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Caitlin Clark’s rookie season is officially over. She and the Indiana Fever were sweep victims of the Connecticut Sun and DiJonai Carrington in a series where Carrington gave the rookie a black eye in Game 1 and Clark had to have an opposing fan removed in Game 2. All the while, she only managed a 35% field goal percentage and just 20% from 3. But it was hardly the first difficult week Clark had since college. The WNBA has been a punishing environment on multiple layers for the rookie phenom. And as great as her talent to be, she often had to face even greater obstacles and scrutiny due to the transcendent spotlight that was always above her. Here’s a look back at the strangest, hardest and most painful rookie moments that Clark had to experience, all before turning 23:CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COMAs far as strange or hard moments go, this one actually isn’t even exclusive to Clark. She was simply being indoctrinated into a ritual within the Indiana Fever. Clark had to sing Happy Birthday to Fever teammate Lexie Hull on Sept. 13, which is customary for Fever rookies. “It’s a tough job,” Clark said. But Clark, being the only Fever rookie, had to give a solo performance, she told reporters that day. The Fever had three picks in this year’s draft, but their other two picks, Celeste Taylor and Leilani Correa, did not last long with the team. Taylor now plays for Phoenix and Correa is a free agent. ESPN host Pat McAfee used his nationally televised show on June 3 to refer to Clark as a ‘white b—-’ during a debate over whether she alone was responsible for an influx in popularity of the WNBA and how other veterans were committing questionable fouls against Clark. “I would like the media people that continue to say, ‘This rookie class, this rookie class, this rookie class.’ Nah, just call it for what it is – there’s one White b—- for the Indiana team who is a superstar,” McAfee said. McAfee later had to apologize for the comments but has continued to do his show on ESPN airwaves.Clark finished the regular season with six technical fouls. If she had accrued one more before the last game of the season, she would have been dealt a one-game suspension, which would have left a dark mark on her otherwise pristine rookie season.Clark even said she disagreed with more than one of the technical fouls that were called against her during a press conference after a loss to the Minnesota Lynx on Sept. 6. “It stinks because I feel like half of my technicals this year, I got one for that inadvertent contact to the face in the Minnesota game and then two for hitting the stanchion of the basket,” Clark said. “One was a complete accident, and then the other two were just a little frustration with myself. So, I think I could have done a better job keeping my emotions in check, but at the same time, like, … really?” Clark’s head coach, Christie Sides, insisted Clark had to move on. The Fever’s Game 1 loss to the Sun on Sunday involved an incident in the first quarter when Carrington stabbed Clark’s eye with her long fingernail. Carrington struck Clark while trying to block a pass from Clark in the first quarter. Slow-motion footage showed Carrington bending her hand while coming down from the block attempt, pointing her nails in Clark’s face. Even worse for Clark, no foul was called on the play. Later in the week, Carrington said the poke wasn’t intentional. Clark also said she didn’t think it was intentional when she was asked about it. To add insult to injury, Carrington has also antagonized Clark and her fans on multiple occasions in the past. On June 13, Carrington made a post on X calling out Clark for not doing more to speak out about people using her name for “racism” and other forms of prejudice, even though the rookie phenom has condemned racism and misogyny in public statements. “Dawg. How one can not be bothered by their name being used to justify racism, bigotry, misogyny, xenophobia, homophobia & the intersectionalities of them all is nuts,” Carrington wrote. “We all see the [s—]. We all have a platform. We all have a voice & they all hold weight. Silence is a luxury.”SUN STAR ALYSSA THOMAS RIPS FEVER FANS OVER ALLEGED RACISM AFTER ELIMINATING INDIANA FROM WNBA PLAYOFFSThe decision to leave Clark off the U.S. women’s Olympic basketball team sparked an uproar of backlash from fans, new and old.It didn’t cost the team a gold medal in Paris, but it did possibly prevent the team from getting more exposure and visibility during the Games. Dawn Staley, the head coach of the reigning NCAA women’s basketball champion South Carolina Gamecocks, who beat Clark and Iowa in the final last season, even suggested Clark should have had more consideration. “If we had to do it all over again, the way that she’s playing, she would be in really high consideration of making the team because she is playing head and shoulders above a lot of people.”Staley was part of the committee that elected to leave Clark off the team. WNBA Hall of Famer Sheryl Swoopes, the first player ever to be drafted by the WNBA, is now a women’s basketball broadcaster and commentator. She has been criticized this season for being overly critical of Clark at times. But her attempted criticisms once ventured close to slander when Swoopes suggested that Clark played five years at Iowa and got an extra year of eligibility due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  Swoopes made the comments during an appearance on “Gil’s Arena” podcast in February in an effort to discredit the fact that Clark broke the NCAA all-time scoring record. Then on Sept. 2, Swoopes posted alleged screenshots of a conversation with a contact named Clark in which she apologized for the statements. Later that week, Swoopes even had to host an X Spaces event where she explained why she made the false statements about Clark’s career but said she wouldn’t apologize to anyone else but Clark. Clark and the Fever found a clear rival in the Chicago Sky this past year. Clark’s rivalry with Sky rookie Angel Reese dated back to their college careers before this season. But Clark also got a healthy introduction to Reese’s newest teammates in four games between the two teams this year. Clark took an infamous illegal hip check from Chicago Sky forward Chennedy Carter on June 1 when the Sky player charged right into the Fever rookie and knocked her down during a stoppage in play. Clark said after the game that Carter’s hit “was not a basketball play.”Carter then refused to answer questions about the incident at the postgame press conference but used her social media to repeatedly criticize Clark.”That’s that on that cause beside 3-point shooting what does she bring to the table man,” Carter wrote in reply to a post about her postgame press conference on Threads.In August, Sky player Diamond DeShields sent Clark flying and then sliding across the hardwood on a play that was later upgraded to a flagrant-1 foul.After the game, DeShields posted a screenshot of her notifications list on Instagram, which included a string of hate comments from a user. The comments were about a tumor DeShields overcame in 2020.But Reese also got on this list when she slammed her arm onto Clark’s head while trying to block a layup in a game between the two teams on June 16. Clark and the Fever can at least take solace in knowing they beat the Sky in three of their four meetings this year. Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.



