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Representative Henry Cuellar, Democrat of Texas, and his wife were charged with participating in a yearslong $600,000 bribery scheme involving Azerbaijan and a Mexican bank, according to a federal indictment unsealed in Houston on Friday. Mr. Cuellar, 68, and his wife Imelda, 67, are accused of bribery and money laundering in connection with their efforts on behalf of a bank based in Mexico City and an energy company owned by Azerbaijan, according to the 54-page complaint. Mr. Cuellar is also accused of acting as an agent of a foreign entity while serving as a U.S. government official. Payments made from 2014 to 2021 were laundered through “sham consulting contracts,” front companies and shell companies owned by Mrs. Cuellar, who performed “little to no legitimate work” under the contracts, lawyers with the Justice Department’s criminal division wrote.

Persons: Henry Cuellar, Mr, Cuellar, Imelda, . Cuellar Organizations: Justice Locations: Texas, Azerbaijan, Mexican, Houston, Mexico City, U.S

☆ Exclusive: DOJ civil rights leader says she was a victim of abuse in extraordinary statement
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-01 | by ( Hannah Rabinowitz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —The leader of the Justice Department’s civil rights division, Kristen Clarke, said in an extraordinary personal statement shared with CNN that she was a victim of years-long domestic abuse and chose not to disclose an expunged arrest record from that period during the Senate confirmation process. “Nearly 2 decades ago, I was subjected to years-long abuse and domestic violence at the hands of my ex-husband,” Clarke wrote in the statement on Wednesday. “This was a terrorizing and traumatizing period that I have sought to put behind me to promote my personal health, healing and well-being. “When given the option to speak about such traumatic incidents in my life, I have chosen not to,” Clarke wrote. Clarke said she has brought her “personal experience and perspective of being a survivor of domestic violence” to her work.

Persons: Kristen Clarke, “, ” Clarke, Republican Sen, Tom Cotton, Clarke, ” Sen, Mike Lee, ”, CNN’s Devan Cole Organizations: CNN, Justice, Republican, The Daily, Utah Republican Locations: Utah

☆ Collusion in Health Care Pricing? Regulators Are Asked to Investigate
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-01 | by ( Chris Hamby | More About Chris Hamby | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Recent revelations about a data analytics firm’s role in determining medical payments have heightened concerns about possible price fixing in health care and led to a call for a federal investigation. In a letter this week, Senator Amy Klobuchar asked federal regulators to examine whether algorithms used by the firm, MultiPlan, have helped major health insurers conspire to cut payments to doctors and leave patients with large bills. She cited a New York Times investigation last month into MultiPlan’s dominance of the lucrative business of pricing out-of-network medical claims. When patients see a medical provider outside their plan’s network, insurers often send their claims to MultiPlan, which uses proprietary algorithms to recommend how much to pay. By driving down payments to providers, MultiPlan and the insurers can collect higher fees for themselves, The Times reported, but this can lead to higher bills for patients, who may get charged the unpaid balance.

Persons: Amy Klobuchar, ” Ms, Klobuchar Organizations: New York Times, Federal Trade Commission, Times

☆ Binance Founder Sentenced to Four Months in Prison
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-30 | by ( David Yaffe-Bellany | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Changpeng Zhao, the billionaire founder of the giant cryptocurrency exchange Binance, was sentenced to four months in prison on Tuesday, a much shorter term than prosecutors had demanded after he pleaded guilty to money laundering violations last year. Prosecutors had asked for three years in prison while Mr. Zhao’s defense lawyers had requested probation without any prison time. In March, Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the collapsed FTX exchange and Mr. Zhao’s onetime business rival, was sentenced to 25 years in prison for fraud. Not long ago, Mr. Zhao and Mr. Bankman-Fried stood atop the multitrillion-dollar crypto industry. But it also faced investigations by several U.S. agencies into whether Mr. Zhao had broken the law to build his empire.

