Politics

EAGAN, Minn. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Tim Walz on Friday rolled out a framework for fighting climate change that shows his proposed direction on the environment if he wins a second term, a sweeping plan that would slash carbon emissions and speed the switchover to electric vehicles.

Walz announced the package just a week before early voting starts. Control of the governor’s office and both houses of the divided Legislature are at stake in the election, and Walz has been battered by Republicans for tying Minnesota’s vehicle emissions standards to California’s tough rules. He said he unveiled his plan so close to the election only because it took a long time to complete, but also that campaign season is a good time to “foster conversations” about policy directions.

“This issue will transcend whoever’s elected. This issue is not going away. It needs to be addressed,” Walz said.

“The urgency is here,” he continued. “We’re moving forward on this. And I think it lets us set up a stark contrast.”

It was a change in direction for a campaign that has for weeks focused on Democrats energizing their base with warnings about threats from the GOP to abortion rights and Republican accusations of Democratic inaction on rising crime and inflation.

The 69-page plan details six broad goals: clean transportation; climate-smart natural and working lands; resilient communities; clean energy and efficient buildings; healthy lives and communities; and a clean economy. Each category contained long, detailed lists of proposals.

Katrina Kessler, commissioner of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, said the Walz administration can implement some of the proposals on its own, while others would require approval and funding from the next Legislature, and still others could be achieved through partnerships with local governments, businesses and farmers.

The plan includes a goal of increasing the share of electric cars on Minnesota roads to 20% by 2030 from the current 1%, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030, and achieving a zero net carbon emissions goal by 2050.

Minnesota is one of 17 states that have tied their vehicle emission standards to California’s tough rules rather than the looser federal regulations. Those states now face tough decisions about whether to follow California’s new, strictest-in-the-nation initiative to ban the sale of new gas-powered vehicles starting in 2035 or revert to the federal standards.

Kessler told reporters that the Walz administration currently has no plans to adopt the California rules, which would require a lengthy new rulemaking process. But she didn’t rule it out either, a commitment that Republican lawmakers and the Minnesota Automobile Dealers Association have been seeking.

“This is too important and too pricey of an issue to let the Governor keep Minnesotans in the dark.” GOP state Rep. Chris Swedzinski of Ghent, said in a statement.

Kessler said the administration is focused instead on its existing plans for expanding availability of electric vehicles under the state’s current “Clean Cars” rule and will decide on next steps later.

“It’s premature to try to ask us what are you going to do in three days when we haven’t decided what we’re going to do tomorrow,” Kessler said.

Walz made the announcement at a research center for Ecolab, a Fortune 500 company that provides cleaning, sanitizing and water and energy management solutions.

GOP gubernatorial candidate Scott Jensen criticized the governor’s plan for not once mentioning nuclear power as a potential source of low-carbon electricity.

“However, Governor Walz’s report does mention the words ‘equity’ or ‘equitable’ 40 times,” Jensen said in a statement “While equality is something we should all strive for, it’s clear that this is a political document meant to shore up his base before an election, rather than a serious solution for Minnesota’s energy problems.”

Jensen has proposed a slate of ideas to reduce energy costs, including scrapping the governor’s Clean Cars plan.

“It is really important for Minnesota to have a governor who understands the threat that climate change presents to Minnesota, for this generation and future generations,” said Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman, of Brooklyn Park. She added that Walz’s plan will build on the climate change provisions of President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act.

“Climate has always been on the forefront of what Democrats are fighting for,” Senate Minority Leader Melisa López Franzen, of Edina, said.

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(Reuters) – An independent arbiter, known as a special master, appointed to examine the contents of classified documents seized by the FBI from ex-President Donald Trump’s Florida estate last month will hold a first hearing on Tuesday, according to a court filing.

Lawyers should submit agenda items by close of business on Monday, Special Master Raymond Dearie- who was appointed this week- said in the document.

(Reporting by Costas Pitas and Jacqueline Thomsen; editing by Kanishka Singh)

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By Trevor Hunnicutt and Steve Holland

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Joe Biden met on Friday with families of two Americans being held by Russia, and personally reassured them he is working to gain freedom for the detainees.

