Thursday, April 20, 2023

4/20 WAKE-UP CALL: Leakers' Military Unit Faces Scrutiny


The Air Force inspector general is investigating whether the intelligence unit of an Air National Guardsman who allegedly shared highly classified intelligence complied with anti-leak procedures. One concern is whether the 102nd Intelligence Wing effectively disposed of printed secret documents. Defense officials said that maybe nothing happened that isn’t endemic to dozens of other such units, but it’s the first sign of a push to hold people accountable. If the probe finds wrongdoing, more charges could follow. Separately, a detention hearing for Jack Teixeira, charged with taking and sharing government secrets, was postponed for roughly two weeks to give his lawyers more time to address issues prosecutors raised. Teixeira hasn’t yet entered a plea. His public defenders declined to comment.

Treason and espionage laws are increasingly popular weapons in Russia’s arsenal. Moscow is using them to silence critics of the war against Ukraine. Journalists and activists risk longer sentences than they did before the invasion, Russian lawyers and human-rights defenders say, and prosecutors often add more severe charges including terrorism and extremism to acts of dissent that were previously punished with petty fines or suspended sentences. Moscow-based rights group OVD-Info counted 10 espionage and treason cases in March, including the detention of reporter Evan Gershkovich on a spying allegation that the WSJ and the U.S. government vehemently deny.

➤IRS AGENT WANTS TO BLOW WHISTLE ON HUNTER PROBE: An IRS Criminal Supervisory Agent seeking whistleblower protection claims the investigation into Hunter Biden is being mishandled by the Biden administration. In a letter dated April 19, 2023, attorney Mark D. Lytle of the Washington, D.C.-based law firm Nixon Peabody LLP tells members of the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate that his client has been overseeing the "ongoing and sensitive investigation of a high-profile, controversial subject since early 2020 and would like to make protected whistleblower disclosures to Congress." In Wednesday’s letter, Lytle said his client has already made legally protected disclosures internally at the IRS. The protected disclosures, Lytle notes, "contradict sworn testimony to Congress by a senior political appointee.

➤SUPREME COURT PUTS HOLD ON ABORTION PILL BAN: The Supreme Court allowed the abortion pill to remain on the market through Friday. Justice Samuel Alito extended the pause on a lower-court order that would limit access to mifepristone, so the court has more time to decide how to rule. The Biden administration and a drug maker filed emergency appeals to keep the pill available during ongoing litigation over the FDA’s approval more than 20 years ago. Antiabortion groups had challenged the original approval and more recent regulations that made mifepristone easier to get. The drug is used in more than half of abortions.

➤3 ARRESTED IN 'SWEET 16' SHOOTINGS: With more charges likely, two teen brothers and a 20-year-old man have been arrested and charged with murder in connection to a mass shooting at a Sweet 16 party in Alabama that killed four people and wounded dozens more, officials announced Wednesday. Wilson LaMar Hill Jr., 20, of Auburn, and brothers Ty Reik McCullough, 17, and Travis McCullough, 16, both of Tuskegee, were all charged with four counts of reckless murder in the Saturday shooting in Dadeville, officials said. The teens are being charged as adults. 

➤SHOOTERS WIFE 'NOT SURPRISED': Mary Clayton, 81, was married to Andrew Lester, 84, for 14 years and the pair had three children together. They divorced many years ago and she moved to California. When Lester's face appeared on the news in reports about last week's shooting, Clayton did not initially recognize him. But she said that his alleged crime did not shock her. 'I was always scared of him,' she said. 'It doesn't surprise me, what happened.' Clayton said that during their marriage he would frequently become violently angry. He would fly into a rage and smash objects in their house, she claimed. When she reported him to the police, she said, the officers told her that it was his house and he could do as he wished.


➤TWO CHEERLEADERS SHOT: Two teenage cheerleaders were shot in a parking lot in Elgin, Texas, when one of them opened the door of a car she mistook for her own. The man in the car was charged with deadly conduct with a firearm. One of the teens was treated at the scene and released while the second is in a hospital for treatment of serious injuries.

➤FL BANS GENDER TEACHING THRU 12TH GRADE: In Gov. Ron DeSantis’ latest attack on what he calls "woke gender ideology," the Florida State Board of Education voted Wednesday to prohibit classroom instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation through 12th grade. The expansion of the Parental Rights in Education Act — known as "Don’t Say Gay" by critics — allows an exemption for sexual education or health lessons that parents can opt students out of. Board members say the rule is only a clarification of state standards for teachers. But LGBTQ advocates have derided it as an "assault on freedom." 

