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Fugees’ Pras, Jho Low charged in scheme to get Trump administration to drop probe

Fugees' Pras, Jho Low charged in scheme to get Trump administration to drop probe

In this April 23, 2015 file photo, Jho Low, Director of the Jynwel Foundation, poses at the launch of the Global Daily website in Washington, D.C.

Stuart Ramson | Invision for the United Nations Foundation

A federal grand jury has hit the fugitive Malaysia financier Jho Low and Fugees rapper Prakazrel “Pras” Michel with new criminal charges, accusing them of running a back-channel campaign to get the Trump administration to drop an investigation of Low and the 1MDB investment company and to have a Chinese dissident returned to China.

The new charges against Low, 39, and the 48-year-old Michel come six months after former President Donald Trump pardoned former top Republican fundraiser Elliot Broidy in connection with his guilty plea in October for his role in the illegal lobbying effort on Low’s behalf.

CNBC has reached out to Broidy’s lawyer to ask whether Broidy testified before the grand jury that indicted Low and Michel.

Because of his pardon, Broidy would be unable to invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination if called to testify at a grand jury investigating his activities related to Low and Michel.

Broidy, who is a Los Angeles-based businessman, was paid $9 million for his efforts on their behalf, with “the expectation of tens of millions more in success fees,” federal authorities have said.

Low and Michel were charged two years ago in federal court in Washington, D.C., with allegedly illegally funneling millions of dollars of Low’s money to support the 2012 presidential campaign of then-President Barack Obama.

Pras Michel of the Hip hop group the Fugees performs on August 1, 1996 in New York City, New York.

Al Pereira | Michael Ochs Archives | Getty Images

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The indictment issued Thursday by a grand jury in Washington accuses Low and Michel of conspiring with Broidy, a woman named Nickie Lum Davis and others “to engage in undisclosed lobbying campaigns at the direction of Low and the Vice Minister of Public Security for the People’s Republic of China, respectively,” according to the Justice Department.

The goals of those campaigns were “both to have the 1MDB embezzlement investigation and forfeiture proceedings involving Low and others dropped and to have a Chinese dissident sent back to China.”

That dissident is understood to be billionaire Guo Wengui, also known as Miles Kwok and Miles Guo.

The new indictment also accuses Michel and Low of conspiring to commit money laundering related to the foreign influence campaigns, the Justice Department said. Michel is additionally charged with witness tampering and conspiracy to make false statements to banks.

Davis pleaded guilty in August to violating the foreign lobbying act as part of the Justice Department’s probe involving 1MDB. 

Also in August, Trump’s former senior advisor Steve Bannon was arrested on Guo’s yacht, off the coast of Connecticut, on federal criminal charges accusing him and others of defrauding thousands of donors through a crowdfunding campaign to privately build sections of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Trump pardoned Bannon on his last night in office in January, the same time he pardoned Broidy.

The investment bank Goldman Sachs last year entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the Justice Department related to the conspiracy in which the bank and its Malaysian unit violated U.S. bribery laws by paying Malaysian and Abu Dhabi officials to get business from 1MDB.

Goldman, which received around $600 million in fees for bond deals that funded the bank, agreed to pay more than $2.9 billion as part of that deferred prosecution agreement.

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DOJ watchdog will probe reported Trump-era subpoenas of Apple for Democrats’ knowledge

DOJ watchdog will probe reported Trump-era subpoenas of Apple for Democrats' data

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) speaks outside of a closed session before the House Intelligence, Foreign Affairs and Oversight Committees of the House of Representatives in Washington, DC on October 28, 2019. Capitol in front of media representatives. Also pictured are (LR) Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) and Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA).

Mark Wilson | Getty Images

The Justice Department’s internal watchdog office will investigate after a bomb report alleged that the Trump administration clandestinely summoned Apple over the House Democrats’ data, the office said on Friday.

The investigation will review the “use of subpoenas and other judicial authorities to obtain communications records” by members of Congress, their staff and the news media “in connection with the recent investigations into alleged unauthorized disclosure of information to the media by government officials”. This was announced by Inspector General Michael Horowitz in a statement.

