National Roundup

Indiana
Biden taps IU law professor Janet McCabe for No.2 EPA post
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — President-elect Joe Biden is nominating an Indiana University law professor to be the second-in-command at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Janet McCabe, a professor of practice at the IU Robert H. McKinney School of Law in Indianapolis, has been nominated to be deputy EPA administrator, Biden’s office announced Friday.

The nomination is subject to Senate confirmation.

McCabe previously served as acting assistant administrator of the Office of Air and Radiation at the EPA under former President Barack Obama from July 2013 to January 2017 and as principal deputy in that office from 2009 to 2013. She also has been air director at the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, and she has held other environmental policy and management positions at IDEM and in Massachusetts.

IU President Michael A. McRobbie called McCabe “one of our nation’s foremost experts on environmental law and policy.”

“She has extensive experience in working with state and national government officials on critical issues concerning air quality, climate change and children’s environmental health,” McRobbie said.

New Mexico
Cowboys for Trump leader arrested over US Capitol riot
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A New Mexico county official and founder of the group Cowboys for Trump who had vowed to return to Washington after last week’s riot at the U.S. Capitol to place a flag on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s desk has been arrested Sunday by the FBI.

Otero County Commissioner Couy Griffin was arrested on charges of illegally entering the U.S. Capitol.

According to court documents, Griffin told investigators that he was “caught up” in the crowd, which pushed its way through the barricades and entered the restricted area of the U.S. Capitol, but he said he did not enter the building and instead remained on the U.S. Capitol steps.

A video posted to Griffin’s personal Facebook page shows Griffin in the restricted areas, according to the affidavit.

On Thursday, Griffin, said he planned to travel with firearms to Washington, D.C., for Biden’s inauguration.

“I’m gonna be there on Jan. 20 ... and I’m gonna take a stand for our country and for our freedoms,” Griffin said during a meeting of the Otero County Board of Commissioners.

“I’m gonna leave either tonight or tomorrow. I’ve got a .357 Henry Big Boy rifle lever action that I’ve got in the trunk of my car and I’ve got a .357 single action revolver, the Colt Ruger Vaquero that I’ll have underneath the front seat on my right side and I will embrace my Second Amendment,” he said.

Pennsylvania
Woman accused of laptop theft from Pelosi’s office amid riot
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — FBI authorities are seeking a Pennsylvania woman in connection with the U.S. Capitol riot earlier this month after an accusation from a former romantic partner that she took a laptop from the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

The FBI said in an arrest warrant Sunday, however, that Riley June Williams hasn’t been charged with theft but only with illegally entering the Capitol and with disorderly conduct.

FBI officials said a caller claiming to be an ex of Williams said friends of hers showed him a video of her taking a laptop computer or hard drive from Pelosi’s office. The caller alleged that she intended to send the device to a friend in Russia who planned to sell it to that country’s foreign intelligence service, but that plan fell through and she either has the device or destroyed it. The FBI says the matter remains under investigation.

Pelosi’s deputy chief of staff, Drew Hammill, confirmed Jan. 8 that a laptop was taken from a conference room but said “it was a laptop that was only used for presentations.”

Williams’ mother, who lives with her in Harrisburg, told ITV reporters that her daughter had taken a sudden interest in President Donald Trump’s politics and “far-right message boards.” Her father, who lives in Camp Hill, told local law enforcement that he and his daughter went to Washington on the day of the protest but didn’t stay together, meeting up later to return to Harrisburg, the FBI said.

FBI officials said they believe Williams “has fled.” Her mother told local law enforcement that she packed a bag and left, saying she would be gone for a couple of weeks. She also changed her phone number and deleted a number of social media accounts, the FBI said. Court documents don’t list an attorney for her.


Kansas
Ex-prison guard charged in prison drug-smuggling
HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) — A former Kansas prison guard will stand trial on 10 counts related to a drug-smuggling case at the Hutchinson Correctional Facility.

Zachary Wood was bound over for trial last week following a preliminary hearing on counts ranging from possession with intent to distribute to trafficking in a correctional facility, the Hutchinson News reported.

Prosecutors have said Wood tried to smuggle drugs into the prison last summer after arranging sales with three women. The three women are charged with conspiracy to traffic in a penal institution and also appeared in court Thursday. Denisha Starnes, Esther Davis and Stephanie Thindiu — along with Wood — were all set for formal arraignment on Feb. 1.

Colorado
Republican Boebert sued after blocking critic on Twitter
DENVER (AP) — A former state representative in Colorado sued Republican U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert on Sunday after being blocked from the first-term federal lawmaker’s Twitter account.

Attorneys for Democrat Bri Buentello of Pueblo filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Denver, claiming she was blocked after calling for the Colorado Republican to be recalled in the wake of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by loyalists to President Donald Trump.

The suit seeks a court order for Boebert to unlock Buentello on Twitter and a declaration that the Republican’s actions violated Buentello’s constitutional rights to free speech.

Boebert’s chief of staff, Jeff Small, said her office was not commenting on the case.

Her communications director, Ben Goldey,  quit last week, less than two weeks after Boebert was sworn into office. Goldey said his action was prompted by the insurrection at the Capitol.

Boebert has links to the baseless QAnon conspiracy theory and has sought to overturn President-elect Joe Biden’s victory. She gained attention for vowing to carry a gun in the Capitol.

An attorney for Buentello said Boebert’s “stifling” of critics should be of concern to everyone.