Skip to Content Facebook Feature Image

Did Ahmaud Arbery's killers get help from a prosecutor? A jury hears clashing accounts

News

Did Ahmaud Arbery's killers get help from a prosecutor? A jury hears clashing accounts
News

News

Did Ahmaud Arbery's killers get help from a prosecutor? A jury hears clashing accounts

2025-01-29 08:19 Last Updated At:08:22

BRUNSWICK, Ga. (AP) — Attorneys clashed before a trial jury Tuesday over whether a former prosecutor abused her power to try to protect the men who chased and killed Ahmaud Arbery in the streets of a quiet Georgia neighborhood nearly five years ago.

Jackie Johnson served as district attorney for coastal Glynn County when Arbery was pursued by white men in pickup trucks who saw him running in their neighborhood on Feb. 23, 2020, and wrongly assumed the 25-year-old Black man was a thief. The chase ended when one of the three men fatally shot Arbery at close range with a shotgun.

More Images
Prosecutor John Fowler makes his opening statement to the jury Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, in Brunswick, Ga., in the trial of former Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jackie Johnson who is accused of obstruction of justice and violating her oath of office. (Terry Dickson/The Brunswick News via AP, Pool)

Prosecutor John Fowler makes his opening statement to the jury Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, in Brunswick, Ga., in the trial of former Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jackie Johnson who is accused of obstruction of justice and violating her oath of office. (Terry Dickson/The Brunswick News via AP, Pool)

Lead defense lawyer Brian Steel makes his opening statement to the jury Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, in Brunswick, Ga., in the trial of former Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jackie Johnson who is accused of obstruction of justice and violating her oath of office. (Terry Dickson/The Brunswick News via AP, Pool)

Lead defense lawyer Brian Steel makes his opening statement to the jury Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, in Brunswick, Ga., in the trial of former Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jackie Johnson who is accused of obstruction of justice and violating her oath of office. (Terry Dickson/The Brunswick News via AP, Pool)

Lee Merritt, a lawyer for Wanda Cooper-Jones listens to opening statements Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, in Brunswick, Ga., in the trial of former Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jackie Johnson who is accused of obstruction of justice and violating her oath of office in the investigation of Cooper-Jones’ son, Ahmaud Arbery. (Terry Dickson/The Brunswick News via AP, Pool)

Lee Merritt, a lawyer for Wanda Cooper-Jones listens to opening statements Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, in Brunswick, Ga., in the trial of former Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jackie Johnson who is accused of obstruction of justice and violating her oath of office in the investigation of Cooper-Jones’ son, Ahmaud Arbery. (Terry Dickson/The Brunswick News via AP, Pool)

Senior Judge John R. Tuner addresses the jury Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, in Brunswick, Ga., moments before lawyers delivered their opening statements in the trial of former Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jackie Johnson who is accused of obstruction of justice and violating her oath of office. (Terry Dickson/The Brunswick News via AP, Pool)

Senior Judge John R. Tuner addresses the jury Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, in Brunswick, Ga., moments before lawyers delivered their opening statements in the trial of former Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jackie Johnson who is accused of obstruction of justice and violating her oath of office. (Terry Dickson/The Brunswick News via AP, Pool)

Lead defense lawyer Brian Steel makes his opening statement to the jury Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, in Brunswick, Ga., in the trial of former Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jackie Johnson who is accused of obstruction of justice and violating her oath of office. (Terry Dickson/The Brunswick News via AP, Pool)

Lead defense lawyer Brian Steel makes his opening statement to the jury Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, in Brunswick, Ga., in the trial of former Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jackie Johnson who is accused of obstruction of justice and violating her oath of office. (Terry Dickson/The Brunswick News via AP, Pool)

Senior Judge John R. Tuner listens Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, in Brunswick, Ga., as prosecutor John Fowler delivers his opening statement in the trial of former Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jackie Johnson who is accused of obstruction of justice and violating her oath of office. (Terry Dickson/The Brunswick News via AP, Pool)

Senior Judge John R. Tuner listens Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, in Brunswick, Ga., as prosecutor John Fowler delivers his opening statement in the trial of former Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jackie Johnson who is accused of obstruction of justice and violating her oath of office. (Terry Dickson/The Brunswick News via AP, Pool)

Prosecutor John Fowler makes his opening statement to the jury Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, in Brunswick, Ga., in the trial of former Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jackie Johnson who is accused of obstruction of justice and violating her oath of office. (Terry Dickson/The Brunswick News via AP, Pool)

Prosecutor John Fowler makes his opening statement to the jury Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, in Brunswick, Ga., in the trial of former Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jackie Johnson who is accused of obstruction of justice and violating her oath of office. (Terry Dickson/The Brunswick News via AP, Pool)

Former Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jackie Johnson listens to opening statements on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, in Brunswick, Ga., with her defense team during the opening day of her trial on charges of obstruction of justice and violating her oath of office. (Terry Dickson/The Brunswick News via AP, Pool)

