Page 3 - aruba-today-20240906

A3
U.S. NEWS Friday 6 September 2024
Navy secretary breaks law with political statements about

presidential race, watchdog says

By LOLITA C. BALDOR he added, “In retrospect, I
Associated Press believe my response should
WASHINGTON (AP) — Navy have been delivered more
Secretary Carlos Del Toro broadly without reference
broke the law by publicly to specific candidates.”
endorsing the reelection In a separate written re-
of President Joe Biden and sponse to the watchdog’s
criticizing former President findings, the secretary’s
Donald Trump in several lawyer, Michael Bromwich,
statements he made while said Del Toro’s remarks
on official duty overseas, were “spontaneous and
the U.S. Office of Special unpremeditated” and did
Counsel said Thursday. not constitute a violation of
In a report to the White the Hatch Act. Bromwich
House, the watchdog said Del Toro was respond-
agency said Del Toro’s ing to questions and did
comments about the presi- not directly speak Trump’s
dential election came in a name.
BBC interview and when he Special counsel Hampton
was responding to ques- Dellinger said in his report
tions after a speech in Lon- that Del Toro “crossed a le-
don. While he later report- gal line.” And he said the
ed the remarks, his unwill- secretary’s “unwillingness
ingness to take responsibil- Nominee for Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro speaks during a Senate Armed Services to acknowledge a mistake
ity for them is troubling, the confirmation hearing July 13, 2021, on Capitol Hill in Washington. is striking” and troubling.
special counsel said. Associated Press Dellinger said he appreci-
The agency said Del To- the world need the ma- Later, during an interview you wonder, you know, ates that Del Toro reported
ro’s comments, which ture leadership of President on “BBC News Sunday,” should you be supporting the comments, “but this
were made before Biden Biden,” Del Toro said in re- Del Toro was asked about that individual?” he said. fact alone should not ab-
dropped out of the presi- sponse to a question after his comments on Trump’s Del Toro was asked, “You solve him.”
dential race, violate the giving a speech at the Roy- democratic principles. Del said he had a suspicious Del Toro has also issued his
Hatch Act, which prohibits al United Services Institute Toro responded that in attitude to democracy?” own directive for his Navy
U.S. officials from engag- in late January. He added, the past, Republican and And the Navy secretary re- force, Dellinger said, noting
ing in political activity while “We cannot afford to have Democratic presidents sponded, “Absolutely so.” that “it is more important
they are on duty and from a president who aligns him- abided by core American Several days later, Del Toro than ever for us to remem-
“using their official author- self with autocratic dicta- values and protected de- self-reported the blunder to ber that the DON (Depart-
ity or influence to interfere tors and rulers whose inter- mocracy. the special counsel, saying ment of the Navy) is an
with or affect the result of pretation of democratic “When you have someone his intention was to focus on apolitical body. …. Public
an election.” principles is suspicious (at) who doesn’t align to those the importance of strong trust and confidence de-
“The United States and best.” core principles, it makes international alliances. But, pend on this.”q

New Mexico attorney general sues company behind Snapchat

alleging child sexual extortion on the site

BARBARA ORTUTAY of Instagram and Face- believing that photos and dreds of millions of dollars in moderating content and
AP Technology Writer (AP) book, saying it allows pred- videos sent on their plat- our trust and safety teams enabling direct messag-
— New Mexico’s attorney ators to trade child pornog- form will disappear, but over the past several years, ing with close friends and
general has filed a lawsuit raphy and solicit minors for predators can permanent- and designed our service family.”q
against the company be- sex on its platforms. That suit ly capture this content and to promote online safety by
hind Snapchat, alleging is pending. they have created a virtual
that site’s design and poli- Snap’s “harmful design yearbook of child sexual
cies foster the sharing of features create an envi- images that are traded,
child sexual abuse material ronment where predators sold, and stored indefinite-
and facilitate child sexual can easily target children ly,” Torres said.
exploitation. through sextortion schemes In a statement, Snap said
Attorney General Raúl Tor- and other forms of sexual it shares Torrez’s and the
rez filed the lawsuit against abuse,” Torrez said in a public’s concerns about
Snap Inc. Thursday in state statement. Sexual extor- the online safety of young
court in Santa Fe. In addi- tion, or sextortion, involves people.
tion to sexual abuse, the persuading a person to “We understand that online
lawsuit claims the compa- send explicit photos online threats continue to evolve
ny also openly promotes and then threatening to and we will continue to
child trafficking, drugs and make the images public work diligently to address
guns. unless the victim pays mon- these critical issues,” the New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez speaks during a rally
Last December, Torrez filed ey or engages in sexual fa- company based in Santa to protect kids online on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday,
a similar lawsuit against vors. Monica, California, said. Jan. 31, 2024.
Meta, the parent company “Snap has misled users into We have invested hun- Associated Press