37 live giant beetles found inside Japanese snack packets at LAX
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
(LOS ANGELES) — At least 37 giant live beetles measuring 4 to 5 inches have been found concealed inside of multiple packages of Japanese snacks, potato chips and chocolate at Los Angeles International Airport, authorities said.
The contraband was discovered by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agriculture specialists assigned to LAX during a physical examination of a shipment arriving from Japan via air cargo last month.
Upon inspection, authorities ended up discovering discovered 37 live giant beetles — worth an estimated $1,480 — hidden in packets of Japanese junk food.
“They may look harmless but in reality, smuggled beetles pose a significant threat to our vital agriculture resources,” said Cheryl M. Davies, CBP Director of Field Operations in Los Angeles. “Beetles can become a serious pest by eating plants, leaves, and roots and by laying eggs on tree bark which damages our forests.”
Sought after by collectors and enthusiasts, exotic insects are highly popular and often sold online and underground, authorities said.
“The illegal trade of exotic insects bring hefty profits for those willing to take the risk of circumventing U.S. laws and regulations,” CBP said in their release regarding the case on Wednesday.
Importing live insects into the U.S., require a U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Inspection Service Plant Protection and Quarantine permit, or a letter issued by PPQ Plants, Pathogens and Biocontrol unit, according to CBP.
The seized beetles were turned over to USDA officials, who will determine the final destination of the insects, meaning they will likely be donated to local zoos that have permits for live insects or be preserved in a local insect collection.
“CBP agriculture specialists combine their scientific knowledge of harmful pests and plant diseases with their expertise in detecting and intercepting these threats before their enter our country,” said Andrew H. Douglas, CBP LAX Port Director. “We are very proud of their contributions to our national security mission.”
On an average day in 2023, CBP agriculture specialists seize an estimated 3,287 prohibited plants, meat and animal byproducts and intercept over 231 agricultural pests that could potentially harm America’s agricultural resources.
(WASHINGTON) — U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who dismissed Donald Trump’s classified documents case, has ruled that the Justice Department can release Volume One of special counsel report Jack Smith’s report, covering his election interference case against Trump — but is reserving ruling on whether the DOJ can make Volume Two, on the classified documents case, available to congressional leadership for review.
Cannon has scheduled a hearing for Jan. 17 on that matter.
Cannon last week issued the injunction temporarily blocking the release of the entire report — both the first volume on the Jan. 6 case and the second volume on the classified documents case — as the Justice Department appeared poised to publicly release the report. Attorney General Merrick Garland had vowed to release the classified documents volume to top members of Congress and to publicly release the classified documents volume — which the DOJ attested in a filing this weekend has no bearing on the evidence or charges related Nauta and De Oliveira — but Trump’s former co-defendants continue to push for neither volume to see the light of day.
In a separate case, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, who in April indicted 11 individuals, including Trump allies Rudy Giuliani and Mark Meadows, on charges of attempting to overturn the 2020 election results in her state, told Garland in a letter Sunday that gaining access to the case file will “help ensure that those who should be held accountable are.”
“Today, my office has one of the only remaining cases that includes charges against national actors,” the letter said. “I have held steadfast to prosecuting the grand jury’s indictment because those who tried to subvert democracy in 2020 must be held accountable.”
The letter also asked the DOJ for any “exculpatory material” unearthed in the probe.
It also referenced a recent order from a state judge that granted a request from Meadows for discovery in the case to help aid in his defense. The letter, though, acknowledges that the state judge “cannot compel disclosure from a federal agency.”
“For the reasons discussed above, the Maricopa County Superior Court’s order should be fulfilled. In the alternative, consider this a request under the Freedom of Information Act,” the letter states. “Disclosure will ensure justice is done consistent with the rule of law.”
Trump pleaded not guilty in 2023 to 40 criminal counts related to his handling of classified materials after leaving the White House, after prosecutors said he repeatedly refused to return hundreds of documents containing classified information and took steps to thwart the government’s efforts to retrieve them from his Mar-a-Lago estate. The former president, along with Nauta and De Oliveira, pleaded not guilty in a superseding indictment to allegedly attempting to delete surveillance footage at Mar-a-Lago.
Trump also pleaded not guilty in 2023 to separate charges of undertaking a “criminal scheme” to overturn the results of the 2020 election in an effort to subvert democracy and remain in power.
Both cases were dismissed following Trump’s reelection in November due to a longstanding Justice Department policy prohibiting the prosecution of a sitting president.
(WASHINGTON) — Attorneys for President-elect Donald Trump and his allies unleashed a legal blitz this week to prevent the release of special counsel Jack Smith’s final report on his classified documents and election interference investigations, successfully convincing the federal judge who dismissed Trump’s documents case to issue an emergency injunction temporarily blocking the report’s release.
While Smith has released many of his findings already — through four indictments and a lengthy filing outlining the evidence against Trump — recent disclosures made by attorneys for Trump and his co-defendants suggest that the special counsel’s final report could contain previously undisclosed details that are potentially damaging to the president elect.
Trump’s lawyers, Todd Blanche and Emil Bove, who reviewed a draft version of the report over the weekend, argued in a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland Monday that the report’s release would be a “partisan weapon” and “lawless political stunt, designed to politically harm” President-elect Trump and his allies.
