Prince Andrew, Duke of York attends the traditional Easter Sunday Mattins Service at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle on April 20, 2025 in Windsor, England. (Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images)
(LONDON) — Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor — formerly known as Prince Andrew and the younger brother of King Charles III — was arrested on Thursday on suspicion of misconduct in public office. He has since been released under investigation and has not been charged.
In a statement, Thames Valley Police said it had “arrested a man in his sixties from Norfolk on suspicion of misconduct in public office and are carrying out searches at addresses in Berkshire and Norfolk.”
“We will not be naming the arrested man, as per national guidance,” the statement said.
Police confirmed that searches being conducted in Norfolk have now concluded, while searches in Berkshire remain underway.
Photos from Wood Farm on the Sandringham estate in eastern England showed what appeared to be police officers arriving in several unmarked vehicles. Thursday marks Andrew’s 66th birthday.
In a statement issued on Thursday, Charles said, “I have learned with the deepest concern the news about Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and suspicion of misconduct in public office.”
“What now follows is the full, fair and proper process by which this issue is investigated in the appropriate manner and by the appropriate authorities. In this, as I have said before, they have our full and wholehearted support and co-operation,” Charles added.
“Let me state clearly: the law must take its course. As this process continues, it would not be right for me to comment further on this matter. Meanwhile, my family and I will continue in our duty and service to you all.”
The Prince and Princess of Wales issued a statement supporting the king.
President Donald Trump called the news of former Prince Andrew’s arrest on Thursday over ties to Jeffrey Epstein a “shame.”
“I think it’s a shame. I think it’s very sad and I think it’s so bad for the royal family. It’s very, very sad,” Trump said.
Andrew’s arrest on Thursday follows the emergence of documents detailing communication between Andrew and the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Andrew has previously denied wrongdoing with respect to Epstein.
If convicted, misconduct in public office carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
There have been no senior royals arrested in recent history. In November 2002, Princess Anne pleaded guilty to having a dog dangerously out of control and was fined £500.
The palace confirmed to ABC News that it was not informed ahead of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest.
Thames Valley Police told ABC News last week that it was assessing reports of Andrew’s alleged misconduct in office as trade envoy.
“We can confirm receipt of this report and are assessing the information in line with our established procedures,” a Thames Valley Police spokesperson said in a statement on Feb. 9.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Prince Andrew, Duke of York attends the traditional Easter Sunday Mattins Service at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle on April 20, 2025, in Windsor, England. (Photo by Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images)
(LONDON) — Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor appeared to share sensitive information stemming from his role as the UK trade envoy with Jeffrey Epstein and appeared to discuss potential business dealings with the late sex offender while working for the British government, emails released by the U.S. Department of Justice suggest.
Emails sent by Mountbatten-Windsor show the former prince passing along what he described as “confidential information” stemming from his government role to Epstein. Other emails – including some sent by his former liaison – suggest that Mountbatten-Windsor discussed Epstein’s connections in his personal dealings.
British police on Thursday arrested Mountbatten-Windsor on suspicion of misconduct in public office. The arrest comes amid mounting criticism of Mountbatten-Windsor’s longtime relationship with the disgraced financier who died by suicide in a Manhattan jail in 2019.
Mountbatten-Windsor has previously denied any wrongdoing with respect to Epstein. The former prince, whose royal title was revoked last year by his brother, King Charles III, has not been charged with any sex crimes.
While serving as trade envoy in 2010, Mountbatten-Windsor directly emailed Epstein information about investment opportunities in Afghanistan. The information appeared to stem directly from his work as a public official, according to emails reviewed by ABC News.
“I am going to offer this elsewhere in my network (including Abu Dhabi) but would be very interested in your comments, views or ideas as to whom I could also usefully show this to attract some interest,” Mountbatten-Windsor stated to Epstein in a December 2010 email, forwarding a “confidential brief” about investment opportunities in Afghanistan.
In another email a month earlier, Mountbatten-Windsor sent Epstein multiple reports from his recent trip to South Asia as trade envoy.
Mountbatten-Windsor’s liaison David Stern also shared potentially sensitive information with Epstein related to British companies Aston Martin and Royal Bank of Scotland, according to emails released by the DOJ. Based on publicly available emails, it is unclear whether Mountbatten-Windsor knew that Stern was sharing the information with Epstein.
