Judge extends block on National Guard deployment into Portland
U.S. National Guard in Washington D.C. (Kay Nietfeld/picture alliance via Getty Images)
(PORTLAND, Ore.) — A federal judge on Sunday extended her order blocking President Donald Trump from sending National Guard troops into Portland, continuing the legal battle over the president’s power to use the military on American cities.
Following a three-day trial last week, U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting the deployment of troops from any state’s National Guard into Portland through at least Friday.
Judge Immergut concluded that the attempt to send troops into Portland stemmed from exaggerated claims of violence in the city, where isolated protests were already contained by federal and local law enforcement.
“Based on the trial testimony, this Court finds no credible evidence that during the approximately two months before the President’s federalization order, protests grew out of control or involved more than isolated and sporadic instances of violent conduct that resulted in no serious injuries to federal personnel,” she wrote.
Judge Immergut also concluded that the Trump administration likely violated a federal law that allows the takeover of the National Guard in the case of rebellion or invasion, as well as infringed on the state sovereignty of Oregon. The protests in Oregon, Immergut wrote, at most resulted in “sporadic isolated instances of violent behavior toward federal officers and property damage to a single building” and fell short of the standard definition of a “rebellion.”
“Defendants have not, however, proffered any evidence demonstrating that those episodes of violence were perpetrated by an organized group engaged in armed hostilities for the purpose of overtaking an instrumentality of government by unlawful or antidemocratic means,” she wrote.
The trial and decision follow a prolonged legal battle over the use of the National Guard in Portland. After Judge Immergut last month blocked the use of the Oregon National Guard, the Trump administration moved to send in troops from Texas and California.
She similarly blocked those troops from being sent into the city, and the Trump administration then appealed her order.
The Ninth Circuit briefly lifted her decision but agreed to rehear the case en banc, — when the entire court hears the case, rather than just a panel — thereby restoring the block on the deployment.
With both Immergut’s previously issued orders set to expire on Sunday, she issued a preliminary injunction tonight that will expire on Friday, at which time she plans to issue a complete ruling based on the testimony and evidence presented at trial.
John Bolton, former national security adviser to President Trump, arrives home as the FBI searches his house August 22, 2025 in Bethesda, Maryland. The FBI conducted a court-authorized search of Bolton’s home. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Former Trump national security adviser John Bolton was indicted by a grand jury Thursday on charges that he allegedly unlawfully transmitted and retained classified documents.
The indictment, handed up by a federal grand jury in Maryland, charges Bolton with eight counts of unlawful transmission of national defense information as well as 10 counts of unlawful retention of national defense information.
Prosecutors accuse Bolton of using a non-government personal email account and messaging application to transmit at least eight documents to unauthorized individuals that contained information classified at levels ranging from Secret to Top Secret.
Seven of the transmissions allegedly occurred during the time when Bolton was serving at Trump’s national security adviser in 2018 and 2019, while another document was allegedly sent by Bolton just days after President Donald Trump removed him from the administration in September of 2019.
“For four decades, I have devoted my life to America’s foreign policy and national security. I would never compromise those goals,” Bolton said in a lengthy statement, saying the indictment is part of a pattern of “Donald Trump’s retribution” against him since leaving Trump’s first administration and publishing a tell-all book.
“I look forward to the fight to defend my lawful conduct and to expose his abuse of power,” Bolton said in the statement.
The move to indict Bolton comes on the heels of the indictments of former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James as President Donald Trump continues what critics call a campaign of retribution against his perceived political foes.
Federal agents in August searched Bolton’s Maryland residence and Washington, D.C., office, related to allegations that Bolton possessed classified information.
Prosecutors say one document listed in the indictment “reveals intelligence about future attack by adversarial group in another country.” Others allegedly contain information about foreign partners sharing sensitive information with the U.S. intelligence community; intelligence related to a foreign adversary’s missile launch plans; intelligence on leaders of a U.S. adversary; and one that detailed plans of covert action by the U.S. government.
The indictment accuses Bolton of abusing his position as national security adviser by sharing “more than a thousand pages” of information in “diary-like entries” about his day-to-day activities with two recipients identified only as “Individual 1” and “Individual 2,” who prosecutors say are Bolton’s relatives.
Sources told ABC News that the relatives referred to in the indictment as ‘Individual 1’ and ‘Individual 2’ are Bolton’s wife and daughter.
Bolton’s wife was present at their home the day the search was executed nearly two months ago.
It was not immediately clear which is believed to be Individual 1 or 2.
Prosecutors further allege that Bolton unlawfully retained documents, writing and notes containing national defense information ranging to levels of Top Secret and Sensitive Compartmented Information at his home in Maryland, stored both as paper files and on a number of personal devices.
The indictment says that at some point after Bolton left office as national security adviser, a cyber actor believed to be associated with Iran hacked his personal email account and gained access to the classified information he had previously emailed to his relatives.
What Bolton and his attorneys say
Bolton has denied ever unlawfully removing classified materials from his time in government and has said no such information was published in his 2020 memoir “The Room Where It Happened.”
In his statement on Thursday, Bolton said his book was “reviewed and approved by the appropriate, experienced career clearance officials.”
Regarding the 2021 email hack, Bolton said the FBI “was made fully aware.”
“These charges are not just about his focus on me or my diaries, but his intensive effort to intimidate his opponents, to ensure that he alone determines what is said about his conduct,” Bolton said in the statement, referring to Trump. “Dissent and disagreement are foundational to America’s constitutional system, and vitally important to our freedom.”
