TORONTO (AP) — Canada's ambassador to the United States said Sunday that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was successful in getting President-elect Donald Trump and key Cabinet nominees to understand that lumping Canada in with Mexico over the flow of drugs and migrants into the U.S. is unfair.

Kirsten Hillman, Canada's ambassador in Washington, told The Associated Press in an interview that Trudeau's&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/canada-us-trudeau-trump-tariffs-4129d793d8e1a60fd6d1f45697901a21">dinner with Trump</a>&nbsp;on Friday was a very important step in trying to get Trump to back away from&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trudeau-trump-canada-tariffs-mexico-border-e0ee7f9b3dddc80d1260585c11869fff">threatened tariffs</a>&nbsp;on all products from the major American trading partner.

Hillman was at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Florida and sat at an adjacent table to Trudeau and Trump.

<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump">Trump</a>&nbsp;threatened to impose tariffs on products from Canada and Mexico if they don’t stop what he called the flow of drugs and migrants across their borders. He said in a social media post last Monday he would impose a 25% tax on all products&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/tariffs-trump-trade-policy-economy-0fb9740a4b42c734c75b64ba09c901d5">entering the U.S.</a>&nbsp;from Canada and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/mexico-tariffs-trump-retaliate-sheinbaum-fac0b0c6ee8c425a928418de7332b74a">Mexico</a>&nbsp;as one of his first executive orders.

Hillman said Trudeau asked to see Trump in person in a phone call Monday and Trump invited him to dinner on Friday.

At the dinner, Hillman said the case was made to Trump that there is no comparison between the Canada-U.S. border and Mexico-U.S. border.

“The message that our border is so vastly different than the Mexican border was really understood,” Hillman said.

Hillman said the bulk of Friday night's dinner centered around Trump's border concerns. The ambassador said a priority of Trudeau's was to point out the degree of difference.

Hillman said there really is no comparison, noting there is essentially zero trafficking of fentanyl from Canada to the United States. She said there are seizures but authorities say those are personal use seizures and not criminal trafficking. She said that 99.8% of the fentanyl seized by U.S. authorities in the U.S. comes from Mexico.

“Also with respect to individuals, illegal individuals crossing illegally, Canada last year was less than one percent, 0.6 percent were of total interceptions from Canada,” Hillman said.

U.S. customs agents seized 43 pounds of fentanyl at the Canadian border last fiscal year, compared with 21,100 pounds at the Mexican border. On immigration, the U.S. Border Patrol made 56,530 arrests at the Mexican border in October alone and 23,721 arrests at the Canadian border between October 2023 and September 2024 — and Hillman said the migrant numbers are coming down since the summer.

“The facts are hard to deny,” Hillman said.

But Hillman said Canada is ready to make new investments in border security and there are plans for more helicopters, drones and law enforcement officers.

She also noted an agreement between Canada and the United States that allows for migrants caught crossing illegally into the United States to be sent back to Canada. She said that was talked about. She said Mexico and the U.S. do not have a similar agreement.

At the dinner that lasted three hours, Hillman said America's trade deficit with Canada was also raised. Hillman said the U.S. had a $75 billion trade deficit with Canada last year but noted a third of what Canada sells into the U.S. are energy exports and prices have been high.

“Trade balances are something that he focuses so it’s important to engage in that conversation but to put it into context," Hillman said.

“We are one tenth the size of the United States so a balanced trade deal would mean per capita we are buying 10 times more from the U.S. than they are buying from us. If that’s his metric we will certainly engage on that."

Joining Trump and Trudeau at dinner were Howard Lutnick, Trump’s nominee for commerce secretary, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Trump’s pick to lead the Interior Department, Mike Waltz, Trump’s choice to be his national security adviser, and the three men’s wives.

Also at the dinner were David McCormick, just elected U.S. senator from Pennsylvania, and his wife, Dina Powell, a former deputy national security adviser under Trump, as well as Canadian Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc, whose responsibilities include border security, and Katie Telford, Trudeau’s chief of staff.

Hillman said Canadian and incoming Trump administration officials will work on Trump's concerns in the coming weeks. Trump called the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trudeau-trump-canada-tariffs-mexico-border-e0ee7f9b3dddc80d1260585c11869fff">talks “productive”</a>&nbsp;on Sunday in a social media post but signaled no retreat from his tariff pledge.

Hillman said Trump and Trudeau "get along well" and the dinner was also a chance to socialize. She said Trump used his iPad to play music and she said Trump told Trudeau he's a big fan of Canadian singer Celine Dion.

“I don’t think it could have been better to be frank. Okay, I’ll take that back, I’ll change that. If he obviously said there would be no tariffs that would have been better but there was no realistic expectation of that,” Hillman said.

Canada is the top export destination for 36 U.S. states. Nearly $3.6 billion Canadian (US$2.7 billion) worth of goods and services cross the border each day.

About 60% of U.S. crude oil imports are from Canada, and 85% of U.S. electricity imports are from Canada.

Canada is also the largest foreign supplier of steel, aluminum and uranium to the U.S. and has 34 critical minerals and metals that the Pentagon is eager for and investing in for national security.

Canada is one of the most trade-dependent countries in the world, and 77% of Canada’s exports go to the U.S.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau flew to Florida on Friday to have dinner with President-elect Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago club after Trump threatened to impose sweeping tariffs on Canadian products.

<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump">Trump</a>&nbsp;threatened to impose tariffs on products from Canada and Mexico if they don’t stop what he called the flow of drugs and migrants across their borders. He said he would impose a 25% tax on all products&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/tariffs-trump-trade-policy-economy-0fb9740a4b42c734c75b64ba09c901d5">entering the U.S.</a>&nbsp;from Canada and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/mexico-tariffs-trump-retaliate-sheinbaum-fac0b0c6ee8c425a928418de7332b74a">Mexico</a>&nbsp;as one of his first executive orders.

A person familiar with the details called it a "positive wide-ranging dinner that lasted three hours.” The official, who was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, said topics included trade, border security, fentanyl, defense, Ukraine, NATO, China and pipelines, as well as the the Group of Seven meeting in Canada next year.

Although Trump once called Trudeau&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/5131817a9cd449ff964b221a75eafe02">“weak” and “dishonest”</a>&nbsp;during his first term, ties between the two countries have remained among the closest in the world. Trudeau is the first leader from the G7 countries to visit Trump since the Nov. 5 election.

Joining Trump and Trudeau at dinner were Howard Lutnick, Trump's nominee for commerce secretary, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Trump's pick to lead the Interior Department, Mike Waltz, Trump's choice to be his national security adviser, and the three men's wives.

Also at the dinner were David McCormick, just elected U.S. senator from Pennsylvania, and his wife, Dina Powell, a former deputy national security adviser under Trump, as well as Canadian Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc, whose responsibilities include border security, and Katie Telford, Trudeau's chief of staff.

McCormick posted a photo on X of the group seated at a round table on the patio of Mar-a-Lago. At the table behind the president-elect a boy can be seen mugging for the camera.

Trump’s transition did not respond to questions about what they had discussed or whether the conversation alleviated Trump’s concerns about the border.

A smiling Trudeau declined comment upon returning to his West Palm Beach hotel late Friday.

Trudeau said earlier Friday that he would resolve the tariffs issue by talking to Trump. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Thursday after speaking with Trump that she is confident&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-tariffs-china-mexico-canada-fentanyl-inflation-cf905e75e863511baef959a80ee2eea2">a tariff war with the United States</a>&nbsp;will be averted.

“We’re going to work together to meet some of the concerns,” Trudeau told reporters in Prince Edward Island in Atlantic Canada. “But ultimately it is through lots of real constructive conversations with President Trump that I am going to have, that will keep us moving forward on the right track for all Canadians.”

Trudeau said Trump got elected because he promised to bring down the cost of groceries but now he's talking about adding 25% to the cost of all kinds of products including potatoes from Prince Edward Island.

“It is important to understand that Donald Trump, when he makes statements like that, he plans on carrying them out. There’s no question about it,” Trudeau said.

“Our responsibility is to point out that he would not just be harming Canadians, who work so well with the United States, but he would actually be raising prices for Americans citizens as well and hurting American industry and business,” he added.

Those tariffs could essentially blow up the North American trade pact that Trump’s team negotiated during his initial term. Trudeau noted they were able to successfully re-negotiate the deal, which he calls a “win win” for both countries.

“We can work together as we did previously,” Trudeau said.

Trump made the tariff threat Monday while railing against an influx of illegal migrants, even though the numbers at the Canadian border pale in comparison to the southern border.

The U.S. Border Patrol made 56,530 arrests at the Mexican border in October alone — and 23,721 arrests at the Canadian one between October 2023 and September 2024.

Trump also railed about fentanyl from Mexico and Canada, even though seizures from the Canadian border are few in comparison to the Mexican border. U.S. customs agents seized 43 pounds of fentanyl at the Canadian border last fiscal year, compared with 21,100 pounds at the Mexican border.

Canadian officials say lumping Canada in with Mexico is unfair but say they are ready to make new investments in border security.

Trudeau called Trump after he made his social media posts on the border.

When Trump imposed higher tariffs during his first term in office, other countries responded with retaliatory tariffs of their own. Canada, for instance, announced&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/general-news-04e38d60b85349c4bbf5cb084b35bdd0">billions of new duties in 2018</a>&nbsp;against the U.S. in a tit-for-tat response to new taxes on Canadian steel and aluminum.

Canada is already&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/canada-trump-tariffs-trudeau-c741393c2f7c7545e9714839cfbbda45">examining possible retaliatory</a>&nbsp;tariffs on certain items from the U.S. should Trump follow through on his threat to impose sweeping tariffs on Canadian products, a senior official told The Associated Press this week.

A government official said Canada is preparing for every eventuality and has started thinking about what items to target with tariffs in retaliation. The official stressed no decision has been made. The person spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak publicly.

“Canada has reason to fear because Trump is impulsive, often influenced by the last thing he sees on Fox News,” said Nelson Wiseman, professor emeritus at the University of Toronto. “He can leverage that by catering to what he thinks will sound and look good to the public rather than to what happens or will happen.”

