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(WASHINGTON) — A federal judge sentenced a tearful former U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez to 11 years in prison Wednesday on corruption charges after being convicted of abusing the power of his office in exchange for bribes in the form of gold bars, a luxury car and other items.

“You stood at the apex of our political system,” Judge Sidney Stein said in issuing the sentence. “Somewhere along the way, you lost your way.”

Menendez, 71, was found guilty on all 16 counts last year in his federal trial, becoming the first sitting member of Congress to be convicted of acting as a foreign agent. His children, Alicia and Rob, were in court to witness the sentencing.

“The fact that he was a public office holder who held a position of great public trust has to be taken into account,” Stein said as he explained how he calculated the sentence.

Stein said Menendez “became a corrupt politician” as he ticked off the spoils of the corruption: the gold bars, the cash, the convertible.

“When there’s wrongdoing of this magnitude there are serious consequences,” Stein said.

Ahead of the former senator’s sentencing Wednesday afternoon, two New Jersey businessmen convicted of paying bribes to Menendez received lengthy prison sentences. Wael Hana was sentenced to eight years in prison and Fred Daibes to seven years.

Menendez calls prosecution a ‘witch hunt’

Outside the court following his sentencing, a defiant Menendez called the prosecution a “political witch hunt.”

“Regardless of the judge’s comments, today, I am innocent, and I look forward to filing appeals on a whole host of issues,” Menendez said.

Menendez referred to the Southern District of New York, which prosecuted the case, as the “Wild West of political prosecutions” while outlining grievances with the evidence and witnesses in the trial.

“President Trump is right — this process is political and it’s corrupted to the core,” Menendez said. “I hope President Trump cleans up the cesspool and restores the integrity to the system.”

Danielle Sassoon, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement that Wednesday’s sentences were the result of “an egregious abuse of power” at the highest levels of the government’s legislative branch.

“Robert Menendez was trusted to represent the United States and the State of New Jersey, but instead he used his position to help his co-conspirators and a foreign government, in exchange for bribes like cash, gold, and a luxury car,” she said. “The sentences imposed today send a clear message that attempts at any level of government to corrupt the nation’s foreign policy and the rule of law will be met with just punishment.”

Menendez says he’s a ‘chastened man’

Menendez sat at the defense table in a suit and tie with hands folded across his stomach before he stood at his seat to address the judge ahead of his sentencing.

“Your honor you have before you a chastened man,” Menendez said as his voice began to break. “We sat in this court room for nine weeks, but you really don’t know me.”

The once-powerful Democrat introduced himself as the son of Cuban immigrants and explained his political biography, occasionally sniffling and choking up while reading from a prepared statement with hands stuffed in his pockets.

“This is who I truly am, judge. A man devoted to service,” Menendez said, becoming emotional as he spoke of family and of constituents he helped. “I have lost everything I have cared about. For someone who spent a life in public service, every day is a punishment.”

The judge said Menendez will not have to report to prison until June 6 so he can be available when his wife, Nadine, goes on trial on similar corruption and bribery charges on March 18.

Menendez’s lawyer adjusted the defense’s request for leniency following the imposition of lengthy prison sentences for his co-defendants.

Menendez previously sought a sentence of no more than two years in prison, citing his “extraordinary public service,” but earlier Wednesday the two New Jersey businessmen convicted of paying the bribes were sentenced perhaps more harshly than the defense anticipated.

“The good outweighs the bad in the arc of Bob’s life,” defense attorney Adam Fee told the judge. “We would ask the court to sentence Bob to no more than eight years in prison.”

Prosecutor Paul Monteleoni had asked for 15 years in prison, arguing Menendez “believed that the power he wielded belonged to him.”

“The offense conduct reflects a truly grave breach of the trust placed in Menendez by his fellow senators, by the people of New Jersey,” Monteleoni told the court. “There are not many people who had power on the scale of Menendez.”

‘Rare gravity’ of the crimes

Menendez had potentially faced decades in prison. Sentencing guidelines called for more than 24 to 30 years in prison, with the U.S. Probation Office recommending 12 years’ imprisonment for Menendez, according to court filings.

Federal prosecutors have said the Democrat deserves 15 years in prison for his “naked greed” and the “rare gravity” of the crimes.

