Trump's Justice Department is investigating whether DC police officials falsified crime data

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department has opened an investigation into whether police officials in Washington, D.C., have falsified data to make crime rates appear lower than they are, according to two people familiar with the probe who weren't authorized to publicly discuss an open investigation.

The investigation comes amid an escalating — and political — showdown between the Trump administration and the city over control of the police department. It wasn’t immediately clear what federal laws could have been violated by the possible manipulation of crime data.

President Donald Trump claimed that violent crime in Washington is getting worse as he ordered a federal takeover of the city's police department, flooding the streets with hundreds of National Guard members. But he exaggerated or misstated many facts about public safety in Washington, where crime rates have fallen in recent years.

Mayor Muriel Bowser's office declined to comment on the investigation. A spokesperson for U.S. Attorney Jeannine Pirro's office in Washington didn't respond to emails seeking comment.

The New York Times was first to report on the investigation.

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As out-of-state Guard troops arrive, Trump's federal crackdown ripples through DC neighborhoods

WASHINGTON (AP) — The main drag in Washington's Columbia Heights neighborhood is typically crammed with people peddling pupusas, fresh fruit, souvenirs and clothing. On Tuesday, though, things felt different: The white tents that bulge with food and merchandise were scarcer than usual.

“Everything has stopped over the last week,” said Yassin Yahyaoui, who sells jewelry and glass figurines. Most of his customers and fellow vendors, he said, have “just disappeared” — particularly if they speak Spanish.

The abnormally quiet street was one of many pieces of evidence showing how President Donald Trump 's decision to flood the nation's capital with federal law enforcement and immigration agents has rippled through the city. While troop deployments and foot patrols in downtown areas and around the National Mall have gotten the most attention, life in historically diverse neighborhoods like Columbia Heights is being reshaped as well.

The White House has credited Trump's crackdown with hundreds of arrests, while local officials have criticized the aggressive intervention in the city's affairs.

The confrontation escalated on Tuesday as the top federal prosecutor in D.C. opened an investigation into whether police officials have falsified crime data, according to a person familiar with the situation who wasn't authorized to comment publicly. The probe could be used to bolster Trump's claims that the city is suffering from a “crime emergency” despite statistics showing improvements. The mayor’s office and the police department declined to comment.

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US troops won’t be sent to help defend Ukraine, Trump says

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Tuesday offered his assurances that U.S. troops would not be sent to help defend Ukraine against Russia after seeming to leave open the possibility the day before.

Trump also said in a morning TV interview that Ukraine's hopes of joining NATO and regaining the Crimean Peninsula from Russia are “impossible.”

The Republican president, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other European leaders held hours of talks at the White House on Monday aimed at bringing an end to Russia’s war against Ukraine. While answering questions from journalists, Trump did not rule out sending U.S. troops to participate in a European-led effort to defend Ukraine as part of security guarantees sought by Zelenskyy.

Trump said after his meeting in Alaska last week with Russian President Vladimir Putin that Putin was open to the idea of security guarantees for Ukraine.

But asked Tuesday on Fox News Channel's “Fox & Friends” what assurances he could provide going forward and beyond his term that American troops would not be part of defending Ukraine’s border, Trump said, “Well, you have my assurance, and I’m president.”

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Nebraska announces plan for immigration detention center dubbed the 'Cornhusker Clink'

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska announced plans Tuesday for an immigration detention center in the remote southwest corner of the state as President Donald Trump's administration races to expand the infrastructure necessary for increasing deportations.

The facility will be dubbed the “Cornhusker Clink,” a play on Nebraska's nickname of the Cornhusker State and an old slang term for jail. The alliterative name follows in the vein of the previously announced “Alligator Alcatraz” and “Deportation Depot” detention centers in Florida and the “Speedway Slammer" in Indiana.

Republican Gov. Jim Pillen said he and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem had agreed to use an existing minimum security prison work camp in McCook — a remote city of about 7,000 people in the middle of the wide-open prairies between Denver and Omaha — to house people awaiting deportation and being held for other immigration proceedings. It's expected to be a Midwest hub for detainees from several states.

“This is about keeping Nebraskans – and Americans across our country – safe,” Pillen said in a statement.

The facility can accommodate 200 people with plans to expand to 300. McCook is about 210 miles (338 kilometers) west of Lincoln, the state capital.

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Qatar urges a Gaza ceasefire after a 'positive response' from Hamas

JERUSALEM (AP) — A key mediator on Tuesday stressed the urgency of brokering a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip after Hamas showed a “positive response” to a proposal from Arab countries, but Israel has yet to weigh in as its military prepares an offensive in some of the territory's most populated areas.

The prospect of an expanded assault on Gaza City and other areas sheltering hundreds of thousands of civilians has sparked international outrage. Palestinians say there is nowhere to flee after 22 months of war that has already killed tens of thousands and destroyed much of the territory.

“They are talking about a 60-day truce, and after Israel gets its (hostages) they will strike us again,” said Huda Rishe, who has been displaced four times since the start of the war. “We will return to Gaza City and then leave again. We have lost hope.”

AP reporters saw some families arriving in central Gaza after fleeing Gaza City.

Many Israelis, who rallied in the hundreds of thousands on Sunday, fear the offensive will further endanger the remaining hostages in Gaza. Just 20 of the 50 remaining are thought to be alive.

