Police officers walk on patrol at the scene of a mass shooting at the Bite of Seattle food festival on July 26, 2026 in Seattle, Washington. At least two people are dead and at least five are wounded after a mass shooting at the event at Seattle Center. (Photo by David Ryder/Getty Images)
(SEATTLE) — A 15-year-old is in custody and a second suspect is at large following a shooting at the Bite of Seattle food festival that left three people dead and several wounded, officials said.
Authorities were dispatched to the scene at the Seattle Center at about 6 p.m. Sunday and found two people shooting at each other, according to the Seattle Police Department.
A 15-year-old has been detained and booked for investigation for firearms violations and first-degree assault, Mayor Katie Wilson said at a news conference on Monday.
“We believe this teenager opened fire in the crowd, but details are still under investigation,” Wilson said.
She added that no one has been arrested for investigation of homicide.
The other person alleged to be firing shots is unidentified and remains unaccounted for, police said Monday.
At least seven victims were caught in the crossfire, Wilson said.
The victims killed were identified by police as a 19-year-old man, a 44-year-old man and a 56-year-old woman.
Three injured victims — a 2-year-old boy, a 23-year-old man and a 39-year-old woman — were hospitalized, authorities said. The man and woman have since been discharged while the 2-year-old is in satisfactory condition, police said on Monday.
A fourth injured victim, a 40-year-old woman, had minor injuries and declined to be taken to the hospital, according to officials.
Police said they are also investigating a potential fifth wounded victim. A 27-year-old man with a gunshot wound went to a hospital in satisfactory condition and police said they are working to determine if this person was hurt in the shooting.
The shooting erupted during Bite of Seattle, an annual festival with food vendors and live music held at the Seattle Center.
The 15-year-old will appear in court on Monday, Wilson said.
ABC News’ Amanda Morris contributed to this report.
Senator Mitch McConnell and Secretary Elaine Chao, July 26, 2026. (Courtesy of Sen. Mitch McConnell)
(WASHINGTON) — Sen. Mitch McConnell’s office issued a statement from the Republican senator on Monday saying that he will miss an upcoming Kentucky political event in order to continue his rehabilitation following a June 14 fall that left him hospitalized.
“I’m still working hard to get back to my full schedule of work in the Senate and in Kentucky, keeping up with intense physical therapy per my doctors’ orders. Unfortunately, that means I won’t be able to make it to Fancy Farm, Kentucky this Saturday,” McConnell said in the statement of the political event and cookout held annually in Kentucky.
“As always, I appreciate all of your continued well wishes, and I’m looking forward to getting back to the Senate and to Kentucky soon.”
An additional statement from the Office of the Attending Physician says that McConnell is continuing with a course of physical therapy and rehabilitation, adding that he is “not yet medically cleared to leave the rehab facility and return to the office.”
“Since his discharge from hospital care, he has maintained a strenuous course of physical therapy and rehabilitation, including multiple sessions a day designed to rebuild strength and reduce the risk of future falls,” the OAP statement reads.
McConnell’s office also included a new image of the senator and his wife, Elaine Chao, that it says was taken on Sunday, July 26.
McConnell was hospitalized on June 14, though his team initially released few details about the incident — prompting calls from many, including Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, for more transparency.
In a statement issued July 12, nearly a month after his hospitalization, McConnell said he was hospitalized due to a fall that left him briefly unconscious. He also had to deal with a “mild case of pneumonia.”
He has not been seen on Capitol Hill since June 11.
McConnell has said he intends to finish his term, which expires in January. The seven-term senator has already said he does not intend to seek reelection in January.
German police stand near a white van that suspect Abdul B. allegedly used in last night’s vehicle crash during the Christopher Street Day Berlin pride parade on July 26, 2026 in Berlin, Germany. (Omer Messinger/Getty Images)
(LONDON) — The man suspected of allegedly driving a vehicle into a crowd during Berlin’s LGBTQ+ celebrations on Saturday, killing one person and injuring several others, has been killed, police said.
“Around 6 p.m., the suspect in yesterday’s attack in the Großer Tiergarten was located in an allotment garden complex in Spandau,” according to a statement from Berlin police.
“According to current information, he reportedly ran toward our officers with a stabbing weapon, prompting our SEK Berlin unit to open fire,” the statement continued. “Despite immediate resuscitation efforts by the Berlin Fire Department, he died at the scene.”
Berlin police earlier Sunday released a photo of the man, whom they identified as Abdul B., using only an initial for his surname, as is common under German privacy law.
