IRS chief declines to identify employees involved in scandal
New youth jerseys cheap The outgoing head of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service angered Republican lawmakers on Friday by resisting their demands that he identify who at the tax-collection agency had inappropriately targeted conservative groups for extra scrutiny.
But during the first hearing into a growing IRS scandal that could preoccupy Washington for months, Republicans did learn that a top official in President Barack Obama's administration knew that the IRS was looking into targeting by the tax agency nearly a year ago.
That detail could encourage Republicans' efforts to link the scandal to the White House as the administration faces a series of setbacks that threaten to derail Obama's second-term priorities, which include revamping immigration laws and reaching a budget deal with Republicans.
Friday's hearing was dominated by lawmakers' grilling of acting IRS Commissioner Steven Miller, who provided few clear answers while apologizing for the extensive questioning and years-long delays that many conservative groups have experienced after applying for tax-exempt status.
New youth mlb jerseys Miller, who was fired by Obama on Wednesday, said the overly aggressive scrutiny of such groups was the result of mismanagement, not partisan politics. His comments echoed the findings of a Treasury Department inspector general's report released this week.
"I think what happened here is that foolish mistakes were made by people trying to be more efficient," said Miller, who will leave his post next week and be replaced by Daniel Werfel, a budget specialist in the administration.
Miller said he did not know who had come up with the idea to single out groups that appeared to be politically conservative for intense reviews of whether they qualified to be tax-exempt.
He said that although the added scrutiny was wrong, he did not think that IRS employees had broken any laws.
That claim drew the ire of Republicans on the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee, nhl youth jerseys cheap as did Miller's shrugs when lawmakers pressed him over why he had not told Congress about the probe even though he learned about it a year ago.
"This is offensive, to hear this testimony," said Representative Tom Reed, a Republican from New York.
A LINK TO THE WHITE HOUSE?
The hearing did seem to yield some fruit for Republicans who are trying to cast the targeting of conservative "Tea Party" and "Patriot" groups as a political initiative encouraged by the Obama administration, a claim the White House rejects.
Critics have hammered the White House this week on the IRS scandal, its handling of the deadly attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya, and the Justice Department's seizure of phone records of Associated Press journalists in a criminal probe into intelligence leaks.
Discount nhl jerseys new The Treasury Department's internal watchdog, J. Russell George, told the House panel that Deputy Treasury Secretary Neal Wolin, an Obama political appointee, learned nearly a year ago that a government watchdog was looking into inappropriate targeting by the IRS.
Wolin, the No. 2 official at Treasury, is due to testify next week before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
In a statement, the Treasury Department said it made the probe public last fall in an annual report that listed more than 200 other internal investigations.
Treasury Secretary Jack Lew was told about the investigation when he took office in March, the department said, but neither he nor Wolin was told about its findings even as a preliminary version circulated elsewhere within the department.
Cheap mlb jerseys for kids Miller's often-defiant appearance on Friday was unlikely to satisfy Republicans who have accused Obama's Democratic administration of using the machinery of government to target political foes.
They also have accused Miller of misleading Congress last year.
Miller acknowledged that he learned that IRS investigators were looking into the issue a year ago, but he did not mention the probe to lawmakers until the news became public last week. He said he had not misled lawmakers by keeping quiet about the issue in prior appearances on Capitol Hill.
"I was answering the questions that I was asked" by Congress, he told the House committee.
Miller appeared to grow irritated over the course of the four-hour hearing, repeatedly interrupting questioners, flashing quizzical looks and shrugging his shoulders.
Youth jerseys free shipping Miller said the IRS has had trouble keeping up with the flood of 70,000 tax-exempt applications it has received in recent years, and asked for money to hire more examiners.
Several Republicans responded that the IRS should instead be shrunk.
The IRS has seen the number of groups applying for 501(c)4 status nearly double in the wake of January 2010 Supreme Court decision that loosened campaign-finance rules.
That status allows groups to keep their donor lists secret while engaging in limited political activity. Political campaigns, by contrast, must make their donor lists public.
