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Source: https://theintercept.com/feed/

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26.                <title><![CDATA[The Scramble to Find the Gaza Doctor in the White Coat]]></title>
27.                <link>https://theintercept.com/2024/12/31/israel-gaza-hospital-doctors-hussam-abu-safiya/</link>
28.                <comments>https://theintercept.com/2024/12/31/israel-gaza-hospital-doctors-hussam-abu-safiya/#respond</comments>
29.                <pubDate>Tue, 31 Dec 2024 21:25:00 +0000</pubDate>
30.                                    <dc:creator><![CDATA[Jonah Valdez]]></dc:creator>
31.                                 <category><![CDATA[World]]></category>
32.  
33.                <guid isPermaLink="false">https://theintercept.com/?p=484142</guid>
34.                                    <description><![CDATA[<p>Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya is one of six medical workers with the Chicago-based organization MedGlobal who remain in Israeli custody.</p>
35. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/12/31/israel-gaza-hospital-doctors-hussam-abu-safiya/">The Scramble to Find the Gaza Doctor in the White Coat</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
36. ]]></description>
37.                                        <content:encoded><![CDATA[
38. <p><span class="has-underline">As the Israeli</span> military closed in on Kamal Adwan Hospital in recent weeks — the last remaining major health care facility in northern Gaza — Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya remained inside to <a href="https://www.instagram.com/dr.hussam73/?hl=en">record</a> the worsening situation.&nbsp;</p>
39.  
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42. <p>In one video, Abu Safiya, the hospital&#8217;s director, showed an intensive care unit with blown out windows where he said shrapnel had shattered a nurse’s skull as he cared for a patient. In another, as bombs shook the building, Abu Safiya explained that Israel Defense Forces robots equipped with explosives were detonating around 50 meters from the hospital. Separate videos showed quadcopter drones dropping bombs atop nearby buildings as patients and staff looked on.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
43.  
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46. <p>Last week, Israeli soldiers raided the hospital. One hundred and eighty medical workers and more than 75 patients and their relatives remained inside. Medical workers and patients reported that <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/12/27/israeli-soldiers-burn-gazas-kamal-adwan-hospital-force-hundreds-to-leave">Israeli soldiers beat them and killed one doctor</a>. Soldiers set fire to several parts of the hospital, Gaza health officials said. The hospital is currently nonfunctional.&nbsp;</p>
47.  
48.  
49.  
50. <p>Abu Safiya was among those arrested by the Israeli military. The last known <a href="http://“These basic principles of international humanitarian law, where parties to conflict must take measures to medical spaces —">images</a> of him, first broadcast by Al Jazeera and since <a href="https://x.com/omarsuleiman/status/1873118515009602028">circulated</a> widely <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DEJDA0UP0_e/?hl=en">online</a>, show Abu Safiya, still dressed in his white doctor’s coat, walking amid heaps of rubble toward a pair of Israeli armored vehicles. He has since disappeared into the Israeli military’s secretive prison system, with no clear charges, <a href="https://www.btselem.org/administrative_detention">a norm</a> for Palestinian prisoners who are often <a href="https://theintercept.com/2023/11/29/intercepted-israel-palestine-prisoner-hostage/">held indefinitely</a> by Israeli authorities.  </p>
51.  
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54. <p>Colleagues and family members have been scrambling to locate Abu Safiya and to secure his release. Abu Safiya’s arrest has drawn outcry from <a href="https://x.com/AmnestyMENA/status/1873437417178300494">Amnesty International</a>, the <a href="https://www.who.int/news/item/28-12-2024-kamal-adwan-hospital-out-of-service-following-a-raid-today-and-repeated-attacks-since-october">World Health Organization</a>, <a href="https://x.com/jeremycorbyn/status/1873336113437589913">political officials</a>, and hundreds of physicians who launched a social media <a href="https://www.newarab.com/news/doctors-launch-campaign-free-gaza-hospital-head-abu-safiya">campaign</a> to demand his release. </p>
55.  
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58. <p>Abu Safiya has been outspoken in his <a href="https://www.instagram.com/middleeasteye/reel/DCKvKfJIHvD/">criticism</a> of Israel&#8217;s attacks on Gaza&#8217;s health system in the past year. His 15-year-old son Ibrahim was also killed in an Israeli drone strike in October in front of Kamal Adwan, where he had been sheltering with his family. Abu Safiya is one of <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/05/24/gaza-palestinian-doctors-hospital-detained-missing-disappeared/">hundreds</a> of medical workers who have been detained by the Israeli military, most times without cause, throughout its genocidal war in Gaza.&nbsp;</p>
59.  
60.  
61.  
62. <p>According to his family and former prisoners, he is being held at Sde Teiman, a secretive Israeli military prison in the Negev Desert with a <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/08/09/israel-prison-sde-teiman-palestinian-abuse-torture/">history of abuse</a>, torture, and sexual assault. “He now suffers severe mistreatment in Sde Teiman detention center, including humiliation, exposure to freezing cold, and denial of medical care,” his family said in a<a href="https://x.com/dn_osama_rabee/status/1873754416681042213"> statement</a>.&nbsp;</p>
63.  
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70. <p>Abu Safiya works for MedGlobal, a Chicago-based humanitarian organization that <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/11/12/israel-aid-block-gaza-biden/">provides medical care in disaster and conflict zones</a>, and is just one of six medical personnel with the organization who remain in Israeli custody, according to MedGlobal Executive Director Joseph Belliveau. Two other doctors, two cleaners, one data entry worker, and one nurse administrator — all arrested on October 26 at Kamal Adwan — remain in detention.&nbsp;</p>
71.  
72.  
73.  
74. <p>Belliveau said in recent days that MedGlobal has been working with the U.S. State Department, members of Congress, the European Union, the United Nations, and the Israeli government to secure the release of Abu Safiya and other MedGlobal staff.&nbsp;</p>
75.  
76.  
77.  
78. <p>Israeli officials have confirmed that the workers have been arrested, “but beyond that, absolute pin-dropping silence,” Belliveau said. “Where exactly are they? What are their conditions? What are they being accused of? How are they being treated? What comes next? What about due process here? Nothing.”<br><br><!-- BLOCK(promote-post)[1](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22PROMOTE_POST%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22SHORTCODE%22%2C%22optional%22%3Atrue%7D)(%7B%22slug%22%3A%22israel-palestine%22%2C%22crop%22%3A%22promo%22%7D) -->  <aside class="promote-banner">
79.    <a class="promote-banner__link" href="https://theintercept.com/collections/israel-palestine/">
80.              <span class="promote-banner__image">
81.          <img decoding="async" width="300" height="150" src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?fit=300%2C150" class="attachment-medium size-medium" alt="DEIR AL-BALAH, GAZA - NOVEMBER 7: Civil defense teams and citizens continue search and rescue operations after an airstrike hits the building belonging to the Maslah family during the 32nd day of Israeli attacks in Deir Al-Balah, Gaza on November 7, 2023. (Photo by Ashraf Amra/Anadolu via Getty Images)" srcset="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=5760 5760w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=300 300w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=768 768w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=1024 1024w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=1536 1536w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=2048 2048w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=540 540w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=1000 1000w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=2400 2400w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=3600 3600w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />        </span>
82.            <div class="promote-banner__text">
83.                  <p class="promote-banner__eyebrow">
84.            Read our complete coverage          </p>
85.        
86.        <h2 class="promote-banner__title">Israel’s War on Gaza</h2>
87.      </div>
88.    </a>
89.  </aside>
90. <!-- END-BLOCK(promote-post)[1] --></p>
91.  
92.  
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94. <p><span class="has-underline">Another MedGlobal doctor</span> disappeared into Israeli detention last month and emerged with a story of brutal treatment at the hands of his captors. On November 17, the IDF arrested one of Abu Safiya’s colleagues at Kamal Adwan Hospital at a nearby checkpoint. About one month later, the Israeli military released the doctor back into Gaza without explanation, Belliveau said. He declined to share the doctor’s name due to safety concerns.&nbsp;</p>
95.  
96.  
97.  
98. <p>“We could not even speak to him after several days after his release because he was so traumatized by what happened to him,” Belliveau said. During his imprisonment, the doctor was forced to live inside an outdoor “chicken coop,” and was exposed to cold weather. He was also denied food “and other means of demeaning and humiliating and brutal treatment,” Belliveau said.</p>
99.  
100.  
101.  
102. <p>“We still don&#8217;t have the full picture because of the state that he&#8217;s in,” he continued. “So that gives you a glimpse of the kind of treatment that our colleagues are experiencing when they&#8217;re imprisoned.”</p>
103.  
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106.  <div class="promote-related-post">
107.    <a      class="promo-related-post__link"
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113.              <img decoding="async" width="440" height="440" src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/GettyImages-2148003826-e1716499384624.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="" loading="lazy" />            <span class="promo-related-post__text">
114.      <h2 class="promote-related-post__eyebrow">
115.        Related      </h2>
116.      <h3 class="promote-related-post__title">Hundreds of Palestinian Doctors Disappeared Into Israeli Detention</h3>
117.    </span>
118.    </a>
119.  </div>
120.  
121.  
122.  
123. <p>The MedGlobal doctor was imprisoned at Ofer Prison in the occupied West Bank, which has its own <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110120170717/http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/features/otherwise-occupied-labour-is-concerned-1.330315">history</a> of abuse. In May, Dr. Adnan al-Bursh, who was the head of orthopedics at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/11/24/dying-in-hell-palestinian-medics-jailed-by-israel">died at Ofer</a>. Human rights officials and family members suspect the orthopedic surgeon had died from torture at the hands of Israeli guards. At least <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/09/un-expert-shocked-death-another-palestinian-doctor-israeli-detention">three</a> Palestinian doctors have been killed in Israeli prisons since the assault on Gaza, which numerous international rights groups and experts have declared to be a <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/12/04/amnesty-international-israel-genocide-gaza/">genocide</a>, began last year.&nbsp;</p>
124.  
125.  
126.  
127. <p>At Sde Teiman where Abu Safiya is reportedly held, former prisoners and guards have shared accounts of torture, such as sexual assault, beatings, starvation, sleep deprivation, and denial of medical care. Israeli soldiers who served as guards at the prison are currently facing charges for allegedly <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/08/09/israel-prison-sde-teiman-palestinian-abuse-torture/">gang-raping a Palestinian prisoner</a>.&nbsp;</p>
128.  
129.  
130.  
131. <p>Belliveau said attorneys and doctors with the International Committee of the Red Cross have not been allowed into the prison to treat Abu Safiya, which is required under international humanitarian law.&nbsp;</p>
132.  
133.  
134.  
135. <p>The Israeli military has <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/29/middleeast/kamal-adwan-hospital-director-detained-hnk-intl/index.html">said</a> they suspected Abu Safiya of being a Hamas operative and claimed Hamas had been functioning out of the Kamal Adwan facility, but have failed to provide evidence to support either claim. The Israeli military did not respond to requests for comment.&nbsp;</p>
136.  
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138.  
139.  <div class="promote-related-post">
140.    <a      class="promo-related-post__link"
141.            href="https://theintercept.com/2024/07/11/russia-ukraine-hospital-israel-gaza-wars/"
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147.      <h2 class="promote-related-post__eyebrow">
148.        Related      </h2>
149.      <h3 class="promote-related-post__title">Russia Attacks Hospitals in Ukraine. Israel Does the Same in Gaza. The U.S. Response Couldn’t Be More Different.</h3>
150.    </span>
151.    </a>
152.  </div>
153.  
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155.  
156. <p>Belliveau, a former executive director of Doctors Without Borders Canada, defended his employees against such accusations, criticizing the Israeli military for <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/02/07/gaza-israel-netanyahu-propaganda-lies-palestinians/">failing to back their claims</a> of <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/12/21/al-shifa-hospital-gaza-hamas-israel/">Hamas involvement in medical facilities</a>. He said organizations, such as MedGlobal, vet all of their employees in a process that includes input from the Israeli government, and praised the professionalism and resilience of those who have continued to work amid harsh conditions.&nbsp;</p>
157.  
158.  
159.  
160. <p>Throughout his 25 years of providing medical aid in conflict zones — which has included conflicts full of humanitarian law violations in Iraq, Congo, Sudan, Yemen, Liberia, and Sierra Leone — the challenges he’s faced in Gaza to keep his employees safe from IDF attacks have been without precedent, Belliveau says.&nbsp;</p>
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167.  
168. <p>MedGlobal is considering pursuing legal action against the Israeli military for its detainment of Abu Safiya and the organization’s other medical workers. Doctors Without Borders is also pursuing legal action within the Israeli legal system in an attempt to secure the release of one of its doctors, <a href="https://www.doctorswithoutborders.ca/gaza-msf-calls-for-safety-and-information-on-missing-doctor/">Mohammed Obeid</a>, who was an orthopedic surgeon at Kamal Adwan before his arrest in October.&nbsp;</p>
169.  
170.  
171.  
172. <p>Israel’s recent ground invasion of northern Gaza has killed hundreds and forced the further displacement of thousands of Palestinians. Bombings and raids have crippled the area’s health care system as the wounded struggle to find adequate care. Throughout Gaza, many have struggled to find shelter amid winter conditions, the <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/12/29/twenty-day-old-baby-dies-of-cold-in-gaza-fifth-such-fatality-this-winter">cold killing at least five</a> <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/12/29/twenty-day-old-baby-dies-of-cold-in-gaza-fifth-such-fatality-this-winter">infants</a>. Humanitarian aid has been slow to enter northern Gaza, which continues to be subject to strict IDF <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/middle-east/20241223-just-12-trucks-delivered-aid-in-northern-gaza-since-october-oxfam">blockades</a>. The U.N. has warned that <a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/12/1158486">famine</a> conditions are becoming more likely.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
173.  
174.  
175.  
176. <p>“These basic principles of international humanitarian law, where parties to conflict must take measures to protect medical spaces — and we’re seeing a complete obliteration of that principle and something more towards the total and utter annihilation of medical facilities,” Belliveau said. “It’s hard to even put words to it.”&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
177.  
178.  
179.  
180. <p></p>
181. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/12/31/israel-gaza-hospital-doctors-hussam-abu-safiya/">The Scramble to Find the Gaza Doctor in the White Coat</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
182. ]]></content:encoded>
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184.                <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
185.                <media:content url='https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/abusafiyascreenshot-e1735678132360.png?fit=1137%2C570' width='1137' height='570' /><post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">484142</post-id>
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191. <media:title type="html">DEIR AL-BALAH, GAZA - NOVEMBER 7: Civil defense teams and citizens continue search and rescue operations after an airstrike hits the building belonging to the Maslah family during the 32nd day of Israeli attacks in Deir Al-Balah, Gaza on November 7, 2023. (Photo by Ashraf Amra/Anadolu via Getty Images)</media:title>
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195.            </item>
196.        
197.            <item>
198.                <title><![CDATA[Linda McMahon Has No Education Experience Except Wanting to Defund Public Schools]]></title>
199.                <link>https://theintercept.com/2024/12/30/linda-mcmahon-trump-education-schools-wwe/</link>
200.                <comments>https://theintercept.com/2024/12/30/linda-mcmahon-trump-education-schools-wwe/#respond</comments>
201.                <pubDate>Mon, 30 Dec 2024 19:38:54 +0000</pubDate>
202.                                    <dc:creator><![CDATA[Jessica Washington]]></dc:creator>
203.                                 <category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
204.  
205.                <guid isPermaLink="false">https://theintercept.com/?p=484106</guid>
206.                                    <description><![CDATA[<p>Her most important qualification is being a longtime Trump loyalist — and she’ll carry out his vision to gut the Department of Education.</p>
207. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/12/30/linda-mcmahon-trump-education-schools-wwe/">Linda McMahon Has No Education Experience Except Wanting to Defund Public Schools</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
208. ]]></description>
209.                                        <content:encoded><![CDATA[
210. <p><span class="has-underline">As Washington prepares</span> for President-elect Donald Trump&#8217;s second inauguration, federal agencies are <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/12/18/trump-doge-federal-government-workers-firing/">bracing for a wave of anticipated cuts</a> — perhaps none more so than the Department of Education.</p>
211.  
212.  
213.  
214. <p>Trump promised the total destruction of the long-standing federal agency in a September 2023 campaign <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=62&amp;v=ojRde4zCYd0&amp;embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2F&amp;source_ve_path=Mjg2NjQsMjg2NjY">video</a>, with an announcement that he would be “sending all education and education work and needs back to the states.”</p>
215.  
216.  
217.  
218. <p>Since the brash pronouncement, the former president has refused to offer calcifications about whether he still plans to shutter the department and how he plans to get Congress to buy in. He has, however, named someone to shepherd his vision for the agency: Linda McMahon.</p>
219.  
220.  
221.  
222. <p>For those with only a glancing familiarity with McMahon, Trump&#8217;s decision to appoint her to run the Department of Education could appear baffling. She is best known for her career as a professional wrestler and as co-founder of the World Wrestling Entertainment corporation, the billion-dollar company known as the WWE.</p>
223.  
224.  
225.  
226. <p>The current secretary of the Education Department, Miguel Cardona, was the youngest principal ever in Connecticut, earned a doctorate in education, then served as the state’s Education Department commissioner.</p>
227.  
228.  
229.  
230. <!-- BLOCK(pullquote)[0](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22PULLQUOTE%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22SHORTCODE%22%2C%22optional%22%3Atrue%7D)(%7B%22pull%22%3A%22right%22%7D) --><blockquote class="stylized pull-right" data-shortcode-type="pullquote" data-pull="right"><!-- CONTENT(pullquote)[0] -->“Linda McMahon is a AAA Trump donor, loyalist, and loyal soldier for Trump.”<!-- END-CONTENT(pullquote)[0] --></blockquote><!-- END-BLOCK(pullquote)[0] -->
231.  
232.  
233.  
234. <p>McMahon&#8217;s expertise on education, however, is much spottier. Before serving on the Board of Education for Connecticut, where WWE was based until this year, she <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/11/20/mcmahon-trump-education-degree/">falsely claimed</a> on a questionnaire that she had a bachelor’s degree in education. When it was revealed that her degree was in French, she said she’d mistakenly thought she had an education degree. McMahon quit the board the day after a <a href="https://www.courant.com/2010/04/04/mcmahons-answers-on-vetting-questionnaire-in-09-may-catch-up-with-her/">local newspaper told her</a> it was going to run a story on the false statement.</p>
235.  
236.  
237.  
238. <p>McMahon&#8217;s selection, though, wasn’t about experience; it was about absolute loyalty. She&#8217;ll be a foot solider for Trump who, on his orders, will stop at nothing to dismantle the department to the best of her ability, said Will Ragland, a vice president of research at the liberal Center for American Progress who served as a top adviser at the Education Department during the Obama administration.</p>
239.  
240.  
241.  
242. <p>&#8220;Linda McMahon is a AAA Trump donor, loyalist, and loyal soldier for Trump,” Ragland said, “and is going to carry out whatever he needs her to carry out.&#8221;</p>
243.  
244.  
245.  
246. <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-battle-of-the-billionaires-cont"><strong>“Battle of the Billionaires,” Cont</strong>.</h2>
247.  
248.  
249.  
250. <p>While most of Trump&#8217;s appointments are drawn from more recent additions to his orbit, his relationship with McMahon spans decades. In the late 1980s, Trump hosted two consecutive WrestleManias in his Atlantic City hotel. From there, the relationship blossomed not only between McMahon and Trump, but also with Vince McMahon, Linda’s husband and controversial WWE co-founder.</p>
251.  
252.  
253.  
254. <p>Trump routinely appeared on the McMahons’ wrestling programming, at one point stage-fighting Vince McMahon in the &#8220;Battle of the Billionaires.&#8221; The couple also poured millions into Trump&#8217;s foundation and political aspirations.</p>
255.  
256.  
257.  
258. <p>While Vince McMahon stuck to the wrestling stage, Linda McMahon had clear political ambitions. In 2009, she was appointed to the Connecticut School Board, where she served less than two years before — on the cusp of the <a href="https://www.courant.com/2010/04/04/mcmahons-answers-on-vetting-questionnaire-in-09-may-catch-up-with-her/">revelations</a> about her falsely claiming to have an education degree — leaving to pursue two unsuccessful runs for U.S. Senate.</p>
259.  
260.  
261.  
262.  <div class="promote-related-post">
263.    <a      class="promo-related-post__link"
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270.      <h2 class="promote-related-post__eyebrow">
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273.    </span>
274.    </a>
275.  </div>
276.  
277.  
278.  
279. <p>Her luck changed in 2016 when Trump was elected president and appointed her to lead the Small Business Administration. After Trump lost the 2020 election, McMahon kept pouring herself into the former president&#8217;s political movement as a major donor and chair of the board of America First Policy Institute, a conservative think tank whose <a href="https://theintercept.com/2021/10/15/conservative-dark-money-ads-biden-build-back-better/">driving purpose</a> is to advance and develop <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/12/18/trump-doge-federal-government-workers-firing/">far-right policies</a> for the next Trump administration.</p>
280.  
281.  
282.  
283. <p>Now, that support has McMahon poised to rise to a new position of power, trying her hand again in education to impose Trump’s will on the Department of Education.</p>
284.  
285.  
286.  
287. <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-six-percent-of-teachers"><strong>Six Percent of Teachers</strong></h2>
288.  
289.  
290.  
291. <p>Eliminating the Department of Education entirely is a tall order. It would require an act of Congress and likely a <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c79zxzj90nno">supermajority in the Senate</a>, which Republicans will control next year but without such overwhelming numbers.</p>
292.  
293.  
294.  
295. <p>McMahon, however, doesn&#8217;t have to eliminate the entire department to do serious damage to its mission of leveling the playing field for children across the country.</p>
296.  
297.  
298.  
299. <!-- BLOCK(pullquote)[1](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22PULLQUOTE%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22SHORTCODE%22%2C%22optional%22%3Atrue%7D)(%7B%22pull%22%3A%22left%22%7D) --><blockquote class="stylized pull-left" data-shortcode-type="pullquote" data-pull="left"><!-- CONTENT(pullquote)[1] -->“Linda McMahon will be somebody who&#8217;s not really a thought leader in the education space.”<!-- END-CONTENT(pullquote)[1] --></blockquote><!-- END-BLOCK(pullquote)[1] -->
300.  
301.  
302.  
303. <p>&#8220;Linda McMahon will be somebody who&#8217;s not really a thought leader in the education space,” said Ragland, “but will be more of someone who can execute the elimination of the Department of Education, at least in function, if not in name.”</p>
304.  
305.  
306.  
307. <p>One major area of concern is funding for Title I, a federal program that provides money to school districts and schools with higher levels of low-income students. It&#8217;s the &#8220;bread and butter of K-12 federal funding,&#8221; explained Ragland.</p>
308.  
309.  
310.  
311.  
312.  
313.  
314.  
315. <p>Although Trump hasn&#8217;t personally announced plans to cut the funding, a plan created by figures from Trump’s inner circle calls for effectively doing just that. The controversial right-wing policy agenda for a new Trump term, Project 2025, which was written in part by the incoming president’s budget director, recommends <a href="https://www.nea.org/nea-today/all-news-articles/how-project-2025-would-devastate-public-education">eliminating Title I funding</a>.</p>
316.  
317.  
318.  
319. <p>Cutting the program would result in nearly 6 percent of teachers nationwide losing their job, according to a report from Ragland’s<a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/article/project-2025s-elimination-of-title-i-funding-would-hurt-students-and-decimate-teaching-positions-in-local-schools/"> Center for American Progress,</a> but the toll varies widely by region. In Louisiana, for example, over 12 percent of teacher positions would be eliminated.</p>
320.  
321.  
322.  
323. <p>Ragland said, &#8220;We&#8217;re talking about hundreds of thousands of teacher jobs lost because of this cut that they&#8217;re proposing.”</p>
324.  
325.  
326.  
327. <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-defunding-public-schools">“<strong>Defunding Public Schools</strong>”</h2>
328.  
329.  
330.  
331. <p>School choice is another area likely to see movement from McMahon. McMahon isn&#8217;t exactly a wealth of education policy proposals, but school choice — meaning public funding directed out of regular public schooling — is one of the few areas where she has had more to say.</p>
332.  
333.  
334.  
335. <p>McMahon and her policy shop, the America First Policy Institute, have routinely championed<a href="https://agenda.americafirstpolicy.com/education/give-parents-control-by-allowing-them-to-select-the-school-their-child-attends"> voucher programs</a>. The programs take money out of the public school system to give parents cash to use toward independently run public charter schools, private schools, and homeschooling options.</p>
336.  
337.  
338.  
339.  <div class="promote-related-post">
340.    <a      class="promo-related-post__link"
341.            href="https://theintercept.com/2019/10/21/charter-movement-continues-taking-losses-with-elizabeth-warrens-new-education-plan/"
342.      data-ga-track="in_article-body"
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345.          >
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347.      <h2 class="promote-related-post__eyebrow">
348.        Related      </h2>
349.      <h3 class="promote-related-post__title">Warren Wants to End Vouchers and Tax Credits for Private Schools and Rein in Charters</h3>
350.    </span>
351.    </a>
352.  </div>
353.  
354.  
355.  
356. <p>While proposed as a way to let parents get their kids out of low-quality public schools, many education policy experts argue that they do<a href="https://www.cbpp.org/research/state-budget-and-tax/state-policymakers-should-reject-k-12-school-voucher-plans"> far more harm than good for the children</a> by diverting critical funding to <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/petergreene/2019/02/02/charter-schools-are-not-public-schools/">schools that aren’t accessible to all students</a>.</p>
357.  
358.  
359.  
360. <p>&#8220;It means that fewer students will be able to get equal access to education, that students who are in public school systems will have fewer resources at those schools, will be less resourced, and that ultimately harms all students,&#8221; said Shiwali Patel, who works on schooling at the National Women&#8217;s Law Center.</p>
361.  
362.  
363.  
364. <p>School choice is actually about taking resources away from public schools, said Randi Weingarten, the head of the influential American Federation of Teachers union.</p>
365.  
366.  
367.  
368. <p>&#8220;We have watched the word &#8216;choice&#8217; to mean, in this context, the defunding of public schools,&#8221; said Weingarten. &#8220;If it&#8217;s really going to be the parent&#8217;s choice and kids&#8217; choice, then you have to fund public schools so that they&#8217;re a great choice. Not defund them.&#8221;</p>
369.  
370.  
371.  
372. <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-failure-to-ensure-accountability">“Failure to Ensure Accountability”</h2>
373.  
374.  
375.  
376. <p>Civil rights advocates like Patel have concerns with McMahon and one of the agency&#8217;s most important functions: enforcement of Titles VI and IX, the statutes protecting against racial and gender discrimination.</p>
377.  
378.  
379.  
380. <p>During Trump’s first term, Education Secretary <a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/01/17/betsy-devos-an-heiress-bashes-tuition-free-college-theres-nothing-in-life-thats-truly-free/">Betsy DeVos</a> issued a series of decisions <a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/11/10/education-department-civil-rights-betsy-devos/">scaling back protections</a> for a wide variety of groups, including transgender youth, <a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/01/19/betsy-devos-obama-campus-sexual-assault/">survivors of sexual violence</a>, and racial minorities.</p>
381.  
382.  
383.  
384. <p>&#8220;They were really not prioritizing civil rights, and then they took actions to weaken and in some ways weaponize civil rights laws to harm students,&#8221; said Patel, an expert on anti-discrimination laws in schools. &#8220;So I think that&#8217;s an indication of what&#8217;s to come.&#8221;</p>
385.  
386.  
387.  
388. <p>The America First Policy Institute has echoed many of these same policy priorities, routinely <a href="https://americafirstpolicy.com/issues/research-report-reversing-the-woke-takeover-of-higher-education-strategies-to-dismantle-campus-dei">railing against diversity, equity, and inclusion</a> in public education.</p>
389.  
390.  
391.  
392.  
393.  
394.  
395.  
396. <p>McMahon&#8217;s history with the WWE also gives Patel pause. A<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/21/business/linda-mcmahon-abuse-wwe-trump-education/index.html"> recent lawsuit </a>alleges that McMahon and her husband knowingly turned a blind eye to the sexual exploitation of children by an employee at WWE. (The McMahons deny the allegations.)</p>
397.  
398.  
399.  
400. <p>&#8220;Everything happening with the WWE is concerning,&#8221; said Patel, noting that the Department of Education plays a key role in ensuring that colleges and universities take sexual violence seriously. &#8220;I think that really speaks to her kind of failure to ensure accountability within an institution for preventing and addressing sexual abuse.&#8221;</p>
401.  
402.  
403.  
404. <p>All in all, Patel said McMahon could rapidly diminish the Department of Education’s reach.</p>
405.  
406.  
407.  
408. <p>&#8220;I think here we&#8217;re going to see more immediate action toward dismantling or undoing certain parts of the Department of Education, also just based on plans from Project 2025 for the department &#8230; and the agency itself being a target for Republicans,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I imagine that they will be taking more steps to undo or weaken a lot of the critical functions of the Department of Education.&#8221;</p>
409. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/12/30/linda-mcmahon-trump-education-schools-wwe/">Linda McMahon Has No Education Experience Except Wanting to Defund Public Schools</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
410. ]]></content:encoded>
411.                                <wfw:commentRss>https://theintercept.com/2024/12/30/linda-mcmahon-trump-education-schools-wwe/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
412.                <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
413.                <media:content url='https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-1133569077-e1735579307347.jpg?fit=5568%2C2784' width='5568' height='2784' /><post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">484106</post-id>
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423.                <title><![CDATA[He Leaked Trump’s Tax Returns. Will Biden Protect Him?]]></title>
424.                <link>https://theintercept.com/2024/12/28/trump-irs-billionaire-tax-returns-leak-charles-littlejohn/</link>
425.                <comments>https://theintercept.com/2024/12/28/trump-irs-billionaire-tax-returns-leak-charles-littlejohn/#respond</comments>
426.                <pubDate>Sat, 28 Dec 2024 10:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
427.                                    <dc:creator><![CDATA[Matt Sledge]]></dc:creator>
428.                                 <category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
429.  
430.                <guid isPermaLink="false">https://theintercept.com/?p=484078</guid>
431.                                    <description><![CDATA[<p>Tax experts say IRS whistleblower Charles Littlejohn’s leaks provided a public service — and fear Trump will take retribution.</p>
432. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/12/28/trump-irs-billionaire-tax-returns-leak-charles-littlejohn/">He Leaked Trump’s Tax Returns. Will Biden Protect Him?</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
433. ]]></description>
434.                                        <content:encoded><![CDATA[
435. <p><span class="has-underline">Earlier this month,</span> a group of professors from the normally stodgy world of tax law wrote to President Joe Biden calling on him to free the IRS contractor who leaked the tax returns of Donald Trump and thousands of millionaires and billionaires.</p>
436.  
437.  
438.  
439. <p>Charles Littlejohn’s five-year sentence was six times the recommended maximum, the professors said, despite the fact that Littlejohn’s disclosures helped shed light on a broken tax system that allows Warren Buffett to pay a <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/blogs/business/2012/01/warren-buffett-and-his-secretary-talk-taxes">lower tax rate than his secretary</a>.</p>
440.  
441.  
442.  
443. <p>With Biden winding down his time in office, Littlejohn’s advocates, including tax code reformers from the groups Revolving Door Project and Patriotic Millionaires, are worried for the incarcerated IRS consultant. They’re calling on Biden to commute Littlejohn’s sentence before it is too late and he is forced to spend Trump’s second term in prison at risk of retribution.</p>
444.  
445.  
446.  
447. <p>“Trump has already promised to pardon January 6 insurrectionists who are convicted,” said Kenny Stancil, a senior researcher at the Revolving Door Project. “It would be a perversion of justice if they walk free while Littlejohn spends over four more years in prison.”</p>
448.  
449.  
450.  
451.  
452.  
453.  
454.  
455. <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-calls-for-clemency">Calls for Clemency</h2>
456.  
457.  
458.  
459. <p>Stancil’s Revolving Door Project,&nbsp;Patriotic Millionaires, and the group of tax professors led by Reuven Avi-Yonah of the University of Michigan — who has called Littlejohn a “<a href="https://prospect.org/justice/2024-05-21-five-year-sentence-public-hero-charles-littlejohn/">public hero</a>”— are leading the charge for clemency.</p>
460.  
461.  
462.  
463. <p>The groups have not called on Biden to pardon Littlejohn, noting that he pleaded guilty, but they did emphasize the civic-minded purpose behind his leaks.</p>
464.  
465.  
466.  
467. <p>For years before Littlejohn’s leak, and in breaking with decades of precedent, Trump had refused to release his tax returns to the public.</p>
468.  
469.  
470.  
471.  <div class="promote-related-post">
472.    <a      class="promo-related-post__link"
473.            href="https://theintercept.com/2020/09/28/donald-trump-taxes/"
474.      data-ga-track="in_article-body"
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479.      <h2 class="promote-related-post__eyebrow">
480.        Related      </h2>
481.      <h3 class="promote-related-post__title">Trump’s Taxes: A Thousand Scandals in One</h3>
482.    </span>
483.    </a>
484.  </div>
485.  
486.  
487.  
488. <p>In response, Littlejohn gave the New York Times years of Trump’s tax returns, which revealed in the run-up to the 2020 election that the real estate developer, entertainer, and politician had <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/09/27/us/donald-trump-taxes.html">paid nothing or next to nothing in federal taxes</a> for years.</p>
489.  
490.  
491.  
492. <p>After those leaks, he handed ProPublica the tax documents of thousands of the super-rich, which showed how billionaires such as Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/the-billionaire-playbook-how-sports-owners-use-their-teams-to-avoid-millions-in-taxes">took advantage of tax breaks to avoid paying millions of dollars </a>to the government.</p>
493.  
494.  
495.  
496. <p>Ballmer, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos — Littlejohn leaked all their returns, giving the public previously unimaginable insight into <a href="https://www.propublica.org/series/the-secret-irs-files">how the rich approach paying their taxes</a>. Throughout the process, Littlejohn sought assurances from the news outlets that they would handle the files with care.&nbsp;</p>
497.  
498.  
499.  
500. <p>“Littlejohn is a whistleblower, who responsibly disclosed information of interest to the public to reputable news organizations,” Stancil said. “He had nothing to gain personally from this. He was acting in the public interest.”</p>
501.  
502.  
503.  
504. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote has-text-align-right"><blockquote><p>“He had nothing to gain personally from this. He was acting in the public interest.”</p></blockquote></figure>
505.  
506.  
507.  
508. <p>Littlejohn was able to access wealthy Americans’ tax files as a consultant for the IRS. While he took steps to avoid detection, he quickly pleaded guilty after federal investigators began zeroing in on him. That type of cooperation, along with his spotless record, would normally go a long way toward lenient sentencing.</p>
509.  
510.  
511.  
512. <p>Instead, U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes in January went six times above the recommended maximum 10-month term in federal guidelines to hand Littlejohn the same 60-month sentence recommended by federal prosecutors — the maximum allowable under the law.</p>
513.  
514.  
515.  
516. <p>Reyes, a Biden appointee, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/29/politics/charles-littlejohn-trump-taxes-leak/index.html">said</a> that Littlejohn’s actions posed a similar threat as the January 6 rioters. By that point, she had already sentenced seven people involved in the events of that day, handing none of them prison sentences, according to an <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/01/05/january-6-cases-judges/">Intercept database</a>. (She has since sentenced three men to shorter prison terms than Littlejohn.)</p>
517.  
518.  
519.  
520. <p>“What you did in attacking the sitting president of the United States was an attack on our constitutional democracy,” Reyes said, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/29/politics/charles-littlejohn-trump-taxes-leak/index.html">according to CNN</a>. “We’re talking about someone who … pulled off the biggest heist in IRS history.”</p>
521.  
522.  
523.  
524. <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-political-pressure">Political Pressure</h2>
525.  
526.  
527.  
528. <p>Littlejohn’s supporters believe he may have fallen victim to a political pressure campaign.</p>
529.  
530.  
531.  
532. <p>Days before sentencing, every Republican member of the House Ways and Means Committee sent a letter to the judge in his case, asking her to “throw the book” at Littlejohn, in the words of a<a href="https://waysandmeans.house.gov/2024/01/24/ways-means-republicans-throw-the-book-at-irs-leaker/"> press release</a>.</p>
533.  
534.  
535.  
536. <p>Among the victims of the leak was Sen. Rick Scott, the Florida Republican who grew wealthy leading a <a href="https://theintercept.com/2020/05/06/coronavirus-hca-healthcare-nurse-union-busting/">health care company </a>that defrauded the U.S. government.</p>
537.  
538.  
539.  
540. <p>Scott said at sentencing that the people who had their taxes leaked were “attacked for political purposes” and accused the Justice Department of going easy on Littlejohn.</p>
541.  
542.  
543.  
544. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>“He got the sentence because the aggrieved parties were the billionaires.”</p></blockquote></figure>
545.  
546.  
547.  
548. <p>Littlejohn’s supporters argue that Scott had it backwards: Littlejohn received a far greater sentence than people convicted under the same statute of leaking information for personal gain — or of multimillionaires convicted of tax evasion.</p>
549.  
550.  
551.  
552. <p>“There’s no way, in my mind, that if Littlejohn had leaked the IRS information of a bunch of bartenders and hairstylists who hadn’t been reporting tip income, he wouldn’t have gotten six times the guideline sentence for that,” said Bob Lord, senior vice president for tax policy at Patriotic Millionaires. “He got the sentence because the aggrieved parties were the billionaires.”</p>
553.  
554.  
555.  
556.  
557.  
558.  
559.  
560. <p>Lord and other Littlejohn supporters are acting now because they believe the window may be closing for an early release.</p>
561.  
562.  
563.  
564. <p>Littlejohn, who reported to prison in May, is pursuing an appeal that could lower his sentence. Outside groups, however, are pitching Biden on the commutation request, with a hope that the president will send Littlejohn home before Trump takes office.</p>
565.  
566.  
567.  
568. <p>It is unclear whether Biden is considering such a step. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.</p>
569.  
570.  
571.  
