FBI seizes former Rep. Swallwell’s phone, devices as part of criminal probe, sources said
Former U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell departs the U.S. Capitol Building on March 5, 2026, in Washington, D.C. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — The FBI seized former Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell’s electronic devices as part of an ongoing criminal probe, according to sources familiar with the situation.
Swalwell was served with a search warrant for his cellphone and other electronic devices while he was at San Francisco International Airport on Saturday night, according to sources, and agents served a search warrant at his Washington, D.C., home on Sunday.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(WASHINGTON) — Excavation work for the construction of President Donald Trump’s proposed 250-foot “triumphal arch” will begin over the next two weeks, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum announced, despite the project not having final approval from a key agency.
“We are pleased to announce that after a very long wait (over 125 years!), we are preparing to start, over the next two-week period, the excavation work necessary for the Great Triumphal Arch and Military Observation Deck, at Memorial Circle on Columbia Island between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery,” Burgum wrote in a social media post on Thursday.
“This will be one of the Great Pieces of American Architecture, honoring the history and significance of Arlington Cemetery and befitting the most powerful Capital in the World,” Burgum added.
Burgum’s announcement comes after a key agency gave initial approval to the plans and as the project continues to face a legal challenge.
In July, the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) voted to approve the preliminary site and building plans for the arch after hearing hours of public testimony against the project.
Ahead of that meeting NCPC agency staff recommended initial approval but also a series of revisions to the project to comply with the Height of Buildings Act. The century-old federal law restricts building heights in Washington, D.C., to preserve the city’s skyline.
The commission has not yet approved the final design for the arch.
Trump’s proposed arch would be more than twice as tall as the 99-foot Lincoln Memorial, and taller than France’s Arc de Triomphe.
Earlier this year, Commission of Fine Arts, another federal agency made up entirely of Trump appointees, also voted to give the project initial approval.
The National Park Service plans to have construction take place 20 hours per day over the next two to three years, according to planning documents released by the Interior Department earlier this summer.
A group of Vietnam veterans sued over the arch earlier this year and are asking a federal judge to block the construction, arguing the arch would obstruct views of Arlington National Cemetery and can’t be built without congressional authorization.
The Trump administration has argued that a 100-year-old statute related to the building of the nearby Arlington Memorial Bridge authorizes construction of the arch. Department of Justice lawyers have also argued that the plaintiffs lack standing and that the lawsuit is premature.
In recent court filings, both sides referenced the Supreme Court’s move earlier this week to allow continued construction of the White House ballroom — another of Trump’s key Washington projects.
In a filing Thursday, the Trump administration said the veterans’ claims are “indistinguishable” from the one rejected by the high court’s five-member majority earlier this week in the ballroom case, finding the National Trust for Historic Preservation likely lacked standing to sue.
“Plaintiffs’ personal and professional experiences cannot transform distaste for the arch and its proposed placement into concrete and particularized injuries required for Article III standing,” the Justice Department’s filing said.
The veterans argued their suit is different than the ballroom case.
“Plaintiffs’ injury is not based on the construction of something that gives them offense but rather on the destruction of a landscape that they regularly visit and that holds profound personal significance for each of them in its present state,” the veterans’ filing argues.
In April, U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is hearing the case, ordered that the Trump administration must provide the court with 14 days’ notice before any construction on the arch can begin.
The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool continues to show signs of an algae bloom on the National Mall on June 22, 2026, in Washington, DC. President Donald Trump said that another round of repairs to the iconic basin will begin immediately after paint started peeling following the completion of a recent $14 million no-bid restoration project. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump said Tuesday the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool will be drained again for “permanent repair” around the Fourth of July, and said that six people have now been arrested for alleged damage to the site.
The Reflecting Pool has been plagued with algae and peeling paint in the days since the Trump administration completed its renovation, which cost taxpayers more than $16 million.
Trump said in a social media post that “large areas of grass are being replaced” around the pool and that the administration “will drain some of the water, either immediately before or after the Fourth of July, to do the permanent repair.” Trump has blamed the Reflecting Pool’s issues on vandals, though has yet to offer evidence.