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Publish date : 2024-09-26 21:30:12

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Judges on a New York appeals court were open-minded and receptive to the possibility of reversing or reducing the $454 million civil fraud judgment in New York Attorney General Letitia James’ lawsuit against former President Trump. Trump appealed the civil fraud ruling that demanded he pay more than $450 million. The former president’s attorneys called New York Judge Arthur Engoron’s ruling “draconian, unlawful, and unconstitutional.”  TRUMP’S $454M JUDGMENT BOND SLASHED BY MORE THAN HALF IN APPEALS COURT RULINGEngoron ruled that Trump and other defendants were liable for persistent and repeated fraud, falsifying business records, issuing false financial statements, conspiracy to falsify false financial statements, insurance fraud and conspiracy to commit insurance fraud. A five-judge panel on a New York appeals court in Manhattan Thursday heard oral arguments on the appeal. The former president did not attend oral arguments Thursday but was instead represented by his legal team.Trump attorney D. John Sauer argued that James’ lawsuit stretched New York consumer protection laws and said there were “no victims” and “no complaints” of Trump’s business from lenders and insurers. Sauer said the cause “involves a clear cut violation of the statute of limitations,” pointing to transactions used in the non-jury civil fraud trial that dated back more than a decade. TRUMP VOWS TO FIGHT NEW YORK AG CASE ‘ALL THE WAY UP TO THE US SUPREME COURT,’ AS DEADLINE TO POST $454M LOOMSSauer said that if the verdict is not overturned, “people can’t do business in real estate” without fear. The Appellate Division typically rules about a month after arguments are complete, meaning a final decision could come before Election Day on Nov. 5. Judge Peter H. Moulton questioned if James’ lawsuit turned into “something it was not meant to do.” Moulton said the “immense penalty in this case is troubling.”But the state argued that there is evidence to support the verdict. TRUMP BARRED FROM OPERATING BUSINESS, ORDERED TO PAY OVER $350 MILLION IN NY CIVIL FRAUD CASEIn September 2023, before the non-jury trial began, Engoron ruled that Trump and the Trump Organization had committed fraud while building his real estate empire by deceiving banks, insurers and others by overvaluing his assets and exaggerating his net worth on paperwork used in making deals and securing financing.Trump was hit with an initial penalty of $355 million. That sum is quickly increasing via interest accruals of approximately $112,000 a day until paid in full, now sitting around $470 million.Trump, the 2024 presumptive GOP presidential nominee, and his legal team had appealed and requested a stay on his $454 million civil fraud judgment. Trump’s legal team said the initial requested bond was “unprecedented for a private company,” and said to post it in the judgment’s full amount was a “practical impossibility.” An appeals court slashed former President Trump’s bond payment in March, and the former president paid $175 million. Trump has vowed to fight the case “all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary.” Trump and his family denied any wrongdoing, with the former president saying his assets had been undervalued. Trump’s legal team insisted that his financial statements had disclaimers, and made it clear to banks that they should conduct their own assessments.Throughout the trial, Trump attorneys brought witnesses, including former Deutsche Bank top executives, who testified the banks sought additional business from Trump, whom they viewed as a “whale of a client.”Trump’s defense also brought in expert witnesses, including New York University accounting professor Eli Bartov, who reviewed the Trump financial statements at issue in the case and said he found no evidence of accounting fraud.Bartov testified last month that Trump’s financial statements did not violate accounting principles, and he suggested that anything problematic – like a huge year-to-year leap in the estimated value of his Trump Tower penthouse – was simply an error.”My main finding is that there is no evidence whatsoever of any accounting fraud,” Bartov testified. Trump’s financial statements, he said, “were not materially misstated.”The Associated Press contributed to this report. 



