(NEW YORK) — A federal judge in New York rejected for a second time on Wednesday former President Donald Trump’s attempt to have the United States government be substituted for him as a defendant in a defamation lawsuit by former Elle columnist E. Jean Carroll and refused to stop a deposition by Trump scheduled for next week.
“Completing those depositions — which already have been delayed for years — would impose no undue burden on Mr. Trump,” Judge Lewis Kaplan said. “The defendant should not be permitted to run the clock out on plaintiff’s attempt to gain a remedy for what allegedly was a serious wrong.”
Trump is scheduled to sit for a deposition Oct. 19.
“We are pleased that Judge Kaplan agreed with our position not to stay discovery in this case,” Carroll’s attorney, Roberta Kaplan, said.
Trump had asked to put the case on pause while a different court resolves a matter that could ultimately make it go away.
Trump claimed a decision last month by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that he was an employee of the federal government meant the United States could substitute for him as the defendant. The government cannot be sued for defamation.
Kaplan said Trump’s view was premature since the appellate court left open the question of whether Trump was acting within the scope of his employment when he denied Carroll’s rape claim and, allegedly, defamed her by degrading her appearance.
The 2nd Circuit asked the D.C. Court of Appeals, whose law governs the scope of conduct by government employees, to weigh in.
“How the question ultimately will be resolved remains unknown. In the meantime, substitution would be premature,” Kaplan said.
An attorney for Trump, Alina Habba, said in a statement, “We look forward to establishing on the record that this case is, and always has been, entirely without merit.”
(LONDON) — An American citizen has been killed fighting in Ukraine, a U.S. State Department spokesperson confirmed to ABC News on Wednesday.
The State Department spokesperson did not confirm the man’s identity, but the sister of Dane Partridge confirmed he was the victim. The State Department only verified that a U.S. citizen had recently been killed in the Donbas region of Ukraine.
ABC News spoke with Dane’s sister Jenny Partridge Corry by phone who confirmed the death.
ABC News’ Amantha Cherry contributed to this report.
(LONDON) — Ukraine’s nuclear energy company has accused Russia of “kidnapping” a top official at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant for the second time this month, amid growing concerns about the safety and security of the Russian-controlled facility.
Energoatom claimed that Russian forces kidnapped Valery Martynyuk, the deputy general director for human resources of the plant, on Monday and “are holding him in an unknown place.”
Earlier this month, Energoatom said that Russia had seized the director general of the plant, Ihor Murashov. He was released two days later and has not returned to the facility, officials said.
The Zaporizhzhia plant has been caught in the crossfire of the war nearly from the start. Shortly after invading neighboring Ukraine on Feb. 24, Russian troops stormed the plant, strategically located on the banks of the Dnipro River in the country’s southeast. Russian forces gained control of the plant, though it continues to be run by Ukrainian staff as it supplies electricity to the country.
Experts and workers have raised alarms about the potential for a catastrophic nuclear disaster as it continues to come under shelling, and staff have reported that the conditions can be intimidating and stressful.
The alleged kidnappings come amid renewed tensions at the plant and increased attacks on the Zaporizhzhia region, where the plant is located. Zaporizhzhia is one of the four regions where Russia held sham “referendums” to annex the territory in violation of international laws.
On Oct. 5, the same day Russian President Vladimir Putin signed laws claiming the annexation of the regions, the Kremlin announced plans for its own personnel to supervise operations of the Zaporizhzhia plant. Energoatom chief Petro Kotin rejected the plan and said Ukraine will continue to operate the plant.
The staff at the facility have faced “enormous pressure,” including recent demands to sign a new employment contract with the Russian nuclear company Rosatom while Energoatom urges them not to, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations nuclear watchdog.
With the latest incident, Energoatom claimed in a statement on Telegram that “the Russians are trying to get the much-needed information about the personal affairs of Zaporizhzhia NPP employees in order to force Ukrainian personnel to work at Rosatom as soon as possible,” accusing the Russians of torturing staff.
Kotin has previously said he believes that Russia intends to switch power to Russian-controlled areas. If Russia is able to switch the grid to Russian-controlled areas, Ukraine could also lose a significant source of power. In August, Kotin told ABC News that nuclear power generated at the Zaporizhzhya plant supplies around 20% of Ukraine’s energy.
In demanding the release of Murashov, Kotin called on Russia to “stop immediately the acts of nuclear terrorism towards the management and personnel.”
Russia has not publicly commented on the kidnapping allegations.
