“The purely technical obstacles to transhumanism I’d say are diminishing,” David Pearce, co-founder of the World Transhumanist Association (WTA), now known as Humanity+, has said. He’s right, to an extent. Using a mix of technologies, human beings are already overcoming their natural limits. Death may be a condition for all living beings now, but maybe not for the creatures we may become – or create.
(CNN)An appeals court hearing Tuesday on former President Donald Trump's claim to keep January 6 documents from his presidency private showed that Trump faces an uphill battle to keep the documents out of the hands of House investigators.
Jacob Chansley, the so-called QAnon shaman, on Tuesday filed an appeal seeking to void his guilty plea and 41-month prison sentence for his notorious role in the Jan 6 Capitol riot.
Chansley's appeal came a day after the federal judge who accepted his plea and who sentenced him in U.S. District Court in Washington signed off on his move to replace his defense attorney Albert Watkins with a new lawyer, John Pierce.
The appeal came nearly a week after Scott Fairlamb, the other Capitol riot defendant whom tied Chansley for getting the longest prison term in such a case, filed his own appeal of seeking to toss out his guilty plea and sentence after changing lawyers.
It is extremely difficult to get a guilty plea and subsequent sentence in federal court reversed on appeal, particularly because judges are careful to have defendants confirm that they understand that they are waiving their rights to appeal the plea or sentence in most cases.
However, a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel — essentially an argument that a defense lawyer badly botched the case — is one potential way to win a reversal of a guilty plea.
A legal nonprofit group founded by Chansley's new attorney last week said ineffective assistance of counsel may be a ground for Chansley to appeal his conviction. A legal filing Tuesday by Pierce did not lay out Chansley's grounds for his appeal, which will be heard by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
Pierce at one point had represented Kyle Rittenhouse, the Illinois man who earlier this month was acquitted at trial of criminal charges related to the fatal shooting of two men and the wounding of a third one during a civil disturbance on the streets of Kenosha, Wisconsin, last year. Rittenhouse fired Pierce months before the case went to trial.
Chansley became one of the symbols of the pro-Trump insurrection. He was shirtless and toting a spear, while wearing face paint and a fur hat with horns when he walked into the Capitol complex on Jan. 6 with hundreds of other supporters of former President Donald Trump, disrupting the ongoing confirmation by a joint session of Congress of Joe Biden's victory in the presidential election.
Chansley, 34, ran into the Senate chamber and up to the dais where then-Vice President Mike Pence minutes before was presiding over proceedings, to leave a note warning "it's only a matter of time, justice is coming," prosecutors have said.
The Phoenix man, who suffers from mental illness, and who had subscribed to the bogus "QAnon" conspiracy theory, pleaded guilty Sept. 3 to obstructing a proceeding of Congress, one of six criminal counts he faced when he was indicted.
Watkins, the defense lawyer, represented Chansley in the months leading up to that plea, and negotiated with prosecutors to have the other charges dropped.
Judge Royce Lamberth sentenced Chansley on Nov. 17 to 41 months in prison, the low end of what was recommended by federal sentencing guidelines, and 10 months fewer than the high end, which is what prosecutors had requested.
"I was wrong for entering the Capitol. I have no excuse. No excuse whatsoever," Chansley told Lamberth that day, when Watkins acted as his lawyer. "The behavior is indefensible."
"I am truly, truly repentant of my actions," he said.
Less than a week later, Pierce filed a notice in federal court indicating he was now representing Chansley with another lawyer, William Shipley.
Watkins in a statement issued on the heels of that move said he remained Chansley's lawyer.
But at a hearing Monday, Chansley told Lamberth that he had fired Watkins, and was replacing him with Pierce and Shipley.
"Mr. Chansley is an extremely smart man, very intelligent, if not savant-like, and I sincerely wish him all the best in his life," Watkins told NBC News after the hearing.
Japan has confirmed its first case of the new omicron coronavirus variant, a Namibian diplomat who recently arrived from his country
TOKYO -- Japan confirmed on Tuesday its first case of the new omicron coronavirus variant, a Namibian diplomat who recently arrived from his country, officials said.
