3 FBI agents fired after investigating Trump file class action suit alleging 'retribution campaign'

WASHINGTON (AP) — Three fired FBI agents sued on Tuesday to try to get their jobs back, saying in a class action lawsuit that they were illegally punished for their participation in an investigation into President Donald Trump'sefforts to overturn his 2020 election defeat.

Fired Agents Lawsuit

The federal lawsuit adds tothe mounting list of court challengesto a personnel purge byFBI Director Kash Patelthat over the last year has resulted in the ousters of dozens of agents, either because of their involvement in investigations related to Trump or because they were perceived as insufficiently loyal to the Republican president's agenda.

The lawsuit in federal court in Washington was technically filed on behalf of just three agents but may have much broader implications given that its request for class action status could open the door for agents fired since the start of the Trump administration to get their jobs back.

The three agents — Michelle Ball, Jamie Garman and Blaire Toleman — were fired last October and November in what they say was a "retribution campaign" targeting them for their work on the investigation into Trump. The agents had between eight and 14 years of "exemplary and unblemished" service in the FBI and expected to spend the remainder of their careers atthe bureaubut were abruptly fired without cause and without being given a chance to respond, the lawsuit says.

"Serving the American people as FBI agents was the highest honor of our lives," they said in a statement. "We took an oath to uphold the Constitution, followed the facts wherever they led and never compromised our integrity. Our removal from federal service — without due process and based on a false perception of political bias — is a profound injustice that raises serious concerns about political interference in federal law enforcement."

Trump's indictment

The investigation the agents worked on culminated in a 2023 indictment from special counsel Jack Smith that accused Trump of illegally scheming to undo the results of the presidential election he lost to Democrat Joe Biden in 2020.Smith ultimately abandoned that case, along with a separate oneaccusing Trump of illegally retaining classified recordsat his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, after Trump won back the White House in 2024, citing Justice Department legal opinions that prohibit the federal indictments of sitting presidents.

The lawsuit notes that the firings followed the release by Sen. Chuck Grassley, the Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, of documents about the election investigation — known as Arctic Frost — that he said had come from within the FBI. Those records included files showing that Smith's team had subpoenaed several days of phone records of some Republican lawmakers, an investigative step that angered Trump allies inside Congress.

The complaint names as defendants Patel and Attorney General Pam Bondi, accusing them of having orchestrated the firings despite being "personally embroiled" either as witnesses or attorneys in some of the legal troubles Trump has faced.

Patel, for instance, was subpoenaed to appear before a federal grand jury investigating Trump's retention of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago and had his phone records subpoenaed, while Bondi was part of the legal team that represented Trump athis first impeachment trial, which resulted in his acquittal.

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"And now, by virtue of presidential appointment to the pinnacle of federal law enforcement, Defendants are abusing their positions to claim victories that eluded them on the merits," the lawsuit states.

Spokespeople for the FBI and the Justice Department declined to comment on the ongoing litigation. Patel and Bondi have said the fired agents and prosecutors who worked on Smith's team were responsible for weaponizing federal law enforcement, a claim that was also asserted in their termination letters but that the plaintiffs call defamatory and baseless.

The fired agents want 'fundamental constitutional protections'

Dan Eisenberg, a lawyer for the agents, said in a statement that his clients were fired without any investigation, notice of charges or chance to be heard.

"This lawsuit seeks to reaffirm fundamental constitutional protections for FBI employees, ensuring they can perform their duties without fear or favor. We all benefit when law enforcement officers' only loyalty is to facts and the truth," said Eisenberg, who's with the firm of Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel LLP.

The lawsuit asks for the agents to be reinstated to their positions and for a court declaration affirming that their rights had been violated. It also seeks to represent a class of at least 50 agents who have been terminated since Jan. 20, 2025, or will be. Those agents also stand to recover their jobs in the event the case is successful and the requested class action status is granted.

Others have been fired, too

Other fired employees who have sued include agents who werephotographed kneelingduring a racial justice protest in 2020; an agent trainee whodisplayed an LGBTQ+ flagat his workspace; and a group of senior officials, including the former acting director of the FBI, who were terminated last summer.

The firings have continued, with Patel last month pushing out a group of agents in the Washington field office who had been involved in investigating Trump's hoarding of classified documents. Trump has insisted he was entitled to keep the documents when he left the White House and has claimed without evidence he had declassified them.

Follow the AP's coverage of the FBI athttps://apnews.com/hub/us-federal-bureau-of-investigation.

byCristiano Ronaldo

in

March 31, 2026

3 FBI agents fired after investigating Trump file class action suit alleging 'retribution campaign'

WASHINGTON (AP) — Three fired FBI agents sued on Tuesday to try to get their jobs back, saying in a class action lawsuit ...

