- Republicans plan big spending to keep Ohio’s Senate seat. A bribery scandal adds to their challengesCOLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — As he seeks to retain his U.S. Senate seat this fall, Ohio Republican Jon Husted has been unable to escape the shadow of a $60 million bribery scandal that has roiled state politics for more than five years. Husted was recently called to testify as a defense witness in the related […]
- Resignations and firings have depleted the FBI and Justice Department. They’re scrambling to rebuildWASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI and Justice Department are scrambling to rebuild a depleted workforce after a wave of departures over the past year, with leaders easing hiring requirements and accelerating recruitment in ways that some current and former officials see as a lowering of long-accepted standards. The FBI has turned to social media campaigns […]
- RIVERTON, Utah (AP) — When a dozen Republican activists gathered on a back deck in the Salt Lake City suburbs to talk about this year’s elections, the conversation cycled through all the staples of conservative chatter in Utah such as dwindling water supplies, illegal immigrant fraud and chemtrail conspiracy theories. But Doug Fiefia, a state […]
- WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said that U.S. negotiators will head to Pakistan on Monday for talks with Iran, lifting hopes of extending a ceasefire set to expire this week even as Washington and Tehran remain locked in a standoff over the Strait of Hormuz. The prospect of talks on the horizon, which Iran […]
- April 19 (Reuters) – A skydiver trailing a large American flag drifted off course and became tangled in the video board at a U.S. college football game on Saturday, leaving him suspended above the field by his parachute until he was rescued. Viral videos from inside Virginia Tech’s Lane Stadium, confirmed by Reuters, showed two […]
- Republicans plan big spending to keep Ohio’s Senate seat. A bribery scandal adds to their challenges
on April 19, 2026 at 1:18 pmCOLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — As he seeks to retain his U.S. Senate seat this fall, Ohio Republican Jon Husted has been unable to escape the shadow of a $60 million bribery scandal that has roiled state politics for more than five years. Husted was recently called to testify as a defense witness in the related criminal trial of two former energy executives, testimony he might have to reprise after a hung jury led to a mistrial in the case in March. A judge in Akron scheduled the retrial to begin Sept. 28, meaning Husted could be back on the witness stand a week before early voting begins for the November elections. The former lieutenant governor and Ohio secretary of state has never been charged with or accused of any wrongdoing. But the vast public record that has emerged from the scandal has raised questions about Husted’s dealings with key players who have been indicted or imprisoned in the scheme, which revolved around legislative approval of a $1 billion bailout for the state’s two nuclear power plants. It’s too early to know whether Husted’s association with the trial will be a political liability for the first-term senator, who in the fall is expected to face Sherrod Brown, a Democrat ousted from the Senate in 2024. In a potential sign of concern, Senate Republicans’ main super political action committee, the Senate Leadership Fund, recently announced plans to spend $79 million on Husted’s behalf. That’s roughly one-quarter of its planned national spending in eight tightly contested Senate races. Asked in 2022 what role he played in the bailout legislation, known as House Bill 6, Husted answered, “None.” He has reiterated that stance many times since, even as evidence disclosed in the case has raised questions about his involvement. Husted calendars that came to light during the recent trial involving executives for the utility, Akron-based FirstEnergy, showed a number of additional meetings or phone calls that he had with former CEO Chuck Jones, with the state’s former top utility regulator, who has since died, and with then-Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder. They formed the triangle of influence at the heart of scheme as laid out by federal prosecutors. Husted’s calendars were obtained by the Ohio Capital Journal through a public records request and have been reviewed by The Associated Press. Jones and former FirstEnergy lobbyist Michael Dowling were charged for their alleged roles in the bribery scandal and will be retried in the fall. Householder is serving a 20-year prison sentence after being convicted in 2023 of orchestrating the scheme, which FirstEnergy has admitted to underwriting. The interactions noted in Husted’s calendars were around the time the bailout bill was being developed and passed. Evidence presented in various cases showed Jones and Dowling discussing a push by Husted for additional subsidies in the legislation. Husted has consistently denied that he played a role in creating the legislation as well as having any knowledge of criminal activity surrounding the bill. In an NBC4 interview in January, Husted said, “My role was very clear. I wanted the nuclear power plants to