Texas last week — including a mother and her 9-year-old son — was captured Tuesday after a dayslong manhunt. The suspect was found under a pile of laundry in the closet of a home just miles from the Cleveland, Texas, residence where the shooting took place, San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers said. “We just want to thank the person who had the courage and bravery to call in the suspect’s location,” an FBI spokesperson said, adding that authorities are now investigating whether the suspect had any help in hiding. The gunman will be held on five counts of murder and his bond is set at $5 million.

    Official describes suspect found hiding in laundry

    Popular late night shows are airing repeat episodes “until further notice” due to the film and TV writers’ strike, sources tell CNN. Several shows including “Saturday Night Live,” “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” began airing repeat episodes as of Tuesday. Seth Meyers and Jimmy Fallon, who host NBC’s “Late Night with Seth Meyers” and “The Tonight Show,” respectively, previously said they would honor the strike and not air any new episodes as well. Late night shows are being especially impacted because they depend on their writers for bits, monologues and celebrity interview questions. Until an agreement is reached, analysts say the strike could shut down production on shows and cause a domino effect in the wider realm of the entertainment industry, pushing back the return of many programs set for the fall.

    exp TSR.Todd.writers.guild.strike.impacts.tv.movies_00003201.png

    Strike means TV shows and films in jeopardy

    Federal Reserve officials are expected to raise interest rates by a quarter point today. The Fed’s decision comes just two days after the collapse of First Republic Bank, the second-biggest bank failure in US history. When the Fed raises interest rates, banks need to raise the rates on their savings accounts in order to lure depositors from their competitors. That can put a disproportionate amount of pressure on mid-sized and regional banks — like the ones who saw depositors pull their money when the banking crisis began in March. Still, the Fed will move to raise interest rates today to lower inflation. To do that, it has to intentionally slow parts of the economy by making it more expensive for banks, and thereby consumers, to borrow money.

    Leaders of Sudan’s warring factions agreed to a seven-day ceasefire on Tuesday, the foreign ministry of South Sudan said in a statement. However, previous ceasefires have failed to quell the fighting between the rival factions in various parts of the country. Both sides — the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces — have yet to comment on the report on their official channels. Tuesday’s announcement came after the UN’s refugee agency warned more than 800,000 people may flee to neighboring countries, as the ongoing violence blocks evacuation convoys from key ports in Sudan. More than 70,000 people have already fled Sudan to neighboring countries, a spokesperson for the agency said earlier this week.

    exp sudan ceasefire madowo FST 050312ASEG1 cnni world_00002001.png

    Seven-day ceasefire expected to begin Thursday in Sudan

    Teenage boy opens fire at Serbian school, killing eight children and a security guard, officials say

    Eight children and a security guard have have been killed after a 14-year-old boy allegedly opened fire in an elementary school in the Serbian capital of Belgrade, according to Serbia’s Interior Ministry. Several children and a teacher were also injured in the attack, officials said. The boy is in custody following the incident. 

    Cockroach at the Met Gala goes viral

    A bug on the red carpet received more buzz than some A-list celebrities. Watch the video here.

    Top 10 best cuisines in the world, according to CNN Travel

    Check out this list of appetizing cuisines. *Stomach rumbles — loudly* 

    NBA announces Most Valuable Player for 2022-2023

    Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers won the coveted award after the center topped the charts last year.

    Webb telescope detects mysterious water vapor in a nearby star system

    Astronomers detected water vapor around a rocky exoplanet located 26 light-years away from Earth. Here’s what it could mean.

    Kevin Costner and wife Christine Baumgartner are getting a divorce

    After more than 18 years, the two are going their separate ways.

    0

    That’s how many criminal charges, or lack thereof, will be filed against one of the former Memphis police officers involved in the fatal traffic stop that led to Tyre Nichols’ death. On January 7, 29-year-old Nichols, a Black man, was repeatedly punched and kicked by Memphis police officers following a traffic stop and brief foot chase. Former White Memphis police officer Preston Hemphill was part of the initial traffic stop in which bodycam footage revealed he used an “assaultive statement” after firing a stun gun at Nichols. Hemphill was not involved in the second encounter where Nichols was brutally beaten by police.

    “The public shouldn’t have their daily lives ruined by so-called ‘eco-warriors’ causing disruption.”

    — UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman, issuing a statement Tuesday on the government’s plan to take stronger action against peaceful protesters, days ahead of the coronation of King Charles III. The Home Office said parts of a controversial law will go into place today that will “give police the powers to prevent disruption at major sporting and cultural events.” For example, protestors who physically attach themselves to things like buildings could receive a six-month prison sentence or “unlimited fine,” the Home Office said in a statement.

    Check your local forecast here>>>

    Teen’s grand entrance steals the show at prom

    Most teenagers favor limousines and luxury cars for their prom transportation. These high school students, on the other hand, preferred a tank for their grand entrance. (Click here to view) 

    Tank To Prom 1

    Teen’s grand entrance steals the show at prom

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  • Two hospitals under federal investigation over care of pregnant woman who was refused abortion | CNN

    Two hospitals under federal investigation over care of pregnant woman who was refused abortion | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is investigating two hospitals that “did not offer necessary stabilizing care to an individual experiencing an emergency medical condition, in violation of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA),” according to a letter from US Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra.

    Under EMTALA, health care professionals are required to “offer treatment, including abortion care, that the provider reasonably determines is necessary to stabilize the patient’s emergency medical condition,” Becerra said Monday in his letter to national hospital and provider associations.

    The National Women’s Law Center, which said in a statement that it filed the initial EMTALA complaint on behalf of Mylissa Farmer, identified the hospitals as Freeman Hospital West of Joplin, Missouri, and the University of Kansas Health System in Kansas City, Kansas.

    The patient was nearly 18 weeks pregnant when she had a preterm premature rupture of membranes, Becerra wrote, but she was told that her pregnancy wasn’t viable.

    “Although her doctors advised her that her condition could rapidly deteriorate, they also advised that they could not provide her with the care that would prevent infection, hemorrhage, and potentially death because, they said, the hospital policies prohibited treatment that could be considered an abortion,” Becerra wrote.

    Becerra added in a statement Monday, “fortunately, this patient survived. But she never should have gone through the terrifying ordeal she experienced in the first place. We want her, and every patient out there like her, to know that we will do everything we can to protect their lives and health, and to investigate and enforce the law to the fullest extent of our legal authority.”

    Abortion is banned in Missouri, with limited exceptions, such as to save the mother’s life. State law requires counseling and a 72-hour waiting period. In Kansas, abortion is generally banned at or after 22 weeks of pregnancy, with a 24-hour waiting period and counseling required.

    Passed in 1986, EMTALA requires that hospitals provide stabilizing treatment to patients who have emergency medical conditions, or transfer them to facilities where such care will be provided, regardless of any conflicting state laws or mandates.

