Politics

(WASHINGTON) — Republican Leader Mitch McConnell returned to the Senate floor on Monday, nearly six weeks after suffering a concussion and a fractured rib from a fall at a Washington hotel.

The Kentucky senator, who’s 81, has been recovering at home upon release from a rehabilitation facility March 25, following a five-day in the hospital after falling at the ​​Waldorf Astoria while attending a private dinner on March 8.

“It’s good to be back,” McConnell said, before joking, “Suffice to say, this wasn’t the first time being hard-headed has served me very well.”

“We’re truly lucky and blessed to get to serve in this remarkable institution, represent our home states and serve our country. And needless to say, I’m very happy to be back. There’s important business for Congress to tackle,” he said.

Showing no outward signs of injury as a result of the accident, McConnell pivoted back to legislative business, chastising President Joe Biden for not yet returning to the debt ceiling bargaining table with Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

The lawmaker was welcomed back to the Senate by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin on Monday.

McConnell will also likely field questions about his political future at a time when another senior senator, Dianne Feinstein of California, remains at home recovering from shingles.

Feinstein’s absence from the Senate Judiciary Committee is something Democrats are attempting to temporarily backfill in order to push forward some of President Joe Biden’s judicial nominations despite Republican opposition.

McConnell has made clear he has no intention to leave his role.

“I’m not going anywhere,” McConnell said in November, after he faced a leadership challenge from Sen. Rick Scott of Florida.

McConnell’s return will also come with another colleague’s long-awaited return following a medical pause: Freshman Sen. John Fetterman, who two months ago checked himself into Walter Reed National Military Medical Center to receive treatment for clinical depression.

The Pennsylvania senator returned to Congress on Monday, clad in gym shorts and a dark hoodie.

“It’s great to be back,” the senator told reporters before turning and walking into the Capitol.

Schumer and Durbin also welcomed Fetterman back to the Senate in their speeches on the floor, applauding their colleague for publicly seeking depression treatment, acting as an example for other Americans struggling with mental illnesses.

“I spoke to him by Zoom several weeks ago, and I was really heartened by his his message. He had the courage to step up and ask for help when he faced depression, to seek professional medical advice, and I can tell by his responses and the tone of his voice, that that decision had already made a difference in his life for the better,” Durbin said on Monday.

“I believe people will be inspired to follow his example and seek help,” he said, a sentiment that Schumer echoed:

“We’re all glad he got the support immediately sending an important message to millions of Americans that asking for and getting help works,” Schumer said.

ABC News’ Trish Turner contributed to this report.

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(WASHINGTON) — The FBI on Monday revealed what it said is evidence of expanding espionage and security activity by the Chinese government on U.S. soil.

The Justice Department announced three cases suggesting more brazen activity by China inside the U.S. in the wake of the spy balloon controversy.

One case involves Chinese security officials allegedly spying on Zoom calls and then harassing Chinese dissident participants identified as targets.

Ten Chinese officials were charged with conspiracy along with an employee of a telecommunications company.

Sources told ABC News the company was Zoom and the insider from China allegedly was able to disrupt meetings on Zoom.

Another of the cases involves Chinese security officials allegedly setting up a “police station” in New York City and using it as a base of operations to spy on, co-opt or intimidate Chinese dissidents living in the city and elsewhere.

The charges unsealed allege two defendants were operating an illegal overseas “police station” — the first ever in the U.S. — located in lower Manhattan, for a provincial branch of the Ministry of Public Security of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

The two suspects operated out a Manhattan office building in Chinatown at the direction of a Chinese police official, prosecutors alleged.

The men engaged in a number of activities on U.S. soil, prosecutors said, including participating in counter protests and targeting specific Chinese dissidents for harassment. The men arrested were expected in a Brooklyn federal court later Monday.

If convicted of conspiring to act as agents of the PRC, the defendants face a maximum sentence of five years in prison. The obstruction of justice charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

The Justice Department also announced charges against 34 members of a specialized unit in China. The unit, run by the Chinese national police or Public Security Ministry, the U.S. said, allegedly created fake social media accounts, including on Twitter, to harass Chinese dissidents in the U.S. and to promote propaganda from China.