The move follows a growing chorus of Democratic lawmakers, including the two whose records have reportedly been subpoenaed, demanding that the Justice Department inspector-general open an investigation into Trump-era behavior.

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The New York Times reported Thursday night that Trump’s Justice Department seized records in 2017 and early 2018 from at least a dozen people associated with the House Intelligence Committee, including the House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff, D-California, and that Committee member Eric Swalwell, D-Calif.

The agency also reportedly obtained data from the accounts of carers and family members, one of whom was a child.

Prosecutors for the DOJ, then headed by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, were looking for sources of harmful news of contacts between Trump employees and Russia, the report said.

When Trump’s prosecutors investigated the source of the leaks, they reportedly investigated the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee, whose members have access to sensitive documents.

The investigation did not link the House committee to the leaks – but Sessions replacement, William Barr, kept the investigation going, the Times reported.

U.S. President Donald Trump (left) speaks with William Barr, U.S. Attorney General, during the 38th annual National Peace Officers Memorial Day service at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC, May 15, 2019.

Kevin Dietsch | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Apple was silenced by a gag order that expired earlier this year, according to a company spokesman who confirmed the subpoena in a statement to CNBC on Friday evening.

“It would have been virtually impossible for Apple to understand the intent of the information you want without sifting through the accounts of the users,” said Apple spokesman Fred Sainz. “In accordance with the request, Apple limited the information it provided to account subscriber information and did not provide content such as emails or images.”

Microsoft similarly confirmed a 2017 subpoena and gag order regarding a personal email account on Friday.

“As soon as the gag rule expired, we notified the customer who told us that he was a congress employee. We then gave a briefing to the agent’s employees after this announcement, ”a Microsoft spokesman said in a statement to CNBC.

Assistant Attorney General Lisa Monaco referred the matter to the Department of Justice’s inspector general, an agency official told CNBC on Friday.

Schiff welcomed the move in a statement as “an important first step”. But the watchdog investigation “will not eliminate the need for other forms of oversight and accountability – including public oversight by Congress – and the ministry must work together in those efforts too,” Schiff said.

Monaco, the second official in the Justice Department, was ratified by the Senate in April. Horowitz has been Inspector General since 2012.

Horowitz said Friday that his investigation “will investigate the ministry’s compliance with applicable DOJ policies and procedures, and whether such use or investigations were based on improper considerations.

“If circumstances warrant, the OIG will consider other issues that may arise during the review,” he said, adding, “The review does not replace the OIG’s judgment on the legal and investigative judgments made in matters raised by OIG are checked, have been taken. “

The Times article came weeks after reports that the Trump administration had secretly received records from journalists from several news outlets.

On Thursday evening, Schiff called for an investigation into the Trump DOJ’s actions in “these and other cases that indicate the arming of law enforcement by a corrupt president”.

Trump had “tried to use the ministry as a club against his political opponents and media representatives,” Schiff said in a statement. “It is becoming increasingly clear that these demands have not fallen on deaf ears.”

Swalwell said in his own statement that Apple informed him last month that his files had been turned over to the Trump administration “as part of a politically motivated investigation into his supposed enemies.”

“Like many of the most despicable dictators in the world, former President Trump showed utter contempt for our democracy and the rule of law,” said Swalwell. “This kind of behavior is unacceptable, but unfortunately on the mark for a president who has repeatedly shown that he would put our constitution aside for his own benefit.”

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., and Senate Justice Committee Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Added Friday that Congress must obtain testimony from Sessions and Barr.

“The revelation that the Trump Justice Department secretly subpoenaed metadata from members and staff of the House Intelligence Committee and their families, including a minor, is shocking,” Schumer and Durbin said in a joint statement on Friday.

“This is a gross abuse of power and an attack on the separation of powers. This appalling politicization of the Justice Department by Donald Trump and his flatterers must be investigated immediately by both the DOJ Inspector General and Congress, ”said the Senate leaders.

