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Wife of Haiti’s assassinated president indicted in his killing

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A judge in Haiti investigating the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse indicted his widow, Martine Moïse, ex-prime minister Claude Joseph and the former chief of Haiti’s National Police, Léon Charles, among others in his killing.

Dozens of suspects were indicted in the 122-page report issued by Walther Wesser Voltaire, who is the fifth judge to lead the investigation after previous ones stepped down for various reasons, including fear of being killed.

Charles, who was police chief when Moïse was killed and now serves as Haiti’s permanent representative to the Organization of the American States, faces the most serious charges: murder; attempted murder; possession and illegal carrying of weapons; conspiracy against the internal security of the state; and criminal association.

Meanwhile, Joseph and Martine Moïse, who was injured in the attack, are accused of complicity and criminal association.

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Joseph, the former prime minister, shared a statement with The Associated Press accusing Henry of “undermining” the investigation and benefitting from the president’s death.

“Henry … is weaponizing the Haitian justice system, prosecuting political opponents like me. It’s a classic coup d’état,” Joseph said. “They failed to kill me and Martine Moïse on July 7th 2021, now they are using the Haitian justice system to advance their Machiavellian agenda.”

Joseph again called on Henry to resign and noted that while he was still prime minister, he invited the FBI to help local authorities investigate the killing and wrote the U.N. and OAS for help.

“I won’t stop my fight. Justice must be served,” he said.

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In his report, the judge noted that the former secretary general of the National Palace, Lyonel Valbrun, told authorities that he received “strong pressure” from Martine Moïse to put the president’s office at the disposal of Joseph because he needed it to “organize a council of ministers.”

Valbrun also said that two days before her husband was killed, Martine Moïse visited the National Palace and spent nearly five hours, from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m., removing “a bunch of things.”

He said that two days after Jovenel Moïse was slain, Martine Moïse called to tell him that, “Jovenel didn’t do anything for us. You have to open the office. The president told Ti Klod to create a council of ministers; he will hold elections in three months so I can become president, now we will have power.”

While the document did not identify Ti Klod, the former prime minister, Claude Joseph, is known by that name.

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The judge also stated in his report that Martine Moïse “suggested” she took refuge under the marital bed to protect herself from the attackers, but he noted that authorities at the scene found that not “even a giant rat…whose size measures between 35 and 45 centimeters” could fit under the bed.

The judge said the former first lady’s statements were “so tainted with contradictions that they leave something to be desired and discredit her.”

Others who face charges including murder are Christian Emmanuel Sanon, a Haitian-American pastor who visualized himself as Haiti’s next president and said he thought Moïse was only going to be arrested; Joseph Vincent, a Haitian-American and former informant for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration; Dimitri Hérard, presidential security chief; John Joël Joseph, a former Haitian senator; and Windelle Coq, a Haitian judge whom authorities say is a fugitive.

Sanon, Vincent, and Joseph were extradited to the U.S., where a total of 11 suspects face federal charges in the slaying of Haiti’s president. At least three of them already have been sentenced.

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Meanwhile, more than 40 suspects are languishing in prison in Haiti awaiting trial, although it was not immediately clear how quickly one would be held following Monday’s indictments. Among them are 20 former Colombian soldiers.

Milena Carmona, wife of Jheyner Alberto Carmona Flórez, told The Associated Press that he is innocent.

“What’s happening is that this crime is a conspiracy of great magnitudes in which powerful people are behind the scenes running everything, and that’s why they’re not given freedom,” she said of the former soldiers.

U.S. prosecutors have described it as a plot hatched in both Haiti and Florida to hire mercenaries to kidnap or kill Moïse, who was 53 when he was slain at his private home near the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince.

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The attack began late July 6 and ended July 7, according to witnesses.

Martine Moïse and others who were interrogated said they heard heavy gunfire starting around 1 a.m. that lasted between 30 to to 45 minutes before armed men burst into the bedroom of the presidential couple.

Moïse said she was lying on the ground when she heard the attackers yell, “That’s not it! That’s not it! That’s not it!”

She said the suspects made a video call to identify the exact location of what they were searching as they killed the president. She added that she was face down when the suspects tilted her head and tugged on one of her toes “to ensure that she wasn’t alive.”

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Once they left, Moïse said she dragged herself on the ground and whispered to her husband that she was going to try and go to the hospital.

“That’s when she noticed that the president was dead and that his left eye had been removed from the socket,” the report stated.

Moïse said a group of about 30 to 50 police officers were supposed to guard the presidential residence, but the judge noted that only a handful of officers were present that night.

One officer told the judge that he heard explosions and a voice through a megaphone saying, “Do not shoot! It’s a DEA operation! US Army! We know how many officers are inside. Exit with two hands lowered.”

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Another officer said the head of security of the first lady found her “in critical condition” surrounded by her two children. He said he also saw an undetermined number of people coming out of the president’s residence “with briefcases and several envelopes in their possession.”

The report quotes Inspector General André Vladimir Paraison saying that the president called him at 1:46 a.m. and told him, “Paraison! Man, hurry up! I’m in trouble! Come quickly and save my life.” He said he encountered heavily armed men and couldn’t access the residence immediately.

Officers at the scene said they found cars, windows, and doors at the president’s private home riddled with bullet holes, along with surveillance cameras cut off and a broken lock on the double-wooden door leading to the presidential bedroom.

The judge said some police officers at the residence were disarmed and handcuffed, while others “had time to throw themselves down a ravine” for safety. In addition, the police officer overseeing presidential security was accused of receiving $80,000 to bribe certain officers “to remain inactive” during the assassination, according to the report.

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The judge noted how “none of the police providing security to the head of state was in danger. Unfortunately, the head of state was assassinated with ease.”

