An 18-year-old student faces multiple felony charges after allegedly sexually assaulting two juvenile students aboard an Elbert County school bus on separate occasions, reported Fox 5.
The Elbert County School District notified the Elbert County Sheriff’s Office Oct. 20 about two reports of possible sexual misconduct on a school bus, according to authorities.
During the subsequent investigation, detectives said they determined that an adult student allegedly assaulted two children on different occasions while the students were riding school bus route 45. Authorities did not disclose when the alleged assaults occurred or whether both incidents happened during the same school year.
Deputies reportedly arrested the 18-year-old following the investigation. The student is charged with one count of aggravated child molestation, one count of aggravated sodomy and one count of child molestation.
The suspect also faces two counts of first-degree cruelty to children and two counts of false imprisonment. The allegations and charges involve two separate juvenile victims.
Investigators have not publicly released the suspect’s name, despite the student being of an age that is legally considered as an adult. Authorities also have not identified the school site or sites attended by the suspect and the two children.
The ages and genders of the victims were not disclosed. Officials also did not provide details about what reportedly occurred during either incident or explain how the allegations first came to the district’s attention.
Authorities confirmed that the families of both victims were notified of the investigation. No information was provided about whether the accused student remains enrolled in the school district or has been removed from transportation or campus while the criminal case proceeds.
It was also not immediately clear whether any other students or adults were riding the school bus when the alleged assaults occurred, whether surveillance video captured either incident, or whether a bus driver or attendant reported witnessing suspicious activity.
Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook leaves the U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 21, 2026 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
President Donald Trump has formed a White House committee to investigate Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, escalating even further a lengthy feud with the Federal Reserve Board member.
The three-member committee will seek evidence that Cook made false statements in obtaining a mortgage and will hold a closed-door hearing at the White House on Nov. 5, two days after the midterm elections, according to a presidential memorandum. The memorandum is dated Oct. 7 but was published to the White House website Friday.
Trump tried to fire Cook last year after Bill Pulte, then the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, alleged she lied on a mortgage form to obtain a more favorable rate. A U.S. Supreme Court decision in June found Trump did not have cause to remove Cook from the independent board.
The president tasked the committee with finding enough evidence of wrongdoing to meet the court’s standard for firing.
“As President, it is my job to ensure the laws are faithfully executed, including by firing subordinates who cannot be trusted to tell the truth and follow the law,” Trump wrote.
Attorneys for Cook said Trump’s record of trying to fire Cook raised major concerns that the process would be illegitimate.
The committee will be composed of Assistant to the President for Economic Policy Kevin Hassett, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Chair Andrea Lucas and acting Director of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics Keith Sonderling. They are permitted to “consult with appropriate personnel from executive branch departments and agencies, including the Department of Justice.”
The memorandum calls for Cook to be present for questioning at the Nov. 5 hearing. She is also permitted to submit a written statement to the committee. The memorandum also calls for Cook to comply with the committee’s requests for documents or other evidentiary material.
Cook can also submit another written statement up to five days after the hearing.
The committee will then write its own report with a recommendation to Trump on “whether there is cause to remove Governor Cook.”
Cook’s attorneys Abbe Lowell and Norm Eisen said in a statement that an objective investigation would show no wrongdoing, and that Cook looked forward to clearing her name.
“In light of the President’s repeated statements that he has already decided to fire Governor Cook – regardless of the facts and evidence – we have grave doubts that this ‘hearing’ is a legitimate one that would conform to the law,” they wrote. “But if it is anything close to objective, the conclusion will be that Governor Cook did not commit mortgage fraud, leaving no cause to remove her from the Federal Reserve Board.”
Trump has squabbled with Cook and former Fed Chair Jerome Powell, whom he appointed and who still serves on the board, over interest rates that the president believes should be lower to stimulate the economy.
He has used legal investigations to pressure Cook and Powell, including a probe into Powell’s oversight of a Fed headquarters renovation.
Security stands outside ICE headquarters during a Congressional Hispanic Caucus rally on Feb. 3, 2026 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Heather Diehl/Getty Images)
The Department of Homeland Security obtained tens of millions of unspecified records as part of a sweeping nationwide effort to find voter fraud, according to internal DHS reports, and weighed using undercover agents to investigate voter registration efforts by nonprofit groups.
The reports from May and June by Homeland Security Investigations, a sub-agency of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, provide updates on its “election integrity” investigations. They are included in a trove of documents obtained by the pro-democracy group Democracy Forward through a records request and released Wednesday.
