List of All Articles with Tag 'me'

Nevada Republican Senate candidate Sam Brown created a political action committee to "help elect Republicans" but most of its funds were spent paying down debt from his failed previous campaign. The group donated less than 7% of its funds to the candidates it was set up to support, according to campaign finance records -- a move one campaign finance expert likened to using the PAC as a "slush fund."

A host of House Democrats, led by Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, are urging the Justice Department to launch a probe into Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas “for consistently failing to report significant gifts he received from Harlan Crow and other billionaires for nearly two decades in defiance of his duty under federal law.” In the 11 August letter addressed to US Attorney General Merrick Garland, the Democrats cited the bombshell reports by ProPublica, alleging that Justice Thomas did not disclose luxurious trips and gifts from his billionaire friend Harlan Crow. They wrote that Mr Thomas did not disclose the gifts, “despite certifying repeatedly that his financial disclosure forms are ‘accurate, true, and complete’ in certifications ‘subject to civil and criminal sanctions.’” Supreme Court justices are required to file annual reports disclosing “financial income, gifts and reimbursements, property interests, liabilities, and transactions,” the letter states. While some expenses may be exempt from this requirement, the letter continues, “that exemption does not extend to the officer’s receipt of complimentary transportation, such as the extensive private jet, helicopter, and yacht travel received by Justice Thomas.” It then lays out the consequences of violating the Ethics in Government Act, which states that the attorney general can bring a civil action “against any individual who knowingly and willfully falsifies or who knowingly and willfully fails to file or report any information that such individual is required to report pursuant.” The letter lays out the gifts provided to the Supreme Court Justice from Mr Crow and other wealthy businessmen. “ All told, Thomas has received at least 38 designation vacations, 26 private jet flights, eight helicopter flights, VIP passes to sporting events, stays at luxury resorts, and an invitation to an exclusive golf club” and the estimated value of his gifts since his Supreme Court appointment amounts to millions of dollars, according to the letter. The Supreme Court justice’s “consistent failure to disclose gifts and benefits from industry magnates and wealthy, politically active executives highlights a blatant disregard for judicial ethics as well as apparent legal violations,” the Democrats wrote. “Refusing to hold him accountable would set a dangerous precedent,” they wrote. The letter is signed by Reps Ocasio-Cortez, Jerry Nadler, Jamie Raskin, Hank Johnson, and Ted Lieu. Mr Thomas has been under scrutiny over the past few months following the blockbuster ProPublica reports. On Thursday, New Jersey Rep Bill Pascrell called for his resignation: “He’s corrupt as hell and should resign today,” the lawmaker wrote. Similarly, Rep Gerry Connolly wrote, “Thomas has repeatedly brought dishonor and ethical malpractice to our highest Court,” adding, “I reiterate my call that he must resign. This is exactly why we need SCOTUS ethics reform.” Read More US appeals court dismisses motion challenging permits for natural gas pipeline Lavish vacations, private jets and VIP passes: How wealthy donors put Clarence Thomas in the lap of luxury ‘Corrupt as hell’: Clarence Thomas faces fresh calls to resign after more billionaire gifts revealed

A fifth person involved in the brawl along the Montgomery, Alabama, riverfront last weekend has turned himself in, police said Friday.

Hundreds of displaced residents are taking shelter at a gymnasium in north-central Maui, as devastating wildfires have swept through the island and killed at least 80 people near its western shore.

A bedrock federal law designed to protect the environment and empower local communities is being weaponized to block progress on climate change, infrastructure and housing.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds is playing a central role in the opening stages of the 2024 Republican presidential contest, with candidates eager to bask in her glow in hopes of elevating their own campaigns. She's pledging her neutrality in the race -- for now, at least.

