Dieth, the new band featuring ex-Megadeth bassist David Ellefson, has released a new song called “Don’t Get Mad … Get Even!”
“The best revenge is being better than you were before,” Ellefson says. “‘Don’t Get Mad … Get Even!’ is about the champion inside us that helps overcome and rise above the challenges. Don’t get bitter … get better!”
The track, which shares Ellefson’s former band’s penchant for ellipses and exclamation points, is available now via digital outlets, and is accompanied by a video streaming now on YouTube.
“Don’t Get Mad” will appear on the debut Dieth album, To Hell and Back, due out June 2. It also includes the previously released tracks “To Hell and Back” and “In the Hall of the Hanging Serpents.”
(WASHINGTON) — While there is much to learn about the alleged Pentagon leaker, reports have indicated suspect Jack Teixeira was driven by a desire to impress friends he made on the social media platform Discord.
Will that make a difference as the case moves forward?
Teixeira, a 21-year-old member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, was arrested last week and charged with unauthorized retention and transmission of national defense information and willful retention of classified documents.
The charges collectively carry a maximum of 15 years in prison. Teixeira has yet to enter a plea.
Brandon Van Grack, a former Justice Department national security prosecutor, said what struck him about the case so far is the purported motive. Unlike previous individuals associated with disclosing national security and military secrets, including Edward Snowden or Chelsea Manning, Teixeira doesn’t appear to have been motivated by ideology or a sense of duty to inform the public.
“We’re much more familiar with individuals that appear to be whistleblowers or have a motive to disclose conduct they disagree with, and that’s not the case here,” Van Grack told ABC News.
The Washington Post interviewed a friend of Teixeira who described his motives as wanting to share the information he knew to a small private chat room whose members who bonded over their love of video games.
One Discord user who claimed to be a longtime member of the server where Teixeira is accused of sharing the classified information similarly told ABC News that Teixeira was not interested in “clout” or winning arguments, and “just wanted us to be informed, ahead of the news cycle.”
Still, Van Grack said motive has no major impact in terms of the law or the case the U.S. government will bring against Teixeira.
“Even if you do not intend to have harmed national security interests, the bottom line is you’ve now disclosed this to an infinite number of individuals and so the damage is done,” he said.
Steve Stransky, an attorney who previously served as senior counsel to the Department of Homeland Security’s Intelligence Law Division, argued a person in Teixeira’s position would know leaking sensitive information could damage the U.S.
Stransky said once an individual gets to the level of security clearance Teixeira had, they would have received routine training and educational materials warning about the harm that could result from that information landing in the hands of unauthorized third parties.
“So, even if his motive was not to create a negative impact against U.S. foreign policy and national security, it was pretty clear that doing this could have those intended results,” Stransky told ABC News.
Federal prosecutors said in the 11-page criminal complaint that Teixeira possessed a high-level, top secret clearance known as Top Secret — Sensitive Compartmented Information.
Teixeira would’ve had to sign “lifetime binding non-disclosure agreement in which he would have had to acknowledge that the unauthorized disclosure of protected information could result in criminal charges,” according to FBI Special Agent Patrick Lueckenhoff.
Questions have been raised about how the junior airman who provided IT support for the 102nd Intelligence Wing had such a high-level security clearance. The Air Force has opened its own investigation into how Teixeira could have had access to the classified documents that he allegedly posted online.
The criminal complaint, while not mentioning any claims about motive, alleged that Teixeira even used his top secret clearance to try to search for the word “leak” on April 6, around the time when media outlets began reporting on the unauthorized disclosure of documents.
Attorney General Merrick Garland on Friday declined to divulge more details of the case but stressed the importance of national security, telling reporters, “We intend to send that message.”
Teixeira was due back in court Wednesday for a detention hearing, but a federal judge granted his team’s request for a delay for more time to address arguments for keeping him in federal custody.
(ST. LOUIS) — Tornadoes are possible in parts of the Heartland Wednesday, as severe weather is expected to move through the region.
A tornado watch has been issued for portions of six states — Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas — through 11 p.m. CDT Wednesday, the National Weather Service said.
Isolated tornadoes could be possible, especially in an enhanced risk area from Oklahoma City to Wichita Falls.
Huge hail and damaging wind gusts up to 75 mph are also possible as the storm system moves out of the West and into the Plains Wednesday night. An enhanced risk has been issued for areas including Omaha and Lincoln, Nebraska, for very large hail and significant, damaging winds.
