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“We know they can do it.”More than 300,000 women served tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, Manning said. More than 9,000 women received Army Combat Action Badges for “actively engaging or being engaged by the enemy,” according to a 2015 report by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. Two were given a Silver Star, the third-highest military combat decoration, for “gallantry in action,” the report said. Manning said another 383 women were awarded a Purple Heart — the nation’s oldest military award, which recognizes sacrifice and heroism. “To cast this wide net and say women shouldn’t serve in combat — well, guess what?

Persons: Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump’s, ”, hasn’t, ” Hegseth, Shawn Ryan, Ben Shapiro, “ I’m, Ash Carter, Shapiro, “ shouldn’t, Lory Manning, Manning, “, Allison Jaslow, Jaslow, ” Jaslow, Trump, Hegseth, Steven Cheung, Trump’s, Sen, Tammy Duckworth, ” Duckworth, Raquel Durden, shouldn’t Organizations: U.S, Army, NBC News, Fox News, Pentagon, Army Rangers, Green Berets, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, ”, Defense Department, Service, Congressional Research Service, Star, Afghanistan Veterans, Army’s Ranger, Republican, Army National Guard, CNN Locations: U.S, America, Iraq, Afghanistan, California, Guantánamo Bay, Cuba

Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of defense and a former Fox News host, was investigated in 2017 over "an alleged sexual assault" at a California hotel that was hosting a gathering of Republican women, police said Friday. The National Federation of Republican Women was holding a convention at the hotel at the time, according to the organization's website. Fox News, the National Federation of Republican Women and Hyatt Regency hotels did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Hegseth's last day at Fox News was Tuesday, the day of Trump’s announcement, the network said earlier. He began working at Fox News in 2014 and began co-hosting “Fox & Friends Weekend” in 2017.

Persons: Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump’s, Hegseth, “, ”, Timothy Parlatore, Parlatore, Steven Cheung, Trump, Cheung, Hegseth's Organizations: Fox News, Republican, Monterey police, Police, Hyatt Regency Monterey, Del, National Federation of Republican Women, Vanity Fair, Trump, United, Defense, Fox, Hyatt Regency, Army National Guard Locations: California, Monterey, Hyatt Regency Monterey Hotel, Del Monte, Afghanistan, Iraq, Guantánamo Bay, Cuba

Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of defense, has said that he believes women should not serve in combat and that he wants to see the military purged of “woke” officials who support diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. Neither Fox News nor Trump’s transition team immediately responded to requests for comment about Hegseth’s on-air remarks about the military. Hegseth was an Army National Guard infantry officer, serving tours in Afghanistan and Iraq and at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. “I’m straight up just saying that we should not have women in combat roles,” Hegseth said on the podcast. “Who?” Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., said on Capitol Hill when he was asked Tuesday evening about Trump’s picking Hegseth.

Persons: Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump’s, “, ”, Trump’s, Hegseth, Trump, Pete, Shawn Ryan, CQ Brown, ” Hegseth, hasn’t, Qassam, Edward Gallagher, “ They’re, Gallagher, Richard Spencer, Daniel Penny, Penny, Jeffrey Prosperie, ” Prosperie, Matt Gaetz, Sen, Marco Rubio, Democrat Tulsi Gabbard, I’m, he’s, Gretchen Carlson, Hegseth’s, Brian Kilmeade, ” Sen, Bill Cassidy, “ I’m, Mike Rounds Organizations: Fox News, Trump, “ Fox & Friends, Fox, Army National Guard, Defense Department, Joint Chiefs of Staff, Air Force, Pentagon, U.S, Navy SEAL, Marine, Associated Press, Democrat, Weekend Fox, Defense, Friends, Hegseth’s Fox News, Senate, Capitol Locations: America, Afghanistan, Iraq, Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, U.S, Iran, New York City, Marco Rubio of Florida

☆ Pete Hegseth: Trump’s Pentagon pick aims for clash with top military leadership
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-14 | by ( Jeremy Herb | Haley Britzky | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +13 min

A Princeton and Harvard grad, Hegseth was CEO of the conservative veteran’s advocacy organization, Concerned Veterans for America, beginning in 2006. He has 20 years’ experience in the military, having served in the Army National Guard as an infantry officer from 2002 to 2021 and leaving service as a major, according to military service records. He also worked as a guard at the US military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, from June 2004 to April 2005. Hegseth has been awarded two Bronze Stars from his combat service. In one June interview on Fox, Hegseth bemoaned the state of the US military’s procurement system and the threat posed by China’s growing military.