After nearly three weeks of appealing to the United States and other allies for help restoring Niger’s president to power, friends and supporters of the democratically elected leader are making a simpler plea: Save his life. President Mohamed Bazoum, leader of the last remaining Western-allied democracy across a vast stretch of Africa’s Sahara and Sahel, sits confined with his family in an unlit basement of his presidential compound, cut off from resupplies of food and from electricity and cooking gas by the junta that overthrew him, Niger's ambassador to the United States told The Associated Press. “They are killing him,” said the ambassador, Mamadou Kiari Liman-Tinguiri, a close associate who maintains daily calls with the detained leader. The two have been colleagues for three decades, since the now 63-year-old president was a young philosophy instructor, a teacher’s union leader, and a democracy advocate noted for his eloquence. “The plan of the head of the junta is to starve him to death," Liman-Tinguiri told the AP in one of his first interviews since mutinous troops allegedly cut off food deliveries to the president, his wife and his 20-year-old son almost a week ago. “This is inhuman, and the world should not tolerate that,” the ambassador said. “It cannot be tolerated in 2023.” Bazoum sits in the dark basement, the ambassador said. He answers the phone when a call comes in that he knows to be his friend or someone else he wants to speak to. The beleaguered president and his ambassador, whom junta members have declared out of a job, talk one or more times a day. Bazoum has not been seen out in public since July 26, when military vehicles blocked the gates to the presidential palace and security forces announced they were taking power. It is not possible to independently determine the president's circumstances. The United States, United Nations and others have expressed repeated concern for what they called Bazoum's deteriorating conditions in detention, and warned the junta they would hold it responsible for the well-being of Bazoum and his family. Separately, Human Rights Watch said Friday it had spoken directly to the detained president and to others in his circle, and received some similar accounts of mistreatment. However, an activist who supports Niger's new military rulers in its communications said the reports of the president's dire state were false. Insa Garba Saidou said he was in contact with some junta members but did not say how he had knowledge of the president's lot. “Bazoum was lucky he was not taken anywhere,” Saidou said. “He was left in his palace with his phone. Those who did that don’t intend to hurt Bazoum.” Niger's military coup and the plight of its ousted leader have drawn global attention — but not because that kind of turmoil is unusual for West Africa. Niger alone has had about a half-dozen military takeovers since independence in 1960. Niger leaders have suffered in coups before, most notably when a military-installed leader was shot down in 1999 by the same presidential guard unit that instigated the current coup. Niger's return to reflexive armed takeovers by disgruntled troops is reverberating in the U.S. and internationally for two key reasons. One is because Bazoum came to power in a rare democratic presidential election in the Africa's unstable Sahara and Sahel, in the only peaceful, democratic transfer of power that Niger has managed. The United States alone has invested close to $1 billion in Niger in recent years to support its democracy and deliver aid, in addition to building national forces capable of holding off north and west Africa's al-Qaida- and Islamic State-allied armed groups. The U.S.-backed counterterror presence is the second key reason that Niger's coup is resonating. Americans have a 1,100-strong security presence and have built bases in Niger's capital and far north into its main outposts to counter West Africa's armed jihadist groups. The Biden administration has yet to call what has happened in Niger a coup, citing laws that would obligate the U.S. to cut many of its military partnerships with the country. Niger's region is dominated by military or military-aligned governments and a growing number of them have entered security partnerships with Russia's Wagner mercenary groups. The soldiers who ousted Bazoum have announced a ruling structure but said little publicly about their plans. U.S. Under Secretary of State Victoria Nuland met with Niger's junta members in the capital this week but called them unreceptive to her demands to restore Niger's democracy. “They were quite firm about how they want to proceed, and it is not in support of the constitution of Niger,” Nuland told reporters after. The junta also told Nuland that Bazoum would die if the regional ECOWAS security bloc intervened militarily to restore democracy, U.S. officials told the AP. Late this week, the ambassador shrugged that threat off, saying the junta is already on track to kill Bazoum by trapping his family and him with little more than a shrinking supply of dried rice and no means to cook it. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has spoken several times with the detained president and expressed concern for his and his family's safety. The U.S. says it has cut some aid to the government and paused military cooperation. Blinken has expressed broad support for ECOWAS, whose diplomatic efforts have been spurned by the Niger junta and which has warned of military force as a last resort. Blinken said in a statement Friday he was “particularly dismayed” that Niger's mutinous soldiers had refused to release Bazoum's family as a goodwill gesture. He gave no details. While the junta adviser Saidou denied that the junta threatened to kill Bazoum if ECOWAS invaded, he said Bazoum's death would be inevitable if that happened. “Even if the high officers of the junta won’t touch Bazoum, if one gun is shot at one of Niger’s borders in order to reinstate Bazoum, I’m sure that there will be soldiers who will put an end to his life," he said. Bazoum told Human Rights Watch that family members and friends who brought food were being turned away, and that the junta had refused treatment for his young son, who has a heart condition. Bazoum and his undetained allies want regional partners, the U.S. and others to intervene. With Bazoum vulnerable in captivity, neither he nor the ambassadors specify what they want the U.S. and other allies to do. Bazoum is a member of Niger's tiny minority of nomadic Arabs, in a country of varying cultures rich in tradition. Despite his political career, Bazoum has retained his people's devotion to livestock, keeping camels that he dotes on, Liman-Tinguiri said. For all his deprivations, the ambassador said, Bazoum remains in good spirits. “He is a man who is mentally very strong,” he said. “He’s a man of faith.” ___ Associated Press writer Sam Mednick contributed from Niamey, Niger. Read More Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Developers have Black families fighting to maintain property and history Rising political threats take US into uncharted territory as 2024 election looms A mudslide kills at least 2 in China while rain from Khanun cancels some trains in the northeast

The death toll rose again on Friday making these fires Hawaii's deadliest natural disaster.

