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House Republicans push vote on holding Hunter Biden in contempt for defying subpoena

January 10, 2024 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — A House panel will vote Wednesday on whether to hold Hunter Biden in contempt over his refusal to sit for a closed-door deposition with lawmakers in their ongoing impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden.

Hunter Biden has said he would testify only in a public forum, castigating the Republican-led probe as “illegitimate.”

The House Oversight Committee on Monday released a 19-page report recommending he be held in contempt of Congress, as well as the text of the proposed resolution.

“Mr. Biden’s flagrant defiance of the Committees’ deposition subpoenas — while choosing to appear nearby on the Capitol grounds to read a prepared statement on the same matters — is contemptuous, and he must be held accountable for his unlawful actions,” the report stated.

Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., told Fox News he has the votes to get the resolution out of committee.

A full vote on the House floor would be held at a later date. Comer said it could happen early next week.

Hunter Biden was subpoenaed to sit for the closed-door interview on Dec. 13 but instead held a defiant news conference just outside the U.S. Capitol.

“I am here to testify at a public hearing, today, to answer any of the committees’ legitimate questions,” he said. “Republicans do not want an open process where Americans can see their tactics, expose their baseless inquiry, or hear what I have to say. What are they afraid of? I am here.”

Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, the committee’s top Democrat, also criticized Comer for “denying Hunter Biden the opportunity to answer all the Committee’s questions in front of the American people and the world.”

“Chairman Comer does not want Hunter Biden to testify in public, just as he has refused to publicly release over a dozen interview transcripts, because he wants to keep up the carefully curated distortions, blatant lies, and laughable conspiracy theories that have marked this investigation,” Raskin said in a statement.

Committee Republicans have countered that they are open to public testimony at an unspecified “future date” but “need not and will not accede to Mr. Biden’s demand for special treatment with respect to how he provides testimony.”

The Biden impeachment inquiry, launched unilaterally by ousted Speaker Kevin McCarthy and then formalized months later by the House in a party-line vote, has yet to yield any concrete evidence to support GOP claims that President Joe Biden participated in and profited from his son and family’s foreign business dealings.

The House Oversight Committee report recommending a contempt charge stated Hunter Biden’s testimony is “necessary” to determine whether there are “sufficient grounds” for impeachment.

The committee has also subpoenaed President Biden’s brother, James Biden, and former Hunter Biden business associate Rob Walker. It also requested transcribed interviews with other members of the Biden family and Tony Bobulinski, a former business associate of Hunter Biden.

At least five dead after severe weather wallops US

January 10, 2024 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Severe weather across the United States on Tuesday has left at least five people dead, according to local authorities, and the latest forecast shows more winter storms are on the way.

The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office in Wisconsin said one person was killed in a car crash due to poor road conditions amid snowfall on Tuesday morning.

Another car crash killed a 35-year-old woman in Webber Township, Michigan, on Tuesday afternoon, according to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, which urged residents to stay home that day due to “extremely slushy and treacherous” road conditions.

In Cottonwood, Alabama, an 81-year-old woman was killed on Tuesday morning when a possible tornado blew her mobile home over multiple times while she was inside, according to the Houston County Medical Examiner and Coroner.

Another person was killed on Tuesday when severe weather damaged multiple residences at a mobile home park in Claremont, North Carolina, and the National Weather Service is evaluating where a tornado occurred in the area, according to the Catawba County Government.

In Jonesboro, Georgia, a tree fell on the windshield of a car on Tuesday, killing the driver, according to the Clayton County Police Department.

Since Monday, at least 23 tornadoes have been reported in six states — Texas, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina and North Carolina, according to the National Weather Service. Many of them occurred in Florida’s Panhandle on Monday night and Tuesday morning as a major storm system moved across the country. That same system brought winds as high as 65 miles per hour to the Northeast and up to 15 inches of snow to the Midwest.

Hundreds of thousands of customers were without power nationwide on Wednesday morning, particularly in the northeastern states of New York and Pennsylvania, according to data collected by PowerOutage.us.

While the worst of those storms moves out of the Northeast on Wednesday, another cross-country weather system is in the forecast for this week and has already dumped as many as 30 inches of snow in the Pacific Northwest.

The system is expected to move through the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada mountain range on Wednesday and Thursday, leaving several feet of snow, before swinging east and producing another severe weather outbreak from Texas to the Carolinas, with the possibility of tornadoes.

Another major snowstorm is expected in the north with up to a foot of snowfall from Nebraska to Michigan.

Storms are forecast to move into the Northeast on Friday night and Saturday morning, bringing more heavy rain and strong winds with the potential for flooding.

Mayorkas impeachment effort criticized, called ‘policy dispute’ by group of Democrats

January 10, 2024 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Democratic members of the House Homeland Security Committee lambasted Republicans efforts to begin impeachment hearings against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and offered a full-throated defense of his tenure as secretary.

“What is going on tomorrow is an embarrassment to the impeachment clause of the Constitution,” New York Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman told reporters ahead of Wednesday’s hearing.

He added, “This is simply a policy dispute, a disagreement about how a different party is attacking a policy problem. And the Republicans are trying to abuse their power and the Constitution to convert what is simply a disagreement into somehow some way, a high crime and misdemeanor there is no crime, much less a high crime or misdemeanor here.”

Goldman was the lead impeachment lawyer when Democrats impeached former President Donald Trump in 2020. He was joined by other Homeland Security members Reps. Seth Magaziner of Rhode Island and Glenn Ivey of Maryland, both Democrats.

Magaziner said that when Oversight Committee Chairman Jim Comer brought legal witnesses to the first impeachment hearing of President Joe Biden it was “disastrous.”

“Clearly, the Republicans have learned from that experience and tomorrow, they’re not bringing in any constitutional experts or scholars. They’re bringing in Republican politicians because they know that if they bring in any serious constitutional scholar or constitutional expert, they’re going to hear the same thing that they heard in the oversight hearing on the Biden impeachment push,” Magaziner, who represents the second congressional district in Rhode Island, said.

He said Republicans are “complicit” in the “ongoing struggles” at the southwest border.

“But House Republicans rather than trying to work with the administration and work with the Secretary to solve the problem, instead care more about having a political issue to run on than they do actually solving the challenges that we have at the border,” Magaziner said.

Ivey said Republicans should be focused on other issues, such as funding the government, instead of on attempting to impeach the secretary. He also said some Republicans in moderate districts like in New York might not support impeaching Mayorkas.

“Hopefully the voters will punish them for, you know, abusing the system in this way, and really putting the Constitution at risk,” he said.

The three members also said that while Mayorkas is working on negotiating a border bill, Republicans aren’t helping the solution.

“It’s not a good look for the House of Representatives that while the Senate is working diligently to try to craft the bill, the houses distracted by you know, an impeachment drive with no legal merit,” Magaziner said.

Over a ton of cocaine worth $32 million seized by US Coast Guard near Florida

January 10, 2024 by WDNY Radio

Over a ton of cocaine worth million seized by US Coast Guard near Florida

(NEW YORK) — The crew of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Margaret Norvell seized over a ton of cocaine with an estimated street value of more than $32.2 million dollars on Tuesday, according to authorities.

The two separate seizures, which took place in international waters of the Caribbean Sea, totalled 2,450 pounds of cocaine and led to the arrest of six smugglers, according to a statement by the United States Coast Guard following the incident.

“Thanks to the tremendous efforts of the Coast Guard crews and agency partners involved with this interdiction, Coast Guard Cutter Margaret Norvell brought these suspected smugglers and illicit contraband ashore for prosecution,” said Lt. Cmdr. Colin Weaver, Commanding Officer. “Coast Guard crews continue to deliver on our important missions of homeland and maritime security to save lives and thwart transnational criminal organizations operating in the Caribbean.”

The six suspected smugglers that were apprehended will now face prosecution in federal courts by the Department of Justice.

“These interdictions relate to Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces designated investigations. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach,” the U.S. Coast Guard said.

The seizures involved crews from the USCG Cutter Richard Dixon, the USCG Cutter Dauntless and the Joint Interagency Task Force South.

“Detecting and interdicting illegal drug traffickers on the high seas involves significant interagency and international coordination. The Joint Interagency Task Force South in Key West, Florida conducts the detection and monitoring of aerial and maritime transit of illegal drugs,” officials said.

“Once interdiction becomes imminent, the law enforcement phase of the operation begins, and control of the operation shifts to the U.S. Coast Guard throughout the interdiction and apprehension,” said the U.S Coast Guard. “Interdictions in the Caribbean Sea are performed by members of the U.S. Coast Guard under the authority and control of the Coast Guard’s Seventh District, headquartered in Miami.”

US Navy and UK Royal Navy shoot down 18 Houthi drones and three missiles

January 10, 2024 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. Navy and the U.K.’s Royal Navy foiled a major Houthi attack Tuesday night in the Red Sea, shooting down 18 one-way drones and three missiles targeting commercial ships.

The incident began at around 9:15 p.m. local time when the Houthis launched “Iranian-designed one-way attack” drones, “anti-ship cruise missiles, and an anti-ship ballistic missile,” Centcom said in a post on X. According to Centcom, the weapons were launched from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.

The Houthi missiles and drones were targeting an area where dozens of merchant vessels were transiting, Centcom said Tuesday night.

All of the drones and missiles were shot down by fighter jets from Navy carrier the USS Eisenhower, three U.S. Navy destroyers and the U.K.’s HMS Diamond, according to Centcom.

Tuesday night’s attack marks the 26th Houthi attack on commercial shipping lanes since Nov. 19.

The U.S. issued a joint statement with a coalition of allies over the attacks earlier this month, saying, “The Houthis will bear the responsibility for the consequences should they continue to threaten lives, the global economy, or the free flow of commerce in the region’s critical waterways.”

In late December, the Pentagon announced the formation of Operation Prosperity Guardian, a multi-national maritime task force that would counter the Houthi attacks.

The American and British warships that countered this latest Houthi attack are all participating in that operation.

ATF director targeted with swatting call over the holidays: Sources

January 10, 2024 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — The director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms is the latest public official to fall victim to a swatting incident, according to law enforcement sources.

Steven Dettelbach was swatted at his home over the holidays, sources confirmed to ABC News.

Local law enforcement quickly engaged with the ATF security detail and determined there was no threat to the director, sources said.

ATF declined to comment.

Dettelbach was appointed by President Joe Biden and sworn in as director in July 2022.

Dettelbach joins special counsel Jack Smith and U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan as the latest swatting victims.

Special counsel Smith was targeted with a swatting call at his Maryland home on Christmas Day, according to two sources familiar with the situation.

Montgomery County Police quickly engaged with the U.S. Marshals and determined there was no threat to Smith, sources said.

Smith was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate election interference and mishandling of classified documents.

Chutkan, the federal judge who is overseeing former President Donald Trump’s federal case in Washington D.C. was swatted on Sunday, according to law enforcement sources.

The U.S. Marshals who protect both Smith and Chutkan declined to comment and the special counsel’s office declined to comment.

Former Oath Keeper Ray Epps sentenced to one year of probation for Jan. 6

January 10, 2024 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Former Oath Keeper Ray Epps was sentenced to one year of probation on Tuesday for his role during the attack at the Capitol on Jan. 6.

In addition to the year of probation, Epps received a $25 fine, $500 restitution and 100 hours of community service.

Before his sentencing, Epps said that he never should have believed claims that the 2020 election was stolen.

“Truth is not always found in the places I used to trust,” Epps said in court on Tuesday, appearing virtually and noting that what he called “Trump cult” turned on him.

The former Oath Keeper pleaded guilty last year to a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct on restricted grounds. Epps faced a maximum of one year in prison and one year of probation. Prosecutors had asked that he serve six months of prison.