“Abdul B. is alleged to have injured several people with a moving vehicle in the Tiergarten area at approximately 10 p.m.,” according to a joint statement released by the Berlin Police and Public Prosecutor’s Office.
“Everything we are seeing here indicates that this was an Islamist terrorist attack,” German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said at a press conference Sunday.
Dobrindt also updated the number of injured from 17 to 29, “including several who sustained serious injuries.”
The suspect rammed into the crowd with a vehicle, Dobrindt said, after which “he then attacked other pedestrians with a bladed weapon, believed to have been a machete, seriously injuring them.”
Dobrindt confirmed earlier police reports that the suspect, whom he described as a “German citizen of Lebanese descent who was born in Germany,” had “an extensive criminal record, showed signs of radicalization, and was associated with the radical Islamist scene.”
“He was previously sentenced in Berlin to one year and ten months in prison. The sentence was commuted to parole, and prosecutors appealed the decision,” Dobrindt said. He did not provide details about why the suspect was sentenced to prison.
“The search for the suspect is currently the top priority,” according to Dobrindt.
Details about potential motives for the attack were not immediately released.
Hundreds of thousands of people had come to Berlin to celebrate Christopher Street Day, one of Europe’s largest LGBTQ+ celebrations, according to the city.
The two-day event was scheduled on Saturday to include a parade, which was to begin in Mitte, in central Berlin, wind its way south into Schöneberg, then turn back northward toward Brandenburg Gate.
The vehicle crashed into the crowd in Tiergarten Park, according to law enforcement, an area along a footpath within the park and near to the parade’s end.
“One or more people are believed to have subsequently fled the vehicle,” police initially said. “Furthermore, several people are reported to have been injured with stabbing weapons.”
Several of those who were injured had life-threatening injuries, the Berlin Police told ABC News.
The suspect was described by police as having a “slim build.” They said he was about 1.9 meters tall, or about 6 feet, 3 inches, with black hair. He was wearing a black hoodie and white pants, police said.
“If you encounter this person, under no circumstances should you approach them or have any direct contact with them,” police said. “They may be armed and dangerous! Immediately contact the police emergency number 110.”
The police on Saturday called off the rest of the celebrations for the night after the incident at the park.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Sunday described the vehicle crash as a “heinous act,” adding that “people from all over the world were peacefully celebrating” during Christopher Street Day.
“They wanted us to treat each other with kindness and tolerance,” he said on social media. “This is an attack on our society.”
ABC News’ Rashid Haddou, Felix Franz, Jamie Dorrington and Ivan Pereira contributed to this report.
Police officers walk on patrol at the scene of a mass shooting at the Bite of Seattle food festival on July 26, 2026 in Seattle, Washington. At least two people are dead and at least five are wounded after a mass shooting at the event at Seattle Center. (Photo by David Ryder/Getty Images)
(SEATTLE) — Three people were killed and four others were injured after shots rang out at the Bite of Seattle food festival at the Seattle Center on Sunday, according to officials.
The Seattle Fire Department said first responders were dispatched to the scene at about 6 p.m.
When officers arrived, two people were shooting at each other, according to the Seattle Police Department.
“Our officers were there within seconds. They performed emergency aid to the wounded until the Seattle Fire Department was on scene,” Acting Chief Tyrone Davis, of the Seattle police, said in a statement. “Simultaneously, officers launched a search for the people responsible for this senseless violence.”
Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson said a suspect has been taken into custody. Further details on the suspect have not been released. The other person alleged to be firing shots was still unaccounted for, the police said.
First responders attempted lifesaving efforts at the scene for two of the seven people who were shot, but those efforts were unsuccessful, according to fire officials. Both were declared deceased at the scene, officials said.
Another person later died after being transferred to a local hospital, officials said during a press conference. Officials at the University of Washington Medicine’s Harborview Medical Center earlier said that one woman was in surgery and was in critical condition.
The Seattle Police Department said in an update early on Monday that two men, aged 19 and 44, along with woman, 56, were killed.
The other patients — a boy, a 23-year-old man and a 39-year-old woman — are in stable condition, according to the hospital. A 40-year-old woman with minor injuries from the scene declined transport to the hospital, according to fire officials.
The shooting occurred during Bite of Seattle, an annual festival with food vendors and live music held at the Seattle Center.
