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House votes to hold Mark Meadows in contempt of Congress over Jan. 6 probe dispute

December 15, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — The House voted Tuesday night to hold former President Donald Trump’s chief of staff, Mark Meadows, in contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena from the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack to appear for a deposition.

The vote was 222-208, with GOP Reps. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois and Liz Cheney of Wyoming voting with all Democrats.

Meadows is now the first former lawmaker ever held in criminal contempt by Congress — and the first held in contempt since 1832 — when former Rep. Sam Houston was held in contempt for beating a colleague with a cane.

The vote sends the matter to the Justice Department, which will determine whether to bring any charges against Meadows, after previously doing so against Trump ally Steve Bannon.

During debate on the floor Tuesday evening, and earlier in the day, in the House Rules Committee, members of the Jan. 6 select committee released new text messages from the tranche of records Meadows had turned over to the committee.

“I heard Jeff Clark is getting put in on Monday. That’s amazing. It will make a lot of patriots happy, and I’m personally so proud that you are at the tip of the spear, and I could call you a friend,” a text to Meadows from an unknown number read, according to Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif.

The new messages further underscored Meadows’s importance to the congressional investigation, as a key figure in Trump’s orbit who personally participated in discussions about challenging the election results and advocated for voter fraud investigations from his perch in the West Wing.

“Mr. Meadows’s testimony will bear on another key question before this committee: Did Donald Trump, through action or inaction, corruptly seek to obstruct or impede Congress’s official proceeding to count electoral votes?” Cheney, the panel’s vice-chair, said Tuesday.

On Jan. 3, Meadows told an unnamed member of Congress that Trump “thinks the legislatures have the power but that the Vp has power too,” according to Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., who read the message about the counting of the electoral votes on the House floor.

On Nov. 4th, an unnamed member of Congress texted Meadows that Republican-led legislatures should “just send their own electors to Congress” to challenge the official results in key states, and allow the Supreme Court to determine how to award the votes and the winner of the election.

Lawmakers on the panel argued that Meadows, despite his deference to Trump’s alleged claims of executive privilege, was improperly refusing to appear under subpoena to discuss topics referenced in the materials he already shared with Congress or mentioned in his new memoir.

Meadows turned over some 9,000 documents from personal email accounts and a cell phone to the committee, including urgent text messages from Republican lawmakers imploring him to get Trump to something to stop the violence.

But he then reversed course and refused to appear under subpoena to answer questions about the records he provided.

During Monday’s committee meeting, before members voted unanimously to recommend Meadows be held in contempt, Cheney quoted extensively from text messages sent to Meadows during the riot from Fox News hosts, GOP lawmakers and Donald Trump Jr., the former president’s eldest son.

Cheney said the messages left “no doubt” the White House “knew exactly what was happening” at the Capitol during the riot.

“He’s got to condemn [the riot] ASAP,” Trump Jr. told Meadows in a text message, according to Cheney, saying that Trump’s tweet about Capitol Police “is not enough.”

“I’m pushing it hard,” Meadows replied. “I agree.”

“We need an Oval Office address,” Trump Jr. said in a follow up message. “He has to lead now. It has gone too far and gotten out of hand.”

“Please get him on tv,” Fox News host Brian Kilmeade wrote to Meadows. “Destroying everything you have accomplished.”

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., read aloud from text messages Meadows received from unnamed GOP lawmakers before and after the riot.

“Yesterday was a terrible day,” one wrote. “We tried everything we could in our objection to the 6 states. I’m sorry nothing worked.”

Cheney quoted again from text messages Tuesday morning.

“It is really bad up here on the Hill,” one message read.

In another, an unnamed lawmaker texted Meadows: “Fix this now.”

“We need to question him about emails and texts he has given us without any claims of privilege,” Cheney said.

Commitee Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said Tuesday that “only three people” of “over 300” have not cooperated with the committee. He shared that Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser is among those scheduled to cooperate and speak to investigators.

“I have no great desire to be here seeking consideration of this contempt referral. Mr. Meadows was a colleague for more than seven years. But that doesn’t excuse his behavior. If anything, his time as a member of the House should make him more aware of the potential consequences of defying a congressional subpoena,” Thompson said.

