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(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. government admitted some failures and accepted liability for its role in the deadly Jan. 29 mid-air crash over the Potomac River between a commercial jet and an Army helicopter, according to a filing in a civil suit, but pushed back on a number of claims that were made.

The filing came in response to a suit brought by the family of one of the 67 people killed in the crash between a U.S. military Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines flight operated by a regional carrier. The family’s lawsuit serves as the “master complaint” on behalf of all deceased passengers.

The regional jet and Black Hawk helicopter both crashed into the icy Potomac River after colliding in midair, launching an overnight search and rescue mission, with no survivors found. Sixty-four people were on the plane and three Army soldiers were aboard the helicopter, which was on a training flight at the time, officials said.  

The government attorneys, in their 209-page filling on Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Washington, said that the pilots of both the Black Hawk and the regional jet “failed to maintain vigilance so as to see and avoid each other.”

And it admitted that the Black Hawk pilots’ failure to maintain vigilance was “a proximate cause” of the accident.

“The United States admits that it owed a duty of care to Plaintiffs, which it breached, thereby proximately causing the tragic accident on January 29, 2025,” the government said in the filing.

The government also conceded that the air traffic controller at Reagan National Airport did not comply with regulations that state “[i]f aircraft are on converging courses, inform the other aircraft of the traffic and that visual separation is being applied.”

But it did not concede, as alleged, that the actions of the controller were responsible for the crash.

“The United States denies that any alleged negligence of the air traffic controllers on position in Washington Tower during the accident was a cause-in-fact and a proximate cause of the accident and the death of DECEDENT,” the filing says.

And it denied, as alleged in the suit, that the extremely busy airspace above Reagan National Airport presented an “accident waiting to happen.”

The government conceded that while the airspace above Reagan National is “busy at times and the risk of midair collision cannot be reduced to zero” and “that aircraft have come into close proximity to other aircraft within the Class B airspace near DCA on certain occasions” it did not admit to “collective failures” that led to the crash.

The original lawsuit as it was filed says that among the factors known to the military was that there had been “a substantial number of ‘near miss’ events in and around DCA, which were required to be analyzed to ensure that a mid-air collision did not occur and required Defendants to exercise vigilance when operating and/or controlling aircraft in the vicinity of DCA.” 

But the government denied the statement that those known misses “were required to be analyzed to ensure that a mid-air collision did not occur and required Defendants to exercise vigilance when operating and/or controlling aircraft in the vicinity of DCA.” 

An attorney for one of the plaintiffs in the case, Rachel Crafton, said in a statement responding to the U.S. filing, “These families remain deeply saddened and anchored in the grief caused by this tragic loss of life.”

“We continue to investigate this matter to ensure all parties at fault are held accountable, and we await additional findings from the NTSB in an anticipated January 26 hearing on this matter in Washington, D.C,” said attorney Robert A. Clifford, who represents Crafton. 

The National Transportation Safety Board is expected to release its final report with the probable cause and its recommendations by the anniversary of the crash on Jan. 29, 2026. 

District Judge Ana C. Reyes, who was appointed in 2023, is presiding over the case, according to court records. 

Editor’s Note: A prior version of this story incorrectly attributed allegations from the family’s “master complaint” to the U.S. government, which had reprinted those allegations in its Wednesday filing in order to respond to them.

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(NEW YORK) — Blue Origin will make history when it sends the first person who uses a wheelchair past the Kármán line, an internationally recognized boundary of space that’s 62 miles above Earth, on its next mission.

On Thursday, a Blue Origin New Shepard rocket will take Michaela ‘Michi’ Benthaus, an aerospace and mechatronics engineer who suffered a spinal cord injury after a mountain biking accident, along with five others, on a journey past the Kármán line. New Shepard rockets are fully reusable spacecraft that Blue Origin says require less maintenance between flights, saving money and reducing waste.

The NS-37 mission will be the 16th human flight for Blue Origin, which has taken 86 people — 80 individuals — above the Kármán line.

