(EL PASO, Texas) — The Texas National Guard has deployed a “contingency border force” of over 400 personnel to El Paso, TX, as the city continues to deal with a surge of asylum-seekers arriving at the border.
The Texas Military Department said the deployment is part of Governor Abbott’s “enhanced border security effort” and will include a Security Response Force comprised of “elements” from the 606th Military Police Battalion “trained in civil disturbance operations and mass migration response.”
A spokesperson confirmed to ABC News that these types of Security Response Forces are also sometimes dispatched to large protests, like those that rattled the country after the murder of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis, MN.
“The equipping of riot shields would be mission dependent and based on the situation in their area of operation,” the spokesperson said.
The move came hours before Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts issued a temporary stay on an order that would end Title 42, a Trump-era health policy used over 2.4 million times to expel and prevent migrants from requesting asylum in the United States, citing the risk of COVID-19 spread.
In November, a U.S. district judge ruled that the policy was “arbitrary and capricious” and ordered it to end. A coalition of 19 states appealed that judge’s decision, now the Supreme Court will weigh that appeal, but it’s unclear when their final ruling might come.
El Paso saw a sharp increase of asylum-seekers in recent days leading up to the Title 42 deadline, with U.S. Border Patrol making over 2,200 apprehensions on average per day this month.
“Texas National Guard is increasing its posture along the border in response to high levels of illegal border crossings over the past week and the pending expiration of Title 42. The end of Title 42 is expected to lead to a massive influx of illegal immigrants, allowing criminals to further exploit gaps while federal authorities are inundated with migrant processing,” the Texas Military Department said in a statement before the stay was issued.
The Security Response Force is used to “safeguard the border and repel and turn-back” some immigrants, TMD said, adding that a second one will be on standby and ready to deploy to El Paso, or other parts of the border. The deployment is also part of a statewide effort to stem the flow of immigrants attempting to come into the country.
Texas Gov. Abbott is among the leaders that joined the appeal to prevent Title 42 from ending.
“If the courts do not intervene and put a halt to the removal of Title 42, it’s gonna be total chaos,” Abbott told ABC’s “This Week” co-anchor Martha Raddatz before the stay was issued.
(LOS ANGELES) — A Los Angeles jury has found disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein guilty of three of seven counts, including one count of rape of Jane Doe 1, in his Los Angeles sexual assault trial.
The jury found Weinstein not guilty of one count — sexual battery by restraint of Jane Doe 3 — and it was hung on three counts, including forcible rape of Jane Doe 4. The jury will return Tuesday to hear arguments on special findings.
Weinstein, who is already serving a 23-year prison sentence in New York for criminal sexual assault and third-degree rape, was accused by four women of assaulting them in hotels between 2004 and 2013. He faced two counts of rape and five counts of sexual assault.
The 70-year-old former movie executive pleaded not guilty and has said all of the encounters were consensual.
Jane Doe 1’s lawyer, Dave Ring, said in a statement, “No victim should have to endure what Jane Doe 1 did the past five years after she came forward. Weinstein and his lawyers did everything they could to intimidate her and discredit her, and they failed miserably. Jane Doe 1’s life has been incredibly difficult since she revealed the rape in 2017; but she persevered and brought Weinstein down. We are all very proud of her.”
In a separate statement, Jane Doe 1 said, in part, “Harvey Weinstein forever destroyed a part of me that night in 2013 and I will never get that back. The criminal trial was brutal and Weinstein’s lawyers put me through hell on the witness stand, but I knew I had to see this through to the end, and I did.”
“I hope Weinstein never sees the outside of a prison cell during his lifetime,” she added.
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón thanked the survivors in a statement following the verdict, saying, in part, “I stand in awe of their fearlessness. They deserve better than what the system has given them.”
“I also want to thank the jurors for their service during this lengthy trial and for examining all of the evidence carefully,” he said. “I am of course disappointed that the jury was split on some of the counts, but hope its partial verdict brings at least some measure of justice to the victims.”
Weinstein initially faced 11 counts in the trial, but four charges relating to Jane Doe No. 5, including two counts of forcible rape and two counts of forcible oral copulation, were dropped by the prosecution.
