Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy speaks during an event awarding House Clerk Cheryl L. Johnson with the 2023 Freedom Award, Feb. 13, 2024. (Aaron Schwartz/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — The special primary election to succeed former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy unfolded on Tuesday in California’s 20th Congressional District.
ABC News projects that State Assemblyman Vince Fong will advance to the special general election in May.
The race will fill a critical vacancy for Republicans who are already dancing on the knife’s edge of a microscopic majority in the House.
The special election, open to all registered voters in the district, is set to determine who will finish the remainder of McCarthy’s term. He left Congress at the end of December.
Fong, endorsed by McCarthy and former President Donald Trump, and Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux had established themselves as the front-runner candidates in the special primary.
Nine candidates were on the ballot.
Back in Washington, a runoff could prove frustrating to congressional Republicans, who have recently faced a wave of high-profile retirements, including McCarthy and, more recently, Colorado Rep. Ken Buck, who announced that he would leave the House at the end of the week.
Currently, Republicans can only afford to lose two members of their conference on any party-line vote on legislation.
As of Tuesday’s election, five House Republicans, including Buck, had resigned or been removed from office during this Congress.
Beyond McCarthy’s seat, two other Republican vacancies remain unfilled and one of those five overall seats, formerly held by expelled New York Rep. George Santos, is now held by Democrat Tom Suozzi, leaving Republicans with 219 seats to Democrats’ 213.
(WASHINGTON) — The Federal Reserve is set to announce an interest rate decision on Wednesday, revealing its latest move in a yearslong battle to dial back price increases.
The decision arrives roughly a week after fresh inflation data showed inflation ticked up in February, the latest sign that progress toward cooling prices had struck a rough patch.
Inflation has fallen significantly from a peak of 9.1% but it remains more than a percentage point higher than the Fed’s target rate of 2%.
The Fed is expected to leave interest rates unchanged at its meeting on Wednesday, keeping borrowing costs at their current level of between 5.25% and 5.5%, the highest level since 2001.
The move would afford the Fed additional time to observe price movements before undertaking interest rate cuts expected later this year.
Addressing House members at the Capitol earlier this month, Fed Chair Jerome Powell reaffirmed the Fed’s plans to cut rates this year but cautioned that the central bank first wants to see inflation fall lower.
“The economic outlook is uncertain, and ongoing progress toward our 2% inflation objective is not assured,” Powell told lawmakers.
Alongside stubborn inflation, the economy has largely defied expectations of a slowdown imposed by elevated borrowing costs. That combination of elevated price increases and stronger-than-expected economic performance puts the central bank in a difficult position.
Interest rate cuts would lower borrowing costs for consumers and businesses, potentially triggering a burst of economic activity through greater household spending and company investment.
But the Fed risks a rebound of inflation if it cuts interest rates too quickly, since stronger consumer demand on top of solid economic activity could lead to an acceleration of price increases.
U.S. job gains far exceeded expectations in February, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data earlier this month showed.
The U.S. added 275,000 jobs in February, surpassing predictions of about 200,000 jobs added, but marking a substantial decline from the hiring of roughly 350,000 workers in January, according to BLS data.
The S&P 500 — the index that most people’s 401(k)’s track — reached a record high earlier this month.
Attitudes about the economy have improved in recent months. Consumer sentiment inched lower in February but preserved much of the large gains achieved in previous months, a University of Michigan survey found.
Still, some areas of the economy have cooled.
The housing market has slowed substantially due in large part to soaring mortgage rates.
The average interest rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage has soared to 6.74%, rebounding after a steady decline at the end of last year, according to a report from Freddie Mac on Thursday.
Taken together, economic performance has not shaken the Fed’s steadfast pursuit of lowering inflation down to its goal of 2%, Powell told federal lawmakers last week.
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden made a campaign swing through battlegrounds Nevada and Arizona on Tuesday in which he touted his administration’s accomplishments and drew contrasts with what his campaign calls “Trump’s anti-Latino agenda.”
Before traveling to Arizona, Biden spoke with local leaders and volunteers in Reno, Nevada, at the Washoe County Democrats’ office where he highlighted job creation and health care.
