AP News Summary At 9:29 P.m. EDT https://digitalalabamanews.com/ap-news-summary-at-929-p-m-edt/
Trump’s subpoena and what’s next for the Jan. 6 panel
WASHINGTON (AP) — In an extraordinary step, the House Jan. 6 committee has voted unanimously to subpoena former President Donald Trump – a final effort to get the full story of the Capitol insurrection as the panel wraps up its work by the end of the year. Trump has been relentlessly hostile to the investigation, calling it a “charade and a witch hunt” in a letter to the committee on Friday. But he has not said whether he will comply with the demand for his appearance. Even if he does, there’s no guarantee the committee would get anything different from the broadsides Trump sends out periodically.
Putin calls his actions in Ukraine ‘correct and timely’
KYIV, UKRAINE (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin expects his troop mobilization for combat in Ukraine to end in about two weeks. That would allow him to end the unpopular and chaotic call-up meant to counter Ukrainian battlefield gains and solidify his illegal annexation of Ukrainian territory. Putin faces domestic discontent and military setbacks in a neighboring country increasingly armed with advanced Western weapons. He told reporters Friday he “did not set out to destroy Ukraine” and doesn’t regret starting the conflict. Russia’s difficulties in achieving its war aims are becoming apparent in the illegally annexed Kherson region. Anticipating an advance by Ukrainian forces, Moscow-installed authorities there urged residents to flee Friday.
Police: 15-year-old boy kills 5 in Raleigh shooting rampage
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Police say a 15-year-old boy fatally shot five people in an attack that stretched from the streets of a Raleigh neighborhood to a nearby walking trail. Two others were also injured in the Thursday evening attack, which led police on an hours-long manhunt before the teen was arrested. Raleigh police Chief Estella Patterson said Friday that the teen is hospitalized in critical condition. The motive for the shooting is still not known. Some of the victims were going about their daily routines when they died. They ranged in age from 16 to their late 50s. The dead include off-duty Raleigh police Officer Gabriel Torres, who was on his way to work.
Justice Dept. seeks end to arbiter’s review of Trump docs
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15-Year-Old Boy Shot Dead While Riding Subway In Far Rockaway
15-Year-Old Boy Shot Dead While Riding Subway In Far Rockaway https://digitalalabamanews.com/15-year-old-boy-shot-dead-while-riding-subway-in-far-rockaway/
Police officials did not name the victim, who was taken from the train by fellow passengers. Emergency workers tried to save him, but he was pronounced dead at a hospital.
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Police investigators at the subway station where the boy was taken after he was shot.Credit…Lloyd Mitchell for The New York Times
Oct. 14, 2022Updated 9:30 p.m. ET
A 15-year-old boy was killed on Friday in a subway car in Queens during an argument between two groups of young people aboard the train, police officials said.
The victim, whom the police did not identify, was shot at least once in the chest just before 4 p.m. while riding a southbound A train in Far Rockaway, according to Chief Jason K. Wilcox, who heads the Transit Bureau.
Chief Wilcox, who spoke at a news conference on Friday night at the Far Rockaway-Mott Avenue subway station, said a passenger took the victim off the train and placed him on the platform of the station. There, two Transit Bureau officers who were on patrol rushed to the victim’s aid.
Emergency workers also arrived to try to resuscitate the boy. He was then taken to Cohen Children’s Medical Center in Queens, where he was pronounced dead at 4:40 p.m.
No arrests have been made.
Image
A passenger took the victim off the train before emergency workers tried to revive him. Credit…Lloyd Mitchell for The New York Times
The nature of the argument and what prompted it were still under investigation, Chief Wilcox said.
But, he said, “the investigation is showing that this was not a random act of violence.”
“We’ve seen a lot this year, where disputes quickly lead to verbal arguments, and then quickly lead to physical disputes — confrontations that unfortunately have led to violence. So we’ve seen that again,” he added.
There have been eight killings in the subway, including the one on Friday night, since the start of the year, Chief Wilcox said. There were six between Jan. 1 and Oct. 9, 2021, according to police statistics.
The fatal shooting on Friday was the third homicide to occur in the subway since Sept. 30.
On that day, officers found a man in the Atlantic Avenue subway station with stab wounds to his head, back, torso and neck, according to a criminal complaint. The victim, Tommy Bailey, was taken to Brookdale Hospital in Brooklyn, where he was pronounced dead.
Six days later, Alvin Charles, who is homeless, was charged with murder. Mr. Charles was out on supervised release after he was charged with attempted murder last year in a separate case.
Then, on Oct. 6, a 38-year-old man riding a 4 train was fatally stabbed by another passenger as they stepped onto a Bronx subway platform, according to the police, who released surveillance video.
The victim, Charles Moore, was rushed to St. Barnabas Hospital, where he died. Two days later, Saquan Lemons, a 27-year-old man from the Bronx, was arrested and charged with murder, according to court records.
On Friday, the dispute between the two groups aboard the A train had escalated by the time the train reached the Beach 36 Street station, which is two stops from the Far Rockaway-Mott Avenue station, Chief Wilcox said.
He said the shot that killed the 15-year-old boy was likely fired between the next stop, Beach 25 Street, and the Far Rockaway-Mott Avenue station, which is the end of the line.
Richard Davey, the president of New York City Transit, commended the police at the news conference on Friday for making arrests in all of the other subway killings so far this year.
But, he said, authorities must do more to make the trains safer.
“We obviously have work to do, there’s no doubt about it,” he said. “I take the subway every day. I’ll take it home tonight. So hopefully that gives folks confidence. That that’s how I believe in it. But we’ve got to stop this.”
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Obituaries Saturday October 15 2022 The Troy Messenger
Obituaries, Saturday, October 15, 2022 – The Troy Messenger https://digitalalabamanews.com/obituaries-saturday-october-15-2022-the-troy-messenger/
Elizabeth Annette Wells
Elizabeth Annette Wells, age 76, a resident of Goshen, died Wednesday, October 12, 2022 at Baptist Medical Center South. Graveside services will be held on Sunday, October 16, 2022 at 2 pm at Little Oak Cemetery with William Ross Meeks officiating and Dillard Funeral Home of Troy directing.
Annette went home to be with the Lord on Wednesday evening, October 12, in the presence of her husband and a few close family members.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Carroll Henry Rhodes, Sr. and Mary Elizabeth Rhodes, an infant son, Christopher Louie Hartley, a half sister, Anita Stamey.
She is survived by her husband of almost 25 years, James D. “Jim” Wells, her loving daughter, Tammy Lynn Barnes (Robbie), a step-daughter, Delores Perkins (John), two loving brothers, Carroll H. Rhodes, Jr. and Herbert Daniel “Danny” Rhodes, a half sister, Carolyn Singleton (Floyd), two half brothers, M.C. Rhodes and Ray Rhodes (Mary Alice), along with many nieces, nephews and cousins.
She is also survived by the apple of her eye, grandson, William Ross Meeks, his wife Rachel and four precious great-grandchildren, Emma Rae Meeks, Chloe Elizabeth Meeks, Luke Ross Meeks, and Nathan Rhodes Meeks.
She was a devoted daughter, a loyal wife, a caring sister, a nurturing mother and a joyful “MawMaw” to her grand and great grandchildren. She will be deeply missed.
The family has asked that in lieu of flowers, contributions be made in her name to the Little Oak Methodist Memorial Fund c/o Stephanie Snyder.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Little Oak Memorial Association, care of Stephanie Snyder.
Jacob Talon Anderson
Jacob Talon Anderson, age 21, a resident of Troy, died Tuesday, October 11, 2022 at his residence. Funeral services will be held on Saturday, October 15, 2022 at 3 pm from the Chapel of Dillard Funeral Home in Troy with the Rev. Mark Stephens officiating. Interment will follow in Green Hills Memorial Park with Dillard Funeral Home of Troy directing. Visitation will be held on Saturday, October 15, 2022 from 2 pm until 3 pm at Dillard Funeral Home in Troy.
He is survived by his mother: Deborah Gibson; father: Walter Anderson; sister: Lynn Campbell; niece: Callie Campbell; nephew: Colin Campbell; aunts and uncles: David Gibson (Donna), Rita Hipps (Cam), Sandra Dickey (Michael), Patsy Gibson, Bonnie Helms, Susan Anderson, Ann Anderson, Tommy Anderson; and several cousins and other family.
He is preceded in death by his grandparents: Joe and Leoma Gibson, and Bill Anderson and Florene Hoover.
Serving as pallbearers will be Josh Walker, Mark Gibson, Blake Helms, Trace Hall, James Frances, and Jeremy Peavey.
Joyce Thompson
Mrs. Joyce Thompson of Brundidge, AL passed away Monday, October 10, 2022 at Baptist Medical Center South in Montgomery, AL. She was 87. Graveside services will be held at 2:00 p.m. Wednesday, October 12, 2022 at Springfield Baptist Church Cemetery with Rev. Ken Baggett officiating. Burial will follow with Skeen Funeral Home of Troy directing. The family will receive friends Wednesday at Springfield Baptist Church from 1:30 p.m. until time of service. Mrs. Thompson was born December 1, 1934 in Dale County to the late George Henry Pipkins and Lera Elizabeth Baker Pipkins. She was a member of Springfield Baptist Church and a big part of the Springfield Community for many years. She loved cooking and gardening.
In addition to her parents she was also preceded in death by: her husband, John Byron Thompson; a daughter, Bertha Thompson Williamson; a son, Gordan Thompson; two sisters, Mavis Rike and Elizabeth Cotton; and a brother, Irvin Pipkins. She is survived by her a son, William (Carol) Thompson; two granddaughters, Heather Taylor and Kerri Taylor; two great grandchildren, Ada Karoline and Noah Taylor; a brother-in-law, Charles Cotten. The guest book may be signed and words of condolences expressed at www.skeenfuneralhome.com
Stephen Randall James
Stephen Randall James age 51 of Dickinson, AL died October 10, 2022 at Grove Hill Memorial Hospital. He was born August 23, 1971 in Grove Hill, AL to Arthur Steve and Judy Elaine James. He was a member of Bassett Creek Baptist Church.
He is survived by his son, Blake James; father, Arthur Steve James; sister, Becky Dutill (Jim); brother, Darian James; brother, Robert James (Paula); sister, Melissa Rivers (Stormy); sister, Sara Marcelle (Jason); and grandmother, Marjorie Goodman.
He was preceded in death by his mother, Judy Elaine Goodman James.
Funeral services were held at Bassett Creek Baptist Church on Friday, October 14, 2022 at 11:00 am with Rev. Brent Fuller and Christopher Dutill officiating. Burial was at Bassett Creek Baptist Church Cemetery in Grove Hill, AL.
Arrangements by O’Bryant Chapel Funeral Home, Thomasville, AL.
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Questions Surround Trump His Response After Jan. 6 Panel Subpoena
Questions Surround Trump, His Response After Jan. 6 Panel Subpoena https://digitalalabamanews.com/questions-surround-trump-his-response-after-jan-6-panel-subpoena/
WASHINGTON — In an extraordinary step, the House Jan. 6 committee has voted unanimously to subpoena former President Donald Trump — a final effort to get the full story of the Capitol insurrection as the panel wraps up its work by the end of the year.
Trump still does not acknowledge the “former” in front of “president,” and he has been relentlessly hostile to the investigation. He called it a “charade and a witch hunt” in a letter to the committee on Friday — but notably did not mention the subpoena or say whether he would comply with the demand for his appearance.
The attempt to compel Trump’s testimony comes as the committee is tying together multiple investigative threads and compiling its final report. The panel is only authorized through this Congress, which ends on Jan. 3.
The nine-member committee has interviewed more than 1,000 witnesses, including many of the former president’s top White House aides. And they have laid out a detailed timeline of Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election defeat — including his inaction as his supporters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. But they still want to hear from Trump himself.
Now that a subpoena has been authorized — on Thursday — it must be delivered in writing to Trump. That step, expected early next week, will set a date for an interview and lay out requests for documents.
Trump and his lawyers will then decide how to respond. He could comply, negotiate with the committee, announce he will defy the subpoena or ignore it altogether. He could also go to court and try to stop it.
If Trump doesn’t comply, the panel will have to weigh the practical and political implications of a vote on holding him in contempt of Congress. If the full House voted to recommend such a charge, the Justice Department would then review the case.
The committee has taken that step with some of Trump’s allies who refused to comply with subpoenas, including Steve Bannon, who was convicted of contempt in July. But holding a former president in contempt would be another matter, an exceptional step for any Congress.
In his letter on Friday, Trump repeated his false claims of widespread election fraud and said he was writing to express “anger, disappointment and complaint” that the committee wasn’t investigating his claims. He also took the opportunity to boast anew about the size of the crowd that gathered for his speech near the White House on the morning of Jan. 6, before he sent them marching to the Capitol. He included aerial photographs. He said nothing about the subpoena.
Even if he does comply, there’s reason to doubt that Trump’s appearance would help the investigation. He did respond to some written questions from special counsel Robert Mueller during the probe of Russian cooperation with his 2016 campaign. But his answers produced little or nothing to advance the investigation. More recently, he appeared for a deposition by the office of New York State Attorney General Letitia James — but invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination more than 400 times in refusing to answer questions.
The committee is still talking to lawyers for former Vice President Mike Pence, as it has been for months. But it is unclear whether the lawmakers will subpoena the vice president or ask him for testimony.
Several of Pence’s aides have talked to investigators, some providing great detail about his movements and state of mind as he resisted Trump’s pleas to object to the certification of electoral votes that day and try to overturn their defeat to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
Video shown Thursday at the committee’s final hearing before the midterm elections showed Pence coordinating with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer for help as the rioters were inside the building, some of them calling for Pence’s execution. The leaders were working with security officials to ensure that they could return to the Capitol and certify Biden’s victory.