Republicans for the most part defended Meadows and suggested the committee’s push to hold Meadows in contempt would squander any chance they had to secure his cooperation.

“Today they are destroying executive privilege,” Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said on the House floor. “It is a vote to put a good man in prison.”

In a statement Tuesday, Meadows attorney George Terwilliger said his client “never stopped cooperating” with the panel. “What message does that duplicity send to him as well as to others who might be inclined to consider cooperating in good faith to the extent possible?”

Democrats and Republicans aligned with the committee blasted Meadows’ argument, pointing to the fact that he published a memoir detailing conversations with Trump around Jan. 6.

“This is a witness who is refusing to comply with the law,” Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., said. “But look at his book and you get more information than our committee did.”

Trump ally Steve Bannon was charged with two counts of contempt of Congress for rebuffing the committee’s subpoenas and has pleaded not guilty. That trial is scheduled to begin in July 2022.

‘The Bachelorette’ recap: Michelle’s in love with three men, but one has to go

December 15, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Tuesday’s episode of The Bachelorette, saw Michelle and her three remaining suitors leaving Minnesota in favor of the beautiful beaches of Mexico for the fantasy suite dates.

It was also the last chance for Brandon, Joe and Nayte to open up to Michelle like never before if they expect to win one of the two remaining roses up for grabs.

Ahead of the dates, Michelle told co-host Kaitlyn Bristowe where she stood with each of the men: she had “no concerns” with Brandon going into their date; while Michelle “loved” everything she’d seen of Joe so far, their relationship needed to progress a little further. Nayte, was “a good-looking dude” with “a lot of depth,” but Michelle wondered if she loved him more than he loved her.

Each man passed muster, with Brandon telling Michelle, “Since day one when I met you, I knew that you were the one,” before vowing, “‘Til I take my last breath, I will put you first.”

Joe, noted that Michelle’s passion for teaching paired with his ability to bounce back after a devastating sports injury and use that to inspire others would make him and Michelle a “powerful couple.”

During their one-on-one date, Michelle asked Nayte point blank if he was ready for an engagement, to which he responded, “Most definitely.”

That left Michelle wondering ahead of the rose ceremony if she could possibly be in love with all three men, leading to her toughest elimination yet.

Brandon added to the tension by interrupting the ceremony to have a word with Michelle alone.

After reiterating his promise to always put her first, they rejoined the other men, where a devastated Joe learned that he was going home.

The three-hour Bachelorette finale airs Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

Young Guns & new tunes: Mammoth WVH & Dirty Honey are working on fresh material ahead of joint tour

December 15, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Mammoth WVH and Dirty Honey may have some new tunes holstered for their upcoming Young Guns tour.

Speaking with ABC Audio, both Mammoth’s Wolfgang Van Halen and Dirty Honey’s Marc LaBelle reveal that they plan to work on fresh material ahead of the co-headlining outing, which kicks off in January.

“I’ve seen people online [saying], ‘Oh, this is gonna be my third Mammoth show!'” Van Halen says. “And it’s, like, ‘Well, s***, we better play some new stuff!'”

Wolf, who released the debut Mammoth album this past June, adds that he’s been “looking forward to getting in the studio,” and he already has “a bunch of fully realized ideas.”

“I think why not throw one or two of them in the set every night to kind of have that little mini audition in the middle of there to gauge on crowd reaction, if it’s worth it,” he says.

LaBelle, meanwhile, feels he and his band mates are “just now starting to get into that writing phase” to follow Dirty Honey’s first full-length, which dropped in April.

“It just feels like the right time to be writing,” LaBelle says. “We’re gonna be exploring ideas the next couple months here before we go out.”

LaBelle adds that he feels the road is a great place to workshop new stuff.

“One of the most productive spots to write in is at soundcheck when all your stuff is set up at a venue and you can really get a sense for how a song is gonna go over at a venue,” he says. “I think that’s really a priceless thing of being on tour, is having that opportunity.”

The Young Guns tour launches January 18 in Philadelphia.

KISS bassist/singer Gene Simmons says plans underway to open a KISS museum in Las Vegas next year

December 15, 2021 by WDNY Radio

KISS bassist/singer Gene Simmons says a museum celebrating his famous band currently is being built in Las Vegas at the Rio hotel and casino, which already houses the KISS by Monster Mini Golf attraction.

