(FRY, GREECE) — A 6.1 magnitude earthquake was reported near Greece early Wednesday local time, according to the United States Geological Survey.
Greek Emergency Management warned of a possible tsunami risk following the quake, which the agency reported as occurring nearly 30 miles southeast of Kasos as a 5.9 magnitude earthquake.
“Move away from the coast immediately,” Greek Emergency Management said.
The USGS said the epicenter is located over 9 miles south of Fry, Greece.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(MILWAUKEE) — A federal grand jury has indicted a Wisconsin judge who was arrested and charged last month with allegedly helping an undocumented immigrant evade arrest.
Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan has been indicted on charges alleging she concealed a person from arrest and obstructed a proceeding before a department or agency of the United States — the same charges she was initially charged with by complaint.
She is scheduled to be arraigned on the charges on Thursday.
Following the indictment on Tuesday, her legal team said in a statement, “As she said after her unnecessary arrest, Judge Dugan asserts her innocence and looks forward to being vindicated in court.”
The judge was arrested on April 25. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement at the time that two FBI agents arrested Dugan “for allegedly helping an illegal alien avoid arrest” by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Dugan appeared in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin following her arrest and was released on her own recognizance. If convicted, she could face up to six years in prison.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court suspended Dugan in the wake of her arrest, stating in an order that it found it was “in the public interest that she be temporarily relieved of her official duties.”
Her case stems from the arrest of an undocumented immigrant — Eduardo Flores-Ruiz — on April 18, county court records show. Flores-Ruiz was set to appear in court that day before Dugan for a pretrial conference in an ongoing case where he has been charged with three misdemeanor counts of battery/domestic abuse.
Upon learning ICE officers were present in court to arrest Flores-Ruiz, Dugan allegedly became “visibly angry” and confronted one of the officers, according to the federal complaint that was unsealed following her arrest.
Multiple witnesses cited in the complaint later allegedly said Dugan returned to her courtroom after directing members of the arrest team to the office of the court’s chief judge, according to the complaint.
A DEA agent saw Flores-Ruiz and his attorney in the public hallway of the courthouse and he appeared to be making efforts to evade arrest, the complaint stated. After he was encountered by FBI and DEA agents outside the building, Flores-Ruiz “turned around and sprinted down the street” before he was ultimately apprehended, according to the complaint.
In a post on social media, FBI Director Kash Patel claimed Dugan “intentionally misdirected federal agents away from the subject to be arrested in her courthouse.”
(NEW YORK) — For six hours on Tuesday in a packed Manhattan courtroom, Cassie Ventura testified about how her decade-long relationship turned violent as her then-boyfriend, Sean “Diddy” Combs, seized control of her personal and professional lives and demanded she orchestrate his drug-fueled sex parties known as “freak offs.”
Ventura is the star witness in the federal racketeering and sex-trafficking case against Combs, who faces the possibility of life in prison if he is convicted. Ventura’s 2023 civil lawsuit — which Combs settled with no admission of guilt — prompted federal authorities to begin investigating Combs’ conduct, and he was indicted last September.
Combs has pleaded not guilty and denied the federal charges. His lawyers insist that any sexual conduct was consensual and, though Combs’ lifestyle may not be appropriate for everyone, law enforcement has no right to invade his bedroom and private life. They also insist that any acts of assault show domestic violence, but not coercion or evidence of trafficking.
Ventura testifies about her relationship with Combs turning violent
Ventura testified that her relationship gradually became violent, as Combs allegedly took control of her personal and professional lives.
Combs signed Ventura to his Bad Boy record label in 2006, when she was 19 years old. Though 17 years younger than Combs, Ventura said she wanted to be around the man who helped catapult rap music and urban fashion into the mainstream.
“I wanted to be around Sean for the same reasons as everyone else at the time. He’s just this exciting and entertaining fun guy that just also happened to have my career in his hands.”
As she continued her relationship with Combs, Ventura told jurors, she began to experience “a different side” of the mogul – one that featured fits of rage, violent outbursts and unpredictable mood swings.
“He would bash my head, knock me over, drag me, kick me, stomp me in the head when I was down,” she said, recounting violent arguments with Combs.
“How frequently was Sean physical with you during your relationship?” prosecutor Emily Johnson asked.
