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(NEW YORK) — When FirstNet, the emergency communications network, went out of service last Thursday morning, some law enforcement officials who spoke with ABC News said they feared it would be impossible to communicate with first responders in a crisis.
Born out of 9/11, the First Responder Network Authority was signed into law by President Barack Obama in 2012 and offers a single “interoperable network” for public safety.
The system is run off the AT&T network, which went down Thursday because of a software update gone wrong, the company said.
“To have this develop — and it wasn’t just five- or 10-minute outage, as a corrected minor problem — it was for several hours that AT&T was not working,” Sheriff Paul Fitzgerald of Story County, Iowa, told ABC News. “And that just can’t be done.”
Sheriff Fitzgerald helped develop what is now FirstNet, which was codified into law in 2012, and he served on the FirstNet board for two years after the authority was signed into law.
He called the FirstNet outage “unfathomable” and said there should be federal oversight to figure out what happened and ensure a situation like Thursday never happens again.
The First Responder Network Authority is an independent agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration, and is made up of a board that includes the Homeland Security secretary, the U.S. Attorney General, local sheriffs and fire chiefs among others.
“The First Responder Network Authority is working with its nationwide network contractor, AT&T, to conduct a thorough assessment of the outage and its impact on public safety operations,” FirstNet Authority said in a statement to ABC News. “Following the outage, AT&T took immediate action to prioritize restoration for public safety users of FirstNet, and service is currently running normally across the FirstNet network.”.
Charleston County, South Carolina, Sheriff Kristin Graziano, who sits on the FirstNet board said while her department wasn’t impacted by the outage, they had redundancies.
“One of the things I’ll be doing is personally reviewing the after action reports, we’ve had extensive conversations, and we’ll be overseeing as a board member next steps,” Sheriff Graziano said. “All I can tell you is as a result of what happens regardless if it’s an outage, we look at things worst case scenario and and and plan for the worst. And luckily though, this was not the case. It was not one of the worst case scenarios. It wasn’t a cyber attack that affected us, but we plan for that. The system is designed not to fail. It’s designed to be resilient. And I think that’s exactly what you saw with this particular outage.”
Los Angeles Police Department Deputy Chief Jim McMahon told ABC News that the LAPD had no adverse impact because of the FirstNet outage and said the partnership between FirstNet and law enforcement has been “positive.”
“It’s been a great partnership and this example and how they’ve responded to things that will happen with technology,” he said.
In a statement to ABC News, AT&T said service was restored by about 6 a.m. Eastern time.
“The FirstNet networked was restored by around 5:00 a.m. CST on Thursday, Feb. 22 – about 3 hours since service was initially affected for some FirstNet subscribers across the country,” an AT&T spokesperson told ABC News. “Initial review of the cause indicates it was due to the application and execution of an incorrect process, and we took immediate action, prioritizing restoration of public safety’s communications. We are committed to identifying key learnings and have already implemented changes to prevent this from happening again.”
Prior to getting the contract, AT&T said it conducted several years of “outreach” to the first responder community.
“While network outages are uncommon, we understand our mission and is committed to taking the actions and applying the learnings to ensure continued mission-critical and highly reliable service for America’s first responders. The contract requires it, and public safety demands it.”
The Smith County, Texas, Sheriff’s office said sheriffs’ deputies were not allowed to make phone calls on their county issued cellphones for an hour and 15 minutes, and that FirstNet is installed on those devices.
“Fortunately, it happened early in the morning when our call load isn’t near as heavy as it is during the day,” Larry Christian, the Public Information Officer for the Smith County Sheriff’s Office said. “So that would have been a blessing in and of itself.”
Athens, Georgia, Deputy Chief Keith Kelley told ABC News that they did have some outages in the early morning hours.
“Well, it’s very impactful. So, for example, our mobile data terminals are what police officers are using to take police reports and push them through our record system. It’s how they get computer aided dispatch information,” Kelley said. It’s very important that those systems are up and running and that they are reliable. It can affect our operations from a reporting standpoint, and it can affect officers getting calls.”
Kelley said when systems go down, they need to be restored quickly and that is what FirstNet did in this case.
“FirstNet is built for public safety. It is very important to us that when there’s network congestion or issues that are that are occurring in the network, as far as call loading, that our public safety responders have priority within that network, and that’s been our experience with FirstNet.”
In Charlotte, North Carolina, the police department’s computers inside their police cars were down for about one hour, according to the police chief there.
“It’s always a concern when you disrupt anything that puts emergency services in touch with our community and our citizens because, sometimes that’s the lifeline that seconds can save lives,” Chief Johnny Jennings of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department told ABC News. “And we want to make sure that that we’re always having that open line so that we can be reached whether that’s whether network goes down or whether we’re having people on hold or anything we take that very seriously.”
Jennings said his 911 call center was not impacted, but was concerned that many citizens could not reach 911 if they had AT&T as a wireless carrier.
John Cohen, former head of the Office of Intelligence and Analysis at the Department of Homeland Security, said that adversaries have taken note of what occurred and “could potentially leverage it” down the road.
“Any interruption in vital communication capabilities is a problem the longer that outage last, the more the higher with risk is that any interruption in communications is a problem,” Cohen, now an ABC News contributor, said. “But a widespread, long lasting outage, is highly dangerous and can lead to officer safety and public safety issues impacting entire communities.”
The federal government pays millions of dollars to AT&T to contract out the network, and Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden has said the National Telecommunications and Information Administration cannot share any information about independent audits of FirstNet, including whether any vulnerabilities discovered have been fixed – due to a nondisclosure provision in the contract it negotiated with At&T.
“While the outage last week was apparently caused by human error, I remain deeply concerned about the security of FirstNet and its vulnerability to hacks by foreign governments. It is a disgrace that there are still no minimum federal cybersecurity standards for the phone companies, including FirstNet operator AT&T,” Wyden said in a statement to ABC News. “Instead of acting to protect U.S. critical infrastructure, as our ally the United Kingdom has done by mandating cybersecurity standards for phone companies, U.S. government agencies like the FCC are asleep at the wheel.”
(NEW YORK) — A company and six of its executives were charged Wednesday in New York with allegedly operating a sham safety school that said it certified thousands of construction workers as properly trained when, in fact, it had not, prosecutors say.
Prosecutors said the alleged fraud cost at least one worker, Ivan Frias, his life in 2022 in a fall from the 15th floor of a job site on the Upper West Side.