    Changes to state laws in the wake of the US Supreme Court decision that overturned the right to an abortion have left many hospitals and providers uncertain or confused about the steps they can legally take in such cases. HHS issued guidance last year reaffirming that EMTALA requires providers to offer stabilizing care in emergency cases, which might include abortion.

    Hospitals found to be in violation of EMTALA could lose their Medicare and Medicaid provider agreements and could face civil penalties. An individual physician could also face civil penalties if they are found to be in violation.

    HHS may impose a $119,942 fine per violation for hospitals with more than 100 beds and $59,973 for hospitals with fewer than 100 beds. A physician could face a $119,942 fine per violation.

    The National Women’s Law Center says the new actions are the first time since Roe v. Wade was overturned that EMTALA has been enforced against a hospital that denied emergency abortion care.

    “The care provided to the patient was reviewed by the hospital and found to be in accordance with hospital policy,” the University of Kansas Health System said in a statement to CNN. “It met the standard of care based upon the facts known at the time, and complied with all applicable law. There is a process with CMS for this complaint and we respect that process. The University of Kansas Health System follows federal and Kansas law in providing appropriate, stabilizing, and quality care to all of its patients, including obstetric patients.”

    Freeman Hospital did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment.

    An HHS spokesperson told CNN that both hospitals are working toward coming into compliance with the law.

    In the law center’s statement, Farmer said she was pleased with the investigations, “but pregnant people across the country continue to be denied care and face increased risk of complications or death, and it must stop. I was already dealing with unimaginable loss and the hospitals made things so much harder. I’m still struggling emotionally with what happened to me, but I am determined to keep fighting because no one should have to go through this.”

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  • US could default on its debt as soon as June 1 if Congress doesn’t act, Yellen says | CNN Politics

    US could default on its debt as soon as June 1 if Congress doesn’t act, Yellen says | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    The US could default on its obligations as soon as June 1 if Congress doesn’t address the debt limit before then, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Monday.

    “After reviewing recent federal tax receipts, our best estimate is that we will be unable to continue to satisfy all of the government’s obligations by early June, and potentially as early as June 1, if Congress does not raise or suspend the debt limit before that time,” Yellen wrote in a letter to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

    The accelerated timetable increases pressure on President Joe Biden and House Republican lawmakers to ramp up their debt ceiling discussions. After months of talks being at a standstill, the president called all four congressional leaders on Monday afternoon and invited them to a May 9 meeting.

    Yellen warned that the actual date that Treasury exhausts its ability to pay the government’s bills on time and in full could be “a number of weeks later than these estimates.” She noted that it’s impossible to pinpoint an exact date since the amount of revenue the federal government collects and the amount it spends is variable.

    She will continue to update Congress as more information becomes available, but she reiterated that it’s “imperative” that lawmakers act as soon as possible.

    “We have learned from past debt limit impasses that waiting until the last minute to suspend or increase the debt limit can cause serious harm to business and consumer confidence, raise short-term borrowing costs for taxpayers, and negatively impact the credit rating of the United States,” Yellen wrote.

    “If Congress fails to increase the debt limit, it would cause severe hardship to American families, harm our global leadership position, and raise questions about our ability to defend our national security interests,” she continued.

    The Congressional Budget Office also updated its forecast on Monday, saying that there is a “significantly greater risk that the Treasury will run out of funds in early June” because of weaker-than-expected tax collections. It had originally projected that the default could happen between July and September.

    When the US hit its $31.4 trillion debt ceiling in January, Yellen informed Congress that cash on hand and “extraordinary measures” should last at least until early June. But she warned the projection was subject to considerable uncertainty.

    A variety of forecasters have estimated that the so-called X-date, when the US would default, would arrive over the summer or in the early fall.

    The likelihood of an early June default grew in recent weeks when April tax receipts were coming in weaker than expected. A trio of analysts issued reports warning that the default date could hit soon.

    However, a surge of tax revenue last week prompted two analysts to revise their forecasts to the second half of July.

    If tax collections wind up being enough to keep Treasury’s coffers flush through early June, then it’s likely the government won’t default until much later in the summer. The agency will get another injection of funds from second quarter estimated tax payments, which are due June 15, and from an extraordinary measure that becomes available at the end of that month.

    Biden told the congressional leaders – Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and McCarthy – that he wants to discuss the need to pass a clean bill to raise the debt ceiling.

    The White House is maintaining its position that it will not negotiate over the debt ceiling.

    The invitation comes after McCarthy noted earlier Monday that he had yet to hear from the president, nearly a week after the House passed its package to raise the debt ceiling by $1.5 trillion. However, the bill also includes spending cuts, beefed-up work requirements in safety net programs and other measures that Democrats would not accept.

    Schumer sent a letter to colleagues on Monday voicing Senate Democrats’ opposition to the House package.

    This story has been updated with additional information.

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  • Environmental groups sue FAA for SpaceX launch that exploded in April | CNN

    Environmental groups sue FAA for SpaceX launch that exploded in April | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Environmental groups are suing the Federal Aviation Administration in federal court over SpaceX’s launch of its massive Starship rocket last month.

    The rocket – the most powerful ever built – lifted off the pad, spewing debris over miles, before exploding over the Gulf of Mexico four minutes into flight.

    This story is breaking news and it will be updated.

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  • 200 officers are in a manhunt for the Texas suspect accused of killing his 5 neighbors. Authorities are offering $80,000 for information | CNN

    200 officers are in a manhunt for the Texas suspect accused of killing his 5 neighbors. Authorities are offering $80,000 for information | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    More than 200 officers from multiple law enforcement agencies are searching for the gunman accused of shooting and killing five people, including a 9-year-old child, at a Cleveland, Texas, home after neighbors asked him to stop firing his rifle outdoors, officials said Sunday.

    Those officers are going door to door and asking community members for information while authorities are also creating billboard posters in Spanish to inform everyone of the search, San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers said in a Sunday afternoon news conference.

    And there’s now also a collective $80,000 reward being offered for information that leads to the suspect’s arrest, FBI Houston Special Agent in Charge James Smith announced in the news conference.

    Francisco Oropesa, 38, is accused of killing four adults and a 9-year-old boy at a neighboring home Friday night in the city of Cleveland – about 40 miles northeast of downtown Houston. Investigators initially started tracking Oropesa using his cellphone, but said that trail went cold Saturday evening – and he could now be anywhere.

    “We don’t have any tips right now to where he may be and that’s why we’ve come up with this reward, so that hopefully somebody out there can call us,” Smith said at Sunday’s news conference.

    “I can pretty much guarantee you, he’s contacted some of his friends,” Smith said, adding, “We just don’t know what friends they are and that’s what we need from the public, is any type of information because right now we’re running into dead ends.”

    In a Twitter post earlier Sunday, the FBI warned the suspect is “armed and dangerous” and urged anyone who saw Oropesa not to approach him.

