Catholics Rally to Pray for Pope Leo after His Cancer Diagnosis

Headline USA Editor
-
0
Catholics Rally to Pray for Pope Leo after His Cancer Diagnosis

(Headline USA) Gail Spreen goes most days to Mass just a few blocks from her home in Chicago, but the service at Holy Name Cathedral on Wednesday — dedicated to Chicago-born Pope Leo XIV — felt different.

“Knowing that everybody is behind him, it was very special to be there today,” Spreen said. “The church was full and everybody was praying. You could just see all those prayers going up and being received.”

Catholics in Chicago and around the world met the news of Leo’s lung cancer diagnosis with shock, concern and support for the 71-year-old, whose candor around his health broke with the Vatican’s tendency to be tight-lipped around papal health. Leo himself announced that he had a nodule and was undergoing surgery, which confirmed that he has lung adenocarcinoma, the most common type of lung cancer. Surgeons on Tuesday removed the lower lobe of his right lung.

Spreen, whose husband died from cancer, said the pope going public with his diagnosis can “wake up the whole world” to the importance of early detection.

“If the pope can have cancer, anybody can,” she said.

The first American-born pope, Leo undertook his ministry in Peru, but he was born in 1955 in the south side Chicago neighborhood of Bronzeville and grew up in suburban Dolton, near St. Mary of the Assumption, where he attended Mass and elementary school.

He later studied theology at the Catholic Theological Union of Chicago in Hyde Park and taught in local Catholic schools, including at St. Rita High School. Leo is also a White Sox fan, a fact embraced by the team.

Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, the archbishop of Chicago, encouraged fellow Chicagoans and people worldwide to “join me in asking the Lord to return this son of Chicago to wellness.”

“He has much more good work to do, many more wise words to preach and many more ways to inspire others,” Cupich said in a statement.

Earlier Wednesday, students at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Academy made get-well cards and a care package, complete with a White Sox blanket, to send to the Vatican. The Rev. Charles Rubey, a retired priest, planned to offer a Sunday Mass in the apartment where he lives in the suburbs of Chicago.

“I’m praying very hard, asking God to spare him illness, so he’ll be successful in the treatment,” he said.

“I think he’s a hero,” Rubey said of Pope Leo. “He’s highly revered here, highly loved.”

The Vatican said late Wednesday that the pope had celebrated Mass with his secretaries in the afternoon in a special chapel set up for him on the 10th floor of the hospital. He had also resumed his regular diet and begun walking.

For Katrina Coker, Leo has been an authentic embodiment of true Catholicism, which she said should be open and welcoming and loving. Coker of Johns Creek, Georgia, said it was meaningful to her that she happened to be in Chicago this week and she wanted to attend Mass in his hometown to pray for Leo’s recovery.

“I feel somewhat of a kindred spirit, and hopefully he can get a little bit of healing from home,” she said. “I think there’s just so much more that he can do, and I pray that he gets well soon.”

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

Rep. Ilhan Omar’s Phone Seized and Relatives Subpoenaed in Criminal Probe

Headline USA Editor
-
0
Rep. Ilhan Omar’s Phone Seized and Relatives Subpoenaed in Criminal Probe

(Headline USA) Federal authorities investigating Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar seized the Democratic lawmaker’s phone and have issued more than a dozen grand jury subpoenas, including to some of her relatives, according to the Associated Press.

The subpoenas were reportedly issued for a grand jury collecting evidence in Minnesota as federal authorities probe potential fraud in Omar’s immigration paperwork. The investigation led to federal agents searching Omar’s Washington, D.C. home on Monday just weeks before the November midterms, in which Omar is seeking reelection.

The scope of the investigation into Omar is unclear, though Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has suggested that authorities were examining potential crimes related to her family’s immigration paperwork.

On Tuesday, Washington D.C. U.S Attorney Jeanine Pirro said in a Fox News interview that “there are several investigations going on” related to Omar and that her office is also probing issues concerning the lawmaker’s financial disclosures.

“If there was a crime that was committed, it will be prosecuted,” Pirro said.

