White, who represents Ward 8, is accused of agreeing to accept $156,000 in exchange for using his position to pressure employees of the D.C. Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement and the D.C. Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services (DYRS) to extend several contracts, prosecutors said.

He’s chair of a D.C. Council committee that oversees several agencies, including DYRS.

White received $35,000 in four cash payments in the alleged scheme, court documents filed on Thursday say.

His lawyer declined on Friday to comment on the latest development.

White has not commented on the case or entered a plea since federal authorities arrested him in the Navy Yard area on Aug. 18. On Instagram, posted a brief video thanking people who have continued to support him.

Following White’s arrest, the D.C. government launched a wide-ranging review of violence interruption work.

Read the full indictment here:

Here’s what federal prosecutors say Trayon White did

Federal prosecutors say White agreed starting in June to accept $156,000 in bribes in exchange for using his position to pressure government employees to extend violence intervention contracts worth $5.2 million.

He’s accused of accepting envelopes full of cash as he was caught on a hidden camera. Here’s how the FBI broke down the payments:

• June 26: $15,000 cash received
• July 17: $5,000 cash received
• July 25: $10,000 cash received
• Aug. 9: $5,000 cash received

Images included in court documents show what prosecutors say is White receiving envelopes stuffed with cash.

DC Council Aug 21

How Trayon White's arrest may shake up the Ward 8 election

DC Council Aug 19

Secret cameras, $35K in cash: DC Council member Trayon White accused of bribery

An FBI informant who operated businesses that contracted with the D.C. government agreed to cooperate with authorities as part of an agreement to plead guilty to bribery and bank fraud charges. Several conversations between White and the informant were recorded in a parked car wired for video and audio, including outside White’s home, prosecutors say.

At one meeting, White and the informant discussed contracts the informant had with ONSE. The informant asked White if the contracts would be renewed and said he had $15,000 cash.

Initially, White asked, “What you need me to do, man? I don’t, I don’t wanna feel like you gotta gimme something to get something. We better than that.”

Then he tucked the envelope with the cash into his jacket pocket, prosecutors say.

News4 sends breaking news stories by email. Go here to sign up to get breaking news alerts in your inbox.

Stay with NBC Washington for more details on this developing story.

This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.

“The first thing you should do, if you believe a loved one is going down a rabbit hole, becoming radicalized, is to try to assess exactly how far down the rabbit hole they are,” Brian Hughes told the News4 I-Team.

Hughes is the co-founder and associate director of the Polarization and Extremism Research & Innovation Lab (PERIL) at American University.

Hughes warned that once people make social connections within extremist groups, “it becomes very, very hard to pull them out.”

Why an ex-member of a racist gang now works with Life After Hate

Connecting with others is part of the psychology of why people join extremist organizations in the first place.

“The day that I became involved in this stuff, it could have been a gang, it could have been some other type of extremism,” Brad Galloway told the I-Team. He was looking for “that sense of belonging, that sense of worth, that sense of identity, that we’re all actually searching for.”

Galloway was a member of a Canadian racist skinhead gang for 13 years and eventually became one of its leaders. It’s a time he says he’s not proud of but does not deny.

“The violence was particularly something that, over time, I was like, well, what is this doing? What is this creating? What is this changing? All that I see that it’s doing is hurting,” he said.

For the last decade, Galloway has helped people get out of extremist groups. He works across the U.S. with a group called Life After Hate.

After a decade spent in an extremist group and now with more time out of one, he said, “These groups are not looking for an answer that doesn’t involve violence.”

What a survey showed about beliefs on political violence

In this election year, there’s real concern about how those extremist views could inflame political violence in America.

“Views that were at one time held by a very small number of the population are finding their way into the mainstream,” Dr. Garen Wintemute told the I-Team.

Wintemute is the director of the Violence Prevention Research Program at the University of California, Davis.

His group’s ongoing research shows 25% of Americans surveyed in 2023 believe violence is usually or always justified to advance at least one of 17 political objectives. That’s a decrease from the year before, but he says it is potentially more dangerous.

The survey also showed an increase in the number of people who support violence who also said they would be armed with a gun, threaten someone with a gun and even said they were very likely or extremely likely to shoot someone with it for a political reason.

“I think people take it as a matter of course that violence is going to be a part of our political process,” Hughes said. “Ten years ago, that would have been shocking to say.”

News4 I-Team Jan 5

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News4 I-Team Feb 6

‘They're preparing and ready on every front': Experts warn 2024 could be ‘big year' for political violence

To Hughes, political extremism and the violence that surrounds it have become far too familiar in recent years. He said it’s not unstoppable, though.

“When people have the tools and the resources to recognize these issues before they become very severe, they do intervene. And those interventions are effective,” he said.

How to talk with a loved one about political extremism

Hughes admitted that relationships with people who have become involved with extremist groups can be frustrating.

“It is hard. It can be very frustrating. It can really make you mad to have to talk to a person who seems so far afield, but it has to be done, and the best way to do it is to do it from a place of curiosity.”

Lead with curiosity, not condemnation: Every expert the I-Team spoke with over the past year said the key to convincing a loved one to leave an extremist group is to lead with curiosity, not condemnation.

Hughes has worked with Rachel Carroll Rivas at the Southern Poverty Law Center to develop strategies to help people who have been radicalized.

“If we actually ask the question of, what was the purpose? What do you think is going on here? Why is this happening, that really gives people that agency to come to a decision on their own.”

Galloway, the former extremist turned exit specialist, said, “I want to understand why you’re there, right? So, why is it that you have such a dissent for the government, or why is it that you have such a dissent for certain cultures or communities within America?”

Galloway said he’s led 50 people away from extremism and is currently working with 20 more.

He credits his wife for being part of the push to get him to leave.

“She was never involved in any of that stuff. She would poke at it all the time and say, ‘Are you sure about that? I mean, have you researched, have you looked at that … just keeping those questions going.”

Keep the conversation going: Former Oath Keeper turned congressional Jan. 6 witness Jason VanTatenhove told the I-Team earlier this year that keeping the conversation going is another key.

“We have opportunities with the people in our lives. It’s going to take a tsunami of those little moments of reaching across in our own personal lives to begin to see some change. I think we need everyone to be doing this,” he said.

Do what you can: Wintemute echoed VanTatenhove’s point.

“We all have to be willing to say, ‘This is not acceptable. I will do my part.’ Elected official, I need you to do yours, but we can’t look elsewhere for the solution.”

Go here to see resources from the PERIL project at American University.

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This story was reported by News4 Investigative Reporter Ted Oberg and News4 Investigative Producer Rick Yarborough, shot by News4 Photojournalists Jeff Piper and Steve Jones, and edited by Jones.

This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.

White, who represents Ward 8, is accused of agreeing to accept $156,000 in exchange for using his position to pressure employees of the D.C. Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement and the D.C. Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services (DYRS) to extend several contracts, prosecutors said.

He’s chair of a D.C. Council committee that oversees several agencies, including DYRS.

White received $35,000 in four cash payments in the alleged scheme, court documents filed on Thursday say.

His lawyer declined on Friday to comment on the latest development.

White has not commented on the case or entered a plea since federal authorities arrested him in the Navy Yard area on Aug. 18. On Instagram, posted a brief video thanking people who have continued to support him.

Following White’s arrest, the D.C. government launched a wide-ranging review of violence interruption work.

Read the full indictment here:

Here’s what federal prosecutors say Trayon White did

Federal prosecutors say White agreed starting in June to accept $156,000 in bribes in exchange for using his position to pressure government employees to extend violence intervention contracts worth $5.2 million.

He’s accused of accepting envelopes full of cash as he was caught on a hidden camera. Here’s how the FBI broke down the payments:

• June 26: $15,000 cash received
• July 17: $5,000 cash received
• July 25: $10,000 cash received
• Aug. 9: $5,000 cash received

Images included in court documents show what prosecutors say is White receiving envelopes stuffed with cash.

DC Council Aug 21

How Trayon White's arrest may shake up the Ward 8 election

DC Council Aug 19

Secret cameras, $35K in cash: DC Council member Trayon White accused of bribery

An FBI informant who operated businesses that contracted with the D.C. government agreed to cooperate with authorities as part of an agreement to plead guilty to bribery and bank fraud charges. Several conversations between White and the informant were recorded in a parked car wired for video and audio, including outside White’s home, prosecutors say.

At one meeting, White and the informant discussed contracts the informant had with ONSE. The informant asked White if the contracts would be renewed and said he had $15,000 cash.

Initially, White asked, “What you need me to do, man? I don’t, I don’t wanna feel like you gotta gimme something to get something. We better than that.”

Then he tucked the envelope with the cash into his jacket pocket, prosecutors say.

News4 sends breaking news stories by email. Go here to sign up to get breaking news alerts in your inbox.

Stay with NBC Washington for more details on this developing story.

This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.

Many expressed confusion over not knowing what’s going to come next.

Most of the people there were tourists who just happened to be here on a Sunday trying to take their picture in front of the White House on what turned out to be a historic day.

There were people with signs thanking Joe Biden for doing what they say is the right thing for the Democratic Party. Another person held a sign that read “Bye Joe” – saying he’s frustrated with the modern political landscape.

News4 spoke to Democrats, Republicans and independents about what the president’s decision means to them. Here’s what some of them said:

“I think he did the right thing,” said Patricia Greene, a Democratic voter. “I think he did the patriotic thing. I think he did the thing that’s best for our country.”

“Recently on the campaign trail I think she’s proven she can be a strong candidate,” said Democratic voter Tony Tribby. “As much as I love Joe Biden, [she] communicates better than he does.”

“This is all backwards,” said William Statham, a Republican voter. “The economy’s in terrible shape.The price of everything’s going up. Trump did a fantastic job. I pray to God he becomes president again.”

His wife, Marie Statham, is a Democrat. She said she’s glad that Biden is stepping aside but has some concerns about what comes next.

“We didn’t have to come this way,” she said. “We just haven’t given enough thought to who would be the potential nominee, I know they’re talking about the vice president, but again, we don’t have a field.”

“It’s just a mess,” said Michael Wille, who doesn’t support either party. “We need to be able to have a better dialogue, and people in politics are all about the grift, which means they want to make money off the politics.They don’t actually care about the issues.”

News4 sends breaking news stories by email. Go here to sign up to get breaking news alerts in your inbox.

The D.C. Bar’s Board on Professional Responsibility made that recommendation Friday. Its report cites Giuliani’s effort to get Pennsylvania’s state election results thrown out after his ex-client, former President Donald Trump, lost the 2020 election.

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The board decided that there’s clear and convincing evidence that Giuliani violated rules of professional conduct.

The case now heads to the D.C. Court of Appeals.

In a statement to NBC News, Giuliani’s attorney blamed at the disbarment recommendation on “partisan Democrats” who are trying to hold on to power.

BUDGET

Maryland lawmakers mostly kept Gov. Wes Moore’s $63 billion budget proposal for the next fiscal year intact. They decided to add on some tax and fee increases to raise money for transportation, including a new fee of 75 cents on ride-hailing services and an increase in vehicle registration fees. The new revenues for transportation add up to about $252 million in the next fiscal year, gradually increasing to $336 million in fiscal year 2029. Tobacco tax increases will help generate about $91 million for K-12 education, though that is projected to decline in future years with less tobacco use.

PORT EMPLOYEES

Lawmakers passed legislation to help Port of Baltimore employees who are out of work because of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse and aren’t covered under unemployment insurance while the port is closed or partially closed. The bill authorizes use of the state’s rainy day fund to help them and encourage companies that relocate to other ports to return to Baltimore when it reopens.

COURT PERSONNEL PROTECTION

Maryland judges would be able to shield their personal information online to prevent hostile people from tracking them down, a measure approved in response to the fatal shooting of a judge in his driveway last year.

ABORTION CLINICS SECURITY

Lawmakers approved a measure to create a grant program in the state’s health department to help abortion clinics pay for security improvements.

JUVENILE JUSTICE

Lawmakers approved a package of juvenile justice reforms aimed at improving accountability and rehabilitation in response to complaints about increasing crimes like auto theft and handgun violations in parts of the state.

DATA CENTERS

Lawmakers passed the governor’s bill to make data center development easier by reducing environmental procedures required by state regulators for backup generators needed for the centers, which house information technology infrastructure.

AFFORDABLE HOUSING

Lawmakers greenlighted the governor’s legislation to increase the state’s housing supply by incentivizing construction and removing barriers to development.

PIMLICO REBUILD

A plan to rebuild Baltimore’s storied but antiquated Pimlico Race Course and transfer the track to state control was approved. The plan calls for using $400 million in state bonds to rebuild the home of the second jewel of horse racing’s Triple Crown, the Preakness Stakes.

FIREARMS CIVIL LIABILITY

Lawmakers voted to create standards that the firearm industry must follow to prevent harm in the state, or else face liability for contributing to a public nuisance. The measure would require a member of the firearms industry to “establish and implement certain reasonable controls regarding the sale, manufacture, importation, distribution, marketing, possession and use of certain firearm-related products.”

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Lawmakers approved a measure that aims to prepare Maryland for the rising use of artificial intelligence. It requires the Maryland Department of Information Technology to develop AI policies, mandate AI inventories and codify the governor’s executive order on AI, designed to ensure that AI technology is used responsibly.

ONLINE PRIVACY

Lawmakers voted for a measure that limits companies’ data collection to give consumers data privacy and security protections. Another measure, called the Maryland Kids Code, puts safeguards in place to restrict data that technology companies can gather on children.

FIGHTING CHILD POVERTY

Lawmakers approved the governor’s proposal to help communities with disproportionately high numbers of children living in poverty. It includes grants to help communities in what the governor described as a bottom-up initiative that puts an emphasis on local input.

GENDER-AFFIRMING TREATMENT

Gender-affirming treatment in Maryland would be protected from criminal and civil actions brought by other states.

FREEDOM TO READ

Public libraries, including public school libraries, would not be able to remove reading materials because of partisan, ideological or religious disapproval.

EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT RESOLUTION

Lawmakers approved a nonbinding resolution affirming the state’s support for the Equal Rights Amendment and urging President Joe Biden and Congress to recognize it as the 28th amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Maryland was one of the first states to support it 52 years ago, but it was never ratified, because the deadline passed without having the necessary support from three-fourths of states.

IMMIGRANTS’ HEALTH INSURANCE

Maryland would apply for a federal waiver to enable people to buy health insurance through the state’s health care exchange, regardless of their immigration status.

