Lindsey Halligan, holds ceremonial proclamations to be signed by US President Donald Trump, not pictured, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Thursday, March 6, 2025. Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — A federal judge wants to know why Lindsey Halligan is still using the title of U.S. attorney despite a judge ruling in November that she is legally not in the position.
Halligan, who was appointed by President Donald Trump to be the acting U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia, was found by a judge to not be legally allowed to serve in the role because the law doesn’t allow the position to be filled by two interim nominees in a row.
The ruling came two months after Halligan secured indictments against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, only to have them thrown out due to her unlawful appointment.
The issue stems from a recent case in which Halligan, on the indictment, represents that she is the U.S. attorney and “did so despite a binding Court Order entered by Senior United States District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie on November 24, 2025, in which Judge Currie found that the ‘appointment Ms. Halligan as Interim U.S. Attorney violated 28 U.S.C. § 546 and the Appointments Clause of the U.S. Constitution,'” U.S. District Judge David Novak wrote in a filing Tuesday.
Judge Novak said that while the government is appealing the ruling, it is not subject to being ignored. He ordered the government to explain why Halligan has identified herself as the U.S. attorney within seven days.
“Ms. Halligan shall further explain why her identification does not constitute a false or misleading statement,” the judge wrote.
A Justice Department spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment from ABC News.
Halligan, one of Trump’s former personal attorneys, was named U.S. attorney by Trump in September after Trump ousted her predecessor, Erik Siebert, who sources say had expressed doubts internally about bringing cases against James and Comey.
Because Siebert himself had been named interim U.S. attorney by Trump last January, Judge Currie ruled that Halligan’s appointment as interim U.S. attorney violated the Constitution’s Appointments Clause that limits how long prosecutors can serve without Senate confirmation.
Nick Reiner attends AOL Build Speaker Series at AOL Studios In New York on May 4, 2016 in New York City. (Laura Cavanaugh/FilmMagic)
(LOS ANGELES) — Nick Reiner is expected to appear at an arraignment on Wednesday to enter a plea in the murders of his parents, renowned director Rob Reiner and his wife Michele Reiner.
The 32-year-old faces two counts of first-degree murder with the special circumstance of multiple murders.
Nick Reiner made a brief first court appearance on Dec. 17 and waived the right to a speedy arraignment.
Since his last appearance, sources told ABC News that law enforcement and defense attorneys have been working to piece together Nick Reiner’s psychiatric and substance abuse history. Legal experts say California law allows defense attorneys to signal as early as Wednesday’s hearing whether they will seek to use mental health in their defense.
Nick Reiner has a documented history of addiction and substance abuse treatment, and friends have told investigators that his mental health had been deteriorating prior to the murders.
He could enter a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity Wednesday, though that could also come later.
Under California law, a jury can find a defendant not guilty by reason of insanity, which would result in confinement to a state psychiatric hospital rather than prison. That process can begin at arraignment but is not required to.
To pursue this defense, attorneys must demonstrate that the accused suffered from a mental illness prior to developing an addiction. A mental illness caused solely by addiction does not meet the legal standard.
Nick Reiner’s defense attorney Alan Jackson issued a statement last month, reading: “We ask that during this process, you allow the system to move forward in the way that it was designed … not with jumping to conclusions, but with restraint and with dignity and with the respect that this system and this process deserves and that the family deserves.”
Rob Reiner and Michele Reiner were found stabbed to death in their Brentwood home on Dec. 14.
The night before the murders, Nick Reiner — who had been open about battling drug addiction since he was a teenager, and had been living on his parents’ property — got into an argument with Rob Reiner at a holiday party, and was seen acting strangely, sources told ABC News.
Nick Reiner was taken into custody in downtown Los Angeles hours after the bodies were discovered.
Rob and Michele Reiners’ other children, Jake and Romy Reiner, said in a statement last month, “Words cannot even begin to describe the unimaginable pain we are experiencing.”
