US President Donald Trump during an executive order signing in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — A new prosecutor has been selected to take over the Fulton County, Georgia, election interference case against President Donald Trump and others after District Attorney Fani Willis’ disqualification.
In a statement on Friday, the director of the agency tasked with finding the replacement said he had chosen someone new: himself.
Pete Skandalakis, the executive director of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia, said he chose himself to take over the case after he was “unable” to find someone else to accept the job.
“Several prosecutors were contacted and, while all were respectful and professional, each declined the appointment,” he said in a statement. “The decision to assume responsibility for this matter was reached only after careful and deliberate consideration.”
Trump and 18 others pleaded not guilty in August 2023 to all charges in a sweeping racketeering indictment for alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the state of Georgia.
The charges, which were brought following Trump’s Jan. 2, 2021, phone call in which he asked Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” the votes needed to win the state, allege that the defendants solicited state leaders throughout the country, harassed and misled a Georgia election worker, and pushed phony claims that the election was stolen, all in an effort for Trump to remain in power despite his election loss.
The selection of a new prosecutor fell to the attorneys’ council after the Georgia Supreme Court in September declined to take up Willis’ appeal of her removal from the case over her relationship with one of the prosecutors on the case.
Skandalakis was facing a Nov. 14 deadline to appoint someone new or the case would face dismissal, according to an order from Fulton County Judge Scott McAfee. Skandalakis said he did not believe McAfee dismissing the case because of the missed deadline would be “the right course of action.”
Skandalakis wrote in his statement that he had “not had sufficient time” to complete a review the case file, saying he received 101 boxes of documents from the DA’s office in late October, and an 8-terabyte hard drive of the case file just last week. He said that by appointing himself to the case he can “complete a comprehensive review and make an informed decision regarding how best to proceed” with the case, whose future is still up the air.
“My only objective is to ensure that this case is handled properly, fairly, and with full transparency discharging my duties without fear, favor, or affection,” Skandalakis said.
Trump this week issued a sweeping pardon to all defendants in the Georgia election case and all other cases involving alleged 2020 “fake elector” plots, although the act was largely symbolic as Trump does not have the ability to pardon state charges.
Mega Millions lottery tickets sit inside a convenience store in Lower Manhattan, (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — The Mega Millions jackpot is now the eighth largest in history ahead of Friday night’s drawing where one lucky person could win an estimated $965 million.
The jackpot grew from $900 million to where it currently stands after no ticket matched all six numbers drawn Tuesday night.
The jackpot was last won on June 27.
The prize has a cash value of $445.3 million which can be offered as a one-time lump sum payment or an immediate payment followed by 29 annual payments.
After four jackpot wins in the first half of this year, Friday’s drawing will be the 40th drawing in this run, a game record, since it was last won in Virginia on June 27.
Even though nobody won the jackpot on Tuesday night, there were 809,030 winning tickets across all prize tiers for total nationwide winnings of more than $27.9 million, according to Mega Millions.
The odds of winning the jackpot at 1 in 290,472,336, according to Mega Millions.Mega Millions is played in 45 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Tickets are $5 for one play.
The largest Mega Millions jackpot prize ever won was $1.6 billion prize won on Aug. 8, 2023.
Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell attend de Grisogono Sponsors The 2005 Wall Street Concert Series Benefitting Wall Street Rising, with a Performance by Rod Stewart at Cipriani Wall Street on March 15, 2005 in New York City. (Patrick Mcmullan/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Already a convicted sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein was still actively shopping his political and financial acumen with major power players on the international stage in 2018, according to messages in the trove of records released by the House Oversight Committee this week.
Epstein appeared to welcome that role of influence-wielder, including by pitching himself as a guru on how world leaders should handle then newly-elected President Donald Trump. Epstein even boasted that he had already counseled a top Russian diplomat on Trump’s psyche.
Months later, Epstein would be arrested on sex trafficking charges.
