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Tag: answers

  • Maha: Aaditya seeks answers from BMC on street furniture ‘scam’ of Rs 263 crore

    Maha: Aaditya seeks answers from BMC on street furniture ‘scam’ of Rs 263 crore

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    Mumbai: Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Aaditya Thackeray has written a letter to Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) commissioner and administrator Iqbal Singh Chahal, seeking answers from him over the Rs 263 crore worth “possible scam” in buying street furniture.

    In his letter written on April 26, which Thackeray tweeted on Sunday, he sought access to the report of the three-member fact-finding committee formed after the allegations were made and also to the reports of quality tests of all the bidders conducted by the Veer Jijamata Technological University.

    He also alleged that the “entire process seems to be rigged in favour of a particular contractor friend of the BMC”.

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    “In the past few months, many irregularities in processes and financial transactions have come to light from the BMC…I would like to seek further clarity on the street furniture mess that the BMC has created in my city, more so the hard-earned money of my city, to benefit one contractor friend of the BMC and those in government,” the Worli MLA said targeting the Eknath Shinde-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) dispensation.

    “…One contractor has bagged the Rs 263 crore tender for street furniture. Many questions asked by me as a Mumbaikar have remained unanswered by the BMC,” he said.

    Last month, Thackeray alleged a Rs 263 crore worth of “scam” in the Mumbai civic body’s plan to buy street furniture, including benches.

    The civic body is set to buy thousands of street benches (almost 40,000) and planters (containers in which plants are grown) as part of the project, said Thackeray and asked where will the BMC install all these items.

    The Shiv Sena (UBT) leader said these products should be purchased on need basis by civic wards and not centrally through one tender.

    “I have written about another possible scam in the making to the @mybmc administrator, seeking clarity on it. His conspicuous silence and inability to answer any of these questions posed by a Mumbaikar only increases the confirmation that this too, like roads, is a scam,” Thackeray said in his tweet posted on Sunday.

    “A similar letter was written by a ruling party MLA also, but I believe he hasn’t got any response to it. Wonder why the state BJP supports the corrupt mindhe regime,” he added.

    The Shiv Sena (UBT) refers the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena as “Mindhe group” to mock it.

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    #Maha #Aaditya #seeks #answers #BMC #street #furniture #scam #crore

    ( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

  • PM should answers issues raised by ex-Army chief over Pulwama attack: Gohil

    PM should answers issues raised by ex-Army chief over Pulwama attack: Gohil

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    Jaipur: Congress leader Shaktisinh Gohil Saturday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should break his silence and answers the issues raised by former Army chief General (retd) Shankar Roychowdhury over the 2019 Pulwama terror attack.

    “Gen (retd) Shankar Roychowdhury said the biggest responsibility for the martyrdom of soldiers in Pulwama rests with the government. The National Security Advisor, who advises the prime minister, is also guilty of lapses in security,” Gohil, a Rajya Sabha MP, said.

    He said the prime minister’s “silence” despite the reported allegations of former Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik over the Pulwama attack and the questions raised by Gen (retd) Roy Chowdhury raises many questions.

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    “In the national interest, a white paper should be issued on the Pulwama attack, with the government explaining how the attack took place, where the negligence was, what was the failure of intelligence, why jawans were refused aircraft, what security lapses occurred and what was the role of CRPF, NHA, NSA and PMO,” Gohil added.

    Forty Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed in the terrorist attack on a convoy of security vehicles in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama in February 2019.

    Malik, who was then governor of Jammu and Kashmir, has recently alleged intelligence failures and that the central government denied aircraft for the movement of security personnel.

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    #answers #issues #raised #exArmy #chief #Pulwama #attack #Gohil

    ( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

  • Congress demands answers on classified document leak

    Congress demands answers on classified document leak

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    Turner, who recently returned from a visit to Kyiv, has said the leak could amount to espionage.

    The leak, which surfaced on social media over the past week, has stunned the Defense Department and prompted an investigation by the Justice Department. The released information spanned a host of topics but included highly-sensitive documents related to the war in Ukraine.

    The White House on Monday said President Joe Biden had been briefed on the leak but demurred on whether it remained an active threat. “We don’t know. We truly don’t,” National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said.

    Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.), ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, called the leak “not remotely acceptable.” In a phone interview, he said he wants to learn as quickly as possible how the leak happened and whether it exposed any sources of U.S. intelligence collection.

    “This leak is particularly concerning because it could have very real-time consequences,” he told POLITICO, referring to Ukrainians in their ongoing war with Russia.