“This case is the first ever in which a Senator has been convicted of a crime involving the abuse of a leadership position on a Senate committee,” federal prosecutors wrote in a memo to the judge earlier this month. “It is the first ever in which a Senator — or any other person — has been convicted of serving as a foreign agent while being a public official.”

Prosecutors asked the court to impose a substantial prison sentence “to provide just punishment for this extraordinary abuse of power and betrayal of the public trust, and to deter others from ever engaging in similar conduct.”

Menendez’s attorneys had sought leniency, urging the court to even consider whether a non-custodial sentence — such as “home detention and rigorous community service” — would suffice.

“Probation’s recommended sentence of 12 years’ imprisonment would be draconian — likely a life and death sentence for someone of Bob’s age and condition,” his attorneys wrote in a memorandum to the judge earlier this month. “Bob is deserving of mercy because of the penalties already imposed, his age, and the lack of a compelling need to impose a custodial sentence.”

The defense noted that Menendez is helping his wife battle cancer and argued he is no longer in a position to be a repeat offender, given that he was convicted of crimes that arose from his position as a U.S. senator.

“With this case, his political and professional careers have ended; his reputation is destroyed; and the latter years of his life are in shambles. He is certain never to commit future offenses,” his attorneys wrote. “And his current state — stripped of office and living under a permanent shadow of disgrace and mockery — are more than sufficient to reflect the seriousness of the offenses and to promote respect for the law.”

The former New Jersey senator, who resigned in the wake of his conviction, has maintained his innocence.

“I have never violated my oath,” Menendez said outside the courthouse following the verdict in the nine-week trial. “I have never been anything but a patriot of my country and for my country. I have never, ever been a foreign agent.”

Menendez twice unsuccessfully bid for a new trial ahead of his sentencing, most recently last week, with Stein finding the trial was fair while denying his request.

Menendez had also tried unsuccessfully to postpone his sentencing until after his wife stands trial.

Co-defendants get lengthy prison sentences

Two New Jersey businessmen who were found guilty in the case were also sentenced on Wednesday. Hana was sentenced to eight years in prison and Daibes to seven years — significantly more than what the defendants had sought and slightly less than what prosecutors recommended.

Prosecutors said Menendez promised to use his power as a senator to help Hana, who is originally from Egypt, by preserving a halal meat monopoly granted to Hana by Egypt.

Prosecutors said the former senator also promised Daibes that he would interfere with Daibes’ federal prosecution and help the government of Qatar by supporting a Senate resolution praising the country.

Daibes’ fingerprints were found on the envelopes of cash found at Menendez’s home and serial numbers on the gold bars traced them to Daibes and Hana, according to prosecutors.

In issuing the sentences, Judge Stein called the evidence against Hana “substantial” and had strong words for Daibes.

“You are an American success story. You grew up in a refugee camp in Lebanon. But there is a dark side to what you have done,” Stein said of Daibes. “You bribed Sen. Menendez multiple times.”

Another New Jersey businessman, Jose Uribe, pleaded guilty in the case ahead of trial. Prosecutors said Uribe paid for Menendez’s $60,000 Mercedes-Benz convertible in exchange for helping disrupt a criminal investigation by the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office related to Uribe.

He is scheduled to be sentenced in April.

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(WASHINGTON) — Former U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez is set to be sentenced Wednesday on corruption charges after being convicted of abusing the power of his office in exchange for bribes in the form of gold bars, a luxury car and other items.

Ahead of his sentencing Wednesday afternoon, two New Jersey businessmen convicted of paying bribes to Menendez received lengthy prison sentences. Wael Hana was sentenced to eight years in prison and Fred Daibes to seven years.

Menendez, 71, faces decades in prison after a jury found him guilty on all 16 counts last year in his federal trial, becoming the first sitting member of Congress to be convicted of acting as a foreign agent.

Sentencing guidelines call for more than 24 to 30 years in prison, with the U.S. Probation Office recommending 12 years’ imprisonment for Menendez, according to court filings.

Federal prosecutors have said the Democrat deserves 15 years in prison for his “naked greed” and the “rare gravity” of the crimes.

“This case is the first ever in which a Senator has been convicted of a crime involving the abuse of a leadership position on a Senate committee,” federal prosecutors wrote in a memo to the judge earlier this month. “It is the first ever in which a Senator — or any other person — has been convicted of serving as a foreign agent while being a public official.”