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Publish date : 2024-09-26 20:13:58

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White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Thursday declined to answer questions on Vice President Harris’ gun ownership and previous support of a mandatory gun-buyback program when announcing that President Biden would sign new executive action to address gun violence. The Harris campaign has not responded to multiple requests this week from Fox News Digital seeking answers on what type of gun Harris owns, in what state the vice president is registered and when she last went to a gun range. More than two weeks have passed since Harris declared that she and her vice presidential running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, are gun owners, at the ABC News Presidential Debate in Philadelphia. Jean-Pierre said at the White House press briefing that Biden and Harris would be holding an event announcing new executive action to combat the gun violence epidemic. In a press release, the White House said that Biden and Harris would announce a new executive order “directing federal agencies to improve school-based active shooter drills and combat the emerging threats of machinegun-conversion devices and unserialized, 3D-printed firearms, as well as additional executive actions that advance the Biden-Harris Administration’s agenda to reduce gun violence and save lives.” “On the gun event today, what kind of gun does the vice president have? And when did she buy it?” Fox News White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich asked at the briefing.”That’s something for her office to speak to,” Jean-Pierre shot back. HARRIS CAMPAIGN WON’T GIVE DETAILS ON TYPE OF GUN SHE OWNS, LAST TIME SHE WENT TO RANGEHarris told former President Trump to “stop with the continuous lying” after he claimed the Democratic presidential nominee “has a plan to confiscate everybody’s gun.” She vowed on the debate stage that “we’re not taking anybody’s guns away.” But while serving as San Francisco district attorney in 2005, Harris supported Proposition H, which would have banned handguns within city limits and would have required that residents turn in the handguns that they already owned by a certain deadline or face mandatory jail time, Heinrich noted, asking again Thursday whether the White House would give details on Harris’ gun ownership. “So can the White House get us an answer on that? Because she hasn’t, and her campaign officials also haven’t answered that question, even on television,” Heinrich said. “When it comes to the VP and owning a gun, she can speak for herself. The campaign could speak for that. Her office can speak for that. I’m not – that’s for them to speak to,” Jean-Pierre said. “There is no conflict here when we’re saying that we want to see responsible gun ownership. That’s what we want to see. Responsible gun ownership. I think that is what’s important here.” Decrying gun violence as “an epidemic in our country,” she continued: “Think about our schools, our grocery stores. It’s an epidemic. We have done the work. We have seen violent crimes go down because of the work that this president and this vice president has done. There is an office to prevent gun violence. And that is something that she leads.”HARRIS SURPRISES SOCIAL MEDIA BY SAYING SHE’S A GUN OWNER”We’re asking for responsible gun ownership. That’s what we want to see. That’s what’s important here. And if people don’t, don’t want to, don’t understand that, I don’t know how to further even explain that to them,” she said. “Our kids, our schools. There’s an epidemic here. There’s an epidemic. There are drills happening in our schools right now. That’s something that the president’s going to speak to that is traumatizing some of our kids because of this epidemic. And so that should be the focus. How do we make sure that we end this epidemic? We want to see responsible gun ownership. That’s what we want to see.” Heinrich noted that the question was not about responsible gun ownership. She reiterated that she asked about a measure Harris supported “that would have required that non-law enforcement or military residents of the city turn in their handguns – so, no gun ownership, or face possible mandatory jail time versus what she’s saying now and then also not answering the question of her gun ownership.” Clips have also surfaced of Harris, while San Francisco’s district attorney, telling legal gun owners then that “just because you legally possess a gun in the sanctity of your locked home doesn’t mean we’re not gonna walk into that home and check to see if you’re being responsible and safe in the way you conduct your affairs,” while speaking about the proposal. “Again, that’s something that she’s going to have to speak to,” Jean-Pierre said. “What I can speak to, this moment in this time, what we’ve been trying to do for the last three and a half years is making sure that we are dealing with an epidemic that is existing in our communities, that we see in our schools, that we see in, in grocery stores. It is an epidemic here. And what we’re trying to do is prevent gun violence.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP”And we have seen that go down. We have, because of this work, because of the executive actions, because of a bipartisan legislation that was able to be done under this administration to deal with gun violence, something that we hadn’t seen in 30 years. So there is some bipartisan support here to deal with a responsible way of having gun ownership. We need to do more here. We need to do more,” she said. 