According to the indictment, Valor Security and Investigations purported to have trained 20,000 construction workers between December 2019 and April 2023, claiming the workers were fully trained in “safety training, safety inspections, safety plans and security services” after 40 hours of instruction.
Instead, Valor allegedly issued “thousands and thousands of safety certificates and cards without providing any training at all,” according to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, charging between $300 and $600 for a bogus site safety training card.
“New York City construction workers have one of the most dangerous jobs in the city,” Bragg said Wednesday. “Fraud has dire consequences. Fraud can mean life or death.”
Construction workers have been required by law to receive safety training since 2017.
Valor, its president, Alexander Shaporov, and five other employees are charged with enterprise corruption, according to the indictment. Nineteen alleged brokers, including two master plumbers, were charged with criminal possession of a forged instrument. The plumbers’ licenses have been suspended.
The defendants were all arrested Wednesday morning and are expected to appear in court later the same day. It was not immediately clear whether any had obtained lawyers.
Prosecutors said they obtained text messages and emails that quote Shaporov allegedly telling his employees on one occasion to “make one up” for 40 purported trainees who lacked the requisite safety cards.
Frias died in November 2022 when he fell from the 15th floor of a construction site on West End Avenue. According to the indictment, Valor allegedly falsely certified that Frias had completed 10 hours of safety training, including eight hours of fall protection.
“I think every New Yorker has a right to be a little disgusted,” New York City Buildings Commissioner Jimmy Oddo said Wednesday, adding the department would consider revoking Valor’s license to issue safety cards.
Oddo said any construction worker who received a card from Valor should seek retraining.
(WASHINGTON) — A meeting between top representatives from the United States, Mexico and Guatemala on Wednesday will result in “several important announcements” about “commitments for deeper cooperation” on managing migration between the countries involved, according to senior Biden administration officials.
Officials said those announcements would include a joint statement that showcases “our joint commitment to further trilateral cooperation on migration and related matters;” Guatemala hosting the next Los Angeles Declaration on Migration and Protection ministerial meeting in April; and the creation of a U.S.-Mexico-Guatemala operational cell to jointly tackle migration issues, which was described by one official as “a working group that will share best practices and focus on ways that we can again enhance our already strong collaboration with both governments — bring it all together so that we are working seamlessly across all three governments.”
One official said Wednesday’s meeting would cover “issues related to economic development, border enforcement, labor mobility pathways and orderly humane irregular migration in the region,” with key agenda items including collaboration to address the root causes of irregular migration; opportunities to “deepen our trilateral efforts to expand legal pathways, including labor migration pathways;” joint commitments to strengthen the management of irregular migration flows; and coordination on future ministerial level meetings related to migration.
Officials also defended the Biden administration’s efforts to address the root causes of migration, but acknowledged it was “certainly a long-term effort that requires lots of work from throughout the U.S. government, throughout international organizations, foundations and otherwise” — citing Guatemala’s democratic transition as an example of success.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken will host Wednesday’s meeting with his Mexican and Guatemalan counterparts in Washington, D.C. Blinken, joined by Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas and other high-level U.S. officials, “will lead a discussion focused on actions to strengthen humane migration management, joint collaboration to address the root causes of irregular migration and displacement, and ways to expand lawful pathways in the Western Hemisphere,” according to the State Department.
The meeting comes as President Joe Biden prepares to make his second trip to the U.S.-Mexico border on Thursday in another push for Congress to pass a bipartisan immigration deal, which includes changes to asylum protocols, funding to bolster immigration review and hire additional Border Patrol agents as well as new emergency powers for officials.
Biden, a Democrat who is running for reelection this year, last visited his country’s southern border in January 2023 after facing immense criticism from Republicans for not going there as migrant encounters reached a record high in December.
ABC News’ Morgan Winsor contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — Serial killer Thomas Eugene Creech, Idaho’s longest-serving death row inmate, was spared from death on Wednesday after the medical team assigned to administer a lethal injection failed to establish an IV line, preventing the execution from proceeding, officials said.
The 73-year-old Creech was to be executed at Idaho Maximum Security Institution near Boise, just hours after the U.S. Supreme Court denied his last-minute request to stay his execution.
“Mr. Creech will be returned to his cell and witnesses will be escorted out of the facility,” the Idaho Department of Corrections said in a statement. “As a result, the death warrant will expire. The State will consider next steps.”
The surprise twist came after Associate Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan issued a decision Wednesday morning denying Creech’s request for a stay of execution, clearing the way for prison authorities to carry out the ultimate punishment.
Attorneys for Creech had filed a certiorari petition that the High Court halt the execution to give the panel time to review the decision by the Idaho Supreme Court denying Creech’s appeals.
“The application for a stay of execution of sentence of death presented to Justice Kagan and by her referred to the Court is denied,” the ruling said. “The edition for a write of certiorari is denied.”
Days before the execution, Idaho Gov. Brad Little said he had “zero intention” of halting the execution at Idaho Maximum Security Institution near Boise.
“Thomas Creech is a convicted serial killer responsible for acts of extreme violence,” Little said in a statement issued on Jan. 29. “His lawful and just sentence must be carried out as ordered by the court. Justice has been delayed long enough.”
In the petition to the Supreme Court, Creech’s attorneys argued that his due process rights were violated by the Idaho Supreme Court.
“Mr. Creech has identified a substantial need for guidance from the Court on an issue of great national importance and he has brought a strong vehicle for it to do so,” Creech’s attorney wrote in the petition, asking for “clarity on [the] question of when a state’s post-conviction regime affords little meaningful review to legitimate federal constitutional claims that it violates due process.”
The petition added, “There are strong reasons to suspect that at least some states have gone too far in limiting post-conviction review, thus calling for the Court’s intervention.”
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco also denied Creech’s latest appeal in a ruling issued Saturday, prompting attorneys for the condemned man to take their argument to the Supreme Court.
Prior to the death chamber glitch, Idaho Department of Corrections issued a statement Wednesday morning saying it is prepared to move forward with Creech’s execution.
“Last night, Mr. Creech visited with his wife throughout the evening. Additionally, his religious advisor spent an hour with him this morning. Mr. Creech had fried chicken, mash potatoes with gravy, corn, rolls, and ice cream for his last meal. Mr. Creech has remained cooperative in the days leading up to the execution,” the corrections department statement read.