    Himes said the leak, which comes after the discovery of classified information at properties associated with Donald Trump, Joe Biden and Mike Pence, is indicative of broader problems with classified information handling. He predicted that there would be bipartisan interest revamping classified materials-handling practices.

    “It’s clear that we’ve got a larger issue here,” the Connecticut Democrat said. “Clearly, we’ve got to do a better job. And so I think we’ll be very interested in the specifics of this case, but also how they inform a more secure system.”

    Regardless of the ongoing status of the threat from the leaked documents, Congress will be actively engaged on the issue when it returns next week.

    Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) was briefed Monday evening and vowed his panel would “continue to follow this situation closely,” while urging caution that Russia has a history of spreading disinformation through documents posted online.

    The leaders of the House intelligence panel — Turner and Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) — said in a joint statement that they expect to be briefed as the investigation into the leak unfolds.

    “Protecting classified information is critical to our national security, and the DOD and Intelligence Community must work quickly to prevent any spillage and identify the source of any leak,” the bipartisan duo said in a Monday statement.

    The interest extends beyond the intelligence panels. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), chair of the House Armed Services Committee, and Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, both said they are also seeking answers about the leak.

    “Chairman Reed remains focused on supporting and sustaining the international effort to aid Ukraine in its fight to repel Russia’s illegal invasion,” a committee spokesperson said Monday.

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    #Congress #demands #answers #classified #document #leak
    ( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

  • Delhi school teachers ‘being forced’ to write ‘answers on blank papers’: Congress

    Delhi school teachers ‘being forced’ to write ‘answers on blank papers’: Congress

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    Cong team meets EC, complains about violence against Oppn candidates in Tripura

    New Delhi: The Congress on Thursday accused the Delhi government of forcing teachers to write “answers on blank exam papers” of Class 9 and 11 students and demanded a probe into the allegations.

    Lashing out at the city government, the Delhi Congress’ communications department chairperson Anil Bhardwaj alleged that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and former education minister Manish Sisodia created a “false narrative” about the “Delhi model of education”.

    “The truth is, the education standard in government schools deteriorated terribly. Kejriwal had promised in his manifesto for the assembly elections nine years ago that, if elected to power, he would create 500 new schools and 20 new colleges but he could not fulfil those promises,” the Congress leader claimed.

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    He alleged that the administration “failed to develop” Delhi despite making a “budget allocation of over Rs 5 lakh crore” in the past nine years.

    “Despite making a budget allocation of over Rs 5 lakh crore in the past nine years, the Kejriwal government failed to develop Delhi.

    “The AAP government only made (Delhi) number one in pollution, the liquor scam and squandering taxpayers’ money for publicity and advertisements,” the former MLA said.

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    #Delhi #school #teachers #forced #write #answers #blank #papers #Congress

    ( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

  • Democratic senators, led by Elizabeth Warren, are demanding answers from Walgreens on abortion pills. 

    Democratic senators, led by Elizabeth Warren, are demanding answers from Walgreens on abortion pills. 

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    The senators are asking the company to disclose the list of states where they will seek certification to dispense the medication.

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    #Democratic #senators #led #Elizabeth #Warren #demanding #answers #Walgreens #abortion #pills
    ( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

  • Marco Rubio and Roger Wicker say they still don’t have answers from the Pentagon on the sequence of events that alerted Joe Biden to last month’s Chinese spy balloon.

    Marco Rubio and Roger Wicker say they still don’t have answers from the Pentagon on the sequence of events that alerted Joe Biden to last month’s Chinese spy balloon.

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    Marco Rubio and Roger Wicker were not satisfied with earlier briefings.

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    #Marco #Rubio #Roger #Wicker #dont #answers #Pentagon #sequence #events #alerted #Joe #Biden #months #Chinese #spy #balloon
    ( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

  • ‘We need answers’: Oppn asks questions on LIC’s stock value slump in Adani Group

    ‘We need answers’: Oppn asks questions on LIC’s stock value slump in Adani Group

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    Members of several opposition parties have raised questions on the latest development of the value of stocks held by the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India in the embattled Adani group companies.

    TMC MP Mahua Moitra in a tweet on Friday tagged FM Nirmala Sitharaman and asked the reasons behind why the centre is supporting Adani at the ‘cost of Indian public’.

    “₹3200 cr loss in Adani shares for @LICIndiaForever so far.
    @nsitharaman
    #IRDAI what pressure is there to support Adani at cost of Indian public?
    We need answers,” she tweeted.

    Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala asked the Prime Minister to ‘break the silence’.

