Latest news with #FederalInvestigation
Yahoo
08-08-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ex-White House Staffer Wants Federal Investigation Launched For Caitlin Clark, WNBA
Ex-White House Staffer Wants Federal Investigation Launched For Caitlin Clark, WNBA originally appeared on The Spun. WNBA fans, or fans of Caitlin Clark in particular, have been fuming in recent months over the league's inability to protect the Indiana Fever megastar. But one former White House staffer believes that the treatment she's received in the WNBA warrants a federal investigation. In a recent column for the Wall Street Journal, former White House staff member Sean McLean made the case that the "excessive fouling, targeting, and hostile comments" she has received in the WNBA constitute a "hostile work environment." He called for a federal probe into "potential civil rights violations." "The league has fostered a hostile workplace for Ms. Clark through excessive fouling, targeting, and hostile comments from other players and owners," McLean wrote. McLean argued that the "targeting" of Clark may "reflect a culture of disparate treatment" that warrants at least an investigation, if not punishments. He pointed to a different case involving Los Angeles Sparks star Dearica Hamby's federal discrimination complaint back in 2023, when she alleged that the Las Vegas Aces traded her because she was pregnant. "Ms. Clark's targeting may reflect a culture of disparate treatment, and the evidence provides reasonable cause for a federal probe into potential civil-rights violations. This would mirror the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission investigation into Dearica Hamby's pregnancy discrimination claims against the WNBA and her team. Congress and the Labor and Justice departments would be justified in examining the facts." Opposition As much as some basketball fans believe that Clark is being mistreated in the WNBA, many fans believe that this suggestion from McLean is a bridge too far. "I believe CC gets targeted and hit harder than any player in the league, but this is the WNBA. This is a sport. No way in (expletive) did you really call this civil rights violations. Are you truly comparing this to police brutality, fire hoses and other forms of ACTUAL civil rights violations to someone being FOULED in a basketball game. Come on, Now! The fact the WSJ published this is actually kind of embarrassing. You are entitled to your opinion, but this is way over the line. No, it doesn't demand federal scrutiny and calling them civil rights violations is insulting and disrespectful to so many people. Did you feel the same way when Michael Jordan was getting clotheslined by Bill Laimbeer harder than any foul CC has ever had in her life. Were those fouls civil rights violations? Heck, they wrote a book about beating the crap out of him," one user responded to the op-ed. "This is the weakest article in regards to sports that has ever been written," another said. "There's no nice way to say how dumb this is. You want the Federal Government to do intercede in the WNBA because you think Clark gets fouled too hard? Can you imagine how dumb Clark must think this is?" a third pointed out. Support That isn't to say that the suggestion has been completely rejected. ESPN's Stephen A. Smith was among the biggest voices in sports media to see the article and suggest that it might not be a bad idea: "I'm not here saying the case will be won by the government if it gets to the points. I'm saying they have a case, they have an argument," Smith said on Tuesday's episode of the Stephen A. Smith Show. "If the Trump administration can settle with Columbia for a $221 million settlement over what's taken place on a campus, you think you can definitively rule out what kind of noise could be made if the WNBA continues to allow this treatment of Caitlin Clark?" Others in the comments on the post agree that McLean might be onto something there. A few have said that if they were related to Clark, they would have advised her to leave the WNBA a while ago. Do you think there needs to be a federal investigation into fouling Caitlin Clark? Ex-White House Staffer Wants Federal Investigation Launched For Caitlin Clark, WNBA first appeared on The Spun on Aug 7, 2025 This story was originally reported by The Spun on Aug 7, 2025, where it first appeared.
Washington Post
16-07-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Despite scandal and a looming corruption trial, Trayon White wins vote to return to the DC Council
WASHINGTON — A former D.C. Council member is returning to his seat, five months after he was kicked out for his involvement in a federal bribery investigation. Trayon White defeated three challengers in a special election Tuesday to fill the Ward 8 council seat that has been vacant since his expulsion in February .