Former Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jackie Johnson listens to opening statements on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, in Brunswick, Ga., with her defense team during the opening day of her trial on charges of obstruction of justice and violating her oath of office. (Terry Dickson/The Brunswick News via AP, Pool)

Former District Attorney Jackie Johnson, second from right, stands with her defense attorneys in court Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, in Brunswick, Georgia, as jury selection begins in her trial on misconduct charges. Johnson is charged with interfering with police investigating the 2020 killing of Ahmaud Arbery. (Michael Hall/The Brunswick News via AP, Pool)

Former District Attorney Jackie Johnson, second from right, stands with her defense attorneys in court Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, in Brunswick, Georgia, as jury selection begins in her trial on misconduct charges. Johnson is charged with interfering with police investigating the 2020 killing of Ahmaud Arbery. (Michael Hall/The Brunswick News via AP, Pool)

Lead defense lawyer Brian Steel makes his opening statement to the jury Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, in Brunswick, Ga., in the trial of former Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jackie Johnson who is accused of obstruction of justice and violating her oath of office. (Terry Dickson/The Brunswick News via AP, Pool)

Lead defense lawyer Brian Steel makes his opening statement to the jury Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, in Brunswick, Ga., in the trial of former Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jackie Johnson who is accused of obstruction of justice and violating her oath of office. (Terry Dickson/The Brunswick News via AP, Pool)

Former District Attorney Jackie Johnson sits in the courtroom Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, in Brunswick, Georgia, as jury selection begins in her misconduct trial. Johnson is charged with interfering with police investigating the 2020 killing of Ahmaud Arbery. (Michael Hall/The Brunswick News via AP, Pool)

Former District Attorney Jackie Johnson sits in the courtroom Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, in Brunswick, Georgia, as jury selection begins in her misconduct trial. Johnson is charged with interfering with police investigating the 2020 killing of Ahmaud Arbery. (Michael Hall/The Brunswick News via AP, Pool)

More than two months passed without arrests in Arbery's death, until cellphone video of the shooting leaked online. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation took over the case from local police and Arbery's pursuers were all charged and later convicted of murder.

Johnson was also charged in 2021 with violating her oath of office, a felony, as well as a misdemeanor count of hindering the police investigation of Arbery's death.

A jury was seated for her trial Tuesday and heard nearly two hours of opening statements from a prosecutor from Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr's office and from Johnson's lead defense attorney.

Prosecutor John Fowler told jurors that police initially told Arbery’s mother that her son was shot while committing a home invasion, which was false. As Arbery's family tried in vain to learn more from authorities, he said, Johnson was focused on helping the man who started the deadly pursuit.

Greg McMichael had retired the previous year from his job as an investigator in Johnson's office. It was his son who fired the fatal shotgun blasts. An hour later, McMichael left a message on Johnson's cellphone asking her for help.

“She put the interest of her former chief investigator and her longtime friend ahead of a victim," Fowler said.

Johnson's lead attorney, Brian Steel, insisted she's innocent. He said the only advice she gave to McMichael after the shooting was: “Get a lawyer.”

Steel said that Johnson immediately recused herself and handed the case to a outside prosecutor. He also blamed local police for jumping to the false conclusion that Arbery had been caught committing a crime and was shot in self-defense.

“Jackie has done nothing to put her finger on the scales of justice,” Steel said.

He told the jury that Johnson assumed Arbery was a burglar because that's what police had told her, and she was stunned two months later to see the leaked video that told a very different story.

Senior Judge John R. Turner seated a jury of 12 plus three alternate jurors at the Glynn County courthouse a week after jury selection began in the port city of Brunswick. It was delayed by a rare winter storm that left the coastal community coated in snow and ice.

The judge said he expects Johnson's trial to last two weeks or more. It's being held at the same courthouse where Arbery’s assailants were convicted of murder in 2021. They were also convicted of federal hate crimes in a separate trial the following year.

Greg McMichael and his son Travis McMichael armed themselves and chased Arbery in a pickup truck after seeing him run past their house. A neighbor, William “Roddie” Bryan, joined the pursuit in his own truck and recorded cellphone video of the shooting.

“My son and I have been involved in a shooting, and I need some advice right away,” Greg McMichael said in a voicemail left on Johnson's cellphone after the shooting and later included in court records.

Prosecutors say Johnson abused her power by getting the attorney general to appoint an outside prosecutor whom Johnson knew had already advised police against making arrests. Fowler said Johnson never disclosed that George Barnhill, the first of three outside prosecutors assigned to the case, had concluded Arbery's killing wasn't a crime.

“She intentionally withheld information so that nobody would know that George Barnhill had already decided the case,” Fowler said.