GUN CENTER

Lawmakers approved the governor’s proposal to create a new center to foster a statewide partnership with federal and local agencies to reduce gun violence.

988 CRISIS

The state would create a permanent funding source for the state’s 988 mental health crisis helpline by adding a fee of 25 cents to cell phone bills.

PROTECTING ELECTION WORKERS

The General Assembly passed the governor’s proposal to enable authorities to prosecute people who threaten to harm election officials or their immediate family members, as threats are on the rise across the country.

The development did not come as a surprise. While Youngkin had not explicitly threatened to veto either set of bills, he told reporters he didn’t think the minimum wage bill was needed and had repeatedly said he was uninterested in setting up retail marijuana sales.

In 2021, Virginia became the first southern state in the U.S. to legalize marijuana, adopting a policy change that allowed adults age 21 and up to possess and cultivate the drug. But the state didn’t set up retail sales at the time and still hasn’t, due to shifts in partisan power and policy differences since then.

Advocates say the disconnect is allowing the illicit market to flourish, while opponents have safety health and safety concerns with further expanding access to the drug. In a statement, Youngkin said he shared those worries.

“States following this path have seen adverse effects on children’s and adolescent’s health and safety, increased gang activity and violent crime, significant deterioration in mental health, decreased road safety, and significant costs associated with retail marijuana that far exceed tax revenue. It also does not eliminate the illegal black-market sale of cannabis, nor guarantee product safety,” he said in a veto statement attached to the bills.

Currently in Virginia, home cultivation and adult sharing of the drug are legal. And patients who receive a written certification from a health care provider can purchase medical cannabis from a dispensary.

Under the bills, the state would have started taking applications on Sept. 1 for cultivating, testing, processing and selling the drug in preparation for the market to open May 1, 2025, with products taxed at a rate of up to 11.625%.

The legislation was supported by a range of industry interests and opposed by religious and socially conservative groups.

Virginia first took on legalization at a time when Democrats were in full control of state government. Elections later that year changed that, with Youngkin winning and Republicans taking control of the House of Delegates for two years, though Democrats are now back in full control of the statehouse.

While there has been some Republican legislative support since the 2021 session for setting up legal recreational sales, bills to do so failed in 2022 and 2023.

Minimum wage increase would ‘imperil market freedom,’ Youngkin said

As for the wage legislation, which would have increased the current $12-per-hour minimum wage to $13.50 on Jan. 1, 2025, and then to $15 on Jan. 1, 2026, Youngkin said the bills would “imperil market freedom and economic competitiveness.”

The bills would “implement drastic wage mandates, raise costs on families and small businesses, jeopardize jobs, and fail to recognize regional economic differences across Virginia,” he said in a news release.

Virginia Democrats began an effort to increase the minimum wage in 2020. They passed legislation that year — which took effect with a delay due to the coronavirus pandemic — establishing incremental increases up to $12, with further bumps requiring another Assembly vote.

They and other advocates have argued the legislation would help working families afford basic necessities and keep up with inflation.

Glenn Youngkin Mar 26

Youngkin acts on gun bills, vetoing dozens as expected, amending six and signing two pairs

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Youngkin took action on a total of 107 bills Thursday, according to his office. He signed 100, including measures that his office said would “strengthen law enforcement’s ability to prosecute child predators and expand Department of Corrections inmate access to quality health services.”

Besides the marijuana and wage bills, he vetoed three others. One would have removed an exemption for farmworkers from the state’s minimum wage law.

Another would have required that approximately 315 individuals incarcerated or on community supervision with a felony marijuana conviction receive a sentencing review, according to Youngkin’s office.

“Ninety-seven inmates convicted of a violent felony offense, such as first and second-degree murder, kidnapping, and robbery, would be eligible for a reduced sentence under this proposal,” he said in his veto statement.

Thursday’s final veto came for a bill that dealt with the type of evidence that can be considered in certain workers’ compensation claims. The governor said current law provides a “balanced approach” while the proposal would “create a disproportionate imbalance in favor of one party.”

The part-time General Assembly adjourned its regular session earlier this month and will meet again in Richmond for a one-day session April 17 to consider Youngkin’s proposed amendments to legislation. They could also attempt to override one or more vetoes, a move that requires a 2/3 vote of both chambers, which are only narrowly controlled by Democrats.

The marijuana legislation advanced mostly along party lines, and the minimum wage bills passed strictly on party lines, meaning any override attempt would be almost certain to fail.

Youngkin announced the vetoes a day after the public collapse of one of his top legislative priorities: a deal to bring the NHL’s Washington Capitals and NBA’s Washington Wizards to Alexandria. The teams’ majority owner announced they would instead be staying in D.C.

Ramaswami, a 24-year-old Democrat, is challenging Georgia state Sen. Shawn Still, a Republican who was indicted last year alongside former President Donald Trump for allegedly trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election. That same year, Ramaswami started an internship with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), where he worked to build a program that helped local election officials protect their websites from malicious attacks.

Ramaswami, who was a student at Stanford University at the time but had moved home to Johns Creek, Georgia, because of the pandemic, continued his work as a paid, part-time employee with CISA while continuing his undergraduate studies and later attending law school at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. After Still was indicted, Ramaswami said he decided to quit that job and run for office.

“What I realized is cybersecurity is really important, and we need to continue doing it, but the biggest threat to our election security — it’s not just hackers hacking into our systems. It’s politicians falsely claiming that the election is rigged when it’s not,” Ramaswami said in an interview.

Two years before being elected to the state Senate, Still signed a certificate claiming to be a “duly elected and qualified” presidential elector in Georgia on behalf of then-President Trump, even though Trump had lost the state in the 2020 election. Still, who also reportedly served as the secretary for the meeting of fake electors, was indicted last year on seven charges, including a racketeering charge. He has pleaded not guilty.

Democrats are hopeful the suburban Atlanta district is competitive in part due to its fast-growing Asian community, though Still won it by 13 points in 2022.

Ramaswami, who will be the legally required age of 25 by November’s general election, said he believes he’d be the youngest Indian American legislator in the U.S. and the youngest senator in Georgia’s Legislature next year if elected. He lives with his parents in Johns Creek and is still finishing up his law school studies while running his campaign. He plans to delay the bar a year until after the race is over.

“It’s what Chuck Schumer did,” Ramaswami wrote in a text, referring to the U.S. Senate majority leader and including a 26-year-old New York Times article as proof.

Ramaswami’s campaign has raised $185,000 so far, including $50,000 from his own pocket. He is touting his youth and computer science background as assets that would make him a unique member of the Legislature.

His age also helped him earn the endorsement of Leaders We Deserve, a PAC backing young progressive candidates that was co-founded by Parkland shooting survivor David Hogg and Kevin Lata, the campaign manager for the first Gen Z member of Congress, Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla.

“We thought it was just that he was a great candidate with an amazing story,” Hogg told NBC News.

As the only Democratic candidate on the primary ballot, Ramaswami is already turning his focus to the general election. He launched a digital video on Wednesday introducing himself as a Gen Z engineer and accusing Still of trying to steal Georgians’ votes.

“We have too much work to do to be distracted by these election deniers and partisan extremists standing in the way of all the progress we could be making,” he said in the video.

In an email, Still disagreed that he is extreme and touted his efforts to lower taxes and enact school choice in his first term.

“Every bill I have sponsored or co-authored has had bi-partisan support. I do not have a divisive platform, and I have served the people of north Fulton, south Forsyth and NW Gwinnett by promoting a pro-business, pro-family, pro-education platform that earned recognition as the Georgia Chamber Freshman Legislator of the Year,” Still wrote.

He continued: “My message to voters is this: Experience matters. I’ve signed the front and back of paychecks, I know what it is to grow businesses, to be a parent, to be a leader in my community and industry, and I have given back tirelessly to my community [for] 25 years.”

Ramaswami said he believes he can better represent his district’s growing Asian population. He is a second-generation immigrant who grew up in a South Indian Tamil family and spent time in his town’s Indian community centers, temples and Hindu Sunday schools.

Still did not respond to questions about how his policies cater to the Asian community in his district, the largest ethnic group there after white people. Between 2010 and 2022, the population of Asians in the 48th Senate District jumped from 16% to 28%.

“I was born and grew up here, and I know how the policies of the past few years and decades have not served people like me,” Ramaswami said. “Shawn Still shows up to a lot of Indian American events. On his website, he has a big picture of him with a bunch of Indian aunties and uncles saying, ‘Hey, I support the Indian community.’ … But in terms of the actual policies, he’s not serving our priorities at all.”

This story first appeared on NBCNews.com. More from NBC News:

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White, who represents Ward 8, is accused of agreeing to accept $156,000 in exchange for using his position to pressure employees of the D.C. Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement and the D.C. Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services (DYRS) to extend several contracts, prosecutors said.

He’s chair of a D.C. Council committee that oversees several agencies, including DYRS.

White received $35,000 in four cash payments in the alleged scheme, court documents filed on Thursday say.

His lawyer declined on Friday to comment on the latest development.

White has not commented on the case or entered a plea since federal authorities arrested him in the Navy Yard area on Aug. 18. On Instagram, posted a brief video thanking people who have continued to support him.

Following White’s arrest, the D.C. government launched a wide-ranging review of violence interruption work.

Read the full indictment here:

Here’s what federal prosecutors say Trayon White did

Federal prosecutors say White agreed starting in June to accept $156,000 in bribes in exchange for using his position to pressure government employees to extend violence intervention contracts worth $5.2 million.

He’s accused of accepting envelopes full of cash as he was caught on a hidden camera. Here’s how the FBI broke down the payments:

• June 26: $15,000 cash received
• July 17: $5,000 cash received
• July 25: $10,000 cash received
• Aug. 9: $5,000 cash received

Images included in court documents show what prosecutors say is White receiving envelopes stuffed with cash.

DC Council Aug 21

How Trayon White's arrest may shake up the Ward 8 election

DC Council Aug 19

Secret cameras, $35K in cash: DC Council member Trayon White accused of bribery

An FBI informant who operated businesses that contracted with the D.C. government agreed to cooperate with authorities as part of an agreement to plead guilty to bribery and bank fraud charges. Several conversations between White and the informant were recorded in a parked car wired for video and audio, including outside White’s home, prosecutors say.

At one meeting, White and the informant discussed contracts the informant had with ONSE. The informant asked White if the contracts would be renewed and said he had $15,000 cash.

Initially, White asked, “What you need me to do, man? I don’t, I don’t wanna feel like you gotta gimme something to get something. We better than that.”

Then he tucked the envelope with the cash into his jacket pocket, prosecutors say.

News4 sends breaking news stories by email. Go here to sign up to get breaking news alerts in your inbox.

Stay with NBC Washington for more details on this developing story.

This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.

White, who represents Ward 8, is accused of agreeing to accept $156,000 in exchange for using his position to pressure employees of the D.C. Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement and the D.C. Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services (DYRS) to extend several contracts, prosecutors said.

He’s chair of a D.C. Council committee that oversees several agencies, including DYRS.

White received $35,000 in four cash payments in the alleged scheme, court documents filed on Thursday say.

His lawyer declined on Friday to comment on the latest development.

White has not commented on the case or entered a plea since federal authorities arrested him in the Navy Yard area on Aug. 18. On Instagram, posted a brief video thanking people who have continued to support him.

Following White’s arrest, the D.C. government launched a wide-ranging review of violence interruption work.

Read the full indictment here:

Here’s what federal prosecutors say Trayon White did

Federal prosecutors say White agreed starting in June to accept $156,000 in bribes in exchange for using his position to pressure government employees to extend violence intervention contracts worth $5.2 million.

He’s accused of accepting envelopes full of cash as he was caught on a hidden camera. Here’s how the FBI broke down the payments:

• June 26: $15,000 cash received
• July 17: $5,000 cash received
• July 25: $10,000 cash received
• Aug. 9: $5,000 cash received

Images included in court documents show what prosecutors say is White receiving envelopes stuffed with cash.

DC Council Aug 21

How Trayon White's arrest may shake up the Ward 8 election

DC Council Aug 19

Secret cameras, $35K in cash: DC Council member Trayon White accused of bribery

An FBI informant who operated businesses that contracted with the D.C. government agreed to cooperate with authorities as part of an agreement to plead guilty to bribery and bank fraud charges. Several conversations between White and the informant were recorded in a parked car wired for video and audio, including outside White’s home, prosecutors say.

At one meeting, White and the informant discussed contracts the informant had with ONSE. The informant asked White if the contracts would be renewed and said he had $15,000 cash.

Initially, White asked, “What you need me to do, man? I don’t, I don’t wanna feel like you gotta gimme something to get something. We better than that.”

Then he tucked the envelope with the cash into his jacket pocket, prosecutors say.

News4 sends breaking news stories by email. Go here to sign up to get breaking news alerts in your inbox.

Stay with NBC Washington for more details on this developing story.

This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.

White, who represents Ward 8, is accused of agreeing to accept $156,000 in exchange for using his position to pressure employees of the D.C. Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement and the D.C. Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services (DYRS) to extend several contracts, prosecutors said.

He’s chair of a D.C. Council committee that oversees several agencies, including DYRS.

White received $35,000 in four cash payments in the alleged scheme, court documents filed on Thursday say.

His lawyer declined on Friday to comment on the latest development.

White has not commented on the case or entered a plea since federal authorities arrested him in the Navy Yard area on Aug. 18. On Instagram, posted a brief video thanking people who have continued to support him.

Following White’s arrest, the D.C. government launched a wide-ranging review of violence interruption work.

Read the full indictment here:

Here’s what federal prosecutors say Trayon White did

Federal prosecutors say White agreed starting in June to accept $156,000 in bribes in exchange for using his position to pressure government employees to extend violence intervention contracts worth $5.2 million.

He’s accused of accepting envelopes full of cash as he was caught on a hidden camera. Here’s how the FBI broke down the payments:

• June 26: $15,000 cash received
• July 17: $5,000 cash received
• July 25: $10,000 cash received
• Aug. 9: $5,000 cash received

Images included in court documents show what prosecutors say is White receiving envelopes stuffed with cash.

DC Council Aug 21

How Trayon White's arrest may shake up the Ward 8 election

DC Council Aug 19

Secret cameras, $35K in cash: DC Council member Trayon White accused of bribery

An FBI informant who operated businesses that contracted with the D.C. government agreed to cooperate with authorities as part of an agreement to plead guilty to bribery and bank fraud charges. Several conversations between White and the informant were recorded in a parked car wired for video and audio, including outside White’s home, prosecutors say.

