(HONG KONG) — An An, the world’s oldest giant male panda in captivity and under human care, has died at the age of 35 in Hong Kong.
According to officials at Hong Kong’s Ocean Park where An An had spent the majority of his life, his health had deteriorated progressively over the past several weeks when his caretakers observed a noticeable decrease in his daily physical activities and food intake. By July 17, officials said he had stopped taking in solid foods altogether and was only consuming electrolyte beverages.
“His condition reached a humane endpoint that based on animal welfare reasons, veterinarians from Ocean Park and the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department made the difficult decision to perform the procedure of humane euthanasia on An An after consulting the China Conservation and Research Centre for the Giant Panda,” read a statement from Ocean Park Hong Kong on social media.
The procedure was carried out at approximately 8:40 a.m. at An An’s home in The Hong Kong Jockey Club Sichuan Treasures at Ocean Park. His age of 35-years-old is roughly equivalent to 105-years-old in human age.
An An, who was born in 1986, had lived at Ocean Park since 1999 when he and his partner Jia Jia were gifted to Hong Kong by China’s central government. Jia Jia passed away on October 16, 2016, according to a statement released at the time of her death by Ocean Park. Jia Jia was also listed as the oldest giant panda living in captivity when she passed away almost six years ago.
“We are truly thankful for the opportunity to take care of Jia Jia and An An throughout the years so that the Park could develop into an important base for panda conservation,” the chairman of Ocean Park Corportaion, Paolo Pong, said in a press release. “Since this long-living panda duo’s arrival at Ocean Park in 1999, they have supported the Park’s endeavours in promoting nature and ecosystems to visitors as its ambassadors.”
A book of condolences has been opened up at An An’s home as well as online for people to pay their tributes to the beloved bear.
Said Pong: “An An is an indispensable member of our family and has grown together with the Park. He has also built a strong bond of friendship with locals and tourists alike. An An has brought us fond memories with numerous heart-warming moments. His cleverness and playfulness will be dearly missed … His legacy will stay as the best testimony to the Park’s ongoing commitment to providing best-in-class husbandry and medical care for giant pandas, with China Conservation and Research Centre for the Giant Panda as an essential partner in all aspects over the years. An An and Jia Jia’s mission will be furthered by giant pandas Ying Ying and Le Le residing at Giant Panda Adventure.”
(LONDON) — Wildfires continue to rage across Europe, as an unprecedented heat wave and drought conditions threaten efforts to combat flames in some regions.
In Greece, 56 forest fires occurred in the last 24 hours, the national fire service said Wednesday.
Most of the outbreaks were controlled early on, though firefighters are battling two larger fires near Athens, the Fire Service of Greece said in a statement.
One — in Penteli, a northern suburb of Athens — has so far burned 20,350 acres, local media reported.
Nearly 100,000 residents were told Tuesday to evacuate from the areas in and around Penteli, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said Wednesday. That included a hospital.
The second large wildfire started in Megara, a small city west of Athens. Nearly 100 firefighters have been deployed to the site, along with dozens of firefighting trucks, aircraft and helicopters, fire officials said Wednesday.
Authorities have not yet determined what sparked the fires.
With temperatures in Athens expected to reach a high of 94 degrees Fahrenheit on Thursday, the national fire service issued an alert for heightened risk of dangerous fires for the state of Attiki, in Athens; several states in the Peloponnese region; the island of Evia, the site of devastating wildfires last year; and the islands of Chios, Samos and Ikaria.
Portugal, Spain and Italy have also been battling multiple wildfires amid elevated temperatures.
In Portugal, officials extended an alert on fire risk through Thursday as several fires burn throughout the country, including in the region of Murça, where high temperatures and strong winds have posed a challenge to combating the blaze.
Spain has seen dozens of wildfires in recent weeks. Currently firefighters are battling 12 active fires in Spain, with over 1,200 personnel responding, state officials said Wednesday.
One fire, in the northeastern region of Aragon, caused a railway company to suspend train service on its Madrid-Zaragoza line on Wednesday.
In Italy, where several wildfires have broken out throughout the country this week, a blaze near the Tuscan town of Lucca burned over 1,400 hectares and forced some 500 people to evacuate, officials said.
Record temperatures and winds are impacting firefighting efforts in France, where tens of thousands of people have been evacuated in recent days and some 2,000 firefighters are battling blazes in the southwestern Gironde region. Two firefighters were seriously injured Tuesday while battling the forest fires, officials said.
French President Emmanuel Macron visited the impacted region on Wednesday, where he toured the devastation and met with firefighters. Climate change, which scientists say will continue to make wildfires more frequent and destructive, will force France and the European Union to take “structural decisions,” he said, according to Reuters.
In the United Kingdom, London has been battling record blazes amid record hot weather.
Wednesday was the busiest day for the city’s fire service since World War II, authorities said, with firefighters responding to more than 1,146 incidents across London.
