An auction is underway for a chance to speak with SZA one-on-one via Zoom — or in person if you live in LA. The auction, which ends on Jan. 12, is part of Freedom for Sudan’s fundraiser benefiting Sudanese nonprofits. “ANYTHING TO RAISE AWARENESS AND SUPPORT,” SZA wrote in an Instagram caption announcing the event. She is also offering the chance to receive a signed blind box featuring five surprise pieces of SZA merch.
Big Boss Vette was secretly battling cancer, but now she’s cancer-free. She shared a video on her Instagram of her walking down a hospital hallway and eventually strutting to her song “Pretty Girls Walk.” “IF YOU WOULD’VE TOLD ME I’D BE BEATING CANCER AZZZZZZ IN 2026 I WOULDN’T HAVE BELIEVED YOU!!!! WE DID IT YALLLLLLLLL,” she wrote in the caption.
LaRussell released his album Something’s in the Water with no label, but has gotten support from Kyrie Irving and Snoop Dogg, among others. Kyrie gave him $11,000 and told him, “You earned it. … I want to contribute to what you got going on. And I know you’ll pay it forward.” Snoop Dogg purchased the album for $2,500 and wrote of his donation, “Had 2 do it!!! Nefew @LaRussellGC changin tha game.”
If Latto could make a modern-day version of Lil’ Kim‘s “Not Tonight,” she knows what women she’d bring on board. “Doja Cat, YK Niece, GloRilla and Cardi B,” she tells Okayplayer. “I think that checks a lot of boxes and is unexpected, haha. My favorite producers are Pooh Beatz, Go Grizz and Coupe so definitely one or all of my boys.” Lil’ Kim’s 1996 song features Missy Elliott, Da Brat, Angie Martinez and the late Left Eye.
Former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene appears on ‘The View,’ on Jan. 7, 2026. ABC News
(NEW YORK) — Former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., in her first interview since resigning from Congress effective Monday, said on ABC’s “The View” on Wednesday that she disagrees with the Trump administration’s capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and the focus on Venezuela instead of other countries that contribute to the flow of drugs into the U.S.
Greene said that while she served on the House Homeland Security Committee, “it wasn’t Venezuela that we were ever talking about” regarding drug trafficking, and that “you can’t hold Maduro accountable and not hold Mexican cartels accountable, who are number one”.
The Trump administration has said it is taking action on stopping the flow of drugs from various countries, including Mexico. On Sunday, Trump said Colombia could face a similar fate as Venezuela, and he said Cuba was imminently “ready to fall.” He also said Mexico could be next, as the administration seeks to continue its battle against drug cartels.
The former congresswoman, who has previously pushed back against other U.S. foreign policy endeavors, insisted as well that she remains “America First,” which she said does not align with the U.S. military intervention in Venezuela.
“We campaigned, and I went to countless Trump rallies and stood on the stage with the president and stood on the stage with other Republican candidates and said ‘America First. No more regime change, no more foreign wars, no more foreign intervention.’ Enough of this. That’s what America First means,” she said.
“Militarily invading a country, killing people in the process, arresting their leader and taking them out, then claiming this is for the Venezuelan people, and saying all the charges are about drugs, but then turning around and literally, every single statement is about Venezuelan oil and how it belongs to America … it’s not working.”
Greene also said a “deeper issue” for her on the U.S. action on Venezuela is that “if it’s OK to go into Venezuela and arrest Maduro, then why are we telling China you can’t go and take Taiwan? Why are we telling Russia you can’t go take Ukraine?”
Greene, first elected to the House in 2020, had established herself as one of President Donald Trump’s closest allies and a staunch supporter of the MAGA movement he spearheaded. Greene came to define the MAGA movement on Capitol Hill, fighting Trump’s second impeachment following the Jan. 6 Capitol attack and wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat at then-President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address in 2024.
But she broke with Trump more recently on issues such as the Israel-Hamas war and releasing files related to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Trump withdrew his support for Greene in November after she criticized him and his administration for their handling of the Epstein investigation, along with other matters.
Greene announced that month that she would resign from the House, dropping a surprise bombshell soon after she was one of few Republicans to sign on to a discharge petition forcing a vote to order the Department of Justice to release the files. Her resignation before the end of her term leaves House Republicans with an even narrower majority — with 218 Republicans against 213 Democrats as of Wednesday, after Greene’s resignation and the death of GOP Rep. Doug LaMalfa of California on Tuesday.