⛽SOUTH FLORIDA DRIVERS SUFFER THROUGH GAS SHORTAGE: About 59 percent of the gas stations in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale area shut down yesterday after panic buyers emptied their tanks. The massive rainstorm last week caused a brief disruption at Fort Lauderdale’s Port Everglades, where most of the area’s fuel comes in. But an energy analyst told CNN that most of the problem was panic buying by worried drivers.

➤RFK JR. DECLARES: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. launches his unlikely bid for the Democratic presidential nomination Wednesday with the support of 14% of voters who backed President Joe Biden in 2020, an exclusive USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll finds. That is surprising strength for a candidate who has a famous political name but is now known mostly as the champion of a debunked conspiracy theory blaming childhood vaccines for autism. In the survey taken Saturday through Tuesday, only 67% of Biden's 2020 supporters said they would support him for the Democratic nomination over his current challengers. Kennedy stands at 14%, and self-help author Marianne Williamson, a quixotic candidate for the nomination last time, is at 5%. Another 13% are undecided.


➤BIDEN SAYS GOP 'SQUEEZING THE MIDDLE CLASS: President Joe Biden accused Republicans of trying to “squeeze out more of America’s middle class,” painting the debt ceiling and spending cut proposal unveiled Wednesday by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy as lacking detail and benefiting the wealthy. Biden’s remarks were intended as an explicit contrast to McCarthy’s appearance Monday at the New York Stock Exchange, where he told traders the GOP hoped to pass a plan that would raise the debt ceiling for a year while significantly cutting federal spending. The speaker unveiled the legislation on the House floor Wednesday as Biden spoke. Biden and Democratic leadership on Capitol Hill said following a phone call Tuesday that they are willing to discuss cuts only in the context of the federal budget process, arguing Republicans are using the threat of default to pursue tax cuts for the wealthy and benefits to pharmaceutical and energy companies.

🏀DRAYMOND GREEN SUSPENDED: Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors was suspended from last night’s Game 3 against the Grizzlies after stepping on Sacramento Kings center Domantas Sabonis during Monday’s game. Green claimed it was an accident. The NBA’s head of basketball operation, Joe Dumars, explained the penalty to ESPN: “Here’s what it came down to: Excessive and over-the-top actions, conduct detrimental, and a repeat offender.” Green has 17 ejections and three suspensions on his record.

⚾MLB METS ACE TOSSED FROM GAME: Max Scherzer implored it was just rosin, but the umpires had other ideas. The Mets co-ace, returning from back discomfort that had delayed his start by three days, was ejected before the bottom of the fourth inning on Wednesday at Dodger Stadium, presumably under suspicion of using a sticky substance. Scherzer was ejected by crew chief Phil Cuzzi, who an inning earlier had inspected Scherzer’s glove and ordered him to change it. Mets manager Buck Showalter told reporters after that game that Scherzer was ejected for using rosin. “It’s a substance that’s very legal, wiped it off, washed it,” Showalter said. “I don’t know. Phil’s certainly been a guy that’s known for that. We’ll see.” A displeased Scherzer returned to the mound with a new glove and pitched a perfect inning to keep the game scoreless. “He didn’t like that there was rosin on his hand,” Showalter said. But as Scherzer walked to the mound for the bottom of the fourth he was stopped by Cuzzi and plate umpire Dan Bellino, who examined his hand for sticky substances.

➤TWISTERS CLAIM AT LEAST 2: Terrifying twisters tore through the Midwest Wednesday evening, while parts of Nebraska, Missouri, Texas and Iowa have also been placed under tornado and severe thunderstorm watches. Tennis-ball sized hail and torrential winds tore across the region, leaving approximately 20,000 people in the dark after the storms downed powerlines. Authorities say at least two people have lost their lives in Cole, Oklahoma, one of the first areas to be hit by the destruction. Reports suggest several people have been hospitalized. The severe weather front is expected to stretch through multiple states throughout Wednesday night and into the coming days, which could see several other breakout tornadoes continue to devastate the region. The destruction comes after a series of tornadoes hammered the Midwest and South in recent weeks, where at least 26 people died due to the carnage. 



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