ICE arrests woman with family connection to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt
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(WASHINGTON) — U.S. immigration authorities have detained a woman who is the mother of White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s nephew, according to a source familiar with the arrest.
A DHS spokesperson identified the woman as Bruna Caroline Ferreira.
A reporter with ABC New Hampshire station WMUR spoke with Leavitt’s brother, Michael Leavitt, who also confirmed the arrest and said she was detained a few weeks ago.
According to Michael Leavitt, his 11-year-old son has lived with him since he was born but says the child maintains a relationship with his mother, WMUR reported.
A DHS spokesperson described Ferreira, a Brazilian national, as a “criminal illegal alien” who has a previous arrest for battery and overstayed a visa that expired in 1999.
“ICE arrested Bruna Caroline Ferreria, a criminal illegal alien from Brazil. She has a previous arrest for battery. She entered the U.S. on a B2 tourist visa that required her to depart the U.S. by June 6, 1999. She is currently at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center and is in removal proceedings. Under President Trump and Secretary Noem, all individuals unlawfully present in the United States are subject to deportation,” the spokesperson said.
Todd Pomerleau, an attorney for Ferreira spoke with Boston ABC station WCVB, and pushed back on claims that Ferreira has a criminal history.
“Bruna has no criminal record whatsoever, I don’t know where that is coming from. Show us the proof,” Pomerleau told.
Pomerleau also said Ferreira entered the country lawfully, previously held DACA status and is currently in the process of obtaining a green card. He said his client was arrested in her car in Massachusetts after being stopped with no warrant, adding that he now has to litigate her case in Louisiana thousands of miles away from her home. Pomerleau said he did not believe that his client’s connection to Karoline Leavitt could affect the case, adding that he believes it’s just “happenstance.”
The White House declined to comment.
An online fundraising campaign set up by a person claiming to be Ferreira’s sister says she was brought to the country when she was a child in 1998.
“Anyone who knows Bruna knows the kind of person she is. She is hardworking, kind, and always the first to offer help when someone needs it. Whether it’s supporting family, friends, or even strangers, Bruna has a heart that puts others before herself,” said Graziela Dos Santos Rodrigues.
B-52-Bomber in the blue sky. The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is an eight-engine long-range bomber of the US Air Force.
(BOSSIER PARISH, La.) — Three B-52 bombers took off from Barksdale AFB in Louisiana on Wednesday and flew for hours near the coast of Venezuela, according to flight tracking data, in what appears to be a major show of force by President Donald Trump.
The B-52 is a long-range, heavy bomber that has been used in conventional warfare in such places as Iraq and Syria. But it’s also capable of carrying nuclear weapons.
Trump confirmed on Wednesday that had authorized CIA action in Venezuela because of the flow of migrants and drugs from the country, and indicated his administration is exploring land strikes inside Venezuela.
Asked what’s next for his administration’s “war” on drug cartels and whether they were considering strikes on land, Trump said they were looking into it.
“Well, I don’t want to tell you exactly, but we are certainly looking at land now because we’ve got the sea very well under control,” the president said.
On Tuesday, Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth posted a video of another lethal strike on alleged drug boat from Venezuela.
Since Sept. 2, Trump has ordered military strikes on at least five boats in the Caribbean Sea that the administration insists, without providing evidence, were carrying drugs to the U.S. The use of lethal of military force against drug boats is unprecedented and raises legal questions. Past administrations have relied on law enforcement to interdict drug shipments.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Glen Stubbe/The Minnesota Star Tribune via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — Minnesotans are set to vote Tuesday in the special election to replace Melissa Hortman, the former Democratic Minnesota House speaker who was killed alongside her husband at their home in June, a politically motivated killing thrust back into the spotlight after the assassination of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk.
The election has significant political implications, too, due to Republicans’ one-seat edge in the statehouse.
Voters will choose between Democratic nominee XP Lee, a former Brooklyn Park City Council member, and Republican nominee Ruth Bittner, a real estate agent.
Lee told The Associated Press that continuing Hortman’s legacy is one of the reasons why he is running for her former seat.
“It makes me want to focus on healing and coming together even more,” he said. “You know, I wouldn’t be running if it wasn’t for the murder of Melissa Hortman. So I am very conscious of political and gun violence. So I want to help our community heal.”
Born in a refugee camp in Thailand after his family fled the Vietnam War, Lee says he is focused on improving education and access to health care.
Lee won the Democratic primary last month over two others with 59% of the vote, according to KSTP. On Sunday, he was joined for a door-knocking event by Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who encouraged the community to cast their ballots in favor of the Democratic candidate.
Lee is favored to win in Hortman’s blue-leaning home district, which would restore the chamber to a 67-67 deadlock.
The Republican contender similarly seeks to honor the late Minnesota House speaker, with Bittner telling MPR News that Hortman was a “very unique individual” and that “we will not be trying to replace her.”
According to the Los Angeles Times, Bittner was concerned about running for office amidst the heightened environment of political violence, but she emphasized that “we have to move forward as a country” and argued that “there’s no way to solve this problem if we shrink back in fear.”
Bittner is capitalizing on her lack of political experience, branding herself as a new voice that is focused on eliminating government inefficiencies and improving public safety and education.
The candidates have acknowledged the fear plaguing Minnesotans in recent days, with Lee noting that he has spoken to citizens that have brought up the Charlie Kirk shooting and the Annunciation Church shooting that took place in their state — two instances of violence that had occurred after Hortman’s murder.
