A doctor who led the successful COVID-19 response in the Navajo Nation in Arizona is returning to Maine to serve as director of the state Center for Disease Control and Prevention, officials said Thursday.

Dr. Puthiery Va earned her medical degree at the University of New England in Maine. She has extensive experience in primary clinical care, epidemiology and public health emergency response, making her well-equipped to deal with Maine’s public health challenges, said Jeanne Lambrew, commissioner of the Maine Department of Health and Human Services.

‘Dr. Va has been a front-line leader — as well as a clinician and epidemiologist — during a global health emergency following a distinguished role as a disease investigator at the U.S. CDC,’ Lambrew said.

Va is currently of director of public health at the Indian Health Service’s Chinle Comprehensive Health Care Facility in Arizona. There she exhibited ‘exceptional leadership and tireless dedication’ in working with the Navajo community during the pandemic and became a source of ‘unwavering hope and healing,’ said Roselyn Tso, director of the Indian Health Service.

She will replace Dr. Nirav Shah, whose profile was lifted during the pandemic. Shah left the post to serve as principal deputy director of the national Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta.

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Former President Donald Trump was charged with an additional count of willful retention of national defense information and two new obstruction counts as part of a superseding indictment out of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into his alleged improper retention of classified records. 

‘Today, a superseding indictment was returned by a grand jury in the Southern District of Florida that adds one defendant and four charges to the prior indictment filed against Donald J. Trump and Waltine Nauta,’ the Justice Department said in a statement Thursday. ‘The superseding indictment adds a new Count charging Trump with one additional count of willful retention of National Defense Information.’  

‘Carlos de Oliveira, 56, of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, has been added to the obstruction conspiracy charged in the original indictment,’ the DOJ said. ‘The superseding indictment also charges Trump, De Oliveira and Nauta with two new obstruction counts based on allegations that the defendants attempted to delete surveillance video footage at The Mar-a-Lago Club in summer 2022.’

‘Finally, the superseding indictment also charges De Oliveira with false statements and representations in a voluntary interview with the FBI on Jan. 13, 2023,’ the DOJ added. ‘De Oliveira has been summoned to appear at 10:30 a.m. on July 31, 2023, in Courtroom #5 at the James L. King Federal Courthouse in Miami.’

The indictment alleges that the defendants attempted to delete surveillance video footage from Mar-a-Lago.

According to the indictment, De Oliveira told an unnamed Trump employee that ”the boss’ wanted the server deleted.’

‘Trump Employee 4 responded that he would not know how to do that, and that he did not believe that he would have the rights to do that,’ the indictment states. ‘Trump Employee 4 told De Oliveira that De Oliveira would have to reach out to another employee who was a supervisor of security for Trump’s business organization.’

Reacting to the additional charges, a Trump campaign spokesperson told Fox News Digital that ‘this is nothing more than a continued desperate and flailing attempt by the Biden Crime Family and their Department of Justice to harass President Trump and those around him.’ 

‘Deranged Jack Smith knows that they have no case and is casting about for any way to salvage their illegal witch hunt and to get someone other than Donald Trump to run against Crooked Joe Biden,’ the spokesperson added. 

Smith was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland in November 2022 to investigate Trump’s alleged improper retention of classified records at his Mar-a-Lago home.

The Justice Department had been investigating the matter after the FBI conducted an unprecedented search on his private residence in August 2022.

NARA told Congress in February 2022 that Trump took 15 boxes of presidential records to his personal residence in Florida. NARA recovered the 15 boxes from Mar-a-Lago and ‘identified items marked as classified national security information within the boxes.’ The matter was referred to the Justice Department by NARA. 

Those boxes allegedly contained ‘classified national security information,’ and official correspondence between Trump and foreign heads of state.

Classified records were also discovered in President Biden’s office at the Penn Biden Center last year. Those records were from his time as vice president during the Obama administration and from his tenure in the U.S. Senate.

