LINCOLN, NEB. – “We greatly appreciate Governor Pillen’s leadership and efforts to reduce the property tax burden on Nebraskans. Achieving meaningful tax reform to lower property taxes requires difficult conversations. To his credit, the governor has not shied away from those conversations, and we thank him. We believe we are heading in the right direction when it comes to tax reform and look forward to continuing to work with him and others to deliver meaningful property tax relief Nebraskans deserve.”

The Nebraska Farm Bureau is a grassroots, state-wide organization dedicated to supporting farm and ranch families and working for the benefit of all Nebraskans through a wide variety of educational, service, and advocacy efforts. More than 55,000 families across Nebraska are Farm Bureau members, working together to achieve rural and urban prosperity as agriculture is a key fuel to Nebraska’s economy. For more information about Nebraska Farm Bureau and agriculture, visit&nbsp;<a href="http://www.nefb.org/" target="_blank">www.nefb.org</a>.

Nebraska Farm BureauLINCOLN, NEB. – “We greatly appreciate Governor Pillen’s leadership and efforts to reduce the property tax burden on Nebraskans. Achieving meaningful tax reform to lower property taxes requires difficult conversations. To his credit, the governor has not shied away from those conversations, and we thank him. We believe we are heading in the right direction when it comes to tax reform and look forward to continuing to work with him and others to deliver meaningful property tax relief Nebraskans deserve.”The Nebraska Farm Bureau is a grassroots, state-wide organization dedicated to supporting farm and ranch families and working for the benefit of all Nebraskans through a wide variety of educational, service, and advocacy efforts. More than 55,000 families across Nebraska are Farm Bureau members, working together to achieve rural and urban prosperity as agriculture is a key fuel to Nebraska’s economy. For more information about Nebraska Farm Bureau and agriculture, visit&nbsp;<a href="http://www.nefb.org/" target="_blank">www.nefb.org</a>.

Statement by Mark McHargue, President, Regarding Governor’s Call for Property Tax Reform   

<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/01/08/senators-seek-to-eliminate-tenure-for-college-professors-do-away-with-state-inheritance-tax/">Nebraska Examiner</a>

Editor’s note: this story has been updated to include comments from the University of Nebraska.

LINCOLN — Bills to eliminate tenure protection for university professors in an effort to halt “indoctrination (of) leftist ideology,” and one to do away with Nebraska’s inheritance tax were among 37 proposals introduced during a snowy Monday at the State Capitol.

State Sen. Loren Lippincott of Central City, who introduced the tenure bill, said in an email that “higher education lacks a serious degree of accountability” because of tenure, which grants protection to professors after proving their competence, from being fired for disagreements with administrators or for controversial scholarly opinions.

Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for the University of Nebraska system hinted that eliminating tenure could threaten recruitment and retention of faculty.

Lippincott said the tenure system protects “poorly performing professors” and those who “allow their students no wiggle room for disagreements with their espoused dogma.”

The senator wrote that “woke ideology” is being pushed at the University of Nebraska campuses.

” … As tax-paying citizens, we have a right to expect that our tax dollars will be used to educate and edify our students, not indoctrinate them with leftist ideology,” Lippincott said in an email.

His Legislative Bill 1064 has 11 co-sponsors.

The bill calls for tenure to replaced by “employee agreements” at state universities and colleges that require annual performance reviews, “minimum standards of good practice” and “procedures for dismissal for cause, program discontinuance, and financial exigency.”

Melissa Lee, a spokeswoman for the NU system, said officials there are reviewing Lippincott’s proposal.

“Our plans for the University of Nebraska to grow and compete will require us to hold all our faculty and staff to high levels of performance and accountability,” Lee said.

One University of Nebraska-Lincoln professor tweeted that there were so many problems with Lippincott’s proposal “that I hardly know where to begin.”

“Lippincott told a reporter that he wants to destroy tenure because he wants to punish professors for expressing opinions he doesn’t hold. Which is precisely why tenure and academic freedom exist,” wrote Ari Kohen, a UNL political science professor.

Bills to end or restrict tenure were introduced last year in Texas, North Dakota, Florida and Iowa. The&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2023/01/24/tenure-ban-doesnt-advance-but-gop-paying-attention-to-campus-free-speech/">proposal stalled in the Iowa</a>&nbsp;legislature.

Elmwood Sen. Rob Clements would eliminate the state’s inheritance tax by 2028 via his LB 1067, which has 24 co-sponsors.

Nebraska is one of only five states that levy such a “death tax,” and eliminating it has become a prime target for tax cutters over the years and again in 2024.

Clements said the inheritance tax amounts to a “double tax,” since property taxes are already paid on land and residence. It encourages retirees to move out of Nebraska, he said, so their descendants don’t have to pay the tax.

He said that he knows of tax preparers who advise seniors nearing death to move out of the state.

Right now, immediate relatives, such as a parent, sibling or child, pay a 1% inheritance tax on property they receive in excess of $100,000. But the tax rate climbs to up to 15% for the most remote relatives, and less is exempt.

Nebraska counties have consistently defended the inheritance tax as a way to finance one-time capital improvement projects — such as bridges — and argue that if it goes away, a much more objectionable tax — property tax — will rise.

Another aspect of Clements’ proposal would have the state reimburse counties $35 a day for any state prisoners held at a county jail, unless the state is short of funds.

LB 1067 would allocate $3.9 million a year for the State Prisoner Reimbursement Act.

Fremont Sen. Lynne Walz introduced two bills Monday to help address the state’s teacher shortage.

LB 1052 would allow teachers at public and private schools to obtain up to $300 per year in reimbursement for purchases of classroom supplies.

Walz, a former teacher, said it would be welcome help, especially for new teachers, who have to buy many of their own classroom supplies.

Another proposal, LB 1053, would give veteran teachers a bonus if they stay on a few more years.

The bill would provide up to five “extended-career retention grants” of $2,500 a year for such teachers who decline to retire.

Walz said part of Nebraska’s teacher shortage is because of the exodus of experienced teachers from the profession.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/1/1704814390273.jpeg" alt=" The University of Nebraska’s Varner Hall is where the NU Board of Regents meets and where the NU president has an office. (Aaron Sanderford/Nebraska Examiner)" />
 <figcaption> The University of Nebraska’s Varner Hall is where the NU Board of Regents meets and where the NU president has an office. (Aaron Sanderford/Nebraska Examiner)</figcaption>
 </figure>Paul Hammel<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/01/08/senators-seek-to-eliminate-tenure-for-college-professors-do-away-with-state-inheritance-tax/">Nebraska Examiner</a>Editor’s note: this story has been updated to include comments from the University of Nebraska.LINCOLN — Bills to eliminate tenure protection for university professors in an effort to halt “indoctrination (of) leftist ideology,” and one to do away with Nebraska’s inheritance tax were among 37 proposals introduced during a snowy Monday at the State Capitol.State Sen. Loren Lippincott of Central City, who introduced the tenure bill, said in an email that “higher education lacks a serious degree of accountability” because of tenure, which grants protection to professors after proving their competence, from being fired for disagreements with administrators or for controversial scholarly opinions.Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for the University of Nebraska system hinted that eliminating tenure could threaten recruitment and retention of faculty.Lippincott said the tenure system protects “poorly performing professors” and those who “allow their students no wiggle room for disagreements with their espoused dogma.”<h2>‘Woke ideology’</h2>The senator wrote that “woke ideology” is being pushed at the University of Nebraska campuses.” … As tax-paying citizens, we have a right to expect that our tax dollars will be used to educate and edify our students, not indoctrinate them with leftist ideology,” Lippincott said in an email.His Legislative Bill 1064 has 11 co-sponsors.The bill calls for tenure to replaced by “employee agreements” at state universities and colleges that require annual performance reviews, “minimum standards of good practice” and “procedures for dismissal for cause, program discontinuance, and financial exigency.”Melissa Lee, a spokeswoman for the NU system, said officials there are reviewing Lippincott’s proposal.“Our plans for the University of Nebraska to grow and compete will require us to hold all our faculty and staff to high levels of performance and accountability,” Lee said.One University of Nebraska-Lincoln professor tweeted that there were so many problems with Lippincott’s proposal “that I hardly know where to begin.”“Lippincott told a reporter that he wants to destroy tenure because he wants to punish professors for expressing opinions he doesn’t hold. Which is precisely why tenure and academic freedom exist,” wrote Ari Kohen, a UNL political science professor.Bills to end or restrict tenure were introduced last year in Texas, North Dakota, Florida and Iowa. The&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2023/01/24/tenure-ban-doesnt-advance-but-gop-paying-attention-to-campus-free-speech/">proposal stalled in the Iowa</a>&nbsp;legislature.<h2>‘Double tax’</h2>Elmwood Sen. Rob Clements would eliminate the state’s inheritance tax by 2028 via his LB 1067, which has 24 co-sponsors.Nebraska is one of only five states that levy such a “death tax,” and eliminating it has become a prime target for tax cutters over the years and again in 2024.Clements said the inheritance tax amounts to a “double tax,” since property taxes are already paid on land and residence. It encourages retirees to move out of Nebraska, he said, so their descendants don’t have to pay the tax.He said that he knows of tax preparers who advise seniors nearing death to move out of the state.Right now, immediate relatives, such as a parent, sibling or child, pay a 1% inheritance tax on property they receive in excess of $100,000. But the tax rate climbs to up to 15% for the most remote relatives, and less is exempt.Nebraska counties have consistently defended the inheritance tax as a way to finance one-time capital improvement projects — such as bridges — and argue that if it goes away, a much more objectionable tax — property tax — will rise.Another aspect of Clements’ proposal would have the state reimburse counties $35 a day for any state prisoners held at a county jail, unless the state is short of funds.LB 1067 would allocate $3.9 million a year for the State Prisoner Reimbursement Act.<h2>Incentives for teachers</h2>Fremont Sen. Lynne Walz introduced two bills Monday to help address the state’s teacher shortage.LB 1052 would allow teachers at public and private schools to obtain up to $300 per year in reimbursement for purchases of classroom supplies.Walz, a former teacher, said it would be welcome help, especially for new teachers, who have to buy many of their own classroom supplies.Another proposal, LB 1053, would give veteran teachers a bonus if they stay on a few more years.The bill would provide up to five “extended-career retention grants” of $2,500 a year for such teachers who decline to retire.Walz said part of Nebraska’s teacher shortage is because of the exodus of experienced teachers from the profession.

Senators seek to eliminate tenure for college professors, end state inheritance tax

WASHINGTON (AP) — With&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a>&nbsp;listening intently in the courtroom, federal appeals court judges in Washington expressed deep skepticism Tuesday that the former president was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-jan-6-justice-department-special-counsel-f82dbd294cd7b963dd69f1ecdf90aded">immune from prosecution</a>&nbsp;on charges that he&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-indicted-jan-6-investigation-special-counsel-debb59bb7a4d9f93f7e2dace01feccdc">plotted to overturn the results</a>&nbsp;of the 2020 election.

The panel of three judges, two of whom were appointed by President Joe Biden, also questioned whether they had jurisdiction to consider the appeal at this point in the case, raising the prospect that Trump's appeal could be dispensed with on more procedural grounds.

During lengthy arguments, the judges repeatedly pressed Trump's lawyer to defend claims that&nbsp;<a href="https://projects.apnews.com/features/2023/trump-investigations-civil-criminal-tracker/index.html">Trump was shielded from criminal charges</a>&nbsp;for acts that he says fell within his official duties as president. That argument was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-capitol-riot-immunity-donald-trump-a98872759762c95fa925ff831df27388">rejected last month</a>&nbsp;by the lower-court judge overseeing the case against Trump, and the appeals judges suggested through their questions that they, too, were dubious that the Founding Fathers envisioned absolute immunity for presidents after they leave office.