Benthaus, who works for the European Space Agency, has dedicated her career to scientific collaboration to advance interplanetary exploration, according to Blue Origin. Since her 2018 accident, she has advocated for greater access to space.

Benthaus flew aboard a Zero-G research flight in 2022 — also known as the “Vomit Comet” — and completed an analog astronaut mission, simulating space activities on Earth. She continues to pursue sporting activities outside of work, including wheelchair tennis, according to Blue Origin.

The other five members of the team include:

Joel Hyde is a physicist and quantitative investor, and a retired hedge fund partner. He resides in Florida with his wife and five children. Blue Origin says his passion for space was ignited in 1988 during a visit to the launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis at Kennedy Space Center, leading him to earn a Ph.D. in Astrophysics.

Hans Koenigsmann is a German-American aerospace engineer known for his efforts in developing reusable spacecraft and launch vehicles. He spent two decades at SpaceX and remains influential in the aerospace community, serving in advisory roles across different companies, including Blue Origin.

Neal Milch is a business executive and entrepreneur who is currently the Chair of the Board of Trustees at Jackson Laboratory, where he champions genetic research to enhance human health.

Adonis Pouroulis is an entrepreneur and mining engineer with over 30 years of experience in natural resources and energy. He leads several companies, including Pella Resources and Chariot Limited, focusing on innovative energy technologies.

Jason Stansell is a space enthusiast from West Texas with a computer science degree from Tulane University. Blue Origin says his flight is in honor of his brother, Kevin, who passed away from brain cancer in 2016, by dedicating his upcoming flight to him.

Unlike recent orbital missions flown by SpaceX or NASA, New Shepard flights are suborbital, designed for brief human spaceflight experiences that cross the Kármán line before returning to Earth.

During the 10 to 12-minute flight, the group will experience several minutes of microgravity before returning to Earth.

The flight is scheduled to take off from Blue Origin’s Launch Site One in West Texas on Thursday at 9:30 a.m. ET.

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(DEDHAM, Mass.) — Brian Walshe is set to be sentenced on Thursday after a Massachusetts jury found him guilty of killing and dismembering his wife, the mother of their three children.

His wife, Ana Walshe, went missing on Jan. 1, 2023, at the age of 39. Her body has not been found.

Brian Walshe, 50, pleaded guilty last month to improperly disposing of her body and lying to police following her disappearance. He had changed his plea on the two charges before jury selection got underway for the trial, while maintaining that he did not kill her.

A Norfolk County jury found Brian Walshe guilty of first-degree murder on Monday, after deliberating for approximately six hours over two days.

He is set to be sentenced on all three charges in the case on Thursday and faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole after being convicted of first-degree murder.

Brian Walshe did not testify during the two-week trial in Dedham, and the defense did not call any witnesses.

Defense attorneys said during the trial that Brian Walshe did not kill his wife but found her dead in bed on New Year’s Day in 2023 — calling her death sudden and unexplained — and then panicked and lied to police as they investigated her disappearance.

Prosecutors said Brian Walshe premeditatedly murdered and dismembered his wife, then disposed of her remains in dumpsters. The internet history on his devices on Jan. 1, 2023, included searches such as “best way to dispose of a body,” “how long for someone to be missing to inherit,” and “best way to dispose of body parts after a murder,” prosecutors said.

Evidence presented during the trial included surveillance footage of a man believed to be Brian Walshe buying tools and other supplies at a Lowe’s on Jan. 1, 2023. A receipt showed that items, including a hacksaw, utility knife, hammer, snips, Tyvek suit, shoeguards, rags and cleaning supplies, totaling $462, were purchased with cash.

Additional surveillance footage presented in court showed someone throwing out trash bags at dumpsters on multiple days in early January 2023.

Several blood-stained items recovered from dumpsters by investigators — including a hacksaw, a piece of rug, a towel and hairs — and an unknown tissue were linked to Ana Walshe through DNA testing, a forensic scientist from the Massachusetts State Police Crime Laboratory testified during the trial.