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Publish date : 2024-09-26 19:29:03

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The United States Secret Service, which has been the subject of heated scrutiny after two assassination attempts against former President Trump that many believe were avoidable, is now facing even more heat as it prepares to send employees to an LGBTQ-focused event at Florida’s Walt Disney World.The Secret Service is expected to send agents to Disney World on Oct. 7-10 as part of the Out and Equal Workplace Summit that includes breakout sessions, a gala and various events aimed at promoting LGBTQ diversity in the workplace. “Individually and as a collective community, we can break down barriers, bring everyone along, and illuminate the way forward where workplaces—and the world—are rich in inclusion and belonging, and innovation and opportunity are unlocked, for LGBTQ+ people and for all,” the Out and Equal Workplace Summit’s website states.”And through the Out & Equal Workplace Summit, we will harness, nurture, and grow that light. We will remind our collective community and the world of the brilliance and power we hold. We will remind them that we are an unstoppable, radiant force.”SECRET SERVICE STRUGGLE TO PROTECT PRESIDENTS WON’T SEE ‘IMMEDIATE’ END EVEN WITH MORE MANPOWER: RETIRED AGENTA RealClearPolitics reporter posted an email this month reportedly from the Secret Service encouraging agents to nominate others to go on the trip to Florida as part of the agency’s Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. As the Secret Service continues to face various investigations and reports into massive failures in adequately protecting Trump from two assassination attempts, along with serious concerns about the agency’s staffing levels, American Principles Project President Terry Schilling told Fox News Digital the event in Florida is the last thing it should be allocating resources toward. “To say this is a bad look for the Secret Service might be the understatement of the decade,” Schilling said. “There have now been two near-assassinations of a former president in the last two months. The readiness and basic competence of the agency is now rightly under scrutiny. Is this really the right time to be sending staff members to Disney World?”TOP SECRET SERVICE AGENT IN PITTSBURGH SAYS HE WAS KEPT IN DARK ON ‘CREDIBLE’ THREAT AHEAD OF BUTLER RALLYSchilling continued, “Even worse is what this says about the priorities of the Secret Service. At a moment when the agency should be focusing on hiring the best personnel possible, they are instead continuing to focus on the failed and unpopular principles of DEI. If the last couple months have made anything clear, it’s that the Secret Service doesn’t need more nonbinary-identifying agents. Rather, it needs more “good” agents.”A preliminary report on the July 13 assassination attempt on Trump from the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs released on Wednesday ripped into newly revealed missteps that went into the Secret Service’s planning and execution of security at the event during which a spectator was killed, two others were seriously wounded and Trump was struck on the ear.The Secret Service is currently operating with about 400 fewer employees than what Congress has authorized, according to a report this month. Fox News Digital reached out to the Secret Service for comment but did not receive a response.”A person’s sexual preferences should have zero bearing on their ability to protect our nation’s leaders,” Schilling told Fox News Digital. “So, why is the Secret Service spending so much time and resources obsessing over LGBTQ+ issues? This is a serious scandal that the agency needs to address immediately.”



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Publish date : 2024-09-26 18:21:39

