(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden has signed an executive order Wednesday that will restrict American investments in certain high-tech sectors in China, including artificial intelligence, semiconductors, and quantum computing, citing national security concerns, according to senior Biden administration officials.
The officials said the “narrow and targeted” restrictions were necessary to protect U.S. national security, by blocking China from using sensitive technologies to strengthen its military, develop weapons, and bolster its intelligence and surveillance capabilities.
The move, which will likely garner pushback from Beijing, marks a major step by the Biden administration to restrict the flow of technology to China. The administration — as well as lawmakers on both sides of the aisle — have voiced concerns China could use American expertise to modernize its military and weaponry.
But it also comes as the White House has sought to improve relations and increase communications with China, including with recent high-profile visits by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
“This is a national security action, not an economic one,” an official told reporters Wednesday. “We recognize the important role that cross-border investment flows play in U.S. economic vitality, and this executive order is aimed at narrowly protecting our national security interests while maintaining that longstanding commitment to open investment.”
As part of Biden’s order, the Treasury Department plans to completely prohibit private equity firms, venture capital funds, and other U.S.-based entities from making certain investments, while requiring investors notify it in advance of other transactions, according to the administration officials.
The Treasury Department will soon start a rule-making process to better define the scope of the restrictions, according to the officials, who also noted the administration had engaged with over 175 stakeholders before moving forward. That process will include a period allowing the public, including lawmakers and the impacted industries, to comment.
The rule is not expected to come into force until next year, an official said.
“What we’re talking about is a narrow and thoughtful approach, as we seek to prevent the PRC from obtaining and using the most advanced technologies to promote military modernization and undermining U.S. national security,” an official said, using the acronym for China’s official name.
Michael Laughlin/South Florida Sun Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Wednesday morning that he is suspending the state attorney for Orlando, Monique Worrell, effective immediately. This marks the second time in a year that DeSantis has made the rare move to suspend a state attorney.
Worrell fired back Wednesday, calling DeSantis a “weak dictator” who was removing elected officials for political gain.
Worrell’s suspension comes after receiving criticism that her office should have done more to keep Daton Viel, the man accused of shooting two Orlando police officers on Friday, locked up when he was arrested earlier this year.
“The state of Florida is a law and order state and that means we support the men and women who wear the uniform who protect and serve,” said DeSantis, a Republican running for president. “It means we have strong policies to hold criminals accountable for their misconduct.”
DeSantis announced in his Wednesday press conference that he is appointing Judge Andrew Bain to replace Worrell as State Attorney for the Ninth Judicial Circuit, saying that Worrell neglected her duty as a prosecutor.
“Monique Worrell’s administration of criminal justice in the Ninth Circuit has been clearly and fundamentally derelict so as to constitute both neglect of duty and incompetence,” DeSantis said.
Worrell was elected the state attorney for the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court in 2020. She was the second African American elected to the position.
The governor said the grounds for Worrell’s suspension included patterns or practices to avoid seeking minimum mandatory sentences for gun crimes and drug-trafficking offenses, and for allowing juvenile offenders to avoid serious charges and incarceration.
DeSantis said that Worrell was too lenient toward some criminals and was not holding them accountable.
“But what this state attorney has done is abuse that discretion and is effectively nullified certain laws in the state of Florida that breaches her duties that she owes to the people of Florida under our state constitution, and provides the basis for the suspension and we can look to see all these different instances of people who have committed criminal offenses victimize people because they were not held accountable in accordance with the laws of Florida when they had the opportunity to hold them accountable.”
Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
Worrell said during a Wednesday morning news conference that DeSantis’ decision won’t keep her from running for reelection.
“I am your duly elected state attorney for the Ninth Judicial Circuit, and nothing done by a weak dictator can change that,” Worrell said.
Worrell said elected officials are being targeted for political agendas in Florida and that removals aren’t passing the very high threshold needed.
“Under this tyranny, elected officials can be removed simply for political purposes, and by a whim of the governor,” Worrell said.
Earlier this year, the Orlando Sentinel reported that Worrell said DeSantis was building a case to suspend her from office for political reasons.