Ana Walshe was reported missing by her employer on Jan. 4, 2023. Brian Walshe told police at the time that she had a “work emergency” at her job in D.C. and left their Cohasset home on New Year’s Day, according to audio of his interview played in court.

Jurors heard testimony, including from a D.C. man with whom Ana Walshe was having an affair, that the mother of three was upset about being away from her young children so much — who were 2, 4 and 6 at the time — and there was stress in the marriage.

At the time, Brian Walshe and their three children were living in Massachusetts while he was awaiting sentencing in a federal fraud case after pleading guilty to a scheme to sell counterfeit Andy Warhol paintings. He was ultimately sentenced to 37 months in federal prison in that case.

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(NEW YORK) — Nick Reiner, the son of slain director Rob Reiner and his wife Michele Singer Reiner, has retained a high-profile attorney to represent him as he faces murder charges in their killing.

Alan Jackson, who defended Kevin Spacey, Harvey Weinstein and Karen Read has been serving as the 32-year-old’s attorney. Jackson has been in contact with Nick Reiner since he was arrested Sunday and speaking to the press as the case develops.

“Every inmate has to be medically cleared before they can be transferred to court, he has not been medically cleared. It’s just a procedural issue,” Jackson told reporters on Tuesday.

Rob Reiner and Singer were found stabbed to death in their Los Angeles home Sunday afternoon, and their son was arrested less than a day later. The Los Angeles District Attorney charged Nick Reiner with first degree murder on Tuesday.

The arraignment is scheduled for Jan. 7.

“There are very, very complex and serious issues that are associated with this case,” Jackson told reporters after a court hearing on Wednesday. “These need to be thoroughly but very carefully dealt with and examined and looked at and analyzed.”

“We ask that during this process, you allow the system to move forward in the way that it was designed to move forward, not with the rush to judgment, not with jumping to conclusions, but with restraint and with dignity and with the respect that this system and this process deserves and that the family deserves,” he added.

Jackson also said, “our hearts go out to the entire Reiner family.”

This case is the latest of several major cases that Jackson has taken on in his long legal career.

Jackson spent the beginning of his law career in the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office, where he served as assistant head deputy for the Major Crimes Division. One of his biggest prosecutions was the murder case against music producer Phil Spector.

After one mistrial, Spector was ultimately convicted in 2009 and sentenced to 19 years to life in prison.

Jackson ran for LA district attorney in 2012 but lost the election. He shifted to private practice and amassed a who’s who of clients.

He represented Kevin Spacey after the actor was charged in 2019 of indecent assault and battery. Spacey pleaded not guilty and the charges were ultimately dropped after the prosecutors’ case began to fall apart under scrutiny by the defense.

“This entire case is completely compromised” by the accuser’s decision to take the Fifth [Amendment],” Jackson told the judge in the case. “He’s the sole witness than can establish the circumstances of his allegation.”

Jackson represented disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein in his Los Angeles criminal trial over sexual assault charges in 2022.

The attorney told the jury in his closing argument that the evidence was “smoke and mirrors” and accused the women who testified of being “fame and fortune seekers.”

In a separate case that didn’t involve Jackson, Weinstein had been convicted in a New York court prior to the LA case on similar charges. This was overturned on appeal — he was convicted on one count of engaging in criminal sex but acquitted on a second count in his sex crimes retrial in New York. The judge declared a mistrial on a third-degree rape count.

He was ultimately convicted in the LA trial on Dec. 19, 2022, and sentenced to 16 years in prison. He has appealed that conviction — Jackson is not representing him in the appeal.

Recently, Jackson represented Karen Read, a Massachusetts woman who was charged with killing her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe, in January 2022.

A murder trial against Read led to a mistrial in 2024 after jurors could not come to a verdict. In June, Read was acquitted in a second trial on second-degree murder and leaving a scene of personal injury and death charges.

The jury found her guilty of operating under the influence of liquor. The judge immediately sentenced her to one year of probation, the standard for a first-time offense.

