Whistle-blower Dr. Rick Bright resigned from NIH today, NBC News has confirmed. His attorneys said he "can no longer sit idly by and work for an administration that ignores scientific expertise, overrules public health guidance and disrespects career scientists..."
I witnessed a dramatic moment a few minutes ago in the hallway outside courtroom: Hunter Biden’s wife Melissa Cohen-Biden approached former Trump aide Garett Ziegler and said “you have no right to be here you Nazi piece of shit!”
BREAKING: Stormy Daniels has filed a lawsuit that says her old attorney, Keith Davidson, colluded with Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, with the president's knowledge.
Epstein victim Jennifer Araoz responds: “I am angry Jeffrey Epstein won’t have to face his survivors of his abuse in court. We have to live with the scars of his actions for the rest of our lives, while he will never face the consequences of the crimes he committed...”
NEW TODAY: A senior official at Novartis told
@NBCNews
that Cohen reached out shortly after Trump's election "promising access" to the new administration. Cohen and his attorney did not respond to a request for comment.
Are you a government scientist or public health worker that feels that your expertise is being ignored / public health efforts interfered with? I'm looking to speak to you, happy to speak confidentially: sarah.fitzpatrick
@nbcuni
.com
Araoz continues: “the pain and trauma he caused so many people. Epstein is gone, but justice must still be served. I hope the authorities will pursue and prosecute his accomplices and enablers, and ensure redress for his victims.”
NEW: The Hunter Biden transcript underscores the disconnect between what Republicans have repeatedly alleged are criminal actions by Hunter Biden and his father and the documentation and testimony they have made public as part of their impeachment inquiry.
Multiple people briefed on the matter say that the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York's public corruption unit is prosecuting the Epstein case. Reported with
@Tom_Winter
@jonathan4ny
Ziegler did not respond to her, but told me after that “for the record I’m not a Nazi I’m a believer in the US constitution. I haven’t said one thing to them.”
NEW: A federal judge has ordered documents in the Virginia Roberts Giuffre versus Ghislaine Maxwell case unsealed and to be made public within a week. They include portions of Maxwells 2016 depositions and 2015 correspondence between Maxwell and Epstein.
NEW: W/
@PeteWilliamsNBC
DOJ has named Kevin Chambers to be the chief prosecutor for Covid-19 fraud. He told NBC News he's setting up teams to analyze “an almost shocking amount of data” that could bring new charges.
UPDATED: Cohen contacted the drug giant Novartis after the 2016 election "promising access" to the new administration. Special Counsel Robert Mueller later requested information from the company about the offer, a senior official inside Novartis told
@NBCNews
New: A federal judge in Miami ruled that federal prosecutors — including current Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta — broke federal law when they signed a plea agreement with politically-connected financier Jeffrey Epstein without notifying victims.
Lev Parnas spoke exclusively to
@NBCNightlyNews
after testifying to Congress. He told
@ryanobles
that he has received death threats, and argued that the impeachment inquiry hearings are "pushing the same Russian narrative and propaganda."
@RebeccaRKaplan
I witnessed dramatic moment in the hallway outside the courtroom a few min ago: Hunter Biden’s wife Melissa Cohen-Biden approached former Trump aide Garett Ziegler and said “you have no right to be here you Nazi piece of shit!”
Of note from
@Tom_Winter
: This was a court authorized search, meaning there was sufficient probable cause for a federal judge to agree that a search involving the President’s personal attorney could occur without any advance notice to Cohen.
BREAKING: Abby Grossberg, who sued Fox News last week alleging she was pressured into giving misleading testimony about Fox's election fraud coverage, has filed new allegations about coercive coaching by Fox lawyers.
This is significant: Michael Cohen says he’s been asked not to discuss the most recent conversation he had with Trump because it is currently under investigation by SDNY.
Also of note from SDNY today: “Epstein couldn’t have done what he did without the assistance of others...I can assure you that our investigation is moving forward."
NEW: Hunter Biden’s legal team sent letters to Rudy Giuliani, Roger Stone, Steve Bannon and 11 others on Wednesday, asking them to preserve evidence for future lawsuits.