Several Democrats on the committee said the IRS needed to take a harder look at those applications to ensure that political groups do not exploit the tax code to shroud political activities jerin secrecy.
Cheap kids nhl jerseys Miller said the IRS needs clearer guidance from Congress to determine what constitutes political activity.
‘Angry’ Obama says acting IRS chief fired over conservative targeting
Youth nfl limited jerseys cheap Bluntly declaring "I am angry" about the IRS scandal, President Barack Obama said late Wednesday that Treasury Secretary Jack Lew had forced out Steven Miller, the acting commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service. Speaking in the East Room of the White House, Obama called Miller's ouster "the first step" to prevent similar misconduct in the future and vowed to "do everything in my power" to make sure it never happens again.
Obama said he had reviewed the Treasury Department Inspector General's report that details how the IRS targeted conservative groups for special scrutiny when they applied for tax-exempt status.
"The misconduct that it uncovered is inexcusable. It's inexcusable, and Americans are right to be angry about it and I am angry about it," the president said in a brief prepared statement. "I will not tolerate this kind of behavior in any agency—but especially in the IRS, given the power that it has and the reach that it has into all of our lives."
Obama said the "responsible parties" will be held accountable. Cheap nhl jerseys new Lew "took the first step by requesting—and accepting—the resignation of the acting commissioner of the IRS because given the controversy surrounding this audit, it's important to institute new leadership that can help restore confidence going forward," Obama added.
The president's statement from the East Room of the White House came a little more than an hour after a meeting with senior Treasury Department officials to discuss the controversy.
Obama said he had directed the agency to implement recommendations from the inspector general—the Treasury's internal watchdog—to ensure no repeat of the "outrageous" misconduct. "The good news is it’s fixable," he said.
Looking to Capitol Hill, where lawmakers of both parties have denounced the IRS' behavior, Obama promised: nhl embroidered jerseys "We will work with Congress as it performs its oversight role, and our administration has to make sure that we are working hand-in-hand with Congress to get this thing fixed."
Lawmakers, in turn, should "treat that authority with the responsibility it deserves and in a way that doesn’t smack of politics or partisan agendas," Obama said. He said Washington must "make sure that the laws are clear" and suggested that "too much ambiguity" may have played a role.
“I’ll do everything in my power to make sure nothing like this happens again—by holding the responsible parties accountable, by putting in place new checks and new safeguards, and, going forward, by making sure that the law is applied as it should be: In a fair and impartial way," Obama said.
Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell expressed skepticism.
“More than two years after the problem began, nba throwback jerseys and a year after the IRS told us there was no problem, the President is beginning to take action," the Kentucky lawmaker said. "If the president is as concerned about this issue as he claims, he’ll work openly and transparently with Congress to get to the bottom of the scandal—no stonewalling, no half-answers, no withholding of witnesses."
Congress is "determined to get answers, and to ensure that this type of intimidation never happens again at the IRS or any other agency," McConnell said.
On Wednesday, Attorney General Eric Holder promised angry lawmakers that the Justice Department will undertake a national investigation into the IRS wrongdoing.
"We will take a dispassionate view of this," said Holder, who faced tough questioning from the House Judiciary Committee. Cheap nba swingman jersey "This will not be about parties ... anyone who has broken the law will be held accountable."
Holder said he had launched an investigation last Friday into why the IRS subjected conservative groups to more review when they applied for tax-exempt status. The IRS inspector general's report said that a group of low-level staffers in an Ohio office were responsible, and a top IRS official has apologized on their behalf.
But Holder promised that the investigation will look well beyond Ohio, and suggested that civil rights laws could have been violated.
Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., asked Holder at the hearing whether an "apology" from the IRS protected them from criminal prosecution. Holder answered, "No."
The Obama administration is under fire over the IRS, Los Angeles Clippers jersey the president's handling of the Sept. 11, 2012, terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya, and the Justice Department's secret collection of telephone records of Associated Press reporters and editors.