“I think you might suggest to putin, that lavrov, can get insight on talking to me,” Epstein said in a typo-strewn email to then-Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Thørbjorn Jagland, on June 24, 2018. “Vitaly churkin used to but he died. ? !” he added, referring to Russia’s former Permanent Representative to the United Nations.
“I’ll meet Lavrovs assistant on Monday and will suggest,” Jagland replied. “Thank you fo [sic] a lovely evening. I’ll com to un high level week.”
“Churkin was great,” Epstein told Jagland. “He understood trump after our conversations. it is not complex. he must be seen to get something. its that simple.”
In January of 2013, then-President of the Maldives Mohamed Waheed Hassan already in correspondence with Epstein, asked for his financial guidance.
“Jeffrey, need your advice,” Hassan said. “My finance minister is telling me that he has an anonymous funds manager who is willing to deposit 4 billion dollars in Maldives and that they are willing to lend a percentage of that in exchange for government promissory notes,” he said — going on to describe what he worried was a sketchy deal.
“What do you think I should do. I am very uncomfortable. In addition to the finance minister, a leading politician and leader of the coalition parliamentary group is behind it. He could be my leading contender for presidency. Does this all sound ridiculous to you. I have a strange feeling about this whole thing,” Hassan continued. The note signs off with “Sent from President’s iPad.”
“It is a scam,” Epstein replied and then detailed the reasons Hassan should walk away from the proposal.
In a January 2017 exchange — seven days after Trump was inaugurated — Epstein communicates with someone who is set to rub elbows with influential politicos and businesspeople in Washington, D.C., the next day — and wants his advice.
“I’m seeing BG tmr. He will be in DC for the Alfalfa dinner but he’s got mtgs most of the day including w Jared Kushner. Should I ask him to discuss surgeon general or mention it or wait? Not sure kushner cares about that stuff,” the person, whose identity is redacted, asked.
“Kushner does not care,” Epstein responded. The person replied, “K will wait.”
“Ask him if he will see tom barrack, thats the most important,” Epstein said. “He is free to call me for inside baseball.”
Tom Barrack, a billionaire real estate investor, was Trump’s longtime ally and a visible part of the campaign, chairing the inaugural committee that raised more than $100 million.
In 2021, Barrack was charged with acting as a foreign agent for allegedly seeking to use his influence with the new president on behalf of the United Arab Emirates. He was ultimately found not guilty.
Later on in their conversation, Epstein said that “Bill met my friend Kathy ruemmler, Obama counsel for 5 yrs. She would love to sit with Melinda and give her the other side of jeffrey.”
“Can try, couldn’t hurt,” the person responded.
“Hillary loves Kathy as does Obama. She is an arch feminist who is my great defender,” Epstein said.
“Not sure individuals can influence once impressions are made. But I will try,” the person said. “I do not know for sure but I do think he would be unwilling to Bring it up with her.”
Epstein was also in fairly regular contact with Steve Bannon, Trump’s longtime adviser and former White House chief strategist, and referred to him in emails as a friend.
In one December 2018 conversation, Epstein weighed in on President Trump’s cabinet choices.
“Mnuchin is ok,” Epstein said, referring to then-Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. “Its simple, 15 yrs ago. the geriatrics understood that the internet was like telephones. connections only, then my nerds taught them thaat [sic] cyber is a weapon., same with the fed.. its a weapon to be used with sophistication.”
“Can u get rid of Powell or really get rid of mnuchin,” Bannon said, referring to Jerome Powell, whom Trump had tapped to serve as chairman of the Federal Reserve.
“Getting rid of powell much more important than syria /mattis,” Epstein replied, referring to then-Defense Secretary Jim Mattis. “I guess pompeo, only one left,” he said, referring to then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. “Unless ambassador heather has a brilliant idea. – a first.. jared and ivanka, need to go. !!!” Epstein added, referring to Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner and daughter Ivanka Trump.
In a March 2018 exchange, Bannon forwarded to Epstein a headline reading, “German Media Confess to Underestimating Steve Bannon; He is ‘As Dangerous as Ever.'”
