Politics – Page 601

AG Garland names Robert Hur as special counsel in Biden classified documents matter

January 12, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday announced he has named former U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland Robert Hur as a special counsel in the Biden classified documents matter.

Hur, who has been appointed by former President Donald Trump as U.S. Attorney, is currently a litigation partner at a Washington, D.C. law firm.

Garland had tasked U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois John Lausch with conducting a preliminary review of incident and Thursday he said Lausch had recommended a special counsel be named.

“On January 5th, 2023, Mr. Lausch briefed me on the results of his initial investigation and advised me that further investigation by a special counsel was warranted. Based on Mr. Lausch’s initial investigation, I concluded that, under the special counsel regulations, it was in the public interest to appoint a special counsel,” Garland said. “In the days since, while Mr. Lausch continued the investigation, the department identified Mr. Hur for appointment as special counsel.”

A senior Justice Department official said, “This is not a decision [Garland] made lightly but the regulations could not be more clear that based on the facts that resulted from U.S.Attorney Lausch’s initial investigation an appointment of a special counsel in this manner is required.”

“This is a textbook case of what is required under the regulations,” the official said.

Congressional Republicans have called on Garland to name a special counsel in the Biden case, just as he did with regard to the classified documents found at former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence.

Garland laid out more than previously known about of the timeline of how the documents came to be at the center of the investigation.

On the evening of Nov. 4, the National Archives inspector general contacted the Justice Department to say the White House had notified the Archives that documents bearing classification markings had been identified at the Penn Biden Center, Biden’s private office after he left as vice president, he aid.

On Nov. 9, FBI agents commenced an assessment to understand whether classified information had been mishandled, according to Garland.

Garland said he then asked Lausch, a Trump appointee, to conduct an initial investigation on whether to appoint a special counsel, which Garland did on Thursday.

On Dec. 20, President Biden’s personal counsel informed Lausch that additional documents bearing classification markings were identified in the garage of Wilmington, Delaware, home.

ABC News has also learned that the FBI has interviewed multiple Biden aides.

On Jan. 5, Lausch advised Garland further investigation by a special counsel was warranted.

In the days since, Garland said, Lausch continued the investigation, and the Justice Department identified Hur for appointment as special counsel.

On Thursday morning, President Biden’s personal counsel called Lausch and stated that an additional document bearing classification markings was identified at the president’s personal residence in Wilmington.

Earlier this week, the White House said lawyers for President Biden had also found classified documents from 2013 to 2016 in his office at the Penn Biden Center – a think tank in Washington, in November.

Asked about the latest documents revelation Thursday morning, Biden said, “The Department of Justice was immediately — as was done, the Department of Justice was immediately notified and the lawyers arranged for the Department of Justice to take possession of the documents.

“So you’re going to see, we’re going to see all this unfold,” he said.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

‘Congress has to investigate’ Biden documents matter, McCarthy says

January 12, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Thursday continued to say that Congress has an obligation to investigate President Joe Biden’s handling of classified documents and attempted to compare Biden’s handling of classified documents to former President Donald Trump’s.

Referring to the new “weaponization of the federal government” subcommittee, McCarthy said, “I see it could go from that committee or others, but I think Congress has to investigate this.”

McCarthy said he didn’t see the difference between the two situations, despite Trump’s months of stonewalling investigators efforts to retrieve them.

“From one standpoint they knew the documents were there — they actually asked President Trump to put another lock on it, so they were locked,” McCarthy said, adding that Biden “utilized the Justice Department to raid President Trump.”

Asked why it isn’t a priority to investigate Trump’s handling of classified documents — given he says it’s a priority to investigate Biden’s handling of classified documents — McCarthy dodged and continued to focus on the “raid” of Mar-a-Lago and the manner in which Trump’s home was searched.

“We don’t think there needs to be a special prosecutor, but I think Congress has a role,” McCarthy said.

On embattled Republican Rep. George Santos, McCarthy continued to downplay his lies, telling reporters that “the voters of his district elected him to serve.”

McCarthy mentioned how the matter has gone to the Ethics Committee and said he would be “held accountable” if anything is found. Because the Ethics Committee is evenly split, it’s not likely it will go anywhere anytime soon.

McCarthy emphasized that Santos won’t have access to classified information.

“He’s got a long way to go to earn trust,” McCarthy said. “He will be held accountable, exactly as anyone else in this body would.”

