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Legal experts say of all the charges filed against the former president and his aide, obstruction is one of the most serious. Of all of the federal charges that former president Donald Trump and his aide Walter Nauta face in the investigation into the alleged mishandling of top secret government documents, obstruction is one of the most serious, according to legal experts. Claire Finkelstein, the founder and faculty director of the Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law (CERL), at the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg Public Policy Center, noted that the obstruction charges in the indictment against Trump and his aide carry as much serious weight as the charges related to keeping the top secret documents, with a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. Finkelstein told ABC News this was not surprising, as the federal government has always treated allegations of interfering with any investigation seriously and often spearhead these kind of probes. The Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr. United Sta...

The district attorney in Westchester County, New York, has closed a two-year investigation into former President Trump without filing charges. The district attorney in Westchester County, New York, has closed a two-year investigation into former President Donald Trump without filing criminal charges , her office confirmed Thursday. District Attorney Miriam Rocah had been investigating whether Trump National Golf Club Westchester had tried to inappropriately lower its tax burden in the Town of Ossining. "The Westchester County District Attorney's Office conducted an investigation regarding certain properties owned by Donald J. Trump and/or the Trump Organization located in Westchester County, New York," read a statement from the office. "Our investigation is now closed. We approached this investigation as we do all of our investigations, objectively, and independent of politics, party affiliation and personal or political beliefs." MORE: Trump golf course under...

The DA probing efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Georgia is empaneling a new grand jury to weigh possible charges against former President Trump. The Atlanta-area prosecutor investigating efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Georgia is empaneling a new grand jury that could ultimately decide whether to approve charges against former President Donald Trump. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis met Tuesday with prospective jurors in front of Judge Robert McBurney at a courthouse near Atlanta, where she has been probing whether Trump and his allies' overtures to state officials in late 2020 amounted to criminal activity. In April, Willis signaled publicly that potential charges could be brought as soon as this summer. MORE: Fulton County DA says charging decisions to come this summer in 2020 election probe Willis officially launched the probe in February 2021, sparked in part by the now-infamous Jan. 2, 2021, phone call Trump made to Ge...

An accused hitman who federal authorities say was a top lieutenant for a Mexican drug cartel pleaded guilty in Fargo, North Dakota, on Thursday to federal charges FARGO, N.D. -- An accused hitman for a Mexican drug cartel pleaded guilty on Thursday to federal charges, ending a nearly 20-year-old investigation involving dozens of defendants. Juan Francisco Sillas-Rocha, of Tijuana, Mexico, pleaded guilty to three charges in a hearing before Chief Judge Pet er Welte in Fargo, North Dakota, including conspiracy to commit murder in furtherance of the continuing criminal enterprise. He is expected to be sentenced in early 2024; he faces life in prison and millions of dollars in fines, KFGO reported. His attorney, Matthew Lombard, did not immediately respond to phone or email messages from The Associated Press for comment on Sillas-Rocha's guilty plea. Authorities have said Sillas-Rocha was a top lieutenant for the Arellano Felix cartel, which for decades smuggled cocaine, marijuana an...

Hunter Biden is expected to enter a plea of not guilty when he is arraigned on federal gun charges, his attorney wrote in court filings Tuesday. President Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden is expected to enter a plea of not guilty when he is arraigned on federal gun charges, his attorney wrote in court filings Tuesday. It's the first official indication of the younger Biden's plans to fight the charges against him following his indictment last week, though his attorney has publicly suggested he would fight the charges. The president's only living son was indicted last Thursday by special counsel David Weiss on charges that he lied on a federal form when he said he was drug-free at the time that he purchased a Colt revolver in October 2018. MORE: Hunter Biden indicted by special counsel on felony gun charges Abbe Lowell, an attorney for Hunter Biden, has previously suggested they would push back on the gun charges , telling ABC News' George Stephanopoulos in an interv...

A judge has denied Hunter Biden's effort to avoid appearing in person at his arraignment on federal gun charges, ordering him to appear at a hearing scheduled for Oct. 3. A federal magistrate judge on Wednesday denied Hunter Biden's effort to avoid appearing in person at his arraignment on federal gun charges, ordering him to appear at a hearing scheduled for Oct. 3. Judge Christopher Burke wrote that the president's son "should be treated just as would any other defendant in our court." Hunter Biden's legal team had sought to have him appear virtually, citing "the financial impact on government resources and the logistical burden on the downtown area of Wilmington" as reason enough to avoid an in- person appearance. MORE: Timeline: Hunter Biden under legal, political scrutiny Prosecutors earlier Wednesday rebuffed that effort, arguing that an in- person arraignment is "important to promote the public's confidence that the defendant i...

