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For Immediate Release
January, 15 2019, 11:00pm EDT
Contact:
EPA's Wheeler: Climate Change 'Not a Crisis'
Andrew Wheeler, acting chief of the Environmental Protection Agency, told a Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday that he doesn't consider climate change "the greatest crisis" facing the nation but rather "a huge issue that has to be addressed globally."
Testifying before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Wheeler - President Trump's nominee to head the agency officially - was pressed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., on whether he agrees with Trump that climate change is a hoax.
WASHINGTON
Andrew Wheeler, acting chief of the Environmental Protection Agency, told a Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday that he doesn't consider climate change "the greatest crisis" facing the nation but rather "a huge issue that has to be addressed globally."
Testifying before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Wheeler - President Trump's nominee to head the agency officially - was pressed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., on whether he agrees with Trump that climate change is a hoax.
"I believe that climate change is real. I believe that man has an impact on it," Wheeler said. "I have not used the 'hoax' word myself."
But Wheeler made it clear that he remains a skeptic about the severity of the threat posed by climate change and some of the effects scientists say it is having.
"Are the wildfires in California, are those related to climate change?" Sanders asked.
"There's probably some relation to climate change," Wheeler replied. "I think the biggest issue is related to forest management," which the president has pointed to as the main cause of the fires.
Sanders: "Not the droughts?"
Wheeler: "Not in my opinion."
"Dismissing the clear threat to Americans from the climate crisis should be enough to immediately disqualify Wheeler from being the head of EPA," said EWG President Ken Cook. "With many families still reeling from their lives being upended by the impacts of climate change, Americans deserve an EPA administrator who will aggressively engage the crisis, not swat it aside as merely another 'issue' that we need to address."
The Environmental Working Group is a community 30 million strong, working to protect our environmental health by changing industry standards.
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Democratic Lawmakers Condemn Trump Effort to 'Tip the Scales' in Colombia Election
"The future of Colombia must be decided by the Colombian people—not American politicians with their own agenda."
Jun 13, 2026
A group of Democratic members of the US Congress on Friday condemned President Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers' attempts to influence the results of Colombia's upcoming presidential runoff, calling it an "insult" to the Colombian people's sovereignty.
"We see actions by US President Donald Trump and other members of Congress to endorse, advocate for, or otherwise tip the scales to a particular candidate as detrimental to the democratic rights of the Colombian people," said the lawmakers, led by Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.). "The future of Colombia must be decided by the Colombian people—not American politicians with their own agenda."
The statement came days after Trump publicly injected himself into Colombia's presidential contest by endorsing far-right candidate Abelardo De La Espriella, a 47-year-old defense lawyer who has pledged to "disembowel the left."
“The results of this Election are very important to the future of Colombia and its relationship to the United States,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post earlier this month. “Because of his tremendous accomplishments in life, and his political support for me, personally, it is my Honor to give Abelardo my Complete and Total Endorsement.”
The US president said that if De la Espriella wins, he "will have the total support and strength of the United States behind him."
The Center for Economic and Policy Research noted that "the implicit threat in Trump’s endorsement of De la Espriella is that Colombians will be punished—through reduced aid, tariffs, sanctions, etc.—if they vote for a political leader not backed by the United States."
Two Republican lawmakers, Rep. María Salazar of Florida and Sen. Bernie Moreno of Ohio, have also endorsed De la Espriella. The New York Times reported that "before Mr. Trump posted his full-throated endorsement of Mr. De La Espriella, Mr. Moreno held a call with reporters in which he said US officials had 'vetted' Mr. De La Espriella and found him to be 'impeccable.'"
De la Espriella will face leftist Sen. Iván Cepeda, an ally of incumbent President Gustavo Petro, in the June 21 presidential runoff.
Petro has criticized his US counterpart for meddling in Colombia's presidential race, urging Trump in a recent social media post to "not intervene in the campaign and allow the people of Colombia to decide freely."
"Whoever wins will maintain the friendship of more than two centuries between Colombia and the US," Petro added.
Earlier this week, Petro planned to meet with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani during the Colombian leader's trip to the US, but "the Trump administration effectively nixed it in a behind-the-scenes effort," The Washington Post reported.
"The Colombian government quietly called off the event following a meeting between US and Colombian officials in Bogotá in which State Department officials made clear that this week’s engagement was unacceptable, a move Colombian officials interpreted as a threat to arrest Petro on site if he proceeded," the newspaper revealed. "A State Department official told The Washington Post that the visit would violate visa restrictions the US imposed against Petro following his comments last year criticizing US support of Israel’s war in Gaza and imploring US soldiers to disobey presidential orders to kill."
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'More Lawless, Performative Killing': Trump Says US Strike Executes Alleged Leader of Venezuelan Gang
"Outside of armed conflict, premeditated killing is referred to as murder," said one expert.
Jun 13, 2026
US President Donald Trump and Pentagon Secretary Pete Hegseth announced in social media posts late Friday that American forces, in coordination with Venezuelan authorities, killed the alleged leader of the Tren de Aragua gang in a strike on a compound inside Venezuelan territory.
"At my direction, the United States Southern Command delivered a swift and lethal kinetic strike to successfully execute Niño Guerrero, the infamous leader of Tren de Aragua," the president wrote on his Truth Social platform, posting what appears to be footage of the strike. Hegseth later specified that the attack took place inside Venezuela earlier this week and that Héctor Rusthenford Guerrero Flores—known as Niño Guerrero—was "confirmed killed."
The strike that purportedly killed Guerrero, whom the US Justice Department charged last year with multiple crimes including "facilitating acts of terrorism," came in the context of the Trump administration's broader, deadly military campaign in South America and off its coast. Dozens of US bombings of boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean since last September have killed more than 200 people—including possible victims of human trafficking—with the stated goal of stemming the flow of drugs to the US (an objective that experts say has not been achieved).