Persons: Donald Trump’s, Pete Hegseth, Hegseth, CQ Brown, —, “ Fox, ”, Trump, ” John Noonan, ‘ You’ve, Hugh Hewitt, “, they’re, Shawn Ryan, you’ve, ” Hegseth, Brown, Staff —, shouldn’t, Obama, Ben Shapiro, America Allison Jaslow —, who’ve, ” Jaslow, –, Biden, neocon, Hegseth –, neocon ”, he’s, ’, they’ve, Vladimir Putin’s “, Ryan, King, warcrimes, Matthew Golsteyn, Clint Lorance –, Eddie Gallagher, Mark Esper, Gallagher, Golsteyn, Lorance, Jaslow, Tim Parlatore, “ Everyone’s, ” CNN’s Oren Liebermann Organizations: CNN, Fox News, Joint Chiefs, Army National Guard, Star, Pentagon, Trump, Princeton, Harvard grad, Veterans, Republican, Defense Department, Armed, Navy, of Defense, Staff, Air Force, Army Ranger School, Army Special Forces, Naval, Warfare Command, Afghanistan Veterans, Ranger School, Defense, Iraq, Fox, United, “ Fox, ”, warcrimes CNN, United States Senate Locations: China, Ukraine, America, Iraq, Afghanistan, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Washington, United States, Washington ,, Trump, Europe, Poland

☆ How Pete Hegseth went from Fox News host to Trump’s Defense Secretary pick
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-13 | by ( Brian Stelter | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

New York CNN —Two years ago, Pete Hegseth relocated his family from New Jersey, near Fox News headquarters, to a small town outside of Nashville, Tennessee. On Tuesday evening, President-elect Donald Trump said Hegseth is his pick for Defense Secretary – a decision that shocked even some of his friends at Fox. Hegseth and Rauchet disclosed their relationship to Fox management when Rauchet was pregnant (and Hegseth was still married). After returning home from Iraq in 2006, Hegseth wrote that more troops were urgently needed. Hegseth wrote “Modern Warriors” in 2020 and “War on Warriors” earlier this year, both for Fox’s book imprint.

Persons: Pete Hegseth, Friends ”, Biden, Donald Trump, Hegseth, –, Pete, “, Trump, ” Hegseth, ”, Roger Ailes, Ailes, buzzed, Hegseth’s, Samantha, Jennifer Rauchet, Rauchet, Kaitlan Collins, George W, Bear Stearns, Amy Klobuchar, Glenn Beck’s, Tucker Carlson, Jack Carr, Bernstein, he’d, Fox, Carr Organizations: New, New York CNN, Fox News, “ Fox, Friends, Fox, Army, Department of Defense, Inside Fox, Trump National Golf, Nashville Christian, CNN, Princeton University, New Jersey Army National Guard, National Guard, Harvard University, White, Trump, Department of Veterans Affairs, Twitter, Fox Nation, Veterans, Warriors, FOX News Media, Princeton Locations: New York, New Jersey, Nashville , Tennessee, Washington, DC, Iraq, Afghanistan, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, United States, Bear, Guantanamo, Minnesota, Nashville, Tennessee

☆ In Trump’s second term, czars will reign
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-12 | by ( Kayla Tausche | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN reported on Friday that Burgum was under consideration for a role as energy czar. “It’s sort of the conservative version of [the Biden administration’s senior climate advisor] John Podesta,” one of the sources said. Burgum had been in contention for a Cabinet-level position, like running the department of Interior or Energy, CNN previously reported. It also means those candidates – not burdened by a lengthy Senate confirmation process – can launch their work on day one. Alex Wong/Getty ImagesThe term “czar” has come to refer to a political appointee with a specific problem to solve.

