(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump is strongly considering installing Fox News host and former prosecutor Jeanine Pirro as interim U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.
The potential selection comes as Trump told reporters in the Oval Office Thursday that Ed Martin, who is currently serving as D.C.’s interim top prosecutor, would not be taking the position permanently after losing support among top Republicans in the Senate.
An announcement about a new interim U.S. attorney could come as soon as Thursday, sources said. Sources caution that plans could always change and a decision is never final until publicly announced by the president.
The White House did not immediately respond to request for comment from ABC News. A representative for Fox News press relations did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment, nor did Pirro.
Pirro has been a longtime ally of Trump, dating back to her time as a prominent prosecutor in New York. She was an early supporter of his 2016 campaign and publicly defended him during the “Access Hollywood” tape scandal.
Following Trump’s loss in the 2020 election, Pirro pushed false allegations of election fraud involving voting machines and was later among the Fox News employees named in the Dominion Voting Systems defamation lawsuit for broadcasting false claims about the company. Fox News eventually settled for $787.5 million and admitted the statements were false.
In 2019, Pirro was reportedly suspended by Fox News after she questioned the loyalty of Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar to the U.S. Constitution, citing Omar’s Muslim faith.
Martin, who had been vying to become the top prosecutor in one of the nation’s most important U.S. attorney’s offices, has served as the interim U.S. attorney since the start of the administration, but his interim term expires on May 20.
Martin promoted Donald Trump’s “Stop the Steal” campaign in 2021 and was himself seen on Capitol grounds during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Trump said Thursday that Martin could serve in another capacity at the Department of Justice.
One of Trump’s final acts before leaving office in 2021 was issuing a last-minute pardon to Pirro’s ex-husband, a longtime GOP donor.
With less than an hour before his term ended, Trump granted one final pardon to Albert Pirro, who was convicted more than two decades ago on 34 counts of conspiracy and tax evasion after he was found to have improperly deducted over $1 million in lavish personal expenses as a tax write-off for his businesses.
(NEW YORK) — Plans for a new air traffic control system were announced Thursday by Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy amid a spotlight on the out-of-date ATC system and the air traffic controller shortage.
The Transportation Department said in a statement the current ATC system is “antiquated” and said the new “state-of-the-art” system will improve safety and cut back on delays.
Changes include swapping out old telecommunications for “new fiber, wireless and satellite technologies”; “installing new modern hardware and software”; replacing 618 old radars; and building six new air traffic control centers and replacing towers, the Transportation Department said.
The announcement comes as an outage at Newark Liberty International Airport last week caused ATC computer screens to go dark for roughly 60 to 90 seconds and prevented controllers from talking to aircraft during that time, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the incident. As a result, the Federal Aviation Administration briefly halted all departures to the airport.
Following the outage, several controllers went on medical leave, calling the experience a traumatic event. The controllers are entitled to at least 45 days away from the job and must be evaluated by a doctor before they can return to work.
The facility where controllers work the airspace around Newark airport is located in Philadelphia and was already short on air traffic controllers.
(WASHINGTON) — Attorneys for wrongly deported Kilmar Abrego Garcia said in a court filing Thursday that after conducting three depositions, they are “still in the dark about the Government’s efforts to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s release from custody and return to the United States.”
U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, seeking to determine how the government has failed to return Abrego Garcia after he was mistakenly deported to El Salvador, last month ordered expedited discovery in the case which included the depositions of the four government officials who submitted status updates on Abrego Garcia to the court.
In their filing on Thursday, attorneys for Abrego Garcia asked Judge Xinis to authorize three additional depositions of officials from the Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Department of State, and the Department of Justice.
“As the Court stated in that Order, “discovery is necessary in light of Defendants’ uniform refusal to disclose ‘what it can’ regarding their facilitation of Abrego Garcia’s release and return to the status quo ante,” the lawyers wrote.
The motion comes a day after Judge Xinis, in a court order, said that the Trump administration had invoked the rarely used state secrets privilege to shield information about the case, and scheduled a May 16 hearing on the matter.
Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran native who has been living with his wife and children in Maryland, was deported in March to El Salvador’s CECOT mega-prison — despite a 2019 court order barring his deportation to that country due to fear of persecution — after the Trump administration claimed he was a member of the criminal gang MS-13. His wife and attorneys deny that he is an MS-13 member.