By Thursday, the severe weather threat stretches from Austin, Texas, to St. Louis, Missouri. A line of severe storms is forecast to stretch across the region, packing damaging winds and large hail, from mid-afternoon into the overnight hours.
The storms may weaken a bit overnight Thursday as they move toward the Mississippi River and Gulf Coast, but severe activity could extend into Friday morning.
(DADEVILLE, Ala.) — Three people, including two teenagers, have been arrested in connection with a deadly shooting at a birthday party in Alabama over the weekend where four victims were killed and 32 others were injured.
Ty Reik McCullough, 17, and Travis McCullough, 16, both of Tuskegee, have each been charged with four counts of reckless murder. They have both been charged as adults. The suspects were arrested and officially charged on Tuesday.
Wilson LaMar Hill Jr., 20, of Auburn, was arrested on Wednesday and also formally charged with four counts of reckless murder, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency announced.
Four victims are still in the hospital in critical condition.
The shooting took place at a crowded birthday party in the small town of Dadeville, located approximately 60 miles northeast of Montgomery, according to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency.
“Make no mistake, this is Alabama and when you pull out a gun, and you start shooting people, we’re gonna put you in jail,” Alabama Law Enforcement Agency Sgt. Jeremy Burkett said at a press conference Wednesday.
Ty Reik McCullough and Travis McCullough will have a bond hearing within 72 hours where prosecutors will be asking for no bond, according to Mike Segrest, district attorney for the Fifth Judicial Circuit of Alabama.
Officials said they are still in the early stages of the investigation and more charges will be coming. Officials asked anyone who has information or was present at the shooting to come forward.
“This is just the tip of the iceberg,” Segrest said. “We’re going to make sure every one of those victims has justice and not just the deceased.”
Officials did not reveal whether they have identified a motive for the shooting.
One of the victims killed in the shooting — 18-year-old Philstavious Dowdell — was attending his sister’s 16th birthday party, according to Segrest.
“There were so many kids in this venue and what they saw, they’re victims in this. Their families are victims of this,” Segrest said at a press conference Wednesday.
In addition to Dowdell, the three others killed in the shooting were identified as 23-year-old Corbin Dahmontrey Holston, 19-year-old Marsiah Emmanuel Collins and 17-year-old Shaunkivia Nicole Smith.
Tommy Lee is insisting he is not transphobic. According to Entertainment Weekly, the declaration came after he received backlash for sharing a 2017 OAN clip on social media in which host Liz Wheeler railed against transgender, “transracial” and “transabled” people.
After deleting the original post, the Mötley Crüe drummer took to Instagram to defend himself, writing, “I am in no way transphobic or against the LGBTQIA+ community or any f****** community,” adding, “I’m the gayest motherf***** around!”
But, he argues, “I just don’t agree with how far some things have been taken,” suggesting there are people who blind themselves “because they feel they should’ve been born blind.”
“I get being born female and identifying as male or being born male and identifying as female or whatever,” he continues, “But when [people] start identifying as babies or animals…WTF!”
And if that wasn’t enough, in the caption Lee also ranted about artificial intelligence, noting, “don’t even get me started with the AI s***… before you know it you’ll be wondering if anything in this world is real or what it seems.”
The prognosis is very good for ABC’s medical drama The Good Doctor: The network announced Wednesday the show starring Freddie Highmore has been renewed for a seventh season.
In doing so, Sony Pictures Television and ABC Signature touted the show’s healthy stats: Its most recent episode, on April 10, jumped 40% from the previous one, matching its highest ratings of the season.
The Good Doctor also ranks as the #1 entertainment series in the Monday 10 p.m. slot, tying with NBC’s hit Quantum Leap reboot and attracting 9.1 million total viewers this season.
Late Wednesday afternoon, Universal Pictures dropped a new trailer to Fast X, the tenth movie in the Fast and the Furious franchise.
The new coming attraction further sets up the vendetta of Jason Momoa‘s Dante, whose ganster father was killed at the hands of Vin Diesel‘s gang in Fast Five.
“If you never got behind that wheel, I wouldn’t be the man I am today,” Dante growls.
The trailer also features loads of snippets of the franchise’s over-the-top action, which includes, but is not limited to, Dante blowing up the Vatican and Dom and his son driving off a dam, before racing vertically down its face.
Strict adherence to the laws of physics was never the series’ strong suit, but they’re doing something right, as the franchise has pulled in more than $6.2 billion in theaters since launching in 2001.