“I think it’s paradoxical to say that his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed allows him to violate criminal law," said Judge Karen LeCraft Henderson, an appointee of former President George H.W. Bush.

The outcome could carry enormous ramifications both for the landmark criminal case against Trump and for the broader, and legally untested, question of whether an ex-president can be prosecuted for actions taken in the White House. It will also likely set the stage for further appeals before the U.S. Supreme Court, which last month&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-january-6-justice-department-90b93eeb663ebaf67a2e0bc266390fa0">declined a request to weigh in</a>&nbsp;but could still get involved later.

A swift decision is crucial for&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/jack-smith-special-counsel-prosecutor-donald-trump-garland-e1fdb71cfc258bc2be48a8b890a9269b">special counsel Jack Smith</a>&nbsp;and his team, who are eager to get the case —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-justice-department-january-6-appeal-20726ba42ac87cd2f3a3ffc6a2145490">now paused pending the appeal</a>&nbsp;— to trial before the November election. But Trump’s lawyers, in addition to seeking to get the case dismissed, are hoping to benefit from a protracted appeals process that could delay the trial well past its scheduled&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-jan-6-justice-department-indictment-1a5ae1a0ea35492e1e347e28867a7d3f">March 4 start date</a>, including until potentially after the election.

Underscoring the importance to both sides, Trump, the 2024 Republican presidential primary front-runner, attended Tuesday’s arguments even though the Iowa caucuses are just one week away and despite the fact that there’s no requirement that defendants appear in person for such proceedings. Making his first court appearance in Washington&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-indicted-jan-6-investigation-special-counsel-a79f2d3683c7591058635c9b3d870070">since his arraignment in August</a>, Trump sat at the defense table, watching closely and occasionally taking notes and speaking with his lawyers.

His appearance and his comments afterward underscored his broader effort to portray himself as the victim of a justice system he claims is politicized. Though there’s no evidence Biden has had any influence on the case, Trump’s argument could resonate with Republican voters in Iowa as they prepare to launch the presidential nomination process.

After the hearing, Trump spoke to reporters at The Waldorf-Astoria hotel, which used to be the Trump International Hotel, calling Tuesday “a very momentous day.” He insisted he did nothing wrong and claimed he was being prosecuted for political reasons.

“A president has to have immunity,” he said.

Former presidents enjoy broad immunity from lawsuits for actions taken as part of their official White House duties. But because no former president before Trump has ever been indicted, courts have never before addressed whether that protection extends to criminal prosecution.

Trump’s lawyers insist that it does, arguing that courts have no authority to scrutinize a president’s official acts and that the prosecution of their client represents a dramatic departure from more than two centuries of American history that would open the door to future politically motivated cases.

“To authorize the prosecution of a president for official acts would open a Pandora’s box from which this nation may never recover,” said D. John Sauer, a lawyer for Trump, asserting that, under the government's theory, presidents could be prosecuted for giving Congress “false information” to enter war or for authorizing drone strikes targeting U.S. citizens abroad.

He later added, “If a president has to look over his shoulder or her shoulder every time he or she has to make a controversial decision and wonder if ‘after I leave office, am I going to jail for this when my political opponents take power?’ that inevitably dampens the ability of the president.”

But the judges were skeptical about those arguments. Judges Henderson and Florence Pan noted the lawyer who represented Trump during his 2021 impeachment trial suggested that he could later face criminal prosecution, telling senators at the time: “We have a judicial process in this country. We have an investigative process in this country to which no former office holder is immune.”

“It seems that many senators relied on that in voting to acquit” Trump, Pan told Sauer.

Judge J. Michelle Childs also questioned why former President Richard Nixon would&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/rafael-nadal-today-in-history-covid-health-texas-6453a85999b1728c1fac461186b10774">need to be granted a pardon</a>&nbsp;in 1974 after the Watergate scandal if former presidents enjoy immunity from prosecution. Sauer replied that in Nixon's case, the conduct did not involve the same kind of “official acts” Trump's lawyers argue form the basis of his indictment.

Aside from the merits of the immunity claim, the judges jumped right into questioning Trump’s lawyer over whether the court has jurisdiction to hear the appeal at this time. Sauer said presidential immunity is clearly a claim that is meant to be reviewed before trial. Smith's team also said that it wants the court to decide the appeal now.

Smith's team maintains that presidents are not entitled to absolute immunity and that, in any event, the acts Trump is alleged in the indictment to have taken — including&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/capitol-siege-joe-biden-presidential-elections-election-2020-electoral-college-311f88768b65f7196f52a4757dc162e4">scheming to enlist fake electors</a>&nbsp;in battleground states won by Biden and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/pence-jan-6-trump-indictment-ab36fd360a0850562a07d1b404f15d69">pressing his vice president</a>, Mike Pence, to reject the counting of electoral votes on Jan. 6, 2021 — fall outside a president's official job duties.

“The president has a unique constitutional role but he is not above the law. Separation of powers principles, constitutional text, history, precedent and immunity doctrines all point to the conclusion that a former president enjoys no immunity from prosecution,” prosecutor James Pearce said, adding that a case in which a former president is alleged to have sought to overturn an election “is not the place to recognize some novel form of immunity.”

When Judge Henderson asked how the court could write its opinion in a way that wouldn't open the “floodgates” of investigations against ex-presidents, Pearce said he did not anticipate “a sea change of vindictive tit-for-tat prosecutions in the future.” He called the allegations against Trump fundamentally unprecedented.

“Never before has there been allegations that a sitting president has, with private individuals and using the levers of power, sought to fundamentally subvert the democratic republic and the electoral system," he said. "And frankly, if that kind of fact pattern arises again, I think it would be awfully scary if there weren’t some sort of mechanism by which to reach that criminally.”

It's not clear how quickly the panel from the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals from the D.C. Circuit will rule, though it has signaled that it intends to work quickly.

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan rejected the immunity arguments,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-capitol-riot-immunity-donald-trump-a98872759762c95fa925ff831df27388">ruling last month that the office of the presidency does not confer a “‘get-out-of-jail-free'" pass.</a>&nbsp;Trump's lawyers appealed that decision, but Smith's team, determined to keep the case on schedule, sought to leapfrog the appeals court by asking the Supreme Court to fast-track the immunity question. The justices declined to get involved.

The appeal is vital to a Trump strategy of trying to postpone the case until after the November election, when a victory could empower him to order the Justice Department to abandon the prosecution or even to seek a pardon for himself. He faces three other criminal cases, in state and federal court, though the Washington case is scheduled for trial first.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/10/1696279389839.png" alt="Trump file photo CSPAN" />
 <figcaption>Trump file photo CSPAN</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — With&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a>&nbsp;listening intently in the courtroom, federal appeals court judges in Washington expressed deep skepticism Tuesday that the former president was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-jan-6-justice-department-special-counsel-f82dbd294cd7b963dd69f1ecdf90aded">immune from prosecution</a>&nbsp;on charges that he&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-indicted-jan-6-investigation-special-counsel-debb59bb7a4d9f93f7e2dace01feccdc">plotted to overturn the results</a>&nbsp;of the 2020 election.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">LIVE --&gt; DC Circuit Court of Appeals Oral Argument on Former President Trump&#39;s Immunity Claims <a href="https://t.co/WN1Lrb7C9h">https://t.co/WN1Lrb7C9h</a>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1744728784652402768?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 9, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>The panel of three judges, two of whom were appointed by President Joe Biden, also questioned whether they had jurisdiction to consider the appeal at this point in the case, raising the prospect that Trump's appeal could be dispensed with on more procedural grounds.During lengthy arguments, the judges repeatedly pressed Trump's lawyer to defend claims that&nbsp;<a href="https://projects.apnews.com/features/2023/trump-investigations-civil-criminal-tracker/index.html">Trump was shielded from criminal charges</a>&nbsp;for acts that he says fell within his official duties as president. That argument was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-capitol-riot-immunity-donald-trump-a98872759762c95fa925ff831df27388">rejected last month</a>&nbsp;by the lower-court judge overseeing the case against Trump, and the appeals judges suggested through their questions that they, too, were dubious that the Founding Fathers envisioned absolute immunity for presidents after they leave office.“I think it’s paradoxical to say that his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed allows him to violate criminal law," said Judge Karen LeCraft Henderson, an appointee of former President George H.W. Bush.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Judge Pan: Could a president who ordered SEAL Team 6 to assassinate a political rival, who was not impeached, would he be subject to a criminal prosecution? John Sauer: If he were impeached and convicted first. Pan: So, your answer is no? Sauer: My answer is qualified yes. <a href="https://t.co/cAiunKxOwl">pic.twitter.com/cAiunKxOwl</a>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1744753750298779993?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 9, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>The outcome could carry enormous ramifications both for the landmark criminal case against Trump and for the broader, and legally untested, question of whether an ex-president can be prosecuted for actions taken in the White House. It will also likely set the stage for further appeals before the U.S. Supreme Court, which last month&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-january-6-justice-department-90b93eeb663ebaf67a2e0bc266390fa0">declined a request to weigh in</a>&nbsp;but could still get involved later.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Judge Pan: &quot;If President Trump had been convicted when he was previously impeached on same or related conduct...the government could properly prosecute him for that same or related conduct, yes or no? John Sauer, attorney for former President Donald Trump: &quot;Potentially...&quot; <a href="https://t.co/F4H8rhbdJ6">pic.twitter.com/F4H8rhbdJ6</a>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1744753202807898461?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 9, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>A swift decision is crucial for&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/jack-smith-special-counsel-prosecutor-donald-trump-garland-e1fdb71cfc258bc2be48a8b890a9269b">special counsel Jack Smith</a>&nbsp;and his team, who are eager to get the case —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-justice-department-january-6-appeal-20726ba42ac87cd2f3a3ffc6a2145490">now paused pending the appeal</a>&nbsp;— to trial before the November election. But Trump’s lawyers, in addition to seeking to get the case dismissed, are hoping to benefit from a protracted appeals process that could delay the trial well past its scheduled&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-jan-6-justice-department-indictment-1a5ae1a0ea35492e1e347e28867a7d3f">March 4 start date</a>, including until potentially after the election.Underscoring the importance to both sides, Trump, the 2024 Republican presidential primary front-runner, attended Tuesday’s arguments even though the Iowa caucuses are just one week away and despite the fact that there’s no requirement that defendants appear in person for such proceedings. Making his first court appearance in Washington&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-indicted-jan-6-investigation-special-counsel-a79f2d3683c7591058635c9b3d870070">since his arraignment in August</a>, Trump sat at the defense table, watching closely and occasionally taking notes and speaking with his lawyers.His appearance and his comments afterward underscored his broader effort to portray himself as the victim of a justice system he claims is politicized. Though there’s no evidence Biden has had any influence on the case, Trump’s argument could resonate with Republican voters in Iowa as they prepare to launch the presidential nomination process.After the hearing, Trump spoke to reporters at The Waldorf-Astoria hotel, which used to be the Trump International Hotel, calling Tuesday “a very momentous day.” He insisted he did nothing wrong and claimed he was being prosecuted for political reasons.“A president has to have immunity,” he said.Former presidents enjoy broad immunity from lawsuits for actions taken as part of their official White House duties. But because no former president before Trump has ever been indicted, courts have never before addressed whether that protection extends to criminal prosecution.Trump’s lawyers insist that it does, arguing that courts have no authority to scrutinize a president’s official acts and that the prosecution of their client represents a dramatic departure from more than two centuries of American history that would open the door to future politically motivated cases.“To authorize the prosecution of a president for official acts would open a Pandora’s box from which this nation may never recover,” said D. John Sauer, a lawyer for Trump, asserting that, under the government's theory, presidents could be prosecuted for giving Congress “false information” to enter war or for authorizing drone strikes targeting U.S. citizens abroad.He later added, “If a president has to look over his shoulder or her shoulder every time he or she has to make a controversial decision and wonder if ‘after I leave office, am I going to jail for this when my political opponents take power?’ that inevitably dampens the ability of the president.”But the judges were skeptical about those arguments. Judges Henderson and Florence Pan noted the lawyer who represented Trump during his 2021 impeachment trial suggested that he could later face criminal prosecution, telling senators at the time: “We have a judicial process in this country. We have an investigative process in this country to which no former office holder is immune.”“It seems that many senators relied on that in voting to acquit” Trump, Pan told Sauer.Judge J. Michelle Childs also questioned why former President Richard Nixon would&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/rafael-nadal-today-in-history-covid-health-texas-6453a85999b1728c1fac461186b10774">need to be granted a pardon</a>&nbsp;in 1974 after the Watergate scandal if former presidents enjoy immunity from prosecution. Sauer replied that in Nixon's case, the conduct did not involve the same kind of “official acts” Trump's lawyers argue form the basis of his indictment.Aside from the merits of the immunity claim, the judges jumped right into questioning Trump’s lawyer over whether the court has jurisdiction to hear the appeal at this time. Sauer said presidential immunity is clearly a claim that is meant to be reviewed before trial. Smith's team also said that it wants the court to decide the appeal now.Smith's team maintains that presidents are not entitled to absolute immunity and that, in any event, the acts Trump is alleged in the indictment to have taken — including&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/capitol-siege-joe-biden-presidential-elections-election-2020-electoral-college-311f88768b65f7196f52a4757dc162e4">scheming to enlist fake electors</a>&nbsp;in battleground states won by Biden and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/pence-jan-6-trump-indictment-ab36fd360a0850562a07d1b404f15d69">pressing his vice president</a>, Mike Pence, to reject the counting of electoral votes on Jan. 6, 2021 — fall outside a president's official job duties.“The president has a unique constitutional role but he is not above the law. Separation of powers principles, constitutional text, history, precedent and immunity doctrines all point to the conclusion that a former president enjoys no immunity from prosecution,” prosecutor James Pearce said, adding that a case in which a former president is alleged to have sought to overturn an election “is not the place to recognize some novel form of immunity.”When Judge Henderson asked how the court could write its opinion in a way that wouldn't open the “floodgates” of investigations against ex-presidents, Pearce said he did not anticipate “a sea change of vindictive tit-for-tat prosecutions in the future.” He called the allegations against Trump fundamentally unprecedented.“Never before has there been allegations that a sitting president has, with private individuals and using the levers of power, sought to fundamentally subvert the democratic republic and the electoral system," he said. "And frankly, if that kind of fact pattern arises again, I think it would be awfully scary if there weren’t some sort of mechanism by which to reach that criminally.”It's not clear how quickly the panel from the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals from the D.C. Circuit will rule, though it has signaled that it intends to work quickly.U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan rejected the immunity arguments,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-capitol-riot-immunity-donald-trump-a98872759762c95fa925ff831df27388">ruling last month that the office of the presidency does not confer a “‘get-out-of-jail-free'" pass.</a>&nbsp;Trump's lawyers appealed that decision, but Smith's team, determined to keep the case on schedule, sought to leapfrog the appeals court by asking the Supreme Court to fast-track the immunity question. The justices declined to get involved.The appeal is vital to a Trump strategy of trying to postpone the case until after the November election, when a victory could empower him to order the Justice Department to abandon the prosecution or even to seek a pardon for himself. He faces three other criminal cases, in state and federal court, though the Washington case is scheduled for trial first.