“The horrific and devastating loss of our parents, Rob and Michele Reiner, is something that no one should ever experience. They weren’t just our parents; they were our best friends,” they said.
“We are grateful for the outpouring of condolences, kindness, and support we have received not only from family and friends but people from all walks of life,” Jake and Romy Reiner said. “We now ask for respect and privacy, for speculation to be tempered with compassion and humanity, and for our parents to be remembered for the incredible lives they lived and the love they gave.”
(WASHINGTON) — The White House said Tuesday President Donald Trump and his advisers are discussing a range of options to acquire Greenland — adding “utilizing the U.S. military is always an option.”
“President Trump has made it well known that acquiring Greenland is a national security priority of the United States, and it’s vital to deter our adversaries in the Arctic region,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said. “The President and his team are discussing a range of options to pursue this important foreign policy goal, and of course, utilizing the U.S. Military is always an option at the Commander in Chief’s disposal.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
A photo illustration of a physical gold Bitcoin collectible on December 3,2025, in London, England. (Photo by Peter Dazeley/Getty Images)
(MAINE) — One of the country’s top cryptocurrency kiosk vendors has agreed to pay the state of Maine nearly $2 million as part of a settlement to compensate victims of fraud, the state announced on Monday.
Bitcoin Depot, which operates more than 25,000 bitcoin ATMs across the country, will pay the state $1.9 million, which represents money “taken by third-party scammers who defrauded Maine consumers through their kiosks.”
Victims of fraud perpetrated using Bitcoin Depot kiosks may apply for compensation from the state. As part of the settlement, Bitcoin Depot admits to no wrongdoing or violation of state or federal laws.
Bitcoin ATMs, which allow users to insert cash and send it to a digital wallet anywhere in the world in only a few minutes, have emerged as scammers’ top go-to method for separating Americans from their cash, according to experts.
In a typical scam, fraudsters will convince their victims that they must make a payment or safeguard their cash by inserting it in a bitcoin ATM. Once the transaction is executed, experts say, the money can be nearly impossible to recover — making it an attractive method for prospective scammers.
In 2025, Americans lost more than $333 million to bitcoin ATM scams, the FBI recently told ABC News, representing a dramatic uptick from prior years.
Maine has taken some of the nation’s most aggressive steps in limiting the proliferation of scams using bitcoin ATMs, including establishing daily deposit limits and capping transaction fees.
A spokesperson for Bitcoin Depot, which currently faces a separate lawsuit in Iowa, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from ABC News.
Flowers and photographs are seen at a memorial dedicated to the victims of the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School on June 3, 2022 in Uvalde, Texas. Alex Wong/Getty Images
Gonzales, who is charged with 29 counts of child endangerment, is alleged to have neglected his duty and training during the chaotic response to the shooting, which left 19 children and two teachers dead.
Prosecutor Bill Turner spoke softly and on the verge of tears at the start of his opening argument. His statement marked the first time prosecutors have provided their rationale for charging Gonzales, disclosing that a teacher came face-to-face with gunman Salvador Ramos before Ramos entered the school, and she tried to warn Gonzales.
“She’s face-to face with the gunman, and he fires on her, and she turns to run, and when she turns to run, she trips and she falls. And when she gets up, Adrian Gonzalez, the police officer, is there,” Turner said. “She says, ‘He’s over there.’ She urges him to go get him.”
“He gets on the radio and says, ‘Shots are fired, he’s wearing black, he’s in the parking lot,'” Turner said. “He knows where he is, but Adrian Gonzalez remains at the south side of the school.”
As Turner walked the jury through the tragic minutes that followed that encounter — describing the number of gunshots fired by Ramos as Gonzales allegedly waited outside — Turner hammered at the point that Gonzales allegedly stayed where he was, rather than try to stop the shooting.
Ramos “fired shots into a classroom full of children … Adrian Gonzalez remains,” he said.