Chief Cabinet Secretary said the patient, a man in his 30s, tested positive upon arrival at Narita airport on Sunday and was isolated and is being treated at a hospital.
Later Tuesday, Health Minister Shigeyuki Goto identified the patient as a diplomat from Namibia.
A genome analysis at the National Institute of Infectious Diseases confirmed Tuesday that he was infected with the new variant, which was first identified in South Africa.
The patient was initially showing no symptoms, but now has a fever, Goto said. Health ministry officials said he received his second Moderna vaccine in July.
A total of 70 other passengers, including the patient’s two family members on the same flight, were identified as having close contact, but they have all tested negative and are self-isolating while being monitored remotely by the Japanese health authorities. If they do not cooperate, their names will be released as a penalty, Goto said.
Ten crew members of the plane did not enter Japan and continued their flight to a next destination.
The 40 Tokyo residents identified as having close contact are being required to quarantine at facilities designated by the the capital's metropolitan government instead of their homes to ensure anti-virus measures, Governor Yuriko Koike told reporters.
Matsuno said the government will maintain strict border controls and will step up its capacity to conduct genome analyses of the new variant.
Japan announced on Monday that it will ban all foreign visitors beginning Tuesday as an emergency precaution against the variant, tentatively through the end of the year. The government is also requiring Japanese nationals and foreigners with resident permits to quarantine 14 days following entry.
The World Health Organization warned Monday that the global risk from the omicron variant is “very high” based on the early evidence, saying it could lead to surges with “severe consequences.”
Despite the lack of information about the new variant, Japan will start giving booster shots Wednesday as scheduled to those who have completed vaccination eight months ago or earlier, officials said.
The new variant scare comes just as Japan was expanding its business and social activity following the sharp decline of new daily cases. So far, Japan has only re-tightened its border control. Japan reported just 76 new cases nationwide for an accumulated total of 1.72 million cases and 18,351 deaths.
On Tuesday, Japan's Self Defense Force closed down its mass inoculation center, which was launched in late May to help bolster a nationwide vaccination drive. About 77% of the Japanese have been fully vaccinated.
———
Associated Press journalist Chisato Tanaka contributed to this report.
The emergence of the Omicron COVID variant is turbocharging the push for vaccine boosters, and experts say a booster may soon become a requirement to be considered "fully vaccinated."
Why it matters: Booster uptake has been sluggish so far, and adding a third shot to vaccine mandates would be highly controversial.
What they're saying: "It's now abundantly clear we all need the boosters," Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, told Axios.
Driving the news: The CDC strengthened its COVID booster recommendation Monday, saying all adults should get a booster dose. The agency previously said only that adults "may" get the shot.
The big picture: While experts said there is much we don't yet know about the variant, they believe it's unlikely that the virus will be able to totally evade the vaccines — which bolsters the booster case.
What to watch: "The other warning sign that will be watched for is, 'Is there a significant increase in the number of hospitalized vaccine recipients who have Omicron?'" Moore said.
On Monday, NYPD detectives lead Joseph Martinez out of the 49th Precinct in the Bronx after DNA implicated him in the 1999 murder of a 13-year-old girl from Co-op City.
Photo Adrian Childress
A Bronx family now has some closure as the NYPD solved a cold case Monday when a Westchester County man was arrested for the 1999 murder of a child in Co-op City.
On Monday, Joseph Martinez, of New Rochelle, was charged with murder for the alleged killing of Mineliz Soriano, 13, who was found in a bag inside a garbage dumpster more than 20 years ago.
According to the police, Martinez, 49, was arrested after new DNA evidence led NYPD detectives to link him to the murder of Soriano. Her body was found wrapped in a plastic bag and left in a dumpster behind a video store in Co-op City in February of 1999, where the case soon grew cold, a source close to the investigation told amNewYork Metro and the Bronx Times.
Martinez was charged Monday with with two counts of second-degree murder for the brutal killing and remained silent with his head down in shame as officers escorted him from the 49 Precinct on Eastchester Road in the northeast Bronx.
NYPD sources explained that the case remained cold until 2011 when the slaying reopened and credits the leap in DNA technology over the past 20 years as instrumental in bringing the alleged killer to justice.
