(LOS ANGELES) — Alexander Smirnov, the former FBI informant charged with lying to the bureau about President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden, was remanded to custody Monday, pending trial.
Appearing in court Monday, Smirnov said very little except answering “yes” when asked if he understood the case against him. He entered a plea of not guilty to the counts against him.
Smirnov was arrested earlier this month on charges that he concocted “fabrications” about the president and his son accepting $5 million in bribes from the Ukrainian energy giant Burisma — which Republicans have repeatedly cited as a driving force in their efforts to impeach the president.
After being released by the court following his arrest, he was then rearrested last week and held in custody.
U.S. District Judge Otis Wright had ordered Smirnov to appear in court Monday as the judge considered keeping Smirnov detained. Special counsel David Weiss had asked the judge for Smirnov to be held until his trial date.
His attorneys made a plea Monday for his release, arguing that he has never committed a crime, that he worked for the U.S. government, and that he has never been accused of lying before.
Justice Department officials argued that he is a major flight risk.
The judge agreed with the DOJ.
“There is nothing garden variety about this case,” he said, ordering Smirnov held until trial.
In a filing last week, Weiss’ office alleged Smirnov had high-level contacts with Russian intelligence officials who they said were “involved in passing a story” to him about Hunter Biden.
“Smirnov’s efforts to spread misinformation about a candidate of one of the two major parties in the United States continues,” the filing stated. “What this shows is that the misinformation he is spreading is not confined to 2020. He is actively peddling new lies that could impact U.S. elections after meeting with Russian intelligence officials in November.”
Last July, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, took the unusual step of releasing the confidential FBI informant’s unverified claim that, years ago, the Biden family “pushed” a Ukrainian oligarch to pay them $10 million.
The claim — which Democrats and the White House immediately denied — has since been cited by congressional Republicans in part to justify their impeachment inquiry into the president.
(SANTA FE, N.M.) — The involuntary manslaughter trial for Alec Baldwin over the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of “Rust” in October 2021 has been set for July, according to New Mexico’s First Judicial District Court.
Jury selection is set to begin on July 9 with the trial expected to last from July 10 to 19.
Baldwin was indicted by a grand jury on Jan. 19 on an involuntary manslaughter charge after prosecutors dropped the original manslaughter charges last April.
Baldwin, 65, is accused of fatally shooting Hutchins, 42, on the New Mexico set of the Western in October 2021. The actor was practicing a cross-draw when the gun fired, striking the cinematographer and director Joel Souza, who suffered a non-life-threatening injury.
Baldwin pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter on Jan. 31.
Two others were charged in the on-set shooting, including armorer Hannah Gutierrez and first assistant director David Halls.
Halls pleaded no contest to a charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon and was sentenced to six months unsupervised probation as part of a plea deal. Halls handed the Colt .45 revolver to Baldwin prior to the shooting.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(NEW YORK) — Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg on Monday asked a judge to impose a gag order on former President Donald Trump, who is charged in New York with falsifying business records related to hush money he paid to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.
Trump is already under a limited gag order in his federal election interference case in Washington, D.C., and prosecutors in Manhattan sought a similarly “narrowly tailored order restricting certain prejudicial extrajudicial statements by defendant.”
Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts in the hush money case and has criticized Bragg and Judge Juan Merchan, as well as witnesses that include Trump’s former personal attorney and fixer Michael Cohen.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(NEW YORK) — A historic, billion-dollar donation to a medical school in New York City has provided students with free tuition moving forward.
Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx received a $1 billion donation from Dr. Ruth Gottesman, former professor and chair of the school’s board of trustees, the institution announced in a press release Monday.
The massive donation — a “transformational gift,” the school said — is among the largest ever made to a university in the United States and seemingly the largest made to an American medical school, according to the institution.
The $1 billion donation will ensure that no student at Einstein will have to pay tuition again, Dr. Philip Ozuah, president and CEO of Montefiore Einstein, the umbrella organization for Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Health System, said in the announcement.
All current, fourth-year students will be reimbursed their spring 2024 semester tuition and, beginning at the start of the next term, all students moving forward will receive free tuition at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, the school said.
Tuition and fees for one year at the medical school total over $63,000, and more than half the medical students owe upward of $200,000 in student debt after graduating, the Albert Einstein College of Medicine says on its website.
Almost half of students are New Yorkers and nearly 60% of students at the university are women, according to the institution.
“This donation radically revolutionizes our ability to continue attracting students who are committed to our mission, not just those who can afford it,” Dr. Yaron Tomer, the Marilyn and Stanley Katz dean at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, said in the release.