“What happened at the Seattle Center today was an act of horrific violence,” Wilson, the mayor, said in a statement. “Impacted families are living through the worst moment of their lives, and an entire community is trying to understand how a gathering built around culture, connection, and joy ended in gunfire.”
“No one should have to weigh the risk of being shot before attending an event, gathering with friends, or experiencing their city,” Wilson said.
Two guns were recovered at the scene, officials said. There were no surveillance cameras in the immediate area of the shooting, law enforcement said. Police are asking the public to come forward with information.
Detectives from the police’s Homicide and Gun Violence Reduction units were investigating the shooting, the department said.
Multiple agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Seattle field office responded to the incident, an agency spokesperson told ABC News.
The FBI is aware of the shooting, an agency spokesperson said.
ABC News’ Amanda Morris contributed to this report.
A police line is put up in front of Apalachee High School after a school shooting took place on September 4, 2024 in Winder, Georgia. (Megan Varner/Getty Images)
(WINDER, Ga.) — A teenage boy accused of carrying out a mass shooting at his Georgia high school pleaded guilty Friday to all 55 counts against him, including murder and aggravated assault.
Colt Gray, 16, agreed to a non-negotiated guilty plea, the judge said, meaning there is no plea deal; the state will present its argument for an appropriate sentence, and the defense will do the same.
The judge said the minimum sentence is life with parole and the maximum is a life sentence without parole.
Gray was 14 years old in September 2024 when he opened fire at Apalachee High School, killing two students and two teachers and injuring several others.
Breanna Schermerhorn, whose son, 14-year-old Mason Schermerhorn, was killed, said in a victim impact statement Friday, “Mason was so much more than a victim.” “Mason was kind, compassionate, funny and fiercely protective of others,” she said. “As a child with exceptional needs, he understood what it felt like to struggle and be overlooked by others. Instead of becoming bitter, he became an advocate.”
“He made people that were typically unseen feel seen, accepted and safe,” she said.
“I had no doubt in my mind if Colt had actually attended school as he should have, that Mason would have befriended him,” Breanna Schermerhorn said.
She said Gray “knew that pulling that trigger was wrong, he knew that every choice he made that day would forever alter countless lives.”
One of Mason Schermerhorn’s sisters, Alanna Schermerhorn Wallace, said through tears that she lost the life she knew and her sense of safety on the day her brother was killed. She said she’s always scanning for exits and monitoring the people around her and is triggered by loud noises and unexpected sounds.
Another sister, Lilianah Ahmed, said through tears, “From a very young age, Mason wanted to be a family man. He wanted to have a wife, kids. He wanted to go to school and pursue a career. … All these different parts of himself he didn’t get to explore because of Colt.”
“My brother died alone and scared. [Gray] was the last person to see Mason alive, and he took him from us,” Ahmed said.
She also called her brother “the success story that Colt could have been.”
Shayna Aspinwall, whose husband, Richard Aspinwall, was killed, described him as a beloved dad, teacher and coach.
“Every holiday, birthday, anniversary and ordinary day is a reminder of what has been stolen from us,” she said. “… Now our daughters, who were 5 and 2 at the time, must grow up without their father. They will miss his guidance, his encouragement, his hugs, and all the milestones he should have been here to witness.”
Shayna Aspinwall asked the judge to not sentence Gray to life with the chance for parole, saying the parole hearings would be “continued torture” for her family.
Ismael Angulo, whose brother, 14-year-old Christian Angulo, was killed, also asked the judge to sentence Gray to life without the possibility of parole, as he described “every day as a nightmare.”
“The defendant’s family will still get to see their son, talk to him and know he is breathing. My mother, my father don’t get that privilege,” he said. “… There is no fairness in that reality. Christian was a beautiful, innocent soul who was robbed of his dreams.”
Gray was accused of carrying out the shooting with a rifle his father, Colin Gray, gifted him as a Christmas present, officials said. This March, Colin Gray was convicted of charges including second-degree murder and manslaughter, becoming the first parent in the U.S. convicted of murder due to the alleged acts of their child.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
: (L-R) White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, Melania Trump, U.S. President Donald Trump, and Weijia Jiang attend as Mentalist Oz Pearlman hosts The White House Correspondents Dinner at Washington Hilton on April 25, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for OP)
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump will attend the rescheduled White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner Friday night, the White House said, after the annual dinner ended abruptly three months ago when shots rang out.
“Alongside all of you members of the media, the president looks forward to finishing what he started before a despicable assassination attempt derailed the original event back in April,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Thursday.
