NEWS OF THE DAY
1 Sanders’ campaign: Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders said Wednesday that he “misspoke” when he told reporters he may slow his frenetic campaigning pace after a recent heart attack. The Vermont senator backtracked in an interview with NBC News just a day after indicating that health concerns would force him to change “the nature” of his campaign, in the short term, at least. The 78yearold selfdescribed democratic socialist was hospitalized after experiencing chest discomfort while campaigning in Las Vegas last week. His staff initially said two stents were inserted for a blocked artery in his heart. Two days later, they revealed he had a heart attack.
2 Intelligence leak: A Defense Intelligence Agency official was arrested Wednesday and charged with leaking classified intelligence information to two journalists, including a reporter he was dating, the Justice Department said. Henry Kyle Frese, 30, was arrested by the FBI when he arrived at work at a Defense Intelligence Agency facility in Virginia. He was charged with willfully disclosing national defense information. Frese, who has a top secret government security clearance, is alleged to have accessed at least five classified intelligence reports and provided top secret information apparently about China’s missile systems to the reporter with whom he was having a romantic relationship. 3 Lauer accusation: A woman who worked at NBC News claimed that Matt Lauer raped her at a hotel while on assignment for the Sochi Olympics in 2014, an encounter the former “Today” show host claimed was consensual. The claim outlined by Brooke Nevils in Ronan Farrow’s book, “Catch and Kill,” puts a name and details behind the event that led to Lauer’s firing by NBC in 2017. 4 Slaying on video: A man was in custody after videos were found on a digital memory card depicting a woman being assaulted and killed, police in Anchorage, Alaska, said Wednesday. Officers said a caller last week reported finding the card on a city street. Police believe human remains found along a highway this month are those of the woman in the videos. Police arrested Brian Steven Smith, 48, on a murder charge. 5 Adoption scam: An Arizona elected official has been charged with human smuggling in an adoption fraud scheme that brought dozens of pregnant women from the Marshall Islands to the U.S. to give up their children for adoption, court records show. Maricopa County Assessor Paul Petersen was charged in Utah, Arizona and Arkansas with counts including human smuggling, sale of a child, fraud and forgery. The charges span about three years and involve some 75 adoptions. The adoptions won’t be undone because the adoptive parents are considered victims along with the women, authorities said. When investigators raided Petersen’s properties late Tuesday in a Phoenix suburb, they found eight pregnant Marshallese women.