Persons: –, Doug Burgum, Donald Trump’s, Burgum, John Podesta, ”, ’ ”, Alex Wong, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, czars, Trump, Trump’s, Elise Stefanik, Stephen Miller, Tom Homan, Homan, ’, ” Trump, Robert F, Kennedy Jr, Kennedy, you’re Organizations: CNN, Trump, North, Biden, Interior, Energy, North Dakota Gov, Republican National Convention, State, Treasury, Republican, United Nations, White, Customs, Department of Homeland Security, Former ICE, Border Control, Trump Administration, Aviation Security, Truth, “ Locations: North Dakota, Milwaukee , Wisconsin, Guantanamo, Trump

With 30 days to Election Day, Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, are launching a media blitz that began on Sunday, with the two set to appear in a handful of interviews with traditional and new media figures, a senior Harris campaign official told NBC News. The media blitz from Harris and Walz comes after Republicans have criticized the pair for weeks for avoiding taking questions from the media. The upcoming media interviews will also be accompanied by campaign events in battleground states for Harris and Walz. Harris will be in battleground Nevada on Thursday for several campaign stops and a Univision town hall.

Persons: Kamala Harris, Tim Walz, Harris, Stephen Colbert ”, Walz, Jimmy Kimmel, Howard Stern, Alex Cooper, “, he’s, They’ve, Ohio Sen, JD Vance, Donald Trump’s, William Martin, Vance, baselessly, ” Martin, she’ll Organizations: Minnesota Gov, NBC News, CBS, “ Fox, Democratic, Ohio, NBC, Univision Locations: New York, China, Guantanamo, Nevada, Arizona

☆ Attorneys say Austin violated military rules in halting deal for alleged 9/11 conspirators
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-07 | by ( Haley Britzky | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Wednesday’s pretrial hearing, which has been scheduled for months, followed a whiplash decision by Austin to revoke a plea deal that had been announced just two days prior last week. “What he did was illegal,” Eugene Fidell, who teaches military justice at Yale University and co-founded the National Institute of Military Justice, told CNN. But Sowards argued Wednesday that by revoking the deal, Austin was actually doing more harm to the families. While the terms of the pretrial agreement had not been released publicly, among them was the assurance that the detainees would answer questions by 9/11 victim family members. Sowards said family members had already “been submitting questions in good faith,” and expecting answers in return as part of the deal.

Persons: Lloyd Austin, ”, ” Walter Ruiz, Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi, Austin, Susan Escallier, Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin ‘ Attash, Ruiz, “, ” Austin, ” Eugene Fidell, Gary Sowards, Mohammad, ” Sowards, Clayton Trivett, ’ ”, Austin “, Antony Blinken, “ I’m, Sowards, Wells Dixon, Majid Khan, Khan, Dixon, ” Dixon, Eugene Fidell’s Organizations: CNN —, Defense, Guantanamo, Pentagon, White, White House, Yale University, National Institute of Military, CNN, Military Commissions, Austin, Military, Australian, American, ”, Center for Constitutional Rights Locations: Guantanamo, Austin, Belize

☆ How the 9/11 Plea Deal Came Undone
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-04 | by ( Carol Rosenberg | Eric Schmitt | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

In the space of three days last week, the Sept. 11 case was rocked by two decisions that stunned victims’ families and jolted a political debate. First, a Pentagon official authorized a plea agreement meant to resolve the case with lifetime sentences. Then, Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III abruptly canceled the deal, reviving the possibility that the man accused of planning the attacks, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, and two accused accomplices could someday face a death penalty trial. Suddenly, a case that had mostly drifted from public consciousness in 12 years of pretrial proceedings was back in the spotlight and no closer to the trial that some relatives of the nearly 3,000 victims had been aching for at Guantánamo Bay. This account of those fateful three days is based on interviews and conversations with Pentagon officials, Sept. 11 family members and parties to the case.

