(NEW YORK) — A federal grand jury in New York has returned a sweeping indictment against United States Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., chairman of the powerful Foreign Relations Committee.
The investigation focused on a luxury car, gold bars and an apartment allegedly received by Menendez and his wife, Nadine Arslanian. His wife was also indicted.
The indictment charges Menendez, 69, and his wife with having a corrupt relationship with three New Jersey businessmen — Wael Hana, Jose Uribe and Fred Daides.
The indictment accuses Menendez and his wife of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars of bribes in exchange for using the senator’s power and influence to seek to protect and enrich the businessman.
“Those bribes included cash, gold, payments toward a home mortgage, compensation for a low-or-no-show job, a luxury vehicle, and other things of value,” the indictment said.
In June 2022, federal agents searched Menendez’s New Jersey home and found “fruits” of the pair’s “corrupt bribery agreement” with the three businessmen, according to the indictment. Investigators found over $480,000 in cash, some stuffed in envelopes and hidden in clothing, as well as $70,000 in Nadine Menendez’s safe deposit box.
Also found in the home were over $100,000 worth of gold bars, “provided by either Hana or Daibes,” according to the indictment.
Menendez allegedly gave sensitive U.S. government information “that secretly aided the Government of Egypt” and “improperly advised and pressured” a U.S. agricultural official to protect an exclusive contract for Hana to be the exclusive purveyor of halal meat to Egypt, according to the indictment.
Menendez also tried to disrupt a criminal investigation into a second businessman in the trucking industry that had been undertaken by the New Jersey attorney general, the indictment said.
The senator is also accused of recommending someone to the president to be the U.S. attorney in New Jersey who he thought he could influence.
This is the second time New Jersey’s senior senator has been charged with corruption. A 2015 indictment ended in a mistrial in 2018 after a jury failed to reach a verdict on all counts and a judge acquitted him on some charges.
The previous charges against Menendez centered on his relationship with Florida eye doctor Solomon Melgen, a close ally of the senator. Menendez allegedly accepted gifts from Melgen in exchange for using the power of his senate office to benefit the doctor’s financial and personal interests.
(WASHINGTON) — The Justice Department has arrested and charged an IT contractor with two counts of espionage for allegedly taking secret and top-secret information from the State Department and sending it to a foreign country.
Abraham Teklu Lemma, a foreign national with U.S. citizenship, was working as an evening help desk technician assigned to the Bureau of Intelligence and Research with the U.S. Department of State when he is alleged to have copied large amounts of classified information, including documents, photographs, notes, maps and satellite imagery, and transmitted it to a foreign country using an encrypted messaging application.
“Between on or about December 19, 2022, and August 7, 2023, Lemma copied and pasted information from at least 85 Intelligence Reports regarding many topics—the majority of which relate to the Relevant Country. Lemma accessed these Intelligence Reports without a need-to-know the classified information contained therein. During the same period, Lemma accessed at least an additional 48 Intelligence Reports without a need-to-know,” according to the criminal complaint.
He then allegedly transmitted the information to an unnamed individual of an unnamed country through a secure messaging app on “multiple occasions.”
According to the complaint, “In one communication, Lemma sent an image relating to events in the Relevant Country and advised the Foreign Official, “[y]our team analyze this and establish some sort of sense to this,” according to the criminal complaint. In another exchange, the Foreign Official told Lemma, “[w]e making [sic] significant progress on averting the … in few days we will achieve the critical milestones ….not to happen again. Therefore, it’s not a long time we are asking. Good if you can check and [sic] back to me what u can do.”
Similarly, the foreign official advised Lemma, “[i]t is great to identify the forward deployed command centers and logistic centers,” in response to Lema discussing locations in the Relevant Country,” court documents say.
He has held a top-secret clearance since at least 2020 and obtained a SCI in July of 2021.
The complaint states that on multiple occasions, Lemma traveled to an unnamed country where he has ties to and before, during and after his travels, and “has downloaded over 100 documents containing classified information from the DOS classified system to CDs and/or DVDs.”
Since June, he was allegedly copying and pasting the classified information into a Microsoft Word document.
“DOS records further show Lemma then downloaded those Word files from the DOS classified system onto CDs and/or DVDs, which could then be taken out of the SCIF,” the court documents say. “The material from Intelligence Reports that Lemma was reviewing and copying what was classified at the TOP SECRET and SECRET levels, and also related primarily to the Relevant Country,” the documents read.