    The US has suffered at least 184 mass shootings in the first four months of this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive. The nonprofit, like CNN, defines mass shootings as those in which four or more people are shot – not including the shooter.

    Authorities said Sunday they were focused on capturing the suspect and bringing closure and justice to the five people killed. A day earlier, the sheriff described how the violence unfolded.

    “The victims, they came over to the fence said, ‘Hey, could you mind not shooting out in the yard. We have a young baby that is trying to go sleep,’” Capers said Saturday.

    The suspect, who had been drinking, responded: “I’ll do what I want to in my front yard.”

    At some point, a doorbell camera at the home of the victims captured the suspect approaching with his rifle, Capers said.

    Then the home turned into a scene of carnage. Multiple people were later found dead in different rooms.

    Nine-year-old Daniel Enrique Laso-Guzman was shot and killed. So were Sonia Argentina Gúzman, 25; Diana Velázquez Alvarado, 21; Julisa Molina Rivera, 31, and José Jonathan Cásarez, 18.

    All five were shot “almost execution style” – above the neck at close range, the sheriff said.

    Five other people who were home during the rampage were not hurt, Capers said. Three children were found covered in blood and were taken to a hospital, but were not injured.

    Authorities believe two women died while using their bodies to shield the children who survived.

    “The three children … were covered in blood from the same ladies that were laying on top of them trying to protect them,” the sheriff said Sunday. Those children are now safe and with family, he added.

    A vigil for the 9-year-old boy was scheduled to take place Sunday evening, the sheriff said. Authorities initially reported the boy was 8 years old, but his father told CNN on Sunday his son turned 9 in January.

    Wilson Garcia, the father of the young boy killed, said they called 911 five times Friday night to report the suspect shooting his firearm.

    Capers, the sheriff, said Sunday authorities got to the scene as fast as they could but there is a small force covering a large county. The home where the shooting took place is about 15 minutes outside of town.

    Garcia said he and two other men walked over to Oropesa to ask him to stop shooting so close to their home because their baby was sleeping. He said they asked Oropesa to shoot on the other side of his property.

    About 10 to 20 minutes later, the suspect came back, walked up to the house and started shooting, killing Garcia’s wife, Sonia Argentina Gúzman, first at the front door of the home, he said.

    Garcia said he jumped out of a window and ran – adding another woman told him he had to survive because his children didn’t have a mother anymore and needed him.

    Sonia Argentina Gúzman and Daniel Enrique Laso-Guzman.

    Authorities had received previous calls about Oropesa allegedly shooting his rifle in the front yard, the sheriff said.

    Law enforcement initially spelled the suspect’s name as “Oropeza” but the FBI said Sunday it will use the spelling “Oropesa” to “better reflect his identity in law enforcement systems.” The FBI acknowledged he has been listed in various databases with both spellings.

    Oropesa was known to shoot a .223 rifle, Capers said. Shell casings were also found outside the home after the shooting.

    Authorities found at least three weapons inside the suspect’s home and spoke to the suspect’s wife, the sheriff said.

    Oropesa’s cell phone was found abandoned, along with articles of clothing, Capers said.

    “The tracking dogs from Texas Department of Corrections picked up the scent, and then they lost that scent,” he said.

    Authorities said Sunday they did not know if the suspect was still in the area.

    “If anybody, whether you are here in this county, or this state of Texas or around the country, have any tips, we’re asking you to please call” authorities, Smith, with the FBI, said. “Right now, we have zero leads.”

    Some of those inside the home had moved there from Houston just days ago, the sheriff said.

    Wilson Paz, director general of migrant protection for Honduras, told CNN all five victims were Honduran.

    The Honduran Consulate in Houston is offering support to the victims’ families and preparing to repatriate the five people killed, the Honduran Foreign Ministry said in a statement posted on Twitter.

    “The Government of Honduras deeply regrets the loss of these valuable lives and accompanies all their loved ones in their pain,” the statement said. “We demand that the pertinent authorities arrest the perpetrator of this terrible event and apply the full weight of the law.”

    Correction: A previous version of this story gave the wrong photo of the suspect due to incorrect information provided by the FBI Houston Field Office.

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  • US Army orders aviation safety stand down following deadly helicopter crashes | CNN Politics

    US Army orders aviation safety stand down following deadly helicopter crashes | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    The chief of staff of the US Army has grounded all Army aviators not involved in critical missions following two recent helicopter crashes that left 12 soldiers dead.

    The order from Army Chief of Staff James McConville grounds the aviators “until they complete the required training,” according to the Army.

    “The safety of our aviators is our top priority, and this stand down is an important step to make certain we are doing everything possible to prevent accidents and protect our personnel,” McConville said in a statement.

    Army pilots, at McConville’s direction, “will focus on safety and training protocols to ensure our pilots and crews have the knowledge, training and awareness to safely complete their assigned mission.”

    The safety stand down comes after Thursday’s mid-air collision of two AH-64 Apache helicopters near Fort Wainwright, Alaska, that killed three soldiers and wounded another. Two of the soldiers died at the scene and the third died while being transported to a hospital, according to a release from the US Army’s 11th Airborne Division.

    The crash occurred about 100 miles south of Fort Wainwright, where the helicopters are based as part of the 1st Attack Battalion, 25th Aviation Regiment.

    “This is an incredible loss for these soldiers’ families, their fellow soldiers, and for the division,” Maj. Gen. Brian Eifler, commanding general of the 11th Airborne Division, said in the release. “Our hearts and prayers go out to their families, friends and loved ones, and we are making the full resources of the Army available to support them.”

    That deadly collision came just weeks after nine soldiers were killed when two HH-60 Black Hawk helicopters crashed during a nighttime training mission near Fort Campbell, Kentucky, the Army said.

    The medical evacuation helicopters were conducting a routine training mission when they crashed at approximately 10:00 pm local time in an open field across from a residential area. All nine of the service members aboard the two aircraft were killed.

    The incidents are under investigation, according to the Army, but “there is no indication of any pattern” between the two.

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  • Jordan subpoenas CDC, other federal agencies over censorship concerns | CNN Politics

    Jordan subpoenas CDC, other federal agencies over censorship concerns | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    The House Judiciary Committee has sent subpoenas to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and the Global Engagement Center for documents as it continues to investigate whether the federal government pressured social media companies to censor certain viewpoints.

    The subpoenas mark an escalation in the panel’s inquiry, as House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan described the agencies responses to previous voluntary request in March as “inadequate” in the subpoena cover letter and said that none of the agencies have produced any documents responding to previous requests to date.

    Jordan, a Republican, has long claimed that the federal government and big tech companies have been “weaponized” against conservatives, and leads a subcommittee on that topic.

    The subpoena letters do not list any specific allegations the committee is investigating but raises the concern over censorship more broadly. The subpoenas set a document deadline of May 22 for a broad request of information and communications.