TORONTO (AP) — Canada's ambassador to the United States said Sunday that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was successful in getting President-elect Donald Trump and key Cabinet nominees to understand that lumping Canada in with Mexico over the flow of drugs and migrants into the U.S. is unfair.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Thanks for dinner last night, President Trump. I look forward to the work we can do together, again. <a href="https://t.co/lAWFMTtQt7">pic.twitter.com/lAWFMTtQt7</a>&mdash; Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) <a href="https://twitter.com/JustinTrudeau/status/1862952145550475414?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 30, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>Kirsten Hillman, Canada's ambassador in Washington, told The Associated Press in an interview that Trudeau's&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/canada-us-trudeau-trump-tariffs-4129d793d8e1a60fd6d1f45697901a21">dinner with Trump</a>&nbsp;on Friday was a very important step in trying to get Trump to back away from&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trudeau-trump-canada-tariffs-mexico-border-e0ee7f9b3dddc80d1260585c11869fff">threatened tariffs</a>&nbsp;on all products from the major American trading partner.Hillman was at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Florida and sat at an adjacent table to Trudeau and Trump.<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump">Trump</a>&nbsp;threatened to impose tariffs on products from Canada and Mexico if they don’t stop what he called the flow of drugs and migrants across their borders. He said in a social media post last Monday he would impose a 25% tax on all products&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/tariffs-trump-trade-policy-economy-0fb9740a4b42c734c75b64ba09c901d5">entering the U.S.</a>&nbsp;from Canada and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/mexico-tariffs-trump-retaliate-sheinbaum-fac0b0c6ee8c425a928418de7332b74a">Mexico</a>&nbsp;as one of his first executive orders.Hillman said Trudeau asked to see Trump in person in a phone call Monday and Trump invited him to dinner on Friday.At the dinner, Hillman said the case was made to Trump that there is no comparison between the Canada-U.S. border and Mexico-U.S. border.“The message that our border is so vastly different than the Mexican border was really understood,” Hillman said.Hillman said the bulk of Friday night's dinner centered around Trump's border concerns. The ambassador said a priority of Trudeau's was to point out the degree of difference.Hillman said there really is no comparison, noting there is essentially zero trafficking of fentanyl from Canada to the United States. She said there are seizures but authorities say those are personal use seizures and not criminal trafficking. She said that 99.8% of the fentanyl seized by U.S. authorities in the U.S. comes from Mexico.“Also with respect to individuals, illegal individuals crossing illegally, Canada last year was less than one percent, 0.6 percent were of total interceptions from Canada,” Hillman said.U.S. customs agents seized 43 pounds of fentanyl at the Canadian border last fiscal year, compared with 21,100 pounds at the Mexican border. On immigration, the U.S. Border Patrol made 56,530 arrests at the Mexican border in October alone and 23,721 arrests at the Canadian border between October 2023 and September 2024 — and Hillman said the migrant numbers are coming down since the summer.“The facts are hard to deny,” Hillman said.But Hillman said Canada is ready to make new investments in border security and there are plans for more helicopters, drones and law enforcement officers.She also noted an agreement between Canada and the United States that allows for migrants caught crossing illegally into the United States to be sent back to Canada. She said that was talked about. She said Mexico and the U.S. do not have a similar agreement.At the dinner that lasted three hours, Hillman said America's trade deficit with Canada was also raised. Hillman said the U.S. had a $75 billion trade deficit with Canada last year but noted a third of what Canada sells into the U.S. are energy exports and prices have been high.“Trade balances are something that he focuses so it’s important to engage in that conversation but to put it into context," Hillman said.“We are one tenth the size of the United States so a balanced trade deal would mean per capita we are buying 10 times more from the U.S. than they are buying from us. If that’s his metric we will certainly engage on that."Joining Trump and Trudeau at dinner were Howard Lutnick, Trump’s nominee for commerce secretary, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Trump’s pick to lead the Interior Department, Mike Waltz, Trump’s choice to be his national security adviser, and the three men’s wives.Also at the dinner were David McCormick, just elected U.S. senator from Pennsylvania, and his wife, Dina Powell, a former deputy national security adviser under Trump, as well as Canadian Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc, whose responsibilities include border security, and Katie Telford, Trudeau’s chief of staff.Hillman said Canadian and incoming Trump administration officials will work on Trump's concerns in the coming weeks. Trump called the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trudeau-trump-canada-tariffs-mexico-border-e0ee7f9b3dddc80d1260585c11869fff">talks “productive”</a>&nbsp;on Sunday in a social media post but signaled no retreat from his tariff pledge.Hillman said Trump and Trudeau "get along well" and the dinner was also a chance to socialize. She said Trump used his iPad to play music and she said Trump told Trudeau he's a big fan of Canadian singer Celine Dion.“I don’t think it could have been better to be frank. Okay, I’ll take that back, I’ll change that. If he obviously said there would be no tariffs that would have been better but there was no realistic expectation of that,” Hillman said.Canada is the top export destination for 36 U.S. states. Nearly $3.6 billion Canadian (US$2.7 billion) worth of goods and services cross the border each day.About 60% of U.S. crude oil imports are from Canada, and 85% of U.S. electricity imports are from Canada.Canada is also the largest foreign supplier of steel, aluminum and uranium to the U.S. and has 34 critical minerals and metals that the Pentagon is eager for and investing in for national security.Canada is one of the most trade-dependent countries in the world, and 77% of Canada’s exports go to the U.S.-----WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau flew to Florida on Friday to have dinner with President-elect Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago club after Trump threatened to impose sweeping tariffs on Canadian products.<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump">Trump</a>&nbsp;threatened to impose tariffs on products from Canada and Mexico if they don’t stop what he called the flow of drugs and migrants across their borders. He said he would impose a 25% tax on all products&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/tariffs-trump-trade-policy-economy-0fb9740a4b42c734c75b64ba09c901d5">entering the U.S.</a>&nbsp;from Canada and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/mexico-tariffs-trump-retaliate-sheinbaum-fac0b0c6ee8c425a928418de7332b74a">Mexico</a>&nbsp;as one of his first executive orders.A person familiar with the details called it a "positive wide-ranging dinner that lasted three hours.” The official, who was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, said topics included trade, border security, fentanyl, defense, Ukraine, NATO, China and pipelines, as well as the the Group of Seven meeting in Canada next year.Although Trump once called Trudeau&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/5131817a9cd449ff964b221a75eafe02">“weak” and “dishonest”</a>&nbsp;during his first term, ties between the two countries have remained among the closest in the world. Trudeau is the first leader from the G7 countries to visit Trump since the Nov. 5 election.Joining Trump and Trudeau at dinner were Howard Lutnick, Trump's nominee for commerce secretary, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Trump's pick to lead the Interior Department, Mike Waltz, Trump's choice to be his national security adviser, and the three men's wives.Also at the dinner were David McCormick, just elected U.S. senator from Pennsylvania, and his wife, Dina Powell, a former deputy national security adviser under Trump, as well as Canadian Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc, whose responsibilities include border security, and Katie Telford, Trudeau's chief of staff.McCormick posted a photo on X of the group seated at a round table on the patio of Mar-a-Lago. At the table behind the president-elect a boy can be seen mugging for the camera.Trump’s transition did not respond to questions about what they had discussed or whether the conversation alleviated Trump’s concerns about the border.A smiling Trudeau declined comment upon returning to his West Palm Beach hotel late Friday.Trudeau said earlier Friday that he would resolve the tariffs issue by talking to Trump. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Thursday after speaking with Trump that she is confident&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-tariffs-china-mexico-canada-fentanyl-inflation-cf905e75e863511baef959a80ee2eea2">a tariff war with the United States</a>&nbsp;will be averted.“We’re going to work together to meet some of the concerns,” Trudeau told reporters in Prince Edward Island in Atlantic Canada. “But ultimately it is through lots of real constructive conversations with President Trump that I am going to have, that will keep us moving forward on the right track for all Canadians.”Trudeau said Trump got elected because he promised to bring down the cost of groceries but now he's talking about adding 25% to the cost of all kinds of products including potatoes from Prince Edward Island.“It is important to understand that Donald Trump, when he makes statements like that, he plans on carrying them out. There’s no question about it,” Trudeau said.“Our responsibility is to point out that he would not just be harming Canadians, who work so well with the United States, but he would actually be raising prices for Americans citizens as well and hurting American industry and business,” he added.Those tariffs could essentially blow up the North American trade pact that Trump’s team negotiated during his initial term. Trudeau noted they were able to successfully re-negotiate the deal, which he calls a “win win” for both countries.“We can work together as we did previously,” Trudeau said.Trump made the tariff threat Monday while railing against an influx of illegal migrants, even though the numbers at the Canadian border pale in comparison to the southern border.The U.S. Border Patrol made 56,530 arrests at the Mexican border in October alone — and 23,721 arrests at the Canadian one between October 2023 and September 2024.Trump also railed about fentanyl from Mexico and Canada, even though seizures from the Canadian border are few in comparison to the Mexican border. U.S. customs agents seized 43 pounds of fentanyl at the Canadian border last fiscal year, compared with 21,100 pounds at the Mexican border.Canadian officials say lumping Canada in with Mexico is unfair but say they are ready to make new investments in border security.Trudeau called Trump after he made his social media posts on the border.When Trump imposed higher tariffs during his first term in office, other countries responded with retaliatory tariffs of their own. Canada, for instance, announced&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/general-news-04e38d60b85349c4bbf5cb084b35bdd0">billions of new duties in 2018</a>&nbsp;against the U.S. in a tit-for-tat response to new taxes on Canadian steel and aluminum.Canada is already&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/canada-trump-tariffs-trudeau-c741393c2f7c7545e9714839cfbbda45">examining possible retaliatory</a>&nbsp;tariffs on certain items from the U.S. should Trump follow through on his threat to impose sweeping tariffs on Canadian products, a senior official told The Associated Press this week.A government official said Canada is preparing for every eventuality and has started thinking about what items to target with tariffs in retaliation. The official stressed no decision has been made. The person spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak publicly.Canada is the top export destination for 36 U.S. states. Nearly $3.6 billion Canadian (US$2.7 billion) worth of goods and services cross the border each day.About 60% of U.S. crude oil imports are from Canada, and 85% of U.S. electricity imports are from Canada.Canada is also the largest foreign supplier of steel, aluminum and uranium to the U.S. and has 34 critical minerals and metals that the Pentagon is eager for and investing in for national security.Canada is one of the most trade-dependent countries in the world, and 77% of Canada’s exports go to the U.S.“Canada has reason to fear because Trump is impulsive, often influenced by the last thing he sees on Fox News,” said Nelson Wiseman, professor emeritus at the University of Toronto. “He can leverage that by catering to what he thinks will sound and look good to the public rather than to what happens or will happen.”___

What Canadian Prime Minister, Trump discussed in Florida 

SALINE COUNTY —Human remains discovered in Saline County in 2021 have been identified as 69-year-old Kenneth Frances Reitcheck, according to the Saline County Sheriff’s Office. He was reported missing in November of 2019.

On April 20, 2021, a human skull and a small bone were found near a wooded creek on agricultural property in southwest Salina. Law enforcement also discovered an old tent and debris from a makeshift campsite in the area. Despite an extensive search, including the use of K9 units, no additional evidence was recovered at the time to assist in identifying the remains.

Initial examinations, including those conducted by the Wichita State Anthropology Department, provided some details regarding the estimated height and age of the individual but could not confirm an identity.

