Washington
Misconduct complaint dismissed against judge who handled El Salvador prison deportation case
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal appeals court judge has dismissed a misconduct complaint filed by the Justice Department against a judge who clashed with President Donald Trump ‘s administration over deportations to a notorious prison in El Salvador.
The complaint against U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg was dismissed on Dec. 19 by Jeffrey S. Sutton, chief judge of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals but the order only came to light over the weekend.
The complaint stemmed from remarks that Boasberg, the chief judge in the district court in the nation’s capital, allegedly made in March 2025 to Chief Justice John Roberts and other federal judges at a judicial conference saying the
administration would trigger a constitutional crisis by disregarding federal court rulings. The meeting took place days before Boasberg issued an order blocking deportation flights that Trump was carrying out by invoking wartime authorities from an 18th century law.
In the dismissal order, Sutton said the Justice Department never provided a listed attachment to provide proof of what Boasberg said or the context of the alleged statement at the closed-door conference.
“A recycling of unadorned allegations with no reference to a source does not corroborate them. And a repetition of uncorroborated statements rarely supplies a basis for a valid misconduct complaint,” said Sutton, who was appointed by President George W. Bush to the appeals court circuit that covers Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee.
Spokespeople for the Justice Department did not immediately return messages seeking comment. A spokesperson for the district court in Washington, Lisa J. Klem, said Monday that Boasberg declined to comment.
Even if Boasberg had made the comments, Sutton said it would not be “so far afield” from topics discussed at the gathering and would not violate ethics rules. Sutton noted that Roberts’ 2024 year-end report raised general concerns about threats to judicial independence, security concerns for judges and respect for court orders throughout the nation’s history.
The misconduct complaint was filed with Judge Sri Srinivasan, chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, but Srinivasan asked Roberts to transfer it to another appeals court circuit because it was still considering appeals related to the deportation case, according to the dismissal order. Roberts transferred it to the 6th Circuit, it said.
Rhode Island
Planned Parenthood drops lawsuit against Trump administration’s Medicaid cuts
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Planned Parenthood has moved to drop its legal challenge against the Trump administration for cutting off Medicaid funding to its abortion providers across the U.S.
Since July, Planned Parenthood’s attorneys have been fighting to block part of President Donald Trump’s tax bill that they argued unfairly targeted their clinics and would leave vulnerable patients with even fewer health care options.
However, in December, a federal appeals court ruled that the Trump administration could continue to withhold Medicaid funding from Planned Parenthood and other health centers. Meanwhile, a separate lawsuit filed by a coalition of mostly Democratic states also challenging the cuts, was given a similar blow in January — though that legal challenge remains ongoing.
A third lawsuit, also over the funding cuts, filed in Maine by a network of medical clinics that was also impacted by the Trump tax bill, was voluntarily dismissed in October.
Planned Parenthood moved to voluntarily dismiss the lawsuit late Friday. An email seeking comment from Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who was the named plaintiff in the lawsuit, was sent Monday.
“The goal of this lawsuit has always been to help Planned Parenthood patients get the care they deserve from their trusted provider. Based on the 1st Circuit’s decision, it is clear that this lawsuit is no longer the best way to accomplish that goal,” the organization said in a statement.
Under the tax provision in Trump’s tax bill, Medicaid payments would be ended if providers like Planned Parenthood primarily offered family planning services — things like contraception, abortion and pregnancy tests — and received more than $800,000 from Medicaid in 2023.
Planned Parenthood was not specifically named in the statute, but the organization’s leaders have said it was meant to affect their nearly 600 centers in 48 states.
Medicaid is a government health care program that serves millions of low-income and disabled Americans. While federal law bans taxpayer money from covering most abortions, many conservatives have long argued that abortion providers like Planned Parenthood used Medicaid money for other health services to subsidize abortion.
Nearly half of Planned Parenthood’s patients rely on Medicaid.
According to Planned Parenthood, 23 of their health clinics have been forced to close as a result of Trump’s tax bill, which went into effect on July 4. More than 50 clinics closed in 18 states last year, with the majority of those located in the Midwest.
“President Trump and his allies in Congress have weaponized the federal government to target Planned Parenthood at the expense of patients — stripping people of the care they rely on,” said Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO, Planned Parenthood Federation of America in a statement. “Through every attack, Planned Parenthood has never lost sight of its focus: ensuring patients can get the care they need from the provider they trust. That will never change.”
London
Russian cargo ship captain is found guilty over North Sea tanker crash death
LONDON (AP) — A Russian captain of a cargo ship was found guilty Monday of gross negligence manslaughter after his vessel crashed into a U.S. oil tanker in the North Sea last year, killing one crew member.