The IAEA, which has staff at the plant, has also not commented on the latest kidnapping allegations, though it said Murashov’s detention had “an immediate and serious impact on decision-making in ensuring the safety and security of the plant.”
The group has also raised concerns about the ability of the staff to “fulfill their safety and security duties and have the capacity to make decisions free of undue pressure.”
The staff has been “subjected to unacceptable pressure, carrying out their crucial work tasks under increasingly difficult conditions with potentially severe consequences for nuclear safety and security,” the IAEA said.
The leaders of the Group of Seven industrial powers condemned Russia’s actions at the plant “and the pressure exerted on the personnel of the facility” in a joint statement on Tuesday.
The conditions at the plant, which include reports of staff working at gunpoint, undermine morale and the safety of the facility, said Nickolas Roth, senior director of nuclear materials security for the Nuclear Threat Initiative.
“It’s essential that there’ll be strong leaders at Zaporizhzhia who are willing to prioritize the safety and security of the facility, and I worry that by essentially terrorizing the senior management of this facility, that that has been undermined,” he told ABC News.
Ongoing shelling near the facility has disrupted its power supply in recent days and weeks. The kidnapping reports only add to the challenging conditions at the plant, Roth said.
“We need to not just protect the physical facility itself — the reactors, the spent fuel pools, the off-site power lines — but we have to protect the people there, as well,” he said. “This is not sustainable. You can’t operate a nuclear facility safely under these conditions.”
The reported kidnappings come amid continued calls for a security protection zone around the Russian-occupied facility — the largest nuclear power plant in Europe.
Military attacks increase the risk of a nuclear accident if the plant’s external power lines are damaged, according to the IAEA.
“Now more than ever, during these extremely difficult times, a protection zone must be established around ZNPP,” Rafael Grossi, the IAEA’s director general, said in a statement Wednesday, as he met with Putin to discuss a demilitarized zone around the plant. “We can’t afford to lose more time. We must do everything in our power to help ensure that a nuclear accident does not happen during this tragic conflict.”
The Kremlin has repeatedly rejected any proposals to remove its troops, with a Russian Foreign Ministry official previously saying it would “make the plant even more vulnerable.”
(WASHINGTON) — A former member of the Oath Keepers militia group testified Wednesday about the large stash of weapons stored by the group at a hotel just outside Washington, D.C., during the Jan. 6, 2001, assault on the Capitol, as prosecutors provided more details on the group’s planning and private communications leading up to the attack.
“I had not seen that many weapons in one location since I was in the military,” said Terry Cummings, a former member of the group’s Florida chapter who was subpoenaed for his testimony and has not been charged or accused of wrongdoing in connection with Jan. 6.
Cummings testified that he traveled to D.C. with Oath Keeper Jason Dolan, one of three members of the group who earlier pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy, as well as with Oath Keeper Kenneth Harrelson, one of the five defendants — including Kelly Meggs, Jessica Watkins, Thomas Caldwell, and Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes — who are currently being tried on seditious conspiracy charges. All five have pleaded not guilty.
Cummings said he stored his AR-15 style weapon at the group’s so-called “QRF” or Quick Reaction Force hotel in Virginia, and showed members of the jury the weapon as well as a canister apparently filled with ammunition magazines.
Prosecutors have previously released photos showing Harrelson in the hotel rolling what appears to be at least one rifle case down a hallway.
They displayed another surveillance photo during Wednesday’s hearing showing Cummings with Harrelson in the hallway together.
Cummings testified that his intention of bringing his weapon was not for use in an “offensive situation” but rather in a “show of force,” as a means of deterring potential attacks. Defense attorneys for the Oath Keepers currently on trial have made similar arguments, noting that at no point were members of the QRF instructed to come into the city.
Cummings said that on the morning of Jan. 6 he traveled to the Ellipse in D.C. where the “Stop the Steal” rally was taking place. He said he was told that Meggs was in touch with the organizers of the rally, and that they were given passes to the rally’s VIP area. He said he and other Oath Keepers then met with a VIP who they were supposed to escort to the Capitol — a Hispanic woman whose name he didn’t recall.
Cummings testified that the group left before Trump’s speech ended and began walking to the Capitol — at which point Meggs received word the Capitol had been “breached.”
Cummings said that when they got to the Capitol, it was like nothing he had ever seen. He said that when he heard Meggs suggest they go into the Capitol building, he didn’t think it was a good idea.
