DOJ Charges Dozens in California Illegal Voting Case

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DOJ Charges Dozens in California Illegal Voting Case

(Headline USA) Federal authorities charged more than two dozen foreign nationals Monday in California as part of a statewide sweep targeting people who officials say have illegally registered or voted in U.S. elections.

The arrests are part of a Trump administration effort to root out noncitizen voting ahead of next month’s midterm elections.

Federal officials on Monday blamed California officials for the alleged crimes, accusing them of facilitating noncitizen voting through inadequate voter roll maintenance and hiding it from the public. The charges escalated a voter roll fight that came into focus last week when the Justice Department sued California and warned that local election workers who knowingly process or tabulate ballots submitted by noncitizen voters are at risk of investigation and potential prosecution.

The Justice Department said the 28 people who were charged as part of a sweep dubbed Operation Protect the Vote are lawful permanent residents — but not U.S. citizens who are permitted to legally vote. They are charged with crimes including making false statements on a naturalization application and submitting fraudulent voter registrations.

The federal government has made noncitizen voting a priority this year, demanding detailed voter information — including dates of birth, addresses, driver’s license numbers and partial Social Security numbers — from the states. While some states voluntarily handed over the information, the department sued 30 states and the District of Columbia to obtain it — lawsuits that so far have been unsuccessful.

The Justice Department said Monday it has charged 113 people in 20 states with illegal voting and illegal registration offenses over the last several weeks. It earlier said it had charged about 90 people for various types of election misconduct so far this year, including 50 who are alleged to have voted as noncitizens. There were more than 227 million registered voters in the United States during the 2024 presidential election.

The operation Monday involved the four U.S. attorneys’ offices across California in what the Justice Department intended as a statewide show of force.

Among the dozens of people arrested was a 72-year-old Belize-born man who is accused of voting illegally in four elections.

Dozens of federal agents descended on Omar Alexander Muñoz’s residential cul-de-sac in Commerce, a small city in Los Angeles County, to make the arrest. Muñoz was put in handcuffs in his pajamas and taken into federal custody downtown.

The arrests were the latest in a flurry of activity that has unfolded in heavily Democratic California, which is not typically regarded as a key battleground state but does have a handful of competitive congressional races that could help determine which party controls the U.S. House for the final two years of President Donald Trump’s term.

The administration last week sued California to prevent it from counting mail ballots from people the federal government has identified as “likely” noncitizens until their immigration status can be confirmed.

The complaint was filed after California officials were given, and did not meet, a 48-hour deadline to review a password-protected thumb drive that contained a list of 20,000 names. The federal government says those are likely noncitizens who were sent ballots to participate in the Nov. 3 election, although the secretary of state said the administration has provided no evidence to support that claim. The state mails ballots to all registered voters.

McCotter said the 20,000 number was likely to rise.

“That’s just the floor,” he said.

McCotter said the lawsuit against California was necessary because “state-facilitated voter fraud is unacceptable,” and accused state officials of creating the last-minute emergency before Election Day by not working with the Justice Department sooner to check alleged noncitizen voters.

Explaining why it was important to address voting by noncitizens even thought it’s rare, he noted that some races in California have been decided by just hundreds of votes.

Bill Essayli, the top federal prosecutor in Los Angeles, criticized the state’s election officials for not cooperating with the department’s demands.

“Why is California refusing to show their voter rolls?” he asked. “What are they afraid of? What are they hiding?”

As part of its lawsuit, the Justice Department filed paperwork Monday seeking a court order that would force California to set aside ballots from suspected noncitizens and to independently, or in conjunction with the federal government, verify their citizenship status before tabulating their mail-in ballot. The Justice Department asked for the order to be entered in time for the Nov. 3 election.

Absent that order, the government said, “there is a significant risk that American votes will be diluted.”

Requests for comment sent Monday to the secretary of state and governor’s office were not immediately returned. Newsom on Monday published a series of X posts seeking to undermine the Justice Department’s announcement.

“WOW. First Assistant Bill just admitted in front of the press that not all of those arrested today may have voted,” he wrote in one post, referencing Essayli.

On Friday, the Justice Department followed up with a warning that state election officials who knowingly process ballots cast by noncitizen voters are at risk of investigation.

A letter from McCotter reads: “If persons knowingly tabulate ballots cast by individuals identified by federal agencies as noncitizens, they risk becoming aiders and abettors to a federal crime.”

