"The Talk of the Town"
(WASHINGTON) — A hacker gained access to an online secure document-sharing file between attorneys involved in a civil lawsuit brought by a close friend of former Rep. Matt Gaetz, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Documents including unredacted depositions from key witnesses in the case are believed to have been taken, sources said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
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(SPRINGFIELD, Ohio) — A bomb threat has prompted a major police response in Springfield, Ohio, on Thursday morning, according to the city commission office.
The threat was sent via email “to multiple agencies and media outlets,” the office said.
“Our primary concern is the safety and well-being of our employees and residents. We are working to address this situation as swiftly as possible,” the office said. “We ask the community to avoid the area surrounding City Hall vicinity while the investigation is ongoing and to report any suspicious activity to the Springfield Police Division.”
Though it is not yet known if they are connected, the threat comes after baseless rumors spread online in the wake of viral social media posts claiming Haitian migrants were abducting people’s pets in Springfield order to eat them. The rumors were amplified by right-wing politicians, including former President Donald Trump and his running mate Sen. JD Vance.
“In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs,” Trump said at Tuesday night’s presidential debate. The people that came in, they’re eating the cats, they’re eating, they’re eating the pets of the people that live there.”
A spokesperson for the city of Springfield told ABC News these claims are false, and that there have been “no credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals in the immigrant community.”
“Additionally, there have been no verified instances of immigrants engaging in illegal activities such as squatting or littering in front of residents’ homes,” the spokesperson said. “Furthermore, no reports have been made regarding members of the immigrant community deliberately disrupting traffic.”
Springfield estimates there are around 12,000 to 15,000 immigrants living in the county; migrants have been drawn to the region because of low cost of living and work opportunities, according to the city. The rapid rise in population has strained housing, health care and school resources, according to the city. But city officials also said the migrants are in the country legally and that many are recipients of Temporary Protected Status.
The Haitian Bridge Alliance condemned the “baseless and inflammatory” claims about Haitian migrants, arguing they “not only perpetuate harmful stereotypes but also contribute to the dangerous stigmatization of immigrant communities, particularly Black immigrants from the Republic of Haiti.”
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, who dispelled the rumors this week, said the state would send more resources to Springfield.
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(COLUMBUS, OH) — A transgender bathroom ban has been sent to Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s desk after passing through the state legislature.
The bill would require students in the state’s K-12 schools, as well as colleges and universities, to use the restroom or facility that aligns with their gender assigned at birth. The bill notes that it is not intended to prevent schools from building single-occupancy facilities and does not ban someone of the opposite gender from entering to help another person.
The Republican-backed bill passed 60-31 in the House and passed on party lines in the Senate, 24-7.
Supporters say their concerns lie in student’s privacy and protection.
“It protects our children and grandchildren in private spaces where they are most vulnerable. It is us using our legislative authority to ensure schools are, in fact, safe environments. After all, bathrooms, showers, changing rooms should all be safe places for our students,” said Republican state Sen. Jerry C. Cirino ahead of the bill’s passage.
Critics of the bill say that the bill is creating unfounded concerns about transgender students and may instead put trans students in danger of discrimination or violence.
“I am in disbelief that this is a top priority on our first session back from recess,” said Senate Democratic Leader Nickie J. Antonio in an online statement “There are so many other issues we should be working on. There should be no exception to liberty and justice for all, yet here we are telling our children that there are people who are less than. This bill is not about bathrooms. It’s about demonizing those who are different, and our children are watching and listening to the fearmongering.”
Several medical organizations, including the American Medical Association and American Academy of Pediatrics, have opposed policies preventing transgender individuals from accessing restrooms consistent with their gender identity.
DeWine, a Republican, has gone against state Republican legislators on transgender issues before. He vetoed a transgender youth care ban bill, which would have restricted gender-affirming puberty blockers, hormone therapy, or surgeries.
“These are gut-wrenching decisions that should be made by the parents and should be informed by teams of doctors who are advising them,” said DeWine, adding that he did not find any families or hospitals who were seeking or allowing surgeries for youth. “These are parents who have watched the child suffer sometimes for years and have real concerns that their child may not survive.”
DeWine’s office declined ABC News’ request for comment on the bill. He told reporters this past summer that he has to look at “specific language” in the legislation.
“I’m for people, kids, to be able to go to the bathroom with the gender assignment so that they have that protection, but I’ll have to look at the specific language,” DeWine told reporters .
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(NEW YORK) — NATO troops, vessels and aircraft took to the frigid North Atlantic Ocean last month to sharpen their skills for a potential future war at sea, whether in the tumultuous Atlantic or in waters closer to their hypothetical Russian adversaries.