The Trump administration, while acknowledging that Abrego Garcia was deported to El Salvador in error, has said that his alleged MS-13 affiliation makes him ineligible to return to the United States.
“Garcia is a citizen of El Salvador and should never have been in this country and will not be coming back to this country,” Department of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said Thursday in an appearance at a budget hearing before the Senate Appropriations Committee.
“There is no scenario where Garcia will be in the United States again. If he were to come back, we would immediately deport him again,” Noem said.
(SANTA ANA, Calif.) — One student was killed and two others were wounded in a stabbing outside their Southern California high school, authorities said.
The students were attacked in front of Santa Ana High School at about 3:25 p.m. Wednesday, shortly after dismissal, according to school officials and police in Santa Ana, which is about 30 miles southeast of Los Angeles.
When the victims were taken to hospitals, one was in critical condition and two were in stable condition, police said. The student in critical condition later died, police said.
The attack appeared to be gang-related, Santa Ana police spokesperson Natalie Garcia told reporters.
Police are searching for the two unidentified suspects, Garcia said. It’s not clear if the suspects attend Santa Ana High School or another school, she said.
“Our thoughts are with the family of the student who passed, and with all those impacted by this senseless act of violence,” the Santa Ana Unified School District said in a statement.
“Out of an abundance of caution, there will be an increased presence of Santa Ana School Police on and around Santa Ana HS on Thursday,” the district added.
Facing the potential of life in prison on sex trafficking and racketeering charges, Sean Combs hired a high-profile team of defense lawyers for his criminal trial in New York.
With a combined 150 years of legal experience, Combs’ team of lawyers have defended everyone from alleged United Healthcare CEO killer Luigi Mangione to disgraced financier Martin Shrkeli and rapper Young Thug.
“In looking at the team, especially on the first day of jury selection, it seems like they’ve got people who are experts in their own kind of general areas,” said ABC News Legal Contributor Brian Buckmire. “I think the team that Diddy has put together are some heavy hitters in their own rights, and they’re working together as such.”
Combs, a self-proclaimed “Bad Boy for Life”, was charged last year with racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and prostitution after prosecutors accused the rap mogul of using violence to coerce women into sex, protect his business empire, and preserve his reputation as one of hip-hop’s most important figures. If convicted, he faces the possibility of life in prison.
Combs has pleaded not guilty and denied the allegations against him, and his lawyers are expected to argue that any of the alleged sexual activity was done by consenting adults. He rejected a plea deal last week.
With an estimated billion-dollar fortune helping support his legal defense, Combs is relying on his high-powered army of attorneys to defend him in court and convince a jury to spare him a lengthy prison sentence.
Marc Agnifilo
Experienced defense attorney Marc Agnifilo is leading Combs’ defense team, bringing with him experience defending NXIVM leader Keith Raniere, “Pharma Bro” Martin Shkreli and Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng.
Raniere was convicted for creating what prosecutors described as a sex cult in which female members were branded with his initials and kept in line through blackmail and sentenced to 120 years in prison. Shkreli was sentenced to seven years in person for securities fraud and conspiracy, while Ng was sentenced to 10 years in person for his alleged role in a money laundering and bribery scheme including paying more than $1.6 billion in bridges to dozens of government officials.
Agnifilo also has experience working as a federal and state prosecutor and boasts having tried more than 200 cases over his three-decade legal career.
Agnifilo is also one half of a legal power couple with his wife Karen Friedman Agnifilo, a former prosecutor who investigated the Trump Organization while with the Manhattan district attorney’s office. Since leaving government service, her most high-profile client has been Luigi Mangione, the 27-year-old accused of gunning down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson last year.
Teny Geragos
Teny Geragos is a founding partner at New York-based law firm Agnifilo Intrater, and also defended Raniere and Shkreli. She graduated from Loyola Law School of Los Angeles in 2016.
Geragos is also the daughter of famed defense attorney Mark Geragos, whose clients include Hunter Biden, Chris Brown and Michael Jackson. While Mark Geragos is not representing Combs, his appearance in court during jury selection sparked criticism from prosecutors due to his past public statements about the case on his podcast. Federal prosecutors asked the judge to remind Mark Geragos about court policies that forbid statements outside court that could interfere with a fair trial.
Mark Geragos is also involved in a simultaneous high-profile case — arguing for the release of Erik and Lyle Menendez 35 years after the pair was convicted of killing their parents.