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DOJ told judge emails suggest Maxwell arranged women for Prince Andrew

As federal investigators built a case againstJeffrey Epstein'sco-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell, they discovered emails they believed suggested that she was arranging young women to have sex with then-Prince Andrew, according to a new review of documents released earlier this year by the Department of Justice.

A search warrant application signed just days beforeMaxwell's 2020 arrestidentified at least three instances when Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Maxwell appeared to discuss arrangements for young women, including ahead of his official state visit to Peru in 2002.

"As for girls well I leave that entirely to you," said an email believed to have been sent by Mountbatten-Windsor to Maxwell in Feb. 2002, signed "Masses of love A"

House Oversight panel seeks testimony from private investigators who removed evidence from Epstein's home

In another email identified by the FBI, Mountbatten-Windsor asked Maxwell about helping him find "some new inappropriate friends," according to the search warrant affidavit.

"I am up here at Balmoral Summer Camp for the Royal Family," Mountbatten-Windsor wrote in August 2001. "Have you found me some new inappropriate friends?"

Months later ahead of his official visit to Peru, Maxwell shared with Mountbatten-Windsor an email in which she asked an acquaintance in Peru to help find him people who are "intelligent pretty fun" and can be "to be friendly and discreet."

"Some sight seeing some 2 legged sight seeing (read intelligent pretty fun and from good families) and he will be very happy. I know I can rely on you to show him a wonderful time and that you will only introduce him to friends that you can trust and rely on to be friendly and discreet and fun," Maxwell wrote in March 2002.

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"Got it I will ring him today if I can. Love you A," an email associated with Mountbatten-Windsor responded.

According to a search application released earlier this year by the Department of Justice, the FBI believed those emails showed Andrew and Maxwell "discussing her attempts to arrange for young females to engage in sex acts" with him. The messages were cited as part of an application to get a judge's permission to search dozens of electronic devices seized from Epstein's residences.

Neither the palace nor a representative for the former Prince Andrew responded to a request for comment from ABC News.

Mountbatten-Windsor has long denied any wrongdoing, and Maxwell -- who wasconvicted on sex trafficking chargesin 2021 -- was never charged with arranging women for Mountbatten-Windsor. As part of that prosecution, investigators unsuccessfully sought to interview Mountbatten-Windsor in 2020.

"To date, Prince Andrew has provided zero cooperation," former U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman said in January 2020.

The disclosure of the new documents come as police in the United Kingdom are renewing their scrutiny of Mountbatten-Windsor. In aninterview with ABC Newsearlier this month, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said his office was seeking unredacted materials related to Epstein from the Department of Justice.

"There's a whole range of suggested sexual allegations and those are being assessed at the moment to see whether any of them do actually merit a criminal investigation," Rowley said.

ABC News' Zoe Magee contributed to this report.

byCristiano Ronaldo

in

March 31, 2026

DOJ told judge emails suggest Maxwell arranged women for Prince Andrew

As federal investigators built a case againstJeffrey Epstein'sco-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell, they discovered em...

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Yahoo Finance

By AJ Vicens

GOOGL

March 31 (Reuters) - Hackers linked to North Korea breached behind-the-scenes software that runs many common online functions in an effort to steal login information that could ‌enable further cyber operations, Google said on Tuesday.

The hackers targeted Axios, a program that ‌connects apps and web services, by adding their own malicious software to an update issued Monday, Google and independent cyber ​researchers said after the hack came to light early on Tuesday.

"Every time you load a website, check your bank balance, or open an app on your phone, there's a good chance Axios is running somewhere in the background making that work," said Tom Hegel, a senior researcher at SentinelOne.

The malicious ‌software, which has since been removed, ⁠could have given hackers access to a computer's data including access credentials, which can then be used to carry out additional data theft or other kinds ⁠of attacks.

The developers of Axios could not immediately be reached for comment. Rather than a proprietary commercial product, the software is open source, meaning the code can be openly licensed and modified by users.

The ​cyber researchers ​described the breach as a supply chain attack, in ​which the hack could enable attacks on ‌downstream entities.

"You don't have to click anything or make a mistake," Hegel said. "The software you already trust did it for you."

Google attributed the hack to a group it tracks as UNC1069. Google said in a February report the group has operated since at least 2018 and is known for targeting the cryptocurrency and financial industries.

"North Korean hackers have deep experience with supply chain attacks, which ‌they primarily use to steal cryptocurrency," John Hultquist, chief analyst ​for Google's threat intelligence group, said in a statement.

North ​Korea uses stolen crypto to fund its ​weapons and other programs, and evade sanctions, according to the U.S. government.

North Korea's ‌mission to the U.N. did not immediately ​respond to a request ​for comment.

The hackers created versions of the malware that could infect macOS, Windows and Linux operating-system versions, according to an analysis published by cybersecurity firm Elastic Security.