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Is this thing on? Accidental authenticity of Trump's hot mic moment is latest in a long global list

LONDON (AP) — Behold the power of the humble hot mic.

The magnifier of sound, a descendant of 150-year-old technology, on Monday added to its long history of cutting through the most scripted political spectacles when it captured more than two minutes of U.S. President Donald Trump and eight European leaders chit-chatting around a White House news conference on their talks to end Russia's war in Ukraine. The standout quote came from Trump himself to French President Emmanuel Macron even before anyone sat down. The American president, reflecting his comments after meeting in Alaska with Russian President Vladimir Putin: “I think he wants to make a deal for me, you understand, as crazy as it sounds.”

How politics and diplomacy sound when the principals think no one is listening can reveal much about the character, humor and humanity of our leaders — for better and sometimes for worse. As public figures, they’ve long known what the rest of us are increasingly learning in the age of CCTV, Coldplay kiss cams and social media: In public, no one can realistically expect privacy.

“Whenever I hear about a hot mic moment, my first reaction is that this is what they really think, that it’s not gone through the external communications filter,” said Bill McGowan, founder and CEO of Clarity Media Group in New York. “That's why people love it so much: There is nothing more authentic than what people say on a hot mic.”

Hot mics, often leavened with video, have bedeviled aspiring and actual leaders long before social media. During a sound check for his weekly radio address in 1984, U.S. President Ronald Reagan famously joked about attacking the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War.

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Hurricane Erin forecast to churn up dangerous swells and winds from Florida to New England

RODANTHE, N.C. (AP) — Hurricane Erin churned slowly toward the eastern U.S. on Tuesday, stirring up treacherous waves that already have led to dozens of water rescues and shut down beaches along the coast in the midst of summer's last hurrah.

While forecasters remain confident the center of the monster storm will remain far offshore, the outer edges are likely to bring damaging tropical-force winds, large swells and life-threatening rip currents into Friday.

Warnings about rip currents have been posted from Florida to the New England coast, and the biggest swells along the East Coast are expected over the coming two days. Rough ocean conditions already have been seen along the coast — at least 60 swimmers were rescued from rip currents Monday at Wrightsville Beach, near Wilmington, North Carolina.

New York City closed its beaches to swimming on Wednesday and Thursday, and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul ordered three state beaches on Long Island to prohibit swimming through Thursday. Several New Jersey beaches also will be off-limits.

“Enjoy the shore, enjoy this beautiful weather but stay out of the water,” New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said Tuesday.

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California redistricting hearing turns heated as Republicans mount opposition campaign

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A California legislative hearing turned into a shouting match Tuesday as a Republican lawmaker clashed with Democrats over a partisan plan to rewrite U.S. House maps to win Democrats more seats.

A committee voted along party lines to advance a new congressional map in response to a Republican redistricting effort in Texas that President Donald Trump wants. California Democrats do not need any Republican votes to move ahead.

Assemblymember David Tangipa, one of two Republicans on the committee that was considering the proposal Tuesday, spent 30 minutes asking questions of his colleagues before being told to make time for other members, prompting some boos from audience members. When the committee began voting, he shouted for more time.

At times during the hearing, lawmakers interrupted one another until the chair, a Democrat, called for order.

“This is not the way we conduct our hearing,” Assemblymember Gail Pellerin, who chairs the committee, said as she called for order several times after hours of discussion.

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Trump administration vying to own a big stake in Intel after SoftBank's $2 billion bet on company

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Tuesday confirmed the U.S. government is vying for a 10% stake in Silicon Valley pioneer Intel in an unusual deal that would deepen the Trump administration’s financial ties with major computer chip manufacturers and punctuate a dramatic about-face from the president’s recent push to oust the company’s CEO.

The ambitions that Lutnick confirmed in a televised interview with CNBC came the day after various news outlets reported on the negotiations between the Trump administration and Intel. The investment would be made by converting federal government grants previously pledged under President Joe Biden's administration into a bushel of Intel stock that would turn the U.S. government into one of the company's largest shareholders.

“We think America should get the benefit of the bargain,” Lutnick told CNBC as he explained why President Donald Trump is pushing for the deal. “It's obvious that it's the right move to make.”

Intel declined to comment on the negotiations with the Trump administration.

The notion of the U.S. government holding a huge stake in Intel would have seemed inconceivable back in the company's heyday when its processors were powering a personal computer boom that began in the mid-1970s. But Intel has been mired in tough times after missing mobile computing era unleashed by the iPhone’s 2007 debut.

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Oklahoma ideology test for teachers from New York and California draws criticism

Oklahoma will require applicants for teacher jobs coming from California and New York to pass an exam that the Republican-dominated state's top education official says is designed to safeguard against “radical leftist ideology,” but which opponents decry as a “MAGA loyalty test.”

Ryan Walters, Oklahoma's public schools superintendent, said Monday that any teacher coming from the two blue states will be required to pass an assessment exam administered by PragerU, an Oklahoma-based conservative nonprofit, before getting a state certification.

“As long as I am superintendent, Oklahoma classrooms will be safeguarded from the radical leftist ideology fostered in places like California and New York,” Walters said in a statement.

PragerU, short for Prager University, puts out short videos with a conservative perspective on politics and economics. It promotes itself as “focused on changing minds through the creative use of digital media.”

Quinton Hitchcock, a spokesperson for the state’s education department, said the Prager test for teacher applicants has been finalized and will be rolling out “very soon.”

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