Police sources say a decomposing body was located in a Tesla in a tow yard in Hollywood, California, Sept. 8, 2025. KABC
(LOS ANGELES, Calif.) — The body found in a towed Tesla that was registered to the singer D4vd has been identified as a 15-year-old girl, according to officials.
A decomposing female body was discovered in the trunk of the Tesla on Sept. 8, two days after it had been towed from a Los Angeles street, police sources said.
The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner identified the victim Wednesday as 15-year-old Celeste Rivas. The teen, from Lake Elsinore in Riverside County, was reported missing last year and hadn’t been heard from since, investigators confirmed to ABC News.
The circumstances of how she died and ended up in the front trunk are unclear, investigators told ABC News.
The cause of death is still being determined.
The Los Angeles Police Department’s Robbery-Homicide Division is leading the investigation. No arrests have been made.
Police responded to an impound lot in Hollywood on Sept. 8 “for a foul odor coming from a vehicle,” Los Angeles police said.
Authorities located a body in the front trunk of the Tesla that was in a state of decomposition, LAPD sources said.
The victim was about 5-foot-1 with wavy black hair and was wearing a tube top, black leggings, a yellow metal bracelet and metal stud earrings, according to the medical examiner. She also had a tattoo on her right index finger that said “Shhh…”
The victim appears to have been dead for some time, adding to the complexity of the investigation, sources said following the discovery.
The Tesla had been at the impound lot for two days after being found abandoned on a Hollywood street, investigators said.
The vehicle is registered to 20-year-old David Anthony Burke, known professionally as D4vd, according to a senior LAPD source. It is one of several vehicles owned by the musician, with many different people using any of the vehicles at any given time, the source added.
ABC News reached out to his representative and lawyer for comment but did not receive a response.
D4vd, who first went viral on TikTok, where he has 3.8 million followers, released his debut album in April. The singer, known for his indie, R&B and alt-pop sound, is scheduled to perform in Los Angeles on Saturday as part of his “Withered” world tour.
Air Force One is seen, February 16, 2025 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — An air traffic controller admonished a Spirit Airlines pilot to “pay attention” as the plane flew several miles from Air Force One, according to audio of the exchange.
The incident occurred Tuesday morning as President Donald Trump was flying to the United Kingdom aboard Air Force One. Spirit Flight 1300 was heading to Boston Logan International Airport from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, at the time.
As the Spirit flight was beginning its descent into Boston, an air traffic controller became frustrated with the pilot while the plane was about 8 miles from Air Force One, according to audio captured by LiveATC.net.
After the controller told the Spirit pilot to turn 20 degrees right, he repeated the instruction multiple times.
“Pay attention. Spirit 1300, turn 20 degrees right,” the controller says, according to the LiveATC.net audio.
“Spirit 1300, turn 20 degrees right now,” the controller repeats, sounding increasingly frustrated.
“Spirit wings 1300, turn 20 degrees right immediately,” he sternly says.
The pilot eventually acknowledges the instruction, saying, “20 degrees right, Spirit wings 1300.”
“Pay attention,” the controller says, then tells the pilot that Air Force One is off the Spirit plane’s left wing by 8 miles.
“I’m sure you can see who it is,” the controller says.
“Keep an eye out for me, white and blue,” the controller adds.
Later on, the controller scolds the Spirit pilot, “I gotta talk to you twice every time.”
“Pay attention, get off the iPad,” the controller adds.
The exchange was first reported by the Bluesky account JonNYC.
In a statement on the incident, Spirit Airlines said the flight “followed procedures and Air Traffic Control (ATC) instructions while en route to Boston (BOS) and landed uneventfully at BOS.”
“Safety is always our top priority,” the airline added.
A preliminary investigation shows the aircraft maintained the required separation, an official told ABC News.
(COHOES, N.Y.) — Officials in upstate New York are searching for a 53-year-old homicide suspect who has been on the run since his girlfriend was found dead, according to the Cohoes Police Department.
Anthony Bechand, 53, has been missing since his girlfriend, 41-year-old Amanda Rodriguez, was found dead in her home in Cohoes, New York, on Sunday morning, according to investigators.
When Rodriguez was found, the Cohoes Police Department contacted New York State Police to assist in the investigation.
Officials said they determined that Bechand “fled in an unknown direction and was wearing an unknown outfit at the time of his departure.”