Alexandra Shapiro
Alexandra Shapiro brings over 30 years of appellate experience to Combs’ legal team, having served as the deputy chief of appeals for the United States attorney’s office in Manhattan and an attorney-adviser in the Office of Legal Counsel of the U.S. Department of Justice.
She represented Sam Bankman-Fried in the failed appeal of his criminal conviction and scored a series of legal victories at the United States Supreme Court. She also clerked for the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg — a job she shares with the judge overseeing Combs’ case, though the two did not overlap.
Brian Steel
Atlanta-based attorney Brian Steel joined Combs’ legal team last month after gaining national attention defending rapper Young Thug.
After the longest criminal trial in Georgia history, Young Thug pleaded guilty to gun, drug and gang charges but was spared a lengthy prison sentence. Steel was briefly sent to jail during the trial after the judge overseeing the case held him in contempt for refusing to provide the judge information about what he learned of a meeting between prosecutors, a witness and the judge himself. The contempt ruling was later overturned.
Xavier Donaldson
Xavier Donaldson, a New York-based criminal defense attorney, joined Combs’ legal team on the eve of trial. He has nearly three decades of criminal defense experience and worked as a former prosecutor in the Bronx.
Anna Estevao
Anna Estevao is a partner at New York law firm Sher Tremonte LLP. She graduated from New York University School of Law and briefly worked as a federal defender in California, according to her Linkedin profile.
Jason Driscoll
Jason Driscoll is an associate at Shapiro’s law firm and one of the most junior members of Combs’ defense team. He graduated from New York University School of Law and completed two deferral clerkships.
Linda Moreno
Linda Moreno is a high-profile legal consultant who joined Combs’ legal team to help with jury selection. Her law firm’s website describes her an expert on anti-Muslim bias, including representing Sami Amin Al-Arian after he was indicted under the Patriot Act for allegedly playing a leadership role in the terrorist group Palestinian Jihad. He was acquitted on most charges and pleaded guilty to lesser charges.
She also was on the legal team that secured an acquittal for Noor Salman, the wife of the Pulse nightclub shooter who was accused of lying to the FBI and helping her husband.
Moreno is no stranger to celebrity trials having worked on the legal team defending American actor Wesley Snipes in his criminal trial for failing to file tax returns. Snipes was convicted on three misdemeanor charges but acquitted on the more serious felony charges.
(NEW YORK) — When Svetlana Dali snuck onto a Delta flight from New York to Paris in November it was not the first time she had successfully evaded airport security measures, federal prosecutors said Wednesday in a new court filing.
Two days before Dali, 57, went through security at JFK Airport and walked onto the Delta plane without a boarding pass she accessed a secure area of the departures terminal at Bradley International Airport in Connecticut, prosecutors said.
“The investigation uncovered that, just like at JFK, the defendant similarly tried twice to enter TSA security checkpoints at BDL without a boarding pass—the first time unsuccessfully, and the second time successfully—wearing what appeared to be the same boots and backpack that she was wearing at JFK,” prosecutors said.
There is no evidence Dali boarded a flight from Bradley but the filing said she “bypassed BDL security checkpoints in a manner that is strikingly similar to her conduct at JFK” where she was able to sneak past identification checks by comingling with other passengers.
Earlier in 2024, customs agents found Dali hiding in a bathroom in a secure area of the Miami International Airport, prosecutors said.
In that instance, Dali claimed she had just arrived on an Air France flight and was waiting for her husband in the secure international arrivals zone. Prosecutors said there was no record of Dali on an Air France flight that day and no record she had left the United States in the prior five years. Ultimately, she was escorted from the airport.
Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn are seeking to introduce evidence of each episode when Dali stands trial later this month on stowaway charges from the incident on Nov. 26.
Once aboard Delta flight 264 to Paris, the filing said Dali hid in one of the plane’s lavatories for several hours.
“When a flight attendant noticed her lengthy bathroom visit, the defendant manipulated her into believing she was sick by pretending she was vomiting to excuse her prolonged time in the bathroom,” the filing said.
“Shortly before landing, the captain announced that the plane’s descent would be turbulent and instructed everyone to take their seats, including the crew,” the filing said. “As the flight crew rushed to secure the plane, the same flight attendant realized the defendant was still in the bathroom and instructed her to take her seat. The defendant continued to pretend to vomit, but the flight attendant insisted she sit down.”
