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Kimmel Jokes Republicans Who Turned On Trump Are ‘in The Witness Protection Party’ (Video) https://digitalarizonanews.com/kimmel-jokes-republicans-who-turned-on-trump-are-in-the-witness-protection-party-video/ Today was the last of the Jan. 6 hearings before the mid-term elections — which means, depending on how things go, they could be the last Jan. 6 hearings, period. Either way, Jimmy Kimmel talked at length about them in his monologue on Thursday’s episode of “Jimmy Kimmel Live.” Running down the news that came out of the hearings, Kimmel said “a lot of the evidence in these hearings came from Trump’s inner circle. This is like if OJ had been turned in by his gloves. These are his people.” “Chairman of the committee started by pointing out that almost all the evidence came from Republicans, not Democrats, and that the people who stopped Trump from trying to steal the election, like Mike Pence and all those who repeatedly told him the election wasn’t rigged, are also Republican. Or should I say were Republican. Now they’re in the Witness Protection Party,” he joked. “But we learned today that Trump knew the election wasn’t stolen and even told Mark Meadows, his chief of staff, that he didn’t want anyone to know he lost because it was embarrassing to him,” KImmel continued. “But is that more embarrassing than continuing to say you won an election two years after you lost that election?” Also Read: Donald Trump Will Be Subpoenaed and Must Testify Before Jan. 6 Committee Kimmel brought up the footage of leading Democrats Chuck Schumer, Steny Hoyer, and Nancy Pelosi hiding from the attackers during the Jan. 6 insurrection, jesting that “it was like a reboot of “Home Alone” starring your grandparents.” “They were desperately trying to get help from the police and the military because these lunatics, not only were they threatening violence, they were using the Capitol as a bathroom,” Kimmel added. “And maybe the worst part is, they planned this.” Kimmel then played audio of Trump adviser Steve Bannon, days before the 2020 election, telling a group of people that Trump would simply “declare victory” regardless of what happened. “That’s exactly what happened,” Kimmel said, before playing a clip of Trump friend Roger Stone telling some people that Trump would do that, adding “possession is 9/10 of the law.” The implication being Trump could simply stay in power if he refused to leave. “There it is, it’s right on tape. It’s crazy. After seeing all this evidence, it’s crazy that the only Trump being held in prison right now is Melania,” Kimmel joked. But Kimmel was skeptical about the biggest news from the hearings — that the bipartisan committee voted unanimously to subpoena Trump. “That’s just not gonna happen anytime. Like sending a cease and desist to a hurricane,” Kimmel said. “At this point, I don’t know what they need to hear from him. It’s all there. Case against Trump is about as obvious as an episode of ‘Scooby Doo.’” Then Kimmel took aim at Trump’s continued supporters. “There are still those who believe, all these lifelong Republicans who worked for Donald Trump, who every day, suddenly made this all up. I mean, it’s either, either they all got together and made it up or he did it. Those are your only two choices.” Also Read: Twitter Says Elon Musk is Under Federal Investigation in New Court Filing “And here’s the thing: If being an American means accepting and abiding by our Constitution, and after hearing all this, you still think what Donald Trump was OK?” Kimmel said. “Then I guess you’re not an American. I, I think that makes you an illegal. And we know how you feel about those. So, so all of those, I mean, I guess pack your stuff and make an orderly departure from the country.” Later in the monologue Kimmel had this to say about Trump’s tendency to lie. “You know the old saying: When the facts are on your side, pound the facts. When the law is on your side, pound the law. And when you have neither of them, pound eleven Diet Cokes and start an insurrection.” You can watch the whole monologue above. Read More Here

5 Killed, Including Off-Duty Officer, As Gunman Stalks A Raleigh Neighborhood https://digitalarizonanews.com/5-killed-including-off-duty-officer-as-gunman-stalks-a-raleigh-neighborhood/ A suspect identified as “a white male juvenile” was in custody, the police said. At least two others were wounded, including a police officer, whose injuries were described as “non-life threatening.” Send any friend a story As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Anyone can read what you share. Video Officers from several law enforcement agencies rushed to a residential area on the city’s east side after at least five people were shot and killed.CreditCredit…Ethan Hyman/The News & Observer, via Associated Press Published Oct. 13, 2022Updated Oct. 14, 2022, 12:35 a.m. ET RALEIGH, N.C. — A gunman killed five people, including an off-duty police officer, in a shooting Thursday night that turned a normally calm residential area of Raleigh, N.C., into a sprawling crime scene. The authorities said late Thursday that a suspect, described only as a “white male juvenile,” was in custody. Earlier in the evening, they said that the suspect had been “contained.” A police spokesman did not specify the suspect’s age or provide any more information about him. They also did not identify a motive for the attack. “Tonight, terror has reached our doorstep,” Gov. Roy Cooper said at a news conference just before 11 p.m. at the Raleigh Municipal Building. “The nightmare of every community has come to Raleigh. This is a senseless, horrific and infuriating act of violence.” Two others were wounded, among them a police officer who was released from the hospital late Thursday and another person who remained in critical condition, the authorities said. None of the victims were identified by the authorities. Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin appeared visibly emotional as she tallied up the casualties at an earlier news conference. “All of us in Raleigh need to come together,” Ms. Baldwin said. “We need to support those in our community who have suffered a terrible loss, a loss of a loved one.” The attacks drew a forceful response from multiple law enforcement agencies that flooded the Hedingham neighborhood, on the city’s East Side, with emergency vehicles late Thursday afternoon. Residents said they had heard sirens at about 4 p.m. and that within an hour, the neighborhood of tidy, tree-lined streets was filled with scores of police cars that had sped to the scene. Shortly before 6 p.m., the Raleigh police cautioned on Twitter: “Residents in that area are advised to remain in their homes.” The neighborhood is near the Neuse River Greenway, a popular bike trail for Raleigh residents. The shootings threw the neighborhood, full of single-family homes and golf courses, into a virtual lockdown. Traffic was at a standstill on Eagle Trace Drive, a normally quiet road with a plant-filled median, about a mile and a half from the site. Sirens wailed in the distance as the cars inched forward, and police vehicles with lights flashing nosed through. “I’m never going to get home,” said Cheryl St. James, a nurse, as she sat in her car. “I want to get home. I can’t believe this is happening in my neighborhood. It’s scary.” Ethan Garner, a project manager who has lived in the area for three years, said that he left to get something to eat when he saw the police arriving about 5:30 p.m. Hours later, he was sitting in his car, trying to return, watching “House of the Dragon.” He said he walks on the Greenway but now might think twice about it. “I leave my doors unlocked,” he said. “Yeah I have cameras, but I never worry about anything like that. Nothing’s ever happened.” At 9:37 p.m., according to the police, the siege was over, with a suspect in custody. At the later news conference, Ms. Baldwin referred to mass shootings across the country as she spoke about the Raleigh attack. “We have to end this mindless gun violence that is happening in our country,” she said, adding that there are “too many victims.” “We have to wake up. I don’t want other mayors standing here at the podium with their hearts breaking because people in their community died.” The shooting in Raleigh was the latest reminder of rampant gun violence across the country, including mass shootings at a supermarket in Buffalo that left 10 dead in May, another in May at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, that killed 19 children and two teachers, and another shooting at a Fourth of July celebration in Highland Park, Ill., that left seven dead. Just a day earlier, two police officers were killed and a third was wounded in Connecticut in what the authorities described as an ambush after responding to a 911 call that may have been a hoax. Thursday’s shooting was the deadliest shooting in North Carolina in 2022, according to the Gun Violence Archive. In 2009, a gunman opened fire at a nursing home in Carthage, N.C., killing seven elderly patients and a nurse and injuring several other people, including a police officer. On Thursday, neighbors struggled to make sense of the Raleigh shooting. Anne Berry, 52, who has lived in the Avington Place neighborhood of Raleigh for more than 20 years, said helicopters had intermittently been hovering above her home for more than three hours and that it was “loud enough to feel in your chest when they get close.” A neighbor recounted to her that when he went to walk his dog, an officer stopped and asked him if he had seen anyone dressed in camouflage and then told him to head back inside, Ms. Berry said. Another neighbor, Brad Redd, who has lived in the area for four years, described Hedingham as a multicultural and economically diverse place with a lake and a golf course. He said he was “flabbergasted” by the shooting. “This is the last thing I would expect over here,” he said, adding “It’s going to shake this community.” Read More Here

Red Mtn. Completes Season Sweep Of Mesa https://digitalarizonanews.com/red-mtn-completes-season-sweep-of-mesa/ October 13, 2022 by Les Willsey, AZPreps365 Mesa’s Rylynn Dixon (8) attempts a kill vs. Red Mountain in the Jackrabbits’ three-set loss on Thursday night. (Azpreps365 photo) Red Mountain used a balanced attack and strong serving to complete a 6A East Valley Region sweep of Mesa High on Thursday night. Scores were 25-22, 25-18, 25-20 keeping the Mountain Lions within one game of region-leader Mountain View (7-5 overall, 6-0 region) as the second-half of region matches kicks into high gear. The teams played in late September to open region play. Mountain View won that night, 3-1. With the victory Red Mountain improved its power-ranking match record to 11-2 overall and 5-1 in region play. Mesa slipped to 7-7 overall and 4-3 region. Mesa’s region losses are to Mountain View and Red Mountain as the region has a clear-cut, top-three. Pacing Red Mountain offensively on Thursday were junior opposite Olivia Seutter, senior middle Ava Fedorick and senior outside hitter Hailey Dairman. They contributed seven, seven and six kills, respectively. The Mountain Lions posted 12 aces led by Elle Stevenson with six and Dairman with three. Mesa’s attack leaders were the match were Rylynn Dixon (9), Makena Rumple (8) and Jonnie Cummard (6). Red Mountain won the first set with a strong close. Mesa led 21-19, but a 6-1 run saw the Mountain Lions prevail. Three aces in the run (one by Payton Condon and the final two by Stevenson) did most of the damage. The second set was tight although Red Mountain led almost all the way. Its final deficit was 11-10. Aiding the breakaway from 11-10 for the Mountain Lions was Dairman with three kills, a block and a final-point ace. Mesa’s final lead in the match in the third set was 6-5. Red Mountain rallied and threatened a blowout, building a 19-10 advantage. Mesa didn’t give in. The Jackrabbits pared the deficit to 21-19. But two kills by Fedorick and one from Seutter guided a 4-1 close to the set. Both teams resume action Tuesday (Oct. 18). Mesa hosts Mountain View and Red Mountain travels to Westwood. Read More Here

Russia To Help Evacuate Civilians From Occupied Kherson As Ukraine Makes Gains | CNN https://digitalarizonanews.com/russia-to-help-evacuate-civilians-from-occupied-kherson-as-ukraine-makes-gains-cnn/ Video reveals a major problem for new Russian soldiers 03:28 – Source: CNN CNN  —  Russia said Thursday its forces would help evacuate residents of occupied Kherson to other areas, as Kyiv continued to make gains in its offensive to retake the southern Ukrainian region. The announcement by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin came shortly after the head of the Moscow-backed administration in Kherson, Vladimir Saldo, appealed to the Kremlin for help moving residents out of harm’s way, in the latest indication that Russian forces were struggling in the face of Ukrainian advances. The Ukrainian military has been carrying out a counteroffensive in Kherson and eastern parts of the country, taking back territory that had been occupied by Russia as well as striking critical infrastructure such as bridges and railways. Saldo claimed cities throughout Kherson, one of four Ukrainian regions Russia claimed to have annexed in violation of international law, were being hammered by dangerous airstrikes. Saldo said local Russian leadership had “decided to organize the possibility of Kherson families traveling to other regions of the Russian Federation.” “We suggested that all residents of the Kherson region, if there is such a wish, to protect themselves from the consequences of missile strikes, should go to other regions … to take their children and leave.” Fighting in Kherson has intensified in recent weeks, as Kyiv pushes ahead with its goal to take back parts of the region Russia seized in the early days of the invasion. US and Ukrainian officials said last month that they hoped to retake all of Kherson by the end of the year. As of last week, Ukraine said it had recaptured 2,400 square kilometers (927 square miles) in Kherson previously under Russian control. Authorities in Kyiv said Wednesday that it had liberated five more small, rural villages as the Ukrainian military pushes further southwest. With Ukrainian forces barreling forward, Saldo appealed to Russian leaders to help local Russian-backed officials move civilians. “We, residents of the Kherson region, of course, know that Russia does not abandon its own people,” Saldo said. However, Kirill Stremousov, the deputy head of the Kherson region’s military administration, said that the civilian transports were not an “evacuation.” “There is no evacuation in the Kherson region and there cannot be any,” he said. Stremousov has been openly critical of the war’s decision-makers in Moscow and on the battlefield. Last week, he blamed the military setbacks in Kherson on “incompetent commanders” who have not been held accountable for their mistakes. On Thursday, Stremousov insisted that Saldo was only requesting that authorities “help organize the departure of residents of the Kherson region for temporary stay and rest in other regions of the Russian Federation.” “We urge the residents of the Kherson region to remain calm and to not panic. Nobody is going to withdraw Russian troops from the Kherson region,” Stremousov said. “This is not an evacuation, this is an opportunity to save lives.” Read More Here