“I am an elected Democrat who is not in alignment with the governor’s politics,” Worrell said at a news conference. “This has been an attempt to build a basis for a suspension.”
“This isn’t about whether I follow the law, this isn’t about whether or not my policies are a danger to public safety,” she said. “This is about the governor wanting to control the politics across this state. And quite frankly, it’s dangerous because this is a democracy, not a dictatorship.”
In August of 2022, DeSantis suspended State Attorney Andrew Warren, a Democrat, after Warren signed two joint statements, saying he would refuse to prosecute crimes related to abortion and gender transition treatments for children.
Warren sued DeSantis over his suspension, with the case eventually making its way to the Florida Supreme Court, where it was dismissed. A federal judge later upheld DeSantis’ suspension of Warren, but condemned the governor for violating Warren’s right to free speech.
DeSantis’ most recent announcement came one day after he reshuffled his presidential campaign staff as he works to catch up with former President Donald Trump in the polls.
Worrell took a jab at how DeSantis’ campaign is struggling, saying that the governor “needed to get back in the media in some positive way that would be red meat for his base and he would have accomplished that today.”
“He will be in the news nationally and internationally for the individual who has single-handedly destroyed democracy in the state of Florida,” Worrell said.
(WASHINGTON) — Special counsel Jack Smith obtained a search warrant for records and data from former President Donald Trump’s Twitter account earlier this year, newly revealed court documents show.
The existence of the search warrant was confirmed in a new order from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, which has upheld a $350,000 fine against Twitter imposed by a judge in D.C. District Court that found the company in contempt for initially failing to comply with the warrant.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(WASHINGTON) — Sen. Dianne Feinstein is at home after briefly going to the hospital following a fall, according to her office.
“Senator Feinstein briefly went to the hospital yesterday afternoon as a precaution after a minor fall in her home. All of her scans were clear and she returned home.”
(NEW YORK) — Ahead of the first Republican primary debate in Milwaukee, in two weeks, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is ramping up his prep and bracing for a potential onslaught of attacks from his rivals when he steps on stage, sources familiar with his strategy told ABC News.
As DeSantis gears up for the Aug. 23 debate — which will offer him the chance to make a renewed pitch to a national audience amid stagnant early poll numbers against Donald Trump — the Florida governor has enlisted the help of seasoned debate coach Brett O’Donnell and has been holding regular Q&A sessions at least once a week, the sources said.
But questions remain about whether former President Trump, who remains the GOP primary front-runner, will attend the first debate and how his decision will impact the other candidates as they attempt to erode Trump’s persistent lead in the polls.
Trump has repeatedly teased that he will skip the first debate, pointing to his commanding lead so far.
“Why would I want to debate as opposed to doing something else that night? Why would I want to debate when you have people at zero and 1% asking me hostile questions?” Trump previously said.
His potential absence from the debate would likely place an even larger target on DeSantis, who is No. 2 in many polls — a scenario the governor’s team has been strategizing for, the sources said.
DeSantis’ campaign is actively preparing him to withstand “nonstop” attacks from his fellow candidates, according to the sources.
But if Trump ultimately skips the debate, sources told ABC News that the DeSantis campaign believes the move could hurt the former president with primary voters who want to see him on the stage. DeSantis’ campaign has been conducting polling on the issue with Republican voters in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada.
Despite the uncertainty around Trump’s participation, DeSantis and his campaign are working to capitalize on either scenario, sources said. If Trump does attend, the sources said to expect DeSantis to leverage the face-to-face opportunity to highlight differences between himself and Trump.
On the trail, DeSantis has pointed to how he handled COVID-19 — and eschewing many of the related public health restrictions — compared with Trump, who in the early months of the pandemic often echoed medical experts on the value of temporary shutdowns.
“Regardless of whether or not Donald Trump is afraid to debate, Ron DeSantis is looking forward to being on stage in Milwaukee talking about his plans to beat Joe Biden, reverse the decline in our nation, and revive America’s future,” DeSantis’ campaign communications director, Andrew Romeo, said in a statement to ABC News.
In an exclusive interview with ABC News in late July, DeSantis underscored that he has been preparing for the possibility that Trump will show up at the debate.