The panel’s expected final action will be a massive report laying out evidence, findings and legislative recommendations to ensure nothing like Jan. 6 ever happens again. But it’s unclear how much of its investigative material will be released to the public.
In one of eight hearings last summer, Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, another Democratic member, said, “We have only shown a small fraction of what we have found.”
Lawmakers have made clear that the report will lay out what they view as the stakes for the country as many Republicans still believe, falsely, that the 2020 election was stolen and as Trump considers another run in 2024.
“With every effort to excuse or justify the conduct of the former president, we chip away at the foundation of our republic,” Cheney said at the hearing.
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Trump Responds To Committee https://digitalalabamanews.com/trump-responds-to-committee/
AFP
A video is shown of former US President Donald Trump at the US House Select Committee hearing to Investigate the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on October 13, 2022.
Former US President Donald Trump has released a lengthy response to the January 6 committee’s vote to subpoena him over the Capitol riot last year.
“This memo is being written to express our anger, disappointment, and complaint,” Trump wrote in a letter to Democratic Congressman Bennie Thompson, chairman of the House select committee investigating the incident.
The Republican doubled down on his unsubstantiated claims that the 2020 US presidential election was “rigged and stolen” but didn’t say whether he would comply with the subpoena.
The January 6 committee voted Thursday to subpoena Trump for documents and testimony in connection with the attack on the US Capitol.
“He is required to answer for his actions,” Thompson said in the House panel’s 10th public hearing on Thursday afternoon.
Members of the committee have argued Trump was directly involved in efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, in which he lost to Democrat Joe Biden.
On January 6, 2021, thousands of individuals – mostly Trump’s supporters – stormed the Capitol in Washington, D.C., and disrupted a joint session of Congress to affirm the 2020 presidential election results.
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) is also investigating the mayhem, which led to the injuries of more than 140 police officers and has been linked to at least five deaths.
More than 880 defendants have been arrested in nearly all 50 states and Washington, D.C., according to the DOJ.
The Capitol breach was the worst attack on the US Congress in more than 200 years and led to Trump’s second impeachment by the House of Representatives shortly before his term officially ended.
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Justice Dept. Seeks End To Arbiter's Review Of Trump Docs KESQ
Justice Dept. Seeks End To Arbiter's Review Of Trump Docs – KESQ https://digitalalabamanews.com/justice-dept-seeks-end-to-arbiters-review-of-trump-docs-kesq/
By ERIC TUCKER
Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department asked a federal appeals court on Friday to shut down the work of an independent arbiter who was appointed last month to review documents seized during an FBI search of former President Donald Trump’s Florida estate.
The appeal is the latest salvo in weeks of litigation over the scope of duties of the arbiter, also known as a special master, who was assigned to inspect the records taken in the Aug. 8 search of Mar-a-Lago and weed out any that may be protected by claims of legal privilege.
The special master process has caused some delays to the Justice Department’s investigation into the holding of top-secret documents at the home. But a major hurdle was cleared last month when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit lifted a temporary bar on the department’s ability to use the seized classified documents as part of its criminal probe.
The move permitted a core aspect of the probe to resume, greatly reducing the odds that the process could have a significant impact on the investigation. Even so, department lawyers returned to the court Friday to ask for the entire special master review to be shut down, saying the judge who made the appointment had no basis for doing so and that Trump was not entitled to an independent review of the seized records or to claim privilege over them.
“Plaintiff has no plausible claim of executive privilege as to any of the seized materials and no plausible claim of personal attorney-client privilege as to the seized government records — including all records bearing classification markings,” according to the department’s brief.
“Accordingly,” they added, ”the special-master review process is unwarranted.”
The Justice Department says it seized about 13,000 records, including roughly 100 with classification markings, during its court-authorized search in August. The department is conducting a criminal investigation into the retention of those records as well as into whether anyone obstructed its probe.
As part of the investigation, the FBI has interviewed multiple Trump aides, including a lawyer for him who served as a custodian of the records and who in June presented investigators with a signed letter asserting that all the classified records the Justice Department had asked for in a subpoena had been located and turned over.
Agents believed more records remained at the house, returned in August with a search warrant and removed 33 boxes of documents, including material classified at the top-secret level.
Weeks later, the Trump team asked a judge in Florida, Aileen Cannon, to appoint a special master to do an independent review of the records. Cannon agreed, naming a veteran Brooklyn judge, Raymond Dearie, to inspect the records and segregate from the rest of the investigation any documents that could possibly be covered by claims of executive privilege or attorney-client privilege.
The 11th Circuit subsequently lifted Cannon’s prohibition on the department’s use of the classified documents for its investigation pending Dearie’s review, as well as a requirement that the Justice Department provide those specific records to Dearie for his review.
The Supreme Court on Thursday declined a request from Trump’s lawyers to intervene in the dispute.
The Justice Department has repeatedly rejected the idea that a special master review was needed, and though it has been able to resume its review of the classified records, it said its investigation remains slowed by its inability to use the much larger set of non-classified documents as part of its probe.
“The district court’s injunction barring review and use of the other seized records harms the government and the public as well,” the department said. “A magistrate judge has already found probable cause to believe that those records may constitute evidence of crimes, and the government has demonstrated a clear need for them.”
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Follow Eric Tucker on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/etuckerAP
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Astros Expect Rowdy T-Mobile Park For ALDS Game 3 Vs. Mariners
Astros Expect Rowdy T-Mobile Park For ALDS Game 3 Vs. Mariners https://digitalalabamanews.com/astros-expect-rowdy-t-mobile-park-for-alds-game-3-vs-mariners/
Brian T. Smith, Staff writer
Oct. 14, 2022
Fans hold signs during the ninth inning between the Seattle Mariners and the Detroit Tigers at T-Mobile Park on October 05, 2022 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
Steph Chambers/Getty Images
SEATTLE — The Astros have played in tougher ballparks during the fire of October: Yankee Stadium, Fenway Park, Dodger Stadium, Nationals Park and Truist Park.
The Chicago White Sox’s Guaranteed Rate Field was rough during last year’s American League Division Series. Until the Astros clobbered Chicago 10-1 in Game 4 and frustrated White Sox fans turned against their losing team.
On Saturday, the Mariners will host their first playoff game since Oct. 18, 2001.
Astros manager Dusty Baker expects a lively road contest for the AL’s best team.
“We have to just play our game. You can’t really worry about where you are,” Baker said Friday at T-Mobile Park. “It’s going to be exciting. I know this town is excited. I got people that are excited about it and some people that are disappointed to this point.”
But Baker emphasized the Astros’ playoff experience on the road. He also pointed out that a spring training goal could aid a club that went 51-30 away from Minute Maid Park this season.
Whatever Game 3 brings in Seattle, the Astros have heard and seen it all before in the playoffs.
“This team has gone through a lot of negativity on the road the last three years,” Baker said. “The one thing that I urged this team in spring training was to try to be the best road team in the league. I mean, that’s big. And also be the best getaway day team in that all-important third or fourth game on the road. And also to be a good daytime team, which we’ve accomplished all those and hopefully we can continue that trend.”
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Auburn Planning Commission Moves Forward Again With $44.5 Million Lake Wilmore Community Center Project
Auburn Planning Commission Moves Forward Again With $44.5 Million Lake Wilmore Community Center Project https://digitalalabamanews.com/auburn-planning-commission-moves-forward-again-with-44-5-million-lake-wilmore-community-center-project/
JOHN WEST
On Thursday evening, the Auburn Planning Commission voted to move forward with the Lake Wilmore Community Center project. If accepted by the Auburn City Council, the decision will clear the way to change Lake Wilmore from a passive city park to an active park. The city council will vote on the project at its Oct. 18 meeting.
The community center is planned to sit on 182 acres on Ogletree Road next to Ogletree Elementary School. The proposed facilities will occupy approximately 35 acres of the property.
City documents put the estimated cost for the entire Lake Wilmore Park development at $44.5 million.
The current plans include building a community recreation center, a covered swimming pool, athletic fields, and a public park. This will be in addition to the walking trails and bike trails that already exist on the property.
City documents confirm the community center will include two gymnasiums, locker rooms, an indoor walking track, a pool with lap lanes, two community activity rooms, a party room, a fitness center and pickleball courts.
“If you look at the demographics, there are a large number of families which would imply a demand for that kind of recreation,” said planning commission member Warren McCord. “You’ve got very little recreational facilities south of the interstate for those that live there and that has been a big growing area as is the north.”
The Lake Wilmore Community Center has been part of the city’s master plan for parks and recreation since 2018. The master plan discusses several other amenities for the property. Those included disk golf, an archery range, a dog park, a greenway, shelters, baseball fields, an open play field, four athletic fields, a concession stand, and three outdoor multi-use courts.
There are also plans to eventually connect both Grove Hill Road and Kent Drive to allow better access to the Community Center. The plans for the Kentwood connection are some time off though.
“The project currently does not include connecting Kentwood,” said Allison Frazier, Auburn Engineering Services Director. “The remainder of Kentwood to the connection would just be graded… it won’t be open to vehicular traffic at this time.”
The city’s decision to build a community center on Ogletree Road has not gone without some amount of criticism. Over a dozen residents stepped forward at the planning commission meeting to protest the development. Citizens brought up concerns regarding long-term effects of development, the effect of traffic on the surrounding neighborhoods, safety, flooding, lighting, loss of existing woodlands and environmental impact.
John Guest, whose property abuts Lake Wilmore Park agreed: “I think it’s a real shame and a step backwards to lose a beautiful park that’s natural,” he said. “In general, I think we’re losing too much green space in Auburn.”
This is the second time the planning commission has voted to move forward on the Lake Wilmore Community Center. They originally recommended approval for the project in February 2020. It then went before the Auburn City Council who also approved to move forward with the project. However due to delays, the project expired. It will now go before the city council a second time next week.
According to the planning commission, the land has been designated for parks, recs, and cemeteries since 2009.
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WATCH: Paul Ryan Says Trump Won https://digitalalabamanews.com/watch-paul-ryan-says-trump-won/
October 14, 2022 07:46 PM
Former Speaker of the House and Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan made his prediction for 2024, and, according to him, former President Donald Trump is not making a return appearance as the Republican nominee.
“Whether he runs or not, I don’t really know if it matters. He’s not going to be the nominee, I don’t think,” he said.
Though, it won’t be for lack of trying, explained Ryan during an interview with management consulting company Teneo’s co-president of political risk advisory, Kevin Kajiwara. Ryan is also vice chairman of the company. The interview is part of the company’s “Insights Series.”
WATCH: SARAH WESTWOOD SAYS CRIME SURGE COULD PUSH GOP OVER FINISH LINE IN KEY STATES
“He’s going to try and intimidate people out of the race,” the former Wisconsin representative said.
Despite those efforts, he explained that “running a party based on fear and intimidation” initially ends gradually, but then has a sudden drop.
“I think Trump’s unelectability will be palpable by then. We all know that he will lose,” Ryan said. “We all know that he is so much more likely to lose the White House than anybody else running for president on our side of the aisle, so why would we want to go with that?”
“The only reason he stays where he is is because everybody’s afraid of him. They’re afraid of him going after them, hurting their own ambition,” he told Kajiwara. “But as soon as you get sort of the herd mentality going, it’s unstoppable.”
“The fact that he polls so much poorer than anybody else running for president as a Republican against a Democrat is enough right there,” he added.
“It’s not like he is going to reverse the impression that suburban voters have on him. That cake is baked,” Ryan further said.
“The question is, are there so many non-Trump people running that they divide that vote up so much?” he said.
He then predicted that some politicians that haven’t been considered could emerge as contenders for the GOP nomination.
On the November midterm elections, the congressional veteran said that the “House majority is pretty baked,” but it “could be as low as 15” seats.
Ryan explained that the GOP is “not going to pick up 63 seats like we did in 2010,” adding that a “30-seat pickup is an incredibly good night for us.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Regarding the Senate, he said it will likely remain about “50-50.”
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WATCH: Trump-Backed Herschel Walker Doesnt Hesitate To Say Biden Beat Trump When Asked At Debate
WATCH: Trump-Backed Herschel Walker Doesn’t Hesitate To Say Biden Beat Trump When Asked At Debate https://digitalalabamanews.com/watch-trump-backed-herschel-walker-doesnt-hesitate-to-say-biden-beat-trump-when-asked-at-debate/
Republican Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker didn’t hesitate at all to say President Joe Biden beat former President Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election when a debate moderator asked.
Walker faced off with incumbent Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock in a hotly-anticipated televised debate Friday night, during which the subject of the 2020 presidential election came up.
It has become a regular feature of debates for Republicans to be asked if President Biden won, often resulting in some furious footwork around a direct answer. And as moderator Tina Tyus-Shaw noted, the question has added significance in Georgia, where Trump’s attempt to overthrow the election is the subject of a grand jury investigation.
“In 2020, Georgia became the epicenter for questions on voter fraud. We’d like to hear your thoughts in 60 seconds. Did President Biden defeat former President Donald Trump in 2020?” Tyus-Shaw asked.
But Walker very quickly conceded Biden and Warnock won, and pivoted to attacking both men during the exchange:
MR. WALKER: And did President Biden win?
TINA TYUS-SHAW: That is the question.
TINA TYUS-SHAW: President Biden won and Senator Warnock won. That’s the reason I decided to run, because we need a change in Washington. We need leaders that’s going to stand up to foreign leaders. And we need people that’s going to stand up for people in Georgia. Because Senator Warnock, he went to Washington, but he forgot about Georgia. And I want to stand for the people of Georgia he just mentioned. He stands for the people of Georgia. But can he tell me why he voted with Joe Biden 96% of the time? If he was standing for Georgia, that tells you that he’s for Joe Biden I’m for Georgia.