In the summer of 2024, Saline County investigators reached out to Othram Labs, which specializes in advanced DNA testing. On Dec. 2, investigators were notified that DNA analysis confirmed the remains belonged to Kenneth Reitcheck, who was 69 years old when he disappeared.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/12/1733166057420.png" alt="Kenneth Reitcheck courtesy photo" />
 <figcaption>Kenneth Reitcheck courtesy photo</figcaption>
 </figure>SALINE COUNTY —Human remains discovered in Saline County in 2021 have been identified as 69-year-old Kenneth Frances Reitcheck, according to the Saline County Sheriff’s Office. He was reported missing in November of 2019.On April 20, 2021, a human skull and a small bone were found near a wooded creek on agricultural property in southwest Salina. Law enforcement also discovered an old tent and debris from a makeshift campsite in the area. Despite an extensive search, including the use of K9 units, no additional evidence was recovered at the time to assist in identifying the remains.Initial examinations, including those conducted by the Wichita State Anthropology Department, provided some details regarding the estimated height and age of the individual but could not confirm an identity.In the summer of 2024, Saline County investigators reached out to Othram Labs, which specializes in advanced DNA testing. On Dec. 2, investigators were notified that DNA analysis confirmed the remains belonged to Kenneth Reitcheck, who was 69 years old when he disappeared.The cause of death remains undetermined.

Sheriff: Remains found in central-Kansas in 2021 identified

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A white Kansas police detective accused of sexually assaulting Black women and girls — and terrorizing those who tried to fight back — is dead, prosecutors said as his trial was set to begin Monday.

Prosecutors say female residents of poor neighborhoods in Kansas City, Kansas, feared that if they crossed paths with&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/arrests-kansas-city-indictments-civil-rights-violations-c465a1483c9295eb465847fb8c3463eb">Roger Golubski,</a>&nbsp;he’d demand sexual favors and threaten to harm or jail their relatives.

Golubski, 71, was facing six felony counts of violating women’s civil rights. But he did not appear in court Monday morning for the start of jury selection. Prosecutors later confirmed in court that Golubski has died. They did not say how or when he died.

His attorney, Christopher Joseph, said his client “was despondent about the media coverage.” He did not elaborate.

U.S. District Judge Toby Crouse dismissed the case against Golubski at prosecutors’ request. Joseph called the death “truly unexpected.”

“I don’t know the details,” he told reporters as he walked away from the courtroom where jury selection had been set to begin.

The case has outraged the community and deepened the historical distrust of law enforcement.

The prosecution follows earlier&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/general-news-fd1d4d05e561462a85abe50e7eaed4ec">reports of similar abuse</a>&nbsp;allegations across the country where hundreds of officers have lost their badges after allegations of sexual assaults.

Golubski was accused of sexually assaulting one woman starting when she was barely a teenager and another after her sons were arrested.

About 50 people rallied outside the federal courthouse Monday morning in freezing temperatures to show their support for women who’ve said they were victimized by Golubski. They held signs that said, “Justice now!”

The trial is the latest in a string of lawsuits and criminal allegations that has led the county prosecutor’s office to begin a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/kansas-city-bd0898c8649b1ede27e2c3749547bbed">$1.7 million</a>&nbsp;effort to reexamine cases Golubski worked on during his 35 years on the force. One double murder case Golubski investigated already has resulted in an&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/general-news-03a51b0fe56481f586ef8e031d2ffc2c">exoneration</a>, and an&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-music-arts-and-entertainment-crime-police-54f4c7a47df11cd937aacdb180b4b25e">organization run by rapper Jay-Z</a>&nbsp;is suing to obtain police records.

Golubski had pleaded not guilty, and his attorney said that lawsuits over the allegations were an “inspiration for fabrication” by his accusers. But prosecutors said that, along with the two women whose accounts are the heart of the criminal case, seven others were going to testify that Golubski abused or harassed them.

“Every time I turn around, I’m looking," said Jermeka Hobbs, who has filed a separate lawsuit against Golubski and was not going to be a witness in the trial. Her lawsuit says she was groomed to be one of “Golubski’s girls” and submitted to sexual advances fearing that he would bust her for drugs. “I’m thinking somebody is after me. I have no peace at all."

A veteran detective patrolling poor neighborhoods

Fellow officers once revered Golubski for his ability to clear cases, and he rose to the rank of captain in Kansas City, Kansas, before retiring there in 2010 and then working on a suburban police force for six more years. His former partner served a stint as police chief.

Prior to his death, Golubski had been under&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/police-kansas-city-civil-rights-violations-ae8bc840668af84d343f444bf8aef79a">house arrest</a>&nbsp;and undergoing kidney dialysis treatments three times a week.

Joseph said in a statement that some of the allegations against Golubski are 20 to 30 years old, adding, “In public filings, the prosecution has acknowledged that the verdict will turn entirely on the accusers’ credibility.”

But Jim McCloskey, founder of Centurion, a New Jersey nonprofit working to free innocent people, described Golubski in a court hearing as the “dirtiest cop I’ve ever encountered.”

Stories about Golubski remained just whispers in the neighborhoods near Kansas City's former cattle stockyards partly because of the extreme poverty of a place where some homes are boarded up. One neighborhood where Golubski worked is part of Kansas' second-poorest zip code.

Crime was abundant there, as were drug dealers and prostitutes, said Max Seifert, a former Kansas City, Kansas, police officer who graduated from the police academy with Golubski in 1975.

A fellow officer: ‘A boys will be boys type of thing’

Seifert said police misconduct was tolerated in the department. He described how informants and Golubski’s ex-wife complained that Golubski was soliciting prostitutes. Golubski also was caught having sex with a woman in his office, he said.

“It’s kind of like a boys will be boys type thing,” said Seifert, who was forced into early retirement for refusing to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/f877f311412b422caa4d3c230c388dc3">conceal a motorist’s beating</a>&nbsp;by a federal agent in 2003.

McCloskey said in an interview that Golubski had women "at his mercy.”

The inquiry into Golubski stems from the case of Lamonte McIntyre, who started writing to McCloskey’s nonprofit nearly two decades ago.

McIntyre was just 17 in 1994 when he was arrested and charged in connection with a double homicide, within hours of the crimes. He had an alibi; no physical evidence linked him to the killings; and an eyewitness believed the killer was an underling of a local drug dealer. Golubski and the dealer have since been charged in a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/arrests-kansas-city-indictments-337f9df63faf6c5ff8d3d50623b902c2">separate federal case</a>&nbsp;of running a violent sex trafficking operation.

The eyewitness only testified that McIntyre was the killer after Golubski and a now disbarred&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/michael-brown-kansas-3dba779f0276b5821294377938677246">attorney</a>&nbsp;threatened to take her children away, she alleged in a lawsuit.

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/3e379716ed9e4dba83412311eaadfd08">McIntyre's mother</a>&nbsp;said in a 2014 affidavit that she wonders whether her refusal to grant regular sexual favors to Golubski prompted him to retaliate against her son.

“She, like many people in the community, just viewed the police as all-powerful,” said Cheryl Pilate, an attorney who helped&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/f0aeacf5fd0e4297a8d7b0ca4cda363e">free McIntyre</a>&nbsp;in 2017.

In 2022, the local government agreed to pay $12.5 million to McIntyre and his mother to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/lawsuits-kansas-city-96f163ee13c721c0ab53899dcad05897">settle a lawsuit</a>&nbsp;after a deposition in which Golubski invoked his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent 555 times. The state also&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/general-news-03a51b0fe56481f586ef8e031d2ffc2c">paid McIntyre</a>&nbsp;$1.5 million.

“That was the thread that gave people some courage,” said Lindsay Runnels, who serves on the board of the Midwest Innocence Project.

Women say they were threatened and mocked

Prosecutors say Golubski drove one of the women at the center of their criminal case to a cemetery and told her to find a spot to dig her own grave. He sexually assaulted her repeatedly, starting when she was just in middle school, leading her to suffer a miscarriage, court filings say.

Once, prosecutors say, he forced her to crawl on the ground with a dog leash around her neck in a remote spot near the confluence of the Kansas and Missouri Rivers. With no one around, he is accused of chanting, “Down by the river, said a hank a pank; Where they won’t find her until she stank."

Golubski introduced himself to Ophelia Williams, the other woman at the center of the case, by complimenting her legs and nightgown as police searched her home, prosecutors said.

Williams was terrified at the time because her 14-year-old twins had just been arrested in a double homicide. They ultimately admitted to the crime so police would free their 13-year-old brother, Williams said in a separate&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/kansas-city-kansas-police-abuse-lawsuit-golubski-ae4d10549994de555df22b40546642d8">lawsuit</a>.

Golubski began sexually assaulting her, alternating between threatening her and claiming he could help her sons, according to court records in the criminal case. The twins are now 40 and remain behind bars. The lawsuit she is part of questions their confessions.

The Associated Press generally does not name alleged victims of sexual assault, but Williams has told her story publicly.

Williams said in her lawsuit that she once mentioned making a complaint. She claims Golubski told her: “Report me to who, the police? I am the police."

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A white Kansas police detective accused of sexually assaulting Black women and girls did not appear for his trial Monday, prompting authorities to issue an arrest warrant.

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/arrests-kansas-city-indictments-civil-rights-violations-c465a1483c9295eb465847fb8c3463eb">Roger Golubski</a>, 71, failed to appear in federal court Monday as jury selection was about to begin. Craig Beam, a public affairs officer with the U.S. Marshal’s Service, confirmed that an arrest warrant has been issued.

Golubski faces six felony counts of violating women’s civil rights. Prosecutors say Golubski demanded sexual favors from female residents of poor neighborhoods and would sometimes threaten to jail their relatives if they turned him down.

When Golubski failed to show up in court on Monday, his attorney, Christopher Joseph, said his client “was despondent about the media coverage.” He did not elaborate.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A white Kansas police detective accused of sexually assaulting Black women and girls and terrorizing those who tried to fight back is about to go on federal trial, part of a tangle of cases tied to decades of alleged abuse.

Prosecutors say female residents of poor neighborhoods in Kansas City, Kansas, feared that if they crossed paths with&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/arrests-kansas-city-indictments-civil-rights-violations-c465a1483c9295eb465847fb8c3463eb">Roger Golubski,</a>&nbsp;he'd demand sexual favors and threaten to harm or jail their relatives. He is charged with six felony counts of violating women's civil rights, and jury selection in his trial is set to begin Monday in a federal courthouse in Topeka.

The case has outraged the community and deepened the historical distrust of law enforcement, often seen as being more heavy-handed in predominately Black neighborhoods.

Golubski, now 71, is accused of sexually assaulting one woman starting when she was barely a teenager and another after her sons were arrested. If a jury convicts him, he could die in prison.

Golubski has pleaded not guilty, and his attorney has said that lawsuits over the allegations are an “inspiration for fabrication” by his accusers. But prosecutors said that, along with the two women whose accounts are the heart of the criminal case, seven others will testify that Golubski abused or harassed them.