    Through the subpoenas to the CDC, CISA (which is a part of the Department of Homeland Security) and the Global Engagement Center, under the Department of State’s purview, the Judiciary panel claims to be seeking information about the extent to which the Executive Branch “pressured and colluded” with social media and other tech companies and others to “censor certain viewpoints on social and other media in ways that undermine First Amendment principles.”

    Conservative critics have said that correspondence released by Twitter owner and CEO Elon Musk late last year demonstrates a willingness by social media publishers to act on requests by government officials to suppress certain points of view. Federal officials, however, have rejected this accusation.

    “The Department of Homeland Security does not censor speech and does not request that content be taken down by social media companies,” a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told CNN. “Instead of working with the Department, as numerous committees have done this Congress, the House Judiciary Committee has unnecessarily escalated to a subpoena. DHS will continue cooperating appropriately with Congressional oversight requests, all while faithfully working to protect our nation from terrorism and targeted violence, secure our borders, respond to natural disasters, defend against cyberattacks, and more.”

    The Judiciary panel “made no effort to work with DHS through traditional channels” a source familiar with the backchanneling between the committee and DHS said.

    Outlining the scope of the agency, the source added that CISA provides guidance on foreign influence operations, disinformation tactics and issues of election security and shares that information with state and local election officials. In the 2018 and 2020 election cycles, CISA shared potential election security related disinformation identified by local authorities with social media companies, but did not do so in the 2022 election cycle. The source emphasized, “platforms make their own decisions according to their policies and terms of service.”

    CNN has reached out to the other agencies for comment as well.

    Jordan claims that the subpoenas will help his panel determine if legislation is needed to create “new statutory limits on the Executive Branch’s ability to work with social media platforms and other companies to restrict the circulation of content and deplatform users.”

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  • ‘You’ve underestimated us’: How McCarthy’s horse-trading stopped a GOP revolt in debt fight | CNN Politics

    ‘You’ve underestimated us’: How McCarthy’s horse-trading stopped a GOP revolt in debt fight | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    Speaker Kevin McCarthy rolled the dice.

    As he took his short walk from the speaker’s suite to the House floor on Wednesday evening, the California Republican wasn’t entirely sure he would have the votes on the most important bill of his young speakership: To raise the $31.4 trillion national debt limit on Republican support alone.

    McCarthy knew he was close but couldn’t guarantee it, according to a person familiar with the matter.

    After months of internal discussions, the speaker had been engaged in round-the-clock talks with pockets of dissident members, cutting deals and horse-trading to pick off one GOP vote after another in his high-stakes fight – all an attempt to show the White House and the country that his party speaks with one voice on the consequential economic battle.

    But one Republican member was absent on Wednesday – and some hard-right members would not explicitly say how they’d vote, forcing the speaker to make a risky bet. In the end, it was two Democratic absences that helped McCarthy: Allowing him to pass the bill on the narrowest of margins, 217-215, and now shifting the focus to the White House and Senate Democrats.

    “We are the only ones to lift the debt limit to make sure this economy is not in jeopardy,” McCarthy beamed in the Capitol’s ornate Statuary Hall moments after the gavel came down, calling on President Joe Biden to negotiate a spending-cut deal he has resisted for months. He added: “You’ve underestimated us.”

    It was an effort that was months in the making. Immediately after securing the speakership in a messy, 15-ballot race, McCarthy made the concerted decision to avoid the pitfalls of a predecessor, John Boehner, and allow rank-and-file members to feel like they could shape the ultimate package rather than being steamrolled by leadership. A dozen listening sessions were held by two members of his whip team, Reps. Tom Emmer of Minnesota and Guy Reschenthaler of Pennsylvania, starting in February and continuing with them calling every member through this past weekend. Then there were regular meetings of the so-called “five families” – nicknamed after the mob families in “The Godfather” – that represent various ideological factions of the conference and were led by Rep. Garret Graves of Louisiana.

    But even after they had agreed to an outline of their deal last week, McCarthy continued to run into pitfalls. In a meeting last week in the basement of the Capitol, he and his team moved to appease conservatives who wanted to target tax breaks for biofuels in the Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act. McCarthy agreed, prompting a furious pushback by Iowa Republicans, including a tense phone call between Gov. Kim Reynolds and McCarthy.

    It was an issue that could have derailed the bill and one that put McCarthy in familiar crosshairs between competing factions of his conference. But he ultimately cut a deal past 2 a.m. on Wednesday and helped move closer to securing the votes more than 15 hours later.

    “They realized that you were not going to be able to steamroll four people from Iowa,” said Rep. Zach Nunn, an Iowa freshman, referring to the four GOP members of the delegation.

    Yet more problems emerged, and McCarthy moved to head them off. Rep. Nancy Mace told reporters Wednesday morning she was ready to vote against the plan over her concerns it didn’t go far enough to balance the budget. But after an afternoon meeting in his office, the South Carolina Republican said she would back the plan. The promise, according to a source familiar with the matter: Votes on bills dealing with women’s access to reproductive health care and a vote on a bill dealing with active shooter alerts.

    “I haven’t gotten rolled yet by the leadership on anything,” Mace said, defending her deal-cutting.

    The ultimate plan would raise the debt limit by $1.5 trillion and propose to implement a slew of spending cuts to domestic programs, in addition to new work requirements on Medicaid beneficiaries and provisions targeting Biden’s domestic and regulatory agenda. It would save $4.8 trillion over the next 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office. But the $1.5 trillion increase would only last through March 2024 at the latest.

    In a private meeting in the Capitol, GOP leaders debated how high of a debt limit increase they should seek. Some had floated odd numbers because it sounded more intentional than an even number. One member suggested $1.69 trillion, but that was rejected because of the innuendos associated with such a figure, according to three GOP sources. Ultimately, a $1. 5 trillion increase was the number they settled on.

    Republicans say the deal-cutting that has since transpired was the result of new relationships forged from McCarthy’s drawn-out fight for the speaker’s gavel in January.

    “Absolutely, it has reaped benefits to everyone in the conference,” Rep. French Hill, a Republican of Arkansas, said of the relationships that were formed.

    But passing the bill was never a sure bet – something McCarthy sensed last week as he moved to appease conservatives and push for a repeal of energy tax breaks.

    “This is going to come back to bite us,” McCarthy warned conservatives last week, according to a person in the room, as they demanded the bill repeal green energy tax credits and other provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act. McCarthy feared taking that step would unlock a process allowing the Senate to later jam the House on thorny tax-related provisions.

    But he had a more immediate problem: The governor of Iowa.

    A fired-up Reynolds, the two-term Republican governor, was on the phone with McCarthy on Tuesday, relaying concerns over the provision in his debt ceiling plan to repeal tax breaks for ethanol use, according to people familiar with the call, warning it would be detrimental to farmers in her state.