Steel said that Johnson had enlisted Barnhill the day after the shooting to advise police because her relationship with Greg McMichael posed a conflict of interest. But he denied that Johnson recommended Barnhill when she later asked the attorney general to appoint an outside prosecutor.

“Jackie doesn't recommend anybody,” Steel told the jury. "You’ll see the letter.”

Johnson was also charged in a September 2021 indictment with hindering police by “directing" them to not arrest Travis McMichael.

Fowler in his opening statement made no reference to Johnson telling police not to arrest anyone. Steel said the jury will later hear recorded interviews with police investigators saying they received no such directive from Johnson.

Johnson was voted out of office in November 2020 after 10 years as district attorney for the five-county Brunswick Judicial Circuit. She largely blamed her defeat on controversy over the case, which erupted months earlier.

Prosecutor John Fowler makes his opening statement to the jury Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, in Brunswick, Ga., in the trial of former Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jackie Johnson who is accused of obstruction of justice and violating her oath of office. (Terry Dickson/The Brunswick News via AP, Pool)

Prosecutor John Fowler makes his opening statement to the jury Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, in Brunswick, Ga., in the trial of former Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jackie Johnson who is accused of obstruction of justice and violating her oath of office. (Terry Dickson/The Brunswick News via AP, Pool)

Lead defense lawyer Brian Steel makes his opening statement to the jury Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, in Brunswick, Ga., in the trial of former Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jackie Johnson who is accused of obstruction of justice and violating her oath of office. (Terry Dickson/The Brunswick News via AP, Pool)

Lead defense lawyer Brian Steel makes his opening statement to the jury Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, in Brunswick, Ga., in the trial of former Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jackie Johnson who is accused of obstruction of justice and violating her oath of office. (Terry Dickson/The Brunswick News via AP, Pool)

Lee Merritt, a lawyer for Wanda Cooper-Jones listens to opening statements Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, in Brunswick, Ga., in the trial of former Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jackie Johnson who is accused of obstruction of justice and violating her oath of office in the investigation of Cooper-Jones’ son, Ahmaud Arbery. (Terry Dickson/The Brunswick News via AP, Pool)

Lee Merritt, a lawyer for Wanda Cooper-Jones listens to opening statements Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, in Brunswick, Ga., in the trial of former Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jackie Johnson who is accused of obstruction of justice and violating her oath of office in the investigation of Cooper-Jones’ son, Ahmaud Arbery. (Terry Dickson/The Brunswick News via AP, Pool)

Senior Judge John R. Tuner addresses the jury Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, in Brunswick, Ga., moments before lawyers delivered their opening statements in the trial of former Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jackie Johnson who is accused of obstruction of justice and violating her oath of office. (Terry Dickson/The Brunswick News via AP, Pool)

Senior Judge John R. Tuner addresses the jury Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, in Brunswick, Ga., moments before lawyers delivered their opening statements in the trial of former Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jackie Johnson who is accused of obstruction of justice and violating her oath of office. (Terry Dickson/The Brunswick News via AP, Pool)

Lead defense lawyer Brian Steel makes his opening statement to the jury Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, in Brunswick, Ga., in the trial of former Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jackie Johnson who is accused of obstruction of justice and violating her oath of office. (Terry Dickson/The Brunswick News via AP, Pool)

Lead defense lawyer Brian Steel makes his opening statement to the jury Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, in Brunswick, Ga., in the trial of former Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jackie Johnson who is accused of obstruction of justice and violating her oath of office. (Terry Dickson/The Brunswick News via AP, Pool)

Senior Judge John R. Tuner listens Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, in Brunswick, Ga., as prosecutor John Fowler delivers his opening statement in the trial of former Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jackie Johnson who is accused of obstruction of justice and violating her oath of office. (Terry Dickson/The Brunswick News via AP, Pool)

Senior Judge John R. Tuner listens Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, in Brunswick, Ga., as prosecutor John Fowler delivers his opening statement in the trial of former Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jackie Johnson who is accused of obstruction of justice and violating her oath of office. (Terry Dickson/The Brunswick News via AP, Pool)

Prosecutor John Fowler makes his opening statement to the jury Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, in Brunswick, Ga., in the trial of former Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jackie Johnson who is accused of obstruction of justice and violating her oath of office. (Terry Dickson/The Brunswick News via AP, Pool)

Prosecutor John Fowler makes his opening statement to the jury Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, in Brunswick, Ga., in the trial of former Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jackie Johnson who is accused of obstruction of justice and violating her oath of office. (Terry Dickson/The Brunswick News via AP, Pool)

Former Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jackie Johnson listens to opening statements on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, in Brunswick, Ga., with her defense team during the opening day of her trial on charges of obstruction of justice and violating her oath of office. (Terry Dickson/The Brunswick News via AP, Pool)

Former Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jackie Johnson listens to opening statements on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, in Brunswick, Ga., with her defense team during the opening day of her trial on charges of obstruction of justice and violating her oath of office. (Terry Dickson/The Brunswick News via AP, Pool)