“Every time I turn around, I’m looking," said Jermeka Hobbs, who has filed a separate lawsuit against Golubski and is not a witness in the trial. Her lawsuit says she was groomed to be one of “Golubski’s girls” and submitted to sexual advances fearing that he would bust her for drugs. “I’m thinking somebody is after me. I have no peace at all."

Golubski now looks nothing like the influential officer he was. He is under&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/police-kansas-city-civil-rights-violations-ae8bc840668af84d343f444bf8aef79a">house arrest</a>&nbsp;and undergoing kidney dialysis treatments three times a week. That will limit his trial to Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

His attorney, Chris Joseph, said in a statement that some of the allegations against Golubski are 20 to 30 years old, adding, “In public filings, the prosecution has acknowledged that the verdict will turn entirely on the accusers’ credibility.”

Williams was terrified at the time because her 14-year-old twins had just been arrested in a double homicide. They ultimately admitted to the crime so police would free their 13-year-old brother, Williams said in a separate&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/kansas-city-kansas-police-abuse-lawsuit-golubski-ae4d10549994de555df22b40546642d8">lawsuit.</a>

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/9/1663616484786.png" alt="Golubski-photo Shawnee Co. Jail" />
 <figcaption>Golubski-photo Shawnee Co. Jail</figcaption>
 </figure>TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A white Kansas police detective accused of sexually assaulting Black women and girls — and terrorizing those who tried to fight back — is dead, prosecutors said as his trial was set to begin Monday.Prosecutors say female residents of poor neighborhoods in Kansas City, Kansas, feared that if they crossed paths with&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/arrests-kansas-city-indictments-civil-rights-violations-c465a1483c9295eb465847fb8c3463eb">Roger Golubski,</a>&nbsp;he’d demand sexual favors and threaten to harm or jail their relatives.Golubski, 71, was facing six felony counts of violating women’s civil rights. But he did not appear in court Monday morning for the start of jury selection. Prosecutors later confirmed in court that Golubski has died. They did not say how or when he died.His attorney, Christopher Joseph, said his client “was despondent about the media coverage.” He did not elaborate.U.S. District Judge Toby Crouse dismissed the case against Golubski at prosecutors’ request. Joseph called the death “truly unexpected.”“I don’t know the details,” he told reporters as he walked away from the courtroom where jury selection had been set to begin.The case has outraged the community and deepened the historical distrust of law enforcement.The prosecution follows earlier&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/general-news-fd1d4d05e561462a85abe50e7eaed4ec">reports of similar abuse</a>&nbsp;allegations across the country where hundreds of officers have lost their badges after allegations of sexual assaults.Golubski was accused of sexually assaulting one woman starting when she was barely a teenager and another after her sons were arrested.About 50 people rallied outside the federal courthouse Monday morning in freezing temperatures to show their support for women who’ve said they were victimized by Golubski. They held signs that said, “Justice now!”The trial is the latest in a string of lawsuits and criminal allegations that has led the county prosecutor’s office to begin a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/kansas-city-bd0898c8649b1ede27e2c3749547bbed">$1.7 million</a>&nbsp;effort to reexamine cases Golubski worked on during his 35 years on the force. One double murder case Golubski investigated already has resulted in an&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/general-news-03a51b0fe56481f586ef8e031d2ffc2c">exoneration</a>, and an&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-music-arts-and-entertainment-crime-police-54f4c7a47df11cd937aacdb180b4b25e">organization run by rapper Jay-Z</a>&nbsp;is suing to obtain police records.Golubski had pleaded not guilty, and his attorney said that lawsuits over the allegations were an “inspiration for fabrication” by his accusers. But prosecutors said that, along with the two women whose accounts are the heart of the criminal case, seven others were going to testify that Golubski abused or harassed them.“Every time I turn around, I’m looking," said Jermeka Hobbs, who has filed a separate lawsuit against Golubski and was not going to be a witness in the trial. Her lawsuit says she was groomed to be one of “Golubski’s girls” and submitted to sexual advances fearing that he would bust her for drugs. “I’m thinking somebody is after me. I have no peace at all."<h2>A veteran detective patrolling poor neighborhoods</h2>Fellow officers once revered Golubski for his ability to clear cases, and he rose to the rank of captain in Kansas City, Kansas, before retiring there in 2010 and then working on a suburban police force for six more years. His former partner served a stint as police chief.Prior to his death, Golubski had been under&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/police-kansas-city-civil-rights-violations-ae8bc840668af84d343f444bf8aef79a">house arrest</a>&nbsp;and undergoing kidney dialysis treatments three times a week.Joseph said in a statement that some of the allegations against Golubski are 20 to 30 years old, adding, “In public filings, the prosecution has acknowledged that the verdict will turn entirely on the accusers’ credibility.”But Jim McCloskey, founder of Centurion, a New Jersey nonprofit working to free innocent people, described Golubski in a court hearing as the “dirtiest cop I’ve ever encountered.”Stories about Golubski remained just whispers in the neighborhoods near Kansas City's former cattle stockyards partly because of the extreme poverty of a place where some homes are boarded up. One neighborhood where Golubski worked is part of Kansas' second-poorest zip code.Crime was abundant there, as were drug dealers and prostitutes, said Max Seifert, a former Kansas City, Kansas, police officer who graduated from the police academy with Golubski in 1975.<h2>A fellow officer: ‘A boys will be boys type of thing’</h2>Seifert said police misconduct was tolerated in the department. He described how informants and Golubski’s ex-wife complained that Golubski was soliciting prostitutes. Golubski also was caught having sex with a woman in his office, he said.“It’s kind of like a boys will be boys type thing,” said Seifert, who was forced into early retirement for refusing to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/f877f311412b422caa4d3c230c388dc3">conceal a motorist’s beating</a>&nbsp;by a federal agent in 2003.McCloskey said in an interview that Golubski had women "at his mercy.”The inquiry into Golubski stems from the case of Lamonte McIntyre, who started writing to McCloskey’s nonprofit nearly two decades ago.McIntyre was just 17 in 1994 when he was arrested and charged in connection with a double homicide, within hours of the crimes. He had an alibi; no physical evidence linked him to the killings; and an eyewitness believed the killer was an underling of a local drug dealer. Golubski and the dealer have since been charged in a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/arrests-kansas-city-indictments-337f9df63faf6c5ff8d3d50623b902c2">separate federal case</a>&nbsp;of running a violent sex trafficking operation.The eyewitness only testified that McIntyre was the killer after Golubski and a now disbarred&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/michael-brown-kansas-3dba779f0276b5821294377938677246">attorney</a>&nbsp;threatened to take her children away, she alleged in a lawsuit.<a href="https://apnews.com/article/3e379716ed9e4dba83412311eaadfd08">McIntyre's mother</a>&nbsp;said in a 2014 affidavit that she wonders whether her refusal to grant regular sexual favors to Golubski prompted him to retaliate against her son.“She, like many people in the community, just viewed the police as all-powerful,” said Cheryl Pilate, an attorney who helped&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/f0aeacf5fd0e4297a8d7b0ca4cda363e">free McIntyre</a>&nbsp;in 2017.In 2022, the local government agreed to pay $12.5 million to McIntyre and his mother to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/lawsuits-kansas-city-96f163ee13c721c0ab53899dcad05897">settle a lawsuit</a>&nbsp;after a deposition in which Golubski invoked his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent 555 times. The state also&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/general-news-03a51b0fe56481f586ef8e031d2ffc2c">paid McIntyre</a>&nbsp;$1.5 million.“That was the thread that gave people some courage,” said Lindsay Runnels, who serves on the board of the Midwest Innocence Project.<h2>Women say they were threatened and mocked</h2>Prosecutors say Golubski drove one of the women at the center of their criminal case to a cemetery and told her to find a spot to dig her own grave. He sexually assaulted her repeatedly, starting when she was just in middle school, leading her to suffer a miscarriage, court filings say.Once, prosecutors say, he forced her to crawl on the ground with a dog leash around her neck in a remote spot near the confluence of the Kansas and Missouri Rivers. With no one around, he is accused of chanting, “Down by the river, said a hank a pank; Where they won’t find her until she stank."Golubski introduced himself to Ophelia Williams, the other woman at the center of the case, by complimenting her legs and nightgown as police searched her home, prosecutors said.Williams was terrified at the time because her 14-year-old twins had just been arrested in a double homicide. They ultimately admitted to the crime so police would free their 13-year-old brother, Williams said in a separate&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/kansas-city-kansas-police-abuse-lawsuit-golubski-ae4d10549994de555df22b40546642d8">lawsuit</a>.Golubski began sexually assaulting her, alternating between threatening her and claiming he could help her sons, according to court records in the criminal case. The twins are now 40 and remain behind bars. The lawsuit she is part of questions their confessions.The Associated Press generally does not name alleged victims of sexual assault, but Williams has told her story publicly.Williams said in her lawsuit that she once mentioned making a complaint. She claims Golubski told her: “Report me to who, the police? I am the police."___-------------KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A white Kansas police detective accused of sexually assaulting Black women and girls did not appear for his trial Monday, prompting authorities to issue an arrest warrant.<a href="https://apnews.com/article/arrests-kansas-city-indictments-civil-rights-violations-c465a1483c9295eb465847fb8c3463eb">Roger Golubski</a>, 71, failed to appear in federal court Monday as jury selection was about to begin. Craig Beam, a public affairs officer with the U.S. Marshal’s Service, confirmed that an arrest warrant has been issued.Golubski faces six felony counts of violating women’s civil rights. Prosecutors say Golubski demanded sexual favors from female residents of poor neighborhoods and would sometimes threaten to jail their relatives if they turned him down.When Golubski failed to show up in court on Monday, his attorney, Christopher Joseph, said his client “was despondent about the media coverage.” He did not elaborate.----------KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A white Kansas police detective accused of sexually assaulting Black women and girls and terrorizing those who tried to fight back is about to go on federal trial, part of a tangle of cases tied to decades of alleged abuse.Prosecutors say female residents of poor neighborhoods in Kansas City, Kansas, feared that if they crossed paths with&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/arrests-kansas-city-indictments-civil-rights-violations-c465a1483c9295eb465847fb8c3463eb">Roger Golubski,</a>&nbsp;he'd demand sexual favors and threaten to harm or jail their relatives. He is charged with six felony counts of violating women's civil rights, and jury selection in his trial is set to begin Monday in a federal courthouse in Topeka.The case has outraged the community and deepened the historical distrust of law enforcement, often seen as being more heavy-handed in predominately Black neighborhoods.Golubski, now 71, is accused of sexually assaulting one woman starting when she was barely a teenager and another after her sons were arrested. If a jury convicts him, he could die in prison.The trial is the latest in a string of lawsuits and criminal allegations that has led the county prosecutor’s office to begin a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/kansas-city-bd0898c8649b1ede27e2c3749547bbed">$1.7 million</a>&nbsp;effort to reexamine cases Golubski worked on during his 35 years on the force. One double murder case Golubski investigated already has resulted in an&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/general-news-03a51b0fe56481f586ef8e031d2ffc2c">exoneration</a>, and an&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-music-arts-and-entertainment-crime-police-54f4c7a47df11cd937aacdb180b4b25e">organization run by rapper Jay-Z</a>&nbsp;is suing to obtain police records.Golubski has pleaded not guilty, and his attorney has said that lawsuits over the allegations are an “inspiration for fabrication” by his accusers. But prosecutors said that, along with the two women whose accounts are the heart of the criminal case, seven others will testify that Golubski abused or harassed them.“Every time I turn around, I’m looking," said Jermeka Hobbs, who has filed a separate lawsuit against Golubski and is not a witness in the trial. Her lawsuit says she was groomed to be one of “Golubski’s girls” and submitted to sexual advances fearing that he would bust her for drugs. “I’m thinking somebody is after me. I have no peace at all."<h2>A veteran detective patrolling poor neighborhoods</h2>Fellow officers once revered Golubski for his ability to clear cases, and he rose to the rank of captain in Kansas City, Kansas, before retiring there in 2010 and then working on a suburban police force for six more years. His former partner served a stint as police chief.Golubski now looks nothing like the influential officer he was. He is under&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/police-kansas-city-civil-rights-violations-ae8bc840668af84d343f444bf8aef79a">house arrest</a>&nbsp;and undergoing kidney dialysis treatments three times a week. That will limit his trial to Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.His attorney, Chris Joseph, said in a statement that some of the allegations against Golubski are 20 to 30 years old, adding, “In public filings, the prosecution has acknowledged that the verdict will turn entirely on the accusers’ credibility.”But Jim McCloskey, founder of Centurion, a New Jersey nonprofit working to free innocent people, described Golubski in a court hearing as the “dirtiest cop I’ve ever encountered.”Stories about Golubski remained just whispers in the neighborhoods near Kansas City's former cattle stockyards partly because of the extreme poverty of a place where some homes are boarded up. One neighborhood where Golubski worked is part of Kansas' second-poorest zip code.Crime was abundant there, as were drug dealers and prostitutes, said Max Seifert, a former Kansas City, Kansas, police officer who graduated from the police academy with Golubski in 1975.<h2>A fellow officer: ‘A boys will be boys type of thing’</h2>Seifert said police misconduct was tolerated in the department. He described how informants and Golubski’s ex-wife complained that Golubski was soliciting prostitutes. Golubski also was caught having sex with a woman in his office, he said.“It’s kind of like a boys will be boys type thing,” said Seifert, who was forced into early retirement for refusing to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/f877f311412b422caa4d3c230c388dc3">conceal a motorist’s beating</a>&nbsp;by a federal agent in 2003.McCloskey said in an interview that Golubski had women "at his mercy.”The inquiry into Golubski stems from the case of Lamonte McIntyre, who started writing to McCloskey’s nonprofit nearly two decades ago.McIntyre was just 17 in 1994 when he was arrested and charged in connection with a double homicide, within hours of the crimes. He had an alibi; no physical evidence linked him to the killings; and an eyewitness believed the killer was an underling of a local drug dealer. Golubski and the dealer have since been charged in a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/arrests-kansas-city-indictments-337f9df63faf6c5ff8d3d50623b902c2">separate federal case</a>&nbsp;of running a violent sex trafficking operation.The eyewitness only testified that McIntyre was the killer after Golubski and a now disbarred&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/michael-brown-kansas-3dba779f0276b5821294377938677246">attorney</a>&nbsp;threatened to take her children away, she alleged in a lawsuit.<a href="https://apnews.com/article/3e379716ed9e4dba83412311eaadfd08">McIntyre's mother</a>&nbsp;said in a 2014 affidavit that she wonders whether her refusal to grant regular sexual favors to Golubski prompted him to retaliate against her son.“She, like many people in the community, just viewed the police as all-powerful,” said Cheryl Pilate, an attorney who helped&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/f0aeacf5fd0e4297a8d7b0ca4cda363e">free McIntyre</a>&nbsp;in 2017.In 2022, the local government agreed to pay $12.5 million to McIntyre and his mother to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/lawsuits-kansas-city-96f163ee13c721c0ab53899dcad05897">settle a lawsuit</a>&nbsp;after a deposition in which Golubski invoked his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent 555 times. The state also&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/general-news-03a51b0fe56481f586ef8e031d2ffc2c">paid McIntyre</a>&nbsp;$1.5 million.“That was the thread that gave people some courage,” said Lindsay Runnels, who serves on the board of the Midwest Innocence Project.<h2>Women say they were threatened and mocked</h2>Prosecutors say Golubski drove one of the women at the center of their criminal case to a cemetery and told her to find a spot to dig her own grave. He sexually assaulted her repeatedly, starting when she was just in middle school, leading her to suffer a miscarriage, court filings say.Once, prosecutors say, he forced her to crawl on the ground with a dog leash around her neck in a remote spot near the confluence of the Kansas and Missouri Rivers. With no one around, he is accused of chanting, “Down by the river, said a hank a pank; Where they won’t find her until she stank."Golubski introduced himself to Ophelia Williams, the other woman at the center of the case, by complimenting her legs and nightgown as police searched her home, prosecutors said.Williams was terrified at the time because her 14-year-old twins had just been arrested in a double homicide. They ultimately admitted to the crime so police would free their 13-year-old brother, Williams said in a separate&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/kansas-city-kansas-police-abuse-lawsuit-golubski-ae4d10549994de555df22b40546642d8">lawsuit.</a>Golubski began sexually assaulting her, alternating between threatening her and claiming he could help her sons, according to court records in the criminal case. The twins are now 40 and remain behind bars. The lawsuit she is part of questions their confessions.The Associated Press generally does not name alleged victims of sexual assault, but Williams has told her story publicly.Williams said in her lawsuit that she once mentioned making a complaint. She claims Golubski told her: “Report me to who, the police? I am the police."___Hanna reported from Topeka, Kansas.

