Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) asked Georgia’s top court to review her disqualification from the election subversion case against President-elect Trump and several allies.
In a petition filed late Wednesday to the Supreme Court of Georgia, Willis said the state’s midlevel appeals court “overreached” its authority in “all directions” when it decided she should be removed from the prosecution over her past romantic relationship with a top prosecutor on the case.
“No Georgia court has ever disqualified a district attorney for the mere appearance of impropriety without the existence of an actual conflict of interest,” Willis’s office wrote. “And no Georgia court has ever reversed a trial court’s order declining to disqualify a prosecutor based solely on an appearance of impropriety.”
Georgia’s Court of Appeals disqualified Willis and her office from the 2020 election case last month in a 2-1 decision over her inappropriate romance with former special prosecutor Nathan Wade.
The state’s high court, controlled by justices appointed by Republican governors, must first decide whether to take up the appeal at all.
Even if the court hears Willis’s appeal and rules in her favor, she may not have a chance to resurrect the case until 2029 — after Trump has left office — since legal experts agree sitting presidents cannot be criminally prosecuted.
If it lets the appeals court’s ruling stand, the case would be handed off to the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia, a nonpartisan state agency. The agency could then send the case to another district attorney’s office, which would decide whether to proceed, appoint a special prosecutor or handle the case itself.
Willis’s case is one of the remaining criminal prosecutions against Trump.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence is pushing back forcefully on viral claims that the CIA conducted a “raid” on its office, calling the reporting false and urging clarification amid a swirl of online speculation.
“This is false,” Olivia Coleman, a spokesperson for Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, wrote on the social platform X. “The CIA did not raid the DNI’s office.”
The statement was a direct response to a now-deleted post from Fox News host Jesse Watters, who had amplified claims tied to comments from Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.).
Luna had alleged that materials connected to the assassination of former President John F. Kennedy and the CIA’s MK-ULTRA program were removed from the National Reconnaissance Office in Virginia. She linked the matter to broader concerns about historical intelligence records and declassification efforts.
According to its public records, the NRO periodically reviews collections tied to historically significant programs for potential declassification and public release, a routine process that can include older intelligence archives.
“The reason why this is troubling … there was an executive order that the president directed the full declassification of JFK, but then also to the MK-ULTRA files. Famously the CIA said that all documents were released and other documents had been destroyed,” Luna said during an appearance on NewsNation’s “Katie Pavlich Tonight.”
“So, these are allegedly those documents that apparently never existed,” she added.
Luna also said she personally contacted CIA Director John Ratcliffe regarding the matter. In a follow-up post, she pushed back on interpretations of her comments and denied claims that she alleged a raid on Gabbard’s office.
“I am noticing a few large accounts stating falsely that I claimed there was a raid on Tulsi Gabbard’s office by the CIA. This is completely false …” Luna wrote on X. “There is no clip or statement that exists. Why is there an orchestrated push for this narrative”
“When Congress is notified of conflicting narratives from different agencies, i.e., the CIA and ODNI, it is our job to follow through to ensure documents are preserved and not destroyed,” she continued. “This is not an issue with Ratcliffe or Gabbard.”
I am noticing a few large accounts stating falsely that I claimed there was a raid on Tulsi Gabbard’s office by the CIA. This is completely false. There is no clip or statement that exists. Why is there an orchestrated push for this narrative? Not one account can post a clip of… pic.twitter.com/jBM3fMhFmS
She added, “For people to act like the CIA doesn’t have a history of destroying documents is BIZARO-WORLD. Watch the clip for yourself. I am talking about what the whistleblower is saying under oath.”
Luna, who chairs the House Oversight Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets, has announced plans to hold a hearing on MK-ULTRA records later this month.
The CIA program MK-ULTRA, launched in 1953, focused on behavioral modification research and has long been associated with controversy and conspiracy theories. According to University of Louisville archival records, the program has remained a recurring subject in public debate over intelligence agency transparency.
