Former President Donald J. Trump said on Monday that the FBI had searched his Palm Beach, Fla., home and had broken open a safe — an account that, if accurate, would be a dramatic escalation in the various investigations into the former president.
The search, according to two people familiar with the investigation, appeared to be focused on material that Mr. Trump had brought with him to Mar-a-Lago, his private club and residence, after he left the White House. Those boxes contained many pages of classified documents, according to a person familiar with their contents.
Mr. Trump delayed returning 15 boxes of material requested by officials with the National Archives for many months, only doing so when there became a threat of action being taken to retrieve them.
Mr. Trump was known throughout his term to rip up official material that was intended to be held for government archives.
“After working and cooperating with the relevant Government agencies, this unannounced raid on my home was not necessary or appropriate,” Mr. Trump said, maintaining it was an effort to stop him from running for president in 2024. “Such an assault could only take place in broken, Third-World Countries.”
“They even broke into my safe!” he wrote. “What is the difference between this and Watergate, where operatives broke into the Democratic National Committee? Here, in reverse, Democrats broke into the home of the 45th President of the United States.”
Mr. Trump did not share any details about what the FBI agents said they were searching for. But he depicted himself as a victim of shadowy forces seeking to damage him.
The search took place on Monday morning, a person familiar with it said, although Mr. Trump claimed agents were still there many hours later.
The search was at least in part for whether any records remained at the club, the person familiar with the search said.
The reported search came at a time when the Justice Department has also been stepping up questioning of former Trump aides who had been witnesses to discussion and planning in the White House of Mr. Trump’s efforts to remain in office after his loss in the 2020 election.
Mr. Trump has been the focus of questions asked by federal prosecutors in connection with a scheme to send “fake” voters to Congress for the certification of the Electoral College.
“These are dark times for our Nation, as my beautiful home, Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, is currently under siege, raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents,” Mr. Trump said in the statement . “Nothing like this has ever happened to a President of the United States before,” Mr. Trump said.
Joe Biden’s $740bn package tackling climate, the deficit and healthcare that has just passed the Senate and is almost certain now to become law is a far cry from his original even bigger ambitions, but it still represents a major triumph for the president.
The bill – the Inflation Reduction Act – was virtually dead in the water before a last-minute turnaround by the conservative West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin saw it suddenly revived.
It then endured another round of political horse-trading as it navigated the choppy waters of a 50-50 split Senate. But, being carried by a tie-breaking vote from Biden’s vice-president, Kamala Harris, it emerged mostly intact. And, after a vote in the House later this week, it is set to land on Biden’s Oval Office desk.
Here is what’s in it and what it means:
Overview
The estimated $740bn package is full of Democratic priorities. Those include capping prescription drug costs at $2,000 out of pocket for seniors, helping Americans pay for private health insurance, and what Democrats are calling the most substantial investment in history to fight the climate crisis: $375bn over the decade.
Almost half the money raised, $300bn, will go toward paying down federal deficits.
It’s paid for largely with new corporate taxes, including a 15% minimum tax on big corporations to ensure they don’t skip paying any taxes at all, as well as projected federal savings from lower Medicare drug costs.
It’s not at all clear the 755-page bill will substantially ease inflationary pressures, though millions of Americans are expected to see some relief in healthcare and other costs.
US Senate passes $739bn healthcare and climate bill – video
What does it mean for Biden?
For Biden, the bill’s passage delivers a much-needed domestic win at a time when his popularity has sunk and key midterm elections loom in November.
Though the bill has been stripped of much of his original ambitious program, it remains a major achievement. Biden can now go to the polls and portray himself as a president able to get things done even in the difficult political circumstances of a deeply divided country.
climate crisis
The bill would invest nearly $375bn over the decade in climate-fighting strategies, including investments in renewable energy production and tax rebates for consumers to buy new or used electric vehicles.
It’s broken down to include $60bn for a clean energy manufacturing tax credit and $30bn for a production tax credit for wind and solar, seen as ways to boost and support the industries that can help curb the country’s dependence on fossil fuels. The bill also gives tax credits for nuclear power and carbon capture technology that oil companies such as ExxonMobil have invested millions of dollars to advance.
The bill would impose a new fee on excess methane emissions from oil and gas drilling while giving fossil fuel companies access to more leases on federal lands and waters.