572. <p>Stancil, of the Revolving Door Project, pointed out that Biden has reportedly been<a href="https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/12/04/biden-white-house-pardons-00192610"> mulling preemptive pardons</a> for political figures who could face retribution from Trump. Littlejohn could face similar threats in prison, he said.</p>
573.  
574.  
575.  
576. <p>“If Biden is considering these anticipatory actions,” Stancil said, “we think that Charles Littlejohn fits into that category of people who are at risk of potential retribution.”</p>
577. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/12/28/trump-irs-billionaire-tax-returns-leak-charles-littlejohn/">He Leaked Trump’s Tax Returns. Will Biden Protect Him?</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
578. ]]></content:encoded>
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580.                <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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587.            </item>
588.        
589.            <item>
590.                <title><![CDATA[“And I Was Surprised”: On Federal Death Row, They Feared Biden Would Set Up Another Trump Killing Spree]]></title>
591.                <link>https://theintercept.com/2024/12/24/biden-commutations-death-row-trump/</link>
592.                <comments>https://theintercept.com/2024/12/24/biden-commutations-death-row-trump/#respond</comments>
593.                <pubDate>Tue, 24 Dec 2024 18:21:04 +0000</pubDate>
594.                                    <dc:creator><![CDATA[Liliana Segura]]></dc:creator>
595.                                 <category><![CDATA[Justice]]></category>
596. <category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
597.  
598.                <guid isPermaLink="false">https://theintercept.com/?p=484043</guid>
599.                                    <description><![CDATA[<p>Biden’s commutations for 37 of 40 people on death row brought relief for the men and their loved ones.</p>
600. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/12/24/biden-commutations-death-row-trump/">“And I Was Surprised”: On Federal Death Row, They Feared Biden Would Set Up Another Trump Killing Spree</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
601. ]]></description>
602.                                        <content:encoded><![CDATA[
603. <p><span class="has-underline">Rejon Taylor awoke</span> to the sound of voices outside his death row cell just after 5 a.m. on Monday morning. A neighbor in the Special Confinement Unit at the U.S. Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana, where the federal government sends men it has sentenced to die, was talking about a segment he caught on NPR.&nbsp;</p>
604.  
605.  
606.  
607. <p>“One guy, he wakes up early and listens to the radio,” Taylor told me later that morning. “And he was like, ‘Hey, I think I heard them say something about Biden — he commuted the sentences of 37 guys.&#8217;”&nbsp;</p>
608.  
609.  
610.  
611. <p>Taylor turned on CNN. Sure enough, the <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/12/23/statement-from-president-joe-biden-on-federal-death-row-commutations/">news</a> was written on the screen.&nbsp;</p>
612.  
613.  
614.  
615. <!-- BLOCK(pullquote)[0](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22PULLQUOTE%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22SHORTCODE%22%2C%22optional%22%3Atrue%7D)(%7B%22pull%22%3A%22left%22%7D) --><blockquote class="stylized pull-left" data-shortcode-type="pullquote" data-pull="left"><!-- CONTENT(pullquote)[0] -->“And he was like, ‘Hey, I think I heard them say something about Biden — he commuted the sentences of 37 guys.’”<!-- END-CONTENT(pullquote)[0] --></blockquote><!-- END-BLOCK(pullquote)[0] -->
616.  
617.  
618.  
619. <p>“And I was surprised,” he said softly, with a blend of joy and relief. “<em>Surprised</em>.”&nbsp;</p>
620.  
621.  
622.  
623. <p>Since the reelection of Donald Trump, a rising chorus of activists, lawmakers, and members of the legal community had been <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/11/27/biden-trump-commutations-death-row-executions/">calling on President Joe Biden</a> to commute the sentences of all 40 men on federal death row to life without parole.&nbsp;</p>
624.  
625.  
626.  
627. <p>Although Taylor was one of the dozens who had filed an application asking for clemency, he was not optimistic. He started feeling a glimmer of hope on Friday night, when he checked his email to find an <a href="https://www.wsj.com/us-news/law/biden-weighs-commuting-sentences-of-death-row-inmates-d24fcc15?st=BFGeNf&amp;reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink">article</a> from the Wall Street Journal saying that Biden was mulling mass commutations. He printed it out and made copies for his neighbors. “This is my FIRST time feeling REAL hope about commutations for the row!” he said.</p>
628.  
629.  
630. <!-- BLOCK(promote-post)[1](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22PROMOTE_POST%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22SHORTCODE%22%2C%22optional%22%3Atrue%7D)(%7B%22slug%22%3A%22out-for-blood%22%2C%22crop%22%3A%22promo%22%7D) -->  <aside class="promote-banner">
631.    <a class="promote-banner__link" href="/collections/out-for-blood/">
632.              <span class="promote-banner__image">
633.          <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="300" height="150" src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/out-for-blood.jpg?fit=300%2C150" class="attachment-medium size-medium" alt="" srcset="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/out-for-blood.jpg?w=1440 1440w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/out-for-blood.jpg?w=300 300w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/out-for-blood.jpg?w=768 768w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/out-for-blood.jpg?w=1024 1024w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/out-for-blood.jpg?w=540 540w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/out-for-blood.jpg?w=1000 1000w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />        </span>
634.            <div class="promote-banner__text">
635.                  <p class="promote-banner__eyebrow">
636.            Read our complete coverage          </p>
637.        
638.        <h2 class="promote-banner__title">Out for Blood</h2>
639.      </div>
640.    </a>
641.  </aside>
642. <!-- END-BLOCK(promote-post)[1] -->
643.  
644.  
645.  
646. <p>Only four years ago, Taylor and his neighbors lived through an <a href="https://theintercept.com/series/out-for-blood/">unprecedented execution spree</a> that left him deeply traumatized. Between July 2020 and January 2021, the Trump administration executed 13 people in the federal death chamber. As an orderly, Taylor cleaned out the death watch cells where the men would await their execution. His clemency petition described how he carefully packed up any belongings left behind, approaching the task “as a small measure of dignity he could give to his fellow man.”&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
647.  
648.  
649.  
650. <figure class="wp-block-ft-photo is-style-default alignright">
651.      <div class="photo__container">
652.    <img decoding="async"
653.    src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/rejon.jpg?fit=1186%2C1778"
654.    srcset="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/rejon.jpg?w=1186 1186w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/rejon.jpg?w=200 200w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/rejon.jpg?w=768 768w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/rejon.jpg?w=683 683w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/rejon.jpg?w=1025 1025w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/rejon.jpg?w=540 540w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/rejon.jpg?w=1000 1000w"
655.    sizes="auto, (min-width: 1300px) 650px, (min-width: 800px) 64vw, (min-width: 500px) calc(100vw - 5rem), calc(100vw - 3rem)"
656.    alt=""
657.    width="1186"
658.    height="1778"
659.    loading="lazy"
660.  />
661.      <figcaption class="photo__figcaption">
662.              <span class="photo__caption">Rejon Taylor as seen in an undated photograph used in his clemency petition, taken on federal death row at the U.S. Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Ind.</span>
663.                    <span class="photo__credit">Photo: Courtesy of Kelley Henry</span>
664.          </figcaption>
665.        </div>
666.  </figure>
667.  
668.  
669.  
670. <p>Taylor was sentenced to death in 2008 for fatally shooting an Atlanta restaurateur named Guy Luck. His lawyers described it as a botched kidnapping that crossed state lines into Tennessee. Taylor was 18 years old at the time and had never been convicted of a crime.&nbsp;</p>
671.  
672.  
673.  
674. <p>His trial, which took place in Chattanooga, Tennessee, was rooted in racism, his post-conviction attorneys argued. A woman who served as an alternate on his jury later told a local reporter that she’d heard other jurors say they needed to “make an example” of Taylor. “It was like, here’s this little black boy,” she said of fellow jurors’ sentiment. “Let’s send him to the Chair.”&nbsp;</p>
675.  
676.  
677.  
678. <p>Like many who commit violent crimes in their youth, Taylor, who is now 40, matured considerably over his 16 years on death row, developing a reputation as someone who showed deep empathy and care toward his neighbors. My own correspondence with Taylor dating back to 2020 reflects this too. In our most recent conversations, he was more interested in advocating for his neighbors than he was to talk about himself.</p>
679.  
680.  
681.  
682. <p>Taylor had not yet spoken to his family when he sent me an email on Monday night. His lawyer Kelley Henry, a supervisory assistant federal public defender, had shared the news with his sister, whose birthday is Christmas Eve. Recounting their exchange, Taylor said, “My sister cried, saying this was the BEST birthday gift for her.”</p>
683.  
684.  
685.  
686. <p>Henry, who still <a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/08/05/death-penalty-lethal-injection-trial-tennessee/">represents people on Tennessee’s death row</a>, wrote in a statement that she was “profoundly grateful to President Biden for his extraordinary act of mercy and grace.” She expressed hope that the commutations would serve as an example to <a href="https://theintercept.com/2020/02/16/tennessee-death-row-nicholas-sutton-execution/">state executives</a> like<a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/08/17/tennessee-death-penalty-protests/"> Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee</a>. She wrote, “The death penalty is a relic of the past and should be left there.”</p>
687.  
688.  
689.  
690.  
691.  
692.  
693.  
694. <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-wither-the-false-promise">Wither the “False Promise”</h2>
695.  
696.  
697.  
698. <p>Biden’s 37 commutations were historic — a sweeping act of mercy never seen before from a U.S. president. Although his Democratic predecessor Barack Obama presided over a de facto moratorium on federal executions, due in part to the inability to <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/04/25/absolute-standards-execution-drug-pentobarbital/">procure drugs</a> for lethal injection, he <a href="https://www.themarshallproject.org/2017/01/18/how-obama-disappointed-on-the-death-penalty">commuted</a> only one federal death sentence, along with that of one man on military death row. Of the 13 people executed by Trump, 10 of them had sought clemency from Obama before he left office.&nbsp;</p>
699.  
700.  
701.  
702. <p>In his statement announcing the commutations, Biden, who reimposed the moratorium immediately upon taking office, made clear he did not wish to repeat Obama’s mistake. “In good conscience, I cannot stand back and let a new administration resume executions that I halted,” he said.</p>
703.  
704.  
705.  
706.  
707.  
708.  
709.  
710. <p>Although Biden <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/08/23/dnc-democrats-death-penalty-executions/">ran on an anti-death penalty platform </a>in 2020, many advocates had quietly worried that he would leave office without taking action. Over his decades in government, Biden made a name for himself as a “tough on crime” senator who did more than almost anyone to expand the federal death penalty in the first place.&nbsp;</p>
711.  
712.  
713.  
714. <p>Pressure on Biden to make good on his vow to end the federal death penalty came from all quarters, behind the scenes at the White House, and in public demonstrations. Last week, activists and death row family members appeared <a href="https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1191389909012660&amp;id=100044249872892">alongside</a> Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., at a briefing on Capitol Hill.&nbsp;</p>
715.  
716.  
717.  
718.  <div class="promote-related-post">
719.    <a      class="promo-related-post__link"
720.            href="https://theintercept.com/2024/12/20/intercept-briefing-podcast-death-penalty-biden-clemency-pardons/"
721.      data-ga-track="in_article-body"
722.      data-ga-track-action="related post embed: intercept-briefing-podcast-death-penalty-biden-clemency-pardons"
723.      data-ga-track-label="intercept-briefing-podcast-death-penalty-biden-clemency-pardons"
724.          >
725.              <img decoding="async" width="440" height="440" src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Pardon2.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="" loading="lazy" />            <span class="promo-related-post__text">
726.      <h2 class="promote-related-post__eyebrow">
727.        Related      </h2>
728.      <h3 class="promote-related-post__title">Power of the Pardon </h3>
729.    </span>
730.    </a>
731.  </div>
732.  
733.  
734.  
735. <p>After the commutations were announced, some <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/12/23/death-penalty-trump-criminal-justice/">argued</a> that Biden did not go far enough. Members of the abolitionist group <a href="https://deathpenaltyaction.org/">Death Penalty Action</a> called on him to commute the sentences of the remaining three men on federal death row, who include Dylann Roof, the self-declared white supremacist who <a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/01/10/would-dylann-roofs-execution-bring-justice-families-of-victims-grapple-with-forgiveness-and-death/">murdered nine parishioners</a> at Mother Emanuel Church in Charleston, South Carolina.&nbsp;In his statement, Biden characterized the three men denied clemency as guilty of “terrorism and hate-motivated mass murder.”</p>
736.  
737.  
738.  
739. <p>Death Penalty Action Board President Sharon Risher, who lost her mother and cousin in Roof’s massacre, was emotional in a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/live/k6Q9-N0Wlm8">Zoom call</a> for reporters on Monday morning.&nbsp;</p>
740.  
741.  
742.  
743. <p>“I need the president to understand that when you put a killer on death row, you also put their victim&#8217;s families in limbo with the false promise that we must wait until there is an execution before we can begin to heal,” she said.</p>
744.  
745.  
746.  
747. <p>Among those who represent people facing execution, however, each life spared was a source of celebration — and palpable relief.&nbsp;</p>
748.  
749.  
750.  
751. <p>Veteran attorney Margaret O’Donnell, who has spent decades advocating for people on federal death row, described a flurry of phone calls from men whose sentences were commuted.</p>
752.  
753.  
754.  
755. <p>“Over the years, I have learned their life stories, shared their fears, known their pain of living in solitary confinement so far from those they love and have come to deeply appreciate how they do their best to live meaningful lives,” she told me.&nbsp;</p>
756.  
757.  
758.  
759. <figure class="wp-block-ft-photo is-style-default alignleft">
760.      <div class="photo__container">
761.    <img decoding="async"
762.    src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Robinson.jpg?fit=3024%2C4032"
763.    srcset="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Robinson.jpg?w=3024 3024w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Robinson.jpg?w=225 225w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Robinson.jpg?w=768 768w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Robinson.jpg?w=1152 1152w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Robinson.jpg?w=1536 1536w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Robinson.jpg?w=540 540w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Robinson.jpg?w=1000 1000w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Robinson.jpg?w=2400 2400w"
764.    sizes="auto, (min-width: 1300px) 650px, (min-width: 800px) 64vw, (min-width: 500px) calc(100vw - 5rem), calc(100vw - 3rem)"
765.    alt=""
766.    width="3024"
767.    height="4032"
768.    loading="lazy"
769.  />
770.      <figcaption class="photo__figcaption">
771.              <span class="photo__caption">An image of a December 2023 photograph of Julius Robinson, taken at the home of his mother, Rose Holomn.</span>
772.                    <span class="photo__credit">Photo: Liliana Segura, Original image courtesy of Rose Holomn</span>
773.          </figcaption>
774.        </div>
775.  </figure>
776.  
777.  
778.  
779. <p>O’Donnell had spent part of her time since Trump’s execution spree coordinating a <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/02/11/federal-death-row-family-visitation/">visitation program</a> to help death row families stay in touch with their loved ones. Earlier this year, I met Rose Holomn, who had made use of the program so that her son, Julius Robinson, could see his father for the first time in years. In January, she told me she felt betrayed by Biden: “He didn’t keep his promise.”&nbsp;</p>
780.  
781.  
782.  
783. <p>In a phone call Monday, however, Holomn was exuberant. She saw the news around 8 a.m. on the Fox affiliate in Atlanta, where she lives.&nbsp;</p>
784.  
785.  
786.  
787. <p>“I ran around the house — ‘Thank you, thank you, thank you, Jesus!’” she said.&nbsp;</p>
788.  
789.  
790.  
791. <p>For 27 years, she has only seen her son through plexiglass; no contact is allowed at death row visits. Now she was overjoyed at the thought of being able to hug him sometime in the near future.&nbsp;</p>
792.  
793.  
794.  
795. <p>Though many questions remain about what comes next, Holomn sounded undaunted. She helped her son survive death row for nearly 30 years. She asked me to include something in my article: “Be sure to put in there: ‘A mother’s love goes a long way.’”</p>
796. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/12/24/biden-commutations-death-row-trump/">“And I Was Surprised”: On Federal Death Row, They Feared Biden Would Set Up Another Trump Killing Spree</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
797. ]]></content:encoded>
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799.                <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
800.                <media:content url='https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-2189929596-e1735059057536.jpg?fit=7554%2C3777' width='7554' height='3777' /><post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">484043</post-id>
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807. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Pardon2.jpg" medium="image" />
808. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Robinson.jpg?fit=3024%2C4032" medium="image" />
809.            </item>
810.        
811.            <item>
812.                <title><![CDATA[Patagonia’s Ties to a Dark-Money Operation Bankrolling Democratic Candidates]]></title>
813.                <link>https://theintercept.com/2024/12/24/patagonia-donations-elections-campaigns/</link>
814.                <comments>https://theintercept.com/2024/12/24/patagonia-donations-elections-campaigns/#respond</comments>
815.                <pubDate>Tue, 24 Dec 2024 12:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
816.                                    <dc:creator><![CDATA[Matt Sledge]]></dc:creator>
817.                                 <category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
818. <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
819.  
820.                <guid isPermaLink="false">https://theintercept.com/?p=484024</guid>
821.                                    <description><![CDATA[<p>A mysterious group linked to Patagonia has been accused of making what appear to be illegal “straw donor” contributions.</p>
822. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/12/24/patagonia-donations-elections-campaigns/">Patagonia’s Ties to a Dark-Money Operation Bankrolling Democratic Candidates</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
823. ]]></description>
824.                                        <content:encoded><![CDATA[
825. <p><span class="has-underline">The newest front</span> in dark money’s war on election transparency shares an address with Patagonia, according to a new complaint.</p>
826.  
827.  
828.  
829. <p>The outdoor clothing company known for its high quality, high prices, and liberal leanings may have funded illegal campaign donations over the summer, a watchdog group alleged this month.</p>
830.  
831.  
832.  
833. <p>The Campaign Legal Center has filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission alleging that a mysterious corporation made $1.4 million in what appear to be illegal “straw donor” contributions to funds supporting Democratic candidates within days of its creation. The ultimate source of the money was likely Patagonia, the Campaign Legal Center says.</p>
834.  
835.  
836.  
837. <p>The complaint is the second of its kind this year involving Patagonia, raising fresh questions about whether left-leaning donors at ideological odds with “dark-money” groups on the right should resort to similar tactics.</p>
838.  
839.  
840.  
841. <p>For Saurav Ghosh, the director of federal campaign finance reform at the nonpartisan, nonprofit Campaign Legal Center, the donations also highlight the need for swifter action from the FEC, which has yet to take action against another alleged “straw donor” that made donations to a right-wing Senate candidate two years ago.</p>
842.  
843.  
844.  
845. <p>“The amounts of money involved, the brazenness of setting up a company and making a seven-figure contribution almost immediately — it shows that this tactic is alive and well, and I don’t see any reason for that to change unless the FEC starts enforcing the law and dishing out penalties,” Ghosh said.</p>
846.  
847.  
848.  
849. <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ties-to-patagonia">Ties to Patagonia</h2>
850.  
851.  
852.  
853. <p>Neither Patagonia nor the entity in question, Save our Home Planet Action, responded to requests for comment. But to hear the Campaign Legal Center tell it, linking them together was a straightforward detective job.</p>
854.  
855.  
856.  
857. <p>Save Our Home Planet Action was incorporated in Delaware on August 6. Within 10 days, it began doling out money to campaign organizations: $450,000 to the Senate Democratic campaign fund, $425,000 to the League of Conservation Voters Victory Fund, $450,000 to House Democrats, $50,000 to a super PAC supporting Kamala Harris, and $50,000 to a committee supporting Democrats in state races.</p>
858.  
859.  
860.  
861.  
862.  
863.  
864.  
865. <p>Why would a newborn company go on a campaign spending spree? Ghosh alleges that the answer lies in a web of evidence tying Save Our Home Planet Action to Patagonia.</p>
866.  
867.  
868.  
869. <p>Save Our Home Planet Action uses the same mailing address, and its name also matches a slogan that Patagonia has used in marketing materials and on clothing for years.</p>
870.  
871.  
872.  
873. <p>“These circumstances plainly suggest that Patagonia and/or one or more of its owners, executives, or employees may, in fact, be the unknown true source(s) that provided sufficient funds to SOHPA for it to contribute over $1.4 million while concealing their identities,” the Campaign Legal Center complaint states.</p>
874.  
875.  
876.  
877. <p>Corporate filings in California unearthed by The Intercept indicate that Save Our Home Planet Action has the same CEO, Greg Curtis, as the Holdfast Collective, a nonprofit organization that owns 98 percent of Patagonia. Curtis, who did not respond to a request for comment, previously worked as corporate counsel for Patagonia.</p>
878.  
879.  
880.  
881. <p>The Holdfast Collective was created under the direction of Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard in 2022. Using what the trade publication Inside Philanthropy <a href="https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2024-2-27-how-the-head-of-holdfast-collective-is-giving-away-patagonias-profits">called</a> “a complex and unconventional structure,” Holdfast and a network of affiliated trusts redistribute money earned from Patagonia sales to environmental causes.</p>
882.  
883.  
884.  
885. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote"><blockquote><p><strong>“</strong>That might work for environmental causes, but it undermines the transparency the law requires for money spent influencing elections.<strong>”</strong></p></blockquote></figure>
886.  
887.  
888.  
889. <p>The California filings reinforce the theory that Patagonia is the ultimate source of the contributions, Ghosh said.</p>
890.  
891.  
892.  
893. <p>“Curtis’s involvement here, alongside his role as the CEO of the Holdfast Collective, is interesting, since it suggests that SOHPA was designed to operate in a similar vein — namely, the distribution of corporate profits to finance philanthropy. That might work for environmental causes, but it undermines the transparency the law requires for money spent influencing elections,” Ghosh said.</p>
894.  
895.  
896.  
897. <p>Steering corporate profits to super PACs and campaign committees aimed at boosting environmental causes would not run afoul of federal laws. The nonprofits associated with Patagonia, which are known as social welfare groups and are legally allowed to make campaign donations, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/30/climate/patagonia-holdfast-philanthropy.html">have disclosed</a> spending money on conservation projects and even on a Democratic super PAC before.</p>
898.  
899.  
900.  
901. <p>But using what are known as “straw donors” — people or corporations designed to mask the original source of funds — to make campaign contributions would be illegal. Such entities often argue that they are legitimate corporations that just happened to have enough money to make big donations, Ghosh said.</p>
902.  
903.  
904.  
905. <p>According to the complaint, there is “reason to believe” that “unidentified person(s)” violated straw donor laws, and that Save Our Home Planet Action did the same when it &#8220;knowingly permitted its name to be used to effect contributions of one or more other persons in its own name.”</p>
906.  
907.  
908.  
909. <p>The complaint says the FEC “should find reason to believe” that straw donor laws were violated “and conduct an immediate investigation” under its enforcement powers.</p>
910.  
911.  
912.  
913. <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-growing-pattern">A Growing Pattern?</h2>
914.  
915.  
916.  
917. <p>In its complaint with the FEC, the Campaign Legal Center notes that Save Our Home Planet Action does not appear to maintain a website or a social media presence, leaving the reason for its creation something of a mystery.</p>
918.  
919.  
920.  
921. <p>Patagonia has long worn its politics on its sleeves — and once on a tag stitched into the rear of a pair of shorts, <a href="https://www.esquire.com/style/mens-fashion/a34078539/patagonia-vote-the-assholes-out-shorts-tag-meaning/">which read</a> “Vote the assholes out.”</p>
922.  
923.  
924.  
925. <p>In the case of Save Our Home Planet Action, however, much of the money went to committees such as the House Majority PAC and the Senate Majority PAC, which supported some candidates with views at odds with the environmental movement, such as supporters of fracking in Pennsylvania and drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.</p>
926.  
927.  
928.  
929. <p>Meanwhile, the nonprofit that owns most of Patagonia, the Holdfast Collective, was already under scrutiny in the form of a February FEC complaint from the conservative group Americans for Public Trust for allegedly <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/major-outdoor-clothing-company-quietly-operating-liberal-dark-money-group-hit-fec-complaint">misidentifying the source of political contributions</a>. Patagonia has previously stated that the errors in that case could have been on the part of the entities that received the money. Caitlin Sutherland, that group’s executive director, told The Intercept she was still waiting for a determination from the FEC.</p>
930.  
931.  
932.  
933. <p>The election commission, which is supposed to act as watchdog for violations of campaign finance law, is deadlocked along partisan lines and <a href="https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/fec-still-failing-enforce-campaign-laws-heads-capitol-hill">notoriously</a> <a href="https://www.commoncause.org/press/deadlock-at-broken-fec-fails-to-enforce-rule-of-law-on-trump-daniels-violations/">reluctant</a> to take action.</p>
934.  
935.  
936.  
937.  
938.  
939.  
940.  
941. <p>These days, many of the biggest donations to federal campaigns are routed through what are known as “dark-money” groups, which take advantage of the federal tax code to wrap their donors in anonymity.</p>
942.  
943.  
944.  
945. <p>Although liberals have been far more critical of developments in campaign finance that opened the spigots on corporate spending, there are dark-money groups operating from both <a href="https://theintercept.com/2020/02/24/dark-money-democrats-senate-2020-elections/">the left</a> and <a href="https://theintercept.com/2020/10/24/amy-coney-barrett-women-group-dark-money/">the right</a> to <a href="https://theintercept.com/2021/09/22/no-labels-reconciliation-infrastructure-sinema/">influence</a> American politics, ranging from the <a href="https://theintercept.com/2022/06/30/supreme-court-epa-climate-charles-koch/">Koch brothers network</a> to George Soros.</p>
946.  
947.  
948.  
949. <p>“These corporate entities and other &#8216;social welfare&#8217; nonprofits have extremely smart lawyers to figure out how to game the system,” said Aaron Scherb, the senior director of legislative affairs at Common Cause, a nonprofit group pushing for more disclosure. “That, combined with an FEC in which half the commissioners refuse to enforce disclosure laws, ends up yielding a very unhealthy system in which voters can’t fully understand in many cases who is trying to influence their votes.”</p>
950.  
951.  
952.  
953. <p>While the Campaign Legal Center believes alleged “straw donor” groups should be investigated because the donations appear to be illegal, the FEC has been slow to crack down on them. Two years ago, Ghosh’s group filed an FEC complaint against an alleged straw donor called the Leadership Action Fund, which sent more than $600,000 to a Republican Senate candidate in Oklahoma.</p>
954.  
955.  
956.  
957. <p>The Campaign Legal Center is still waiting on a response, Ghosh said. Increasingly, he believes, corporations are making a “risk calculation” of whether to follow the law or to violate it.</p>
958.  
959.  
960.  
961. <p>“There’s the upside, in their mind, of not disclosing their political spending, and then the potential downside, which is really quite minimal. These schemes in most cases will either go undetected or unpunished,” he said.</p>
962. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/12/24/patagonia-donations-elections-campaigns/">Patagonia’s Ties to a Dark-Money Operation Bankrolling Democratic Candidates</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
963. ]]></content:encoded>
964.                                <wfw:commentRss>https://theintercept.com/2024/12/24/patagonia-donations-elections-campaigns/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
965.                <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
966.                <media:content url='https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/AP22259069379580.jpg?fit=4000%2C2662' width='4000' height='2662' /><post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">484024</post-id>
967. <media:thumbnail url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-2003071883-e1734915687994.jpg?w=1200" />
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971.            </item>
972.        
973.            <item>
974.                <title><![CDATA[EU Officials Will Claim Ignorance of Israel’s War Crimes. This Leaked Document Shows What They Knew.]]></title>
975.                <link>https://theintercept.com/2024/12/23/eu-report-israel-war-crimes-complicity/</link>
976.                <comments>https://theintercept.com/2024/12/23/eu-report-israel-war-crimes-complicity/#respond</comments>
977.                <pubDate>Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:34:16 +0000</pubDate>
978.                                    <dc:creator><![CDATA[Arthur Neslen]]></dc:creator>
979.                                 <category><![CDATA[World]]></category>
980.  
981.                <guid isPermaLink="false">https://theintercept.com/?p=483998</guid>
982.                                    <description><![CDATA[<p>The internal EU document may strip European foreign ministers of “plausible deniability” in Israeli war crimes in Gaza, experts said.</p>
983. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/12/23/eu-report-israel-war-crimes-complicity/">EU Officials Will Claim Ignorance of Israel’s War Crimes. This Leaked Document Shows What They Knew.</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
984. ]]></description>
985.                                        <content:encoded><![CDATA[
986. <p><a id="_msocom_1"></a></p>
987.  
988.  
989.  
990. <p><span class="has-underline">European Union foreign</span> ministers rebuffed a call to end arms sales to Israel last month, despite mounting evidence of war crimes — and, potentially, genocide — presented to them in an internal assessment obtained by The Intercept.</p>
991.  
992.  
993.  
994. <p>The contents of the previously unknown 35-page assessment could sway future war crimes trials of EU politicians for complicity in Israel’s assault against Gaza, according to lawyers, experts, and political leaders.&nbsp;</p>
995.  
996.  
997.  
998. <p>The appraisal was written by the EU’s special representative for human rights Olof Skoog and sent to EU ministers ahead of a<a href="https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/meetings/fac/2024/11/18/"> council meeting</a> on November 18, as part of a<a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/eus-borrell-proposes-suspending-israel-dialogue-over-gaza-war-concerns-2024-11-13/"> proposal</a> by the head of the EU&#8217;s foreign policy to suspend political dialogue with Israel. The proposal was rejected by the council of foreign ministers from EU member states.</p>
999.  
1000.  
1001.  
1002. <p>Skoog’s analysis laid out evidence from United Nations sources of war crimes by Israel, Hamas, and Hezbollah since October 7, 2023, when around 1,200 people were killed during a Hamas-led attack that prompted Israel’s assault on the Gaza Strip. The U.N. estimates some 45,000 people<a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/10/07/oct-7-anniversary-year-israel-gaza-war-dead/"> have died in Gaza since</a>, with more than half estimated to be <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn5wel11pgdo">women and children</a>.</p>
1003.  
1004.  
1005.  
1006. <!-- BLOCK(pullquote)[0](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22PULLQUOTE%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22SHORTCODE%22%2C%22optional%22%3Atrue%7D)(%7B%22pull%22%3A%22right%22%7D) --><blockquote class="stylized pull-right" data-shortcode-type="pullquote" data-pull="right"><!-- CONTENT(pullquote)[0] -->&#8220;History will judge them harshly. And perhaps so will the&nbsp;ICC.”<!-- END-CONTENT(pullquote)[0] --></blockquote><!-- END-BLOCK(pullquote)[0] -->
1007.  
1008.  
1009.  
1010. <p>Though the assessment did not spare Hamas and Hezbollah, much of its strongest language was reserved for the Israel Defense Forces.</p>
1011.  
1012.  
1013.  
1014. <p>“War has rules,” the paper says. “Given the high level of civilian casualties and human suffering, allegations focus mainly on how duty bearers, including the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF), have seemingly failed to distinguish between civilians and combatants and to take all feasible precautions to protect civilians and civilian objects against the effects of the attacks, in violation of the fundamental principles of IHL” — international humanitarian law.</p>
1015.  
1016.  
1017.  
1018.  
1019.  
1020.  
1021.  
1022. <p>Skoog cites an increased use of “dehumanizing language” by Israeli political and military leaders, which may “contribute to evidence of intent” to commit genocide.</p>
1023.  
1024.  
1025.  
1026. <p>“Incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence — such as that made in statements by Israeli officials — constitutes a serious violation of international human rights Law and may amount to the international crime of incitement to genocide,” the paper says.</p>
1027.  
1028.  
1029.  
1030. <p>The implications for senior officials from arms-exporting countries to Israel — such as <a href="https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2024/10/24/german-arms-exports-to-israel-increase-despite-export-ban-rumours">Germany</a>, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/italy-arms-exports-israel-continued-despite-block-minister-says-2024-03-14/">Italy</a> and <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/gaza-war-french-arms-sales-israel-marked-lack-transparency-and-control">France</a> — were not lost on Yanis Varoufakis, the former Greek finance minister and secretary-general of the <a href="https://diem25.org/en/">Democracy in Europe Movement 2025</a>.</p>
1031.  
1032.  
1033.  
1034.  <div class="promote-related-post">
1035.    <a      class="promo-related-post__link"
1036.            href="https://theintercept.com/2024/10/23/eu-israel-settlements-trade-gaza/"
1037.      data-ga-track="in_article-body"
1038.      data-ga-track-action="related post embed: eu-israel-settlements-trade-gaza"
1039.      data-ga-track-label="eu-israel-settlements-trade-gaza"
1040.          >
1041.              <img decoding="async" width="440" height="440" src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/GettyImages-2178136135-e1729690556759.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="" loading="lazy" />            <span class="promo-related-post__text">
1042.      <h2 class="promote-related-post__eyebrow">
1043.        Related      </h2>
1044.      <h3 class="promote-related-post__title">EU “Bending” Rules to Allow Trade With Israeli Settlements, Leaked Analysis Shows</h3>
1045.    </span>
1046.    </a>
1047.  </div>
1048.  
1049.  
1050.  
1051. <p>If the International Criminal Court finds Israeli officials <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/11/21/icc-netanyahu-arrest-us-war-crimes/">guilty of war crimes</a>, Varoufakis told the Intercept, the very distribution of the report to EU ministers carries significance because the Europeans will not be able plead ignorance.</p>
1052.  
1053.  
1054.  
1055. <p>“They cannot plausibly deny that they were privy to the facts given the contents of the&nbsp;EU’s&nbsp;special representative’s report that they had a duty to take under consideration,”&nbsp;Varoufakis said. “The world now knows that they knew they&nbsp;were&nbsp;in breach of international law because they were explicitly told so by the EU’s own&nbsp;special representative on human rights. History will judge them harshly. And perhaps so will the&nbsp;ICC.”</p>
1056.  
1057.  
1058.  
1059. <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-blocked-diplomatic-action"><strong>Blocked Diplomatic Action</strong></h2>
1060.  
1061.  
1062.  
1063. <p>The paper arose from a February request by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/spains-sanchez-urges-brussels-to-suspend-trade-deal-with-israel/">Spain and Ireland</a>&nbsp;to evaluate whether Israel’s war in Gaza violated human rights articles in the&nbsp;<a href="https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX%3A22000A0621%2801%29">EU–Israel Association Agreement</a>, which, among other things, enabled some&nbsp;<a href="https://policy.trade.ec.europa.eu/eu-trade-relationships-country-and-region/countries-and-regions/israel_en">46.8 billion euros of trade</a>&nbsp;in 2022.&nbsp;</p>
1064.  
1065.  
1066.  
1067. <p>If the European Commission had identified a breach, it would have brought a suspension of the agreement onto the agenda. The Commission’s <a href="https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20240528-european-commission-president-accused-of-complicity-in-israels-war-crimes-at-icc/">pro-Israel</a> President Ursula von der Leyen, however, declined to act.</p>
1068.  
1069.  
1070.  
1071. <p>Consequently, Skoog was commissioned by the EU’s foreign service, the European External Action Service, to investigate. He produced an initial assessment in July. The Intercept obtained a version of the assessment that was updated in November.</p>
1072.  
1073.  
1074.  
1075. <!-- BLOCK(promote-post)[2](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22PROMOTE_POST%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22SHORTCODE%22%2C%22optional%22%3Atrue%7D)(%7B%22slug%22%3A%22israel-palestine%22%2C%22crop%22%3A%22promo%22%7D) -->  <aside class="promote-banner">
1076.    <a class="promote-banner__link" href="https://theintercept.com/collections/israel-palestine/">
1077.              <span class="promote-banner__image">
1078.          <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="300" height="150" src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?fit=300%2C150" class="attachment-medium size-medium" alt="DEIR AL-BALAH, GAZA - NOVEMBER 7: Civil defense teams and citizens continue search and rescue operations after an airstrike hits the building belonging to the Maslah family during the 32nd day of Israeli attacks in Deir Al-Balah, Gaza on November 7, 2023. (Photo by Ashraf Amra/Anadolu via Getty Images)" srcset="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=5760 5760w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=300 300w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=768 768w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=1024 1024w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=1536 1536w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=2048 2048w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=540 540w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=1000 1000w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=2400 2400w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=3600 3600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />        </span>
1079.            <div class="promote-banner__text">
1080.                  <p class="promote-banner__eyebrow">
1081.            Read our complete coverage          </p>
1082.        
1083.        <h2 class="promote-banner__title">Israel’s War on Gaza</h2>
1084.      </div>
1085.    </a>
1086.  </aside>
1087. <!-- END-BLOCK(promote-post)[2] -->
1088.  
1089.  
1090.  
1091. <p>The document, which has not been previously reported, was discussed internally as part of the EU&#8217;s foreign service propsal to suspend “political dialogue” with Israel, the only aspect of the relationship the union&#8217;s foreign service has power over; Skoog’s paper effectively backed the plan to freeze it. The proposal, however, <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/eu-ministers-reject-suspending-dialogue-with-israel/a-70807176">was rejected</a> by the EU ministers, along with a de facto recommendation to ban arms exports to Israel.</p>
1092.  
1093.  
1094.  
1095. <p>The report found that because the death toll in Gaza corresponds to the demographic breakdown of the territory’s civilian population, the pattern of killing indicated “indiscriminate attacks&#8221; that could constitute war crimes.</p>
1096.  
1097.  
1098.  
1099. <p>“When committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack against a civilian population,” the assessment added, “they may also implicate crimes against humanity.”</p>
1100.  
1101.  
1102.  
1103. <p>Skoog called on EU countries to “deny an export licence” — for arms — “if there is a clear risk that the military technology or equipment to be exported might be used in the commission of serious violations of international humanitarian law.”</p>
1104.  
1105.  
1106.  
1107. <!-- BLOCK(pullquote)[3](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22PULLQUOTE%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22SHORTCODE%22%2C%22optional%22%3Atrue%7D)(%7B%22pull%22%3A%22left%22%7D) --><blockquote class="stylized pull-left" data-shortcode-type="pullquote" data-pull="left"><!-- CONTENT(pullquote)[3] -->“Lawyers across Europe are watching this closely and likely to initiate domestic and international accountability mechanisms.&#8221;<!-- END-CONTENT(pullquote)[3] --></blockquote><!-- END-BLOCK(pullquote)[3] -->
1108.  
