Month: September 2024

Donald Trump is “safe” after multiple gunshots were fired near his golf course in Florida. A spokesperson for the West Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office said no one was injured, and the golf course was put on lockdown as a precaution. Trump had just returned to Florida this weekend from the West Coast which included a rally in Las Vegas on Friday nights and a fundraiser in Utah. The FBI later said Sunday on it “is investigating what appears to be an attempted assassination of former President Trump.”

According to a statement from Trump Campaign Communications Director Steven Cheung, the former president was golfing at Trump National Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Fla., on Sunday, Sept. 15, when the incident occurred. Cheung said: “President Trump is safe following gunshots in his vicinity. No further details at this time.” 

According to law enforcement sources, Trump, 78, was taken to safety by the Secret Service after agents opened fire on a man who was spotted with what may have been a gun while the former president was playing golf.  A member of Trump’s Secret Service detail spotted a suspicious individual on the golf course and opened fire when the agents saw what appeared to be the barrel of a gun. The suspect fled the scene, jumping into a car after he was engaged by Secret Service agents. A car with the same license plate number was stopped in Martin County, north of the golf course, and one individual was taken into custody, the officials said. An AK-47 style weapon and scope were recovered at the scene by the golf course. No motive has been determined at this time.

Chief of Communications for the Secret Service, Anthony Guglielmi, said in a statement: “The Secret Service, in conjunction with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, is investigating a protective incident involving former President Donald Trump that occurred shortly before 2 p.m.” He also stated that Trump “is safe” and added that the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office “will have more details soon.”

Trump wrote in a fundraising email Sunday afternoon: “There were gunshots in my vicinity, but before rumors start spiraling out of control, I wanted you to hear this first: I AM SAFE AND WELL!” 

The White House said in a statement: “The President and Vice President have been briefed about the security incident at the Trump International Golf Course, where former President Trump was golfing. They are relieved to know that he is safe. They will be kept regularly updated by their team.”  In a separate post on X, Harris said, “I am glad he is safe. Violence has no place in America.”

The shooting took place two months after Trump was rushed off the stage after being injured at a Pennsylvania rally on July 13, which has since been called an assassination attempt.

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Three Americans, as well as two Spaniards and a Czech citizen, were arrested after Venezuelan officials accused them of coming to the country with a plot to assassinate President Nicolas Maduro.

The arrests were announced on state television by the nation’s interior minister, Diosdado Cabello, who said the foreign citizens were part of a CIA-led plot to overthrow the Venezuelan government and kill several members of its leadership. In the television program, Cabello showed images of rifles that he said were confiscated from some of the plotters of the alleged plan.

The three American citizens included a Navy SEAL, identified as Wilbert Joseph Castañeda Gomez, who had served in Afghanistan, Iraq and Colombia and was detained in Venezuela. The U.S. State Department late Saturday confirmed the detention of a U.S. military member and said it was aware of “unconfirmed reports of two additional U.S. citizens detained in Venezuela.  Any claims of U.S. involvement in a plot to overthrow Maduro are categorically false. The United States continues to support a democratic solution to the political crisis in Venezuela.”

The arrests come just two days after the U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions on 16 allies of Maduro who were accused by the U.S. government of obstructing voting during Venezuela’s disputed July 28 presidential election, which the country’s opposition accuses Maduro of stealing.

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Prosecutors said in a New York courtroom on Thursday that disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein has been indicted by a new grand jury on additional charges.

Prosecutor Nicole Blumberg said that the new indictment is under seal. Assistant District Attorney Nicole Blumberg said: “We informed the defense just prior to being present in court this morning … the grand jury has indicted Mr. Weinstein.” Weinstein, 72, was not in court as he is recuperating after emergency heart surgery days ago, and did not receive medical clearance to attend.   Weinstein’s attorney Arthur Aidala told Deadline there may be three new criminal complaints against his client from 2005, 2006 and 2016 based on what prosecutors have told him, but he did not have details.

Judge Curtis Farber has set a trial date for Nov. 12; and ordered the city corrections department to house Weinstein in the Bellevue Hospital prison ward, if medically necessary, stating: “Inattention at Rikers carries very real risks. He could find himself again in crisis.” Weinstein had been in custody at the Rikers Island prison complex while awaiting retrial.

NBC News reported earlier this month that a grand jury had been convened to hear from women who had come forward with new accusations against Weinstein.  More than 80 women have accused the former producer of sexual assault or harassment; Weinstein has repeatedly and vehemently denied those claims, insisting the encounters in question were consensual.

Weinstein was convicted in 2020 of third-degree rape of one woman and first-degree criminal sex act against another woman after a trial in New York and sentenced to 23 years in prison. However, that conviction was overturned in April after a state appellate court determined the judge had erred by allowing women to testify about allegations that were not part of the case.

Weinstein was also found guilty of one count of rape and two counts of sexual assault in a 2022 trial in Los Angeles, where he was sentenced to 16 years. Weinstein’s legal team is in the process of appealing that conviction.

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Officials said that The Bridge Fire is now the largest active wildfire in California, burning about 50,000 acres across Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties and forcing residents to flee as it destroyed dozens of homes.  As of Thursday morning, the fire was still listed at 0% containment; the fire began on Sunday afternoon with the cause still unknown. About 40 homes have been destroyed near the San Gabriel Mountains as authorities battled several large blazes aided by federal assistance and the state National Guard.

The Bridge Fire threatened 1,068 structures as Thursday morning, according to Cal Fire. Numerous buildings and structures were already impacted, and damage to power infrastructure was reported.  The fire could continue to grow as it moves to areas with “receptive fuels with little to no fire history,” according to Cal Fire, who warned that the expanding inferno may cause “spot fires” as it reaches areas of “receptive fuels with little to no fire history.”

The rapid growth of The Bridge Fire has surpassed the Line Fire, which is also burning in San Bernardino and has scorched another 37,000 acres with 18% containment. Another large wildfire active in southern California, the Airport Fire, is affecting Orange and Riverside counties and continued to burn with 5% containment. Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency related to the Line Fire last weekend, which was 18% contained as of Wednesday night at 36,481 acres in size.

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On Wednesday, Speaker Mike Johnson said that the House would not proceed with a planned vote on a stopgap measure to keep the government funded past the end of the month, acknowledging opposition from members of his own party that likely would have doomed the bill.

Johnson told reporters that they’ll delay the vote until next week as they work to quell Republican opposition: “No vote today because we’re in the consensus-building business. We are going to continue to work on this. The whip is going to do the hard work to build consensus and work on the weekend on that,” Johnson added, noting they are having “family conversations” about it.

Returning to Capitol Hill from their August recess on Monday, lawmakers will now have until the end of the month to fund the government, making a short-term measure necessary to avert a government shutdown. House Republican leadership unveiled their plan to push for a continuing resolution to keep the government funded through March 28. The House-passed measure known as the SAVE Act is aimed at targeting illegal voting, with the legislation requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections, despite the fact that only U.S. citizens are eligible to vote in federal elections under current law.  Democratic leaders made it clear that the plan to pair the voting legislation with a stopgap measure is dead on arrival in the upper chamber.

Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday urged GOP lawmakers to pursue the voting legislation in a post on social media, saying, “If Republicans in the House, and Senate, don’t get absolute assurances on Election Security,” they shouldn’t move forward with a clean continuing resolution to keep the government funded.  However, House Republicans began expressing their opposition for the funding plan on Tuesday, throwing the vote into question.

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