Month: December 2022

Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock defeated Republican challenger Herschel Walker in a Georgia runoff election Tuesday, ensuring Democrats an outright majority in the Senate for the rest of President Joe Biden’s term. With Warnock’s victory, Democrats will have a 51-49 Senate majority, gaining a seat from the current 50-50 split with John Fetterman’s victory in Pennsylvania. There will be divided government, however, with Republicans having narrowly flipped House control.

Warnock led Walker by 37,000 votes in last month’s election out of almost 4 million cast, but fell short of the 50% threshold needed to avoid a runoff. Walker, a football legend who first gained fame at the University of Georgia and later in the NFL in the 1980s, was faced with damaging allegations against him, including claims that he paid for two former girlfriends’ abortions.

About 1.9 million runoff votes were cast by mail and during early voting, with state officials estimating an additional 1.4 million votes cast — slightly more than in the November midterm and the 2020 election. The Democrats outright majority in the Senate means the party will no longer have to negotiate a power-sharing deal with Republicans — and won’t have to rely on Vice President Kamala Harris to break as many tie votes. Warnock’s victory also cements Georgia as a battleground state expected to play a prominent role in the 2024 presidential election. Democrats have now won three Senate races in the past two years in the former Republican stronghold; Democratic President Joe Biden carried Georgia in 2020.

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On Tuesday, a New York jury found the Trump Organization guilty of all charges in a 15-year tax fraud scheme that prosecutors alleged was orchestrated by top executives at the company. Jurors deliberated for just over a day before returning the guilty verdicts on a total of 17 counts, including scheme to defraud, conspiracy, criminal tax fraud and falsifying business records. The company faces roughly $1.6 million in fines at sentencing.

The Trump Organization and its former longtime chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, were indicted last year after a multiyear investigation into the company’s financial practices by the Manhattan district attorney’s office. Prosecutors alleged that two corporations that are a part of the company — Trump Corp. and Trump Payroll Corp. — paid executives including Weisselberg more by “cheating on their taxes” through a series of schemes that included off-the-books perks like luxury cars and free apartments.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said Tuesday: “For 13 years the Trump Corporation and the Trump Payroll Corporation got away with a scheme that awarded high-level executives with lavish perks and compensation while intentionally concealing the benefits from the taxing authorities to avoid paying taxes … Today’s verdict holds these Trump companies accountable for their long-running criminal scheme.”

Trump, who was not charged, complained about the case on social media Tuesday morning. The former president said the district attorney’s office had been “fighting a political Witch Hunt for D.C. against ‘Trump.’”

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The police chief in Tampa, Florida resigned Monday after using her position to escape a ticket during a traffic stop on Nov. 12 by a Pinellas County sheriff’s deputy, involving a golf cart driven by her husband.  Chief Mary O’Connor submitted her resignation after an internal affairs review found she violated police department policy. The internal review found O’Connor, who had been on the job less than a year, violated regulations on standards of conduct and “abuse of position or identification.”

The stop, which was recorded on video by the deputy’s body camera, shows O’Connor identifying herself as the Tampa chief, flashing her badge and saying “I’m hoping you will let us go tonight.” The deputy issued only a verbal warning instead of a citation. The golf cart did not have a license tag, a requirement for when such vehicles are driven on public streets. O’Connor’s husband, Keith, said they had just come from a restaurant and didn’t usually drive the cart on streets.

O’Connor had issued a statement apologizing for her conduct: “In hindsight, I realize how my handling of this matter could be viewed as inappropriate, but that was certainly not my intent,” she said. In her resignation letter, O’Connor took responsibility for her actions: “I would never want my personal mistake to stand in the way of the progress I have made in mending relationships between the police department and the community … so for that reason, I am resigning.”

Mayor Jane Castor, a former Tampa police chief herself, said in a statement requesting the resignation: “The Tampa Police Department has a code of conduct that includes high standards for ethical and professional behavior that apply to every member of our police force. As the Chief of Police, you are not only to abide by and enforce those standards but to also lead by example. That clearly did not happen in this case.” Castor has appointed assistant chief Lee Bercaw as acting chief.

