he Department of Justice (DOJ) seal on the J. Edgar Hoover Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) building in Washington, DC, US, on Tuesday, April 7, 2026. (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — The Justice Department is seeking to denaturalize a former diplomat who was caught spying for the Cuban government.
For nearly 40 years, Manuel Rocha acted as a spy for the Cuban government under the guise of being a U.S. diplomat, according to the Justice Department.
Rocha is a native of Colombia, but became a “great friend” of the Cuban government. The lawsuit filed by the Justice Department in the Southern District of Florida alleges that he lied on his naturalization paperwork when he filed it in the late 1970’s.
“Under no circumstances should an agent of a foreign adversary be permitted to hold the title of American citizen,” Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate said in a statement. “Our mission is clear: to root out these fraudsters and preserve the sanctity of the naturalization process for those who adhere to our laws. Any individual who lied during the naturalization process to gain a foothold in this country will be met with the full weight of the Department of Justice.”
He had worked at the State Department and held various leadership posts since the early 1980’s, according to the Justice Department. All of that unraveled when he was caught on video outlining all of his crimes to an undercover agent in 2022.
“Rocha celebrated his activities on behalf of the DGI and against the United States’ interests, and explained why and how he continued to preserve the secrecy of those activities,” according to court records unsealed in 2023.
He was sentenced to 15 years behind bars.
The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Jason A. Reding Quiñones said that Rocha was not a “low level operative” but rather “a senior government official who admitted he secretly served the Cuban regime for decades.”
Poul Thorsen was extradited Thursday from Germany with U.S. Air Marshals, according to the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General. (Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General)
(NEW YORK) — A former influential scientist who did work at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is back in the grasp of U.S. law enforcement, facing financial fraud charges — after more than a decade out of federal authorities’ reach, according to officials.
Poul Thorsen was extradited Thursday from Germany with U.S. Air Marshals, according to the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General. It comes 15 years after he was indicted by a federal grand jury in the Northern District of Georgia.
His work, and the fraud allegations against him, have long lingered in the lexicon of conspiracy theorists seeking to question the safety of vaccines.
Thorsen helped lead research for the CDC studying infant disabilities, according to prosecutors. Thorsen’s work included co-authoring papers that found no link between autism and childhood vaccination — science which, according to medical experts, still stands today.
Separate from Thorsen’s pursuit of peer-reviewed medicine, prosecutors say he schemed to divert research grant money to his own coffers.
Thorsen was indicted in 2011 after he allegedly “absconded” with over $1 million in CDC grant money for autism research and was charged with 13 counts of wire fraud and 9 counts of money laundering. He was arrested in Germany in June 2025.
Thursday, Thorsen was flown in handcuffs from Germany to Atlanta, also the home of CDC headquarters.
In a statement to ABC News, an HHS-OIG spokesperson lauded the work that brought Thorsen’s extradition to bear.
“Mr. Thorsen is alleged to have stolen more than a million dollars in federal research funds – money intended to advance critical scientific work and improve public health outcomes. His betrayal harms taxpayers, researchers, and the communities who depend on this research,” said HHS-OIG spokesperson Yvonne Gamble.
“HHS-OIG remains committed to protecting the integrity of federal health care programs and ensuring that individuals who misuse public funds are held accountable. We are grateful for our federal and international law enforcement counterparts, whose coordinated efforts made this extradition possible,” Gamble said.
In the 1990s and early aughts, Thorsen worked as a visiting scientist from Denmark at the CDC’s Division of Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities — just as new public health initiatives in the area were flourishing and flush with fresh funding. Thorsen, at the time, vigorously advocated for grants for Danish research on infant disabilities. His push was successful: from 2000 through 2009, the CDC awarded over $11 million to two Danish government agencies for the research, according to prosecutors.
Thorsen quickly assumed responsibility for the research money he had pushed for. In 2002, he moved back to Denmark and “became principal investigator responsible for administering the research money awarded by the CDC,” the indictment said.
Thorsen began funneling the funds elsewhere, prosecutors said. He forged signatures and documents with official CDC letterhead and submitted fake invoices he claimed were for research, according to the indictment. Meanwhile, Thorsen was actually moving the funds into personal accounts within CDC’s credit union, the indictment said. He would then withdraw the money for his own personal use, including the purchase of a Harley Davidson motorcycle, cars and a home in Atlanta.
From February 2004 through June 2008, Thorsen submitted for reimbursement more than a dozen fraudulent invoices purportedly signed by a CDC lab boss. He claimed it was for expenses incurred in connection with the CDC grant. They were not, prosecutors said.
