AP News in Brief at 12:04 a.m. EDT

Investigators examining foes of Trump seek interviews related to Mar-a-Lago search, AP sources say

WASHINGTON (AP) — Justice Department investigators have sought to interview law enforcement officials related to the FBI search of Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate as part of a Florida-based inquiry aiming to establish a conspiracy against the Republican president, multiple people familiar with the matter said Thursday.

The requests for interviews, made in recent weeks, suggest that a conspiracy investigation that had mostly appeared focused on the decade-old question of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election is also examining a more contemporary event — the 2022 search of Mar-a-Lago that resulted in the FBI seizing top secret documents from the president’s Palm Beach, Florida, estate.

The requests were for voluntary interviews and not made through subpoenas, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation with The Associated Press.

It is not clear when or if prosecutors might seek to bring charges, or for what, but investigating conduct that occurred in Florida might give the Justice Department the legal hook it needs to try to anchor a prosecution in the state.

Joe diGenova, the prosecutor brought back to the Justice Department in April to oversee the investigation, declined to comment when contacted by AP on Thursday. The Justice Department didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

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California lawmaker Aisha Wahab wins special election to succeed Eric Swalwell in Congress

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California state Sen. Aisha Wahab will serve out the rest of former Rep. Eric Swalwell’s term after securing victory Thursday in a special election.

Swalwell, a Democrat who was running for California governor, ended his campaign and resigned from Congress in April after he was accused of sexual assault and harassment, which he denies. Wahab will represent the state’s 14th Congressional District, which covers parts of Alameda County on the eastern side of the San Francisco Bay, through Swalwell’s term ending in January.

She will be the first Afghan American to serve in Congress. The progressive Democrat defeated Bay Area Rapid Transit Director Melissa Hernandez even after a swell of spending by outside groups opposing Wahab in the race’s final stretch. She said her victory shows her district “cannot be bought.”

“I will fight for this district that raised me,” Wahab said in a statement. “From foster care to Congress, this journey shows the possibility of the American Dream.”

The conclusion of the race to replace Swalwell comes as criminal investigations continue into the sexual assault allegations he faces. Over the weekend, federal agents seized electronic devices from Swalwell at the San Francisco airport and later searched his home in Washington, D.C., according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to publicly discuss an ongoing investigation and spoke on the condition of anonymity. Swalwell’s attorney did not immediately respond to an email and phone message seeking comment.

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Why Treasury Secretary Bessent’s moves to calm the bond market haven’t worked so far

WASHINGTON (AP) — Interest rates rebounded Thursday despite efforts by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to put a lid on longer-term borrowing costs, a sign Wall Street investors remain worried about burgeoning government debt, heavy borrowing by tech firms, and the Federal Reserve’s commitment to fighting inflation.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, a key benchmark for mortgage rates, rose back to 4.69% Thursday. That is nearly where it stood early Wednesday before Bessent surprised financial markets by announcing that Treasury would double the size of a bond buyback program starting next month to $4 billion per operation from $2 billion. The buybacks are intended to reduce the supply of 10-year to 30-year bonds and boost their prices. Yields on bonds fall when their prices rise.

Bessent said Thursday on CNBC that the bond repurchase program could be larger than $4 billion.

“We have a big toolkit so we’ll see,” Bessent said. “We believe that the yields don’t reflect the underlying fundamentals.”

Rising bond yields push up borrowing costs for consumers and businesses, and the Trump administration has set reducing interest rates as a top goal. Home purchases have slumped as mortgage rates have moved higher this year.

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2 organizers of Hong Kong’s Tiananmen vigils convicted in national security case

HONG KONG (AP) — Two former organizers of Hong Kong’s annual vigils in remembrance of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown were convicted by government-approved judges Friday of inciting others to overthrowing China’s communist system.

Lee Cheuk-yan and Chow Hang-tung, former leaders of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, were charged in 2021 under a China-imposed national security law that has effectively crushed the city’s previously thriving pro-democracy movement. The alliance was also found guilty.

Lee and Chow are expected to be sentenced at a later date. They both had pleaded not guilty and face a maximum prison term of 10 years.

According to a press summary given to reporters at court, the three judges said the prosecution proved that the alliance’s call for “end one-party dictatorship” did not aim to demand that the Communist Party return to the system of multiparty cooperation under the constitution, but to end its leadership status under the constitution.

They were also satisfied with the arguments that the “end” in the phrase carried the meaning of “overthrowing” and “undermining” and the defendants “intentionally encouraged supporters of the alliance to wait for the right time to carry out the goal of ‘end one-party dictatorship’ with unlawful means,” the summary said.

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Trump appears on former fixer-turned-enemy Michael Cohen’s radio show after detente

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump appeared Thursday on his former fixer-turned-foe Michael Cohen’s radio show, holding a stunning public reunion with the man who once called him a “Cheeto-dusted cartoon villain” and testified against him both in court and before Congress.

For Cohen, who served prison time for his role in what he said was covering up Trump’s “dirty deeds,” it was the culmination of a behind-the-scenes detente that would have been impossible to imagine several years ago.

The interview, part of which aired on Cohen’s 77 WABC radio program Thursday evening and which will air in full Sunday, was an exceptionally friendly affair, with only passing reference to the men’s tumultuous history.

“They weaponized you like nobody’s ever been weaponized, like few have been,” Trump told Cohen.