In a recent phone interview, Simmons told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that he expects the museum to open by March 2022.

“[It] is really just my collection, because I’ve got a half-century of KISS stuff,” Simmons he revealed to the newspaper. “I want the fans to see it.”

According to the paper, the museum will be connected to a planned 15,000-square-foot KISS-themed space that includes the mini golf course.

“It’s going to be breathtaking,” Simmons declared. “We have three tractor-trailers full of stuff, and it’s going to be spectacular. The fans are going to dig it. You can play golf, you can have your photo taken, you can take videos of yourself onstage with KISS, and then go visit my private collection.”

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer said that “hundreds and hundreds” of items will be on display, including costumes, stage props, gold and platinum albums and much more.

Meanwhile, Simmons also said he’s hoping to reschedule KISS’ recently canceled Las Vegas residency at Zappos Theater, which was to have run from late December of this year through early February 2022.

Gene explained that he wanted to reschedule the shows in six months or a year, when there aren’t as many artists performing in Vegas.

“With all due respect to other all the other artists who are terrific, and who are great and iconic, we’d rather wait for the traffic to die down and bring the best show on Earth, period,” Simmons told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Apple could become 1st US company worth $3 trillion

December 14, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Apple’s stock on Tuesday morning was hovering just below the threshold required to reach a market capitalization of $3 trillion, a milestone no publicly traded U.S. company has ever reached.

Shares for the iPhone maker hit an all-time high Monday during intraday trading before opening slightly lower Tuesday at $175.25 per share, roughly 4% shy of the $182.86 required to reach the historic mark.

The tech giant’s stock has gained more than 30% in 2021 and skyrocketed by nearly 500% over the past five years.

Analyst Dan Ives, managing director of equity research at Wedbush Securities, said in a note shared with ABC News that hitting the $3 trillion market cap would be “another watershed moment for Apple as the company continues to prove the doubters wrong with the renaissance of growth story playing out in Cupertino.”

Supply shortages disrupting global iPhone production remain an issue for Apple, according to Ives, but he said he expects these to ease in early 2022.

Despite chip shortages and more, Ives said he’s predicting Apple is on pace to sell “north of 40 million iPhones during the holiday season,” driven in part by strong demand from China.

Rumors of an Apple electric car project also have investors optimistic for the tech giant’s future.

The tech sector has led the U.S. stock market’s rapid growth in recent years and proven resilient to separate shocks to the economy related to the COVID-19 pandemic, especially as tech tools became essential for conducting business and remote schooling.

In August 2020, amid the pandemic, Apple stock soared to make it the first U.S. company to boast a market valuation of $2 trillion.

Belarus jails husband of opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya for 18 years

December 14, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(LONDON) — A court in Belarus has sentenced the husband of the leader of the country’s pro-democracy movement, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, to 18 years in prison, convicting him in a closed-door trial widely condemned as revenge for challenging authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko.

Sergey Tikhanovsky was jailed on Tuesday along with five other opposition activists who all received lengthy sentences — from 14 to 16 years in maximum security prisons — after they were found guilty of inciting mass unrest and social hatred.

Tikhanovsky, 43, was a popular video blogger who built a following by travelling the country, pointing out problems and criticizing Lukashenko’s rule. Last year, he sought to run against Lukashenko in a presidential election, but authorities blocked Tikhanovsky from the ballot and arrested him, prompting Svetlana to take his place.

She then found herself at the head of the huge protest movement that erupted against Lukashenko following the election in August and briefly seemed close to toppling him. Tikhanovskaya was forced into exile in neighboring Lithuania, and her husband remained behind bars as Lukashenko regained his grip through intense repression.

Tikhanovskaya on Tuesday said her husband’s sentence was Lukashenko’s “personal revenge.”

“The dictator publicly takes revenge on his strongest opponents,” she wrote on Twitter. “While hiding the political prisoners in closed trials, he hopes to continue repressions in silence. But the whole world watches. We won’t stop.”

The verdicts come amid a campaign of relentless repression in Belarus over the past year that has seen many thousands detained and hundreds made political prisoners.

