(WASHINGTON) – Nancy Pelosi was the guest speaker at the unveiling of a new statue at Statuary Hall of Amelia Earhart, the famous aviator born in Atchison, Kansas in 1897, who made history as the first female pilot to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.
The speaker of the house described Earheart as “an American who personifies the daring and determined spirit of our nation.”
Following Pelosi’s opening statements, the national anthem and a prayer from Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., Kansas’ Gov. Lauren Kelly took the stage.
“Who better than to represent our great state in Statuary Hall than Dwight D. Eisenhower and now a native daughter of Kansas, Amelia Earhart,” Kelly said. “A woman who showed all of us what it means to reach for the stars.”
The bronze statue took seven years for brothers George and Mark Lundeen to create. Because only two statues are allowed to represent each state, and only one can be placed in Statuary Hall, Earhart’s likeness replaced that of U.S. Senator John Ingalls whose statue has occupied the hall since 1907.
This is just the 11th statue of 100 that represents a woman. U.S. Representative from Kansas, Sharice Davids championed her as a pioneer of women’s rights.
“Female pilots used to be called ladybirds, sweethearts of the air, and because of Amelia Earhart back then, now, and into the future, women who fly planes are now called pilots,” said Davids.
U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., described the unveiled piece as “a statue of a determined woman with short cut hair, a curious smile, a bomber hat in hand and a sunflower on her belt buckle.”
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden tested negative for COVID-19 on Tuesday night and again Wednesday morning and will end “his strict isolation measures,” according to the physician to the president, Dr. Kevin O’Connor.
The negative test comes less than one week after the president’s first positive test on Thursday morning.
Biden finished his five-day course of Paxlovid 36 hours ago, O’Connor wrote in a memo Wednesday morning that was subsequently released by the White House.
“His symptoms have been steadily improving, and are almost completely resolved,” O’Connor wrote.
The president is set to address the public from the Rose Garden later Wednesday.
He “will give remarks after his negative test about a case that was mild thanks to the tools this administration has worked hard to make available to the American people,” an administration official told reporters. “He will discuss the progress we have made against COVID and encourage eligible Americans to get vaccinated and boosted.”
The president likely had the highly contagious BA.5 subvariant, and his symptoms had included a runny nose, cough, sore throat, a slight fever and body aches. O’Connor never reported any abnormalities in Biden’s pulse, blood pressure, respiratory rate or oxygen saturation throughout his infection.
Biden told reporters Monday that all his test results were “good” and “on the button.”
Biden will now end his strict isolation measures after being confined to the White House residence since his diagnosis. Biden continued to work in isolation, posting a photograph on Twitter Monday of him and his dog, Commander, saying he “took some calls this morning with man’s best co-worker.”
The president tweeted a picture of his negative test on Wednesday and said that he’s returning to the Oval Office.
Biden “continues to be very specifically conscientious to protect any of the Executive Residence, White House, Secret Service and other staff whose duties require any (albeit socially distanced) proximity to him,” O’Connor wrote in his memo on Wednesday. “For this reason, he will wear a well-fitting mask for 10 full days any time he is around others.”
Biden will increase his testing cadence in light of the possibility of a Paxlovid “rebound,” O’Connor wrote, referring to a seemingly rare but increasingly reported phenomenon in which COVID symptoms recur or there is the development of a new positive viral test after having tested negative.
The president is fully vaccinated and has received two booster shots, but at the age of 79 was considered to be at a higher risk for severe illness.
Dr. Ashish Jha, the White House COVID-19 response coordinator, stressed after Biden’s diagnosis that all Americans should take advantage of vaccinations and treatments courses.
“This is a president who’s double-vaccinated, double-boosted, getting treatments that are widely available to Americans and has at this moment a mild respiratory illness,” Jha told ABC’s This Week on Sunday. “This is really good news, and this is both vaccines and treatments that are available to everyone. Really important that people go out and get vaccinated and avail themselves of these treatments if they get infected.”
First lady Jill Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris both tested negative for COVID-19 after spending time with the president before his diagnosis.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
ABC News’ Tal Axelrod, Ben Gittleson, Alexandra Hutzler and Arielle Mitropoulos contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — Cassidy Hutchinson, a former top adviser to then-President Donald Trump’s chief of staff Mark Meadows, has recently cooperated with the Department of Justice investigation into the events of Jan. 6, according to sources familiar with the matter.
