Federal grand jury indicts Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, Democratic congresswoman from Florida
A federal grand jury has indicted Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, a Democratic congresswoman from Florida, on charges accusing her of stealing $5 million in federal disaster funds and using some of the money to aid her 2021 campaign, the justice department announced on Wednesday.
The Democrat is accused of stealing Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) overpayments that her family health care company had received through a federally funded Covid-19 vaccination staffing contract, prosecutors said. A portion of the money was then funneled to support her campaign through candidate contributions, prosecutors allege.
“Using disaster relief funds for self-enrichment is a particularly selfish, cynical crime,” the attorney general, Pam Bondi, said in a statement. “No one is above the law, least of all powerful people who rob taxpayers for personal gain. We will follow the facts in this case and deliver justice.”
Cherfilus-McCormick has made no statement about the charges on her social media accounts or congressional website, and her office did not immediately respond to a request from comment from The Associated Press.
Key events
Sam Levine
In a highly unusual opinion, a US federal judge berated his fellow judge with a series of personal attacks, and suggested that the billionaire George Soros had a role in an opinion striking down Texas’s congressional districts.
The 104-page dissent from US district judge Jerry Smith, a Reagan appointee, was issued a day after two of his colleagues on a three-judge panel said the new congressional map Texas adopted earlier this year was likely unlawful because it discriminated against non-white voters.
But much of Smith’s dissent attacked US district judge Jeffrey Brown, a Trump appointee and the opinion’s author, accusing him of deliberately issuing an opinion before Smith had had a chance to write his dissent.
“In my 37 years on the federal bench, this is the most outrageous conduct by a judge that I have ever encountered in a case in which I have been involved,” Smith wrote, going on to provide a play-by-play of his exchanges with Brown as he authored the majority opinion.
“If, however, there were a Nobel prize for fiction, Judge Brown’s opinion would be a prime candidate.”
In a staggering turn, Smith turned his attention to George Soros, Soros’s son Alex and the California governor, Gavin Newsom, none of whom were parties in the case. The name Soros appears 17 times in the opinion.
“The main winners from Judge Brown’s opinion are George Soros and Gavin Newsom. The obvious losers are the people of Texas and the rule of law,” Smith wrote.
Read the rest of Sam’s piece here:
House ethics committee opens investigation into Cory Mills, Republican congressman from Florida
The House ethics committee announced on Wednesday it has opened an investigation into numerous charges of misconduct against Cory Mills, a Republican congressman from Florida.
According to the ethics panel, it will be looking at allegations that he may have:
(1) failed to properly disclose required information on statements required to be filed with the House; (2) violated campaign finance laws and regulations in connection with his 2022 and 2024 election campaigns; (3) improperly solicited and/or received gifts, including in connection with privately sponsored officially-connected travel; (4) received special favors by virtue of his position; (5) engaged in misconduct with respect to allegations of sexual misconduct and/or dating violence; and/or (6) misused congressional resources or status.
Mills, now serving his second term, was ordered last month by a Florida judge to have no contact with his ex-girlfriend and to not go within 500 ft of her residence or where she works. Mills also is banned from even referring to her on social media. The judge in the case said he had concluded that the woman was either a victim of dating violence or in danger of becoming one.
Earlier on Wednesday, Nancy Mace, a South Carolina Republican, introduced a censure resolution against Mills to remove him from the House armed services and foreign affairs committees.
In May, the news site NOTUS reported that four years after Mills was awarded a Bronze Star for supposedly saving the lives of two soldiers during his service in Iraq in 2003, “five people who served with him – including two of the men the document says Mills saved in different incidents – say they have no recollection of Mills being at the incidents listed on the form”.
Writing on social media, Mace called the ethics committee’s announcement a “naked attempt to kill my resolution to censure” Mills.
“Common sense tells us we don’t need an investigative subcommittee to decide if Cory Mills, who a court found to be an immediate and present danger of committing dating violence against a woman, should serve on committees related to national security. Or the testimony of soldiers and the stolen valor,” Mace wrote.
White House tells reporters Trump’s work is done for the day, with no word on signing Epstein files act
Reporters waiting to find out if Donald Trump signed the Epstein Transparency Act, which passed the Senate on Wednesday and compels the justice department to release all of its files on Jeffrey Epstein, the late sex offender whom Trump socialized with for over a decade, were just informed that the White House “called a lid” for the day at 6.17pm ET, meaning that that president has no more scheduled events on Wednesday.