Father Of Man Accused Of Murdering UofA Professor Says Son Was ‘a Ticking Time Bomb’ https://digitalarizonanews.com/father-of-man-accused-of-murdering-uofa-professor-says-son-was-a-ticking-time-bomb/ TUCSON, AZ (3TV/CBS 5) – The father of the man accused of murdering a University of Arizona professor is sharing his story for the first time. Murad Dervish is accused of shooting and killing Thomas Meixner last week. He was the department head of the graduate program Dervish was in. Dervish had recently been expelled and barred from campus over threatening behavior. Now, Dervish’s father said this is the worst-case scenario for a pattern of concerning behavior he says they tried desperately to fix. Dolgun Dervish was in tears during his interview, trying to express his apologies and sorrow to Meixner’s family. He said his son suffered from Asperger’s syndrome and was in and out of prison because of his actions – trying to kill multiple family members. Dolgun Dervish said his son was a ticking time bomb. “When I got the call, my first impression was it finally happened. He killed somebody,” he said. It was a startling thought for a father – anger and grief toward his son and unimaginable despair for the victim. “I’m so sorry. My heart goes for this young man. He’s 52 years old. We studied all about him. He was a wonderful man,” Dolgun Dervish said while crying. On Oct. 5, police say former University of Arizona graduate student Murad Dervish went to the Harshbarger Building on campus and shot and killed Meixner. The professor was the head of the Department of Hydrology & Atmospheric Sciences, which was the program Murad Dervish was a part of until he was expelled. “My son has Asperger’s Syndrome,” Dolgun Dervish said. He said his son’s mental disorder led to a pattern of violent behavior, which started at Penn State. “He pulled a knife on a pizza man,” Dolgun Dervish said. Then, it happened at his dad’s restaurant. “[He] started breaking things and threw things at me and hurt me,” Dolgun Dervish said. And then toward his mom in San Diego. “There he tried to kill his mother,” Dolgun Dervish said. Those episodes landed Murad Dervish in prison three different times. But Dolgun Dervish said he tried expressing to law enforcement that his son needed more mental health help and was a danger to everyone if he was let out. “You can’t just put him in prison and punish him and think in two years and then let him out. Nothing will be done,” Dolgun Dervish said. Dolgun Dervish said he stopped answering his son’s calls after he tried to kill his mother, but said a week before Meixner’s murder, his son tried calling to share his frustration that he was kicked out of both school and was being evicted from his apartment. According to the search warrant, authorities found a slew of items in Murad Dervish’s car, including two loaded handguns, five knives, two machetes, rounds of ammunition, three cell phones, a bag to block cell signals and prevent tracking, and a can of mace. Dolgun Dervish said he hopes to raise awareness for how devastating Asperger’s can be and why help beyond prison is necessary. And to the family of Thomas Meixner, he had this message. “I’m so sorry for your pain. I share it every day,” he said through tears. Murad Dervish is facing charges of first-degree murder and aggravated assault. Thomas Meixner’s funeral is Friday in Tucson at 10 a.m. and the family says it is open to the public who wishes to come to pay their respects. Copyright 2022 KTVK/KPHO. All rights reserved. Read More Here

Wawa To Close 2 Center City Philadelphia Locations Due To Continued Safety Concerns https://digitalarizonanews.com/wawa-to-close-2-center-city-philadelphia-locations-due-to-continued-safety-concerns/ PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — Wawa is closing two Center City Philadelphia stores because of “continued safety and security challenges and business factors,” according to a statement from the company. The beloved convenience store chain says it is closing stores at 12th and Market streets and 19th and Market streets. A spokesperson said, “All associates from these two stores will be offered continued employment at Wawa. These two closures do not necessarily impact or limit the potential for future stores in Philadelphia County. We continue to be focused on doing everything we can to monitor.” “It’s getting worse, it’s getting worse. I don’t even understand why they keep doing this. It doesn’t make any sense,” said customer Virginia Carrington of West Philadelphia. SEE ALSO: Philly police release video that shows suspects who ransacked a Wawa store in Mayfair Customers of the Wawa on 36th and Chestnut streets are frustrated after hearing that five women are wanted for stealing and hurting a female employee early Thursday morning. “I heard they pepper sprayed the employees that worked at Wawa. The city is just out of control at the moment,” said Alfie Coker of South Philadelphia. Incidents like one last month when nearly 100 juveniles ransacked a Mayfair Wawa, encouraged City Councilman Michael Driscoll’s office to make contact with Wawa corporate. “We wanted them to know we were there for them we were there to help,” said Driscoll. Driscoll now said he fears for the future of Wawa in Philadelphia if violent or dangerous incidents continue to happen at stores. SEE ALSO: Philadelphia police still searching for suspects who ransacked Wawa in Mayfair “My concern is any business that experiences something like this may change their business model,” he said. Wawa has adjusted and cut overnight hours at several stores and closed others completely in recent years. Regarding the closures of Market street Wawa stores, a spokesperson said, “These closures do not diminish in any way our on-going commitment to serve the Philadelphia community or our acknowledgment of the effort and support we continue to receive from local police. It is our hope to repurpose these two locations to further benefit Philadelphia.” “We are very sorry we can’t be there for our friends and neighbors at these two locations, but we continue to serve the community from our other nearby stores and our commitment to the greater region remains strong. Philadelphia is our hometown and that’s something that will never change.” The City says it’s working with business owners to understand their concerns. “The Night Time Economy Director has launched a listening tour that would publicly engage large and small companies that operate after 5 p.m. in Philadelphia.” Copyright © 2022 WPVI-TV. All Rights Reserved. Read More Here

Watch: Tapper Rolls The Tape On Trump's Attacks On Haberman. See Her Response | CNN Politics https://digitalarizonanews.com/watch-tapper-rolls-the-tape-on-trumps-attacks-on-haberman-see-her-response-cnn-politics/ New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman reacts to past attacks by former President Donald Trump. ” data-duration=”02:09″ data-editable=”settings” data-headline=”Tapper rolls the tape on Trump’s attacks on Haberman. See her response” data-index=”idx-0″ data-show-name=”” data-show-url=”” data-source=”CNN” data-uri=”archive.cms.cnn.com/_components/video-resource/instances/haberman-trump-attacks-roll-the-tape-tapperctn-vpx_h_529b4e0845485ab1d11a1fab036e2362@published” data-video-id=”politics/2022/10/14/haberman-trump-attacks-roll-the-tape-tapperctn-vpx.cnn” data-video-instance=”archive.cms.cnn.com/_components/video-resource/instances/haberman-trump-attacks-roll-the-tape-tapperctn-vpx_h_529b4e0845485ab1d11a1fab036e2362@published” Getty Images/CNN Now playing Tapper rolls the tape on Trump’s attacks on Haberman. See her response Read More Here

With Subpoena, Jan. 6 Committee Plays Off Trump's Competing Instincts https://digitalarizonanews.com/with-subpoena-jan-6-committee-plays-off-trumps-competing-instincts/ Donald Trump Holds Campaign Rally In Support Of Arizona GOP Candidates Former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at Legacy Sports USA on October 09, 2022 in Mesa, Arizona. Credit – Mario Tama—Getty Images It was a dare. When the House Jan. 6 Committee voted on Thursday to compel Donald Trump’s testimony about his role in the failed attempt to overthrow the 2020 election result, culminating in a mob storming the Capitol, they appealed to his love of the limelight and his instinct to avoid not looking weak. Would the temptation to come back to the center ring of the circus be too much for the showman to turn down? But Trump has an opposing, well-documented impulse when confronted with legal challenges, and that is to distract and delay as long as he can. If the Democrats lose the House, as predicted, the Jan. 6 committee will be shut down by January. That’s a short clock Trump may be tempted to run out with stall tactics and court appeals, as he has many times before. “Why didn’t the Unselect Committee ask me to testify months ago,” Trump wrote on his social media platform after the unanimous vote on Thursday. “Why did they wait until the very end, the final moments of their last meeting? Because the Committee is a total ‘BUST.’” In its ninth hearing, the committee presented evidence that even before the election, outside advisors close to Trump knew he planned to declare victory no matter the outcome; then, as the results came in, Trump’s own campaign officials told him he had lost, and Trump acknowledged to close aides he knew it. But, the committee found, Trump continued to publicly trumpet false claims of election fraud, using the authority of the White House as a backdrop, even after being told by the Department of Justice and campaign officials that allegation after allegation fell apart under scrutiny. After putting together a case that Trump knowingly fed the public lies about election fraud and then encouraged his supporters to march on the Capitol building to overturn the results, Rep. Liz Cheney, Republican from Wyoming, said that the committee wanted to hear from the former President himself. “We are obligated to seek answers directly from the man who set this all in motion,” Cheney said, when she introduced the motion to subpoena Trump. Rep. Bennie Thompson, Democrat from Mississippi and the committee’s chair, said that Trump “is the one person at the center of the story of what happened on Jan. 6. So we want to hear from him.” The center of the story is exactly where Trump likes to be. “All of this, he probably thinks, plays to his benefit–keeps him in the news,” says Barbara Perry, a professor at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center and an expert on the presidency. She predicts Trump won’t take the committee’s bait. “Presumably he will fight this until I guess he goes all the way to the Supreme Court,” Perry says “Can Congress subpoena a former president? Or he’ll try to use executive privilege as a dodge.” Multiple Trump allies have refused to cooperate with the committee’s subpoenas, and in some cases have been charged with contempt. Steve Bannon, an adviser to Trump, is currently awaiting sentencing on two charges of contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with the committee’s subpoena, after a jury convicted him in July. But Trump, as a former President, would pose a different legal challenge. While four former Presidents testified voluntarily to Congress, no former President has ever had to be subpoenaed to do so. If Trump did comply with the congressional subpoena, he could end up testifying in a public hearing, or a videotaped deposition. At that point, Trump would have to decide if he answers questions, and risks being in legal jeopardy for seditious conspiracy, or another violation, or invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. Several committee witnesses, including Roger Stone, John Eastman and Jeffrey Clark, pleaded the fifth repeatedly while being questioned by the committee. Over decades of legal entanglements, Trump has honed a playbook to deny, deflect and delay when faced with legal challenges. These are tactics he’s practiced through 50 years of lawsuits, tax audits, two impeachments, and the most investigations a former President has ever faced. Trump is defending himself on a number of legal fronts. In addition to being subpoenaed by Congress, Trump is also currently under under scrutiny by New York Attorney General Letitia James who is investigating his business practices; the Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Fani Willis who is investigating Trump’s alleged pressure campaign on election officials; and Attorney General Merrick Garland who is investigating Trump’s role in Jan. 6 and his taking government documents with him to Mar a Lago after he left the White House. When it comes to the events leading up to the deadly siege of the Capitol, Trump has a lot to explain. For one thing, he knew the crowd was armed, but wanted them to join him at his speech anyway. The committee showed footage of former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson describing Trump on Jan. 6, moments before taking the stage to speak to the crowd at the Ellipse, telling White House security officials to stop checking the crowd for weapons with magnetometers. “’I don’t care that they have weapons. They’re not here to hurt me. Take the effing mags away,’” Hutchinson recalled Trump saying. The Secret Service refused. On stage, Trump didn’t give up trying to convince the law enforcement officers to let through thousands of his supporters staying outside the screening cordon, many of whom were armed. “I’d love it if they’d be allowed to come up here with us, is that possible?” Trump said. “Just let them come up please.” After the speech, Trump repeatedly tried and failed to get the Secret Service to take him to the Capitol Building, the committee found. It is gaining more information about such moments that prompted the committee to vote unanimously to issue its subpoena, arguing that hearing directly from the former President about his thinking and motivations was crucial. “Our nation cannot only punish the foot soldiers who stormed our capitol,” Cheney said. “Those who planned to overturn our election and brought us to the point of violence must also be held accountable.” Read More Here