Between July and August of this year, he allegedly copied information from intelligence reports at least 10 times.
On multiple occasions last month, he was allegedly observed taking notes on a piece of paper of classified information at his desk in the SCIF.
The Justice Department says other chat logs it uncovered show Lemma was asked about specific intelligence information, and his account information was allegedly accessed in the representative’s country when Lemma was no longer there.
The Justice Department alleges Lemma was paid over $100,000 in exchange for the information.
ABC News was not immediately able to locate a legal representative for Lemma.
In addition to his work at the State Department, he is currently employed during the day as a contract management analyst at the Justice Department, according to court records.
(WASHINGTON) — A top Department of Commerce official’s visit to South Korea is intended to “find ways to deepen and strengthen” the connection between the two countries, and to build off the President of South Korea’s state visit to the United States earlier this year, according to the Deputy Secretary of Commerce.
“The thing that we’re hearing consistently, is the need to to align our approaches,” Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves told ABC News from Seoul, South Korea. “Our national security interests and our economic security interests can best be served, if we have alignment.”
The deputy secretary said the two countries are aligned on a host of issues, including ensuring democratic norms, standards and values.
Graves took along 15 cybersecurity companies from the United States to encourage further engagement and investment between the two countries.
North Korea, one of the main threats identified by intelligence agencies in cyberspace, is known for launching state sponsored cyberattacks, according to the United States. Graves said meetings like he is having in South Korea and, later in the week, in Japan help to ensure the countries have the “best of class” from companies to combat any potential cyber threat.
“Part of this is also sharing intelligence,” he told ABC News. “It’s discussing ways that we can better use the variety of tools that we have at our disposal. In fact, that was one of the things that we talked about, with our government counterparts here in in Seoul, was how we can help each other strengthen the tools that we have to deal with cyber intrusions and a range of bad actions that these these states and their aligned companies or actors may be taking against our companies and against our private citizens.”
One of the other major issues that came up in Graves’ meeting was semiconductor production.
Earlier this year, Samsung agreed to build the “worlds largest” semiconductor manufacturing plant, and the Commerce Department is responsible for handing out funds for the CHIPS and Science Act, which is aimed at getting CHIP manufacturing back on American soil.
“The Korean government and Korean companies have been strong allies and partners as it relates to semiconductors,” Graves said. “We’re enabling our private sector to be better innovation partners with our allies and partners around the world, that we actually believe that two way commerce, the trade that we’re all interested in expanding, actually grows as a result of us making these investments, and our expectation is that and we’re seeing it across the board, is that companies from Korea and our other partners and allies are making investments alongside us in the United States, as well as making investments in their own countries domestically.”
Graves said that, ultimately, the goal is to “build a more resilient supply chain that brings much of the supply chain back to the United States” and to ensure “that we’re never put in a position where our national security is at risk.”
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden on Friday will announce the establishment of the first-ever White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention to help reduce the nation’s epidemic of gun violence.
“He believes that now is the moment to accelerate our work to reduce gun violence, which is why he is establishing this office,” Stefanie Feldman, who will serve as Director of the Office of Gun Violence Prevention, told reporters.
The office that will be overseen by Vice President Kamala Harris and a senior administration official said that adding White House coordination and capacity will have a major impact.
“There’s a big difference between doing the bare minimum and doing everything you can to make sure that the executive actions the president has already announced and the bipartisan Safer Communities Act are implemented to the fullest extent possible, and the president wants to make sure that we have staff on hand to really excel,” the official said.
Biden will be make the announcement at a Rose Garden event that will include members of law enforcement, survivors of gun violence, members of Congress and mayors, as well as some individuals Biden has met with as he mourned shootings from Sandy Hook to Parkland, from Uvalde to Buffalo.
Democratic Rep. Maxwell Frost of Florida, the first Generation Z and youngest member of Congress, is expected to introduce the president.
Feldman has worked extensively on gun violence issues in the past and importantly, according to a source, has the ear of the president.
The Washington Post first reported that Greg Jackson, a gun violence survivor who heads up the Community Justice Action Fund, and Rob Wilcox of Everytownfor Gun Safety, are expected to have “key roles” in the newly formed office.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Thursday confirmed that the president will speak about gun violence on Friday but declined to give more details, adding that Biden is “going to try to do everything that he can to deal with this epidemic.”
The U.S. has seen more than 500 mass shooting so far in 2023, according to the Gun Violence Archive. A mass shooting is defined as four or more people shot at one time.