It remains to be seen if Trump has signed the bill in private, not signed it or decided to veto it.
All 200 Oregon national guard troops demobilized, Oregon’s governor says
All 200 members of the Oregon national guard called into service in September by Donald Trump, to combat the imaginary threat from anti-ICE protesters in Portland, have now received a verbal demobilization order from the Pentagon’s US Northern Command, Oregon’s governor, Tina Kotek, said in a statement on Wednesday.
The deployment was blocked by a Trump-appointed federal judge, Karin Immergut, who described Trump’s wild claim that Portland was “war ravaged” as “simply untethered to the facts.” It cost the state’s taxpayers $16m, according to the Oregon military department.
“I am relieved that all 200 Oregon citizen-soldiers are finally heading home. They spent nearly 50 days away from their families, friends and civilian jobs on an unnecessary mission that cost taxpayers millions of dollars,” Kotek said.
FBI intercepted calls and texts of current and former aides to Newsom – report
The FBI intercepted phone calls, texts and other electronic communications of people who work or have worked for the governor of California, Gavin Newsom, as part of a federal corruption investigation of his former chief of staff and two Democratic operatives, according to letters to the targets reviewed by the Los Angeles Times.
Dana Williamson, a former aide to Newson, was arrested last week on federal charges that she allegedly stole $225,000 from a dormant state campaign account of Xavier Becerra, the state’s former attorney general.
According to the 23-count indictment, Williamson conspired with Becerra’s former chief deputy in the California attorney general’s office and ex-chief of staff Sean McCluskie, along with lobbyist Greg Campbell, to bill Becerra’s dormant campaign account for bogus consulting services.
Williamson has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Prosecutors said the investigation began three years ago, during the Biden administration.
The legal notifications from the FBI, mandated by the 1968 Federal Wiretap Act, are sent out to people whose private communications have been captured on federal wiretaps after investigations.
A spokesperson for Newsom’s office said the governor did not receive a letter and the governor is not involved in the case against Williamson. Newsom was not mentioned in the indictments against the three aides.
As of 3.52pm ET, on a grey afternoon in Washington, we’ve yet to hear from the White House about whether the press will watch Donald Trump sign the bill directing the justice department to release unclassified documents related to Jeffrey Epstein.
We’ll make sure to update you if that changes.
Trump nominates new CFPB director, in move that allows Vought to continue dismantling agency
The president has nominated a new director of the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB), in a move that allows the current acting director, Russell Vought, who also serves as the director of the office of management and budget, to remain in his position and continue dismantling the agency.
Trump’s decision to nominate Stuart Levenbach, an official in the budget office, as the permanent director provides a crucial loophole that allows Vought to stay put, three weeks before he would otherwise have to step aside. Federal law says that an acting official can only serve for 210 days, unless the president nominates another person for the position.
Vought took over the CFPB earlier this year, and has consistently pushed for the watchdog’s elimination, including trying to fire most of its staff.
Today, Elizabeth Warren – the top Democrat on the Senate banking committee – said that Levenbach’s nomination was “nothing more than a front for Russ Vought to stay on as acting director indefinitely as he tries to illegally close down the agency”.
Dani Anguiano
Tom Steyer, the billionaire environmental activist who unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for president in 2020, will run for California governor, he announced on Wednesday.
The 68-year-old joins a crowded field of candidates seeking to replace Gavin Newsom, and in a statement released this week pledged to focus on the state’s intractable affordability crisis.
“Californians deserve a life they can afford. But the Californians who make this state run are being run over by the cost of living. We need to get back to basics. And that means making corporations pay their fair share again,” Steyer said.
With Newsom termed out from running again, several prominent Democrats have entered the race, including former congresswoman Katie Porter; Xavier Becerra, a former US cabinet member; Antonio Villaraigosa, a former state lawmaker who served as the LA mayor; and Betty Yee, who was the state controller from 2015 to 2023. Congressman Eric Swalwell is expected to announce plans to run.
Porter was considered the frontrunner until October when video emerged of her appearing frustrated with a journalist during an interview with a local news outlet and threatening to walk out. In the aftermath of the incident, Republican Chad Bianco, the Riverside county sheriff who is running for governor, took the lead in polling. Steve Hilton, a former David Cameron adviser and Fox News host, is also running as a Republican.