“Too frequently,” Ventura responded, saying she feared triggering his anger.
Ventura added that members of Combs’ security team would “keep an eye” on her and that Combs would incessantly call her if she ignored him. With Combs paying for her apartment, she experienced her “stomach in knots” moments when he would drop by unannounced, not knowing if he was angry.
Ventura recounts ‘Freak Offs’ in detail
Ventura broke down in tears on the witness stand as she testified how she participated in drug-fueled sex parties called “freak offs” or “wild king nights.”
She said she had just turned 22 when Sean Combs first proposed these marathon, drug-addled sex performances with male prostitutes.
She said she originally agreed to participate in order to indulge Combs’ voyeuristic fantasies. Eventually, she told the jury, the orgies “became almost weekly,” oftentimes lasting two or three days, and once going on for four straight days. She testified she was awake the whole time, fueled by ecstasy, molly and cocaine supplied by Combs.
According to Ventura, she participated in the sex parties in every one of Combs’ homes and, most frequently, in hotels in New York, Miami, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Las Vegas, Ibiza, and Turks and Caicos. She described that Combs carefully directed the freak offs, ordering specific lighting and candles, and insisting that only Johnson & Johnson Baby Oil be used to ensure participants “glistened.”
Combs shook his head as Ventura testified about the use of baby oil, describing at least one party where a baby pool was filled with oil that Combs ordered she immerse herself in while fully clothed.
“It was a mess,” she said.
She testified about another instance when she thought she would choke because Combs and a male sex worker both urinated on her; multiple jurors shook their heads and looked down as she recounted the story.
It did not take long, Ventura said, before she realized she did not want to participate in future parties.
“Did you want to participate in every freak off?” prosecutor Emily Johnson asked.
“No,” Ventura answered. “I felt like it was all I was good for. It was disgusting. I felt humiliated. I didn’t have the words for how horrible I really felt.”
She said that Combs “would be violent” with her if she refused to participate, adding that her professional career stalled as she was forced to devote nearly all her time to planning the freak-offs that Combs demanded. As she testified, Ventura flipped through a binder containing the photographs of the male escorts she says were hired for the freak-offs and recounted needing to self-medicate with illegal drugs to make it through the prolonged sessions that were demeaning and emotionally and physically draining.
When Johnson asked if there was any part of the freak offs she enjoyed, Ventura began to sob. She grabbed a tissue and, through tears, said, “I thought it was the only time I could get.”
“The version of him I was in love with was no longer there,” she said.
Early witnesses lay foundation for Ventura’s testimony
Ventura was long billed as the key witness against Combs after CNN last year obtained a 2016 videotape showing Combs kicking and dragging her in a hotel elevator lobby.
Prior to Ventura taking the stand, the jury heard from two other witnesses who appeared to corroborate and bolster part of Ventura’s testimony.
Male escort Daniel Phillip testified he was paid as much as $6,000 for having sex with Ventura while Combs watched and masturbated. He also testified that he witnessed Combs throw a bottle at Ventura after she did not immediately obey his instructions and then “grabbed her by her hair and dragged her by her hair into the bedroom.” Defense attorney Xavier Donaldson tried to raise doubts about Phillip’s testimony, pointing to a discrepancy about dialogue in a previous statement to authorities, Philip stood by his account of the physical abuse.
On the first day of the trial, prosecutors showed the 2016 video to the jury and prepared jurors for Ventura’s testimony to come. Israel Florez, an LAPD officer who was working security at the now-shuttered InterContinental Hotel in Los Angeles, testified that Combs offered him money to cover up the assault and that he noticed Ventura had a “purple eye.” Florez said he refused the money.
“These are foundational witnesses. They create the context and the backdrop in which Cassie then testifies and gives more color and more examples, building upon earlier testimony to be the star witness that the government expects her to be,” ABC News legal contributor Brian Buckmire said.
Ventura concluded her testimony on Tuesday by explaining the moment depicted in the video watched by jurors was the result of her effort to try to escape one of the freak-offs.
“There’s an instance in Los Angeles where it got violent, and I chose to leave,” she said. “When I chose to leave, I grabbed what I could and got out and Sean followed me into the hallway by the elevators, grabbed me, tried to drag me back to the room.”
