Federal prosecutors who investigated Eric Adams put on leave by Justice Department: Sources
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(NEW YORK) — The Justice Department on Friday put three federal prosecutors in Manhattan on leave, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.
Two of the prosecutors — Andrew Rohrbach and Celia Cohen — worked on the prosecution of New York City Mayor Eric Adams.
Rohrbach also worked on the successful prosecutions of Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell, former crypto executive Sam Bankman-Fried and lawyer Michael Avenatti.
Cohen worked on multiple mob cases and prosecutions of violent street gangs.
The third individual placed on leave — a member of the office’s civil division — posted about Elon Musk and Ed Martin, a leader of the Stop the Steal movement and President Donald Trump’s nominee for U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C., the sources said.
A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York declined to comment.
The Justice Department moved to dismiss corruption charges against Adams, prompting the resignations of several prosecutors in New York and Washington, including Danielle Sassoon, the acting U.S. attorney in Manhattan, who accused the mayor and the Justice Department of negotiating a quid pro quo.
(WASHINGTON) — Marlean Ames had earned positive performance reviews for nearly 15 years in her job at the Ohio Department of Youth Services. But in 2019 when she applied for a promotion, she got passed over for the position and was subsequently demoted.
A gay woman got the job she’d applied for, while a gay man was assigned the job she once had. Her supervisor at the time was also gay. Ames is a straight woman.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday will take up Ames’ case of alleged “reverse discrimination” and her bid to revive a lawsuit against her employer under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex and sexual orientation.
Lower courts dismissed Ames’ claim, ruling that she had failed to meet the standard of proof for discriminatory intent against a “member of a majority group.”
The Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said Ames did not demonstrate “background circumstances to support the suspicion that the defendant is that unusual employer who discriminates against the majority.”
Ames argues that the “background circumstances” requirement — applied only to plaintiffs from majority groups, such as white and straight people — is an onerous burden that creates an unlevel playing field. She alleges circumstantial evidence alone in her case is enough to warrant a trial.
“If Ames were gay and the employees hired in preference of her were not, she would have established the elements necessary for her prima-facie case,” her attorneys argued in briefs before the high court. “But because Ames falls on the majority group side of the majority/minority fault line, she has no legal recourse.”
Prima facie, Latin for “on the face of it,” is a legal term to indicate that there are sufficient facts to support a claim.
Ohio argues that the “background circumstances” requirement is not an extra burden but rather a clarification of existing standards set by the US Supreme Court in 1973, equally applied to all.
“That the specific facts that give rise to a suspicion of discrimination differ from plaintiff to plaintiff does not mean that some parties carry a heavier prima facie burden than others,” the state argues in its brief. “It just reflects that the precise requirements of a prima facie case can vary depending on the context.”
In the case McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, the Court established a three-part test for determining employment discrimination under Title VII. First, a plaintiff must show a “prima facie case of discrimination;” if that’s met, an employer must provide some legitimate, nondiscriminatory explanation for the dispute; and then, the burden falls back on the plaintiff to prove that the reason is a “pretext” for discrimination.
The Supreme Court will decide whether the “background circumstances” requirement for plaintiffs like Ames is unfair. A decision, which is expected by the end of June, could, if it’s in her favor, make it easier for nonminorities to bring claims of “reverse” employment discrimination.”
(LOS ANGELES) — President Donald Trump will tour damage caused by wildfires in Los Angeles on Friday as he continues to feud with California Gov. Gavin Newsom over his handling of the disaster and federal aid.
Trump told Fox News’ Sean Hannity in an interview that aired Wednesday that he was going to Los Angeles after stopping in North Carolina, hit by Hurricane Helene in September.
“I’m stopping in North Carolina, first up, because those people were treated very badly by Democrats and I’m stopping there,” Trump told Hannity. “We’re going to get that thing straightened out because they’re still suffering from a hurricane from months ago. And then, I’m going to then — I’m going to go to California.”
Newsom told reporters on Thursday that he would be at the airport to welcome the president.
Trump and Republican congressional leaders have said they would attach conditions to federal disaster aid mandating changes in California’s water policies and forest management.
“I don’t think we should give California anything until they let water flow down,” the president told Hannity, claiming water from northern California needed to be redirected south.
Then on Friday, he added a second — political — condition.
“I want to see two things in Los Angeles, voter ID, so that the people have a chance to vote, and I want to see the water be released and come down into Los Angeles and the state. Those are the two things,” Trump said.
Newsom’s office decried Trump’s conditions in a post on X Friday afternoon.
“Conditioning aid for American citizens is wrong,” it said in the post. “FACT: Under current CA law you must be a CA resident and US citizen (and attest to being one under penalty of perjury) AND provide a form of ID such as driver’s license or passport that has been approved by the Secretary of State in order to register to vote.”
California officials have repeatedly pushed back on Trump’s assertions about water policy as well.
Trump’s claims that measures to protect the delta smelt, an endangered fish, upstate affected L.A.’s water supply are false, according to Ashley Overhouse, a California water policy adviser for the nonprofit conservation organization Defenders of Wildlife.
Overhouse told ABC News that even the most protective regulations for delta smelt, during former President Barack Obama’s administration, accounted for only about 1.2% of additional outflow.
On Thursday, the House passed the Fix Our Forests Act, a bipartisan measure that’s intended to help prevent catastrophic wildfires and provide proper forest management as California continues.
The bill provides fire departments information about how much and when they will get reimbursed for wildfire costs, supports post-fire recovery activities, assesses and helps better predict fires in high-risk areas and states through data, expedites environmental reviews to reduce planning times and costs for critical forest management and establishes an interagency center to help state and local governments.
Luigi Mangione appears at a hearing for the murder of UHC CEO Brian Thompson at Manhattan Criminal Court on February 21, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Curtis Means – Pool/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — A defense attorney for Luigi Mangione, the man charged with killing the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, insists a police search and arrest inside a Pennsylvania McDonald’s late last year were illegal.
Mangione was arrested in Altoona, Pennsylvania, after a five-day manhunt for the suspect in the fatal shooting of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a New York City hotel on Dec. 4.
In a court filing posted to the Pennsylvania court docket Friday, Mangione’s Pennsylvania attorney, Thomas Dickey, said Mangione was never properly read his rights.
Instead, Dickey said, officers from the Altoona Police Department “continued to interrogate and question the Defendant, without any reading of his Miranda Rights.”
The defense lawyer also said Mangione was given “a specious and unreasonable” answer for why the officers approached him.
“At no time did the two officers indicate that Defendant was free to go; nor did they explain the reasons as to why Defendant was being detained; other than that, he looked suspicious and/or over stayed his welcome as a customer at McDonalds,” Dickey wrote.
In Pennsylvania, Mangione has pleaded not guilty to charges of forgery, possession of an instrument of a crime and giving a false ID to an officer.
He has also pleaded not guilty to murder charges in New York, a case that takes precedence over the case in Pennsylvania, where court dates have been scrapped and no new dates set. Mangione also faces federal charges, including a charge of murder through the use of a firearm, which makes him eligible for the death penalty.
His New York attorney, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, has also raised questions about Mangione’s treatment in Pennsylvania custody, arguing during a recent hearing that police body camera footage indicates her client’s “constitutional rights were violated.”
“I think there’s a very, very serious search issue in this matter, and there might be evidence that is suppressed,” Agnifilo said.