Persons: Lloyd J, Austin III, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed Organizations: Pentagon Locations: Guantánamo

☆ Defense Secretary Revokes Plea Deal for Accused Sept. 11 Plotters
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-02 | by ( Carol Rosenberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III on Friday overruled the overseer of the war court at Guantánamo Bay and revoked a plea agreement reached earlier this week with the accused mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and two alleged accomplices. Gen. Susan K. Escallier, signed a pretrial agreement on Wednesday with Mr. Mohammed, Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi that exchanged guilty pleas for sentences of at most life in prison. In taking away the authority, Mr. Austin assumed direct oversight of the case and canceled the agreement, effectively reinstating it as a death-penalty case. He left Ms. Escallier in the role of oversight of Guantánamo’s other cases. Because of the stakes involved, the “responsibility for such a decision should rest with me,” Mr. Austin said in an order released Friday night by the Pentagon.

Persons: Lloyd J, Austin III, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Susan K, Escallier, Mohammed, Walid bin Attash, Mustafa al, Austin, ” Mr Organizations: Pentagon, Defense Department Locations: Guantánamo, New York City, Pennsylvania, Brig

☆ Defense secretary abruptly revokes plea deal with alleged 9/11 mastermind KSM, co-conspirators
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-02 | by ( Oren Liebermann | Evan Perez | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin abruptly revoked a plea deal for the alleged mastermind of the September 11, 2001, terror attacks and his co-conspirators, and he relieved the overseer in charge after years of effort to reach an agreement to bring the cases to a close. Prosecutors in the case had been discussing the possibility of a plea deal for more than two years, which would have avoided a lengthy trial complicated by questions over the admissibility of evidence obtained during torture. The US had said it would seek the death penalty for Mohammed. US criminal courts for decades have dealt with high profile terror trials, including with death sentences, which Holder had authorized. “They were dealt a bad hand by political hacks and ideologues who lost faith in our justice system.

Persons: Lloyd Austin, Austin, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Walid Bin ‘ Attash, Hawsawi –, Susan Escallier, ” Austin, Mohammed, ”, Brett Eagleson, Democratic Sen, Richard Blumenthal, ” Sen, Lindsey Graham, “, George W, Bush, Eric Holder, Barack Obama’s, Holder, ” Holder, Daniel Pearl, ideologues, CNN’s Manu Raju, Morgan Rimmer Organizations: CNN —, Pentagon, Prosecutors, Democratic, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, CNN, South Carolina Republican, Wall Street Journal Locations: Guantanamo, Pearl, Richard Blumenthal of, Manhattan, Pakistan

Eleven years ago, in 2013, Holder said that Mohammed and his associates would have been “on death row as we speak” had the case gone to federal court as he proposed. But he blamed Congress for blocking a federal trial that would have resulted in swifter justice. They were dealt a bad hand by the political hacks and those who lost faith in our justice system,” Holder said in a statement to NBC News on Thursday. “If my decision to try KSM and his confederates in the tested and effective federal court system had been followed they would be nothing more than a memory today,” Holder said. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said he’s “long advocated that our federal court system is perfectly capable of conducting this kind of trial” and was well-suited to handling serious crimes.

Persons: Eric Holder, ”, Holder, ” Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin ‘ Attash, Mustafa Ahmed Adam al, General Holder, Mohammed, ” Holder, KSM, “, ” Eric Holder, Chip Somodevilla, Rudy Giuliani —, Donald Trump’s, —, Giuliani, Tsarnaev, William Barr, Trump, George H.W, George H.W . Bush, hadn’t, ” Barr, he’d, he’s, Barr, Alexanda Amon Kotey, Joe Biden’s, Mitch McConnell, McConnell, Sen, Chris Coons, doesn’t, ” Coons, Richard Blumenthal, Conn, “ I’ve, ” Sen, Chris Van Hollen, Biden, Thom Tillis, I’m, ” Tillis, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton Organizations: WASHINGTON, Guantanamo, Pentagon, CIA, NBC, New York City, Prisons, Boston Marathon, Rockies, Republican, Trump, Justice Department, Islamic State, White, NBC News, House Locations: United States, Guantanamo, Manhattan, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, America, Pakistan, Caribbean, ADMAX Florence, Colorado, ”, George H.W ., ADMAX, Florence, Ky