Chambers told NBC News “if folks who have stolen from the program think for a second that our work is done or they’ve gotten away with it, they’ve got another thing coming.”
New: Stormy Daniels will meet with federal prosecutors in Manhattan on Monday as part of the ongoing criminal investigation into the President's personal attorney, Michael Cohen, multiple people familiar with the matter tell NBC News.
NBC NEWS: Michael Cohen is exploring a possible plea deal with federal prosecutors in Manhattan in connection with tax fraud and banking related matters. No deal has been reached but a deal could come together today, sources say.
By:
@S_Fitzpatrick
@jonathan4ny
&
@Tom_Winter
BREAKING / NBC NEWS: Four sources with direct knowledge of the matter say that Jeffrey Epstein was taken into custody today in New York after arriving from an overseas flight.
He faces federal sex trafficking charges.
Reported w/
@jonathan4ny
and
@Tom_Winter
NEW: Reps Comer, Jordan and Smith have asked the head of the National Archives, Colleen Shogan, to testify publicly about why the Archives has not turned over information they've requested dating back to Joe Biden's time as Vice President.
NEW: The House Oversight and Judiciary committees on Wednesday requested communications between the White House and lawyers for Hunter Biden about efforts to depose the president's son as part of their impeachment inquiry. W/
@seriouslysummer
NEW: FBI wanted to arrest Epstein at Virgin Islands beauty pageant 7 months before plea deal cut.
An FBI supervisor was “extremely upset” about being denied the opportunity to arrest Epstein in 2007.
More details from the DOJ report W/
@Tom_Winter
:
New story with
@LaurNBC
@HeidiNBC
: PPE shortages have not gone away - health care workers are still facing major shortages of N95 respirators, gowns and other safety gear, especially at hospitals in minority communities
I’ll be in court this afternoon in LA - the judge will hear arguments from Hunter Biden’s legal team to dismiss 9 tax charges, arguing that the Special Counsel’s case is politically motivated and selectively prosecuted. Our preview here:
@GaryGrumbach
The suit is among the first to be filed against Epstein's estate following his death by suicide Saturday. It is also one of the first lawsuits filed under New York state’s new Child Victims Act, which goes into effect today.
Parnas told Congress “The only information ever pushed on the Bidens and Ukraine has come from 1 source and 1 source only: Russia and Russian agents," that impeachment is "predicated on a bunch of false information that is being spread by the Kremlin."
Jennifer Araoz says she was 14 years old when a young woman approached her outside her NYC high school in the fall of 2001. She began talking to Araoz about a man she knew who was wealthy and lived nearby.
His name, the woman said, was Jeffrey Epstein.
FBI wanted to arrest Epstein at Virgin Islands beauty pageant 7 months before plea deal cut.
An FBI supervisor was “extremely upset” about being denied the opportunity to arrest Epstein in 2007.
More new details from the DOJ report W/
@Tom_Winter
:
NEW: At a press conference outside of Epstein’s townhouse today US Attorney Berman said SDNY and the FBI have reached out to Prince Andrew, “to date Prince Andrew has provided zero cooperation”
“That said, Attorney Davidson is very happy that he has filed this lawsuit because he strongly believes that the filing constitutes a full and complete waiver of the attorney-client privilege," the spokesperson said in a statement.”Thankfully, the truth can now finally come out.”
New: Federal prosecutors in New York have formally requested through the British government to speak with Prince Andrew as part of their ongoing criminal investigation into Jeffrey Epstein’s history, according to a person familiar with the matter
@Tom_Winter
reports
A key point in SDNY’s indictment of Ghislaine Maxwell: prosecutors allege she didn’t just facilitate the abuse, in some cases she “participated in the sexual abuse of minor victims.” Multiple women have told
@NBCNews
they were sexually abused by Maxwell.
Stormy Daniels lawyer tells
@NBCNews
: “We are confident that after applying Supreme Court precedent from the Clinton matter, the Court will order the depositions and the trial to proceed. We expect to be placing the president and his fixer under oath in the coming months.”