🎧 Judges express skepticism of claims that Trump immune from prosecution

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The first U.S. moon landing attempt in more than 50 years appeared to be doomed after a private company's spacecraft developed a “critical” fuel leak just hours after Monday's launch.

Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic Technology managed to orient its lander toward the sun so the solar panel could collect sunlight and charge its battery, as a special team assessed the status of what was termed “a failure in the propulsion system.”

It soon became apparent, however, that there was “a critical loss of fuel," further dimming hope for what had been a planned moon landing on Feb. 23.

Late Monday, the company said the leak was continuing and estimated that the lander would start losing solar power in about 40 hours.

The trouble was reported about seven hours after Monday’s predawn liftoff from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket provided the lift for Astrobotic’s lander, named Peregrine, putting it on a long, roundabout path to the moon.

A propulsion system problem “threatens the ability of the spacecraft to soft land on the moon," the company said. The lander is equipped with engines and thrusters for maneuvering, not only during the cruise to the moon but for lunar descent.

Astrobotic released a photo from a lander-mounted camera, which the company said showed a “disturbance” in a section of thermal insulation. That aligns with what is known so far of the problem, the company said.

Astrobotic was aiming to be the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/moon-landings-nasa-private-ffb85d2a092df8d32c0494811e6691f5">first private business to successfully land</a>&nbsp;on the moon, something only four countries have accomplished. A second lander from a Houston company is due to launch next month. NASA gave the two companies millions to build and fly their own lunar landers.

The space agency wants the privately owned landers to scope out the place before astronauts arrive while delivering tech and science experiments for the space agency, other countries and universities as well as odds and ends for other customers. Astrobotic's contract with NASA for the Peregrine lander was $108 million and it has more in the pipeline.

Before the flight, NASA’s Joel Kearns, deputy associate administrator for exploration, noted that while using private companies to make deliveries to the moon will be cheaper and quicker than going the usual government route, there will be added risk. He stressed that the space agency was willing to accept that risk, noting Monday: “Each success and setback are opportunities to learn and grow.”

The last time the U.S. launched a moon-landing mission was in December 1972. Apollo 17’s Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt became the 11th and 12th men to walk on the moon, closing out an era that has remained NASA’s pinnacle.

The space agency’s new Artemis program — named after the twin sister of Apollo in Greek mythology — looks to return astronauts to the moon’s surface within the next few years. First will be a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-artemis-moon-astronauts-nasa-2a77d4260beb9b875aabc0bce9a3d80e">lunar fly-around with four astronauts</a>, possibly before the end of the year.

Highlighting Monday's moonshot was the long-delayed initial test flight of the Vulcan rocket. The 202-foot (61-meter) rocket is essentially an upgraded version of ULA’s hugely successful workhorse Atlas V, which is being phased out along with the company’s Delta IV. Jeff Bezos' rocket company, Blue Origin, provided the Vulcan's two main engines.

ULA declared success once the lander was free of the rocket's upper stage, nearly an hour into the flight and before the spacecraft's propulsion system malfunctioned and prevented the solar panel from properly pointing toward the sun.

Landing on the moon has long been a series of hits and misses. The Soviet Union and the U.S. racked up a string of successful moon landings in the 1960s and 70s, before putting touchdowns on pause. China joined the elite club in 2013 and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/india-spacecraft-chandrayaan-moon-landing-b31109bb08197f33b829e7a6e4edfc6d">India in 2023</a>. But last year also saw&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-space-roscosmos-crash-658f5118c34cfa0f1501cc7522074323">landers from Russia</a>&nbsp;and a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/moon-lunar-landing-crash-japan-32230ba28a3c41824ec4ee9ed7d6ed4c">private Japanese company</a>&nbsp;slam into the moon. An Israeli nonprofit crashed in 2019.

Next month, SpaceX will provide the lift for a lander from Intuitive Machines. The Houston company's Nova-C lander takes a more direct one-week route to the moon.

Besides flying experiments for NASA, Astrobotic drummed up its own freight business, packing the 6-foot-tall (1.9-meter-tall) Peregrine lander. On board the lander: a chip of rock from Mount Everest, toy-size cars from Mexico and ashes and DNA of deceased space enthusiasts, including “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry and science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke.

The Navajo Nation recently sought to have the launch delayed because of the human remains. saying it would be a “profound desecration” of a celestial body revered by Native Americans. Astrobotic chief executive John Thornton said the December objections came too late but promised to try to find “a good path forward” with the Navajo for future missions.

One of the spaceflight memorial companies that bought room on the lander, Celestis, said in a statement that no single culture or religion owns the moon and should not be able to veto a mission. More remains are on the rocket’s upper stage, which was boosted into a perpetual orbit around the sun reaching as far out as Mars.

Cargo fares for Peregrine ranged from a few hundred dollars to $1.2 million per kilogram (2.2 pounds), not nearly enough for Astrobotic to break even. But for the first flight, that's not the point, according to Thornton.

“A lot of people’s dreams and hopes are riding on this,” Thornton said days before the flight.

“We are currently assessing what alternative mission profiles may be feasible at this time,” the company said in a statement.

The problem was reported about seven hours after Monday’s predawn liftoff from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket provided the lift for Astrobotic’s lander, named Peregrine, putting it on a long, roundabout path to the moon.

Highlighting Monday's moonshot was the long-delayed initial test flight of the Vulcan rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The 202-foot (61-meter) rocket is essentially an upgraded version of ULA’s hugely successful workhorse Atlas V, which is being phased out along with the company’s Delta IV. Jeff Bezos' rocket company, Blue Origin, provided the Vulcan's two main engines.

Next month, SpaceX will provide the lift for a lander from Intuitive Machines. The Nova-C lander's more direct one-week route could see both spacecraft attempting to land within days or even hours of one another.

Besides flying experiments for NASA, Astrobotic drummed up its own freight business, packing the 6-foot-tall (1.9-meter-tall) Peregrine lander with everything from a chip of rock from Mount Everest and toy-size cars from Mexico that will catapult to the lunar surface and cruise around, to the ashes and DNA of deceased space enthusiasts, including “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry and science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke.

Cargo fares for Peregrine ranged from a few hundred dollars to $1.2 million per kilogram (2.2 pounds), not nearly enough for Astrobotic to break even. But for this first flight, that's not the point, according to Thornton.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The first U.S. lunar lander in more than 50 years rocketed to space Monday, launching a race for private companies to deliver experiments and other items to the moon.

But about seven hours after liftoff, Astrobotic Technology reported the solar panel on the lander wasn’t properly pointed toward the sun to generate and store power and it was investigating the issue.

The Pittsburgh company's lander caught a ride on a brand new rocket, United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan. The Vulcan streaked through the Florida predawn sky, putting the spacecraft on a roundabout route to the moon for a landing attempt on Feb. 23.

The company aims to be the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/moon-landings-nasa-private-ffb85d2a092df8d32c0494811e6691f5">first private business to successfully land</a>&nbsp;on the moon, something only four countries have accomplished. But a Houston company also has a lander ready to fly, and could beat it to the lunar surface, taking a more direct path.

NASA gave the two companies millions to build and fly their own lunar landers. The space agency wants the privately owned landers to scope out the place before astronauts arrive while delivering tech and science experiments for NASA, other countries and universities as well as odds and ends for other customers. Astrobotic's contract for the Peregrine lander: $108 million.

ULA declared success once the lander was free of the rocket's upper stage, nearly an hour into the flight and before the power trouble. “Yee-haw!” shouted chief executive Tory Bruno. "I am so thrilled, I can’t tell you how much.”

The Soviet Union and the U.S. racked up a string of successful moon landings in the 1960s and 70s, before putting touchdowns on pause. China joined the elite club in 2013 and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/india-spacecraft-chandrayaan-moon-landing-b31109bb08197f33b829e7a6e4edfc6d">India in 2023</a>. But last year also saw&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-space-roscosmos-crash-658f5118c34cfa0f1501cc7522074323">landers from Russia</a>&nbsp;and a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/moon-lunar-landing-crash-japan-32230ba28a3c41824ec4ee9ed7d6ed4c">private Japanese company</a>&nbsp;slam into the moon. An Israeli nonprofit crashed in 2019.