At one meeting, White and the informant discussed contracts the informant had with ONSE. The informant asked White if the contracts would be renewed and said he had $15,000 cash.

Initially, White asked, “What you need me to do, man? I don’t, I don’t wanna feel like you gotta gimme something to get something. We better than that.”

Then he tucked the envelope with the cash into his jacket pocket, prosecutors say.

News4 sends breaking news stories by email. Go here to sign up to get breaking news alerts in your inbox.

Stay with NBC Washington for more details on this developing story.

This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.

White, who represents Ward 8, is accused of agreeing to accept $156,000 in exchange for using his position to pressure employees of the D.C. Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement and the D.C. Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services (DYRS) to extend several contracts, prosecutors said.

He’s chair of a D.C. Council committee that oversees several agencies, including DYRS.

White received $35,000 in four cash payments in the alleged scheme, court documents filed on Thursday say.

His lawyer declined on Friday to comment on the latest development.

White has not commented on the case or entered a plea since federal authorities arrested him in the Navy Yard area on Aug. 18. On Instagram, posted a brief video thanking people who have continued to support him.

Following White’s arrest, the D.C. government launched a wide-ranging review of violence interruption work.

Read the full indictment here:

Here’s what federal prosecutors say Trayon White did

Federal prosecutors say White agreed starting in June to accept $156,000 in bribes in exchange for using his position to pressure government employees to extend violence intervention contracts worth $5.2 million.

He’s accused of accepting envelopes full of cash as he was caught on a hidden camera. Here’s how the FBI broke down the payments:

• June 26: $15,000 cash received
• July 17: $5,000 cash received
• July 25: $10,000 cash received
• Aug. 9: $5,000 cash received

Images included in court documents show what prosecutors say is White receiving envelopes stuffed with cash.

DC Council Aug 21

How Trayon White's arrest may shake up the Ward 8 election

DC Council Aug 19

Secret cameras, $35K in cash: DC Council member Trayon White accused of bribery

An FBI informant who operated businesses that contracted with the D.C. government agreed to cooperate with authorities as part of an agreement to plead guilty to bribery and bank fraud charges. Several conversations between White and the informant were recorded in a parked car wired for video and audio, including outside White’s home, prosecutors say.

At one meeting, White and the informant discussed contracts the informant had with ONSE. The informant asked White if the contracts would be renewed and said he had $15,000 cash.

Initially, White asked, “What you need me to do, man? I don’t, I don’t wanna feel like you gotta gimme something to get something. We better than that.”

Then he tucked the envelope with the cash into his jacket pocket, prosecutors say.

News4 sends breaking news stories by email. Go here to sign up to get breaking news alerts in your inbox.

Stay with NBC Washington for more details on this developing story.

This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.

White, who represents Ward 8, is accused of agreeing to accept $156,000 in exchange for using his position to pressure employees of the D.C. Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement and the D.C. Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services (DYRS) to extend several contracts, prosecutors said.

He’s chair of a D.C. Council committee that oversees several agencies, including DYRS.

White received $35,000 in four cash payments in the alleged scheme, court documents filed on Thursday say.

His lawyer declined on Friday to comment on the latest development.

White has not commented on the case or entered a plea since federal authorities arrested him in the Navy Yard area on Aug. 18. On Instagram, posted a brief video thanking people who have continued to support him.

Following White’s arrest, the D.C. government launched a wide-ranging review of violence interruption work.

Read the full indictment here:

Here’s what federal prosecutors say Trayon White did

Federal prosecutors say White agreed starting in June to accept $156,000 in bribes in exchange for using his position to pressure government employees to extend violence intervention contracts worth $5.2 million.

He’s accused of accepting envelopes full of cash as he was caught on a hidden camera. Here’s how the FBI broke down the payments:

• June 26: $15,000 cash received
• July 17: $5,000 cash received
• July 25: $10,000 cash received
• Aug. 9: $5,000 cash received

Images included in court documents show what prosecutors say is White receiving envelopes stuffed with cash.

DC Council Aug 21

How Trayon White's arrest may shake up the Ward 8 election

DC Council Aug 19

Secret cameras, $35K in cash: DC Council member Trayon White accused of bribery

An FBI informant who operated businesses that contracted with the D.C. government agreed to cooperate with authorities as part of an agreement to plead guilty to bribery and bank fraud charges. Several conversations between White and the informant were recorded in a parked car wired for video and audio, including outside White’s home, prosecutors say.

At one meeting, White and the informant discussed contracts the informant had with ONSE. The informant asked White if the contracts would be renewed and said he had $15,000 cash.

Initially, White asked, “What you need me to do, man? I don’t, I don’t wanna feel like you gotta gimme something to get something. We better than that.”

Then he tucked the envelope with the cash into his jacket pocket, prosecutors say.

News4 sends breaking news stories by email. Go here to sign up to get breaking news alerts in your inbox.

Stay with NBC Washington for more details on this developing story.

This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.

White, who represents Ward 8, is accused of agreeing to accept $156,000 in exchange for using his position to pressure employees of the D.C. Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement and the D.C. Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services (DYRS) to extend several contracts, prosecutors said.

He’s chair of a D.C. Council committee that oversees several agencies, including DYRS.

White received $35,000 in four cash payments in the alleged scheme, court documents filed on Thursday say.

His lawyer declined on Friday to comment on the latest development.

White has not commented on the case or entered a plea since federal authorities arrested him in the Navy Yard area on Aug. 18. On Instagram, posted a brief video thanking people who have continued to support him.

Following White’s arrest, the D.C. government launched a wide-ranging review of violence interruption work.

Read the full indictment here:

Here’s what federal prosecutors say Trayon White did

Federal prosecutors say White agreed starting in June to accept $156,000 in bribes in exchange for using his position to pressure government employees to extend violence intervention contracts worth $5.2 million.

He’s accused of accepting envelopes full of cash as he was caught on a hidden camera. Here’s how the FBI broke down the payments:

• June 26: $15,000 cash received
• July 17: $5,000 cash received
• July 25: $10,000 cash received
• Aug. 9: $5,000 cash received

Images included in court documents show what prosecutors say is White receiving envelopes stuffed with cash.

DC Council Aug 21

How Trayon White's arrest may shake up the Ward 8 election

DC Council Aug 19

Secret cameras, $35K in cash: DC Council member Trayon White accused of bribery

An FBI informant who operated businesses that contracted with the D.C. government agreed to cooperate with authorities as part of an agreement to plead guilty to bribery and bank fraud charges. Several conversations between White and the informant were recorded in a parked car wired for video and audio, including outside White’s home, prosecutors say.

At one meeting, White and the informant discussed contracts the informant had with ONSE. The informant asked White if the contracts would be renewed and said he had $15,000 cash.

Initially, White asked, “What you need me to do, man? I don’t, I don’t wanna feel like you gotta gimme something to get something. We better than that.”

Then he tucked the envelope with the cash into his jacket pocket, prosecutors say.

News4 sends breaking news stories by email. Go here to sign up to get breaking news alerts in your inbox.

Stay with NBC Washington for more details on this developing story.

This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.

House members voted again Thursday to punish one of their own, targeting Democratic Rep. Jamaal Bowman for triggering a fire alarm in one of the U.S. Capitol office buildings in September when the chamber was in session.

The Republican censure resolution passed with some Democratic votes, but most Democrats stood by Bowman in opposition of an effort they said lacked credibility and integrity. The prominent progressive now becomes the third Democratic House member to be admonished this year through the censure process, which is a punishment one step below expulsion from the House.

“It’s painfully obvious to myself, my colleagues and the American people that the Republican Party is deeply unserious and unable to legislate,” Bowman said Wednesday as he defended himself during floor debate. “Their censure resolution against me today continues to demonstrate their inability to govern and serve the American people.”

politics Oct 25, 2023

NY Rep. Jamaal Bowman charged after triggering fire alarm at House office building

politics Sep 30, 2023

Rep. Jamaal Bowman pulls fire alarm ahead of vote to pass short-term funding bill

The vote to censure Bowman caps nearly a year of chaos and retribution in the House of Representatives. Since January, the chamber has seen the removal of a member from a committee assignment, the first ouster of a speaker in history and, just last week, the expulsion of a lawmaker for only the third time since the Civil War.

Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Mich., who introduced the censure resolution, defended her resolution, claiming Bowman pulled the alarm to “cause chaos and the stop the House from doing its business” as lawmakers scrambled to pass a bill to fund the government before a shutdown deadline.

“It is reprehensible that a Member of Congress would go to such lengths to prevent House Republicans from bringing forth a vote to keep the government operating and Americans receiving their paychecks,” McClain said in a statement.

Bowman pleaded guilty in October to a misdemeanor count for the incident, which took place in the Cannon House Office Building. He agreed to pay a $1,000 fine and serve three months of probation, after which the false fire alarm charge is expected to be dismissed from his record under an agreement with prosecutors.

The fire alarm prompted a building-wide evacuation when the House was in session and staffers were working in the building. The building was reopened an hour later after Capitol Police determined there was no threat.

Bowman apologized and said that at the time he was trying to get through a door that was usually open but was closed that day because it was the weekend.

Many progressive Democrats, who spoke in his defense, called the Republican effort to censure him “unserious,” and questioned why the party decided to target one of the few Black men in the chamber and among the first to ever represent his district.

“This censure is just the latest in this chamber’s racist history of telling Black men that they don’t belong in Congress,” said Rep. Ayanna Pressley. D-Mass.

The vote is the latest example of how the chamber has begun to deploy punishments like censure, long viewed as a punishment of last resort, routinely and often in strikingly partisan ways.

“Under Republican control, this chamber has become a place where trivial issues get debated passionately and important ones not at all,” Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., said during floor debate. “Republicans have focused more on censuring people in this Congress than passing bills that help people we represent or improving this country in any way.”

While the censure of a lawmaker carries no practical effect, it amounts to severe reproach from colleagues, as lawmakers who are censured are usually asked to stand in the well of the House as the censure resolution against them is read aloud.

Bowman is now the 27th person to be censured by the chamber — and the third just this year. Last month, Republicans voted to censure Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan in an extraordinary rebuke of her rhetoric about the Israel-Hamas war.

In June, Democrat Adam Schiff of California was censured for comments he made several years ago about investigations into then-President Donald Trump’s ties to Russia.

As usual, former President Donald Trump, who is dominating the GOP primary, didn’t appear. Instead, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie continued their effort to gain a sliver of the spotlight in the race.

Here are some takeaways from the final primary debate of 2023.

Afraid to take on Trump

The front-runner in the Republican primary has no end of vulnerabilities. He faces 91 criminal charges and just the night before repeatedly refused to rule out abusing power if he returns to office.

But, as has been the pattern, Trump was ignored during much of the debate. There was one great exception in the second hour, when the moderators asked Christie about Trump. The onetime New Jersey governor complained that his three primary rivals have been silent about the threats Trump presents to democracy.

“You want to know why these poll numbers are where they are?” Christie asked. “Because folks like these three people on this stage want to make it seem like his conduct is acceptable.”

Christie then began jousting with DeSantis, who confined his criticism of Trump to the former president’s age and failure to achieve all of his agenda in his first term. “Is he fit to be president or isn’t he?” Christie asked. “Is he fit? Ron, Ron? He’s afraid to answer.”

Ramaswamy accused his rivals of all “licking Donald Trump’s boots,” but then proceeded to argue the Jan. 6,2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol was an “inside job” — hardly distancing himself from the former president and his penchant for lies and misinformation.

Ramaswamy has been particularly adept at pulling fire away from Trump. The 38-year-old political novice and pharmaceutical entrepreneur has specialized in grating, personal attacks that his rivals just can’t bring themselves to ignore.

On Wednesday, he challenged Haley to name three Ukrainian provinces that he claimed his 3-year-old could identify, and Christie, who had tried to launch an attack on Trump to open the debate, exploded.

“All he knows how to do is insult good people who have committed their lives to public service,” Christie said.

Minutes later, Haley took an unusual swing at Trump for failing to go further than simple trade actions against China. But DeSantis jumped in, attacking Haley for her relationship with China. The two Republicans began snapping at each other, leaving Trump unmentioned.

By the end, the moderators asked the candidates which previous president inspired them. No one named Trump.

Haley under attack

Haley was under attack from the opening seconds of the debate. And it didn’t let up for almost 20 minutes, a clear reminder that the former United Nations ambassador’s opponents see her as a growing threat in the race.

DeSantis amped up the pressure as he answered the debate’s opening question, which was about his struggling campaign.

“You have other candidates up here, like Nikki Haley, she caves every time the left comes after her,” DeSantis said, casting himself as a fighter.

The Florida governor then seized on Haley’s recent support from Wall Street and at least one major Democratic donor. Ramaswamy soon joined in, highlighting the personal wealth Haley accumulated since leaving the public office.

“That math doesn’t add up,” Ramaswamy charged. “It adds up to the fact you’re corrupt.” Minutes later, Ramaswamy called Haley a fascist.

Haley defended herself aggressively. But as the political adage goes, if you’re explaining, you’re probably losing.

“I love all the attention, fellas, thank you,” she said.

And she drew some applause from the crowd when she pushed back against the criticism of her political donations.

“In terms of these donors that are supporting me, they’re just jealous. They wish they were supporting them,” she said.

Christie has faced questions about why he’s not dropping his struggling campaign and backing Haley, who shares many of his more moderate views. While he’s not showing any sign of leaving soon, he took the opportunity to defend Haley, particularly from Ramaswamy’s heated critiques.

“This is a smart, accomplished woman,” Christie told Ramaswamy during an animated exchange. “You should stop insulting her.”

Capitalist contradiction

One candidate was attacked for sitting on a corporate board and being too close to big business. Others fretted about a plot by giant firms to re-engineer the country’s politics — and then one said he wants to gut government regulations to free up business.

This wasn’t a Democratic debate, dominated by that party’s skepticism of corporate titans. The Republican party in the era of Trump is a lot more conflicted about business and industry than in its prior, free-market form.

That was obvious from the first set of questions aimed at Haley, who was asked whether her roles on corporate boards and donations from major companies would sit well with the party’s “working-class voters.”

DeSantis and Ramaswamy continued to hit Haley over that dynamic, even as Haley quipped they were just “jealous” of her donor support. DeSantis also claimed Haley wanted to let in as many immigrants as “the corporations” desired and boasted about how he withdrew $2 billion of Florida public pension money from a hedge fund over its use of environmental, social and corporate governance.

