Month: September 2023

The former U.S. marine who became the center of a Jan. 6, 2021, conspiracy theory, has been charged with a misdemeanor offense in connection with the U.S. Capitol riot. Ray Epps is expected to plead guilty, according to court papers filed Tuesday.

Epps is charged with disorderly or disruptive conduct on restricted grounds, court records show. Epps attorney, Edward J. Ungvarsky, said in an email that the case was filed with an anticipation that Epps would plead guilty to the charge. The judge has scheduled a plea agreement hearing for Wednesday.

Epps, a one-time supporter of Donald Trump, claimed in a lawsuit filed this year that Fox News Channel made him a scapegoat for the Capitol riot. Epps has said he went to Washington to protest the 2020 election, was falsely accused by Fox of being a government agent who was whipping up trouble that would be blamed on Trump supporters. Although the lawsuit mentions Fox News personalities Laura Ingraham and Will Cain, former Fox host Tucker Carlson is cited as the leader in promoting the theory. Epps was featured in more than two dozen segments on Carlson’s prime-time show, the lawsuit said.

Epps’s lawsuit against Fox News says the U.S. Justice Department told him in May that he faces criminal charges for his actions on Jan. 6, and he blames that on “the relentless attacks by Fox and Mr. Carlson and the resulting political pressure.” However, in an appearance before the House Judiciary Committee in July, FBI Director Christopher Wray denied having any knowledge of Epps being a “secret government agent.” Wray said: “I will say this notion that somehow the violence at the Capitol on Jan. 6 was part of some operation orchestrated by FBI sources and agents is ludicrous.”

Epps was a previously member of the far-right Oath Keepers extremist group, serving as an Arizona chapter leader before parting ways with the anti-government group a few years before the Jan. 6 attack. Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and other members were convicted of seditious conspiracy in the Jan. 6 attack.

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In a speech Tuesday to the United Nations General Assembly, President Joe Biden urged world leaders not to abandon Ukraine in its war against Russia. Biden implied that if the U.S. and other nations that have aided Ukraine were to withhold support, every nation would feel vulnerable and isolated in the face of an attack.

Biden warned that Russia was hoping on other nations growing “weary” of the fight, saying in his speech to UNGA: “If we allow Ukraine to be carved up, is the independence of any nation secure? I respectfully suggest the answer is no.”  Biden drew applause when saying that the United States and its allies would stand with Ukraine’s fight for freedom:  “Russia alone bears responsibility for this war. Russia alone has the power to end this war immediately.”

Biden’s remarks come as polls show that U.S. support for Ukraine’s defense is beginning to wane, despite Biden’s pledge to support Ukraine for “as long as it takes.” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who attended and applauded Biden’s remarks ahead of his own speech at UNGA on Tuesday, is scheduled to. meet Thursday with Biden at the White House, as well as meet some congressional leaders.

Biden’s address at the annual gathering was the centerpiece event of his three-day visit to New York, which will include meetings with the heads of five Central Asian nations, and the leaders of Israel and Brazil. On Wednesday, Biden will meet Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and join him in an event with labor leaders from Brazil and the United States. The President will also have his first face-to-face meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu since Netanyahu regained power last December.

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Hunter Biden has filed a lawsuit in a Washington, D.C., federal court against the Internal Revenue Service over alleged “unlawful disclosures” made by a pair of whistleblowers who accused government prosecutors of mishandling their investigation into Hunter Biden. After a nearly five-year probe, Hunter Biden was indicted last week on felony gun charges, two months after a plea deal he had negotiated with prosecutors fell apart under questioning from a federal judge.

Biden’s attorneys accuse veteran IRS investigators Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler of waging a campaign to “to embarrass and inflict harm on Mr. Biden” by improperly sharing his private taxpayer information in media interviews.  Biden’s lawyer Abbe Lowell said: “During these interviews, Mr. Shapley and Mr. Ziegler provide unsubstantiated and selectively chosen allegations of nefarious and potentially criminal behavior,” adding that the IRS “failed to take reasonable steps to prevent its personnel from unlawfully disclosing” Hunter Biden’s confidential taxpayer information in violation of the Privacy Act. Attorneys for Hunter Biden are seeking $1,000 in damages for each “unauthorized disclosure” of his tax information, a declaration that the IRS “willfully, knowingly, and/or by gross negligence, unlawfully disclosed Mr. Biden’s confidential tax return information,” and any documents in the IRS’ possession related to Hunter Biden’s tax information.

Shapley and Ziegler approached Congress in April with allegations that senior Justice Department officials blocked efforts to bring more serious charges against Hunter Biden, limited their investigative scope, and refused to grant special counsel status to the Trump-appointed U.S. attorney who oversaw the case. The Justice Department and Attorney General Merrick Garland have denied those claims, defending U.S. Attorney David Weiss’ independence over the matter.

In a statement responding to the lawsuit, attorneys for Shapley said, “Neither IRS SSA Gary Shapley nor his attorneys have ever released any confidential taxpayer information except through whistleblower disclosures authorized by statute. Once Congress released that testimony, like every American citizen, he has a right to discuss that public information.” IRS officials declined to comment on the suit.

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Five American citizens have been freed as part of a deal between the U.S. and Iran. The Americans include Siamak Namazi, Emad Shargi and Morad Tahbaz, as well as two others who asked that their identity not be made public. All five have been designated as wrongfully detained by U.S. government. The five detained Americans all served time in Iran’s notorious Evin prison but were placed on house arrest when Tehran and Washington reached a deal-in-principle.

The Americans were flown out of the country and arrived in Doha, Qatar, Monday before boarding a flight to the U.S. later in the day. Tahbaz’s wife, Vida, and Namazi’s mother, Effie, were also allowed to leave Iran in the arrangement. Unlike the other five, they had not been jailed by the Iranian regime but had previously been barred from leaving the country.

In a statement, President Joe Biden said: “Today, five innocent Americans who were imprisoned in Iran are finally coming home. Siamak Namazi, Morad Tahbaz, Emad Sharghi, and two citizens who wish to remain private will soon be reunited with their loved ones — after enduring years of agony, uncertainty, and suffering. I am grateful to our partners at home and abroad for their tireless efforts to help us achieve this outcome, including the Governments of Qatar, Oman, Switzerland, and South Korea. I give special thanks to the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad, and to the Sultan of Oman, Haitham bin Tariq, both of whom helped facilitate this agreement over many months of difficult and principled American diplomacy.”

The Iranian Foreign Ministry first announced the U.S. nationals would be imminently released early Monday morning, fulfilling a deal struck between Washington and Tehran last month. The five Iranians involved in the trade have either been charged with or convicted of nonviolent offenses. Two do not have legal standing to stay in the U.S. and will be transported by U.S. Marshals Service to Doha and then travel on to Iran. Two more are lawful permanent residents of the U.S., and one is a dual Iranian American citizen.

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