White House says feds’ inaugural investigation part of ‘hysteria’

NEW YORK – A federal subpoena seeking documents from Donald Trump’s inaugural committee is part of “a hysteria” over the fact that he’s president, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Tuesday. Federal prosecutors in New York issued the subpoena Monday, furthering a federal inquiry into a fund that has faced mounting scrutiny into how it raised and spent $107 million on events celebrating Trump’s 2017 inauguration. The investigation is the latest in a series into Trump’s campaign and presidency.

YORBA LINDA, Calif. – The Chicago Police Department says it has no record that the pilot killed in a deadly California plane crash was a retired officer. The Orange County Sheriff ’s Department identified the pilot Monday as Antonio Pastini, 75, and said he was a retired Chicago officer who had been living in Nevada. Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi says there is no record of an officer by that name ever working in Chicago. Sheriff ’s spokeswoman Carrie Braun says credentials recovered from the crash are not legitimate.

PHOENIX – A lawyer representing a man accused of raping an incapacitated woman who later gave birth at a longterm care facility in Phoenix says his client will present a defense. Attorney David Gregan made a statement to reporters after Nathan Sutherland, 36, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges of sexual abuse and abuse of a vulnerable adult. Authorities say Sutherland was a nurse at Hacienda Healthcare in Phoenix when he raped the 29-year-old victim. Investigators say Sutherland’s DNA matched the victim’s child.

Pope Francis on Tuesday acknowledged receiving a request from embattled Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro to help relaunch talks to end the country’s political crisis but ruled out any involvement unless opposition leader Juan Guaido requests it. Francis said, “We’ll see what can be done.” But speaking to reporters en route home from the United Arab Emirates, he recalled that a previous Vatican diplomatic effort to facilitate talks between Maduro and the opposition “went up in smoke.”