The HSI reports detail an expansive review of nonprofit organizations involved in voter registration. A June 1 report says 82 “NGOs” — nongovernmental organizations — had been reviewed in Pennsylvania alone. Groups in Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey and Ohio also came under scrutiny.
The June 1 report describes the potential for undercover operations, and refers to efforts across Homeland Security to identify organizations that “may be predatory in nature, particularly those suspected of illegal alien registration and voter encouragement.” Organizations in New Jersey and Pennsylvania remained areas of focus, the report says.
“The objective is to determine potential opportunities to leverage UC (undercover) resources, including the possible deployment of undercover agents (UCAs), to support investigative efforts in the field,” the report says.
Overall, the records offer a window into the Trump administration’s push to root out voter fraud, and especially noncitizen voting, ahead of the midterm elections. While a few months old, they suggest that finding noncitizen voters was an active focus within Homeland Security Investigations, along with identifying any organizations suspected of registering noncitizens to vote.
Noncitizen voting
Noncitizen voting is a rare occurrence, studies have consistently found.
The Justice Department has brought a few dozen cases this year, and U.S Attorney General Todd Blanche in late September announced indictments against 10 noncitizens over allegations of unlawfully voting. But the census reports 154 million people voted in the 2024 election.
With early voting beginning across many states, Trump’s bid to assert authority over voting has largely failed. The U.S. Supreme Court blocked his plans to use the U.S. Postal Service to restrict mail ballots and the SAVE America Act, which would require voters to show proof of citizenship, stalled in Congress.
But Democrats, voting rights groups and some election officials are concerned Trump may take more extreme action in the coming weeks. They have braced for possible federal interference, including the prospect of ICE or other federal agents deploying to the polls (Homeland Security denies any plans to target polling places).
“This trove of ICE documents provides chilling new insights into the breadth and depth of the Trump-Vance administration’s efforts to pursue baseless claims of widespread election fraud and assert greater federal control over elections ahead of the 2026 midterms,” Hart Wood, senior oversight counsel at Democracy Forward, said in a statement.
Asked for comment, Homeland Security didn’t address specific questions from States Newsroom. In an unsigned statement, DHS said the agency is “laser focused” on identifying and removing noncitizens who vote.
“HSI investigates allegations of criminal activity, including unlawful voter registration or voting by noncitizens in federal elections,” the DHS statement says. “While we do not comment on active investigations, investigative methods, or internal deliberations, HSI is actively rooting out and investigating election fraud wherever it can be found.
“We have repeatedly demonstrated that aliens can and do vote in our elections,” the statement says. “Under President Trump, HSI is committed to restoring integrity to our election systems and ensuring that only American citizens are electing American leaders.”
At a news conference last week to announce indictments against alleged noncitizen voters in Minnesota, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said the Trump administration would never allow the votes of noncitizens to cancel out the votes of American citizens. He said that only citizens should be electing the country’s leaders.
“Our message to aliens who vote in American elections is clear: We will find you, arrest you, and you will face the consequences, including criminal charges and deportation,” Mullin said.
Nonprofits reviewed, researched
The reports in the records obtained by Democracy Forward describe efforts by HSI to research and review an array of nonprofit groups. In some instances, HSI appeared satisfied after its examination.
The June 1 report notes that research was completed on approximately 41 non-governmental organizations in New Jersey, with “no derogatory information” found. Research on 20 nonprofit funds linked to a Washington, D.C.-based charitable foundation also turned up nothing, the report notes.
But the report also says the Pennsylvania chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations was “flagged for further investigation.” CAIR is one of the country’s leading Muslim civil rights groups.
Ahmet Selim Tekelioglu, CAIR Pennsylvania executive director, in a statement said the organization’s civic engagement programs have expanded over the years and include voter registration efforts that seek to ensure Muslim Americans are empowered to vote and fully engaged in the civic process.
“Our voter registration program follows all applicable voter registration rules and requirements,” Tekelioglu said.
Education Minnesota, an educators union, is named in the June 1 report as one of 22 organizations that HSI was beginning to research at the time. Monica Byron, Education Minnesota’s president, said the organization learned of the investigation on Tuesday because of Democracy Forward.
Byron said the group shares Democracy Forward’s concerns about potential government surveillance of lawful voter registration activities.