Persons: Changpeng Zhao, Prosecutors, Justice Department’s, Sam Bankman, Zhao’s, Zhao, Fried, Binance Organizations: Justice

☆ Live Updates: Supreme Court Hears Trump’s Claim to ‘Absolute Immunity’
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-25 | by ( Adam Liptak | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

Political appointees in the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel have declared that the Constitution implicitly establishes immunity for sitting presidents. But political appointees in the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, whose interpretations are binding on the executive branch, have declared that the Constitution implicitly establishes such immunity. (That same month, Mr. Nixon had Mr. Cox fired in the so-called Saturday Night Massacre. Amid a political backlash, Mr. Nixon was forced to allow a new special counsel, Leon Jaworski, to resume the investigation.) Mr. Starr later said that he had concluded that he could indict Mr. Clinton.

Persons: Donald J, Robert G, Dixon Jr, Dixon, Richard M, Nixon, Archibald Cox, Nixon’s, Robert H, Bork, Cox, Leon Jaworski, Bill Clinton, Kenneth Starr, Monica Lewinsky, Randolph D, Moss, Department’s, Jaworski, Mr, Ronald Rotunda, Starr, Clinton, ”, Rotunda, ” Mr, Starr —, — Organizations: Justice Department’s, White, Justice Department, Justice Locations: Whitewater, “

☆ Takeaways from the Supreme Court’s oral arguments over emergency abortions
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-24 | by ( Tierney Sneed | John Fritze | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

The court’s far-right wing, perhaps in an attempt to keep those two justices on their side, framed the case as a federal overreach into state power. Turner, Idaho’s attorney, shot back that mental health could essentially open a loophole. Conservatives have long opposed allowing exceptions to strict abortion bans for mental health. Justice Samuel Alito, a fellow conservative, picked up on that same theme, repeatedly pressing Prelogar to explain whether the Justice Department views mental health as a way around Idaho’s abortion ban. That is exactly the kind of political influence that the Supreme Court, especially under Roberts, has generally tried to avoid.

Persons: Biden, Elizabeth Prelogar, Roe, Wade, Brett Kavanaugh, John Roberts, Amy Coney Barrett, Prelogar, ” Prelogar, “, Roberts, Barrett –, Barrett, teed, Joshua Turner, Sonia Sotomayor, Turner, Elena Kagan, ’, Alito, CNN Sotomayor, ”, Clarence Thomas, EMTALA, Neil Gorsuch, ‘, Samuel Alito, ” Alito, –, Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Trump, – Gorsuch, Kavanaugh Organizations: CNN, Justice, Labor, Liberal, Republican, Supreme, Department, Wade, Idaho, energizing Democratic, Food and Drug Administration, GOP Locations: Idaho, Wisconsin

☆ Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar again in the spotlight fighting the conservative Supreme Court on abortion
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-24 | by ( Tierney Sneed | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —For the fourth time since she became the federal government’s top Supreme Court advocate, Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar is arguing an abortion-related case. When Prelogar argues before the Supreme Court, she is arguing in front of several alumni of the US Office of the Solicitor General. She also clerked for her current boss, Attorney General Merrick Garland, when he was a DC Circuit judge, before her Supreme Court clerkships. She went on to litigate Supreme Court cases for private firms and worked on special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. Likewise, the abortion case Prelogar argued last month could have significant consequences for federal power.

