| Man From El Salvador
Detained by ICE After Open
Containing on LIRR Files Habeas
by
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book
Substack SDNY
COURTHOUSE,
April 17 –A man from El
Salvador now in ICE detention
in Orange County Correctional
Facility filed a habeas corpus
petition in the U.S. District
Court for the Southern
District of New York, where
Inner City Press found
it. The
petition says he was arrested
by Great Neck Police for
"having an open container at
the Great Neck Station of the
LIRR." After that, he's been
in ICE detention. Judge
Jeannette A. Vargas to whom
the case was assigned
scheduled a conference for
April 23. The case is
Serpas v. Francis, et al.,
1:26-cv-3141 (Vargas)
*** Your
support means a lot. As little as $5 a month
helps keep us going and grants you access to
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Feedback:
Editorial [at] innercitypress.com Mail: Box 130222, Chinatown Station,
NY NY 10013 Other, earlier Inner City Press are listed here, and some are available in the ProQuest service, and now on Lexis-Nexis. Copyright 2006-2026 Inner City
Press, Inc. To request reprint or other
permission, e-contact Editorial [at]
innercitypress.com |
Friday, April 24, 2026
Man From El Salvador Detained by ICE After Open Containing on LIRR Files Habeas
Amid Murky Strait of Hormuz UN Useless But Mike Waltz Praises It and IAEA of Grossi Untransparent SG Candidate
SDNY COURTHOUSE, April 19 – How
irrelevant has the UN become under Antonio Guterres and
Missions like this month's President of the UN Security
Council, Bahrain - and last months, the US?
On Sunday April 19 amid claims
the Strait of Hormuz was open, two Indian tankers were
fired on by Iran. Meanwhile on no fewer than three Sunday
TV shows, US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz claimed the
UN was doing great, and said he is in close communications
with the IAEA, whose Rafael Grossi is misusing the agency
to run to be next SG, perhaps as bad as the old SG.
UNGA votes have no effect, and there
are been much larger margins. And SG Antonio Guterres
continues to be allowed to ban the Press that reports on
UN waste and corruption. So where is the reform? Even from
USUN "reform" man Jeff Bartos, nothing.
Back on April 1 while Bahrain and Guterres
were barring Inner City Press from a UN press conference
into which they allowed a UN Correspondents Association
member who did a fundraiser with sex traficker Ghislaine
Maxwell, in Washington the International Monetary Fund,
World Bank, and International Energy Agency said they are
forming a coordination group to respond to the economic
impacts of the Middle East war.
Antonio Guterres often pretends that while
failing on wars and transparency, he is linking the UN
into the Bretton Woods institutions. In fact, he is as
invisible as his deputy Amina J. Mohamed, both made even
softer by the softball press corpse they and Melissa
Fleming have curated in UNHQ, GMax's old stomping (and
grooming) grounds.
The three institutions decried "one
of the largest supply shortages in global energy market
history," with impacts they characterized as "substantial,
global, and highly asymmetric." They spoke of coordinated
data sharing, financing assessments, concessional lending,
and risk mitigation tools.
Meanwhile Guterres' UN is blowing money in
South Sudan on empty planes, in Colombia and
elsewhere.
This is the culmination of a decade
of UN decay under Guterres.The contrast was on display at
the IMF and World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington April
14-15. Inner City Press was accredited to the IMF
meetings, and in person asked the IMF's Tobias Adrian
about Anthropic's Mythos. The next day, after UNCTAD sent
Inner City Press an update that it was not allowed to a
lower profile "Borrowers' Platform" event with Antonio
Guterres, Guterres rudely ignored the staff that pour him
water, then pontificated about domination. But what
are Mike Waltz and the others at USUN doing? Watch this
site - including for coverage of the April 21-22
"dialogues" with the four wan SG candidates.
UN Rights Commish Volker Turk Wastes Public Funds on 4 Biz Class Tickets to Mexico Staff Say
| UN Rights
Commish Volker Turk Wastes
Public Funds on 4 Biz
Class Tickets to Mexico
Staff Say
by
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book
Substack UN GATE,
April 19 – How corrupt
and decrepit has the UN system
become under Antonio Guterres,
in this case due to Guterres?
Today's example is again from
the Office of the High
Commission for Human Rights,
to which Guterres appointed
his unqualified crony Volker
Turk more than two years ago.