“They want to use economic power to impose a left-wing agenda in this country,” DeSantis said of some corporations’ embrace of ESG, an effort to use progressive principles in investing.

But then Ramaswamy bemoaned the way the government doesn’t fully recognize cryptocurrencies as a real financial instrument, and segued into promising to eliminate three-quarters of the government bureaucrats to cut regulations. That is a routine promise of Ramaswamy’s, and comes as the U.S. Supreme Court is poised to consider a case that could sharply limit how the federal government can regulate industries, a longtime goal of conservative activists who helped assemble a six-judge majority on the high court.

Later, Ramaswamy took yet another turn, arguing there should be strict bans on the back-and-forth between staffers in business and government. “I don’t think that we should want capitalism and democracy to share the same bed anymore,” he said. “It’s time for a clean divorce.”

The GOP’s contradictions over corporations weren’t an explicit subject of the debate, but they were an undercurrent that won’t be resolved for a while.

Split over rights for transgender people

On immigration, on the economy and on China, the candidates on stage largely agreed. One policy area where there were real differences? Transgender rights.

The issue was barely on the national radar in the last presidential election. But in 2024, it is a centerpiece of the GOP’s increasing focus on cultural issues.

Haley defended her decision, back when she was governor, to decline to support a law that would have limited bathroom use to a person’s gender assigned on their birth certificate.

DeSantis pounced. As Florida governor, he insisted he did more to crack down on transgender rights than anyone on stage.

“I stood up for little girls, you didn’t,” he chided Haley.

DeSantis also offered a fiery argument for laws that block parents from allowing their children to receive transgender-related medical treatment.

Christie pushed back. He also reminded his rivals that conservatives used to believe in less government, not more.

“These jokers in Congress, it takes them three weeks to pick a speaker… and we’re going to put my children’s health in their hands?” the former New Jersey governor said. “As a parent, this is a choice I get to make.”

The Bizarro primary gets more bizarre

For the past seven months, the political world has watched a sort of Bizarro primary unfold — a number of Republican politicians have insisted they will become the next president while the last one, Trump, leaves them in the dust.

For those not in the know, Bizarro was a Superman character who came from a world where everything was scrambled. It’s been hard to escape that upside-down feeling as, every month, there’s another debate that Trump skips where no one does anything to change the trajectory of the race.

Wednesday night was an example. The debate was on NewsNation, a little-viewed upstart cable channel. The debate also aired on CW stations — but only in the eastern and central time zones.

Indeed, one big question was whether the debate’s ratings would be surpassed by those of DeSantis’ faceoff with California’s Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, on Fox News last week. The Republican National Committee is expected to soon announce whether it’ll allow further unsanctioned debates. At least one more debate is expected before the Jan. 15 Iowa Caucus.

Perhaps the ultimate Bizarro twist would be if these confrontations mattered in the presidential election. You can never tell when something unexpected might happen in politics. But the time for these debates to matter, if it ever existed, is rapidly running out.

At issue is Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which allows the U.S. government to collect without a warrant the communications of targeted foreigners outside the United States. Law enforcement and intelligence officials see the program as vital to preventing terror attacks, cyber intrusions, espionage and other foreign threats.

The program, created in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, is due to expire at the end of this month unless Congress votes to reauthorize it. But Republican and Democratic lawmakers alike have balked at renewing the program in its current form, recommending a slew of reforms in competing legislative proposals that are aimed at better safeguarding civil liberties and that are jockeying for support in the coming weeks.

The thorny path to reauthorization was laid bare during Tuesday’s hearing, when lawmakers from both parties questioned Wray, at times aggressively, over periodic misuse of the program by FBI employees seeking out information about Americans. Though the program enables surveillance only of foreigners located outside the U.S, it also can capture the communications of American citizens and others in the U.S. when those people are in contact with those targeted foreigners.

Sen. Mike Lee, a Utah Republican, said that during his 13 years on the committee, he’d pressed multiple FBI directors about civil liberties violations associated with the surveillance program and had repeatedly been given false reassurances about the reforms being put in place.

“Every darn one of them has told me the same thing: ‘Don’t worry about it, we’ve got this taken care of, we’ve got new procedures, it’s going to be different now,’” Lee said. “It’s never different. You haven’t changed.”

He added, “We have no reason to trust you because you haven’t behaved in a manner that is trustworthy.”

The fact that Wray devoted a significant portion of his prepared remarks to the Senate Judiciary Committee to the issue underscores its importance to the FBI, particularly at a time when the Israel-Hamas war has raised heightened concern about the possibility of extremist violence on U.S. soil and contributed to threats being at a “whole other level” since the Oct. 7 attacks.

“I think blinding us, through either allowing 702 to lapse or amending it in a way that guts its effectiveness, would be reckless at best and dangerous and irresponsible at worst,” Wray said.

Calling the authority indispensable, he told the committee, “702 allows us to stay a step ahead of foreign actors located outside the United States who pose a threat to national security. And the expiration of our 702 authorities would be devastating to the FBI’s ability to protect Americans from those threats.”

Wray, who took over as director in 2017, said that what made the current climate unique is that “so many of the threats are all elevated at the same time.”

But the 702 program has come under scrutiny in the last year following revelations that FBI analysts improperly searched the database of intelligence, including for information about people tied to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol and the racial justice protests of 2020.

Those concerns have brought together Democrats who are longtime vocal champions of civil liberties, including Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, with Republican supporters of former President Donald Trump who are still angry over surveillance missteps made during the Russia investigation of 2016.

Wray and the White House have balked at the idea that the FBI should be required to get a warrant before searching the intelligence database for information about Americans and others inside the U.S.

The FBI director said such a requirement would be both legally unnecessary and would hold up the bureau in trying to disrupt fast-moving national security threats.

If a warrant requirement is the path chosen, Wray said, “What if there were a terrorist attack that we had a shot to prevent, but couldn’t take it, because the FBI was deprived of the ability under 702 to look at key information already sitting in our holdings?”

Sen. Chris Coons, a Delaware Democrat who said he had not yet made up his mind on how he’d vote, asked Wray whether a more narrow reform advanced by two of his Senate colleagues might be more acceptable.

He said Democratic Sen. Mark Warner and Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, the leaders of the Senate intelligence committee, had proposed a bill that would prohibit database queries on U.S. citizens that are designed to find evidence of a crime without a court order while still allowing warrantless searches for the purpose of finding foreign intelligence information.

Wray responded that that proposal might provide a viable path forward, but noted that searches of the database for the sole purpose of finding evidence of a crime were very rare.

Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, summed up the issue by telling Wray that though “there was no question” that Section 702 was a “critical tool for collecting foreign intelligence” he would encourage significant reforms to protect the privacy of “innocent Americans.”

Now, she’s set to take over as the new chair of the Democratic Party’s Women Governors Fund, an initiative started by the Democratic Governors Association in 2018 that seeks to put more women in statewide executive office.

It’s a national platform for one of the party’s rising stars in state office — one that Healey can use to seek out and boost more future governors who may one day draw attention as national party leaders.

“When I was attorney general, I looked at the women who were governors and had been governors. I came to know many of them over the years, and I just had so much respect and admiration for them,” Healey told NBC News in an interview at the DGA’s annual holiday gathering in Phoenix.

“I saw what they did in their states. I saw the actions that they took that made a huge impact on the lives of their residents. And they really showed the way for somebody like me in terms of thinking about what it means to be a governor, what it means to have executive power,” Healey added.

Read the full story at NBCNews.com here.

A heavily redacted 13-page report released Thursday includes mention of “rape” and “had been sexual battered…on 10/02/2023.” The report offers few additional details other than mentioning that the alleged incident happened in Sarasota, where Ziegler is from.

Ziegler’s name does not appear in the redacted document that was released publicly, but it was provided by the police department after NBC News specifically asked for a complaint filed against Ziegler, who did not return a request seeking comment.

“We acknowledge the reports that there is an investigation being conducted by the Sarasota Police Department regarding Mr. Ziegler. Mr. Ziegler has been fully cooperative with every request made by the Sarasota Police Department,” Ziegler’s attorney Derek Byrd said in a statement. “We are confident that once the police investigation is concluded that no charges will be filed and Mr. Ziegler will be completely exonerated.”

“Unfortunately, public figures are often accused of acts that they did not commit whether it be for political purposes or financial gain. I would caution anyone to rush to judgment until the investigation is concluded,” he added.

Ziegler and his wife are among the state’s most prominent Republicans.

Read the full story on NBC News.com here

White, who represents Ward 8, is accused of agreeing to accept $156,000 in exchange for using his position to pressure employees of the D.C. Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement and the D.C. Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services (DYRS) to extend several contracts, prosecutors said.

He’s chair of a D.C. Council committee that oversees several agencies, including DYRS.

White received $35,000 in four cash payments in the alleged scheme, court documents filed on Thursday say.

His lawyer declined on Friday to comment on the latest development.

White has not commented on the case or entered a plea since federal authorities arrested him in the Navy Yard area on Aug. 18. On Instagram, posted a brief video thanking people who have continued to support him.

Following White’s arrest, the D.C. government launched a wide-ranging review of violence interruption work.

Read the full indictment here:

Here’s what federal prosecutors say Trayon White did

Federal prosecutors say White agreed starting in June to accept $156,000 in bribes in exchange for using his position to pressure government employees to extend violence intervention contracts worth $5.2 million.

He’s accused of accepting envelopes full of cash as he was caught on a hidden camera. Here’s how the FBI broke down the payments:

• June 26: $15,000 cash received
• July 17: $5,000 cash received
• July 25: $10,000 cash received
• Aug. 9: $5,000 cash received

Images included in court documents show what prosecutors say is White receiving envelopes stuffed with cash.

DC Council Aug 21

How Trayon White's arrest may shake up the Ward 8 election

DC Council Aug 19

Secret cameras, $35K in cash: DC Council member Trayon White accused of bribery

An FBI informant who operated businesses that contracted with the D.C. government agreed to cooperate with authorities as part of an agreement to plead guilty to bribery and bank fraud charges. Several conversations between White and the informant were recorded in a parked car wired for video and audio, including outside White’s home, prosecutors say.

At one meeting, White and the informant discussed contracts the informant had with ONSE. The informant asked White if the contracts would be renewed and said he had $15,000 cash.

Initially, White asked, “What you need me to do, man? I don’t, I don’t wanna feel like you gotta gimme something to get something. We better than that.”

Then he tucked the envelope with the cash into his jacket pocket, prosecutors say.

News4 sends breaking news stories by email. Go here to sign up to get breaking news alerts in your inbox.

Stay with NBC Washington for more details on this developing story.

This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.

As the 2024 presidential campaign heats up, experts on extremism fear the threat of politically motivated violence will intensify. From “Pizzagate” to QAnon and to “Stop the Steal,” conspiracy theories that demonized Donald Trump’s enemies are morphing and spreading as the front-runner for the 2024 Republican nomination aims for a return to the White House.

“No longer are these conspiracy theories and very divisive and vicious ideologies separated at the fringes,” said Jacob Ware, a research fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations who focuses on domestic terrorism. “They’re now infiltrating American society on a massive scale.”

A federal jury on Thursday convicted David DePape of attacking Paul Pelosi at his San Francisco home on Oct. 28, 2022. Before the verdict, DePape testified that he had intended to hold Nancy Pelosi hostage and “break her kneecaps” if the Democratic lawmaker lied to him while he questioned her about what he viewed as government corruption. She was in Washington at the time of the assault.

In online rants before the attack, DePape echoed tenets of QAnon, a pro-Trump conspiracy theory that has been linked to killings and other crimes. A core belief for QAnon adherents is that Trump has tried to expose a Satan-worshipping, child sex trafficking cabal of prominent Democrats and Hollywood elites.

Trump has amplified social media accounts that promote QAnon, which grew from the far-right fringes of the internet to become a fixture of mainstream Republican politics.

Many rioters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, espoused QAnon’s apocalyptic beliefs online before traveling to the nation’s capital for Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally that day. A message board formerly known as TheDonald.win was buzzing with plans for violence days before the siege.

Before QAnon, many Trump supporters embraced the debunked “Pizzagate” conspiracy theory that prominent Democrats were running a child sex trafficking ring out of a Washington pizzeria’s (nonexistent) basement. In 2017, a North Carolina man was sentenced to prison for firing a rifle inside the restaurant.

In his 2024 campaign, Trump has ramped up his combative rhetoric with talk of retribution against his enemies. He recently joked about the hammer attack on Paul Pelosi and suggested that retired Gen. Mark Milley, a former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, should be executed for treason.

Threats against lawmakers and election officials are rampant, with targets spanning the nation’s political divide: A California man awaits trial on charges that he plotted to kill Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, a Trump nominee, at his Maryland home.

Trump’s loss to Democrat Joe Biden in the 2020 election did not end the spread of QAnon-influenced conspiracy theories or its unrealized prophecies. The leaderless movement’s ever-changing ideology often adopts beliefs from other conspiracy theories.

“It’s been really good at evolving with the times and current events,” said Sheehan Kane, data collection manager for the University of Maryland-based Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism, or START.

In a 2021 article, Kane and START senior researcher Michael Jensen examined QAnon-inspired crimes committed by 125 adherents since the conspiracy theory originated on the 4chan imageboard in 2017. They found that more “extremist offenders” were connected to QAnon than any other extremist group or movement in the United States.

“In 2020, millions of people were radicalized on behalf of this conspiracy theory. It’s really hard to tell who is going to mobilize on behalf of a conspiracy theory,” Kane said.

DePape, the Paul Pelosi attacker, testified that his interest in right-wing conspiracy theories started with GamerGate, an online harassment campaign against feminists in the video game industry. Beginning in 2014, misogynistic gamers terrorized female game developers and other women in the industry with rape and death threats.

Brianna Wu, one of GamerGate’s original targets, said she wasn’t surprised to hear it linked to a politically motivated attack nearly a decade later. Wu said GamerGate emerged from the same online recesses that spawned far-right conspiracy theories such as Pizzagate and QAnon.

“This is a pattern of radicalization that we’re seeing over and over and over in every single bit of politics,” Wu said. “This is not a right-versus-left issue. This is a radicalization issue that is happening online. We need a policy response.”

DePape testified that he went to Nancy Pelosi’s home with plans to interrogate her about Russian interference in the 2016 election. He said he intended to wear an inflatable unicorn costume while recording it and then upload the video to the internet.