TINA TYUS-SHAW: Mr. Walker, thank you. Now, before we move on, gentlemen.
SEN. WARNOCK: I’d like to respond.
TINA TYUS-SHAW: To that. I will give you that opportunity, sir. I will give you that opportunity, Senator. You have 15 seconds to respond.
SEN. WARNOCK: It is very clear that my opponent would rather be running against anybody except me. But I am ready to run. There are only two people are going to who are going to sit in this seat, either me or my opponent. And I think this race is about who’s ready to represent the people of Georgia. And I’m thinking about them every single day.
MR. WALKER: But if he cut from the same cloth and 96% of the time, I’m running he and Joe Biden because they’re the same.
Watch above via NewsNation.
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The User’s Manual To Trump’s Congressional Subpoena https://digitalalabamanews.com/the-users-manual-to-trumps-congressional-subpoena/
Former President Trump apparently has a lot in common with late presidents John Quincy Adams, John Tyler and Harry Truman.
Congressional committees issued subpoenas to all of them to testify.
Such subpoenas for a former chief executive are about as rare as it gets on Capitol Hill.
That’s why the blockbuster subpoena for Mr. Trump by the panel investigating last year’s riot qualifies as this fall’s version of an “October surprise.”
SEN. PATRICK LEAHY TAKEN TO HOSPITAL IN WASHINGTON ‘AS A PRECAUTION’ AFTER NOT FEELING WELL
It’s impossible to determine whether the former president will appear. And there are questions about how serious the committee is in its quest to hear from Mr. Trump, especially since it issued the subpoena in the final moments of its final hearing.
Former President Trump speaks at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J., July 7, 2021. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
The subpoena may be a move by the committee to punctuate its work before the November election. A potential Republican majority could dissolve the committee.
“They simply don’t have the runway to get this to take off before the midterm elections,” said George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley. “They waited until the very last minute, and they didn’t give themselves much time or room if the president challenges the subpoena.”
It’s anyone’s guess if the former president might appear. Colleague Brooke Singman reports that a source close to Mr. Trump says he would “love” to testify.
Former President Trump penned a hostile, meandering, 14-page letter to House Jan. 6 Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., which shed little light on if he would testify. The rambling missive features a 93-word opening sentence. The treatise veers wildly into unproven conspiracy theories about the election.
“Despite very poor television ratings, the Unselect Committee has perpetuated a Show Trial the likes of which this Country has never seen before,” Mr. Trump charged.
NEW VIDEO SHOWS PELOSI THREATENED TO ‘PUNCH OUT’ TRUMP ON JAN. 6: ‘I’M GOING TO GO TO JAIL’
Despite the bluster, it’s impossible to predict what former President Trump could do. However, Turley says any indication that the former president might testify would leave “most of his legal counsel in tight fetal positions.”
It’s well known that serving as one of Mr. Trump’s attorneys is not a normal legal job.
“I mean the idea that the president would testify, with all of these legal proceedings going on and investigations, is enough to reduce most defense attorneys to tears,” said Turley.
But Congress has summoned former presidents before. The track record of cooperation is mixed.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee believed that Secretary of State Daniel Webster misused money for secret intelligence operations. So it subpoenaed Adams and Tyler to explain how their administrations dealt with such clandestine accounts. Both former presidents complied with the subpoenas.
The U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)
The House Committee on Un-American Activities issued a subpoena for former President Harry Truman to testify about government officials suspected of communist links. Truman refused the subpoena, citing separation of powers. But the committee didn’t try to compel Truman to appear.
President Gerald Ford is the last executive in chief to testify to a congressional panel. Ford spoke to the House Judiciary Committee in March 1983 about the bicentennial of the Constitution. Truman appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in April 1955 about the United Nations Charter.
Even some sitting presidents have testified to Congress. President George Washington spoke to the entire Senate about Indian treaties in 1789. President Abraham Lincoln appeared before the House Judiciary Committee about a news leak in 1862. President Woodrow Wilson made his appeal for the League of Nations before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 1919. And, in 1974, Ford explained his pardon of former President Richard Nixon to the House Judiciary Committee.
So what happens next with former President Trump?
GOP QUESTIONS TRUMP SUBPOENA TIMING: ‘MADE-FOR-TV PROP’
Mr. Trump could potentially testify in a closed-door deposition. But don’t count on it with a media-hungry former president despite his suggestion in the letter to Thompson that the committee’s hearings suffer from “very poor television ratings.”
The eyeballs are always paramount to former President Trump. A number of former Trump advisers have appeared for closed-door depositions and invoked the Fifth Amendment. Those include lawyer John Eastman, former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark and adviser Roger Stone.
Former White House strategist Steve Bannon arrives at federal court in Washington July 21, 2022. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Despite the bravado, it’s doubtful Mr. Trump would ever testify before the House Jan. 6 committee. The biggest obstacle is the clock and limited time before this Congress expires on the morning of Jan. 3 next year.
As much as the committee may want to hear from the former president, you may be shocked to learn that politics are afoot.
The committee likely anticipates noncompliance by former President Trump. So the next step for the panel is to send the issue before the full House to vote to hold Mr. Trump in contempt of Congress. A contempt of Congress citation by the House means it can refer the former president to the Justice Department for possible prosecution after failing to comply with a subpoena.
It’s then up to Attorney General Merrick Garland to possibly prosecute the former president under an 1857 statute. Failing to comply with a congressional subpoena could earn someone a month to a year in prison.
The Democratic-controlled House has moved against a number of Trump administration officials as part of the Jan. 6 committee’s investigation into the Capitol incursion. Former Trump aide Steve Bannon rejected the committee’s subpoena out of hand. The House voted to hold him in contempt and sent a criminal referral to the Department of Justice. The DOJ prosecuted Bannon, and a jury convicted him in July. Bannon faces sentencing later this month.
The House also cited former Trump trade aide Peter Navarro in contempt of Congress. Navarro tried to claim executive privilege. Navarro’s trial begins next month.
Peter Navarro, director of the National Trade Council, speaks to members of the media outside the White House in Washington, D.C., Aug. 28, 2020. (Stefani Reynolds/Sipa/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The House also voted to hold former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and Trump White House communications aide Dan Scavino in contempt of Congress. But DOJ never prosecuted either.
Congress also has at its disposal a peculiar option that it hasn’t deployed in nearly a century. It’s a parliamentary mechanism called “inherent contempt.”
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In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, Congress sometimes moved to hold persons in contempt and then arrested or held those people on its own. Congress is granted certain powers under Article I of the Constitution.
So why mess around with the executive and judiciary branches? Congress last pulled the inherent contempt lever in the 1930s as it probed an air mail scandal. An uncooperative official from the Commerce Department found himself “arrested” and “held” by Congress. But lawmakers didn’t lock him up in the basement of the Capitol, but, instead, at the posh Willard Hotel in downtown Washington, D.C.
If lawmakers want to move against former President Trump, time is important. Even if Congress votes to hold him in contempt, it’s possible a GOP-controlled House could move to rescind that citation. That would undercut any possibility for DOJ to prosecute Mr. Trump for not complying with the subpoena.
Chad Pergram currently serves as a senior congressional correspondent for FOX News Channel (FNC). He joined the network in September 2007 and is based out of Washington, D.C.
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Football High Live: Scores Updates From Friday's Week 9 Slate
Football High Live: Scores, Updates From Friday's Week 9 Slate https://digitalalabamanews.com/football-high-live-scores-updates-from-fridays-week-9-slate/
High School Sports
Updated: Oct. 14, 2022, 6:50 p.m.|
Published: Oct. 14, 2022, 6:32 p.m.
Central-Phenix City coach Patrick Nix and the Red Devils celebrate their Class 7A semifinal win over rival Auburn last November. The two teams meet again tonight in Phenix City. (Adam Sparks | Opelika-Auburn News)
No. 1 Auburn and No. 4 Central-Phenix City take center stage tonight in Friday night’s Week 9 schedule.
Auburn is the only unbeaten team in Class 7A statewide. Central-Phenix City has a pair of losses, but only one of those is a Region 2 game. Check out former coach Jacy Todd’s breakdown of this key game.
RELATED: Week 9 predictions
RELATED: ASWA prep rankings
Other big games on the slate across the state include Leeds at Moody, Decatur at Hartselle and Daphne at Mary G. Montgomery.
Check back frequently tonight for scores and highlights as the playoff brackets begin to come into focus in earnest.
6:50 PM, The big matchup: In Phenix City, Auburn must find a way to contain dual-threat Red Devil QB Jaylen Epps. Red Devils also feature two of the top uncommitted seniors in the state in WR Karmello English and DE Tomarrion Parker.
6:47 PM, Full schedule: 185 games on tap throughout the state tonight after just 11 on Thursday night. 2 weeks left in the regular season after tonight folks.
6:43 PM, Big night in Semmes? Mary G. Montgomery could end a two-decade playoff drought if they can beat Daphne at home tonight. The Vikings have won 4 straight after an 0-4 start. Daphne has lost 2 straight against Spanish Fort and Fairhope. Read this week’s previous about the stakes tonight.
6:31 PM, Calm before the storm: Fans starting together for tonight’s big 7A showdown between No. 1 Auburn and No. 4 Central-Phenix City. Jimmy Wigfield will be checking in with updates from Phenix City.
Fans gathering for tonight’s Class 7A showdown between No. 1 Auburn and No. 4 Central-Phenix City (Jimmy Wigfield | preps@al.com)
6:25 PM, Champs on the road: Thompson takes the road tonight to battle Tuscaloosa County ahead of next week’s showdown with No. 3 Hoover.
THURSDAY’S SCORES
Alabama-Deaf 42, Mississippi-Deaf 16
B.C. Rain 41, LeFlore 23
Cottonwood 33, Zion Chapel 0
Florence 42, Grissom 6
Jackson 28, St. Michael 6
Prattville 42, Lee-Montgomery 18
Ramsay 49, Hayden 0
Reeltown 44, Luverne 14
Sheffield 63, Tharptown 14
Sparkman 55, Huntsville 14
Straughn 44, Northside Methodist 14
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Justice Dept. Asks Appeals Court To End Mar-A-Lago Special Master
Justice Dept. Asks Appeals Court To End Mar-A-Lago Special Master https://digitalalabamanews.com/justice-dept-asks-appeals-court-to-end-mar-a-lago-special-master/
The Justice Department asked a federal appeals court to reverse a Florida judge’s order appointing a special master to review documents seized from Donald Trump’s home and club, arguing that the former president had no right to possess the seized materials after he left office and that there was no legal basis for an outside review.
While prosecutors had already appealed portions of U.S. District Court Judge Aileen M. Cannon’s special master appointment, Friday was the first time they appealed the entire court order. If the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit sides with the government, the special master’s review would stop — and criminal investigators once again would be permitted to access thousands of unclassified documents that FBI agents took from Mar-a-Lago in August.
The government said in its appeal that those unclassified documents are critical to its ongoing criminal probe of possible mishandling of classified material, obstruction and destruction of government records, and could help them conduct witness interviews and corroborate evidence.
“In short, the unclassified records that were stored collectively with records bearing classification markings may identify who was responsible for the unauthorized retention of these records, the relevant time periods in which records were created or accessed, and who may have accessed or seen them,” the filing reads.
The Atlanta-based appeals court said Trump’s lawyers have until Nov. 10 to file their response. As part of their appeal, Justice Department lawyers updated the number of documents taken from Mar-a-Lago, which was earlier said to be about 11,000 but now is about 13,000.
Trump’s lawyers asked two weeks after the search for an outside expert to sift through the seized materials — including 103 documents marked classified — to determine whether any are protected by attorney-client or executive privilege, and should be shielded from criminal investigators.
Prosecutors argued in Friday’s 53-page filing that Trump has no right to assert either form of privilege over the government documents, rendering the review by a Brooklyn-based federal judge, Raymond J. Dearie, unnecessary.
Cannon had originally ordered the special master to review both the classified and nonclassified materials and barred the Justice Department from using any of the documents in its criminal investigation until that review was done. A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit overturned part of that decision, which removed the classified materials from Dearie’s review and allowed investigators to use those documents right away.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court rejected a petition from Trump’s lawyers that asked it to review part of the appeals court’s decision on narrow, technical grounds.
Cannon has said Dearie would have until December to complete his review of the nonclassified documents.
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Kenneth Wayne Radley https://digitalalabamanews.com/kenneth-wayne-radley/
Kenneth Wayne Radley, 62, died peacefully in his sleep at home on Oct. 9, 2022.
Ken was born May 27, 1960, in Lake Charles, LA to Bobby and Earline “Sam” Radley. He was raised in Kansas and southern California, and moved to Harrison, TN in the late 1990s.
Ken was a veteran of the U.S. Navy during the only three years the United States was not at war, around the end of the Vietman era. He loved outdoor sports, snowboarding, cycling, trail running, stand-up paddle boarding, swimming, and more. Ken was an avid sportsman, completing the Ironman in Panama City Beach, FL. In 2007, Ken founded Scenic City Multisport and created many races including Scenic City Triathlon, Scenic City Duathlon, and 7 Bridges Marathon. His sporting events provided Chattanooga, as well as many cities nationwide, with family friendly outdoor fun, raising money for charitiable organizations or in memory of others.
Ken helped his sister Karen raise her daughters, Andrea and Loretta, and he was known as Uncle Radley, although he was always “dad” to her daughters as he was very active in their daily lives. When Loretta was deployed with the U.S. Army and Tennessee National Guard, Ken would send the most amazing care packages on a regular basis filled with homemade Rice Krispy treats, Slim Jims and a mountain of other packages goods, assuring she would always enjoy a taste of home.
