Mesa County Clerk and Recorder Tina Peters is in the rally at west steps of Colorado State Capitol building in Denver, Colorado on Tuesday, April 5, 2022. Hyoung Chang/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump claimed that he is granting a “full pardon” to Tina Peters, a former Mesa County, Colorado, clerk who was sentenced to nine years on state-level charges for election interference during the 2020 election.
However, the president does not have jurisdiction over state charges, and Colorado officials are pushing back, contending that the president’s promise of a pardon is unconstitutional. Trump’s announcement, which he made on social media Thursday, now likely sets up a legal battle for Peters, who has been seeking a pardon from Trump.
Peters was convicted in August 2024 for giving an individual affiliated with MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, a Trump ally, access to the election software she used for her county. Screenshots of the software appeared on right-wing websites that promoted false theories that the 2020 election was fraudulent.
Despite President Trump’s repeated assertions that the election was rigged, there were no proven cases of major fraud that affected the outcome.
Trump has repeatedly called for Peters to be released from her nine-year sentence, and on Thursday night said on social media that he was “granting Tina a full Pardon for her attempts to expose Voter Fraud in the Rigged 2020 Presidential Election!”
“Tina is sitting in a Colorado prison for the ‘crime’ of demanding Honest Elections,” he said.
Trump’s announcement came as the administration attempted to move Peters to federal custody in order to have more jurisdiction over her. The move was denied by the courts.
In August, the president said in a social media post that if Peters wasn’t released, he would “take harsh measures.”
Colorado officials, however, questioned Trump’s authority over Peters’ conviction and pushed back against his claims.
“One of the most basic principles of our constitution is that states have independent sovereignty and manage our own criminal justice systems without interference from the federal government,” Colorado Attorney General Phill Weiser said in a statement Thursday.
“The idea that a president could pardon someone tried and convicted in state court has no precedent in American law, would be an outrageous departure from what our constitution requires, and will not hold up,” he added.
Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold added that Peters “was convicted by a jury of her peers for state crimes in a state Court. Trump has no constitutional authority to pardon her.”
“His assault is not just on our democracy, but on states’ rights and the American Constitution,” she said in a statement.
As of Friday morning, no legal action has been taken against the Trump Administration over the president’s announcement.
Frezja Matisse Baker in a photo released by police. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department’
(CHARLOTTE, N.C.) — Missing North Carolina mother Frezja Matisse Baker was pronounced dead by police after she was found in a vehicle on Thursday, officials said. Authorities are investigating her death.
Baker was found unresponsive in her vehicle at around 9:35 a.m. before being pronounced dead at the scene, according to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.
Her cause of death has not yet been determined, police noted.
Baker was last seen just before 10 p.m. last Thursday, Dec. 4, driving her gray blue 2004 Honda Accord, authorities said.
Baker’s family members expressed concern for her well-being earlier this week and had been seeking information on her whereabouts, according to police.
“I just want my baby home, I just want her home, I just want her home, in good health and good, that’s all,” Baker’s mother, who requested anonymity, told WSOC.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call 704-432-8477 (TIPS) and speak directly to a Homicide Unit detective — Detective Buhr is the lead detective assigned to this case. The public can also leave information anonymously by contacting Crime Stoppers at 704-334-1600 or Charlotte Crime Stoppers.
Heavy rain fall (Photography by Keith Getter (all rights reserved)/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Atmospheric rivers have dumped more than 15 inches of rain on parts of Washington state in the last few days, sparking historic river flooding and submerging neighborhoods — and the threat is far from over.
Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson, who has declared a state of emergency, stressed that the flooding “is extremely unpredictable.”
Up to 100,000 people in Washington state could be ordered to evacuate.
On Friday morning, all residents of Burlington — a city about 70 miles north of Seattle — were ordered to evacuate, and members of the National Guard are going door-to-door to help people leave, according to Seattle ABC affiliate KOMO.
Multiple rivers are at major flood stage on Friday.
The Cedar River at Renton swelled to a new record height overnight, topping 18 feet, causing major flooding in Renton, including at the local airport. The river is expected to remain above its flood stage until Saturday afternoon.
The Snoqualmie River near Carnation topped 60 feet, which has led to flooding in Falls City, Carnation and Duvall.
The Snohomish River at Snohomish is at a record high of 34 feet, putting extreme pressure on levees. When the river reaches 33 feet or higher at this location, floodwaters are likely to overtop the levees, and major levee damage is possible.
Rescue efforts are ongoing.
Eastside Fire and Rescue, which services parts of King County just east of Seattle, started conducting water rescues on Wednesday. Three adults and a dog were rescued after their home flooded, and two adults and a child were rescued in another incident.