Epps was sentenced Tuesday as former President Donald Trump — who himself echoed conspiracy theories that Epps was an undercover government agent — appeared in court for his arguments on his claims of presidential immunity.

That conspiracy theory was later debunked, and Epps filed a defamation lawsuit against Fox News in 2023 over attacks against him by former host Tucker Carlson.

Fox News has moved to dismiss the suit arguing that the statements were opinion and not defamatory facts. That motion is reportedly pending a hearing.

Prosecutors called out those who they say “falsely called out Mr. Epps as an FBI plant.”

“They have publicly blamed Mr. Epps for what happened that day and for other persons being charged and convicted. Their lies have led to real threats against Mr. Epps, his wife, and his family,” the government said.

Prosecutors noted at length that Epps never entered the Capitol and did not charge him with engaging in any violence or destruction on Jan. 6.

“This guy was trying to turn people against me. … He was calling me ‘boomer,’ and it’s his generation’s fault that we’re in the position we’re in,” Epps told investigators.

Epps turned himself in to the FBI and voluntarily sat for an interview with the FBI and publicly testified before the House Select Committee in January 2022. He had no prior arrests.

But prosecutors maintained that Epps should still receive jail time for his role.

“He didn’t start the riot. He made it worse,” prosecutor Michael Gordon told the judge.

Prosecutors tried to paint Epps as “eager to take advantage of others” and argued that by joining the riot, Epps “did the exact same thing he was accusing Antifa of being responsible for.”

Prosecutors, defense attorneys and the judge all agreed on one point: that Epps’ world was upended after Jan. 6.

Prosecutors argued on Tuesday that “Ray Epps has been unfairly scapegoated” in the aftermath of Jan. 6, despite their contention that “he is not innocent.”

“While many defendants have been vilified in a way unique to Jan. 6, you seem to be the first to have suffered for what you didn’t do,” Chief Judge James Boasberg said during sentencing.

Boasberg noted that Epps “had to live life like a fugitive because of lies others spread.” Epps now lives in a trailer in the woods, his attorney, Edward Ungvarsky, wrote in a court filing.

An attorney for Epps wrote in a court document that Epps “has been attacked, defamed, and vilified — and after a decision that his actions at the Capitol did not warrant prosecution, a 180-degree turnaround by the government, with the threat of a request for prison time, after his name became dragged through the mud by right-wing political dramaturges who used the (correct) lack of prosecution as a social media and public cudgel against the Garland Justice Department.”

Epps vowed to dedicate the rest of his life to fighting for the truth, including debunking accusations of election deniers.

In September 2023, Ungvarsky asked that Epps be allowed to keep his firearms, despite the standard requirement that defendants turn in their guns. Boasberg denied the request but invited Ungvarsky to file a motion and said he would consider it in this case.

Epps will be able to freely travel with no restrictions.

Petition calls for release of Guatemalan teen charged with officer’s death following heart attack

January 10, 2024 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — An online petition is calling for the release of Virgilio Aguilar Mendez, a 19-year-old Guatemalan migrant who was charged with aggravated manslaughter after a Florida police officer collapsed and later died following a struggle while attempting to arrest the teen.

The Change.org petition, which was started on Jan. 3 by Mariana Blanco of the nonprofit The Guatemalan-Maya Center, has gained a lot of traction in recent days. As of Tuesday morning, the petition had garnered over 443,000 signatures.

Aguilar Mendez’s lawyer, Phillip Arroyo, told ABC News that signatures on the online petition are being directed to the U.S. Department of Justice and the St. Johns County’s Sheriff’s Office. Arroyo has also requested the State Attorney’s Office of the Seventh Judicial Circuit of Florida to drop the charges against the teen.

“It’s a grave injustice, and they know it,” Arroyo said. “The facts of this case and the evidence in this case do not support the charge that he is facing.”

