DENVER (AP) — A shooting in downtown Denver amid fans celebrating the Nuggets’ first NBA championship win was likely sparked by a drug deal gone wrong, police said Tuesday. The violence left 10 people wounded, including one of two people arrested in connection with the shooting.

All of the injured — nine men, one woman — are expected to survive, including five or six people that police believe were bystanders not involved in the drug deal, Chief Ron Thomas said at a news conference. He said 20 rounds were fired at the scene, roughly a mile from Ball Arena where the Nuggets defeated the Miami Heat on Monday night.

A total of five handguns were found by investigators but testing still needs to be done to determine whether they were used at the shooting, the police chief said. A “significant quantity” of suspected fentanyl pills were also found at the scene, Commander Matt Clark said, along with cash.

Of the 10 people taken to the hospital, four underwent emergency surgery at the same time at Denver Health Medical Center. Five were still there on Tuesday afternoon, all in fair condition, said Dr. Eric Campion, a trauma surgeon.

The Nuggets’ win drew thousands of people downtown and the shooting happened as the celebration was winding down after midnight, authorities said. Still, hundreds of police officers were massed in the area when the gunfire broke out.

Scott D’Angelo was livestreaming the celebrations when he heard several loud pops one after another, sparking pandemonium as people dove for cover or jumped over cement barricades. Police in riot gear ducked and drew their guns while yelling for people to find shelter.

Crouching on the ground, the 58-year-old said his arms were shaking with nerves and he felt an asthma attack coming. He heard a female voice not a dozen feet (3 meters) away screaming in pain. Another victim lay just beyond the first, D’Angelo said, as officers rushed to provide care.

An overhead city surveillance video without audio released by police showed officers swarming toward the apparent scene of the shooting after gunshots were heard.

The firing stopped after roughly 20 seconds, D’Angelo said after consulting his footage, which he has handed over to investigators. As ambulances arrived, D’Angelo saw bullet casings only feet from where he’d dropped to the ground.

Authorities were still investigating how many people were involved in the shooting. Two men are being held on suspicion of being felons who are barred from having a firearm, said Clark, the police commander. Neither man had lawyers listed as representing them in court records yet.

One of the men ran from the scene despite being wounded and was arrested several blocks away with a handgun and fentanyl. The other was arrested in a car in a parking lot across the street from the shooting after police found a firearm hidden in its floorboards, Clark said. No one in the car was wounded, he said.

The gunfire broke out in downtown Denver’s LoDo district, which is known for its restaurants and nightlife. Yellow police tape had sealed off the area overnight Tuesday as investigators with flashlights scoured the scene, which was dotted with evidence markers and what appeared to be detritus left over from the celebrations, including an e-scooter and a green rental bike.

D’Angelo said he felt “kind of numb” after witnessing a mass shooting firsthand.

“To target somebody, and indiscriminately shoot innocent bystanders, even trying to think about it, it’s like — I have a huge emotional, a lot of feelings that I really can’t explain,” he said.

The shooting happened in the same area where fans celebrated the Colorado Avalanche hockey team winning the Stanley Cup last year without any serious problems. Thomas said police made similar preparations the Nuggets’ possible championship.

“What we couldn’t have planned for was a drug deal right in the middle of a celebration,” Thomas said.

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The story has been updated to correct that suspect was one of 10 people shot at scene, according to police.

MIAMI (AP) — Donald Trump became the first former president to face a judge on federal charges as he pleaded not guilty in a Miami courtroom Tuesday to dozens of felony counts accusing him of hoarding classified documents and refusing government demands to give them back.

The history-making court date, centered on charges that Trump mishandled government secrets that as commander-in-chief he was entrusted to protect, kickstarts a legal process that will unfold at the height of the 2024 presidential campaign and carry profound consequences not only for his political future but also for his own personal liberty.

Trump approached his arraignment with characteristic bravado, posting social media broadsides against the prosecution from inside his motorcade en route to the courthouse and insisting — as he has through years of legal woes — that he has done nothing wrong and was being persecuted for political purposes. But inside the courtroom, he sat silently, scowling and arms crossed, as a lawyer entered a not guilty plea on his behalf in a brief arraignment that ended without him having to surrender his passport or otherwise restrict his travel.

The arraignment, though largely procedural in nature, was the latest in an unprecedented reckoning this year for Trump, who faces charges in New York arising from hush money payments during his 2016 presidential campaign as well as ongoing investigations in Washington and Atlanta into efforts to undo the results of the 2020 race.

Always in campaign mode, he swiftly pivoted from the solemn courtroom to a festive restaurant, stopping on his way out of Miami at Versailles, an iconic Cuban spot in the city’s Little Havana neighborhood where supporters serenaded Trump, who turns 77 on Wednesday, with “Happy Birthday.” The back-to-back events highlight the tension for Trump in the months ahead as he balances the pageantry of campaigning with courtroom stops accompanying his status as a twice-indicted criminal defendant.

Yet the gravity of the moment was unmistakable.

Until last week, no former president had ever been charged by the Justice Department, let alone accused of mishandling top-secret information. The indictment unsealed last week charged Trump with 37 felony counts — many under the Espionage Act — that accuse him of illegally storing classified documents in his bedroom, bathroom, shower and other locations at Mar-a-Lago and trying to hide them from the Justice Department as investigators demanded them back. The charges carry a yearslong prison sentence in the event of a conviction.

Trump has relied on a familiar playbook of painting himself as a victim of political persecution. He attacked the Justice Department special counsel who filed the case as “a Trump hater,” pledging to remain in the race and scheduling a speech and fundraiser for Tuesday night at his Bedminster, New Jersey, club.

But Attorney General Merrick Garland, an appointee of President Joe Biden, sought to insulate the department from political attacks by handing ownership of the case last November to a special counsel, Jack Smith, who on Friday declared, “We have one set of laws in this country, and they apply to everyone.”

Smith attended Tuesday’s arraignment, sitting in the front row behind his team of prosecutors.

The court appearance unfolded against the backdrop of potential protests, with some high-profile backers using barbed rhetoric to voice support. Though city officials said they prepared for possible unrest, there were few signs of significant disruption.

Trump didn’t say a word during the court appearance, other than to occasionally turn and whisper to his attorneys who were seated on either side of him. He fiddled with a pen and clasped his hands on the table in front of him as the lawyers and the judge debated the conditions of his release.

While he was not required to surrender a passport — prosecutors said he was not considered a flight risk — the magistrate judge presiding over the arraignment directed Trump to not discuss the case with certain witnesses. That includes Walt Nauta, his valet who was indicted last week on charges that he moved boxes of documents at Trump’s direction and misled the FBI about it.

Nauta did not enter a plea Tuesday because he did not have a local lawyer with him.

Trump attorney Todd Blanche objected to the idea of imposing restrictions on the former president’s contact with possible witnesses, noting they include many people close to Trump, including staff and members of his protection detail.

“Many of the people he interacts with on a daily basis — including the men and women who protect him — are potential witnesses in this case,” Blanche said.

Trump, who has repeatedly insisted that he did nothing wrong, showed no emotion as he was led by law enforcement out of the courtroom through a side door.

Even for a man whose presidency and post-White House life have been defined by criminal investigations, the documents probe had long stood out both because of the volume of evidence that prosecutors had seemed to amass and the severity of the allegations.

A federal grand jury in Washington had heard testimony for months, but the Justice Department filed the case in Florida, where Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort is located and where many of the alleged acts of obstruction occurred.

Though Trump appeared Tuesday before a federal magistrate, the case has been assigned to a District Court judge he appointed, Aileen Cannon, who ruled in his favor last year in a dispute over whether an outside special master could be appointed to review the seized classified documents. A federal appeals panel ultimately overturned her ruling.

It’s unclear what defenses Trump is likely to invoke as the case moves forward. Two of his lead lawyers announced their resignation the morning after his indictment, and the notes and recollections of another attorney, M. Evan Corcoran, are cited repeatedly throughout the 49-page charging document, suggesting prosecutors envision him as a potential key witness.

In the indictment the Justice Department unsealed Friday most of the charges — 31 or the 37 felony counts — against Trump relate to the willful retention of national defense information. Other charges include conspiracy to commit obstruction and false statements.

The indictment Friday accuses Trump of illegally retaining national security documents that he took with him from the White House to Mar-a-Lago after leaving office in January 2021. The documents he stored, prosecutors say, included material on nuclear programs, defense and weapons capabilities of the U.S. and foreign governments and a Pentagon “attack plan,” prosecutors say. He is accused of showing off some to people who didn’t have security clearances to view them.

Beyond that, according to the indictment, he repeatedly sought to obstruct government efforts to recover the documents, including by directing Nauta to move boxes and also suggesting to his own lawyer that he hide or destroy documents sought by a Justice Department subpoena.

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Tucker reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Jill Colvin in New York and Terry Spencer, Kate Brumback, Curt Anderson and Joshua Goodman in Miami, contributed to this report.

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More on Donald Trump-related investigations: https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump

The condition of these cars was described as “unacceptable” by one MBTA manager in a June 7 email to CRRC MA representatives, obtained by the Herald.

A separate email goes into more detail, stating that paint repairs had not been completed. Cars were submitted for inspection with “parts sanded down to bare metal.” Multiple connectors were also seen hanging on the underframes.

“It’s been 4.5 years and over 90 cars since CRRC started producing MBTA vehicles out of Springfield,” said Rick Staples, MBTA technical project manager, in a letter to Michael Wilson, CRRC MA production manager.

“It is clear that the condition of these cars is unacceptable for inspection request, yet CRRC requested the inspection. Why does this type of process failure continue to happen?”

Jacob Finch, a mechanical engineer who is working as an integrated member of the MBTA project team for this contract, per his LinkedIn page, wrote in a separate June 7 email that the two-car train set, married pair 47, had “quite a few issues that we should not be finding on final inspections.”

The unfinished paint jobs should have been caught from a production checklist employees are presumably using, Finch said, and the multiple connectors that were hanging indicated that “clearly nobody looked at that, or somebody did unauthorized work.”

The condition of this so-called married pair had been used as a benchmark of sorts for the MBTA, in terms of whether CRRC production is “getting the cars to acceptable condition prior to final inspection,” Finch wrote.

“By my analysis, MP49 was the worst condition car since MP27 (10-plus married pairs ago, February 2022), and MP47 is on track to be worse than MP49,” Finch wrote. “I would say CRRC is failing this test.”

Staples, in his letter, tasked CRRC with providing an explanation as to why it thought these particular train cars were ready for inspection, information on who checked the condition of the cars prior to the inspection request, and what corrective action will be taken to “ensure this clear failure in CRRC’s quality process does not continue.”

A spokesperson for CRRC MA did not respond to a request for comment.

The two letters are the latest example of the T’s dissatisfaction with its Chinese contractor, the low bidder in what eventually became a roughly $870.5 million agreement for 152 new Orange Line cars and 252 Red Line cars. The initial contract, awarded in 2014, was for $565.18 million.

“The emails demonstrate the MBTA’s ongoing commitment to hold the contractor accountable for the quality of its work,” T spokesperson Joe Pesaturo said. “The concerns raised in the emails were addressed before the cars were shipped.

“These cars are highly complex pieces of equipment, and the MBTA is paying close attention to every detail and communicating with the contractor that we will not accept cars that do not meet the highest standards in quality and performance.”

To date, 90 new Orange Line cars and 12 Red Line cars have been delivered. However, only 88 new Orange cars have been “conditionally accepted,” Pesaturo said.

Delivery of new cars was halted in July 2022 for seven months to address manufacturing-related issues identified by the MBTA, and only just resumed this past February.

New cars that have been delivered have been taken out of service several times, including for a battery explosion and braking and wiring failures.

At a virtual community meeting on summer service changes Monday night, MBTA  officials said the availability of new cars has impacted subway frequency on the Orange Line, where old cars have all been replaced.

Melissa Dullea, senior director of service planning, said service on the Orange Line has been “dominated by vehicle availability.” This differs from the other subway lines like the Red, which is most impacted by speed restrictions, she said.

Improved Orange Line frequency this summer will depend on the delivery of new train cars, Dullea said. The tentative plan is to increase the number of daily trains from 10 to 11 this summer, and possibly to 12 in the fall, she said.

“We’re still waiting to hear that, so that’s not confirmed,” Dullea said.

A published summer schedule for the Orange Line, however, shows decreased weekday frequency, with trains arriving every 10-12 minutes starting July 2. Today, peak trains are scheduled to arrive every 7-10 minutes and off-peak trains are supposed to come every 8-12 minutes.

Adrian Black of Taunton, appeared in Falmouth District Court Tuesday on charges of murder and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. Prosecutors say that he stabbed Milteer Hendricks, 19, of Falmouth, on Saturday at the Gosnold Grove Apartments in Falmouth.

Falmouth Police officers responded to the East Falmouth Highway apartment complex at around 4:45 p.m. and found Hendricks bleeding from stab wounds. He was transported to Falmouth Hospital and then flown to Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston where he was pronounced deceased the next morning.

A probable cause hearing has been scheduled for Aug. 16.

BPD looking for armed robbery suspect

The Boston Police Department is looking for the public’s help in locating a suspect for an armed robbery that occurred Friday in the 200-block of Columbia Road in Dorchester, which appears to be the address of a barber shop.

The department released images of the man and described him as taller than 6 feet, of stocky build and tattooed on his left hand. At the time of the alleged crime, he was wearing a black “Just Do It” hooded sweatshirt, a black facemask, black pants and Nike Air basketball shoes. They say he fled in a sedan with a Florida license plate.

Authorities say not to approach the suspect if you see him, but to call 911 immediately. The department asks that if you have any information regarding the suspect or incident to call detectives at 617-343-4275 or submit an anonymous tip via the CrimeStoppers tip line at 1-800-494-TIPS (8477) or by texting the word “TIP” to CRIME (27463).