The Justice Department reached out to her following her testimony a month ago before the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, the sources said.
The extent of her cooperation was not immediately clear.
Hutchinson becomes the latest known figure with knowledge of the actions of top Trump administration officials on Jan. 6 to cooperate with the Justice Department’s inquiry.
A lawyer for Hutchinson did not respond to ABC News’ request for comment. Officials with the DOJ also declined to comment, as did a spokesperson for the Jan. 6 committee.
Hutchinson publicly testified before the Jan. 6 committee earlier this month, spending some two hours recounting details about what she said went on behind the scenes at the White House leading up to, during, and after the Jan. 6 attack.
Her account included descriptions of events she both witnessed directly and other events she said were described to her.
(WASHINGTON) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with the family of slain Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh on Tuesday amid renewed demands for justice.
Blinken had previously spoken to Abu Akleh’s relatives via telephone, but Tuesday was their first in-person meeting. The family traveled from their home in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem to meet with him at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C.
While the meeting was ongoing, State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters during a press briefing that Blinken would “use the opportunity to underscore for Shireen’s family our deepest condolences on her tragic death and to reiterate the priority we attach to accountability — something we continue to discuss with our Israeli and Palestinian partners as well.”
“It is a priority for us that we see appropriate accountability,” Price added.
Lina Abu Akleh, the journalist’s niece, took to Twitter after the meeting with Blinken, saying: “Although he made some commitments on Shireen’s killing, we’re still waiting to see if this administration will meaningfully answer our calls for #JusticeForShireen.”
“Accountability requires action,” she tweeted. “We look forward to a US investigation that leads to real consequences. Shireen was my aunt and the voice of Palestine and she was killed by an Israeli soldier.”
She said her family also stressed to Blinken the importance of a meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden, who tested positive for COVID-19 last week.
“A meeting with him will demonstrate to our family that Shireen’s case is a priority for this administration,” she tweeted. “Since he didn’t meet with us in Jerusalem, we came to DC. We need him to hear from us directly.”
Abu Akleh, a veteran 51-year-old journalist working for Al Jazeera, was killed on May 11 while on assignment covering an Israeli military raid in the occupied West Bank. The Israeli Defense Forces said exchanges of gunfire erupted between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian militants, and Abu Akleh, who had been wearing a protective vest identifying her as a member of the press, was shot in the head. She was rushed in critical condition to a local hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Abu Akleh’s death has sparked controversy as Palestinians claimed she was killed by Israeli gunfire, while the Israeli Defense Forces steadfastly denied that was the case.
So far, the United States has served as sort of an intermediary between separate Israeli and Palestinian investigations. The U.S. Security Coordinator’s office in Israel, which monitors Israeli and Palestinian security arrangements, recently analyzed the full investigations carried out by authorities on both sides and determined that gunfire from Israeli positions likely killed Abu Akleh but appeared to be unintentional.
Earlier this month, in an exclusive statement to Politico, Abu Akleh’s family called those findings “an affront to justice,” claiming it “enabled Israel to avoid accountability for Shireen’s murder.” They also accused the White House of failing to take their concerns seriously.
Abu Akleh’s family made clear on Tuesday that they want the Biden administration to launch its own probe into the circumstances surrounding her death. But the State Department showed no sign of reevaluating its stance.
“We have published the findings in this case. We believe that by publishing the findings it speaks to our commitment to pursuing an investigation that is credible, an investigation that is thorough, and, importantly, an investigation that culminates in accountability,” department spokesperson Ned Price said Tuesday. “And it is that question of accountability that we have continued to discuss with our Palestinian partners and, of course, with our Israeli partners as well.”
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI,JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — Joe Biden and Donald Trump have been headed for another face-off since the day Trump lost to Biden in 2020 — but voters say they are upset with the direction of the country and just as ambivalent about having either Biden or Trump lead their political parties in two years, adding an unusual level of uncertainty to what could be a historic 2024 contest.