Bannon sent it with the message, “Germans get it.”
“Luv it,” Epstein replied, to which Bannon said, “Pretty powerful.”
“Unfortunately I just spoke to one of the country leaders that we discussed, , I will fly there tomorw [sic] night now and then to new york wednesday night. sorry. will be in new york thurs and friday,” Epstein told Bannon. “we should lay down a strategy plan. . how much fun… travel safe.”
ABC News Correspondent Jim Avila. Randy Sager/ABC News
(NEW YORK) — Jim Avila, a former longtime ABC News senior correspondent, whose investigative journalism earned him several of the most prestigious awards in broadcast news, has died. He was 70.
His death after a long illness was announced internally by ABC News President Almin Karamehmedovic.
“Jim was a gifted journalist and a generous colleague,” Karamehmedovic said in an email to staff.
Avila had also a been 20/20 correspondent based in Los Angeles before departing from the network in 2021. He specialized in politics, justice, law and consumer investigations.
“As the Senior Law and Justice Correspondent, he has covered every major trial from Jerry Sandusky and Penn State to Michael Jackson, OJ Simpson and countless others,” according to his ABC News official biography. “He led reports on immigration, making several trips to the southern border to document stories of immigrants, and also covered the death of Freddie Gray and civil unrest in Baltimore.”
He covered the White House from 2012 to 2016, during President Barack Obama’s second term.
“He won the prestigious Merriman Award from the White House Correspondents Association for breaking the news that the United States and Cuba had reopened diplomatic relations,” the biography said.
He earned numerous awards, including two National Emmy Awards and five Edward R. Murrow Awards, the biography said. His work also won him the prestigious Cine Golden Eagle Award, the Mongerson Prize for Investigative Reporting and five Chicago-area Emmy Awards in the category of Spot News.
“In 1999, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists honored him with reporter of the year,” the biography said. “In addition, he garnered three Peter Lisagor Awards from the Headline Club of Chicago, winning for his coverage of the Peru drug wars and the death of Mayor Harold Washington, and was named Best Reporter of 1989.”
He was a named a 2019 honoree by National Association of Hispanic Journalists’ Hall of Fame.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect Avila’s correct age.
Avila was most recently a senior investigative reporter at KGTV, the ABC affiliate in San Diego, where he continued “covering a wide range of stories with depth and fairness,” Karamehmedovic said.
Even after his health challenges began, Avila “continued to contribute to journalism through opinion writing and local reporting, sharing his experience and deep curiosity to tell the stories that mattered most to his community and viewers,” the email said.
“We send our heartfelt condolences to his family, including his three children, Jamie, Jenny, and Evan, and we thank him for his many contributions and unwavering commitment to seeking out the truth,” Karamehmedovic said.
Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — An individual attempted to “confront” Acting U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Alina Habba, according to Attorney General Pam Bondi.
“Last night, an individual attempted to confront one of our U.S. Attorneys — my dear friend @USAttyHabba -destroyed property in her office, and then fled the scene,” Bondi posted on X Thursday. “Thankfully, Alina is ok.”
“Any violence or threats of violence against any federal officer will not be tolerated. Period,” Bondi’s post continued. “This is unfortunately becoming a trend as radicals continue to attack law enforcement agents around the country.”
Details regarding the alleged incident were not immediately provided.
“Our federal prosecutors, agents, and law-enforcement partners put their lives on the line every day to protect the American people, and this Department will use every legal tool available to ensure their safety and hold violent offenders fully accountable,” Bondi said in her post.
Habba is a close ally of President Trump and served as one of his lawyers and a White House counselor before being appointed acting U.S. attorney.
(LOS ANGELES) — Evacuation warnings are in place for parts of Southern California as an incoming storm could bring potential mudslides and debris flows to burn scar areas, according to county officials.
“Anyone in these areas should be ready to leave at a moment’s notice,” Los Angeles County officials said in a statement.