Republicans have been hammering Obama on all three matters. While Democrats have largely defended him—and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton—on Benghazi, they have joined their GOP colleagues in denouncing the IRS and in expressing deep concerns about the AP phone records.
On Monday, Obama dismissed Republican charges of a cover-up in the Benghazi situation as a "sideshow" lacking any merit. Kids nba jersey cheap He has yet to comment directly on the AP issue.
Prince Harry ends US visit with Conn . polo match
Cheap nhl jerseys new Britain's Prince Harry helped lead a polo team to victory in a charity match before a society crowd Wednesday in Greenwich, wrapping up a weeklong visit to the United States in which he also toured areas devastated by Superstorm Sandy and avoided the kind of salacious headlines stirred by his last American tour.
The prince scored a game-tying goal in the match to benefit Sentebale, the charity he co-founded to help poor children and AIDS orphans in the small African nation of Lesotho.
"Thank you for a wonderful week," Prince Harry said in a speech before taking to the manicured field at the Greenwich Polo Club. "I have witnessed the extraordinary generosity of the people of this great nation."
The match drew an invitation-only crowd of about 400 including supermodel Karolina Kurkova and fashion designers Jason Wu and Valentino, Los Angeles Clippers jersey who posed for pictures on a red carpet at the club on their way to lunch with the prince.
"Is the sun coming out?" Kurkova asked as she posed in a light rain.
Greenwich, a New York City suburb, ranks among the wealthiest towns in America and is hardly unaccustomed to fanfare. But for some, the royal visit of the 28-year-old prince still was cause for celebration.
At the Atelier360 shop on Greenwich Avenue, the company was holding a party with tea and cucumber sandwiches. Co-owner Veronique Lee said British designers are well represented at the boutique, which sells items including hand bags, flasks and cuff links.
"We like royalty. What can you say?" Lee said. "We're having a lot of fun here."
The polo club, Cheap nba swingman jersey founded by billionaire Peter Brant in 1981, has hosted other British royals including the Duke and Duchess of York, Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, in 1987 and Torquhil Campbell, the Scottish Duke of Argyll, in 2012. Brant said Wednesday that Harry's father and grandfather were good players and he was excited to watch Harry play at his club.
"It's a great honor," he said "It's great for polo."
Dressed in a navy-colored suit, white shirt and no tie, the prince arrived at the club in the late morning and was greeted by Brant and his wife, model Stephanie Seymour. They viewed a selection of art from the Brant Foundation Art Study Center as well as some paintings owned Brant, including some pieces by Andy Warhol, in the club's entrance hall.
After trying his hand at baseball in New York City on Tuesday, 2013 mlb jerseys new Harry showed his athleticism playing "the sport of kings." Harry scored a goal to tie the polo match at 3-3, and his team went on to a 4-3 win. Dawn Jones, the wife of actor Tommy Lee Jones, scored for the opposing team and was named most valuable player.
Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy was not among the invited. "He's more of a hockey guy, anyway," Malloy spokesman David Bednarz told the Greenwich Time.
Prince Harry also touted the work of Sentebale and thanked people for their support of the charity. Sentebale — which means "forget-me-not" — is a charity founded by Harry and Lesotho's Prince Seeiso that helps children struggling with poverty in the tiny southern African country.
"The HIV pandemic continues to leave thousands of children without parents and family structures to guide them through life," the prince said. Customized mlb jersey cheap "Without this support, basic needs such as food, shelter and care remain unmet, leaving children vulnerable and very often without much hope in their lives."
On his last U.S. visit, the third-in-line to the British throne stormed into the headlines last year when he was caught frolicking in the nude with a woman after an alleged game of strip billiards in his Las Vegas hotel room.
The Greenwich visit struck a lighter tone than his stop the previous day in New Jersey, where he toured two shore communities devastated by Superstorm Sandy.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie showed the prince a spot in Mantoloking where the sea had cut the town in half, taking out a bridge and houses. The channel has since been filled in. Every one of the wealthy town's 521 homes was damaged or destroyed. Scores remain as piles of rubble.