A late addition pushed by Senator Kyrsten Sinema and other Democrats in Arizona, Nevada and Colorado would designate $4bn to combat a mega-drought in the west, including conservation efforts in the Colorado river basin, on which nearly 40 million Americans rely for drinking water .
For consumers, there are tax breaks as incentives to go green. One is a 10-year consumer tax credit for renewable energy investments in wind and solar. There are tax breaks for buying electric vehicles, including a $4,000 tax credit for purchase of used electric vehicles and $7,500 for new ones.
In all, Democrats believe the strategy could put the country on a path to cut greenhouse gas emissions 40% by 2030, and “would represent the single biggest climate investment in US history, by far”.
Prescription drug costs
Launching a long-sought goal, the bill would allow the Medicare program to negotiate prescription drug prices with pharmaceutical companies, saving the federal government $288bn over the 10-year budget window.
Those new revenues would be put back into lower costs for seniors on medications, including a $2,000 out-of-pocket cap for older adults buying prescriptions from pharmacies.
Seniors would also have insulin prices capped at $35 a dose. A provision to extend that price cap on insulin to Americans with private health insurances was out of line with Senate budget rules and Republicans stripped it from the final bill.
health insurance
The bill would extend the subsidies provided during the pandemic to help some Americans who buy health insurance on their own.
Under earlier pandemic relief, the extra help was set to expire this year. But the bill would allow the assistance to keep going for three more years, lowering insurance premiums for people who are buying their own healthcare policies.
How is it paid for?
The biggest revenue-raiser in the bill is a new 15% minimum tax on corporations that earn more than $1bn in annual profits. The new corporate minimum tax would kick in after the 2022 tax year and raise more than $258bn over the decade.
The revenue would have been higher, but Sinema insisted on one change to the 15% corporate minimum, allowing a depreciation deduction used by manufacturing industries. That shaves about $55bn off the total revenue.
To win over Sinema, Democrats dropped plans to close a tax loophole long enjoyed by wealthier Americans – so-called carried interest, which under current law taxes wealthy hedge fund managers and others at a 20% rate.
Money is also raised by boosting the IRS to go after tax cheats. The bill proposes an $80bn investment in taxpayer services, enforcement and modernization, which is projected to raise $203bn in new revenue – a net gain of $124bn over the decade.
CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Monday said the Federal Reserve could raise interest rates in August, before its next scheduled meeting in September, if this week’s economic data shows that inflation isn’t abating.
“The Fed is still in charge of this market. A week ago, it looked like they might ease up, but after Friday’s red-hot jobs number and the passage of the [Inflation Reduction Act]I’m worried they might lower the boom on us even before September comes,” he said.
“If both numbers are scorchers, we will get a surprise August meeting,” he predicted, referencing the consumer price index and producer price index data coming this week.
The Senate on Sunday passed the Inflation Reduction Act, a Democrat-backed package aimed at fighting climate change and extending health care coverage.
The legislation, among other provisions, allows Medicare to negotiate prices with drug companies and puts a 15% minimum tax on large corporations.
The July jobs report saw stronger-than-expected numbers last week, meaning the central bank could have to continue its path forward on raising interest rates aggressively.
“If I were Chairman Jay Powell … I’d be hard-pressed not to call a special Fed meeting this month to hit us with another 75-basis point rate hike,”Cramer said. A basis point equals 0.01 percentage point.
Investors are also looking to the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index this week to shed more light on how consumers are coping with inflation.
Cramer also previewed this week’s slate of earnings. All earnings and revenue estimates are courtesy of FactSet.
Tuesday: Emerson Electric, Ralph Lauren, Plug Power, Unity Software
Emerson Electric
Q3 2022 earnings release at 6:55 am ET; conference call at 9 am ET
Projected EPS: $1.29
Projected revenue: $5.10 billion
Cramer said he expects Emerson to perform well long term after selling its waste disposal business InSinkErator to Whirlpool, but is still curious about how the company is faring short term.
Ralph Lauren
Q1 2023 earnings release at 8 am ET; conference call at 9 am ET
Projected EPS: $1.71
Projected revenue: $1.40 billion
Though Ralph Lauren is a high-end store, it could still face the same inventory gluts that other retailers are dealing with, he said.
plug-power
Q2 2022 earnings release after the close; conference call at 4:30 pm ET
Projected loss: 21 cents per share
Projected revenue: $159 million
Plug Power will benefit from the Inflation Reduction Act because of the bill’s hydrogen tax credit, which could help the company become more than just a niche fuel cell producer, Cramer said.
