AP News in Brief 03-23-19

Mueller concludes Russia-Trump probe; no new indictments

WASHINGTON — Special counsel Robert Mueller on Friday turned over his long-awaited final report on the contentious Russia investigation, ending a probe that has cast a dark shadow over Donald Trump’s presidency with no new charges but launching a fresh wave of political battles over the still-confidential findings.

The 22-month probe ended without additional indictments by Mueller despite public speculation by congressional Democrats and others that members of the president’s family, including his oldest son, could themselves wind up facing charges.

The Justice Department said the report was delivered by a security officer Friday afternoon to the office of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, and then it went to Attorney General William Barr. Word of the delivery triggered reactions across Washington, including Democrats’ demands that it be released to the public and Republicans’ contentions that it ended two years of wasted time and money.

The next step is up to Barr, who is charged with writing his own account of Mueller’s findings and sending it to Congress. In a letter to lawmakers, he declared he was committed to transparency and speed. He said he could provide the special counsel’s “principal findings” to Congress this weekend, but that likely won’t be the last of the information he provides to lawmakers or the public.

The attorney general said the Justice Department had not denied any request from the special counsel, something Barr would have been required to disclose to ensure there was no political inference.

Trump intervenes, reverses North Korea sanctions with tweet

PALM BEACH, Fla. — President Donald Trump tweeted Friday that he had reversed his administration’s decision to slap new sanctions on North Korea — a move that left officials at the Treasury Department and observers across Washington scratching their heads.

Trump delivered the news from his private club in Palm Beach, Florida, writing, “It was announced today by the U.S. Treasury that additional large scale Sanctions would be added to those already existing Sanctions on North Korea. I have today ordered the withdrawal of those additional Sanctions!”

The problem: The Treasury did not announce any new action affecting North Korea on Friday, let alone “additional large scale Sanctions.” The administration on Thursday did sanction two Chinese shipping companies suspected of helping North Korea evade sanctions — but not the country itself.

So what was Trump referring to? The White House wouldn’t say. Press secretary Sarah Sanders issued only a brief statement saying that Trump “likes” North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and “doesn’t think these sanctions will be necessary.”

But a person familiar with the action later told The Associated Press that Trump’s tweet was not about reversing existing sanctions. Instead, the person said, the president was talking about not going forward with additional large-scale sanctions on North Korea at this time. The person was not authorized to discuss the president’s comments and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Flight attendant detained by immigration on return to US

A flight attendant who arrived in the U.S. as a child flew to Mexico for work and was stopped by immigration authorities who forced her to spend more than a month in detention, her attorney said.

Selene Saavedra Roman, 28, who was enrolled in a government program for so-called dreamers, was released Friday from a detention center in Conroe, Texas, according to a statement from Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Originally from Peru and married to an American citizen, she raised concerns with Mesa Airlines about her immigration status after being assigned to an international flight, attorney Belinda Arroyo said.

The airline assured her she would be fine, but she was stopped by U.S. authorities on Feb. 12, when she returned to Houston, and was sent to detention, where she remained for more than five weeks, Arroyo said.

Soon after her lawyer, her husband, the airline and a flight attendants’ association publicly demanded her release, Saavedra Roman called to tell her husband she was getting out.

Trump’s Golan statement draws strong regional condemnation

DAMASCUS, Syria — From Syria to Turkey and beyond, President Donald Trump’s abrupt declaration that Washington will recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights drew strong condemnation on Friday.

The Syrian government called it “irresponsible” and a threat to international peace and stability, while Iran’s foreign ministry said it plunges the region into a new crisis.

The Foreign Ministry in Damascus said Trump’s statement confirms “the blind bias of the United States to the Zionist entity,” referring to Israel, and added that it won’t change “the fact that the Golan was and will remain Arab and Syrian.”

Stun gun ban unconstitutional

ALBANY, N.Y. — New York state’s ban on personal ownership of stun guns is unconstitutional, a federal judge ruled Friday in the latest in a series of court decisions that have led to the loosening of restrictions on the weapons in several states.

