CIA probes ISIS claim Jordanian airstrikes killed US aid worker

U.S. intelligence officials are investigating a claim by ISIS that its sole known remaining American hostage, an aid worker held for nearly a year and a half, has been killed, and the terrorist group's claim that her death came in a Jordanian airstrike, sources told Fox News.
Kayla Mueller, 26, whose identity had previously not been revealed at the request of the U.S. government and her family as the Pentagon worked to secure her, is believed to be the last American hostage the terrorist army is holding, since the beheading of Peter Kassig, a 26-year-old American aid worker, killed in November. In its statement, ISIS also claimed Mueller was the only person killed in the airstrike, claiming none of its fighters injured or killed.
“We are obviously deeply concerned by these reports," said National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan. "We have not at this time seen any evidence that corroborates ISIL’s claim.”
Late Friday night, the Mueller family released a statement saying "we are still hopeful that Kayla is alive." Addressing those who held Kayla, her family said,"We have sent you a private message and ask that you respond to us privately. We know that you have read our previous communications."

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Kayla Mueller went to Syria to help children and refugees displaced by the ongoing civil war. (Courtesy: Mueller family)

Images of children suffering in the early stages of Syria's ongoing civil war prompted Mueller, 26, to leave her home in Prescott, Ariz., in December, 2012,  to work with the Danish Refugee Council and the humanitarian organization Support to Life to help refugees. According to a family spokesperson, Kayla found the work heartbreaking but compelling.
"For as long as I live, I will not let this suffering be normal, something we just accept," Mueller told her hometown newspaper, The Daily Courier, in a 2013 interview during a trip home to her family. "It's important to stop and realize what we have, why we have it and how privileged we are. And from that place, start caring and get a lot done."
She was captured on Aug. 4, 2013, in Aleppo, Syria, while leaving a Spanish hospital staffed by the international humanitarian group Doctors without Borders. 
Unlike other Islamic State captives killed by the group after their ransom demands were spurned, Mueller has not been featured on any hostage videos in which the terror army's prisoners, under obvious duress, denounce the West and plead for their lives. In some cases, intelligence officials have determined the hostages were killed long before the Islamic State militants claimed, raising the possibility that Mueller was already dead.

"For as long as I live, I will not let this suffering be normal, something we just accept."- Kayla Mueller, 2013 interview

Just last Sunday, President Obama said the U.S. is doing everything it can to free Mueller.
"Obviously this is something that is heartbreaking for the family and we want to make sure we do anything we can to make sure that any American citizen is rescued from this situation," Obama told NBC in an interview that aired prior to the Super Bowl.

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In this May 30, 2013, photo, Kayla Mueller is shown after speaking to a group in Prescott, Ariz. (AP/The Daily Courier)

Jordan, which had previously taken part in U.S.-led airstrikes against Islamic State, stepped up its efforts on Wednesday, a day after the Islamic State released a horrifying video of a Jordanian air force pilot being burned to death in a cage. The Arab nation promptly hanged two terror suspects ISIS had sought to free and then, as King Abdullah II vowed to crush the terrorist army that has seized a bloody realm spanning parts of Syria and Iraq, mounted what it called devastating strikes against ISIS targets in Syria Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. It was in one of those strikes that Islamic State claims the woman was killed.
A Jordanian government spokesperson told Fox‎ News it is impossible to verify Mueller's death, but said officials are highly suspicious. The spokesman said he doesn't know what the hostage would have been doing in the location where the airstrike occurred.

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Kayla Mueller, left, is pictured here in an undated photo.

Islamic State militants had demanded a $6 million ransom and the release of terrorist prisoners in exchange for Mueller. Among the prisoners Islamic State sought to trade for the woman was Aafia Siddiqui, a neuroscientist trained at MIT who was convicted of attempting to murder U.S. officials and planning to make dirty bombs for use in terror attacks in 2010.
According to Mueller's family, she graduated from Northern Arizona University in 2009, and planned to devote herself to humanitarian causes. From her college graduation through 2011, she lived and worked with humanitarian aid groups in northern India, Israel and Palestine. She returned home to Arizona in 2011, and worked for one year at an HIV/AIDS clinic while volunteering at a women’s shelter at night.
While her identity had not been reported in the media, friends, loved ones and officials in her home state have been comforting her family in recent months.
“While I have no new information today on Kayla’s current situation, I do know from speaking regularly with her family that she is extremely devoted to the people of Syria, and to doing all she can to alleviate the terrible suffering which has left more than 200,000 people dead and driven millions from homes into refugee status," said Den. John McCain, R-Ariz. "I also know that Kayla is extremely well-loved and dearly missed by her family and friends in Arizona."
If Mueller was indeed killed while held by ISIS, she would be the latest in a growing list of captives held until their deaths by the Islamist terror organization.
In August, an ISIS militant believed to be British and dubbed "Jihadi John" by the UK press, beheaded American freelance journalist James Foley in a video released online. That was followed by the similar, gruesome Sept. 2 murder of Steven Sotloff, another U.S. journalist who had written for Time magazine and other publications. Kassig was the last American known to have been killed by the barbaric group.