Biden sat down in the Oval Office with Cherelle Griner, wife of women’s basketball star Brittney Griner, and Elizabeth Whelan, sister of former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan.

Biden conducted the separate meetings to assure the families that the detainees “are at front of mind,” said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

“We’re going to continue to do everything that we can, working tirelessly every day, to make sure that we get them , home,” she told reporters.

Biden “appreciated the opportunity to learn more about Brittney and Paul from those who love them most, and acknowledged that every minute they are being held is a minute too long,” Jean-Pierre said in a statement after the meetings.

National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan joined Biden at the meetings, the White House said.

Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medalist and Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) star, was sentenced to nine years in a Russian prison on drug charges on Aug. 4, a verdict that Biden called “unacceptable”.

The United States in late July said it has put forward a “substantial offer” to secure the release of the two Americans.

Last month, Russia’s foreign ministry said it was engaged in “quiet diplomacy” with the United States about a potential prisoner swap that could include Griner and Whelan.

But there have been few public developments on the issue over the past weeks.

Washington has offered to exchange Russian arms trafficker Viktor Bout for Griner and Whelan, sources familiar with the situation have told Reuters.

“A substantial offer is on the table and they should accept it,” said Jean-Pierre.

Whelan, who holds American, British, Canadian and Irish passports, was sentenced in 2020 to 16 years in jail after being convicted of spying. He denied the charge.

Griner, who had been prescribed medical cannabis in the United States to relieve pain from chronic injuries, was arrested at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport in February with vape cartridges containing hashish oil in her luggage.

Cannabis is illegal in Russia for both medicinal and recreational purposes.

(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt and Steve Holland; additional reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by David Gregorio and William Mallard)

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Justice Department on Friday appealed a court ruling in a case over the seizure of classified and other documents found in an FBI search of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence.

(Reporting by Jacqueline Thomsen; Editing by Tim Ahmann)

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By Timothy Gardner

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm met with the governors of six states in the U.S. Northeast on Thursday to talk about their concerns about soaring fuel costs heading into winter, the Department of Energy said.

The meeting came after governors, including Charles Baker of Massachusetts, Janet Mills of Maine and Ned Lamont of Connecticut, wrote file:///C:/Users/8003938/AppData/Local/Microsoft/Windows/INetCache/Content.Outlook/EAB21553/incoming%20-%20Baker%20Lamont%20Mills%20Sununu%20McKee%20and%20Scott.pdf Granholm in July about their concerns about prices for liquefied natural gas (LNG) and other fuels in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Participants in the meeting talked about ways to ensure adequate supplies of electricity and heating fuels in region which typically experiences tight energy markets in winter, a source at the DOE said.

The DOE has made sure contracts for LNG for industry and other consumers are in place. In addition, President Joe Biden’s infrastructure law last year included a $500 million boost in funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which helps U.S. consumers access heating fuel and weatherize their homes, and the administration has called on Congress for more funding.

“This meeting is an opportunity to talk about what has happened and how we can continue to stay really closely aligned to mitigate any risks on reliability and try to maintain affordability (of fuel) in the coming weeks and months,” the source said.

The New England governors said in the letter that the DOE should explore suspending the Jones Act, a law requiring goods moved between U.S. ports to be carried by U.S. staffed and flagged ships that are built domestically, for part or all of the upcoming winter.

They also urged the department to see how its heating oil and gasoline reserves in the Northeast, which hold a total of 2 million barrels of fuel, could be used this winter and to see about modernizing them given the region’s changing resource mix.

In response to a question about waiving the Jones Act, the source reiterated that LNG contracts have been ensured. “In the event that there is an issue where additional supplies of heating fuels are needed, we would work with the states as appropriate to see what tools are needed,” the source added.

Granholm late last month urged the seven major U.S. oil refiners including Exxon Mobil Corp and Valero Energy Corp to not increase fuel exports after energy companies sent record shipments abroad as domestic oil production rose and global fuel demand recovered.

