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  • What to know about the upcoming Epstein files release

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    A new federal law requires the Justice Department to release by Friday a massive trove of investigative documents related to Jeffrey Epstein.The release of the Epstein files, detailing the probes into the disgraced multimillionaire and sex offender who died in 2019, has attracted significant attention. The public has been captivated by Epstein’s lavish lifestyle, claims of underage sex trafficking, and his ties to President Donald Trump, former President Bill Clinton, celebrities and foreign dignitaries.Veto-proof majorities in Congress passed a law last month requiring the Justice Department to release all of the Epstein-related files in its custody. Trump fought hard to stop the law but signed it after being outmaneuvered by a bipartisan groundswell of support from lawmakers and the public.However, it’s unclear exactly which records will be made public and how much of the material will be new. Over the 20-year saga surrounding Epstein’s sex crimes, thousands of files have already been disclosed through civil litigation and public records requests.Here’s what you need to know about the files:Why is this happening now?The law, called the Epstein Files Transparency Act, is only three pages long and spells out in simple language what the Justice Department must release and what it can withhold.The federal government is required to release “searchable and downloadable” copies of “all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials” related to Epstein and Maxwell that are in the possession of the Justice Department or FBI.The law explicitly calls for the release of travel logs, materials about Epstein’s associates, any related immunity deals, relevant corporate records, all internal Justice Department communications about the investigations, and documents about Epstein’s 2019 death.What’s in DOJ’s Epstein files?CNN has reported that there’s more than 300 gigabytes of data that lives within the FBI’s primary electronic case management system, called Sentinel. This includes videos, photographs, audio recordings and written records.The FBI conducted two probes into Epstein. The first began in 2006 after sex abuse allegations emerged in Florida. That led to a non-prosecution deal in which Epstein avoided federal charges. Much of the same conduct was also scrutinized by the Palm Beach Police Department, leading to Epstein’s 2008 guilty plea on state charges. He would serve just 13 months in a Florida jail for state prostitution charges, though he was allowed to spend nearly half of that time on “work release” at his office.The second FBI investigation led to Epstein’s federal sex trafficking indictment in 2019. The bulk of the “Epstein files” comes from that New York-based second FBI probe, though there are also materials from the first investigation in Miami, CNN previously reported.What has DOJ said it may release?The Justice Department has described in court filings the types of documents in its possession that it believes must be publicly released under the new law. However, the department warned that the list is “not entirely comprehensive” of what may be released.The list says materials obtained from search warrants, and FBI affidavits supporting search warrants, will be released. The FBI notably raided Epstein’s homes in Florida, New York, and the private island that he owned in the US Virgin Islands, known as Little Saint James.The list also mentions memos from FBI interviews with witnesses. CNN has reported that there are at least hundreds of pages of these memos, known as “302s.”The list also includes financial records, bank records, travel logs from commercial and private flights, materials subpoenaed from Internet providers like Google, what’s referred to as “school records,” information from law firms representing victims, arrest reports, depositions from related civil lawsuits, immigration records, documents from the Palm Beach Police Department and forensic reports from seized dozens of Epstein’s electronic devices.Federal judges have also paved the way for the Justice Department to release grand jury materials from the Epstein indictment, the Maxwell trial and the related probe in Florida.But the grand jury files might not be all that illuminating. One of the judges wrote that nearly all of the grand jury material from the Maxwell case “was already a matter of public record” and that its disclosure “would not reveal new information of any consequence.”What might be redacted?The law says records can’t be “withheld, delayed, or redacted” due to concerns about “embarrassment, reputational harm, or political sensitivity.” And it explicitly says this applies to “any government official, public figure, or foreign dignitary.”However, under the law, Attorney General Pam Bondi can “withhold or redact” portions of records that fall under five categories, as long as she publicly explains every redaction.Those categories are: records that contain personally identifiable information about Epstein’s victims, materials depicting child sexual abuse, materials depicting physical abuse, any records that “would jeopardize an active federal investigation,” or any classified documents that must stay secret to protect “national defense or foreign policy.”CNN reported that the FBI recovered thousands of nude and seminude photographs of young women at Epstein’s property in Manhattan. Those images will not be made public.What won’t be in the release?There are limits for what we’ll see. The Justice Department’s in-house files about the Epstein case only represent a portion of what exists in the entire Epstein-related universe.For instance, the House Oversight Committee’s recent releases contained documents obtained from Epstein’s estate, including some materials that the FBI later said it had never seen before. Lawmakers are also pursuing bank records that might not be in the Justice Department’s existing cache of materials.Naturally, this means there could be more disclosures even after the Justice Department’s highly anticipated document drop.What are experts looking for?Miami Herald reporter Julie K. Brown, a top expert on the Epstein saga, said she is keeping an eye out for drafts of un-filed indictments, tips from the public that the FBI received about Epstein, and internal emails and texts from the investigators who worked on the cases.Others, including some Democratic lawmakers, have raised concerns about the possibility that the Trump administration will overzealously withhold or redact materials – particularly documents that make Trump look bad – due to the ongoing Trump-backed probe into Epstein’s associates.Last month, Trump directed the Justice Department to investigate Epstein’s ties to several well-known Democrats, including former President Clinton. That probe is ongoing, though the Justice Department said back in July that its exhaustive review of the Epstein and Maxwell case files did not uncover enough evidence to charge any of their associates.What have the victims said?Some of Epstein and Maxwell’s victims have been wary of the Justice Department releasing grand jury and other materials, for fear of being named publicly. But others have supported the unsealing, if proper redactions are made to conceal names and identifying information.One victim who testified during Maxwell’s trial supported the release provided such redactions are made. In a letter to the federal judge who presided over the case, the victim also voiced concern that the Justice Department might not release everything they have.Others have been far more critical of the releases. When Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released a large tranche of documents from Epstein’s estate in November, a group of victims quickly lamented that names and other personal information was not redacted.“Transparency cannot come at the expense of the privacy, safety, and protection of sexual abuse and sex trafficking victims,” lawyers for the victims wrote in a letter to the judge in the Maxwell case, adding that they “already suffered repeatedly, both at the hands of their abusers as well as by the actions of the media and inactions on the Government.”The judge who presided over Maxwell’s case, Paul Engelmayer, also criticized the Justice Department’s handling of victims during the months-long debate over whether to release more of the files. He said in one ruling that the Justice Department, “although paying lip service to Maxwell’s and Epstein’s victims, has not treated them with the solicitude they deserve.”The Justice Department has said in court filings that, in anticipation of the release, it has coordinated closely with known victims and was trying to reach lawyers for more victims. However, CNN reported Tuesday that some Epstein survivors haven’t received any outreach from the Justice Department ahead of the files’ release.What has already been released?A deluge of files, memos, transcripts and other documents surrounding the Epstein saga have already been released through Maxwell’s 2021 criminal trial, public records requests over the years, Justice Department reports, and numerous civil lawsuits.Such documents released by the Justice Department include their findings from an internal investigation into the 2008 non-prosecution agreement with Epstein, which the DOJ now says was wholly improper, as well as the department’s inspector general’s report on Epstein’s suicide at a federal prison in Manhattan.Earlier this year, Trump appointees at the Justice Department and FBI released a batch of declassified Epstein files investigators had gathered. The information from those files, however, was largely already public and the Trump administration has been heavily criticized by supporters and detractors for the bungled release ever since.The Justice Department released hundreds of pages from its controversial sit-down interview with Maxwell earlier this year, where she defended her actions and even criticized some of the victims.More recently, members of the House Oversight Committee released multiple tranches of files and photographs from Epstein’s estate.CNN’s Kara Scannell contributed to this report.

    A new federal law requires the Justice Department to release by Friday a massive trove of investigative documents related to Jeffrey Epstein.

    The release of the Epstein files, detailing the probes into the disgraced multimillionaire and sex offender who died in 2019, has attracted significant attention. The public has been captivated by Epstein’s lavish lifestyle, claims of underage sex trafficking, and his ties to President Donald Trump, former President Bill Clinton, celebrities and foreign dignitaries.

    Veto-proof majorities in Congress passed a law last month requiring the Justice Department to release all of the Epstein-related files in its custody. Trump fought hard to stop the law but signed it after being outmaneuvered by a bipartisan groundswell of support from lawmakers and the public.

    However, it’s unclear exactly which records will be made public and how much of the material will be new. Over the 20-year saga surrounding Epstein’s sex crimes, thousands of files have already been disclosed through civil litigation and public records requests.

    Here’s what you need to know about the files:

    Why is this happening now?

    The law, called the Epstein Files Transparency Act, is only three pages long and spells out in simple language what the Justice Department must release and what it can withhold.

    The federal government is required to release “searchable and downloadable” copies of “all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials” related to Epstein and Maxwell that are in the possession of the Justice Department or FBI.

    The law explicitly calls for the release of travel logs, materials about Epstein’s associates, any related immunity deals, relevant corporate records, all internal Justice Department communications about the investigations, and documents about Epstein’s 2019 death.

    What’s in DOJ’s Epstein files?

    CNN has reported that there’s more than 300 gigabytes of data that lives within the FBI’s primary electronic case management system, called Sentinel. This includes videos, photographs, audio recordings and written records.

    The FBI conducted two probes into Epstein. The first began in 2006 after sex abuse allegations emerged in Florida. That led to a non-prosecution deal in which Epstein avoided federal charges. Much of the same conduct was also scrutinized by the Palm Beach Police Department, leading to Epstein’s 2008 guilty plea on state charges. He would serve just 13 months in a Florida jail for state prostitution charges, though he was allowed to spend nearly half of that time on “work release” at his office.

    The second FBI investigation led to Epstein’s federal sex trafficking indictment in 2019. The bulk of the “Epstein files” comes from that New York-based second FBI probe, though there are also materials from the first investigation in Miami, CNN previously reported.

    What has DOJ said it may release?

    The Justice Department has described in court filings the types of documents in its possession that it believes must be publicly released under the new law. However, the department warned that the list is “not entirely comprehensive” of what may be released.

    The list says materials obtained from search warrants, and FBI affidavits supporting search warrants, will be released. The FBI notably raided Epstein’s homes in Florida, New York, and the private island that he owned in the US Virgin Islands, known as Little Saint James.

    The list also mentions memos from FBI interviews with witnesses. CNN has reported that there are at least hundreds of pages of these memos, known as “302s.”

    The list also includes financial records, bank records, travel logs from commercial and private flights, materials subpoenaed from Internet providers like Google, what’s referred to as “school records,” information from law firms representing victims, arrest reports, depositions from related civil lawsuits, immigration records, documents from the Palm Beach Police Department and forensic reports from seized dozens of Epstein’s electronic devices.

    Federal judges have also paved the way for the Justice Department to release grand jury materials from the Epstein indictment, the Maxwell trial and the related probe in Florida.

    But the grand jury files might not be all that illuminating. One of the judges wrote that nearly all of the grand jury material from the Maxwell case “was already a matter of public record” and that its disclosure “would not reveal new information of any consequence.”

    What might be redacted?

    The law says records can’t be “withheld, delayed, or redacted” due to concerns about “embarrassment, reputational harm, or political sensitivity.” And it explicitly says this applies to “any government official, public figure, or foreign dignitary.”

    However, under the law, Attorney General Pam Bondi can “withhold or redact” portions of records that fall under five categories, as long as she publicly explains every redaction.