1109.  
1110.  
1111. <p>In the wake of the assessment, some EU politicians will be at risk of complicity if Israel is found to have committed war crimes, said Tayab Ali, a partner in the U.K. law firm Bindmans, which recently <a href="https://www.alhaq.org/advocacy/22794.html">took the British government to court</a> over its arms exports to Israel.</p>
1112.  
1113.  
1114.  
1115. <p>“Lawyers across Europe are watching this closely and likely to initiate domestic and international accountability mechanisms. Economic interests are not a defence to complicity in war crimes,” Ali told The Intercept. “It is astounding that, following the contents of this report, countries like France and Germany might even remotely consider raising issues of immunity to protect wanted war criminals like Netahyahu and Gallant” — referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.</p>
1116.  
1117.  
1118.  
1119. <p><a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/03/20/intercepted-israel-palestine-human-rights/">Diana Buttu</a>, a former legal adviser and negotiator for the Palestinian Authority suggested that the rejection of the EU’s own analysis by its member states was political.</p>
1120.  
1121.  
1122.  
1123. <p>“Legally, we know where the dominoes should be falling,” Buttu said. “It was a question of whether the politics would match with the law, and unfortunately, they did not.”</p>
1124.  
1125.  
1126.  
1127. <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-criminal-collusion"><strong>“Criminal Collusion”</strong></h2>
1128.  
1129.  
1130.  
1131. <p>Skoog’s paper pulls no punches in its treatment of Hamas’s atrocities on October 7, describing hostage-taking, for instance, as “a violation of international humanitarian law and a war crime.”</p>
1132.  
1133.  
1134.  
1135. <p>Rocket attacks by Hamas and Hezbollah were “inherently indiscriminate … and may constitute a war crime,” it says.</p>
1136.  
1137.  
1138.  
1139. <p>The probe also calls out the use of tunnels in civilian areas as being tantamount to using human shields, which is also a war crime. The Israeli military, however, had not offered “substantial evidence” to back up this allegation, which, even if proven, would not justify indiscriminate or disproportionate attacks on civilian areas.&nbsp;</p>
1140.  
1141.  
1142.  
1143. <!-- BLOCK(pullquote)[4](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22PULLQUOTE%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22SHORTCODE%22%2C%22optional%22%3Atrue%7D)(%7B%22pull%22%3A%22right%22%7D) --><blockquote class="stylized pull-right" data-shortcode-type="pullquote" data-pull="right"><!-- CONTENT(pullquote)[4] -->“Even when their own services presented them with the facts, they refused to act.”<!-- END-CONTENT(pullquote)[4] --></blockquote><!-- END-BLOCK(pullquote)[4] -->
1144.  
1145.  
1146.  
1147. <p>The paper rebuts a major<a href="https://theintercept.com/2023/11/21/al-shifa-hospital-hamas-israel/"> Israeli defense </a>against war crimes allegations <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/05/24/gaza-palestinian-doctors-hospital-detained-missing-disappeared/">over </a>the <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/01/31/israel-west-bank-hospital-raid/">targeting</a> of<a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/02/08/gaza-hospital-seige-red-crescent/"> hospitals </a>in the <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/05/17/gaza-american-doctors-evacuated/">Gaza Strip</a>. Skoog’s assessment argues that the “intentional targeting of hospitals … may amount to war crimes,” regardless of any Hamas activity there.</p>
1148.  
1149.  
1150.  
1151. <p>Skoog’s assessment says international law allows Israel “the right and indeed the duty to protect its population,” but that this can only be exercised in response to an armed attack or imminent attack and must be proportional. Because it is an occupying power, the assessment says, Israel also had an obligation to ensure safety and the health of those living under occupation.</p>
1152.  
1153.  
1154.  
1155. <p>Agnès Bertrand-Sanz, an Oxfam humanitarian expert, said the assessment “reinforces the case that EU governments have been acting in complicity with Israel’s crimes in Gaza.”</p>
1156.  
1157.  
1158.  
1159. <p>“Even when their own services presented them with the facts, they refused to act,” she said. “Those that continued exporting arms to Israel in defiance of the report’s clear advice, are involved in a blatant case of criminal collusion.”</p>
1160. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/12/23/eu-report-israel-war-crimes-complicity/">EU Officials Will Claim Ignorance of Israel’s War Crimes. This Leaked Document Shows What They Knew.</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
1161. ]]></content:encoded>
1162.                                <wfw:commentRss>https://theintercept.com/2024/12/23/eu-report-israel-war-crimes-complicity/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
1163.                <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
1164.                <media:content url='https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-2003071883-e1734915687994.jpg?fit=6000%2C3000' width='6000' height='3000' /><post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">483998</post-id>
1165. <media:thumbnail url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-2003071883-e1734915687994.jpg?w=1200" />
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1168. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-669011264-e1735324549627.jpg?w=1200" medium="image" />
1169. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/GettyImages-2178136135-e1729690556759.jpg" medium="image" />
1170. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?fit=300%2C150" medium="image">
1171. <media:title type="html">DEIR AL-BALAH, GAZA - NOVEMBER 7: Civil defense teams and citizens continue search and rescue operations after an airstrike hits the building belonging to the Maslah family during the 32nd day of Israeli attacks in Deir Al-Balah, Gaza on November 7, 2023. (Photo by Ashraf Amra/Anadolu via Getty Images)</media:title>
1172. </media:content>
1173.            </item>
1174.        
1175.            <item>
1176.                <title><![CDATA[Indiana’s Midnight Executions Are a Relic of Another Age]]></title>
1177.                <link>https://theintercept.com/2024/12/22/indiana-execution-joseph-corcoran-death-penalty/</link>
1178.                <comments>https://theintercept.com/2024/12/22/indiana-execution-joseph-corcoran-death-penalty/#respond</comments>
1179.                <pubDate>Sun, 22 Dec 2024 11:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
1180.                                    <dc:creator><![CDATA[Liliana Segura]]></dc:creator>
1181.                                 <category><![CDATA[Justice]]></category>
1182.  
1183.                <guid isPermaLink="false">https://theintercept.com/?p=483875</guid>
1184.                                    <description><![CDATA[<p>Indiana wanted to kill Joseph Corcoran under the cover of darkness, but one journalist slipped in to witness. </p>
1185. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/12/22/indiana-execution-joseph-corcoran-death-penalty/">Indiana’s Midnight Executions Are a Relic of Another Age</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
1186. ]]></description>
1187.                                        <content:encoded><![CDATA[
1188. <p><span class="has-underline">On the night</span> executioners killed Joseph Corcoran, a glowing inflatable snowman stood on the front lawn of the Indiana State Prison wearing a top hat and frozen smile. Its left arm was raised in a wave, as if to greet the white vans waiting to take witnesses to the death chamber. Inside the brick building in front of the prison complex, shadowy figures stood at the windows, their movements inscrutable from the outside. As the clock struck midnight on December 18, a few dozen protesters sang “Amazing Grace.”</p>
1189.  
1190.  
1191.  
1192. <p>The 165-year-old penitentiary is located in the northern reaches of the state, just half a mile from Lake Michigan. In heavy coats and winter hats, the demonstrators had gathered across the street, braving the cold to stand in protest of Indiana’s first execution in 15 years. They were joined by a handful of reporters, who paced around the parking lot where yellow caution tape cordoned off a “staging area” for press. Under state law and the policies of the Indiana Department of Correction, this was as close as any journalist would be able to get to the execution.</p>
1193.  
1194.  
1195.  
1196. <p>No one knew when exactly the killing would happen, only that it would be carried out “before sunrise.”&nbsp;</p>
1197.  
1198.  
1199.  
1200. <!-- BLOCK(pullquote)[0](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22PULLQUOTE%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22SHORTCODE%22%2C%22optional%22%3Atrue%7D)(%7B%22pull%22%3A%22right%22%7D) --><blockquote class="stylized pull-right" data-shortcode-type="pullquote" data-pull="right"><!-- CONTENT(pullquote)[0] -->The rule is a relic of the late 1800s, when states carried out executions hidden from public view.<!-- END-CONTENT(pullquote)[0] --></blockquote><!-- END-BLOCK(pullquote)[0] -->
1201.  
1202.  
1203.  
1204. <p>“No media briefings or interviews will be conducted,” said informational materials emailed in advance. Nor would there be bathrooms available. “Please plan accordingly.”</p>
1205.  
1206.  
1207.  
1208. <p>In most death penalty states, executions are scheduled to take place in the evening, with at least a few members of the press serving as witnesses. But Indiana planned to kill Corcoran in the dead of night, without a single journalist present. The rule is a relic of the late 1800s, when numerous states carried out executions hidden from public view. Aside from Indiana, only Wyoming, which has not killed anyone since 1992, still has a law barring media witnesses on the books.</p>
1209.  
1210.  
1211.  
1212. <p>George Hale, a reporter with Indiana Public Media, was <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oarOGD_CxKM&amp;t=3958s">interviewed</a> in the parking lot by abolitionist group Death Penalty Action. One of the few journalists who repeatedly witnessed the federal executions under Donald Trump, Hale knows <a href="https://x.com/georgehale/status/1339343273853407232">better than most</a> that media witnesses are critical for documenting evidence of botched executions. Indiana planned to kill Corcoran with the same sedative <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/04/25/absolute-standards-execution-drug-pentobarbital/">used by the federal government</a>: a single lethal dose of <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/06/22/pentobarbital-execution-drug-absolute-standards/">pentobarbital</a>, which has been linked to pulmonary edema, the filling of the lungs with fluid. Experts have described the experience as torture.&nbsp;</p>
1213.  
1214.  
1215.  
1216. <p>In an <a href="https://www.indystar.com/story/opinion/2024/12/17/indiana-joseph-corcoran-execution-no-witness/77025595007/">op-ed</a> co-authored with a Freedom of the Press Foundation lawyer, Hale wrote that he’d worked with an anesthesiologist to develop a guide for media witnesses — a checklist of signs that an execution was going awry. Instead, the media ban would hide any red flags.</p>
1217.  
1218.  
1219.  
1220.  <div class="promote-related-post">
1221.    <a      class="promo-related-post__link"
1222.            href="https://theintercept.com/2024/10/08/alabama-nitrogen-gas-execution-alan-miller/"
1223.      data-ga-track="in_article-body"
1224.      data-ga-track-action="related post embed: alabama-nitrogen-gas-execution-alan-miller"
1225.      data-ga-track-label="alabama-nitrogen-gas-execution-alan-miller"
1226.          >
1227.              <img decoding="async" width="440" height="440" src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Alabama-death-penalty.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="" loading="lazy" />            <span class="promo-related-post__text">
1228.      <h2 class="promote-related-post__eyebrow">
1229.        Related      </h2>
1230.      <h3 class="promote-related-post__title">“Agony” and “Suffering” as Alabama Experiments With Nitrogen Executions</h3>
1231.    </span>
1232.    </a>
1233.  </div>
1234.  
1235.  
1236.  
1237. <p>Hale and other reporters tried to raise alarms about the state’s lack of transparency. As in other death penalty states, Indiana had passed a law shrouding its execution drugs in secrecy. Since obtaining the drugs it would use to kill Corcoran, the Department of Correction had “denied virtually every information request related to the execution,” <a href="https://indianacapitalchronicle.com/2024/12/13/death-penalty-process-lacking-accountability-transparency/">wrote</a> a veteran journalist with the Indiana Capital Chronicle. “Agency staffers won’t say how many vials were bought, what it cost, the expiration date. Nothing.”&nbsp;</p>
1238.  
1239.  
1240.  
1241. <p>The Department of Correction disclosed only one new piece of information in the hours leading up to the execution, shared in a brief email at 4:45 p.m. Corcoran, it read, “requested Ben and Jerry’s ice cream for his last meal.”</p>
1242.  
1243.  
1244.  
1245. <!-- BLOCK(pullquote)[1](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22PULLQUOTE%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22SHORTCODE%22%2C%22optional%22%3Atrue%7D)(%7B%22pull%22%3A%22left%22%7D) --><blockquote class="stylized pull-left" data-shortcode-type="pullquote" data-pull="left"><!-- CONTENT(pullquote)[1] -->“His last words were: ‘Not really. Let’s get this over with.’”<!-- END-CONTENT(pullquote)[1] --></blockquote><!-- END-BLOCK(pullquote)[1] -->
1246.  
1247.  
1248.  
1249. <p>At 12:21 a.m., a stream of uniformed officers exited the prison grounds and headed to a cluster of police cars in the back of the parking lot. It seemed too soon for the execution to be over, but the crowd knew better than to ask them questions. “Merry Christmas,” one officer said to a police colleague as he left.</p>
1250.  
1251.  
1252.  
1253. <p>More than 30 minutes later, at 12:59, the Department of Correction sent an email to the press.&nbsp;</p>
1254.  
1255.  
1256.  
1257. <p>“The execution process started shortly after 12:00 a.m. CST on December 18, 2024,” it read. “Corcoran was pronounced dead at 12:44 a.m.”&nbsp;</p>
1258.  
1259.  
1260.  
1261. <p>“His last words were: ‘Not really. Let’s get this over with.’”</p>
1262.  
1263.  
1264.  
1265. <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-grace-or-retribution"><strong>Grace or Retribution</strong></h2>
1266.  
1267.  
1268.  
1269. <p>The return of executions in the Hoosier state came largely at the behest of Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita, a MAGA stalwart perhaps best known for <a href="https://indianacapitalchronicle.com/2023/11/02/indiana-supreme-court-reprimands-rokita-over-televised-abortion-doctor-comments-in-split-decision/">targeting</a> a doctor who gave abortion care to a 10-year-old rape survivor. In a joint <a href="https://events.in.gov/event/governor-eric-j-holcomb-and-attorney-general-todd-rokita-seek-execution-date-for-convicted-murderer-3092?utm_campaign=widget&amp;utm_medium=widget&amp;utm_source=State+of+Indiana">press release</a> with the governor announcing the decision to seek an execution date for Corcoran earlier this year, Rokita called the death penalty “a means of providing justice for victims of society’s most heinous crimes.”&nbsp;</p>
1270.  
1271.  
1272.  
1273. <p>Corcoran was 22 years old when he shot and killed his brother, James, and three other men, including his sister’s fiancé. It was 1997, and the family was still reeling from the murder of Corcoran’s parents five years earlier, a crime for which he was tried as a juvenile and acquitted. News reports said that Corcoran had committed the murders after he overheard the men talking about him. He immediately turned himself in.</p>
1274.  
1275.  
1276.  
1277. <figure class="wp-block-ft-photo is-style-full-bleed">
1278.    <img decoding="async"
1279.    src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/AP24353094606174.jpg?fit=8640%2C5760"
1280.    srcset="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/AP24353094606174.jpg?w=8640 8640w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/AP24353094606174.jpg?w=300 300w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/AP24353094606174.jpg?w=768 768w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/AP24353094606174.jpg?w=1024 1024w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/AP24353094606174.jpg?w=1536 1536w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/AP24353094606174.jpg?w=2048 2048w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/AP24353094606174.jpg?w=540 540w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/AP24353094606174.jpg?w=1000 1000w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/AP24353094606174.jpg?w=2400 2400w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/AP24353094606174.jpg?w=3600 3600w"
1281.    sizes="auto, 100vw"
1282.    alt="People hold a prayer vigil outside of Indiana State Prison on Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, in Michigan City, Ind., where, barring last-minute court action or intervention by Gov. Eric Holcomb, Joseph Corcoran, 49, convicted in the 1997 killings of his brother and three other people, is scheduled to be put to death by lethal injection before sunrise Wednesday, Dec. 18. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)"
1283.    width="8640"
1284.    height="5760"
1285.    loading="lazy"
1286.  />
1287.      <figcaption class="photo__figcaption">
1288.              <span class="photo__caption">People hold a prayer vigil outside of Indiana State Prison on Dec. 17, 2024, in Michigan City, Ind.</span>
1289.                    <span class="photo__credit">Photo: Erin Hooley/AP</span>
1290.          </figcaption>
1291.    </figure>
1292.  
1293.  
1294.  
1295. <p>Although there was no question of his guilt, there was reason to believe that Corcoran was not competent to stand trial. In the years after he was sentenced to die, multiple doctors diagnosed Corcoran with paranoid schizophrenia. Experts testified at a 2003 hearing that he believed prison guards were using an ultrasound machine to force him to speak. It was this delusion that appeared to have led Corcoran to refuse a plea deal before his 1999 trial; court records show that he would only agree to one if he could first have his vocal cords severed “because his involuntary speech allowed others to know his innermost thoughts.”&nbsp;</p>
1296.  
1297.  
1298.  
1299. <p>Corcoran repeatedly sought to drop his appeals and volunteer for execution. Post-conviction attorneys argued that Corcoran’s severe mental illness made him incompetent to make such a decision, while the attorney general’s office insisted he was fine. In court filings, prosecutors cited a letter in which Corcoran claimed to have “fabricated” his delusions.</p>
1300.  
1301.  
1302.  
1303. <p>After the state announced its plans to kill Corcoran, one surviving relative of his victims spoke out loudly about her opposition to the execution. In a Facebook post in early December, Corcoran’s sister, Kelly Ernst, wrote that his death sentence had done nothing to assuage her grief or bring closure.&nbsp;</p>
1304.  
1305.  
1306.  
1307. <p>“Instead, it is a lengthy, costly and political process,” she wrote. In the years since the crime, her brother had written to express his remorse and she had forgiven him: “I will not attend his execution, neither as family or as victim, as I believe it would take a piece of me that I will not get back.”&nbsp;</p>
1308.  
1309.  
1310.  
1311.  
1312.  
1313.  
1314.  
1315. <p>As the execution drew near, the prosecutor who sent Corcoran to death row also came out against it. As the elected district attorney of Allen County, where the murders took place, Robert Gevers had urged jurors to send Corcoran to death row, calling it the only proper punishment for such “carnage.” But his feelings about the death penalty had evolved since then. “Times have changed, my own thinking has changed,” he <a href="https://indianacapitalchronicle.com/2024/12/13/sister-prosecutor-and-former-defense-attorney-weigh-in-on-upcoming-indiana-execution/">told</a> the Indiana Capital Chronicle.&nbsp;</p>
1316.  
1317.  
1318.  
1319. <p>In a phone call two days before Corcoran’s execution, Gevers said he had come to oppose executions in part due to a conversation with his young son. After the U.S. government killed Osama bin Laden in 2011, his son, then 10 years old, asked him a series of moral questions about the death penalty, unaware that Gevers had once sent someone to die. As he struggled to answer, he began to realize his own stance was untenable.</p>
1320.  
1321.  
1322.  
1323. <!-- BLOCK(pullquote)[3](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22PULLQUOTE%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22SHORTCODE%22%2C%22optional%22%3Atrue%7D)(%7B%22pull%22%3A%22none%22%7D) --><blockquote class="stylized pull-none" data-shortcode-type="pullquote" data-pull="none"><!-- CONTENT(pullquote)[3] -->“If this is what the public has said is a legitimate punishment for certain actions, then the public has the right to know how that&#8217;s carried out.”<!-- END-CONTENT(pullquote)[3] --></blockquote><!-- END-BLOCK(pullquote)[3] -->
1324.  
1325.  
1326.  
1327. <p>Gevers later reflected on it in an unpublished essay, which included a scene from Corcoran’s sentencing trial he had never forgotten. The mother of one of the victims had taken the stand. “As she spoke about the loss of her son, the looming years of tragic memories, the future of emptiness in her family, and the awful task of burying a child, she opened the box and set a book on the table in front of her son&#8217;s killer,” he wrote. The book was a Bible inscribed with Corcoran’s name. The woman told Corcoran that she forgave him. To Gevers, it was a powerful act of grace. The death penalty was nothing but retribution, he concluded.&nbsp;</p>
1328.  
1329.  
1330.  
1331. <p>Gevers learned about Corcoran’s execution date from a woman at the attorney general’s office, who called him earlier this year “out of the blue.” The news unsettled him. And he was deeply disturbed to learn the state would not allow media witnesses.&nbsp;</p>
1332.  
1333.  
1334.  
1335. <p>“I thought, ‘You have to be kidding,’” Gevers told me. “If this is what the public has said is a legitimate punishment for certain actions, then the public has the right to know how that&#8217;s carried out.”&nbsp;</p>
1336.  
1337.  
1338.  
1339. <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-prosecutors-regrets"><strong>Prosecutors’ Regrets</strong></h2>
1340.  
1341.  
1342.  
1343. <p>Among lawyers who once handled death penalty prosecutions, Gevers is not alone in turning against capital punishment. In Indiana, as in many other states, prosecutors are increasingly reluctant to seek the death penalty. And, in part thanks to improved capital defense, it has been a decade since an Indiana jury handed down a new death sentence.&nbsp;</p>
1344.  
1345.  
1346.  
1347. <p>A month before Corcoran’s execution, I met veteran attorney Thomas Vanes at the Lake County Public Defender’s Office, an aging brick building that once housed a hospital. Located in the northwest corner of the state, just an hour from Chicago, Lake County once led Indiana in new death sentences, placing more than 20 people on death row between 1978 and 1990, the majority of them Black or Latino. Yet almost none had been executed.</p>
1348.  
1349.  
1350.  
1351. <p>Vanes handed me a packet containing facts and figures about the state’s death penalty record as a whole. Prosecutors frequently invoke executions as providing finality and closure for victims’ families. By this measure, Indiana’s track record was abysmal: Of 97 people sentenced to die after the state passed its modern death penalty law in 1977, the vast majority had not withstood legal challenges. Only 20 had resulted in an execution. As of 2019, 60 people had been removed from death row due to reversals by appellate courts, commutations, or deals reached with the state.&nbsp;</p>
1352.  
1353.  
1354.  
1355.  <div class="promote-related-post">
1356.    <a      class="promo-related-post__link"
1357.            href="https://theintercept.com/2024/12/20/intercept-briefing-podcast-death-penalty-biden-clemency-pardons/"
1358.      data-ga-track="in_article-body"
1359.      data-ga-track-action="related post embed: intercept-briefing-podcast-death-penalty-biden-clemency-pardons"
1360.      data-ga-track-label="intercept-briefing-podcast-death-penalty-biden-clemency-pardons"
1361.          >
1362.              <img decoding="async" width="440" height="440" src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Pardon2.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="" loading="lazy" />            <span class="promo-related-post__text">
1363.      <h2 class="promote-related-post__eyebrow">
1364.        Related      </h2>
1365.      <h3 class="promote-related-post__title">Power of the Pardon </h3>
1366.    </span>
1367.    </a>
1368.  </div>
1369.  
1370.  
1371.  
1372. <p>Vanes’s own early career provided a vivid snapshot of this history. As a prosecutor in the Lake County district attorney’s office during the 1970s and 1980s, he sent nine men to the state’s death row.&nbsp;</p>
1373.  
1374.  
1375.  
1376. <p>“Of the nine, only one ended up being executed here in Indiana,” Vanes told me. “And he was a volunteer.”</p>
1377.  
1378.  
1379.  
1380. <p>&nbsp;Two others were executed in other states for different crimes. Of the remaining six, one man took his own life. The rest saw their sentences reduced.</p>
1381.  
1382.  
1383.  
1384. <p>To Vanes, such numbers are an indictment of the whole system — especially considering the tremendous amount of taxpayer money devoted to seeking and defending death sentences. “If you were a cold-blooded economic adviser, you would say that&#8217;s a poor return on investment,” he said.</p>
1385.  
1386.  
1387.  
1388. <p>It’s not hard to see why so many of Indiana’s old death penalty cases have failed appellate review. The earliest death sentences were the product of a system that had not created a legal infrastructure to provide meaningful representation to defendants on trial for their lives. As a prosecutor, Vanes said, he had a clear advantage over his opposing counsel.&nbsp;</p>
1389.  
1390.  
1391.  
1392. <p>“The defense was handled by people who were part-time public defenders with their own private practice,” he said. “Meanwhile my workload shrank to afford me the time to do the death penalty cases.” In retrospect, he said, his court victories were nothing to brag about.</p>
1393.  
1394.  
1395.  
1396. <!-- BLOCK(pullquote)[4](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22PULLQUOTE%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22SHORTCODE%22%2C%22optional%22%3Atrue%7D)(%7B%22pull%22%3A%22right%22%7D) --><blockquote class="stylized pull-right" data-shortcode-type="pullquote" data-pull="right"><!-- CONTENT(pullquote)[4] -->“We didn’t know what we were doing, to be honest.”<!-- END-CONTENT(pullquote)[4] --></blockquote><!-- END-BLOCK(pullquote)[4] -->
1397.  
1398.  
1399.  
1400. <p>Vanes was just two years out of law school when he prosecuted his first death penalty case. It was 1978, and the state had just overhauled its entire criminal code. As Vanes recalls, neither he nor his own bosses were especially well-equipped to apply the new death penalty law. “We didn’t know what we were doing, to be honest.”&nbsp;</p>
1401.  
1402.  
1403.  
1404. <p>Vanes won the case. When it came time for the sentencing phase, even the judge “didn’t quite know what to do, because it was all new,” he said. The defendant, a Black man named James Brewer, became the first person sentenced to die in Indiana’s “modern” death penalty era.&nbsp;</p>
1405.  
1406.  
1407.  
1408. <p>The early victory was a significant career boost for the 27-year-old. Seeking the death penalty became part of the office culture in ways that sound disturbing in retrospect. Vanes remembered the case of a 16-year-old white boy who killed a bank teller during a robbery in 1988. Since the office had recently won a death sentence against a <a href="https://theintercept.com/2015/06/12/paula-cooper-dead-at-45/">16-year-old Black girl</a>, Vanes said it felt necessary to try again.&nbsp;</p>
1409.  
1410.  
1411.  
1412. <p>“We pursued it against her,” he thought. “How could we not pursue it against him?”&nbsp;</p>
1413.  
1414.  
1415.  
1416. <p>The jury voted to spare the teenager’s life; today, the Eighth Amendment forbids the death penalty for juveniles.</p>
1417.  
1418.  
1419.  
1420. <p>Brewer’s death sentence was ultimately overturned after a Lake County judge concluded that his lawyer had provided ineffective assistance of counsel. By then, Vanes had left the prosecutor’s office and become a public defender.&nbsp;</p>
1421.  
1422.  
1423.  
1424. <p>“There is always a danger that prosecutors treat their former cases like they were their own children: Protect it at all costs,” he said. By the time his old cases fell apart, it didn’t bother him that much. He did regret the impact on victims’ families who were misled by the death penalty&#8217;s false promise of closure.</p>
1425.  
1426.  
1427.  
1428. <p>Vanes articulated an uncomfortable fact that had loomed over Corcoran’s case regardless of the legal arguments over his competency. Sometimes the very evidence that was supposed to spare someone from execution instead convinces people they will always pose a danger, even behind prison walls, he said. “Unfortunately for this man, his mental illness scares people.”</p>
1429.  
1430.  
1431.  
1432. <figure class="wp-block-ft-photo is-style-default">
1433.    <img decoding="async"
1434.    src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/AP24352832503742.jpg?fit=5779%2C3853"
1435.    srcset="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/AP24352832503742.jpg?w=5779 5779w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/AP24352832503742.jpg?w=300 300w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/AP24352832503742.jpg?w=768 768w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/AP24352832503742.jpg?w=1024 1024w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/AP24352832503742.jpg?w=1536 1536w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/AP24352832503742.jpg?w=2048 2048w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/AP24352832503742.jpg?w=540 540w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/AP24352832503742.jpg?w=1000 1000w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/AP24352832503742.jpg?w=2400 2400w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/AP24352832503742.jpg?w=3600 3600w"
1436.    sizes="auto, (min-width: 1300px) 650px, (min-width: 800px) 64vw, (min-width: 500px) calc(100vw - 5rem), calc(100vw - 3rem)"
1437.    alt="Officials deliver a paper statement outside of Indiana State Prison on Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, in Michigan City, Ind., where, barring last-minute court action or intervention by Gov. Eric Holcomb, Joseph Corcoran, 49, convicted in the 1997 killings of his brother and three other people, is scheduled to be put to death by lethal injection before sunrise Wednesday, Dec. 18. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)"
1438.    width="5779"
1439.    height="3853"
1440.    loading="lazy"
1441.  />
1442.      <figcaption class="photo__figcaption">
1443.              <span class="photo__caption">In the days before Joseph Conrad&#8217;s execution, officials deliver a paper statement outside of Indiana State Prison on Dec. 17, 2024, in Michigan City, Ind.</span>
1444.                    <span class="photo__credit">Photo: Erin Hooley/AP</span>
1445.          </figcaption>
1446.    </figure>
1447.  
1448.  
1449.  
1450. <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-glimpse-inside"><strong>A Glimpse Inside</strong></h2>
1451.  
1452.  
1453.  
1454. <p>The protesters had mostly disbanded when a trio of prison staff walked toward the parking lot at 1:06 a.m. A man in khakis and a black balaclava clutched a stack of papers, followed by a woman in a fur-lined hood. Behind them, an officer shot a thumbs up at the cops stationed in front of the parking lot.&nbsp;</p>
1455.  
1456.  
1457.  
1458. <p>The man in the balaclava stuffed the papers in an inconspicuous box attached to a No Parking sign. With a teal marker, someone had written “Media Statement” in clumsy block letters. The papers were one-page press statements — printed versions of the email sent out moments before — never mind that there was virtually no one left to receive them. The officials walked back to the prison in silence.&nbsp;</p>
1459.  
1460.  
1461.  
1462. <p>Shortly afterward, news broke that a local journalist had managed to attend the execution after all. Reporter Casey Smith from the Indiana Capital Chronicle had gotten on Corcoran’s personal witness list. Her dispatch, <a href="https://indianacapitalchronicle.com/2024/12/18/death-row-inmate-jospeh-corcoran-executed-for-quadruple-murder/">published</a> around 3 a.m., filled in key gaps in the state’s narrative.</p>
1463.  
1464.  
1465.  
1466.  
1467.  
1468.  
1469.  
1470. <p>Official language stated the “execution process” had begun shortly after midnight, raising concerns that the lethal injection had dragged out for more than 40 minutes. But Smith’s article revealed that the execution had gone relatively quickly.&nbsp;</p>
1471.  
1472.  
1473.  
1474. <p>“Blinds for a one-way window with limited visibility into the execution chamber were raised at 12:34 a.m.,” she wrote. “Corcoran appeared awake with his eyes blinking, but otherwise still and silent, at that time. After a brief movement of his left hand and fingers at about 12:37 a.m., Corcoran did not move again. Blinds to the witness room were closed by the prison warden at 12:40 a.m.”</p>
1475.  
1476.  
1477.  
1478. <p>It was not clear what happened in the four minutes between the closing of the blinds and the estimated time of death. Nor is it known what was said in the execution chamber apart from the words prison officials chose to share. Generally speaking, however, the execution appeared to have gone according to plan.</p>
1479.  
1480.  
1481.  
1482. <p>A spiritual adviser who accompanied Corcoran as he died described the final visit in an interview with Smith. “We had prayer together,” he told her. “We talked and laughed, we reminisced.” He said Corcoran seemed less concerned about himself than his neighbors.&nbsp;</p>
1483.  
1484.  
1485.  
1486. <p>“He actually was talking more about the other guys on death row, and how it was going to impact them. He wasn’t talking about his own feelings and fears,” the spiritual adviser told Smith. “From my perspective, it was very, very peaceful.”</p>
1487. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/12/22/indiana-execution-joseph-corcoran-death-penalty/">Indiana’s Midnight Executions Are a Relic of Another Age</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
1488. ]]></content:encoded>
1489.                                <wfw:commentRss>https://theintercept.com/2024/12/22/indiana-execution-joseph-corcoran-death-penalty/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
1490.                <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
1491.                <media:content url='https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/fence-outside-e1734648057511.jpg?fit=4032%2C2016' width='4032' height='2016' /><post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">483875</post-id>
1492. <media:thumbnail url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Alabama-death-penalty.jpg" />
1493. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Alabama-death-penalty.jpg" medium="image" />
1494. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/AP24353094606174.jpg?fit=8640%2C5760" medium="image">
1495. <media:title type="html">People hold a prayer vigil outside of Indiana State Prison on Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, in Michigan City, Ind., where, barring last-minute court action or intervention by Gov. Eric Holcomb, Joseph Corcoran, 49, convicted in the 1997 killings of his brother and three other people, is scheduled to be put to death by lethal injection before sunrise Wednesday, Dec. 18. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)</media:title>
1496. </media:content>
1497. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-2003071883-e1734915687994.jpg?w=1200" medium="image" />
1498. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-1133569077-e1735579307347.jpg?w=1200" medium="image" />
1499. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-669011264-e1735324549627.jpg?w=1200" medium="image" />
1500. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Pardon2.jpg" medium="image" />
1501. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/AP24352832503742.jpg?fit=5779%2C3853" medium="image">
1502. <media:title type="html">Officials deliver a paper statement outside of Indiana State Prison on Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, in Michigan City, Ind., where, barring last-minute court action or intervention by Gov. Eric Holcomb, Joseph Corcoran, 49, convicted in the 1997 killings of his brother and three other people, is scheduled to be put to death by lethal injection before sunrise Wednesday, Dec. 18. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)</media:title>
1503. </media:content>
1504.            </item>
1505.        
1506.            <item>
1507.                <title><![CDATA[What Killed Daniel Prude? The Cops and New York AG Said a Diagnosis That’s Since Been Debunked.]]></title>
1508.                <link>https://theintercept.com/2024/12/21/new-york-police-daniel-prude-excited-delirium-debunked/</link>
1509.                <comments>https://theintercept.com/2024/12/21/new-york-police-daniel-prude-excited-delirium-debunked/#respond</comments>
1510.                <pubDate>Sat, 21 Dec 2024 10:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
1511.                                    <dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Gelardi]]></dc:creator>
1512.                                 <category><![CDATA[Justice]]></category>
1513. <category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
1514.  
1515.                <guid isPermaLink="false">https://theintercept.com/?p=483935</guid>
1516.                                    <description><![CDATA[<p>A newly obtained document sheds light on how the disavowed “excited delirium” diagnosis infiltrated the Rochester Police Department before Prude’s death.</p>
1517. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/12/21/new-york-police-daniel-prude-excited-delirium-debunked/">What Killed Daniel Prude? The Cops and New York AG Said a Diagnosis That’s Since Been Debunked.</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
1518. ]]></description>
1519.                                        <content:encoded><![CDATA[
1520. <p><span class="has-underline">What killed Daniel</span> Prude? The 41-year-old died in March 2020 after cops pinned him down during a drug-induced mental health crisis. For three minutes, Rochester, New York, police officers pressed Prude’s head and torso into the street, continuing their hold for nearly a minute after he began vomiting. It was one of the highest-profile deaths in police custody in a year that saw a historic nationwide movement against police brutality.</p>
1521.  
1522.  
1523.  
1524. <p>According to a state investigation, an autopsy, and the cops who held him to the ground, Prude was killed by something called “excited delirium.” The condition is said to turn people into erratic aggressors and can supposedly lead to cardiac arrest.</p>
1525.  
1526.  
1527.  
1528. <p>Authorities cited excited delirium in other notorious Black Lives Matter-era deaths in police custody, including those of <a href="https://apnews.com/article/thomas-lane-trials-minneapolis-racial-injustice-death-of-george-floyd-fb1f3a6430da36b8470080c82c385d67">George Floyd</a>, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/elijah-mcclain-paramedics-trial-excited-delirium-cb42ae9846ab9e4fc07eff970872143a">Elijah McClain</a>, and <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/16/us/angelo-quinto-death-police-antioch-settlement/index.html">Angelo Quinto</a>. The purported diagnosis had become so popular among first responders that, in Rochester, paramedics <a href="https://www.thetrace.org/2022/11/rochester-daniel-prude-death-police/#:~:text=At%203%3A21%20a.m.%2C%20the%20ambulance%20arrived.">speculated</a> even <a href="https://ag.ny.gov/sites/default/files/oag_report_-_prude.pdf#page=12">before</a> they saw him that Prude was likely experiencing the condition, according to the state investigation.</p>
1529.  
1530.  
1531.  
1532. <p>Yet in the last four years, a vast swath of the U.S. medical establishment has rejected excited delirium as a diagnosis. Six leading national medical associations have fully disavowed it, while another two have distanced themselves from it. Floyd’s home state of Minnesota, McClain’s Colorado, and Quinto’s California have barred public officials from citing the syndrome.&nbsp;</p>
1533.  
1534.  
1535.  
1536. <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-debunked-theory">A “Debunked” Theory</h2>
1537.  
1538.  
1539.  
1540. <p>Medical experts say excited delirium is a theory, not a recognized disease with a specific physiological cause. And they have argued it can obscure the actual causes of deaths, especially when police are involved.</p>
1541.  
1542.  
1543.  
1544. <p>Now, a training document obtained through a public records request by New York Focus and The Intercept sheds new light on how the disavowed diagnosis infiltrated the Rochester Police Department before Prude’s death.</p>
1545.  
1546.  
1547.  
1548. <p>Advocates and researchers blame the initial popularization of the excited delirium diagnosis on a corporate-backed campaign to absolve cops of responsibility for deaths in their custody. In Rochester, the training document, created in 2016 and last edited in late 2020, lifts directly from materials disseminated by an organization linked to Taser, producer of the eponymous stun gun. The <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25466241-rochester-excited-delirium-training/">document</a> warns officers that the syndrome’s sufferers experience a “diminished sense of pain” that could render police batons ineffective. And it claims that “saying ‘I can’t breathe’” is a sign of excited delirium.</p>
1549.  
1550.  
1551.  
1552. <!-- BLOCK(pullquote)[0](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22PULLQUOTE%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22SHORTCODE%22%2C%22optional%22%3Atrue%7D)(%7B%22pull%22%3A%22right%22%7D) --><blockquote class="stylized pull-right" data-shortcode-type="pullquote" data-pull="right"><!-- CONTENT(pullquote)[0] -->“It displaces any sort of blame from the perpetrator of violence — in this case, the police — to the person who’s on the receiving end.”<!-- END-CONTENT(pullquote)[0] --></blockquote><!-- END-BLOCK(pullquote)[0] -->
1553.  