By The White House from Washington, DC - President Trump and The First Lady Participate in an Abraham Accords Signing Ceremony, Public Domain,
President Donald Trump announced the United States will soon drop sanctions against Syria.
During lengthy remarks on Tuesday, Trump laid out his vision for the Middle East, sharing a major announcement: He intends to drop sanctions against Syria.
“I will be ordering the cessation of sanctions against Syria in order to give them a chance at greatness,” Trump said in a speech in Saudi Arabia, his first stop on the first international tour of his second term in office.
“In Syria, which has seen so much misery and death, there is a new government that we must all hope will succeed in stabilizing the country and keeping peace,” he said. “So I say good luck, Syria.”
The nation was cut off from the global financial system under ousted President Bashar al-Assad’s government, imposed during 14 years of civil war.
Trump called the sanctions “brutal and crippling” but “important” at the time.
Trump said both Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Turkish President Recep Erdoğan had encouraged him to lift the sanctions.
“Oh, what I do for the crown prince,” Trump quipped.
U.S. sanctions had slapped financial penalties on any foreign individual or company that provided material support to the Syrian government and prohibited anyone in the U.S. from dealing in any Syrian entity, including oil and gas, and Syrian banks were effectively cut off from global financial systems.
Trump also revealed he has invited Saudi Arabia to join his historic Abraham Accords.
“It has been an amazing thing, the Abraham Accords,” Trump said at a Saudi Arabia investment conference. “And it’s my fervent hope, wish, and even my dream that Saudi Arabia, a place I have so much respect for … will soon be joining the Abraham Accords. I think it will be a tremendous tribute to your country.”
Trump negotiated the Abraham Accords, which normalized relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, at the end of his first term in office. Now, he is hoping to see Saudi Arabia join it as well.
During lengthy remarks, Trump laid out his vision for the Middle East. Minutes later, he made a second major announcement: He intends to drop sanctions against Syria.
Former President Trump is urging Tennessee voters to support Republican Matt Van Epps in Tuesday’s special election to fill the state’s vacant 7th Congressional District seat, claiming—without evidence—that Democratic nominee Aftyn Behn “openly disdains Country music.”
“I am asking all America First Patriots in Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District, who haven’t voted yet, to please GET OUT AND VOTE on Election Day, Tuesday, December 2nd, for a phenomenal Candidate, Matt Van Epps,” Trump wrote Sunday on Truth Social.
Trump further escalated his criticism of Behn in the post, alleging: “Matt is fighting against a woman who hates Christianity, will take away your guns, wants Open Borders, Transgender for everybody, men in women’s sports, and openly disdains Country music. She said all of these things precisely, and without question — IT’S ON TAPE!”
Van Epps, previously the commissioner of the Tennessee Department of General Services, is running against Behn, a state representative, to succeed former Rep. Mark Green (R). Green resigned earlier this year to pursue a private-sector opportunity, triggering the special election.
Background on the Controversy
Republicans have seized on remarks Behn made in a 2020 episode of the podcast Grits, where she said: “I’ve been heavily involved in the Nashville mayoral race because I hate this city, I hate the bachelorettes, I hate the pedal taverns, I hate country music. I hate all the things that make Nashville apparently an ‘it city’ to the rest of the country.”
Behn has since clarified that the comments were made in frustration and do not reflect her views as an elected official. In a video released last month, she explained:
“Now, I always want Nashville to be better, right? I want Nashville to be a place where working people can thrive, right? But sure, I get mad at the bachelorette [parties] sometimes, I get mad at the pedal taverns, right? Talking to someone who has cried no less than 10 times in the Country Music Hall of Fame.”
She added in a corresponding post: “NO, I DO NOT HATE THE CITY I REPRESENT,” punctuating the statement with three laughing emojis.
Behn Campaign Response
Behn’s campaign manager, Kate Briefs, responded sharply to Trump’s attack, saying the former president is lying “because he is panicking about his tanking approval numbers as Tennessee voters hold him accountable for his failed economic policies that are raising their costs, while lowering taxes for their billionaire donors.”
