By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER and LOLITA C. BALDOR

WASHINGTON (AP) — FBI Director Kash Patel was quietly removed weeks ago as the acting chief of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and has been replaced with the Army secretary, three people familiar with the matter said Wednesday.

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It was not immediately clear why Patel was replaced by Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll to lead the Justice Department agency that’s responsible for enforcing the nation’s gun laws. One person familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a personnel move, said Patel was removed at the end of February, just days after he was sworn in.

But that was never publicly announced. Patel remains on the agency’s website and was identified as the acting director in an April 7 press release. Senior ATF leaders were only informed Wednesday of the change, according to another person familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the move.

Driscoll will remain secretary of the Army, according to a defense official. Driscoll, 38, of North Carolina, had served as an adviser to Vice President JD Vance, whom he met when both were attending Yale Law School. He served in the Army for less than four years and left at the rank of first lieutenant.

He ran unsuccessfully in the Republican primary for a North Carolina congressional seat in 2020, getting about 8% of the vote in a crowded field of candidates.

Patel was named acting ATF director in an unusual arrangement in February just days after he was sworn in to lead the FBI, putting him in charge of two separate and sprawling Justice Department agencies.

Justice Department officials have been considering a plan to combine the ATF and the Drug Enforcement Administration into a single agency. The two agencies often work together, along with the FBI, but are both led by separate directors and are tasked with distinctly different missions.

The plan is designed to “achieve efficiencies in resources, case deconfliction, and regulatory efforts,” according to a recent memo from Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.

The ATF investigates things like violent crime, gun trafficking, arson and bombings. It also provides technical expertise in tracing guns used in crimes and analyzing intelligence in shooting investigations. The DEA, meanwhile, is in charge of enforcing the nation’s laws around drugs. Its agents are focused on combating criminal drug networks and stemming the illicit flow of fentanyl and other street drugs.

Timberwolves coach Chris Finch and his players were measured in their response to Tuesday’s collapse in Milwaukee, during which Minnesota squandered a 24-point, fourth quarter advantage to drop a critical bout versus the Bucks.

The message, in essence: That stunk, move on, get ready for Thursday.

“Everyone in here is (ticked) off,” Wolves guard Donte DiVincenzo told reporters. “But just regroup and come back, because we know we have a huge game on Thursday.”

There’s rarely a choice to approach things in any other way in the midst of a regular season that never seems to stop. Players will tell you it’s the beauty of the season — there is always another game.

But, in this instance, the next game is the game.

Minnesota is in Memphis on Thursday in a game that will likely determine the Wolves’ path to the Western Conference playoffs. Minnesota figures to be a 14-plus point favorite in each of its home games over the weekend against Brooklyn and Utah. This is the final result that remains relatively unknown.

As of Wednesday morning, Basketball Reference cited Minnesota’s chances to finish with a top-six seed at 55%, and 45% to finish in the No. 7 or No. 8 spot, so it’s nearly a coin flip. Those odds will have shifted dramatically by late Thursday evening.

A win over the Grizzlies, and Minnesota — assuming no major bungling of the two ensuing layups at Target Center — figures to finish in the top six in the West, thus avoiding the play-in tournament.

But a loss to Memphis, and Minnesota, eighth in the West as of Wednesday afternoon, would suddenly need a heap of help from its surrounding competitors to sneak inside the top six.

The same is largely true for Memphis, who entered Wednesday’s NBA slate in a four-way tie for fourth. But the Grizzlies aren’t in a favorable spot regarding tiebreakers, so they were seeded seventh.

Memphis, now down two rotation players after rookie standout wing Jaylen Wells broke his wrist in a scary fall Tuesday, likely can’t lose Thursday and still finish in the top six.

So, Thursday is for, well, a lot. Minnesota has grown accustomed to high-stake duels in the final week of the regular season. In Game 82 of the 2022-23 campaign, the Wolves beat New Orleans in a game that was the difference between Minnesota being the No. 7 seed and the No. 9.

Last year, Minnesota fell to Denver in a game that went a long way toward determining the No. 1 seed.

And now this.

Not only will Thursday’s bout have cataclysmic ramifications in the West standings, it’s also important for Minnesota to prove itself. While the Wolves are 14-4 over their past 18 games, they’re just 3-3 in that span against teams who are above .500 on the season.

Can they bounce back? Can they again rise to a big occasion? Can they punch against a similar caliber foe? Can they avoid playing in their third play-in tournament in the last four seasons?

The answers to those questions will largely be answered in Memphis.

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In addition to all of the comings and goings in the locker room and on the ice for the Minnesota Wild, the franchise suffered an unexpected loss away from the rink on Wednesday. The team announced that Ray Shero, 62, who served as a senior advisor to general manager Bill Guerin, has died.

Born in St. Paul, Ray was the son of legendary coach Fred Shero, who coached the Philadelphia Flyers to multiple Stanley Cups in the 1970s.

“Ray Shero’s smile and personality lit up every room he walked into and brightened the day of everyone he met,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement from the league. “Widely respected throughout hockey for his team-building acumen and eye for talent, he was even more beloved for how he treated everyone fortunate enough to have known him.”

After playing college hockey at St. Lawrence, Ray found his calling in the front office, serving as an assistant general manager in Ottawa and Nashville, then as general manager in Pittsburgh from 2006 to 2014. His time with the Penguins included winning the 2009 Stanley Cup and being named the NHL’s general manager of the year in 2013.