remain operational.” He said it was “about keeping those plants open and keeping the lights on for millions of Ohioans.” In June 2019, Jones texted Dowling screenshots of a conversation he had with Householder that suggested Husted was working on FirstEnergy’s behalf to extend the term of the nuclear plant subsidies from six years to 10 years. Jones urged Householder to “negotiate hard” for 10 years of subsidies or he would be forced to revisit the issue again before his speakership ended. “Ugh, that adds $600M,” Householder wrote about an additional amount that has not been previously reported. The bill called for charging Ohio ratepayers $150 million a year in nuclear subsidies. “Husted called me 2 nights ago and was supposed to get it in the Senate version,” Jones replied. “He’s not a legislator,” Householder replied about Husted, who was by then the lieutenant governor. “I know but he said Senate leaders would listen,” Jones replied. “He didn’t deliver.” The texts were part of evidence gathered in Householder’s criminal trial. When Husted has been asked previously about the exchanges, he has been adamant that they do not prove he was part of the deal-making. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. We weren’t involved,” Husted said when asked about the texts during an unrelated news conference in 2024. “Texts to other people — texts to other people shared amongst themselves — have nothing to do with me. And I wasn’t involved in that conversation.” A longtime Ohio lobbyist told federal agents that FirstEnergy and FirstEnergy Solutions, the subsidiary that owned the nuclear power plants helped by the bailout, funneled dark money to nonprofits that benefited Husted and Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican. According to the notes from his Department of Justice interview obtained by The Associated Press and not previously reported, lobbyist Neil Clark identified one of the groups as Freedom Frontier. That was the very group that received a $1 million contribution in 2017 marked internally by FirstEnergy as “Husted campaign.” The donation was brought to light through documents filed in a lawsuit by FirstEnergy shareholders and obtained through a records request by cleveland.com. Husted was a candidate for governor at the time. Dark money refers to political contributions flowing to certain nonprofit organizations whose donors do not have to be publicly identified. Coordinating between those groups and candidate campaigns is generally prohibited by federal law. Internal FirstEnergy communications from 2017 and 2018, which is evidence in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigation, include discussions involving Jones, Dowling and others about attending Husted events as far back as 2016. They also reflect Dowling’s concerns about dark money contributions becoming public. Jones and Dowling also discussed strategies to contribute under alternate names. In July 2018, for instance, as the two were planning a DeWine-Husted fundraiser in Naples, Florida, they discussed contributing under one name while covering event costs under another — so there would be “no cost billed to (the) campaign.” Husted declined a request for further comment about the details that have emerged as the various cases surrounding the bribery scandal play out. “Sen. Husted has commented extensively with the media and given testimony under oath and doesn’t have anything additional to add,” said Josh Eck, his spokesperson. Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
- Resignations and firings have depleted the FBI and Justice Department. They’re scrambling to rebuild
on April 19, 2026 at 12:18 pmWASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI and Justice Department are scrambling to rebuild a depleted workforce after a wave of departures over the past year, with leaders easing hiring requirements and accelerating recruitment in ways that some current and former officials see as a lowering of long-accepted standards. The FBI has turned to social media campaigns to attract applicants, offered abbreviated training for candidates from other federal agencies and relaxed requirements for support staff seeking to become agents, according to people familiar with the changes and internal communications seen by The Associated Press. At the same time, the Justice Department has opened the door to hiring prosecutors right out of law school to help fill vacancies in U.S. attorney’s offices across the country. Some current and former agents also say the FBI is promoting into positions of leadership employees with less experience than would be customary for the jobs. The moves reflect a broader effort to stabilize a workforce strained by retirements and resignations prompted in part by concerns over the Trump administration’s politicization of the department, along with the firings of lawyers, agents and other employees deemed insufficiently loyal to the Republican president’s agenda. Critics of the changes say they amount to a reduction in standards for a law enforcement institution that has long prided itself on professional expertise and is responsible for everything from preventing terrorist attacks to building complex public corruption prosecutions. “It’s a sign of, among other things, the