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Former Puerto Rico Gov. Wanda Vázquez charged with bribery

Former Puerto Rico Gov. Wanda Vázquez charged with bribery

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Former Puerto Rico Gov. Wanda Vázquez was arrested Thursday on bribery charges related to the financing of her 2020 campaign, marking the first time that a former leader of the US territory faces federal charges.

Vázquez is accused of engaging in a bribery scheme from December 2019 through June 2020 — while she was governor — with several people, including a Venezuelan-Italian bank owner, a former FBI agent, a bank president and a political consultant.

The consultant, identified as John Blakeman, and the bank president, identified as Frances Díaz, have pleaded guilty to participating in the bribery scheme, according to the US Department of Justice.

In early 2019, the bank owned by Julio Martín Herrera Velutini was being scrutinized by Puerto Rico’s Office of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions because of transactions authorities believed were suspicious and had not been reported by the bank.

Authorities said Herrera and Mark Rossini, the former FBI agent who provided consulting services to Herrera, allegedly promised to financially support Vázquez’s 2020 campaign for governor in exchange for Vázquez dismissing the commissioner and appointing a new one of Herrera’s choosing.

Authorities said Vázquez accepted the bribery offer and in February 2020 demanded the commissioner’s resignation. She then was accused of appointing a former consultant for Herrera’s bank as the new commissioner in May 2020. After the move, officials said Herrera and Rossini paid more than $300,000 to political consultants to support Vázquez’s campaign.

After Vázquez lost the primary to current Gov. Pedro Pierluisi, authorities said Herrera then allegedly sought to bribe Pierluisi to end an audit into his bank with favorable terms. Herrera is accused of using intermediaries from April 2021 to August 2021 to offer a bribe to Pierluisi’s representative, who was actually acting under FBI orders, according to the indictment.

Officials said Herrera then ordered a $25,000 payment to a political action committee in hopes of trying to bribe Pierluisi.

Stephen Muldrow, US Attorney for Puerto Rico, said Pierluisi is not involved in the case.

Vázquez, Herrera and Rossini are each charged with conspiracy, federal bribery programs and honest services wire fraud. If they are found guilty on all counts, they could face up to 20 years in prison, officials said.

Meanwhile, Díaz and Blakeman could face up to five years in prison, officials said.

Muldrow said officials believe Herrera is in the United Kingdom and Rossini in Spain. It wasn’t clear if the US would seek to extradite them.

Juan Rosado-Reynés, a spokesman for Vázquez, told the AP he did not have an immediate comment.

Attorneys for the other suspects charged in the case could not be immediately reached for comment.

In mid-May, Vázquez’s attorney told reporters that he and his client were preparing for possible charges as the former governor at the time denied any wrongdoing: “I can tell the people of Puerto Rico that I have not committed any crime, that I have not engaged in any illegal or incorrect conduct, as I have always said.”

Vázquez was the second woman to serve as Puerto Rico’s governor and the first former governor to face federal charges. Former Gov. Aníbal Acevedo Vilá was charged with campaign finance violations while in office and was found not guilty in 2009. He had been the first Puerto Rico governor to be charged with a crime in recent history.

Vázquez was sworn in as governor in August 2019 after former Gov. Ricardo Rosselló stepped down following massive protests. She served until 2021, after losing the primaries of the pro-statehood New Progressive Party to Pierluisi.

In a statement Thursday, Pierluisi said his administration will work with federal authorities to help fight corruption.

“No one is above the law in Puerto Rico,” he said. “Faced with this news that certainly affects and lacerates the confidence of our people, I reiterate that in my administration, we will continue to have a common front with federal authorities against anyone who commits an improper act, no matter where it comes from or who it may implicate.”

Vázquez previously served as the island’s justice secretary and a district attorney for more than 30 years.