    “The bitter truth is that the original deposit made by #LIC years ago in the shares of #Adani has also fallen.

    LIC’s original holding of Adani shares – ₹ 36,474 crores.

    On February 23, 2023 the price remained – ₹ 33242 cr. Still why not investigate Adani? PM break the silence!” he said in a series of tweets.

     AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Thursday targetted the BJP-led centre by saying that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has put common man’s savings at risk by investing LIC’s money in the Adani group of companies.

    “Poora kuppa kar diye” as we say in Hyderabad. LIC is putting common man’s savings at risk; all for the sake of one man’s friendship.
    @PMOIndia’s motto seems to be “profit before people,” he tweeted.

    Kerala former finance minister Thomas Isaac said that the management of LIC has the dity to protect policy holders’ interests and not just Adanis’.

    “Till when will LIC continue stand on the burning deck of Adani ship like a Casablanca? Reports say that LIC’s Adani Group investment has eroded to near cost now. LIC’s assets are public money, the management has the duty to protect policy holders interests and not just Advani’s,” he tweeted.

    Supreme Court lawyer and activist Prashant Bhushan asked the reason behind giving an extension to the LIC chairman when just in a span of one month after the Hindeburg expose, the value of Adani shares held by the LIC has fallen down.

    “So, in just a month after the Hindenburg expose, the Value of Adani shares but by LIC from our money has fallen from 72000 Cr to 26000 Cr, more than 3250 Cr below its purchase price. And this LIC Chairman has been given extension. For putting more public money into Adani shares?” he tweeted.

    The investments made in the Adani group companies by state-run insurance giant Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) have turned negative as of closing on February 23, according to data analysed from stakes held by the insurance company as per the December shareholding pattern made available on the exchanges.

    If some Adani stocks do not find support soon, LIC’s investment in the beleaguered Group, whose listed companies’ share prices have fallen by up to 80 percent, will almost certainly turn negative, as combined profit has now fallen to around Rs 3,000 crore from Rs 53,000 crore profit since the beginning of this year.

    Following a sell-off in Adani stocks following the Hindenburg Research report, the combined market value of LIC’s investments in Adani Group was Rs 33,000 crore on February 23, down from nearly Rs 83,000 crore on December 31, 2022. When Hindenburg published its damning report on January 24, the LIC’s investment in Adani Cos was valued at Rs 81,000 crore.

    This is primarily due to the significant sell-off in Adani Group stocks.

    After the publication of the Hindenburg report, LIC declared on January 30 that at the end of December, it owned Rs 35,917 crores under equity and debt in Adani Group equities.

    Since the US-based short seller Hindenburg released their research a month ago alleging accounting fraud and stock manipulation, the market value of the group’s 10 listed firms has fallen by $146 billion, or approximately 60 percent. Adani has refuted the charges.

    With the decline on Thursday, LIC’s investments now have a negative value or a loss. It is assumed that after January 30, LIC has not acquired or disposed of any stock in the Group entities.

    LIC owns between 1.28 percent and 9.14 percent of the shares in seven publicly traded Adani companies.

    The value of LIC’s investment in Adani Ports (APSEZ), in which it owns more than 9 percent, has fallen from Rs 15,000 crore on January 24 to slightly less than Rs 11,000 crore on February 23. Similarly, the value of its 4.23 percent stake in Adani Enterprises has decreased from Rs 16,500 crore to Rs 6,660 crore over the same time period. LIC also owns slightly less than 6 percent of Adani Total Gas.

    Since this Adani stock has dropped nearly 80 percent in the last month, LIC’s investment value has dropped from Rs 25,500 crore on January 24 to around Rs 5,200 crore.

    LIC holds 3.65 percent of Adani Transmission and 1.28 percent of Adani Green. In one month, the shares of both companies fell 73 percent. The LIC’s investment in Adani Transmission is now valued at Rs 3,000 crore, while the investment in Adani Green is valued at around Rs 1,000 crore. The loss suffered by LIC in Ambuja Cement and ACC is not severe.

    According to LIC, its total exposure in Adani Group companies amounts to 0.975 percent of its total assets under management (AUM) at book value.

    Meanwhile, most Adani stocks closed with significant losses on Thursday. In one month, the Group’s market capitalisation has dropped by approximately Rs 12 lakh crore.

    The stock market’s fallout has resulted in a sharp decline in Gautam Adani’s wealth, which now stands at $42.7 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires index. He has dropped to 29th place on the world’s wealthiest list, down from second place last year.