A New York Times/Siena College poll earlier this month showed abysmal numbers for both leaders: Biden’s job approval scraped 33%, a new nadir, and 64% of Democrats surveyed said they wanted a different nominee in 2024. Meanwhile, 51% of Republicans said they wanted someone other than Trump to be their standard-bearer in the next presidential election — and despite Biden’s unsteady footing, Trump still narrowly trailed him in a hypothetical head-to-head.
Such stark numbers only supercharged speculation, among politicos, over whether either of the two will be on the ballot come 2024. How unusual would it be for them to run against one another again? If not them, then who? And what can change between now and then?
“When you have such a sour, negative political environment, voters in general are looking for change,” said GOP pollster Robert Blizzard. “They’re looking for new voices, new people.”
The underlying reasons for this can be contradictory, given voters’ political differences. There is concern about the economy and rising inflation, about the persistence of the coronavirus, about crime and gun violence — including the habitual spasms of mass shootings — and about abortions, LGBTQ rights and more.
Gallup’s polling on how “satisfied” Americans are has consistently declined since the mid-2000s — but it has shown ever-sharper dissatisfaction since 2021. The most recent survey, in June, reported 87% dissatisfaction.
As those numbers refuse to budge — and, in particular, as voters increasingly focus on historically high inflation despite other good economic news — Biden’s approval rating has crumbled.
Steve Phillips, a progressive Democratic donor, said there was another factor influencing Biden’s intraparty weakness: Democrats want him to be more forceful in advocating for the base’s priorities.
In response, Biden and his administration have touted a range of executive actions he has taken but stressed that he is limited by Democrats’ fragile majority in Congress. Often, Biden will urge voters to elect more Democrats so he can do more.
Phillips, the donor, sees it another way.
“There’s 45-47% of people in the country who are going to hate Biden regardless. And then the worst is: What about those who elected him? And that’s where the disappointment comes in. And there’s such a reluctance to tackle the fights that are coming with the same intensity that they are coming. That’s what I think is responsible for the low poll numbers,” he said.
Still, Trump hasn’t seemed to reap many benefits from the drop in Biden’s support.
The same Times/Siena poll showing Biden only winning the approval of a third of all voters also showed that 92% of Democrats would back him if he faces off against Trump in a general election, where he would be expected — in this survey — to narrowly triumph.
Biden insists he’ll run again if he’s healthy. In an impassioned exchange with ABC News earlier this month, he said, “They [Democrats] want me to run.” Pressed on this, he noted that “92% said if I did, they’d vote for me.”
Still, his anemic approval ratings and advanced age — cited by a third of Democrats in the Times/Siena poll as the reason they wanted another nominee — have fueled a rumor mill over his second-term ambitions at the same time that other politicians have jockeyed for a bigger spotlight.
Observers say the potential 2024 short-list includes past candidates like Vice President Kamala Harris, Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
Democratic Govs. Roy Cooper of North Carolina, Gavin Newsom of California, J.B. Pritzker of Illinois and Michigan’s Gretchen Whitmer were also repeatedly mentioned by over a half-dozen Democratic aides who spoke to ABC News.
“I think there is a lot of people who could very quickly step into the spotlight who are qualified, who are dynamic and who I think could capture the public’s imagination,” said strategist Jon Reinish.
Some of the would-be candidates have, according to reports, privately acknowledged the possibility of 2024.
The Washington Post reported that it obtained a memo earlier this year written by a Sanders’ campaign adviser that Sanders would consider a third White House bid if Biden didn’t run in 2024.
Others have conspicuously swatted away the idea that they’re waiting in the wings.
During an earlier interview with ABC News, Newsom insisted he had no White House ambitions — which he reiterated while in Washington this month to accept an award on education. He said then that he supported Biden being on the ticket in 2024.
But Newsom — like Govs. Pritzker and Whitmer — has also seized on certain issues. All three have seen their profiles grow as a result. Pritzker, who recently made a trip to New Hampshire, spoke bluntly about why he supported gun control in the wake of a Fourth of July parade massacre in his state.
Meanwhile Whitmer has emerged as a forceful Democratic defender of abortion access and Newsom, despite playing down the 2024 possibilities, this month ran an ad in Florida berating Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis — and casting himself as a culture warrior in the process.
Many party experts said that it was Harris who would start in a particularly strong position.
“Whereas you may hear people making waves or putting their toe in the water, there’s always the presumption and the courtesy that … we’ll wait to see what the current vice president is going to do,” said one Democrat with ties to the White House.