Omar, in a statement on X, called the search an “attempt to target political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement.”

Omar, who was first elected to the House in 2018, represents Minnesota’s 5th District, including Minneapolis.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

Rep. Nancy Mace’s Ex-Fiancé Charged with Sex Crimes

Headline USA Editor
-
0
Rep. Nancy Mace’s Ex-Fiancé Charged with Sex Crimes

(Headline USA) U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace’s former fiance and two of his business associates were charged with sex crimes and voyeurism on Wednesday over an episode the South Carolina congresswoman described in detail during a speech last year on the House floor about how crimes against women are not investigated thoroughly.

John Douglas Osborne committed sex acts on a 23-year-old incapacitated and intoxicated woman while Mace’s ex-fiance Patrick Bryant and Eric Bernard Bowman watched, according to sworn statements by agents from the State Law Enforcement Division, which brought the charges.

The men talked about who would assault the woman beforehand, took photos and recorded the assault, which was also seen on a security system feed at the home in Sullivan’s Island, an affluent suburb of Charleston, state agents said. The woman had fallen into a pool and was passed out on a couch covering herself with a pillow, agents said.

Another woman who happened to be watching the feed saw the assault and took pictures and wrote about it in a journal, police said. Mace and Bryant were not yet engaged at the time of the October 2018 assault.

Osborne, 46, is charged with first-degree assault and battery and two counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct. Bryant, 53, and Bowman, 46, are each charged with voyeurism.

Along with the voyeurism charge, Bowman was also charged with obstruction of justice after agents said he did a factory reset on a cellphone he knew investigators were seeking in a search warrant, and with publishing the name of a victim of criminal sexual conduct after posting the victim’s name and a video of her on X.

Bryant didn’t return a message seeking comment on Wednesday, and attorneys who have been listed as representing Bowman and Osborne in other cases did not immediately return messages.

Mace, a Republican, described the assault at length in a nearly hourlong speech in February 2025 that named the men and described other photos and videos found when she looked at Bryant’s cellphone when they were still together.

Mace said she “accidentally uncovered some of the most heinous crimes against women imaginable. We’re talking about rape, non-consensual photos, non-consensual videos of women and underage girls, and the premeditated, calculated exploitation of women and girls in my district.”

At the time, Bryant completely denied the allegations. “I take this matter seriously and will cooperate fully with any necessary legal processes to clear my name,” he told The Associated Press.

The State Law Enforcement Division didn’t say if their investigation into any of the men is continuing.

After the arrests, Mace released a statement detailing the 25 bills she says will protect victims of sexual assault, harassment or discrimination, including in retaliatory defamation and libel lawsuits that may result from allegations they bring to light.

The Republican, who is leaving the House this term after losing her bid to be South Carolina governor, introduced a proposal this week to require that anyone who brings such a case and loses must pay attorney fees for the defendant.

“Protecting women and holding predators accountable isn’t a slogan. It’s been one of my top priorities in Congress. For too long, survivors have faced broken systems while predators exploited loopholes and walked free,” Mace said in her statement.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

Biden DOJ Collected Data on 639,000 Trump Donors, Voters

Luis Cornelio
-
0
Biden DOJ Collected Data on 639,000 Trump Donors, Voters

(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Previous revelations that Special Counsel Jack Smith obtained the personal information of nearly 5,000 pro-Trump donors, hundreds of conservative organizations and dozens of GOP lawmakers pale in comparison with the latest disclosure: Smith also swept up data on 639,000 Republican donors, voters and supporters.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, released a memo Wednesday detailing the findings, which were based on documents provided by DOJ whistleblowers as part of his oversight work.

According to Grassley, the information of individuals who purchased Trump products, including his signature Make America Great Again hats, was also obtained by Smith.

The data of Republican donors, voters and supporters dated back to 2005. The most recent donor information included in the records was dated Jan. 24, 2020.

The information reportedly included donors’ names, dates of birth, email addresses, party registration and their congressional and state legislative districts.

Other information obtained included the last four digits of credit card numbers, occupations and places of employment. According to the Senate Judiciary Committee, the occupations listed included janitors, doormen, pool workers, drivers, loggers and safety managers, and even retirees.

