Category: Security

This article was originally published by Radio Free Asia and is reprinted with permission.

New tariffs ordered by U.S. President Donald Trump on imports from China will also apply to goods from Hong Kong, according to a U.S. government document, indicating that Washington has erased the city’s status as a separate trading entity.

“Products of China and Hong Kong [other than exempted categories] and other than products for personal use included in accompanied baggage of persons arriving in the United States, shall be subject to an additional 10% ad valorem rate of duty,” according to Department of Homeland Security implementation guidelines for Trump’s Feb. 1, 2025 Executive Order.

The order imposes duties on imported goods “to address the synthetic opioid supply chain in the People’s Republic of China.”

The document cites a July 17, 2020, Executive Order from the previous Trump administration, which states that China’s ongoing political crackdown in the city represents “an unusual and extraordinary threat” because it “fundamentally undermine[s] Hong Kong’s autonomy.”

“It shall be the policy of the United States to suspend or eliminate different and preferential treatment for Hong Kong to the extent permitted by law and in the national security, foreign policy, and economic interest of the United States,” the order states, citing Hong Kong’s 2020 National Security Law.

“Under this law, the people of Hong Kong may face life in prison for what China considers to be acts of secession or subversion of state power—which may include acts like last year’s widespread anti-government protests,” the Order said, citing the lack of trial by jury and the possibility of secret prosecutions.

The new tariffs apply to all goods, even those with a value of less than US$800, but with exemptions for humanitarian and aid supplies.

Experts said the move is likely a bid by the U.S. government to stop Chinese companies from evading tariffs by sending goods to Hong Kong and claiming that they originated there.

“The message is very clear,” Sunny Cheung, fellow for China studies at the Jamestown Foundation, told RFA Cantonese in a recent interview. “Hong Kong has always been China’s main transshipment port and unaffected by tariffs on Chinese goods.”

“Now, Hong Kong is being included [in those tariffs], which can be seen as an attempt to plug a loophole and send a tougher message,” Cheung said. “It will have a greater deterrent effect on China.”

He said the Trump administration is keenly aware of indirect ways in which China gets what it wants, citing the recent concern in Washington over the acquisition of key strategic port facilities along the Panama Canal by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing’s CK Hutchison.

Cheung said currently the tariffs only apply to goods produced in China or Hong Kong, and had stopped short of applying to goods shipped through Hong Kong.

“That would be a more nuclear-level attack,” Cheung said.

While the balance of trade has fluctuated over the years, the United States has always been in the top 10 markets for goods exported from Hong Kong, which topped US$5.9 billion for the whole of last year.

Meanwhile the Hong Kong Post said packages and parcels to the United States were suspended with effect from Feb. 5, although services for postal items containing documents only will be unaffected.

“As advised by the postal administration of the United States, Hongkong Post shall not dispatch any postal items containing goods destined to the United States with immediate effect, unless a “formal entry” has been completely and accurately filed with the United States Customs and Border Protection in accordance with United States law,” the postal service said in a statement.

It said postal items containing goods which entered into the United States on or after Feb. 4, 2025, will be returned to Hong Kong.

A “formal entry” must be made via a customs broker and requires necessary import documents and payment of duties, it said.

Irv Gotti, the Def Jam record executive behind the Murder Inc. label, has died. He was 54.

In a statement posted to Gotti’s Instagram, his family wrote that “It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of our beloved father, Irving ‘Irv Gotti’ Lorenzo, on February 5, 2025. Surrounded by family and friends, he departed this world, leaving behind a legacy that will forever resonate in the hearts of those who knew him and the countless lives he touched. Our dad was an incredible man, a true visionary who transformed the hip-hop industry and changed the game for artists and fans alike. His passion for music and dedication to his craft inspired many, and his contributions will continue to influence future generations.”

The statement did not include a cause of death, but Gotti had suffered several strokes and diabetes-related issues in recent years.