“We prepare for both eventualities,” DeSantis said then. “He says he’s not going to go, maybe he shows up.”
“I think he should show up. I think everyone should show up. You owe it to make the case to the people about why you should be president. And at the end of the day, nobody’s entitled to a nomination,” he added.
DeSantis for months avoided directly criticizing Trump with the same intensity that Trump has attacked him, but DeSantis has recently argued on the trail that Trump’s mounting legal woes — including three indictments, each of which he denies — could weaken Republicans in the 2024 election.
“If the election becomes a referendum on trivial matters like what document was found near the toilet at [Trump’s club] Mar-a-Lago, victory is unlikely for us,” DeSantis said during an interview with ABC News Senior Congressional Correspondent Rachel Scott at one of his campaign events in Iowa.
“Our attention should be directed towards the people’s aspirations for their future,” he said then. “In 2024, we must avoid distractions to succeed.”
DeSantis’ campaign has been undergoing multiple changes this summer, ABC News previously reported: He recently swapped out his campaign manager and cut several dozen staffers as part of a pivot on spending, with his team evaluating that they had burned through cash too quickly and hired too many people.
The governor also has begun embracing a new approach to the media, including sitting for multiple interviews with non-Fox News, mainstream news outlets.
Behind closed doors, senior aides have had discussions with donors addressing concerns about his White House bid so far.
He said in July that “this is going to be a state-by-state contest.”
(NEW YORK) — Delivering a win for abortion rights advocates, Ohio’s Issue 1 will fail, according to projections. The Republican-backed ballot initiative would have increased the threshold to amend the state’s constitution, making it more difficult for a measure that would enshrine abortion rights into the state’s constitution to pass later this year.
A “yes” vote on Issue 1 meant that constitutional amendments, including the abortion amendment, would have needed 60% support, rather than the existing minimum of 50% plus one. The increased threshold would have been put into place immediately if Issue 1 had passed.
Issue 1 also would have created more strict signature requirements for citizen-led measures to appear on the ballot. Currently, organizers must collect a number of signatures equal to 5% of the votes cast in the last gubernatorial election from half of Ohio’s 88 counties. If Issue 1 had passed, organizers would have needed signatures from all 88 counties.
Additionally, Issue 1 would have eliminated the 10-day cure period, during which citizens can replace any signatures rejected by the state.
A “no” vote on Issue 1 meant maintaining the existing requirement to amend the state constitution through a ballot initiative with the support of a simple majority.
On Tuesday evening, President Joe Biden issued a statement in support of the voters’ decision.
“Today, Ohio voters rejected an effort by Republican lawmakers and special interests to change the state’s constitutional amendment process.” his statement began. “This measure was a blatant attempt to weaken voters’ voices and further erode the freedom of women to make their own health care decisions. Ohioans spoke loud and clear, and tonight democracy won.”
Early voter turnout for the special election soared, with more than 696,900 people voting by mail or in person since early voting began on June 23.
Critics denounced Tuesday’s election as a scrambled effort by Ohio’s GOP to alter election rules to undermine November’s abortion ballot measure.
“Let me tell you what this issue has always been about: abortion and reproductive freedom,” state Sen. Kent Smith said in a video urging Ohioans to vote against Issue 1. “From the very beginning, Ohio Republicans have been trying to make it harder for Ohioans to reclaim their almost 50-year legal right to be able to make their own reproductive health care decisions. … The Republicans are trying to rig the rejection of the abortion rights amendment in November, which is why a ‘no’ vote on Aug. 8 is so critical.”
Republicans defended Issue 1 by saying it is an effort to protect Ohio’s state constitution from the influence of special interest groups.
“VOTE YES ON ISSUE 1 to: Protect Ohio Values, Preserve the People’s Power [and] Defend Ohio’s Constitution,” tweeted the Ohio Republican Party.
But a high-ranking official in Ohio’s GOP reportedly conceded that the party in fact organized around Issue 1 in part to hinder the vote on abortion rights this November, among other motivations.