DePape allegedly told authorities that his other targets included a women’s and queer studies professor at the University of Michigan. He told jurors that he heard about the professor while listening to a conservative commentator.

DePape’s spiral into conspiracy theories is a textbook tale of radicalization, according to experts on extremism who say that the mainstreaming of false, bigoted and harmful ideas on radio shows, cable news, social media websites and other public online forums has made them far more accessible.

The problem is exacerbated by lax content moderation on social media and a growing “conspiracy-creating cottage industry” looking to use extreme rhetoric to cash in or widen their audience, said American University professor Brian Hughes, associate director of the Polarization and Extremism Research and Innovation Lab.

“Some of the people in that wide audience are going to be people like DePape, who are intentionally going to commit an act of violence based on this false and harmful information that they’ve been served,” Hughes said.

Conspiracy theories are alluring by design, driving some who are susceptible to them to completely immerse themselves, said Amarnath Amarasingam, an extremism researcher and professor at Queen’s University in Canada. DePape testified that before the attack, he frequently played video games for hours on end while listening to political podcasts.

Repeatedly hearing that the political opponents or government leaders are responsible for evil acts give believers a scapegoat for their troubles and a “moral mission” to do something about it, Amarasingam said.

American election years are often characterized by violence, said Ware, of the Council on Foreign Relations, whether it’s hate crimes in response to a particular candidate’s identity or violent reactions to unfavorable results. “So we should absolutely expect such incidents in 2024,” he said.

Trump’s return to the ballot next year, as well as his current legal battles, are sure to amplify politicized rhetoric and could drive more extremist violence, experts said.

“Donald Trump has a knack for tacitly endorsing violence without saying anything that’s really a clear endorsement of it, necessarily,” Hughes said.

To combat potential violence, Americans should try to turn down the temperature of political rhetoric and look out for loved ones who may be spiraling down a path toward radicalization, experts said.

“Spending hours and hours consuming conspiracy theory material is intoxicating,” Hughes said. “It anesthetizes you from the worries of your day to day life in the same way that certain drugs do. And I think that we need to reorient our thinking a little bit in that direction, so that we can begin to view this as the public health problem that it really is.”

___

Associated Press writer Olga R. Rodriguez in San Francisco contributed to this report.

___

The Associated Press receives support from several private foundations to enhance its explanatory coverage of elections and democracy. See more about AP’s democracy initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

White, who represents Ward 8, is accused of agreeing to accept $156,000 in exchange for using his position to pressure employees of the D.C. Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement and the D.C. Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services (DYRS) to extend several contracts, prosecutors said.

He’s chair of a D.C. Council committee that oversees several agencies, including DYRS.

White received $35,000 in four cash payments in the alleged scheme, court documents filed on Thursday say.

His lawyer declined on Friday to comment on the latest development.

White has not commented on the case or entered a plea since federal authorities arrested him in the Navy Yard area on Aug. 18. On Instagram, posted a brief video thanking people who have continued to support him.

Following White’s arrest, the D.C. government launched a wide-ranging review of violence interruption work.

Read the full indictment here:

Here’s what federal prosecutors say Trayon White did

Federal prosecutors say White agreed starting in June to accept $156,000 in bribes in exchange for using his position to pressure government employees to extend violence intervention contracts worth $5.2 million.

He’s accused of accepting envelopes full of cash as he was caught on a hidden camera. Here’s how the FBI broke down the payments:

• June 26: $15,000 cash received
• July 17: $5,000 cash received
• July 25: $10,000 cash received
• Aug. 9: $5,000 cash received

Images included in court documents show what prosecutors say is White receiving envelopes stuffed with cash.

DC Council Aug 21

How Trayon White's arrest may shake up the Ward 8 election

DC Council Aug 19

Secret cameras, $35K in cash: DC Council member Trayon White accused of bribery

An FBI informant who operated businesses that contracted with the D.C. government agreed to cooperate with authorities as part of an agreement to plead guilty to bribery and bank fraud charges. Several conversations between White and the informant were recorded in a parked car wired for video and audio, including outside White’s home, prosecutors say.

At one meeting, White and the informant discussed contracts the informant had with ONSE. The informant asked White if the contracts would be renewed and said he had $15,000 cash.

Initially, White asked, “What you need me to do, man? I don’t, I don’t wanna feel like you gotta gimme something to get something. We better than that.”

Then he tucked the envelope with the cash into his jacket pocket, prosecutors say.

News4 sends breaking news stories by email. Go here to sign up to get breaking news alerts in your inbox.

Stay with NBC Washington for more details on this developing story.

This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.

White, who represents Ward 8, is accused of agreeing to accept $156,000 in exchange for using his position to pressure employees of the D.C. Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement and the D.C. Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services (DYRS) to extend several contracts, prosecutors said.

He’s chair of a D.C. Council committee that oversees several agencies, including DYRS.

White received $35,000 in four cash payments in the alleged scheme, court documents filed on Thursday say.

His lawyer declined on Friday to comment on the latest development.

White has not commented on the case or entered a plea since federal authorities arrested him in the Navy Yard area on Aug. 18. On Instagram, posted a brief video thanking people who have continued to support him.

Following White’s arrest, the D.C. government launched a wide-ranging review of violence interruption work.

Read the full indictment here:

Here’s what federal prosecutors say Trayon White did

Federal prosecutors say White agreed starting in June to accept $156,000 in bribes in exchange for using his position to pressure government employees to extend violence intervention contracts worth $5.2 million.

He’s accused of accepting envelopes full of cash as he was caught on a hidden camera. Here’s how the FBI broke down the payments:

• June 26: $15,000 cash received
• July 17: $5,000 cash received
• July 25: $10,000 cash received
• Aug. 9: $5,000 cash received

Images included in court documents show what prosecutors say is White receiving envelopes stuffed with cash.

DC Council Aug 21

How Trayon White's arrest may shake up the Ward 8 election

DC Council Aug 19

Secret cameras, $35K in cash: DC Council member Trayon White accused of bribery

An FBI informant who operated businesses that contracted with the D.C. government agreed to cooperate with authorities as part of an agreement to plead guilty to bribery and bank fraud charges. Several conversations between White and the informant were recorded in a parked car wired for video and audio, including outside White’s home, prosecutors say.

At one meeting, White and the informant discussed contracts the informant had with ONSE. The informant asked White if the contracts would be renewed and said he had $15,000 cash.

Initially, White asked, “What you need me to do, man? I don’t, I don’t wanna feel like you gotta gimme something to get something. We better than that.”

Then he tucked the envelope with the cash into his jacket pocket, prosecutors say.

News4 sends breaking news stories by email. Go here to sign up to get breaking news alerts in your inbox.

Stay with NBC Washington for more details on this developing story.

This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.

The Minnesota Democrat made the announcement in an interview with CBS News. Asked if he was running for president next year, Phillips said, “I am. I have to.”

“I will not sit still, I will not be quiet in the face of numbers that are so clearly saying we’re going to be facing an emergency next November,” Phillips added.

Phillips, 54, has been a staunch critic of Biden’s re-election bid, citing a want for a younger leader to replace the 80-year-old president, and has previously called on other candidates to challenge him.

The move comes as Biden faces stagnant approval ratings amid voter concerns about the economy and the president’s age, though the White House has been dismissive toward a possible Phillips presidential run in the past.

When asked by a reporter during a press briefing Tuesday if the president had a reaction to reports of Phillips preparing to enter the race, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said she would not speak to electoral politics, but appreciated the congressman’s “almost 100” percent support of Biden.

Read the full story on NBCNews.com here.

Johnson, a staunch conservative allied with Donald Trump, has shown little interest in providing additional money from Congress to support Ukraine in its war against Russia. Biden met briefly with Johnson and also with Jeffries before the House leaders joined a classified briefing with other congressional lawmakers on the assistance package, according to a White House official.

“It was a productive meeting,” Johnson told reporters back at the Capitol. “I enjoyed my visit with the president.”

The new Republican leader who swept into office nearly a month after the ouster of Rep. Kevin McCarthy as speaker had a busy first full day in office, having inherited many of the same political problems that tormented past GOP leaders and challenged their tenure as speaker.

In the morning, Johnson said “prayer is appropriate” as a response to the mass shootings in Maine.

“This is a dark time in America,” Johnson said about the shootings.

“Prayer is appropriate at a time like this, that the evil can end and the senseless violence can stop,” he said.

Johnson, an evangelical Christian from Louisiana, declined to take questions, including about the possibility of any gun violence legislation from Congress.

The House convened with a bustle of activity, making up for lost time during the weeks of chaos since McCarthy’s ouster as speaker. But the initial goodwill toward Johnson blurs the political fault lines challenging his ability to lead the GOP majority in the face of daunting issues ahead.

By Nov. 17, the Congress must fund the government again or risk a federal shutdown. Biden wants nearly $106 billion in military and humanitarian aid for Israel and Ukraine. And Republicans are eager to resume their impeachment inquiry into Biden over his son Hunter’s business dealings.

“Enough of the chaos, enough of the dysfunction,” said Jeffries, D-N.Y., adding it was time for Congress to get back to business.

Jeffries said Democrats were “heartbroken” over the latest shootings and stand with the people of Maine in every way possible, including discussing how Congress can address gun violence.

The briefing in the Situation Room for Johnson and other House leaders on the emergency funding request was the first time the new speaker, who opposes the aid to Ukraine, was getting a close airing from White House officials about Biden’s case for the money. The White House has conducted similar briefings in recent weeks.

Biden had called Johnson to congratulate him after his election Wednesday and said it was “time for all of us to act responsibly” to fund the government and provide that foreign aid. “We need to move swiftly,” the president said in a statement.

Congress Oct 25, 2023

Mike Johnson, a staunch conservative from Louisiana, is elected House speaker with broad GOP support

Oct 26, 2023

New US House speaker tried to help overturn the 2020 election, raising concerns about the next one

Johnson, 51, swept through on the first ballot with support from all Republicans anxious to put weeks of tumult behind and get on with the business of governing. He was quickly sworn as speaker and is now second in line to the presidency, after the vice president.

While not the Republicans’ top choice, Johnson had few foes and an important backer in Donald Trump.

“He’s a tremendous leader,” Trump said Wednesday at the New York courthouse where the Republican front-runner for the White House in 2024 is on trial over a lawsuit alleging business fraud.

At the Capitol on Thursday, Johnson sat down with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who told reporters afterward that he had a “very good” meeting with the new speaker.

Johnson met later with Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, who said on social media they had a “great meeting.” He has also heard from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who told the new speaker in a Wednesday call that a bipartisan agreement with Democrats is the only way to avoid a shutdown.

In winning the gavel, Johnson, who has been in the House for less than a decade, drew together fellow Republicans through his faith, conservative roots and Trump’s nod after more seasoned leaders had failed. Far-right members in the House had refused to accept a more traditional speaker, and moderate conservatives did not want a hard-liner.

“You watch and see how much this House of Representatives can actually get done under Mike Johnson,” said Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, who led the eight hard-liners in ousting McCarthy.

Democrats said Johnson, a lawyer specializing in constitutional issues, was an extreme conservative, a strict opponent of abortion access and an architect of Trump’s legal effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election he lost to Democrat Biden.

After Johnson’s election, lawmakers approved a resolution Wednesday saying the House “stands with Israel” and “condemns Hamas’ brutal war.” They next turned to a stalled government funding bill.

Rather than take a scheduled work period at home, Republicans rearranged the House calendar to return to Washington next week and keep pushing through the various government funding bills before the Nov. 17 deadline.

In a letter to colleagues, Johnson outlined priorities that include providing a short-term funding bill, into next year, to prevent a November shutdown — almost the same move that led to McCarthy’s ouster.

While Johnson has spoken of the importance of helping fund Israel in the fight against Hamas, he has shown little interest in providing more money for Ukraine as it battles Russia.

“Speaker Johnson has been very clear that we’ve got to secure America’s border, we want to support Israel,” said Majority Leader Steve Scalise, who conferred with Johnson ahead of the White House meeting. “But all of the other items that the President is talking about run secondary.”

It appears the House Republicans will try to separate Biden’s aid package, voting swiftly on help for Israel while looking at other options for Ukraine, including linking it with measures to beef up U.S. border security.

Republican Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said Johnson is thoughtful and smart, and understands that aid for Ukraine is a national security issue, despite opposition from other Republicans in their majority.

“And what I saw in the Situation Room was I thought he was very open to the idea,” said McCaul.

To avoid a shutdown, Johnson will need to balance far-right demands with the realities of keeping the government functioning. Most Republicans voted against the budget deal McCarthy, R-Calif., struck with Biden earlier this year, demanding steeper spending cuts.

Similar Republican infighting has chased three other GOP speakers to early departures. The difference now is that Republican rules allow any single lawmaker to force a vote to remove the speaker from office.

___

Associated Press writers Jill Colvin in New York, Darlene Superville and Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.

He is expected to plead guilty, formally apologize and pay a $1,000 fine. The false fire alarm charge would then be dropped if he successfully completes 3 months of probation.

The alarm forced the evacuation of a House office building for over an hour. The New York lawmaker has acknowledged pulling the alarm and said it was a mistake. He was in a rush to go to vote, tried to go through a door that was unexpectedly closed and wrongly thought pulling the fire alarm lever would help him open it, he said.

politics Sep 30, 2023

Rep. Jamaal Bowman pulls fire alarm ahead of vote to pass short-term funding bill

news Oct 25, 2023

Mike Johnson elected House speaker, putting Louisiana Republican in the spotlight

At the time of the evacuation, House Democrats were working to delay a vote on a funding bill to keep federal agencies open. They had said they needed time to review a bill that Republicans abruptly released to avoid a shutdown. The funding package was ultimately approved with most Republicans and almost all Democrats, including Bowman, supporting the bill.

Republicans criticized Bowman after the alarm, and on Wednesday introduced a motion to censure him. Rep. Bryan Steil, the chairman of the Committee on House Administration, referred the case to Capitol police. He called Bowman’s explanation an “excuse.”

He pointed out that Bowman passed several police officers after pulling the alarm without alerting them about it. Bowman, for his part, has said he was urgently trying to get to the vote and said Republicans would “attempt to distract everyone” with the case.

Prosecutors said Bowman was “treated like anyone else who violates the law” and has agreed to pay the maximum fine, according to a spokesperson for the District of Columbia attorney general’s office.

