White House speaks on the future of DOGE after Musk bids a farewell
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk bid farewell to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in a Wednesday night X post, ending his tenure as the face of the agency as it shifts to a new phase in President Donald Trump‘s second term.
“As my scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end, I would like to thank President @realDonaldTrump for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending,” Musk said on X. “The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government.”
Musk has been the public face of DOGE since Trump signed an executive order establishing the office on Jan. 20. DOGE has since ripped through federal government agencies in a quest to identify and end government overspending, corruption and fraud.
After Musk’s departure, a senior White House official told Fox News Digital that DOGE will operate as it has always operated and that the agency is “part of the DNA of this federal government.”
OBAMA-NOMINATED JUDGE ALLOWS LAWSUIT TARGETING MUSK’S ROLE WITH DOGE TO PROCEED, DROPS CLAIMS AGAINST TRUMP
The official added that DOGE now operates in “nearly every federal government agency department” with the “sole job” of cutting waste, fraud and abuse with the goal of efficiency.
“The DOGE employees at their respective agency or department will be reporting to and executing the agenda of the president through the leadership of each agency or department head,” the official said.
In a post on X, White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Stephen Miller said, “The work DOGE has done to eliminate government waste and corruption — the rot embedded deep within Washington — is among the most valuable services ever rendered to government. And the work has only just begun.”
While Musk has been the public face of DOGE for months, he was not an employee of the United States DOGE Service and did not report to the acting DOGE administrator, Amy Gleason, according to a court filing in March that shed additional light on the internal workings of the office.
‘BUREAUCRATIC AND WASTEFUL’: DOGE SNIFFS OUT EYE-POPPING SPENDING ON BIDEN DEI EFFORTS IN KEY AGENCY
Gleason, who has been described by her peers as a “world-class talent,” previously worked for the United States Digital Service, which was founded in 2014 by former President Barack Obama as a technology office within the Executive Office of the President.
DOGE is a temporary cross-departmental organization that was established to slim down and streamline the federal government. The group itself will be dissolved on July 4, 2026, according to Trump’s executive order.
Musk’s tenure with DOGE resulted in an estimated $175 billion in savings through a combination of asset sales, contract cancellations, fraud payment deletion and other cost-cutting measures, according to the agency’s website, which was last updated on May 26.
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The savings amount to $1,086.96 per taxpayer, according to the website.
Amid Musk’s work with DOGE, Democrats and activists have staged protests against the tech billionaire and his companies, including working to tank Tesla stocks.
Judge blocks Trump’s effort to end multiple Biden-era parole programs
A U.S. federal judge has inflicted another blow to the Trump administration’s efforts to end a multiple Biden-era parole program for hundreds of thousands of migrants from Afghanistan, Latin America and Ukraine.
U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani of Massachusetts on Wednesday ordered the Trump administration to resume processing applications from those migrants who are seeking work permits or renewing their status.
Talwani, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, rejected the Trump administration’s claim that suspending the parole programs was within its broad discretion to direct immigration policy.
FEDERAL JUDGE BLOCKS TRUMP ADMIN FROM REVOKING TEMPORARY LEGAL STATUS OF HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF MIGRANTS
Federal law still requires agencies under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to follow a lengthy process for granting or denying parole and other immigration relief, she wrote in siding with migrants pursuing a class action lawsuit.
Talwani also certified a nationwide class, temporarily protecting all individuals in several humanitarian parole programs while the case proceeds.
“This court emphasizes, as it did in its prior order, that it is not in the public interest to manufacture a circumstance in which hundreds of thousands of individuals will, over the course of several months, become unlawfully present in the country, such that these individuals cannot legally work in their communities or provide for themselves and their families,” the judge wrote.
“Nor is it in the public interest for individuals who enlisted and are currently serving in the United States military to face family separation, particularly where some of these individuals joined the military in part to help their loved ones obtain lawful status.”
Some of the applicants were paroled into the U.S. after working with the U.S. military as translators.
TRUMP ADMIN PULLING LEGAL STATUS FOR MORE THAN 530K MIGRANTS
The migrants were granted a two-year “parole” to live in the country under programs established by former President Joe Biden. The programs let migrants and their immediate family members fly to the United States as long as they had sponsors in America. Then, they would be placed on parole for two years.
However, the Trump administration has been trying to end all parole programs as part of its immigration crackdown and has already asked the Supreme Court to weigh in on the matter. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 20 directing the government to end “all categorical parole programs” set up during the Biden administration.
Last month, Talwani blocked the administration’s effort to revoke parole and work authorization en masse for migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela, ruling that such actions required case-by-case determinations.
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Anwen Hughes, a lawyer for the plaintiffs at Human Rights First, said in a statement that they are pleased with the ruling.
“This ruling reaffirms what we have always known to be true: our government has a legal obligation to respect the rights of all humanitarian parole beneficiaries and the Americans who have welcomed them into their communities,” Hughes said.
“We share the judge’s hope that the government will adhere to this order and immediately resume adjudicating our clients’ applications for relief.”
Answers on FBI sources at Jan 6 riot ‘coming,’ will ‘shock people,’ says director Patel
Various conspiracy theories continue to swirl around January 6 Capitol Hill riots more than four years later, but FBI director Kash Patel promised a “definitive answer” to one of the most pressing questions about the nation-shattering event is “coming.”