Secret Service Knew Of Capitol Threat More Than A Week Before Jan. 6 https://digitalarizonanews.com/secret-service-knew-of-capitol-threat-more-than-a-week-before-jan-6/ The Secret Service had warnings earlier than previously known that supporters of President Donald Trump were plotting an armed attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, according to records revealed in a congressional hearing Thursday. Secret Service agents in charge of assessing the risks around the protests had been tracking online chats on pro-Trump websites and noted that rallygoers were vowing to bring firearms, target the Capitol for a siege and even kill Vice President Mike Pence. As early as Dec. 26, Secret Service officials were sharing one tipster’s warnings about extremist groups coming to the Capitol with murderous plans. “They think they will have a large enough group to march into DC armed and will outnumber the police so they can’t be stopped,” the tip read. “Their plan is to literally kill people,” the tipster wrote. “Please, please take this tip seriously and investigate further.” The evidence presented at the hearing adds the Secret Service to a long list of national security agencies who received prescient warnings about the assault protesters planned for Jan. 6, yet failed to respond with urgency or cohesion to prevent the insurrection. Jan. 6 committee member Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.) said the new details — retrieved in internal emails from a trove of more than a 1 million records the Secret Service provided the House panel — raise questions about how the agency shared its intelligence and whether officials have been forthright about their knowledge of the warnings. “As we have seen, the Secret Service and other agencies knew of the prospect of violence well in advance of the president’s speech at the Ellipse,” Schiff said during the hearing. “Despite this, certain White House and Secret Service witnesses previously testified that they had received no intelligence about violence that could have potentially threatened any of their protectees on January 6th, including the vice president. Evidence strongly suggests that this testimony is not credible.” In a statement, Secret Service Deputy Director Faron K. Paramore noted that the agency is not a “member of the Intelligence Community” and said it had shared its information widely with others. “In the weeks leading up to Jan. 6, Secret Service was in constant communication and sharing information with our law enforcement partners in the Washington, D.C. area regarding available protective intelligence and open-source information concerning potential violence,” said Paramore. Much of the intelligence cited in Thursday’s hearing was alarming in its specificity. One Secret Service unit, Schiff said, flagged a social media account on a pro-Trump site that threatened to bring a sniper rifle to Washington. “Intelligence about this risk was directly available to the U.S. Secret Service and others in the White House in advance of the speech, in advance of the march to the Capitol,” Schiff said. In a Dec. 30 email, a Secret Service agent warned of Trump supporters’ online threats, noting the U.S. Marshals Service was “seeing a lot of violent rhetoric directed at government people, entities, in addition to our protected persons.” The protected person most targeted for attack: the vice president. On the morning of the rally, Schiff noted, the Secret Service knew many of the protesters in the crowd on the Ellipse had weapons, but it’s unclear what steps the agency took as a result. It is a crime to carry a firearm on federal property. Trump was scheduled to speak a little after noon. Secret Service units shared reports from police that morning that they had seen rallygoers with firearms, including a Glock, a pistol, and a rifle. They knew D.C. police had reportedly detained a person carrying an assault rifle. At the same time, they were getting reports of death threats against Pence, who had just entered the U.S. Capitol that morning to perform his role in certifying the election. “Alert at 1022 regarding VP being a dead man walking if he doesn’t do the right thing,” one Secret Service email warned at 10:39 a.m. By 12:36, as Trump took the stage, one Secret Service employee emailed another about the barely hidden threat all around them. “With so many weapons found so far, you wonder how many are unknown” one Secret Service employee wrote to a colleague. “Could be sporty after dark,” he wrote, referring to the chance for gun battles. “No doubt,” his colleague wrote back. “The people at the Ellipse said they are moving to the Capitol after the POTUS speech.” Read More Here

Highlights From The Ninth Jan. 6 House Committee Hearing https://digitalarizonanews.com/highlights-from-the-ninth-jan-6-house-committee-hearing/ This was a hearing that put former President Trump at center stage, a presentation involving every member of the Jan. 6 House select committee that culminated in a vote on issuing a subpoena for documents and testimony before the panel by the former president. The resolution passed unanimously. Beyond that, though, there were other notable revelations and previously unseen video that emerged from what’s likely to be the committee’s final hearing. Here are some of the highlights from the ninth Jan. 6 hearing: Pelosi and congressional leaders seeking help on Jan. 6 The committee played video that had never been seen publicly, of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer and other top officials in Congress working the phones, contacting Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam and Vice President Mike Pence. Pelosi implored Northam to activate the Virginia National Guard. Committee member Rep. Jamie Raskin said they “stepped into the giant leadership void created by the president’s chilling and studied passivity that day.” On the phone with Pence, who had been relocated to a garage near Capitol loading docks, Pelosi discussed how they’d resume their work to affirm the Electoral College results, even as she could see on television images of the mobs of Trump supporters breaching the Capitol. “What we are being told very directly is it’s gonna take days for the Capitol to be OK again,” Pelosi told Pence on the phone. Outside the Capitol, there were cries of “hang Mike Pence” and on Twitter, users were calling for his execution, Twitter whistleblower Anika Navaroli told the committee. Pelosi assessed some of the damage done by rioters that could delay lawmakers’ return to the floor, remarking that some had defecated in the Capitol. “I don’t think that that’s hard to clean up,” she said, “but I do think it is more from a security standpoint of making sure that everybody is out of the building and how long will that take.” It could take time to “clean out the poo-poo they are making, literally and figuratively,” Pelosi said. The footage was shot by Alexandra Pelosi, a documentary filmmaker and Pelosi’s daughter. Multiple criminal referrals possible While summing up how much the committee has learned in its 15-month investigation,committee vice chair Liz Cheney said they had “sufficient information” to “consider criminal referrals for multiple individuals, and to recommend a range of legislative proposals to guard against another Jan. 6.”  Cheney named some of the people who the committee has made criminal referrals to the Justice Department, but those referrals are for failing to comply with the committee’s subpoenas. The committee has sent criminal referrals for Trump’s White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, chief of staff Mark Meadows and aides Peter Navarro and Dan Scavino. Bannon and Navarro were both charged, and Bannon has since been found guilty. She also noted how many of Trump’s allies took the Fifth instead of testifying, and played a video montage showing their refusal to answer the committee’s questions. Trump authorized the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan and Somalia The committee showed testimony about national security concerns arising from a memo Trump had signed that would have ordered the immediate withdrawal of all U.S. troops from Afghanistan and Somalia. GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger presented the testimony as an exam[ple of the “unfinished business” Mr. Trump was taking care of in his final weeks in office. “Keep in mind the order was for an immediate withdrawal,” Kinzinger said. “It would have been catastrophic, yet President Trump signed the order. These are highly consequential actions of a president who knows his term will shortly end.” The order was drafted by Johnny McEntee, a political aide in the Trump White House who had been his personal aide, known as a “body man” and was later named director of the White House Presidential Personnel Office. McEntee initially told a senior adviser to the defense secretary that the Pentagon should withdraw the troops. The adviser said Pentagon leadership would not do it without an order from the president and then gave McEntee the language for an order. “I hereby direct you to withdraw all U.S. military forces from the Federal Republic of Somalia no later than 31 December 2020; and from the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan no later than 15 January 2021,” read the memo, which the committee showed on Thursday. “McEntee duly types it up, brings it in to the president, the president signs it, and boom, it’s over, faxed over or emailed over, scanned over, and [the acting Defense Secretary’s Chief of Staff] Kash Patel delivers it to me,” Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley said in an interview with the committee. “It is odd. It is non-standard. It is potentially dangerous,” Milley told the committee. “I personally thought it was not militarily feasible, nor wise.” In the end, Trump ordered troops to leave Somalia – a move which President Biden has since reversed – and ordered a reduction of troops in Afghanistan. Mr. Biden withdrew U.S. troops from Afghanistan in August 2021. Trump: “Can you believe I lost to this effing guy?” Even as he publicly insisted he won and the election was unfairly rigged, privately, the president admitted to some that he had lost. In video played by the committee, former White House aide Alyssa Farah recalled seeing Trump watching TV: “He was looking at the TV, and he said, ‘Can you believe I lost to this effing guy?'” Cassidy Hutchinson asked chief of staff Mark Meadows of Trump really thinks “that he lost,” and Meadows admitted, “‘A lot of times he’ll tell me that he lost, but he wants to keep fighting it, and he thinks there might be enough to overturn the election, but you know, he pretty much has acknowledged that he’s lost.'” Milley recalled Trump said at one point, “‘Yeah, we lost, we need to let that issue go to the next guy,” adding, “Meaning President Biden.” No subpoena for Pence Jan. 6 select committee chairman Bennie Thompson, asked by reporters whether Pence would be subpoenaed, responded, “No.” But he nodded his head when they asked if he hoped Trump would appear in person. Pence had said over the summer that he’d “consider” testifying before the committee if asked. Markets rally despite inflation report Parkland families stunned by jury’s recommendation of life in prison for gunman Elaine Chao tells Jan. 6 committee why she resigned from the Trump administration Read More Here

Rare Protest Against China's Xi Jinping Days Before Communist Party Congress | CNN https://digitalarizonanews.com/rare-protest-against-chinas-xi-jinping-days-before-communist-party-congress-cnn/ CNN  —  A rare protest against Chinese leader Xi Jinping and his policies was swiftly ended in Beijing Thursday, just days before he is set to secure a third term in power at a key meeting of the ruling Communist Party. Photos circulating on Twitter Thursday afternoon show two banners hung on an overpass of a major thoroughfare in the northwest of the Chinese capital, protesting against Xi’s unrelenting zero-Covid policy and authoritarian rule. “Say no to Covid test, yes to food. No to lockdown, yes to freedom. No to lies, yes to dignity. No to cultural revolution, yes to reform. No to great leader, yes to vote. Don’t be a slave, be a citizen,” reads one banner. “Go on strike, remove dictator and national traitor Xi Jinping,” reads the other. The photos and videos also show plumes of smoke billowing from the bridge, and a voice recording of the protest slogans played on loudspeaker. CNN cannot independently verify the images and footage, but has geolocated them to Sitong Bridge, an overpass on Beijing’s Third Ring Road in Haidian district. When CNN arrived at Sitong Bridge around 3.30 p.m. Thursday, no protesters or banners could be seen. However, a large number of security personnel were on the overpass and in the vicinity. Security personnel were also spotted patrolling every overpass CNN drove by on the Third Ring Road. Chinese authorities have yet to comment on the incident. CNN has reached out to Beijing police for comment. The protest sent China’s stringent online censorship into overdrive. Weibo, a Twitter-like platform, immediately censored search results for “Sitong Bridge,” the site of the protests. Before long, key words including “Beijing,” “Haidian,” “warrior,” “brave man,” and even “courage” were restricted from search. Numerous accounts on Weibo and WeChat, the super-app essential for daily life in China, have been banned after commenting on – or alluding to – the protest. Still, many spoke out to express their support and awe. Some shared the Chinese pop hit “Lonely Warrior” in a veiled reference to the protester, who some called a “hero,” while others swore never to forget, posting under the hashtag: “I saw it.” “Thank you for letting me still see hope for this land,” one comment said. “The person has disappeared, the name of the site has disappeared, so many words are disappearing. But there are so many Chinese characters, so many pair of eyes. Can you censor us all?” said another. Public protest against the top leadership is extremely rare in China, especially in the run-up to important political meetings, when authorities turn Beijing into a fortress to maintain security and stability. The twice-a-decade Communist Party national congress is the most important event on China’s political calendar. At the 20th Party Congress beginning on Sunday, Xi is widely expected to break with recent norms and extend his rule for another term, potentially paving the way for lifelong rule. Xi, the most powerful and authoritarian Chinese leader in decades, has waged a sweeping crackdown to crush dissent, both within the party and in wider society. His draconian zero-Covid policy has fueled growing public frustration, as rolling lockdowns upend lives and wreak havoc on the economy. Read More Here

