Nolan Wells Independent Autopsy Is Inconclusive: AttorneyAn independent autopsy conducted on Nolan Wells, the 18-year-old Black teenager found dead off the coast of Mississippi after a July 4 boating trip with friends, was inconclusive, civil rights attorney Ben Crump announced Wednesday.The teen’s body was already too decomposed at the time of the second autopsy conducted on July 10. Some of the organs had also already been dissected, and the throat was missing when reviewed by Dr. Roger Mitchell, who is the president of the National Medical Association and former chief medical examiner for Washington, D.C., said Crump.“For these reasons this pathologist cannot rule out if any intervening, non-accidental factors contributed to or caused the death of Nolan Wells,” Crump read from Mitchell’s report.“We are hopeful that the Mississippi Medical Examiner would give Dr. Mitchell an opportunity to see their photographs and their observations to the condition of Nolan Well’s body closer in time to July 4,” Crump said.Latest Live UpdatesHouse Republicans Refer Jack Smith To Justice Department For ProsecutionRepublicans in the House of Representatives on Wednesday told the Justice Department it should prosecute former special counsel Jack Smith for obtaining lawmakers’ text messages in the course of his investigation into President Donald Trump’s attempt to overthrow his 2020 election loss. In a letter to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, House Judiciary Committee chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) claimed Smith lied during a December deposition with the committee when he said he had not sought a search warrant for lawmakers’ texts. Instead, Smith said he sought only “toll” records that showed the times of phone calls between certain lawmakers and White House officials. Jordan claims Smith lied in his answer because documents Republicans obtained this month show Smith actually did get his hands on text messages from lawmakers when his office asked the National Archives and Records Administration for presidential records that included texts between lawmakers and administration officials. “Under relevant federal statutes, a witness makes a false statement when the witness provides a half-truth or excludes information necessary to make statements accurate,” Jordan said in his letter to Blanche. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the judiciary committee’s top Democrat, called the criminal referral an embarrassment. “It seems Republican Members of Congress are lashing out because they just realized their communications with the White House became presidential records preserved at the National Archives as required by the Presidential Records Act,” Raskin said in a statement. If the Justice Department prosecuted Smith, Raskin said, the case would be laughed out of court. “But success on the merits is not the goal,” Raskin said. “It is meant to harass Jack Smith. It is meant to please their Fox News viewership. It is meant to whitewash their own participation in a scheme to overthrow our elections.”Former CIA Director James Woolsey DiesR. James Woolsey, a national security expert who led the CIA for two turbulent years after his appointment by President Bill Clinton, has died. He was 84.Woolsey, who became CIA director in early 1993, died Tuesday at his home in Washington, according to several newspapers. His wife, Conchita Sarnoff Woolsey, told the newspapers that he died from a stroke.She told The Washington Post that his health had declined in recent years due to “Havana syndrome,” a mysterious condition that’s been reported by some U.S. diplomats and other government personnel. Symptoms that include headaches, balance problems and difficulties with thinking and sleep were first reported in Cuba in 2016 — leading to the label.Read more from The Associated Press:Secret Service Director Defends Agency Response To WHCD Shooting Ahead Of Second DinnerSecret Service Director Sean Curran defended the agency’s response to the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in April, even as preparations for the rescheduled dinner on Friday take place.At the earlier dinner, an alleged shooter struck one officer at the Secret Service check-in on the floor above the event before being detained.“That is the success. That is why we set up checkpoints,” Curran said at a press conference on Wednesday. “That is why we have our teams, our special teams, in place because we do plan for that, and that’s the reality.”“We do expect bad people to show up,” he added. “It’s just a reality of where we are.”ICE Said NY Facility Was Overcrowded. They Packed More People Inside Anyway: ReportDespite concerns about overcrowding, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement kept dozens of detainees in crowded rooms without basic needs, according to emails and text messages from immigration officials reviewed by The Washington Post. Under the direction of President Donald Trump, ICE has been arresting immigrants at a much faster pace and on a larger scale than its facilities can handle, forcing many detainees to live in deplorable conditions, the Post’s analysis found. For example, small rooms at 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan were designed to hold people for no more than 12 hours. Instead, they were used to confine dozens of detainees without access to beds, showers or full-time medical care. Read more in The Washington Post:House Passes Bill That Would Curb Lawmakers’ Ability To Buy StocksThe House on Wednesday passed legislation that would limit congressmembers’ ability to purchase stocks, while enabling them to hang onto the stocks they already have. That bill passed 232-198, but is poised to face Democratic opposition in the Senate after House Republicans included an extraneous provision requiring voters to show photo ID in federal elections. Read more from The Washington Post: Judge Strips Endangered Status From Lizard At Trump Admin's RequestA federal judge in Texas removed endangered species protections for a lizard at the Trump administration's request. Dunes sagebrush lizards are no longer considered an endangered species after a ruling by Judge David Counts of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas. Counts was appointed by President Donald Trump. In 2024, the Biden administration classified the lizard as endangered due to concerns it could be harmed by oil and gas developments and climate change. But Counts ruled Tuesday that the administration’s evaluation of the lizard’s habitat restoration was incomplete and therefore “potentially inaccurate.” The lizards can only be found in southeastern New Mexico and West Texas, part of the oil-rich Permian Basin.Wisconsin Police Officer Shoots, Kills Man On Street Near State Capitol In MadisonA Madison police officer shot and killed a man who had injured him with a knife while resisting arrest, the city’s police chief said Wednesday.Cellphone video of the shooting circulated on social media shortly after the incident. Three gunshots can be heard on the cellphone video.Read more from The Associated Press:1,031–That’s how many people have died from the Ebola outbreak in Congo, according to Dr. Jean Kaseya, the director-general of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. The rapid spread of the outbreak has been fueled by the Bundibugyo virus, for which there are no approved vaccines or treatments. Ongoing conflict in the region and large gatherings have also contributed to containment issues. Read more from The Associated Press: Trump Admin Considering Military Options To Fight Terrorism In Mali: ReportThe Trump administration is reportedly considering military action to fight terrorism in Mali, a gold-producing country in West Africa, current and former U.S. officials told The Washington Post. Officials said that Sebastian Gorka, President Donald Trump’s deputy assistant and counterterrorism strategist, has been a strong supporter of using force against JNIM, an al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorist group that has established itself in the country and is increasing its attacks along the West African coast.If military action in Mali is approved, it would become the eighth country Trump has ordered strikes against during his second term — despite his campaign promise that he would be dedicated to peace.Read more in The Washington Post: House GOP Adopts $95 Billion Package To Fund More War, Voting Law ChangesThe House adopted a Republican-only $95 billion budget proposal Wednesday, a long-shot effort to fund the Iran war and other White House priorities over objections from Democrats and a few GOP holdouts in a final push before the midterm elections.House Republicans were divided over the plan, with conservatives wary because there are no offsetting budget cuts. But Speaker Mike Johnson plunged ahead, viewing the go-it-alone process as the best chance to usher President Donald Trump’s priorities through the split Congress, despite skepticism in the Senate.Read more from The Associated Press:See All Updates