The DOJ has charged an IRS tax consultant with allegedly leaking private tax information about wealthy individuals. The Justice Department announced on Friday charges against a Washington, D.C., IRS consultant for allegedly leaking tax information associated with former President Donald Trump and thousands of other wealthy individuals to two separate news organizations. 38-year-old Charles Littlejohn was charged via a criminal information with one count of unauthorized disclosure of tax returns and return information -- indicating he is likely set to plead guilty to the charge. The criminal information notes that while he worked at the IRS as a government contractor, he stole information associated with an unnamed high-ranking government official and disclosed it to a news organization. He also stole tax information from "thousands of the nation's wealth iest individuals and disclosed that information to a separate news organization," the Justice Department says. I...

Hunter Biden is expected to plead not guilty Tuesday when he is arraigned on three gun charges that were originally part of a federal plea deal that fell apart in July. Hunter Biden returns Tuesday to the same Delaware courthouse where his federal plea deal fell apart more than two months ago -- this time to face three felony gun charges leveled by the special counsel who negotiated that ill-fated agreement. Attorneys for Hunter Biden have signaled he will enter a plea of not guilty to the charges, which include allegations that he lied on a federal form when he said he was drug-free at the time that he purchased a Colt revolver in October 2018. Special counsel David Weiss indicted President Joe Biden's son last month after a yearslong investigation. That probe appeared on the cusp of completion in June, when Weiss' office brokered a two-pronged plea agreement with Hunter Biden's legal team. MORE: Judge orders Hunter Biden to appear in person at arraignment on federal gun...

As Donald Trump fights a civil fraud lawsuit in New York, the he has asked another judge to dismiss criminal charges he is facing over hush money paid to Stormy Daniels. As Donald Trump fights a $250 million civil fraud lawsuit in New York, the former president has asked another New York judge to dismiss criminal charges he is facing over hush money paid to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. Trump in April pleaded not guilty to nearly three dozen felony counts of falsifying business records stemming from monthly reimbursement payments to his former fixer Michael Cohen, who paid Daniels $130,000 to keep quiet about a long-denied affair she said she had with Trump. "President Trump cannot be said to have falsified business records of the Trump Organization by paying his personal attorney using his personal bank accounts," defense attorney Todd Blanche said in the motion, which called the case a "discombobulated package of politically motivated charges." MORE: Timel...

No Georgia State Police troopers involved in the fatal shooting of Manuel "Tortuguita" Teran will face charges, according to District Attorney George R. Christian. None of the Georgia State Police troopers involved in the fatal shooting of Manuel "Tortuguita" Teran will face charges , according to Stone Mountain Judicial Circuit District Attorney George R. Christian. Teran, who used they/them pronouns, was shot and killed by police on Jan. 18 as officers raided campgrounds occupied by environmental demonstrators who had allegedly been camping out for months to protest the development of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, dubbed "Cop City" by critics. According to an autopsy of Teran sent to ABC News, they did not have gunpowder residue on their hands. Officials claimed Teran fired the first shot at a state trooper. Officers then responded with gunfire. A placard is seen on a fence as people protest at the site of the Atlanta police training cen...

U.S. Attorney David Weiss was appointed special counsel in the case last month. President Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden has been indicted by special counsel David Weiss on felony gun charges . The charges bring renewed legal pressure on the younger Biden after a plea agreement he struck with prosecutors imploded in recent months. The younger Biden has been charged with one count of False Statement in Purchase of a Firearm, one count of False Statement Related to Information Required to be Kept By Federal Firearms Licensed Dealer, and one count of Possession of a Firearm by a Person who is an Unlawful User of or Addicted to a Controlled Substance. MORE: What to know about the Hunter Biden investigations Prosecutors have spent years scrutinizing Hunter Biden's business endeavors and personal life -- a probe that appeared to culminate in a plea agreement the two sides struck in June, which would have allowed him to plead guilty to a pair of misdemeanor tax offenses and enter i...

Illinois’ attorney general ended a five-year investigation into sexual abuse of children by Catholic clergy in the state Tuesday, releasing a nearly 700-page report that revealed the problem was far worse than the church had said in 2018 at the start o... CHICAGO -- Illinois' attorney general has ended a five-year investigation into sexual abuse of children by Catholic clergy in the state, releasing a nearly 700-page report that revealed the problem was far worse than the church acknowledged in 2018 at the start of the state's review. Attorney General Kwame Raoul said Tuesday that state investigators found that more than 450 Catholic clergy in Illinois had sexually abused nearly 2,000 children since 1950. But Raoul and other experts say the finding is unlikely to lead to criminal charges. That follows a familiar pattern — no rush of criminal charge s followed the 2018 release of a bombshell grand jury report on clergy abuse in Pennsylvania or last month’s report on abuse ...