UnitySoftware
Q2 2022 earnings release at 4:05 pm ET; conference call at 5 pm ET
Projected loss: 21 cents per share
Projected revenue: $300 million
Cramer predicted that the beaten-down stock could go even lower since Nvidia’s preliminary financial results on Monday revealed that gaming is weak.
Q2 2022 earnings release between 7:00-7:10 am ET; conference call at 8:30 am ET
Projected loss: 30 cents per share
Projected revenue: $138 million
The company should report great results since cybersecurity companies tend to be shielded from economic turbulence, Cramer said.
Wendy’s
Q2 2022 earnings release at 7 am ET; conference call at 8:30 am ET
Projected EPS: 22 cents
Projected revenue: $540 million
Cramer said he’s worried about how inflation could be hurting Wendy’s performance.
Disney
Q3 2022 earnings release at 4:05 pm ET; conference call at 4:30 pm ET
Projected EPS: 98 cents
Projected revenue: $20.99 billion
“It’s just too hated for me to believe it can stay down,” he said.
Dutch Bros.
Q2 2022 earnings release after the close; conference call at 5 pm ET
Projected EPS: 5 cents per share
Projected revenue: $182 million
The company is a beloved brand, but it’ll have to convince investors that its stock is worth buying, Cramer said.
Thursday: Warby Parker, Toast, Rivian
Warby Parker
Q2 2022 earnings release at 6:45 am ET; conference call at 8 am ET
Projected loss: 2 cents per share
Projected revenue: $150 million
“I bet, like other recent IPOs, it’s going to move up on the quarter,” Cramer said.
toast
Q2 2022 earnings release at 4:05 pm ET; conference call at 5 pm ET
Projected loss: 12 cents per share
Projected revenue: $651 million
He said that he’s surprised so many small companies like Toast are seeing their stocks go higher, even on no news — which suggests they never should have gone down so much in the first place.
Rivian
Q2 2022 earnings release at 4:10 pm ET; conference call at 5 pm ET
Projected loss: $1.63 per share
Projected revenue: $335 million
The electric vehicle maker will likely benefit from the Inflation Reduction Act due to the bill’s extension of income tax credits for consumers who purchase electric vehicles, Cramer said. I have added that he still prefers Tesla.
Disclosure: Cramer’s Charitable Trust owns shares of Disney.
Maggie Haberman, a New York Times reporter and CNN contributor, is publishing the new images in her forthcoming book, “Confidence Man,” and the images were posted earlier by Axios. CNN has previously reported how Trump flouted presidential record-keeping laws and would often tear up documents, drafts and memos after reading them.
He periodically flushed papers down the toilet in the White House residence — only to be discovered later on when repairmen were summoned to fix the clogged toilets. Trump has denied the allegations, and in a statement given to Axios on Monday, a spokesman claimed that reporting about the practice was fabricated.
In the images revealed on Monday, it’s unclear what the documents are in reference to — and who authored them — but they appear to be written in Trump’s handwriting in black marker. Haberman said one image is from a White House toilet and the other one is from an overseas trip that was provided to her by a Trump White House source.
“Who knows what this paper was? Only he would know and presumably whoever was dealing with it, but the important point is about the records,” Haberman told CNN’s John Berman and Brianna Keilar on “New Day” Monday morning.
Trump had a pattern of disregarding normal record preservation procedures. On one occasion, Trump asked if anyone wanted to put a copy of a speech he just delivered up for auction on eBay, during a mid-flight visit to the press cabin Air Force One.
In other instances, Trump would task aides with carrying boxes of unread memos, articles and tweet drafts aboard the presidential aircraft for him to review and then tear to shreds.
A former senior Trump administration official said a deputy from the Office of Staff Secretary would usually come in to pull things out of the trash and take them off Trump’s desk after he left a room.
A former White House official recalled that while document preservation was a key responsibility of the staff secretary, the rest of Trump’s senior staffers lacked the sense of their obligation to maintain records of papers that moved through the West Wing.
Trump’s haphazard record-keeping was the subject of a drawn-out fight earlier this year between him and the National Archives, and the Justice Department has been investigating the matter.
In the wake of then-President Donald Trump’s infamous photo-op at the height of the George Floyd protests, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley penned a lengthy and vociferous critique of Trump in a resignation letter he ultimately never sent, The New Yorker reported on Monday.