At the time, Garland initially chose U.S. Attorney John Lausch to conduct a review of classified records that were discovered at the Penn Biden Center. In December, more classified records were found at Biden’s Wilmington, Delaware, home, but the discoveries were not made public until this year.

Garland later appointed U.S. Attorney Robert Hur as special counsel to investigate Biden’s improper retention of classified records. Hur took over the DOJ investigation from Lausch.

The status of Hur’s investigation is unclear. 

Meanwhile, classified records were also found at former Vice President Mike Pence’s home in Indiana.

Fox News reported last month that the Justice Department had completed its investigation in the matter and that Pence will not be charged.

EXCLUSIVE: Former President Donald Trump, reacting to the latest charges against him from Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation, slammed the Justice Department for ‘abuse,’ and said ‘this is what you get’ for leading the polls for the White House in 2024.

Trump, who is atop the 2024 GOP presidential primary field, was charged Thursday with an additional count of willful retention of national defense information and two new obstruction counts as part of a new ‘superseding’ indictment out of Smith’s investigation into his alleged improper retention of classified records.

Trump was indicted in June on charges stemming from Smith’s investigation into his alleged improper retention of classified records after his presidency. Trump pleaded not guilty to 37 counts, including willful retention of national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice and false statements.

‘It’s election interference at the highest level,’ Trump told Fox News Digital just after he learned of the latest indictment. ‘They’re harassing my company, they’re harassing my family and by far, least importantly of all, they’re harassing me.’ 

Trump told Fox News Digital that ‘the charges are ridiculous, and they know it better than anyone.’

‘This is prosecutorial misconduct used at a level never seen before,’ Trump said. ‘If I weren’t leading Biden by a lot in numerous polls, and wasn’t going to be the Republican nominee, it wouldn’t be happening. It wouldn’t be happening.’ 

He added: ‘But I am way up as a Republican and way up in the general election and this is what you get.’ 

Trump told Fox News Digital that ‘our country is suffering from DOJ abuse.’ 

‘Hopefully the Republican Party will do something about it,’ he said. 

The Justice Department on Thursday announced that a ‘superseding indictment was returned by a grand jury in the Southern District of Florida that adds one defendant and four charges to the prior indictment filed against Donald J. Trump and Waltine Nauta.’  

‘The superseding indictment adds a new Count charging Trump with one additional count of willful retention of National Defense Information,’ the DOJ said. ‘Carlos de Oliveira, 56, of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, has been added to the obstruction conspiracy charged in the original indictment.’ 

‘The superseding indictment also charges Trump, De Oliveira and Nauta with two new obstruction counts based on allegations that the defendants attempted to delete surveillance video footage at The Mar-a-Lago Club in summer 2022,’ the DOJ said. 

‘Finally, the superseding indictment also charges De Oliveira with false statements and representations in a voluntary interview with the FBI on Jan. 13, 2023,’ the DOJ added. ‘De Oliveira has been summoned to appear at 10:30 a.m. on July 31, 2023, in Courtroom #5 at the James L. King Federal Courthouse in Miami.’

Reacting to the additional charges, a Trump campaign spokesperson told Fox News Digital that ‘this is nothing more than a continued desperate and flailing attempt by the Biden Crime Family and their Department of Justice to harass President Trump and those around him.’ 

‘Deranged Jack Smith knows that they have no case and is casting about for any way to salvage their illegal witch hunt and to get someone other than Donald Trump to run against Crooked Joe Biden,’ the spokesperson added. 

Classified records were also discovered in President Biden’s office at the Penn Biden Center last year. Those records were from his time as vice president during the Obama administration and from his tenure in the U.S. Senate.

At the time, Garland initially chose U.S. Attorney John Lausch to conduct a review of classified records that were discovered at the Penn Biden Center. In December, more classified records were found at Biden’s Wilmington, Delaware, home, but the discoveries were not made public until this year.