Bolton’s attorneys have denied he ever mishandled classified information and said documents investigators found in their search of his home and residence were no longer considered classified.
“The underlying facts in this case were investigated and resolved years ago,” Bolton’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, said in a statement. “These charges stem from portions of Amb. Bolton’s personal diaries over his 45-year career — records that are unclassified, shared only with his immediate family, and known to the FBI as far back as 2021. We look forward to proving once again that Amb. Bolton did not unlawfully share or store any information.”
“There is one tier of justice for all Americans,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a DOJ statement announcing the indictment. “Anyone who abuses a position of power and jeopardizes our national security will be held accountable. No one is above the law.”
The 10 documents the indictment says were unlawfully retained by Bolton were allegedly seized during the searches of his home and office in August, and contained similar information to the documents Bolton is alleged to have unlawfully transmitted during his time as national security adviser.
The investigation is being run out of the U.S. attorney’s office in Maryland, unlike the Comey and James probes which are being conducted by the Trump-appointed U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia, who sources say brought the Comey and James charges against the advice of career prosecutors.
Comey, who was indicted on charges of lying to Congress, and James, who is charged with mortgage fraud, have both denied wrongdoing.
Last month, a federal judge unsealed a redacted version of the affidavit that had been assembled by prosecutors in order to execute their court-authorized search of Bolton’s home. Most of the document concerned allegations surrounding the publication of Bolton’s book, which the first Trump administration unsuccessfully sued to block.
The federal judge overseeing that lawsuit expressed grave concerns over whether Bolton had included highly classified information in his book that could potentially compromise national security.
On the day that Bolton’s home and office were searched, Trump said that he was “unaware” of the searches but went on to call Bolton a “sleazebag.” Referencing the FBI’s 2022 search of his Mar-a-Lago home in his own classified documents case, Trump told reporters that having your home searched is “not a good feeling.”
Trump pleaded not guilty in June 2023 to 40 criminal counts related to his handling of classified materials after leaving the White House in 2021, after prosecutors said he repeatedly refused to return hundreds of documents containing classified information and took steps to thwart the government’s efforts to get the documents back.
After Trump was reelected president last November, the case was dropped due to a long-standing Justice Department policy barring the prosecution of a sitting president.
Trump, asked about Bolton in a June 2022 Oval Office interview with Fox News, said, “He took classified information and he published it, during a presidency. It’s one thing to write a book after. During. And I believe that he’s a criminal, and I believe, frankly, he should go to jail for that, and that probably, possibly will happen. That’s what should happen.”
Powerball play tickets on display at Blue Bird Liquor in Hawthorne, CA, Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2023. Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — An estimated $605 million Powerball jackpot is up for grabs, with a cash option of $273.4 million, marking what could become the fifth jackpot win of 2025 and the largest prize of the year, according to the Powerball website.
The drawing on Monday will mark the 34th attempt since the last win on May 31, when a California ticket holder claimed a $204.5 million prize. Tonight’s jackpot stands as the largest potential win since April 2024, when an Oregon resident took home $1.3 billion, according to the North Carolina Lottery.
Tickets are available in 45 states, as well as Washington, D.C., the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico. Players can purchase their $2 tickets at various locations, including gas stations, convenience stores, grocery stores, and select airport terminals.
Despite the enticing jackpot, the odds remain daunting at 1 in 292.2 million for the top prize, though overall chances of winning any tier prize are better at 1 in 24.9. Players select five numbers from 1-69 for white balls and one number from 1-26 for the red Powerball, with random number options available.
The game offers eight additional prize tiers ranging from $4 to $1 million. Players can enhance non-jackpot winnings through “Powerplay” for an extra dollar, multiplying prizes by 2, 3, 4, 5, or 10 times. The 10X multiplier is only available for jackpots under $150 million, and the “Match 5” second-tier prize is capped at $2 million with Powerplay.
Some jurisdictions also offer “Double Play,” a $1 add-on feature providing a second chance to match numbers after each drawing.
Powerball drawings are conducted at 10:59 p.m. ET on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday, with live streaming available at Powerball.com.
(WASHINGTON) — A suburban Chicago man was federally charged for allegedly threatening to kill President Donald Trump on social media, according to court records unsealed on Monday.
Trent Schneider, 57, of Winthrop Harbor, was charged via criminal complaint with making a threat in interstate commerce to injure a person, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois.
Following his arrest Monday morning, a federal judge in Chicago ordered that he remain detained in federal custody, prosecutors said. Schneider is next scheduled to appear in court for a detention hearing on Thursday.
According to the complaint, in a “selfie-style video” posted to Instagram on Oct. 16, Schneider allegedly said, “I’m going to get some guns. I know where I can get a lot of f—— guns and I am going to take care of business myself.”
“I’m tired of all you f—— frauds. People need to f—— die and people are going to die. F— all of you, especially you, Trump. You should be executed,” he allegedly said in the video, according to the complaint.
The video also allegedly included a caption that stated, in part, “THIS IS NOT A THREAT!!! AFTER LOSING EVERYTHING and My House Auction date is 11.04.2025 @realDonaldTrump SHOULD BE EXECUTED!!!”
Schneider allegedly posted the same video and caption approximately 18 times between Oct. 16 and Oct. 21, according to the complaint.
A “concerned citizen” in Florida who viewed the video on Oct. 16 reported it to law enforcement, according to the complaint.
Schneider faces a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison if convicted, the DOJ said.
Attorney information was not immediately available.