“My understanding was that Congress was in session, and I knew the vice president was going to be there, and I personally I didn’t think it was a good idea to enter,” Cummings testified.
On cross-examination from Rhodes’ attorney, Cummings testified that he was never part of a conversation in the days leading up to the attack or on Jan. 6 in which people discussed plans to storm the Capitol building. Rhodes’ attorney stressed to the jury that when the group was told during their walk to the Capitol that the building had been breached, no members began running to join the riot or otherwise discussed plans to enter the building.
Prosecutors, meanwhile, introduced texts and private messages between Rhodes and several of the Oath Keepers who have already pleaded guilty in connection with the case, including Dolan, Brian Ulrich and Joshua James.
In one message from Dec. 5, Ulrich wrote, “I seriously wonder what it would take just to get every patriot marching around the Capitol armed just to show our government how powerful they are.”
On Dec. 14, Rhodes texted a group of Georgia Oath Keepers, “Things are in the works. That’s all I can say, I am still in DC for a reason. Yes, take that as a big hint.”
He then added, “I have to try to get Trump the message on the necessity of him waging a war on the enemy NOW while he is still President and Commander in Chief.”
One day later, according to records, Rhodes told the group he passed a message to Trump “through one contact” and was working with others.
According to the messages, the group began discussing traveling to D.C. for Jan. 6 as early as Dec. 20, one day after Trump’s tweeted that Jan. 6 “Will be wild.”
The trial could last until mid-November, D.C. district judge Amit Mehta said.
(LOS ANGELES) — Former Los Angeles City Council President Nury Martinez announced Wednesday she has resigned her seat, amid demands for her to step down after a recording emerged of her making racist and offensive comments about fellow council members.
In a lengthy statement, Martinez, who served on the council for the past nine years, thanked her staff, saying, “I’m sorry that we’re ending it this way. This is no reflection on you. I know you all will continue to do great work and fight for our district. I’ll be cheering you on.”
“While I take the time to look inwards and reflect, I ask that you give me space and privacy,” she said.
The resignation comes hours after the Los Angeles City Council adjourned its meeting before even starting after protesters demanded the resignations of Martinez and two other council members on the recording.
Protesters chanting in the LA City Council’s chambers caused repeated delays to the start of the meeting, chanting “no resignation, no meeting” and “step down or we shut down.”
A recording posted anonymously to Reddit over the weekend captured Martinez making allegedly racist and offensive comments about a fellow council member’s son. Two other city council members were also on the recording, with protesters calling on them to resign, as well.
The three council members on the recording were not in the chamber Wednesday, according to President Pro Tempore Mitch O’Farrell.
“For Los Angeles to heal, and for its City Council to govern, there must be accountability. The resignation of Councilmember Nury Martinez is the first, necessary step in that process,” O’Farrell said in a statement, while calling on the two other council members implicated in the scandal to resign, as well.
“There is no other way forward,” he said.
Martinez resigned from her role as city council president on Monday, but remained a member of the council. On Tuesday, she announced she was taking a leave of absence from her position.
O’Farrell tried to quiet protesters several times on Wednesday, even saying the council would open the floor for public comments, but protests continued. O’Farrell called two recesses at the beginning of the meeting to quiet protesters, without success. The meeting was scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. and was adjourned just over an hour later after the council was unable to conduct any business.
Protesters could be heard criticizing members of the council who were in the chamber for trying to continue the meeting.
In a recording of three Latino city council members, Martinez allegedly referred to white council member Mike Bonin’s son, who is Black, as an “accessory.” The recording was first posted to Reddit and later deleted. The Los Angeles Times reviewed the recording and confirmed it was authentic.
ABC News has not independently confirmed the authenticity of the recording.
In the recording, Martinez allegedly said Bonin’s young son behaved “parece changuito,” or “like a monkey.” In a statements released on Monday and Tuesday, Martinez apologized to her colleagues, Bonin and his family.
Bonin appeared at the beginning of the meeting via video call, telling the council he tested positive for COVID-19 and would be appearing remotely.
Protesters gathered at City Hall on Tuesday, calling for Martinez and the city council members in the recording to resign from their positions. protesters even made their way into the chamber where a council meeting was being held, disrupting it from starting while chanting “resign now” and “not one more day.”
Bonin condemned the statements and called for Martinez and the two other city council members allegedly speaking with her on the recording — Kevin de León and Gil Cedillo — to resign.
