investigated

Oct. 2 (UPI) — Rep. Robert Garcia wants the Office of Special Counsel to investigate the Trump administration for alleged Hatch Act violations arising from government shutdown messaging.

Garcia, D-Calif., is the ranking member on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and on Thursday in a letter to Acting Special Counsel Jamieson Greer said the Trump administration has illegally used government resources to promote false and partisan political messaging.

He said the Trump administration posted false and partisan political messages on at least one federal agency website on Sept. 30 and in emails to federal employees.

“The Hatch Act imposes clear restrictions on the political activity of federal executive branch employees and does not allow activity ‘directed toward the success or failure of a political party, partisan political group or candidate for partisan political office,'” Garcia wrote.

He asked Greer to immediately open an investigation into what he says is “clear misconduct” and a “blatant misuse of taxpayer dollars for political purposes.”

Garcia cited the Department of Housing and Urban Development website’s homepage blaming the “radical left” for causing “massive pain on the American people” on Sept. 30.

He also accused HUD Secretary Scott Turner of violating the Hatch Act by saying, “It is a shame that far-left Democrats are holding our government hostage” in a social media post.

Other agencies have circulated emails to employees that claim the government shutdown is “Democrat-imposed” and blame “radical liberals in Congress” of causing the shutdown that halts critical services for Americans, Garcia said.

The non-profit organization Public Citizen on Wednesday also filed complaints against HUD and the Small Business Administration regarding political messaging, Politico reported.

The Trump administration’s messaging has raised concerns of possible ethics violations.

Ethics experts, though, told Politico the controversial messaging might not violate the Hatch Act but might violate the Anti-Lobbying Act.

A White House spokeswoman on Thursday denied that the Trump administration has violated any federal laws.

“It’s an objective fact that Democrats are responsible for the government shutdown,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told The Hill.

“The Trump administration is simply sharing the truth with the American people,” she added.

An unnamed White House official also said the Biden administration and Obama administration had targeted Republicans in messaging.

In a message shared with UPI on Thursday, the White House did not directly address Garcia’s Hatch Act violation claim but accused Senate Democrats of wanting to “inflict massive pain on the American people unless they get their radical $1.5 trillion demands” approved in an alternative continuing resolution to keep the federal government open.

House Democrats submitted the alternative continuing resolution, which would have funded the federal government through Oct. 31 and would provide “free health insurance for illegal immigrants and others who do not qualify for taxpayer-funded health insurance programs,” according to the White House.

The House Dems’ continuing resolution also would expand premium tax credits and others enacted during the COVID-19 pandemic via Medicaid and Affordable Care Act plans that would pay for transgender surgeries and other gender-related therapies and treatments, the White House message said.

French prosecutors have opened an investigation into the Australian video platform Kick over the death of a content creator during a livestream.

Raphaël Graven – also known as Jean Pormanove – was found dead in a residence near the city of Nice last week.

He was known for videos in which he endured apparent violence and humiliation.

The Paris prosecutor said the investigation would look into whether Kick knowingly broadcast “videos of deliberate attacks on personal integrity”.

The BBC has approached Kick for comment. A spokesperson for the platform previously said the company was “urgently reviewing” the circumstances around Mr Graven’s death.

The prosecutor’s investigation will also seek to determine whether Kick complied with the European Union’s Digital Services Act, and the obligation on platforms to notify the authorities if the life or safety of individuals is in question.

In a separate announcement, France’s minister for digital affairs, Clara Chappaz, said the government would sue the platform for “negligence” over its failure to block “dangerous content”, according to the AFP news agency.

Mr Graven was found dead on 18 August.

Local media reported the 46-year-old had been subject to bouts of violence and sleep deprivation during streams, and died in his sleep during a live broadcast.

In a post on X the next day Chappaz, described his death as an “absolute horror”, and said he had been humiliated and mistreated on the platform for months.

A postmortem carried out later that week revealed Mr Graven’s death was not the result of trauma or the actions of a third party.

Local police have seized videos and interviewed a number of people they say were present when he died.

They also disclosed Mr Graven had previously been spoken to by detectives and had “firmly denied” being a victim of violence, saying the acts he was involved in were staged to “create a buzz” and make money.

Kick is a platform similar to Twitch on which users can broadcast content and interact with other users in real time.

“We are deeply saddened by the loss of Jean Pormanove and extend our condolences to his family, friends and community,” said Kick in its previous statement.

The platform’s community guidelines were “designed to protect creators” and Kick was “committed to upholding these standards across our platform”, its spokesperson added.

The search for Shannon Matthews, nine, became a major missing person police operation and, after several weeks, she was found at an address in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire

A man who investigated Shannon Matthews‘ disappearance has revealed the moment he knew the girl’s mum Karen was the person behind it all.

Richard Edwards, who was a local reporter at the time, appeared on This Morning yesterday to talk about his involvement in the case which saw a huge missing person police operation launched for the girl. She was found at her mum’s then-boyfriend Michael Donovan’s house in a plot to claim a £50,000 reward, and both Karen and Donovan were prosecuted and jailed.

The search lasted 24 days in February and March 2008, during which time people on the estate near Dewsbury, West Yorkshire eventually became suspicious of Karen. It dawned on Mr Edwards himself Karen could be responsible when a man approached him – as he worked late on the estate one evening for a local newspaper – and pointed at Karen’s house, insisting she had known along along where Shannon was.