“We’ve already created tens of thousands of good paying jobs,” Biden said. “Right here in this state as well, by the way, clean jobs, jobs, clean energy jobs. Trump lost millions of jobs, millions when he was president.”
Asked if Americans could expect to again see COVID-era child tax credits, Biden responded, “We’re gonna bring back the child tax credit to cut child poverty in half.”
The event was part of the Biden-Harris campaign’s “I’m on Board” month of action, designed to engage and mobilize voters and volunteers, in which the president, vice president, first lady, and second gentleman are expected to visit every battleground state.
In Las Vegas, Biden spoke about his administration’s efforts to tackle the issue of affordable housing, discussing a provision in his budget proposal that would help build and renovate more than two million homes to reduce costs.
“What my dad used to always say was, the way you build equity in your home was the way you build wealth. So that when you build enough equity in your home, then you have enough money to borrow to get something new and move, and so on,” he said. “And that’s how everybody makes it — everybody, middle-class makes it.”
“We know affordability for housing is a key challenge in Nevada, and it’s one in which the president’s agenda will really help address” a senior administration official said in a call with reporters on Monday.
Later, in Arizona, Biden was scheduled to stop at a Mexican restaurant in South Phoenix to launch a national organizing program called “Latinos con Biden-Harris,” in another effort to mobilize Latino voters ahead of the general election.
Throughout the week, Latinos Con Biden-Harris was holding organizing events, trainings and house parties in Nevada, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Wisconsin.
“The Latino vote was critical to the President’s victory in 2020, and 2024 will be no different,” said campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez, in a press release. “Latinos con Biden-Harris will be essential to activating and mobilizing Latinos across the country, and importantly, is another way we are making clear with action that we are investing aggressively into earning the Latino vote.”
The Biden-Harris campaign launched its “first Latino creative” as a part of a previously announced $30 million paid media buy for spring. The ad, titled “Only One Choice” or “Una Opción,” is a direct-to-camera video from Biden, which will run in English, Spanish, and Spanglish.
Biden spoke to Hispanic Radio stations Tuesday to outline his administration’s efforts to address the needs of Latino communities and slammed former President Donald Trump over his immigration policy, claiming Trump “despises” Latinos.
Trump claims he is gaining support among Latinos.
“He separated kids and parents at the border, and encaged children. Planning mass deportations of literally several million people who are here in the country. Several million people. And he wants to end birthright citizenship. I mean, this guy despises Latinos,” Biden told host Univision host Raúl Moinar.
Biden claimed in the interview with Nueva Network that he wants to allow immigrants to come into the country in an “orderly way” and Republicans are trying to “block” that.
“…We are a nation of immigrants. That’s who we are, from my Irish ancestors to your Hispanic ancestors,” Biden told Nueva Network’s Alex Lucas. “And so, what we might want to do is allow them to continue to come into the country in an orderly way … And what Republicans are trying to do is block all that.”
Biden called out Trump’s weekend comments stating some immigrants who come to the U.S. illegally are “not people” but “animals.”
“But here’s the thing I want to stop. Trump this Saturday, called migrants … he said they’re ‘not people’,” Biden said in an interview with Univision Radio. “He says immigrants are ‘poisoning the blood of this country,’ separated children from parents at the border, caged the kids, planned mass deportations systems, tens of thousands of people here and wants to end birthright citizenship. I mean, we have to stop this guy. We can’t let this happen. We are a nation of immigrants.”
(WASHINGTON) — While voting in Florida on Tuesday, in the presidential primary, former President Donald Trump was joined in a rare appearance by wife Melania Trump as he slammed the jail sentence of Peter Navarro, a former adviser, said he “couldn’t care less” about his former Vice President Mike Pence, and reiterated why he thinks Jewish Americans shouldn’t vote for Democrats.
“I voted for Donald Trump,” he said as he walked away laughing after speaking with reporters outside of the polling location not far from his Mar-a-Lago home.
Earlier, as he entered the polling site, Trump was asked if the Supreme Court should’ve intervened and kept Navarro, who is serving four months, out of prison.
Navarro was convicted in September of two counts of contempt of Congress for refusing to provide testimony and documents to the House committee that first investigated the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Trump on Tuesday called his jail sentence “a disgrace” and his unsuccessful legal battle “a shame.”