Over 15 alleged victims have spoken so far, detailing their abuse and asking prosecutors to continue the criminal investigation into others who may have enabled Epstein.
Dr. Rick Bright spoke out today in an interview with
@NBCNews
- he said that political interference at public health agencies has intensified: “It’s dangerous, it’s reckless, and it’s causing lives to be lost every day.” Story here:
The complaint Araoz filed Wednesday alleges Maxwell and the other staffers “conspired with each other to make possible and otherwise facilitate the sexual abuse and rape of Plaintiff.”
US Attorney Berman also said SDNY’s investigation into Epstein’s co-conspirators is “ongoing”, but declined to comment on timeframe. He also declined to comment when asked if Ghislaine Maxwell is currently cooperating with law enforcement.
NEW: House Oversight Committee Chair has asked a Treasury Department official to testify at a March 10 hearing, suggesting that the department has deliberately delayed the production of documents to committee in order to hinder its investigation.
IRS Criminal Division declined to comment on NYAG’s Trump Org lawsuit and referral comments, saying agency "receives tips about potential criminal activity from a variety of sources every day. Special agents review information received for further criminal investigation..." (1/2)
BREAKING: NBC News: Federal charges have been filed against Hunter Biden in a case involving taxes and gun possession charge, he is expected to plead guilty to the tax charges only. He is expected to get pre-trial diversion for the gun charge.
SDNY statement:”To those brave young women who have already come forward and to the many others who have yet to do so...we remain committed to standing for you, and our investigation of the conduct charged in the Indictment – which included a conspiracy count – remains ongoing.”
Araoz has been interviewed by both the FBI and federal prosecutors for the Southern District of New York as part of their investigation of Epstein. Araoz is continuing to cooperate as the criminal focus turns to any potential Epstein co-conspirators, her attorneys told NBC News.
Annie Farmer, one of the victims who testified at trial said: Maxwell "has caused hurt to many more women than the few of us who had the chance to testify in the courtroom. I hope that this verdict brings solace to all who need it and demonstrates that no one is above the law."
NEW: Hunter Biden asks for criminal probe into Trump allies for 'theft' of data from laptopThe letters from Biden's lawyers asking investigators for probes into Rudy Giuliani and others is a dramatic shift in strategy for the president's son.
The hour long special investigative edition of
@DatelineNBC
that I’ve been working on for many months airs tonight- I hope you’ll tune in. A preview aired this morning:
“Jeffrey thought that we were disposable, and he threw us all away – and look who’s still standing.”
Watch a preview of
@savannahguthrie
’s exclusive interview with six Jeffrey Epstein accusers. See their full conversation on
@datelinenbc
tonight at 10 p.m. EST.
NEW STORY: Several lawsuits targeting Jeffrey Epstein's estate are expected to be filed in the coming weeks and months, lawyers representing sex abuse victims told a New York judge.
New: Angelina Jolie and Ruth Glenn of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence tell
@tvkatesnow
that renewing the Violence Against Women Act was a major step but there's still more work to be done.
NEW: Epstein’s attorneys release statement: “We are not satisfied with the conclusions of the medical examiner” and that they intend to conduct an “independent and complete investigation into the circumstances and cause of Mr. Epstein’s death.”
NEW: Hunter Biden has declined House Republicans invitation to appear at a public hearing, but in a letter to Congress said he would consider attending if they hold a hearing with relatives of former President Trump, according to a letter obtained by NBC News
NEW: House Democrats will call Lev Parnas to appear before Congress. “Lev is looking forward to being able to appear at tomorrow’s Oversight Committee hearing and to provide sworn testimony to members of Congress, as he has sought to do for over four years” his attorney said
NEW: Maryland banned the use of TikTok and other Chinese and Russian products by state agencies on Tuesday, citing our NBC News reporting. The state said the products “present an unacceptable level of cybersecurity risk to the state.”