“In truth, the CDC Federal Credit Union accounts were personal accounts held by defendant Thorsen. He used the accounts to steal money under the CDC grant,” the indictment said.
Thorsen’s alleged crimes have, since his indictment, also become attractive fodder for conspiracy theorists, attempting to conflate his financial fraud with his medical research. Among his published works are findings of “strong evidence against the hypothesis” that the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine causes autism. Some anti-vaccine groups have used Thorsen to paint a picture of corruption at the highest echelons of medical exploration.
Among those groups: the Children’s Health Defense (CHD), a group that pursues anti-vaccine causes. CHD was also once led by now-Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has long shared vaccine-skeptic views.
There is a page dedicated to Thorsen’s “criminal conduct” on CHD’s site, linking to a lengthy 2017 paper in which a group chaired by RFK Jr. levied accusations of “questionable ethics and scientific fraud” that “have resulted in untrustworthy vaccine safety science.” The paper called Thorsen a “key figure” in “shaky research” on vaccines and autism.
Decades of research has found no link between autism and vaccines or any vaccine preservative. Thorsen was indicted on wire fraud and money laundering, not for falsifying medical research.
Thorsen is expected to be arraigned Friday in federal court in Atlanta, according to an HHS-OIG official.
A smartphone screen displays a folder containing AI applications Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Grok, Copilot, and DeepSeek. . (Photo by Samuel Boivin/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Visual investigation: Scores of online resellers are using AI to fool customers by pretending to be mom-and-pop stores
Scores of online companies are increasingly turning to generative AI technology to deceive consumers, falsely portraying themselves as struggling small businesses to charge a premium for lower quality products, an ABC News visual investigation found.
ABC News has identified dozens of similar online retailers — selling everything from clothing to jewelry to lamps — that used AI images and videos to portray themselves as down-on-their-luck craftsmen or small business owners in need of support.
These kinds of sites have proliferated online and take advantage of consumer trends. Experts warn that by the time others leave reviews or complain about the misleading claims, the sites often go offline or move on to selling another product.
“You can use AI to create very realistic media, right? So you can take and create photos of people who look like someone who might be making handmade goods,” said Marshini Chetty, an associate professor of computer science at the University of Chicago. “You can create reviews at scale. You can create testimonials. And then even when you generate these sites, they already use these kind of manipulative tactics.”
According to Denny Svehla, a musician from Rockford, Illinois, the ad he saw for a retiring craftsman selling flat caps appeared completely normal at first.
“I’ve been making flat caps and newsboy caps by hand since 1973. Closing the workshop next Wednesday and I’ll be honest, I’ve still got way more inventory than I know what to do with — just needs to go,” one slickly produced ad said. “Every cap on that shelf has hours of my work in it — real materials, hand finished, built to outlast the man wearing them. 53 years and not one shortcut.”
For Svehla — a Neil Diamond tribute artist who runs a small business with his wife — the story felt personal, and he wanted to help.
“I get the pressure, so I thought, ‘Man, I am going to buy a cap,'” Svehla told ABC News. “I even gave him a tip.”
According to Svehla, he first became suspicious about the purchase when he got an update showing that the “handmade” hats he bought were being shipped from mainland China. When the hats eventually arrived, he said he was disappointed at their quality and even more annoyed at the deception.
“I’m sitting there thinking I’m trying to help someone,” Svehla said. “He’s going to end up going out of business after 52 years. I’ve been in business for 50 years myself, and I’m looking at, you know, what am I going to do if I can’t go anymore?”
Unbeknownst to Svehla, the website that sold him the hats is one example of a growing trend of sites that use generative AI technology to portray themselves as struggling small businesses. At least three similar sites — George’s Caps, Henry’s Caps, and Walter’s Caps — offered similar pitches to consumers, claiming they are retiring after decades in business and need to offload their inventory.
A representative of George’s Caps, when reached by ABC News, did not address questions regarding whether George is a real person or if claims regarding his retirement are fabricated. They touted the quality of the products they sell, saying, “We are actually well aware that there are some genuinely poor operators in this space. We hear about them directly from our own happy customers who have tried competitors and been disappointed before finding us.” The representative said, “I would also challenge the assumption that foreign made goods are automatically inferior. What matters is the quality standard being maintained and the commitment to the customer.”
Other sites use AI to make emotional appeals. One purportedly New York-based clothing retailer shared an AI-generated image of their damaged storefront — with shattered glass and police tape — to announce their “big sale.”
“Our store has been completely destroyed and after years of love and dedication to our business, we see no other way out. As if we hadn’t fought enough against the big giants with their huge budgets, this has dealt us the final blow,” the ad claimed.