The spring dinner devolved into chaos after authorities say Cole Allen opened fire inside the Washington Hilton hotel, where thousands of journalists and guests gathered for the annual celebration of the First Amendment. The president and top government officials were also in attendance.
Allen pleaded not guilty in May to charges of attempting to assassinate the president, transportation of a firearm with intent to commit a felony, discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence and assaulting a federal officer with a deadly weapon.
Secret Service officer Victor Gonzales was shot in the incident, but the bullet struck “his protective vest and [he] continued responding to the threat,” the Secret Service said.
Sean Curran, the Secret Service director, said in a briefing on Wednesday that the agency measures worked in April and that they are preparing for Friday’s rescheduled dinner.
Friday’s dinner is taking place at a different Washington, D.C., hotel, the Waldorf Astoria on Pennsylvania Avenue.
“We will always evaluate every site and, right now, we have an advance team there and they will take back and they will set up a plan to set that site up for success just like we did at the White House correspondents’ dinner at the Hilton,” Curran said.
The White House Correspondents’ Association announced on Tuesday that it will present a special award, the President’s Award for Exceptional Service, during Friday night’s dinner to Gonzales and the staff of the Washington Hilton.
“Officer Gonzales played a significant role when he ran toward danger so that thousands of others could make it home safely,” Weijia Jiang, who presided over the April dinner as WHCA president, said in a statement. “His courage stemmed from a dedication to service, which we are looking forward to honoring this week.”
Jiang said the Hilton staff is being recognized for their “professionalism and commitment to service” by continuing to “take care of guests” after experiencing the “harrowing situation” themselves.
The shooting took place before the scheduled program that features the presentation of journalism awards, remarks from the president, and entertainment from an invited headliner. This year’s entertainer was mentalist Oz Pearlman, who will be back for the redo dinner, the association said.
The association added that it was determined “to finish the program that was interrupted.”
New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, US, on Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — The House on Wednesday passed a bill that would ban members of Congress from trading individual stocks as well as mandate that voters provide photo identification “as a condition of casting a ballot” by a 232-198 vote.
Thirteen Democrats voted with all Republicans in favor of the bill.
The Stop Insider Trading Act, championed by House Administration Committee Chairman Bryan Steil of Wisconsin, would prohibit members of Congress, their spouses and their dependent children from buying new stocks. The bill would, however, allow lawmakers to keep the stocks they already own.
“This is the first congressional stock trading ban to receive a vote on the floor of the House,” Steil said on the floor. “If you want to day trade, there is a place for that on Wall Street.”
Administration Committee ranking Democrat Joe Morelle of New York called the bill a “sham” because it “allows members of Congress to continue owning and trading stocks.”
Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez of New Mexico, the chair of the Democratic Women’s Caucus, told ABC News that the bill wouldn’t prevent a member from selling stock they already hold.
“It doesn’t ban stock trading because you could still acquire stocks, sell stocks, use information that you have that you garner here in Congress to make a profit. And stock trading involves purchase and sales, and it does not prohibit sales,” she said.
Some Democrats opposed the bill in part because they contend it doesn’t go far enough to rein in stock trading for the executive branch, including the president and vice president.
“The biggest glaring absence is that the president and vice president can continue to stock trade,” Leger Fernandez said.
President Donald Trump’s recent financial disclosure report shows his investment advisers made more than 21,000 trades on his behalf last year, many involving companies with business before, or regulated by, his administration.
Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas also expressed regret that GOP leadership made the vote a “partisan exercise” by attaching voter ID to the ban and agreed with Democrats who argue the scope of legislation should address all three branches of government.
“It should apply to everybody. That was my preference, and always had been,” Roy said. “We stuck on focusing on Congress because you know, get your own house in order, and then you know you can kind of start pointing fingers elsewhere, but I would like it to apply to everybody in the executive branch, judiciary branch, and here.”
Other Democrats opposed the bill because it combined the stock ban bill with the voter ID provision as Trump continues to push Republicans in both chambers to pass the SAVE America Act, which Democrats oppose because they say it would disenfranchise some voters.
According to the bill text, that provision requires voters to show a valid physical photo identification when casting a ballot for federal office. Mail-in and absentee voters can attach a photocopy of their ID to their ballot. If an eligible voter forgets to bring their ID to vote, they can cast a provisional ballot.
“They’ve added provisions that have absolutely nothing to do with stock trading and everything to do with their obsession, their obsession with the 2020 election,” Morelle said of the voter ID provision.