The letter is addressed to the Los Angeles County Counsel’s office and also is copied to California Secretary of State Shirley Weber and Los Angeles County Registrar Dean Logan, effectively putting the entire state on notice.

In response, Logan said his office is focused on conducting a fair and secure election while noting that Election Day is a mere 18 days away.

“The U.S. Department of Justice has chosen to litigate their unverified assertions of voting eligibility. At this point, it is best for this to be addressed in court,” he said.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press.

 

Trump Signs Melania-Backed Women’s Health Order

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Trump Signs Melania-Backed Women’s Health Order

(Headline USA) President Donald Trump on Monday directed the federal government to bolster federal research into women’s health through all stages of their lives, a move pushed by his wife, first lady Melania Trump.

The Republican president signed an executive order creating a Women’s Health Division at the National Institutes of Health and a separate White House Women’s Health Task Force. The panel was set to hold its first meeting on Monday.

“Beginning today we will change the reality of women’s health,” Melania Trump said. “Previous generations fought for women’s rights. Our generation will fight to discover the cures that will ensure a woman can live her life in health and to the fullest.”

The president spoke after his wife and said the order will “promote new research and really go after the understudied diseases affecting women.” The order is also intended to promote diagnostic technology and improve treatment.

White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, who recently completed treatment for breast cancer, and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will lead the White House task force. Donald Trump said the panel will coordinate with various federal agencies and programs. The order does not include specific funding goals.

The initiative follows meetings the first lady had with the president, Kennedy and other federal health officials to help shape the order and the task force.

The president called it a “historic action” and praised her work.

“She’s accomplished so much,” he said before pivoting into unscripted commentary about White House renovations, including the patio stone now covering what used to be the Rose Garden lawn.

Shifting back to women’s health, the president expressed surprise that some of the order’s requirements had not already been imposed.

“Who the hell wouldn’t have a women’s health division?” he said, after recalling that he’d asked Melania Trump, “Are you sure they don’t have that?”

The NIH has an Office of Research on Women’s Health, established in 1990 to advance understanding of the biological and social factors that influence women’s health and disease, according to its website.

A goal of the new Women’s Health Division is to improve the government’s ability to coordinate research, according to a fact sheet distributed by the White House.

The executive order signed Monday calls for more research into key areas of women’s health, including maternal health, mental health, endometriosis, infertility, fibroids and menopause. It also mentions other health concerns, including Alzheimer’s and heart disease, osteoporosis and stroke.

The White House announcement comes about two weeks before Nov. 3 elections and as Donald Trump’s job approval ratings have declined.

About one-third of women now approve of how Trump is handling the presidency, according to recent AP-NORC polling. About two-thirds of women disapproved of how Trump was handling healthcare issues in a July AP-NORC poll.

An AP-NORC poll conducted earlier in October found women more likely than men to say healthcare is “one of the most important issues” in the upcoming election.

It was unclear whether Trump’s order conflicts with his earlier executive actions curtailing federal programs and policies with a focus on diversity, equity and inclusion.

The administration’s broad cuts to scientific research have included studies focusing on women as it continues to eliminate grants with a “DEI” or diversity focus. Last year, the administration announced that the long-running Women’s Health Initiative, a study of preventive health strategies, would be closed early before abruptly reversing that decision amid protest.

In 2023, the administration of Democratic President Joe Biden signed an executive order as he announced a White House initiative to improve how the federal government approaches and funds research into the health of women, who make up more than half the U.S. population. The initiative was led by first lady Jill Biden.

Before leaving the White House, the Bidens highlighted Jill Biden’s effort and said the research initiative had attracted nearly $1 billion in federal funding, including from the Defense Department and NIH.

Trump’s executive order rescinded the Biden effort.

The Trump White House said the steps announced Monday go beyond what was accomplished under Biden, citing the planned use of artificial intelligence, which Trump calls “super intelligence,” and creating a government-wide task force rather than having the first lady lead the initiative.

The initiative adds a new dimension to Melania Trump’s policy portfolio as first lady.

In Donald Trump’s second term, Melania Trump has focused on improving foster care systems, expanding technology and artificial-intelligence access in education, and reuniting children separated from their families by Russia’s war against Ukraine.