ABC News has so far been unable to contact Stern. The University of Cambridge’s Judge Business School confirmed that Stern resigned with immediate effect from his position as a board member.
Liaison attempted to involve Epstein in private business dealings
Stern discussed opening a private investment office with Epstein that would leverage the former prince’s “aura and access,” according to a series of emails between Stern and Epstein while Mountbatten-Windsor was serving as a trade envoy.
“We set up small investment highly private office in London with small outpost in Beijing, for high net worth individuals – targeting Chinese (but not exclusively) that works like an extended family office,” Stern wrote in a July 2010 email.
“We very discreetly make PA part of it and use his ‘aura and access’, you make/decide on the investments and I manage the day to day operations,” Stern added. In multiple emails, Prince Andrew is referred to as “PA.”
Though Mountbatten-Windsor is not on the emails, he is repeatedly referenced, and Stern appears to speak on his behalf.
“Informed PA that you are thinking about the company set up and I will wait for your feedback before taking action,” Stern told Epstein in a June 2010 email.
The plans discussed between the two are not believed to have been carried out.
In a later email, Stern told Epstein he wanted the firm to focus on “big money and power (including access to power globally – see PA).”
Emails released by the DOJ suggest that Epstein and Stern actively discussed a business opportunity at length between 2010 and 2011.
Mountbatten-Windsor appeared to connect Epstein with UAE crown prince
Mountbatten-Windsor also appeared to connect Epstein with some government officials while serving as a trade envoy.
In a November 2010 email, Mountbatten-Windsor said that he spoke with UAE foreign affairs minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan about a meeting with Epstein. Earlier emails also suggested that Mountbatten-Windsor consulted with Epstein about how to approach the conversations.
“He thinks you are great and would like to introduce you to Sheikh Mohammed, the Crown Prince. Doesn’t think it can be done before the end of the year though,” Mountbatten-Windsor said.
Epstein then asked Mountbatten-Windsor to ask for a “date when we can all go on vacation.”
Epstein appeared to offer Mountbatten-Windsor investing advice
In a May 2010 email, Mountbatten-Windsor suggested that he consulted Epstein on how to invest through a trust while serving as a trade envoy.
“Re our conversation earlier this week: so long as I delegate any responsibility to invest then there are no problems,” Mountbatten-Windsor said. “So Trusts are delegated responsibility as to are any Banks or Investment Vehicles or for that matter Trusted individuals.”
U.S. President Donald Trump attends an event to announce a rollback of the 2009 Endangerment Finding in the Roosevelt Room at the White House on February 12, 2026 in Washington, DC. The Trump administration will repeal the 2009 central scientific finding that allows the EPA to regulate climate-warming emissions. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — As the U.S. considers waging a military offensive against Iran, President Donald Trump gathered with dozens of world leaders and heads of state for the inaugural meeting of his Board of Peace, a peacekeeping body focused on rebuilding efforts in Gaza that will oversee an international stabilization force.
But Iran was still top of mind for the president, as he gave a 10-day timeline on Thursday to decide whether to continue diplomatic talks with Iranian officials or to order a military strike.
“We may have to take it a step further, or we may not. Maybe we’re going to make a deal,” Trump told the Board of Peace members. “You’re going to be finding out over the next probably 10 days, but this meeting today is proof with determined leadership, nothing is impossible.”
Asked by ABC News’ Karen Travis what the goal of a military strike would be, Trump refused to answer, “but we’re either going to get a deal or it’s going to be unfortunate for them,” he said.
Asked whether he had a deadline for Iran, Trump repeated his earlier timeline of 10 days.
“I would think that will be enough time— 10, 15 days, pretty much, maximum,” Trump said.
The president has been weighing his options on launching an additional round of military action against Iran for weeks since the regime’s brutal crackdown on protesters in January in which thousands of Iranians were estimated to have been killed.
A second American aircraft carrier — the USS Gerald R. Ford — is heading toward the Middle East, accompanied by destroyers and aircraft being redeployed from missions in the Caribbean region, a U.S. official told ABC News. The Ford is expected to join the USS Abraham Lincoln in the region, the latter having arrived there late last month.
Key Iranian nuclear personnel and facilities were targeted by Israeli and American forces during an intense 12-day conflict in June. But the strikes failed to resolve long-standing U.S. and Israeli grievances related to Tehran’s nuclear program, its ballistic missile arsenal and its support for regional proxy groups.