“Peter was treated very unfairly, a great patriot,” Trump said when asked if he’d pardon Navarro if he is elected again to the White House.
Trump denied any knowledge of whether his convicted former campaign manager Paul Manafort will be joining his 2024 bid, simply saying that he’s another person who was “treated badly.”
“I don’t know anything about it. … But we’ll see what happens with that,” Trump said.
Asked by ABC News what his reaction is to Pence refusing to endorse him, Trump said, “I couldn’t care less.”
“We need strong people in this country. We don’t need weak people,” he said.
Melania Trump, appearing alongside her husband, teased whether or not she will make campaign appearances with the former president.
“Stay tuned,” she said.
Donald Trump on Tuesday also railed against his New York civil fraud case when asked if he’d be able to pay an approximately $460 million bond as he pursues an appeal of the ruling against him.
“This was a rigged trial,” he claimed, which prosecutors have denied.
“We’ll see how the courts rule on it,” he said.
Trump also doubled down on his comments about why Jewish Americans shouldn’t support Democrats, including by attacking Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, whom he said had been a “disgrace on Israel.”
In a radio interview on Monday, echoing previous comments, Trump had said that Jewish Americans who vote for Democrats — amid Israel’s war against Hamas and other tensions in the Middle East — “hate” their religion and Israel and that they “should be ashamed of themselves.”
“I think that the Democrats have been very, very opposed to Jewish people,” Trump argued on Tuesday.
President Joe Biden’s campaign has pushed back, saying in a statement, in part: “The only person who should be ashamed here is Donald Trump.”
And asked on Tuesday about a possible national 15-week abortion ban, Trump said: “We’ll be talking about that soon.”
Pressed again on the timeline, though, Trump dodged.
He also again made claims about immigrants who are in the country illegally and said he will deport them if he’s president while not explaining how he would conduct such “mass deportation.”
Separately, in a British TV interview also on Tuesday, Trump sounded off on multiple subjects including the controversy sparked when Kate Middleton apologized for sharing an edited photo of her with her kids.
“Everybody doctors,” Trump said on GB News, adding, “I don’t understand why there could be such a howl over that.”
He also said he’s a “big fan of the concept of the royal family,” repeatedly praising the late Queen Elizabeth.
Trump also praised King Charles, calling him a “wonderful guy” and saying they “got along” even though Charles “was a little bit more into environmental restriction than I am.”
(NEW YORK) — The recent identification of fossils from a heavily armored ancient crocodile ancestor species, known as aetosaurs, provides a glimpse into our world 215 million years ago.
The study, led by researchers at the University of Texas at Austin and published in the journal The Anatomical Record earlier this year, announces a new aetosaur species: Garzapelta muelleri.
Aetosaurs are a species likened to modern crocodiles that lived during the Triassic Period, 229 million to 200 million years ago, which pre-dates the Jurassic Period, according to researchers, who further note aetosaur fossils have been discovered on every continent except Antarctica and Australia.
Garzapelta muelleri’s fossilized dorsal carapace – the hard, armored plating that covered its back – is 70% complete, according to researchers, with major pieces from the neck and shoulder region to the end of its tail intact.
William Reyes, a doctoral student at the UT Jackson School of Geosciences who led the study, published in January, told Phys.org on Monday that the findings are remarkable because “Usually, you find very limited material.”
The exterior of Garzapelta’s skeleton is called the osteoderm, which is comprised of rock-hard plates and curved spikes both made of bone, according to the study.
“Take a crocodile from modern day, and turn it into an armadillo,” Reyes told the publication, describing the ancient creature.
The study determined that Garzapelta’s fossils date back 215 million years and that the species was largely omnivorous, contradictory to its modern cousin, the carnivorous crocodile.
The name Garzapelta muelleri is a nod to Garza County in northwest Texas, where the fossil was discovered, while “pelta” is the Latin word for shield, to signify the armor-like shell of the species. The second half of the name, muelleri, is a nod to Bill Mueller, the paleontologist who initially discovered the aetosaur’s fossilized skeleton.