The California Department of Justice announced it was launching an investigation into the Los Angeles City Council redistricting process on Wednesday as well. The recording that captured the racist comments was made while the three were discussing redistricting, offering a rare look into the bitterness surrounding those decisions.
“The leaked audio has cast doubt on a cornerstone of our political processes for Los Angeles,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement. “Given these unique circumstances, my office will investigate to gather the facts, work to determine the truth, and take action, as necessary, to ensure the fair application of our laws. We will endeavor to bring the truth to light as part of the sorely-needed work to restore confidence in the redistricting process for the people of our state.”
On Tuesday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said President Joe Biden was “glad to see” Martinez’s resignation, and added that all participants in the conversation “should resign.”
Jean-Pierre did not appear to recognize that Martinez only resigned as president of the council, not as a member.
“The president is glad to see that one of the participants in that conversation has resigned but they all should,” Jean-Pierre said. “He believes that they all should resign. The language that was used and tolerated during that conversation was unacceptable, and it was appalling.”
ABC News’ Sarah Kolinovsky contributed to this report.
Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness has premiered a new single called “Skywriting.”
“Creating for a living, you want every song to be your biggest, every lyric to be your best, but in the end, it takes time to know whether or not what you’ve made will outlast you or at least the moment of its creation,” McMahon says. “When I think about the act of skywriting it really is a perfect metaphor, not just for creating but for living. It’s a big gesture to own a place in the clouds even if it’s just for a moment.”
You can listen to “Skywriting,” which was co-written by K.Flay, now via digital outlets.
“Skywriting” follows the single “Stars,” which was released in August. The most recent Wilderness album is 2018’s Upside Down Flowers.
In addition to working on new Wilderness material, McMahon got back together with his band Something Corporate for a surprise show in September. The Something Corporate reunion will continue with a set at the 2023 When We Were Young festival.
In addition to spreading the word of rock, AC/DC will soon be providing another educational service.
The Australian company Love Police Books has announced a new children’s book using the “Back in Black” rockers to teach the alphabet.
Titled The AC/DC AB/CD High-Voltage Alphabet, the book introduces each letter with an AC/DC-themed cartoon and a short poem, such as, “A is for Angus, who thinks it’s good luck, to wear a school uniform, and walk like a duck.”
High-Voltage Alphabet will be released November 11 and is available to preorder now.
If you’re looking for an AC/DC book aimed at an older demographic, frontman Brian Johnson is releasing his memoir, The Lives of Brian: AC/DC, Me, and the Making of Back in Black, on October 25.
In other AC/DC news, the Royal Australian Mint has announced a new series of coins commemorating the band’s 50th anniversary. Brothers Angus and Malcolm Young founded AC/DC in Sydney in 1973.
(NEW YORK) — Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Davante Adams has been charged with misdemeanor assault for shoving a freelance photographer working for “Monday Night Football” while walking off the field after losing the game to the Kansas City Chiefs.
According to a police report filed with the Kansas City Police Department, the TV crew member had to go to the hospital after Adams allegedly shoved him while the star receiver was on his way to the locker room after the loss. Video of the incident has been widely shared on social media.
If convicted, Adams could face up to 15 days in prison and a $750 fine.
Ryan Zebley, who was working as a photographer for ESPN, was pushed by Adams as he walked toward the tunnel to the locker room following the Raiders’ 30-29 loss. Zebley suffered whiplash and a headache after being pushed down, according to the police report, which also says he suffered a “possible minor concussion.”
Adams is scheduled to appear in court for the assault charge on Thursday, Nov. 10, four days after the Raiders play the Jaguars.
The NFL is reviewing the incident for a possible league punishment, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
The receiver, who was traded from Green Bay to Las Vegas in the offseason, apologized for the shove at his locker after the game.
“I want to apologize to the guy, there was some guy running off the field, and he ran, like jumped in front of me coming off the field, and I bumped into him, kind of pushed him, and he ended up on the ground,” Adams told reporters. “So I wanted to say sorry to him for that because that was just frustration mixed with him literally just running in front of me. I shouldn’t have responded that way, but that’s how I initially responded. So, I want to apologize to him for that.”
Adams and fellow Raiders receiver Hunter Renfrow ran into each other on fourth down as a pass sailed over their heads on the Raiders’ final play of the loss. Adams slammed his helmet on the ground after walking to the sideline.
The Raiders are 1-4 on the season.
Adams signed a five-year, $140 million contract with the Raiders after being traded to the team in March.