From OHCHR
staff - "Dear Matthew Russell
Lee, Today Volker Turk
traveled to Mexico with full
entourage (a media officer, a
cameraman and his personal
friend and crony Matthias
Behnke). As OHCHR office in
Mexico has had to fire half of
its staff due to the budgetary
crisis (aggravated by
flamboyant Turk’s
mismanagement) many wonder
whether this is efficient use
of tax-payers money. Does
Volker Turk need to spend four
business class plane tickets
from Europe, plus hotel plus
DSA, for a three day visit?
Will “timid†Volker Turk dare
to raise sensitive human
rights issues with the
authorities or he will
continue his silent diplomacy
approach avoiding speaking up
to try to secure an extension
of his cozy mandate?. The bar
is low. Expectations are
lower. Only the bill is high.
Member states must audit OHCHR
accounts. Volker Turk must go.
As must
Guterres at UNHQ - Inner City
Press and FUNCA have sent a
questionnaire on transparency
and accountability to the now
four (so far) candidates for
UNSG, no answer from Rebeca
Grynspan, watch this site. And
nothing from Mike Waltz.
Meanwhile both Big Tony and
Amina are due on April 15 at
the IMF which Inner City Press
is accredited to cover, Inner City Press
re-applied to re-enter the UN
on June 19, 2025 - no answer
at all from Melissa Fleming,
Tel Mekel, Stephane Dujarric
for six months, then a denial
with no reason at all given.
Today's UN is corrupt.
*** Your
support means a lot. As little as $5 a month
helps keep us going and grants you access to
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Feedback:
Editorial [at] innercitypress.com Mail: Box 130222, Chinatown Station,
NY NY 10013 Reporter's mobile (and weekends): 718-716-3540 Other, earlier Inner City Press are listed here, and some are available in the ProQuest service, and now on Lexis-Nexis. Copyright 2006-2025 Inner City
Press, Inc. To request reprint or other
permission, e-contact Editorial [at]
innercitypress.com |
At UN Lies on NextSG As US Mike Waltz Praises UN and Dodges on Bachelet from MSG
SDNY COURTHOUSE, April 20 – How
irrelevant has the UN become under Antonio Guterres and
Missions like this month's President of the UN Security
Council, Bahrain - and last months, the US?
On Sunday April 19 amid claims the Strait of Hormuz was open, two Indian tankers were fired on by Iran. Meanwhile on no fewer than three Sunday TV shows, US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz claimed the UN was doing great, and said he is in close communications with the IAEA, whose Rafael Grossi is misusing the agency to run to be next SG, perhaps as bad as the old SG.
Then one of the few other
pieces about the races quoted but sure did not criticize
Waltz for dodging: "Mike Waltz, the U.S. ambassador to the
United Nations, was asked at a Senate Foreign Relations
Committee hearing last week by Republican Sen. Pete
Ricketts of Nebraska — one of the letter’s signatories —
about Bachelet’s fitness for the job. Waltz responded that
he wasn’t in a position to say whether the U.S. would
support or oppose her" - so what IS Waltz' position? Front
row at at Madison Square Garden for the Knicks' games,
tickets which we learned during the Ticketmaster / Live
Nation trial cost up to $20,000? Who is paying for his
tickets, or "gifting" them?
Inner City Press would asks USUN and public their response - except that US Mission does not answer request from US Press, like our February 2 UN reform-related message. We hope to have more on this.
The same piece baldly states, "there was widespread agreement that Guterres performed best in what the U.N. calls the 'interactive dialogue' with General Assembly members." No, he bought it with secret promises to each of the P5 members - and with undisclosed Angolan oil (and it seems CEFC China Energy) money - there's a book on this: United Nations Betrayals: From Election Stolen by Guterres to Bribes and Banning of the Press, here
UNGA votes have no
effect, and there are been much larger margins. And SG
Antonio Guterres continues to be allowed to ban the Press
that reports on UN waste and corruption. So where is the
reform? Even from USUN "reform" man Jeff Bartos, nothing.
We hope to have more on this, too.
This is the culmination of a decade
of UN decay under Guterres.The contrast was on display at
the IMF and World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington April
14-15. Inner City Press was accredited to the IMF
meetings, and in person asked the IMF's Tobias Adrian
about Anthropic's Mythos. The next day, after UNCTAD sent
Inner City Press an update that it was not allowed to a
lower profile "Borrowers' Platform" event with Antonio
Guterres, Guterres rudely ignored the staff that pour him
water, then pontificated about domination. But what
are Mike Waltz and the others at USUN doing? Watch this
site - including for coverage of the April 21-22
"dialogues" with the four wan SG candidates.