Gotti, born Irving Domingo Lorenzo Jr. on June 26, 1970, was a key figure in the sound of ’90s and 2000s hip-hop, when brash lyricism and outsized personalities blended seamlessly with pop hooks and R&B tenderness.

Gotti came to prominence as an A&R rep at Def Jam, where he helped sign and cultivate era-defining acts like Jay-Z , DMX and Ja Rule. After founding his own label imprint, Murder Inc., in 1998, his trademark sound — pairing gruff rap vocals with gentler R&B choruses — yielded crossover hits like a pair of remixes of “I’m Real” and “Ain’t It Funny” from Jennifer Lopez and Ja Rule; Ja Rule and Ashanti’s “Always on Time,” and Ashanti’s own “Rain on Me,” “Foolish” and “Mesmerize.”

In a statement posted to social media, Def Jam said that “His contributions at Def Jam, as both an A&R executive and in partnership with Murder Inc. helped pave the way for the next generation of artists and producers, a force that reshape the soundscape of hip-hop and R&B. His creative genius and unwavering dedication to the culture birthed countless hits, defining an era of music that continues to resonate with fans worldwide.”

Gotti’s own production work included the song “Can I Live” off Jay Z’s 1996 debut “Reasonable Doubt” and tracks by Kanye West, Fat Joe, Memphis Bleek and Christina Milian. His genre interests extended beyond hip-hop: In 2007, he released “Heroes and Thieves” from singer-songwriter Vanessa Carlton, after changing his label name to the Inc.

His career as a mogul was in doubt after an FBI investigation in the mid-2000s, one that culminated in a raid of Murder Inc.’s offices. The FBI was investigating alleged ties to drug kingpin Kenneth “Supreme” McGriff. Gotti was acquitted, and he ultimately moved into TV production with “Tales,” a BET hip-hop anthology series,

Gotti is survived by his children Angie, Sonny and Jonathan Wilson; his Murder Inc. co-founder and brother Chris Lorenzo; mother Nee Nee Lorenzo and sisters Tina and Angie.

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© 2025 Los Angeles Times

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

As he visits the Dominican Republic on the final stop of his five-day overseas mission to the region, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is sending strong assurances that the Trump administration is not shutting down the United Nations-authorized and heavily U.S.-financed multinational armed force trying to help neighboring Haiti root out deadly armed gangs.

On Thursday, Rubio called Kenyan President William Ruto to thank him for the Multinational Security Support mission to Haiti, which remains fully operational, a State Department spokesperson said. As the two leaders spoke, a new contingent of 144 Kenyan police officers including 24 women was en route to Port-au-Prince from Nairobi aboard a charter Kenya Airways flight to beef up the struggling mission, which also received a contingent of 70 military soldiers from El Salvador on Tuesday.

The Kenyans arrival at Port-au-Prince’s Toussaint Louverture International Aircraft coincided with that of three large helicopters from El Salvador so that the Central American contingent can conduct medical and casualty evacuations of mission personnel.

While still less than 2,500 security personnel, the new deployments add significant muscle to the mission, whose small footprint and lack of equipment, such as helicopters, have made it difficult to take down powerful gangs and hold ground after carrying out joint operations with the Haiti National Police.

Both U.S. and Kenyan officials had been on an information blitz ahead of Thursday’s deployment amid reports that a $15 million contribution to a U.N.-controlled trust fund to support the Kenya-led mission had been frozen as part of President Trump’s 90-day freeze on virtually all U.S. foreign aid. The money was part of $110.8 million in cash deposits in the basket fund — but also a tiny fraction of the more than $620 million the United States, under the Biden administration, had disbursed for the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission.

Ahead of their departure from office this month, the Biden administration had deployed at least 22 military aircraft to Haiti to buttress the under-resourced and ill-equipped mission. They had also allocated an additional $120 million, a source familiar with the financing told the Miami Herald. Contracts, set to expire next month, have also been extended until September.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince, seeking to calm concerns, said that the U.S. “has not paused all assistance” for the mission and, on the contrary, Rubio had approved waivers worth millions of dollars for its continued operations.