“I respect the fact that you recanted everything you said,” he went on. “That’s a big thing that you did.”

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Jurors hear ‘Keffe D’ say his nephew fired fatal shots at Tupac Shakur in 1996 drive-by shooting

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Jurors on Thursday heard Duane “Keffe D” Davis tell detectives in 2008 that his nephew Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson fired the shots that killed Tupac Shakur.

Davis, who said in the interview that he was also in the car with Anderson, is accused of orchestrating the 1996 killing of the 25-year-old hip-hop superstar in Las Vegas. At the time of the interview, his nephew had been dead for a decade.

Davis said the white Cadillac he and Anderson were riding in with two other men pulled up alongside a car with Shakur inside, along with hip-hop mogul and Death Row Records head Marion “Suge” Knight.

“If we would have been on my side, I would have blasted,” Davis said. Instead, Knight’s car was on the other side, so Davis passed his gun back to Deandre “Big Dre” Smith. But Smith didn’t want it, Davis said.

Anderson, who was also in the back seat, took the weapon and started firing, Davis said.

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Federal agents seize devices from ex-Rep. Eric Swalwell in sexual misconduct probe, AP source says

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal agents seized electronic devices from former Rep. Eric Swalwell and searched his Washington home as part of an investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct by the ex-Democratic congressman from California, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Swalwell’s devices were seized at the San Francisco airport on Saturday and agents executed a search warrant at his home a day later, said the person, who was not authorized to publicly discuss an ongoing investigation and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

A message seeking comment was left Thursday with an attorney for Swalwell, who has denied allegations of sexual assault and misconduct. The Daily Mail first reported the seizure of Swalwell’s devices on Thursday.

Swalwell announced his resignation from Congress in April following allegations that Swalwell had sexually assaulted a woman twice, including when she worked for him. The San Francisco Chronicle, followed by CNN, first reported the allegations. CNN also reported that three other women alleged various kinds of sexual misconduct by Swalwell, including sending them unsolicited explicit messages or nude photos.

The seven-term lawmaker had been seen as one of the leading candidates in California’s gubernatorial race before dropping out after the allegations surfaced.

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US aircraft carrier arrives in Middle East, relieving long-deployed USS Lincoln

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Asia-based USS George Washington aircraft carrier is now operating in the Middle East, the U.S. military said Thursday, relieving a long-deployed carrier following reports of mental health challenges and supply shortages aboard while it was supporting the Iran war.

U.S. Central Command, which oversees military operations in the Middle East, said on social media that the carrier arrived in the region Wednesday. It was not clear when the USS Abraham Lincoln would arrive back in the U.S. or whether it would make a port stop along the way, but the journey takes just over a month.

The Washington arrived as concerns have grown about the Lincoln’s lengthy deployment, which has included a record-setting uninterrupted time at sea of more than 250 days, and about reports of crew stress and poor mental health, as well as supply shortages, including food and hygiene products.

Several Democratic lawmakers have pressed the Department of Defense for accountability over conditions aboard the Lincoln, which Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has said were “completely misrepresented.”

Hegseth spoke with the Lincoln’s crew last week, and Adm. Brad Cooper, head of U.S. Central Command, visited this past weekend. In an editorial published Sunday by The Wall Street Journal, Cooper said the crew “delivered a performance for the ages, and now you are going home.”

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Karmelo Anthony’s lawyer asks for new trial in Texas track meet killing as new details are revealed

McKINNEY, Texas (AP) — The Texas prosecutor who oversaw Karmelo Anthony ‘s conviction in a deadly stabbing at a high school track meet said Thursday that both sides had agreed to hold back evidence that risked further inflaming a case already boiling with racial tensions and death threats.

That agreement is at the center of whether a judge will order a retrial for Anthony, who was sentenced to 35 years in prison over the killing of 17-year-old Austin Metcalf last year during a confrontation in the bleachers of a high school stadium near Dallas.

Anthony, 19, sat at the defense table as his attorney argued that the pact ultimately marred the June trial, which ended with jurors rejecting his claims of self-defense. Prosecutor Bill Wirskye defended the trial as fair.

The hearing was set to continue Friday, and it was not clear when the judge will rule on Anthony’s retrial request.

Anthony is Black; Metcalf was white. Among the details that jurors never heard, according to attorneys on both sides, were that Anthony once sent a text message fantasizing about stabbing someone and Metcalf had a history of fighting and using racist language.

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US carries out its first deportations under pact for Liberia to accept 1,200 non-Liberians

HARBEL, Liberia (AP) — The United States on Thursday carried out its first deportation under an agreement for Liberia to accept up to 1,200 people who are not from the African country, one of the Trump administration’s largest efforts yet to deport people to countries other than their own.

The 20 deportees arrived at Roberts International Airport outside Monrovia.

Deportees will include African nationals as well as nationals from North America, South America and the Caribbean, according to Liberian Information Minister Jerolinmek Piah. Liberian Justice Minister Natu Oswald Tweh has said they could seek asylum in the West African country if they wished.

The U.S. State Department declined to answer questions about the Liberia agreement, but said that implementing the Trump administration’s immigration policies was a “top priority.” It said it was “unwavering in our commitment to end illegal and mass immigration and bolster America’s border security.”

The U.S. Homeland Security Department declined to confirm Thursday’s deportations “for operational security reasons” and referred additional questions to the State Department.