Iran is expected to submit a written proposal aimed at resolving ongoing tensions with the U.S. following high-stakes indirect talks between Iranian and U.S. officials in Geneva on Tuesday, a senior U.S. official confirmed to ABC News on Wednesday.
It’s unclear when the written proposal will be submitted to the U.S.
Iran agreed to make a written proposal on how to address U.S. concerns during the Geneva talks, the senior U.S. official said. U.S. officials are currently waiting on that proposal from the Iranians, according to the official.
On Tuesday, a White House official said Iran would provide detailed proposals to address “some of the open gaps in our positions” in the next two weeks.
U.S. national security advisers met in the Situation Room on Wednesday to discuss Iran, the official confirmed.
Additionally, Secretary of State Marco Rubio is scheduled to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the weekend of Feb. 28 to discuss Iran, the U.S. official confirmed.
During his remarks Thursday, Trump said that “now is the time for Iran to join us on a path” to peace in the region. Trump later said explicitly that Iran “must make a deal” and said if it doesn’t, “bad things will happen.”
“And now is the time for Iran to join us on a path that will complete what we’re doing. And if they join us, that’ll be great. If they don’t join us, that’ll be great too. But it will be a very different path. They cannot continue to threaten the stability of the entire region, and they must make a deal. Or if that doesn’t happen, I maybe can understand. If it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen. But, bad things will happen if it doesn’t,” Trump said.
Trump hosted the meeting with world leaders who pledged upwards of $7 billion that would go towards the rebuilding and reconstruction in Gaza.
The countries pledging are Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, UAE, Morocco, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan and Kuwait, Trump said.
While that amount is significant, an operational damage and needs assessment conducted last year by the United Nations, the European Union and the World Bank, estimated rebuilding Gaza could cost upwards of $70 billion and take years.
Despite that current shortfall, the president was optimistic about the future that the Board of Peace can help build in Gaza.
“But we work together to ensure the brighter future for the people of Gaza, the Middle East and the entire world. I think that the Board of Peace, because it’s mostly leaders and unbelievably respected people, but mostly leaders of Middle Eastern countries, countries from all over the world, and they’ve been very generous with money also. And the United States, which I’ll say in a moment, is also very generous with money, because there’s nothing more important than peace, and there’s nothing less expensive than peace. You know, when you go to wars, it costs you 100 times what it costs to make peace,” Trump said.
Several European allies declined to join the board over concerns the peacekeeping body would rival the United Nations. The Vatican has also declined to join the board.
The United Nations Security Council gave the Board of Peace a mandate as part of its approval of the Trump administration’s 20-point plan for peace in Gaza.
Trump, who again criticized the U.N. during his remarks, said that the U.S. is going “to be working with the United Nations very close.”
“Someday I won’t be here. The United Nations will be, I think, is going to be much stronger,” he said. “The Board of Peace is going to almost be looking over the United Nations, and making sure it runs properly.”
Five countries have already committed troops to an international force that is supposed to deploy to Gaza, the commander of the force said Thursday.
Indonesia, Morocco, Kazakhstan, Kosovo and Albania pledged to send thousands of troops for a Gaza stabilization force, according to Maj. Gen. Jasper Jeffers, the commander of the international security force.
Egypt and Jordan have committed to train police.
“With these first steps, we help bring the security that Gaza needs for a future of prosperity and enduring peace,” Jeffers said.
Jeffers did not provide details on how many troops each country would commit or how soon the force would deploy into Gaza, but he said the ISF would ultimately total 20,000 troops working alongside 12,000 Palestinian police.
Trump also said the U.S. would contribute $10 billion to the Board of Peace, though he didn’t detail what the money would go towards.
“And I want to let you know that the United States is going to make a contribution of $10 billion to the Board of Peace. Thank you. And we’ve had great support for that number. And that number is a very small number. When you look at, that compared to the cost of war, that’s — that’s two weeks of fighting. It’s a very small number. It sounds like a lot, but it’s a very small number. So, we’re committed to $10 billion,” Trump said.
A 31-page report on the White House ballroom submitted to the panels reviewing the project show the proposed addition to the White House from additional angles and features new renderings of the project. (Photo courtesy of Commission of Fine Arts)
(WASHINGTON) — The Commission of Fine Arts voted on Thursday to approve the design plan for President Donald Trump’s White House ballroom.