Former District Attorney Jackie Johnson, second from right, stands with her defense attorneys in court Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, in Brunswick, Georgia, as jury selection begins in her trial on misconduct charges. Johnson is charged with interfering with police investigating the 2020 killing of Ahmaud Arbery. (Michael Hall/The Brunswick News via AP, Pool)

Former District Attorney Jackie Johnson, second from right, stands with her defense attorneys in court Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, in Brunswick, Georgia, as jury selection begins in her trial on misconduct charges. Johnson is charged with interfering with police investigating the 2020 killing of Ahmaud Arbery. (Michael Hall/The Brunswick News via AP, Pool)

Lead defense lawyer Brian Steel makes his opening statement to the jury Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, in Brunswick, Ga., in the trial of former Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jackie Johnson who is accused of obstruction of justice and violating her oath of office. (Terry Dickson/The Brunswick News via AP, Pool)

Lead defense lawyer Brian Steel makes his opening statement to the jury Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, in Brunswick, Ga., in the trial of former Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jackie Johnson who is accused of obstruction of justice and violating her oath of office. (Terry Dickson/The Brunswick News via AP, Pool)

Former District Attorney Jackie Johnson sits in the courtroom Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, in Brunswick, Georgia, as jury selection begins in her misconduct trial. Johnson is charged with interfering with police investigating the 2020 killing of Ahmaud Arbery. (Michael Hall/The Brunswick News via AP, Pool)

Former District Attorney Jackie Johnson sits in the courtroom Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, in Brunswick, Georgia, as jury selection begins in her misconduct trial. Johnson is charged with interfering with police investigating the 2020 killing of Ahmaud Arbery. (Michael Hall/The Brunswick News via AP, Pool)

President Donald Trump upended three years of U.S. policy toward Ukraine on Wednesday, saying that he and Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed to begin negotiations on ending the war following a dramatic prisoner swap.

Trump said in a social media post that he and Putin had a lengthy phone call during which they committed to “work together, very closely” to bring the conflict to an end. Trump then called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who said they discussed “opportunities to achieve peace.”

While speaking at NATO headquarters in Brussels, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that NATO membership was not realistic for Ukraine.

Here's the latest:

First lady Melania Trump made the announcement:

“The President and I are excited to reopen the White House to those interested in the extraordinary story of this iconic and beautiful landmark. There is much to learn about the American Presidency, the First Families who have lived here, and our Nation’s rich history from a firsthand experience at the White House. This opportunity is unique among nations around the globe — a tradition we are honored to continue for the hundreds of thousands of visitors who come each year,” she said.

Tours must be requested through a member of Congress.

Rep. Brendan Boyle, the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee, said the GOP tax cuts won’t pay for themselves.

“Their plan blows up the deficit and sticks the middle class with the bill, whether through higher prices, deep cuts to essential programs, or both.”

And Rep. Paul Tonko many who rely on Medicaid would see higher costs or lose coverage.

“To take away this lifesaving coverage is cruel in its own right. But to do it all to further line the pockets of their donors, of the wealthiest Republicans and corporations, is despicable,” Tonko said.

The budget plan released Wednesday would advance many of President Trump’s top domestic priorities, and increase the debt limit by $4 trillion so that the U.S. can continue financing its bills.

The 45-page budget plan would also cut spending by at least $1.5 trillion. GOP leaders are eyeing cuts to social services, and particularly Medicaid, as they seek massive reductions. But there’s a $100 billion boost in defense spending and $90 billion more for the Homeland Security Department, which is carrying out Trump’s massive immigration deportation.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said “our objective is to fulfill all the president’s campaign promises.”

▶ Read more about the House budget plan

President Donald Trump had said his additional action on the global economy Tuesday or Wednesday, with plans to sign an executive order to require reciprocal U.S. tariffs on imports, matching any tax rates charged by other countries.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday that she believes that the tariffs order would come before Thursday’s visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

▶ Read more on Trump tariffs

The vice president and his family paid a visit on Wednesday to the Catholic cathedral that was badly damaged in a 2019 fire.

Vance held his daughter, Mirabel, in his arms as the family took in the 12th century cathedral. His son, Vivek, strolled by his side and appeared to be asking him questions. His wife, Usha Vance, walked into Notre Dame holding their eldest son Ewan’s hand.

The family also visited the Louvre Museum on Tuesday evening.

Vance has been in Paris since Monday to attend a summit on artificial intelligence and meet with fellow world leaders.

He’ll head to Germany on Thursday where’s he expected to visit the Nazi concentration camp in Dachau ahead of a Friday address to the Munich Security Conference and talks with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

▶ Read more on negotiations with Russia and Ukraine

The news release Wednesday from the General Services Administration says it has “no plans to surveil employees” and “characterizations that GSA senior leadership are unduly pressuring employees to leave the agency are categorically untrue.”