“This is 100% about keeping a radical pro-abortion amendment out of our constitution. The left wants to jam it in there this coming November,” Secretary of State Frank LaRose said at an event in May, according to local TV station WCMH.
LaRose later added to his comments, saying that abortion is “just one of many reasons” for his support of Issue 1. “It’s simply about protecting the Constitution from a whole lot of bad ideas,” he said.
Following Tuesday’s results, LaRose issued a statement on the X social media platform, saying the “devastating impact of this vote” will come “soon enough,” hinting at the abortion rights amendment that is set for a vote in November.
“I’m grateful that nearly 1.3 million Ohioans stood with us in this fight, but this is only one battle in a long war. Unfortunately, we were dramatically outspent by dark money billionaires from California to New York, and the giant ‘for sale’ sign still hangs on Ohio’s constitution,” LaRose began.
“Ohioans will see the devastating impact of this vote soon enough. The radical activists that opposed Issue 1 are already planning amendments to shut parents out of a child’s life-altering medical procedure, force job killing wage mandates on small businesses, prevent law abiding citizens from protecting their families and remove critical protections for our first responders. I’ve said for months now that there’s an assault coming on our constitution, and that hasn’t changed. I’m just getting started in the fight to protect Ohio’s values,” his statement concluded.
Ohio is the only state set to vote on abortion rights this year. The amendment would establish a “fundamental right to reproductive freedom” in Ohio’s constitution and provide protections across five categories: contraception, fertility treatment, continuing one’s own pregnancy, miscarriage care and abortion.
In 2022, similar measures resulted in several victories for abortion rights advocates. California, Michigan, and Vermont voters enshrined abortion rights into their state constitutions. Kansas and Kentucky struck down initiatives that would have amended their constitutions to say they do not protect the right to an abortion.
(SAN DIEGO) — Two Navy sailors who allegedly spied for China were denied bail during detention hearings in California on Tuesday.
The two men appeared in court days after being arrested and accused of surreptitiously relaying sensitive government information to foreign officials.
Jinchao “Patrick” Wei, a petty officer 2nd class, was arrested Wednesday and charged with espionage — more specifically, conspiracy to and committing the communication of defense information to aid a foreign government.
Petty Officer Wenheng Zhao, of Monterey Park, California, was also arrested Wednesday, by FBI and NCIS agents, and is charged with conspiracy and receipt of a bribe by a public official.
Zhao was denied bail during his detention hearing Tuesday morning in Los Angele. The judge said he is considered a flight risk and danger to the community while ordering him detained. His defense attorney, Richard Goldman, told the court there are indications that Zhao believed he was dealing with an investment operative, not an agent of China.
Hours later, Wei was also denied bail in court in San Diego, with the judge similarly ruling he is a flight risk and danger to the community. His defense attorney, Jason Conforti, had argued that Wei is not a danger to the community and “doesn’t have the access to information anymore.”
Both men had initial appearances on Thursday, during which they both pleaded not guilty to their charges. Wei is next due in court on Aug. 21, while Zhao’s next court date has been scheduled for Sept. 26.
The attorneys for both men did not immediately return a request for comment.
What prosecutors allege the sailors did
According to the indictment against him, 22-year-old Wei served as a machinist’s mate aboard the amphibious ship USS Essex, which has recently been receiving maintenance at Naval Base San Diego.
Zhao, 26, worked at the Naval Base Ventura County in Port Hueneme and had an active U.S. security clearance with access to classified information, officials said last week.
Both Zhao and Wei are accused of having passed along national defense information to Chinese intelligence officials in return for cash payments, though their cases are separate.
They are alleged in their indictments to have each worked with Chinese intelligence officers to whom they passed along sensitive information related to the technologies they worked with and about upcoming Navy operations, including international military exercises.
Zhao’s indictment states he had access to material classified as secret, as did Wei, who was born in China and became a U.S. citizen in 2022 as he was allegedly also sending information to his handler, according to his indictment.
“Through the alleged crimes committed by these defendants, sensitive military information ended up in the hands of the People’s Republic of China,” Matthew Olsen, the Justice Department’s assistant attorney general for national security, said at a press conference in San Diego last week.
