"For the past three years, I have had the great fortune to work with the highly skilled attorneys and staff in the Middle District of Pennsylvania. It is an office blessed with experienced and dedicated leaders, and colleagues who truly understand the importance of working together for the benefit of their fellow citizens."Freed previously made headlines in September when he took the highly unusual step of announcing that his office was investigating the discarding of mail-in ballots in Luzerne County. The full Justice Department press release about an ongoing investigation was highlighted as an atypical move, as was Freed's announcement that seven of the ballots were reportedly cast for President Trump.
Freed's departure comes after three years in the district, which consists of 33 counties in Central and Northeastern PA with offices in Harrisburg, Scranton, and Williamsport.
Freed was nominated as United States Attorney by Sen. Pat Toomey (R) and Sen. Bob Casey (D), appointed by President Donald Trump in September 2017, and confirmed by the United States Senate in November 2017. His resignation will be effective midnight January 1, 2021.
"The drama has made him famous, but Acosta said he doesn't expect to bring the same crusading style to his coverage of the next administration. 'I don't think the press should be trying to whip up the Biden presidency and turn it into must-see TV in a contrived way.'
"If that sounds like a double standard, Acosta told me it's not partisan — it's a matter of professional solidarity. In his view, Trump's campaign to discredit the press has constituted a 'nonstop national emergency,' one that required a defiant response. 'If being at the White House is not an experience that might merit hazard pay, then perhaps it is going to be approached differently.'"
The ruling imposed temporary restraining orders and reversed the decisions on a request which was filed two weeks ago by a voter advocacy group called Majority Forward. The judge agreed that the NCOA list alone was not enough proof for blanket erasure from the rolls. The decisions deprived people like college students, military service members and others, who cannot be at home for the elections, from casting absentee ballots, the challengers argued. The eleven-page ruling said the plaintiffs were likely to succeed on merits of their claim in court and granted the injunction they sought.
The suspension of voter registrations in Muscogee County was pushed by a local Republican Party chairman. In Ben Hill County, the issue was raised by a city council member from Fitzgerald. The challenge of the suspensions was backed by the Democratic Party.
The defendants argued that the blood relation between the two gave reasonable grounds to question Judge Gardner's impartiality and asked her to recuse herself. The ruling mentions the motion as a footnote, saying the court finds "no basis for recusal," promising to elaborate further later.
During the November presidential election, Muscogee County went overwhelmingly to Joe Biden, but Donald Trump won Ben Hill County by a wide margin. The runoff elections are crucial for national politics in the US, since Republican control over the US Senate hinges on their outcome.
The first footage showing the attack on Aden Airport has appeared online. In the video, which has yet to be independently verified, a missile hits the tarmac and creates a fireball that nearly consumes a stationary vehicle nearby.
The footage also shows billowing smoke from a nearby terminal building and the apparent sound of gunfire as government and military officials, journalists, and observers duck for cover or get into vehicles in a bid to escape the carnage.
The new government's information minister blamed the attack on the Houthis, the militia group which has been in control of much of the country, including the capital of Sanaa, for over six years, and which has been targeted by a Saudi-led coalition since 2015.
[...]
The Houthis have not claimed responsibility for Wednesday's airport attack. However, the group has previously launched dozens of missile and drone attacks against Hadi loyalists, the STC and Saudi Arabia proper, hitting military facilities, airports, ports, and other infrastructure. In September 2019, the group took responsibility for a major attack on a pair of Saudi oil processing facilities which temporarily halved the kingdom's oil production.
The war in Yemen has devastated the already impoverished nation, with over 233,000 people killed, both during the fighting and as a result of a humanitarian crisis. The United Nations estimates that up to 22 million people, or three quarters of the country's population, are in dire need of humanitarian assistance, including urgent food aid.
During a search of the property on Saturday, it can be revealed that detectives found the titles to his vehicles, a check for $1,000, $100 in cash, a computer, a USB drive and power tools.The Daily Mail speculates on Warner's possible grudges against AT&T and a details a family dispute over the homes:
According to a report seen by The US Sun, the home is said to be "clean and organized."
However, it adds there was nothing found in the initial search to to directly link Warner to the explosion.
It reads: "No documentation was found regarding the 25 December 2020 explosion."
The FBI is now examining the contents of the computer and the USB drive.
Warner is also believed to be a regular visitor to the Montgomery Bell State Park. Rangers there have looked for vehicles registered to him there but have not found anything.
Investigators are also continuing to examine what could be human remains discovered at the blast site.
Police are also going to question a 41-year-old man who was stopped in his RV by Madison County sheriffs in March.
The RV had been fitted with a PA system and the driver was also said to have had two AR-15 rifles.
The US Sun reached out to the FBI and Nashville Metro Police for comment.
It comes as the US Sun can reveal how Warner told the young woman he gifted two homes to that he "intended to travel on Christmas Eve to spend a few weeks in the woods with his dogs".