The four women all testified during the trial, including Jennifer Siebel Newsom, the wife of California Gov. Gavin Newsom. Siebel Newsom was referred to as Jane Doe No. 4 during the trial, but she has been publicly identified by her lawyer.
Over more than two hours of testimony, beginning Nov. 10, Siebel Newsom often broke down recalling the 2005 encounter with Weinstein at the Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills in which she said she was raped. Siebel Newsom, then an aspiring actress and currently a documentary filmmaker, said she accepted an invitation to a meeting with the producer at his hotel suite because “you don’t say no to Harvey Weinstein.”
“I was so violated and I don’t know how that happened,” Siebel Newsom testified about how she felt after the incident. “I didn’t see the clues and I didn’t know how to escape.”
Prior to the trial, Seibel Newsom’s lawyer, Beth Fegan, said of her client’s testimony: “Like many other women, my client was sexually assaulted by Harvey Weinstein at a purported business meeting that turned out to be a trap. She intends to testify at his trial in order to seek some measure of justice for survivors, and as part of her life’s work to improve the lives of women. Please respect her choice to not discuss this matter outside of the courtroom.”
The trial in Los Angeles came 2 1/2 years after Weinstein was found guilty of similar crimes in New York City, a landmark decision after the so-called #MeToo movement, in which powerful men were exposed for sexual misconduct, began largely around bombshell reports about the Miramax founder’s behavior in The New York Times and The New Yorker in fall 2017.
Weinstein’s lawyer, Mark Werksman, said in opening arguments during his LA trial that each allegation was a “weak and unsubstantiated trickle that will evaporate upon your close scrutiny.”
“The evidence in this case is based upon emotion, not facts,” Werksman said. “You will learn that the allegations can be traced directly to a movement called the #MeToo movement.”
Weinstein did not testify during the trial.
In his closing argument, Deputy District Attorney Paul Thompson said the witnesses testified “credibly,” even under intense cross-examination, and that the defense has the difficult task of arguing that every single woman who took the stand in the case is lying.
Defense attorney Alan Jackson told the jury in his closing argument that the evidence was “smoke and mirrors” and accused the women who testified of being “fame and fortune seekers.”
A Los Angeles jury has found disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein guilty on three of seven counts, including rape, in his Los Angeles sexual assault trial.
The jury found Weinstein not guilty on one count, and it was hung on three counts.
The jury will return Tuesday to hear arguments on special findings.
Weinstein initially faced 11 counts in the trial, but four charges relating to Jane Doe No. 5, including two counts of forcible rape and two counts of forcible oral copulation, were dropped by the prosecution.
The 70-year-old former movie executive pleaded not guilty and has said all of the encounters were consensual.
The four women all testified during the trial, including Jennifer Siebel Newsom, the wife of California Gov. Gavin Newsom. Siebel Newsom was referred to as Jane Doe No. 4 during the trial, but she has been publicly identified by her lawyer.
The jury took some 40 hours over 10 days to reach their decision.
The trial in Los Angeles came 2 1/2 years after Weinstein was found guilty of similar crimes in New York City, a landmark decision after the so-called #MeToo movement, in which powerful men were exposed for sexual misconduct, began largely around bombshell reports about the Miramax founder’s behavior in The New York Times and The New Yorker in fall 2017.
Weinstein is already serving a 23-year prison sentence in New York for criminal sexual assault and third-degree rape.
Shinedown is one of the hardest-touring bands in the world, and to explain why, frontman Brent Smith turns to the poetry of Taylor Swift.
In a Instagram post, Smith reacts to the question “Why are you touring almost 200 days a year?” alongside a video of him mouthing along to the lyrics from Swift’s hit “Anti-Hero,” off her new album, Midnights.
“It’s me, hi, I’m the problem, it’s me,” Smith-as-Swift sings while pointing at himself.
In the post’s caption, Shinedown teases, “Should we raise the touring bar even higher for 2023?” and invites followers to comment with their city suggestions.
Shinedown spent much of 2022 touring behind their new album, Plant Zero, which was released in July. The singles “Planet Zero” and “Daylight” both hit #1 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart.