Eastside Fire and Rescue released video of the moment two drivers were rescued by helicopter Wednesday night. After the drivers were caught in the floodwaters, they were forced to flee to higher ground, with one person climbing to the top of their car and the other seeking safety in a tree, officials said.
“Stay home and don’t travel unless necessary,” the sheriff’s office urged.
The Coast Guard said it rescued people from a flooded home in Sumas, along the Washington-Canada border, after the water forced the residents into their attic.
In Pierce County, just south of Seattle, officials warned, “Just 6 inches of fast-moving water can knock over an adult. 12 inches of water can carry away most cars.”
The flood threat is far from over. Though this round of rain will end on Friday, the next round will start on Sunday and bring rain and mountain snow every day for at least seven days in a row.
Brian Walshe during the murder trial of Ana Walshe on December 9, 2025. (Photo by Suzanne Kreiter/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
(DEDHAM, Mass.) — Closing arguments were delivered Friday in the murder trial of Brian Walshe, a father of three accused of killing and dismembering his wife.
The Massachusetts man is accused of killing his wife, 39-year-old Ana Walshe, around New Year’s Day in 2023. He pleaded guilty last month, ahead of the trial, to lying to police following her disappearance and improperly disposing of her body, though he denies he killed his wife and has pleaded not guilty to murder.
Ana Walshe’s body has not been found.
During the trial’s opening statements last week, defense attorneys said Brian Walshe found his wife dead in bed on New Year’s Day in 2023 and then panicked and lied to police as they investigated her disappearance — but maintained he did not kill her.
Brian Walshe allegedly killed and dismembered his wife, then disposed of her remains in dumpsters, according to prosecutors. 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.
Defense attorney Larry Tipton argued the Commonwealth hadn’t proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Brian Walshe — whom he described as a “loving father and loving husband” — killed his wife or there was any motive to do so.
Positing what might account for the “unspeakable” internet searches and how someone could “dispose of the body of the woman that he adored,” Tipton said, “Could it be something that was sudden, something that was unexpected, something which was unbelievable, something that only a medical examiner would understand, have knowledge of, but not a man like Brian Walshe?”
Tipton conceded there’s evidence Brian Walshe lied and disposed of a body, but argued there was nothing proving that he planned to harm his wife. He claimed the internet search on murder came six hours after his wife died and “upsetting” searches about dismemberment and “cleaning up” do not point to a plan but rather his “disbelief.”
“Why is a man searching now if he had intended to kill his wife?” Tipton asked the jurors. “Where is the evidence of premeditation in thousands of pages of records?”
At the start of the Commonwealth’s closing argument, prosecutor Anne Yas told jurors, “Ana Walshe is dead because he murdered her,” while pointing toward Brian Walshe in the courtroom.
She argued Ana Walshe didn’t die of natural causes — but Brian Walshe killed her and then disposed of her body to hide the evidence.
“The defendant did not want anyone to find Ana’s body and to know how she died, so the defendant bought cutting tools at Lowe’s and Home Depot and he cut up Ana’s body — the woman that he claimed to love — and he threw her into dumpsters,” she said.
Yas argued the evidence shows Brian Walshe intended to kill his wife and was “methodical” — that his claims he misplaced his phone for two days around New Year’s Eve “allowed him to carry out his plan” and have an explanation for police as to why he hadn’t been in contact with her. She said he had a list when he was shopping at Lowe’s.
Yas said their marriage was in “crisis,” and they had been having arguments about Ana Walshe being away from the family due to her job in Washington, D.C. She also claimed Brian Walshe knew his wife was having an affair, which the defense has denied.
Prior to the closing arguments, Judge Diane Freniere told the jury during instructions they will be able to choose to convict on second-degree murder, not just the first-degree murder charge the prosecution has argued for and includes the element of premeditation.
The defense rested on Thursday without calling any witnesses. Freniere noted in court on Thursday that it appeared that Brian Walshe would testify in his defense, based on the defense’s opening statement. Though he ultimately waived his right.
Evidence presented during the two-week trial in Dedham 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.
Blood was also found in the basement of the family’s rental home in Cohasset, another forensic scientist with the crime lab testified.
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 video of his interview shown in court.
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.
Ahead of the murder trial, Brian Walshe admitted to lying to police amid her disappearance and improperly disposing of her body. His defense said during opening statements that he panicked after finding her dead in bed, calling her death sudden and unexplained.
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 that there was stress in the marriage. The defense maintained that the couple were happy.