Kan. detective accused of sexually assaulting Black women is dead

JOHNSON COUNTY —One person died in an accident just after 11:30p.m. Sunday in Johnson County.

According to a social media report from Overland Park Police, a vehicle was southbound in the northbound lanes of U.S. 69 just north of west 95th Street.&nbsp; The southbound vehicle struck a northbound vehicle.&nbsp;

The wrong-way driver was pronounced dead at the scene.&nbsp;EMS transported the driver of the northbound vehicle to a local hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries. The accident remains under investigation. Police have not released the name of the driver.

JOHNSON COUNTY —One person died in an accident just after 11:30p.m. Sunday in Johnson County.According to a social media report from Overland Park Police, a vehicle was southbound in the northbound lanes of U.S. 69 just north of west 95th Street.&nbsp; The southbound vehicle struck a northbound vehicle.&nbsp;The wrong-way driver was pronounced dead at the scene.&nbsp;EMS transported the driver of the northbound vehicle to a local hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries. The accident remains under investigation. Police have not released the name of the driver.

Driver dead after wrong-way crash on Kansas highway

KANSAS CITY (AP) —Travelers heading home after the Thanksgiving holiday set a record on Sunday, as airport officers screened more than 3 million people.

The Transportation Security Administration said Monday that it handled 3.09 million travelers, breaking the previous record by about 74,000. That mark was set on July 7, also a Sunday after a holiday.

Hundreds of thousands of travelers were delayed or had their flights canceled. Airlines canceled about 120 U.S. flights — not an unusually high number — and more than 6,800 flights were delayed, according to FlightAware. The largest numbers of delays were at Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport and Chicago's O'Hare International Airport.

The TSA had predicted that Thanksgiving week air travel would rise 6% over the same days last year, fitting a pattern of record travel in 2024.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1732637020468.png" alt="Photo TSA" />
 <figcaption>Photo TSA</figcaption>
 </figure>KANSAS CITY (AP) —Travelers heading home after the Thanksgiving holiday set a record on Sunday, as airport officers screened more than 3 million people.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">BREAKING NEWS: Yesterday, December 1st was the busiest day ever for TSA - our officers screened 3.087M individuals at airports nationwide. If you&#39;re still traveling home from the Thanksgiving holiday, please arrive at the airport early. Contact <a href="https://twitter.com/AskTSA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AskTSA</a> with any travel questions. <a href="https://t.co/lhzGYb2Gw6">pic.twitter.com/lhzGYb2Gw6</a>&mdash; TSA (@TSA) <a href="https://twitter.com/TSA/status/1863588400076382673?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 2, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>The Transportation Security Administration said Monday that it handled 3.09 million travelers, breaking the previous record by about 74,000. That mark was set on July 7, also a Sunday after a holiday.Hundreds of thousands of travelers were delayed or had their flights canceled. Airlines canceled about 120 U.S. flights — not an unusually high number — and more than 6,800 flights were delayed, according to FlightAware. The largest numbers of delays were at Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport and Chicago's O'Hare International Airport.The TSA had predicted that Thanksgiving week air travel would rise 6% over the same days last year, fitting a pattern of record travel in 2024.

Record number of travelers screened at US airports in a single day

JERUSALEM (AP) —The Israeli military said Monday an Israeli American soldier who was believed to have been captured alive by Hamas in&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war">its Oct. 7, 2023, attack</a>&nbsp;was killed that day and his body taken into the Gaza Strip.

Hamas is still holding around 100 hostages inside Gaza, at least a third of whom are believed to be dead. The Biden administration says it is making another push for a ceasefire and the release of the remaining hostages, after nearly a year of indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ap.org/news-highlights/spotlights/2024/why-is-israel-demanding-control-over-2-gaza-corridors-in-the-cease-fire-talks/">repeatedly stalled</a>.

Diplomats see a potential opening after last week’s&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-hamas-lebanon-hezbollah-ceasefire-3ed296f8317ecaa89c4e3548c75c9602">ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group</a>, an ally of Hamas that began launching rocket attacks and trading fire with Israel the day after the October 2023 attack.

The fragile ceasefire has held&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/lebanon-hezbollah-israel-war-ceasefire-tyre-ae002af23c7ec9e19a0cea08fecc9f62">despite repeated Israeli strikes</a>&nbsp;that have angered Lebanese officials but not yet triggered a response from Hezbollah. Israel says it has acted to thwart potential attacks.

The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/hostages-gaza-tunnels-hamas-israel-war-d8ecb415268e911cea09518acdaf7ba2">and taking around 250 people hostage</a>. More than 100 hostages were released during a weeklong ceasefire in November 2023.

Israel’s ongoing retaliatory offensive&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/gaza-war-hamas-dead-graves-40000-988d16b648e06e222f04964dc9440da0">has killed at least 44,429 Palestinians</a>, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were combatants. Israel says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.