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(NEW YORK) — This Christmas and New Year’s holiday period is expected to be the busiest on record.

More than 122 million people are expected to travel between Dec. 20 and Jan. 1 — a 2.2% jump from last year’s record high of 119.7 million travelers, according to AAA.

Here’s what you need to know before you head to the airport or hit the road:

Air travel
About 8.03 million people are expected to fly within the U.S. over the holidays — a 2.3% increase from last year, according to AAA.

Florida, Southern California and Hawaii are topping the domestic destinations list for the holidays, according to AAA’s booking data, showing many travelers have decided to forgo a white Christmas for fun in the sun.

United Airlines said it is expecting its busiest winter holiday season ever, with the Saturday after Christmas — Dec. 27 — forecast to be the airline’s most crowded day.

American Airlines said its planning for four flights to depart each minute over its holiday period, from Dec. 18 through Jan. 5. American said its busiest day will be Friday, Dec. 19, followed by Sunday, Jan. 4.

Road travel
About 109.5 million people are forecast to travel by car over the holidays, up 2% from last year, AAA said.

The weekend before Christmas — which falls on Saturday, Dec. 20, and Sunday, Dec. 21 — is expected to be especially busy, and so is the day after Christmas, Friday, Dec. 26, according to analytics company INRIX.

Christmas Day and New Year’s Day — which both fall on Thursdays — are anticipated to be the quietest days on the roads, INRIX said.

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(NEW YORK) — The Powerball jackpot is estimated to climb to $1.5 billion for Saturday night’s drawing, marking the fifth-largest prize in the lottery’s history, after no ticket matched all six numbers drawn on Wednesday, the lottery said.

A $1.25 billion Powerball jackpot prize had been up for grabs Wednesday night, with a cash value of $572.1 million. The winning numbers drawn Wednesday were: 25, 33, 53, 62, 66 and red Powerball 17.

That was the game’s sixth largest prize ever, according to Powerball. The largest prize ever was $2.04 billion won on Nov. 7, 2022.

The Powerball jackpot was last hit on Sept. 6 by two tickets in Missouri and Texas that split a $1.787 billion prize. There have been 43 consecutive drawings with no jackpot wins.

If a player had won on Wednesday night, they would have had the choice between annual payments worth an estimated $1.25 billion or an immediate $572.1 million lump sum payment.

According to Powerball, the odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million.

The drawing will be held just before 11 p.m. ET in the Florida Lottery draw studio in Tallahassee.

Powerball tickets are $2 per play.

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(WASHINGTON) — Ghislaine Maxwell, the convicted co-conspirator of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, on Wednesday asked a federal court to vacate or correct her conviction and 20-year prison sentence for sex trafficking of minors and other offenses — a move that could complicate the release of the Epstein files as mandated by a new law.

Maxwell has exhausted all of her direct appeals, but filed a petition which contends “substantial new evidence has emerged” demonstrating she did not receive a fair trial, according to Maxwell’s filing in federal court in New York.

“This newly available evidence — derived from litigation against the Federal Bureau of Investigation, various financial institutions, and the Estate of Jeffrey Epstein, as well as from sworn depositions, released records, and other verified sources–shows that exculpatory information was withheld, false testimony presented, and material facts misrepresented to the jury and the Court,” Maxwell wrote in a habeas petition, which she filed “pro se” — without an attorney.

The petition alleges nine separate grounds — including juror misconduct and government suppression of evidence — for Maxwell’s contention that constitutional violations undermined the integrity of her 2021 trial. 

“In the light of the full evidentiary record, no reasonable juror would have convicted her. Accordingly, she seeks vacatur of her conviction, an evidentiary hearing, and such other relief as this Court deems appropriate and justice requires,” Maxwell wrote in the 50-page filing, which was submitted to the court in seven separately scanned sections. 

There are two gaps in the page numbers, which could be the result of an editing or filing error. After the documents first posted on the electronic case docket Wednesday afternoon, they were briefly taken down before appearing again. Maxwell’s handwritten signature appears at the end of the petition.