Bowman told police at the time he didn’t mean to disrupt any congressional proceeding, according to court documents. He said he didn’t immediately tell anyone about the alarm going off because he was in a hurry to vote.

Under an agreement with the D.C. attorney general, the charge will be withdrawn in three months if the congressman provides a formal apology to Capitol police and pays a $1,000 fine.

Bowman said he was grateful for the quick resolution in the case, and looking forward to putting it behind him. “I am responsible for activating a fire alarm, I will be paying the fine issued, and look forward to these charges being ultimately dropped,” he said.

California had about 1.9 million high school students enrolled in more than 4,000 schools last year, according to the California Department of Education.

“This bill would create an unfunded mandate to public schools that should be considered in the annual budget process,” Newsom wrote in a message explaining why he vetoed the bill, known as Senate bill 541.

The bill is one of hundreds passed by California’s Democratic-dominated state Legislature before lawmakers adjourned last month. Newsom has been signing and vetoing legislation since then, including rejecting bills on Saturday to ban caste-based discrimination, limit the price of insulin and decriminalize possession and use of some hallucinogens.

The bill would have required all public schools that have grades nine through 12 to make condoms available for free to all students. It would have required public schools with grades seven through 12 to allow condoms to be made available as part of educational or public health programs.

And it would have made it illegal for retailers to refuse to sell condoms to youth.

State Sen. Caroline Menjivar, a Democrat from Los Angeles and the author of the bill, had argued the bill would have helped “youth who decide to become sexually active to protect themselves and their partners from (sexually transmitted infections), while also removing barriers that potentially shame them and lead to unsafe sex.”

Newsom said programs increasing access to condoms are “important to supporting improved adolescent sexual health.” But he said this bill was one of several measures lawmakers passed this year that, when added together, would add $19 billion in costs to the state budget.

“With our state facing continuing economic risk and revenue uncertainty, it is important to remain disciplined when considering bills with significant fiscal implications, such as this measure,” Newsom said.

Also on Sunday, Newsom signed a law aimed a electrifying the state’s fleet of school buses. Starting in 2035, the law will require any new bus purchased or contracted by school districts to be zero-emission.

California’s public school districts that provide their own transportation own about 15,800 school buses, of which 10,800 are powered by diesel fuel, according to a 2022 report from the Legislative Analyst’s Office.

The law is part of California’s plan to phase out the use of fossil fuels. State regulations will ban the sale of new gas-powered cars in California by 2035.

Trump shared the information with Anthony Pratt during an April 2021 conversation at the Palm Beach, Fla., golf club, according to ABC News, which first reported the development, citing sources familiar with the matter. The New York Times also confirmed the former president shared the information with Pratt, citing  two people familiar with the matter.

Pratt recounted that he told Trump during their conversation that Australia should buy submarines from the U.S., and an excited Trump “leaning” toward Pratt as if to be discreet, told him two pieces of information about American submarines, ABC reported, citing the anonymous sources. Trump shared the number of warheads that U.S. submarines typically carry and how close they can get to Russian submarines without being detected, according to both ABC and the New York Times.

The revelation was reported to special counsel Jack Smith’s office, which charged Trump this year with mishandling classified documents, and prosecutors and FBI agents have twice interviewed Pratt this year about the discussion, ABC reported.

Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign spokesman, Steven Cheung, said in response to questions about the report, “These illegal leaks are coming from sources which totally lack proper context and relevant information. The Department of Justice should investigate the criminal leaking, instead of perpetrating their baseless witch-hunts while knowing that President Trump did nothing wrong, has always insisted on truth and transparency, and acted in a proper manner, according to the law.” NBC News has also reached out to Pratt’s company for comment.

Read the full story on NBCNews.com

White, who represents Ward 8, is accused of agreeing to accept $156,000 in exchange for using his position to pressure employees of the D.C. Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement and the D.C. Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services (DYRS) to extend several contracts, prosecutors said.

He’s chair of a D.C. Council committee that oversees several agencies, including DYRS.

White received $35,000 in four cash payments in the alleged scheme, court documents filed on Thursday say.

His lawyer declined on Friday to comment on the latest development.

White has not commented on the case or entered a plea since federal authorities arrested him in the Navy Yard area on Aug. 18. On Instagram, posted a brief video thanking people who have continued to support him.

Following White’s arrest, the D.C. government launched a wide-ranging review of violence interruption work.

Read the full indictment here:

Here’s what federal prosecutors say Trayon White did

Federal prosecutors say White agreed starting in June to accept $156,000 in bribes in exchange for using his position to pressure government employees to extend violence intervention contracts worth $5.2 million.

He’s accused of accepting envelopes full of cash as he was caught on a hidden camera. Here’s how the FBI broke down the payments:

• June 26: $15,000 cash received
• July 17: $5,000 cash received
• July 25: $10,000 cash received
• Aug. 9: $5,000 cash received

Images included in court documents show what prosecutors say is White receiving envelopes stuffed with cash.

DC Council Aug 21

How Trayon White's arrest may shake up the Ward 8 election

DC Council Aug 19

Secret cameras, $35K in cash: DC Council member Trayon White accused of bribery

An FBI informant who operated businesses that contracted with the D.C. government agreed to cooperate with authorities as part of an agreement to plead guilty to bribery and bank fraud charges. Several conversations between White and the informant were recorded in a parked car wired for video and audio, including outside White’s home, prosecutors say.

At one meeting, White and the informant discussed contracts the informant had with ONSE. The informant asked White if the contracts would be renewed and said he had $15,000 cash.

Initially, White asked, “What you need me to do, man? I don’t, I don’t wanna feel like you gotta gimme something to get something. We better than that.”

Then he tucked the envelope with the cash into his jacket pocket, prosecutors say.

News4 sends breaking news stories by email. Go here to sign up to get breaking news alerts in your inbox.

Stay with NBC Washington for more details on this developing story.

This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.

Bowman’s office acknowledged he pulled the alarm, but suggested it was unintentional.

“Congressman Bowman did not realize he would trigger a building alarm as he was rushing to make an urgent vote,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “The Congressman regrets any confusion.”

“Rep. Jamal Bowman pulled a fire alarm in Cannon this morning,” an account controlled by the Republicans on the House Administration Committee wrote on X, the website formerly known as Twitter, including spelling the congressman’s first name incorrectly. “An investigation into why it was pulled is underway.”

Read the full story here on NBCNews.com.

Nick Ignacio created a sample ballot claiming that he’s a preferred Republican candidate on one side but the preferred Democrat on the other side. Ignacio did not get an endorsement from either party.

One voter confronted him outside, saying that he was misleading people before they got the chance to vote.

“At the very least, it’s unethical, and you’re asking for my vote,” voter Margaret Gallagher said. “You’re trying to mislead people as they walk in. And then he threw an insult at me and walked away.”

Ignacio declined to explain why he was giving voters inaccurate information.

He waved to News4’s camera and said, “I’m out here working the polls, ma’am. I want to talk to the voters.”

Voting Sep 22, 2023

Election season is underway in Virginia. Here's what to know about voting

Virginia Politics Jun 20, 2023

Primary results: Reform-minded Northern Virginia prosecutors win nominations

Kellie Acors, the county’s registrar, said that as long as the ballot conforms with rules about the font size and color, there’s nothing election officials can do.

“We don’t have the authority, nor the Department of Elections does, on what is advertised or what they’re sharing on their sample ballot,” said Acors.

Some voters also raised concerns about an armed security guard on site. A friend of sheriff candidate Steve Maxwell hired the guard after one of his volunteers said she had been harassed by a Democratic campaign worker.

“That worker felt that they were being accosted verbally and almost physically because this person, according to their description, was leaning across the table and yelling at them,” Maxwell said.

The security guard being there is legal as long as he stays at least 40 feet from the polling place. Because voters are concerned that the guard will scare people away, the guard said he’ll put on a more casual uniform to make people feel more comfortable.

The security guard said he’ll also be accompanying Maxwell to campaign events. Maxwell is challenging longtime incumbent Sheriff Roger Harris. 

News4 sends breaking news stories by email. Go here to sign up to get breaking news alerts in your inbox.

White, who represents Ward 8, is accused of agreeing to accept $156,000 in exchange for using his position to pressure employees of the D.C. Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement and the D.C. Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services (DYRS) to extend several contracts, prosecutors said.

He’s chair of a D.C. Council committee that oversees several agencies, including DYRS.

White received $35,000 in four cash payments in the alleged scheme, court documents filed on Thursday say.

His lawyer declined on Friday to comment on the latest development.

White has not commented on the case or entered a plea since federal authorities arrested him in the Navy Yard area on Aug. 18. On Instagram, posted a brief video thanking people who have continued to support him.

Following White’s arrest, the D.C. government launched a wide-ranging review of violence interruption work.

Read the full indictment here:

Here’s what federal prosecutors say Trayon White did

Federal prosecutors say White agreed starting in June to accept $156,000 in bribes in exchange for using his position to pressure government employees to extend violence intervention contracts worth $5.2 million.

He’s accused of accepting envelopes full of cash as he was caught on a hidden camera. Here’s how the FBI broke down the payments:

• June 26: $15,000 cash received
• July 17: $5,000 cash received
• July 25: $10,000 cash received
• Aug. 9: $5,000 cash received

Images included in court documents show what prosecutors say is White receiving envelopes stuffed with cash.

DC Council Aug 21

How Trayon White's arrest may shake up the Ward 8 election

DC Council Aug 19

Secret cameras, $35K in cash: DC Council member Trayon White accused of bribery

An FBI informant who operated businesses that contracted with the D.C. government agreed to cooperate with authorities as part of an agreement to plead guilty to bribery and bank fraud charges. Several conversations between White and the informant were recorded in a parked car wired for video and audio, including outside White’s home, prosecutors say.

At one meeting, White and the informant discussed contracts the informant had with ONSE. The informant asked White if the contracts would be renewed and said he had $15,000 cash.

Initially, White asked, “What you need me to do, man? I don’t, I don’t wanna feel like you gotta gimme something to get something. We better than that.”

Then he tucked the envelope with the cash into his jacket pocket, prosecutors say.

News4 sends breaking news stories by email. Go here to sign up to get breaking news alerts in your inbox.

Stay with NBC Washington for more details on this developing story.

This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.

White, who represents Ward 8, is accused of agreeing to accept $156,000 in exchange for using his position to pressure employees of the D.C. Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement and the D.C. Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services (DYRS) to extend several contracts, prosecutors said.

He’s chair of a D.C. Council committee that oversees several agencies, including DYRS.

White received $35,000 in four cash payments in the alleged scheme, court documents filed on Thursday say.

His lawyer declined on Friday to comment on the latest development.

White has not commented on the case or entered a plea since federal authorities arrested him in the Navy Yard area on Aug. 18. On Instagram, posted a brief video thanking people who have continued to support him.

Following White’s arrest, the D.C. government launched a wide-ranging review of violence interruption work.

Read the full indictment here:

Here’s what federal prosecutors say Trayon White did

Federal prosecutors say White agreed starting in June to accept $156,000 in bribes in exchange for using his position to pressure government employees to extend violence intervention contracts worth $5.2 million.

He’s accused of accepting envelopes full of cash as he was caught on a hidden camera. Here’s how the FBI broke down the payments:

• June 26: $15,000 cash received
• July 17: $5,000 cash received
• July 25: $10,000 cash received
• Aug. 9: $5,000 cash received

Images included in court documents show what prosecutors say is White receiving envelopes stuffed with cash.

DC Council Aug 21

How Trayon White's arrest may shake up the Ward 8 election

DC Council Aug 19

Secret cameras, $35K in cash: DC Council member Trayon White accused of bribery

An FBI informant who operated businesses that contracted with the D.C. government agreed to cooperate with authorities as part of an agreement to plead guilty to bribery and bank fraud charges. Several conversations between White and the informant were recorded in a parked car wired for video and audio, including outside White’s home, prosecutors say.

At one meeting, White and the informant discussed contracts the informant had with ONSE. The informant asked White if the contracts would be renewed and said he had $15,000 cash.

Initially, White asked, “What you need me to do, man? I don’t, I don’t wanna feel like you gotta gimme something to get something. We better than that.”

Then he tucked the envelope with the cash into his jacket pocket, prosecutors say.

News4 sends breaking news stories by email. Go here to sign up to get breaking news alerts in your inbox.

Stay with NBC Washington for more details on this developing story.

This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.

White, who represents Ward 8, is accused of agreeing to accept $156,000 in exchange for using his position to pressure employees of the D.C. Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement and the D.C. Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services (DYRS) to extend several contracts, prosecutors said.

He’s chair of a D.C. Council committee that oversees several agencies, including DYRS.

White received $35,000 in four cash payments in the alleged scheme, court documents filed on Thursday say.

His lawyer declined on Friday to comment on the latest development.

White has not commented on the case or entered a plea since federal authorities arrested him in the Navy Yard area on Aug. 18. On Instagram, posted a brief video thanking people who have continued to support him.

Following White’s arrest, the D.C. government launched a wide-ranging review of violence interruption work.

Read the full indictment here:

Here’s what federal prosecutors say Trayon White did

Federal prosecutors say White agreed starting in June to accept $156,000 in bribes in exchange for using his position to pressure government employees to extend violence intervention contracts worth $5.2 million.

He’s accused of accepting envelopes full of cash as he was caught on a hidden camera. Here’s how the FBI broke down the payments:

• June 26: $15,000 cash received
• July 17: $5,000 cash received
• July 25: $10,000 cash received
• Aug. 9: $5,000 cash received

Images included in court documents show what prosecutors say is White receiving envelopes stuffed with cash.

DC Council Aug 21

How Trayon White's arrest may shake up the Ward 8 election

DC Council Aug 19

Secret cameras, $35K in cash: DC Council member Trayon White accused of bribery

An FBI informant who operated businesses that contracted with the D.C. government agreed to cooperate with authorities as part of an agreement to plead guilty to bribery and bank fraud charges. Several conversations between White and the informant were recorded in a parked car wired for video and audio, including outside White’s home, prosecutors say.

At one meeting, White and the informant discussed contracts the informant had with ONSE. The informant asked White if the contracts would be renewed and said he had $15,000 cash.

Initially, White asked, “What you need me to do, man? I don’t, I don’t wanna feel like you gotta gimme something to get something. We better than that.”

Then he tucked the envelope with the cash into his jacket pocket, prosecutors say.