A memo sent by the Office of Management and Budget last week required all federal agencies to submit names of every employee with less than top ratings and to make sure they can swiftly fire “poor performing employees.”

And an email from GSA’s Washington headquarters instructed regional managers to begin terminating leases on roughly 7,500 federal offices nationwide as President Trump and his advisor Elon Musk pursue a sweeping effort to fire government employees.

An independent agency established by President Harry S. Truman established in 1949, the GSA manages federal properties and delivers technology that serves millions of people across dozens of federal agencies.

Republican lawmakers are beginning to speak up to protect home-state interests, industries and jobs that are endangered by President Trump’s executive actions and the slash-and-burn tactics erupting across the federal government by billionaire Elon Musk ’s DOGE.

Alabama Sen. Katie Britt said she’s working to make sure the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency doesn’t hit what she called “life-saving, groundbreaking research” at institutions including her state’s beloved University of Alabama.

Kansas GOP Sen. Jerry Moran is worried that food from heartland farmers would spoil rather than be sent around the world as the U.S. Agency for International Development shutters.

While Democrats have been openly denouncing the impact, these are more quiet concerns — taken together, the first glimmers of GOP pushback against Trump’s upending of the federal government.

▶ Read more on Republican support for federal programs

The White House said during a press conference that court rulings going against the Trump administration are coming from “judicial activists” on the bench whose decisions amount to a “constitutional crisis.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt made the comments as she pushed back against critics of Trump’s expansive actions.

“We believe these judges are acting as judicial activists rather than honest arbiters of the law,” Leavitt said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he spoke with Trump about “opportunities to achieve peace” regarding the war with Russia. Zelenskyy said in a post on Wednesday on the social platform X that they also discussed their “readiness to work together at a team level,” as well as talking about Ukraine’s technological capabilities in drones and other technologies.

Zelenskyy said that he also talked with Trump about his conversation with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and that Trump talked to him about the U.S. president’s conversation with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

“Together with the U.S., we are charting our next steps to stop Russian aggression and ensure a lasting, reliable peace,” Zelenskyy posted on social media.

Trump, meanwhile, said his conversation with Zelenskyy went “very well” and that a Friday meeting was being set up in Munich for talks about the war with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

“I am hopeful that the results of that meeting will be positive. It is time to stop this ridiculous War, where there has been massive, and totally unnecessary, DEATH and DESTRUCTION,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

The Russian prisoner released in exchange for American schoolteacher Marc Fogel of Pennsylvania is Alexander Vinnik.

That’s according to people familiar with the deal who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss nonpublic details.

Vinnik was arrested in 2017 in Greece at the request of the U.S. on cryptocurrency fraud charges. He was later convicted of money laundering in France, where prosecutors accused him of extorting millions from victims using a malicious software called “Locky” that encrypted people’s data until they paid ransom in bitcoin through BTC-e, one of the world’s largest digital currency exchanges.

And then he was extradited to the U.S., where he pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy to commit money laundering. He is currently in custody in California awaiting transport to return to Russia, the officials said.

▶ Read more on the U.S.-Russia talks

— Associated Press writers Eric Tucker, Matthew Lee and Zeke Miller contributed to this report.

Trump upended three years of U.S. policy toward Ukraine on Wednesday, separately calling Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Trump said in a social media post that his call with Putin was lengthy and they committed to “work together, very closely” to bring the conflict to an end. “As we both agreed, we want to stop the millions of deaths taking place in the War with Russia/Ukraine.”

It was unclear how closely Zelenskyy would be involved. Ukrainian presidential adviser Dmytro Lytvyn confirmed the phone call.

Trump’s announcement appeared to dismantle the Biden-era mantra that Kyiv would be a full participant in any decisions made. “Nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine,” President Joe Biden and his top national security aides said repeatedly.

U.S. District Judge John McConnell in Rhode Island ruled that the government’s bid to withhold Federal Emergency Management Agency funds was not subject to an order, still in effect, that’s aimed at preventing a sweeping pause on federal funding.

FEMA pulled the funding and four employees were fired after Trump adviser Elon Musk posted on the social platform X that his government efficiency team team had discovered the payments were used to house migrants in “luxury hotels.”

FEMA’s acting administrator later said in court documents that the funding was pulled because of concerns it was “facilitating illegal activities” at a Manhattan hotel used as a migrant shelter.

Anyone seeking funding from the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities must now comply with Trump’s executive order.

The two groups hand out millions of dollars each year to individuals and to artistic and cultural organizations.

The NEA’s grants page now reads in part: “The applicant will not operate any programs promoting ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ (DEI) that violate any applicable Federal anti-discrimination laws, in accordance with Executive Order No. 14173.”