But that store didn’t list an address in New York, and online detection tools suggested the image was made entirely with artificial intelligence.
Another site claimed to be a New York-based lamp company that was closing after two decades in business and now offering customers a massive discount on their remaining inventory.
“It’s not easy to close the doors of something that’s been part of your soul. But the time has come. Aluné, our beloved lamp boutique in New York, is packing up for the very last time,” their post said, showing an image of a middle-aged man and woman laying out their lamps on a sidewalk.
But after weeks online, the site has since been removed, and multiple experts said that the site’s advertising was generated with AI. When ABC News visited their address on one of New York’s priciest streets — between retailers for Chanel and Versace — there was no trace of the company or evidence that it ever existed.
None of these businesses responded to a request for comment from ABC News.
According to Chetty, massive advances in AI technology has made it easier to quickly create convincing sites that can fool even the savviest online shoppers.
“People can do this at scale, create these images, create these websites, put them up quickly, take them down quickly,” she said.
And Chetty noted that those kinds of sites can thrive on social media, where consumers are often distracted and more likely to make a quick purchase. ABC News has identified dozens of videos on platforms like YouTube and TikTok where retailers used AI to generate videos showing fake craftspeople making their products. Expert analysis — paired with online detection tools — confirmed they were created with AI technology, and their websites were linked to generic holding companies or companies oversees.
None of the other retailers who were contacted by ABC News responded to a request for comment.
Many of the videos prey on customers’ emotions by showing interactions that try to create sympathy by showing creators being picked on in public.
“This comment says, ‘You’re a 32-year-old man making Mario lamps for kids in your bedroom, let that sink in,'” one video said, mimicking a video format where creators respond to negative comments.
ABC News identified four nearly identical videos, where different middle-aged men — seemingly in the same garage — spoke the same script.
While Chetty said that AI videos like these might have been easier to spot a few years ago, even experts sometimes struggle to identify what’s real from what’s fake.
“Maybe you’re walking down the street in New York, you’re not thinking too deeply and you’re just clicking away. That’s kind of how they get you, right?” she said. “Because they know that they want you to make a quick decision. They know you’re not paying careful attention. And it’s very easy to kind of take advantage of you at that point.”
In this July 31, 2021, file photo, a Black Lives Matter activist holds a picture of Casey Goodson Jr. during a march and rally, in Columbus, Ohio. (Sopa Images via LightRocket via Getty Images, FILE)
(COLUMBUS, Ohio) — A jury in Columbus, Ohio, reached a partial verdict on Thursday in the retrial of a former Ohio deputy Jason Meade, who was charged in the 2020 shooting death of 23-year-old Casey Goodson, Jr.
The jury found Meade guilty of reckless homicide, but failed to reach a verdict on the murder charge.
“We the jury, upon our oaths and law and evidence in its case find the defendant guilty of reckless homicide,” the judge read after a partial verdict was reached.
The judge said that the jury was hung on the murder charge and he declared a mistrial on that count. He also revoked Meade’s bond after the partial verdict was reached. The decision came after the 12-member jury communicated to the judge earlier on Thursday that they were deadlocked and believed it was “impossible” for the group to reach a “unanimous decision” on a verdict. The judge asked them to resume deliberations.
Meade’s first trial in Feb. 2024 ended in a mistrial after the jury failed to reach an agreement.
Goodson’s mother, Tamala Payne, welcomed the jury’s decision and said that Meade now “has to stand accountable for what he did to Casey.” “It gives us closure. It gives us peace. And now I’m sure I speak for my family when I say this, I know now, Casey can rest,” she added.
ABC News reached out to Meade’s defense attorneys, but requests for comment were not immediately returned.
Brian Steel, the president of the police union that represented Meade, spoke out during a post-verdict press conference, saying that he is “disappointed” in the jury’s decision.
Special prosecutor Tim Merkle said that the state is “pleased with the partial verdict.”
“We appreciate the hard work the jury did. They have spoken, and we’re pleased with that,” he added.
Merkle said that while the murder charge remains “unresolved,” prosecutors have not made a decision on whether they will pursue a third trial on that charge.
The jury, which is made up of nine women and three men, began deliberations on Wednesday afternoon and resumed on Thursday morning. Meade, who did not take the witness stand during the trial, pleaded not guilty.
On the day of the fatal shooting, Goodson had gone to a dentist appointment, prosecutors said, and was returning to his home while listening to music on his AirPods and carrying a bag of sandwiches when he was fatally shot.
Meade was working with the U.S. Marshals on that day in search of a potential violent fugitive when he fatally shot Goodson. Goodson was not the target of the search.
