November 18, 2025 4:56 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge says the Justice Department engaged in a “disturbing pattern of profound investigative missteps” when it secured an indictment against former FBI Director James Comey. Magistrate Judge William Fitzpatrick said Monday those problems include “fundamental misstatements of the law” by a prosecutor to a grand jury that indicted Comey in September, the use of potentially privileged communications in the investigation and unexplained irregularities in the transcript of the grand jury proceedings. Fitzpatrick ordered the Justice Department to provide Comey’s lawyers with all grand jury materials. The indictment charges Comey with lying to Congress in September 2020 when he suggested under questioning that he had not authorized FBI leaks of information to the news media.
November 17, 2025 12:45 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge says the Justice Department engaged in a “disturbing pattern of profound investigative missteps” when it secured an indictment against former FBI Director James Comey. Those problems, according to Magistrate Judge William Fitzpatrick, include “fundamental misstatements of the law” by a prosecutor to a grand jury that indicted Comey in September, the use of potentially privileged communications in the investigation and unexplained irregularities in the transcript of the grand jury proceedings. Fitzpatrick ordered the Justice Department to produce to Comey’s lawyers all grand jury materials in the case.
November 17, 2025 4:45 pm
SAN DIEGO (AP) — The acting chief of the Federal Emergency Management Agency has left his post just six months in, officials say, marking another disruption in a year of staff departures and policy changes. The Department of Homeland Security did not comment Monday on the reason for David Richardson’s departure. Richardson, a former Marine Corps officer, had no prior emergency management experience when he took on the role. His leadership was questioned after he delayed responding to deadly floods in Texas. FEMA has faced major upheaval since President Donald Trump returned to office, with significant staff turnover and funding cuts.
November 17, 2025 5:02 am
WASHINGTON, Pa. — Demolition work continues at the former Brownson House in the City of Washington. Back in March, the non-profit sports organization with the same name announced that the 115-year-old building would be torn down. Officials said the building suffered from structural and heating issues, and the nonprofit did not have the funds to renovate it. The building hosted youth sports in the city for decades, and its demolition saddened some community members. The non-profit organization now plans to build a new recreation and community center on the site. Plans called for basketball courts and even a boxing gym.
November 17, 2025 5:03 am
The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office says personal information may have been involved in a “data security incident” over the summer. The AG’s office says personal information was possibly accessed without authorization during a cyberattack in August that involved an outsider encrypting files to demand a ransom payment. The attack knocked servers offline and temporarily interrupted communications. The office says it later learned that files potentially accessed without authorization may have contained some personal information. The information that may have been accessed includes names, Social Security numbers and medical information. The AG’s office has notified those who may have had their information accessed via email. Some people impacted are being given complimentary access to identity protection services. Officials say that as soon as the data security incident was discovered, steps were taken to minimize the risk of a similar incident occurring in the future. The FBI is also aware of the incident and is investigating.
November 17, 2025 5:09 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said House Republicans should vote to release the files in the Jeffrey Epstein case, a startling reversal after previously fighting the proposal as a growing number of those in his own party supported it. Writing on social media on Sunday night, Trump said: “We have nothing to hide, and it’s time to move on from this Democrat Hoax perpetrated by Radical Left Lunatics in order to deflect from the Great Success of the Republican Party.” Democrats and some Republicans have been pushing a measure that would force the Justice Department to make public more documents from the case. The president’s shift is an implicit acknowledgement they have enough votes to pass the House.
November 17, 2025 5:13 am
WEST PALM BEACH, Florida (AP) — President Donald Trump says the U.S. “may be having some discussions” with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. It’s a potential diplomatic avenue as the U.S. further builds up its military presence near the South American country with the arrival of its most advanced aircraft carrier. Trump didn’t offer details Sunday evening about the possible discussions with Maduro, but he said “Venezuela would like to talk.” The development comes as the Trump administration has carried out a series of military strikes against vessels suspected of transporting drugs.
November 17, 2025 5:13 am
A top Border Patrol commander is touting dozens of arrests in North Carolina’s largest city on Sunday as Charlotte residents report encounters with federal immigration agents near churches and apartment complexes. The Trump administration has made the Democratic city of about 950,000 people its latest target for an immigration enforcement surge it says will combat crime. That’s despite fierce objections from local leaders and downtrending crime rates. The effort is dubbed “Operation Charlotte’s Webb” as a play on the title of a famous children’s book that isn’t about North Carolina. The flurry of activity immediately raised questions, including where detainees would be held.
November 17, 2025 5:10 am
The Federal Aviation Administration says it is lifting all restrictions on commercial flights that were imposed during the government shutdown at 40 major U.S. airports. The agency said Sunday airlines can resume normal flight schedules beginning Monday at 6 a.m. EST. The unprecedented order had been in place since Nov. 7 and affected thousands of flights. The FAA said it was necessary to ease the strain on the aviation system and help manage staffing shortages at its air traffic control facilities during the shutdown. The flight cuts started at 4% as the shutdown entered its second month and later grew to 6% before the FAA on Friday rolled back the restrictions to 3%.
November 17, 2025 5:11 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Utilities are producing eye-popping forecasts about the amount of electricity they’ll need to power massive new data centers that are feeding the fast-growing AI economy. But the forecasts are setting off alarm bells about whether they can be trusted. One question is whether utilities are counting speculative data center projects that may never get built. Some worry regular ratepayers could be stuck with paying for unnecessary power plants. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission wants to know how grid operators determine that a project is viable, while states are trying to find out what’s in utilities’ forecasts and weed out speculative projects.