“Former Barr and Sessions attorneys-general and other officials involved must testify under oath before the Senate Judiciary Committee. If they refuse, they will be summoned and forced to testify under oath, ”said Schumer and Durbin.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Also joined calls for a full investigation, saying he plans to introduce laws to increase transparency and reform “abuse of gag orders”.

“The current Justice Department needs to act with much greater urgency to both detect abuses and ensure full accountability of those responsible,” said Wyden.

Read the full New York Times report.

—Sara Salinas of CNBC contributed to this report.

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Robert Mueller to assist educate regulation college class on Trump-Russia probe

Robert Mueller to help teach law school class on Trump-Russia probe

U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller makes a statement on his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election at the Justice Department in Washington, U.S., May 29, 2019.

Jim Bourg | Reuters

The notoriously tight-lipped former special counsel Robert Mueller will be opening up about his Russia probe to law school students in Virginia this fall.

The University of Virginia School of Law said Wednesday that Mueller will participate in a class on his investigation, which examined alleged ties between former President Donald Trump’s first presidential campaign and the Kremlin. The class will be taught by three other prosecutors who were on Mueller’s high-profile team.

The class, “The Mueller Report and the Role of the Special Counsel,” will be taught in person in Charlottesville over six sessions. Mueller himself will lead at least one class, according to the school.

In a short statement provided by the law school, Mueller said he was fortunate to be returning to the school where he earned his law degree in 1973.

“I look forward to engaging with the students this fall,” Mueller said. Mueller returned to private practice after his investigation and is a partner at the law firm WilmerHale.

The class will be taught by Aaron Zebley, the former deputy special counsel; Jim Quarles, Mueller’s former senior counsel; and Andrew Goldstein, the former senior assistant special counsel.

According to a news release provide by the law school, the class will “focus on a key set of decisions made during the special counsel’s investigation.”

“The course will start chronologically with the launch of the investigation, including Mueller’s appointment as special counsel. Other sessions will focus on navigating the relationship with the Justice Department and Congress, investigative actions relating to the White House and the importance of the Roger Stone prosecution,” the school said.

“The final sessions will focus on obstruction of justice, presidential accountability and the role of special counsel in that accountability,” the release added.

Mueller’s investigation began in 2017 and wrapped up in 2019, with the release of “The Mueller Report,” which became a bestseller.

In the report, the longtime former Federal Bureau of Investigation director concluded that there was insufficient evidence to conclude that the Trump campaign had colluded with the Russian government.

Mueller also outlined ten episodes that raised the possibility that Trump had obstructed justice, but declined to say definitively whether Trump had committed a crime, citing longstanding Justice Department policy against charging sitting presidents.

According to UVA, Zebley said the course will “use the extensive public record to explore why some paths were taken and not others.”

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Senate Republicans block invoice to probe Capitol revolt

Senate Republicans block bill to probe Capitol insurrection

U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) speaks after the Republican Senate lunch on Capitol Hill in Washington Jan.

Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters

Senate Republicans on Friday blocked a bill that would set up an independent commission to investigate the January 6 riot in the U.S. Capitol as Democrats and the GOP argue over how best to investigate the legislature attack and another attack on the democratic process can be prevented.

With 54 to 35 votes, the measure did not reach the threshold required to overcome a filibuster, as almost all GOP senators were against it. Six Republicans voted to move the proposal forward: Bill Cassidy from Louisiana, Susan Collins from Maine, Lisa Murkowski from Alaska, Rob Portman from Ohio, Mitt Romney from Utah and Ben Sasse from Nebraska. All of these senators, with the exception of Portman, voted in February to hold former President Donald Trump guilty of inciting a riot.

The vote likely undermines the creation of a Democratic panel, and some Republicans have said it is important to understand what led to the violent attempt to disrupt the transfer of power to President Joe Biden. GOP leaders have claimed the commission could redouble existing efforts by the Department of Justice and Congressional committees to investigate the pro-Trump mob attack that resulted in five deaths, including that of Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick.

Sicknick’s mother met with a handful of Republican senators Thursday and urged them to support the commission.