FBI Director Christopher Wray expressed concern about the Chinese “police stations” during a congressional hearing in November 2022.

“I’m very concerned about this. We are aware of the existence of these stations,” Wray told a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing in November.

“But to me, it is outrageous to think that the Chinese police would attempt to set up shop, you know, in New York, let’s say, without proper coordination. It violates sovereignty and circumvents standard judicial and law enforcement cooperation processes,” he added.

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(WASHINGTON) — A group of Republican lawmakers on Monday called for a ban on the use of TikTok by their colleagues in Congress, escalating an attack on the China-based social media app over data security fears that has rapidly gained momentum on Capitol Hill.

Sen. Rick Scott and Sen. Thom Tillis are among 17 Republican lawmakers issuing the request to leaders of the Senate Rules Committee and the Committee on House Administration.

“We urge you to amend the House and Senate rules to bar members of Congress from continued use of TikTok and take any other appropriate measures to mitigate the risks of this de-facto, spyware app,” the elected officials said in a letter to committee leaders.

“Some members of Congress who regularly use the app have minimized the security threat to our nation, and their defense is not compelling, considering there are several popular social media apps that are not at the same risk for the potential transfer of sensitive, private information to an adversarial foreign government,” they added.

There is no evidence that TikTok has shared U.S. user data with the Chinese government or that the Chinese government has asked the app to do so, cybersecurity experts previously told ABC News.

Still, there’s reason to believe the Chinese government could compel the company to share data on U.S. users or manipulate content on the app to forward a pro-China agenda, the experts cautioned.

The letter from some conservative lawmakers arrives less than a month after TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew faced roughly five hours of bipartisan hostility during high-profile testimony before a House committee.

“It is clear from the testimony and comments from TikTok CEO, Shou Zi Chew, that all members of Congress must lead by example and immediately stop using the platform for official communications,” the lawmakers wrote in the letter.

In December, the U.S. enacted a law banning the use of TikTok on government devices by almost four million federal employees.

More than half of U.S. states have taken steps toward a partial or full ban of TikTok on government devices.

Some lawmakers and advocates, however, have sought to extend the ban to all U.S. users.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee voted last month to approve a bill that would give Biden the authority to ban TikTok.

The Biden administration last month endorsed a different bipartisan bill, which does not specifically target TikTok but empowers the federal government to ban electronics or software with foreign ties, such as TikTok.

A potential ban of TikTok, which counts more than 150 million U.S. users, raises concerns about limits placed on free speech and would likely face a legal challenge, some experts and civil liberties advocates told ABC News.

A group of federal lawmakers from across the political spectrum has taken up opposition to a TikTok ban, including conservative Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.

The critics of a ban say such a move would be tantamount to censorship.

In the letter on Monday, proponents criticized some of their colleagues for continuing to use TikTok, though the letter did not identify any such members of Congress by name.

“It is troublesome that some members continue to disregard these clear warnings and are even encouraging their constituents to use TikTok to interface with their elected representatives,” the lawmakers said.

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(NEW YORK) — House Republicans have taken their attack on Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg to New York City, holding a hearing on what they say is a local crime crisis, a move Democrats have lambasted as a “political stunt.”

GOP Rep. Jim Jordan convened the House Judiciary Committee Monday morning at the Jacob Javits Federal Building — just around the block from the Bragg’s office.

Earlier this month, he brought up former President Donald Trump on a 34-count indictment, drawing fire from Republicans who claimed he should be focused on city crime instead.

The committee said witnesses would tell lawmakers how “Bragg’s pro-crime, anti-victim policies have led to an increase in violent crime and a dangerous community for New York City residents.”

Among the announced witnesses are Jose Alba, a former bodega clerk who faced a murder charge after fatally stabbing an attacker in 2022; Joseph Borgen, the victim of an antisemitic attack in Times Square; as well as Madeline Brame and Jennifer Harrison, two women impacted by violent crime who’ve become advocates for victims rights in New York. Harrison recently told Fox News that crime victims are “distraught” over Bragg’s leadership.