(PLEASANTON, Calif.) — A 26-year-old Home Depot employee was fatally shot after confronting an alleged shoplifter armed with a handgun at a California store, authorities said.
The suspected shooter was detained along with an alleged accomplice after fleeing the scene in a getaway car, police said.
The shooting occurred around 2:15 p.m. Tuesday inside a Home Depot in Pleasanton, in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Blake Mohs, an unarmed loss prevention employee, “attempted to stop a theft in progress when a struggle ensued,” the Pleasanton Police Department said in a statement. The female suspect was allegedly trying to leave the store with what was believed to be an electrical item when she “resisted and shot him,” police said.
Mohs later died from his injuries, police said.
“Blake’s life was cut short by this senseless act of violence that started as a theft and turned into a robbery and ended in his murder,” Pleasanton Lt. Erik Silacci said during a press briefing Wednesday.
The shooting suspect — identified by police as 32-year-old Benicia Knapps — allegedly escaped in a getaway car driven by David Guillory, 31, police said. Her 2-year-old child was also inside the car, according to police.
The suspects were detained shortly after the incident in Oakland by Alameda County Sheriff’s Office deputies and the handgun believed to have been used in the shooting was recovered in a nearby intersection, police said. The child was also reunited with relatives, police said.
Guillory has been booked into Santa Rita County Jail on charges including obstruction, evading a police officer and child abuse, jail records show.
Knapps is at a hospital receiving medical treatment and will be booked once she is discharged, Silacci said. Police believe she may have been struck by the getaway car following the shooting, he said.
Knapps will be booked on charges including murder, robbery, child endangerment and conspiracy, Silacci said. Additional charges could be likely, he said.
Mohs was a Tri-Valley resident who planned to get married this summer, police said.
“We’re heartbroken over this senseless tragedy,” Home Depot said in a statement. “Blake was our associate and friend, and our hearts go out to his family and everyone who knew and loved him.”
Pleasanton Mayor Karla Brown called the shooting “senseless.”
“To have a life cut short is heartbreaking and infuriating,” Brown said in a statement. “I’m joined by the City Council in offering our deepest condolences to Blake’s family, friends, loved ones, and to everyone impacted by this tragedy.”
(WASHINGTON) — House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Wednesday unveiled a long-awaited GOP proposal to lift the debt limit and enact federal spending cuts.
Speaking on the House floor, McCarthy outlined what’s included in the so-called Limit, Save, Grow Act, designed to raise the debt limit into next year and also provide more than $4.5 trillion in savings.
“The American people have elected a divided government, and our government is a divine compromise,” McCarthy said. “That is why the House, the Senate and the White House should be negotiating a responsible debt limit increase right now.”
The legislation would claw back unspent COVID-19 money, block federal student loan cancellation, rescind billions of dollars for the Internal Revenue Service provided by the Inflation Reduction Act, end green tax credits and put in place stricter work requirements for federal aid programs. It would also limit government spending to pre-inflationary, fiscal year 2022 levels and limit spending increases to 1% per year, according to McCarthy.
President Joe Biden, who gave the proposal a chilly reception, last met with McCarthy to discuss the debt limit in February. Their standoff has intensified in recent weeks as lawmakers stare down a fast-approaching summer deadline to lift the debt ceiling or risk an economically catastrophic default.
In recent days, the House speaker has tried to amp up pressure on Biden and Democrats to negotiate. Biden and other party leaders have so far declined to do so as they push for a “clean” debt limit increase not tied to federal spending cuts.
“President Biden is skipping town to deliver a speech in Maryland, rather than sitting down to address the debt ceiling,” McCarthy said on Wednesday. “He’s giving America’s debt the Southern border treatment: ignore it and hope that it goes away.”
Biden shot back at the Republican leader during his Maryland event, taking aim at McCarthy’s debt ceiling comments delivered Monday at the New York Stock Exchange.
“They say they’re going to default unless I agree to all these wacko notions they have. Default would be worse than totally irresponsible,” Biden said.
Biden warned a default “would destroy this economy. And who do you think will hurt the most? You, hardworking people, the middle-class, neighborhoods I got raised in — not the super wealthy or the powerful, but working folks.”
The legislative text of the House GOP bill, which clocks in at 320 pages, was released shortly after McCarthy’s remarks.