“People have had questions about January 6th and whether or not there were FBI sources – not agents, sources – on the ground during January 6. And I told you I would get you the definitive answer to that. And we have, and we are in the process again of working with our partners to divulge that information, and it is coming,” Patel said during a “Special Report” exclusive interview Wednesday.
Patel added the answer may “surprise and shock people because of what past FBI leaders have said about it.”
TOP FIVE TAKEDOWNS: KASH PATEL’S FBI HITS THE GROUND RUNNING WITH MAJOR EARLY VICTORIES
Last year, Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz released his highly anticipated report on the FBI’s Handling of its Confidential Human Sources and Intelligence Collection Efforts in the Lead Up to the Jan. 6, 2021 Electoral Certification.
According to the report, there were a total of 26 confidential human sources in the crowd outside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, but only three of them were assigned by the FBI to be there. The report stressed that none of the sources were authorized or directed by the bureau to “break the law” or “encourage others to commit illegal acts.”
One of the three confidential human sources tasked by the FBI to attend the rally entered the Capitol building, while the other two entered the restricted area around the Capitol.
If a confidential human source is directed to be at a certain event, they are paid by the FBI for their time.
FBI’S TOP BOSS KASH PATEL SAYS BUREAU RAN COVER FOR HILLARY BUT IT ALL ENDS UNDER TRUMP
Patel told Fox News chief political anchor Bret Baier the information from the DOJ IG report is “definitely a piece of the truth.”
Former FBI Director Christopher Wray had testified before Congress prior to this report being released in December 2024, but Patel called out Wray for deflecting and giving a “D.C. answer” when pressed by lawmakers.
“Why it took a ton of time and questioning in Congress for the director to get that point is what I’m trying to eliminate from the FBI. If Congress asks you a question under oath, whether or not there were sources in [or] around January 6th at the Capitol, you as the director of the FBI need to know that and not deflect and give a D.C. answer. You have to be prepared for that,” Patel said.
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After taking the helm of the nation’s top investigative agency, Patel has made transparency and restoring trust in the bureau a top priority. Part of achieving this goal, he said, is to give Americans the answers they “deserve.”
Patel told Baier that there are “answers coming” in a number of other investigations, including the mystery surrounding pipe bombs placed outside the Democratic National Committee and Republican National Committee offices on the eve of the January 6 riot, the cocaine found in the White House during Biden’s presidency, and the FBI’s investigation into alleged Trump-Russia connections in the aftermath of the 2016 election, best known as “Crossfire Hurricane.”
Michelle Obama reveals people ‘spilled water’ on her while reaching for Barack
As former first lady Michelle Obama tells it, it’s not easy being married to a famous man, describing people “spilling water” on her while trying to reach her husband.
Both Obama and her guest, OB-GYN Dr. Sharon Malone, who joined the podcast that Obama co-hosts with her brother, “IMO with Michelle Obama & Craig Robinson,” discussed the challenges of being married to famous men on Wednesday.
Malone’s husband is former Attorney General Eric Holder, who was the 82nd attorney general of the United States from 2009 to 2015 under former President Barack Obama.
MICHELLE OBAMA URGES PARENTS NOT TO TRY TO BE FRIENDS WITH THEIR CHILDREN
Michelle Obama recounted the first time she met Malone during an event.
“They put us together because we were both reluctant spouses attending one of these huge dinners,” Obama said. “And what, where were they… was Barack a U.S. senator?”
“Yes, he was a senator because you, you were still living in Chicago and Eric was in private practice,” Malone said. “So it was just it was very early days.”
Michelle Obama said the experience was overwhelming.
“There was a line of people waiting to shake hands with our respective husbands,” she said. “You know, people, like, reaching over our heads and spilling water on us, trying to get to these two, you know, illustrious men.”
Obama said that she saw Malone across the table and felt a kindred spirit, saying, “She had the same look on her face as I did, like, ‘Here we go.’”
She added that they exchanged a look that said, “You see this? Like, this is crazy, isn’t it, girl?” They soon became friends.
MICHELLE OBAMA REVEALS BARACK OBAMA NEEDED TO ‘ADJUST’ TO BE PUNCTUAL, LEAVE ON TIME
Obama also spoke about “the fight to protect women’s reproductive health” beyond abortion.
“Sadly, it has been reduced to ‘choice,’” Obama said. “The question of ‘choice.’ And it’s as if that’s all of what women’s health is. That’s the only thing. And as I attempted to make the argument on the campaign trail, this past election, was that there’s just so much more at stake.”
She also called out men for not knowing enough about women’s reproductive health.
“So many men have no idea about what women go through, right,” Obama said. “We haven’t been researched. We haven’t been considered. And it still affects the way a lot of male lawmakers, a lot of male politicians, a lot of male religious leaders, think about the issue of choice, as if it’s just about the fetus, the baby, but women’s reproductive health is about our life.”
“This whole complicated reproductive system that does – the least of what it does is produce life,” Obama said. “It’s a very important thing that it does. But you only produce life if the machine that’s producing it … is functioning in a healthy, streamlined kind of way. But there is no discussion or apparent connection between the two.”