Robert Holden, a Democratic New York City councilman, and Paul DiGiacomo, the president of the New York City’s Detectives’ Endowment Association, are also set to appear before the committee.

Bragg’s record as district attorney is a frequent target of Republicans, but the issue intensified in recent weeks over his prosecution of Trump. Jordan in particular has emerged as one of Bragg’s biggest foes on Capitol Hill as he leads a congressional probe into Bragg’s investigation of Trump.

Tensions boiled over last week when Bragg suedJordan for what he called an “unprecedentedly brazen and unconstitutional attack by members of Congress.”

The House Judiciary Committee’s hearing has prompted fierce debate over crime in Democratic and Republican areas, with each side pointing to various statistics to make its case.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams, during a recent press conference, said the House GOP’s field hearing made “no sense.”

“I’m a little disappointed that they’re coming here complaining about crime here when per capita, their crime is through the roof,” Adams said.

“Don’t be fooled, the House GOP is coming to the safest big city in America for a political stunt,” a spokesperson for Bragg’s office quickly fired back after the hearing was announced.

Bragg’s office also took aim at Jordan specifically, pointing to one analysis which found the murder rate in New York City is lower than that of Columbus, Ohio.

Jordan responded on Twitter, “If New York City is the ‘safest big city in America,’ then why are so many people leaving?”

While New York County had a population decline of 98,505 in 2021 mostly attributable to net domestic outmigration, the county — home to Manhattan — had population growth of 17,472 in 2022, according to data released last month by the United States Census Bureau.

The GOP caucus of the House Judiciary Committee pointed to a website that provides neighborhood statistics called NeighborhoodScout.com, which showed that the violent crime rate for Manhattan was 5.21 per 1,000 residents, compared to 4.26 for Mansfield — though both cities had higher rates than most U.S. cities.

The New York Police Department recently announced violent crime decreased during the first three months of this year, with shootings falling by 23% and homicides falling by 12.7% in the first quarter compared to the same period last year.

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(WASHINGTON) — A convicted stalker from Colorado is asking the Supreme Court this week to toss out the law that put him in prison for sending hundreds of messages on social media to a singer-songwriter who felt threatened by the contact.

Billy Raymond Counterman, who spent four-and-a-half years behind bars, says he never intended to harm rising-star performer Coles Whalen, whom he’d never met, and that the First Amendment protects his ability to communicate with a public figure.

Whalen said she feared for her life and that the years of incessant messages from Counterman on Facebook inflicted significant emotional distress and sent her into hiding. She no longer performs openly in public.

“It’s very unfortunate that another individual, completely unprovoked, would be able to take that opportunity from her, to live the life that she wanted to live,” Marita Whalen, Coles’ younger sister and former roommate, said in an interview with ABC News.

The First Amendment protects most speech but not libel, obscenity or what the Supreme Court has called “true threats.” Those can result in prosecution.

In taking up Counterman’s appeal, the justices are set to clarify when a threat becomes a crime.

“The question here is whether you have to prove intent before you can put someone in prison for making a ‘true threat,'” said Jay Schweikert, a research fellow at the Cato Institute, one of several groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, that say punishing Counterman was wrong.

“No one’s here defending the messages that he was sending as model behavior for how to communicate with a public figure,” Schweikert told ABC News. “It’s whether it constituted a threat for which he could be put in prison for four and a half years.”

“We have a lot of heated speech online,” he added, “and the First Amendment does not allow the government to make that a crime.”

Counterman first made contact with Whalen in 2010, but the tone and frequency of his messages evolved over the six years that followed.

Though Whalen never responded, Counterman’s communications ranged from the familiar — “I’m going to the store would you like anything?” — to the unsettling: “I’m currently unsupervised. I know, it freaks me out too, but the possibilities are endless.”

Some messages, Marita Whalen said, were downright alarming.

“You’re not being good for human relations. Die. Don’t need you,” Counterman wrote Coles Whalen in one missive.

“There were messages where Mr. Counterman would reference details about where [Coles] had been or the vehicle she was driving, who she was hanging out with,” Marita Whalen said. “It had a significant impact on her — that lightheartedness that she used to always carry, sharing that joy with other people, it really got dampened. She became much more protective and afraid.”