Some Democrats chalked that activity up to just laying the groundwork if Biden were to pass on 2024 — but observers said the candidates could be getting more emboldened as Biden’s footing worsens.
“I think that the poll numbers, the whispers, certainly I think do motivate people to float trial balloons,” said Phillips, the donor.
Across the aisle, Republican rumors over 2024 are flying just as fast.
Trump has openly teased a forthcoming comeback bid — telling New York magazine in an interview this month that “in my own mind, I’ve already made that decision” and that he was only debating the timing of his announcement.
Still, he would be running as the party’s most recent presidential loser — and one who faces not only intense scrutiny over his actions around last year’s Capitol riot but also a number of legal problems, including investigations in Georgia and New York. (He denies all wrongdoing and has cast the House Jan. 6 committee as politically motivated.)
Some critics also note that, like Biden, he has been dogged by questions about his advancing age and acuity.
On top of that, Trump seems fixated on his loss to Biden — a focus that some experts say keeps him from talking about issues like inflation that are currently motivating voters.
While Trump remains the de facto GOP leader and party kingmaker, offering or withholding a powerful endorsement in down-ballot races across the country, strategists are forecasting a crowded field for the 2024 nomination.
“By focusing on 2020 all the time and trying to litigate that election, he’s not presenting a positive vision for the future. And I think that there are some other Republican candidates out there who are making it pretty clear that they want to run in ’24 and that they have ideas as to where America should go and they’re not afraid to run, even if Trump is in the race,” said Bob Heckman, a veteran of several GOP presidential campaigns.
The list of other would-be 2024 candidates amounts to a who’s-who of Republican leaders, including Trump’s own Vice President Mike Pence, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, Florida’s Gov. DeSantis and Sens. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Ted Cruz of Texas, Josh Hawley of Missouri and Rick Scott of Florida.
Vocal Trump detractors like Maryland’s Republican Gov. Larry Hogan — who sent nearly hourly tweets about a recent trip to New Hampshire — are also being floated.
Several of those politicians are endorsing their candidates in the midterms, even when it conflicts with Trump, and traveling to critical primary states.
And while many of them may stay out of a primary should Trump run, laying the groundwork early could be critical in case he doesn’t.
“Anyone who is thinking about running for president will realize that this could be their last best shot. Because if they don’t run, and another Republican wins, they’re effectively sidelined for the next decade,” said Alex Conant, a top aide on Sen. Marco Rubio’s (R-Fla.) 2016 presidential campaign. “If a Republican wins in 2024, the next time there’ll be an open White House is 2032.”
But timing is a delicate dance in the Trump-dominated GOP. While the former president is not anticipated to clear the field if he runs, being the first opposing primary candidate out of the gate could engender brutal attacks — a repeat of Trump’s approach to his 2016 opponents.
“I think there’s a recognition and a degree of respect for Trump’s political power of waiting. They have no choice. Those who step out too early can get slapped down really easy,” said former Michigan Republican Party Chair Saul Anuzis.
Should Biden and Trump both run and win their respective nominations — as many expect — strategists of both parties are anticipating a highly unusual election.
A rematch between a current and former president, both of whom are facing popularity issues within their own party, would be virtually unheard of.
Historian Mark Updegrove said the closest comparison is President Grover Cleveland, who served from 1885 to 1889 before losing to Benjamin Harrison, only to reclaim the White House four years later.
But even that is not an apples-to-apples comparison.
“That’s the closest thing we come to this. But the circumstances here are highly unusual for so many reasons, not the least of which is you’d have to septuagenarians right now who are considering this race, and by the time the election comes around, Joe Biden will be 82 years old. So age becomes a factor in this as well as all the other unusual aspects of the matchup,” Updegrove said.
That being said, Updegrove noted that if current economic conditions continue, Trump has a wide opening to go on the offense given rampant inflation — but he may be undercutting himself by his singular focus on the 2020 election.
“Americans are going to be tired of it … And if he continues to harp on this message that something was taken from him, that election was stolen from him, I think it’s going to hurt,” Updegrove said. “I think the smart play would be to talk up what he could do to rejuvenate a foundering economy. That, to my mind, is Joe Biden’s true Achilles heel.”