Ken was passionate about helping people to challenge themselves to complete a race and he would walk alongside you if you needed that push to keep on going, or trail behind you so you were not the last person to finish. He changed lives for the better. He was loved by many and his cheerful “can do” attitude will be deeply missed.
Ken had a stroke on Feb 1, 2021 and later that year decided it was best to let go of Scenic City Multisport to focus on any remaining time he had to help himself and his family.
Ken was preceded in death by his parents, Bobby Steve and Gladys Earline Radley.
He is survived by his brother, Gene Radley; sister, Karen Radley; nieces, Loretta (Jimmy Moore) Clabo, and Andrea Clabo.
The family is planning a military service and will announce a service at a later date.
Please share your memories and express condolences at www.turnerfamilyfuneralhome.com
Arrangements are by Turner Funeral Home, Highway 58 Chapel, 423 622-3171.
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A Day Ive Been Praying For: Birmingham Boy Leaves Hospital 100-Plus Days After Gunshot Wound To The Head
‘A Day I’ve Been Praying For’: Birmingham Boy Leaves Hospital 100-Plus Days After Gunshot Wound To The Head https://digitalalabamanews.com/a-day-ive-been-praying-for-birmingham-boy-leaves-hospital-100-plus-days-after-gunshot-wound-to-the-head/
A Birmingham boy shot in the head left the hospital Friday afternoon after more than 100 days at Children’s of Alabama.
Family and friends gathered in the hospital lobby as 15-year-old Christian Savage prepared for his long-awaited exit.
“It’s been a day that I’ve been praying for a long time,’’ said Christian’s mother, Patrice Leonard.
“When I did my first interview, I declared because of my trust in God that my son would not die, that he would live and that he would walk out or roll out this building,’’ she said. “He can do both, and that’s what he’s doing now.”
Christian, a point guard with the Woodlawn High School basketball team, was shot in the head June 29 while playing video games in the second-floor bedroom of the family’s apartment at The Rev. Dr. Morrell Todd Homes in Birmingham’s Kingston area.
The shooting happened just before 8:30 p.m. Wednesday at The Rev. Dr. Morrell Todd Homes in Birmingham’s Kingston area. (Carol Robinson)
Birmingham police detectives told her the suspects were targeting a neighbor when they opened fire. One of the bullets bore through Christian’s window and television before striking him in the right side of his face.
Leonard said the bullet traveled from the right side of his face to the left side and lodged near his brain. Christian is now blind in one eye and has a brain injury.
“Certain things he doesn’t remember and certain things he does remember, and it comes back to him more and more,’’ she said. “He sees faces and lights up because he knows who they are. He might not remember their names, but he knows who they are.”
Christian can stand up and walk with the use of a cane.
Christian Savage, 15, was critically injured when a bullet entered the bedroom window of his Birmingham apartment on June 29 2022, while he was playing video games. (Special to AL.com)
Birmingham police charged Omar Smith and Martez Jefferson, both 19, with attempted murder and discharging a firearm into an occupied dwelling.
Leonard, who is due to deliver her fifth child on Wednesday, has been with Christian day and night since the shooting. Somehow, though, she made time to make “thank you” gift bags for those who attended Christian’s hospital release.
The bag included a bookmark with a picture of Christian when he was first injured and one of him now standing up. The Bible quote from James 1:17 is on the bookmark: “Every good and perfect gift is from God.’’
Christian Savage, 15, left Children’s Hospital Friday, Oct. 14, more than 100 days after he was shot in the head while playing video games inside his Birmingham home. (Carol Robinson)
“The me, the hardest part was when we first got here, but since I just trusted God, it’s been breezy,’’ Leonard said.
Christian will be home bound for a while and is undergoing rehabilitation. He hopes to soon return to school.
The family has since moved away from the apartment where Christian got shot. A GoFundMe for the family has raised more than $8,000.
“I just feel like his future’s going to be bright,’’ Leonard said. “I don’t know which direction God’s got us going but whatever direction he’s got us going, we’re going to take it.”
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Cramers Week Ahead: Take Any Chance To Sell Stocks During A Busy Week Of Earnings
Cramer’s Week Ahead: Take Any Chance To Sell Stocks During A Busy Week Of Earnings https://digitalalabamanews.com/cramers-week-ahead-take-any-chance-to-sell-stocks-during-a-busy-week-of-earnings/
CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Friday advised investors to take any chance to sell stocks next week as the busy earnings season continues.
“The market’s dominated by the tick, tick, tick of bonds, oil and the dollar. So, remember, if we have a big up day like yesterday, that is a chance to do some [selling] because there probably won’t be any follow-through,” he said.
Cramer’s comments come after stocks fell on Friday to end a volatile week of trading, just one day after the market snapped a six-day losing streak with a historic intraday reversal.
He also previewed next week’s slate of earnings. All earnings and revenue estimates are courtesy of FactSet.
Monday: Bank of America
Q3 2022 earnings release at 6:45 a.m. ET; conference call at 8:30 a.m. ET
Projected EPS: 78 cents
Projected revenue: $23.54 billion
Cramer said he expects the bank to report a great number, but that it might have no effect on the stock if bonds, oil or the dollar goes haywire the same day.
Tuesday: Goldman Sachs, Johnson & Johnson, Netflix
Goldman Sachs
Q3 2022 earnings release at 7:30 a.m. ET; conference call at 9:30 a.m. ET
Projected EPS: $7.75
Projected revenue: $11.42 billion
Calling the stock “crazy cheap,” Cramer said he’s looking for a solid bottom line from the company in its latest quarter.
Johnson & Johnson
Q3 2022 earnings release between 6:25 and 6:40 a.m. ET; conference call at 8:30 a.m. ET
Projected EPS: $2.48
Projected revenue: $23.36 billion
The stock remains one of his favorites, Cramer said.
Netflix
Q3 2022 earnings release at 4 p.m. ET; conference call at 6 p.m. ET
Projected EPS: $2.14
Projected revenue: $7.84 billion
He said he expects to hear more about the company’s new ad-supported tier and has faith that the company will roll it out without going overboard with the number of commercials.
Wednesday: Procter & Gamble, Tesla, IBM, Lam Research
Procter & Gamble
Q1 2023 earnings release at 6:55 a.m. ET; conference call at 8:30 a.m. ET
Projected EPS: $1.55
Projected revenue: $20.35 billion
The company’s stock will go up even if the quarter is bad because so many short-sellers are betting against it, Cramer predicted.
Tesla
Q3 2022 earnings release between 4:05 and 5 p.m. ET; conference call at 5:30 p.m. ET
Projected EPS: $1.01
Projected revenue: $22.14 billion
He said that buyers will likely support the company’s stock no matter what the quarter looks like.
IBM
Q3 2022 earnings release at 4:05 p.m. ET; conference call at 5 p.m. ET
Projected EPS: $1.79
Projected revenue: $13.53 billion
It’s unclear whether the company will be able to post results that’ll excite the market, Cramer said.
Lam Research
Q1 2023 earnings release at 4:05 p.m. ET; conference call at 5 p.m. ET
Projected EPS: $9.58
Projected revenue: $4.93 billion
“If Lam says they’re seeing cutbacks similar to what we heard from Applied Materials, AMAT, this week, then the whole semiconductor world is going to have another move down,” he said.
Thursday: AT&T
Q3 2022 earnings release at 7 a.m. ET; conference call at 8:30 a.m. ET
Projected EPS: 61 cents
Projected revenue: $29.84 billion
Cramer said that while he hopes AT&T won’t have a disappointing quarter, he’s skeptical the company will be able to pull it off.
Friday: Verizon
Q3 2022 earnings release at 7:30 a.m. ET; conference call at 8:30 a.m. ET
Projected EPS: $1.29
Projected revenue: $33.78 billion
Verizon’s stock performance suggests the company is struggling due to competition from T-Mobile, Cramer said.
Disclaimer: Cramer’s Charitable Trust owns shares of Johnson & Johnson and Procter & Gamble.
Jim Cramer’s Guide to Investing
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Semmes Swears In The City’s First Police Officers https://digitalalabamanews.com/semmes-swears-in-the-citys-first-police-officers/
SEMMES, Ala. (WKRG) — A historic day in Semmes as the city held a swearing-in ceremony for its first four police officers.
At the ceremony at Semmes Honor Park, people gave a standing ovation for the four new police officers. They’ll fight the issues facing Semmes.
“Crime is at the top of the list. We want to address certain areas in our community that are crime-ridden,” said Semmes Police Chief Todd Freind.
He said the biggest crime problems in Semmes are property and drug crimes. Along with the new officers, the department is also getting a new headquarters.
“Our headquarters will be at the dead end of Illinois Street. when those guys move out into city hall and we’ll move in and take over their space,” said Freind. “We did that for a reason, so we would have more visibility over that because a lot of your crime is in that area, so we want more presence in that area.”
With arms outstretched, people prayed for the growing police department. The goal is to have 16 officers by the beginning of 2023.
“We’ll have four more next month, four more in December, four more January, and then we’ll be at full steam,” said Freind.
As Semmes Police grow, the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office will step back from the help they currently provide.
“As we implement one shift,” said Freind. “Then the sheriff’s department will pull one shift out and redistribute how they see fit.”
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Igor Danchenko Trial Shows How Much Mueller Either Didn't Know Or Ignored For His Trump Report: Turley
Igor Danchenko Trial Shows How Much Mueller Either Didn't Know Or Ignored For His Trump Report: Turley https://digitalalabamanews.com/igor-danchenko-trial-shows-how-much-mueller-either-didnt-know-or-ignored-for-his-trump-report-turley/
The trial of Igor Danchenko shows how much previous Special Counsel Robert Mueller either failed to include in or did not know about for his own report in his investigation on Russia interference in the 2016 election, constitutional law professor Jonathan Turley told Fox News.
Turley made his observation Friday after Special Counsel John Durham rested his case and Judge Anthony Trenga threw out one count against Danchenko. Attorneys for Danchenko suggested they would not put forth a defense.
Danchenko, a Russian national, pleaded not guilty last year to lying about the source of information that he provided to ex-MI6 Agent Christopher Steele for the much-discredited Trump-Russia dossier. The FBI paid Danchenko – the primary sub-source for Steele’s dossier – more than $200,000 to serve as a confidential human source from 2017 to late 2020.
BIDEN MAKES AMERICA BEGGARS AS OIL SPIKES: RUBIO
“It’s very alarming,” Turley said of the instances of money changing hands and how knowingly unverified information was presented to the FISA court – on which the George W. Bush-appointed Trenga also sits – to procure a warrant for then-Trump campaign aide Carter Page.
“It is really breathtaking how much either Special Counsel Mueller did not know or chose not to put it into his report.”
“We have learned a lot from this special counsel (Durham), including how the Hillary Clinton campaign funded the Steele dossier, denied they were funding it [and how] they hid that funding through their attorney, Marc Elias, and they ultimately got false statements into the media,” Turley added.
Durham, a former Connecticut federal prosecutor, charged Danchenko last year in connection with statements he made to the FBI relating to the sources he used in providing information to an investigative firm in the United Kingdom related to Steele’s dossier.
Judge Trenga tossed one count against Danchenko related to correspondence he had with Democratic operative Charles Dolan Jr., in connection with allegations Dolan may have lied to Danchenko about the veracity of the information.
FBI Director Robert Mueller testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, April 15, 2010, before the Senate Commerce, Justice and Science subcommittee. (AP)
ALEX BERENSON SAYS PFIZER-LINKED FORMER FDA CHIEF GOT HIM BANNED FROM TWITTER
Turley said that following the latest prosecution of Danchenko, the entire timeline is “breathtaking.”
“It had the feel of a canned hunt. I mean, they were saying, look, we’ll give you $1,000,000 if you can bag Trump.,” he said. “And then they went ahead and [the] same person … they kept as an informant, the person used in the Steele dossier. And so this cross-pollination raises additional questions.”
Russian analyst Igor Danchenko arrives at the Albert V. Bryan U.S. Courthouse before being arraigned on November 10, 2021 in Alexandria, Virginia. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Turley added Durham’s report may be one of the most important to ever come from the various investigations into Donald Trump and Russia.
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Christopher Steele, a former British spy. (Aaron Chown/PA Images via Getty Images)
He also said the charge that Trenga threw out was the weakest of the five that Danchenko faces. The others all allege lying to the FBI.
“It strengthens the prosecution case not to have that count because I felt that it was really something that was begging for a hung jury or an acquittal. So they’ll go forward on those stronger, more direct counts,” the Fox News contributor said.
Turley said team Danchenko’s decision not to present a defense may be more strategic than confident. There are risks associated with Danchenko potentially taking the stand.
Charles Creitz is a reporter for Fox News Digital.
He joined Fox News in 2013 as a writer and production assistant.
Charles covers media, politics and breaking news, and has covered the annual CPAC conference for Fox News Digital.
Charles is a Pennsylvania native and graduated from Temple University with a B.A. in Broadcast Journalism. Story tips can be sent to charles.creitz@fox.com.
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Cheney Indirectly Weighs In On Whether Trump Should Be Prosecuted
Cheney Indirectly Weighs In On Whether Trump Should Be Prosecuted https://digitalalabamanews.com/cheney-indirectly-weighs-in-on-whether-trump-should-be-prosecuted/
October 14, 2022 06:07 PM
While Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) opted not to answer directly whether she believes Donald Trump should be prosecuted, the Wyoming Republican pointed to Judge David Carter’s opinion while speaking at the University of Notre Dame on Friday that the ex-president and his former attorney John Eastman likely committed crimes.