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Kayla Mueller (AP/The Daily Courier)

But Islamic State also beheaded two UK aid workers, David Haines, who was killed in September, and Alan Henning, who went to help refugees from Syria's bloody civil war, in October. Late last month, it released videos showing it had slaughtered two Japanese citizens, Haruna Yukawa, a self-employed security contractor, and Kenji Goto, a journalist.

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3 prominent House Dems vow to skip Netanyahu's congressional address

 
                                                                   G.K. Butterfield

WASHINGTON –  Three prominent House Democrats are vowing to skip Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech to Congress next month, saying they disapprove of House Speaker John Boehner's decision to invite the Israeli leader without consulting President Barack Obama.
Reps. John Lewis of Georgia, G.K. Butterfield of North Carolina and Earl Blumenauer of Oregon said they won't attend Netanyahu's March 3 speech.
The White House also hinted Thursday that Vice President Joe Biden may not attend Netanyahu's speech, which is expected to focus on Iran. Spokesman Josh Earnest said Biden takes "very seriously" his responsibilities as Senate president, including his ceremonial duty to attend joint sessions of Congress. However, Earnest noted that Biden missed a joint session in 2011 because he was traveling abroad.
Earnest said the vice president's travel schedule for early March has not been finalized.
He told reporters that Obama "does believe it is up to individual members of Congress to make their own decision about whether or not to attend."
Lewis, a hero of the civil rights movement, said Thursday that Boehner's unilateral invitation to Netanyahu was "an affront to the president and the State Department" that cannot be ignored. Butterfield, chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, said Thursday he was "very disappointed that the speaker would cause such a ruckus" among members of Congress. He called the speaker's actions "unprecedented."
Blumenauer, a well-known liberal views and advocate of alternative energy, called on Boehner last week to cancel the joint session with Netanyahu. If the speech goes forward, "I will refuse to be part of a reckless act of political grandstanding," Blumenauer said.
The Constitution vests the responsibility for foreign affairs in the president, Blumenauer said, adding that "it's deeply troubling that the speaker is willing to undercut diplomacy in exchange for theatrics on the House floor."
Butterfield also criticized Netanyahu, saying that by accepting Boehner's invitation without talking to Obama, the prime minister had "politicized" his visit to the United States.
Netanyahu's speech is expected to focus largely on Iran — and its nuclear program — amid delicate negotiations involving the United States, other Western powers and Tehran. Netanyahu's acceptance of Boehner's invitation has infuriated the White House and many congressional Democrats.
Netanyahu is a critic of administration negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program, and some Democrats fear the Israeli leader will use the opportunity to embarrass Obama and further his own campaign for re-election.
House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said she plans to attend the speech.
"It is really sad that it has come to this," Pelosi said Thursday, adding that "as of now, it is my intention to go."
Butterfield and Lewis both said their decisions to skip the speech were personal and were not part of an organized boycott.
"I can emphatically say it is not an organized effort," Butterfield said, adding: "The only thing I can control is my attendance."

People Jailed for Owing Less Taxes Than Al Sharpton

Serial tax avoidance appears to be a hallmark of Al Sharpton’s operations. But there’s a warning here: Others have gone to prison for lesser amounts. The list includes rock legend Chuck Berry, Grammy winner Lauryn Hill, Ron Isley of the Isley Brothers, Survivor reality star Richard Hatch, hotel queen Leona Helmsely, and baseball’s Pete Rose (see below).
According to a New York Times' review of government records last fall, the MSNBC host and civil rights activist personally faces federal tax liens for more than $3 million in back taxes owed, and state tax liens of $777,657. So in total, Sharpton reportedly owes more than $3.7 million in back taxes. His other two for-profit businesses, Raw Talent and Revals Communications, (both now defunct) owe anywhere from $717,000 to more than $800,000, based on state and federal tax liens, reports from the Times and National Review indicate. Revals Communications also either didn’t file its tax returns, or underpaid its tax bills from 1999 to 2002.
Sharpton’s National Action Network also owed more than $813,000 in federal back taxes as of December of 2012, according to the nonprofit’s recent filings. At one point, the National Action Network's tax liability more than doubled last decade, jumping from $900,000 in 2003 to almost $1.9 milion in 2006. In 1993, Sharpton also had entered a guilty plea for the misdemeanor of failing to file his New York State income-tax return. Sharpton has also said the National Action Network had once given him a loan to pay for his daughters’ tuition, which is a violation of the law.