Persons: Elizabeth Prelogar, Prelogar, Department’s, Biden, ”, Stephanie Toti, she’s, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Elena Kagan, Kagan, Obama, John Roberts, George H.W, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, Roe, ” Prelogar, General Merrick Garland, Robert Mueller’s, Beth Brinkmann, Clinton, Brinkmann, Prelogar’s, Court’s Roe, Wade, –, Roberts, Gorsuch, Amy Coney Barrett, ” Toti, “ That’s Organizations: CNN, Miss Idaho, NPR, Emory University, Harvard Law School, DC Circuit, litigate, The Justice Department, Idaho, Labor, Center for Reproductive Rights, Food and Drug Administration, Justice Department, Republican Locations: Bush, Texas, ” An Idaho, Idaho

☆ Judge rejects efforts by Trump’s co-defendants to get obstruction charges tossed in classified documents case
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-18 | by ( Tierney Sneed | Hannah Rabinowitz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Special counsel Jack Smith’s obstruction case in the classified documents prosecution survived an early test, with a federal judge on Thursday denying several bids by Donald Trump’s co-defendants to dismiss charges against them. Judge Aileen Cannon rejected efforts by Trump’s co-defendants Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira to toss obstruction charges they faced. Nauta works as Trump’s personal valet, and De Oliveira has worked as property manager at Trump’s Florida Mar-a-Lago estate. The Florida judge still has yet to decide several motions by Trump to toss charges against him in connection with allegedly mishandling classified documents and attempting to thwart the Justice Department’s investigation. Attorneys for De Oliveira argued that the obstruction charges he faced should be dismissed because he was not aware of the grand jury subpoenas issued for classified documents kept at Mar-a-Lago when he allegedly moved boxes around the resort.

Persons: Jack Smith’s, Donald Trump’s, Aileen Cannon, Trump’s, Walt Nauta, Carlos De Oliveira, De Oliveira, Trump, Department’s, Cannon, Nauta’s, De Organizations: CNN, Florida, Mar, Trump Locations: Lago, Florida

☆ No Bias Found in F.B.I. Report on Catholic Extremists
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-18 | by ( Glenn Thrush | Adam Goldman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A memo by the F.B.I. warning of possible threats posed by “radical-traditionalist” Catholics violated professional standards but showed “no evidence of malicious intent,” according to an internal Justice Department inquiry made public on Thursday. Republicans have seized on the 11-page memo, which was leaked early last year, as a talking point. They have pointed to the document to sharply criticize the bureau and suggested, without evidence, that it was part of a broader campaign by the Biden administration to persecute Catholics and conservatives over their beliefs. The memo was quickly withdrawn after being leaked, and top law enforcement officials have repeatedly distanced themselves from it.

Persons: “, Biden Organizations: Department, Republicans, Justice Locations: Richmond , Va

☆ Election Updates: Biden keeps up Pennsylvania blitz as Trump’s trial resumes in New York.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-18 | by ( Chris Cameron | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +6 min

Among the relatives of Mr. Kennedy expected to back Mr. Biden are his siblings Joseph, Kerry, Rory, Kathleen, Maxwell and Christopher. Responding to the move by his family members, Mr. Kennedy refrained from criticizing them. His campaign also fired a consultant who had suggested that supporting Mr. Kennedy would help Mr. Trump defeat Mr. Biden. He posted on social media last month that Mr. Kennedy was more “radical Left” than Mr. Biden, casting him as a liberal Democrat in disguise. Just as President Biden does today.”After Mr. Biden speaks, Kennedy family members will make calls to voters and knock on doors, the Biden campaign said.

Persons: Kennedy, Biden, Robert F, Kennedy Jr, Biden’s, Mr, Joseph, Kerry, Rory, Kathleen, Maxwell, Christopher, Kerry Kennedy, Joe Kennedy III, Kennedy’s, Donald J, Trump, John Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, Ted Kennedy, ” Kerry Kennedy, ABC’s, “, ”, Lincoln, Patrick’s, ” Mr, John F, Trump’s, Cornel West, —, Donald, “ Daddy Organizations: Democratic, Biden, White, St, Democratic Party, Green Party, Democrats, Capitol Locations: Philadelphia, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, United States

The high court’s ruling could also affect the federal election subversion criminal case pending against former President Donald Trump, who was also charged with the obstruction crime. The law, Justice Elena Kagan said, could have been written by Congress to limit its prohibition to evidence tampering. Unless the court rules broadly in a way that undermines the charge entirely, the case against Trump may still stick even if Fischer wins his case. The Fischer case has prompted some liberal critics of the court to demand that Thomas recuse himself. “There have been many violent protests that have interfered with proceedings,” Thomas asked Prelogar, pressing on a theme he returned to repeatedly during the arguments.