New poll shows that majority of voters would back a Democratic congressional candidate in 2026
A majority of nationally registered voters said they would back a Democratic congressional candidate if the 2026 midterms were held today, according to a new poll by NPR/PBS News/Marist University.
While 55% of respondents said they would support a Democrat, 41% would support the Republican, and 3% would back another candidate.
Notably, 39% of the Americans surveyed said that they blame Democrats for the record-breaking government shutdown. Trump received 34% of the responsibility, while 26% blame congressional Republicans.
Here’s a recap of the day so far
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The US justice department will release files from its investigation into Jeffrey Epstein within 30 days, Pam Bondi, the attorney general, has said, after Congress voted nearly unanimously to force Donald Trump’s administration to make them public. At a news conference today, Bondi confirmed that the justice department will release its Epstein-related material within 30 days, as required by legislation that passed the Republican-controlled House of Representatives and Senate yesterday. “We will continue to follow the law and encourage maximum transparency,” she said.
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However, the department may have to hold back material that could affect Trump-ordered investigations of Democratic figures who associated with Epstein. They could argue that releasing certain documents would be prejudicial.
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The US Bureau of Labor Statistics has said it will not release a full US jobs report for the month of October, following the country’s longest ever federal government shutdown. Instead, the available figures will be published with November’s data in mid-December, the BLS said. The October data is expected to show negative job growth after about 100,000 federal workers participated in the deferred-resignation program and formally left payrolls in late September during the shutdown.
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In federal court today, Lindsey Halligan, the president’s handpicked choice for interim US attorney for the eastern district of Virginia, and another prosecutor acknowledged that the entire grand jury never saw the final indictment against James Comey. Halligan charged the former FBI director with lying to Congress in September. But when the prosecution was questioned by Judge Michael Nachmanoff today, they admitted that the a new version of the indictment was not presented to the full panel after it rejected one of the charges.
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The US has signalled to Volodymyr Zelenskyy that Ukraine must accept a US-drafted framework to end Russia’s war that proposes Kyiv giving up territory and some weapons, two people familiar with the matter have told Reuters. The sources, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter, said the proposals included cutting the size of Ukraine’s armed forces, among other things. Washington wants Kyiv to accept the main points, the sources said.
Prosecutors admit that entire grand jury did not see final indictment against James Comey
In federal court today, Lindsey Halligan (the president’s handpicked choice for interim US attorney for the eastern district of Virginia) and another prosecutor acknowledged that the entire grand jury never saw the final indictment against James Comey.
Halligan charged the former FBI director with lying to Congress in September. But when the prosecution was probed by Judge Michael Nachmanoff today, they admitted that the a new version of the indictment was not presented to the full panel, after they rejected one of the charges. Instead, Halligan gave the grand jury’s foreperson an updated version to sign. “The foreperson and another grand juror was also present,” she confirmed to Nachmanoff.
“There is no indictment,” said Comey’s attorney Michael Dreeben, arguing that this error is grounds for dismissal.
Joseph Gedeon
A Republican attempt to censure Stacey Plaskett, a Democratic delegate, over her real-time texts with pedophile Jeffrey Epstein collapsed on the House floor on Tuesday night, prompting a confrontation on the chamber floor and accusations that party leaders had struck a deal to protect members on both sides facing ethics controversies.
The measure, which would have formally reprimanded Plaskett and removed her from the House intelligence committee over her text message exchanges with Epstein during a hearing, failed by a vote of 209 to 214.
Republicans Don Bacon of Nebraska, Lance Gooden of Texas and Dave Joyce of Ohio voted with all Democrats against the resolution, while three other Republicans voted present.
When newly released materials exposed Plaskett, a Democrat from the US Virgin Islands, for exchanging real-time messages with Epstein during a 2019 congressional hearing, all Democrats voted against her censure.
Then, immediately after the vote, Democrats withdrew a planned censure resolution against Cory Mills, a Florida Republican representative facing allegations of stolen valor, financial misconduct and domestic abuse. Mills has denied the accusations.
The sequence prompted Lauren Boebert, a representative of Colorado, to shout at fellow Republicans on the House floor, wagging her finger and at one point directly confronting Mills.
Anna Paulina Luna, a Republican representative from Florida, attempted to raise a parliamentary inquiry asking Mike Johnson, the House speaker, to “explain why leadership on both sides, both Democrat and Republican, are cutting back-end deals to cover up public corruption in the House of Representatives”.
“Get it, girl,” Boebert shouted in response.