    Those categories are: records that contain personally identifiable information about Epstein’s victims, materials depicting child sexual abuse, materials depicting physical abuse, any records that “would jeopardize an active federal investigation,” or any classified documents that must stay secret to protect “national defense or foreign policy.”

    CNN reported that the FBI recovered thousands of nude and seminude photographs of young women at Epstein’s property in Manhattan. Those images will not be made public.

    What won’t be in the release?

    There are limits for what we’ll see. The Justice Department’s in-house files about the Epstein case only represent a portion of what exists in the entire Epstein-related universe.

    For instance, the House Oversight Committee’s recent releases contained documents obtained from Epstein’s estate, including some materials that the FBI later said it had never seen before. Lawmakers are also pursuing bank records that might not be in the Justice Department’s existing cache of materials.

    Naturally, this means there could be more disclosures even after the Justice Department’s highly anticipated document drop.

    What are experts looking for?

    Miami Herald reporter Julie K. Brown, a top expert on the Epstein saga, said she is keeping an eye out for drafts of un-filed indictments, tips from the public that the FBI received about Epstein, and internal emails and texts from the investigators who worked on the cases.

    Others, including some Democratic lawmakers, have raised concerns about the possibility that the Trump administration will overzealously withhold or redact materials – particularly documents that make Trump look bad – due to the ongoing Trump-backed probe into Epstein’s associates.

    Last month, Trump directed the Justice Department to investigate Epstein’s ties to several well-known Democrats, including former President Clinton. That probe is ongoing, though the Justice Department said back in July that its exhaustive review of the Epstein and Maxwell case files did not uncover enough evidence to charge any of their associates.

    What have the victims said?

    Some of Epstein and Maxwell’s victims have been wary of the Justice Department releasing grand jury and other materials, for fear of being named publicly. But others have supported the unsealing, if proper redactions are made to conceal names and identifying information.

    One victim who testified during Maxwell’s trial supported the release provided such redactions are made. In a letter to the federal judge who presided over the case, the victim also voiced concern that the Justice Department might not release everything they have.

    Others have been far more critical of the releases. When Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released a large tranche of documents from Epstein’s estate in November, a group of victims quickly lamented that names and other personal information was not redacted.

    “Transparency cannot come at the expense of the privacy, safety, and protection of sexual abuse and sex trafficking victims,” lawyers for the victims wrote in a letter to the judge in the Maxwell case, adding that they “already suffered repeatedly, both at the hands of their abusers as well as by the actions of the media and inactions on the Government.”

    The judge who presided over Maxwell’s case, Paul Engelmayer, also criticized the Justice Department’s handling of victims during the months-long debate over whether to release more of the files. He said in one ruling that the Justice Department, “although paying lip service to Maxwell’s and Epstein’s victims, has not treated them with the solicitude they deserve.”

    The Justice Department has said in court filings that, in anticipation of the release, it has coordinated closely with known victims and was trying to reach lawyers for more victims. However, CNN reported Tuesday that some Epstein survivors haven’t received any outreach from the Justice Department ahead of the files’ release.

    What has already been released?

    A deluge of files, memos, transcripts and other documents surrounding the Epstein saga have already been released through Maxwell’s 2021 criminal trial, public records requests over the years, Justice Department reports, and numerous civil lawsuits.

    Such documents released by the Justice Department include their findings from an internal investigation into the 2008 non-prosecution agreement with Epstein, which the DOJ now says was wholly improper, as well as the department’s inspector general’s report on Epstein’s suicide at a federal prison in Manhattan.

    Earlier this year, Trump appointees at the Justice Department and FBI released a batch of declassified Epstein files investigators had gathered. The information from those files, however, was largely already public and the Trump administration has been heavily criticized by supporters and detractors for the bungled release ever since.

    The Justice Department released hundreds of pages from its controversial sit-down interview with Maxwell earlier this year, where she defended her actions and even criticized some of the victims.

    More recently, members of the House Oversight Committee released multiple tranches of files and photographs from Epstein’s estate.

    CNN’s Kara Scannell contributed to this report.

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  • Trump, Patel posts cause confusion amid crime investigations

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    In a weekend punctuated by tragic events, President Donald Trump quickly shared what he knew, even if his information ultimately proved to be wrong.

    On Dec. 13, after a gunman opened fire at Brown University, killing two and injuring nine before evading capture, Trump posted on Truth Social that “the FBI is on the scene. The suspect is in custody.” But about 20 minutes later, Trump posted an update: “The Brown University Police reversed their previous statement — The suspect is NOT in custody.”

    At the time, members of the Brown community in Providence, Rhode Island, were sheltering in place and seeking guidance on safety. A Brown student pushed back on the president’s assertion: “I am at brown university they have not confirmed a shooter in custody please do not believe trump and stay inside.”

    Emergency personnel gather on Waterman Street at Brown University in Providence, R.I., on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, during the investigation of a shooting. (AP)

    On Dec. 15, the morning after Hollywood director Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele, were discovered slain in their home, Trump posted on Truth Social that the killing was “reportedly due to the anger (Rob Reiner) caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME.”

    Soon after, police arrested the couple’s son, Nick, on suspicion of murder. Nick Reiner has spoken in the past about his struggles with drug addiction and homelessness. Police said nothing about motive and did not mention the director’s political ideology.

    A police officer blocks off a street near Rob Reiner’s residence Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in the Brentwood section of Los Angeles. (AP)

    Trump’s posts echoed those of other senior government officials who similarly took post-first, confirm-the-facts-later approaches to recent, high-profile breaking news.

    • A few hours after conservative advocate Charlie Kirk was assassinated in Utah on Sept. 10, FBI Director Kash Patel posted on X that the suspect “is now in custody.” But less than two hours later, Patel, a Trump appointee, posted that the suspect had been released after interrogation. The man eventually charged with murdering Kirk was not arrested until more than 24 hours later.

    • About 45 minutes after an assailant shot two West Virginia National Guard members on patrol in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 26, West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey posted on X that one Guard member had died. Ten minutes later, he posted that both had died. About 20 minutes after that, he backtracked, citing “conflicting reports.” One Guard member ultimately died, but one has survived.

    Fast-moving investigations often zig and zag in unexpected ways, especially when the suspect is not immediately arrested, as was the case in all but the Washington, D.C., shooting.

    Law enforcement is trained to work carefully and under chaotic conditions to minimize further harm to bystanders and the public when investigations are still unfolding. That’s why law enforcement investigators historically speak through formal media briefings, where they can parcel out confirmed information and tamp down speculation.

    But in a social media-driven age that rewards being first over being accurate, government officials like Trump and Patel are supplanting the traditional filters of formal press events, feeding online speculation. The result is a media environment awash with confusion and claims, some of them that prove to be wrong.

    “Occasionally, news outlets have published background leaks from law enforcement that turned out to be false and then had to walk them back,” said Mark Feldstein, a University of Maryland journalism professor and former investigative correspondent for outlets including ABC News. “Never that I know of has the president of the United States or the director of the FBI attached his name publicly to information about a pending criminal case that turned out to be so wildly inaccurate.”

    Feldstein said the sharing of such information “undermines confidence in the individual and institutions putting out the inaccurate information, especially in such high-profile cases that attract so much attention.”

    Juliette Kayyem, who worked in Homeland Security during the Obama administration, said there is no public safety reason for the FBI director to tweet before an indictment. 

    “The FBI director is the bridge between a nonpublic investigation and disclosure of a successful investigation,” she said. “There is no need to hear from the FBI director between those two points. Stop tweeting.”

    Luke Hunt, a former FBI agent who is now a University of Alabama philosophy professor, said posts by the nation’s FBI director are especially concerning.

    “The FBI director — unlike the president — is not supposed to be a politician,” Hunt said in an email. “We historically do not expect rash, impulsive statements from our top law enforcement officials. We expect a patient search for evidence leading to truth. But now I think we are starting to view the FBI director’s posts similar to the president’s. We take what he says with a grain of salt because we have come to expect the posts to be steeped in impatience and political expedience.”

    Trump’s tack is not new for him, at least. In 2020, during his first term, Trump tweeted a baseless conspiracy theory that a 75-year-old man in Buffalo who had been recorded being pushed to the ground during a protest was actually a plant by anti-fascist demonstrators.

    Democrats have also shared information prematurely. In 2021, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Mayor Dean Trantalis, a Democrat, called a car crash during nearby Wilton Manors’ gay pride parade a “terrorist attack against the LGBT community.” Police later said the crash was an accident, and Trantalis, the city’s first openly gay mayor, said he regretted calling it a terrorist attack but said he felt terrorized by the event.

    Sometimes officials scoop the investigators on the scene by sharing initial bits of information that are ultimately supported by other evidence. Even this poses risks.

    Hours after a shooter fired on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Dallas on Sept. 24, killing two and injuring one before killing himself, Patel posted an image of five ammunition shells on X, one of which was labeled with the text “ANTI ICE.”

    Patel wrote that “while the investigation is ongoing, an initial review of the evidence shows an idealogical (sic) motive behind this attack.” His disclosure came shortly after a local press conference in which the casing messages were not mentioned. 

    Although other evidence ultimately supported that motive, Patel veered from the norm when he released raw evidence so early in the investigation — something experts say carries risks.

    When government officials prematurely release unconfirmed or inaccurate information, their actions can complicate subsequent prosecutions by providing jurors with alternate suspects and introducing reasonable doubt. They can expose the government and media outlets to legal risks, including payouts to people wrongly accused.

    The most famous example is Richard Jewell, an early suspect in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics bombing. Jewell “was intimately cleared but suffered damages until the government announced his innocence,” said Stanley Brand, a distinguished fellow in law and government at Penn State Dickinson Law School. Then-Attorney General Janet Reno publicly apologized, and Jewell secured settlements from multiple media outlets who had reported on him in connection to the bombing. 

    As law enforcement officials investigating the Brown shooting questioned someone they called a “person of interest,” some media outlets reported the person’s name, often citing unnamed law enforcement sources. After the person was released and the investigation went in a different direction, Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha told reporters during a press conference that “what is really unfortunate is that this person’s name was leaked to the public. It’s hard to put that back in the bottle.”

    Kash Patel speaks at a news conference, Friday, Sept. 12, 2025, in Orem, Utah, as Utah department of public safety commissioner Beau Mason, left, and Utah Gov. Spencer Cox listen. (AP)

    Days after Kirk’s assassination, Patel told “Fox and Friends” that he had no regrets over his decision to release information about a suspect even though it quickly proved incorrect.

    “I was being transparent with working with the public on our findings as I had them,” he said. “I stated in that message that we had a subject and that we were going to interview him, and we did, and he was released,” Patel said.

    “Could I have worded it a little better in the heat of the moment, sure,” Patel said. “But do I regret putting it out? Absolutely not. I was telling the world what the FBI was doing as we were doing, and I’m continuing to do that.”

    PolitiFact News Researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report.

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  • Justice Department drafting a list of ‘domestic terrorists’

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    WASHINGTON — Justice Department leadership has directed the FBI to “compile a list of groups or entities engaged in acts that may constitute domestic terrorism” by the start of next year, and to establish a “cash reward system” that incentivizes individuals to report on their fellow Americans, according to a memo reviewed by The Times.

    Law enforcement agencies are directed in the memo, dated Dec. 4, to identify “domestic terrorists” who use violence, or the threat of violence, to advance political and social agendas, including “adherence to radical gender ideology, anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, or anti-Christianity.”