NEH applicants are alerted that money may not be used for the “promotion of gender ideology,” the “promotion of discriminatory equity ideology,” support for “diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) or diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) initiatives or activities; or environmental justice initiatives or activities.”

“It is a longstanding legal requirement that all recipients of federal funds comply with applicable federal anti-discrimination laws, regulations and executive orders, an NEA spokesperson said.

Senators voted on a party-line to advance Trump’s nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., as secretary of the Health and Human Services Department.

Kennedy, the anti-vaccine guru who has drawn sharp criticism from Democrats, appears to be on track to lead the world’s largest public health system, which provides care for millions of Americans. He has tempered some views during his confirmation process.

The final confirmation vote by the Senate is expected no later than Thursday morning.

Employees of the U.S. Agency for International Developments say the Trump administration exposed them to violence by forcing agency leaders off the job and freezing their funding.

In court affidavits, multiple USAID staffers say they were abandoned in Congo without money and facing an explosion of political violence, with angry crowds looting their homes. Some spoke of arriving in the U.S. with only their children and backpacks.

Their accounts were filed in federal court late Tuesday in support of an employee lawsuit seeking to roll back and restore USAID.

The leaders of Egypt and Jordan on Wednesday reiterated their rejection of Trump’s plan to depopulate the Gaza Strip.

President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and King Abdullah II of Jordan spoke by phone, and stressed the importance of the immediate start of Gaza’s reconstruction “without the transfer of Palestinian people from their land,” according to a statement from the Egyptian leader’s office.

The leaders “showed their keenness” to work with Trump to achieve “permanent peace” in the region through the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, the statement said.

Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the former GOP leader, was the sole Republican voting against Gabbard’s nomination as the nation’s director of the Office of National Intelligence, saying the nominee brings “unnecessary risk” because of her past statements and actions.

“In my assessment, Tulsi Gabbard failed to demonstrate that she is prepared to assume this tremendous national trust,” McConnell said in a statement.

He cited her views about Putin, China and Edward Snowden, the former government contractor who leaked sensitive U.S. data, in his decision to vote against her.

“The nation should not have to worry that the intelligence assessments the President receives are tainted by a Director of National Intelligence with a history of alarming lapses in judgment,” he said.

The Republican said in a social media post on Wednesday, disclosing a call between the two leaders, that they would “work together, very closely.”

The call followed a prisoner swap that resulted in Russia releasing American schoolteacher Marc Fogel, of Pennsylvania, after more than three years of detention.

Alexander Vinnik, a convicted Russian criminal, is being freed as part of a swap that saw Moscow’s release of American Marc Fogel, two U.S. officials confirmed Wednesday. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the swap.

— Associated Press reporters Vladimir Isachenkov, Eric Tucker and Zeke Miller contributed to this report.

Wednesday’s 52-48 vote fell along mostly party lines, with Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky the only Republican to join Democrats in opposing Gabbard’s nomination.

Gabbard is a veteran and a former Democratic Congresswoman from Hawaii.

Her nomination initially faced bipartisan criticism over comments sympathetic to Russia and her past support of government leaker Edward Snowden, as well as a 2017 meeting with now-deposed Syrian leader Bashar Assad.

While several Republican lawmakers had expressed concerns about Gabbard, GOP support fell in line following a pressure campaign mounted by Trump allies, including Elon Musk.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration have complied with a court order to restore some webpages and datasets.

The CDC information includes pages on adolescent health, information on HIV monitoring and testing, contraception guidance, and data on how pollution, poverty and other factors impact certain communities. The FDA restored recommendations for enrolling more females in clinical trials, analyzing sex-specific data and including sex-specific information in regulatory submissions.

On his first day back in the White House, Trump ordered agencies to use the term “sex” and not “gender” in federal policies and documents. The Office of Personnel Management’s acting director then required agency heads to eliminate any programs or websites that promote “gender ideology,” leading to widespread takedowns across government websites.

▶ Read more about litigation over public health data

Dilly Severin, executive director of the Universal Access Project at the UN Foundation, described Trump’s actions as “forfeiting our role as a leader in global health, including reproductive rights, health and justice.”

Dr. Carole Sekimpi, senior director of MSI Africa, said the organization has lost $40 million in funding from the U.S. since Trump took office and warned there will be a spike in deaths of women and girls across the region due to losing “life-saving, time-sensitive” family planning services.

“Women and girls woke up one morning and there was no care, whether it was contraception or HIV care,” she said. “There was no forewarning, so there’s a lot of panic.”

The global gag rule, sometimes called the “Mexico City Policy,” requires foreign nongovernmental agencies to certify that they don’t provide or promote abortion if they receive U.S. federal funds for family planning assistance.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said he would seek to mitigate damage resulting from shutting down U.S.-funded global aid programs by issuing waivers to exempt emergency food aid and “life-saving” programs. But Sekimpi said it’s nearly impossible to restart the programs on the ground even with the waivers.