Despite nearly 400 officers responding to the shooting, law enforcement took 77 minutes to mount a counterassault to kill Ramos.
Judge Sid Harle seated a full jury after an emotionally fraught selection process on Monday. Dozens of potential jurors voiced frustration with the police response, and more than 100 excused themselves from the process, saying they did not believe they could be fair and impartial.
“They were only protecting themselves more than they were protecting the children,” one dismissed juror told the court, as others cheered and clapped in agreement. “I would have sacrificed myself to save them, but they didn’t. They just sat there.”
Gonzales has pleaded not guilty, and his lawyers argue he is being scapegoated for a broader law enforcement failure. During the jury selection process, some voiced frustration that more officers have not been charged in the years following the tragedy.
“Are you saying this man is the whole problem? You are sticking it on his shoulders alone?” one dismissed juror remarked. “How many of them were out there? They should all be sitting there with him.”
Gonzales was charged last year, along with former Uvalde schools Police Chief Pete Arredondo, the on-site commander on the day of the shooting. Arredondo’s trial has been indefinitely postponed due to a pending civil lawsuit after the members of an elite tactical unit with the U.S. Border Patrol refused to speak with prosecutors about their involvement that day.
The Gonzales case marks the second time in U.S. history that prosecutors have sought to hold a member of law enforcement criminally accountable for their response to a mass shooting. In 2023, a Florida jury acquitted Scot Peterson, a former Broward County sheriff’s deputy, who was charged with child neglect and culpable negligence for his alleged inaction during the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Peterson’s lawyers argued his role as an armed school resource officer did not amount to a caregiving post needed to prove child neglect in Florida, and that the response to the shooting was muddled by poor communication.
According to Bob Jarvis, a professor of law at Nova Southeastern University, prosecutors in the Gonzales case are likely to face the same legal hurdles that doomed the Peterson case.
“What you’re really trying to do,” he said, “is argue … that being a coward is a crime, and that is very, very difficult.”
The Milwaukee County Courthouse in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, US, on Friday, April 25, 2025. Jamie Kelter Davis/Bloomberg via Getty Images
(MILWAUKEE) — Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan, who was convicted last month of obstructing federal immigration agents at her courthouse, has resigned, according to a letter to Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers.
In the letter, Dugan vowed to keep fighting her case but added that Wisconsin citizens “deserve to start the year with a judge on the bench in Milwaukee County Branch 13 rather than have the fate of that Court rest in a partisan fight in the state legislature.”
“As you know, I am the subject of unprecedented federal legal proceedings, which are far from concluded but which present immense and complex challenges that threaten the independence of our judiciary. I am pursuing this fight for myself and for our independent judiciary,” Dugan wrote in the letter, dated Saturday.
Dugan was accused of obstructing official Department of Homeland Security removal proceedings and knowingly concealing an undocumented man from immigration authorities at a courthouse in April. Following a weeklong trial in December, a jury found Dugan guilty of obstructing federal agents and not guilty of concealing an undocumented immigrant from arrest during the courthouse incident.
A sentencing date has not been set. She faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison.
Dugan defended her record as a judge in the letter, writing, “Behind the bench I have presided over thousands and thousands of cases — with a commitment to treat all persons with dignity and respect, to act justly, deliberatively, and consistently, and to maintain a courtroom with the decorum and safety the public deserves.”
“Beyond the bench I have attended hundreds and hundreds of community events, listening to Milwaukee County residents voice their justice system experiences and concerns — as jurors, witnesses, litigants, victims, and justice-impacted citizens who care about our courts,” she continued.
She said her “faith in God and in our legal system leads me to trust that in the long run justice will be served for our independent judiciary and for me.”
According to federal prosecutors, Dugan encountered federal agents who were at the Milwaukee County Circuit Court on April 18, 2025, 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 attempt to help him evade arrest on immigration violations. Flores-Ruiz was ultimately captured outside the court building after a brief foot chase and later deported.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court had suspended Dugan in the wake of her arrest, stating in an order that it found it was “in the public interest that she be temporarily relieved of her official duties.”