Children burned at Longmeadow playground

Someone poured pool-cleaner acid on three of the slides at Bliss Park Playground on Sunday morning, which caused “burn-like” injuries to at least two children and local authorities want your help in tracking the culprit down.

“I let the kids go play. I didn’t notice that there was liquid to collect at the bottom of the slide. I just assumed it was rainwater,” Ashley Thielen, the mother of the two injured children, told Western Mass News in Springfield. “I didn’t really think much of it, and then, my baby, who is one, just started crying. That was when I knew this liquid that they were around wasn’t water.”

The Fire Department on Tuesday said that “all hazardous materials have been cleaned up and removed” from the park but that “the playground area will remain fenced off out of an abundance of caution.”

The investigation determined that the park’s pump room in the basement of the pool building had been broken into in what the Fire Department determined must have been “a great deal of effort,” as the perpetrator had climbed two fences, ripped the cover off a ventilation shaft and got in through there. Authorities believe whoever did it was probably also injured by the acid.

Longmeadow authorities ask that if anyone has any information to contact the local police department tip line at 413-565-4199.

Embrace Boston is hosting an inaugural Juneteenth concert that starts at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday on the Boston Common, where the nonprofit oversees its memorial honoring Martin Luther King Jr., and his wife, Coretta Scott King.

The 1.5-hour concert features the Embrace Choir and other city groups, setting “the celebratory tone for us as we honor the national holiday and historical importance of Juneteenth.”

The federal holiday commemorates the emancipation of enslaved African Americans.

On Thursday, Embrace Boston is offering panels, keynotes, dancing and music centered around racial equity, healing, wellbeing, and joy at Massachusetts College of Art and Design, with registration beginning at 10 a.m.

Embrace Boston’s three-day celebration concludes Friday, culminating in a block party at Roxbury Community College. Grammy-nominated producer Just Blaze is headline the event, commemorating 50 years of hip hop.

The music-filled weekend continues Saturday, when the Boston Landmarks Orchestra hosts a free concert at the Salvation Army’s Kroc Community Center in Dorchester at 4 p.m. The show includes pieces from Scott Joplin, William Grant Still, Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson and more.

Remembering those who endured slavery and seized freedom on Cambridge’s Brattle Street before the American Revolution will be the focus of a Sunday afternoon outdoor community gathering put on by the National Park Service at Longfellow House-Washington’s Headquarters.

The event, beginning at 4 p.m., will feature music, poetry, speeches and a screening of Descendant, an award-winning film that highlights the descendants of the survivors from the Clotida, the last-known slave ship to arrive in the U.S.

On Juneteenth, Monday, the Boston Juneteenth Committee is hosting its 13th annual Emancipation observance at the National Center of Afro American Artists, at 4 p.m. That follows a 12 p.m. flag-raising at the Dillaway-Thomas House on Roxbury Street and 1 p.m. parade to the NCAAA.

The Congregational Library & Archives celebrates the holiday by holding a three-day exhibition of the Sacred Ally Quilt Ministry at its Boston location, 14 Beacon St. The exhibit includes nearly a dozen quilts memorializing the final words of George Floyd.

Donald Trump made a first appearance in federal court in Miami on Tuesday facing 37 counts related to the mishandling and retention of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate.

Here’s a look at the charges, the special counsel’s investigation and how Trump’s case differs from those of other politicians known to be in possession of classified documents:

WHAT HAPPENED IN COURT?

Trump’s lawyer entered a not-guilty plea for him, and the former president was released on his own recognizance without no bail. He will not have to surrender his passport or have his personal travel restricted.

He scowled at times during the 50-minute hearing, but was otherwise expressionless. He folded his arms, fiddled with a pen and crossed his fingers back and forth as he listened.

Trump leaned over to whisper to his attorneys before the hearing began but did not speak during the proceedings. He remained seated while his lawyer Todd Blanche stood up and entered the plea on his behalf. “We most certainly enter a plea of not guilty,” the lawyer told the judge.

Blanche objected to barring the former president from talking to witnesses, including his co-defendant, valet Walt Nauta, saying that they work for him and he needs to be able to communicate with them. After some back and forth, Magistrate Judge Jonathan Goodman said Trump cannot talk to them about the case except through his lawyers, but he can talk to them about their jobs.

Nauta was granted bond with the same conditions as Trump. He did not enter a plea because he does not have a local attorney. He will be arraigned June 27 before Chief Magistrate Judge Edwin Torres, but he does not have to be present.

Unlike Trump’s arraignment in New York, no photographs were taken because cameras aren’t allowed in federal court. There were, however, sketch artists, and theirs will be the only images from the actual courtroom appearance.

Security remained tight outside the building, but there were no signs of significant disruptions despite the presence of hundreds of protesters. Miami Mayor Francis Suarez said on Fox News that there were no arrests or “major incidents.”

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

After the hearing, Trump was flying back to his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club. He planned to hold a fundraiser and give a speech later Tuesday night.

Before heading to the airport, Trump’s motorcade took a detour to Versailles Restaurant in Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood, where a small crowd of supporters awaited him. Posing for photos and saying “food for everyone,” Trump commented briefly on his case.

“I think it’s going great,” he said. “We have a rigged country. We have a country that’s corrupt.”

Several religious leaders at the restaurant prayed over him for a moment.

WHAT ARE THE CHARGES?

Trump faces 37 counts related to the mishandling of classified documents, including 31 counts under an Espionage Act statute pertaining to the willful retention of national defense information. The charges also include counts of obstructing justice and making false statements, among other crimes.

Trump is accused of keeping documents related to “nuclear weaponry in the United States” and the “nuclear capabilities of a foreign country,” along with documents from White House intelligence briefings, including some that detail the military capabilities of the U.S. and other countries, according to the indictment.

Prosecutors allege Trump showed off the documents to people who did not have security clearances to review them and later tried to conceal documents from his own lawyers as they sought to comply with federal demands to find and return documents.

The top charges carry penalties of up to 20 years in prison.

HOW DID THIS CASE COME ABOUT?

Officials with the National Archives and Records Administration reached out to representatives for Trump in spring 2021 when they realized that important material from his time in office was missing.

According to the Presidential Records Act, White House documents are considered property of the U.S. government and must be preserved.

A Trump representative told the National Archives in December 2021 that presidential records had been found at Mar-a-Lago. In January 2022, the National Archives retrieved 15 boxes of documents from Trump’s Florida home, later telling Justice Department officials that they contained “a lot” of classified material.

That May, the FBI and Justice Department issued a subpoena for remaining classified documents in Trump’s possession. Investigators who went to visit the property weeks later to collect the records were given roughly three dozen documents and a sworn statement from Trump’s lawyers attesting that the requested information had been returned.

But that assertion turned out to be false. With a search warrant, federal officials returned to Mar-a-Lago in August 2022 and seized more than 33 boxes and containers totaling 11,000 documents from a storage room and an office, including 100 classified documents.

In all, roughly 300 documents with classification markings — including some at the top secret level — have been recovered from Trump since he left office in January 2021.

DIDN’T PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN AND FORMER VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE HAVE CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS, TOO?

Yes, but the circumstances of their cases are vastly different from those involving Trump.

After classified documents were found at Biden’s think tank and Pence’s Indiana home, their lawyers notified authorities and quickly arranged for them to be handed over. They also authorized other searches by federal authorities to search for additional documents.

There is no indication either was aware of the existence of the records before they were found, and no evidence has so far emerged that Biden or Pence sought to conceal the discoveries. That’s important because the Justice Department historically looks for willfulness in deciding whether to bring criminal charges.

A special counsel was appointed earlier this year to probe how classified materials ended up at Biden’s Delaware home and former office. But even if the Justice Department were to find Biden’s case prosecutable on the evidence, its Office of Legal Counsel has concluded that a president is immune from prosecution during his time in office.

As for Pence, the Justice Department informed his legal team earlier this month that it would not be pursuing criminal charges against him over his handling of the documents.

WHAT ABOUT HILLARY CLINTON?

In claiming that Trump is the target of a politically motivated prosecution, some fellow Republicans have cited the Justice Department’s decision in 2016 not to bring charges against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Trump’s Democratic opponent in that year’s presidential race, over her handling of classified information.

Clinton relied on a private email system for the sake of convenience during her time as the Obama administration’s top diplomat. That decision came back to haunt her when, in 2015, the intelligence agencies’ internal watchdog alerted the FBI to the presence of potentially hundreds of emails containing classified information.

FBI investigators would ultimately conclude that Clinton sent and received emails containing classified information on that unclassified system, including information classified at the top secret level. Of the roughly 30,000 emails turned over by Clinton’s representatives, the FBI has said, 110 emails in 52 email chains were found to have classified information, including some top secret.

After a roughly yearlong inquiry, the FBI closed the investigation in July 2016, finding that Clinton did not intend to break the law. The bureau reopened the inquiry months later, 11 days before the presidential election, after discovering a new batch of emails. After reviewing those communications, the FBI again opted against recommending charges.

At the time, then-FBI Director James Comey condemned Clinton’s email practices as “extremely careless,” but noted that there was no evidence that Clinton had violated factors including efforts to obstruct justice, willful mishandling of classified documents and indications of disloyalty to the U.S.

DOES A FEDERAL INDICTMENT PREVENT TRUMP FROM RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT?

No. Neither the charges nor a conviction would prevent Trump from running for or winning the presidency in 2024.

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Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP

The clinic is a refuge from the streets and an oasis of faith for those struggling. It’s also a place where women have access to a doctor, a nurse practitioner, a registered nurse and a therapist. The women can also come to take a shower, get fresh clothes and snacks and take a nap.

And a makeover Tuesday.

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WHITE HOUSE TRYING ITS BEST TO STAY MUM ON CASE AGAINST TRUMP

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre is refusing to give straight answers to questions about the federal case against Trump.

Jean-Pierre was asked Tuesday if President Joe Biden agrees with his wife, first lady Jill Biden, who has already said that it was a “little shocking” that Trump maintained large support from the Republican Party.

“I’m just not going to comment on anything that’s related to the indictment,” Jean-Pierre responded.

The president’s chief spokesman also dodged a question about whether Biden would ever consider pardoning Trump. “No comment,” Jean-Pierre said, although she laughed slightly.

It is all part of the White House’s policy to not comment on ongoing criminal matters. In the meantime, they’ve only invoked Biden’s predecessor at strategic points.

Jean-Pierre did stress Tuesday that Biden was categorically not involved in any decision by the Justice Department to indict Trump and that he is focusing on restoring integrity to the department.

“That is why we have been very, very consistent,” Jean-Pierre said. “When it comes to criminal cases, we just do not comment.”

At a reception honoring U.S. State Department chiefs of mission, Biden declined to comment on Trump’s arrest when asked by reporters.

During his formal remarks at that event, Biden referred to simultaneous interpretation during his lengthy meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping and then quipped: “I turned all my notes in.”

Trump was known to have confiscated an interpreter’s notes after a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. After prompting hearty laughter from the crowd, Biden insisted he was not talking about Trump.

“That’s not a reference to the president, the former president,” Biden said. “Look, no. It really isn’t.”

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What to know:

— What to expect when Trump appears in federal court to face charges

— Journalists so far outnumber protesters outside courthouse where Trump will appear

— A timeline of events leading to Trump’s indictment in the classified documents case

— Trump’s GOP defenders in Congress leap into action after months of preparation

— Who is Walt Nauta, the latest Trump loyalist to face potential jail time?

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SUPPORTERS GATHER AT NEW JERSEY GOLF CLUB

Trump’s supporters have begun to arrive at his Bedminster, New Jersey golf club, where he’s planning to deliver remarks responding to the charges after returning from his arraignment Tuesday night.

Dozens of white wedding chairs have been set up on the club’s stone patio before a stage decorated with American flags and red, white and blue bunting.

Guests as Trump’s Bedminster event include former Department of Justice official Kash Patel, Bernie Kerik and MyPillow conspiracist Mike Lindell.

Lindell says he’s here “to support our real president, Donald Trump.” He called on Ron DeSantis to drop out of the presidential race and endorse Trump tomorrow.

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TRUMP GOES FROM COURT TO CUBAN EATERY

Trump’s first stop after court was the iconic Versailles restaurant and bakery in the Little Havana neighborhood.

Inside, a group of people greeted him and laid hands on him in prayer. Those in the room also sang “Happy Birthday” to Trump, who will turn 77 Wednesday.

“Some birthday. Some birthday,” he said. “We’ve got a government that is out of control.”

Versailles is a landmark that is a required stop for politicians visiting Miami. Cuban exiles gathered there to celebrate Fidel Castro’s death in 2016.

Trump’s aide and co-defendant, Walt Nauta, joined him at the eatery, helping people take selfies with Trump.

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SPECIAL COUNSEL SEES TRUMP IN COURT

The special counsel who brought charges against Trump attended the former president’s first court appearance in person.

Jack Smith sat in the first row behind the prosecution’s table at Tuesday’s hearing in Miami federal court, where Trump pleaded not guilty to charges that he hoarded classified documents.

Smith spoke briefly Friday about the indictment but has otherwise remained out of public view.

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TRUMP RELEASED WITHOUT BOND

Trump was released without having to pay a bond after pleading not guilty Tuesday to federal charges that he hoarded classified documents and refused government demands to give them back.

Trump leaned over to whisper to his attorneys before the hearing began in a federal courtroom in Miami but did not speak during the proceedings.

He remained seated while lawyer Todd Blanche stood up and entered the plea on his behalf. “We most certainly enter a plea of not guilty,” he told the judge.

Trump scowled at times during the 50-minute hearing but was otherwise expressionless. He also crossed his arms, fiddled with a pen and crossed his fingers back and forth as he listened.

Blanche objected to barring the former president from talking to witnesses including Nauta, a Navy veteran who fetched Trump’s Diet Cokes as his valet at the White House before joining him as a personal aide at Mar-a-Lago. Blanche said that they work for Trump and he needs to be able to communicate with them.