The hourlong descent to the lunar surface — by far the biggest challenge — will be “exciting, nail-biting, terrifying all at once,” Thornton said.

The Navajo Nation recently sought to have the launch delayed because of the human remains. saying it would be a “profound desecration” of a celestial body revered by Native Americans. Thornton said the December objections came too late but promised to try to find “a good path forward” with the Navajo for future missions.

“A lot of people’s dreams and hopes are riding on this,” he said.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/1/1704729504881.png" alt="-As part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative, Astrobotic’s Peregrine lander launched on United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) Vulcan rocket at 2:18 a.m. EST from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.-photo courtesy&nbsp; United Launch Alliance and NASA" />
 <figcaption>-As part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative, Astrobotic’s Peregrine lander launched on United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) Vulcan rocket at 2:18 a.m. EST from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.-photo courtesy&nbsp; United Launch Alliance and NASA</figcaption>
 </figure>CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The first U.S. moon landing attempt in more than 50 years appeared to be doomed after a private company's spacecraft developed a “critical” fuel leak just hours after Monday's launch.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">We have liftoff! The first American commercial robotic launch to the Moon will deliver science instruments to study its surface, a critical part of preparing for future <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Artemis?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Artemis</a> missions. <a href="https://t.co/KoOZjXvqjD">https://t.co/KoOZjXvqjD</a> <a href="https://t.co/Vo2Dnn6TwA">pic.twitter.com/Vo2Dnn6TwA</a>&mdash; NASA (@NASA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NASA/status/1744258330472726830?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 8, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic Technology managed to orient its lander toward the sun so the solar panel could collect sunlight and charge its battery, as a special team assessed the status of what was termed “a failure in the propulsion system.”It soon became apparent, however, that there was “a critical loss of fuel," further dimming hope for what had been a planned moon landing on Feb. 23.Late Monday, the company said the leak was continuing and estimated that the lander would start losing solar power in about 40 hours.The trouble was reported about seven hours after Monday’s predawn liftoff from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket provided the lift for Astrobotic’s lander, named Peregrine, putting it on a long, roundabout path to the moon.A propulsion system problem “threatens the ability of the spacecraft to soft land on the moon," the company said. The lander is equipped with engines and thrusters for maneuvering, not only during the cruise to the moon but for lunar descent.Astrobotic released a photo from a lander-mounted camera, which the company said showed a “disturbance” in a section of thermal insulation. That aligns with what is known so far of the problem, the company said.Astrobotic was aiming to be the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/moon-landings-nasa-private-ffb85d2a092df8d32c0494811e6691f5">first private business to successfully land</a>&nbsp;on the moon, something only four countries have accomplished. A second lander from a Houston company is due to launch next month. NASA gave the two companies millions to build and fly their own lunar landers.The space agency wants the privately owned landers to scope out the place before astronauts arrive while delivering tech and science experiments for the space agency, other countries and universities as well as odds and ends for other customers. Astrobotic's contract with NASA for the Peregrine lander was $108 million and it has more in the pipeline.Before the flight, NASA’s Joel Kearns, deputy associate administrator for exploration, noted that while using private companies to make deliveries to the moon will be cheaper and quicker than going the usual government route, there will be added risk. He stressed that the space agency was willing to accept that risk, noting Monday: “Each success and setback are opportunities to learn and grow.”The last time the U.S. launched a moon-landing mission was in December 1972. Apollo 17’s Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt became the 11th and 12th men to walk on the moon, closing out an era that has remained NASA’s pinnacle.The space agency’s new Artemis program — named after the twin sister of Apollo in Greek mythology — looks to return astronauts to the moon’s surface within the next few years. First will be a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-artemis-moon-astronauts-nasa-2a77d4260beb9b875aabc0bce9a3d80e">lunar fly-around with four astronauts</a>, possibly before the end of the year.Highlighting Monday's moonshot was the long-delayed initial test flight of the Vulcan rocket. The 202-foot (61-meter) rocket is essentially an upgraded version of ULA’s hugely successful workhorse Atlas V, which is being phased out along with the company’s Delta IV. Jeff Bezos' rocket company, Blue Origin, provided the Vulcan's two main engines.ULA declared success once the lander was free of the rocket's upper stage, nearly an hour into the flight and before the spacecraft's propulsion system malfunctioned and prevented the solar panel from properly pointing toward the sun.Landing on the moon has long been a series of hits and misses. The Soviet Union and the U.S. racked up a string of successful moon landings in the 1960s and 70s, before putting touchdowns on pause. China joined the elite club in 2013 and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/india-spacecraft-chandrayaan-moon-landing-b31109bb08197f33b829e7a6e4edfc6d">India in 2023</a>. But last year also saw&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-space-roscosmos-crash-658f5118c34cfa0f1501cc7522074323">landers from Russia</a>&nbsp;and a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/moon-lunar-landing-crash-japan-32230ba28a3c41824ec4ee9ed7d6ed4c">private Japanese company</a>&nbsp;slam into the moon. An Israeli nonprofit crashed in 2019.Next month, SpaceX will provide the lift for a lander from Intuitive Machines. The Houston company's Nova-C lander takes a more direct one-week route to the moon.Besides flying experiments for NASA, Astrobotic drummed up its own freight business, packing the 6-foot-tall (1.9-meter-tall) Peregrine lander. On board the lander: a chip of rock from Mount Everest, toy-size cars from Mexico and ashes and DNA of deceased space enthusiasts, including “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry and science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke.The Navajo Nation recently sought to have the launch delayed because of the human remains. saying it would be a “profound desecration” of a celestial body revered by Native Americans. Astrobotic chief executive John Thornton said the December objections came too late but promised to try to find “a good path forward” with the Navajo for future missions.One of the spaceflight memorial companies that bought room on the lander, Celestis, said in a statement that no single culture or religion owns the moon and should not be able to veto a mission. More remains are on the rocket’s upper stage, which was boosted into a perpetual orbit around the sun reaching as far out as Mars.Cargo fares for Peregrine ranged from a few hundred dollars to $1.2 million per kilogram (2.2 pounds), not nearly enough for Astrobotic to break even. But for the first flight, that's not the point, according to Thornton.“A lot of people’s dreams and hopes are riding on this,” Thornton said days before the flight.___CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The first U.S. moon landing attempt in more than 50 years appeared to be doomed after a private company's spacecraft developed a “critical” fuel leak just hours after Monday's launch.Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic Technology managed to orient its lander toward the sun so the solar panel could collect sunlight and charge its battery, as a special team assessed the status of what was termed “a failure in the propulsion system.”It soon became apparent, however, that there was “a critical loss of fuel," further dimming hope for what had been a planned moon landing on Feb. 23.“We are currently assessing what alternative mission profiles may be feasible at this time,” the company said in a statement.The problem was reported about seven hours after Monday’s predawn liftoff from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket provided the lift for Astrobotic’s lander, named Peregrine, putting it on a long, roundabout path to the moon.A propulsion system problem “threatens the ability of the spacecraft to soft land on the moon," the company said. The lander is equipped with engines and thrusters for maneuvering, not only during the cruise to the moon but for lunar descent.Astrobotic was aiming to be the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/moon-landings-nasa-private-ffb85d2a092df8d32c0494811e6691f5">first private business to successfully land</a>&nbsp;on the moon, something only four countries have accomplished. A second lander from a Houston company is due to launch next month. NASA gave the two companies millions to build and fly their own lunar landers.The space agency wants the privately owned landers to scope out the place before astronauts arrive while delivering tech and science experiments for the space agency, other countries and universities as well as odds and ends for other customers. Astrobotic's contract with NASA for the Peregrine lander was $108 million and it has more in the pipeline.Before the flight, NASA’s Joel Kearns, deputy associate administrator for exploration, noted that while using private companies to make deliveries to the moon will be cheaper and quicker than going the usual government route, there will be added risk. He stressed that the space agency was willing to accept that risk, noting Monday: “Each success and setback are opportunities to learn and grow.”The last time the U.S. launched a moon-landing mission was in December 1972. Apollo 17’s Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt became the 11th and 12th men to walk on the moon, closing out an era that has remained NASA’s pinnacle.The space agency’s new Artemis program — named after the twin sister of Apollo in Greek mythology — looks to return astronauts to the moon’s surface within the next few years. First will be a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-artemis-moon-astronauts-nasa-2a77d4260beb9b875aabc0bce9a3d80e">lunar fly-around with four astronauts</a>, possibly before the end of the year.Highlighting Monday's moonshot was the long-delayed initial test flight of the Vulcan rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The 202-foot (61-meter) rocket is essentially an upgraded version of ULA’s hugely successful workhorse Atlas V, which is being phased out along with the company’s Delta IV. Jeff Bezos' rocket company, Blue Origin, provided the Vulcan's two main engines.ULA declared success once the lander was free of the rocket's upper stage, nearly an hour into the flight and before the spacecraft's propulsion system malfunctioned and prevented the solar panel from properly pointing toward the sun.Landing on the moon has long been a series of hits and misses. The Soviet Union and the U.S. racked up a string of successful moon landings in the 1960s and 70s, before putting touchdowns on pause. China joined the elite club in 2013 and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/india-spacecraft-chandrayaan-moon-landing-b31109bb08197f33b829e7a6e4edfc6d">India in 2023</a>. But last year also saw&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-space-roscosmos-crash-658f5118c34cfa0f1501cc7522074323">landers from Russia</a>&nbsp;and a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/moon-lunar-landing-crash-japan-32230ba28a3c41824ec4ee9ed7d6ed4c">private Japanese company</a>&nbsp;slam into the moon. An Israeli nonprofit crashed in 2019.Next month, SpaceX will provide the lift for a lander from Intuitive Machines. The Nova-C lander's more direct one-week route could see both spacecraft attempting to land within days or even hours of one another.Besides flying experiments for NASA, Astrobotic drummed up its own freight business, packing the 6-foot-tall (1.9-meter-tall) Peregrine lander with everything from a chip of rock from Mount Everest and toy-size cars from Mexico that will catapult to the lunar surface and cruise around, to the ashes and DNA of deceased space enthusiasts, including “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry and science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke.The Navajo Nation recently sought to have the launch delayed because of the human remains. saying it would be a “profound desecration” of a celestial body revered by Native Americans. Astrobotic chief executive John Thornton said the December objections came too late but promised to try to find “a good path forward” with the Navajo for future missions.One of the spaceflight memorial companies that bought room on the lander, Celestis, said in a statement that no single culture or religion owns the moon and should not be able to veto a mission. More remains are on the rocket’s upper stage, which was boosted into a perpetual orbit around the sun reaching as far out as Mars.Cargo fares for Peregrine ranged from a few hundred dollars to $1.2 million per kilogram (2.2 pounds), not nearly enough for Astrobotic to break even. But for this first flight, that's not the point, according to Thornton.“A lot of people’s dreams and hopes are riding on this,” Thornton said days before the flight.-----------------CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The first U.S. lunar lander in more than 50 years rocketed to space Monday, launching a race for private companies to deliver experiments and other items to the moon.But about seven hours after liftoff, Astrobotic Technology reported the solar panel on the lander wasn’t properly pointed toward the sun to generate and store power and it was investigating the issue.The Pittsburgh company's lander caught a ride on a brand new rocket, United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan. The Vulcan streaked through the Florida predawn sky, putting the spacecraft on a roundabout route to the moon for a landing attempt on Feb. 23.The company aims to be the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/moon-landings-nasa-private-ffb85d2a092df8d32c0494811e6691f5">first private business to successfully land</a>&nbsp;on the moon, something only four countries have accomplished. But a Houston company also has a lander ready to fly, and could beat it to the lunar surface, taking a more direct path.NASA gave the two companies millions to build and fly their own lunar landers. The space agency wants the privately owned landers to scope out the place before astronauts arrive while delivering tech and science experiments for NASA, other countries and universities as well as odds and ends for other customers. Astrobotic's contract for the Peregrine lander: $108 million.The last time the U.S. launched a moon-landing mission was in December 1972. Apollo 17’s Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt became the 11th and 12th men to walk on the moon, closing out an era that has remained NASA’s pinnacle.The space agency’s new Artemis program — named after the twin sister of Apollo in Greek mythology — looks to return astronauts to the moon’s surface within the next few years. First will be a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-artemis-moon-astronauts-nasa-2a77d4260beb9b875aabc0bce9a3d80e">lunar fly-around with four astronauts</a>, possibly before the end of the year.Highlighting Monday's moonshot was the long-delayed initial test flight of the Vulcan rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The 202-foot (61-meter) rocket is essentially an upgraded version of ULA’s hugely successful workhorse Atlas V, which is being phased out along with the company’s Delta IV. Jeff Bezos' rocket company, Blue Origin, provided the Vulcan's two main engines.ULA declared success once the lander was free of the rocket's upper stage, nearly an hour into the flight and before the power trouble. “Yee-haw!” shouted chief executive Tory Bruno. "I am so thrilled, I can’t tell you how much.”The Soviet Union and the U.S. racked up a string of successful moon landings in the 1960s and 70s, before putting touchdowns on pause. China joined the elite club in 2013 and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/india-spacecraft-chandrayaan-moon-landing-b31109bb08197f33b829e7a6e4edfc6d">India in 2023</a>. But last year also saw&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-space-roscosmos-crash-658f5118c34cfa0f1501cc7522074323">landers from Russia</a>&nbsp;and a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/moon-lunar-landing-crash-japan-32230ba28a3c41824ec4ee9ed7d6ed4c">private Japanese company</a>&nbsp;slam into the moon. An Israeli nonprofit crashed in 2019.Next month, SpaceX will provide the lift for a lander from Intuitive Machines. The Nova-C lander's more direct one-week route could see both spacecraft attempting to land within days or even hours of one another.The hourlong descent to the lunar surface — by far the biggest challenge — will be “exciting, nail-biting, terrifying all at once,” Thornton said.Besides flying experiments for NASA, Astrobotic drummed up its own freight business, packing the 6-foot-tall (1.9-meter-tall) Peregrine lander with everything from a chip of rock from Mount Everest and toy-size cars from Mexico that will catapult to the lunar surface and cruise around, to the ashes and DNA of deceased space enthusiasts, including “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry and science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke.The Navajo Nation recently sought to have the launch delayed because of the human remains. saying it would be a “profound desecration” of a celestial body revered by Native Americans. Thornton said the December objections came too late but promised to try to find “a good path forward” with the Navajo for future missions.One of the spaceflight memorial companies that bought room on the lander, Celestis, said in a statement that no single culture or religion owns the moon and should not be able to veto a mission. More remains are on the rocket’s upper stage, which was boosted into a perpetual orbit around the sun reaching as far out as Mars.Cargo fares for Peregrine ranged from a few hundred dollars to $1.2 million per kilogram (2.2 pounds), not nearly enough for Astrobotic to break even. But for this first flight, that's not the point, according to Thornton.“A lot of people’s dreams and hopes are riding on this,” he said.