McCarthy said the chamber will vote as early as next week on the plan. While it’s not yet clear he’ll have the 218 votes necessary to pass it, he expressed optimism about its prospects.
“We’re going to get there,” he told reporters. “I never give up. We’ll get them.”
-ABC News’ Gabe Ferris, Justin Gomez contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — More than a year after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine, the countries are fighting for control of areas in eastern and southern Ukraine.
Ukrainian troops have liberated nearly 30,000 square miles of their territory from Russian forces since the invasion began on Feb. 24, 2022, but Putin appeared to be preparing for a long and bloody war.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Apr 19, 5:22 PM EDT
Russia reportedly fires nearly 80 missiles at Kherson in 24 hours
Russia has fired nearly 80 missiles at Kherson in 24 hours amid ongoing shelling, a local official said.
“For the previous day, we have recorded 79 shellings throughout our territory,” First Deputy Chairman of the Kherson Regional Council Yuriy Sobolevskyi said on Telegram earlier Wednesday. “About 300 rounds of ammunition were used by the enemy.”
At least two people have sought medical attention due to shelling injuries, according to Sobolevskyi, who noted that the “shelling continues.”
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Apr 19, 2:31 PM EDT
US announces new $325 million military package
The U.S. Department of Defense announced a new $325 million military aid package for Ukraine, including more rockets and artillery rounds, in addition to other equipment.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Gen. Mark Milley are in Europe to attend another meeting of the 50-plus countries providing military assistance to Ukraine that begins later this week in Ramstein, Germany.
“The United States will continue to work with its Allies and partners to provide Ukraine with capabilities to meet its immediate battlefield needs and longer-term security assistance requirements,” the Pentagon said in a statement.
-ABC News’ Luis Martinez
Apr 18, 6:20 PM EDT
Germany says it delivered Patriot missile system to Ukraine
The German government announced Tuesday that it delivered a Patriot missile defense system and missiles to Ukraine this week.
The country also sent 16 Zetros trucks, bringing its total to 76, and two border patrol vehicles, bringing its total to 124, the government said.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Apr 18, 6:10 AM EDT
Russia detains man who spoke with WSJ reporter
Russia’s security services have arrested an anti-Kremlin political commentator who the jailed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich met with shortly before his own arrest.
Yaroslav Shirshikov has said he spent two days showing Gershkovich around the city of Yekaterinburg during a reporting trip there a couple of weeks before Russia seized Gershovich.
Shirshikov said he had been due to meet with Gershkovich again the week the reporter was arrested in the city.
This morning, local media published video showing masked security officers detaining Shirshikov in his apartment and searching it.
A local news outlet cited a security services representative saying Shirshikov may have been arrested for posting comments cheering the assassinations of two ultra-nationalist pro-war figures, Daria Dugina and the blogger Vladen Tatarsky.
The site UralLive quoted a law enforcement source that Shirshikov was detained on a charge of “justifying terrorism,” which carries a maximum sentence of seven years in prison. It linked the charge to a social media post in which Shirshikov wrote he wasn’t sad over the death of Tatarsky, who was killed in a bomb attack in St. Petersburg this month.
Shirshikov spoke to several international media outlets including ABC following Gershkovich’s arrest. He said that Gershkovich had acted entirely as a professional journalist in Yekaterinburg, conducting interviews openly and doing usual reporting.
Shirshikov is a critic of the Russian government and has spoken publicly about his opposition to the war in Ukraine.
Apr 18, 4:52 AM EDT
Putin visits military in occupied Kherson Region
Russian President Vladimir Putin made a trip to Kherson and Luhansk, visiting a military headquarters in occupied territory in Ukraine.
Putin arrived via helicopter at the headquarters of an army group in occupied Kherson, according to video released on Tuesday by the Kremlin.
In brief remarks after he arrived, Putin said he didn’t want to distract troops from their mission, saying his tour of the installation would be in a “businesslike manner, briefly, but concretely,” according to Interfax, a Russian state-affiliated news wire.
“It is important for me to hear your opinion on how the situation is developing, to listen to you, to exchange information,” he said, according to Interfax.
Apr 17, 6:19 AM EDT
Putin critic sentenced to 25 years
A Moscow court has sentenced one of Russia’s best-known opposition leaders, whose family live in the U.S., to 25 years in prison in what is widely seen a show trial.
Vladimir Kara-Murza is the most high-profile opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin to be jailed since Alexey Navalny.