Operatives, of course, warn against reading the tea leaves in the summer of 2022. The distance to the 2024 race is essentially a political lifetime. Trump himself proved that: The real estate mogul and reality TV host was on almost nobody’s radar as a sincere candidate in summer 2014.
“It’s good not to chisel your long-term plans in politics into rock,” said Jared Leopold, a former top staffer at the Democratic Governors Association. “It’s better left in pencil.”
(WASHINGTON) — In advance of an oversight committee hearing with AR-15 manufacturers on their role in the gun violence epidemic on Wednesday, committee chair Rep. Carolyn Maloney sat down with ABC News to discuss the context.
One month after President Joe Biden signed bipartisan gun reform into law, targeted red flag laws and expanded background checks, House Democrats are working on additional gun reform legislation.
Maloney spoke with ABC News about new legislation that would target the sale of semiautomatic weapons, the chances of getting additional legislation passed through the Senate and her hopes for the Wednesday hearing.
GMA3: Congresswoman, thank you for being back on the program. So tell me, is this new legislation to ban semiautomatic weapons, is this meant to do what the initial bipartisan gun legislation did not do?
REP. CAROLYN MALONEY: Well, we need to continue building on the work of passing historic gun reform legislation. And my hearing this week should be a wakeup call to action for Congress to act to hold these gun manufacturers accountable for the deadly weapons that they’re manufacturing that are killing innocent Americans.
We expect to pass a bill banning assault weapons. We did this in 1994. It sunseted after ten years. But during that period, gun deaths went down. So, this is important legislation. Believe me, T.J., if guns made us safer, we’d be the safest nation on Earth. We are far from it. We’re the most dangerous.
GMA3: As again, that statistic we always hear we have more guns in this country than we actually do people in the country. But still, what chance does this legislation have? And do you have the votes right now, even in the House? Because even if it gets past the House, I think most would agree it has no chance in the Senate.
MALONEY: Well, we will get it through the House. I believe we have the votes in the House. The Senate is a challenge, but we need to take a vote and hold people accountable with the American public that has had it with these mass shootings in schools and in our synagogues and churches, our neighborhoods. It’s got to get these dangerous guns off the street. And the weapon of choice is the AR-15 assault weapon.
We are also passing legislation that will end the immunity that gun manufacturers have for manufacturing deadly weapons that are killing so many innocent people.
GMA3: Congresswoman, what do you think? You said you’re not sure if you have the votes yet. You think you’ll have them in the House. But even talking to Sen. Chris Murphy last week and I asked him, I said, where is the next step? What negotiations are going on for the possible next piece of gun legislation? And he just said, “hey, we just got this one done. Just let us– give us a minute to implement this one” and nothing else, really. Even for him who’s been so passionate on this issue, he thought we needed to just give it a beat. So why so quickly? You think there is momentum right now that needs to be taken advantage of?
MALONEY: After Buffalo and Uvalde, the innocent murders of so many schoolchildren, they are hold – we have more mass shootings in schools than any place in the world. More people die, roughly 40,000 a year from gun violence, and we need to take steps. We need to hold people accountable. And we need to continue putting a focus on it like you are today and passing legislation that will make it safer for our citizens.
Other countries don’t have this challenge. Only America. Usually they have a mass shooting and they pass gun safety laws and that’s it. But we have mass shooting after mass shooting. And we know what to do, unlike so many challenges where we don’t have the answer. We know gun safety laws are important and what they are and that we need to pass them. So we need to keep trying.
GMA3: And, Congresswoman, I know the hearing is tomorrow. You invited these gun manufacturers, the head of these companies to come. First question, how well-attended do you think it’s going to be? How many CEOs and gun manufacturers, the executives do you expect to have there? And what does it look like to hold a gun maker accountable for a gun? Yes, they make them, but then they don’t sell them or use them. So where do you see their accountability and where do they need to be doing better?
MALONEY: Well, I would say we have invited three manufacturers, CEOs, two have accepted. One is dodging us and not responding to our requests for documents. And we intend to hold them accountable eventually in some form.
But to your question, most industries have a responsibility for their products. We have liability on our cars. Every time there’s a car wreck, we study it. We should do the same thing with guns. We should have liability on guns. They’re far more dangerous than cars.