The hackers' methods meant "the ​attacker gained a delivery mechanism ‌with potential reach into millions of environments," Elastic said. It was not clear how ​many times the malicious software was downloaded.

Efforts to contact the hackers were unsuccessful.

(Reporting by ​AJ Vicens in Detroit; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

byCristiano Ronaldo

in

March 31, 2026

Yahoo Finance

By AJ Vicens GOOGL March 31 (Reuters) - Hackers linked to North Korea breached behind-the-scenes so...

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Supreme Court's trans conversion ban ruling to start new legal debate

WASHINGTON – TheSupreme Courton March 31 said Colorado's ban on LGBTQ+ "conversion therapy" for young people infringes on the free speech rights of a Christian counselor, the latestlegal setback for LGBTQ+ Americansfrom the high court.

Colorado officials argued that the law − which is similar to restrictions in about half the states – regulates professional conduct, not speech. And major medical groups have repudiated conversion therapy as ineffective and harmful.

But the Supreme Court sided 8-1 with the therapist challenging the ban, agreeing that the Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals should have applied a stricter constitutional test to evaluate the law. The court sent the case back to the appeals court to be reconsidered under the tougher test, which it is unlikely to pass.

Enacted in 2019, Colorado's Minor Conversion Therapy Lawdefines conversion therapyas attempts to "change an individual's sexual orientation or gender identity, including efforts to change behaviors or gender expressions or to eliminate or reduce sexual or romantic attraction or feelings toward individuals of the same sex."

Writing for the majority, Justice Neil Gorsuch said Colorado's law tells the therapist "what views she may or may not express."

"Colorado may regard its policy as essential to public health and safety. Certainly, censorious governments throughout history have believed the same," Gorsuch wrote. "But the First Amendment stands as a shield against any effort to enforce orthodoxy in thought or speech in this country."

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who read portions of her dissent from the bench, said the court's decision threatens to prevent states from regulating medical care, risking "grave harm to Americans' health and wellbeing."

"The Constitution does not pose a barrier to reasonable regulation of harmful medical treatments just because substandard care comes via speech instead of a scalpel," she wrote.

People gather in prayer as protesters rally outside the Supreme Court as the justices hears oral arguments on whether Colorado's ban on providing conversion therapy to LGBTQ+ children violates a private therapist's rights to free speech.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Demonstrators on both sides of the issue of conversion therapy gather outside the Supreme Court as the Court hears oral arguments in Chiles v. Salazar, a landmark case on conversion therapy.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> People gather in prayer as protesters rally outside the Supreme Court.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> A man wears a shirt reading "conversion therapy sucks" outside the Supreme Court.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Protesters rally outside the Supreme Court.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> A man wears a shirt reading "conversion therapy dropout" gathers with demonstrators outside the Supreme Court.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />

Demonstrators gather outside Supreme Court over conversion therapy case

Christian counselor backed by Trump administration

Kaley Chiles, a licensed counselor with a master's degree in clinical mental health who said she practices from a Christian perspective, said the law allows her to help young people embrace a transgender identity but not help them "grow in peace and comfort with the body that you're in."

The Justice Department under the Trump administration backed Chiles, telling the court that Colorado "is muzzling one side of an ongoing debate in the mental-health community about how to discuss questions of gender and sexuality with children."

Colorado argued conversion therapy is harmful

During the October oral arguments, Colorado state attorney Shannon Stevenson said there's no evidence that conversion therapy works, while studies have shown that "telling someone there is something innate about yourself you can change" is harmful.

But Chiles' attorney disputed the applicability of studies to her form of counseling.

And the Justice Department pointed to a problem with relying on the "prevailing standard of care" to regulate therapy, noting that as recently as the 1970s, the medical community agreed that being gay was a mental illness.

The American Psychiatric Association declassified homosexuality as a mental illness in 1973.

More than a dozen mental health and medical professional organizations – including the American Psychological Association and the American Psychiatric Association – now say efforts to change someone's sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression "do not meet the criteria of a legitimate therapeutic treatment."

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More:RFK Jr. moves to restrict gender-affirming care for minors

Still, in 2023, The Trevor Project – an advocacy group for LGBTQ+ people – saidit foundmore than 600 professional counselors who say they can help alter someone's sexual orientation or gender identity. (The group identified hundreds of additional unlicensed counselors who operate through a religious capacity and are not covered by laws like Colorado's.)

"The Supreme Court's decision to treat the dangerous practice of conversion therapy as constitutionally protected speech is a tragic step backward for our country that will put young lives at risk," Trevor Project CEO Jaymes Black said in a statement after the ruling.

Chiles, the Colorado therapist, called the decision "a victory for counselors and, more importantly, kids and families everywhere."