On June 1, 2020, Milley accompanied Trump on a walk from the White House to St. John’s Church, where he was photographed wearing his combat uniform and moving with the President’s entourage through Lafayette Square. Protesters had been forcibly cleared out of the area minutes before.
The images provoked a swift wave of criticism from lawmakers and several senior former military officials who said they risked dragging the traditionally apolitical military into a contentious domestic political situation.
Milley’s letter was dated June 8, a week after the incident, according to The New Yorker. The article was based on “The Divider: Trump in the White House 2017-2021,” a forthcoming book by Peter Baker and Susan Glasser.
“The events of the last couple weeks have caused me to do deep soul-searching, and I can no longer faithfully support and execute your orders as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,” Milley wrote, according to The New Yorker. “It is my belief that you were doing great and irreparable harm to my country. I believe that you have made a concerted effort over time to politicize the United States military.”
The report said Milley sought advice regarding the resignation letter, including from former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Joseph Dunford, retired Army Gen. James Dubik, an expert on military ethics, as well as members of Congress and former officials from the Bush and Obama administrations.
Milley ultimately decided not to quit.
“F*** that s***,” Milley told his staff, according to The New Yorker. “I’ll just fight him.”
“If they want to court-martial me, or put me in prison, have at it,” Milley added. “But I will fight from the inside.”
A spokesman for the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs declined to comment to CNN about the report.
Milley would later publicly apologize for his involvement in the incident in a pre-recorded speech at the National Defense University.
“I should not have been there. My presence in that moment and in that environment created a perception of the military involved in domestic politics. As a commissioned uniformed officer, it was a mistake that I have learned from, and I sincerely hope we all can learn from it,” Milley said during the address.
Three people have been charged with helping the person who fired shots at Mall of America last week.
Denesh Raghubir, 21; Selena Raghubir, 23; and Delyanie Kwen-Shawn Arnold, 23, are all charged with aiding an offender.
Officers responded to reports of multiple gunshots on the west side of Mall of America at around 4:17 pm Thursday. Officers were then directed to the Nike store, where three cartridge casings were found just inside the main entrance.
Surveillance video showed six people had been involved in a fight in front of the store’s checkout area, causing several customers to run away. Two people involved in the fight — identified in a criminal complaint as 21-year-old Shamar Alon Lark and 23-year-old Rashad Jamal May — left the store briefly and then returned. Upon returning, Lark allegedly fired a handgun several times toward others involved in the fight.
Shamar Alon Lark (left) and Rashad Jamal May, suspects in the shots fired incident at Mall of America on Aug. 4, 2022, are still at large. (Bloomington Police Department)
Security footage showed the two then ran out of the mall’s north doors, through the north lot and into the Ikea parking lot. Officers then determined they were picked up by a Best Western hotel shuttle and taken to the hotel just south of the mall.
According to the complaint, phone records showed that May called Arnold two minutes after the shots were fired in the mall. May then got five calls from Arnold between 4:20 pm and 4:23 pm
From left: Denesh Raghubir, Selena Raghubir and Delyanie Arnold (Bloomington Police Department)
Arnold’s girlfriend is Selena Raghubir, an assistant manager at the Best Western and the cousin of Denesh Raghubir, who was identified as the driver of the shuttle that picked up May and Lark.
The complaint states that hotel management confirmed Denesh Raghubir isn’t the regular shuttle driver and the regular driver was working at that time but he allegedly told officers he dropped Lark and May off at the hotel and knew them as friends of his cousin, Selena.
Denesh Raghubir also told officers that Selena Raghubir left the hotel immediately after he dropped Lark and May off and he didn’t see her for 45 minutes, the complaint states.
Officers searched Arnold’s and Selena Raghubir’s home and vehicle the next day and found the orange shirt apparently worn by May and the white tank top worn by Lark at the time of the shooting.
As of Monday afternoon, Denesh and Selena Raghubir and Arnold were all in custody. If convicted, they could face up to three years in prison and a $5,000 fine.
Lark and May remain at large. 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS has learned that both Lark and May are on probation for past gun-related crimes.
BWH Hotel Group provided the following statement to 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS:
“We are deeply saddened by the violence that took place at the Mall of America last week and our thoughts are with the Minneapolis community. Noting this hotel is independently owned and operated, we support the hotel’s decision to immediately terminate the employees who were allegedly involved in this terrible event. The actions of these employees stand in stark contrast to our brand’s values and the sense of community that is at the heart of our hotel family.”
