Month: June 2023

According to a Justice Department filing, Hunter Biden, President Biden’s son, has reached a tentative deal with the U.S. attorney in Delaware, agreeing to enter guilty pleas to two misdemeanor tax charges and admitting to felony gun possession. A federal judge in Delaware must approve the deal, and Biden will now face arraignment in U.S. District Court in Wilmington. He is expected to give himself up to Delaware authorities and will be processed by U.S. Marshals. It’s the first time the Justice Department has brought charges against a child of a sitting president.

Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss’ office said Biden faced misdemeanor charges for failing to pay federal income taxes in 2017 and 2018 despite owing more than $100,000 in taxes in each year. It also said Hunter Biden possessed a firearm in October 2018 despite “knowing he was an unlawful user of and addicted to a controlled substance,” a charge for which he has agreed to enter a pretrial diversion agreement to avoid prosecution.

Chris Clark, an attorney for Hunter Biden, said that his “expectation, at least with regard to after that proceeding, is that he [Biden] will be released without conditions … it is my understanding that the five-year investigation into Hunter is resolved.” Clark added: “Hunter will take responsibility for two instances of misdemeanor failure to file tax payments when due pursuant to a plea agreement. A firearm charge, which will be subject to a pretrial diversion agreement and will not be the subject of the plea agreement, will also be filed by the Government. I know Hunter believes it is important to take responsibility for these mistakes he made during a period of turmoil and addiction in his life. He looks forward to continuing his recovery and moving forward.”

A statement from a White House spokesman said, “The President and First Lady love their son and support him as he continues to rebuild his life. We will have no further comment.” Later at an event in California on Tuesday afternoon, President Biden responded to questions about Hunter Biden by saying, “I am very proud of my son.” 

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Authorities say that four people were killed and two others remain in critical condition after a fire caused by a lithium-ion battery broke out in an e-bike repair shop and tore through a New York City building overnight. The New York City Fire Department responded to the fire at 80 Madison Street at around 12:15 a.m. local time. The FDNY said in a statement on Twitter that the fire was caused by a lithium-ion battery on the first floor of the store.

New York City Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh said that firefighters pulled six residents from the building in critical condition, though four have since died. One firefighter also suffered minor injuries. Kavanagh said at a press briefing Tuesday: “It is very clear that this was caused by lithium-ion batteries and e-bikes,” and added that the fire department has written violations at the location — HQ E-Bike Repair — before: “we have conducted enforcement in this location before. This exact scenario where there’s an e-bike store on the first floor and residences above and the volume of fire created by these lithium-ion batteries is incredibly deadly.”

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The U.S. Coast Guard is searching for a missing Canadian research submersible that disappeared after it went to explore the wreck of the Titanic. According to the Coast Guard, the 21-foot submersible and its five-person crew, from the Canadian research vessel Polar Prince, started a dive on Sunday morning, however; Prince lost contact with the vessel after an hour and 45 minutes.

The missing submersible was part of an OceanGate Expeditions tour exploring the Titanic wreckage, located 900 nautical miles east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The private company charters trips to explore the wreckage with its research teams. The commander of the Coast Guard district leading the search, Rear Admiral John Mauger, said they received a call for help after the crew lost contact and the submersible missed its return time. He said the Coast Guard immediately launched a surface and aerial search to find or recover the submersible and any survivors; and added that the Coast Guard has brought in technical experts, dropped sonar buoys to listen for underwater noise, and reached out to other government agencies and private contractors for aid and “to really better understand what an undersea search and rescue effort would look like.”

The company said it was working with numerous government agencies to aid in the rescue of the crew on its submersible. OceanGate said in a statement: “Our entire focus is on the crew members in the submersible and their families, we are deeply thankful for the extensive assistance we have received from several government agencies and deep sea companies in our efforts to reestablish contact with the submersible.”  

Coast Guard officials said in a press conference on Monday afternoon that they have deployed two C-130 aircraft for an aerial search, and that the sonar buoys can listen to a depth of 13,000 feet. The New York National Guard is providing a third C-130, and the Canadian Coast Guard provided a C-130 as well as a P8 Poseidon aircraft that has underwater detection capabilities.

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A U.S. judge in Florida ruled on Monday that defense lawyers for former President Donald Trump could not release evidence in the classified documents case to the media or the public.

According to a court filing, the protective order from U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart puts strict conditions on Trump’s access to the materials, and limits what Trump can discuss about the case with others, including through social media. If he shares information with people not directly involved in the case without a judge’s permission, he could face criminal contempt charges.

The order — at the request of the Justice Department — states: “The Discovery materials, along with any information derived therefrom, shall not be disclosed to the public or the news media, or disseminated on any news or social media platform, without prior notice to and consent of the United States or approval of the Court.” It also specified that Trump shall not retain copies, and that he may only review case materials “under the direct supervision of Defense Counsel or a member of Defense Counsel’s staff.”. The order also prohibits Trump’s aide and co-defendant Walter Nauta from disseminating restricted information about the case.

Last week, Trump pleaded not guilty to 37 charges, including 31 counts of willful retention of national defense information. The Justice Department alleges that Trump unlawfully kept classified intelligence documents and did not comply with government requests to return them. The documents include intelligence briefings related to various foreign countries, foreign military capabilities and nuclear capabilities. There also are documents relating to communications with a leader of a foreign country and information about military attacks by a foreign country.

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