The idea is a response to Trump’s talk about taking control of the vast and mineral-rich Arctic island from Denmark. The petition’s website claimed over 200,000 signatures by midmorning Wednesday.

“We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make that dream a reality,” it says. “California will become New Denmark. Los Angeles? More like Løs Ångeles.”

As for Disneyland in Southern California: “We’ll rename it Hans Christian Andersenland. Mickey Mouse in a Viking helmet? Yes, please.”

The petition comes with a disclaimer: “This campaign is 100% real … in our dreams.

▶ Read more about the Danish petition

Kathleen Sgamma, president of the Colorado-based Western Energy Alliance, was named Bureau of Land Management director. Her group has long pushed for greater access by the oil and gas industry to public lands and increased mining.

Brian Nesvik led the Wyoming Game and Fish Department until last year.

The land management agency manages about 245 million acres of federal land, mostly in the West, while Fish and Wildlife oversees fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats. Both agencies are part of the Interior Department.

Trump’s executive order “mandates the preservation of all-female athletic opportunities and locker rooms, ensuring privacy and dignity for women and girls,” said Reem Alsalem, the U.N. special rapporteur on violence against women and girls.

Alsalem is one of dozens of independent experts who work with the U.N. human rights office to keep tabs on human rights and is not a staffer of the United Nations.

The newly filed affidavits of U.S. Agency for International Development workers describe a lieutenant of Trump ally Elon Musk and other outsiders directing the immediate termination of hundreds of assistance programs, allegedly without required authorization or justification.

The groups are suing to roll back the dismantling of USAID by Trump’s Republican administration and Musk’s government-cutting teams.

The affidavits were filed late Tuesday. One says that when USAID contract officers emailed agency higher-ups on Monday asking for the authorization and justification needed to cancel USAID programs abroad, a lieutenant of Musk's responded by asserting that the decisions came from the “most senior levels.”

Trump is clearly pressing the boundaries of the relationship between the executive and judicial branches. And that may test one of the most foundational cases in American constitutional law, Marbury v. Madison, which established the courts as the law’s final arbiters.

Chief Justice John Marshall wrote in the 1803 ruling that while Congress makes the laws and the president enforces them, the courts decide whether the other branches have gone too far.

“It is emphatically the province and duty of the judicial department to say what the law is,” Marshall wrote.

So is the court supreme? Notably, the court lacks any independent means of enforcing its decisions. But Americans have come generally to believe that court decisions should be obeyed, even amid sharp disagreement.

▶ Read more about court precedent on the balance of powers

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican and the subcommittee’s chair, described excessive spending as an existential threat to the country at Wednesday’s hearing, saying, “The American people are in debt slavery to everyone who owns our debt.”

She said the federal government needs to be held accountable, saying there are “no consequences” for bad financial management or service to citizens.

Rep. Melanie Stansbury, a New Mexico Democrat and the subcommittee’s ranking member, said Trump wasn’t interested in addressing waste and fraud because he was instead firing inspectors general.

“We have to ask ourselves, what is really going on here?” she said.

Stansbury also said it was wrong to let “Elon Musk and his hackers” gain access to sensitive databases like the U.S. Treasury payment system.

This entry has been corrected to show that Stansbury represents New Mexico, not Maryland.

With history teacher Marc Vogel safely back in the U.S., Trump said another American, someone “very special,” would be released on Wednesday, though he declined to name the person or say from what country.

The president also wouldn’t say if he spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin about Fogel, who had been jailed in Russia three years ago after being caught with medical marijuana. But Fogel praised the Russian leader as “very generous and statesmanlike in granting me a pardon.”

Trump called the deal “Very fair, very, very fair, very reasonable. Not like deals you’ve seen over the years. They were very fair.”

The president did not say what the United States exchanged for Fogel’s release.

▶ Read more on the prisoner swaps

In sweeping remarks in Brussels, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth suggested the way forward is for Ukraine: Abandon the “illusory goal” of a return to its pre-2014 borders, and prepare for a negotiated settlement with Russia, backed up with an international force of troops.

Allies have been waiting to hear how much continued military and financial support Washington intends to provide to Ukraine’s government.

What the Ukraine Defense Contact Group of about 50 countries supporting Ukraine heard: Trump is intent on getting Europe to assume the majority of the financial and military responsibilities for the defense of Ukraine. The peacekeeping force would not include U.S. troops.

▶ Read more about Hegseth’s speech on Ukraine

“It’s time to be reciprocal,” Trump said earlier this week as he prepared additional actions to upset the world trade system.

With the tariffs he’s unleashed so far, Trump has fully taken ownership of the path of the U.S. economy, betting that he can eventually deliver meaningful results for voters, even if by his own admission the import taxes could involve some financial pain in the form of inflation and economic disruptions.