Soriano was last seen by her family when she left her Bronx apartment on Feb. 24, 1999, to catch a bus to school, but she never arrived. Her body was found less than one week later.
The NYPD hopes this arrest will bring a small measure of closure and comfort for the family.
One of the most portable and convenient VR headsets on the market is getting even more travel friendly in this Cyber Monday deal, as it comes with a free carrying case. Perfect for people who want to take their VR headset around to their friends’ houses to show them the wonders of VR gaming or what a trip in space looks like in virtual reality.
Right now, you can buy the Oculus Quest 2 128GB model for $299 at Walmart and get a free carry case worth $49 when you buy. Sure, it’s not a discount on the MSRP, but it’s still a great freebie to go alongside your new headset, and the Oculus Quest 2 is already one of the cheapest and best VR headsets out there.
At $299, we suspect that the Oculus Quest 2 is already selling for as little as Facebook (sorry, Meta) can afford, so it's no big surprise that there haven't been any actual discounts on the headset in the Cyber Monday VR headset deals. The value proposition that this VR headset offers is already staggering, so getting a $50 freebie thrown in is just the icing on the cake as far as we’re concerned.
We're massive fans of the Quest 2, as you can see if you check out our Oculus Quest 2 review that we published earlier this year. Unlike most other VR headsets, the Quest 2 is a standalone device that doesn’t need to be hooked up to a gaming PC or laptop to work. This means it’s an easy entry point to VR that doesn’t come with a huge up-front cost. It also means you don’t need to deal with troublesome wires.
If you’re not interested in the carry case, there have been some other Oculus Quest 2 Cyber Monday deals out there. You can buy the Oculus Quest 2 at Amazon, Best Buy, or Newegg and get a $50 voucher for the respective storefront - that’s a pretty great deal that lets you at least choose what you want to buy with your $50 freebie.
Whichever deal you go for, we’d recommend snapping it up ASAP, as these deals are sure to be popular and there isn’t much of Cyber Monday left.
Be sure to check out Space.com's Cyber Monday Space deals, or our guide to the Cyber Monday Lego deals.
Article From & Read More ( Cyber Monday Oculus Quest 2 deal: Get a free carry case worth $50 when you buy at Walmart - Space.com )
Prosecutors began their case against Ghislaine Maxwell, the socialite who is charged with grooming underage girls for alleged sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein. Epstein died while in federal custody.
Article From & Read More ( Opening arguments begin in the Ghislaine Maxwell case - NPR )[unable to retrieve full-text content]
Children's Mental Health Case Management Available Otter Tail County Article From & Read More ( Children's Mental Health Case Management Available - Otter Tail County )
The prosecutors who brought the 2018 sexual assault case are appealing the decision in June by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court that overturned the jury verdict.
Prosecutors who say Bill Cosby belongs in prison are asking the United States Supreme Court to throw out an appellate court ruling earlier this year that overturned his 2018 conviction for sexual assault on due process grounds.
Mr. Cosby walked free from prison in June after serving less than three years of a three-to-10-year sentence.
His release followed a ruling by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court that Mr. Cosby’s rights had been violated when the Montgomery County District Attorney’s office pursued a criminal case against him despite what the appellate court found was a binding “non-prosecution agreement” given to him by a previous district attorney.
It was a dramatic reversal in one of the first high-profile criminal convictions of the #MeToo era.
The petition for review, filed last Wednesday by the district attorney’s office but only made public Monday, challenges that decision, arguing that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court erred in its ruling.
The Pennsylvania high court’s decision came in the case of Andrea Constand, a former Temple University employee to whom Mr. Cosby had become a mentor. He was arrested in 2015 on charges that he had drugged and sexually assaulted her at his home in a Philadelphia suburb 11 years earlier.
The arrest came at a time when dozens of other women had already come forward to accuse Mr. Cosby of sexual assault or misconduct.
A spokesman for Mr. Cosby, Andrew Wyatt, released a statement that referred to the decision to seek Supreme Court review as “a pathetic last-ditch effort.”
“In short, the Montgomery County D.A. asks the United States Supreme Court to throw the Constitution out the window, as it did, to satisfy the #metoo mob,” the statement said. “There is no merit to the DA’s request which centers on the unique facts of the Cosby case and has no impact on important federal questions of law.”