(WASHINGTON) — New York Rep.-elect George Santos on Monday sought to defend himself after a New York Times report detailed multiple discrepancies in his background, including contradictions about where he worked and went to school.
In a statement, Joseph Murray, an attorney for Santos, who is a Republican, claimed the Times was participating in a “smear” campaign against Santos by publishing its investigation, which Murray called a “shotgun blast of attacks.”
As the Times first reported, parts of Santos’ biography about his education, career and charity are being disputed by public records and the schools and companies he claims were involved.
Representatives for New York University and Baruch College confirmed to ABC News that they have no record of Santos attending their institutions.
However, the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) website states he received degrees from NYU and Baruch. His campaign website also said he graduated from Baruch.
The same biography on the NRCC site claimed that Santos worked for companies such as Citigroup and Goldman Sachs. But a spokesperson for Goldman Sachs told ABC News that they have no record of Santos ever being employed there. Citigroup has not returned ABC’s request for comment.
According to an archived version of campaign website, Santos previously said he ran a 501(c)(3) charity called Friends of Pets United, but a search on the IRS’ website did not find a listing for a charity under that name.
The mention of Friends of Pets United appears to have been removed from Santos’ campaign website.
ABC News also reviewed Santos’ financial disclosure forms filed in the House, where he reported having a $750,000 income through the Devolder Organization — which his website previously called his “family firm,” where he oversaw $80 million in client assets as the managing principal.
However, following a search, ABC News could not find a website or LinkedIn page for the organization. Additionally, Santos did not identify any clients of the firm on his financial disclosure forms.
“George Santos represents the kind of progress that the Left is so threatened by – a gay, Latino, immigrant and Republican who won a Biden district in overwhelming fashion by showing everyday voters that there is a better option than the broken promises and failed policies of the Democratic Party,” Murray, Santos’ attorney, said in his statement.
The scrutiny surrounding Santos’ background comes a few weeks before he is supposed to be sworn in as a member of the House following his history-making win in New York’s 3rd Congressional District. Defeating Democrat Robert Zimmerman and flipping the seat from blue to red helped the GOP clinch their slim majority in the House.
In addition, the election marked the first time two openly gay men ran against each other.
ABC reached out to House GOP leadership, including Reps. Kevin McCarthy, Steve Scalise and Elise Stefanik, and has not received comment.
In August, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee pushed out a press release on Santos and his financial background, highlighting how his animal charity was not listed in the IRS database.
ABC News’ Lauren Peller and Trish Turner contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — The House select committee examining the Jan. 6 attack at the U.S. Capitol has held its final public meeting.
The panel voted to approve criminal referrals for former President Donald Trump regarding his failed attempt to overturn the 2020 election.
Here’s how the story developed:
Dec 19, 6:36 PM EST
Trump responds to the Jan. 6 committee’s criminal referrals
Trump, in response to the criminal referrals, continued his criticism that the Jan. 6 committee is partisan and politically-motived.
“These folks don’t get it that when they come after me, the people who love freedom rally around me,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social statement on Monday. “It strengthens me. What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger.”
Trump also repeated his familiar claim that he had “pushed for 20,000 troops to prevent violence on Jan 6” — an assertion the committee contradicted in the executive summary of its final report.
“The select committee found no evidence of this,” the panel said in the summary. “In fact, President Trump’s own acting secretary of defense Christopher Miller directly refuted this when he testified under oath.”
Trump’s campaign also released a statement, calling the committee’s action “a mockery of our democracy.”
“The January 6th Unselect Committee held show trials by Never Trump partisans who are a stain on this country’s history,” the campaign’s statement read.
Dec 19, 2:51 PM EST
Committee releases 160-page executive summary of final report
The House Jan. 6 committee, after its final public meeting on Monday, released a sweeping executive summary to explain its findings. In it, members point to Trump as the main instigator behind the Capitol attack.
“That evidence has led to an overriding and straight-forward conclusion: the central cause of January 6th was one man, former President Donald Trump, who many others followed. None of the events of January 6th would have happened without him,” the summary said.
Highlights from the executive summary can be read here.
The committee is expected to release a broader, more comprehensive final report later this week.