More than 40 houses and stores were destroyed “after a number of significant grass fires spread to nearby buildings,” the London Fire Brigade said. “Crews worked tirelessly to tackle fires which also engulfed garages, farm buildings, vehicles, outbuildings, a car wash and a church hall.”
No fatalities were reported, though 16 firefighters suffered heat-related injuries, authorities said.
“We can’t afford to have more of these days,” London Mayor Sadiq Khan said on Twitter Wednesday. “We need to adapt our cities and stop these horrific events from occurring by tackling the climate crisis.”
ABC News’ Christine Theodorou contributed to this report.
Wesley Lapointe / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — Protesters in several cities across the country are calling on the Biden administration, as well as local officials, to address the rapid rise in monkeypox cases.
Demonstrators, including many LGBTQ activists, say officials have yet to provide the necessary outreach to vulnerable populations as issues continue to plague the vaccine rollout.
A protest is being planned for Thursday by several organizations in New York City, the epicenter of the U.S. outbreak.
Nearly 60% of those diagnosed with monkeypox in New York City have self-identified as members of the LGBTQ community, according to the New York City Department of Health.
The city has seen more than 600 cases so far, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As of July 20, there have been over 2,100 confirmed cases in the U.S. with numbers quickly rising, the CDC says.
Federal and state agencies have been scrambling to supply enough vaccines and treatments for monkeypox as demand grows by the tens of thousands.
Groups, including HIV/AIDs awareness and advocacy organizations Housing Works and ACT UP New York, said they have a list of requests for both state and federal governments.
“There is a shame involved in this,” said Mordechai Levovitz, an organizer of the Thursday protest and clinical director of LGBTQ Jewish youth group JQY. “There is a taboo. This is something that, for people who had [rashes and lesions] on their face, something that they can’t hide.”
On the state level, the group is demanding an expansion of vaccine appointment availability; meaningful community outreach; a stockpile of vaccines; a safety net fund for people who test positive and have to take off of work; as well as providing hotel rooms for quarantining.
On the federal level, protestors are calling for large-scale information campaigns about monkeypox testing from the CDC, and free and accessible testing for un- and underinsured individuals, as well as for the government to provide a demographic breakdown of infected populations.
“The federal government must invest in communication about monkeypox testing, treatment, and vaccine availability now,” according to a statement from Act Up New York.
It continued, “We need meaningful outreach to all communities including vulnerable populations, streamlined communication efforts, mass testing implementation, expedited FDA approval of TPOXX (MPX treatment), and a public plan for the US government to take action on the Bavarian Nordic stockpile (15.2 million vaccines).”
In a press conference Wednesday, New York Department of Health officials said they are working with advocates and activists on outreach efforts.
“We’ve been developing clinical guidance, expanding test capacity – initially from our public health labs, and now to commercial labs – partnering with the federal government, as the Governor has said, and revitalizing our network of local health departments,” said State Health Commissioner Dr. Mary T. Bassett.
She continued, “We’re doing all of this with real attention to the importance of dignity and respect, without stigma, and with equity always at the center of our work.”
The CDC did not immediately respond to ABC News’ requests for comment.
Protests have also taken place in San Francisco where cases are rising. The San Francisco Department of Public Health reported 55 monkeypox cases on July 19 alone, bringing the total number of cases in the city to 141.
LGBTQ groups have been on high alert regarding the rapid spread of cases, saying that the messaging around the circumstances of infection has not been adequately communicated to at-risk communities.
Though demographic data is not yet available for cases across the U.S., nearly 60% of people infected in New York City self-reported as members of the LGBTQIA+ community, though demographic data on sexual orientation was unavailable for 39.6% of the cases. Two individuals — 0.6% of cases — reported that they identify as straight.
At least 34% of those infected in Europe identified as gay or bisexual, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.
However, the sexual orientation of 65% of the infected people is unknown or missing in the data, the European agency said.
Officials have emphasized that gay and bisexual men, in particular, are at risk here in the U.S., though they stress that anyone can contract the illness.
The CDC says monkeypox can spread, among other ways, through through direct contact with an infectious rash, scab or bodily fluids or via respiratory secretions during prolonged face-to-face contact or intimate physical contact.
(NEW YORK) — Two more shark encounters were reported on Long Island Wednesday, including an attack on a teenager, officials said.
A dead shark, which appeared to be a great white according to The Riverhead Society, was spotted on Dune Road Beach in Quogue, New York, by a nearby resident around 9:33 a.m., police said.
Later in the evening, a 16-year-old surfer suffered a minor bite on his foot while he was in the water in Kismet Beach on Fire Island, police said.
The 7- to 8-foot shark found in the morning washed back into the ocean before police could secure it, according to officials from Quogue Village Police Department.
“At this time, we are cautioning swimmers and boaters in the area to be aware of this ongoing situation,” the police said in a statement.
Suffolk County Police Marine Bureau said the Fire Island sighting happened around 5:45 p.m. when the teen paddled approximately 20 yards off the shore. The surfer was bit on his right foot, and sustained an approximate 4-inch laceration, police said.
The teen was able to walk out of the water and was transported to Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center in West Islip for treatment, according to police.