"This used to be a house?"Prince Harry asked at one barren spot.
The prince said he was impressed to see "everyone getting together and making things right."
Atlanta Braves #2 Upton cool base jersey He also spent Tuesday in New York City at events promoting tourism, entrepreneurism and philanthropy.
The prince, the son of Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana, began his visit to the U.S. on May 9. He is third in line to the British throne, after his father and older brother, Prince William.
Holder sidesteps lawmakers' questions on AP records seizure
Youth nhl jerseys cheap Lawmakers pounded U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder on Wednesday with questions about the Justice Department's secret seizure of Associated Press telephone records, and grew frustrated when he said he had limited answers.
Holder noted to the House Judiciary Committee that he had recused himself from the leak investigation that prompted the phone records seizure, so the decision was not his.
But lawmakers still pushed him on why the subpoena for the two months of phone records last year was so broad and why the Justice Department did not first try to negotiate with AP to obtain information.
"We don't know where the buck stops," said U.S. Representative Jim Sensenbrenner, a Wisconsin Republican.
The seizure, denounced by critics as a gross intrusion into freedom of the press, discount nhl jersey 2013 has created a backlash in Washington and led to questions over how the Obama administration is balancing the need for national security with privacy rights.
The phone records issue erupted on Monday when the AP publicly complained about the seizure. The AP said it was informed last Friday that the Justice Department had gathered records for more than 20 phone lines assigned to the news agency and its reporters, covering April and May of last year.
The subpoena was part of an investigation into whether an unauthorized leak led to an AP report in May last year about an operation, conducted by the CIA and allied intelligence agencies, that stopped a Yemen-based al Qaeda plot to bomb a U.S.-bound airplane.
Holder said on Tuesday that he recused himself from the matter to avoid a potential conflict of interest because he was interviewed by the FBI as part of the same leak investigation.
Cheap Youth mlb jersey Responding to lawmakers' questions on Wednesday, Holder said he did not have specific knowledge about how the subpoena was formulated, and added that it was Deputy Attorney General Jim Cole who authorized the document.
When asked why the Justice Department did not first try to obtain the information voluntarily from the AP, as required by law in most cases, Holder noted there are exceptions to that requirement.
But he declined to elaborate.
"Recusals are such that I don't have any interaction with the people who are involved in the case," Holder said.
The AP issue came as President Barack Obama faces a barrage of criticism over his administration's handling of other issues - notably the Internal Revenue Service's targeting of conservative groups for extra scrutiny.
The White House sought on Wednesday to express its commitment to press freedom. New youth jersey on sale Spokesman Jay Carney said the administration is seeking to revive legislation that would give journalists legal protection when guarding their sources.
The White House has been in contact with Democratic Senator Charles Schumer of New York to reintroduce a 2009 bill, Carney said. Known as the Free Flow of Information Act, the bill would give federal protection to reporters who decline to release information about their sources because of a promise of confidentiality.
U.S. Navy makes aviation history with carrier drone launch
New nhl youth jerseys cheap The U.S. Navy made aviation history on Tuesday by launching an unmanned jet off an aircraft carrier for the first time, taking an important step toward expanded use of drones by the American military with an eye on possible rivals like China and Iran.
The bat-winged X-47B stealth drone roared off the USS George H.W. Bush near the coast of Virginia and flew a series of pre-programmed maneuvers around the ship before veering away toward a Naval air station in Maryland where it was scheduled to land.
"This is really a red-letter day. May 14 we all saw history happen" said Rear Admiral Ted Branch, the Atlantic naval air commander. "It's a marker ... between naval aviation as we've known it and the future of naval aviation with the launch of the X-47B."
Because of its stealth potential and a range nearly twice that of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the X-47B and its successors are seen as a potential answer to the threat posed by medium-range anti-ship missiles developed by China and Iran, youth mlb jerseys cheap defense analysts said.