Coles Whalen was so afraid, her sister said, that she got a permit to carry a gun, hired a bodyguard for some concerts and went to court to obtain a restraining order against Counterman even though she had never seen him in person.

Coles Whalen declined ABC News’ request for an interview to protect her privacy and security.

“We were convinced that he was an unstable individual and his actions would be unpredictable. We felt that he was very dangerous, and law enforcement agreed,” Marita Whalen said.

Colorado law says threats become illegal when a “reasonable person” would suffer “serious emotional distress” from the communications.

In 2016, authorities arrested and charged Counterman with “stalking — serious emotional distress.” A jury later convicted him, and a judge imposed a sentence of four-and-a-half years behind bars.

“Under Colorado law, the specific intent of the stalker, in this case, is not the relevant factor,” Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser told ABC News. “It’s whether the victim would reasonably experience the fear of physical violence because of the nature of the threats.”

Counterman, who has already completed his sentence, argues in court documents that not having to prove intent risks “essentially criminalizing misunderstandings.”

“If the Supreme Court upholds this conviction, then a huge swath of online speech is open to potential criminal prosecution,” Schweikert said.

But experts say a balancing act is required in the digital age and that law enforcement is in a tough spot.

“In a case of stalking, stalkers are often oblivious to reality. And if you require the state to have to show that they understood that their words were threatening and creating this fear of physical violence, you could actually let a lot of stalkers go,” Weiser said.

“This case is about establishing a precedent that will govern not just the law of stalking, but cases of domestic violence, threats against schools or houses of worship and many other contexts,” the attorney general added.

As the high court now takes up the debate, the Whalen family said they hope the justices don’t reopen old wounds with a decision overturning Counterman’s conviction.

“It’s terrifying, honestly, to think that we might go back to a place where a victim might feel that they’re not going to believe me that this is truly threatening when clearly she felt that her life was at stake,” Marita Whalen said.

As for Coles Whalen: “She is incredibly resilient and a very strong person,” Marita Whalen added. “She has that inherent spark of joy within her, and really there’s no life circumstance or individual that can take that from her.”

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(NEW YORK) — House Republicans are setting up camp in New York City to hold a hearing on local crime, a move Democrats have lambasted as a “political stunt.”

The House Judiciary Committee, led by Republican Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, will gather on Monday at the Jacob Javits Federal Building — just around the block from the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who earlier this month brought up former President Donald Trump on a 34-count indictment.

There, the committee said, lawmakers will hear from witnesses on how “Bragg’s pro-crime, anti-victim policies have led to an increase in violent crime and a dangerous community for New York City residents.”

Among the announced witnesses are Jose Alba, a former bodega clerk who faced a murder charge after fatally stabbing an attacker in 2022; Joseph Borgen, the victim of an antisemitic attack in Times Square; as well as Madeline Brame and Jennifer Harrison, two women impacted by violent crime who’ve become advocates for victims rights in New York. Harrison recently told Fox News that crime victims are “distraught” over Bragg’s leadership.

Robert Holden, a Democratic New York City councilman, and Paul DiGiacomo, the president of the New York City’s Detectives’ Endowment Association, are also set to appear before the committee.

Bragg’s record as district attorney is a frequent target of Republicans, but the issue intensified in recent weeks over his prosecution of Trump. Jordan in particular has emerged as one of Bragg’s biggest foes on Capitol Hill as he leads a congressional probe into Bragg’s investigation of Trump.

Tensions boiled over last week when Bragg suedJordan for what he called an “unprecedentedly brazen and unconstitutional attack by members of Congress.”

The House Judiciary Committee’s hearing has prompted fierce debate over crime in Democratic and Republican areas, with each side pointing to various statistics to make its case.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams, during a recent press conference, said the House GOP’s field hearing made “no sense.”

“I’m a little disappointed that they’re coming here complaining about crime here when per capita, their crime is through the roof,” Adams said.

“Don’t be fooled, the House GOP is coming to the safest big city in America for a political stunt,” a spokesperson for Bragg’s office quickly fired back after the hearing was announced.

