DA drops most charges against Austin police officers accused of excessive force in 2020 protests
The Travis County district attorney still plans to pursue criminal charges in four cases. The officers whose cases are being dismissed will be allowed to return to duty.
Congress aims to hold vote to initiate Biden impeachment inquiry
House Republicans leaders hope to hold a formal vote next week on a measure that would formally initiate an impeachment inquiry into President Biden, Fox News has learned. The revelation that Congress may soon consider the impeachment of the president comes shortly after House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., released subpoenaed bank records showing an entity owned by Biden’s son Hunter Biden had made “direct monthly payments to Joe Biden.” “This wasn’t a payment from Hunter Biden’s personal account but an account for his corporation that received payments from China and other shady corners of the world,” Comer said in a video message Monday. The White House has repeatedly said that President Biden did nothing wrong and had no knowledge of his son’s business dealings. Comer has spearheaded the sprawling investigation into Biden which has focused particularly on the president’s son who has previously engaged in various foreign business dealings. The Oversight Committee hosted an impeachment inquiry hearing in September as part of that probe. COMER DEFENDS PRIVATE DEPOSITION OF HUNTER BIDEN, VOWS TO RELEASE TRANSCRIPT AND HOLD PUBLIC HEARING In addition, in June, the House Ways and Means Committee, which has also participated in the investigation, released 2017 messages showing Hunter Biden excoriating Chinese business partner Henry Zhao for not fulfilling a “commitment” and said his father was sitting beside him. “I am sitting here with my father and we would like to understand why the commitment made has not been fulfilled. Tell the director that I would like to resolve this now before it gets out of hand, and now means tonight,” Hunter Biden wrote in a WhatsApp message to Zhao, the CEO of Beijing-based asset management firm Harvest Fund Management, on July 30, 2017, according to documents released by House Republicans. NOTORIOUS MOBSTER STUNNED BY LATEST HUNTER BIDEN ALLEGATIONS: ‘MIND-BLOWING’ Days after that message, on Aug. 4, 2017, Chinese firm CEFC Infrastructure Investment wired $100,000 to Hunter Biden’s law firm Owasco, according to a 2020 report published by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. Days later, on Aug. 8, 2017, CEFC Infrastructure Investment sent $5 million to Hudson West III, a firm Hunter Biden opened with Chinese associates. And the 2020 Senate report revealed that, beginning on Aug. 14, 2017, Hunter Biden initiated a string of 20 wire transactions from Owasco to Lion Hall Group, a consulting firm linked to President Biden’s brother James Biden and his wife Sara. The transactions continued through Aug. 3, 2018, and totaled $1.4 million. The payments between Hunter Biden and his father, which Comer released earlier Monday, were sent from an account linked to Owasco. Last week, Fox News Digital reported that a bank investigator raised concerns about Hunter Biden’s receipt of an additional $5 million wire from a Chinese company in August 2018 to his bank account, Hudson West III. Hunter Biden then transferred $400,000 to his Owasco PC account. Funds were then transferred to a business account belonging to James Biden, and later transferred to a personal account belonging to James Biden and Sara Biden. Comer claims they used those funds to then cut a check to Joe Biden for $40,000. That check was labeled as a “loan repayment.”
