Good morning, and welcome to The Epoch Times News Brief for Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. I’m Bill Thomas, we have some pressing stories to share with you right now, and here’s what’s going on.
Startling details emerge about the alleged killer of a prominent health care executive, New York’s attorney general makes a crucial decision regarding a case involving President-elect Donald Trump, and the White House lays out a plan for President Joe Biden’s final days in office.
Also, a leading airplane manufacturer is back in action after addressing critical safety issues, and a former nominee for a Cabinet position in the upcoming Trump administration will soon be appearing in your living room every weeknight.
Details Emerge as Suspect in Killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Is Charged With Murder
Yesterday in a Pennsylvania courtroom, the suspect, 26-year-old Luigi Mangione, was denied bail, after prosecutors raised concerns about him being a flight risk.At that same hearing, Mangione’s attorney said that his client now wants another hearing to discuss his extradition to New York, and also regarding whether or not a second-degree murder charge from New York might be eligible for bail.
However, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office says it will seek a governor’s warrant to secure Mangione’s extradition, and city prosecutors have charged the suspect with five counts, including murder and criminal possession of a weapon.
As he arrived at the courthouse wearing an orange jumpsuit, Mangione shouted and struggled with officers.
However, according to CNN, Mangione said at his first hearing that he didn’t know where the money came from, that it might have been planted, and that the bag was simply waterproof.
So you know, when Mangione was taken into custody from a McDonald’s restaurant in Altoona earlier this week, he allegedly showed police officers a fake ID and lied about his name, which he said he “clearly shouldn’t have.”
You should know that when law enforcement searched the suspect’s backpack, they allegedly found a black 3D-printed pistol loaded with a Glock magazine, a silencer, several electronic devices, and a number of written documents that indicate Mangione has “ill will toward corporate America.”
He was initially charged in Pennsylvania with forgery, carrying firearms without a license, tampering with records of identification, carrying instruments of a crime, and providing false identification to law enforcement.
New York Attorney General Says She Won’t Drop Civil Fraud Case Against Trump
The office of New York Attorney General Letitia James is indicating that she will not drop her civil fraud case against Trump, his sons, and his company.Earlier this week, an official in James’s office sent a letter to Trump’s attorney rejecting the president-elect’s recent request to toss out the fraud case, saying that the request “presents no basis” for either vacating the final judgment or dismissing the action entirely.
The letter also argued that the “ordinary burdens of civil litigation” do not interfere with the president’s official duties in a way that violates the U.S. Constitution, and that the case brought by the attorney general’s office is civil, not criminal.
To refresh your memory, earlier this year, a New York judge ordered Trump to pay $454 million in a civil fraud judgment in the attorney general’s lawsuit against Trump and his company, the Trump Organization. In issuing his ruling, the judge said that he believes Trump defrauded banks, insurers, and investors by allegedly inflating both his net worth and the valuation of his properties.
In July, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that established presidents should be considered broadly immune from criminal prosecution for their official duties and actions.
However, the attorney general’s letter says that the Supreme Court ruling does not apply in this case. It says that the final judgment only concerns “business conduct” by people associated with the Trump Organization, and that it does not concern any conduct related to Trump’s first term as president.
So you know, Trump and his attorneys appealed the ruling last summer, and they say the decision would harm New York’s business climate. Additionally, some appeals court judges have also appeared skeptical of the earlier ruling.
White House Chief of Staff Outlines Biden’s Priorities for Final Days in Office
White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients is urging the Biden administration to “sprint to the finish line and get as much done as possible for the American people” before Jan. 20, 2025, when President-elect Donald Trump will be sworn in.In a memo to White House staff, Zients outlined four key priorities for the administration’s final stretch. They include advancing Biden’s Investing in America agenda; working with Congress on key legislation and judicial confirmations; making progress on foreign policy initiatives; and canceling more student debt.
The chief of staff mentioned plans to speed up funding for a number of projects, including several clean energy initiatives and the expansion of high-speed internet.