The Wyoming Republican, a political scion who was removed from her leadership position in the House due to her criticisms of Trump, and was ousted in her primary by Trump-endorsed candidate Harriet Hageman, added that she believes the Jan. 6 select committee will be in unanimous agreement when the time comes to decide whether to make a criminal referral.
SUPREME COURT REJECTS TRUMP’S BID TO TOSS OUT RULING IN MAR-A-LAGO DOCUMENTS CASE
“Well, the committee has the responsibility to make decisions about criminal referrals, and I, of course, have my own views about that. I don’t want to get ahead of the committee’s discussions on it,” Cheney, the vice chair of the select committee, told the crowd.
“I would point people to Judge Carter’s opinion in which he said that it’s more likely than not that Donald Trump and John Eastman violated at least two federal criminal statutes,” she added. “And so, I, again, I don’t want to get ahead of the committee, but I think you will see the committee’s work in this regard done in a unanimous way. And I think there’s no question about the answer.”
In a 44-page ruling earlier this year, Carter stated that Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election “more likely than not constitute attempts to obstruct an official proceeding.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
The Jan. 6 select committee voted during its hearing on Thursday to subpoena the former president. It remains unclear whether Trump will cooperate with the panel.
When asked why the committee waited until its final hearing, Cheney cast doubt that it was the panel’s final hearing.
“Well, it’s not necessarily the last day of the hearings. But I think we have felt it’s very important that the investigation be conducted in a way that is rigorous and disciplined and responsible, and that has meant collecting evidence from many, if not all, because, of course, some people took the Fifth or some people refuse to appear — but collecting evidence from all of those around the central figure in Jan. 6, before we issued a subpoena for him,” she said. “And so, that’s what we’ve done.”
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Donald Trump Answered The Committee https://digitalalabamanews.com/donald-trump-answered-the-committee/
(Permanent Musical Accompaniment To The Last Post Of The Week From The Blog’s Favorite Living Canadian)
Yesterday, the House select committee on January 6 voted unanimously to subpoena the testimony of the former president*. Let’s check in with him now to see whether he is taking this whole subpoena thing with his typical equanimity:
“THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 2020 WAS RIGGED AND STOLEN!”…The same group of Radical Left Democrats who utilized their Majority position in Congress to create the fiction of Russia, Russia, Russia, Impeachment Hoax #1, Impeachment Hoax #2, the $48 Million Mueller Report (which ended in No Collusion!), Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine, the atrocious and illegal Spying on my Campaign, and so much more, are the people who created this Committee of highly partisan political Hacks and Thugs whose sole function is to destroy the lives of many hard-working American Patriots, whose records in life have been unblemished until this point of attempted ruination. The double standard of the Unselects between what has taken place on the “RIGHT,” and what has taken place with Radical Left, lawless groups such as Antifa, Black Lives Matter, and others, is startling and will never be acceptable, even to those who will be writing the history of what you have done to America.”
This ought to be enough to convince anyone that having El Caudillo del Mar-A-Lago testify on television in front of the select committee would be a futile exercise—and not just because the former president* would be unable to resist setting a Capitol Hill record for obvious perjury. It would be asking for its heretofore careful deliberations to be turned into an abandoned roadside reptile farm. Or a roadtrip to Fantasyland.
The massive size of this crowd, and its meaning, has never been a subject of your Committee, nor has it been discussed by the Fake News Media that absolutely refuses to acknowledge, in any way, shape or form, the magnitude of what was taking place. In fact, for such a historic event, there are very few pictures that accurately show the event, or how many people were really there. Incredibly, it seems that pictures showing the size of the event were perhaps cancelled, scrubbed, deleted or, in any event, not available, but we still have some—as attached.
In fact, half of the 14-page (!) rant is composed of random photos of the crowd assembled on the National Mall and a reiteration of all the “voter fraud” bilge that got Rudy Giuliani and the rest of the whackjob legal team laughed out of court more than 50 times. (Antrim County in Michigan gets another workout.)
The committee has issued its invitation. It should pray for a no-show.
Remember when the entire family of Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona did ads that begged the voters of his district to elect someone else? Voters didn’t listen, but the family dynamic was fun to watch. Something about Republican politicians makes their relatives queasy in public.
Well, it’s happened again.
From the Nevada Independent:
Fourteen members of Republican Senate candidate and former Attorney General Adam Laxalt’s family announced Wednesday that they would collectively endorse his Democratic opponent, incumbent Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, in the heated race for Nevada’s U.S. Senate seat[…]The letter marks the second time that Laxalt’s extended family has chosen not to back his political aspirations. During Laxalt’s 2018 run for governor, 12 of his family members publicly opposed his bid, writing in an op-ed published in the Reno Gazette-Journal that Laxalt’s campaign “leveraged and exploited the family name.”
This is my choice for the race that will tip the Senate one way or another. Laxalt holds a tenuous lead in the most recent polls. Clearly, not enough relatives have turned on him.
The debate Thursday night in Wisconsin between the candidates for the U.S. Senate was rocking along on familiar rails. And then incumbent Republican Ron “Shreds of Freedom” Johnson got all Ron Johnson all over and livened things up considerably. The first episode came when Democratic challenger Mandela Barnes chaffed Johnson on a visit he’d had with the FBI in 2020.
We need sanctions on Putin. However we have someone, Senator Johnson, who praised Putin as a smart guy. If Putin is successful in Ukraine, he will encroach on more territory. It will be a green light to other autocratic leaders. There is also an instance where Senator Johnson had to be sat down by the FBI and warned he may be a Russian asset. We cannot trust Senator Johnson to protect democracy abroad; we cannot trust Senator Johnson to protect it here at home.
This sent Johnson spiraling up into the Alex Jones Belt in outer space.
“In response to the wild charge of Lieutenant Governor Barnes, the FBI set me up with a corrupt briefing and then they leaked that to smear me. He is referring to corruption inside the FBI that I’m trying to uncover and expose.”
The transcript after this exchange reads, “[LAUGHTER].” The transcript does not lie.
Then at the end, the moderators asked one of those “say something nice about each other” questions that drive me up the wall. Barnes talked about what a good family man Johnson is. Johnson explained how Barnes is a subversive.
Likewise, I appreciate that Lieutenant Governor Barnes has loving parents, a schoolteacher, a father that works a third shift. He has a good upbringing. What puzzles me about that, with that upbringing, why does he turn against America?
The transcript after this exchange reads, “[BOOING].” Again, the transcript does not lie. The transcript from my living room reads, “Jesus, what a dick.”
The polling at the moment has Johnson with a solid, single-digit lead. It will be interesting to see if his uncompromising stand at the debate as a conspiracy nut and a colossal dick will budge the needle.
Weekly WWOZ Pick To Click: “Smoke My Peace Pipe (Smoke It Right)” (Tin Men feat. Carlo Nuccio): Yeah, I pretty much still love New Orleans.
Weekly Visit To The Pathé Archives: Not sure we should “celebrate” this, but it’s the 60th anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Here, from 1962, is JFK announcing that the U.S. naval “quarantine” of Cuba is being lifted. It’s a month after the crisis and he still sounds ragged and exhausted. He also has only a year to live. History is so cool.
This Week In Disgusting Science: A crisis in the Minnesota woods, from the Minneapolis Star-Tribune:
They were hunting the goblin fern. Ancient and otherworldly, the goblin fern spends most of its life underground. When it does come up every few years, the strange plant sends up a tiny leaf with a spore-bearing stalk that’s nearly impossible to see, even on hands and knees. The Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, the tribe whose reservation is mostly inside the national forest, has studied the imperiled fern for years, along with academic and government researchers. Only four decades after scientists first documented the species, researchers now fear it could vanish in the next ten years[…]As tiny as it is, the fern is attached to a vast underground fungal network that forms the soil foundation of the forest and supports the maple-basswood stands that are central to Ojibwe traditions.
OK, so what’s murdering the goblin fern? Worms. Killer worms.
Non-native earthworms have invaded Minnesota’s northern forests in a slow-moving advance that endangers not just the Chippewa National Forest but all hardwood forests across the region. The worms are “re-engineering all the functions of the ecosystem,” said Lee Frelich, director of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Forest Ecology. They devour all three layers of organic matter on the forest floor, rich and full of microbes: the forest litter on top, the layer below of decomposing leaves and twigs and logs called duff, and the decomposed matter below called humus. Then they go underground and eat the fungi on the tree roots.
Minnesota has no native earthworms. This is something I did not know until I read this story. It has to do with the glaciers. But the state has fishermen. Lots of fishermen (10,000 Lakes and everything), and these people have brought in enough non-native earthworms to create this threat to the forest ecosystem.
Under state law it is illegal to release invasive species into the wild. But earthworms? They are all but unregulated. Anglers regularly toss leftover bait on the ground, and earthworms have been propelled great distances across the state by the tires on unwashed cars, pickups, logging equipment and ATVs. Worm invasions can be traced to proximity to cabins, roads, boat launches and ATV trails.
Humans, it seems, are the ultimate invasive species.
Hey, CNN, is it a good day for dinosaur news? It’s always a good day for dinosaur news!
New research on a 7-meter (23-foot) long Edmontosaurus, a type of plant-eating hadrosaur, found near the town of Marmarth, North Dakota, in 1999 has shed light on what factors allowed the skin to survive through the eons. “The bite marks were really unexpected. It had been thought that soft tissue wouldn’t preserve if it was damaged prior to burial, so the carnivore damage is what really started us thinking about how these fossils form in the first place,” said Stephanie Drumheller-Horton, a paleontologist at the The University of Tennessee’s department of Earth and planetary sciences, a coauthor of the new study.
So, what’s the story?
The researchers think bite marks on the hadrosaur’s arm came from an ancient relative of a crocodile, but they’re not sure what kind of animal clawed or gnashed its tail – although it was likely bigger. It’s not clear whether the injuries to its arm and tail killed it or whether they were inflicted by scavengers after its death. However, it was the dinosaur’s misfortune that allowed its skin to preserve, Drumheller-Horton explained.
“To try to put it in ...
Patriots QB Mac Jones ‘making A Good Improvement’ https://digitalalabamanews.com/patriots-qb-mac-jones-making-a-good-improvement/
Two weeks ago, the New England Patriots’ Friday injury report listed Mac Jones as out for the Oct. 2 game against the Green Bay Packers. One week ago, the Patriots’ Friday injury report showed Jones as doubtful for the Oct. 9 game against Detroit Lions. This week’s Friday injury report lists Jones as questionable for Sunday’s game against the Cleveland Browns.
But that progression up the injury-designation chart doesn’t mean the former Alabama All-American will be ready to play on Sunday. Jones is dealing with an ankle injury suffered on New England’s final offensive snap in a 37-26 loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Sept. 25.
MORE NFL:
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· BRIAN ROBINSON JR. SCORES HIS FIRST NFL TOUCHDOWN
The first reports on Jones’ injury indicated he might be headed to surgery, but Belichick has steadfastly referred to Jones’ situation as day-to-day (although on Friday he said this week he had “tried to avoid that phrase and give it a little break. I think I kind of maximized it there.”) Now reporters are inquiring when Jones could be cleared by the Patriots’ medical team.
“It could happen anytime,” Belichick said on Friday. “There’s no deadline on that. The injury report is the injury report. There’s a deadline on that, and there’s a classification on that. That’s what we follow. Internally, we can do whatever we want — not do whatever we want, but based on the information that’s available, we can make any determination that’s appropriate.
“Again, part of that is how a player feels, what he’s able to do, what he’s not able to do, what the recovery from what his previous output was or wasn’t. But, no, I’m not going into what we have internally, we talk about the players and all that.”
Belichick said he wouldn’t become involved in deciding if Jones could return to the lineup or serve as an emergency backup to rookie Bailey Zappe until Jones and the team’s physicians and trainers say the quarterback is ready to play again.
“Until the player is medically cleared to play, then there’s no coaching decision involved,” Belichick said. “Once the player has been medically cleared to play, then I would say, in consultation with the player and the medical staff: What is the player being asked to do? So a kicker has a sore leg, and the decision is: Well, he can kick field goals up to a certain range, but wouldn’t be able to kickoff. All right, then as a coach, that’s your decision. You could say, ‘All right, OK, we’ll take this player at, let’s call it, 80 percent, and here’s what his field-goal range would be – 80 percent — and he’s not going to kick off and play under those circumstances assuming that the player also felt comfortable doing that. Right, so that kind of would be an example of a player playing at less than a hundred percent but functional to a point. Understand that you’re going to have to get somebody else to kick off and you’re not going to be trying maximum-length field goals.
“That would be an example, so just put that into some other position and take some other player and have the same conversation if it gets to that point. That would be the hypothetical situation. I think it’s easier to say that and think about that with a kicker, who has a very specific job, rather than getting to somebody else. Like if it’s an offensive guard — he can only run so fast straight ahead. How much is he going to pull? That gets into, like, a whole other rabbit hole that none of us want to go down.”
Belichick did not say what percent the status of Jones may be, but he said the quarterback had shown progress as a limited participant in practice this week.
“Mac, I think is making a good improvement,” Belichick said before Friday’s practice. “We’ll see where he is today. Certainly, he’s doing a lot more this last Thursday than he did last Thursday. I’d imagine Friday will be the same thing, but we’ll see.
“Again, if a player has an injury, he goes out and does whatever he’s capable or instructed to do. Then we see how he responds and what happens. Nobody knows the answer to that question. So if the next day he feels better, then he does more. If the next day, he doesn’t feel better or has soreness or whatever, then we back off and then try it again once he feels like we’re at the next read, so it’s a process of steps. When you go one step, then you go to the next step. If you can’t make it through that step, then you step back and step through it again, so nobody knows how they’re going to feel tomorrow after what they do today. I don’t know how anybody’s going to feel that are in that category.
