Judge delays ruling on CNN press pass
WASHINGTON -- A federal judge has delayed his decision on whether to order President Donald Trump's administration to return the White House press credentials of CNN reporter Jim Acosta.
U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly had been expected to announce his decision on the matter Thursday afternoon but delayed the announcement until today.
Kelly, a Trump appointee, heard arguments Wednesday from lawyers representing CNN and the Justice Department. The news network is seeking an immediate restraining order that would force the White House to hand back Acosta's credentials.
Acosta has clashed repeatedly with Trump and press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders in briefings over the past two years. But the dynamic devolved into a near-shouting match during a combative news conference last week after midterm elections in which Republicans lost control of the House.
Acosta refused to give up a microphone when the president said he didn't want to hear anything more from him. Trump called Acosta a "rude, terrible person."
The White House quickly announced that Acosta's White House access would be revoked.
The CNN lawsuit calls the revocation "an unabashed attempt to censor the press and exclude reporters from the White House who challenge and dispute the President's point of view."
Justice Department lawyer James Burnham argued that Acosta was guilty of "inappropriate grandstanding" and deserved to lose his access over "his refusal to comply with the general standards of a press conference."
3 people charged in Good Samaritan con
MOUNT HOLLY, N.J. -- A feel-good tale of a homeless man using his last $20 to help a stranded New Jersey woman buy gas was actually a complete lie, manufactured to get strangers to donate more than $400,000 to help the down-and-out Good Samaritan, a prosecutor said Thursday.
Burlington County prosecutor Scott Coffina announced the filing of criminal charges against the couple who told the story to newspapers and television stations, as well as against the homeless man who conspired with them to tell the story.
Homeless Marine veteran Johnny Bobbitt, 35, was arrested Wednesday night by U.S. marshals in Philadelphia and remained in custody Thursday on probation detainers in lieu of $50,000 bond. A message was left with a previous attorney of Bobbitt's.
The couple, Mark D'Amico, 39, and Katelyn McClure, 28, surrendered to authorities Wednesday night and were released. Their attorney said they have no comment.
All were charged with theft by deception and conspiracy to commit theft by deception. The charges carry prison time of up to five to 10 years.
Coffina said the money, donated to Bobbitt but spent on trips and luxury goods, will be refunded to people who contributed through a GoFundMe page set up by D'Amico and McClure.
Coffina said almost no part of the tale was true. McClure didn't run out of gas. Bobbitt didn't spot her in trouble and give her money.
"The entire campaign was predicated on a lie," Coffina said. "It was fictitious and illegal and there are consequences."
Ex-lawman killed after prosecutor shot
DEMOPOLIS, Ala. -- A county prosecutor was shot and wounded in rural western Alabama before officers fatally wounded the gunman, a former state trooper who once was questioned in another shooting, authorities said Thursday.
District Attorney Michael Jackson said Gregory Griggers, a district attorney from a neighboring judicial circuit, suffered a facial wound in the gunfire, which occurred in downtown Demopolis. The nature of the injury wasn't immediately clear, but Jackson said Griggers is expected to recover.
An investigator from Griggers' office and a drug task force investigator opened fire and the assailant was killed, Jackson said. He identified the dead man as former Alabama state trooper Steve Smith, who was questioned more than 20 years ago about a shooting at the home of a judge in a neighboring county while he was still working for the state.
Jackson said it's unclear why Griggers was shot.
The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency refused to release any information about Smith's employment history.
EPA official arrested on ethics charges
WASHINGTON -- The Trump administration's top environmental official for the Southeast has been arrested on Alabama state ethics charges related to a scheme to help a coal company avoid paying for a costly toxic-waste cleanup.
Trey Glenn was booked into a county jail in Birmingham on Thursday before being released on a $30,000 bond. Glenn was appointed last year as chief of the Environmental Protection Agency's regional office in Atlanta, which oversees operations in eight states.
Glenn is charged with multiple ethics violations stemming from his work as a coal-industry consultant opposing federal Superfund cleanup efforts. He resigned as director of the Alabama Department of Environmental Management in 2009 after an earlier ethics scandal.
Glenn issued a statement through his lawyer on Thursday saying he is innocent of all charges.
-- Compiled by Democrat-Gazette staff from wire reports.
A Section on 11/16/2018