Wall Street Journal
05-06-2025
- Politics
- Wall Street Journal
Elon Musk Claims That Trump Is in Epstein Files—and That's Why They Haven't Been Released
Elon Musk Claims That Trump Is in Epstein Files—and That's Why They Haven't Been Released Musk alleged in a post on X that Trump is in the federal investigative files on disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, which is why they haven't yet been released. Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019, had well-known connections to many in elite New York society, including Trump. The FBI and Justice Department didn't immediately return requests for comment. Before he died, Epstein had been charged by federal prosecutors with sex trafficking.
CTV News
04-06-2025
- Health
- CTV News
Texas hospital that discharged woman with doomed pregnancy violated the law, a federal inquiry finds
Kyleigh Thurman, a patient who filed a federal complaint against an emergency room for not treating her ectopic pregnancy, talks about her experience at her studio in Burnet County, Texas on Aug. 7, 2024. (Eric Gay / AP Photo) WASHINGTON — A Texas hospital that repeatedly sent a woman who was bleeding and in pain home without ending her nonviable, life-threatening pregnancy violated the law, according to a newly released federal investigation. The government's findings, which have not been previously reported, were a small victory for 36-year-old Kyleigh Thurman, who ultimately lost part of her reproductive system after being discharged without any help from her hometown emergency room for her dangerous ectopic pregnancy. But a new policy the Trump administration announced on Tuesday has thrown into doubt the federal government's oversight of hospitals that deny women emergency abortions, even when they are at risk for serious infection, organ loss or severe hemorrhaging. Thurman had hoped the federal government's investigation, which issued a report in April after concluding its inquiry last year, would send a clear message that ectopic pregnancies must be treated by hospitals in Texas, which has one of the nation's strictest abortion bans. 'I didn't want anyone else to have to go through this,' Thurman said in an interview with The Associated Press from her Texas home this week. 'I put a lot of the responsibility on the state of Texas and policy makers and the legislators that set this chain of events off.' Uncertainty regarding emergency abortion access Women around the country have been denied emergency abortions for their life-threatening pregnancies after states swiftly enacted abortion restrictions in response to a 2022 ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court, which includes three appointees of U.S. President Donald Trump. The guidance issued by the Biden administration in 2022 was an effort to preserve access to emergency abortions for extreme cases in which women were experiencing medical emergencies. It directed hospitals — even ones in states with severe restrictions — to provide abortions in those emergency cases. If hospitals did not comply, they would be in violation of a federal law and risk losing some federal funds. On Tuesday, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the federal agency responsible for enforcing the law and inspecting hospitals, announced it would revoke the Biden-era guidance around emergency abortions. The law, which requires doctors to provide stabilizing treatment, was one of the few ways that Thurman was able to hold the emergency room accountable after she didn't receive any help from staff at Ascension Seton Williamson in Round Rock, Texas in February of 2023, a few months after Texas enacted its strict abortion ban. An ectopic pregnancy left untreated Emergency room staff observed that Thurman's hormone levels had dropped, a pregnancy was not visible in her uterus and a structure was blocking her fallopian tube — all telltale signs of an ectopic pregnancy, when a fetus implants outside of the uterus and has no room to grow. If left untreated, ectopic pregnancies can rupture, causing organ damage, hemorrhage or even death. Thurman, however, was sent home and given a pamphlet on miscarriage for her first pregnancy. She returned three days later, still bleeding, and was given an injected drug intended to end the pregnancy, but it was too late. Days later, she showed up again at the emergency room, bleeding out because the fertilized egg growing on Thurman's fallopian tube ruptured it. She underwent an emergency surgery that removed part of her reproductive system. CMS launched its investigation of how Ascension Seton Williamson handled Thurman's case late last year, shortly after she filed a complaint. Investigators concluded the hospital failed to give her a proper medical screening exam, including an evaluation with an OB-GYN. The hospital violated the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, which requires emergency rooms to provide stabilizing treatment to all patients. Thurman was 'at risk for deterioration of her health and wellbeing as a result of an untreated medical condition,' the investigation said in its report, which was publicly released last month. Ascension, a vast hospital system that has facilities across multiple states, did not respond to questions about Thurman's case, saying only that it is 'is committed to providing high-quality care to all who seek our services.' Penalties for doctors, hospital staff Doctors and legal experts have warned abortion restrictions like the one Texas enacted have discouraged emergency room staff from aborting dangerous and nonviable pregnancies, even when a woman's life is imperiled. The stakes are especially high in Texas, where doctors face up to 99 years in prison if convicted of performing an illegal abortion. Lawmakers in the state are weighing a law that would remove criminal penalties for doctors who provide abortions in certain medical emergencies. 