Some donations were as low as $1 and generally did not exceed $1,000. Smith also obtained information indicating whether individuals were one-time or recurring donors. Grassley described the data collection as a massive overreach, arguing that Smith did not need the information.

“This update shows that Jack Smith and the Biden Justice Department collected incredibly invasive donor data – and voter data – beyond what could conceivably be necessary for Smith or his team to fulfill the Special Counsel’s mandate,” Grassley said.

“The new findings further corroborate that Smith and his partisan team aimed to map out the entire Republican Party apparatus,” Grassley added. “I again call on my Democratic colleagues to join my oversight work instead of trying to defend Smith and sweep his abuse of authority under the rug.”

The release of the memo comes as the Senate Judiciary Committee, alongside its counterparts in the House of Representatives, the House Judiciary Committee and the House Oversight Committee, continues to investigate Smith’s investigation and subsequent prosecution of Trump after he left the White House in 2021.

The congressional oversight has revealed the breadth of Smith’s prosecutorial reach, extending beyond Trump to include journalists, phone tolls of Republican lawmakers, including some of Trump’s staunchest allies, as well as conservative organizations, pro-Trump super PACs, campaign committees and the Republican National Committee.

U.S. Inflation Rises to 3.7% in September Report

Headline USA Editor
-
0
U.S. Inflation Rises to 3.7% in September Report

(Andrew Rice, The Center Square) U.S. inflation rose 0.6% in September for an annual rate of 3.7%, according to a new report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

The September rate marks a significant increase from the overall 3.4% inflation in July and August. The price index for gasoline rose 9.1% in September, accounting more than half of all price increases. The overall energy index rose 5.2% in September after a 2.1% increase in August. 

Across the country, states have passed temporary fuel tax suspensions as oil and gas prices continue to rise. Orphe Divounguy, founder and chief economist of Quantitative Research Group and a former Zillow economist, said the suspensions do not substantially change a household’s fuel bill. 

The suspensions, in Ohio, North Carolina and Georgia began in October. The delayed timeline means state progress has little effect on September’s report. 

“The benefit is a smaller bill than the household would otherwise face; it does not necessarily free up money for other spending,” Divounguy told The Center Square. “Actual relief depends on local prices and how much of the tax cut reaches consumers.”

Annual core inflation increased by 0.3% in September for an increase of 2.6% over the year after August saw a 2.4% increase. Divounguy said rising energy prices continuing to drive up core inflation could be a cause for concern. 

“The question is whether higher energy costs keep spreading into other prices, or whether weaker demand forces businesses to absorb more of those costs,” Divounguy said. 

With the Fed scheduled to meet again this month, Divounguy said he still favors a pause in another rate hike.

“Gasoline drove over half the headline increase,” Divounguy wrote Wednesday in a blog post. “Most of the prices running hotter are tied to fuel: gasoline, heating oil, airfares and transportation services. 

“Core services inflation was cooling before the [Iran] war. The oil shock interrupted that progress. The prices that usually signal an overheating economy, such as rent, homeowners’ housing costs, medical services and restaurant meals are holding up steady or cooling slightly.”

Jeffrey Roach, chief economist for LPL Financial, highlighted how energy prices are having a greater effect on other economic indicators. He said the Federal Reserve’s latest interest rate hike will make future decisions more difficult.

“Inflation pressures are broadening beyond energy, suggesting the last mile back to target could remain bumpy and keep interest rates elevated,” Roach said in a statement to The Center Square. “The latest report complicates the Fed’s decision this month, as the road back to price stability is looking increasingly difficult to navigate.”

The September jobs report, released on Oct. 2, showed wage growth slowed to 3%, lower than overall inflation. Divounguy warned of a continued gap between prices and wage growth remaining a persistent problem for American families. 

“Households are feeling the pressure,” Divounguy said. “When spending outpaces income, households have less room to save.”

Overall, the energy index rose by 20.4% in the last year. Fuel oil rose by 74.2% over the last year. Food at home saw a decrease of 0.1% in September as it rose 1.8% over the year. 

