News
Justice Dept. to Review Election Tampering Conviction of Pro-Trump Clerk
The Justice Department said on Monday that it would review the conviction of the former clerk of Mesa County, Colo., who was found guilty of state charges last summer of tampering with voting machines under her control in a failed attempt to prove that they had been used to rig the 2020 election against President Trump.
The decision was the latest example of the Justice Department under Mr. Trump’s control seeking to use its powers to support those who have acted on his behalf and to go after those who have criticized or opposed him. It also played into the president’s effort to rewrite the history of his efforts to overturn the results of the election.
Three weeks ago, the former clerk, Tina Peters, who was sentenced to nine years in prison on the state election tampering charges, filed a long-shot motion in Federal District Court in Denver effectively challenging the guilty verdict she received in August at the end of a trial in Grand Junction.
But, in a surprise move, Yaakov M. Roth, the acting assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s civil division, filed a court brief known as a statement of interest on Monday, declaring that “reasonable concerns have been raised about various aspects of Ms. Peters’s case.” In the filing, Mr. Roth said the federal judge who received Ms. Peters’s petition this month should give it “prompt and careful consideration.”
Mr. Roth said that the Justice Department was concerned, among other things, about “the exceptionally lengthy sentence” imposed on Ms. Peters by the judge in Grand Junction. He also questioned a decision by state prosecutors to deny her bail as she appeals her conviction as “arbitrary or unreasonable.”
The review of Ms. Peters’s case was part of a larger examination of cases “across the nation for abuses of the criminal justice process,” Mr. Roth wrote. The scrutiny of Peters case, he added, was being conducted under the aegis of an executive order that Mr. Trump issued seeking to end the “weaponization of the federal government.”
It remains unclear what lasting effect the Justice Department’s review of Ms. Peters’s case might have on the proceeding. But Mr. Roth made clear in his court papers that the evaluation was taking place to determine whether the prosecution was “oriented more toward inflicting political pain than toward pursuing actual justice.”
The Justice Department has no power to directly overturn the state conviction. But its filing lobbying a federal court to intercede in the case was nonetheless a remarkable intervention in the matter.
Dan Rubinstein, the Mesa County district attorney who secured the conviction against Ms. Peters, said on Monday evening that, until Mr. Roth’s court papers were filed, he had had no idea that the Justice Department was thinking of scrutinizing Ms. Peters’s case for alleged political bias.
Moreover, he said, no one from the department had reached out to him before the filing to express concern about the case.
“I am happy to have a conversation with anybody in the administration as to the motivations and expectations that our community had when they overwhelmingly wanted me to bring this criminal action,” Mr. Rubinstein said.
A jury in Grand Junction found Ms. Peters guilty of seven charges stemming from her efforts to breach a voting machine manufactured by Dominion Voting Systems in the months after Mr. Trump lost the election to Joseph R. Biden Jr.
The jury determined that Ms. Peters had helped an outsider gain unauthorized access to the machine in May 2021 and to obtain information that was later made public at a conspiratorial event held to undermine trust in Mr. Trump’s defeat.
At a sentencing hearing in October, Judge Matthew D. Barrett scolded Ms. Peters from the bench, telling her that he was imposing a stiff penalty on her because she had repeatedly advanced false claims about Mr. Trump’s defeat, and that, in so doing, she had become a celebrity among those who denied that he lost the race.
“You are no hero. You abused your position, and you are a charlatan,” Judge Barrett said, adding, “You cannot help but lie as easy as you breathe.”
Since Mr. Trump’s re-election, the Justice Department has faced criticism for its conduct in a number of cases, several of which have resulted in the abrupt resignations of federal prosecutors.
Top prosecutors in New York and Washington stepped down this month in response to the department’s efforts to dismiss the corruption case against Mayor Eric Adams of New York.
In a similar fashion, the chief of the criminal division in the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington recently resigned after she declined a request from her boss, Ed Martin, to freeze the assets of a government contractor, saying she had insufficient evidence to do so.
