Mexican hotel suspends operations after deaths of American couple

A luxury hotel in Mexico owned by Hyatt has temporarily suspended normal operations after the deaths of a California couple, CBS Los Angeles reports. Last Tuesday, Abby Lutz, 28, and her boyfriend John Heathcott, 41, were found dead in their hotel room. In a statement to CBS Los Angeles, a Hyatt spokesperson said "our top priority is the safety and wellbeing of guests and colleagues, and normal operation will not resume until we have completed our investigation."

Initially, police suspected gas inhalation was the cause of death, but prosecutors in Mexico's Baja California Sur state said autopsies revealed Lutz and Heathco died of intoxication by an unknown substance. There were no signs of violence on the bodies, according to the state prosecutor's office, but it did not say what further steps are being taken to determine the exact cause of death.

Lutz's family relayed to CBS News that they were afflicted by what they thought was food poisoning days before their deaths. After spending a night in a Mexican hospital for dehydration, the couple returned to their hotel. Slate informed CBS News that Monday evening was the last communication her sister had with them; she reported sending her father a text which read "Good Night, Love You," as per usual.

Meanwhile, the sibling paramedics who responded to the incident are now saddled with medical bills after becoming ill themselves, according to a fundraiser for the pair. According to a fundraiser for the siblings, Fernando Valencia Sotelo and Grisel Valencia Sotelo, who attempted to revive the couple, "were overcome" while attending to them. Now they receive medical care at a private hospital.

 There are likely to be five passengers on the Titanic submersible who have died as a result of the "catastrophic implosion"

Five passengers who disappeared while exploring the Titanic shipwreck were likely lost due to a "catastrophic implosion" of their ship, the Coast Guard reported Thursday.

Rear Admiral John Mauger of the U.S. Coast Guard announced at a press conference that five major pieces of debris were found about 1,600 feet from the Titanic's site on Thursday morning, which confirmed the pressure chamber was catastrophically lost. Mauger said they then informed the families and offered their condolences.

OceanGate, the company running the expedition, announced shortly before Mauger's comments that the five passengers had been lost.

In their statement, they said, "These men were true explorers with a deep passion for exploring and protecting the world's oceans.". "Our hearts go out to these five men and their families during this difficult time."

After a 21-foot tourist submersible named Titan went missing approximately 900 miles east of Cape Cod, a massive search was launched to locate the vessel before its occupants ran out of oxygen.

Thursday morning, the Titan was projected to run out of its 96-hour supply of breathable air. Those inside would not have been able to open the door on their own even if they reached the surface because it was bolted from the outside. When asked whether remains could be recovered, Mauger called the conditions “unforgiving” and said there were no prospects at the moment.

A missing sub and extensive search

The Titan, operated by OceanGate, a private exploration company based in Everett, Wash., left early Sunday morning to tour the Titanic wreckage with five passengers aboard: OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, 61; explorer Hamish Harding, 58; Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his 19-year-old son, Suleman; and Paul-Henri Nargeolet, 77.

About an hour and 45 minutes after launch, the Polar Prince, a Canadian research vessel and support ship for the expedition, lost contact with the submersible. The Titan went missing on Sunday evening, triggering an international search effort led by the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Air Force, Navy, Air National Guard, Royal Canadian Navy and Canadian Coast Guard.

Signs of trouble

Established in 2009, OceanGate provides passengers a remarkable opportunity to explore the decaying remains of the Titanic, which infamously sank on its debut voyage from Britain to America in 1912. Rush announced two years ago that the deep-sea vehicle had made a dozen trips to the wreckage; however, there were numerous doubts about the endeavor. In 2018, 36 marine scientists and deep-water adventurers penned an open letter to OceanGate cautioning that their "experimental" practices could result in "dreadful" outcomes for their dives to the Titanic.

The tragedy was foreshadowed in a segment on CBS Sunday Morning in November 2022 for 10 minutes. He explained some of the paperwork in a humorous tone, reading, "This experimental vessel has not been approved or certified by any regulatory body, and could cause physical injury, emotional trauma, or death," before adding, "Where do I sign?".