She became governor after Puerto Rico’s Supreme Court ruled that the swearing in of Pierluisi — who was secretary of state in 2019 — as governor was unconstitutional. Vázquez at the time said she was not interested in running for office and would only finish the nearly two years left in Rosselló’s term.

Rosselló had resigned after tens of thousands of Puerto Ricans took to the street, angry over corruption, mismanagement of public funds and an obscenity-laced chat in which he and 11 other men including public officials made fun of women, gay people and victims of Hurricane Maria, among others.

Shortly after she was sworn in, Vázquez told the AP that her priorities were to fight corruption, secure federal hurricane recovery funds and help lift Puerto Rico out of a deep economic crisis as the government struggled to emerge from bankruptcy.

During the interview, she told the AP that she had long wanted to be in public service: as a girl, she would stand on her balcony and hold imaginary trials, always finding the supposed defendants guilty.

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Dad who lost wife and kids in horror crash has also died

Dad who lost wife and kids in horror crash has also died

The Illinois dad whose wife, four kids and young family friend were killed in a head-on highway crash has also died, making him the eighth fatality in the horrid weekend smash.

Thomas Dobosz, 32, was initially airlifted to a hospital in critical condition after the Chevrolet van he was driving smashed head-on with an Acura TSX that was heading the wrong way on Interstate 90 around 2 am Sunday, Illinois State Police said.

Both vehicles “became engulfed in flames,” killing the 22-year-old Acura driver, Jennifer Fernandez, as well as Dobosz’s wife and four kids, along with a 13-year-old family friend who was with them.

But the dad was also “subsequently pronounced deceased,” police said in an update Wednesday, confirming that all involved were now dead.

The Dobosz family.
Thomas Dobosz has become the eighth person to die from Sunday’s crash, which also killed his wife, four children and a family friend.
Facebook / Lauren Dobosz

An online fundraiser that has collected more than $100,000 per Thursday also shared the news “with a heavy heart.”

“Tom has gained his angel wings and is now with his amazing wife Lauren and precious children,” the fundraiser said, asking for people to “keep this family in your prayers.”

Thomas Dobosz with wife Lauren.
Thomas Dobosz with wife Lauren, who was pronounced dead at the scene along with their four children and a young family friend.
Facebook / Lauren Dobosz
Burnt-out wreckage of van and car in Sunday's horror wrong-way crash.
The dad was the eighth person to die after the crash that police said left his van and an Acura “engulfed in flames.”
Fox 32 Chicago

Fernandez had been alone in the Acura at the time of the accident, which is still under investigation, cops said. It’s unclear why the Acura TSX was heading the wrong way.

She was pronounced dead at the scene along with all seven passengers in Dobosz’s van, police said.

The fundraiser identified them as his 31-year-old wife, Lauren Dobosz; their children, Ella, 5, Nicholas, 7, Lucas, 8, and Emma, ​​13; and the teen’s friend Katriona Koziara, who was also 13. The family, from suburban Chicago, had just started traveling to Minnesota for a vacation before the smash in rural Riley.

A separate fundraiser for Katriona said “she was in the prime of her youth and always seen with a smiling face and positive attitude.”

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Ex-Louisville police detective, officer charged in Breonna Taylor case

Ex-Louisville police detective, officer charged in Breonna Taylor case

The FBI has arrested the former Louisville Metro Police detective who was fired for lying on the search warrant that led to the deadly 2020 raid at Breonna Taylor’s apartment as well three others, including the only officer to face state charges in connection with Taylor’s fatal shooting.

Joshua Jaynes was taken into custody Thursday morning by the FBI and booked in the Oldham County Detention Center, according to attorney Thomas Clay, who is representing Jaynes.

US Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Jaynes, ex-officer Brett Hankison, Sgt. Kyle Meany and Officer Kelly Hanna Goodlett are the four defendants facing new federal charges in connection with the investigation that led to the March 13, 2020 death of Taylor, a 26 -year-old Black woman and emergency room technician whose name was a rallying cry for protesters around the country during 2020 demonstrations against police brutality and systemic racism.