    Although the memo does not mention protests against President Trump’s immigration crackdown directly, it says that problematic “political and social agendas” could include “opposition to law and immigration enforcement, extreme views in favor of mass migration and open borders.”

    The memo, sent by Atty, Gen. Pam Bondi to federal prosecutors and law enforcement agencies, follows on a presidential memorandum signed by Trump in the immediate aftermath of the killing of Charlie Kirk, a prominent conservative figure, that gave civil rights groups pause over the potential targeting of political activists, donors and nonprofits opposed to the president.

    The memo also outlines what it says are causes of domestic terrorist activity, including “hostility towards traditional views on family, religion, and morality.”

    “Federal law enforcement will prioritize this threat. Where federal crime is encountered, federal agents will act,” the memo states.

    Some national security experts said the memo represents a dramatic operational shift, by directing federal prosecutors and agents to approach domestic terrorism in a way that is “ideologically one-sided.” At worst, critics said, the memo provides legal justification for criminalizing free speech.

    “I think this causes a chilling impact, because it definitely seems to be directing enforcement toward particular points of view,” Mary McCord, a former acting assistant attorney general for national security, said in an interview.

    The memo, for example, primarily focuses on antifa-aligned extremism, but omits other trends that in recent years have been identified as rising domestic threats, such as violent white supremacy. Since Trump resumed office, the FBI has cut its office designated to focus on domestic extremism, withdrawing resources from investigations into white supremacists and right-wing antigovernment groups.

    The memo’s push to collect intelligence on antifa through internal lists and public tip lines also raised questions over the scope of the investigative mission, and how wide a net investigators might cast.

    “Whether you’re going to a protest, whether you’re considering a piece of legislation, whether you’re considering undertaking a particular business activity, the ambiguity will affect your risk profile,” Thomas Brzozowski, a former counsel for domestic terrorism at the Justice Department, said in an interview.

    “It is the unknown that people will fear,” he added.

    Protesters in 1980s style aerobic outfits work out during a demonstration dubbed “Sweatin’ Out the Fascists” on Sunday in Portland, Ore.

    (Natalie Behring / Getty Images)

    Groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union have expressed alarm over the new policy, which could be used by the Justice Department to target civil society groups and Democratic individuals and entities with burdensome investigations.

    But the White House argues that Democratic appointees under the Biden administration targeted conservative extremists in similar ways.

    Members of Trump’s team have embraced political retribution as a policy course. Ed Martin, the president’s pardon attorney, has openly advocated for Justice Department investigations that would burden who Trump perceives as his enemies, alongside leniency for his friends and allies.

    “No MAGA left behind,” Martin wrote on social media in May.

    Law enforcement agencies are directed in the memo to “zealously” investigate those involved in what it calls potential domestic terrorist actions, including “doxing” law enforcement. Authorities are also directed to “map the full network of culpable actors” potentially tied to crime.

    Domestic terrorism is not an official designation in U.S. law. But the directive cites over two dozen existing laws that could substantiate charges against domestic extremists and their supporters, such as conspiracy to injure an officer, seditious conspiracy and mail and wire fraud.

    Only in a footnote of the memo does the Justice Department acknowledge that the U.S. government cannot “investigate, collect, or maintain information on U.S. persons solely for the purpose of monitoring activities protected by the First Amendment.”

    “No investigation may be opened based solely on activities protected by the First Amendment or the lawful exercise of rights secured by the Constitution or laws of the United States,” the footnote says.

    Some tension could arise when citizens report what they believe to be suspected domestic terrorism to the FBI.

    The memo directs the FBI online tip line to allow “witnesses and citizen journalists” to report videos, recordings and photos of what they believe to be suspected acts of domestic violence, and establish a “cash reward system” for information that leads to an arrest.

    “People will inform because they want to get paid,” Brzozowski said. He added that some information could end up being unreliable and likely be related to other Americans exercising their constitutional rights.

    State and local law enforcement agencies that adhere to the Justice Department directive will be prioritized for federal grant funding.

    A man dressed as a bee holds an American flag at a No Kings protest.

    A man dressed as a bee participates in the No Kings Day of Peaceful Action in downtown Los Angeles on Oct. 18.

    (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

    One of the directives in the memo would require the FBI to disseminate an “intelligence bulletin on Antifa and Antifa-aligned anarchist violent extremist groups” early next year.

    “The bulletin should describe the relevant organizations structures, funding sources, and tactics so that law enforcement partners can effectively investigate and policy makers can effectively understand the nature and gravity of the threat posed by these extremist groups,” the memo states.

    The mission will cross several agencies, with the FBI working alongside joint terrorism task forces nationwide, as well as the Counterterrorism Division and the National Threat Operations Center, among others, to provide updates to Justice Department leadership every 30 days.

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    Michael Wilner, Ana Ceballos

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  • FBI: Suspected D.C. shooter had S.D. connection, could face death penalty

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    Streets are blocked after two National Guard soldiers were shot near the White House in Washington. (Photo by Anthony Peltier/Associated Press)

    Federal authorities Friday are considering the death penalty for a man with San Diego connections who is suspected of shooting two members of a West Virginia National Guard unit in Washington, D.C. — killing one and critically injuring the other.

    During a series of media appearances on Thursday, Attorney General Pam Bondi told reporters she would seek the death penalty against Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, an Afghan national who entered the United States in 2021. According to ABC News, Lakanwal applied for asylum in 2024 and it was granted in April under the Trump administration.

    “I will tell you right now, I will tell you early, we will do everything in our power to seek the death penalty against that monster who should not have been in our country,” Bondi said in interviews before it was learned that one of the Guard members, Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, died from her injuries.

    The other Guardsman, Private First Class Andrew Wolfe, 24, was listed in critical condition after undergoing surgery, according to U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro.

    FBI Director Kash Patel told reporters, “a search warrant had been executed at the suspect’s last known address in Washington state. Based on what was found at the address, law enforcement was able to find people associated with him in San Diego.”

    “During that process, we seized numerous electronic devices to include cell phones, laptops, iPads and other material that is being analyzed as we speak,” Patel continued. “… Interviews were conducted and are going to be continue to be conducted, and we will go anywhere in the country or the world where the evidence leads us.”

    In an emailed response Thursday, a spokesperson for the FBI’s San Diego office did not provide further details about the case, and referred media outlets to “remarks made during the (earlier) press conference.”

    On Wednesday afternoon, a man now identified as Lakanwal shot the two members of the West Virginia National Guard “in an ambush-style attack” in the nation’s capital.

    Beckstrom died later Thursday, officials said.

    “A few moments ago, Specialist Sarah Beckstrom passed away from the injuries sustained during yesterday’s horrific shooting,” West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey posted Thursday on X. “This is not the result we hoped for, but it is the result we all feared,

    “Sarah served with courage, extraordinary resolve and an unwavering sense of duty to her state and to her nation,” Morrisey wrote. “She answered the call to serve, stepped forward willingly, and carried out her mission with the strength and character that define the very best of the West Virginia National Guard.

    “Today, we honor her bravery and her sacrifice as we mourn the loss of a young woman who gave everything she had in defense of others. We will forever hold her family, her friends and her fellow Guardsmen in our prayers as they grieve what no family should ever have to bear.”

    The shooter is believed to have acted alone.

    CBS reported that CIA officials said Lakanwal “previously worked with the U.S. government, including the CIA, as a member of a partner force in Kandahar that ended in 2021 following the withdrawal from Afghanistan.”

    In addition to the possibility of the death penalty, federal officials said Lakanwal will be charged with three counts of assault with the intent to kill while armed and criminal possession of a weapon.

    Officials said Lakanwal — who is married and has five children — “drove from his residence in (Bellingham) Washington state to the nation’s capital prior to the shooting and targeted the Guardsmen.”

    Patel described the probe as a “coast-to-coast investigation,” and added that officials “are interviewing individuals at the suspect’s home and in San Diego.”

    Following the shooting, the Trump administration suspended processing all immigration requests from Afghans, according to a BBC report.

    The leader of a San Diego-based nonprofit that helps relocate and resettle Afghan allies said Thursday that the Afghan community “should not be scapegoated because of the shooting.”

    “Afghan wartime allies risked their lives for U.S. missions,” said Shawn VanDiver, president and board chairman of AfghanEvac. “This single act does not reflect Afghan values, AfghanEvac partners or the tens of thousands of Afghans building safe, productive lives in the U.S.

    “This individual’s case appears to be a tragic outlier — not a pattern,” he added. “Claims about `vetting failures’ are premature and not supported by evidence.”

    An Afghan group representative sent a statement that strongly condemn the shooting.

    “It is the isolated and irresponsible action of a single individual and in no way represents the Afghan community or the values of Afghan immigrants in the United States,” wrote Lal Gul Lal, on behalf of the Alliance of Afghan Communities in the United States.

    “First and foremost, we extend our deepest condolences to the family of the fallen service member and our prayers for the full recovery of the injured soldier,” Lal added.

    Updated at 8:30 a.m. Nov. 29, 2025

    –City News Service


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  • FBI: Suspected D.C. shooter had S.D. connection, could face death penalty

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    Streets are blocked after two National Guard soldiers were shot near the White House in Washington. (Photo by Anthony Peltier/Associated Press)

    Federal authorities Friday are considering the death penalty for a man with San Diego connections who is suspected of shooting two members of a West Virginia National Guard unit in Washington, D.C. — killing one and critically injuring the other.

    During a series of media appearances on Thursday, Attorney General Pam Bondi told reporters she would seek the death penalty against Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, an Afghan national who entered the United States in 2021. According to ABC News, Lakanwal applied for asylum in 2024 and it was granted in April under the Trump administration.

    “I will tell you right now, I will tell you early, we will do everything in our power to seek the death penalty against that monster who should not have been in our country,” Bondi said in interviews before it was learned that one of the Guard members, Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, died from her injuries.

    The other Guardsman, Private First Class Andrew Wolfe, 24, was listed in critical condition after undergoing surgery, according to U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro.

    FBI Director Kash Patel told reporters, “a search warrant had been executed at the suspect’s last known address in Washington state. Based on what was found at the address, law enforcement was able to find people associated with him in San Diego.”

    “During that process, we seized numerous electronic devices to include cell phones, laptops, iPads and other material that is being analyzed as we speak,” Patel continued. “… Interviews were conducted and are going to be continue to be conducted, and we will go anywhere in the country or the world where the evidence leads us.”

    In an emailed response Thursday, a spokesperson for the FBI’s San Diego office did not provide further details about the case, and referred media outlets to “remarks made during the (earlier) press conference.”

    On Wednesday afternoon, a man now identified as Lakanwal shot the two members of the West Virginia National Guard “in an ambush-style attack” in the nation’s capital.

    Beckstrom died later Thursday, officials said.

    “A few moments ago, Specialist Sarah Beckstrom passed away from the injuries sustained during yesterday’s horrific shooting,” West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey posted Thursday on X. “This is not the result we hoped for, but it is the result we all feared,

    “Sarah served with courage, extraordinary resolve and an unwavering sense of duty to her state and to her nation,” Morrisey wrote. “She answered the call to serve, stepped forward willingly, and carried out her mission with the strength and character that define the very best of the West Virginia National Guard.

    “Today, we honor her bravery and her sacrifice as we mourn the loss of a young woman who gave everything she had in defense of others. We will forever hold her family, her friends and her fellow Guardsmen in our prayers as they grieve what no family should ever have to bear.”