Garland later appointed U.S. Attorney Robert Hur as special counsel to investigate Biden’s improper retention of classified records. Hur took over the DOJ investigation from Lausch. 

The status of Hur’s investigation into Biden is unclear. 

Classified records were also found at former Vice President Mike Pence’s home in Indiana.

Fox News reported last month that the Justice Department had completed its investigation in the matter and that Pence will not be charged.

Meanwhile, Smith is also investigating whether Trump or other officials and entities interfered with the peaceful transfer of power following the 2020 presidential election, including the certification of the Electoral College vote on Jan. 6, 2021.

Trump’s legal team met with Smith and his team at the special counsel offices on Thursday morning, in anticipation of a possible federal indictment out of that probe. 

Sources told Fox News that Trump’s legal team was not given any specific timing about a possible indictment, but that they had heard nothing suggesting an indictment would not happen at some point.

After the meeting ended, the former president posted on his Truth Social account: 

‘My attorneys had a productive meeting with the DOJ this morning, explaining in detail that I did nothing wrong, was advised by many lawyers, and that an Indictment of me would only further destroy our Country,’ Trump wrote. ‘No indication of notice was given during the meeting — Do not trust the Fake News on anything!‘ 

Trump announced last week that he had received a target letter from the Justice Department, which also asked that he report to the federal grand jury. Trump said he anticipated ‘an arrest and indictment.’

Democratic lawmakers in Pennsylvania say they are angry that millions of dollars to expand adult mental health services got cut out of the budget, and are pushing to get it included now that the legislation is held up in a month-old partisan stalemate.

The fight over the money comes as schools and counties report spikes in demand for mental health services on the heels of the COVID-19 pandemic, and say they don’t have the resources to support those in need.

The House, controlled by Democrats, approved legislation last month that would direct $100 million in one time COVID-era federal funds to go to programs to bolster the state’s adult mental health network by addressing workforce shortages, bettering criminal and public safety programs and supporting suicide prevention programs. It was based on recommendations of a commission tasked with deciding how to divvy up the federal funds designated for such uses last year.

But it was left on the cutting room floor in a budget bill that Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro said he will sign. The Senate Republican-authored budget bill instead pushed those dollars to student mental health. The spending plan, which was approved by both chambers, is still awaiting the final OK after negotiations soured.

‘Let’s be clear about something contrary to what the Senate would have you believe, this is not an either/or proposition. We need to fund both,’ said the bill’s primary sponsor, Rep. Mike Schlossberg, D-Lehigh.

As final pieces of the budget still remain undone — like bills that direct how the money can be spent — Democrats say there is still a path forward to getting the initiatives funded by tapping into the state’s flush reserves.

Republicans, however, have been tempered in their spending plans through the budget process, advocating for keeping operational expenses low in the face of a potential recession.

With billions in surplus, Majority Leader Rep. Matt Bradford, D-Montgomery, said that it was ‘beyond cynical’ to force a choice between adults and students for mental health services. He said it was a priority for House Democrats to secure adult mental health funding, and that they want it to be part of negotiations for the additional budget legislation.

‘The fact we’re moving backward this time is just heartbreaking and really defies common sense,’ he said.

The governor’s office did not say whether he supported Democrats’ effort to use surplus dollars to fund mental health, but said mental health funding remained a priority and that ‘he will continue working to secure every dollar possible to invest in Pennsylvanians’ mental health.’

Shapiro had proposed funding the adult mental health needs identified by the commission last year, and continuing the previous Democratic governor’s allocation of $100 million toward student mental health needs.

As many adolescents and teenagers deal with increased needs following the COVID-19 pandemic, the state funded student mental health programs last year with $100 million to help districts proactively and preventatively provide services, through hiring counselors and psychologists or contracting out services.

Many districts work closely with their counties, which can place more strain on those systems.

