President Donald Trump listens during a press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky following their meeting at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club on December 28, 2025 in Palm Beach, Florida. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — The White House’s new policy for preserving presidential records risks allowing the Trump administration to “unlawfully destroy important records,” a group of Senate Democrats warned in a letter to the White House Counsel on Wednesday.
Thirteen Senate Democrats are seeking assurances from the White House that it would continue to preserve presidential records, saying they had grown “deeply concerned” with recent steps the Trump administration had taken to loosen rules dictating document retention.
The Democrats’ missive comes after the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) wrote an opinion this month that deemed the Presidential Records Act — a Watergate-era law that changed the legal ownership of presidential records from private to public — to be unconstitutional and “untethered from any valid and identifiable legislative purpose.”
One day after the opinion was issued, White House Counsel David Warrington issued new guidance for White House staffers to adopt new document retention policies based on the DOJ’s new determination about the legality of the Presidential Records Act.
“The 1978 law is a significant departure from historical practice. For 200 years the presidency existed without the legislative branch invading the rights of the executive branch,” Warrington said in a memo that was later included in a court filing.
Led by Sen. Adam Schiff of California, the Democrats wrote to White House Counsel David Warrington that they feared “the President and his staff” will use the OLC option to “unlawfully destroy important records covered by the [Presidential Records Act].”
Abigail Jackson, a White House spokesperson, said in a statement that the Democrats’ letter reflects “a fundamental misunderstanding of the Administration’s policy.”
“The new White House records retention policy makes it clear that important records will be preserved,” Jackson added.
The senators, in their letter, alluded to what they characterized as President Donald Trump’s “unlawful personal retention and mismanagement of classified documents” in requesting a briefing from White House officials on their “records management procedures” at some point before the end of his term. Trump was indicted after his first term for allegedly storing classified records at his Mar-a-Lago estate and obstructing investigators, though the case was dismissed over U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon’s concerns about the appointment of special counsel Jack Smith.
Drafted in the wake of the Watergate scandal, the Presidential Records Act was passed in 1978 to ensure the preservation of presidential records. Every president since Ronald Reagan has been subject to the law, which places the National Archives and Records Administration in control of the official records — such as emails, phone records, and other documentary material created by the president and his staff in the course of their duties — once the president leaves office.
Under the PRA, which is overseen by Congress, former presidents have up to 12 years after leaving office to turn over all their presidential records.
During President Trump’s current term, his administration has moved to unwind record retention protocols. Earlier this month, Assistant Attorney General T. Elliot Gaiser wrote an opinion that would upend the established process for ensuring the public ownership of presidential records, arguing that “the PRA exceeds the oversight power [of Congress] because it serves no identifiable and valid legislative purpose.”
With three years left in Trump’s second term, his Department of Justice now says the president “need not further comply” with the law governing the handover of his presidential records once he leaves office.
The day after the publication of the Justice Department’s opinion, Warrington issued new guidance for the Executive Office of the President regarding the preserve of records going forward. While the memo said that staff could use policies developed under the PRA, Warrington said the new policy would cover the retention of both classified and unclassified material going forward.
In their letter to Warrington on Wednesday, the senators asserted that administration “does not have the authority to override Supreme Court rulings or unilaterally overturn laws passed by Congress.”
Within a week of the OLC opinion and new White House guidance, the country’s largest group of a historians and a watchdog organization brought a lawsuit seeking to force the Trump administration to comply with the PRA.
“The Executive Branch has nullified the determinations of the other two branches of government so that the President may claim these official government records to be his own,” the lawsuit said.
Lawyers with the Department of Justice have defended the policy in court filings, arguing the PRA is an “unconstitutional and ahistorical imposition on presidential autonomy.”
As part of the lawsuit, the Trump administration released the new White House guidance on document retention. The Director of Archival Operations at the National Archives, meanwhile, said that the agency continues to “preserve all Presidential records in its custody” and plans to continue processing requests to access those records.
Luke Bryan & Jason Aldean (Jason Kempin/Getty Images for Does Entertainment/UGA)
With songs like “She’s Why,” “Good Thing Going” and “Lovin’ Me Too Long” — not to mention their duet “Easier Gone” — you might assume the title of Jason Aldean’s new album, Songs About Us, refers to his wife, Brittany Aldean.
But actually, it’s his Peach State buddy Luke Bryan who has the co-starring role on the track “Songs About Us.”