Rodriguez resided in “the single family house with her boyfriend,” police said.
As of Wednesday, Bechand, who “may be armed and dangerous” is still on the run, Cohoes Police Chief Todd Waldin confirmed to ABC News.
The suspect was believed to have been traveling in a white 2024 Chevrolet Suburban, but officials located the vehicle on Sunday “on County Route 60 at the intersection of County Route 86 in the Town of Brighton, Franklin County,” New York State Police said in a statement.
Bechand is described as 5 feet, 11 inches tall, weighs approximately 180 pounds and has hazel eyes and brown hair, police said.
Police said the public’s assistance is “vital as this investigation continues.”
Anyone who may have seen Bechand or has information on his whereabouts is urged to contact New York State Police at 518-897-2000.
Workers replace grass in the Utah Valley University courtyard where political activist Charlie Kirk was shot, on September 15, 2025 in Orem, Utah. (Chet Strange/Getty Images)
(OREM, Utah) — Students at Utah Valley University are returning to campus on Wednesday, one week after conservative influencer Charlie Kirk was killed while holding an outdoor event at the university.
Hope Ledkins, a first-year student at Utah Valley University, told ABC News returning to class is a “very sad, very somber feeling.”
“This doesn’t happen in Orem, Utah,” Ledkins said. “To have something like this happen, people just feel really mixed up about it.”
As students return to campus, law enforcement continues to investigate Tyler Robinson, 22, who is accused of assassinating Kirk at the university on Sept. 10.
Robinson was formally charged with aggravated murder on Tuesday, with prosecutors announcing the intent to seek the death penalty. He was also charged with felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury, obstruction of justice, two counts of witness tampering and commission of a violent offense in the presence of a child, Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray announced.
Robinson made a short first court appearance on Tuesday.
Prosecutors on Tuesday offered more insight into the killing and Robinson’s alleged discussions with family and his roommate in the wake of the shooting.
After his father recognized Robinson in photographs released by authorities, the suspect met with his parents and “implied that he was the shooter and stated that he couldn’t go to jail and just wanted to end it,” the charging documents said.
His parents then asked their son why he committed this crime, to which he said “there is too much evil and the guy [Charlie Kirk] spreads too much hate,” according to the charging documents.
Exactly what Robinson was allegedly referring to by “hate” was not clear. Investigators noted that Robinson’s mom told them that her son allegedly began having a relationship with his roommate, who is transitioning, and had begun leaning to the left more politically, becoming “more pro-gay and trans-rights oriented,” but the document does not indicate the relevance of those stances nor whether Kirk’s remarks about those issues were a motivating factor.
Gray said he would let a judge determine whether the statements allegedly made by Robinson constituted a confession. On Tuesday, he declined to comment on whether Robinson has been cooperating or spoken to investigators.
Prosecutors also revealed text messages between the suspect and his roommate.
On the day of the shooting, the roommate received a text message from the 22-year-old that said, “drop what you are doing, look under my keyboard,” charging documents said.
The roommate found a note underneath Robinson’s keyboard that said, “I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I’m going to take it,” according to charging documents.
Prosecutors also revealed additional conversations between the suspect and his roommate after the shooting.
“I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can’t be negotiated out,” one of the messages read.
Robinson’s roommate asked how long he had been planning this attack, to which he said “a little over a week I believe,” according to charging documents.
As the suspect remains in custody without bail, FBI Director Kash Patel said a “number of individuals” are currently being investigated who are linked to the suspect’s Discord, a group chat messaging platform where Robinson allegedly confessed he was the shooter two hours before he was taken into custody.
“Hey guys, I have bad news for you all…It was me at UVU yesterday. im sorry for all of this,” one of the messages read.
During a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday, Patel said “a lot more” than 20 people are linked to Robinson and that the FBI is looking into “anyone and everyone involved in the Discord chat.”
Robinson’s next hearing is scheduled for Sept. 29.
James Comey speaks onstage at 92NY on May 30, 2023 in New York City. (Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — A Columbia law professor who is a friend and adviser to former FBI Director James Comey was subpoenaed last week by federal prosecutors in connection with a criminal probe into whether Comey allegedly lied in testimony before Congress, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.
Daniel Richman has previously acknowledged his role as an intermediary between Comey and reporters in the wake of Comey’s 2017 firing by President Donald Trump during his first term over Trump’s anger with the FBI’s investigation into his 2016 campaign.