Hortman’s alleged killer, Vance Boelter, is charged with shooting and killing Hortman and her husband Mark at their home in Brooklyn Park and shooting and wounding state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife Yvette at their house in nearby Champlin in the early hours of June 14, authorities said.
Boelter allegedly showed up at their doors, impersonating a police officer and wearing a realistic-looking latex mask to carry out his “political assassinations,” prosecutors said.
Investigators recovered a list of about 45 elected officials in notebooks in Boelter’s car, according to prosecutors. The alleged shooter’s list of potential targets also included the names of abortion providers and pro-choice activists, several sources told ABC News. Many of the Democratic lawmakers on the list have been outspoken about pro-choice policy positions, two sources said.
(WASHINGTON) — Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced Thursday that she will retire at the end of her current term in Congress, starting the long goodbye as the California Democrat wraps up one of the most consequential legislative careers in U.S. history.
“I want you, my fellow San Franciscans, to be the first to know,” Pelosi said in a video message. “I will not be seeking reelection to Congress. With a grateful heart, I look forward to my final year of service as your proud representative.”
Pelosi’s term in Congress ends on Jan. 3, 2027.
Pelosi, 85, was the first woman elected speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and the first woman to lead a major political party in either chamber of Congress.
She has represented part of the San Francisco area in the House since 1987. This is her 19th term.
“As we go forward, my message to the city I love is this: San Francisco, know your power,” Pelosi said in the video announcement.
For weeks, Pelosi had deflected questions about her political future, insisting her central focus was on ensuring that Prop 50 redistricting ballot measure passed in California. With that achievement in the rear-view mirror, Pelosi quickly made her plans clear that she will not seek another term in the House.
“I say to my colleagues in the House all the time, no matter what title they have bestowed upon me, Speaker, Leader, Whip, there has been no greater honor for me than to stand on the House floor and say, I speak for the people of San Francisco. I have truly loved serving as your voice,” Pelosi said in the video.
Pelosi’s rise Pelosi was elected as the first woman speaker in 2007 and elected again in 2019 — the only speaker in 70 years to have won the office twice after having lost the office when Republicans regained the House majority in 2010.
She led the House Democrats for 19 years, previously having served as House Democratic whip. She rose to prominence in 2002 after whipping the majority of the party against an Iraq War resolution that her mentor, then-Minority Leader Dick Gephardt of Missouri, crafted with President George W. Bush’s administration. She became minority leader when Gephardt stepped down to run for president.
“This is an historic moment,” she said in a speech after accepting the speaker’s gavel for the first time. “It’s an historic moment for the Congress. It’s an historic moment for the women of America.”
Her measured rise to power was characterized by her steady command of inside politics and her ability unite conflicting factions of Democrats in order to achieve legislative success.
Journalist Susan Page, the author of a biography about the House speaker, called Pelosi a “master of the inside game of politics and of being a legislative leader” in an April 2021 interview with ABC News’ “Powerhouse Politics” podcast.
Page revealed in her book that Pelosi originally planned to step down after the 2016 election but changed her mind after President Donald Trump was elected in 2016.
In 2019, Pelosi led the investigation that resulted in the third presidential impeachment in history following what the impeachment charges said were Trump’s alleged moves to solicit foreign intervention in the 2020 presidential election and withhold congressionally appropriated assistance to Ukraine.
Pelosi headed Trump’s second impeachment in 2021 after his supporters mounted a violent insurrection against the U.S. Capitol following the 2020 presidential election that Trump sought to overturn. She then led the House in creating a bipartisan select committee to investigate the Jan. 6 attack.
“I have enjoyed working with three presidents achieving historic investments in clean energy with President George Bush, transformed health care reform with President Barack Obama and forging the future from infrastructure to health care to climate action with President Joe Biden,” Pelosi said in a speech bidding farewell to the speakership in December 2022, notably leaving Trump off the list.
Nancy Patricia D’Alesandro was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on March 26, 1940 to an Italian-American family. Her father, Thomas D’Alesandro Jr., was a Democratic politician who represented Maryland’s 3rd Congressional District in the House and later served as mayor of Baltimore. Her mother, Annunciata M. “Nancy” D’Alesandro, was also involved in Democratic politics as an organizer.
She met Paul Pelosi at Georgetown University in 1961. The couple married in 1963 and had five children. Pelosi raised their children in San Francisco and started a Democratic Party club at her home, until she began working for the presidential campaign of California Gov. Jerry Brown in 1976, when she was 36.
By 1981, she was the Democratic Party chair for the state of California.
In 1987, Pelosi won a special election for California’s then-5th Congressional District which encompassed most of the city of San Francisco. Pelosi advanced through the ranks of the House Democratic Caucus to be elected House minority whip in 2002. She was elevated to House minority leader the following year, becoming the first woman to hold each of those positions in either chamber of Congress.
In October 2022, Paul Pelosi was the victim of an attack at the couple’s San Francisco home. The assailant, later told authorities the attack was intended for Nancy Pelosi, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court.
Following the loss of a Democratic majority in the House in November 2022, Pelosi said she would be giving up the gavel for the last time.
“History will note she is the most consequential Speaker of the House of Representatives in our history,” Biden said in a statement at the time.