Greene said Wednesday she made the final decision to leave Congress when Trump called her a “traitor” and soon after, her son began to face death threats. She said she herself had faced threats previously and was used to them.
“One of MAGA’s big campaign pledges was to release the Epstein files. And then having to say ‘Am I going to have to be the next Charlie Kirk? Is my son going to get murdered because I’m trying to continue to do this job?'” she said, referencing the high-profile conservative activist who was assassinated in Utah in September.
Asked how she would respond to people skeptical of her political transformation who think she is trying for a run for another office or to get ahead of potential Republican losses in the 2026 midterms, Greene replied, “I’ve been asked by every single person that’s interviewed me, ‘What are you running for?’ And I’ve said over and over again to exhaustion I’m not running for Senate. I’m not running for governor, I’m not running for president. So first of all, that narrative is just wrong about me.”
She added later that her focus is on “using my voice to pull Americans on the right and the left together to focus on our collective problems, particularly affordability.”
Yet Greene had sharp criticism for Democrats when asked if she’d consider becoming one, saying that Democratic policies and actions contributed to issues at the southern border and both parties had contributed to ballooning national debt.
She declined to say whether she’d leave the GOP.
“I haven’t said if I’m leaving the Republican Party, but my focus is America First, and my focus is — earn my vote,” she said.
As for what’s next for her, Greene told “The View” that she hopes to spend more time with her children, her mother, and friends.
Would she ever return to Congress if Trump asked her to?
“Absolutely not — the way he treated me. No,” Greene said.
ABC News’ Lauren Peller, John Parkinson, Jay O’Brien Will Steakin and Mariam Khan contributed to this report.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio listens as U.S. President Donald Trump addresses the media during a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago club on January 03, 2026, in Palm Beach, Florida. President Trump confirmed that the U.S. military carried out a large-scale strike in Caracas overnight, resulting in the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday laid out what he called a threefold process for Venezuela’s future, with the White House saying it has “maximum leverage” over the South American nation in the interim.
President Donald Trump said earlier this week the U.S. was “in charge.” But Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodriguez pushed back on Tuesday that the Venezuelan government is in control and “no one else.”
ABC News Senior Political Correspondent Rachel Scott pressed White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Wednesday, “Which one is it?”
“We obviously have maximum leverage over the interim authorities in Venezuela right now,” Leavitt said. “And the president has made it very clear that this is a country within the United States — the Western Hemisphere, close by the United States, that is no longer going to be sending illegal drugs to the United States of America. It’s no longer going to be sending and trafficking illegal people and criminal cartels to kill American citizens, as they have in the past. And the president is fully deploying his peace-through-strength foreign policy agenda.”
“So, we’re continuing to be in close coordination with the interim authorities. And their decisions are going to continue to be dictated by the United States of America,” Leavitt added.
Leavitt also touted what she called a “historic energy deal” between the U.S. and Venezuela after Trump announced on Tuesday night that Venezuela will turn over 30 to 50 million barrels of sanctioned oil to the U.S.
Sources told ABC News that those barrels represent the first tranche to be handed over to U.S. control. The Trump administration intends to oversee the sale of Venezuela’s oil indefinitely and some sanctions against Venezuela will be lifted, two sources familiar with the plan told ABC News.
Rubio, speaking to reporters on Capitol Hill after a classified briefing with senators on Venezuela, echoed what he called “tremendous leverage and control” the U.S. now exerts over Caracas.
“We are in the midst right now, and in fact about to execute on a deal, to take all the oil — they have oil that is stuck in Venezuela, they can’t move it because of our quarantine, because it’s sanctioned,” he said.
Rubio pointed to a tanker that was captured in the Caribbean Wednesday by U.S. forces and said Venezuela’s interim leaders are cooperating because they want to make money off of it.
“They want that oil that was seized to be part of this deal. They understand that the only way they can move oil and generate revenue and not have economic collapse is if they cooperate and work with the United States. And that’s what we see are going to happen,” Rubio said.
Rubio also described a threefold process going forward with regards to the U.S. role in Venezuela.
The first phase, he said, was stabilization of the country.