    The shooter is believed to have acted alone.

    CBS reported that CIA officials said Lakanwal “previously worked with the U.S. government, including the CIA, as a member of a partner force in Kandahar that ended in 2021 following the withdrawal from Afghanistan.”

    In addition to the possibility of the death penalty, federal officials said Lakanwal will be charged with three counts of assault with the intent to kill while armed and criminal possession of a weapon.

    Officials said Lakanwal — who is married and has five children — “drove from his residence in (Bellingham) Washington state to the nation’s capital prior to the shooting and targeted the Guardsmen.”

    Patel described the probe as a “coast-to-coast investigation,” and added that officials “are interviewing individuals at the suspect’s home and in San Diego.”

    Following the shooting, the Trump administration suspended processing all immigration requests from Afghans, according to a BBC report.

    The leader of a San Diego-based nonprofit that helps relocate and resettle Afghan allies said Thursday that the Afghan community “should not be scapegoated because of the shooting.”

    “Afghan wartime allies risked their lives for U.S. missions,” said Shawn VanDiver, president and board chairman of AfghanEvac. “This single act does not reflect Afghan values, AfghanEvac partners or the tens of thousands of Afghans building safe, productive lives in the U.S.

    “This individual’s case appears to be a tragic outlier — not a pattern,” he added. “Claims about `vetting failures’ are premature and not supported by evidence.”

    An Afghan group representative sent a statement that strongly condemn the shooting.

    “It is the isolated and irresponsible action of a single individual and in no way represents the Afghan community or the values of Afghan immigrants in the United States,” wrote Lal Gul Lal, on behalf of the Alliance of Afghan Communities in the United States.

    “First and foremost, we extend our deepest condolences to the family of the fallen service member and our prayers for the full recovery of the injured soldier,” Lal added.

    Updated at 8:30 a.m. Nov. 29, 2025

    –City News Service


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  • Alleged National Guard shooter worked with US government entities in Afghanistan, including CIA: Ratcliffe

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    NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

    EXCLUSIVE: The Afghan national accused of shooting two National Guard members blocks from the White House worked with various United States government entities, including the CIA, as a member of a partner force in Afghanistan, Fox News Digital has learned.

    Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, entered the United States on the heels of the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021 under the Biden administration. Lakanwal arrived in the U.S. a month later under “Operation Allies Welcome.”

    TWO NATIONAL GUARD MEMBERS SHOT NEAR WHITE HOUSE, AFGHAN NATIONAL SUSPECT IN CUSTODY: ‘ACT OF EVIL’

    National Guard soldiers gather after two fellow troop members were shot, Wednesday, in Washington, D.C. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

    Intelligence sources told Fox News Digital that Lakanwal had a prior relationship with various entities in the U.S. government, including the CIA, due to his work as a member of a partner force in Kandahar.

    “In the wake of the disastrous Biden withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Biden administration justified bringing the alleged shooter to the United States in September 2021 due to his prior work with the U.S. government, including CIA, as a member of a partner force in Kandahar, which ended shortly following the chaotic evacuation,” CIA Director John Ratcliffe told Fox News Digital.

    Senate Confirmation Held To Consider John Ratcliffe To Be CIA Director

    CIA Director John Ratcliffe during his confirmation hearing at the Senate Intelligence Committee on Jan. 15, 2025, in Washington, D.C.  (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

    “The individual—and so many others—should have never been allowed to come here,” Ratcliffe continued. “Our citizens and service members deserve far better than to endure the ongoing fallout from the Biden administration’s catastrophic failures.” 

    Ratcliffe added: “God bless our brave troops.”

    Fox News Digital has learned that the FBI is taking the lead on the investigation.

    2 NATIONAL GUARDSMEN CRITICALLY WOUNDED IN ‘TARGETED SHOOTING’ BLOCKS FROM WHITE HOUSE

    Multiple high level intelligence sources told Fox News Digital that the shooting is being investigated as a possible act of international terrorism.

    FBI officials confirmed the two West Virginia National Guardsmen remain in critical condition.

    National Guard DC shooting

    Law enforcement officers secure the area after a shooting targeting National Guardsmen in downtown Washington, D.C., on Nov. 26, 2025. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)

    In an online address to the nation late Wednesday, President Donald Trump called the shooting a “savage attack” and described how one of the Guardsmen “was shot at point-blank range in a monstrous ambush-style attack just steps away from the White House.”

    Trump added that the “heinous assault” was an “act of evil and act of hatred and an act of terror. It was a crime against our entire nation. It was a crime against humanity.”

    “The hearts of all Americans tonight are with those two members of the West Virginia National Guard and their families,” he added. “The love of our entire country is pouring out for them, and we are lifting them up in our prayers as we are filled with anguish and grief for those who were shot, we’re also filled with righteous anger and ferocious resolve. As President of the United States, I am determined to ensure that the animal who perpetrated this atrocity pays the steepest possible price.”

    CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

    “This is a targeted shooting,” D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser explained during a news conference Wednesday afternoon following the shooting. “One individual appeared to target these guardsmen. That individual has been taken into custody.”

    Brooke Singman is a political correspondent and reporter for Fox News Digital, Fox News Channel and FOX Business.

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  • Multiple Follow-Up Questions for Patel on Failures at Butler | RealClearPolitics

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    However, in this interview, Herridge should have asked multiple follow ups on Patel’s assertions re: Trump shooter Thomas Crooks.

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    Susan Crabtree, RCP

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  • FBI investigates video urging US troops to defy illegal orders

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    A video urging U.S. troops to defy “illegal orders” has led to the FBI requesting interviews with the Democratic lawmakers involved, indicating an investigation may be underway. The lawmakers did not mention specific reasons for their comments in the clip, but it comes after the Trump administration ordered the military to blow up boats in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean, accusing them of smuggling drugs into the U.S., and the deployment of the National Guard to U.S. cities.All six of the Democratic lawmakers in the video have served in the military or intelligence community.In the video, lawmakers said they needed troops to “stand up for our laws … our Constitution.” The Pentagon said Monday it was reviewing Senator Mark Kelly, who is in the video, for violating military law. President Donald Trump accused the lawmakers of sedition and said it is “punishable by death.”Senator Elissa Slotkin, one of six Democrats in the video, told reporters Tuesday this is a scare tactic by the president. The FBI declined to comment, but Director Kash Patel described the situation in an interview as an “ongoing matter.”Keep watching for the latest from the Washington News Bureau:

    WASHINGTON —

    A video urging U.S. troops to defy “illegal orders” has led to the FBI requesting interviews with the Democratic lawmakers involved, indicating an investigation may be underway.

    The lawmakers did not mention specific reasons for their comments in the clip, but it comes after the Trump administration ordered the military to blow up boats in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean, accusing them of smuggling drugs into the U.S., and the deployment of the National Guard to U.S. cities.

    All six of the Democratic lawmakers in the video have served in the military or intelligence community.

    In the video, lawmakers said they needed troops to “stand up for our laws … our Constitution.”

    The Pentagon said Monday it was reviewing Senator Mark Kelly, who is in the video, for violating military law. President Donald Trump accused the lawmakers of sedition and said it is “punishable by death.”

    Senator Elissa Slotkin, one of six Democrats in the video, told reporters Tuesday this is a scare tactic by the president.

    The FBI declined to comment, but Director Kash Patel described the situation in an interview as an “ongoing matter.”

    Keep watching for the latest from the Washington News Bureau:


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  • FBI seeks interviews with Democrats who urged troops to defy illegal orders

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    Democratic lawmakers who appeared in a social media video urging U.S. troops to defy “illegal orders” say the FBI has contacted them to begin scheduling interviews, signaling a possible inquiry into the matter.

    It would mark the second investigation tied to the video, coming a day after the Pentagon said it was reviewing Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona over potential violations of military law. The FBI and Pentagon actions come after President Donald Trump accused the lawmakers of sedition and said it is “punishable by DEATH” in a social media post.

    Together, the inquiries mark an extraordinary escalation for federal law enforcement and military institutions that traditionally steer clear of partisan clashes. They also underscore the administration’s willingness to push legal limits against its critics, even when they are sitting members of Congress. Lawmakers in the video urge troops to reject any illegal orders from their superiors, something they are already duty-bound to do.

    “President Trump is using the FBI as a tool to intimidate and harass Members of Congress,” a group of four Democratic House members said in a statement Tuesday. “Yesterday, the FBI contacted the House and Senate Sergeants at Arms requesting interviews.”

    President Donald Trump on Thursday accused half a dozen Democratic lawmakers of sedition “punishable by DEATH” after the lawmakers called on U.S. military members to uphold the Constitution and defy “illegal orders.”

    Democrats call inquiry a ‘scare tactic’

    Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin, one of the six Democratic lawmakers in the video, told reporters Tuesday that “last night the counterterrorism division at the FBI sent a note to the members of Congress, saying they are opening what appears to be an inquiry against the six of us.” Slotkin called it a “scare tactic by” Trump.

    “Whether you agree with the video or don’t agree with the video, the question to me is: is this the appropriate response for a president of the United States to go after and seek to weaponize the federal government against those he disagrees with?” said Slotkin.

    The group of four Democratic House members said in their statement that “no amount of intimidation or harassment will ever stop us from doing our jobs and honoring our Constitution.”

    All six of the Democratic lawmakers in the video have served in the military or intelligence community.

    Rep. Maggie Goodlander of New Hampshire responded to President Donald Trump after he accused six Democratic lawmakers of committing offenses “punishable by death.” Goodlander, a former Naval officer, contributed to a video urging current service members not to follow illegal orders.

    FBI provides no insight into interview requests

    The FBI went through the top security officials for the House and Senate to request interviews with each of the six lawmakers. The lawmakers said they had no further information and the FBI has not made clear on what basis they were seeking the interviews.

    The FBI declined to comment Tuesday, but Director Kash Patel, in an interview with journalist Catherine Herridge, described it as an “ongoing matter” in explaining why he could not discuss details.

    Asked for his reaction to the video, Patel said, “What goes through my head is the same thing that goes through my head in any case: is there a lawful predicate to open up an inquiry and investigation, or is there not? And that decision will be made by the career agents and analysts here at the FBI.”

    The video at the heart of the inquiries

    In the video, lawmakers said they needed troops to “stand up for our laws … our Constitution.” Kelly, who was a fighter pilot before becoming an astronaut and then retiring at the rank of captain, told troops that “you can refuse illegal orders.”

    The lawmakers didn’t mention specific circumstances in the video. But at an event Tuesday in Michigan, Slotkin pointed to the Trump administration ordering the military to blow up small boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean accused of ferrying drugs and continued attempts at deploying National Guard troops into U.S. cities despite some legal setbacks.

    “It wasn’t that there was any one incident, it was the sheer number of people coming to us and saying, ‘I’m worried. I am being sent to Washington or I’m being sent to LA or Chicago, North Carolina now, and I’m concerned I’m going to be asked to do something that I don’t know if I should do,’” said Slotkin. “So that’s where it came from.”

    Troops, especially uniformed commanders, do have specific obligations to reject orders that are unlawful, if they make that determination.

    Broad legal precedence also holds that just following orders — colloquially known as the “Nuremberg defense,” as it was used unsuccessfully by senior Nazi officials to justify their actions under Adolf Hitler — doesn’t absolve troops.

    Householder reported from Inkster, Michigan. Associated Press writer Eric Tucker in Washington also contributed to this report.