Prosecutors asked the court to impose a substantial prison sentence “to provide just punishment for this extraordinary abuse of power and betrayal of the public trust, and to deter others from ever engaging in similar conduct.”

Menendez’s attorneys have sought leniency, urging the court to consider whether a non-custodial sentence — such as “home detention and rigorous community service” — would suffice.

“Probation’s recommended sentence of 12 years’ imprisonment would be draconian — likely a life and death sentence for someone of Bob’s age and condition,” his attorneys wrote in a memorandum to the judge earlier this month. “Bob is deserving of mercy because of the penalties already imposed, his age, and the lack of a compelling need to impose a custodial sentence.”

The defense noted that Menendez is helping his wife battle cancer and argued he is no longer in a position to be a repeat offender, given that he was convicted of crimes that arose from his position as a U.S. senator.

“With this case, his political and professional careers have ended; his reputation is destroyed; and the latter years of his life are in shambles. He is certain never to commit future offenses,” his attorneys wrote. “And his current state — stripped of office and living under a permanent shadow of disgrace and mockery — are more than sufficient to reflect the seriousness of the offenses and to promote respect for the law.”

The former New Jersey senator, who resigned in the wake of his conviction, has maintained his innocence.

“I have never violated my oath,” Menendez said outside the courthouse following the verdict in the nine-week trial. “I have never been anything but a patriot of my country and for my country. I have never, ever been a foreign agent.”

Menendez has twice unsuccessfully bid for a new trial ahead of his sentencing, most recently last week, with Judge Stein finding the trial was fair while denying his request.

Menendez has also tried unsuccessfully to postpone his sentencing until after his wife, Nadine Menendez, stands trial on similar charges. Her trial is scheduled to begin in March. She has pleaded not guilty.

Co-defendants get lengthy prison sentences

Two New Jersey businessmen who were found guilty in the case were also sentenced on Wednesday. Wael Hana was sentenced to eight years in prison and Fred Daibes to seven years — significantly more than what the defendants had sought and slightly less than what prosecutors recommended.

Prosecutors said Menendez promised to use his power as a senator to help Hana, who is originally from Egypt, by preserving a halal meat monopoly granted to Hana by Egypt.

Prosecutors said the former senator also promised Daibes that he would interfere with Daibes’ federal prosecution and help the government of Qatar by supporting a Senate resolution praising the country.

Daibes’ fingerprints were found on the envelopes of cash found at Menendez’s home and serial numbers on the gold bars traced them to Daibes and Hana, according to prosecutors.
In issuing the sentences, Judge Sidney Stein called the evidence against Hana “substantial” and had strong words for Daibes.

“You are an American success story. You grew up in a refugee camp in Lebanon. But there is a dark side to what you have done,” Stein said of Daibes. “You bribed Sen. Menendez multiple times.”

Another New Jersey businessman, Jose Uribe, pleaded guilty in the case ahead of trial. Prosecutors said Uribe paid for Menendez’s $60,000 Mercedes-Benz convertible in exchange for helping disrupt a criminal investigation by the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office related to Uribe.

He is scheduled to be sentenced in April.

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(LOS ANGELES) — California has just experienced one of its worst wildfire seasons in years, despite the Golden State’s ample resources to combat the blazes once they spark.

The Palisades and Eaton fires, while both mostly contained as of Wednesday, are still active in Los Angeles County after starting on Jan. 7 and burning through tens of thousands of acres and killing at least two dozen people — and new fires have popped up as the region’s landscape remains dry and filled with fuel.

California is the best-equipped state in the country to combat wildfires, experts told ABC News. But even with the availability of personnel, equipment and the most advanced technology, other factors — some exacerbated by climate change — often make it impossible to contain fires before they cause widespread destruction.

Firefighting resources in California are abundant

The state often experiences the most fire activity in the U.S., leading the country with the most wildfires and the most acres burned, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) says it responds to an average of 7,500 wildfire incidents annually.

But California contains a “spider web” of different fire control, fire management and fire agencies that all come together to combat large wildfires, like the fires that decimated large portions of Los Angeles and Ventura counties in recent weeks, Hugh Safford, a research fire ecologist at the University of California, Davis, told ABC News.

These agencies include local fire departments run by municipalities, which contain firefighters trained not only in urban, or structural, fires but wildland fires, as well. Combined with state and federal efforts — which include Cal Fire, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Service and the U.S. Forest Service — California contains not only the most firefighters in the country but also the most highly trained, Safford said.

