Newly sworn in Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem participates in an immigration enforcement operation in New York City, Jan. 28, 2025. (DHS)
(NEW YORK) — Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem joined an immigration enforcement operation in New York City on Tuesday.
Noem posted a brief video of an arrest to her social media account.
The secretary is witnessing both criminal and civil enforcement operations, according to sources familiar with the actions in New York.
The criminal case involves a member of a Venezuelan gang that took over an apartment complex in Aurora, Colorado, the sources said. One alleged gang member was arrested in the Bronx.
The New York division of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration said it was working with partners at the Justice Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to assist the Department of Homeland Security with enforcement efforts.
Noem’s appearance for the operations came just days after she was confirmed by the Senate.
Noem, the former governor of South Dakota, will be charged with overseeing Trump’s immigration crackdown along with “border czar” Tom Homan.
“The Trump Administration will once-again empower our brave men and women in law enforcement to do their jobs and remove criminal aliens and illegal gangs from our country,” she said in a statement after her confirmation. “We will fully equip our intelligence and law enforcement to detect and prevent terror threats and will deliver rapid assistance and disaster relief to Americans in crisis.”
(WASHINGTON) — Former GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz announced Thursday he is withdrawing his name from consideration to be President-elect Donald Trump‘s attorney general.
“I had excellent meetings with Senators yesterday,” Gaetz wrote in a post on X. “I appreciate their thoughtful feedback – and the incredible support of so many. While the momentum was strong, it is clear that my confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the Trump/Vance Transition. There is no time to waste on a needlessly protracted Washington scuffle, thus I’ll be withdrawing my name from consideration to serve as Attorney General. Trump’s DOJ must be in place and ready on Day 1.”
“I remain fully committed to see that Donald J. Trump is the most successful President in history,” Gaetz added. “I will forever be honored that President Trump nominated me to lead the Department of Justice and I’m certain he will Save America.”
Gaetz informed Trump late Thursday morning that he’d be withdrawing, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.
Trump issued a statement after Gaetz’s announcement saying he appreciated his “recent efforts” to seek Senate approval.
“He was doing very well but, at the same time, did not want to be a distraction for the Administration, for which he has much respect,” Trump wrote. “Matt has a wonderful future, and I look forward to watching all of the great things he will do!”
Trump announced last Wednesday he was tapping Gaetz to serve as the nation’s top law enforcement officer. Gaetz, a conservative firebrand in Congress, resigned shortly after.
The choice shocked many Republicans on Capitol Hill and raised eyebrows within Justice Department.
Gaetz has been under scrutiny amid sexual misconduct allegations, including accusations he had sex with minors, which he’s long denied.
Sources told ABC News in the last few days it became clear to the Trump team that Gaetz was not going to have enough votes for a Senate confirmation with sources close to the president-elect telling ABC News “no path to 50” senators.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(WASHINGTON) — Enrique Tarrio, the former head of the Proud Boys, and Stewart Rhodes, the head of the Oath Keepers, were released Tuesday from prison following President Donald Trump’s sweeping pardon of those convicted in connection with the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
They were serving 22- and 18-year sentences, respectively, for their roles in the riot.
Four years after they raided the Capitol, threatened Congress members and assaulted police officers, a group of some of the Jan. 6 rioters convicted of the most violent incidents that day are now free men thanks to Trump.
Other convicted members were scheduled to be released throughout the day from Washington, D.C. area, jails and prisons.
Of the nearly 1,600 individuals who have faced charges associated with the Capitol attack, according to figures released by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, 608 individuals faced charges for assaulting, resisting or interfering with law enforcement trying to protect the complex that day, the office said. Approximately 140 law enforcement officers were injured during the riot, the Department of Justice has said.
A federal judge sentenced Rhodes in May 2023 after he was convicted of seditious conspiracy the year prior for his and his group’s role in the riot. The Oath Keepers had stockpiled weapons at a D.C. hotel and organized the attack, according to prosecutors.
Rhodes himself did not enter the Capitol on Jan. 6 and maintained that his group only intended to provide security and medical aid to those attending multiple pro-Trump demonstrations in the area, prosecutors said.
Tarrio was sentenced in September 2023 for his conviction on seditious conspiracy and given the longest sentence of all of the convicted Jan. 6 rioters, though he was not at the Capitol on Jan. 6.
During his sentencing, prosecutors pointed to a nine-page strategic plan to “storm” government buildings in Washington on Jan. 6 that was found in Tarrio’s possession after the riot, as well as violent rhetoric they say he routinely used in messages with other members of the group about what they would do if Congress moved forward in certifying President Joe Biden’s election win.
As more of the rioters were released from jails and prisons, a group of Trump supporters, Proud Boys members and others gathered and cheered them on as they were released.
The group carried large flagpoles with Trump and American flags attached and signage that read, “no man left behind” and “pardon all j6 hostages day one.”
Current and former DOJ officials have expressed alarm over the potential that Trump would hand down pardons — or otherwise free — violent offenders, citing the potential risk they could seek to target the prosecutors who oversaw their cases, the judges who sentenced them to periods of incarceration, or witnesses who may have testified against them.
(WASHINGTON) — With just days left in his administration, President Joe Biden will sign a new executive order focused on bolstering the infrastructure needed to for advanced AI operations in the U.S., according to the White House.
“I am signing an historic Executive Order to accelerate the speed at which we build the next generation of AI infrastructure here in America, in a way that enhances economic competitiveness, national security, AI safety, and clean energy,” Biden said in a Tuesday statement on the announcement.
The order will direct the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy to lease federal sites where the private sector can build AI infrastructure “at speed and scale,” he said.
“These efforts are designed to accelerate the clean energy transition in a way that is responsible and respectful to local communities, and in a way that does not impose any new costs on American families,” Biden added.
Tarun Chabra, deputy assistant to the president and coordinator for technology and national security, said on a call previewing the order that it’s “really critical” for national security to establish a path for building the data centers and power infrastructure in the U.S.
“Domestic data centers for training and operating powerful AI models will help the United States facilitate AI’s safe and secure development and harness AI in the service of our national security,” he said. “It will also prevent our adversaries from accessing these powerful systems to the detriment of our military and our national security, while preventing the United States from growing dependent on other countries to access powerful AI tools.”
Biden underscored the importance of AI in his remarks at the State Department on Monday.
“AI has the power to reshape, reshape economies, governments, national security, entire societies. And it must be the United States and our closest allies lead the way to ensure people’s rights are respected, their safety is protected, and their data is secure,” Biden said.
Officials on a call with reporters noted current strains on the AI market to make investments needed for large-scale operations saying their cost, power constraints and permitting challenges resulting in long lead times to bring data centers to market.
“The Executive Order directs certain agencies to make federal sites available for AI data centers and new clean power facilities, facilitate this infrastructure’s interconnection to the electric grid, fulfill permitting obligations expeditiously, and advance transmission development around federal sites,” according to a fact sheet on the announcement.
Specifically, the order will direct the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy to identify at least three federal sites each they own for these types of developments and allow private sector companies to bid competitively on leases to build on the sites.