Creech, according to prosecutors, has been convicted of five murders in three states, including three committed in Idaho.
In a 1993 opinion issued by the U.S. Supreme Court denying an appeal filed by Creech, late Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor wrote that “Creech admitted to killing or participating in the killing of at least 26 people.”
“The bodies of 11 of his victims — who were shot, stabbed, beaten, or strangled to death — have been recovered in seven states,” she said.
The last murder Creech pleaded guilty to occurred in 1981 at an Idaho maximum security prison when he killed 23-year-old David Dale Jensen, a disabled fellow inmate, by beating him to death with a sock filled with batteries, according to prosecutors. At the time of Jensen’s slaying, Creech was serving two life sentences for a double murder he committed in Idaho and had been convicted of murders in California and Oregon.
Creech argued in his recent appeal that his due process rights were violated by the Idaho Commission of Pardons and Parole and the Ada County, Idaho, Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
At the commutation hearing in October, Ada County deputy prosecutor Jill Longhurst told the commission that Creech is a “sociopath” who has “utter disregard for human life.”
“Mr. Creech is a serial killer, and in 1981 said he would kill again, and he did,” Longhurst told the commission. “Thomas Creech is the most prolific serial killer in Idaho.”
Creech’s execution came despite pleas to spare him from the most unlikely advocates — prison staffers who have cared for him behind bars.
A former prison nurse, a former prosecutor, prison guards and even the judge who sentenced Creech to death all filed declarations backing his request for clemency, which was denied in a 3-3 vote on Jan. 29 by the Idaho Commission of Pardons and Parole.
Judge Robert Newhouse of the Fourth Judicial District Court in Boise, who sentenced Creech to death in 1983, said in his declaration to the commission that Creech should serve the rest of his life in prison and that executing him would “just be an act of vengeance.”
(NEW YORK) — More than four months since Hamas terrorists invaded Israel on Oct. 7, the Israeli military continues its bombardment of the neighboring Gaza Strip.
The conflict, now the deadliest between the warring sides since Israel’s founding in 1948, shows no signs of letting up soon and the brief cease-fire that allowed for over 100 hostages to be freed from Gaza remains a distant memory.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Feb 28, 3:36 PM State Department urges Israel to allow access to Al-Aqsa during Ramadan
State Department spokesperson Matt Miller had no comment on Hamas’ calls for a march on Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, but Miller did call on Israel to allow worshipers to access the site during Ramadan, stressing it was in Israel’s national security interest to avoid fueling tension in the West Bank.
“I don’t have any comment on the call for marches,” Miller said. “I would just say, as it pertains to Al-Aqsa, we continue to urge Israel to facilitate access to Temple Mount for peaceful worshipers during Ramadan, consistent with past practice.”
Asked whether the U.S. had received assurances that the Israeli government would allow such access, Miller said the administration was aware of “plans under consideration,” but said he did not know if a final decision had been made.
“It’s not just the right thing to do, it’s not just a matter of granting people religious freedom that they deserve, to which they have a right, but it’s also a matter that directly is important to Israel’s security,” he said.
-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford
Feb 28, 3:14 PM Israeli official says negotiations are slow
Progress toward reaching a hostage and cease-fire deal is slow, according to an Israeli political official with knowledge of the negotiations.
Gaps remain in the discussions surrounding the redeployment of Israeli forces to the Gaza Strip, residents returning to northern Gaza and how many Palestinian prisoners Israel is willing to release, the official said.
Israel’s war cabinet is expected to meet Thursday to discuss progress in the negotiations, the official said.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Feb 28, 12:15 PM Hamas says it’s showing ‘flexibility’ in talks but ‘ready’ to continue fighting
Hamas’ political leader Ismail Haniyeh said Wednesday that they are showing “flexibility” in their ongoing negotiations with Israel but are “ready” to continue fighting.
“Any flexibility we are showing in the negotiations is to protect the blood of our people and to put an end to their huge pains and sacrifices in the brutal war of extermination against it,” Haniyeh, chairman of Hamas’ political bureau, said in a statement. “In parallel, [we are] ready to defend our people.”
Haniyeh also called on Palestinians in Jerusalem and the Israeli-occupied West Bank to “march toward Al-Aqsa mosque from the first day of the holy month of Ramadan,” which is March 10.
Israel has reportedly accepted a framework agreement of a six-week cease-fire with Hamas, during which 40 Israeli hostages being held in the war-torn Gaza Strip would be released in return for several hundred Palestinians imprisoned in Israel. Hamas, on the other hand, has not commented on the specifics in that framework.
Hamas’ main demands are that any agreement should include a path toward a more permanent end to the war and the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza. However, Israel is not willing to accept that, which is why the framework it has reportedly agreed to would only see Israeli troops redeployed within Gaza and not withdrawn fully from the Hamas-ruled enclave.
-ABC News’ Nasser Atta, Will Gretsky, Tom Soufi Burridge and Morgan Winsor
Feb 28, 8:07 AM IDF says it coordinated airdrop of humanitarian aid in southern Gaza
A supply of humanitarian aid was airdropped in the war-torn Gaza Strip on Tuesday in cooperation between Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Egypt, France and the United States, according to the Israel Defense Forces.
Approximately 160 packages of food, medical equipment and fuel were airdropped along Gaza’s southern coastline using American, Egyptian, Emirati, French and Jordanian planes, the IDF said. The packages were subsequently transferred to residents of southern Gaza and the Jordanian field hospital in Khan Younis, according to the IDF.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller and Morgan Winsor
Feb 28, 8:04 AM Hamas, Fatah to meet in Russia for talks on potential unity government, Gaza reconstruction
Representatives of Hamas and Fatah will meet in Russia’s capital city on Thursday to discuss the formation of a unified Palestinian government and the rebuilding of the war-torn Gaza Strip, according to Russian state-owned news agency RIA Novosti.
Fatah, the largest political party within the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the dominating force behind the Palestinian Authority (PA), currently only controls the West Bank after being forced out of Gaza amid violent clashes with Hamas when the Palestinian militant group and political organization won legislative elections in 2007. Hamas, designated a terrorist group by several countries including the United States, is not part of the PLO and rejects the Fatah-controlled PA’s collaboration with Israeli authorities to maintain security in the West Bank.