To determine that Garzapelta is, in fact, a new species of aetosaur, researchers compared the skeleton with those of similar ancient aetosaurs.
“The carapace of G. muelleri exhibits a striking degree of similarity between that of the paratypothoracin Rioarribasuchus chamaensis and desmatosuchins,” researchers said in the study.
However, the unique qualities of Garzapelta’s skeleton, from the formation of the osteoderm plates to the distinct markings and ridges on the species’ bones, make it distinctly different from its aetosaur relatives, according to the study.
“Convergence of the osteoderms across distantly related aetosaurs has been noted before, but the carapace of Garzapelta muelleri is the best example of it and shows to what extent it can happen and the problems it causes in our phylogenetic analyses,” Reyes told Phys.org.
(NEW YORK) — Former Rankin County, Mississippi, sheriff’s deputies Hunter Elward and Jeffrey Middleton were sentenced in federal court on Tuesday after pleading guilty, along with five additional former law enforcement officers, to a total of 16 charges related to the January 2023 torture of two Black men.
Elward, who pleaded guilty to the most serious charge in the indictment — discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence — was sentenced to 241 months, or about 20 years, according to the Department of Justice.
“I hate myself for it,” Elward said during the sentencing hearing, according to Jackson ABC affiliate WAPT. “I accept my responsibility.”
Middleton was sentenced to 17.5 years or 210 months in prison for his role in the incident, according to the Department of Justice. The remaining four officers who pleaded guilty in this case will be sentenced during hearings on Wednesday and Thursday.
Michael Jenkins, who was shot in the mouth by Elward during the incident, spoke to WAPT on Tuesday afternoon after Elward stood up and apologized to him in court.
“I’m glad he looked at me. I’m glad he see me,” Jenkins said, adding that while he “feels sorry” for Elward’s family, the former officer got “what he deserved.”
Eddie Parker, the second victim in the case, told Elward in court on Tuesday that he forgave him for his actions, according to WAPT, and said that he is “satisfied” with the sentence.
Asked about his decision to forgive Elward, Parker said, “For what is given and what is done, I forgive that part, but other than that, he still did what he did and he has to be punished.”
“I always stand up for justice and for what’s right,” he added.
Asked if he also forgives Elward, Jenkins told WAPT, “I don’t know. No, no, because if he wouldn’t have got caught he’d still be doing the same thing.”
Former Rankin County sheriff’s deputies Elward, Middleton, Christian Dedmon, Brett McAlpin and Daniel Opdyke, along with Joshua Hartfield, a former Richland police officer, pleaded guilty to 16 federal charges related to the torture and physical abuse of three Rankin County men in two unrelated incidents, according to a statement released by U.S. Department of Justice on Aug. 3, 2023.
The charges include civil rights conspiracy, deprivation of rights under color of law, discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence, conspiracy to obstruct justice and obstruction of justice. The former officers agreed to sentences ranging from five to 30 years as recommended by prosecutors, but the judge is not bound by the agreement, according to The Associated Press.
According to the charging documents, the incident on Jan. 24, 2023, took place when a white neighbor claimed in a complaint to McAlpin, the chief RCSO investigator, that she observed “suspicious activity” from Black men staying at a nearby property.
McAlpin asked Dedmon, who was an RCSO investigator at the time, to look into the incident, and Dedmon proceeded to reach out to a group of shift officers who called themselves “The Goon Squad” because of their “willingness to use excessive force and not report it,” according to the documents.
During the incident, the officers beat Jenkins and Parker, sexually assaulted them with a sex toy and shocked them with Tasers for roughly 90 minutes while handcuffed, according to court documents obtained by ABC News. Jenkins was also shot in the mouth by Elward, per the DOJ.
And while Jenkins was bleeding on the floor, instead of providing medical aid, the officers “devised a false cover story to cover up their misconduct” and proceeded to “plant” and “tamper with evidence” to corroborate their story, the DOJ said.
“The defendants in this case tortured and inflicted unspeakable harm on their victims, egregiously violated the civil rights of citizens who they were supposed to protect, and shamefully betrayed the oath they swore as law enforcement officers,” DOJ Sec. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said in a statement on Aug. 3, 2023. “The Justice Department will hold accountable officers who abuse the public trust that is essential to public safety.”