Activist groups, including March For Our Lives and Newtown Action Alliance, have advocated for years for an office for gun violence prevention, saying in an open letter to Biden in 2021 that the establishment of an office would “streamline the government’s efforts to reduce violence.”
Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut and Frost also introduced legislation last year to create this kind of White House office and liaison. Murphy said in a statement on Wednesday that the move will save thousands of lives.
“Congressman Frost and I introduced legislation earlier this year to establish this office, and though we will continue to push to codify the need for this office, the president’s decision to set it up without legislation is a great step forward,” Murphy said.
One source ABC News spoke with called establishing the office a big win for the gun violence prevention movement.
As Republicans have retaken the House, the likelihood of congressional action on gun safety issues has dwindled. Biden worked across the aisle to pass gun safety reforms in the wake of the Uvalde school shooting in 2022, but gun safety proponents have continued to advocate for additional measures, such as an assault weapon ban but also limits on magazine ammunition capacity, universal background checks and safe storage laws.
Peter Ambler, the executive director of Giffords, told ABC News in a statement, “This has been a top priority of ours for years, and it would provide an important center of gravity for leadership across the Administration as the President and Vice President implement the historic Bipartisan Safer Communities Act and continue to push Congress to pass legislation to save lives.”
(WASHINGTON) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy came to Washington on Thursday to make the case for $24 billion more in U.S. aid tied up in a showdown between House Republicans over spending.
Zelenskyy’s first stop was Capitol Hill, where he was lobbying lawmakers behind closed doors. The Ukrainian leader, wearing military green fatigues, was escorted by House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries and later flanked by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on their way to a meeting in the Old Senate chamber.
The aid he’s pushing for was requested by President Joe Biden, and he, many congressional Republicans and most Democrats call it vital to Ukraine’s efforts to repel Russia’s invasion.
Zelenskyy’s first visit to Washington last year helped him secure a $50 billion package, but since then a growing number of House Republicans have mounted resistance to Biden’s request for more. Polls, too, have shown American support for Ukraine waning as the 19-month war continues.
Exiting his meeting with senators, Zelenskyy told reporters they had a “great dialogue” and thanked the U.S. for its support.
“We talked about a lot of different missions,” Zelenskyy said. “We were happy that senators and Congress, the White House, really the United States, of course the people of America, support us, supported from the first day of full-scale war and now together with us and we spoke about everything about support about the situation on the battlefield about our plans.”
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who is trying to corral his caucus to consensus on spending before a Sept. 30 government shutdown deadline, said he had questions for the Ukrainian leader ahead of their meeting.
“What is the plan for victory? Where are we currently on the field? The accountability issues that a lot of members have,” McCarthy said as he arrived at the Capitol on Thursday.
McCarthy, after sitting down with Zelenskyy, said he answered many of his questions on “accountability” but stressed American priorities should take precedent. The speaker called the meeting “productive” and he was “more than willing” to look at Ukraine aid but didn’t commit to bringing it up on the House floor.
“What we’re asking for is to fund government for the next month so it doesn’t shut down,” McCarthy said. “And in funding the government for the next month let’s also secure our border.”
Still, Republican Rep. Mike McCaul, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, expressed confidence Ukraine would receive the funding despite Republican hard-liners being adamantly opposed. So far, McCarthy hasn’t been wiling to bring up bipartisan funding legislation that would include Ukraine aid for a vote.
“We will get it done,” McCaul vowed on the aid. “There are a lot of political machinations right now, but we are going to get it passed.”
Zelenskyy next visited the Pentagon, where he met with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley and other leaders.
Zelenskyy was greeted with an honor cordon on the Pentagon steps. He also took part in wreath-laying ceremony at the Pentagon’s 9/11 memorial.
To cap off the visit, Zelenskyy met with Biden at the White House on Thursday afternoon. The red carpet was rolled out for the Ukrainian president and his wife, Olena Zelenska, as they were greeted by President Biden and first lady Jill Biden at the South Portico.
Sitting in the Oval Office with Zelenskyy, President Biden reiterated his administration’s commitment to helping Ukraine defend itself.
“Together with our partners and allies, the American people are determined to see to it that we do all we can to ensure the world stands with you, and that is our overwhelming objective,” Biden said.
Zelenskyy said he was in Washington “to strengthen our coalition to defend Ukrainian children, families, our homes, freedom and democracy in the world.”