READ MORE: This Morning host says ‘stop the show’ minutes in as viewers ‘switch off’READ MORE: How to watch new Shannon Matthews documentary 17 years on from fake kidnap scandal

Speaking to Emma Willis and Andi Peters on the ITV This Morning sofa yesterday, Mr Edwards said: “There was one particular night where to this day I’ve never known who this person was. It was a Sunday night, a few days before Karen was arrested…

“A car pulled up on the estate, I was working, it was late on the Sunday, it was dark and a guy got out and he said ‘Where’s that Richard Edwards from the Yorkshire Evening Post?’

“I thought I’ve done something to offend this fella, but I need to front up. I said ‘That’s me’. He came over, he was right at the end of Mooreside Road and he pointed towards the house, he went ‘She’s done it. She’s known where that little girl has been all along.’

“Then got into the car and drove off and I thought right… that was weird. That was on top of the other stuff I’d been hearing. And then three days later she was arrested.”

The mum would later be charged with child neglect and perverting the course of justice. She was jailed for eight years after a jury found her guilty of those offences.

But Mr Edwards still to this day – 17 years on – does not know who the man who approached him was. The journalist continued: “If he’s watching this and wants to get in touch with me just to explain who he is and just clear up that tiny little outstanding part of the story. I would love to hear from him because he didn’t tell me who he was, but he was right. He was right.”

Donovan was also jailed for eight years after the trial at Leeds Crown Court, after which he was convicted of kidnapping and false imprisonment. Donovan died of cancer in hospital at the age of 54 last year.

Current majority shareholders Bond Group, led by businessman Whittingham, purchased Morecambe in May 2018. By September 2022, Whittingham had put the club up for sale.

The club has since been relegated twice, and no takeover has been completed in that time.

Whittingham has been a director at 25 companies during his career, according to Companies House. Of those 25 companies, 18 have been either dissolved, voluntarily dissolved, put into administration, put into liquidation, or put into receiver action (the precursor stage to liquidation).

Two of Whittingham’s companies had been dissolved by compulsory strike-off prior to his takeover of Morecambe – but he still passed the EFL’s owners’ and directors’ test.

At 21 of the companies, Whittingham was joint director with business partner Colin Goldring – a legal worker turned entrepreneur – including at Morecambe until Goldring’s resignation in August 2022.

Whittingham and Goldring were disqualified as company directors for 12 months following a court hearing in 2022.

Goldring has also been barred by the Solicitors Regulation Authority from working for any law firm without clearance.

The pair also ran Worcester Warriors rugby club, which went into liquidation in 2022.

SEOUL, July 21 (UPI) — South Korea’s special prosecutor is intensifying its probe into the Unification Church, focusing on its top leadership over allegations of financial crimes and unlawful political activities.

The team led by Special Prosecutor Min Jung-ki conducted a second raid Monday at the church’s headquarters in Seoul’s Yongsan District, during which investigators seized additional internal records and digital data.

The operation followed a broader crackdown Friday, when authorities searched more than 10 church-affiliated sites, including the Cheon Jeong Gung palace in Gapyeong and the private residence of former church executive Yoon Young-ho.

According to the Hankook Ilbo, the search warrants identified several senior officials as criminal suspects: Han Hak-Ja, the church’s current chairwoman; Jung Wonju, executive secretary to Hak and vice president of the Cheon Mu Won, the church’s highest administrative body; and Lee Cheong-woo, director of the Central Administration Office.

Jung Wonju has emerged as a central figure in the case, with prosecutors focusing on her behind-the-scenes coordination of operations, reportedly enabled by her close ties to Han.

All three are being investigated for alleged violations of the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes, particularly involving brokered bribery and influence peddling.

Yoon Young-ho is accused of offering cash and luxury gifts to lawmaker Kweon Seong-dong in return for political favors. Rep. Kweon, a close ally of then-presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol, allegedly played a key role in facilitating the candidate’s appearance at an event hosted by a Unification Church-affiliated organization on Feb. 13, 2022.

Yoon Young-ho served as the co-organizing chair and delivered the opening declaration at the event, raising suspicions that Kweon may have acted as an intermediary between Yoon Young-ho and the Yoon presidential couple.

Beyond the financial and political charges lies a deeper theological rift within the church. According to multiple former insiders, a group of church leaders and members who remained faithful to the original teachings and spiritual mission of founder Rev. Sun Myung Moon were systematically expelled by the current leadership.

These reformers opposed what they described as opportunistic reinterpretations of Rev. Moon’s core teachings — altered, they argue, to legitimize the centralization of power and the silencing of dissent, while elevating Han to a quasi-divine status.

Prosecutors are now examining three years of financial records and digital evidence seized during the raids, seeking to trace suspicious financial flows and uncover evidence of systemic wrongdoing.

Analysts say the outcome of the investigation may determine not only the legal future of the Unification Church, but also its spiritual legitimacy in the eyes of its followers and the public.

Are Islamophobic crimes less likely to be classed as terrorism offences? The murder of 22-year-old Aboubakar Cisse at a French mosque should be investigated by anti-terror police, according to the lawyer representing the victim’s family. He spoke to Al Jazeera’s Hind Touissate.