Bloomington police provided an update on their investigation at 3 pm Monday. Click the video box below to watch that.
The FBI is raiding Mar-a-Lago, former President Donald Trump’s resort home in Palm Beach, Florida, Trump said Monday evening.
In a lengthy statement, Trump said his residence is “currently under siege, raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents.”
The raid was “unannounced,” Trump said.
The FBI did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment on Trump’s statement.
These are dark times for our Nation, as my beautiful home, Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, is currently under siege, raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents. Nothing like this has ever happened to a President of the United States before. After working and cooperating with the relevant Government agencies, this unannounced raid on my home was not necessary or appropriate. It is prosecutorial misconduct, the weaponization of the Justice System, and an attack by Radical Left Democrats who desperately don’t want me to run for President in 2024, especially based on recent polls, and who will likewise do anything to stop Republicans and Conservatives in the upcoming Midterm Elections. Such an assault could only take place in broken, Third-World Countries. Sadly, America has now become one of those Countries, corrupt at a level not seen before. They even broke into my safe! What is the difference between this and Watergate, where operatives broke into the Democratic National Committee? Here, in reverse, Democrats broke into the home of the 45th President of the United States.
The political persecution of President Donald J. Trump has been going on for years, with the now fully debunked Russia, Russia, Russia Scam, Impeachment Hoax #1, Impeachment Hoax #2, and so much more, it just never ends. It is political targeting at the highest level!
Hillary Clinton was allowed to delete and acid wash 33,000 E-mails AFTER they were subpoenaed by Congress. Absolutely nothing has happened to hold her accountable. She even took antique furniture, and other items from the White House.
I stood up to America’s bureaucratic corruption, I restored power to the people, and truly delivered for our Country, like we have never seen before. The establishment hated it. Now, as they watch my endorsed candidates win big victories, and see my dominance in all polls, they are trying to stop me, and the Republican Party, once more. The lawlessness, political persecution, and Witch Hunt must be exposed and stopped.
I will continue to fight for the Great American People!
The raid came hours after Politico reported that attorney John Rowley, a former federal prosecutor, is now representing Trump in talks with the Department of Justice about executive privilege issues related to the department’s investigation of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
This is breaking news. Please check back for updates.
Rudy Giuliani said a recent procedure prevented him from flying to testify before a grand jury.
But local prosecutors in Georgia pointed to evidence he’d traveled recently.
A judge is holding a hearing Tuesday on Giuliani’s request to delay his grand jury testimony.
A week before Rudy Giuliani was set to appear before a grand jury in Georgia, his lawyers contacted local prosecutors to inform them that a recent medical procedure would prevent the former New York City mayor from flying to Atlanta, according to court records.
But his request to delay the Tuesday grand jury appearance was met with little sympathy from the office of Fanni Willis, the Fulton County district attorney investigating former President Donald Trump’s efforts to flip his 2020 election loss in Georgia. Willis’ office responded instead with receipts — and a tweet from New Hampshire — suggesting that Giuliani was, in fact, having no trouble traveling.
In a court filing Monday, local prosecutors in Georgia said they had obtained records showing that Giuliani had “purchased multiple airline tickets with cash, including tickets to Rome, Italy, and Zurich, Switzerland,” for flights between July 22 and July 29. ( Willis’ office stopped short of stating that Giuliani took those flights.)
“All of those dates were after the witness’s medical procedure,” a prosecutor wrote, referring to Giuliani, on the eve of his scheduled grand jury appearance.
“Finally,” the prosecutor added, “in light of the letter provided to the district attorney suggesting that the witness is not cleared for air travel, the district attorney offered to provide alternative methods of travel for the witness, including bus or train fare. ” The filing included a screenshot of an August 1 social media post picturing Giuliani in New Hampshire.
A tweet showed Rudy Giuliani in New Hampshire after undergoing an unspecified medical procedure.
Fulton County district attorney’s office
A Fulton County judge responded by setting a 12:30 pm hearing Tuesday on Giuliani’s “emergency” request to delay his grand jury appearance. A lawyer for Giuliani, William H. Thomas Jr., declined to comment.
In a separate court filing Monday, Thomas conceded that Giuliani had traveled from New York to New Hampshire following his unspecified medical procedure. But he emphasized, in italics, that Giuliani made the trip “by a private car in which he was the passenger.”