Republicans have tried to divert attention from the uprising – to which Trump’s 2020 election conspiracy theories contributed – as they seek to regain control of Congress in next year’s midterm elections. Top GOP lawmakers, particularly in the House of Representatives, have set themselves the goal of suppressing criticism of Trump, who remains the Republican Party’s most popular figure.

“Fear of or allegiance to Donald Trump, the Republican minority only prevented the American people from learning the full truth about January 6,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., said after the vote.

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The Democratic-owned House of Representatives passed the bipartisan bill earlier this month with 252-175 votes. 35 Republicans supported it, while 175 GOP officials voted against. House Republican leaders pushed for resistance after Rep. John Katko, RN.Y. negotiated the deal with Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss.

The bill failed to win the Republican votes it needed to move forward in the evenly divided Senate after minority leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Urged his faction to oppose it.

“I will continue to support the real, serious work of our criminal justice system and our own Senate committees,” McConnell said Thursday before the vote. “And I will continue to urge my colleagues to oppose this superfluous shift if the Senate has to vote.”

The bill would set up a 10-person commission to study the factors that led to the uprising. The Democratic and Republican leaders would each appoint half of the members who could not be current government officials.

The subpoenaed panel would report on its investigation by the end of the year.

Schumer urged senators Thursday to back the commission law, saying the country must eradicate belief in Trump’s unsubstantiated claims that widespread fraud led to his defeat in November. He called the lies a “cancer” in the GOP.

“We have to investigate, uncover and report the truth,” he said. “We need to make a trustworthy record of what really happened on January 6th and what happened before that. That is exactly what this commission is supposed to do, non-partisan and right down the middle.”

At least one senior Republican in the Senate has suggested that the panel would detract from the party’s mid-term messages. John Thune, RS.D., said earlier this month, “Anything that makes us rewarm the 2020 elections is, in my opinion, a day where we don’t contrast ourselves with the very radical left-wing Democrats’ agenda can.” “

Senator Joe Manchin, the most conservative Democrat in the Senate, has repeatedly called on Republicans to vote in favor of setting up the commission. However, the West Virginia senator said he still would not team up with most of his Democratic counterparts to get rid of the filibuster that would allow the party to pass the bill on its own.

Biden, whose takeover of the presidency the pro-Trump mob sought to disrupt, scoffed Thursday at the prospect of senators voting against the commission’s establishment.

“I can’t imagine anyone voting against setting up a commission for the biggest attack on the Capitol since the Civil War,” he said.

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Health

U.S. officers say China hasn’t been ‘fully clear’ in Covid probe

U.S. officials say China hasn't been 'completely transparent' in Covid probe

During the visit of the World Health Organization (WHO) team tasked with investigating the causes of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, on February 3, 2021, security guards will be on guard in front of the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

Thomas Peter | Reuters

White House officials told reporters Tuesday that China had not been “completely transparent” in its global investigation into the origins of Covid-19 and that a full investigation was needed to determine whether the virus is affecting nearly 3.5 million people killed, came from nature or a laboratory.

“We have to get to the bottom of whatever the answer,” Andy Slavitt, senior advisor to Covid-19 at the White House, told reporters at a briefing in Covid on Tuesday. “We need a completely transparent process from China, we need that [World Health Organization] to help on this matter, and we don’t feel like we have it now. “

The theory that Covid-19 escaped the Wuhan Institute of Virology was initially dismissed as a conspiracy theory by most medical experts and health officials, but credible scientists continue to question the true origins of Covid-19.

Members of the World Health Organization (WHO) team investigating the causes of the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic leave the Jade Hotel on a bus after completing their quarantine in Wuhan, China’s central Hubei Province, on Jan. 28, 2021.

HECTOR RETAMAL | AFP | Getty Images

A previously unpublished US intelligence report found that researchers at the institute in Wuhan, where the outbreak began in late 2019, were seeking treatment in hospital after an illness, “with symptoms consistent with both Covid-19 and common seasonal illnesses “reported the Wall Street Journal on Sunday, quoting from the report.

While the coronavirus is more likely to have jumped from animal to human, “we don’t know 100% the answer to that,” said White House chief medical officer Dr. Anthony Fauci, reporters at the same briefing on Tuesday. “We absolutely need to conduct an investigation.”

