The US Secret Service has given the House Jan. 6 committee a listing of all personal cell phone numbers belonging to agents based in Washington, DC, for the period the panel is investigating, according to sources familiar with the matter — an unusual step amid heightened scrutiny of the agency’s cooperation with the congressional panel investigating last year’s insurrection and the role then-President Donald Trump played in it.
The committee can now determine which agents’ call records they may want to review and, if they decide to do so, could either request records from the agents directly or conceivably issue subpoenas to their cell phone providers, an official familiar with the situation explained.
The Secret Service and Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the agency, have faced criticism in recent weeks for wiping text messages belonging to agents on and around Jan. 6, 2021. Congressional Democrats have accused the Homeland Security inspector general of abandoning efforts to collect text and phone records from that day.
Seeking and obtaining information from personal devices from federal workers is a “highly unusual” step by the committee, according to Don Mihalek, a retired senior Secret Service agent, and could reflect a renewed effort by the agency to further demonstrate its cooperation with congressional investigators .
A Secret Service agent stands by after Marine One at Fort McNair in Washington, DC, July 10, 2022.
Joshua Roberts/Reuters, FILE
The Secret Service has faced serious criticism in recent weeks as committee testimony focused on Trump’s conduct on Jan. 6, 2021, and what agents assigned to the White House did and saw that day.
At the same time, Mihalek said, the agency’s decision to hand personal device information over to the committee could present thorny legal challenges.
“If the agency turned over these private phone numbers, the only appropriate course for that would have been via a subpoena or court order,” said Mihalek, an ABC News contributor. “Absent that, handing them over could be problematic.”
A spokesperson for the Secret Service recently acknowledged that some phone data from January 2021 was lost as the result of a pre-planned data transfer, noting that the transfer was underway when the inspector general’s office made the request in February 2021.
ABC News reported Thursday that DHS is reviewing its electronic retention policies and would halt wiping political appointees’ phones until the review is complete.
The Secret Service and representatives of the Jan. 6 committee declined to comment.
ABC News’ Aaron Katersky and Luke Barr contributed reporting.
“After a brief stay in the Alfred Hospital, Judith was admitted to Palliative Care on Friday 5 August, where she passed away peacefully that evening. Her death was a result of complications from a long-standing chronic lung disease,” Musicoast and Universal Music Australia said in a statement shared on the verified Facebook page for The Seekers.
“Our lives are changed forever losing our treasured lifelong friend and shining star. Her struggle was intense and heroic — never complaining of her destiny and fully accepting its conclusion. Her magnificent musical legacy Keith, Bruce and I are so blessed to share,” her former bandmates Keith Potger, Bruce Woodley and Athol Guy added in the post.
Durham helped open the door for Australian artists to achieve international fame. The Seekers, formed in 1962, were considered the first Australian pop band to achieve mainstream success in the United Kingdom and the United States.
The group’s hits included “Georgy Girl” and “A World of Our Own.”
Durham left The Seekers to pursue a solo career in 1968 and released several solo albums but continued to reunite and tour with the band in the decades after.
Several prominent Australians posted tributes Saturday.
“A national treasure and an Australian icon, Judith Durham gave voice to a new strand of our identity and helped blaze a trail for a new generation of Aussie artists,” wrote Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Twitter.
“Her kindness will be missed by many, the anthems she gave to our nation will never be forgotten.”
Australian comedian and actress Magda Szubanski shared her “deepest condolences to her loved ones” on Twitter.
“Her beautiful, crystalline voice was the naive but knowing siren song of my childhood,” wrote Szubanski.
Tanya Plibersek, Australian Minister for the Environment and Water, called Durham “a trailblazer and an icon in Australian music” on Twitter. “Her songs will live on forever.”
“The 360” shows you diverse perspectives on the day’s top stories and debates.
what’s happening
Voters in Kansas on Tuesday that would have stripped abortion protections from the state constitution and created room for the state’s Republican-led Legislature to further restrict abortion access.
The vote was the best test of the power of abortion as a political issue since June, when the Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization overturned the constitutional right to abortion established by Roe v. Wade in 1973. The result in Kansas was a surprise, not just because voters in a deeply red state sided in favor of abortion rights, but also because they did so by such a when.