Josh Bertrand Goes Wire-To-Wire To Win 2022 WON Bass U.S. Open https://digitalarizonanews.com/josh-bertrand-goes-wire-to-wire-to-win-2022-won-bass-u-s-open/ Laughlin, Nev. – October 12, 2022 – It’s very rare to have a bass fishing event in the deserts of Nevada and Arizona where wind is not a factor in the event.  It is even more rare for a three-day event to have a complete lack of wind.  Warm, calm conditions greeted the anglers who ventured out onto the waters of Lake Mohave each day for the 2022 Bass Cat / Mercury WON BASS U.S. Open has been presented by Laughlin Tourism Commission and Visit Laughlin. Calm slick conditions on a clear water fishery often means difficult conditions, but for the first two days, San Tan Valley, Ariz. pro Josh Bertrand seemingly made it look easy with consecutive limits that eclipsed 20 pounds.  With a two-day total of 43.79 pounds, he held a little more than a four-pound lead over second place pro Spencer Shuffield of Hot Springs, Ark., who started the final day with 39.43 pounds.  Three-time U.S. Open champion Clifford Pirch, from Payson, Ariz. stood in third with 39.36 pounds. The trio, and those chasing them spent a long day on Lake Mohave, but in the end, it was San Tan Valley, Ariz. pro Josh Bertrand, the man who led since the opening bell who proved to put the pieces of the puzzle together the best and walked away with the title of 2022 WON Bass U.S. Open Champion.  Bertrand added a final day limit of Lake Mohave smallmouth weighing 17.99 pounds to bring his three-day winning total to 61.78. In claiming victory, Bertrand not only held the trophy, but also grabbed the keys to the Bass Cat Cougar FTD / Mercury ProXS 250 prize package worth $86,000 and the winner’s share of the purse worth another $75,000. Bertrand outlasted Shuffield who posted his second consecutive limit eclipsing 20 pounds on the final day.  His 20.75-pound limit brought his total to finish the tournament with 60.18 pounds, good enough for second place. AAA angler Joe Ahrens of San Diego, Calif. began the final day in eighth place and fished with Fort Worth, Tex. pro Chris Zaldain.  The pair weighed 18.83 pounds on the final day to bring his total weight to 46.40 pounds to claim the title of WON Bass U.S. Open AAA Champion.  His victory earned him the keys to a Honda Fortrax ATV valued at $5,600 and $9,000 cash. Bertrand, who began his fishing career guiding and competing in tournaments in Arizona, said that this title was something he had wanted for years.  “The U.S. Open has always been one of the most important and special tournaments I’ve fished in,” he said.  “I’d always wanted to earn this trophy, but I didn’t know how much it meant to me until I was on the water today; it was a very stressful day, and I am so happy that it turned out this way.” The Major League Fishing Bass Pro Tour angler, who has turned into one of the most consistent anglers in the business, said that he fished deep with a dropshot rig to put his weight together.  “I fished the middle section of the lake on structure in 20 to 40 feet of water,” he said.  “I would use my Garmin Livescope Plus to make sure the fish were there and cast my dropshot rig to them; they were relating heavily to school of baitfish.” Bertrand revealed that each of his keepers came on a Berkley Flatworm in green pumpkin, with the late exception of two of his final fish that bit the same worm in a black color.  “I used the Flatworm because I have so much confidence in how it appeals to smallmouth,” he said.  “I threw it on my new Abu Garcia dropshot rod ad reel spooled with 6-pound-test Trilene fluorocarbon, a 3/8-ounce dropshot rig with a Fusion 19 Dropshot Hook; that was my whole program.” Bertrand, who won a Bassmaster Elite Series event on the St. Lawrence River in New York in 2018, said that the personal importance of this win is at a premium.  “I am really fortunate to compete on a national level, and to have won there,” he said.  “But this win ranks at the top of my list because of what it has meant to me over my career; the U.S. Open has been the event all of us in the West want to win, and I’ve dreamt of it my whole life; I’m absolutely in shock right now.” Fishing his first U.S. Open, Shuffield found comfort in the fact that he was smallmouth fishing and put together a run at the win.  “I really loved the way this lake fished, it is an amazing lake,” said Shuffield.  “I used a dropshot rig and a Ned Rig to catch all of my fish this week fishing in the area they call “The Bowl.” Shuffield used the same Berkley Flatworm that won the event, but also used a green pumpkin Z Man TRD to boat his fish.  He threw them on a 7’4” Phenix M1rod and Daiwa Ballistic reel spooled with 15-pound-test Hi-Viz Yellow Yozuri Super Braid and an 8-pound-test Yozuri T7 Fluorocarbon leader.” The Arizona pro said that he let himself listen to the dock talk that said that 18 pounds a day would win the event, and it cost him.  “I had 18 pounds early then laid off my fish trying to conserve the areas on the first day and weighed in two under four pounds,” he said.  “I tried to make up for it, but that first day really cost me.  But I have to give it Josh, he knew what he had to do and went out and did it; congratulations to him.” Patrick Touey from Nipomo, Calif. caught 19 pounds today and moved into third place for the championship with 56.75 pounds. 18-year-old Zach VerBrugge brought 17.71 pounds to the scales at Katherine Landing to move his total weight to 53.47 pounds, landing the Lake Havasu, Ariz. pro in fourth place.  Rounding out the top five was Zaldain, the Bassmaster Elite Series pro weighed a total of 51.61 pounds for the event. Following the AAA winner Ahrens, in second place was Brian Tressen from Corona, Calif with 45.72 pounds.  In third place was Mike Crothers of Chandler, Ariz. with 44.03 pounds. Jim Vretzos of El Dorado Hills, Calif. finished the event in fourth place with 43.54 pounds and Tyler Head of Eugene, Ore. Rounded out the top five with 41.71 pounds. The 2022 Bass Cat / Mercury WON BASS U.S. Open has been presented by Laughlin Tourism Commission and Visit Laughlin. Takeoffs and weigh-ins were held at Katherine Landing at Lake Mohave Marina located at 2690 Katherine Spur, Bullhead City, AZ 86429. Look to wonbass.com and WONews.com along with WON BASS and Western Outdoor News social media platforms for event details and updates. Complete final standings below The 40th Anniversary 2022 WON BASS U.S. Open is presented by the following sponsors; Bass Cat Boats, Mercury Marine, Costa, Century Marine, Power-Pole, Western Outdoor News, Next Gen Lithium, Daiwa, Berkley, Abu Garcia, Frabill, Plano, Seaguar, Chevron Techron Marine, Lowrance, DD26 Fishing, Phenix Rods, Gamakatsu, Livingston Lures, Roboworm, HydroHoist, Bridgford Foods, Last Chance Performance Marine, Anglers Marine, Katherine Landing, Sure Life, LifeSource Water Systems, HUK Fishing, Huntington Beach Honda, Anderson Ford, Tuff Bunk, Laughlin Tourism Commission, Visit Laughlin and Edgewater Hotel, Casino & Resort. PRO AAA 1 $75,000 + Fully Loaded Bass Cat Josh Bertrand   61.78 1 $9,000 + Honda Fourtrax ATV Joe Ahrens 46.40 2 $16,500 Spencer Shuffield   60.18 2 $5,750 Brian Tressen 45.72 3 $10,000 Patrick Touey   56.75 3 $4,750 Mike Crothers 44.03 4 $9,000 Zach VerBrugge   53.47 4 $3,350 Jim Vretzos 43.54 5 $8,000 Chris Zaldain   51.61 5 $2,500 Tyler Head 41.71 Josh Bertrand Spencer Shuffield Read More Here

Obituary | Julia Ann Dobbins Heil https://digitalarizonanews.com/obituary-julia-ann-dobbins-heil/ Originally Published: October 13, 2022 6:48 p.m. Julia Ann Dobbins Heil was born in 1944 in Kingman, Arizona. Her parents, Ollie and Robert E. Lee Dobbins, moved to Kingman from Texas in 1937. “Julie” went to Palo Christi School until her dad died from being hit by a train on 2nd Street in Kingman. The youngest of six kids, Julie met and married Joe Heil in Las Vegas in May, 1962. They had two children, Jeff A. Heil and Cindy Leahy. Julie was a hairdresser for over 35 years. She lived in Phoenix, Arizona; Marysville, Washington, and Kingman, Arizona. Julie was a beautiful Christian woman, and wonderful wife and mother. Julie was blessed with five grandkids, Jeremy, Sarah, Lillie, Zoe and Ceci; four great-grandkids from Jeremy and Elisa; along with so many more nieces and nephews along with great-nieces and great-nephews who all loved her so much. Special love from Amy Heil, mother of Zoe and Lillie. Burial is at Mountain View Cemetery on Oct. 15 at 8:30 a.m. A celebration of life will be held after the burial at 4220 N. Lomita, Kingman, Arizona. Read More…

Elon Musk Is Under Federal Investigation, Twitter Says In Court Filing https://digitalarizonanews.com/elon-musk-is-under-federal-investigation-twitter-says-in-court-filing/ WILMINGTON, Del., Oct 13 (Reuters) – Elon Musk is being investigated by federal authorities over his conduct in his $44 billion takeover deal for Twitter Inc (TWTR.N), the social media company said in a court filing released on Thursday. While the filing said he was under investigations, it did not say what the exact focus of the probes were and which federal authorities are conducting them. Twitter, which sued Musk in July to force him to close the deal, said attorneys for the Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) CEO had claimed “investigative privilege” when refusing to hand over documents it had sought. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com In late September, Musk’s attorneys had provided a “privilege log” identifying documents to be withheld, Twitter said. The log referenced drafts of a May 13 email to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and a slide presentation to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The court filing, which asked a Delaware judge to order the Musk’s attorneys to provide the documents, was made on Oct. 6 – the same day that the judge that paused litigation between the two sides after Musk reversed course and said he would proceed with the deal. “This game of ‘hide the ball’ must end,” the company said in the court filing. Alex Spiro, an attorney for Musk, told Reuters that Twitter’s court filing was a “misdirection.” Twitter declined to comment on Spiro’s response and to Reuters queries about its understanding of any investigation into Musk. The SEC did not immediately respond to request for comment and the FTC declined to comment. The SEC has questioned Musk’s comments about the Twitter acquisition. In April, the SEC asked Musk whether the disclosure of his 9% Twitter stake was late and why it indicated that he intended to be a passive shareholder. Musk later refiled the disclosure to indicate he was an active investor. In June, the SEC asked Musk in a letter whether he should have amended his public filing to reflect his intention to suspend or abandon the deal. The Information, a tech news site, reported in April that the FTC was scrutinizing whether Musk failed to comply with an antitrust reporting requirement as he amassed his stake in Twitter. Twitter said in June that the takeover deal with Musk had cleared an antitrust waiting period for review by the FTC and U.S. Justice Department. read more Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Reporting by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware, Sheila Dang in Dallas and Hyunjoo Jin in San Francisco; Editing by Chris Reese and Edwina Gibbs Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. Tom Hals Thomson Reuters Award-winning reporter with more than two decades of experience in international news, focusing on high-stakes legal battles over everything from government policy to corporate dealmaking. Read More Here

AZ Police Departments Suspend Less-Lethal Shotguns, Citing Velocity Issues https://digitalarizonanews.com/az-police-departments-suspend-less-lethal-shotguns-citing-velocity-issues/ Multiple Arizona police departments are without one of their most common less-lethal options after Phoenix PD suspected the beanbag rounds, under the brand name ‘Super-Sock’, were shooting at an abnormally high velocity. Phoenix Police, Goodyear Police, and the Arizona Department of Public Safety (DPS) have all suspended the use of their ‘stun bag [12 gauge] shotguns’ until the velocity issues can be investigated and resolved. In an internal memo sent to officers, Phoenix Police wrote: “It has just come to our attention there are inconsistencies with the stun bag rounds. The Department has immediately ceased the use of stun bags as a less-lethal option under any circumstances. In addition to the other less lethal options available, we will be supplementing patrol with additional resources to enhance our less lethal coverage. A schedule will be forthcoming. The Training Bureau is researching the situation and will provide further information as soon as possible.” Multiple police sources tell ABC15 Phoenix officers noticed the Super-Sock beanbags injure suspects in an unusual way, like penetrating the skin and breaking a bone. The issue was then brought up at a Valley chief’s meeting to alert other departments. DPS told ABC15 “We have stopped using these beanbag rounds pending our own investigation.” Goodyear PD also collected all the less-lethal rounds from officers and immediately suspended the ‘bean bag shotgun program.’ A Goodyear Deputy Chief told employees: “We have become aware of an issue of inconsistent powder in the rounds issued that could double the intended feet per second velocity.  The potential velocity…could cause unintended serious injury that must be taken seriously. We will immediately be exploring alternatives to bring the program back and will notify everyone and reissue ammunition when a solution is found.” “That’s a real big problem” Lon Bartel is a former Peoria Police Officer, certified to train others on Super-Sock and other less-lethal weapons. He was surprised to hear about the potential doubling of velocity. “That’s a real big problem,” said Bartel. “The reason being is simple physics…when you increase velocity, the mathematical formula is mass times velocity squared. It’s not one-to-one, it’s logarithmic. Every little bit of velocity that you add significantly to the kinetic energy – and if we’re talking a factor of double…that is a huge jump.” Bartel said not having one of the main less-lethal options available could change how officers deal with confrontation. “When you create that void, something’s got to fill it. And if not, we run some issues of, ‘If I had the range, I could keep things safe. Now I’ve got to get closer.’ And if I get closer, I may end up having to shoot people from a lethal perspective,” said Bartel. Phoenix officers are now left with a taser or pepper spray as their main less-lethal options. Sources say the stun bag shotgun is the best for longer distances. Phoenix PD is also changing patrol schedules and paying more overtime to certain officers who are trained and equipped with different less-lethal weapons, like a 40mm launcher that shoots rubber bullets. Phoenix PD is also supplementing the change “by adding officers certified in other less lethal options to every shift.” The Department said it “is working with the manufacturer of the stun bag rounds to review the situation, and conducting additional tests, as needed. No decision on future use has been made.” “An investigation does need to happen. I think Phoenix and Goodyear [and DPS] are smart to pull them right now until they can dig a little deeper. There’s no question that there’s a value to that,” said Bartel. ABC15 repeatedly reached out to Combined Systems, the company that makes Super-Sock. They did not reply to our email or phone messages by publication. Other Arizona law enforcement agencies The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, Mesa Police and Peoria Police are all still using the Super-Sock rounds. Peoria PD said they tested their Super-Sock ammo, and it was within manufacturer specifications. Mesa PD said, “We do not have any issues with the CTS Super-Sock…There is no memo that was sent out to change the rounds.” MCSO said, “We are in communication with other Valley law enforcement agencies to identify any potential issues.” Scottsdale PD said their patrol team does not use Super-Sock but the “SWAT Team still has limited amounts to be used only for riot control during mobile field force operations.” A Scottsdale spokesperson also said, “There has not been a memo or directive to our officers about the use of Super-Socks…We have not been made aware of any defects, recalls, or issues from the manufacturer.” The Tempe, Glendale, and Chandler police departments said they do not currently use Super-Sock whatsoever. The Pinal County Sheriff’s Office never responded for comment. Copyright 2022 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Sign up for the Headlines Newsletter and receive up to date information. Read More Here