🎥First moon landing mission in decades doomed; fuel leak continues

ROME (AP) —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/pope-francis">Pope Francis</a>&nbsp;called Monday for a universal ban on what he called the “despicable” practice of surrogate motherhood, as he included the “commercialization” of pregnancy in an annual speech listing threats to global peace and human dignity.

In a foreign policy address to ambassadors accredited to the Holy See, Francis lamented that 2024 had dawned at a time in which peace is “increasingly threatened, weakened and in some part lost.”

Citing&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine">Russia’s war in Ukraine</a>, the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war">Israel-Hamas war</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/migration">the issue of migration</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/vatican-pope-climate-dubai-un-c5cb4096202a117b34ca3d2d4a1b9e72">climate crises</a>&nbsp;and the “immoral” production of nuclear and conventional weapons, Francis delivered a list of the ills afflicting humanity and the increasing violation of international humanitarian law that allows them.

But Francis also listed smaller-scale issues that he said were threats to peace and human dignity, including surrogacy. He said the life of the unborn child must be protected and not “suppressed or turned into an object of trafficking.”

“I consider despicable the practice of so-called surrogate motherhood, which represents a grave violation of the dignity of the woman and the child, based on the exploitation of situations of the mother’s material needs,” he said.

Saying a child is a gift and “never the basis of a commercial contract,” he called for a global ban on surrogacy "to prohibit this practice universally.”

Vatican teaching opposes in vitro fertilization, and Francis has previously voiced the Roman Catholic Church’s opposition to surrogacy, or what he has called “uterus for rent." At the same time, however, the Vatican’s doctrine office has made clear that same-sex parents who resort to surrogacy can have their children baptized.

While commercial surrogacy contracts are common in the United States, including protections for the mothers, guarantees of independent legal representation and medical coverage, they are banned in parts of Europe, including Spain and Italy.

Russia’s war in Ukraine, and the threat to babies born to surrogate Ukrainian mothers, exposed the country’s thriving industry. Ukraine is one of the few countries that allow surrogacy for foreigners.

Critics say commercial surrogacy targets women who are poor and from vulnerable communities. Supporters say surrogacy gives women a chance to provide children to childless couples, and that commercial contracts protect both the surrogates and the intended parents.

On Monday, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops quoted Francis' words in explaining why the Catholic Church teaches that surrogacy “is not morally permissible.”

"Instead, we should pray for, and work towards, a world that upholds the profound dignity of every person, at every stage and in every circumstance of life,” spokesperson Chieko Noguchi said.

In his geopolitical roundup, Francis&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/pope-russia-ukraine-war-vatican-imperial-b82bfb9185f0fc8062c43927a2b058b0">singled out Russia by name</a>&nbsp;in noting the “large-scale war waged by the Russian Federation against Ukraine." It marked an unusual break with Francis’ usual tendency to spare Moscow direct and public blame for the invasion when expressing solidarity with the Ukrainian people.

Francis was more balanced in his&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/pope-francis-israel-hostages-palestinian-prisoners-deal-cffb5f90396c4f410b6af8cd954df0dd">lament of Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza,</a>&nbsp;condemning Hamas’ Oct. 7 assault on southern Israel “and every instance of terrorism and extremism.” At the same time, he said the attack provoked a “strong Israeli military response” that had left thousands dead and created a humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

He called for an immediate cease-fire, including in Lebanon, and the liberation of hostages held in Gaza, and reiterated the Holy See’s position seeking a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians and an internationally guaranteed special status for Jerusalem.

— Lamented various humanitarian and refugee crises in Africa, and without naming names blasted military coups and elections in several African countries marked by “corruption, intimidation and violence.”

— Called for a “respectful diplomatic dialogue” with the Nicaraguan government to resolve what he called a “protracted crisis.” The government’s&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/religion-caribbean-nicaragua-daniel-ortega-a445a59fd605f8089c5e661cb66c2773">crackdown on the Catholic Church</a>&nbsp;has resulted in the detention of dozens of priests and bishops. The government has accused the church of aiding popular protests against his administration that he considered an attempted coup.

— Called for the resumption, as early as possible, of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/iran-nuclear-program-enriched-uranium-1ec34491e5500afdb6f7ed964790d8fa">Iran nuclear talks</a>&nbsp;“to ensure a safer future for all.” Last month, the International Atomic Energy Agency said Iran had increased the rate at which it is producing near-weapons-grade uranium, reversing a previous slowdown.

Francis also said that the “manufacturing” of nuclear weapons was just as immoral as the possession and use of them. Francis has already changed church teaching to include the possession of nuclear weapons as inadmissible, but on Monday he included the production of such weapons as part of his overall criticism of the weapons industry.

“Perhaps we need to realize more clearly that civilian victims are not ‘collateral damage’ (of war) but men and women, with names and surnames, who lost their lives,” he said. “They are children who are orphaned and deprived of their future.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/10/1603292366279.png" alt="Pope image courtesy CSPAN" />
 <figcaption>Pope image courtesy CSPAN</figcaption>
 </figure>ROME (AP) —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/pope-francis">Pope Francis</a>&nbsp;called Monday for a universal ban on what he called the “despicable” practice of surrogate motherhood, as he included the “commercialization” of pregnancy in an annual speech listing threats to global peace and human dignity.In a foreign policy address to ambassadors accredited to the Holy See, Francis lamented that 2024 had dawned at a time in which peace is “increasingly threatened, weakened and in some part lost.”Citing&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine">Russia’s war in Ukraine</a>, the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war">Israel-Hamas war</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/migration">the issue of migration</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/vatican-pope-climate-dubai-un-c5cb4096202a117b34ca3d2d4a1b9e72">climate crises</a>&nbsp;and the “immoral” production of nuclear and conventional weapons, Francis delivered a list of the ills afflicting humanity and the increasing violation of international humanitarian law that allows them.But Francis also listed smaller-scale issues that he said were threats to peace and human dignity, including surrogacy. He said the life of the unborn child must be protected and not “suppressed or turned into an object of trafficking.”“I consider despicable the practice of so-called surrogate motherhood, which represents a grave violation of the dignity of the woman and the child, based on the exploitation of situations of the mother’s material needs,” he said.Saying a child is a gift and “never the basis of a commercial contract,” he called for a global ban on surrogacy "to prohibit this practice universally.”Vatican teaching opposes in vitro fertilization, and Francis has previously voiced the Roman Catholic Church’s opposition to surrogacy, or what he has called “uterus for rent." At the same time, however, the Vatican’s doctrine office has made clear that same-sex parents who resort to surrogacy can have their children baptized.While commercial surrogacy contracts are common in the United States, including protections for the mothers, guarantees of independent legal representation and medical coverage, they are banned in parts of Europe, including Spain and Italy.Russia’s war in Ukraine, and the threat to babies born to surrogate Ukrainian mothers, exposed the country’s thriving industry. Ukraine is one of the few countries that allow surrogacy for foreigners.Critics say commercial surrogacy targets women who are poor and from vulnerable communities. Supporters say surrogacy gives women a chance to provide children to childless couples, and that commercial contracts protect both the surrogates and the intended parents.On Monday, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops quoted Francis' words in explaining why the Catholic Church teaches that surrogacy “is not morally permissible.”"Instead, we should pray for, and work towards, a world that upholds the profound dignity of every person, at every stage and in every circumstance of life,” spokesperson Chieko Noguchi said.In his geopolitical roundup, Francis&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/pope-russia-ukraine-war-vatican-imperial-b82bfb9185f0fc8062c43927a2b058b0">singled out Russia by name</a>&nbsp;in noting the “large-scale war waged by the Russian Federation against Ukraine." It marked an unusual break with Francis’ usual tendency to spare Moscow direct and public blame for the invasion when expressing solidarity with the Ukrainian people.Francis was more balanced in his&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/pope-francis-israel-hostages-palestinian-prisoners-deal-cffb5f90396c4f410b6af8cd954df0dd">lament of Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza,</a>&nbsp;condemning Hamas’ Oct. 7 assault on southern Israel “and every instance of terrorism and extremism.” At the same time, he said the attack provoked a “strong Israeli military response” that had left thousands dead and created a humanitarian crisis in Gaza.He called for an immediate cease-fire, including in Lebanon, and the liberation of hostages held in Gaza, and reiterated the Holy See’s position seeking a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians and an internationally guaranteed special status for Jerusalem.In other comments, Francis:— Lamented various humanitarian and refugee crises in Africa, and without naming names blasted military coups and elections in several African countries marked by “corruption, intimidation and violence.”— Called for a “respectful diplomatic dialogue” with the Nicaraguan government to resolve what he called a “protracted crisis.” The government’s&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/religion-caribbean-nicaragua-daniel-ortega-a445a59fd605f8089c5e661cb66c2773">crackdown on the Catholic Church</a>&nbsp;has resulted in the detention of dozens of priests and bishops. The government has accused the church of aiding popular protests against his administration that he considered an attempted coup.— Called for the resumption, as early as possible, of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/iran-nuclear-program-enriched-uranium-1ec34491e5500afdb6f7ed964790d8fa">Iran nuclear talks</a>&nbsp;“to ensure a safer future for all.” Last month, the International Atomic Energy Agency said Iran had increased the rate at which it is producing near-weapons-grade uranium, reversing a previous slowdown.Francis also said that the “manufacturing” of nuclear weapons was just as immoral as the possession and use of them. Francis has already changed church teaching to include the possession of nuclear weapons as inadmissible, but on Monday he included the production of such weapons as part of his overall criticism of the weapons industry.“Perhaps we need to realize more clearly that civilian victims are not ‘collateral damage’ (of war) but men and women, with names and surnames, who lost their lives,” he said. “They are children who are orphaned and deprived of their future.”