Granholm “underscored the concern about the low levels of privately-held refined product inventories in key regions, including New England, and its ask of oil and gas companies to ensure they are building adequate inventories to handle disruptions from hurricanes or other events,” the DOE said in a statement about the meeting.  

(Reporting by Timothy GardnerEditing by Marguerita Choy)

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WASHINGTON (AP) — A Michigan man was sentenced on Friday to five years in federal prison for his role in the U.S. Capitol attack by a mob that disrupted Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral victory.

Chief Judge Beryl Howell also sentenced Anthony Robert Williams, 47, of Southgate, Michigan, to three years of supervised release after his prison term and ordered him to pay $2,000 in restitution and a $5,000 fine, according to a U.S. Justice Department news release.

In June, a jury convicted Williams of a felony count of obstructing the Jan. 6, 2021, joint session of Congress for certifying the Electoral College vote. Jurors also convicted him of four related misdemeanor offenses.

Prosecutors had recommended a prison sentence of five years and four months for Williams, who was arrested in Detroit in March 2021.

In a Facebook post three days after the riot, Williams called himself an “Operation Swamp Storm veteran” and referred to Jan. 6 as the “proudest day of my life.” He added that it “felt like the founding fathers were smiling down on us in that room, and I guarantee my dad and gramps, both vets, would be proud.”

“Williams’ participation in the riot was purposeful, extensive, enthusiastic, and remorseless,” prosecutors wrote in a court filing.

Outside the Capitol, Williams stole water bottles that police intended to use for decontaminating themselves from chemical spray, according to prosecutors. They said Williams entered the Capitol through the Senate Wing doors and joined other rioters in overwhelming police officers in the Crypt area.

“Williams advanced to the Rotunda where he celebrated with other rioters and smoked marijuana,” prosecutors wrote. “When the police tried to force Williams out of the Rotunda, he joined with other rioters and actively resisted and mocked the police.”

Williams’ attorneys requested a sentence of 15 months of incarceration.

“Mr. Williams has learned from his experience and from listening to the testimony at trial and during jury selection. He will not become involved in something like this ever again,” they wrote.

More than 870 people have been charged with federal crimes for the conduct on Jan. 6. More 260 of them have been sentenced, with roughly half of them receiving a term of imprisonment ranging from seven days to 10 years. Only five other Capitol riot defendants have been sentenced to a longer prison term than Williams.

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By Nate Raymond

(Reuters) – A U.S. appeals court on Friday appeared skeptical of claims that an admissions policy adopted for a highly selective Virginia public high school discriminates against Asian Americans in a closely watched challenge brought by a conservative parents group.

The Richmond-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments in the Fairfax County School Board’s appeal of a judge’s ruling that Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology’s admissions policy was discriminatory and violates the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment guarantee of equal protection under the law.

During the arguments, Erin Wilcox, a lawyer with the conservative Pacific Legal Foundation representing the group called Coalition for TJ, was questioned by the judges on how an admissions policy that facially does not consider race can be discriminatory.

The policy was adopted in 2020 by the school board following concerns about a lack of racial diversity at the school, which is known as “TJ” and often ranks among the best U.S. public high schools.

TJ is a magnet school located in Alexandria with a selective admissions policy that has had chronic underrepresentation of Black and Hispanic students. Aware of this, the board crafted a policy that eliminated a standardized test from TJ’s admissions process, capped how many students could come from each of the district’s middle schools and guaranteed seats for the top students from each of these schools.

“Racial discrimination by proxy is nothing new,” Wilcox told the three-judge 4th Circuit panel.

The case is another front in the U.S. legal battle over school admissions policies involving or affecting the racial composition of campuses.

On its face, the high school’s policy is race neutral, unlike race-conscious policies used by Harvard University and the University of North Carolina that the conservative-majority U.S. Supreme Court will review on Oct. 31. That litigation gives the high court a chance to end affirmative action policies used by many colleges and universities to increase racial diversity on campus.

While Black and Hispanic student admissions increased under TJ’s new policy, the proportion of Asian American students decreased in the first year from 73% to 54%, U.S. District Judge Claude Hilton noted in his February ruling that deemed the admissions rules improper “racial balancing.”