Richman met with federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of Virginia on Tuesday, sources familiar with the matter said.
In public statements, Richman has said he shared the content of memos written by Comey about his interactions with Trump with a reporter from the New York Times.
Trump later accused Comey of breaking the law by sharing his memos, arguing they contained classified information, though Richman later told ABC News in a statement that none of the documents had any classification markings.
The subpoena to Richman, according to sources, stems from an investigation into testimony Comey made before Congress in September 2020 about the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Comey has repeatedly defended his handling of the early stages of the investigation and denied any decisions were based out of political animus towards Trump.
A previous investigation by the Justice Department’s inspector general faulted Comey for violating FBI policies over his handling of the memos regarding his interactions with President Trump, though the DOJ under Trump’s first administration declined to prosecute him.
An attorney for Richman and an attorney for Comey did not immediately respond to a request for comment from ABC News.
A Justice Department spokesperson also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(PITTSBURGH) — A Pennsylvania man was apprehended after he drove his car into a metal gate at the FBI building in Pittsburgh early on Wednesday, a ramming that federal law enforcement officials described as intentional.
Donald Henson, of Penn Hills, allegedly drove at a high rate of speed toward the main entrance gate at about 2:40 a.m., FBI Special Agent in Charge Christopher Giordano said during a press briefing.
The FBI confirmed late Wednesday morning that Henson was apprehended “a short time ago.”
“We look at this as an act of terror against the FBI,” Giordano said earlier on Wednesday. “This was a targeted attack on this building.”
There was “some vulgarity” scrawled on the side of the vehicle, the FBI said. The full details of what was written were not immediately clear, Giordano said, adding there appeared to be a reference to suicide.
Officials said no one was injured in the ramming.
He said the suspect fled the scene and it was believed that he may be dangerous. It was not immediately clear if Henson was armed, the FBI said.
Henson is the registered owner of the vehicle, Giordano said. The FBI compared surveillance video with Henson’s drivers license photo to further identify him, Giordano said, adding that he also had been identified as a former military member. He said Henson may have been experiencing a mental health issue.
After the crash, Henson allegedly exited the car, took an American flag out of the trunk and stuck it on the gate, the FBI said.
Images from the scene captured by ABC News affiliate WTAE appeared to show a white sedan sitting with a door ajar in front of a damaged metal gate near a security booth.
A spokesperson from the Pittsburgh Police Department told ABC News that officers responded to the 3300 block of E. Carson Street for a reported vehicle collision at about 3 a.m. on Wednesday. The vehicle collided with a gate outside of the building, before the driver exited the vehicle and fled the scene, the spokesperson said.
The FBI is leading the ongoing investigation, the police said. The FBI was working with the local U.S. Attorneys Office to draft a complaint against Henson, Giordano said.
Henson had come to the FBI Pittsburgh office within the last few weeks to make a complaint, Giordano said, adding it “didn’t make a whole lot of sense.”
“We contacted him and let him know that there was no federal crime we were able to charge,” he said.
(NEW YORK) — The Atlantic basin may have been quiet going into the peak of hurricane season, but officials are watching a new system that has developed into a tropical storm, which has the possibility of strengthening further.
The National Hurricane Center confirmed on Wednesday that Tropical Storm Gabrielle has formed in the Central Atlantic.
Te tropical storm does not pose a threat to the United States, as of Wednesday. The system should remain over open waters for several days, the NHC said.
The system previously met the criteria to be designated a tropical depression with winds greater than 34 mph on Wednesday.
Although dry air and other unfavorable atmospheric conditions have recently hindered development, the storm is expected to move into a more favorable environment later this week, giving it a better chance to become organized.
The storm will move Northwest and is not expected to hit any of the Leeward Islands or the Caribbean. If it develops further, the storm could be a hurricane in the vicinity of Bermuda.
The storm, which was originally described as a disturbance, was expected to become a tropical depression or tropical storm by the end of the week as it churns northwestward across the central Atlantic Ocean.
The development of a new tropical cyclone would mark the end of a notably quiet period in the Atlantic Basin, a stretch that included the climatological peak of the hurricane season on Sept. 10.
Tropical activity is expected to gradually ramp up over the next few weeks as conditions become more favorable for development, forecasters say.
NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center said the odds of tropical development are increasing across parts of the Atlantic Basin for the second half of September, as large-scale environmental conditions become more favorable.
Tropical weather experts at Colorado State University (CSU) echo these predictions, saying overall atmospheric conditions, including wind patterns, will shift in a manner that supports a notable increase in activity.
While the climatological peak of the Atlantic hurricane season has passed, roughly 60% of tropical activity typically occurs after Sept. 10, on average, according to the National Hurricane Center.
The remainder of September and October will likely be active, David Zierden, the Florida state climatologist and head of the Florida Climate Center at Florida State University, told ABC News last week.
September and October often see some of the busiest activity for hurricanes because sea surface temperatures can be at their highest, Zierden said. Higher temperatures provide “ample fuel” for the formation and intensification of tropical cyclones, he added.
Waters in the Gulf and Caribbean are currently “very warm,” Jennifer Francis, an atmospheric scientist at the Woodwell Climate Research Center, told ABC News last week.
Historically speaking, about two-thirds of all Atlantic hurricane season activity occurs between Aug. 20 and Oct. 10. In August, NOAA predicted above-normal activity for the remainder of the Atlantic hurricane season.
Last year demonstrated that late September and early October can be an active period for tropical development, with multiple threats that may be high-impact and potentially devastating.
Hurricane Helene, which caused devastating flooding in North Carolina, formed on Sept. 24, 2024, while Hurricane Milton, which caused widespread destruction in Florida, formed on Oct. 5, 2024.
ABC News’ Kenton Gewecke and Kyle Reiman contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — The Atlantic basin may have been quiet going into the peak of hurricane season, but officials are watching a new storm that has developed into a tropical depression, which has the possibility of strengthening further.
The National Hurricane Center confirmed on Wednesday that Tropical Depression Seven has formed in the Central Atlantic.
The system, which is expected to become Tropical Storm Gabrielle in the coming days, met the criteria to be designated a tropical depression with winds greater than 34 mph on Wednesday.
As of Wednesday, the tropical depression does not pose a threat to the United States.
Although dry air and other unfavorable atmospheric conditions have recently hindered development, the storm is expected to move into a more favorable environment later this week, giving it a better chance to become organized.
The depression will move Northwest and is not expected to hit any of the Leeward Islands or the Caribbean. If it develops further, the storm could be a hurricane in the vicinity of Bermuda.
The storm, which was originally described as a disturbance, was expected to become a tropical depression or tropical storm by the end of the week as it churns northwestward across the central Atlantic Ocean.
The development of a new tropical cyclone would mark the end of a notably quiet period in the Atlantic Basin, a stretch that included the climatological peak of the hurricane season on Sept. 10.
Tropical activity is expected to gradually ramp up over the next few weeks as conditions become more favorable for development, forecasters say.
NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center said the odds of tropical development are increasing across parts of the Atlantic Basin for the second half of September, as large-scale environmental conditions become more favorable.
Tropical weather experts at Colorado State University (CSU) echo these predictions, saying overall atmospheric conditions, including wind patterns, will shift in a manner that supports a notable increase in activity.
While the climatological peak of the Atlantic hurricane season has passed, roughly 60% of tropical activity typically occurs after Sept. 10, on average, according to the National Hurricane Center.
The remainder of September and October will likely be active, David Zierden, the Florida state climatologist and head of the Florida Climate Center at Florida State University, told ABC News last week.
September and October often see some of the busiest activity for hurricanes because sea surface temperatures can be at their highest, Zierden said. Higher temperatures provide “ample fuel” for the formation and intensification of tropical cyclones, he added.
Waters in the Gulf and Caribbean are currently “very warm,” Jennifer Francis, an atmospheric scientist at the Woodwell Climate Research Center, told ABC News last week.
Historically speaking, about two-thirds of all Atlantic hurricane season activity occurs between Aug. 20 and Oct. 10. In August, NOAA predicted above-normal activity for the remainder of the Atlantic hurricane season.
Last year demonstrated that late September and early October can be an active period for tropical development, with multiple threats that may be high-impact and potentially devastating.
Hurricane Helene, which caused devastating flooding in North Carolina, formed on Sept. 24, 2024, while Hurricane Milton, which caused widespread destruction in Florida, formed on Oct. 5, 2024.