Dali allegedly could not find a seat and the flight attendant asked for her name, identification and boarding pass. The defendant gave her two fake names and failed to produce any boarding pass or ID, prosecutors said.
“Alarmed, the flight attendant realized the defendant was not authorized to be on board and instructed the defendant to sit in a seat reserved for flight crew,” the filing states. “Scared that the defendant might be dangerous, the flight attendant positioned herself between the defendant and other passengers for their safety. The flight crew notified French law enforcement, who arrested the defendant on the plane as soon as it landed in Paris.”
Officials attempted to send Dali back to the United States on another flight shortly after, ABC News previously reported, but Dali was removed from the plane after insisting against her return.
She was eventually brought back to New York to face charges. After being released, Dali allegedly cut off her ankle monitor and traveled to Buffalo, where she planned to cross over the Peace Bridge into Canada but was apprehended.
Dali has pleaded not guilty to a federal stowaway charge.
(WASHINGTON) — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement conducted raids targeting businesses in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, sources confirmed to ABC News.
A coalition of activists had warned delivery drivers and restaurants of the planned enforcement one day prior.
“I have heard those reports, I’ve been getting them all morning. I am disturbed by them,” Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser told reporters on Tuesday. “It appears that ICE is at restaurants or even in neighborhoods, and it doesn’t look like they’re targeting criminals. It is disrupting.”
She also emphasized that the Metropolitan Police Department was not involved.
Multiple sources told ABC News that federal law enforcement officials visited dozens of restaurants, carry-out spots and bars across several neighborhoods in Washington, including U Street, 14th Street, Chinatown, Dupont Circle and Mount Vernon Triangle. The visits spanned a wide range of establishments, from fast-casual spots to fine-dining restaurants and luxury cocktail bars, reflecting the breadth of the operation.
At many restaurants, agents distributed information and pamphlets requesting to see I-9 forms to verify the identities and employment authorizations for all employees dating back to one year ago. Some restaurants were told that federal officials would return in three days.Following Tuesday’s visits, some restaurant owners chose to close preemptively.
George Escobar, chief of programs and services at CASA, an organization geared toward improving the quality of life for the working class, told ABC News on Tuesday that the organization regularly receives tips about planned raids — but that this one was different.
“This one, to be honest, alarmed us a little bit because it was really specific,” Escobar said.
The organization has run a 24-hour tip hot line since the first Trump administration.
“We’re experienced. We don’t get alarmed by, like, you know, any old threat because, you know, they’re frequent, right? And they come in all different types of forms,” he said.
“We received notice about a specific kind of operation on how they were going to be conducted: what the pretense of maybe entering some of these small businesses were going to be, the fact that they were looking specifically at food businesses and possibly delivery workers,” he explained.
ABC News reached out to the Department of Homeland Security and ICE for comment but did not receive a response.
“If ICE wants to snatch up every single immigrant working in food service and delivery, then the entire industry will collapse,” Amy Fischer, a core organizer with Migrant Solidarity Mutual Aid Network, which supports migrants arriving in the capital, said in a statement.
The Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington, which represents the more than 60,000 restaurant workers in the area, said in a statement shared with ABC News that it is “deeply concerned” by the reports of ICE raids and drop-ins across Washington, D.C.
RAMW said it urges “policymakers on a local and federal level to consider the real-world impact on local businesses and communities.”
“Immigrants make up a significant portion of our workforce at all levels. From dishwashers to executive chefs to restaurant owners, immigrants are irreplaceable contributors to our most celebrated restaurants and beloved neighborhood establishments,” it added. “The immigrant workforce has been essential to sustaining and growing our local restaurant industry and has been a major contributor to our local economy.
“At a time when our economy is already fragile, losing even one staff member at a single establishment has a profound impact on the operations of a restaurant and its ability to serve patrons,” RAMW added. “Disrupting restaurant staffing across the industry can create a damaging ripple effect felt immediately throughout the entire local economy.”
(POLK COUNTY, Fla.) — A Florida woman was killed by an alligator during a canoeing trip with her husband, who tried to save her during the surprise attack, officials said.
The husband and wife were canoeing in about 2 1/2 feet of water at the mouth of Tiger Creek near Lake Kissimmee in Polk County on Tuesday afternoon when the boat drifted over a large alligator, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
The gator thrashed and tipped the canoe over, throwing both the husband and wife into the water, fish and wildlife officials said.