Suffolk County Police Aviation responded by helicopter, but the water was too murky to locate the shark, officials said. Marine Bureau officers continued to comb the water on boats to locate the shark, according to police.
This is the latest in a string of shark sightings and attacks off New York’s coast over the last few weeks.
From June 30 to July 13, five individuals suffered non-life-threatening injuries from shark attacks near Long Island beaches, according to state officials.
On Tuesday, beaches in the Rockaways were shut down after beachgoers spotted sharks in the water. No one was hurt.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul directed state agencies to enhance shark monitoring and patrols at Long Island beaches on Monday in response to the sightings.
(WASHINGTON) — Families of several Americans who are detained abroad arrived in Washington on Wednesday morning to unveil a mural depicting them in an effort, their relatives say, to increase public awareness and pressure the Biden administration to do more to bring them home.
The mural features 18 Americans held in other countries. There are currently 64 known citizens being detained outside the U.S., according to the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation.
The mural includes WNBA superstar Brittney Griner and former Marine Paul Whelan, who have become faces of the issue because of their ongoing detentions in Russia. (Griner was arrested and later pleaded guilty to illegally bringing hashish oil into the country, though she said it was “inadvertent” and was part of her vape cartridge. Whelan was charged with espionage, which he and the U.S. government deny.)
The 15-foot-tall installation aims to bring attention to Griner, Whelan and to a series of under-recognized Americans being held around the world, sometimes for political leverage.
Many of the images used for the mural are of the last pictures taken of the detainees.
While Matthew Heath’s portrait depicts him with a soft smile in his crisp Marine uniform from when he served, his mother, Connie Haynes, said he is currently being tortured in Venezuela after more than two years in detention.
She claims Heath has been repeatedly beaten and left with both hands broken and his retina detached and has at random intervals been fed carbon monoxide while locked in a 2 square-foot box.
Heath tried to kill himself this year but was still being abused and chained to his bed in the medical facility where he was being watched, according to his mom.
“My son is not going to survive if our government does not get him home,” she said Wednesday. “I don’t know how much more he can endure.”
During the unveiling, Haynes was interrupted with a call and rushed to end of the alley next to the mural. Her son was trying to reach her.
“We were able to tell him what we’re doing, for him, for the other families — how hard we’re working to try to get him home,” Heath’s uncle, Everrett Rutherford, said afterward.
They were also able to connect Heath with the Biden administration’s special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, Roger Carstens, who spoke Wednesday.
During the rare opportunity to talk with Heath, Rutherford said he and Heath’s mom were able to “give [Heath] a bit of courage and hope.”
State Department spokesman Ned Price on Wednesday called the mural “a powerful symbol of those who have been deprived and taken from their loved ones” and said Carstens’ presence at the unveiling was an important way “to continue to show our support for these families who are enduring an ordeal that to anyone but them is unimaginable.”
“These efforts are — by necessity — quiet,” Price said when asked about the frustration of some of the detainees’ families about the future. “We have found that these cases often are best worked behind the scenes. Even though we don’t speak of it, it doesn’t mean that we aren’t working around the clock to see the successful resolution and outcome.”
The mural’s artist says it was designed to be impermanent.
The Americans’ faces, plastered using flour, water, sugar and paper, will “fade, tear and eventually disappear over time,” Isaac Campbell explained in a press release. That fleeting quality is meant to add a sense of urgency for the government to “use the tools available to bring these Americans home — before their faces fade away and disappear from this wall,” Campbell wrote.
“This doesn’t go away,” said Neda Sharghi, the only sister of Emad Shargi, a dual citizen who has been detained in Iran since 2018 on claims he is a spy.
The siblings’ father, who “felt like there was hope to bring his son home” while watching the unveiling, fainted and was taken away in an ambulance out of the event, Neda Shargi said. “This is our world,” she added.
“Any second my father could pass and not see his son anymore,” she said. “But I don’t want to cry,” she continued, calling on anyone struck by the new mural to call their representatives to “let President [Joe] Biden know that you will all stand with him if he can bring Americans home.”
Wednesday’s ceremony comes one day after Biden signed an executive order that declared hostage-taking and the wrongful detention of U.S. citizens a national emergency.
The order is meant to leverage more financial sanctions against those who are directly or indirectly involved in such detentions. Additionally, the State Department added new warnings on its travel advisories to help citizens avoid locations overseas where they risk wrongful arrest.
The White House informed relatives of American detainees of the executive order before its signing in a Monday call that was characterized as a “one-way conversation” by Jonathan Franks, a spokesman for a network of families and the Bring Our Families Home Campaign. He claimed the White House’s latest actions were “an effort to pre-manage the press attention” around relatives of those detained arriving in Washington this week.
While some families have commended the move to improve transparency and intelligence-sharing between the federal government and concerned relatives of those held overseas, others have expressed vexation with their lack of communication with the president.
“We are definitely grateful,” Hannah Shargi, the daughter of Emad Shargi, told ABC News of Biden’s recent actions. But she said she wants to see, at minimum, meetings between families and Biden organized by the country where their relative is detained.