He noted in the 2022 piece that communication errors prevented the submersible from reaching the wreck site while he was on the expedition. Pogue quoted one passenger as saying, "We were lost for two and a half hours." Pogue's planned trip to Titanic was canceled due to poor weather, and a backup excursion to the Continental Shelf was canceled due to technical difficulties after 37 feet of descent.

According to Pogue, the craft had been lost for five hours and an emergency locator beacon was discussed. He added, "Short texts could still be sent to the sub, but there was no idea where it was." As a result, the internet on the ship was shut off to prevent us from tweeting. The company cited the need to keep all channels open as a reason.

On Tuesday, another former Titan passenger told the BBC he had to sign a "death waiver" which "lists one way after another how you could die on board," including "mentioning death three times on page one."

 Hunter Biden case tainted by IRS meddling, IRS agent tells House committee

Thursday, the transcript of Gary Shapley's testimony before the House Ways and Means Committee was made public.

A whistleblower, Gary Shapley, told the House Ways and Means Committee that former U.S. Attorney David Weiss pursued authorization from Attorney General Merrick Garland to file charges against Hunter Biden in two federal districts beyond the misdemeanor tax crimes he consented to this week. The 212-page transcript of Shapley's interview contains information refuting Garland's statement in an earlier congressional hearing suggesting the Delaware-based prosecutor was authorized to take legal action outside his jurisdiction in states such as California and Washington, D.C., which are now headed by attorneys appointed by President Joe Biden who defer to local authorities instead.

Shapley's claims were denied by the Justice Department:

The Attorney General and U.S. Attorney David Weiss have the power to decide when, and if, charges should be pressed over this matter. This was confirmed by Wyn Hornbuckle, the Deputy Director of the Justice Department Office of Public Affairs, who also noted that there is no need for any other authorization for Weiss to act upon it. Shapley, an IRS supervisory special agent who has worked for the agency since July 2009, testified in May and the committee released his transcript Thursday.

As the U.S. attorney in Delaware following President Donald Trump's appointment, Weiss was allowed to act independently and was not pressured to go easy on Biden by the Justice Department.

In a June 7 letter to the House Judiciary Committee, Weiss said his decisions were made independently.

"My decisions as U.S. Attorney have been made - and must be made - without regard to political considerations," he wrote.

In spite of this, critics of the president have claimed that he put his thumb on the scale in favor of his son and that Hunter Biden's agreement to plead guilty to two misdemeanors and avoid jail time was a "sweetheart deal."

"I am alleging, with evidence, that the Department of Justice provided preferential treatment, slowed down the investigation, and did nothing to avoid obvious conflicts of interest in this investigation," Shapley said in his opening statement.

Hunter Biden, codename Sportsman, was first investigated by the IRS as part of an investigation into a foreign-based amateur online pornography platform in November 2018.

Biden pleaded guilty in relation to his 2017 and 2018 tax filings. Shapley stated that there was sufficient proof to bring a charge against Biden concerning his 2014 tax return—a year when his father was Vice President. According to Shapley, the Justice Department would have usually charged this offense in cases with "similar acts of evasion and similar tax due and owing." The interviewee was then shown an email from Biden's business colleague which reported that the former VP had to restate his income due mainly to payments he received from Burisma however, since the statute of limitations had passed, this information was not taken into account.

Shapley claimed investigations into Joe Biden and the public relations firm Blue Star Strategies were not approved. He noted that this was a critical obstruction to the Foreign Agents Registration Act, which necessitates individuals working on behalf of foreign powers in the U.S. to register themselves. Additionally, Shapley testified in court concerning Biden's 2018 tax filing; he maintained that personal costs had been listed as business expenses. This reportedly included a $25,000 payment for a LA sex club membership and travel charges for visits to prostitutes. The email - "10 for the big guy," implying money for Joe Biden out of one of Hunter Biden's attempted enterprises with a Chinese organization - was also examined by Shapley.