“The Forest Service has, by far, the largest firefighting organization of all of those, because it manages most of the nation’s forests,” Safford said. “It deals with most of the areas in which fire risk to ecosystems and to humans is most extreme.”

Considering the wildfire risk to human lives, property and wildlands, California has a vast budget for fighting wildfires. Cal Fire was given a $4 billion budget for the 2025 to 2026 season, and operating budgets are always subject to increase in the event of a big fire year, Safford said. Of the Forest Service’s $3 billion annual fire suppression budget, most of it is spent in California, he added.

That budget allows for the best equipment, such as helicopters and other machinery, to be implemented during firefighting efforts, Safford said. With Silicon Valley in proximity, the latest technologies in firefighting are also readily available, he added.

“A lot of that new technology is being tested and used here to begin with,” Safford said.

Despite ample resources, putting out fires can still be difficult, experts say

Wildfires have been getting bigger and more extreme in the last several decades, research shows. The frequency and intensity of extreme wildfires have more than doubled in the last two decades, a study published last year in Nature Ecology & Evolution found. A climate that has caused warming and drying in regions already prone to wildfires is partly to blame.

In California, annual wildfires are burning five times more land than in the 1970s, according to a 2019 study published in Advancing Earth and Space Sciences.

“Climate change has made California hotter and drier,” said Emily Fischer, a professor of atmospheric science at Colorado State University and a member of Science Moms, a nonpartisan group of climate scientists and mothers that says it aims to build a better future for kids. “That just makes it easier for fires to start and spread, and that means a larger area is burning every year,” she said.

While wildfires are a natural and necessary part of Earth’s cycle, climate change and other more direct human influences have increased their likelihood. Firefighters are battling blazes that could now be considered “unnatural” due to their severity, making them harder to contain before they cause widespread damage.

Safford, who used to work for the U.S. Forest Service, said he’s witnessed the rise in wildfires firsthand, in terms of cost. In the year 2000, fire suppression accounted for about 20% of the Forest Service’s annual budget, he said. Now, firefighting is taking up about 70% of the agency’s budget, he said.

That increase in fire suppression needs has taken away from the Forest Service’s other responsibilities, such as restoration, recreation, conservation and law enforcement, Safford said.

“We’re burning communities and forests down at a scary rate these days,” he said.

In the case of the Los Angeles wildfires, their inception was caused by a perfect storm of weather and climate conditions — including a Santa Ana wind event that brought hurricane-force winds to the region, as well as plentiful fuel left from two consecutive wet winters followed by months of drought conditions.

The co-occurrence of these events could potentially take place more frequently in the future, further increasing the risk of fires in California, Lei Zhao, an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Illinois, told ABC News.

“Climate change trends, the extremes and climate variability contribute to this situation,” Zhao said. “All those things are likely to be exacerbated in the future.”

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(WASHINGTON) — Top white shoe law firm Sullivan & Cromwell will represent President Donald Trump as he appeals his criminal hush money conviction in New York, according to court filings Wednesday.

The new attorneys filed a notice of appeal Wednesday, signaling their intention to appeal Trump’s conviction to New York’s Appellate Division, First Department.

Among Trump’s new lawyers is firm co-chair Robert J. Giuffra.

“President Donald J. Trump’s appeal is important for the rule of law, New York’s reputation as a global business, financial and legal center, as well as for the presidency and all public officials,” Giuffra said in a statement. “The misuse of the criminal law by the Manhattan DA to target President Trump sets a dangerous precedent, and we look forward to the case being dismissed on appeal.”

The change in attorneys followed Trump’s naming of his former lead attorneys, Todd Blanche, Emil Bove and John Sauer, to top roles in the Justice Department.

Blanche has been nominated for deputy attorney general, Sauer as solicitor general, and Bove as principal associate deputy attorney general.

Sauer led Trump’s successful appeals, including at the U.S. Supreme Court, that led to the dismissals of federal prosecutions in Trump’s Jan. 6 and classified documents cases.

Blanche and Bove led the defense team at Trump’s criminal trial in New York that ended in Trump’s conviction last May on all 34 counts of falsifying business records related to a hush money payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in order to boost his electoral prospects in the 2016 presidential election.

The judge in the case, Juan Merchan, sentenced Trump prior to his inauguration to an unconditional discharge, sparing Trump any prison time, fines or probation.