But former US president gets a legal win in battle over what he can say before election fraud trial.

People are already feeling the impact of economic sanctions imposed after a military coup.

The family of Craig Robertson, the man killed by the FBI as they were attempting to serve him a warrant at his home in Utah after he threatened the life of President Joe Biden, said he had been “distraught” by what “he, and many others in this nation, observed to be a corrupt and overreaching government”. In a statement on Facebook, Robertson’s family said they were “shocked and devastated by the senseless and tragic killing of our beloved father and brother”. The FBI raided the home of the Provo resident, who the federal complaint described as “approximately 70-75 years old,” after he had allegedly posted threats online against President Biden, his family, and Barack Obama. According to court documents, Robertson referenced a “presidential assassination” and also allegedly lodged threats against Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, Attorney General Merrick Garland and New York AG Letitia James. “The time is right for a presidential assassination or two. First Joe then Kamala!!!” officials claimed Robertson wrote in a September 2022 Facebook post, according to the filing. Robertson was killed hours before Mr Biden was scheduled to land in the state after he allegedly refused to comply with the FBI and pointed a weapon at the agents. “The FBI takes all shooting incidents involving our agents or task force members seriously. In accordance with FBI policy, the shooting incident is under review by the FBI’s inspection division,” the agency said in a statement. “Craig loved this country with all his heart. He saw it as a God-inspired and God-blessed land of liberty. He was understandably frustrated and distraught by the present and on-going erosions to our constitutionally protected freedoms and the rights of free citizens wrought by what he, and many others in this nation, observed to be a corrupt and overreaching government.” His family wrote that as “an elderly – and largely homebound – man,” he often took to social media to express his frustration. “Though his statements were intemperate at times, he has never, and would never, commit any act of violence against another human being over a political or philosophical disagreement,” the statement read. The FBI revealed that Truth Social tipped off authorities about Robertson in March. Following the tip, two FBI agents approached Robertson at his home; Robertson allegedly dismissed the threat telling the agents: “I said it was a dream… We’re done here! Don’t return without a warrant.” Over the next five months, the FBI uncovered “multiple threats” against Mr Garland, Ms James, and Vice President Kamala Harris. The situation intensified on Sunday, when Robertson reportedly posted, “I heard Biden is coming to Utah,” adding that he was “cleaning the dust off the M24 sniper rifle”. Read More Trump’s Truth Social tipped off FBI about Utah man who threatened to kill Biden before being shot dead in raid Utah man killed after threats against Biden believed government was corrupt and overreaching Man fatally shot during FBI raid in Utah was posting Biden threats ahead of visit

A California candidate for Congress has blamed an aide for sending out an email saying that he was quitting the race in Orange County out of a “lack of joy” - but admitted that he did write it. “Life is short. I believe one should enjoy their work. For the past four months, I have not enjoyed mine,” Aditya Pai wrote in the email, before announcing that he was in fact quitting. In the second email titled “Apologies for the scare. I am not going anywhere” Mr Pai, 31, said the first email was sent by a now-former aide accidentally. He, however, said he had written the email. “I wrote that letter as an emotional processing exercise after an exhausting glimpse into the political machine,” Mr Pai wrote in the second email. “I sent it to some mentors and staff for perspective before getting back to work; it was never supposed to be shared. Now that it was, I see a silver lining in your seeing it.” Mr Pai, who is trying to unseat, Rep Michelle Steel, told the Orange County Register that he was at the gym when the first email was sent. He initially thought it was a test email. But, when he realised the email had gone to “literally everyone” he called his parents and mentors for advice, who told him that he had to get through the campaign “to be in a position to serve and serve as I’ve always enjoyed it.” “In that first email, the only thing that was inaccurate was the resulting decision,” he told the newspaper. Now, with the mask off, Mr Pai said he can run an authentic campaign. “There was a bit of catharsis in that letter coming out,” he told The Hill. “There was a silver lining. I feel free in being myself.” “Rest assured: I am here to run, win, and serve you to the absolute best of my ability,” he wrote in the second email. Mr Pai and three other Democratic candidates are vying for the seat held by Rep Steel which covers California’s 45th congressional district or much of northwestern Orange County. While historically Orange County has mostly voted Republican, demographic shifts have turned the county purple and Ms Steel’s district is regarded as a swing district. Read More CLIMATE GLIMPSE: Here's what you need to see and know today Union leader urges PM to return ‘to real world’ to settle doctors’ pay dispute Prosecutors say a California judge charged in his wife's killing had 47 weapons in his house A brief history of natural disasters in Hawaii, from tsunamis to wildfires Summer camp in California gives Jewish children of color a haven to be different together Maui residents had little warning before flames overtook town. At least 53 people died.