After some back and forth, Magistrate Judge Jonathan Goodman said Trump cannot talk to them about the case except through his lawyers, but he can talk to them about their jobs.

“There will be no communication about the case with fact witnesses who are on a list provided by the government,” Goodman said.

Nauta, who was indicted alongside the former president, did not enter a plea because he does not have a local attorney. He will be arraigned June 27 before Chief Magistrate Judge Edwin Torres, but he does not have to be present.

The former president will not have to surrender his passport or restrict his personal travel. Trump is expected to return later Tuesday to New Jersey, where he’s scheduled a press event to publicly respond to the charges.

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TRUMP PLEADS NOT GUILTY TO FEDERAL CHARGES

Trump has pleaded not guilty to federal charges alleging that he hoarded classified documents detailing sensitive military secrets and schemed to thwart government efforts to get them back.

Trump appeared before a judge in Miami’s federal courthouse Tuesday in a stunning moment in American history days after he became the first former president charged with federal crimes.

Trump aide Walt Nauta, who was indicted alongside the former president, did not enter a plea because he does not have a local attorney. He will be arraigned June 27 before Chief Magistrate Judge Edwin Torres, but he does not have to be present.

Authorities say Trump schemed and lied to block the government from recovering the documents concerning nuclear programs and other sensitive military secrets stored at his Mar-a-Lago estate.

It’s the second criminal case Trump is facing as he seeks to reclaim the White House in 2024. He’s also accused in New York state court of falsifying business records related to hush-money payments made during the 2016 campaign.

Trump has denied wrongdoing in both cases and slammed the prosecutions as politically motivated. He’s expected to return later Tuesday to New Jersey, where he’s scheduled a press event to publicly respond to the charges.

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TRUMP’S INITIAL APPEARANCE UNDERWAY

Trump’s initial court appearance is underway on charges that he mishandled classified documents.

Trump appeared Tuesday in Miami federal court with aide Walt Nauta, who is charged as a co-conspirator.

Authorities say Trump schemed and lied to block the government from recovering the documents concerning nuclear programs and other sensitive military secrets stored at his Mar-a-Lago estate.

It’s the second criminal case Trump is facing as he seeks to reclaim the White House in 2024. He’s also accused in New York state court of falsifying business records related to hush-money payments made during the 2016 campaign.

Trump has denied wrongdoing in both cases and slammed the prosecutions as politically motivated. He’s expected to return later Tuesday to New Jersey, where he’s scheduled a press event to publicly respond to the charges.

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TRUMP RODE TO COURT WITH HIS SON ERIC

Trump rode to court with his son Eric, who accompanied the motorcade from the former president’s Doral resort to the federal courthouse in Miami.

CNN aired footage of Trump walking to a line of SUVs with his son by his side while someone yelled, “Let’s go Trump!”

The former president could be seen stopping and waving at supporters, as well as chatting with staff members. Eric Trump appeared to clap his father on the back just before he climbed in a vehicle.

As he rode to court, Trump posted on his social media site that the case against him was a “witch hunt.”

Later, outside the courthouse Trump lawyer Alina Habba said, “Today is not about President Donald J. Trump, who is defiant.”

“It is not about the Republican Party, it is not about the 2024 election,” Habba added. “It is about the destruction of longstanding principles that have set this country apart.”

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TRUMP, AIDE BOOKED AT COURTHOUSE

Trump and an aide charged as a co-conspirator have gone through the formal booking process at the Miami federal courthouse.

That’s according to the U.S. Marshals Service, which said Trump and Walt Nauta had been booked shortly after they arrived Tuesday afternoon.

Both men are expected to appear at the defense table shortly on charges that they wrongly held onto classified documents.

The two men were seen arriving at court together.

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TRUMP ARRIVES AT MIAMI COURTHOUSE FOR HISTORIC APPEARANCE

Trump has arrived at the federal courthouse in Miami to formally surrender to authorities ahead of his court appearance on charges accusing him of illegally hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

Trump’s motorcade arrived Tuesday afternoon at the courthouse shortly before he’s scheduled to appear before a magistrate judge, a stunning moment in American history days after he became the first former president charged with federal crimes.

It’s the second criminal case Trump is facing as he seeks to reclaim the White House in 2024. He’s also accused in New York state court of falsifying business records related to hush-money payments made during the 2016 campaign.

Trump has denied any wrongdoing, saying he’s being unfairly targeted by political opponents who want to hurt his campaign. After his court appearance, Trump will return to New Jersey, where he’s expected to hold a press event to publicly respond to the charges.

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TRUMP HEADS TO MIAMI COURTHOUSE FOR APPEARANCE

Trump is on his way to the federal courthouse in Miami to face dozens of charges that he illegally hoarded classified documents.

Trump departed his Doral golf course Tuesday afternoon en route to the courthouse, where he is expected to surrender to federal authorities and face a judge.

The former president is not expected to have his mugshot taken but will have his digital fingerprints taken.

Trump was indicted last week on 37 felony charges accusing him of willfully retaining classified documents and obstructing justice.

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden are kicking off the Juneteenth holiday early by celebrating Black Excellence at The White House on Tuesday night.

A concert scheduled to stream live on YouTube at 7 p.m. ET will feature performances and appearances by EGOT winner Jennifer Hudson, six-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald, hip-hop superstar Method Man, Grammy winner Ledisi and gospel group Maverick City Music.

Also slated to appear on the South Lawn are Emmy Award winner Colman Domingo, the Broadway Inspirational Voices choir, the Step Afrika! dance troupe and marching bands from historically black colleges and universities in Maryland and Tennessee.

Juneteenth — also known as Emancipation Day — honors June 19, 1865, when federal troops brought the news of freedom to a group of enslaved Black people in Galveston, Texas, more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.

Juneteenth was officially made a Texas state holiday on Jan. 1, 1980. However, it wasn’t recognized as a federal holiday until 2021 when Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act, alongside Vice President Kamala Harris — the first woman, Asian-American and Black person to serve as VP.

“Throughout history, Juneteenth has been known by many names: Jubilee Day, Freedom Day, Liberation Day, Emancipation Day, and today, a national holiday,” Harris said during the White House East Room signing ceremony.

“We are gathered here in a house built by enslaved people. We are footsteps away from where President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation,” she continued. “We have come far, and we have far to go. But today is a day of celebration. It is not only a day of pride. It’s also a day for us to reaffirm and rededicate ourselves to action.”

All federal buildings, banks and legitimate businesses honor their employees and mark Juneteenth as a paid holiday.

Donald Trump made an first appearance in federal court in Miami on Tuesday facing 37 counts related to the mishandling and retention of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate.

Here’s a look at the charges, the special counsel’s investigation and how Trump’s case differs from those of other politicians known to be in possession of classified documents:

What happened in court?

Trump’s lawyer entered a not-guilty plea for him, and the former president was released on his own recognizance without having to pay bond. He will not have to surrender his passport or have his personal travel restricted.

He scowled at times during the 50-minute hearing, but was otherwise expressionless. He also crossed his arms, fiddled with a pen and crossed his fingers back and forth as he listened.

Trump leaned over to whisper to his attorneys before the hearing began but did not speak during the proceedings. He remained seated while his lawyer Todd Blanche stood up and entered the plea on his behalf. “We most certainly enter a plea of not guilty,” he told the judge.

Blanche objected to barring the former president from talking to witnesses, including his co-defendant, valet Walt Nauta, saying that they work for him and he needs to be able to communicate with them. After some back and forth, Magistrate Judge Jonathan Goodman said Trump cannot talk to them about the case except through his lawyers, but he can talk to them about their jobs.

Nauta was granted bond with the same conditions as Trump. He did not enter a plea because he does not have a local attorney. He will be arraigned June 27 before Chief Magistrate Judge Edwin Torres, but he does not have to be present.

Unlike Trump’s arraignment in New York, no photographs were taken because cameras aren’t allowed in federal court. There were, however, sketch artists, and theirs will be the only images from the actual courtroom appearance.

Security remained tight outside the building, but there were no signs of significant disruptions despite the presence of hundreds of protesters. Miami Mayor Francis Suarez said on Fox News that there were no arrests or “major incidents.”

What happens next?

After the hearing, Trump is flying back to his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club. He plans to hold a fundraiser and give a speech later Tuesday night.

Before heading to the airport, Trump’s motorcade took a detour to Versailles Restaurant in Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood, where a small crowd of supporters awaited him. Posing for photos and saying “food for everyone,” Trump commented briefly on his case.

“I think it’s going great,” he said. “We have a rigged country. We have a country that’s corrupt.”

Several religious leaders at the restaurant prayed over him for a moment.

What are the charges?

Trump faces 37 counts related to the mishandling of classified documents, including 31 counts under an Espionage Act statute pertaining to the willful retention of national defense information. The charges also include counts of obstructing justice and making false statements, among other crimes.

Trump is accused of keeping documents related to “nuclear weaponry in the United States” and the “nuclear capabilities of a foreign country,” along with documents from White House intelligence briefings, including some that detail the military capabilities of the U.S. and other countries, according to the indictment.

Prosecutors allege Trump showed off the documents to people who did not have security clearances to review them and later tried to conceal documents from his own lawyers as they sought to comply with federal demands to find and return documents.

The top charges carry penalties of up to 20 years in prison.

How did this case come about?

Officials with the National Archives and Records Administration reached out to representatives for Trump in spring 2021 when they realized that important material from his time in office was missing.

According to the Presidential Records Act, White House documents are considered property of the U.S. government and must be preserved.

A Trump representative told the National Archives in December 2021 that presidential records had been found at Mar-a-Lago. In January 2022, the National Archives retrieved 15 boxes of documents from Trump’s Florida home, later telling Justice Department officials that they contained “a lot” of classified material.

That May, the FBI and Justice Department issued a subpoena for remaining classified documents in Trump’s possession. Investigators who went to visit the property weeks later to collect the records were given roughly three dozen documents and a sworn statement from Trump’s lawyers attesting that the requested information had been returned.

But that assertion turned out to be false. With a search warrant, federal officials returned to Mar-a-Lago in August 2022 and seized more than 33 boxes and containers totaling 11,000 documents from a storage room and an office, including 100 classified documents.

In all, roughly 300 documents with classification markings — including some at the top secret level — have been recovered from Trump since he left office in January 2021.

Didn’t President Joe Biden and former Vice President Mike Pence have classified documents, too?

Yes, but the circumstances of their cases are vastly different from those involving Trump.

After classified documents were found at Biden’s think tank and Pence’s Indiana home, their lawyers notified authorities and quickly arranged for them to be handed over. They also authorized other searches by federal authorities to search for additional documents.

There is no indication either was aware of the existence of the records before they were found, and no evidence has so far emerged that Biden or Pence sought to conceal the discoveries. That’s important because the Justice Department historically looks for willfulness in deciding whether to bring criminal charges.

A special counsel was appointed earlier this year to probe how classified materials ended up at Biden’s Delaware home and former office. But even if the Justice Department were to find Biden’s case prosecutable on the evidence, its Office of Legal Counsel has concluded that a president is immune from prosecution during his time in office.

As for Pence, the Justice Department informed his legal team earlier this month that it would not be pursuing criminal charges against him over his handling of the documents.

What about Hillary Clinton?

In claiming that Trump is the target of a politically motivated prosecution, some fellow Republicans have cited the Justice Department’s decision in 2016 not to bring charges against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Trump’s Democratic opponent in that year’s presidential race, over her handling of classified information.

Clinton relied on a private email system for the sake of convenience during her time as the Obama administration’s top diplomat. That decision came back to haunt her when, in 2015, the intelligence agencies’ internal watchdog alerted the FBI to the presence of potentially hundreds of emails containing classified information.

FBI investigators would ultimately conclude that Clinton sent and received emails containing classified information on that unclassified system, including information classified at the top secret level. Of the roughly 30,000 emails turned over by Clinton’s representatives, the FBI has said, 110 emails in 52 email chains were found to have classified information, including some top secret.

After a roughly yearlong inquiry, the FBI closed the investigation in July 2016, finding that Clinton did not intend to break the law. The bureau reopened the inquiry months later, 11 days before the presidential election, after discovering a new batch of emails. After reviewing those communications, the FBI again opted against recommending charges.

At the time, then-FBI Director James Comey condemned Clinton’s email practices as “extremely careless,” but noted that there was no evidence that Clinton had violated factors including efforts to obstruct justice, willful mishandling of classified documents and indications of disloyalty to the U.S.

Does a federal indictment prevent Trump from running for president?

No. Neither the charges nor a conviction would prevent Trump from running for or winning the presidency in 2024.

The company said on its website that the root cause of the issue was tied to a function called AWS Lambda, which lets customers run code for different types of applications.

Amazon said it was experiencing error rates for multiple AWS services in an availability zone based in Northern Virginia. Patrick Neighorn, a company spokesperson, declined to provide additional details about the outage.

Instant Pot maker files for bankruptcy

The maker of Pyrex glassware and Instant Pot has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as the company that was already struggling is stung by inflation, with Americans pulling back on spending.

According to a filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas this week, Instant Brands, based outside of Chicago, has more than $500 million in both assets and liabilities.

Inflation has buffeted consumers after a pandemic-fueled binge on goods for the home, but spending has also moved elsewhere as people are again able to travel, or go to restaurants and shows.

And Instant Pots, which became a must-have gadget several years ago, have been disappearing from kitchens.

Sales of “electronic multicooker devices,” most of which are Instant Pots, reached $758 million in 2020, the start of the pandemic. Sales had plunged 50% by last year, to $344 million.

Since taking on the role of White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre has become known for frequently dodging questions by citing the Hatch Act. The law bars civil servants from politicking during their day jobs, and Jean-Pierre uses it to deflect reporters’ questions involving campaigns.

But apparently she wasn’t careful enough. The Office of Special Counsel, a government agency that enforces the Hatch Act, said in a recent letter that Jean-Pierre violated the law before last year’s midterm elections.