“We know that they’re suffering. We know they’re scared. And we know they’re anxious,” White House spokesman John Kirby said at a briefing on Tuesday. “We know they want their loved ones back home, and the president wants that, too.”
Meanwhile, they work and they wait.
“I used to walk these streets with him,” Hannah Shargi said Wednesday next to the mural that features her father. “It gives me some hope that he is larger than life here. And he is larger than life in real life — so I’m glad people are seeing him how I see him.”
(NEW YORK) — New York beachgoers were spooked by another shark sighting Wednesday, albeit a short-lived one.
The dead shark, which appeared to be a great white according to The Riverhead Society, was spotted on Dune Road Beach in Quogue, New York, by a nearby resident around 9:33 a.m., police said.
The 7- to 8-foot shark washed back into the ocean before police could secure it, according to officials from Quogue Village Police Department.
“At this time, we are cautioning swimmers and boaters in the area to be aware of this ongoing situation,” the police said in a statement.
This is the latest in a string of shark sightings and attacks off New York’s coast over the last few weeks.
From June 30 to July 13, five individuals suffered non-life-threatening injuries from shark attacks near Long Island beaches, according to state officials.
On Tuesday, beaches in the Rockaways were shut down after beachgoers spotted sharks in the water. No one was hurt.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul directed state agencies to enhance shark monitoring and patrols at Long Island beaches on Monday in response to the sightings.
(FORT GORDON, Ga.) — One U.S. Army Reserve soldier has died and nine others were injured after a lightning bolt strike while on a range at Fort Gordon, Georgia, a base spokesperson told ABC News.
“We know there were injuries, but we don’t know the extent of those injuries,” base spokesperson Anne Bowman told ABC News.
Bowman said the incident occurred at approximately 11:10 a.m. at Training Area 26 when there was bad weather in the area, and that the soldiers “sustained injuries associated with a lightning strike at one of their training areas.”
Fort Gordon’s Department of Emergency Services and EMS responded to the scene immediately, according to Augusta ABC affiliate WJBF.
The soldiers were taken to the Dwight David Eisenhower Medical Center at the base for treatment, according to Bowman.
(FORT GORDON, Ga.) — Ten soldiers from the U.S. Army Reserve were injured after a lightning bolt strike while on a range at Fort Gordon, Georgia, according to the Army base.
“We know there were injuries, but we don’t know the extent of those injuries,” base spokesperson Anne Bowman told ABC News.
Bowman said the incident occurred at approximately 11:10 a.m. at Training Area 26 when there was bad weather in the area, and that the soldiers “sustained injuries associated with a lightning strike at one of their training areas.”
Fort Gordon’s Department of Emergency Services and EMS responded to the scene immediately, according to Augusta ABC affiliate WJBF.
The soldiers were taken to the Dwight David Eisenhower Medical Center at the base for treatment, according to Bowman.
(WASHINGTON) — Steve Bannon, who served as former President Donald Trump’s chief strategist before departing the White House in August 2017, is on trial for defying a subpoena from the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Bannon was subpoenaed by the Jan. 6 panel for records and testimony in September of last year, with the committee telling him it had “reason to believe that you have information relevant to understanding activities that led to and informed the events at the Capitol on January 6, 2021.”
After the House of Representatives voted to hold him in contempt for defying the subpoena, the Justice Department in November charged Bannon with two counts of criminal contempt of Congress, setting up this week’s trial.
Here is how the news is developing. All times are Eastern:
Jul 20, 6:18 PM EDT
Bannon again rails at Thompson as he leaves courthouse
For the second day in a row, Bannon blasted Jan. 6 committee Chairman Bennie Thompson on his way out of court at the end of the day.
“Does he really have COVID?” said Bannon of the chairman, who announced Tuesday that he had tested positive for COVID-19.
“What are the odds that a guy that is vaxxed, boosted and double boosted, following Dr. Fauci’s recommendation — what are the odds, on the very day this trial starts, he comes up with COVID?” Bannon said of Thompson’s absence as a witness in his trial.
“Why is Bennie Thompson not here?” Bannon repeated.
-Laura Romero and Soo Rin Kim
Jul 20, 5:55 PM EDT
FBI agent details Bannon’s social posts about subpoena before government rests its case
After just two witnesses, the government rested its case against Steve Bannon.
FBI agent Stephen Hart, the prosecution’s second witness, spent less than an hour on the stand.
Hart spent much of time testifying about Bannon’s page on the social media platform Gettr, which Hart described as “similar to Twitter.”
Prosecutor Molly Gaston showed that on Sept. 24, 2021, the day that Bannon’s subpoena was received by his then-attorney, Robert Costello, Bannon’s Gettr page posted a link to a Rolling Stone article with the words, “The Bannon Subpoena Is Just the Beginning. Congress’s Jan. 6 Investigation is Going Big.” Then on Oct. 8, 2021, the day after he was supposed to produce records to the Jan. 6 committee, Bannon’s Gettr page posted a link to a Daily Mail article with the words, “Steve Bannon tells the January 6 select committee that he will NOT comply with their subpoena.”