“Families should plan around their actual grocery bills, fuel use, utility rates, rent renewals, insurance premiums and debt payments,” Divounguy told The Center Square. “Their experience depends on what they buy, which can differ considerably from the national average.”

Poll: Two Years Out, Harris Remains Frontrunner in 2028 Presidential Primary

Headline USA Editor
-
0
Poll: Two Years Out, Harris Remains Frontrunner in 2028 Presidential Primary

(Morgan Sweeney, The Center Square) Former Vice President Kamala Harris remains the top choice for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination among nearly 30% of Democratic and left-leaning independent voters surveyed, with her support holding virtually unchanged over the past year, according to The Center Square’s latest poll.

The Center Square has conducted four Voters’ Voice Polls since March gauging voter preferences in a hypothetical 2028 Democratic presidential primary featuring 13 prominent Democrats, with Harris receiving between 27% and 31% support each time. In the latest survey, which included a weighted sample of 1,011 registered Democrats and 160 Democratic-leaning independents, Harris received 29% support overall.

Though not her strongest showing overall, the October poll marked Harris’ best performance among Democratic-leaning independents. In March, when her overall support peaked, 32% of Democrats favored Harris compared with 18% of independents — a 14-point gap that narrowed to just four points in October, with 29% of Democrats and 25% of independents choosing her.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has remained respondents’ second choice since the start and has come in at 14% support in the past three polls. Former Secretary of State Pete Buttigieg placed third with 10% and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-NY, placed fourth with 9%, similar to previous polls. 

“As VP and the 2024 candidate for the Democrats, Harris [is] the most well-known. Newsom is probably second, given the national profile he has developed,” said Laurel Harbridge-Yong, professor of politics at Northwestern University, noting that name recognition can play an outsized role in early polling data.

While Harris led in nearly every demographic group surveyed, her strongest support appears to come from younger and Black voters. If the primary were held today, 47% of Black voters and 48% of voters ages 18-29 would choose Harris over the other names listed in the poll. Harris also received 42% support among voters with a high school diploma or less, the only other demographic group in which her support exceeded 40%.

As in previous polls, Newsom and Buttigieg both outpaced Harris among respondents 65 and older, receiving 17% and 15% support, respectively, compared with Harris’ 14%.

Despite ranking fourth overall, Ocasio-Cortez was the second-most-popular choice among voters ages 18-29, with 14% support, and those ages 30-44, with 15%.

A total of 12% of respondents indicated they weren’t sure who they would vote for if the primary were held today – down from 15% in August and 17% in June.

The poll also included Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear; U.S. Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey, Mark Kelly of Arizona, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Chris Murphy of Connecticut; and Rep. Ro Khanna of California.

The poll was conducted by Noble Predictive Insights from Oct. 5-7 and surveyed registered voters nationally via opt-in online panel and text-to-web cell phone messages. The Democratic and independent sample groups were weighted to correspond to the national Democratic and independent populations. The margin of error was +/- 1.95%.

FAIR: Birthright Citizenship Costs Taxpayers $150.7B Annually

Headline USA Editor
-
0
FAIR: Birthright Citizenship Costs Taxpayers $150.7B Annually

(Chris Woodward, The Center Square)  Birthright citizenship of immigrants’ children is costing federal, state and local taxpayers $150.7 billion annually, according to the Federation for American Immigration Reform.

Half that amount covers education, with the rest spent on healthcare and nutritional assistance, according to FAIR.

Policy analysts warn that broad constitutional interpretations of birthright citizenship under the 14th Amendment have enabled foreign nationals to exploit legal loopholes through organized “birth tourism” and commercial surrogacy operations in states such as California, New York and Florida. Surrogacy operations are also common in Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. territory about 1,000 miles south of Japan.

“Misinterpretation has led to a number of unfortunate and really harmful unintended consequences, with birth tourism being sort of one of those unintended consequences of a misreading of the Constitution,” said Mateo Forero, director of investigations at FAIR, who was interviewed by The Center Square.