Leading human rights organizations have characterized the boat bombings as "murder."
Brian Finucane, senior adviser to the US Program at the International Crisis Group, called the strike that allegedly killed Guerrero Flores "more lawless, performative killing by the Trump administration."
"Outside of armed conflict, premeditated killing is referred to as murder," Finucane wrote on social media. "There is no indication this strike occurred in an armed conflict. Including because, as best we can tell, TdA doesn't constitute an 'organized armed group.'"
The government of Venezuela, whose president was kidnapped by US forces earlier this year, issued a statement confirming its involvement in the strike this week.
“During the operation, clashes occurred with members of criminal groups, resulting in the death of Héctor Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, alias ‘Niño Guerrero,’ the leader of one of these criminal organizations,” the statement reads.
It was not immediately clear if others were killed in the military attack.
"We extend our gratitude to the Venezuelan security forces for their support to the successful joint operation against a Tren de Aragua compound that resulted in the death of the narco-terrorist organization’s leader," said Gen. Francis Donovan, the head of the US Southern Command.
The Associated Press noted that "Trump and administration officials have consistently blamed Tren de Aragua for being at the root of the violence and illicit drug dealing that plague some US cities."
"The president spent months repeating the claim—contradicted by a declassified U.S. intelligence assessment—that Tren de Aragua had operated under Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s control," the AP added.
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'Abolish ICE,' Summer Lee Says After Haitian Immigrant Daphy Michel's Death Ruled a Homicide
"Rather than pour billions more into the agency that murdered her, we must abolish ICE and build systems rooted in equity and basic human dignity," said the Pennsylvania Democrat.
Jun 12, 2026
Congresswoman Summer Lee renewed her call to abolish US Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Friday after the Allegheny County Office of the Medical Examiner ruled the death of Daphy Michel, a Haitian immigrant who died after being released from ICE custody, a homicide.
"Michel died on March 2, four days after departing the Washington County Correctional Facility, where she spent six months awaiting a preliminary hearing on misdemeanor charges of terroristic threats and harassment, which were ultimately dismissed," Pittsburgh's Public Source reported in April. "She was turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which fitted her with an ankle bracelet and released her under the agency's Alternatives to Detention Program."
The 31-year-old Charleroi resident then "spent around 24 hours across the last two days of her life in sub-freezing weather in a bus shelter on the South Shore," according to the the outlet, which cited visual records released by Pittsburgh Regional Transit.
The medical examiner's office said in a Friday statement that she died of hypothermia, and "the opinion of the forensic pathologist in this case is that Ms. Michel was a vulnerable adult, suffering from untreated severe mental health issues, and a significant language barrier when she was released from federal custody."
"Based on all available information during the investigation, the pathologist ruled Ms. Michel's death a homicide," the office said. The finding means "the death was caused by the actions of another individual," but is "not to be interpreted as a declaration of criminal guilt."
Emma Federkeil, a spokesperson for Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr., told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that the office hasn't yet seen a copy of the report and opinion.
"As such," she Federkeil, "we must obtain a copy of the official report and opinion and any and all records relied on by the report, in order to determine the basis for the finding of homicide as the manner of death which requires a finding the death occurred 'at the hand of another.'"
"As we gather the necessary investigation documentation and reports," she added, "we cannot comment further."
ICE is part of the US Department of Homeland Security. In response to the newspaper's request for comment, DHS acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis reiterated the text of a March statement and added that "all illegal aliens who are processed have access to phones to call family, friends, and attorneys."
Regardless of any criminal charges, Joseph Murphy, an attorney who has represented Michel's family since her death, told Public Source that he expects a civil lawsuit in the weeks ahead.
Lee (D-Pa.), who has joined other progressives in calling for an end to ICE throughout President Donald Trump's deadly crackdowns on immigrants across the United States, stressed in a Friday statement that "Daphy Michel was a human being. She happened to be born on the other side of a border, but she was no less worthy of care, safety, and dignity. That should not have been a death sentence. Daphy's death was preventable and is the result of a violent system that cages people, surveils them, abandons them, dehumanizes them in life, and smears them in death to escape accountability."
"She deserved care, shelter, language access, and medical support. ICE and every agency that failed her must answer for this," Lee continued. "And now, as more people die in and around ICE custody, their answer is not transparency, accountability, or care, but to stop reporting the deaths of recently released detainees altogether. We may never know how many more stories like Daphy's have been hidden by a system built to disappear people. Rather than pour billions more into the agency that murdered her, we must abolish ICE and build systems rooted in equity and basic human dignity."
Daphy Michel was a human being who happened to be born on the other side of a border. That did not mean she was any less worthy of care, safety, and dignity. Her death was preventable. We must abolish ICE.www.publicsource.org/haitian-immi...
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— Rep. Summer Lee (@repsummerlee.bsky.social) June 12, 2026 at 5:49 PM
As Trump has pursued his mass deportation agenda since returning to office last year, at least dozens of people have died in ICE custody or shortly after being released. Earlier this month, ICE announced that it was rescinding a 2021 Biden administration policy requiring a report to Congress and an investigation any time a detainee died within 30 days of their release.
Following that announcement, the Republican-controlled Congress sent a bill with nearly $70 billion in new DHS funding to Trump's desk. The legislation, which the president signed on Wednesday, includes $38 billion for ICE and $26 billion for US Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
"House Republicans handed ICE and CBP billions more while families struggle to afford rent, groceries, childcare, and healthcare," Lee said on social media after the chamber's vote. "Congress shouldn't be writing blank checks for cruelty while everyday people are being crushed by rising costs."
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