The accusations against Mr. Cosby, and his eventual conviction on three charges of aggravated indecent assault, painted a disturbing portrait of a man who for decades had brightened America’s living rooms as a beloved entertainer and father figure.
Mr. Cosby has consistently denied the accusations that he was a sexual predator, suggesting that the encounter with Ms. Constand, and those with other accusers, had been completely consensual.
It is by no means certain that the U.S. Supreme Court will agree to hear the case. The court denies the vast majority of petitions seeking review.
The justices only consider cases that involve federal law, and they rarely hear cases merely to correct erroneous rulings. Instead, they generally agree to hear cases in which lower courts have reached differing conclusions or ones involving legal issues of great public importance.
Some legal experts had not expected prosecutors to file an appeal to the Supreme Court, seeing the case as a matter of state rather than federal law, and one that involves a specific set of circumstances that do not involve far-reaching constitutional issues.
For the appeal to succeed, the justices would have to decide that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s decision relied on and misinterpreted a federal law or constitutional provision, experts said.
“The district attorney’s office really strains in its petition to make this into a precedent-setting issue — it’s not,” said Shan Wu, a former federal prosecutor in Washington, D.C., who has followed the case. “The unique facts make it highly unlikely that it would ever arise again.”
Mr. Cosby’s lawyers have 30 days to respond, though they may seek an extension.
Mr. Cosby’s appeal to Pennsylvania’s highest court had argued, among other issues, that the entertainer had relied on a previous prosecutor’s statement in 2005 that Mr. Cosby would not face charges in the case.
The district attorney at the time, Bruce L. Castor Jr., had said he made the non-prosecution agreement verbally to Mr. Cosby’s lawyer, after determining there was insufficient evidence to win a prosecution on sex assault charges. He has pointed to a news release he issued announcing the end of the criminal investigation as evidence that an immunity agreement existed. He has subsequently testified that the agreement was intended to compel Mr. Cosby to testify in any civil suit that Ms. Constand might file by removing Mr. Cosby’s ability to exercise his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
Shortly after the criminal investigation was dropped, Ms. Constand did sue Mr. Cosby, and settled in 2006 for $3.38 million.
During testimony in the civil suit, Mr. Cosby acknowledged giving quaaludes to women he was pursuing for sex — evidence that played a key part in the criminal prosecution later brought by Mr. Castor’s successors.
As the criminal case proceeded, the trial court — and an intermediate appeals court — found that no formal non-prosecution agreement ever existed.
But in its 6-1 ruling, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court found that Mr. Cosby had, in fact, relied on Mr. Castor’s assurances that he wouldn’t be prosecuted and that the subsequent decision by a successor to charge Mr. Cosby violated the entertainer’s due process rights. The court barred a retrial, though two of the judges who voted in the majority dissented on that remedy.
“Petitioning to ask the High Court for review was the right thing to do,” Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele said Monday in a statement, “because of the precedent set in this case by the majority opinion of Pennsylvania Supreme Court that prosecutors’ statements in press releases now seemingly create immunity.”
The district attorney’s office referenced an argument put forward by one of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices, Kevin Dougherty, who said in an opinion that no district attorney had the “power to impose on their successors — in perpetuity, no less — the kind of non-prosecution agreement that Castor sought to convey to Cosby.”
In their 33-page filing, the prosecutors also tried to counter the argument that Mr. Cosby had a right to rely on what Mr. Castor said was a promise not to prosecute him further, asserting that “a reasonably prudent person would have been reckless to rely on a supposed guarantee that the prosecutor did not clearly convey and may not have had the power to grant.”
Since being freed, Mr. Cosby, 84, has portrayed the decision as a full exoneration. The chief justice of the Pennsylvania high court, Max Baer, has said, though, that the court’s ruling did not find Mr. Cosby innocent, only unfairly prosecuted.
FRISCO, Texas -- Defensive coordinator Dan Quinn will serve as the Dallas Cowboys' interim coach Thursday against the New Orleans Saints with head coach Mike McCarthy missing the game because he has tested positive for COVID-19.
