Utah
Salt Lake City lawsuit is latest against DHS’ plan to use giant warehouses to detain immigrants
Salt Lake City and its county have filed a lawsuit seeking to block the Department of Homeland Security’s plan to open a giant warehouse in the city that would be used to detain up to 10,000 immigrants.
The lawsuit, filed Monday in federal court, is the latest brought by local officials around the country who were not consulted before DHS purchased industrial warehouses that it planned to convert into regional immigrant processing and detention centers.
The lawsuit targets the most expensive property purchased by DHS for the initiative: $145.4 million for a 833,000-square-foot (77,388-square-meter) warehouse that is roughly the size of 15 football fields. The March purchase, from a real estate development group partially owned by Deutsche Bank, cost nearly 50% more than the property’s 2025 assessed market value, records show.
In all, DHS purchased 11 warehouses for more than $1 billion between January and March in the final weeks of Homeland Secretary Kristi Noem’s tenure under her $38.3 billion plan for a new detention model to increase bed capacity and make deportations more efficient. The DHS Office of Inspector General has opened an investigation into whether the plan was wasteful, and Noem’s successor, DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin, has put it on hold.
Like others filed around the country, the lawsuit in Utah alleges DHS violated federal law by failing to conduct required environmental reviews or get input from state and local officials before the purchase.
“This kind of facility has no place in Salt Lake City, not only due to its inhumane nature but also because of our limited water supply, the increased strain on public utilities systems, and the potentially drastic public health and safety impacts it would have on our residents,” Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall said in a statement.
Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson said the plan “is a dire threat to the very essence of our community values,” adding it would overwhelm infrastructure, harm businesses, and undermine public health and safety.
A newly formed advocacy group, Uproar Utah, also planned a news conference Tuesday to discuss litigation against the warehouse plan.
“As with any transition, we are reviewing agency policies and proposals,” DHS said in a statement Tuesday, adding that Mullin has pledged to work with community leaders and be “good partners.”
Legal actions elsewhere have had some initial success.
In Pennsylvania, Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration has issued administrative orders blocking the operation of two planned detention centers until DHS can show they are complying with state and federal environmental regulations. DHS is appealing the orders.
In Maryland, a judge has granted a preliminary injunction halting construction activities at a Williamsport warehouse while a lawsuit is heard. In New Jersey, ICE is preparing a new environmental assessment and decision after a lawsuit was filed against its plan for a detention center in Roxbury Township. Other cases are pending in Arizona, Michigan and Georgia.
Georgia
Chrisleys sue former defense attorney, alleging legal malpractice in case that sent them to prison
ATLANTA (AP) — Reality TV stars Todd and Julie Chrisley are accusing one of their former defense attorneys of legal malpractice that they say led them to be convicted and imprisoned, separating them from each other and their family, ruining their reputations and costing them millions.
The Chrisleys were initially indicted in August 2019 and a jury in Atlanta convicted them in June 2022 on charges including bank fraud and tax evasion. Todd Chrisley was sentenced to serve 12 years in federal prison while Julie Chrisley got seven years. Both were released last year after President Donald Trump pardoned them.
The lawsuit filed Friday says the law firm, Balch & Bingham, “held itself out as capable of defending Todd and Julie Chrisley in one of the most consequential federal criminal prosecutions in the country. It was not.”
The partner who led the Chrisleys’ defense, Chris Anulewicz, “had no meaningful defense experience” and the firm knew that or should have known that, the lawsuit says. But the firm let him lead the case “because the Chrisley name meant money, publicity, and the kind of high-profile notoriety that brings in business.”
The Chrisleys are asking for a jury trial and are seeking compensatory damages “in excess of $25 million,” as well as compensation for their legal costs and attorney fees.
While he was supposed to be handling their defense, the lawsuit says, Anulewicz “found time to steer the Chrisleys into a $75,000 investment in his brother-in-law’s startup food truck business — exploiting his position as their attorney to benefit himself and his family while neglecting his duty to them.” Anulewicz now works for a different firm.
Patrick T. O’Connor, an attorney representing Balch & Bingham and Anulewicz, said Monday that he couldn’t comment because they haven’t been served with the lawsuit yet. But he said “it will be vigorously defended.”
The Chrisleys, who now live in Tennessee, became famous through their show, “Chrisley Knows Best,” which followed their tight-knit family and extravagant lifestyle.
Before the Chrisleys became reality television stars, they and a former business partner submitted false documents to banks in the Atlanta area to obtain millions of dollars in fraudulent loans, prosecutors said. They spent lavishly on luxury cars, designer clothes, real estate and travel and used new fraudulent loans to pay old ones. Todd Chrisley then filed for bankruptcy, walking away from more than $20 million in loans, prosecutors said.