Meade’s defense team argued during the trial that the former sheriff’s deputy followed Goodson and pursued him after Goodson allegedly pointed a gun at other cars while driving.
At the center of the case was the defense team’s claim that Meade was acting in self-defense when he fatally shot Goodson, claiming that Goodson had pointed a gun at Meade before he was killed. Goodson was entering his home at the time.
Prosecutors disputed this claim and argued that Goodson’s fatal shooting was unjustified and said that the 23-year-old did not pose an “imminent threat” and was killed with his keys in the door as he tried to get inside.
A gun was found in Goodson’s possession with the safety on, according to police. Goodson was a legal gun owner and had a concealed carry permit, which was found in his wallet, police said. No body camera video of the incident exists because at the time, Franklin County Sheriff’s deputies were not issued body-worn camera equipment.
During the trial, which began with opening statements last week, the state called detectives, law enforcement officers, Goodson’s family, a medical examiner, forensic firearms and use of force experts to the stand. Meanwhile, the defense called one witness — a use-of-force expert — before resting their case. The jury was shown body camera footage of the aftermath of the shooting, a reenactment video that was produced by the FBI and before the trial began, the jurors visited the scene of the incident.
During the trial, special prosecutor Tim Merkle argued on behalf of the state that this case is about the “six shots in the back” that killed Goodson.
“Six shots in the back,” Merkle said. “The evidence will show that on Dec. 4, 2020, the defendant shot Casey Goodson Jr. six times in the back, killing him. At the time Casey had entered his house, he was carrying a bag of Subways and was listening to YouTube music on his AirPods.”
Kaitlyn Stephens, a defense attorney for Meade, argued that Meade’s fatal shooting of Goodson was a “justified tragedy” that occurred because Meade perceived a “threat” after Goodson “pointed a gun” at the sheriff’s deputy — a claim that prosecutors dispute.
“The evidence will show that Jason Meade was justified — a justified tragedy as such,” Stephens said.
“He’s going into the house with a gun. That is not an imminent threat, that is not an immediate threat, that is not a threat,” Merkle said. Stephens told jurors that the law requires them to consider the incident from Meade’s perspective “as a reasonable” law enforcement officer.
“Our defense will require you to answer two questions. Question one, did Jason believe he was about to be shot when he saw Mr. Goodson point the gun at him?” Stephens said. “And question two was Jason’s decision to use deadly force reasonable through the eyes of a reasonable police officer standing in Jason’s shoes without 2020 hindsight.”
Goodson’s family attended the trial, and his grandmother, Sharon Payne, his sister, Janae Jones and his uncle, Ernest Payne, Jr., testified on behalf of the state.
Three individuals were arrested in New York on May 7, 2026, for their roles in a January 2026 armed hijacking of a truck making a delivery at the Apple store in the Americana shopping center in Manhasset. (Department of Justice, Eastern District of New York)
(NEW YORK) — Three people were arrested Thursday in the January armed hijacking of a truck making a delivery at the Apple store in the Americana shopping center in Manhasset, New York City.
The delivery truck was filled with Apple merchandise valued at more than $1 million. The stolen goods included hundreds of devices and other accessories, including MacBooks, iPhones, iPads and Apple Watches, federal prosecutors said.
Alan Christhofer Cedeno-Ferrer, Michael Mejia-Nunez and Ennait Alexis Sirett-Padilla are accused of hijacking the truck and forcing the delivery workers to drive to a secluded location where they made off with more than $1.2 million worth of Apple products.
Victims were preparing to unload the merchandise when a black Honda Accord pulled up to the delivery truck. Three masked men, armed with handguns, got out of the car and approached the victims, according to court records.
They forced victim-1 into the back of the truck and zip-tied his hands. Victim-2 was ordered at gunpoint, into the driver’s seat to drive the truck. He was directed to a secluded parking area behind an office building less than a half mile away and then ordered into the back of the delivery truck with Victim-1, where his hands were also zip-tied, according to prosecutors.
The Accord and the delivery truck were followed to the location by a Home Depot box truck, authorities said. As captured by surveillance cameras, the Home Depot truck backed up to the rear of the delivery truck, so the cargo sections were aligned, according to prosecutors.
The Apple merchandise was then moved from the delivery truck to the Home Depot truck. Once they finished, they closed the cargo door to the delivery truck with the victims inside and left the location. One of the victims was able to free himself and call 911, according to prosecutors.
The defendants are expected to appear in federal court later Thursday, when federal prosecutors will seek their detention.
(NEW YORK) — At least three tornadoes hit Mississippi overnight with at least 17 injuries reported, officials said.
