00:00New this morning, Letitia James not getting re-indicted.
00:04Why a Virginia grand jury refused to take up the mortgage fraud case again.
00:09Plus, one video, two completely different takeaways.
00:12What lawmakers saw inside that classified room.
00:15And nearly five years later caught.
00:18The man accused of planting those January 6th pipe bombs.
00:21And what finally broke the case.
00:25The stories that matter, clear and credible.
00:28From across the country to around the world.
00:31These are your unbiased updates from Straight Arrow News.
00:36Good morning, I'm Craig DeGrelly.
00:38This morning, a grand jury in Virginia has refused to re-indict New York Attorney General Letitia James on mortgage fraud charges.
00:46The decision comes just days after a federal judge threw out the original indictments against James and former FBI Director James Comey.
00:53Ruling that Prosecutor Lindsay Halligan was unlawfully serving as acting U.S. attorney.
00:59The White House has vowed to appeal that ruling.
01:01The Justice Department had hoped a new grand jury would bring fresh charges against James, a longtime political foe of President Donald Trump.
01:09But jurors declined to take up the case.
01:12James was first charged in October with bank fraud and making a false statement related to a 2020 mortgage on a property in Norfolk, Virginia.
01:20Prosecutors allege she misrepresented the home as a second residence to secure a better rate, then rented it out, saving about $19,000.
01:29James has denied the allegations.
01:31She responded saying, quote,
01:33As I've said from the start, these charges are baseless.
01:36It's time for the weaponization of our justice system to stop.
01:39I'm grateful to the members of the grand jury and humbled by the support I've received across the nation.
01:45I will keep doing my job, standing up for New Yorkers.
01:48This morning, new pressure on the Pentagon and a new U.S. strike, raising even more questions.
01:55Admiral Mitch Bradley, the Navy officer who oversaw the operation, spent Thursday behind closed doors with key lawmakers.
02:02And just hours later, the U.S. military launched another strike.
02:06Southern Command confirms late Thursday that U.S. forces carried out a lethal strike on a suspected drug boat,
02:13this time in the eastern Pacific.
02:15You see it right there, killing four men on board.
02:18A 21-second video posted online shows the moment missiles hit the vessel.
02:23The military says the boat was operated by a designated terrorist organization
02:27and was carrying illegal narcotics along a known drug trafficking route.
02:31That strike landed the same day Bradley and Joint Chiefs Chair General Dan Cain showed members the unedited video
02:38of the controversial September 2nd attack, including the follow-up strike that killed two survivors.
02:44Lawmakers came away with vastly different interpretations and opinions.
02:48Republicans say footage of the incident shows a lawful operation.
02:52Democrats say it raises new, grave questions about whether the U.S. killed men who were no longer a threat.
02:58Bradley also told lawmakers there was no order from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to kill them all,
03:05directly rejecting public reporting about the operation.
03:08Here's Republican Senator Tom Cotton.
03:10I want to thank Admiral Bradley and General Cain for coming to brief about the strikes on September 2nd,
03:18which were righteous strikes.
03:21These are narco-terrorists who are trafficking drugs that are destined for the United States
03:25to kill thousands of Arkansans and millions of Americans.
03:31But top Democrats who saw the same video describe it as deeply troubling and said it needs to be released to the public.
03:38But what I saw in that room was one of the most troubling things I've seen in my time in public service.
03:43You have two individuals in clear distress without any means of locomotion with a destroyed vessel who were killed by the United States.
03:57The September 2nd strike was the first in what's now a months-long military campaign against what the White House calls narco-terrorists.
04:0522 strikes, more than 87 people killed, including four in Thursday's operation.
04:11And this morning, Congress is demanding answers.
04:13What were the rules of engagement?
04:15Who gave the orders?
04:16And were the survivors ever a legitimate target?
04:19Several Democrats are calling for Hegseth to testify, for the full video to be released,
04:23and for the Pentagon to provide the legal rationale behind the mission, requests the administration has so far denied.
04:31This morning, a major break in one of the most enduring mysteries of January 6th.
04:36After nearly five years of false leads and conspiracy theories,
04:39the FBI has arrested a Virginia man, they say, planted both pipe bombs outside the Republican and Democratic National Committee headquarters on the night before the Capitol attack.
04:50And later today, he'll be in federal court.
04:53Agents took 30-year-old Brian Cole Jr. into custody Thursday at his home in Woodbridge, Virginia.
04:59A swarm of federal and local agents moved in, searching the house, the backyard, and a car in the driveway,
05:05executing warrants in a case that has haunted investigators for years.
05:10Let me be clear.
05:11There was no new tip.
05:12There was no new witness.
05:14Just good, diligent police work and prosecutorial work, working as a team, along with ATF, Capitol Police, Metropolitan Police Department, and, of course, the FBI.
05:29The arrest came as the FBI released new details, including previously unseen video from January 5th, right here,
05:37showing an individual placing a bomb near a bench outside the DNC.