The missiles and other so-called anti-access, area-denial weapons would force U.S. aircraft carriers to operate far enough from shore that piloted aircraft would have to undergo refueling to carry out their missions, leaving them vulnerable to attack.
But with a range of 2,000 nautical miles, an unmanned jet like the X-47B could give the Navy both a long-range strike and reconnaissance capability.
"That makes it strategically very important," said Anthony Cordesman, a senior defense analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He described the drone as "essentially a really long-range stealth system."
"As we rebalance to the Pacific, the Navy is going to increasingly need range," said Brien Alkire, a senior researcher at RAND's Project Air Force. Cheap nhl jerseys for kids "That's something an unmanned system can bring them that they don't really have right now and give them the ability to operate from a good standoff range.
The X-47B, one of only two demonstrator models made by Northrop Grumman Corp, carries the equivalent of two precision-guided bombs. It was catapulted from the aircraft carrier on Tuesday using the same sling-shot system that sends manned aircraft aloft.
LANDING ON BOARD
It is scheduled to undergo two weeks of testing aboard the carrier leading up to a landing on the ship, in which a plane's tailhook grabs a wire that will slow it and keep it from plunging overboard.
While the carrier takeoff represented a significant milestone, defense analysts are focused on the next step, customized mlb kids jerseys when the Navy attempts to use what has been learned with the X-47B to develop an unmanned aircraft for actual operations.
"The X-47B is a great story," said Mark Gunzinger, a defense analyst at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments think-tank. "It's a milestone and a step forward for unmanned, carrier-based aviation. But I think the real story is what's next. How do we operationalize this capability?"
Future variants of the drone could probably be designed for full-spectrum broadband stealth, which means it would be hard for radar to locate it, analysts said. That level of stealth would be one of the drone's major defenses.
U.S. drones currently in use in places like Afghanistan and the tribal areas of Pakistan, like the Predator and Reaper, are not up against any air defenses and are not stealthy aircraft.
New youth jerseys cheap Because of its long range and the Navy's need to have it take off and land, day and night, from an aircraft carrier, the X-47B has been designed to operate with far greater autonomy than the remotely piloted aircraft currently in use.
That has raised concerns among some organizations worried about the heavy U.S. reliance on drones in warfare and the rising use of autonomous robots by the American military.
Human Rights Watch, in a report launching its recent campaign against "killer robots," cited the X-47B as one of several weapons that represent a transition toward development of fully autonomous arms that require little human intervention.
A follow-on program - known as the Unmanned Carrier Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike System, or UCLASS - is expected to build on what was learned with the X-47B to produce operational aircraft.
Discount new nhl jerseys An initial request for design proposals is expected to be issued by the Navy some time this month. Other aircraft makers, from Lockheed Martin Corp and Boeing Co to General Atomics - are expected to compete to participate.
Minnesota Gov. Dayton signs gay marriage bill
New MLB jerseys cheap Gov. Mark Dayton on Tuesday signed a bill making gay marriage legal in Minnesota, the 12th state to take the step, as thousands of onlookers cheered.
"What a day for Minnesota!" Dayton, a Democrat, declared moments before putting his signature on a bill. "And what a difference a year and an election can make in our state."
Rainbow and American flags flapped in a sweltering breeze during the ceremony, held on the Capitol's south steps. The crowd, estimated by the State Patrol at 6,000, spilled down the steps and across the lawn toward downtown St. Paul.
Dayton thanked legislators for "political courage" before signing the bill just a day after it passed the state Senate. It passed the House last week.
The push for gay marriage was a rapid turnabout from just six months ago, when gay marriage supporters had to mobilize to turn back a proposed constitutional amendment that would have banned gay marriage. MLB blank jerseys customized Minnesota already had such a law, but an amendment would have been harder to undo.
But voters rejected the amendment, and the forces that organized to defeat it soon turned their attention to legalizing gay marriage. Democrats' takeover of the Legislature in the November election aided their cause.