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Trump kicks against Harris taking over Biden campaign funds

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Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s campaign, on Tuesday, filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission, saying that U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris could not legally take over funds raised by President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign.

Biden, an 81-year-old Democrat who was in a tight race with Republican challenger Donald Trump, endorsed Harris when he ended his reelection bid on Sunday.

Harris quickly took control of Biden’s campaign accounts and on Monday night wrapped up the nomination by winning pledges from a majority of the delegates who at next month’s party convention will determine the nominee, according to her campaign.

The fight over the accounts, which had roughly $95 million in the bank at the end of June, is part of a multi-pronged effort by Republicans to stymie Harris’ bid to lead the Democratic ticket.

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The Trump campaign argued that Harris undertook a “brazen money grab,” according to the filing by David Warrington, the campaign’s general counsel. In the filing, which Reuters said it saw, Warrington said Harris was in the process of committing what he described as the “the largest campaign finance violation in American history.”

Saurav Ghosh, a lawyer at the Campaign Legal Center, a non-partisan watchdog group, has said that because Harris was already part of “Biden for President” as the vice presidential candidate, her claim on the money should be secure.

In any case, election regulators are unlikely to resolve the issue before the Nov. 5 presidential election.

The FEC said they were unable to comment on unresolved enforcement matters.

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U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris laid out her argument against Donald Trump at the first rally of her presidential campaign on Tuesday, while a new poll showed her with a slight lead over her Republican rival.

Harris’ campaign has said it had raised $100 million since Sunday, when Biden stepped back from the campaign and endorsed her – exceeding Biden’s remaining tally in just a few days. Her campaign brushed off the FEC complaint.

“Republicans may be jealous that Democrats are energized to defeat Donald Trump and his MAGA allies, but baseless legal claims – like the ones they’ve made for years to try to suppress votes and steal elections – will only distract them while we sign up volunteers, talk to voters, and win this election,” said Harris campaign spokesperson Charles Kretchmer Lutvak.

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Sierra Leone Court Sentences 11 Soldiers, Policemen For Failed Military Coup

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Two female police officers were also sentenced. Ramatu Kamanda Conteh received a 30-year sentence for harboring Koita.

Ahigh court in Sierra Leone has sentenced 11 people, including soldiers and police officers, to lengthy prison terms for their role in a failed military coup attempt last year.

The court’s verdict follows an attack on November 26, 2023, when gunmen targeted multiple military barracks and a prison, freeing about 2,200 inmates and killing over 20 people.

Reuters reports that, after the failed coup attempt, 12 people were charged with treason in January.

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However, on Monday, 11 people were convicted in a unanimous jury verdict on 20 counts, including treason, murder, and unauthorized use of military uniforms.

The twelfth accused, Bai Mahmoud Bangura of the opposition All People’s Congress (APC) party, is being tried separately due to health concerns.

Amadu Koita Makalo, a retired army major and former bodyguard to ex-president Ernest Bai Koroma, was sentenced to multiple terms totaling 40 to 70 years in prison, with the sentences to be served concurrently.

Two female police officers were also sentenced. Ramatu Kamanda Conteh received a 30-year sentence for harboring Koita.

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The government said the coup bid was led mostly by bodyguards to Koroma, who was later charged with four related offences, before the government decided to let him leave the country on medical grounds.

However, Koroma condemned the coup attempt and his lawyers called the charges “trumped up” and part of a “political vendetta”.

Tensions have resurfaced in Sierra Leone, nearly two decades after the civil war from 1991 to 2002 that claimed over 50,000 lives.

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Trump Shooter Searched Online For Info On John F. Kennedy Assassination A Week Before Rally, FBI Says

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Despite gaining access to Crooks’ electronic devices, including his cellphone, investigators have yet to uncover any significant information regarding his motive or ideology.

FBI Director Christopher Wray revealed during a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday that the gunman who attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania rally on July 13 had conducted a disturbing Google search about the assassination of President John F. Kennedy just one week prior to the shooting.

The FBI said it was still working to determine the motive behind 20-year-old Thomas Crooks’ actions, which resulted in the death of one attendee and injuries to Trump and two others, CBS News reports.

Despite gaining access to Crooks’ electronic devices, including his cellphone, investigators have yet to uncover any significant information regarding his motive or ideology.

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Wray’s testimony highlighted the complexity of the case, as authorities strive to understand the reasoning behind Crooks’ violent actions. The investigation remains ongoing, with the FBI exploring all possible leads to shed light on this disturbing incident.

A chilling discovery was made on a laptop linked to Crooks. A search history revealed a disturbing query made on July 6, exactly one week before the Pennsylvania rally: “how far away was Oswald from Kennedy?”

This eerie search suggests Crooks may have been drawing inspiration from the infamous assassination of President John F. Kennedy by Lee Harvey Oswald in 1963.

Oswald fatally shot Kennedy from a sixth-floor perch at the Texas Schoolbook Depository in Dallas, with the Warren Commission later determining the distance between the two to be approximately 265.3 feet at the time of the deadly shot.

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This striking search term stands out as a significant finding in the investigation, potentially offering a glimpse into Crooks’ motivations or mindset leading up to the attack. As authorities continue to probe the circumstances surrounding the shooting, this haunting query raises more questions about the influences and intentions behind Crooks’ actions.

Crooks fired shots from a rooftop approximately 400 feet away from the target.

The gunfire struck Trump in the ear and injured rally attendees.

According to FBI Director Christopher Wray’s testimony at Wednesday’s hearing, Crooks wielded an AR-style rifle and left behind a trail of evidence, including eight spent bullet cartridges found on the roof.

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