In Trump’s first presidency, the first lady’s signature initiative, Be Best, focused on child well-being, safe social media use and reducing drug abuse.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press.

Dozens of Cows Killed in Kansas City Truck Crash

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Dozens of Cows Killed in Kansas City Truck Crash

(Headline USA) Dozens of cattle spilled onto a street in Kansas City, Missouri, when a semitractor-trailer plunged off a highway overpass in the city’s downtown area and onto a car early Sunday, shutting down some roads and setting off a search for the traumatized animals that survived.

The accident occurred shortly before 3 a.m. and the roundup of surviving cattle continued into the early afternoon, authorities said.

The driver of the truck and the driver of a vehicle the truck landed on sustained minor injuries and were treated at local hospitals, they said.

Kansas City Police Sgt. Phil DiMartino said that between 45 and 60 of the 120 to 130 cattle carried by the truck were killed when the tractor trailer overturned and fell from the westbound Interstate 70 curve over southbound I-35.

Dozens of other cows fled the crash scene, resulting in other crashes and more calls to the police from the public, he said.

“It is believed all cows have now been accounted for,” DiMartino said in an updated press release Sunday afternoon.

The accident occurred on a day when the Kansas City Chiefs were hosting the Los Angeles Chargers in a National Football League game. Major disruptions in game traffic were not anticipated by authorities because of the wide publicity that the accident had received.

Some of the cattle had walked several miles before they were captured, said Kansas City Fire Battalion Chief Michael Hopkins.

“It was a pretty nasty accident,” Hopkins said.

Immediately after the accident, city authorities launched drones to track the cattle before a private company working together with the trucking company arrived with workers on horseback to round up the cattle, he said.

“More difficult has been getting the animals who did not survive,” he added.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press.

DHS Grants Temporary Deportation Reprieve for More than 100K Refugees

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DHS Grants Temporary Deportation Reprieve for More than 100K Refugees

(Headline USA) More than 100,000 people from Ukraine and Sudan can stay in the United States without immediate risk of deportation, the Department of Homeland Security said, in what amounts to a temporary reprieve after their right to stay in the country was set to expire Monday.

Temporary Protected Status was set to end Oct. 19 for about 101,000 Ukrainians and 1,800 Sudanese. But DHS said an announcement “will be made at the appropriate time.” Until then, the department said in a written statement, Ukrainians and Sudanese in the U.S. covered by those temporary measures “retain protection.” The Department did not indicate how long they could stay or when a final announcement would be made on their status.

DHS did not respond to a question about whether they can keep their work permits, but TPS generally allows people to work while their protections remain in effect.

The decision Monday marks another incident where the Trump administration, which has previously sought to end these temporary protections from deportation and send people back to their home countries, has allowed people covered by the temporary status to stay in the country but without giving any guidance as to how long.

Yuriy Boyechko, CEO of Hope For Ukraine, a nonprofit that provides humanitarian aid in Ukraine and helps resettle newcomers in the U.S., described the government’s announcement as “last-minute patches.”

It is a “bandage that has been placed on a wound that does not solve the real issue,” he said. “It’s time for U.S. to come up with some normal path to permanent residency for all these people,” Boyechko noted. He emphasized that they cannot safely return to Ukraine.

The Trump administration has already terminated TPS for more than 1 million people from 13 countries, including Venezuela, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Afghanistan and Syria.

But in a change in practice roughly a month ago, the administration kept protections in place for nearly 200,000 Salvadorans whose TPS was set to expire Sept. 9. In that case they also said that they were going to make a decision at the appropriate time and that in the meantime, people from El Salvador could continue to work and live in the U.S.

Activists and a bipartisan group of lawmakers have been raising the alarm over the upcoming deadline for TPS to expire for Ukrainians, arguing that conditions remain unsafe for them to return home amid the war with Russia.

Ukraine was first designated for TPS in April 2022, following Russia’s full-scale invasion two months earlier. The Biden administration subsequently extended the designation, most recently in January 2025, when DHS authorized an additional 18 months of protection through October 2026.

The TPS program for Sudan was established in 1997, and since then, successive U.S. administrations have extended it due to the armed conflict and political instability that have plagued the African nation.

The decision Monday comes two weeks before the Nov. 3 midterm elections, when Trump’s hard line immigration policies will face a test at the ballot box.

The U.S. Congress created TPS in 1990 to prevent deportations to countries suffering from natural disasters or civil strife.