Some of the hardest-hit population centers in Mississippi are Purvis and Brookhaven, as well as a mobile home park in Bogue Chitto, authorities said. Baseball-sized hail was also reported in parts of the state as well as Alabama.
Flooding was also reported in parts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, especially in and around Montgomery, where the State Capitol Building was evacuated during a special session debate on redistricting.
A tornado watch is in effect until 10 a.m. ET on Thursday for the Florida Panhandle and southwest Georgia.
Mississippi has seen 62 tornadoes so far this year before Wednesday, all of them EF0 or EF1 strength.
As a cold front slowly sinks into the region, there is a chance that some storms could produce more damaging wind and tornadoes.
Over the next few days, widespread rounds of rain are expected to bring 1 to 4 inches throughout the South, which is dealing with a serious drought.
The National Weather Service Office in Jackson, Mississippi, will be conducting surveys on Thursday to confirm tornadoes along a major tornado path in Franklin, Lincoln and Lawrence counties as well as from Purvis to south of Hattiesburg, where there are several damage reports.
Signage during a news conference at the Department of Justice in Washington, DC, US, on Monday, May 4, 2026. (Photographer: Daniel Heuer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — The Department of Justice is investigating a series of suspiciously timed trades in the oil market just ahead of major announcements by President Donald Trump and a top Iranian official about the war in Iran, sources told ABC News.
The DOJ, along with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, is probing at least four of these trades where traders made a total of more than $2.6 billion betting that oil prices would drop right before they did.
The DOJ and CFTC have not commented on the trades.
ABC News obtained the data of the four trades from the London Stock Exchange Group.
On March 23, 15 minutes before Trump announced that he would delay threatened attacks on Iran’s power grid, traders bet more than $500 million that oil prices would fall.
On April 7, hours ahead of a temporary ceasefire announced by Trump, traders bet $960 million that oil prices would fall.
On April 17, 20 minutes before Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi posted on social media saying that the Strait of Hormuz was open, traders bet $760 million that oil prices would fall.
On April 21, 15 minutes before Trump announced he would extend the ceasefire, traders placed a series of bets worth $430 million that oil prices would fall.
The series of oil trades was first reported by Reuters and the data from LSEG does not indicate any identities behind these trades and does not prove individuals were trading based on insider information.
Fire and smoke mark where a UPS cargo plane crashed near Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport on November 04, 2025 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Stephen Cohen/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — A slew of new civil lawsuits allege UPS and its partners failed their responsibility to make sure a plane they put in the air was safe to fly — and that negligence led to the fiery, fatal plane crash in Louisville, Kentucky, last year that claimed the lives of 15 people.
The complaints allege the plane was faulty, the risks were known and yet it left the ground on a nonstop trip to Honolulu on Nov. 4, 2025 anyway.
The lawsuits — 15 in total — were filed in Jefferson Circuit Court on behalf of more than 100 survivors and victims of the crash as well as impacted businesses.
The lawsuits, which include several wrongful death claims, name a lengthy list of defendants, including UPS, Boeing, GE, Allianz insurance and the company that performed maintenance and repair on the plane.
Also named as a defendant: the estate of one of the plane’s pilots — Capt. Richard Wartenburg, who perished in the crash — who the lawsuits claim was “directly responsible for determining whether” the plane “was in a condition for safe flight.”
The lawsuits claim the defendants let a “catastrophic failure” occur.
In a statement, UPS said in a statement, “We remain deeply saddened by Flight 2976. Our focus continues to be on supporting those affected and working closely with the National Transportation Safety Board as the investigation continues.”
In a statement, Boeing said: “We extend our deepest condolences to the families and friends of those who lost their lives in this accident.”
‘Huge ball of fire coming straight for us’ The new allegations come just on the heels of the crash’s six-month anniversary.
The UPS jet — a McDonnell Douglas MD-11 — lost its left engine and pylon shortly after taking off from Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport last November, crashing just seconds into the flight, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.
Exploding in a fireball, it slammed into an area scrapyard, Grade A Recycling.
“I wake up every day and have to kind of relive it and bring myself back to reality,” said Ashley Muse, who was there that day, and is a plaintiff in one of the suits.
“All you could see was a huge ball of fire coming straight for us, and everyone started screaming and running, and within seconds, it hit us, the whole building shook like we were in an earthquake,” Muse told ABC News in an exclusive interview.
Muse said she was saved by a colleague who later died. Her colleague Adam Bowman, who is a plaintiff in one of the suits, also jumped into action — saying he pulled one victim out of the inferno, who later passed away from his injuries.
“I turned my head, all I saw was a massive fireball,” Bowman said. “It started getting really hot, and thinking, I love my job, but I don’t want to die here.”