☆ Plea Deal in 9/11 Case Is Announced in War Court
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-01 | by ( Carol Rosenberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

The man accused of plotting the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, appeared in court on Thursday, watching silently as the prosecutor who had pursued his capital case since the beginning formally announced that a plea agreement had been reached that would remove the possibility of the death penalty. The prosecutor, Clayton G. Trivett Jr., also gave the court the sealed and signed agreements between the prisoner, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, and the Pentagon’s overseer of the war court cases. Disclosure of the agreement in the court at Guantánamo Bay is the first step toward a sentencing hearing before a military panel, which could begin next summer. Prosecutors who had negotiated the agreements with Mr. Mohammed and two accomplices, Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi, disclosed the deal on Wednesday to family members of the nearly 3,000 people who were killed in the attacks.

Persons: Clayton G, Trivett Jr, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Mohammed, Walid bin Attash, Mustafa al Organizations: Prosecutors Locations: Guantánamo

☆ 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, 2 others charged in terror plot reach plea deals
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-31 | by ( Dan Mangan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

In a file photo Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged Sept. 11 mastermind, is seen shortly after his capture during a raid in Pakistan Saturday March 1, 2003, in this photo obtained by the Associated Press. Accused 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammad and two other men charged with plotting the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks by al-Qaeda have agreed to plead guilty in the military commissions process, the Pentagon said Wednesday. The terms of the plea deals for the three men, who have been in custody since 2003, were not released, but they are expected to plead guilty to some charges, and potentially avoid death sentences as a result. The Office of Military Commission said that the defendants will enter their pleas as early as next week at the U.S. military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. In addition to Mohammed, the other men expected to plead guilty are Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin 'Attash, and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi.

Persons: Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, Mohammed, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin, Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi, Aaron Rugh Organizations: Associated Press, Pentagon, Military Commission, New York Times Locations: Pakistan, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba

☆ Accused Sept. 11 Plotters Agree to Plead Guilty at Guantánamo Bay
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-31 | by ( Carol Rosenberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The man accused of plotting the attacks of Sept. 11 and two of his accomplices have agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy charges in exchange for a life sentence rather than a death-penalty trial at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, prosecutors said Wednesday. A senior Pentagon official approved the deal for Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi, according to Defense Department officials with knowledge of the agreement. The men have been in U.S. custody since 2003. But the case had become mired in more than a decade of pretrial proceedings that focused on the question of whether their torture in secret C.I.A. Word of the deal emerged in a letter from war court prosecutors to family members of victims of the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

Persons: Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Walid bin Attash, Mustafa al, ”, Aaron C Organizations: Pentagon, Defense, “ Locations: Guantánamo Bay, Cuba

☆ Julian Assange spent 5 years in a 2x3 meter cell, isolated 23 hours a day before his release on bail, WikiLeaks says
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-25 | by ( Thibault Spirlet | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Read previewJulian Assange spent more than five years in a 2x3 meter cell, isolated 23 hours a day before his release on bail, WikiLeaks said in a statement on Tuesday. Assange was arrested in the UK in 2019 for breaching bail conditions after seeking asylum in Ecuador's London Embassy to avoid extradition. AdvertisementOn Monday, the High Court of London granted Assange bail, the WikiLeaks statement said, allowing him to board a plane at 5 p.m. local time and leave the UK. AdvertisementBritain's 'Guantánamo Bay'Before his release, Assange spent half a decade detained in a prison once dubbed the UK's "Guantánamo Bay." Belmarsh Prison, where Julian Assange was held, pictured on May 20, 2024, in London.