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State Department shares plans to slash, merge hundreds of offices in massive overhaul
FIRST ON FOX: New State Department reorganization plans will cut or consolidate more than 300 of the agency’s offices and bureaus as part of a massive overhaul seeking to streamline the department, according to agency officials.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio first announced plans in April to restructure the agency because the department was “bloated, bureaucratic, and unable to perform its essential diplomatic mission.”
The State Department submitted a notice to Congress Thursday disclosing plans for the overhaul — the largest restructuring for the agency since the Cold War, senior State Department officials told Fox News Digital.
The agency’s overhaul aims to cut red tape so the department can respond to threats more quickly, place greater emphasis on the agency’s “primary mission” representing the U.S. abroad and eliminate “bureaucratic overgrowth” in Washington, the congressional notice said.
“We have too many godd— offices,” a senior State Department official told Fox News Digital. “We’re trying to shrink offices rather than create them.”
RUBIO OVERHAULING ‘BLOATED’ STATE DEPARTMENT IN SWEEPING REFORM
The State Department’s plans will slash or merge 311 existing domestic offices, ultimately eliminating up to roughly 3,400 State Department personnel, who make up between 15% and 20% of the agency’s domestic headcount, according to State Department officials.
The agency currently boasts roughly 700 offices, meaning the reorganization will cut or join more than 40% of the offices.
“We are really addressing a significant portion of the department’s domestic offices and sort of merging them, combining them, trying to make them more efficient,” the senior State Department official said.
Staff have not received notifications regarding the reduction in force yet, but they are expected to receive an update on reductions in force by July 1.
Whereas three offices overseeing sanctions issues previously existed, the overhaul will merge all of those branches together to make it more clear who to report to, according to the official.
However, a few additions are in the works. The plans also include adding approximately nine new offices, the State Department officials said.
New positions include a deputy assistant secretary for democracy and Western values, as well as new immigration security offices under the agency’s bureau of population, refugees and migration to tackle President Donald Trump‘s immigration priorities.
Likewise, the restructuring adds a new bureau of emerging threats that will address issues pertaining to artificial intelligence, hypersonic weapons and space.
“So we’re not just cutting these things,” the senior State Department official said. “We’re re-imagining them to advance the administration’s agenda.”
The reorganization structure only affects domestic offices and also seeks to cut down on the layers of bureaucracy in Washington to give more power to the embassies abroad, according to State Department officials.
The State Department has domestic offices all across the U.S., ranging from the East Coast in Boston, all the way to San Francisco and Honolulu. The State Department has more than 270 diplomatic posts outside the U.S.
WHITE HOUSE PROPOSAL AXES UN, NATO FUNDS AND HALVES STATE DEPARTMENT BUDGET
The status quo hampered the department’s ability to push out policy because there were so many channels of approval that needed to be cleared first as part of a “horizontal reporting structure,” they said.
Under the new structure, regional bureau offices that handle global U.S. bilateral relationships will take on greater responsibility and oversee policy management of nearly all non-security foreign assistance, according to the congressional notice.
“We’re really shifting the focus towards our embassies out in the field, our ambassadors out in the field, giving them the tools … so that they can effectively implement the ‘America First’ diplomacy out there in the field,” another senior State Department official told Fox News Digital.
The officials said that Rubio has instructed that the new structure be implemented by July 1 and that the agency is so far on track to meet that goal.
Rubio told lawmakers on the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee overseeing foreign affairs on May 20 that the restructuring “is not designed to either cripple the department or in any way — it’s not even a cost-savings endeavor.”
Rather, Rubio said the change aims to “empower” regional bureaus and embassies. Specifically, Rubio said that he receives up to 15 cables each morning from embassies around the world and that’s where the “best innovations” originate.
TRUMP ADMIN TO DIRECT AGENCY HEADS TO PREP FOR ‘LARGE-SCALE REDUCTIONS IN FORCE,’ REORGANIZATION BY MARCH 13
“They are identifying problems and opportunities well in advance of some memo that works its way to me,” Rubio told lawmakers. “We want to get back to a situation or we want to get to a situation where we are empowering ideas and action at the embassy level and through our regional bureaus. Those are literally the front lines of American diplomacy. And so we have structured a State Department that can deliver on that.”
Meanwhile, ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., voiced caution about the reforms in April after Rubio’s initial announcement and said any changes “must be carefully weighed with the real costs to American security and leadership.”
“A strong and mission-ready State Department advances American national security interests, opens up new markets for American workers and companies and promotes global peace and stability,” Shaheen said in her April statement. “It remains to be seen how the administration’s latest proposals will achieve that goal.”
California regulations force landfill closure, driving up trash costs for residents
We’re all familiar with the impact of regulations. Sometimes, they’re in your face, like the taxes we pay or how long it takes to navigate the DMV. Other times, they’re pedantic annoyances, like the permits some states require for kids’ lemonade stands or when hair braider licenses require more training hours than EMTs.
And sometimes they even impact how you take out your trash.
That’s what we’re seeing in California, where a combination of state, federal, and county regulations resulted in the closure of a landfill that was serving Los Angeles County. Local citizens, the landfill, and elected officials are dealing with a challenging and rare chemical reaction taking place in an old part of the landfill. It has been a massive undertaking that involves federal and numerous state regulatory bodies.