“And I started my day in the US Congress to thank its members and the people in America for their big, huge support,” Zelenskyy continued. “I felt trust between us and it allowed us to have frank and constructive dialogue, Mr. President. And this trust and support I’ve found from both chambers and both parties.”
In the White House meeting, Biden announced a new military aid package for Ukraine worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
According to a U.S. official, the package will include capabilities to bolster Ukraine’s air defenses as well as artillery ammunition and anti-armor capabilities. But the package will not include ATACMS long-range missiles — a weapon that would allow Ukraine to reach targets up to 190 miles away — the White House confirmed Thursday.
“The president is constantly speaking both to his own military and to his counterparts in Europe and to the Ukrainians themselves about what is needed on the battlefield at any given phase of the war, and then what the United States can provide, while also ensuring that we are able to provide for our own deferred — deterrence and defense needs,” Jake Sullivan, the president’s national security adviser, told reporters. “As he’s weighed all that up to date, he has determined that he would not provide ATACMS, but he has also not taken it off the table in the future.”
McCaul said Zelenskyy repeated his request for ATACMS and F-16 fighter jets during his meeting with House members, and criticized the administration for withholding key systems. He called on Congress to include language in government funding bills to direct the administration to heed those requests.
“The weapons that he asked for, that this administration won’t give, we write that into our appropriations bill, and I think the Democrats at the table … we all agree,” McCaul said.
Zelenskyy’s previous visit to Washington included a joint meeting of Congress, where he received standing ovations as he made a passionate plea for more support.
McCarthy said Zelenskyy asked for a “joint session” of Congress for this visit as well, but they didn’t have “time” to accommodate him.
“What we’re doing for for Zelenskyy is exactly the same thing we did for the prime minister of the UK, the prime minister of Italy,” he said. “We’ll put in the bipartisan group of members together to be there, no different than we do with anybody else. And this is a little busy week. We’re dealing with funding issue. I don’t know how we can slip that in in such a short time.”
(WASHINGTON) — The House is done voting for the week — a sign that Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Republican hard-liners have not come to a government funding agreement as the shutdown deadline looms.
There will not be any votes for the rest of Thursday, and if votes are scheduled for Friday or the weekend, members will be given “ample notice,” said Majority Whip Tom Emmer’s office. Members will be “on call” through the weekend, Emmer’s office said.
The House on Thursday failed for the second time this week to bring up the GOP defense spending bill for debate, in another embarrassing setback for McCarthy.
Members of a group of Republican hard-liners once again voted against GOP leadership and the majority of their party in a 212-216 vote.
Those five Republicans cited a variety of reasons, all broadly linked to frustration with how McCarthy, R-Calif., has handled the government funding fight.
With this development, McCarthy looks increasingly unable to control the floor, and Congress and the government remain on a path toward a government shutdown at the end of the month.
“It’s frustrating in a sense that I don’t understand why anybody votes against bringing the idea and having the debate,” McCarthy vented.
“This is a whole new concept of individuals that just want to burn the whole place down. That doesn’t work,” he said.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries slammed House Republican for “paralyzing Congress.”
“We need the extreme, MAGA Republicans to get their act together in the Civil War that’s happening on the Republican side of the aisle that’s paralyzing Congress. Get your act together so we can handle the business of the American people and solve problems on their behalf,” Jeffries said at his weekly press conference.
So, what happens next? McCarthy and GOP leaders hoped a compromise around government funding unveiled Wednesday night would bring all Republicans behind the defense spending bill. That clearly didn’t happen.
During a more than two-hour closed door GOP conference meeting Wednesday night, McCarthy outlined a new short-term plan to fund the government that would include deeper cuts, according to several members in attendance.
“We’re very close there. I feel like I just got a little more movement to go there,” McCarthy told reporters leaving the meeting Wednesday night.
Many Republican hard-liners have said they won’t vote for a continuing resolution unless it had conservative policies attached, such as language to address “woke policies” and “weaponization of the DOJ.”
Even if it the CR had passed in the House, the Senate wouldn’t have likely accepted the new proposal.
Congress has until Sept. 30 to pass the bills needed to fund the government — or approve a short-term measure while they continue to negotiate.
Former President Donald Trump appeared to blast McCarthy’s new plan late last night in a post on his social media platform, Truth Social.
“A very important deadline is approaching at the end of the month. Republicans in Congress can and must defund all aspects of Crooked Joe Biden’s weaponized Government that refuses to close the Border, and treats half the Country as Enemies of the State,” Trump wrote. “This is also the last chance to defund these political prosecutions against me and other Patriots. They failed on the debt limit, but they must not fail now. Use the power of the purse and defend the Country!”
Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., one of McCarthy’s most vocal critics, posted to X, formerly known as Twitter, “Trump Opposes the Continuing Resolution. Hold the line.”
Speaker McCarthy responded to Trump’s comments Thursday morning.
“You know the challenge here is if the government shuts down, Jack Smith still goes forward. It doesn’t stop. That’s what – we are trying to stop the weaponization. We got to be able to fight smartly,” McCarthy argued.
McCarthy and GOP leaders will be forced to once again to negotiate with the holdouts on the Pentagon bill — historically the least controversial spending bill — and may have to modify it. But that may risk alienating moderates.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., for example, demanded Republicans strip some Pentagon funding to Ukraine from the proposal.
ABC News’ Ben Siegel and Lalee Ibssa contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy came Washington on Thursday to make the case for $24 billion more in U.S. tied up in a showdown between House Republicans over spending.
Zelenskyy’s first stop was Capitol Hill, where he was lobbying lawmakers behind closed doors. The Ukrainian leader was escorted by House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries and later flanked by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on their way to a meeting in the Old Senate chamber.
The aid he’s pushing for was requested by President Joe Biden, and he, many congressional Republicans and most Democrats call it vital to Ukraine’s efforts to repel Russia’s invasion.
Zelenskyy’s first visit to Washington last year helped him secure a $50 billion package, but since then a growing number of House Republicans have mounted resistance to Biden’s request for more. Polls, too, have shown American support for Ukraine waning as the 19-month war continues.
Exiting his meeting with senators, Zelenskyy told reporters they had a “great dialogue” and was “very thankful” to the U.S. for its support.
“So many details but it will be between us,” Zelenskyy said.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who is trying to corral his caucus to consensus on spending before a Sept. 30 government shutdown deadline, declined to commit to providing such aid ahead of Zelenskyy’s visit. Instead, he told reporters he had questions for the foreign leader.
“What is the plan for victory? Where are we currently on the field? The accountability issues that a lot of members have,” McCarthy said as he arrived at the Capitol on Thursday.
Republican Rep. Mike McCaul, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said McCarthy raised those points during Zelenskyy’s meeting with House members.
McCaul also said Zelenskyy discussed the $24 billion aid request and expressed confidence Ukraine would receive it despite Republican hard-liners being adamantly opposed.
“They did and they’re gonna get it,” McCaul said. “I said, you know, the majority of the majority support this. I know, there’s some dissension on both sides, but I said war of attrition is not going to win this. That’s what Putin wants, because he wants to break the will of the American people and the Europeans. We can’t afford a war of attrition.”
President Biden, in a speech at the United Nations General Assembly earlier this week, urged world leaders to stand by Ukraine amid Russia’s aggression.
“We have to stand up to this naked aggression today and deter other would-be aggressors tomorrow,” Biden said. “That’s why the United States, together with our allies and partners around the world, will continue to stand with the brave people of Ukraine as they defend their sovereignty and territorial integrity and their freedom.”
White House spokesman John Kirby said he believed it was important for members of Congress to hear directly from Zelenskyy about what his country is facing and what they need to combat Russian invaders.
“He is the best messenger for the people of Ukraine and his armed forces, clearly,” Kirby said.
Zelenskyy’s previous visit to Washington included a joint meeting of Congress, where he received standing ovations as he made a passionate plea for more support.
McCarthy said Zelenskyy asked for a joint session of Congress for this visit as well, but they didn’t have “time” to accommodate him.
“What we’re doing for for Zelenskyy is exactly the same thing we did for the prime minister of the UK, the prime minister of Italy,” he said. “We’ll put in the bipartisan group of members together to be there, no different than we do with anybody else. And this is a little busy week. We’re dealing with funding issue. I don’t know how we can slip that in in such a short time.”
Biden and Zelenskyy will meet in the Oval Office Thursday afternoon. There, Biden is expected to announce a new military aid package for Ukraine worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
According to a U.S. official, the package will include capabilities to bolster Ukraine’s air defenses as well as artillery ammunition and anti-armor capabilities. However, it’s unclear if the package will include ATACMS long-range missiles — a weapon that would allow Ukraine to reach targets up to 190 miles away.
Zelenskyy will also make an appearance at the Pentagon, where he will meet with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley and other leaders.