Vladimir Motin had been on sole watch duty when his cargo ship, the Solong, collided with the anchored Stena Immaculate off northeast England on March 10, 2025. Both ships were laden with flammable cargo, and the collision sparked a huge fire that burned for eight days.
Filipino national Mark Angelo Pernia, 38, who was working on the Solong’s bow, died instantly, and his body was never recovered.
Prosecutors at the trial in London alleged Motin, 59, from St Petersburg, failed to summon help, slow down, sound the alarm or instigate a crash stop as a last resort. They alleged the captain lied about what happened.
“This was a tragic and entirely avoidable death of a member of crew caused by truly, exceptionally bad negligence,” said senior specialist prosecutor Michael Gregory, adding: “It is extremely fortunate that no one else was killed.”
Motin will be sentenced on Thursday.
The Solong, which was 130 meters (427 feet) long, was carrying mainly alcoholic spirits and some hazardous substances and was bound for the port of Rotterdam in Holland. The Stena Immaculate was 183 meters long and transporting jet fuel for the U.S. military.
Jurors heard a lengthy silence from the bridge of the Solong before it crashed into the oil tanker at a speed of 15.2 knots. A full minute elapsed before Motin was heard to react.
CCTV video captured the moment both ships were caught in the massive blaze ignited by leaking fuel from the Stena Immaculate.
“What just hit us … a container ship,” the shocked crew aboard the U.S. tanker were heard saying in a recording. “This is no drill, this is no drill, fire fire fire, we have had a collision.”
Rescuers saved 36 people from both vessels.
Nevada
‘Dances With Wolves’ actor convicted on 13 sexual assault charges
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A Nevada jury on Friday convicted “Dances With Wolves” actor Nathan Chasing Horse of sexually assaulting Indigenous women and girls in a case that sent shock waves through Indian Country.
The jurors in Las Vegas found Chasing Horse guilty of 13 of the 21 charges he faced. Most of the guilty verdicts centered on Chasing Horse’s conduct with a victim who was 14 when he began assaulting her. He was acquitted of some sexual assault charges when the main victim was older and lived with him and his other companions.
Chasing Horse, 49, faces a minimum of 25 years in prison. His sentencing is scheduled for March 11.
He has also been charged with sex crimes in other states as well as Canada. British Columbia prosecutors said Friday that once Chasing Horse has been sentenced and any appeals are finished in the U.S., they will assess next steps in their prosecution.
Friday’s verdict marked the climax of a yearslong effort to prosecute Chasing Horse after he was first arrested and indicted in 2023. Prosecutors said Chasing Horse used his reputation as a Lakota medicine man to prey on Indigenous women and girls.
As the verdict was read, Chasing Horse stood quietly. Victims and their supporters cried and hugged in the hallway while wearing yellow ribbons. The main victim declined to comment.
William Rowles, the Clark County chief deputy district attorney, thanked the women who had accused Chasing Horse of assault for testifying.
“I just hope that the people who came forward over the years and made complaints against Nathan Chasing Horse can find some peace in this,” he said.
Defense attorney Craig Mueller said he will file a motion for a new trial and told The Associated Press he was confused and disappointed in the jury’s verdict. He said he had some “meaningful doubts about the sincerity of the accusations.”
Chasing Horse was born on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota, home to the Sicangu Sioux, one of the seven tribes of the Lakota nation. He is widely known for his portrayal of Smiles a Lot in Kevin Costner’s Oscar-winning film.
“Dances With Wolves” was one of the most prominent films featuring Native American actors when it premiered in 1990.
His trial came as authorities have responded more in recent years to an epidemic of violence against Native women.
During the 11-day trial, jurors heard from three women who said Chasing Horse sexually assaulted them, some of whom were underage at the time. The jury returned guilty verdicts on some charges related to all three.
Deputy District Attorney Bianca Pucci said in her closing argument Wednesday that for almost 20 years, Chasing Horse “spun a web of abuse” that caught many women.
Mueller said in his closing argument that there was no evidence, including from eyewitnesses. He questioned the main accuser’s credibility, calling her a “scorned woman.”
Prosecutors said sexual assault cases rarely have eyewitnesses and often happen behind closed doors.
The main accuser was 14 in 2012 when Chasing Horse allegedly told her the spirits wanted her to give up her virginity to save her mother, who was diagnosed with cancer. He then sexually assaulted her and told her that if she told anyone, her mother would die, Pucci said. The sexual assaults continued for years, Pucci said.