News4 sends breaking news stories by email. Go here to sign up to get breaking news alerts in your inbox.

Stay with NBC Washington for more details on this developing story.

This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.

Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez and his wife are accused of taking bribes of gold bars, a luxury car and cash in exchange for using his outsized sway in foreign affairs to help the government of Egypt — and others — as well as other corrupt acts, according to an indictment unsealed Friday.

Investigators say they found nearly $500,000 in cash hidden in clothing and closets as well as $100,000 in gold bars in a search of the home the 69-year-old senator from New Jersey shares with his wife. Menendez serves as the powerful chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

The indictment, the second in eight years against Menendez, and comes after a yearslong investigation that delved into his relationships with wealthy New Jersey businessmen.

New Jersey Sep 22, 2023

NJ Sen. Bob Menendez and wife indicted on federal bribery charges

Menendez says he has been falsely accused but “will not be distracted” from work in the Senate, accusing prosecutors of misrepresenting “the normal work of a congressional office.”

A lawyer for Menendez’s wife, Nadine, said she “denies any criminal conduct and will vigorously contest these charges in court.”

USING HIS INFLUENCE AS CHAIRMAN

Menendez is facing bribery, fraud and extortion charges. The indictment includes a scathing list of alleged favors exchanged between the businessmen and Menendez, who is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and has powers and access to information that other senators don’t.

Using his position, Menendez took steps to secretly aid the government of Egypt in exchange for bribes, the indictment says. And as chairman, he had unique influence over foreign military sales and foreign military financing. The indictment notes that Egypt is one of the largest recipients of U.S. military aid, including military equipment and grants of more than $1 billion a year. In recent years, the U.S. has withheld some aid due to concerns over human rights violations.

The indictment charges that Menendez disclosed nonpublic information to the businessmen about U.S. military aid and the number and nationality of employees at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo. That information was then forwarded to Egyptian officials. Prosecutors said Menendez also secretly ghost-wrote a letter on behalf of Egypt to other senators requesting release of a hold on $300 million in aid. He also at one point texted his wife to tell one of the businessmen that he was going to “sign off” on a sale of military equipment to Egypt.

The State Department typically seeks the input of the chairperson and top minority senator on the Foreign Relations panel when it comes to foreign military financing and foreign military sales, and the department generally will not go forward if one of the two senators objects.

Egypt’s ministry of foreign affairs did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

MAIN PLAYERS

Menendez has held public office continuously since 1986, when he was elected mayor of Union City, New Jersey. The son of Cuban immigrants, he served as a state legislator and spent 14 years in the U.S. House of Representatives. He was first appointed to his Senate seat in 2006.

His wife, previously known as Nadine Arslania, 56, was unemployed before they met in 2018, but the following year she incorporated a new consulting company, Strategic International Business Consultants LLC., the indictment states. A foreclosure case against her was closed soon after.

After their marriage in 2020, she came into possession of a large amount of gold, some of which she later sold for between $200,000 and $400,000, according to the senator’s financial disclosure reports. Her attorney David Schertler, did not respond to a request for comment about his client’s international business work or how she acquired the gold bars.

The couple is accused of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes from three business associates: Wael Hana, Jose Uribe and Fred Daibes.

Hana is a friend of Nadine Menendez and the Egyptian-American founder of a business that certifies beef imported into Egypt meets Islamic religious standards. He had no previous experience in Halal certification, but in 2019 the Egyptian government gave his company a monopoly.

He’s accused of putting together and paying for meetings and dinners with Menendez and Egyptian officials where military sales and financing were discussed, according to the indictment. He also helped pay Nadine Menendez’ mortgage, the indictment states.

Fred Daibes is a wealthy developer in Edgewater, New Jersey, who pleaded guilty to bank fraud charges last April and is expected to be sentenced to probation in October. He was also a longtime fundraiser for Menendez, who is accused of trying to use his influence to pressure the president to nominate a U.S. attorney for New Jersey who would protect Daibes.

Jose Uribe is also a New Jersey businessman in the trucking and insurance business who was friends with Hana, according to the indictment. Hana and Uribe got Nadine Menendez a Mercedes convertible after the senator called a government official about another case involving an associate of Uribe, according to the indictment.

“Congratulations mon amour de la vie, we are the proud owners of a 2019 Mercedes,” Nadine Menendez texted her husband, along with a heart emoji.

Hana’s spokesperson said the charges had “absolutely no merit.”

Messages seeking comment were left for lawyers for Daibes and Uribe.

PREVIOUS INDICTMENT

This appears to be the first time in U.S. history that a sitting senator has been indicted twice in two unrelated cases, according to the Senate Historical Office.

Menendez was once charged with bribery, fraud and conspiracy, accused of accepting lavish gifts to pressure government officials on behalf of a Florida doctor and friend. He was accused of pressuring government officials to resolve a Medicare billing dispute in favor of Dr. Salomon Melgen as well as securing visas for the doctor’s girlfriends and helping protect a contract to provide port-screening equipment to the Dominican Republic.

Menendez has always maintained his innocence. His lawyers said campaign contributions and gifts — which included trips on his private jet to a resort in the Dominican Republic and a vacation in Paris — were tokens of their longtime friendship, not bribes. Melgen was convicted of health care fraud in 2017, but President Donald Trump commuted his prison sentence.

A jury deadlocked at trial and prosecutors dropped the case. Menendez was rebuked by the Senate Ethics Committee, but New Jersey voters returned him to the Senate months later. He defeated a well-financed challenger in a midterm election that broke a Republican lock on power in Washington.

Menendez faces reelection next year in a bid to extend his three-decade career in Washington as Democrats hold a narrow majority in the Senate.

NEXT STEPS IN THE SENATE

According to rules in the Senate Democratic caucus, Menendez will have to step down as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee. But neither Menendez nor Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer have said when that will happen. Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., is expected to replace him as chairman, as he did between 2015 and 2018 the last time Menendez faced federal charges and a trial.

Given the severity of this indictment and that Menendez is charged with using his role on the panel to benefit himself personally, Schumer could also ask Menendez to leave the committee altogether. Schumer has not yet made any comments on the indictment.

Schumer could also call on Menendez to resign from the Senate, but that becomes more complicated as Democrats have only a one-seat majority. While New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy would likely appoint a Democrat to replace Menendez, Schumer may not want to create any uncertainty about the balance of power.

And even if Schumer called on Menendez to resign, he wouldn’t have to. The seat is his until the next election, and Menendez has not yet said whether he is running again. In a statement, Menendez struck a defiant tone: “I am confident that this matter will be successfully resolved once all of the facts are presented and my fellow New Jerseyans will see this for what it is.”

Despite those warnings, DeSantis continued to promote the numbers on the campaign trail, three former officials with Florida’s Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) familiar with the matter told NBC News.

“The ethics of what we were reporting, we knew the numbers were bad,” a former FDLE employee told NBC News. “We foot-stomped it to leadership over and over again; they did not care. They did not care.”

“We were soldiers, though,” the person said, adding that the department’s bosses asked staff members to produce numbers even though the staff members had doubts about them — still, “we did it.”

Each of the former FLDE employees said there was a pervasive sense among agency staff that the numbers needed to say what their leadership wanted — and that those demands were coming from the governor’s office for political reasons. NBC News granted all three anonymity to speak freely due to concerns about professional retribution.

Read the full story on NBCNews.com here.

AdImpact, a firm that tracks political ad spending, projects that campaigns and outside groups will spend $2.7 billion on ads in the presidential election alone, followed by $2.1 billion on the Senate, $1.7 billion on the House, $361 million on gubernatorial elections and $3.3 billion on other elections.

It’s no surprise that the presidential race is expected to drive the spending, as it does every election cycle. But the $10.2 billion projection for 2024 would be a 13% increase over the $9 billion spent in 2020, when two self-funding Democratic billionaires unsuccessfully ran for president. And it represents a massive increase from the $2.6 billion spent during the 2016 election cycle.

The new projected high comes as ad spending in the Republican race has hit a torrid pace, eclipsing $100 million in GOP presidential primary spending far earlier than in previous elections.

Read the full story on NBCNews.com here.

White, who represents Ward 8, is accused of agreeing to accept $156,000 in exchange for using his position to pressure employees of the D.C. Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement and the D.C. Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services (DYRS) to extend several contracts, prosecutors said.

He’s chair of a D.C. Council committee that oversees several agencies, including DYRS.

White received $35,000 in four cash payments in the alleged scheme, court documents filed on Thursday say.

His lawyer declined on Friday to comment on the latest development.

White has not commented on the case or entered a plea since federal authorities arrested him in the Navy Yard area on Aug. 18. On Instagram, posted a brief video thanking people who have continued to support him.

Following White’s arrest, the D.C. government launched a wide-ranging review of violence interruption work.

Read the full indictment here:

Here’s what federal prosecutors say Trayon White did

Federal prosecutors say White agreed starting in June to accept $156,000 in bribes in exchange for using his position to pressure government employees to extend violence intervention contracts worth $5.2 million.

He’s accused of accepting envelopes full of cash as he was caught on a hidden camera. Here’s how the FBI broke down the payments:

• June 26: $15,000 cash received
• July 17: $5,000 cash received
• July 25: $10,000 cash received
• Aug. 9: $5,000 cash received

Images included in court documents show what prosecutors say is White receiving envelopes stuffed with cash.

DC Council Aug 21

How Trayon White's arrest may shake up the Ward 8 election

DC Council Aug 19

Secret cameras, $35K in cash: DC Council member Trayon White accused of bribery

An FBI informant who operated businesses that contracted with the D.C. government agreed to cooperate with authorities as part of an agreement to plead guilty to bribery and bank fraud charges. Several conversations between White and the informant were recorded in a parked car wired for video and audio, including outside White’s home, prosecutors say.

At one meeting, White and the informant discussed contracts the informant had with ONSE. The informant asked White if the contracts would be renewed and said he had $15,000 cash.

Initially, White asked, “What you need me to do, man? I don’t, I don’t wanna feel like you gotta gimme something to get something. We better than that.”

Then he tucked the envelope with the cash into his jacket pocket, prosecutors say.

News4 sends breaking news stories by email. Go here to sign up to get breaking news alerts in your inbox.

Stay with NBC Washington for more details on this developing story.

This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.

The White House said Biden nominated Michael G. Whitaker, a former deputy administrator at the FAA. He is currently the chief operating officer of a Hyundai affiliate working to develop an air taxi aircraft.

Whitaker’s nomination had been expected for months, and Biden’s announcement was praised by several industry and labor groups.

The FAA, which regulates airline safety and manages the nation’s airspace, has been run by back-to-back acting administrators since March 2022.

The agency faces a number of challenges including a shortage of air traffic controllers, aging technology, and alarm over close calls between planes at major airports. In addition, Congress is deliberating over legislation that will direct the agency’s operations for the next five years.

Whitaker worked as a lawyer for TWA, which was absorbed by American Airlines, spent 15 years at United Airlines, where he became a senior vice president and oversaw international and regulatory affairs, then moved to InterGlobe, a travel company in India.

He was deputy FAA administrator — a job that does not require Senate approval — from 2013 to 2016. He is currently the chief commercial officer for Supernal, a Hyundai subsidiary that is working on an electric-powered air taxi — which would need FAA certification to fly in the United States.

The White House said Whitaker holds a private-pilot license.

Last year, Biden nominated Denver International Airport CEO Phillip Washington, but he withdrew in March after his nomination stalled in the Senate Commerce Committee. Republicans and independent Kyrsten Sinema argued that Washington lacked adequate aviation experience — his background is mostly in city transit systems, having held the Denver airport job only since mid-2021.

Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, who led the GOP opposition to Biden’s first pick, gave a noncommittal statement about the second choice.

“We must carefully evaluate Mike Whitaker’s qualifications, experience, and temperament to determine whether he is the right person to lead the agency at this critical juncture,” Cruz said.

The FAA has lacked a Senate-confirmed leader since early last year, when Stephen Dickson, who was chosen by President Donald Trump, quit midway through his five-year term.

Since then, the agency has been run by two successive acting administrators. The first, Billy Nolen, who left FAA in June to join another air taxi company, Archer Aviation, praised Whitaker’s nomination in a recent interview. “I can’t think of a better choice,” he said. “He will do an amazing job.”

Earl Lawrence, a former senior official at the FAA who now works for Xwing, which is developing pilotless planes to carry cargo, said Whitaker’s appointment would be a win for companies making drones and autonomous aircraft — in part because of Whitaker’s time at Supernal.

“He knows how to support the airlines because he worked at the airlines, and he has worked with the drone folks,” Lawrence said. He will “create the environment that it’s OK to move forward” with new technologies.

A range of industry groups praised Whitaker as somebody they can work with — which could raise questions about FAA independence from the companies it regulates.

Nicholas Calio, president of the trade group Airlines for America, said Whitaker has extensive experience including on modernizing the air traffic system. He said Whitaker appreciates “the collaborative partnership between industry and government” to keep air travel safe.

Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants, urged the Senate to confirm Biden’s pick quickly. “Whitaker has the experience to step into the role and immediately lead us forward,” she said.

___

This story has been corrected to note that FAA has been run by two successive acting administrators, not three.

Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., a senior member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, said in a speech advocating for her confirmation that fellow senators had the chance to alter the course of American history.

“To hear her tell her story is to listen to the American dream come to life,” Menendez said of the Kugler, whose parents immigrated from Colombia.

Sep 1, 2023

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Kugler, 53, an expert on labor and international economics, is the World Bank’s group executive director for the United States. She took a leave from Georgetown University, where she is professor of public policy and economics since 2010 and also served as vice provost.

Kugler was also the Labor Department’s chief economist from September 2011 to January 2013, under President Barack Obama.

Read the full story on NBCNews.com here.

His oldest son, Joey Wurzelbacher, said his father died Sunday in Wisconsin after a long illness. His family announced this year on an online fundraising site that he had pancreatic cancer.

“The only thing I have to say is that he was a true patriot,” Joey Wurzelbacher — whose father had the middle name Joseph and went by Joe — said in a telephone interview. “His big thing is that everyone come to God. That’s what he taught me, and that’s a message I hope is heard by a lot of people.”

He went from toiling as a plumber in suburban Toledo, Ohio, to life as a media sensation when he asked Obama about his tax plan during a campaign stop.

Their exchange and Obama’s response that he wanted to “spread the wealth around” aired often on cable news. Days later, Obama’s Republican opponent, U.S. Sen. John McCain, repeatedly cited “Joe the Plumber” in a presidential debate.