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    Joey Cappelletti and Mike Householder | The Associated Press

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  • US Border Patrol Is Spying on Millions of American Drivers

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    Eight years after a researcher warned WhatsApp that it was possible to extract user phone numbers en masse from the Meta-owned app, another team of researchers found that they could still do exactly that using a similar technique. The issue stems from WhatsApp’s discovery feature, which allows someone to enter a person’s phone number to see if they’re on the app. By doing this billions of times—which WhatsApp did not prevent—researchers from the University of Vienna uncovered what they’re calling “the most extensive exposure of phone numbers” ever.

    Vaping is a major problem in US high schools. But is the solution to spy on students in the bathroom? An investigation by The 74, copublished with WIRED, found that schools around the country are turning to vape detectors in an effort to crack down on nicotine and cannabis consumption on school grounds. Some of the vape detectors go far beyond detecting vapor by including microphones that are surprisingly accurate and revealing. While few defend addiction and drug use, even non-vapers say the added surveillance and the punishments that result go too far.

    Don’t look now, but that old networking equipment your company hasn’t thought about in years may jump out and bite you. Tech giant Cisco this week launched a new initiative, warning companies that AI tools are making it increasingly simple for attackers to find vulnerabilities in outdated and unpatched networking infrastructure. The message: Upgrade or else.

    If you’ve ever attended a conference, you probably worried about getting sick in the cesspools that are a conference center. But one hacker conference in New Zealand, Kawaiicon, invented a novel way to keep attendees a little bit safer. By tracking the CO2 levels in each conference room, Kawaiicon’s organizers were able to create a real-time air-quality monitoring system, which would tell people which rooms were safe and which seemed … gross. The project brings new meaning to antivirus monitoring.

    And that’s not all. Each week, we round up the security and privacy news we didn’t cover in depth ourselves. Click the headlines to read the full stories. And stay safe out there.

    The US Border Patrol is operating a predictive-intelligence program that monitors millions of American drivers far beyond the border, according to a detailed investigation by the Associated Press. A network of covert license-plate readers—often hidden inside traffic cones, barrels, and roadside equipment—feeds data into an algorithm that flags “suspicious” routes, quick turnarounds, and travel to and from border regions. Local police are then alerted, resulting in traffic stops for minor infractions like window-tint violations, air fresheners, or marginal speeding. AP reviewed police records showing that drivers were questioned, searched, and sometimes arrested despite no contraband being found.

    Internal group chats obtained through public-records requests show Border Patrol agents and Texas deputies sharing hotel records, rental car status, home addresses, and social media details of US citizens in real time while coordinating what officers call “whisper stops” to obscure federal involvement. The AP identified plate-reader sites more than 120 miles from the Mexican border in the Phoenix area, as well as locations in metropolitan Detroit and near the Michigan-Indiana line that capture traffic headed toward Chicago and Gary. Border Patrol also taps DEA plate-reader networks and has, at various times, accessed systems run by Rekor, Vigilant Solutions, and Flock Safety.

    CBP says the program is governed by “stringent” policies and constitutional safeguards, but legal experts told AP that its scale raises new Fourth Amendment concerns. A UC Law San Francisco official said the system amounts to a “dragnet” tracking Americans’ movements, associations, and daily routines.

    Microsoft claims to have mitigated the largest distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack ever recorded in a cloud environment—a 15.72 Tbps, 3.64-billion-pps barrage launched on October 24 against a single Azure endpoint in Australia. Microsoft says The attack “originated from the Aisuru botnet,” a Turbo-Mirai–class IoT network of compromised home routers, cameras, and other consumer devices. More than 500,000 IP addresses are said to have participated, generating a massive DDoS attack with little spoofing. Microsoft says its global Azure DDoS Protection network absorbed the traffic without service disruption. Microsoft described the attack as the “the largest DDoS ever observed in the cloud,” emphasizing the single endpoint; however, Cloudflare also recently reported a 22.2 Tbps flood, naming it the largest DDoS attack ever seen.

    Researchers note that Aisuru has recently launched multiple attacks exceeding 20 Tbps and is expanding its capabilities to include credential stuffing, AI-driven scraping, and HTTPS floods via residential proxies.

    The US Securities and Exchange Commission has dropped its remaining claims against SolarWinds and its CISO, Tim Brown, ending a long-running case over the company’s 2020 supply-chain hack, in which Russian SVR operatives allegedly compromised SolarWinds’ Orion software and triggered widespread breaches across government and industry. The agency’s lawsuit—filed in 2023 and centered on alleged fraud and internal-control failures—had already been mostly dismantled by a federal judge in 2024. SolarWinds called the full dismissal a vindication of its argument that its disclosures and conduct were appropriate and said it hopes the outcome eases concerns among CISOs about the case’s potential chilling effect.

    Law enforcement records show that the FBI accessed messages from a private Signal group used by New York immigration court-watch activists—a network that coordinates volunteers monitoring public hearings at three federal immigration courts. According to a two-page FBI/NYPD “joint situational information report” dated August 28, 2025, agents quoted chat messages, labeled the nonviolent court watchers as “anarchist violent extremist actors,” and circulated the assessment nationwide. The report did not explain how the FBI penetrated an encrypted Signal group, but it claimed the information came from a “sensitive source with excellent access.”

    The documents, first reported by the Guardian, were original obtained by the government-transparency group Property of the People. They describe activists discussing how to enter courtrooms, film officers, and gather identifying details of federal personnel, but provide no evidence to support the FBI’s allegation that a member previously advocated violence. A separate set of records—also obtained by the group—shows the bureau framed ordinary observation of public immigration hearings as a potential threat, even as Immigration and Customs Enforcement has escalated courthouse arrests and set what advocates call “deportation traps.” Civil liberties experts told the paper that the surveillance mirrors earlier FBI campaigns targeting lawful dissent and risks chilling protected political activity.

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    Dell Cameron, Andrew Couts

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  • Cruise Ship Nightmare: Anna Kepner’s Cause of Death Revealed – LAmag

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    New reporting suggests 18-year-old Anna Kepner may have died from asphyxiation caused by a chokehold aboard a Carnival cruise ship as the FBI continues to investigate her death

    The death of an 18-year-old Florida high school cheerleader found hidden under a bed on a Carnival cruise ship was reportedly caused by asphyxiation from a chokehold (or an arm across the neck), per a new report by ABC News. The FBI and the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner’s Office have not officially confirmed or made a statement. FBI agents discovered two bruises on the side of Anna’s neck, and reportedly, there were no signs of sexual assault and no drugs or alcohol found in her system.

    Anna Kepner, a senior at Titusville High School with aspirations to join the military, was discovered wrapped in a blanket beneath a bed covered by life jackets in a cabin she shared with her brothers on the Carnival Horizon. The ship had departed Miami on November 2, 2025, for a six-day Caribbean cruise and returned to port on November 8th.

    The preliminary findings indicate Kepner was possibly strangled in what investigators believe was a violent altercation, the sources said. The exact circumstances remain under active probe by the FBI, which is treating the case as a possible homicide. No charges have been filed as of Thursday.

    Kepner had left a family dinner early on November 6th and was captured on surveillance video entering the cabin she shared with her 14-year-old biological brother and 16-year-old stepbrother. Her younger brother returned later that evening, changed clothes, took photos around the ship, and later went to sleep in a bunk bed, unaware that his sister was already deceased and shoved under her bed. Her body was found the next morning by cleaning staff during a search prompted by the family.

    The stepbrother, whose identity is protected as a minor, has been identified as a person of interest and is staying with relatives of his biological mother. No arrests have been made of November 21st as this is an ongoing investigation.

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    Lauren Conlin

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  • New Details Deepen Mystery in Florida Teen’s Cruise Ship Death

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    Newly released records shed disturbing light on the death of 18-year-old Anna Kepner, found under her cruise-ship bed, exposing a troubled home life that may have played a role in the tragedy

    The mysterious and tragic death of an 18-year-old Florida cheerleader discovered crammed under a bed on a Carnival cruise ship in November has taken a darker turn, with court filings identifying her 16-year-old stepbrother as a potential person of interest and revealing her own 14-year-old brother slept just feet from her body without realizing it, per family attorneys this week.

    Anna Kepner, a Titusville High School senior with plans to join the military, was found wrapped in a blanket, covered with life jackets, beneath a bed on the Carnival Horizon Ship during a cruise that left Miami on November 2, 2025, and returned on November 8th. New details surfaced in Brevard County court filings, shedding light on a troubled family and home life.

    According to timelines developed by cruise ship security and surveillance footage, Kepner left a family dinner early on November 6, complaining of illness, and returned to the cabin she shared with her 14-year-old biological brother and 16-year-old stepbrother. The cruise ship footage showed her entering the room but never leaving, according to an emergency (family court) motion filed November 17th by Millicent Athanason, attorney for Kepner’s stepmother, Shauntel Kepner.

    The motion states: “She was last seen entering her room, and she never came out” and adds, “The respondent has been advised through discussions with FBI investigators and her attorneys that a criminal case may be initiated against one of the minor children of this instant action.” In other words, Kepner’s stepbrother is officially being questioned in her death.

    Credit: Brevard County Circuit Court

    The FBI, which is leading the investigation with Carnival and local authorities, has not released a cause of death or filed charges as of November 21st. The stepbrother, whose name is withheld because he is a minor, is now staying with a relative of his biological mother and has not been arrested. According to Kepner’s ex-boyfriend’s father in an interview with Inside Edition, it was a well-known fact that the step-brother was “infatuated” and “in love” with Kepner. It was also stated that Kepner was afraid of him because he always carried a knife. Per the ex-boyfriend’s father, Kepner’s parents were aware of all of this. Other chilling details about the night of Kepner’s death reveal that her 14-year-old brother returned to the cabin, changed clothes, took photos around the ship, and went to sleep, unaware that his sister’s body was hidden beneath the adjacent bed. He had assumed she had gone back out to enjoy the cruise.

    Kepner’s biological mother, Heather Wright, learned of the death days later through an online search. Wright has had trouble with the law and issues with drugs, and did not have a relationship with Kepner (who also detailed the lack of relationship with her mom on social media). “I found out through Google. I ended up Googling it, because the only information I had was that my daughter was on a cruise,” Wright said in an earlier interview with NBC. Wright was also told that she was not allowed to attend the funeral, but told Inside Edition that she would attend anyway, in a disguise.

    Scroll to continue reading

    At a memorial service on Wednesday at The Grove Church in Titusville, step-grandfather Christopher Donahue, 53, questioned the cabin arrangement. “I don’t know why Anna was staying in a room with her stepbrother,” Donahue said. “All I know is that she went on that boat, and she never came back. … There are questions. I don’t think we’ll ever know.”

    The death has intensified years of family strife detailed in court records. The filings suggest that Anna’s father, Christopher Kepner, has been married three times. Tabitha Kepner, Christopher Kepner’s second wife, filed for divorce in March 2023, citing a “history of physical and mental abuse toward the minor children and toward the petitioner.” She sought sole custody. In 2024, Michelle Johnson, the mother of Christopher Kepner’s other children, sued Shauntel Kepner in small claims court to recover firearms, including a shotgun and rifles. Emails in the filing accused Shauntel of “manipulating and alienating” the children from their father. The case was dismissed on procedural grounds as Johnson missed a filing deadline. Additional court filings have revealed that Kepner’s father had allegedly had a prior issue involving a minor.