Bragg’s office also took aim at Jordan specifically, pointing to one analysis which found the murder rate in New York City is lower than that of Columbus, Ohio.

Jordan responded on Twitter, “If New York City is the ‘safest big city in America,’ then why are so many people leaving?”

While New York County had a population decline of 98,505 in 2021 mostly attributable to net domestic outmigration, the county — home to Manhattan — had population growth of 17,472 in 2022, according to data released last month by the United States Census Bureau.

The GOP caucus of the House Judiciary Committee pointed to a website that provides neighborhood statistics called NeighborhoodScout.com, which showed that the violent crime rate for Manhattan was 5.21 per 1,000 residents, compared to 4.26 for Mansfield — though both cities had higher rates than most U.S. cities.

The New York Police Department recently announced violent crime decreased during the first three months of this year, with shootings falling by 23% and homicides falling by 12.7% in the first quarter compared to the same period last year.

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(NEW YORK) — The start of the trial in Dominion Voting Systems’ $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News, which was scheduled to get underway Monday, has been delayed by one day, the judge in the case announced Sunday night.

Judge Eric Davis said the trial would get underway on Tuesday.

Jury selection in the case began on Thursday and was scheduled to continue on Monday, with opening arguments scheduled for Monday afternoon.

Under the new schedule, jury selection is now expected to resume on Tuesday morning.

Dominion has accused the conservative network of knowingly pushing false conspiracy theories that the voting machine company had somehow rigged the 2020 presidential election in Joe Biden’s favor, in what Dominion claims was an effort to combat concerns over declining ratings and viewer retention.

Fox has defended its coverage, dismissing the suit as a “political crusade in search of a financial windfall.”

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(WASHINGTON) — Maryland Gov. Wes Moore detailed his plan to protect abortion access after his announcement that his state will stockpile abortion pills in the wake of a federal court ruling.

“Maryland is going to lead on this,” Moore pledged Sunday in an exclusive interview on This Week.

On Friday, Moore, who is roughly three months into his first term as governor, announced the state would begin stockpiling mifepristone after a judge struck down FDA approval of the abortion pill. On Wednesday, a federal judge put a temporary stay on that order, leaving a split decision for that the Supreme Court could decide on.

“Maryland is going to be a state where we are going to protect reproductive health and reproductive rights,” Moore told co-anchor Jonathan Karl. “We passed three bills that was focusing on things like increasing access, increasing privacy, and also making sure that when people come to Maryland they’re not going to be criminalized.”

Next November, Maryland voters will vote on a constitutional amendment to protect the right to an abortion.

Also high on the governor’s agenda is public safety, with Moore noting the state suffered an increase in shootings and homicides over the last decade. Moore highlighted Maryland’s budget, which put $107 million towards mental health and $122 million into local law enforcement.

“This is an all of the above approach in the way that we’re looking at public safety,” Moore said.

Moore has been open in the past about his own experience being arrested when he was 11.

“I was spray painting and trying to leave my mark on the world via a spray paint can,” Moore said Sunday. “People showed me that there was another way to leave your mark on the world.”

Moore says second chances, including joining the Army, helped lead him to the path of becoming governor.

“The reason I wanted to run for governor in the first place is I said ‘we can actually build a new type of legal system and politics in our state and one that says this is not about how we’re going to exclude, but how we’re going to include.”

The Maryland Democrat specifically cited his proposal that would allow an optional year of public service for high school graduates as an opportunity for young people who might otherwise choose the wrong path.

“This is going to redefine patriotism in the state of Maryland,” Moore said. “Being a patriot means lifting your neighbors up, not tearing them down.”

The plan passed Maryland’s legislature April 10, and would be funded by the state budget, federal agencies and private sector partners.

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(WASHINGTON) — Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., called a judge’s ruling rescinding FDA approval of an abortion pill “unbelievable.”

Three Trump-appointed judges “should not be making the decision for women across the country,” Klobuchar said on This Week.

