Month: November 2023

Special counsel David Weiss told lawmakers in closed-door testimony on Tuesday that he had full authority to pursue criminal charges against Hunter Biden. Weiss, who was appointed the U.S. attorney for Delaware to lead the investigation into President Joe Biden’s son,said he voluntarily agreed to appear before the Republican-led House Judiciary Committee before the submission of his special counsel report to “address misunderstandings about the scope of my authority” in the Hunter Biden criminal probe but would not divulge information that could impede the ongoing investigation.

According to a copy of his opening statement before the House Judiciary Committee, Weiss said: “I am, and have been, the decision-maker on this case. At no time was I blocked, or otherwise prevented from pursuing charges or taking the steps necessary in the investigation by other United States Attorneys, the Tax Division or anyone else at the Department of Justice.”

Weiss’ testimony comes as investigations into Hunter Biden’s finances and business ventures continue to probe whether senior officials took any steps to obstruct or disrupt criminal investigations into Hunter Biden. Case agents – and IRS whistleblowers – Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler, who were previously assigned to the Hunter Biden investigation, told lawmakers they recommended federal charges be brought against the president’s son for tax violations but testified that Weiss said he had been denied special counsel status and was “not the deciding person” to bring charges in the case. They alleged intentional slow-walking and “an undeniable pattern of preferential treatment” in the federal investigation.

Weiss has repeatedly refuted Shapley’s claims and said he did not request special counsel status until August when the request was “promptly granted” by Attorney General Merrick Garland. Weiss had informed him that his investigation had reached a stage where he believed his work should continue as a special counsel, a designation that confers greater autonomy in conducting a probe.

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Authorities are seeking information after a Jewish man in California died following a confrontation during dueling protests over the Israel-Hamas war. Police said Tuesday they had identified a suspect who called 911 after the altercation in which 69-year-old Paul Kessler died from a head injury.

Witnesses reported that Kessler was involved in a “physical altercation” during pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian demonstrations at an intersection in Thousand Oaks, a suburb northwest of Los Angeles. Authorities said that te event started as a pro-Palestine demonstration and was advertised as a peaceful gathering and that pro-Israel demonstrators turned out with about 75 to 100 people total attending.

Ventura County Medical examiner Dr. Christopher Young said at a news conference Tuesday that an autopsy found Kessler died from a blunt force head injury, and that the injuries were consistent with a fall; however, it remains unclear if a blow to the face caused his fall or not.

Ventura County Sheriff Jim Fryhoff said no arrests have been made, though authorities identified a suspect who stayed at the scene and told officers he had called 911 to help Kessler.  Sheriff Fryhoff said that deputies determined Kessler fell backward and struck his head on the ground, but ‘what exactly transpired prior to Mr. Kessler falling backward isn’t crystal clear right now,’ and were still trying to sort out what happened and whether a crime had been committed; adding that investigators also hadn’t ruled out the possibility that the act was a hate crime. Fryhoff stated that the suspect, who has been cooperating with authorities, was detained briefly for questioning and authorities searched his home.

The Greater Los Angeles Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations issued a statement calling Kessler’s death a “tragic and shocking loss,” and added: “while we strongly support the right of political debate, CAIR-LA and the Muslim community stand with the Jewish community in rejecting any and all violence, antisemitism, Islamophobia, or incitement of hatred.”

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Authorities outside of Houston were searching Monday for those responsible for a shooting at a large college homecoming party on Sunday night that injured seven bystanders.

The gunman opened fire following a fight at a trail ride event near the campus of Prairie View A&M University, about 50 miles northwest of downtown Houston. The Waller County Sheriff’s Office says gunfire broke out around 10 p.m. Sunday night; when detectives arrived at the “trail ride pasture party” and found two men, two women and a male minor had been shot. The sheriff’s office said that they all suffered gunshot wounds “to their lower extremities” that appeared not to be life threatening, according to the statement.

According to reports, more than 1,000 people attended the party and that police were called after an argument escalated into gunfire. Investigators are unclear on how many people opened fire but said each of those injured was a bystander. Promoters held the party in the open fields a short drive from the university’s campus, which had been approved by Waller County’s top officials, but the sheriff’s office also stated that “none of the security protocols that were established by the permitting body and agreed to by the promoter were found to be followed at the time of the incident.” The Waller Co. Sheriff’s Office posted this to Facebook, “The mass gathering was approved by the County Judge for the location of FM 362 and Cameron Rd. The party promoter agreed to follow the Judge’s instructions. Please avoid the area of FM 362 to avoid traffic due to people organizing parking in the approved pastures.”