05:41Court papers say Cole bought galvanized pipes, kitchen timers, and electrical wire,
05:46and his cell phone pinged towers near both party headquarters the night the devices were planted.
05:52When you attack American citizens, when you attack our institutions of legislation,
05:58when you attack our nation's capital, you attack the very being of our way of life.
06:04And this FBI and this Department of Justice stand here to tell you that we will always refute it and combat it.
06:10We will provide the safest country the nation has ever seen under President Trump's leadership here.
06:15The bombs never detonated, but the FBI says they were viable and lethal.
06:20Their discovery diverted police resources just minutes before the Capitol mob breached security.
06:26For years, the lack of an arrest fueled claims of a cover-up, even from some Trump appointees who now oversee the bureau.
06:33Cole is charged with transporting explosive material and attempted destruction by explosives.
06:38He will make his first court appearance later today as agents continue searching for his motive and whether anyone else helped him.
06:46The National Guard will stay on the streets of Washington, D.C., at least for now.
06:51A federal appeals court on Thursday put a temporary hold on a lower court order that would have forced the Guard to pull out.
06:58The D.C. Court of Appeals froze Judge Gia Cobb's ruling,
07:02a decision that, if left in place, would have required Guard members to leave the Capitol soon.
07:07The appeals court says it needs more time to decide whether that freeze should remain in effect indefinitely.
07:14President Trump has repeatedly credited the National Guard with driving down crime in Washington,
07:18but their deployment has been under scrutiny, especially after a deadly shooting just before Thanksgiving,
07:24when a gunman killed one Guard member and critically injured another.
07:28D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwab opposes keeping troops in the city,
07:31arguing it, quote, exposes both the public and Guard members to substantial public safety risks.
07:38On Thursday, the president hosted the family of injured Guardsman Andrew Wolf in the Oval Office.
07:43He posted a photo on Truth Social calling them fantastic American patriots and saying Wolf is continuing to heal.
07:50President Trump has quietly replaced the architect he handpicked to design his massive new White House ballroom,
07:57a $300 billion project already reshaping the South Lawn.
08:01The Washington Post was first to report the news.
08:04For three months, architect James McCrary led the design, until late October,
08:08when he stepped aside after clashing with the president over the ever-expanding size of the building.
08:14Sources say the real breaking point was his small firm missing deadlines on a project
08:19that Trump wants finished before the end of his term.
08:21The job now goes to Shalom Baranis, a veteran architect behind major D.C. federal buildings
08:27and the post-9-11 Pentagon renovation.
08:30Crews have already demolished the East Wing and erected a towering crane as they prepare the site.
08:36But there is growing backlash.
08:38Preservationists say the project skipped normal review,
08:41and a new Senate bill, the so-called No Palaces Act, would force more oversight.
08:46The administration expects to submit formal plans to federal planners this month,
08:50setting up a major fight over what could become the biggest addition to the White House in more than a century.
08:57Finally this morning, a rare and spotted surprise in southern Arizona.
09:02The University of Arizona's Wild Cat Research and Conservation Center
09:06says a new jaguar has been documented in the state.
09:10This is just the fifth jaguar the center has confirmed since it began tracking the big cats in 2011.
09:16Look, so how do they know it's a new one?
09:19Well, the spots.
09:21Every jaguar has a distinct pattern, a furry fingerprint, if you will,
09:26making this sighting unmistakable.
09:28Who knew?
09:28Researchers are now trying to determine the jaguar's gender and habits, including what it likes to eat.
09:34The discovery is significant.
09:36Jaguars are endangered, and about 99% live in Central and South America.
09:41Scientists say this cat likely crossed into Arizona from Mexico,
09:45a promising sign that the species may be reestablishing in the United States.
09:50Wow, what a sight.
09:52Imagine being a hunter in a deer stand, and you see not a deer, but a jaguar come into frame.
09:58I think I would take out my cell phone, quietly take a picture, and then put it back, and just sit still.
10:05Quiet as a church mouse.
10:08See what I did there?
10:08All right, before we head out, here's what we're tracking today.
10:12In Indiana, Republicans are set to vote on a redistricting plan that could give the GOP control of all nine U.S. House seats there.
10:20The House session begins at 10.
10:22At noon, President Trump heads to the Kennedy Center for the FIFA World Cup draw,
10:26and is expected to receive a new FIFA Peace Prize.
10:29At 1.30, the man accused of planting pipe bombs near political party headquarters on the eve of January 6th is due in court.
10:36And later this afternoon, a key vaccine advisory panel takes up whether newborns should receive the hepatitis B shot.
10:44Hey, you bring the coffee, we'll bring the context.
10:46Sign up for our Unbiased Updates newsletter.
10:48Go to san.com slash newsletters.
10:51Those are your Unbiased Updates for this Friday.
10:53We'll see you back here on Monday.
10:54For all of us here at Straight Earl News, I'm Craig DeGrelli.
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