(WASHINGTON) — U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to announce on Thursday a new military aid package for Ukraine worth hundreds of millions of dollars as the Eastern European country fights to recapture territory from invading Russian forces, according to a U.S. official.
The announcement will coincide with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s one-day visit to Washington, D.C., where he will meet with Biden at the White House, speak with U.S. military leaders at the Pentagon and talk privately with both Democratic and Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill. It will be Zelenskyy’s second trip to the U.S. capital since Russia invaded neighboring Ukraine in February 2022.
The anticipated package will include additional capabilities to help Ukraine strengthen its air defenses “ahead of what’s expected to be another brutal winter of Russian airstrikes against Ukrainian critical infrastructure sites,” the official said. It will also include capabilities to help Ukraine with its ongoing counteroffensive against Russian forces, including artillery ammunition and anti-armor capabilities, according to the official.
The package is expected to include hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of equipment previously authorized by Congress, the official said.
However, one weapons system that Ukraine still wants from the United States are ATACMS long-range missiles and there are reports that those won’t be part of the new security assistance package announced on Thursday.
When asked whether those reports were true, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said he wouldn’t “get ahead of the president or anything that he might be speaking to tomorrow.”
“As the president has said, ATACMS are not off the table,” Kirby told ABC News on Wednesday. “We continue to have discussions here in the interagency about that particular weapon system, but no decision has been made. And I think I’m just gonna leave it at that.”
Kirby added that Biden “has every expectation of talking to President Zelenskyy about his needs and about how the United States will continue to meet those needs.”
Biden has called on leaders at home and around the world to stand strong with Ukraine, as a hard-right faction of Republicans question the continued flow of American dollars and military aid overseas.
(MIDLAND, Texas) — In a wide-ranging interview on Wednesday with ABC News Live Prime anchor Linsey Davis, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis sought to contrast himself with former President Donald Trump — whom DeSantis hopes to catch up to and defeat in the 2024 Republican primary race — while defending himself against outside criticism of his campaign and speaking about his plan for the southern border and other issues.
He also responded to Trump attacking him for signing a six-week abortion ban in his state.
DeSantis sat down with Davis at the site of an oil rig in Midland, Texas, before he rolled out his proposed presidential energy policy in front of reporters and oil workers.
On Trump: ‘We have a lot of differences’
Asked to differentiate himself from Trump, the leading GOP primary candidate in polls, DeSantis pointed to his upbringing compared with Trump’s.
“I’m a blue-collar kid that had to work minimum wage jobs to get where I was,” he said, before rattling off other differences.
“I could serve two terms. He would be a lame duck on day one. I ran 16 points better than him in Florida in my most recent race than he did in his most recent race. I’ve also delivered on these ‘America first’ policies more than I think anybody in the country and would have a much better chance of actually delivering all this as president,” he said.
“So I think that there are a lot of things that people can look at, but I’m going to be there,” DeSantis added.
The governor had sharp words for Trump’s expected absence at next week’s Republican primary debate, in California.
“Well, first, he owes it to people to be there. He owes it to people to make the case and defend his record. You can’t be just not showing up to these things,” DeSantis said.
Trump has indicated he sees no reason to attend, given his lead. He has often derided DeSantis, including in personal terms, and said he’s better able to carry out key Republican priorities.
DeSantis on GOP megadonor sitting out primary
DeSantis played down the role of wealthy donors in his campaign when asked by Davis about major Republican donor and Citadel CEO Ken Griffin sitting out the 2024 presidential primary, with Griffin saying he’s not impressed with any of the alternative Republican presidential candidates to Trump.
Griffin, who was one of DeSantis’ most prominent donors for his 2022 reelection campaign, cited the governor’s current feud with Disney as a point of concern.
DeSantis said that he’s not at the behest of large donors.
“I’m a leader, I’m not a follower,” he said. “So we lead and we do what we think is right and people can support us or not support us financially. But you should not be led by trying to please very wealthy donors, and I’ve never operated that way.”
Pressed by Davis about Griffin’s criticism of not understanding his campaign strategy and the voting base he’s trying to appeal to, DeSantis pushed back, arguing that his strategy is clear — he’s showing up for voters.
“These voters in these early states take their responsibility very seriously,” DeSantis said. “They want to learn about what you’ve done. They want to learn about you, what you’re going to do for the country and so we’re doing that and we’re going to continue to do that.”
“We’re delivering the message. When we do that, we have a great deal of success. We’ve got a lot more work to do because there’s a lot more people to meet, but we’re pleased with our progress,” he said.