“The Department of State approved waivers for $40.7 million in foreign assistance to benefit” the Haiti National Police and the Multinational Security Support mission, the embassy said on X. They included logistical contracts to support forward operating bases, a vehicle maintenance contract to support the security mission’s armored fleet, a medical services contract for the Haiti National Police and transportation services for Department of State-provided equipment deliveries, and contracts that support subject matter experts with the Haiti National Police. A number of subject matter experts, or police advisers, contracted to provide support to the MSS and the police by the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs had been issued stop work orders last week. While some have returned, others remain furloughed.

Rubio arrived in the Dominican Republic late Wednesday and had a meeting scheduled on Thursday with President Luis Abinader. Though the two had many issues to address, Haiti was a top issue for the Dominican government as it grows increasingly concerned about the prowess of gangs that last year carried out several mass killings and now control as much as 90 percent of the capital. Last year alone, at least 5,626 people were killed as a result of gang violence, self-defense groups and police operations, the U.N. said this week.

The mission currently has security personnel from Jamaica, Belize, the Bahamas, Guatemala and El Salvador. The arrival of the latest contingent of Kenyans, which includes the first female cops from the East African nation, comes at a critical time.

All week, concerns of a gang attack have been growing as the country approaches three critical dates: Friday, Feb. 7, which is historically the day that a new president usually takes office; Feb. 29, which will mark the one-year anniversary since the official public creation of the powerful Viv Ansanm gang coalition, and March 7, the date that Leslie Voltaire, the current head of the Transitional Presidential Council, is expected to pass the baton to Fritz Alphonse Jean in the rotating presidency.

Since last week, gang members have been installing themselves in the mountains of Kenscoff, a rural farming community above Port-au-Prince. They’ve massacred farmers, emptied out towns and set up supply lines to receive food and water. Their goal, say local officials, is to take over the last remaining swaths of the capital, including the wealthy enclaves of Fermathe, Pétion-Ville and parts of Kenscoff, not under their control.

Local authorities, who have been unable to reach many of the communities currently under siege, have refrained from giving an exact figure on the death toll. But local residents say that at least 150 people have been killed. They’ve also said the gang members number anywhere between 1,000 and 3,500.

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© 2025 Miami Herald

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

A group of Chicago aldermen want to ban people involved in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol Building — including the ones recently pardoned by President Donald Trump — from working for the city.

Four City Council members plan to introduce a resolution later this month directing the city’s Human Resources Commissioner to “reject or disqualify” all applicants to city jobs who participated in the 2021 riot.

The measure’s backers include Ald. Matt Martin, 47th, and the council’s three veteran or active-duty military members: Alds. Chris Taliaferro, 29th, Bill Conway, 34th, and Gilbert Villegas, 36th.

The goal, Martin said, is to send a “crystal clear message.”

“When you attack the government, you don’t get to subsequently work in government,” Martin said.

Martin said the resolution was workshopped in an effort to make sure it effectively blocks Jan. 6 participants from city work. He said he believes the legislation, which he called “common sense,” would be binding and enforceable.

Aldermen shared the proposed resolution with the Tribune a week after Gov. JB Pritzker undertook his own effort to block Jan. 6 participants from state government jobs. Pritzker directed the state’s top hiring official to consider Jan. 6 participation as disqualifying and called the riot “infamous and disgraceful conduct that is antithetical to the mission of the state.”

Mayor Brandon Johnson’s press office did not respond when asked about the City Council effort Thursday. Johnson praised Pritzker’s Jan. 6 employment ban as “the right action to do” at a news conference Tuesday, but stopped short of endorsing any soon-to-come similar move for the city.

“We’re going to continue to have conversations about how do we make sure that the best and the brightest individuals show up and work for our government, but we have not made any decisions around any particular group that we would consider restricting,” Johnson said.