And then the drug industry, they keep a record of how much problems result from their drugs. We should be doing the same thing with guns. There are ways to hold them accountable. Stay tuned. You’ll hear more information from our hearing this weekend. And we are working on additional legislation that will be coming forward hopefully that will make America safer for our citizens.
GMA3: And can I ask, do you find something in their marketing, in something of the type of weapon they’re making? Would you like to see them cut back on how many of these weapons they make? I guess, what would you like to see them do?
MALONEY: Well, their marketing is horrendous. They are marketing to young people. They are having raffles. They have all kinds of ads to entice people to play on their emotions and their insecurities. Their marketing is absolutely horrendous. They need to be held accountable and they have not. It is an industry that is producing deadly weapons that are killing innocent people. And we need to take steps to hold them accountable.
I’ll have more information at the hearing. It’s embargoed now, but I always love talking to you, T.J., and we’ll have more information after the hearing. We have a report that will be coming out. And the information in it is at this point embargoed until the hearing tomorrow.
(WASHINGTON) — A Senate investigation revealed evidence on Tuesday of widespread corruption and misconduct dating back years at a federal penitentiary in Atlanta.
At a hearing Tuesday morning, an investigatory panel led by Georgia Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff pressed outgoing Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) Director Michael Carvajal on agency records that show staff at the Atlanta federal penitentiary “acted with impunity and even lacked regard for human life,” Ossoff said in his opening statement.
“The evidence the [subcommittee for investigations] has secured to date reveals stunning long-term failures of federal prison administration that likely contributed to loss of life; jeopardized the health and safety of inmates and staff; and undermined public safety and civil rights in the State of Georgia and the Southeast Region of the United States,” Ossoff said.
The prison was rife with contraband, including weapons and synthetic cannabis, and large amounts of confiscated drugs were never logged after they were discovered, according to Ossoff and the subcommittee’s review of internal BOP documents in addition to interviews with whistleblowers, federal judges and former senior agency leaders.
A lack of security checks also allowed inmates to pass contraband between cells and freely use narcotics, Ossoff said.
The findings documented by the panel — an investigatory arm of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee — include allegations of poorly maintained and often dangerous conditions for inmates.
Between 2012 to 2020, a total of 12 inmates died by suicide which the committee linked to a lack of compliance by staff to prison procedures and “complacency, indifference, inattentiveness, and lack of compliance with BOP policies and procedures,” according to Ossoff.
Internal reports from 2017 and 2019, now revealed by the committee, found prison guard weapons were improperly stored and at times went missing.
Erika Ramirez, a whistleblower and former chief psychologist of the Atlanta facility, testified on Tuesday to a variety of unsafe and unsanitary conditions as well as a lack of control over contraband.
“The walls were infested with mold,” Ramirez said. “Whenever it rained, the sewer would break — would back up and overflow onto the recreation yard, sometimes leaving a foot of human waste behind. Security-wise, there was little to speak of. Given the volume and flagrancy of the contraband, it was obvious that cell searches were not being properly conducted, if at all.”
Ramirez testified that she documented her findings and reported them to upper management and, in some cases, to the BOP central office in Washington. Ramirez was subsequently, involuntarily transferred to a facility in Texas in what she described as retaliation for speaking out.
Former jail administrator Terri Whitehead also appeared at Tuesday’s hearing and said unsanitary conditions at the prison resulted in security lapses.
“For example, there was so many rats inside the facility, dining hall and food preparation areas that staff intentionally left doors open so the stray cats that hung around the prison could catch the rats,” Whitehead said. “It is never a good idea to leave prison doors open.”
After initially declining to testify, citing the end of his tenure next month, BOP Director Carvajal took questions before the panel to address the reported corruption and mismanagement at the penitentiary.
“I want to stress that what happened in Atlanta is unacceptable,” Carvajal said. “We recognize the gravity of the alleged misconduct at that facility, and in July of 2021, we determined that it was in the best interest of the institution to take significant action.”
BOP has since started replacing the entire management staff at the Atlanta prison, a process which Carvajal said was ongoing.
Asked about a federal judge’s letter detailing rats, roaches and emaciated detainees at the facility, Carvajal told the Senate panel he was not aware of the specific allegations but took responsibility for the agency overall. He repeatedly testified that the BOP is a “large, complex organization,” and he does not personally oversee day-to-day operations despite the unique nature of concerns in Atlanta.