“The charges demonstrate [China’s] determination to obtain information that is critical to our national defense by any means so it can be used to their advantage,” Olsen continued. “The alleged conduct also represents a violation of the solemn obligation of members of our military to defend our country to safeguard our secrets and to protect their fellow service members.”
China didn’t comment after Wei and Zhao’s arrests last week but generally denies being involved in espionage abroad.
U.S. officials said Wei allegedly began communicating with an intelligence officer from China’s government in February 2022 who tasked him with passing photos, videos and documents concerning U.S. Navy ships and their systems.
Wei is alleged to have passed along imagery of the USS Essex, provided the locations of various Navy ships and provided manuals for systems aboard his ship and other Navy ships.
In June 2022, Wei was paid $5,000 by the Chinese intelligence official after having passed along the initial batch of those manuals, officials alleged.
Zhao is alleged to have begun working with a Chinese intelligence official in August 2021 and continuing to do so through at least May of this year, according to his indictment. He worked as a construction electrician.
He passed along photos and videos, blueprints for a radar system in Okinawa and operational plans for a “large-scale” U.S. military exercise in the Pacific Ocean, officials claim in the indictment.
In exchange for this information, the indictment against Zhao alleges that he received around $14,866 in payments from the Chinese intelligence officer.
Martin Estrada, the U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, said Thursday that Zhao “betrayed his sacred oath to defend our country” and “sold out his colleagues at the U.S. Navy.”
“The case against Mr. Zhao is part of a larger national strategy to combat criminal efforts from nation state actors to steal our nation sensitive military information,” Estrada said.
A Navy spokesperson said in a statement last week, of Wei and Zhao, that “we take allegations of misconduct seriously, and the Navy is cooperating with the Department of Justice.” The spokesperson referred other questions to prosecutors.
ABC News’ Alexandra Hutzler, Alex Stone, Denise Poon and Maria Villalobos contributed to this report.
(ATLANTA) — Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, the Georgia prosecutor who has been leading an investigation into efforts by former President Donald Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 election results in the state, is likely to go before the grand jury next week to present her case, sources familiar with the matter tell ABC News.
Willis, who has been investigating the case for over two and a half years, launched the probe after Trump’s Jan. 2, 2021, phone call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in which Trump urged him to “find 11,780 votes” — the exact number Trump needed to win Georgia.
Last week Willis signaled that an indictment of the former president could be imminent, telling a local news outlet, “We’ve been working for two and a half years — we’re ready to go.”
After Fulton County Judge Robert McBurney last week denied Trump’s motion to have Willis removed from the probe, Trump’s attorneys filed a notice of appeal, signaling their intent to appeal the decision to the Georgia Supreme Court.
Another indictment of Trump would be the fourth for the former president, who is currently facing charges in the special counsel’s Jan. 6 investigation, the special counsel’s classified documents probe, and the Manhattan DA’s hush money case.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges and has denied all wrongdoing.
A spokesperson for the Fulton County DA’s office declined to comment when contacted by ABC News.
(PHILADELPHIA) — Vice President Kamala Harris traveled to Philadelphia Tuesday to highlight the administration’s new rule to raise wage standards for construction workers performing federally funded jobs as part of the broader “Bidenomics” push.
Speaking at the Finishing Trades Institute, a union training and education department, Harris highlighted the new rule that updates the prevailing wage regulations under the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts (DBRA), which determines the hourly wage for many union workers. This change will impact more than 1 million construction workers, most of whom do not have a college degree, senior administration officials said Monday.
“But here’s the problem. Those standards have not been updated for 40 years. And as a result, many workers are paid much less than they deserve, much less than the value of their work. And not just by little, in some cases by thousands of dollars a year. And that is wrong, obviously, and completely unacceptable in the Biden-Harris administration,” Harris said.
Harris announced the changes coming to some of the millions of union workers.
“A heavy equipment operator on federally funded construction projects, let’s say in Allegheny County, might earn $17 an hour. After today, that worker could earn up to $28 an hour. So that’s thousands of dollars more every year to help put a down payment on a home for example, or to save for retirement, or to simply take their family on vacation once a year,” she said.