Quinn served as Atlanta's head coach for parts of six seasons from 2015-20, posting a 43-42 regular-season record and taking his team to Super Bowl LI. He was fired last season and has rejuvenated a Dallas defense that was coming off a season in which it allowed a franchise record for points.
Quinn will ultimately make the final decisions, but offensive coordinator Kellen Moore and special teams coordinator John Fassel also will be heavily involved.
"I think understandably with Dan's experience, the challenge flag, the timeouts, the referee's meeting, there's just a lot of little things that go into it," McCarthy said. "You could have someone do it on a weekly basis but we'll spread that around. Kellen just needs to focus on the offense and calling the game and staying with that. John is also involved in some game management like most special teams coaches are. We have the network up top so that's something that won't change. So the biggest change is having Dan down on the field and just make sure he's getting the information he needs to make sound decisions."
McCarthy was placed on COVID protocols Monday but continued to direct the game preparation and was involved in all of the meetings virtually. He will conduct his normal pregame talk to the team Thursday morning.
McCarthy, who said his only symptom so far has been a "scratchy throat," doesn't remember ever missing a practice during his tenure in the NFL. A stomach issue kept him from coaching in the Pro Bowl in 2016. He said he has not thought about what it would be like watching his team play on television.
"I just want to make sure the team's prepared," McCarthy said. "That's the way I've always done it: there's a preparation phase and a performance phase. The preparation phase, we've got to complete it because it obviously gives us the best chance on Thursday night. Obviously I think it's going to be tough sitting there and watching your team compete. It's difficult. Obviously I had a little bit of that experience there at the end of 2018 (after his firing in Green Bay), and it was brutal to watch."
McCarthy informed his players at the end of the virtual team meeting Monday morning.
"The message was to continue on, just continue on," quarterback Dak Prescott said. "The coaches have done a great job putting us in a routine and giving us a foundation. And we got great leaders and great coaches and coordinators that are going to do a great job in stepping up. We are going to miss Coach but his health is first and foremost important. We will fight and get everything done that we need to."
The change will move Quinn from the booth to the sideline. He called defenses for two years in Atlanta as head coach.
"The most important thing decision-making and defensively is that he gets the proper information in the right time frame, which is also probably more critical than the right information," McCarthy said. "The guys in the box are going to have to pick it up a little bit up there."
The Cowboys will continue with virtual meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday before flying to New Orleans. McCarthy said the Cowboys will continue testing through gameday. So far, right tackle Terence Steele is the only player not active this week because of COVID.
In addition to McCarthy, the Cowboys will also be without offensive line coach Joe Philbin, assistant offensive line coach Jeff Blasko, strength and conditioning coordinator Harold Nash and assistant strength and conditioning coach Kendall Smith against the Saints.
Running backs coach Skip Peete missed the Nov. 14 game against the Atlanta Falcons because of COVID.
With the high number of cases among the coaches, McCarthy moved into the Omni Hotel next to The Star in order to sequester himself and keep his family safe. He said members of his family have also tested positive.
In his message to the players, McCarthy said he "just stressed it from a personal perspective that this is real. This threat is very real and please do everything you can to keep yourself and your family safe ... I told them, 'Hey, if it can get me it can get anybody.' I'd like to think that I was super cautious and careful. I just think it shows you the danger of the pandemic and the virus."
Wide receiver Amari Cooper was back in the building after he missed the last two games on the reserve/COVID-19 list but did not practice.
After minimal COVID issues last season, the Cowboys have been hit much harder by it this season. Pro Bowl right guard Zack Martin missed the season opener on the COVID list. Linebacker Keanu Neal and Cooper, who were the only two unvaccinated players on the 53-man roster, missed two games apiece on the COVID list. Defensive end Randy Gregory, kicker Greg Zuerlein, guard Brandon Knight and defensive end Bradlee Anae also missed games on the list.
McCarthy is the fourth head coach to miss a game while in COVID protocols since last season. Kevin Stefanski missed the Cleveland Browns' playoff game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Kliff Kingsbury of the Arizona Cardinals and Matt Nagy of the Chicago Bears each missed a game this season.
