New England Patriots coach Mike Vrabel says his recent actions have not met his ‘standard’
: Mike Vrabel of the New England Patriots speaks to the media during the 2026 NFL Scouting Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium on February 25, 2026 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Lauren Leigh Bacho/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — The New England Patriots head coach, Mike Vrabel, addressed the media Thursday after a series of photos were published allegedly showing him with former Athletic reporter Dianna Russini.
In his remarks, Vrabel said that his “actions don’t meet the standard I hold myself to” and his initial response to the pictures was an attempt to protect his family, saying that the photos showed an innocent interaction.
“I just know I’m going to take the necessary steps with the people I care about — that’s my family and this team,” said Vrabel.
Vrabel and Russini are both married to other people. Russini resigned from The Athletic on April 14.
“I have no interest in submitting to a public inquiry that has already caused far more damage than I am willing to accept. Rather than allowing this to continue, I have decided to step aside now — before my current contract expires on June 30,” Russini wrote in her resignation letter. “I do so not because I accept the narrative that has been constructed around this episode, but because I refuse to lend it further oxygen or to let it define me or my career.”
Vrabel declined to comment on the most recent photos, saying “my priorities are my family and this football team. In that order,” according to ESPN.
Vrabel did confirm at a news conference Tuesday that he has had “difficult conversations with people I care about,” including his family, his coaching staff, team officials and players following the initial publication of the photos.
It is not clear if the New England Patriots will discipline Vrabel but NFL commissioner Roger Goodell told ESPN on Thursday that this is a team matter and does not fall under the league’s personal conduct policy.
“The New England Patriots fully support Mike Vrabel’s decision to prioritize his family first, as well as his own well-being,” the team said in a statement. “Mike has been open with us about his commitment to being the best version of himself for his family, this team and our fans, and we respect the steps he is taking to follow through on that commitment.”
Vrabel confirmed that he will start seeking counseling, saying “I can only say that whatever my family needs, that’s what I’m going to provide,” Vrabel said.
Crews repair a sinkhole at LaGuardia International Airport in Queens, New York, May 20, 2026. (WABC)
(NEW YORK) — A sinkhole has shut down one of the runways at LaGuardia International Airport in New York City, prompting cancellations and delays, according to officials.
Crews found the sinkhole around 11 a.m. on Wednesday, while conducting a daily morning inspection of the airport’s airfield, according to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
The sinkhole was located near Runway 4/22, one of the airport’s two runways, according to the Port Authority.
Runway 4/22 was “immediately” shut down, and emergency construction and engineering crews are on site to make repairs, the Port Authority said.
The Federal Aviation Administration said it is slowing flights into LaGuardia “due to weather and a sinkhole on Runway 4/22.”
“Travelers should expect delays and cancellations, particularly with forecast thunderstorms expected later today, and are strongly encouraged to check directly with their airlines for the latest flight status information,” the Port Authority said.
The airport is currently under a ground delay, with flights departing to LaGuardia delayed an average of 98 minutes.
According to FlightAware, there are currently 197 cancellations into and out of LGA, and 168 delays.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Group Chairman & CEO, DP World Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem speaks during the 2023 Concordia Annual Summit at Sheraton New York on September 19, 2023 in New York City. Leigh Vogel/Getty Images for Concordia Summit
(NEW YORK) — The billionaire CEO of logistics giant DP World has resigned following the disclosure of his communications with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, an Emirati billionaire, stepped down from the company on Friday, “effective immediately,” the massive global supply chain and logistics company said in an announcement.
The move comes after financial groups in Canada and the U.K. earlier this week announced a pause in their investments with DP World on the heels of the U.S. Justice Department’s release of Epstein files.
A company spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment from ABC News.
For years, before and after Epstein became a convicted sex offender in 2008, Bin Sulayem and Epstein maintained a free-flowing exchange of emails that ran the gamut from workshopping financial proposals to rating sexual conquests, according to the DOJ files.
“Are you going to the Clinton Forum?” Epstein asked Bin Sulayem in one email exchange. “I see that the Secretary General is scheduled to attend. If so, we can go to my island after the forum. Call me so we can discuss the details.” Bin Sulayem replied that his meetings were “flexible” and could be rearranged around Epstein’s.
Later on in the exchange, Epstein wanted to know from Bin Sulayem “what time you would like your massage today in new york.”
In April 2009, Epstein emailed, “where are you? are you ok, I loved the torture video.” There is no further explanation or context of the video mentioned. Bin Sulayem said he was in China and would return in a couple of weeks. “Hope to see you,” Epstein said.