Dec 19, 2:42 PM EST
Who is John Eastman?
Attorney John Eastman was named with Trump as among those the committee is recommending for criminal charges to the Justice Department. Members described how Trump turned to Eastman as other allies asked for him to accept the election loss.
Eastman, the committee said, drafted a six-step plan for then-Vice President Mike Pence to reject legitimate electors during the certification of the election on Jan. 6, even though Eastman admitted in advance that Pence could not lawfully do so.
Former Trump White House attorney Eric Herschmann, in a taped deposition with committee members, said he told Eastman his plan was “completely crazy,” would “cause riots in the streets” and that he was “out of [his] effin’ mind.”
But even after the Capitol attack, Eastman pursued the plot, the committee said. Herschmann said he told Eastman: “‘Now I’m going to give you the best free legal advice you’re getting in your life: Get a great effing criminal defense lawyer. You’re going to need it.'”
Soon after, Eastman emailed Rudy Giuliani to say, “I’ve decided that I should be on the pardon list, if that is still in the works,” according to evidence obtained by the committee.
Dec 19, 2:39 PM EST
Panel refers four Republican lawmakers to the House Committee on Ethics
The Jan. 6 committee is also making referrals for four Republican lawmakers to the House Committee on Ethics for their failure to comply with subpoenas.
The members being referred, according to the executive summary of the committee’s report, are House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy and GOP Reps. Jim Jordan, Scott Perry and Andy Biggs.
“We asked multiple members of Congress to speak with us about issues critical to our understanding of this attack on the 2020 election, and our system of constitutional democracy. None agreed to provide that essential information,” Rep. Jamie Raskin said. “As a result, we took the significant step of issuing them subpoenas based on the volume of information particular members possessed about one or more parts of President Trump’s plans to overturn the election. None of the subpoenaed members complied.”
Dec 19, 2:29 PM EST
Committee votes to approve referrals, final report
After Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., outlined the criminal referrals it was making for Trump, John Eastman and others, the committee voted unanimously to transmit their referrals to the Justice Department.
“We understand the gravity of each and every referral we are making today, just as we understand the magnitude of the crime against democracy that we describe in our report — but we have gone where the facts in the law lead us, and inescapably, they lead us here,” Raskin said.
It is now up to the Justice Department to pursue the charges or even acknowledge them, but it’s not obligated to do.
“We have every confidence that the work of this committee will help provide a roadmap to justice and that the agencies and institutions responsible for ensuring justice under law will use the information we provided to aid in their work,” Thompson said at the start of the meeting.
Dec 19, 2:19 PM EST
Committee approves four criminal referrals for Trump
Rep. Jamie Raskin announced four criminal referrals for Trump to the Department of Justice. Those referrals are: Obstruction of an Official Proceeding; Conspiracy to Defraud the United States; Conspiracy to Make a False Statement and “Incite,” “Assist” or “Aid and Comfort” an Insurrection.
Dec 19, 2:13 PM EST
Raskin details referrals against Trump, Eastman
In a dramatic climax, Rep. Jamie Raskin announced that the evidence obtained by the committee “warrants a criminal referral, of former president Donald J. Trump, John Eastman and others.”
“We propose to the committee advancing referrals where the gravity of the specific offense, the severely of its actual harm and the centrality of the offender to the overall design of the unlawful scheme to the overall election compel to us speak,” Raskin said. “Ours is not a skim of justice where foot soldiers go to jail and the masterminds and ringleaders get a free pass.”
Raskin said “the starting point” of their analysis is how a federal judge already found Trump’s and John Eastman’s pressure on then-Vice President Mike Pence to obstruct the congressional count of electoral votes “more likely than not” violated two federal criminal statutes: obstruction of an official proceeding and conspiracy to defraud the United States.
The announcement of the referrals is ongoing.
Dec 19, 2:07 PM EST
Trump’s pressure on Pence threatened VP’s life, Aguilar says
Rep. Pete Aguilar, in his opening remarks, focused on how Trump attempted to pressure then-Vice President Mike Pence to unilaterally overturn his 2020 election loss.
