February 16 top stories
It is February 16. Here are today’s top stories.
FBI informant indicted with lying about the Bidens
Special counsel David Weiss charged a former FBI informant with lying about President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden’s involvement in business dealings with Ukrainian energy company Burisma Holdings, undercutting a major aspect of Republicans’ impeachment inquiry into the president.
Alexander Smirnov, 43, is facing charges with two counts in connection with lying to the FBI and creating false records. He was arrested Thursday at Las Vegas airport, after his arrival in the US from overseas, and made his initial appearance in federal court Thursday afternoon.
The indictment unsealed on Thursday appeared to deal a blow to the Republican accusations that President Biden profited from his son’s business in Ukraine.
Congressional Republicans have championed Smirnov’s now-discredited allegations for roughly a year, though not by name. They fought with the FBI to obtain memos about what Smirnov told investigators and publicly released the materials over the FBI’s objections. They repeatedly praised Smirnov as “credible” and put his uncorroborated claims front-and-center in their impeachment inquiry into the president.
Smirnov faces a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison if convicted.
Putin critic Alexei Navalny dead at 47 in prison
Multiple sources reported that Alexei Navalny, Russia’s most famous opposition leader, is dead, Russian authorities said.
The Russian prison service said Alexei Navalny died on Friday after collapsing and losing consciousness at the penal colony north of the Arctic Circle where he was serving a long jail term.
“On Feb. 16, 2024, in penal colony number 3, convict Alexei Navalny felt unwell after a walk, almost immediately losing consciousness. The medical staff of the institution arrived immediately, and an ambulance team was called.
All necessary resuscitation measures were carried out, which did not yield positive results. Doctors of the ambulance stated the death of the convict,” said in a statement released by the prison service.
Western officials and Kremlin critics blame Russian president Putin and his government for Navalny’s death in prison.
Navalny’s spokesperson said on social media that his team could not immediately confirm his death.
Delta flight makes U-turn after maggots fall on passenger
On Tuesday, Delta Air Lines Flight 133 departed Amsterdam, Netherlands, bound for Detroit, Michigan. But one hour into the flight, it had to turn back to Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport after maggots reportedly fell onto a passenger from an overhead bin.
A news outlet interviewed a passenger who said he saw about a dozen of the maggots on a woman sitting next to him. “She was freaking out. She was just trying to kind of fight off these maggots.”
He said the flight crew eventually traced the maggots to a passenger’s bag, which contained rotten fish wrapped in newspaper. The bag was moved to the back of the plane, and it was announced the plane was going back to Amsterdam.
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Smoking drugs causing more overdose deaths than injecting
According to a new report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the percentage of overdose deaths linked to smoking drugs rose sharply in recent years, overtaking injection as the leading route of drug use involved in such deaths.
Smoking a drug is the quickest way for it to reach the brain. People may have switched from injecting drugs to smoking due to a perception that the overdose risk is lower, according to the report. Users may also have a sense that they have “more control” over how much of the drug they inhale.
Fentanyl, though, is such a powerful drug that even a small amount can be deadly.
Among the other reasons people may have been switching, the CDC report said, is that fentanyl users often inject it several times a day, and that can wear out their veins; smoking eliminates injection site challenges such as abscesses.
Nearly 70% of those who died were using synthetic opioids, mostly illegally created fentanyl that are slightly altered – and often deadly – forms of the medically prescribed drug.
Trump’s hush-money trial set for March 25
The judge presiding over Donald Trump’s New York criminal trial on Thursday denied his bid to dismiss the charges against him and ordered his trial to proceed as scheduled next month. The charges are related to 2016 hush money payments to an adult-film star, Stormy Daniels.
It will mark the first time an ex-president and potential presidential nominee will be tried in a criminal case. It is possible Trump could claim enough delegates to become the presumptive GOP nominee before jury selection begins.
The “defendant’s motions to dismiss have been denied,” Judge Juan Merchan told the packed Manhattan courtroom, which included the former president Trump at the defense table. “We will move ahead with jury selection on March 25th.”
He said he expected the trial would last about six weeks.
Trump complained to reporters after the hearing, “I am going to have to sit here for months on a trial” in a “rigged state, a rigged city.” “It is ridiculous. I will be here during the day and campaigning during the night.”
See Alex for the latest update on the Fani Willis controversy.
Fani Willis hearing in Trump election fraud case
Thanks, Callie.
Fani Willis, who is the District Attorney of Fulton County, Georgia, testified for a second day today to determine if she should be disqualified from the trial of Donald Trump and 14 other co-defendants on charges of election interference.
Defense lawyers said Willis should be removed because she had an inappropriate and romantic relationship with a special prosecutor that she hired for the case, Nathan Wade. Wade earned hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees then the two took international trips together.
Both Willis and Wade testified that their relationship has nothing to do with the Trump case.
Trump said on social media that this shows that the case was a “fake case” from the start.
Willis testified that she offered other lawyers the special prosecutor job but they turned it down, so she offered the job to Wade. She said she’s not on trial, but Trump and others are on trial for trying to steal the election. Willis said she’s not on trial no matter how hard you try to put me on trial.
The judge overseeing the case said he wouldn’t make any decisions this week.
Thanks for that update. That is all the news stories for this week. Have a nice weekend and stay with the light!
FBI informant indicted with lying about the Bidens:
Putin critic Alexei Navalny dead at 47 in prison:
Smoking drugs causing more overdose deaths than injecting:
https://time.com/6695528/more-people-die-after-smoking-drugs-than-injecting-them/
Delta flight makes U-turn after maggots fall on passenger:
Trump’s hush-money trial set for March 25:
https://apnews.com/article/trump-hush-money-new-york-criminal-case-fbdff18df40920b75873b3a40317f5ee
Fani Willis hearing in Trump election fraud case: