Fox News 2025-05-01 00:13:25


Central Asian country agrees to accept illegal immigrants in landmark agreement with US

FIRST ON FOX: A plane full of Central Asian illegal immigrants is on its way from the U.S. to Uzbekistan at no cost to Americans under a deal brokered between the two governments, Fox News Digital has learned. 

Over 100 unlawful immigrants are flying back to Uzbekistan on Wednesday as part of the agreement, and Uzbekistan is paying for the chartered deportation flight, the first such agreement by a foreign government since President Donald Trump took office. The flight, which took off this morning, had 131 migrants on board. 

People from Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan were on board the flight after Uzbekistan’s government agreed to accept nationals from all three countries. 

The deal, which the Trump administration says is a model framework for how it wants other nations to engage with the U.S. on immigration, is the result of months of diplomatic engagement between State Department officials, DHS officials, the White House and the National Security Council with their counterparts from Uzbekistan.

TRUMP ADMIN REVOKES 4K FOREIGN STUDENTS’ VISAS IN FIRST 100 DAYS, NEARLY ALL WITH SERIOUS CRIMINAL RECORDS

The deal “underscores the deep security cooperation between our nations and sets a standard for U.S. alliances,” the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a statement.

“We commend Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev for his leadership in sending a flight to return 131 illegal aliens back to their home country,” said DHS  Secretary Kristi Noem in a statement. “We look forward to continuing to work together with Uzbekistan on efforts to enhance our mutual security and uphold the rule of law.”

Uzbekistan, with its more than 37 million people, is a security partner of the U.S. in Central Asia, situated in the neighborhood of Iran, China and Afghanistan. 

NEW DHS PORTAL TO HELP MIGRANTS REGISTER BIOMETRICS TO COMPLY WITH TRUMP ORDER

The arrangement follows a deal brokered by the Trump administration after a showdown with Colombia, by which the South American country agreed to accept its nationals, including those on military planes, after President Gustavo Petro originally rejected two Colombia-bound U.S. military aircraft carrying unlawful migrants. 

It also follows an agreement with El Salvador, by which President Nayib Bukele agreed to receive not only his own nationals but those from Venezuela and potentially other countries that will not take their own citizens back from the U.S. Many of the immigrants are suspected of gang ties and are being held in El Salvador’s notoriously brutal CECOT prison. 

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Immigration and Customs Enforcement has arrested 66,463 illegal immigrants and removed 65,682 of them.

Border encounters dropped to an average of 11,363 per day in February and March, Trump’s first two full months in office, compared to an average of nearly 160,000 during the Biden administration. 

Federal judge orders local law enforcement to stop enforcing new immigration law

A federal judge in Florida said an order that blocks local police from enforcing a new state immigration law applied to all local agencies despite the state’s attorney general stating otherwise in a recent memo.

U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams told attorneys for the state during a hearing in Miami on Tuesday that she planned to issue a preliminary injunction against a statute that makes it a misdemeanor for undocumented migrants to enter Florida by eluding immigration officials.

Williams said she was “surprised and shocked” that Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier told local police in a letter last week that they didn’t need to follow her order. 

“What I am offended by is someone suggesting you don’t have to follow my order, that it’s not legitimate,” Williams said.

NEARLY 800 ILLEGAL ALIENS ARRESTED IN MASSIVE FLORIDA ICE OPERATION: ‘TIDAL WAVE’

Earlier this month, Williams issued a temporary restraining order against the statute. Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the legislation into law in February as part of President Donald Trump’s push to crack down on illegal immigration.

Williams extended the order another 11 days after learning authorities had arrested 15 people, including a U.S. citizen born in Georgia.

MEXICAN ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT RELEASED UNDER BIDEN ‘SEXUALLY BATTERED’ BOY WHILE PLAYING HIDE AND SEEK: SHERIFF

After the extension, Uthmeier sent a memo to state and local law enforcement officers telling them to stop enforcing the law, even though he disagreed with the judge’s order. 