The federal criminal investigation against the couple was based on an unlawful, warrantless search by the Georgia Department of Revenue of a warehouse where the Chrisleys had stored some belongings, the lawsuit says. The judge granted a defense request to suppress the physical documents from that search.
But Anulewicz didn’t ask her to suppress “derivative evidence,” including emails, bank records and financial documents that “formed the core of the government’s case,” the lawsuit says. Federal agents opened their investigation based on the seized information and then got search warrants to obtain specific documents from the Chrisleys’ email accounts, the lawsuit says.
“Without that evidence, the government would not have had sufficient evidence to support a conviction,” the lawsuit says.
Colorado
Broncos pass rusher pleads not guilty in domestic violence case
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — Denver Broncos pass rusher Jonathon Cooper pleaded not guilty Monday in a domestic violence case stemming from an altercation with his girlfriend.
Cooper will have a motions hearing in a Douglas County courtroom on July 6 with the potential for a jury trial on July 22, just before the Broncos report for training camp.
Cooper’s attorney, Harvey Steinberg, said the defense doesn’t plan to file a motion to dismiss the charges and requested a trial date as soon as possible so that Cooper wouldn’t have to miss any training camp workouts.
Cooper, 28, and his girlfriend were arrested Thursday night by Parker police and both were booked into jail early Friday morning, according to Douglas County jail records. Cooper was held on suspicion of criminal mischief with a domestic violence enhancer. His girlfriend was arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor domestic violence and petty criminal mischief.
The arrests followed an argument and physical confrontation between Cooper and his girlfriend over cell phones that were damaged in the scuffle after she accused him of infidelity, according to a police affidavit.
Cooper had his first appearance Friday in the 23rd Judicial District Court and was released later that day on a personal recognizance bond.
Over the weekend, Cooper posted a Bible verse about anger on his Instagram account and wrote, “I apologize to my family and my friends and my community. ... And so many others.” He added, “I realize positing a bible (verse) after something very serious happens does not just mean everything is okay.”
In another post, Cooper wrote, “I apologize. This situation is not who I am.”
Besides the legal case, Cooper could also potentially be subject to discipline under the NFL’s personal conduct policy.
A seventh-round draft pick out of Ohio State in 2021, Cooper is entering his sixth season with the Broncos.
The Hague
Sexual misconduct probe against ICC’s chief prosecutor says he engaged in ‘serious misconduct’
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — An investigation into sexual misconduct allegations against the embattled chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court found he had engaged in “serious misconduct” and “serious breach of duty,” according to documents seen by The Associated Press on Tuesday.
The 21-member executive committee of the court’s oversight body, the Bureau of the Assembly of States Parties, on Monday voted to suspend British barrister Karim Khan and refer him for further disciplinary proceedings.
The 56-year-old faces allegations of sexual misconduct with a female aide, in a scandal that has dragged on for more than two years. Khan has steadfastly denied any wrongdoing.
Through his lawyers, Khan rejected the decision, calling it “unlawful, procedurally unfair and unsupported by evidence.” His legal team vowed to “take all necessary steps to challenge the decision, protect his rights, and ensure that due process is upheld.”
In April, a U.N. investigation that found evidence he had “nonconsensual sexual contact” with his aide “in his office, at his private residence” and while on a mission, according to a copy of its report seen two months ago by the AP.
However, a three-judge panel selected by the executive committee for a legal assessment of the findings found that the U.N. investigation was not conclusive enough. The ICC operates independently of the United Nations.
Khan already temporarily stepped down in May 2025, pending the outcome of the investigation. The process is unprecedented for the court, which has had to create new regulations for this situation.
Monday’s announcement did not mention Khan’s alleged victim in the case, who has also been on leave from the court.
Danya Chaikel of the International Federation for Human Rights, told the AP that the very omission of the victim’s name shows “the wider problem: the woman at the center of this process is almost invisible, as she has too often been throughout this process.”
The ICC prosecution office said it was “acutely aware of the duty of care” it owes all staff and personnel, and would “continue to place critical importance on ensuring a safe working environment and respectful workplace culture for all personnel.”
The final decision on Khan’s fate is now up to the Assembly of States Parties, which oversees the ICC. The assembly is to hold a special session to decide if Khan can remain in his job at the global court, though no date has been set for the session.
The ICC president, Judge Tomoko Akane, called on the assembly to finalize the process “with the highest priority.”
Khan has been the court’s chief prosecutor since 2021. His work has been hampered by sanctions slapped on him and other court officials by the Trump administration over the ICC investigations into U.S. ally Israel.