Sharpton has heatedly denied the tax evasion claims. “The (New York Times’) story is at best misleading and totally out of context,” Sharpton has said, adding, “Every time there's a Sean Bell or a Ferguson or a Trayvon Martin, we go through my taxes.” 
Sharpton also said of the Times article: “I think it’s political…a lot of people don’t like the fact that President Obama is president. A lot of people don’t like the fact that Bill de Blasio won for mayor. And they certainly don’t like the fact that I’m still here.” A Times spokesperson has said:  “We stand by our story.”
Sharpton indicated he has accrued these tax bills, but he has said he is either disputing the amounts owed or has been paying off his personal federal income taxes in installments. He has said his nonprofit, the National Action Network, also has been paying off its tax liability. Individual IRS tax returns and records are not publicly available, they are subject to privacy laws, as are documentation of fights between taxpayers and the agency. However, state and federal tax liens against Mr. Sharpton and his businesses appear to remain active, which indicates the bills have not been completely paid off.
It’s an open secret in Washington, DC and among IRS revenue agents and auditors that the IRS's decentralized operation often results in disparate treatment of taxpayers. Even though there exists a large body of administrative law that says federal agencies must exercise their discretion in a consistent manner, tax lawyers have argued that does not necessarily apply to the IRS. Reason: In many cases, the IRS argues it is actually not exercising any discretion, but instead is hewing to the law and its directives.
However, reality is often different. For instance, in one 2010 IRS case, a manufacturer alleged the agency unfairly slapped his company with a federal excise tax that his competitors did not have to pay. But the company lost in the First Circuit Court of Appeals. Judge Juan R. Torruella wrote for the court. “The goal of treating similarly situated taxpayers consistently is general, not strict.”
That certainly has been the experience of others who have gone to prison for tax avoidance--a red flag for Sharpton and his operation:
Chuck Berry ($200,000)
In 1979, the rock legend served a five-month sentence at California’s Lompoc Prison Camp after he was found guilty of evading $200,000 in taxes. Berry was also ordered to do 1,000 hours of community service upon his release.
Pete Rose ($354,968)
In 1990, the former Cincinnati Red star and manager pleaded guilty to two felony charges of filing false federal tax returns. Rose spent five months in a Marion, Ill., federal prison; he was also fined $50,000. Rose had failed to report on his tax returns $354,968 in income from selling memorabilia and autographs, as well as personal appearances (his gambling resulted in a lifetime ban from baseball).
Richard Hatch ($1 million+)
In 2006, this “Survivor” reality star was convicted of tax evasion and tax fraud for failing to pay taxes on his $1 million-plus in “Survivor” winnings. Hatch was sentenced to 51 months in federal prison. He served just over three years before his release in 2009. Hatch was then ordered to refile his 2000 and 2001 tax returns, but did not do so. He was eventually ordered back to jail in 2011 to serve nine months, and left jail on supervised release. By that time, together with penalty and interest, Hatch owed close to $2 million in back taxes.
Leona Helmsley ($1.7 million)
In 1992 a federal judge sentenced Leona Helmsley to four years in prison (an initial 16-year sentence was reduced on appeal) after her tax evasion conviction. The billionaire real estate heiress was charged with avoiding $1.2 million in taxes after claiming $2.6 million in ineligible business expenses, including personal items. Helmsley also was ordered to do 750 hours of community service and was slapped with a $7.1 million fine. Helmsley served 21 months and was released in January 1994. She was quoted by her maid at trial as saying: “We don’t pay taxes, only little people pay taxes.”
Lauryn Hill ($1.8 million)
In 2012, Hill pleaded guilty to three counts of failure to file tax returns on $1.8 million in earnings between 2005 to 2007. Even though the founding member of the Fugees had argued she nearly paid off her taxes before sentencing, Hill was sentenced to three months in prison. Her sentencing also took into account unpaid state and federal taxes in 2008 and 2009, which brought the total owed to roughly $2.3 million. Hill served her three-month sentence in a federal prison in Danbury, Conn. in 2013. Upon release, she also spent three months in home confinement as part of her parole.
Ron Isley ($3.1 million)
In 2006, the lead singer of The Isley Brothers (“Who’s That Lady”) was found guilty of five counts of tax evasion and one count of willful failure to file tax returns for tax years 1997–2002, amounting to $3.1 million not reported. Isley was sentenced to three years and one month, served three years behind bars, and was released in April 2010. Isley’s attorney had pleaded for leniency because Isley had been attempting to pay down his IRS debt. Defense attorney Anthony Alexander also had argued that the 65-year-old singer should receive probation instead of prison time because of complications from a stroke and a bout with kidney cancer. But the judge on his case, U.S. District Judge Dean Pregerson, declined to sentence the R&B singer to less time than called for under federal guidelines. "The term serial tax avoider has been used. I think that's appropriate," Pregerson said.