Remembering The Life Of Ruth Marie Harper 1939 – 2022 https://digitalarizonanews.com/remembering-the-life-of-ruth-marie-harper-1939-2022/ Ruth Marie Harper, 83, of Saegertown, passed away Sunday, October 9, 2022, at UPMC-Hamot Medical Center, Erie. Ruth was born in Scranton, on February 6, 1939, a daughter of the late Samuel and Ruth (Carbaugh) Capazo. In October of 1957, Marie married her childhood sweetheart, Dr. Richard Harper, Captain, United States Navy; he preceded her in death on February 21, 2019. She was of the Protestant faith. A graduate of Chambersburg Area High School, Marie had attended a number of schools due to her father’s work. A dedicated wife and mother, Marie enjoyed being a homemaker and raising her family. Additionally she was a caring Licensed Practical Nurse. At her husband’s side wherever his military career led him, Marie had worked at Bethesda Naval Hospital, as well as various hospitals and nursing homes in Pittsburgh, Baltimore, MD, Indianapolis, IN, and Virginia Beach, VA. She was also a substitute teacher in Guam. Marie loved to travel, read, do Sudoku puzzles, and she was a Master Gardener. She enjoyed being outdoors, her daily walks at Woodcock Dam, and playing the game of Mahjong. Marie will be remembered for her kind spirit. She will be sadly missed. Marie is survived by a daughter Cynthia Michelle “Shelly” Harper of Saegertown; a granddaughter Whitney; two great grandchildren Cleopatra and Athena; four sisters Geraldine “Gere” Burns (Jere) of Monroeville, Trudy Capazo of TX, Rosemary Bryson of Tucson, AZ, Vonnie Capazo (Tom) of Harrisburg; several nieces and nephews. In addition to her beloved husband, Richard, of 61 years, Marie was preceded in death by a son Mike. A Memorial Service will be held at 4 PM on Thursday, October 20, 2022, at STEPHEN P. MIZNER FUNERAL HOME & CREMATION SERVICES, INC., 404 CHESTNUT ST., MEADVILLE, with Rev, Jeff Conley officiating. Marie will be laid to rest with her husband, Richard, in Arlington National Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made in Marie’s memory to her son’s memorial scholarship fund (account # 25471) at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA 22801. Share a memory or condolence at www.miznerfuneralhome.com Read More Here

Appetite For Distraction: Trump Rails Against Pulitzer Committee After Jan. 6 Subpoena https://digitalarizonanews.com/appetite-for-distraction-trump-rails-against-pulitzer-committee-after-jan-6-subpoena/ October 13, 2022 08:46 PM Former President Donald Trump slammed the Pulitzer Prize Board for not retracting the awards given in 2018 for reporting on the Russia investigation, the same day the House Jan. 6 committee voted to subpoena him. Trump, in a release from his Save America PAC, called the reporting by the New York Times and Washington Post “inaccurate, inept, and corrupt.” PULITZER BOARD REJECTS TRUMP BID TO YANK NEW YORK TIMES AND WASHINGTON POST AWARDS “The Russia, Russia, Russia hoax has been totally debunked. The fake news media covered it incorrectly — reporting exactly the opposite of what actually happened. Yet, the Pulitzer Board has not rescinded the prizes they awarded for reporting that was inaccurate, inept, and corrupt,” the statement said. “In order to restore the credibility of the Pulitzer Prizes, the Pulitzer Board should take away prizes from all who got it wrong. Additionally, it would be appropriate to award new prizes to all those who got it right.” The post also included a copy of a notice letter to the Pulitzer Board claiming its statement sticking by the 2018 awards opens members of the board to be held liable for the “defamatory statement.” The board defended its decision to award the New York Times and Washington Post in 2018, saying it had commissioned two independent reviews after receiving inquiries from Trump. “Both reviews were conducted by individuals with no connection to the institutions whose work was under examination, nor any connection to each other. The separate reviews converged in their conclusions: that no passages or headlines, contentions or assertions in any of the winning submissions were discredited by facts that emerged subsequent to the conferral of the prizes,” the statement in July said. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER The 2018 Pulitzer Prize for national reporting was awarded “for deeply sourced, relentlessly reported coverage in the public interest that dramatically furthered the nation’s understanding of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and its connections to the Trump campaign, the President-elect’s transition team and his eventual administration,” per its website. Trump’s statement came after the Jan. 6 committee held what may be its final hearing. Members unanimously voted to subpoena Trump, after which the former president asked why the panel didn’t take that action months ago. Trump also called the committee’s review “a total ‘BUST'” that only serves “to further divide our Country.” Read More Here

House Jan. 6 Committee Votes To Subpoena Trump https://digitalarizonanews.com/house-jan-6-committee-votes-to-subpoena-trump/ The Hill Trump lashes out at Jan. 6 committee vote to subpoena him Former President Trump on Thursday dismissed a House committee’s vote to subpoena him for testimony about the events of Jan. 6, 2021, as a publicity stunt. “Why didn’t the Unselect Committee ask me to testify months ago?” Trump posted on Truth Social shortly after the House panel investigating the Capitol riots on Jan. 6 voted… The Daily Beast Roger Stone Melts Down as Jan. 6 Committee Hearing Unfolds Drew Angerer/GettyAs the Jan. 6 committee showed video of Roger Stone’s closed-door deposition, Stone did what he does best: He complained. Stone took to Telegram and repeatedly responded to the Jan. 6 panel’s footage.“In 2000, when the Bush v. Gore election was still in doubt James A. Baker III urged Bush to claim victory, which he did and was hailed as a genius,” the longtime Trump adviser wrote on Telegram. “When I said Trump should do the same thing (in public but to not to either Trump or a Reuters Explainer-Does Trump have to comply with the Jan. 6 committee subpoena? The congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol voted on Thursday to subpoena former President Donald Trump, who they say instigated the violence in an attempt to overturn his 2020 election defeat. Trump is not likely to cooperate with the committee’s demand to provide documents and testimony under oath and in a posting on his Truth Social network dismissed the committee as “a laughing stock.” Nevertheless, the subpoena will add to Trump’s growing list of legal woes. Associated Press Trump angrily lashes out after his deposition is ordered Former President Donald Trump angrily lashed out Wednesday, calling the nation’s legal system a “broken disgrace” after a judge ruled he must answer questions under oath next week in a defamation lawsuit lodged by a writer who says he raped her in the mid-1990s. The outburst late in the day came hours after U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan in Manhattan rejected a request by his lawyers to delay a deposition scheduled for Oct. 19. Kaplan is presiding over the case in which Carroll said Trump raped her in the dressing room of a Manhattan Bergdorf Goodman store in the mid-1990s. ABC News Trump Organization continuing ‘fraudulent’ practices after lawsuit, says New York AG New York Attorney General Letitia James is seeking a preliminary injunction as part of her $250 million civil lawsuit against former President Donald Trump to stop what she says is his ongoing fraudulent conduct. On the same day last month that James filed the lawsuit accusing Trump, his three eldest children, and two corporate executives of “staggering” fraud that she claims “grossly inflated” Trump’s net worth, the Trump Organization quietly registered a new entity, Trump Organization II, according to a new court filing Thursday. Investigators suspect that Trump could move assets from his family real estate business to the new entity in an attempt to evade liability posed by the lawsuit, according to the attorney general’s motion for a preliminary injunction. Bloomberg Trump Has 21 Days to Decide What Mar-a-Lago Records to Fight (Bloomberg) — The Justice Department said Wednesday that it has turned over the bulk of documents seized from Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate to the former president’s legal team, starting a 21-day clock for Trump to decide — and officially declare — precisely which records he wants off-limits in a criminal probe.Most Read from BloombergStocks Surge in Wild Ride After CPI Data Selloff: Markets WrapCore US Inflation Rises to 40-Year High, Securing Big Fed HikeWorld Faces New Threats From Fast The Hill Here’s what the White House is expecting today’s Social Security COLA increase to be The White House predicted that Americans on Social Security will see a $140 per month increase ahead of Thursday, when the Social Security Administration is expected to announce a cost of living adjustment (COLA). “Tomorrow, seniors and other Americans on Social Security are will learn precisely how much their monthly checks will increase – but… Miami Herald Florida legislators shut down questions over DeSantis’ migrant flights Meeting for the first time since Gov. Ron DeSantis initiated his controversial Martha’s Vineyard migrant flights, Florida lawmakers shut down questions Wednesday about whether his agency violated state law when it used money earmarked for relocating migrants out of Florida to relocate them out of Texas instead. Read More Here

Supreme Court Rejects Trump Plea To Step Into Mar-A-Lago Case https://digitalarizonanews.com/supreme-court-rejects-trump-plea-to-step-into-mar-a-lago-case/ U.S. & World Published: Oct. 13, 2022, 8:43 p.m. The U.S Supreme Court is seen, Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2022 in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)AP Washington — The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected former President Donald Trump’s plea to step into the legal fight over the FBI search of his Florida estate. The justices did not otherwise comment in turning away Trump’s emergency appeal. Trump had pressed the court on an issue relating to classified documents seized in the search authorized by a federal judge of Mar-a-Lago. The Trump team was asking the justices to overturn a lower court ruling and permit an independent arbiter, or special master, to review the roughly 100 documents with classified markings that were taken in the Aug. 8 search of Mar-a-Lago. The move Thursday appears to greatly reduce the potential impact of the special master process to the ongoing Justice Department criminal investigation into the classifed documents. A federal appeals court had already restored the department’s access to the classified documents, which had been investigators’ primary goal. And the Supreme Court’s decision to stay out of the fray ensures that the special master will not have access to those same records as the FBI and Justice Department evaluate if criminal charges are merited. A three-judge panel from the Atlanta-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit last month limited the special master’s review to the much larger tranche of non-classified documents. The judges, including two Trump appointees, sided with the Justice Department, which had argued there was no legal basis for the special master to conduct his own review of the classified records. But Trump’s lawyers said in their application to the Supreme Court that it was essential for the special master to have access to the classified records to “determine whether documents bearing classification markings are in fact classified, and regardless of classification, whether those records are personal records or Presidential records.” The Justice Department said in a Supreme Court filing that Trump’s request had no merit. The FBI says it seized roughly 11,000 documents, including about 100 with classification markings, during its search. The Trump team asked a judge in Florida, Aileen Cannon, to appoint a special master to do an independent review of the records. Cannon subsequently assigned a veteran Brooklyn judge, Raymond Dearie, to review the records and segregate those that may be protected by claims of attorney-client privilege and executive privilege. The Justice Department objected to Dearie’s ability to review the classified records, prompting the 11th Circuit to side with the department. The department also is appealing Cannon’s entire ruling to the 11th Circuit. If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. Read More Here

DeSantis Changes Voting Rules For Some Counties Hit By Ian, Sparking Criticism https://digitalarizonanews.com/desantis-changes-voting-rules-for-some-counties-hit-by-ian-sparking-criticism/ Gov. Ron DeSantis is making it easier for voters to cast ballots in three southwestern Florida counties that were hit hard by Hurricane Ian and are bastions for GOP support, sparking criticism that he is “politicizing a natural disaster.” More than 1 million voters in Charlotte, Sarasota and Lee counties will have more time to get to the polls for early voting in the upcoming general election and will have more ways to file a mail-in ballot under the order the Republican governor signed Wednesday. Some of the accommodations being offered run counter to recently enacted voting laws pushed by DeSantis and passed by the GOP-led state legislature. Among those laws is one that limits drop boxes, called “ballot intake stations” in the law. Under the order, elections supervisors in the three counties can set up new early-voting and drop-box sites. Vote-by-mail ballots can also be sent to an address other than where the voter is registered. “Tens of thousands of Floridians have been displaced, and today’s executive order fails to meet the moment and ensure voting access for all Florida voters,” Jasmine Burney-Clark, founder of the voter rights organization Equal Ground, said in a statement. “Instead, Governor DeSantis is politicizing a natural disaster.” Hurricane Ian slammed ashore as a Category 4 storm in Lee County on Sept. 28, killing over 100 people and causing upward of $75 billion in damage. The Federal Emergency Management Agency offered disaster relief to 24 of the state’s 67 counties. Wind, storm surge and flooding left a trail of destruction that stretched from Naples to St. Augustine. DeSantis’s emergency order says the decision to change the ballot rules for only three counties was made “based on the collective feedback of the Supervisors of Elections across the state and at the written requests of the Supervisors of Elections in Charlotte, Lee, and Sarasota counties.” Lee County, where Hurricane Ian made landfall, has “few viable Election Day polling places post-storm,” according to the order, and “several established polling locations no longer exist.” The Lee County elections office also reported that the hurricane “displaced countless Lee County voters and poll workers from their homes.” Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd said in a statement that his office worked with elections supervisors “to ensure that the 2022 General Election is administered as efficiently and securely as possible across the state and in the counties that received the heaviest damage.” Election Day is Nov. 8. Mail ballots are already being accepted in the state. Early-voting deadlines vary by county, but the order says early voting can begin on Oct. 24 in the three counties. Voting rights advocates have been asking for DeSantis to make allowances for voters affected by Hurricane Ian across the state. Representatives from a number of organizations, including Equal Ground, the American Civil Liberties Union, the NAACP and the Voting Rights Project, wrote a letter to Byrd and DeSantis on Tuesday asking for an emergency order to make voting easier in all 24 counties considered to be disaster areas. Some of what the groups requested — including expanding early-voting days and locations — was included in the order DeSantis signed on Wednesday, but only for three counties. More than 450,000 voters in Lee, Charlotte and Sarasota are registered as Republicans, compared with 265,000 Democrats and nearly 290,000 affiliated with no party. Overall, registered Republicans outnumber Democrats in many, but not all, of the counties damaged by the hurricane. Orange County, where Hurricane Ian passed as a Category 1 storm and left historic flooding in Orlando and surrounding areas, has 360,389 registered Democrats and 217,061 registered Republicans. It was not granted any exceptions. Burney-Clark, of Equal Ground, said by excluding the other counties affected by the storm, the order “will remain yet another example of Governor DeSantis disenfranchising voters.” Read More Here