Salt Lake City lawsuit is latest against DHS’ plan to use giant warehouses to detain immigrants
Salt Lake City and its county have filed a lawsuit seeking to block the Department of Homeland Security’s plan to open a giant warehouse in the city that would be used to detain up to 10,000 immigrants.
The lawsuit, filed Monday in federal court, is the latest brought by local officials around the country who were not consulted before DHS purchased industrial warehouses that it planned to convert into regional immigrant processing and detention centers.
The lawsuit targets the most expensive property purchased by DHS for the initiative: $145.4 million for a 833,000-square-foot (77,388-square-meter) warehouse that is roughly the size of 15 football fields. The March purchase, from a real estate development group partially owned by Deutsche Bank, cost nearly 50% more than the property’s 2025 assessed market value, records show.
In all, DHS purchased 11 warehouses for more than $1 billion between January and March in the final weeks of Homeland Secretary Kristi Noem’s tenure under her $38.3 billion plan for a new detention model to increase bed capacity and make deportations more efficient. The DHS Office of Inspector General has opened an investigation into whether the plan was wasteful, and Noem’s successor, DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin, has put it on hold.
Like others filed around the country, the lawsuit in Utah alleges DHS violated federal law by failing to conduct required environmental reviews or get input from state and local officials before the purchase.
“This kind of facility has no place in Salt Lake City, not only due to its inhumane nature but also because of our limited water supply, the increased strain on public utilities systems, and the potentially drastic public health and safety impacts it would have on our residents,” Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall said in a statement.
Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson said the plan “is a dire threat to the very essence of our community values,” adding it would overwhelm infrastructure, harm businesses, and undermine public health and safety.
A newly formed advocacy group, Uproar Utah, also planned a news conference Tuesday to discuss litigation against the warehouse plan.
“As with any transition, we are reviewing agency policies and proposals,” DHS said in a statement Tuesday, adding that Mullin has pledged to work with community leaders and be “good partners.”
Legal actions elsewhere have had some initial success.
In Pennsylvania, Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration has issued administrative orders blocking the operation of two planned detention centers until DHS can show they are complying with state and federal environmental regulations. DHS is appealing the orders.
In Maryland, a judge has granted a preliminary injunction halting construction activities at a Williamsport warehouse while a lawsuit is heard. In New Jersey, ICE is preparing a new environmental assessment and decision after a lawsuit was filed against its plan for a detention center in Roxbury Township. Other cases are pending in Arizona, Michigan and Georgia.
Georgia
Chrisleys sue former defense attorney, alleging legal malpractice in case that sent them to prison
ATLANTA (AP) — Reality TV stars Todd and Julie Chrisley are accusing one of their former defense attorneys of legal malpractice that they say led them to be convicted and imprisoned, separating them from each other and their family, ruining their reputations and costing them millions.
The Chrisleys were initially indicted in August 2019 and a jury in Atlanta convicted them in June 2022 on charges including bank fraud and tax evasion. Todd Chrisley was sentenced to serve 12 years in federal prison while Julie Chrisley got seven years. Both were released last year after President Donald Trump pardoned them.
The lawsuit filed Friday says the law firm, Balch & Bingham, “held itself out as capable of defending Todd and Julie Chrisley in one of the most consequential federal criminal prosecutions in the country. It was not.”
The partner who led the Chrisleys’ defense, Chris Anulewicz, “had no meaningful defense experience” and the firm knew that or should have known that, the lawsuit says. But the firm let him lead the case “because the Chrisley name meant money, publicity, and the kind of high-profile notoriety that brings in business.”
The Chrisleys are asking for a jury trial and are seeking compensatory damages “in excess of $25 million,” as well as compensation for their legal costs and attorney fees.
While he was supposed to be handling their defense, the lawsuit says, Anulewicz “found time to steer the Chrisleys into a $75,000 investment in his brother-in-law’s startup food truck business — exploiting his position as their attorney to benefit himself and his family while neglecting his duty to them.” Anulewicz now works for a different firm.
Patrick T. O’Connor, an attorney representing Balch & Bingham and Anulewicz, said Monday that he couldn’t comment because they haven’t been served with the lawsuit yet. But he said “it will be vigorously defended.”
The Chrisleys, who now live in Tennessee, became famous through their show, “Chrisley Knows Best,” which followed their tight-knit family and extravagant lifestyle.
Before the Chrisleys became reality television stars, they and a former business partner submitted false documents to banks in the Atlanta area to obtain millions of dollars in fraudulent loans, prosecutors said. They spent lavishly on luxury cars, designer clothes, real estate and travel and used new fraudulent loans to pay old ones. Todd Chrisley then filed for bankruptcy, walking away from more than $20 million in loans, prosecutors said.
