Latest news with #courtrecords
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
US taking 'special measures' to protect people possibly exposed in court records hack
By Sarah N. Lynch and Nate Raymond WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. government is taking unspecified "special measures" to protect people potentially exposed in a recent hack of court records, a top U.S. Department of Justice official said on Thursday. The hack of the federal judiciary's filing systems has raised concerns across the judiciary since it was disclosed last month, in part because of reports that data about confidential informants and other sealed case files may have been accessed. Although details of the intrusion - or intrusions - have yet to be made public, a person familiar with the matter said unspecified foreign actors had been identified as the culprits. The New York Times reported on Tuesday that investigators believed Russia was at least partly responsible. "We're aware of the issue," Acting Assistant Attorney General Matt Galeotti told reporters at a briefing. "There's different filing measures that are being put in place. We're also taking other different technical steps." He added that in cases involving individuals who were possibly "subject to some sort of release of information," the department is "taking special measures in those cases." Galeotti did not elaborate on the nature of those measures, and the DOJ and the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts did not immediately answer questions about his comments. The person familiar with the matter said chief judges throughout the country were notified in mid-July that at least eight federal court districts had been targeted by the hackers. Solve the daily Crossword
Reuters
4 days ago
- Politics
- Reuters
US taking 'special measures' to protect people possibly exposed in court records hack
WASHINGTON, Aug 14 (Reuters) - The U.S. government is taking unspecified "special measures" to protect people potentially exposed in a recent hack of court records, a top U.S. Department of Justice official said on Thursday. The hack of the federal judiciary's filing systems has raised concerns across the judiciary since it was disclosed last month, in part because of reports that data about confidential informants and other sealed case files may have been accessed. Although details of the intrusion - or intrusions - have yet to be made public, a person familiar with the matter said unspecified foreign actors had been identified as the culprits. The New York Times reported on Tuesday that investigators believed Russia was at least partly responsible. "We're aware of the issue," Acting Assistant Attorney General Matt Galeotti told reporters at a briefing. "There's different filing measures that are being put in place. We're also taking other different technical steps." He added that in cases involving individuals who were possibly "subject to some sort of release of information," the department is "taking special measures in those cases." Galeotti did not elaborate on the nature of those measures, and the DOJ and the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts did not immediately answer questions about his comments. The person familiar with the matter said chief judges throughout the country were notified in mid-July that at least eight federal court districts had been targeted by the hackers.
CNN
6 days ago
- Politics
- CNN
Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein's relationship: A visual timeline
They flew together on a private jet, partied side by side at Mar-a-Lago, appeared at Victoria's Secret runway shows, and reportedly dined with royalty at a luxury Upper East Side townhouse. Their names appear together in flight logs, legal filings, phone messages—and in photo after photo in the moneyed world of Palm Beach and Manhattan. President Donald Trump has long tried to distance himself from Jeffrey Epstein, the billionaire sex offender who died in a Manhattan jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. Trump has called him a 'creep,' insisted he was 'not a fan,' and said that before Epstein's death, they hadn't spoken in years. Yet a comprehensive CNN review of court records, photographs, interviews, and other public documents paints a portrait of an enduring relationship until the mid-2000s, when Trump says he broke it off. Trump now repeatedly downplays his past friendshp with Epstein, even as new material continues to surface. In a 2019 interview, Epstein referred to Trump as his 'closest friend for 10 years,' a claim echoed by three others who knew the men: Maria Farmer, one of Epstein's first victims to speak publicly; Stacey Williams, a former model who dated Epstein; and Jack O'Donnell, a former Trump casino executive—all of whom used the phrase 'best friend' to describe their bond in recent interviews on CNN. Law enforcement authorities have never accused Trump of wrongdoing in relation to Epstein. In a statement to CNN in response to questions for this story, White House communications director Steven Cheung said of Epstein, 'The fact is that the President kicked him out of his club for being a creep.' A timeline of Trump's interactions with Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's former girlfriend and associate who is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for sex trafficking, reveals a long pattern of social proximity that stands in sharp contrast to Trump's public attempts to downplay their friendship.
Washington Post
06-08-2025
- Washington Post
New Orleans city workers searching landfill for mistakenly discarded court records
NEW ORLEANS — New Orleans clerk of court staff have been digging ankle-deep through mounds of landfill trash to salvage court records that the city erroneously discarded amid outrage from officials. 'This is unacceptable,' Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said in a Wednesday statement. 'I have questions. I'm going to ask the Clerk for an explanation of how this happened and just what records were dumped.'
Associated Press
06-08-2025
- Associated Press
New Orleans city workers searching landfill for mistakenly discarded court records
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — New Orleans clerk of court staff are digging ankle-deep through mounds of landfill trash to salvage court records that the city erroneously discarded. 'This is unacceptable,' Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said in a Wednesday statement. 'I have questions. I'm going to ask the Clerk for an explanation of how this happened and just what records were dumped.' In a statement, Clerk of Criminal District Court Darren Lombard blasted the city for an 'egregious breach of responsibility and negligence' of public records. Photos shared by the criminal clerk of court's office show city workers standing in debris beside an excavator and extracting tattered papers from heaps of garbage. Lombard said he was notified last Friday that containers housing official court documents and been relocated from trailers without his knowledge and, in at least one instance, destroyed. He blamed the Department of Public Works for moving the records and said he dispatched city employees to recover what they could. 'What they discovered was deeply disturbing: one entire container – filled with official Clerk records – had been dumped into a debris field and mixed with general trash,' Lombard said. 'Documents were strewed across the yard, caught in the wind, and scattered beyond the secured perimeter.' Lombard said the records had been stored outside the clerk's office, in trailers and containers, because of the 'long-standing absence of a secure, dedicated Clerk of Court storage facility' dating back to Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Flooding from the collapse of the city's levee system led to the destruction of thousands of criminal case files. Lombard, who took office in 2022, said he has repeatedly requested funding for a secure storage facility. The court records, many dating back to the 1950s through the 1970s, included capital murder and aggravated rape cases, Lombard told Lombard said he has called for a city investigation. Mayor LaToya Cantrell's office did not immediately respond to request for comment. ___ Brook is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