Pointing to a doctor’s note, Thomas said it was “air travel that he was not cleared for.” But Willis’ office, he wrote, “remained firm in their refusal to agree to a continuance.” Thomas added that Giuliani would appear virtually before the grand jury, but Willis’ office has demanded in-person testimony.
“It is important to note here that Mr. Giuliani is [sic] no way seeking to inappropriately delay, or obstruct these proceedings or avoid giving evidence or testimony that is not subject to some claim of privilege in this matter,” Thomas wrote. “Stated another way, he is and has been willing to cooperate in this matter subject to any ethical obligations that may preclude that cooperation.”
Fulton County Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis in recent weeks has been moving quickly to secure additional testimony in her Trump investigation.
AP Photo/Ben Gray, File
Fani Willis’ aggressive moves
The court files Monday shed light on a dispute between local prosecutors in Georgia and Giuliani’s lawyers in the buildup to his scheduled appearance before the grand jury investigating Trump and his allies’ election interference in the state.
As part of the inquiry, local prosecutors are examining a now-infamous phone call Trump made to Georgia’s secretary of state, Brad Raffensberger, urging him to “find” enough votes to reverse his loss to Joe Biden.
Willis has moved aggressively in recent weeks. In addition to winning a court battle forcing Giuliani to testify before a grand jury, her office de ella has pursued fake electors who supported Trump and subpoenaed Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, prompting legal observers to view the Georgia investigation as among the most perilous for the former president.
Following the 2020 election, Giuliani was among the former president’s allies who participated in a scheme to create slates of so-called alternate slates of pro-Trump electors in key battlegrounds states including Georgia. Court filings have revealed that Willis’ office informed all 16 pro-Trump voters in Georgia that they could face charges in connection with the criminal investigation.
In December 2020, Giuliani appeared in person before a pair of committees in Georgia’s state legislature, where he spent hours peddling false conspiracy theories about election fraud. “You cannot possibly certify Georgia in good faith,” he reportedly told lawmakers.
The House committee investigating the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol has also highlighted Giuliani’s efforts in Georgia. In June, one of the committee’s public hearings featured testimony from Wandrea “Shaye” Moss, a former Georgia election official, who was the target of a conspiracy theory Trump and Giuliani spread alleging that she processed fake ballots for Biden.
“It’s turned my life upside down. I no longer give out my business card… I don’t want anyone knowing my name,” Moss said, in emotional testimony before the House January 6 panel. “I don’t go to the grocery store at all. I haven’t been anywhere at all. I’ve gained about 60 pounds. I just don’t do anything anymore.”
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration said Monday it was shipping its biggest yet direct delivery of weapons to Ukraine as that country prepares for a potentially decisive counteroffensive in the south against Russia, sending $1 billion in rockets, ammunition and other material to Ukraine from Defense Department stockpiles.
The new US arms shipment would further strengthen Ukraine as it mounts the counteroffensive, which analysts say for the first time could allow Kyiv to shape the course of the rest of the warnow at the half-year mark.
Kyiv aims to push Russian troops back out of Kherson and other southern territory near the Dnipro River. Russia in recent days was moving troops and equipment in the direction of the southern port cities to stave off the Ukrainian counteroffensive.
“At every stage of this conflict, we have been focused on getting the Ukrainians what they need, depending on the evolving conditions on the battlefield,” Colin Kahl, undersecretary of defense for policy, said Monday in announcing the new weapons shipment.
The new US aid includes additional rockets for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, as well as thousands of artillery rounds, mortar systems, Javelins and other ammunition and equipment. Military commanders and other US officials say the HIMARS and artillery systems have been crucial in Ukraine’s fight to block Russia from taking more ground.
While the US has already provided 16 HIMARS to Ukraine, Kahl said the new package does not include additional ones.
“These are not systems that we assess you need in the hundreds to have the type of effects” needed, Kahl said. “These are precision-guided systems for very particular types of targets and the Ukrainians are using them as such.”
He declined to say how many of the precision-guided missile systems for the HIMARS were included in Monday’s announcement, but said the US has provided “multiple hundreds” of them in recent weeks.
The latest announcement brings the total US security assistance committed to Ukraine by the Biden administration to more than $9 billion.
In his nightly video address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked the United States for the package, and said “100% of it we will use to protect freedom, our common freedom.”