The panel, made up entirely of new members appointed by Trump, did so near unanimously without further review over the “vast, vast majority” of public comments opposing the project.
Chairman Rodney Mims Cook Jr. moved to approve the plans as “final” after first voting to back the “concept” of the construction project.
One commissioner did not vote: James McCrery, the president’s White House architect who was sidelined on the ballroom project. McCrery recused himself and said it would be “inappropriate” for him to comment or vote on the plans.
The votes took place after Shalom Baranes, Trump’s new ballroom architect, presented updated design plans, with the most notable public change being the removal of a pediment on the proposed structure’s south side at the commission’s recommendation.
The commission fast-tracked the final vote, which was not set to happen on Thursday. The commission was set to review the project’s final design before taking their final vote, which would have been — at the earliest — during their next meeting scheduled for March 19.
Cook said the Pentagon “made some demands on the president” for greater security and that those secret design plans were integrated into the design.
More renderings of the proposed 90,000-square-foot addition in the location of the demolished East Wing were made available in a 31-page report submitted to commission last week, including a view of the building from Pennsylvania Avenue.
The votes to approve the proposal also came after Thomas Luebke, the panel’s secretary, presented the group with the public’s objection to the East Wing’s destruction last fall and the ballroom’s construction.
“Mind you, in more than two decades of case work here, for me, I’ve never seen as much public engagement on this,” Luebke said. “We literally have gotten, just in the past week or so, more than 2,000 various messages — way too much to go through individually.”
Luebke later added the messages were “overwhelmingly in opposition, over 99%, to this project.”
Luebke read excerpts from two public comments, one in favor and one against. The supporter of the ballroom argued that the addition was necessary to host formal events and “to have America be competitive in the eyes of world leaders.” The opposing commentator argued that the addition “represents an affront to our heritage, a circumvention of democratic processes and a misallocation of resources that could better serve the republic.”
Luebke said groups have also voiced opposition, including the National Mall Coalition, which said to the commission: “Please do not set a precedent that will be difficult, if not impossible, to overturn. We ask you to await the decision of the courts and not support further breach of public trust.”
The National Trust for Historic Preservation has sued to stop the project. The judge in the case has expressed skepticism of the government’s arguments that the president has the power to build a ballroom with private donations and without express authorization from Congress, and said he hoped to issue a decision this month.
The ballroom is a longtime goal for Trump, who said in a social media post that it will be “one of the greatest and most beautiful Ballrooms anywhere in the world.” Trump said the project will cost $400 million and be paid for by private donors.
He applauded the commission’s approval in a social media post Thursday afternoon, saying “Great accolades were paid to the building’s beauty and scale. Thank you to the members of the Commission!”
The National Capital Planning Commission — led by Will Scharf, Trump’s White House staff secretary — will also consider the ballroom project during its March meeting.
Signage about slavery is displayed on an outdoor exhibit at Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Oct. 24, 2025. (Photo by Michael Yanow/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — The National Park Service (NPS) on Thursday began restoring the panels that were removed from the slavery exhibit at the President’s House in Philadelphia.
The restoration comes after U.S. District Judge Cynthia Rufe ordered the Trump administration to do so by 5 p.m. on Friday. The outdoor exhibit is a memorial to the nine enslaved Africans who were held at the site by President George Washington.
NPS workers began restoring the panels ahead of the deadline, according to ABC station in Philadelphia, WPVI.
The deadline was set in an order filed on Wednesday by Rufe, who is overseeing Philadelphia’s federal lawsuit against the Trump administration over the removal of the slavery exhibit. The exhibit was taken down by the NPS on Jan. 23.
Rufe granted a preliminary injunction requested by the city of Philadelphia in a Monday ruling, ordering the Department of Interior, which oversees NPS, to restore the exhibit as the lawsuit moves forward.
In setting the deadline, Rufe cited the federal government’s “failure to comply” with her order to restore the exhibit.
The Interior Department appealed Rufe’s ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit on Wednesday.
On Wednesday evening, the department also filed an emergency motion for an immediate stay that would block the preliminary injunction granted to Philadelphia pending the federal government’s appeal.
“The Court should stay its preliminary injunction pending appeal because the Government is likely to prevail on the merits, will face irreparable injury absent a stay, and the remaining factors also support a stay,” the motion states.
Rufe ordered the city of Philadelphia to respond to the Trump administration’s motion for an emergency stay by 4 p.m. local time on Thursday.