The court also sentenced Artsyom Sakau, who helped on Tikhanovsky’s presidential campaign, and Dmitry Popov, his social media manager, to 16 years in prison. Mikola Statkevich, an opposition activist, received 14 years, and Ihar Losik, a journalist with the U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, was jailed for 15 years.

The verdicts were slammed by European countries and the United States, which demanded Lukashenko’s government immediately release them and other political prisoners.

U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said in a statement the verdicts were “politically motivated” and further evidence of the Lukashenko regime’s disregard “for the human rights and fundamental freedoms of Belarusians.”

Video released from the court room on Tuesday showed the men in a cage, smiling. As the verdict was read out, Tikhanovsky turned his back on the judge.

Losik’s wife later published a video address castigating the court and challenging Lukashenko to meet with her.

She said her husband already had endured two hunger strikes and had slit his wrists in an attempt to die by suicide. She accused a prison psychologist of encouraging him to make another attempt.

“Let’s meet, and I will tell you what our family has gone through thanks to your underlings,” she said, addressing Lukashenko. “And you try to explain to me why we have gone through, and continue to go through, all these torments.”

“I don’t intend to run and hide abroad,” she added. “Prove to me you’re not a coward. I’m waiting for your invitation.”

‘A defining tragedy’: US COVID death toll eclipses 800,000 as winter surge intensifies

December 14, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — As Americans gather to toast the end of another particularly difficult year, many loved ones will be notably missing from holiday celebrations, a glaring reminder of the tragic realities of the coronavirus pandemic.

On Tuesday, the United States reached yet another staggering milestone, with 800,000 Americans now confirmed lost to the coronavirus, according to newly updated data from Johns Hopkins University.

“This will be a defining tragedy of our generation,” David Dowdy, an infectious disease epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told ABC News. “We’ve gotten to the point where our eyes glaze over on these numbers. But by now, almost every one of us knows someone who has died of COVID-19.”

The sobering marker comes less than two years into the pandemic, and despite the introduction of the first coronavirus vaccines, nearly one year ago.

Half a million lives lost since last December

When the first COVID-19 vaccines were administered last December, many Americans hoped the shots would herald a return to normalcy. However, since last December, an additional 500,000 Americans have died of the virus. Of those, just shy of half — 230,000 — lost their lives since April 2021, when President Joe Biden announced the vaccine was now widely available to every American over the age of 18.

“The vast majority of these deaths could have been avoided,” said Dr. John Brownstein, an epidemiologist at Boston Children’s Hospital and an ABC News contributor. “Despite the availability of vaccines, we have seen close to half a million deaths since first shots went into arms last December.”

Americans in every state, city and town have felt the personal impact and ripple effect of the virus.

An analysis tracking the extensive reach of COVID-19 loss of kin with a bereavement multiplier, published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, estimated that 7.2 million family members may be grieving the loss of a loved one due to the virus.

The staggering number of deaths due to COVID-19 is now higher than the 700,000 Americans who have died from AIDS-related illnesses over the last four decades. It is also higher than the total number of American troops who have died in battle since 1900, and about the same as the population of North Dakota.

“Every other minute in this country, for almost two years now, that story has repeated itself. By the time you finish reading this [story], someone else will have died of this disease,” Dowdy said.

Although the death rate is significantly lower than it was at the nation’s peak last January, on average, more than 1,000 Americans are still being reported lost to the virus each day.

“[The average] is more than twice the rate of most countries in places like Europe, even though they have more cases than we do. This is an ongoing failure of our society,” said Dowdy.

Some experts believe that the current COVID-19 death count could potentially be greatly undercounted, due to inconsistent reporting by states and localities, and the exclusion of excess deaths, a measure of how many lives have been lost beyond what would be expected if the pandemic had not occurred.

‘This pandemic is clearly not over’

In the early days of the pandemic, even the highest death toll projections seemed unimaginable.

Studies have found that the virus was present in the U.S., potentially as early as December 2019, although widespread transmission likely did not occur until late February 2020, according to experts.

The COVID-19 death toll is now eight times what former President Donald Trump once stated, in the early days of the pandemic.

“The minimum number was 100,000 lives, and I think we’ll be substantially under that number… So we’ll see what it ends up being, but it looks like we’re headed to a number substantially below 100,000,” Trump said in April 2020.