The Gettr post included images of Bannon, Trump, and a letter from Costello.
The materials prompted a debate over whether the posts were made by Bannon himself or by someone with access to his account, and whether those were Bannon’s own words or the media outlets’ words.
Gaston then had Hart read from the Daily Mail article, which quoted Bannon as telling the Daily Mail, “I stand with Trump and the Constitution.”
“Those are his words,” Gaston said of Bannon.
Hart also testified about a November 2021 videoconference he and prosecutors had with Costello after Costello requested the meeting to try to convince prosecutors not to pursue the contempt case against Bannon.
Hart testified that during that meeting, Costello told them that by Oct. 7, 2021, the deadline to produce documents, “they had not gathered any documents by that point.” Costello also had no other reason for Bannon’s refusal to comply other than executive privilege, Hart said.
Hart also testified that Costello, in the meeting, did not suggest they thought the deadlines were flexible, or that they were negotiating for a different date, or that Bannon would comply if the committee set different deadlines.
At one point, Corcoran tried to remind jurors that many lawmakers didn’t support the resolution to find Bannon in contempt of Congress. On cross examination, he asked Hart about the investigative steps Hart took in this case, asking him, “Did you interview … the 200-plus members of Congress who voted not to refer Steven Bannon to the U.S. Attorney’s office for contempt of Congress?”
Gaston objected, and the judge agreed, so Corcoran moved on.
Prosecutor Amanda Vaughn subsequently stood up and told the judge, “Your honor, the government rests.”
Court will reconvene on Thursday morning.
Jul 20, 4:39 PM EDT
Defense says Bannon was in ongoing negotiations with committee
As his cross-examination of Jan. 6 committee staffer Kirstin Amerling wrapped up, defense attorney Evan Corcoran continued to frame Bannon’s noncompliance with the subpoena as happening at a time when Bannon’s attorney was still in negotiations with the committee.
Amerling, however, testified that Bannon wasn’t in negotiations because there was nothing to negotiate — Trump hadn’t actually asserted executive privilege, Amerling said, so there was no outstanding issue to resolve. And she said that the committee had made clear to Bannon repeatedly that there were no legal grounds for his refusal to turn over documents and testify before the committee.
Corcoran showed the jury the letter that Trump sent to Bannon on July 9, 2022 — just two weeks ago — in which Trump said he would waive executive privilege so Bannon could testify before the committee. He also displayed the letter that Bannon’s former attorney, Robert Costello, sent the committee on the same day saying that Bannon was now willing to testify in a public hearing.
But Amerling then read aloud from the letter that the committee sent to Costello in response, noting that Bannon’s latest offer “does not change the fact that Mr. Bannon failed to follow [proper] process and failed to comply with the Select Committee’s subpoena prior to the House referral of the contempt resolution concerning Mr. Bannon’s defiance of the subpoena.”
Prosecutor Amanda Vaughn noted that before two weeks ago, Bannon never offered to comply with the subpoena, even after being told repeatedly by the committee last year that his claims had no basis in law and that he could face prosecution; even after he was found in contempt of Congress in October last year; even after he was criminally charged a month later for contempt of Congress; and even after a lawsuit related to executive privilege had been resolved by the Supreme Court six months ago.
Amerling testified that had Bannon complied with the subpoena in time, the committee would have had “at least nine months of additional time” to review the information, and now there are “five or so months” left of the committee.
“So as opposed to having 14 in total, the committee only now has five?” Corcoran asked.
“That’s correct,” said Amerling.
Jul 20, 3:48 PM EDT
Defense argues Bannon was constrained by questions over executive privilege
In the defense’s ongoing cross examination of Jan. 6 committee staffer Kirstin Amerling, attorney Evan Corcoran continued to stress how Bannon was prevented from testifying due to the right of executive privilege that protects confidential communication with members of the executive branch.
But Amerling testified that there are two main issues with such a claim.
First, she said, some of what the subpoena requested “had nothing to do with communication with the former president” and “could not possibly be reached by executive privilege” — especially Bannon’s communications with campaign advisers, members of Congress and other private parties, as well as information related to Bannon’s podcast, she testified.
In addition, despite what others may have said, “The president had not formally or informally invoked executive privilege,” Amerling said. “It hadn’t been invoked.”
Yet Bannon still refused to comply with the subpoena, despite having no legal grounds to do so, she said.
Amerling reiterated that by the time the committee met to decide whether to pursue contempt charges, “there had been extensive back-and-forth already between the select committee and the defendant’s attorney about the issue of executive privilege, and the select committee had made its position clear.”
Corcoran also argued that Bannon didn’t comply with the subpoena right away because he expected the deadline would ultimately change, due to the fact that it’s common for subpoena deadlines to shift.
Amerling, however, testified that Bannon’s situation was different.