Deadly force at the border?
DeSantis has advocated for shooting members of drug cartels who try to bring drugs across the southern border — a proposal that has drawn sharp outcry from advocates over humanitarian and legal concerns given the number of other migrants who also make the crossing.
He told Davis that U.S. forces would be able to differentiate a drug smuggler from other migrants.
“The same way you would tell for anything,” he said, when asked.
“For example, I served in Iraq back in the day. al-Qaida didn’t wear uniforms. You know, the typical Arab male would have had the man dress on. You didn’t know if they had a bomb strapped to them or not. They carry around the AK-47s, normal civilians would, so you couldn’t even say if they had,” he said.
“So you had to make a determination — can you positively identify somebody as hostile through either hostile action or hostile intent? And then you do it, same way anyone would do that even in the United States. So you will do that, we’ll be collecting intelligence,” DeSantis said.
Asked whether staging the military at the border would be a “recipe for chaos,” the governor said, “Right now is the recipe for chaos.”
“What is happening in this country is a problem,” he added.
‘We have every right to push back’ against Disney
DeSantis brushed off criticism from some Republican primary rivals about his public battle with Disney, the parent company of ABC News, stressing that he feels the fight “is about kids.”
“I’m going to fight to defend those policies,” he said of the Parental Rights in Education Act, a bill limiting the discussion of gender identity and sexuality in many K-12 classrooms.
Critics have sought to label the legislation as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, contending it is discriminatory. Supporters say it’s about barring age-inappropriate topics in school.
Disney expressed opposition to the law, drawing DeSantis’ ire.
The state Legislature, with DeSantis’ support, went on to revoke the special tax district that essentially allowed Disney to govern the area around its famed Orlando theme parks — a carve-out that, while standard for governments to do for various entities, DeSantis described as unnecessary privilege.
The conglomerate later sued DeSantis and accused state officials of a campaign against them for their political views that is “patently retaliatory, patently anti-business, and patently unconstitutional.” The suit is still pending.
DeSantis has rejected Disney’s claims and he told Davis that Republicans calling him out for the feud were picking the wrong side.
“That’s kind of the old-guard Republicans where they basically always just bend the knee to the big, powerful corporations. You’ve got to stand for what’s right. So I’m always going to stand for our kids,” he said.
“I think Disney made a mistake in doing what they’re doing. But we have every right to push back and defend our policies against those who are seeking to undermine them,” he said. “And that was the right thing to do.”
DeSantis would not allow federal funding for COVID shots
Earlier this month, DeSantis’ administration advised against the updated COVID-19 for Florida residents under the age of 65, which goes against federal guidelines that recommend updated shots for anyone 6 months or older.
Asked on ABC News Live Prime if he would push the same policy if he were elected president, DeSantis said he wouldn’t allow federal funding for COVID-19 vaccines and that people involved in the federal response to the pandemic would be held accountable for what he maintained were harmfully restrictive public health measures intended to cut widespread infections and deaths.
“We’re going to have a reckoning about all these COVID policies. We’re going to hold people accountable who got it wrong, people that clung to the lockdowns, people that clung to the school closures,” DeSantis said.
Public health officials have made it clear that the COVID-19 vaccines, like the annual flu shot, are intended and have proven to lower the risk of severe illness and death. Independent scientific advisers to the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say the benefits outweigh the risks.
The updated vaccines are based on the same vaccines that have protected hundreds of millions of people around the world and are updated to address the current circulating subvariants.
The risk of myocarditis from vaccination has been shown to be uncommon and much less likely from a COVID-19 vaccination.
DeSantis unveils energy policy
On Wednesday, DeSantis also unveiled his energy policy, where he plans to focus on building up American “dominance” and undoing the energy and climate policies of President Joe Biden’s administration, with a heavy emphasis on fossil fuels.
But early on in his time as governor, DeSantis’ administration funded programs supporting electric vehicles, which the governor said came from a settlement from Volkswagen that dictated where the money could go.
“I could either use it or lose it. So that’s why we did it. We put in the charging stations, but I would never support mandating the production of EVs,” DeSantis said.
His new energy plans include restructuring the review process for energy infrastructure projects and withdrawing the U.S. from all global commitments to cut greenhouse emissions.
During his interview with ABC News, DeSantis expanded on his goal to get the cost of gas to $2 per gallon. As of now, gas is nearly $4 per gallon, according to AAA.