The resolution would block Jan. 6 participants from joining the Chicago Police Department, as well as all other city departments, Martin said.

Johnson has so far not implemented policies called for by city Inspector General Deborah Witzburg to eliminate “extremist and anti-government activities and associations within CPD” sparked by the ties of several officers to the far-right Oath Keepers, Witzburg’s office said in July. The group’s founder, Steward Rhodes, was convicted of seditious conspiracy in connection with the riot and sentenced to 18 years in prison before being released when Trump commuted his sentence last month.

Villegas, a Marine Corps veteran, said he hopes to introduce the resolution this month, likely setting him up to push for its passage in March. Trump’s decision to pardon the Jan. 6 “insurrectionists” sends “the wrong message,” he said.

The oath he took to protect America’s peaceful transfers of power “doesn’t have an expiration date,” he said.

“People that wanted to overthrow the government based on a lie, a big lie, I think they don’t deserve to work in government,” he said. “We have to stand up and fight against this.”

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© 2025 Chicago Tribune

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

All the major pieces of the wreckage of American Airlines Flight 5342 and the Black Hawk army helicopter that crashed over the Potomac River last week have been removed as of Thursday, according to military officials.

The Baltimore District of the Army Corps of Engineers, along with the Coast Guard and the U.S. Navy’s Supervisor of Salvage and Diving worked together to pull the components out of the river, according to a news release Thursday. The removal efforts began Monday, but the preparations for the recovery began just days after the crash.

The Unified Command handling the crash’s aftermath confirmed Wednesday that all 67 victims have been recovered and identified, the release said.

The wreckage is now en route to National Transportation Safety Board personnel, who will examine it as part of the board’s investigation. Salvage crews will now shift their focus to getting smaller pieces of debris out of the river before a planned end date of Feb. 16, according to the release.

“We will continue pushing forward in the coming days until we are confident the river is safe for navigation and that elements of evidentiary value are recovered and provided to the appropriate authorities,” said Commander Col. Francis Pera, of the Baltimore District of the Army Corps of Engineers, in the release.

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© 2025 Baltimore Sun

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

When the H5N1 bird flu virus jumps from animals into people, it hits a dead end. Missing the key genes that would help it infect humans, it isn’t causing a pandemic.

But if the virus suddenly changed into a dangerous new mutant, how would we know?

Experts say our cities have a valuable tool that can help us keep better tabs on the virus: sewage. While wastewater already is being tested for the presence of bird flu, the genetic sequence of the virus isn’t being studied — so we’re missing the chance to detect it before hospitals are flooded with the sick.

“Sequencing wastewater is a very important task that can provide important information,” said Stanford University infectious disease expert Dr. Abraar Karan. “It is useful because it can tell us how the virus is evolving.”

If implemented, a “genomic surveillance” program would help health officials contain emerging hot spots and start a vaccination campaign, as well as encourage masking and other precautionary steps.

H5N1 has upended California’s dairy industry, the nation’s largest producer of milk, with a total of 733 dairies reporting infections since August 2024. Of these, 35 were discovered in the past month. Such widespread infections increase the opportunities for the virus to spread to dairy workers, according to infectious disease experts.

Genomic surveillance currently is too expensive and technically formidable to be harnessed into a large-scale, nationwide system, scientists agree.

But smaller research studies already have proven its potential. If targeted, or simplified, it could fend off the next pandemic, they say.

“Wastewater monitoring should be considered as a sentinel surveillance tool,” according to scientists with the University of Texas and Baylor College of Medicine, who deciphered the gene sequences of H5N1 samples in 10 cities throughout Texas. They published their results in a recent study in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Current testing looks for the prevalence of the virus in wastewater; it doesn’t look for specific mutations. And it doesn’t identify the source of the virus — whether it came from the stool of a person, an animal or an animal product, such as milk.

Genomic sequencing, which deciphers the entire viral genome, is more ambitious. It provides more information.