Some Republicans were quick to criticize the new rule.
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., is the ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, and said in a statement that DBRA would “inflate the cost of federal construction projects to the detriment of American taxpayers” and “drastically inflate the price of construction.” Cassidy said the regulations would separate wage calculations based on urban and rural regions, which, he said, would disproportionally inflate the cost of projects in rural areas.
“This is the last thing our country needs as families continue to live with the painful effects of the Biden administration’s inflation agenda,” Cassidy said in his statement.
During Harris’ comments Tuesday, she noted the effort was part of the administration’s overall “Bidenomics” push to help working class Americans, and was critical of the trickledown economic policies of the past.
“We know that the way we’re going to build our economy is to invest in working people,” she said.
Many union workers attended the event, and the vice president praised them throughout her remarks. She particularly called out those who helped repair the I-95 bridge that collapsed a few months ago.
“In June when a truck crash collapsed a section of I-95, the workers of Philadelphia, including many from the building trades who are here today, rebuilt and reopened I-95 In less than two weeks,” she said. “I noticed the TV cameras here so I’m gonna remind folks that those folks on TV were saying ‘Oh those repairs could take months.’ These workers did it in 12 days,” she said.
This update will take effect 60 days after it’s published in the Federal Register.
ABC News’ Justin Gomez and Sarah Beth Hensley contributed to this report.
(COLUMBUS, Ohio) — Voting is underway in Ohio in a special election concerning whether to make it harder to amend the state’s constitution — a vote which could have big implications for abortion rights in the state.
If passed during Tuesday’s election with a simple majority, State Issue 1 would make it more difficult for a measure that would enshrine abortion rights into the state’s constitution to pass later this year. A “yes” vote on Issue 1 means that constitutional amendments, including the abortion amendment, would need 60% support, rather than the existing minimum of 50% plus one. The increased threshold would be put into place immediately if passed.
Issue 1 also would create more strict signature requirements for citizen-led measures to appear on the ballot. Currently, organizers must collect a number of signatures equal to 5% of the votes cast in the last gubernatorial election from half of Ohio’s 88 counties. If Issue 1 passes, organizers would need signatures from all 88 counties.
Additionally, Issue 1 would eliminate the 10-day cure period, during which citizens can replace any signatures rejected by the state.
The special election’s early vote turnout has soared, with more than 578,000 people voting by mail or in person since early voting began on June 23.
Critics have denounced Tuesday’s election as a scrambled effort by Ohio’s GOP to alter election rules to undermine November’s abortion ballot measure.
“Let me tell you what this issue has always been about: abortion and reproductive freedom,” state Sen. Kent Smith said in a video urging Ohioans to vote against Issue 1. “From the very beginning, Ohio Republicans have been trying to make it harder for Ohioans to reclaim their almost 50-year legal right to be able to make their own reproductive health care decisions. … The Republicans are trying to rig the rejection of the abortion rights amendment in November, which is why a ‘no’ vote on Aug. 8 is so critical.”
Republicans have defended Issue 1 by saying it is an effort to protect Ohio’s state constitution from the influence of special interest groups.
“VOTE YES ON ISSUE 1 to: Protect Ohio Values, Preserve the People’s Power [and] Defend Ohio’s Constitution,” tweeted the Ohio Republican Party.
But a high-ranking official in Ohio’s GOP reportedly admitted that the party is in fact organizing around Issue 1 to hinder the vote on abortion rights this November.
“This is 100% about keeping a radical pro-abortion amendment out of our constitution. The left wants to jam it in there this coming November,” Secretary of State Frank LaRose said at an event in May, according to local TV station WCMH.
Ohio is the only state set to vote on abortion rights this year. The amendment would establish a “fundamental right to reproductive freedom” in Ohio’s constitution and provide protections across five categories: contraception, fertility treatment, continuing one’s own pregnancy, miscarriage care and abortion.
In 2022, similar measures resulted in several victories for abortion rights advocates. California, Michigan, and Vermont voters enshrined abortion rights into their state constitutions. Kansas and Kentucky struck down initiatives that would have amended their constitutions to say they do not protect the right to an abortion.