ABC News’ Kenton Gewecke and Kyle Reiman contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — Top Trump administration officials are pressuring federal prosecutors in Virginia to bring charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James for mortgage fraud, despite investigators so far failing to find sufficient evidence supporting such charges, according to sources familiar with the investigation.
After a five-month investigation and interviews with more than a dozen witnesses, federal prosecutors have so far uncovered no clear evidence that James knowingly made false statements to a financial institution to secure favorable terms on a mortgage for her Virginia home, according to multiple sources briefed on the investigation.
Trump himself has pressured the Department of Justice leadership to investigate James more aggressively, and two officials — Ed Martin, the head of the DOJ’s Weaponization Working Group, and Bill Pulte, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency — have pushed the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia to seek an indictment of James.
When federal prosecutors recently declined to indict James, Pulte encouraged Trump to fire Erik Siebert, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and replace him with a prosecutor who would be willing to bring charges against James, sources said.
The move to seek an indictment against one of the president’s political rivals — who successfully brought a civil fraud case against Trump last year and leads multiple lawsuits challenging his administration’s policies — would mark a significant escalation in what the president’s critics have labeled a campaign of political retribution.
Pulte and Martin have argued that James committed mortgage fraud because one of the documents related to a 2023 home purchased by James falsely indicated the property would be her primary residence. However, investigators have so far determined that the document — a limited power of attorney form used by James’ niece to sign documents on her behalf when James closed on the home — was never considered by the loan officers who approved the mortgage, sources said.
Lawyers drafted the document itself for a third-party closing company based on a template that was never corrected, sources said, and every other document in James’ loan file for the mortgage accurately stated that she would not reside at the home.
Prosecutors have not yet been able to produce evidence that James knowingly filled out the power of attorney form incorrectly to influence the bank that issued the mortgage, said sources familiar with the investigation’s findings thus far.
James has denied wrongdoing, and her lawyer Abbe Lowell has criticized the criminal referral as “three pages of stale, threadbare allegations” that he called “the next salvo in President Trump’s revenge tour against Attorney General James.”
“Given the cascade of unsubstantiated allegations coming from the Trump Administration on its ‘mortgage fraud’ crusade against Democrats, it’s no surprise they are having trouble finding an objective and law-abiding prosecutor who would ignore the facts and the evidence to manufacture sham charges,” Lowell said in a statement to ABC News. “As we have repeatedly said, any impartial and non-political inquiry would conclude Attorney General James did not violate any laws managing her properties.”
A White House spokesperson declined to comment when contacted by ABC News. Representatives from the Justice Department and the Federal Housing Finance Agency did not respond to a request for comment.
The contentious investigation comes as Trump, Pulte, and Martin have accused numerous officials of engaging in mortgage fraud, with other investigations targeting Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook and Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff, Schiff, allegations both have denied.
Martin is also investigating James regarding a New York home, and federal prosecutors in Albany have issued subpoenas to James in connection with her civil fraud case against Trump and her corruption case against the National Rifle Association, according to multiple sources.
While Martin’s investigation of James’ Virginia properties has failed to yield clear evidence of fraud, sources said, he has taken aggressive steps to publicize the allegations and leapfrogged multiple steps usually taken by prosecutors. Last month, he sent James’ attorney a letter asking that she resign from her role as the New York attorney general, arguing it would “serve the ‘good of the state and nation'” for her to leave office.
“Her resignation from office would give the people of New York and America more peace than proceeding. I would take this as an act of good faith,” Martin wrote.
Days after sending the letter, Martin posed for a New York Post photographer outside James’ Brooklyn home, wearing a Columbo-style trench coat. He later posted a photo from his visit on social media.
As ABC News previously reported, the visit and photo earned him a rebuke from Attorney General Pam Bondi and her deputy, Todd Blanche, who told him the trip was counterproductive and harmful to his investigation, sources said.
“[D]espite the lack of evidence or law, you will take whatever actions you have been directed to take to make good on President Trump’s and Attorney General Bondi’s calls for revenge for that reason alone,” Lowell said in a letter to Martin, a copy of which was reviewed by ABC.
The mortgage investigation has exposed cracks in the DOJ leadership and raised fresh concerns that Trump officials are seeking retribution for the ill-fated prosecutions of the president, sources said.