Experts are worried because H5N1, like seasonal flu viruses, constantly changes as it spreads. Viruses are engaged in an evolutionary arms race. Each iteration seeks to confer some sort of advantage, such as an ability to sidestep the immune system — or jump into new species.

The virus already has significantly changed since first identified in geese in 1996. In 2020, a new, highly pathogenic form emerged in Europe and spread quickly around the world. In the U.S. it has affected more than 100 million farmed birds, the worst bird flu outbreak in the nation’s history.

New mutations have eased its spread from birds into multiple other species, such as cows.

Since California’s first detection of the virus in dairies last summer, 38 people have become infected, almost all farm workers. In January, California’s state veterinarian placed a ban on poultry and dairy cattle exhibitions at fairs and shows.

In people, the illness is generally mild. But a few cases have been severe, and that worries experts. A teenager in Canada spent weeks in intensive care. Another case, involving a Louisiana man with underlying medical conditions, was fatal.

What’s puzzling is that, in both of these severe cases, the virus was not related to the virus that is circulating in cattle. Instead, it was linked to the virus found in birds.

Is there something about that particular genetic lineage that makes it more virulent or potentially transmissible between people? That’s what worries scientists.

So far, there’s been reassurance because the virus is unable to latch onto the cells in the human upper respiratory tract.

But if the virus evolves the ability to recognize the cell receptors in our upper airways, it would find a new home — and when we cough or sneeze, it could spread.

A single modification in the protein found on the surface of the virus currently circulating in dairy cows would allow for easier transmission among humans, according to a National Institutes of Health study published in December in the journal Science. However, additional genetic mutations would likely be required for the virus to spark a pandemic, researchers added.

Currently, there is limited visibility into where the virus is circulating. If people or animals don’t show symptoms, it can hide.

While milk is sampled, testing of dairy employees is largely voluntary, so the true extent of spread is unclear. Some farm owners have been reluctant to allow testing due to fears of financial loss; farmworkers, many of whom are undocumented, are unwilling to be tested due to concerns of losing work and possible immigration issues.

Wastewater offers an anonymous snapshot and an inside glimpse of the virus’s evolution.

There are challenges. Despite significant cost reductions in recent years, sequencing remains expensive and labor-intensive.

“You run into a lot of technical troubles,” said virologist Andrew Pekosz of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, who investigates the replication and disease potential of respiratory viruses.

The virus’s genome breaks into pieces in wastewater. And wastewater samples tend to be very diluted, so labs must create concentrations of the virus for processing, he said. And to get a close look at the virus, large pieces of the genome have to be “amplified,” increasing the number of copies of its DNA. To be accurate, the genome has to be “read” hundreds of times.

But there are ways that sequencing could be adapted to shine a bright light on emerging variants, Pekosz said.

For instance, sampling could be focused on smaller watersheds or “sewersheds” around dairies or high-risk communities, where the virus might be concentrated.

“You can target certain places, even a block or a building, if you wanted to do close surveillance on a certain area,” he said.

There could be technical shortcuts. It’s not necessary to sequence the entire viral genome, he said. Instead, scientists could focus on the protein that causes the greatest concern.

“That should give you a good amount of information,” Pekosz said.

While not perfect, he said, “it would help us understand: Are there any worrisome changes out there?”

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© 2025 MediaNews Group, Inc

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

There’s an emerging blue-state nightmare: Inspired by President Donald Trump’s call to round up immigrants who are in the country illegally, Republican governors would send their National Guard troops into Democratic-led states without those leaders’ permission.

It’s a scenario that was so concerning to Washington state Rep. Sharlett Mena that she introduced legislation that would make uninvited deployments of out-of-state troops illegal. Her bill cleared a committee last week and has the backing of Democratic Gov. Bob Ferguson, who pushed for the proposal in his inaugural address last month.