The two main sponsors of the bill, Rep. Karen Clark and Sen. Scott Dibble, were among the onlookers as Dayton signed, capping their long and often discouraging struggle to advance gay rights.
Clark, 67, was first elected to the Legislature in 1980, a decade after she came out of the closet to her parents. In 1993, her by-then elderly parents marched with her in the Minneapolis gay pride parade a few weeks after she led the effort to extend Minnesota's civil rights protections to gay people.
new MLB Atlanta Braves jersey But by 1997, the same Legislature passed the "Defense of Marriage Act," which restricted marriage to only opposite-sex couples. A year later, Clark introduced a bill to repeal it and allow gay marriage.
It took 16 years to get to this week, which comes two years after the 2011 Legislature — then controlled by Republicans — put an amendment on the statewide ballot asking voters to cement the existing gay marriage ban in the state constitution.
"I thought it would happen someday, but I didn't know I would be able to be here to be part of it," Clark said hours before the ceremony.
While on the House floor last week defending her quest to legalize gay marriage, she won plaudits even from Republicans opposed to the bill.
"I don't know of a kinder, more gentle woman on this floor that has a bigger heart for the environment, the underprivileged, wholesale new nba jerseys the downtrodden, the American Indian, especially the women. I admire you," said Tony Cornish, a longtime Republican representative from rural southern Minnesota.
"It was hard because it was very personal," Dibble said of the 2011 vote. "People whom I had counted as very, very good friends voted for it."
Dibble, 47, graduated from high school in the Minneapolis suburb of Apple Valley and came out in college. He cut his teeth politically in the late 1980s as a member of the Minnesota chapter of ACT UP, a gay civil rights group that engaged in civil disobedience out of anger toward government neglect of AIDS and HIV sufferers. He got an early chance to join the establishment from Clark, who tapped him to run one of her re-election campaigns.
"I pulled him from street politics," she said. Discount new nba jersey 2013 Dibble was elected to the House in 2000, and in 2002 to the state Senate. He holds the southwest Minneapolis seat once occupied by the late Allan Spear, who in 1974 became one of the very first U.S. elected officials to come out of the closet.
While Dibble's district includes many of the city's trendiest neighborhoods, Clark's just to the east is marked by public housing towers and large populations of new immigrants.
"She is a huge, huge voice for the poor and the disenfranchised and the dispossessed," Dibble said. But she continued through her career to make a mark for gay rights: During former Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty's 2006 State of the State speech, Clark stood up on the House floor and turned her back to the governor as he endorsed a constitutional ban on gay marriage.
Not long after that, new youth jerseys cheap the first stirrings of legal same sex marriage started to surface around the country. In 2008, Dibble and his husband, Richard Levya, were married in California, where Levya is still a part-time resident. While a judge later struck down gay marriage in that state, marriages that already occurred were not nullified.
Dibble said they won't remarry in Minnesota, but will have an affirming ceremony.
But Clark and Jacquelyn Zita, her partner of 24 years, plan to make it official in Minnesota. They haven't picked a date, but Clark envisioned a wedding on the farm they own north of Minneapolis.
"It will be small, probably just friends and family," Clark said. "We're actually very private people."
Cleveland women held captive have long-term injuries: sources
New nfl limited jersey Two of the women imprisoned in a Cleveland house in conditions described as similar to a prisoner of war camp suffered from severe malnutrition and will require long-term therapy for injuries such as hearing loss and joint and muscle damage, two sources with direct knowledge said.
The basement where the women were held had chains coming from the wall, and dog leashes attached to the ceiling, the sources said. The women were restrained with them and duct tape in "stress positions" for long periods that left them with bed sores and other injuries, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the investigation, who asked not to be identified.
Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight were in worse condition than Amanda Berry when they emerged from at least nine years in captivity at the home of Ariel Castro, accused of kidnapping and raping the women. Castro appeared to treat Berry better than the other two, discount new nfl jerseys the sources said.
"There is a reason why you have only seen a picture of Amanda (Berry)," said one of the sources, referring to the condition of DeJesus and Knight.