Last week, the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, admitted that there is “a possibility” that Covid-19 leaked from a laboratory.

Peter Ben Embarek and Marion Koopmans (R) come to a press conference on February 9, 2021 to conclude a visit by an international team of experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) to the city of Wuhan in the Chinese province of Hefei.

HECTOR RETAMAL | AFP | Getty Images

WHO has said the virus likely came from an animal host, but the agency hasn’t ruled out that the virus leaked from a laboratory.

“Some questions have been raised as to whether some hypotheses have been rejected,” said WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “I want to make it clear that all hypotheses remain open and require further investigation.”

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FBI opens civil rights probe into police taking pictures

FBI opens civil rights probe into police shooting

Protesters march the evening after family members were shown body camera footage of an assistant sheriff who shot and killed black suspect Andrew Brown Jr. on April 26, 2021 in Elizabeth City, North Carolina.

Jonathan Drake | Reuters

The Federal Bureau of Investigation confirmed Tuesday that it will investigate the murder of Andrew Brown Jr., a black man who died after police shot him while being arrested in North Carolina last week.

The announcement comes a day after Brown’s family lawyers, who were shown a 20-second video of his arrest, said the 42-year-old was shot in the back of the head while his hands were on the wheel.

According to an autopsy performed at his family’s request, Brown was shot a total of five times, including four times in the right arm.

Brown was killed by Elizabeth City Sheriff’s MPs while trying to serve drug-related search and arrest warrants. Seven of the MPs involved in the arrest have been given paid leave, the Pasquotank County Sheriff’s Office said.

“The FBI Charlotte Field Office has opened a federal civil rights investigation into the police death of Andrew Brown Jr.,” an FBI spokesman said. “The agents will work closely with the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina and the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division to determine if federal law has been violated.”

The spokesman declined to comment further, saying the investigation was still ongoing.

Brown was killed Wednesday, the day after a jury found former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin guilty of murdering George Floyd.

Floyd’s death in custody reinvigorated the movement against police brutality against blacks. The Justice Department is conducting a civil rights investigation into Floyd’s murder, in addition to a sample or exercise investigation of the Minneapolis Police Department.

Attorney General Merrick Garland announced on Wednesday an investigation into the pattern or practice. On Monday, Garland said the DOJ would conduct a similar investigation by the Louisville Metro Police Department in Kentucky, which was criticized for the death of Breonna Taylor. Taylor was killed in her apartment last year after police entered with an arrest warrant and fired 32 bullets.

Attorneys for Brown’s family have condemned his murder and called for more footage to be released. Authorities have stated that they have asked a judge to allow the video to be published.

Based on what they’ve seen, Brown’s family has said that the police seem lacking a justification for using lethal force.

“There was no time in the 20 seconds we saw him threaten officers in any way,” Chantel Cherry-Lassiter, a lawyer, told a press conference after watching the video, Associated Press reported.

Khalil Ferebee, Brown’s son, told reporters after watching the video that his father was “executed” while trying to save his own life.

Pasquotank County Sheriff Tommy Wooten has asked for patience while the investigation continues.

“This tragic incident was quick and over in less than 30 seconds, and body cameras are shaky and sometimes difficult to read,” Wooten said Monday, according to NBC News.

It’s not clear how long the FBI’s investigation into Brown’s death will continue. William Barr, the attorney general under former President Donald Trump, announced the civil rights investigation into Floyd’s assassination in May 2020. Garland said the investigation was still ongoing last week but did not provide any further updates.

The civil rights investigation into Brown and Floyd’s murders will investigate whether federal law was violated during these particular arrests. In contrast, sample or practice examinations examine whether police authorities routinely violate civil rights laws.

Under Trump, sample or exercise exams have been largely curtailed, although Garland has shown some willingness to revise them.

While the Congressional Research Service found that the Justice Department has opened three such investigations per year in the past, Garland opened two this month. The research service found that around a third of sample or practical studies lead to significant reforms.

In addition to the FBI investigation, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation is also investigating Brown’s murder.