The legislation is about maintaining the state’s autonomy and authority, Mena, a Democrat, told her colleagues during last week’s hearing. “Without this bill, there’s nothing on the books to prevent this.”

Later, she added, “Other states may take matters into their own hands when they want to enforce federal laws.”

In December, 26 Republican governors — all but Vermont Gov. Phil Scott — vowed to assist Trump with deportations of immigrants “who pose a threat to our communities and national security.” Their pledge included the use of National Guard troops.

Mena has reason to be concerned, said Joseph Nunn, a counsel in the Liberty and National Security Program at the Brennan Center for Justice, a left-leaning New York-based pro-democracy institute.

“The Trump administration has made it quite clear that they intend to use the military to assist with immigration enforcement,” he said. “States who are opposed to that would be wise to take what measures they can to protect themselves and their states.”

This week, Texas signed an agreement with the Trump administration giving the state’s National Guard troops law enforcement powers to arrest and help detain migrants. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s four-year Operation Lone Star program has until now used the National Guard only for surveillance and logistical support for federal agents.

Other states opposed to Trump’s deportation program could be inspired by Washington’s legislation and introduce similar measures in the months ahead, Nunn said. And Mena pointed out that Idaho, Kansas, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina and Texas have laws that prevent other states’ National Guard troops from entering without permission.

But, as she noted to her colleagues last week, if Trump were to federalize National Guard units, there’s nothing the state could do to prevent it; a presidential order preempts state authority.

Republican state Rep. Jim Walsh dismisses Mena’s concerns.

“I believe that legislation is unnecessary,” he told Stateline in an interview. “I think it’s what is generally considered a statement bill, but you have to treat it seriously. I’m not sure what they’re getting at here other than a swipe at Donald Trump.”

Washington state law prohibits state and local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration enforcement — which Walsh described as “horrible” public policy. Mena’s legislation would only add to that “dumb” approach to immigration enforcement, he said.

Federal law

While the National Guard is generally organized at and operates under state command using state funding, it can be called into federal service, operating with federal funding and placed under the president’s control. But there’s a murky middle ground in federal law that would make a measure like Washington’s relevant.

Under one federal statute, Title 32, a state’s National Guard can be commanded by the governor but operate using federal funding on a federal mission at the request of the president. While the policy was originally crafted in the 1950s as a way for Congress to pay for extensive training requirements, presidents have since expanded its use.

Presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Trump, in his first term, all deployed National Guard troops to the southwestern border to assist with migration deterrence.

Trump also used the statute in 2020 to request that states send National Guard units to Washington, D.C., when he wanted to suppress the Black Lives Matter protests happening there. Eleven governors voluntarily sent troops, despite objections from the district’s mayor. The district does not enjoy the sovereignty of states.

“No state is more sovereign than another state, and their sovereignty is also territorially limited,” Nunn said. “Illinois’ sovereignty stops at the Indiana state line and vice versa. Indiana cannot reach into Illinois and exercise governmental power there without Illinois’ consent, even if the president asked Indiana to do this and even if Congress is footing the bill.”

Put simply: No state can invade another state.

‘An insurance policy’

Because of this, Washington state’s legislation might be redundant, said William Banks, a professor emeritus at Syracuse University College of Law who has studied and recently written about National Guard deployments and Trump’s rhetoric of a migrant “invasion.”

“It’s like an insurance policy,” he said of the bill. “It may be a very good idea to call attention to the independence of the state government and its perspective that they’d very much like to be in charge of their own internal affairs, including migration or whatever else might be going on.”

Banks said the measure, if passed as expected, could be something that state leaders point to if, for example, Idaho or Montana were considering deploying their National Guard units to Seattle to carry out Trump’s immigration enforcement.

However, he said, the whole discussion becomes irrelevant the moment Trump invokes the Insurrection Act, which would allow for federal military intervention in a nonconsenting state.