It allows people already in the country to remain and work, for renewable periods if the homeland security secretary determines conditions are unsafe for their return. But it doesn’t give them a pathway to permanent residency.

Supporters say that using this tool protects people from being returned to dangerous situations and that uprooting people covered by TPS after years of living in the U.S. is cruel. Critics, especially in the Trump administration, say successive administrations have extended these protections for years regardless of what has happened in the home countries.

Federal rules say TPS is automatically extended for six months if the secretary doesn’t make a determination at least 60 days before the designation expires.

“We’re grateful for an extension, however temporary, for TPS holders from Ukraine and Sudan,” said Myal Greene, president and CEO of World Relief, an organization that has provided humanitarian assistance in both countries. “We encourage the administration and Congress to consider longer term relief for women, men and children trying to carve out stability while their countries of origin remain in upheaval.”

Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, president and CEO of Global Refuge, noted Ukraine and Sudan are not safe and meet the legal conditions for TPS to be extended.

“Russia’s war on Ukraine is nearing its fifth year, and Ukrainians are bracing for another winter under drone and missile strikes, driving civilian casualties and devastating critical infrastructure. Sudan remains locked in a brutal civil war marked by famine, widespread human rights abuses and the hallmarks of genocide,” Vignarajah said. “It is not safe for these families to go home.”

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press.

SCOTUS Rejects Effort to Revive Alleged 9/11 Planner’s Plea Deal

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SCOTUS Rejects Effort to Revive Alleged 9/11 Planner’s Plea Deal

(Headline USA) The Supreme Court on Monday rejected an effort to revive a plea deal for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the accused mastermind of the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

The agreement would have spared Mohammed the risk of execution in exchange for his guilty plea and a sentence of life in prison without parole.

Mohammed is accused of developing and directing the plot to crash hijacked airliners into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon 25 years ago. Another of the hijacked planes crashed into a field in Pennsylvania.

The plea agreement was approved by military prosecutors and the Pentagon’s senior official for Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, before then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin stepped in.

Austin threw out the deal in 2024, saying a decision on the death penalty in an attack as grave as Sept. 11 should only be made by the defense secretary.

Relatives of the Sept. 11 victims were split on the agreements for Mohammed and two co-defendants. Some said a trial is the best path to justice, while others saw it as the best hope for bringing the long, painful case to a conclusion.

Defense attorneys had argued that Austin, who served under President Joe Biden, acted too late. But a divided appeals court panel found Austin acted within his authority.

A trial date has been set for 2028.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press.

Homan Says Investigators Have ‘Strong Case’ Against Ilhan Omar

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Homan Says Investigators Have ‘Strong Case’ Against Ilhan Omar

(Elyse Apel, The Center Square) White House border czar Tom Homan said over the weekend that federal investigators have a “strong case” against U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar.

These comments come less than a week after Homeland Security Investigations searched the Minnesota Democrat’s Washington, D.C., home. Reports have linked the search to an investigation into the circumstances surrounding her naturalization as a U.S. citizen.

In an interview on Saturday, Homan addressed whether Omar could face legal consequences.

“I’m not going to get ahead of the bureau,” Homan said. “We will let the evidence lead where it leads. But she will be held to the same standards you and I are held. If she violated law, then she will be held accountable.”

When asked what the investigation is examining and whether it extends beyond potential immigration fraud, Homan said he “knows things” but directed the question to the FBI.

The FBI did not respond to a request for comment from The Center Square.

Over the weekend, former President Barack Obama joined the many Democrats and civil rights groups condemning the raid.

“It is a basic principle of American democracy that the government can’t selectively target individuals simply because of their political beliefs or what they say,” Obama said in a social media post on Sunday. “But that’s exactly what the Trump Administration is doing to Congresswoman Ilhan Omar of Minnesota.”

The Democrat called claims regarding Omar’s immigration status “unsubstantiated,” also stating that this investigation is because the Trump administration is “actively trying to deport” Omar.

“The full weight of the federal government is being brought down on a law-abiding elected official because she has dared to criticize the president,” Obama said. “The fact that any president, or any administration, is willing to engage in such transparent efforts to intimidate someone should outrage all Americans.”

Federal officials searched Omar’s home early Monday morning, according to a statement the U.S. Department of Justice provided The Center Square.