“We’ll see where it is. If it’s better on Saturday than it was Friday, then maybe it’s a game-day workout. If it’s worse, then we probably would downgrade the player. If it feels great today and tomorrow feels great, then we’re good to go. But that’s why Saturday is an important day in this whole process. I know everybody wants a definite answer, but it’s just totally unrealistic to be able to do that. I don’t know how a player’s going to feel after three days of practice depending upon what the volume is or the intensity is. That’s impossible to know until you actually experience it or he experiences it, so we’ll see.”
Jones started 20 regular-season games and a playoff contest to open his NFL career. But with Jones sidelined by the ankle injury, Brian Hoyer stepped in at quarterback against the Packers.
Hoyer left that game with a concussion, giving Zappe most of the time under center in a 27-24 overtime loss in his NFL debut. The Patriots are coming off a 29-0 victory over the Lions with Zappe completing 17-of-21 passes for 188 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
New England plays the Browns at noon CDT Sunday at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland.
RELATED: NFL WEEK 6: SCHEDULE, TV, ODDS AND ROUGHING-THE-PASSER
The Patriots’ injury and practice participation report on Friday assigned designations to 10 players, and like Jones, the other nine are listed as questionable, including former Alabama standouts Damien Harris (hamstring) and Christian Barmore (knee) and Auburn alumnus Jonathan Jones (ankle).
Harris was listed as a limited participant in practice on Thursday and Friday after the NFL Network reported the running back would miss “multiple games” after getting hurt on Sunday.
Belichick was asked what it takes for a player to go from questionable on Friday’s injury report to active in Sunday’s game.
“We follow the NFL rules on that,” Belichick said. “Whatever the player’s status is, wherever he falls, whatever category it is, then we list him appropriately. Again, we make a decision whenever that decision can be made. Sometimes it’s a game-time decision. Sometimes a player could be listed like that and even if he was healthy, he might not be activated because of the number of activations that we have to have based on for competitive reasons and not injury reasons.
“But we still have to list everybody based on the NFL rules, so that’s what we do. Then if they’re out, then they’re out, and if they’re not out, then we can make a decision competitively whether that person will or won’t play.”
FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COVERAGE OF THE NFL, GO TO OUR NFL PAGE
Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.
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Georgia Tech Announces Alabama's J Batt As Next Athletic Director
Georgia Tech Announces Alabama's J Batt As Next Athletic Director https://digitalalabamanews.com/georgia-tech-announces-alabamas-j-batt-as-next-athletic-director/
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TUSCALOOSA, AL — Georgia Tech on Friday announced it has hired the University of Alabama’s J Batt as its new director of athletics.
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Georgia Tech Athletics said Batt’s first day on the job will be Oct. 24, after he officially departs the role of executive deputy director of athletics, chief operating officer, and chief revenue officer at the University of Alabama.
Find out what’s happening in Tuscaloosawith free, real-time updates from Patch.
“We’re excited to welcome J to Georgia Tech,” Georgia Tech President Ángel Cabrera said.”His leadership experience at one of the most competitive programs in the nation and his extraordinary track record in fundraising and revenue generation will bring great value to Georgia Tech.
“As a former ACC student-athlete, J has a keen appreciation for what it takes for students to compete at the highest level while pursuing a degree at a top academic institution,” Cabrera added. “He values and shares our culture of excellence and integrity and our commitment to student well-being and success. I look forward to working with him to secure and invest the resources necessary for a successful athletics program.”
Find out what’s happening in Tuscaloosawith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Batt was a member of the North Carolina Tar Heels’ 2001 NCAA champion men’s soccer team and graduated from UNC with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and mass communications. He also holds a master’s degree in sports administration.
Batt first joined the University of Alabama Athletics team as senior associate athletic director in 2017, before being promoted to COO and senior deputy athletic director in 2021 and to executive deputy director, COO, and chief revenue officer in 2022.
During his time at the Capstone, Batt was praised for overseeing the development, implementation, and launch of the Crimson Standard — a 10-year, $600 million capital initiative.
“My family and I truly appreciate President Cabrera and his team for this opportunity, and we are incredibly excited to join the Georgia Tech family,” Batt said in a statement on Friday. “I look forward to working with our student-athletes, coaches, staff, supporters, and fans to reach new heights, on and off the field, and to build on the rich tradition and history of this storied athletics department. We can’t wait to become a part of the Atlanta community.”
Alabama head football coach Nick Saban had high praise for Batt as part of Georgia Tech’s big announcement, referring to him as an essential part of the administrative team.
“We set a vision for the future of Alabama Athletics and Alabama football through the Crimson Standard and J as well as his team delivered with impressive results,” Saban said.
UA Athletic Director Greg Byrne also spoke to Batt’s leadership abilities and the vision he has provided for the athletic department during his time in Tuscaloosa.
“He has done a masterful job with the operations of the department,” Bryne said. “J has been involved in all of our major decisions and has provided constructive insight and feedback to make us better. His experience working directly with our student-athletes, our coaches and Athletics staff, university leadership, and fan base has prepared him well for this moment. We are thrilled for J, his wife, Leah, and boys, Fitz and Graham. Georgia Tech made a home-run hire with J.”
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DOJ Asks Appeals Court To End Outside Review Of Trump Mar-A-Lago Documents
DOJ Asks Appeals Court To End Outside Review Of Trump Mar-A-Lago Documents https://digitalalabamanews.com/doj-asks-appeals-court-to-end-outside-review-of-trump-mar-a-lago-documents/
An outside review of documents the FBI seized from President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate should be halted because it interferes with prosecutors’ authority and is legally unjustified, the Justice Department said in a filing with a federal appeals court Friday afternoon.
Prosecutors said Aileen Cannon, the judge who ordered the “special master” review last month at Trump’s request, erred in her ruling because there was no indication of malfeasance or infringement of Trump’s rights in connection with the search a magistrate judge ordered.
“The uncontested record demonstrates that the search was conducted in full accordance with a judicially authorized warrant, and there has been no violation of Plaintiff’s rights—let alone a ‘callous disregard’ for them,” Justice Department attorney Jay Bratt and other prosecutors wrote in the brief filed Friday with the Atlanta-based 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.
If the DOJ wins this round in federal court, it would represent another legal setback for Trump, who has lost one ruling after another in recent weeks related to the Mar-a-Lago document seizures.
Bratt also argued that Trump hasn’t shown the requisite need for the special master process, which is very rarely used in federal investigations.
“Plaintiff has failed to meet his burden in establishing any need for the seized records—indeed, a substantial number of them are not even his—or in establishing any irreparable injury in their absence, and Plaintiff does not lack an adequate alternative remedy at law,” the Justice Department lawyers wrote.
Trump’s attorneys have argued that the special master process was needed in order to protect his right to claim attorney-client privilege or executive privilege. The former president’s attorneys have also fought to use the process to assert that seized records bearing classification markings like “Top Secret,” may have been declassified by Trump before he left office.
DOJ attorneys continued to emphasize that Trump has never actually asserted in court that he declassified any of the records stored at his estate, nor has he claimed executive privilege or asserted attorney-client privilege over any of them. Rather, Trump’s lawyers have floated those possibilities hypothetically, even as Trump has publicly claimed to have declassified all sensitive documents found at his estate.
In any event, the classification issue appears to be off the table for now due to a ruling from an 11th Circuit panel last month which effectively carved out the roughly 100 documents with classification markings from the broader review. Trump asked the Supreme Court to put those records back into the process, but the high court turned that down Thursday.
In the new filing, the Justice Department emphasized that investigators need access to the 11,000 unclassified records also found at his estate as part of its investigation. Under the rules Cannon set, those documents were put off limits to prosecutors and criminal investigators until Trump’s side has a chance to raise objections and the special master, New York federal judge Raymond Dearie, resolves them.
“The dates on unclassified records may prove highly probative in the government’s investigation,” DOJ contended, adding, “For example, if any records comingled with the records bearing classification markings post-date Plaintiff’s term of office, that could establish that these materials continued to be accessed after Plaintiff left the White House … The government may need to use unclassified records to conduct witness interviews and corroborate information.”
Prosecutors said Trump’s claims of executive privilege are illogical in the current context, because the Justice Department, the FBI and others involved in analyzing the records are also in the executive branch.
“Neither Plaintiff nor the district court has cited any instance in which executive privilege was successfully invoked to prohibit the sharing of records or information within the Executive Branch itself,” the Justice Department brief says.
Trump’s brief to the appeals court is due Nov. 10. A court panel could hear arguments on the matter in late November or December.
However, the bulk of the special master review could be completed by that time, so a ruling that it was unnecessary might have limited impact.
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The Creepiest Most Mysterious Haunted Hotels In Every State
The Creepiest, Most Mysterious Haunted Hotels In Every State https://digitalalabamanews.com/the-creepiest-most-mysterious-haunted-hotels-in-every-state/
Anyone can check into a hotel. Some visitors, however, never check out. Whatever you call these long-term guests—ghosts, spirits, or specters—they linger in the rooms, hallways, and grounds of the most haunted hotels in every state, eternally restless. If you’re feeling brave, you can pay them a visit… just don’t expect a good night’s sleep.
Most newer accommodations haven’t had time to acquire ghosts (yet), so renting a room in one of these spooky hotels means you’ll be surrounded by history, both creepy and quaint. From charming bed-and-breakfasts to lavish high-rise resorts, there’s a world of paranormal activity to experience all across the country, along with lots of good stories about how it came to be.
So switch things up this Halloween season. Leave the candy and costumes at home (or bring the candy for comfort) and book a night at some of the creepiest places to visit in your state.
You may feel a chill, see the unexplainable, or hear something go bump in the night. It’s okay to scream. Leave in the middle of the night if you must. Just remember to tip the housekeeper before you go.
The Civil War-era property has a hidden bunker—and ghosts sightings, of course. | Photo courtesy of Visit Mobile
Alabama
Malaga Inn
Mobile
Originally built as a pair of townhouses during the early days of the Civil War, the Malaga Inn was renovated into its current form nearly a century later, with 39 guest rooms and a beautiful courtyard that matches the charm and character of Mobile’s historic district. But look closer, beyond the pleasant facade, and you’ll find out why the hotel is believed to be a hotbed of kinetic energy. Civil War-era tunnels run beneath the property, and according to the owners, they were once used to hide Confederate soldiers. Some of these soldiers may have returned to haunt the hotel—after all, what other explanation is there for the swinging chandeliers and flickering lights guests have noticed over the years? But Civil War soldiers aren’t even the only ghosts at the Malaga Inn; Room 7 is said to be haunted by a ghostly woman in white, who is sometimes seen pacing on the balcony.
Alaska
Historic Anchorage Hotel
Anchorage
At least three ghosts roam the hallways of the Historic Anchorage. Guests have witnessed the reflection of a thin woman dressed as a bride in the hotel’s mirrors and windows. They’ve heard the giggles of a young boy. The city’s first chief of police has also haunted the building since he was shot with his own gun during the wild days of Prohibition, receiving treatment at the hotel before passing away there. Ghost sightings are so common that the hotel has an official log for guests to record their paranormal experiences. The hotel is also the main attraction of a popular Ghost Tour of Anchorage, so you can always stop by for a look if you’d rather retreat into a less haunted hotel at the end of the night.
More than 9,000 souls haunt this former hospital. | FiledIMAGE/Shutterstock
Arizona
Jerome Grand Hotel
Jerome
The Jerome Grand Hotel was originally built as a hospital in 1926, when the mining town of Jerome, Arizona was big and booming. The hospital was spooky from day one, with an ominous perch overlooking the Verde Valley. Over the next few decades, as the mining town became a ghost town, more than 9,000 patients died in the hospital. It closed for good in 1950 and sat abandoned until it was reformatted as a hotel in the early 90s. Despite the glow-up, much of the building’s original structure (including the elevator) remains, as do the ghosts of thousands of former hospital patients. Listen for the wheels of hospital gurneys squeaking in the hallways. Hold your breath on the third floor, once home to the operating room, which is said to be especially haunted. And for the love of god, avoid Room 32.
Come for the spirits, stay for the architecture. | Photo courtesy of Crescent Hotel
Arkansas
Crescent Hotel
Eureka Springs
The self-declared “America’s Most Haunted Hotel” first opened in 1886 as an Ozarks getaway for the rich, but went belly up during the Depression and eventually became a hospital operating under a fraudulent doctor, who claimed to have the cure for cancer. While the hospital has since become a hotel, some of the patients who died there continue to haunt the property, with hundreds of paranormal experiences reported by guests. The striking palatial structure certainly looks the part, towering forebodingly over the town of Eureka Springs from its perch atop Crescent Mountain. For those with an interest in specters, the hotel leans into its haunted reputation, welcoming ghost tours and offering a Spirits of the Crescent hotel package that comes with spooky amenities.
California
Brookdale Lodge
Brookdale
This 19th-century logging mill turned resort in the Santa Cruz Mountains was once popular with the likes of Marilyn Monroe, Mae West, and President Herbert Hoover. But an air of tragedy lingers there, too, and sightings of the ghost of a young girl abound. This ghost is said to be Sara Logan, the niece of the resort’s former owner, who reportedly drowned in the creek that runs through the lodge’s main building. Supposedly, she’s one of at least a hundred spirits haunting the property, which might explain its bad luck, as multiple structures have burned down over the years. While the lodge was briefly abandoned after the most recent fire, it reopened in 2017 and has seen extensive room renovations, with more to come.