Sen. Mark Kelly, a Democrat of Arizona, and his wife, former Rep. Gabby Giffords, appear on ABC News’ “Good Morning America,” Jan. 6, 2026. ABC News
(NEW YORK) — Sen. Mark Kelly said he would “absolutely not” have changed his message to U.S. troops about not following illegal orders, despite now knowing that it would result in a censure.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth censured Kelly, a Democrat of Arizona, on Monday for “conduct [that] was seditious in nature,” referring to a video Kelly participated in in November that told United States service members they have a right to refuse unlawful orders.
Hegseth alleged that Kelly “counseled members of the Armed Forces to refuse lawful orders” in the video. Kelly and others who participated in the video have disputed that claim.
“Let me make this perfectly clear, though, Gabby and I are not people that back down,” Kelly said on Tuesday during an appearance with his wife, former Rep. Gabby Giffords, on “Good Morning America.” “From anything, from any kind of fight.”
The administrative action, which is a less consequential action than a court-martial, will result in a reduction in rank and Kelly’s retirement pay, a process Hegseth says will take 45 days.
The video prompted fierce criticism from President Donald Trump, who called it “seditious behavior” and said the Democrats involved — who previously served in the military or in the intelligence community — should be “in jail.”
Kelly, who sits on the Senate’s Armed Services and Intelligence committees, said in the interview that aired on “GMA” on Tuesday that his original message was intended to be “nonpartisan.”
He said he would have expected the president to agree with his statements, describing a potential presidential response, saying, “Of course, you don’t follow illegal orders.”
“But not this guy,” Kelly said, referencing Trump, “because he looks at this as maybe somehow as a threat to his authority.”
Kelly and the other five Democrats involved in the November video directed at military members have defended their message as being in line with the Uniform Code of Military Justice and the Constitution.
At one point after the original message was posted, Trump said their action could be “punishable by death.” He also shared a social media post calling for participants in the video to be hanged. But he later said, “I’m not threatening death, but I think they’re in serious trouble.”
“I said something the president and Pete Hegseth did not like and, because of that, the president said I should be hanged, I should be prosecuted,” Kelly said on “GMA” on Tuesday. “This is un-American and this sends a chilling message.”
On Monday, Kelly said he will fight any punishment.
“Pete Hegseth wants to send the message to every single retired servicemember that if they say something he or Donald Trump doesn’t like, they will come after them the same way,” Kelly said in a statement.
Kelly in an interview on “The Daily Show” that aired on Monday evening said he might be able to file an appeal with the military over the changes to his retirement. He also raised the prospect of filing a federal lawsuit, saying he would do “everything appropriate in this circumstance to make sure that they know this is unacceptable.”
ABC News’ David Brennan, Chris Boccia and Isabella Murray contributed to this report.
Columbus police released video footage of a person of interest walking in an alley near the the Tepes’ house in the early hours of Dec. 30, 2025. (Columbus Police Department)
Spencer and Monique Tepe were found shot to death in their Columbus home on Dec. 30, Columbus police said. Two small children were found safe inside, police said.
Authorities said they believe the couple was killed between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m. on their home’s second floor.
Detectives on Monday shared what they called “recovered video footage” of a person walking in an alley near the victims’ house during that 2 a.m. to 5 a.m. timeframe. The grainy video shows the person of interest in jeans and a black hooded jacket, apparently with their hands in their pockets.
“We know there are questions and concerns,” police said. The department said tips are coming in, and they are “working diligently to solve this case.”
Meanwhile, the relatives of Spencer and Monique Tepe are mourning and waiting for answers.
“Makes no sense as to how somebody could do this,” Monique Tepe’s brother, Rob Misleh, told ABC News’ “Good Morning America.” “What kind of person can take two parents away from such young children, and just two beautiful people away from this earth?”