NBC's Tom Brokaw reportedly wants Brian Williams fired over fabricated Iraq helicopter story

Longtime "NBC Nightly News" anchor Tom Brokaw reportedly wants his successor, Brian Williams, thrown out of the big chair after he admitted  fabricating key portions of a story he repeatedly told about his reporting experience during the Iraq War in 2003. 
The New York Post, citing sources at the network, reported that Brokaw, 74, has been "making a lot of noise at NBC that a lesser journalist or producer would have been immediately fired or suspended for a false report."
Brokaw was the anchor of NBC's flagship evening newscast when Williams filed his initial report in March 2003. In it, Williams described how he was traveling in a group of helicopters forced down in the Iraq desert. On the ground, Williams said, he learned the Chinook in front of him "had almost been blown out of the sky"; he showed a photo of the aircraft with a gash from a rocket-propelled grenade.
Williams succeeded Brokaw as the "Nightly News" anchor following the 2004 presidential election, and his story evolved over time. 
In a 2008 blog post, Williams said that his helicopter had come under fire from what appeared to be Iraqi farmers with rocket-propelled grenade. He said a helicopter in front of his had been hit.
Then, in a 2013 appearance on David Letterman's "Late Show" on CBS, Williams said that two of the four helicopters he was traveling with had been hit by ground fire, "including the one I was in."
On Wednesday, Williams recanted that story, claiming he was that he was flying in a Chinook helicopter behind the formation that took fire. However, on Thursday, the military newspaper Stars and Stripes, which broke the story, reported that Williams was actually flying with a different helicopter company altogether, in a different direction, and linked to the attacked unit only by radio.
Adding to the intrigue, the Post reported that Brokaw and former NBC News president Steve Capus, who left the network in 2013, knew that Williams' updated version of his tale was not true before the anchor's admission Wednesday evening. The paper also says NBC News executives had counseled Williams to stop telling the story. 
Despite Brokaw's campaign, the paper says NBC will take no action against Williams, believing that his on-air apology Wednesday will suffice. 
"He is not going to be suspended or reprimanded in any way," one source told the paper. "He has the full support of NBC News."

White House says Obama will ask Congress to authorize military force against ISIS