The federal criminal investigation against the couple was based on an unlawful, warrantless search by the Georgia Department of Revenue of a warehouse where the Chrisleys had stored some belongings, the lawsuit says. The judge granted a defense request to suppress the physical documents from that search.
But Anulewicz didn’t ask her to suppress “derivative evidence,” including emails, bank records and financial documents that “formed the core of the government’s case,” the lawsuit says. Federal agents opened their investigation based on the seized information and then got search warrants to obtain specific documents from the Chrisleys’ email accounts, the lawsuit says.
“Without that evidence, the government would not have had sufficient evidence to support a conviction,” the lawsuit says.
Colorado
Broncos pass rusher pleads not guilty in domestic violence case
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — Denver Broncos pass rusher Jonathon Cooper pleaded not guilty Monday in a domestic violence case stemming from an altercation with his girlfriend.
Cooper will have a motions hearing in a Douglas County courtroom on July 6 with the potential for a jury trial on July 22, just before the Broncos report for training camp.
Cooper’s attorney, Harvey Steinberg, said the defense doesn’t plan to file a motion to dismiss the charges and requested a trial date as soon as possible so that Cooper wouldn’t have to miss any training camp workouts.
Cooper, 28, and his girlfriend were arrested Thursday night by Parker police and both were booked into jail early Friday morning, according to Douglas County jail records. Cooper was held on suspicion of criminal mischief with a domestic violence enhancer. His girlfriend was arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor domestic violence and petty criminal mischief.
The arrests followed an argument and physical confrontation between Cooper and his girlfriend over cell phones that were damaged in the scuffle after she accused him of infidelity, according to a police affidavit.
Cooper had his first appearance Friday in the 23rd Judicial District Court and was released later that day on a personal recognizance bond.
Over the weekend, Cooper posted a Bible verse about anger on his Instagram account and wrote, “I apologize to my family and my friends and my community. ... And so many others.” He added, “I realize positing a bible (verse) after something very serious happens does not just mean everything is okay.”
In another post, Cooper wrote, “I apologize. This situation is not who I am.”
Besides the legal case, Cooper could also potentially be subject to discipline under the NFL’s personal conduct policy.
A seventh-round draft pick out of Ohio State in 2021, Cooper is entering his sixth season with the Broncos.
The Hague
Sexual misconduct probe against ICC’s chief prosecutor says he engaged in ‘serious misconduct’
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — An investigation into sexual misconduct allegations against the embattled chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court found he had engaged in “serious misconduct” and “serious breach of duty,” according to documents seen by The Associated Press on Tuesday.
The 21-member executive committee of the court’s oversight body, the Bureau of the Assembly of States Parties, on Monday voted to suspend British barrister Karim Khan and refer him for further disciplinary proceedings.
The 56-year-old faces allegations of sexual misconduct with a female aide, in a scandal that has dragged on for more than two years. Khan has steadfastly denied any wrongdoing.
Through his lawyers, Khan rejected the decision, calling it “unlawful, procedurally unfair and unsupported by evidence.” His legal team vowed to “take all necessary steps to challenge the decision, protect his rights, and ensure that due process is upheld.”
In April, a U.N. investigation that found evidence he had “nonconsensual sexual contact” with his aide “in his office, at his private residence” and while on a mission, according to a copy of its report seen two months ago by the AP.
However, a three-judge panel selected by the executive committee for a legal assessment of the findings found that the U.N. investigation was not conclusive enough. The ICC operates independently of the United Nations.
Khan already temporarily stepped down in May 2025, pending the outcome of the investigation. The process is unprecedented for the court, which has had to create new regulations for this situation.
Monday’s announcement did not mention Khan’s alleged victim in the case, who has also been on leave from the court.
Danya Chaikel of the International Federation for Human Rights, told the AP that the very omission of the victim’s name shows “the wider problem: the woman at the center of this process is almost invisible, as she has too often been throughout this process.”
The ICC prosecution office said it was “acutely aware of the duty of care” it owes all staff and personnel, and would “continue to place critical importance on ensuring a safe working environment and respectful workplace culture for all personnel.”
The final decision on Khan’s fate is now up to the Assembly of States Parties, which oversees the ICC. The assembly is to hold a special session to decide if Khan can remain in his job at the global court, though no date has been set for the session.
The ICC president, Judge Tomoko Akane, called on the assembly to finalize the process “with the highest priority.”
Khan has been the court’s chief prosecutor since 2021. His work has been hampered by sanctions slapped on him and other court officials by the Trump administration over the ICC investigations into U.S. ally Israel.