The lawsuit alleges the defendants, including UPS, the pilot, Boeing and others “negligently allowed” the aircraft “to be dispatched in an unsafe and an unairworthy condition resulting in the departure of the left pylon and engine from the wing causing the crash.”
They “accepted the risk of an MD-11 crash by continuing to utilize the aircraft type without more frequent and rigorous inspections of the pylon assemblies,” the filings said.
“People made decisions, corporations made decisions, to continue to operate these planes,” said attorney Masten Childers III, who is representing the plaintiffs.
Childers said in this case, UPS and the other defendants “took those risks, and those risks came to a head on Nov. 4 … when this plane fell out of the air on top of our clients.”
“More could have and should have been done to ensure that those problems were remedied so things like what happened on the 4th didnt happen,” Childers said.
‘It happened out of the blue’ One of those deaths was 3-year-old Kimberly Asa, who was with her grandfather Louisnes Fedon at Grade A Recycling on the day of the crash.
Left behind — Kimberly’s mother, and Louisnes’ daughter.
“My dad was a really good person. My daughter, she was also a very bubbly person. I expected to watch her grow. I expected to always be able to run to my dad. So, the biggest thing is how it happened out of the blue,” Sherline Fedon said. “It’s not something that you hear about — when I finally saw a plane had hit, I don’t think anybody would have ever thought that it was their family. That’s something that you see on the news, and never think that you would be a part of it, or someone that you love to be a part of that. So I think what sticks with me the most is how random, and unheard of, it feels to me.”
Kimberly “survived the initial impact” and “attempted to flee to safety from the explosion of nearly 220,000 pounds of jet fuel, seeking shelter from the smothering smoke and intense flames under a partially collapsed structure,” the documents alleging their wrongful deaths stated.
Their autopsies indicated that their deaths were not quick, according to the lawsuits.
Kimberly “suffered from excessive smoke inhalation resulting in soot in her airway, charring of all of her body surfaces and heat related fractures to her skull, left ribs and both arms,” according to the filings. Her cause of death was determined to be “smoke inhalation and thermal injuries resulting from the crash, explosion and subsequent fire” of the plane.
Her grandfather Louisnes also “survived the initial impact” and tried to flee with Kimberly, according to the filing. His “autopsy indicates that he suffered baking of his brain and right lung from the exposure to extreme temperature.” His cause of death was determined as “carbon monoxide intoxication, smoke inhalation and thermal injuries” from the crash and fire.
‘Known structural defects’ After the crash, federal investigators focused on metal fatigue cracks around the engine of the UPS plane that crashed on Nov. 4.
The lawsuits now home in on those cracks — alleging that overstress fracture and failure of the pylon assembly “significantly contributed to the crash.”
The lawsuits allege there were “known structural defects” with the MD-11F fleet of aircraft, citing a 2011 “service letter” issued by Boeing.
That letter informed operators of the MD-11 aircraft, including UPS, of the risk of bearing race failures, according to the lawsuits, which allege that despite that Boeing “did not alter the inspection interval for MD-11 spherical bearings and bearing races.”
The lawsuits also allege Boeing “failed to provide adequate warning of the defective condition of the MD-11 and failed to provide a reasonably safer alternative.”
Given what it called the “known risk” of the some of the plane’s alleged defects, UPS and the other defendants “knew or shoud have known that the assembly required more frequent inspection(s),” the lawsuit stated, alleging that the cost of such inspections would have made that plane model “inefficient for operation from a cost perspective.”
Regarding the actions of the pilot, the lawsuits argue Captain Wartenburg also had a duty to make sure his plane was safe to fly. Upon takeoff roll and rotation on the flight, a “repeated bell was sounding in the cockpit” but he “failed to act appropriately when presented with this alarm bell and failed to prevent the crash,” the lawsuits allege.
UPS pilots, including Wartenberg, knew this plane and type “as a problem aircraft with multiple defects but Defendant Wartenberg and the UPS Defendants, jointly and severally, elected to operate N259UP anyway,” the lawsuits claim.
In addition to those killed in the crash, others suffered “physical and psychological injuries,” and businesses suffered financial loss and damage from the crash, according to the lawsuits.
U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., presents documents related to Rep. Cory Mills,R-Fla., as she participates in a House Armed Services Committee hearing with U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth in the Rayburn House Office Building on April 29, 2026 in Washington, DC. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
South Carolina Republican Rep. Nancy Mace says she has obtained records through a congressional subpoena that reveal the value of several confidential sexual misconduct and harassment settlements struck on behalf of members of Congress and paid at the expense of the U.S. taxpayer totaling more than $338,000 over a 10-year run — while a letter to the House Oversight Committee shows that many additional records on the subject have been destroyed.