The second involves “recovery” by ensuring that American, western and other oil companies have access to the Venezuelan oil market in a way that’s fair, Rubio said. He added that this phase would include offering amnesty to opposition forces in Venezuela, allowing for people to be released from prisons and brought back into their home country to “rebuild civil society.”
The third phase is the “transition” of the Venezuelan government, Rubio said. He didn’t offer any details as to what that would include, but said he described to senators the administration’s thinking in “great detail.”
Neither Rubio nor the White House provided a specific timeline on what’s next.
“In the end, it will be up to the Venezuelan people to transform their country,” Rubio said.
“I understand that in this cycle, in the society we now live in, everyone wants instant outcomes. They want it to happen overnight. It’s not going to work that way. But work — we’re already seeing progress with this new deal that’s been announced and more deals to follow. You are already seeing how the leverage the United States have over those interim authorities is going to begin to lead to positive outcomes.”
Pressed on when elections may be held in Venezuela, Leavitt maintained Trump’s assertion that it’s “too early” to set a date.
“So, I will reiterate what the president has said a few times now to all of you, which is that it’s too premature and too early to dictate a timetable for elections in Venezuela right now,” Leavitt said.
Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey speaks with a constituent at a campaign event on October 26, 2021 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)
(MINNEAPOLIS) — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said he has issued an order to prepare the state’s National Guard while urging peaceful protest after an Immigration and Customs Enforcementagent fatally shot a woman in her car during operations in Minneapolis on Wednesday.
Walz and the Minneapolis mayor are disputing the government’s claims surrounding what led up to the shooting, which killed a 37-year-old woman.
“We have someone dead in their car for no reason whatsoever,” Walz said during a news conference, decrying the shooting as “preventable” and “unnecessary.”
According to Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin, the woman was allegedly “attempting to run over our law enforcement officers” when an ICE officer fatally shot her Wednesday morning.
Following the shooting, a large crowd gathered in the area, which is less than a mile from where George Floyd was killed in May 2020.
The governor said he has issued a “warning order” to prepare the Minnesota National Guard, saying there are soldiers in training and prepared to be deployed “if necessary,” while urging “peaceful resistance.”
“I want Minnesotans to hear this from me: The desire to get out in the protest and to speak up to this administration of how wrong this is, that is a patriotic duty at this point in time, but it needs to be done safely,” he said.
“I feel your anger, I am angry. They want a show, we can’t give it to them,” he said.
President Donald Trump said the officer acted in “self defense.”
“The woman driving the car was very disorderly, obstructing and resisting, who then violently, willfully, and viciously ran over the ICE Officer, who seems to have shot her in self defense,” Trump posted on social media.
The Minneapolis mayor, however, at an impassioned news conference, said that he saw video of the incident and claimed the agent’s actions were not self-defense.
“This was an agent recklessly using power that resulted in somebody dying — getting killed,” Mayor Jacob Frey said.
Frey said it does not appear the victim was driving her car toward the agent and using her car as a weapon. She was a U.S. citizen who was “an observer” and was “watching out for our immigrant neighbors,” according to Minneapolis City Council member Jason Chavez.
Minneapolis police said preliminary information indicates that she was in her car and blocking the road.
“At some point, a federal law enforcement officer approached her on foot, and the vehicle began to drive off,” police said. “At least two shots were fired … the vehicle then crashed on the side of the roadway.”
“There is nothing to indicate that this woman was the target of any law enforcement investigation or activity,” police added.
The woman had gunshot wounds to the head and was transported to an area hospital, where she died, according to city officials.
The governor said he doesn’t have a “definitive ID” of the woman.
In describing the shooting, McLaughlin said that an ICE officer, “fearing for his life, the lives of his fellow law enforcement and the safety of the public, fired defensive shots.”
“He used his training and saved his own life and that of his fellow officers,” she said, referring to the woman as part of a group of “rioters.”
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem claimed the incident was an “act of domestic terrorism.”
“What had happened was our ICE officers were out in enforcement action, they got stuck in the snow because of the adverse weather that is in Minneapolis,” she said during remarks at a press briefing in Texas. “They were attempting to push out their vehicle, and a woman attacked them and those surrounding them and attempted to run them over and ram them with her vehicle.”