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Rudy Giuliani condominium searched by federal investigators in probe of Trump lawyer

Rudy Giuliani apartment searched by federal investigators in probe of Trump lawyer

Federal investigators carried out search warrants on Wednesday morning in the home and office of Rudy Giuliani in Manhattan, former New York City mayor who was former President Donald Trump’s personal attorney, NBC News reported.

The searches were part of a criminal investigation into Giuliani’s business in Ukraine, the New York Times reported on Wednesday, citing three people with knowledge of the matter.

FBI agents were taken to Giuliani’s apartment by his doorman, a source close to the former mayor told CNBC.

Outside of Rudy Giuliani’s home in New York, April 28, 2021.

And manganese | CNBC

They handed Giuliani an arrest warrant and requested “all electronic devices,” the source said.

Giuliani gave them a cell phone, iPad, and laptop, according to the source. The agents left after about 45 minutes, the source added. The arrest warrant for Giuliani’s office also authorized the seizure of electronic devices.

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A source told NBC that FBI agents had also executed a search warrant in the home of Republican attorney Victoria Toensing near Giuliani, near Washington.

Toensing, who is married to and works with former top Washington, DC prosecutor Joseph diGenova, represented Ukrainian oligarch Dmytro Firtash, who is himself the subject of indictment in the United States.

The source said no other arrest warrants other than those against Toensing and Giuliani were carried out on Wednesday.

The diGenova-Toensing law firm released a statement early Wednesday evening saying it was not a target in the investigation.

“Ms. Toensing is a former federal prosecutor and an official of the Ministry of Justice. She has always behaved and her legal practice according to the highest legal and ethical standards,” the statement said. “She would have liked to hand over all relevant documents. All they had to do was ask. Ms. Toensing was informed that she is NOT a target of the investigation.”

Giuliani is a retired United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, the same bureau that is investigating him.

The New York prosecutor’s office last year obtained approval from top Justice Department officials to request a search warrant for Giuliani’s electronic communications, NBC reported.

A source familiar with the investigation told NBC on Wednesday that prosecutors had sufficient grounds to obtain a search warrant late last year.

But the source said it was “just a matter of timing,” suggesting the Department of Justice – which oversees individual US law firms – may want to wait until the Trump administration ended in January.

A Giuliani attorney, Robert Costello, said authorities arrived at the Upper East Side apartment at 6 a.m. and confiscated electronic devices during the search, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The investigation is investigating possible violations of foreign lobbying rules, and the search warrant looked for communications between Giuliani and others, including conservative columnist John Solomon, Costello told The Journal.

Costello called the search “Legal Thuggery,” according to The Journal.

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, U.S. President Donald Trump’s personal attorney, speaks in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on November 7, 2020.

Eduardo Munoz | Reuters

Giuliani tweeted Wednesday that he would be making a live statement on WABC-AM radio in New York at 3 p.m. ET. But he didn’t appear on that station as planned, and the show, hosted by Dominic Carter at the time, was discussing the Mayor’s race in New York City.

Giuliani also deleted his tweet.

In a detailed statement to NBC late Wednesday, Costello accused the Justice Department of “corrupt double standards” and compared his treatment of Giuliani to “high-ranking Democrats whose blatant crimes are ignored, such as Hilary Clinton, Hunter Biden and Joe Biden.”

Costello’s statement also alleged that the extracted materials were “loaded” with information that is protected under the rights of an attorney or client.

A Trump spokesman did not immediately respond to CNBC’s comments. The Justice Department and a spokesman for the SDNY declined to comment.

Giuliani attempted to gather harmful information about Hunter Biden in connection with the younger Biden’s business relationships in Ukraine in 2019.

Efforts by Giuliani, Trump, and others in his orbit to pressure Ukrainian officials to investigate the Bidens – or at least announce an investigation – prompted House Democrats to indict the former president for the first time. Democrats argued that Trump’s re-election ambitions sparked the dirt-seeking efforts.

The Senate, which was held by Republicans at the time, acquitted Trump.