Mace shared the names of eight former members and the office of one former member shortly after obtaining the documents on Monday.
None of the former members shared by Mace still hold public office anywhere, but the underlying disclosure offers a glimpse into the legislative branch’s recent history addressing sexual harassment.
In a post on X, Mace — a member of the House Oversight Committee — first posted a picture of a binder she says contained more than 1,000 pages of records from the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights beginning in 2007 and stretching into 2017.
The settlements are paid by the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights Section 415 fund, which is authorized by the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995.
Among those named by Mace are former Rep. Patrick Meehan, R-Pa., and former Rep. Rodney Alexander, R-La., and former Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., and former Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-N.Y., who both passed away shortly after leaving Congress.
Mace listed a settlement of $8,000 in 2009 for the office of McCarthy, who is alleged to have been aware of and conducted mistreatment related to a consensual sexual relationship between an aide and a senior staffer. She also faced allegations of discrimination based on sex and disability, and reprisal.
For Conyers, a $50,000 payment was made in 2010. He’s alleged to have made advances on a staffer. Four years later, Conyers faced a hostile workplace, sexual harassment, age discrimination, and reprisal allegations, resulting in improper termination, resulting in a $27,111.75 payout.
Meehan is listed to have two cases involving alleged sexual harassment by a senior staffer that the member was aware of and alleged sexual harassment by the member. The severance pay period for the complainant is listed at $39,250.
Meehan confirmed to ABC News on Wednesday that he paid back the settlement after resigning.
“There is no comment. There is nothing [Mace] puts out that wasn’t already public 8 years ago,” Meehan wrote. “Yes, I personally repaid the full settlement amount within 30 days of leaving as I said I would.”
Alexander, who left Congress in 2013 and went on to become the secretary of the Louisiana Department of Veterans Affairs, faced an allegation of a consensual sexual relationship with a staffer prior to her employment, resulting in her alleged mistreatment and firing, according to a source familiar with the document production. The payout was listed at $15,000.
Alexander told ABC News in a statement that the $15,000 settlement tied to his name was the result of “the behavior of two staffers” in his office.
“Nineteen years ago, during my tenure in Congress, there were two separate and unrelated incidents involving the behavior of two staffers in my office. The allegations were referred to the proper authorities and settlement payments were made by the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights,” Alexander wrote. “After an immediate investigation, both offending staffers’ employment with my office were terminated immediately. At no time during my tenure in Congress was any allegation made against me.”
An attorney for Rep. Eric Massa, D-N.Y., who faced allegations of hostile workplace, sexual harassment and inappropriate touching, told ABC News in 2017 that the former congressman had no knowledge of the payments. There were three Massa cases listed and three settlements totaling to $115,000.
Former Rep. Blake Farenthold, R-Texas, told ABC News in 2018 that he had no intention of repaying the $84,000 sexual harassment settlement stemming from a 2014 complaint by a former congressional aide alleging sexual harassment, gender discrimination and retaliation. He resigned in 2018 and died last year.
The records surrounding nine cases were provided Monday to Mace and the House Oversight Committee by the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights as part of an initial document production pursuant to a committee subpoena, according to a letter signed by John N. Ohlweiler, general counsel at the OCWR, that was sent to the committee on April 24.
The letter presents “relevant statistical information” regarding OCWR cases from Jan. 1, 1996, through Dec. 12, 2018. The OCWR says it “approved a total of 349 awards or settlements to resolve complaints against legislative branch offices.”
“Some of these awards or settlements may have resolved more than one complaint filed by the same individual against the same office. Of these 349 awards or settlements, there were 80 that were settled by the Office of a Member of the House of Representatives or the Office of a Senator,” the letter states.
ABC News has reviewed an April 24 letter to the committee, which does not name any of the lawmakers whose cases are detailed in the 1,000-page document production to the Oversight Committee, meeting an April 30 deadline imposed by a committee subpoena. A source familiar with the document production confirmed to ABC News that the names listed by Mace do appear in the 1,000-page response from OCWR, though ABC News has not yet independently reviewed the complete document production.
Mace says she will release the documents after carefully reviewing them to ensure that any sensitive information about victims is fully redacted.
In his letter to the committee, Ohlweiler explained how the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights determined which documents met the committee’s objective to investigate sexual misconduct or harassment involving a member of Congress.
Ohlweiler’s letter notes that the CAA Reform Act of 2018 requires OCR to establish a program for the permanent retention of records and OCR’s current Record Retention Policy requires the digital preservation of records from all filed cases.