Persons: Critics, ”, Donald Trump, Joseph Fischer, Trump, “, Fischer, Brett Kavanaugh, Elizabeth Prelogar, John Roberts, ’ ” Roberts, it’s, Prelogar, Kavanaugh, ‘, ” Prelogar, Neil Gorsuch, Jamaal Bowman, Bowman, Samuel Alito, ” Alito, rioter, Elena Kagan, ” Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, Ketanji Brown Jackson, Jeffrey Green, Jackson, Jack Smith, Department’s, Smith, Clarence Thomas, Thomas, That’s, Thomas ’, Ginni Thomas, ” Thomas, “ I’m Organizations: CNN, Justice Department, Justice, Capitol, Court, Department, Riot, ”, New York Democrat, House, Hamas, Trump Locations: Pennsylvania, Gaza, Virginia, DC, Colorado, ”

☆ WSJ: Justice Department will sue Live Nation for antitrust violations
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-16 | by ( Jordan Valinsky | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN —The US Department of Justice is preparing to sue the country’s largest concert promoter and ticketing website Live Nation in the coming weeks for breaking America’s antitrust laws, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing anonymous sources familiar with the Justice Department’s plans. The lawsuit against Live Nation Entertainment, the parent company of Ticketmaster, will allege the ticketing company used its market-leading position to harm competition for live events, the Journal reported. Shares of Live Nation (LYV) dropped nearly 7% in premarket trading Tuesday. Live Nation and the Justice Department didn’t respond to CNN’s request for comment about the Journal’s report. Live Nation and Ticketmaster merged in 2010, now billing itself as the “largest live entertainment company in the world.”

Persons: Department’s, Justice Department didn’t, Taylor Swift’s, Swift, Joe Berchtold, ”, Jack Groetzinger, SeatGeek Organizations: New, New York CNN, US Department of Justice, Wall Street Journal, Live Nation Entertainment, Ticketmaster, Justice Department, Live, Republicans, Rivals Locations: New York, United States

☆ US transfers thousands of seized Iranian guns, rocket launchers and munitions to Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-09 | by ( Natasha Bertrand | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —The US transferred thousands of machine guns, sniper rifles, rocket launchers and hundreds of thousands of rounds of ammunition seized from Iran to Ukraine last week, US Central Command announced on Tuesday. CENTCOM said the materiel transferred to Ukraine is enough to equip one Ukrainian brigade — around 4,000 personnel — with small-arms rifles. It is not the first time the US has transferred seized Iranian military equipment to the Ukrainians. The US transferred over one million rounds of seized Iranian ammunition to the Ukrainian armed forces in October, CNN previously reported. For the last year, the Biden administration has been working to legally send the seized weapons, which are stored in CENTCOM facilities across the Middle East, to the Ukrainians.

Persons: CENTCOM, ” CENTCOM, Biden Organizations: CNN, US Central Command, Russia, Congress, Justice, Iranian, US Navy Locations: Iran, Ukraine, Ukrainian, Yemen

☆ Justice Department Says It Will Reopen Inquiry Into Realtor Trade Group
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-05 | by ( Debra Kamin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Justice Department will reopen an antitrust investigation into the National Association of Realtors, an influential trade group that has held sway over the residential real estate industry for decades. The investigation will focus on whether the group’s rules inflate the cost of selling a home. about broker commissions and how real estate listings are marketed. Pending federal court approval, N.A.R. will pay $418 million in damages and will significantly change its rules on agent commissions and the databases, overseen by N.A.R.