NY Dem tees up primary against ‘Squad’ member under fire for Israel stance, fire alarm fiasco
Westchester County, New York, Executive George Latimer officially filed federal paperwork to declare his candidacy for Congress, teeing up a Democratic primary challenged against “Squad” member Rep. Jamaal Bowman. Federal Election Commission documents reviewed online by Fox News Digital show Latimer filed a statement of candidacy for Congress on Monday. Speculation has mounted for months that the Democratic politician would throw his hat in the ring and challenge Bowman after the left-wing congressman made repeated comments that were viewed by some voters in the heavily-Jewish district as anti-Israel. Bowman was first elected in 2020 to represent New York’s 16th Congressional District, which encompasses parts of the Bronx and suburban Westchester, as a progressive candidate before becoming a member of the informal left-wing congressional group known as “The Squad.” ‘SQUAD’ MEMBER FACES ATTACK FROM WITHIN OWN PARTY OVER ISRAEL STANCE AMID DEM INFIGHTING ON GAZA Latimer has not yet made a public announcement concerning his candidacy. The FEC filing follows Latimer’s return from a four-day trip to Israel that was organized by the Westchester Jewish Council. REP BOWMAN SAYS THERE MUST BE ‘CLEAR DISTINCTION’ BETWEEN ISRAEL’S CITIZENS, GOVERNMENT Bowman is up for reelection next year, but his run is already mired in controversy over his comments on Israel, which some voters and national viewers have seen as anti-Israel. The Squad member has come under fire for calling for a ceasefire amid the raging war between Israel and Hamas, for boycotting Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s speech to Congress this summer, and defending Rep. Pramila Jayapal when she came under fire for saying that Israel is a “racist state.” Just last month, Bowman also saw an event intended to spread “healing” amid antisemitism devolve into protesters demanding that the congressman represent Jews in his district when making policy decision. ‘SQUAD’ DEM REP JAMAAL BOWMAN FIRE ALARM FOOTAGE RELEASED AFTER GUILTY PLEA: ‘BOLD-FACED LIAR’ Bowman has repeatedly condemned Hamas’ attacks on Israel, including on Oct. 7 when the terrorist organization launched its attacks on the nation. The New York congressman also faced controversy this fall after he pulled a fire alarm in the House of Representatives before lawmakers voted to avert a government shut down. “A lot of observers right now think that this is close to, if not the nadir, for Bowman,” New York-based political consultant Jake Dilemani told Fox News Digital last month as speculation grew around a potential Latimer run. “This is the bottom for Bowman with certain people in the district and certain other political observers. And rewind to last year, people were disappointed with him.” OVER 20 DEMOCRATS, 1 REPUBLICAN VOTE AGAINST RESOLUTION CONDEMNING ANTISEMITISM ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES The Westchester politician is considered a Democrat powerhouse in the area, and has previously served in the New York Assembly and state Senate before his election as Westchester County executive in 2018. “George has had a very long and successful career in politics in Westchester County as a Democrat. He’s never lost an election,” Dilemani, who previously worked with Latimer on campaigns, added in his previous comment to Fox. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP While Bowman’s support among constituents appears to be falling due to his comments on Israel, other groups have called on Latimer to not run against the congressman, including the Anti-Racist Alliance. Bowman also picked up an endorsement last week from the progressive Working Families Party. Bowman’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on Latimer’s likely primary challenge.
FBI interviewed priest, church choir director ahead of anti-Catholic memo, House GOP finds
FIRST ON FOX: The FBI interviewed a priest and a church choir director as part of its investigation into traditional Catholics, a House Weaponization Committee report obtained by Fox News Digital revealed, while determining that subpoenaed documents show that there “was no legitimate basis for the memorandum to insert federal law enforcement into Catholic houses of worship.” The House Judiciary Committee and the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government have been investigating the FBI’s categorization of certain Catholic Americans as potential domestic terrorists after an FBI Richmond internal memo, titled “Interest of Racially or Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremists in Radical-Traditionalist Catholic Ideology Almost Certainly Presents New Mitigation Opportunities.” SEVERAL FBI OFFICES CONTRIBUTED TO ANTI-CATHOLIC MEMO, REFUTING WRAY’S TESTIMONY, GOP SAYS That memo, which was leaked in January, identified “radical-traditionalist Catholic[s]” as potential “racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists” and said that “racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists (RMVEs) in radical-traditionalist