Santos again rejects calls to resign, says all ‘142,000 voters’ would need to ask him to

January 12, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — After flatly rejecting calls to step down, embattled Republican Rep. George Santos told reporters on Thursday, “If 142 people ask for me to resign, I’ll resign.”

He later told ABC News that he meant “142,000 voters who voted for me” would have to ask for him to resign, although according to the New York Board of Elections he received a total of 145,824 votes.

Santos claimed “the elevator cut” him off causing the misstatement, but video shows he was able to finish his sentence before the elevator doors closed.

Santos followed up by saying he basically meant he would not resign.

The freshman congressman addressed the matter further during an appearance on Steve Bannon’s “War Room” podcast hosted by fellow GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz. It was the first time Santos, who has avoided questions from reporters all week, sat down for a media interview as calls for him to resign intensify.

“It’s their prerogative,” Santos told Gaetz. “I came here to serve the people not politicians and party leaders, and I’m going to do just that.”

“I wish well all of their opinions, but I was elected by 142,000 people. Until those same 142,000 people tell me they don’t want me — we’ll find out in two years,” he added.

A coalition of New York Republicans held a press conference on Wednesday criticizing his campaign as deceitful and calling him a “disgrace” to the House of Representatives. But on Capitol Hill, Santos told ABC News Congressional Correspondent Rachel Scott he had no plans to leave his role.

House Democratic Caucus leader Hakeem Jeffries, in his first weekly press conference Thursday, said Santos is “unfit to serve” and the responsibility falls on House Republicans to take action against Santos.

“Clean up your House and you can start with George Santos,” Jeffries said.

But McCarthy on Wednesday declined to join calls for Santos to resign, and said he’ll be placed on some committees — though he won’t be given any top assignments.

“Is there a charge against him? You know, in America today, you’re innocent until proven guilty,” McCarthy said when asked if he would take any action against Santos.

McCarthy on Thursday reiterated that Santos is now part of the Republican conference and if it’s determined he’s done anything wrong, he will be “held accountable.”

“Well, what I find is the voters have elected George Santos,” McCarthy said. “If there is a concern, it will go through ethics. If there is something that is found, he will be dealt with in that manner, but they have a voice in this process.”

Several investigations have been launched into his conduct and an official complaint from two New York Democrats to the House Ethics Committee. Santos has maintained he’s done nothing unethical.

Santos was elected in November to serve New York’s 3rd Congressional District, defeating Democrat Robert Zimmermann by roughly 20,000 votes.

But in the weeks before he was due to be sworn in, it was discovered that parts of his background were fabricated during the campaign.

ABC News found he lied about attending the prestigious Horace Mann school in New York City and Baruch College. He also claimed he worked at Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, but the two companies said they have no record he was ever an employee. Santos has admitted to falsifying parts of his resume.

Speaking on “War Room” on Thursday, Gaetz suggested on multiple times that other lawmakers elected to Congress have embellished their resumes.

Gaetz also pressed Santos on the origin of the $700,000 that Santos gave his campaign, who declined to say exactly where it came from.

“I’ll tell you where it didn’t come from — it didn’t come from China, Ukraine or Burisma,” Santos said.

When asked about the work he did that was the origin of the resources he spent on his campaign, Santos responded: “It’s the equity of my hardworking self.”

“I’ve worked my entire life. I’ve lived an honest life,” he said.

Special counsel subpoenas, grand jury appearances mount for Trump allies

January 12, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Within the last month, multiple associates of former President Donald Trump received new wide-ranging subpoenas from Special Counsel Jack Smith requesting documents and records far more expansive than the previous outreaches these individuals received from the Department of Justice before Smith’s appointment, ABC News has learned.

The subpoenas, which were described to ABC News by sources who received them, include questions about fundraising efforts and talking points leading up to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

The special counsel is also requesting information on how individuals are paying for any legal representation, either by themselves or via an outside party — something that came into question when a former aide to Mark Meadows, Cassidy Hutchinson, told the House Jan. 6 committee that she changed attorneys because her first counsel was being paid through funds linked to the former president.

As ABC News first reported last year, the special counsel is seeking information about the Trump-aligned Save America Super PAC — but the newly expanded subpoena goes even further, requesting information about multiple Trump-aligned fundraising vehicles and groups that have formed since Trump entered the political arena, including Turning Points USA, a right-wing group that targets younger GOP voters.