“Additionally, it will free up and lift our students, enabling them to pursue projects and ideas that might otherwise be prohibitive. We will be reminded of the legacy this historic gift represents each spring as we send another diverse class of physicians out across the Bronx and around the world to provide compassionate care and transform their communities,” Tomer said.
The donation comes from Gottesman and her late husband, David “Sandy” Gottesman, who was the founder of First Manhattan Co. and an early investor in Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, before he died in 2022 at 96 years old.
Ruth Gottesman, 93, began her work at Einstein’s Children’s Evaluation and Rehabilitation Center more than 55 years ago.
“I am very thankful to my late husband, Sandy, for leaving these funds in my care, and l feel blessed to be given the great privilege of making this gift to such a worthy cause,” Ruth Gottesman said in the press release.
“Each year, well over 100 students enter Albert Einstein College of Medicine in their quest for degrees in medicine and science. They leave as superbly trained scientists and compassionate and knowledgeable physicians, with the expertise to find new ways to prevent diseases and provide the finest health care to communities here in the Bronx and all over the world,” she said.
(MONTGOMERY, Al.) — More than a week after the Alabama Supreme Court upended in vitro fertilization access in the state with its ruling that frozen embryos are considered children, increasing public outcry has spurred hope for legislative movement in the Statehouse.
Last week, the court ruled that “unborn children are ‘children,'” which led several facilities in the state to halt IVF treatments amid concerns that their practices could run into legal troubles.
There are multiple proposals in the Alabama House and Senate that could restore IVF access in the state, authored by both Democrats and Republicans. But the clearest path is for a Republican-led bill that is set to be introduced by State Sen. Tim Melson in the Senate this week. The bill is expected to describe an embryo as a “potential” life, but clarify that it is not a human life under law until it’s transferred to a uterus and determined to be a viable pregnancy.
Republican Gov. Kay Ivey threw her support behind that measure on Friday.
To turn up the pressure on lawmakers, advocates have planned a large gathering at the state Capitol on Wednesday. Organizers say there could be hundreds of people — including doctors and IVF patients — who will travel to Montgomery to protest the state Supreme Court decision and make their voices heard in the state legislature.
The “day of action” is planned to coincide with a hearing about Melson’s bill before the Senate Health Committee. It’s expected to be a public hearing, and people will testify with personal stories about their IVF journeys. Advocates say they have more than 50 people willing to testify so far.
Democratic House Minority Leader Rep. Anthony Daniels told ABC News that he hopes legislation will pass both chambers within two weeks — if not sooner — to restore IVF treatments in the state.
Doctors at the three Alabama clinics that have paused IVF tell ABC News it’s unlikely they will restart treatments until legislation is passed to protect IVF, or until the Alabama Supreme Court reconsiders its opinion.
In the ruling issued over a week ago, the court set a new precedent by determining that embryos are children, opening the door to civil and potentially criminal lawsuits for people who handle them. Within a few days, roughly half of the state’s IVF clinics paused treatment for fear that they could face wrongful death lawsuits — or potentially criminal charges — for discarding unused embryos, a routine part of IVF.
At the federal level, Biden administration officials have yet to announce significant policy options to protect IVF access in Alabama, insisting that their options to use executive action to protect abortion rights, including in ways that would keep IVF intact, are limited.
While there have been preliminary conversations over the past week about potential guidance, nothing has been finalized or decided, an administration official told ABC News.
White House Gender Policy Council Director Jen Klein, in an interview Sunday on MSNBC, suggested examples of the kinds of actions the administration could be exploring.
“Absolutely, there are things that the administration can and has done already. The president has issued three executive orders and a presidential memorandum to protect access to abortion and contraception, to protect patients’ privacy, protect the right to travel, and … the right to medication abortion, which as you know is more than 50% of abortions in this country,” she said.
Klein also said that the White House would likely hold meetings with impacted doctors and patients from Alabama “soon” in Washington, similar to how they held meetings with abortion-rights advocates from Mississippi after the Dobbs ruling.
Fundamentally, however, the White House insists — as they have for over a year — that Congress would need to pass a bill to put a nationwide right to reproductive care back on the books.
Without more Democratic support, though, that’s not likely.
Two years ago, 195 Republicans voted against a bill to protect access to birth control and right now, 125 Republicans — including Speaker Mike Johnson — are signed on to a bill called the Life at Conception Act, which would define life as the moment of fertilization. The bill would imperil IVF access in a similar way to the Alabama court ruling.
Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth, who has introduced a bill to protect IVF nationwide, told Martha Raddatz on ABC’s “This Week” that “it’s been crickets” from her Republican colleagues since the Alabama ruling.
For now, that’s left the White House to wield the Alabama ruling for political currency, rather than stepping in with any significant policy.