Frey said his message to ICE is to “get the f— out” of Minneapolis.
“We’ve dreaded this moment since the early stages of this ICE presence in Minneapolis,” Frey said.
Walz said during Wednesday’s briefing that he has reached out to Noem and is awaiting a response.
The Minnesota Department of Public Safety’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is working in conjunction with the FBI to investigate the shooting, according to Commissioner Bob Jacobson.
“Keep in mind that this is an investigation that is also in its infancy, so any speculation about what had happened would be just that, and we will not engage in speculation,” Jacobson said during the briefing.
Walz said earlier on X that the state will “ensure there is a full, fair, and expeditious investigation to ensure accountability and justice.”
The FBI said in a statement, “Consistent with our investigative protocol, the incident is under review, and we are working closely with our law enforcement partners.”
The Twin Cities are seeing a massive deployment of ICE and Homeland Security Investigations agents to conduct immigration enforcement and fraud investigations, according to multiple sources familiar with the plans.
As many as 2,000 agents from ICE and HSI could be headed to the Minneapolis area, but a source cautioned that the number of agents could change.
Sources have told ABC News that as many as 600 HSI agents are being deployed and 1,400 ICE agents could be deployed as part of the increased enforcement operation.
Noem was on the ground in Minneapolis on Tuesday, conducting immigration enforcement.
The Trump administration has zeroed in on accusations of fraud at Somali-run childcare centers in recent weeks.
At the end of a House Oversight Committee hearing on alleged social services fraud in Minnesota on Wednesday, Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., put forth a motion to subpoena DHS for all documents and footage related to Wednesday’s deadly ICE shooting.
Ranking member Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., called it a “horrific killing.”
“I encourage folks to watch those videos and see what’s happened for themselves,” he said. “And I’m hopeful that this committee investigates this incident and that we have full accountability.”
ABC News’ Laura Romero and Emily Chang contributed to this report.
Teyana Taylor attends the 31st annual Critics Choice Awards at Barker Hangar on Jan. 4, 2026, in Santa Monica, California. (Robert Smith/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
The next three hosts of Saturday Night Live have been revealed.
NBC has announced that Finn Wolfhard, Teyana Taylor and Alexander Skarsgård are set to host the first three episodes in 2026.
Wolfhard will take over hosting duties for the first time on the Jan. 17 episode of the show. SNL initially made the announcement of Wolfhard’s hosting gig during the Dec. 20 episode, which was hosted by Ariana Grande. Wolfhard is promoting the final season of Stranger Things, which is now streaming on Netflix. He will be joined by A$AP Rocky, who will serve as the show’s musical guest for the first time.
Taylor is set to make her SNL hosting debut on the Jan. 24 episode. She’s promoting her Golden Globe, Critics Choice and Actor Award-nominated performance in One Battle After Another. Geese will serve as the musical guest on the episode, making their first appearance on SNL after the release of their album GettingKilled.
Finally, Skarsgård will also make his hosting debut on the Jan. 31 episode. He will be joined by musical guest Cardi B. She is promoting her Little Miss Drama Tour, which starts on Feb. 11. This marks Cardi’s second appearance as musical guest on the show after she first appeared on the April 7, 2018, episode.
Cover of Pink Floyd’s ‘The Dark Side of the Moon’ (Sony Music)
Pink Floyd is close to reaching a huge milestone on the Billboard 200 chart.
The band’s iconic album The Dark Side of the Moon recently landed its 996th nonconsecutive week on the Billboard 200 albums chart, meaning it’s only four weeks off landing 1,000 weeks on all-genre chart. It currently ranks at #167.
The Dark Side of the Moon, which was released in 1973, is already the current record holder for the most weeks ever on the Billboard 200, an honor it earned in October 1983 with its 491st week on the chart.
The album debuted on the Billboard 200 in March 1973 and hit #1 on April 28 of that year. It rarely dropped off the chart from its debut until Oct. 8, 1988, spending 741 out of 813 weeks on it. The album then returned to the Billboard 200 on Dec. 12, 2009, after Billboard 200 rules changed, allowing catalog albums to return to the chart.
Pink Floyd celebrated the 50th anniversary of The Dark Side of the Moon in 2023, releasing a box set that featured a remastered version of the album, along with a 1974 live concert.