Prosecutors in Manhattan were known to be reviewing Giuliani’s bank records in connection with an investigation into his activities in Ukraine.

Giuliani responded to the investigation last winter, claiming in an angry tweet that federal investigators were acting as “secret police” to aid Biden.

“You want to confiscate my e-mails. No reason. No wrongdoing. Attorney-client privilege.?” Giuliani tweeted on December 22nd.

The search was the second time SDNY investigators raided the property of someone who was serving as Trump’s attorney.

The first was Michael Cohen, whose office and home were raided three years ago this month.

Cohen, once a Trump loyalist, later turned on his former boss and pleaded guilty to several crimes related to the ex-president and the Trump organization. Trump and Giuliani both annoyed Cohen after his plea in November 2018.

Cohen is currently partnering with an ongoing criminal investigation into Trump and his business conducted by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office, Cyrus Vance Jr. This investigation focuses, among other things, on possible banking and insurance fraud related to Trump Organization real estate assets.

In a tweet on Wednesday, Cohen responded enthusiastically to news of the raid on Giuliani’s property.

“Here we go people !!!” Cohen tweeted.

Andrew Giuliani, the son of the former mayor and former Trump administration official, told CNN last week that he would be traveling to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida to meet with the ex-president Discuss New York gubernatorial offer.

Andrew Giuliani speaks to the press outside the home of his father Rudy Giuliani, former President Donald Trump’s personal attorney and former Mayor of New York City, after the FBI issued a search warrant in Manhattan, New York City, United States, April 28, 2021 .

Tayfun Coskun | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

Meanwhile, in Manhattan, journalists and spectators were still gathered in front of Rudy Giuliani’s apartment building early Thursday evening when “It’s the Hard Knock Life” from the musical “Annie” was blown from a nearby car.

A passing man asked who the crowd was waiting for. “Steve Bannon,” one woman replied jokingly, referring to Trump’s former top advisor and campaign manager. Before stepping down, Trump pardoned Bannon, who had been on federal charges.

When he was told that the reporters and photographers were waiting for Giuliani, the man cracked: “Giuliani was attacked today? Over time.”

– CNBC’s Amanda Macias and Shepard Smith contributed to this report.

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Garland to announce DOJ probe of Minneapolis police after Chauvin verdict

AG Merrick Garland erases Trump limits on consent decrees for police

President Joe Biden listens as Attorney General Merrick Garland speaks in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington on April 8, 2021, on gun violence prevention executive measures.

Kevin Lemarque | Reuters

Attorney General Merrick Garland will announce Wednesday that the Justice Department is opening an investigation into the practices of the Minneapolis Police Department, Justice Department officials told NBC News.

The announcement will come the day after former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted by a jury for the murder of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who was killed in custody last year.

The announcement, expected at 10 a.m. ET, was reported earlier by the Associated Press.

The Justice Department probe is known as a sample or exercise exam. The Justice Department had previously announced a separate investigation into whether Chauvin was violating Floyd’s civil rights.

This is the latest news. Check for updates again.

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Health

FDA asks Emergent plant to pause manufacturing throughout probe of botched Covid vaccines

FDA asks Emergent plant to pause manufacturing during probe of botched Covid vaccines

The Emergent BioSolutions facility, a manufacturing partner for Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine, on April 9, 2021 in Baltimore, Maryland.

Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Images

The Food and Drug Administration has asked Emergent BioSolutions to temporarily suspend production of materials for Covid-19 vaccines while U.S. regulators investigate their Baltimore plant, responsible for the destruction of millions of Johnson & Johnson shots, shared Emergent in a registration application filed on Monday.

The FDA initiated an inspection of the facility on April 12, asking the company to stop production four days later until the review and remediation was complete. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company also said it had quarantined all material produced at the facility.

Emergent stocks were down more than 9% on the news.

In a statement to CNBC, J&J said it would work with Emergent and the FDA “to clarify any results after the FDA inspection is complete”.

“Our goal remains to ensure that all drug substances for our COVID-19 vaccine meet our high quality standards and receive emergency use approval for drug substances manufactured in Emergent Bayview,” the company said. “At this point it is premature to speculate about the potential impact this may have on the timing of our vaccine shipments.”

