Hackers breached FBI Director Kash Patel’s emails prior to tenure as director: Sources
Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Kash Patel testifies during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on worldwide threats in the Hart Senate Office Building on March 18, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Hackers breached FBI Director Kash Patel’s personal email, according to sources familiar with the situation.
The majority of the emails were from prior to 2019, according to sources, and appear to be from before his tenure at the FBI. There were a few emails from 2022, sources told ABC News.
“The FBI is aware of malicious actors targeting Director Patel’s personal email information, and we have taken all necessary steps to mitigate potential risks associated with this activity. The information in question is historical in nature and involves no government information,” the FBI said in a statement Friday.
It is unclear which country hacked the director’s old emails, however, Iranian-linked hackers online have claimed credit for the hack.
“The Department of State’s Rewards for Justice program offers up to a $10 million reward for information leading to the identification of the Handala Hack Team out of Iran — a group that has frequently targeted U.S. government officials,” the FBI said.
Reuters was the first to report the breach.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Kristin Ramsey, 53, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Ashley Okland. (West Des Moines Police)
(WEST DES MOINES, Iowa) — A woman has been arrested in the 2011 cold case murder of an Iowa real estate agent, authorities said.
Kristin Ramsey, 53, was arrested on Tuesday for first-degree murder in the death of Ashley Okland, the West Des Moines Police said.
Police and prosecutors did not elaborate on what led to Ramsey’s arrest, but Dallas County Attorney Matt Schultz said at a Wednesday news conference, “After hearing the evidence, a Dallas County grand jury issued a true bill indicting Kristin Ramsey with the murder of Ashley Okland.”
Okland was shot and killed while working at a model townhouse on April 8, 2011, according to the Iowa Attorney General’s Office Cold Case Unit.
Okland’s death sent “shockwaves” throughout the state and “haunted” the real estate community, West Des Moines Police Assistant Chief Jody Hayes said at the news conference.
“That Friday afternoon when Ashley was taken from us seems so long ago. We had lost our hope in finding answers and having any justice,” Okland’s sister, Brittany Bruce, told reporters.
She thanked the detectives and prosecutors for their relentless work on the case.
“We have full confidence in their abilities to see this through,” she said.
Alex Murdaugh, convicted of killing his wife and youngest son, listens as his attorneys Dick Harpootlian, left, and Phil Barber speak during a judicial hearing at the Richland County Judicial Center in Columbia, South Carolina, on Jan. 29, 2024. (Tracy Glantz/The State/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — The South Carolina Supreme Court has overturned the murder convictions of Alex Murdaugh, who was found guilty of killing his wife and younger son, finding that the court clerk’s “improper external influence” on the jury denied him a fair trial.
Murdaugh’s wife, Margaret “Maggie” Murdaugh, 52, and younger son, Paul Murdaugh, 22, were found dead from multiple gunshot wounds near the dog kennels at the family’s hunting estate in 2021.
Murdaugh was convicted in 2023 of murdering them following a six-week trial, with jurors deliberating for nearly three hours before reaching a guilty verdict.
The South Carolina Supreme Court ruled that Murdaugh must have a new trial, citing the actions of former Colleton County Clerk of Court Mary Rebecca “Becky” Hill, the court clerk who served during the double murder trial.
Hill “egregiously attacked Murdaugh’s credibility and his defense, thus triggering the presumption of prejudice, which the State was unable to rebut,” the court’s opinion stated. “As noted at the outset, Hill’s shocking jury interference was accomplished outside the presence and knowledge of the outstanding trial judge and superbly competent and professional counsel for the State and the defense.”
In a footnote, the justices said they “commend the post-trial court, which inherited Murdaugh’s motion for a new trial and was placed in the unenviable position of evaluating unprecedented jury interference by a clerk of court within the context of a murky area of law.”
Following the decision, South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson said his office will “aggressively” seek to retry Alex Murdaugh for the murders “as soon as possible.”
“Let me be clear — this decision does not mean Murdaugh will be released,” Wilson said in a statement. “He will remain in prison for his financial crimes. No one is above the law and, as always, we will continue to fight for justice.”