Lawyer Barry Pollack speaks during a press conference, June 26, 2024, in Canberra, Australia. (Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — As Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife were arraigned this week on narco-terrorism charges, the key legal players in the case included a 92-year-old judge and the attorney for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
The case with international implications will feature high-profile defense attorneys and will be presided over by the most senior U.S. District Court Judge for the Southern District of New York.
Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, on Monday pleaded not guilty to federal drug trafficking charges. The next court date is set for March 17.
The Judge
U.S. District Court Judge Alvin Hellerstein was appointed to the federal bench in 1998 by former President Bill Clinton and was confirmed by the Senate through unanimous consent.
Known by colleagues and lawyers as a no-nonsense jurist with an independent streak, Hellerstein presided over the 2019 federal civil trial of Harvey Weinstein, brought by 16 women who accused the former movie mogul of sexual assault.
In a major July 2020 ruling, Hellerstein, who turned 92 last month, tossed a $19 million settlement in the Weinstein civil case, saying that it failed to adequately compensate the accusers.
In his decision, Hellerstein slammed the settlement proposal as unfair, noting that accusers who had merely met Weinstein would receive compensation equal to those who were allegedly sexually assaulted by him.
“What is there to make me believe that a person who just met Harvey Weinstein has the same claim as the person who is raped by Harvey Weinstein?” the judge asked during a hearing on the settlement.
Additionally, the judge said it was “obnoxious” that the settlement proposal would have included money to cover the legal fees for Weinstein and other directors of his former company.
Hellerstein has also ruled against President Donald Trump, whose Justice Department is prosecuting Maduro, in multiple instances.
In 2023 and 2024, Hellerstein rejected requests by Trump’s attorneys to move a case charging him with falsifying business records to hide hush-money payments to adult movie star Stormy Daniels from state court to federal court.
“Trump has failed to show that the conduct charged by the Indictment is for or relating to any act performed by or for the President under color of the official acts of a President,” Hellerstein wrote in his ruling.
Trump was eventually convicted in state court on 34 felony counts.
In April 2025, Hellerstein blocked the Trump administration from deporting migrants under the Alien Enemies Act, ruling that migrants being held in the Southern District of New York could not be deported without them first receiving notice and an opportunity for a hearing.
Maduro’s attorney
Barry Pollack, Maduro’s attorney, has more than 30 years of experience as a lawyer and has represented high-profile clients.
During Maduro’s arraignment on Monday, Pollack signaled that that he could assert that he is entitled, as a foreign leader, to protection against prosecution.
“He is the head of a sovereign state,” Pollack said in court, adding that there are “issues about the legality of his military abduction.”
Among the attorney’s past clients is Julian Assange. In June 2024, Pollack negotiated a plea agreement for the WikiLeaks founder who was charged with violating the Espionage Act for publishing classified information he obtained from Chelsea Manning, a U.S. Army intelligence analyst.
Under the plea agreement that Pollack hammered out with the Department of Justice, Assange was freed from prison in June 2024 after pleading guilty to a single felony count of conspiring to unlawfully obtain and disseminate classified information.
Pollack — a partner in the Harris St. Laurent & Wechsler law firm in New York City and Washington, D.C. — also won the freedom of Martin Tankleff, a Long Island, New York, teenager who was wrongfully convicted of murdering his parents in 1988. Tankleff was released from prison in 2008 after Pollack successfully filed an appeal, arguing there was insufficient evidence to convict him.
Pollack also defended Michael Krautz, former accountant for the Enron Corp., who was charged along with other company executives with fraud and conspiracy to falsify business records stemming from overstated earnings of the company’s now-defunct subsidiary Enron Broadband Services.
Krautz was acquitted of the charges in 2006, just days after Enron founder Kenneth Lay and CEO Jeffrey Skilling were convicted on similar charges in one of the biggest business scandals in U.S. history.
“Barry’s unwavering commitment to his clients, the defense function, and the Constitution serves as inspiration to criminal defense lawyers across the nation,” Christopher W. Adams, president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, said in 2021, as the organization honored Pollack with its Robert C. Heeney Memorial Award.
Maduro also added constitutional law expert Bruce Fein to his legal defense team, according to a notice on the court docket on Tuesday. Fein has written critically about the Trump administration’s deportation policies and the president’s use of pardons.