-ABC News’ Ayat Al-Tawy and Morgan Winsor
Feb 27, 3:55 PM Biden’s optimism for deal stems from ongoing negotiations: State Department
After President Joe Biden said Monday he “hopes” to see a cease-fire reached by March 4, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Tuesday that Biden’s optimism stemmed from “the broad outlines of a deal” agreed to by Israel, the U.S. and other partners last week, as well as “negotiations that are continuing through this week.”
But Miller said Hamas wields significant control over when and whether a deal is reached.
“Certainly, we’d welcome getting one by this weekend,” Miller said. “What I can say about the overall progress is that we made significant progress towards an agreement last week when we had officials from United States government engaging in the region. We continue to pursue further progress this week.”
“We are trying to push this deal over the finish line — we do think it’s possible,” Miller said.
-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford
Feb 27, 1:29 PM Netanyahu ‘surprised’ by Biden’s remarks on potential cease-fire deal, source says
A senior Israeli political source told ABC News on Tuesday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was “surprised” by President Joe Biden’s remarks that he was hopeful a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas could be in place “by next Monday.”
Netanyahu said in a statement later on Tuesday, “Since the beginning of the war, I have been leading a political campaign whose purpose is to curb the pressures intended to end the war before its time, and on the other hand also to gain support for Israel.”
“We have significant successes in this area, because today the Howard-Harris survey is published in the United States, which shows that 82% of the American public supports Israel,” he continued. “This gives us two more strength to continue the campaign until the complete victory.”
-ABC News’ Zoe Magee, Jordana Miller and Morgan Winsor
Feb 27, 9:52 AM What we know about the conflict
The latest outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that governs the Gaza Strip, has passed the four-month mark.
In the Gaza Strip, at least 29,878 people have been killed and 70,215 others have been wounded by Israeli forces since Oct. 7, according to Gaza’s Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health.
In Israel, at least 1,200 people have been killed and 6,900 others have been injured by Hamas and other Palestinian militants since Oct. 7, according to the Israel Defense Forces.
There has also been a surge in violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Israeli forces have killed at least 395 people in the territory since Oct. 7, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
The ongoing war began after Hamas-led militants launched an unprecedented incursion into southern Israel from neighboring Gaza via land, sea and air. Scores of people were killed while more than 200 others were taken hostage, according to Israeli authorities. The Israeli military subsequently launched retaliatory airstrikes followed by a ground invasion of Gaza, a 140-square-mile territory where more than 2 million Palestinians have lived under a blockade imposed by Israel and supported by Egypt since Hamas came to power in 2007. Gaza, unlike Israel, has no air raid sirens or bomb shelters.
Feb 27, 7:13 AM UNRWA ‘needs to be dissolved,’ Israeli official says
An Israeli official told ABC News on Tuesday that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) is “intertwined with terror and needs to be dissolved.”
“Their sole goal was to perpetuate the Palestinian refugee problem,” the official said. “Their compliance with Hamas terrorism and incitement was exposed. Any prospect for peace depends on dissolving UNRWA.”
The Israeli official said humanitarian aid in the war-torn Gaza Strip should be provided by people “who are not associated with Hamas or UNRWA.”
ABC News has reached out to UNRWA for comment.
In a dossier released in late January, the Israeli military alleged that 13 UNRWA employees participated in the Hamas-led Oct. 7 terror attack on Israel.
UNRWA has said it is investigating the allegations and took swift action against those accused of being involved in the attack. However, the United States and other top donors have suspended their funding to the agency, which is the biggest humanitarian aid provider in Gaza.
Feb 27, 5:54 AM Netanyahu ‘surprised’ by Biden’s remarks on potential cease-fire deal, source says
A senior Israeli political source told ABC News on Tuesday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was “surprised” by U.S. President Joe Biden’s remarks that he was hopeful a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas could be in place “by next Monday.”
Feb 27, 5:42 AM Qatar says no breakthrough in talks between Israel, Hamas
A spokesperson for the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Tuesday that there is no breakthrough to announce concerning a potential deal between Israel and Hamas on a cease-fire and hostage release.
“Many developments have occurred. Nothing to announce today, but we feel optimistic,” the spokesperson told reporters.
The spokesperson said the talks remain “ongoing” and they cannot comment on U.S. President Joe Biden’s remarks that a deal is expected by next Monday.
Qatar, along with Egypt and the United States, has been mediating talks between the warring sides.
Feb 27, 5:30 AM Hamas’ demands in negotiations ‘are still delusional,’ Israeli official says
An Israeli official told ABC News on Tuesday that Hamas’ demands in ongoing negotiations “are still delusional.”
“Military pressure and determined negotiation have helped free 112 hostages to date. Israel will get the remaining hostages home,” the official said. “A deal was done in November and another deal can be made once Hamas comes to reality. Hamas demands are still delusional.”
Feb 26, 6:28 PM Biden ‘hopes’ for cease-fire in Gaza by next Monday
President Biden said he “hopes” to have a cease-fire in Gaza by March 4.
“I hope by the end of the weekend,” the president told reporters Monday. “My national security advisor tells me that we’re close, it’s not done yet. My hope is by next Monday we’ll have a ceasefire.”
The comments came during a stop at Van Leeuwen’s ice cream shop in New York City as the president visited NBC Late Night host Seth Meyers.
Feb 26, 4:03 PM State Department says there’s been ‘progress’ in hostage talks
State Department spokesperson Matt Miller said Monday that there’s been “progress” in hostage talks over the last few days, but he said it’s unclear whether Hamas would accept the latest proposal.
“We’ve had progress with the conversations we’ve had between Egypt, Israel, the United States and Qatar,” Miller said.
He was then asked if they might reach a deal before Ramadan, which begins on March 10.
“I can’t make that assessment because it depends on Hamas. We believe a deal is possible and we hope Hamas will agree to one,” he said.
-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford
Feb 26, 12:16 PM Aid to Gaza has dropped by half since January, UNRWA says
Humanitarian aid to Gaza dropped by 50% from January to February, according to Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.
“Aid was supposed to increase not decrease to address the huge needs of 2 million Palestinians in desperate living conditions,” Lazzarini said on social media Monday. “Among the obstacles: lack of political will, regular closing of the crossing points & lack of security due to military operations + collapse of civil order.”
Lazzarini stressed the need for a cease-fire.
Feb 25, 7:06 PM Netanyahu’s office presents war cabinet with plan to evacuate Gazans from ‘areas of fighting’
The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office has presented Israel’s war cabinet with a “plan for evacuating the population from the areas of fighting in the Gaza Strip,” a release from the office said early Monday local time.
“In addition, the plan for providing humanitarian assistance to the Gaza Strip in a manner that will prevent the looting that has occurred in the northern Strip and other areas was approved,” the statement added.
-ABC News’ Dana Savir
Feb 24, 4:34 PM Israel agrees to updated framework in cease-fire, hostage deal
Israel has agreed to an updated framework that would establish a six-week cease-fire in Gaza in exchange for the release of 40 hostages, an Israeli source told ABC News. The development follows talks in Paris, which includes officials from the U.S., Israel, Qatar and Egypt.
While Israel says it’s waiting to hear back from Hamas on whether it will accept the updated language from this weekend’s talks, Israel is pushing forward with plans to enter Rafah. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted on X that operational plans and evacuation plans in Rafah are ready to be approved by his cabinet.
As part of the proposed deal, Israel has agreed to release jailed Palestinians at a higher ratio than the previous deal, which was 3 to 1. Up to 400 Palestinian prisoners could be released in this new deal.
The Israel Defense Forces will redeploy but not withdraw from Gaza.
-ABC News’ Marcus Moore
Feb 23, 1:23 PM Blinken calls Israeli settlement expansion ‘inconsistent with international law’
Secretary of State Antony Blinken is signaling a possible shift back to a long-standing U.S. policy rejecting Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank, calling it “inconsistent with international law.”
Asked at a press availability in Argentina for his response to Israel’s purported plans to build thousands of new settlement homes in the area, Blinken responded, “We’ve seen the reports, and I have to say we’re disappointed in the announcement.”
“It’s been long-standing U.S. policy under Republican and Democratic administration alike that new settlements are counterproductive to reaching an enduring peace. They’re also inconsistent with international law,” Blinken said. “Our administration maintains firm opposition to settlement expansion, and in our judgment, this only weakens — doesn’t strengthen — Israel security.”
The Biden administration has condemned Israeli expansion in the West Bank for years, but the State Department had not yet gone so far as to say they ran afoul of international law after Blinken’s predecessor, Mike Pompeo, said in 2019 that the U.S. would no longer view Israeli settlements in the West Bank, Golan Heights and East Jerusalem as violations.
But before delivering his rebuke, Blinken made note of what he called a “horrific terrorist attack” on a Jewish settlement in the West Bank this week and said the U.S. would continue to support Israel’s right to defend itself and its people.
-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford
Feb 22, 2:57 PM Over 85,000 people in Gaza could die in next 6 months if war escalates, report finds
More than 85,000 people in Gaza could die over the next six months if the war between Israel and Hamas escalates, epidemiologists from Johns Hopkins University and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine found.
The epidemiologists presented findings about death tolls in three potential scenarios: if a cease-fire is reached, if the war remains as it is, and if the war escalates.
If a cease-fire is reached, more than 11,000 people will die over the next six months, the findings estimate, based on current conditions inside Gaza.
If the status quo of the war is maintained, more than 66,000 people will die during the same period, the findings show.
And in the worst-case scenario, if the war escalates, more than 85,000 people could die, the report found.
These numbers are in addition to the more than 29,000 people who have already died in Gaza since Oct. 7, according to Gaza’s Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health.
-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman
Feb 22, 2:18 PM Israeli war cabinet approves sending negotiators to Paris talks
The Israeli war cabinet on Friday approved sending Israeli negotiators to hostage and cease-fire talks in Paris. The war cabinet’s decision will be brought to the Israeli security cabinet for approval later on Friday night.
Qatari, Egyptian and U.S. officials are also expected to be at Friday’s talks in Paris, according to reports.
Feb 22, 12:18 PM Israel concludes 1-week operation inside Nasser Hospital in Gaza
The Israeli Defense Forces said Thursday that its soldiers have concluded their one-week operation inside Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, where the IDF said it arrested at least 200 suspected Hamas members.
The World Health Organization said earlier this week that it helped evacuate some of the critically ill patients from the hospital.
On Wednesday, the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health said eight patients who died because of a lack of electricity at Nasser Hospital were still in their beds inside of the hospital among living patients. The IDF denied these claims.
Feb 22, 3:35 AM One dead, several injured in shooting near Jerusalem, Israeli authorities say
At least one person was killed and several others were injured Thursday in a shooting on a main road just outside Jerusalem in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, according to Israeli authorities.
Highway 1 was packed with cars when gunfire erupted Thursday morning near a checkpoint between Jerusalem and the Israeli settlement of Ma’ale Adumim. Three “terrorists” armed with automatic weapons pulled up in a vehicle, got out and opened fire at cars that were standing still in the traffic jam, according to the Israel Police.
Israeli security forces who were already on scene “neutralized” two of the suspects, police said. A third suspect who had tried to escape was later found and also “neutralized,” according to police.
Medics arrived and “ran from vehicle to vehicle” searching for victims, according to Israel’s rescue service MDA. A man in his 20s was pronounced dead at the scene while several others were transported to area hospitals, including four people who were moderately injured with gunshot wounds, MDA said.
Feb 21, 2:59 PM Israeli Minister Gantz expresses cautious optimism about new hostage deal
Israeli Minister Benny Gantz on Wednesday expressed cautious optimism that a new outline for a possible hostage deal could move forward.
Gantz, a member of the Israeli war cabinet, said at Israel’s Defense Headquarters Wednesday that there are “attempts” to “promote a new outline” for a hostage deal, and there are “initial signs that indicate the possibility of moving forward.”
“We will not stop looking for the way, and we will not miss any opportunity to bring the girls and boys home,” Gantz said.
-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman and Dana Savir
Feb 21, 1:02 PM 8 bodies remain in Nasser Medical Complex among living patients, Gaza Ministry of Health says
Eight patients who died because of a lack of electricity at Nasser Medical Complex in Gaza are still in their beds inside of the hospital among living patients, the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health said Wednesday.
The Ministry of Health said the bodies are still in the hospital because Israeli forces refuse to remove them.
The bodies “have begun to swell and show signs of decomposition, posing a danger to other patients,” the Ministry of Health said in a statement.
Israeli authorities denied these claims and said no bodies are still inside Nasser Hospital.