Zients says that Biden is also prioritizing judicial confirmations in his remaining days in office, and that at the president’s direction, “we are urging the Senate” to confirm as many nominees as possible before he leaves office.
He pointed out that the administration has already appointed a large number of diverse candidates, including record numbers of women of color and labor lawyers who have been confirmed as federal judges.
The chief of staff also says Biden will “keep working to lower costs for families” during his final stretch in office, including by rolling out more student debt cancellation for public service workers and other borrowers.
On the foreign policy front, the administration remains focused on both brokering a cease-fire in Gaza as well as bolstering Ukraine’s defense capabilities in its ongoing war with Russia.
Boeing Building New 737 Max Planes for First Time Since Strike
Boeing is resuming production of its bestselling plane, the 737 Max, for the first time since 33,000 workers began a seven-week strike that ended last month.The company says that construction of the plane has just resumed at its factory in Renton, Washington, and that manufacturing in its nearby Everett facility will begin soon.
You may recall that production and deliveries of the company’s Max jets—along with another plane, the 787 Dreamliner—have been stopped several times in recent years in order to fix manufacturing flaws.
However, Boeing says it has “methodically” gone through a process of both identifying and fixing any potential problems before ramping up production once again. Additionally, the company says that last month, it took orders to make 49 planes, but lost an order for 14 Max jets from a carrier based in the United Kingdom.
It’s important to point out that earlier this year, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) capped Boeing’s production of Max jets to 38 per month, after a door panel blew off a Max jet that was operated by Alaska Airlines.
Boeing hopes to convince the FAA that it has now remedied its quality and safety issues, and that the company is capable of raising its production number to 56 planes per month.
By the way, Boeing has been losing money for the last five years, and it needs the cash it’ll earn from delivering new planes to begin digging out of a deep financial hole.
Former Congressman Matt Gaetz Joins TV Network
Yesterday, One America News (OAN) announced that former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) will anchor his own nightly prime-time program on the television network.“The Matt Gaetz Show” will air at 9 p.m. Eastern time, Monday through Friday, and Gaetz will also co-host a weekly podcast with Dan Ball, another employee at the network.
Ball says that OAN admires his new partner’s authenticity, and that they’re confident he’ll really connect with the audience.
For his part, Gaetz says that he “could not be more excited” about the opportunity, and he promises that his team will provide excellent coverage of the upcoming Trump administration.
You may recall that the president-elect tapped Gaetz to be his nominee for attorney general, but the candidate withdrew from consideration after a number of senators expressed concerns about his nomination.
At that time, Gaetz said that he remained “fully committed to see that Donald J. Trump is the most successful President in history.”
He now says that he has both the sources and the insights to help him cover the Trump administration, and that his new show will have the “must-see information” that viewers will need to “know what’s going on with President Trump, with Congress,” and all around the country.
And now, it looks like our time is just about up for today, so we’re going to call it a wrap for the Wednesday edition of The Epoch Times News Brief.
Hey, just a reminder, Christmas is exactly two weeks from today, and we hope it’s the best Christmas you’ve ever experienced.
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And finally, as we do each and every day on this program, we wrap everything up with a very notable quote, and this one comes to us from musician Colin Hay, who said:
“In Scotland, beautiful as it is, it was always raining. Even when it wasn’t raining, it was about to rain, or had just rained. It’s a very angry sky.”
Hay is a musician, singer, songwriter, and actor. He was the lead vocalist for the band Men at Work back in the 1980s, and he’s still playing that guitar, belting out the songs, and he always puts on a great show.
For all of us here at The Epoch Times News Brief, I’m Bill Thomas.
The Epoch Times News Brief program is written each day by David Ross.
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Enjoy the remainder of your day, and we’ll see you right back here tomorrow for another edition of The Epoch Times News Brief.
For now, let’s all continue to watch out for one another, and have an absolutely superb day today. Bye for now.