Gorillaz has released a new song called “Damascus,” a track off the Damon Albarn-led cartoon band’s upcoming album, The Mountain.
“Damascus” features Syrian singer Omar Souleyman and rapper Yasiin Bey.
The Mountain, the follow-up to 2023’s Cracker Island, is due out Feb. 27. It also includes the previously released songs “The Happy Dictator,” “The God of Lying” and “The Manifesto.”
Gorillaz will be performing The Mountain in full during a pair of concerts in Los Angeles, taking place Feb. 22 and Feb. 23. The band’s immersive House of Kong exhibition will also be open in LA from Feb. 26 to March 19.
Melissa Etheridge will RISE and shine early next year.
RISE, her first studio release in five years, will arrive March 27. Described as “her most personal project to date,” it features a duet with country superstar Chris Stapleton, “The Other Side of Blue,” and a tribute to her late son, Beckett Cypher, titled “Call You.”
New single “Matches” is out now, along with a lyric video. Melissa says it’s her favorite song on the album, and it’s about what first got her interested in music: watching Johnny Cash perform at the U.S. Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas, in 1970.
“I was 8, and a huge Johnny Cash fan. His music really lit my fingers and made me so excited,” she says in a statement. “When I say ‘Mama, let me play with the matches,’ I really wanted to play that music.”
Melissa has also announced her upcoming THE RISE TOUR, which launches March 26 in Detroit. It’s scheduled to wrap up May 9 in North Carolina. Tickets are on sale now at MelissaEtheridge.com.
You can look for Melissa to appear on Talk Shop Live on March 12 to promote the album, which is available for preorder now.
Luigi Mangione during a pretrial hearing at New York State Supreme Court in New York, US, on Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. Mangione faces state and federal charges in the killing nearly a year ago of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Photographer: Jefferson Siegel/The New York Times/Bloomberg via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — Accused CEO killer Luigi Mangione is back in a Manhattan courtroom for a seventh day Friday as his lawyers work to get evidence excluded from his state murder case.
The marathon hearing will determine what evidence will used against him when he goes on trial on charges of gunning down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on a Manhattan sidewalk last year.
Testimony has centered around what transpired at the Altoona, Pennsylvania, McDonald’s where Mangione was apprehended five days after the shooting.
Altoona police officer Samuel McCoy testified Friday that he knew whatever was happening at the McDonald’s on East Plank Road was serious when he saw his lieutenant, William Hanelly, putting on his bulletproof vest on on his way out of the stationhouse.
“Lt. Hanelly leaving with a vest on, that means something’s happening,” McCoy testified. “Significant.”
McCoy walked to a seated Luigi Mangione in the McDonald’s and immediately asked if he had any weapons.
“With the information I had that he was a homicide suspect, it’s very possible that he had weapons or feel desperate which makes people do erratic things,” McCoy testified.
McCoy then noticed a backpack on the floor and is seen on body camera footage moving it.
“I asked him, ‘Is this your property?’ He indicated to me it was,” McCoy testified. He said he moved the bag “so that if he decides he wants to make a dramatic exit, per se, he doesn’t have access to any weapons.”
McCoy is then heard on camera asking Mangione, “Do you know what all this nonsense is about?” The officer said he wanted to gauge Mangione’s reaction.
“Through my experience, if somebody is being questioned and they’re not involved they’ll have one type of reaction and if they are involved, they’ll have a different type of reaction,” McCoy testified.
“I guess we’ll find out,” Mangione is heard answering.
When McCoy asked how he had arrived at the McDonalds, Mangione indicated he did not want to speak.
“I said, ‘That’s fine.’ I did not ask him any more questions,” McCoy testified.
On cross-examination, McCoy said those questions were meant to elicit information.
The defense has argued that police waited too long to read Mangione his Miranda rights and that the police actions amounted to overkill.
McCoy conceded on cross-examination Mangione was largely compliant.
“None of the actions he took that day were frightening, made me fear for my life,” McCoy said.
On re-direct examination, he testified that officers had “established control” of the scene, but that going in he said “there is serious safety concerns,” given Mangione was suspected of committing a homicide.
On Thursday, two supervisory officers who were at the McDonald’s testified that police did not need a warrant to search his backpack.
“It’s a warrant exception in Pennsylvania,” Lt. William Hanelly testified. “Police can search the person and their items.”
Hanelly testified that he offered a responding officer a free sandwich from his favorite local place, Luigetta’s, if he actually collared the suspected killer.
“If you get the New York City shooter I’ll buy you Luigetta’s for lunch,” Hanelly said he texted patrolman Joseph Detwiler. The text included a wink emoji because, Hanelly testified, it seemed “preposterous” to him that the suspect could actually be sitting in a fast food place five hours away from the scene of the shooting.