Roe’s reversal upended the status quo on abortion politics in place for nearly 50 years. Although it was quickly evident that the with the Supreme Court’s ruling, it had been unclear what effects the decision would have at the ballot box. The Kansas vote is a clear win for the pro-abortion-rights side, but there’s significant debate over how much to read into the result when forecasting other key races going into November’s midterm elections.
why there’s debate
In the eyes of many political commentators, the vote in Kansas is a signal that the US electorate has become incredibly mobilized to protect abortion access in the wake of Roe’s repeal — a trend they say could substantially benefit Democrats as they try to hold onto narrow majorities in both houses of Congress. They argue that, although Democrats still face strong headwinds in the midterms, a surge in enthusiasm from their base — plus an increase in support among independents — could be enough to tip a critical number of close races in their favor.
But skeptics say there are plenty of reasons to doubt that. They say Kansas was unique because abortion rights were literally on the ballot, whereas most of the crucial races in the upcoming midterms will ask voters to choose among individual candidates. In those cases, they argue, voters are likely to consider a long list of other factors in addition to abortion when deciding whom to support. Others say that, although the abortion issue may give Democrats a small boost, it won’t be enough to overcome discontent over inflation, public safety concerns and President Biden’s low approval ratings.
Another group argues that the midterms could be decided by the party that most effectively harnesses the lessons from Kansas. Democrats, they argue, will have to work aggressively to convince voters that their GOP opponents are a genuine threat to abortion access and ensure that the issue stays at the forefront of the news cycle until November. Some conservative commentators argue that Republicans in swing states can counter this narrative by embracing more modest — and less unpopular — limits on abortion access, rather than the near or total bans that the right wing of the party supports.
what’s next
A handful of states will have abortion directly on the ballot in November. Kentucky voters will weigh in on a ballot initiative similar to the one that was rejected in Kansas. A measure in Montana would increase legal burdens on the doctors providing abortions. In California and Vermont, on the other hand, voters will decide whether to add language guaranteeing abortion access to their state constitutions.
Perspectives
The long-expected Republican wave may not come after all
“This result was an earthquake that has been rewritten, for now, the conventional wisdom about what may happen this November.” —Daniel Strauss
One ballot initiative in a single state is not a measure of where the country stands on abortion
“I’m certain that Democrats are over-reading last night’s results. … One bad result on a confusing amendment in a state that’s relatively moderate on abortion isn’t indicative of how Americans feel about abortion policy.” — Alexandra Desanctis
If abortion rights were a potent issue in Kansas, they’ll be even more powerful elsewhere
“In the days ahead, pundits will analyze the Kansas results, and try to apply them to other states. We welcome that work. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito said states, not women, should decide this issue. Now Kansas, among the most conservative states in the nation, has answered his call from him.” – Editorial,
Republicans have so many advantages, abortion may not impact the final results
“Democrats still face enormous headwinds in November, including sweeping voter dissatisfaction over inflation, low approval ratings for President Joe Biden, and the near unbroken history since the Civil War of the party that holds the White House losing seats in the House of Representatives during a president’s first two years.” —Ronald Brownstein
Democrats need the right strategy to capitalize on the opportunity
“Abortion is not the only issue that brings people to the polls and influences how they vote. But if party activists make the case that abortion is on the ballot in November, if they boost turnout from pro-choice voters, and if Democratic candidates can achieve even a small measure of the swing seen in Kansas, the 2022 political calculus could be dramatically improved for Biden and for his party.” —John Nichols,
Voters may weigh abortion very differently when asked to choose actual candidates
“There is good reason to be wary [of] the old maxim of Fleet Street journalism—first simplify, then exaggerate—in some of the post-Kansas analysis. The impact of abortion politics on the mid-term elections remains murky. In most cases, voters will be choosing among candidates, not deciding a sharply framed referendum.” — John F. Harris,
Abortion is just one of several issues where voters will reject GOP extremism
“The ramifications of the Dobbs ruling go far beyond abortion itself. … The far right is also on the wrong side of public opinion on everything from gun mayhem to drug price controls and of course to the attempted coup of January 6, 2021.” —Robert Kuttner
GOP candidates will have a hard time selling a moderate message on abortion
“Will the conservative base, emboldened by the long-sought-after overturning of Roe v. Wade, push candidates to profess support for a federal abortion ban? If so, every Republican candidate will get pushed into a corner on this issue. That was likely before the Kansas primary result, and now it’s both likely and a potentially huge problem for the party.” —Rex Huppke
Abortion won’t dramatically change Democrats’ fortunes, but may help them win a few key races
“The political environment for Democrats has improved since the Dobbs decision. And that might mitigate the landslide midterm losses normally expected from a congressional majority weighed down by negative economic growth and the unprecedented disapproval of the incumbent party’s president at this point in his term. —Michael Tessler
Anyone predicting what will happen in the midterms is simply guessing
“It’s also hard to say whether the Kansas result predicts much about November. … It’s fair to say that the abortion issue is more likely to help than hurt Democrats this fall, but anything more than that is just guesswork.” —Jonathan Bernstein
Is there a topic you’d like to see covered in “The 360”? Send your suggestions to [email protected].