Five days later, however, Uthmeier sent another memo saying that the judge was legally wrong and that he couldn’t prevent local police officers and deputies from enforcing the law. 

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No additional arrests have been reported since Uthmeier’s second memo.

Some Americans who already have REAL ID are apparently getting second thoughts

With the deadline for obtaining a REAL ID just one week away, some who are wary of making the change or who have already done so and now regret their decision may be asking if they can return to alternative forms of ID.

For many across the country, the short answer is yes. Many states will continue to offer non-REAL ID forms of identification that can be obtained the next time someone needs to renew their ID.

However, this comes with the significant caveat that, starting May 7, only REAL ID-compliant forms of identification will be acceptable for federal purposes such as boarding domestic flights or accessing federal facilities.  

It has been 20 years since Congress passed the REAL ID Act, mandating states to implement certain minimum-security standards for issuing IDs. A REAL ID is not a national identification card but rather an ID issued by the state in compliance with certain federal standards.

IS REAL ID REALLY NECESSARY? WHAT AUTHORITIES ARE SAYING

After a series of delays in implementing the law, the Department of Homeland Security under the Trump administration finally set a deadline for all adults wishing to travel by plane or access federal facilities to obtain a REAL ID-compliant identification card by May 7.

The Trump administration argued that the deadline had already been postponed long enough, asserting that travelers had ample time to gather the necessary documents for the more rigorously verified form of identification.

Some critics, however, have claimed that REAL ID presents a risk to citizens’ privacy, while some on the left have claimed the additional documentation to obtain the card presents an undue difficulty for certain demographics, such as the poor or minorities.

Though it will vary from state to state, if someone with a REAL ID has regrets, all they have to do is opt for another form of identification the next time they are due for renewal.

NEED REAL ID IN A HURRY? HERE ARE SOME ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS OUTSIDE THE DMV

However, Simon Hankinson, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, explained to Fox News Digital that the “difference between the REAL ID version and the kind of noncompliant version is not that big.”

Hankinson explained that to obtain a REAL ID, all that is needed is an extra form of documentation beyond what is normally required for an identification card.

Let’s say I apply for a regular driver’s license. I need proof of residence. I’ve got a bill from my electricity company and my cable company, and I’ve got my birth certificate. Okay, that’s what I give to get my regular I.D. And then in order to get the REAL ID, I have to add a passport or a social security card,” he said.

With this in mind, for many, the supposed benefits of opting out of REAL ID are likely not worth the drawbacks.

‘WE’RE SIMPLY NOT READY’: REAL ID ROLLOUT COULD TRIGGER NATIONAL HEADACHE, STATE LAWMAKER WARNS

Meanwhile, Hankinson said that the REAL ID’s benefit to national security is significant.

He pointed to the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001, in which several of the al Qaeda terrorists involved had obtained valid state licenses, which were accepted for boarding their flights.

“They did the 911 Commission report, and they realized one of many mistakes that had been made and one of many loopholes was that two of the hijackers, at least the two that the crashed the plane at the Pentagon had been able to get a driver’s license in California,” he said. As a national security issue, you can’t go to other countries and just get a driver’s license with zero ID. I mean, it just doesn’t work that way. So, I think it’s about time we caught up.”  

In response to concerns about security and privacy, Hankinson said the government will have to be held to the highest standards to uphold citizens’ privacy. Still, he compared the risk-reward scenario posed to the nation by REAL ID to nuclear power.  

USAID REPORTEDLY BANKROLLED AL QAEDA TERRORIST’S COLLEGE TUITION, UNEARTHED RECORDS SHOW

“If it’s done right, you can mitigate the risks, and you can have, like France, 75, 80 percent of your power from nuclear power plants,” he said. “If you cut corners, and you put the wrong people in charge and you take risks, then you end up with Chernobyl.”

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All in all, Hankinson said, I think really this adds a little bit of hassle … but it gives us a lot in exchange.”

