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Former banker Simon Andriesz said whistleblowing had brought “devastating” retaliation against his family shortly before his death at 57 was reported.
A British banker who raised questions about Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick’s past dealings with Jeffrey Epstein warned of “devastating” retaliation and promised to release more evidence shortly before his reported death by suicide.
Simon Andriesz, 57, said he provided information to the FBI in 2020 and 2021 concerning Lutnick, Epstein, Cantor Fitzgerald and BGC. He later highlighted records involving Adfin, an advertising technology company in which Lutnick and Epstein reportedly had business interests. Emails and other records have raised questions about Lutnick’s previous claim that he cut ties with Epstein in 2005.
Andriesz’s death was confirmed by Transparency Task Force founder Andy Agathangelou. His final public comments quickly fueled online speculation because he had explicitly described retaliation and said more disclosures were coming. No evidence presented publicly establishes that his death resulted from foul play. Lutnick has not been charged with or accused of participating in Epstein’s crimes.
Hot Take: A whistleblower says retaliation wrecked his life, promises more evidence involving Epstein’s world, then dies at 57. That sequence was always going to set the internet on fire. Andriesz wanted his evidence examined. Death should not close the file he was trying to open.
Newly released footage shows officers confronting Mangione inside an Altoona McDonald’s before finding the gun and other evidence prosecutors later built their case around.
Newly unsealed police bodycam footage shows the moment Pennsylvania officers realized the masked man sitting inside a McDonald’s was Luigi Mangione, five days after UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot dead in Manhattan.
Officers asked Mangione to remove his mask before one stepped outside and declared, “That’s 100% him.” Mangione initially produced identification bearing the name Mark Rosario before admitting his real identity after officers warned him about providing false information. The footage then follows his arrest, search and transportation to the police station.
Police subsequently found a 9mm handgun, silencer, ammunition and handwritten material inside his belongings. Prosecutors say the weapon was used to kill Thompson and the writings documented Mangione’s intentions. Mangione pleaded guilty to federal stalking charges in August and faces life imprisonment when sentenced in December, while his New York murder case remains pending.
Hot Take: Five days of nationwide hunting ended under fluorescent lights at a McDonald’s table. One lowered mask, one look between cops and the temperature in the room changed. Then the backpack opened, and every item coming out of it made the road back to Manhattan shorter.
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Federal prosecutors argue Washington has not recognized Maduro as Venezuela’s legitimate president since 2019, stripping away his attempt to invoke head-of-state immunity.
The United States has rejected Nicolás Maduro’s claim to immunity from prosecution, arguing that Washington does not recognize him as Venezuela’s legitimate head of state and therefore has no obligation to treat him as one.
Prosecutors have asked Judge Alvin Hellerstein to reject immunity arguments raised by Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, who were captured during the January 3 U.S. military operation in Caracas. Both are being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn while facing federal charges involving narcoterrorism, cocaine trafficking and weapons.
The government also argues the alleged conduct falls outside legitimate official duties regardless of Maduro’s claimed status. Maduro first took power in 2013, while the United States stopped recognizing him as Venezuela’s legitimate president following the disputed 2018 election. Acting President Delcy Rodríguez has condemned his capture while pursuing dialogue with Washington.
**Hot Take: **Maduro’s lawyers want the privileges of a presidency Washington says he never legitimately held. Prosecutors have a simpler answer: no recognition, no presidential shield. The former strongman now gets to argue about sovereignty from a federal cell in Brooklyn.
Jim Clemente believes Ron Goldman’s wounds point toward two attackers and says he has a “pretty good idea” who Simpson’s alleged accomplice was.
Former FBI profiler Jim Clemente has revived one of the oldest unanswered questions surrounding the Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman murders, arguing that O.J. Simpson may have had an accomplice on the night they were killed.
Clemente focused on wounds to Goldman’s legs and cuts through his clothing, arguing their positioning suggests Goldman was kicking while being restrained from behind and stabbed from the front. He also questioned why equivalent knife injuries were not found on Goldman’s arms if he had been freely fighting a lone attacker wielding a blade.
Clemente believes Brown was the intended target and Goldman’s arrival unexpectedly complicated a planned attack. He says he has a “pretty good idea” who the second person was but has declined to identify anyone. Simpson was acquitted of both murders in 1995 and later found civilly liable for the deaths. He maintained his innocence until his death in 2024.
Hot Take: Thirty-two years later, everybody still wants the missing piece from Bundy Drive. Clemente thinks he sees another pair of hands in Ron Goldman’s wounds. If he truly has a name to put beside them, stop teasing the silhouette and put the evidence on the table.
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The condemned killer remains ventilated in hospital while doctors deal with the massive pentobarbital dose Tennessee administered during an execution that failed to kill her.
Christa Pike has not regained consciousness since Tennessee tried to execute her four days ago and remains on a ventilator while doctors assess whether she will ever fully recover, according to her attorney.
Assistant Federal Defender Stephen Ferrell said he was unaware of Pike regaining consciousness at any point since prison officials administered two rounds of pentobarbital Wednesday night. Her lawyers say the drugs also burned and blistered her arms. A person holding Pike’s medical power of attorney is making decisions while her detailed condition remains private.
The failed execution has triggered an independent investigation ordered by Gov. Bill Lee, while Tennessee Department of Correction Commissioner Frank Strada announced his resignation Saturday. Pike’s attorneys are demanding preservation of records, communications, photographs and video from the execution. They have also renewed their request for Lee to commute her death sentence to life imprisonment.
Hot Take: Tennessee strapped Pike down to kill her. Four days later she is alive, unconscious and breathing through a machine while nobody knows what condition she will wake up in, if she wakes up at all. The state wanted an execution. What it produced instead is a medical catastrophe and one hell of an investigation.
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