Aguilar said Trump “embraced an illegal scheme” proposed by attorney John Eastman that claimed the vice president has the power to reject electoral votes during the joint session of Congress to certify the votes.
The scheme, Aguilar said, culminated in a “dangerous threat to Mr. Pence’s life on Jan. 6.”
“Rioters at the Capitol were heard chanting, ‘Hang Mike Pence’ through the afternoon,” Aguilar said. “As a result of this unrest, Vice President Pence was forced to flee to a secure location.”
Dec 19, 1:49 PM EST
Lofgren says lawyers, entities ‘linked’ to Trump contacted witnesses
Committee member Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., said the panel found evidence that Trump raised hundreds of millions of dollars on false elections claims, some of which was used to hire lawyers to “provide and offer employment to witnesses.”
Lofgren said that a female witness was offered a job from entities “linked” to Trump, and the offer was withdrawn once reports of her testimony circulated.
“We are concerned these efforts may have been a strategy to prevent the committee from finding the truth,” she said.
Lofgren also played a new clip of a recent interview with former Trump adviser Hope Hicks, who said she expressed concern Trump was damaging his legacy with false fraud claims.
Hicks recalled Trump saying, “‘Nobody will care about my legacy if I lose, so that won’t matter. The only thing that matters is winning.'”
“Donald Trump knowingly and corruptly repeated election fraud lies, which incited his supporters to violence on January 6,” Lofgren said. “He continues to repeat his meritless claim that the election was stolen even today.”
Dec 19, 1:46 PM EST
Committee plays montage of notable moments from its public hearings
For Americans who might have missed some of the hearings, the committee played a montage of highlights from its hearings and closed-door videotaped depositions to hammer home their findings that Trump was told he lost the election but pushed forward with an attempt to remain in power anyway.
That included deposition from former Attorney General Bill Barr, who told the committee that he thought Trump’s claims of fraud were “bull****.” Also played again Thursday was deposition from former White House counsel Pat Cipollone, who told the committee he described Trump’s plan to install a loyalist to be acting attorney general as a “murder-suicide pact.”
Moments from Cassidy Hutchinson’s bombshell testimony were also played, including her comments about Trump’s desire to go to the Capitol on Jan. 6.
Dec 19, 1:26 PM EST
Cheney says Trump ‘unfit for any office’
Co-chair Rep. Liz Cheney focused her opening remarks on how Donald Trump was the first president in American history to refuse a peaceful transfer of power and argued he should never be allowed to hold office again.
“January 6, 2021, was the first time one American president refused his constitutional duty to transfer power peacefully to the next,” she said. “In our work over the last 18 months, the select committee has recognized our obligation to do everything we can to ensure this never happens again.”
Cheney said among the most “shameful” of the committee’s findings was that Trump sat in the dining room off the Oval Office watching the Capitol attack on television and resisted for hours issuing a public statement instructing his supporters to disperse, despite urgent pleas from White House staff and lawmakers.
“During this time, law enforcement agents were attacked and seriously injured. The Capitol was invaded. The electoral count was halted, and the lives of those in the Capitol were put at risk,” Cheney said. “In addition to being unlawful, as described in our report, this was an utter moral failure and a clear dereliction of duty.”
“No man who would behave that way at that moment in time can ever serve in any position of authority in our nation again,” she added. “He is unfit for any office.”
Dec 19, 1:21 PM EST
Committee’s work ‘to provide a roadmap to justice’: Thompson
Chairman Bennie Thompson, in his opening statement, said he believes committee’s work over the past 18 months can help hold those responsible for the Capitol attack accountable.
“We have every confidence that the work of this committee will help provide a roadmap to justice and that the agencies and institutions responsible for ensuring justice under law will use the information we provided to aid in their work,” Thompson said.
“This committee is nearing the end of its work, but as a country we remain in strange and uncharted waters,” Thompson said. “We’ve never had a president of the United States stir up a violent attempt to block the transfer of power. I believe, nearly two years later, this is still a time of reflection and reckoning.”
“If we are to survive as a nation of laws and democracy, this can never happen again,” he warned.
Dec 19, 1:16 PM EST
Trump ‘lost the 2020 election and knew it,’ chairman says
After gaveling in the committee’s meeting, Chairman Bennie Thompson said Donald Trump broke the “faith in our system” when he failed to accept the results of the 2020 election.