Her offense: Making frequent references to “MAGA Republicans” during White House briefings.

According to a letter from the Office of Special Counsel, Jean-Pierre “made those references to generate opposition to Republican candidates” and “accordingly, making the references constituted political activity.”

The letter was posted online by The Washington Post. It was first reported by NBC News.

Penalties for Hatch Act violations are uncommon, and the office did not recommend any fines or other punishments for Jean-Pierre.

Violations were much more common under President Donald Trump. The Office of Special Counsel sent an “unprecedented” 15 warning letters to senior Trump administration officials about running afoul of the Hatch Act, and it even recommended the firing of top adviser Kellyanne Conway.

Jean-Pierre faced scrutiny after a conservative organization called Protect the Public’s Trust filed a complaint.

The organization said Jean-Pierre was “disparaging President Biden’s political opponents as ‘mega MAGA Republican officials who don’t believe in the law.’”
Jean-Pierre said the White House counsel’s office was reviewing the letter, adding that “we do everything we can” to comply with the law and take it “very seriously.”

“At the time, I was given the sign off to use that terminology,” she said. Jean-Pierre said the term was used “in the context of talking about their policies, in talking about their values.”

She noted that some reporters often express “friendly consternation” about how often she cites the Hatch Act, and she suggested that she was confused by the violation.

After all, she said, Trump’s White House used the phrase “MAGA” about 2,000 times to describe his administration’s policies.

“This morning, a student engaged in a physical assault of a staff member which multiple students
witnessed,” Interim Head of School Stephanie Sibley began the letter. “The staff member sustained injuries as a result of the incident.”

Boston Police confirmed officers responded to a report of a disturbed person at the Dorchester school at 11:52 a.m., and a Boston EMS spokesperson said they responded to the school “with no associated transports” Tuesday morning.

A BPS spokesperson said the staff member was injured after attempting to deescalate an altercation between two students.

Both school staff and BPS safety services “quickly assisted with de-escalating the incident,” Sibley said. The staff member was taken to the school nurse before being transported to the hospital.

Sibley said the student will face disciplinary action “in accordance with the BPS Code of Conduct,” which states that a student may be suspended for “assault and battery on any person.”

The student may also face disciplinary action from law enforcement, Sibley said, and BPS Safety Services is assisting Boston Police with a follow up on the investigation.

“We are sharing this important update with you as part of our commitment to open communication and transparency,” Sibley wrote. “Please know the safety and security of all students and staff is one of our most important priorities.”

The assault follows a high-profile incident at the Henderson School in March in which several students were hospitalized after consuming edibles and the indictment of a female student in August 2022 for an assault on the Henderson principal and staff member the year prior.

Carlson was ousted from Fox in late April, less than a week after Fox agreed to pay Dominion Voting Systems nearly $800 million to settle an explosive defamation case. The network provided no explanation for the firing, but a wave of reports on damaging text messages and other statements Carlson made during his time at Fox have since piled up.

Since leaving Fox, Carlson kicked off a “Tucker on Twitter” series — arguing that Twitter was “the only” major remaining platform that allows free speech as he denounced news media. The series, which has published two episodes so far, has appeared to escalate contract tensions between Carlson and Fox.

Fox has demanded Carlson stop posting videos to Twitter, The New York Times also reported Monday — as the network’s lawyers accuse Carlson of violating his contract, which runs until early 2025 and restricts his ability to appear on other media outlets. Meanwhile, Carlson’s lawyers have said the network breached the contract first.

A spokesperson for Fox News Media and attorneys representing Carlson, Bryan Freedman and Harmeet Dhillon, did not immediately return requests for comments on Tuesday.

“Doubling down on the most catastrophic programming decision in the history of the cable news industry, Fox is now demanding that Tucker Carlson be silent until after the 2024 election,”

Dhillon said in a statement sent to Axios and the Times. “Tucker will not be silenced by anyone.”

Before his April firing, Carlson was Fox’s top-rated host. His stew of grievances and political theories grew to define the network over recent years and made him an influential, and widely controversial, force in GOP politics.

Carlson has previously come under fire for defending a white-supremacist theory that claims white people are being “replaced” by people of color, as well as spreading misinformation about issues ranging from the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol to Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Both the consumer price index and the core CPI — which excludes food and energy — decelerated on an annual basis, highlighting inflation’s descent since peaking last year. At 4%, year-over-year inflation is now at its lowest level since March 2021, according to data out Tuesday from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

That said, a key gauge of prices closely watched by the Fed continued to rise at a concerning pace. The core CPI rose 0.4% for a third straight month, in line with estimates. The overall CPI, however, increased a smaller 0.1%, aided by lower gasoline prices.

The outsize increases in core prices were driven mainly by rising rents and by another spike in used car prices. Real-time data suggests that increases in those categories will soon ease and help cool inflation.

“Outside of those two components, the trend has become very encouraging,” Stephen Juneau, an economist at Bank of America, said in a research note. “We should continue to see improvement in core” prices.

The inflation figures come just a day before the Fed is set to make a decision on whether to raise interest rates for an 11th-straight meeting or to pause and further assess economic conditions.

Several policymakers, including Chair Jerome Powell, have signaled they prefer to skip a rate hike at the June 13-14 meeting, while still leaving the door open to future tightening if needed.

Economists generally agree the central bank will leave rates unchanged Wednesday, but the next CPI report due in July will play a key role in determining what the Fed will do at that month’s meeting.

“This is a pretty good print in terms of signaling that we are likely to see the core CPI soften materially starting next month,” Omair Sharif, president of Inflation Insights LLC, said in a note.

“The way things are going now, I suspect we’ll see a soft core that will tamp down odds of a July hike.”

Excluding housing and energy, service prices climbed 0.2% from a month earlier, according to Bloomberg calculations, which is more consistent with pre-pandemic trends. The metric was up 4.6% from a year earlier, extending a decline since peaking late last year.

The gasoline price index fell 5.6%. Grocery prices edged higher after falling for two straight months, while dining out got more expensive.

Fed officials will want to see expected price declines in rents and used cars actually materialize before they extend any pause in rate increases.

“There’s progress, it’s encouraging,” said Eric Winograd, chief economist at asset manager AllianceBernstein. “I think it’s enough for the Fed to pause tomorrow….But I don’t think it is enough that we can sound the all-clear.”

Healey said the new bank will compete for private sector dollars and federal funds available under the Inflation Reduction Act to finance building retrofits that help the state meet “long-term climate objectives” and new construction of decarbonized buildings.”

At an event inside the State House, Healey said the bank is the first of its kind in the nation because of its focus on affordable housing. Residents in the affordable housing market bear a disproportionate burden in energy costs and climate impacts, Healey said.

“The climate bank is the financial engine for cutting emissions and improving health equity and financial security in our communities,” Healey said. “It’s going to unlock and advance a wide range of rebuilding and renovation projects. And it’s going to do that by investing in affordable homes all across the state.”

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said more than 70% of emissions in the city come from buildings, many of them historic but much older homes that are in need of energy retrofits.

“This bank, therefore, will play a crucial role in decreasing the overall cost of living in Boston, decarbonizing affordable housing, sharing the social and economic benefits of the green economy with more of our communities and advancing environmental justice for our EJ communities, those who are in greatest need of services,” she said.

Healey said funding from the new bank will head to developers and other organizations “very, very soon.”

The bank will “accelerate” building decarbonization projects by lending directly to building owners and “by attracting and de-risking lending and investment by private lenders through innovative finance products,” Healey said in a statement.

“Over time, the bank will diversify investments to include other decarbonization measures that benefit communities,” the administration said in a statement.

And to boil down the point of the bank, Healey likened its purpose to Hamburger Helper.

“It really enhances everything and it leverages what we’re able to do,” she said.

The company said on its website that the root cause of the issue was tied to a service called AWS Lambda, which lets customers run code for different types of applications.

Roughly two hours after customers began experiencing errors, the company posted on its AWS status page that many of the affected AWS services were “fully recovered” and it was continuing to recover the rest. Soon after 6:30 pm E.T., the company announced all AWS services were operating normally.

Amazon said it had experienced multiple error rates for AWS services in the Northern Virginia region where it clusters data centers. The company said customers may be dealing with authentication or sign-in errors when using some AWS services, and experiencing challenges when attempting to connect with AWS Support. The issue with Lambda also indirectly affected other AWS services.

Patrick Neighorn, a company spokesperson, declined to provide additional details about the outage.

AWS is the market leader in the cloud arena, and its customers include some of the world’s biggest businesses and organizations, such as Netflix, Coca-Cola and government agencies.

Tuesday’s outage was first confirmed shortly after 3 p.m. ET. and it was unclear how widespread the problem extended. But many companies, including news organizations such as The Verge and Penn Live, said they were experiencing issues. The Associated Press was also hampered by the outage, unable to operate their sites amid breaking news that former President Donald Trump was appearing in court in Miami.

Morgan Durrant, a spokesperson for Delta Air Lines, said the company experienced “some slowing of inbound calls for some minutes” on Tuesday afternoon. But he said the outage did not impact bookings, flights or other airport operations.

The episode on Tuesday is reminiscent of a much longer AWS outage in December 2021, which affected a host of U.S. companies for more than five hours.

The outage comes as Amazon is holding a two-day security conference in Anaheim, California to tout its cloud offerings to its clients or other companies that might be interested in storing their data on its vast network of servers around the world. Companies have been cutting back their spending on the unit, causing growth to slow during the most recent quarter.

A large presence of local, state and federal authorities have responded to the area of Quincy Avenue and Libby Street, on the Brockton Hospital campus.

Brockton and Massachusetts State Police received a call around noon of a man “trapped by a Bobcat skid steer loader,” Plymouth County District Attorney Tim Cruz told reporters at about 3:45 p.m.

Authorities said the man, identified as Roger Porter of East Sandwich, was pronounced dead on scene.

Cruz made clear Porter was not driving the construction vehicle when the accident took place, but rather, the 63-year-old was “leveling out gravel as it was being put into a pit.”

WCVB reported earlier Tuesday afternoon its news helicopter had flown over Brockton Hospital, finding a Bobcat construction vehicle had fallen over into a hole next to the facility’s foundation.

Massachusetts State Police confirmed a piece of construction equipment had struck the victim, resulting in his death.

The state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner arrived at the hospital around 3:15 p.m. Authorities have alerted the victim’s family, according to a statement from Signature Healthcare, which runs Brockton Hospital.

“It is with most profound sadness that we are reporting a fatal injury that occurred on the campus of Signature Healthcare Brockton Hospital today around noon,” Signature’s statement reads. “A construction contractor was working onsite at Brockton Hospital when an accident occurred, killing the worker.”

LMA Services Company, LLC is receiving an inspection from the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration following the accident.

Brockton Hospital has been closed since early February following a 10-alarm transformer fire which drew the largest emergency response in city history. That incident displaced 176 patients, with 138 being taken for treatment at nearby health facilities.

Officials had hoped the hospital would reopen by mid May, a best case scenario. However, the main facility remains shuttered, while Signature Healthcare’s outlying centers are open for care.

Tuesday’s accident comes days after a construction worker was seriously injured at Norwood Hospital, which is being rebuilt in the wake of a flash flood that permanently shut down the 215-bed facility in June 2020.

The worker in that incident reportedly fell from the top of the second floor, according to Norwood Fire Department.

Publisher Alfred A. Knopf, a Penguin Random House imprint, announced that McCarthy died of natural causes at his home in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

“For 60 years, he demonstrated an unwavering dedication to his craft, and to exploring the infinite possibilities and power of the written word,” Penguin Random House CEO Nihar Malaviya said in a statement. “Millions of readers around the world embraced his characters, his mythic themes, and the intimate emotional truths he laid bare on every page, in brilliant novels that will remain both timely and timeless, for generations to come.”

McCarthy, raised in Knoxville, Tennessee, was compared to William Faulkner for his expansive, Old Testament style and rural settings. McCarthy’s themes, like Faulkner’s, often were bleak and violent and dramatized how the past overwhelmed the present. Across stark and forbidding landscapes and rundown border communities, he placed drifters, thieves, prostitutes and old, broken men, all unable to escape fates determined for them well before they were born. As the doomed John Grady Cole of McCarthy’s celebrated “Border” trilogy would learn, dreams of a better life were only dreams, and falling in love an act of folly.

“Every man’s death is a standing in for every other,” McCarthy wrote in “Cities of the Plain,” the trilogy’s final book. “And since death comes to all there is no way to abate the fear of it except to love that man who stands for us.”

McCarthy’s own story was one of belated, and continuing, achievement and popularity. Little known to the public at age 60, he would become one of the country’s most honored and successful writers despite rarely talking to the press. He broke through commercially in 1992 with “All the Pretty Horses” and over the next 15 years won the National Book Award and the Pulitzer, was a guest on Oprah Winfrey’s show and saw his novel “No Country for Old Men” adapted by the Coen brothers into an Oscar-winning movie. Fans of the Coens would discover that the film’s terse, absurdist dialogue, so characteristic of the brothers’ work, was lifted straight from the novel.

“The Road,” his stark tale of a father and son who roam a ravaged landscape, brought him his widest audience and highest acclaim. It won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for fiction and was selected by Winfrey for her book club. In his Winfrey interview, McCarthy said that while typically he didn’t know what generates the ideas for his books, he could trace “The Road” to a trip he took with his young son to El Paso, Texas, early in the decade. Standing at the window of a hotel in the middle of the night as his son slept nearby, he started to imagine what El Paso might look like 50 or 100 years in the future.

“I just had this image of these fires up on the hill … and I thought a lot about my little boy,” he said.

He told Winfrey he didn’t care how many people read “The Road.”

“You would like for the people that would appreciate the book to read it. But, as far as many, many people reading it, so what?” he said.

McCarthy dedicated the book to his son, John Francis, and said having a child as an older man “forces the world on you, and I think it’s a good thing.” The Pulitzer committee called his book “the profoundly moving story of a journey.”

