Accused Whitmer kidnap plotters lose bid to dismiss criminal case
DETROIT — A federal judge Tuesday refused to dismiss the indictment against five members of an alleged plot to kidnap and kill Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, calling defense claims of entrapment and government overreaching a "heavy burden to carry."
U.S. District Judge Robert Jonker filed his order less than two months before the five men are scheduled to stand trial on kidnapping conspiracy and weapons of mass destruction charges that could send them to federal prison for up to life.
Accused ringleader Adam Fox, 38, of Potterville and four others needed to show that evidence demonstrates FBI agents and informants induced them to commit crimes. The defendants also needed to show "a patently clear absence" of evidence that they were predisposed to commit the crimes, the judge wrote.
"Defendants fail to carry their burden because the evidence on both issues is decidedly disputed as it almost inevitably is at this stage of the case," Jonker wrote.
According to defense lawyers, FBI agents and federal prosecutors capitalized on discontent with Whitmer's handling of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, invented a conspiracy and entrapped the five charged in a case that has alleged violent extremism in Michigan.
The original 20-page defense motion, filed Christmas night by all five defense lawyers, asked Jonker to dismiss the conspiracy charge. Doing so would effectively dismantle the government's case and remaining charges, which are intertwined and based on the conspiracy charge, the lawyers wrote.
—The Detroit News
39 missing after suspected smuggling boat capsizes
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — On Saturday night, 40 people boarded a boat from Bimini, Bahamas, and set out on the water.
They encountered severe weather later that night, causing the boat to capsize. U.S. Coast Guard rescue crews are now searching for 39 people in the ocean as they near 72 hours in the water.
A man sitting atop the capsized boat about 45 miles east of the Fort Pierce Inlet was rescued by a good Samaritan, who reported it to the Coast Guard Miami Sector about 8:45 a.m. Tuesday.
The U.S. Coast Guard Southeast said in a tweet Tuesday afternoon that several cutters and aircraft are searching the water from Bimini to the Fort Pierce Inlet in St. Lucie County.
The survivor said he and 39 others left Bimini on Saturday night, and no one had a life jacket, the U.S. Coast Guard District 7 said in a statement posted to Twitter. Officials said they believe it was an attempt at human smuggling.
—South Florida Sun Sentinel
A living wage eludes 13% of congressional staffers, report says
WASHINGTON — About one in eight congressional staffers are not making a living wage, according to a new analysis of payroll data.
The problem is particularly acute for staff assistants, who are often the most junior staffers in congressional offices. According to Issue One, a “crosspartisan” group that advocates for transparency in politics, nearly 1,200 staffers in 2020 made less than the $42,610 that the Massachusetts Institute of Technology says is a living wage for an adult with no children in the nation’s capital.
Right around 13% of Washington, D.C.-based congressional aides came up short of that mark.
In the report, shared first with CQ Roll Call, Issue One analyzed LegiStorm data and found staff assistants making a median income short of $39,000 per year, with press assistants and legislative correspondents doing a little better at a median of about $44,000 per year for each.
The Issue One report proposes several steps to help address the issue, including building on the House Select Committee on Modernization’s existing effort to create voluntary pay bands for different job titles and job descriptions.
The key proposal is for a salary floor. Paying lower salaries than the living wage in a high-cost city like Washington has long made it difficult for junior staffers who do not have second or third jobs, or support from their families — limiting the socioeconomic diversity of congressional offices.
—CQ-Roll Call
Subvariant of omicron on the rise, WHO warns
The World Health Organization warned this week that a subvariant of omicron was on the rise.
The global health organization does not consider the sub-variant, designated BA.2, as a “variant of concern” but is monitoring the situation as cases increase around the world. The subvariant has been detected already in the U.S., but is believed to be rare.
The sub-variant has, however, become more prevalent in the U.K. and Denmark, where it has been dubbed “stealth omicron,” but does not appear to be deadlier than previous mutations. Early studies conducted in the U.K. indicate it may be more transmissible.
BA.2 has also been detected in more than 40 countries, including the Philippines, India, Sweden and Singapore.
—New York Daily News