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(SAN DIEGO) — Even as the Trump administration’s mass deportation of undocumented migrants was unfolding, the U.S. Coast Guard announced it had intercepted a boat packed with migrants off the California coast.

A 40-foot panga-style boat attempting to smuggle migrants into the United States was stopped by two Coast Guard cutter crews Monday night about 20 miles off the coast of San Diego, the Coast Guard said in a statement released on Tuesday.

“The boarding teams discovered 21 individuals aboard the panga. Initial interviews revealed that all individuals claimed Mexican nationality, although subsequent checks identified two passengers as Guatemalan and Salvadoran nationals,” Coast Guard officials said.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents alerted the Coast Guard at about 10:45 p.m. local time on Monday that a boat was detected, prompting the Coast Guard to launch two cutters to find the vessel, authorities said.

The human smuggling boat was intercepted while it was traveling north about 40 miles south of the maritime boundary line, according to the Coast Guard.

The individuals aboard the boat were brought to shore and turned over to the custody of Border Patrol agents, according to the Coast Guard.

“These operations highlight the coordinated efforts between agencies to secure our maritime borders,” the Coast Guard said in its statement.

The Coast Guard reported a 400% increase in smuggling cases along the San Diego coast since 2018, including almost 150 cases in the last three months.

Monday’s incident came amid a massive nationwide crackdown on undocumented migrants ordered by President Donald Trump.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement have rounded up thousands of migrants this week in raids across the nation, including in New York City, Chicago and Miami. In one New York City raid, ICE agents arrested a 25-year-old purported Venezuelan gang member wanted in connection with a home invasion and kidnapping in Aurora, Colorado, officials said.

The White House said it is targeting migrants accused of violent crimes. But when asked by ABC News at a press briefing Tuesday to clarify how many of the migrants detained in the sweeps had criminal records as opposed to those who were only in the country illegally, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt responded, “All of them because they illegally broke our nation’s laws and therefore they are criminals.”

New York Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul addressed the raids during a news conference this week, saying, “My understanding is they had specific names of people who have committed crimes, serious offenders. And those are exactly the people that we want removed from the state of New York.”

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(NEW YORK) — Harvey Weinstein begged a Manhattan judge on Wednesday to put him on trial earlier than planned, saying he isn’t sure he will live until the spring while incarcerated in the “hell hole” that is the New York City jail complex.

“Every day I’m at Rikers Island it’s a mystery to me how I’m still walking,” Weinstein told the court while seated in a wheelchair. “I’m asking and begging you, your honor, I can’t hold on anymore. I’m holding on because I want justice for myself and I want this to be over with.”

Weinstein is scheduled to stand trial April 15. Judge Curtis Farber said he could not push it earlier because he is scheduled to preside over a murder trial that is “set in stone.”

Even so, Weinstein persisted.

“I beg you to switch your case and do so out of clemency,” Weinstein said. “I don’t know how much longer I can hold on.”

He complained that the conditions he faces in jail are complicating his medical issues, calling Rikers Island “a medieval situation.”

Weinstein — who has cancer and underwent emergency heart surgery in September — is suing New York City and its Department of Correction, alleging “medical negligence.”

“I’m begging the court to move your date so we can have that date instead and proceed with this trial as quickly as we can and get out of this hell hole,” Weinstein said Wednesday.

The disgraced film producer asked to start the trial even a bit earlier, April 7, because, he said, “every week counts.”

Farber said he would consider the request.

“If the lawyers report to me they can do it sooner then I’ll make myself available,” Farber said.

On Wednesday, Farber denied Weinstein’s bid to dismiss a new sexual assault charge from a woman who alleged Weinstein forced oral sex on her in a Manhattan hotel in 2006. Weinstein argued that prosecutors unduly delayed charging him.

“The application to dismiss denied,” Farber said. “The court has inspected the grand jury minutes and found them to be sufficient.”

Weinstein will stand trial on the new sexual assault charge at the same time he is retried on two other sexual assault charges after an earlier conviction was overturned on appeal.

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(WASHINGTON) — Officials in the Trump Justice Department have ordered a temporary freeze on any ongoing cases being litigated by the Civil Rights Division, according to a new directive reviewed by ABC News.

The memo to the current acting head of the Civil Rights Division, Kathleen Wolfe, says that current career officials in the division must not file any new civil complaints or other civil rights-related filings in outside ongoing litigation. The memo was first reported by The Washington Post.