CALIFORNIA’S GREEN NEW SCAM COULD COST YOU $20,000
But here’s where the progressive rubber meets the reality road: People didn’t stop throwing out their trash, so the closure hasn’t solved any problems. It’s merely increased the cost and complexity of trash removal, because county taxes are now paying for transport to a landfill further away.
Too often, government policies are based not on helping people, but on a politician’s personal and professional goals. Is there a financial crash? Regulate the banks (after bailing them out)! Is healthcare expensive? Put stringent regulations on them (even though it increases the costs)! Close all the restaurants during COVID (but keep open the ones that serve Hollywood)!
These grandstanding policies have real impacts on real people. When the federal government was raising the minimum wage almost two decades ago, Walmart received a lot of praise for supporting the effort. The problem was that Walmart pay was alreadyabove the minimum wage, so there was no impact on that company. But there were a lot of impacts on its small, local competitors, who went out of business.
That’s good for Walmart. For small business owners? Not so much.
California is the poster child for policies that generate attention but have little positive impact on those who have the least flexibility and power. One of the highest income taxes (to fund social welfare)? Check. Insane cost of living (caused in cities like San Francisco by housing regulations and across-the-state by high taxes)? Check. Massive environmental bureaucracy that somehow leaves fire hydrants depleted, reservoirs empty, and trash removal more expensive?
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Check, check, check. And as we’ve seen, not even landfills – or your trash cans – are safe.
It’s no wonder Golden State residents can’t flee fast enough. And those who are left behind may not have enough jobs to support them. From 2018 to 2021 alone, 352 companies moved their headquarters out of California to more business-friendly states because, in part, they don’t want to pay the state’s 8.84% corporate tax rate, which is the 8th highest in the nation. Instead, they are heading to states like Texas, which has no corporate tax.
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With fewer people, there are fewer households to pony up taxes and fund the extravagant programs that elected officials in California have enacted. That means the residents and businesses who decide to stick it out are now faced with even higher taxes, increased costs of living, and higher fees for trash pickup.
Regulations have real impacts, especially in states like California that are so over-regulated that even trash collection is affected. That’s a basic municipal service that is essential to the health and well-being of all residents. But maybe they won’t be residents for much longer anyway. Maybe those dinner table conversations will be about which state they should pack up and move to.
Diddy’s former assistant makes bombshell claim about working for disgraced music mogul
Sean “Diddy” Combs’ former assistant took the stand Thursday under the pseudonym “Mia.”
Mia worked for Diddy as his personal assistant and as a director at Revolt films. She described the work environment as “chaotic, toxic..the highs were really high and the lows were really low.” According to Mia, Diddy’s mood determined the environment.
Mia claimed Diddy threw things at her, threw her against a wall, threw her into a pool, slammed her arm into a door and sexually assaulted her. The disgraced music mogul allegedly sexually assaulted Mia on more than one occasion.
Fox News’ Maria Paronich contributed to this report.
Sean “Diddy” Combs’ family attended court as the jury heard testimony from the rapper’s former assistant.
Diddy’s mom, Janice, along with his sons showed up at the Manhattan courthouse for the 12th day of testimony in the 55-year-old music producer’s trial.
Diddy’s ex-assistant, allowed to testify under the pseudonym “Mia,” told the jury the rapper sexually assaulted her more than once.
Mia also testified about the “toxic” work environment she experienced under Diddy. The rapper’s moods allegedly dictated how Mia was treated. According to the ex-assistant, Diddy threw things at her, once threw her into a wall, threw her into a pool and slammed her arm into a door.
“The highs were really high and the lows were really low,” Mia told prosecutors.
Fox News’ Maria Paronich contributed to this report.
Sean “Diddy” Combs’ former assistant testified under the pseudonym “Mia” on Thursday.
Mia claimed she was the only assistant for about a year, telling the jury, “I didn’t have time to feel…insane.” She said the “Last Night” rapper told her it would be hard, but they would get through it. She testified it was difficult to be the only assistant. Eventually, three additional assistants were hired.
Mia said, “I felt like I was responsible for everything.” According to Mia, she got in trouble for others failing to do work. She allegedly never got time off. Mia claimed she was punished and rarely got to run errands. “I felt like I was bearing the brunt of everything,” she told prosecutors. Mia claimed she had “a thousand times more” responsibility.
Mia described “punishment” as getting cursed out, humiliated, having her intelligence insulted and her job threatened.
Fox News’ Maria Paronich contributed to this report.
Mia, Sean “Diddy” Combs’ ex-assistant, testified she was not allowed to leave the rapper’s homes without his permission.
Mia claimed once when everyone was asleep she thought she was “off the clock.” Combs was allegedly in bed and she was “desperate” to meet friends. Mia claimed she went to meet them, but “got in big trouble.” Security called Mia to say Diddy was sending them to get her. She said she did not realize she wasn’t allowed to leave. According to Mia, she was also not allowed to lock her bedroom door when staying in Combs’ homes.