“When witnesses are cooperating with the committee and indicate they are willing to provide testimony, it is not unusual to have some back-and-forth about the dates that they will appear,” she said. However, she said, “it is very unusual for witnesses who receive a subpoena to say outright they will not comply.”
In his questions, Corcoran also suggested that Amerling might be a biased witness, noting that she had donated to Democratic causes in the past, and that she is a member of the same book club as one of the prosecutors in the case, Molly Gaston.
“So you’re in a book club with the prosecutor in this case?” Corcoran asked.
“We are,” Amerling replied.
Amerling said that it had been some time — perhaps as much as a year or more — since she and Gaston both attended a meeting of the club. But she conceded that, with the types of people who are in the book club, it was “not unusual that we would talk about politics in some way or another.”
Jul 20, 12:55 PM EDT
Defense attorney presses Jan. 6 staffer on timing of subpoena deadline
Under cross-examination from Bannon defense attorney Evan Corcoran, House Jan. 6 committee senior staffer Kristin Amerling was pressed on why the committee set the deadlines it did for Bannon to comply with the subpoena — especially since “the select committee is still receiving and reviewing documents” now, Corcoran said.
Corcoran pressed Amerling over who specifically decided that Bannon should have to produce documents by 10 a.m. on Oct. 7, 2021, and who specifically decided that Bannon should have to appear for a deposition on Oct. 14, 2021.
Amerling said that the “process” of drafting the subpoena involved many people, including senior staff like herself, but it was all ultimately approved by committee Chairman Bennie Thompson.
“To the best of my recollection, because of the multiple roles that we understood Mr. Bannon potentially had with respect to the events of Jan. 6, at the time that we put the subpoena together, there was a general interest in obtaining information from him expeditiously, because we believed this information could potentially lead us to other relevant witnesses or other relevant documents,” Amerling said. “There was general interest in including deadlines that required expeditious response.”
“The committee authorization is just through the end of this year,” so it is operating under “a very tight timeframe,” she said.
Corcoran also said he wanted to made clear to the jury that, as he put it, “in this case, there is no allegation that Steve Bannon was involved in the attack” on the Capitol.
Earlier, Amerling testified that the committee tried to give Bannon “an opportunity” to explain his “misconduct” in ignoring the subpoena and to provide “information that might shed light on his misconduct, such as he might have been confused” about the subpoena — but Bannon never presented any such explanation or information before he was found in contempt, she said.
Jul 20, 11:17 AM EDT
Jan. 6 staffer says panel ‘rejected the basis’ for Bannon’s privilege claim
Kristin Amerling, a senior staffer on the House Jan. 6 committee, returned to the stand to continue her testimony from Tuesday. She testified that Bannon was clearly informed that any claims of privilege were rejected by the committee, and that his non-compliance “would force” the committee to refer the matter to the Justice Department for prosecution.
She said the subpoena issued to Bannon indicated he was “required to produce” records encompassing 17 specific categories, including records related to the Jan. 6 rally near the White House, his communications with Trump allies and several right-wing groups, his communications with Republican lawmakers, and information related to his “War Room” podcast.
The committee was seeking to understand “the relationships or potential relationships between different individuals and organizations that played a role in Jan. 6,” Amerling said. “We wanted to ask him what he knew.”
Asked by prosecutor Amanda Vaughn if Bannon provided any records to the committee by the deadline of 10 a.m. on Oct. 7, 2021, Amerling replied, “He did not.”
“Did the committee get anything more than radio silence by 10 a.m. on Oct. 7?” Vaughn asked.
“No,” said Amerling.
Amerling said that in a correspondence she received that day at about 5 p.m. — after the deadline had passed — Bannon’s attorney at the time, Robert Costello, claimed that Trump had “announced his intention to assert” executive privilege, which Costello said at the time rendered Bannon “unable to respond” to the subpoena “until these issues are resolved.”
But the next day, Amerling recalled on the stand, she sent Costello a letter from Jan. 6 committee chairman Bennie Thompson, “explaining that the committee rejected the basis that he had offered for refusing to comply.”
“Did the letter also tell the defendant he still had to comply?” Vaughn asked Amerling.
“Yes, it did.” Amerling said.
“Did the letter warn the defendant what might happen if he failed to comply with the subpoena?” Vaughn asked.
“Yes, it did,” said Amerling.
The letter was “establishing a clear record of the committee’s views, making sure the defendant was aware of that,” Amerling testified.
Jul 20, 10:06 AM EDT
Judge won’t let trial become ‘political circus,’ he says
Federal prosecutors in Steve Bannon’s contempt trial raised concerns with the judge that Bannon’s team has been suggesting to the jury that this is a “politically motivated prosecution” before the second day of testimony got underway Wednesday morning.
Before the jury was brought in, prosecutor Amanda Vaughn asked U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols to make sure the jury “doesn’t hear one more word about this case being” politically motivated, after she said the defense’s opening statement Tuesday had “clear implications” that the defense was making that claim.
Nichols had barred such arguments from the trial.
In response, defense attorney Evan Corcoran defended his opening statement, saying it “was clearly on the line.”