Catholic (RTC) ideology almost certainly presents opportunities for threat mitigation through the exploration of new avenues for tripwire and source development.” But according to the report, first obtained by Fox News Digital Monday, the committee found that the FBI “abused its counterterrorism tools to target Catholic Americans as potential domestic terrorists.” “The Committee and Select Subcommittee discovered that the FBI relied on at least one undercover agent to develop its assessment and the FBI even proposed developing sources among the Catholic clergy and church leadership,” the report states. “Not only did the FBI propose to develop sources, but it already interviewed a priest and choir director affiliated with a Catholic church in Richmond, Virginia for the memorandum.” The committee said that whistleblower disclosures reveal that the FBI interview of a priest and choir director affiliated with a Catholic church in Richmond, Virginia was used to “inform on the parishioner under investigation.” The committee also said that without whistleblower disclosures, the memo “would still be operative in FBI systems, violating the religious liberties of millions of Catholic Americans.” FBI UNDER PRESSURE AS SENATE, HOUSE MEMBERS SEEK ANSWERS FOR ’DISCRIMINATORY’ ANTI-CATHOLIC MEMO The committee found that there were “errors” made “at every step of the drafting, review, approval, and removal process of the memorandum.” The report also states that the basis of the Richmond memo “relied on a single investigation in the Richmond Field Office’s area of responsibility in which the subject ‘self-described’ as a ‘radical-traditionalist Catholic.’” But the committee found that FBI employees “could not define the meaning of an RTC when preparing, editing, or reviewing the memorandum.” “Even so, this single investigation became the basis for an FBI-wide memorandum warning about the dangers of ‘radical’ Catholics,” the report states. “While the FBI claims it ‘does not categorize investigations as domestic terrorism based on the religious beliefs—to include Catholicism—of the subject involved,’ an FBI-wide memorandum originating from the FBI’s Richmond Field Office did just that,” the report states. “Under the guise of tackling the threat of domestic terrorism, the memorandum painted certain ‘radical-traditionalist Catholics’ (RTCs) as violent extremists and proposed opportunities for the FBI to infiltrate Catholic churches as a form of ‘threat mitigation.’” DOJ, FBI TARGETING CATHOLICS AS ‘VIOLENT EXTREMISTS’ UNDER SCRUTINY BY STATE AGS: ‘BIGOTRY’ IS ‘FESTERING’ But the FBI has denied conducting an investigation based on religion and has maintained that upon the discovery of the memo, it was removed from FBI systems. The FBI said that it “investigates violence, threats of violence, and violations of federal law.” “We do not conduct investigations based solely on religious affiliations or practices, or any other First Amendment protected activity,” the FBI said in a statement. “To be clear,” the FBI said, “the document was a domain perspective which is an intelligence product designed to address potential threats in a particular area—in this case, the Richmond Field Office’s area of responsibility. Because the product failed to meet FBI standards, it was quickly removed from all FBI systems and a review was launched to determine how it was produced in the first place.” On July 25, the FBI produced a version of the Richmond document with fewer redactions than the two previous versions it provided. That version revealed that investigations into Catholic organizations in Los Angeles and Portland fed into the Richmond office memo. The report states that FBI Milwaukee was also involved. Meanwhile, the report said that the documents obtained by the committee’s subpoena show that “the FBI singled out Americans who are pro-life, pro-family, and support the biological basis for sex and gender distinction as potential domestic terrorists.”
George Santos turns to Cameo for income after expulsion from Congress
After his expulsion from Congress last week, George Santos is finding a new way to make some cash: Cameo. Cameo is a website where people can pay celebrities to make personalized videos such as for the holidays or a birthday. A link to Santos’ Cameo profile is available on his X profile. On his Cameo profile, Santos describes himself as a “former congressional ‘icon’” and “The Expelled member of Congress from New York City.” Interested parties can book a personal video with Santos starting at $200. SANTOS VOWS TO FILE ETHICS COMPLAINTS AGAINST MULTIPLE LAWMAKERS HOURS AFTER EXPULSION FROM HOUSE Santos joins the league of former politicos – including former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Roger Stone – who have joined Cameo to make some extra money. Santos’ move to Cameo comes as he faces serious legal trouble, and likely hefty legal bills, in his post-congressional life. Federal prosecutors in a 23-count indictment have accused him of duping donors, stealing from his campaign and lying to Congress. The House voted on Friday to expel the New York