“What does it mean to you to hear, as the director of Bureau of Prisons, a report from your own investigators that staff at this facility lack regard for human life?” Ossoff asked.
“It’s completely unacceptable, senator, that’s precisely why I took the actions that I did when I became aware of it,” Carvajal said.
But it remains unclear when and what Carvajal knew about missing prison guard weapons, life-threatening conditions and security lapses reported by internal BOP auditors. Carvajal testified that he wasn’t aware of internal reports about unqualified staff in armed positions until the middle of last year.
“We have a lot going on in a very large, complex organization,” he insisted. “I assure you that if I was aware, as with anything, I would have corrected or taken action.”
At one point Ossoff held up a copy of one of the internal reports, noting that Carvajal was personally copied on the correspondence. Citing the BOP report, Ossoff said it detailed a case in November 2018 where an inmate died by hanging. Guards did not conduct checks prior to the inmate’s death and inmates had been caught on camera passing contraband under cell doors.
“When I when I tell you I’m not aware, specifically, I can’t remember specifically what I did at that time,” said Carvajal, who was then assistant director for correctional programs. “I do know that I received those reports and we took appropriate action to address those issues.”
Carvajal said that in April he conducted a day-long visit at the Atlanta facility where he met with staff.
The U.S. Penitentiary in Atlanta has been under public scrutiny for years. An inmate and his fiancée pleaded guilty in 2017 to running what prosecutors described as an “inmate Uber.” The two admitted to transporting convicts to and from the prison, allowing them access to outside food and contraband.
Last year, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that four senior prison officers were banned from the facility amid a corruption investigation and the prison’s population was reduced from more than 1,800 to 134.
(WASHINGTON) — In another break from his one-time boss, former Vice President Mike Pence said Tuesday in Washington that while he and Donald Trump may not differ on conservative ideology they “may differ on focus” — and Pence said he wouldn’t be stuck in the past.
“I don’t know that our movement is that divided. I don’t know that the president and I differ on issues. But we may differ on focus. I truly do believe that elections are about the future,” he said at the Young America’s Foundation student conference, about a mile away from where Trump was slated to speak at another event later Tuesday.
Trump’s appearance marks his return to the nation’s capital for the first time since leaving office in the shadow of the Jan. 6 insurrection. His and Pence’s remarks offered another split-screen for the onetime GOP ticket — and possible 2024 competitors — who became estranged in the wake of the Capitol riot.
The former vice president made his comments about Trump in response to a student at the conference who asked about Trump’s upcoming speech. The student asked about the divide between the two on their outlook for the future of the conservative movement.
“[It] is absolutely essential at a time when so many Americans are hurting, so many families are struggling, that we don’t give away to the temptation to look back,” Pence said.
“But I think the time has come for us to offer a bold, positive agenda to bring America back,” he said. “And I’ll continue to carry that message all across this nation.”
Pence has been increasingly vocal about his select differences with Trump — in particular his refusal to try and overturn the 2020 election results — while also stressing their work together in the White House to advance a conservative agenda.
He had been slated to get a one-day head start on unveiling his Republican agenda ahead of Trump’s return, but a Monday night speech for the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, was canceled due to weather.
“My plane was diverted against that terrible storm you’ve all witnessed. And I just figured with [my wife] Karen by my side that God must have had different plans for today,” Pence said on Tuesday.
“In fact, he must have decided that a talk about the future … should be given to the rising generation.”
Pence, Trump’s loyal No. 2 while in office, has repeatedly split with him in making endorsements in state races this year, with both seeking to make their mark on the party leading up to the midterms.
Most recently, in the Republican gubernatorial primary in Arizona, Pence has campaigned with current Gov. Doug Ducey and GOP secretary of state candidate Beau Lane on behalf of Karrin Taylor Robson while Trump hosted a rally across the state with his chosen candidate, former TV journalist Kari Lake.
Pence’s Young America’s Foundation speech on Tuesday detailed his “Freedom Agenda,” which includes banning abortions, finishing the southern border wall, focusing on China as an economic threat and protecting the Second Amendment, among other GOP policies.
“Some people may choose to focus on the past. But elections are about the future. And I believe conservatives must focus on the future to win back America,” Pence said.