‘She was the fraudster’ Each of the investigations into James, Cook, and Schiff revolves around two figures in the Trump administration who have since burnished their reputations for aggressively publicizing their claims of mortgage fraud.
Pulte, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency and chairman of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, has issued the referral letters alleging the officials committed mortgage fraud, while Martin — who holds multiple titles as U.S. Pardon Attorney, Special Attorney for Mortgage Fraud, Associate Deputy Attorney General and Director of the DOJ’s Weaponization working group — has spearheaded the investigations at the Justice Department.
Before taking on his four roles, Martin briefly served as the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. He was the first person in recent history to run the pivotal office without any experience as a prosecutor or judge, and his tenure was marked by controversy. He dismissed dozens of prosecutors who worked on cases involving the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, defended the rioters who stormed the Capitol building, and called out potential targets of investigations on social media.
Trump withdrew Martin’s nomination for D.C. U.S. Attorney in May after he lost Senate support and instead opted to place him in the highest echelon of DOJ leadership in four influential roles that did not require confirmation.
Martin has initiated some of his investigations based on criminal referrals by Pulte, a private-equity executive whose family runs the third-largest home construction company in the United States. Pulte built a substantial public profile on social media by using Twitter to share his philanthropic work, though his outspoken presence last year prompted some members of his family to issue a statement distancing themselves from him.
“We additionally believe that some of Bill Pulte’s public communications through social media, public appearances, interviews, self-published articles and more may suggest that he speaks on behalf of the entire Pulte family. To the contrary, Bill Pulte does not represent, nor is he a spokesperson for, all members of the Pulte family, in any capacity,” the family’s charitable foundation said in a statement last year, though it said that the nonprofit “bears no ill will towards Bill Pulte.”
Last year, in a civil case brought by James against Trump and his family business, a New York judge concluded that Trump and his family had committed a decade of business fraud by overstating the value of their properties to get favorable loan terms, fining Trump and his sons nearly half a billion dollars. An appeals court subsequently tossed the financial penalty but upheld the finding that Trump committed fraud.
Pulte, who has publicized his mortgage fraud claims about James since April, has equated the allegations against James to Trump’s civil fraud case.
“I believe this is riddled with mortgage fraud, and frankly, I think that’s why she knew so much about the law in terms of how to go after President Trump,” Pulte told Fox News last month. “She was the fraudster, not President Trump.”
‘Improper political retribution’ The Trump administration’s probe of James began less than a month into the president’s term when newly appointed U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced the creation of a “Weaponization Working Group” headed by Martin. Among the topics the group was created to examine was James’ alleged “federal cooperation … to target President Trump, his family, and his businesses.”
One month after the Senate confirmed Pulte, he issued a criminal referral letter to the Department of Justice in April based on “media reports,” alleging that James “appears to have falsified records in order to meet certain lending requirements and receive favorable loan terms.” The allegations centered on three properties: a home in Virginia that James owns, where her niece resides; James’ Brooklyn townhouse; and her father’s house in Queens, New York.
Pulte accused James of falsifying records to claim she resided in the Virginia home in order to get better loan terms; misrepresenting the number of rooms in her Brooklyn home to meet requirements for a government-backed loan; and falsely claiming to be her father’s wife on a mortgage application in the 1990s.
“Letitia James is one of the most corrupt, shameless individuals ever to hold public office,” Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller told reporters on the day the referral letter was filed. “She is guilty of multiple significant serial criminal violations.”
Later in April, Lowell responded to each of the allegations in a fiery letter that labeled the referral Trump’s “latest act of improper political retribution.”
“U.S. Federal Housing Director William Pulte is the latest administration officer to carry out the all-too-familiar playbook of the President: praise the judicial system and those who serve it when he wins; criticize it when he loses, and attack those — attorneys and judges, alike — who are doing their jobs to protect and uphold the rule of law,” Lowell wrote.
Lowell said that the allegations about James’s homes were “cherry-picked.” Only one document related to the Virginia home — the power of attorney document that was filed so James’ niece could sign documents on her behalf — incorrectly listed the home as her primary residence, he wrote. DOJ investigators would later confirm Lowell’s claim that the POA document was the only document in James’ mortgage file that stated she would live in the home, sources said.
Regarding her Brooklyn home, Lowell argued that Pulte referenced a 24-year-old document to claim the building has five bedrooms, while all other records show it has four bedrooms. The deed for James’ fathers’ home, Lowell wrote, correctly reflects their father-daughter relationship.