Forecasts predict that as the U.S. faces yet another winter viral resurgence, and it is possible that thousands more lives could be lost before the end of 2021.

Experts say that a confluence of factors, such as vaccine hesitancy, cold weather, relaxed restrictions, the highly transmissible delta variant and the impact of waning vaccine immunity over time have all contributed to the higher death toll.

“This pandemic is clearly not over,” UMass Memorial Health Care President and CEO Dr. Eric Dickson told ABC News. “This is really the toughest period of this whole pandemic right now for some of us.”

Although 60% of Americans are currently fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 95 million Americans remain completely unvaccinated, and thus at risk for infection, severe illness and death.

Now, with new concerns over the omicron variant, health experts are urging Americans to get boosted as soon as possible. About 50 million people – 25% of fully vaccinated Americans — have received an additional vaccine dose, according to the CDC.

Unvaccinated individuals had a 5.8 times greater risk of testing positive for COVID-19 and a 14 times greater risk of dying from it, as compared to vaccinated individuals, according to federal data compiled in September 2021.

Although masking is required in all forms of public transportation across the country, COVID-19 restrictions have become sparse, with few jurisdictions now requiring face coverings or social distancing.

“Vaccine resistance coupled with a rapid return to normal life has been at the expense of a tragic loss of life,” Brownstein said.

The rest of the upcoming winter holidays also continue to be a major source of concern for experts, after many communities saw an increase in cases and hospitalizations following Thanksgiving.

“While so many have done their part, we still have tens of millions of eligible people who have yet to recognize the tremendous loss of life that can be averted with the benefit that comes from getting vaccinated. This divide means that our devastating march to a million lives lost becomes even more certain,” Brownstein said.

The Rolling Stones top ‘Pollstar’ list of highest-grossing worldwide tours of 2021

December 14, 2021 by WDNY Radio

The Rolling Stones‘ No Filter Tour of the U.S. was by far the highest-grossing trek in the world this year, according to new data released by Pollstar, which tracks the live entertainment business.

The Stones, who hit the road just a month after the death of their founding drummer, Charlie Watts, brought in a total of $115.5 million in just 12 concerts that were eligible for consideration.

Pop star Harry Styles is second on the list, grossing $86.7 million over 39 events.

Other veteran artists whose tours landed in the top 10 of the list include Green Day, the Eagles, Dead & Company, Guns N’ Roses, Dave Matthews Band and Phish.

The Hella Mega Tour, featuring Green Day, Weezer and Fall Out Boy, is #3 on the tally, grossing $67.3 million in 20 shows.

The Eagles’ Hotel California 2021 Tour is in fourth place, after bringing in $59.2 million over 23 concerts.

Dead & Company are at #5, grossing $50.2 million, GN’R are at #7 after bringing in $47.3 million, Dave Matthews Band are in eighth place after grossing $46 million, and Phish are #9, with $44.4 million in gross earnings.

Impressively, The Rolling Stones had six of the 10 highest-grossing concert engagements of 2021, with their October 14 and October 17 shows at SoFi Stadium near Los Angeles, topping the tally with $18.9 million.

Here’s the full list of Pollstar‘s Top 10 2019 North American Tours:

1. The Rolling Stones — $115.5 million, 516,624 tickets sold
2. Harry Styles — $86.7 million, 669,051 tickets sold
3. “The Hella Mega Tour” — $67.3 million, 659,062 tickets sold
4. Eagles — $59.2 million, 257,584 tickets sold
5. Dead & Company — $50.2 million, 588,658 tickets sold
6. Los Bukis — $49.7 million, 357,343 tickets sold
7. Guns N’ Roses — $47.3 million, 351,339 tickets sold
8. Dave Matthews Band — $46.0 million, 583,399 tickets sold
9. Phish — $44.4 million, 572,626 tickets sold
10. Jonas Brothers — $42.5 million, 528,630 tickets sold

Full House expected to hold Mark Meadows in contempt of Congress

December 14, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — The House on Tuesday is expected to hold Mark Meadows, former President Donald Trump’s chief of staff, in contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena for his testimony from the select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

Meadows, a former House member, would be the first former lawmaker to be held in criminal contempt by Congress — and the first lawmaker held in contempt — since 1832.