“It boldly imagines a future in which no hope remains, but in which the father and his son, ‘each the other’s world entire,’ are sustained by love,” the citation read in part. “Awesome in the totality of its vision, it is an unflinching meditation on the worst and the best that we are capable of: ultimate destructiveness, desperate tenacity, and the tenderness that keeps two people alive in the face of total devastation.”

After “The Road,” little was heard from McCarthy over the next 15 years and his career was presumed over. But in 2022, Knopf made the startling announcement that it would release a pair of connected novels he had referred to in the past: “The Passenger” and “Stella Maris,” narratives about a brother and sister, mutually obsessed siblings, and the legacy of their father, a physicist who had worked on atomic technology. “Stella Maris” was notable, in part, because it centered on a female character, an acknowledged weakness of McCarthy’s.

“I don’t pretend to understand women,” he told Winfrey.

His first novel, “The Orchard Keeper” — written in Chicago while he was working as an auto mechanic — was published by Random House in 1965. His editor was Albert Erskine, Faulkner’s longtime editor.

Other novels include “Outer Dark,” published in 1968; “Child of God” in 1973; and “Suttree” in 1979. The violent “Blood Meridian,” about a group of bounty hunters along the Texas-Mexico border murdering Indians for their scalps, was published in 1985.

His “Border Trilogy” books were set in the Southwest along the border with Mexico: “All the Pretty Horses” (1992) — a National Book Award winner that was turned into a feature film; “The Crossing” (1994), and “Cities of the Plain” (1998).

McCarthy said he was always lucky. He recalled living in a shack in Tennessee and running out of toothpaste, then going out and finding a toothpaste sample in the mailbox.

“That’s the way my life has been. Just when things were really, really bleak, something would happen,” said McCarthy, who won a MacArthur Fellowship — one of the so-called “genius grants” — in 1981.

In 2009, Christie’s auction house sold the Olivetti typewriter he used while writing such novels as “The Road” and “No Country for Old Men” for $254,500. McCarthy, who bought the Olivetti for $50 in 1958 and used it until 2009, donated it so the proceeds could be used to benefit the Santa Fe Institute, a nonprofit interdisciplinary scientific research community. He once said he didn’t know any writers and preferred to hang out with scientists.

The Southwestern Writers Collection at Texas State University-San Marcos purchased his archives in 2008, including correspondence, notes, drafts, proofs of 11 novels, a draft of an unfinished novel and materials related to a play and four screenplays.

McCarthy attended the University of Tennessee for a year before joining the Air Force in 1953. He returned to the school from 1957 to 1959, but left before graduating. As an adult, he lived around the Great Smoky Mountains before moving West in the late 1970s, eventually settling in Santa Fe.

His Knoxville boyhood home, long abandoned and overgrown, was destroyed by fire in 2009.

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Retired AP reporter Sue Major Holmes in New Mexico was the primary writer of this obituary. AP National Writer Hillel Italie reported from New York.

Donald Trump became the first former president to face a judge on federal charges as he pleaded not guilty in a Miami courtroom Tuesday to dozens of felony counts accusing him of hoarding classified documents and refusing government demands to give them back.

The history-making court date, centered on charges that Trump mishandled government secrets that as commander-in-chief he was entrusted to protect, kickstarts a legal process that could unfold at the height of the 2024 presidential campaign and carry profound consequences not only for his political future but also for his own personal liberty.

Trump approached his arraignment with characteristic bravado, posting social media broadsides against the prosecution from inside his motorcade en route to the courthouse and insisting as he has through years of legal woes that he has done nothing wrong and was being persecuted for political purposes. But inside the courtroom, he sat silently, scowling and arms crossed as a lawyer entered a not guilty plea on his behalf in a brief arraignment that ended without him having to surrender his passport or otherwise restrict his travel.

The arraignment, though largely procedural in nature, was the latest in an unprecedented public reckoning this year for Trump, who faces charges in New York arising from hush money payments during his 2016 presidential campaign as well as ongoing investigations in Washington and Atlanta into efforts to undo the results of the 2020 race.

He’s sought to project confidence in the face of unmistakable legal peril, attacking the Justice Department special counsel who filed the case as “a Trump hater,” pledging to remain in the race and scheduling a speech and fundraiser for Tuesday night at his Bedminster, New Jersey, club. He stopped on his way out of Miami at Versailles, an iconic Cuban restaurant in the city’s Little Havana neighborhood where supporters serenaded Trump, who turns 77 years old on Wednesday, with “Happy Birthday.”

Even so, the gravity of the moment was clear.

Until last week, no former president had ever been charged by the Justice Department, let alone accused of mishandling top-secret information. The indictment unsealed last week charged Trump with 37 felony counts — many under the Espionage Act — that accuse him of illegally storing classified documents in his bedroom, bathroom, shower and other locations at Mar-a-Lago and trying to hide them from the Justice Department as investigators demanded them back. The charges carry a yearslong prison sentence in the event of a conviction.

Trump has relied on a familiar playbook of painting himself as a victim of political persecution. But Attorney General Merrick Garland, an appointee of President Joe Biden, sought to insulate the department from political attacks by handing ownership of the case to a special counsel, Jack Smith, who on Friday declared, “We have one set of laws in this country, and they apply to everyone.”

Smith attended Tuesday’s arraignment, sitting in the front row behind his team of prosecutors.

The court appearance unfolded against the backdrop of potential protests, with some high-profile backers using barbed rhetoric to voice support. Trump himself encouraged supporters to join a planned protest Tuesday at the courthouse. Though city officials said they prepared for possible unrest around the courthouse, there were little signs of significant disruption.

While Trump was not required to surrender a passport – prosecutor David Harbach said he was not considered a flight risk, a likely recognition of his status as a presidential candidate – he was directed to not have any personal contact with any witnesses in the case. That includes Walt Nauta, his valet and close aide, who was indicted last week on charges that he moved boxes of documents at Trump’s direction and misled the FBI about it. He did not enter a plea Tuesday because he did not have a local lawyer with him.

The magistrate judge who presided over the arraignment directed Trump not to discuss the case with any witnesses, including Nauta, but said they can discuss work.

Even for a man whose post-presidential life has been defined by criminal investigations, the documents probe had long stood out both because of the volume of evidence that prosecutors had seemed to amass and the severity of the allegations.

A federal grand jury in Washington had heard testimony for months, but the Justice Department filed it in Florida, where Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort is located and where many of the alleged acts of obstruction occurred. Though Trump appeared Tuesday before a federal magistrate, the case has been assigned to a District Court judge he appointed, Aileen Cannon, who ruled in his favor last year in a dispute over whether an outside special master could be appointed to review the seized classified documents. A federal appeals panel ultimately overturned her ruling.

It’s unclear what defenses Trump is likely to invoke as the case moves forward. Two of his lead lawyers announced their resignation the morning after his indictment, and the notes and recollections of another attorney, M. Evan Corcoran, are cited repeatedly throughout the 49-page charging document, suggesting prosecutors envision him as a potential key witness.

The Justice Department unsealed Friday an indictment charging Trump with 37 felony counts, 31 relating to the willful retention of national defense information. Other charges include conspiracy to commit obstruction and false statements.

The indictment alleges Trump intentionally retained hundreds of classified documents that he took with him from the White House to Mar-a-Lago after leaving office in January 2021. The material he stored, including in a bathroom, ballroom, bedroom and shower, included material on nuclear programs, defense and weapons capabilities of the U.S. and foreign governments and a Pentagon “attack plan,” prosecutors say

Beyond that, prosecutors say, he sought to obstruct government efforts to recover the documents, including by directing personal aide Walt Nauta — who was charged alongside Trump — to move boxes to conceal them and also suggesting to his own lawyer that he hide or destroy documents sought by a Justice Department subpoena.

Tucker reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Jill Colvin in New York and Terry Spencer, Kate Brumback, Curt Anderson and Joshua Goodman in Miami, contributed to this report.

This comes after a high-profile drone shark study out of California — finding that juvenile white sharks were close to people on 97% of the days surveyed, and no one was bitten during the 2-year drone study.

Along the Cape, scientists last summer started to use drones in a pilot study.

“When water conditions are clear and nice, this is an incredible tool to study sharks and their activities off of our beaches,” Atlantic White Shark Conservancy staff scientist Megan Winton said during the conservancy’s media day on Tuesday.

“One thing we want to do is get an idea of how they’re using the nearshore waters right off our beaches with these direct observations,” Winton added of the great whites.

This summer, the researchers will be trying to figure out how effective drones are at spotting sharks along the Cape.

Many people have proposed using drones as a shark surveillance technology at local beaches, but the concern is that sharks could disappear from sight when the Cape waters turn murky.

“Sometimes the water is clear, and it looks like the Caribbean… and sometimes it looks like chocolate milk,” Winton said. “So nobody knows how that technology would perform in our waters.”

Australian officials have used drones for spotting sharks off public beaches.

“Under ideal conditions, it would be great for that, but we don’t know how well it will perform here,” Winton added.

In the California 2-year drone study, the juvenile sharks came very close to people, but simply moved around them or ignored them completely.

The juvenile sharks were often spotted within 50 yards of where the waves break, putting surfers and stand-up paddle boarders in the closest proximity to sharks. Some sharks were seen as close as 2 yards from the wave break.

Winton noted that the juvenile sharks from that study are much smaller than the average great white along the Cape. The juveniles along California feed on fish, and are not targeting seals like the Cape sharks.

“It’s a similar situation in that there are a lot of white sharks close to the beach there, but it’s a different life stage, so it’s also very different,” Winton said.

“Here in the summer and fall, there is likely a white shark somewhere around in the area when densities are highest,” she said.

Cape sharks hunt for seals in shallow water close to shore, and that has led to some shark bites on humans in the last decade. In 2018, a 26-year-old man was killed by a shark at a Wellfleet beach.

There have been no reported Cape shark bites on humans since that fatal incident.

“From what we see, people appear to have changed their behavior in a lot of ways,” Winton said. “People tend to stay closer to the shoreline it seems.”

Local researchers have tagged more than 300 sharks, and they have identified more than 600 individual sharks that have visited the Cape. During the summer, lifeguards are notified when tagged sharks get close to the beach, and the lifeguards get people out of the water.

State Sen. Jamie Eldridge said he wants to scrap the voter-passed tax cap law known as Chapter 62F because it creates a layer of unpredictability with state spending. The law required state officials to send nearly $3 billion back to taxpayers in 2022, which threw last year’s tax relief talks out the window.

“I don’t think it really serves sound public policy,” Eldridge told the Herald. “I didn’t hear from anyone about ‘this made a big difference in my life to get this tax rebate.’ So I do think that it’s important to have this discussion to repeal it and make sure that we’re not worried about it being triggered in the future.”

Eldridge filed the repeal amendment to Senate Democrats’ $586 million tax relief plan they released last week. Senate President Karen Spilka said the bill looks to boost several housing-related initiatives and centers “equity while chipping away at the headwinds that threaten our competitiveness.”

Whether to address Chapter 62F in the tax relief bill could take time to negotiate when lawmakers from the House and Senate eventually sit down to hammer out a final tax relief bill.

House leadership proposed rewriting the law so any excess revenue is returned as equal payments to residents regardless of how much they paid to the state. That change drew legal scrutiny from a technology-focused business group.

House Speaker Ronald Mariano said in April the adjustment allows everyone to share in the success of the state’s economy.

“We felt after watching the way the checks were made out and sent out, I think (Rep. Aaron Michlewitz, Rep. Mark Cusack and I) sort of agreed pretty early on that there are fairer ways to do this,” he said, referring to the House chairs of the budget-writing and revenue committees.

Eldridge said the Baker administration’s erroneous use of $2.5 billion in federal funds to pay pandemic-era unemployment benefits could put the state in a precarious financial situation that could only get worse if the tax cap law is triggered again.

“I feel, at the end of the day, is it a sound tax policy, sound public policy to have a tax rebate trigger?” he said. “I think it’s quite unusual and I think it makes the commonwealth weaker.”

Among the other amendments filed to the bill ahead of the Thursday debate are Republican-led efforts to reduce the short-term capital gains tax and increase the estate tax exemption.

The House and Healey support cutting the short-term capital gains tax from 12% to 5%, which could become another sticking point during inter-branch negotiations.

The Senate opted not to include the reduction in their plan and Spilka said the chamber “pulled together a consensus bill.”

“This is what the senators wanted,” she said outside of her office on Monday. “The balance of the bill focuses on individuals and working families, low to moderate, middle income, support and help. There are some things for folks, whether it be the EITC, the rental assistance, the senior circuit breaker, child dependent care, that’s where the bulk of the relief was desired.”

Healey did not say whether she would sign a bill that does not include a cut to the short-term capital gains tax, offering only that she was “heartened” by both the House and Senate proposals.

“We’ll just see what comes out of conference committee but obviously, the team and I, the lieutenant governor and I are here and ready to work and collaborate on this and other issues,” she told reporters on Monday.

Voters approved 62F in 1986 after tax-cutting champions, including the late Barbara Anderson, pushed for breaks for taxpayers.

Four killer whales were recently spotted south of Nantucket, a rare pod sighting in southern New England waters, while an orca was also seen swimming near dolphins off of Provincetown.

New England Aquarium scientists spotted the four killer whales swimming together as the research team flew aerial surveys 40 miles south of Nantucket on Sunday.

Meanwhile, fishermen saw the orca swimming next to the dolphins off the northern tip of Cape Cod.

It’s “always unusual to see killer whales in New England waters,” said Orla O’Brien, an associate research scientist who leads the aerial survey team for the New England Aquarium’s Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life.

Katherine McKenna, an assistant research scientist, first spotted the four killer whales.

“Initially I could just see two splashes ahead of the plane,” McKenna said. “As we circled the area, two whales surfaced too quickly to tell what they were. On the third surfacing, we got a nice look and could see the tell-tale coloration before the large dorsal fins broke the surface.”