Persons: —, Julian Assange, Assange, Chelsea Manning, Matthew McKenzie, Carl Court Organizations: Service, WikiLeaks, Business, Embassy, US Department of Justice, United States, Northern, Justice Department, BBC, European, Human Rights, Independent Locations: Ecuador's, Northern Mariana Islands, Northern Mariana, London, Belmarsh, Australia

☆ Julian Assange ends stalemate with US, exchanging guilty plea to felony charge for his freedom
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-25 | by ( Lauren Said-Moorhouse | Thomas Manglona | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +15 min

Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images Assange addresses the Oxford Union Society from the Ecuadorian Embassy in January 2013. David Paul Morris/Bloomberg/Getty Images Assange attends a news conference inside the Ecuadorian Embassy in London in August 2014. FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP/Getty Images Assange, on the balcony of the Ecuadorian Embassy, holds up a United Nations report in February 2016. Carl Court/Getty Images Assange speaks to the media in May 2017, after Swedish prosecutors had dropped their investigation of rape allegations against Assange. Jack Taylor/Getty Images Assange was seen for the first time in months during a hearing via teleconference in Quito, Ecuador, in October 2018.

Persons: Julian Assange, “, ” Assange, Assange, Kim Hong, Ramona Manglona, Chelsea Manning, Jack Taylor, LEON NEAL, BERTIL ERICSON, FABRICE COFFRINI, Carl Court, Geoff Caddick, Oli Scarff, CARL COURT, Leon Neal, Philip Toscano, Ricardo Patino, Frank Augstein, David Paul Morris, John Stillwell, Mike, Pompeo, Maria Sol Borja, Alastair Grant, Daniel Leal, Elizabeth Cook, Anthony Albanese, Joe Biden, ASSANGE, Adrienne Watson, Stella, ”, Gabriel Shipton, he’s, hasn’t, Julian, –, ” Shipton Organizations: Northern Mariana Islands CNN, Northern, Northern Mariana Islands . Justice Department, WikiLeaks, United States, Reuters, Army, Metropolitan Police, US Justice Department, British, Justice Department, Guardian, Getty, Swedish Trade Union Confederation, St, Paul's, Court, Ecuadorian Embassy, Oxford Union Society, Ecuadorian Foreign, Southwest Festival, Bloomberg, United Nations Human Rights, United, United Nations, CIA, CNN, Ecuadorian, Ecuador, Southwark Crown, White, Sweden, National Security, Department of Justice, BBC Radio Locations: Saipan, Northern Mariana, London, United Kingdom, Hawaii, Northern Mariana Islands, Australia, United States, Iraq, Afghanistan, Sweden, Ecuadorian, Ecuador, Westminster, AFP, Stockholm, Geneva, Switzerland, Austin , Texas, United Nations, Quito, Southwark, Baghdad, Guantanamo Bay

The plea deal allows Assange to avoid prison in the US and return to his native Australia. “That never came up in our conversations,” said David Stilwell, the State Department assistant secretary for the Pacific region during the Trump administration. Sessions’ focus on national security-related leaks was “probably one of the reasons why the [Assange] case had more traction,” Hickey told CNN. Hickey said he was not involved in the Assange case when he was a senior official at DOJ’s National Security Division from 2016 to 2023. Stilwell, the former State Department official under the Trump administration, pushed back on the Assange plea deal.

Persons: Julian Assange, Assange, Biden, Trump, ”, David Stilwell, Anthony Albanese, Joe Biden, General Merrick Garland, Chelsea Manning, Manning, Barack Obama, Obama, Trump’s, Jeff Sessions, Adam Hickey, ” Hickey, Hickey, “ Assange, who’s, Mayer Brown, Garland, Andrew McCabe, “, it’s, ” McCabe, Stilwell, ” Stilwell, Bradley Moss, would’ve, ” Moss, ” CNN’s Zachary Cohen, Marshall Cohen, Kevin Liptak Organizations: CNN, United, Wikileaks, State Department, Australian, Justice Department, FBI, Northern, London’s, US Justice Department, White, Pentagon, Army, Assange ., Department, Obama, Biden, DOJ’s National Security Division, Protect Journalists, Amnesty International, American Civil Liberties Union, Computer, Ecuadorian Locations: United States, Washington, London, Stockholm, Quito, Ecuador, Australia, Pacific, Virginia, London’s, Northern Mariana Islands, Iraq, Guantanamo, Washington ,