Mia testified that security also stayed at Diddy’s homes, including Uncle Paulie, D-Roc and Ruben. However, Mia claimed security could lock their bedroom doors. One room allegedly had a deadbolt, another had a keypad.
Fox News’ Maria Paronich contributed to this report.
Sean “Diddy” Combs’ former assistant testified that she was expected to go without sleep all the time while working for the rapper.
Mia claimed she once went five days without sleep while working. She said they were working, traveling, making club appearances and filming impromptu music videos. Mia claimed she has ADHD and has had a prescription since she was 17. According to Mia, she took extended release Adderall. She finally slept when she had a “physical breakdown.” Mia claimed she lost her hearing, had blurred vision, saw lights that weren’t there, burst into tears and couldn’t stop. Diddy then allegedly told her she could sleep.
Mia testified that she was “so excited, so nervous” and “really eager” to work for Diddy. She expected to work more than average, but not literally 24/7. She did not expect to work every weekend, believing there would be a rotation.
According to Mia, her base salary was $50K and she was told she was to work 40 hours per week. She testified anything over 40 would be considered overtime.
Mia described her first day of work. She explained she was told she wasn’t going to see Diddy for roughly two weeks while she was “on trial” and got accustomed to the job. Mia was instructed to go to Diddy’s home in New Jersey and take note of what needed attention. She said she was there for a few hours and went back to the office before being told she could go home. However, Mia claimed she was then told to go to the studio until 1:00pm the next day and then to go to Diddy’s apartment. According to Mia, she didn’t sleep during her first 24 hours on the job.
Fox News’ Maria Paronich contributed to this report.
Sean “Diddy” Combs’ former assistant had prior experience in the entertainment industry.
Mia testified that she loved storytelling, films and TV and thought she could move to New York City and get a job in the entertainment industry.
Her first job was for fashion designer Georgina Chapman, the former wife of film producer Harvey Weinstein, and then as “Austin Powers” star Mike Myers’ personal assistant.
Mia began working for Diddy in 2009. She left her job in 2017.
Fox News’ Maria Paronich contributed to this report.
Sean “Diddy” Combs’ former stylist kept in touch with the rapper after he stopped working for him. Deonte Nash revealed in court Thursday that Diddy reached out to him about Cassie Ventura’s relationship with Alex Fine in 2019.
Nash told Diddy’s defense that after he stopped working for Combs, he still checked in on him to see how the “Last Night” rapper was doing. According to Nash, he even invited Diddy to a seafood fest for his birthday at Cassie’s home.
In 2018, Nash reached out to Diddy about Kim Porter’s death. The celebrity stylist testified that he respected Diddy’s relationship with Porter.
Nash testified that Diddy never asked about Cassie.
The jury was shown texts between Nash and Diddy from Jan 18, 2019. Diddy said something about “the trainer” and “could have given your boy a heads up.” Fine began working as a personal trainer after college and started his own company in 2015, Alex Fine Performance.
“On a real note, how is she? Make sure she is all right,” one of Diddy’s texts read. Nash confirmed Combs was asking about Cassie.
Fox News’ Maria Paronich contributed to this report.
Deonte Nash, a celebrity stylist who worked for Sean “Diddy” Combs and Cassie Ventura, testified that he was always concerned for her safety.
Nash recalled spending New Year’s Eve in 2017 with Diddy, Cassie and music producer Rob Holladay. Diddy’s defense lawyer, Xavier Donaldson, asked about Cassie asking Nash to leave because she and Diddy wanted to invite another man over. Nash said he just left the room because he “was just exhausted.” Nash said he was always concerned for Cassie’s safety, but left anyway.
Nash confirmed there were drugs in the room because he had been doing them with Combs, Cassie and Holladay.
According to Nash, he did not see Cassie afterwards as she went straight to Mexico. He said he spoke to her later, maybe when they were on the flight.
During Nash’s direct examination, he recalled the 2017 Las Vegas trip. Nash claimed Diddy told him that Cassie had been asleep for 20 hours and he had to wake her up. Nash said he woke her up but that Cassie wanted to stay in. Diddy allegedly said he spent “all that money” and Cassie needed to get ready. After clubbing, they went back to Diddy’s room. Nash fell asleep, but Cassie woke him up because “Puff wanted to invite a guy over.” Nash testified that he saw a guy knocking on Combs’ room before going in.
Fox News’ Maria Paronich contributed to this report.
Sean “Diddy” Combs and Cassie Ventura’s former stylist claimed there was a part of the “Me & U” singer’s life she kept from him.
Deonte Nash confirmed he had no idea there were videos of Cassie having sex with other men until 2013. He agreed with Diddy’s defense that Cassie kept that part of her life secret.
Nash testified Wednesday that Diddy threatened to release sex tapes of Cassie during a violent physical outburst. The alleged moment occurred while he and Cassie were cooking in her apartment. Nash testified that the rapper grabbed Cassie by the back of her hair and shirt and pushed her halfway out the door. Nash claimed Diddy then “popped [him]” in the back of the head.
According to Nash, Diddy “began to berate us both…you’re not going to be playing with him…take your broke a– and ride into the sunset…” Cassie and Nash drove away and allegedly got a call from Diddy to pull over. Nash remembered Diddy coming to the window to talk to Cassie, telling her that “she f—– up, that he was going to put her sex tapes on the Internet…start by first selling them to her parents’ jobs…her brother was a b—- and he was the only one who protected her.”
