Category: NEWS
WH denies ‘blacklisting’ media but can’t explain lack of access to Biden events
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Thursday denied that President Biden’s press office is “blacklisting” reporters and news outlets when pressed by The Post on a mysterious pre-screening process in place for presidential events. …read more
NYPD gets training from feds for active shooters on subway
“Active shooters are a thing now. As you saw April 12, we had an active-shooter incident down in Brooklyn,” Porteus said. …read more
https://nypost.com/2022/06/16/nypd-gets-training-from-feds-for-active-shooters-on-subway/
Tensions escalate as DOJ renews request for Jan. 6 panel transcripts
The Justice Department on Thursday revealed a deepening rift with the Jan. 6 House select committee, accusing the panel of a “failure” to share its 1,000 witness transcripts.
Department officials say those documents would aid the prosecution of people who breached the Capitol, including leaders of the Proud Boys.
“The Select Committee’s failure to grant the Department access to these transcripts complicates the Department’s ability to investigate and prosecute those who engaged in criminal conduct in relation to the January 6 attack on the Capitol,” the department wrote in a letter Wednesday, signed by Criminal Division chief Kenneth Polite Jr. and National Security Division head Matthew Olsen, as well as the U.S. attorney for D.C., Matthew Graves.
The Justice Department officials said it was “critical” that the panel provide prosecutors “copies of the transcripts of all its witness interviews.”
The letter was the latest reflection of escalating tensions between House investigators and Justice Department prosecutors in recent weeks. It marked the first time prosecutors directly and publicly accused the select committee of undermining efforts to impose criminal penalties on those responsible for the storming of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
The House committee’s chairman, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), said that his panel wants to help the Justice Department but that the higher priority for the members right now is to complete their hearings, which began last week and continued Thursday, with more sessions expected in the coming weeks. The committee also intends to prepare a report, he noted.
“We’re in the midst of conducting our hearing. … We have a report to do. So, we’re not going to stop what we’re doing to share information that we’ve gotten so far with the Department of Justice,” Thompson said. “We will eventually cooperate with them.”
In earlier comments, Thompson said some of the Justice Department’s requests went too far.
“My understanding is they want to have access to our work product. And we told them, no, we’re not giving that to anybody,” he said last month.
In a related development, prosecutors agreed Thursday to delay a scheduled August trial of the leadership of the Proud Boys, a pro-Trump militia group. Justice Department lawyers reiterated that they expect the House panel to make the witness interview transcripts public in early September, which could roil a trial if it is underway.
Five Proud Boy leaders are set to go before a jury on seditious conspiracy charges for their activities on Jan. 6. The proposed trial delay to December — backed by some defendants — would require the approval of the federal judge handling the case.
In addition to the transcript dispute, prosecutors are facing increasing complaints from defense attorneys that the Jan. 6 panel’s releasing selected details of its investigation — including in currently ongoing public hearings — is unfair to their clients. They are demanding access to all the records and have expressed concerns that they might all be abruptly made public right in the middle of a Proud Boys trial.
Indeed, the letter about the rift …read more
Los Angeles prosecutor blasts George Gascon after officers killed in line of duty: ‘no accountability’
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon is facing heavy criticism after two police officers were killed by a gang member who was on probation. …read more
https://www.foxnews.com/us/los-angeles-prosecutor-blasts-george-gascon-officers-killed-line-duty
Jan. 6 panel sends request to Ginni Thomas after she says she looks ‘forward to talking’
House January 6 committee Chair Bennie Thompson on Thursday said the panel investigating the US Capitol attack has sent a letter to Virginia “Ginni” Thomas asking her to speak with them about her role in the effort to overturn the 2020 electoral results.
https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/16/politics/ginni-thomas-january-6-committee/index.html
Hochul, Suozzi, Williams exchange blows in final Dem gubernatorial primary debate
“She didn’t evolve after Columbine. She didn’t evolve after Virginia Tech. Only thing that evolves are the governor’s political ambitions,” Suozzi said about Hochul. …read more
Never-before-seen photos of Trump, family in Oval Office on Jan. 6 shown to House committee
Photos of then-President Donald Trump surrounded by his children and aides at the White House in the hours before MAGA supporters stormed the Capitol were shown to the House select committee. …read more
Ex-Tigers reliever Joel Zumaya rips team over dismal start to 2022 season: ‘Getting beyond disturbing’
The Detroit Tigers’ rough start to the 2022 season has sparked the ire of former Tigers closer Joel Zumaya. He said the 24-38 Tigers need to “clean house.” …read more
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/tigers-joel-zumaya-rips-dismal-start
Senate advances bill on veterans’ burn pit care
A bill to cover millions of veterans’ care for cancer and lung problems linked to burn pits is heading to President Joe Biden’s desk after a final vote in the House next week, where it is expected to pass.
The Senate voted 84-14 Thursday to pass the Honoring Our PACT Act, H.R. 3967 (117), requiring broadened Department of Veterans Affairs coverage for toxic exposure related to burn pits. The vote brings the bill one step closer to law after years of advocacy from veterans support groups and health care organizations that have argued a range of health conditions from emphysema to glioblastoma, the cancer that killed Biden’s son, retired Major Gen. Beau Biden, can be linked to burn pits used to incinerate toxic waste for years at overseas military locations.
“This is the greatest advance in veterans’ health care in decades,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on the Senate floor.
The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.) said in statement that the House will vote again on the measure, which it passed in March, next week. Biden, who has pushed for recognition of burn pit health risks since the campaign trail, is expected to swiftly sign the bill into law.
The Congressional Budget Office has projected the legislation would increase federal spending by more than $300 billion over 10 years. That has drawn opposition from groups such as the nonprofit Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, which has said it supports broader coverage but that it needs to be offset by other spending cuts.
The U.S. military stopped using burn pits at bases in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere nearly a decade ago, but it estimates that at least 3.5 million veterans were exposed to enough toxic fumes to cause respiratory problems and some cancers. But even with that recognition, the Department of Veterans Affairs continues to deny a majority of disability claims linked to burn pit exposure.
Between 2007 and 2020, 12,582 veterans claimed conditions related to burn pit exposure, VA Deputy Executive Director of policy and procedures Laurine Carson told House lawmakers in September 2020. The agency approved 2,828, or roughly 20 percent of those claims.
A VA spokesperson pointed POLITICO to VA Secretary Denis McDonough’s statement last month, where he compared the legislation’s impact to the Agent Orange Act of 1991 that expanded coverage for more than 2 million Vietnam War veterans exposed to the dangerous toxin.
“We support the expansion of access to VA health care in the PACT Act and will work to ensure that the expansion of eligibility for health care does not result in the delay or disruption of care for those Veterans already receiving health care from VA,” McDonough said.
The number of claims is expected to swell in the wake of the new legislation, which orders the VA to recognize that a dozen types of cancers, chronic …read more
https://www.politico.com/news/2022/06/16/senate-burn-pit-bill-biden-00040195
Several homes damaged after a tornado rips through central Wisconsin, officials say
Several homes were damaged Wednesday by a tornado in central Wisconsin, officials said.
https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/15/weather/monroe-county-wisconsin-tornado/index.html