“He lost the 2020 election and knew it, but he chose to try to stay in office through a multi-part scheme, overturn the results and blocked the transfer of power,” Thompson said.
“In the end, he summoned the mob to Washington knowing they were armed and angry, pointed them to the Capitol and told them to fight like hell,” Thompson added. “There’s no doubt about this.”
Dec 19, 1:07 PM EST
Final committee meeting begins
The final business meeting of the Jan. 6 committee is underway, bringing members’ 18-month-long investigation to a dramatic and televised close.
After 10 public hearings and hundreds of hours of closed-door depositions on what led to the Capitol attack, the committee is meeting publicly one last time to present referrals and vote to approve its final report.
Members are expected to release an executive summary of their report following the meeting including details on expected criminal referrals as well as more information about witnesses who have appeared before the committee, according to a committee aide. Sources tell ABC News members are expected to recommend criminal charges against Trump.
Monday’s executive summary comes ahead of a fuller release of the committee’s final report on Wednesday. The select committee is set to expire on Dec. 31, 2022, just days before Republicans take back control of the House.
Dec 19, 1:02 PM EST
Panel to transmit criminal referrals ‘shortly’ after business meeting: Thompson
Going into the committee room on Monday, Chairman Bennie Thompson told reporters the committee plans to transmit the criminal referrals to the Department of Justice shortly after they “take care of business today.”
Thompson also said he has no plans to meet with Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is overseeing the Justice Department’s major Jan. 6 cases as well as the department’s investigation into classified documents taken from the White House by Trump.
Dec 19, 12:00 PM EST
What it means for the committee to make criminal referrals
The Justice Department is not obligated to act on referrals, but public hearings outlining Trump’s “seven-point plan” to overturn the 2020 presidential election have amped up pressure on Garland to bring criminal charges against Trump — which would be the first in history against a former president.
The Justice Department for months has been conducting its own separate investigation into Jan. 6, which has included multiple former senior Trump White House staffers along with his close allies appearing before grand juries.
“The committee’s public hearings have raised the stakes enormously for the country, in the sense that the criminal activity shown to have gone on is so brazen, that if the Justice Department does not enforce the law in this case, it really does further erode the rule of law and democracy,” Ryan Goodman, a New York University School of Law professor, told ABC News.
Dec 19, 11:12 AM EST
What’s happened since the last Jan. 6 committee hearing
The committee last met in public on Oct. 13 when members voted unanimously to subpoena Donald Trump.
Since then, Trump has sued to block the subpoena from being enforced. Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said the panel was looking at paths forward after Trump’s lawsuit but it has yet to take any action in court.
The committee has also interviewed more witnesses since its last hearing, including former White House deputy chief of staff for operations and top Secret Service official Tony Ornato — the figure at the center of bombshell testimony involving an alleged physical confrontation between Trump and his security detail in the president’s vehicle on Jan. 6.
Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and former Trump White House adviser Kellyanne Conway also have met with the committee since its last public meeting.
Dec 19, 10:41 AM EST
Slight majority of Americans say Trump should be charged: Polling
Public attitudes on Donald Trump’s culpability surrounding the Jan. 6 Capitol attack have been essentially steady over the past year, with a slight majority of Americans saying he should be charged with a crime, according to ABC News/Washington Post and ABC News/Ipsos polling.
A survey in April found 52% responding that Trump should be charged with a crime for his role in the Capitol attack, while 42% said he should not. Polling in September showed those favoring a charge remained at 52%, while those opposed to charges fell slightly to 39%.
In January 2021, about a week after the Capitol attack, 54% of respondents said Trump should be charged with inciting a riot.
Dec 19, 10:08 AM EST
Criminal referrals the committee might make
Over a series of nine hearings this summer and fall, the committee outlined an alleged “sophisticated seven-point plan” it says Trump and his allies engaged in with the goal of stopping the peaceful transfer of power, including “corruptly” planning to replace federal and state officials with those who would support his fake election claims and pressuring Pence to violate his oath to uphold the Constitution.