Misconduct complaint dismissed against judge who handled El Salvador prison deportation case
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal appeals court judge has dismissed a misconduct complaint filed by the Justice Department against a judge who clashed with President Donald Trump ‘s administration over deportations to a notorious prison in El Salvador.
The complaint against U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg was dismissed on Dec. 19 by Jeffrey S. Sutton, chief judge of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals but the order only came to light over the weekend.
The complaint stemmed from remarks that Boasberg, the chief judge in the district court in the nation’s capital, allegedly made in March 2025 to Chief Justice John Roberts and other federal judges at a judicial conference saying the
administration would trigger a constitutional crisis by disregarding federal court rulings. The meeting took place days before Boasberg issued an order blocking deportation flights that Trump was carrying out by invoking wartime authorities from an 18th century law.
In the dismissal order, Sutton said the Justice Department never provided a listed attachment to provide proof of what Boasberg said or the context of the alleged statement at the closed-door conference.
“A recycling of unadorned allegations with no reference to a source does not corroborate them. And a repetition of uncorroborated statements rarely supplies a basis for a valid misconduct complaint,” said Sutton, who was appointed by President George W. Bush to the appeals court circuit that covers Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee.
Spokespeople for the Justice Department did not immediately return messages seeking comment. A spokesperson for the district court in Washington, Lisa J. Klem, said Monday that Boasberg declined to comment.
Even if Boasberg had made the comments, Sutton said it would not be “so far afield” from topics discussed at the gathering and would not violate ethics rules. Sutton noted that Roberts’ 2024 year-end report raised general concerns about threats to judicial independence, security concerns for judges and respect for court orders throughout the nation’s history.
The misconduct complaint was filed with Judge Sri Srinivasan, chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, but Srinivasan asked Roberts to transfer it to another appeals court circuit because it was still considering appeals related to the deportation case, according to the dismissal order. Roberts transferred it to the 6th Circuit, it said.
Rhode Island
Planned Parenthood drops lawsuit against Trump administration’s Medicaid cuts
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Planned Parenthood has moved to drop its legal challenge against the Trump administration for cutting off Medicaid funding to its abortion providers across the U.S.
Since July, Planned Parenthood’s attorneys have been fighting to block part of President Donald Trump’s tax bill that they argued unfairly targeted their clinics and would leave vulnerable patients with even fewer health care options.
However, in December, a federal appeals court ruled that the Trump administration could continue to withhold Medicaid funding from Planned Parenthood and other health centers. Meanwhile, a separate lawsuit filed by a coalition of mostly Democratic states also challenging the cuts, was given a similar blow in January — though that legal challenge remains ongoing.
A third lawsuit, also over the funding cuts, filed in Maine by a network of medical clinics that was also impacted by the Trump tax bill, was voluntarily dismissed in October.
Planned Parenthood moved to voluntarily dismiss the lawsuit late Friday. An email seeking comment from Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who was the named plaintiff in the lawsuit, was sent Monday.
“The goal of this lawsuit has always been to help Planned Parenthood patients get the care they deserve from their trusted provider. Based on the 1st Circuit’s decision, it is clear that this lawsuit is no longer the best way to accomplish that goal,” the organization said in a statement.
Under the tax provision in Trump’s tax bill, Medicaid payments would be ended if providers like Planned Parenthood primarily offered family planning services — things like contraception, abortion and pregnancy tests — and received more than $800,000 from Medicaid in 2023.
Planned Parenthood was not specifically named in the statute, but the organization’s leaders have said it was meant to affect their nearly 600 centers in 48 states.
Medicaid is a government health care program that serves millions of low-income and disabled Americans. While federal law bans taxpayer money from covering most abortions, many conservatives have long argued that abortion providers like Planned Parenthood used Medicaid money for other health services to subsidize abortion.
Nearly half of Planned Parenthood’s patients rely on Medicaid.
According to Planned Parenthood, 23 of their health clinics have been forced to close as a result of Trump’s tax bill, which went into effect on July 4. More than 50 clinics closed in 18 states last year, with the majority of those located in the Midwest.
“President Trump and his allies in Congress have weaponized the federal government to target Planned Parenthood at the expense of patients — stripping people of the care they rely on,” said Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO, Planned Parenthood Federation of America in a statement. “Through every attack, Planned Parenthood has never lost sight of its focus: ensuring patients can get the care they need from the provider they trust. That will never change.”
London
Russian cargo ship captain is found guilty over North Sea tanker crash death
LONDON (AP) — A Russian captain of a cargo ship was found guilty Monday of gross negligence manslaughter after his vessel crashed into a U.S. oil tanker in the North Sea last year, killing one crew member.