According to Trump’s lawyers, a draft of the report included multiple “baseless attacks” on members of Trump’s incoming presidential administration that could “interfere with upcoming confirmation hearings.”
The letter did not provide any additional information about which, if any, of Trump’s nominees or appointees were mentioned in the report.
According to a court filing from Trump’s defense lawyers Monday, a draft version of the report asserts that Trump “engaged in an unprecedented criminal effort,” violated multiple federal laws, and served as the “head” of multiple criminal conspiracies.
Trump pleaded not guilty in 2023 to charges of unlawfully retaining classified materials after leaving the White House, and, in a separate case, pleaded not guilty to charges of undertaking a “criminal scheme” to overturn the results of the 2020 election. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the classified documents case this past July after deeming Smith’s appointment unconstitutional, leading Smith to appeal that decision.
Smith, who is now winding down both his cases against the president-elect due to a longstanding Department of Justice policy prohibiting the prosecution of a sitting president, has not provided any details about the contents of his report. Smith’s team has accused Trump’s attorneys of violating a confidentiality agreement by making portions of their findings public in their filings.
Special counsels are mandated by internal Justice Department regulations to prepare confidential reports at the conclusion of their investigations to summarize their findings, and the attorney general can determine whether to release the report publicly. Smith’s report includes two volumes, covering his investigation into Trump’s alleged retention of classified documents and efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
Trump’s lawyers argued that the report’s release would disrupt the ongoing presidential transition process and “exacerbate stigma and public opprobrium surrounding the Chief Executive,” suggesting that the report — which is being prepared by a prosecutor independent from the president — contradicts the Biden administration’s vow to “facilitate an orderly and collegial transition process.”
“It’ll be a fake report, just like it was a fake investigation,” Trump said at a news conference Tuesday at his Mar-a-Lago estate.
Trump’s lawyers also suggested that the report included a “pathetically transparent tirade” about social media platform X’s effort to “protect civil liberties.”
ABC News previously reported that X — then known as Twitter — was held in contempt and fined $350,000 for failing to comply with a search warrant for records and data from former President Trump’s social media account. X’s owner, Elon Musk, is now one of Trump’s most vocal supporters and advisers, and spent more than a quarter of a billion dollars to help elect Trump.
Blanche and Bove — both of whom Trump has picked for top Justice Department posts in the incoming administration — have argued that the report’s release would only offer a single-sided view of the case and give “rise to a media storm of false and unfair criticism” that Trump would need to address during the transition period.
While Trump is no longer being prosecuted by Smith, his two former co-defendants in the classified documents case have argued they would be unable to have a fair trial if the findings are released publicly. Lawyers for Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira have claimed that the report would reveal sensitive grand jury material — such as communications obtained via a subpoena — and support the finding that “everyone Smith charged is guilty of the crimes charged.”
Describing Smith as a “rogue actor with a personal and political vendetta,” lawyers for Trump’s co-defendants argued in a filing that the report would irreparably bias the public by amplifying the government’s “narrative” without providing Trump and his co-defendants the ability to respond.
“Smith’s planned Final Report — now that he is unshackled from due process requirements that restrained him as a government actor — would engender the very prejudice, passion, and excitement and be an exercise of the tyrannical power that our court system is designed to insulate against,” the filing said.
In a brief filing Tuesday, a lawyer on Smith’s staff confirmed that the special counsel’s office is “working to finalize” its report, and said that Garland will have the final say over what material will be made public.
(NEW YORK) — AAA forecasts 79.9 million people will travel by car, plane or another mode of transportation for Thanksgiving — up 1.7 million people compared to last year.
Here’s what you need to know before you head to the airport or hit the highway:
Air travel
Hopper expects this will be the busiest Thanksgiving holiday ever for U.S. airports, with 36.5 million seats booked between Saturday, Nov. 23, and Tuesday, Dec. 3 — a 4.8% increase from the same period last year.
The Sunday after Thanksgiving — Dec. 1 — will be the busiest day to fly, according to Hopper.
The cheapest days to leave for your trip are Thanksgiving Day or three days earlier, on Monday, Nov. 25, Expedia said. The cheapest days to fly home are Black Friday (Friday, Nov. 29) or Travel Tuesday (Tuesday, Dec. 3).
Expedia predicts the busiest and most expensive days to fly will be the day before Thanksgiving and the Sunday after Thanksgiving.
The most popular U.S. destinations this year are Atlanta, Los Angeles, Dallas, Las Vegas and Chicago, Hopper found.
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Dallas Fort Worth International Airport and Denver International Airport are poised to be the most crowded airports, Hopper said.
Road travel
A record 71.7 million people are expected to travel by car for Thanksgiving — up by 1.3 million people from last year, according to AAA.
The worst times to drive before Thanksgiving are the afternoons of Monday, Nov. 25, Tuesday, Nov. 26, and Wednesday, Nov. 27, according to analytics company INRIX. It’s best to wait until Thanksgiving Day — Nov. 28 — when the roads will be quieter.
If you’re heading home on Saturday, Nov. 30, or Sunday, Dec. 1, INRIX recommends hitting the road before 1 p.m.
Traffic could be more than double what it is on a typical day in cities including Boston, New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles and Seattle, INRIX warned.