While jurors have already seen the video, it was played again in court on Tuesday afternoon. “That’s me,” Ventura said.
Ventura is expected to return to the stand when the trial resumes Wednesday morning.
(ST. LOUIS COUNTY, MN) — Three major wildfires raging out of control in the same Minnesota county have burned more than 20,000 acres combined, destroying dozens of structures, triggering evacuations and prompting the governor to call in the state National Guard to help battle the flames.
The largest fire in St. Louis County — the Camp House Fire — exploded overnight to nearly 12,000 acres and was 0% contained on Tuesday afternoon, officials said.
“The responders are doing everything they can, working long hours under extremely tough conditions,” Cmdr. Ryan Williams of the Minnesota Incident Command System (MNICS) said at a news conference.
The Camp House Fire, which started on Sunday in the Superior National Forest near Brimson, about 35 miles north of county seat Duluth, grew overnight from roughly 1,200 acres to 11,788 acres by Tuesday afternoon, according to Williams.
He said that up to 150 structures, including seasonal cabins, remain under mandatory evacuation orders.
St. Louis County Sheriff Gordon Ramsay said in a video statement that more than 40 structures, including homes and cabins, have been destroyed by the Camp House Fire.
Fueled by wind gusts, relative low humidity, warm temperatures, dry underbrush and a build-up of dead trees killed by an insect infestation, the Camp House Fire has quickly spread through the area, according to officials.
“When the fire torches through tree canopies, it throws embers into the air like confetti,” Williams said.
Two other wild fires burning in St. Louis County were the Jenkins Creek Fire — which started on Monday afternoon and had spread to 6,800 acres as of Tuesday afternoon — and the Munger Saw Fire, which also started Monday afternoon and had grown to 1,400 acres as of Tuesday afternoon, according to the MNICS. Both fires were also 0% contained, officials said.
No injuries have been reported from any of the fires, officials noted.
As of Tuesday morning, wildfires had scorched over 37,000 acres — far above the state’s typical yearly total of about 12,000 acres.
“We are seeing the effects of climate change,” Sarah Strommen, commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, said at Tuesday’s news conference. “It’s harder to compare current fire seasons to what used to be normal. We are trending toward hotter, drier weather — and that’s changing everything.”
On Monday night, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz called in state National Guard troops to help firefighters gain control of the three fires.
“Last night, many of our firefighters were out there with no sleep in extremely dangerous conditions,” Walz said in a statement. “We’ve already seen 970 wildfires this year — 40 on Sunday and another 40 on Monday. These are record-setting numbers, and the fires are burning fast.”
The blazes ignited amid red flag fire danger warnings issued by the National Weather Service for nearly the entire state of Minnesota.
Making matters worse for firefighters were high temperatures forecast for most of Minnesota this week. On Monday and Tuesday, temperatures in the Duluth area reached the 80s.
(LONDON) — Moscow on Wednesday said it would send a delegation to Istanbul to meet with Ukrainian officials, potentially bringing diplomats from the two at-war countries together for the first known in-person direct talks in more than three years.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed on Wednesday that Russian diplomats would travel to Turkey, but didn’t detail which officials would be present.
The confirmation followed an act of one-upmanship from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine, who on Wednesday said he would be willing to meet personally with Russian President Vladimir Putin, should the latter decide to travel to Turkey.
“We are ready for such direct diplomacy to put an end to killings and advance real peace,” Zelenskyy said on social media “And this must certainly be discussed with the person who makes decisions in Russia.”
Peskov, who spoke in Moscow on Wednesday, wouldn’t confirm which Russian officials would be present. Putin had on Sunday proposed the direct talks.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(LOS ANGELES) — Erik and Lyle Menendez were resentenced on Tuesday to 50 years to life in prison, which makes them eligible for parole — the latest step in a years-long battle for the brothers trying to get released after 35 years behind bars.
The parole process will be long and could take years.
Erik and Lyle Menendez were initially sentenced to life without the possibility of parole for the 1989 murders of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez. They have the support of over 20 family members in their efforts to be freed.
After the resentencing, Erik Menendez released a statement on Tuesday night, saying, “I am touched and humbled by the outpouring of support.”
“This has to be the first step in giving people who have no hope in prison some hope,” he said. “My goal is to ensure there are no more people spending 35 years in prison without hope. That possibility of having hope that rehabilitation works is more important than anything that happened to me today.”