Nichols then made it clear that during trial, the defense team may ask witnesses questions about whether they themselves may be biased — “but may not ask questions about whether someone else was biased in an action they took outside this courtroom.”
“I do not intend for this to become a political case, a political circus,” Nichols said.
Speaking to reporters after the first full day in court, Bannon blasted members of the Jan. 6 committee and House Democrats for not showing up as witnesses in his trial.
“Where is Bennie Thompson?” asked Bannon regarding the Jan. 6 committee chairman. “He’s made it a crime, not a civil charge … have the guts and the courage to show up here and say exactly why it’s a crime.”
“I will promise you one thing when the Republicans that are sweeping to victory on Nov. 8 — starting in January, you’re going to get a real committee,” Bannon said. “We’re going to get a real committee with a ranking member who will be a Democrat … and this will be run
appropriately and the American people will get the full story.”
The first witness for the prosecution, Kristin Amerling of the Jan. 6 committee, testified that a subpoena is not voluntary.
Amerling, the Jan. 6 panel’s deputy staff director and chief counsel, read aloud the congressional resolution creating the committee and explained that the committee’s role is to recommend “corrective measures” to prevent future attacks like the one on Jan. 6.
“Is a subpoena voluntary in any way?” asked prosecutor Amanda Vaughn.
“No,” Amerling replied.
Amerling also discussed how important it is to get information in a timely manner because the committee’s authority runs out at the end of the year. “There is an urgency to the focus of the Select Committee’s work … we have a limited amount of time in which to gather information,” she said.
Amerling noted that Bannon was subpoenaed pretty early on in the committee’s investigation.
She said the committee subpoenaed Bannon in particular because public accounts indicated that Bannon tried to persuade the public that the 2020 election was “illegitimate”; that on his podcast the day before Jan. 6 he made statements “including that all hell was going to break loose, that suggested he might have some advance knowledge of the events of Jan. 6”; that he was involved in discussions with White House officials, including Trump himself, relating to “strategies surrounding the events of Jan. 6”; and that he had been involved in discussions in the days leading up to Jan. 6 with “private parties who had gathered in the Willard hotel in Washington, D.C., reportedly to discuss strategies around efforts to interfere with the peaceful transfer of power or overturning the election results.”
“Is that something that would have been relevant to the committee’s investigation?” Vaughn asked.
“Yes, because the Select Committee was tasked with trying to understand what happened on Jan. 6, and why,” Amerling replied.
Amerling will be back on the stand Wednesday morning when the trial resumes.
Jul 19, 3:55 PM EDT
Defense tells jury ‘there was no ignoring the subpoena’
Bannon’s defense attorney Matt “Evan” Corcoran said in his opening statement that “no one ignored the subpoena” issued to Bannon, and that “there was direct engagement by Bob Costello,” Bannon’s attorney, with the House committee, specifically committee staffer Kristin Amerling.
He said Costello “immediately” communicated to the committee that there was an objection to the subpoena, “and that Steve Bannon could not appear and that he could not provide documents.”
“So there was no ignoring the subpoena,” Corcoran said. What followed was “a considerable back and forth” between Amerling and Costello — “they did what two lawyers do, they negotiated.”
Corcoran said, “the government wants you to believe … that Mr. Bannon committed a crime by not showing up to a congressional hearing room … but the evidence is going to be crystal clear no one, no one believed Mr. Bannon was going to appear on Oct. 14, 2021,” and the reasons he couldn’t appear had been articulated to the committee.
Corcoran told the jury that the government has to prove beyond a reasonable that Steve Bannon willfully defaulted when he didn’t appear for the deposition on Oct. 14, 2021 — “but you’ll find from the evidence that that date on the subpoena was the subject of ongoing discussions” and it was not “fixed.”
In addition, Corcoran told jurors, you will hear that “almost every single one” of the witnesses subpoenaed led to negotiations between committee staff and lawyers, and often the appearance would be at a later date than what was on the subpoena.
Corcoran also argued that the prosecution may have been infected by politics, telling the jury that with each document or each statement provided at trial, they should ask themselves: “Is this piece of evidence affected by politics?”
Jul 19, 3:31 PM EDT
Prosecutors say Bannon’s failure to comply was deliberate
Continuing her opening statement, federal prosecutor Amanda Vaughn told the jury that the subpoena to Bannon directed him to provide documents by the morning of Oct. 7, 2021, and to appear for a deposition the morning of Oct. 14, 2021 — but instead he had an attorney, Robert Costello, send a letter to the committee informing the committee that he would not comply “in any way,” she said.
“The excuse the defendant gave for not complying” was the claim that “a privilege” meant he didn’t have to turn over certain information, Vaughn said. “[But] it’s not up to the defendant or anyone else to decide if he can ignore the [request] based on a privilege, it’s up to the committee.”
And, said Vaughn, the committee clearly told Bannon that “your privilege does not get you out of this one, you have to provide documents, and you have to come to your deposition.” And importantly, she said, the committee told Bannon that “a refusal to comply” could result in criminal prosecution.