The evacuation warnings are in effect for the following burn scar areas: Canyon, Bethany, Eaton, Palisades, Hurst, Kenneth, Sunset, Lidia, Franklin and Bridge, according to officials.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced on Thursday that emergency resources will be pre-deployed ahead of the storm to protect communities in the Los Angeles, Orange and Ventura counties from mudslides and debris flow.
This storm — which is a moderate atmospheric river building along a cold front — will begin to hit areas of Northern and Central California, Washington and Oregon on Thursday before slamming parts of Southern California.
Heavy rain will push through the Bay Area and Sacramento on Thursday morning, bringing up to 4 inches of rain in some areas, before traveling south to Los Angeles late Thursday into Friday morning.
Rain, heavy at times, will continue across Southern California on Friday and Saturday, with 1 to 3 inches of rain expected across much of Western California — although some localized areas at higher elevation could receive more.
Over just two days, Friday and Saturday, higher elevations around Santa Barbara could see 4 to 6 inches of rain, bringing the threat of rockslides, landslides and debris flow through the weekend and into next week as more rain continues over these saturated soils.
This system will also force below-average temperatures over Southern California, with scattered showers remaining a possibility on Sunday through at least Tuesday.
The Los Angeles County Fire Department said anyone living in burned or flood-prone areas should “stay away from flood channels, catch basins, canyons and waterways which are vulnerable to floods” and if people have to evacuate, to “return to your home only after local authorities have said it is safe to do so.”
The evacuation warnings in Southern California will be in effect through Sunday, officials said.
ABC News Correspondent Jim Avila. Randy Sager/ABC News
(NEW YORK) — Jim Avila, a former longtime ABC News senior correspondent, whose investigative journalism earned him several of the most prestigious awards in broadcast news, has died. He was 69.
His death after a long illness was announced internally by ABC News President Almin Karamehmedovic.
“Jim was a gifted journalist and a generous colleague,” Karamehmedovic said in an email to staff.
Avila had also a been 20/20 correspondent based in Los Angeles before departing from the network in 2021. He specialized in politics, justice, law and consumer investigations.
“As the Senior Law and Justice Correspondent, he has covered every major trial from Jerry Sandusky and Penn State to Michael Jackson, OJ Simpson and countless others,” according to his ABC News official biography. “He led reports on immigration, making several trips to the southern border to document stories of immigrants, and also covered the death of Freddie Gray and civil unrest in Baltimore.”
He covered the White House from 2012 to 2016, during President Barack Obama’s second term.
“He won the prestigious Merriman Award from the White House Correspondents Association for breaking the news that the United States and Cuba had reopened diplomatic relations,” the biography said.
He earned numerous awards, including two National Emmy Awards and five Edward R. Murrow Awards, the biography said. His work also won him the prestigious Cine Golden Eagle Award, the Mongerson Prize for Investigative Reporting and five Chicago-area Emmy Awards in the category of Spot News.
“In 1999, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists honored him with reporter of the year,” the biography said. “In addition, he garnered three Peter Lisagor Awards from the Headline Club of Chicago, winning for his coverage of the Peru drug wars and the death of Mayor Harold Washington, and was named Best Reporter of 1989.”
He was a named a 2019 honoree by National Association of Hispanic Journalists’ Hall of Fame.
Avila was most recently a senior investigative reporter at KGTV, the ABC affiliate in San Diego, where he continued “covering a wide range of stories with depth and fairness,” Karamehmedovic said.
Even after his health challenges began, Avila “continued to contribute to journalism through opinion writing and local reporting, sharing his experience and deep curiosity to tell the stories that mattered most to his community and viewers,” the email said.
“We send our heartfelt condolences to his family, including his three children, Jamie, Jenny, and Evan, and we thank him for his many contributions and unwavering commitment to seeking out the truth,” Karamehmedovic said.
James Comey speaks onstage at 92NY on May 30, 2023 in New York City. Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — Attorneys for former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James have asked a judge to throw out their criminal indictments on the basis that the Trump-installed prosecutor who charged them was appointed unlawfully.