Leger Fernandez said the bill amounted to a “Trojan Horse” for the Save America Act.
Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez of New York called it a “bait-and-switch” bill.
“They attached these voter suppression provisions specifically because they knew it would kill a stock trading ban. I proudly voted no because we are not going to sabotage mail-in voting in this country, and we’re not going to fall for, kind of, their bait-and-switch tactic here.”
Because of the voter ID language in the bill, the bill faces a rocky path in the Senate. Trump has pushed Republicans in the upper chamber to eliminate or modify the filibuster to pass his election legislation, though Majority Leader John Thune has repeatedly said Republicans don’t have the votes to do that.
Jes Staley, former chief executive officer of Barclays Plc, leaves for lunch as he attends closing submissions at the High Court Rolls Building on April 2, 2025 in London, England. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — The House Oversight Committee is set on Thursday to interview Jeffrey Epstein’s former private JPMorgan Chase investment banker, Jes Staley, whose career as a finance executive came crashing down after the convicted sex offender’s death in 2019.
Staley, 69, spent more than thirty years at JPMorgan Chase, including in senior roles in the private banking and investment divisions, where he managed relationships with ultra-wealthy clients, including Epstein.
After Staley left JPMorgan Chase, he became the CEO of the British multinational bank Barclays in 2015.
Staley agreed to a voluntary transcribed interview with the committee after its chairman, Kentucky Republican James Comer, requested his appearance as part of the panel’s wide-ranging inquiry into the federal government’s handling of the criminal investigations of Epstein.
Staley’s interview, like others that have occurred in recent months, will not be recorded.
Following Epstein’s arrest and death in 2019, Staley came under scrutiny in a lawsuit brought by Epstein’s victims, who contended in court filings that JPMorgan Chase and Staley had allegedly ignored red flags that helped enable Epstein to traffic women and girls. JPMorgan Chase settled the case in 2023 for $290 million, without any admission of wrongdoing.
Barclay executives told U.K. financial regulators after Epstein’s death that Staley and Epstein did not have a close relationship and that Staley had cut off contact long before he joined the bank as its CEO. But the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) subsequently determined — based partly on hundreds of emails and records that emerged from the victims’ lawsuit — that Staley had provided misleading information about the extent of the relationship and its timing.
Staley stepped down from Barclays in 2021 and was subsequently banned by the FCA from working in Britain’s financial sector.
Staley lost his appeal of the regulatory body’s findings. During the appeal proceedings last year, Staley acknowledged that he had what he described as a consensual sexual encounter with one of Epstein’s adult assistants at an apartment building in New York City, owned by Epstein’s brother, where Epstein housed some of his employees.
“We had one encounter,” Staley testified, according to an account in The Guardian. “Much to my embarrassment today.”
Staley has also acknowledged visiting Epstein’s private estate in the U.S. Virgin Islands, though not while Epstein was there. He also claimed to have no specific recollection of a series of emails in which Staley and Epstein refer to women using names of Disney characters.
“That was fun. Say hi to Snow White,” Staley emailed to Epstein in 2010, according to documents made public in the victims’ litigation.
“Which character would you like next,” Epstein asked.
“Beauty and the Beast,” Staley answered.
“Well, one side is available,” Epstein responded, according to the documents.
A lawyer believed to be representing Staley for his interview on Capitol Hill did not respond to a request for comment in advance of Staley’s appearance.
Staley, who has not been charged, has denied all wrongdoing and has said he had no knowledge of Epstein’s crimes.
An attorney representing Staley in the victims’ civil lawsuit said claims that Staley aided and abetted Epstein were “baseless.”
“The allegations against him are slanderous, and the potential damages are astronomical,” attorney Brendan Sullivan wrote in a 2023 court filing.
Records released by the Justice Department earlier this year in response to the Epstein Files Transparency Act include unproven allegations of wrongdoing by Staley. The allegations, raised by an alleged Epstein victim, were detailed in an 86-page internal prosecution memo from December 2019.
It’s unclear if federal prosecutors pursued those allegations. The Department of Justice has said repeatedly since the disclosure of the Epstein files that there are no credible allegations or evidence that would lead to new federal criminal investigations.
Former Special Counsel Jack Smith returns from a recess to resume his testimony during a hearing before the House Judiciary Committee in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill on January 22, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Al Drago/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan issued a criminal referral against former Special Counsel Jack Smith on Wednesday for allegedly making “willfully and intentionally false statements” when testifying before Congress last December.