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Former President Donald Trump took the stand in the penalty phase of his $250 million civil fraud trial in New York on Monday, and quickly became defensive after being sworn in. Trump called the prosecutors and “every other Democratic district attorney, AG, U.S. attorney — Trump haters,” adding that “the judge will rule against me because he will always rule against me.”

Weeks after Trump was found guilty of inflating the value of his real estate properties, Trump said during his testimony that he did believe that values of his statement of financial condition were off, “both high and low”. In response to a question from state attorney Kevin Wallace, Trump stated that his triplex apartment in Trump Tower was overvalued with a correction of about $200 million applied to his financial statement, but argued that the value of his “brand” — not a part of the financial statement — in the billions: “the most valuable asset was the brand value … I became president because of my brand.”

Judge Arthur Engoron attempted to redirect Trump, whose long-winded and off-topic responses on several occasions delayed testimony, and implored him to answer the questions posed to him.  Engoron said: “You can attack me — you can do whatever you want. Please just answer the questions.”

New York Attorney General Letitia James, who brought the case against Trump, is seeking at least $250 million for the fraud that she asserts inflated Donald Trump’s wealth by $2.2 billion. Trump’s testimony is being used to determine the amount of damages the former president will pay after Engoron issued a summary ruling that found Trump’s real estate business enriched itself by inflating the value of his real estate, including his hotels and golf clubs.

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Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah on Sunday during his visit to Ramallah, following stops Blinken made in Israel and Jordan.

Abbas and Blinken met twice in Jordan during the latter’s trip to the region last month after the attack. According to a senior State Department official, Blinken thought it was important to update Abbas “on a lot of the work that we have been doing in some of our meetings with the government of Israel,” saying that Blinken told Abbas “how we, in our meeting on Friday, pressed Israel to minimize civilian harm; gave him an update on our work to get humanitarian assistance into Gaza (and) get essential services restored; and (described) our conversations with Israel about implementing a humanitarian pause.”

The meeting between the two was focused on Gaza’s present situation and the situation in the West Bank, amid escalating settler violence following Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7. Abbas had held a similar position to that of the foreign ministers of Egypt and Jordan on the need for a ceasefire in Gaza; however, the U.S. has been calling for “humanitarian pauses” to allow increased aid to flow into the area According to a State Department readout of the roughly hourlong meeting, Blinken and Abbas “discussed efforts to restore calm and stability in the West Bank, including the need to stop extremist violence against Palestinians and hold those accountable responsible,” while Blinken “reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to the delivery of life-saving humanitarian assistance and resumption of essential services in Gaza and made clear that Palestinians must not be forcibly displaced.”

Blinken had met with Israeli officials in Tel Aviv on Friday, and said he heard “a clear commitment from the government to deal with extremist violence in the West Bank, to condemn it, to take action to prevent it, to take action against those who perpetrate it … This is important, and we will be looking closely to ensure that our friends make good on that commitment.”

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Authorities say that a Metro city bus in Seattle crashed into a building on Saturday afternoon after a collision with another vehicle, killing one woman who was outside, as well as injuring 12 others.

According to a release from the Seattle Police Department, the fatal crash happened around 3:30 p.m. at the intersection of 5th Avenue and Battery Street in the Belltown area when a red sedan collided with the King County Metro Bus and sent it careening off the road and into the building. Seattle Police said it appears the driver of the red sedan was heading south on 5th Avenue before crashing with the Metro Bus, which was eastbound on Battery Street.

A female pedestrian was found dead outside the building, police said, adding that the bus had struck her as it came to a stop after leaving the road. Eleven passengers on the bus, including the driver, sustained non-life-threatening injuries from the collision and were in stable condition, with eight of them hospitalized. The Seattle Fire Department said that the driver of the sedan, a 31-year-old man, was pulled out of the car by firefighters and taken to a hospital in critical condition  No one was inside the part of the building the bus crashed into, and there was no significant structural damage to the building.

The cause of the crash is now being investigated by police, with a release stating: “A Drug Recognition Expert officer will evaluate the male driver of the sedan for any signs of impairment.”

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