“He’s more popular than ever,” said Jim McLaughlin, a pollster for Trump who conducted the straw poll.
McLaughlin announced the results from the CPAC Texas main stage about two hours before Trump’s scheduled appearance. Among the attendees who voted, 69% said they preferred Trump, with 24% saying they would prefer Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.
When asked about who they would prefer if Trump did not run for president, 65% of respondents said they preferred DeSantis, while 8% said they would support Donald Trump Jr.
The straw poll is not a scientific survey, with a pool limited to CPAC attendees, and is not representative of the broader GOP electorate.
The results are reflective of straw polls at previous CPACs since Trump left office, which showed the former President with a large lead among the conservative activists and DeSantis as the favorite alternative.
In February, Trump won a straw poll at CPAC in Orlando, Florida, with 59% of the vote. DeSantis came in a second in that poll with 28% of the vote, and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo came in a distant third with 2% of the vote.
In a July 2021 CPAC straw poll, Trump topped the GOP field with support from 70% of conference attendees, compared to 21% who selected DeSantis last year.
In an interview with New York Magazine last month, Trump said he was still deciding when — not if — he should announce a 2024 campaign. DeSantis is also widely considered to be a contender for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination.
CNN’s Sara Murray and Steve Contorno contributed to this report.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Office says three men were shot Saturday afternoon, and one of those men was shot by a deputy. There’s an ongoing investigation at Heritage Hotel on 7900 South Orange Blossom Trail near Sand Lake Road. The Orange County Sheriff’s Office gave an update on the shooting. According to Mark Canty, Orange County Sheriff’s Office undersheriff, they responded to the area Saturday afternoon following calls about a shooting around 12:36 pm Once on the scene, deputies found one man who had been shot. Deputies then encountered a second person, a man who was holding a gun. When he was asked to drop the gun, the man did not comply, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office. One of the deputies discharged their firearm, striking the man. Deputies then learned another man had been shot before they arrived on the scene. According to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, all three men who’d been shot were transported to the hospital. Canty said the relationship between those three men is still being investigated. Two of the three men who were shot have been pronounced dead. One of the two deceased men was the one who was shot by a deputy and the other man was the victim deputies initially found upon arrival at the scene. The Orange County Sheriff’s Office is not searching for any additional suspects in the shooting at this time. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement will take the lead in the investigation, Canty said at a news conference Saturday. FDLE’s findings will then be given to the State Attorney’s Office, and OCSO will conduct an internal investigation once that process is complete. The deputy who discharged his firearm is on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation. Canty said the information and calls from residents helped deputies to respond to the scene quickly. us for help. We responded and we were there to help them and stop somebody from killing any more people,” Canty said at a news conference. The hotel where the shooting happened is located near a lot of stores on Orange Blossom Trail. Eliseo Duarte was calmly going about his work organizing carts in the parking lot of the store next door to the hotel, Daily Dealz OBT. All of a sudden he heard over five gunshots. “Pop, pop, pop, pop, pop,” Duarte said. He said he ducked behind a car for cover. “It was really scary. I never heard shots like that close,” Duarte said. Then, he ran inside to get his manager from him Sal Khreiwesh. “I come out here and I’m watching all these cops, like five or six cop cars just come here,” he said. Khreiwesh said he was worried because this shooting happened on a very busy day at the store. “It’s very concerning especially on $10 day. There’s a line, there’s a line at like 9:30, 9:40. People want those $10 deals. So imagine it happened then,” he said. Staff at the store said they are grateful for law enforcement’s quick response. “Police did their job I think and they closed the area. It happened really fast,” Duarte said. Meanwhile, the sheriff’s office commended the public for quickly sounding the alarm. “What’s good about this case is a lot of people called us, and our deputies were able to respond and put themselves between innocent civilians and a bad guy,” Canty said.
ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. —
The Orange County Sheriff’s Office says three men were shot Saturday afternoon, and one of those men was shot by a deputy.
There’s an ongoing investigation at Heritage Hotel on 7900 South Orange Blossom Trail near Sand Lake Road.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Office gave an update on the shooting.
According to Mark Canty, Orange County Sheriff’s Office undersheriff, they responded to the area Saturday afternoon following calls about a shooting around 12:36 pm
Once on the scene, deputies found one man who had been shot.
Deputies then encountered a second person, a man who was holding a gun.
When he was asked to drop the gun, the man did not comply, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.
One of the deputies discharged their firearm, striking the man.
Deputies then learned another man had been shot before they arrived to the scene.
According to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, all three men who’d been shot were transported to the hospital.
Canty said the relationship between those three men is still being investigated.
Two of the three men who were shot have been pronounced dead.
One of the two deceased men was the one who was shot by a deputy and the other man was the victim deputies initially found upon arrival at the scene.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Office is not searching for any additional suspects in the shooting at this time.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement will take the lead in the investigation, Canty said at a news conference Saturday.
FDLE’s findings will then be given to the State Attorney’s Office, and OCSO will conduct an internal investigation once that process is complete.
The deputy who discharged his firearm is on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.
Canty said the information and calls from residents helped deputies to respond to the scene quickly.
He wants nearby residents to know this:
“They should know that they called us for help. We responded and we were there to help them and stop somebody from killing any more people,” Canty said at a news conference.
The hotel where the shooting happened is located near a lot of stores on Orange Blossom Trail.
Eliseo Duarte was calmly going about his work organizing carts in the parking lot of the store next door to the hotel, Daily Dealz OBT.
All of a sudden he heard over five gunshots.
“Pop, pop, pop, pop, pop,” Duarte said.
He said he ducked behind a car for cover.
“It was really scary. I never heard shots like that close,” Duarte said.
Then, he ran inside to get his manager Sal Khreiwesh.
“I come out here and I’m watching all these cops, like five or six cop cars just come here,” he said.
Khreiwesh said he was worried because this shooting happened on a very busy day at the store.
“It’s very concerning especially on $10 day. There’s a line, there’s a line at like 9:30, 9:40. People want those $10 deals. So imagine it happened then,” he said.
Staff at the store said they are grateful for law enforcement’s quick response.
“Police did their job I think and they closed the area. It happened really fast,” Duarte said.
Meanwhile, the sheriff’s office commended the public for quickly sounding the alarm.
“What’s good about this case is a lot of people called us, and our deputies were able to respond and put themselves between innocent civilians and a bad guy,” Canty said.
The fire at a Pennsylvania house that killed 10 people from the same family, including three children, may have started on the front porch of the Nescopeck home, according to an official.
A preliminary investigation suggested that the blaze erupted on the porch around 2:30 am Friday, according to Luzerne County District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce.
“The information I have is that the fire started and progressed very quickly, making it very difficult to get out,” he said.
Shannon Daubert, 45, died in the blaze.FacebookLaura Daubert, 47, was also killed.