difficulty the department is having right now in keeping and recruiting people,” said Greg Brower, a former U.S. attorney in Nevada who left the FBI in 2018 as its chief congressional liaison. The FBI defended the changes as a necessary modernization of its hiring pipeline, saying it is streamlining, not lowering, standards and removing what it says were “bureaucratic” steps in the application process. It said applicants were still evaluated “on the same competencies.” “The Bureau holds high standards for potential and current employees, and there is a rigorous application and background process to join the FBI,” the FBI said in a statement. The FBI has long been seen as the nation’s premier federal law enforcement agency, with a recruitment process anchored around physical fitness tests, a writing assessment, interview and training academy at Quantico, Virginia. Elements of the regimen have been periodically tweaked to fit the bureau’s needs, including over the past year under the leadership of FBI Director Kash Patel. With a mantra to “let good cops be cops,” Patel announced last fall that transfers from other agencies such as the Drug Enforcement Administration would be able to complete a nine-week training academy instead of the traditional academy that spans more than four months. The change rankled some current and former officials who say the FBI’s protocols, professional culture and diversity of cases it handles help to distinguish it from other agencies. For support staff employees looking to become agents, the bureau more recently said it would waive requirements of a written assessment and an interview with a three-member panel of FBI agents meant to assess life experience and judgment, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the moves and an internal written message seen by the AP. The FBI said onboard employees would still need recommendations from a senior leader and to complete Quantico training. “We are not lowering standards or removing qualifications in any way. What we are doing is streamlining the process to remove duplicative, bureaucratic steps to the application system for onboard employees,” the FBI said in a statement, adding, “These are changes based on a wide variety of feedback from successful agents with over 20 years’ experience.” Patel boasted in January of a 112% increase in applications, and the FBI says it has a “clear path” to add around 700 special agents this year and that its current Quantico class is one of its largest in years. But some people familiar with the matter say an applications uptick does not necessarily correspond to a surge in high-caliber recruits that can offset the attrition the bureau has endured. At the other end of the employment spectrum, the FBI also faces turnover among senior leaders, including special agents in charge, the title given to leaders of most of the bureau’s 56 field offices. Some were fired by Patel over the past year and others retired. Many offices are now led by someone who has been in the job for under a year. Facing what current and former officials say is difficulty in filling some of the positions, the FBI has moved quickly to promote agents up the ladder, people familiar with the matter say. That includes elevating assistant special agents in charge to special agents in charge and opening the door for employees to be considered for leadership roles without the significant headquarters experience the FBI historically regarded as necessary for a holistic view of bureau operations. As a conservative podcast host before becoming director, Patel had talked about shutting down FBI headquarters and transforming it into a museum of the “deep state” and told colleagues on his first day as director that he would move hundreds of employees from Washington into the field. “As a field agent, you have a field agent’s mentality, you have a field agent’s view,” said Chris Piehota, a retired FBI senior executive. Without adequate headquarters experience, he added, you don’t know “the business side of the FBI, the logistical side of the FBI or the political jungle” that can accompany the job. The Justice Department, meanwhile, has lowered hiring prerequisites for some federal prosecutors. Department officials recently suspended a policy that U.S. attorneys offices only hire prosecutors with at least one year of experience practicing law. The department did not explain the reason, but said in a statement that it is “proud to empower young and passionate prosecutors and offer attorneys at every level the opportunity to invest their talents into keeping their communities safe.” It comes as parts of the agency are struggling to keep up with the workload amid critical staffing shortages, with the department recently acknowledging that it has lost nearly 1,000 assistant U.S. attorneys. In Minnesota, for example, the federal prosecutors’ office has been gutted by resignations amid frustration with the administration’s stepped-up immigration enforcement and the department’s response to fatal shootings of civilians by federal agents. Justice Department headquarters in Washington has endured staffing losses, too. The number of lawyers in the Criminal Division’s Violent Crime and Racketeering Section, which prosecutes organized crime