In a memo sent on Monday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called out Republicans for publicly supporting IVF access while also backing legislation that would restrict it.
“Republican officials think they can obfuscate their way out of their support for these extreme policies,” Jean-Pierre said.
“No attempt to ‘rebrand’ can change the fact that their true colors are on the record. They have spent decades trying to eliminate the constitutional right to choose, and undermine reproductive freedom everywhere. Their agenda is clear, they’re just worried it’s not popular,” she said.
(EAGLE PASS, TEXAS) — President Joe Biden will make his second visit to the U.S.-Mexico border on Thursday to make another push for Congress to pass a bipartisan border deal, the White House announced Monday.
Former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, will also deliver remarks at the border on Thursday, sources familiar with his trip told ABC News. Trump will visit Eagle Pass, Texas — a flashpoint for immigration confrontation.
Biden will visit Brownsville, Texas. He last visited the border in January 2023 when he stopped in El Paso. He faced immense criticism from Republicans for not going to the border as migrant encounters reached a record high in December.
In Brownsville, Biden will meet with Border Patrol agents, law enforcement and local leaders, according to a White House official.
“He will discuss the urgent need to pass the Senate bipartisan border security agreement, the toughest and fairest set of reforms to secure the border in decades,” the official said. “He will reiterate his calls for congressional Republicans to stop playing politics and to provide the funding needed for additional U.S. Border Patrol agents, more asylum officers, fentanyl detection technology and more.”
Biden has been urging Congress to pass the 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.
The deal was the result of months of negotiations after House Republicans demanded foreign aid to Ukraine and Israel be tied to immigration reform. However, Speaker Mike Johnson called the proposal “dead on arrival” and contends it doesn’t do enough to enhance border security.
Republicans remain under pressure from Trump to reject it as he looks to make immigration a key campaign issue.
Biden on Friday pressed Republicans to “show a little spine” and pass the bill even if they “reap the wrath” their colleagues to get this bill to his desk.
“Folks, doing nothing is not an option. Compromise is part of the process,” Biden said about the deal when speaking to governors at the White House. “I didn’t get everything I wanted in that deal. We didn’t deal with DREAMers. We didn’t do a number of things I think we should do. But you know it’s a positive step, a significant step.”
Amid the impasse on Capitol Hill, Biden is considering executive action to tighten asylum restrictions, an administration official told ABC News. Speaker Johnson criticized the potential action as “election year gimmicks.”
Biden is not expected to announce any new executive actions on Thursday, according to a source familiar with the plans.
Biden faces headwinds on immigration, which has emerged as a top 2024 election concern for voters. An ABC News poll conducted earlier this year found Biden’s approval rating on his handling of the border stood at just 18%.
In a post on his social media platform on Monday, Trump — who has ramped up his anti-immigrant rhetoric this cycle — continued his claim that foreign countries are sending criminals to the U.S. and attacked the Biden administration as being unable to handle migrants.
(ST. GEORGE’S, GRENADA) — A search is intensifying for an American couple who went missing in the Caribbean after three escaped prisoners allegedly used their boat to island hop.
Ralph Hendry and his wife, Kathy Brandel, from Falls Church, Virginia, disappeared from their yacht, which was docked in the waters off the southern Caribbean nation of Grenada, according to Hendry’s sister, Suellen Desmarais.
“It’s a phone call you hope you never get — shock, fear, anger,” Ralph Hendry’s son, Bryan Hendry, told ABC News.
Hendry and Brandel were last seen alive by their boating neighbor at the dock on Feb. 18, according to Desmarais. The neighbor said he saw the couple entering a restaurant, Desmarais said.
The next morning, the neighbor said the couple and their yacht, Simplicity, were gone.
Three escaped prisoners allegedly stole the boat before heading to the nearby island of St. Vincent, where they were arrested on Feb. 21, according to the Royal Grenada Police Force.
A good Samaritan discovered the abandoned yacht and “found evidence of apparent violence,” according to a sailing association affiliated with the couple.
Local authorities said they’re “working on leads that suggest that the two occupants of the yacht may have been killed.”
“We were informed pretty early that there were signs of an altercation on the vessel, so we knew from the beginning it wasn’t good,” Brandel’s son, Nick Buro, said.
Don McKenzie, police commissioner of the Royal Grenada Police Force, said at a news conference Monday that there’s no conclusive evidence that the couple is dead, and authorities are still holding out hope for the possibility that they’re alive.
“What I can say to the family is my condolences and we’re still hoping for a positive outcome,” he said. “We understand the stress that they are going through, and for that we really send out our support and out prayers.”
Ralph Hendry and Kathy Brandel have been married for 27 years. They’ve been living on their boat since they sold their home in 2013.