Republican representative after a blistering ethics report on his conduct heightened lawmakers’ concerns about the scandal-plagued freshman. Santos became just the sixth member in the chamber’s history to be ousted by colleagues, and the third since the Civil War. RAMASWAMY CALLS GEORGE SANTOS ‘INSANE AND PATHOLOGICAL LIAR,’ BUT SAYS EXPELLING HIM FROM CONGRESS WAS ‘WRONG’ The vote to expel was 311-114, easily clearing the two-thirds majority required. House Republican leaders opposed removing Santos, whose departure leaves them with a razor-thin majority, but in the end 105 GOP lawmakers sided with nearly all Democrats to expel him. The expulsion marked the final congressional chapter in a spectacular fall from grace for Santos. Celebrated as an up-and-comer after he flipped a district from Democrats last year, Santos’ life story began to unravel before he was even sworn into office. Reports emerged that he had lied about having Jewish ancestry, a career at top Wall Street firms and a college degree, among other things. Then, in May, Santos was indicted by federal prosecutors on multiple charges, turning his presence in the House into a growing distraction and embarrassment to the party. Santos’ expulsion narrows the GOP’s majority to 221-213 and Democrats will have a good opportunity to fill the vacancy. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Glenn Youngkin blasts Virginia arts festival canceling Hanukkah celebration: ‘Absurd and antisemitic’
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin did not mince words at the news of an Old Dominion town’s art and music festival canceling a Hanukkah menorah lighting. On Sunday, LoveLight Placemaking, the nonprofit that runs Williamsburg, Virginia’s 2nd Sundays Art and Music Festival, canceled a scheduled menorah lighting featuring a local rabbi, citing Israel’s war against the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas. “Singling out the Jewish community by canceling this Hanukkah celebration is absurd and antisemitic,” Youngkin tweeted on Monday. WHITE HOUSE, PENNSYLVANIA OFFICIALS DENOUNCE ANTI-ISRAEL RESTAURANT PROTEST: ‘BLATANT ACT OF ANTISEMITISM’ “The event organizers should immediately reconsider their actions and move forward with the menorah lighting,” the governor continued. Fox News Digital reached out to LoveLight Placemaking for comment but did not immediately receive a response. The festival’s founder, Shirley Vermillion, told local press the menorah lighting was canceled because it “seemed very inappropriate” amid Israel’s war with the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas sparked by the deadly surprise terror attacks on Oct. 7. “The concern is of folks feeling like we are siding with a group over the other… not a direction we ever decide to head,” Vermillion said, adding that Christian and other religious groups were denied performances. In response to the surprise cancellation, the United Jewish Community of the Virginia Peninsula – which organized the Hanukkah menorah lighting – released a statement saying they are “shocked and alarmed” at the decision to pull the event. “Yet, appallingly, the event organizer claimed that a Chanukah celebration would send a message that the festival was ‘supporting the killing/bombing of thousands of men, women, and children’ – and even went a step further, by offering to reinstate the event if it was done under a banner calling for a cease-fire.” “We should be very clear: it is antisemitic to hold Jews collectively responsible for Israel’s policies and actions, and to require a political litmus test for Jews’ participation in community events that have nothing to do with Israel,” they continued. “Those standards would never be applied to another community.” The organization noted that since “October 7th, we have repeatedly seen cases of Jewish people and institutions – including synagogues, Jewish homes and businesses – being targeted, sometimes violently, by those opposed to Israel or its actions.” “At a time of well-documented, rising antisemitism, the singling out and targeting of Jews is dangerous and harmful, serving to further exclude and alienate our community,” they wrote. The holiday of Hanukkah celebrates the Jewish people continuing to practice their religion in secret as the ancient Seleucid Empire religiously persecuted them, leading to the Maccabean Revolt. The dreidel game – where people celebrating Hanukkah spin a four-sided top while betting chocolate coins, or gelt – is a direct link to that time. The persecuted Jews would pretend to be gambling when the imperial soldiers would come by before resuming religious services. The Hanukkah cancellation comes amid an uptick in antisemitism in America. Sunday night saw anti-Israel protesters in Philadelphia stop outside of Goldie Falafel, a Jewish and Israeli-owned restaurant in the city. “Goldie, Goldie, you can’t hide, we charge you with genocide,” the protesters chanted at the falafel restaurant. The White House and Pennsylvania officials, including Democrat Gov. Josh Shapiro – who is Jewish – denounced the protest as a “blatant act of antisemitism.”