Acting on a plan with the intent to stop the counting of electoral votes would likely violate 18 U.S.C. § 1512(c), obstruction of an official proceeding, which makes it a felony to attempt to “corruptly obstruct, influence, or impede any official proceeding,” such as the certification of a presidential election, and comes with up to 20 years in prison.
Another statute raised by Rep. Liz Cheney over several hearings, 18 U.S.C. § 371, conspiracy to defraud the United States, criminalizes the agreement between two or more persons to “impair, obstruct or defeat the lawful government functions” and is punishable by up to five years in prison.
Dec 19, 9:50 AM EST
How Trump has responded to the Jan. 6 committee
The House Jan. 6 select committee in a matter of hours will consider its final report, which is expected to reveal how far it will go in accusing Trump of deep involvement in what it says was a plot to overturn the 2020 election.
Even before it began a series of high-profile public hearings in June, Trump repeatedly railed against the panel, dubbing it the “unselect” committee and casting it as a partisan “witch hunt,” attacking witnesses and denying wrongdoing, all while making false claims of widespread election fraud two years ago.
The committee, meanwhile, has interviewed scores of witnesses and heard their dramatic testimony in front of TV cameras, delivering a slate of bombshells about the inner workings of the Trump White House leading up to Jan. 6 and on the day itself.
Dec 19, 9:13 AM EST
Expect ‘five or six’ categories of referrals: Chairman
The most important business at hand when the select committee meets this afternoon is the committee’s highly anticipated decision on criminal referrals.
Sources familiar told ABC News the committee is preparing to urge the Department of Justice to prosecute Donald Trump for obstruction of an official proceeding and conspiracy to defraud the United States. Another criminal charge under discussion is insurrection, the sources said.
Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., tasked a subcommittee to make recommendations on criminal referrals and to also explore enforcement options for the five Republican lawmakers who ignored subpoenas to testify: Reps. Kevin McCarthy, Andy Biggs, Jim Jordan, Scott Perry and Mo Brooks.
Thompson has said to expect “five or six” categories of referrals, which means there could be referrals to several different entities such as the Justice Department or the House Committee on Ethics.
The extent of the criminal referrals, and who will be targeted, will be made clear in a matter of hours when the committee releases a separate, shorter report on the matter. Any referrals would be a largely symbolic move, though, as it’s ultimately up to federal prosecutors whether to pursue charges.
-ABC News’ Katherine Faulders
Dec 19, 8:01 AM EST
Liz Cheney’s mission: Keep Donald Trump out of the White House
Rep. Liz Cheney will make a last high-profile stand against Donald Trump when the Jan. 6 committee holds its final public meeting in a matter of hours — as sources say it’s preparing to recommend the first-ever criminal charges against a former president.
It’s cost the Wyoming Republican her political career to take on Trump, but she’s said she has no regrets — making the case she has a higher mission: to keep him from ever regaining the White House.
After voting to impeach Trump, and then accepting an invitation to serve on the select committee, she lost her No. 3 House GOP leadership position and ultimately, her congressional seat.
But in doing so, she also won unlikely supporters as she exposed what she called Trump’s seven-point plan to steal the election and admonished her Republican colleagues who, she said, lacked the courage to do the same.
Dec 19, 7:54 AM EST
Committee to release summary of final report
The Jan. 6 committee is expected to release an executive summary of its findings after Monday’s meeting concludes.
“Following the business meeting, the Select Committee is expected to release certain materials, including an executive summary of the report, details on referrals, and additional information about witnesses who have appeared before the committee,” a select committee aide said in a statement on Sunday.
Select committee members have not yet provided DOJ investigators with copies of the committee’s transcripts and witness interviews — with members opting to do so at the end of their investigation.
-ABC News’ Katherine Faulders
Dec 19, 7:43 AM EST
Committee expected to recommend criminal charges
Monday is the last public meeting of the Jan. 6 committee, with ABC News learning members are expected to recommend criminal charges be pursued against former President Donald Trump in connection with the Capitol attack nearly two years ago.
Sources familiar with the committee’s deliberations say the recommended charges will include conspiracy to defraud the United States and obstruction of an official proceeding. The committee also is considering recommending Trump be charged with insurrection.