In addition, sources close to the former president said that within the last few weeks, more individuals have appeared before a federal grand jury — with some of them returning for a second time after having appeared before.

Sources told ABC News that the recent appearances were requested by the special counsel’s team. A source with direct knowledge of the matter described one grand jury appearance as “far more intense than round one.”

Smith, a longtime federal prosecutor and former head of the Justice Department’s public integrity section, was tapped in November by Attorney General Merrick Garland to oversee the Justice Department’s investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election and Trump’s handling of classified materials after leaving office.

The appointment of the special counsel was triggered by Trump’s announcement that he is running for president for a third time, which created a conflict of interest, according to the DOJ special counsel guidelines.

Second batch of classified Biden documents discovered during extensive search

January 11, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — After classified materials were found at an old office of President Joe Biden’s, aides discovered a second batch of classified documents at a location that Biden was known to use after leaving office as vice president, ABC News has learned.

Sources familiar with the matter said the second set of documents contained classified information. They came to light as Biden aides conducted an extensive search of locations where he worked after leaving the Obama administration.

Biden aides were responding to the November discovery of classified documents at the Washington, D.C., office of the University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Biden Center, which Biden used after his time as vice president.

The original November discovery was immediately reported to the National Archives and Records Administration, according to White House officials, sparking a Department of Justice inquiry that became public this week.

It is unclear whether the search by Biden aides to check for other potentially classified government documents has been completed yet.

The White House did not comment on the discovery of a second set of documents.

Sources also told ABC News that the original batch of about 10 documents found in November contains classified vice-presidential briefing papers about foreign countries, some of which were marked top secret.

The revelation of a second set of documents, first reported by NBC News, comes the same day that White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declined to provide additional details about why classified documents were apparently improperly stored at Biden’s old office at the Penn Biden Center.

The preliminary DOJ inquiry into the possible mishandling of classified documents is focusing on how the documents got there and whether the president played a role.

The preliminary investigation, involving the FBI and the DOJ, has been ongoing for several weeks and is nearing completion. Attorney General Merrick Garland has been briefed and a preliminary finding is expected to be in his hands in the coming weeks, according to sources familiar with the matter.

Garland will face a decision about whether to launch a full-scale criminal investigation and whether to appoint a special counsel.

Biden told reporters on Tuesday in Mexico, while meeting with North American leaders, that he didn’t know what was in the records at the Penn Biden Center office and was “surprised to learn” they were there.

What is the FAA’s NOTAM computer system that led to widespread problems?

January 11, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — A computer issue with a critical system that keeps pilots informed caused thousands of delays and a temporary grounding of the nation’s airspace Wednesday.

When the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reported the issue with its Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) system late Tuesday, an official told ABC News it led to a “cascading” series of IT failures culminating in the disruption.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told reporters a “backup system” with the FAA’s NOTAM system went into effect Tuesday night. The main NOTAM system went back online, but overnight, “it became clear that there were still issues in the accuracy of the information that was moving through the NOTAM system.”

Early Wednesday a reboot of the system took place, but when the refresh was “not sufficiently validated,” officials moved to institute a nationwide ground stop until “FAA could completely validate not only that the NOTAMS were populating correctly but also getting out to the aircraft,” the secretary said.

In a new statement Wednesday evening, the FAA said, “Our preliminary work has traced the outage to a damaged database file, adding, “The FAA is working diligently to further pinpoint the causes of this issue and take all needed steps to prevent this kind of disruption from happening again.”

What is the NOTAM system?

The NOTAM system is critical to flight operations. It tells pilots essential information needed before takeoff, such as runway conditions at destination airports, weather en route, and even real-time safety alerts during flight.

“Think of the NOTAM system as kind of an aviation neural network with the FAA in the center broadcasting to everybody who’s on it,” ABC News contributor and former commercial pilot John Nance told ABC News. “If you don’t have all that information, it almost boggles the mind as to how much trouble you could get into.”

Nance said pilots check the NOTAM system prior to departure. They typically receive the information through computers on aircraft but they can also be received in printed out versions.

“You can’t fly without that knowledge. I mean, legally, you can’t take off as a captain. So, we have to have them,” Nance said. “The reason the system is so important and that we’re not allowed to take off without having checked them is because it encompasses all the things that are not standard in your destination airport, your departure airport and your route.”