ABC News reached out to representatives of the city of Philadelphia, NPS and to the U.S. Interior Dept. for further comment.
In granting the preliminary injunction and ordering the government to restore the exhibit, Rufe cited George Orwell’s dystopian novel “1984, comparing their actions to those of Big Brother in the book.
“As if the Ministry of Truth in George Orwell’s 1984 now existed, with its motto ‘Ignorance is Strength,’ this Court is now asked to determine whether the federal government has the power it claims — to dissemble and disassemble historical truths when it has some domain over historical facts. It does not,” she wrote.
“An agency, whether the Department of the Interior, NPS, or any other agency, cannot arbitrarily decide what is true, based on its own whims or the whims of the new leadership, regardless of the evidence before it,” she added in the ruling.
She also concluded that NPS should have consulted with the city before amending the exhibit.
Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker called the judge’s decision a “huge win for the people of this city and our country.”
“We will not allow anyone to erase our history today,” Parker said on Tuesday.
The boards and panels that were removed told the stories of Austin, Christopher Sheels, Giles, Hercules, Joe Richardson, Moll, Oney Judge, Paris and Richmond — the nine enslaved Africans held by Washington as his home in Philadelphia.
They were removed to comply with President Donald Trump’s March 27, 2025, executive order, “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” which directed the Interior Department to remove what they called “divisive, race-centered ideology” and narratives from federal cultural institutions, a department spokesperson told ABC News in a statement last month.
ABC News’ Peter Charalambous and Sabina Ghebremedhin contributed to this report.
In this handout provided by the U.S. Navy, USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), F/A-18E/F Super Hornets assigned to Strike Fighter Squadrons 31, 37, 87, and 213 from embarked Carrier Air Wing Eight, and a U.S. Air Force B-52 Stratofortress operate as a joint, multi-domain force, November 13, 2025. (Photo by Paige Brown/US Navy via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — A second American aircraft carrier — the USS Gerald R. Ford — is heading toward the Middle East amid rising tensions with Iran, accompanied by destroyers and aircraft being redeployed from missions in the Caribbean region, a U.S. official told ABC News.
As negotiations between the U.S. and Iran over Tehran’s nuclear program continue, American aircraft carriers are at the forefront of a major U.S. military buildup in the Middle East. The Ford is expected to join the USS Abraham Lincoln in the region, the latter having arrived there late last month.
The Ford briefly transmitted its location off the coast of Morocco on Wednesday as it approached the Mediterranean Sea, according to data from the MarineTraffic website. The carrier’s location was visible for around two hours.
Also visible on the FlightRadar24 website on Wednesday were two C-2A Greyhound aircraft, which in recent months have been operating off the carrier. The aircraft transmitted their locations off the coast of Portugal, around 230 miles from the Ford’s position.
The Ford is being accompanied by four destroyers as it sails east toward the Middle East.
Three of the destroyers are part of the Ford’s carrier strike group that have accompanied the carrier since it first deployed in June, the fourth destroyer had previously been a part of President Donald Trump’s administration’s surge of military forces in the Caribbean, a U.S. official confirmed to ABC News.
Each of the destroyers is armed with air defense systems that can shoot down incoming missiles and drones, plus Tomahawk cruise missiles that can be used to strike targets up to 1,000 miles away.
F-35 stealth fighter jets are among the U.S. assets heading toward the Middle East, including some that had been deployed to Puerto Rico ahead of the U.S. operation to depose Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
A spokesman for the Vermont National Guard confirmed to ABC News that the 158th Fighter Wing received a change in mission from U.S. Southern Command — which oversees operations in the Caribbean, Central and South America — but did not disclose their new deployment area.
In late January, online flight trackers noted a dozen F-35 fighters taking off from Roosevelt Roads Naval Station in Puerto Rico and landing on the Azores islands in the mid-Atlantic, on their way to the Middle East.
Key Iranian nuclear personnel and facilities were targeted by Israeli and American forces during an intense 12-day conflict in June. But the strikes failed to resolve long-standing U.S. and Israeli grievances related to Tehran’s nuclear program, its ballistic missile arsenal and its support for regional proxy groups.
U.S. and Iranian representatives met in Geneva, Switzerland, this week for talks regarding a possible deal related to Tehran’s nuclear program and its enrichment of uranium. Trump has demanded that Iran commit to “zero enrichment,” a proposal rejected by Iranian officials.