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On the chopping block? Ron Johnson denies threatening social security | Republicans

A swing-state Republican senator denied threatening social security and Medicare, after Democrats accused him of putting them “on the chopping block”.

Ron Johnson, who entered Congress on the Tea Party wave of 2010, is up for re-election in Wisconsin. As they attempt to keep hold of the Senate, Democrats think they have a chance of winning the seat.

In an interview with The Regular Joe Show podcast, Johnson said social security and Medicare, crucial support programs for millions of older and disabled Americans and their dependents, should no longer be considered mandatory spending.

“If you qualify for the entitlement, you just get it no matter what the cost,” Johnson said. “And our problem in this country is that more than 70% of our federal budget, of our federal spending, is all mandatory spending. It’s on automatic pilot… you just don’t do proper oversight. You don’t get in there and fix the programs going bankrupt.”

He added: “What we ought to be doing is we ought to turn everything into discretionary spending so it’s all evaluated so that we can fix problems or fix programs that are broken, that are going to be going bankrupt. As long as things are on automatic pilot, we just continue to pile up debt.”

Democrats pounced. Chuck Schumer of New York, the Senate majority leader, referred to Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan when he said: “They’re saying the quiet part out loud. Maga Republicans want to put social security and Medicare on the chopping block.”

A Johnson spokesperson said Schumer was “lying”.

The spokesperson said Johnson’s “point was that without fiscal discipline and oversight typically found with discretionary spending, Congress has allowed the guaranteed benefits for programs like social security and Medicare to be threatened.

“This must be addressed by Congress taking its responsibilities seriously to ensure that seniors don’t need to question whether the programs they depend on remain solvent.”

Social security payments average just over $1,600 a month.

Last year, Nancy Altman, president of Social Security Works, told the Guardian: “The nation is really facing a retirement income crisis, where too many people aren’t going to be able to retire and maintain savings to live on. It’s a very strong system, but its benefits are extremely low by virtually any way you measure them.”

Democrats see Republican threats to so-called “entitlements” – programs paid for by taxes and relied upon by vulnerable people – as a potent electoral issue. Polls show strong bipartisan support.

From Joe Biden to leaders in Congress, Democrats have seized on a plan published by Rick Scott of Florida, the chair of the Republican Senate campaign committee.

Scott proposed that all Americans should pay some income tax and that all federal laws should expire after five years if Congress does not renew them.

The senator insisted he was “not going to raise anybody’s taxes” – despite saying more people should pay tax. He also said Congress “needs to start being honest with the American public and tell them exactly what we’re going to do to make sure they continue to get their Medicare and their social security.”

But his own leader in the Senate, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, said: “We will not have, as part of our agenda, a bill that raises taxes on half the American people and sunsets social security and Medicare within five years.”

Wisconsin will hold its primaries on Tuesday. Johnson is being challenged by the current lieutenant governor, Mandela Barnes.

Jessica Taylor of the Cook Political Report told Wisconsin Public Radio Johnson was national Democrats’ “No 1 incumbent … that they are targeting”.

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DeSantis suspends state attorney for refusing to enforce laws on abortion, transgender surgery

DeSantis suspends state attorney for refusing to enforce laws on abortion, transgender surgery

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) suspended Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren on Thursday for “neglect of duty” after the prosecutor refused to enforce bans on abortion and transgender surgery.

“When you flagrantly violate your oath of office, when you make yourself above the law, you have violated your duty, you have neglected your duty and you are displaying a lack of competence to be able to perform those duties,” DeSantis said at a news conference in the county sheriff’s office.

“And so today we are suspending State Attorney Andrew Warren effective immediately.”

Warren, a Democrat, was first elected in 2016, when he defeated the Republican incumbent, and has been an outspoken voice for criminal justice reform.