Earlier this month, the Biden administration hired J&J to run the Baltimore facility after US officials learned that Emergent, a contract manufacturer that made vaccines for J&J and AstraZeneca, mixed the ingredients for the two shots would have. Officials also stopped production of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

The government’s move to let the facility manufacture only the J&J single-dose vaccine is intended to avoid future confusion, the New York Times reported, citing two senior federal health officials.

The production hiatus for new materials is the most recent setback for J & J. Last week, the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advised states to temporarily “cease” use of J & J’s vaccine, after six women developed a rare but potentially life-threatening bleeding disorder in which one died and one was in critical condition.

The women developed the condition known as cerebral sinus thrombosis within about two weeks of receiving the shot, an official said. CVST is a rare form of stroke that occurs when a blood clot forms in the venous sinuses of the brain. It can eventually leak blood into the brain tissue and cause bleeding.

J.& J has privately asked Covid-19 vaccine rivals Pfizer and Moderna to participate in a study examining the risk of blood clots. The companies refused, however, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.

–Reuter contributed to this report.

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Politics

Rep. Matt Gaetz faces Home Ethics probe amid intercourse site visitors investigation

Rep. Matt Gaetz faces House Ethics probe amid sex traffic investigation

The House Ethics Committee said Friday it had opened an investigation into Rep. Matt Gaetz, the embattled Republican from Florida who was facing a federal investigation into criminal sex trafficking.

In a statement, the ethics committee said it was aware of the public allegations that Gaetz “may have committed sexual misconduct and / or illegal drug use”.

The panel also found that Gaetz allegedly “shared inappropriate pictures or videos on the floor of the house, misused government identification records, converted campaign funds for personal use and / or accepted bribes, inappropriate tips, or improper gifts that violate house rules , Laws or other standards of conduct. “

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38-year-old Gaetz has vigorously denied the wrongdoing since the Justice Department’s investigation first became known last week. He was not charged with a crime.

“The office will repeat once again that these claims are obviously false and have not been confirmed by a single person willing to leave their name behind,” Gaetz’s office told CNBC in response to the new ethics inquiry.

The Democrat-led Ethics Panel announced Friday that it has opened an investigation into Rep. Tom Reed, RN.Y., citing allegations of possible sexual misconduct.

Last month, Reed apologized to a woman who accused him of rubbing her back and hanging off her bra in a Minneapolis bar in 2017. Reed said he would not seek re-election in 2022.

Reed’s office did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment, but instead said in a statement to Politico: “We have already publicly addressed this situation and are working, in line with it, with the House Ethics Committee to bring this matter to a close. “

Ethics Committee press releases, attributed to Chairman Ted Deutch, D-Fla., And senior member Jackie Walorski, R-Ind., Stated that an investigation “does not in itself indicate a violation, or reflecting a judgment in the name. ” of the committee. “

Federal investigators are investigating whether Gaetz had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl and paid for her trips with him, the New York Times reported for the first time last week.

The investigation reportedly emerged from an investigation by Gaetz’s associate Joel Greenberg, a former Florida tax collector on criminal charges including underage sex trafficking, stalking, cable fraud and identity theft.

Greenberg had previously pleaded not guilty, but his attorney and prosecutors on his case told a judge on Thursday that Greenberg is expected to make a plea deal.

NBC reported Wednesday that investigators are investigating whether women were being paid to travel to the Bahamas with Gaetz to have sex, and whether Gaetz and Greenberg were using the internet to look for women who could pay them to have sex .

“I’m sure Matt Gaetz is not feeling very well today,” Greenberg’s lawyer Fritz Scheller told reporters on Thursday afternoon.

A Republican congressman, Adam Kinzinger from Illinois, has already asked Gaetz to resign.

Gaetz said this week that he had “absolutely not resigned” from the congress. As a staunch supporter of the former President Donald Trump, Gaetz has signed Marc Mukasey, a defender of the Trump organization, as a representative.

Gaetz has also hired a PR firm, the Logan Circle Group.