After Live Nation Deemed a Monopolist by Jury Ohio Rebuffs FOIA Request so Inner City Press Replies
SDNY COURTHOUSE, April 20 – The United States versus Live Nation trial began
on March 2 with jury selection, before U.S. District Court
for the Southern District of New York Judge Arun
Subramanian. Then after a week of testimony it
went on pause, and the DOJ and several states settled with
Live Nation.
Inner City Press submitted
Freedom of Information Act or public records requests to
more than 30 states, those that settled at that time and
those that did not, see below.
On March 16 the trial picked back up, with
NYS' Hatch questioning AEG's Marciano followed by a
grilling cross by Live Nation's Marriott, emphasizing the
size and actions of AEG. Then the states called Live
Nation's Bob Roux, who repeatedly said he didn't remember
and couldn't confirm.
Late on March 19, Inner City Press
published TicketMonster in Court, here
On April 15, the jury found Live Nation to
be a monopolist, verdict form here.
Inner City Press immediately published "Ticketmaster Loses
the Jury: Live Nation Death Sentence?" Ebook here,
audiobook and paperback coming.
On the records
requests, the office of Ohio AG Dave Yost, more than
three weeks after the request, wrote:
"Dear Matthew,
Thank you for contacting the Ohio Attorney General's
Office to file a Public Records Request on are involvement
in the Live Nation/Ticketmaster Litigation.
For your information, only the U.S. Department of
Justice and Live Nation/Ticketmaster reached a
settlement on March 9 to resolve the Department of
Justice’s lawsuit. At this time, Ohio is not part of any
settlement with Live Nation/Ticketmaster. If
I can be of any additional assistance to you in this
matter, please do not hesitate to contact
me. Very respectfully
yours, Howard
Feldstein, Office of Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost"
Inner City Press
immediately replied:
" Dear Mr. Feldstein [or
should I call you Howard?]
Thanks, but... Inner
City Press' Public Records Act request was and is not
premised on Ohio being one of the states that, along
with DOJ, settled early with Live Nation. In fact, many
of the most active states in the SDNY trial I have been
covering have already responded to our simultaneous FOIA
requests. So, to be clear: we
want the records we've requested, and note that the Act
states that "all public records responsive to the
request shall be promptly prepared and made available."
So please, ensure the provision of the requested records
asap - we will be reporting on the states' (including
Ohio's) soon due court filings in SDNY, and the Tunney
Act process, and need these records for our continued
reporting. "
Watch this site.
March 18 extra on "war room(s)" on X for
Subscribers here
and Substack here
On March 6, Inner City
Press was in the courtroom at 8:30 am, and spoke to push
for further unsealing, including of demonstratives. See
new book, "TicketMonster: US v Live Nation 1," ebook,
audiobook and paperback here.
On March 9, amid news of a
US settlement, Inner City Press filed a second request
to unseal, here.
Then it ran in and live tweeted Judge Subramanian
questioning the settlement, summoning Rapino in on March
10. At 4:20 pm the US - which says Live Nation is
selling off things it is divesting - filed its term
sheet, which we are putting on DocumentCloud here
At 11 pm on March 9, Live
Nation opposed Inner City Press' motion to unseal, here.
Before midnight, Inner City Press replied, here.
Near midnight on March 11, some documents were unsealed,
and Inner City Press tweeted-out photos and links to
CourtListener.
More from March 10 on X
for Subscribers here
and Substack here
Back on March 4 Inner City Press did a vlog,
after filing to unseal, full letter
on DocumentCloud here
On March 5, greanted.
More March 2 details, and the names, on X for Subscribers
here
and Substack here
On March 3, three opening statements -
David Dahlquist out of Chicago for the US, Jonathan Hatch
for NY and the other states, and Latham's Marriott for
Live Nation. The first witness was supposed to take the
stand after that, but Judge Subramanian cited technical
issues and sent the jurors home.
More March 3 detailing including on
upcoming witnesses on X for Subscribers here
and Substack here
The case is United States of America et al v. Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. et al., 24-cv-3973 (Subramanian)
In Corrupt Guterres UN World 23rd ITU Letter to Inner City Press IDs Self Cleaning of Scoop
| In Corrupt Guterres
UN World 23rd ITU Letter to
Inner City Press IDs Self
Cleaning of Scoop
by
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book
Substack UN GATE,
April 20 – How corrupt
is the UN-world system under
Antonio Guterres, who bans the
Press which investigates? This
example is again from ITU,
International
Telecommunication Union, whose
whistleblowers have, like
others, reached out to banned
Inner City Press, which put
ITU questions to 30 plus UN
spokesperson with no reply: "Dear Matthew
Russell Lee: There needs
to be accountability at ITU,
ahead of its Council that
begins on 28 April. New example:
'cleared an anonymous
complaint against herself to
all staff at a Townhall in
September 2024: "I think some
of you may be aware that there
was an anonymous document that
was circulated externally to
some Member States. That
document was brought to my
attention. It was
assessed, I would say in
detail and independently, and
the case has now been closed
and the allegations were
determined to be unfounded"' -
this concerned a scoop
published by Inner City Press,
typically self-cleaned in
today's corrupt system of
international organizations.