The war&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/scars-of-war-0000019256a2d640a5fef6ba634b0000">has destroyed vast areas of the coastal enclave</a>&nbsp;and displaced 90% of the population of 2.3 million,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/a-year-of-fleeing-across-gaza-000001925701d383a5925f8f807f0000">often multiple times</a>.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/12/1733137467784.png" alt="Omer Neutra-photo Hostages and Missing Families Forum" />
 <figcaption>Omer Neutra-photo Hostages and Missing Families Forum</figcaption>
 </figure>JERUSALEM (AP) —The Israeli military said Monday an Israeli American soldier who was believed to have been captured alive by Hamas in&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war">its Oct. 7, 2023, attack</a>&nbsp;was killed that day and his body taken into the Gaza Strip.Hamas is still holding around 100 hostages inside Gaza, at least a third of whom are believed to be dead. The Biden administration says it is making another push for a ceasefire and the release of the remaining hostages, after nearly a year of indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ap.org/news-highlights/spotlights/2024/why-is-israel-demanding-control-over-2-gaza-corridors-in-the-cease-fire-talks/">repeatedly stalled</a>.Diplomats see a potential opening after last week’s&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-hamas-lebanon-hezbollah-ceasefire-3ed296f8317ecaa89c4e3548c75c9602">ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group</a>, an ally of Hamas that began launching rocket attacks and trading fire with Israel the day after the October 2023 attack.The fragile ceasefire has held&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/lebanon-hezbollah-israel-war-ceasefire-tyre-ae002af23c7ec9e19a0cea08fecc9f62">despite repeated Israeli strikes</a>&nbsp;that have angered Lebanese officials but not yet triggered a response from Hezbollah. Israel says it has acted to thwart potential attacks.The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/hostages-gaza-tunnels-hamas-israel-war-d8ecb415268e911cea09518acdaf7ba2">and taking around 250 people hostage</a>. More than 100 hostages were released during a weeklong ceasefire in November 2023.Israel’s ongoing retaliatory offensive&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/gaza-war-hamas-dead-graves-40000-988d16b648e06e222f04964dc9440da0">has killed at least 44,429 Palestinians</a>, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were combatants. Israel says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.The war&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/scars-of-war-0000019256a2d640a5fef6ba634b0000">has destroyed vast areas of the coastal enclave</a>&nbsp;and displaced 90% of the population of 2.3 million,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/a-year-of-fleeing-across-gaza-000001925701d383a5925f8f807f0000">often multiple times</a>.

American-Israeli soldier taken hostage is now presumed dead

WASHINGTON (AP) — President&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/joe-biden">Joe Biden</a>&nbsp;pardoned his son,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/hunter-biden">Hunter</a>, on Sunday night, sparing the younger Biden a possible prison sentence for federal felony gun and tax convictions and reversing his past promises not to use the extraordinary powers of the presidency for the benefit of his family members.

Kansas U.S. Senator Roger Marshall used his social media account to criticize the President.&nbsp;

The Democratic president had previously said he would not pardon his son or commute his sentence after his convictions in the two cases in Delaware and California.

 The move comes weeks before Hunter Biden was set to receive his punishment after his trial conviction in the gun case and guilty plea on tax charges, and less than two months before President-elect Donald Trump is set to return to the White House.

It caps a long-running legal saga for the younger Biden, who publicly disclosed he was under federal investigation in December 2020 — a month after his father’s 2020 victory — and casts a pall over the elder Biden's legacy. Biden, who time and again pledged to Americans that he would restore norms and respect for the rule of law after Trump's first term in office, ultimately used his position to help his son, breaking his public pledge to Americans that he would do no such thing.

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/president-joe-biden-hunter-biden-18efb958a5365eebda5bb3da411c4326">In June,</a>&nbsp;Biden categorically ruled out a pardon or commutation for his son, telling reporters as his son faced trial in the Delaware gun case, “I abide by the jury decision. I will do that and I will not pardon him.”

As recently as Nov. 8, days after Trump’s victory, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre ruled out a pardon or clemency for the younger Biden, saying, “We’ve been asked that question multiple times. Our answer stands, which is no.”

The elder Biden has publicly stood by his only living son as Hunter descended into serious drug addiction and threw his family life into turmoil, before pulling himself out in recent years. His political rivals have long used Hunter Biden’s myriad mistakes as a political cudgel against his father: in one hearing, lawmakers displayed half-naked photos of the drug addled president’s son in a seedy hotel.

And House Republicans sought to use the younger Biden's years of questionable overseas business ventures in a since-abandoned attempt to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/hunter-biden-impeachment-investigation-congress-testimony-republicans-3b5573341b260713c2a637df24edf5fc">impeach</a>&nbsp;his father, who has long denied involvement in his son's dealings or benefiting from them in any way.

In a statement released Sunday evening, Biden said, “I believe in the justice system, but as I have wrestled with this, I also believe raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice."

“The charges in his cases came about only after several of my political opponents in Congress instigated them to attack me and oppose my election,” Biden added. "No reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunter’s cases can reach any other conclusion than Hunter was singled out only because he is my son.”

“I hope Americans will understand why a father and a President would come to this decision,” Biden added, claiming he made the decision this weekend. The president had spent the Thanksgiving holiday in Nantucket, Massachusetts with Hunter and his family, and was set to depart later Sunday on what may be his last foreign trip as president before leaving office on Jan. 20, 2025.

Hunter Biden was convicted in June in Delaware federal court of three felonies for purchasing&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/hunter-biden-trial-gun-charges-delaware-cc96568ac3428802557c85876c820dec">a gun in 2018 when</a>, prosecutors said, he lied on a federal form by claiming he was not illegally using or addicted to drugs.

He was set to stand trial in September in the California case accusing him of failing to pay at least $1.4 million in taxes. But he agreed to plead guilty to misdemeanor and felony charges in a surprise move hours after jury selection was set to begin.

David Weiss, the Trump-appointed U.S. Attorney in Delaware who negotiated the plea deal, was subsequently named a special counsel by Attorney General Merrick Garland to have more autonomy over the prosecution of the president's son.

Hunter Biden said he was pleading guilty in that case to spare his family more pain and embarrassment after the gun trial aired salacious details about his struggles with a crack cocaine addiction.

The tax charges carry up to 17 years behind bars and the gun charges are punishable by up to 25 years in prison, though federal sentencing guidelines were expected to call for far less time and it was possible he would avoid prison time entirely.

Hunter Biden was supposed to be sentenced this month in the two federal cases, which the special counsel brought after a plea deal with prosecutors that likely would have spared him prison time fell apart under scrutiny by a judge. Under the original deal, Hunter was supposed to plead guilty to misdemeanor tax offenses and and would have avoided prosecution in the gun case as long as he stayed out of trouble for two years.

But the plea hearing&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/hunter-biden-plea-deal-taxes-gun-drugs-690d38f1ffae4dfce2c171d21e7d3594">quickly unraveled</a>&nbsp;last year when the judge raised concerns about unusual aspects of the deal. He was subsequently indicted in the two cases.

The sweeping pardon covers not just those offenses, but also any other “offenses against the United States which he has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 1, 2014 through December 1, 2024."

Hunter Biden’s legal team this weekend released a 52-page white paper titled “The political prosecutions of Hunter Biden,” describing the president’s son as a “surrogate to attack and injure his father, both as a candidate in 2020 and later as president.” Hunter Biden’s lawyers have long argued that prosecutors bowed to political pressure to indict the president’s son amid heavy criticism by Trump and other Republicans of what they called the “sweetheart” plea deal.

Both cases against the younger Biden were somewhat unusual. Criminal tax cases generally are rare, legal experts have said, and the gun offenses are usually brought alongside other more serious charges. In Hunter Biden’s case, his lawyers noted that he had the gun for 11 days and never fired it. And the back taxes he owed were repaid before he was supposed to stand trial.

Rep. James Comer, one of the Republican chairmen leading congressional investigations into Biden's family, blasted the president’s decision to issue his son a pardon, saying that the evidence against Hunter was “just the tip of the iceberg.”

“It’s unfortunate that, rather than come clean about their decades of wrongdoing, President Biden and his family continue to do everything they can to avoid accountability,” Comer said on X, the website formerly known as Twitter.

Biden is hardly the first president to deploy his pardon powers to benefit those close to him.

In his final weeks in office, Trump pardoned Charles Kushner, the father of his son-in law, Jared Kushner, as well as multiple allies convicted in special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation. Trump over the weekend announced plans to nominate the elder Kushner&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-france-ambassador-charles-kushner-pardon-c3835be92b1fbd1dffcd05707cba9f52">to be the U.S. envoy to France</a>&nbsp;in his next administration.

Steven Cheung, a spokesperson for Trump, who has pledged to dramatically overhaul and install loyalists across the Justice Department after he was prosecuted for his role in trying to subvert the 2020 presidential election, said in a statement, “That system of justice must be fixed and due process must be restored for all Americans, which is exactly what President Trump will do as he returns to the White House with an overwhelming mandate from the American people.”

Hunter Biden said in an emailed statement that he will never take for granted the relief granted to him and vowed to devote the life he has rebuilt “to helping those who are still sick and suffering.”

“I have admitted and taken responsibility for my mistakes during the darkest days of my addiction – mistakes that have been exploited to publicly humiliate and shame me and my family for political sport,” the younger Biden said.

Hunter Biden’s legal team filed Sunday night in both Los Angeles and Delaware asking the judges handling his gun and tax cases to immediately dismiss them, citing the pardon.