FL Sen. Rick Scott letter demands answers from CFP committee over FSU playoff snub: ‘Shocking decision’
Florida Sen. Rick Scott is demanding answers from the NCAA College Football Playoff Committee after the Florida State Seminoles were left out of the playoffs despite an undefeated 13-0 season. “Yesterday, for the first time in its 10 year history, the College Football Playoff (CFP) Selection Committee (the “Committee”) made the shocking decision behind closed doors to exclude an undefeated, Power Five conference champion from the playoffs,” Scott wrote in a letter to CFB Playoff Chairman Boo Corrigan after Florida State defeated Louisville 16-6 on Saturday to win the ACC Championship only to fall from 4th place in the playoff standings to 5th thus missing the playoff despite being undefeated. “The Committee’s decision to drop the 13-0 Florida State University (FSU) Seminoles from its previous 4th-place ranking, and thereby exclude the team from the upcoming playoffs altogether, mere hours after they won the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Championship game has rightly raised questions among millions of Americans about the integrity of the process employed by this 13-member body, which consists of just five (38%) individuals with relevant experience in coaching or playing football at the collegiate level or higher,” Scott continued. “Today, I write to demand total transparency from the Committee regarding how this decision was reached and what factors may have been at play in reaching this outcome.” FLORIDA STATE’S JORDAN TRAVIS WRITES HEARTBREAKING MESSAGE AS UNBEATEN SEMINOLES SNUBBED FROM CFP The college football world erupted into a fierce debate on Sunday when the top 4 teams who earned playoff berths were announced and Florida State was left out while Texas and Alabama, both who finished the season 12-1, made the playoffs. Corrigan defended the committee’s decision to leave Florida State out by pointing to the fact that the team lost its star quarterback, Jordan Travis, due to a season-ending leg injury in late November that changed the complexion of the team. “Florida State is a different team than they were through the first 11 weeks,” Corrigan said about the committee’s decision. “It was an incredible season. But as you look at who they are as a team right now without Jordan Travis and without the offensive dynamic that he brings to it, they are a different team, and the committee voted Alabama No. 4 and Florida State No. 5.” FLORIDA LAWMAKERS BLAST CFP OFFICIALS OVER SEMINOLES SNUB: ‘CORRUPT DECISION’ Florida State Head Coach Mike Norvell issued a statement blasting the committee saying he was “disgusted” and “infuriated” with their decision. “What is the point of playing games?” Norvell said. “Do you tell players it is okay to quit if someone goes down? Do you not play a senior on Senior Day for fear of injury? Where is the motivation to schedule challenging non-conference games? We are not only an undefeated P5 conference champion, but we also played two P5 non-conference games away from home and won both of them.” Travis posted on X that he was “devastated” and “heartbroken.” FLORIDA STATE AD RIPS CFP OFFICIALS AFTER BEING LEFT OUT: ‘THE COMMITTEE FAILED COLLEGE FOOTBALL TODAY’ “In so much disbelief rn, I wish my leg broke earlier in the season so y’all could see this team is much more than the quarterback,” Travis posted. “I thought results matter. 13-0 and this roster matches up across any team in those top 4 rankings. I am so sorry. Go Noles!” The college football playoff criteria used by the committee contains a section stating that “other relevant factors such as unavailability of key players and coaches that may have affected a team’s performance during the season or likely will affect its playoff performance” are considered in the selection process. In his letter, Scott wrote that the Atlantic Coast Conference and FSU “have been denied $2 million of revenue distribution” as a result of the decision which is “just a fraction of the total economic impact that playoff contention would have created for FSU.” “There are countless other concerns and arguments that could be voiced here, but the main issue is the justified perception of an unfair system that has wrongly disregarded the known strengths of an undefeated team over the speculated impact of losing a single player,” Scott wrote. “While I doubt the Committee’s decision will be reversed to rightly reward FSU for its hard-fought, undefeated season as the Committee has done for other undefeated Power Five conference champions in recent years, I do believe that total transparency regarding how this decision was reached would do tremendous good for the Committee, the CFP as a whole, and the college football community.” Scott provided a list of 10 pieces of information he wants the committee to review and address including written communications between committee members leading up to the decision, notes, recordings, and other information related to the announcement. Fox News Digital reached out to Corrigan but did not immediately receive a response. Florida State will square off against Georgia, who many believe also deserved a playoff berth, on December 30.