The decision came in a lawsuit filed by Matthew Avitabile, of Schoharie County, New York, who said he wanted to buy a stun gun for self-defense in his rural upstate home.

His lawyers argued that New York’s longstanding ban on civilian ownership of stun guns violated the Second Amendment right to bear arms. U.S. District Judge David Hurd agreed.

“New York’s sweeping prohibition on the possession and use of tasers and stun guns by all citizens for all purposes, even for self-defense in one’s own home, must be declared unconstitutional,” Hurd wrote in his decision.

The lawsuit named the superintendent of the state police, the agency that enforces New York’s weapons laws. New York attorney general’s office, which defends the state in lawsuits, referred questions to state police or Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office. Cuomo adviser Richard Azzopardi said that state lawyers are reviewing the decision and that the governor is reserving comment.

From wire sources

The ministry also said Damascus is now more intent on liberating the Golan, “using every possible means.”

Trump’s announcement the day before was a major shift in American policy and gives Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a political boost a month before what is expected to be a close election.

Verdict reached in trial of white cop who killed black teen

PITTSBURGH — A jury reached a verdict Friday night in the trial of a white former police officer who shot and killed an unarmed black teen fleeing a high-stakes traffic stop outside Pittsburgh.

Former East Pittsburgh Police Officer Michael Rosfeld fired on 17-year-old Antwon Rose II last summer outside Pittsburgh in a killing that sparked weeks of unrest.

Jurors informed the court Friday night that they had reached a verdict. They can convict Rosfeld of murder or manslaughter, or return an acquittal.

Rosfeld, 30, shot Rose in the back, arm and side of the face after pulling over an unlicensed taxi that had been used in a drive-by shooting. Rosfeld ordered the driver to the ground, but Rose and another passenger got out and began running away.

Jurors saw video of the fatal confrontation, which showed Rose falling to the ground after being hit.

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R Kelly defense emerges, including saying accusers are lying

CHICAGO — R. Kelly yelled through tears in a recent TV interview before an audience numbering in the millions, saying he’s in a fight for his life to disprove sexual abuse charges. That fight will ultimately be waged in court, with the only audience that matters numbering just 12 jurors.

While the day lawyers deliver opening statements to jurors inside a Cook County courtroom is still many months or even years away, court filings as well as comments by the R&B star himself and his attorney after charges in February provide clues about an emerging legal strategy.

Signs are they intend to question the veracity of his accusers and argue that, if he had sex with them, it was consensual and he thought they were of age. His attorney has also signaled he’ll push to have some counts tossed on grounds statutes of limitation ran out or because some are too closely related to crimes for which Kelly was acquitted at his 2008 child pornography trial.

Kelly, 52, was right in more ways than one when he cursed during the interview with Gayle King of “CBS This Morning,” saying: “I’m fighting for my … life.” If convicted on all ten counts of aggravated sexual abuse of three underage girls and one adult, the Grammy winner faces an effective life sentence of up to 70 years in prison.

The defense is expected to fine tune their argument over coming months that Kelly’s accusers are misrepresenting the facts. For now, there’s not much finesse.

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GM announces jobs, electric vehicle after Trump criticism

ORION TOWNSHIP, Mich. — Less than a week after a series of critical tweets from the president over an Ohio plant closure, General Motors is announcing plans to add 400 jobs and build a new electric vehicle at a factory north of Detroit.

The company says it will spend $300 million at its plant in Orion Township, Michigan, to manufacture a Chevrolet vehicle based on the battery-powered Bolt.

GM wouldn’t say when the new workers will start or when the new vehicle will go on sale, nor would it say if the workers will be new hires or come from a pool of laid-off workers from the planned closings of four U.S. factories by January.

The company also announced plans Friday to spend about another $1.4 billion at U.S. factories with 300 more jobs but did not release a time frame or details.

The moves come after last weekend’s string of venomous tweets by President Donald Trump condemning GM for shutting its small-car factory in Lordstown, Ohio, east of Cleveland. During the weekend, Trump demanded that GM reopen the plant or sell it, criticized the local union leader and expressed frustration with CEO Mary Barra.