Asked whether the system is outdated and what can be done to keep the problem from happening again, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters NOTAM is “continuously being updated.” She noted the upcoming FAA reauthorization due later this year, and welcomed Congress “to ensure the FAA has what it needs to address these issues.”

“This is a top priority for the president, a top priority for the Department of Transportation and certainly FAA, and so we want to make sure that we get to the root causes so this does not happen again,” Jean-Pierre said.

ABC News’ Sam Sweeney and Josh Margolin contributed to this report.

Migrants take to social media to show the world their dangerous journeys to the US

January 11, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Migrants from Latin and South America, who have traveled through dangerous conditions to make it to the U.S., have had a powerful new tool to tell their stories to the entire world in the last couple of years.

TikTok videos, tweets, and other social media posts from these migrants, showing moments such as their struggle through mud, expressing fear about their family’s safety and the hope of a better future in America, have gone viral over the last couple of months. For many of these individuals, it was the best way to show people their struggle.

“I wanted to document what migrants like me have to go through to get to the United States. This is not only my story, but also the story of many people,” Lionel Baquero, a former professor and computer engineer major who fled Cuba last year, told ABC News. “Many people have made the same journey I did. The difference is that it was not documented.”

As uncertainty rises over the status of migrants seeking refuge in the U.S., Baquero and other migrants said they hope their videos can sway minds.

Daniel Noguera posted several videos last year when he and his daughters Nathaniel and Danielis walked eight days through the Darien gap, the dense forest between Colombia and Panama.

Noguera, a Venezuelan native who is now living in the U.S., told ABC News the experience was traumatic for the family.

“There was a time when my daughter’s life was in danger. She almost fell off a cliff. My God, I thought I was going to crumble,” he said.

Still, Noguera said he had to go on this journey because the current political and economic climate in his country made it more dangerous to stay.

“We would hear rumors that they wanted to kill us, that they wanted to harm us because we opposed the government,” he said.

Last week, President Joe Biden announced a new border strategy that would allow up to 30,000 migrants per month to seek asylum as long as they meet specific criteria.

Applicants will need sponsorship in the U.S. and are required to pass background checks. Those who cross into the U.S. illegally will be disqualified.

Noguera said that many migrants want to get a sponsor and come to the U.S. legally, but the strict criteria are major hurdles.

“If we could get our papers, trust me that no one would put their lives in danger to get here. No one,” he said.

House Republicans pass 2 anti-abortion measures

January 11, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Among their first priorities while serving in the House majority, Republicans voted Wednesday on two measures related to abortion — a key issue for the party after the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade last summer.

One of the bills, a resolution, would condemn violence against facilities, groups and churches opposed to abortions. The bill passed 222 to 209, with three Democrats voting yes: Reps. Vicente Gonzalez of Texas, Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania and Marie Perez of Washington.

The other bill would mandate health care providers give care to an infant that is born alive after a failed abortion. The measure passed 220 to 210 with one Democrat, Rep. Henry Cueller of Texas, joining Republicans in supporting the bill.

But Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Wednesday that they are “doomed in the Senate” and are “extreme.”

The Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act — which was introduced by Republican Rep. Ann Wagner of Missouri — would require health practitioners to care for a fetus carried to term after a failed abortion. The bill would also impose criminal penalties on health care providers who don’t, of five years’ imprisonment.

“It pains me that this fight has to be fought at all, but medical care for babies should not be a partisan issue,” Wagner said in a statement. “Now, with Republicans in the Majority, the House will finally take action and vote to protect the fundamental right to life.”

An incomplete abortion where the fetus is carried to term is exceedingly rare. One report from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention found that over a 12-year period, there were 143 cases where an infant was born alive after a failed abortion and then subsequently died.

Only a small percent of abortions are performed at a point in pregnancy where the fetus could theoretically survive. In 2020, 0.9% of abortions were performed after 21 weeks gestation, according to the CDC.

In his statement on Wednesday, Schumer said, “American women deserve to have their right to healthcare protected, not undermined. Just months after a historically disappointing midterm election, the MAGA Republican controlled House is putting on full display their truly extreme views on women’s health with legislation that does not have the support of the American people. Once again, Republicans are proving how dangerously out of touch they are with mainstream America.”

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said Republicans are “committed to defending life and doing everything in our power to keep babies who survive an abortion alive.”

But some in the party, including Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina, have been more critical of the push for legislation to restrict abortion access, voicing concern that it could alienate voters.