The Israel Defense Forces has been operating inside of Nasser Hospital for the last week. On Monday, the IDF announced its soldiers had arrested 200 suspected Hamas members at Nasser Hospital.
ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman and Camilla Alcini
Feb 21, 8:28 AM Israel considering sending delegation to Egypt for new round of talks, source says
Israel is weighing the possibility of sending a delegation back to Egypt for continued negotiations over a potential cease-fire or hostage deal with Hamas, an Israeli political source told ABC News on Wednesday.
There is some cautious optimism over the latest round of talks in Cairo, the source said.
Egypt, along with Qatar and the United States, has been mediating talks between the warring sides.
Feb 21, 8:14 AM Israel preparing to reopen Karni border crossing to facilitate aid to northern Gaza, source says
Israel is preparing to reopen the Karni border crossing to facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid into the northern Gaza Strip, an Israeli political source told ABC News on Wednesday.
Israel shuttered the Karni crossing, located on the border between southwestern Israel and northeastern Gaza, when Palestinian militant group Hamas came to power in the enclave in 2007 before permanently closing the crossing in 2011.
Northern Gaza has been isolated by the Israeli military and almost completely cut off from aid for weeks, according to the United Nations.
Feb 21, 7:56 AM UN food agency pauses deliveries to northern Gaza
The World Food Program, the food assistance arm of the United Nations, announced Tuesday that it is pausing deliveries of food aid to the northern Gaza Strip “until conditions are in place that allow for safe distribution.”
The decision came after a WFP convoy heading north from Gaza City was “surrounded by crowds of hungry people close to the Wadi Gaza checkpoint” on Sunday, the agency said. The same convoy faced “complete chaos and violence due to the collapse of civil order” when it tried to resume its journey north on Monday, according to the WFP.
“Several trucks were looted between Khan Yunis and Deir al-Balah and a truck driver was beaten. The remaining flour was spontaneously distributed off the trucks in Gaza City, amidst high tension and explosive anger,” the WFP said in a statement Tuesday. “The decision to pause deliveries to the north of the Gaza Strip has not been taken lightly, as we know it means the situation there will deteriorate further and more people risk dying of hunger.”
An analysis released Monday by the Global Nutrition Cluster, a humanitarian aid partnership led by the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), found that 15.6% of children under the age of 2 are acutely malnourished in northern Gaza, which has been isolated by the Israeli military and almost completely cut off from aid for weeks, compared to 5% in southern Gaza, where most aid enters the war-torn enclave. The acute malnutrition rate across Gaza was less than 1% before the war began last October, according to the report.
Feb 20, 2:21 PM Hostages held in Gaza have received medicine, Qatar says
Qatari officials said hostages held by Hamas in Gaza have received the medication that was part of a deal brokered last month.
The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said it has asked Qatar for evidence that the medicine was delivered.
“Israel will examine the credibility of the report and will continue to work for the peace of our abductees,” the office said in a statement.
Feb 20, 12:21 PM US draft resolution calls for temporary cease-fire
The U.S. voted against a resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire at Wednesday’s United Nations Security Council meeting, The Associated Press reported.
The U.S. was the only nation of the 15 permanent Security Council members to vote against the measure, according to the AP.
U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield said “an unconditional cease-fire without any obligation for Hamas to release hostages” was irresponsible.
“While we cannot support a resolution that would put sensitive negotiations in jeopardy, we look forward to engaging on a text that we believe will address so many of the concerns we all share — a text that can and should be adopted by the council, so that we can have a temporary cease-fire as soon as practicable, based on the formula of all hostages being released,” she said.
The U.S. has been circulating its own draft resolution on Gaza that calls for a temporary cease-fire conditioned on the release of all hostages, while also condemning Hamas for the Oct. 7 attack that sparked the war, according to senior administration officials familiar with the matter.
If the proposal were to be adopted by the U.N. Security Council, it would mark the first time the body has formally condemned Hamas’ actions.
The officials say the draft also makes clear “that under current circumstances a major ground offensive into Rafah should not proceed” and that there can be no reduction in territory in the Gaza Strip or any forced displacement of Palestinians, while also calling on Israel “to lift all barriers to the provision of humanitarian assistance, open additional humanitarian routes, and to keep current crossings open.”
The senior officials signaled that American diplomats wouldn’t rush the text to a vote and that they intended on “allowing time for negotiations.”
While hostage talks have sputtered over the past couple of weeks, senior administration officials said they were making some progress.
“The differences between the parties, they have been narrowed. They haven’t been sufficiently narrowed to get us to a deal, but we are still hopeful and we are confident that there is the basis for an agreement between the parties,” one official said.
ABC News’ Shannon Crawford
Feb 20, 11:34 AM US votes against immediate cease-fire
The U.S. voted against a resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire at Wednesday’s United Nations Security Council meeting, The Associated Press reported.
The U.S. was the only nation of the 15 permanent Security Council members to vote against the measure, according to the AP.
The U.S. has said an immediate cease-fire could impede the negotiations looking to free hostages and agree to a pause in fighting, the AP said.
Feb 20, 11:07 AM IDF operating inside Al-Amal Hospital
Israeli forces, which already entered Gaza’s Nasser Hospital, are also now operating inside the nearby Al-Amal Hospital, the Israel Defense Forces confirmed to ABC News.
“Al-Amal Hospital is currently under multiple attacks, as Israeli forces have directly targeted the third floor of the hospital, resulting in the burning of two rooms,” and “the hospital’s water lines were targeted,” the Palestine Red Crescent Society said.
Over 8,000 patients were evacuated from the hospital earlier this month, but almost 100 patients still remain inside, the Palestine Red Crescent Society said.
Feb 20, 7:13 AM WHO helps transfer 32 critical patients out of Gaza’s besieged Nasser Hospital
The World Health Organization said Tuesday that it has helped to successfully transfer 32 critically ill patients, including two children, from besieged Nasser Hospital in the southern Gaza Strip.
The WHO said its staff led two “life-saving,” “high-risk” missions at the medical complex in Khan Younis on Sunday and Monday, in close partnership with the Palestine Red Crescent Society and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, “amid ongoing hostilities and access restrictions.” Staff at Nasser Hospital had requested the transfer of patients after the facility became “non-functional” following an Israeli military raid on Feb. 14 after a weeklong siege, according to the WHO.
“Weak and frail patients were transferred amidst active conflict near the aid convoy,” the WHO said in a statement. “Road conditions hindered the swift movement of ambulances, placing the health of patients at further risk.”