Wolfe was separately directed to notify Trump-appointed department leaders of any consent decrees — court-enforceable agreements to reform police agencies — the Biden administration reached with cities in the final 90 days leading up to the inauguration.

The Biden administration finalized consent decrees with officials in Louisville, Kentucky and Minneapolis during the former president’s final weeks in office.

The consent decrees involve two high-profile police-involved killings. In Louisville, Breonna Taylor was shot and killed in a botched police raid in 2020. In Minneapolis, George Floyd was killed while being taken into police custody on Memorial Day 2020.

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump represents the Taylor and Floyd families in their civil lawsuits. He spoke with ABC News’ Linsey Davis on Tuesday to offer his thoughts on the move by the Trump administration regarding civil rights investigations and consent decrees.

ABC News’ Alexander Mallin contributed to this report.

ABC NEWS: Just days ago, Trump officials paused all Department of Justice civil rights investigations and froze court-ordered police reforms. For a look at what that means for ongoing and potential future cases, civil rights attorney Ben Crump joins us now.

Thank you so much, Mr. Crump, for joining us. Just want to start with your reaction to this pause on, on civil rights investigations.

BEN CRUMP: This is very disturbing. Talking with Breonna Taylor’s mother, who was still waiting the prosecution of the officers that were involved in the killing of her daughter, who was in her own apartment. They lied on the probable cause affidavit to get a no knock warrant to go into the apartment in the first place. She’s devastated, but we know that we’re not giving up.

We’re going to be strategic in talking with the mayor of Louisville, Kentucky, who entered into the consent agreement, to say that “Hopefully you won’t condone what happened to Breonna,” just like we’re talking to the mayor of Minneapolis saying, “Do you condone what happened on that video when they kept a knee on George Floyd’s neck for 9 minutes and 29 seconds?”

Because the families see this freezing of the DOJ’s prosecutions as condoning these criminal actions. And we call them criminal because officers have been convicted for those crimes.

ABC NEWS: You mentioned both those families. Have you heard from them, how they’re reacting to this?

CRUMP: Well, you know, as I said, Breonna’s mother is very heartbroken, Linsey. Very heartbroken. She’s fought so hard to get whatever measure of justice and accountability she could. Her daughter had her body mutilated with eight bullet holes. And she doesn’t believe that the Department of Justice would stop the consent decree that was agreed to by the city in the aftermath of her daughter’s death.

She is just shocked that they would do this, just like George Floyd’s family is shocked. When you look at that video, how could you say that you want to halt the prosecution of all the agreements that were made by those cities and their police departments to try to prevent this from ever happening again?

ABC NEWS: As you know, the Justice Department recently reached an agreement with the city of Louisville to reform the city’s police department. It’s one of several such consent decrees reached in the final days of the Biden administration. What happens to those agreements now?

CRUMP: Well, the cities have a say so in it. Obviously, we have been told that the Department of Justice isn’t going to do anything to go forward with those consent decrees. And it’s very troubling because we think this and many of the things that this administration have done in just its first week is going to test the elasticity of the constitutional protections that many Americans enjoy.

And that is what’s so heartbreaking about all of these matters. We fight so hard for people, all America, to be able to get the constitutional protections that were promised to them as an American citizen. And so the question, Linsey [is]: What will happen to the Constitution during these perilous times when, as it relates to all of us, especially the least of us?

ABC NEWS: All right, Ben Crump. So appreciate you, civil rights attorney, for your time and insight. Thank you.

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(NEW YORK) — Last year, 2024, was the warmest year on record for the planet, easily breaking the previous record set just a year earlier.

Scientists say the unfolding El Niño event superimposed on long-term global warming is a primary driver of this huge spike in global surface temperatures since mid-2023. But the magnitude of the increase shocked many experts, leaving them somewhat puzzled about what else could be behind the remarkable temperature.

NASA’s newest Earth-observing satellite, PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem), is expected to provide new data to help scientists understand how changing levels of different atmospheric aerosols impact Earth’s energy balance.

New research published in Environmental Research Letters investigated some of the factors contributing to the spike in global temperature. Researchers focused specifically on the things that impact the amount of energy entering and leaving the Earth, known as the planet’s energy balance.

Their findings show that atmospheric aerosol levels could be partly to blame for an energy imbalance that’s causing our accelerating warming rate.