Tim Walz finally reveals why Kamala Harris ultimately chose him as her running mate

Former vice presidential nominee Gov. Tim Walz, D-Minn., continued a self-described “listening tour” across the country at a Harvard Kennedy School forum on Monday night, ruling out a 2028 presidential bid and revealing why former Vice President Kamala Harris chose him as her running mate. 

Walz said Harris chose him, in part, because, “I could code talk to White guys watching football, fixing their truck” and “put them at ease.” The Minnesota governor described himself as the “permission structure” for White men from rural America to vote for Democrats. 

“I think I’ll give you pretty good stuff, but I’ll also give you 10% problematic,” Walz added when pushed by moderator Brittany Shepherd, ABC News national political reporter, about why he didn’t take that message to cable news to reach a larger audience. Walz laughed off criticism over inconsistencies in his background on the 2024 campaign trail, describing himself as a “knucklehead.”

Walz told CNN’s Jake Tapper earlier this month that he was considering a third bid for Minnesota governor but was not thinking about running for president in 2028. When asked by Shepherd to explain, Walz said the Democratic Party should run a collective 2028 presidential campaign. 

WALZ ‘VERY PESSIMISTIC’ ON DEMOCRATS RETAKING THE SENATE

“I think we need to collectively run a presidential campaign without a candidate right now that builds all the infrastructure… by the time we get to 2028, we’re ready,” Walz said. 

WHITE HOUSE TORCHES TIM WALZ’S SPEECH ABOUT TRUMP’S ‘GULAGS,’ ‘CHAOS’: ‘HIS LARGEST CITY BURNED TO THE GROUND’

And on what he would have done differently in 2024, Walz said, “We would have won.” Acknowledging that Democrats came up short in November, Walz said the party is “better off doing more” in “every forum,” following criticism that Democrats didn’t prioritize media appearances enough in 2024, whether long-form podcasts or traditional network news shows. 

“There is room for Gavin Newsom’s podcast, and there is room for Bernie Sanders’ rallies,” Walz said, as he described both instances as opportunities for Democrats to reclaim their own narrative.

Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif., long considered a potential 2028 presidential candidate, has invited President Donald Trump’s allies and conservative guests, including Charlie Kirk and Steve Bannon, onto his new podcast to show he is open to “criticism and debate without demeaning or dehumanizing one another.” The strategy follows criticism after the 2024 presidential election that Democrats didn’t prioritize new media appearances and unscripted conversations enough. 

Meanwhile, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., has been jet-setting across the country on the “Fighting Oligarchy” tour alongside another potential 2028 presidential candidate, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. The self-described Democratic socialists have amassed tens of thousands of supporters to what they say are record-setting rallies for both politicians. 

Walz has been on his own cross-country tour, hosting town halls in Republican-held congressional districts. But the former vice presidential nominee has fallen into familiar missteps from the 2024 campaign trail – on the road and back at home. 

Walz was heckled by veterans at the Minnesota Capitol earlier this month for claims of “stolen valor.” At a town hall in Wisconsin last month, a woman who registered for the event told Fox News Digital she was removed for filming Trump supporters getting kicked out. And during one of his first town hall events, Walz was slammed by Republicans for celebrating Tesla’s stock drop amid a spree of vandalism. 

While the Democrat said he was chosen by the Harris campaign to relate to White men, Walz has been unable to escape the nickname “Tampon Tim,” coined by conservatives for his bill providing free menstrual products to “all menstruating students” in school restrooms grades 4 to 12, including the boys’ room. 

Regardless of the comment or legislation, conservatives find a way to criticize “Tampon Tim,” including when Walz claimed he could fight most Trump supporters earlier this year. 

Further reflecting on the Democrats’ 2024 losses, Walz said the party wins on the issues and “competency,” but “we lose the message, and we lose power.”

“Why have we lost the self-identity that the Democratic Party is for personal freedoms, middle-class folks, for labor folks. How did we lose it, where people didn’t self-identify with that? How did we get to a point where people didn’t feel like this was an important enough election to get out and vote?” Walz asked during his speech Monday. 