Prosecutors in the Southern District of New York declined to comment on Maxwell’s court filing.

Maxwell, 63, was convicted in 2021 — after a three-week trial in Manhattan federal court — of five felonies, including conspiracy, transportation of a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity and sex trafficking of a minor.  A higher court rejected her post-trial appeals, and the Supreme Court declined to take up her case.

Many of the issues raised in Maxwell’s petition were addressed either at her trial or by the appellate court. She contends, however, that information and evidence previously unavailable to her and her attorneys has since emerged that should render her conviction “invalid, unsafe, and infirm.”

To prevail in a habeas petition, Maxwell would need to show that serious constitutional violations occurred during her trial or sentencing, or that significant new evidence has emerged demonstrating her innocence. A successful habeas petition could result in a new trial or a reduction of her sentence.

Maxwell’s last-ditch effort for relief from the courts comes as the Justice Department faces a Friday deadline to publicly disclose its investigative files on Epstein and Maxwell in compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act, passed by Congress and signed by President Donald Trump last month.    

Maxwell’s newly filed petition presents a possible wrinkle in the long-running controversy. The Epstein Files Transparency Act contains exemptions permitting Attorney General Pam Bondi to withhold certain records if their publication could jeopardize active criminal investigations or prosecutions.

Last week, U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer granted a DOJ motion to lift restrictions  on grand jury transcripts and other nonpublic records from the case, citing the requirement of the newly passed legislation. An attorney for Maxwell had argued that public disclosure of those materials would impact her ability to get a fair retrial if she were to succeed in her bid for a new trial.

“Releasing the grand jury materials from her case, which contain untested and unproven allegations, would create undue prejudice so severe that it would foreclose the possibility of a fair retrial should Ms. Maxwell’s habeas petition succeed,” the lawyers wrote.

Epstein, the wealthy financier and convicted sex offender, died by suicide in a New York jail in 2019.

Maxwell’s habeas submission cites to than 140 exhibits, including post-trial news articles and excerpts from podcasts, books and documentaries about the case in support of her claims of juror misconduct, suppression of evidence and allegedly improper coordination between prosecutors and attorneys for alleged victims. As of Wednesday afternoon, the exhibits had not yet been posted on the electronic docket of the case.

Maxwell devotes a substantial portion of her petition to a claim that the government failed to disclose to her defense team the prior state grand jury testimony of a former Palm Beach police officer who participated in a search of Epstein’s Florida home in 2005.

Retired officer Gregory Parkinson was on the stand for one of the Maxwell trial’s more dramatic moments, when prosecutors carried into the courtroom a green massage table that Parkinson testified was the same one he removed from a bathroom in Epstein’s seaside home following the execution of a search warrant.  

Prosecutors said a manufacturer’s label indicating the table was made in California constituted proof of an interstate nexus to the sex-trafficking of a minor — the witness identified at trial as “Carolyn” — which was a critical element of the two most serious charges against Maxwell.

“So when Carolyn … was abused on a massage table that was manufactured in California, that proves that there was at least a minimal effect on interstate commerce, which is all that’s required for this count,” prosecutor Allison Moe said during closing arguments.

But Maxwell contends in her habeas petition that her lack of access to the state grand jury transcripts during her trial deprived her attorneys of the ability to cross-examine the retired officer about his previous sworn testimony. What Parkinson said in 2006, Maxwell argues, “conflicted with his trial testimony” about where the massage table was found and “undermined” the government’s assertions about a critical piece of evidence.

Parkinson’s testimony before the state grand jury in 2006 was made public in 2024 as a result of a lawsuit by the Palm Beach Post and a new state law specifically crafted to allow for the disclosure of the transcripts. 

Earlier this year, Maxwell was transferred  from a low-security  prison in Florida to a minimum-security prison camp for women in Texas. That switch occurred less than two weeks after an unusual meeting in July between Maxwell and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who previously served as personal counsel to President Trump.

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