“We do not know the details of any investigation into our union, but we will not be deterred in encouraging all eligible members to exercise their right to vote in the upcoming election,” Byron said in a statement.
Tens of millions of records
The HSI reports show that Heather Honey, a DHS official who came to prominence denying President Donald Trump’s 2020 election loss, obtained 48.4 million records through “independent sources of information.” Additionally, HSI drew upon some 50.6 million records from the Department of Justice.
The exact nature of the records isn’t described, but the DOJ has sued dozens of states for voter records, including sensitive personal information such as driver’s license and Social Security numbers. The department hasn’t won any of the lawsuits, but at least 16 states have voluntarily provided the data.
The Supreme Court ruled in September that states can use a powerful Homeland Security program called SAVE to help identify possible noncitizen voters after voting rights groups sued to block its use, alleging that it often relies on inaccurate data and has a track record of wrongly flagging U.S. citizens. The decision’s impact on the midterms is expected to be minimal because most states are already too close to a federal election to conduct mass purges of voters.
But the HSI reports suggest that while the legal fight over SAVE was playing out in the courts, Homeland Security was nevertheless analyzing a vast collection of records for signs of voter fraud.
HSI’s June 1 report says 26,563 records derived from ICE had been prioritized for “downstream vetting,” with a focus on Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Priority states for HSI’s review of Justice Department records included those states, as well as Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia and Texas.
The report notes that records were sent to iLab — an apparent reference to HSI’s Innovation Lab — for “secondary enrichment and identification of high-value targets.”
Jacob Fischler contributed to this report.
October 8, 20269:52 amUpdated to include response from Department of Homeland Security.
The National Transportation Safety Board has opened an incident investigation into the fatal Oct. 5 school bus crash in Winter Haven, Florida, as local officials praised the bus driver’s response and provided new details about the victims and investigation.
Despite Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd initially telling reporters that the NTSB was not needed to investigate the multi-vehicle crash that occurred Monday morning, the agency said it is coordinating with his office. An NTSB spokesperson clarified for School Transportation News that it opened an incident investigation rather than a full safety investigation.
“There are no planned reports on this event, but the information we gather could be used to support other investigations and studies in the future,” the NTSB spokesperson explained.
Meanwhile, Polk County authorities identified the student who died as Adinaluz Prieto Oyola, a 16-year-old 10th-grader and cheerleader at Winter Haven High School. Deshawn Smith, 26, the driver of the Jeep struck by the bus, died at the scene, according to the Sheriff’s office. GoFundMe pages have been set up for both Prieto Oyola and Smith.
Three students remain hospitalized but are expected to recover, authorities said.
Sheriff Grady Judd said school bus driver Jessica Dye, 34, was pinned inside the vehicle but pulled herself out and immediately began helping the children on board.
Polk County Public Schools Superintendent Frederick Heid praised Dye as a hero, citing her composure and continued focus on students throughout the crash’s aftermath.
Heid also recognized students and good Samaritans who helped. According to officials, video showed four students attempting to rescue Prieto Oyola from the bus.
Polk County Public Schools issued a new statement expressing condolences and thanking those who supported the community.
“Our hearts go out to the family and friends of Winter Haven High sophomore Adinaluz Prieto Oyola,” the district stated. “Thank you to the many people from our county and state who have reached out to show support. A special thanks to the first responders and hospital workers who provided aid yesterday — we truly appreciate you.”
Polk County Schools officials confirmed the school bus was equipped with seatbelts. The exact type were not specified but they are thought to be lap belts, which are often used across the state. State law enacted 25 years ago required seatbelts at all school bus rider positions but did not specify between two-point lap belts and three-point lap/shoulder belts. Regardless of the type, usage by students and drivers is required.
As previously reported by School Transportation News, the crash occurred around 6:15 a.m. Monday on Lucerne Park Road, while the bus was transporting students to Winter Haven High School. Three other vehicles were involved.
The bus carried 39 people: 37 students, Dye, and her 9-year-old daughter. ABC News reported 35 of the bus inhabitants were transported across four local hospitals.
Investigators said a white Chevrolet Malibu crossed the double yellow line and struck the left rear of the eastbound school bus. Judd said a preliminary review of the school bus video showed the bus was in its proper lane before the collision.
Video released by the Polk County Sheriff’s Office shows the collision. Viewer discretion is advised. The the video shows the impact and the inside of the bus.
The impact tore a tire from the bus and caused it to lose traction, sending it into the westbound lane, where it collided head-on with Smith’s Jeep, according to authorities.