Organizations: Department, National Association of Realtors, U.S ., Appeals, District of Columbia, N.A.R

☆ Another man who threatened then-Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs sentenced to prison
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-25 | by ( Holmes Lybrand | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —A man who made threats against then-Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs in 2022 was sentenced to two and a half years in prison on Monday, Justice Department officials announced during a news conference on threats to state election workers. The announcement comes less than two weeks after a separate individual was sentenced to three and a half years for making a bomb threat against Hobbs in 2021. Hobbs, a Democrat, is now governor of Arizona. “The right to vote, which is the cornerstone of our democracy, relies on the ability of election workers and election officials to perform their duties without fearing for their lives. The Justice Department will continue to aggressively investigate and prosecute those who threaten these public servants.”

Persons: Katie Hobbs, Joshua Russell, Hobbs, ”, John Keller, –, “, Arizona Gary Restaino, General Merrick Garland Organizations: CNN, Justice Department, Democrat, Force, ”, Department Locations: Arizona, Ohio

These are accusations that the Justice Department leveled against a technology giant it accused of running an illegal monopoly. But they aren’t from this week’s antitrust lawsuit against Apple — they’re from the case the department brought against Microsoft in 1998. And federal prosecutors are explicitly connecting the Apple lawsuit to that earlier fight. “They’re really presenting this case as a successor to that: Microsoft 2.0,” said Gus Hurwitz, a senior fellow at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School. And it isn’t clear whether the Justice Department will be able to achieve here what it claims to have done by suing Microsoft.

Persons: Apple —, Department’s, Clinton, “ They’re, ”, Gus Hurwitz Organizations: Justice Department, Apple, Microsoft, Google, University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School

Judge Aileen Cannon, who is overseeing the case, has set apart an entire day to hear arguments on whether the prosecution should be thrown out on the basis of Trump’s claims about his presidential classification powers. Trump is facing dozens of charges related to his alleged mishandling of classified documents, and for obstructing the Justice Department’s investigation. As president, defense attorneys argue, Trump was the chief classification officer and could mark any documents as “personal” and legally take those documents with him when he left office. Their arguments cite the Presidential Records Act, the federal law that governs how documents from an outgoing presidential administration are handled. The PRA says the moment a president leaves office, the National Archives and Records Administration gets custody and control of all presidential records from their administration.

Persons: Donald Trump, Jack Smith, Trump, Aileen Cannon, Cannon, –, Joe Biden’s, Department’s, I’m, “ Organizations: CNN, FBI, Records, National Archives, Records Administration, Presidential Records, Trump

☆ Man who made bomb threat against Arizona election official gets 3.5 years in prison
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-13 | by ( Afia Barrie | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —A man who sent a bomb threat in 2021 to Katie Hobbs, then-Arizona’s secretary of state and now Democratic governor, has been sentenced to three and a half years in prison. James Clark of Falmouth, Massachusetts, pleaded guilty in August 2023 to one count of making a threatening interstate communication after being indicted the previous summer on three counts, including making a bomb threat, the Justice Department announced. “Those using illegal threats of violence to intimidate election workers should know that the Justice Department will find you and hold you accountable under the law,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement. Following Clark’s threats, law enforcement said they conducted partial evacuations and bomb sweeps of the Arizona secretary of state’s office as well as Hobbs’s home and car. The case was brought by the Justice Department’s election threats task force, which was established in June 2021 to address threats of violence against election workers.

Persons: Katie Hobbs, James Clark of, General Merrick Garland, Clark, ”, Hobbs Organizations: CNN, Democratic, Justice Department, DOJ, Boston Marathon Locations: James Clark of Falmouth , Massachusetts, Arizona

I ended up loading all the luggage I had – and he had a bunch of boxes,” Butler said of Nauta. But I also have a bad feeling that what I’m saying is getting him into trouble,” Butler told CNN. Given his long history at Trump’s club, Butler shed light on potentially critical instances related to the disclosure of classified information. De Oliveira hung up the phone, happily, and told Butler that Trump would provide him an attorney, Butler says. I think we went to sit down,” Butler told CNN.

