Month: December 2022

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried made the decision to consent to extradition to the United States over the weekend, but on Monday he changed course and was sent back to a Bahamian prison. The fallen crypto mogul’s attorney said he would not agree to extradition from the Bahamas last week when he was arrested at one of his palatial homes. On Saturday, he indicated he would not contest extradition.

However on Monday in open court in the Bahamas, Bankman-Fried requested a copy of his federal indictment. After seeing the indictment, the 30-year-old decided he would not surrender himself to extradition, which could have happened by the end of the day if he agreed. Bankman-Fried’s defense attorney was surprised that his client was in court on Monday as well. Prosecutor Franklyn Williams KC said he did not request Bankman-Fried’s presence but was of the understanding that he intended to waive his contention of extradition.

Bankman-Fried was sent back to His Majesty’s Prison Fox Hill, which is notorious for its poor conditions, including inadequate sanitation practices, overcrowding and poor nutrition. Bankman-Fried is being held in a private room in the medical wing of the prison.

The disgraced founder of crypto exchange FTX faces eight charges, including fraud, money laundering and campaign finance law violations. Three of the counts against him — two counts of wire fraud, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering — carry maximum 20-year sentences.

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The U.S. House committee investigating the violent insurrection at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 voted unanimously on Monday to recommend the Justice Department pursue a batch of criminal charges against former President Donald Trump for his role in an effort to overturn the 2020 election. Trump was the first president in American history to be impeached twice, and is now also the first president ever to be formally referred by Congress for potential criminal prosecution.

The committee’s final meeting marked the end of a 17-month congressional investigation that included more than 100 subpoenas, interviews with more than 1,200 witnesses and the collection of hundreds of thousands of documents. The select committee also took aim at Trump’s top allies who worked with the former president to block certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s election victory and illegitimately keep Trump in power.

Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., who led the Jan. 6 subcommittee that examined referrals, said: “We understand the gravity of each and every referral we are making today, just as we understand the magnitude of the crime against democracy that we describe in our report. But we have gone where the facts and the law lead us, and inescapably they lead us here.”  Raskin said there may be others worthy of prosecution and there may be other statutes that Trump violated, noting the Justice Department will be able to form “a far more complete picture” through its own ongoing investigation.

This marks the first time in history that a congressional committee has recommended that DOJ launch a criminal investigation into a former American president. The Jan. 6 committee is urging DOJ to consider a number of charges against Trump, including conspiracy to defraud the federal government; obstruction of an official proceeding, in this case Congress’ certification of electoral votes; conspiracy to make a false statement; and inciting or assisting those in an insurrection. The criminal referrals do not carry any legal weight but represent a symbolic rebuke of Trump, who remains the most influential Republican in the country and has launched another bid for president in 2024.

The committee also voted to formally adopt its full report on its Jan. 6 investigation; it is expected to be hundreds of pages long and will be released to the public on Wednesday. Interview transcripts and other written and video evidence will also be shared with the public, committee members said. Outgoing Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. said: “With painstaking detail, this executive summary documents the sinister plot to subvert the Congress, shred the Constitution and halt the peaceful transfer of power. The Committee has reached important conclusions about the evidence it has developed, and I respect those findings.”

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The mother and stepfather of a missing 11-year-old North Carolina girl are in the custody of the FBI. The Cornelius Police Department in North Carolina said in a statement that Diana Cojocari, 37, and Christopher Palmiter, 60, were arrested on Sunday for failure to report the disappearance of a child. Both are being held at the Mecklenburg County Detention Center.

Their daughter, 11-year-old Madalina Cojocari, has been missing since Nov. 23. She was last seen at her home in Cornelius and missed about three weeks of school before the school was notified by her parents on Thursday.  North Carolina law requires parents or guardians to report the disappearance of any child less than 16 years old within a reasonable time. A child is considered to have disappeared when the person supervising them has not seen them or had contact with them for more than 24 hours.

The FBI said that Madalina, who is a student at Bailey Middle School in Cornelius, weighs approximately 90 pounds and is about 4 feet and 10 inches tall. Madalina has brown eyes and brown hair and was last seen wearing jeans, a white t-shirt, a jacket and pink, purple and white Adidas shoes.

Anyone with information about Madalina Cojocari are asked to contact Cornelius Police Department at 704-892-7773 or 1-800-CALL-FBI

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On Sunday, Twitter announced a new policy that prohibits users from using the platform to advertise their profiles on competitors such as Facebook, Instagram and Mastodon. Twitter Support tweeted: “Specifically, we will remove accounts created solely for the purpose of promoting other social platforms and content that contains links or usernames for the following platforms: Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, Truth Social, Tribel, Nostr and Post.” Twitter will continue to allow paid advertisements and promotion of the aforementioned platforms.

Under Musk’s ownership, many users pledged to leave Twitter, and especially after the suspensions of journalists. Washington Post reporter Taylor Lorenz was suspended from Twitter after posing a question to Musk about a story she was working on with colleague Drew Harwell. Musk tweeted that the suspension is temporary and was done due to alleged “doxxing.” (doxxing is the act of publishing or posting private information about someone with malicious intent).  Musk did not specify when this occurred.

On Friday, Twitter suspended several journalists who have reported on Musk in the past, including reporters from CNN, the Washington Post and the New York Times. Musk claimed journalists have violated Twitter’s terms of service by posting “assassination coordinates” for the tech mogul.  However after taking a poll on Saturday, Musk reinstated some of the journalists. About 3.6 million people voted on the poll and more than 58% responded that he should immediately reinstate the suspended accounts as opposed to waiting seven days.

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Led by Lionel Messi, Argentina defeated France to earn the 2022 FIFA World Cup on Sunday in Lusail, Qatar, in a game that many are saying will be remembered as ‘one of the great finals of all time.’

The thrilling match went to extra time and then a penalty shootout between Argentina and the former reigning champion France, with Lionel Messi scoring two goals to help secure the win for Argentina. France’s star player Kylian Mbappe scored three times, twice in regulation to tie the game and again to tie the game in extra time. Mbappe finished as the top scorer with eight goals; but his team fell short in the penalty shootout with the chance to win a second consecutive World Cup. The final score was 3-3 decided in a shootout, which ended 4-2.

This is Messi’s first World Cup win and Argentina’s third. In his last World Cup appearance, Messi won the title that has eluded him throughout his career. Argentina previously won the FIFA tournament in 1978 and 1986. Before that, Argentina had been runners-up in 1930, 1990, and 2014. France had previously taken home the title in 2018, defeating Croatia 4-2 in the final round.

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