U.S. officials briefed on the negotiations said Iran indicated a willingness to suspend its nuclear enrichment for a certain amount of time, anywhere from one to five years.
The U.S. is also weighing lifting financial and banking sanctions and the embargo on its oil sales, according to a U.S. official.
Following the talks in Geneva, Iran is expected to submit a written proposal aimed at resolving the tensions, a senior U.S. official confirmed to ABC News on Wednesday. It is unclear when the written proposal will be submitted to the U.S.
On Tuesday, a White House official said Iran would provide detailed proposals to address “some of the open gaps in our positions” in the next two weeks.
ABC News’ Shannon Kingston and Mariam Khan contributed to this report.
Prince Andrew, Duke of York attends the traditional Easter Sunday Mattins Service at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle on April 20, 2025 in Windsor, England. (Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images)
(LONDON) — Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor — formerly known as Prince Andrew and the younger brother of King Charles III — was arrested on Thursday on suspicion of misconduct in public office.
In a statement, Thames Valley Police said they had “arrested a man in his sixties from Norfolk on suspicion of misconduct in public office and are carrying out searches at addresses in Berkshire and Norfolk.”
“The man remains in police custody at this time. We will not be naming the arrested man, as per national guidance,” the statement said.
Photos from Wood Farm on the Sandringham estate in eastern England showed what appeared to be police officers arriving in several unmarked vehicles. Thursday marks Andrew’s 66th birthday.
In a statement issued on Thursday, Charles said, “I have learned with the deepest concern the news about Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and suspicion of misconduct in public office.”
“What now follows is the full, fair and proper process by which this issue is investigated in the appropriate manner and by the appropriate authorities. In this, as I have said before, they have our full and wholehearted support and co-operation,” Charles added.
“Let me state clearly: the law must take its course. As this process continues, it would not be right for me to comment further on this matter. Meanwhile, my family and I will continue in our duty and service to you all.”
Andrew’s arrest on Thursday follows the emergence of documents detailing communication between Andrew and the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Several emails released by the U.S. Justice Department showed Epstein’s correspondence with a Andrew’s aide David Stern and suggest the royal may have planned to use his role as a special U.K. representative for trade and investment to further his own business interests.
The emails in question date back to 2010. Andrew served as a British trade envoy from 2001 until 2011, when Buckingham Palace announced that he would give up the role following criticism over his friendship with controversial figures, including Epstein.
Andrew has previously denied wrongdoing with respect to Epstein.
Thames Valley Police told ABC News last week that they were assessing reports of Andrew’s alleged misconduct in office as trade envoy.
“We can confirm receipt of this report and are assessing the information in line with our established procedures,” a Thames Valley Police spokesperson said in a statement on Feb. 9.
Yoon Suk Yeol, South Korea’s president, attends a hearing for his impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court in Seoul, South Korea, on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025. (SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
(SEOUL)– The Seoul Central District Court sentenced former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol to life in prison Thursday.
The court found him guilty of leading an insurrection linked to his declaration of martial law on Dec. 3, 2024.
The court ruled that Yoon’s central offense was mobilizing military and police forces to seize control of the National Assembly and detain key political figures.
“The deployment of martial law troops to the National Assembly during the state of emergency constitutes ‘rioting,’ a key legal element required to establish the crime of insurrection,” presiding judge Ji Gui-yeon said Thursday. Ji said declaring martial law can constitute insurrection if intended to obstruct or paralyze constitutional institutions.
The court acknowledged political tensions between Yoon’s administration and the opposition-controlled legislature. However, it said those circumstances did not justify declaring martial law under the constitution.
Judges also said Yoon showed no remorse or acknowledgment of wrongdoing during the proceedings, which they considered in determining his sentence.
Yoon’s attorneys criticized the ruling as “a mere formality for a predetermined conclusion.”
“Watching the rule of law collapse in reality, I question whether I should even pursue an appeal or continue participating in these criminal proceedings,” Yoon’s attorney, Yoon Gab-geun, told reporters after the ruling. “The truth will be revealed in the court of history.”
Yoon was taken into custody immediately after the ruling and transferred to the Seoul Detention Center. He will remain there unless the court grants release pending appeal.
If Yoon appeals, the case will move to the Seoul High Court, which can review legal interpretations and factual findings. A final appeal could be filed with the Supreme Court.