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A Pennsylvania police officer on Thursday told lawmakers that a local operator’s bullet ultimately stopped failed assassination attempt shooter Thomas Crooks before the U.S. Secret Service fatally shot him.Adams Township Police Department Sgt. Edward Lenz’s testimony came Thursday morning during a hearing before the House Trump Assassination Attempt Task Force, which has been tasked with investigating the July 13 shooting of former President Donald Trump, the first of two recent assassination attempts against him.”Across the two counter assault teams, the quick reaction force, three sniper teams and support personnel, we provided total manpower of 44 persons, exceeding the number requested by the Secret Service,” Lenz, a commander with the Butler County Emergency Services Unit (ESU), said in his opening remarks. “At no point during the planning process was Butler County ESU asked to secure the AGR complex, nor the perimeter surrounding that area. At no point during the planning process was Butler ESU asked to deploy a sniper team to the roof of the AGR complex.”Butler County snipers inside the AGR building could not see the shooter from the roof of the AGR complex, nor was that part of their duties for the day, Lenz added.BUTLER LAWMAKER SLAMS ‘INAPPROPRIATE’ TREATMENT OF LOCAL POLICE AFTER TRUMP INCIDENT: ‘THROWN UNDER THE BUS’A member of the quick response force, however, noticed several suspicious peope in the area, one of whom turned out to be the shooter. A Beaver County sniper took a photo of the suspicious male near the AGR building and a photo of the shooter using a range finder pointing toward the stage, who was later identified as Crooks.The sniper reported that information to the Pennsylvania State Police, Lenz explained. The FBI previously said this sighting occurred around 5:10 p.m. on July 13, one hour and one minute before Crooks began shooting.TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT: INEXPERIENCED SECRET SERVICE AGENT FLYING DRONE CALLED TOLL-FREE NUMBER FOR HELPSoon afterward, when it became clear that a threat was on the roof of the AGR building, an operator with Butler County ESU exited the red barn from behind the stage where Trump was speaking and monitored the AGR building area, Lenz said. He “quickly identified” where the shots were coming from, located the shooter, and fired one round at Crooks with his rifle, “which caused the shooter to recoil and briefly fall out of sight,” the Adams Township officer testified.”He did this less than six seconds after shots began … at a distance of approximately 110 yards,” Lenz said.TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT: WHISTLEBLOWERS CLAIM THAT THEY WERE ‘WOEFULLY UNPREPARED’ TO PROVIDE SECURITYA Secret Service counter sniper then fired the fatal shot that neutralized Crooks on the roof of the AGR building, where he was perched with a direct line of sight to Trump.The FBI previously told reporters during a press call that the Secret Service counter sniper fired the fatal round that killed Crooks approximately 15.5 seconds after Crooks began shooting. The FBI also noted at that time that the local officer who fired a round at Crooks did not hit him.SECRET SERVICE BOSS SAYS VITAL INFO NOT RELAYED OVER RADIO, DELAYING RESPONSE TO WOULD-BE RALLY ASSASSIN”Regarding the round fired by the local officer, we have no forensic evidence indicating that that round either struck our subject or the subject’s rifle,” FBI Pittsburgh Special Agent in Charge Kevin Rojek said in August.The Task Force on Thursday heard testimony from three local Pennsylvania law enforcement officials, including Lenz, who provided security protection at the July 13 rally; the medical examiner who conducted shooter Thomas Crooks’ autopsy; and a retired Secret Service agent.TRUMP SHOOTING: TIMELINE OF ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT RAISES QUESTIONS ABOUT HOW GUNMAN EVADED SECURITYWitnesses largely suggested that the Secret Service’s lack of direction given to local agencies ultimately led to the security failures that allowed 20-year-old Crooks to position himself on a nearby rooftop and fire at the former president, striking him in the ear and killing rally attendee Corey Comperatore. Two other attendees, David Dutch and James Copenhaver, were critically wounded by Crooks’ gunfire.”If we knew there was a suspicious person out there … why in the world would you let President Trump go on that platform?” Task Force Chairman Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Penn., asked during his opening remarks.ATTEMPTED TRUMP ASSASSIN SEEN WALKING AROUND PENNSYLVANIA RALLY HOURS BEFORE OPENING FIRERanking Member Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., said in his opening remarks that while the Secret Service “failed on July 13,” the agency has more responsibilities than ever since it took over full-time presidential protection in 1902. “The Secret Service must be expected to accomplish its zero-fail protection mission without any errors, but Congress must also ensure that the Secret Service has the resources it needs to accomplish that mission. It’s become clear since July 13 that the Secret Service is stretched too thin,” Crow said.Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe said in a statement Thursday, “We thank Congress for addressing some of the U.S. Secret Service’s most immediate needs in this heightened threat environment. This short-term funding will better equip the U.S. Secret Service to enhance security measures in the months ahead. We look forward to working with Congress on full-year funding to deliver the additional personnel, technology, and equipment our workforce needs to do their jobs.”On the day of the rally, Crooks parked his vehicle and flew a drone between about 3:50 p.m. and 4 p.m. about 200 yards from where the former president would be speaking on July 13. FBI Director Christopher Wray testified during a July 17 congressional hearing that Crooks had been at the rally site for about 70 minutes the morning of the assassination attempt. Investigators located eight rounds on the roof where Crooks fired from.



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Publish date : 2024-09-26 16:51:03

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