The hearing is expected to continue into next week with a written decision from Judge Gregory Carro expected in January.
“When Love Comes to Town” cover single artwork. (KTBA Records)
Slash and his Conspirators bandmate Myles Kennedy are featured on a new cover of U2 and B.B. King‘s collaborative 1989 single, “When Love Comes to Town.”
The cover is part of blues rocker Joe Bonamassa‘s King tribute album, B.B. King’s Blues Summit 100. It also features blues singer Shemekia Copeland, who handles King’s vocals while Kennedy sings Bono‘s parts.
“We knew early on we wanted to include this U2 song in an effort to span the breadth of B.B.’s entire career,” says producer Josh Smith. “It turned into such a standout.”
B.B. King’s Blues Summit 100 is due out Feb. 6.
The most recent Conspirators album is 2022’s 4, though a new record is in the works. Slash also teamed up with Kennedy and company for a cover of “Feel Like Makin’ Love” for a Bad Company tribute album.
12-12-12: The Concert for Sandy Relief was held at New York’s Madison Square Garden to raise money for the victims of Hurricane Sandy, which struck portions of the Northeastern United States, the Caribbean and the Mid-Atlantic in late October 2012.
The concert featured performances by Bruce Springsteen, The Who, Bon Jovi, Eric Clapton, Billy Joel, The Rolling Stones, Roger Waters with Pearl Jam‘s Eddie Vedder, Coldplay with R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe and more.
Paul McCartney closed the show, where he was joined by the surviving members of Nirvana — Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic and touring guitarist Pat Smear — for their first performance together in 18 years.
The concert was broadcast live in the U.S. on a variety of networks, and a documentary, DVD and CD of the concert were also released.
U.S. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) speaks at a Hanukkah reception at the U.S. Capitol Building on December 10, 2025 in Washington, DC. T. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — As House Speaker Mike Johnson eyes a vote next week on a to-be-announced health care package, a growing number of House Republicans are revolting against leadership by trying to force a vote on extending the expiring Affordable Care Act enhanced subsidies.
Nearly a dozen Republicans — many from swing districts — have signed onto dueling bipartisan discharge petitions to extend and reform the subsidies in the hopes of bypassing leadership and triggering a vote on the House floor.
This move comes as the subsidies are set to expire at the end of the month, which will prompt health premiums for more than 20 million Americans to soar.
While Johnson has not yet unveiled the specifics of his plan, an extension of the ACA subsidies is currently not expected to be included in the package. Johnson said the bill will “probably” be unveiled over the weekend ahead of next week’s anticipated vote.
The speaker and GOP leaders, during a closed door meeting this week, provided Republicans a list of several options to address health care costs, according to multiple sources. Some of those options, sources said, include Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), cost-sharing reductions and making changes to pharmacy benefit managers.
Lawmakers told ABC News they left that meeting with no clear consensus on how to address health care.
“You’re going to see a package come together that will be on the floor next week that will actually reduce premiums for 100% of Americans who are on health insurance,” Johnson said at his weekly news conference. “The overall system is broken, and we’re the ones that are going to fix it.”
A group of mainly moderate Republicans, though, want to see the subsidies addressed by Congress before the expiration date.
The discharge petitions would need 218 signatures for a vote to occur in the House, and it’s unclear if enough Democrats will provide their support to reach that threshold.
Most House Democrats have signed onto another petition led by Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries to extend the subsidies for three years.
Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania filed a discharge petition that would extend the subsidies for two years, establish income caps for enrollees and regulate pharmacy benefit managers.
New Jersey Democrat Rep. Josh Gottheimer filed a separate but similar bipartisan discharge petition to extend the subsidies with reforms.
As of Thursday, 11 Republicans had signed on to both discharge petitions.
Johnson threw cold water on the efforts by vulnerable Republicans hoping to hold a vote on the subsidies.
“We’re working on a package of legislation that will reduce premiums for all Americans, not just 7% of them,” he said.
Republican Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska, who supports both discharge petitions, warned about the impacts not extending the subsidies will have on the midterm election for Republicans.
“I think it will be used like a sledgehammer a year from now. The reality will be bad,” he said.
Bacon said if Congress fails to act, “all our constituents are going to be paying a lot more for their premiums and that’s unacceptable.”
In the Senate, meanwhile, two competing health care proposals aimed at addressing the expected premium spikes — one championed by Democrats and the other by Republicans — failed to advance on Thursday, leaving the Senate back at square one.