“The Committee on the Judiciary writes to refer strong evidence that appears to show Jack Smith, former Special Counsel, knowingly made false statements during his December 17, 2025 deposition,” Jordan wrote in a letter sent to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.
In the letter, Jordan questioned what Smith said under oath about obtaining phone records of 44 lawmakers who communicated with President Donald Trump and other members of the White House related to efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
“This information calls into question the completeness and accuracy of statements that Mr. Smith made under oath to the Committee regarding his team’s access to the content of Members’ text messages,” Jordan wrote.
Jordan stated that responses by Smith during congressional testimony “gave the impression that neither Mr. Smith nor his team had access to the content of members’ privileged text messages.”
“We now know this to be false,” Jordan wrote.
“His conduct can only be understood as an effort to thwart the Committee’s inquiry by intentionally making false statements and representations before Congress. We therefore believe that sufficient evidence exists for DOJ to examine whether Mr. Smith’s actions warrant a charge,” the letter added.
Counsel for Smith responded to Jordan’s referral disputing that his statements in any way could be construed as perjury — arguing the effort “reflects a chilling eagerness to weaponize the justice system by attacking a career, nonpartisan public servant who faithfully and fearlessly performed his duties by following the facts and the law.”
Top Judiciary Democrat Rep. Jamie Raskin slammed the GOP-led criminal referral — calling it “baseless” and “vindictive.”
“Jack Smith was clear and consistent in his testimony, and he told the truth. When asked if his subpoena for Members’ toll records sought the content of either Member’s phone calls or messages, he truthfully replied that they did not,” Raskin said in a statement.
Raskin said the referral “if ever brought before a judge, will get laughed out of court” and is “meant to harass Jack Smith.”
Criminal referrals are just recommendations and do not always lead to a prosecution.
This move by Jordan comes after Blanche said last week at his confirmation hearing that DOJ might investigate Smith over alleged perjury.
“Have you thought about investigating this guy for perjury?” GOP Sen. Josh Hawley, of Missouri, asked of Blanche after recounting testimony where Smith previously denied that toll records obtained from members of Congress did not include the contents of messages.
“We take testimony in front of this body very seriously, yes,” Blanche responded.
During Smith’s investigation into Jan. 6, his office sought limited phone toll data from eight senators and a member of the House in the days surrounding the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol.
While such records would not involve the content of any phone calls or messages, multiple Republicans have incorrectly claimed that Smith had “tapped” their phones or “spied” on them.
Records released ahead of last week’s hearing indicated that contents of messages obtained by Smith’s teams related to messages handed over by the National Archives and Records Administration — not the toll records he referred to in his original answer.
“I think he absolutely should be investigated,” Hawley said. “I hope that you will investigate Jack Smith for perjury and I hope that possibly you’ll prosecute him.”
“Yes, senator,” Blanche said.
Trump has long called for Smith to be investigated.
In an interview with MS NOW earlier this month, Smith said the U.S. is facing an “attack on the rule of law that is different in kind and scope to anything I’ve seen in my lifetime.”
U.S. President Donald Trump looks on during a bilateral meeting with the Prime Minister of Iraq Ali al-Zaidi, in the Oval Office of the White House on July 14, 2026 in Washington, DC. . (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — President Trump has approved an agreement with Saudi Arabia to partner on developing the Kingdom’s civil nuclear energy program, according to two U.S. officials.
The deal leaves open the possibility that Saudi Arabia will enrich uranium domestically in the future, the officials said, a prospect that could raise concerns about nuclear weapons proliferation.
In the deal, the United States and Saudi Arabia have agreed to safeguards to inhibit any weaponization effort, the sources said. But that framework would be governed by the two countries themselves, instead of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which conventionally oversees nuclear pacts.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio was asked about the agreement on Wednesday. He declined to comment on the contours of the plan but said that the Trump administration would work with Congress to formalize the deal.
“Suffice it to say, the U.S. is not going to reach any agreement with any country in the world that leads to the risk of proliferation,” Rubio said.
The agreement, under which U.S. industry would help develop Iranian nuclear infrastructure, spans 30 years and is valued at tens of billions of dollars, the officials said.
The U.S. and Saudi Arabia discussed details of the proposal during a visit to Washington, D.C. by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman last fall. The administration is expected to submit the deal to Congress, which is required by federal law.
The Wall Street Journal first reported that the president had approved the deal.