Investigators identified the Malibu driver as Maria Jimenez, 23, who is reportedly a nursing student. They said she cooperated fully, provided her phone, and voluntarily submitted a blood sample.
Authorities said blood test results remained pending. Investigators reported seeing no signs of impairment but had not determined why the Malibu crossed the center line. Judd also reportedly said cell phone usage had already been ruled out as a cause of the crash. A NTSB preliminary investigation report is expected in the coming weeks.
Judd said Jimenez would likely receive traffic citations for crossing the center line. He said criminal charges were not expected unless new evidence emerged.
Detainees board a plane chartered by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Seattle. (Photo by David Ryder/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON — Most judges on a federal appeals court seemed inclined during oral arguments Tuesday to allow a federal judge to continue investigating Trump officials for possible criminal contempt-of-court charges for defying a judicial order by sending more than 100 Venezuelan men to a brutal Salvadoran prison last year.
The administration is challenging if U.S. District Judge James Boasberg can continue a contempt investigation after the Justice Department said former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was the sole official responsible for violating Boasberg’s oral and written orders.
Ending an inquiry would be “unfair” to Noem, “who might be a sacrificial lamb because you have picked who you want to go forward,” Judge J. Michelle Childs said.
The case stems from a proclamation that President Donald Trump signed in March 2025 that invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to rapidly deport Venezuelan males 14 years and older who were suspected members of the Tren de Aragua gang.
The American Civil Liberties Union sued to stop several deportation flights of 137 Venezuelans, and Boasberg issued a temporary restraining order to stop the removals. But the flights landed in El Salvador and the men were detained at a brutal mega-prison known as CECOT for four months before being released in a prison exchange with Venezuela.
The Department of Justice has only identified Noem as the official who decided to allow the planes to land in El Salvador despite the restraining order.
Boasberg is trying to identify other government officials who may also bear responsibility. The ACLU has argued the officials who provided legal advice, including now-Attorney General Todd Blanche, should be included.
All judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit participated in the rare full-court review.
They are: Chief Judge Sri Srinivasan and Judges Karen LeCraft Henderson, Patricia A. Millett, Cornelia T.L. Pillard, Robert L. Wilkins, Gregory G. Katsas, Neomi Rao, Justin R. Walker, Childs, Florence Y. Pan, Bradley N. Garcia, Harry T. Edwards, Douglas H. Ginsburg, A. Raymond Randolph and Judith W. Rogers.
Former President Jimmy Carter nominated Edwards; former President Ronald Regan nominated Henderson and Ginsburg; former President George H.W. Bush nominated Randolph; former President Bill Clinton nominated Rogers; former President Barack Obama nominated Srinivasan, Millett, Pillard and Wilkins; Trump nominated Katsas, Rao and Walker in his first term and former President Joe Biden nominated Childs, Pan and Garcia.
Judge not a prosecutor, DOJ says
Representing the Trump administration, Brett A. Shumate, the assistant attorney general leading the DOJ’s Civil Division, argued that Boasberg does not have the authority to investigate possible criminal contempt charges and that role is only for a prosecutor.
“District judges do not investigate or prosecute crimes,” Shumate said. “That’s a role for a prosecutor, and so the purpose of the investigation at this point is no longer, let’s figure out who the decisionmaker was. It is now, let’s probe the mental state of senior government officials.”
Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project, said the March 2025 order from Boasberg clearly prohibited the Trump administration from transferring the Venezuelan men to CECOT, and that Boasberg should be allowed to conduct his preliminary inquiry to identify any other potential official who violated his ruling.
“The oral order was crystal clear,” Gelernt said.
Blance, Bove provided legal advice
Boasberg’s inquiry involves Blanche and Emil Bove, who were both high-ranking DOJ officials at the time. Bove is a judge in the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
Blanche and Bove gave legal advice to Joseph Mazzara, then the acting general counsel of the Department of Homeland Security, who informed Noem of Boasberg’s oral and written temporary restraining order that blocked the deportations under the Alien Enemies Act.
“After receiving that legal advice, Secretary Noem directed that the (Alien Enemies Act) detainees who had been removed from the United States before the Court’s order could be transferred to the custody of El Salvador,” according to a filing by DOJ.
According to a June 2025 whistleblower account, Bove told a group of attorneys at the department before the Venezuelan men were removed, that the deportations would still occur and “we may have to say f— you to the courts,” if an order blocking the removals was issued by a judge.