The officers admitted that on Jan. 24, 2023, they entered a home where Jenkins and Parker were staying in Braxton, Rankin County, Mississippi, where they handcuffed and arrested the two men “without probable cause to believe they had committed any crime, called them racial slurs, and warned them to stay out of Rankin County,” the DOJ said in a statement on Aug. 3, 2023, announcing the guilty pleas.
According to the federal charging documents obtained by ABC News, sentencing maximums range from three years in prison for lesser offenses to life in prison for the most serious offense of discharging of a firearm during a crime of violence.
The two victims — Jenkins and Parker — spoke out during a press conference Monday morning about the enduring trauma of the experience as their attorneys called on the judge to give the former officers the “maximum sentence.”
“I’d like to thank everybody for supporting us and believing in us,” said Jenkins, who was shot in the mouth during the incident. “It’s been very hard for me this past year. I’m just looking forward to justice tomorrow. I hope they do right. Hope for the best and prepare for the worst.”
Parker, who is set to testify during the sentencing hearings this week, per his attorney, said that it’s been a “hard year,” and he’s glad that the day of sentencing, which was delayed twice before, has finally come.
“Everything needs to be done right because everything was done wrong,” Parker said. “What’s done already, man, can’t be erased; it can’t be taken back. I relive this every day.”
Malik Shabazz, the lead attorney for Jenkins and Parker, said that his clients have “been through a lot of trauma” and called on U.S. District Judge Tom Lee to give each of the former officers the “maximum sentence.”
“The day of justice has finally come,” he said. “That’s an important day, not only in Mississippi, but this is an important day for accountability for police brutality, all throughout America. Police officers are watching this sentencing … they’re watching to see whether law enforcement in Mississippi and law enforcement in America will be held sufficiently accountable for their acts of torture and brutality,” he added.
The officers have not responded to ABC News’ requests for comment.
Dedmon, Elward and Opdyke also pleaded guilty to three additional federal felony offenses related to a separate incident that took place on Dec. 4, 2022, per the DOJ.
The U.S. The Department of Justice launched an investigation into the incident in Feb. 2023, along with the FBI, amid outrage from the community and as attorneys for Jenkins and Parker filed a notice of claim for a $400 million federal lawsuit. The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation also investigated the case that led to state charges against the officers.
“It’s in court, and we’re fighting,” Shabazz told ABC News on Monday when asked about the status of the lawsuit.
In an October 2023 response to the complaint obtained by ABC News, the officers denied the allegations alleged in the lawsuit.
ABC News’ Alexander Mallin contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — Former President Donald Trump is continuing to rail against the $464 million judgment in his New York civil fraud case, claiming Judge Arthur Engoron is trying to take away his rights and that he could be forced to sell his properties at “fire sale prices.”
“Judge Engoron actually wants me to put up Hundreds of Millions of Dollars for the Right to Appeal his ridiculous decision,” Trump posted on his social media platform Tuesday morning. “In other words, he is trying to take my Appellate Rights away from me,” Trump said, in part.
“I would be forced to mortgage or sell Great Assets, perhaps at Fire Sale prices, and if and when I win the Appeal, they would be gone. Does that make sense?” Trump continued, in part.
Trump is facing “insurmountable difficulties” in obtaining a bond to satisfy the judgment, the former president’s attorneys said Monday in a new appellate court filing.
Last month, Trump’s lawyers asked for a stay of the enforcement and offered to instead secure a $100 million bond. New York Attorney General Letitia James pushed back on the request, arguing Trump and his co-defendants “will attempt to evade enforcement of the judgment or to make enforcement more difficult.”
“Moreover, there is significant risk that absent a full bond or deposit, defendants will attempt to evade enforcement of the judgment or to make enforcement more difficult after an appeal,” Senior Assistant Solicitor Dennis Fan said last week, arguing that Trump should pay the judgment or get a bond for the full amount.
While Trump Organization general counsel Alan Garten said Monday that Trump is “financially stable” and maintains “substantial assets,” the magnitude of the judgment would require him to use his real estate as collateral for the bond. According to the filing, more than 30 companies have declined to assist with Trump’s bond, which the former president is attempting to secure using a combination of property and cash.