The victim, 61-year-old Polk County resident Cynthia Diekema, ended up on top of the alligator in the water, the officials said.
She was bitten and her husband tried to save her, officials said. Her body has since been recovered.
An investigation is underway, the agency said. An 11-foot-4-inch alligator matching the description of the gator involved was recovered Tuesday night; a second gator, about 10 to 11 feet long, was recovered Wednesday morning, the officials said.
Roger Young, executive director of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, called Diekema’s death a “devastating loss.”
Deadly alligator attacks are “extremely rare,” but the “tragedy serves as a somber reminder” of the power of local wildlife, Young said at a news conference Wednesday.
To cut down on the risk of gator attacks, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission urges the public to keep their pets away from the water and to only swim in designated areas during the day.
(NEW YORK) — An online legal defense fund for alleged CEO killer Luigi Mangione has surpassed $1 million as he prepares to return to court next month.
The fund reached the million-dollar mark on Tuesday, which coincided with Mangione’s 27th birthday.
Mangione is being held without bail at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, where his legal team said he “receives anywhere from 10 to 115 letters per day.”
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg hasn’t specifically addressed the defense fund, but he spoke out against the online support for Mangione in general in an interview with ABC News in December.
“Celebrating murder is abhorrent,” Bragg said at the time. “I sit across the table from families who’ve had a loved one killed. And to think of people celebrating that … is beyond comprehension to me.”
Mangione has pleaded not guilty to state and federal charges in connection with the assassination-style murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, who was gunned down outside a Midtown Manhattan hotel in December.
Mangione is due back in court on June 26 for the state charges. Defense attorneys have asked to either dismiss or delay the state case in favor of the federal case.
If convicted of the federal charges, Mangione could be sentenced to death. Mangione is next due in federal court on Dec. 5.
(AUSTIN) — Police in Texas said they are looking for a missing 9-year-old girl who hasn’t been seen in over seven years whose disappearance was uncovered after the child’s mother was arrested for allegedly locking her 7-year-old daughter in a closet for weeks.
Virginia Marie Gonzales, 33, of Austin, was arrested on a charge of injury to a child after the 7-year-old girl was found “locked in a closet and starving” last month, according to Austin Detective Russell Constable.
The girl’s grandmother called police after she found the child “malnourished, soiled and barricaded in a bedroom closet” on April 3, according to the arrest warrant affidavit. The grandmother had gone to the apartment after Gonzales was arrested for marijuana possession, according to the affidavit.
Gonzales allegedly barricaded her child in the closet for a month, feeding her a hot dog or corn dog in the morning and evening and half a cup of water daily, according to the affidavit.
The girl was immediately taken to a local hospital for medical treatment, where she was found to weigh 29 pounds and had signs of malnourishment, according to the affidavit. She is currently recovering, Constable said during a press briefing Tuesday, calling the case “emotionally difficult.”
There were six other children in the home between the ages of 2 and 14 who appeared to be physically healthy, police said. Though during the investigation, authorities learned that there was an eighth child, Ava Marie Gonzales, who was not inside the home and had not been seen by family or friends since December 2017, when she was 2 and in the custody of her mother, police said.
“Austin Police Department’s missing person detectives are seriously concerned about Ava’s welfare, given the circumstances in which Ava’s 7-year-old sibling was found,” Constable said.
ABC News reached out to Gonzales’ attorney and did not immediately receive a response. She is being held in the Travis County Correctional Complex on $75,000 bond and has a court hearing scheduled next week, online jail and court records show.
Ava has not been reported missing by her mother or anyone else, Constable said.
Constable said the girl’s mother has “provided conflicting information to many different family members” about Ava’s whereabouts, and police are asking for anyone who may have seen her or knows where she is to come forward.
Police have not identified her father, he said.
Constable said Gonzales has provided police some information regarding her missing child that they are trying to corroborate.
“We’re hoping to get some more information and try to figure out where she is,” he said.
As far as Austin police are aware, none of Gonzales’ children are enrolled in school, Constable said.
Police released an age-progressed photo of Ava, who has brown hair and brown eyes.
Anyone with information is asked to email ava@austintexas.gov or can anonymously call Crime Stoppers at 512-572-8477.
ABC News’ Amanda Morris contributed to this report.
