Comer investigating TOPGUN over reports of harm to pilots
Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), chair of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, is investigating the United States Navy Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor Program (TOPGUN) after pilots and instructors reportedly underwent physical and mental harm.
Three F-18 Super Hornet pilots died by suicide following symptoms of traumatic brain injuries (TBI) that were possibly connected to their time as naval aviators, according to Comer.
The Committee is investigating an 'internal' Navy project aimed at evaluating these issues, code-named Project Odin's Eye.
'Project Odin's Eye, reportedly initiated without formal approval from Navy Medical and Air Commands, raises additional questions about the Navy's knowledge of potential issues and whether it is acting to mitigate these issues in a comprehensive and effective manner,' Comer shared in a statement.
He outlined his concerns with the efforts in a Thursday letter to Terence Emmert, acting Secretary of the United States Navy.
'While elite and highly trained naval aviators and flight officers understand the high-stress, high-stakes missions they will undergo to safeguard American national security, it is imperative to ensure the warfighter has full and accurate information about health risks and the tools, both mental and physical, to safeguard their health,' Comer stated in the letter.
He urged Emmert to schedule a briefing with committee staff by Feb. 13, in addition to providing a copy of Project Odin's Eye, amid a list of other documents by Feb. 20.
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The Hill
25 minutes ago
- The Hill
Blumenthal casts doubt on Abrego Garcia prosecution: ‘Charges are not evidence'
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) cast doubt on the prosecution of Kilmar Abrego Garcia upon his return to the U.S. following his mistaken deportation to El Salvador, claiming that 'charges are not evidence.' 'These charges have to be regarded with a very hefty dose of skepticism, in light of the timing, and all of the attendant circumstances,' Blumenthal said during a Friday night appearance on CNN's 'The Source.' 'The administration has no right to bring charges simply as an offramp, or a face-saver. And now it's going to have to, in effect, put up and shut up, put its evidence where its mouth is.' 'And I've heard again and again and again, as a prosecutor, as a United States attorney, federal prosecutor, as well as state attorney general, charges are not evidence,' he told CNN's Kaitlan Collins. 'And so far, we've seen no evidence.' Abrego Garcia, a Salvadorian national, who entered the U.S. illegally, was brought back by the Trump administration to the U.S. on Friday. He was hit with a two-count indictment, one for conspiracy and another for unlawful transportation of undocumented aliens. Abrego Garcia, who was mistakenly deported earlier this year to El Salvador, is accused by prosecutors of making over 100 trips from Texas to other states in prior years, transporting migrants for payments. The probe originates from when Abrego Garcia was pulled over by the Tennessee Highway Patrol in late 2022 for speeding. The van was full of passengers without any luggage, prompting questions from the officer on-site, according to the video of the stop. Abrego Garcia said to authorities that he was transporting construction workers to Missouri, but in reality was transporting undocumented migrants, the indictment alleges. 'For the last 2 months, the media and Democrats have burnt to the ground any last shred of credibility they had left as they glorified Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a known MS13 gang member, human trafficker, and serial domestic abuser,' the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Kristi Noem said in a statement to The Hill on Saturday. 'Now, the United States of America confronts Kilmar Abrego Garcia with overwhelming evidence— he is being indicted by a grand jury for human smuggling, including children, and conspiracy. Justice awaits this Salvadoran man,' Noem added. Blumenthal on Friday said the administration could have returned Abrego Garcia sooner after the Supreme Court ordered the White House to 'faciliate' his return in April. 'The highest court in the land ordered the U.S. government, two months ago, to return him. And it had the power to do so. It failed,' the senator said. 'It didn't actually indict him, until a couple of weeks ago. It only unsealed the indictment, last Friday. But it's based on a supposed stop that happened three years ago. So, they have been building a case.' 'They could have brought him back,' Blumenthal added. 'The failure to do so is not what American justice should look like.' Attorney General Pam Bondi said during a press conference on Friday that after serving his sentence, if convicted in the case, Abrego Garcia, would be brought back to El Salvador. One of Tennessee's top federal prosecutor, Ben Schrader, who was recently the chief of the criminal division, resigned, ABC News reported Friday, over concerns that the criminal case was conducted for political reasons. Multiple courts have ordered the administration, including the Supreme Court, to return Abrego Garcia. Blumenthal raised concerns over Schrader's resignation and argued that there should be an 'investigation here, about exactly why this administration defied the United States Supreme Court, why it delayed this indictment, why it is failing to be forthcoming to the Congress and the people of the United States.'