Walz’s speech was on the eve of Trump’s first 100-day celebration, and he warned his fellow Democrats, “If you leave a void, Donald Trump will fill it,” and added, “If I ever had 100 days to live, I would spend it in the Trump administration because it’s like a lifetime.”

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“It’s been 100 days of destruction. You think we can survive 550 more? That’s the challenge. That’s how long it is until the midterms,” Walz said. 

Agency that targets Republicans while shielding Democrats must be dismantled

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Elon Musk has claimed that one of the most common errors of a smart engineer is to optimize a thing that should not exist. But it doesn’t take a SpaceX-level engineer to understand that the Office of Government Ethics – an agency few Americans know by name, but whose unchecked power casts a long shadow over our democracy – simply has no purpose in its current form. The OGE is a partisan, bureaucratic thicket that should be fully dismantled. It selectively enforces hazy rules around the financial arrangements of incoming candidates and officials – often in a heavy-handed manner against Republicans. Commonly, the two winners in a battle with OGE are (1) Democrats and (2) lawyers. As a practicing attorney in the field of political law, I have a first-hand look at this frequently-partisan battle waged by OGE against nominees and candidates.

The taxpayer-funded monument to post-Watergate paranoia is a relic of a bygone era. On behalf of my clients, I have navigated its labyrinthine requirements for years, and I can attest: OGE is not a guardian of integrity, but a sanctimonious bureaucratic machine, burdening public servants with meaningless red tape while undermining the will of the electorate. It’s time to dismantle this sham and restore accountability where it belongs: with the voters.

Created in 1978 amid the hysteria following Watergate, OGE operates on a flawed premise: that every public official is a latent crook, requiring constant oversight by unelected mandarins. This assumption insults the intelligence of the American people, who are perfectly capable of judging their leaders at the ballot box. Ethics in government is not preserved by faceless desk jockeys wielding stacks of financial disclosure, recusal, and divestiture forms; it is enforced by citizens casting votes. Outsourcing this sacred responsibility to a bloated agency like OGE diminishes democracy itself while costing taxpayers more than $20 million annually. 

DOGE SLASHES ‘WASTEFUL’ ‘PROBLEM-SOLVING’ CONTRACT WORTH $50K IN LATEST ROUND OF ELIMINATIONS

Even worse than the real cost to American taxpayers is the inherent tax this imposes on those looking to serve their country in the federal government. OGE’s bureaucrats personally involve themselves in a probing, uncomfortable, subjective examination of the finances of nearly anyone in a middle or senior position in the federal government, along with that person’s immediate family members. They consider themselves the prosecutor, judge, and jury for whether someone who has had financial success in the real world must give it all away in order to enter the government. What’s worse, OGE often changes its own measurement standards, leading to limited predictability as to what a nominee can keep and what he or she must offload. As an attorney who represents clients through this process, I take no delight in this outcome, but it results in hours of needless work for lawyers and financial advisors, the costs of which must often be borne by the individual seeking to serve.

Consider its practical and public failures. In recent months, OGE’s obsession with nitpicking financial disclosures delayed the confirmation of President Trump’s nominees during an already protracted transition. These reviews — often redundant and always laborious — added no discernible value to the public’s understanding of nominees’ fitness, and cannot possibly be in the public’s interest. By inserting itself as an unelected gatekeeper, OGE slows governance and frustrates the mandate of elections.

Worse, OGE has become a weapon of partisan warfare, selectively enforcing its vague standards to target Republicans while giving Democrats a free pass. Take the case of Biden’s Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, who held millions in stock in an electric bus manufacturer championed by the administration. In 2021, President Biden visited the company, praising it as a cornerstone of America’s green future. The company later went bankrupt, but not before the secretary cashed out with $1.6 million in capital gains after Biden’s visit. 

OGE’s response? Silence. Contrast this with the agency’s relentless hounding of Trump’s HHS Secretary Tom Price in 2017 over private jet travel, fueling a media firestorm that ultimately led to his resignation. The pattern is clear: OGE plays favorites, acting as a blocker to create controversies for one side while ignoring the other.