    Gautam Adani is the founder of the Ahmedabad-based conglomerate Adani Group. Infrastructure, commodities, power generation, transmission, real estate, and cement are all areas of interest for the group.



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    ( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

  • Ohio residents demand answers two weeks after toxic chemical train derailment

    Ohio residents demand answers two weeks after toxic chemical train derailment

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    Hundreds of residents of the Ohio village upended by a freight train derailment and the subsequent burning of some of the hazardous chemicals on board, have questioned officials over potential health hazards.

    Norfolk Southern, the rail operator, did not join Wednesday night’s meeting in East Palestine – which was billed as an open house gathering with local, state and federal officials – because of concerns for their staff’s safety.

    “Unfortunately, after consulting with community leaders, we have become increasingly concerned about the growing physical threat to our employees … around this event stemming from the increasing likelihood of the participation of outside parties,” the railway said in a statement.

    The meeting came as the community continued to seek answers over the potential impact on drinking water and the plans for cleanup. There also remain concerns over the huge plumes of smoke and persistent odors.

    Even as school resumed and trains were rolling again, people in and around East Palestine were asking whether the air and water was safe for people, pets and livestock. Community members have asked for assistance in navigating the financial help that the railroad offered hundreds of families who evacuated.

    Ohio attorney general Dave Yost advised Norfolk Southern on Wednesday that his office is considering legal action against the rail operator.

    “The pollution, which continues to contaminate the area around East Palestine, created a nuisance, damage to natural resources and caused environmental harm,” Yost said in a letter sent to the company.

    The state’s Environmental Protection Agency said Wednesday that the latest tests show water from five wells supplying the village’s drinking water are free from contaminants. But the EPA also is recommending testing for private water wells because they are closer to the surface.

    This photo taken with a drone shows portions of a Norfolk Southern freight train that derailed in East Palestine, Ohio.
    This photo taken with a drone shows portions of a Norfolk Southern freight train that derailed in East Palestine, Ohio. Photograph: Gene J Puskar/AP

    The Ohio Department of Natural Resources estimates the spill affected more than 7 miles (11.2 kilometers) of streams and killed about 3,500 fish, mostly small ones such as minnows and darters.

    There hasn’t been any confirmed deaths of other wildlife, including livestock, state officials said.

    Norfolk Southern announced Tuesday that it is creating a $1m fund to help the community of about 4,700 people while continuing remediation work, including removing spilled contaminants from the ground and streams and monitoring air quality.

    It is also expanding the number of residents who can be reimbursed for their evacuation costs, to cover the entire village and surrounding area.

    “We will be judged by our actions,” Norfolk Southern president and CEO Alan Shaw said in a statement. “We are cleaning up the site in an environmentally responsible way, reimbursing residents affected by the derailment, and working with members of the community to identify what is needed to help East Palestine recover and thrive.”

    No one was injured when about 50 trains cars derailed on the outskirts of East Palestine on 3 February. As fears grew about a potential explosion, officials seeking to avoid an uncontrolled blast had the area evacuated and opted to release and burn toxic vinyl chloride from five rail cars, sending flames and black smoke billowing into the sky again.

    A mechanical issue with a rail car axle is suspected to be the cause of the derailment, and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said it has video appearing to show a wheel bearing overheating just beforehand. The NTSB said it expects its preliminary report in about two weeks.

    Misinformation spread online in the aftermath of the derailment, and state and federal officials have repeatedly offered assurances that air monitoring hasn’t detected any remaining concerns. Even low levels of contaminants that aren’t considered hazardous can create lingering odors or symptoms such as headaches, Ohio’s health director said Tuesday.

    Authorities say that precautions are being taken to ensure contaminants that reached the Ohio River don’t make it into drinking water.

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    #Ohio #residents #demand #answers #weeks #toxic #chemical #train #derailment
    ( With inputs from : www.theguardian.com )

  • Cong owes answers for the scams during its tenure: Karnataka CM

    Cong owes answers for the scams during its tenure: Karnataka CM

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    Bengaluru: The scams of the previous Congress government are being investigated by the Lokayukta and they owe an explanation for those charges.

    The Congress must reply to the questions regarding the tender scams during their period, said Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai.

    Replying to the corruption charges levelled against the state government by Leader of the Opposition in the State Legislative Assembly, Siddaramaiah and KPCC chief D.K. Shivakumar at a press conference here on Wednesday, he said, “The Congress leaders talk by remembering about the omissions and commissions of their period.