A spokesperson for Weiss did not respond to messages seeking comment Sunday night.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/12/1733140429456.png" alt="FILE - President Joe Biden, wearing a Team USA jacket and walking with his son Hunter Biden, heads toward Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, July 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)" />
 <figcaption>FILE - President Joe Biden, wearing a Team USA jacket and walking with his son Hunter Biden, heads toward Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, July 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — President&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/joe-biden">Joe Biden</a>&nbsp;pardoned his son,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/hunter-biden">Hunter</a>, on Sunday night, sparing the younger Biden a possible prison sentence for federal felony gun and tax convictions and reversing his past promises not to use the extraordinary powers of the presidency for the benefit of his family members.Kansas U.S. Senator Roger Marshall used his social media account to criticize the President.&nbsp;<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Corruption at the highest levels of government is on full display tonight. I&#39;ve always said watch what Joe Biden does not what he says. Sweeping pardons to protect the Biden Crime Family from 11 years of federal crimes Hunter committed once again undermines any ounce of… <a href="https://t.co/rHAMM3YqOZ">https://t.co/rHAMM3YqOZ</a>&mdash; Dr. Roger Marshall (@RogerMarshallMD) <a href="https://twitter.com/RogerMarshallMD/status/1863392969471991901?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 2, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>The Democratic president had previously said he would not pardon his son or commute his sentence after his convictions in the two cases in Delaware and California.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">President Biden: &quot;I&#39;m extremely proud of my son Hunter. He has overcome an addiction. He&#39;s one of the brightest most decent men I know...I am satisfied...I said I&#39;d abide by the jury decision. I will do that and I will not pardon him.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/ZGf0nHOs2o">pic.twitter.com/ZGf0nHOs2o</a>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1801331484365603234?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 13, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div> The move comes weeks before Hunter Biden was set to receive his punishment after his trial conviction in the gun case and guilty plea on tax charges, and less than two months before President-elect Donald Trump is set to return to the White House.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/12/1733107595773.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>It caps a long-running legal saga for the younger Biden, who publicly disclosed he was under federal investigation in December 2020 — a month after his father’s 2020 victory — and casts a pall over the elder Biden's legacy. Biden, who time and again pledged to Americans that he would restore norms and respect for the rule of law after Trump's first term in office, ultimately used his position to help his son, breaking his public pledge to Americans that he would do no such thing.<a href="https://apnews.com/article/president-joe-biden-hunter-biden-18efb958a5365eebda5bb3da411c4326">In June,</a>&nbsp;Biden categorically ruled out a pardon or commutation for his son, telling reporters as his son faced trial in the Delaware gun case, “I abide by the jury decision. I will do that and I will not pardon him.”As recently as Nov. 8, days after Trump’s victory, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre ruled out a pardon or clemency for the younger Biden, saying, “We’ve been asked that question multiple times. Our answer stands, which is no.”The elder Biden has publicly stood by his only living son as Hunter descended into serious drug addiction and threw his family life into turmoil, before pulling himself out in recent years. His political rivals have long used Hunter Biden’s myriad mistakes as a political cudgel against his father: in one hearing, lawmakers displayed half-naked photos of the drug addled president’s son in a seedy hotel.And House Republicans sought to use the younger Biden's years of questionable overseas business ventures in a since-abandoned attempt to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/hunter-biden-impeachment-investigation-congress-testimony-republicans-3b5573341b260713c2a637df24edf5fc">impeach</a>&nbsp;his father, who has long denied involvement in his son's dealings or benefiting from them in any way.In a statement released Sunday evening, Biden said, “I believe in the justice system, but as I have wrestled with this, I also believe raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice."“The charges in his cases came about only after several of my political opponents in Congress instigated them to attack me and oppose my election,” Biden added. "No reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunter’s cases can reach any other conclusion than Hunter was singled out only because he is my son.”“I hope Americans will understand why a father and a President would come to this decision,” Biden added, claiming he made the decision this weekend. The president had spent the Thanksgiving holiday in Nantucket, Massachusetts with Hunter and his family, and was set to depart later Sunday on what may be his last foreign trip as president before leaving office on Jan. 20, 2025.Hunter Biden was convicted in June in Delaware federal court of three felonies for purchasing&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/hunter-biden-trial-gun-charges-delaware-cc96568ac3428802557c85876c820dec">a gun in 2018 when</a>, prosecutors said, he lied on a federal form by claiming he was not illegally using or addicted to drugs.He was set to stand trial in September in the California case accusing him of failing to pay at least $1.4 million in taxes. But he agreed to plead guilty to misdemeanor and felony charges in a surprise move hours after jury selection was set to begin.David Weiss, the Trump-appointed U.S. Attorney in Delaware who negotiated the plea deal, was subsequently named a special counsel by Attorney General Merrick Garland to have more autonomy over the prosecution of the president's son.Hunter Biden said he was pleading guilty in that case to spare his family more pain and embarrassment after the gun trial aired salacious details about his struggles with a crack cocaine addiction.The tax charges carry up to 17 years behind bars and the gun charges are punishable by up to 25 years in prison, though federal sentencing guidelines were expected to call for far less time and it was possible he would avoid prison time entirely.Hunter Biden was supposed to be sentenced this month in the two federal cases, which the special counsel brought after a plea deal with prosecutors that likely would have spared him prison time fell apart under scrutiny by a judge. Under the original deal, Hunter was supposed to plead guilty to misdemeanor tax offenses and and would have avoided prosecution in the gun case as long as he stayed out of trouble for two years.But the plea hearing&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/hunter-biden-plea-deal-taxes-gun-drugs-690d38f1ffae4dfce2c171d21e7d3594">quickly unraveled</a>&nbsp;last year when the judge raised concerns about unusual aspects of the deal. He was subsequently indicted in the two cases.The sweeping pardon covers not just those offenses, but also any other “offenses against the United States which he has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 1, 2014 through December 1, 2024."Hunter Biden’s legal team this weekend released a 52-page white paper titled “The political prosecutions of Hunter Biden,” describing the president’s son as a “surrogate to attack and injure his father, both as a candidate in 2020 and later as president.” Hunter Biden’s lawyers have long argued that prosecutors bowed to political pressure to indict the president’s son amid heavy criticism by Trump and other Republicans of what they called the “sweetheart” plea deal.Both cases against the younger Biden were somewhat unusual. Criminal tax cases generally are rare, legal experts have said, and the gun offenses are usually brought alongside other more serious charges. In Hunter Biden’s case, his lawyers noted that he had the gun for 11 days and never fired it. And the back taxes he owed were repaid before he was supposed to stand trial.Rep. James Comer, one of the Republican chairmen leading congressional investigations into Biden's family, blasted the president’s decision to issue his son a pardon, saying that the evidence against Hunter was “just the tip of the iceberg.”“It’s unfortunate that, rather than come clean about their decades of wrongdoing, President Biden and his family continue to do everything they can to avoid accountability,” Comer said on X, the website formerly known as Twitter.Biden is hardly the first president to deploy his pardon powers to benefit those close to him.In his final weeks in office, Trump pardoned Charles Kushner, the father of his son-in law, Jared Kushner, as well as multiple allies convicted in special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation. Trump over the weekend announced plans to nominate the elder Kushner&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-france-ambassador-charles-kushner-pardon-c3835be92b1fbd1dffcd05707cba9f52">to be the U.S. envoy to France</a>&nbsp;in his next administration.Steven Cheung, a spokesperson for Trump, who has pledged to dramatically overhaul and install loyalists across the Justice Department after he was prosecuted for his role in trying to subvert the 2020 presidential election, said in a statement, “That system of justice must be fixed and due process must be restored for all Americans, which is exactly what President Trump will do as he returns to the White House with an overwhelming mandate from the American people.”Hunter Biden said in an emailed statement that he will never take for granted the relief granted to him and vowed to devote the life he has rebuilt “to helping those who are still sick and suffering.”“I have admitted and taken responsibility for my mistakes during the darkest days of my addiction – mistakes that have been exploited to publicly humiliate and shame me and my family for political sport,” the younger Biden said.Hunter Biden’s legal team filed Sunday night in both Los Angeles and Delaware asking the judges handling his gun and tax cases to immediately dismiss them, citing the pardon.A spokesperson for Weiss did not respond to messages seeking comment Sunday night.

Kan. U.S. Senator's statement on President Biden's pardon for his son

KANSAS CITY—Investigators are working to determine the cause of fire at an apartment complex in Kansas City.

Just before 8a.m. Sunday, crews responded to a reported apartment fire at 16300 E. 48th Terrace in Kansas City, according to Battalion Chief Michael Hopkins.

&nbsp;Crews reported smoke and fire showing from the three-story apartment on arrival.

KCFD received multiple reports of trapped occupants. Due to the cold temperatures and potential for multiple patients, the incident was upgraded to a first alarm fire with 6 additional ambulances ordered.

 The ambulances were used as warming locations for displaced occupants. The fire was placed under control at 8:25 a.m., according to Hopkins.

Multiple occupants and multiple pets were assisted or rescued from the apartment building.&nbsp;

&nbsp;Red Cross was ordered for 16 adults and 7 children.&nbsp; Occupants were moved to the complex club house while they wait for Red Cress

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/12/1733106925793.png" alt="Photos KCFD" />
 <figcaption>Photos KCFD</figcaption>
 </figure>KANSAS CITY—Investigators are working to determine the cause of fire at an apartment complex in Kansas City.Just before 8a.m. Sunday, crews responded to a reported apartment fire at 16300 E. 48th Terrace in Kansas City, according to Battalion Chief Michael Hopkins.&nbsp;Crews reported smoke and fire showing from the three-story apartment on arrival.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/12/1733106902244.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>KCFD received multiple reports of trapped occupants. Due to the cold temperatures and potential for multiple patients, the incident was upgraded to a first alarm fire with 6 additional ambulances ordered. The ambulances were used as warming locations for displaced occupants. The fire was placed under control at 8:25 a.m., according to Hopkins.Multiple occupants and multiple pets were assisted or rescued from the apartment building.&nbsp;&nbsp;Red Cross was ordered for 16 adults and 7 children.&nbsp; Occupants were moved to the complex club house while they wait for Red Cress

Adults, children and pets rescued from Kansas City apartment fire

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. Navy destroyers shot down seven missiles and drones fired by Yemen’s Houthi rebels at the warships and three American merchant vessels they were escorting through the Gulf of Aden. No damage or injuries were reported.

U.S. Central Command said late Sunday that the destroyers USS Stockdale and USS O’Kane shot down and destroyed three anti-ship ballistic missiles, three drones and one anti-ship cruise missile. The merchant ships were not identified.

The Houthis claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement and said they had targeted the U.S. destroyers and “three supply ships belonging to the American army in the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Aden.”

Houthi attacks for months have targeted shipping through a waterway where $1 trillion in goods pass annually over the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war">Israel-Hamas war</a>&nbsp;in Gaza and Israel’s ground offensive in Lebanon. A ceasefire was announced in Lebanon last week.

The USS Stockdale was involved in a similar attack&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/yemen-red-sea-attack-houthis-mideast-wars-4b52f395b64fdb3ae5b54f97458fa6a2">on Nov. 12</a>.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/12/1703990687604.png" alt="File photo U.S. Central Command" />
 <figcaption>File photo U.S. Central Command</figcaption>
 </figure>DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. Navy destroyers shot down seven missiles and drones fired by Yemen’s Houthi rebels at the warships and three American merchant vessels they were escorting through the Gulf of Aden. No damage or injuries were reported.U.S. Central Command said late Sunday that the destroyers USS Stockdale and USS O’Kane shot down and destroyed three anti-ship ballistic missiles, three drones and one anti-ship cruise missile. The merchant ships were not identified.The Houthis claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement and said they had targeted the U.S. destroyers and “three supply ships belonging to the American army in the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Aden.”Houthi attacks for months have targeted shipping through a waterway where $1 trillion in goods pass annually over the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war">Israel-Hamas war</a>&nbsp;in Gaza and Israel’s ground offensive in Lebanon. A ceasefire was announced in Lebanon last week.The USS Stockdale was involved in a similar attack&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/yemen-red-sea-attack-houthis-mideast-wars-4b52f395b64fdb3ae5b54f97458fa6a2">on Nov. 12</a>.