Nash recalled Cassie was in tears and Diddy was angry. He claimed they drove to Nash’s house. Nash said he told Cassie if Combs wanted to release the sex tapes to let him because Diddy was on them too. Cassie told Nash that Combs was not on the tapes, that he recorded Cassie having sex with other guys. Nash testified that Cassie told him she didn’t want to have sex with other guys but did because “Puff wanted her to.”
Fox News’ Maria Paronich contributed to this report.
Sean “Diddy” Combs’ former stylist Deonte Nash confirmed he introduced Cassie Ventura to Michael B Jordan. According to Nash, “he fine, she fine…” and Diddy’s assistant “Mia” “drove it home.” Nash claimed Combs and Cassie were broken up at the time.
Nash said he was at the Revolt conference in Miami in 2015 to style Lil Kim. Cassie was not there as she was in South Africa filming a movie. Nash told the jury Diddy signed off on the contract to allow Cassie to do the movie.
Diddy’s defense attorney Xavier Donaldson asked if Diddy was with another woman at the conference and if he told Cassie. Nash responded, “You’re not putting that on me…” According to Nash, another stylist told Cassie that Combs was with Gina at the conference. He testified that when Cassie found out, she was angry.
Cassie previously testified that she broke up with Diddy in 2015 while in South Africa for a movie. She told Diddy’s defense lawyer that someone had reached out to her about being at an event, but Cassie wasn’t actually there. She testified that she eventually learned Combs was at the event with Gina, another woman he had been seeing. Cassie admitted during cross-examination to being angry because she thought Gina was no longer in the picture.
Cassie explained she cut off contact with Combs, blocked him, and focused on the movie.
Diddy began to suspect she was in a relationship with Jordan, but Cassie testified she doesn’t remember his reaction.
Fox News’ Maria Paronich contributed to this report.
Deonte Nash, a celebrity stylist who previously worked for Sean “Diddy” Combs and Cassie Ventura
, took the stand to continue his cross-examination by the rapper’s defense.
Attorney Xavier Donaldson asked Nash about Cassie suffering a gash on her head. Nash told Donaldson that while Cassie was on the floor, Diddy continued to kick her.
Donaldson then asked about Nash’s meetings with the government. He asked why Nash did not reveal that Diddy continued to kick Cassie when she was on the ground during his meeting. Nash responded that the prosecution did not ask.
“I gave as little as possible,” he said in court. “I only answered what I was asked.”
On Wednesday, Nash claimed he was only there because he was subpoenaed to testify.
When asked if he wanted to testify, the celebrity stylist said, “absolutely not.”
Fox News’ Maria Paronich contributed to this report.
An alleged victim of Sean “Diddy” Combs is set to testify Thursday in the rapper’s sex trafficking and racketeering trial.
The prosecution asked for additional privacy measures for “Mia.” The alleged victim, who has been allowed to testify under a pseudonym, worked as Diddy’s assistant.
The government requested to turn off the video feed of the witness box during Mia’s testimony. However, Judge Arun Subramanian said he won’t do that. The federal judge pointed out that no sketches are allowed to be made of Mia during Diddy’s trial.
Fox News’ Maria Paronich contributed to this report.
Arson investigator Lance Jimenez testified about the damage done to Kid Cudi’s Porsche on Wednesday. Jimenez responded to a call about a car fire in January of 2012.
Kid Cudi previously testified that he believed Sean “Diddy” Combs was involved in the fire.
The jury was shown photos of the vehicle’s front seat showing a handkerchief and the bottle used in the Molotov cocktail. Jimenez said they collected both the handkerchief and bottle.
A photo of the driver’s side door with the burn pattern was shown. Jimenez said there was severe damage, but not normally what you would see with a Molotov cocktail.
An additional photo of the cloth material that was believed to be inside the bottle was then shown. Jimenez testified the cloth appeared to be designer.
Jimenez recalled there being a lot of heat damage to the door, windows and center console. He claimed he did not observe broken windows. Jimenez said the bottle, which was not broken, had been dropped into the car. The gas had seemingly splashed around, causing the burn patterns. Jimenez said he believed the cloth was a soaking type material and it fell out of the bottle. The arson investigator testified that the fire stayed small and caused the damage it was intended to.
Jimenez told the jury that if the bottle had broken, the vegetation would have caught fire, and the fire could have affected the home.
Jimenez said it was his opinion that someone lit the Molotov cocktail, cut the roof and dropped it into the car.
Fox News’ Maria Paronich contributed to this report.
Sean “Diddy” Combs
was back in court Thursday as the disgraced music mogul prepared to hear testimony from another alleged victim.
Diddy sat at the defense table wearing a light-colored sweater, chatting with one of his attorneys, before the jury arrived.
The prosecution, defense and federal judge spoke about pending issues regarding the testimony of “Mia,” the alleged victim who is allowed to testify under a pseudonym.
The jury will first hear from Deonte Nash. The celebrity stylist previously testified Wednesday that Diddy had become physically violent with the celebrity stylist on at least one occasion. He told the jury that he also witnessed the rapper physically assault Cassie multiple times.