“You will see, the defendant’s failure to comply was deliberate here,” Vaughn told the jury. “The only verdict that is supported by the evidence here: that the defendant showed his contempt for the U.S. Congress, and that he’s guilty.”
Federal prosecutor Amanda Vaughn began opening statements by saying, “In September of last year, Congress needed information from the defendant, Steve Bannon. … Congress needed to know what the defendant knew about the events of Jan. 6, 2021. … Congress had gotten information that the defendant might have some details about the events leading up to that day and what occurred that day.”
So, Vaughn told the jury, Congress gave Bannon a subpoena “that mandated” he provide any information he might have.
“Congress was entitled to the information it sought, it wasn’t optional,” Vaughn said. “But as you will learn in this trial, the defendant refused to hand over the information he might have.”
Vaughn said Bannon ignored “multiple warnings” that he could face criminal prosecution for refusing to comply with the subpoena and for preventing the government from getting “important information.”
“The defendant decided he was above the law and decided he didn’t need to follow the government’s orders,” she said.
Jul 19, 2:51 PM EDT
Judge instructs jury of the burden of proof
Prior to opening statements, the judge made clear to the jury that the Justice Department has the burden to prove four distinct elements “beyond a reasonable doubt”:
(1) that Bannon was in fact subpoenaed for testimony and/or documents;
(2) that the testimony and/or documents were “pertinent” to the Jan. 6 committee’s investigation;
(3) that Bannon “failed to comply or refused to comply” with the subpoena;
(4) that the “failure or refusal to comply was willful.”
Jul 19, 2:44 PM EDT
Jury sworn in after judge denies continuance
A 14-member jury has been sworn in for the contempt trial of ex-Trump strategist Steve Bannon.
Of the 14 jurors, nine are men and five are women.
The swearing-in of the jury comes after U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols denied the defense’s request for a one-month delay of the trial, which attorneys for Bannon argued was necessary due to a “seismic shift in the understanding of the parties” of what the government’s evidence will be.
“We have a jury that is just about picked,” Nichols said in denying the request for a one-month continuance.
One of the jurors, a man who works for an appliance company, said Monday during jury selection that he watched the first Jan. 6 committee hearing and believes the committee is “trying to find the truth about what happened” on Jan. 6.
Another juror, a man who works as a maintenance manager for the Washington, D.C., Parks and Recreation department, said he believes what happened on Jan. 6 “doesn’t make sense.”
Another juror, a woman who works as a photographer for NASA, said “a lot” of her “photographer friends were at the Capitol” on Jan. 6, and she has watched some of the Jan. 6 hearings on the news.
(FULTON COUNTY, Ga.) — The Georgia district attorney probing former President Donald Trump and his allies’ efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the state has notified 16 people identified as “fake electors” that they have been targeted in the ongoing criminal investigation, prosecutors revealed in court documents filed on Tuesday.
Those 16 individuals, who allegedly participated in a scheme to overturn the state’s election results, received letters “alerting that person both that [their] testimony was required by the special purpose grand jury and that [they were] target of the investigation” the filing said.
The Fulton County district attorney has been probing the effort to overturn the 2020 election results since last February, including the so-called “fake elector” plan — which has gained increased scrutiny and come under focus in other investigations around the country probing efforts to overturn the 2020 election around the country.
The target notification came after the Georgia investigation “matured and new evidence came to light,” prosecutors said, according to a separate filing by a defense attorney for 11 of the 16 individuals.
The attorney said the purported electors “did not and could not have had any involvement in or knowledge of” the alleged larger scheme by former President Trump’s allies to put for the alternate slate of electors to overturn the election.
He said in the filing that the actions of the “nominee electors” were “proper, and even necessary.”
The Jan. 6 committee has described the plan, which appeared to have multiple iterations, as being set up by the Trump campaign in multiple swing states to assemble “groups of individuals in key battleground states and got them to call themselves electors, created phony certificates associated with these fake electors and then transmitted these certificates to Washington, and to the Congress, to be counted during the joint session of Congress on January 6th.”
The Department of Justice is also examining the issue of fake electors as part of its own separate investigation, sources tell ABC News. Last month, DOJ subpoenaed Georgia GOP chairman David Shafer for information related to the effort to send a fraudulent slate of electors to Congress, according to sources familiar with the matter.
A lawyer representing Shafer declined to comment at the time.
Shafer sat for a deposition with the Jan. 6 committee as well, and his transcript is among those DOJ wants the committee to turn over.
Former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson testified to the Jan. 6 committee that Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani, his associates and “several” lawmakers discussed the plan around Thanksgiving — and that she heard the White House counsel office say it was potentially illegal.
Giuliani has repeatedly downplayed his involvement with the Jan. 6 riot.
“My only involvement on January 6th was being invited to speak there,” he said in a radio appearance last month in response to Hutchinson’s testimony. “I had nothing else to do with it.”
ABC News’ Pierre Thomas, Katherine Faulders and Ben Siegel contributed to this report.