Prosecutors had sought the death penalty, arguing Yoon’s actions posed a grave threat to the constitutional order.
Thursday’s ruling addressed only the insurrection charge. Other criminal cases tied to the December 2024 martial law declaration, including abuse of power and obstruction of official duty, remain pending.
In a separate case last month, Yoon was sentenced to five years in prison for obstructing his arrest, the first criminal conviction tied to the crisis.
“Yoon’s sentencing does not represent a national catharsis since most Koreans have already emotionally moved on from the former president,” Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul, told ABC News. “Nor does this televised verdict mark closure because many cases and appeals related to Yoon’s martial law debacle have yet to be fully adjudicated.”
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton attends the executive order signing ceremony to reduce the size and scope of the Education Department in the East Room of the White House on March 20, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — A Texas appeals court will hear arguments on Thursday in a civil lawsuit brought against a woman accused by the state of illegally providing abortions in the Houston area.
Maria Margarita Rojas allegedly provided abortions in violation of the state’s abortion ban and was practicing medicine without a license at a network of clinics in northwestern Houston, according to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Last year, a lower court in Waller County issued an injunction against Rojas and the three clinics at which she worked, causing them to shut down.
The Center for Reproductive Rights is currently asking the appellate court to reverse that decision.
Meanwhile, prosecutors have also accused Rojas of violating the state’s abortion ban and charged her with a first-degree felony that carries a potential sentence of up to life in prison.
“[Paxton] is accusing our client of basically operating abortion clinics, which the problem is that the allegations just aren’t true and we think that the state completely failed to prove or show that any abortions were happening or that any unlawful practice was happening at the clinics,” Marc Herron, interim associate director of litigation with the CRR, who is representing Rojas in the civil case, told ABC News.
ABC News has also reached out to the attorney representing Rojas in the criminal case.
Herron said the case against Rojas is significant because it marks the first time a provider has been criminally charged in Texas for violating the state’s abortion ban.
He accused Paxton’s office of conducting a “shoddy” investigation and said Rojas was using the abortion drug misoprostol to provide miscarriage care.
In January 2025, an anonymous complaint was filed with the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, alleging that two abortions were performed at one of Rojas’ clinics, according to the appellate brief.
The Medicaid Fraud Division within Paxton’s office began investigating, with one investigator claiming to find a pill bottle of the drug misoprostol, according to the complaint. While misoprostol can be used as part of a two-drug combination to induce an abortion, it is also used to treat first-trimester miscarriages.
In filing an appeal, Rojas’ attorneys argued that mifepristone, the drug given with misoprostol to induce an abortion, was never found by investigators, nor were tools found that would be used in a surgical abortion.
They also alleged the state investigators had no “medical training or expertise” to know what misoprostol could be used for and did not consult with a medical expert during the investigation.
Herron said the effects of the investigation and of the charges have been devastating on Rojas.
“I think this is a politically motivated case and the effect has been to completely upend my client’s life,” Herron said. “She was arrested twice. She was held in jail for 10 days and had to post this exorbitant $1.4 million bond. She’s now out, but she’s got to wear an ankle monitor. There are extreme restrictions on her travel. Her midwifery license has been temporarily suspended pending the outcome of the criminal proceedings, which could take years.”
He added that the proceedings have also affected the predominantly Spanish-speaking, low-income, uninsured patients who relied on care from Rojas and her clinics.
“People who relied on Mrs. Rojas for midwifery care — she delivered babies,” Herron said. “She was a caring, devoted midwife who delivered babies and provided care to her patients, and now her patients can’t turn to her. So this has been devastating.”
According to a press release last year from Paxton, Rojas is a midwife known as “Dr. Maria.” She allegedly owned and operated multiple clinics, including Clinica Waller Latinoamericana in Waller, Clinica Latinoamericana Telge in Cypress and Latinoamericana Medical Clinic in Spring — all in the northwest Houston area.
Rojas is accused of performing “illegal abortion procedures” in her clinics, which allegedly violated the Texas Human Life Protection Act, the attorney general’s office said.
Abortions are banned in Texas except in limited, exception cases if the woman has a life-threatening condition or is at risk of “substantial impairment of a major bodily function.”