“The conservative movement has always been built on the notion that ideas have consequences,” he said. “Conservative conservatism is bigger than any one moment, any one election or any one person.”
Ahead of Pence’s later-canceled speech on Monday, the Democratic National Committee released a statement criticizing his platform.
“We don’t have to imagine what’s on the Mike Pence agenda — he’s already told us as he’s brought his extreme road show across the country,” DNC spokesman Ammar Moussa said in a statement.
Pence spent much of his hourlong speech recounting his work as vice president, including on the southern border, appointing more than 300 conservative judges to federal courts and building up the military.
Shortly after his remarks, Pence announced new details about his forthcoming memoir “So Help Me God,” scheduled for release on Nov. 15, which will chronicle “President Trump’s severing of their relationship on January 6, 2021 when Pence kept his oath to the Constitution.”
ABC News’ Brittany Shepherd contributed to this report.
(ATLANTA) — Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has provided testimony to the grand jury investigating former President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in the state, according to Atlanta ABC affiliate WSB.
Kemp’s testimony was recorded remotely and then presented to the jury Monday, WSB reported.
Evidence from his office was also due to the grand jury Monday.
A spokesperson for Kemp told ABC News, “Out of respect for the grand jury process, we will not provide any comment until the proceedings are complete.”
According to a copy of the subpoena obtained by the Atlanta Journal Constitution, the Fulton County district attorney’s office was specifically seeking “any document that explains what former President Trump was thinking or doing or those working on his behalf.”
The subpoena was also seeking “logs of the telephone calls from former President Trump or anyone representing him or his interest,” the AJC reported.
Kemp and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, both Republicans, resisted pressure from Trump to “find” enough votes to swing the election in his favor, as the then-president requested during his now-infamous January 2021 phone call.
Kemp’s testimony to the grand jury was delivered on the same day the judge overseeing the probe disqualified Fulton County DA Fani Willis from investigating one of the state’s 16 alleged “fake electors,” because the DA held a fundraiser for his political opponent. Georgia state Sen.
Burt Jones, currently the GOP candidate for lieutenant governor, was one of the 16 alleged “fake electors” identified last week as a target of the Georgia probe.
The alleged fake electors were said to be part of a Trump campaign effort that assembled “groups of individuals in key battleground states and got them to call themselves electors, created phony certificates associated with these fake electors and then transmitted these certificates to Washington, and to the Congress, to be counted during the joint session of Congress on January 6th,” according to the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
The grand jury in the Fulton County probe does not have the ability to return an indictment, and can only make recommendations concerning criminal prosecution. Another grand jury would be needed in order to bring any charges.
(WASHINGTON) — Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson, R-Pa., confirmed that he attended his gay son’s wedding on Friday — just days after voting against a bill that would codify federal protections for same-sex marriage.
“Congressman and Mrs. Thompson were thrilled to attend and celebrate their son’s marriage on Friday night as he began this new chapter in his life. The Thompsons are very happy to welcome their new son-in-law into their family,” Thompson spokeswoman Maddison Stone told ABC News in a statement late Monday.
Stone did not directly respond to further questions about Thompson’s attendance in light of his vote on the marriage legislation.
Thompson was one of 157 House Republicans to vote against the proposal last week, which Democrats had pushed following the Supreme Court’s decision to scrap constitutional protections for abortion access.
In a statement to the local newspaper Centre Daily, Stone called the bill “nothing more than an election-year messaging stunt for Democrats in Congress who have failed to address historic inflation and out of control prices at gas pumps and grocery stores.”
The legislation was sparked by Justice Clarence Thomas’s supporting opinion in the ruling overturning Roe v. Wade. Thomas wrote that the high court should revisit past decisions protecting same-sex marriage and contraception access.
Forty-seven House Republicans ultimately voted in favor of the marriage bill, and Senate Democrats are trying to cobble together the 10 Republicans they’d need to overcome a filibuster in the upper chamber and send the legislation to President Joe Biden’s desk.
Same-sex marriage has long been a contentious topic for Republicans. The most recent party platform, which was enacted in 2016 and renewed in 2020, states that marriage is between a man and a woman, though polling shows the majority of Americans – including a majority of Republicans – support same-sex marriage.