Abortion rights proved to be a key midterm issue, according to exit polling, which also showed a majority of voters saying abortion should be legal in all or most cases.

“This is probably not the way to start off the week. We should be looking at measures for example making sure every woman has access to birth control,” Mace said on MSNBC ahead of Wednesday’s votes on the legislation.

Mace is anti-abortion, she said, but “I have many exceptions.” She voted with Republicans to pass both bills.

ABC News’ Alexandra Hutzler, Allison Pecorin and Nicole Wetsman contributed to this report.

Biden leaves questions unanswered on classified documents, as GOP pounces

January 11, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden on Wednesday faced a growing political headache — and outstanding questions — after classified documents were found in his former office in Washington.

But the president and his aides have left several key questions unanswered, allowing congressional Republicans to seize on the news and speculate about its implications, even as they do not have the full story.

Biden and the White House counsel have said lawyers for the president immediately notified the White House when they discovered those documents in a locked closet as they cleared out his office at the Penn Biden Center, a University of Pennsylvania-run think tank in Washington where Biden worked after his vice presidency ended.

One key question is why the president did not inform the public about the find earlier. The White House says Biden’s lawyer found the documents on Nov. 2 – less than a week before last year’s midterm elections – but it only commented on the incident after a CBS News report made it public this week.

“Every time we find something that comes up before the election, dealing with Biden’s family, it’s pushed under the rug,” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy told reporters Wednesday.

Congressional Republicans have decried what they have called a double standard with how the administration has handled this incident compared to the FBI’s search of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence, after he brought hundreds of classified documents there.

But there are key differences between the cases. Trump is alleged to have knowingly taken those classified documents, some with top-secret markings, when he left office; refused to hand over the material for months; and after receiving a grand jury subpoena still failed to return all in his possession.

And even after the FBI searched Trump’s residence, finding more than a hundred more documents with classification markings including some in Trump’s private office, department officials have been continuing to press Trump’s lawyers in recent weeks to certify that he does not continue to have any more classified records in his possession.

The White House, meanwhile, says that it immediately heard from Biden’s lawyers after they found the documents, and that the National Archives took possession of them the next day.

People familiar with the incident told ABC News that the roughly 10 documents dated from 2013 to 2016, when Biden was vice president, and that some were marked top secret.

Another person familiar with the matter said the lawyers did not look through the documents before notifying the White House that day.

Republicans have called on the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to conduct an assessment of the damage potentially caused by this incident.

The White House, and other relevant agencies have not said what was in the documents. Biden himself said he did not know.

“I was briefed about this discovery and surprised to learn that there were any government records that were taken there to that office,” Biden told reporters in Mexico City on Tuesday. “But I don’t know what’s in the documents. I’ve–my lawyers have not suggested I ask what documents they were.”

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Wednesday repeatedly declined to provide more information when questioned by reporters Wednesday, including why the White House did not make the document discovery public until a news organization did over two months later.

“I’m not going to go beyond what the president laid out,” Jean-Pierre said. “I’m not going to go beyond what my White House counsel colleagues have stated.”

In November, Garland appointed a special counsel to oversee the Justice Department’s investigation to Trump’s handling of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago as well as a separate probe into efforts by Trump and his allies in 2020 to overturn his election loss. Republicans have called for the same standard to be applied in Biden’s case.

“They treat people differently based upon their philosophical or political party,” McCarthy said.

Republicans are not alone in seeking answers from the administration. The Democratic chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Mark Warner of Virginia, said in a statement to ABC News he expected to be briefed on what happened.

The White House has also not explained why lawyers were involved in packing up Biden’s office or why the documents were only discovered in November and not before.

People familiar with the Biden case said that after the Archives received the documents from the president’s lawyers, it reached out to the Justice Department, and Attorney General Merrick Garland tasked U.S. Attorney John Lausch – an appointee of former President Donald Trump – with leading a review into the matter.

The Justice Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation have been conducting a preliminary investigation that is “well underway”, according to the sources, who said Lausch has briefed Garland – although it’s unclear when exactly his final report will be completed.

“We’re cooperating fully — cooperating fully with the review, and — which I hope will be finished soon,” Biden said Tuesday.

ABC News’ Alex Mallin, Cecilia Vega, Katherine Faulders, Trish Turner, Lauren Peller and Gabe Ferris contributed to this report.

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