The vote would refer the matter to the Justice Department to decide whether to bring charges against the North Carolina Republican. Meadows could face up to a year in prison and a $100,000 fine if convicted.

Meadows turned over some 9,000 documents from his personal cell phones to the committee, including urgent text messages from Republican lawmakers imploring him to get Trump to something to stop the violence.

But he then reversed course and refused to appear under subpoena to answer questions about the records he provided.

During Monday’s committee meeting, before members voted unanimously to recommend Meadows be held in contempt, Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., the vice chair of the panel, quoted extensively from text messages sent to Meadows during the riot from Fox News hosts, GOP lawmakers and Donald Trump Jr., the former president’s eldest son.

Cheney said the messages left “no doubt” the White House “knew exactly what was happening” at the Capitol during the riot.

“He’s got to condemn [the riot] ASAP,” Trump Jr. told Meadows in a text message, according to Cheney, saying that Trump’s tweet about Capitol Police “is not enough.”

“I’m pushing it hard,” Meadows replied. “I agree.”

“We need an Oval Office address,” Trump Jr. said in a follow up message. “He has to lead now. It has gone too far and gotten out of hand.”

“Please get him on tv,” Fox News host Brian Kilmeade wrote to Meadows. “Destroying everything you have accomplished.”

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., read aloud from text messages Meadows received from unnamed GOP lawmakers before and after the riot.

“Yesterday was a terrible day,” one wrote. “We tried everything we could in our objection to the 6 states. I’m sorry nothing worked.”

She quoted again from text messages Tuesday morning.

“It is really bad up here on the Hill,” one message read.

In another, an unnamed lawmaker texted Meadows: “Fix this now.”

“We need to question him about emails and texts he has given us without any claims of privilege,” Cheney said.

Commitee Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., told the committee that “only three people” of “over 300” have not cooperated with the committee. He shared that Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser is among those scheduled to cooperate and speak to investigators.

Republicans for the most part defended Meadows and suggested the committee’s push to hold Meadows in contempt would squander any chance they had to secure his cooperation.

“Today they are destroying executive privilege,” Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said on the House floor. “It is a vote to put a good man in prison.”

Democrats and Republicans aligned with the committee blasted Meadows’ argument, pointing to the fact that he published a memoir detailing conversations with Trump around Jan. 6.

“This is a witness who is refusing to comply with the law,” Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., said. “But look at his book and you get more information than our committee did.”

Ex-Gaetz associate Joel Greenberg agrees to pay Seminole County nearly $2M in restitution

December 14, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Ex-Gaetz associate Joel Greenberg agrees to pay Seminole County nearly M in restitution

(SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla.) — Former Seminole County tax collector Joel Greenberg, the one-time associate of Rep. Matt Gaetz who in May pled guilty to multiple charges including sex trafficking a minor, has reached a verbal agreement to pay back the county over $1.8 million in restitution, according to the Seminole County attorney.

County Attorney Bryant Applegate told Seminole County commissioners on Tuesday that he had reached a “verbal” deal for Greenberg — Gaetz’s self-described one-time wingman — to pay back nearly $1.9 million in restitution related to his time in office, a source familiar with the situation confirmed to ABC News.

If Greenberg fails to pay the restitution, the county will move to go after other entities, the source said.

Greenberg’s lawyer, Fritz Schiller, confirmed the verbal agreement to ABC News.

Greenberg, who reached a plea deal earlier this year and has been cooperating in the ongoing federal investigation into potential sex trafficking allegations against Gaetz and others, was initially charged with over 30 counts last year, including defrauding the Seminole County Tax Office out of hundreds of thousands of dollars through schemes ranging from buying sports memorabilia and cryptocurrency to paying women he met on a self-described “sugar daddy” website using the office credit card.

Gaetz has vehemently denied any wrongdoing and has not been charged with any crime.

“When I became aware of some of Greenberg’s misdeeds, I deeply regretted my friendship with him,” Gaetz told Pensacola ABC affiliate WEAR in October. “I do believe that it’s fair for the people of Northwest Florida to judge me based on the associations that I’ve had, and I deeply regret my association with Joel Greenberg, politically, socially and otherwise.”

Greenberg is scheduled to be sentenced in March after his sentencing was delayed twice over the summer.

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