The brothers watched Tuesday’s much-anticipated resentencing hearing via video from prison and gave their own statements to Judge Michael Jesic.
“I killed my mom and dad,” Lyle Menendez told the judge. “I give no excuses.”
He also admitted to committing perjury by lying in court in the 90s. He apologized to his family for years of lies and the shock and grief of the crimes.
“I committed an atrocious act,” Erik Menendez told the judge. “My actions were criminal, selfish and cowardly. … No excuse. No justification for what I did.”
He admitted to lying for years and apologized.
“I have come a long way on this path” of redemption, Erik Menendez said, adding, “I will not stop trying to make a difference.”
“This was absolutely a horrific crime,” the judge said. He noted that he was moved by letters from prison guards and is amazed by what the brothers have accomplished.
The brothers’ attorney Mark Geragos said after court, “I’m hopeful and glad that we’re one huge step closer to bringing the boys home.”
“This encourages people who are incarcerated to make the right decisions, to take the right path,” Geragos said, adding, “It’s just a win-win on so many levels.”
Menendez cousin Anamaria Baralt commended her cousins’ rehabilitation, telling reporters, “Ultimately, we are here today with this result because of Erik and Lyle. Because they chose to live their lives with clarity and a purpose of service that the judge was impressed by.”
Geragos called several Menendez relatives to the stand at Tuesday’s hearing, including Baralt.
Through tears, Baralt pleaded with Jesic to release her cousins, noting time is running out for them to be reunited with aging family members.
“They are very different men” than when they committed the murders, Baralt said, adding that “their transformation is remarkable.”
During cross-examination, Baralt told prosecutors that the brothers have taken full responsibility for the crimes and Lyle Menendez has admitted to asking a witness to lie at trial. But Baralt conceded they haven’t acknowledged some aspects of the case to her, as prosecutors argue the brothers haven’t admitted to the full extent of their crimes and cover-ups.
A retired judge who worked with therapy dogs said on the stand that the brothers are looked at as leaders and that they changed his views on inmate rehabilitation. He said he used to want to punish defendants, but because of the brothers and their work to help the elderly and other inmates, he now believes in rehabilitation.
The prosecution did not call any witnesses.
Jesic’s resentencing decision follows the recommendation made in October by then-Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón.
Gascón recommended the brothers’ sentences of life without parole be removed, and said they should instead be sentenced for murder, which is a sentence of 50 years to life. Because both brothers were under 26 at the time of the crimes, they’re eligible for parole immediately under California law.
Gascón’s office said its resentencing recommendations take into account many factors, including rehabilitation in prison and abuse or trauma that contributed to the crime. Gascón praised the brothers’ conduct in prison, saying they rehabilitated themselves and started programs to help other inmates.
In November, Gascón lost his reelection bid to Nathan Hochman, who in March filed a motion to withdraw the resentencing petition, calling the brothers’ claims of self-defense part of a litany of “lies.” The judge denied Hochman’s request.
Tuesday’s resentencing hearing was a face-off between Geragos and Hochman, who wants to keep the brothers behind bars.
Geragos told reporters outside court on Tuesday, “There are no two better candidates in the state of California right now for resentencing than Erik and Lyle Menendez.”
“It’s a unicorn-style situation where you have horrific crimes — that nobody is walking away from — but also remarkable, remarkable, almost unparalleled rehabilitation and redemption,” he said.
At the time, Hochman told reporters, “The Menendez brothers have failed to come clean with the full extent of their criminal conduct, their cover-up, their lies and their deceit.”
Following the sentencing Tuesday, he released a new statement saying, “The decision to resentence Erik and Lyle Menendez was a monumental one that has significant implications for the families involved, the community, and the principles of justice.”
“Our office’s motions to withdraw the resentencing motion filed by the previous administration ensured that the Court was presented with all the facts before making such a consequential decision,” the statement continued, with Hochman calling the case “a window for the public to better understand the judicial system.”
“This case, like all cases — especially those that captivate the public — must be viewed with a critical eye,” he continued. “Our opposition and analysis ensured that the Court received a complete and accurate record of the facts.”