With imports totalling $4.1 trillion last year, a broad reciprocal tariffs order could amount to a substantial tax hike to be shouldered largely by U.S. consumers and businesses. Should job gains never materialize and inflation stay high, it’s an easy line of attack for Democrats: that Trump helped the ultrawealthy at the expense of the middle class.

▶ Read more on Trump’s big bet on the economy

Rising prices on groceries, gas, and used cars make it less likely that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates anytime soon.

The consumer price index increased 3% in January from a year ago, Wednesday’s report from the Labor Department showed, up from 2.9% the previous month. It has increased from a 3 1/2 year low of 2.4% in September.

Candidate Trump pledged to reduce prices. Most economists worry that his proposed tariffs could at least temporarily increase costs.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will likely be asked Wednesday by the House Financial Services Committee what the Fed will do.

Trump posted on social media early Wednesday that interest rates should be lowered to “go hand in hand with upcoming Tariffs!!!”

▶ Read more about consumer prices and inflation

Witkoff gave some of the credit to Mohammed bin Salman, saying Saudi Arabia’s crown prince was “instrumental” in the negotiations.

“He has a very strong friendship with President Trump, and, behind the scenes, he was encouraging and pushing and looking for the right result. It was helpful, it really was.”

Asked if the crown prince was pushing the Russians, Witkoff said he was more of a “cheerleader.”

“He was a cheerleader for this rapprochement where the two leaders would come together and that’s what happened, so thank God. Sometimes you don’t get a good result. Here we got a very good result. Mark Fogel is the evidence of that.”

Steve Witkoff, a special envoy for President Donald Trump, declined to reveal Marc Fogel ’s whereabouts but told reporters that Fogel had spoken with his wife, his two children and his 95-year-old mother.

Trump sent Witkoff to bring home the schoolteacher, who had been detained in Russia after his arrest in August 2021. Fogel was brought to the White House late Tuesday so Trump could officially welcome him home.

Trump gave Fogel a tour of the Lincoln Bedroom — as he had promised, Witkoff said.

The Kremlin said Wednesday that a Russian citizen was freed in the United States in exchange for Fogel’s release, but refused to identify him until he arrives in Russia.

▶ Read more about what Russia got from the deal

The U.S. Senate is scheduled to vote Wednesday on the nomination of Tulsi Gabbard to be the next director of national intelligence.

The military veteran and former Democratic Congresswoman from Hawaii faced criticism that was initially bipartisan over comments sympathetic to Russia and her past support of government leaker Edward Snowden, as well a 2017 meeting with now-deposed Syrian leader Bashar Assad.

Democrats remain opposed to her nomination, but Republican support has fallen into line following a pressure campaign by Trump allies including Elon Musk.

▶ Read more about impacts on intelligence sharing with U.S. allies

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has started laying off probationary employees by distributing a form letter that doesn’t include their names.

“MEMORANDUM FOR (EmployeeFirstName) (EmployeeLastName),” the letter says. “This is to provide notification that I am removing you from your position of (JobTitle).”

“Unfortunately, the Agency finds that that you are not fit for continued employment because your ability, knowledge and skills do not fit the Agency’s current needs.”

Probationary employees have less civil service protection because they’ve been on the job for less than a year. The bureau, which says it has obtained nearly $20 billion in financial relief for U.S. consumers, is the latest target as President Trump and Elon Musk dismantle federal regulators.

▶ Read more on Trump’s effort to shut down the consumer protection bureau

Former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, President Donald Trump's choice to be the Director of National Intelligence, appears before the Senate Intelligence Committee for her confirmation hearing at the U.S. Capitol, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)

Former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, President Donald Trump's choice to be the Director of National Intelligence, appears before the Senate Intelligence Committee for her confirmation hearing at the U.S. Capitol, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)

United States Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks during a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact group at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Havana)

United States Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks during a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact group at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Havana)

President Donald Trump, from right, speaks to reporters accompanied by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Burgum's wife Kathryn Burgum, aboard Air Force One where Trump signed a proclamation declaring Feb. 9 Gulf of America Day, as he travels from West Palm Beach, Fla. to New Orleans, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

President Donald Trump, from right, speaks to reporters accompanied by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Burgum's wife Kathryn Burgum, aboard Air Force One where Trump signed a proclamation declaring Feb. 9 Gulf of America Day, as he travels from West Palm Beach, Fla. to New Orleans, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

President Donald Trump listens as Elon Musk speaks in the Oval Office at the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, in Washington. (Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Donald Trump listens as Elon Musk speaks in the Oval Office at the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, in Washington. (Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Donald Trump arrives to greet Marc Fogel at the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, in Washington. (Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Donald Trump arrives to greet Marc Fogel at the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, in Washington. (Photo/Alex Brandon)

Recommended Articles
Hot · Posts