Judge Toby Heytens, an appointee of Democratic President Joe Biden, told Wilcox during Thursday’s arguments that under that logic “any attempt to increase representation of one group, in your view, by necessity discriminates against another.”

Don Verrilli, the former U.S. solicitor general representing the school board, said the “radical” argument advanced by the challengers boiled down to saying that any government effort to increase opportunities for underrepresented groups violates the Constitution.

“It makes no sense to conclude that promoting equal opportunities is a suspect purpose, because it would inappropriately freeze in place the status quo,” said Sydney Foster, a U.S. Justice Department lawyer arguing for the Biden administration.

The only member of the panel who appeared sympathetic to the challengers was Judge Allison Jones Rushing, who asked whether attempting to match regional racial demographics with a facially neutral policy was an “impermissible purpose.”

Rushing, an appointee of Republican former President Donald Trump, dissented in a 2-1 ruling 4th Circuit ruling in April granting the school board’s request to delay the implementation of Hilton’s decision while it appealed.

The Supreme Court in April declined an emergency request to block the policy, though three conservative justices dissented.

(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Will Dunham and Alexia Garamfalvi)

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By Jonathan Allen and Rich McKay

MARTHA’S VINEYARD, Mass. (Reuters) – Florida’s Republican governor on Friday defended his decision to fly dozens of migrants to the wealthy vacation island of Martha’s Vineyard from Texas, and said similar actions could follow as a political dispute over border security deepened in the run-up to U.S. elections in November.

DeSantis claimed credit for a pair of chartered flights on Wednesday that carried around 50 migrants to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, as part of a broader Republican effort to shift responsibility for border crossers to Democratic leaders.

At a news conference in Daytona Beach, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis blamed Democratic President Joe Biden for what he portrayed as a failure to stop migrants from crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, as a record 1.8 million have been arrested this fiscal year.

DeSantis said the Florida Legislature set aside $12 million to transport migrants out of the state and that his government would likely use the funds “to protect Florida.”

“There may be more flights, there may be buses,” he said to cheers and applause from backers in the crowd.

The state paid $615,000 to Vertol Systems Company Inc, an aviation business, on Sept. 8 as part of a “relocation program of unauthorized aliens,” Florida state data showed. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The flights to Martha’s Vineyard follow a busing effort by Texas Governor Greg Abbott, another Republican, that has sent more than 10,000 migrants to the Democrat-controlled cities of Washington, New York and Chicago since April. The Republican governor of Arizona also has sent more than 1,800 migrants to Washington.

Unlike those major cities, the island south of Boston is home to around 20,000 year-round residents and is known as a vacation spot for affluent liberals like former Democratic Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.

On Friday morning in Martha’s Vineyard, the migrants, a group of mostly Venezuelans including half a dozen children, boarded buses en route to a ferry to Cape Cod in transportation organized by Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker, a Republican. He said they would be housed temporarily at a Cape Cod military base.

The scene left some of the island residents who volunteered to shelter them in a church for two nights in tears. Locals had come together to donate money, toiletries and toys for the migrants. A local thrift shop donated clean clothes, restaurants took turns organizing meals and pro-bono lawyers flew in to help the migrants with paperwork and immigration cases.

“I want them to have a good life,” said Lisa Belcastro, who helped organize cots and supplies at St. Andrews Episcopal Church, which sits among expensive white-clapboard homes in Edgartown. “I want them to come to America and be embraced. They all want to work.”

‘LIKE CHATTEL’

DeSantis, who is running for reelection in November and is often mentioned as a possible presidential candidate for 2024, said his administration flew the migrants from Texas, and not his own state, to the island getaway because many of the migrants arriving in Florida come from Texas.

In addition to re-election bids by DeSantis and Abott, November’s midterm elections will determine whether the Democrats retain control of Congress.

Many migrants who cross into the United States via the Southwest border are immediately expelled to Mexico or other countries under a COVID-19 pandemic policy. But some nationalities, including Venezuelans, cannot be expelled because Mexico will not accept them and many seek to apply for U.S. asylum.