Birth tourism made headlines again after a high-profile surrogacy case in Los Angeles County involving alleged abuse of surrogate-born children. Guojun Xuan, 66, and Silvia Zhang, 39, both of Arcadia, were charged with one count each of conspiracy to commit child abuse. Xuan also faces one felony count of child abuse, one felony count of accessory after the fact and five felony counts of dissuading a witness. There was a total of 21 children born from surrogates.

Mitchell Krems, Xuan’s attorney, told The Center Square that Xuan is a U.S. citizen, but efforts by The Center Square and other media to determine Zhang’s citizenship status has been unsuccessful. Krems has told reporters that Xuan and Zhang are Chinese immigrants.

The couple are in jail in lieu of $20 million bail, and their next hearing will be Friday at Los Angeles County Superior Court in Pasadena. They’ve pleaded not guilty.

Questions over surrogates giving birth to immigrants’ children are being raised as the Trump administration continues its efforts to target birthright citizenship and birth tourism. In August 2026, just five weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Trump’s initial broad executive order restricting birthright citizenship in Trump v. Barbara, the president signed two new executive orders. One focuses on “ending birth tourism,” while the other aims at “continuing to protect the meaning and value of American citizenship.”

FAIR filed amicus briefs at two stages of the Trump v. Barbara case, arguing for the original 19th-century understanding of the 14th Amendment. FAIR expressed disappointment with the justices’ ruling that everyone born in the U.S. is an American citizen, regardless of their parents’ background.

However, Forero noted that the administration’s revised approach on birth tourism takes a creative angle aimed directly at the legal gaps left by the Supreme Court.

“They are keyed to kind of the doors that the Supreme Court left open in the Trump v. Barbara decision,” Forero told The Center Square. “Basically, it’s all keyed to this idea that the children of enemy invaders are not entitled to automatic birthright citizenship.”

The administration’s revised legal theory seeks to categorize illegal aliens and individuals engaging in organized birth fraud under this principle. Still, Forero emphasized that executive action alone is only a partial stopgap.

“Really, at the end of the day, what we think here at FAIR is that this fix requires more than just executive action,” Forero explained. “It requires potential legislation, and obviously, the ultimate solution would be to pass a constitutional amendment to fix the misreading of the 14th Amendment.”

While the legal battle plays out, California Attorney General Rob Bonta has described Trump’s executive orders as “unconscionable.”

Yet Forero maintains that reforming birthright citizenship is fundamentally about protecting public resources and national interests. Beyond the $150.7 billion annual taxpayer impact, Forero pointed to a growing national security threat: foreign adversaries taking advantage of domestic citizenship rules.

“We have this opening for foreign nationals from places like China who are essentially farming U.S. citizenship,” Forero warned. “You have U.S.-born individuals who are then actually living their entire lives back in China under the Chinese Communist Party, which has clearly adversarial interests against the United States. So it’s a national security concern as well.”

Forero highlighted that birth tourism increasingly manifests through commercial surrogacy, bypassing physical travel entirely.

“Wealthy foreign nationals increasingly hire American surrogates so their biological children are born on U.S. soil and acquire citizenship automatically — bypassing even the need for the mother to travel,” Forero said.

According to information posted online by the State Department, law firms, surrogacy groups and fertility centers, a child born on U.S. soil through a gestational surrogate is considered a U.S. citizen regardless of foreign surrogacy arrangements. Official guidelines in the State Department’s Foreign Affairs Manual stipulate that “children born in the United States acquire U.S. citizenship at birth regardless of the use of Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) and/or surrogacy.”

Official state-by-state rankings for birth tourism do not exist because federal agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention do not track tourist-visa births by location. While CDC data recorded 9,576 births to mothers listing foreign addresses in 2024, analysts consider this a significant undercount due to temporary domestic addresses. The Center for Immigration Studies estimates actual national tourist births fall between 20,000 and 26,000 annually. Separate estimates from FAIR and CIS indicate an additional 225,000 to 250,000 children are born to undocumented mothers each year.