groups and violent gangs, is down significantly, though the section is looking to hire additional attorneys. A National Security Division section that works espionage cases has reported a 40% drop in prosecutors. The department said in a statement that it has seen an increase in criminal complaints and indictments despite a loss in prosecutors, underscoring the “bloated, ineffective and weaponized” institution it says the administration inherited. Officials have enlisted military lawyers to serve as special prosecutors in some offices. The administration has also used social media to recruit applicants. One recent post from the FBI’s Omaha, Nebraska office said: “A calling bigger than yourself. A mission that matters. If you’re ready for the challenge, there’s a place for you on the FBI team. Chad Mizelle, who served as chief of staff to Trump’s first attorney general, Pam Bondi, recently urged lawyers to contact him on X if they want to become prosecutors, “and support President Trump and anti-crime agenda.” Mizelle’s post raised eyebrows not only because federal prosecutors have not generally been solicited over social media, but also because support for the president has not been a prerequisite for career employees. “We need good prosecutors,” wrote Mizelle, who left the department in October. “And DOJ is hiring across the country. Now is your chance to join the mission and do good for our country.” Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
- Trump wants to stop states from regulating AI. This Utah Republican isn’t listening
on April 19, 2026 at 12:18 pmRIVERTON, Utah (AP) — When a dozen Republican activists gathered on a back deck in the Salt Lake City suburbs to talk about this year’s elections, the conversation cycled through all the staples of conservative chatter in Utah such as dwindling water supplies, illegal immigrant fraud and chemtrail conspiracy theories. But Doug Fiefia, a state representative running to be a state senator, wanted to start with something else — artificial intelligence. Fiefia used to work at Google and, like several other tech employees who have gone into politics, he has made regulating the industry a centerpiece of his campaign. “I know it sounds like ‘Doug, this is all you talk about,”’ Fiefia said. “That’s because it’s coming, it’s here and it’s going to be our biggest fight.” Fiefia’s focus has put him on a collision course with President Donald Trump’s administration, which this year helped block his state proposal requiring companies to include child safety protocols. The White House wants a single national standard for artificial intelligence, arguing that a patchwork of excessive regulation could handicap American innovation in a global competition with China. But with no progress in Congress, it has been state lawmakers struggling to address concerns about a technology that is poised to reshape the economy. In Florida, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis added the issue to a special legislative session that he is convening later this month. Democratic-controlled New York last year required major AI developers to report dangerous incidents to the state. All told, there are more than 1,000 state legislative proposals addressing AI, a reflection of the uneasiness that has seeped through the country. “None of us are really sure,” said Brett Young, a structural engineer who attended the backyard event with Fiefia. “Is this something we should be scared about, or is it no so big a deal and it’ll enhance our lives?” Trump has routinely tried to stamp out state-level AI policies, and he issued an executive order that included legal threats and funding penalties to deter new regulations. The White House recently released a framework for potential congressional legislation that calls for preempting state laws considered “too burdensome” but would allow some rules to protect children and copyright material. None of these steps has eased the number of proposals in state capitals. Popular ideas include forcing chatbots to remind users they are not human and barring the use of AI to make nonconsensual pornography, which includes replacing or removing clothing from photos that are posted online. “There’s a lot of state lawmakers looking at what the federal government is doing and saying, ‘We want to take action because we’re not satisfied,'” said Craig Albright, senior vice president for government relations for the Business Software Alliance, which represents software companies. About 8 in 10 people in the United States said they were “concerned” or “very concerned” about AI in a Quinnipiac poll last month, with about three-quarters saying government is not doing enough to regulate the technology. Roughly 9 in 10 Democrats and 6 in 10 Republicans wanted more government involvement. The most significant regulations have passed in California and New York, solidly Democratic states. The provisions focus on disclosure of catastrophic risk, such as the AI-controlled meltdown of nuclear plants or AI models refusing to heed human direction. But there is pressure in Republican-led states, too. DeSantis pushed a bill to implement parental controls for minors using AI and to prohibit systems from using anyone’s likeness without permission. It fell short in