Until now, the largest single security assistance package announcement was for $1 billion on June 15. But that aid included $350 million in presidential drawdown authority, and another $650 million under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which provides funding for training, equipment and other security needs that can be bought from other countries or companies.
Monday’s package allows the US to deliver weapons systems and other equipment more quickly since it takes them off the Defense Department shelves.
In addition to the rockets for the HIMARS, it includes 75,000 rounds of 155mm artillery, 20 mortar systems and 20,000 rounds for them, 1,000 shoulder-mounted Javelin rockets, and other arms, explosives and medical equipment.
For the last four months of the war, Russia has concentrated on capturing the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, where pro-Moscow separatists have controlled some territory as self-proclaimed republics for eight years. Russian forces have made a gradual headway in the region while launching missile and rocket attacks to curtail the movements of Ukrainian fighters elsewhere.
Kahl estimated that Russian forces have sustained up to 80,000 deaths and injuries in the fighting, though he did not break down the figure with an estimate of forces killed.
He said the Russian troops have managed to gain “incremental” ground in eastern Ukraine, although not in recent weeks. “But that has come at extraordinary cost to the Russian military because of how well the Ukrainian military has performed and all the assistance that the Ukrainian military has gotten. And I think now, conditions in the east have essentially stabilized and the focus is really shifting to the south.”
The new funding is being paid for through $40 billion in economic and security aid for Ukraine approved by Congress in May.
This is the 18th time the Pentagon has provided equipment from Defense Department stocks to Ukraine since August 2021.
The US and allies are still evaluating whether to supply aircraft to Ukraine, Kahl said. It’s “not inconceivable that western aircraft down the road could be part of the mix,” he said.
Zelenskyy early in the war made near-daily appeals for warplanes, calling them essential to protecting Ukraine’s skies. The US and some other NATO countries feared that they could draw them into more direct involvement with Ukraine’s war against Russia, and have not provided Western aircraft.
Separately Monday, the Treasury Department said it was sending $3 billion more in direct economic assistance to Ukraine. That’s part of a previously approved $7.5 billion in economic assistance, with $1.5 billion yet to be disbursed.
___
Associated Press writers Eric Tucker and Fatima Hussein in Washington contributed to this report.
A registered nurse was charged Monday with six counts of murder and five counts of gross vehicular manslaughter in connection with a fiery crash in Windsor Hills last week that killed a pregnant woman, a baby and three other adults, the Los Angeles County district attorney announced.
Nicole Lorraine Linton, 37, is accused of reckless disregard for life in connection with Thursday’s multi-vehicle crash. Prosecutors say the Los Angeles woman was behind the wheel of a Mercedes-Benz that was speeding up to 100 mph when she ran a red light shortly after 1:30 pm and plowed into through traffic at the busy intersection of La Brea and Slauson avenues .
Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. George Gascón said Linton faces up to 90 years in prison if convicted of all charges.
“In an instant, Ms. Linton’s conduct took the lives of six people and injured many others,” Gascón said.
To get a second-degree murder conviction, prosecutors must prove she acted with implied malice and knew the act of driving at a high speed on city streets area was dangerous to human life.
Usually, such cases are brought if the driver is under the influence and has a prior DUI conviction after subsequent DUI education classes. In Linton’s case, investigators have found Linton has a history of dangerous crashes and knew the threat posed by her driving behavior, prosecutors said.
However, he said there is no evidence of any alcohol use by Linton at this point.
“I know that some of you spoke to a woman that alleged they have been drinking together. The CHP is working to identify this person, but we don’t have any further information,” Gascón said.
The DA declined to discuss what prompted the crash, saying it was still under investigation and he was “not going to get into the details.”
Gascon said the murder charges against Linton are for the deaths of 23-year-old Asherey Ryan, her boyfriend, their 1-year-old child, Alonzo Quintero, and their unborn child. Ryan was 8½ months pregnant when she was killed. The boy she was carrying at the time was named Armani Lester, according to the Los Angeles County coroner’s office. His date of birth and date of death fell on the same day.
“A young family was destroyed in the blink of an eye,” Gascón said in announcing the charges against Linton.
Linton was also charged with murder for the deaths of two unidentified women killed in the crash. The five counts of vehicular manslaughter against her are for the deaths of the four adults and the 1-year-old. Ryan’s unborn child cannot be included in those charges.
Times staff writer Nathan Solis contributed to this report.