The White House has decried the Republican governors’ efforts, saying migrants were being used in a political stunt.

“These were children. They were moms. They were fleeing communism. And what did Governor DeSantis and Governor Abbott do to them? They used them as political pawns, treated them like chattel,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at a press briefing on Friday.

The legal basis for the Florida government to round up migrants in a different state remained unclear. U.S. government attorneys are exploring possible litigation around the governors’ efforts, a Biden administration official told Reuters.

The migrants flown to Martha’s Vineyard said they had recently been admitted into the United States on humanitarian parole after fleeing Venezuela, and had been staying at a shelter in San Antonio, Texas, when they were approached by a woman who identified herself as “Perla.”

The woman persuaded them to board the flights by misleading them into thinking they were heading to Boston and would be provided shelter and assistance finding work for three months, they said.

Many said they told the people who organized the flights they had appointments with immigration authorities they needed to attend in other cities, said Ivan Espinoza-Madrigal, the director of Lawyers for Civil Rights, a group in Boston assisting the migrants.

“The organizers of this scheme said ‘Don’t worry, that will be taken care of’” he said.

(Reporting by Jonathan Allen in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, and Rich McKay in Atlanta; Additional reporting by Ted Hesson and Trevor Hunnicutt in Washington and Kristina Cooke in San Francisco; Editing by Mica Rosenberg and Jonathan Oatis)

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ELKHART, Ind. (AP) — A staffer for U.S. Rep. Jackie Walorski was trying to pass a flat-bed truck on a northern Indiana highway last month when the SUV they were in crashed into an oncoming car, killing Walorski and three other people, police said Friday.

A witness traveling behind the SUV told investigators it sped up, crossed the centerline of the two-lane highway as it neared the truck and pulled into the path of the other car when the crash happened about 12:30 p.m. on Aug. 3, according to the Elkhart County Sheriff’s Office.

Airbag control module data from the SUV driven by Zachery Potts, 27, who was Walorski’s district director, showed it was going 77 mph at the time of the crash on a rural stretch of Indiana 19 near the town of Wakarusa, the office said.

“All of the evidence and information gathered is consistent with someone attempting to pass another vehicle on a two-lane roadway,” the office said in a statement.

Walorski, 58, was a Republican who had first been elected to represent northern Indiana’s 2nd Congressional District in 2012 and was seeking reelection this year to a sixth term.

The sheriff’s office released statements from the county coroner ruling the deaths of Walorski and the others as accidental from injuries suffered in the crash. Investigators blamed the crash on Potts for “driving left of center with a contributing factor of excessive speed.”

Also killed in the crash were Emma Thomson, 28, who was Walorski’s communications director, and Edith Schmucker, 56, of Nappanee, Indiana, who was driving the other vehicle.

The sheriff’s office said investigators found no signs of mechanical failures with either vehicle or any evidence of cellphone use by anyone in the vehicles when crash happened.

Republican officials selected Rudy Yakym, an executive with Elkhart distribution company Kem Krest and a longtime political ally of Walorski, to replace her on the November election ballot in the heavily GOP district. The district’s congressional seat will remain vacant until a special election on the November ballot to complete Walorski’s term through rest of this year.

Yakym will face Democrat Paul Steury, a science teacher from Goshen, and Libertarian William Henry.

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ATLANTA (AP) — Sensitive voting system passwords posted online. Copies of confidential voting software available for download. Ballot-counting machines inspected by people not supposed to have access.

The list of suspected security breaches at local election offices since the 2020 election keeps growing, with investigations underway in at least three states — Colorado, Georgia and Michigan. The stakes appeared to rise this week when the existence of a federal probe came to light involving a prominent loyalist to former President Donald Trump who has been promoting voting machine conspiracy theories across the country.

While much remains unknown about the investigations, one of the most pressing questions is what it all could mean for security of voting machines with the midterm elections less than two months away.

Election security experts say the breaches by themselves have not necessarily increased threats to the November voting. Election officials already assume hostile foreign governments might have the sensitive data, and so they take precautions to protect their voting systems.