“Six people have been arrested, and seven people have been cited, for the damage they did to our Country’s now beautiful Reflecting Pool,” Trump wrote in the post.
“The 350 foot gash, made by a very sharp knife or razors, is actually numerous slashes over a very long 350 foot length. It was purposefully and criminally done, and somebody had to work very hard, probably in the dark of night, to create such a condition. Likewise, the small area at the bottom of the Pool was cut and powerfully lifted off the surface leaving very jagged, uneven edges,” Trump wrote.
On Monday, during an Oval Office event, Trump directed reporters to the Interior Department and the Parks Department for information on ongoing investigations into alleged damages but provided no evidence himself.
The Interior Department and the U.S. Park Police have not responded to multiple outreaches for evidence of the alleged vandalism.
Trump’s post comes after White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, during a Fox News interview on Monday night, said the number of vandalism-related arrests had risen to six.
Earlier on Monday afternoon, an Interior Department spokesperson said there had been five arrests for vandalism, five federal citations and 14 vandalism-related police reports.
Algae and leaks have long plagued the Reflecting Pool, which was constructed in the 1920s. Former President Barack Obama made his own attempt at renovations during his administration and spent roughly $35 million on the changes.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks with reporters while aboard Air Force One en route to Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin on June 5, 2026. President Trump is traveling to an event at Custer Farms in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. (Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Soon after President Donald Trump said in the Oval Office on Wednesday that the United States has been secretly ferrying “millions of barrels” of oil through the Strait of Hormuz, Trump announced on social media that “more than 100 MILLION Barrels of Oil” and “more than 200 Commercial Ships” have successfully traveled through the strait.
“Last month, I directed our Great U.S. Military to execute a secret mission to support Oil Tankers and other Commercial Ships through the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump wrote on his social media platform.
“Today, I am pleased to announce that this effort has resulted in more than 100 MILLION Barrels of Oil making its way through the Straight, and into the Open Market. More than 200 Commercial Ships have safely traveled through the Strait.”
The president referred to it as a “secret mission” that he says was conducted last month amid the ongoing war with Iran, which has led the strait to be closed to regular commercial shipping.
ABC News could not immediately verify the accuracy of Trump’s claims and the numbers of oil barrels and ships that he claims have passed through the Strait of Hormuz.
Earlier Wednesday, in the Oval Office, Trump alluded to apparent U.S. operations to stimulate shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, with Trump claiming that the U.S. recently “took” 22 ships, amounting to millions of barrels of oil, through the strait.
“Do you know, we’ve been taking out millions of barrels of oil? Nobody knows it. You know who doesn’t know about it? Iran, until right now. We took out the other night 22 ships late at night with no lights, because they don’t have any radar, because we blasted the crap out of it,” Trump said.
In his post Wednesday afternoon, Trump referred to the alleged operation as a “wildly successful effort” that is due to the U.S. blockade on the Strait of Hormuz.
“This wildly successful effort is because the UNITED STATES of AMERICA CONTROLS the Strait of Hormuz — NOT Iran,” Trump wrote.
Since last month, there have been reports of the U.S. Navy helping ships navigate through the Strait of Hormuz — though U.S. officials have said that the efforts have not been a revival of Project Freedom, the short-lived U.S. military initiative to escort commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz. Trump announced Project Freedom in early May — pausing the effort just two days later.
Rather, this most recent effort was a coordination effort where shippers could contact U.S. Central Command and in turn, receive information about where to transit through the Strait of Hormuz, according to a U.S. official.
ABC News confirmed the Times’ report that, as of late last month, approximately 70 commercial ships had been guided through the strait. In addition to the U.S. coordinating safe passageways, the Times reported that many of the vessels traveling through the strait had turned off their transponders to “avoid detection.”
During the Oval Office event earlier Wednesday afternoon, Trump had also indicated that he was choosing to reveal this “secret” mission now because the Iranians had “figured it out.”
“But now I’m going to tell you, because they just figured it out. So now that they figured it out, I can tell you it was very hard for me. I wanted to say it so bad, but it was. I didn’t want to ruin it, but it was very hard,” Trump said.