DeSantis cited Warren’s signing of a letter saying that he would not enforce “prohibitions on sex change operations for minors” and another saying that he would not enforce “any laws related to protecting the right to life” as evidence that the state attorney had shirked his duty as a public prosecutor.

“It’s not for him to put himself above that and say that he’s not going to enforce the laws,” DeSantis said, accusing Warren of acting like he had “veto power” over the state legislature.

DeSantis said that his authority to suspend a state officer comes from Article IV, Section 7 of Florida’s state constitution, which says that “the governor may suspend from office…any county officer, for malfeasance, misfeasance, neglect of duty, drunkenness, incompetence, permanent inability to perform official duties, or commission of a felony, and may fill the office by appointment for the period of suspension.”

The governor announced that he would replace Warren with former Judge Susan Lopez.

“I have the utmost respect for our state laws and I understand the important role that the State Attorney plays in ensuring the safety of our community and the enforcement of our laws,” Lopez said in a statement.

“I want to thank the Governor for placing his trust in me, and I promise that I will faithfully execute the duties of this office.”

DeSantis emphasized Warren’s rejection of the state’s new law banning abortion after 3.5 months, saying that the “dismemberment procedure” often used for abortions after that time is “really inhumane.”

He also criticized the former state attorney’s opposition to laws prohibiting transgender surgery on minors, which he characterized as “disfiguring young kids.”

“You know, they use these euphemisms, but what it is is they are literally chopping off the private parts of young kids, and that’s wrong,” DeSantis said.

He continued: “When you uphold the rule of law you are protecting the most vulnerable in our society, that’s why we have the rule of law.”

The governor’s speech was followed by remarks from Hillsborough Sheriff Chad Chronister (R), Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco (R), Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody (R), former Tampa Chief of Police Brian Dugan and Rep. Mike Beltran (R), whose jurisdiction includes part of Hillsborough County.

Chronister followed DeSantis’s speech saying that he does not consider the move to suspend Warren “political” but rather about law and order.

“There aren’t Republican and Democratic victims, just victims,” said Chronister.

This story ws updated at 12:16 pm

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Four Officers Face Federal Charges in Breonna Taylor Raid

Four Officers Face Federal Charges in Breonna Taylor Raid

Federal officials on Thursday charged four current and former police officers in Louisville, Ky., who were involved in a fatal raid on the apartment of Breonna Taylor, accusing them of several crimes, including lying to obtain a warrant that was used to search her home .

The charges stem from a nighttime raid of Ms. Taylor’s apartment in March 2020, during which officers knocked down Ms. Taylor’s door and fired a volley of gunshots after her boyfriend shot an officer in the leg, believing that intruders had burst into the home.

Two officers shot Ms. Taylor, a 26-year-old emergency room technician, who was pronounced dead at the scene.

Merrick Garland, the attorney general, said at a news conference that members of an investigative unit within the Louisville Metro Police Department had included false information in an affidavit that was then used to obtain a warrant to search Ms. Taylor’s home.

Credit…via Associated Press

Mr. Garland said federal prosecutors believe that by doing so, the officers “violated federal civil rights laws, and that those violations resulted in Ms. Taylor’s death.”

Three of the officers also misled investigators who began looking into Ms. Taylor’s death, Mr. Garland said, including two that he said had met in a garage in the spring of 2020 and “agreed to tell investigators a false story.”

The killing of Ms. Taylor, who was Black, helped to set off protests in the spring and summer of 2020 following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, and led to intense scrutiny of the police department in Louisville.

This is a developing story that will be updated.

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Jackie Walorski, Indiana congresswoman, dies in car crash

Jackie Walorski, Indiana congresswoman, dies in car crash

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Brittney Griner Verdict and Sentencing: Live Updates

Brittney Griner Verdict and Sentencing: Live Updates

Ivan Nechepurenko

Credit…Pool photo by Kirill Kudryavtsev

Brittney Griner offered a glimpse of her personal story while testifying in a Russian court on Thursday in a case in which she faces a possible sentence of up to 10 years in prison. Her legal team de ella has appealed for leniency in the case, arguing that she has contributed to Russian society and that she did not intend to break the law.