Bin Sulayem was among six names read out on the floor of the House of Representatives Tuesday by Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna, one of the authors of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, who has criticized the DOJ and Trump administration for what he and others have regarded as a lack of transparency when it comes to the Epstein files saga.
Alex Murdaugh, convicted of killing his wife and youngest son, listens as his attorneys Dick Harpootlian, left, and Phil Barber speak during a judicial hearing at the Richland County Judicial Center in Columbia, South Carolina, on Jan. 29, 2024. (Tracy Glantz/The State/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — The South Carolina Supreme Court has overturned the murder convictions of Alex Murdaugh, who was found guilty of killing his wife and younger son, finding that the court clerk’s “improper external influence” on the jury denied him a fair trial.
Murdaugh’s wife, Margaret “Maggie” Murdaugh, 52, and younger son, Paul Murdaugh, 22, were found dead from multiple gunshot wounds near the dog kennels at the family’s hunting estate in 2021.
Murdaugh was convicted in 2023 of murdering them following a six-week trial, with jurors deliberating for nearly three hours before reaching a guilty verdict.
The South Carolina Supreme Court ruled that Murdaugh must have a new trial, citing the actions of former Colleton County Clerk of Court Mary Rebecca “Becky” Hill, the court clerk who served during the double murder trial.
Hill “egregiously attacked Murdaugh’s credibility and his defense, thus triggering the presumption of prejudice, which the State was unable to rebut,” the court’s opinion stated. “As noted at the outset, Hill’s shocking jury interference was accomplished outside the presence and knowledge of the outstanding trial judge and superbly competent and professional counsel for the State and the defense.”
In a footnote, the justices said they “commend the post-trial court, which inherited Murdaugh’s motion for a new trial and was placed in the unenviable position of evaluating unprecedented jury interference by a clerk of court within the context of a murky area of law.”
Following the decision, South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson said his office will “aggressively” seek to retry Alex Murdaugh for the murders “as soon as possible.”
“Let me be clear — this decision does not mean Murdaugh will be released,” Wilson said in a statement. “He will remain in prison for his financial crimes. No one is above the law and, as always, we will continue to fight for justice.”
Murdaugh was also convicted on several financial crimes following the murder trial and is serving a 27-year sentence on state charges and a 40-year sentence on federal charges related to those crimes.
In the murder trial, prosecutors made the case that Alex Murdaugh, who comes from a legacy of prominent attorneys in the Lowcountry region, killed his wife and son to gain sympathy and distract from his financial wrongdoings, while the defense argued that police ignored the possibility that anyone else could have killed them.
Murdaugh has continued to maintain his innocence. His defense alleged that jury tampering and evidentiary errors — including the inclusion of his financial crimes — denied him a fair trial.
Murdaugh’s attorneys contend that Hill tampered with the jury by “advising it not to believe Murdaugh’s testimony and other defense evidence, pressuring it to reach a quick guilty verdict, misrepresenting information to the trial court in an attempt to have the court remove a juror she believed to favor the defense.”
During oral arguments before the state Supreme Court justices on the matter in February, the defense alleged that Hill tampered with the jury to ensure a guilty verdict because, they claimed, it would help her sell more copies of a book she would go on to write about the high-profile case.
Murdaugh’s defense claimed that Hill influenced the verdict through remarks heard by some jurors during the trial, including in one instance to watch Murdaugh’s body language during his testimony, according to court filings.
“The clerk of court allowed public attention of the moment to overcome her duty,” Murdaugh’s attorney, Dick Harpootlian, said during the February hearing.
Lead prosecutor Creighton Waters countered during the hearing that Hill made a “few fleeting comments” over the course of a six-week trial that included nearly 90 witnesses and almost 600 exhibits, arguing that they weren’t enough to influence the verdict.
Chief Justice John Kittredge called Hill a “rogue clerk of court” during the hearing and said he wanted to make note that the “overwhelming majority” of clerks in the state are “dedicated, conscientious public servants” who “do not act like this.”
Hill resigned as the Colleton County clerk of court in March 2024, amid the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division’s investigation into allegations she may have abused her government position for financial gain.
She pleaded guilty in December 2025 to obstruction of justice, perjury and misconduct in office for showing photographs that were sealed court evidence to a reporter during the trial and then later lying about doing so on the stand during a hearing related to Murdaugh’s bid for a new trial.
The charges did not allege any jury tampering, and she denied any tampering with the jury during her testimony.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