The four killer whales were among nearly 150 whales and dolphins that the team spotted during the seven-hour flight — including 23 fin whales, five minke whales, 62 bottlenose dolphins, and 20 humpback whales bubble feeding.

“Seeing them swim in formation was just unreal,” O’Brien said of the orca pod. “We believe the sighting to be two males and two females, but that hasn’t been confirmed.

“I think seeing killer whales is particularly special for us because it unlocks that childhood part of you that wanted to be a marine biologist,” O’Brien added.

The species’ population is very small in western North Atlantic waters. The only killer whale seen regularly in North Atlantic waters is “Old Thom,” a large male orca who is known to swim alone, sometimes alongside dolphins, in the Gulf of Maine and the Bay of Fundy. He was last spotted in Massachusetts waters in May 2022 off of Cape Cod.

A large orca that was swimming next to dolphins was recently captured on video by Simon Sez Sportfishing.

“Special day today seeing an Orca Whale in our waters off P-town,” Simon Sez posted on Instagram. “Never know what you’ll see, this made up for a tuna-less day today.”

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Consumer prices in the United States cooled last month, rising just 0.1% from April to May and extending the past year’s steady easing of inflation. At the same time, some measures of underlying price pressures remained high.

Measured year over year, inflation slowed to just 4% in May — the lowest 12-month figure in over two years and well below April’s 4.9% annual rise. The pullback was driven by tumbling gas prices, a much smaller rise in grocery prices than in previous months and less expensive furniture, air fares and appliances.

Tuesday’s inflation figures from the government arrived one day before the Federal Reserve is expected to leave interest rates alone after imposing 10 straight rate hikes dating back to March 2022. After a two-day meeting, the Fed will likely announce that it’s skipping a rate hike but may hint that it will resume raising rates as soon as July.

Last month’s drop-off in overall inflation isn’t likely to convince the Fed’s policymakers that they’re close to curbing the high inflation that has gripped the nation for two years. The central bank tends to focus most closely on “core” prices, which exclude volatile food and energy costs and are considered better able to capture underlying inflation trends. These prices remain stubbornly high.

Core prices rose a sizable 0.4% from April to May, the sixth straight month of increases at that level or higher. Compared with a year ago, core inflation slipped from 5.5% to 5.3% but is still far above the Fed’s target of 2%.

Yet some positive signs, even in the measures of core prices, suggest that underlying inflation pressures may be receding. The outsize increases in core prices were driven mainly by rising rents and by another spike in used car prices. Real-time data suggests that increases in those categories will soon ease and help cool inflation.

“Outside of those two components, the trend has become very encouraging,” Stephen Juneau, an economist at Bank of America, said in a research note. “We should continue to see improvement in core” prices.

Economists say inflation is being driven by a narrower set of goods and services. Excluding housing costs — which include rents and hotel prices, which jumped last month — prices actually dipped 0.1% from April to May. And they’re up just 2.1% from a year ago.

Rents rose 0.5% from April to May, down from the peak gains of 0.7% to 0.8% last year. Used car prices soared 4.4% just from April to May. Those two factors alone drove four-fifths of the monthly increase in core prices, according to Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics. And the government said housing costs made up three-fifths of year-over-year core inflation.

Yet it could take months for rising costs in those areas to ease back to pre-pandemic levels. Fed officials will want to see the expected price declines in rents and used cars actually materialize before they extend any pause in rate increases.

“There’s progress, it’s encouraging,” said Eric Winograd, chief economist at asset manager AllianceBernstein. “I think it’s enough for the Fed to pause tomorrow….But I don’t think it is enough that we can sound the all-clear.”

Outside used cars, prices for goods such as furniture, appliances, and computers were unchanged, an encouraging sign that supply chain backups that sent prices soaring two years ago have largely resolved.

Hal Lawton, CEO of Tractor Supply Co., in Brentwood, Tennessee, which sells items like tractors and outdoor grills, said many of his costs are easing. Substantial reductions in freight prices and moderating wage increases are putting less pressure on him to keep raising prices.

His price increases, Lawton said, have slowed to the mid-single digits, and by year’s end, he predicts they’ll level off to the low single digits.

“You can see it coming down in a sustained way, and I’m feeling very good about that, whether it’s freight, whether it’s wages, whether it’s underlying commodity pressure,” Lawton said. “It gives me a positive outlook on the economy because of that.”

Gas prices, adjusted for seasonal patterns, fell 5.6% from April to May; they’re down nearly 20% from a year ago. And grocery prices ticked up just 0.1%, a relief to consumers, though they’re still 5.8% higher than they were a year ago.

With housing making up such a large proportion of inflation, economists are closely tracking real-time measures of rents in new apartment leases. The government’s measure of rents is now incorporating the sharp increases that occurred in 2021 and 2022 as many people moved to gain more space during the pandemic. But as newer leases with much smaller rent increases feed into the government’s measure, rental costs should drop.

According to ApartmentList, which tracks new leases, average rents nationally rose just 0.9% in May from a year earlier. That’s down from a 17.6% spike in 2021. The decline reflects a jump in the construction of apartment buildings at a time when demand for apartments has slowed.

“If you’re a renter out there, you’ve got a lot more vacant units, nationally speaking,” than at any time since the pandemic, said Rob Warnock, senior research associate at Apartment List.

Still, the stubbornness of underlying inflation reflects a fundamental challenge for the Fed: The economy has steadily defied long-standing forecasts for a recession, dating back more than a year. Instead, businesses have kept hiring at a healthy pace, average paychecks are climbing and workers are freely spending their larger wages.

Though a resilient economy is great for households and businesses, it may also be helping fuel chronically high inflation. Some economists argue that many companies are keeping prices artificially high, more than is needed to cover their own higher costs, to drive profit growth. The nation’s consumers might have to pull back, en masse, before most businesses will reduce prices. In the meantime, steadily robust hiring is allowing Americans, as a whole, to keep spending.

The Fed has raised its benchmark rate by a hefty 5 percentage points over the past 15 months — the fastest pace of rate increases in four decades. Those hikes have led to much higher costs for mortgages, auto loans, credit cards and business borrowing. The Fed’s goal is to slow borrowing and spending, cool the economy and tame inflation — without causing a deep recession. It’s a notoriously difficult task.

There are some signs that the Fed’s efforts are having the desired effect. Inflation is expected to take another big step down in the figures for June that will be reported next month. Price growth could slide as low as 3.2% from a year earlier, according to some economists’ estimates. That would be significantly below inflation’s peak of 9.1% in June 2022, the highest level in four decades.

A sharp decline next month as well would reflect the fact that food and gas prices soared in both May and June last year. As those months drop out of the year-over-year inflation calculations, they are replaced with smaller monthly gains. The effect can sharply lower measures of annual inflation.

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AP Retail Writer Anne D’Innocenzio contributed to this report from New York City.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Much of the theft was brazen, even simple.

Fraudsters used the Social Security numbers of dead people and federal prisoners to get unemployment checks. Cheaters collected those benefits in multiple states. And federal loan applicants weren’t cross-checked against a Treasury Department database that would have raised red flags about sketchy borrowers.

Criminals and gangs grabbed the money. But so did a U.S. soldier in Georgia, the pastors of a defunct church in Texas, a former state lawmaker in Missouri and a roofing contractor in Montana.

All of it led to the greatest grift in U.S. history, with thieves plundering billions of dollars in federal COVID-19 relief aid intended to combat the worst pandemic in a century and to stabilize an economy in free fall.

An Associated Press analysis found that fraudsters potentially stole more than $280 billion in COVID-19 relief funding; another $123 billion was wasted or misspent. Combined, the loss represents 10% of the $4.2 trillion the U.S. government has so far disbursed in COVID relief aid.

That number is certain to grow as investigators dig deeper into thousands of potential schemes.

How could so much be stolen? Investigators and outside experts say the government, in seeking to quickly spend trillions in relief aid, conducted too little oversight during the pandemic’s early stages and instituted too few restrictions on applicants. In short, they say, the grift was just way too easy.

“Here was this sort of endless pot of money that anyone could access,” said Dan Fruchter, chief of the fraud and white-collar crime unit at the U.S. Attorney’s office in the Eastern District of Washington. “Folks kind of fooled themselves into thinking that it was a socially acceptable thing to do, even though it wasn’t legal.”

The U.S. government has charged more than 2,230 defendants with pandemic-related fraud crimes and is conducting thousands of investigations.

Most of the looted money was swiped from three large pandemic-relief initiatives launched during the Trump administration and inherited by President Joe Biden. Those programs were designed to help small businesses and unemployed workers survive the economic upheaval caused by the pandemic.

The pilfering was wide but not always as deep as the eye-catching headlines about cases involving many millions of dollars. But all of the theft, big and small, illustrates an epidemic of scams and swindles at a time America was grappling with overrun hospitals, school closures and shuttered businesses. Since the pandemic began in early 2020, more than 1.13 million people in the U.S. have died from COVID-19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Michael Horowitz, the U.S. Justice Department inspector general who chairs the federal Pandemic Response Accountability Committee, told Congress the fraud is “clearly in the tens of billions of dollars” and may eventually exceed $100 billion.

Horowitz told the AP he was sticking with that estimate, but won’t be certain about the number until he gets more solid data.

“I’m hesitant to get too far out on how much it is,” he said. “But clearly it’s substantial and the final accounting is still at least a couple of years away.”

Mike Galdo, the U.S. Justice Department’s acting director for COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement, said, “It is an unprecedented amount of fraud.”

Before leaving office, former President Donald Trump approved emergency aid measures totaling $3.2 trillion, according to figures from the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee. Biden’s 2021 American Rescue Plan authorized the spending of another $1.9 trillion. About a fifth of the $5.2 trillion has yet to be paid out, according to the committee’s most recent accounting.

Never has so much federal emergency aid been injected into the U.S. economy so quickly. “The largest rescue package in American history,” U.S. Comptroller General Gene Dodaro told Congress.

The enormous scale of that package has obscured multibillion-dollar mistakes.

An $837 billion IRS program, for example, succeeded 99% of the time in getting economic stimulus checks to the proper taxpayers, according to the tax agency. Nevertheless, that 1% failure rate translated into nearly $8 billion going to “ineligible individuals,” a Treasury Department inspector general told AP.

An IRS spokesman said the agency does not agree with all the figures cited by the watchdog and noted that, even if correct, the loss represented a tiny fraction of the program’s budget.

The health crisis thrust the Small Business Administration, an agency that typically gets little attention, into an unprecedented role. In the seven decades before the pandemic struck, for example, the SBA had doled out $67 billion in disaster loans.

When the pandemic struck, the agency was assigned to manage two massive relief efforts — the COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan and Paycheck Protection programs, which would swell to more than a trillion dollars. SBA’s workforce had to get money out the door, fast, to help struggling businesses and their employees. COVID-19 pushed SBA’s pace from a walk to an Olympic sprint. Between March 2020 and the end of July 2020, the agency granted 3.2 million COVID-19 economic injury disaster loans totaling $169 billion, according to an SBA inspector general’s report, while at the same time implementing the huge new Paycheck Protection Program.

In the haste, guardrails to protect federal money were dropped. Prospective borrowers were allowed to “self-certify” that their loan applications were true. The CARES Act also barred SBA from looking at tax return transcripts that could have weeded out shady or undeserving applicants, a decision eventually reversed at the end of 2020.

“If you open up the bank window and say, give me your application and just promise me you really are who you say you are, you attract a lot of fraudsters and that’s what happened here,” Horowitz said.

The SBA inspector general’s office has estimated fraud in the COVID-19 economic injury disaster loan program at $86 billion and the Paycheck Protection program at $20 billion. The watchdog is expected in coming weeks to release revised loss figures that are likely to be much higher.

In an interview, SBA Inspector General Hannibal “Mike” Ware declined to say what the new fraud estimate for both programs will be.

“It will be a figure that is fair, that is 1,000% defensible by my office, fully backed by our significant criminal investigative activity that is taking place in this space,” Ware said.

Ware and his staff are overwhelmed with pandemic-related audits and investigations. The office has a backlog of more than 80,000 actionable leads, close to a 100 years’ worth of work.

“Death by a thousand cuts might be death by 80,000 cuts for them,” Horowitz said of Ware’s workload. “It’s just the magnitude of it, the enormity of it.”

A 2022 study from the University of Texas at Austin found almost five times as many suspicious Paycheck Protection loans as the $20 billion SBA’s inspector general has reported so far. The research, led by finance professor John Griffin, found as much as $117 billion in questionable and possibly fraudulent loans, citing indicators such as non-registered businesses and multiple loans to the same address.

Horowitz, the pandemic watchdog chairman, criticized the government’s failure early on to use the “Do Not Pay” Treasury Department database, designed to keep government money from going to debarred contractors, fugitives, felons or people convicted of tax fraud. Those reviews, he said, could have been done quickly.

“It’s a false narrative that has been set out, that there are only two choices,” Horowitz said. “One choice is, get the money out right away. And that the only other choice was to spend weeks and months trying to figure out who was entitled to it.”

In less than a few days, a week at most, Horowitz said, SBA might have discovered thousands of ineligible applicants.

“24 hours? 48 hours? Would that really have upended the program?” Horowitz said. “I don’t think it would have. And it was data sitting there. It didn’t get checked.”

The Biden administration put in place stricter rules to stem pandemic fraud, including use of the “Do Not Pay” database. Biden also recently proposed a $1.6 billion plan to boost law enforcement efforts to go after pandemic relief fraudsters.

“I think the bottom line is regardless of what the number is, it emanates overwhelmingly from three programs that were designed and originated in 2020 with too many large holes that opened the door to criminal fraud,” Gene Sperling, the White House American Rescue Plan coordinator, said in an interview.

“We came into office when the largest amounts of fraud were already out of the barn,” Sperling added.