At a hearing Thursday, U.S. District Judge Cameron Currie pressed Justice Department lawyers on the government’s conduct in bringing indictments against Comey and James, which were brought just weeks apart at the direct urging of President Donald Trump after he removed a previous appointee overseeing the powerful U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of Virginia and replaced him with Lindsey Halligan, a White House aide and former insurance lawyer with no prior prosecutorial experience.
Lawyers for Comey, who has pleaded not guilty to allegedly making false statements to Congress, and James, who has pleaded not guilty to mortgage fraud-related charges, argued that the cases against them are “fatally flawed” because Halligan’s appointment violates the Constitution’s Appointments Clause.
Judge Currie said she would plan to rule before Thanksgiving.
The legal challenge comes on the heels of other successful efforts to disqualify prosecutors that the Trump administration had attempted to install in at least three other U.S. attorneys offices in Los Angeles, Nevada and New Jersey beyond the 120-day limit set by federal law.
Judge Currie, an appointee of former President Bill Clinton from South Carolina, was appointed last month to oversee the challenge to Halligan’s appointment.
In legal briefs, attorneys for both Comey and James pointed to the unusual series of developments leading up to Halligan’s eventual appointment to lead the office after the ouster of Erik Siebert, who judges in the Eastern District of Virginia had unanimously voted to lead the office on an interim basis after his 120-day appointment by Attorney General Pam Bondi had expired.
Siebert, as ABC News previously reported, had resisted bringing the cases against both Comey and James after career prosecutors in the office determined evidence against them would likely fail to convince a jury of their guilt.
But just four days after Halligan was installed to lead the office, according to sources, she dismissed recommendations of prosecutors and personally presented the charges against Comey before a grand jury, which voted to indict him on two of three counts sought by Halligan. Just two weeks later, Halligan again personally appeared before a grand jury to seek James’ indictment.
“The President and Attorney General appointed the President’s personal lawyer as interim U.S. Attorney in violation of a clear statutory command so that the interim U.S. Attorney could indict an outspoken critic of the President just days before the relevant statute of limitations was set to expire,” Comey’s attorneys said in a filing last month.
The Justice Department has argued that the legal challenge to Halligan’s appointment is based on a misreading of statutes that govern presidential appointments and have accused Comey and James of seeking to exploit a “paperwork error” related to the law cited by Bondi when she initially appointed Halligan to lead the office.
In a legal brief earlier this month, prosecutors revealed that over a month after Halligan was appointed to lead the office, Bondi signed an additional order that sought to retroactively appoint Halligan as a “Special Attorney” specifically authorized to seek the indictments of Comey and James.
“The Attorney General has ratified Ms. Halligan’s appointment as Special Attorney with the authority to conduct criminal litigation in this district,” prosecutors said. “Because Ms. Halligan now has the indisputable authority to proceed with this prosecution, prospective relief would be inappropriate.”
In a reply brief filed last week, Comey’s attorneys accused the government of seeking to “retroactively transform” Halligan into an “authorized government attorney” and said their efforts to bolster the validity of her appointment were “unpersuasive.”
Critics say the indictments are part of a campaign of retribution by Trump against his perceived political foes, but Vice President JD Vance has said any such prosecutions are “driven by law and not by politics.”
Both James and Comey have urged Judge Currie to dismiss their indictments with prejudice, which would restrict from the government from bringing charges against them again if Halligan’s appointment were to be invalidated.
Luigi Mangione appears in court for a hearing on his state murder charges in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Manhattan Supreme Court on September 16, 2025 in New York City. (Curtis Means-Pool/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Accused killer Luigi Mangione is taking aim at the Manhattan district attorney and New York police chief of detectives over the way they characterized a statement purportedly made by Mangione’s mother that killing the United Healthcare CEO was something she could see her son doing.
Mangione is accused of gunning down CEO Brian Thompson outside a Midtown Manhattan hotel in December 2024. Mangione was arrested in Pennsylvania after a five-day manhunt.