In a series of posts on his social media platform Monday night, Trump claimed the bond in the New York civil fraud case judgment is “unconstitutional,” “unAmerican” and “unprecedented.”
A bond of this size is “practically impossible for ANY Company, including one as successful as mine,” Trump claimed in a series of posts on his social media platform, echoing his legal team’s arguments.
Trump’s attorneys, who have called the judgment “unconstitutionally excessive,” asked an appellate court again on Monday to allow Trump to secure a bond in a lesser amount.
“Obtaining such cash through a ‘fire sale’ of real estate holdings would inevitably result in massive, irrecoverable losses — textbook irreparable injury,” defense lawyers Alina Habba and Clifford Robert wrote.
James previously told ABC News she is prepared to seize the former president’s assets if he is unable to find the cash to cover the fine.
“If he does not have funds to pay off the judgment, then we will seek judgment enforcement mechanisms in court, and we will ask the judge to seize his assets,” James said in an exclusive interview with ABC News’ Aaron Katersky in February.
The former president has denied all wrongdoing and has said he will appeal.
ABC News’ Aaron Katersky contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday filed a brief with the Supreme Court making his formal argument for why he should be granted absolute presidential immunity from criminal prosecution — asking the justices to dismiss a four-count federal indictment over his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election that he lost.
The high court will hear oral arguments on the matter on April 25.
“The President cannot function, and the Presidency itself cannot retain its vital independence, if the President faces criminal prosecution for official acts once he leaves office,” Trump’s attorneys wrote in their opening brief to the high court in U.S. v. Trump.
“Denial of criminal immunity would incapacitate every future President with de facto blackmail and extortion while in office, and condemn him to years of post-office trauma at the hands of political opponents,” they argued. “The threat of future prosecution and imprisonment would become a political cudgel to influence the most sensitive and controversial Presidential decisions, taking away the strength, authority, and decisiveness of the Presidency.”
Similar to arguments made in lower courts, which were unsuccessful, Trump contended that presidential immunity flows from the Constitution’s Executive Vesting Clause and the separation of powers.
While a unanimous appeals court panel resoundingly rejected the claim, Trump again implored the justices to adopt the view that only a president convicted by the Senate following impeachment proceedings could be criminally prosecuted.
“The Constitution authorizes the criminal prosecution of a former President, but it builds in a formidable structural check against politically motivated prosecutions by requiring a majority of the House and a supermajority of the Senate to authorize such a dramatic action,” Trump’s team wrote. “The Founders thus carefully balanced the public interest in ensuring accountability for Presidential wrongdoing against the mortal danger to our system of government presented by political targeting of the Chief Executive.”
The Supreme Court’s decision to hear the case further delays Trump’s prosecution. Special counsel Jack Smith brought four charges against Trump over his alleged election subversion in 2020 and on Jan. 6, 2021. The former president has pleaded not guilty and denies any wrongdoing.
Smith’s team has been instructed to file their own brief on the matter by April 8.
(WASHINGTON) — The FBI is doing everything it can to get “justice” for Laken Riley, the college student who was murdered by a migrant in the country illegally, FBI Director Christopher Wray said at the University of Georgia on Tuesday.
Laken Riley, a student at Georgia’s Augusta University, was killed by a migrant who was illegally in the country from Venezuela last month, according to authorities. The 22-year-old was killed while jogging in a park on the University of Georgia campus on Feb. 22.
“I want to tell you how heartbroken I am — not just for the family, friends, classmates, and staff who are grieving Laken’s loss,” Wray said. “But for Augusta University and the entire UGA community, which many members of my own family are a part of. A lot of people — students, alumni, and community members alike — see Athens as a kind of safe haven from what ails so much of the rest of the country.”
Wray went on to say that he is “saddened to see that sense of peace shattered by Laken’s murder and the subsequent arrest of a Venezuelan national who’d illegally entered the country in 2022.”
“We’re doing everything we can to help achieve justice for Laken,” Wray said.
His comments marked the first time Wray had spoken publicly about Riley, whose death has become a rallying cry for immigration reform for many conservatives.