Before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee during his confirmation hearing to become a judge, Bove denied the June 2025 whistleblower account.
Boasberg also wants to hear testimony from the whistleblower, then-DOJ attorney Erez Reuveni, and Drew Ensign, a DOJ attorney who appeared before him in March 2025.
More facts needed
Shumate argued Tuesday that Boasberg already had the information he needed, and that the DOJ already noted that Noem was the government official who ordered the planes to continue to El Salvador.
Childs disagreed and said that there could be officials in that decisionmaking process other than Noem.
Shumate said that all Boasberg had asked the federal government was who made the decision.
“We’ve provided that information, but somehow that’s no longer good enough,” he said.
Millett agreed with Childs that there seemed to be multiple people involved in the decision that Noem made.
“It’s clear from the declarations that she was receiving legal advice from a number of people within the Justice Department,” Millett said. “Now, if an attorney providing legal advice to the secretary were to tell the secretary, ‘you have the legal authority to f-expletive the court order on this and go ahead and disembark people,’ might it be accurate that that attorney would just as well be in contempt of court as the secretary, potentially?”
Shumate said that would “depend on the facts.”
“Well, then the district court has to ask some more questions,” she said.
Former Department of Justice special counsel Jack Smith testifies before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on Sept. 29, 2026. (Screenshot from committee webcast)
WASHINGTON — Former special counsel Jack Smith on Tuesday defended before a U.S. Senate panel his past investigations of President Donald Trump’s possession of classified documents and alleged role in attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
Judiciary Committee Republicans repeatedly dissected Smith’s work and accused him of weaponizing the Department of Justice. In a heated exchange, Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., labeled Smith a “total dirtbag” and alleged he had perjured himself when Schmitt asked if Smith was in Atlanta on Feb. 3, 2024, during a separate sensitive election investigation development in Fulton County, Georgia. Smith said he was not there.
But it became clear Schmitt had bungled the accusations against Smith by mixing up the names of the Atlanta Hawks and Iowa Hawkeyes basketball teams, and the back-and-forth went viral on social media. Smith had attended a University of Maryland Terrapins game against the Hawkeyes, not a Hawks game, on the date in question.
Smith said in his opening statement he “will not be silenced” by threats, including Trump’s calls for his prosecution.
“I stand by my decisions as special counsel, including my decision to bring charges against President Trump,” Smith said. “I made those decisions without regard to President Trump’s political association, activities, beliefs, or candidacy in the 2024 presidential election.”
“Our investigation developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt that President Trump engaged in serious crimes against our nation,” Smith said.
Grassley: not ‘normal prosecution’
The hearing comes nearly two years after committee Chair Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, alleged the former special counsel improperly collected phone records of dozens of members of Congress during his probe of Trump’s role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. The insurrection followed Trump’s alleged conspiracy to create fake electors to swing the 2020 presidential election in his favor.
Smith denies any wrongdoing.
In his opening remarks, Grassley argued Smith’s investigation “ultimately wasn’t just about Trump.”
“It was about partisan agents and prosecutors mapping out the Republican apparatus,” Grassley said.
“This wasn’t a normal prosecution by any means. Yet today, you will certainly hear from Democrats that it was. Importantly, Mr. Smith has claimed his focus was on January 6, but his own conduct contradicts that,” Grassley said moments later, citing subpoenas for records before and after the date of Jan. 6, 2021, and those that included Republican interest groups.
Durbin says ‘nothing untoward’
Democrats dismissed the hearing’s premise and repeatedly evoked memories of evacuating the U.S. Senate while a mob of Trump supporters violently overran law enforcement and attacked the U.S. Capitol.
Ranking member Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said attacks on Smith “are nothing but a smokescreen to distract from the president’s own clear unlawful conduct.”
The U.S. Senate hearing room where former special counsel Jack Smith testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Sept. 29, 2026. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)
“Let me be clear: there was nothing untoward about special counsel Smith and his fellow prosecutors conducting this investigation. The aspersions cast on Mr. Smith nonstop are petty, personal, and political,” Durbin said.
Sen. Cory Booker, who is speculated to be eyeing a presidential run in 2028, said the hearing amounted to “gaslighting the American people.”
The New Jersey Democrat said the scenario “should be chilling to every American that the commander-in-chief … did everything he could to undermine the legal transfer of power, incited a riot, which several Republicans said he did, and we’re now persecuting the prosecutors who followed the evidence.”
