Judge permanently blocks release of final report on Trump classified documents probe
U.S. President Donald Trump answers questions during a press briefing held at the White House February 20, 2026 in Washington, DC. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — The federal judge who tossed then-special counsel Jack Smith’s classified documents case against President Donald Trump has permanently barred the release of Smith’s final report on his probe.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the case in 2024 after deciding that Smith’s appointment as special counsel was unlawful, then blocked the release of the Smith’s report on his investigation.
She ruled Monday that the report should be sealed for good, after Trump and his co-defendants in the case sought a court order barring the report’s release.
The public release of the report “would contravene the conclusions in the Court’s final Dismissal Order that Special Counsel Smith acted without lawful appointment or funding authority in this proceeding and that his actions taken in connection herewith are therefore invalid,” Cannon’s order said.
Cannon, a Trump appointee, also scolded Smith for preparing the report in the first place even though she had ruled his appointment was unlawful, calling it a “concerning breach of the spirit of the Dismissal Order.”
“Nevertheless, rather than seek a stay of the Order, or clarification, Special Counsel Smith and his team chose to circumvent it, for months, by taking the discovery generated in this case and compiling it in a final report for transmission to then-Attorney General Garland, to Congress, and then beyond,” Cannon wrote in her order.
“The Court need not countenance this brazen stratagem or effectively perpetuate the Special Counsel’s breach of this Court’s own order,” she wrote.
Trump pleaded not guilty in June 2023 to 40 criminal counts related to his handling of classified materials after leaving the White House in 2021, after prosecutors said he repeatedly refused to return hundreds of documents containing classified information and took steps to thwart the government’s efforts to get the documents back. Trump asserted that he had every right to possess the documents.
Smith, testifying publicly before the GOP-led House Judiciary Committee last month, said his investigation “developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt that President Trump engaged in criminal activity” — and that partisan politics did not play a role in his decision to charge Trump.
Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan leaves the Milwaukee Federal Courthouse on May 15, 2025 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Scott Olson/Getty Images
(MILWAUKEE) — A Wisconsin judge accused of concealing an undocumented man to prevent his arrest by immigration authorities was found guilty of felony obstruction, according to ABC Milwaukee affiliate WISN, which was in the courtroom for the trial.
Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan was charged in a two-count federal indictment that alleges she obstructed official Department of Homeland Security removal proceedings and knowingly concealed the man from immigration authorities at a courthouse in April.
Dugan was found guilty of obstructing federal agents and not guilty of concealing an undocumented immigrant from arrest during the courthouse incident.
The jury reached the mixed verdict after deliberating for approximately six hours on Thursday, according to WISN.
Dugan, who pleaded not guilty, faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison. The judge has not yet set a sentencing date.
One of Dugan’s attorneys, Steve Biskupic, said they are “obviously disappointed” in the outcome. The mixed verdict is “the big thing from the defense perspective,” he told reporters Thursday night.
“The same elements of count one are in count two. In count two — how can you find guilty there and not guilty on the first,” Biskupic said. “But that’s why we asked for a post-trial briefing.”
“The case is a long way from over,” he added.
According to federal prosecutors, Dugan encountered federal agents who were at the Milwaukee County Circuit Court on April 18 to arrest Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, who was appearing in her courtroom on a battery charge.
Prosecutors say that after speaking to the agents, Dugan directed them to the chief judge’s office down the hall and then sent Flores-Ruiz and his attorney out a non-public door in an alleged attempt to help him evade arrest on immigration violations.
Flores-Ruiz was ultimately captured outside the court building after a brief foot chase.
During closing arguments on Thursday, the government portrayed Dugan as a frustrated and angry judge and asked the jurors to hold her accountable for the alleged criminal conduct, according to ABC Milwaukee affiliate WISN.
The defense, meanwhile, argued that the case is an “unjust prosecution” that is “riddled with doubts” and based on “assumptions,” according to WISN. The defense also questioned the veracity of the audio evidence, according to WISN.
During the nearly weeklong trial, prosecutors produced transcripts and audio recordings that they said showed Dugan telling her court reporter that she would “get the heat” for showing Flores-Ruiz and his lawyer the side exit, WISN reported.
Dugan did not testify during the trial.
The defense witnesses included former Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, who was not at the courthouse that day but testified as a character witness, according to WISN.
After the defense rested on Thursday, Judge Lynn Adelman denied their request to dismiss the case, according to WISN.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court suspended Dugan in the wake of her arrest, stating in an order that it was “in the public interest that she be temporarily relieved of her official duties.”
Flores-Ruiz, a native of Mexico, was charged with unlawful reentry into the U.S. He was sentenced to time served earlier this month after pleading guilty to the charge, federal court records show. DHS said last month he had been deported.
U.S. President Donald Trump addresses a House Republican retreat at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on January 06, 2026 in Washington, DC. Alex Wong/Getty Images
(MINNEAPOLIS) — President Donald Trump said the 37-year-old woman who was fatally shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis on Wednesday was at fault because she tried to “run over” the officer, according to an interview with The New York Times published on Thursday.
“I want to see nobody get shot. I want to see nobody screaming and trying to run over policemen either,” Trump told the publication, calling it a “vicious situation.”
State and local officials have pushed back on the assertions from the White House and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, with Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey calling the claims about the driver “b——-” and telling ICE to “get the f— out” and Gov. Tim Walz calling it “propaganda.”
The fatal shooting was captured on video by bystanders. In the video, which ABC News has verified, the driver, who was identified by city council members as Renee Nicole Good, is driving her SUV on a road near ICE officers. As one officer reaches for the SUV’s door handle, the vehicle lurches backward and then begins moving forward, rightward, seemingly away from the officers. One of the officers can be seen firing into the moving vehicle.