Secretary Of State: Adrian Fontes Wants To Restore Faith In Az Elections, Protect Choices https://digitalarizonanews.com/secretary-of-state-adrian-fontes-wants-to-restore-faith-in-az-elections-protect-choices/ Candidate name: Adrian Fontes Political affiliation: Democrat Position sought: Secretary of state Age: 52 Career: Marine; prosecutor in Denver and with the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office; Maricopa County recorder Website: electfontes.com Adrian Fontes, Democratic candidate for Arizona’s secretary of state and self-proclaimed “election hawk,” has been a public servant for nearly 30 years. His experiences as a Marine, prosecutor and county recorder inspired him to protect Arizona’s democracy and restore faith in the electoral process. Fontes, a native of Nogales, has three teenage daughters who are the driving force behind his campaign. He said he wants to improve elections and the political environment of Arizona so his daughters can have a better future here. He has spoken out against election deniers and the political volatility that increased since the election of former President Donald Trump in 2016. Fontes said democracy is under attack, and administering fair elections at a local level is more important than ever. In an election debate that aired on Arizona PBS, he stressed the importance of salvaging America’s democracy. “If the last six years have taught us anything, it’s that democracy is a decision,” Fontes said. “A decision between building community or conspiracies that lead to corruption. A decision between laws and lies. Democracy is a decision between voting and violence.” If elected, Fontes would be Arizona’s 15th Democratic secretary of state, succeeding Democrat Katie Hobbs, who’s running for governor. Q: Why are you interested in this job? He wants to give his daughters choices. The choice of voting by mail. The choice of what to do with their own bodies. He’s also concerned about the future of America’s democracy. Q: What in your past work, political or volunteer experience makes you the best candidate? Fontes said there’s never been a more qualified person running for Arizona secretary of state. “I’m the former county recorder. Never had that. I’m a former election administrator. We’ve never had that. I’m a lawyer and a United States Marine Corps veteran. And all of those combinations of skills and experience make me uniquely qualified.” Q: What are the major issues facing Arizona? The first major issue he said is to rebuild trust in the election system – a system Fontes believes already is adequate. He also said Arizona has to fight against the misinformation and lies spread by his Trump-endorsed opponent, Republican Mark Finchem. Another issue Fontes wants to fix is the library and archival system in Arizona. “It’s critical to preserve the lessons of yesterday, or we’re doomed to repeat them tomorrow.” Q: What will be your top priorities if elected? Fontes said he wants to ensure the success of future elections by starting with a survey of Arizona’s counties to make sure each county has what’s needed for a successful 2024 election. “You know, it takes a long time to plan and execute elections and 2024 is going to need every ‘t’ crossed and every ‘i’ dotted. And those 15 counties are going to need a secretary who knows which questions to ask and what direction to move in when making the case for resources at the Arizona Legislature.” Q: How will you work to improve bipartisanship in politics? Fontes said he will reach out with an open heart and open mind. He also said partisans forget they’re human beings and Americans first; they can be partisans later. Q: Do you have any concerns regarding the security of our elections? His concerns regard election officials, not the election system. He said the election system is threatened by disloyal Americans, including Finchem. Fontes has called for state and federal election safeguards for more than a year. “I asked Congress to do something about it when I testified before the House Committee on the Administration last year, and I continue to hope that we will be able to strengthen the protections that election officials should have in place.” Q: What is a personal challenge that you need to overcome? Fontes, an avid guitar player who used to play in a band with neighborhood friends, said he needs to play more lead guitar instead of rhythm – he feels left out playing backup. Q: Please share a quote or advice that you live by. “Pay attention to what’s going on around you,” Fontes said, because it’s important in all facets of life, including finance, politics, personal safety and social settings. “Too many people are just wandering around with tunnel vision, and they’re not paying attention. So I think if more people were paying attention to what was going on around them, they would actually take a look and see humanity. We would actually see each other and maybe we’d get a chance to interact and actually get along and build community. That would be nice.” Q: Do you trust the current election system in the state? “Yes, unequivocally.” Q: How can the office of secretary of state ensure both access for voters and voting security? Ensure voting access and security by taking the same pro-voter approach that he took when he was the Maricopa County recorder. He also said access and security can co-exist. “There’s a false dichotomy built where some people think that access and security are competing interests. That’s just wrong. It’s wrongheaded. And it comes from people who don’t understand elections or election administration. You can have both and we need to build both.” Read More Here

True Spec Chicago North Shore Opens At The Golf Practice | SGB Media Online https://digitalarizonanews.com/true-spec-chicago-north-shore-opens-at-the-golf-practice-sgb-media-online/ True Spec Golf has partnered with The Golf Practice, one of Chicago’s golf academies on a new, larger location for True Spec Chicago North Shore. The new location, located less than half a mile from the previous location, was necessary to meet high demand in the area. “True Spec is really excited about teaming up with the talented and dedicated staff at The Golf Practice,” said Ryan Richardson, president of True Spec Golf. “The commitment to their students is exemplary—which perfectly complements what we have to offer.” “The Golf Practice prides itself on offering its students the space, coaching and resources to conduct highly effective practice sessions,” said Chris Oehlerking, principal owner of The Golf Practice. “The addition of True Spec allows us to also provide a top-notch fitting experience as well.” True Spec Golf, based in Scottsdale, AZ, now has 34 studios around the world. Read More Here

Everett Little Whiteman https://digitalarizonanews.com/everett-little-whiteman/ Funeral services for 81-year old Everett Little Whiteman are Monday, Oct 17, 2022 at 2:00 at Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church Hall in Kyle, SD, with the Rev Cordelia Red Owl and Annie Montileaux officiating and traditional Lakota services by Darla Black Burial is at St Barnabas Episcopal Cemetery in Kyle A one-night wake service starts Sunday, Oct 16, at 1:00 at Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church Hall in Kyle. Everett Little Whiteman was born Feb. 26, 1941 and raised in the Kyle-No Flesh area on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation to Louis & Betty Little Whiteman.  Everett made his journey to the Spirit World on October 6, 2022 in West Wendover, NV. Louis and Betty raised eleven children and Everett was the 8th child out of 11 children.  Everett  worked in Law Enforcement for over 48 years, retiring in 2011 before the passing of his wife, Madelyn Rose. He received his education and training from numerous places including Kyle Day School, Pine Ridge Boarding School, Huron College, Oregon Police Academy, BIA Police training, Federal law enforcement training center, and the FBI National Academy. While working in Law Enforcement, Everett earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Sociology and Criminology. He always encouraged everyone to get an education, he was a huge supporter of education.  Everett worked for many agencies in many places in his life and especially his law enforcement career. Those include Boeing (Rapid City), OST Police Dept. (Pine Ridge, SD), Scapoose Police Dept. (Oregon), BIA-Captain of Police (Crow Creek reservation), Criminal Investigator (San Carlos Apache), Supervisory Criminal Investigator (Billings, Mt.), BIA-Chief of Police (Northern Ute, Ft. Duchesne, UT.), BIA-Criminal Investigator (Albuquerque, NM), BIA-Chief of Police (Keams Canyon, AZ.), BIA-Supervisory Criminal Investigator (Phoenix, AZ.), Criminal Investigator (Salt River Tribe-Phoenix, AZ.), Chief of Police (White Mountain Apache-AZ.), OST Chief of Police/Director of Public Safety (Pine Ridge, S.D.). Everett was well-respected in Indian Country for his service in Law Enforcement and for being a role model and mentor to many young cops throughout his years. He will be remembered. Everett was preceded in death by his parents Louis & Betty Little Whiteman; his wife Madelyn Rose Little Whiteman; and his two youngest sons Christopher Little Whiteman and Edward Everett Little Whiteman.  Everett is survived by his three remaining children Vincent Louie Little Whiteman of Wounded Knee, SD, Gregory Little Whiteman Sr of West Wendover, NV, & Madeline Joan Little Whiteman of Rapid City, SD. He is also survived by his grandchildren Lamont Little Whiteman, Keenan Little Whiteman, Darin Little Whiteman, Colette Little Whiteman, Tristan Little Whiteman, Tiffany Honyumptewa, Troy Honyumptewa, Renae Blackwater, Arlena Little Whiteman, Lilith Little Whiteman, Greg Little Whiteman Jr, Wilson Perry, Toby Perry, Joshua Little Whiteman, Sergio Little Whiteman, Jazmine Little Whiteman, Aiden Little Whiteman, Sky Little Whiteman, Rain Little Whiteman-Goode, and Kadence Little Whiteman-Goode; and by several great-grandchildren. Pallbearers will be Greg Little Whiteman Jr, Everett Rising Sun Little Whiteman, Rain Goode, Nathaniel Red Owl, Darrol Little Whiteman, Rodney Mesteth, Darryl “Sammy” Apple, Glen Gibbons, Darla Black, and Ron Duke.   Honorary pallbearers will be all friends & relatives.  Arrangements entrusted with Sioux Funeral Home of Pine Ridge, SD Read More…

Stolen Vehicle Suspect Taken Into Custody After Chase Along SR 87 https://digitalarizonanews.com/stolen-vehicle-suspect-taken-into-custody-after-chase-along-sr-87/ Suspect fled on foot but troopers managed to take him into custody DPS used spike strips to stop the vehicle near milepost 232, between Fountain Hills and Payson. Posted at 5:02 PM, Oct 13, 2022 and last updated 2022-10-13 20:02:07-04 MESA, AZ — A stolen vehicle suspect out of Mesa was taken into custody Thursday afternoon after a chase involving the Mesa police helicopter and DPS troopers. According to Mesa police, officers attempted to make a traffic stop on the vehicle, which was believed to be stolen, but the driver refused to stop. The Mesa police helicopter then followed the suspect along SR 87 for several miles before DPS troopers were able to respond. DPS took over the chase and eventually spike strips were deployed in between the Fort McDowell area and Payson. The suspect then attempted to run from the scene but was taken into custody by troopers. The suspect’s identity hasn’t been released. Details on when and where the vehicle was stolen from have not been released. Copyright 2022 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Sign up for the Headlines Newsletter and receive up to date information. Read More Here

Jan. 6 Takeaways: Subpoena For Trump, Warnings For Democracy https://digitalarizonanews.com/jan-6-takeaways-subpoena-for-trump-warnings-for-democracy/ The House Jan. 6 committee took the extraordinary action of subpoenaing former President Donald Trump on Thursday as it issued a stark warning in its final public hearing before the midterm election: The future of the nation’s democracy is at stake. The panel’s October hearing, just weeks ahead of the midterm election, focused on Trump’s state of mind on Jan. 6, 2021 as he egged on his supporters with false claims of election fraud, pushed to accompany them to the Capitol while lawmakers were counting the votes, and then stood by for hours as the mob violently breached the building. The committee is set to shut down at the beginning of next year, and was making its final public arguments ahead of a report expected in December. “We are obligated to seek answers directly from the man who set this all in motion,” said Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, the panel’s vice chairwoman and one of two Republicans on the nine-member committee. “And every American is entitled to those answers. So we can act now to protect our republic.” A SUBPOENA FOR TRUMP — BUT NOT PENCE The subpoena for Trump is a major escalation in the probe. After signaling for months that they may leave the former president alone, the unanimous 9-0 vote “for relevant documents and testimony, under oath” was definitive. The committee had long debated whether to seek testimony from or subpoena Trump or former Vice President Mike Pence. Neither has spoken directly to the committee. While Trump has been hostile to the probe both in court and in public, Pence’s lawyers had engaged with the panel for several months with no clear resolution. Pence could still be called or subpoenaed. But several of his closest aides have complied with the investigation, with several of them 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. In contrast, the committee showed several clips of Trump allies refusing to answer questions before the panel. Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Democrat, said the committee was “able to nail down every salient detail in pretty much every element of the offense” except for certain details about what Trump was doing and saying as the insurrection unfolded. ‘CONSIDER WHETHER WE CAN SURVIVE’ The lesson of the committee’s investigation is that institutions only hold when people of good faith protect them without regard to political cost, Cheney said during the hearing. “Why would Americans assume that our Constitution and our institutions in our Republic are invulnerable to another attack? Why would we assume that those institutions will not falter next time?” Cheney asked. Vice Chair Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., speaks as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, holds a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022.AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite The warnings come as Trump is still refusing to acknowledge that he lost his reelection to Joe Biden and is considering another run in 2024 — and as many Republicans who deny Biden’s win are running in the midterm elections at all levels of government. Many states have replaced election officials who resisted Trump’s pressure campaign. “Any future president inclined to attempt what Donald Trump did in 2020 has now learned not to install people who could stand in the way,” said Cheney, who lost her own Republican primary this August. “Consider whether we can survive for another 246 years.” PELOSI AND SCHUMER, IN HIDING New video aired by the panel showed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reacting emotionally to the news that her colleagues were donning gas masks in the House chamber as rioters neared. She quickly went to work trying to reopen the Capitol. Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer were seen in unidentified secure locations and talking to security officials. The footage included a conversation between Pelosi and Pence, who was also in a secure location, discussing their return to the session to finish certifying Biden’s victory. The footage was filmed by Pelosi’s daughter, Alexandra Pelosi, according to two people familiar with the video who requested anonymity to discuss it. The two leaders are seen working to bring the National Guard to the Capitol amid an hourslong delay. At one point, Schumer said he was going to “call up the ‘effing secretary of DOD,” referring to the Defense Department. “We have some senators who are still in their hideaways,” Schumer said on the phone. “They need massive personnel now.” SECRET SERVICE REVELATIONS The committee has obtained more than 1.5 million pages of documents from the Secret Service in recent weeks. They revealed some of that information in the hearing, including an email from within the agency on Dec. 11, 2020, the day the Supreme Court rejected one of Trump’s attempts to undermine the vote. “Just fyi. POTUS is p—-d — breaking news —- Supreme Court denied his law suit. He is livid now,” one anonymous Secret Service email said. Multiple emails showed that the agency had ample warnings of violence in the weeks and days ahead of the insurrection. A quote from a U.S. Secret Service briefing is displayed as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol holds a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022.AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin U.S. Secret Service reports from Jan. 6 are displayed as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol holds a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022.AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin An alert received by the agency on Dec. 24 said multiple online users were targeting members of Congress and “instructing others to march into the chambers,” said California Rep. Adam Schiff, a Democratic member of the panel. California Rep. Pete Aguilar, another Democratic member, said the committee “will be recalling witnesses and conducting further investigative depositions” based on the Secret Service material. The agency has not turned over text messages it said were deleted. Aguilar also warned that the committee is reviewing testimony regarding potential obstruction of some witnesses. The committee has said in the past that some witnesses were intimidated against speaking. CABINET OFFICIALS The committee showed prerecorded interviews with Cabinet members, including former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, Attorney General William Barr and Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia, who said they believed that once the legal avenues had been exhausted, that should have been the end of Trump’s effort to remain in power. Pompeo, who was interviewed by the panel since its last hearing in July, said in his videotaped testimony that he believed that once the Electoral College certified the vote, that was the end of the process for contesting the election. “We should all comply with the law at all times, to the best of our ability — every one of us,” Pompeo said. Chao, who is married to Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, said she decided to resign after the insurrection because it was “impossible for me to continue given my personal values and my philosophy.” At the same time, Trump continued to push the false claims of fraud to his millions of supporters. “President Trump knew the truth. He heard what all his experts and senior staff was telling him,” said Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger, the committee’s other Republican. “His intent was plain: ignore the rule of law and stay in power.” CRIMINAL REFERRALS Cheney addressed one of the committee’s remaining questions at the beginning of the meeting, saying the panel “may ultimately decide to make a series of criminal referrals to the Department of Justice.” At the end of the hearing, she mentioned the possibility again, saying it has “sufficient information to consider criminal referrals for multiple individuals.” Members of the committee have long suggested they may suggest charges for Trump or others based on their own evidence. While such a referral would not force any action, it would place political pressure on Attorney General Merrick Garland as the department has pursued its own investigations surrounding Jan. 6. And the committee has yet to share any transcripts from its more than 1,000 interviews. Still, “we recognize that our role is not to make decisions regarding prosecution,” Cheney said. Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., speaks as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol holds a hearing, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022, as Vice Chair Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., look on.AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite By MARY CLARE JALONICK and ERIC TUCKER Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com. If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. Read More Here