Persons: Kaitlan Collins, CNN —, Donald Trump’s, Brian Butler, “, Jack Smith, Butler, Trump, Walt Nauta, Carlos De Oliveira, Lago, Donald Trump, CNN Butler, Nauta, De Oliveira, didn’t, ‘, ” Butler, Department’s, he’s, John Irving, Florida Butler, MAGA, Trump’s, ’, I’m, De Oliveria, Brian Butler's, Jeffrey Sloman, De Oliveira nudging, Anthony Pratt, Pratt, there’s, There’s De Oliveira, Melania Trump, putts De Oliveira, Taylor Swift, De, “ Carlos, pats, Butler “, Carlos, ‘ He’s, ’ ” Butler Organizations: CNN, “ Trump, Trump, Mar, Justice Department, West Palm Beach, Palm Beach, CNN The Florida, FBI, Southern, Southern District of, Smith’s, Prosecutors Locations: Mar, Palm Beach , Florida, Trump, New Jersey, Nauta, Palm Beach, Lago, West Palm, Florida, Palm, South Florida, Southern District, Southern District of Florida, Russian, Butler

☆ Here’s what to know about the Mar-a-Lago documents case
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-11 | by ( Devan Cole | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

The classified documents case is one of four criminal cases Trump is facing, although it’s unclear when it will go to trial. The case centers around Trump’s handling of classified documents after his presidency and his resistance to the government’s attempts to retrieve the materials he took to Mar-a-Lago from the White House. Part of Trump’s strategy in his federal criminal cases has included attempting to delay trials until after the election. Meanwhile, Trump is attempting to get the entire documents case tossed out. That case is currently on hold as the Supreme Court weighs Trump’s claims of presidential immunity in the matter.

Persons: Washington CNN —, Donald Trump’s, – “, –, Trump, Walt Nauta, Carlos de Oliveira, Jack Smith, Nauta, Weeks, Smith, de Oliveira, Aileen Cannon, Cannon Organizations: Washington CNN, – “ Trump, CNN, Mar, National Archives, White, Trump, DOJ, Presidential, Prosecutors Locations: Mar, Lago, Georgia, Atlanta, New York

☆ US has spent about $20 million to maintain superyacht seized from a Russian oligarch
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-06 | by ( Kara Scannell | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —The US government is spending nearly $1 million a month to maintain a luxury superyacht seized from a sanctioned Russian oligarch as part of the Justice Department’s effort to put pressure on the Kremlin. The superyacht was seized while docked in a port in Fiji in 2022 by local law enforcement officials and the FBI. Now, federal prosecutors have asked a judge for permission to sell the vessel saying its expenses are excessive and has cost the government about $20 million, according to recent court filings. The monthly costs total roughly $600,000 to maintain the yacht, plus $144,000 in insurance, according to court records. Maintaining the Amadea is certainly expensive, and Claimants never intended for U.S. taxpayers to shoulder that burden.

Persons: Suleiman Kerimov, Eduard Khudainatov, they’ve “ Organizations: CNN, Kremlin, FBI, US Marshals Service, Millemarin Investments, ” Prosecutors Locations: Russian, Fiji, San Diego

☆ Man charged with smuggling greenhouse gases from Mexico into US in first-of-a-kind prosecution
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-05 | by ( Laura Paddison | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —A California man was arrested and charged Monday with allegedly smuggling potent, planet-heating greenhouse gases from Mexico, marking the first such prosecution in the US, according to a statement from the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California. He is then alleged to have sold them for a profit on sites including Facebook Marketplace and OfferUp. These greenhouse gases are short-lived in the atmosphere, but powerful — some are thousands of times more potent than carbon dioxide in the near-term. “The illegal smuggling of hydrofluorocarbons, a highly potent greenhouse gas, undermines international efforts to combat climate change,” said David M. Uhlmann, the assistant administrator for the EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. In 2016, nearly 200 nations including the US agreed to the Kigali Amendment to reduce planet-heating pollution from these greenhouse gases.