Watch this site. The current Chair
representing Romania, Ms
Christiana Flutur, reportedly
no longer works for the
Romanian government, yet is
allegedly on the payroll for
Qatar as a Special
Advisor. Qatar is the
host for the ITU's most
important event in four years,
the 2026 Plenipotentiary
Conference, where the next
Secretary-General will be
elected. Do Member
States care that Mr. Stephen
Bereaux is pocketing around
$20k a month as a D2 selected
without competition by the SG,
while at the same time openly
campaigning for the Deputy
Secretary-General position on
behalf of the Bahamas, and
working as a consultant for
the Bahamas? Do Member
States care that Mr. Bereaux's
wife, Michelle Bereaux, will
be sitting in the Council
since she is also on the
Bahamas delegation payroll,
with a role of "scrutinizing"
the financials and
administration of the ITU,
while her husband wears three
simultaneous hats: ITU D2 as
Chief of Finance and
Administration, consultant for
the government of Bahamas, and
Bahamas candidate for Deputy
Secretary-General? ITU
rules state that candidates
must go on unpaid leave. But this: "The
Government of The Commonwealth
of The Bahamas has announced
its support for the candidacy
of Mr. Stephen Bereaux for the
elected position of Deputy
Secretary-General of the
International
Telecommunication Union (ITU).
The announcement was made by
Mr. Randol Dorsett, Chairman,
URCA, The Bahamas during the
ITU World Telecommunications
Development Conference (WTDC)
2025. Mr. Bereaux is currently
the ITU's Chief of
Administration & Finance."
Lawless. More coming. After repeated
refusal to respond by
spokespeople including
Stephane Dujarric and Melissa
Fleming, here was the first
complaint on Inner City Press'
DocumentCloud here.
On June 19, 2025 Inner City
Press re-applied to re-enter
the UN to ask these questions,
application here.
*** Your
support means a lot. As little as $5 a month
helps keep us going and grants you access to
exclusive bonus material on our Patreon
page. Click
here to become a patron.
Feedback:
Editorial [at] innercitypress.com Mail: Box 130222, Chinatown Station,
NY NY 10013 Reporter's mobile (and weekends): 718-716-3540 Other, earlier Inner City Press are listed here, and some are available in the ProQuest service, and now on Lexis-Nexis. Copyright 2006-2025 Inner City
Press, Inc. To request reprint or other
permission, e-contact Editorial [at]
innercitypress.com |
Man on Texas Death Row Won on Subpoena of NBC Dateline Now Filing to Appeal on Journalist Privilege
SDNY COURTHOUSE, April 20 – Eric Lyle
Williams is on death row in Texas, following conviction
twelve years ago for killing Kaufman County District
Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife. His subpoena to NBC
Universal for information for his ongoing appeal had
landed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern
District of New York and soon the Second Circuit Court of
Appeals, both of which Inner City Press closely
covers.
Back on February 27, 2015 NBC brought case
an episode of Dateline about the case, entitled
"Vendetta." McClelland had prosecuted Williams, a lawyer
elected Justice of the Peace, for theft and burglary,
resulting on his loss of office, law licence, and
"discharge from his position with the Texas State Guard."
The murders followed. So did a second
Dateline episode, entitled "Bad Intentions."
Williams lawyers, still appealing,
want the full footage of interviews. NBC opposed the
subpoena, citing the journalist's privilege. Williams'
lawyers replied, limiting their request to outtakes of
nine interviewees. Judge Liman granted the
subpoena, the motion to compel, in part - as to Kim
Williams, who was "offered lesser punishment in exchange
for her testimony." NBC moved to certify
for interlocutory appeal - and got denied, on April
13.
Now its next round of papers are due, it was on April 20 agreed very civilly, in both senses of the word. Inner City Press will continue to follow and report on the case.