“Homeland Security Investigations executed a judicially authorized search warrant secured by the Department of Justice,” said a spokesperson. “This enforcement action is part of an ongoing federal criminal investigation.”

That same spokesperson declined to comment further on “investigations.”

Attorneys for Omar have demanded that items—including her phone—taken during the raid be returned to the congresswoman, stating its seizure was “neither justified nor lawful,” according to reports. Members of her family are among more than a dozen people who have been subpoenaed by a grand jury.

The raid came just a month after Homan confirmed that Omar is actively under investigation by DHS.

Omar, who immigrated to the United States in 1995, has faced scrutiny for years over the circumstances surrounding her naturalization as a citizen.

In September, Homan refused to reveal many details regarding the “ongoing criminal investigation,” besides that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement are the ones conducting it.

Since the raid, other federal officials have joined Homan in confirming the case is “strong,” adding that this is not a politically-motivated prosecution.

“We try to let the law follow the facts, rather than creating facts just to prosecute people we don’t like,” Vance said last week. “I do know there are some serious allegations against Ilhan Omar . . . If there’s a real case there, we’re going to follow the facts.”

The scrutiny includes longstanding allegations that Omar married her brother to facilitate immigration fraud. Omar denied the allegations in 2016, calling them “disgusting lies.”

In December, Omar called an effort to examine records pertaining to her immigration “sick.”

“I have no response because I don’t know what they’ll be investigating,” Omar told a reporter. She added that investigators would “absolutely not” find anything.

According to federal officials, the investigation has been ongoing for some months.

DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin also discussed the issue in September, alleging that they’ve already determined that she married her brother.

“Something’s going to happen,” Mullin said. “We know that she married her brother to try to bring him to the United States. We know he now lives in London.”

Mullin also threw out the prospect of deportation, which would first require denaturalization.

“There may be more to this, the whole family migration and possibly some illegal activity for them to come to the United States to begin with,” Mullin said. “If we can prove it, that you shouldn’t have been here in the first place, we will deport you.”

Omar, who represents Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District, has served in Congress since 2019. She addressed the investigation last week.

“Thank you to everyone who stood with me over the years,” Omar said in a post on her personal social media. “It’s been a scary journey but I have always been grounded in my work and ability to provide exemplary service to my constituents.”

Omar added that she has felt targeted.

“Trump and his administration have been after me since I arrived in Congress,” she said. “I have always stood up to him and that will never change. The pedophile protector will never silence me.”

Toddler’s Death Sparks Dispute Over State Findings

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Toddler’s Death Sparks Dispute Over State Findings

(Misty Castile, The Center Square)  Use of police force by a Senatobia police officer toward a vehicle suspected of involvement in a crime on June 14, leading to the death of 1-year-old Kohen Wiley, has been justified by the attorney general’s office in Mississippi.

The decision follows a Mississippi Bureau of Investigation inquiry into the shooting outside a Walmart. The child was killed and an adult was wounded after an officer fired into a vehicle during a response to a reported shoplifting incident.

“In this incident, the Attorney General’s Office found the use of force was justified,” the office said in its statement.

The announcement did not identify the officer or explain what evidence supported the decision. It said the review involved one Senatobia Police Department officer and followed the state investigation pursuant to Section 45-1-6 of the Mississippi Code.

Authorities initially said officers responding to the Walmart on U.S. 51 encountered two people and a child entering a vehicle. According to the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation’s account, the driver drove toward officers and nearly struck one before an officer fired. The vehicle left the scene and later arrived at a hospital, where the child was pronounced dead.

The child’s family has disputed that account. His mother, Vellesiya Wiley, said she was in the passenger seat and held up her son to show police a child was inside the vehicle. According to the Mississippi Free Press, she denied that the vehicle was aimed at officers or that shoplifting had occurred.

Senatobia interim Police Chief Angelica Maze announced Sept. 17 that state investigators had turned the case over to the attorney general’s office.

Monday’s statement did not address the family’s account or say whether investigative records or video would be released.

Florida Brings More Charges Against Former Cuba President Raul Castro

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Florida Brings More Charges Against Former Cuba President Raul Castro

(Headline USA) Former Cuban President Raúl Castro is facing more charges in Florida related to the 1996 downing of civilian planes flown by Miami-based exiles after the U.S. government indicted the former leader earlier this year.