According to Forero, organized birth-tourism networks remain concentrated in key regions:

  • California: The state functions as the primary hub for wealthy Chinese clientele through high-end “maternity-hotel” schemes charging up to $100,000. California remains the only state to face major federal prosecution of these networks, including 2019 indictments against 19 individuals linked to companies such as You Win USA, Star Baby Care and USA Happy Baby. FAIR research indicates Chinese nationals account for over 40% of the U.S. international commercial surrogacy market.
  • New York: A Turkish-language scheme across seven Long Island birth houses resulted in over 100 births, $2.1 million in Medicaid fraud and a 27-month prison sentence for the organizer, according to FAIR.
  • Florida: A hub for Russian and Eastern European clients centered in Sunny Isles Beach. Prominent operator Miami Mama reportedly closed following a 2020 State Department rule targeting tourist visas, FAIR noted.
  • Northern Mariana Islands: Tourist births spiked to 582 in 2018 (nearly half the U.S. territory’s total births) due to a 45-day visa waiver for Chinese nationals. After authorities shortened the visa-free stay to 14 days, tourist births plummeted to 58 in 2024 and 47 in 2025, according to FAIR.

Because cross-border surrogacy remains largely legal and operates in a regulatory gray area, federal authorities have limited tools to police alleged abuses or the public benefit eligibility tied to dependents born with U.S. citizenship, according to Forero.

“You have the unintended consequences of having broad citizenship rules,” Forero told The Center Square. “States and Congress need to take a long, hard look at what the rules around surrogacy and cross-border surrogacy specifically need to be and what reforms are necessary.”

In addition to research and investigative work on birth tourism, FAIR actively engages in strategic litigation surrounding state immigration policies, including representing 15 New York sheriffs currently challenging New York’s sanctuary laws.

Ultimately, Forero said, he views tightening these statutory and constitutional loopholes as vital for the country. “It would be a win for the American people, which is what we should all be focused on from a policy perspective.”

Axios: Trump and Netanyahu Discussed Possibility of Major Attacks on Iran Before US and Israeli Elections

Headline USA Editor
-
0
Axios: Trump and Netanyahu Discussed Possibility of Major Attacks on Iran Before US and Israeli Elections

(Dave DeCamp, Antiwar.com) President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have discussed the possibility of resuming large-scale attacks against Iran before the US and Israeli elections, according to a report from Axios.

The report, which cited unnamed US and Israeli sources, said that the two leaders had held multiple calls over the past two weeks about the possibility of resuming “major combat operations” against the Islamic Republic, including the possibility of joint US and Israeli strikes on military and nuclear targets.

Restarting major attacks on Iran would likely hurt Republicans in the November 3 midterm elections, as it would worsen the energy crisis and raise gas prices in the US, while Netanyahu and his coalition may benefit in the October 27 Knesset elections.

“Bibi’s got an election before the midterms. He believes his strength is being a wartime prime minister,” one US official told Axios reporter Barak Ravid, who is a former IDF intelligence officer.

The report also said that in meetings with his security officials, Netanyahu has claimed that it was Trump who brought up the possibility of striking Iran before the elections. Multiple US media outlets recently reported that the US president was considering launching a bombing campaign before the midterms, but he has said publicly that he won’t.

Ravid reported that in the conversations, Netanyahu has made his usual claims about concerns regarding Iran’s nuclear program. One source said US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and US Central Command leadership were the strongest supporters of restarting strikes, while other officials prefer ramping up economic pressure.

The US is still enforcing a blockade of Iranian ports, and Iran has dramatically ramped up attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz after Trump had repeatedly claimed the US was in control of the strait since more oil was coming out, but the oil shipments are on the decline.

 

FBI Arrests OpenAI Employee Over Alleged Spying

Headline USA Editor
-
0
FBI Arrests OpenAI Employee Over Alleged Spying

(Headline USA) An engineer at OpenAI has been charged with secretly installing a recording device inside a conference room in what officials said Tuesday was an effort to capture sensitive conversations about the company’s technology.

The employee, identified as a 35-year-old Saudi national named Abdulrahman Alfozan, was arrested Friday, a week after the ChatGPT maker discovered an audio recording device hidden inside a company conference room, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court in San Francisco.