In a letter to Michelle Swing, 29, telling her about a house he signed over to her in November, he said his basement is "not normal" and urged her to "take a look".
Warner, missing since the huge explosion tore through downtown Nashville, is also believed by police to have once had a relationship Swing's mother. Swing is believed to have told investigators she has never met Warner but she last spoke to him a week before Thanksgiving. She has also passed on the letter he sent to her to the FBI.
The letter contains detailed information about the home he gifted her last month.
It concluded with the bizarre and sinister lines: "The attic has plywood and lighting, take a look. The basement is not normal, take a look. Woof woof Julio".
And in another twist, it emerged earlier today Warner had signed over $409,000 worth of property Swing, 29.
She claimed she had no knowledge of the property exchange as the suspect signed two houses to her via quitclaim deed.
Warner is said to have gifted her a $160,000 house last month, and a $249,000 house last year, both of which are on Bakertown Road, Nashville.
Deeds to properties can be signed over without the recipients consent or knowing, and Swing is not suspected of any wrongdoing in the case.
Swing told The Daily Mail: "In the state of Tennessee you can deed property to someone else without their consent or their signature or anything.
"I didn't even buy the house he just deeded it over to me without my knowledge. So this all very weird to me, that's about all I can say."
Swing declined to say whether she had ever met Warner and if she had a family links, and said to direct further questions to the FBI.
Meanwhile, sources close to the federal investigation told News4 that agents were actively probing Warner's views on 5G.
It has been reported the 63-year-old may have been paranoid that the technology was being used to spy on Americans, reports NBC. 5G conspiracy theories have flourished during the coronavirus pandemic, with various baseless claims being spread on social media.
Pals and neighbors have painted a picture of the suspect as a computer-mad oddball.
It is claimed he surrounded his home in Nashville with "No Trespassing" signs - especially around his RV.
The explosive RV was positioned near an AT&T transmission building, with speculation the telecoms giant may have been the target of the blast.
Warner is the prime suspect as DNA from the scene was sent to be cross referenced with his others to identify the remains.
The FBI said the RV arrived at roughly 1.22am Central time in central Nashville while investigators believe the blast was an "intentional act."
The explosion damaged at least 41 businesses in the area and caused one building to partially collapse, reports say.
Nashville bomber Anthony Quinn Warner hoped he would be 'hailed a hero' for the Christmas attack, a source told DailyMail.comUPDATE 29/12/2020: The Tennessean reports Warner's girlfriend warned Nashville police a year ago that he was building bomb
Nashville bomber Anthony Quinn Warner hoped he would be 'hailed a hero' for targeting AT&T because he believed 5G cellular technology was killing people, DailyMail.com can exclusively reveal.
The 63-year-old computer tech - who died in the suspected suicide blast but was identified Sunday from DNA found in his mangled RV - was 'heavily into conspiracy theories', according to a source close to the investigation.
Various baseless theories have circulated since the lightning-fast 5G network was introduced, some claiming it's a tool to spy on Americans, others speculating that it has fueled the spread of COVID-19.
Electronic devices seized from Warner's former home in Antioch, a suburb of Nashville, have been sent to a digital forensics laboratory to unlock his online activity and find out where he discussed his warped views.
'We are waiting on the digital footprint that should finally provide us with some answers,' the source explained.
'The unofficial motive thus far is the suspect believed 5G was the root of all deaths in the region and he'd be hailed a hero.'
Agents are also investigating whether Quinn's paranoia over telecommunications began with the death of his father Charles B. Warner in July 2011, aged 78.
A death certificate obtained by DailyMail.com notes that Charles, nicknamed Popeye, died of dementia after spending his career working for BellSouth, a former AT&T subsidiary which re-merged with the company in 2006.
We can further reveal how members of the Warner family were involved in an ugly dispute over property that became so bitter that Anthony Warner was sued by his own mom.
According to Davidson County court records, Warner's 62-year-old brother, Steven Warner, died in September 2018, without leaving a will.
Their mother, Betty Lane, who divorced Charles years before his death, argued that the former family home that had passed from Charles to Steven should legally belong to her. But she says in her lawsuit that Anthony, acting as 'attorney-in-fact' fraudulently claimed the $250,000 home for himself in an August 2018 quitclaim deed transfer.
The mother-son suit appeared to have been resolved by November of this year, however, when Swing used the same transfer process to give the three-bed, single story property back to Lane, who is still residing there today.
When DailyMail.com asked the 85-year-old Lane on Sunday about her son Anthony Warner she said she could 'not talk about it'. The retiree also posted signs in her yard warning she would call the cops if anyone trespassed on her driveway.
On Sunday afternoon, Lane was being comforted by her 59-year-old daughter Teresa Wardrop, who told DailyMail.com: 'We are not going to speak to you.'
Lane's February 2019 lawsuit says the rift began when Anthony took it upon himself to administer Steven's affairs after he died without a will.
Lane's lawsuit states that on August 27, 2018, Anthony Warner, acting with power of attorney, transferred his mother's interest in the family home into his own name.