1554.  
1555.  
1556. <p>“It displaces any sort of blame from the perpetrator of violence — in this case, the police — to the person who’s on the receiving end, but under the guise of this diagnosis,” said Altaf Saadi, a neurologist at Massachusetts General Hospital, of the training document. Saadi, who has done research on how excited delirium rose to prominence, reviewed the training materials for New York Focus and The Intercept.</p>
1557.  
1558.  
1559.  
1560. <p>The document comes to light as New York grapples with its role in promoting excited delirium as a cause of death. After Prude died, state Attorney General Letitia James encouraged first responders to embrace the disputed concept.&nbsp;</p>
1561.  
1562.  
1563.  
1564. <p>“Personnel must be trained to recognize the symptoms of excited delirium syndrome and to respond to it as a serious medical emergency,” <a href="https://ag.ny.gov/press-release/2021/attorney-general-james-releases-statement-grand-jury-decision-regarding-death">she recommended</a> in a 2021 report.</p>
1565.  
1566.  
1567.  
1568. <figure class="wp-block-ft-photo is-style-full-bleed">
1569.    <img decoding="async"
1570.    src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-1270525041.jpg?fit=5088%2C3392"
1571.    srcset="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-1270525041.jpg?w=5088 5088w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-1270525041.jpg?w=300 300w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-1270525041.jpg?w=768 768w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-1270525041.jpg?w=1024 1024w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-1270525041.jpg?w=1536 1536w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-1270525041.jpg?w=2048 2048w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-1270525041.jpg?w=540 540w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-1270525041.jpg?w=1000 1000w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-1270525041.jpg?w=2400 2400w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-1270525041.jpg?w=3600 3600w"
1572.    sizes="auto, 100vw"
1573.    alt="ROCHESTER, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 03: Demonstrators listen to speakers at the site where Daniel Prude was arrested after marching from a community gathering on September 03, 2020 in Rochester, New York. Prude died after being arrested on March 23 by Rochester police officers who had placed a "spit hood" over his head and pinned him to the ground while restraining him. Mayor Lovely Warren announced today the suspension of seven officers involved in the arrest. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)"
1574.    width="5088"
1575.    height="3392"
1576.    loading="lazy"
1577.  />
1578.      <figcaption class="photo__figcaption">
1579.              <span class="photo__caption">Demonstrators at the site where Daniel Prude was arrested on Sept. 3, 2020, in Rochester, N.Y.</span>
1580.                    <span class="photo__credit">Photo: Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images</span>
1581.          </figcaption>
1582.    </figure>
1583.  
1584.  
1585.  
1586. <p>It’s unclear how many police departments in the state have trained officers on the theory — though the largest one has. Last year, New York Focus uncovered New York City Police Department <a href="https://nysfocus.com/2023/12/12/new-york-police-nypd-excited-delirium">training materials</a> that provide guidance on excited delirium similar to what is in the Rochester document. (The NYPD did not respond to a request for comment.)</p>
1587.  
1588.  
1589.  
1590. <p>Internally, the attorney general’s office has softened its stance.</p>
1591.  
1592.  
1593.  
1594. <p>In a statement, the office said, “Causes of death are solely determined by medical examiners, not OSI” — James’s Office of Special Investigation — “however we have not recognized ‘excited delirium’ or similar terms as a cause of death for several years because we are acutely aware of the scientific discourse and concerns regarding the term.” Her office did not comment on her use of the term in the Prude investigation nor her guidance that officers should be trained on the theory.</p>
1595.  
1596.  
1597.  
1598. <!-- BLOCK(pullquote)[1](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22PULLQUOTE%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22SHORTCODE%22%2C%22optional%22%3Atrue%7D)(%7B%22pull%22%3A%22left%22%7D) --><blockquote class="stylized pull-left" data-shortcode-type="pullquote" data-pull="left"><!-- CONTENT(pullquote)[1] -->“It’s pseudoscience that all too often provides cover for fatal police tactics.”<!-- END-CONTENT(pullquote)[1] --></blockquote><!-- END-BLOCK(pullquote)[1] -->
1599.  
1600.  
1601.  
1602. <p>With James avoiding a full-throated rejection of excited delirium, state lawmakers are taking up the fight. Citing New York Focus’s report on the NYPD, Assemblymember Jessica González-Rojas <a href="https://nysfocus.com/2024/03/19/nypd-autopsy-excited-delirium-ban-assembly">introduced legislation</a> in March to ban government agencies from referencing excited delirium.</p>
1603.  
1604.  
1605.  
1606. <p>“The term has been debunked by the major medical associations,” said González-Rojas. “It’s something that has to be done.”</p>
1607.  
1608.  
1609.  
1610. <p>She said, “It’s pseudoscience that all too often provides cover for fatal police tactics.”</p>
1611.  
1612.  
1613.  
1614. <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-no-such-medical-disease">“No Such Medical Disease”</h2>
1615.  
1616.  
1617.  
1618. <p>“Excited delirium syndrome” was <a href="https://phr.org/our-work/resources/excited-delirium/#:~:text=Serial%20Murders%20of%20Black%20Women%20in%20Miami">scientifically suspect</a> from the start. In the<a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31536280/"> 1980s</a>, doctors studying cocaine use in Miami coined the term to describe how, in their observations, the drug could make men “psychotic” and potentially cause women to die during sex. The deceased women the doctors initially studied were later found to be victims of a <a href="https://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/is-excited-delirium-killing-coked-up-stun-gunned-miamians-6367399?showFullText=true">serial killer</a>. Other subjects had been restrained by police in positions that can obstruct breathing.</p>
1619.  
1620.  
1621.  
1622. <p>Still, the notion gained traction, and in 2005, a forensic pathologist and psychiatric nurse published a <a href="https://api.pageplace.de/preview/DT0400.9780203483473_A23556347/preview-9780203483473_A23556347.pdf">book</a> on the syndrome. In the opening pages, it reads, “This book is dedicated to all law enforcement and medical personnel who have been wrongfully accused of misconduct in deaths due to excited delirium syndrome.” The publication caught the eye of Taser.</p>
1623.  
1624.  
1625.  
1626. <p>Amid increased scrutiny over its <a href="https://theintercept.com/2016/06/07/tased-in-the-chest-for-23-seconds-dead-for-8-minutes-now-facing-a-lifetime-of-recovery/">stun guns’ role</a> <a href="https://theintercept.com/2016/06/07/tased-in-the-chest-for-23-seconds-dead-for-8-minutes-now-facing-a-lifetime-of-recovery/">in deaths</a> involving police, Taser became one of the excited delirium theory’s biggest boosters. The company distributed the book and other literature on the syndrome. Taser-backed research <a href="https://www.marinsheriff.org/assets/downloads/POST-trainings/Excited-Delirium.pdf">made</a> its <a href="https://health.maryland.gov/bha/Documents/Excited%20Delirium%20-%20Scott%20Davis.pdf">way</a> into first <a href="https://cascademedical.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/paramedic-lecture-series/Excited%20Delirium%20and%20Police%20In-Custody%20Deaths_holds.pdf">responder</a> training <a href="https://www.ipicd.com/store/p2/IPICD_Agitated_Chaotic_Event_Mini_Poster_%28Digital%2C_PDF%29.html#/">materials</a>, which recommended tactics to subdue excited delirium sufferers — including by using Taser stun guns.</p>
1627.  
1628.  
1629.  
1630.  <div class="promote-related-post">
1631.    <a      class="promo-related-post__link"
1632.            href="https://theintercept.com/2020/06/11/police-less-than-lethal-weapons-protests/"
1633.      data-ga-track="in_article-body"
1634.      data-ga-track-action="related post embed: police-less-than-lethal-weapons-protests"
1635.      data-ga-track-label="police-less-than-lethal-weapons-protests"
1636.          >
1637.              <img decoding="async" width="440" height="440" src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/AP_20154319940279-crop.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="" loading="lazy" />            <span class="promo-related-post__text">
1638.      <h2 class="promote-related-post__eyebrow">
1639.        Related      </h2>
1640.      <h3 class="promote-related-post__title">Police Attacks on Protesters With &#8220;Less Than Lethal&#8221; Weapons Result in Life-Threatening Injuries</h3>
1641.    </span>
1642.    </a>
1643.  </div>
1644.  
1645.  
1646.  
1647. <p>The company hired experts who <a href="https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-taser-experts/">testified</a> in police killing trials that the syndrome, and not stun guns or other uses of force, caused the victims’ deaths. Some of the same experts <a href="https://archive.ph/XFKnh#selection-1525.86-1525.109">inundated medical journals</a> with studies making the same arguments. Taser, <a href="https://theintercept.com/2021/12/08/police-reform-body-cameras-axon-motorola/">now known as Axon</a>, did not respond to a request for comment.</p>
1648.  
1649.  
1650.  
1651. <p>Taser concentrated much of its advocacy on medical examiners, whose autopsies play a key role in legal proceedings for police killings. Between 2000 and 2017, medical examiners listed excited delirium as a factor in at least 276 deaths that followed Taser use, a <a href="https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-taser-experts/">Reuters investigation</a> found. (Little to no public data exists on how many overall deaths are attributed to excited delirium.)</p>
1652.  
1653.  
1654.  
1655. <p>Joye Carter Rush, a forensic pathologist and former longtime medical examiner, remembers receiving Taser materials on excited delirium, including the 2005 book. The dedication jumped out at her.</p>
1656.  
1657.  
1658.  
1659. <p>Taser’s medical examiner advocacy was peculiar, Carter Rush said, because there’s no special way for medical examiners to diagnose the syndrome. Rather, as a “syndrome,” it’s a list of simultaneous symptoms.</p>
1660.  
1661.  
1662.  
1663. <p>“There is no such medical disease as excited delirium,” Carter Rush said.</p>
1664.  
1665.  
1666.  
1667.  
1668.  
1669.  
1670.  
1671. <p>Excited delirium is sometimes linked with drug use, but the behaviors police have come to associate with it can result from a wide variety of underlying causes, medical experts said.</p>
1672.  
1673.  
1674.  
1675. <p>“Maybe they have dementia, maybe they have autism with behavioral issues,” said Saadi, the neurologist. “If they’re having fever and muscle rigidity” — among excited delirium’s listed symptoms — “it could be encephalitis. There’s literally so many different diagnoses.”</p>
1676.  
1677.  
1678.  
1679. <!-- BLOCK(pullquote)[3](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22PULLQUOTE%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22SHORTCODE%22%2C%22optional%22%3Atrue%7D)(%7B%22pull%22%3A%22right%22%7D) --><blockquote class="stylized pull-right" data-shortcode-type="pullquote" data-pull="right"><!-- CONTENT(pullquote)[3] -->“‘Superhuman strength’ and ‘unlimited endurance’ we know are racist tropes.”<!-- END-CONTENT(pullquote)[3] --></blockquote><!-- END-BLOCK(pullquote)[3] -->
1680.  
1681.  
1682.  
1683. <p>That murkiness is what prompted <a href="https://www.aan.com/advocacy/excited-delirium-position-statement">some</a> of the <a href="https://apps.aaem.org/UserFiles/RevisedAAEMExcitedDelirium9.21.22.pdf">top</a> medical <a href="https://newsroom.cap.org/latest-news/cap-supports-discontinuing-term--excited-delirium--as-cause-of-death/s/c29dd694-6877-428a-95b4-d5fc5c0d82cc">associations</a>, including the <a href="https://www.ama-assn.org/press-center/press-releases/new-ama-policy-opposes-excited-delirium-diagnosis">American Medical Association</a> and the <a href="https://www.psychiatry.org/getattachment/7769e617-ee6a-4a89-829f-4fc71d831ce0/Position-Use-of-Term-Excited-Delirium.pdf">American Psychiatric Association</a>, to fully <a href="https://apnews.com/article/excited-delirium-police-custody-restraint-d75c5138fbed3c7911e0bd9bcde6c207">disavow</a> the diagnosis.&nbsp;</p>
1684.  
1685.  
1686.  
1687. <p>Excited delirium’s reputation for endowing sufferers with super strength and imperviousness to pain can fuel more aggressive police responses, Saadi said.</p>
1688.  
1689.  
1690.  
1691. <p>“‘Superhuman strength’ and ‘unlimited endurance’ we know are racist tropes that have been typically used against Black men,” said Saadi. “It sends the message that it is okay to justify having this super aggressive escalation when that is often not the case.”</p>
1692.  
1693.  
1694.  
1695. <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-zombie-pics">Zombie Pics</h2>
1696.  
1697.  
1698.  
1699. <p>The Rochester materials obtained by New York Focus and The Intercept highlight critics’ concerns about excited delirium.</p>
1700.  
1701.  
1702.  
1703. <p>Look out for subjects who look like they “just snapped,” the training warns. Excited delirium may render “pain compliance techniques” like batons ineffective.</p>
1704.  
1705.  
1706.  
1707. <p>To reinforce the unearthly qualities of people experiencing the syndrome, the training presentation includes melodramatic photos and illustrations: deranged people screaming; a naked, bloody zombie eating a corpse; the Incredible Hulk. In one image, two cops pin a naked, wide-eyed Black man to the ground.</p>
1708.  
1709.  
1710.  
1711. <figure class="photo-grid photo-grid--large photo-grid--2-col">
1712.  
1713. <div class="photo-grid__row">
1714. <figure class="wp-block-ft-photo is-style-default">
1715.    <img decoding="async"
1716.    src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/four-stages.jpg?fit=1240%2C693"
1717.    srcset="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/four-stages.jpg?w=1240 1240w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/four-stages.jpg?w=300 300w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/four-stages.jpg?w=768 768w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/four-stages.jpg?w=1024 1024w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/four-stages.jpg?w=540 540w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/four-stages.jpg?w=1000 1000w"
1718.    sizes="auto, (min-width: 1300px) 650px, (min-width: 800px) 64vw, (min-width: 500px) calc(100vw - 5rem), calc(100vw - 3rem)"
1719.    alt="Screenshot"
1720.    width="1240"
1721.    height="693"
1722.    loading="lazy"
1723.  />
1724.    </figure>
1725.  
1726.  
1727.  
1728. <figure class="wp-block-ft-photo is-style-default">
1729.    <img decoding="async"
1730.    src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/zombie.jpg?fit=1239%2C696"
1731.    srcset="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/zombie.jpg?w=1239 1239w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/zombie.jpg?w=300 300w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/zombie.jpg?w=768 768w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/zombie.jpg?w=1024 1024w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/zombie.jpg?w=540 540w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/zombie.jpg?w=1000 1000w"
1732.    sizes="auto, (min-width: 1300px) 650px, (min-width: 800px) 64vw, (min-width: 500px) calc(100vw - 5rem), calc(100vw - 3rem)"
1733.    alt="Screenshot"
1734.    width="1239"
1735.    height="696"
1736.    loading="lazy"
1737.  />
1738.    </figure>
1739. </div>
1740.      <figcaption class="photo-grid__figcaption">
1741.              <span class="photo-grid__caption">Slides from a Rochester Police Department training on excited delirium.</span>
1742.                    <span class="photo-grid__credit">Obtained by New York Focus and The Intercept</span>
1743.          </figcaption>
1744.  </figure>
1745.  
1746.  
1747.  
1748. <p>The training file’s metadata indicates that it was created in 2016 and last edited in late 2020, meaning it was likely offered to officers before Prude’s death.</p>
1749.  
1750.  
1751.  
1752. <p>The metadata also shows that the file was created by the Monroe County Office of Mental Health’s former chief of clinical and forensic services, Kimberly Butler, who also headed the county team that accompanies police on mental health crisis calls.</p>
1753.  
1754.  
1755.  
1756. <p>Butler, who did not respond to interview requests, <a href="https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2020/09/24/monroe-county-official-kimberley-butler-resigns-after-passing-daniel-prude-psychiatric-info-police/3515024001/">resigned in 2020</a> after it was revealed that she sent privileged information about Prude’s mental health care to Rochester police officials after his run-in with the cops. She was one of at least 16 public officials, including the Rochester police chief, to resign, retire, or get fired in connection with their handling of the Prude case.</p>
1757.  
1758.  
1759.  
1760. <p>Both the Rochester Police Department and the Monroe County Office of Mental Health said that they don’t currently offer the excited delirium training. (The police department sent the file to New York Focus and The Intercept in response to a request for “currently used” training materials related to excited delirium.)</p>
1761.  
1762.  
1763.  
1764. <p>“It was co-sponsored by the county Office of Mental Health, and we do have officers who attend Office of Mental Health trainings, but I have no idea if they still use it or not,” Greg Bello of the Rochester Police Department said.</p>
1765.  
1766.  
1767.  
1768. <p>A spokesperson for the county Office of Mental Health said that the training document is from a prior administration — the current director took over in February 2021 — and the office can’t be sure when the last time it was used. Neither the police nor the mental health office responded to follow-up questions about their stances on excited delirium.</p>
1769.  
1770.  
1771.  
1772.  
1773.  
1774.  
1775.  
1776. <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-taser-tag">Taser Tag</h2>
1777.  
1778.  
1779.  
1780. <p>Most of the Rochester training presentation’s first half — including the line that lists “saying ‘I can’t breathe’” as a sign of excited delirium — appears to lift directly from an <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25466062-ipicd-excited-delirium-mini-poster/">informational poster</a> published by a group called the Institute for the Prevention of In-Custody Deaths.</p>
1781.  
1782.  
1783.  
1784. <p>The group was co-founded by a former <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2009/02/tasers-delirium-defense/">Taser-paid expert</a> named John Peters and a Taser attorney around the same time that the company’s excited delirium campaign was in full swing. The informational poster, written by Peters, touts that Taser’s stun guns “have been shown to be the most effective to quickly capturing” excited delirium patients.</p>
1785.  
1786.  
1787.  
1788. <p>In an interview with New York Focus and The Intercept, Peters, a longtime police administrator, said he now agrees with many of the medical establishment’s concerns about the diagnosis. The IPICD has recommended against using the term for nearly 15 years, he said. The organization now teaches officers to address what it calls “agitated chaotic events,” while leaving medical diagnoses to medical professionals.</p>
1789.  
1790.  
1791.  
1792. <p>The IPICD’s website, however, still boosts the theory. An advertisement for a current institute <a href="https://ipicdtc.com/excited-delirium-training/">police training</a> course, for example, decries pushback against excited delirium as a result of “post-George Floyd societal culture.”</p>
1793.  
1794.  
1795.  
1796. <p>The IPICD also <a href="https://www.ipicd.com/store/p2/IPICD_Agitated_Chaotic_Event_Mini_Poster_%28Digital%2C_PDF%29.html#/">still publishes</a> the informational poster that appears to have inspired the Rochester training presentation. The poster is nearly two decades old and cites the 1980s cocaine research. Peters said that he planned on replacing the poster after the IPICD’s annual conference in November, but it remains on the group’s website.</p>
1797.  
1798.  
1799.  
1800. <figure class="wp-block-ft-photo is-style-default">
1801.    <img decoding="async"
1802.    src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-1228622065-e1734735344998.jpg?fit=3500%2C2280"
1803.    srcset="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-1228622065-e1734735344998.jpg?w=3500 3500w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-1228622065-e1734735344998.jpg?w=2400 2400w"
1804.    sizes="auto, (min-width: 1300px) 650px, (min-width: 800px) 64vw, (min-width: 500px) calc(100vw - 5rem), calc(100vw - 3rem)"
1805.    alt="ROCHESTER, NY - SEPTEMBER 20:  New York State Attorney General Letitia James speaks at a news conference about the ongoing investigation into the death of Daniel Prude on September 20, 2020 in Rochester, New York. Prude, who is Black, died March 30 after being taken off life support following his arrest by Rochester police.   (Photo by Joshua Rashaad McFadden/Getty Images)"
1806.    width="3500"
1807.    height="2280"
1808.    loading="lazy"
1809.  />
1810.      <figcaption class="photo__figcaption">
1811.              <span class="photo__caption">State Attorney General Letitia James speaks at a news conference about the ongoing investigation into the death of Daniel Prude on Sept. 20, 2020, in Rochester, N.Y.</span>
1812.                    <span class="photo__credit">Photo: Joshua Rashaad McFadden/Getty Images</span>
1813.          </figcaption>
1814.    </figure>
1815.  
1816.  
1817.  
1818. <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-attorney-general-report">Attorney General Report</h2>
1819.  
1820.  
1821.  
1822. <p>Taser’s connections to the Prude case extend beyond the IPICD-inspired Rochester police training.</p>
1823.  
1824.  
1825.  
1826. <p>In 2021, Gary Vilke, a San Diego-based emergency medicine doctor, became the New York attorney general’s chief medical expert in the Prude case. As a frequent paid expert witness in police killing trials, <a href="https://phr.org/our-work/resources/excited-delirium/#:~:text=syndrome.%E2%80%9D%5B105%5D-,Prone%20Restraint%20Studies,-At%20the%20same">including for Taser</a>, Vilke has earned <a href="https://archive.ph/XFKnh#selection-699.0-722.0">notoriety</a> as one of the most influential members of a cadre of hired guns whose testimonies help absolve officers.</p>
1827.  
1828.  
1829.  
1830. <p>In a deposition last year, Vilke reportedly said he consults on <a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/excited-delirium-diagnosis-police-custody-deaths-emergency-doctors-renounce/">more than a dozen cases</a> a year and can earn as much as $50,000 per case. He said in a 2021 deposition that for nearly two decades he <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/26/us/police-deaths-in-custody-blame.html">never blamed a cop</a> for a death, according to the New York Times. (He told the Times that he did not recall the statement and disagreed with it.)</p>
1831.  
1832.  
1833.  
1834. <p>He was also one of excited delirium’s most visible proponents, co-authoring a <a href="https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/media/publications/acep_report_on_excited_delirium_syndrome_sept_2009.pdf">seminal white paper</a> on the theory at an early IPICD conference.</p>
1835.  
1836.  
1837.  
1838. <p>In Prude’s case, Vilke, who did not respond to a request for comment, was confident that police weren’t at fault. He <a href="https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2021/04/20/daniel-prude-letitia-james-gary-vilke-grand-jury-restraint/7276344002/">told the grand jury</a>, convened to examine whether the cops should be charged with negligent homicide, that Prude died of excited delirium and not at the hands of the officers.</p>
1839.  
1840.  
1841.  
1842. <p>“I wouldn’t do anything differently,” he <a href="https://apnews.com/article/new-york-homicide-daniel-prude-rochester-0fd1d71c98ef27f9986c7b7a525e05f2">told a grand juror</a> who asked if officers could have treated Prude better. The body voted 15–5 against charging the officers.</p>
1843.  
1844.  
1845. <!-- BLOCK(promote-post)[5](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22PROMOTE_POST%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22SHORTCODE%22%2C%22optional%22%3Atrue%7D)(%7B%22slug%22%3A%22protests-for-black-lives%22%2C%22crop%22%3A%22promo%22%7D) -->  <aside class="promote-banner">
1846.    <a class="promote-banner__link" href="/collections/protests-for-black-lives/">
1847.              <span class="promote-banner__image">
1848.          <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="300" height="150" src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/GettyImages-1218280802-crop.jpg?fit=300%2C150" class="attachment-medium size-medium" alt="" srcset="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/GettyImages-1218280802-crop.jpg?w=2000 2000w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/GettyImages-1218280802-crop.jpg?w=300 300w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/GettyImages-1218280802-crop.jpg?w=768 768w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/GettyImages-1218280802-crop.jpg?w=1024 1024w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/GettyImages-1218280802-crop.jpg?w=1536 1536w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/GettyImages-1218280802-crop.jpg?w=540 540w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/GettyImages-1218280802-crop.jpg?w=1000 1000w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />        </span>
1849.            <div class="promote-banner__text">
1850.                  <p class="promote-banner__eyebrow">
1851.            Read Our Complete Coverage          </p>
1852.        
1853.        <h2 class="promote-banner__title">Protests for Black Lives</h2>
1854.      </div>
1855.    </a>
1856.  </aside>
1857. <!-- END-BLOCK(promote-post)[5] -->
1858.  
1859.  
1860.  
1861. <p>The office of James, the attorney general, retained Vilke to advise on its investigation into Prude’s death, making him its sole cited outside medical expert.</p>
1862.  
1863.  
1864.  
1865. <p>The Monroe County medical examiner, who still works in that role and whose office declined to comment, ruled that Prude had died from “complications” from asphyxiation, excited delirium, and intoxication from PCP, the dissociative drug he was using. While a police practices expert hired by the attorney general said that pinning Prude on his stomach for three minutes was “unreasonable” and likely caused his death, Vilke steered investigators back toward excited delirium.</p>
1866.  
1867.  
1868.  
1869. <p>“Vilke noted that Mr. Prude displayed many symptoms consistent with Excited Delirium,” the attorney general’s office reported. The syndrome, brought on by his PCP use, “caused Mr. Prude to suffer cardiac arrest.”</p>
1870.  
1871.  
1872.  
1873. <p>In its <a href="https://ag.ny.gov/sites/default/files/oag_report_-_prude.pdf">final report</a>, issued in February 2021, the attorney general’s office dedicated nine pages to the topic of excited delirium. It acknowledged the controversy around the syndrome and its racial implications but declared that excited delirium is real and can cause sudden death.</p>
1874.  
1875.  
1876.  
1877. <p>It was in the report that James’s office made its recommendation that first responders be trained in excited delirium. The report said the Rochester police academy barely taught the syndrome. It did not account for the police training materials produced by the Office of Mental Health.</p>
1878. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/12/21/new-york-police-daniel-prude-excited-delirium-debunked/">What Killed Daniel Prude? The Cops and New York AG Said a Diagnosis That’s Since Been Debunked.</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
1879. ]]></content:encoded>
1880.                                <wfw:commentRss>https://theintercept.com/2024/12/21/new-york-police-daniel-prude-excited-delirium-debunked/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
1881.                <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
1882.                <media:content url='https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Taser-excited-delirium-yellow-1.jpg?fit=2000%2C1000' width='2000' height='1000' /><post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">483935</post-id>
1883. <media:thumbnail url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-1270525041.jpg?fit=5088%2C3392" />
1884. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-1270525041.jpg?fit=5088%2C3392" medium="image">
1885. <media:title type="html">ROCHESTER, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 03: Demonstrators listen to speakers at the site where Daniel Prude was arrested after marching from a community gathering on September 03, 2020 in Rochester, New York. Prude died after being arrested on March 23 by Rochester police officers who had placed a &#34;spit hood&#34; over his head and pinned him to the ground while restraining him. Mayor Lovely Warren announced today the suspension of seven officers involved in the arrest. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)</media:title>
1886. </media:content>
1887. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/AP_20154319940279-crop.jpg" medium="image" />
1888. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-2003071883-e1734915687994.jpg?w=1200" medium="image" />
1889. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-1133569077-e1735579307347.jpg?w=1200" medium="image" />
1890. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-669011264-e1735324549627.jpg?w=1200" medium="image" />
1891. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/four-stages.jpg?fit=1240%2C693" medium="image">
1892. <media:title type="html">Screenshot</media:title>
1893. </media:content>
1894. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/zombie.jpg?fit=1239%2C696" medium="image">
1895. <media:title type="html">Screenshot</media:title>
1896. </media:content>
1897. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-1228622065-e1734735344998.jpg?fit=3500%2C2280" medium="image">
1898. <media:title type="html">ROCHESTER, NY - SEPTEMBER 20:  New York State Attorney General Letitia James speaks at a news conference about the ongoing investigation into the death of Daniel Prude on September 20, 2020 in Rochester, New York. Prude, who is Black, died March 30 after being taken off life support following his arrest by Rochester police.   (Photo by Joshua Rashaad McFadden/Getty Images)</media:title>
1899. </media:content>
1900. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/GettyImages-1218280802-crop.jpg?fit=300%2C150" medium="image" />
1901.            </item>
1902.        
1903.            <item>
1904.                <title><![CDATA[Americans Stuck in Gaza Sue the U.S. for Leaving Them “Trapped in a War Zone”]]></title>
1905.                <link>https://theintercept.com/2024/12/20/americans-stuck-gaza-lawsuit/</link>
1906.                <comments>https://theintercept.com/2024/12/20/americans-stuck-gaza-lawsuit/#respond</comments>
1907.                <pubDate>Fri, 20 Dec 2024 20:04:16 +0000</pubDate>
1908.                                    <dc:creator><![CDATA[Sanya Mansoor]]></dc:creator>
1909.                                 <category><![CDATA[World]]></category>
1910.  
1911.                <guid isPermaLink="false">https://theintercept.com/?p=483908</guid>
1912.                                    <description><![CDATA[<p>“I have a fundamental right to be protected by my government, especially in times of war. My children and I deserve to return to the safety of the U.S.”</p>
1913. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/12/20/americans-stuck-gaza-lawsuit/">Americans Stuck in Gaza Sue the U.S. for Leaving Them “Trapped in a War Zone”</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
1914. ]]></description>
1915.                                        <content:encoded><![CDATA[
1916. <p><span class="has-underline">Salsabeel ElHelou, an</span> American citizen stuck in Gaza, wakes up everyday and checks that her three children are still breathing. In August, an Israeli airstrike shredded her teenage son’s back — leaving him with an open and untreated wound. Her three kids — 7-year-old Ayham, 12-year-old Banan and 15-year-old Almotasem — are suffering from painful skin conditions caused by drinking and bathing in unclean water; their pus-filled wounds attract flies and mosquitoes. Two of them have lost teeth from malnutrition.</p>
1917.  
1918.  
1919.  
1920. <p>ElHelou is one of nine plaintiffs — a combination of U.S. citizens, permanent U.S. residents, and Americans with immediate family trapped in Gaza — who<a href="https://www.cair.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/lawsuit.pdf"> sued the Biden administration on Thursday</a> in a bid to compel the government to help the families leave. The Council on American-Islamic Relations and the law office of Maria Kari alleged that the American government violated the civil rights of these Palestinian Americans by abandoning them in a war zone.&nbsp;</p>
1921.  
1922.  
1923.  
1924. <p>The <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25466951-lawsuit-by-americans-in-gaza-who-say-biden-administration-is-abandoning-them-in-a-warzone/">lawsuit, filed in federal court, </a>stressed that the U.S. government has promptly evacuated other American citizens and their immediate relatives in similar, dangerous situations.&nbsp;</p>
1925.  
1926.  
1927.  
1928. <!-- BLOCK(pullquote)[0](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22PULLQUOTE%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22SHORTCODE%22%2C%22optional%22%3Atrue%7D)(%7B%22pull%22%3A%22right%22%7D) --><blockquote class="stylized pull-right" data-shortcode-type="pullquote" data-pull="right"><!-- CONTENT(pullquote)[0] -->“There is absolutely no reason for us to have Americans or their immediate relatives still on the ground.&#8221;<!-- END-CONTENT(pullquote)[0] --></blockquote><!-- END-BLOCK(pullquote)[0] -->
1929.  
1930.  
1931.  
1932. <p>“There&#8217;s a long history and precedent of the Department of State and Department of Defense working in tandem to do evacuations out of conflict zones,” said Kari. That includes more recent operations in Israel and <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/10/03/israel-lebanon-us-citizens-evacuation/">Lebanon</a>, as well as <a href="https://theintercept.com/2021/08/31/us-citizen-afghanistan-evacuation-state-department/">Afghanistan</a> — following the fall of the Taliban in 2021 — and Sudan, after a civil war that broke out last year shut down the airport.</p>
1933.  
1934.  
1935.  
1936. <p>The lawsuit accused the administration of violating the plaintiffs’ collective constitutional rights to due process and equal protection under the laws.&nbsp;</p>
1937.  
1938.  
1939.  
1940.  
1941.  
1942.  
1943.  
1944. <p>“Defendants’ failure to extend similar evacuation efforts to Palestinian Americans has created a two-tier system sending a clear signal about the prioritization of its citizens, effectively endorsing discriminatory policies that disproportionately disadvantage Palestinian Americans,” the suit says.</p>
1945.  
1946.  
1947.  
1948. <p>All of the plaintiffs and their immediate family members have tried to leave and were even granted initial approval to do so by the State Department, according to Kari. They registered on a crisis intake form for evacuation assistance provided by the department and were told to monitor a Facebook page, which would publish a final list of names and what day they could appear at the <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/03/07/gaza-palestinians-border-crossing-egypt/">Rafah crossing</a> from Gaza into Egypt.&nbsp;</p>
1949.  
1950.  
1951. <!-- BLOCK(document)[2](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22DOCUMENT%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22EMBED%22%7D)(%7B%22sourceId%22%3A%2225466951-lawsuit-by-americans-in-gaza-who-say-biden-administration-is-abandoning-them-in-a-warzone%22%2C%22sourceName%22%3A%22documentcloud%22%2C%22url%22%3A%22https%3A%5C%2F%5C%2Fbeta.documentcloud.org%5C%2Fdocuments%5C%2F25466951-lawsuit-by-americans-in-gaza-who-say-biden-administration-is-abandoning-them-in-a-warzone%22%7D) -->
1952.    <iframe loading="lazy"
1953.      height="450"
1954.      sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-forms"
1955.      src="https://embed.documentcloud.org/documents/25466951-lawsuit-by-americans-in-gaza-who-say-biden-administration-is-abandoning-them-in-a-warzone/?embed=1&title=1"
1956.      style="border: 1px solid #aaa;"
1957.      width="100%"
1958.    ></iframe>
1959.  <!-- END-BLOCK(document)[2] -->
1960.  
1961.  
1962.  
1963. <p>The respective plaintiffs and their family members, who all already had initial approval from the State Department, remained in Gaza because either their name or the name of their eligible immediate family member did not appear on the final border crossing list. In May, <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/05/08/israel-rafah-palestine-evacuation-children-unicef/">Israel seized the Rafah border</a> — making it nearly impossible for civilians to leave through the crossing.&nbsp;</p>
1964.  
1965.  
1966.  
1967. <p>Rafah is not, however, the only way civilians have left Gaza. The lawsuit notes that the U.S. has facilitated the evacuation of about 17 American doctors in May and some injured and ill children, along with their caretakers, since June, through the Kerem Shalom crossing.</p>
1968.  
1969.  
1970.  
1971. <p>“There is absolutely no reason for us to have Americans or their immediate relatives still on the ground — and have the American government wash their hands of the situation and say: ‘Oh, we don&#8217;t control who comes and goes from the Gaza Strip,’” Kari said. “That’s just not true, based on what we&#8217;ve been watching happen — even since Rafah has closed.”</p>
1972.  
1973.  
1974.  
1975. <p>In ElHelou’s case, her name and that of her two youngest children appeared on the official crossing list, but her eldest son’s name was not included. So she stayed in Gaza — unwilling to leave him behind. In a video message shared with The Intercept by Kari, ElHelou urged the American government to help evacuate her family through the Kerem Shalom crossing “as has been done for other humanitarian cases.”</p>
1976.  
1977.  
1978.  
1979. <p>“I ask for your help as an American mother to get my children and me to safety. Our lives depend on your swift action,” ElHelou said, staring into the camera and wearing a light pink hijab. “I have a fundamental right to be protected by my government, especially in times of war. My children and I deserve to return to the safety of the U.S. without delay.”<br><br><!-- BLOCK(promote-post)[3](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22PROMOTE_POST%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22SHORTCODE%22%2C%22optional%22%3Atrue%7D)(%7B%22slug%22%3A%22israel-palestine%22%2C%22crop%22%3A%22promo%22%7D) -->  <aside class="promote-banner">
1980.    <a class="promote-banner__link" href="https://theintercept.com/collections/israel-palestine/">
1981.              <span class="promote-banner__image">
1982.          <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="300" height="150" src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?fit=300%2C150" class="attachment-medium size-medium" alt="DEIR AL-BALAH, GAZA - NOVEMBER 7: Civil defense teams and citizens continue search and rescue operations after an airstrike hits the building belonging to the Maslah family during the 32nd day of Israeli attacks in Deir Al-Balah, Gaza on November 7, 2023. (Photo by Ashraf Amra/Anadolu via Getty Images)" srcset="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=5760 5760w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=300 300w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=768 768w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=1024 1024w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=1536 1536w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=2048 2048w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=540 540w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=1000 1000w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=2400 2400w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=3600 3600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />        </span>
1983.            <div class="promote-banner__text">
1984.                  <p class="promote-banner__eyebrow">
1985.            Read our complete coverage          </p>
1986.        
1987.        <h2 class="promote-banner__title">Israel’s War on Gaza</h2>
1988.      </div>
1989.    </a>
1990.  </aside>
1991. <!-- END-BLOCK(promote-post)[3] --></p>
1992.  
1993.  
1994.  
1995. <p><span class="has-underline">The U.S. State Department</span> and military say that it is official policy to minimize the number of American citizens, nationals, and “designated other persons” who are “subject to the risk of death” in combat areas. This policy, however, doesn’t spur any legally binding action — a challenge for lawyers who brought the case.&nbsp;</p>
1996.  
1997.  
1998.  
1999. <p>Kari noted, however, that while there’s no legal duty to act, there is a precedent of <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/05/17/gaza-american-doctors-evacuated/">others being afforded help</a> getting out of war zones. This status quo creates the need for the government to act or face allegations, as it does in the latest suit, that its selective inaction is discriminatory.</p>
2000.  
2001.  
2002.  
2003. <p>“Your constitutional protections don&#8217;t end when you leave the country,&#8221; she said. &#8220;The U.S. government has an obligation to citizens abroad.”</p>
2004.  
2005.  
2006.  
2007. <!-- BLOCK(pullquote)[4](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22PULLQUOTE%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22SHORTCODE%22%2C%22optional%22%3Atrue%7D)(%7B%22pull%22%3A%22right%22%7D) --><blockquote class="stylized pull-right" data-shortcode-type="pullquote" data-pull="right"><!-- CONTENT(pullquote)[4] -->“Your constitutional protections don&#8217;t end when you leave the country.”<!-- END-CONTENT(pullquote)[4] --></blockquote><!-- END-BLOCK(pullquote)[4] -->
2008.  
2009.  
2010.  
