White House drops plan to ban menthol cigarettes

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration on Friday announced it is dropping — for now ― a plan to ban menthol cigarettes after months of speculation about the proposal’s future.

Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra did not say when or if the administration would revisit the issue, nor did he mention the fate of a related proposal to ban flavored cigars.

“This rule has garnered historic attention and the public comment period has yielded an immense amount of feedback, including from various elements of the civil rights and criminal justice movement,” he said. “It’s clear that there are still more conversations to have, and that will take significantly more time.”

The decision caps a yearslong fight between the tobacco industry looking to kill the rule and anti-smoking advocates — including a number of African American interest groups, such as the NAACP — trying to get the ban across the finish line. It now marks another footnote in the decades of debate over the issue.

Concerns over the politics amid President Joe Biden’s tight rematch with former President Donald Trump and fears of increased policing on people of color ultimately tanked the proposal. Menthol cigarettes are far more popular with Black smokers than white smokers, and the issue has divided Black leaders and interest groups.

Critics allege that while the rule targets only manufacturers and retailers, police officers would be tasked with enforcing it against consumers. The FDA has also not done enough to transition addicted smokers away from traditional cigarettes, critics argue, pointing to the fact that the agency has not yet authorized any menthol e-cigarettes.

—CQ-Roll Call

Athletic director at Maryland high school used AI to fake racist recording of principal, police say

BALTIMORE — Pikesville High School’s athletic director was arrested this week in connection with an artificial intelligence-made audio clip of the school’s principal having a fake, racist conversation.

Dazhon Darien, 31, is charged with disrupting school activities after Baltimore County Police say he created the falsified audio recording of Eric Eiswert in January. The audio clip using the principal’s voice went viral and was swiftly condemned by the Baltimore County community. The school was inundated with outraged calls and needed an increased police presence and additional counselors.

Maryland Transportation Authority Police arrested Darien as he was boarding a plane to Houston from BWI Marshall Airport. Law enforcement officers flagged Darien’s bag for the way he packaged a gun in his checked luggage and discovered he had an active arrest warrant.

Baltimore County Police Chief Robert McCullough said he didn’t know whether Darien was trying to flee or had travel plans.

Darien is also charged with theft, retaliating against a witness and stalking.

The recording included offensive statements made about Black teachers, Black students’ test scores and Jewish parents. Eiswert was removed from the school and required a police presence at his house due to online threats. He maintained his innocence through a union spokesperson, who did not respond to a request for comment.

Eiswert remains employed by Baltimore County Public Schools but will not return to Pikesville High this school year, Superintendent Myriam Rogers said at the news conference.

Baltimore County Police wrote in a 17-page charging document that Darien created the fake recording in retaliation for Eiswert investigating him for allegedly misusing school funds and theft. Eiswert also believed Darien had a grievance over his contract not being renewed and Eiswert reprimanding him for firing a long-term coach without approval, he told police.

—The Baltimore Sun

R. Kelly’s Chicago conviction to stand after high court rejects appeal

CHICAGO — R. Kelly’s sex-crime conviction and 20-year sentence in Chicago’s federal court will stand, an appeals court ruled Friday in a blistering opinion.

“For years, Robert Sylvester Kelly abused underage girls. By employing a complex scheme to keep victims quiet, he long evaded consequences. In recent years, though, those crimes caught up with him at last,” Judge Amy St. Eve of the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals wrote in the terse, 14-page ruling.

“But Kelly — interposing a statute-of-limitations defense — thinks he delayed the charges long enough to elude them entirely. The statute says otherwise, so we affirm his conviction.”

The appellate court also denied Kelly’s request for resentencing, saying they had no grounds to second-guess the 20-year prison term U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber handed down.

Kelly’s attorney, Jennifer Bonjean, told the Chicago Tribune Friday that they were still weighing whether to request a rehearing before the full 7th Circuit panel — a move that is rarely granted.

Meanwhile, Bonjean says she plans to petition the U.S. Supreme Court on the statute of limitations issue, which centers on whether a new law passed after the underlying crimes in Kelly’s case should have been applied.

Kelly, 57, is serving his time at a medium-security facility in Butner, North Carolina. His current release date is Dec. 21, 2045, when he’d be a couple weeks shy of his 79th birthday, federal prison records show.

A federal jury in Chicago convicted Kelly in 2022 on child pornography charges for explicit videos he made of himself and his then 14-year-old goddaughter, “Jane.” Kelly was also found guilty of inappropriate sexual relations with Jane and two other teenage girls, “Pauline” and “Nia.” The jury acquitted Kelly on separate charges of conspiring to rig his prior Cook County child pornography trial.

Kelly is also appealing his conviction in a separate federal case out of New York, where a jury found him guilty of broad racketeering charges. He was sentenced to 30 years in the case; most of his prison term for the Chicago conviction is to be served concurrently.

—Chicago Tribune

Romania trial against Tate brothers can go ahead, court rules

BUCHAREST, Romania — The trial in Romania against controversial influencer Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan on charges including human trafficking can go ahead, a Bucharest court ruled on Friday.

The Bucharest City Court decided that the indictment, which has been ready for almost a year, meets the formal requirements.

If they wish to appeal, the defendants must do so within three days. Only after this period can a trial date be set.

The Tate brothers and two suspected accomplices are accused of having forced young women to participate in commercial sex videos.

Romanian authorities have identified seven victims, three of whom are plaintiffs in the proceedings.

After standing trial in Romania, Andrew Tate, 37, and Tristan Tate, 35, who are dual UK-US citizens, are to be extradited to the United Kingdom, where they face separate proceedings over charges of rape and human trafficking committed between 2012 and 2015.

Andrew Tate became known for misogynistic posts on social media, where he has millions of followers.

The Tate brothers and their suspected accomplices were first arrested in Bucharest in December 2022 but released into house arrest three months later. They have been at large since August last year but are not allowed to leave Romania.

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