Berry, who broke down a door to freedom a week ago with the help of a neighbor, and then told police of the other women, was photographed smiling immediately after the dramatic rescue. Berry has a six-year-old daughter fathered by Castro in captivity.
In contrast, DeJesus wore a hooded sweat-shirt covering her head when she first went home last week, and Knight was hospitalized for days, and has stayed out of public view.
The sources said DeJesus and Knight were gaunt and had closely cropped hair when they were freed.
One of the sources, who has been in the house, cheap 2013 Houston Texans 52 Dobbins jersey said the basement had chains coming from the walls and "dog leashes attached to the ceiling." Knight and DeJesus told police they spent extensive time in the basement. A second source corroborated the details.
"One of the girls has difficulty moving her head around from being chained up," said one of the sources. The second source identified DeJesus as the woman suffering this injury.
"It was like they were POWs (prisoners of war). They had bed sores from being left in positions for extended lengths of time," a source said.
All the bedroom doors in the house had padlocks on the outside and the rooms were spare with only a mattress on the floor. Their movement through the house was very restricted, the women have told authorities.
"If he left for long periods of time he would sometimes duct tape-up the women over all parts of their faces, cheap ncaa college football jerseys even their eyes, only leaving an opening so they could breathe. Then he would just rip it off pulling off skin and hair," one of the sources said.
A police report said Knight was starved for weeks at a time and punched in the stomach to induce several miscarriages. A county prosecutor intends to file fetal homicide charges against Castro in connection with the miscarriages.
The women, especially DeJesus and Knight, were now exhibiting signs of malnutrition as Castro used food as a means to torment them, one of the sources said.
"He would bring food to one or two of the girls and made the others watch as they or he would eat in front of them," the source said.
Knight and DeJesus would sneak food to each other, this source said.
Castro generally kept one woman upstairs and the other two - usually Knight and DeJesus – new discount nhl jerseys in the basement, the source said.
Despite their ordeal, a Cleveland city council member stressed that the women are reveling in their freedom.
"They are doing well, doing very well. They are thriving and enjoying their freedom," City Councilman Brian Cummins said on Monday.
The sources asked to be anonymous because they were not authorized to speak on the record. They were discussing some of the details of the captivity because they felt tight information control had left the impression that authorities ignored calls and reports about Castro's house that could have freed the women sooner.
Cleveland Police Chief Michael McGrath on Monday issued a statement defending the police department's policy of restricting information on the crimes.
"The disclosure of sensitive information and details of these horrendous crimes only further victimize three young women. NHL Sawyer Lace Up Pullover Hooded Sweatshirt jersey The criticism of law enforcement efforts is disheartening. The dissemination of misinformation erodes the critical relationship between law enforcement and community," McGrath said.
Little is known about the relationship among the three women. Knight, who is now 32, Berry, 27 and DeJesus, 23, have not spoken publicly.
Psychologists say the women, who did not know each other before they were abducted, likely formed a bond that may have been strengthened by the young girl born during their captivity.
Knight delivered Berry's daughter in a plastic children's swimming pool and gave the baby mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, the police report said.
"The closest parallel would be prisoners of war," Sherry Hamby, a psychology professor at the University of South, Sewanee, 2013 Boston Bruins jersey said of the girl's possible relationship.
Berry and DeJesus, along with Berry's daughter, have since been reunited with their families. Knight, who is estranged from some of her family members, according to her grandmother, has gone into seclusion.
Terri Weaver, a professor of psychology at the St. Louis University, said although it remains unclear how regularly they interacted, the girls were likely helped by each other's presence.
"Having someone who has been a witness to those intimate details can really forge a powerful bond because there is a shared understanding," she said.
It is unclear how the women's relationship may develop as they put their lives back together.
Psychologists said that as people who have suffered traumatic experiences rebuild their lives, the bond is frequently maintained.
Cheap customized youth jerseys Other times, victims feel the best way to move forward is to put the whole period and those involved behind them.