Nash, who worked for Diddy from 2008 until 2018, claimed Cassie and Diddy went to hotels nearly every week. To prepare for these hotel outings, Cassie would allegedly pack a duffle bag with sex toys.
Fox News’ Maria Paronich contributed to this report.
The prosecution in Sean “Diddy” Combs’ trial has set out to prove the rapper is guilty of sex-trafficking, racketeering and more. Key witnesses, including Cassie Ventura’s mom and her best friend, have helped bolster the government’s case against the disgraced music mogul.
“But not all the testimony landed perfectly for the prosecution,” criminal defense lawyer Jo-Anna Nieves told Fox News Digital. “Some of it may have actually given the defense room to argue that the government’s case is more about painting Diddy as a bad person than proving he committed crimes.”
A handful of witnesses have given testimony that borders on “feeling more sensationalized” than “substantive,” Nieves told Fox News Digital.
“For instance, George Kaplan talked about Diddy’s erratic behavior but didn’t directly tie it to illegal acts and he left the job on his own terms,” the Oakland-based attorney added. “The defense could use this to argue that things weren’t as dangerous or criminal as they’re being portrayed if he was free to leave. Then there was the hotel staff testimony, which focused on cleanup and ‘excessively oily’ rooms. This testimony may stick in jurors’ minds, but without a clear link to criminal conduct, it risks feeling more sensationalized than substantive. And while Cassie’s former best friend, Kerry Morgan, gave powerful and emotional testimony about witnessing abuse, and even being assaulted herself, the defense may question her credibility by suggesting she had personal motives, emotional bias, or stood to gain financially.”
“While the prosecution is drawing a picture of control, coercion, and criminal enterprise, the defense is starting to suggest that some witnesses are emotionally charged, circumstantial, or lacking firsthand knowledge of actual crimes. That’s where the risk of testimony backfiring comes into play; when it creates more noise than substance, it can give the defense room to argue that the case is built more on character assassination than on solid, provable facts.”
TMZ founder Harvey Levin told Fox News Digital some celebrities are starting to worry about being called to the witness stand as the federal trial for sex crimes against Sean “Diddy” Combs continues.
Diddy is charged with racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion and transportation to engage in prostitution. His trial is now in its third week, and a few celebrities have already taken the stand.
“I have heard that there are some celebrities worried about being called to testify and have even lawyered up trying to fight that,” Levin told Fox News Digital.
“I think [rapper Kid] Cudi and Cassie were the star witnesses, but I don’t know who else the prosecution has up their sleeve,” Levin said. “I don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes there, but they’ve got four weeks left of testimony before they hand it over to the defense. We will see. But what they clearly are doing is cobbling together what they claim is proof beyond a reasonable doubt that he has committed these various crimes.”
Levin didn’t detail which celebrities might be called to testify.
Celebrities already mentioned over the course of the trial, include Michael B. Jordan, Usher, former President Barack Obama, Britney Spears, Bruce Willis and Jennifer Lopez. None of these celebs have been accused of any wrongdoing.
Fox News Digital’s Brie Stimson contributed to this report.
Sean “Diddy” Combs is facing 15 years to life in prison on charges of racketeering conspiracy; sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion; and transportation to engage in prostitution, according to a federal indictment.
In documents obtained by Fox News Digital, Diddy’s defense team admitted the disgraced rapper committed “domestic violence” against a partner.
Los Angeles criminal defense lawyer, Dan Rubin, explained how Diddy’s strategy seems to be to “admit to what is a lesser, state crime to avoid federal prison.”
“This is smart because while Diddy might admit that something unlawful happened, it’s not as bad as what the federal prosecutors are saying happened, and the federal government would have no ability to punish him at all, let alone with a higher prison sentence,” Rubin said.
During the first week of testimony, Diddy’s ex-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura testified to being forced to engage in alleged “freak offs,” and claimed it was commonplace for Diddy to become “physical” with her in their relationship. She defined “physical” as punishment, beatings, kicking, etc.
Fox News Digital’s Tracy Wright contributed to this report.
Karen Read’s defense blindsided prosecutors with ‘errors’ in expert’s resume
When Karen Read’s lawyers called out digital forensics expert Shanon Burgess in court last week over “errors” in his resume that suggested he has a bachelor’s degree when he doesn’t, it was an “ambush” in the courtroom, according to court filings.
In a motion asking the judge to block the defense from introducing any other undisclosed information under the rules of the court special prosecutor Hank Brennan wrote his team had no chance to review or vet the documents before the defense brought them up.
“The effort of providing documents as a witness is being confronted with documents is improper, trial by ambush, a violation of Rule 14, and creates needless delay resulting in objections, unnecessary sidebars, and a waste of time for the jury,” he wrote. “The Commonwealth seeks a ruling precluding the use of any materials that were not noticed by the defense other than materials in the witnesses’ CV, referred to during presentation, or discussed during testimony.”
Defense attorney Robert Alessi highlighted out inconsistencies in three versions of Burgess’ resume and revealed he got the dates wrong on a timeline that was supposed to be accurate “to the second.”