Maduro’s wife’s lawyer
Houston-based defense attorney Mark Donnelly, a former federal prosecutor, has been retained by Maduro’s wife, Cilia Flores.
Donnelly is the former senior advisor to the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas and was a federal prosecutor for 12 years before going into private practice. He is now a partner in the Houston law firm Parker Sanchez & Donnelly.
“With over 100 jury trials under his belt, Mark not only is extremely comfortable in the courtroom, but also has the knowledge and experience to guide clients through all phases of representation,” his bio on his law firm’s website says.
According to the bio, Donnelly spent eight years as a prosecutor in the Harris County, Texas, District Attorney’s Office, where he led investigations into elected officials and others charged with violating the public trust.
In 2023, the Texas House of Representatives recruited Donnelly to assist in the historic investigation and impeachment trial of then-state Attorney Gen. Ken Paxton, who was accused of bribery and abusing his office to protect a donor accused of making false statements to secure business loans.
Paxton, a Republican, was acquitted in September 2023.
Donnelly is a proficient Spanish speaker and was once designated as a bilingual assistant prosecutor for the Harris County District Attorney’s Office.
“We look forward to reviewing and challenging the evidence the government has,” Donnelly said in a statement to Houston Public Media about representing Flores. “While we would love to present our side now, we will wait to do so in court at the appropriate time. The first lady is aware that there is a long road ahead and is prepared.”
Defendant Harrison Floyd attends a hearing in the case of the State of Georgia v. Donald John Trump, February 13, 2024 at the Fulton County Courthouse in Atlanta. (Alyssa Pointer-Pool/Getty Images)
(MARYLAND) — Federal prosecutors on Wednesday moved to dismiss a long-running assault case against Harrison Floyd, one of the 19 defendants charged with attempting to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia, after Floyd was accused of attacking two FBI agents in 2023 as they attempted to serve him with a subpoena in a related case.
The rare decision to drop the federal charge comes shortly after President Donald Trump in November issued a largely symbolic grant of clemency to individuals who worked on his behalf to challenge the results of the 2020 election.
In a court filing Wednesday, the Trump-appointed U.S. attorney in Maryland informed the federal judge overseeing Floyd’s case that her office “moves to dismiss without prejudice the criminal complaint in the above-captioned case.” The judge approved the request soon afterward.
Prosecutors did not provide an explanation for the dismissal.
The charge stemmed from an incident in February 2023 when Floyd allegedly assaulted two FBI agents sent on behalf of then-special counsel Jack Smith to serve him with a subpoena related to Smith’s federal election subversion probe, according to court records. Floyd, a former Marine and mixed martial arts fighter, allegedly rushed at the agents and spit in their faces, the records show.
During the encounter, Floyd shouted profanities at the agents, including “YOU F—— PIECE OF S—!” and “WHO THE F— DO YOU THINK YOU ARE,” according to an affidavit. One of the agents showed Floyd his firearm in an effort to de-escalate the confrontation, according to the affidavit.
Several months after the alleged assault, prosecutors in Fulton Country, Georgia, brought racketeering charges against Floyd and 18 others, including Trump, Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, Boris Epshteyn, John Eastman and former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, for their alleged efforts to keep Trump in power despite his 2020 election loss.
Floyd, Trump and 13 others pleaded not guilty to all charges, while Powell, Jenna Ellis, Kenneth Chesebro and Scott Hall took plea deals in exchange for agreeing to testify against other defendants. The case was ultimately dropped by prosecutor Pete Skandalakis, who took over after Fulton Country DA Fani Willis was disqualified from the case.
This past November, Trump issued all defendants a sweeping pardon, though the move was largely symbolic as the cases were brought at the state level and therefore fell outside the scope of presidential pardon power.
Floyd’s attorney, Carlos Salvado, told ABC News at the time that the language in Trump’s clemency order might also apply to Floyd’s otherwise unrelated federal assault charge.
Reached by ABC News on Wednesday, Salvado welcomed the dismissal. “I’m extremely happy for my client,” he said. “It’s a hell of a way to start 2026.”
A Justice Department spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment from ABC News.
Rapunzel (Mandy Moore) and Flynn Rider (Zachary Levi) in the 2010 film ‘Tangled.’ (Disney)
At last we see the light.