In a statement, an SBA spokesperson declined to say whether the agency agrees with the figures issued by Ware’s office, saying the federal government has not developed an accepted system for assessing fraud in government programs. Previous analyses have pointed to “potential fraud” or “fraud indicators” in a manner that conveys those numbers as a true fraud estimate when they are not, according to the statement.

Han Nguyen, a spokesman for the SBA, said Monday that “the vast majority of the likely fraud originated in the first nine months of the pandemic programs, under the Trump administration.” For the COVID-19 economic injury disaster loan program, Nguyen said, SBA’s “working estimate” found $28 billion in likely fraud.

The coronavirus pandemic plunged the U.S. economy into a short but devastating recession. Jobless rates soared into double digits and Washington sent hundreds of billions of dollars to states to help the suddenly unemployed.

For crooks, it was like tossing chum into the sea to lure fish. Many of these state unemployment agencies used antiquated computer systems or had too few staff to stop bogus claims from being paid.

“Yes, the states were overwhelmed in terms of demand,” said Brent Parton, acting assistant secretary of the U.S. Labor Department’s Employment and Training Administration. “We had not seen a spike like this ever in a global event like a pandemic. The systems were underfunded. They were not resilient. And I would say, more importantly, were vulnerable to sophisticated attacks by fraudsters.”

Fraud in pandemic unemployment assistance programs stands at $76 billion, according to congressional testimony from Labor Department Inspector General Larry Turner. That’s a conservative estimate. Another $115 billion mistakenly went to people who should not have received the benefits, according to his testimony.

Turner declined AP’s request for an interview.

Turner’s task in identifying all of the pandemic unemployment insurance fraud has been complicated by a lack of cooperation from the federal Bureau of Prisons, according to a September “alert memo” issued by his office. Scam artists used Social Security numbers of federal prisoners to steal millions of dollars in benefits.

His office still doesn’t know exactly how much was swiped that way. The prison bureau had declined to provide current data about federal prisoners. The AP reached out to the bureau several times for comment, starting June 2. Bureau spokesperson Emery Nelson said on Monday the agency had provided in February and March “all the necessary data” to the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee. Turner is a member of the committee.

Ohio State Auditor Keith Faber saw trouble coming when safeguards to ensure the unemployment aid only went to people who legitimately qualified were lowered, making conditions ripe for fraud and waste. The state’s unemployment agency “took controls down because on the one hand, they literally were drinking from a firehose,” Faber said. “They had a year’s worth of claims in a couple of weeks. The second part of the problem was the (federal government) directed them to get the money out the door as quickly as possible and worry less about security. They took that to heart. I think that was a mistake.”

Ohio’s Department of Job and Family Services reported in February $1 billion in fraudulent pandemic unemployment claims and another $4.8 billion in overpayments.

The ubiquitous masks that became a symbol of the COVID-19 pandemic are seen on fewer and fewer faces. Hospitalizations for the virus have steadily declined, according to CDC data, and Biden in April ended the national emergency to respond to the pandemic.

But on politically divided Capitol Hill, lawmakers have not put the pandemic behind them and are engaged in a fierce debate over the success of the relief spending and who’s to blame for the theft.

Too much government money, Republicans argue, breeds fraud, waste and inflation. Democrats have countered that all the financial muscle from Washington saved lives, businesses and jobs.

The GOP-led House Oversight and Accountability Committee is investigating pandemic relief spending. “We must identify where this money went, how much ended up in the hands of fraudsters or ineligible participants, and what should be done to ensure it never happens again,” the panel’s chairman, Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, said in a statement Tuesday.

Republicans and Democrats did, however, find common ground last year on bills to give the federal government more time to catch fraudsters. Biden in August signed legislation to increase the statute of limitations from five to 10 years on crimes involving the two major programs managed by the SBA.

The extra time will help federal prosecutors untangle pandemic fraud cases, which often involve identity theft and crooks overseas. But there’s no guarantee they’ll catch everyone who jumped at the chance for an easy payday. They’re busy, too, with crimes unrelated to pandemic relief funds.

“Do we have enough cases and leads that we could be doing them in 2030? We absolutely could,” said Fruchter, the federal prosecutor in the Eastern District of Washington. “But my experience tells me that likely there will be other priorities that will come up and will need to be addressed. And unfortunately, in our office, we don’t have a dedicated pandemic fraud unit.”

Congress has not yet passed a measure that would give prosecutors the additional five years to go after unemployment fraudsters. That worries Turner, the Labor Department watchdog. Without the extension, he told Congress in a late May report, people who stole the benefits may escape justice.

Sperling, the White House official, said any future crisis that requires government intervention doesn’t have to be a choice between helping people in need and stopping fraudsters.

“The prevention strategy going forward is that in a crisis, you can focus on fast delivery to people in desperate situations without feeling that you can only get that speed by taking down commonsense anti-fraud guardrails,” he said.

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McDermott reported from Providence, Rhode Island.

Shortly before 5 p.m., a Honda SUV was turning left into a parking lot when it collided with Williams’ motorcycle in the town of Dorset, according to a statement from Vermont State Police.

“Williams was unable to avoid a collision and was thrown from his motorcycle. He suffered critical injuries and was airlifted to Albany Medical Center in Albany, New York, where he was pronounced dead,” according to the statement.

Williams was wearing a helmet, police said.

The SUV’s driver received minor injuries and wasn’t hospitalized. He had signaled the turn and wasn’t immediately detained although the crash investigation continued, police said.

Williams, whose full name was Richard Treat Williams, lived in Manchester Center in southern Vermont, police said.

His agent, Barry McPherson, also confirmed the actor’s death.

“I’m just devastated. He was the nicest guy. He was so talented,” McPherson told People magazine.

“He was an actor’s actor,” McPherson said. “Filmmakers loved him. He’s been the heart of … Hollywood since the late 1970s.”

The Connecticut-born Williams made his movie debut in 1975 as a police officer in the movie “Deadly Hero” and went on to appear in more than 120 TV and film roles, including the movies “The Eagle Has Landed,” “Prince of the City” and “Once Upon a Time in America.”

He was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for his role as hippie leader George Berger in the 1979 movie version of the hit musical “Hair.”

He appeared in dozens of television shows but was perhaps best known for his starring role from 2002 to 2006 in “Everwood” as Dr. Andrew Brown, a widowed brain surgeon from Manhattan who moves with his two children to the Colorado mountain town of that name.

Williams also had a recurring role as Lenny Ross on the TV show “Blue Bloods.”

Williams’ stage appearances included Broadway shows, including “Grease” and “Pirates of Penzance.”

Colleagues and friends praised Williams as kind, generous and creative.

“Treat Williams was a passionate, adventurous, creative man,” actor Wendell Pierce tweeted. “In a short period of time, he quickly befriended me & his adventurous spirit was infectious. We worked on just 1 film together but occasionally connected over the years. Kind and generous with advice and support. RIP.”

Justine Williams, a writer, director and producer, tweeted that Williams was “the best.” Actor James Woods said, “I really loved him and am devastated that he’s gone.”

The 49-page federal indictment of former President Donald Trump lays out a stunning timeline of events, detailing allegations that he not only mishandled sensitive material, but also took steps to hide records and impede investigators.

Here are some of the key events leading to the 37 criminal charges against Trump, according to the indictment:

Jan. 20, 2021: As Trump leaves the White House, he directs the movement of dozens of storage boxes to Mar-a-Lago, prosecutors say. The boxes, packed by Trump and his White House staff, contain newspaper clippings, letters, photos and other mementos from his time in office, but also hundreds of classified documents that, as a former president, he wasn’t authorized to have.

Under the Presidential Records Act, presidential records are considered federal, not private property and must be turned over to the National Archives and Records Administration. Multiple federal laws govern the handling of classified and sensitive documents, including statutes making it a crime to remove such material and keep it at an unauthorized location.

After Jan. 20, 2021: Some boxes brought from the White House are stored on a stage in one of Mar-a-Lago’s gilded ballrooms. A photo in the indictment shows boxes stacked on a stage.

March 15, 2021: Boxes are moved from the ballroom to the business center at Mar-a-Lago.

April 2021: Some boxes are moved into a bathroom and shower. A photo included in the indictment shows them stacked next to a toilet, a vanity and a trash can.

May 2021: Trump directs employees to clean out a storage room in a highly accessible area on Mar-a-Lago’s ground floor so it can be used to store his boxes, the indictment says. Trump also directs that some boxes be brought to his Bedminster, New Jersey, summer residence.

On or about May 6, 2021: Realizing that some documents from Trump’s presidency may be missing, the National Archives asks that he turn over any presidential records he may have kept upon leaving the White House. The agency makes subsequent, repeated demands.

June 2021: The National Archives warns Trump through his representatives that it will refer the matter to the Justice Department if he does not comply.

June 24, 2021: Boxes are moved to the storage room. More than 80 boxes are kept there.

July 21, 2021: Trump allegedly shows a military “plan of attack” that he says is “highly confidential” to a writer interviewing him at his Bedminster property. Trump remarks, “as president I could have declassified it. … Now I can’t, you know, but this is still a secret,” according to the indictment, citing a recording of the interview.

August or September 2021: Trump allegedly shows a classified map relating to a foreign military operation to a representative of his political action committee at his Bedminster golf course, the indictment says. Trump tells the person that he shouldn’t be showing anyone the map and that the person shouldn’t get too close.

November 2021: Trump directs his executive assistant and “body man” Walt Nauta and another employee to start moving boxes from a storage room to his residence for him to review. Nauta is charged in the indictment as Trump’s co-conspirator.

Dec. 7, 2021: Nauta finds that several of Trump’s boxes have fallen, spilling papers onto the storage room floor, the indictment says. Among them is a document with a “SECRET” intelligence marking. According to the indictment, Nauta texts another Trump employee, “I opened the door and found this,” to which the other employee replies, “Oh no oh no.”

Late December 2021: The National Archives continues to demand that Trump turn over missing records from his presidency. In late December 2021, a Trump representative tells the agency that 12 boxes of records have been found and are ready to be retrieved.

January 17, 2022: Trump turns over 15 boxes to the National Archives. According to the indictment, Nauta and another Trump employee load them into Nauta’s car and take them to a commercial truck for delivery to the agency.

The boxes are found to contain 197 documents with classified markings, including 69 marked confidential, 98 secret and 30 top secret. Some documents have markings suggesting they include information from highly sensitive human sources or the collection of electronic “signals” authorized by a court under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

Feb. 9, 2022: The National Archives refers the matter to the Justice Department after a preliminary review finds the boxes contain numerous classified documents. The special agent in charge of the agency’s Office of the Inspector General writes, “Of most significant concern was that highly classified records were unfoldered, intermixed with other records” and otherwise improperly identified.

Feb. 10, 2022: Trump’s Save America PAC releases a statement insisting the return of the documents had been “routine” and “no big deal.” Trump insists the “papers were given easily and without conflict and on a very friendly basis,” and adds, “It was a great honor to work with” the National Archives “to help formally preserve the Trump Legacy.”

Feb. 18, 2022: In a letter to a congressional oversight committee, the National Archives reveals the boxes contained classified information and confirms the Justice Department referral. Trump’s Save America PAC releases another statement insisting, “The National Archives did not ‘find’ anything,” but “were given, upon request, Presidential Records in an ordinary and routine process to ensure the preservation of my legacy and in accordance with the Presidential Records Act.”

March 30, 2022: The FBI opens its investigation.

April 12, 2022: The National Archives informs Trump that, at the Justice Department’s request, it intends to provide the FBI with the 15 boxes he turned over on Jan. 17, 2022. Trump’s representative asks for an extension until April 29.

April 26, 2022: The grand jury investigation begins.

April 29, 2022: The Justice Department asks Trump’s lawyers for immediate access to the 15 boxes, citing national security interests and the need for “an assessment of the potential damage resulting from the apparent manner in which these materials were stored and transported.” Trump’s lawyers again ask for an extension, saying they need to review the material to “ascertain whether any specific document is subject to privilege.”

May 10, 2022: The National Archives informs Trump’s lawyers that it will provide the FBI access to the boxes as soon as May 12.

May 11, 2022: A grand jury issues a subpoena to Trump and his office requiring that they turn over all classified materials in their possession.

May 23, 2022: Trump’s lawyers advise him to comply with the subpoena, but Trump balks, telling them, “I don’t want anybody looking through my boxes.” Prosecutors, citing notes from one of the lawyers, say Trump wondered aloud about dodging the subpoena, asking his counsel, “Wouldn’t it be better if we just told them we don’t have anything here?” and ”isn’t it better if there are no documents?”

May 26, 2022: Nauta is interviewed by the FBI and, according to prosecutors, repeatedly lies about his knowledge of the movement of boxes at Mar-a-Lago. Nauta claims he wasn’t aware of boxes being brought to Trump’s residence for his review and says he didn’t know how boxes turned over to the National Archives got to Trump’s residence.

Nauta also lies when asked whether he knew where Trump’s boxes were stored before they went to his residence and whether they’d been in a secured or locked location, prosecutors say. His reply, according to the indictment: “I wish, I wish I could tell you. I don’t know. I don’t — I honestly just don’t know.”

June 2, 2022: One of Trump’s lawyers returns to Mar-a-Lago to search boxes in the storage room and finds 38 additional classified documents — five documents marked confidential, 16 marked secret and 17 marked top secret. After the search, prosecutors say, Trump asks: “Did you find anything? … Is it bad? Good?” and makes a plucking motion that the lawyer takes to mean that he should take out anything “really bad” before turning over the papers.

Prior to the search, prosecutors say, Trump had Nauta move 64 boxes from the storage room to his residence. Of those, 30 were moved back to the storage room, leaving 34 boxes in Trump’s residence and out of the lawyer’s sight.

June 3, 2022: FBI agents and a Justice Department lawyer visit Mar-a-Lago to collect the 38 classified documents from Trump’s lawyer. They are in a single accordion folder, double-wrapped in tape. While there, investigators are allowed to go to the storage room, but are “explicitly prohibited” from looking inside boxes, “giving no opportunity” for them “to confirm that no documents with classification markings remained,” according to a court filing.

