(SANTA FE, N.M.) — The special prosecutor in New Mexico who investigated the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of “Rust” announced Tuesday she is stepping down.

The decision comes weeks after Alec Baldwin’s attorney moved to disqualify the special prosecutor, Andrea Reeb, claiming in a motion filed last month that as a member of the New Mexico House of Representatives, she cannot simultaneously exercise legislative and judicial power.

Reeb said in a statement issued by New Mexico’s First Judicial District Attorney Tuesday that she will “not allow questions about my serving as a legislator and prosecutor to cloud the real issue at hand.”

“My priority in this case — and in every case I’ve prosecuted in my 25-year career — has been justice for the victim,” Reeb said in the statement. “However, it has become clear that the best way I can ensure justice is served in this case is to step down so that the prosecution can focus on the evidence and the facts, which clearly show a complete disregard for basic safety protocols led to the death of Halyna Hutchins.”

Reeb was elected to her first term in the New Mexico House of Representatives last year and assumed office on Jan. 1.

In a motion filed last month seeking to disqualify her, Baldwin defense attorney Luke Nikas wrote, “Under Section 1 of Article III of the New Mexico Constitution, however, a sitting member of the Legislature may not ‘exercise any powers properly belonging’ to either the executive or judicial branch.”

“A prosecutor who also serves as a legislator could face pressure to make prosecutorial decisions that serve her legislative interests, such as by prosecuting a prominent defendant associated with an opposing faction within the Legislature even in the face of conflicting evidence or law,” the motion stated.

The filing cited a funding request from First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies of $635,500 from the New Mexico Board of Finance for the prosecution of individuals related to the “Rust” shooting. The proposed budget included $156,000 for Reeb’s salary.

Following the filing, the district attorney’s office called the motion a distraction.

Baldwin has been charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the death of Hutchins, who was fatally shot on the Santa Fe set of the Western on Oct. 21, 2021. He pleaded not guilty to the charges in a court filing.

In addition to Baldwin, the film’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, was charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter over her death.

First assistant director David Halls took a plea deal after being charged with negligent use of a deadly weapon in connection with the shooting. The plea agreement is pending a judge’s approval, prosecutors have said. He is scheduled to make his first court appearance in late March.

Last month, the district attorneys’ office announced it was dropping the gun enhancement charge — a crime that would have carried a five-year sentence if convicted — against Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed in the fatal shooting.

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(BIRMINGHAM, Ala.) — Four people are dead after a gunman opened fire at two homes in Alabama, authorities said.

A 28-year-old man is accused of fatally shooting two people in a Birmingham home before killing two more in a nearby suburb, according to police.

Around midnight, St. Clair County deputies responded to a home in Ragland, a Birmingham suburb, where they found a woman dead in the driveway and a man suffering from a gunshot wound inside, according to a sheriff’s office statement. The man was airlifted to a hospital, where he died.

The victims were identified by the sheriff’s office as Amber Manning, 37, and Timothy Davidson, 62.

Hours later, around 6 a.m., police in St. Clair County arrested Daniel Watson, of Pell City, who allegedly admitted to the arresting officer that he had also shot two people in Birmingham.

Police officers responded to a Birmingham house reportedly described by Watson around 8 a.m. local time Tuesday and found a man and woman dead from apparent gunshot wounds inside, police said.

“We believe the suspect shot two victims in Birmingham, before traveling into St. Clair County and shooting two additional victims in their jurisdiction,” Truman Fitzgerald, a spokesman for the Birmingham Police Department, said in a video statement.

Authorities have not yet determined a motive for the killings, according to Fitzgerald.

“We do believe the suspect knows at least some of the victims,” said Fitzgerald, who did not identify the Birmingham shooting victims.

Watson is being held without bond by the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Office on charges of capital murder and murder with a gun. He is also being detained for the Birmingham homicides, the sheriff’s office said.

Watson is expected to face capital murder charges in Jefferson County, which includes Birmingham, as well, according to Fitzgerald. It is unclear if the suspect has an attorney who can speak on his behalf.

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(NEW YORK) — A cryptocurrency linked to former Trump White House strategist Steve Bannon and Trump adviser Boris Epshteyn has caught the attention of federal prosecutors in New York, who have started looking into it, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.

News of federal prosecutors’ interest in the Bannon and Epshteyn-fronted cryptocurrency comes on the heels of an ABC News investigation into the cryptocurrency, which looked at allegations of internal chaos, and mismanagement by the two high-profile Trump associates over the past year, including accusations that they’ve failed in their commitment to continue to donate portions of the coin’s proceeds to charities.

The New York Times was the first to report the news of the inquiry from federal prosecutors.

The cryptocurrency — dubbed $FJB from the shorthand version of the vulgar MAGA expression “F— Joe Biden” and now officially said to stand for Freedom Jobs and Business — has lost 95% of its value amid internal turmoil.

Critics say $FJB represents the latest in a string of ill-fated efforts to leverage MAGA support for financial returns — particularly on the part of Bannon, who in September pleaded not guilty to unrelated charges that he defrauded donors with the promise of building a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Acquired by Bannon and Epshteyn from original lead creator Grant Tragni and two other co-founders in late 2021, $FJB was promoted as a rejection of President Joe Biden and an alternative financial institution for conservatives by the two MAGA influencers — who also emphasized that part of the currency’s 8% transaction fee would go to charities including the Wounded Warriors Project, Tunnels To Towers, Semper Fi and Patriot Freedom Project.

But according to a spokesperson for the Wounded Warriors Project, as of January this year, no donations had been made by $FJB to the organization since Bannon and Epshteyn took over in December 2021. Wounded Warriors told ABC News that they had only received the one donation from $FJB in November 2021 — prior to Bannon and Epshteyn’s involvement.

Bannon and Epshteyn did not respond to a request for comment from ABC News.

Frustration among some apparent $FJB buyers continued in October 2022 when a representative of $FJB publicly acknowledged during one of their weekly calls that an unknown amount of money from accounts linked to the coin’s 8% transaction fee had gone “missing.” Representatives have yet to provide details about the missing funds, citing an ongoing “internal investigation” and “legal action.”

In response to growing frustration among online users, one $FJB administrator said during a weekly call in mid-December 2022, that “Boris [Epshteyn] is working on recovering our funds.”

Concerns about the missing funds and that the stated commitment to charity was going unfulfilled increased over the fall as the coin’s value continued to drop while Bannon and Epshteyn appeared to go silent about the coin for five months. Then the company briefly angered buyers when an $FJB representative announced in mid-February that the duo was walking away from the project — only to rescind the announcement within minutes. Soon after, Bannon and Epshteyn took to social media to reiterate their support and commitment of $FJB.

“Not only am I a huge supporter of that project and the community, my wallet — Boris and my wallet — is public,” Bannon said on Feb. 15, 2023. “I’ve not only never sold a coin, I’ve only bought coins, and that wallet is public. Everybody, check it. We are huge supporters of the $FJB project and the community.”

A person close to Bannon and Epshteyn told ABC News last month, “Steve and Boris are fully committed to the $FJB community, and are working with a proficient and dedicated team in order to continue moving forward with all of the goals and objectives of the project. There is also a full effort under way to determine and remedy any and all issues stemming from actions of the original founders of the coin. The $FJB community stands for and champions transparency, independence, and American strength. Steve and Boris will always fight for those ideals.”

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