    Carnival Cruise Line previously issued a statement saying it is “fully cooperating with authorities” and offering condolences, but declined further comment, citing the active investigation. Anna Kepner’s cause and manner of death remain unknown.

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    Lauren Conlin

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  • Today in Chicago History: Holy Name Cathedral dedicated

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    Here’s a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on Nov. 21, according to the Tribune’s archives.

    Is an important event missing from this date? Email us

    Weather records (from the National Weather Service, Chicago)

    • High temperature: 72 degrees (1913)
    • Low temperature: 1 degree (1880)
    • Precipitation: 1.49 inches (1906)
    • Snowfall: 7 inches (2015)

    Vintage Chicago Tribune: Holy Name Cathedral’s 150th anniversary

    1875: The Cathedral of the Holy Name, at the corner of Superior and State streets, was dedicated with Bishop Thomas Foley presiding. The $200,000 building (more than $6 million in today’s dollars) was designed by Patrick Keely of Brooklyn.

    The Tribune had one criticism of the church’s interior design: “The decorator deserves whatever censure is bestowed. He appears to have aimed at two objects — light and softness — and to have missed both in the artistic sense.”

    The William Green Homes public housing project at Division Street and Ogden Avenue was dedicated on Nov. 21, 1961. (Chicago Tribune)

    1961: The 1,099 apartments of the William Green Homes — a $17 million project named for the former American Federation of Labor president — were dedicated just north and west of the Cabrini extension towers.

    Cabrini-Green timeline: From ‘war workers’ to ‘Good Times,’ Jane Byrne and demolition

    Nicknamed the “Whites” for their white concrete exterior, the William Green housing complex consisted of eight buildings that were each 15 or 16 stories tall. The development, as a whole, became known as Cabrini-Green.

    Ald. Wallace Davis Jr. was indicted on Nov. 21, 1986, as part of Operation Incubator, an undercover investigation into alleged City Hall corruption. (Chicago Tribune)
    Ald. Wallace Davis Jr. was indicted on Nov. 21, 1986, as part of Operation Incubator, an undercover investigation into alleged City Hall corruption. (Chicago Tribune)

    1986: Seven were indicted — including Chicago Aldermen Wallace Davis Jr., 27th, and Clifford P. Kelley, 20th, — by the FBI as part of its 2½-year undercover investigation into alleged City Hall corruption known as Operation Incubator.

    The Dishonor Roll: Chicago officials

    Davis Jr. was convicted in 1987 of accepting a $5,000 bribe from an FBI informant, forcing his niece to pay $11,000 in kickbacks from her salary as his ward secretary and extorting $3,000 from the owners of a restaurant in his ward. He was sentenced to 8½ years in prison by a federal judge who accused Davis of committing perjury at his trial and castigated him for his lack of remorse after a jury convicted him.

    Kelley pleaded guilty in June 1987 to charges he accepted $6,500 from Waste Management Inc., the world’s biggest trash hauler, and $30,000 from a New York bill-collection agency vying for lucrative city work. A flamboyant 16-year Chicago City Council veteran, Kelley was sentenced to one year in prison and served nine months in a minimum-security prison in Duluth, Minnesota.

    Want more vintage Chicago?

    Subscribe to the free Vintage Chicago Tribune newsletter, join our Chicagoland history Facebook group, stay current with Today in Chicago History and follow us on Instagram for more from Chicago’s past.

    Have an idea for Vintage Chicago Tribune? Share it with Kori Rumore and Marianne Mather at krumore@chicagotribune.com and mmather@chicagotribune.com

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  • U.S. Sanctions Expose the Women Aiding Fugitive Ryan Wedding

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    Meet the women who were sanctioned by the U.S. Government this week for their roles in propping up the sprawling narco operation helped by former Olympic turned drug lord Ryan Wedding, now a fugitive with a $15 million bounty on his head

    Ryan Wedding, federal prosecutors say, sits at the helm of a sprawling narco empire, one protected by the bloodthirsty Sinaloa cartel, an allegedly dirty Canadian lawyer, a cadre of international sicarios, and even an Italian mercenary.

    But little has been known – until now – about the women in his life who U.S. federal officials say prop up his business, laundering money and assisting him in “acts of violence,” a Mexican wife, a Colombian girlfriend, and a madam who runs an upscale escort business, and one of those escorts, a Colombian national living in Orlando. This week, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control put the women on a sanctions list, which blocks any assets they have in the United States and prohibits Americans from engaging in any business transactions with them.

    His wife, Miryam Andrea Castillo Moreno, a 34-year-old raven-haired beauty from Nuevo León, Mexico, has been part of Wedding’s life since at least 2011, when U.S. officials say she married him in a federal prison where he was serving a short three year sentence after pleading guilty in 2008 to a botched drug deal in San Diego that involved a former Russian KGB agent who was actually working for the FBI. This week, the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned her, writing: “Castillo launders drug proceeds for Wedding and has helped him conduct acts of violence.” A day later, the Treasury Department removed her from the list on Thursday, saying that there was no evidence she was involved with his business.

    But Wedding’s reputed 23-year-old Colombian girlfriend, Daniela Alejandra Acuña Macías, remains on the sanctions list, accused by U.S. officials of accepting “hundreds of thousands of dollars” from the former Olympian, knowing that the money came from his drug trafficking operation. She has not been charged criminally by U.S. officials and is believed to be somewhere in Mexico.

    An accused madam who prosecutors say introduced Wedding to that girlfriend, Carmen Yelinet Valoyes Florez, 47, a Colombian national from Bogotá, behind what authorities call a high-end escort service in Mexico City, was arrested this week as part of the investigation into Ryan Wedding’s criminal network. She faces multiple federal charges, including conspiracy to commit murder in connection with a continuing criminal enterprise, witness tampering, and money laundering.

    Another Colombian national prosecutors described as a “commercial sex worker” was charged with helping Wedding and his top lieutenant, Andrew Clark, track down a cooperating informant so he could be executed. Yulieth Katherine Tejada, 36, was arrested this week at her home in Orlando and is now charged with conspiracy counts related to murder in connection with a continuing criminal enterprise, witness tampering, and money laundering.

    Members of what U.S. officials call Ryan Wedding’s sprawling narco empire were sanctioned this week by the Treasury Department
    Credit: Department of Treasury

    While on the run as a fugitive with a $15 million U.S. bounty on his head, Wedding – who is believed to have gotten plastic surgery while in hiding – ordered the assassination of the cooperating witness, Jonathan Acebedo-Garcia, 39, who sources say had agreed to work with the FBI in building the case against the ex-Olympian and his consiglieri, Canadian Andrew Clark, 39.

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    Prosecutors say that Wedding placed a “multimillion-dollar bounty” on the cooperating witness not long after he and more than a dozen others were indicted by federal prosecutors in Los Angeles in a case dubbed Operation Giant Slalom. Wedding, prosecutors say, had a “citizen journalist” who ran an online website called “Dirty News” that ran the informant’s photo, and then used the madam and the escort as lures to help track Acebo-Garcia down.

    The informant was shot dead by a group of unknown assassins in a crowded restaurant inside a Medellin mall on Jan. 31, 2025.

    Among the other criminals now accused of helping Wedding execute the victim and to continue to collect profits from his still operational trafficking network, while sitting atop the FBI’s Top Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, include a coterie of colorful international figures. One is an “Indian-Canadian” criminal defense attorney, Deepak Paradkar, 62, who prosecutors call a key advisor to Wedding and a top lieutenant in the organization, his consiglieri, Canadian Andrew Clark, 39.

    Another is former Italian special forces member, Gianluca Tiepolo, who the Treasury Department sanctioned for running a training camp, Windrose Tactical, that allegedly trained Wedding-connected hitmen, along with legitimate law enforcement members. Authorities call him a prolific money launderer who allegedly managed Wedding’s luxury assets, including a fleet of high-end vehicles that included a $13 million Mercedes CLK-GTR seized by the FBI.

    Prosecutors also arrested Rolon Sokolovski, 37, a professional poker player and diamond dealer from Toronto who is now accused of helping Wedding launder money through a worldwide cryptocurrency network.

    The Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, John K. Hurley, said that his department issued the sanctions as a way of trying to cut Wedding’s criminal partners off from the U.S. financial system in hopes it would “help dismantle the network” the fugitive relies on while he remains on the lam. “Our goal is simple,” Hurley said in a statement. “Make it difficult for criminals like this to profit from poisoning our communities.” 

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  • Ryan “El Jefe” Wedding: Fugitive Drug Lord Accused in Witness Hit

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    Ryan “El Jefe” Wedding, the former Olympic snowboarder who is now an internationally hunted narco terrorist with a $15 million bounty on his head, was hit with new charges that allege that he conspired with ten others, among them a Canadian defense attorney, an Orlando hooker, and an Israeli professional poker player, to assassinate a witness set to testify against him.

    The Department of Justice announced the new charges against Wedding and members of his sprawling narcotics enterprise on Wednesday during a press conference held in Washington, D.C.

    Attorney General Pam Bondi said total of eleven people are now orchestrated the cold-blooded assassination of an FBI informant who was cooperating with the Los Angeles-based prosecution of Wedding’s empire.

    While on the run as a fugitive with a $15 million U.S. bounty on his head, Wedding – who is believed to have gotten plastic surgery while in hiding – ordered the assassination of the cooperating witness, Jonathan Acebedo-Garcia, 39, who sources say had agreed to work with the FBI in building the case against the ex-Olympian and his consiglieri, Canadian Andrew Clark, 39.

    The new indictment outlines the complex steps that were taken to pull off the brazen Jan. 31, 2025, execution of the federal witness at a crowded restaurant inside a Medellin shopping mall – an idea that was initially hatched, prosecutors say, by an “Indian-Canadian” criminal defense attorney, Deepak Paradkar, 62, who was a key advisor to the Wedding organization.

    Paradkhar, prosecutors say, advised Wedding and Clark, who was captured in a dramatic takedown in October 2024, the same month Los Angeles federal prosecutors announced charges against the duo in a case dubbed Operation Giant Slalom, that without the testimony the FBI had from the witness, they could not be extradited from Mexico.

    First, prosecutors say, they had to find the witness. So, the indictment states, Wedding paid a “citizen journalist” behind the website “Dirty News,” a now-defunct Colombian blog that covered the underworld, to run photos of Acebedo-Garcia and his wife, along with offers of a reward to anyone who would take him out. There was several takers, among them a man prosecutors call a sicario, identied as 40-year-old reputed Montreal hitman known in the streets as 2-Pac, but whose real name is Atna Ohna.

    Onha, prosecutors say, was allegedly $150,000 and given 30 grams of coke to help organize the hit with a variety of bad guys on his payroll. The woman prosecutors describe as a “commercial sex worker,” Katherine Tejada, a Colombian woman living as a U.S. green card holder in Orlando, also provided tips about her ex-client to Wedding so that his “Enterprise could locate and kill” him, according to the indictment.

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    On the day of the hit, a trio of motorcyclists followed Acebedo-Garcia to the eatery in a coordinated reconnaissance mission. The suspected hitmen then followed him inside, where a single unknown gunman “shot him approximately five times in the head while he was eating in the restaurant.” Another man took a proof of death photo of the victim before they all fled the murder scene on the motorcycles. Those suspects remain at large and are being sought by the FBI.

    The killing of a key FBI witness in a case where the number one target remains at large pulled in the highest levels of U.S. law enforcement, including Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel. Among those present for the D.C. confab were U.S. Attorney for California’s Central District Bill Essayli and FBI Special Agent in Charge for the L.A. Field Office Akil Davis.