2011. <p>The State Department was not able to provide up-to-date numbers on how many U.S. citizens, green card holders, and immediate family members of Americans remain in Gaza. Jessica Doyle, a spokesperson for the State Department, said the agency believes “the vast majority” of American citizens who were in Gaza and wanted to leave have done so, adding that the U.S. helped more than 1,800 U.S.-linked people leave Gaza before the Rafah border closed. Doyle said that the agency’s ability to currently confirm information about citizens in Gaza is “extremely limited because of the security situation.”&nbsp;</p>
2012.  
2013.  
2014.  
2015. <p>Doyle added that the U.S. “does not control the border crossings or who is permitted to depart Gaza or enter other countries in the region.” She said the State Department will communicate “available exit procedures from Gaza” with American citizens as the American Embassy in Jerusalem receives information on how to do so.&nbsp;</p>
2016.  
2017.  
2018.  
2019.  
2020.  
2021.  
2022.  
2023. <p>ElHelou’s isn’t the only family involved in the case dealing with an untreated medical condition or facing difficult decisions about separating or staying together.&nbsp;</p>
2024.  
2025.  
2026.  
2027. <p>The State Department approved Khalid Mourtaga, an American citizen of Palestinian origin, to leave Gaza last December — along with his parents. Only Mourtaga’s mother’s name, however, appeared on the official crossing list. She refused to leave without her son and husband.&nbsp;</p>
2028.  
2029.  
2030.  
2031. <p>Days before Israel seized the Rafah crossing, Mourtaga pleaded on CNN for the U.S. to evacuate them, according to the lawsuit.</p>
2032.  
2033.  
2034.  
2035. <p>Since then, he has contacted multiple U.S. senators to help them leave but to no avail. Mourtaga has already fled for his life, becoming internally displaced at least seven times. Mourtaga and his parents lack clean water, and the little rice and flour that is available to them is often infested with worms. He has <a href="https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/israel-gaza-epidemic-hospital-death-illness">contracted Hepatitis A</a>. </p>
2036.  
2037.  
2038.  
2039. <p>Other medical conditions faced by the plaintiffs include diabetes, sciatica, potential amputation, and a severe kidney condition.</p>
2040.  
2041.  
2042.  
2043.  <div class="promote-related-post">
2044.    <a      class="promo-related-post__link"
2045.            href="https://theintercept.com/2024/03/07/gaza-palestinians-border-crossing-egypt/"
2046.      data-ga-track="in_article-body"
2047.      data-ga-track-action="related post embed: gaza-palestinians-border-crossing-egypt"
2048.      data-ga-track-label="gaza-palestinians-border-crossing-egypt"
2049.          >
2050.              <img decoding="async" width="440" height="440" src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/AP23317417713833-gaza-egypt-border.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="" loading="lazy" />            <span class="promo-related-post__text">
2051.      <h2 class="promote-related-post__eyebrow">
2052.        Related      </h2>
2053.      <h3 class="promote-related-post__title">Desperate To Escape Gaza Carnage, Palestinians Are Forced to Pay Exorbitant Fees to Enter Egypt</h3>
2054.    </span>
2055.    </a>
2056.  </div>
2057.  
2058.  
2059.  
2060. <p>Kari was among a group of lawyers across the nation that filed similar lawsuits between October and December 2023 for Americans and their immediate family members stuck in Gaza; that legal pressure resulted in the evacuation of about 60 to 80 people, they say.&nbsp;</p>
2061.  
2062.  
2063.  
2064. <p>Ghassan Shamieh, an immigration attorney and partner at the firm Shamieh, Shamieh, and Ternieden filed a similar lawsuit on behalf of two American citizens in the Bay Area on November 1. He dropped the case about a week later because his clients were evacuated.&nbsp;</p>
2065.  
2066.  
2067.  
2068. <p>“I don’t think that timing was a coincidence,” he said. “A majority of those cases between October and December resulted in those people being evacuated, and I am sure that these lawsuits had a role to play in that, because it puts pressure on the government to have to defend its position — and it&#8217;s much easier to evacuate them than to defend this discriminatory position.”</p>
2069.  
2070.  
2071.  
2072. <p>While the case plays out in courts, the plaintiffs are worried for their lives. While working on the case, Kari heard from one of them, Sahar Harara, that Israeli bombing had killed her father and severely injured her mother. Both are permanent U.S. residents who were visiting Gaza to meet family when Israel began its assault in the wake of the October 7 attack.</p>
2073. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/12/20/americans-stuck-gaza-lawsuit/">Americans Stuck in Gaza Sue the U.S. for Leaving Them “Trapped in a War Zone”</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
2074. ]]></content:encoded>
2075.                                <wfw:commentRss>https://theintercept.com/2024/12/20/americans-stuck-gaza-lawsuit/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
2076.                <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
2077.                <media:content url='https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-1964266516-e1734721841919.jpg?fit=3377%2C1690' width='3377' height='1690' /><post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">483908</post-id>
2078. <media:thumbnail url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-2003071883-e1734915687994.jpg?w=1200" />
2079. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-2003071883-e1734915687994.jpg?w=1200" medium="image" />
2080. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-1133569077-e1735579307347.jpg?w=1200" medium="image" />
2081. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-669011264-e1735324549627.jpg?w=1200" medium="image" />
2082. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?fit=300%2C150" medium="image">
2083. <media:title type="html">DEIR AL-BALAH, GAZA - NOVEMBER 7: Civil defense teams and citizens continue search and rescue operations after an airstrike hits the building belonging to the Maslah family during the 32nd day of Israeli attacks in Deir Al-Balah, Gaza on November 7, 2023. (Photo by Ashraf Amra/Anadolu via Getty Images)</media:title>
2084. </media:content>
2085. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/AP23317417713833-gaza-egypt-border.jpg" medium="image" />
2086.            </item>
2087.        
2088.            <item>
2089.                <title><![CDATA[Power of the Pardon ]]></title>
2090.                <link>https://theintercept.com/2024/12/20/intercept-briefing-podcast-death-penalty-biden-clemency-pardons/</link>
2091.                <comments>https://theintercept.com/2024/12/20/intercept-briefing-podcast-death-penalty-biden-clemency-pardons/#respond</comments>
2092.                <pubDate>Fri, 20 Dec 2024 16:10:00 +0000</pubDate>
2093.                                    <dc:creator><![CDATA[The Intercept Briefing]]></dc:creator>
2094.                                 <category><![CDATA[The Intercept Briefing]]></category>
2095.  
2096.                <guid isPermaLink="false">https://theintercept.com/?p=483860</guid>
2097.                                    <description><![CDATA[<p>Biden is running out of time to stop another Trump execution spree.</p>
2098. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/12/20/intercept-briefing-podcast-death-penalty-biden-clemency-pardons/">Power of the Pardon </a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
2099. ]]></description>
2100.                                        <content:encoded><![CDATA[
2101. <!-- BLOCK(acast)[0](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22ACAST%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22SHORTCODE%22%2C%22optional%22%3Afalse%7D)(%7B%22id%22%3A%22power-of-the-pardon%22%2C%22podcast%22%3A%22intercept-presents%22%2C%22subscribe%22%3Atrue%7D) -->
2102. <div class="acast-player">
2103.  <iframe src="https://embed.acast.com/intercept-presents/power-of-the-pardon?accentColor=111111&#038;bgColor=f5f6f7&#038;logo=false" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" class="acast-player__embed"></iframe>
2104. </div>
2105. <!-- END-BLOCK(acast)[0] -->
2106.  
2107.  
2108.  
2109. <p><span class="has-underline">Among a president’s</span> most profound responsibilities is the power to grant clemency. Now, as President Joe Biden&#8217;s first term winds down, he faces mounting calls to use that authority to <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/11/27/biden-trump-commutations-death-row-executions/">commute the sentences of the 40 men</a> on federal death row.</p>
2110.  
2111.  
2112.  
2113. <p>Donald Trump&#8217;s final months in office marked a stark shift in federal execution policy. After a 17-year hiatus, his administration<a href="https://theintercept.com/series/out-for-blood/"> executed 13 people </a>— the most under any president in over a century. While Biden halted this practice, advocates warn that a second Trump term could restart executions. It&#8217;s why they&#8217;re urging Biden to take decisive action now to reduce death penalty sentences to life without parole.<br><br><!-- BLOCK(promote-post)[1](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22PROMOTE_POST%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22SHORTCODE%22%2C%22optional%22%3Atrue%7D)(%7B%22slug%22%3A%22out-for-blood%22%2C%22crop%22%3A%22promo%22%7D) -->  <aside class="promote-banner">
2114.    <a class="promote-banner__link" href="/collections/out-for-blood/">
2115.              <span class="promote-banner__image">
2116.          <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="300" height="150" src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/out-for-blood.jpg?fit=300%2C150" class="attachment-medium size-medium" alt="" srcset="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/out-for-blood.jpg?w=1440 1440w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/out-for-blood.jpg?w=300 300w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/out-for-blood.jpg?w=768 768w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/out-for-blood.jpg?w=1024 1024w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/out-for-blood.jpg?w=540 540w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/out-for-blood.jpg?w=1000 1000w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />        </span>
2117.            <div class="promote-banner__text">
2118.                  <p class="promote-banner__eyebrow">
2119.            Read our complete coverage          </p>
2120.        
2121.        <h2 class="promote-banner__title">Out for Blood</h2>
2122.      </div>
2123.    </a>
2124.  </aside>
2125. <!-- END-BLOCK(promote-post)[1] --></p>
2126.  
2127.  
2128.  
2129. <p>On this week&#8217;s episode of The Intercept Briefing, reporter <a href="https://theintercept.com/staff/liliana-segura/">Liliana Segura</a> examines the gap between <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/08/23/dnc-democrats-death-penalty-executions/">candidate Biden&#8217;s promises</a> and his actions as president. “By far the most significant thing that Biden could do and should do in my opinion is to make good on his stated opposition to the death penalty, which is something he ran on in 2020. Joe Biden said that he wanted to try to bring legislation to end the federal death penalty and, in fact, incentivize states to do the same. He had language in his campaign platform talking about how life without parole sentences were appropriate alternatives,” she says.&nbsp;</p>
2130.  
2131.  
2132.  
2133. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote has-text-align-right"><blockquote><p>“This idea that the death penalty is a deterrent is like the myth that will not die.”</p></blockquote></figure>
2134.  
2135.  
2136.  
2137. <p>According to Segura, the federal death penalty reaches far beyond the most notorious cases and its <a href="https://theintercept.com/series/the-condemned/">deterrent effect is questionable</a> — challenging many Americans&#8217; assumptions. “This idea that the death penalty is a deterrent is like the myth that will not die. You know, I was in Indiana recently covering this midnight execution, and I&#8217;m looking at some of the rhetoric that is out there from the state attorney general, and he is banging that drum about, &#8216;Oh, you know, this is a deterrent to crime.’ There&#8217;s absolutely no evidence that that is true and there really never has been.”</p>
2138.  
2139.  
2140.  
2141. <p>To learn more about what Biden could do, listen to this week’s episode of The Intercept Briefing.</p>
2142.  
2143.  
2144.  
2145. <p></p>
2146. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/12/20/intercept-briefing-podcast-death-penalty-biden-clemency-pardons/">Power of the Pardon </a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
2147. ]]></content:encoded>
2148.                                <wfw:commentRss>https://theintercept.com/2024/12/20/intercept-briefing-podcast-death-penalty-biden-clemency-pardons/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
2149.                <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
2150.                <media:content url='https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Pardon2.jpg?fit=2000%2C1000' width='2000' height='1000' /><post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">483860</post-id>
2151. <media:thumbnail url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/out-for-blood.jpg?fit=300%2C150" />
2152. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/out-for-blood.jpg?fit=300%2C150" medium="image" />
2153.            </item>
2154.        
2155.            <item>
2156.                <title><![CDATA[In Waning Senate Days, Kyrsten Sinema Screwed Workers and Spent Campaign Cash on Stay at French Castle]]></title>
2157.                <link>https://theintercept.com/2024/12/20/kyrsten-sinema-campaign-spending-castle-france/</link>
2158.                <comments>https://theintercept.com/2024/12/20/kyrsten-sinema-campaign-spending-castle-france/#respond</comments>
2159.                <pubDate>Fri, 20 Dec 2024 10:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
2160.                                    <dc:creator><![CDATA[Matt Sledge]]></dc:creator>
2161.                                 <category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
2162.  
2163.                <guid isPermaLink="false"></guid>
2164.                                    <description><![CDATA[<p>The Arizona senator’s prodigious campaign spending in global wine hot spots can’t possibly be related to the campaign she’s not running, says an ethics complaint.</p>
2165. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/12/20/kyrsten-sinema-campaign-spending-castle-france/">In Waning Senate Days, Kyrsten Sinema Screwed Workers and Spent Campaign Cash on Stay at French Castle</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
2166. ]]></description>
2167.                                        <content:encoded><![CDATA[
2168. <p><span class="has-underline">Outgoing independent Arizona</span> Sen. Kyrsten Sinema has spent her final months in office missing votes, tanking a union-friendly National Labor Relations Board, and praising the obstructionist procedure known as the filibuster.</p>
2169.  
2170.  
2171.  
2172. <p>She has also violated campaign finance law by taking pricey trips to places like Rome and California wine country, according to a Wednesday <a href="https://www.citizensforethics.org/legal-action/legal-complaints/crew-files-complaint-against-kyrsten-sinema/">complaint</a> lodged by the nonprofit Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.</p>
2173.  
2174.  
2175.  
2176. <p>The group claims that since Sinema announced in March that she would not run for reelection, her campaign has spent over $100,000 on personal travel expenses. Those expenses do not appear to have any connection to campaign or official duties, making them illegal uses of her funds, CREW says. (Sinema’s office did not respond to a request for comment.)&nbsp;</p>
2177.  
2178.  
2179.  
2180. <!-- BLOCK(pullquote)[0](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22PULLQUOTE%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22SHORTCODE%22%2C%22optional%22%3Atrue%7D)(%7B%22pull%22%3A%22right%22%7D) --><blockquote class="stylized pull-right" data-shortcode-type="pullquote" data-pull="right"><!-- CONTENT(pullquote)[0] -->“The law applies to you whether it’s your first week in office or your last.”<!-- END-CONTENT(pullquote)[0] --></blockquote><!-- END-BLOCK(pullquote)[0] -->
2181.  
2182.  
2183.  
2184. <p>She has successfully fought off similar charges before by claiming that the expenses were related to fundraising, but that could be a tougher sell this time around given her departure from the Senate.</p>
2185.  
2186.  
2187.  
2188. <p>Noah Bookbinder, the president of CREW, said it was particularly concerning that Sinema was still trotting the globe during her lame-duck period.</p>
2189.  
2190.  
2191.  
2192.  
2193.  
2194.  
2195.  
2196. <p>“The law applies to you whether it’s your first week in office or your last,” Bookbinder said in a statement. “Spending thousands of dollars of campaign contributions on yourself is even more troubling when it comes after you’ve announced you’re no longer a candidate.”</p>
2197.  
2198.  
2199.  
2200. <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-racking-up-miles"><strong>Racking Up Miles</strong></h2>
2201.  
2202.  
2203.  
2204. <p>Sinema’s campaign organization has not raised any money in the last two quarters since she announced her departure from the Senate, but fundraising from past years has left her with nearly $5 million in cash on hand, as of <a href="https://docquery.fec.gov/pdf/328/202410149685245328/202410149685245328.pdf#navpanes=0">her latest Federal Election Commission report</a>.</p>
2205.  
2206.  
2207.  
2208. <p>That has given her campaign plenty of money for a globe-spanning spending spree.</p>
2209.  
2210.  
2211.  
2212. <p>The expenses, according to the CREW complaint, include trips to various locations spread across several months that include:</p>
2213.  
2214.  
2215.  
2216. <ul class="wp-block-list">
2217. <li>$3,120 to vendors in Italy in March, including a hotel in Milan and a restaurant steps from the Pantheon in Rome</li>
2218.  
2219.  
2220.  
2221. <li>Nearly $9,000 to vendors in Massachusetts around the time of the Boston Marathon in April, which Sinema, <a href="https://www.runnersworld.com/news/a43904801/kyrsten-sinema-campaign-funds-races/">a fitness buff</a>, has participated in before</li>
2222.  
2223.  
2224.  
2225. <li>$15,000 of spending in California and Colorado over the summer in locations that included Three Sticks Wines, <a href="https://theintercept.com/2021/09/26/kyrsten-sinema-private-equity-tax-loophole/">a winery where Sinema has both interned and courted private equity donors</a></li>
2226.  
2227.  
2228.  
2229. <li>$82,000 in a grab bag of travel expenses this year that include $3,600 in the United Kingdom and $5,400 in France, including $2,800 at the Castel de Très Girard in the wine region of Burgundy </li>
2230. </ul>
2231.  
2232.  
2233.  
2234. <p>CREW said that despite “an extensive search of the public record,” it was unable to find evidence that the expenses related to official congressional duties or to campaign activities.</p>
2235.  
2236.  
2237.  
2238. <p>It would be perfectly legal for a member of Congress to use their campaign money to host fundraising events or to finance excursions nominally related to their job — but there is no evidence that Sinema has been engaging in either, CREW says.</p>
2239.  
2240.  
2241.  
2242. <!-- BLOCK(pullquote)[2](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22PULLQUOTE%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22SHORTCODE%22%2C%22optional%22%3Atrue%7D)(%7B%22pull%22%3A%22left%22%7D) --><blockquote class="stylized pull-left" data-shortcode-type="pullquote" data-pull="left"><!-- CONTENT(pullquote)[2] -->“It’s hard to see how any of this spending was for the benefit of the campaign.”<!-- END-CONTENT(pullquote)[2] --></blockquote><!-- END-BLOCK(pullquote)[2] -->
2243.  
2244.  
2245.  
2246. <p>The FEC’s test of whether a particular expense violates the law is straightforward: For every expense, the commission asks whether the candidate would have dished out the money irrespective of being a politician. If they would have paid the money even if they were not a member of Congress trying to drum up donations or make official visits, the expense is no good.</p>
2247.  
2248.  
2249.  
2250. <p>To CREW, the spending outlined in its complaint is a clear violation.</p>
2251.  
2252.  
2253.  
2254. <p>“The rule of thumb is that any dollar your campaign spends has to be for the campaign — it can’t just be for your own personal benefit,” Bookbinder said. “It’s hard to see how any of this spending was for the benefit of the campaign.”</p>
2255.  
2256.  
2257.  
2258. <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-no-punishment-before"><strong>No Punishment Before</strong></h2>
2259.  
2260.  
2261.  
2262. <p>While Sinema did not respond to a request for comment from The Intercept, or one weeks before <a href="https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/arizona/2024/10/15/sen-kyrsten-sinemas-campaign-is-spending-big-on-overseas-travel/75681767007/">from the Arizona Republic</a>, the outcome of a similar complaint filed last year shows how reticent the FEC has been to take action against her before.</p>
2263.  
2264.  
2265.  
2266. <p>In May 2023, Change for Arizona 2024 PAC, a group opposed to Sinema, filed a complaint alleging that a whirlwind of previous spending on trips to places like Boulder, Colorado, and Boston violated the law.</p>
2267.  
2268.  
2269.  
2270. <p>Sinema argued successfully that many of the trips coincided with fundraising junkets. Some were also paid for by the Sinema-affiliated Getting Stuff Done PAC, a separate organization known as a leadership PAC that has more leeway to cover her personal expenses. The FEC <a href="https://www.fec.gov/files/legal/murs/8140/8140_11.pdf">voted to dismiss the 2023 complaint against Sinema this September.</a></p>
2271.  
2272.  
2273.  
2274. <p>Critics of the FEC say that it too often punts on taking action against politicians who violate the law, and that when it does, the punishment is too late and too light to matter.</p>
2275.  
2276.  
2277.  
2278.  
2279.  
2280.  
2281. <p>By the time CREW’s complaint is resolved, Sinema could be long gone from the Senate. She has previously mused, <a href="https://newrepublic.com/post/176478/kyrsten-sinema-romney-filibuster-2024">according to a biography of her friend Mitt Romney</a>, about serving on a board or as a university president in her post-Senate life.</p>
2282.  
2283.  
2284.  
2285. <p>Although Sinema has <a href="https://www.axios.com/2024/11/27/senators-missed-votes-absent-118th-congress">missed some of the most votes</a> of any senator during this Congress, that has not stopped her from making news during her final weeks.</p>
2286.  
2287.  
2288.  
2289. <p>In her first Senate vote since before Thanksgiving, Sinema <a href="https://apnews.com/article/nlrb-labor-board-manchin-sinema-5e6dea85b147b4f53da000cef813b996">helped tank a Democratic appointee to the National Labor Relations Board</a> who could have kept its pro-union members in the majority through 2026.</p>
2290.  
2291.  
2292.  
2293. <p>&#8220;It is deeply disappointing, a direct attack on working people, and incredibly troubling that this highly qualified nominee — with a proven track record of protecting worker rights — did not have the votes,&#8221; Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said after the vote.</p>
2294.  
2295.  
2296.  
2297. <p>Sinema left the Democratic Party in 2022 to become an independent, after <a href="https://inthesetimes.com/article/democrats-pro-act-labor-kelly-sinema-warner-dsa-unions">helping kill one of organized labor’s top priorities</a>, a law that would have made it easier to unionize workplaces.</p>
2298. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/12/20/kyrsten-sinema-campaign-spending-castle-france/">In Waning Senate Days, Kyrsten Sinema Screwed Workers and Spent Campaign Cash on Stay at French Castle</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
2299. ]]></content:encoded>
2300.                                <wfw:commentRss>https://theintercept.com/2024/12/20/kyrsten-sinema-campaign-spending-castle-france/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
2301.                <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
2302.                <media:content url='https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-1239815322-1-e1734650726559.jpg?fit=8372%2C4186' width='8372' height='4186' /><post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">483867</post-id>
2303. <media:thumbnail url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-2003071883-e1734915687994.jpg?w=1200" />
2304. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-2003071883-e1734915687994.jpg?w=1200" medium="image" />
2305. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-1133569077-e1735579307347.jpg?w=1200" medium="image" />
2306. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-669011264-e1735324549627.jpg?w=1200" medium="image" />
2307. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/GettyImages-1230794632-leon-black-sinema-donor.jpg" medium="image" />
2308.            </item>
2309.        
2310.            <item>
2311.                <title><![CDATA[Health Insurance Execs Should Live in Fear of Prison, Not Murder]]></title>
2312.                <link>https://theintercept.com/2024/12/19/luigi-mangione-unitedhealthcare-insurance/</link>
2313.                <comments>https://theintercept.com/2024/12/19/luigi-mangione-unitedhealthcare-insurance/#respond</comments>
2314.                <pubDate>Thu, 19 Dec 2024 17:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
2315.                                    <dc:creator><![CDATA[Sunjeev Bery]]></dc:creator>
2316.                                 <category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
2317. <category><![CDATA[Voices]]></category>
2318.  
2319.                <guid isPermaLink="false">https://theintercept.com/?p=483807</guid>
2320.                                    <description><![CDATA[<p>The U.S. political system is owned by corporations despised by the American people. Luigi Mangione is the result.</p>
2321. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/12/19/luigi-mangione-unitedhealthcare-insurance/">Health Insurance Execs Should Live in Fear of Prison, Not Murder</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
2322. ]]></description>
2323.                                        <content:encoded><![CDATA[
2324. <figure class="wp-block-ft-photo is-style-default">
2325.    <img decoding="async"
2326.    src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-2188685358_834438.jpg?fit=4504%2C2761"
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2329.    alt="HOLLIDAYSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA - DECEMBER 10: Suspected shooter Luigi Mangione is led from the Blair County Courthouse after an extradition hearing December 10, 2024 in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania. Mangione has been arraigned on weapons and false identification charges related to the fatal shooting of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York City. Mangione is incarcerated in the State Correctional Institution in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania awaiting extradition to New York. (Photo by Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)"
2330.    width="4504"
2331.    height="2761"
2332.    loading="lazy"
2333.  />
2334.      <figcaption class="photo__figcaption">
2335.              <span class="photo__caption">Luigi Mangione, the suspected killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, is led from the Blair County Courthouse after an extradition hearing Dec. 10, 2024 in Hollidaysburg, Pa.</span>
2336.                    <span class="photo__credit">Photo: Jeff Swensen/Getty Images</span>
2337.          </figcaption>
2338.    </figure>
2339.  
2340.  
2341.  
2342. <p><span class="has-underline">The murder of</span> UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson is a profoundly revealing moment in American politics. Not only has it opened the floodgates of public anger at health insurance companies, but it has also demonstrated just how avoidant most U.S. politicians are when it comes to acknowledging that anger or doing anything about it.</p>
2343.  
2344.  
2345.  
2346. <p>The surge of online excitement surrounding the man accused of murdering Thompson, 26-year-old Luigi Mangione, is a symptom of a much larger problem: an oligarchic U.S. political system that repeatedly fails to respond to the needs of the people. In the absence of effective government, vigilante violence becomes much more likely.</p>
2347.  
2348.  
2349.  
2350. <p>Mangione has found popularity precisely because the man he is accused of killing ran a company that routinely boosted profits by pushing its customers closer to illness and death. Earlier this year, a U.S. Senate committee investigated UnitedHealthcare and determined that the insurance company frequently <a href="https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024.10.17-PSI-Majority-Staff-Report-on-Medicare-Advantage.pdf">denied nursing care to patients </a>who were recovering from falls and strokes in order to boost its profits. Health news platform Stat<a href="https://www.statnews.com/2023/11/14/unitedhealth-algorithm-medicare-advantage-investigation/"> reported</a> that a UnitedHealthcare subsidiary <a href="https://www.statnews.com/2023/10/23/unitedhealth-optum-navihealth-rebranding-algorithm/">called NaviHealth</a> systematically denied care for seriously ill seniors. Thompson himself was facing a <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/unitedhealthcare-brian-thompson-insider-trading-lawsuit_n_6751a2abe4b01129dffa8789">class-action lawsuit</a> for insider trading amid a Department of Justice investigation.</p>
2351.  
2352.  
2353.  
2354. <p>Of course, it is easy to treat UnitedHealthcare&#8217;s abuses as the actions of just one evil company run by a handful of bad men. But these companies are owned by Wall Street. Institutional investors and shareholders reward and punish corporate executives based on the profits they generate and the share prices they produce. In causing harm to so many Americans, Thompson was meeting the demands of his corporate board members and the even wealthier interests that they serve.&nbsp;</p>
2355.  
2356.  
2357.  
2358.  
2359.  
2360.  
2361.  
2362. <p>These profits generated by denying Americans medical care are in turn converted into campaign contributions and <a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/11/20/medicare-for-all-healthcare-industry/">lobbying dollars</a> that block our political system from doing anything about it. In 2023 and 2024, UnitedHealth Group’s political action committee reported <a href="https://www.fec.gov/data/committee/C00274431/?tab=summary">donating</a>&nbsp; $2.95 million to federal campaigns and <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/unitedhealth-group/lobbying?id=D000000348">spending</a> $16.62 million on lobbying expenses. Meanwhile, the <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/unitedhealth-group/recipients?id=D000000348">top federal recipient</a> of campaign contributions from UnitedHealth Group executives and employees was Kamala Harris. Perhaps this is why Harris<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/kamala-harris-walks-back-her-hand-moment-health-insurance-democratic-n1024756"> flip-flopped</a> on abolishing private health insurance during her first of two failed runs for president: she knew just how much money was on the table.</p>
2363.  
2364.  
2365.  
2366. <p>Harris, of course, isn&#8217;t the only major recipient of campaign contributions from UnitedHealth Group employees in 2024. The Democratic National Committee received $103,022; the Republican National Committee received $207,125; and the Trump campaign took in $144,297. And UnitedHealth Group is not alone. A quick review of other major health insurance companies demonstrates that each of them has <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/478511-progressives-raise-red-flags-over-health-insurer-donations/">spent heavily</a> in recent campaign cycles to maintain a political system that responds to their corporate interests, while undermining the health of the American people.&nbsp;</p>
2367.  
2368.  
2369.  
2370. <p>Perhaps this is why prominent Democratic politicians like Pennsylvania’s <a href="https://x.com/SenFettermanPA/status/1865441282862006452">Sen. John Fetterman</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3G-cPdWNiE">Gov. Josh Shapiro</a> were so quick to condemn the murder of Thompson, while saying little or nothing about the thousands of people who have been denied coverage for their medical care by UnitedHealthcare under Thompson&#8217;s management. And perhaps this has something to do with why <a href="https://www.politico.com/newsletters/new-york-playbook/2024/12/13/security-worries-00194193">New York Gov. Kathy Hochul</a> issued a <a href="https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/statement-governor-hochul">statement</a> regarding the murder of Thompson and <a href="https://www.politico.com/newsletters/new-york-playbook/2024/12/13/security-worries-00194193">personally joined</a> a virtual convening of some 175 corporate representatives who were concerned about their safety, but has <a href="https://search.ny.gov/search/search.html?q=unitedhealthcare+thompson+inurl%3Awww.governor.ny.gov&amp;site=default_collection">said nothing</a> regarding the insurance abuses of UnitedHealthcare.</p>
2371.  
2372.  
2373.  
2374. <p>With Republicans about to control all three branches of the U.S. government, any real accountability for health insurance companies, including criminalization of their abuses, is highly unlikely. But even under the best of circumstances, we shouldn&#8217;t expect much from our status quo political system. The high-water mark of health care reform in recent American history was the Affordable Care Act, or “Obamacare.” Obama’s signature achievement was originally a conservative <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/theapothecary/2012/02/07/the-tortuous-conservative-history-of-the-individual-mandate/">Heritage Foundation plan</a> previously implemented by former private equity executive Mitt Romney when he was the governor of Massachusetts. And even this market-friendly approach was later disavowed and attacked by Republicans.</p>
2375.  
2376.  
2377.  
2378. <p>But despite these tremendous hurdles — or because of them — a clear public rage exists that would be foolish to ignore. For progressives seeking to reboot the Democratic Party, this is the time to turn public outrage at UnitedHealthcare into tangible pressure that breaks the back of business-as-usual.</p>
2379.  
2380.  
2381.  
2382. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote has-text-align-right"><blockquote><p>It is worth remembering just how often Republicans leverage <em>false </em>crises to capture the national debate.</p></blockquote></figure>
2383.  
2384.  
2385.  
2386. <p>In evaluating the present moment, it is worth remembering just how often Republicans leverage <em>false </em>crises to capture the national debate. The hysterias over the so-called war on Christmas, transgender access to bathrooms, critical race theory, “all lives matter,” and “<a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/09/12/trump-springfield-haiti-cats-dogs-racism-immigration/">they&#8217;re eating the cats</a>” are all examples of moments when conservatives have created controversies or flipped the script on real-world events to shift headlines and distract the public from the actual problems of concentrated power and wealth in America.&nbsp;</p>
2387.  
2388.  
2389.  
2390. <p>Republicans have long been better at this than Democrats, because Republicans use their meme wars to punch down and target the <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/09/23/trump-campaign-conspiracy-theories/">powerless</a>, while Democrats are usually too fearful to punch up and target the <a href="https://theintercept.com/2021/10/29/big-pharma-donations-medicare-drug-pricing-democrats/">corporate elites who fund their campaigns</a> while driving many of America&#8217;s ills.</p>
2391.  
2392.  
2393.  
2394. <p>But unlike many Republican attacks, the problems with health insurance are real, and public concern is quite broad. A recent Economist/YouGov<a href="https://today.yougov.com/politics/articles/51108-health-care-presidential-transition-economy-hunter-biden-pardon-cryptocurrency-december-8-10-2024-economist-yougov-poll"> poll</a> revealed that 62 percent of those polled blamed health insurance companies for problems with the health care system, and the same percentage blame corporate executives. Democrats would be foolish to let the public’s focus on UnitedHealthcare dissipate, but as the 2024 elections revealed, Democratic Party leaders have a long track record of such foolishness.&nbsp;</p>
2395.  
2396.  
2397.  
2398. <p>Given that Republicans will soon hold a trifecta in Washington, and that many Democrats are too fearful of their paymasters to bluntly criticize the corporate classes, how can we push our political system to hold health insurers and Wall Street accountable? One answer might be found in abandoning any hope of seeking immediate redress through our legislative process. Instead we should treat health insurance companies, their dominant shareholders, and the politicians who serve them in the same way that one would treat a repressive government that one is trying to reform — or overthrow. In this context, our tools of battle become cultural delegitimization, demand radicalization, economic pressure, and (nonviolent) political war.</p>
2399.  
2400.  
2401.  
2402. <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-cultural-delegitimization"><strong>Cultural Delegitimization</strong></h2>
2403.  
2404.  
2405.  
2406. <p>Our goal should be to build an American political culture in which health insurance executives and their companies are viewed and treated the same way that child molesters and drug cartels are. They should be ostracized, stigmatized, and demonized. By doing so, we will shift American politics and create a more hospitable environment for pursuing the long-term accountability that health care reformers seek.</p>
2407.  
2408.  
2409.  
2410. <p>This cultural delegitimization can be accomplished through a series of campaigns that target health insurance executives, demonize employment in their businesses, and create a broader negative environment in which no one wants to be associated with them. When it comes to finding opportunities to stigmatize these individuals and corporations, there are likely to be many opportunities to choose from.&nbsp;</p>
2411.  
2412.  
2413.  
2414. <p>One recent example? Even as Thompson and UnitedHealthcare were denying sectors of the public access to valuable medical coverage, they were allowed to <a href="https://2026specialolympicsusagames.org/news/minnesota-officially-wins-bid-to-host-the-2026-special-olympics-usa-games">“sportswash” their reputations</a> by serving as <a href="https://2026specialolympicsusagames.org/get-involved/partnerships">sponsors</a> of the 2026 Special Olympics USA Games. The next time a philanthropic or community initiative unrolls a red carpet for a health insurance executive, there should be a dramatic public backlash.</p>
2415.  
2416.  
2417.  
2418. <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-radicalize-the-demands"><strong>Radicalize the Demands</strong></h2>
2419.  
2420.  
2421.  
2422. <p>We must shift the Overton window far enough that legislative reforms and accountability become the moderate position in American politics. This means speaking bluntly and directly about what should happen to predatory health insurance executives, their corporations, and their enablers.&nbsp;</p>
2423.  
2424.  
2425.  
2426. <p>Health insurance CEOs who implement denial of coverage practices to boost profits should go to jail. Health insurance companies that enable this behavior should face revocation of their corporate charters. And shareholders and investors who financially benefit from these ugly profits should be made directly and criminally liable.&nbsp;</p>
2427.  
2428.  
2429.  
2430. <p>Finally, the thousands upon thousands of people who have been unjustly denied coverage for their medical services should be introduced to a new concept: reparations.</p>
2431.  
2432.  
2433.  
2434. <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-economic-pressure"><strong>Economic Pressure</strong></h2>
2435.  
2436.  
2437.  
2438. <p>Every entity that profits from predatory health insurance practices should be made to face economic costs. Corporate accountability campaigners and health insurance exchange experts should put their heads together to determine the best ways to undermine abusive health insurance companies’ access to new customers and policy holders.&nbsp;</p>
2439.  
2440.  
2441.  
2442. <p>In addition, investors in UnitedHealth Group and other abusive health insurers should face direct pressure to divest from these companies. Investment funds, retirement funds, university endowments, and other major investment players should all be pushed to take their money elsewhere.&nbsp;</p>
2443.  
2444.  
2445.  
2446. <p>As documented by Derek Seidman in <a href="https://truthout.org/articles/behind-unitedhealthcares-ceo-is-a-larger-system-of-corporate-rule/">Truthout</a>, the top two shareholders of UnitedHealthcare parent company UnitedHealth Group “are the world’s two biggest asset managers, BlackRock and Vanguard,” which oversee a combined total of over $20 trillion in assets. Not only that, but BlackRock and Vanguard are also the top two shareholders of each of the<a href="https://www.ama-assn.org/system/files/competition-health-insurance-us-markets.pdf"> top four</a> U.S. health insurers. Both investment firms should face public demands to stop building their wealth off of the suffering of the thousands of people denied coverage for their medical needs.</p>
2447.  
2448.  
2449.  
2450. <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-political-war"><strong>Political War</strong></h2>
2451.  
2452.  
2453.  
2454. <p>Finally, the days of prominent politicians taking money from UnitedHealth Group must come to an end. It&#8217;s not hard to imagine a large number of senior citizens signing on to a demand that politicians should not take money from health insurance companies that are denying older Americans health care coverage.</p>
2455.  
2456.  
2457.  
2458.  <div class="promote-related-post">
2459.    <a      class="promo-related-post__link"
2460.            href="https://theintercept.com/2019/04/26/washington-state-long-term-care/"
2461.      data-ga-track="in_article-body"
2462.      data-ga-track-action="related post embed: washington-state-long-term-care"
2463.      data-ga-track-label="washington-state-long-term-care"
2464.          >
2465.              <img decoding="async" width="440" height="440" src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/AP_17246534782127-1556211904-e1556212053647.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="" loading="lazy" />            <span class="promo-related-post__text">
2466.      <h2 class="promote-related-post__eyebrow">
2467.        Related      </h2>
2468.      <h3 class="promote-related-post__title">Washington Becomes First State to Approve Publicly Funded Long-Term Care</h3>
2469.    </span>
2470.    </a>
2471.  </div>
2472.  
2473.  
2474.  
2475. <p>With elections for the next Democratic National Committee chair coming up in February 2025, now is the time to push the DNC to stop taking money from UnitedHealth Group and other major health insurers. Politicians who stay silent on these demands and who refuse to bluntly criticize health insurance executives and companies should face electoral boycotts in which voters commit to voting against them.</p>
2476.  
2477.  
2478.  
2479. <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-moving-from-anger-to-action"><strong>Moving From Anger to Action</strong></h2>
2480.  
2481.  
2482.  
2483. <p>In a fairer world, Brian Thompson wouldn&#8217;t have been murdered. He would already have been put behind bars.</p>
2484.  
2485.  
2486.  