House GOP campaign arm slams Democrats in new AI-generated ad turning national parks into migrant tent cities
House Republicans’ campaign arm has rolled out a new political ad filled with images created using artificial intelligence (AI). The video runs just under a minute long and features AI-generated pictures depicting migrant encampments across some of the United States’ most famous open-air landmarks. The political ad targets swing district Democrats near national parks. It comes after House Republicans passed a bill earlier this week that would ban the use of U.S. government funds going toward housing undocumented migrants on federally owned land. “National parks overrun with illegal immigrants. This is the future extreme House Democrats want,” text at the beginning of the video reads. HIGH MIGRANT NUMBERS BREAK MULTIPLE RECORDS IN NEW BLOW TO BIDEN BORDER STRATEGY A voiceover reminiscent of mid-20th century newscasts says, “A symbol of our vanished frontier, the early pioneers pushed their way laboriously across this country. But it’s only in our great national parks that we preserve the really wild things and the immense wilderness they knew.” It cycles through places like Olympic National Park in Washington, the National Mall in Washington, D.C., and Joshua Tree National Park, all crowded with tents. “President Roosevelt famously said the ‘fundamental idea behind the parks is that the country belongs to the people.’ But in Joe Biden and extreme House Democrats’ America, it belongs to unvetted illegal immigrants and human traffickers, instead of families enjoying the natural wonders of the USA,” National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) press secretary Will Reinert told Fox News Digital in a statement. The bill, the Protecting Our Communities from Failure to Secure the Border Act of 2023, passed on Friday by a margin of 224 to 203, with one member voting “present.” It was introduced by Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y. ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CHARGED FOR FATALLY SHOOTING 2 TEXAS SISTERS The legislation would cancel an agreement between the federal government and New York City to house migrants in Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn. All but six Democrats voted against the bill. Reps. Jared Golden, D-Maine, Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, Don Davis, D-N.C., Vicente Gonzales, D-Texas, Mary Peltola, D-Alaska, and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash., voted for it. The bill is unlikely to be taken up in the Democrat-controlled Senate, but if it were, the White House has signaled that President Biden may veto it if it came to his desk.
Biden admin under fire for burning taxpayer funds on UN climate summit trip
The Biden administration is facing heavy criticism from a Senate Republican leader for sending dozens of representatives, including Vice President Kamala Harris and multiple Cabinet members, to the United Nations climate summit. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee’s ranking member, Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., sent a flurry of letters to members of President Biden’s Cabinet on Monday, demanding they justify trips to the U.N.’s COP28 summit in Dubai, which began last week and is set to conclude on Dec. 12. Barrasso questioned why officials couldn’t attend the event via available virtual means. “A significant number of Biden bureaucrats will be traveling across the globe on the taxpayer’s dime, all in an effort to advocate for these anti-fossil fuel initiatives,” Barrasso wrote in the letters. “They will, of course, utilize fossil fuels throughout their travels while ballooning their own carbon footprint.” “Even though COP28 has established a dedicated virtual platform to foster online participation, federal climate crusaders will gleefully spend the hard-earned money of the American people on airfare, hotels, and fine dining as they participate in person,” he continued. JOE MANCHIN GOES SCORCHED-EARTH ON BIDEN ADMIN OVER EV ACTIONS BOOSTING CHINA Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Attorney General Merrick Garland, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack were among those whom Barrasso sent letters to Monday. The U.S. delegation at the annual climate conference is being led by Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry and includes Harris, Blinken, Vilsack, White House clean energy czar John Podesta, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan and several other senior administration officials. BIDEN ADMIN UNVEILS LATEST CRACKDOWN ON OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY AT UN CLIMATE CONFERENCE “Taxpayers will not and should not stand for this hypocrisy. This pattern of behavior suggests a troubling disconnect between public duty and the prudent use of taxpayer funds,” Barrasso’s letters to the Cabinet secretaries concluded. “As stewards of public funds, it is imperative that federal agencies demonstrate consistency in their actions and policies, especially in matters related to environmental responsibility and fiscal accountability.” He then listed a series of questions for each agency head, asking how many