Article From & Read More ( Dallas Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy tests positive for COVID-19, DC Dan Quinn to serve as interim - ESPN )
Scotland reported six cases of the new Omicron variant on Monday, and contact tracing is underway, said Humza Yousaf, the Scottish health secretary.
“We have already taken steps and are aligning with border restrictions being introduced by the U.K. government which will require fully vaccinated arrivals to take a P.C.R. test within two days of arrival” and self-quarantine until a negative test comes back, he said in a statement. He added that it would also be “adopting the expanded red list of countries identified by the U.K. government.”
The news came as a member of Britain’s vaccine health advisory panel said it was looking at widening the country’s booster program, and after British health officials on Sunday reported a third case of Omicron in an individual who had spent time in central London.
Britain’s new travel rules for international arrivals, as well as mask regulations in shops and on public transportation in England, are expected to go into effect on Tuesday.
Despite the new measures, the British health secretary, Sajid Javid, rejected calls for tougher restrictions on daily life on Sunday.
The government has stopped short of ordering people to work from home where possible, introducing vaccine passports in England or requiring masks in restaurants. “This is about taking proportionate action against the risks we face,” Mr. Javid told the BBC on Sunday, speaking before the third case was confirmed.
The health security agency said the third case involved an individual who had spent time in the Westminster section of London, but who was no longer in the country, and that contact tracing was being performed. It said the case was linked to travel in southern Africa.
Dr. Jenny Harries, chief executive of the agency, said it was “very likely” that there would be more cases in the coming days.
Britain began suspending flights from six southern African nations on Friday, but some travelers had already arrived in London by the time the measure took effect.
Mr. Javid acknowledged that passengers landing on Friday were not tested at the airport and were able to leave as usual, including by public transport. He said that all travelers who had arrived from southern Africa within the past 10 days were being contacted and asked to take tests.
“We could not have acted more swiftly,” he said.
Mr. Javid also urged Britons to quickly get booster shots on Sunday and said he expected advice “imminently” from scientific experts on expanding the scope of the country’s vaccine program, especially with regard to boosters.
Such measures would, he added, help to “protect the progress we have made so we can continue to look forward to Christmas with family and friends.”
The Justice Department on Sunday night accused Steve Bannon’s defense team of lodging “frivolous” legal complaints in order to cause a public dust-up with prosecutors as he battles criminal charges for attempting to thwart the House’s Jan. 6 select committee.
In a 10-page filing, prosecutors said an attorney for Bannon, Evan Corcoran, had repeatedly rebuffed their efforts to negotiate an evidence-sharing agreement, a standard part of the process in criminal trials. Instead, the prosecution said, Bannon’s defense used a public court filing Wednesday — and a statement to the Washington Post — to complain about the case.
“The defense’s misleading claims, failure to confer, unexplained wholesale opposition, and extrajudicial statements make clear the defense’s real purpose: to abuse criminal discovery to try this case in the media rather than in court,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Vaughn wrote.
DOJ’s salvo comes as Bannon is attempting to dramatically slow the criminal proceedings against him. Bannon used a court appearance earlier this month to foreshadow efforts to delay the case for months. Judge Carl Nichols pushed back on that effort and set a Dec. 7 hearing to revisit the schedule.
Bannon’s case is a crucial marker for congressional investigators seeking to force recalcitrant witnesses to the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol to come before them and provide documents and testimony. The Justice Department brought charges against Bannon after a referral from the panel in October, a decision that lawmakers say has already helped coax other resistant witnesses to engage in talks.
But Bannon has made clear he intends to use his court proceedings as a forum to cause upheaval for Democratic leaders and DOJ.
“I’m telling you right now, this is going to be the misdemeanor from hell for Merrick Garland, Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden,” Bannon told journalists just outside a courthouse entrance after his initial court hearing earlier this month.
“Joe Biden ordered Merrick Garland to prosecute me from the White House lawn when he got off Marine One, and we’re going to go on the offense. We’re tired of playing defense. We’re going to go on the offense on this,” Bannon declared.
Prosecutors pointed to Bannon’s combative statements as evidence that he intends to create a public spectacle around his trial rather than defend himself on the merits.