This new data joins a growing list of research that points to atmospheric aerosols as a potentially significant contributor to our record-breaking surface temperatures. It also underscores the importance of better understanding how various atmospheric aerosols behave and interact with each other.

Atmospheric aerosols are tiny particles that can reflect sunlight back into space and reduce global temperatures. However, their concentrations have greatly diminished due to international efforts to reduce air pollution in recent decades. Now, more sunlight reaches the Earth’s surface, creating a heating effect.

For decades, we’ve been removing aerosols from our air without fully realizing the potential cascading effects of these actions.

To help solve this puzzle, climate scientists are eagerly awaiting the first batch of operational data from NASA’s PACE, launched nearly a year ago.

According to NASA, the PACE satellite can map atmospheric aerosols and differentiate how they absorb light and heat, characterizing them as “light” or “dark” in nature. Climate scientists say this will help them understand how changing levels of different atmospheric aerosols impact the planet’s energy balance and global temperature trends.

While satellite data has been publicly available since April, the satellite isn’t fully operational yet, according to NASA. That’s because the data is still undergoing verification and quality control, deeming it unusable in climate models and academic research. However, that will likely change later this year, as the data is currently undergoing its final validation stage.

ABC News’ Matthew Glasser contributed to this report.

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(WASHINGTON) — The Department of Justice, now under new leadership following Donald Trump’s inauguration, has moved to drop its appeal of the classified documents case that once accused Trump of mishandling some of the country’s most sensitive secrets.

Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Hayden O’Bryne on Wednesday moved to dismiss the appeal against Trump’s former co-defendants in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.

Trump pleaded not guilty in 2023 to 40 criminal counts — including violations of nine separate federal laws — for allegedly holding on to classified documents after leaving the White House in 2021 and thwarting investigators’ efforts to retrieve the documents from his Mar-a-Lago estate.

Along with longtime aide Walt Nauta and staffer Carlos De Oliveira, Trump pleaded not guilty in a superseding indictment to allegedly attempting to delete Mar-a-Lago surveillance footage.

In July, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon — who Trump appointed to the bench — dismissed the indictments, deeming that special counsel Jack Smith had been unconstitutionally appointed.

While Smith appealed Cannon’s decision, he was forced to drop the appeal against Trump after Trump won the November election, due to a longstanding policy against prosecuting sitting presidents. However, Smith continued to pursue the appeal against Nauta and De Oliveira prior his resignation earlier this month.

The DOJ’s motion to drop the appeal signals an end to its prosecution of Nauta and De Oliveira.

Cannon on Tuesday cited the DOJ’s ongoing appeal against Nauta and De Oliveira in her decision to block the release of Smith’s final report on the case to select members of Congress.

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(NEW YORK) — Private prison company CoreCivic reported in a lobbying disclosure that it donated $500,000 to the Trump-Vance inaugural committee in December, underscoring the close relationship between President Donald Trump and the private prison industry.

As ABC News has previously reported, CoreCivic and private prison company GEO Group, both which have both long supported Trump, saw their stock prices immediately spike after Trump’s victory in the November election.

The industry is expected to grow under Trump’s sweeping immigration crackdown.

On his first day back in the White House, Trump reversed former President Joe Biden’s 2021 executive order that eliminated DOJ contracts with private prisons.

Both CoreCivic and the GEO Group donated to Trump’s first inaugural committee in 2016, with a subsidiarity of each company donating $250,000, according to past inaugural disclosures.

Several top executives at CoreCivic and GEO Group have also been longtime Republican and Trump donors, Federal Election Commission records show.

Representatives for CoreCivic did not respond to a request for comment from ABC News.

Among other Trump-Vance inaugural committee contributions disclosed in new filings, the Florida-based HVAC company Carrier Global Corporation donated $1 million in what records suggest is the company’s first major political contribution.

Chemical company Syngenta Corporation, now owned by China National Chemical Corporation — known as ChemChina — gave $250,000 to the committee in what was its first inaugural donation in recent years.

The Coca-Cola Company gave $250,000, after giving to both the Biden inaugural committee and Trump’s first inaugural committee, and identify verification company Socure gave $100,000.

Overall contributions to the Trump-Vance inaugural committee set an inauguration record by surpassing the committee’s $150 million goal, boosted by $1 million donations from several major tech firms including Meta and Amazon.

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