Pope calls for a ban on surrogacy, calling It 'despicable'

NEW YORK (AP) — For nearly two decades, journalists, police detectives, FBI agents, lawyers and amateur sleuths have pried into the depraved world of Jeffrey Epstein.

Yet even after the release of thousands of pages of court records in recent days, some questions about the millionaire pedophile remain unanswered. The documents have gotten a lot of attention, but they shed little new light on the financier’s habitual sexual abuse of underage girls.

<a href="https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4355835/giuffre-v-maxwell/">Click here </a>to read the documents released 1/8/24 (caution adult content)

More than anything, the public is still fascinated with the possibility that some of the rich and powerful men in Epstein's social circle were also involved in the abuse.

Here's a look at what we know — and what we don't — about Epstein and his crimes:

Epstein first began getting media attention in 2002 after news organizations, including The Associated Press, covered a trip to Africa by former President Bill Clinton, actor Kevin Spacey and comedian Chris Tucker. The five-day tour of Ghana, Nigeria, Rwanda, Mozambique and South Africa was intended to draw attention to the fight against AIDS.

After the visit, New York magazine ran a profile of the man who provided the private jet for the trip: Jeffrey Epstein. The story portrayed him as an “international moneyman of mystery,” who cultivated relationships with Nobel Prize-winning scientists and diplomats but puzzled Wall Street insiders who couldn't figure out how a college dropout got so rich.

“Terrific guy,” Epstein's neighbor in both Florida and New York, Donald Trump, said in the story. “He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.”

Those celebrity contacts made it big news when Epstein was arrested in 2006 over allegations that he had hired multiple teenage girls to give him sexualized massages at his home in Palm Beach, Florida.

Two years later, prosecutors allowed Epstein to plead guilty to a charge involving a single victim. He served 13 months in a jail work-release program, then quietly started rebuilding his network of influential friends, with the help of his socialite former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell.

After a series of Miami Herald stories about the plea bargain that deprived Epstein's victims of justice, federal prosecutors in New York revived the investigation and charged Epstein in 2019 with sex trafficking.

When Epstein killed himself in jail, prosecutors charged Maxwell with facilitating his illicit sexual encounters and participating in some of the abuse. She was convicted and is serving a 20-year prison term.

In 2009, one of Epstein's victims, Virginia Giuffre, filed a lawsuit saying he had flown her around the world for sexual encounters with billionaires, politicians, royals and heads of state.

She initially kept the names of those men secret, but in later legal filings started providing names: Britain's Prince Andrew, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, former U.S. Senator George Mitchell, the French modeling scout Jean Luc Brunel, the billionaire Glenn Dubin and the law professor Alan Dershowitz, who had represented Epstein.

Some details of Giuffre's allegations have changed over time. She initially said she was 15 when Epstein began to abuse her, but she later acknowledged that she met him the summer she turned 17.

In 2022, she withdrew her allegations against Dershowitz, saying she “may have made a mistake” in identifying him as one of her abusers. She said she “was very young at the time” and “it was a very stressful and traumatic environment.”

In one newspaper interview, for which Giuffre was paid $160,000, she described dancing with Prince Andrew at a club but said there was no sexual contact. Later, she said they had three sexual encounters. She said the newspaper had refused to print those allegations.

In another interview, she described riding in a helicopter with Bill Clinton and flirting with Donald Trump, but she later said in a deposition that those things hadn't happened and were mistakes by the reporter.

Giuffre's allegations have been investigated by the FBI. No charges have been brought based on her claims, but because of the attention generated by them Brunel was investigated in France and charged with raping other underage girls. He killed himself while awaiting trial.

Manhattan’s top federal prosecutor in 2020, Geoffrey Berman, sought to speak with Prince Andrew about matters related to Epstein, but the royal declined to be interviewed. Berman blasted Andrew at the time for falsely portraying himself to the public as eager to cooperate when he was actually dodging questions.

Andrew has repeatedly denied having sex with Giuffre and said he couldn’t recall ever meeting her, though a photograph appears to show them together, and a member of Epstein's household staff also testified about seeing the two at Epstein's home in New York.

Many of the documents unsealed in recent days involve efforts by Maxwell's lawyers to discredit Giuffre, and Giuffre's lawyers' efforts to gather evidence backing up her accounts.

The records released in the case have contained scant evidence of wrongdoing by famous figures, but testimony from multiple witnesses confirmed Giuffre's accounts of Epstein's sexual misconduct.

Any chance that Epstein himself might have been able to answer questions about his famous friends died with him at a federal detention center in Manhattan in August 2019.

The death, a month after he was arrested, has&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/general-news-a1ef16a612bd4130a18479c01bd72586">fueled conspiracy theories</a>. But multiple investigations, including an autopsy and FBI probe, have concluded Epstein died by suicide.

Justice Department&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/jeffrey-epstein-suicide-department-of-justice-investigation-50c229b7953096f0301bfa1e7f0b7703">Inspector General Michael Horowitz said in a June report</a>&nbsp;that Epstein was able to take his own life because of “negligence, misconduct and outright job performance failures” within the jail.

The Metropolitan Correctional Center&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/health-coronavirus-pandemic-7f6797153ee7fa391731af9cf7c93603">was shut down in 2021</a>&nbsp;amid concerns about squalid conditions, COVID-19, crumbling infrastructure and lingering questions about Epstein's death.

Overworked officers assigned to guard Epstein had failed to recognize he had amassed a surplus of bed linens. After a first suspected suicide attempt, jail officials left him alone and never assigned him a new cellmate.

On the night Epstein died, officers sat at desks just 15 feet (4.6 meters) from his cell, shopping online and snoozing instead of making required rounds every 30 minutes, prosecutors said.

The day before Epstein killed himself, a federal court unsealed about 2,000 pages of records in Giuffre's lawsuit against Ghislaine Maxwell — the same case involved in the records released in recent days.

That, combined with a lack of significant interpersonal connections and “the idea of potentially spending his life in prison were likely factors contributing to Mr. Epstein’s suicide,” prison officials wrote in&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/jeffrey-epstein-jail-suicide-prison-death-8d194a756f2b429067f009a0c70f96c0">documents obtained by The Associated Press</a>.

Whether Epstein would have ever been keen to answer questions to clear up some of the mysteries surrounding his life is a different story. In a 2016 deposition in Giuffre’s lawsuit, he repeatedly invoked his Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination.

The document dump isn’t over yet. So far, 191 of the approximately 250 files that U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska authorized for release have been made public. Lawyers involved in the case are posting them to the docket on a rolling basis, as per the judge’s instructions.

Another batch is expected Monday, though there is little indication they will yield more than what has already been seen in the nearly 3,000 pages of deposition transcripts, legal memos, emails and other records made public since Wednesday.

Versions of many of those records had already been made public in past years, though with some sections blacked out for privacy reasons or to protect the identities of Epstein's victims.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/1/1704416234390.png" alt="FILE —&nbsp; A photo of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell&nbsp; shown during a news conference, July 2, 2020, in New York. While some previously sealed court records are indeed being made public, the great majority of the people whose names appear in those documents are not accused of any wrongdoing. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)" />
 <figcaption>FILE —&nbsp; A photo of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell&nbsp; shown during a news conference, July 2, 2020, in New York. While some previously sealed court records are indeed being made public, the great majority of the people whose names appear in those documents are not accused of any wrongdoing. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)</figcaption>
 </figure>NEW YORK (AP) — For nearly two decades, journalists, police detectives, FBI agents, lawyers and amateur sleuths have pried into the depraved world of Jeffrey Epstein.Yet even after the release of thousands of pages of court records in recent days, some questions about the millionaire pedophile remain unanswered. The documents have gotten a lot of attention, but they shed little new light on the financier’s habitual sexual abuse of underage girls.<a href="https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4355835/giuffre-v-maxwell/">Click here </a>to read the documents released 1/8/24 (caution adult content)More than anything, the public is still fascinated with the possibility that some of the rich and powerful men in Epstein's social circle were also involved in the abuse.Here's a look at what we know — and what we don't — about Epstein and his crimes:JETSETTER TO CONVICTEpstein first began getting media attention in 2002 after news organizations, including The Associated Press, covered a trip to Africa by former President Bill Clinton, actor Kevin Spacey and comedian Chris Tucker. The five-day tour of Ghana, Nigeria, Rwanda, Mozambique and South Africa was intended to draw attention to the fight against AIDS.After the visit, New York magazine ran a profile of the man who provided the private jet for the trip: Jeffrey Epstein. The story portrayed him as an “international moneyman of mystery,” who cultivated relationships with Nobel Prize-winning scientists and diplomats but puzzled Wall Street insiders who couldn't figure out how a college dropout got so rich.“Terrific guy,” Epstein's neighbor in both Florida and New York, Donald Trump, said in the story. “He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.”Those celebrity contacts made it big news when Epstein was arrested in 2006 over allegations that he had hired multiple teenage girls to give him sexualized massages at his home in Palm Beach, Florida.Two years later, prosecutors allowed Epstein to plead guilty to a charge involving a single victim. He served 13 months in a jail work-release program, then quietly started rebuilding his network of influential friends, with the help of his socialite former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell.After a series of Miami Herald stories about the plea bargain that deprived Epstein's victims of justice, federal prosecutors in New York revived the investigation and charged Epstein in 2019 with sex trafficking.When Epstein killed himself in jail, prosecutors charged Maxwell with facilitating his illicit sexual encounters and participating in some of the abuse. She was convicted and is serving a 20-year prison term.WAS ANYONE ELSE INVOLVED?In 2009, one of Epstein's victims, Virginia Giuffre, filed a lawsuit saying he had flown her around the world for sexual encounters with billionaires, politicians, royals and heads of state.She initially kept the names of those men secret, but in later legal filings started providing names: Britain's Prince Andrew, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, former U.S. Senator George Mitchell, the French modeling scout Jean Luc Brunel, the billionaire Glenn Dubin and the law professor Alan Dershowitz, who had represented Epstein.Some details of Giuffre's allegations have changed over time. She initially said she was 15 when Epstein began to abuse her, but she later acknowledged that she met him the summer she turned 17.In 2022, she withdrew her allegations against Dershowitz, saying she “may have made a mistake” in identifying him as one of her abusers. She said she “was very young at the time” and “it was a very stressful and traumatic environment.”In one newspaper interview, for which Giuffre was paid $160,000, she described dancing with Prince Andrew at a club but said there was no sexual contact. Later, she said they had three sexual encounters. She said the newspaper had refused to print those allegations.In another interview, she described riding in a helicopter with Bill Clinton and flirting with Donald Trump, but she later said in a deposition that those things hadn't happened and were mistakes by the reporter.Giuffre's allegations have been investigated by the FBI. No charges have been brought based on her claims, but because of the attention generated by them Brunel was investigated in France and charged with raping other underage girls. He killed himself while awaiting trial.Manhattan’s top federal prosecutor in 2020, Geoffrey Berman, sought to speak with Prince Andrew about matters related to Epstein, but the royal declined to be interviewed. Berman blasted Andrew at the time for falsely portraying himself to the public as eager to cooperate when he was actually dodging questions.Andrew has repeatedly denied having sex with Giuffre and said he couldn’t recall ever meeting her, though a photograph appears to show them together, and a member of Epstein's household staff also testified about seeing the two at Epstein's home in New York.Many of the documents unsealed in recent days involve efforts by Maxwell's lawyers to discredit Giuffre, and Giuffre's lawyers' efforts to gather evidence backing up her accounts.The records released in the case have contained scant evidence of wrongdoing by famous figures, but testimony from multiple witnesses confirmed Giuffre's accounts of Epstein's sexual misconduct.DEATH BEHIND BARSAny chance that Epstein himself might have been able to answer questions about his famous friends died with him at a federal detention center in Manhattan in August 2019.The death, a month after he was arrested, has&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/general-news-a1ef16a612bd4130a18479c01bd72586">fueled conspiracy theories</a>. But multiple investigations, including an autopsy and FBI probe, have concluded Epstein died by suicide.Justice Department&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/jeffrey-epstein-suicide-department-of-justice-investigation-50c229b7953096f0301bfa1e7f0b7703">Inspector General Michael Horowitz said in a June report</a>&nbsp;that Epstein was able to take his own life because of “negligence, misconduct and outright job performance failures” within the jail.The Metropolitan Correctional Center&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/health-coronavirus-pandemic-7f6797153ee7fa391731af9cf7c93603">was shut down in 2021</a>&nbsp;amid concerns about squalid conditions, COVID-19, crumbling infrastructure and lingering questions about Epstein's death.Overworked officers assigned to guard Epstein had failed to recognize he had amassed a surplus of bed linens. After a first suspected suicide attempt, jail officials left him alone and never assigned him a new cellmate.On the night Epstein died, officers sat at desks just 15 feet (4.6 meters) from his cell, shopping online and snoozing instead of making required rounds every 30 minutes, prosecutors said.The day before Epstein killed himself, a federal court unsealed about 2,000 pages of records in Giuffre's lawsuit against Ghislaine Maxwell — the same case involved in the records released in recent days.That, combined with a lack of significant interpersonal connections and “the idea of potentially spending his life in prison were likely factors contributing to Mr. Epstein’s suicide,” prison officials wrote in&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/jeffrey-epstein-jail-suicide-prison-death-8d194a756f2b429067f009a0c70f96c0">documents obtained by The Associated Press</a>.Whether Epstein would have ever been keen to answer questions to clear up some of the mysteries surrounding his life is a different story. In a 2016 deposition in Giuffre’s lawsuit, he repeatedly invoked his Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination.WHAT’S NEXTThe document dump isn’t over yet. So far, 191 of the approximately 250 files that U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska authorized for release have been made public. Lawyers involved in the case are posting them to the docket on a rolling basis, as per the judge’s instructions.Another batch is expected Monday, though there is little indication they will yield more than what has already been seen in the nearly 3,000 pages of deposition transcripts, legal memos, emails and other records made public since Wednesday.Versions of many of those records had already been made public in past years, though with some sections blacked out for privacy reasons or to protect the identities of Epstein's victims.