Discover why this hotel inspired The Shining. | Glenn Taylor/Shutterstock
Colorado
The Stanley
Estes Park
The Stanley hotel is so creepy that it inspired Stephen King to write The Shining. The author claims to have experienced a night of terrifying dreams while staying in Room 217. Against a backdrop of the Rocky Mountains, the regal estate has seen its share of odd moments, beginning with a gas explosion in 1911. Some employees believe founder Freelan Oscar Stanley haunts the grounds along with wife Flora, who can occasionally be heard tinkering on the hotel piano. Whether or not you dare to stay in Room 217, you can still attend the hotel’s official Spirited Night Tours to learn more about its history and hauntings.
The inn might look cute, but it’s surrounded by graveyards. | Photo courtesy of Captain Grant’s Inn and the Connecticut Office of Tourism
Connecticut
Captain Grant’s Inn
Preston
Set in front of a 17th-century cemetery and across the street from another that dates back to the 1800s, it’s safe to say Captain Grant’s Inn is surrounded by the dead. The current owner, Carol Matsumoto, bought the property in 1994 and never planned to advertise the inn as haunted but somehow the word got out. Matsumoto eventually wrote a book about the property and believes that at least 300 ghosts maintain a presence at the inn as well as in her own home next door. Spend the night in one of the inn’s seven rooms and receive a full breakfast, complimentary booze (wine, beer, sherry), and 24/7 cookies and cake to bolster your nerves.
Room 11 is the scariest of all. | Photo courtesy of Visit Delaware
Delaware
Addy Sea
Bethany Beach
The quaint and cozy Addy Sea has been an oceanfront vacation spot on Delaware’s Bethany Beach since 1902, offering such beautiful views of the water that you can hardly blame some of its former guests for haunting the place. You can kind of choose your own frightening adventure here, since different hotel rooms are known for experiencing different types of hauntings. Room 1 has a bathtub that inexplicably shakes or vibrates. The sounds of organ music seep through the walls of Room 6, although no such instrument exists on the property. Room 11, however, may be the scariest of all, with guests reporting encounters with a former employee who passed away years ago. Footsteps on the roof are credited to the ghost of former owner Kurt Addy, who died after falling off the edge of this location.
Florida
The Hacienda
New Port Richey
Don’t be fooled by the Hacienda’s bright pink exterior; the hotel has a provocative past. Billed as “Hollywood East” when it opened in 1927, the hotel initially attracted celebrities for winter vacations. The Hacienda’s basement had a reputation for sinful behavior around that time, operating as a speakeasy, brothel, and gambling parlor, with bootleggers bringing in alcohol via underground tunnels. Over time, activity petered out and the hotel closed. It reopened to the public just last month following an extensive renovation. During the renovation, crew members noticed a few strange happenings, including the unexpected smell of cigar smoke, tools mysteriously being moved around, and the sounds of Prohibition-era music echoing faintly through the halls.
Beware of Room 414. | Photo courtesy of The Marshall House
Georgia
The Marshall House
Savannah
Located in one of the most haunted cities in Georgia, the Marshall House Hotel was originally built to be a hotel, but operated as a hospital during the Civil War and two yellow fever epidemics. This history has led to lots of ghost sightings, especially on the fourth floor. If you’re feeling especially brave, book Room 414, where many of these encounters are said to have occurred.
Hawaii
Moana Surfrider
Honolulu
The Moana Surfrider opened in 1901 as the first luxury resort on Waikiki Beach. Just a few years later, Jane Stanford, co-founder of Stanford University, died in her hotel room after being poisoned. Her personal secretary of more than 20 years is suspected, but was never charged. Some believe Stanford’s soul remains at the Moana Surfrider, seeking justice.
Idaho
The University Inn
Gooding
Staying at the University Inn is almost like spending the night in a college dorm, only a lot nicer and significantly more haunted. That’s because it originally housed students at Gooding Co...
Rent Market Appears To Soften Police Department's Hiring Efforts
🌱 Rent Market Appears To Soften + Police Department's Hiring Efforts https://digitalalabamanews.com/%f0%9f%8c%b1-rent-market-appears-to-soften-police-departments-hiring-efforts/
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Hello, hello. Miranda Fraraccio here with your fresh copy of the Birmingham Daily, filled with everything you need to know about what’s happening in town.
But first, today’s weather:
Plenty of sun. High: 84 Low: 56.
Find out what’s happening in Birminghamwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Attention, real estate pros in Birmingham! We’re now offering an exclusive sponsorship opportunity for an agent interested in attracting local clients and standing apart from the competition. Click here to learn more.
Here are the top three stories today in Birmingham:
Find out what’s happening in Birminghamwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Birmingham educator Joyce Lanning has been honored with the Alabama Women of Conservation Award. This is the first time that the Nature Conservancy in Alabama has bestowed the award. Lanning accepted the award on Thursday at a special reception in Birmingham. (AL.com)
Birmingham’s Brian Tunnell, the CEO of RentMonster, reports that rent prices are starting to soften. Tunnell believes that Birmingham landlords are easing up on tenant requirements. Despite the lower requirements, rent prices seem to continue to creep up. According to Tunnell, the increasing prices are due to a housing shortage in Birmingham. (WBRC)
The Birmingham Police Department is actively searching for new recruits and lateral officers. The department held a Community Resource Fair on Thursday to aid in their recruitment efforts. The city’ budget has allocated funding for 1,091 departmental positions. The department is attempting to stand out from other law enforcement agencies to attract recruits. (Alabama’s News Leader)
Today in Birmingham:
A Day at Hogwarts At The McWane Science Center (9:00 AM)
Space To Be Me At The Magic City Acceptance Center (11:00 AM)
From my notebook:
The Birmingham Greek Festival is currently underway at 307 19th Street South. Click for a list of the top ten must-try dishes at the festival. (AL.com)
The Birmingham Police Department will be Pushing For The Cure on Monday, Oct. 17 from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at department headquarters. There will be a free lunch offered to participants. Click to learn more. (Birmingham Police Department)
The City of Birmingham is currently hiring. Click to view open positions and apply today. (City of Birmingham)
You’re all caught up for today. I’ll be in your inbox tomorrow with your next update!
— Miranda Fraraccio
About me: Miranda Fraraccio is a born and raised Rhode Islander, now living in New York. She works as a staff writer for content creation agency Lightning Media Partners and is a graduate of The University of Rhode Island, where she earned a degree in Writing & Rhetoric and Communication Studies. In her free time, you can find her traveling, drinking tea, or photographing her neighborhood as a street photographer.
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Trumps Subpoena And Whats Next For The Jan. 6 Panel
Trump’s Subpoena And What’s Next For The Jan. 6 Panel https://digitalalabamanews.com/trumps-subpoena-and-whats-next-for-the-jan-6-panel/
WASHINGTON (AP) — In an extraordinary step, the House Jan. 6 committee has voted unanimously to subpoena former President Donald Trump — a final effort to get the full story of the Capitol insurrection as the panel wraps up its work by the end of the year.
Trump still does not acknowledge the “former” in front of “president,” and he has been relentlessly hostile to the investigation. He called it a “charade and a witch hunt” in a letter to the committee on Friday — but notably did not mention the subpoena or say whether he would comply with the demand for his appearance.
The attempt to compel Trump’s testimony comes as the committee is tying together multiple investigative threads and compiling its final report. The panel is only authorized through this Congress, which ends on Jan. 3.
A look at what’s next as the panel sprints to its finish:
THE TRUMP SUBPOENA
The nine-member committee has interviewed more than 1,000 witnesses, including many of the former president’s top White House aides. And they have laid out a detailed timeline of Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election defeat — including his inaction as his supporters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. But they still want to hear from Trump himself.
Now that a subpoena has been authorized — on Thursday — it must be delivered in writing to Trump. That step, expected early next week, will set a date for an interview and lay out requests for documents.
Trump and his lawyers will then decide how to respond. He could comply, negotiate with the committee, announce he will defy the subpoena or ignore it altogether. He could also go to court and try to stop it.
If Trump doesn’t comply, the panel will have to weigh the practical and political implications of a vote on holding him in contempt of Congress. If the full House voted to recommend such a charge, the Justice Department would then review the case.
The committee has taken that step with some of Trump’s allies who refused to comply with subpoenas, including Steve Bannon, who was convicted of contempt in July. But holding a former president in contempt would be another matter, an exceptional step for any Congress.
In his letter on Friday, Trump repeated his false claims of widespread election fraud and said he was writing to express “anger, disappointment and complaint” that the committee wasn’t investigating his claims. He also took the opportunity to boast anew about the size of the crowd that gathered for his speech near the White House on the morning of Jan. 6, before he sent them marching to the Capitol. He included aerial photographs. He said nothing about the subpoena.
Even if he does comply, there’s reason to doubt that Trump’s appearance would help the investigation. He did respond to some written questions from special counsel Robert Mueller during the probe of Russian cooperation with his 2016 campaign. But his answers produced little or nothing to advance the investigation. More recently, he appeared for a deposition by the office of New York State Attorney General Letitia James — but invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination more than 400 times in refusing to answer questions.
WHAT ABOUT PENCE?
The committee is still talking to lawyers for former Vice President Mike Pence, as it has been for months. But it is unclear whether the lawmakers will subpoena the vice president or ask him for testimony.
Several of Pence’s aides have talked to investigators, some providing great detail about his movements and state of mind as he resisted Trump’s pleas to object to the certification of electoral votes that day and try to overturn their defeat to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
Video shown Thursday at the committee’s final hearing before the midterm elections showed Pence coordinating with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer for help as the rioters were inside the building, some of them calling for Pence’s execution. The leaders were working with security officials to ensure that they could return to the Capitol and certify Biden’s victory.
A CRIMINAL REFERRAL?
The committee will also have to decide whether to refer any allegations of crimes to the Justice Department. While federal prosecutors are conducting their own investigations into Jan. 6 and Trump’s efforts to overturn the election, the congressional committee has its separate, massive trove of evidence.
Lawmakers on the panel have hinted multiple times over the past year that they will issue criminal referrals. At the hearing on Thursday, Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, the committee’s Republican vice chairwoman, said that the panel “may ultimately decide” to do so. She said they have “sufficient information to consider criminal referrals for multiple individuals.”
While such a referral would not force any action, it would amplify the political pressure on Attorney General Merrick Garland as the department pursues its own probes.
SECRET SERVICE
The committee recently received more than 1.5 million pages of documents from the Secret Service. But lawmakers say they still don’t have everything they want.
The panel is working to verify the accounts of White House aides who described Trump’s actions on Jan. 6 as he tried to go to the Capitol and accompany his supporters, hundreds of whom eventually broke in. Security officials, along with many White House aides and GOP members of Congress, were vehemently opposed to the idea. Trump was livid and tried, ultimately unsuccessfully, to go to the Capitol anyway, according to several accounts aired by the committee.
California Rep. Pete Aguilar, a Democratic member of the panel, said the lawmakers “will be recalling witnesses and conducting further investigative depositions” based on the Secret Service material. The agency has not turned over text messages that it says were deleted.
FINAL REPORT
The panel’s expected final action will be a massive report laying out evidence, findings and legislative recommendations to ensure nothing like Jan. 6 ever happens again. But it’s unclear how much of its investigative material will be released to the public.
In one of eight hearings last summer, Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, another Democratic member, said, “We have only shown a small fraction of what we have found.”
Lawmakers have made clear that the report will lay out what they view as the stakes for the country as many Republicans still believe, falsely, that the 2020 election was stolen and as Trump considers another run in 2024.
“With every effort to excuse or justify the conduct of the former president, we chip away at the foundation of our republic,” Cheney said at the hearing.
____
BY MARY CLARE JALONICK, The Associated Press
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DOJ Calls For Reversal Of entirety Of Special Master Ruling In Trump Case
DOJ Calls For Reversal Of “entirety” Of Special Master Ruling In Trump Case https://digitalalabamanews.com/doj-calls-for-reversal-of-entirety-of-special-master-ruling-in-trump-case/
Washington – The federal criminal investigation into allegations that former President Donald Trump mishandled sensitive White House documents after leaving office must continue without hindrance, prosecutors argued in a brief filed in the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday, citing a “demonstrated, specific need” for evidence in its ongoing criminal investigation.
“The Court should…reverse the district court’s injunction and end the special master’s review,” prosecutors wrote.
The Justice Department’s filing came in its appeal to the 11th Circuit to reverse a lower court’s ruling appointing a special master, or independent arbiter, to review the thousands of documents seized at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in August. Prosecutors have argued District Judge Aileen Cannon’s decision to grant Trump’s request for an independent review of the records unduly restricts the government’s investigation into the matter. In Friday’s filing, prosecutors argue Cannon’s ruling should be vacated “in its entirety.”
Trump’s lawyers support the ruling, writing in a previous filing that the “unprecedented and misguided” investigation “seeks to criminalize the possession by the 45th President of his own Presidential and personal records.” The nature of the investigation, they argued, warranted a special master’s intervention and review of potentially restricted documents under attorney-client or executive privileges.
But in Friday’s filing, the Justice Department said Cannon had “erred” when she chose to take up Trump’s request and step into the case, explaining the department’s Privilege Review Team “had already segregated any records potentially covered by the privilege.”
And on the question of executive privilege, prosecutors wrote that there was “no plausible claim of executive privilege that could justify restricting the Executive Branch’s review and use of the seized records in the performance of core executive functions,” like the current investigation.
Since Cannon’s initial ruling – which also halted the investigation into the 103 documents with classified markings that were seized at Mar-a-Lago, pending the special master’s review – the 11th Circuit has already sided with the Justice Department and allowed it to continue examining those sensitive documents as its criminal probe continues, even as the special master review process goes on. Trump appealed that narrow decision to the Supreme Court, which refused to intervene in an order issued on Thursday and allowed the criminal probe to be carried out with the use of the sensitive documents.