Kennedy, Cruz attack Smith
But Senate Republicans maintained accusations that the Biden administration targeted Trump for prosecution just days after he announced he would challenge then-President Joe Biden in the 2024 presidential election.
Sen. John Kennedy, a Louisiana Republican, asked Smith if he told then-Attorney General Merrick Garland that he intended to prosecute the former president.
“I did so twice,” Smith answered.
“And the attorney general checked with President Biden. Is that right?” Kennedy asked.
“I have absolutely no idea,” Smith said, adding that he made an “independent decision” to prosecute.
“I made that decision on my own, consulting with my staff and reviewing the incredibly strong evidence that we had,” he said.
Kennedy also accused Smith of partisanship for only seeking phone records of Republicans during his investigation.
“The toll records that we sought were relevant to the investigation,” Smith told Kennedy, referring to historical logs that reveal time and duration of calls rather than content.
“Were you in the quad playing frisbee during (constitutional) law at Harvard Law School?” Kennedy asked, accusing Smith of violating the speech and debate clause that protects members of Congress.
“You make me want to throw up in my mouth,” Kennedy said.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who is widely considered a potential 2028 Republican presidential candidate, also attacked non-disclosure orders Smith obtained to keep the phone record subpoenas confidential.
Smith maintains he sought the orders in compliance with the law.
“Let me say congratulations, because you have succeeded where Richard Nixon failed, which is weaponizing the Department of Justice and the federal government to go after your political opponents,” Cruz said.
Details on the ‘dirtbag’ back-and-forth
The viral exchange with Schmitt came about when he falsely accused Smith of being in Atlanta when Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who was prosecuting Trump on a separate election conspiracy case, admitted she had a romantic relationship with a special prosecutor.
As his proof, Schmitt’s aide briefly displayed a large poster containing alleged texts between staff members about Smith’s attendance at an NBA game between the Atlanta Hawks and Golden State Warriors.
Smith said he could not recall going to an NBA game in Atlanta, or even visiting the city during his time as special prosecutor.
“I don’t think you know that we have this stuff, so I’ll give you a moment to process it so you don’t perjure yourself,” Schmitt said.
“You just took it down really quick, if I could look at that again,” Smith said.
When Durbin requested Schmitt provide Smith with a copy of the alleged texts, the Missouri Republican moved on to his next question and said “I think you’ve already perjured yourself.”
Wrapping up his questioning, Schmitt said, “You may think you’re a hero in this story, but let me tell you something, you’re a villain. … You will go down as a total dirtbag.”
Booker, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., prodded Schmitt to display the poster board again and provide a copy.
Smith said he recalled being at a University of Maryland women’s basketball game against the University of Iowa to see the popular Iowa player Caitlin Clark.
“Could it be the Iowa Hawkeyes then … Perhaps you should have looked at it more carefully?” Klobuchar said to Schmitt.
Schmitt criticized Klobuchar for interjecting before being officially called on for questioning.
“I’m gonna begin my questioning now, but I think that people should have their facts straight before they accuse someone of being a dirtbag,” Klobuchar said.
How the Trump cases turned out
Trump fought Smith’s prosecutions and claimed in court he was entitled to presidential immunity for any of his actions surrounding the 2020 election.
Smith dropped the election conspiracy case after Trump won the presidential election in November 2024.
Months prior, a Florida federal judge dismissed Smith’s case alleging Trump hoarded sensitive government documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate after leaving office in 2021.
Judge Aileen Cannon threw out the case in July 2024 on the grounds that the Biden administration illegally appointed Smith.
State records show a Minnesota school bus contractor repeatedly operated vehicles that state inspectors had placed out of service for safety violations, but prosecutors rarely filed charges, reported ABC 5.
The investigation reportedly followed a high-profile crash involving a Pride Transportation school bus last spring. The bus carrying students reportedly lost control and struck a building on the Hamline University campus, injuring three children and an adult.
According to the news report, records indicate the Minnesota State Patrol caught Pride Transportation operating school buses marked out of service at least 16 times since 2020. State inspection rules prohibit those buses from returning to service until identified defects are repaired, and the vehicles pass reinspection.
In one instance, a trooper reportedly found five out-of-service Pride buses transporting students in St. Paul. The citation referenced the company’s history of operating buses after failed annual inspections. About 85 percent of the company’s buses failed their latest inspections this year, according to state records cited in the report.