“We prioritized our efforts on identifying those cases involving allegations of actual Member misconduct — particularly sexual misconduct or sexual harassment — that resulted in awards or settlements, and locating the documents associated with those cases,” Ohlweiler wrote Oversight Chairman James Comer and ranking Democrat Robert Garcia.
The letter from Ohlweiler explains that from the 80 total settlements, at least 20 case files “were destroyed pursuant to an ‘OCWR Record Retention Policy’ that required case records to be destroyed ten years after the case was fully closed” in accordance with a retention policy “put in place in 2013 to align OCWR with regular government-wide record retention practices.”
The OCWR says it maintained a retention policy that requiredcase records to be destroyed ten years after the case was fully closed — a policy it put in place in 2013 to align OCWR with “regular government-wide record retention practices.”
Ohlweiler’s letter notes that the CAA Reform Act of 2018 requires OCR to establish a program for the permanent retention of records and OCR’s current Record Retention Policy requires the digital preservation of records from all filed cases.
“These 20 destroyed physical case files dated to the time period between 1996 and 2003. There are 3 additional physical case files from 2003 and 2004 for which the ‘OCWR Record Retention Policy — Destruction Schedule’ indicates the physical case files were destroyed, but we have not yet physically confirmed that destruction took place because the relevant boxes from long-term storage have not been examined.”
Ohlweiler says that OCWR does still possess and has reviewed the original Settlement Agreements for these 23 cases — including the terms of the settlements. But Ohlweiler says the documents “do not specify any details about the underlying allegations, including who was accused of committing the alleged misconduct.”
There were six additional cases scheduled for destruction between 1997 and 2001 for which OCWR does not have the Settlement Agreement or the case file, according to Ohlweiler’s letter. Ohlweiler says that information within the office’s retired content management system confirms that these six cases were filed against member offices and were ultimately settled.
“For these 6 cases, the CMS does not provide any information regarding the terms of the settlement (except that only one of the six required a payment from the 416 Fund) or the details of the underlying allegations,” Ohlweiler wrote.
“The results of my subpoena of Congress’s sexual harassment slush fund are in. Nine members. One thousand pages,” Mace posted on X on Monday. “All records prior to 2004 were destroyed — which tells you everything you need to know about how long this has been buried. We are reviewing every page. We will name all nine. We will release the full 1,000 pages — once we confirm that personally identifiable information of victims and witnesses has been properly redacted. Accountability is not a threat. It is a promise.”
“Read that again: they destroyed all the evidence prior to 2004,” Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Florida, reacted on X.
Pro-Palestinian activists rally for Mohsen Mahdawi and protest against deportations outside of ICE Headquarters on April 15, 2025, in New York City. Mohsen Mahdawi, an organizer of pro-Palestinian demonstrations last year at Columbia University, was detained by the Department of Homeland Security during his naturalization interview in Vermont on Monday. (Photo by Adam Gray/Getty Images)
The Board of Immigration Appeals has reinstated deportation proceedings against pro-Palestinian student Mohsen Mahdawi, according to a court filing from his attorneys.
In February, Judge Nina Froes dropped the deportation case against the Columbia University student, ruling in part that the Department of Homeland Security failed to authenticate a memo allegedly signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio claiming Mahdawi posed a threat to United States foreign policy.
The Trump administration appealed that decision and the BIA, which skews conservative, overturned Froes’ decision.
he move reinstates deportation proceedings against Mahdawi, but it will be overseen by a different judge after Froes was terminated from her position. Her firing comes as critics of the Trump administration say it has sought to reshape immigration courts by replacing immigration judges in an attempt to ramp up deportations.
The Executive Office for Immigration Review did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
Mahdawi’s arrest is still being challenged in federal court, so the government can’t deport him for the moment, the ACLU said. He was detained in April 2025 when he arrived at his citizenship interview.
“The government continues to weaponize the immigration system to silence dissent,” Mahdawi said in a statement. “But it cannot erase the Constitution or the First Amendment, which protects free speech for all. The government is trying to punish and deport me, a stateless Palestinian refugee from the occupied West Bank, because it opposes my peaceful advocacy for human dignity and equal rights for Palestinians. But I remain unafraid and faithful that justice will prevail in America and in Palestine.”
Arguing for his detainment last spring, lawyers for the Trump administration pointed to a 2015 FBI investigation, in which a gun shop owner alleged that Mahdawi had claimed to have built machine guns in the West Bank to kill Jews.
However, the FBI closed that investigation and Mahdawi was never charged with any crime, a point a federal judge highlighted when he ordered Mahdawi’s release in May 2025.