“The misleading and frivolous nature of the defendant’s claims of prejudice demonstrate that they are just a cover for the real reason the defendant opposes a protective order in this case and which he and his counsel have expressed in their extrajudicial statements — that the defendant wishes to have trial through the press,” Vaughn wrote.
At the heart of the issue is Bannon’s claim that the DOJ is trying to prevent him from publicly disclosing or discussing documents that are already part of the public record — namely letters between his attorneys and the Jan. 6 committee explaining his refusal to testify.
“Mr. Bannon is entitled to a public trial,” Corcoran wrote in a Wednesday filing. “One aspect of a fair trial is ensuring public access to judicial proceedings and records.”
But DOJ said that Bannon’s attorney never engaged with them to discuss modifying the agreement to permit public disclosure of documents that had already been in the public domain — an accommodation they said they would have readily accepted.
Other files, Vaughn added, should remain secret pending trial. Those documents include “grand jury testimony and exhibits, law enforcement reports of witness interviews, and internal Select Committee communications between committee staff, none of whom regularly carry out their communications or duties in a public forum.”
The summary is a window into the evidence prosecutors intend to deploy against Bannon as they seek a conviction on a charge that has rarely held up over the last 50 years.
“Specific harms will result if circulation of these materials is not limited to the individuals identified in the proposed protective order,” Vaughn wrote.
And DOJ added that permitting Bannon to get his way with the evidence in the case — such as publicizing witness statements — would amount to witness-tampering because it would subject witnesses to public attacks before they testify and also let other witnesses know what testimony to expect.
The federal District Court in Washington has rules limiting public statements by lawyers about criminal cases and allowing judges to impose gag orders on attorneys and defendants in “widely publicized or sensational cases.”
During a court hearing earlier this month following Bannon’s initial broadside toward the prosecution, the judge made no mention of the fiery remarks.
Australian authorities have announced a third case of the omicron COVID-19 variant as government leaders reconsider plans to relax border restrictions this week
CANBERRA, Australia -- Australian authorities announced on Monday a third case of the omicron COVID-19 variant as government leaders reconsidered plans to relax border restrictions this week.
A South African man in his 30s who flew from Johannesburg to the northern Australian city of Darwin last Thursday tested positive for the new variant at Australia’s most secure quarantine facility at Howard Springs, Northern Territory Health Minister Natasha Fyles said.
New South Wales state authorities reported on Sunday that two travelers from South Africa to Sydney had become Australia’s first omicron cases. Both were fully vaccinated, showed no symptoms and were in quarantine in Sydney.
New South Wales Premier Dominic Perrottet said Monday there could be a third omicron case in Australia’s most populous state.
In the 24 hours since Sunday, 141 passengers on five flights arrived from the nine countries affected by the omicron variant, officials said. All the travelers were in quarantine.
Senior federal government ministers are meeting Monday to consider the national response, including whether to alter plans to relax border restrictions starting Wednesday.
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said Australian authorities “will not hesitate to take additional steps if the medical evidence is that more” action is required.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced last week that starting Wednesday, vaccinated students, skilled workers and travelers on working vacations will be allowed to land at Sydney and Melbourne airports without quarantining.
Vaccinated citizens of Japan and South Korea with certain Australian visas would also be allowed in without quarantining, as well as people on humanitarian visas, the government said last week.
Morrison on Monday urged a calm response to omicron, which the World Health Organization has designated a variant of concern.
“There’s no evidence to suggest that this leads to any more severe disease. If anything, it’s suggesting a lesser form of disease, particularly for those who are vaccinated,” Morrison told Nine Network television.
“Case numbers of themselves are not the issue. It’s about whether people are getting a worse illness or it’s going to put stress on your hospital system,” Morrison said.
New South Wales and Victoria, Australia’s second-most populous state, as well as the national capital Canberra have introduced a blanket 72-hour quarantine requirement for all international arrivals.
Hunt announced on Saturday that because of the concerns about omicron, non-Australian citizens and permanent residents who have been to South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, the Seychelles, Malawi, and Mozambique within the past 14 days will not be able to enter Australia.
Australians will be allowed in but must quarantine for 14 days.
As the days shorten and the dark hours stretch, every impulse in me is to slow down, get under a blanket and stay there till spring. In a...