Context: Why This Special Election Has Drawn Attention
Tennessee’s 7th District is traditionally a reliably Republican seat, and Van Epps enters the race with a structural advantage. Still, Democrats see the contest as an opportunity to demonstrate voter enthusiasm heading into the 2026 midterms—particularly if they can outperform expectations in a deep-red district.
Special elections in off-years often serve as indicators of base energy for both parties. National Democrats have been encouraged by recent overperformances in similar contests across the country and hope Behn can replicate that trend.
Polling Suggests a Competitive Race
At least one survey—conducted last week by Emerson College Polling and The Hill—suggests the race may be closer than expected. The poll showed Behn and Van Epps running neck and neck, signaling that Democratic enthusiasm and Trump’s polarizing involvement may be tightening the contest.
It is unlikely that Donald Trump will be able to attend a milestone event in his youngest child’s life.
Indeed, according to the 45th president, it is all but guaranteed that he will not attend his son Barron’s high school graduation next month.
Obviously, the president’s absence won’t be out of neglect or emotional abuse but a consequence of the limitations imposed by Judge Juan Merchan in his hush money trial.
In a recent social media post, Trump’s frustration was palpable.
“Who will explain for me, to my wonderful son, Barron, who is a GREAT Student at a fantastic School, that his Dad will likely not be allowed to attend his Graduation Ceremony, something that we have been talking about for years, because a seriously Conflicted and Corrupt New York State Judge wants me in Criminal Court on a bogus ‘Biden Case’ which, according to virtually all Legal Scholars and Pundits, has no merit, and should NEVER have been brought,” Trump fumed on Truth Social.
The post continued, claiming: “This Fake Case is solely meant to attack Crooked Joe Biden‘s Political Opponent, ME, who is seriously leading him in the Polls, for purposes of Election Interference. The Judge, Juan Merchan, is preventing me from proudly attending my son’s Graduation. Seems very unfair, doesn’t it? But this whole event is unfair. Every one of the many Fake Cases that are perpetuated by the White House in order to help the Worst President in History, by far, get Re-Elected, are UNJUST SCAMS. We won’t let that happen, but we will MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
Trump further criticized Merchan for denying his request to attend the presidential immunity hearing before the Supreme Court on April 25.
The hush money case involves whether Trump committed a felony when marking payments to his then-lawyer Michael Cohen legal expenses when New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg argues they should have been marked as campaign-related expenses because the payments included “hush money” payments meant to keep adult actor Stormy Daniels quiet before the 2016 election. Legal experts have pointed out that Bragg’s argument is a novel one that faces skepticism.
Bragg has brought state charges under Section 175 for falsifying business records, based on the claim that Trump concealed the payments as “legal expenses.” A Section 175 charge would normally be a misdemeanor, but Bragg is trying to convert it into a felony by showing that the “intent to defraud includes an intent to commit another crime or to aid or conceal the commission thereof.” The crime would be federal election violations, which the Justice Department previously declined to charge. However, much will depend on whether Bragg can make that case to jurors in Manhattan, which is overwhelmingly Democrat.
Barron is set to graduate from Oxbridge Academy, a private school located in Palm Beach, Florida, on May 17.
A man was arrested in Scotland after threatening to blow up an airplane with a bomb while denouncing America and President Donald Trump during his visit to Scotland over the weekend for golf and trade negotiations.
A video was posted to X showing the suspect, who is reportedly a 41-year-old Indian national residing in the United Kingdom, standing up in a plane’s aisle, shouting, “I am going to bomb the plane! Death to America! Death to Trump! Allahu akbar!”
“I’m going to bomb the plane. Death to America. Death to Trump. Allahu Akbar!”
— shouted by a Muslim aboard an easyJet flight from London to Glasgow today, which had to be diverted after he made the bomb threat.
As the man shouts, a passenger approaches him and tackles him to the floor. Another video reported by The Sun shows the man being interrogated while pinned to the floor, stating that he “[wanted] to send a message to Trump,” who he knew was in Scotland.