officials they are sending to COP28, the estimated taxpayer costs of those travels, the projected carbon emissions from those travels and whether there was any effort to reduce the carbon footprint of COP28 travel. Meanwhile, since the conference started, the U.S. delegation has been busy committing to various initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and fight global warming, but which experts have warned may lead to higher consumer costs. For example, the U.S. finalized regulations targeting methane emissions of the oil and gas sector and vowed to shutter all remaining coal-fired power plants. “It’s safe to say that there literally will be hundreds of initiatives that will be announced, many of them coming from the United States, but also many coming from other parts of the world, and I think it’s going to be a very exciting presentation of a global effort that is taking place, even though it’s not happening fast enough or big enough yet,” Kerry told reporters Wednesday. “What is very clear to us – and we will be pushing this the next two weeks that we are here negotiating – we have to move faster,” Kerry added. “We have to be much more seized of this issue all around the planet. There’s too much business as usual still.” The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Former US ambassador called Castro the ‘Comandante,’ labeled US ‘the enemy’: DOJ
A former U.S. ambassador to Bolivia is accused of calling Cuban dictator Fidel Castro “Comandante” and describing the United States as the “enemy,” according to an unsealed criminal complaint Monday. At the top of a meeting of the DOJ’s Reproductive Rights Task Force, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland first announced a “significant national security related enforcement action” the Justice Department has taken in charging Victor Manuel Rocha, 73, with “illegally acting as an agent of a foreign government.” Rocha, who is from Miami, Florida, is a former U.S. Department of State employee who served on the National Security Council from 1994 to 1995 and ultimately as U.S. Ambassador to Bolivia from 2000 to 2002. His service also included deputy principal officer at the U.S. Interests Section in Havana, Cuba, Garland said. FORMER US AMBASSADOR ARRESTED, ACCUSED OF SECRETLY SERVING AS AGENT TO CUBA: REPORT After leaving the State Department, Rocha served as adviser to the commander of the U.S. Southern Command, a joint command of the United States military whose area of responsibility includes Cuba, from about 2006 to 2012. “This action exposes one of the highest reaching and longest lasting infiltrations of U.S. government by a foreign agent,” Garland said. “Specifically, the criminal complaint alleges that for over 40 years, Rocha acted as a covert agent of the Cuban government. That, and the complaint alleges, Rocha sought out employment with U.S. government that would provide him with access to nonpublic information and the ability to affect U.S. foreign policy.” The complaint outlines actions Rocha took allegedly “in support Cuba’s clandestine intelligence gathering mission against the United States.” VENEZUELA APPROVES REFERENDUM TO TAKE OVER NEIGHBORING OIL-RICH ESSEQUIBO REGION CONTROLLED BY GUYANA Rocha repeatedly referred to the United States as “the enemy” during discussions with an undercover FBI agent, the complaint says. He also allegedly told the undercover agent that his efforts to infiltrate the United States government were “meticulous and very disciplined” and he repeatedly bragged about the significance of his efforts, saying that “what has been done has strengthened the revolution immensely,” Garland said. When the undercover agent told Rocha he was “a covert representative here in Miami” whose mission was “to contact you, introduce myself as your new contact, and establish a new communication plan,” Rocha answered, “Yes,” and proceeded to engage in a lengthy conversation during which he described and celebrated his activity as a Cuban intelligence agent, according to the complaint. Throughout the meetings, Rocha behaved as a Cuban agent and used the term “we” to describe himself and Cuba, prosecutors say. Rocha additionally praised Fidel Castro as the “Comandante,” and referred to his contacts in Cuban intelligence as his “Compañeros” (comrades) and to the Cuban intelligence services as the “Dirección,” the complaint says. Rocha allegedly also described his work as a Cuban agent as “a grand slam.” The FBI arrested Rocha on Friday in Miami and he will make his first court appearance in the Southern District of Florida on Monday afternoon, Garland said. “Those who have the privilege of serving in the government of the United States are given an enormous amount of trust by the public we serve,” Garland said Monday. “To betray that trust, by falsely pledging loyalty to the United States while serving a foreign power is a crime that will be met with the full force of the Justice Department. As the only Cuban-born member of Congress, Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., reacted Sunday to reports of Rochas’ arrest for allegedly spying for Cuba, calling for the “immediate implementation of sanctions against the Castro regime” and a full investigation.