Kara-Murza’s extraordinarily harsh sentence is one of the lengthiest any opposition figure has received under Putin and illustrates how repressive Russia has become during the war in Ukraine, reverting to something much closer to the USSR where no opposition is tolerated.
Kara-Murza was convicted of treason, as well as “discrediting Russia’s armed forces,” a new law that effectively criminalizes criticizing the war in Ukraine. He was also convicted of belonging to a banned organization. The charges are widely seen as politically motivated.
Kara-Murza is one of Russia’s best-known pro-democracy figures and a veteran critic of Putin.
Kara-Murza, who holds both British and Russian citizenship, spent many years living in the United States and his wife and children still live in Virginia. He was close to the late U.S. Sen. John McCain, who championed human rights in the former Soviet Union.
Dozens of journalists and Western diplomats attended the court hearing on Monday, including the U.S. ambassador who read out a statement condemning the sentence.
“We support Mr. Kara-Murza and every Russian citizen to have a voice in the direction of their country. Mr. Kara-Murza and countless other Russians believe in and hope for a Russia where fundamental freedoms will be upheld. And we will continue to share those hopes and work for that outcome,” Amb. Lynne Tracy said.
Kara-Murza previously has survived being poisoned not once but twice. In 2015 and then again in 2017, he suffered organ failure after being exposed to an unknown toxin. Independent researchers later linked the poisoning to the same team of FSB poisoners who targeted Navalny.
He chose to return to Russia after the war began, believing it was important to continue to campaign for freedom in his country and has been an outspoken critic of the invasion.
His trial was held entirely behind closed doors, but a letter containing his closing statement to the court has been released to reporters.
“I only blame myself for one thing,” Kara-Murza said in the statement. “I failed to convince enough of my compatriots and politicians in democratic countries of the danger that the current Kremlin regime poses for Russia and for the world.”
“Criminals are supposed to repent of what they have done. I, on the other hand, am in prison for my political views. I also know that the day will come when the darkness over our country will dissipate.
The parents of Wall Street Journalist journalist Evan Gershkovich spoke in an interview with with the paper Friday, the first time since their son was detained in Russia in March.
Mikhail and Ella Gershkovich, who were born in the Soviet Union and married after emigrating to the U.S. separately in 1979, talked about how much he wanted to work for the Journal and cover Russia.
“He said I’m just one of the few left there,” Ella Gershkovich, his mother, said of his time working in Russia during the Ukraine war.
The couple said their family is keeping hope that their son will be returned.
The couple said their family is keeping hope that their son will be released.
“It’s one of the American qualities we absorbed. Be optimistic, believe in happy ending. That’s where we stand right now, but I am not stupid. I understand what’s involved, but that’s what I choose to believe,” Ella Gershkovich said.
-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman
Apr 14, 2:52 PM EDT
6 dead, including 1 child, after Russia attacks Slovyansk
Russian forces shelled Slovyansk, a city in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, Friday, Andrii Yermak, the head of the office of the President of Ukraine, said on Telegram.
At least seven explosions were heard in the city in the area near a school, and three buildings were struck, Yermak said. Russia hit three five-story buildings in the attack, he added.
Six civilians, including one child, were killed and 17 people have been wounded, as of Friday afternoon, officials said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy shared a video of the attack on his Telegram page and condemned Russian forces.
He said there are still people trapped in the rubble.
“The evil state once again demonstrates its essence, just killing people in broad daylight, [and] ruining, destroying all life,” he said.
-ABC News’ Oleksiy Pshemyskiy and Ellie Kaufman
Apr 12, 7:12 PM EDT
Singer Brad Paisley visits Ukraine for 1st time with Senate delegation, meets with Zelenskyy
Country singer Brad Paisley visited Ukraine for the first time on Wednesday and met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to see firsthand what’s happening in the war-torn country, according to Ukrainian fundraising platform UNITED24.
Paisley, who serves as a global ambassador for UNITED24 and its campaign to help rebuild Ukraine, performed his song “Same Here” while in St. Michael’s Square in Kyiv.
Paisley, who went with a bipartisan U.S. Senate delegation, also played for American troops in Poland, UNITED24 said.
“It’s an emotional experience seeing all of this firsthand,” Paisley said during a press conference. “For me, looking around this city and being here for the first time, I’m absolutely struck by the resilience of life and the beautiful nature of the way this city is trying to thrive in the middle of conflict.”