Protesters gathered on the city’s streets on Wednesday. And the FBI said in a statement, “Consistent with our investigative protocol, the incident is under review, and we are working closely with our law enforcement partners.”
Noem on Wednesday described the driver’s actions as an “act of domestic terrorism,” saying that an “anti-ICE rioter weaponized her vehicle against law enforcement.”
“An ICE officer, fearing for his life, the lives of his fellow law enforcement and the safety of the public, fired defensive shots,” Tricia McLaughlin, the assistant secretary of Homeland Security, said in a statement posted on social media.
State officials on Wednesday pushed back on such characterizations. The state’s attorney general, Keith Elllison, said in a statement that he was “heartbroken” over the shooting, but was also “angry. Very angry.” He accused the Trump administration of “weaponizing the federal government against the people of Minnesota.”
The death amounted to a “policy failure,” Ellison told ABC News in an interview, adding that there would be “an analysis on the use of force here.” Ellison said that the blame appeared to lie in part with Trump, who authorized the deployment, adding, “That’s not to take responsibility from the officer who used deadly force in a situation that does not appear to call for it.”
Walz said on social media, “I’ve seen the video. Don’t believe this propaganda machine. The state will ensure there is a full, fair, and expeditious investigation to ensure accountability and justice.”
Minnesota Department of Public Safety Commissioner Bob Jacobson said Wednesday that the department’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is working in conjunction with the FBI to investigate the shooting.
The FBI said in a statement on Wednesday, “Consistent with our investigative protocol, the incident is under review, and we are working closely with our law enforcement partners.”
Officials have not released the name of the officer who opened fire.
Trump on Wednesday had said the officer acted in “self defense.”
“The woman driving the car was very disorderly, obstructing and resisting, who then violently, willfully, and viciously ran over the ICE Officer, who seems to have shot her in self defense,” he said in a post on social media.
When Trump was pressed by the Times on how he drew his conclusions about the incident, the president reportedly had an aide play a video clip from a laptop to reinforce his point.
Asked if he believed firing into a vehicle similar to Wednesday’s shooting is acceptable, Trump reportedly stuck to his position, saying of Good that she “behaved horribly.”
“And then she ran him over. She didn’t try to run him over,” Trump said, according to the repot.
Before playing the clip to the Times reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said, “With all of it being said, no, I don’t like that happening.”
When reporters told him the clip he was showing did not appear to show an ICE officer was run over, he told them, “it’s a terrible scene.”
“I think it’s horrible to watch,” Trump said. “No, I hate to see it.”
Ellison told ABC News that after he viewed the video, it was “clear to me” that the deadly force came as the driver was attempting to “evade” the officers, including the one who fatally shot her.
“Renee Good deserves justice, and my office will not look away,” Ellison said on social media on Wednesday evening. “As Attorney General, I will do everything in my power to pursue the truth and ensure accountability and transparency.”
(NEW YORK) — At least four rivers in Washington state are now at major flood stage — the highest level — and 11 others are forecast to reach the same level in the next day or two as an atmospheric river delivers heavy rain in the Pacific Northwest
The multiday event from Washington to Oregon is swelling rivers to near-record levels.
The event is forecast to bring up to 7 inches of rainfall in parts of Washington.
Stampede Pass, at an elevation of 3,600 feet in Washington’s Cascade Mountains, recorded more than 7 inches of rain on Monday. Usually, this would be snow, but due to the well-above-average temperatures plaguing the West, it’s been all rain so far.
More than 1 inch of rain has fallen at Seattle–Tacoma International Airport and more than 1.5 inches was recorded at Portland International Airport in Oregon.
Some rivers may break records. Already, overnight into Tuesday, the Naselle River near Naselle, Washington, has gone from its normal 5 foot depth to nearly 20 feet deep, growing by 10 feet in 12 hours and coming within less than 1 foot of the historical record.
While Washington was the hardest hit on Monday, the atmospheric river has shifted slightly south on Tuesday and will hit Oregon the hardest.
The atmospheric river is expected to retreat north again Tuesday night and into Wednesday and deliver more rain to Washington state.
The rain will continue Thursday and Friday, but it will be much lighter for western Washington and Oregon.
Total rainfall accumulation through the event is still expected to reach over a foot of rain at high elevations and 3 inches or more at some of the lowest elevations.
Midwest winter storm
The Midwest will see a break in the brutal cold over the next couple days until the next shot of Arctic air plunges into the Midwest by Friday and digs in through the weekend. It will reach the Northeast by Sunday morning.
A strong low pressure system is moving through the Upper Midwest and creating dangerous wind and snow conditions on Tuesday.
A widespread area of damaging wind has led to high wind warnings across at least seven states from Montana to Minnesota to Colorado where gusts up to 65 mph are generally expected Tuesday. Higher elevations in the mountains of Colorado could have gusts up to 90 mph.
This could dislodge even hardened snow on the ground and create ground blizzard conditions.
Anyone driving in these areas should use extreme caution. High-top vehicles like semis can be overturned in these conditions. Power outages are also possible. Plus, there will be low visibility with any blowing snow.
Meanwhile, some areas will see falling snow, too.
A winter storm warning is in place with 2 to 7 inches of snow possible from parts of North Dakota through parts of Minnesota and Wisconsin.
Minneapolis could see 2 to 4 inches of snow and gusts up to 35 mph Tuesday afternoon and overnight.
A winter storm warning is in place for parts of South Dakota, southern Minnesota and central Iowa because gusts up to 60 mph Tuesday night and Wednesday could lead to blizzard conditions by dislodging snow already on the ground, along with minor new snow accumulations.
On Wednesday, this storm will bring rain and snow to the Northeast.