The victims have been identified as Dale Baker, 19; StarBaker, 22; David Daubert Sr., 79; Brian Daubert, 42; Shannon Daubert, 45; Laura Daubert, 47; and Marian Slusser, 54.
The names of the youngest victims, two boys ages 5 and 6 and a 7-year-old girl, were not officially released, but a GoFundMe identified the 6-year-old as Aiden Michael James Daubert.
Autopsies were planned for this weekend.
The three children were visiting their aunt and uncle who owned the home.AP
There were 13 dogs in the two-story house as well. The fate of the animals was not clear.
Dale Baker, a 2021 graduate of Berwick Senior High School, was, like his parents, a volunteer firefighter for Nescopeck, which is about 50 miles southwest of Scranton.
Just three adults were able to escape the fire, which completed destroyed the house. A state police investigation into the cause is underway.
The tragedy was compounded when one of the responding volunteer firefighters pulling up to the blaze, Harold Baker, realized that the fire was at the home of his relatives and his son and daughter and grandchildren, among other family members, were inside.
The children were visiting their aunt and uncle who owned the home, Baker said.
“All I wanted to do was go in there and get these people, my family. That’s all that I was thinking about, getting in to them,” Baker told The Associated Press.
Former President Trump won a comfortable majority of the vote in the Conservative Political Action Conference’s (CPAC) straw poll, maintaining his position as the favorite for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
Organizers announced at CPAC’s convention in Texas that Trump won 69 percent of the vote, followed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) with 24 percent. Trump expanded his lead from the last CPAC straw poll in February, when he received the support of 59 percent of voting attendees to DeSantis’ 28 percent.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) came in third place with 2 percent, while other choices received 1 percent support or less.
In a hypothetical poll without Trump in the race, DeSantis held the lead with 65 percent. Donald Trump Jr. came in second place with 8 percent, Cruz came in third with 6 percent and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo came in fourth with 5 percent.
Despite DeSantis gaining attention as a possible alternative to Trump as the 2024 GOP nominee, Trump has consistently dominated CPAC’s informal straw polls since he left office last year.
Trump won the straw poll taken at CPAC in February 2021, about a month after his term ended, with 55 percent of the vote, followed by DeSantis with 21 percent. He received 70 percent support in the straw poll taken at a second CPAC convention last July.
DeSantis has meanwhile remained the consistent second-place finisher but has been unable to top 30 percent support.
DeSantis led among potential choices to be the vice-presidential nominee with 43 percent, followed by South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) with 9 percent and Pompeo at 7 percent.
Trump’s approval rating among CPAC attendees ticked up to 99 percent, up two points from February. Nine out of 10 said they strongly approve of Trump’s performance as president.
More than 60 percent of voters listed election integrity as the most important issue, a sign of Trump’s influence on the party as he continues to claim without evidence that voter fraud cost him reelection in the 2020 presidential election.
More than half of listed voters building a border wall and immigration as one of the most important issues, while about 30 percent listed energy independence and constitutional rights, respectively.
The results also showed that CPAC attendees largely do not expect President Biden or Vice President Harris to be the Democratic nominee in 2024.
A 37 percent plurality believe California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) will be the Democratic nominee, while 16 percent expect former first lady Michelle Obama. Biden was chosen by 8 percent, along with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Harris was chosen by 4 percent.
Police say one of the two victims who died in separate homicides overnight in Albuquerque was a member of the Muslim community. An APD spokesman says the shooting could be connected to three other recent homicides involving Muslim men from South Asia. The incident took place just before midnight Friday evening. Police received a call regarding a shooting in the area of Truman St. NE and Grand Ave. NE. Officers arrived to find a person dead from at least one gunshot wound. At a news conference Saturday afternoon, officials expressed concern over the series of shootings.”We’ve never gone through anything like this before,” said Ahmad Assed, President of the Islamic Center of New Mexico. “This is really a surreal time for us. We’re in fear of the safety of our children, our families.” “It’s not about just the Muslim community, but the entire community,” Assed added. “We’re all in it together. This is a very troublesome time for all of us.” The second overnight incident took place around 1:30 am Saturday. Police were called out to Eastern Ave. SE and Amherst Dr. SE, after reports of a shooting. Officers discovered a body and pronounced the victim dead at the scene. That incident is not Both incidents are under investigation.