“They were very risk-averse people, so they were extremely meticulous in their preparations and not willing to take this trip until they were 100% confident in themselves,” Bryan Hendry said.
“We still have hope that they are alive and we can find them,” Buro said.
(NEW YORK) — An American husband and wife who went missing after three escaped prisoners boarded their boat in the Caribbean are likely dead, authorities said on Monday.
Ralph Hendry and his wife, Kathy Brandel, from Falls Church, Virginia, disappeared last week from their yacht, which was docked in the waters off the southern Caribbean nation of Grenada, according to Hendry’s sister, Suellen Desmarais.
“It’s a phone call you hope you never get — shock, fear, anger,” Ralph Hendry’s son, Bryan Hendry, told ABC News.
Hendry and Brandel were last seen alive by their boating neighbor at the dock on Feb. 18, according to Desmarais.
The next morning, the neighbor said the couple and their yacht, Simplicity, were gone.
The three escaped prisoners allegedly stole the boat before heading to the nearby island of St. Vincent, where they arrived on the yacht on Feb. 19, police said.
“While sailing from Grenada, the suspects committed several criminal acts, including bodily harm, to the couple,” Junior Simmons, head of the public relations and complaints department at Royal St. Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force, said in a video statement Monday.
“Based on the investigation thus far it is presumed that Ralph Hendry and Kathy Brandel are deceased,” Simmons said.
St. Vincent police processed the scene on the yacht and found signs of violence, Simmons said.
“Several items were strewn on the deck,” Simmons said, and in the cabin was “a red substance that resembled blood.”
The three suspects were arrested on Feb. 21 and are cooperating with investigators, police said. They appeared in a St. Vincent court on immigration-related charges and pleaded guilty, police said. Sentencing was scheduled for March 4, police said.
Ralph Hendry and Kathy Brandel have been married for 27 years. They’ve been living on their boat since they sold their home in 2013.
“They were very risk-averse people, so they were extremely meticulous in their preparations and not willing to take this trip until they were 100% confident in themselves,” Bryan Hendry said.
(NEW YORK) — Lawyers for former President Donald Trump and his co-defendants are appealing their $464 million civil fraud case.
In a filing Monday, the defendants signaled their plans to appeal the ruling to New York’s Appellate Division, First Department.
“This appeal is taken from each and every part of the Order insofar as Defendants are aggrieved,” defense lawyers Alina Habba and Clifford Robert wrote in the notice.
In an informational statement filed with the Appellate Division, the defense lawyers asked the court to determine whether the judge in the case “committed errors of law and/or fact, abused its discretion, and/or acted in excess of its jurisdiction.”
“We trust that the Appellate Division will overturn this egregious fine and take the necessary steps to restore the public faith in New York’s legal system,” Habba said in a statement.
Judge Arthur Engoron earlier this month found Trump, his adults, and two former Trump Organization executives liable for a decade of fraudulent business activity, ordering the defendants to pay a total of $464 million in disgorgement and pre-judgment interest. Of that amount, Trump owes $355 million in fines plus approximately $100 million in interest.
Trump has denied all wrongdoing.
On Friday, the clerk for New York County’s Supreme Court signed and entered the judgment order in the case, giving Trump 30 days to file his appeal. In order to pause the execution of the fine in the case, the former president needs to post a bond or put cash into an escrow account to cover the fines plus interest.
New York Attorney General Letitia James, who brought the case against Trump and his co-defendants, told ABC News last week that she is prepared to seize the former president’s assets if he is unable to find the cash to cover the fine.
(WASHINGTON) — Are Facebook, Instagram and YouTube more like newspaper publishers or telephone companies?
The Supreme Court on Monday was wrestling with that question in a pair of cases being called the most important tests of the First Amendment in the internet era.
The justices’ answer could be critical to setting the terms of online speech for generations.
Florida and Texas each passed laws in 2021 ordering social media platforms to limit content moderation (e.g. removing or devaluing certain posts, at their discretion) and requiring them to issue notice and explanation any time a user’s content is removed or account suspended.
Both laws were enacted following the platforms’ decisions banning then-President Donald Trump after Jan. 6 and conservatives’ longstanding concerns about the sites’ censorship of content based on politics.
The states argue that social media platforms are akin to “common carriers,” like utility companies, which are subject to government regulation, and must accept all users’ content regardless of viewpoint.
But the internet companies insist they have the right to set their own standards, like any other publisher, and cannot be forced to host messages on their platforms that they don’t support, such as hate speech, misinformation and other malicious content.
Federal appeals courts have divided on the question: one striking down Florida’s law as a violation of the First Amendment, another upholding Texas’ law as permissible government intervention.
The nation’s high court is expected to deliver a decision in the cases by the end of June.