Vladimir Motin had been on sole watch duty when his cargo ship, the Solong, collided with the anchored Stena Immaculate off northeast England on March 10, 2025. Both ships were laden with flammable cargo, and the collision sparked a huge fire that burned for eight days.
Filipino national Mark Angelo Pernia, 38, who was working on the Solong’s bow, died instantly, and his body was never recovered.
Prosecutors at the trial in London alleged Motin, 59, from St Petersburg, failed to summon help, slow down, sound the alarm or instigate a crash stop as a last resort. They alleged the captain lied about what happened.
“This was a tragic and entirely avoidable death of a member of crew caused by truly, exceptionally bad negligence,” said senior specialist prosecutor Michael Gregory, adding: “It is extremely fortunate that no one else was killed.”
Motin will be sentenced on Thursday.
The Solong, which was 130 meters (427 feet) long, was carrying mainly alcoholic spirits and some hazardous substances and was bound for the port of Rotterdam in Holland. The Stena Immaculate was 183 meters long and transporting jet fuel for the U.S. military.
Jurors heard a lengthy silence from the bridge of the Solong before it crashed into the oil tanker at a speed of 15.2 knots. A full minute elapsed before Motin was heard to react.
CCTV video captured the moment both ships were caught in the massive blaze ignited by leaking fuel from the Stena Immaculate.
“What just hit us … a container ship,” the shocked crew aboard the U.S. tanker were heard saying in a recording. “This is no drill, this is no drill, fire fire fire, we have had a collision.”
Rescuers saved 36 people from both vessels.
Nevada
‘Dances With Wolves’ actor convicted on 13 sexual assault charges
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A Nevada jury on Friday convicted “Dances With Wolves” actor Nathan Chasing Horse of sexually assaulting Indigenous women and girls in a case that sent shock waves through Indian Country.
The jurors in Las Vegas found Chasing Horse guilty of 13 of the 21 charges he faced. Most of the guilty verdicts centered on Chasing Horse’s conduct with a victim who was 14 when he began assaulting her. He was acquitted of some sexual assault charges when the main victim was older and lived with him and his other companions.
Chasing Horse, 49, faces a minimum of 25 years in prison. His sentencing is scheduled for March 11.
He has also been charged with sex crimes in other states as well as Canada. British Columbia prosecutors said Friday that once Chasing Horse has been sentenced and any appeals are finished in the U.S., they will assess next steps in their prosecution.
Friday’s verdict marked the climax of a yearslong effort to prosecute Chasing Horse after he was first arrested and indicted in 2023. Prosecutors said Chasing Horse used his reputation as a Lakota medicine man to prey on Indigenous women and girls.
As the verdict was read, Chasing Horse stood quietly. Victims and their supporters cried and hugged in the hallway while wearing yellow ribbons. The main victim declined to comment.
William Rowles, the Clark County chief deputy district attorney, thanked the women who had accused Chasing Horse of assault for testifying.
“I just hope that the people who came forward over the years and made complaints against Nathan Chasing Horse can find some peace in this,” he said.
Defense attorney Craig Mueller said he will file a motion for a new trial and told The Associated Press he was confused and disappointed in the jury’s verdict. He said he had some “meaningful doubts about the sincerity of the accusations.”
Chasing Horse was born on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota, home to the Sicangu Sioux, one of the seven tribes of the Lakota nation. He is widely known for his portrayal of Smiles a Lot in Kevin Costner’s Oscar-winning film.
“Dances With Wolves” was one of the most prominent films featuring Native American actors when it premiered in 1990.
His trial came as authorities have responded more in recent years to an epidemic of violence against Native women.
During the 11-day trial, jurors heard from three women who said Chasing Horse sexually assaulted them, some of whom were underage at the time. The jury returned guilty verdicts on some charges related to all three.
Deputy District Attorney Bianca Pucci said in her closing argument Wednesday that for almost 20 years, Chasing Horse “spun a web of abuse” that caught many women.
Mueller said in his closing argument that there was no evidence, including from eyewitnesses. He questioned the main accuser’s credibility, calling her a “scorned woman.”
Prosecutors said sexual assault cases rarely have eyewitnesses and often happen behind closed doors.
The main accuser was 14 in 2012 when Chasing Horse allegedly told her the spirits wanted her to give up her virginity to save her mother, who was diagnosed with cancer. He then sexually assaulted her and told her that if she told anyone, her mother would die, Pucci said. The sexual assaults continued for years, Pucci said.