'We see patients with miscarriages being denied care, bleeding out in parking lots. We see patients with nonviable pregnancies being told to continue those to term,' said Molly Duane, an attorney at the Center for Reproductive Rights that represented Thurman. 'This is not, maybe, what some people thought abortion bans would look like, but this is the reality.' The Biden administration routinely warned hospitals that they need to provide abortions when a woman's health was in jeopardy, even suing Idaho over its state law that initially prohibited nearly all abortions, unless a woman's life was on the line. Questions remain about hospital investigations But CMS' announcement on Tuesday raises questions about whether such investigations will continue if hospitals do not provide abortions for women in medical emergencies. The agency said it will still enforce the law, 'including for identified emergency medical conditions that place the health of a pregnant woman or her unborn child in serious jeopardy.' While states like Texas have clarified that ectopic pregnancies can legally be treated with abortions, the laws do not provide for every complication that might arise during a pregnancy. Several women in Texas have sued the state for its law, which has prevented women from terminating pregnancies in cases where their fetuses had deadly fetal anomalies or they went into labor too early for the fetus to survive. Thurman worries pregnant patients with serious complications still won't be able to get the help they may need in Texas emergency rooms. 'You cannot predict the ways a pregnancy can go,' Thurman said. 'It can happen to anyone, still. There's still so many ways in which pregnancies that aren't ectopic can be deadly.' Amanda Seitz, The Associated Press
Yahoo
31-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
MLB, NFL players contacted by federal agents in stunning licensing firm investigation
MLB and NFL pros have been contacted by federal agents as part of an investigation regarding a licensing firm owned by the league's unions, according to reports. Agents are looking into financial dealings regarding OneTeam Partners, created by the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA), Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) and private-equity firm RedBird Capitals in 2019, per ESPN. Players are not being targeted by the agents, according to ESPN, and at least three MLBers who are involved with 'union leadership' have been contacted. The FBI and Department of Labor (DOL) are partaking in the investigation, per The Athletic. '(OneTeam) is aware of an ongoing investigation of allegations concerning our partners,' it told ESPN in a statement. 'We want to emphasize that OneTeam is not the subject of the investigation and has not been accused of any wrongdoing in any way. OneTeam is fully committed to cooperating with the investigation.' OneTeam Partners' website claims 'we united Players Associations and elite athletes by giving them the platforms, resources and expertise necessary to maximize their collective value.' Both NFLPA executive director Lloyd Howell and MLBPA boss Tony Clark are listed on the board of directors, and former NFLPA boss DeMaurice Smith helped found it. OneTeam Partners paid the MLBPA $44.5 million in 2024 and the NFLPA received $422.8 million over the past five years, per ESPN. ESPN described the partnership as a 'major financial boon' for both unions. Union executives told ESPN they had not been contacted, and the investigation is being run by the Brooklyn-based Eastern District of New York. 'We are aware of the investigation and fully prepared to cooperate if the NFLPA is contacted,' an NFLPA spokesperson told The Athletic. The MLBPA also said to the outlet: 'If the MLBPA is contacted by the government, we intend to cooperate fully with any investigation.' OneTeam has faced questions before regarding its operations with the NFL and MLB unions. An anonymous unfair labor practices complaint was filed in 2024 with the National Labor Relations board that alleged 'nepotism, corruption and mismanagement' within the MLBPA, per ESPN. The complaint alleges Clark 'improperly gave himself & other executives equity' in OneTeam, along with 'inadequate disclosures' about the alliance in the yearly union updates. The MLBPA denied those allegations, per ESPN. This past December, Richard Smith, the NFL's outside counsel, reportedly ran an audit to see whether the company has afforded equity options to executive directors of its union partners, including the MLBPA. The NFLPA audit revealed the union's involvement with OneTeam was 'in compliance with best governance practices,' a source told ESPN. '(OneTeam) remains steadfast in our commitment to following the best business practices, as has already been determined by the independent audit conducted earlier this year,' it told ESPN. 'We remain dedicated to upholding the highest standards of integrity and transparency in all that we do.'