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier on Monday accused Castro, 95, of directing spies to infiltrate the exile group Brothers to the Rescue and ordering the attack on their planes. The state charge of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder is based largely on a federal indictment announced in May that included charges of murder and destruction of an airplane.

It remains unclear whether Castro will ever step foot in a U.S. courtroom. Uthmeier said the arrest warrant will restrict Castro’s ability leave the island nation and prevent him from traveling to any place with an extradition agreement with the U.S.

“I’m not ignorant of the fact that Raúl Castro is an older man who’s probably not looking to march himself into Miami,” Uthmeier said. “I think others would get him before the court of law would, but at the end of the day, we stand ready to prosecute the case.”

According to the state complaint, Castro was the Minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces and First Vice President of Cuba when he gave the final authorization to shoot down the planes. Cuban Directorate of Intelligence agents operating as part of the Wasp Network in the Miami area and the Florida Keys infiltrated Brothers to the Rescue and reported flight plans, investigator said.

On Feb. 24, 1996, three unarmed Cessna aircraft departed Opa-Locka Airport in Miami-Dade County. Well outside Cuba’s territorial waters, Cuban MiGs destroyed two of the civilian planes with air-to-air missiles, killing the four occupants, the complaint said. Both aircraft were traveling away from Cuba and received no warning despite contact with Havana air traffic control, U.S. officials said.

“Our historic federal indictment laid the groundwork, and James and his team have now taken the important step of bringing charges under Florida law,” U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Jason Reding Quiñones said at a news conference.

In Cuba, authorities have rejected the new accusations against Castro.

“This reprehensible action against the Army General—staged this morning in a pathetic Miami circus with an electoral subtext—has no legal or practical basis whatsoever, nor will it ever have one,” President Miguel Díaz-Canel wrote on his X account.

“This maneuver, dressed up in legal terms by anti-Cuban politicians against Raúl and against Cuba, deserves our firm condemnation. It is part of an aggressive agenda and reflects the difficulties they face in trying to justify the blockade and the collective punishment of our people,” the president added.

Castro took over as president from his ailing older brother Fidel Castro in 2006 before handing power to Díaz-Canel, a trusted loyalist, in 2018.

While Raúl Castro retired in 2021 as head of the Cuban Communist Party, he is widely believed to wield power behind the scenes, underscored by the prominence of his grandson, Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro.

Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump has been threatening military action in Cuba ever since U.S. forces captured former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, the Cuban government’s longtime patron.

After ousting the Venezuelan leader earlier this year, the White House ordered a blockade that choked off fuel shipments to Cuba, leading to severe blackouts, food shortages and an economic collapse across the island.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press.

Report: OJ Simpson May Have Received ‘Help’ from Federal Informant in Murder Case

Ken Silva
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Report: OJ Simpson May Have Received ‘Help’ from Federal Informant in Murder Case

(Ken Silva, Headline USA) The New York Times published newly unsealed documents related to the OJ Simpson murder case on Sunday, and revealed new details about the incident—including the possible involvement of a federal informant.

The newly unsealed records include a letter that the Justice Department wrote on behalf of mafia associate, drug dealer and prison escapee Joseph Ippolito, who became a prolific informant after his arrest in August 1995. Along with ratting on his associates in “La Cosa Nostra,” Ippolito provided information about Simpson, according to the DOJ’s letter.

“Ippolito became close to several individuals at the center of the Simpson/Goldman murder case,” the letter says, referring to 1994 murder victims Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman.

“Through his close personal relationships with Al Cowlings, Simpson’s confidant, and others involved in the cases, including O.J. and Nicole Simpson, Ippolito had become privy to many facts relevant to the case, including Simpson’s alleged domestic violence, the Simpsons’ narcotics usage, Simpson’s attempted flight from justice, and his disposal of the murder weapon.”

That letter from the DOJ helped Ippolito secure a relatively light prison sentence for his serious crimes. The government reportedly agreed not to prosecute him for distributing drugs in California for the five years up until his arrest, and he was also sentenced to time served for his previous prison escape. He was released from prison in 1998 and died in 2006, according to the Times.

But that’s not all. The Times interviewed Ippolito’s brother, Sam Ippolito, who implicated the federal informant in the murder of Nicole Simpson and Goldman.

According to Sam, he and his brother were in Los Angeles on the night of the murders. The brother said Joseph told him that he had to “go help OJ.”