This double standard extends to OGE’s handling of high-profile figures. When FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr contributed to the authorship of Project 2025, Democrats cried “conflict of interest.” OGE dragged out its review, allowing the Left to smear Trump’s agenda unchecked, only to clear Carr after the damage was done, just two weeks before the 2024 election. 

Compare this to Hunter Biden’s lucrative Burisma dealings during the Obama years — OGE didn’t utter a peep. Similarly, Biden’s Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack faced no scrutiny for cozy private jet trips in 2022, while OGE amplified outrage over far less egregious Republican travel. Such selective amnesia betrays OGE’s impartiality and exposes its role as a partisan cudgel of the deep state.

The agency’s redundancy compounds its flaws. Every federal department already has internal ethics offices, rendering OGE’s $24 million annual budget a wasteful duplication. If an official breaks the law, the Department of Justice can prosecute.

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OGE’s sister agency, the Office of Special Counsel (OSC), which polices Hatch Act violations, is cut from the same cloth. In 2024, Biden’s budget director Neera Tanden flirted with Hatch Act violations, fundraising brazenly on X, while FTC Chair Lina Khan appeared at Democratic campaign events, prompting a House Oversight inquiry. OSC’s response? Nothing. 

Yet in 2017, it aggressively pursued Kellyanne Conway for a fleeting comment about Ivanka Trump’s brand, demanding probes and decrying the “death of democracy.” The hypocrisy is stark: Democrats skate, while Trump’s allies face the guillotine.

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President Trump’s decision to fire OGE chief David Huitema in February 2025 was a bold step in the right direction toward dismantling this deep-state agency with crosshairs on Republicans. The public’s resounding reelection of Trump in 2024 was a mandate to sweep away such bureaucratic obstructions, not a call for more oversight by unelected elites. Trump’s broader dismissal of 17 inspectors general alongside Huitema sparked predictable outrage, but it underscored a truth: officials elected by the voters–not agencies–hold the power to punish misconduct.

Abolishing OGE would not leave ethics unpoliced. Internal agency offices, the Justice Department, and — most crucially — the electorate provide ample checks. OGE’s existence only fuels conflict, delays the president’s administration from being filled with his chosen advisors, and erodes trust in public institutions, the very opposite of its stated mission. It’s time to end this bureaucratic charade. Let’s trust the American people to hold their leaders accountable, as democracy demands.

Trump swipes journalist during combative interview: ‘You’re not being very nice’

President Donald Trump repeatedly criticized ABC News journalist Terry Moran in a combative interview about the foreign policy of his administration.

“They’re giving you the big break of a lifetime,” Trump told Moran in a debate over the deportation of illegal immigrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia. “You’re doing the interview, I picked you because, frankly, I never heard of you, but that’s okay. I picked you, Terry, but you’re not being very nice.”

During a conversation about Trump’s first 100 days — which covered the administration’s accomplishments and controversies — the president grew impatient with Moran multiple times. 

BLUE STATE GOVERNOR MAKES ANOTHER APPEARANCE WITH TRUMP BEFORE HIS 100-DAY SPEECH: ‘HAPPY WE’RE HERE’

When pressed about Trump’s relationship with Vladimir Putin, Moran asked Trump if he trusted the Russian president. 

“I don’t trust you. I don’t trust a lot of people,” Trump told Moran. “I don’t trust you. Look at you. You’re so happy to do the interview, and then you start hitting me with these fake questions.”

WHITE HOUSE LISTS DOZENS OF ‘HOAXES’ PUSHED BY MEDIA, CRITICS IN TRUMP’S FIRST 100 DAYS

Trump also used the interview to attack former President Joe Biden

“We had a president that was grossly incompetent,” Trump said. “You knew it. I knew it. Everybody knew it. You guys didn’t want to write about it because you’re fake news.” 

“By the way, ABC is one of the worst, I have to be honest with you,” he added. 