@KitRamgopal
UPDATED STORY: Three senior law enforcement officials confirm that Jeffrey Epstein was in custody at Teterboro airport in New Jersey earlier today after flying into the U.S. on an overseas flight.
more from
@jonathan4ny
@Tom_Winter
and myself:
EXCLUSIVE + BREAKING: Former Fox News Producer speaks to NBC News, calls Fox a “big corporate machine that destroys people” and says she believes she was set up to be a scapegoat in the Dominion suit. W/
@CynthiaMcFadden
@richschapiro
A federal judge in California last week ordered the re-arrest of Smirnov, 43, after federal prosecutors told the judge that he was “likely” planning to leave the United States.
@ryanjreilly
In our many months of reporting this story, 2 things stood out to me: the grooming techniques and the many adults that victims allege facilitated their visits to Jeffrey Epstein. I hope you’ll tune in to
@TODAYshow
tomorrow to learn more.
@SavannahGuthrie
@NBCInvestigates
An incredible and highly emotional scene inside federal court today, as one by one some of Epstein’s alleged victims spoke about their abuse and called for additional investigations. Our updated story, reported with
@Tom_Winter
:
NEW: audit finds FBI is still failing to protect children who have been sexually abused, 8 years after Nassar scandal. In a sample of 327 cases, 42 were so deficient that auditors contacted FBI to take immediate attention. W/
@ryanjreilly
@KenDilanianNBC
Jennifer Araoz says she was 14 years old when a young woman approached her outside her NYC high school in the fall of 2001. She began talking to Araoz about a man she knew who was wealthy and lived nearby.
His name, the woman said, was Jeffrey Epstein.
NEW: A top lawyer for the Trump Org. was involved in trying to enforce a secrecy agreement that adult film star Stormy Daniels signed in exchange for $130,000 before the 2016 election, new documents show.
STATEMENT FROM STORMY DANIELS TO NBC NEWS: "Michael and I are vindicated and we look forward to the apologies from the people who claimed we were wrong."
NEW: The estate of Jeffrey Epstein has agreed to pay the Virgin Islands more than $105 million to settle a lawsuit alleging that he used the territory as the base of an extensive sex trafficking operation.
The former FBI informant charged for allegedly lying to the FBI about President Biden and his son Hunter Biden, has been re-arrested, his attorneys said Thursday. They said he was arrested while at his attorneys law offices.
@ryanjreilly
@Tom_Winter
A
@USDOL
spokesperson told NBC News that Acosta's actions "have been defended by the Department of Justice in litigation across three administrations and several attorneys general" and "decisions were approved by departmental leadership and followed departmental procedures".
The Tokyo Olympics are facing renewed scrutiny over allegations that the city's bid to host the games was secured by millions of dollars in bribes laundered through the international banking system.
NEW: Stormy Daniels cooperating with federal investigators probing 2016 non-disclosure agreement and $130,000 payment she received from Pres. Trump’s longtime personal attorney, Michael Cohen, sources familiar with the proceedings tell
@NBCNews
Ghislaine Maxwell's 2016 deposition was just unsealed. The document has been the subject of a long-running court battle, stemming from a case brought by Epstein accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre. The document is expected to provide new personal details re: Maxwell and Epstein
NEW: Hunter Biden’s legal team wants the Treasury Dept. to investigate an ex-Trump aide Garrett Ziegler for circulating banking records linked to Biden and wants Congress to act against Marjorie Taylor Green for her statements.
Grossberg was terminated by Fox News late Friday afternoon, and alleges in the amended complaints that her firing was retaliation for taking legal action.
Maxwell has not been criminally charged and has repeatedly denied the accusations against her. Maxwell's attorneys did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
EPA Administrator Michael Regan: “Let me be clear: Norfolk Southern will pay for cleaning up the mess they created and for the trauma they’ve inflicted on this community.”
Investigators looked into whether Biden acted as an agent or lobbyist for a foreign government— a potential FARA violation. Investigators ultimately determined there was no basis for any charges beyond Biden’s gun possession and 2 tax misdemeanors.
Prosecutors say the informant who allegedly lied to the FBI about the Hunter Biden case was in contact with Russia intelligence officials.
@ryanobles
reports.