In the limited exceptions when abortion is allowed, patients are required to make two trips, one for an in-person counseling session and then 24 hours later for the abortion, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that focuses on sexual and reproductive health
Paxton’s office did not immediately return ABC News’ request for comment
In an aerial view, Nancy Guthrie’s residence is seen on February 17, 2026 in Tucson, Arizona. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Authorities said they’re looking into using genetic genealogy in the investigation into Nancy Guthrie’s mysterious abduction, and an expert says the cutting-edge technique could be the key.
While authorities may find Guthrie’s kidnapper through other avenues of investigation, “if they don’t, investigative genetic genealogy definitely will,” genetic genealogist CeCe Moore told ABC News.
Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie, was kidnapped from her Tucson, Arizona, home in the early hours of Feb. 1 by an unknown suspect.
The FBI ran DNA from a glove found during a roadside search through the national criminal database known as CODIS, but did not get a match to any of the roughly 22 million samples in the database, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department said.
That glove — which was found about 2 miles from Nancy Guthrie’s house — also did not match DNA found at her property, law enforcement sources told ABC News.
Moore, a former ABC News contributor, said, “I think we have to exercise a lot of caution in putting too much emphasis on” the glove.
“If it had had Nancy’s DNA, or had matched the DNA at the crime scene, obviously that would be different. But with it being found at such a distance, I always was a little hesitant to get too hopeful about that,” she said. “I think the DNA found at the home is far more compelling.”
While the DNA found at Nancy Guthrie’s property is still being analyzed, the sheriff’s department said on Tuesday that investigators are “looking into additional investigative genetic genealogy options for DNA evidence to check for matches.”
Genetic genealogy takes the DNA of an unknown suspect left behind and identifies the suspect by tracing the family tree through his or her family members, who voluntarily submit their DNA to a genealogy database. Genetic genealogy has been used to solve hundreds of cases since it was first implemented in the 2018 arrest of the “Golden State Killer,” a cold case that had stumped California law enforcement for decades.
“Just like in the hundreds of cases where we’ve been able to identify a violent criminal that couldn’t be found any other way, genetic genealogy has the power to do so through reverse engineering this individual’s family tree based on his DNA alone,” Moore said. “When you have this person’s DNA, you have so much information about their family tree at your fingertips. And so you can piece that tree back together … you just have to spend the time to look at all that information and sort through it.”
“So genetic genealogy often steps in and is successful when all the other leads have been exhausted,” she said.
In the Guthrie case, investigators “were very smart to start [pursuing genetic genealogy] early, and not wait for all those other leads to be exhausted,” Moore said. “Because if he’s not identified any other way, investigative genetic genealogy will definitely be the key — it’s really just a matter of time.”
And when it comes to that timeframe, Moore said, there are two factors: “the population group from which the person of interest descends — and luck.”
“Sometimes you just get lucky and somebody has a close relative in these very small databases,” Moore said.
“If the population group is one that’s not well represented, then that can make it extremely difficult. If the person has deep roots in the United States and primarily Northwest European ancestry, they may be identified in a matter of minutes or hours, because that’s the population group that’s best represented, and it’s also the one that we have the most information about being here in the United States,” she said. “If someone’s born in another country, or even as far back as their great-grandparents were immigrants, there’s far less representation in the databases that we’re able to use, and it’s also more difficult to work with records outside of the U.S.”
In the Guthrie case, law enforcement sources told ABC News on Wednesday that the FBI has reached out to Mexican authorities. There’s no evidence Nancy Guthrie was taken to Mexico, but it’s an avenue investigators are exploring given Tucson’s proximity to the border, the sources said.
If the Guthrie suspect’s parents, grandparents or even great-grandparents were born in Mexico, Moore said, “it will likely take longer.”
Moore said she predicts the genetic genealogy process in the Guthrie case “won’t take more than weeks, maybe months.”
“I have worked on cases for years. However, I don’t think this case will take that long because of the large amount of resources being dedicated to it. I would suspect the FBI genetic genealogy team would be brought in if it takes too long, and they have 200 agents,” she said.
Moore also noted that investigative genetic genealogy can be slowed due to law enforcement’s limited access to DNA profiles.
“There are over 50 million people who have taken direct-to-consumer DNA tests, but most of them are in the three largest databases, and those companies have barred law enforcement from using their databases for these purposes,” Moore said. Currently, law enforcement is limited to accessing three smaller databases, which combined have about 2 million DNA profiles, she said.
“I do expect that if [the Guthrie suspect] is not identified soon, then law enforcement very likely will serve a warrant on those bigger databases” to try to request access, she said.