DA Alvin Bragg and Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny have referenced a tip the FBI received from a police sergeant in San Francisco, who had contacted the FBI after seeing a resemblance between the murder suspect and photos on Mangione’s social media.
During a December 2024 news conference, Kenny mentioned an alleged conversation between San Francisco police and Mangione’s mom.
“They had a conversation where she didn’t indicate that it was her son in the photograph, but she said it might be something that she could see him doing,” Kenny told reporters.
In a new court filing, Mangione’s defense attorneys said prosecutors turned over no evidence to substantiate the purported remark.
“To date, there has been no documentation provided in discovery that confirms the Chief of Detectives’ statement as to Mrs. Mangione’s alleged statement,” defense attorney Karen Agnifilo wrote. “If it is true that Mrs. Mangione never made this statement, then it is shocking and unconscionable that the District Attorney’s Office and the NYPD have never corrected this highly prejudicial false statement.”
If Mangione’s mother did, in fact, tell San Francisco police that shooting Thompson “might be something she could see him doing,” Agnifilo said the district attorney’s office should provide proof.
The defense asked the judge to declare the district attorney’s certification that it complied with discovery obligations insufficient. Prosecutors are expected to respond in a future court filing.
Mangione, who has pleaded not guilty to state and federal charges, is set to return to court next month.
Allegheny Mountains (Jeff Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
(NICHOLAS COUNTY, W. Va.) — A missing miner trapped in a flooded West Virginia coal mine for nearly a week has been found dead, according to West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey.
“At approximately 6:00 a.m. this morning, water levels inside the Rolling Thunder Mine in Nicholas County had receded sufficiently for rescue crews to safely enter. The team began their search, examining every section as they advanced underground. At 7:37 a.m., one two-man team located the body of the missing miner, foreman Steve Lipscomb,” Morrisey said in a statement posted on X.
Alpha Metallurgical Resources, the company that owns the mine where Lipscomb was trapped, also confirmed Lipscomb’s death in a statement obtained by ABC News.
“During routine operations, a crew in the underground mine encountered a sudden and substantial inflow of water. Tragically, Steven Lipscomb, 42, of Elkview, W. Va., was unable to reach safety. He was last seen attempting to ensure his crew made it out safely,” the statement reads.
“Our hearts are broken,” Andy Eidson, the CEO of Alpha Metallurgical Resources, said in the statement. “Steve joined our company in 2006 and was a dedicated employee, respected leader and friend to many. His actions to ensure the safety of his crew members were heroic. On behalf of the entire organization, we extend our prayers and deepest sympathies to his wife, two children and all who knew and cared for him.”
Rescuers had been searching for Lipscomb, whose name was not immediately released, since Saturday, when he became trapped in the flooded mine. Crews pumped 6,000 gallons of water per minute from the mine, Morrisey said earlier this week.
“The big strategic goal right now is to drain as much of the water as possible, so that can give the mine rescue individuals the opportunity to go in and further their search,” Gov. Morrisey said at a Wednesday press conference, adding that it was being drained at a rate of approximately one inch of water per hour. “Separately there’s an effort to open up a hole to be able to do the drill to ultimately have a capsule that goes down.”
Morrisey said on Monday that dive teams were working to find pockets of air where the miner might be located while the mine was being drained.
“This has been an around-the-clock response since Saturday, and we’re going to continue to do everything imaginable to help,” said Morrisey. “We’re going to continue to push, because we want to make sure that we give the miner every opportunity to live.”
Lipscomb’s death at Rolling Thunder Mine is the second mining fatality in West Virginia this month, following the death of another miner at a different mine last Thursday, according to Morrisey.
“Our coal miners are among the hardest-working and most courageous people in our state. They represent the strength, humility, and resolve that define West Virginia. We owe these men and women an enduring debt of gratitude for the sacrifices they make every day to power our communities and our nation,” Morrisey posted on Facebook earlier this month.