EasyJet EZY609, which was flying from London Luton Airport to Glasgow, Scotland, was forced to make an emergency landing at a separate runway in Glasgow to account for the man’s threats, at which point the man was arrested.
Passengers on the plane recalled the stressful event in statements to The Sun.
One passenger said, “I’ve never seen that before. The airline staff, they were all girls, they were really shaken up by it, but they were super professional.”
The Scotland police released a statement saying, “A 41-year-old man was arrested in connection and further enquiries are ongoing. … At this time we believe the incident was contained and that nobody else was involved.”
The statement mentioned that the videos available were being “assessed by counter terrorism officers.”
In a statement released by easyJet, a spokesperson confirmed that “Flight EZY609 from Luton to Glasgow this morning was met by police on arrival in Glasgow, where they boarded the aircraft and removed a passenger due to their behaviour onboard. … easyJet’s crew are trained to assess all situations and act quickly and appropriately to ensure that the safety of the flight and other customers is not compromised at any time.”
The witness said that the man “literally came out of the toilet shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ with his hands above his head,” noting that he did not see a cause of the outburst.
White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles delivers remarks during the Memorial Service for Charlie Kirk at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, Sunday, September 21, 2025.(Official White House Photo by Daniel Torok)
An attorney representing White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles in 2023 is disputing claims that he agreed to allow the FBI to record a phone call with his client without her knowledge, according to a report from Axios.
“If I ever pulled a stunt like that I wouldn’t – and shouldn’t – have a license to practice law,” the unidentified attorney told Axios. “I’m as shocked as Susie.”
The denial comes amid renewed scrutiny over the FBI’s investigative tactics during Special Counsel Jack Smith’s probes into President Donald Trump ahead of the 2024 election.
Wiles, who managed Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign and now serves as White House chief of staff, was reportedly stunned to learn that the FBI subpoenaed her phone records in 2022 and 2023 as part of those investigations. According to Axios, she told associates, “I am in shock.”
Reuters first reported the subpoenas, which were issued during Smith’s investigations into Trump’s efforts to challenge the 2020 election results and his handling of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago.
According to Fox News, the records obtained through subpoena included toll data — such as phone numbers and the dates and times of calls — but did not include the content of conversations.
The controversy escalated after two FBI officials reportedly claimed that agents recorded a 2023 phone call between Wiles and her attorney. The officials alleged that the attorney was aware the call was being recorded and gave consent, though Wiles herself was not informed.
However, the attorney has “categorically” denied consenting to any recording, Axios reporter Marc Caputo wrote on X. Wiles reportedly believes her lawyer and suspects that Biden-era FBI officials may have misrepresented what occurred.
Separately, Fox News Digital reported that at least 10 FBI employees were fired Wednesday in connection with the matter.
The developments have drawn strong reactions from Trump allies and conservative commentators.
Trump 2024 co-campaign manager Chris LaCivita wrote on X that he knows the attorney and believes him, calling the situation “a violation of basic constitutional rights every American has” and urging accountability.
OutKick founder Clay Travis also weighed in, writing, “So the lawyer Biden’s FBI eavesdropped on during a call with Susie Wiles said he had no idea it happened. This is a huge story. Biden’s FBI spied on Trump’s campaign manager in the 2024 campaign.”
In a separate statement obtained by Fox News Digital, Patel — whose phone records were also reportedly subpoenaed — criticized prior FBI leadership.
“It is outrageous and deeply alarming that the previous FBI leadership secretly subpoenaed my own phone records — along with those of now White House chief of staff Susie Wiles — using flimsy pretexts and burying the entire process in prohibited case files designed to evade all oversight,” Patel said.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear escalated pressure on Sen. Mitch McConnell this week, demanding that the longtime Republican lawmaker publicly demonstrate that he remains capable of serving—or resign from office.
In a letter dated Monday and reported Tuesday, the Democratic governor called on McConnell to “directly and verbally address the people of Kentucky” and prove his capacity to continue representing the state.