Los Angeles Times
25 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
Israel backs anti-Hamas militia known for looting aid in Gaza. Here's what we know
JERUSALEM — Israel is supporting armed groups of Palestinians in Gaza in what it says is a move to counter Hamas. But officials from the U.N. and aid organizations say the military is allowing them to loot food and other supplies from their trucks. One self-styled militia that calls itself the Popular Forces, led by Yasser Abu Shabab, says it is guarding newly created, Israeli-backed food distribution centers in southern Gaza. Aid workers say it has a long history of looting U.N. trucks. Gaza's armed groups have ties to powerful clans or extended families and often operate as criminal gangs. Aid workers allege Israel's backing of the groups is part of a wider effort to control all aid operations in the strip. Israel denies allowing looters to operate in areas it controls. Here's what we know about anti-Hamas armed groups in Gaza: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a social media video Thursday that Israel had 'activated' clans in Gaza to oppose Hamas. He didn't elaborate how Israel is supporting them or what role Israel wants them to play. Netanyahu's comments were in response to a political opponent accusing him of arming 'crime families' in Gaza. Clans, tribes and extended families have strong influence in Gaza, where their leaders often help mediate disputes. Some have long been armed to protect their group's interests, and some have morphed into gangs involved in smuggling drugs or running protection rackets. After seizing power in 2007, Hamas clamped down on Gaza's gangs — sometimes with brute force and sometimes by steering perks their way. But with Hamas' weakening power after 20 months of war with Israel, gangs have regained freedom to act. The leadership of a number of clans — including the clan from which the Abu Shabab group's members hail — have issued statements denouncing looting and cooperation with Israel. Besides the Abu Shabab group, it is not known how many armed groups Israel is supporting. The Abu Shabab group went public in early May, declaring itself a 'nationalist force.' It said it was protecting aid, including around the food distribution hubs run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a mainly American private contractor that Israel intends to replace the U.N.-led aid network. Aid workers and Palestinians who know the group estimate it has several hundred fighters. The Abu Shabab group's media office told the Associated Press it was collaborating with GHF 'to ensure that the food and medicine reaches its beneficiaries.' It said it was not involved in distribution, but that its fighters secured the surroundings of distribution centers run by GHF inside military-controlled zones in the Rafah area. A spokesperson with GHF said it had 'no collaboration' with Abu Shabab. 'We do have local Palestinian workers we are very proud of, but none is armed, and they do not belong to Abu Shabab's organization,' the spokesperson said, speaking on condition of anonymity in accordance with the group's rules. Before the war, Yasser Abu Shabab was involved in smuggling cigarettes and drugs from Egypt and Israel into Gaza through crossings and tunnels, according to two members of his extended family, one of whom was once part of his group. Hamas arrested Abu Shabab but freed him from prison along with most other inmates when the war began in October 2023, they said, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. Abu Shabab's media office said he was summoned by police before the war but wasn't officially accused or tried. It also said claims the group was involved in attacking aid trucks were 'exaggerated,' saying its fighters 'took the minimum amount of food and water necessary.' The head of the association in Gaza that provides trucks and drivers for aid groups said their members' vehicles have been attacked many times by Abu Shabab's fighters. Nahed Sheheiber said the group has been active in Israeli-controlled eastern parts of Rafah and Khan Younis, targeting trucks as they enter Gaza from the Kerem Shalom crossing with Israel. Troops nearby 'did nothing' to stop attacks, he said. Sheheiber said that when Hamas police officers have tried to confront gangs or guard truck convoys, they were attacked by Israeli troops. One driver, Issam Abu Awda, said he was attacked by Abu Shabab fighters last July. The fighters stopped his truck, blindfolded and handcuffed him and his assistant, then loaded the supplies off the vehicle, he said. Abu Awda said nearby Israeli troops didn't intervene. These kinds of attacks are still happening and highlight 'a disturbing pattern,' according to Jonathan Whittall, from the U.N. humanitarian coordinator, OCHA. 'Those who have blocked and violently ransacked aid trucks seem to have been protected' by Israeli forces, said Whittall, head of OCHA's office for the occupied Palestinian territories. And, he added, they have now become the 'protectors of the goods being distributed through Israel's new militarized hubs,' referring to the GHF-run sites. The Israeli military did not reply when asked for comment on allegations it has allowed armed groups to loot trucks. But the Israeli prime minister's office called the accusations 'fake news,' saying, 'Israel didn't allow looters to operate in Israeli controlled areas.' Israel often accuses Hamas of stealing from trucks. Muhammad Shehada, a political analyst from Gaza who is a visiting fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said he doesn't believe Israel's support for armed groups is aimed at directly fighting Hamas. So far there has been no attempt to deploy the groups against the militants. Instead, he said, Israel is using the gangs and the looting to present GHF 'as the only alternative to provide food to Palestinians,' since its supplies get in while the U.N.'s don't. Israel wants the GHF to replace the U.N.