On May 19, 2023, Aguilar Mendez was on the phone with his mother outside the Motel 8 building where he was staying when Sgt. Michael Kunovich, an officer with the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office in St. Augustine, Florida, approached the teen, according to Arroyo.

Body camera video and audio of the incident reviewed by ABC News shows Kuvonich calling the dispatcher and describing Aguilar Mendez as a “suspicious Hispanic male,” but he never specified why he thought Aguilar Mendez was suspicious.

Kunovich proceeded to ask Aguilar Mendez a series of questions, which the teen seemed to struggle to understand. Aguilar Mendez, who his attorney says is from a small indigenous community in Guatemala and primarily speaks the ancient indigenous language Mam, can be seen in the body camera video trying to explain to Kunovich that he was just eating and tells him on two occasions that he does not speak English.

The officer then asked Aguilar Mendez if he had any weapons on him and grabs Aguilar Mendez by the arm. Aguilar Mendez then begins to walk away and a struggle ensues. Kunovich calls for reinforcement as he attempts to handcuff Aguilar Mendez.

During the incident, which lasted about eight-and-a-half minutes, additional officers responded to the scene. Aguilar Mendez is thrown to the ground, held in a chokehold, pinned down by officers, and tased on multiple occasions.

According to Arroyo, five minutes after Aguilar Mendez was handcuffed and put into the patrol car, Kunovich suffered a heart attack.

That same night, Aguilar Mendez was charged with murder for Kunovich’s death. The charges were later reduced by the state of Florida to aggravated homicide of a police officer, which is punishable by life in prison. He has been in jail without bond since.

ABC News obtained a copy of the autopsy report, which concluded Kunovich died of natural causes after suffering cardiac dysrhythmia, which may have been a result of the severe heart disease he was noted to have, a prior heart attack, or heart and lung deterioration due to smoking.

“These cardiac changes, while recent, predate the struggle with the subject,” the report said. “The circumstances do not fully meet the criteria for a homicide manner of death.”

The St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office declined ABC News’ request for comment.

According to police records from the incident obtained by ABC News, Aguilar Mendez “armed himself with a folding pocket knife, which he retrieved from his shorts pockets.”

Body camera video reviewed by ABC News does not clearly show the moment Aguilar Mendez allegedly grabbed the knife from his pocket, but officers can be heard telling Aguilar Mendez to drop the knife. The teen tells the officers that he needs the knife to cut up watermelon.

Aguilar Mendez was recently declared by the court as being mentally incompetent to stand trial due to his lack of understanding of the American criminal justice system, Arroyo told ABC News. A judge has put the case on pause as Aguilar Mendez is receiving help learning about the American criminal justice system before his case can proceed.

The State Attorney’s Office did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.

“For the state to prove this beyond every reasonable doubt they have to establish that Mr. Aguilar [Mendez] knew that Officer Kunovich had a heart condition… and that despite knowing that Mr. Kunovich had a heart condition, he did something negligent that caused his death,” Arroyo said. “Nobody knew that Mr. Kunovich had a heart condition, much less our client.”

Blinken announces deal to launch UN assessment mission in northern Gaza

January 10, 2024 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Secretary of State Antony Blinken emerged from a series of meetings with high-level Israeli officials on Tuesday with an agreement to launch a United Nations-led assessment mission that will pave the way for civilians displaced by warfare in northern Gaza to eventually return home — a significant step toward restoring a sense of normalcy in the besieged enclave.

“As Israel’s campaign moves to a lower intensity phase in northern Gaza, and as the IDF scales down its forces there, we agreed today on a plan for the U.N. to carry out an assessment mission,” Blinken said during a press conference in Tel Aviv, referring to the Israel Defense Forces. “It will determine what needs to be done to allow displaced Palestinians to return safely to homes in the north.”

“Now, this is not going to happen overnight. There are serious security, infrastructure, and humanitarian challenges,” Blinken cautioned. “But the mission will start a process that evaluates these obstacles and how they can be overcome.”

Blinken also forcefully defended Israel from allegations of genocide brought by South Africa before the U.N.’s highest legal body, the International Court of Justice, claiming the case “distracts the world” from vital efforts tied to the conflict.