“Nasser Hospital has no electricity or running water, and medical waste and garbage are creating a breeding ground for disease,” the organization added. “WHO staff said the destruction around the hospital was ‘indescribable.’ The area was surrounded by burnt and destroyed buildings, heavy layers of debris, with no stretch of intact road.”
The WHO estimates that 130 sick and injured patients and at least 15 doctors and nurses remain inside Nasser Hospital. As the facility’s intensive care unit was no longer functioning, the only remaining ICU patient was transferred to a different part of the complex where other patients are receiving basic care, according to the WHO.
“WHO fears for the safety and well-being of the patients and health workers remaining in the hospital and warns that further disruption to lifesaving care for the sick and injured would lead to more deaths,” the organization said. “Efforts to facilitate further patient referrals amidst the ongoing hostilities are in process.”
Prior to the missions on Sunday and Monday, the WHO said it “received two consecutive denials to access the hospital for medical assessment, causing delays in urgently needed patient referral.” At least five patients reportedly died in Nasser Hospital’s ICU before any missions or transfers were possible, according to the WHO.
Nasser Hospital is the main medical center serving southern Gaza. Ground troops from the Israel Defense Forces stormed the facility last week, looking for members of Hamas who the IDF alleges have been conducting military operations out of the hospital. Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that governs Gaza and is at war with neighboring Israel, denies the claims.
“The dismantling and degradation of the Nasser Medical Complex is a massive blow to Gaza’s health system,” the WHO said. “Facilities in the south are already operating well beyond maximum capacity and are barely able to receive more patients.”
Feb 20, 5:26 AM Aid groups warn of potential ‘explosion in preventable child deaths’ in Gaza
A new analysis by the Global Nutrition Cluster, a humanitarian aid partnership led by the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund, found that 90% of children under the age of 2 in the war-torn Gaza Strip face severe food poverty, meaning they eat two or fewer food groups a day.
The same was true for 95% of pregnant and breastfeeding women in Gaza, according to the report released Monday. And at least 90% of children under 5 are affected by one or more infectious disease, with 70% experiencing diarrhea in the past two weeks, the report said.
In Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah, where most humanitarian aid enters, 5% of children under 2 are acutely malnourished, compared to more than 15% in northern Gaza, which has been isolated by the Israeli military and almost completely cut off from aid for weeks, the report said. Before war broke out last October between Israel and Gaza’s militant rulers, Hamas, the acute malnutrition rate across the coastal enclave was less than 1%, according to the report.
The report also found that more than 80% of homes in Gaza lack clean and safe water, with the average household having one liter per person per day.
“The Gaza Strip is poised to witness an explosion in preventable child deaths which would compound the already unbearable level of child deaths in Gaza,” Ted Chaiban, deputy executive director for humanitarian action and supply operations at UNICEF, said in a statement. “We’ve been warning for weeks that the Gaza Strip is on the brink of a nutrition crisis. If the conflict doesn’t end now, children’s nutrition will continue to plummet, leading to preventable deaths or health issues which will affect the children of Gaza for the rest of their lives and have potential intergenerational consequences.”
Feb 19, 12:31 PM Gaza’s health ministry accuses IDF of turning Nasser Hospital into ‘military barracks’
Israeli troops have turned Nasser Hospital, the main medical center serving the southern Gaza Strip, into a “military barracks” and are “endangering the lives of patients and medical staff,” according to Gaza’s Hamas-run Ministry of Health.
The health ministry said Monday that patients and medical staff inside Nasser Hospital are now without electricity, water, food, oxygen and treatment capabilities for difficult cases since Israeli ground troops raided the facility in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis last week.
The World Health Organization, which warned on Sunday that Nasser Hospital “is not functional anymore,” said more than 180 patients and 15 doctors and nurses remain inside the hospital.
The WHO said it has evacuated 14 critical patients from the hospital to receive treatment elsewhere.
The Israel Defense Forces alleges that Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that governs Gaza, has been conducting military operations out of Nasser Hospital and other medical centers in the war-torn enclave — claims which Hamas denies.
(WASHINGTON) — Kentucky’s Mitch McConnell, the longest serving Republican Senate leader in history, will step down from that position in November.
McConnell, who turned 82 last week, announced the decision in a speech on the Senate floor.
“To serve Kentucky in the Senate has been the honor of my life,” he said. “To lead my Republican colleagues has been the highest privilege. But one of life’s most under-appreciated talents is to know when it’s time to move onto life’s next chapter.”
“So I stand before you today, Mr. President and my colleagues, to say this will be my last term as Republican leader of the Senate,” he continued. “I’m not going anywhere anytime soon. I’ll complete my job my colleagues have given me to do until we select a new leader in November and they take the helm next January.”
McConnell also made clear he’ll finish his term as senator.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(WASHINGTON) — Donald Trump’s former chief of staff Mark Meadows has lost his latest bid to have the election interference case against him in Georgia removed to federal court.
When a federal judge denied his effort last year, Meadows appealed to a three-judge panel for the U.S. Appeals Court for the 11th Circuit, which in December affirmed that “the events giving rise to this criminal action were not related to Meadows’s official duties,” so the matter should remain with the state of Georgia. Meadows then requested that the entire 11th Circuit hold a “rehearing” to consider his appeal.
The 11th Circuit denied that request Wednesday, saying in a very short order: “The Petition for Rehearing En Banc is DENIED, no judge in regular active service on the Court having requested that the Court be polled on rehearing en banc.”
Meadows was seeking to remove the case based on a law that calls for the removal of criminal proceedings when someone is charged for actions they allegedly took as a federal official acting “under color” of their office.
Meadows, along with Trump and 17 others, pleaded not guilty in August to all charges in a sweeping racketeering indictment for alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the state of Georgia.
The former White House chief of staff is accused in the indictment of participating in eight “overt acts in furtherance of the conspiracy,” while his attorney has said that “nothing Mr. Meadows is alleged in the indictment to have done is criminal.”
The potential advantages of a removal to federal court, attorneys and law professors have said, would be the possibility of a more sympathetic jury pool and the potential delays such a move could cause.
(NEW YORK) — The New York City judge who oversaw former President Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial received an envelope containing a white powder Wednesday, prompting an emergency response from police and fire officials, law enforcement sources told ABC News.