A top priority for counties is securing more state aid for the safety-net mental health services that they administer. They say there aren’t enough beds or counselors for people who need help after demand spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sen. Scott Martin, R-Lancaster, said schools need the funds and the Legislature advanced $20 million to support county mental health systems.

‘Ideally, we want to encourage more partnerships between counties and schools to get help to individuals who can benefit from these services,’ he said in a statement.

While the funds in Schlossberg’s bill wouldn’t directly benefit the counties, a spokesman for the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania said previously it would help rebuild a mental health infrastructure in the state. Counties are seeking an additional $150 million — an almost 60% increase — to address their needs.

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Ryan Kelley, a candidate in Michigan’s 2022 Republican gubernatorial primary, has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge for participating in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.Kelley defended the riot at a debate last year, calling it ‘a First Amendment activity by a majority of those people, myself included.’Kelley placed third in the primary, coming in behind media personality Tudor Dixon and businessman Kevin Rinke. Dixon lost the general election to Democratic incumbent Gretchen Whitmer in a landslide.

A former Republican candidate for Michigan governor pleaded guilty on Thursday to a misdemeanor charge for his participation in the U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.

Ryan Kelley pleaded guilty more than a year after the ardent supporter of former President Donald Trump was arrested in the case, roiling the already messy gubernatorial Republican primary. Kelley, a real estate broker, finished fourth in a field of five Republican candidates.

An email seeking comment was sent to Kelley’s attorney on Thursday. Kelley had previously decried the prosecution as a ‘witch hunt,’ and after his arrest his campaign posted on Facebook the words ‘political prisoner.’

His attorney, Gary Springstead, told The Detroit News last month that Kelley wants to ‘put this behind him so he can focus on his family and his successful career as a commercial real estate agent.’

Kelley pleaded guilty to a charge of illegally entering a restricted area and is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 17. His trial was supposed to start on July 31, before he reached a plea agreement with federal prosecutors.

Kelley came to Washington to protest the certification of the 2020 election won by President Joe Biden, and joined the crowd that marched from the ‘Stop the Steal’ rally to the Capitol, according to court documents.

Kelley climbed an ‘architectural feature’ outside the Capitol and then gestured for other rioters behind him to move toward stairs leading up to the building, court papers say. Kelley also pulled a covering off a structure that had been set up for Biden’s inauguration.

Conservative commentator Tudor Dixon won the Republican primary but ultimately lost to incumbent Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, in November.

At a debate last year, Kelley said the riot was ‘a First Amendment activity by a majority of those people, myself included.’

‘We were there protesting the government because we don’t like the results of the 2020 election, the process of how it happened. And we have that First Amendment right. And that’s what 99% of the people were there for that day,’ he said.

Kelley was wearing some of the same clothing on Jan. 6 that he was at an American Patriot Council rally in Lansing, Michigan, in May 2020. Kelley spoke at the rally against extending Gov. Whitmer’s emergency declaration for the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kelley also spoke at a ‘Stop the Steal’ rally at the state Capitol in Lansing in November 2020, shortly after the presidential election. Kelley urged others at the rally to ‘stand and fight, with the goal of preventing Democrats from stealing the election,’ the FBI said.

He also said COVID-19 ‘was made so that they can use the propaganda to control your minds so that you think, if you watch the media, that Joe Biden won this election. We’re not going to buy it. We’re going to stand and fight for America, for Donald Trump. We’re not going to let the Democrats steal this election.’

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President Joe Biden intends to nominate Joshua Kolar, a federal magistrate judge for northern Indiana, to the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the White House announced Thursday.

Kolar, who’s based in Hammond, has been a magistrate judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana since 2019.

He previously was an assistant U.S. attorney for the same district from 2007 to 2018, and he was the lead attorney for national security there from 2015 to 2018.

The 7th Circuit covers cases from Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin.

Kolar is also a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy Reserve since 2009, and he was on active duty in Afghanistan in 2014-15.

He received his law degree in 2003 from Northwestern University.

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