Read the batch of Epstein documents released Monday

DOVER, Del. (AP) — Following the settlement of a lawsuit pitting Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam against fellow billionaire Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, the clock is ticking for the Haslam family to decide whether to sell its remaining stake in the Pilot truck stop chain to Berkshire.

Attorneys told a Delaware judge last week that they were prepared for a two-day trial starting Monday in a high-stakes dispute over accounting practices at Pilot Travel Centers LLC. Late Saturday, however, the judge entered an order indicating that the trial had been canceled.

On Sunday, Haslam’s Pilot Corp. announced that the case, including Berkshire’s counterclaims against Pilot Corp., had been fully settled. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

With the dispute resolved, the Haslams must now decide whether to sell their remaining 20% stake in Pilot Travel Centers to Berkshire in line with a 2017 business deal. PTC, headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee, is a diversified fuel company that operates more than 650 travel centers, primarily under the names Pilot or Flying J, in 43 U.S. states and six Canadian provinces.

A spokeswoman for Pilot Corp. declined to comment Monday on whether the Haslam family, which includes former Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam, will sell its remaining stake in PTC to Berkshire. A spokeswoman for Berkshire did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.

Berkshire purchased an initial 38.6% stake in PTC in 2017 for $2.76 billion. The two sides agreed at that time that Berkshire would take control of PTC by acquiring an additional 41.4% interest in January 2023. The price tag for that control purchase was roughly $8.2 billion.

The 2017 agreements also gave Pilot Corp. an annual 60-day opportunity, beginning Jan. 1 this year, to sell its remaining 20% interest in PTC to Berkshire. The sale price would be calculated using PTC’s earnings in the prior year.

With the first sale deadline approaching, however, the two sides accused each other of trying to manipulate the company’s financial records in order to affect the price Berkshire would have to pay for the Haslam family’s remaining 20% stake in the truck-stop chain.

In a Chancery Court complaint, attorneys for Haslam noted that an SEC filing by Berkshire last year listed Pilot Corp.’s “redeemable noncontrolling interest” in PTC at about $3.2 billion. Pilot alleged, however, that after taking control of PTC, Berkshire adopted “pushdown accounting,” that resulted in the company reporting lower net income. Pilot claimed that a 2017 agreement prevents Berkshire from making such an accounting change without Pilot’s consent.

Berkshire responded with allegations that Haslam&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/warren-buffett-haslam-pilot-bribery-berkshire-hathaway-d32258912c4dc773ced286cc802da629">tried to bribe employees</a>&nbsp;at the Pilot truck stop chain to inflate the company’s value in order to increase the amount Berkshire would have to pay.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/11/1701353337102.jpeg" alt="Trucks and cars drive by a Pilot Travel Center sign displaying fuel prices in Bath, New York, on Monday, June 20, 2022. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway says the billionaire Haslam family tried to bribe at least 15 executives at the Pilot truck stop chain with millions of dollars to inflate the company’s profits this year because that would force Berkshire to pay more for the Haslams’ remaining 20% stake in the company. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, File)" />
 <figcaption>Trucks and cars drive by a Pilot Travel Center sign displaying fuel prices in Bath, New York, on Monday, June 20, 2022. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway says the billionaire Haslam family tried to bribe at least 15 executives at the Pilot truck stop chain with millions of dollars to inflate the company’s profits this year because that would force Berkshire to pay more for the Haslams’ remaining 20% stake in the company. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, File)</figcaption>
 </figure>DOVER, Del. (AP) — Following the settlement of a lawsuit pitting Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam against fellow billionaire Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, the clock is ticking for the Haslam family to decide whether to sell its remaining stake in the Pilot truck stop chain to Berkshire.Attorneys told a Delaware judge last week that they were prepared for a two-day trial starting Monday in a high-stakes dispute over accounting practices at Pilot Travel Centers LLC. Late Saturday, however, the judge entered an order indicating that the trial had been canceled.On Sunday, Haslam’s Pilot Corp. announced that the case, including Berkshire’s counterclaims against Pilot Corp., had been fully settled. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed.With the dispute resolved, the Haslams must now decide whether to sell their remaining 20% stake in Pilot Travel Centers to Berkshire in line with a 2017 business deal. PTC, headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee, is a diversified fuel company that operates more than 650 travel centers, primarily under the names Pilot or Flying J, in 43 U.S. states and six Canadian provinces.A spokeswoman for Pilot Corp. declined to comment Monday on whether the Haslam family, which includes former Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam, will sell its remaining stake in PTC to Berkshire. A spokeswoman for Berkshire did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.Berkshire purchased an initial 38.6% stake in PTC in 2017 for $2.76 billion. The two sides agreed at that time that Berkshire would take control of PTC by acquiring an additional 41.4% interest in January 2023. The price tag for that control purchase was roughly $8.2 billion.The 2017 agreements also gave Pilot Corp. an annual 60-day opportunity, beginning Jan. 1 this year, to sell its remaining 20% interest in PTC to Berkshire. The sale price would be calculated using PTC’s earnings in the prior year.With the first sale deadline approaching, however, the two sides accused each other of trying to manipulate the company’s financial records in order to affect the price Berkshire would have to pay for the Haslam family’s remaining 20% stake in the truck-stop chain.In a Chancery Court complaint, attorneys for Haslam noted that an SEC filing by Berkshire last year listed Pilot Corp.’s “redeemable noncontrolling interest” in PTC at about $3.2 billion. Pilot alleged, however, that after taking control of PTC, Berkshire adopted “pushdown accounting,” that resulted in the company reporting lower net income. Pilot claimed that a 2017 agreement prevents Berkshire from making such an accounting change without Pilot’s consent.Berkshire responded with allegations that Haslam&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/warren-buffett-haslam-pilot-bribery-berkshire-hathaway-d32258912c4dc773ced286cc802da629">tried to bribe employees</a>&nbsp;at the Pilot truck stop chain to inflate the company’s value in order to increase the amount Berkshire would have to pay.

Clock ticking for Haslam family to sell stake in Pilot truck stops to Berkshire Hathaway this year

WASHINGTON (AP) — Both the White House and Pentagon said Monday they would look into why President Joe Biden and other top officials weren’t informed for days that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/defense-secretary-lloyd-austin-hospitalized-biden-859cc79631d6c96dbdff161faf8e4f96">had been hospitalized</a>. A Pentagon spokesman pointed to one reason: A key staffer was out sick with the flu.

Even as the Biden administration pledged to look into what rules or procedures weren’t followed, it maintained its silence about why Austin has been hospitalized for a week. Some Republicans have demanded Austin’s resignation, but the Pentagon said he has no plans to step down.

Austin, 70, went to the hospital on Dec. 22 for what the Pentagon press secretary called an “elective procedure” but one serious enough that Austin temporarily transferred some of his authorities to his deputy, without telling her or other U.S. leaders why. He went home the following day.

He also transferred some of his authorities after experiencing severe pain and being taken back to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center by ambulance and put into intensive care on Jan. 1. The White House was not informed until Jan. 4.

Austin, who has resumed his duties, is no longer in intensive care. Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, said his prognosis is “good” but it is not known when he will be released from the hospital.

The failure to properly inform government and defense leaders will be the subject of what John Kirby, the National Security Council spokesman, called a “hotwash” to see if procedures need to be changed.

Kirby, speaking to reporters on Air Force One as Biden traveled to South Carolina, said there is an “expectation” among members of Biden’s Cabinet that if one of them is hospitalized, “that will be notified up the chain of command.”

Ryder acknowledged that he and other public affairs and defense aides were told Jan. 2 that Austin had been hospitalized but did not make it public and did not tell the military service leaders or the National Security Council until Jan. 4.

“I want to offer my apologies and my pledge to learn from this experience, and I will do everything I can to meet the standard that you expect from us," he said.

Ryder said staff in Austin’s front office will review notification procedures, including whether regulations, rules or laws were broken, and will take steps to improve the notification process. Those staff members, however, are among those who did not disclose the secretary's hospitalization.

In a statement issued Saturday evening, Austin took responsibility for the delays in notification.