The more immediate concern is the possibility that rogue election workers, including those sympathetic to lies about the 2020 presidential election, might use their access to election equipment and the knowledge gained through the breaches to launch an attack from within. That could be intended to gain an advantage for their desired candidate or party, or to introduce system problems that would sow further distrust in the election results.

In some of the suspected security breaches, authorities are investigating whether local officials provided unauthorized access to people who copied software and hard drive data, and in several cases shared it publicly.

After the Georgia breach, a group of election security experts said the unauthorized copying and sharing of election data from rural Coffee County presented “serious threats” to the November election. They urged the state election board to replace the touchscreen devices used throughout the state and use only hand-marked paper ballots.

Harri Hursti, a leading expert in voting security, said he is concerned about another use of the breached data. Access to the voting equipment data or software can be used to develop a realistic looking video in which someone claims to have manipulated a voting system, he said.

Such a fake video posted online or to social media on or after Election Day could create chaos for an election office and cause voters to challenge the accuracy of the results.

“If you have those rogue images, now you can start manufacturing false, compelling evidence — false evidence of wrongdoing that never happened,” Hursti said. “You can start creating very compelling imaginary evidence.”

There has been no evidence that voting machines have been manipulated, either during the 2020 election or in this year’s primaries. But conspiracy theories widely promoted among some conservatives have led to calls for replacing the machines with hand-marked and hand-counted ballots and raised concerns that they could be targeted by people working inside election offices or at polling places.

The suspected breaches appear to be orchestrated or encouraged by people who falsely claim the 2020 election was stolen from Trump. In several of the cases, employees of local election offices or election boards gave access to voting systems to people who were not authorized to have it. The incidents emerged into public view after the voting system passwords for Mesa County, Colorado, were posted online, prompting a local investigation and a successful effort to replace the county clerk from overseeing elections.

MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, who has organized or attended forums around the U.S. peddling conspiracy theories about voting machines, said this week that he had received a subpoena from a federal grand jury investigating the breach in Colorado and was ordered to hand over his cellphone to FBI agents who approached him at a fast-food restaurant in Minnesota.

“And they told me not to tell anybody,” Lindell said in a video afterward. “OK, I won’t. But I am.”

Lindell and others have been traveling the country over the past year, holding events where attendees are told that voting machines have been corrupted, that officials are “selected” rather than elected and that widespread fraud cost Trump the 2020 election.

In an interview with the Star Tribune of Minneapolis, Lindell said FBI agents questioned him about the Colorado breach and Dominion Voting Systems. The company provides voting equipment used in about 30 states and has had its machines targeted in the Colorado, Georgia and Michigan breaches.

When agents asked him why he flies between different states, Linden told them, “I’m going to attorney generals and politicians, and I’m trying to get them to get rid of these voting machines in our country.”

The Justice Department did not respond when asked for details about its investigation.

Dominion has sued Lindell and others, accusing them of defamation. In a statement this week, the company said it would not comment about ongoing investigations but said its systems are secure. It noted that no credible evidence has been provided to show that its machines “did anything other than count votes accurately and reliably in all states.”

The scope of the federal grand jury probe in Colorado isn’t known, but local authorities have charged Mesa County clerk Tina Peters in what they described as a “deceptive scheme which was designed to influence public servants, breach security protocols, exceed permissible access to voting equipment and set in motion the eventual distribution of confidential information to unauthorized people.”

Peters has pleaded not guilty and said she had the authority to investigate concerns that the voting equipment had been manipulated. She has appeared at numerous events with Lindell over the past year, including Lindell’s “cybersymposium” last August in which a digital copy of Mesa County’s election management system was distributed.

David Becker, a former U.S. Justice Department attorney who now leads the Center for Election Innovation & Research, notes the irony of those who raise alarms about voting equipment being involved in allegations of breaches of the same systems.

“The people who have been attacking the integrity of elections are destroying the actual integrity of elections,” he said.

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Associated Press writer Michael Balsamo contributed to this report.

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Follow the AP’s voting coverage at: https://apnews.com/hub/voting

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