    All four GOP members of the Iowa delegation, who were also in constant communication with the governor, informed leadership in a Tuesday night meeting that clawing back the tax credits was a “red line” for them, according to sources in the room.

    McCarthy now had a math problem. His allies had believed that the Iowa Republicans, some of the closest allies of leadership, would swallow the provisions and ultimately side with their party in their high-stakes fight with the White House. But they had miscalculated, forcing the speaker to cut a last-ditch deal after repeatedly insisting they would not open the bill to changes.

    Nunn, the Iowa Republican, told CNN he learned about the deal at around 2:30 a.m. on Wednesday, when Graves came to his office along with Rep. Michelle Fischbach, a Minnesota Republican who had similar issues with the ethanol provisions.

    “We had been in conversation throughout the entire day, but by Tuesday, we had really ratcheted up,” Nunn told CNN. “Iowa nice also means Iowa stubborn.”

    It was an issue that GOP leaders had sought to avoid. They had worried that if they cut a deal with the Iowa delegation, they would have to make similar deals with members from fossil-fuel heavy districts in order to make them happy.

    And the leadership knew if they were going to make 11th-hour changes to appease Midwestern Republicans, they’d have to offer some concessions to conservatives as well, and ultimately agreed to a faster implementation of the Medicaid work requirements. Yet even that wasn’t enough to satisfy some conservatives who had been pushing for that change – namely GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, who was upset that the deal was cut at the last minute after the leaders said they wouldn’t change the bill, according to people familiar with the matter. He was one of four who later voted against the plan.

    Rep. Ken Buck, a member of the whip team, said in the end, he voted “no” because the GOP bill didn’t do enough to reduce the deficit. The Colorado Republican told CNN, “$58 trillion with Biden’s numbers and $53 trillion, it’s just too much debt.”

    But one member that McCarthy had been lobbying came through: freshman Rep. Eli Crane. The Arizona Republican had been wavering on the bill and was being heavily whipped by leadership, but said he ultimately backed the legislation because of his constituents.

    “We conducted a poll at a teletown hall last night and the people that responded overwhelmingly supported this bill,” he told CNN. “It kind of surprised me, honestly.”

    With this victory secured, McCarthy could later have an even bigger test on his hands: If he is forced to ask his conference to get behind any deal with Biden to raise the debt limit – something that almost certainly wouldn’t go as far as the House plan for spending cuts.

    His members are watching him closely.

    “What Kevin has assured us is he’s not coming back and presenting a watered-down version,” said Rep. Ralph Norman of South Carolina, a member of the House Freedom Caucus.

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  • Company with ties to GOP megadonor and longtime friend of Justice Thomas had business before Supreme Court | CNN Politics

    Company with ties to GOP megadonor and longtime friend of Justice Thomas had business before Supreme Court | CNN Politics

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    Washington
    CNN
     — 

    A company related to Republican megadonor Harlan Crow, a longtime friend of Clarence Thomas who paid for lavish trips for the Supreme Court justice and his wife, had business before the Supreme Court in the mid-2000s, records show.

    Crow’s name does not appear in a caption of the case, which concerned a dispute related to a copyrighted architectural drawing, and his office said neither Crow nor his company were involved in the matter or discussed it with Thomas.

    But the revelation challenges assertions by both men that their relationship was completely separate from Thomas’ role as a Supreme Court justice and is likely to add to scrutiny over his ethical conduct. Recently, justices have been under pressure to be more forthcoming about their actions and finances, and Thomas’ trips paid for by Crow were not disclosed on his financial disclosure forms. In addition, in a statement Thomas released in April, he said that Crow “did not have business before the court.”

    In January 2005, the Supreme Court declined to hear Womack+Hampton Architects v. Metric Holdings Limited Partnership, according to the docket on the court’s website. Had a justice been recused from participating in the case, it would have been noted. There were no such notations.

    The Crow name does not appear in the caption of the case, but a corporate disclosure statement attached to the filing says that the corporate parent of Metric Holdings is Trammell Crow Residential Company. According to a statement from Harlan Crow’s office, the Crow family at the time had a non-controlling interest in Trammell Crow Residential Company.

    “At the time of this case, Trammell Crow Residential operated completely independently of Crow Holdings with a separate management team and its own independent operations,” Crow’s office said in the statement.

    “Crow Holdings had a minority interest in the parties involved in this case and therefore no control of any of these entities. Neither Harlan Crow nor Crow Holdings had knowledge of or involvement in this case, and a search of Crow Holdings legal records reveals no involvement in this case. Harlan Crow has never discussed this or any other case with the Justice,” the office said.

    When the architecture firm filed its appeal to the Supreme Court, Harlan Crow was Crow Holdings’ chief executive officer and chair of its board, a position he still holds. He stepped down as CEO in 2017, according to Bloomberg News, which first reported the case and relationship to Crow.

    Thomas, via a Supreme Court spokesperson, declined to comment for this story.

    Earlier this month, after ProPublica first reported on the trips paid for by Crow, Thomas explained in a statement that he hadn’t disclosed the trips because he was advised that he did not have to report them under ethics rules in place at the time.

    In a rare statement from Thomas and his wife, conservative activist Ginni Thomas, they considered Crow and his wife as “dearest friends.”

    Thomas said that the trips were the “sort of personal hospitality from close personal friends” that he was advised did not require disclosure. He noted the rules had recently changed and said it was his “intent to follow this guidance in the future.”

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  • 3-day Sudan ceasefire announced by US Secretary of State | CNN Politics

    3-day Sudan ceasefire announced by US Secretary of State | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday announced that the warring factions in Sudan agreed to a a ceasefire, “starting at midnight on April 24, to last for 72 hours.”

    The agreement between the Sudanese Armed Forces, or SAF, and the Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, came “following intense negotiation over the past 48 hours,” Blinken said.

    “The United States urges the SAF and RSF to immediately and fully uphold the ceasefire,” Blinken said. “To support a durable end to the fighting, the United States will coordinate with regional and international partners, and Sudanese civilian stakeholders, to assist in the creation of a committee to oversee the negotiation, conclusion, and implementation of a permanent cessation of hostilities and humanitarian arrangements in Sudan.”

    In a written statement Monday, the RSF said it had agreed to the truce “in order to open humanitarian corridors, facilitate the movement of citizens and residents, enable them to fulfill their needs, reach hospitals and safe areas, and evacuate diplomatic missions.”

    Previously agreed ceasefires have broken down, although brief lulls in the fighting have allowed foreign civilians to evacuate Sudan to safety.

    If the new three-day cessation of fighting holds, it could create an opportunity to get much-needed critical resources like food and medical supplies to those in need.

    It could also allow for the safe passage of the “dozens” of Americans who Blinken said have expressed interest in leaving Sudan.

    Although a number of nations are evacuating their citizens, US officials have repeatedly said they do not plan to evacuate Americans from the country due to conditions on the ground.