US Navy stops attack targeting American ships in Gulf of Aden

KANSAS CITY—Law enforcement continue to investigate the death of a man whose body was found in a donation bin.

Just after 6:30 p.m. Thursday, emergency crews responded to a need for medical aid near 72nd and Wornall Road, according to a Kansas City Police.

First responders found a man who was partially in a donation bin. Emergency crews pronounced him dead at the scene.

There did not appear to be any signs of foul play, according to police. The&nbsp;Medical Examiner’s Office&nbsp;will make an official decision on the cause of death.

KANSAS CITY—Law enforcement continue to investigate the death of a man whose body was found in a donation bin.Just after 6:30 p.m. Thursday, emergency crews responded to a need for medical aid near 72nd and Wornall Road, according to a Kansas City Police.First responders found a man who was partially in a donation bin. Emergency crews pronounced him dead at the scene.There did not appear to be any signs of foul play, according to police. The&nbsp;Medical Examiner’s Office&nbsp;will make an official decision on the cause of death.

Man found dead in Kansas City area donation bin

Below is the full statement on the pardon released by the White House

Today, I signed a pardon for my son Hunter. From the day I took office, I said I would not interfere with the Justice Department’s decision-making, and I kept my word even as I have watched my son being selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted.&nbsp;Without aggravating factors like use in a crime, multiple purchases, or buying a weapon as a straw purchaser, people are almost never brought to trial on felony charges solely for how they filled out a gun form. Those who were late paying their taxes because of serious addictions, but paid them back subsequently with interest and penalties, are typically given non-criminal resolutions.&nbsp;It is clear that Hunter was treated differently.&nbsp;

&nbsp;The charges in his cases came about only after several of my political opponents in Congress instigated them to attack me and oppose my election. Then, a carefully negotiated plea deal, agreed to by the Department of Justice, unraveled in the court room – with a number of my political opponents in Congress taking credit for bringing political pressure on the process.&nbsp;Had the plea deal held, it would have been a fair, reasonable resolution of Hunter’s cases.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;

No reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunter’s cases can reach any other conclusion than Hunter was singled out only because he is my son – and that is wrong. There has been an effort to break Hunter – who has been five and a half years sober, even in the face of unrelenting attacks and selective prosecution.&nbsp;In trying to break Hunter, they’ve tried to break me – and there’s no reason to believe it will stop here. Enough is enough.&nbsp;&nbsp;

For my entire career I have followed a simple principle: just tell the American people the truth. They’ll be fair-minded.&nbsp;Here’s the truth: I believe in the justice system, but as I have wrestled with this, I also believe raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice – and once I made this decision this weekend, there was no sense in delaying it further. I&nbsp;hope Americans will understand why a father and a President would come to this decision.&nbsp;&nbsp;

&nbsp;Executive Grant of ClemencyJoseph R. Biden, Jr.President of the United States of America&nbsp;

To All to Whom These Presents Shall Come, Greeting:&nbsp;

Be It Known, That This Day, I, Joseph R. Biden, Jr., President of the United States, Pursuant to My Powers Under Article II, Section 2, Clause 1, of the Constitution, Have Granted Unto&nbsp;

A Full and Unconditional Pardon&nbsp;For those offenses against the United States which he has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 1, 2014 through December 1, 2024, including but not limited to all offenses charged or prosecuted (including any that have resulted in convictions) by Special Counsel David C. Weiss in Docket No. 1:23-cr-00061-MN in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware and Docket No. 2:23-CR-00599-MCS-1 in the United States District Court for the Central District of California.&nbsp;

IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF I have hereunto signed my name and caused the Pardon to be recorded with the Department of Justice.&nbsp;

Done at the City of Washington this 1st day of December in the year of our Lord Two Thousand and Twenty-four and of the Independence of the United States the Two Hundred and Forty-ninth.

It caps a long-running legal saga for the president’s son, who publicly disclosed he was under federal investigation in December 2020 — a month after Joe Biden’s 2020 victory.

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/president-joe-biden-hunter-biden-18efb958a5365eebda5bb3da411c4326">In June,</a>&nbsp;Biden categorically ruled out a pardon or commutation for his son, telling reporters as his son faced trial in the Delware gun case, “I abide by the jury decision. I will do that and I will not pardon him.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/6/1717532173443.png" alt="File photo Hunter Biden arrives at federal court, Tuesday, June 4, 2024, in Wilmington, Del. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)" />
 <figcaption>File photo Hunter Biden arrives at federal court, Tuesday, June 4, 2024, in Wilmington, Del. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — President&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/joe-biden">Joe Biden</a>&nbsp;pardoned his son,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/hunter-biden">Hunter</a>, on Sunday night, sparing the younger Biden a possible prison sentence for federal felony gun and tax convictions and reversing his past promises not to use the extraordinary powers of the presidency for the benefit of his family members.Below is the full statement on the pardon released by the White House--------Today, I signed a pardon for my son Hunter. From the day I took office, I said I would not interfere with the Justice Department’s decision-making, and I kept my word even as I have watched my son being selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted.&nbsp;Without aggravating factors like use in a crime, multiple purchases, or buying a weapon as a straw purchaser, people are almost never brought to trial on felony charges solely for how they filled out a gun form. Those who were late paying their taxes because of serious addictions, but paid them back subsequently with interest and penalties, are typically given non-criminal resolutions.&nbsp;It is clear that Hunter was treated differently.&nbsp;&nbsp;The charges in his cases came about only after several of my political opponents in Congress instigated them to attack me and oppose my election. Then, a carefully negotiated plea deal, agreed to by the Department of Justice, unraveled in the court room – with a number of my political opponents in Congress taking credit for bringing political pressure on the process.&nbsp;Had the plea deal held, it would have been a fair, reasonable resolution of Hunter’s cases.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;No reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunter’s cases can reach any other conclusion than Hunter was singled out only because he is my son – and that is wrong. There has been an effort to break Hunter – who has been five and a half years sober, even in the face of unrelenting attacks and selective prosecution.&nbsp;In trying to break Hunter, they’ve tried to break me – and there’s no reason to believe it will stop here. Enough is enough.&nbsp;&nbsp;For my entire career I have followed a simple principle: just tell the American people the truth. They’ll be fair-minded.&nbsp;Here’s the truth: I believe in the justice system, but as I have wrestled with this, I also believe raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice – and once I made this decision this weekend, there was no sense in delaying it further. I&nbsp;hope Americans will understand why a father and a President would come to this decision.&nbsp;&nbsp;###&nbsp;Executive Grant of ClemencyJoseph R. Biden, Jr.President of the United States of America&nbsp;To All to Whom These Presents Shall Come, Greeting:&nbsp;Be It Known, That This Day, I, Joseph R. Biden, Jr., President of the United States, Pursuant to My Powers Under Article II, Section 2, Clause 1, of the Constitution, Have Granted Unto&nbsp;ROBERT HUNTER BIDEN&nbsp;A Full and Unconditional Pardon&nbsp;For those offenses against the United States which he has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 1, 2014 through December 1, 2024, including but not limited to all offenses charged or prosecuted (including any that have resulted in convictions) by Special Counsel David C. Weiss in Docket No. 1:23-cr-00061-MN in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware and Docket No. 2:23-CR-00599-MCS-1 in the United States District Court for the Central District of California.&nbsp;IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF I have hereunto signed my name and caused the Pardon to be recorded with the Department of Justice.&nbsp;Done at the City of Washington this 1st day of December in the year of our Lord Two Thousand and Twenty-four and of the Independence of the United States the Two Hundred and Forty-ninth.-------The Democratic president had previously said he would not pardon his son or commute his sentence after his convictions in the two cases in Delaware and California.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">President Biden: &quot;I&#39;m extremely proud of my son Hunter. He has overcome an addiction. He&#39;s one of the brightest most decent men I know...I am satisfied...I said I&#39;d abide by the jury decision. I will do that and I will not pardon him.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/ZGf0nHOs2o">pic.twitter.com/ZGf0nHOs2o</a>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1801331484365603234?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 13, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div> The move comes weeks before Hunter Biden was set to receive his punishment after his trial conviction in the gun case and guilty plea on tax charges, and less than two months before President-elect Donald Trump is set to return to the White House.It caps a long-running legal saga for the president’s son, who publicly disclosed he was under federal investigation in December 2020 — a month after Joe Biden’s 2020 victory.<a href="https://apnews.com/article/president-joe-biden-hunter-biden-18efb958a5365eebda5bb3da411c4326">In June,</a>&nbsp;Biden categorically ruled out a pardon or commutation for his son, telling reporters as his son faced trial in the Delware gun case, “I abide by the jury decision. I will do that and I will not pardon him.”As recently as Nov. 8, days after Trump's victory, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre ruled out a pardon or clemency for the younger Biden, saying, “We’ve been asked that question multiple times. Our answer stands, which is no.”In a statement released Sunday evening, Biden said, “Today, I signed a pardon for my son Hunter,” alleging that the prosecution of his son was politically motivated and a “miscarriage of justice.”“The charges in his cases came about only after several of my political opponents in Congress instigated them to attack me and oppose my election,” Biden said. “No reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunter’s cases can reach any other conclusion than Hunter was singled out only because he is my son.”“I hope Americans will understand why a father and a President would come to this decision,” Biden added, claiming he made the decision this weekend. The president had spent the Thanksgiving holiday in Nantucket, Massachusetts with Hunter and his family.He was convicted in June in Delaware federal court of three felonies for purchasing&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/hunter-biden-trial-gun-charges-delaware-cc96568ac3428802557c85876c820dec">a gun in 2018 when</a>, prosecutors said, he lied on a federal form by claiming he was not illegally using or addicted to drugs.He was set to stand trial in September in the California case accusing him of failing to pay at least $1.4 million in taxes. But he agreed to plead guilty to misdemeanor and felony charges in a surprise move hours after jury selection was set to begin.Hunter Biden said he was pleading guilty in that case to spare his family more pain and embarrassment after the gun trial aired salacious details about his struggles with a crack cocaine addiction.The tax charges carry up to 17 years behind bars and the gun charges are punishable by up to 25 years in prison, though federal sentencing guidelines were expected to call for far less time and it was possible he would avoid prison time entirely.Hunter Biden said in an emailed statement that he will never take for granted the relief granted to him and vowed to devote the life he has rebuilt “to helping those who are still sick and suffering.”“I have admitted and taken responsibility for my mistakes during the darkest days of my addiction – mistakes that have been exploited to publicly humiliate and shame me and my family for political sport,” the younger Biden said.A spokesperson for special counsel David Weiss, who brought the cases, did not respond to messages seeking comment Sunday night.