The 1792 law has been used occasionally in response to unexpected crises that overwhelmed civilian authorities or when a state was obstructing federal civil rights laws or other constitutional protections. In theory, though, the president could frame one of his policy priorities, such as immigration, as a national emergency in need of a massive troop mobilization. Trump has already asked his deputies to study the use of the law.

“The Insurrection Act is a euphemism for when all hell breaks loose,” Banks said. “It’s an extreme measure for extreme times.”

Until that occurs, Washington lawmakers would be wise to adopt preventive measures, said Nathan Bays, deputy policy director for Washington’s governor. He told committee members during the bill’s hearing that it is “precautionary” and would not harm the readiness or training of the state’s National Guard.

“Washington will continue to be a strong partner with our other National Guard units across this nation,” he said.

But Republican state Rep. Rob Chase told Stateline that the legislation is a solution looking for a problem — wasting time when the legislature should be focused on real issues, such as public safety, homelessness, a housing shortage, fentanyl and education.

“This seems like more fear mongering by the ruling party in Olympia over what they perceive to be happening in the other Washington,” he wrote in an email.

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© 2025 States Newsroom

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC

This article was originally published by Radio Free Asia and is reprinted with permission.

An economist who advised the Federal Reserve, the central bank of the United States, pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to economic spying charges that prosecutors say could have helped Chinese officials reap enormous profits.

John Harold Rogers, 63, is accused of obtaining trade secrets from his former employer and handing them over to the People’s Republic of China.

Documents he is alleged to have delivered include briefing books, an internal Federal Reserve policy assessment and a spreadsheet containing “Trade Secret Information” to agents working for Beijing.

He is also accused of making false statements to federal investigators.

The information Rogers passed on would have given Chinese officials details on U.S. policy that could allow them to manipulate markets “in a manner similar to insider trading,” prosecutors said.

The prosecutors said the crimes started in 2013.

Rogers pleaded not guilty on Wednesday afternoon during an appearance at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. His plea was entered by his lawyer Stephen Saltzburg.

United States Magistrate Judge Matthew Sharbaugh asked if Rogers had understood the accusations against him. He nodded and said that he did.

When the judge asked if he was under the influence of drugs or alcohol, Rogers leaned close to a microphone at the defense table. “No, sir,” he said in a low, raspy voice. He wore orange prison garb, a wrinkled, short-sleeved shirt, baggy pants and slip-on loafers.

For the most serious charge, conspiracy to commit economic espionage, Rogers could be sentenced to 15 years in prison.

In a statement issued last Friday, Assistant Director Kevin Vorndran of the FBI Counterintelligence Division said: “Rogers betrayed his country while employed at the Federal Reserve by providing restricted U.S. financial and economic information to Chinese government intelligence offices.”

According to the indictment, Rogers began communicating with a conspirator, a Chinese national working at a University in Shandong, in 2013.

Over the course of a few years, the conspirator paid for trips Rogers would take to China, where he would eventually deliver information obtained from employer under the guise of teaching a class. He was later given a part-time professorship at a Chinese university, for which he was paid $448,160, the indictment said.

Rogers was arrested on Friday at his apartment in Vienna, Va. More than $50,000 in cash was found in the apartment, according to FBI agents. The money belonged to his wife, a Chinese national, the agents said.

His lawyers have argued that he should be placed on bail before the trial rather than remain in jail. He is the primary caregiver of his 6-year-old daughter as his wife lives mainly in China. In addition, they argue he has a medical condition, Type 1 diabetes, that is more easily treated when he is at home.

But he will remain in jail before his trial. Judge Sharbaugh said Wednesday that he posed a “flight risk” and could try and skip bail. The judge cited the argument of the prosecutors, explaining that Chinese officials might try to help him make his escape.

“There’s a potential incentive for operatives in China to assist his flight,” said the judge.

A date for his trial will be set in the coming weeks.

Liu Pengyu, a spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington, called the allegation that China was stealing US intelligence “is completely fabricated and malicious slander. We are firmly opposed to it.”