    “The Congress leaders are threatening them with inquiry once they come back to power. That means they are coming to power to loot. They themselves have disclosed their agenda. The 40 per cent commission charges are baseless and they have failed to produce evidence before the court. Enquiry is guaranteed if they file the case with all the specifications. Without doing it, firing in the air will not be helpful,” he said.

    “Making any statement without giving any evidence is of no use. The Congress ruled for five years and they also had called tenders. After the BJP came to power a committee headed by a judge went through all those tenders and everything is now being scrutinized. Now the tender process is very transparent and any one can give a complaint,” CM Bommai said.

    He said when Shivakumar was the Water Resources Minister the tender inspection committee was removed as well as TAC. The two-level inspection system was shelved by the corporation. The Congress had opened the avenues for corruption, but the BJP government had re-established the inspection system. So they have no moral rights to talk about corruption.

    Earlier in the day, Shivakumar claimed the chief minister’s office was involved in collecting commissions while clearing old bills and approving new projects.

    The Congress also accused the state government of hurriedly floating tenders at the fag end of its tenure at inflated rates to collect funds for the BJP’s Assembly election campaign.

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    #Cong #owes #answers #scams #tenure #Karnataka

    ( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

  • Judge demands answers after Jan. 6 defendant recants guilt

    Judge demands answers after Jan. 6 defendant recants guilt

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    In a brief order Friday morning, Mehta gave both sides one week to explain “why the court should not vacate Defendant’s convictions of guilt in light of his post-stipulated trial statements” included in the article. The judge also attached a copy of the news report.

    It is unclear how the article in the Illinois newspaper came to the attention of Mehta, who sits at the federal courthouse near the Capitol.

    Judges handling Jan. 6 cases have been repeatedly and increasingly irked by defendants appearing to be apologetic and contrite in court, only to make public statements days later minimizing their guilt and sounding cavalier about their actions. And judges are loath to accept what effectively amounts to a guilty plea from any defendant who doesn’t sincerely believe in their own guilt.

    Adams, who told the Illinois newspaper he was recently fired from his job as a lawn care worker, acknowledged under oath Tuesday that he had committed the conduct Mehta ultimately found him guilty of. He acknowledged walking over broken glass as he went inside the Capitol and that he told the FBI his intent was to “occupy” the building for days, if necessary. Adams also acknowledged that he “knew that he did not have authorization” when he went into the Senate chamber and walked among the senators’ historic desks.

    Entering the Senate chamber has been a sort of red line for prosecutors, with them insisting on felony guilty pleas or convictions to resolve cases against those who went inside, even briefly.

    And so far they’ve been nearly unblemished in their prosecutions, though a judge recently acquitted a defendant of an obstruction charge despite his presence in the chamber.

    Adams was on the Senate floor for about seven minutes before he was kicked out of the building, according to the statement of facts prosecutors and the defense agreed to in his case.

    Stipulated trials have been used in recent months to seek to resolve about a dozen Jan. 6-related criminal cases where the defendant faced a felony charge of obstruction of a congressional proceeding. Almost 1,000 people have been charged criminally in connection with the unrest at the Capitol, which prompted a delay in the congressional session to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election.

    One of Mehta’s colleagues, U.S. District Court Judge Carl Nichols, ruled that the obstruction charge did not apply unless prosecutors could prove that a defendant intended to tamper with or damage the actual electoral vote documents being tallied that day.

    No other judge to consider the issue has agreed with Nichols. Meanwhile, prosecutors are appealing his decision to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.

    Unlike the guilty pleas typically offered in deals with prosecutors, stipulated trials allow defendants in other cases to preserve their ability to wipe out their obstruction convictions if the D.C. Circuit sides with Nichols. The obstruction charge carries a maximum 20-year prison sentence, although no Jan. 6 defendant has received a sentence close to that in a case not involving violence.

    The harshest sentence to date — 10 years — was delivered by Mehta to retired New York City cop Thomas Webster, who took his case to trial. Webster was convicted of a brutal assault of a Washington Metropolitan Police officer outside the Capitol, and Mehta found that Webster lied on the stand about his actions.

    Adams also admitted Tuesday to the facts needed to convict him on a misdemeanor charge of entering and remaining in the Capitol without permission. That carries a one-year maximum sentence. Mehta has set sentencing in the case for June 16.

    The FBI appears to have zeroed in on Adams after he said on the day after the Capitol riot that he enjoyed the experience. “It was a really fun time,” Adams told Insider. He has since said he did not know of the violence taking place elsewhere in the building and on the Capitol grounds.

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    #Judge #demands #answers #Jan #defendant #recants #guilt
    ( With inputs from : www.politico.com )