    National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told CNN’s “This Morning” Monday the situation in Sudan “is not conducive and not safe to try to conduct some kind of a larger military evacuation of American citizens.”

    National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Monday, however, that the US government is “actively facilitating the departure of American citizens who want to leave Sudan” through means like overland convoys.

    All US government employees were evacuated from Khartoum in a US military operation and the US embassy was “temporarily” closed this weekend after a week of heavy fighting between rival military factions which has left hundreds dead and thousands wounded.

    President Joe Biden has asked for “every conceivable option” to help Americans who remain in Sudan, Sullivan said.

    “Right now, we believe that the best way for us to help facilitate people’s departure is in fact to support this land evacuation route, as well as work with allies and partners who are working on their own evacuation plans as well,” he said at a White House briefing.

    Blinken, who noted that the US does not have specific counts of how many Americans are in Sudan “because Americans are not required to register” with the US State Department, said the US has been in touch with American citizens on the ground to provide “consular services, other services, advice.”

    “We do know of course the number of Americans who have registered with us, and with whom we’re in very active touch, communication. Of those, I would say some dozens have expressed an interest in leaving,” Blinken said at a news conference at the State Department.

    “In just the last 36 hours since the embassy evacuation was completed, we’ve continued to be in close communication with US citizens and individuals affiliated with the US government to provide assistance and facilitate available departure routes for those seeking to move to safety via land, air and sea,” said Blinken, noting that included American citizens “traveling overland in the UN convoy from Khartoum to Port Sudan.”

    “We’re also deploying naval assets to Port Sudan in the Red Sea in case Americans who get out to Port Sudan want to be transported elsewhere or need any kind of care,” he added.

    Sullivan said the US has “deployed US intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets to support land evacuation routes, which Americans are using, and we’re moving naval assets within the region to provide support.”

    “American citizens have begun arriving in Port Sudan and we are helping to facilitate their onward travel,” he said.

    Officials told congressional staffers last week that there could be an estimated 16,000 American citizens in Sudan, most of whom are dual nationals.

    Both Blinken and Kirby echoed this on Monday and suggested that many of those dual nationals “don’t want to leave” the country.

    “We think the vast majority of these American citizens in Sudan, and they’re not all in Khartoum, are dual nationals – these are people who grew up in Sudan, who have families, their work, their businesses there, who don’t want to leave,” he said.

    In the days leading up to the evacuation, officials in Washington and the US Embassy in Khartoum repeatedly stressed that they did not envision carrying out a government-coordinated evacuation of American citizens due to the lack of an operational airport and the ongoing fighting on the ground.

    Still, there are worries about how to get Americans who wish to depart out of Sudan safely, especially now that the US does not have a diplomatic presence there. Although the US State Department warned US citizens against traveling to Sudan, some Americans with loved ones in the country suggested that the government had not done enough to advise Americans already in the country to leave.

    Some countries have already successfully carried out evacuations, including Spain, Jordan, Italy, France, Denmark and Germany, while the United Kingdom has evacuated embassy staff. Several of their convoys also carried citizens from other countries.

    Saudi Arabia evacuated 10 Saudi nationals and 189 foreigners including Americans from Sudan, the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Twitter Monday.

    More evacuations are still being planned or are underway for the countries like China and India.

    There is immense concern about the safety of those who still remain in the country, regardless of their nationality, given the ongoing violence and its impact on critical resources like food, water and medical care. Internet connectivity has also been unreliable, leaving family members and friends outside of Sudan to worry if their loved ones are safe.

    The US government typically does not facilitate evacuations for regular citizens, and the US withdrawal from Afghanistan presented a rare – and chaotic – exception to that norm. Although the Biden administration has sought to avoid comparisons to that event, “Kabul casts a very long shadow over Khartoum,” in the words of one former official.

    Rebecca Winter, whose sister and 18-month-old niece are in Sudan, told CNN that they are in an “awful holding pattern” because her sister “has been told by both the US embassy and the international school that she works for that she has to shelter in place, and that she should not accept any offers for private evacuation.”

    “So she is just stuck waiting right now in fear,” she said.

    Although the US State Department warned Americans against traveling to Sudan, Winter said that according to her sister, “US employees there were not asked to leave the country.”

    Fatima Elsheikh, whose two brothers are in Sudan, also pushed back on the claim that US citizens who were already on the ground were warned before the outbreak of violence.

    “It makes me upset, because there was no warning. I don’t, I think it’s being painted as a country that’s been war-torn for a while, which isn’t true. This is unprecedented, what’s happening,” she said.

    The State Department travel advisory for Sudan prior to the outbreak of violence did not specifically tell Americans already in the country to leave, but advised them to “have evacuation plans that do not rely on U.S. government assistance” and “have a personal emergency action plan that does not rely on U.S. government assistance.”

    Blinken said Monday that the effort to assist Americans will “be an ongoing process.” He said the US is looking at resuming its diplomatic presence in Sudan, including in Port Sudan, but “that’s going to be entirely dependent on the conditions in Sudan.”

    Kirby said Monday morning that the violence in Sudan “is increasing,” and urged Americans remaining in the country to shelter in place.

    “It’s more dangerous today than it was just yesterday, the day before, and so, the best advice we can give to those Americans who did not abide by our warnings to leave Sudan and not to travel to Sudan is to stay sheltered in place,” Kirby told CNN’s Don Lemon.

    Blinken said that “some of the convoys that have tried to move people out” of Khartoum “have encountered problems, including robbery, looting, that kind of thing,” but did not specify whether those convoys were carrying US citizens.

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  • Jordan subpoenas FBI human resources official | CNN Politics

    Jordan subpoenas FBI human resources official | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan has issued a subpoena to Jennifer Leigh Moore, executive assistant director of human resources at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, demanding she answer questions from the select subcommittee on the so-called weaponization of the federal government.

    Russell Dye, Jordan’s spokesperson, claimed in a statement Monday that Moore “refused to answer questions” about the FBI’s alleged retaliation against conservatives during a previous transcribed interview with the panel.

    CNN has reached out to the FBI for comment.

    Jordan and his fellow Republicans say they have heard from “whistleblowers” who disclosed that the FBI is attempting to “purge” employees with conservative views.

    “We have received protected whistleblower disclosures that the FBI is engaging in a ‘purge’ of employees with conservative views by revoking their security clearances and indefinitely suspending these employees. Many of the formal notices for these adverse personnel actions have been signed by you,” Jordan, an Ohio Republican, wrote in his September letter to Moore.

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  • Tucker Carlson out at Fox News | CNN Business

    Tucker Carlson out at Fox News | CNN Business

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    CNN
     — 

    Fox News and Tucker Carlson, the right-wing extremist who hosted the network’s highly rated 8pm hour, have severed ties, the network said in a stunning announcement Monday.

    The announcement came one week after Fox News settled a monster defamation lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems for $787.5 million over the network’s dissemination of election lies. Fox News said that Carlson’s last show was Friday, April 21.