Mr. Martin has also been quietly pushing to present evidence against Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, to a federal grand jury over comments he made about Supreme Court justices in 2020, according to people with knowledge of the situation. Justice Department officials have thus far rebuffed the request, one of those people said.
By Zolan Kanno-Youngs, Gilad Thaler, Jon Miller, Nikolay Nikolov, June Kim, Paul Abowd and Pierre Kattar
April 14, 2026
Matt Cobo, F.B.I. San Francisco Acting Special Agent in Charge ( right) speaks next to San Francisco Police Chief Derrick Lew (second from right) and San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins (third from right) during a news conference Monday, April 13, 2026, in San Francisco.
Jeff Chiu/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jeff Chiu/AP
SAN FRANCISCO — The man accused of throwing a Molotov cocktail at OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s home had written about AI’s purported risk to humanity and traveled from Texas to San Francisco intending to kill Altman, authorities said Monday.
Authorities allege 20-year-old Daniel Moreno-Gama threw the incendiary device about 4 a.m. Friday, setting an exterior gate at Altman’s home alight before fleeing on foot, police said. Less than an hour later, Moreno-Gama allegedly went to OpenAI’s headquarters about 3 miles (4.83 kilometers) away and threatened to burn down the building.
Moreno-Gama is opposed to artificial intelligence, writing about AI’s purported risk to humanity and “our impending extinction,” according to a federal criminal complaint.
“This was not spontaneous. This was planned, targeted and extremely serious,” said FBI San Francisco Acting Special Agent in Charge Matt Cobo during a press conference.
No one was injured at Altman’s home or the company offices, authorities said.
Moreno-Gama faces state and federal charges
Moreno-Gama faces charges including two counts of attempted murder and attempted arson in California state court, San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins. He tried to kill both Altman and a security guard at Altman’s residence, she alleged. He is set to appear in court Tuesday, and online state court records do not yet show if he has an attorney.
Jenkins said the state charges carry penalties ranging from 19 years to life in prison.
On Monday morning, FBI agents went to Moreno-Gama’s home in Spring, Texas, a suburb of Houston, where they spent several hours before leaving. He has been charged by federal prosecutors with possession of an unregistered firearm and damage and destruction of property by means of explosives. Those charges carry respective penalties of up to 10 years and 20 years in prison.
The federal court documents do not list an attorney for Moreno-Gama, and he has not yet had his first appearance in federal court.
Authorities allege Moreno-Gama traveled from his home in Texas to San Francisco and visited Altman’s home early Friday morning.
Authorities say Moreno-Gama was opposed to artificial intelligence
When Moreno-Gama was arrested Friday, officials found a document on him in which he “identified views opposed to Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the executives of various AI companies,” court documents say. The document discussed AI’s purported risk to humanity and “our impending extinction,” according to the criminal complaint.
Surveillance video images included in the criminal complaint show a person dressed in a dark hoodie and pants that the FBI alleges is Moreno-Gama approaching the driveway of Altman’s home. In various images, the person can be seen tossing the Molotov cocktail, which landed at the top of a metal gate and started a small fire.
Surveillance video images from outside OpenAI’s headquarters allegedly show Moreno-Gama grabbing a chair and using it to hit a set of glass doors. Authorities said Moreno-Gama was approached by the building’s security personnel, who told investigators he “stated in sum and substance” that he came to the headquarters “to burn it down and kill anyone inside,” according to the complaint.
San Francisco police arrested Moreno-Gama and recovered “incendiary devices, a jug of kerosene, a blue lighter, and a document.” Moreno-Gama was being held Monday in the San Francisco County Jail on the state charges, and was expected to appear in court on Tuesday.
U.S. Attorney Craig Missakian said authorities “will treat this as an act of domestic terrorism, and together with our partners, prosecute him to the fullest extent of the law.”