The transfer 'resulted in a personal financial gain for [Anthony] Warner' - who paid the 'wholly inadequate' price of $10, according to the court papers.
That was despite tax appraisers valuing the house at $196,000 and property website Zillow estimating its worth at $223,519 at the time. More recently, the property has been estimated to be worth $249,100.
'When defendant signed the quit claim deed deeding the real property to himself, this was an act of self-interest and as such, violated his duty to act in the best interest of his brother,' the lawsuit adds.
At a February 2019 circuit court hearing, a judge ruled that Lane was in fact the appropriate person to control Steven's estate.
Swing gave the property back to the elderly grandmother-of-one on August 7.
When DailyMail.com reached out to Swing on Sunday to confirm details of what happened in the property dispute she declined to answer.
Swing also failed to respond to questions over what sort of relationship, if any, she or her family had ever had with Anthony Warner.
Sixteen months before Anthony Quinn Warner's RV exploded in downtown Nashville on Christmas morning, officers visited his home in Antioch after his girlfriend reported that he was making bombs in the vehicle, according to documents obtained by The Tennessean.
In the aftermath, The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said Warner was "not on our radar" prior to the bombing. But a Metro Nashville Police Department report from August 2019 shows that local and federal authorities were aware of alleged threats he had made.
No actions appear to have been taken to stop Warner, a slender 5-foot-8, 135-pound man who died in the explosion, which injured three others.
On Aug. 21, 2019, the girlfriend told Nashville police that Warner "was building bombs in the RV trailer at his residence," the MNPD report states. Nashville police then forwarded the information to the FBI.
Officers were called to the home of Warner's girlfriend, roughly a mile and a half from Warner, who lived at 115 Bakertown Road.
Police were called by the woman's attorney, Raymond Throckmorton III, who was concerned about comments she had made. When they arrived, they found her sitting on the porch with two unloaded guns nearby.
"She related that the guns belonged to a 'Tony Warner' and that she did not want them in the house any longer," MNPD spokesman Don Aaron said in a statement to The Tennessean.
While at the house, the woman told police about the bomb comments Warner had made.
Throckmorton, who served as the woman's attorney, told officers Warner "frequently talks about the military and bomb making," the document said.
Warner "knows what he is doing and is capable of making a bomb," the attorney said to the officers, according to the report.
In an interview Tuesday night, Throckmorton told The Tennessean he urged police at the time to look into the woman's claim. He said she feared for her safety, believing Warner may harm her.
According to the police report and Throckmorton, the woman was experiencing a mental health crisis at the time. Officers called their mobile crisis division, and after talking with the woman, she agreed to be transported by ambulance for a psychological evaluation, Aaron said.
Police then went to Warner's home, but he didn't answer the door after they knocked several times.
Officers saw his RV behind the house, but the vehicle was fenced off and police were unable to see inside of it, the report said. While there, police noted that there were "several security cameras and wires attached to a alarm sign on the front door."
The officers notified supervisors and detectives about the incident.
"They saw no evidence of a crime and had no authority to enter his home or fenced property," Aaron said of officers' unsuccessful attempt to make contact with Warner or look inside the RV.
The department's hazardous devices unit was given a copy of the report.
The next day, Nashville police sent the report and identifying information about Warner to the FBI to check their databases, Aaron said in a statement to The Tennessean.
Later that day, Aaron said, "the FBI reported back that they checked their holdings and found no records on Warner at all."
Darrell DeBusk, a spokesperson for the FBI, told The Tennessean Tuesday night the inquiry was a standard agency-to-agency record check.
Then on Aug. 28, 2019, the Department of Defense reported back that "checks on Warner were all negative," Aaron said.
During the week of August 26, 2019, police called Throckmorton, who declined to allow police to interview Warner or go on Warner's property, the FBI told The Tennessean.
In a statement Tuesday night from Aaron, he said officers recalled Throckmorton saying Warner "did not care for the police," and that Throckmorton would not allow Warner to give consent to officers to conduct a visual inspection of the RV.
Throckmorton told The Tennessean while he represented Warner in a civil matter several years ago, Warner was no longer a client of his in August 2019. He disputes that he told police they couldn't search the RV.
"I have no memory of that whatsoever," Throckmorton said of MNPD's claim that said they could not inspect the RV. "I didn't represent him anymore. He wasn't an active client. I'm not a criminal defense attorney."
He believes law enforcement could have done more to prevent the bombing.
"Somebody, somewhere dropped the ball," Throckmorton said.
Aaron said police at the time had no proof of wrongdoing by Warner.
"At no time was there any evidence of a crime detected and no additional action was taken," he said. "No additional information about Warner came to the department's or the FBI's attention after August 2019."
Aaron reported that the ATF also had no information on Warner.
Warner's only prior arrest occurred more than 40 years earlier, in January 1978, for marijuana possession.
Reach Natalie Allison at nallison@tennessean.com. Follow her on Twitter at @natalie_allison.
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