Beshear’s ultimatum came one day after McConnell’s office released a new photograph of the 84-year-old senator alongside his wife, Elaine Chao, and confirmed that he remains in a rehabilitation facility more than six weeks after being hospitalized.
BREAKING:
A statement from the Office of the Attending Physician says Mitch McConnell "is not yet medically cleared to leave the rehab facility and return to the office."
“It has now been 43 days since news of your hospitalization,” Beshear wrote, according to Mediaite.
McConnell has missed 38 consecutive Senate votes since his hospitalization, according to the Daily Caller News Foundation.
“As Governor of the state you serve, I am calling on you to directly and verbally address the people of Kentucky and provide proof of your capacity to serve, or resign,” Beshear wrote.
The governor also sent the letter to Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) and urged him to investigate McConnell’s ability to remain in office if the senator declines to speak publicly.
Beshear said he would press Thune to report his findings to the American people and begin the process of removing McConnell if an investigation determined that such action was warranted.
“All of this speculation and even this letter could have been avoided with a minimal amount of transparency,” the governor added.
Beshear acknowledged McConnell’s right to medical privacy but argued that elected officials surrender a degree of that privacy when they accept responsibility for representing the public.
The Senate can expel one of its members only with a two-thirds vote. Such action is exceedingly rare: Only 15 senators have been expelled since 1789, with 14 of those removals occurring during the Civil War, according to the Senate Historical Office.
Beshear’s letter represents his second formal request for more information about McConnell’s condition. On July 8, the governor asked the senator to provide Kentuckians with a full health update and clarify whether he remained capable of fulfilling his duties.
McConnell was hospitalized June 14 after suffering a fall at his Washington, D.C., residence that left him briefly unconscious. In a July 12 written statement, the senator said doctors had ruled out a heart attack, stroke, concussion, broken bones, tumors and hemorrhaging. He also disclosed that he had developed a mild case of pneumonia while receiving treatment.
McConnell was eventually transferred from the hospital to a rehabilitation facility, where he has been undergoing multiple physical-therapy sessions each day.
His office released its latest update Monday, accompanied by a photograph that it said was taken July 26 and showed McConnell sitting beside Chao.
The Office of the Attending Physician said McConnell has not been medically cleared to leave the facility and return to his Senate office. Doctors said the lingering effects of the senator’s childhood battle with polio remain a significant factor affecting his mobility.
McConnell said he was still “working hard” to resume his schedule but announced that he would miss Kentucky’s Fancy Farm picnic Saturday. The annual political gathering is a major tradition in the state and one McConnell first attended 42 years ago.
“As always, I appreciate all of your continued well wishes, and I’m looking forward to getting back to the Senate and to Kentucky soon,” McConnell said in the official update.
A spokesman previously said McConnell continued meeting with staff and discussing defense appropriations, foreign policy, the farm bill, constituent services and federal grant requests during his recovery. Republican leaders, including Thune and Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso of Wyoming, have also said they spoke with McConnell by telephone.
The senator has not, however, participated in a live video interview or addressed Kentuckians directly since his hospitalization, leaving Beshear and other critics dissatisfied with the written statements and photographs released by his office.
McConnell has experienced several highly publicized health scares in recent years, including falls, two on-camera freezing episodes in 2023 and an intensive-care hospitalization earlier this year for flu-like symptoms.
The seven-term senator has already announced that he will not seek reelection and plans to leave office when his current term expires in January 2027. If the seat becomes vacant before then, Kentucky law calls for a special election to fill the remainder of the term.
The Trump administration is urging a federal judge to reject a last-minute lawsuit seeking to block this weekend’s Ultimate Fighting Championship event on the White House South Lawn, arguing that preparations are too far advanced to stop the highly publicized spectacle.
In a court filing submitted Tuesday, the Department of Justice (DOJ) asked the court to deny a request for a temporary restraining order filed by two Virginia residents who are challenging the legality of the event. According to the filing, planning for the UFC card has been underway since President Donald Trump announced it last year, with more than $60 million already invested and thousands of spectators expected to attend.