“Hours later, around midnight, his brother returned to their apartment carrying a bag with a heavy object inside and he appeared to have blood on his hands, Sam Ippolito said. Next, Joey undressed and stuffed his own clothes in the bag. He then asked Sam to get rid of it while he showered,” the Times reported.

“Sam Ippolito told The Times he didn’t ask questions. He went outside and found a dumpster along Doheny Drive, near a construction site. He tossed the bag in.”

Julie Mijares, whom Joseph was reportedly staying with on the night of the murders, called Sam Ippolito’s allegations absurd. Sam Ippolito, for his part, later told the Times that he wanted to recant what he told the newspaper earlier about his brother—saying that he “could not differentiate what was real and what was not.”

The Times noted that the public has speculated for decades about someone else being involved in the Simpson/Goldman murders. Even OJ Simpson, who was acquitted in October 1995, wrote about such a scenario in his infamous book, “If I Did It”—describing a scenario where someone else helped get rid of the murder weapon and his bloody clothes.

Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.

India Gold Market Flips to Premium as Demand Improves and Supplies Tighten

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India Gold Market Flips to Premium as Demand Improves and Supplies Tighten

(Mike Maharrey, Money Metals News Service) Gold traded at a premium in India last week for the first time in three months. This reflects the combined effect of tightening supply and improving demand.

Dealers reported premiums as high as $7 an ounce over domestic spot prices. That compares with discounts in the $5-to-$6 range the previous week.

Indian gold demand has improved as prices fell even as the festive buying season kicked off.

During the first week of October, Indian gold prices fell to ₹145,538 per 10 grams, the lowest level in nearly two months. According to the Times of India, “The correction brought more buyers into the market compared with the previous week and also resulted in sellers offering smaller discounts.”

The falling price coincided with the beginning of the festive season in September. This is considered an auspicious time to buy gold. The festival season starts in September, building into Navratri (Oct. 11), and peaking around Dhanteras (Nov. 6) and Diwali (Nov. 8). Buying typically continues into the winter wedding season.

On the supply side, Indian gold imports plunged by 45 percent in August and slumped again in September, falling from $2.3 ​billion to $1.8 billion according to preliminary data.

Imports typically pick up in late summer as dealers stock up on metal for the fall buying season. However, the government has aggressively tried to curb imports.

The Indian government announced the 9 percent duty increase in May. The change pushed the import tax on gold and silver from 6 to 15 percent. The move came as India struggled with a surging trade deficit that is pressuring its currency.

Oil accounts for around 22 percent of the nation’s imports. The sudden spike in oil prices due to the U.S.-Iran war has hit India particularly hard. The country imports nearly 85 percent of its fuel, and about 50 percent of its crude imports flow through the Strait of Hormuz.

With both gold and oil prices spiking, India’s import bill has exploded. The country’s merchandise trade deficit topped $330 billion in the financial year ending March 2026. That was up from over $280 billion a year ago, a 17.9 percent increase.

The trade situation has put significant downward pressure on the rupee.

Gold and silver make up about 11 percent of India’s imports. The government raised import duties, hoping to limit metal flowing into the country. This will theoretically close that massive trade deficit and support the rupee.

So far,  the move has proved effective, but it’s starting to create shortages of metal within the country.

More recently, several large Indian mutual funds issued public notices suspending bulk subscriptions to gold ETFs. According to Reuters, “The decision was taken following a nudge from the ​Securities and Exchange Board of India.”

While government intervention can limit imports, it’s unlikely to curb Indian’s appetite for gold.

When the government announced the import duty increase, Metals Focus pointed out that Indian gold and silver demand has historically remained resilient in a higher-tax environment. This reflects Indians’ deep cultural connection to precious metals and their value as a store of wealth. As the rupee continues to depreciate, gold will become increasingly attractive.

According to Metals Focus analysts, “Consumers often delay purchases initially following sharp price increases but typically adjust to higher price levels over time. In addition, elevated duties could encourage a recovery in unofficial flows, which had collapsed following the 2024 duty reduction.”

That’s reflected in resilient festival season demand despite higher prices.

Mike Maharrey is a journalist and market analyst for Money Metals with over a decade of experience in precious metals. He holds a BS in accounting from the University of Kentucky and a BA in journalism from the University of South Florida.

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