The envelope was addressed to Justice Arthur Engoron, who imposed a nearly half-billion dollar judgment against Trump.
Two court officers were the only ones exposed to the substance, which is not believed to be harmful, the sources said.
The letter was received in the operations office of the downtown Manhattan courthouse, the sources said.
The judge was never in any danger, sources said.
Engoron received multiple threats before, during and after Trump’s civil fraud trial, including a bomb threat at his Long Island home on the day of closing arguments.
Engoron imposed a limited gag order on Trump’s statements to protect court staff.
A similar gag order is being sought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg for Trump’s criminal trial, which is set to begin next month at a courthouse two blocks away.
Carl Juste/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
(TALLAHASSEE) — Hundreds of transgender and nonbinary Floridians and allies are expected to march through the state capital in Tallahassee Wednesday in opposition to years-long legislative efforts targeting gender-diverse communities.
“As we march through the streets of Florida, let our collective voice echo: We will not be erased, legislated against, or silenced,” said Cielo Sunsarae, executive director of the Queer Trans Project.
Sunsarae continued, “To those who seek to strip away our rights, remember this: our existence is non-negotiable, our power unstoppable, and our unity unbreakable.”
The “Let Us Live March” is taking place as lawmakers in the Florida House prepare to consider HB 1639, which would require transgender people to have their sex assigned at birth listed on their driver’s licenses and ID cards, instead of listing their gender identity.
The bill would also require health plans to cover what critics call “conversion therapy,” the text of the bill says “therapeutic services to treat a person’s perception that his or her sex is inconsistent with such person’s sex at birth by affirming the insured’s sex.”
The bill also would force health plans that cover gender-affirming care to cover “detransition” procedures.
“It removes it from that subjective issue that is going on socially to something concrete medically,” said Rep. Douglas Bankson, the bill’s sponsor, according to local news outlet Bay News 9. “If someone were to be incapacitated or unable to communicate, it’s important for first responders for when seconds matter to know the underlying characteristics of their physiology.”
Critics say the ban on changes to gender markers could lead to confusion, harassment, and discrimination against transgender people. For example, they say if records list a trans person as a gender they don’t live by, it could be difficult to identify them.
“Politicians are not only trying to censor and erase the very existence of trans individuals, but they are also forcing individuals to choose between their gender identity or lawfully driving,” said Kara Gross, legislative director and senior policy counsel at the ACLU of Florida.
Local legislators State Sen. Shevrin Jones and House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell will be among those criticizing the state’s actions in Wednesday’s march and rally.
“Real leaders look out for the safety and well-being of ALL people, not just some,” said Jones in a May 2023 statement on anti-LGBTQ legislation in the state. “The people of Florida are looking for results and action from their elected officials, not division and attacks on our freedoms.”
In a 2022 ABC News/Ipsos poll, 62% of those surveyed opposed “legislation that would prohibit classroom lessons about sexual orientation or gender identity in elementary school.”
Gov. Ron DeSantis and other state officials have continuously implemented legislation and policies that impact the LGBTQ community in the administration’s self-proclaimed war against “woke” beliefs.
This includes the 2022 Parental Rights in Education which restricts the inclusion of LGBTQ content in schools, bans on gender-affirming medical care for transgender youth, a trans bathroom ban and more.
DeSantis signed the legislation to allow “kids to be kids.”
“I feel very strongly as governor but also just as a dad of a 6, a 5, and a 3-year-old that we need to let our kids just be kids and we have a very crazy age that we live in — there’s a lot of nonsense that gets floated around. And what we’ve said in Florida is, we are going to remain a refuge of sanity and a citadel of normalcy,” DeSantis said.
(WASHINGTON) — Lawyers for former President Donald Trump are seeking to pause the enforcement of the penalties in his civil fraud trial, telling the court that he intends to post a bond of only $100 million — well short of the $464 million judgement ordered by Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron.
Engoron’s judgment ordered Trump to pay a $355 million fine, plus interest, and blocked him from running any New York-based company, including his own, for three years.
In a court filing Wednesday, Trump’s lawyers argued that the penalties are “unprecedented and punitive.”
“The exorbitant and punitive amount of the Judgment coupled with an unlawful and unconstitutional blanket prohibition on lending transactions would make it impossible to secure and post a complete bond,” defense lawyers wrote in the filing. “Appellants nonetheless plan to secure and post a bond in the amount of $100 million.”
In the filing, Trump’s lawyers said that posting a bond to cover the entire judgment would not only be impossible but also unnecessary given the preexisting oversight provided by the Trump Organization’s independent monitor. According to the filing, the current oversight coupled with the $100 million bond ensures that New York Attorney General Letitia James could collect the judgment if needed.
“Those assets are not going anywhere, nor could they given the oversight of the Monitor and the practical realities of the existence of the very public Judgment,” the filing said.
In their motion for a stay, defense attorneys Clifford Robert and Alina Habba called Engoron’s order “draconian” and said the punishments would unfairly impede Trump’s family real estate business.
“The extraordinary relief Supreme Court has granted is punitive, patently improper, unsupported by the evidence, and/or unavailable under the Executive Law, and is premised upon claims this Court ruled are time-barred,” the motion said.
The filing cited “the Attorney General’s public threats that she will seize Appellants’ real property forthwith to satisfy the Judgment,” a reference to remarks New York Attorney General Letitia James made during an interview with ABC News.
“If he does not have funds to pay off the judgment, then we will seek judgment enforcement mechanisms in court, and we will ask the judge to seize his assets,” James told ABC News last week.
“Supreme Court’s staggering $450 million judgment not only ignores this Court’s controlling decision in this very case, but also violates the Excessive Fines and Due Process Clauses of the U.S. and New York Constitutions,” the defense motion said.
“This untenable Judgment therefore threatens the entire New York business community, as it will render profitable, arms-length transactions between sophisticated commercial parties meaningless and subject to arbitrary, post hoc review by the Attorney General and the courts,” the motion argued.
Engoron, in his ruling earlier this month, found Trump, his adult sons, and two former Trump Organization executives liable for a decade of fraudulent business activity in which they used “numerous acts of fraud and misrepresentation” to inflate Trump’s net worth in order get more favorable loan terms. He ordering the defendants to pay a total of $464 million in disgorgement and pre-judgment interest.
Trump’s attorneys requested the stay pending their appeal of Engoron’s ruling, which they filed Monday.