The drills — led by U.S. Naval Forces Europe and the U.S. Navy’s 6th Fleet — “focused on the strategic waterways and airspace surrounding Iceland,” a NATO press release said, an area it described as “a vital hub in the North Atlantic.” NATO forces practiced tracking enemy naval forces — including submarines — and responding to mass casualty events.
But one part of the exercise was designed with a different region, though the same hypothetical enemy, in mind.
With U.S. Navy P-8 Poseidon aircraft acting as their eyes, Polish Naval Strike Missile (NSM) units used their time in Iceland to simulate strikes on enemy ships out at sea.
Lt. Bartlomiej Gryglewski, a liaison officer for the Polish navy’s naval missile unit, told ABC News that his contingent performed every step up until the actual firing of the munitions. “We ‘performed’ a lot of strikes,” Gryglewski said, describing the Norwegian-made NSM as a “pretty awesome” weapon.
The combination of the “precise missile” and the information gathered by the American aircraft above gives a “a high percentage chance — almost 100% — that the target will be hit,” Gryglewski added.
The North Atlantic, though, is not the expected hunting ground.
“We almost always perform our exercises in the Baltic region,” Gryglewski said, “protecting the Baltic Sea region from the enemy” as part of Poland’s coastal defense system.
NATO’s ‘lake’
There, Russia is “facing a real imbalance” with its NATO rivals, Sidharth Kaushal of the U.K.’s Royal United Services Institute think tank told ABC News.
NATO’s inclusion of Finland and Sweden — a direct consequence of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 — has prompted some officials to jokingly refer to the Baltic Sea as the “NATO Lake.”
The trope “is a bit of an exaggeration, but only a bit,” Kaushal said. “The maritime imbalance is significantly in NATO’s favor, and that’s a huge problem for Russia.”
The Baltic Sea remains a key oil export route for Russian ships departing terminals in St. Petersburg. Commercial and military vessels alike must transit the sea to reach the Atlantic Ocean, passing through the Gulf of Finland and the narrow Danish straits with NATO eyes on all sides.
Russia’s strategic Kaliningrad exclave is surrounded by NATO nations, its approaches in sight of the Latvian, Polish and Swedish coasts.
In the event of war, NATO aircraft and vessels could launch attacks on Russian territory from within the Baltic region that would “give Russian air defenses very limited warning times,” Kashual noted.
“There’s a whole range of conundrums that the alliance’s preponderance in the Baltic Sea faces the Russians with,” Kaushal said. “Reminding Russia of that fact is probably an important goal for the Americans, and for the wider alliance.”
Russia’s Foreign Ministry and the Kremlin have routinely criticized NATO military drills — particularly those close to its border. In July, for example, Moscow hit out at NATO drills in Finland as “an integral part of NATO’s comprehensive provocative efforts to contain Russia.”
Control of the Baltic Sea is not a given for the Western allies. Russia’s naval cruise missile bombardment of Ukraine from the Black Sea since 2022 has proved devastating, and proved that Moscow can “pose a real threat at depth across Europe,” Kashual said.
“Sinking them early and demonstrating the ability to do so would be a real priority for regional countries like Poland, even if the aggregate balance of forces is now heavily skewed in NATO’s direction in the Baltic,” he added.
“There’s a temporal question; can the Baltic Fleet be sunk in a manner that’s both timely and cost effective before it’s done an unacceptable level of damage across Europe with its cruise missiles?”
Polish NSMs, Kashual added, could prove to be “a big part” of NATO’s answer to that question.
Poland’s government has said as much. “Due to the reinforcement of the coastal missile units, manned and unmanned reconnaissance platforms, modern mine warfare and submarines, we will greatly increase our capabilities to protect our coastline,” the Defense Ministry wrote in its 2032 plan.
Still, Western militaries may have to grapple with the same industrial strains that have so hamstrung Ukraine in its fight against Russia.
Advanced technology like the NSM may work well, but restocking munitions might prove a challenge. Last fall, the Polish Defense Ministry inked a deal with NSM producer Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace for “several hundred” more missiles.
Naval missile troops have plenty of active case studies to turn to. In the Black Sea, Ukraine has been able to hold back the Russian Black Sea Fleet, and even sink the Moskva flagship.
In the Middle East, the Houthis in Yemen have hit dozens of commercial ships and attacked Western warships in nearby waters. The group has even claimed to have fired on vessels in the Mediterranean Sea.
“I think that everybody at this time is getting some experience from those,” Gryglewski said of the two ongoing conflicts. “But that’s all I can say about this for the moment.”
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