New York Federal Judge Raymond Dearie, Cannon’s pick to serve as special master at Trump’s suggestion and with the Justice Department’s consent, initiated the court-ordered review process last month, asking the opposing parties to confer about potential attorney-client and executive-privilege claims. Already, the Justice Department says it has made available to criminal investigators and Trump’s legal team a set of agreed-upon documents and returned to Trump materials deemed unrelated to the investigation.
For her part, Judge Cannon overruled some of Dearie’s initial plans for the special master process and has the final say over the independent review unless and until the 11th Circuit grants the Justice Department’s request to step in.
The investigation into Trump’s alleged mishandling of documents with classified markings intensified in August with the execution of a court-authorized search warrant at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence. That search yielded 33 boxes of material, including 103 documents with classified markings – labeled either CONFIDENTIAL, SECRET, or TOP SECRET. The boxes also contained nearly 50 empty folders with classified banners on them.
Prosecutors revealed in court documents and proceedings that they are undertaking a national security investigation into the matter, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence is conducting a damage assessment, as a result of the allegedly improperly stored documents.
An individual who worked at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort has told investigators that the former president directed the individual to move boxes of documents – including those that might contain classified markings – to a different location inside Mar-a-Lago as the federal investigation into Trump’s handling of certain records was already underway, according to a person familiar with the matter.
According to the source, the individual said that Trump ordered the boxes moved both before and after the Justice Department issued a subpoena in May for classified documents in Trump’s possession, and investigators have since seized video footage of the boxes being moved – evidence that contributed to the FBI’s decision to execute the search warrant.
The former president has denied all wrongdoing and accused the Biden administration of “weaponiz[ing] law enforcement and fabricated a Document Hoax in a desperate attempt to retain political power.”
The Justice Department, however, argued that its actions in the investigations have been justified, writing on Friday that investigators “first sought these records through voluntary requests” before applying for a court-authorized search warrant.
“Only when investigators learned that Plaintiff’s response was likely incomplete did they seek a search warrant.”
Prosecutors say they need unencumbered access to both the records with classified markings and those without. According to Friday’s brief, the sensitive documents “may constitute evidence if obstruction of justice” – pointing to allegations that Trump’s team might not have been fully truthful with investigators – and the unclassified documents could help, “identify who was responsible for the unauthorized retention of these records, the relevant time periods in which records were created or accessed, and who may have accessed or seen them.”
In all, they write, “the district court erred in requiring the government to submit any of the seized materials for the special-master review process.”
Judge rules new DACA policy can continue
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Founder Of Electric Truck Maker Is Convicted Of Fraud
Founder Of Electric Truck Maker Is Convicted Of Fraud https://digitalalabamanews.com/founder-of-electric-truck-maker-is-convicted-of-fraud/
Trevor Milton was accused of boasting about nonexistent technology to inflate the stock price of Nikola, a maker of electric trucks.
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Trevor Milton, left, the founder of Nikola, was accused of lying about the start-up’s electric vehicles.Credit…Brittainy Newman/Associated Press
Oct. 14, 2022Updated 5:23 p.m. ET
A federal jury on Friday found Trevor Milton guilty of defrauding investors by lying about the supposed technical achievements of Nikola, the electric truck maker he founded.
Mr. Milton was convicted of one count of securities fraud and two counts of wire fraud, the most serious of which carry a maximum prison sentence of 20 years. He was acquitted on an additional count of securities fraud. The jury in U.S. District Court in Manhattan delivered the verdict after about four weeks of testimony and about six hours of deliberation.
Prosecutors portrayed Mr. Milton, 40, as a serial fabricator who wooed investors by falsely claiming that Nikola was close to producing long-haul trucks that could run emission-free on cheap hydrogen.
“Trevor Milton is a con man,” Jordan Estes, assistant U.S. attorney, said Thursday as she summarized the government’s case. “He lied to investors to get their money, plain and simple.”
Defense attorneys argued that Mr. Milton did not intend to defraud anybody and that his statements were not responsible for a plunge in Nikola’s stock price that wiped out billions of dollars in value.
Marc Mukasey, a defense lawyer, acknowledged that Mr. Milton sometimes spoke in the present tense about things Nikola hoped to achieve in the future. “He loved Nikola,” Mr. Mukasey told jurors on Thursday, likening Mr. Milton to an overenthusiastic parent who brags about his child.
On Friday, Mr. Mukasey said, “We respect the verdict, but we’re going to keep fighting.”
Mr. Milton, who had appeared cheerful during much of the trial, shook his head in apparent disbelief after hearing the verdict. His wife, Chelsey Milton, leaned her head against the back of a courtroom bench and sobbed.
U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos, who presided over the trial, allowed Mr. Milton to remain free on a $100 million bond until sentencing in January.
The case provided a lesson in the hazards of investing in fledgling “pre-revenue” electric vehicle makers that have ideas but limited or nonexistent sales. With the exception of Tesla, new carmakers have struggled with manufacturing problems.
In a recent example, Rivian, a maker of electric pickup trucks, said last week that it was recalling almost all of the vehicles it has produced because a small number have an improperly tightened fastener that could cause the steering to malfunction.
The Milton trial was also a was a test of prosecutors’ ability to hold managers of publicly traded companies accountable for statements they make on social media and other public forums that can cause share prices to gyrate. Mr. Milton was a prolific user of Twitter and frequently appeared on podcasts and business news programs.
A college dropout with no formal training in engineering, Mr. Milton founded Nikola in 2015 in the basement of his Salt Lake City home. The company listed on Nasdaq in 2020 by merging with a special purpose acquisition corporation, or SPAC, called VectoIQ Acquisition Corporation. VectoIQ is managed by Stephen Girsky, a former high-ranking executive at General Motors. The deal with the so-called blank-check corporation allowed Nikola to avoid some of the regulatory scrutiny usually applied to initial public offerings.
After the stock market listing made him wealthy, Mr. Milton, who owned 25 percent of Nikola shares, went on a spending spree, buying luxuries including a Gulfstream jet and a multimillion-dollar home in the Turks and Caicos Islands. In about six months during 2020, according to testimony, Mr. Milton spent more than $80 million.
Nikola shares peaked near $80 in June 2020, when the company was worth more than Ford Motor. Shortly after, the investment firm Hindenburg Research issued a report accusing Mr. Milton of making numerous false assertions about the company’s technology, pointing to a video in which a truck was rolled down an incline to make it look like a working prototype.
Mr. Mukasey dismissed the video as mere “special effects.”
“It’s certainly not a crime to use special effects,” Mr. Mukasey told jurors. “Otherwise the government would have to indict the Energizer Bunny.”
Mr. Milton resigned as executive chairman a few weeks after the Hindenburg report. Nikola shares closed Friday at $3.06.
Last year, Nikola agreed to pay a civil penalty of $125 million to settle a fraud investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company did not admit wrongdoing as part of the settlement.
Nikola aspired to be the Tesla of the trucking industry — both companies took their name from Nikola Tesla, a pioneer in developing alternating-current technology. Nikola planned to build trucks that would be powered by emission-free hydrogen fuel cells. The company would build a network of hydrogen fueling stations along major highways, much as Tesla built a network of charging stations.
During the trial, prosecutors played video interviews in which Mr. Milton claimed Nikola was already producing “green” hydrogen with renewable energy for less than the cost of diesel, a major milestone. “Game is over for diesel,” Mr. Milton said on Twitter.
In fact, Nikola had produced “not one molecule” of hydrogen, Ms. Estes said. Others in the fledgling green hydrogen industry are still struggling to produce the gas cheaply enough to undercut diesel.
Mr. Milton also said he had billions of dollars in binding contracts with trucking companies to buy Nikola vehicles. The “contracts” were just reservations that could easily be canceled, prosecutors contended.
Among the witnesses was Scott Damman, a senior manager at General Motors, which planned to build a battery-powered pickup truck, the Badger, with Nikola. The announcement of the Badger in February 2020 caused a spike in Nikola’s stock price.
Mr. Damman testified that G.M. would have manufactured the truck and supplied all of the engineering and technology, while Nikola contributed some of the design and marketing.
Nonetheless, according to testimony, Mr. Milton said on Twitter and other forums that Nikola was responsible for “100 percent” of the technology in the Badger, portraying G.M. as little more than a supporting player. G.M. pulled out of the partnership soon after the Hindenburg report, and the Badger was never produced.
Other Nikola executives including Mark Russell, the chief executive, and Kim Brady, the chief financial officer, warned Mr. Milton repeatedly that his statements could backfire, prosecutors contended. The executives even staged an “intervention” where they tried, unsuccessfully, to get Mr. Milton to hew to the truth, according to witnesses.
Mr. Mukasey, the defense lawyer, pointed to internal Nikola emails in which the executives praised Mr. Milton’s media appearances. “They were telling Trevor what a good job he was doing,” Mr. Mukasey said.
The convictions include a charge that Mr. Milton defrauded a man who sold him a ranch in Utah. Mr. Milton paid for the ranch in part with Nikola stock options that proved to be worthless.
The acquittal on one of the securities fraud counts offered Mr. Milton a bit of relief. A conviction on that charge would have exposed him to a maximum sentence of 25 years.
Nikola, based in Phoenix, continues to operate, producing a limited number of battery-powered trucks in cooperation with established companies including IVECO, an Italian truck maker that is manufacturing Nikola vehicles in Germany. Michael Lohscheller, an auto industry veteran who was previously the chief executive of the German carmaker Opel, was named president of Nikola in August. .
Stefan Hartung, chief executive of the German electronics maker Bosch, said in an interview this month that he still believed in Nikola. Bosch, one of the world’s largest makers of components for the vehicle industry, is supplying fuel cell technology for Nikola trucks being developed.
“We are now pretty far in terms of industrialization capability,” Mr. Hartung said. “This vehicle can be built.”
Julie Creswell and Neal E. Boudette contributed reporting.
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Pelosi Said In New Jan. 6 Video She Wanted To 'punch' Trump Out
Pelosi Said In New Jan. 6 Video She Wanted To 'punch' Trump Out https://digitalalabamanews.com/pelosi-said-in-new-jan-6-video-she-wanted-to-punch-trump-out/
WASHINGTON — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said on the day of the attack on the U.S. Capitol that she hoped then-President Donald Trump would come to the complex so that she could “punch him out.”
Pelosi’s daughter, documentary filmmaker Alexandra Pelosi, captured the moment and many others on Jan. 6 in footage shot for HBO and first obtained by CNN. It aired a few hours after the House select committee investigating the attack played other clips from the footage during its ninth hearing Thursday.
“Tell him if he comes here, we’re going to the White House,” the speaker jokes, reacting to Trump’s speech at the White House ellipse earlier in the day.
Another clip shows Pelosi speaking to her staff as a crowd began to amass at the Capitol. In it, Pelosi’s chief of staff, Terri McCullough, informs the speaker that the Secret Service had “dissuaded” Trump from coming to Capitol Hill to join his supporters.
“They told him they don’t have the resources to protect him here,” McCullough says. “So at the moment, he is not coming, but that could change.”
“I hope he comes,” Pelosi responds. “I want to punch him out. This is my moment. I’ve been waiting for this. For trespassing on the Capitol grounds. I want to punch him out, and I’m going to go to jail, and I’m going to be happy.”
The video aired by CNN showed other clips, similar to those played during the hearing, featuring Pelosi and other congressional leaders as they scrambled to get help as the Capitol was under siege.
The montage presented during the hearing showed congressional leaders pleading for help from governors, the acting secretary of defense and the acting attorney general as rioters attacked the Capitol.
“I’m going to call up the effing secretary of DoD,” then-Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in the montage, referring to the Department of Defense, while sitting with Pelosi in an undisclosed room at 3 p.m. The two Democratic leaders were seen calling then-acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller on Schumer’s flip phone, requesting a “massive” response.
The video at the hearing also showed Pelosi speaking to Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam in which she wondered if he could deploy his state’s National Guard troops to the Capitol. She told Northam that House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md., was making the same request of Maryland’s Gov. Larry Hogan. Schumer and Pelosi were also seen on the phone with acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen asking for him to get Trump to call off his supporters.
“Why don’t you get the president to tell them to leave the Capitol, Mr. Attorney General, in your law enforcement responsibility — a public statement they should all leave?” Schumer said.
The footage also showed Pelosi speaking to Vice President Mike Pence by phone two separate times that day about how they could resume the certification of the 2020 election results.
In additional footage obtained by NBC News that was not shown during the hearing, Pelosi, Schumer and other leaders can be seen in an extended debate on whether to reconvene the Congress at Fort McNair and finish the proceedings immediately or wait perhaps “days” until the Capitol could be secured. Then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., had conveyed that he wanted lawmakers to return to the Capitol as soon as possible to show that the insurrectionists had not succeeded.
“The overwhelming thing we have to do is validate the presidency,” Pelosi told her fellow leaders as they hunkered down in a secure site at Fort McNair. “That weighs against whether we do it in the Capitol or we do it down the hall here.”
Eventually, members returned to the Capitol at a little after 7 p.m. to finish the process.
Pelosi and Trump had a highly strained relationship throughout his presidency, which included the moment in 2019 when she and other Democratic leaders walked out of a White House meeting with Trump after he had what Pelosi described as a “meltdown.” At the end of Trump’s third State of the Union address in 2020, Pelosi famously ripped up a copy of his address.
Rebecca Shabad is a politics reporter for NBC News based in Washington.
Scott Wong is a senior congressional reporter for NBC News.
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