    “Ryan Wedding controls one of the most prolific and violent drug trafficking organizations in this world and works closely with the Sinaloa Cartel. We will not rest until his name is taken off the FBI’s Top 10 Most Wanted List, and his narco-trafficking organization lies dismantled,” Attorney General Bondi said.

    The highest levels of U.S. law enforcement gathered in Washington D.C. to announce new charges against Ryan Wedding, including FB SAC for LA Akil Davis flanked by Attorney General Pam Bondi
    Credit: FBI

    “Ryan Wedding and his associates allegedly imported tons of cocaine each year from Colombia through Mexico and onto the streets of U.S. communities,” added Patel. “His criminal activities and violent actions will not be tolerated, and this is a clear signal that the FBI will use our resources and expertise to find Ryan Wedding and bring him and his associates to justice.”

    Despite the rub-out, Clark was in fact extradited to the U.S. in early March, as reported by Los Angeles, and remains held without bail at the federal lockup in DTLA. The new indictment also revealed that Wedding – among the FBI’s top most wanted fugitives – continues to profit from his trafficking network’s drug sales. In August, Los Angeles reported the FBI believes Wedding may have altered his looks with plastic surgery while living under the protective arm of the Sinaloa cartel.

    The FBI is focusing its worldwide manhunt for Ryan Wedding - the subject of a $10 million State Department reward - in Mexico and released new Most Wanted posters in Spanish last week The FBI is focusing its worldwide manhunt for Ryan Wedding - the subject of a $10 million State Department reward - in Mexico and released new Most Wanted posters in Spanish last week 
    The FBI is focusing its worldwide manhunt for Ryan Wedding – the subject of a $15 million State Department reward – in Mexico and released new Most Wanted posters in Spanish earlier this year
    Credit: FBI

    Wedding and Clark, prosecutors say, sit at the helm of a transnational murderous drug empire that run a still functioning billion-dollar underworld network, one that stores its drugs at secret stash houses in the Los Angeles area. The duo was initially charged in October 2024 with a plethora of racketeering crimes – including the murders of an elderly Indian couple killed in a case of mistaken identity – a case that Los Angeles covered in an in-depth story that ran spring that explored Wedding’s early career as a budding drug lord.

    Their codefendants in the 2024 indictment include a motley coterie of fellow accused crooks. Among them: Nahim Jorge Bonilla, a Latin music executive whose preferred nickname was “The One” and whom investigators believe was negotiating drug deals as the owner of the Miami Beach hot spot Mandrake. There was an Indian trucking magnate, a Toronto hitman, Russian mobsters. In the most recent indictment, prosecutors have added an Israeli professional poker player, the sex worker, the attorney, the citizen journalist, and the alleged sicarios alongside the Wedding organization members indicted in Operation Giant Slalom.

    A grid of 16 mugshots of individuals arrested as part of Operation Giant Slalom, featuring A grid of 16 mugshots of individuals arrested as part of Operation Giant Slalom, featuring
    Authorities dismantle the $1 billion cocaine empire led by former Olympian Ryan Wedding
    Credit: Courtesy of the U.S. Department of Justice

    Wedding, who had represented Canada at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Park City, pleaded guilty just eight years after he competed in that exact race – the giant slalom – in a San Diego federal courtroom. He had been arrested in the process of pulling off drug deal that involved another FBI informant, an ex-KGB agent, when he was busted by investigators with the Drug Enforcement Agency. He then served time with cellmates that included close associates of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán, the notorious kingpin who commanded the bloodthirsty Sinaloa cartel for decades, according to prison records.

    Andrew ClarkAndrew Clark
    Andrew Clark, the consiglieri for a sprawling narco outfit, was taken into custody in Mexico in October 2024
    Credit: Law Enforcement Source/Los Angeles file photo

    Prosecutors now say that when Wedding was released from prison roughly a year after that guilty plea in December 2011, the athlete “founded the Wedding Criminal Enterprise,” which quickly became “the largest supplier of cocaine to Canada.” The enterprise operated in “Mexico, Colombia, Canada, and the United States, among other countries,” prosecutors say, working alongside paramilitary groups and cartels “collaboratively.”

    Prosecutors say he moved 60 tons of cocaine a year from the humid climes of South and Central America to the iciest reaches of Canada, and was the “principal administrator, organizer and leader of the criminal enterprise.” And the latest indictment suggests he still is capitalizing on that leadership role.

    Los Angeles was Wedding’s hub, the proverbial ground zero for his operation’s sophisticated “transportation network” that stockpiled drugs in warehouses across the city before they were smuggled into Canada by long-haul truckers. 

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  • Suspected Palisades Fire Starter Ordered to Remain Behind Bars

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    Jonathan Rinderknecht will remain in custody on charges he ‘maliciously set’ a New Year’s Day blaze in Topanga State Park than smoldered and erupted into the deadly Palisades fire

    Jonathan Rinderknecht, the former Uber driver and Pacific Palisades resident charged with intentionally hiking to a clearing where he sparked a wildfire that later ignited into the deadly blaze that killed twelve, will remain in custody while awaiting trial.

    That ruling was issued Tuesday by United States Magistrate Judge Rozella A. Oliver in Los Angeles, federal prosecutors say. Rinderknecht was arrested on Oct. 8 at his sister’s home in Florida by agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms just over ten months after the devastating Palisades fire began to devour nearly 7,000 homes and businesses in the Pacific Palisades and Malibu, fueled by the fierce Santa Ana winds that began to rage on the morning of Jan. 7.

    “This means he will remain in federal custody without bond while the criminal case against him is pending. We will have no further comment,” a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney in California’s Central District said in a statement.

    Rinderknecht pleaded not guilty at his arraignment late last month in Los Angeles to three federal arson charges: one count of arson affecting property used in interstate commerce, one count of destruction of property by means of fire, and one count of timber set afire, connected to the Lachman fire, which prosecutors say he “maliciously set.”

    The blaze smoldered underground for days and became what is known as a “holdover fire,” which then reignited and became the deadly and devastating Palisades fire, ATF and Los Angeles Fire Department officials say.

    The Palisades fire destroyed nearly 6,000 homes, leveled hundreds of businesses, and killed twelve
    Credit: Courtesy of Fire Station 69

    If convicted, Rinderknecht would serve between five and 45 years in prison for his connection to the Palisades fire that caused $150 billion in damages. Months before the fire, investigators say, Rinderknecht created an eerie AI image of fire using ChatGPT. On the night he allegedly lit the fire, he was listening to a rap song about setting things ablaze, investigators say.

    AI imagery generated by suspected arsonist arrested by federal investigators on Oct. 8 in Florida
    Credit: Department of Justice

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    Rinderknecht’s family is standing by him. His parents are missionaries in the south of France.

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  • Trump issues new pardons for January 6 rioters, including militia member and woman who threatened FBI

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    (CNN) — President Donald Trump has issued a new pardon to a militia member involved in the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot, covering separate Kentucky firearms offenses that were not included in his initial Inauguration Day pardon.

    In April, the appeals court for the District of Columbia rejected Dan Wilson’s attempt to vacate his firearms-related sentences from the Western District of Kentucky that were transferred to DC.

    “The plain language of the pardon does not apply to the Kentucky firearms offenses,” the appeals court stated, returning him to prison.

    Trump in January issued more than a thousand pardons and commutations of those involved with the January 6 attack on the US Capitol and said last month he was “very proud” of it.

    US pardon attorney Ed Martin was one of the people who advocated for Wilson’s new unconditional pardon, which was issued Friday.

    “Danny Wilson is now a free man. When I was DC’s U.S. Attorney, and now as U.S. Pardon Attorney, I advocated for this clemency, which the president granted Friday,” Martin posted on X, thanking Trump.

    The White House said the gun charges were ultimately related to the January 6 investigation.

    “While being investigated for conduct related to January 6 – which President Trump issued a larger pardon for in January – investigators discovered that Mr. Wilson may have owned unauthorized firearms. Because the search of Mr. Wilson’s home was due to the events of January 6, President Trump is pardoning Mr. Wilson for the firearm issues,” a White House official told CNN on Saturday.

    Martin announced Saturday that Trump granted another pardon to Suzanne Kaye, who was sentenced to prison for threatening to shoot FBI agents in a video posted on social media in 2021. The comments were directed at agents who were seeking to question her about her presence in Washington, DC, on January 6.

    Kaye was arrested in February 2021.

    “On video, Kaye announced that she would ‘shoot their [expletive] a–’ if FBI agents showed up at her house,” according to a release by the Justice Department in 2023.

    Alleging “the Biden DOJ targeted Suzanne Kaye for social media posts,” Martin posted on X, “President Trump is unwinding the damage done by Biden’s DOJ weaponization, so the healing can begin.”

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  • Ex-Newsom Aide Dana Williamson Caught in FBI Sting

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    Dana Williamson, 53, agreed to a restrictive bail package that includes her agreeing to not drink “any alcohol” after her arrest on a slew of alleged corruption charges

    Dana Williamson – the former top aide to Governor Gavin Newsom, who was under investigation by the FBI as she held a powerful position in California’s state government – was being secretly surveilled and wiretapped during meetings with her codefendants last year, court records reviewed by Los Angeles reveal.

    The powerful Democratic operative was arrested Wednesday at her home outside of Sacramento, federal prosecutors say. She pleaded not guilty at her initial appearance in front of a federal judge on a 23-count federal indictment.

    Prosecutors say Williamson, who served as the governor’s top aide from 2022 until 2024, is accused of helping funnel around $225,000 from a dormant campaign account belonging to current California gubernatorial candidate and former Health and Human Services Secretary for the Biden administration, Xavier Becerra.

    Williamson had served as Becerra’s campaign manager in 2018 during his successful reelection campaign for California State Attorney General and launched the scheme, federal prosecutors say, with a longtime top prosecutor from that office in 2022.

    Sean McCluskie was Becerra’s second in command in the California AG’s Office, going back to 2017, and he then followed his boss into the Biden Administration in 2021 when he was appointed as Secretary of Health and Human Services. He has since admitted to colluding with Williamson, along with his wife, stay-at-home mom Kerry MacKay, to funnel money out of a dormant campaign account containing funds raised for a future run at state office for Becerra.

    McCluskie told a federal judge he was motivated by corruption and thievery alongside Williamson and a Sacramento lobbyist named Greg Campbell, in part to pad his paycheck because his new $183,000 a year salary in Washington D.C. was a pay cut, and he had additional travel expenses because he didn’t want to move to the Capitol.

    Xavier Becerra denied knowing anything about a scheme federal prosecutors say was launched by his former campaign manager and chief of staff to pilfer $250,000 from his dormant campaign coffers
    Credit: Los Angeles file photo

    McCluskie admitted to tapping into Becerra’s coffers in an elaborate scheme with Williamson that would funnel money through consulting contracts that named his wife, Kerry MacKay. According to federal court records, MacKay was paid as a “communications consultant,” which prosecutors say was in fact a no-show job. Williamson, a political consultant at the time, also billed Becerra’s campaign for consulting services that were never performed.

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    Both McCluskie and MacKay have removed their LinkedIn profiles and continue to live in a million-dollar-plus home in Davis, California.