Persons: Michael Hart, Hart, Todd Kim, HFCs, ”, David M, Tara McGrath, ” Hart Organizations: CNN, US, Office, Southern, Southern District of, Facebook, Justice Department’s, Natural Resources, Environmental Protection Agency, EPA’s, UN Environment, AC, Department of Justice Locations: California, Mexico, Southern District, Southern District of California, San Diego, United States, Kigali

☆ Air Force employee accused of sharing classified information on foreign dating website
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-04 | by ( Oren Liebermann | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —An Air Force employee has been charged with sharing classified information on a foreign dating website after prosecutors say he sent sensitive information about Russia’s war in Ukraine to a person who claimed to be a woman living in Ukraine. Slater then sent this classified information to someone who claimed to be a woman living in Ukraine, according to an indictment. Successfully?”The co-conspirator sent messages for nearly two months, according to the indictment, repeatedly probing Slater for more classified information. Slater faces one count of conspiracy to disclose national defense information and two counts of unauthorized disclosure of national defense information. Before working as a civilian in the Air Force, prosecutors say Slater rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Army, retiring at the end of 2020.

Persons: David Franklin Slater, Slater, ”, Dave ”, Slater’s, “, Slater “, Matthew G, Olsen, Eugene Kowel Organizations: CNN, An Air Force, Prosecutors, Strategic Command, Justice Department, Operations Center, Air Force, Army, Justice Department’s National Security Division, Offutt Air Force Base, Omaha Field Office Locations: Ukraine, Russian, Nebraska, Omaha

☆ Live updates: Trump classified documents hearing, Fani Willis case closing arguments
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-01 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Special Counsel Jack Smith and attorneys for Trump proposed moving the trial later into the summer in court filings Thursday. Smith said he believes that Trump and his two co-defendants, Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliviera, should go to trial on July 8, 2024. For Friday’s hearing in the documents case, scheduled for 10 a.m. Hearing over efforts to disqualify Fani Willis: Defense attorneys in Fulton County will deliver their closing arguments as to why Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis should be dismissed from the election interference case against Trump and his alleged co-conspirators. Attorneys for Trump and his allies are expected to argue that Wade and Willis lied under oath about when their relationship started.

Persons: Donald Trump, Aileen Cannon, Joe Biden’s, Jack Smith, Trump, Smith, Walt Nauta, Carlos De Oliviera, Cannon, —, Fani Willis, Scott McAfee, Willis, Nathan Wade, Wade Organizations: Trump —, Trump Locations: Fulton County

In Florida, meanwhile, a federal judge could push back Trump’s trial date in the classified documents case. Special Counsel Jack Smith and attorneys for Trump proposed moving the trial later into the summer in court filings Thursday. For Friday’s hearing in the documents case, scheduled for 10 a.m. Smith has highlighted a myriad of threats made against individuals connected to the documents case, including witnesses, government employees, an FBI agent involved in the initial Mar-a-Lago search and two federal judges, including Cannon herself. Attorneys for Trump and his allies are expected to argue that Wade and Willis lied under oath about when their relationship started.

Persons: Donald Trump, Trump, Fani Willis, Aileen Cannon, Joe Biden’s, Jack Smith, Smith, Walt Nauta, Carlos De Oliviera, De Oliviera’s, Cannon, —, Biden, – Nauta, De Oliveira, –, Willis, Scott McAfee, Nathan Wade, Wade, McAfee, Charles Mittelstadt, Terrence Bradley, Bradley, Ashleigh Merchant, Merchant Organizations: CNN, Trump —, White, National Security Council, Prosecutors, Trump Locations: Georgia, Florida, Fulton County, California, Belize, Caribbean

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