2487. <p>Health insurance executives profiting off of human suffering <em>should</em> live in fear. But what they should fear is jail, not murder. We don&#8217;t want to live in a society where <a href="https://theintercept.com/2021/09/01/texas-abortion-rights-sb8-supreme-court/">private individuals</a> become <a href="https://theintercept.com/2023/03/24/texas-border-immigration-vigilante/">judges, juries, and street executioners</a> based simply on their own determinations of morality or crime. That is the world in which anti-abortion activists <a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/08/02/anti-abortion-violence-kansas/">kill doctors and nurses</a>. It is the world where white supremacist gunmen assume Black community members are “criminals” to be executed. In the space between illegal vigilante violence and deference to a broken political system is a vast opportunity for constructive and sustained <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/10/30/elbit-israel-weapons-protest-merrimack/">political disruption</a> that eliminates the “safe space” for business executives who profit from the destruction of human life.</p>
2488.  
2489.  
2490.  
2491. <p>One can easily condemn the murder of Thompson while simultaneously condemning who Thompson was and what UnitedHealthcare is known to have done. Denying countless people access to the medical coverage they needed has caused significant pain and suffering, and may have even caused many unnecessary and early deaths. That it took a murder of a health insurance CEO for us to be talking about this reveals just how broken our political, legal, and media systems are.&nbsp;</p>
2492.  
2493.  
2494.  
2495. <p>Health insurance executives, investors, and the politicians who they purchase should all fear social ostracism, financial collapse, and political defeat. This is entirely possible if the political rage of the American public is combined with a strategic road map that turns that anger into action. The fundamental question is whether or not progressive leaders and health care reformers have the courage to turn this moment into something of lasting significance.</p>
2496. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/12/19/luigi-mangione-unitedhealthcare-insurance/">Health Insurance Execs Should Live in Fear of Prison, Not Murder</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
2497. ]]></content:encoded>
2498.                                <wfw:commentRss>https://theintercept.com/2024/12/19/luigi-mangione-unitedhealthcare-insurance/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
2499.                <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
2500.                <media:content url='https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-2188685358-e1734561476198.jpg?fit=4130%2C2064' width='4130' height='2064' /><post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">483807</post-id>
2501. <media:thumbnail url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-2188685358_834438.jpg?fit=4504%2C2761" />
2502. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-2188685358_834438.jpg?fit=4504%2C2761" medium="image">
2503. <media:title type="html">HOLLIDAYSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA - DECEMBER 10: Suspected shooter Luigi Mangione is led from the Blair County Courthouse after an extradition hearing December 10, 2024 in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania. Mangione has been arraigned on weapons and false identification charges related to the fatal shooting of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York City. Mangione is incarcerated in the State Correctional Institution in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania awaiting extradition to New York. (Photo by Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)</media:title>
2504. </media:content>
2505. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-2003071883-e1734915687994.jpg?w=1200" medium="image" />
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2509.            </item>
2510.        
2511.            <item>
2512.                <title><![CDATA[EPA Staffers Demand Biden Release Climate Funds Withheld Over Gaza]]></title>
2513.                <link>https://theintercept.com/2024/12/19/epa-staffers-biden-palestine-letter-climate/</link>
2514.                <comments>https://theintercept.com/2024/12/19/epa-staffers-biden-palestine-letter-climate/#respond</comments>
2515.                <pubDate>Thu, 19 Dec 2024 15:16:12 +0000</pubDate>
2516.                                    <dc:creator><![CDATA[Akela Lacy]]></dc:creator>
2517.                                 <category><![CDATA[Environment]]></category>
2518. <category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
2519.  
2520.                <guid isPermaLink="false"></guid>
2521.                                    <description><![CDATA[<p>“The funds to CJA are critical for building community resilience against climate change threats.”</p>
2522. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/12/19/epa-staffers-biden-palestine-letter-climate/">EPA Staffers Demand Biden Release Climate Funds Withheld Over Gaza</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
2523. ]]></description>
2524.                                        <content:encoded><![CDATA[
2525. <p><span class="has-underline">Environmental Protection Agency</span> staffers are demanding that the agency end its partnerships with Israel amid the ongoing siege of Gaza.&nbsp;</p>
2526.  
2527.  
2528.  
2529. <p>Staffers with the EPA and Department of Energy published an open letter Thursday demanding that the EPA end <a href="https://19january2021snapshot.epa.gov/international-cooperation/epa-collaboration-israel_.html">collaboration with Israel</a> on energy and environmental partnerships. </p>
2530.  
2531.  
2532.  
2533. <p>The agency exchanges information with Israel and cooperates with Israel on workshops, research projects, and sharing research personnel. Projects include cleaning up and redeveloping contaminated military sites and sharing water reuse practices with U.S. officials.&nbsp;</p>
2534.  
2535.  
2536.  
2537. <!-- BLOCK(pullquote)[0](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22PULLQUOTE%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22SHORTCODE%22%2C%22optional%22%3Atrue%7D)(%7B%22pull%22%3A%22right%22%7D) --><blockquote class="stylized pull-right" data-shortcode-type="pullquote" data-pull="right"><!-- CONTENT(pullquote)[0] -->“We cannot uphold our oath to serve the public interest while remaining quiet about the devastating humanitarian crisis.&#8221;<!-- END-CONTENT(pullquote)[0] --></blockquote><!-- END-BLOCK(pullquote)[0] -->
2538.  
2539.  
2540.  
2541. <p>“The ongoing genocide in Gaza has compelled us to speak truthfully on the hypocrisy of protecting human health and the environment within U.S. borders while our government continues to fund and facilitate the destruction of entire communities and ecosystems overseas,” says the <a href="https://medium.com/@FEEWFJP/an-open-letter-to-epa-doe-and-the-white-house-palestine-is-an-environmental-and-climate-justice-211ededdb2ec">letter</a>, which was shared with The Intercept in advance of its public release. “We cannot uphold our oath to serve the public interest while remaining quiet about the devastating humanitarian crisis that continues to unfold before us.”</p>
2542.  
2543.  
2544.  
2545. <p>Time is also running out for the Biden administration to honor its $50 million grant to the Climate Justice Alliance, a nonprofit coalition that had its funding put on pause after it expressed support for Palestine.&nbsp;</p>
2546.  
2547.  
2548.  
2549.  
2550.  
2551.  
2552.  
2553. <p>The letter demands that the EPA release the group’s federal funds.&nbsp;</p>
2554.  
2555.  
2556.  
2557. <p>The EPA staffers’ letter comes several weeks after The Intercept<a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/11/29/biden-climate-funding-palestine/"> reported</a> that the agency had delayed paying out money, earmarked under an Inflation Reduction Act program, after right-wing politicians attacked the Climate Justice Alliance for its stance in favor of a ceasefire in Gaza. (The EPA did not respond to a request for comment.)&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
2558.  
2559.  
2560.  
2561. <p>The December 6 deadline to disburse the funds to the Climate Justice Alliance has passed. Now, the group is at risk of losing funding when President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January.&nbsp;</p>
2562.  
2563.  
2564.  
2565.  
2566.  
2567.  
2568. <p>“The funds to CJA are critical for building community resilience against climate change threats, particularly in severely capacity-constrained tribal, remote, and rural areas,” the EPA staffers wrote. “Taking away this funding would leave the people living in these communities vulnerable to potentially disastrous climate disturbances.”</p>
2569.  
2570.  
2571.  
2572. <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-unfulfilled-climate-promises">Unfulfilled Climate Promises</h2>
2573.  
2574.  
2575.  
2576. <p>Biden took office on one of the most progressive climate platforms in recent history, but has failed to deliver on several promised fast-track climate projects, while at the same time <a href="https://theintercept.com/2022/07/06/biden-oil-gas-drilling-royalty-rates/">opening federal lands</a> to leases for oil and gas extraction.</p>
2577.  
2578.  
2579.  
2580. <p>The Climate Justice Alliance supports 95 grassroots organizations in rural and urban areas, including groups led by Indigenous, minority, and poor white communities working on climate projects. The group’s work does not focus on Palestine, but it called for a ceasefire in Gaza last year and has publicly linked its work to climate justice issues in Palestine.</p>
2581.  
2582.  
2583.  
2584.  
2585.  
2586.  
2587.  
2588. <p>Fearing professional retaliation, the EPA and Department of Energy staffers published their letter anonymously on Medium under the banner Federal Environmental and Energy Workers for Justice in Palestine.</p>
2589.  
2590.  
2591.  
2592. <p>Progressives in Congress mounted their own efforts to get Biden to release the funds to the Climate Justice Alliance.&nbsp;</p>
2593.  
2594.  
2595. <!-- BLOCK(promote-post)[4](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22PROMOTE_POST%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22SHORTCODE%22%2C%22optional%22%3Atrue%7D)(%7B%22slug%22%3A%22israel-palestine%22%2C%22crop%22%3A%22promo%22%7D) -->  <aside class="promote-banner">
2596.    <a class="promote-banner__link" href="https://theintercept.com/collections/israel-palestine/">
2597.              <span class="promote-banner__image">
2598.          <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="300" height="150" src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?fit=300%2C150" class="attachment-medium size-medium" alt="DEIR AL-BALAH, GAZA - NOVEMBER 7: Civil defense teams and citizens continue search and rescue operations after an airstrike hits the building belonging to the Maslah family during the 32nd day of Israeli attacks in Deir Al-Balah, Gaza on November 7, 2023. (Photo by Ashraf Amra/Anadolu via Getty Images)" srcset="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=5760 5760w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=300 300w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=768 768w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=1024 1024w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=1536 1536w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=2048 2048w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=540 540w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=1000 1000w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=2400 2400w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=3600 3600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />        </span>
2599.            <div class="promote-banner__text">
2600.                  <p class="promote-banner__eyebrow">
2601.            Read our complete coverage          </p>
2602.        
2603.        <h2 class="promote-banner__title">Israel’s War on Gaza</h2>
2604.      </div>
2605.    </a>
2606.  </aside>
2607. <!-- END-BLOCK(promote-post)[4] -->
2608.  
2609.  
2610.  
2611. <p>On December 4, following The Intercept’s reporting, Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Reps. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, D-N.Y., and Melanie Stansbury, D-N.M., sent a<a href="https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/sen-markey-and-reps-ocasio-cortez-stansbury-urge-biden-administration-to-deliver-on-key-climate-priorities"> letter</a> urging Biden to deliver key climate priorities and “swiftly disburse” Inflation Reduction Act money.&nbsp;</p>
2612.  
2613.  
2614.  
2615. <p>Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., also contacted the EPA and pressured the agency to release the funding, according to a person with knowledge of the deliberations.&nbsp;</p>
2616.  
2617.  
2618.  
2619. <p>&#8220;Prioritizing environmental justice is not selective,” one EPA staffer who worked on the letter told The Intercept. “The United States needs to advance it everywhere, including indigenous communities at home and abroad, which means demanding an end to the genocide in Palestine with an arms embargo to Israel and fulfilling its funding commitment to the Climate Justice Alliance here at home.&#8221;</p>
2620. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/12/19/epa-staffers-biden-palestine-letter-climate/">EPA Staffers Demand Biden Release Climate Funds Withheld Over Gaza</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
2621. ]]></content:encoded>
2622.                                <wfw:commentRss>https://theintercept.com/2024/12/19/epa-staffers-biden-palestine-letter-climate/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
2623.                <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
2624.                <media:content url='https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-1793259269-e1734559392771.jpg?fit=3000%2C1500' width='3000' height='1500' /><post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">483791</post-id>
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2630. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?fit=300%2C150" medium="image">
2631. <media:title type="html">DEIR AL-BALAH, GAZA - NOVEMBER 7: Civil defense teams and citizens continue search and rescue operations after an airstrike hits the building belonging to the Maslah family during the 32nd day of Israeli attacks in Deir Al-Balah, Gaza on November 7, 2023. (Photo by Ashraf Amra/Anadolu via Getty Images)</media:title>
2632. </media:content>
2633.            </item>
2634.        
2635.            <item>
2636.                <title><![CDATA[Senate Approves Defense Bill Blocking Health Care for Thousands of Trans Youth ]]></title>
2637.                <link>https://theintercept.com/2024/12/18/ndaa-trans-children-health-care/</link>
2638.                <comments>https://theintercept.com/2024/12/18/ndaa-trans-children-health-care/#respond</comments>
2639.                <pubDate>Wed, 18 Dec 2024 21:28:04 +0000</pubDate>
2640.                                    <dc:creator><![CDATA[Jessica Washington]]></dc:creator>
2641.                                 <category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
2642.  
2643.                <guid isPermaLink="false">https://theintercept.com/?p=483786</guid>
2644.                                    <description><![CDATA[<p>Biden appears ready to sign the NDAA, despite objections from advocates and some Democrats about an insidious anti-trans rider.</p>
2645. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/12/18/ndaa-trans-children-health-care/">Senate Approves Defense Bill Blocking Health Care for Thousands of Trans Youth </a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
2646. ]]></description>
2647.                                        <content:encoded><![CDATA[
2648. <p><span class="has-underline">President Joe Biden</span> is poised to sign a bipartisan bill this week that would restrict gender-affirming care for transgender children of military service members. In an 85-14 vote on Wednesday, the Democratic-controlled Senate approved the annual defense spending bill, which includes an <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/12/10/republicans-anti-trans-health-care-ndaa/">anti-trans rider tacked on</a> by Republican leadership. If the massive $895 billion National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, is enacted, it would be the first time in nearly three decades that the United States has codified an explicitly anti-LGBTQ+ policy into federal law.&nbsp;</p>
2649.  
2650.  
2651.  
2652. <p>Eleven Democrats and three Republicans voted against the legislation.</p>
2653.  
2654.  
2655.  
2656. <p>Civil liberties groups warn that the bill, which bars military insurance from covering youth gender-affirming treatments, could deprive thousands of trans children of <a href="https://www.columbiapsychiatry.org/news/gender-affirming-care-saves-lives">life-saving care</a>. A 2022 study found that roughly<a href="https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/10.2105/AJPH.2022.307163"> 2,500 children sought gender-affirming care</a> through TRICARE, the military’s insurer, in 2017.</p>
2657.  
2658.  
2659.  
2660. <p>“President Biden has the power to put a stop to this cruelty. He should make good on his promises to protect LGBTQ+ Americans, defend military servicemembers and their families, and ensure this country’s politics reflect the best of who we are,” Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson wrote<a href="https://www.hrc.org/press-releases/senate-passes-defense-bill-blocking-health-care-for-trans-military-children"> in a statement</a>. “President Biden must veto this bill.”</p>
2661.  
2662.  
2663.  
2664.  
2665.  
2666.  
2667.  
2668. <p>Some Senate Democrats had hoped to strip the anti-transgender language from the bill and pass a “clean version.” On Monday, Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., introduced an amendment to the NDAA that would have removed the controversial provision. The amendment’s co-sponsor, Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., urged his colleagues to vote in favor of removing the anti-trans language during a Tuesday press conference.</p>
2669.  
2670.  
2671.  
2672. <p>“Trans rights are human rights. Health care is a human right. Today, we must defend both,” Markey said. “To every trans American, to every service member, their families, friends, and communities: I will not turn my back on you. I am with you. And together, we will keep fighting.”</p>
2673.  
2674.  
2675.  
2676. <p>The amendment<a href="https://www.hrc.org/press-releases/senate-passes-defense-bill-blocking-health-care-for-trans-military-children"> </a>was <a href="https://www.hrc.org/press-releases/senate-passes-defense-bill-blocking-health-care-for-trans-military-children">never brought forward for a vote.</a>&nbsp;</p>
2677.  
2678.  
2679.  
2680. <p>The brazen attack on trans children’s health care isn’t the only eyebrow-raising section of this year’s defense bill. In another provision, the NDAA bars the Pentagon from publicly citing casualty data from the Gaza Health Ministry,<a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/12/12/congress-gaza-death-toll-palestinians/"> the only source consistently tracking the death toll</a> in the region. The provision also prevents the Defense Department from publicly referencing any sources that rely on the Gaza Health Ministry’s data — including most human rights organizations and the United Nations — effectively erasing the full death toll in the region.&nbsp;</p>
2681.  
2682.  
2683.  
2684.  
2685.  
2686.  
2687.  
2688. <p>On the Senate floor last week, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., argued that Congress shouldn’t pad defense contractors’ pockets with billions more in funding. “We do not need to spend almost a trillion dollars on the military while half a million Americans are homeless, children go hungry, and elderly people are unable to afford to heat their homes in the winter,”<a href="https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1YqKDknejYExV?ref_src=twsrc%255Etfw%257Ctwcamp%255Eembeddedtimeline%257Ctwterm%255Escreen-name%253Asensanders%257Ctwcon%255Es1"> he said</a>.&nbsp;</p>
2689.  
2690.  
2691.  
2692. <p>Now, the bill rests on Biden’s desk. Advocates were hopeful that the president would come out against the anti-transgender rider based on his<a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/white-house/3073681/biden-threatens-veto-house-disapproval-title-ix-transgender-rule/"> previous support for rules protecting trans students from discrimination.</a> That opposition never materialized. Instead, Biden is expected to sign the NDAA with haste and codify the anti-trans policy into law.&nbsp;</p>
2693. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/12/18/ndaa-trans-children-health-care/">Senate Approves Defense Bill Blocking Health Care for Thousands of Trans Youth </a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
2694. ]]></content:encoded>
2695.                                <wfw:commentRss>https://theintercept.com/2024/12/18/ndaa-trans-children-health-care/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
2696.                <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
2697.                <media:content url='https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/AP24339801510072-e1734550604767.jpg?fit=2998%2C1500' width='2998' height='1500' /><post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">483786</post-id>
2698. <media:thumbnail url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-2003071883-e1734915687994.jpg?w=1200" />
2699. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-2003071883-e1734915687994.jpg?w=1200" medium="image" />
2700. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-1133569077-e1735579307347.jpg?w=1200" medium="image" />
2701. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-669011264-e1735324549627.jpg?w=1200" medium="image" />
2702.            </item>
2703.        
2704.            <item>
2705.                <title><![CDATA[Top Senator Warns Sweeping New Surveillance Powers Will “Inevitably Be Misused” by Trump]]></title>
2706.                <link>https://theintercept.com/2024/12/18/trump-fisa-surveillance-spying/</link>
2707.                <comments>https://theintercept.com/2024/12/18/trump-fisa-surveillance-spying/#respond</comments>
2708.                <pubDate>Wed, 18 Dec 2024 11:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
2709.                                    <dc:creator><![CDATA[Matt Sledge]]></dc:creator>
2710.                                 <category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
2711.  
2712.                <guid isPermaLink="false">https://theintercept.com/?p=483697</guid>
2713.                                    <description><![CDATA[<p>Everyone from janitors to the Geek Squad could be forced to help the NSA spy — and Democrats barely put up a fight.</p>
2714. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/12/18/trump-fisa-surveillance-spying/">Top Senator Warns Sweeping New Surveillance Powers Will “Inevitably Be Misused” by Trump</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
2715. ]]></description>
2716.                                        <content:encoded><![CDATA[
2717. <p><span class="has-underline">After campaigning on</span> a pledge to retaliate against his political enemies, Donald Trump will get expanded spying powers when he returns to the White House next month. </p>
2718.  
2719.  
2720.  
2721. <p>Congress granted surveillance agencies sweeping new authority in April, under pressure from the Biden administration. Civil liberties experts warned that the measure, tacked on as an amendment to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, could be used to force U.S. citizens to work with the National Security Agency, the hub of American cyberspying. Still, Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Mark Warner, D-Va., pushed Congress to pass the legislation, promising during negotiations to “fix” it at a later date with an amendment to the defense budget bill.</p>
2722.  
2723.  
2724.  
2725. <p>In the end, Warner’s effort to limit the scope of the government’s new powers wilted in the face of Republican opposition. The Senate is set to vote this week on a defense spending package that lacks Warner’s proposed amendment — and the incoming Trump administration will likely gain the power to force everyone, from janitors to the Geek Squad, to help it spy.</p>
2726.  
2727.  
2728.  
2729. <p>Warner’s spokesperson pointed to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/22/us/politics/fisa-surveillance-bill-program.html">reporting</a> that Republicans blocked the fix, but the Democrats failed to force the issue in closed-door discussions over compromise legislation.</p>
2730.  
2731.  
2732.  
2733. <p>Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., a longtime surveillance critic, said he warned the tool was ripe for abuse when the Biden administration pressured Congress into approving it in April.</p>
2734.  
2735.  
2736.  
2737. <p>“I warned that these powers would inevitably be misused, and no one should be surprised when that happens,” Wyden told The Intercept. “In response, the DOJ” — Department of Justice — “issued a meaningless promise to use its powers responsibly and the bill’s sponsor promised on the Senate floor to amend the provision in the intelligence authorization bill this year.”</p>
2738.  
2739.  
2740.  
2741. <p>“If that fix doesn’t go through and the next administration misuses these sweeping new FISA powers, no one will be able to claim they didn’t see it coming.”</p>
2742.  
2743.  
2744.  
2745. <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-janitors-turned-spies">Janitors Turned Spies?</h2>
2746.  
2747.  
2748.  
2749. <p>For more than a decade, surveillance boosters have tangled with critics in Congress over NSA powers. The latest battleground arrived this spring as Congress <a href="https://iapp.org/news/a/fisa-section-702s-reauthorization-era">debated its reauthorization</a> of FISA, the law that regulates most U.S. spying directed abroad.</p>
2750.  
2751.  
2752.  
2753. <p>Under FISA, the NSA can force electronic communication service providers such as Google and Verizon to help it spy on foreigners. But a ruling from the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review in 2023 slightly limited the scope of the government’s power.</p>
2754.  
2755.  
2756.  
2757. <p>That ruling was shrouded in secrecy, like many of the directives from the parallel surveillance court system. But what was clear, from a <a href="https://www.intel.gov/assets/documents/702%20Documents/declassified/2023_FISC-R_ECSP_Opinion.pdf">heavily redacted version</a> released to the public, was that an unnamed company did not meet the definition of an “electronic communication service provider” under the law. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., later <a href="https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CREC-2024-04-19/html/CREC-2024-04-19-pt1-PgS2929-4.htm">revealed on the Senate floor</a> that the company in question was a data center.</p>
2758.  
2759.  
2760.  
2761. <p>Faced with a rare setback in court, the Biden administration went to Congress for help, requesting legislation that would authorize it to enlist data centers in surveillance. Congress included the new language as part of its two-year reauthorization of FISA — considered “must-pass” legislation by many senators because it allows the government to spy on foreign foes.</p>
2762.  
2763.  
2764.  
2765. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote has-text-align-right"><blockquote><p>Almost anyone with a business who happens to have access to a hard drive could be forced to comply.</p></blockquote></figure>
2766.  
2767.  
2768.  
2769. <p>Instead of passing an amendment narrowly focused on data centers, however, House Republicans crafted language requiring any “service provider” with access to equipment “that is being or may be used to transmit or store wire or electronic communications” to help the government spy.</p>
2770.  
2771.  
2772.  
2773. <p>The language was so broad that almost anyone with a business who happened to have access to a hard drive could be forced to comply, critics have warned.</p>
2774.  
2775.  
2776.  
2777. <p>The government could force commercial landlords, for instance, to help it scoop up the communications of journalists, nonprofit groups, political campaigns, and lawyers, according to the<a href="https://cdt.org/insights/wolf-in-sheeps-clothing-a-planned-amendment-to-this-weeks-vote-would-be-the-largest-expansion-of-fisa-in-over-15-years/"> Center for Democracy and Technology</a>. The janitorial staff at the New York Times <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/11/05/trump-surveillance-power/">might even meet the definition</a>.</p>
2778.  
2779.  
2780.  
2781.  
2782.  
2783.  
2784.  
2785. <p>The small clutch of legislators who keep an eye on government surveillance began ringing alarm bells with their colleagues.</p>
2786.  
2787.  
2788.  
2789. <p>The Justice Department, for its part, promised there was nothing to worry about, since the law only allows the government to target foreigners with NSA surveillance. That contention ignored the fact that, in practice, the government can easily catch U.S. citizens in its surveillance dragnet, sifting through the “targeted” messages of foreigners abroad for emails, texts, and other communications from and about American citizens. The Biden administration has pushed back against efforts to require a warrant for so-called backdoor searches on Americans.</p>
2790.  
2791.  
2792.  
2793. <p>Although briefly threatened by a<a href="https://abc7.com/fisa-vote-house-passes-reauthorization-bill-through-2026-after-previous-gop-setback-donald-trump-said-to-kill-program/14652369/"> social media outburst</a> from Trump, the foreign spying bill went on to win passage in Congress. The overall bill was “indispensable” to protecting the American people from terrorism, cyberattacks, and foreign enemies, Attorney General Merrick Garland <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/media/1348621/dl?inline">told Congress in April.</a> The House amendment, he added, was merely “technical.” </p>
2794.  
2795.  
2796.  
2797. <p>Moreover, the Justice Department said it was making a promise: It would only use its new powers under the House amendment to compel collaboration from the subject of the surveillance court ruling, meaning data centers.</p>
2798.  
2799.  
2800.  
2801. <p>“They are basically saying: We won’t ever use these sweeping authorities you are handing to us,” Wyden said on the Senate floor in April. “That commitment, in my view, is worth nothing. It is not even binding on this administration, and it certainly wouldn’t be binding on future administrations.”</p>
2802.  
2803.  
2804.  
2805. <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-far-off-fix">A Far-Off Fix</h2>
2806.  
2807.  
2808.  
2809. <p>The reauthorization of FISA was smoothed by a pledge from Warner, the top Senate Democrat on intelligence issues. He told colleagues concerned about the sweeping House amendment that he would work to pass a “fix” scaling down its breadth.</p>
2810.  
2811.  
2812.  
2813. <p>Warner proposed his own language that would limit the scope of the government’s new powers to the type of companies referenced in the surveillance court opinion — namely, data centers — as part of the National Defense Authorization Act, another “must-pass” piece of legislation.&nbsp;</p>
2814.  
2815.  
2816.  
2817. <p>Even this fix had a serious flaw in the eyes of many civil liberties advocates: Instead of applying explicitly to data centers, it referenced the redacted opinion from the surveillance court. Congress would essentially be giving its blessing to secret law. Still, reformers hoped the Warner amendment would address their concerns about janitors or computer repair workers being forced to help the government.</p>
2818.  
2819.  
2820.  
2821. <p>Instead, the Warner amendment died a quiet death in closed-door negotiations. Last Wednesday, the House passed a compromise version of the defense spending bill which did not contain Warner’s fix. On Monday night, the Senate voted to close debate on the compromise legislation, setting up a final vote for later in the week.</p>
2822.  
2823.  
2824.  
2825.  
2826.  
2827.  
2828.  
2829. <p>With the debate dead for this year, reformers are looking ahead to pass the promised “fix.” The next opportunity won’t arrive until the end of 2025, when a new slate of congressional members will debate the next defense spending bill, or until April 2026, when FISA expires again.</p>
2830.  
2831.  
2832.  
2833. <p>As a Democrat, Warner will no longer chair the intelligence committee, but his spokesperson promised that “he is committed to pursuing this effort, whether it’s in this Congress or the next.”</p>
2834.  
2835.  
2836.  
2837.  <div class="promote-related-post">
2838.    <a      class="promo-related-post__link"
2839.            href="https://theintercept.com/2024/12/11/trump-justice-department-spied-journalists-congress/"
2840.      data-ga-track="in_article-body"
2841.      data-ga-track-action="related post embed: trump-justice-department-spied-journalists-congress"
2842.      data-ga-track-label="trump-justice-department-spied-journalists-congress"
2843.          >
2844.              <img decoding="async" width="440" height="440" src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-1228301579-e1733920772539.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="" loading="lazy" />            <span class="promo-related-post__text">
2845.      <h2 class="promote-related-post__eyebrow">
2846.        Related      </h2>
2847.      <h3 class="promote-related-post__title">This Is How Trump’s Department of Justice Spied on Journalists</h3>
2848.    </span>
2849.    </a>
2850.  </div>
2851.  
2852.  
2853.  
2854. <p>Still, the fact that the law will remain on the books for months under the Trump administration, at a minimum, has fueled concern among critics inside and outside Congress. The promise from Garland’s Justice Department to interpret current law narrowly could be dropped at a whim by the Trump administration, advocates warn.</p>
2855.  
2856.  
2857.  
2858. <p>And there is no guarantee that the defense spending bill will include a fix next year, when it may face even steeper obstacles. Andrew Crocker, the surveillance litigation director at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, noted that advocates have been pushing for a decade to require a warrant for “backdoor” searches.</p>
2859.  
2860.  
2861.  
2862. <p>“It’s always harder to roll back a power once it’s enacted into law than it is to stop it in its tracks,” Crocker said.</p>
2863.  
2864.  
2865.  
2866. <p>Van Hollen, who along with Wyden took to the Senate floor to beg colleagues to pass a fix this spring rather than push it off to the future, said he remained concerned about abuses going forward.</p>
2867.  
2868.  
2869.  
2870. <p>“I’m disappointed that Congress did not move forward on passing more stringent safeguards this year, including by removing the new definition of what constitutes a ‘electronic communications service provider,’” Van Hollen told The Intercept in a statement. “As our surveillance methods become more sophisticated, we cannot compromise our Constitution and the fundamental rights that Americans hold.”</p>
2871. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/12/18/trump-fisa-surveillance-spying/">Top Senator Warns Sweeping New Surveillance Powers Will “Inevitably Be Misused” by Trump</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
2872. ]]></content:encoded>
2873.                                <wfw:commentRss>https://theintercept.com/2024/12/18/trump-fisa-surveillance-spying/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
2874.                <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
2875.                <media:content url='https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/AP24191707446610-e1734450750786.jpg?fit=3000%2C1500' width='3000' height='1500' /><post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">483697</post-id>
2876. <media:thumbnail url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-2003071883-e1734915687994.jpg?w=1200" />
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2881.            </item>
2882.        
2883.            <item>
2884.                <title><![CDATA[Federal Labor Unions Steel Themselves for Trump and DOGE’s Mass Firings]]></title>
2885.                <link>https://theintercept.com/2024/12/18/trump-doge-federal-government-workers-firing/</link>
2886.                <comments>https://theintercept.com/2024/12/18/trump-doge-federal-government-workers-firing/#respond</comments>
2887.                <pubDate>Wed, 18 Dec 2024 10:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
2888.                                    <dc:creator><![CDATA[Jessica Washington]]></dc:creator>
2889.                                 <category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
2890.  
2891.                <guid isPermaLink="false">https://theintercept.com/?p=483681</guid>
2892.                                    <description><![CDATA[<p>Trump wants a bloodbath for the federal employees, but government workers aren’t the only ones who will suffer.</p>
2893. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/12/18/trump-doge-federal-government-workers-firing/">Federal Labor Unions Steel Themselves for Trump and DOGE’s Mass Firings</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
2894. ]]></description>
2895.                                        <content:encoded><![CDATA[
2896. <p><span class="has-underline">With January fast</span> approaching, federal workers are bracing for the new reality under President Donald Trump — and they’re worried about their jobs.</p>
2897.  
2898.  
2899.  
2900. <p>Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, whom Trump appointed to co-lead the new government advisory board, the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, have vowed to cut roughly $2 trillion in spending, with the nearly 3 million civil service workers high on the proverbial chopping block.</p>
2901.  
2902.  
2903.  
2904. <p>In a recent <a href="https://www.wsj.com/opinion/musk-and-ramaswamy-the-doge-plan-to-reform-government-supreme-court-guidance-end-executive-power-grab-fa51c020">op-ed</a>, the tech CEOs called for “mass head-count reductions across the federal bureaucracy.” To do that, though, they’ll have to overcome one major hurdle: federal labor unions.</p>
2905.  
2906.  
2907.  
2908. <p>As of 2023, roughly<a href="https://www.afge.org/article/union-membership-in-federal-sector-went-up-in-2023/"> 25 percent </a>of the federal workforce was unionized, with union membership steadily rising. Many of these unions have rushed to extend or secure <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/12/08/federal-employees-trump-fear-purge/">favorable collective bargaining agreements </a>that put in place protections for federal employees ahead of Trump taking office.</p>
2909.  
2910.  
2911.  
2912. <p>If Musk, Ramaswamy, and Trump want to fire federal employees en masse, they&#8217;ll have to go through these unions, which have the wherewithal to enforce federal regulations designed to prevent an incoming president from clearing house.</p>
2913.  
2914.  
2915.  
2916. <p>The challenge isn&#8217;t exactly news to the incoming administration. Toward the end of his first term, Trump turned his sights on federal workers unions. He issued<a href="https://nffe.org/nffe_news/president-trumps-union-busting-executive-orders-what-you-need-to-know/"> three executive orders</a> weakening their ability to bargain on behalf of members. When he came to power, President Joe Biden overturned the orders.</p>
2917.  
2918.  
2919.  
2920. <!-- BLOCK(pullquote)[0](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22PULLQUOTE%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22SHORTCODE%22%2C%22optional%22%3Atrue%7D)(%7B%22pull%22%3A%22right%22%7D) --><blockquote class="stylized pull-right" data-shortcode-type="pullquote" data-pull="right"><!-- CONTENT(pullquote)[0] -->&#8220;I think it&#8217;s going to be much worse this time.&#8221;<!-- END-CONTENT(pullquote)[0] --></blockquote><!-- END-BLOCK(pullquote)[0] -->
2921.  
2922.  
2923.  
2924. <p>Four years later, though, labor leaders and experts predict that an emboldened and prepared Trump will wreak havoc on federal labor unions. Backed by an anti-labor agenda crafted by conservative policy shops like the America First Policy Institute and Project 2025, Trump’s forthcoming assault could have catastrophic consequences for federal workers and the American public.</p>
2925.  
2926.  
2927.  
2928. <p>&#8220;They are absolutely going to attack unions, there&#8217;s no question,&#8221; said Ben Olinsky, a senior vice president of structural reform and governance at the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank. &#8220;I think across the board we should expect that Trump is coming into office, A) with an actual plan, and B) with folks who have been thinking about how to implement it and execute it when he came into office last time.”</p>
2929.  
2930.  
2931.  
2932. <p>“So I think it&#8217;s going to be much worse this time.&#8221;</p>
2933.  
2934.  
2935.  
2936. <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-trump-s-anti-labor-braintrust"><strong>Trump</strong><strong>’</strong><strong>s Anti-Labor Braintrust</strong><strong></strong></h2>
2937.  
2938.  
2939.  
2940. <p>In addition to Musk and Ramaswamy, Trump has surrounded himself with people hellbent on shrinking the federal workforce and weakening their labor unions.</p>
2941.  
2942.  
2943.  
2944. <p>Education secretary nominee Linda McMahon, Agriculture secretary nominee Brooke Rollins, and Housing and Urban Development secretary nominee Scott Turner all come straight from the America First Policy Institute, a right-wing think tank that emerged four years ago and has quietly <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/24/us/politics/donald-trump-campaign-america-first-policy-institute.html">gained significant influence</a> over the incoming administration.</p>
2945.  
2946.  
2947.  
2948. <p>The America First Policy Institute routinely <a href="https://americafirstpolicy.com/issues/20220914-union-arbitrators-overturn-most-federal-employee-dismissals">criticizes federal labor unions</a>, calling, for instance, on Congress to <a href="https://americafirstpolicy.com/issues/20220914-union-arbitrators-overturn-most-federal-employee-dismissals">prohibit</a> federal labor unions from engaging in the grievance process over firings.<a href="https://agenda.americafirstpolicy.com/fight-corruption/reform-the-civil-service-to-create-accountability-in-the-bureaucracy"> In its policy agenda</a>, the group argued that federal labor unions should have to &#8220;reimburse taxpayers for using agency resources,&#8221; called for the entire federal civil service to be moved to at-will employment, and once again argued that labor unions shouldn&#8217;t be able to appeal firings in outside arbitration, a process which protects federal workers from unfair removals.</p>
2949.  
2950.  
2951.  
2952. <figure class="wp-block-ft-photo is-style-default">
2953.    <img decoding="async"
2954.    src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-1239602758.jpg?fit=4000%2C2667"
2955.    srcset="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-1239602758.jpg?w=4000 4000w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-1239602758.jpg?w=300 300w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-1239602758.jpg?w=768 768w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-1239602758.jpg?w=1024 1024w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-1239602758.jpg?w=1536 1536w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-1239602758.jpg?w=2048 2048w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-1239602758.jpg?w=540 540w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-1239602758.jpg?w=1000 1000w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-1239602758.jpg?w=2400 2400w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-1239602758.jpg?w=3600 3600w"
2956.    sizes="auto, (min-width: 1300px) 650px, (min-width: 800px) 64vw, (min-width: 500px) calc(100vw - 5rem), calc(100vw - 3rem)"
2957.    alt="A demonstrator holds a sign during an American Federation of Government Employees rally for worker's rights on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Tuesday, March 29, 2022. The Senate Monday passed its version of a long-stalled bill to aid the domestic semiconductor industry and bolster U.S. competitiveness with China, a key step needed to kick off negotiations with the House on final legislation. Photographer: Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images"
2958.    width="4000"
2959.    height="2667"
2960.    loading="lazy"
2961.  />
2962.      <figcaption class="photo__figcaption">
2963.              <span class="photo__caption">A demonstrator holds a sign during an American Federation of Government Employees rally on Capitol Hill in D.C. on March 29, 2022.</span>
2964.                    <span class="photo__credit">Photo: Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images</span>
2965.          </figcaption>
2966.    </figure>
2967.  
2968.  
2969.  
2970. <p>Republicans in Congress have already seized on some of these ideas. Last week, Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-Ga., reintroduced the <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/10397">MERIT Act</a>, which would make it <a href="https://www.govexec.com/workforce/2024/12/federal-employees-could-be-more-easily-removed-under-new-house-bill/401663/">easier to fire federal workers</a> and prohibit federal unions from filing grievances over firings, working conditions, and mass layoffs.</p>
2971.  
2972.  
2973.  
2974. <p>Another road for Trump to mass-firing federal employees is &#8220;<a href="https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2020-10-26/pdf/2020-23780.pdf">Schedule F</a>.&#8221; At the end of Trump&#8217;s last term, the former president issued an executive order moving nonpartisan civil servants into a new employment category designated for political appointees. The new category, known as Schedule F, makes it easier to fire these federal workers for any reason, including their political ideology.</p>
2975.  