A hearing was held May 9 to determine whether the resentencing case should include information from the California Board of Parole’s newly completed risk assessment, which was conducted as a part of a separate clemency path. The risk assessment came at the request of Gov. Gavin Newsom as a part of the brothers’ clemency bid; the brothers are pursuing multiple avenues to freedom, and the clemency path is separate from the resentencing path. Newsom can grant clemency at any time.
The risk assessment said Erik and Lyle Menendez pose a moderate risk to the community if they’re released.
The assessment revealed the brothers possessed illegal cellphones in prison, among numerous other violations, though many are not recent. However, Erik Menendez had a phone as recently as January of this year, which Hochman stressed was during the resentencing effort when he should have been on his best behavior.
The defense noted Erik Menendez had one write-up for violence 25 years ago and Lyle Menendez has had none.
Their next court appearance for the clemency case is June 13.
(WASHINGTON) — Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., is requesting that the Department of Defense’s Office of Inspector General launch an inquiry on the department’s role in “facilitating and serving as a pass-through” for the Trump administration to accept a luxury jet donated by the Qatari government to use as Air Force One, ABC News has exclusively learned.
President Donald Trump confirmed on social media this week an ABC News report that his administration was preparing to accept the aircraft, calling it a “very public and transparent transaction” with the Defense Department.
In a letter sent on Tuesday, also signed by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Senate Armed Services Committee ranking member Jack Reed, D-R.I., along with six other Senate Democrats, Schiff raised to acting Inspector General Steven Stebbins a number of constitutional, legal and national security concerns related to the possible gift from Qatar.
“Public reports raise the troubling prospect that the Administration involved DOD to (1) launder this impermissible gift, so that the Department could provide cover to give the transfer of the plane the appearance of an official gift; (2) place the onus on DOD to retrofit the plane at considerable cost to U.S. taxpayers; and (3) ultimately transfer it to President Trump’s library prior to the end of his term for his continued use in a personal capacity,” the senators wrote in the letter.
The Democrats asked Stebbins to launch an inquiry into the DOD’s involvement with facilitating the potential foreign gift transfer and requested a “comprehensive audit and investigation” into any “fraud, waste, and abuse” when a potential transfer is completed, given that a mandatory retrofit of the plane would need to occur if it were to be used as Air Force One. They also asserted that the Trump administration is sidestepping constitutionally provided congressional guardrails by accepting the foreign gift.
“DOD risks becoming embroiled in a brazen attempt to evade constitutional limitations on the acceptance of personal gifts from foreign governments without congressional approval,” they continued in his letter.
The letter also requested, “in classified form if needed,” the cost estimate and probable timeline for retrofitting and installing communications and other equipment necessary to meet security and counterintelligence requirements for the Air Force One fleet and any timeline the White House has dictated for this plane to be ready for use by Trump.
They also asked whether necessary modifications can be made within such a time frame to meet Air Force One standards and what possible risks could be associated with that timeline. Additionally, they asked for answers on whether the existing contract for other Air Force One aircraft will continue or be terminated and what the cost of any termination would be.
The final request is whether there would be any counterintelligence and security risks with incorporating this aircraft, provided by a foreign government, into the Air Force One fleet.
“The DoD OIG received the letter this afternoon and we are reviewing it,” Pentagon Office of Inspector General spokeswoman Mollie Halpern said in a statement.
The primary aircraft used in the current Air Force One fleet include two aging Boeing 747-200 jumbo jets that have been operational since the early 1990s. The Air Force contract with Boeing to replace those aircraft has been riddled with delays and cost overruns, with Boeing’s most recent estimated delivery date now slated for 2027.
Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense ranking member Chris Coons, D-Del., and Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., are the other Democrats who signed Schiff’s letter.
Earlier on Tuesday, Schumer sent a separate letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi expressing concern about the “appearance of naked corruption” posed by Trump’s reported plans to accept a jet from the Qatari government. Schumer also said he believes the jet poses a “grave security risk” and cited reporting that Bondi personally signed off on the transaction. In light of what Schumer called Bondi’s “central role in approving the proposal,” he asked Bondi to respond to a number of questions related to the proposed gifted plane.
ABC News’ Allison Pecorin contributed to this report.
(WEST PALM BEACH, FL) — As human-induced climate change continues warming the planet, pregnancy risks are increasing, according to a new analysis by Climate Central.
