U.S.

AUSTIN, TX – Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit against the Harris County Commissioners Court for allocating more than $1.3 million in public funds to organizations that he says will use the money to oppose lawful deportations of illegal aliens. File Photo (September 2025) “We must stop the left-wing radicals who are robbing Texans to prevent illegals from being deported by the Trump Administration,” said Attorney General Paxton. “Beyond just being blatantly unconstitutional, this is evil and wicked. Millions upon millions of illegals invaded America during the last administration, and they must be sent back to where they came from.” According to the filing, the Harris County Commissioners Court voted 4-1 to allocate $1,344,751 in taxpayer funds to several nongovernme...

AUSTIN, TX – Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a motion to stop Kenvue, the manufacturer of Tylenol, from paying a scheduled November 26 dividend that he argues would drain company assets needed to compensate Texans for alleged illegal and unethical conduct. File Photo (September 2025) The motion follows a lawsuit filed last week against Kenvue and Johnson & Johnson, accusing the companies of deceptively marketing Tylenol to pregnant women despite evidence linking acetaminophen exposure to an increased risk of autism and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in children. The lawsuit also seeks to hold Johnson & Johnson accountable for what Paxton described as an illegal corporate spinoff designed to evade financial responsibility. “I will not allow Big Pharma ...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A Belorussian citizen has been extradited from France to the United States to face charges of conspiring to violate the Export Control Reform Act, smuggling, money laundering, and defrauding the United States, according to U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro and Assistant Attorney General John Eisenberg of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. Yana Leonova, also known as “Yana Liavonava,” 33, made her initial appearance in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia after being extradited on an indictment alleging she illegally procured and exported U.S.-made avionics and aircraft components to Russia through intermediary countries following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. According to the indictment, Leonova and co-conspirators in the...

SAN DIEGO, CA – Nineteen individuals have been arrested in connection with a large-scale international fraud network accused of scamming more than 500 elderly Americans out of over $40 million, according to the FBI San Diego Field Office and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California. The arrests followed a coordinated operation on November 5, 2025, led by the FBI’s Elder Justice Task Force and more than 100 law enforcement personnel. The defendants were charged in a federal indictment with conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering as part of an international tech support and refund scam targeting seniors. Investigators say the scheme operated from call centers in India, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates, using...

ROCHESTER, NY – A federal jury has convicted Ji Wang, 63, of Painted Post, New York, on multiple charges of economic espionage and theft of trade secrets related to sensitive U.S. defense research. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York, Wang was found guilty of two counts of economic espionage, one count of theft of trade secrets, one count of attempted economic espionage, and one count of attempted theft of trade secrets. Prosecutors said Wang, a former Corning Incorporated employee, stole hundreds of confidential files from a joint research project funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and Corning between 2002 and 2007. The $11.4 million project focused on developing optical fibers for high-powered laser systems w...

AUSTIN, TX – Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced that his office has stopped several school districts from unlawfully using taxpayer funds to promote ballot propositions aimed at raising local taxes. According to the Attorney General’s Office, investigations found that Garland ISD, Judson ISD, Liberty Hill ISD, and Northwest ISD used district resources to encourage voters to support tax-related ballot measures. Texas law prohibits school districts from using public funds or resources to advocate for or against any candidate, measure, or political party. “School districts should focus on teaching children reading, writing, and arithmetic instead of unlawfully using taxpayer funds to meddle in elections that will raise taxes even higher,” said Attorney General Paxton. “ISDs...

KANSAS CITY, KS – A former credit union manager has been sentenced to 63 months in federal prison for stealing more than $750,000 from her long-time employer and compromising the stability of the financial institution. According to court documents, 71-year-old Rita Hartman of Atchison pleaded guilty to one count of making false entries in federal credit union records. Hartman managed Muddy River Credit Union (formerly Atchison Casting Credit Union and Bradken Federal Credit Union) for 30 years, overseeing all financial operations. Between 2007 and 2021, Hartman stole approximately $346,000 in customer deposits and fraudulently credited about $430,000 in fictitious deposits and loan payments to her or her relatives’ accounts. She concealed the theft by falsifying ledgers, altering...

NASHVILLE, TN – Thirty-eight individuals, including eight members and associates of the MS-13 gang, have been charged in a series of federal cases involving drug trafficking, firearms offenses, assault on law enforcement, and immigration violations, according to Acting U.S. Attorney Robert E. McGuire for the Middle District of Tennessee. The charges stem from investigations conducted under the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative, established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The initiative targets criminal cartels, foreign gangs, and transnational criminal organizations operating in the United States. The Nashville HSTF includes agents from Homeland Security Investigations, the ATF, FBI, IRS Criminal Investigations, U.S. Marshal...

AUSTIN, TX – Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit against the Galveston Independent School District after its board voted to not display the Ten Commandments in classrooms, citing a violation of recently enacted state law. File Photo (November 2022) According to the Attorney General’s Office, the district’s refusal violates Senate Bill 10, which requires public schools to display the Ten Commandments. In a statement, Paxton said, “America is a Christian nation, and it is imperative that we display the very values and timeless truths that have historically guided the success of our country.” The lawsuit follows a Galveston ISD board meeting in which members voted against implementing the measure. Paxton’s office had previously issued a legal advisory affirming that...

SHIRLEY, AR – A 31-year-old Van Buren County man has been charged with first-degree murder following the death of his 68-year-old father. According to the Arkansas State Police, the Van Buren County Sheriff’s Office requested assistance after Russell B. Branscum, 68, was found deceased inside his home at 14114 Highway 110 near Shirley on November 6, 2025. Special agents with the Arkansas State Police Criminal Investigation Division identified the victim’s son, Brian J. Branscum, as the suspect. He was located at a hotel in Hot Springs and taken into custody on November 8, 2025. The victim’s body was transported to the Arkansas State Crime Laboratory, where the cause and manner of death will be determined. The arrest was the result of a coordinated investigation by ASP CID Comp...