Authorities say Moreno-Gama’s anti-AI document contained threats against Altman
The document in which Moreno-Gama discussed his opposition to AI also made threats against Altman, officials said.
“Also if I am going to advocate for others to kill and commit crimes, then I must lead by example and show that I am fully sincere in my message,” Moreno-Gama is alleged by authorities to have written in the document.
Advocacy groups that have issued grave warnings about AI’s risks to society condemned the violence.
Anthony Aguirre, president and CEO of the Future of Life Institute, said in a written statement Friday that “violence and intimidation of any kind have no place in the conversation about the future of AI.”
Another group, PauseAI, said in a statement that the suspect had no role in the group but joined its forum on the social media platform Discord about two years ago and posted about 34 messages there, none containing explicit calls to violence but one that was flagged as “ambiguous.”
Discord said Monday that it has banned Moreno-Gama for “off-platform behavior.”
Altman addressed the threats in a blog post
Hours after the attack on his house, Altman posted a photo of his husband and their toddler in a blog post addressing the threats against him.
“Normally we try to be pretty private, but in this case I am sharing a photo in the hopes that it might dissuade the next person from throwing a Molotov cocktail at our house, no matter what they think about me,” Altman wrote.
He added that “fear and anxiety about AI is justified” but it was important to “de-escalate the rhetoric and tactics and try to have fewer explosions in fewer homes, figuratively and literally.”
Altman has become a preeminent voice in Silicon Valley on the promise and potential dangers of artificial intelligence. The attack comes days after The New Yorker published an in-depth investigation that touched on concerns some people have about him and the company.
Debate about the impact of AI is growing
The attack came at a time of growing debate about the societal effects of AI assistants like OpenAI’s ChatGPT that millions of people are turning to for information, advice, writing help and to do work on their behalf.
An annual report published Monday by Stanford University called the AI index found that most people believe AI’s benefits outweigh its drawbacks, “but nervousness is growing and trust in institutions to manage the technology remains uneven.”
Tornado Watch issued for SE Michigan into early Wednesday morning
San Francisco taqueria El Faro looks to sell, saying their rent has nearly doubled
Cowboys Visit Hints at Potential Unexpected Day 2 Target in 2026 Draft
Miami County leaders take action to get disaster aid after Hillsdale devastated by tornado damage
Why the Bills may consider this physical receiver in first round
Florida High School Football Rankings: Top 25 teams – Oct. 21
How old is Bo Nix? What to know about Oregon quarterback ahead of 2024 NFL Draft
Cleary's 21 help Le Moyne down Central Connecticut State 69-64 in OT
99th annual Pony Swim held in Virginia
Indiana Members Credit Union announced as new anchor tenant at Bottleworks District
Dem fundraising giant in the hot seat as GOP lawmakers demand answers over dodged subpoena
Fifth woman accuses former US lawmaker Eric Swalwell of sexual misconduct
Commercial Ships Transit Strait of Hormuz as U.S. Blockades Iran’s Ports
Video: How Stephen Miller Is Adjusting Trump’s Immigration Agenda
Biden DOJ weaponized FACE Act against pro-life Americans, 882-report alleges
-
Ohio18 hours ago‘Little Rascals’ star Bug Hall arrested in Ohio
-
Georgia1 week agoGeorgia House Special Runoff Election 2026 Live Results
-
Arkansas5 days agoArkansas TV meteorologist Melinda Mayo retires after nearly four decades on air
-
Pennsylvania1 week agoParents charged after toddler injured by wolf at Pennsylvania zoo
-
Milwaukee, WI1 week agoPotawatomi Casino Hotel evacuated after fire breaks out in rooftop HVAC system
-
Austin, TX1 week agoABC Kite Fest Returns to Austin for Annual Celebration – Austin Today
-
Culture1 week agoCan You Name These Novels Based on Their Characters?
-
Pittsburg, PA1 week agoPrimanti Bros. closes Monroeville and North Versailles locations