the state House after overwhelmingly passing the state Senate. AI bills in Republican-controlled Louisiana and Missouri have stalled out because of Trump administration resistance. Fiefia is part of a loose network of former tech employees turned state lawmakers trying to meet the demand for stronger regulations. He co-chairs the AI task force of the Future Caucus, a network of younger state lawmakers, with Monique Priestley, a Vermont Democrat who also has worked in tech. Priestley said the group uses video conferences and group chats to share ideas for new proposals and deal with lobbyists who oppose their bills. She said that 166 of her state’s 482 registered lobbyists weighed in on her data privacy bill last year, which was ultimately vetoed by the governor. “It’s like you’re running around against an army of full-time lobbyists,” said Priestley. Like many state lawmakers, she works a separate, full-time job. Alex Bores, a former data scientist at the tech firm Palantir who quit after it signed a deal to help the first Trump administration with immigration enforcement, is also a member of the AI task force. A Democrat, Bores wrote the New York bill that was signed into law last year. Now Bores is competing in the crowded Democratic primary to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler representing the east side of Manhattan and parts of Queen and Brooklyn in Congress, and he is facing payback from the industry. A pro-AI campaign committee has spent $2.3 million against his candidacy. Bores said tech companies are trying to make an example of him to scare off more regulation at the state and federal level. “It’s one reasons it’s so important for me to win this race is because, if I don’t, that intimidation they’re trying on Congress will be successful,” he said. Bores’ competitors in the June 23 primary include Jack Schlossberg, the grandson of former President John F. Kennedy, and George Conway, a former Republican who has become one of Trump’s chief antagonists on social media. Fiefia has not attracted the sort of attention as Bores as he tries to move to the state Senate after a single session in the House. The subdivisions and shopping centers of his district are sandwiched between Utah’s jagged mountain ranges and the cul de sacs are crammed with children on bikes and scooters. The son of Tongan immigrants, Fiefia grew up in Utah but moved to Silicon Valley, where he worked as a salesperson for Google. Fiefia rose to manage a team working with companies on the implementation of Google’s early AI model and was disturbed by what he saw. “What I realized is Big Tech cares about their bottom line, and they were worried about making money, not doing right for the human race,” said Fiefia, who now works at a Utah-based cloud computing and AI company. Fiefia’s legislation was unanimously passed by a House committee this year, but the Trump administration sent a letter to the Senate saying that the measure was “unfixable.” The measure quickly died. Daniel McCay, the state senator who Fiefia is challenging in the primary, said he thinks that was a good thing. “I’ve been around long enough to recognize the invention of fire, the wheel, cars and the internet did not ruin society and I’m very skeptical of anyone trying to scare society into regulations,” McCay said in an interview. He noted that the bill went beyond child safety, including whistleblower protection for AI workers and public disclosure of risks. “It would have driven Utah out of the AI innovation business,” McCay said. At the cottage meeting — the Utah term for a small gathering at someone’s home to discuss important issues — Fiefia faced several tech-related questions from the crowd. Asked about defying the Trump administration, Fiefia said it was especially important to stand up for states’ rights when a fellow Republican was in power to demonstrate the principles involved. “The Trump administration is, ‘We want zero regulations on AI,’” Fiefia said. “I think that’s wrong. I agree with a lot of what Trump says on taxes. I disagree with him on this.” Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
- Trump says US negotiators will head to Pakistan on Monday for talks with Iran
on April 19, 2026 at 8:18 amWASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said U.S. negotiators will head to Pakistan on Monday for another round of talks with Iran, raising hopes of extending a fragile ceasefire set to expire by Wednesday even as Washington and Tehran remain in a standoff over the Strait of Hormuz. Iran did not immediately confirm the talks but its chief negotiator, parliament speaker Mohammed Bagher Qalibaf, said in an interview aired on state television late Saturday that “there will be no retreat in the field of diplomacy,” while acknowledging a wide gap remained between the sides. The White House said Vice President JD Vance, who led the first round of historic face-to-face talks last weekend, would lead the delegation to Pakistan with envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. Pakistani authorities began tightening security in Islamabad. A regional official involved in the efforts said mediators were finalizing preparations and U.S. advance security teams were already on the ground. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss preparations with the media. Iran on Saturday said it had received new proposals from the United States. It was unclear whether either side had shifted stances on issues that derailed the last round of negotiations, including Iran’s nuclear enrichment program, its regional proxies and control over the Strait of Hormuz. Trump’s announcement repeated his threats against Iranian infrastructure that have drawn widespread criticism and warnings of war crimes. If Iran doesn’t agree to the U.S.-proposed deal, “the United States is going to knock out every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge, in Iran,” he wrote. Ships remained unable to transit the critical waterway amid threats from Iran and a U.S. blockade on ships heading to and from Iranian ports. Roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil trade normally passes through the strait, and the global energy crisis threatened to deepen as the war is now in its eighth week. Iranian officials earlier on Sunday held firm that ships wouldn’t pass while the U.S. blockade remained in effect. “It is impossible for others to pass through the Strait of Hormuz while we cannot,” Qalibaf said. In his post about talks, Trump accused Iran of violating the ceasefire by firing at ships transiting the strait. Iran has called the U.S. blockade a violation, and foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei on Sunday called it an “act of aggression.” Iran had announced the strait’s reopening after a 10-day truce between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon took hold on Friday. But Iran said it would continue enforcing its restrictions there after Trump said the U.S. blockade “will remain in full force” until Tehran reaches a deal with the United States. After a brief uptick in transit attempts on Saturday, Iran fired on two India-flagged merchant ships that were forced to turn around, leading India to summon Iran’s ambassador over the “serious incident.” India noted that Iran earlier let several India-bound ships through. For the Islamic Republic, the strait’s closure — imposed after the U.S. and Israel launched the Iran war on Feb. 28 during talks over Tehran’s nuclear program — is perhaps its most powerful weapon, inflicting political pain on Trump. For the United States, the blockade squeezes Iran’s already weakened economy by denying it long-term cash flow. The war has killed at least 3,000 people in Iran, more than 2,290 in Lebanon, 23 in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states. Fifteen Israeli soldiers in Lebanon and 13 U.S. service members throughout the region have been killed. Since most supplies to U.S. military bases in the Gulf region come through the strait, “Iran is determined to maintain oversight and control over traffic through the strait until the war fully ends,” Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said late Saturday. That means Iran-designated routes, payment of fees and issuance of transit certificates. The council has recently acted as Iran’s de facto top decision-making body. Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, who spoke by phone with Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Sunday, has said his country was working to “bridge” differences between the U.S. and Iran. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh on Saturday told The Associated Press that the U.S. is “risking the whole ceasefire package” with its blockade. Khatibzadeh said Iran won’t hand over its stock of 970 pounds (440 kilograms) of enriched uranium to the United States, calling the idea “a nonstarter.” The deputy minister didn’t address other proposals for the enriched uranium, saying only that “we are ready to address any concerns.” ___ Magy reported from Cairo and Metz from Ramallah, West Bank. Munir Ahmed contributed to this report from Islamabad. Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
- Football-Skydiver left dangling when parachute snags on stadium video board
on April 19, 2026 at 6:49 amApril 19 (Reuters) – A skydiver trailing a large American flag drifted off course and became tangled in the video board at a U.S. college football game on Saturday, leaving him suspended above the field by his parachute until he was rescued. Viral videos from inside Virginia Tech’s Lane Stadium, confirmed by Reuters, showed two skydivers descending into the arena before the school’s spring game, when one of them missed the designated landing area, hit the electronic scoreboard and became entangled. Fans watched in distress as the skydiver, whose name was not immediately released, was left hanging for 15 to 20 minutes before emergency crews using an aerial ladder brought him to safety. “We are grateful to report that the skydiver was safely secured and is currently stable. Our primary focus remains on their well-being,” Virginia Tech officials posted on X. “We extend our sincere appreciation to the first responders, event staff, and medical personnel for their swift, coordinated and professional response.” No injuries were reported during the incident. (Reporting by Suramya Kaushik in Bengaluru; Editing by William Mallard) Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
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