The police ask that anyone who could help identify the person of interest call 614-645-2228. Anonymous tips can be submitted to Central Ohio Crime Stoppers at 614-461-8477.
Jeffrey Epstein is seen on the images released on December 19, 2025 by the US Department of State. (US Justice Department/Anadolu via Getty Images)
(CHICAGO) — The Department of Justice said in a new court filing Monday night that there are more than 2 million documents “potentially responsive” to the Epstein Files Transparency Act that are presently in various phases of review.
Federal prosecutors said that “in the next few weeks ahead” about 400 department attorneys in Washington, D.C., New York and Florida “will dedicate all or a substantial portion of their workday to the Department’s efforts to comply with the Act.”
The effort will tap DOJ lawyers from the Criminal and National Security Divisions and will also include assistance from more than 100 FBI analysts experienced with handling sensitive victim materials, according to the letter from Jay Clayton, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, to U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer.
“Many of the attorneys dedicated to this review from the Department have experience in victim-privacy related matters, which is necessary given the nature of the materials and the types of documents that require careful redaction,” Clayton wrote. “While the commitment of Department personnel to this effort has been substantial in breadth and impressive in effort, substantial work remains to be done.”
The letter does not indicate a total page count for the millions of records under review and provides no specific time frame for when the DOJ expects to complete the work or when to expect its next public disclosure. The deadline set by Congress for the release of all the Epstein-related investigative files was Dec. 19.
Thus far, the DOJ says it has posted to its “DOJ Epstein Library” 12,285 documents totaling about 125,000 pages.
The filing from the DOJ follows ABC News’ reporting last week that the DOJ had recently identified over 5 million records that may be subject to disclosure under the law.
In a footnote to the court filing Monday, the DOJ indicates that it expects that a “meaningful portion” of about 1 million newly identified FBI records may be duplicative of others already collected by the DOJ for review, but those documents “nonetheless still need to undergo a process of processing and deduplication.”
Clayton’s Monday letter also notes that the DOJ has received “dozens” of inquiries from alleged victims and their representatives requesting that materials already posted to the DOJ’s website be further redacted to protect the privacy interests of the victims.
The DOJ will be modifying its procedures going forward “to better ensure the protection of victim identifying information,” according to the court filing.
“The Department remains committed to providing as much protection to the privacy interests of victims and their relatives as is practicable,” the letter states.
Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro is escorted by U.S. Drug Enforcement Agents after arriving in New York City, January 3, 2026. Obtained by ABC News
(NEW YORK) — Ousted Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, made their initial appearance in Manhattan federal court on Monday following their capture by U.S. forces in a military operation in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas, with Maduro claiming, “I am innocent.”
Maduro told the court he is “still president of my country” and his attorney signaled they may try to assert Maduro is entitled to protection from prosecution as head of a sovereign state.
There are “issues about the legality of his military abduction,” his attorney Barry Pollack said.
Maduro and Flores — who are being held in federal custody at MDC-Brooklyn — appeared in front of Judge Alvin Hellerstein at noon.
When he entered the courtroom, Maduro greeted the spectators, saying, “Buenos dias.” Maduro was escorted into the courtroom in shackles and orange jail slippers and sat two seats away from his wife.
The couple wore headphones to hear the court-provided interpreter.
When Maduro took his seat next to Pollack, he immediately began writing on a notepad. Flores sat next to her attorney, Mark Donnelly.
Maduro stood before the judge.
“Are you, sir, Nicolas Maduro Moros?” Hellerstein asked.
Maduro declared, through an interpreter, “I am the president of Venezuela.” He added, “I was captured at my home in Caracas, Venezuela,” before the judge interrupted and told him there would be time later to challenge his custody.
Maduro then affirmed he is who the judge said he is.
Hellerstein read Maduro the standard rights.
Maduro said, through an interpreter, “I did not know of these rights. Your Honor is informing me of them now.”