Police say one of the two victims who died in separate homicides overnight in Albuquerque was a member of the Muslim community. An APD spokesman says the shooting could be connected to three other recent homicides involving Muslim men from South Asia.
The incident took place just before midnight Friday evening. Police received a call regarding a shooting in the area of Truman St. NE and Grand Ave. NE. Officers arrived to find a person dead from at least one gunshot wound.
At a news conference Saturday afternoon, officials expressed concern about the series of shootings.
“We’ve never gone through anything like this before,” said Ahmad Assed, President of the Islamic Center of New Mexico. “This is really a surreal time for us. We’re in fear of the safety of our children, our families.”
“It’s not about just the Muslim community, but the entire community,” Assed added. “We’re all in it together. This is a very troublesome time for all of us.”
The second overnight incident took place around 1:30 am Saturday. Police were called out to Eastern Ave. SE and Amherst Dr. SE, after reports of a shooting. Officers discovered a body and pronounced the victim dead at the scene. That incident is not
Former President Donald Trump handily won the Conservative Political Action Conference’s 2024 straw poll, indicating he remains the first choice of Republican activists for the party’s presidential nomination.
The final numbers, released Saturday at the conference in Dallas, showed Trump out in front with 69% support.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis came in a distant second with 24%, while Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) followed in third with 2% — a dozen other candidates including former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin and Florida Sen. Rick Scott all received 1% or less.
The results of the straw poll show Trump is CPAC attendees’ choice for 2024. REUTERSThe results of the CPAC straw poll on Trump’s running mate.REUTERSNearly all of the attendees approved of Trump’s job as president.Morry Gash/APTrump has routinely dominated CPAC straw polls since leaving office.Yuki Iwamura for New York Post
A whopping 99% of conference attendees said they approved of Trump’s job as president.
DeSantis — who did not attend the conservative confab in Dallas — was the odds-on favorite among CPAC attendees should Trump decline to seek the nomination, with a large plurality of attendees also saying he would be the best choice to serve as a potential vice president for Trump.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis came in a distant second with 24%. AP
The results show that despite being banned from Twitter and fading from national headlines, the former president would remain the odds-on favorite to win the nomination in November should he decide to run.
Trump has routinely dominated CPAC straw polls since leaving office and Saturday’s results tracks previous surveys.
“No Republican can stop Trump from the nomination; no Democrat can stop Trump from the presidency,” former White House counselor Steve Bannon told The Post.
NESCOPECK, Pa. – Pennsylvania State Police have released then names of the seven adults killed in a fast-moving fire in Luzerne County.
Authorities say the blaze in the 700 block of 1st street killed seven adults and three children.
Firefighters work on hot spots in the front section of the home which collapsed during an early morning fatal fire on First Street in Nescopeck, Pa., Friday, Aug. 5, 2022. The fire was reported around 2:30 am The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
Jimmy May – member image share, Bloomsburg Press Enterprise
It happened just before 2:45 am in Nescopeck Borough. One of the firefighters responded to the blaze early Friday only to find that the victims were his family.
Police say the victims are Dale Baker, 19, Star Baker, 22, David Daubert Sr., 79, Brian Daubert, 42, Shannon Daubert, 45, Laura Daubert, 47, Marian Slusser, 54 and three juveniles ages 5, 6 and 7 .
Volunteer firefighter Harold Baker told the Citizens’ Voice newspaper of Wilkes-Barre that the 10 victims included his son, daughter, father-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, three grandchildren and two other relatives.
Firefighters set up lights in front of a fatal house fire at 733 First Street in Nescopeck, Pa, Friday, Aug. 5, 2022. The fire in Nescopeck was reported around 2:30 am The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
Jimmy May – member image share, Bloomsburg Press Enterprise
A report from the police says the victims were all found inside the deceased residence. Three adults made it out of the house safely.
State police say the fire completely destroyed the house and that a complex criminal investigation is underway.
A GoFundMe page has been set up following the fire.