The White House has pursued a more aggressive stance toward the media than even Trump’s first term in office. 

The Trump administration published a press release declaring, “Since President Donald J. Trump took office 100 days ago, it has been a nonstop deluge of hoaxes and lies from Democrats and their allies in the Fake News suffering from terminal cases of Trump Derangement Syndrome.” 

The administration went on to list 57 purported “hoaxes” spread by the president’s critics, the media and Democrats

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Defense hammers key witness who was with Karen Read the morning dead body was found

Pinned

Defense attorney Alan Jackson grills Jennifer McCabe on her prep for testimony with prosecutors

Defense attorney Alan Jackson began his cross-examination
of Jennifer McCabe asking if McCabe had worked with the prosecution to prepare for her time on the witness stand in Karen Read’s second trial. 

“Was there any discussion about crafting your testimony in any way, to suggest a softer approach?” Jackson asked. 

“No,” McCabe said. 

“Did [special prosecutor Hank] Brennan take you through a series of questions, for instance, as almost a test run of questions that you might be asked either on direct examination or cross-examination?” Jackson asked. 

“No,” McCabe replied. 

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Jennifer McCabe denies coordinating with fellow witness before interview with authorities

Court resumed after a brief recess with defense attorney Alan Jackson continuing his cross-examination of Jennifer McCabe. 

Jackson questioned McCabe regarding conversations she had with law enforcement officers not affiliated with Massachusetts State Police and the Canton Police Department. Upon being approached by the officers, McCabe testified they did not identify themselves before she consented to an interview inside her house. Shortly after sitting down with the authorities, McCabe testified that she told them she no longer wanted to answer their questions and the interview was suspended. 

Before leaving, the unknown authorities asked McCabe if she had spoken to anyone in the ten minutes between when they approached her and subsequently sat down for an interview. 

McCabe testified that she contacted her husband, Matt McCabe, and Kerry Roberts. 

“Is that why you contacted [Roberts]? To find out if, in fact, they had contacted her before you?” Jackson asked. 

“Yes,” McCabe said. 

Jackson went on to press McCabe on if she called Roberts before speaking with the investigators so the women could get their stories straight. 

“Your motive in calling Kerry Roberts at that moment before your interview was to ensure that your story would line up with her story, Ms. McCabe, is that right?” Jackson asked. 

“No, that is not,” McCabe responded.  

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Karen Read’s defense team begins cross-examination of Jennifer McCabe

Following Jennifer McCabe’s direct examination from special prosecutor Hank Brennan, Karen Read’s defense team began McCabe’s cross-examination.

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Key witness describes telling Michael Proctor about Karen Read’s crime scene admission

Key witness Jennifer McCabe testified that in the hours after finding John O’Keefe’s body outside 34 Fairview, she began to remember exchanges she had with Karen Read in the immediate aftermath. 

“Did something significant come back to you about what happened earlier? What you heard?” Special prosecutor Hank Brennan asked. 

“Yes,” McCabe replied.

“And what is that?” Brennan said. 

“When Miss Read stated to myself and [Kerry Roberts], ‘I hit him, I hit him, I hit him’,” McCabe said. 

McCabe recalled calling state police with the information and was then contacted by Massachusetts State Trooper Michael Proctor, who arrived at her home to take her statement. 

“I know I had said what Karen had said to me and then she had said, ‘I hit him, could I have hit him?’” McCabe testified. “I told them how she showed up at my house, I just basically gave them the events of that morning.”

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Jennifer McCabe addresses key Google search during testimony

Jennifer McCabe went on to testify about the chaotic moments after John O’Keefe’s body was discovered outside 34 Fairview, telling special prosecutor Hank Brennan she got into a police cruiser with Karen Read in an attempt to calm Read down.

“She just kind of was all over the place,” McCabe said, referring to Read. “And then at one point, we saw them moving John towards the ambulance. And at that point, Miss Read started yelling to [Kerry] Roberts, “Go check on him. Are they working on him? Is he dead? Is he dead?”