“Moreover, the charge of genocide is meritless,” Blinken asserted. “It’s particularly galling given that those who are attacking Israel — Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, as well as their supporter, Iran — continue to openly call for the annihilation of Israel and the mass murder of Jews.”

But while in Israel during one of several visits he has made to the country since Hamas’ Oct. 7 surprise terrorist attacks, Blinken did publicly express some criticism of its government, particularly right-wing officials’ opposition to the creation of an independent Palestinian state — urging them from the podium to “stop taking steps that undercut Palestinians’ ability to govern themselves effectively.”

The secretary was also asked about calls by two Israeli ministers for the transfer of Palestinians out of Gaza, a stance the State Department slammed as “inflammatory and irresponsible” last week.

Blinken said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had assured him that forced resettlement of Palestinians outside of the enclave’s border was not the position of his government.

But even convincing the Israeli government to allow the U.N. to explore pathways for those displaced within Gaza’s perimeter was far from guaranteed.

Since the outbreak of the war, U.S. officials say the Israeli government has been reluctant to allow various types of outside assistance to enter into Gaza out of concern that it will inadvertently benefit Hamas fighters, and that changing the country’s stance often requires face-to-face diplomacy with high-level cabinet members.

Nearly two million people across the Gaza Strip — the overwhelming majority of its population — have been displaced at some point during the conflict, according to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.

The agency also says it has had extremely limited ability to distribute humanitarian assistance in northern Gaza and share information about conditions in the area since shortly after the fighting began.

Blinken said he had also discussed Israel’s plans to scale down its campaign during closed door meetings, and reaffirmed the Biden administration’s enduring commitment to supporting its fight against Hamas until the threat posed by the designated terrorist group was eliminated.

“We believe Israel has achieved significant progress toward this fundamental objective,” he said.

Some 1,200 people were killed in Israel in the Oct. 7 terror attack, according to the Israeli prime minister’s office. More than 23,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Oct. 7, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

Man pretending to be Queen Elizabeth’s footman, selling ‘antler walking stick’ that never belonged to her sentenced

January 10, 2024 by WDNY Radio

(LONDON) — An internet seller who tricked eBay users into bidding for a walking stick that he falsely said belonged to Queen Elizabeth II has been sentenced.

Dru Marshall, a 26-year-old man from Romsey, England, claimed to be a Senior Footman at Windsor Castle — one of the queen’s many homes and where she was buried following her funeral in 2022 — when he listed an “antler walking stick” for sale via online auction just one week after she passed away, according to the Crown Prosecution Service.

“In his eBay listing, Marshall said the Queen used the stick in her final years ‘as she struggled with her mobility’ and dishonestly claimed the money raised would go to Cancer Research UK,” CPS said in their statement. “Bids reached £540 when Marshall hastily closed the listing after discovering Thames Valley Police were investigating the scam.”

Marshall was subsequently arrested and would plead not guilty to fraud by false representation, “at different times claiming the venture was not a scam but a joke made in bad taste and later a social experiment to see how much attention his post would receive,” authorities said.

However, prosecutors secured a conviction against Marshall “by unravelling his ever-changing defence with extensive computer evidence,” CPS said. “Debunking the claim his account had been hacked by a friend in Spain, prosecutors used Marshall’s online search history to show his intent to defraud potential victims by finding the terms ‘the Queen’ and ‘how to delete an eBay listing.’”

Marshall was sentenced to a 12-month Community Order on Monday at Southampton Magistrates’ Court and was also ordered to complete 40 hours of unpaid work.

“Dru Marshall used the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II to try and hoodwink the public with a fake charity auction – fuelled by greed and a desire for attention,” said Julie Macey, Senior Crown Prosecutor for CPS Wessex. “Marshall’s scheme was ultimately foiled before he could successfully con any unsuspecting victims – and the CPS will continue to work hand-in-glove with law enforcement to bring fraudsters to justice.”

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