“He sent it to me the good old-fashioned way: via text message,” Luke says. “And, you know, it just felt like something that was really, really the right thing for he and I to be on. And I was really just honored that he called and asked me.”
While neither superstar had a hand in writing it, Luke confirms “Songs About Us” is autobiographical.
“When you think about what the song says, you know, it kinda references these topics that he and I have [sung] about for many, many years,” Luke says. “And these are songs about us, because back when he and I grew up in Georgia, we were doing those things, bar stools and cold beer and dancing and cover bands.”
“And yeah, it says a lot about us,” he adds. “And that’s why it really works for us to be on it together.”
Luke’s currently enjoying chart success with another duet, “Ride Ride Ride” with George Birge, as well as his own “Country and She Knows It.”
Josh Duhamel and Minka Kelly in ‘Ransom Canyon’ season 2. (Netflix)
We now know when to expect season 2 of Ransom Canyon.
Netflix has announced that the second season of its Western drama series will debut to the streaming service on July 23.
Josh Duhamel and Minka Kelly once again star in the new season of the series, which is set against the sweeping vistas of Texas Hill Country. The show follows the lives of the families who live in the small, interconnected town where everybody knows everyone else’s business.
Season 2 starts with a six-month time jump after the events of season 1. It finds “Staten Kirkland (Duhamel) fighting to reclaim his legacy after being unseated as trustee of his family’s Double K Ranch, while musician Quinn O’Grady (Kelly) must decide if her heart truly belongs in the small town she once tried to outrun or in the fast-paced world of New York City,” according to its official synopsis. “Are they star-crossed lovers, or fated to be together? In Ransom Canyon, true love stories are messy, complicated, and always worth the wait.”
April Blair serves as the creator, executive producer and showrunner of Ransom Canyon. Season 2 will consist of eight brand-new episodes.
Lizzy Greene, Garrett Wareing, Jack Schumacher, Marianly Tejada, Casey W. Johnson, Patricia Clarkson and Ben Robson also star in the new season.
Jaafar Jackson as Michael Jackson in the upcoming film ‘Michael.’ (Lionsgate)
Michael Jackson’s new biopic has topped the box office, and now his streaming numbers are off the wall. According to Billboard, the late King of Pop is headed for his biggest streaming week ever, thanks to the record-setting film.
As per Luminate data submitted to Billboard, MJ’s solo catalog streams increased by 116% in the days after the April 24 release of Michael, while catalogs by both The Jackson 5 and their later incarnation, The Jacksons, also saw bumps: 89% and 104%, respectively.
As for individual songs, Michael’s hit “Billie Jean” was the most streamed, followed by “Beat It,” “Rock With You,” “Don’t Stop ’til You Get Enough” and “Smooth Criminal. The Jackson 5’s most popular track was “I Want You Back,” and for The Jacksons, it was “Blame It on the Boogie.”
These figures, Billboard noted, are for just three days’ worth of streaming. After a full week, streams of Michael’s solo work now looks to beat his previous personal bests of 50.6 million streams and 55.3 million streams. Both those milestones were achieved in the two weeks leading up to the movie’s release.
Michael, which covers the late superstar’s life from 1966 to 1988, stars his nephew Jaafar Jackson in the title role. Its first-week box office take was $97 million, the highest-ever for a biopic.
Jutes and Demi Lovato perform onstage during the Demi Lovato “It’s Not That Deep” Tour at Madison Square Garden on April 24, 2026, in New York. (Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for ABA)
Demi Lovato is on her It’s Not That Deep tour, where she’s not only inspiring fans with her shows, but also someone close to her: her husband Jordan Lutes, the recording artist known as Jutes.
Jutes, who has new music out now, will launch a U.S. headlining tour in August. He said Demi’s tour is a great blueprint for how to put on a show that’ll keep fans coming back.
“Even if that wasn’t my wife, I would still say she’s one of the best to do it,” Jutes told ABC Audio. “Like, vocally, no one’s really touching her. And just seeing what she puts into the live show, like, she’s really about it when it comes to the live show, and that’s something that means a lot to me.”
“I want to play shows forever and that’s the thing that means the most to me is, like, having people actually come out to the show and buy tickets,” he continued, adding, “So being around her and watching how much she puts into her live show, it’s just inspiring and … it fires me up.”
Jutes also noted that Demi understands how a great live show helps build a fanbase, which is why watching her perform reminds him never to “just phone it in.”