Walt Disney Studios has announced the cast for its live-action film adaptation of the animated movie-musical, Tangled.
Australian actress Teagan Croft will lead the film as the Disney Princess Rapunzel while Milo Manheim, star of Disney Channel’s Zombies franchise, will take on the role of the dashing rogue Flynn Rider.
“Teagan Croft and Milo Manheim are Rapunzel and Flynn Rider in the live-action reimagining of Disney’s Tangled. Coming only to theaters,” the official Disney Studios Instagram account shared on Wednesday.
The Greatest Showman director Michael Gracey will helm the film from a script by Do Revenge writer and director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson. Kristin Burr of Cruella and Freakier Friday will produce.
Croft and Manheim will take on the characters that were originated by Mandy Moore and Zachary Levi in the 2010 animated feature.
There is currently no word on who will take on the role of villainous Mother Gothel, who was voiced by DonnaMurphy in the original film.
Croft is best known for playing Raven in the DC Universe superhero series Titans, which ran from 2018-2023. She also starred in the 2023 Netflix film True Spirit.
In addition to his work in the Zombies films, Manheim is known for the Paramount+ series School Spirits.
The original Tangled was directed by Nathan Greno and Byron Howard,with a screenplay by Dan Fogelman. It earned more than $582 million at the worldwide box office, according to The Numbers. Additionally, the film won a Grammy for the song “I See the Light,” which also earned a best original song nomination at the Academy Awards.
Other songs featured in the film included “When Will My Life Begin?”, “Mother Knows Best” and “I’ve Got a Dream.”
A memorial dedicated to the 19 children and two adults murdered on May 24,2022 during the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School is seen on January 05, 2026 in Uvalde, Texas. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
(CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas) — The criminal case will continue against former Uvalde, Texas, school police officer Adrian Gonzales, who is accused of placing more than two dozen children in “imminent danger” by failing to respond to the 2022 Robb Elementary School shooting as it unfolded.
Harle said he may exclude the part of Tuesday’s testimony from former teacher Stephanie Hale, who testified for the prosecution that she saw the shooter, Salvador Ramos, on the south side of the school. In an interview days after the shooting, Hale told investigators that she had not seen the shooter — a change in her account that defense attorneys said was not disclosed to them.
Defense attorney Jason Goss argued that the change in testimony affected their strategy during jury selection.
“I don’t believe what was testified to in front of the jury resonated enough to significantly affect your trial strategy,” the judge said.
While defense attorneys argued that the teacher provided the only evidence that the shooter was on the south side of the school, prosecutors said that bullet casings would corroborate their argument.
The prosecution and defense agreed to resume the trial on Thursday, with Hale still on the stand.
Based on the agreement reached, the defense will play part of Hale’s original interview with state investigators in the days after the shooting, when she said she did not see the shooter nor believe she was being shot at.
Prosecutors will have the chance to question Hale again, and defense attorneys reserved the right to ask for the testimony to ultimately be excluded.
Outside court, Jesse Rizo, whose 9-year-old niece Jackie Cazares was killed in the shooting, expressed relief that the case will go forward, saying a mistrial would have been an “injustice.”
He said his confidence in District Attorney Christina Mitchell was shaken by the potential mistrial, but said he believes she learned from her mistake.
“I have confidence that she learned, I have confidence that she went back home last night … and she basically took the lessons, and she came back in today, she seemed a little more prepared, to me, to be honest, a little more assertive, a little more confident,” he said.
Defense attorney Nico LaHood said outside court he was happy with Wednesday’s outcome and trusts the jury.
“We really trust this process, so we believe this remedy the judge did was appropriate,” he said. “We preserved the error, and then we’ll proceed tomorrow.”
Nineteen students and two teachers were killed in the May 24, 2022, shooting at Robb. Investigations faulted the police response and suggested that a 77-minute delay in police mounting a counterassault could have contributed to the carnage that day.
Gonzales, who was one of nearly 400 law enforcement officers to respond to the scene, was charged with 29 counts of child endangerment for allegedly ignoring his training during the botched police response. Gonzales has pleaded not guilty and his legal team maintains he’s being scapegoated.
This case marks the second time in U.S. history that prosecutors have sought to hold a member of law enforcement criminally accountable for their response to a mass shooting.