Climate Central, a nonprofit science and communications organization, analyzed daily temperature data from 2020 to 2024 in 940 cities across 247 counties and territories. Researchers looked for “extreme heat days,” which are defined by temperatures that go beyond what’s normal in the area 95% of the time.
The high temperatures are associated with an increased risk of preterm birth and threats to maternal health; therefore, Climate Central has coined the phrase “pregnancy heat-risk days.”
Over the last four years, nearly one-third of the countries that Climate Central surveyed experienced at least one additional month of pregnancy heat-risk days on average, according to the new report.
For most of those countries, the pregnancy heat-risk days doubled — a pattern that can be linked to climate change, researchers showed.
“Even a single day of extreme heat can raise the risk of serious pregnancy complications,” said Climate Central’s vice president of science, Kristina Dahl, in a statement. “Climate change is increasing extreme heat and stacking the odds against healthy pregnancies worldwide, especially in places where care is already hard to access.”
Extreme heat can increase the risks of pregnancy complications and is linked to high blood pressure, diabetes, hospitalizations, premature births or even death, according to major health organizations such as the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The United States has experienced an increase of 12 pregnancy heat-risk days each year on average.
The analysis found that West Palm Beach, Florida, experienced the most significant increase in pregnancy heat-risk days in the U.S. — jumping 48% between 2020 and 2024. Going by state, Utah saw the biggest increase, with 23 additional days, a 72% increase since 2020.
The analysis also found that all of Hawaii’s pregnancy heat-risk days can be attributed to climate change. In other words, pregnant people living in Hawaii would never have been subjected to the risk of extreme heat if not for the changing climate.
“Extreme heat is now one of the most pressing threats to pregnant people worldwide, pushing more pregnancies into high-risk territory, especially in places already struggling with limited healthcare access,” said Dr. Bruce Bekkar, a women’s health physician and expert on how climate change impacts human health.
“Cutting fossil fuel emissions isn’t just good for the planet — it’s a crucial step toward protecting pregnant people and newborns around the world,” Bekkar said.
After West Palm Beach, the cities rounding out the five hardest-hit in nation’s states and territories are: Miami, Florida; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Odessa, Texas; and Salt Lake City, Utah.
After Utah, the hardest-hit states are: Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Hawaii.
The analysis by Climate Central has not been peer-reviewed, and it does not differentiate between different types of pregnancy complications.
(WASHINGTON) — Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is set to testify before two congressional committees on Wednesday to discuss, among many topics, the Trump administration’s proposed budget and its impact on HHS.
Kennedy will appear before the House Appropriations Committee Wednesday morning and the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee in the afternoon.
Last month, the HELP Committee called Kennedy to testify on the restructuring of the department.
In April, HHS began laying off about 10,000 workers and consolidating 28 institutes and centers into 15 new divisions.
Including the roughly 10,000 people who have left over the last few months through early retirement or deferred resignation programs, the overall staff at HHS is expected to fall from 82,000 to around 62,000 — or about a quarter of its workforce.
In a video statement posted on X prior to the layoffs, Kennedy said that he plans to bring to the agency a “clear sense of mission to radically improve the health of Americans and to improve agency morale.”
Kennedy has defended the cuts as necessary to weed out wasteful spending at one of America’s largest departments, but he has drawn criticism for laying off people who are responsible for regulating tobacco usage, monitoring lead exposure in children and diagnosing black lung disease in miners.
The secretary himself has appeared not to know about some of the cuts, telling CBS News last month he was “not familiar” with several cuts cited by the outlet.
Wednesday will mark the first time Kennedy has testified before Congress since his confirmation hearings in late January, and he may be forced to confront statements he made that critics say are evidence of promises broken.
Kennedy said several times during his hearing in January that he supports vaccines, although he refused to unequivocally say that vaccines don’t cause autism, despite numerous existing studies already showing there is no link.
“I support the measles vaccine. I support the polio vaccine. I will do nothing as HHS secretary that makes it difficult or discourages people from taking either of those vaccines,” Kennedy said.
However, in March, the HHS confirmed that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will study whether vaccines cause autism.
Additionally, in the wake of several ongoing measles outbreaks across the U.S. and over 1,000 cases so far this year, Kennedy has shared contradicting views about vaccines.
