
Synergy CHC (OTCMKTS:SNYR) Shares Up 0.2% – Still a Buy?Nearly 100 former senior U.S. diplomats and intelligence and national security officials have urged Senate leaders to schedule closed-door hearings to allow for a full review of the government's files on former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard , Donald Trump's pick to be national intelligence director. The former officials, who served in both Democratic and Republican administrations, said they were "alarmed" by the choice of Gabbard to oversee all 18 U.S. intelligence agencies. They said her past actions "call into question her ability to deliver unbiased intelligence briefings to the President, Congress, and to the entire national security apparatus." A spokesperson for Gabbard on the Trump transition team on Thursday denounced the appeal as an "unfounded" and "partisan" attack. Among those who signed the letter were former Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, former NATO Deputy Secretary General Rose Gottemoeller, former national security adviser Anthony Lake, and numerous retired ambassadors and high-ranking military officers. They wrote to current Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and incoming Republican Majority Leader John Thune on Wednesday to urge the closed briefings as part of the Senate's review of Trump's top appointments. They urged that Senate committees "consider in closed sessions all information available to the U.S. government when considering Ms. Gabbard's qualifications to manage our country's intelligence agencies, and more importantly, the protection of our intelligence sources and methods." The letter singles out Gabbard's 2017 meetings in Syria with President Bashar Assad, who is supported by Russian, Iranian and Iranian-allied forces in a now 13-year war against Syrian opposition forces seeking his overthrow. The U.S., which cut relations with Assad's government and imposed sanctions over his conduct of the war, maintains about 900 troops in opposition-controlled northeast Syria, saying they are needed to block a resurgence of extremist groups. Gabbard, a Democratic member of Congress from Hawaii at the time of her Syria trip, drew heavy criticism for her meetings with a U.S. adversary and brutal leader. As the letter notes, her statements on the wars in the Middle East and Ukraine have aligned with Russian talking points, diverging from U.S. positions and policy. Gabbard, throughout her political career, has urged the U.S. to limit military engagement abroad other than combatting Islamic extremist groups. She has defended the Syria trip by saying it is necessary to engage with U.S. enemies. In postings on social media earlier this year, she confirmed that the U.S. had for a time placed her "on a secret terror watch list" as a "potential domestic terror threat." She blamed political retaliation. Neither she nor U.S. authorities have publicly detailed the circumstances involved. Alexa Henning, a spokesperson for Gabbard with the Trump team, called the letter sent to the Senate leaders "a perfect example" of why Trump chose Gabbard for this position. "These unfounded attacks are from the same geniuses who have blood on their hands from decades of faulty 'intelligence,'" and use classified government information as a "partisan weapon to smear and imply things about their political enemy," Henning said. A spokesperson for Thune did not immediately respond to questions about the request.
Police divers are combing through underwater areas of New York's Central Park in the hunt for evidence about the killer of a healthcare boss. Detectives searching for the man believed to have targeted UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson have found a backpack and have multiple images of the suspect. But, so far, they have not found the weapon used when Mr Thompson arrived at the Hilton hotel for his company's annual investor conference at 6.44am on Wednesday. Two sources have told Sky's' US partner NBC News that the New York Police Department's scuba team has now joined the investigation. The sources said they are specifically trained to recover evidence while diving, using specific techniques and equipment. Since the waters are likely murky, the source said, the divers will make an underwater grid pattern to search for evidence. They are also knowledgeable on how to preserve evidence if found underwater. It is understood there is a pond in Central Park close to the escape route used by the killer after the shooting. Pictures in some US media show divers searching around the boating lake in the famous New York park. The investigators believe the killer used a 9mm pistol that resembled a gun that farmers use to put down animals without causing a loud noise. They also know ammunition found near Thompson's body had been inscribed with the words "delay," "deny" and "depose", mimicking a phrase used by insurance industry critics. Among the theories being worked on are that the gunman knew UnitedHealthcare group was holding a conference at the hotel and the route Thompson took to get there, so he could possibly be a disgruntled employee or client, NYPD chief of detectives Joseph Kenny said. On Sunday afternoon, while they did , police declined to comment on the contents of the backpack, or on the results of the search in the pond. But the day before, sources told NBC News police found money from a Monopoly game inside the backpack they believe the gunman used. Hundreds of detectives are pouring over video recordings and social media posts, checking tips from the public and carrying out interviews. Among those being questioned are Thompson's family and co-workers and the gunman's randomly assigned roommates at the Manhattan hostel where he stayed. Police believe the killer likely took a bus out of New York soon after the brazen ambush. Before he arrived in New York, he travelled from Atlanta. Detectives are searching for video from that bus station and others along the Greyhound Bus route. Other video found by detectives shows the man riding a bicycle into the park and later taking a taxi to a bus station from where he could travel to New Jersey, Philadelphia, Boston and Washington DC, according to Mr Kenny.