“I recognize I could have done a better job ensuring the public was appropriately informed. I commit to doing better,” he said, acknowledging the concerns about transparency. “But this is important to say: this was my medical procedure, and I take full responsibility for my decisions about disclosure.”

Ryder provided some more detail on who knew about the hospitalization and when they were told.

He said when Austin was taken back to the hospital on Jan. 1 he “was conscious but in quite a bit of pain.” He spent that evening undergoing tests and evaluation. The next day, “due to the secretary’s condition and on the basis of medical advice,” some authorities were transferred to his deputy, Kathleen Hicks, through a standard email notification that often does not provide the reason for transfer, Ryder said.

Hicks, who was in Puerto Rico, was not told the reason for the transfer of authorities until Jan. 4.

Ryder said Austin’s chief of staff, senior military adviser and Gen. CQ Brown, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, were notified of the defense secretary’s hospitalization on Jan. 2.

Ryder said the chief of staff, Kelly Magsamen, did not inform the White House because she had the flu. He said Magsamen told Hicks on Jan. 4 and they began drafting a public statement and developing plans to notify government and congressional officials that day.

But the congressional notifications did not begin until the evening of Jan. 5, just minutes before the Pentagon issued its first public statement on Austin's status.

Asked who approved the U.S. military strike in Baghdad that killed a militia leader on Jan. 4, Ryder said it was pre-approved by Austin and the White House before Austin was hospitalized.

Sen. Jack Reed, a Democrat from Rhode Island who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, called it a “serious incident” and said there needs to be accountability from the Pentagon.

“This lack of disclosure must never happen again," Reed said in a statement. "I am tracking the situation closely and the Department of Defense is well aware of my interest in any and all relevant information.”

Still, White House officials on Monday emphasized that Austin retains Biden's confidence. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden appreciated Austin's statement on Saturday, in which he took responsibility for the lack of transparency.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon released new details Sunday about Defense Secretary&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/lloyd-austin">Lloyd Austin's</a>&nbsp;continued hospitalization, saying he had a medical procedure Dec. 22, went home a day later and was admitted to intensive care Jan. 1 when he began experiencing severe pain.

The latest information came as members of both parties in Congress expressed sharp concerns about the secrecy of Austin's hospital stay and the fact that the president and other senior leaders were kept in the dark about it for days.

The statement, released by Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, did not, however, provide any details about the medical procedure or what actually happened on Monday to require Austin to be in intensive care at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

Ryan said Austin was placed in the hospital’s intensive care unit "due to his medical needs, but then remained in that location in part due to hospital space considerations and privacy.”

The Pentagon’s failure to disclose Austin’s hospitalization, including to President Joe Biden, the National Security Council and top Pentagon leaders, for days reflects a stunning lack of transparency about his illness, how serious it was and when he may be released. Such secrecy, when the United States is juggling myriad national security crises, runs counter to normal practice with the president and other senior U.S. officials and Cabinet members.

Ryder said the National Security Council and Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks were not notified until Thursday, Jan. 4, that Austin had been hospitalized since Jan. 1. Ryder said Austin's chief of staff, Kelly Magsamen, was ill and “unable to make notifications before then.” He said she informed Hicks and the national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, on Thursday.

Once notified, Hicks began preparing statements to send to Congress and made plans to return to Washington. Hicks was in Puerto Rico on leave but had communications equipment with her to remain in contact and had already been tasked with some secretary-level duties on Tuesday.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/12/1702947351254.png" alt="Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III greets Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in Tel Aviv, Israel, Dec. 18, 2023. -photo Dept. of Defense" />
 <figcaption>Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III greets Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in Tel Aviv, Israel, Dec. 18, 2023. -photo Dept. of Defense</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — Both the White House and Pentagon said Monday they would look into why President Joe Biden and other top officials weren’t informed for days that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/defense-secretary-lloyd-austin-hospitalized-biden-859cc79631d6c96dbdff161faf8e4f96">had been hospitalized</a>. A Pentagon spokesman pointed to one reason: A key staffer was out sick with the flu.Even as the Biden administration pledged to look into what rules or procedures weren’t followed, it maintained its silence about why Austin has been hospitalized for a week. Some Republicans have demanded Austin’s resignation, but the Pentagon said he has no plans to step down.Austin, 70, went to the hospital on Dec. 22 for what the Pentagon press secretary called an “elective procedure” but one serious enough that Austin temporarily transferred some of his authorities to his deputy, without telling her or other U.S. leaders why. He went home the following day.He also transferred some of his authorities after experiencing severe pain and being taken back to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center by ambulance and put into intensive care on Jan. 1. The White House was not informed until Jan. 4.Austin, who has resumed his duties, is no longer in intensive care. Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, said his prognosis is “good” but it is not known when he will be released from the hospital.The failure to properly inform government and defense leaders will be the subject of what John Kirby, the National Security Council spokesman, called a “hotwash” to see if procedures need to be changed.Kirby, speaking to reporters on Air Force One as Biden traveled to South Carolina, said there is an “expectation” among members of Biden’s Cabinet that if one of them is hospitalized, “that will be notified up the chain of command.”Ryder acknowledged that he and other public affairs and defense aides were told Jan. 2 that Austin had been hospitalized but did not make it public and did not tell the military service leaders or the National Security Council until Jan. 4.“I want to offer my apologies and my pledge to learn from this experience, and I will do everything I can to meet the standard that you expect from us," he said.Ryder said staff in Austin’s front office will review notification procedures, including whether regulations, rules or laws were broken, and will take steps to improve the notification process. Those staff members, however, are among those who did not disclose the secretary's hospitalization.In a statement issued Saturday evening, Austin took responsibility for the delays in notification.“I recognize I could have done a better job ensuring the public was appropriately informed. I commit to doing better,” he said, acknowledging the concerns about transparency. “But this is important to say: this was my medical procedure, and I take full responsibility for my decisions about disclosure.”Ryder provided some more detail on who knew about the hospitalization and when they were told.He said when Austin was taken back to the hospital on Jan. 1 he “was conscious but in quite a bit of pain.” He spent that evening undergoing tests and evaluation. The next day, “due to the secretary’s condition and on the basis of medical advice,” some authorities were transferred to his deputy, Kathleen Hicks, through a standard email notification that often does not provide the reason for transfer, Ryder said.Hicks, who was in Puerto Rico, was not told the reason for the transfer of authorities until Jan. 4.Ryder said Austin’s chief of staff, senior military adviser and Gen. CQ Brown, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, were notified of the defense secretary’s hospitalization on Jan. 2.Ryder said the chief of staff, Kelly Magsamen, did not inform the White House because she had the flu. He said Magsamen told Hicks on Jan. 4 and they began drafting a public statement and developing plans to notify government and congressional officials that day.But the congressional notifications did not begin until the evening of Jan. 5, just minutes before the Pentagon issued its first public statement on Austin's status.Asked who approved the U.S. military strike in Baghdad that killed a militia leader on Jan. 4, Ryder said it was pre-approved by Austin and the White House before Austin was hospitalized.Sen. Jack Reed, a Democrat from Rhode Island who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, called it a “serious incident” and said there needs to be accountability from the Pentagon.“This lack of disclosure must never happen again," Reed said in a statement. "I am tracking the situation closely and the Department of Defense is well aware of my interest in any and all relevant information.”Still, White House officials on Monday emphasized that Austin retains Biden's confidence. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden appreciated Austin's statement on Saturday, in which he took responsibility for the lack of transparency.-------------WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon released new details Sunday about Defense Secretary&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/lloyd-austin">Lloyd Austin's</a>&nbsp;continued hospitalization, saying he had a medical procedure Dec. 22, went home a day later and was admitted to intensive care Jan. 1 when he began experiencing severe pain.The latest information came as members of both parties in Congress expressed sharp concerns about the secrecy of Austin's hospital stay and the fact that the president and other senior leaders were kept in the dark about it for days.The statement, released by Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, did not, however, provide any details about the medical procedure or what actually happened on Monday to require Austin to be in intensive care at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center.Ryan said Austin was placed in the hospital’s intensive care unit "due to his medical needs, but then remained in that location in part due to hospital space considerations and privacy.”The Pentagon’s failure to disclose Austin’s hospitalization, including to President Joe Biden, the National Security Council and top Pentagon leaders, for days reflects a stunning lack of transparency about his illness, how serious it was and when he may be released. Such secrecy, when the United States is juggling myriad national security crises, runs counter to normal practice with the president and other senior U.S. officials and Cabinet members.Ryder said the National Security Council and Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks were not notified until Thursday, Jan. 4, that Austin had been hospitalized since Jan. 1. Ryder said Austin's chief of staff, Kelly Magsamen, was ill and “unable to make notifications before then.” He said she informed Hicks and the national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, on Thursday.Once notified, Hicks began preparing statements to send to Congress and made plans to return to Washington. Hicks was in Puerto Rico on leave but had communications equipment with her to remain in contact and had already been tasked with some secretary-level duties on Tuesday.The Pentagon did not say if Hicks was given an explanation on Tuesday for why she was assuming some of Austin’s duties, but temporary transfers of authority are not unusual and are often done without detailed explanations. Hicks decided not to return after she was informed that Austin would resume full control on Friday.Biden was told of Austin's medical stay on Thursday by Sullivan, according to three people with knowledge of the hospitalization who were not authorized to speak publicly and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.In a statement issued Saturday evening, Austin took responsibility for the delays in notification.“I recognize I could have done a better job ensuring the public was appropriately informed. I commit to doing better,” he said, acknowledging the concerns about transparency. “But this is important to say: this was my medical procedure, and I take full responsibility for my decisions about disclosure.”Austin, 70, remains hospitalized and officials have been unable to say how long he will be at Walter Reed. In his statement, Austin said he is on the mend and is looking forward to returning to the Pentagon soon, but he provided no other details about his ailment.Sen. Roger Wicker, the top-ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the episode erodes trust in the Biden administration and called on the department to provide lawmakers with a "full accounting of the facts immediately.”“I am glad to hear Secretary Austin is in improved condition and I wish him a speedy recovery," Wicker said in a statement. “However, the fact remains that the Department of Defense deliberately withheld the Secretary of Defense’s medical condition for days. That is unacceptable.”It's not just Republicans expressing alarm. In a joint statement, Reps. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., and Adam Smith, D-Wash., said they were “concerned with how the disclosure of the Secretary's condition was handled.”Among the questions they had were what the medical procedure was and what the resulting complications were, how and when the delegation of his responsibilities was made, and the reason for the delay in notification to the president and lawmakers. Rogers is chairman of the House Armed Services Committee and Smith is the panel's top Democrat.“Transparency is vitally important," said the two lawmakers. “Austin ”must provide these additional details on his health and the decision-making process that occurred in the past week as soon as possible."Secretary of State Antony Blinken voiced support for Austin at a news conference in Qatar on Sunday.“He is an extraordinary leader in this country, in uniform and now out of uniform," Blinken said. “And it’s been a highlight of my service to be able to serve alongside him,.” He added: "I’m very much looking forward to see him fully recovered and working side by side in the year ahead.”Ryder said Austin is able to do his full duties, has secure communications at Walter Reed, and is in contact with his senior team, getting updates and providing guidance. He said he doesn't know if Austin will do in-person briefings this coming week.The Pentagon Press Association, which represents journalists who cover the Defense Department, sent a letter of protest on Friday evening, calling the delay in alerting the public “an outrage.”“At a time when there are growing threats to U.S. military service members in the Middle East and the U.S. is playing key national security roles in the wars in Israel and Ukraine, it is particularly critical for the American public to be informed about the health status and decision-making ability of its top defense leader," the group said in its letter.Other senior U.S. leaders have been much more transparent about hospital stays. When Attorney General Merrick Garland went in for a routine medical procedure in 2022, his office informed the public a week in advance and outlined how long he was expected to be out and when he would return to work.