“China always pursues exchanges and cooperation with the United States and other countries on the basis of the principle of mutual respect and non-interference in each other’s internal affairs and promotes cooperation with relevant parties on the basis of abiding by laws and regulations,” he said.

The crisis PR firm Blake Lively alluded to in her California Civil Rights Department complaint — in which she first accused Justin Baldoni of sexual harassment and a retaliatory smear campaign — has sued the “It Ends With Us” actress amid the never-ending legal feuds surrounding the domestic violence film.

Jed Wallace and his company Street Relations Inc. has sued the “Gossip Girl” alum, 37, for defamation, TMZ reported Wednesday.

Wallace claims to have lost millions of dollars worth of business due to Lively’s CRD filed in California just before Christmas — in which Lively accused him of having contributed to a retaliatory smear campaign after accusing director and co-star Baldoni.

The New York Times article titled “We Can Bury Anyone” did name “self-described ‘hired gun’” Wallace as well as his firm. Baldoni on Dec. 31 sued the outlet for $250 million over what his lawyer Bryan Freedman has referred to as a “well calculated hit-piece.”

Wallace said Lively added salt to the wound when she sought to have him deposed after identifying Wallace as a subcontractor to Melissa Nathan’s The Agency Group PR, which the actress said launched the “unlawful retaliatory social combat campaign” against her.

“Another day, another state, another nine-figure lawsuit seeking to sue Ms. Lively ‘into oblivion’ for speaking out against sexual harassment and retaliation,” her legal team told several media outlets, adding that Wallace’s suit was “not just a publicity stunt” but “transparent retaliation” for Lively’s CRD complaint.

“While this lawsuit will be dismissed, we are pleased that Mr. Wallace has finally emerged from the shadows, and that he too will be held accountable in federal court.”

Also on Dec. 31, Lively sued Baldoni, who hit back last month with a $400 million lawsuit accusing the actress, her husband Ryan Reynolds and publicist Leslie Sloane of defamation and civil extortion over the allegations. The trio is seeking to dismiss Baldoni’s filing, which was amended over the weekend with additional alleged evidence.

On Monday in Manhattan Federal Court, Judge Lewis Liman did not employ a gag order on either legal team but cautioned both sides to obey professional ethics rules about out-of-court statements.

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© 2025 New York Daily News

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

President Donald Trump’s offer for federal employees to resign from their posts has already been accepted by more than 50,000 workers, according to a person familiar with the effort.

Now the administration is signaling a tougher posture in its bid to shrink the government’s workforce, asking federal agencies to draw up lists of their poorest performing employees by March 7.

The Office of Personnel Management has instructed agencies to provide lists of “all employees who received less than a ‘fully successful’ performance rating in the past three years.” The memo, from OPM acting director Charles Ezell, said the list would be used to ensure that agencies can “swiftly terminate poor performing employees.”

“OPM is developing new performance metrics for evaluating the federal workforce that aligns with the priorities and standards in the President’s recent Executive Orders,” Ezell wrote in his memo.

He also asked agencies for any policies, such as union contracts or pending arbitration cases, that would prevent them from “making meaningful distinctions based on relative employee performance.”

The memo is the latest in a series of directives implementing Trump’s executive orders demanding sweeping changes to the federal workforce. The president has already ended diversity programs, and sought to reclassify potentially thousands of jobs as political positions — a change that would make it easier for him to dismiss workers and replace them with loyalists.

Trump has tapped billionaire backer Elon Musk to spearhead an effort to improve government efficiency and reduce spending. As part of that effort — called the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE — the administration has offered federal employees a deferred resignation plan to allow them to get paid through the end of the fiscal year even if they quit in February.

A federal judge blocked the implementation of that plan — which has been characterized by many as a buyout — until at least Monday, so that he can hear arguments from federal employee unions who say the program is illegal.

Employees can continue to submit their resignations through the hearing on Monday, according to a person familiar who shared details on the process on condition of anonymity.

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