In a post on X on April 6, Kennedy said that the “most effective way to prevent the spread of measles” is to receive the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine. However, in a post later that evening, he said more than 300 children have been treated with an antibiotic and a steroid, neither of which are recognized treatments or cures for measles.
Kennedy’s embrace of anti-vaccine ideas nearly put his confirmation in jeopardy, as he faced resistance from Louisiana Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy, a physician who heads the HELP committee. Cassidy expressed concerns about Kennedy’s views on vaccines before ultimately voting to move him through the confirmation process in February.
Cassidy said, at the time, that Kennedy assured him he would not alter vaccine policy without “ironclad” scientific evidence. The senator added that Kennedy and Trump officials promised him an “unprecedentedly close collaborate working relationship” with the secretary.
Currently, Cassidy does not believe Kennedy has violated the commitments he made to him, a person familiar with the senator’s thinking told ABC News.
The men speak multiple times per week and have maintained a productive relationship, three people with knowledge of their dynamic said.
An HHS spokesperson said Kennedy “maintains a professional and respectful relationship with Senator Cassidy, grounded in a shared commitment to public health and evidence-based policymaking.”
Cassidy plans to tell Kennedy on Wednesday that the secretary can “set the record straight” about how HHS will “maintain its critical duties and implement change important to Americans’ health,” according to an excerpt of Cassidy’s remarks, which were obtained by ABC News.
ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett and Anne Flaherty contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — A federal judge in Pennsylvania ruled Tuesday that President Donald Trump’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act to deport alleged migrant gang members is lawful, but determined that the administration has provided insufficient notice before deporting migrants under the proclamation.
U.S. District Court Judge Stephanie Haines’ ruling stands in contrast to two other federal judges who have ruled that Trump’s use of the AEA for deportations is unlawful.
The Trump administration has invoked the Alien Enemies Act — an 18th century wartime authority used to remove noncitizens with little-to-no due process — to carry out deportations by proclaiming that migrant gang members constitute a “hybrid criminal state” that is invading the United States.
Haines, a Trump appointee, said she found that the proclamation “complies with AEA,” but said that the Trump administration “must provide greater notice to those subject to removal under the AEA than they are currently providing.”
In her ruling, Judge Haines said that the declarations submitted by the Trump administration to the court “indicate that there is factual basis for President Trump’s conclusions in the Proclamation” and pointed to the designation made by Secretary of State Marco Rubio of the Venezuelan criminal gang Tren de Aragua as a foreign terrorist organization.
As a result, Judge Haines said she found that the proclamation meets the definition of a “predatory incursion” under the AEA.
Haines also said she will afford “substantial deference to the conclusion” by Trump that TdA is “acting at the direction, clandestine or otherwise, of the Maduro regime in Venezuela.”
“It would be intolerable that courts, without the relevant information, should review and perhaps nullify actions of the Executive taken on information properly held in secret,” Judge Haines said.
However, the judge ruled that the Trump administration cannot remove the petitioner, a Venezuelan man in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody identified as A.S.R., unless he is given 21 days notice and “an opportunity to be heard.” Haines added the notice to A.S.R. needs to be in English and Spanish and must clearly “articulate the fact that he is subject to removal” under the AEA.
A.S.R., according to the government, was moved to a detention center in Texas last month.
Lee Gelernt, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, said in a statement to ABC News that the ACLU disagrees with the judge’s ruling on the use of the AEA.
“The court properly rejected the government’s argument that they can remove people with only 12 hours’ notice,” said Gelernt. “But we disagree with the court’s ruling that the Alien Enemies Act can be used during peacetime.”
In her ruling, Judge Haines said the case “implicates significant issues.”
“In resolving those issues, this Court’s unflagging obligation is to apply the law as written,” Haines wrote in her conclusion. “The court now leaves it to the Political Branches of the government, and ultimately to the people who elect those individuals to decide whether the laws and those executive them continue to reflect their will.”
Earlier this month, a Trump-appointed federal judge blocked the Trump administration from deporting migrants under the AEA in Southern District of Texas, ruling that its invocation of the AEA “exceeds the scope” of the law.
A week later, a federal judge in New York ruled that the AEA was “not validly invoked” by the Trump administration when it sought to deport two alleged Tren de Aragua members from that state.