During President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address last month, he engaged in an ad-libbed exchange with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., after she called out from the chamber about Riley’s death. Many Republicans have claimed Biden and administration officials have avoided saying her name so as not to highlight the crime and the suspect.
Biden called her “an innocent young woman who was killed by an illegal.”
During his remarks, Wray also mentioned the six officers in Mississippi who were found guilty of “heinous” crimes targeting two Black men — including handcuffing, beating, kicking victims, staging a fake execution and discharging a weapon breaking one defendant’s jaw. The officers also “bombarded them” with racial slurs, Wray said.
The officers were sentenced Tuesday to a total of 16 charges related to the January 2023 torture of the men.
“Without a warrant or any exigent circumstances, the six of them kicked in the door of a home where two Black men were staying and subjected them to an hour and a half of pure hell,” Wray said. “Can you imagine the abject terror those two victims must have felt? I mean, who do you call when the police are the ones terrorizing you?”
Wray said that instead of rendering aid, the officers came up with a “cover story.” He said the case is an example of “holding the powerful” accountable.
“It’s hard to imagine a more atrocious set of civil rights violations than those carried out by these guys,” he said.
Wray said holding law enforcement and elected accountable is a core tenant of the bureau’s work.
“When someone decides the office they hold places them above the law, it’s often the bureau’s job to make sure they’re held accountable,” he said. “Now again, many public servants working at all levels of government are honest and dedicated people who strive to do the right thing for their constituents and their country. Unfortunately, there are also public officials who are only concerned with serving a very specific constituency: themselves.”
Wray said that public corruption strikes at the “very heart of government.”
“It eats away at public confidence and undermines the strength of our democracy — and public corruption is not limited to crooked politicians who get caught with their hands in the till,” Wray said.
“It can affect everything from how well our borders are secured and our neighborhoods are protected, to how verdicts are handed down in courtrooms and how roads and schools are built and it can take a significant toll on the public’s wallet by siphoning off tax dollars. In fact, estimates put the cost of public corruption to the U.S. government and the American public at billions of dollars every year,” Wray added.
When talking about the FBI’s broad authority and power, he said it is important they hold themselves to the highest standard.
“Uncle Ben from Marvel Comics’ Spider-Man is credited with saying that ‘With great power comes great responsibility.’ So while that authority and power are necessary for the FBI to do our job, they also come with an enormous amount of responsibility — and in turn, close scrutiny. And that’s how it should be.”
(WASHINGTON) — The top two military leaders who oversaw the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 are testifying Tuesday afternoon before the House Foreign Affairs Committee in a hearing meant to assess the Biden administration’s role in the chaos that unfolded at the end of the America’s longest war.
One of those leaders is Gen. Mark Milley, who retired as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff last September. He is likely to face tough questions from Republican lawmakers on the panel — reflecting how the withdrawal has become a persistent part of conservative criticism of the White House.
Milley told ABC News’ Martha Raddatz in a 2023 interview that he had “lots of regrets” about how the 20-year conflict concluded.
“In the broader sense, the war was lost,” he said then.
The second senior military leader testifying before the committee is Gen. Kenneth “Frank” McKenzie, who was the top U.S. general in the Middle East during the withdrawal from Afghanistan.
McKenzie has also expressed regrets — in particular over not having earlier evacuated embassy staff, U.S. citizens and Afghans seeking escape as the Taliban again took over the country.
In August 2021, the U.S. military and State Department scrambled to evacuate some 124,000 embassy personnel, Americans and at-risk Afghans following the Taliban’s swift march to the capital of Kabul, facing relatively little opposition from Afghan forces or its national government, which swiftly collapsed.
The evacuation efforts were centered on Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul.
On Aug. 26, an ISIS-K terrorist detonated a suicide bomb at the Abbey Gate of the airport, killing 13 U.S. service members and at least 170 Afghans.
Gold Star families of several of the U.S. service members killed in that attack are present for Tuesday’s hearing.
“I’m humbled to be here today with three Gold Star families from Abbey Gate, and I know the other families couldn’t make it, but I intend to contact them in the coming weeks,” Milley said in his opening remarks before the committee. “They know that there are no words by me or any general or any politician or anyone that can ever bring back their fallen.”