“I grew up in a normal house, a normal household in Houston, Texas, with my siblings and my mom and my dad,” Ms. Griner, 31, told the court. “My parents taught me two important things: One, take ownership for your responsibilities and two, work hard for everything that you get. That’s why I pleaded guilty to my charges.”

“I understand everything that has been said against me in the charges against me, but I had no attempt to break Russian law,” added Ms. Griner, who was detained in mid-February in a Moscow airport while on her way to Yekaterinburg, a Russian city near the Ural Mountains where she had been playing for a local team during the WNBA off season.

Customs officials found two vape cartridges containing less than one gram of hashish oil in her luggage.

“I want the court to understand that it was an honest mistake that I made while rushing and in stress trying to recover post-Covid and just trying to get back to my team,” she told the court on Thursday.

Ms. Griner also spoke of her time playing for UMMC Yekaterinburg.

“That hard work that my parents instilled in me is what had brought me to play for the best Russian team,” she said. “I had no idea that the team, the city, the fans and my teammates would make such a great impression on me over the six and a half years that I spent in Yekaterinburg. It became my second home with my friends, my teammates and my fans that I would always interact with.”

The basketball star apologized to her teammates on the Russian squad and the city of Yekaterinburg, her family and her fellow WNBA players, including her Arizona team, the Phoenix Mercury.

Addressing the judge in the case, Anna S. Sotnikova, Ms. Griner said, “I made an honest mistake, and I hope that in your ruling that it doesn’t end my life here.”

She also alluded to the possibility of a prisoner swap that would allow her to return to the United States, an issue that has been the subject of talks between Moscow and Washington, with pressure on President Biden to help secure her release.

“I know that everybody keeps talking about political pawn and politics, but I hope that that is far from that courtroom,” Ms. Griner said.

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Jury deliberations underway in Sandy Hook case

Alex Jones attempts to answer questions about his emails asked by Mark Bankston, lawyer for Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, during trial at the Travis County Courthouse Wednesday Aug. 3, 2022. Jones has been found to have defamed the parents of a Sandy Hook student for calling the attack a hoax.

After hearing seven days of evidence and a range of witnesses, jurors have begun deliberations to determine how much money InfoWars host Alex Jones must pay to the parents of 6-year-old Sandy Hook shooting victim Jesse Lewis for his campaign to portray the school attack ace to hoax.

The matter was handed to jurors late Wednesday afternoon, and state District Judge Maya Guerra Gamble said she doubted they would get beyond selecting a foreperson and reading the jury charge before the courthouse closed at 5 pm

The real work begins today.

Alex Jones attempts to answer questions about his emails asked by Mark Bankston, lawyer for Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, during trial at the Travis County Courthouse Wednesday Aug. 3, 2022. Jones has been found to have defamed the parents of a Sandy Hook student for calling the attack a hoax.

Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis have asked jurors for $150 million in compensation for current damages, saying Jones portrayal of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting as a hoax meant to justify a government crackdown on guns — and parents as liars or collaborators — inspired harassment and death threats from Jones followers and made it impossible to heal from the tragedy.

Jones’ lawyer, Andino Reynal, asked jurors to award a total of $8 — $1 for each of the eight harms the court has already found Jones and his main company, Free Speech Systems, to have inflicted on Jesse’s parents.

More:‘My son existed.’ Mother of Sandy Hook shooting victim speaks directly to Alex Jones

At least 10 of the 12 jurors must agree on a verdict. The four alternates, two more than typical due to the pandemic and the length of the two-week trial, were dismissed Thursday.