“What is going to be next? Is that judge going to not like birth control pills? Are we going to have a judge that doesn’t like [cholesterol medication] Lipitor? There’s a reason that Congress gave the FDA the power to make these decisions about safety.”

Klobuchar said if the Supreme Court upholds this decision, women will be “harmed.”

“It’s women that are going to have to take a bus across the country from Texas to Minnesota or to Illinois. That’s the problem right now,” Klobuchar said.

Klobuchar said abortion access and laws will be a central issue for voters in the 2024 election.

On Dianne Feinstein’s absence

When asked about her colleague Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee and has been absent from the Senate for months due to shingles, Klobuchar said Feinstein made the “right decision” to temporarily step off of the committee.

But Klobuchar does not support the current calls from House Democrats for Feinstein to resign due to her absence.

“As for the long term, many people have been out as you know, for periods of time when they’re sick, and they have come back. In this case, we are going to need her vote on the Senate floor eventually. We have things like the debt ceiling coming up. But I think what we need to do is take her at her word,” Klobuchar said.

After the United States reached its borrowing limit in January, the country was thrown into a political standoff, with Republicans and Democrats disagreeing about how Economists at Moody’s Analytics currently project the “X date,” defined as the day the Treasury Department will run out of money, to be Aug. 18.

Still, Klobuchar acknowledged that Feinstein’s absence “is going to become an issue as the months go by” if the senator does not return.

“​​This isn’t just about California. It’s also about the nation. And we just can’t with this one-vote margin and expect every other person to be there every single time,” Klobuchar said.

The Minnesota Democrat says she expects Feinstein to return to the Senate, saying “it sure better happen before the debt ceiling vote.”

“I sure hope not because that is against the precedent of the Senate and how we’ve run things,” Klobuchar said when asked if Republican senators will block a vote to appoint another Democratic senator to the Judiciary Committee, which will likely happen this week.

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(WASHINGTON) — Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said people need to be held accountable following a stunning leak of classified documents that did “a lot of damage.”

“I don’t know what led to this airman’s actions, but he’s done a lot of damage in our standing. It’s very hard to get people to come forward right now to tell us about things we need to know about if they feel like they’re going to be compromised,” Graham, a former Air National guardsman, told This Week co-host Jonathan Karl.

“The question is how they did it, and why did they do it? And some people need to be fired over this.”

Last week, Jack Teixeira, a 21-year-old member of the Massachusetts Air Force National Guard, was charged with unauthorized retention and transmission of national defense information and willful retention of classified documents, which collectively carry a maximum of 15 years in prison.

The documents Teixeira allegedly leaked first appeared on the platform Discord, a site often used by gaming enthusiasts. They were first shared with a small group before being more widely noticed.

The leak set off a firestorm in the Biden administration and intelligence community over details the documents laid bare over Russia’s war in Ukraine, U.S. spying efforts on allies and more.

Graham said he would have been shocked if he had the kind of intelligence access Teixeira had while he was in the military. He said the leak indicated broader systemic issues, while also swiping at members of the GOP’s right flank who have come to Teixeira’s defense.

“The system failed. This is a major failure,” he said. “And those who are trying to sugarcoat this on the right, you cannot allow a single individual of the military intelligence community to leak classified information because they disagree with policy.”

“There is no justification for this, and for any member of Congress to suggest it’s okay to leak classified information, because you agree with a cause is terribly irresponsible and puts America in serious danger,” he later added.

Graham also defended his previous legislative efforts to impose a federal 15-week abortion ban while saying he would wait for a likely upcoming Supreme Court decision on the accessibility of mifepristone, a pill commonly used in abortions. The high court issued a temporary stay of a ruling by a district judge in Texas that would have suspended the pill’s Food and Drug Administration’s approval.

“I don’t like a district court judge issuing an actual decree, even if I agree with the judge,” Graham told Karl. “I think the radical abortion policies of the Biden administration are wrong. But at the end of the day, we’re a rule of law nation, and let’s see what the Supreme Court does with this.”

When Karl pressed Graham on his recent meetings with Saudi Arabian officials after he pledged not do so following the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the senator defended the meetings, saying, “Saudi Arabia [is] changing very quickly for the better.”

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