-led aid system because it claims Hamas has been siphoning off large amounts of supplies. The U.N. denies that significant amounts have been taken by Hamas. Israel has also said it aims to move all Palestinians in Gaza to a 'sterile zone' in the south, around the food hubs, while it fights Hamas elsewhere. The U.N. and aid groups have rejected that as using food as a tool for forced displacement. The Abu Shabab group has issued videos online urging Palestinians to move to tent camps in Rafah. Israel barred all food and other supplies from entering Gaza for 2 ½ months pending the start of GHF — a blockade that has brought the population to the brink of famine. GHF started distributing food boxes on May 26 at three hubs guarded by private contractors inside Israeli military zones. Israel has let in some trucks of aid for the U.N. to distribute. But the U.N. says it has been able to get little of it into the hands of Palestinians because of Israeli military restrictions, including requiring its trucks to use roads where looters are known to operate. 'It's Israel's way of telling the U.N., if you want to try to bring aid into Gaza, good luck with this,' said Shehada. 'We will force you to go through a road where everything you brought will be looted.' Frankel, Mednick, Magdy and Keath write for the Associated Press. Magdy and Keath reported from Cairo.
New York Post
an hour ago
- New York Post
Karoline Leavitt rips Van Hollen, media for portrayal of Kilmar Abrego Garcia
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called out Democrats and the media for defending illegal immigrant and suspected MS-13 member Kilmar Abrego Garcia Friday. Abrego Garcia, who was deported in March to an El Salvador mega prison, was returned to the U.S. Friday to answer federal charges for human smuggling and conspiracy. 'The Justice Department's Grand Jury Indictment against Abrego Garcia proves the unhinged Democrat Party was wrong, and their stenographers in the Fake News Media were once again played like fools,' Leavitt said in a statement to Fox News. 'Abrego Garcia was never an innocent 'Maryland Man'– Abrego Garcia is an illegal alien terrorist, gang member, and human trafficker who has spent his entire life abusing innocent people, especially women and the most vulnerable,' Leavitt added. She also called out Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., who traveled to El Salvador in April 'to show solidarity' with Abrego Garcia. 'Abrego Garcia will now return to the United States to answer for his crimes and meet the full force of American justice,' Leavitt said. 'The Democrat lawmakers, namely Democrat Senator Chris Van Hollen, and every single so-called 'journalist' who defended this illegal criminal abuser must immediately apologize to Garcia's victims. The Trump Administration will continue to hold criminals accountable to the fullest extent of the law.' 4 White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called out Democrats and the media for defending suspected MS-13 member Kilmar Abrego Garcia. Ron Sachs/CNP / 4 Abrego Garcia was deported in March to an El Salvador mega prison and returned to the U.S. on Friday to answer federal charges for human smuggling and conspiracy. AP Abrego Garcia previously lived in Maryland before the administration deported him to the Central American country's mega prison. 4 Senator Chris Van Hollen meeting with Kilmar Abrego Garcia at a hotel in San Salvador, El Salvador, on April 17. x account of senator Van Hollen/AFP via Getty Images 4 'The Democrat lawmakers, namely Democrat Senator Chris Van Hollen, and every single so-called 'journalist' who defended this illegal criminal abuser must immediately apologize to Garcia's victims,' Leavitt said. According to Abrego Garcia's indictment, he played a 'significant role' in a human smuggling ring operating for nearly a decade, and Bondi described him as a full-time smuggler who made more than 100 trips, transporting women, children and MS-13 gang-affiliated persons throughout the United States. Fox News Digital obtained Tennessee Highway Patrol bodycam footage from a 2022 traffic stop where troopers pulled over Abrego Garcia for speeding. Inside his vehicle were eight other men, raising immediate suspicions. 'He's hauling these people for money,' one trooper said. Law enforcement found $1,400 in cash and flagged Abrego Garcia in the National Crime Information Center, which returned a gang/terrorism alert. ICE was called, but never responded. Despite Abrego Garcia's alleged illegal activity, various media outlets continued to refer to him as a 'Maryland man' Friday, including the Washington Post and the New York Times. Fox News contributor Guy Benson shared a screenshot of their Breaking News alerts using the phrase. Axios and USA TODAY referred to him as a 'Maryland man' or 'Maryland father' on social media.