☆ Who is Julian Assange, what did the Wikileaks founder do to go through a 12-year legal battle?
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-25 | by ( Helen Regan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was released from a British prison and was making his way back to his home country Australia on Monday after his 12-year battle against extradition to the United States ended in a plea deal. Assange boarded a flight from London’s Stansted airport on Monday after being released on bail from prison, according to a statement from WikiLeaks on Tuesday. “Julian Assange is free,” WikiLeaks said. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange boards a plane at a location given as London, Britain, in this still image from video released on June 25, 2024. Former Ecuadorian president Lenín Moreno told CNN he is glad the Wikileaks founder won’t be handed over to the US.

Persons: Julian Assange, Assange, “ Julian Assange, “, Chelsea Manning, ”, Jack Taylor, Hillary Clinton’s, John Podesta, Abu Hamza al, Masri, Joe Biden, Assange’s, Stella Assange, “ Julian, Lenín Moreno, won’t, Moreno, Gustavo Petro Organizations: CNN, Ecuadorian, WikiLeaks, US Justice Department, Wikileaks, Army, US, of Scientology, European, Human Rights, Westminster Magistrates, Democratic National Committee, London’s Metroplitan Police, UN, Amnesty, American Locations: Australia, United States, London, Iraq, Afghanistan, London’s Stansted, ”, United Kingdom, Britain, Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands, Hawaii, Townsville, Queensland, Guantanamo Bay, Iraqi, Sweden, Stockholm, Westminster, England, London’s, Colombia, Mexico

☆ Julian Assange has reached a plea deal with the U.S., allowing him to go free
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-24 | by ( Michael Kosnar | Ryan J. Reilly | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 19: Julian Assange gestures as he speaks to the media from the balcony of the Embassy Of Ecuador on May 19, 2017 in London, England. Photo by Jack Taylor/Getty Images)WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange plans to plead guilty as part of a plea deal with the U.S. Justice Department that will allow him to go free after spending five years in a British prison, according to court documents. Assange was charged by criminal information — which typically signifies a plea deal — with conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defense information, the court documents say. Court documents revealing Assange's plea deal were filed Monday evening in the U.S. District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. territory in the Pacific Ocean. A superseding indictment was returned against Assange more than five years ago, in May 2019, and a second superseding indictment was returned in June 2020.

Persons: Julian Assange, Jack Taylor, Assange, Barack Obama's, Chelsea Manning, —, Robert Mueller, Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, Trump, Putin, Manning, Obama Organizations: U.S . Justice Department, Department, WikiLeaks, Northern, Ecuadorian Embassy, Court, Democratic National Committee Locations: ENGLAND, Ecuador, London, England, U.S, Afghanistan, Iraq, Northern Mariana Islands, Australia, London —, United States, Russian

☆ Julian Assange agrees to plea deal with Biden administration that will allow him to avoid imprisonment in US
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-24 | by ( Evan Perez | Devan Cole | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

The plea deal would credit that time served, allowing Assange to immediately return to Australia, his native country. The plea deal must still be approved by a federal judge, but as of Monday morning, Assange had been released from a UK prison, according to WikiLeaks. A federal judge in the Northern Mariana Islands set a plea hearing and sentencing for Wednesday morning, according to the US District Court there. President Joe Biden in recent months has alluded to a possible deal pushed by Australian government officials to return Assange to Australia. FBI and Justice Department officials have opposed any deal that didn’t include a felony guilty plea by Assange, people briefed on the matter told CNN.

Persons: Julian Assange, Assange, “ Julian Assange, ” Assange, Chelsea Manning, Manning, Joe Biden, Katelyn Polantz, Holmes Lybrand, Lauren Said, Moorhouse, Claudia Rebaza, Christian Edwards Organizations: CNN, Justice Department, WikiLeaks, High Court, Stansted, Department, Prosecutors, Court, Army, FBI Locations: United States, London, Australia, Northern Mariana Islands, Iraq, Guantanamo

☆ Paul Whelan urges Biden admin to take ‘decisive action’ to secure his release as he surpasses 2,000 days in Russian custody
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-22 | by ( Jennifer Hansler | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Whelan said he was aware that Gershkovich’s trial is scheduled to begin behind closed doors in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg next week. Gershkovich, who has been declared wrongfully detained, has also been charged with espionage, which he denies. And in my case, that’s 100% true, and I’m sure in Evan’s case, it’s 100% true. But people go to trial here and they’re automatically guilty, and then they’re given a sentence, and that’s it,” he said. “We put a substantial offer on the table to secure the release of Evan and Paul Whelan some months ago, as we said publicly; we’re continuing to work to secure their release.