“How do you plead to the indictment?” Hellerstein asked.
Maduro responded, “I am innocent. I am not guilty. I am a decent man. I am still president of my country.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said he believes Maduro is not the legitimate president of the country. That was also the position of the Biden administration, which offered a $25 million reward for his arrest in January 2025.
“I am innocent. I am not guilty of anything mentioned here,” Maduro responded, through an interpreter, when asked to repeat his plea to the charges.
Hellerstein then turned to Maduro’s wife.
“I am Cilia Flores,” she said. “I am first lady of the Republic of Venezuela.”
Hellerstein interjected, saying, “The purpose today is just to ask you who you are.” The judge then explained her rights to remain silent and to be represented by an attorney.
“Yes I understand and I’ve heard it,” Flores said.
Asked how she pleaded to the three counts of the indictment she faces. Flores responded, “Not guilty — completely innocent.”
“As citizens of the state of Venezuela, you have the right to consult with consular officials,” Hellerstein informed Maduro and Flores.
“We understand it and we would like to have such consular visits,” Maduro said.
Maduro took notes during the proceeding and he asked the judge for permission to keep them.
Maduro and Flores did not ask for bail. The judge said he is open to receiving a bail application in the future, but the couple will otherwise remain detained at MDC-Brooklyn.
Donnelly said Flores was injured during the military operation and requested a medical briefing. A bruise was evident on Flores’ head.
“She sustained significant injuries. There’s worry she may have a fracture or severe bruising on her ribs,” Donnelly said.
As Maduro was being led from the courtroom, someone in the gallery stood and shouted in Spanish, in part, “You will pay in the name of Venezuela.”
Maduro stopped and responded in Spanish, “I am the elected president. I am a prisoner of war. I will be free.”
The next court date is set for March 17.
Before Monday’s hearing, dueling groups of protesters gathered across the street from the courthouse, One group held signs urging President Donald Trump to “Free President Maduro,” and the other supported of his capture.
Maduro and Flores are among six defendants named in a four-count superseding indictment that accused them of conspiring with violent, dangerous drug traffickers for the last 25 years. Maduro has long denied all the allegations.
Maduro’s son, two high-ranking Venezuelan officials and an alleged leader of the Tren de Aragua criminal gang are the other defendants.
Trump said on Saturday that the U.S. “successfully carried out a large-scale strike against Venezuela” in which Maduro and Flores were “captured and flown out of the Country.”
Trump said the operation was carried out in conjunction with U.S. law enforcement. Members of Congress said the military, which sources said included the elite Delta Force, was in place to support that law enforcement operation.
In a move that alarmed some observers, Trump, who campaigned on “America First” and against foreign entanglements, said during a press conference at Mar-a-Lago the U.S. would “run” Venezuela for an unspecified “period of time.”
He said a team comprised of some of his Cabinet officials along with a local team in Venezuela would be “running the country” because there is “nobody to take over.”
“We’ll run it properly. We’ll run it professionally. We’ll have the greatest oil companies in the world go in and invest billions and billions of dollars and take out money, use that money in Venezuela, and the biggest beneficiary are going to be the people of Venezuela,” Trump said.
Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez has been sworn in as interim leader to lead the country after what the Venezuelan Supreme Court described as Maduro’s “kidnapping.”
Rodriguez demanded Maduro’s return and vowed to defend Venezuela against American aggression.
On Sunday, Rodriguez posted a statement to social media in which she appeared to soften her tone, inviting “the U.S. government to collaborate with us on an agenda of cooperation oriented towards shared development within the framework of international law to strengthen lasting community coexistence.”
Trump told reporters on Sunday that the U.S. is “in charge” of Venezuela.
The president said he had not yet spoken to Rodriguez. Asked if he wanted to, Trump said, “At the right time, I will.”
ABC News’ Meghan Mistry and Hannah Demissie contributed to this report.
