BOSTON — Actress Felicity Huffman and a dozen other prominent parents have agreed to plead guilty in the sweeping college admissions cheating scam that has ensnared wealthy families and athletic coaches at some of the nation’s most selective universities, federal authorities said Monday.

The “Desperate Housewives” star and the other parents will admit to charges in the scheme, which authorities say involved rigging standardized test scores and bribing coaches at such prestigious schools as Yale and Georgetown.

Huffman, 56, was accused of paying a consultant $15,000 disguised as a charitable donation to boost her daughter’s SAT score. Authorities say the actress also discussed going through with the same plan for her younger daughter but ultimately decided not to.

Other parents charged in the scheme include prominent figures in law, finance, fashion, the food and beverage industry and other fields.

It’s the biggest college admissions case ever prosecuted by the Justice Department. The scandal embroiled elite universities across the country and laid bare the lengths to which status-seeking parents will go to secure their children a coveted spot.

The consultant, Rick Singer, met with Huffman and her husband, 69-year-old actor William H. Macy, at their Los Angeles home and explained to them he “controlled” a testing center and could have somebody secretly change their daughter’s answers, authorities say. Singer told investigators Huffman and her husband agreed to the plan.

 

Shake-up at Homeland Security speeds beyond Nielsen’s exit

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump and White House allies pushing for a harder line on immigration sped their campaign Monday to clean house at the Department of Homeland Security, pushing ahead with a mission far wider than the departure of Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen.

Francis Cissna, the head of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and General Counsel John M. Mitnick were expected to leave their positions, according to two people familiar with the matter, and possibly several other longtime civil servants in other posts around the agency. The people were not authorized to speak publicly and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.

Separately, the director of the Secret Service is leaving his job, but that was unrelated to the immigration shake-up, officials said.

Nielsen announced her resignation on Sunday, and Trump announced that U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan would take over as secretary on an acting basis, leaving his border position open. With Nielsen’s departure, there will be no confirmed leader — and no one officially in charge of interior immigration enforcement after the White House abruptly withdrew the nomination of Ron Vitiello to lead Immigration and Customs Enforcement last week.

But the staff shake-up won’t get around the immigration laws and court challenges that are thwarting Trump at every turn, including his suggestions to reinstate family separations and his threats to shut the border entirely. Meanwhile, the number of migrants crossing the border continues to grow, and critics say the chaos in Washington is only going to encourage more.

 

US declares Iran force a foreign terrorist organization

WASHINGTON — The United States on Monday designated Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps a foreign terrorist organization, an unprecedented declaration against a foreign government that may prompt retaliation and make it harder for American diplomats and military officers to work with allies in the region.

It is the first time that the U.S. has designated an entity of another government as a terrorist organization, placing a group with vast economic resources that answers only to Iran’s supreme leader in the same category as al-Qaida and the Islamic State.

“This unprecedented step, led by the Department of State, recognizes the reality that Iran is not only a state sponsor of terrorism, but that the IRGC actively participates in, finances and promotes terrorism as a tool of statecraft,” President Donald Trump said in announcing the measure.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the designation is intended to increase pressure on Iran, isolating it further and diverting some of the financial resources it uses to fund terrorism and militant activity in the Middle East and beyond. But, in addition to the potential for Iranian retaliation, it complicates a delicate balance for U.S. personnel in at least two key countries.

No waivers or exceptions to the sanctions were announced, meaning U.S. troops and diplomats could be barred from contact with Iraqi or Lebanese authorities who interact with Guard officials or surrogates.