After five seasons as general manager of the New Jersey Devils, Shero joined the Wild organization in 2021.

“Our hearts go out to his family and friends and the countless people he impacted in the hockey community throughout his successful career,” the Wild said in a statement. “Ray was the best. He will be greatly missed by all of us.”

The Shero family, which includes Ray’s wife Karen and two sons, has asked for privacy at this time.

Fleury is Wild’s Masterton nominee

Sometime in the coming weeks, Marc-Andre Fleury will officially retire from the NHL as the game’s second-winningest goalie of all time. He has three Stanley Cups to his credit, and is a shoo-in for the Hockey Hall of Fame.

And on his way out the door, Fleury has been given one more honor.

On Wednesday the Minnesota chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Association officially nominated Fleury, 40, for the Bill Masterton Memorial Award, given annually to the NHL player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.

In a small gathering with reporters this week, Fleury — who has been nominated for the award twice previously — said it means a great deal to him.

“I think I’ve had lots of ups and downs in my career, and I think that perseverance helped me try to bounce back after the tough moments,” he said. “I love the game. I’ve loved hockey since I’m a kid. I still do. Always feel very fortunate to be where I am today.”

Fleury, expected to start Wednesday night’s game versus the Sharks, had made 23 previous appearances for the Wild this season with a 12-9-1 record.

The award is named after former Minnesota North Stars player Bill Masterton, who in January 1968 was the only NHL player to die as a result of an injury suffered in a game.

Playing in for the North Stars at Met Center in Bloomington, in an era where most players did not wear helmets, Masterton’s head struck the ice after a collision with two opponents. He never regained consciousness from the hit, and died two days later at age 29 at an Edina hospital.

Two Wild goalies have won the Masterton previously, Josh Harding in 2013 and Devan Dubnyk in 2015.

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By MICHAEL R. SISAK

NEW YORK (AP) — An accuser will be allowed to use the word “force” in her testimony at Harvey Weinstein’s retrial even though the disgraced movie mogul was acquitted of a rape charge that alleged he used physical force against her, a judge ruled Wednesday.

Manhattan Judge Curtis Farber reversed his earlier decision to forbid the one-time aspiring actor from telling jurors that Weinstein used force against her, explaining that after a review of case law he decided it would be unreasonable to put limits on how she describes what she says happened.

“She will not be precluded from using the term force or describing the use of force,” Farber said at the last pretrial hearing before jury selection is set to begin next Tuesday.

The woman is one of three accusers whose allegations form the basis of the charges in Weinstein’s retrial in state court in Manhattan.

Weinstein has denied that he raped or sexually assaulted anyone.

Weinstein’s lawyers argued that letting the woman testify that he used physical force during the encounter at a Manhattan hotel would open the door to telling jurors that Weinstein was acquitted at his 2020 trial of first-degree rape, a charge that says “forcible compulsion” was used. It was the most serious charge related to her allegations.

But Farber said that isn’t necessarily the case. He said Weinstein’s lawyers are free to challenge the woman’s version of events on cross examination and he suggested that they could add a jury instruction to clear up any confusion.

The Manhattan district attorney’s office has wanted to prevent jurors from hearing any mention of Weinstein’s acquittals and vacated conviction.

Weinstein, 73, is being retried on a sex crime charge as well as third-degree rape, which involves a lack of consent but not “forcible compulsion.” Authorities said he forcibly performed oral sex on a TV and film production assistant in 2006, and raped an aspiring actor in 2013.

Weinstein is also being tried on an additional charge based on an allegation from a woman whose rape allegation was added to the case last year. That charge, filed last September, alleges he forced oral sex on a different woman at a Manhattan hotel in 2006.

New York’s Court of Appeals threw out Weinstein’s conviction last year, setting the stage for his retrial. His acquittals, on the first-degree rape charge and two counts of predatory sexual assault, still stand.

The trial’s start time was thrown into doubt Wednesday as Weinstein’s lawyers and prosecutors wrangled over notes that an assistant district attorney on the case took during a 2020 interview with the accuser who was not part of the first case.

Weinstein’s lawyers said they may seek to call the notetaking assistant district attorney as a witness, disqualifying her from working on the case, as they seek to undermine the accuser’s credibility. The defense contends the woman’s grand jury testimony last year about Weinstein using physical force on her was inconsistent with what she said in the 2020 interview.

Prosecutors said they would seek to delay the trial by 60 days if they can’t reach an agreement with Weinstein’s lawyers on the note dispute.

The woman whom Farber said can say “force” in her upcoming testimony broke down in tears when she testified at Weinstein’s 2020 trial, prompting the judge to halt proceedings for the day.

The woman alleged the studio boss trapped her in a New York hotel room in March 2013, angrily ordered her to undress as he loomed over her, and then raped her. She alleges Weinstein raped her again eight months later at a Beverly Hills hotel, where she worked as a hairdresser.

“I want the jury to know that he is my rapist,” the woman told jurors in 2020.

In vacating Weinstein’s conviction, the state Court of Appeals ruled that the trial judge, James M. Burke, unfairly allowed testimony against him based on allegations from other women that were not part of the case. Burke is no longer on the bench and such testimony won’t be part of the retrial.

Weinstein was convicted in Los Angeles in 2022 of another rape. His 16-year prison sentence in that case still stands, but his lawyers appealed in June, arguing he did not get a fair trial.

Farber ruled Wednesday that if Weinstein were to testify at his retrial, prosecutors can ask him if he has a felony conviction in California, but not the nature of the crimes or underlying facts.