McCabe addressed the Google search conducted on her phone, “hos [sic] long to die in the cold,” telling Brennan she performed the search at the direction of Read.

“At that point, myself and Miss Read got out of the car and she started yelling and pulling on me to Google ‘hypothermia’ and Google how long it takes for somebody, you know, to die in the cold.”

Brennan aimed to double down on a cell phone expert’s previous findings that while McCabe’s browser tab was opened at 2:27 a.m., the actual search was conducted at 6:23 a.m.

“Had you ever, ever attempted to search by hypothermia any time before that moment?” Brennan asked.

“That morning? No,” McCabe said.

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Jury hears Jennifer McCabe’s 911 call from when John O’Keefe’s body was discovered

Jennifer McCabe returned to the stand on Wednesday to continue facing direct examination from special prosecutor Hank Brennan.

Brennan began by playing McCabe’s 911 call
from the moment John O’Keefe’s body was discovered in the yard of 34 Fairview.

“There’s a man unresponsive in the snow,” McCabe is heard telling the operator.

McCabe can be heard relaying information to the 911 operator regarding O’Keefe’s age and condition as commotion is heard in the background.

“I think he’s passed away,” McCabe whispered.

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Court kicks off for seventh day of testimony in Karen Read’s second murder trial

Judge Beverly Cannone called Court into session Wednesday morning, with special prosecutor Hank Brennan set to call key witness Jennifer McCabe to continue her direct examination.

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Judge hands major win to Karen Read, allowing crash reconstruction testimony

Judge Beverly Cannone denied a motion from the prosecution Tuesday to block key defense experts from testifying in defense of Karen Read at her retrial on murder charges in the death of her Boston police officer boyfriend, John O’Keefe.

With dozens of text messages between experts at the ARCCA crash reconstruction firm and defense counsel unaccounted for, and missed discovery deadlines, Cannone said she understood the prosecution’s complaints but ruled against them anyway.

“I understand completely the commonwealth’s argument, the ambush that has been set upon here,” she said. “However, a defendant’s right to a fair trial is paramount to everything. So I’m going to allow the ARCCA witnesses to testify. I’m going to allow what I expect will be a very robust cross-examination.”

Tuesday marked a week since opening statements, but the experts’ report is not expected to be finalized until May 7, more than two weeks after the start of the trial. Special prosecutor Hank Brennan called that unfair to the state, but Cannone denied his motion to block the experts from testifying.

The ARCCA experts are expected to bolster the defense claims that Read’s SUV never collided with O’Keefe.

Read the full story here.

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Who is Jennifer McCabe? Key witness prepares for second day of testimony in Karen Read trial

Jennifer McCabe is set to testify in Karen Read’s second murder trial on Wednesday, following a half day on the stand facing direct examination from special prosecutor Hank Brennan. 

McCabe is a central figure in Read’s case and a key witness for the prosecution. She is the sister-in-law of Brian Albert, the owner of 34 Fairview when Boston police officer
John O’Keefe’s lifeless body was found in the house’s front yard on the morning of Jan. 29, 2022. 

McCabe testified she was with Read and O’Keefe while the friends were bar hopping in the hours before O’Keefe’s death. The defense has said Read called McCabe the next morning to tell her O’Keefe never returned home after Read dropped him off at 34 Fairview, but McCabe testified yesterday the pair arrived in the driveway but never entered the house. 

Read, McCabe and Kerry Roberts frantically searched for O’Keefe in the early morning hours of Jan. 29, only to find O’Keefe’s lifeless body lying in the front yard of 34 Fairview and covered in snow. 

The timing of the infamous internet search, “hos [sic] long to die in the cold,” originating from McCabe’s cell phone has been a contentious topic within the investigation and trial. 

Earlier this week, the prosecution brought cell phone data expert Ian Whiffin to the witness stand to testify that while the internet tab had been opened at 2:27 a.m. – between the hours of O’Keefe’s last movement – the actual search was conducted  at 6:23 a.m., after O’Keefe body was discovered. 

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