FBI assisting in search for retired Air Force major general missing for two weeks
Retired U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. William N. McCasland. (U.S. Air Force)
(ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.) — The FBI is assisting a local sheriff’s office in the search for a missing retired Air Force general who disappeared from his home in late February.
Retired Maj. Gen. William N. “Neil” McCasland held a number of “space research, acquisition and operations roles within the Air Force and the National Reconnaissance Office” while enlisted, according to the Air Force. The roles included director-level positions at the Pentagon, as well as commanding the Phillips Research Site of Air Force Research Laboratory at Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico, and the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, according to the Air Force.
McCasland, 68, left his Albuquerque, New Mexico, home on February 27 and hasn’t been seen since, according to the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office.
“Due to his background and established partnerships, BCSO is coordinating closely with multiple agencies, including the FBI Albuquerque Field Office,” the sheriff’s office said, adding in a subsequent update that they “have so far uncovered no evidence of foul play.”
McCasland is described as 5 feet, 11 inches tall and 160 pounds, with white hair and blue eyes. He’s believed to have left his home on foot, the BCSO said.
“[D]espite the collective efforts of law enforcement and the community, we still do not know what happened to Neil after he left home on February 27,” the BCSO added.
“Our priority is finding Mr. McCasland safely,” Sheriff John Allen said. “We’re asking the public to help by checking and preserving any security camera footage from the area and reporting any information immediately.”
U.S. President Donald Trump attends UFC 327 at Kaseya Center on April 11, 2026 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Julia Demaree Nikhinson – Pool/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — A federal judge on Monday threw out President Donald Trump’s $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal after Trump sued the paper last July for its reporting on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s 50th birthday book.
In his order issued Monday, U.S. District Judge Darrin Gayles concluded that Trump failed to prove that the Wall Street Journal knowingly published false information in the paper’s July article on an alleged letter from Trump that was included in Epstein’s 50th birthday book in 2003.
“Because President Trump has not plausibly alleged that Defendants published the Article with actual malice, both Counts must be dismissed,” the order said.
The case was dismissed without prejudice, meaning that Trump could attempt to refile the case by April 27.
In court filings, Trump’s lawyers had argued that the article and surrounding coverage were a “deliberate smear campaign designed to damage President Trump’s reputation” and subject the president to “public hatred and ridicule.”
In a 17-page ruling, Judge Darrin Gayles concluded that President Trump came “nowhere close” to the legal standard to prove that the Wall Street Journal acted with malice when it published its reporting about the birthday letter.
Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell told the Justice Department’s Todd Blanche last year that Epstein had asked her to coordinate contributions to a book celebrating his 50th birthday, but said she could not recall if President Trump, then a private citizen, was among those who responded.
Trump filed the suit by arguing that the Journal “acted with serious doubts about the truth of their reporting” because the president had claimed the letter was fake. However, Judge Gayles concluded that the reporters “attempted to investigate” the letter and did not act recklessly just because Trump denied its authenticity.
“To establish actual malice, ‘a plaintiff must show the defendant deliberately avoided investigating the veracity of the statement in order to evade learning the truth,'” the ruling said. “The Complaint comes nowhere close to this standard. Quite the opposite.”
The White House has continued to deny the authenticity of the letter after it was released by the House Oversight Committee in September.
Judge Gayles reached his conclusion without having to make a factual determination about the authenticity of the letter.
“Because the Court finds that the Complaint fails to adequately allege actual malice, it declines to address these issues at this juncture. Moreover, whether President Trump was the author of the Letter or Epstein’s friend are questions of fact that cannot be determined at this stage of the litigation,” he wrote.
Trump filed the defamation lawsuit in July against the Wall Street Journal, its parent company Dow Jones, its owner Rupert Murdoch, and the reporters who filed the story.
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.
CLEAR with TSA PreCheck security line at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) in Atlanta, Georgia. (Elijah Nouvelage/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — The Department of Homeland Security has abruptly reversed a decision to temporarily suspend the Transportation Security Administration’s PreCheck and Global Entry programs due to what the agency described as lapse in funding.
Less than a day after the suspension order was announced by DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, the TSA said that PreCheck at the nation’s airports will remain open.
“At this time, TSA PreCheck remains operational with no change for the traveling public. As staffing constraints arise, TSA will evaluate on a case by case basis and adjust operations accordingly,” a TSA spokesperson said in a statement to ABC.
The TSA added that courtesy escorts for members of Congress have been suspended and that those resources “can be directed towards keeping the flying public safe.”
For a few hours on Sunday morning, several airports, including Los Angeles International Airport and St. Louis Lambert International Airport, reported TSA precheck closures.
Sources familiar with the issue told ABC News that airports are now being advised by the TSA that they can keep their precheck lanes open if they have enough staffing.
Earlier Sunday, Noem released a statement saying that the precheck service was being temporarily suspended.
“TSA and CBP are prioritizing the general traveling population at our airports and ports of entry and suspending courtesy and special privilege escorts,” Noem said in a statement.
The two programs, which allow expedited clearance processes for pre-vetted domestic and international travelers, were expected to be suspended starting at 6 a.m. ET Sunday, according to a DHS official.
The initial plan called for DHS personnel assigned to these programs to be redirected to assist the broader traveling public, as travelers braced for longer lines to clear security.
The decision to suspend the programs came as an anticipated winter storm had already prompted the cancelation of more than 7,000 flights across the country. The decision and its quick reversal also comes just weeks before the spring break travel rush.
In addition, Noem also announced that the Federal Emergency Management Agency will also halt “all non-disaster related response to prioritize disasters,” underscoring the impact of the upcoming winter storm.
Before the decision to suspend the PreCheck program was reversed, a ranking member on the House Homeland Security Committee, Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson, immediately blasted the move.
“This is Trump and Kristi Noem purposely punishing the American people and using them as pawns for their sadistic political games,” Thompson said in a statement. “TSA PreCheck and Global Entry REDUCE airport lines and ease the burden on DHS staff who are working without pay because of Trump’s abuse of the Department and killing of American citizens,” he said.
“Trump and Kristi are making your lives harder — and your travel less safe — all on purpose because they know you don’t trust them. They pulled these games with FEMA disaster response last week, now this madness. They would rather force Americans to miss their travel waiting in long lines at the airport than stop Trump’s secret police from shooting our neighbors.”
U.S. Travel, a non-profit organization that represents the nation’s travel industry also expressed its “disappointment” and criticized the move in a post on X writing, “Travelers should be prioritized, not leveraged. Travel is the gateway to the American economy and Americans should not have their mobility, security or travel experience diminished because elected leaders fail to resolve their differences.”
The temporary suspension was first reported by the Washington Post.