(WASHINGTON) — Pennsylvania is unlikely to have results on election night this November, the state’s top election official said Tuesday, because of a law limiting when mail votes can be processed.
That means voters may again have to wait to learn who wins key races in the battleground state, where the vote count in 2020’s presidential election lasted for days.
“We must again ask for patience,” Leigh Chapman, Pennsylvania’s acting secretary of state, told reporters over Zoom.
“Official results will be available within a few days,” she said, predicting that unofficial results also wouldn’t be available on Nov. 8. “This delay does not mean anything nefarious is happening. It simply means that the process is working as it is designed to work in Pennsylvania and that election officials are doing their job to count every vote.”
Chapman attributed the expected delay to the state’s General Assembly deciding not to pass legislation allowing counties to begin processing mail-in ballots before Election Day.
As it stands, processing cannot begin until 7 a.m. that day.
News organizations often declare a winner before an official count is issued, based on a detailed analysis of the partial results. But in the 2020 presidential race, it still took four days for ABC News to call Pennsylvania for Joe Biden, a reflection both of how thin the margins tend to be in the longtime purple state and the increased use of mail ballots.
In another election season change, the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday vacated an appellate judge’s ruling that had required Pennsylvania counties to count undated ballots, though state rules require voters to date their mail-in envelopes.
But Chapman is still allowing undated ballots to be counted, saying in a statement issued Tuesday afternoon that the Supreme Court ruling “was not based on the merits of the issue and does not affect the prior decision of the Commonwealth Court in any way.”
According to Chapman, more than one million mail-in ballots have been requested, with roughly 5% having been returned. An overwhelming majority of voters requesting mail-in ballots are Democrats, she said. During the last midterm elections, in 2018, roughly 5 million total Pennsylvanians voted.
The state is taking a stronger stance on voter intimidation, Chapman told reporters, and will require county officials to report any intimidation that occurs at drop boxes. The boxes have been baselessly criticized by some Republicans for fostering fraud.
Chapman cited instances in which sheriff’s deputies in Berks County have asked voters at drop boxes if they are returning their own ballot or someone else’s (Pennsylvania law forbids people to return another person’s ballot except in certain circumstances).
“My concern is that when there is law enforcement present, when there is questioning of voters at drop boxes, there could be potential for voter intimidation,” she said. “A lot of voters might not even decide to show up and return their ballot because of that concern.”
Asked whether she worries that Doug Mastriano — the Republican gubernatorial candidate who led the effort to challenge Pennsylvania’s election results in 2020 and has organized a vast poll watcher recruitment effort this fall — may leverage this year’s expected vote count delay to question the results of his own race, Chapman declined to say.
“I don’t comment on what one candidate says or does,” she said, “but my job is to ensure that every eligible voter in Pennsylvania is registered to vote, can cast their ballot and have it counted.”
TJ Miller and Gina Carano in “Deadpool” – 20th Century Films
TJ Miller, who played Weasel in the first two Deadpool movies, admits he found himself “in hot water” after recent comments he made about co-star Ryan Reynolds “were misconstrued.”
Miller appeared on SiriusXM’s Jim Norton & Sam Roberts show on Wednesday to clarify comments he’d previously made on the Adam Carolla Show podcast — and to say Reynolds reached out to him to smooth things over.
On the latter program, Miller was quoted as calling Reynolds an “insecure dude” and talked about a “horrifically mean” comment Reynolds’ Deadpool had made about Miller’s character in the film.
He also said Reynolds “hates me” and vowed he wouldn’t work with him again.
However, a “disappointed” Miller on Wednesday struck a different tone, explaining to Norton and Roberts that the whole thing was a misunderstanding.
“In India they were talking about it!” Miller said of the Carolla Show comments. “I wasn’t saying anything negative. He is so funny, which I always maintained, and he’s so amazing in those movies … I said all those complementary things, and none of that shows up.”
He called the negative headlines “clickbait.”
“I feel bad that it was picked up and it was misconstrued,” Miller said. “I just have a thing … where I say something, and not thinking about what the repercussions of saying this or that would be.”
Miller said after the headlines came out, “It was really cool. [Ryan] emailed me the next day … and I emailed him back, and we’re fine,” Miller said. “He’s a good dude,” he clarified.
Miller is no stranger to controversy: He denied accusations of sexual assault in 2017 and in 2018 allegedly called in a bomb threat on a woman who reportedly rebuffed him on an Amtrak train. He later blamed the incident on a manic episode.