    Carlson was a top promoter of conspiracy theories and radical rhetoric at the network. Not only did he repeatedly sow doubt about the legitimacy of the 2020 election, but he also promoted conspiracy theories about the Covid-19 vaccines and elevated white nationalist talking points.

    Jonathan Greenblatt, the head of the Anti-Defamation League, praised Fox News’ decision, saying it is “about time” and that “for far too long, Tucker Carlson has used his primetime show to spew antisemitic, racist, xenophobic and anti-LGBTQ hate to millions.”

    Tucker Carlson was a key figure in Dominion Voting Systems’ mammoth defamation lawsuit against Fox News, which the parties settled last week on the brink of trial for a historic $787 million.

    In some ways, Carlson played an outsized role in the litigation: Only one of the 20 allegedly defamatory Fox broadcasts mentioned in the lawsuit came from Carlson’s top-rated show. But, as CNN exclusively reported, he was set to be one of Dominion’s first witnesses to testify at trial. And his private text messages, which became public as part of the suit, reverberated nationwide.

    Dominion got its hands on Carlson’s group chat with fellow Fox primetime stars Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham, and a trove of other messages from around the 2020 presidential election.

    These communications revealed that Carlson told confidants that he “passionately” hated former President Donald Trump and that Trump’s tenure in the White House was a “disaster.” He also used misogynistic terms to criticize pro-Trump lawyer Sidney Powell and reject her conspiracies about the 2020 election – even as those wild theories got airtime on Fox News.

    The lawsuit exposed how Carlson privately held a wholly different view than his on-air persona. A Dominion spokesperson did not comment on Carlson’s departure from Fox.

    Carlson was also one of the biggest promoters of conspiracy theories in right-wing media, sowing doubt about the 2020 presidential election, the January 6 insurrection, and Covid-19 vaccines.

    In the two years since the attack on the US Capitol, the Fox primetime host used his huge platform to amplify paper-thin theories that the attack was a false-flag operation orchestrated by the FBI and government agents because they loathed Trump, and that the criminal rioters were themselves the victims.

    The baseless theory originated from a right-wing website, and Carlson catapulted it into the mainstream by repeatedly featuring it on his show. He routinely suggested that Capitol rioter and Trump supporter Ray Epps was actually an FBI provocateur who sparked the deadly riot.

    In a “60 Minutes” interview that aired Sunday night, Epps had this to say about Carlson’s lies: “He’s obsessed with me. He’s going to any means possible to destroy my life and our lives.”

    Carlson’s disinformation campaign about January 6 reached its apex just a few months ago, with an assist from the newly installed House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican.

    The top-rated Fox host obtained and aired never-before-seen footage from Capitol security cameras, but the clips were cherry-picked and selectively edited. He said on his program that he ran the tapes by the US Capitol Police before airing the material, but they disputed his claim.

    Abby Grossberg, the ex-Fox News producer who has since disavowed the network, claimed in recent lawsuits that there was rampant sexism and misogyny among Tucker Carlson’s show team.

    Grossberg, who joined Carlson’s team after the 2020 election, said in her lawsuit that after her first day on the job that “it became apparent how pervasive the misogyny and drive to embarrass and objectify women was among the male staff at TCT,” referring to “Tucker Carlson Tonight.”

    Fox News is aggressively fighting two lawsuits from Grossberg. A Fox spokesperson previously said the lawsuits were “riddled with false allegations against the network and our employees.”

    In a lawsuit filed last month, Grossberg said Carlson “was very capable of using such disgusting language about women in the workplace.” She cited some of Carlson’s private texts, where he used the phrase “c-nt” to refer to Trump lawyer Sidney Powell, a top 2020 election denier.

    Her lawsuits also describe seeing sexually suggestive posters that were visible in the workplace, facing “uncomfortable sexual questions” about her former Fox News boss Maria Bartiromo, and witnessing internal debates on which women politicians were “more f–kable.”

    In a TV interview, she said the sexual harassment was so bad that she considered suicide.

    Carlson’s departure at Fox News comes after the network also severed ties with right-wing bomb thrower Dan Bongino, who had been a regular fixture on the network’s programming, in addition to hosting a weekend show.

    “Folks, regretfully, last week was my last show on Fox News on the Fox News Channel,” Bongino said on Rumble, chalking up the exit to a contract dispute.

    “So the show ending last week was tough. And I want you to know it’s not some big conspiracy. I promise you. There’s not, there’s no acrimony. This wasn’t some, like, WWE brawl that happened. We just couldn’t come to terms on an extension. And that’s really it.”

    Fox News responded in a statement, “We thank Dan for his contributions and wish him success in his future endeavors.”

    Shares of Fox Corp.

    (FOXA)     fell 5% on the news. The stock had been up slightly before the announcement. Carlson did not immediately respond to a CNN request for comment.

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  • New Jersey residents warned of potentially hazardous chemicals following fire and cleanup at former industrial site | CNN

    New Jersey residents warned of potentially hazardous chemicals following fire and cleanup at former industrial site | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Residents and business owners in parts of Monmouth County, New Jersey, have been warned of potentially hazardous materials at a nearby former industrial site after firefighters found leaking containers and materials on fire at the location.

    The US Environmental Protection Agency has started overseeing the sampling and removal of around 200 to 300 chemical drums and containers found at the former manufacturing facility in Howell Township, it said in an April community update. It is not yet clear what type of chemicals the drums and containers hold, the EPA said.

    EPA spokesperson Stephen McBay told CNN Sunday there is “no immediate need for evacuations” as the agency actively conducts cleanup at the site.

    The cleanup comes after a local fire department discovered materials burning inside an old metal structure at the site on February 9, the EPA said. Firefighters found numerous drums and smelled a chemical odor before putting out the fire and called in other agencies for support in addressing potentially hazardous materials.

    In March, the EPA said the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection assessed the site and found roughly “200 to 300 55-gallon drums and containers, many of which were either bulging, rusting, denting, or leaking.”

    The department then asked for assistance from the EPA, which said it found “breaches in the front fence of the property and no fence securing any other side of the property.” The EPA also observed containers that were leaking and labeled as hazardous materials, it said.

    The site is the former location of Compounders Inc., which manufactured chemical compounds, including glues, adhesives, and asphalt materials, according to the EPA. Compounders operated until 2019. The current owner – who has not been publicly identified – purchased the business in 2021.

    When asked by CNN if criminal charges are pending over the disposal of potentially hazardous material at the site, the EPA’s McBay said the agency “does not provide information on ongoing or potentially ongoing enforcement actions.”

    Resident and business owners within a mile of the site were sent a letter on March 30 from the Howell Township Office of Emergency Management, warning of potential hazardous materials at the site. In addition to the large number of drums found, the letter said authorities also found “spilled materials on the ground and open drums, as well as solid waste.”