Persons: CNN —, Paul Whelan, ”, Biden, Evan Gershkovich, Whelan, “, You’re, it’s, ” Whelan, Evan, Paul, you’ve, ’ ”, Trevor, Reed, – Gordon Black, Alsu Kurmasheva, Gershkovich, they’re, Matthew Miller Organizations: CNN, US State Department, ex, Marine, State Department, ”, Moscow – Locations: Mordovia, Russia, Moscow, Guantanamo, Russian, Yekaterinburg

☆ Qaeda Commander at Guantánamo Bay Is Sentenced for War Crimes
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-20 | by ( Carol Rosenberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A U.S. military jury on Thursday ordered a former Qaeda commander to a serve a 30-year prison sentence for war crimes carried out by his insurgent forces in wartime Afghanistan in the early 2000s. The military judge excused the panel from the chamber and then announced that, under a plea agreement, the prisoner’s sentence would end in eight years. The outcome was part of the arcane system called military commissions, which allows prisoners to reach plea deals with a senior official at the Pentagon who oversees the war court but requires the formality of a jury sentencing hearing anyway. Mr. Hadi, 63, was aware of the deal that reduced his sentence to 10 years, starting with his guilty plea in June 2022. It was unclear whether victims of attacks by Mr. Hadi’s forces and their family members had been told.

Persons: Abd al, Hadi al, Hadi Organizations: U.S, Pentagon Locations: Afghanistan, C.I.A

☆ On board the Russian warship visiting Cuba
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-14 | by ( Patrick Oppmann | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

But now I was in a line for something unexpected: to board a Russian warship docked in Havana’s harbor. When a Russian diplomat told me that starting on Thursday, the Admiral Gorshkov frigate would offer tours to the public for three days, I was somewhat skeptical. People line up to visit Russian frigate Admiral Gorshkov (not pictured) docked in Havana's bay, Cuba, June 13, 2024. I noticed one of the Russian sailors taking in the blue skies and calm waters around us. For a Russian sailor, Cuba could be as good as it gets these days.

Persons: Admiral, Vladimir Putin’s, “, ”, Donald Trump, Gorshkov, Alexandre Meneghini Organizations: Havana CNN —, Cuba’s Ministry of Defense, Cuban Navy, Reuters, Pentagon, US Navy Base Locations: Havana, Cuba, Russian, Havana’s harbor, Kazan, Moscow, Washington, Ukraine, Cuban, Reuters Russian, York, Russia, Guantanamo Bay

☆ Russia says the US doesn't have any reason to worry about the nuclear submarine and the massive warship its navy has cruising off the coast of Cuba
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-14 | by ( Aditi Bharade | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Along with two other vessels, these Russian navy assets were scheduled to be stationed in Cuba for a five-day visit. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Russia's reassurances that the vessels in Cuba pose no harm come in spite of the fact that they are some of the Kremlin's most lethal military assets. Related storiesThe Cuban foreign ministry, for its part, echoed Russia's sentiments, saying that the vessels pose no threat, per Reuters. Representatives for the US Southern Command and Russian defense ministry didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider sent outside regular business hours.

Persons: —, Dmitry Peskov, Gorshkov, Sabrina Singh, Helena, Russia's, didn't Organizations: Service, Russian, Business, Reuters, NATO, Pentagon, Department of Defense, Southern Command, US Southern Command, Business Insider Locations: Russia, Cuba's, Havana, Caribbean, Cuba, Gorshkov Russian, Cuban, United States, Ukraine, Los Angeles, Guantanamo

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