Trump tells investigations he’s “an open book,” according to the indictment. Another Trump lawyer, acting as his custodian of records, provides investigators a sworn certification that prosecutors say falsely claimed they had conducted a “diligent search” of boxes moved from the White House and “any and all responsive documents” were turned over.

Earlier in the day, prosecutors say, some boxes were loaded onto a plane so Trump could take them to Bedminster for the summer.

June 8, 2022: The Justice Department sends Trump’s lawyer a letter asking that the storage room be secured, and that “all of the boxes that were moved from the White House to Mar-a-Lago (along with any other items in that room) be preserved in that room in their current condition until farther notice.”

July 2022: The grand jury is shown surveillance video of boxes being moved at Mar-a-Lago.

Aug. 5, 2022: The Justice Department applies for a warrant to search Mar-a-Lago, citing “probable cause” that additional presidential records and classified documents were being stored there. U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart approves the application the same day.

Aug. 8 2022: The FBI searches searches Mar-a-Lago, seizing 102 classified documents — 75 in the storage room and 27 in Trump’s office, including three found in office desks.

The Justice Department says in a subsequent court filing that the results call “into serious question” earlier representations by Trump’s legal team that they had conducted a “diligent search” and that no classified documents remained.

Aug. 12, 2022: Reinhart makes public the warrant authorizing the Mar-a-Lago search. The document reveals that federal agents are investigating potential violations of three federal laws, including the Espionage Act.

Aug. 26, 2022: A highly redacted version of the affidavit laying out the FBI’s rationale for searching Mar-a-Lago is made public.

Aug. 30, 2022: After Trump’s lawyers request a special master to review the documents for possible executive privilege, the Justice Department responds with a filing that reveals new details about the investigation and a photo of seized documents with marking like “TOP SECRET//SCI” splayed out on a Mar-a-Lago carpet.

March 24, 2023: One of Trump’s lawyers, M. Evan Corcoran, testifies before the Mar-a-Lago grand jury in Washington after being forced to do so by a judge. The Justice Department, in a hugely significant moment in the investigation, succeeded in piercing the attorney-client privilege by arguing that Trump had used Corcoran’s legal services in furtherance of a crime.

June 8, 2023: A grand jury in Miami indicts Trump and Nauta. Trump announces the indictment on his Truth Social platform, calling it “a DARK DAY for the United States of America.” In a video post, he says, “I’m innocent and we will prove that very, very soundly and hopefully very quickly.”

June 9, 2023: The indictment is made public. It shows that Trump is charged with 37 felony counts, including conspiracy to obstruct justice, corruptly concealing a document or record and willful retention of national defense information. Nauta is charged with six counts, including conspiracy to obstruct justice.

Special counsel Jack Smith, who brought the case, makes a brief public statement at his office in Washington, saying: “Our laws that protect national defense information are critical to the safety and security of the United States and they must be enforced. Violations of those laws put our country at risk.”

June 13, 2023: Trump is scheduled to make an initial court appearance at 3 p.m. alongside Nauta at the federal courthouse in Miami.

___

More on Donald Trump-related investigations: https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump

The scene outside the Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr. U.S. Courthouse in Miami was part Donald Trump campaign rally and part reality TV show featuring celebrity faces and anti-Trump protesters, blistering heat and humidity, and a crowd that included people who’d traveled long distances for a day in South Florida.

There was even — emblematic of Miami — a vendor outside the courthouse selling tubs of sliced fruit for $10.

All were gathered Tuesday because of the historic event inside, the first court appearance for the former president facing federal charges alleging he hoarded classified documents detailing sensitive military secrets and schemed to thwart government efforts to get them back.

The major legal development of the day, as expected, was Trump’s not guilty plea to each of the 37 counts in the federal indictment.

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the day was the crowd, which was smaller than the 5,000 to 50,000 that Miami officials said a day earlier they were prepared for. At least 1,000 people gathered at the courthouse, along with hundreds of reporters, photojournalists and TV personalities.

And despite the passions and the heat — and some occasional shouting between Trump friends and foes — there wasn’t any violence, even though several reporters peppered Miami’s mayor and police chief on Monday with ‘what-if’ questions about worst-case scenarios.

26 hours in Miami-Dade

Just before he finished the momentous 26-hour trip to Miami-Dade County, Trump’s motorcade took him to a post-court campaign stop at Versailles, the iconic restaurant in Little Havana.

Just before 5 p.m. Trump’s red, white and blue Boeing 757, emblazoned with his name in gold, took off from Miami International Airport headed to New Jersey, for a scheduled campaign fundraiser and speech at his golf club in Bedminster.

He describes his Mar-a-Lago resort and club in Palm Beach — where the indictment alleges Trump intentionally retained hundreds of classified documents that he took with him from the White House — as his home, but typically doesn’t spend the hot summer season there.

He spent the night at Trump National Doral, his Miami-Dade golf club after arriving at MIA about 3 p.m. Monday.

As a former president, Trump traveled on the ground in a motorcade, with police blocking traffic, including on busy expressways, to expedite his movements. From the SUV on his way to court, Trump told his social media followers that he was “ON MY WAY TO COURTHOUSE. WITCH HUNT!!! MAGA.”

Back in the SUV after court, he posted again on his Truth Social platform: “Thank you Miami. Such a warm welcome on such a SAD DAY for our Country!”

Both posts were unusual in their brevity and lack of attacks on political enemies.

Supporters

Rose Rodriguez, 58, said her parents came to the U.S. from Cuba, and she believes if Trump doesn’t win the 2024 election, communism will come to the U.S. “I know what communism is,” she said.

Rodriguez said she attended Tuesday’s gathering — it wasn’t her first pro-Trump event — to prove he has a support system.

“He’s a man for the people,” she said.

As Trump arrived at the courthouse, supporters cheered, chanting “Trump” and “USA! USA! USA!”

Some Trump supporters expressed their displeasure with President Joe Biden by chanting “No more Biden!” and “Let’s Go Brandon.” That’s a phrase popular among Republicans that directs an obscenity toward the president.

Luimar Zibetti Garza, 60, a longtime Floridian who says she’s homeless, set up on a sidewalk outside the federal courthouse. She had an umbrella with a sign that said, “Homeless 4 Trump.” “I came out to support Trump because I know he’s being railroaded,” Garza said.

Traveling long distance

Some of the people who showed up outside the federal courthouse traveled a long way.

Katie Taylor, 76, traveled from Virginia, stopping in Sanford, N.C., to pick up Gloria Eck.

Eck said the indictment is “just proof to me how corrupt” the Department of Justice is. “If people don’t stand up we’re going to lose our country.”

She said she wasn’t concerned about an unattended item with wires that prompted police to temporarily clear an area near the courthouse. “We can’t be worried (about it). They want to push us out.”

Taylor said she was “not a protester,” instead describing herself  as “a supporter of President Trump.”

Several dozen Trump supporters boarded Miami-bound buses at an Orlando Walmart.

Miriam J. Ramirez, president of the Puerto Rico Republican Assembly, said she and others in the Puerto Rican community are sticking with the former president. “We feel safe, like a daddy who’s taking care of us.”

As they boarded the buses in Orlando, Danette Chialtas offered a different assessment. “Get on the bus, you traitors!” she said. “Your dictator is being arraigned today for espionage. Traitors!”

Opponents

Xavier Presley, 67, of Miami, is a regular fixture at any Trump rally. Despite the heat, he wore his typical outfit Tuesday afternoon outside of the courthouse: a suit jacket that has expletives and Trump’s name written in marker on it.

Presley, who stood alone underneath a palm tree with many neon colored signs with an obscenity and Trump’s name, said he typically attends the rallies alone to avoid any trouble with Trump supporters.

Presley said he’s long been an activist. But he stops short of calling himself political. “Because you can never win,” he said. “You have no winner in politics. Because they all are crooks.”

Even Trump supporters laugh, he said. “They do laugh. A lot of Trump people today, I was surprised, a lot of Trump people took pictures with my signs.”

Disagreements generally were mild. When Trump opponents shouted “Trump’s a dick,” some of his supporters responded with shouts of “We love Trump” then sang “God Bless America.”

Versailles

After court, Trump made a brief stop at Versailles, the iconic Miami restaurant in Little Havana.

Versailles is a must-do photo op for Republican candidates campaigning in Miami and gave Trump a chance to visit with supporters in the Cuban American community, where he developed a loyal following during his presidency.

People cheered and news video showed people laying hands on him in prayer.

“Food for everyone!” Trump declared as he worked the dining room shaking hands. Supporters sang “Happy Birthday” to Trump, who turns 77 on Wednesday.

Trump smiled and gave a thumbs-up sign to people taking pictures. “We have a country that is in decline like never before. We can’t let it happen,” he said.

Domenic Santana, a native New Yorker who now lives in Miami, wore an outfit with prison stripes and held a “lock him up” sign, designed for maximum media attention. He wore the same outfit and carried the same sign on Monday. “Trump is a rat who graduated from the school of rats and wound up in the White House. The New Yorkers know. He should have been locked up a long, long time ago,” Santana said.

Few incidents

Later in the day, a man jumped in front of a vehicle in Trump’s motorcade as it was leaving the courthouse, and was quickly pulled away by law enforcement officers and later taken away by several Miami Police officers.

In the morning, police moved people away from an area near the courthouse after an unattended object was spotted. The suspicious item turned out to be a flat-screen television with wires coming out. It had a statement expressing intense displeasure for what the writer called “the Communist media.”

The area was reopened after it was determined there was no threat.

.⁦@aronberg⁩ providing legal analysis for ⁦@MSNBC⁩ live coverage of Trump federal court day. https://t.co/rIX3qtQvsA pic.twitter.com/pT42cHTvH7

— Anthony Man (@browardpolitics) June 13, 2023

Few newsmakers

Few newsmakers actually appeared outside the courthouse to make news.

Alina Habba, an attorney for Trump, appeared to assert the indictment was not justified, repeating many of the assertions Trump and his supporters have made since the charges came out last week.

“The people in charge of this country do not love America. They hate Donald Trump. What we are witnessing today is a blatant and unapologetic weaponization of the criminal justice system,” she said. “The decision to pursue charges against President Trump while turning a blind eye to others is emblematic of the corruption that we have here.”

Laura Loomer, the internet provocateur and two-time unsuccessful candidate for Congress, led “We want Trump!” outside the courthouse. Kari Lake, the unsuccessful 2022 Republican candidate for Arizona governor, Trump supporter and 2020 election denier, was also present.

Doing business

Miami’s entrepreneurial spirit was on display.

Aldrena Oliveras, 52, of Miami, set up a tent selling tubs of fruit: pineapple, cranberry, kiwi, apples, watermelon, pears, mango. She said the political event was different from her usual days selling on Miami Beach or in Little Havana.

Business, not politics, was on her mind. And it was booming. She said her $500 in sales was much more than usual.

A water vendor invoked the crowd’s interest as he sold from a water cooler. “It’s hot to be a Trump supporter! Get some ice cold water!”

Ronald Solomon, president of the MAGA Mall, was selling $20 hats ($25 for a cowboy hat) and $10 flags. His biggest sellers: the classic, red “Make America Great Again,” “Trump 2024” with an embroidered American flag, and “God, Guns and Trump.”

He said he sold about $4,000 of hats on Tuesday.

Sun Sentinel staff photographers Joe Cavaretta and Mike Stocker and Orlando Sentinel staff writer Skyler Swisher contributed to this report, which contains information from The Associated Press.

Anthony Man can be reached at aman@sunsentinel.com, on Twitter @browardpolitics and on Post.news/@browardpolitics

Police and firefighters responded to Bliss Park in Longmeadow Sunday morning for a report of a suspicious substance on the playground equipment, the fire department posted on social media. At about the same time, firefighters and emergency medical technicians went to a nearby home for a report of two children with burns who had just left the park.

“I let the kids go play. I didn’t notice that there was liquid to collect at the bottom of the slide. I just assumed it was rainwater,” their mother, Ashley Thielen, told Western Mass News in Springfield. “I didn’t really think much of it, and then, my baby, who is one, just started crying. That was when I knew this liquid that they were around wasn’t water.”

The acid left mostly superficial blisters and swelling on her children’s skin, Thielen said, but it could have been much worse.

“The bottom of the slide, where it was, there was a good amount of it collected there,” she said. “I was surprised he didn’t start splashing in it.”

Authorities determined that someone broke into a storage room where chemicals are kept at the park’s swimming pool and stole some muriatic acid. The acid, which can be used for cleaning or for maintaining a pool’s pH balance, was then poured on three slides, authorities said.

Evidence was gathered and sent to the state crime lab for forensic analysis.

No one has been charged, but authorities said the suspect or suspects may have also been injured.

“We suspect that the perpetrators may have suffered acid burns to their hands or arms and their clothing may have indications of being degraded from contact with the acid,” said the statement issued by the fire department in Longmeadow, a city adjacent to Springfield in western Massachusetts.

“If you know of someone with new burns to their hands or arms or may have had burned clothing, please also notify Longmeadow police.” they said.

The playground has been cleaned of hazardous materials but remains fenced off.

“Evidence indicates that the victim in this incident, an adult male, intentionally jumped from the overpass onto I-93 below, where he was struck by at least one, and likely more than one, vehicle,” Massachusetts State Police spokesman Dave Procopio wrote in an update to the Tuesday morning incident. “Barring any unforeseen developments, no further updates are expected.”

State Police earlier reported that they found the victim in the area south of Exit 21 on I-93 at 4:30 a.m.

Lane closure were in place on I-93 south approaching Exit 21, Route 38/Mystic Avenue, while police investigated earlier Tuesday.

The state’s Department of Transportation said the closures generated a 10-mile back up.

The scene was cleared after 9 a.m., according to state police.

Drivers were advised to avoid the area if possible or consider using the MBTA’s Orange Line or commuter rail to get to work.

— Developing