“In a predictable pattern here, Director Pulte cites a mistaken May 20, 1983, document Mr. James filled out to cast his baseless allegation while again ignoring the other supporting documentation,” Lowell wrote.
‘Help Wanted’ Since federal prosecutors began looking into James’ Virginia property, they have interviewed or presented to the grand jury 15 witnesses, including insurers, loan officers, underwriters, realtors, and James’ niece.
To bring a case that she made false statements to a bank or federal financial institution, prosecutors would need to prove that James knowingly made a false statement with the intent to influence a bank. Sources tell ABC News that prosecutors have not found evidence to clear that high bar.
A loan underwriter interviewed by investigators said that, in the process of approving the loan, she never looked at or considered the power of attorney document that incorrectly listed the home as James’ primary residence, according to sources.
While Martin is examining whether another property owned by James in Virginia was inconsistently described as both “second home” and an “investment property,” sources said senior DOJ leadership believes Martin would be unable to prove any allegations beyond a reasonable doubt, in part because Fannie Mae guidelines on the issue are too vague.
Despite his investigation failing to yield a viable case, Martin has continued to aggressively pursue the claims with Trump’s backing, sources said. He recently requested 2-3 experienced prosecutors from the U.S. attorney’s office in the Eastern Districts of Virginia and New York to help with the investigations, and he has begun personally recruiting attorneys to join his “Special Attorney Fraud Unit,” said sources.
In a recruiting email titled “Help Wanted,” Martin invited current DOJ lawyers to be “fighters for justice and goodness and the American way,” according to materials reviewed by ABC News. In his pitch, Martin invoked the words of former Attorney General and Justice Robert Jackson — who famously warned that prosecutors going after people they dislike or seek to embarrass is “the greatest danger of abuse of prosecuting power” — when he told prospective team members that “The qualities of a good prosecutor are as elusive and as impossible to define as those that mark a gentleman.”
“In a special way, the SAFU is called to hold bad actors accountable,” Martin wrote. “After all, as New York, Attorney General Leticia [sic] James said, ‘Because no matter how big, rich, or powerful you think you are, no one is above the law.'”
(PITTSBURGH, Pa.) — A Pennsylvania man drove his car into a metal gate at the FBI building in Pittsburgh early on Wednesday, a ramming that federal law enforcement officials described as intentional, saying the man was being sought as a suspect.
Donald Henson, of Penn Hills, allegedly drove at a high rate of speed toward the main entrance gate at about 2:40 a.m., FBI Special Agent in Charge Christopher Giordano said during a press briefing.
“We look at this as an act of terror against the FBI,” Giordano said. “This was a targeted attack on this building. Thankfully no one was hurt, but we are going to exhaust every ability we have under the federal law to find, apprehend and prosecute this subject to the fullest extent.”
There was “some vulgarity” scrawled on the side of the vehicle, the FBI said. The full details of what was written were not immediately clear, Giordano said, adding that there appeared to be a reference to suicide.
He said the suspect fled the scene and it was believed that he may be dangerous. It was not immediately clear if Henson was armed, the FBI said.
Henson is the registered owner of the vehicle, Giordano said. The FBI compared surveillance video with Henson’s drivers license photo to further identify him, Giordano said, adding that he also had been identified as a former military member. He said Henson may have been experiencing a mental health issue.
After the crash, Henson allegedly exited the car, took an American flag out of the trunk and stuck it on the gate, the FBI said.
Images from the scene captured by ABC News affiliate WTAE appeared to show a white sedan sitting with a door ajar in front of a damaged metal gate near a security booth.
A spokesperson from the Pittsburgh Police Department told ABC News that officers responded to the 3300 block of E. Carson Street for a reported vehicle collision at about 3 a.m. on Wednesday. The vehicle collided with a gate outside of the building, before the driver exited the vehicle and fled the scene, the spokesperson said.
The FBI is leading the ongoing investigation, the police said. The FBI was working with the local U.S. Attorneys Office to draft a complaint against Henson, Giordano said.
Henson had come to the FBI Pittsburgh office within the last few weeks to make a complaint, Giordano said, adding it “didn’t make a whole lot of sense.”
“We contacted him and let him know that there was no federal crime we were able to charge,” he said.
