Special Counsel Jack Smith has been appointed by the Justice Department to investigate former President Donald Trump's role in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol and the mishandling of classified government records. ABC News has reported that Smith has subpoenaed former Vice President Mike Pence as part of the inquiry, and other individuals may have been subpoenaed as well. Smith has also been investigating Trump's role in the attack and his handling of classified documents in key battleground states.
Posts tagged as “Florida”
Leslie Bethea, a Tennessee woman, has been sentenced to more than six years in federal prison for fraudulently obtaining coronavirus relief funds and using the money for personal luxuries such as travel and plastic surgery. The Department of Justice has ordered Bethea to pay back the money she fraudulently obtained and has warned that those who attempt to defraud the government during the pandemic will be held accountable.
The trial of three men accused of fatally shooting the emerging rapper XXXTentacion began this week in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. On Wednesday, jurors watched a gripping surveillance video that captured the murder of the local rap star and heard testimony from a family friend. Prosecutors showed the silent, graphic video from June 18, 2018 documenting the final minutes of the life of XXXTentacion, whose real name was Jahseh Dwayne Onfroy. If convicted, the three men could face the death penalty.
President Joe Biden will visit Florida on Thursday, a former swing state home to two potential Republican challengers in the 2024 election. Biden's visit follows his State of the Union address, in which he proposed to protect Social Security and Medicare, and will draw a contrast with Sen. Rick Scott's proposal to sunset all federal legislation every five years. It will also be watched to see how President Trump's hostility towards Gov. Ron DeSantis plays out in the Republican base.
A Florida judge has ruled that Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, must be deposed in a defamation case brought against the Duchess by her half-sister, Samantha Markle. Markle is seeking damages in excess of $75,000 for “defamation and injurious falsehood”, claiming that Meghan made “demonstrably false and malicious statements” during a 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey. The judge rejected a request from the couple to avoid testifying in the case, sparking a great deal of controversy. It remains to be seen how the case will play out and what the consequences will be for the Duchess of Sussex.
A 21-year-old man suspected of involvement in a mass shooting in Florida was fatally shot by a police officer following a chase and carjacking. The shooting occurred near Lakeland, where 11 people were injured in a drive-by shooting in January. An investigation into the shooting is ongoing.
A lucky ticket holder in Washington state has won the fifth-largest Powerball jackpot in history, worth $754.6 million. More than 2 million tickets won cash prizes in the Saturday drawing, with four tickets matching five of the numbers and winning $1 million each. The winner of the jackpot has yet to be identified, but they will have the option to take the lump sum or an annuity of 30 payments over 29 years.
Two nationally known neo-Nazis, Brandon Russell and Sarah Clendaniel, were arrested last week for allegedly conspiring to shoot multiple electrical substations in Baltimore, Maryland with the aim of "completely destroying this whole city." Russell is the founder of the Atomwaffen Division, a neo-Nazi group that seeks to "usher in the collapse of civilization." The FBI was able to apprehend the suspects before they could launch their attack, which could have had devastating consequences for the city.