Supreme Court Rejects Trump’s Request To Intervene In DOJ Documents Investigation – Deltaplex News https://digitalarizonanews.com/supreme-court-rejects-trumps-request-to-intervene-in-doj-documents-investigation-deltaplex-news/ (WASHINGTON) — The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected former President Donald Trump’s request for an independent third-party to be able to review the documents marked classified that were taken from Mar-a-Lago amid a federal investigation. “The application to vacate the stay entered by the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit on September 21, 2022, presented to Justice [Clarence] Thomas and by him referred to the Court is denied,” the court wrote in a brief order. Trump asked last week for the Supreme Court to intervene in the case. His attorneys requested the justices vacate part of an 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling and restore a special master’s access to the 100 or documents bearing classification markings that were seized at Trump’s private club. Those documents were found by FBI agents in an August search of Mar-a-Lago as part of a Department of Justice probe into Trump’s handling of sensitive materials after he left the White House. Trump denies wrongdoing. Trump had requested that the Supreme Court reverse only the portion of the 11th Circuit’s stay that prevented special master Raymond Dearie from accessing the documents during his review over whether any of the thousands of materials taken by the FBI were shielded by privilege. A three-judge panel for the 11th Circuit previously granted the DOJ’s request for a partial stay which essentially reversed U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who had sided with Trump’s motion for a special master and then barred the DOJ from using the seized materials for its investigation pending Dearie’s own review. Trump’s attorneys said the special master’s intervention was needed “to ensure fairness, transparency, and maintenance of the public trust.” But the 11th Circuit’s subsequent stay allowed the DOJ to access the documents once again. The government has argued that being limited from accessing the materials from Mar-a-Lago caused harm to national security and its ongoing investigation. Last week, the appellate court also granted the government’s request to expedite its full appeal of Cannon’s entire order appointing a special master. The DOJ moved for its expedited appeal after Cannon issued an order overruling a request from special master Dearie to have Trump’s team verify that the government’s inventory log was accurate and independently extended multiple deadlines Dearie had set for his own review. Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. Read More Here

Jan. 6 Hearing Live Updates: Committee Votes To Subpoena Trump – Deltaplex News https://digitalarizonanews.com/jan-6-hearing-live-updates-committee-votes-to-subpoena-trump-deltaplex-news/ (WASHINGTON) — The House Jan. 6 committee on Thursday, after a months-long hiatus, held its ninth public hearing since June, and possibly its last in its investigation into the U.S. Capitol attack. The panel focused on the role of former President Donald Trump before, alleging he was front and center of a plot to overturn the 2020 election and in a historic development, voted unanimously to subpoena Trump to testify. Oct 13, 5:35 PM EDT Trump responds to Jan. 6 subpoena vote Former President Donald Trump responded to the committee’s action for the first time on Thursday afternoon in a post to Truth Social, his conservative social media platform. “Why didn’t the Unselect Committee ask me to testify months ago?” he wrote, calling the committee a “total BUST.” “Why did they wait until the very end, the final moments of their last meeting?” he asked again. Oct 13, 4:41 PM EDT Thompson: Panel will not issue subpoena for Pence testimony House Jan. 6 committee chair BennieThompson told reporters right after the hearing that the panel would not issue a subpoena for former Vice President Mike Pence. The committee had been debating how to manifest a meeting with the former vice president, but Thompson’s comments indicate members will not force him to make an appearance. When asked if he thinks Trump will honor the subpoena for his testimony, Thompson responded “ask Donald Trump.” Thompson did not answer when asked if the committee would vote to hold Trump in contempt of Congress if he chooses not to comply. Oct 13, 3:41 PM EDT In historic, unanimous vote, Jan. 6 committee subpoenas Trump To close out their 10th hearing overall — the ninth since June — the House Jan. 6 committee unanimously voted to subpoena Trump. Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., offered the historic resolution and requested a voice vote. Each of the nine members, including seven Democrats and two Republicans, voted yes. “It is our obligation to seek Donald Trump’s testimony,” chair Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said about the subpoena. Oct 13, 3:39 PM EDT Cheney cites need for Trump subpoena Cheney said a subpoena for Trump is necessary since several witnesses pleaded their Fifth Amendment right when pressed about their conversations with the former president surrounding the 2020 election and the insurrection. “Mr. Chairman, our committee now has sufficient information to answer many of the critical questions posed by Congress at the outset. We have sufficient information to consider criminal referrals for multiple individuals and to recommend a range of legislative proposals to guard against another January 6. But a key task remains. We must seek the testimony, under oath, of January 6’s central plater,” she said. “More than 30 witnesses in our investigation have invoked their 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination, and several of those did so specifically in response to questions about their dealings with Donald Trump directly.” Cheney conceded that the Justice Department could reveal more information but indicated that time is of the essence. “Mr. Chairman, at some point, the Department of Justice may well unearth the fact that these and other witnesses are concealing. But our duty today is to our country and our children and our Constitution. We are obligated to seek answers directly from the man who set this all in motion, and every American is entitled to those answers so we can act now to protect our republic,” she said. Oct 13, 3:31 PM EDT Thompson on subpoenaing Trump: ‘We want to hear from him’ Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said the committee needs to hear from the person they say is at the center of the story of what happened on Jan. 6: Trump. “We want to hear from him,” Thompson said. “The committee needs to do everything in our power to tell the most complete story possible and provide recommendations to help ensure nothing like Jan. 6 ever happens again.” Thompson said speaking with Trump goes beyond the committee’s “fact-finding” and is a question about accountability to the American people. “He is required to answer for his actions,” he said. Thompson said the committee recognizes subpoenaing a former president is an extraordinary step, which is why the panel will “take this step in full view of the American people.” Oct 13, 3:30 PM EDT Secret Service worried for Pence after Trump tweet The committee presented evidence the Secret Service voiced worry for Pence after Trump bashed him in a tweet for not blocking certification of the Electoral College results. “POTUS just tweeted about Pence, probably not going to be good for Pence,” one agent said in a chat with a colleague released by the committee Thursday. “POTUS said he lacked courage. Over 24K likes in under 2mins,” the colleague responded. Former Twitter employee Anika Collier Navaroli, in testimony featured Thursday, said that rioters “were literally calling for [Pence’s] execution,” partially “in response to this tweet.” Oct 13, 3:27 PM EDT As the insurrection is ongoing, Pelosi speaks to Pence in new footage The committee played new footage of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaking to former Vice President Mike Pence as Trump supporters were in the middle of storming the Capitol. The contents of that footage is below, as the two discussed how they would ultimately certify the 2020 election results. At 4:22 p.m. Pelosi was videotaped saying: “We’re trying to figure out how we can get this job done today. We talked to Mitch [McConnell] about it earlier. He’s not in the room right now but he was with us earlier and said, “Yeah, we want to expedite this.” And hopefully they could confine it to just one complaint, Arizona. And then we could vote and that would be you know, then just move forward with the rest of the states. “The overriding wish is to do it at the Capitol,” said Pelosi, as the committee displayed a photo of Pence presumably on the phone with her while watching news footage on a separate cellphone. “What we are being told very directly is it’s gonna take days for the Capitol to be OK again. We’ve gotten a very bad report about the condition of the House floor. Defecation and all that kind of thing as well. I don’t think that that’s hard to clean up. But I do think it is more from a security standpoint of making sure everybody is out of the building and how long will that take?” At 4:30 p.m. Pelosi said: “I just got off the phone with the Vice President and I got off with the Vice President-elect,” Pelosi said after her call with Pence and supposedly Kamala Harris. “So I’ll tell you what she said, yeah. But what we left the conversation with cause he said, he had the impression from Mitch [McConnell] that Mitch wants to get everybody back to do it there,” Pelosi said. Oct 13, 3:15 PM EDT Videos shows Nancy Pelosi reacting to the Capitol attack In never-before seen footage, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is seen reacting to the events of Jan. 6 in real time. Pelosi spoke to or called various officials, including Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam and then-acting Attorney General Jeff Rosen. “We’ve got … to finish the proceedings or else they will have a complete victory,” Pelosi is heard saying as she is leaving the Capitol complex while rioters gather outside. Later, Pelosi was informed that lawmakers still on the floor were putting on tear gas masks in anticipation of a breach. “Can you believe this?” Pelosi responded. Oct 13, 3:03 PM EDT Committee reviewing ‘potential obstruction’ regarding alleged SUV altercation Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., reiterated testimony from former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson about an alleged altercation between Trump and his security detail in the presidential SUV on Jan. 6. Hutchinson said she was told by Tony Ornato, a senior Secret Service official who was at the time White House deputy chief of staff for operations, that Trump was so angry he couldn’t join supporters at the Capitol after his speech at the Ellipse that he tried to grab the steering wheel and lunged at agent Bobby Engel, who was driving the vehicle. Aguilar said the altercation was “so widely known” that one former White House employee with national security responsibilities explained the information was “water cooler talk” around the White House complex. “That professional also testified that they were specifically informed of the president’s irate behavior in the SUV by Mr. Ornato in Mr. Ornato’s office,” Aguilar said. Aguilar said the committee is reviewing testimony about “potential obstruction” surrounding this testimony about the alleged SUV incident. “We will address this matter in our report,” Aguilar said. Oct 13, 2:40 PM EDT Secret Service sounded alarm about threat of violence before, during insurrection The committee revealed new evidence it said showed the Secret Service was aware of threats of violence prior to the insurrection, worrying over social media posts prior to Jan. 6 and what it viewed the day of the attack on the Capitol. One tip received by the agency said that the Proud Boys, a far-right white chauvinist group, “think[s] that they will have a large enough group to march into D.C. armed and will outnumber the police so they can’t be stopped.” “Their plan is to literally kill people. Please please take this tip seriously and investigate further,” the tip read. “Right wing groups responding across the nation and establishing ‘quick reaction forces’ in Virginia,” one Jan. 5, 2021, Secret Service email the panel said it uncovered read. On the day of the attack, just before the pro-Trump mob moved toward the Capitol, agents voiced growing concern over the number of weapons seized or seen. “With so many weapons so far, you wonder how many are unknown. Could be sporty after dark,” one agent wrote in a m...