"Counselors walking alongside these young people shouldn't be limited to promoting state-approved goals like gender transition, which often leads to harmful drugs and surgeries," she said.

Justice Elena Kagan, one of the two liberals who voted with the court's six conservatives, said Colorado may be able to regulate counseling as long as the state's rules are "viewpoint-neutral."

"Fuller consideration of that question, though, can wait for another day," she wrote in a concurring opinion joined by Justice Sonia Sotomayor. "We need not here decide how to assess viewpoint-neutral laws regulating health providers' expressions because, as the Court holds, Colorado's is not one."

In a statement, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said he is considering how to proceed. Polis, the country's first openly gay elected governor, signed the law.

"Conversion therapy doesn't work, can seriously harm youth, and Coloradans should beware before turning over their hard-earned money to a scam," said Polis, a Democrat. "I am evaluating theU.S. Supreme Courtruling and working to figure out how to better protect LGBTQ youth and free speech in Colorado."

String of losses in LGBTQ+ cases from Colorado

Colorado, a pioneering state for gay rights, has beenat the centerof two previous Supreme Court cases about LGBTQ+ issues in the past seven years.

More:From 'hate state' to pioneer, Colorado has another LGBTQ+ case at Supreme Court

In those cases, the court sided witha website developeranda cake bakeropposed to providing some services to gay customers because of their religious beliefs.

More recently, in a case from Tennessee, the Supreme Court ruled last year that states can bangender affirming care for minors, including surgeries, puberty blockers and hormone treatments.

More:Supreme Court to take up blockbuster case on transgender athletes joining girls' teams

The justices are currentlyconsideringwhether states can prevent transgender girls and women from playing on female sports teams.

Contributing: Trevor Hughes

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Supreme Court rules against ban on conversion therapy for minors

byCristiano Ronaldo

in

March 31, 2026

Supreme Court's trans conversion ban ruling to start new legal debate

WASHINGTON – TheSupreme Courton March 31 said Colorado's ban on LGBTQ+ "conversion therapy" for young peopl...

Read More

Oil and gas prices won't immediately return to normal even if the Iran war ends, the EU warns

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Skyrocketing oil and gas prices in Europe as a result of the ongoingIran warwon't return to normal levels any time soon, even if peace is declared tomorrow, the European Union's energy commissioner warned Tuesday.

Commissioner Dan Jørgensen said although there are no immediate oil and gas supply shortages in the 27-member bloc, there's pressure on diesel and jet fuel supply as well as "increasing constraints" in global gas markets that are resulting in higher electricity prices.

"What I find extremely important is to state as clearly as I can, that even if that peace is here tomorrow, still we will not go back to normal in a foreseeable future," Jørgensen told a news conference after a meeting of EU energy ministers.

He said the EU's executive arm is preparing a string of measures designed to help families and businesses weather the huge spike in oil prices that have resulted in about a 70% price hike for gas and 60% for oil in Europe. Sincethe start of the war, the EU's bill for imported fossil fuels has jumped by 14 billion euros, according to Jørgensen.

Closely coordinated action between all EU members is necessary to "avoid fragmented national responses and disruptive signals to the markets," he said.

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The "toolbox" of measures now in the works will be unveiled "quite soon" and will include ways to make it easier for states to decouple gas prices from electricity prices, the commissioner said. He added that a tax cut on electricity, as suggested byCommission President Ursula von der Leyenis also being weighed.

Jørgensen said although he doesn't foresee a repeat of the 2022 natural gas crisis where companies reaped huge profits from a massive gas price hike, a one-time "windfall tax" on such companies "is a possibility."

There are now "good opportunities" for member states to financially support vulnerable groups or industries now under "extraordinary stress" and that the Commission would make "these possibilities even simpler and wider," said Jørgensen.

Jørgensen also encouraged EU members to consider the International Energy Agency's 10-point plan which includes work from home, reduced highway speeds, encouraging public transport and increasing car sharing.

He said the EU stands by its ban onRussian gas purchases, which is meant to reduce dependence on Russian gas and choke off funding for Russia's war in Ukraine. Reliance on Russian gas dropped from 45% before the war to 10% now and will be reduced to zero once imports from other suppliers ramp up, especially from the U.S. The EU is looking at new energy sources from Azerbaijan, Algeria and Canada as well as smaller producers around the world.

The commissioner warned the EU should never "repeat the mistakes of the past allowing Putin to weaponize energy against us and blackmail member states." He added that "it would be totally unacceptable" for the EU to continue buying energy that would "indirectly help finance the terrible war that Putin is conducting in Ukraine."

byCristiano Ronaldo

in

March 31, 2026

Oil and gas prices won't immediately return to normal even if the Iran war ends, the EU warns

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Skyrocketing oil and gas prices in Europe as a result of the ongoingIran warwon't return to no...

Read More