Members have been working against the clock to try to finish their work before Republicans take control of the House in the new year.
Any decision about whether to bring any charges against the former president would be left to the Department of Justice. DOJ has been conducting its own parallel investigation into the events of Jan. 6 and isn’t obligated to act on congressional referrals.
Dave Mason is spending some more time on the road next year. The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer just announced dates for his 2023 Endangered Species Tour.
“At 76 years of age, I’m still loving performing live concerts,” he shares on Instagram. “I feel grateful for that, and to tell you the truth it surprises the hell out of me. I’ve been doing it for over 60 years and the love is still there.”
He adds, “I’m a ‘rare bird’, so to speak, sticking to the tour life and to music, and you’re invited to join me in 2023! No fireworks, no flashing lights, no go-go dancers, no special effects. Just great songs and a promise of a heart filled performance.”
The tour is set to kick off January 19 in Atlanta, Georgia, and wrap February 20 and 21 in Chicago, Illinois. Tickets are on sale now.
Following the tour, fans can look forward to Mason’s previously announced memoir, Only You Know and I Know, which is due for release in May.
(NEW YORK) — China is reporting its first deaths linked to COVID-19 in weeks as cases surge amid the country lifting many of its so-called “zero COVID” policies.
The deaths, which were reported on Monday by the National Health Commission and occurred in Beijing, are the first recorded since Dec. 4.
No information was available about the deaths including the names, ages, sex and vaccination status of the patients.
For most of the pandemic, China has implemented strict measures, including widespread lockdowns and mass testing in an attempt to prevent outbreaks.
But over the past few months, there have been large outcries and growing public resentment over the disruption to daily life, leading Beijing to ease some restrictions such as people being allowed to isolate at home and schools without known infections being able to resume classes.
However, a public health expert told ABC News a combination of under-vaccination and large swaths of unprotected vulnerable populations will lead to more deaths.
“What will happen with the new policy right now is most of the population in China will be infected by COVID,” said Dr. Ali Mokdad, an epidemiologist and chief strategy officer at the University of Washington Population Health Initiative. “In one way or another, they’ll be infected.”
According to the NHC, China has only recorded 5,237 COVID-19 deaths — much lower than the tolls reported by other Western countries — since the pandemic began, but experts agree this is likely an undercount. According to data from Johns Hopkins, China has had over 16,000 deaths since the pandemic started.
Mokdad said health officials only include those who died directly from COVID-19 in the official death count. Those with underlying medical conditions that were exacerbated by the virus or who incidentally tested positive for COVID are excluded.
However, he expects the number of deaths will rise over the next several weeks and months.
One mathematical model from the University of Washington’s Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation suggests there could be almost 323,000 total COVID-19 deaths in China by April 1 as a result of the shift in policy.
One reason deaths could rise is because of the lack of an effective vaccine.
In China, the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine has been administered since June 2021 when it received emergency use authorization. According to the World Health Organization, 87% of the population has been vaccinated, but the government says more than 90% are vaccinated according to China Daily, a state-run newspaper.
According to the WHO, the Sinovac vaccine is 100% effective against severe COVID-19. However, a Yale study found the two-dose regimen produced no neutralizing antibodies against the omicron variant.
Booster rates are also lagging with just 69.7% of those aged 60 and older as of Dec. 15 and 40% of those aged 80 and older are boosted as of early November, according to China Daily.
“Whatever China does, the simple fact they have a very susceptible population, a vaccine that’s not as effective against omicron, waning immunity and many of the elderly population not vaccinated, there will be lots of hospitalization and more deaths,” Mokdad said.
Another reason deaths could rise is because of under-vaccination and lack of exposure to the virus, due to lockdowns under the zero COVID policy, many people don’t have natural or vaccine-derived antibodies.
“They know nothing about COVID like you and I have been vaccinated or have gotten COVID-19 or both,” he said. “So, we’re not naive to cope with it and our body will remember it and then will mount a defense.”
He continued, “Many Chinese don’t have that luxury. And we are most concerned about the elderly, simply because they’re not vaccinated and the zero COVID policy protected them from infections in the past.”
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