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FBI: Son of suspect in apparent Trump assassination attempt arrested on charges of having child sex abuse images
The son of the man suspected in the apparent assassination attempt in Florida against former President Donald Trump has been arrested on federal charges of possessing child sexual abuse images.
Oran Alexander Routh was arrested this week after authorities searched his Greensboro, North Carolina, home “in connection with an investigation unrelated to child exploitation,” and found hundreds of files depicting child sexual abuse, an FBI agent said in court papers.
Investigators who seized multiple electronic devices found videos sent to Oran Routh in July as well as chats from a messaging application commonly used by people who share child sexual abuse material, the FBI agent said.
He faces two charges of possessing and receiving child sexual abuse material and is expected to appear later Tuesday in federal court in North Carolina.
There was no attorney listed for Oran Routh in court papers. Phone messages left for relatives of Oran Routh were not immediately returned.
Oran Routh’s father, Ryan Wesley Routh, has been charged with federal gun offenses in connection to the attempted assassination at Trump’s Florida golf course earlier this month. Prosecutors have indicated much more serious attempted assassination charges are coming.
Oran Routh’s arrest was first reported Tuesday by ABC News.
A federal judge on Monday agreed with Justice Department prosecutors that Ryan Routh should remain locked up while he awaits trial in his case.
Prosecutors have said Ryan Routh left behind a note detailing his plans to kill the former president and kept in his car a handwritten list of dates and venues where Trump was to appear.
The FBI said the handwritten letter, addressed “Dear World,” said: “This was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump but I failed you. I tried my best and gave it all the gumption I could muster.”
The note describing Ryan Routh’s plans was placed in a box that he dropped off months earlier at the home of an unidentified person who did not open it until after Ryan Routh’s arrest, prosecutors said.
Ryan Routh is currently charged with illegally possessing his gun in spite of multiple felony convictions, including two charges of possessing stolen goods in 2002 in North Carolina, and with possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number.
But a prosecutor said in court Monday that they would pursue additional charges before a grand jury, accusing him of having tried to “assassinate a major political candidate” — charges that would warrant life in prison in the event of a conviction.
It is common for prosecutors to file more easily provable charges as an immediate placeholder before adding more significant allegations as the case proceeds.
Ryan Routh was arrested Sept. 15 after a Secret Service agent who was scoping the Trump International Golf Club for potential security threats saw a partially obscured man’s face and the barrel of a semiautomatic rifle, aimed directly at the former president.
The agent fired at Routh, who sped away before being stopped by officials in a neighboring county, leaving behind a loaded rifle, digital camera, a backpack and a reusable shopping bag that was hanging from a chain-link fence.
During a search of Routh’s SUV, the FBI found additional license plates, six cellphones, 12 pairs of gloves, a Hawaii driver’s license in Routh’s name, and documents, according to the court filing. One of the phones contained a Google search of how to travel from Palm Beach County, Florida, where Trump’s golf course is located, to Mexico, prosecutors said.
A song that sounds like it was released by Justin Bieber, with lyrics saying the singer “lost myself at a ‘Diddy’ party,” has racked up millions of views across social platforms including TikTok, X and YouTube. Researchers tell CBS News the song was likely created using artificial intelligence.
The song first surfaced across platforms in April, with one TikTok video amassing 7 million views. It recently went viral after Sean “Diddy” Combs was charged last week with sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and transportation to engage in prostitution. Combs has denied the charges.
Lyrics include, “Wasn’t worth all the fortune and fame” and “I was in it for a new Ferrari, but it cost me way more than my soul.” The song appears to reference allegations of sexual abuse and other misconduct at Combs’ residences.
There is no record of Bieber releasing the song and it does not appear in his catalog. Representatives for Bieber did not respond to CBS News’ request for comment. Bieber was signed by Combs’ protégé, Usher, in 2008.
Many social media users pointed out the song seems to sound like it was created with AI; others appeared to believe the song was released by Bieber. The song has been used in more than 4,500 TikTok videos alone, CBS News found.
Prince Williams/FilmMagic/Getty Images
Google Trends data shows searches for the words “Bieber” and “Diddy” together peaked from late March to early April, around the time the song began circulating on social media, and searches for the two artists peaked again when the song began recirculating in late September.
Expert opinion
CBS News ran the song through multiple AI audio detection tools; several results indicated the audio, or at least parts of it, were likely AI-generated.
In addition, Stephen Stahl, co-founder of Ai-SPY, an AI audio detection tool, told CBS News he believes the song is possibly AI-generated. Stahl said someone likely wrote the lyrics and melody, then uploaded it to a website and used a clone of Justin Bieber’s voice to create the song.
“AI is [going to] be able to help anybody create a song easily, quicker, more efficiently,” Stahl said. “The downside is that everybody will be able to create a song. So talent is no longer a prerequisite to construct a great song.”
Zohaib Ahmed, CEO and founder of Resemble AI, an AI detection company, told CBS News his company’s tool found the song is likely AI-generated.
Combs’ music catalog saw a jump in streams following his indictment, with an average 18.3% increase the week of his arrest compared to the previous week, according to industry data and analytics company Luminate.
Layla Ferris and
contributed to this report.
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Invitation Homes has agreed to pay $48 million to settle federal claims that the nation’s biggest landlord for single-family homes deceived renters about lease fees and other costs, while unfairly pocketing tenants’ security deposits, the Federal Trade Commission said Tuesday.
The Dallas-based company charged tens of millions of dollars in “junk fees” between 2021 and 2023, the FTC said in a statement. The mandatory monthly fees covered services such as smart-home technology and air filter delivery that could cost up to $1,700 a year, but that weren’t disclosed until renters received their lease or sometimes not until after they’d signed it, according to the agency.
“No American should pay more for rent or be kicked out of their home because of illegal tactics by corporate landlords,” FTC Chair Lina Khan said in a statement.
“Visible rodent feces”
Invitation Homes, which owns or manages more than 100,000 homes around the U.S., “will be refunding $48 million to residents and changing its practices,” said Larissa Bungo, a senior attorney at the FTC, said in a post on the agency’s website.
The company also made deceptive claims about the condition of the properties it listed for rent, withheld security deposits without cause and failed to let tenants know about federal eviction protections during the pandemic, the agency alleged.
Marketing a “worry-free leasing lifestyle” and promising pre-inspected homes before move in and 24/7 maintenance, new residents instead faced issues like “sewage backup, broken appliances and visible rodent feces,” Bungo wrote.
In a statement, Invitation Homes said its agreement with the FTC doesn’t admit any wrongdoing by the company, which is publicly traded and valued at nearly $22 billion.
“Today’s agreement brings the FTC’s three-year investigation to a close and puts this matter behind the company, which will, as always, move forward with its continuous efforts to better serve its customers,” Invitation Homes said.
The proposed settlement, which must be approved by a federal judge, requires Invitation Homes to disclose fees in advertised rental prices. It also stipulates that the company cannot withhold security deposits to fix things not caused by tenants.
The enforcement action is the first by the FTC since the agency formed a working group to examine unfair, deceptive and anticompetitive practices affecting renters.