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Long Island, NY prosecutors said Monday that a New Jersey inmate dubbed the “Torso Killer” pleaded guilty to a 1968 slaying near New York City, as well as admitting to four other homicides. Richard Cottingham — believed to be one of America’s most prolific serial killers — admitted to strangling 23-year-old Diane Cusick on Feb. 15, 1968, at the Green Acres Mall in Nassau County Officials said that in addition to Cusick’s case, he also confessed to four other Long Island slayings, officials said.

Cusick had left her job at a children’s dance school and then stopped at the mall to buy a pair of dance shoes when the New Hyde Park woman was strangled by Cottingham, authorities said. District Attorney Anne Donnelly told reporters in Mineola, NY: “Today is one is one the most emotional days we’ve ever had the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office … In the case of Diane Cusick, her family has waited nearly 55 years for someone to be held accountable for her death.”

Nassau County investigators said Cottingham could be responsible for as many as 13 homicides in their jurisdiction, but these slayings are the only ones they can positively link him to now. He’s been dubbed the “Torso Killer” due to the savage manner he maimed some of his victims. Cottingham had also been called the “Times Square Killer” for murders he committed in New York City.

Cottingham is in poor health and living out his days in a New Jersey prison, serving life for murders committed there. The 76-year-old appeared via remote feed from New Jersey.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/torso-killer-admits-killing-5-women-decades-ago-94488942

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Authorities are investigating widespread power outages in south-central North Carolina as an intentional criminal act after an electrical substation was damaged by gunfire.  Authorities are still looking for the individuals responsible for firing multiple shots at the electrical substation causing damage to the equipment as well as a motivation for doing so. The FBI and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigations are assisting in the investigation.

Moore County Sheriff Ronnie Fields said that an estimated 45,000 customers were without electricity. Jeff Brooks, a spokesperson for utility company Duke Energy, said that with no estimate on a restoration time because a number of facilities are involved and the work will be complicated. Duke Energy said nearly 38,000 customers were without power in Moore County, while the Randolph Electric Membership Corporation reported outages affected nearly 3,000 customers in the county’s southern area   Power may potentially be out until Thursday while equipment at the substation is replaced. Said Brooks during a press conference on Sunday evening: “Unlike perhaps a storm where you can go in and reroute power somewhere else, that was not an option in this case. Recognizing that, we are looking at a pretty sophisticated repair with some fairly large equipment and so we do want citizens of the town to be prepared that this will be a multi-day restoration for most customers extending potentially as long as Thursday.”

Sheriff Ronnie Fields said that a curfew was issued Sunday evening in Moore County in response to the power outage, which will be implemented county-wide starting 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. It will be in effect for “the next few nights,” he said. Fields said the outages were unprecedented, and he’d never seen anything like them in his 40-year law enforcement career.nAs part of the curfew, officials are encouraging residents to stay home and out of the street.

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In an interview with CBS’ “Face The Nation” on Sunday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the United States and Russia are still “actively engaged” in talks for a prisoner swap to free imprisoned WNBA star Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan, a retired Marine charged with espionage.

Blinken assured that the United States remains determined to bring Griner and Whelan home months after an offer was proposed in July to release Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer convicted in the U.S.  Said Blinken: “We did put a significant proposal on the table many months ago, and since then, we’ve been engaged repeatedly, in any way that we can, to try to advance it and to look to see if there are different permutations that could achieve what we’re trying to achieve, which is to get our people home. Brittney Griner. Paul Whelan. We’re engaged in that on a regular basis. And it’s my determination that we bring our people home. We will not stop until we do.”

Russian media reported that officials in Moscow are seeking a one-for-one swap; however, Blinken dodged questions about who the U.S. would choose if that were the case: “The other side gets a vote in this. It’s not just what we want. It’s what they’re prepared to do. And this is something that we’re working on almost every day.”

Blinken also said on Sunday in an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper that the White House is working with Congress on legislation that would “help us get around some of the challenges” of designating Russia a State Sponsor of Terrorism.

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