“All these hopes could be dashed at the very last moment, however, by the whim of two people who believe they have superior taste and want to spoil the event for everyone else,” DOJ attorneys wrote in the filing, according to The Hill.
The lawsuit was brought by retired Air Force Sgt. Paul Romano and political activist Susan Douglas, represented by the Public Integrity Project. The plaintiffs argue that federal agencies failed to comply with environmental review requirements and did not obtain congressional approval for structures associated with the event, including a temporary 92-foot-tall arch known as “The Claw” that is being erected on White House grounds.
The complaint also contends that the event improperly uses federal property for a private, commercial enterprise and alleges that the administration is using America’s 250th anniversary celebration as a pretext to bypass normal permitting requirements.
The administration has rejected those claims, arguing that the UFC event is an official component of the nation’s semiquincentennial celebrations and therefore does not require a traditional permit. DOJ attorneys further argued that the plaintiffs lack standing and are unlikely to succeed on the merits of their case.
“It would be easy enough to simply avert their gazes for the weekend,” the DOJ filing stated. “Instead, they seek to enlist the power of a federal court to impose their idiosyncratic preferences on the rest of the country and ruin an event designed to celebrate the United States of America.”
The event, dubbed “UFC Freedom 250,” is scheduled for Saturday on the South Lawn and coincides with Flag Day, President Trump’s 80th birthday, and broader America 250 celebrations. Organizers plan to host six prime-time bouts inside a temporary Octagon constructed on White House grounds, while ceremonial weigh-ins are scheduled to take place at the Lincoln Memorial.
According to court filings, the administration expects attendance in the thousands, while tens of thousands more spectators are expected to gather in surrounding areas. Construction crews have already begun assembling the temporary venue.
The White House has described the event as one of the centerpiece attractions of the America 250 celebration. President Trump recently told reporters that interest in the UFC card has surpassed any other event held during his presidency.
“I’ve been involved in a lot of big events. I have never had an event that has had more interest than the UFC fight we have right at the front door,” Trump said during remarks in the Oval Office.
Trump has maintained a longstanding friendship with UFC President and CEO Dana White, who has been a prominent supporter of the president and frequently appears at political events. Trump has also attended numerous UFC events during both his first and second terms in office.
A federal judge has not yet ruled on the plaintiffs’ request to halt the event, but with the fights scheduled to begin this weekend, the administration is pressing for a swift dismissal of the challenge.
Looking east towards 6th Avenue along north (48th Street) side of Fox News building on a snowy afternoon. [Photo Credit: Jim.henderson, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons]
Former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly had nothing to say about his former employer during a recent interview.
Dominion Voting Systems sued Fox News for $1.6 billion alleging the cable news giant intentionally aired false claims about the company being made by former President Trump and his supporters.
“I’ll tell ya this, I would never have done what CNN and MSNBC did on Russian collusion or what Fox did on election fraud,” O’Reilly said Monday evening during an appearance on Chris Cuomo’s NewsNation show. “I would rather be fired, I would leave the job … I am not going to sell out for ratings, ever. And I never have.”
O’Reilly’s comments follow a bombshell report that detailed private internal messages between Fox Employees showed top hosts expressed concern about the claims being made by Trump and his aides while expressing doubts about how the channel’s audience would react to fact checks of those assertions. (RELATED:Fox News Trashed Trump’s Election Fraud Claims: Court Documents)
Fox has defended itself on First Amendment grounds, and last week in a filing of its own questioned Dominion’s motives and financial valuation.
“There will be a lot of noise and confusion generated by Dominion and their opportunistic private equity owners, but the core of this case remains about freedom of the press and freedom of speech, which are fundamental rights afforded by the Constitution and protected by New York Times v. Sullivan. Dominion has mischaracterized the record, cherry-picked quotes stripped of key context, and spilled considerable ink on facts that are irrelevant under black-letter principles of defamation law,” the network said.
O’Reilly, a former top prime-time host at the network, left Fox in 2017 amid allegations of sexual harassment.
