(NEBRASKA) — Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen is recovering from serious but non-life-threatening injuries after being bucked off a horse, his office said Monday.
The incident happened when the Republican leader was riding on horseback with family members near Columbus on Sunday.
The governor was thrown from a new horse, his office said. His injuries included “minor lacerations to his spleen and kidney, seven broken ribs, a partially collapsed lung resulting from the rib damage, and a minor fracture in one of his vertebrae,” his office said in an update on Monday.
“In summary, the Governor’s injuries were serious but not life-threatening and could have been much worse,” the statement added.
Pillen, 68, was initially transported to Columbus Community Hospital before being sent to the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha “out of an abundance of caution,” his office previously said.
The governor is expected to remain in the hospital for a few days for observation and plans to work from his hospital room, his office said Monday.
“The Governor looks forward to returning to his office soon after Christmas and wishes a blessed and safe holiday to all Nebraskans,” his office said in the statement.
Pillen, who played football at the University of Nebraska under legendary coach and former Rep. Tom Osborne, took office in January 2023.
ABC News’ Darren Reynolds and Sasha Pezenik contributed to this report.
John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — The bipartisan House Ethics Committee on Monday released a scathing report concluding its yearslong investigation into former Rep. Matt Gaetz, finding “substantial evidence” that he had sex with a 17-year-old in 2017 in violation of Florida’s statutory rape law, and engaged in a broader pattern of paying women for sex.
The report also detailed evidence of illegal drug use, acceptance of improper gifts, granting special favors to personal associates, and obstruction, after Gaetz refused to comply with subpoenas and withheld evidence from the committee.
A woman testified to the committee that Gaetz had sex with her in 2017, when she was 17 and had just completed her junior year of high school, and Gaetz was in his first year in Congress. Identified only as “Victim A” in the report, the woman told investigators she received $400 in cash from the then-congressman that evening, “which she understood to be payment for sex,” according to the report.
“The Committee received credible testimony from Victim A herself, as well as multiple individuals corroborating the allegation,” the report says. “Victim A said that she did not inform Representative Gaetz that she was under 18 at the time, nor did he ask her age.”
While many of the allegations in the committee’s report have been previously reported, this is the first time the woman’s direct testimony about Gaetz having sex with her when she was a minor has been made public, along with corroborating testimony from others.
Investigators noted that while the former Florida congressman has “suggested that the allegations against him have been manufactured” and had called into question Victim A’s credibility, “the Committee found no reason to doubt the credibility of Victim A.”
The report details that between 2017-2020, records obtained by the committee show Gaetz paid nearly $100,000 dollars to 12 different women and to Joel Greenberg, his one-time close friend who in 2021 pleaded guilty to numerous crimes, including sex trafficking Victim A.
While all the women who testified to the committee described their sexual encounters with Gaetz as consensual, according to the report, one woman raised concerns that drug use at the parties and events may have “impair[ed their] ability to really know what was going on or fully consent.” Another woman told the committee, “When I look back on certain moments, I feel violated.”
The report alleges that Gaetz “took advantage of the economic vulnerability of young women to lure them into sexual activity for which they received an average of a few hundred dollars after each encounter.”
“Such behavior is not ‘generosity to ex-girlfriends,’ and it does not reflect creditably upon the House,” the report reads, referencing the former congressman’s previous statement dismissing the allegations as someone “trying to recategorize my generosity to ex-girlfriends as something more untoward.”
“Based on the above, the Committee determined there is substantial evidence that Representative Gaetz violated House Rules and other standards of conduct prohibiting prostitution, statutory rape, illicit drug use, impermissible gifts, special favors or privileges, and obstruction of Congress,” the report says.
Gaetz has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. The Justice Department declined to charge him last year after a yearslong investigation into similar allegations.
President-elect Donald Trump last month tapped Gaetz to serve as attorney general in the incoming administration, and Gaetz resigned his congressional seat shortly after. Gaetz subsequently withdrew his name from consideration for AG, saying his confirmation process was “unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the Trump/Vance Transition.”
The Ethics Committee was in the final stages of its probe into Gaetz when Trump tapped him for attorney general. The committee generally drops investigations of members if they leave office, but Gaetz’s resignation prompted a fiery debate on Capitol Hill over whether the panel should release its report to allow the Senate to perform its role of vetting presidential nominations.
Following indications last week that the committee would release its report, Gaetz took to X in a lengthy post, writing in part that when he was single he “often sent funds to women” he dated and that he “never had sexual contact with someone under 18.”