The timeline is crucial for prosecutors, who aim to use it to illustrate that John O’Keefe stopped using his phone around the same time Read reversed her car.
Burgess found that the variance of the internal clocks in Read’s Lexus and O’Keefe’s iPhone are between 21 and 29 seconds out of sync, contradicting a defense expert.
Special prosecutor Hank Brennan took a subtle swipe at Karen Read’s defense team in court Thursday when he asked a crash reconstruction expert if he ever used the encrypted Signal app to touch base with the prosecution.
“When you ask questions about communications, when you would have communications with the Norfolk County District Attorney’s office, did you ever use encrypted apps to secretly hide your communications apps like Signal?” Brennan asked.
“No, I don’t have any of those,” Welcher said.
Defense attorney Robert Alessi objected — and Judge Beverly Cannone sustained. But she allowed Brennan to rephrase the question.
“When you were communicating with members of the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office, did you ever use encrypted apps like Signal to communicate what’s going on?” Brennan asked.
“No — I mean, I don’t even know what that is,” Welcher replied.
During a hearing without jurors present in late April, a crash expert for the defense admitted he used the Signal app to communicate with Read’s legal team and that he also shared talking points.
Dr. Daniel Wolfe testified during the first trial that damage to Read’s SUV was inconsistent with what he would expect to see if it struck John O’Keefe, the Boston police officer Read is accused of killing in a drunken hit-and-run.
Wolfe is one of two experts from the ARCCA forensics firm.
Brennan’s team previously tried to have them excluded from the retrial, and he has repeatedly accused the defense and ARCCA of slow-walking expert witness discovery disclosures.
With dozens of text messages between ARCCA and defense counsel unaccounted for, and missed discovery deadlines, Cannone said she understood the prosecution’s complaints but ruled against them anyway.
Judge Beverly Cannone says the case is ahead of schedule and sends the jury home early.
Today was already planned to be a half-day.
Karen Read’s defense is expected to begin her defense at 9 a.m. Friday.
Cannone asked Read defense lawyer Elizabeth Little to submit something she is expecting within the hour and tells the sides she’ll see them tomorrow.
Special prosecutor Hank Brennan rested the commonwealth’s case against Karen Read Thursday, following testimony from a crash reconstruction expert who believes John O’Keefe died after being struck by Read’s 2021 Lexus SUV.
The move comes more than a month into Read’s trial, which began with jury selection on April 1 and opening statements three weeks later.
Brennan’s final witness was Dr. Judson Welcher, a crash reconstruction expert from the firm Aperture, whose findings aim at convincing jurors it was Read’s SUV that fatally struck O’Keefe hours before he was found unresponsive under a pile of snow during a blizzard on Jan. 29, 2022.
The defense has argued that no impact every happened and that someone or something else caused O’Keefe’s injuries, which included a fractured skull and scrapes up one arm.
Welcher used wet paint on a Lexus taillight to illustrate how the vehicle could have scraped up O’Keefe’s arm before he fell to the ground.
After Welcher’s testimony, Brennan played an additional clip from a televised interview with Read following her first trial, which ended with a deadlocked jury last year.
“So I thought, could I have run him over. Did he try to get me as I was leaving, and I didn’t know it?” Read told the interviewer.
“I mean I’ve always got the music blasting. It’s snowing. I got the wipers going. The heater’s blasting,” she continued. “Did he, did he come and hit the back of my car, and I hit him in the knee and he’s drunk and passed out and asphyxiated or something?”
“And then when I hired David Yannetti, I asked him those questions. The night of Jan. 29. David, what if I ran his foot over? Or what if I clipped him in the knee and he passed out and or went to care for himself and threw up or passed out, and David said, ‘Yea, then you have some element of culpability.”
Judge Beverly Cannone denied a request from
Karen Read defense attorney Robert Alessi to question Dr. Judson Welcher, a crash reconstruction expert, about a state trooper who testified in the first trial and the findings of Dr. Irini Scordi-Bello, who conducted the autopsy of John O’Keefe.
Special prosecutor Hank Brennan opposed the motion.
Scordi-Bello testified previously that O’Keefe’s fatal head injury was consistent with falling backward and hitting his head on the ground. She ruled his cause of death blunt force trauma to the head and hypothermia, but left the manner of death “undetermined.” She did not rule it a homicide.
She also testified that she did not notice any injuries consistent with a motor vehicle accident on O’Keefe’s legs, but later said most motor vehicle strikes on pedestrians involve the front end of the car.
Karen Read returns to Thursday for day 23 of testimony in her retrial on murder charges in the death of her Boston police officer boyfriend, John O’Keefe, in January 2022.
Read’s defense denies she ever struck him with her 2021 Lexus SUV as prosecutors allege, and is expected to continue cross-examination of a crash reconstruction Dr. Judson Welcher, who testified this week that injuries on O’Keefe’s arm lined up with the vehicle’s shattered taillight.
“[O’Keefe’s injuries are] consistent with being struck by a Lexus and also contacting a hard surface, such as frozen ground,” Welcher testified.
Defense attorney Robert Alessi grilled him on whether he knew for sure how O’Keefe suffered his injuries and on changes he made to his expert report in the days before taking the witness stand.
Cross resumes Thursday morning after a brief evidentiary hearing.