Apr 12, 5:59 PM EDT
2 US citizens died while fighting in Ukraine, State Dept. says
Two Americans have died while volunteering to fight in Ukraine, he U.S. Department of State said Wednesday.
Edward Wilton and Grady Kurpasi died in combat during the conflict, bringing the total number of Americans killed to at least eight.
Wilton, 22, died on April 7 fighting in Bakhmut, his half brother Parker Cummings told ABC News. He was from Marianna, Florida.
Wilton served in the U.S. Army, Cummings said, and informed his half brother about his plans to fight in Ukraine through a message sent from a plane en route to Poland on April 10, 2022.
“My brother was very selfless. My brother was very honorable and traditional,” Cummings told ABC News. “He cared more about freedom for all than for his own safety. Edward was a true hero and he will be missed until we see him again.”
Joshua Cropper, who told ABC News he fought with Wilton in Ukraine’s International Legion between April and early July 2022, said of Wilton: “He was so young, but immensely brave. Fearless. We’d need three guys to do any task, he’s always going to have his hand up. He was as mature as anybody I’ve ever known.”
Kurpasi was reportedly last seen in April 2022 and was widely reported to be missing last June.
As recently as last fall, his family said they believed he was in critical condition in a Russian-controlled hospital in Donetsk, but it’s not clear exactly when he was confirmed dead or if he was ever hospitalized.
A GoFund Me page organized on behalf of Kurpasi’s wife provides few details on his time in Ukraine, but states that he “ended up leading a squad into battle and was killed in action.”
“We can confirm the death of a U.S. citizen in Ukraine. We are in touch with the family and providing all possible consular assistance,” a State Department spokesperson said in a statement when asked about his case. “When a U.S. citizen dies overseas, including in Ukraine, the Department of State supports the legal representative and family of the deceased in numerous ways, including by providing information on the disposition of remains and estates and issuing a consular report of death.”
The spokesperson added: “The U.S. government takes its role in such a situation very seriously, providing all appropriate assistance through the legal representative, next of kin or their designee.”
Regarding Wilton, a State Department official confirmed that a U.S. citizen died near Bakhmut and said they’re in touch with the family and providing all appropriate consular services.
-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford and Chris Looft
Apr 12, 2:50 PM EDT
Efforts to pressure Russia to release WSJ reporter ‘senseless and futile,’ Russia says
Days after the U.S. designated Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich as wrongfully detained in Russia, Russian officials referred to pressure from the U.S. to release him as futile.
“Any attempts to put pressure on the Russian authorities and the court, insisting on a ‘special treatment’ for U.S. citizens who have violated Russian law, are senseless and futile,” the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.
After some missed calls, President Joe Biden finally connected with the parents of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre confirmed Tuesday.
“He felt it was really important to connect with Evan’s family,” she told reporters on Air Force One as the president travels to Ireland.
Meanwhile, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said Gershkovich’s detention is “pretty fresh” and officials are still trying to get consular access to Gershkovich, which they have not been able to do.
He would not get into any specific conversations the U.S. is having with Russians about releasing Gershkovich or if a prisoner swap is a possibility.
“I just want to make a couple of things clear that is, the determination of wrongful detention, it doesn’t start the clock necessarily on communicating with the Russians about getting him released,” Kirby said. “We’re very early in this process here and I certainly, I think you can understand why I wouldn’t talk about any discussions we might be having with the Russians about his release or Paul [Whelan]’s release. We certainly wouldn’t do that.”
Kirby said the administration is “certainly having discussions about what we can do to get him released.”
“I don’t want to go into details about these internal deliberations, having things out in the public sphere viscerally might actually make it harder to get Evan and Paul home, and that’s what we’re focused on,” Kirby said.
-ABC News’ Justin Gomez
Apr 10, 4:28 PM EDT
Gershkovich designated as wrongfully detained by Russia
Secretary of State Antony Blinken has determined that Wall Street Journalist reporter Evan Gershkovich is being wrongfully detained by Russia, according to a statement released Monday afternoon.
Two Americans are now considered to be wrongfully detained by Russia — Gershkovich and Paul Whelan.
Gershkovich’s case will now be transferred to the Office of the Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs, the U.S. government’s top hostage negotiator.
Gershkovich, a 31-year-old New Jersey native who has lived and worked in Moscow as an accredited journalist for the last six years, was in a restaurant in Yekaterinburg on March 29 when Russia’s Federal Security Service arrested him on espionage charges that the Wall Street Journal, his colleagues and the U.S. government have said are absurd.