2976.  
2977.  
2978. <p>Olinksy, of the Center for American Progress, argued that Trump will likely move quickly to get as many federal employees into Schedule F as possible, while also reissuing the three executive orders limiting federal unions’ bargaining power.</p>
2979.  
2980.  
2981.  
2982. <p>&#8220;I&#8217;m not a betting person, but I bet on the fact that they would create a new Schedule F awfully quickly,&#8221; said Olinsky. &#8220;I think, to the extent they can, they&#8217;re going to use those as tools to try to drive out anyone you know that they wouldn&#8217;t want there.&#8221;&nbsp;</p>
2983.  
2984.  
2985.  
2986.  
2987.  
2988.  
2989.  
2990. <p>These myriad threats are constantly on Jacqueline Simon’s mind.</p>
2991.  
2992.  
2993.  
2994. <p>&#8220;The federal employee unions are the only thing that stands between Ramaswamy, Musk, Trump, and the complete obliteration of the federal government,&#8221; said Simon, the policy director for the American Federation of Government Employees, the largest federal labor union in the country.</p>
2995.  
2996.  
2997.  
2998. <!-- BLOCK(pullquote)[2](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22PULLQUOTE%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22SHORTCODE%22%2C%22optional%22%3Atrue%7D)(%7B%22pull%22%3A%22left%22%7D) --><blockquote class="stylized pull-left" data-shortcode-type="pullquote" data-pull="left"><!-- CONTENT(pullquote)[2] -->&#8220;Federal employees are often portrayed in the media as lazy, incompetent, worthless people.&#8221;<!-- END-CONTENT(pullquote)[2] --></blockquote><!-- END-BLOCK(pullquote)[2] -->
2999.  
3000.  
3001.  
3002. <p>Simon said unions like hers are the reason DOGE can&#8217;t just come in, ignore federal law, and fire everyone. Instead, such hasty moves would be slowed down by processes put in place thanks to union organizing — notably the grievance process that allows the union to enter into arbitration on behalf of federal workers facing removal.</p>
3003.  
3004.  
3005.  
3006. <p>Federal workers are easy targets politically, Simon said.</p>
3007.  
3008.  
3009.  
3010. <p>&#8220;Federal employees are often portrayed in the media as lazy, incompetent, worthless people. I think there&#8217;s a lot of racism in that, too,&#8221; she said.</p>
3011.  
3012.  
3013.  
3014. <p>Although a slim majority of the federal workforce is white, it&#8217;s significantly more racially diverse than the country overall, with Black Americans <a href="https://ourpublicservice.org/fed-figures/a-profile-of-the-2023-federal-workforce/">consistently overrepresented</a> in federal government jobs.</p>
3015.  
3016.  
3017.  
3018.  
3019.  
3020.  
3021.  
3022. <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-target-everyone"><strong>Target: Everyone</strong><strong></strong></h2>
3023.  
3024.  
3025.  
3026. <p>Workers would not be the only ones at risk if Trump successfully weakened federal labor protections because their work directly touches so many Americans’ lives.</p>
3027.  
3028.  
3029.  
3030. <p>One of the groups that AFGE represents, for instance, is food and safety inspectors within the Department of Agriculture.</p>
3031.  
3032.  
3033.  
3034. <p>&#8220;So,” said Simon, “if we deregulate food safety standards and get rid of the inspectors that are inside the slaughterhouses and the meat processing plants, then diseased animals will make it into the food supply, and we will have more pandemics because, after all, where did this pandemic come from? It came from other animals into humans.”</p>
3035.  
3036.  
3037.  
3038. <p>Retirees are another group that should be concerned, said Simon. About half of retirees rely on their Social Security checks for 100 percent of their post-retirement income. Mass firings could hinder the ability of the agency to get people their vital checks in a timely manner. Simon.</p>
3039.  
3040.  
3041.  
3042. <p>&#8220;It&#8217;ll just be more poverty, among the elderly,&#8221; she said.</p>
3043.  
3044.  
3045.  
3046.  <div class="promote-related-post">
3047.    <a      class="promo-related-post__link"
3048.            href="https://theintercept.com/2024/10/28/trump-veterans-va-darin-selnick-peter-orourke/"
3049.      data-ga-track="in_article-body"
3050.      data-ga-track-action="related post embed: trump-veterans-va-darin-selnick-peter-orourke"
3051.      data-ga-track-label="trump-veterans-va-darin-selnick-peter-orourke"
3052.          >
3053.              <img decoding="async" width="440" height="440" src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/GettyImages-1075161382-e1730126638114.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="" loading="lazy" />            <span class="promo-related-post__text">
3054.      <h2 class="promote-related-post__eyebrow">
3055.        Related      </h2>
3056.      <h3 class="promote-related-post__title">Trump’s Cronies Threw the VA Into Chaos. Millions of Veterans’ Lives Are on the Line Again.</h3>
3057.    </span>
3058.    </a>
3059.  </div>
3060.  
3061.  
3062.  
3063. <p>Veterans are another at-risk group. <a href="https://www.govexec.com/management/2024/11/trump-names-va-pick-firing-and-privatization-come-back-spotlight/401086/">Republicans have made no bones</a> about their <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/10/28/trump-veterans-va-darin-selnick-peter-orourke/">efforts to privatize</a> the Veteran Affairs Department and downsize the existing, already beleaguered staff. Without strong unions to stop them, progressives in Congress argue they&#8217;ll be one step closer to their goal.</p>
3064.  
3065.  
3066.  
3067. <p>&#8220;They don&#8217;t want unions,&#8221; said Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Ill. &#8220;They want to be able to ensure their buddies, when they privatize services, are able to get top-dollar profit. And when we&#8217;re talking about worker rights, worker benefits, and their wages — that impacts their billionaire buddies&#8217; bottom line.&#8221;</p>
3068.  
3069.  
3070.  
3071. <!-- BLOCK(pullquote)[4](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22PULLQUOTE%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22SHORTCODE%22%2C%22optional%22%3Atrue%7D)(%7B%22pull%22%3A%22right%22%7D) --><blockquote class="stylized pull-right" data-shortcode-type="pullquote" data-pull="right"><!-- CONTENT(pullquote)[4] -->&#8220;When they&#8217;re coming after those federal employees, they&#8217;re directly coming after the American people.&#8221;<!-- END-CONTENT(pullquote)[4] --></blockquote><!-- END-BLOCK(pullquote)[4] -->
3072.  
3073.  
3074.  
3075. <p>The reductions in VA health care workers is bound to hit veterans hard, said Ramirez, particularly vulnerable people and those from minority communities.</p>
3076.  
3077.  
3078.  
3079. <p>“They&#8217;re going to really target — as they are in many departments, and particularly in the VA — the most vulnerable veterans, oftentimes women and Black and brown veterans,&#8221; she said.</p>
3080.  
3081.  
3082.  
3083. <p>The cascading effects of cuts to the federal workforce means that, while Trump and DOGE may say they are only targeting a bloated bureaucracy, they’re actually targeting everyone.</p>
3084.  
3085.  
3086.  
3087. <p>&#8220;These federal employees are responsible for either providing direct services or establishing the kind of programming necessary for the government to work for the American people,&#8221; she said. &#8220;When they&#8217;re coming after those federal employees, they&#8217;re directly coming after the American people.&#8221;</p>
3088. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/12/18/trump-doge-federal-government-workers-firing/">Federal Labor Unions Steel Themselves for Trump and DOGE’s Mass Firings</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
3089. ]]></content:encoded>
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3091.                <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
3092.                <media:content url='https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-2185632401-e1734418194698.jpg?fit=6108%2C3054' width='6108' height='3054' /><post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">483681</post-id>
3093. <media:thumbnail url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-1239602758.jpg?fit=4000%2C2667" />
3094. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-1239602758.jpg?fit=4000%2C2667" medium="image">
3095. <media:title type="html">A demonstrator holds a sign during an American Federation of Government Employees rally for worker&#039;s rights on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Tuesday, March 29, 2022. The Senate Monday passed its version of a long-stalled bill to aid the domestic semiconductor industry and bolster U.S. competitiveness with China, a key step needed to kick off negotiations with the House on final legislation. Photographer: Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images</media:title>
3096. </media:content>
3097. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-2003071883-e1734915687994.jpg?w=1200" medium="image" />
3098. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-1133569077-e1735579307347.jpg?w=1200" medium="image" />
3099. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-669011264-e1735324549627.jpg?w=1200" medium="image" />
3100. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/GettyImages-1075161382-e1730126638114.jpg" medium="image" />
3101.            </item>
3102.        
3103.            <item>
3104.                <title><![CDATA[Republicans Said the FTC Was Too Politicized. Now Trump’s FTC Pick Says It Should be Politicized — by Trump.]]></title>
3105.                <link>https://theintercept.com/2024/12/18/trump-ftc-andrew-ferguson-ticket-fees/</link>
3106.                <comments>https://theintercept.com/2024/12/18/trump-ftc-andrew-ferguson-ticket-fees/#respond</comments>
3107.                <pubDate>Wed, 18 Dec 2024 09:30:00 +0000</pubDate>
3108.                                    <dc:creator><![CDATA[Matt Sledge]]></dc:creator>
3109.                                 <category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
3110.  
3111.                <guid isPermaLink="false">https://theintercept.com/?p=483727</guid>
3112.                                    <description><![CDATA[<p>“When you imagine what the FTC is willing and able to do in the service of an authoritarian Trump administration, that takes you to some really terrifying places.”</p>
3113. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/12/18/trump-ftc-andrew-ferguson-ticket-fees/">Republicans Said the FTC Was Too Politicized. Now Trump’s FTC Pick Says It Should be Politicized — by Trump.</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
3114. ]]></description>
3115.                                        <content:encoded><![CDATA[
3116. <p><span class="has-underline">For years, Republicans</span> claimed that Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan was politicizing her ostensibly independent agency by working too closely with the Biden administration. Days before the election, House Republicans aligned with Donald Trump even put out a scathing report on the subject.</p>
3117.  
3118.  
3119.  
3120. <p>That was then.</p>
3121.  
3122.  
3123.  
3124. <p>In a repeat of the last time Trump took power, Republicans are changing tune to insist that independent agencies like the FTC work in lockstep with the president.</p>
3125.  
3126.  
3127.  
3128. <p>The newest example was a dissent from Republican FTC Commissioner Andrew Ferguson — who won Trump’s nomination to chair the agency after Khan by<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2024/12/10/24318388/trump-ftc-chair-pick-andrew-ferguson-censorship-tech-companies"> promising to take on the “trans agenda” and Big Tech</a> — on a new rule clamping down on concert and vacation rental junk fees.</p>
3129.  
3130.  
3131.  
3132. <!-- BLOCK(pullquote)[0](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22PULLQUOTE%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22SHORTCODE%22%2C%22optional%22%3Atrue%7D)(%7B%22pull%22%3A%22right%22%7D) --><blockquote class="stylized pull-right" data-shortcode-type="pullquote" data-pull="right"><!-- CONTENT(pullquote)[0] -->“They can punish Trump’s enemies through the powers that they hold.”<!-- END-CONTENT(pullquote)[0] --></blockquote><!-- END-BLOCK(pullquote)[0] -->
3133.  
3134.  
3135.  
3136. <p>Ferguson did not complain about the rule itself. Instead, he carped that the commission should have waited to give a say to Trump. His dissent could signal how he plans to lead the FTC — and how the Trump administration plans to run the independent agencies put in the crosshairs by the Project 2025 plan.</p>
3137.  
3138.  
3139.  
3140. <p>An FTC beholden to Trump’s whims could pose a special danger given the agency’s sweeping power over business, said James Goodwin, policy director at the Center for Progressive Reform.</p>
3141.  
3142.  
3143.  
3144. <p>“They can punish Trump’s enemies through the powers that they hold. They can reward Trump&#8217;s friends through the powers that they hold,” he said. “When you imagine what the FTC is willing and able to do in the service of an authoritarian Trump administration, that takes you to some really terrifying places.”</p>
3145.  
3146.  
3147.  
3148.  
3149.  
3150.  
3151.  
3152. <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-killing-surprise-fees"><strong>Killing Surprise Fees</strong></h2>
3153.  
3154.  
3155.  
3156. <p>The rule approved by the FTC on a bipartisan, 4-1 vote Tuesday takes aim at an issue that has long enraged customers of Ticketmaster or Airbnb.</p>
3157.  
3158.  
3159.  
3160. <p>A ticket to a hot show or a rental house in a great neighborhood seems to be going for a great price. At the last minute before checkout, though, a platform tacks on surprise fees that spoil the deal.</p>
3161.  
3162.  
3163.  
3164. <p>The rule against surprise fees, which has been in the works for over a year, requires companies to tell “the whole truth up-front about prices and fees,” according to an FTC <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2024/12/federal-trade-commission-announces-bipartisan-rule-banning-junk-ticket-hotel-fees">press release</a>.</p>
3165.  
3166.  
3167.  
3168.  <div class="promote-related-post">
3169.    <a      class="promo-related-post__link"
3170.            href="https://theintercept.com/2021/07/16/deconstructed-podcast-antitrust-zephyr-teachout/"
3171.      data-ga-track="in_article-body"
3172.      data-ga-track-action="related post embed: deconstructed-podcast-antitrust-zephyr-teachout"
3173.      data-ga-track-label="deconstructed-podcast-antitrust-zephyr-teachout"
3174.          >
3175.              <img decoding="async" width="440" height="440" src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/deconstructed-feature-art-antitrust-final.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="" loading="lazy" />            <span class="promo-related-post__text">
3176.      <h2 class="promote-related-post__eyebrow">
3177.        Related      </h2>
3178.      <h3 class="promote-related-post__title">Antitrust Makes a Comeback</h3>
3179.    </span>
3180.    </a>
3181.  </div>
3182.  
3183.  
3184.  
3185. <p>Although scaled back from an original proposal that would have applied to far more industries, the rule amounts to something of a swan song for Khan, who has become an unexpected celebrity as FTC chair by taking on big consumer protection cases, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/10/business/kroger-albertsons-merger-ftc.html">blocking mergers</a>, and attempting to break up monopolies.</p>
3186.  
3187.  
3188.  
3189. <p>Those moves reversed decades of bipartisan consensus against aggressive enforcement of antitrust laws that had turned the FTC into a sleepy backwater of the legal world. The Biden administration has touted Khan’s leadership at the FTC as a prime example of how it sought to reorient the economy to benefit consumers instead of big business.</p>
3190.  
3191.  
3192.  
3193. <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ferguson-dissents"><strong>Ferguson Dissents</strong></h2>
3194.  
3195.  
3196.  
3197. <p>The new rule was supported by one of the two Republicans sitting on the commission, Melissa Holyoak, a former solicitor general for Utah who was once <a href="https://nypost.com/2024/12/05/business/race-to-replace-ftc-chair-lina-khan-pits-antitrust-hawks-against-candidate-softer-on-big-tech-sources/">seen as a contender</a> for the chair position herself.</p>
3198.  
3199.  
3200.  
3201. <p>Ferguson was the lone dissenting vote.&nbsp;</p>
3202.  
3203.  
3204.  
3205. <p>A former staffer for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Ferguson has said that the dream of overturning Roe v. Wade got him into politics. And his Senate work included helping shepherd Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh to confirmation.</p>
3206.  
3207.  
3208.  
3209. <p>Biden nominated Ferguson, who was serving as the solicitor general for Virginia, to serve as one of the FTC’s Republican commissioners last year. He was confirmed by the Senate this March. Some progressives <a href="https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/monopoly-round-up-are-conservatives">have said</a> they were intrigued by the positions that Ferguson has taken that seem to show skepticism of excessive corporate power.</p>
3210.  
3211.  
3212.  
3213. <p>In the dissent released Tuesday, Ferguson did not quibble with the substance of the junk-fee rule, which he said was supported by “some evidence.” Instead, he took aim at the fact that the commission was acting during the final days before Trump takes office.</p>
3214.  
3215.  
3216.  
3217. <p>“His incoming administration should have the opportunity to decide whether to adopt rules that it, not the Biden-Harris FTC, will be called upon to enforce,” Ferguson said.</p>
3218.  
3219.  
3220.  
3221. <p>The dissent was in line with a number of dissents from Ferguson in recent weeks. Democratic Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya had a sharp reaction to a similar dissent from Ferguson and Holyoak in another case earlier this month.</p>
3222.  
3223.  
3224.  
3225. <!-- BLOCK(pullquote)[2](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22PULLQUOTE%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22SHORTCODE%22%2C%22optional%22%3Atrue%7D)(%7B%22pull%22%3A%22left%22%7D) --><blockquote class="stylized pull-left" data-shortcode-type="pullquote" data-pull="left"><!-- CONTENT(pullquote)[2] -->“The American people expect their government to keep working for them even in periods of transition.”<!-- END-CONTENT(pullquote)[2] --></blockquote><!-- END-BLOCK(pullquote)[2] -->
3226.  
3227.  
3228.  
3229. <p>“We are not on vacation,” <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/bedoya-statement-regarding-withdrawal-collaboration-guidelines.pdf">Bedoya said</a>. “The American people expect their government to keep working for them even in periods of transition.”</p>
3230.  
3231.  
3232.  
3233. <p>While calling on the FTC to stop issuing rules until Trump takes office might win favor with the incoming president, it is sharply at odds with positions on the agency’s independence that Republicans were putting out just weeks ago. As recently as October, the House Oversight Committee released a report dinging Khan for a supposed lack of independence from the Biden administration.</p>
3234.  
3235.  
3236.  
3237. <p>When releasing that October 31 report, Oversight Chair Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., <a href="https://oversight.house.gov/release/oversight-committee-releases-staff-report-finding-ftc-chair-khan-abused-authority-to-advance-the-biden-harris-administrations-agenda/">said</a> that it showed that Khan had “bent the knee to the Biden-Harris White House.”</p>
3238.  
3239.  
3240.  
3241.  <div class="promote-related-post">
3242.    <a      class="promo-related-post__link"
3243.            href="https://theintercept.com/2024/11/15/click-to-cancel-ftc-trump/"
3244.      data-ga-track="in_article-body"
3245.      data-ga-track-action="related post embed: click-to-cancel-ftc-trump"
3246.      data-ga-track-label="click-to-cancel-ftc-trump"
3247.          >
3248.              <img decoding="async" width="440" height="440" src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/AP23096697343972-e1731650809848.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="" loading="lazy" />            <span class="promo-related-post__text">
3249.      <h2 class="promote-related-post__eyebrow">
3250.        Related      </h2>
3251.      <h3 class="promote-related-post__title">The Looming GOP Battle Over Whether You Have to Go to Hell and Back to Cancel Amazon Prime</h3>
3252.    </span>
3253.    </a>
3254.  </div>
3255.  
3256.  
3257.  
3258. <p>Since Trump’s election, however, Republicans have shown newfound enthusiasm for the idea of bringing independent agencies under executive control. That vision was laid out in Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation policy document meant to serve as a road map for the next Trump administration.</p>
3259.  
3260.  
3261.  
3262. <p>In Project 2025, former Trump administration official Gene Hamilton <a href="https://static.project2025.org/2025_MandateForLeadership_CHAPTER-17.pdf">said</a> that, in his next term, Trump should take on the “so-called” independent agencies — such as the FTC, <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/11/07/crypto-donors-trump-congress-regulations/">Securities and Exchange Commission</a>, and Federal Communications Commission — by mounting a challenge to Supreme Court precedent that prevents presidents from firing their leaders.</p>
3263.  
3264.  
3265.  
3266.  
3267.  
3268.  
3269.  
3270. <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-which-ferguson"><strong>Which Ferguson?</strong></h2>
3271.  
3272.  
3273.  
3274. <p>Goodwin, of the Center for Progressive Reform, said Ferguson’s dissent suggested that he takes a dim view of FTC independence.</p>
3275.  
3276.  
3277.  
3278. <p>“Historically, they haven’t always been a rubber stamp for the president,” Goodwin said of the commission leaders. “And the reason for that is they know they can’t get fired. They are different, and they are able to exercise some independent judgment. This just suggests that that sort of tradition is not going to occur under his leadership.”</p>
3279.  
3280.  
3281.  
3282. <p>The question now may be which Ferguson the FTC will get when he takes office next year: the one who has occasionally voted for major antitrust actions, or the one who courted Trump’s selection by promising to fight “wokeness” at the agency.</p>
3283.  
3284.  
3285.  
3286. <!-- BLOCK(pullquote)[4](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22PULLQUOTE%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22SHORTCODE%22%2C%22optional%22%3Atrue%7D)(%7B%22pull%22%3A%22right%22%7D) --><blockquote class="stylized pull-right" data-shortcode-type="pullquote" data-pull="right"><!-- CONTENT(pullquote)[4] -->“Historically, they haven’t always been a rubber stamp for the president.”<!-- END-CONTENT(pullquote)[4] --></blockquote><!-- END-BLOCK(pullquote)[4] -->
3287.  
3288.  
3289.  
3290. <p>While seeking the nomination, Ferguson <a href="https://punchbowl.news/wp-content/uploads/FTC-Commissioner-Andrew-N-Ferguson-Overview.pdf">produced</a> a one-page document first reported by Punchbowl News that ticked off culture-war grievances he could pursue using the agency’s powers. He also promised to “focus antitrust enforcement against Big Tech monopolies, especially those companies engaged in unlawful censorship.”</p>
3291.  
3292.  
3293.  
3294. <p>As Khan’s tenure has shown, the FTC can exert enormous influence over the American economy. Last week, a court sided with the FTC and <a href="https://www.wsj.com/business/retail/what-killed-a-20-billion-grocery-deal-albertsons-says-kroger-did-7f39ab5f">blocked</a> the merger of grocery giants Kroger and Albertsons. Opposition from the FTC has also scuppered mergers involving Amazon, <a href="https://theintercept.com/2023/08/31/ftc-defense-mergers-lockheed-l3harris/">Lockheed Martin</a>, Nvidia, and Berkshire Hathaway.</p>
3295.  
3296.  
3297.  
3298. <p>Last week, the two Democrats who will remain on the commission next year issued a letter questioning what sort of agenda Ferguson would pursue as chair — and noting glaring absences in his one-pager audition for Trump.</p>
3299.  
3300.  
3301.  
3302. <p>“The document <em>does</em> propose allowing more mergers, firing civil servants, and fighting something called &#8216;the trans agenda.’” <a href="https://x.com/BedoyaFTC/status/1866668817893728495">they wrote</a>. “Is all of that more important than the cost of healthcare and groceries and gasoline? Or fighting fraud?&#8221;</p>
3303. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/12/18/trump-ftc-andrew-ferguson-ticket-fees/">Republicans Said the FTC Was Too Politicized. Now Trump’s FTC Pick Says It Should be Politicized — by Trump.</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
3304. ]]></content:encoded>
3305.                                <wfw:commentRss>https://theintercept.com/2024/12/18/trump-ftc-andrew-ferguson-ticket-fees/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
3306.                <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
3307.                <media:content url='https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Informed-_Conversations_on_Democracy_in_the_Digital_Age_-_037A4943_52532746930-e1734445656420.jpg?fit=7692%2C3846' width='7692' height='3846' /><post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">483727</post-id>
3308. <media:thumbnail url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-2003071883-e1734915687994.jpg?w=1200" />
3309. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-2003071883-e1734915687994.jpg?w=1200" medium="image" />
3310. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-1133569077-e1735579307347.jpg?w=1200" medium="image" />
3311. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-669011264-e1735324549627.jpg?w=1200" medium="image" />
3312. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/deconstructed-feature-art-antitrust-final.jpg" medium="image" />
3313. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/AP23096697343972-e1731650809848.jpg" medium="image" />
3314.            </item>
3315.        
3316.            <item>
3317.                <title><![CDATA[America Gets a Taste of Its Own Medicine: Drone Terror]]></title>
3318.                <link>https://theintercept.com/2024/12/18/drones-new-jersey-sighting/</link>
3319.                <comments>https://theintercept.com/2024/12/18/drones-new-jersey-sighting/#respond</comments>
3320.                <pubDate>Wed, 18 Dec 2024 09:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
3321.                                    <dc:creator><![CDATA[Nick Turse]]></dc:creator>
3322.                                 <category><![CDATA[National Security]]></category>
3323. <category><![CDATA[World]]></category>
3324.  
3325.                <guid isPermaLink="false">https://theintercept.com/?p=483730</guid>
3326.                                    <description><![CDATA[<p>For more than two decades, the U.S. has flown drones over the heads of millions of people — watching, recording, and even killing some of them.</p>
3327. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/12/18/drones-new-jersey-sighting/">America Gets a Taste of Its Own Medicine: Drone Terror</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
3328. ]]></description>
3329.                                        <content:encoded><![CDATA[
3330. <p><span class="has-underline">American officials are</span> apoplectic about alleged mystery drones flying over the United States. Last Thursday, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy <a href="https://x.com/GovMurphy/status/1867606764755054686">sent a letter</a> to President Joe Biden, expressing “growing concern” about the drones and seeking federal help “to fully understand what is behind this activity.&#8221;</p>
3331.  
3332.  
3333.  
3334. <p>Tri-state area Democratic Sens. Cory Booker, Andy Kim, Chuck Schumer, and Kirsten Gillibrand sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, FBI Director Christopher Wray, and Federal Aviation Administration head Michael Whitaker requesting a briefing on the supposed drones.</p>
3335.  
3336.  
3337.  
3338. <p>And, last week Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., initially <a href="https://vandrew.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=1788">suggested</a> that the unidentified flying objects might hail from an “Iranian drone mothership” operating off the East Coast.</p>
3339.  
3340.  
3341.  
3342. <p>“Whether&nbsp;this is a foreign adversary or even just a group of drone hobbyists,” he said, “we&nbsp;cannot allow unidentified drones to operate freely in our airspace with no consequences and it is time we eliminate the threat they pose and shoot them down.”</p>
3343.  
3344.  
3345.  
3346. <p>After beginning in New Jersey, drone hysteria is spreading like wildfire, with <a href="https://www.wdbj7.com/2024/12/14/governor-youngkin-releases-statement-drone-sightings-virginia/">sightings</a> popping up from <a href="https://whdh.com/news/worries-about-mysterious-drones-spread-to-massachusetts-after-reported-sightings/">Massachusetts</a> to <a href="https://www.cbs8.com/article/news/local/more-mysterious-drones-hover-san-diego-county/509-98d308ba-1273-4bf5-a77b-5eb713957739">California</a>, prompting widespread outcry and the temporary <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/drone-sighting-temporarily-shuts-runways-new-york-airport/story?id=116792168">closure of an airport</a> in New York state and, in Ohio, <a href="https://www.wcpo.com/news/state/state-ohio/drones-shut-wright-patterson-air-force-base-down-for-several-hours-late-friday">Wright-Patterson Air Force Base&#8217;s airspace</a>.</p>
3347.  
3348.  
3349.  
3350. <p>The widespread anxiety, <a href="https://www.wcpo.com/news/state/state-ohio/drones-shut-wright-patterson-air-force-base-down-for-several-hours-late-friday">especially among</a> <a href="https://penncapital-star.com/2024/12/16/dc/drone-sighting-epidemic-spurs-dems-in-congress-to-urge-more-transparency-from-feds/">lawmakers</a>, about living beneath potentially malign mystery drones is striking, given America’s proclivity for employing drones to spy on people across the world without their consent — and, in many cases, kill them. The irony is not lost on experts.</p>
3351.  
3352.  
3353.  
3354. <!-- BLOCK(pullquote)[0](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22PULLQUOTE%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22SHORTCODE%22%2C%22optional%22%3Atrue%7D)(%7B%22pull%22%3A%22right%22%7D) --><blockquote class="stylized pull-right" data-shortcode-type="pullquote" data-pull="right"><!-- CONTENT(pullquote)[0] -->“Americans are finally seeing how uncomfortable it is to have unknown aircraft buzzing overhead.”<!-- END-CONTENT(pullquote)[0] --></blockquote><!-- END-BLOCK(pullquote)[0] -->
3355.  
3356.  
3357.  
3358. <p>&#8220;After decades of the U.S. government flying armed military drones over cities and villages around the world, Americans are finally seeing how uncomfortable it is to have unknown aircraft buzzing overhead,” said Erik Sperling of Just Foreign Policy, an advocacy group critical of mainstream Washington foreign policy. “Even when drones are not killing people, it shouldn’t be hard to imagine that having an unknown aircraft hovering above your head is not something most people are comfortable with.”</p>
3359.  
3360.  
3361.  
3362. <p>“American politicians aren’t known for walking a mile in someone else&#8217;s shoes,” he said. “Hopefully, these incidents will help them realize that monitoring people this way in other countries isn’t going to win hearts and minds.”</p>
3363.  
3364.  
3365.  
3366. <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-no-explanation">No Explanation</h2>
3367.  
3368.  
3369.  
3370. <p>For more than two decades, the United States has been flying drones over the heads of millions of people in foreign lands — remotely watching, recording, and even killing some of them. Since its first drone strikes in <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/05/america-first-drone-strike-afghanistan/394463/">Afghanistan in 2001</a> and <a href="https://apnews.com/article/al-qaida-ayman-zawahri-united-states-government-military-technology-yemen-860d86430603dc36ea786e72e09438c1">Yemen in 2002</a>, U.S. drones <a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/10/02/trump-impeachment-civilian-casualties-war/">have killed</a> thousands of<a href="https://theintercept.com/drone-papers/manhunting-in-the-hindu-kush/"> people</a> in those countries and others, including civilians in <a href="https://theintercept.com/2022/04/03/libya-airstrike-civilian-deaths-lawsuit/">Libya</a>, <a href="https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/publications/after-dead-are-counted-us-and-pakistani-responsibilities-victims-drone-strikes">Pakistan</a>, <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/03/05/congress-pentagon-somali-drone-civilian-casualties/">Somalia</a>, and <a href="https://theintercept.com/2022/05/18/drone-strike-gofundme-civilian-casualty/">Yemen</a>.</p>
3371.  
3372.  
3373.  
3374. <p>Last year, an investigation by The Intercept determined that an April 2018 drone attack in Somalia killed at least three, and possibly five, civilians, including <a href="https://theintercept.com/2023/11/12/somalia-drone-strike-civilian-deaths/">22-year-old Luul Dahir Mohamed and her 4-year-old daughter Mariam Shilow Muse</a>. For more than six years, the family has tried to contact the U.S. government, including through an online civilian casualty reporting portal run by U.S. Africa Command, but they have never received a response.</p>
3375.  
3376.  
3377.  
3378.  <div class="promote-related-post">
3379.    <a      class="promo-related-post__link"
3380.            href="https://theintercept.com/2024/05/13/pentagon-civilian-deaths-drone-strike/"
3381.      data-ga-track="in_article-body"
3382.      data-ga-track-action="related post embed: pentagon-civilian-deaths-drone-strike"
3383.      data-ga-track-label="pentagon-civilian-deaths-drone-strike"
3384.          >
3385.              <img decoding="async" width="440" height="440" src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/GettyImages-973401700-e1715605758106.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="" loading="lazy" />            <span class="promo-related-post__text">
3386.      <h2 class="promote-related-post__eyebrow">
3387.        Related      </h2>
3388.      <h3 class="promote-related-post__title">Pentagon Compensated Zero Civilian Victims in 2022 — Despite Evidence That the U.S. Killed a Mom and Child in Somalia</h3>
3389.    </span>
3390.    </a>
3391.  </div>
3392.  
3393.  
3394.  
3395. <p>“They know innocent people were killed, but they’ve never told us a reason or apologized,” Abdi Dahir Mohamed, one of Luul’s brothers, told me last year. “No one has been held accountable.”</p>
3396.  
3397.  
3398.  
3399. <p>The entire family has been traumatized. When Luul’s nephew saw a “normal airplane” flying over their farm, he began running around, trying to hide, convinced it might kill him. The family told Luul’s son, Mohamed Shilow Muse, the truth about his mother’s death and since then, when he sees or hears a drone, they said, “he rushes under a tree to hide.”</p>
3400.  
3401.  
3402.  
3403.  
3404.  
3405.  
3406.  
3407. <p>For decades, people around the world have lived with drone-induced anxieties and resounding silence from U.S. officials. Before the <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/03/19/niger-junta-throws-us-troops-drone-base/">U.S. military was expelled</a> from <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/07/24/niger-us-military-troops/">Niger</a> by the <a href="https://theintercept.com/2023/08/16/niger-coup-junta-us-military/">U.S.-trained</a> ruling junta earlier this year, it hosted <a href="https://theintercept.com/2023/04/02/us-military-counterterrorism-niger/">U.S. drone bases</a> whose purpose was murky and kept secret from the Nigeriens who lived beneath the unblinking gaze of America’s eyes in the sky.</p>
3408.  
3409.  
3410.  
3411. <p>In the hard-scrabble Tadress neighborhood, on the outskirts of America’s drone outpost in the northern town of Agadez, people were apprehensive when talking about “le drone” <a href="https://theintercept.com/2023/02/20/niger-military-base-contractor/">when The Intercept visited last year</a>. Women in the neighborhood, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal, complained of the noise and the fumes coming from the base — and concern about the small aircraft that took off in the dead of night.</p>
3412.  
3413.  
3414.  
3415. <!-- BLOCK(pullquote)[2](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22PULLQUOTE%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22SHORTCODE%22%2C%22optional%22%3Atrue%7D)(%7B%22pull%22%3A%22left%22%7D) --><blockquote class="stylized pull-left" data-shortcode-type="pullquote" data-pull="left"><!-- CONTENT(pullquote)[2] -->“No one knows what they are doing. We see the red and blue blinking lights above us.&#8221;<!-- END-CONTENT(pullquote)[2] --></blockquote><!-- END-BLOCK(pullquote)[2] -->
3416.  
3417.  
3418.  
3419. <p>“We’re scared,” complained a woman in a pink hijab, who had lived in the area since before the base was built. “No one knows what they are doing. We see the red and blue blinking lights above us. We don’t know what they’re looking at.”</p>
3420.  
3421.  
3422.  
3423. <p>Maria Laminou Garba, who runs a recycling collective in Tadress that pays unemployed youth to gather recyclables, expressed similar concerns of living under an American microscope. “They are always flying overhead — often in the night or early morning,” she said last year. “It’s scary. We think they are watching us.”</p>
3424.  
3425.  
3426.  
3427. <p>The reactions are justified. In Somalia, the U.S. continues to fly surveillance missions and <a href="https://airwars.org/civilian-casualties/ussom418-february-15-2024/">conduct lethal airstrikes</a>.</p>
3428.  
3429.  
3430.  
3431. <p>In Niger, drones not only searched for militants in rural areas and neighboring countries, but also provided overwatch for the Agadez outpost and troops coming and going from the base in Tadress — putting the civilians there under their gaze.</p>
3432.  
3433.  
3434.  
3435. <figure class="wp-block-ft-photo is-style-default">
3436.    <img decoding="async"
3437.    src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-2016307436.jpg?fit=2048%2C1317"
3438.    srcset="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-2016307436.jpg?w=2048 2048w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-2016307436.jpg?w=300 300w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-2016307436.jpg?w=768 768w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-2016307436.jpg?w=1024 1024w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-2016307436.jpg?w=1536 1536w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-2016307436.jpg?w=540 540w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-2016307436.jpg?w=1000 1000w"
3439.    sizes="auto, (min-width: 1300px) 650px, (min-width: 800px) 64vw, (min-width: 500px) calc(100vw - 5rem), calc(100vw - 3rem)"
3440.    alt="This 21 February 2001 US Air Force file photo obtained 05 November 2002 shows an unmanned predator aerial vehicle with a hellfire missile attached. It was reported 04 November that six suspected al Qaeda members,including Abu Ali, who was believed to have played a major role in the October 2000 attack on the destroyer USS Cole, were killed in Yemen when a CIA drone launched a "Hellfire" missile and struck the car they were traveling in.               AFP PHOTO/US AIR FORCE (Photo by US AIR FORCE / US AIR FORCE / AFP) (Photo by US AIR FORCE/US AIR FORCE/AFP via Getty Images)"
3441.    width="2048"
3442.    height="1317"
3443.    loading="lazy"
3444.  />
3445.      <figcaption class="photo__figcaption">
3446.              <span class="photo__caption">A U.S. Air Force Predator drone with a Hellfire missile attached, on Feb. 11, 2001, in an undisclosed location.</span>
3447.                    <span class="photo__credit">U.S. Air Force/AFP via Getty Images</span>
3448.          </figcaption>
3449.    </figure>
3450.  
3451.  
3452.  
3453. <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-everyone-in-the-village">Everyone in the Village</h2>
3454.  
3455.  
3456.  
3457. <p>Americans like Van Drew, of “Iranian drone mothership” fame, are learning what people around the world, including Luul and Mariam’s family, have been saying for years: The prospect of living beneath another country’s drones — especially lethal robot aircraft — is terrible. (Van Drew has walked back his “mothership” fearmongering but continues to <a href="https://vandrew.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=1792">express unease</a>.)</p>
3458.  
3459.  
3460.  
3461. <p>A September 2012 study of civilians in Pakistan by Stanford Law’s International Human Rights and Conflict Resolution Clinic and the Global Justice Clinic at NYU School of Law <a href="https://law.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Stanford-NYU-LIVING-UNDER-DRONES.pdf">reported</a>, “U.S. drone strike policies cause considerable and under-accounted-for harm to the daily lives of ordinary civilians, beyond death and physical injury.”</p>
3462.  
3463.  
3464.  
3465. <p>The researchers found the constant presence of drones, the fear that a strike might occur at any time, and the inability of people to protect themselves &#8220;terrorize[d] men, women, and children, giving rise to anxiety and psychological trauma among civilian communities.”</p>
3466.  
3467.  
3468.  
3469.  
3470.  
3471.  
3472.  
3473. <p>Following a series of attacks by the U.S. — six drones strikes and one raid — that <a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/3anj33/a-yemeni-family-was-repeatedly-attacked-by-us-drones-now-theyre-seeking-justice" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">killed 36 members</a> of two large, intermarried Yemeni families between 2013 and 2018, one family member, Abdullah Abdurabuh Obad al Taisy, told me about the <a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/drone-strike-victims-in-yemen-are-desperate-for-accountability-from-the-us/">psychological fallout </a>among survivors, especially children.</p>
3474.  