    When Williamson learned she was being investigated for PPE loan fraud in the spring of 2024, prosecutors say, she reached out to the McCluskies to engage in what investigators call a cover-up attempt – one that was secretly recorded by the FBI. The three of them met near the Statehouse building for separate meetings in July, August and September 2024, according to his plea agreement. The last meeting came in September 2024, when Newsom’s administration was grappling with a series of wildfires.

    “Collectively, they funneled the money through various business entities and disguised it as pay for what was, in reality, a no-show job,” FBI Sacramento Special Agent in Charge Sid Patel said in a news release after Williamson’s arrest.

    Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a monkeypox emergency Monday
    Gov. Gavin Newsom’s former Chief of Staff was indicted after “multiyear” FBI investigation, prosecutors say
    Credit: (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz/MediaNews Group/Los Angeles Daily News via Getty Images)

    Williamson is also accused of illegally writing off $1 million in vacations, luxury purses and private jet travel as business expenses on her federal income tax returns and illegally obtaining bogus PPE COVID loans.

    Williamson, a longtime and powerful Democratic political consultant, pleaded not guilty during a brief hearing on Wednesday in Sacramento and has since agreed to turn over her passport and abide by special conditions imposed by a federal judge. Williamson, whose lawyer said she is awaiting a liver transplant, signed a court order that required an unusual emphasis on her remaining abstinent from liquor that read: “You must refrain from any use of alcohol.”

    Both of her former bosses, Newsom and Becerra, have denied any wrongdoing and have not been named as targets in the investigation. Becerra is continuing his campaign to replace Newsom as California’s next governor.

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  • 21 gang members arrested in massive North Texas crime crackdown, FBI says

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    More than 20 Kiccdoe gang members accused of violent crimes in Texas were arrested last week, according to Arlington police and the FBI.

    Law enforcement executed search warrants in multiple cities, including Arlington, Dallas, Fort Worth, Grand Prairie, Mansfield and Forney, FBI Dallas Assistant Special Agent in Charge Jeremy Wright said at a news briefing, according to FOX 4. Police also confiscated weapons, drugs and money.

    Officials took 21 known members of the Kiccdoe gang into custody and charged them with RICO, or Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization, conspiracy.

    Some suspects also face drug and weapons charges, among other offenses, while others are charged with murder and sexual assault.

    TEXAS MAN ACCUSED OF CHILD SEX CRIMES AVOIDS JAIL IN PLEA DEAL WITH SOROS-BACKED PROSECUTOR: REPORT

    More than 20 Kiccdoe gang members accused of violent crimes in Texas were arrested. (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP )

    “Charges including murder, drug trafficking, assault, burglary, even aggravated sexual assault of a child,” FBI Director Kash Patel wrote on X. “This was a multi-agency effort of over 450 local and federal law enforcement personnel to investigate, go in and clean up the violence in Arlington.”

    If convicted on the federal charges, many of the suspects face prison sentences of 20 years to life in prison.

    The arrested suspects are 22-year-old Blake Scott, 21-year-old Bradly McArthur, 18-year-old Cortez Atkinson, 18-year-old Datraven Warren, 19-year-old DeMarco Westmoreland, 20-year-old Dillen Opare, 19-year-old Raphael Opare, 21-year-old Isaiah Wiley, 19-year-old Jakyla Totten, 20-year-old Jamarion Manogin, 22-year-old Jaylen Franklin, 18-year-old Joseph Hill, 22-year-old Kyron Oates, 18-year-old Michael Mensah, 21-year-old Lamarion Austin, 20-year-old Marcus Shaw, 21-year-old Sadedrick Wilson, 19-year-old Vernell Woods, 21-year-old Sir James Mack Williams, 22-year-old Chauncey Ross and 20-year-old Keyshawn Burton.

    “Do not let the ages distract from the havoc that they’ve inflicted upon our community,” Wright said. “These gang members allegedly use violence and intimidation to protect our territory and profits. They instilled fear in their victims and took revenge on their rivals.”

    THREE LANDSCAPE SUPPLY EMPLOYEES GUNNED DOWN IN TEXAS SHOOTING, POLICE SAY

    Patel addresses White House press briefing about China visit

    Some of the suspects were slapped with murder and sexual assault charges. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

    “Kiccdoe members are allegedly responsible for drive-by shootings, numerous attempted murders and even homicides,” he continued. “In addition, they’ve allegedly engaged in organized crime, drug trafficking, weapons possession, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, burglary, armed robbery, resisting arrest, assaulting a public servant and aggravated sexual assault of a child.”

    Arlington Police Chief Al Jones said the gang is responsible for much of the violent crime in the city and that he asked the local FBI field office for help last year, according to FOX 4.

    “Our violent crime unit and our gang specialists have investigated numerous cases involving this group and have been closely monitoring their activity since January of 2022,” he said. “We have documented 180 criminal incidents involving Kiccdoe members. This includes aggravated assaults, robberies, burglaries, shootings, and drug offenses. That’s just within the city of Arlington.”

    Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation walking through crime scene

    Law enforcement executed search warrants in Arlington, Dallas, Fort Worth, Grand Prairie, Mansfield and Forney. (Getty Images)

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    Jones said he hopes the arrests send a message and will help keep the community safe.

    “Our city is safer with these suspects off the street, and I hope our community can rest a little easier tonight knowing that. I also hope that we have proven to them that we will not tolerate violence in our community, and we’re going to do everything in our power to stop it,” he said.

    Arlington police and the FBI said their joint operation will continue.

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  • Former Rep. Louie Gohmert blasts Jack Smith for allegedly targeting his personal phone records in J6 probe

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    EXCLUSIVE: Former Rep. Louie Gohmert blasted ex-Special Counsel Jack Smith for allegedly targeting his personal phone records as part of his investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riots, telling Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview that his action “destroys the checks and balances that the founders counted on.”

    Fox News Digital exclusively reported Thursday morning that Smith targeted then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s personal, private phone records, as well as Gohmert’s. 

    JACK SMITH SOUGHT THEN-HOUSE SPEAKER MCCARTHY’S PRIVATE PHONE RECORDS IN J6 PROBE, FBI DOCS REVEAL

    Fox News Digital exclusively reviewed the document that FBI Director Kash Patel recently shared with Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and Sen. Ron Johnson containing the explosive revelations. Grassley and Johnson have been leading a joint investigation into Smith’s “Arctic Frost” probe.

    UNITED STATES – JUNE 13: Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, leaves the House Republican Conference meeting at the Capitol Hill Club in Washington on Wednesday morning, June 13, 2018. (Photo By Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)

    According to the document, Smith, on Jan. 24, 2023, allegedly sought the “toll records for the personal cell phones of U.S. Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (AT&T) and U.S. Representative Louie Gohmert (Verizon.)”

    The information was included as part of a “significant case notification” drafted by the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division May 25, 2023.

    “It is astounding that Jack ‘Frost’ Smith went on this persecution,” Gohmert told Fox News Digital Thursday. “Apparently, this guy has never read the Fourth Amendment because you have to describe with particularity what it is you’re going after — there should be probable cause, and they had no probable cause. They were going on a witch hunt.”

    Smith had sought Gohmert’s personal cellphone records from November 2020 through the end of January 2021.

    “They don’t have any regard for the Fourth Amendment,” he said. “It makes Watergate look like school yard folly.”

    But Gohmert said it is the “principle.”

    Jack Smith delivers remarks in August 2023.

    Then-Special Counsel Jack Smith delivers remarks on an unsealed indictment including four felony counts against former President Donald Trump Aug. 1, 2023, in Washington.   (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

    “It is the separation of powers that is the problem,” Gohmert explained. “People and whistleblowers contacted me regularly from within the DOJ and the FBI about overreach within the FBI and DOJ. By grabbing my records, they could stifle reporting of potential crimes by people within the agencies.”

    JACK SMITH TRACKED PRIVATE COMMUNICATIONS, CALLS OF NEARLY A DOZEN GOP SENATORS DURING J6 PROBE, FBI SAYS

    “You can’t just go seize members of Congress’ records even with a warrant because of that separation of powers,” Gohmert said. “There has to be a wall and that’s what troubles me more than anything.”

    Gohmert told Fox News Digital that he didn’t remember who he spoke with during the time period Smith sought records, but said that “the last thing I want is for someone who trusted me to keep their name private to have some jack-booted thug like Jack ‘Frost’ Smith grab my records and find out who is tattle tailing on him.” 

    He added: “It violates and destroys the checks and balances that the founders counted on.”

    Gohmert, though, told Fox News Digital that he trusts the current Justice Department and FBI leadership.

    “I trust the DOJ and trust the people running the FBI,” he said. “We’ll see if there were any crimes committed and, if following the Constitution, they can be properly prosecuted.” 

    HAGERTY PRESSES VERIZON OVER FBI’S ACCESS TO HIS PHONE RECORDS DURING JACK SMITH PROBE

    Meanwhile, McCarthy said he will take legal action against Smith. 

    Kevin McCarthy speaks on Capitol Hill

    House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., speaks during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Nov. 5, 2021, as the House is considering President Joe Biden’s $1.85 trillion-and-growing domestic policy package. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana) (AP)

    “Jack Smith’s radical and deranged investigation was never about finding the truth,” McCarthy told Fox News Digital. “It was a blatant weaponizing of the Justice Department to attack political opponents of the Biden administration. Perhaps no action underscores this point more than the illegal attempt to access the phone records of sitting members of the House and Senate — including the Speaker of the House.” 

    “His illegal targeting demands real accountability,” McCarthy continued. “And I am confident Congress will hold hearings and access documents in its investigation into Jack Smith’s own abuses.” 

    HAGERTY PRESSES VERIZON OVER FBI’S ACCESS TO HIS PHONE RECORDS DURING JACK SMITH PROBE

    “At the same time, I will ask my own counsel to pursue all areas of redress so this does not happen to anyone else,” McCarthy said. 

    The revelations come after Fox News Digital exclusively reported in October that Smith and his “Arctic Frost” team investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots were tracking the private communications and phone calls of nearly a dozen Republican senators as part of the probe, including Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Josh Hawley of Missouri, Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, Dan Sullivan of Alaska, Tommy Tuberville of Alabama and GOP Rep. Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania.

    An official told Fox News Digital that those records were collected in 2023 by Smith and his team after subpoenaing major telephone providers. 

    Smith has called his decision to subpoena and track Republican lawmakers’ phone records “entirely proper” and consistent with Justice Department policy.

    “As described by various Senators, the toll data collection was narrowly tailored and limited to the four days from January 4, 2021 to January 7, 2021, with a focus on telephonic activity during the period immediately surrounding the January 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol,” Smith’s lawyers wrote in October to Grassley.

    Grassley, R-Iowa, and Johnson, R-Wis., have been investigating the matter. 

    Sen. Chuck Grassley

    Sen. Chuck Grassley, a Republican from Iowa and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., have been investigating the matter.  (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

    An FBI official told Fox News Digital that “Arctic Frost” is a “prohibited case,” and that the review required FBI officials to go “above and beyond in order to deliver on this promise of transparency.” The discovery is part of a broader ongoing review, Fox News Digital has learned.

    Smith, after months of investigating, charged President Donald Trump in the U.S. District Court for Washington, D.C., in his 2020 election case, but after Trump was elected president, Smith sought to dismiss the case. Judge Tanya Chutkan granted that request. 

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    Smith’s case cost taxpayers more than $50 million. 

    Smith did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

    Brooke Singman is a political correspondent and reporter for Fox News Digital, Fox News Channel and FOX Business.

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