“It’s embarrassing, though not criminal, that I probably partied, womanized, drank and smoked more than I should have earlier in life. I live a different life now,” he posted. “I’ve never been charged. I’ve never been sued. Instead, House Ethics will reportedly post a report online that I have no opportunity to debate or rebut as a former member of the body.”
In its report, the committee concluded that it did not find substantial evidence that Gaetz violated federal sex trafficking laws, finding that while Gaetz “did cause the transportation of women across state lines for purposes of commercial sex,” investigators did not find evidence “that any of those women were under 18 at the time of travel, nor did the Committee find sufficient evidence to conclude that the commercial sex acts were induced by force, fraud, or coercion.”
According to the report, the committee conducted over two dozen interviews, issued 29 subpoenas, reviewed nearly 14,000 documents, and requested information from multiple government agencies as part of its extensive investigation into the allegations.
The committee received written testimony from Greenberg but, due to credibility concerns, investigators said they would “not rely exclusively on information provided by Mr. Greenberg,” according to the report.
The committee also accused Gaetz of obstructing its investigation by ignoring subpoenas, withholding documents, and declining to answer questions about the allegations.
“Representative Gaetz continuously sought to deflect, deter, or mislead the Committee in order to prevent his actions from being exposed,” the report reads. “His actions undermine not only his claims that he had exculpatory information to provide, but also his claims that he intended to cooperate with the Committee in good faith. It is apparent that Representative Gaetz’s assertions were nothing more than attempts to delay the Committee’s investigation.”
The committee had been investigating allegations that Gaetz engaged in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, shared inappropriate images or videos on the House floor, misused state identification records, converted campaign funds to personal use, and/or accepted a bribe, improper gratuity, or impermissible gift, according to sources.
Earlier this year, the committee released a statement that it would continue its probe but would no longer pursue allegations that Gaetz “may have shared inappropriate images or videos on the House floor, misused state identification records, converted campaign funds to personal use, and/or accepted a bribe or improper gratuity.”
According to the report, while several committee members did not support its release, a majority of its members voted in favor of its release on Dec. 10. In a statement at the conclusion of the report, House Ethics Chairman Michael Guest reiterated his stance against the release of the report on behalf of the dissenting members while acknowledging that he and other members do not dispute the report’s findings.
“We believe and remain steadfast in the position that the House Committee on Ethics lost jurisdiction to release to the public any substantive work product regarding Mr. Gaetz after his resignation from the House on November 14, 2024,” Guest wrote.
Earlier Monday Gaetz filed a lawsuit against the Ethics Committee in an effort to stop the committee from releasing its report.
“This action challenges the Committee’s unconstitutional and ultra vires attempt to exercise jurisdiction over a private citizen through the threatened release of an investigative report containing potentially defamatory allegations,” the filing from Gaetz said.
Gaetz in the filing asked the court to issue a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction to block the release of the report or any findings, which he says would cause “damage to his reputation and professional standing” that would be “immediate and severe.”
“The threatened release of information believed to be defamatory by a Congressional committee concerning matters of sexual propriety and other acts of alleged moral turpitude constitutes irreparable harm that cannot be adequately remedied through monetary damages,” the filing stated.
“After Plaintiff’s resignation from Congress, Defendants improperly continued to act on its investigation, and apparently voted to publicly release reports and/or investigative materials related to Plaintiff without proper notice or disclosure to Plaintiff,” the complaint said.
Following the report’s release Monday, U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta gave Gaetz until 5 p.m. ET to show why the suit shouldn’t be dismissed with prejudice for lack of jurisdiction, given “this case appears to be moot in light of the House Ethics Committee’s public disclosure of the report.”
In a subsequent filing, attorneys for Gaetz acknowledged that their lawsuit is now “mooted” following the release of the report — a move they said has caused Gaetz “irreversible and irreparable harm.”
The filing said the committee’s decision to release the report was “unprecedented and procedurally defective,” and reiterated their claim that it was released without notifying him.
(GREENSBORO, N.C.) — A North Carolina police officer was fatally shot while responding to a report of a person with a gun inside a supermarket, authorities said.
The shooting occurred Monday morning at a Food Lion in Greensboro, police said.
Greensboro officer Michael Horan was fatally injured after responding to the call about a “man with a firearm” inside the store, police said.
“The circumstances of what led to the shooting are currently being investigated,” Greensboro Assistant Police Chief MJ Harris said during a press briefing on Monday.