Kyle Farrar, lawyers representing Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, gives closing arguments Wednesday Aug. 3, 2022, at the Travis County Courthouse. Heslin and Lewis are seeking two awards of $150 million from Austin-based conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. Jones has been found to have defamed the parents of a Sandy Hook student for calling the attack a hoax.

Before hearing closing arguments Thursday, jurors were informed that Jones and Free Speech Systems defamed Heslin in two 2017 InfoWars reports that questioned his claim that he held his dead son and saw the bullet wound to his head after the shooting. Heslin testified that he made the statement in an NBC interview in hopes of stopping Jones’ campaign and protecting the legacy of his son from him, who died a hero by yelling “Run!” when the gunman paused. Nine students fled; Jesse did not.

More:Alex Jones says trial is a ‘kangaroo court’

Jurors are to determine the amount of money that would fairly compensate Heslin for past and future damage to his reputation and past and future mental anguish caused by the defamatory reports.

Jurors also were told that Jones and his company affected intentional emotional distress on Heslin and Lewis by repeatedly portraying the Sandy Hook shooting as a hoax from 2012 to 2018, when they filed suit. Each parent can be compensated for past and future mental anguish.

Andino Reynal, Alex Jones' lawyer, gives closing arguments Wednesday Aug. 3, 2022, at the Travis County Courthouse in Austin. Jones has been found to have defamed the parents of a Sandy Hook student for calling the attack a hoax.

In his closing arguments, parents lawyer Kyle Farrar reminded jurors that they were asked during jury selection whether they could approve a damages award of $100 million or more. Those who could not were weeded out during the selection process, he said.

“This is your opportunity to hold Alex Jones accountable for the harm he did,” Farrar said.

Reynal said the parents, their expert witnesses and their lawyers failed to prove that they were actually and directly harmed by Jones’ words.

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4 officers federally charged with civil rights violations

4 officers federally charged with civil rights violations

Four current or former police officers in Louisville, Kentucky, have been charged with violating Breonna Taylor’s civil rights in the 2020 botched raid that led to the young Black woman’s death, federal officials said Thursday.

US Attorney General Merrick Garland, in announcing the charges, said the Justice Department alleges that the violations “resulted in Ms. Taylor’s death.”

Detective Joshua Jaynes, with the Louisville Metropolitan Police Department, obtained the no-knock warrant used in the March 13, 2020, search of Taylor’s apartment.

Jaynes, Kelly Goodlett, who along with Jaynes was a detective in the Place-Based Investigations unit that investigated drug trafficking, and Sgt. Kyle Meany, who supervised the unit, were charged with falsifying an affidavit.

In a separate indictment, Brett Hankison was charged with using excessive force while executing the search warrant.

During the early morning raid, officers opened fire, killing Taylor, after her boyfriend, believing an intruder was trying to break in, fired a gun toward the door.

Taylor’s boyfriend lawfully possessed the gun, Garland said. And after he fired and struck an officer, two officers then fired 22 shots, one of which fatally struck Taylor in the chest, Garland said.

“The federal charges announced today allege that members of the Place-Based Investigations unit falsified the affidavit used to obtain the search warrant of Ms. Taylor’s home,” Garland said, adding “that this act violated federal civil rights laws and that those violations resulted in Ms. Taylor’s death.”

Garland also said the search warrant was sought while officers knew they lacked probable cause for the search. Jaynes and Goodlett, Garland said, falsely claimed officers verified the target of the alleged drug trafficking had received packages at Taylor’s address.

“Defendants Jaynes and Goodlett knew that was not true,” Garland said.

The bungled raid targeted Taylor’s ex-boyfriend, a convicted drug dealer, who was not in the apartment at the time. That man, Jamarcus Glover, has said Taylor had no involvement in the drug trade.

The officers involved in the raid were unaware of the misleading statements in the search warrant affidavit, Garland said.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Antony Planas

Antonio Planas is a breaking news reporter for NBC News Digital.

daniel barnes and Laura Strickler contributed.