“Energy dominance – using the resources we have, that is one way to reduce prices at the pump, which is hurting people,” DeSantis said.
Scholars behind controversial Black History standards ‘were professionals’
DeSantis defended the language in Florida’s Black History standards that directs middle school students should be taught enslaved people “developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.”
The language drew rebukes from, among others, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, DeSantis’ rival for the Republican nomination who is Black.
“What slavery was really about was separating families, about mutilating humans and even raping their wives. It was just devastating,” Scott said in July. “So I would hope that every person in our country — and certainly running for president — would appreciate that.”
Asked by Davis why “there’s any value to try to teach a concept to students that there was any upside to slavery,” DeSantis said, “We’re not doing that.”
“We don’t think that. And that’s not what that provision means. That’s not how it’s being taught,” he said, noting that the standards were “written by a cadre of Black history scholars, most of whom were Black.”
“It was not saying that slavery benefited. It was saying that these folks were resourceful. They did things they weren’t allowed to do, develop skills and then use. So they did it in spite of slavery, not because of it,” he said.
“These guys were professionals,” the governor said of the scholars who created the standard. “They didn’t have political involvement. They just were told to do standards and they did it right.”
Click here to read the transcript from the interview as aired on ABC News Live Prime on Wednesday.
(WASHINGTON) — With a week before the second Republican primary debate, six candidates expect to be on stage at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley, California on Sept. 27.
The campaigns of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, former Vice President Mike Pence, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, former Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie have told ABC News that they believe they’ll qualify to be at the second debate.
That’s down from the eight candidates who participated in the first debate in Milwaukee last month. Two other candidates, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, have not yet qualified for the Republican National Committee’s elevated criteria, which include an increased polling threshold of 3% from 1% and 50,000 unique donors, up from 40,000 in August.
Former President Donald Trump appears to have also cleared the polling and donor benchmarks to make the second debate, though he has not signed the required pledge to support whoever becomes the eventual GOP nominee. Trump is expected to skip the debate and will instead visit Detroit to deliver a speech in front of union workers amid the major auto strike, according to a senior adviser.
The RNC has not said whether it has approved any of the candidates’ spots on the second debate stage, though Christie has said he’s been in communication with the national party and has gotten confirmation that he has cleared the criteria.
Scott’s campaign pushed the RNC last week to change the qualifying and podium placement rules for future debates, including next week’s debate in California. His campaign called for more of an emphasis on polls in early voting states rather than national polls when considering placement of leading candidates near the center of the stage.
The campaign manager for Scott — who has performed better in polls conducted in early states like Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina than in national ones — said in a letter to the national party that “relying on national polling results for the podium placement simply would not represent where the candidates actually stand in relation to where we are in the process with the voters.”
Christie, who also has performed well in polls out of New Hampshire, offered support for Scott’s request, saying recently that the idea “makes a lot of sense.”
In response to Scott and Christie’s endorsement of shaking up podium placement consideration, RNC spokesperson Emma Vaughn told ABC News that the party “welcomed” their input.
“The debate committee has had a very thoughtful approach to the entire process, and we continue to welcome input from all candidates, partners and stakeholders,” Vaughn said in response to the candidates.
Candidates still short of the RNC criteria
Burgum has qualified for the RNC’s donor requirements but has not met the polling qualifications to get on stage. He has said he is confident he will participate, however.
The North Dakota governor said that a few weeks ago, he shifted some resources towards national advertising and name awareness in order to get his poll numbers up. Burgum does not plan to drop out of the race even if he does not reach the second debate stage.
“If we don’t then we’re going to continue straight on campaigning. We absolutely will be on the ballot here in New Hampshire and will be on the ballot in Iowa. At the end of the day, it’s the voters that get to decide how the field gets narrowed, not cable networks, not club house rules,” he said.
Hutchinson needs to make both polling and donor requirements to get on the second debate stage. On Tuesday, the former Arkansas governor said he will reevaluate his campaign if he does not clear the criteria.
Hutchinson is closer to clearing the donor thresholds than he is to making the polling qualifications– he has made one national poll and would need either one more or two separate polls from “carve out” states like Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada or South Carolina to get to California.
Asked whether he’s hit the required 50,000 donors, Hutchinson said he’s “just right at that.”
Will Hurd, Perry Johnson and Larry Elder, who did not make the debate stage in August, still need to make either polling or both donor and polling benchmarks to get on stage in September.
ABC News’ Kelsey Walsh contributed to this report.