A former participant in the inspection process, who requested anonymity to protect his employment, alleged that some buses returned to service without repairs after receiving out-of-service decals. “We’d apply the out-of-service decal, and they say they’d get it fixed and then it would be en route that evening with nothing fixed,” he said.
An attorney representing Pride Transportation declined an interview and offered no comment. However, a company driver previously told local news reporters that buses sometimes failed for minor issues that were repaired, and that failed buses were not driven.
Troopers reportedly requested criminal charges in nearly every cited instance involving an out-of-service bus, the investigation found. Minnesota lawmakers increased the offense from a misdemeanor to a gross misdemeanor in 2023, but court records reportedly show prosecutors have filed the charge only once since the change.
St. Paul City Attorney Irene Kao reportedly said there was insufficient evidence to pursue criminal charges in the cases reviewed by her office. Kao did not respond to any additional questions.
The investigation also identified a previously unreported crash last May in Edina. A Pride bus without students reportedly crossed a parking lot and struck a house. Investigators could not determine the exact cause but cited possible driver error. Inspectors also concluded the bus should not have left the garage because of critical safety problems, including a severely worn tire.
Voting at the Portland Expo in Maine’s June 9, 2026 primary election. (Photo by Jim Neuger/Maine Morning Star)
WASHINGTON — Department of Homeland Security officers may have broken state laws carrying out the Trump administration’s orders to find noncitizens voting illegally in federal elections, Democratic senators alleged Monday following a whistleblower complaint.
U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said the whistleblower detailed the department’s “Unlawful Voter Initiative,” in which U.S Citizenship and Immigration Services immigration officers combed through state voter rolls, sometimes pretending to be the voter to access records.
U.S. citizens were also swept up in the efforts due to faulty data and pressure from top officials to meet a quota of five investigations per hour, or 12 minutes per inquiry, according to the whistleblower’s account.
“We just got more proof of (President Donald) Trump’s vile schemes to rig our elections,” said Schumer, a New York Democrat. “A DHS whistleblower warns that the department is pulling hundreds, hundreds of federal agents from national security roles, and sending them on a wild goose chase. The goal: to try and prove Trump’s sad, tired and long debunked election conspiracy theories.”
The New York Times was the first to report the existence of the DHS operation.
California Sen. Alex Padilla, the top Democrat on the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration that oversees federal elections, said the president “will go to extraordinary lengths to try to interfere with the midterm elections.”
Padilla said the whistleblower came forward last week.
Padilla and Schumer called for DHS to shut down the operation. The department did not immediately respond to States Newsroom’s request for comment.
“Donald Trump knows his record has been so bad,” Padilla said. “His only chance at keeping Republican majorities in Congress is to interfere with the elections.”
Noncitizens are not allowed to vote in federal elections, and cases are extremely rare. Some localities have passed laws to allow for noncitizen voting in local elections.
But the topic is a priority for the president, who has directed DHS to investigate voter rolls for illegal voting by noncitizens. On Monday, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin announced two noncitizens from Kansas and Louisiana illegally voted in federal elections.
“Voter fraud is already a serious problem, but non-citizens voting is even worse,” Mullin said. “Every time a non-citizen casts a ballot, it steals a vote from an American citizen.”
A Maryland man was arrested after he allegedly stole a privately owned school bus and drove it through a red light before striking a curb, reported Yahoo news.
According to the news report, officers first noticed the school bus at approximately 10:30 a.m. July 19 after the driver allegedly failed to stop at a red light at an intersection in Waldorf, Maryland.
Officers reportedly initiated a traffic stop. As the driver pulled the school bus over, he struck a curb and caused damage to the front of the vehicle. The extent of the damage was not immediately disclosed.
When officers approached the school bus, they reportedly found the driver alone inside. No passengers or students were on board the bus at the time of the incident, and no injuries were reported. The driver was identified as 34-year-old Joseph Andrew Townsend of Waldorf.
Investigators accuse Townsend of entering a privately owned school bus lot, locating the keys to one of the buses and driving away with the vehicle. Officials did not identify the company that owns the bus or disclose where the lot was located.
It was also unclear how long the bus had been missing before officers spotted it or whether the vehicle had been reported stolen before the traffic stop. Townsend was reportedly arrested and charged with theft of property valued at more than $25,000. He was held without bond following his arrest. The investigation remained ongoing.
Login