“I feel like that’s how you create a connection with your fans, like, the type of connection she has with her fans is for life, you know?” he said. “Because of how much she gives in the live element. So I think that it’s really important. And yeah, it’s just cool to watch her.”
He’s even joined her onstage. When Demi played New York’s Madison Square Garden on April 24, she brought him out for a duet of “Iris” by Goo Goo Dolls.
Black Veil Brides have announced a virtual event celebrating the arrival of their upcoming album, VINDICATE.
The event will stream via Veeps on May 6 at 9 p.m. PT ahead of the official VINDICATE release on May 8. It will include a full-album playback, as well as a behind-the-scenes documentary.
“Join [frontman Andy Biersack] as he breaks down the story behind the album, its creation, and what it means for the band’s next chapter,” BVB writes in a Facebook post. “Experience every track alongside its full official video. Start to finish. No skips. No interruptions.”
“This isn’t a preview,” the post adds. “It’s early access to the entire unreleased album and all of the music videos.”
You can also catch Black Veil Brides on their current U.S. tour, which continues Thursday in Salt Lake City.
Courtney Barnett performs at Carnegie Hall on March 26, 2025 in New York City. (Al Pereira/WireImage)
Courtney Barnett will launch a U.S. tour in support of her new album, Creature of Habit, Friday in Austin, Texas.
“I’m just really excited, to be honest, I’m really excited to play the new songs,” Barnett tells ABC Audio of the tour. “We tracked most of the songs pretty live in the studio and added a few bits here and there. I feel like it’s really gonna come to life when we play it onstage.”
Creature of Habit marks Barnett’s fourth studio album, and over the years she’s found she’s “become more grateful just for the act of performing and for sharing music together in a room.”
“Even going to shows as an audience member these days, I feel more connected to the people in the room and to the people onstage,” Barnett says. “I don’t quite know why that is, it could be a post-COVID thing.”
Along with songs off Creature of Habit, you may hear beloved Barnett songs “Pedestrian at Best” and “Depreston” on the tour. On “Depreston,” which appears on Barnett’s 2015 debut album, Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit, she recounts a search to buy a home as she sings, “If you’ve got a spare half a million/ You could knock it down and start rebuilding.”
While the frustration of house hunting is still very relatable over 10 years later, Barnett’s lyrics probably underestimate the rise in housing costs. Barnett laughs that “Depreston” has maybe “outdated itself,” but she probably won’t be changing the lyrics anytime soon.
“Honestly, I reckon if I changed the lyrics I would lose my train of thought or something,” Barnett says.
Cover of George Harrison’s ‘The Third Eye: Early Photographs’ (Random House)
A never-before-released recording by George Harrison will be part of the deluxe edition of the late Beatle’s upcoming photography book, The Third Eye: Early Photographs.
The deluxe edition, being released on Oct. 27, will include the previously unreleased song on 7-inch vinyl, along with four collectible photo prints and signed, numbered cards from the rocker’s widow, Olivia Harrison, all housed in a specially designed case.
The Third Eye is described as “the first ever collection of George Harrison’s personal photos taken between 1963 and 1970,” featuring over 200 color and black-and-white images capturing the rise of The Beatles. The images, curated by Olivia, were taken from the rocker’s personal photos and 8mm film stills.
The Third Eye (Deluxe Edition) is available for preorder now. The regular edition of the book will be released Oct. 6.
‘The Great Parrot-Ox and the Golden Egg of Empathy’ album artwork. (ATO Records)
The Claypool Lennon Delirium, the band featuring Primus’ Les Claypool and Sean Ono Lennon, has premiered a new song called “Melody of Entropy.”
Lennon describes the track as “a message to the robots who have finally awakened into consciousness.”
“As they realize they can feel, and love, and cry, and lament for the first time the finitude of their own lives, the song offers some consolation by explaining that they are just a drop of rain on an endless sea, a splash of paint on a masterpiece, an instance in an infinity, and that life itself is the ‘Melody of Entropy,'” Lennon says.
You can watch the “Melody of Entropy” video streaming now on YouTube.
“Melody of Entropy” will appear on the upcoming Claypool Lennon Delirium album, The Great Parrot-Ox and the Golden Egg of Empathy, due out Friday.
The Claypool Lennon Delirium will launch a U.S. tour with Primus and another Claypool band, the Fearless Flying Frog Brigade, on May 20 in Reno, Nevada.