The complaint did not identify the company, but the company confirmed in a separate statement that it had discovered a “sophisticated recording device that was hidden inside one of our offices,” reported the finding to the FBI and fired the employee.

“We used our models to understand the device and where it had come from, identifying that a specific employee had planted it a few days earlier. We referred the matter to the FBI, and we’re grateful to the agents and prosecutors who moved quickly to make an arrest. The FBI’s investigation is ongoing and we will continue to support their work,” an OpenAI spokesperson said.

“At this time, we have no indications of this individual inappropriately accessing or exfiltrating model weights, source code, or customer data. The employee was terminated,” the statement said.

The complaint does not detail what Alfozan might have wanted to do with any captured communications, but the company said the device was sophisticated, designed to evade detection and featured advanced encryption and audio monitoring capabilities. OpenAI said it had evidence the employee planned to place other listening devices throughout other parts of the office building for the purpose of recording meetings.

“This alleged attempt by a Saudi national to steal sensitive communications from OpenAI was taken extremely seriously. Theft of intellectual property involving cutting-edge super intelligence technology poses a serious threat to our national security,” Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement on X.

Alfozan made his first court appearance Tuesday on a charge of using or endeavoring to use an electronic, mechanical, or other device to intercept oral communications. It was not immediately clear if he had a lawyer who could speak on his behalf. He is due back in court on Oct. 19.

The recording device was found September 30 concealed in toilet paper and inserted into a USB port on the back of a television in an executive conference room, according to the complaint.

Though the conference room where the recording device was found did not have a security camera at the time the object was installed, closed-circuit television footage inside the company’s offices revealed that Alfozan was near the conference room on nearly a dozen occasions last month despite not having any authority to access the space or participate in meetings there, the complaint says.

The company subsequently added a camera to the room that last week captured Alfozan entering and checking behind the television where the recording device had been installed, according to the FBI.

The complaint also alleges that he used a productivity tool to make multiple inquiries about the company’s building addresses, meeting rooms, meeting-room capacities and calendars.

Days before his arrest last week, the complaint says, Alfozan left behind an unattended bag in a different room that, when opened by OpenAI personnel, was found to contain his wallet, identification and another recording device similar to the one placed in the conference room.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press. 

 

US Halts Prosecution of Former CIA Analyst Accused of Aiding South Korean Intelligence

Headline USA Editor
-
0
US Halts Prosecution of Former CIA Analyst Accused of Aiding South Korean Intelligence

(Headline USA) The U.S. Justice Department has agreed not to prosecute a former CIA analyst who in 2024 was accused of serving as a secret agent for South Korea’s intelligence service, according to court documents filed Tuesday.

Federal prosecutors said Sue Mi Terry had shared nonpublic government information, facilitated access for South Korean officials to U.S. officials and accepted luxury gifts in exchange for advocating South Korean government positions during media appearances.

The Justice Department agreed Tuesday to put her prosecution on hold for a year, and then drop the charges altogether if Terry stays out of legal trouble. The deal comes weeks before Terry was set to stand trial in a Manhattan federal court on charges of acting as an unregistered foreign agent.

Prosecutors did not explain in court documents why they decided not to move forward with her case, saying only that they determined that the interests of both Terry and the U.S. “will be best served by deferring prosecution.” The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York declined to comment.

Terry had maintained her innocence. Her attorney, Lee Wolosky, said Tuesday that Terry had “served her country loyally for many years” and was pleased with this result.

“We have consistently maintained that her interactions with South Korean officials were conducted in furtherance of U.S. interests and her work as a leading American specialist on North Korea and East Asia,” Wolosky said in a statement.

As part of her deal, Terry signed a document agreeing to certain facts of the case, including that she had shared notes with a South Korean intelligence officer from an off-the-record meeting she attended with then-U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in 2022.

The document also said she accepted designer handbags and coats from South Korea’s intelligence service, which were collectively valued at about $9,245.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press. 

1...91011...3,864Page 10 of 3,864