3475.  
3476.  
3477. <p>“Everyone in the village is affected,” he said. “They usually can’t sleep properly because of the fear. They can’t even eat properly. Even the children are afraid to go out and play. Some of them are mentally sick right now, because of this constant feeling of fear.”</p>
3478.  
3479.  
3480.  
3481. <p>A <a href="https://www.alkarama.org/sites/default/files/documents/Yemen_Drones_2015_EN_WEB_FINAL.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">2015 study</a> by the <a href="https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/humanitarian-impact-of-drones.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Alkarama Foundation</a>, a human rights group, found that among Yemenis living in two villages where U.S. drones operated, post-traumatic stress disorder was “extremely prevalent,” with many suffering from constant worry and sleep disorders including nightmares or insomnia. Ninety-six percent of children interviewed said they were afraid that a drone attack might harm them, their family, or their community — with “the feeling of fear,” the study said, “further exacerbated among children when they hear sounds that resemble the buzzing of drones.” </p>
3482.  
3483.  
3484.  
3485. <p>The fear and anxiety induced by the distinctive “buzz” of drone engines is hardly confined to children. “The drones were terrifying,” <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/world/reuters-magazine-the-drone-wars-idUSTRE80P11M/">wrote David Rohde</a>, a journalist kidnapped by the Afghan Taliban in 2008 and held in the tribal areas of Pakistan. “From the ground, it is impossible to determine who or what they are tracking as they circle overhead. The buzz of a distant propeller is a constant reminder of imminent death.”</p>
3486.  
3487.  
3488.  
3489. <p>Populations subjected to constant drone activity report “exaggerated startle responses, fleeing indoors and hiding when seeing or hearing drones, fainting, poor appetite, psychosomatic symptoms, insomnia, and startled awakening at night with hallucinations about drones,” according to a <a href="https://www.proquest.com/docview/1985035499?sourcetype=Scholarly%20Journals">2017 study</a> in Current Psychology. “Civilians’ fear appears to cripple their daily activities, such as leaving their homes, working, attending social functions, and sending children to school.”</p>
3490.  
3491.  
3492.  
3493. <!-- BLOCK(pullquote)[4](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22PULLQUOTE%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22SHORTCODE%22%2C%22optional%22%3Atrue%7D)(%7B%22pull%22%3A%22right%22%7D) --><blockquote class="stylized pull-right" data-shortcode-type="pullquote" data-pull="right"><!-- CONTENT(pullquote)[4] -->“There is a reason that privacy is regarded as a human right — because nobody wants to feel like they&#8217;re living under the Eye of Sauron.&#8221;<!-- END-CONTENT(pullquote)[4] --></blockquote><!-- END-BLOCK(pullquote)[4] -->
3494.  
3495.  
3496.  
3497. <p>The psychological toll exists even when the perceived threat is merely aerial surveillance from on high.</p>
3498.  
3499.  
3500.  
3501. <p>“There is a reason that privacy is regarded as a human right — because nobody wants to feel like they&#8217;re living under the Eye of Sauron, an eye in the sky that&#8217;s monitoring things that they&#8217;re doing,” said Jay Stanley, a senior policy analyst at the American Civil Liberties Union, referencing the imposing symbol of malign omniscience in J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings” books. “That&#8217;s something that the U.S. shouldn&#8217;t be imposing on people abroad. And it&#8217;s something that we shouldn&#8217;t tolerate in our own communities.”</p>
3502.  
3503.  
3504.  
3505. <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-truth-is-out-there">The Truth Is Out There</h2>
3506.  
3507.  
3508.  
3509. <p>Stanley thinks there is a good chance that many of the “drones” seen over New Jersey are conventional aircraft and, perhaps, some experimental models. The panic surrounding the sightings, however, reveals something fundamental about Americans’ anxieties.</p>
3510.  
3511.  
3512.  
3513. <p>“In my experience — working on privacy issues from internet tracking to data mining — I find aerial surveillance has a special electricity for people,” he said. “Someone tracking my financial transactions and building a profile of me is very abstract, but a flying robotic video camera hovering over my community — that&#8217;s very concrete. And it freaks people out.”</p>
3514.  
3515.  
3516.  
3517. <p>In the meantime, neither people like Luul and Mariam’s family in Somalia nor Garba, the recycling organizer in Niger, will ever get what Americans panicking over skyward objects are: reasonable assurances from the authorities that they’re perfectly safe.</p>
3518.  
3519.  
3520.  
3521.  <div class="promote-related-post">
3522.    <a      class="promo-related-post__link"
3523.            href="https://theintercept.com/2024/06/17/pentagon-ai-kamikaze-cheap-drones-replicator/"
3524.      data-ga-track="in_article-body"
3525.      data-ga-track-action="related post embed: pentagon-ai-kamikaze-cheap-drones-replicator"
3526.      data-ga-track-label="pentagon-ai-kamikaze-cheap-drones-replicator"
3527.          >
3528.              <img decoding="async" width="440" height="440" src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/7241549-e1718383607755.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="" loading="lazy" />            <span class="promo-related-post__text">
3529.      <h2 class="promote-related-post__eyebrow">
3530.        Related      </h2>
3531.      <h3 class="promote-related-post__title">Cheap and Lethal: The Pentagon’s Plan for the Next Drone War</h3>
3532.    </span>
3533.    </a>
3534.  </div>
3535.  
3536.  
3537.  
3538. <p>Last Thursday, national security communications adviser John Kirby dismissed concerns over the drone panic.</p>
3539.  
3540.  
3541.  
3542. <p>“We have no evidence at this time that the reported drone sightings pose a national security or a public safety threat or have a foreign nexus,” he said.</p>
3543.  
3544.  
3545.  
3546. <p>An FBI official reported that government investigators overlaid the locations of the reported drone sightings and found that &#8220;the density of reported sightings matches the approach pattern&#8221; of New York and New Jersey’s busiest airports. The FBI has received 5,000 tips about drones but fewer than 100 have led to legitimate leads, <a href="https://www.dhs.gov/news/2024/12/16/dhs-fbi-faa-dod-joint-statement-ongoing-response-reported-drone-sightings#:~:text=We%20have%20not%20identified%20anything,the%20concern%20among%20many%20communities.">according to a joint statement</a> by the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, the FAA, and the Pentagon released on Monday.</p>
3547.  
3548.  
3549.  
3550. <p>After <a href="https://x.com/AndyKimNJ/status/1867582643346571730?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1867582643346571730%7Ctwgr%5E81f8a04d273d201a95d521efb8b4f0ffde5d7c69%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.inquirer.com%2Fnews%2Fnation-world%2Fjohn-kirby-white-house-drones-east-coast-20241213.html">observing the unidentified flying objects&nbsp;alongside local police</a> in New Jersey, Kim, the senator, initially expressed concern. After discussions with civilian experts, however, he walked back some of his worries about the “possible drones.”</p>
3551.  
3552.  
3553.  
3554. <p>“I don’t discount others may have seen actual drone activity, and not all I saw is fully explained by flight paths, but much of it was,” <a href="https://x.com/AndyKimNJ/status/1868034974034579706">he announced on X</a>, taking federal authorities to task for not adequately addressing public fears and providing detailed explanations. “Federal experts should provide information and guidance to the public including local police departments like the one that took me out to help them decipher what they are seeing.”</p>
3555.  
3556.  
3557.  
3558. <p>Kim pointed to anxieties across America that he believes are fueling the drone panic. “I think this situation in some ways reflects this moment in our country. People have a lot [of] anxiety right now about the economy, health, security etc.,” he wrote. “And too often we find that those charged with working on these issues don’t engage the public with the respect and depth needed.”</p>
3559.  
3560.  
3561.  
3562. <p>A founding member of the <a href="https://khanna.house.gov/media/press-releases/release-reps-ro-khanna-sara-jacobs-jason-crow-andy-kim-and-tom-malinowski">Protection of Civilians in Conflict Caucus</a>, Kim has been <a href="https://archive.is/NKVhl">outspoken on U.S. drone strikes</a> in the past. His office, however, refused to engage on the disconnect between American drone policy abroad and the drone hysteria exhibited by officials in the United States. (“We’re not going to comment at this time,” Anna Connole, Kim’s press secretary, told The Intercept.)</p>
3563.  
3564.  
3565.  
3566. <p>“Members of Congress like Andy Kim have been rightly concerned about civilian casualties, but drones aren&#8217;t just a problem when they kill civilians,” said Sperling. </p>
3567.  
3568.  
3569.  
3570. <p>“It&#8217;s just a profoundly disturbing climate to live in, when you have an unknown, unaccountable drone hovering over your head. Members of Congress should understand that monitoring people with futuristic unmanned aircraft is not a normal state of affairs for people beneath the drones. And they should apply that realization when it comes to U.S. foreign policy.”</p>
3571.  
3572.  
3573.  
3574. <p><a id="_msocom_1"></a></p>
3575. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/12/18/drones-new-jersey-sighting/">America Gets a Taste of Its Own Medicine: Drone Terror</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
3576. ]]></content:encoded>
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3578.                <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
3579.                <media:content url='https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-2189936159-e1734474371696.jpg?fit=2400%2C1200' width='2400' height='1200' /><post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">483730</post-id>
3580. <media:thumbnail url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/GettyImages-973401700-e1715605758106.jpg" />
3581. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/GettyImages-973401700-e1715605758106.jpg" medium="image" />
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3583. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-1133569077-e1735579307347.jpg?w=1200" medium="image" />
3584. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-669011264-e1735324549627.jpg?w=1200" medium="image" />
3585. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-2016307436.jpg?fit=2048%2C1317" medium="image">
3586. <media:title type="html">This 21 February 2001 US Air Force file photo obtained 05 November 2002 shows an unmanned predator aerial vehicle with a hellfire missile attached. It was reported 04 November that six suspected al Qaeda members,including Abu Ali, who was believed to have played a major role in the October 2000 attack on the destroyer USS Cole, were killed in Yemen when a CIA drone launched a &#34;Hellfire&#34; missile and struck the car they were traveling in.               AFP PHOTO/US AIR FORCE (Photo by US AIR FORCE / US AIR FORCE / AFP) (Photo by US AIR FORCE/US AIR FORCE/AFP via Getty Images)</media:title>
3587. </media:content>
3588. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/7241549-e1718383607755.jpg" medium="image" />
3589.            </item>
3590.        
3591.            <item>
3592.                <title><![CDATA[U.S. Defied Spanish Embargo on Arms Bound for Israel by Making Enforcement More Difficult]]></title>
3593.                <link>https://theintercept.com/2024/12/17/israel-weapons-spain-embargo-shipping/</link>
3594.                <comments>https://theintercept.com/2024/12/17/israel-weapons-spain-embargo-shipping/#respond</comments>
3595.                <pubDate>Tue, 17 Dec 2024 10:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
3596.                                    <dc:creator><![CDATA[Natasha Lennard]]></dc:creator>
3597.                                 <category><![CDATA[National Security]]></category>
3598. <category><![CDATA[World]]></category>
3599.  
3600.                <guid isPermaLink="false">https://theintercept.com/?p=483642</guid>
3601.                                    <description><![CDATA[<p>As the diplomatic row over the embargo escalates, the U.S. sent Israel millions of pounds of ammunition through Spanish territory.</p>
3602. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/12/17/israel-weapons-spain-embargo-shipping/">U.S. Defied Spanish Embargo on Arms Bound for Israel by Making Enforcement More Difficult</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
3603. ]]></description>
3604.                                        <content:encoded><![CDATA[
3605. <p><span class="has-underline">The U.S. Department</span> of Defense sent over a thousand tons of ammunition to Israel on a ship that stopped at a U.S. naval base in Spain — a violation of Spain’s embargo on ships carrying military cargo bound for Israel, according to researchers from the Palestinian Youth Movement and Progressive International.</p>
3606.  
3607.  
3608.  
3609. <p>The ship, owned by Sealift Inc., was also used for delivering aid to Gaza last spring, when the U.S. carried out its <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/how-bidens-gaza-pier-project-unraveled-2024-07-25/">disastrous</a> and short-lived floating pier aid mission.</p>
3610.  
3611.  
3612.  
3613. <p>While partly operated by the U.S. Navy, Naval Station Rota is Spanish territory technically beholden to Spanish law. Moving ammunition bound for Israel through a U.S. Navy base on Spanish soil makes enforcement of the embargo trickier.</p>
3614.  
3615.  
3616.  
3617. <!-- BLOCK(pullquote)[0](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22PULLQUOTE%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22SHORTCODE%22%2C%22optional%22%3Atrue%7D)(%7B%22pull%22%3A%22right%22%7D) --><blockquote class="stylized pull-right" data-shortcode-type="pullquote" data-pull="right"><!-- CONTENT(pullquote)[0] -->“Shipments through American military bases in Spain of military materials are harder to detect.”<!-- END-CONTENT(pullquote)[0] --></blockquote><!-- END-BLOCK(pullquote)[0] -->
3618.  
3619.  
3620.  
3621. <p>“Shipments through American military bases in Spain of military materials, which may be used in the commission of international crimes, are harder to detect,” Enrique Santiago, a lawyer and Spanish legislator whose party is in the government coalition, told The Intercept. He said that, though Spanish oversight should apply, “in practice, American bases are beyond the reach of Spanish sovereignty.”</p>
3622.  
3623.  
3624.  
3625. <p>Santiago added, “If shipments of military material used in international crimes are made through American bases in Spain, and this fact can be evidenced, the people taking part in them would equally have criminal liability.”</p>
3626.  
3627.  
3628.  
3629. <p>The revelation that deadly ammunition is being shipped by the U.S. to Israel through Spanish ports is the latest chapter of a spiraling international row between the two allies, both members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. (Sealift did not respond to a request for comment.)</p>
3630.  
3631.  
3632.  
3633. <p>The U.S. recently lodged a case with the Federal Maritime Commission, an independent U.S. government agency that regulates international shipping and can levy astronomical fines — potentially hitting Spain with costs that run well into the millions.</p>
3634.  
3635.  
3636.  
3637. <p>In a statement, Pentagon spokesperson Tom Crosson outlined the various U.S. government uses of the Sealift-owned ship, including the transport of ammunition and its delivery of 20 millions pounds of humanitarian aid to Gaza over three months in 2024.</p>
3638.  
3639.  
3640.  
3641. <p>&#8220;The U.S. government coordinates with Allies and partners throughout the transportation process and adheres to requirements globally,&#8221; Crosson said. &#8220;The United States military, when directed, has a responsibility and capacity to deliver both humanitarian aid to those in need and munitions to support the defense of our Allies and partners.”</p>
3642.  
3643.  
3644.  
3645. <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-unending-legal-battle"><strong>“Unending Legal Battle”</strong></h2>
3646.  
3647.  
3648.  
3649. <p>Last month, The Intercept <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/11/04/maersk-israel-gaza-spain-embargo-military-shipping/">reported</a> that Maersk, one of the world’s largest shippers, is among the companies that delivered millions of pounds of materiel, including armored vehicles, from commercial American ports to Israel for use in the ongoing genocidal war on Gaza. A number of those shipments, which stopped in Spain, violated Spanish policy that blocked ships carrying Israeli war materiel from docking at its ports.</p>
3650.  
3651.  
3652.  
3653.  <div class="promote-related-post">
3654.    <a      class="promo-related-post__link"
3655.            href="https://theintercept.com/2024/11/04/maersk-israel-gaza-spain-embargo-military-shipping/"
3656.      data-ga-track="in_article-body"
3657.      data-ga-track-action="related post embed: maersk-israel-gaza-spain-embargo-military-shipping"
3658.      data-ga-track-label="maersk-israel-gaza-spain-embargo-military-shipping"
3659.          >
3660.              <img decoding="async" width="440" height="440" src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/GettyImages-1644854535-e1730483141724.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="" loading="lazy" />            <span class="promo-related-post__text">
3661.      <h2 class="promote-related-post__eyebrow">
3662.        Related      </h2>
3663.      <h3 class="promote-related-post__title">Shipping Giant Maersk Violated Spanish Embargo on Sending Military Goods to Israel, Researchers Say</h3>
3664.    </span>
3665.    </a>
3666.  </div>
3667.  
3668.  
3669.  
3670. <p>Following reporting in The Intercept and Spanish newspaper El Diario, Spain in recent weeks <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/11/04/maersk-israel-gaza-spain-embargo-military-shipping/">blocked</a> two vessels from docking, forcing Maersk to <a href="https://misbar.com/en/editorial/2024/11/20/us-supplied-military-goods-transited-through-moroccan-port-to-israel">reroute</a> some of its transatlantic shipping of government and military cargo from the U.S. through Morocco. (Maersk did not respond to a question about the shipments routed through Morocco.)</p>
3671.  
3672.  
3673.  
3674. <p>Spanish officials put the embargo in place last May to end Spanish involvement in arms sales to Israel. Since then, Spain has prevented more than five vessels from docking at its ports under the policy.</p>
3675.  
3676.  
3677.  
3678. <p>“We call on the European and North African nations of conscience to deny docking or refueling to all vessels carrying ammunition or military cargo to Israel,” said Aisha Nizar a campaign organizer with the Palestinian Youth Movement. “And we specifically call on the government of Spain to continue to implement the decision it made in May 2024.”</p>
3679.  
3680.  
3681.  
3682.  
3683.  
3684.  
3685.  
3686. <p>Spain’s United Left political coalition last week <a href="https://www.publico.es/politica/iu-lanza-protocolo-incautar-armas-buques-destino-israel-pide-gobierno-convertirlo-ley.html">proposed</a> a new protocol in the Spanish Parliament, which, if passed, would allow ships carrying military cargo to stop in Spain, but would instruct Spanish authorities to inspect the vessels and seize any Israel-bound military equipment. According to the proposed protocol, Spain would then report the ships to the International Court of Justice and International Criminal Court — where Israel is facing <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/01/26/icj-ruling-gaza-genocide/">allegations</a> of <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/02/02/israel-gaza-icj-palestinian-deaths/">genocide</a> and <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/05/20/icc-arrest-warrant-israel-hamas/">other</a> war <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/11/21/icc-netanyahu-arrest-us-war-crimes/">crimes</a> — as well as to the Spanish judicial system.</p>
3687.  
3688.  
3689.  
3690. <p>In response to Spain denying entry to ships, the U.S. <a href="https://apnews.com/article/us-spain-israel-weapons-shipping-7cb890af47716111445f7726ce19ddb4">opened</a> an investigation in early December into whether Spain’s denials of entry to the vessels constitute a violation of maritime trade regulations. The Federal Maritime Commission, an independent body that monitors conditions that may affect shipping and U.S. international trade, said it is “concerned that this apparent policy of denying entry to certain vessels will create conditions unfavorable to shipping in the foreign trade, whether in a particular route or in commerce generally.”</p>
3691.  
3692.  
3693.  
3694. <!-- BLOCK(pullquote)[2](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22PULLQUOTE%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22SHORTCODE%22%2C%22optional%22%3Atrue%7D)(%7B%22pull%22%3A%22left%22%7D) --><blockquote class="stylized pull-left" data-shortcode-type="pullquote" data-pull="left"><!-- CONTENT(pullquote)[2] -->“Should this happen, an unending legal battle would begin.”<!-- END-CONTENT(pullquote)[2] --></blockquote><!-- END-BLOCK(pullquote)[2] -->
3695.  
3696.  
3697.  
3698. <p>If the investigation finds Spain to be in breach of the regulations, the U.S. could fine the Spanish government <a href="https://apnews.com/article/us-spain-israel-weapons-shipping-7cb890af47716111445f7726ce19ddb4">up to $2.3 million</a> per voyage. In effect, the U.S.is threatening a NATO ally for upholding its own policies and attempting to comply with international humanitarian law.</p>
3699.  
3700.  
3701.  
3702. <p>“A fine imposed by the United States against a country that is abiding by its obligations to prevent a genocide is clearly an illegal and illegitimate sanction in view of international law,” said Santiago, the Spanish politician. “Should this happen, an unending legal battle would begin.”<br><br>“Moreover,” he said, “we would work for Spain to take measures to sanction all American citizens that may have taken part in this attack against international law and against Spain.”</p>
3703.  
3704.  
3705.  
3706. <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-million-pounds-of-ammunition"><strong>A Million Pounds of Ammunition</strong></h2>
3707.  
3708.  
3709.  
3710. <p>In their latest report, researchers from the Palestinian-led diaspora group Palestinian Youth Movement and the left-wing umbrella coalition Progressive International <a href="https://www.maskoffmaersk.com/reports">traced the journey</a> of the container ship MV Sagamore. Based on reviews of U.S. military contracts, satellite imagery, and changes in cargo weight throughout MV Sagamore’s voyages, the researchers found that the vessel has in the last year completed numerous missions carrying ammunition and other materiel to Israel from the U.S. Military Ocean Terminal Sunny Point, or MOTSU, in North Carolina.</p>
3711.  
3712.  
3713.  
3714.  
3715.  
3716.  
3717.  
3718. <p>According to the report, the MV Sagamore transferred over 1 million pounds of ammunition and military cargo to Israel in just one of its shipments. The ship is owned by Sealift Inc. and chartered on behalf of the U.S. Navy’s Military Sealift Command.</p>
3719.  
3720.  
3721.  
3722. <p>Used for the transport of live ammunition and explosives, MOTSU is the largest military terminal in the U.S. The U.S. military’s Transportation Command website <a href="https://www.ustranscom.mil/cmd/panewsreader.cfm?ID=CDAE32EE-B72A-C849-D8641D184EE68B10&amp;yr=2023">notes</a> that the port is used for sending and receiving “military equipment like rockets, missiles, howitzers, grenades, projectiles, pyrotechnics and more” — hazardous materials that cannot be handled at commercial ports. Researchers found that the Sagamore has made six calls to MOTSU in the last year; the last journey out of MOTSU that the ship made was to Israel&#8217;s Ashdod Port.</p>
3723.  
3724.  
3725.  
3726. <p>While the military-contracted missions do not make the details of their ships’ cargo publicly available, using an array of evidence, the researchers wrote that they can conclude with “a very high degree of certainty, that … [is the] vessel that delivered over a thousand tonnes of Class 1 explosive ammunition to Israel this winter as it currently conducts its war against Gaza.”</p>
3727.  
3728.  
3729.  
3730. <p>Researchers with the Palestinian Youth Movement said that the MV Sagamore was also used for the U.S. military’s floating pier in Gaza to deliver aid to Gaza between May and July 2024. The pier was the Biden administration’s ill-conceived and costly gesture for <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/03/23/biden-israel-gaza-aid-ethnic-cleansing/">delivering humanitarian aid</a> to the bombarded Strip, as Israel <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/05/18/israel-blocking-aid-gaza/">blocked aid</a> by land. The temporary dock cost <a href="https://apnews.com/article/pier-military-gaza-war-humanitarian-aid-76ff45e7ef81ae68a75ac269daaa0dd3">$230 million</a> and delivered about a <a href="https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/analysis/2024/07/16/us-gaza-pier-close-after-costing-230-million-days-worth-aid">day’s worth</a> of aid to Palestinians in Gaza.</p>
3731.  
3732.  
3733. <!-- BLOCK(promote-post)[4](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22PROMOTE_POST%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22SHORTCODE%22%2C%22optional%22%3Atrue%7D)(%7B%22slug%22%3A%22israel-palestine%22%2C%22crop%22%3A%22promo%22%7D) -->  <aside class="promote-banner">
3734.    <a class="promote-banner__link" href="https://theintercept.com/collections/israel-palestine/">
3735.              <span class="promote-banner__image">
3736.          <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="300" height="150" src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?fit=300%2C150" class="attachment-medium size-medium" alt="DEIR AL-BALAH, GAZA - NOVEMBER 7: Civil defense teams and citizens continue search and rescue operations after an airstrike hits the building belonging to the Maslah family during the 32nd day of Israeli attacks in Deir Al-Balah, Gaza on November 7, 2023. (Photo by Ashraf Amra/Anadolu via Getty Images)" srcset="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=5760 5760w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=300 300w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=768 768w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=1024 1024w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=1536 1536w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=2048 2048w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=540 540w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=1000 1000w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=2400 2400w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=3600 3600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />        </span>
3737.            <div class="promote-banner__text">
3738.                  <p class="promote-banner__eyebrow">
3739.            Read our complete coverage          </p>
3740.        
3741.        <h2 class="promote-banner__title">Israel’s War on Gaza</h2>
3742.      </div>
3743.    </a>
3744.  </aside>
3745. <!-- END-BLOCK(promote-post)[4] -->
3746.  
3747.  
3748.  
3749. <p>The pier was dismantled after 20 days in use, following damage due to bad weather. Video evidence also <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/6/11/nuseirat-anatomy-of-israels-massacre-in-gaza">appeared</a> to show that the pier, intended for delivering aid, was used by the U.S. military to <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-support-israeli-forces-rescue-hostages-gaza/">assist</a> Israeli soldiers in the June <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/06/10/nuseirat-massacre-israel-hostage-rescue-gaza/">Nuseirat refugee camp massacre</a>, in which the Israeli military killed over 275 Palestinians, including dozens of children, and extracted four<a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/06/13/intercepted-israel-hostage-rescue-nuseirat-massacre/"> Israeli hostages</a>. (The U.S. denied that the pier was used for the operation.)</p>
3750.  
3751.  
3752.  
3753. <p>To deliver aid through the temporary pier, the MV Sagamore picked up food aid in Cyprus and delivered it to the Port of Ashdod; the goods were then transported by truck to the floating dock. Researchers found that, while the vessel was contracted to deliver aid, it was concurrently under contract with the U.S. to deliver ammunition, though the contracts did not specify&nbsp;the recipients.</p>
3754.  
3755.  
3756.  
3757. <p>While the researchers could not conclude that the ship carried aid and weapons to Israel during the same voyage, the report said, “A review of the federal DoD contract data and vessel travel data complicates the <a href="https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2024/05/29/a-timeline-of-the-us-built-gaza-pier-and-the-challenges-its-faced/">publicly-stated narrative</a> that the MV Sagamore was engaged in simple humanitarian aid transfers.”</p>
3758.  
3759.  
3760.  
3761. <p>Crosson, the Pentagon spokesperson, said the ship was not used for aid and weapons on the same journey.</p>
3762.  
3763.  
3764.  
3765. <p>&#8220;The vessel was originally in the East Mediterranean and offloaded cargo in Greece the second week of April,&#8221; Crosson said, &#8220;before leaving empty for Cypress to join the JLOTS mission&#8221; — a reference to the Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore program, the Gaza pier&#8217;s official name.</p>
3766.  
3767.  
3768.  
3769. <p>MV Sagamore’s journeys, as detailed in the report, included a voyage on which the ship loaded vast weights of materiel at the North Carolina military terminal, then stopped at a joint U.S.–Spain operated military port in Spain, before heading to Israel to unload the cargo.</p>
3770.  
3771.  
3772.  
3773. <p><strong>Update: December 17, 2024, 2:47 p.m. ET</strong><br><em>This story has been updated to include a statement from the Pentagon received after publication.</em></p>
3774. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/12/17/israel-weapons-spain-embargo-shipping/">U.S. Defied Spanish Embargo on Arms Bound for Israel by Making Enforcement More Difficult</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
3775. ]]></content:encoded>
3776.                                <wfw:commentRss>https://theintercept.com/2024/12/17/israel-weapons-spain-embargo-shipping/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
3777.                <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
3778.                <media:content url='https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-2189456229-e1734385791427.jpg?fit=4802%2C2400' width='4802' height='2400' /><post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">483642</post-id>
3779. <media:thumbnail url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/GettyImages-1644854535-e1730483141724.jpg" />
3780. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/GettyImages-1644854535-e1730483141724.jpg" medium="image" />
3781. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-2003071883-e1734915687994.jpg?w=1200" medium="image" />
3782. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-1133569077-e1735579307347.jpg?w=1200" medium="image" />
3783. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-669011264-e1735324549627.jpg?w=1200" medium="image" />
3784. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?fit=300%2C150" medium="image">
3785. <media:title type="html">DEIR AL-BALAH, GAZA - NOVEMBER 7: Civil defense teams and citizens continue search and rescue operations after an airstrike hits the building belonging to the Maslah family during the 32nd day of Israeli attacks in Deir Al-Balah, Gaza on November 7, 2023. (Photo by Ashraf Amra/Anadolu via Getty Images)</media:title>
3786. </media:content>
3787.            </item>
3788.        
3789.            <item>
3790.                <title><![CDATA[The Real Danger of ABC News Settling Its Lawsuit With Donald Trump]]></title>
3791.                <link>https://theintercept.com/2024/12/17/abc-news-trump-lawsuit-settlement/</link>
3792.                <comments>https://theintercept.com/2024/12/17/abc-news-trump-lawsuit-settlement/#respond</comments>
3793.                <pubDate>Tue, 17 Dec 2024 09:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
3794.                                    <dc:creator><![CDATA[Jonah Valdez]]></dc:creator>
3795.                                 <category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
3796.  
3797.                <guid isPermaLink="false">https://theintercept.com/?p=483659</guid>
3798.                                    <description><![CDATA[<p>The big news outlets used to say settlements would encourage more lawsuits. Trump is already targeting smaller newspapers.</p>
3799. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/12/17/abc-news-trump-lawsuit-settlement/">The Real Danger of ABC News Settling Its Lawsuit With Donald Trump</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
3800. ]]></description>
3801.                                        <content:encoded><![CDATA[
3802. <p><span class="has-underline">Over the weekend,</span> ABC News shocked the media establishment by agreeing to pay Donald Trump $15 million to settle a defamation lawsuit that the president-elect filed against the network and its anchor George Stephanopoulos. On Monday, Trump announced that he plans to target another news outlet, this time, a much smaller, local newspaper: the Des Moines Register in Iowa.</p>
3803.  
3804.  
3805.  
3806. <p>Trump said he plans to sue the daily newspaper, with a staff of around 50 journalists, and political pollster Ann Selzer. He attacked the Register and Selzer for publishing a poll several days before the election that showed Vice President Kamala Harris defeating Trump in Iowa by 3 percentage points. Trump would go on to win Iowa by 13 points and has since said the paper published a “fake” poll.</p>
3807.  
3808.  
3809.  
3810. <p>“I’m not doing this because I want to,” Trump said during a Monday press conference, <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-says-hell-sue-pollster-ann-selzer-for-wrong-prediction-in-the-des-moines-register-about-iowa/">announcing</a> the potential lawsuit. “I’m doing this because I feel I have an obligation to.”</p>
3811.  
3812.  
3813.  
3814. <!-- BLOCK(pullquote)[0](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22PULLQUOTE%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22SHORTCODE%22%2C%22optional%22%3Atrue%7D)(%7B%22pull%22%3A%22right%22%7D) --><blockquote class="stylized pull-right" data-shortcode-type="pullquote" data-pull="right"><!-- CONTENT(pullquote)[0] -->“When they settle, not only are they putting a target on their back, they’re putting a target on the backs of smaller outlets.&#8221;<!-- END-CONTENT(pullquote)[0] --></blockquote><!-- END-BLOCK(pullquote)[0] -->
3815.  
3816.  
3817.  
3818. <p>Legal attacks, such as defamation suits, are nothing new for news organizations. Lawsuits by the rich and powerful, however, are not as common as one might think — and that’s because they often don’t work.</p>
3819.  
3820.  
3821.  
3822. <p>Thanks to precedents that largely favor journalists in cases against the powerful, many outlets defend their coverage, fighting the case in court, even at the cost of the organization’s finances. With ABC News bowing out of its own legal fight against Trump, however, media and legal experts worry Trump and <a href="https://theintercept.com/2016/07/21/forget-trump-peter-thiel-is-so-dangerous-and-fascinating-you-have-to-watch-him-tonight/">other powerful individuals</a> are now emboldened to retaliate against smaller, more vulnerable news outlets for critical coverage. </p>
3823.  
3824.  
3825.  
3826.  
3827.  
3828.  
3829.  
3830. <p>“When they settle, not only are they putting a target on their back, they’re putting a target on the backs of smaller outlets that don’t have those kinds of legal resources,” said<a href="https://theintercept.com/staff/seth-stern/"> Seth Stern</a>, an attorney and director of advocacy at Freedom of the Press Foundation. “ABC will write a $15 million check tomorrow and can write another one in six months and they’ll be alright. Others don’t have that luxury. So it’s unfortunate that the message was sent that the media can be bullied.”</p>
3831.  
3832.  
3833.  
3834. <p>Unlike ABC, smaller publications and individual journalists are not always equipped with an in-house legal team. Even if allegations are eventually dismissed or if publications prevail in court, legal fees can prove costly. An operation like Disney-owned ABC News has more financial flexibility to fight such cases. Despite dips in advertising revenue going to TV news networks in recent years, ABC News still raked in nearly <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/fact-sheet/network-news/">$150 million</a> in ad revenue in 2022, according to the Pew Research Center. And legal experts also felt ABC News had a winnable case.&nbsp;</p>
3835.  
3836.  
3837.  
3838. <p>Trump’s main contention in the lawsuit, filed in March, was over Stephanopoulos mentioning on air that Trump had been found “liable for” raping writer E. Jean Carroll. A lawsuit instead found Trump <a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-rape-carroll-trial-fe68259a4b98bb3947d42af9ec83d7db">civilly liable </a>for sexual assault. Thanks to the First Amendment and other protections for  news organizations, ABC had a strong defense. </p>
3839.  
3840.  
3841.  
3842. <p>Stern himself defended a newspaper in Chicago against a similar accusation. In 2014, a Northwestern University professor accused of sexually assaulting a student took exception to a newspaper headline that described the allegations as “rape” and sued the paper. A judge threw out the lawsuit, ruling that the words “rape” and “sexual assault” are interchangeable, according to the <a href="https://www.chicagolawbulletin.com/archives/2014/07/21/defamation-suit-dismissed-7-21">Chicago Daily Law Bulletin</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
3843.  
3844.  
3845.  
3846. <p>Because the ABC case had many protections on its side, the decision to settle left room for speculation that the broadcaster and Disney were not owning up to a journalistic mistake, but may have instead wanted to get on “Trump’s good side ahead of Trump’s presidency,” said Adam Winkler, a professor in constitutional law at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law. </p>
3847.  
3848.  
3849.  
3850. <p>“This shows that some media outlets are willing to settle defamation cases if they think it’s better for their bottom line,” Winkler said. </p>
3851.  
3852.  
3853.  
3854. <p>Companies would usually fight such cases to protect their credibility and ability to report in the future, Winkler said. The ABC settlement incentivized others to make similar legal attacks.</p>
3855.  
3856.  
3857.  
3858. <p>He said, “Traditionally these companies don’t want to settle these kinds of cases precisely for fear of encouraging other people to sue them.&#8221;</p>
3859.  
3860.  
3861.  
3862.  
3863.  
3864.  
3865.  
3866. <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-trump-s-list-of-lawsuits">Trump’s List of Lawsuits</h2>
3867.  
3868.  
3869.  
3870. <p>Trump has been notoriously freewheeling with his suits against <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-lawsuit-bob-woodward-audiobook-violates-copyright/">journalists</a> and<a href="https://www.cjr.org/the_trump_reader/trump-threatens-new-york-times-penguin-random-house-critical-coverage.php"> media companies</a> of all stripes. In October, Trump filed a false advertising lawsuit <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-sues-cbs-news-60-minutes-interview/">against CBS News</a> alleging that the network doctored a “60 Minutes” segment to make Harris appear more favorable in her comments. The suit, filed in Texas, seeks $10 billion in damages. </p>
3871.  
3872.  
3873.  
3874. <p>In another lawsuit filed in 2022, Trump accused the Pulitzer Board of defamation for defending its decisions to award the New York Times and Washington Post for their reporting on the 2016 Trump campaign’s ties to Russia. The case is ongoing.</p>
3875.  
3876.  
3877.  
3878. <p>During his previous term, Trump has also shown a willingness to attack journalists in other ways, including using the Department of Justice to <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/12/11/trump-justice-department-spied-journalists-congress/">surveil</a> reporters.&nbsp;</p>
3879.  
3880.  
3881.  
3882. <!-- BLOCK(pullquote)[3](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22PULLQUOTE%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22SHORTCODE%22%2C%22optional%22%3Atrue%7D)(%7B%22pull%22%3A%22left%22%7D) --><blockquote class="stylized pull-left" data-shortcode-type="pullquote" data-pull="left"><!-- CONTENT(pullquote)[3] -->“These papers and news outlets are easy marks these days because everyone knows they’re struggling.”<!-- END-CONTENT(pullquote)[3] --></blockquote><!-- END-BLOCK(pullquote)[3] -->
3883.  
3884.  
3885.  
3886. <p>For media advocates like Stern, the concern of similar defamation lawsuits being filed are much larger than Trump. Even before the ABC settlement, he noted an increase in defamation suits that are intended to silence critics. He pointed to an increasingly hostile environment toward media outlets in which more swaths of the public wouldn’t push back on a wealthy individual suing an outlet. And then there’s the overall suffering economics of the news industry.&nbsp;</p>
3887.  
3888.  
3889.  
3890. <p>He’s hopeful a new <a href="https://www.rcfp.org/lawmakers-introduce-federal-anti-slapp-bill/">bipartisan bill</a> recently introduced in Congress can protect against some of the fallout, specifically for news publications and journalists.&nbsp;</p>
3891.  
3892.  
3893.  
3894. <p>“These papers and news outlets are easy marks these days because everyone knows they’re struggling,” Stern said. “The news industry, local news in particular, is in a pretty grim state financially. Millionaires years ago might have said, ‘Well, I’ve got millions, but so does the newspaper, I don’t really want to go to work with that.’”&nbsp;</p>
3895.  
3896.  
3897.  
3898. <p>“Now,” Stern said, “it’s a bit different — they’re making a different calculation. They’re saying, ‘I’ve got far more money to throw around then this struggling news outlet does, so let me take a swing at them and see what happens.’”</p>
3899. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/12/17/abc-news-trump-lawsuit-settlement/">The Real Danger of ABC News Settling Its Lawsuit With Donald Trump</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
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