The shooting suspect fled the scene and was taken into custody following a high-speed chase, the Duplin County Sheriff’s Office said. There is no threat to the public, Harris said.
No further details on the suspect have been released.
Horan had been a sworn officer with the Greensboro Police Department since early 2018.
“He was an excellent officer,” Harris said. “He had an outstanding reputation inside the department and the community.”
Horan previously served for 18 years in the U.S. Coast Guard, during which he received an award for rescuing a father and son from rip currents, according to the police department.
“Simply put, we are heartbroken,” Greensboro City Manager Trey Davis said at the briefing.
The Greensboro Police Department requested the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation to take the lead on the investigation into the shooting.
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said that “significant state law enforcement personnel” were sent to help with the response.
A Food Lion spokesperson said they are cooperating with authorities and the store will remain closed amid the investigation.
“Food Lion is deeply saddened by the tragedy that occurred at our store,” the spokesperson said. “We express our deepest condolences to the officer’s family and friends.”
“We are providing resources to support our associates during this difficult time,” the spokesperson added.
ABC News’ Ahmad Hemingway contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — Luigi Mangione on Monday pleaded not guilty to state murder and terror charges in the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
The 26-year-old Mangione entered the Manhattan courtroom in shackles and under heavy guard. He was dressed in civilian clothes, wearing a maroon sweater over a light-colored shirt.
He pleaded not guilty to 11 charges, including first-degree murder in furtherance of terrorism. Judge Gregory Carro presided over the arraignment.
A Manhattan grand jury upgraded charges against Mangione last week to include first-degree murder in furtherance of terrorism.
He is also charged in New York with two counts of second-degree murder, one of which is charged as killing as an act of terrorism; two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree; four counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree; one count of criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree; and one count of criminal possession of a forged instrument in the second degree.
He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole if convicted of the state charges.
There is also a federal case against Mangione. One of the charges, murder through use of a firearm, would make Mangione eligible for the death penalty if he’s convicted.
Both cases are in addition to the charges brought against Mangione in Pennsylvania, where he was arrested and where he faces charges including forgery and possession of an unlicensed firearm.
Mangione was transported to New York on Dec. 19 after waiving his right to an extradition hearing that morning in court in Blair County, Pennsylvania.
Upon his arrival in New York, Mangione was placed under arrest by federal authorities.
Defense attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo said Mangione would not initially contest pretrial detention, and he was taken into police custody.
Mangione then made his initial appearance in Manhattan federal court the same day, hours after the unsealing of a criminal complaint charging him with stalking and murdering Brian Thompson. He did not enter a plea.
Agnifilo said her client was prepared to appear in state court and said the federal charges were sprung on them.
“This is a highly unusual situation we find ourselves in,” Agnifilo said. “I have never seen anything like that.”
She said the theories of the two cases appear to be in conflict, noting the state case accused Mangione of terrorizing a group of people while the federal case accused him of stalking an individual.
The judge told the parties to confer.
Danielle Filson, a spokesperson for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, said this week that “the state case will proceed in parallel with any federal case.”
Mangione’s next scheduled court date for his federal case is Jan. 18.
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden is commuting the sentences of 37 inmates on federal death row, the White House said Monday.
The move reduces the sentence for all but three of the 40 inmates on federal death row. Biden said that the commutations are “consistent with the moratorium my Administration has imposed on federal executions,” with the exception of terrorism and hate-motivated mass killings.
The three people on the federal execution list who were not on Biden’s commutation list are Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, one of the perpetrators of the Boston Marathon bombing; Robert Bowers, who was convicted of the mass shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue antisemitic attack; and Dylann Roof, who killed nine Black churchgoers in a racially motivated shooting in South Carolina.
According to the White House fact sheet about the move, the recipients of the commutations will have their sentences “reclassified from execution to life without the possibility of parole.”
“Make no mistake: I condemn these murderers, grieve for the victims of their despicable acts, and ache for all the families who have suffered unimaginable and irreparable loss,” Biden wrote in a statement about the commutations.
“But guided by my conscience and my experience as a public defender, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Vice President, and now President, I am more convinced than ever that we must stop the use of the death penalty at the federal level,” Biden added.
The White House fact sheet said that the move was an effort to prevent President-elect Donald Trump from “carrying out the execution sentences that would not be handed down under current policy and practice.”
This decision comes after some notable figures and many activists called for Biden to take action. Pope Francis has called for the sentences of Americans on death row to be commuted during his Angelus address in October, the Vatican News Source reported.
