US Domestic News Roundup: U.S issues fuel, truck driver waivers after BP Whiting shutdown; U.S. Justice Dept says Trump papers included material on intelligence, sources and more

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

U.S issues fuel, truck driver waivers after BP Whiting shutdown

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Transportation Department on Saturday took steps to help alleviate potential fuel shortages in four states after the unanticipated shutdown of the BP Whiting, Indiana refinery. Reuters reported Friday the 435,000 barrel-per-day refinery was shut down and undergoing damage assessment following loss of electrical power and cooling water systems in a Wednesday fire.

U.S. Justice Dept says Trump papers included material on intelligence, sources

The U.S. Justice Department on Friday disclosed that it was investigating former President Donald Trump for removing White House records because it believed he illegally held documents including some involving intelligence-gathering and clandestine human sources - among America's most closely held secrets. The department released a heavily redacted affidavit that underpinned the FBI's extraordinary Aug. 8 search of Trump's Florida residence in which agents seized 11 sets of classified records including some labeled "top secret" as documents that could gravely threaten national security if exposed.

Duke volleyball game in Utah moved after racist abuse hurled at Black player

Duke University women's volleyball match on Saturday was moved to an alternate location in Provo, Utah, after racial slurs were hurled at a Black player from the crowd during Friday's match with BYU, school officials said. The incident prompted BYU to apologize and ban a fan identified as the perpetrator.

Accused ringleader in NBA health care fraud pleads guilty

The accused ringleader of a scheme involving at least 19 former National Basketball Association players to defraud a league health plan into paying millions of dollars for bogus medical procedures pleaded guilty on Friday over his involvement. Terrence Williams, who played for the New Jersey Nets and three other teams from 2009 to 2013, entered his plea to conspiracy and identity theft charges before U.S. District Judge Valerie Caproni in Manhattan.

Some Pennsylvania Republicans defend Mastriano for posing in Confederate uniform

Some Republicans in Pennsylvania defended Donald Trump-backed gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano on Saturday after Reuters published a 2014 photo of him posing in a Confederate uniform. The previously unreported photo was released by the U.S. Army War College to Reuters under a Freedom of Information Act request. It showed Mastriano among the 2013-14 faculty for the Department of Military Strategy, Plans, and Operations, where he worked at the time.

U.S. intelligence to conduct risk assessment of recovered Mar-a-Lago materials -letter

The U.S. intelligence community will assess the potential risk to national security of disclosure of materials recovered during the Aug. 8 search of former President Donald Trump's Florida residence, according to a letter seen by Reuters. The letter dated Friday from National Intelligence Director (DNI) Avril Haines to House Intelligence Committee chair Adam Schiff and Oversight Committee chair Carolyn Maloney also said the Justice Department and DNI "are working together to facilitate a classification review" of materials including those recovered during the search.

Ex-congressman's arrest ended UAE push to get him named U.S. envoy, prosecutors say

An effort by the United Arab Emirates to convince the United States with the help of a wealthy real estate investor to name former congressman Stephen Stockman as U.S. ambassador to that country during Donald Trump's presidency unraveled with the lawmaker's 2017 arrest on fraud charges, prosecutors said. U.S. prosecutors made the statement in a filing late on Thursday in Brooklyn federal court ahead of next month's scheduled criminal trial of Tom Barrack, a billionaire real estate investor and fundraiser for Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. Barrack, charged with acting as a UAE agent without notifying the U.S. attorney general as required, has pleaded not guilty.

Sept. 11 victims not entitled to seize Afghan central bank assets -U.S. judge

A U.S. judge on Friday recommended that victims of Sept. 11, 2001, attacks not be allowed to seize billions of dollars of assets belonging to Afghanistan's central bank to satisfy court judgments they obtained against the Taliban. U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn in Manhattan said Da Afghanistan Bank was immune from jurisdiction, and that allowing the seizures would effectively acknowledge the Islamist militant group as the Afghan government, something only the U.S. president can do.

Mountain lion dies in surgery after being shot by police in California

A young mountain lion shot by police died in surgery at a California zoo on Friday, a zoo spokesperson said, after the animal was startled by a tranquilizer dart and jumped at an officer in a suburban neighborhood. Oakland Zoo veterinarians received the lion, estimated to be a year old, shortly before midday and prepared it for emergency surgery, said zoo spokesperson Erin Harrison.

U.S. judge indicates intent to name special master in Trump FBI search

A U.S. judge on Saturday said it was her "preliminary intent" to grant former President Donald Trump's request to appoint a special master to oversee a review of materials seized Aug. 8 from his Florida home during an FBI raid. U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon, who was nominated by Trump in 2020, on Saturday also directed the Justice Department to submit under seal more details "specifying all property seized pursuant to the search warrant."