Murdaugh was also convicted on several financial crimes following the murder trial and is serving a 27-year sentence on state charges and a 40-year sentence on federal charges related to those crimes.
In the murder trial, prosecutors made the case that Alex Murdaugh, who comes from a legacy of prominent attorneys in the Lowcountry region, killed his wife and son to gain sympathy and distract from his financial wrongdoings, while the defense argued that police ignored the possibility that anyone else could have killed them.
Murdaugh has continued to maintain his innocence. His defense alleged that jury tampering and evidentiary errors — including the inclusion of his financial crimes — denied him a fair trial.
Murdaugh’s attorneys contend that Hill tampered with the jury by “advising it not to believe Murdaugh’s testimony and other defense evidence, pressuring it to reach a quick guilty verdict, misrepresenting information to the trial court in an attempt to have the court remove a juror she believed to favor the defense.”
During oral arguments before the state Supreme Court justices on the matter in February, the defense alleged that Hill tampered with the jury to ensure a guilty verdict because, they claimed, it would help her sell more copies of a book she would go on to write about the high-profile case.
Murdaugh’s defense claimed that Hill influenced the verdict through remarks heard by some jurors during the trial, including in one instance to watch Murdaugh’s body language during his testimony, according to court filings.
“The clerk of court allowed public attention of the moment to overcome her duty,” Murdaugh’s attorney, Dick Harpootlian, said during the February hearing.
Lead prosecutor Creighton Waters countered during the hearing that Hill made a “few fleeting comments” over the course of a six-week trial that included nearly 90 witnesses and almost 600 exhibits, arguing that they weren’t enough to influence the verdict.
Chief Justice John Kittredge called Hill a “rogue clerk of court” during the hearing and said he wanted to make note that the “overwhelming majority” of clerks in the state are “dedicated, conscientious public servants” who “do not act like this.”
Hill resigned as the Colleton County clerk of court in March 2024, amid the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division’s investigation into allegations she may have abused her government position for financial gain.
She pleaded guilty in December 2025 to obstruction of justice, perjury and misconduct in office for showing photographs that were sealed court evidence to a reporter during the trial and then later lying about doing so on the stand during a hearing related to Murdaugh’s bid for a new trial.
The charges did not allege any jury tampering, and she denied any tampering with the jury during her testimony.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
The Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool as it is painted blue on Thursday, May 7, 2026. President (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — A nonprofit organization is attempting to stop the Trump administration’s repainting of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, alleging that the plan “willfully disregards legal limits established by Congress.”
The Cultural Landscape Foundation filed a lawsuit on Monday in D.C. federal court asking a judge to halt the renovations until the Trump administration gets approval from Congress.
“Every day that the resurfacing continues, the historic character of the Reflecting Pool is being further and fundamentally altered,” the lawsuit alleged about the project, part of President Donald Trump’s D.C. “beautification” efforts that include renovations to the White House East Wing and a planned triumphal arch near Arlington National Cemetery.
Because the reflecting pool and its surrounding landscape are on the National Register of Historic Places as part of the National Mall Historic District, the lawsuit alleged that Trump administration should have gotten approval for the changes under the Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act.
“This latest desecration of the reflecting pool is part of a pattern — epitomized most notably by the rush to destroy the East Wing of the White House — in which this Administration willfully disregards legal limits established by Congress,” the lawsuit alleged.
The Cultural Landscape Foundation is a D.C.-based nonprofit that maintains a database of cultural landscapes and advocates for the preservation of threatened landscape architecture.
In a statement to ABC News, a spokesperson for the Department of the Interior defended the renovations, which includes repainting the pool “American Flag Blue” and installing a new filtration system.
“President Trump has done more to make our nation’s capital a shining beacon than any other president in the history of this country. The National Park Service chose the best company to expedite the repair of the iconic Reflecting Pool ahead of our 250 celebrations,” the statement said.
The statement did not address whether the Trump administration sought any kind of approval for the project or if they plan to do so.