NY Seeks Court Oversight After Trump Org.'s Concerning Moves https://digitalarizonanews.com/ny-seeks-court-oversight-after-trump-org-s-concerning-moves/ NEW YORK (AP) — New York’s attorney general has asked a judge to bar Donald Trump’s company from selling or transferring assets without court approval, saying it had engaged in a devious attempt to duck potential penalties in her fraud lawsuit against the former president. In court papers filed Thursday, Attorney General Letitia James’ office said that shortly before she filed the lawsuit last month, Trump’s company incorporated a new entity in Delaware named Trump Organization LLC — almost identical to the original company’s name. On the day the lawsuit became public, the Trump Organization registered the new Delaware company in New York as “Trump Organization II LLC.” “Beyond just the continuation of its prior fraud, the Trump Organization now appears to be taking steps to restructure its business to avoid existing responsibilities under New York law,” lawyers for the attorney general’s office said. Manhattan Judge Arthur Engoron scheduled an Oct. 31 hearing on James’ request for an independent monitor to oversee the Trump Organization’s activities. FILE – New York Attorney General Letitia James speaks during a press conference on Sept. 21, 2022, in New York. James has asked a judge Thursday, Oct. 13, to bar the Trump Organization from selling or transferring assets without court approval while a legal battle plays out over her fraud allegations against the former president’s company. (AP Photo/Brittainy Newman, File) Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS/Brittainy Newman FILE – Former President Donald Trump speaks at the Minden Tahoe Airport in Minden, Nev., on Oct. 8, 2022. New York’s attorney general has asked a judge Thursday, Oct. 13, to bar the Trump Organization from selling or transferring assets without court approval while a legal battle plays out over her fraud allegations against the former president’s company. (AP Photo/José Luis Villegas, Pool, File) Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS/José Luis Villegas PreviousNext James’ office said it wants the case to go to trial in October 2023 — almost a year before the next presidential election. Trump has been laying groundwork for a potential comeback campaign. Trump’s lawyer, Alina Habba, said the idea of court oversight “has no merit and is dead on arrival.” “We have repeatedly provided assurance, in writing, that the Trump Organization has no intention of doing anything improper,” Habba said in a written statement. “This is simply another stunt which Ms. James hopes will aid her failing political campaign.” James, a Democrat, is running for re-election as attorney general against a little-known Republican attorney from Queens, Michael Henry. Trump, a Republican, has repeatedly sparred with James and contends that her lawsuit is part of a politically motivated “witch hunt.” In the lawsuit, filed last month, James’ office accused Trump of habitually misleading banks and others about how much assets like his golf courses and other real estate were worth. In the latest filing, James said the organization continued to use improper methods of creating valuations. Trump’s attorney has asked that the case be transferred from Engoron, who has repeatedly ruled against Trump in related subpoena disputes, to the court’s Commercial Division, which is set up to handle complex corporate litigation. In a letter Thursday to the court’s administrative judge, Habba asked for an expedited decision on her transfer request. Habba argued that Thursday’s filing was “an obvious attempt” by the attorney general’s office to get Engoron involved in the case before a decision is made. The lawsuit also named his three eldest children, Donald Jr., Ivanka and Eric Trump, as defendants, along with two longtime Trump Organization executives. In her motion for a preliminary injunction, James’ office said it had raised concerns with the Trump legal team about assets being moved out of state and that it asked for assurances that there would be no changes. If changes were to be made, James’ office said it wanted reasonable notice before hand. Trump’s lawyers “did offer to provide assurances and advance notice,” James’ said, but “no concrete mechanism to either effectuate or enforce that offer.” James’ office also disclosed that the former president and Eric Trump have yet to accept service of the lawsuit and sought permission to serve them electronically instead. A lawyer for the office, Colleen Faherty, noted that serving Trump with paper copies is “impracticable given the security measures taken for his protection as the former President of the United States.” Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Read More Here

Jan. 6 Panel Scrutinizes Trump’s Post-Election Military Orders https://digitalarizonanews.com/jan-6-panel-scrutinizes-trumps-post-election-military-orders/ President Donald Trump ordered the Pentagon to rapidly pull all U.S. troops from Afghanistan and Somalia in the immediate aftermath of his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden, alarming senior aides who feared doing so would have “catastrophic” consequences, according to congressional testimony aired Thursday. Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) cited Trump’s order during a House select committee hearing scrutinizing the former president’s actions and directives ahead of the U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021. It was evidence, the congressman said, that Trump knew his days in office were numbered as he sought to overturn Biden’s election win and “rushed” to complete “unfinished business” despite the national security implications. “He disregarded concerns about the consequences for fragile governments on the front lines of the fight against [the Islamic State] and al-Qaeda terrorists,” Kinzinger said. “Knowing he was leaving office, he acted immediately and signed this order on November 11th, which would have required the immediate withdrawal of troops from Somalia and Afghanistan, all to be complete before the Biden inauguration on January 20th.” Trump’s withdrawal order was reported previously by Axios and in the book “Peril,” by journalists Bob Woodward and Robert Costa. Kinzinger’s presentation, however, marked a dramatic moment in Thursday’s hearing, as the committee played video and audio segments of testimony provided over the past several months by key officials troubled by the president’s plans, including Army Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and retired Army Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, who served as national security adviser to Vice President Mike Pence. The Afghanistan plan ultimately was set aside. Milley called the order “odd” and “potentially dangerous,” telling the committee he did not think it was feasible or wise. Kellogg said the proposition was “very contested,” and that carrying it out would have been a “tremendous disservice to [the] nation.” “It’s the same thing with President Biden,” Kellogg said, comparing the situation to the chaotic and deadly withdrawal carried out at Biden’s direction in August 2021. “It would have been a debacle.” John McEntee, an adviser to Trump, recalled typing up the order to withdraw from Afghanistan and securing Trump’s signature on it. He did not offer an assessment similar to Milley’s and Kellogg’s in testimony aired Thursday. Their comments add to public understanding of key military moves that bridge the two presidencies, and the often erratic nature of deliberations under Trump. The Trump administration, in February 2020, signed a deal with the Taliban agreeing to remove all U.S. troops by spring 2021. It included a handful of concessions, including that the Taliban would hold fire against U.S. troops as they departed. The Afghan government was cut out of those discussions. Trump later undermined that agreement, tweeting in October of that year that all U.S. troops should be “home by Christmas!” Then-Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper sent Trump a memo advising the president that ongoing Taliban attacks, potential danger for remaining U.S. personnel and risks to U.S. alliances made that timeline unworkable. Trump fired Esper on Nov. 9, one day after the election loss, installing loyalists at the Pentagon at a moment when administrations typically seek a smooth transition on issues of national security. Biden decided in April 2021 to follow through with the Afghanistan withdrawal, prompting the collapse of the country’s government four months later. Biden administration officials blamed Trump, saying his deal with the Taliban left few alternatives, while former Trump administration officials sought to distance themselves from the agreement by arguing that it was meant to be implemented only if the conditions warranted. Trump has criticized Biden for the haphazard exit, calling it a “humiliation” and “total surrender,” and claiming it would not have happened on his watch. “We could have gotten out with honor,” Trump said at a rally last year. “We should have gotten out with honor. And instead we got out with the exact opposite of honor.” Alyssa Farah Griffin, a former Trump administration official who has become a frequent critic, tweeted Thursday that as “someone who remains highly critical of Biden’s Afghanistan withdrawal,” she’d be curious to hear how Trump supporters defend “Trump’s order for an even hastier withdrawal.” As someone who remains highly critical of Biden’s Afghanistan withdrawal, I’d be curious to hear defense’s on the Right of Trump’s order for an even hastier withdrawal. https://t.co/suCXr4d72o — Alyssa Farah Griffin (@Alyssafarah) October 13, 2022 Under Trump’s direction, hundreds of U.S. troops were withdrawn from Somalia in the waning weeks of his administration. Some were redeployed to nearby Kenya while continuing to visit Somalia to advise local troops battling al-Qaeda-affiliated militants. In May, Biden reversed Trump’s Somalia order, deploying hundreds of U.S. troops there. Pentagon officials sought presidential approval to do so, advising that it was becoming increasingly unsustainable to only appear on the ground episodically to carry out operations. The Pentagon has conducted a handful of airstrikes in Somalia since then. Read More Here

Deposition Excerpts Of Trump And Trump Jr., In NY Fraud Probe Released, Trump Jr. Distances Himself From Trump Org.'s Financial Statements – KTVZ https://digitalarizonanews.com/deposition-excerpts-of-trump-and-trump-jr-in-ny-fraud-probe-released-trump-jr-distances-himself-from-trump-org-s-financial-statements-ktvz/ By Kara Scannell Donald Trump Jr., a top executive at the Trump Organization, told New York investigators that he was not involved in preparing the real estate company’s financial statements at the center of a $250 million lawsuit and that his knowledge of accounting rules is limited to a college course, according to excerpts of his deposition released Thursday. Excerpts of the testimony from Trump Jr., former President Donald Trump and others were included in the New York attorney general’s motion Thursday asking a state judge to grant a preliminary injunction to prevent the Trump Organization from continuing to use what investigators have alleged are fraudulent financial statements unless disclaimers are added and bar the company from shifting assets unless court approved. CNN has previously reported that the former President asserted his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and squared off with New York Attorney General Letitia James at the start of the meeting. The excerpts reveal the specific questions Trump was asked — and refused to answer — during his four hours of testimony. Trump said he prepared “very little” for the deposition and then read a long statement, which he released publicly earlier that day, criticizing James for conducting a “bogus investigation.” An assistant state attorney asked Trump questions ranging from whether he was currently the president of the Trump Organization, to whether he had an agreement with his then-chief financial officer to prepare years of financial statements that were intentionally overvalued. He was asked if he personally approved the valuation methods used to value properties. To each question Trump replied, “same answer.” Last month James sued Trump, Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump, Eric Trump and the Trump Organization for allegedly using inflated financial statements to secure favorable terms on loans, insurance, and tax benefits in a decades-long fraud scheme. She is seeking to restrict their ability to conduct business in New York and recover $250 million in ill-gotten gains. The Trumps have denied any wrongdoing and have called the lawsuit politically motivated. Trump’s refusal to answer questions can be used against him in the civil lawsuit. He said he declined to answer them because of an ongoing criminal investigation into the same conduct led by the Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. Eric Trump and Allen Weisselberg, a long-time chief financial officer of the Trump Organization, also declined to answer most questions. Trump Jr., who was compelled by a judge to sit for a deposition, has not publicly described his role preparing the company’s financial statements. His answers shed light on his potential defense to the allegations, distancing himself from both the documents’ preparation and accuracy. In his testimony, based on the excerpts, his tone was plain-spoken, and his demeanor appeared casual. A source familiar tells CNN that Trump Jr. answered all questions. Ivanka Trump also answered questions when she was deposed this summer, but no excerpt of her testimony was made public. Trump Jr. said he began working at the Trump Organization in 2001 after taking a gap year following his graduation from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School with a bachelor’s degree in economics. He started in a low-level position on construction sites, expanded to negotiate numerous high-profile building projects, and in 2017 was named one of the three trustees overseeing the company when his father became president. He said he now works in Florida. Despite his senior position Trump Jr. testified that from 2010 to July 2022, when he appeared for his deposition, he had limited involvement in preparing the company’s financial statements. “I had no real involvement in the preparation of the Statement of Financial Condition and don’t really remember ever working on it with anyone,” Trump Jr. said. “Again, people may have asked me about stuff tangentially that I gave them an answer to that they may have then utilized as a basis of knowledge to come up with whatever, but, no, not specifically as it relates to, you know, knowledge about the financial statement,” he added. He said his knowledge of US accounting rules, Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, is limited to what he learned from an “Accounting 101” college course. “Well, I’m not an accountant, but that they are generally accepted,” he said when asked what he knew about GAAP. “That’s pretty much what I remember from Accounting 101, so…You know, I’m sure I could come up with some creative stuff to kill time, but I’d be doing neither of us a favor in terms of educating ourselves.” Trump Jr. suggested that the Trump Organization’s long-time accounting firm Mazars USA, which dropped Trump as a client earlier this year, included disclaimer language in its engagement letter to protect itself against potential future liability. In the engagement letter, Mazars said the client, Trump, was responsible for the accuracy of the information in the financial statements. “It’s sort of seems like an odd thing all of a sudden after 30 years of doing each and every tax return probably to do that,” Trump Jr. testified. “The semantics of the language in the letter, I can’t tell if that was always the language from the engagement letters from 2011 and on, or did it become sort of a, let’s call it, you know, cover-your-ass language later on after 30 years of doing a tax return.” Trump Jr. also distanced himself from the accuracy of the financial statements, testifying that he signed his name to bank certifications and financial statements only after conferring with people from the accounting and legal departments. “Those people would have more intimate understanding of the specifics of those things. And whoever was bringing me a document, if it was more accounting, it was probably from accounting. If it was more legal, it would be from legal. And, ‘Hey, are we okay signing this document? Do you believe it to be honest and accurate?’ And if they were okay with it, they’d have much more knowledge than I would ever be able to amass, so I would sign it,” he testified. He added that once his father became president, the two did not discuss Trump Organization business. When asked about a specific reference on a spreadsheet relating to 40 Wall Street, a Trump leased building around the corner from the New York attorney general’s office where the deposition took place, Trump Jr. switched into dealmaker mode. “I did all the leasing of the lovely building over your right shoulder. And I’d be remiss as a Trump to not point out the lovely real estate that sits right there and I get to stare at all day,” he said. Colleen Faherty, the assistant state attorney general questioning Trump Jr., noted for the record that the window shades were down. “They’re not that down,” Trump Jr. replied. “You know, I can still see probably about 30,000 square foot of a floor plate that — you know, have you thought about moving office buildings?: Faherty replied, “Always a dealmaker.” “Listen, you know, some s**t you can’t turn off, you know?” Trump Jr. replied. The-CNN-Wire & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved. Read More Here