    The letter included links to Howell Township’s website, with community updates on the EPA’s work at the site. On March 9, advice was posted for evacuation routes around the 15 Marl Road site to be used in case of an emergency event, such as a fire.

    Residents at a community meeting on March 21 were told the evacuation plan was created “out of an abundance of caution.”

    There are at least three schools and two child care centers in the area, according to an April community update.

    The letter from the township’s Office of Emergency Management added, “We estimate the risk of a release of any potential hazardous material to be very low. After all drums are removed from the property, an investigation will be ongoing with the State NJDEP and EPA to determine what, if any, impacts have occurred to groundwater, soil or surface water.”

    The EPA has placed 24/7 security on the property and said it has installed a perimeter fence “to ensure there is no illegal trespassing on or around the site.”

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  • EXCLUSIVE: Hunter Biden lawyers to meet with Justice Department officials next week as scrutiny of investigation intensifies | CNN Politics

    EXCLUSIVE: Hunter Biden lawyers to meet with Justice Department officials next week as scrutiny of investigation intensifies | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    Lawyers for Hunter Biden are scheduled to meet next week with US attorney David Weiss and at least one senior career official from Justice Department headquarters to discuss the long-running investigation into the president’s son, multiple sources familiar with the matter told CNN.

    The Hunter Biden legal team had reached out to Justice officials in recent weeks, asking for an update on the case. As is routine when lawyers request a status update, they were invited to meet next week, according to one source familiar with the meeting.

    Weiss, the US Attorney in Delaware who was appointed by former President Donald Trump, is overseeing an ongoing criminal case into President Joe Biden’s son.

    After prosecutors narrowed down the possible charges Hunter Biden could face last year, there haven’t been any public developments. According to sources familiar with the investigation, prosecutors are still weighing whether to bring two misdemeanor charges for failure to file taxes, one count of felony tax evasion related to the overreporting of expenses, and a false statement charge regarding a gun purchase.

    The Justice Department did not comment. A spokesperson for the US attorney’s office in Delaware declined to comment.

    Hunter Biden has not been charged with any crimes and has previously denied any wrongdoing.

    The scheduled meeting comes as the Hunter Biden legal probe is back in the spotlight after an IRS supervisory special agent reached out to Congress, claiming to have information about alleged mishandling and political interference in the case. While a letter from the agent’s lawyer to Congress does not name Hunter Biden, as that could be a violation of the tax code, a source familiar with the matter previously told CNN that the case is the one involving the president’s son.

    The agent is seeking whistleblower protections to share the information with Congress, according to a letter obtained by CNN.

    The special agent also claims to have information that contradicts Attorney General Merrick Garland’s testimony before Congress, the source familiar with the matter told CNN. “I have pledged not to interfere with that investigation, and I have carried through on my pledge,” Garland testified in March.

    The IRS agent worked on Hunter Biden’s criminal case and contends that the president’s son is being treated differently than other individuals would be in terms of violations of the tax code, sources familiar with the agent’s allegations said. The agent reported up the chain of command about his concerns of the treatment of Hunter Biden’s returns and tax filings, one of the sources added.

    Congressional committees are in active conversations about when and how to interview the whistleblower. The IRS agent’s team wants him to do one interview with the committees, and have Democrats and Republicans present for it, the source said.

    In recent months, as Republicans took control of the House and the federal case appeared to stall, Hunter Biden’s legal team decided to pursue a more aggressive and litigious approach to his defense, despite what one source described as objections from top White House advisers. For instance, one of Hunter Biden’s lawyers recently sued former Trump aide Garrett Ziegler, accusing him of harassment. Hunter Biden’s team also has accused in court a Delaware computer repair shop owner of trying to invade Hunter Biden’s privacy and wrongfully sharing his personal data for political purposes.

    CNN has reached out to Ziegler for comment.

    Sources close to Hunter Biden have attacked the IRS agent’s motives and note that even if the whistleblower has evidence of the investigation being mishandled, it would be about government conduct and not about Hunter Biden.

    The IRS agent’s allegations are primarily focused on improper politicization of the case at the Justice Department and FBI instead of at the Treasury Department or IRS, according to a source familiar with the matter.

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  • A 13-year-old died in Ohio after participating in a Benadryl TikTok ‘challenge’ | CNN

    A 13-year-old died in Ohio after participating in a Benadryl TikTok ‘challenge’ | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    A 13-year-old in Ohio has died after “he took a bunch of Benadryl,” trying a dangerous TikTok challenge that’s circulating online, according to a CNN affiliate and a GoFundMe account from his family.

    Jacob Stevens was participating in a TikTok challenge with some friends at home when he ingested the antihistamine, the family donation account states. Jacob was on a ventilator for almost a week before he died, according to WSYX.

    CNN has not independently confirmed his cause of death.

    Overdosing on Benadryl can result in “serious heart problems, seizures, coma, or even death,” the US Food and Drug Administration said in a 2020 warning to the public about the deadly “Benadryl Challenge” on TikTok.

    Here’s what your teen could see on TikTok

    Jacob’s grandmother is doing anything she can “to make sure another child doesn’t go through” with the challenge, she told CNN affiliate WSYX.

    In a statement to CNN, TikTok said, “Our deepest sympathies go out to the family. At TikTok, we strictly prohibit and remove content that promotes dangerous behavior with the safety of our community as a priority. We have never seen this type of content trend on our platform and have blocked searches for years to help discourage copycat behavior. Our team of 40,000 safety professionals works to remove violations of our Community Guidelines and we encourage our community to report any content or accounts they’re concerned about.”

    The maker of Benadryl, Johnson & Johnson, has called the challenge “dangerous.”

    “We understand that consumers may have heard about an online ‘challenge’ involving the misuse or abuse of diphenhydramine,” the undated online statement reads.

    “The challenge, which involves ingestion of excessive quantities of diphenhydramine, is a dangerous trend and should be stopped immediately. BENADRYL® products and other diphenhydramine products should only be used as directed by the label.”

    “We are working with TikTok and other social platforms to remove content that showcases this behavior,” the statement added. “We will look to partner across industry and with key stakeholders to address this dangerous behavior.”

    CNN has reached out to the Stevens family and Columbus Public Health for comment.

    The FDA’s 2020 warning said the agency had “contacted TikTok and strongly urged them to remove the videos from their platform and to be vigilant to remove additional videos that may be posted.”

    Benadryl is an antihistamine used to treat symptoms such as a runny nose or sneezing from upper respiratory allergies, hay fever or the common cold. It’s safe and effective when used as recommended, the FDA said.

    “Diphenhydramine is marketed under the brand-name Benadryl, store brands, and generics. It is also available in combination with pain relievers, fever reducers, and decongestants,” the agency said.

    Consumers and parents should store Benadryl and other over-the-counter medications and prescription medicines out of the reach of children, the FDA said.

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