More on X for Subscribers here
and Substack here
It is Williams v. NBC Universal Media
LLC, 1:25-mc-122 (Liman)
DOJ Denies FOIA Request After It Settled with Live Nation Now Deemed a Monopolist by SDNY Jury so Inner City Press Appeals
SDNY COURTHOUSE, April 20 – The United States versus Live Nation trial began
on March 2 with jury selection, before U.S. District Court
for the Southern District of New York Judge Arun
Subramanian. Then after a week of testimony it
went on pause, and the DOJ and several states settled with
Live Nation.
Inner City Press submitted a
Freedom of Information Act requests to US DOJ on March 27,
2026.
On March 16 the trial picked back up, with
NYS' Hatch questioning AEG's Marciano followed by a
grilling cross by Live Nation's Marriott, emphasizing the
size and actions of AEG. Then the states called Live
Nation's Bob Roux, who repeatedly said he didn't remember
and couldn't confirm.
Late on March 19, Inner City Press
published TicketMonster in Court, here
On April 15, the jury found Live Nation to
be a monopolist, verdict form here.
Inner City Press immediately published "Ticketmaster Loses
the Jury: Live Nation Death Sentence?" Ebook here,
audiobook and paperback coming.
On the DOJ
FOIA requests, after DOJ correctly granted expedited
processing and Inner City Press voluntarily limited the
scope of its request in order to get the records more
quickly, on April 20 a total denial by DOJ, full copy here:
"By email dated April 4,
2026, you responded to our office’s request for
clarification and narrowed some parameters of your
request. Please be advised that the records responsive
to your request relate to ongoing enforcement
proceedings, and their disclosure could reasonably be
expected to interfere with those proceedings.
Accordingly, the records are exempt from public
disclosure pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(7)(A). Please
be advised that it is reasonably foreseeable that the
disclosure of the information being withheld would harm
the interests protected by this exemption. If you are
not satisfied with the Antitrust Division’s
determination in response to this request1 you may
administratively appeal."
Inner City Press immediately appealed:
VIA OIP FOIA STAR PORTAL
AND EMAIL Date: April 20, 2026
Director, Office of
Information Policy United States Department of Justice
441 G Street, NW, 6th Floor Washington, D.C. 20530 Re:
Administrative Appeal — FOIA Request No. ATFY26-168
Antitrust Division — Live Nation/Ticketmaster Settlement
Records
Dear Director: Inner City
Press/Fair Finance Watch ("ICP"), through its Executive
Director Matthew Russell Lee, hereby appeals the April
20, 2026 determination of the Antitrust Division's
FOIA/Privacy Act Unit, signed by Chief Kathy Hsu,
denying in full FOIA Request No. ATFY26-168 pursuant to
5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(7)(A).
I. BACKGROUND ICP submitted
FOIA Request No. ATFY26-168 on March 27, 2026, seeking
records related to the DOJ Antitrust Division's
settlement with Live Nation Entertainment and
Ticketmaster. ICP narrowed the request on April 4, 2026
in response to the Division's request for clarification.
The Antitrust Division denied the request in full on
April 20, 2026, invoking Exemption 7(A) on the ground
that disclosure "could reasonably be expected to
interfere with ongoing enforcement proceedings." ICP
covered United States et al. v. Live Nation
Entertainment, Inc. and Ticketmaster L.L.C., No.
24-cv-03973 (S.D.N.Y.), from filing through the jury
verdict returned on April 15, 2026 in which the jury
found Live Nation willfully maintained monopoly power in
the primary concert ticketing market and awarded damages
of $1.72 per ticket across 23 states. ICP filed
oppositions to multiple last-minute sealing motions
during jury deliberations.
II. EXEMPTION 7(A) DOES NOT JUSTIFY WITHHOLDING IN FULL Exemption 7(A) protects law enforcement records whose disclosure "could reasonably be expected to interfere with enforcement proceedings." 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(7)(A). It does not justify categorical, in-full withholding of an entire class of records. The Antitrust Division's determination fails on multiple grounds. A. The civil jury trial has concluded. The jury returned its verdict on April 15, 2026 — five days before the Antitrust Division's denial letter. There is no trial to interfere with. The enforcement proceeding that could conceivably have justified 7(A) protection has concluded on the merits. The Antitrust Division cannot invoke interference with proceedings that are over," etc.
Watch this site.
March 18 extra on "war room(s)" on X for
Subscribers here
and Substack here
On March 6, Inner City
Press was in the courtroom at 8:30 am, and spoke to push
for further unsealing, including of demonstratives. See
new book, "TicketMonster: US v Live Nation 1," ebook,
audiobook and paperback here.
The case is United States of America et al v. Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. et al., 24-cv-3973 (Subramanian)