President Obama is expected to formally ask Congress to authorize the use of military force against the Islamic State terror group in the coming days, even as lawmakers said crafting and passing such a measure would be a challenge.
The U.S. has been carrying out airstrikes against the terrorists, most commonly known as ISIS, in Iraq and Syria since August and September, respectively. In doing so, Obama has been relying on congressional authorizations that President George W. Bush used to justify military action after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Critics have called the White House's use of post-9/11 congressional authorizations a legal stretch, though Obama has previously argued that a new authorization isn't legally necessary. 
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Thursday that the administration is dedicated to getting a new authorization with bipartisian support. He declined to comment on specific provisions, including how long the authorization will last, what geographical areas it will cover and whether it will allow for the possibility of ground troops. Earnest said those details were still being worked out. 
"When it comes to fighting a war, the Congress should not tie the president's hands, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, told reporters Thursday morning. However, Boehner later added, "It's also incumbent on the president to make the case to the American people on why we need to fight this fight. This is not going to be an easy lift."
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said talks with the administration are focusing on an authorization time frame of three years, while the other issues are still being worked out. Pelosi added that she ultimately expects a compromise on the outstanding issues to be reached and added that she hopes Congress will repeal the 2002 congressional authorization for the war in Iraq while retaining the 2001 authorization for military action in Afghanistan.
"I'm not saying anybody's come to an agreement on it," Pelosi said. "I think it's going to be a challenge, but we will have it."
The developments come after Islamic militants released a grisly video of the murder of a Jordanian Air Force pilot by burning him alive. Pelosi also said that the U.S. should "move quickly" to steer military aid to Jordan, which has begun a stepped-up campaign against the militants, including a series of air strikes in Syria.
Republicans generally want a broader authorization of military action against the militants, who have overrun wide swaths of Iraq and Syria, than Democrats have been willing to consider. Obama has said he does not intend to have U.S. "boots on the ground" in combat roles, while many Republicans believe that option ought to be available to the military.
Secretary of State John Kerry has testified that any new authorization should not limit U.S. military action to just Iraq and Syria or prevent the president from deploying ground troops if he later deems them necessary. Kerry also said that if the new authorization has a time limit, there should be a provision for it to be renewed.
Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., the ranking member of the House intelligence panel, has already introduced legislation rather than wait for Obama's version. His bill would authorize the use of force against ISIS in Iraq and Syria for three years, but prohibit the use of ground forces in a combat mission in either nation. He has said if the president later decided to deploy ground troops, he could return to Congress to ask for new authority.
"It is my hope that the administration will be willing to accept important limits in a new authorization as well as the sunset or repeal of the old [authorizations], as this will be necessary to ensure strong bipartisan support and meet the goals the president set last summer of refining and repealing the prior authorizations," Schiff said in a statement Thursday, using the acronym for authorization for use of military force.

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Republicans warn EPA plan would give feds ‘free reign’ to regulate almost all waterways

Republican lawmakers warned Wednesday that a complex EPA proposal in the works would give the federal government "free reign" to regulate virtually any waterway or wetland in the country. 
In a rare joint House-Senate hearing, EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy was called to explain the plan, which has prompted complaints from farmers and agriculture groups, as well as local environmental officials who worry the EPA is claiming authority that should be left to the states. 
House transportation committee chairman Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Pa., said that if the policy takes effect, "It will open the door for the federal government to regulate just about any place where water collects." 
Shuster claimed the proposal would "trample the rights" of state governments and hurt the middle class by driving up prices through additional regulation. 
"This rule is an end-run around Congress and another example of overreach by the administration," he said.   
Since 2013, the EPA has floated new rules that would define what kinds of waterways fall under its jurisdiction. The Clean Water Act already gives the EPA the ability to regulate "U.S. waters," but Supreme Court rulings have left the specifics unclear when it comes to waters that flow only part of the year. 
To address that, the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers want to define that authority -- and are eyeing waterways deemed to have some significant connection to major rivers, lakes and other systems. This would include, according to the EPA, "most seasonal and rain-dependent streams" as well as wetlands near rivers and streams. The EPA has assured, though, that most farming activity would not require a permit. 
The EPA is planning to release a final rule in the spring of this year. 
McCarthy said Wednesday that the point is to make the rules "easier to understand" and more "consistent." She said the EPA is working to address the concerns of farmers and others, and stressed that the final rule "will not change in any way" those who are already exempted from the Clean Water Act. Speaking to farmers' concerns, she said the new plan would even reduce the law's jurisdiction over features like ditches. 
"We are in fact narrowing the jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act," McCarthy said. EPA officials clarified at Wednesday's hearing that groundwater would not be covered under the new rule, potentially allaying some concerns. 
But several GOP lawmakers were not convinced, worried that the new EPA language would be used to force people and businesses to obtain "costly permits" for their land. Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo. -- citing the case of a Wyoming family that was threatened with $75,000 a day in fines over a stock pond built on their property without a federal permit -- said he would introduce legislation along with Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., to "stop this bureaucratic overreach."
Republicans, as well as farmers and other groups, say the plan could endanger private property rights by giving the EPA a say over temporary waterways like seasonal streams, under the Clean Water Act. Critics warn this could create more red tape for property owners and businesses if they happen to have even small streams on their land. 
The EPA claims, though, this does not expand its authority, and only clarifies it. 
"Let's set aside fact from fiction," Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., said at the hearing. She rejected the notion that the regulation might allow the government to claim jurisdiction over miniscule water bodies. 
"Puddles, swimming pools, stock ponds are not regulated," she stressed.