“Today, I feel compelled to ask all of you to pray for the inmates on death row in the United States,” the Pope said at the time, according to the report. “Let us pray that their sentences may be commuted or changed. Let us think of these brothers and sisters of ours and ask the Lord for the grace to save them from death.”
Biden is a devout Catholic and is set next month to visit the Holy See during a trip to Italy, where he will also have an audience with the pope.
Activists have called for Biden to commute the sentence of many or all federal death row inmates for some time. More than 130 civil and human rights groups penned a letter to the president in early December calling on him to commute the sentences of “all individuals on federal death row.”
“The only irreversible action you can take to prevent President-elect Trump from renewing his execution spree, as he has vowed to do, is commuting the death sentences of those on federal death row now. Your ability to change the course of the death penalty in the United States will be a defining, legacy-building moment in American history,” the letter said.
It is also an issue of racial justice. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, 38% of federal death row inmates are Black — compared to the 14% of total American population according to the Pew Research Center. About 56% of the 40 men on federal death row were men of color, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
On CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, a close confidant of Biden, Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., said that he had urged the president to take action, citing the unfairness in the justice system.
“There are some real questions about the fairness in the process of the death penalty in the United States,” Coons said.
He added, “And I don’t know what President Biden will ultimately do, but I think there are reasons, both in terms of racial justice, due process, and what it says domestically and to the world about our values if we were to go ahead and execute all of these individuals, rather than have them spend the rest of life in prison.”
(KILLEEN, Texas) — Five people were hurt after a man fleeing troopers drove a truck “several hundred yards” through the entrance of a mall on Saturday in Killeen, Texas, the Texas Department of Public Safety said.
Four people were injured as the driver was “actively running people over” and a fifth later went to the hospital on their own, Texas Department of Public Safety Sgt. Bryan Washko said during a news conference Saturday evening.
The man driving the truck was fatally shot after multiple law enforcement officers fired their weapons, including three who were off-duty, Washko said.
The victims’ ages ranged from 6 to 75, Washko said.
The suspect has not yet been identified.
The incident began unfolding about 5 p.m. local time when state troopers attempted to stop the suspect, who was driving a black pickup truck, on suspicion of possible DUI, Washko. The driver kept going, eventually entering the parking lot of the Killeen Mall, and then drove through glass doors of a JCPenney, striking multiple people, according to Washko.
Authorities are investigating whether it was an intentional act or whether the man drove into the mall entrance “out of desperation because he was being pursued,” Washko said.
“Thankfully he was stopped when he was, because it could have been so much worse,” Washko said. “This mall is pretty busy at this time of year.”
Initial calls for the incident reported an active shooter, but that did not turn out to be the case, he said.
Killeen, a city of nearly 160,000 residents, is located about 70 miles north of Austin.
(NEW YORK) — The Mega Millions jackpot surged to $944 million on Saturday after no ticket matched the numbers drawn on Friday, the lottery said.
The winning numbers on Friday were 2, 20, 51, 56, 57 and gold Mega Ball 19.
The next drawing will be on Tuesday, Dec. 24.
The jackpot prize has a cash value of $429 million, which can be offered as a one-time lump sum payment, or an immediate payment followed by annual payments.
The jackpot has been rolling since it was last won at $810 million in Texas on Sept. 10.
The total of $862 million is the seventh-largest prize in Mega Millions history. The largest Mega Millions prize ever won was $1.6 billion on August 2023.
The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 302,575,350, according to Mega Millions.
Mega Millions is played in 45 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Tickets are $2 for one play.
(VIRGINIA) — A Virginia college student is accused of plotting a “mass casualty attack” on the Consulate General of Israel in New York, according to court records.
The FBI arrested Abdullah Ezzeldin Taha Mohamed Hassan, 18, a student at George Mason University, this week in connection with the alleged plot targeting Jews, court records show.
The case began in May, when the Fairfax County Police Department informed the agency of an anonymous tip reporting an X account that engaged in “radical and terrorist-leaning behavior,” according to an affidavit in support of the criminal complaint and arrest warrant filed against Hassan in U.S. District Court in Virginia.
The account, which the FBI says it linked to Hassan, made posts in support of ISIS and al-Qaeda, according to the affidavit. Investigators say they also linked two other radical X accounts to Hassan, according to the affidavit.
An undercover FBI informant engaged with Hassan on one of the suspect’s X accounts in August, and the two communicated through various platforms for several months after the source pledged loyalty to Hassan, according to the affidavit.
Hassan was allegedly careful about covering his digital tracks, telling the informant that he “cannot be caught giving instructions about attack planning” because he “believed he was already being watched due to his past,” the affidavit stated. He was previously interviewed by the FBI in 2022 in part due to his “support for ISIS online,” according to the affidavit.
Hassan discussed with the source “how to travel to join ISIS” and shared ISIS propaganda, before allegedly recruiting the source in October to “conduct a mass casualty attack,” according to the affidavit.
Hassan allegedly sent the source a “pro-ISIS video that called for the killing of Jews” in mid-November, and in the ensuing weeks instructions on “how to prepare a martyrdom video” and bomb-making, according to the affidavit.
He allegedly picked the Consulate General of Israel as a target and continued to provide the source with support “regarding the manufacture and use of an explosive device and the planned attack,” the affidavit stated.
He also allegedly discussed conducting the attack with a firearm and provided instructions on how to buy a rifle to avoid being tracked down by authorities after the attack, according to the affidavit.
Hassan allegedly directed the source to make a video before the attack for ISIS media, and that if not martyred the source “will be famous,” according to the affidavit. He also allegedly instructed the source to livestream the attack so that he could “distribute it to the ISIS media department,” and discussed how to flee the country following the attack, according to the affidavit.
Hassan was arrested on Tuesday and charged with the distribution of information relating to explosives, destructive devices, and weapons of mass destruction in furtherance of the commission of a federal crime of violence, court records show.
ABC News has reached out to his attorney for comment.
The suspect, a national of Egypt living in Falls Church, Virginia, was in removal proceedings with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to the affidavit.
He did not live on campus at George Mason University and was barred from university property following his arrest, the school said.
“George Mason University continues to take enhanced precautions to maintain a safe and secure university community in light of the recent FBI arrest of one of its students,” the school said in a statement. “As criminal proceedings progress, the university will take appropriate action on student code of conduct violations.”
Hassan remains in custody at the Alexandria Adult Detention Center, the Alexandria Sheriff’s Office confirmed to ABC News. He has not yet entered a plea, court records show.
(BERLIN) — A car plowed into a crowd of people at a Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, on Friday, injuring multiple victims and sending people fleeing in panic, according to police.
Extensive police operations are underway at the Magdeburg Christmas market, which is now closed, police said.
Magdeburg is about a two-hour drive west of Berlin.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(BELLVILLE, Texas) — A family in Austin County, Texas, is anxiously waiting for the return of their 3-year-old kangaroo after the marsupial pushed a gate open and hopped a fence.
The 5-foot-tall kangaroo, named Rowdy, was last seen early Wednesday morning on Pyka Road near Interstate 10 in Austin County, according to the kangaroo’s owner.
Local radio DJ Dana Tyson said she saw the kangaroo while heading to work, she told Houston ABC News affiliate KTRK.
“Never in my wildest dreams did I think a kangaroo would jump in front of my car,” Tyson told KTRK.
Tyson recorded the kangaroo on camera and said she later found out a nearby resident, Marsha Matus, was missing one.
Matus said she is anxious for Rowdy’s safe return because she knows he is scared.
“He is our baby. He is not your stereotypical kangaroo. He is our pet,” Matus told KTRK.
Rowdy is one of three kangaroos owned by Matus, she said. After Rowdy got out of the pen, she said he jumped the perimeter fence and ran off. Daphne, another pet kangaroo, only got as far as the yard. And Rocky, the youngest kangaroo, who is still a baby, remained inside the house.
Matus said she loves her kangaroos and she even has kangaroo signs, yard art and a personalized license plate that reads “Roo Mom.”
“They’re unique,” she said. “I’m worried to death.”
On Thursday night, Matus told KTRK a stranger even drove down to help Matus search for Rowdy using his drone that is equipped with thermal imaging. Matus and her husband also used their drone to try and find Rowdy.
In a post on Facebook, Matus says Rowdy spends his days laying down and resting because kangaroos are nocturnal. She urges that if anyone sees him that they call the Austin County Sheriff’s Office.
“Please if you spot him anywhere you can contact myself, Austin Co Sheriff’s office or DPS,” Matus posted on Facebook. “He will not go to anyone, he will not harm anyone or anyone’s pets. He knows my voice and will come to me.”
Matus hopes Rowdy is safe and that he can make it back home.
“I just hope he’s safe because I know he’s scared. I just want him home.”
ABC News reached out to the Austin County Sheriff’s Office for comment and did not receive a response.