Wurzelbacher soon faced intense media scrutiny and acknowledged that he didn’t have a plumber’s license, saying at the time he didn’t need one because he worked for a small plumbing company owned by someone else.

Wurzelbacher went on to campaign with McCain and his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, but he later criticized McCain in his book and said he did not want him as the GOP presidential nominee.

His sudden fame turned him into a sought-after voice for many anti-establishment conservatives, and he traveled the country speaking at tea party rallies and conservative gatherings.

He also wrote a book and worked with a veterans organization that provided outdoor programs for wounded soldiers.

In 2012, he made a bid for a U.S. House seat in Ohio, but he lost in a landslide to Democrat Marcy Kaptur in a district heavily tilted toward Democrats.

Republicans had recruited him to run and thought his fame would help bring in enough money to mount a serious challenge. But he drew criticism during the campaign for suggesting that the United States should build a fence at the Mexico border and “start shooting” at immigrants suspected of entering the country illegally.

Wurzelbacher returned to working as a plumber after he gave up on politics, his family said.

Funeral arrangements were pending. Survivors include his wife, Katie, and four children.

Associated Press writer Mark Scolforo in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, contributed to this report.

White, who represents Ward 8, is accused of agreeing to accept $156,000 in exchange for using his position to pressure employees of the D.C. Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement and the D.C. Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services (DYRS) to extend several contracts, prosecutors said.

He’s chair of a D.C. Council committee that oversees several agencies, including DYRS.

White received $35,000 in four cash payments in the alleged scheme, court documents filed on Thursday say.

His lawyer declined on Friday to comment on the latest development.

White has not commented on the case or entered a plea since federal authorities arrested him in the Navy Yard area on Aug. 18. On Instagram, posted a brief video thanking people who have continued to support him.

Following White’s arrest, the D.C. government launched a wide-ranging review of violence interruption work.

Read the full indictment here:

Here’s what federal prosecutors say Trayon White did

Federal prosecutors say White agreed starting in June to accept $156,000 in bribes in exchange for using his position to pressure government employees to extend violence intervention contracts worth $5.2 million.

He’s accused of accepting envelopes full of cash as he was caught on a hidden camera. Here’s how the FBI broke down the payments:

• June 26: $15,000 cash received
• July 17: $5,000 cash received
• July 25: $10,000 cash received
• Aug. 9: $5,000 cash received

Images included in court documents show what prosecutors say is White receiving envelopes stuffed with cash.

DC Council Aug 21

How Trayon White's arrest may shake up the Ward 8 election

DC Council Aug 19

Secret cameras, $35K in cash: DC Council member Trayon White accused of bribery

An FBI informant who operated businesses that contracted with the D.C. government agreed to cooperate with authorities as part of an agreement to plead guilty to bribery and bank fraud charges. Several conversations between White and the informant were recorded in a parked car wired for video and audio, including outside White’s home, prosecutors say.

At one meeting, White and the informant discussed contracts the informant had with ONSE. The informant asked White if the contracts would be renewed and said he had $15,000 cash.

Initially, White asked, “What you need me to do, man? I don’t, I don’t wanna feel like you gotta gimme something to get something. We better than that.”

Then he tucked the envelope with the cash into his jacket pocket, prosecutors say.

News4 sends breaking news stories by email. Go here to sign up to get breaking news alerts in your inbox.

Stay with NBC Washington for more details on this developing story.

This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.

Kevin Patrick Smith, of Kalispell, pleaded guilty in April to one count of threats to injure and murder a U.S. senator. U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen dismissed a second count as part of a plea agreement.

Smith, 46, made the threats because he was upset with Tester’s political decisions, court records said.

On Jan, 30, Smith made threatening phone calls to Tester’s office. The voicemails included threats to “rip your head off” and were laced with profanity. The caller acknowledged in a recording that he was threatening Tester “on purpose,” court records said. One voicemail challenged Tester to contact the FBI.

The FBI contacted Smith on Feb. 1 and told him to stop threatening the senator. But 10 days later, the threatening calls resumed, and Smith was arrested Feb. 22, the documents show.

The criminal complaint, which was later replaced by an indictment, said calls from Smith’s phone number to Tester’s office began in late 2022.

Tester is seeking his fourth term in the U.S. Senate. A third-generation farmer and former music teacher, Tester has leaned on a folksy speaking style and populist-themed messages to overcome Republican opponents in each of his last three elections.

A spokesperson for Tester, Harry Child, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The change would put the Connecticut service academy in line with policies at Department of Defense military academies. The U.S. Coast Guard is overseen by the Department of Homeland Security.

The legislation comes amid recent revelations that the service did not widely disclose a six-year internal investigation it conducted, known as Operation Fouled Anchor, into dozens of cases of sexual assault and misconduct between 1988 and 2006. The Coast Guard also apologized for not taking “appropriate action” years ago when it failed to adequately handle cases of sexual assault and harassment at the academy in New London.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, whose district includes the academy, noted in a statement how the Department of Defense “swiftly implemented” a policy change preventing cadets at its service academies from receiving punishment for minor offenses when they report sexual assault or harassment. He said such protections must be extended to the Coast Guard Academy cadets as well.

“This is one step in the process to care for our cadets as I continue to engage with Coast Guard leadership on the path forward following its failure to disclose the investigation into its history of sexual assault and harassment at the Coast Guard Academy,” said Courtney, the bill’s lead proponent.

His co-sponsors include Republican U.S. Rep. Trent Kelly of Mississippi and Democratic Reps. Rick Larsen of Washington and Salud Carbajal and Nanette Diaz Barragan of California.

“I know how important it is for our Coasties to have the same rights and protections against sexual misconduct as other members of our military,” Carbajal, a veteran and the top Democrat on the House subcommittee overseeing the U.S. Coast Guard, said in a statement. “This bill is simple and straightforward, bringing all military service academies under the same umbrella of safety and accountability to protect the next generation of servicemembers.”

The National Defense Authorization Act in 2021 required the Department of Defense to implement the Safe-to-Report Policy for a midshipman or cadet who is a victim of an alleged sexual assault at a DOD military academy and has committed a minor offense such as underage drinking or violating curfew.

In June, U.S. Sens. Maria Cantwell of Washington and Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin said the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, which has oversight of the Coast Guard, was not informed of the probe until an informal briefing with Senate staff. They demanded documents and records related to the investigation, which identified 62 substantiated incidents of rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment that occurred at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy or by academy cadets.

The internal Coast Guard investigation was first reported by CNN.

This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.

White, who represents Ward 8, is accused of agreeing to accept $156,000 in exchange for using his position to pressure employees of the D.C. Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement and the D.C. Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services (DYRS) to extend several contracts, prosecutors said.

He’s chair of a D.C. Council committee that oversees several agencies, including DYRS.

White received $35,000 in four cash payments in the alleged scheme, court documents filed on Thursday say.

His lawyer declined on Friday to comment on the latest development.

White has not commented on the case or entered a plea since federal authorities arrested him in the Navy Yard area on Aug. 18. On Instagram, posted a brief video thanking people who have continued to support him.

Following White’s arrest, the D.C. government launched a wide-ranging review of violence interruption work.

Read the full indictment here:

Here’s what federal prosecutors say Trayon White did

Federal prosecutors say White agreed starting in June to accept $156,000 in bribes in exchange for using his position to pressure government employees to extend violence intervention contracts worth $5.2 million.

He’s accused of accepting envelopes full of cash as he was caught on a hidden camera. Here’s how the FBI broke down the payments:

• June 26: $15,000 cash received
• July 17: $5,000 cash received
• July 25: $10,000 cash received
• Aug. 9: $5,000 cash received

Images included in court documents show what prosecutors say is White receiving envelopes stuffed with cash.

DC Council Aug 21

How Trayon White's arrest may shake up the Ward 8 election

DC Council Aug 19

Secret cameras, $35K in cash: DC Council member Trayon White accused of bribery

An FBI informant who operated businesses that contracted with the D.C. government agreed to cooperate with authorities as part of an agreement to plead guilty to bribery and bank fraud charges. Several conversations between White and the informant were recorded in a parked car wired for video and audio, including outside White’s home, prosecutors say.

At one meeting, White and the informant discussed contracts the informant had with ONSE. The informant asked White if the contracts would be renewed and said he had $15,000 cash.

Initially, White asked, “What you need me to do, man? I don’t, I don’t wanna feel like you gotta gimme something to get something. We better than that.”

Then he tucked the envelope with the cash into his jacket pocket, prosecutors say.

News4 sends breaking news stories by email. Go here to sign up to get breaking news alerts in your inbox.

Stay with NBC Washington for more details on this developing story.

This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.

The full terms of the proposal were not immediately disclosed. But Democratic Sen. Creigh Deeds said in an interview that his caucus had made an offer that included serious concessions, including on some of the permanent tax cuts House Republicans and Gov. Glenn Youngkin have been seeking. It could pave the way for a deal, he said.

“I think it certainly is the basis for getting this resolved in the next couple of weeks,” Deeds said.

The politically divided General Assembly ended its regular session in February without reaching agreement on the full spending plan. Private negotiations between representatives of the GOP-controlled House and Democrat-controlled Senate have been underway since then.

Because the state operates on a two-year budget, with the plan initially adopted in even-numbered years and amended in odd-numbered years, the impasse hasn’t halted the functioning of the state government, even as the state moved into a new fiscal year July 1. There’s already a budget in place.

But lawmakers have faced criticism for not moving more quickly on the spending plan at a time when the state has a multibillion-dollar surplus, the exact size of which has been under dispute. School districts, local governments and a wide range of advocacy groups and special interest groups have been closely watching for progress.

Del. Barry Knight, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, confirmed Friday that he had received a 21-page proposal from Senate Democrats a day earlier. He said in a text message that the proposal was still under review.

Deeds said the offer represents a “consensus view” that Senate Democrats “had to swallow some toads to get to.”

He said it involves tax relief, mostly in the form of rebates but also some permanent tax cuts. The offer attempted to cover both parties’ top priorities, he said.

Deeds, who is among the small circle of budget conferees involved in negotiations, declined to share a copy, deferring to Sen. Janet Howell and Sen. George Barker, co-chairs of the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee. They did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.

The proposal from Senate Democrats comes after House Republicans made their most recent offer last month.

White, who represents Ward 8, is accused of agreeing to accept $156,000 in exchange for using his position to pressure employees of the D.C. Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement and the D.C. Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services (DYRS) to extend several contracts, prosecutors said.

He’s chair of a D.C. Council committee that oversees several agencies, including DYRS.

White received $35,000 in four cash payments in the alleged scheme, court documents filed on Thursday say.

His lawyer declined on Friday to comment on the latest development.

White has not commented on the case or entered a plea since federal authorities arrested him in the Navy Yard area on Aug. 18. On Instagram, posted a brief video thanking people who have continued to support him.

Following White’s arrest, the D.C. government launched a wide-ranging review of violence interruption work.

Read the full indictment here:

Here’s what federal prosecutors say Trayon White did

Federal prosecutors say White agreed starting in June to accept $156,000 in bribes in exchange for using his position to pressure government employees to extend violence intervention contracts worth $5.2 million.

He’s accused of accepting envelopes full of cash as he was caught on a hidden camera. Here’s how the FBI broke down the payments:

• June 26: $15,000 cash received
• July 17: $5,000 cash received
• July 25: $10,000 cash received
• Aug. 9: $5,000 cash received

Images included in court documents show what prosecutors say is White receiving envelopes stuffed with cash.

DC Council Aug 21

How Trayon White's arrest may shake up the Ward 8 election

DC Council Aug 19

Secret cameras, $35K in cash: DC Council member Trayon White accused of bribery

An FBI informant who operated businesses that contracted with the D.C. government agreed to cooperate with authorities as part of an agreement to plead guilty to bribery and bank fraud charges. Several conversations between White and the informant were recorded in a parked car wired for video and audio, including outside White’s home, prosecutors say.

At one meeting, White and the informant discussed contracts the informant had with ONSE. The informant asked White if the contracts would be renewed and said he had $15,000 cash.

Initially, White asked, “What you need me to do, man? I don’t, I don’t wanna feel like you gotta gimme something to get something. We better than that.”

Then he tucked the envelope with the cash into his jacket pocket, prosecutors say.

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White, who represents Ward 8, is accused of agreeing to accept $156,000 in exchange for using his position to pressure employees of the D.C. Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement and the D.C. Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services (DYRS) to extend several contracts, prosecutors said.

He’s chair of a D.C. Council committee that oversees several agencies, including DYRS.

White received $35,000 in four cash payments in the alleged scheme, court documents filed on Thursday say.

His lawyer declined on Friday to comment on the latest development.

White has not commented on the case or entered a plea since federal authorities arrested him in the Navy Yard area on Aug. 18. On Instagram, posted a brief video thanking people who have continued to support him.

Following White’s arrest, the D.C. government launched a wide-ranging review of violence interruption work.

Read the full indictment here:

Here’s what federal prosecutors say Trayon White did

Federal prosecutors say White agreed starting in June to accept $156,000 in bribes in exchange for using his position to pressure government employees to extend violence intervention contracts worth $5.2 million.

He’s accused of accepting envelopes full of cash as he was caught on a hidden camera. Here’s how the FBI broke down the payments:

• June 26: $15,000 cash received
• July 17: $5,000 cash received
• July 25: $10,000 cash received
• Aug. 9: $5,000 cash received

Images included in court documents show what prosecutors say is White receiving envelopes stuffed with cash.

DC Council Aug 21

How Trayon White's arrest may shake up the Ward 8 election

DC Council Aug 19

Secret cameras, $35K in cash: DC Council member Trayon White accused of bribery

An FBI informant who operated businesses that contracted with the D.C. government agreed to cooperate with authorities as part of an agreement to plead guilty to bribery and bank fraud charges. Several conversations between White and the informant were recorded in a parked car wired for video and audio, including outside White’s home, prosecutors say.

At one meeting, White and the informant discussed contracts the informant had with ONSE. The informant asked White if the contracts would be renewed and said he had $15,000 cash.

Initially, White asked, “What you need me to do, man? I don’t, I don’t wanna feel like you gotta gimme something to get something. We better than that.”

Then he tucked the envelope with the cash into his jacket pocket, prosecutors say.

News4 sends breaking news stories by email. Go here to sign up to get breaking news alerts in your inbox.

Stay with NBC Washington for more details on this developing story.

This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.