(WASHINGTON) — A federal judge on Thursday is set to press lawyers with the Department of Justice to explain why some materials from the Epstein files were withheld from the public. 

U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan scheduled the hearing in a lawsuit filed by an independent journalist who sued over what she alleged were improper redactions and withheld materials from the files on Jeffrey Epstein, the late convicted sex offender.

In June, Sullivan concluded that the redactions and withheld materials violated the Epstein Files Transparency Act. He ordered the DOJ to either turn over the materials or explain why the materials needed to be withheld.  

“The Attorney General has conceded that he is in violation of the Act,” Sullivan wrote in his ruling. 

In recent weeks, the DOJ has sought to justify the redactions, rather than turn over the materials. Unsatisfied with some of those reasons, Judge Sullivan set Thursday’s hearing to press DOJ lawyers about the release of the Epstein files. 

Specifically, the judge said the DOJ has not provided documentation to prove that redactions were made to some files because “[lawyers for] victims or potential victims … have contacted the government and requested that the persons be treated as victims.”

He also raised concerns that the DOJ withheld handwritten notes from an interview with a woman who made unsubstantiated allegations against President Donald Trump, who has denied any wrongdoing. 

The DOJ has argued that the handwritten notes are “substantially similar to” the FBI reports of the interviews that were publicly released, and that the notes risk exposing victim information. However, Sullivan noted the Epstein Files Transparency Act does not have an exception for “substantially similar” or duplicative documents, and that the DOJ has released similar versions of other documents.

“The Defendant shall be prepared to explain why the handwritten notes cannot be redacted manually, or why the redactions cannot be accomplished in another way,” Sullivan wrote. 

The DOJ has argued that all the redactions were lawful and asked to delay the case for two months. 

“The Department has not knowingly violated, nor has it ever acknowledged violating, the EFTA as it continues working to comply with statutory requirements,” DOJ lawyers argued in a court filing. 

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

A Powerball ticket sold in Illinois matched all six numbers in Wednesday night’s drawing, winning an estimated $1.04 billion jackpot, according to the lottery organization.

The winning numbers were 4, 26, 66, 67, 69 and red Powerball 9.

It’s the largest Powerball jackpot so far this year, and the eight-largest Powerball jackpot in the game’s history.

The winner can top for the annuitized prize paid out over 29 years or a lump cash payment of $450.5 million. Both prizes are before taxes.

Wednesday’s drawing was the 44th consecutive drawing since the last jackpot win on May 2.

Last year, there were two Powerball jackpots that hit more than $1 billion, including $1.8 billion jackpot won on Christmas Eve that was the biggest U.S. lottery prize ever.

A $1.787 billion Powerball jackpot won in September 2025 by two tickets in Missouri and Texas was the third-largest prize in U.S. lottery history.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — Nick Reiner has been indicted on charges alleging he murdered his parents, renowned director Rob Reiner and his wife Michele Reiner, by means of lying in wait, prosecutors announced Wednesday.

The indictment, which was returned on July 20 and unsealed Wednesday, charges Reiner with two counts of murder with the special circumstance allegations of multiple murders and murder by means of lying in wait, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. Reiner also faces a special allegation that he used a dangerous and deadly weapon, a knife, the office said.

Nick Reiner, 32, pleaded not guilty to the indictment on Wednesday. He remains held on no bond and is next scheduled to appear in court for a pretrial hearing on Sept. 15.

Rob Reiner and Michele Reiner were found stabbed to death in their Brentwood home on Dec. 14, 2025. The night before their deaths, Nick Reiner — who had been living on his parents’ property at the time — got into an argument with Rob Reiner at a holiday party and was seen acting strangely, sources told ABC News in December.

Nick Reiner was arrested and initially charged with two counts of murder with the special circumstance allegation of multiple murders, as well as faced a special allegation that he used a dangerous and deadly weapon.

The indictment, which added a special allegation of lying in wait, means the case will no longer have a preliminary hearing that had been scheduled to occur in the coming weeks.

“This was a profound betrayal by someone who was loved and trusted by the very people he is accused of killing,” Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said in a statement. “The indictment unsealed today also adds a special circumstance allegation that the defendant committed the murders by means of lying in wait. We hope that by having a grand jury return an indictment in this case it will bring us one step closer to a trial and achieving justice.”

If convicted as charged, Reiner faces death or life in state prison without the possibility of parole. The district attorney’s office said it has not yet made a decision on whether to seek the death penalty.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — In his first news conference since his narrow confirmation as attorney general, Todd Blanche reiterated Wednesday that the Justice Department’s “Anti-Weaponization Fund” will not be revived — but suggested there could be other ways of compensating so-called “victims” of “weaponization.”

Blanche’s comments, during a press conference on an unrelated criminal fraud matter, came after President Donald Trump told reporters in the Oval Office earlier this week that the Anti-Weaponization Fund’s future would be Blanche’s to decide. 

The $1.776 billion fund was announced in May by the Justice Department to compensate those who allege they were wrongly targeted under the Biden administration. Blanche affirmed in a written order prior to his confirmation as attorney general that the fund was dead, under pressure from two Republican senators whose support for his nomination hinged on whether he would make such a declaration. 

“I keep on saying this over and over again, but I’m happy to say it one more time,” Blanche said at Wednesday’s press conference in response to a question from ABC News. “I have testified under oath that it’s dead. I have testified in front of the House where I wasn’t under oath where I said it was dead. I have answered questions after my hearing where I said that it was dead, I have rescinded the order that that set up the weaponization fund, which means that it does not exist.”

“I’m not sure how I can further say that the anti-weaponization fund doesn’t exist, or we use the word ‘dead,'” he added. “But if anybody has any ideas, we also have said under oath that if Congress would like to make it a law, that we would support that, as would the White House.”

At the same time, Blanche suggested the department would entertain other means to pay out so-called “victims” of “weaponization” under the Biden administration, as President Trump has repeatedly said he wants.

“The president feels very strongly, as do I, that there were people who were victims of a Department of Justice that was absolutely weaponized, and he feels very strongly that that he would want to — to make them whole, as do I, but it will not be through the Anti-Weaponization Fund,” Blanche said.

The fund was proposed in exchange for Trump agreeing to drop his $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS as well as two civil claims for $230 million related to the Russia collusion investigation he faced during his first term in office and the 2022 search of his Mar-a-Lago estate — sparking accusations by critics of self-dealing and a bipartisan uproar over the possible use of taxpayer money to pay rioters who attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — Inflation eased slightly in July but price increases stayed above the pace recorded before a surge in fuel prices set off by the Iran war. The reading matched economists’ expectations.

Prices rose 3.4% in July compared to a year earlier, marking a slight cooldown from an annual inflation rate of 3.5% in the prior month, federal government data released on Wednesday morning showed.

Inflation stands more than a percentage point higher than the Federal Reserve’s target rate of 2%.

In July, prices rose for medical care, airline fares, communication, education and recreation, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said.

The prices of meat and milk each climbed more than 5% over the year ending in July, clocking in well above the overall inflation rate.

Egg prices, by contrast, plummeted more than 25% over the previous year, indicating continued recovery from a shortage caused by an outbreak of bird flu.

Energy prices, meanwhile, climbed nearly 15% over the year ending in July. Shelter prices — made up primarily of monthly rents and an equivalent cost assigned to home owners — jumped 3.2% over that period, registering slightly below the overall inflation rate.

The reading arrived days after government data showed unexpected job losses last month, suggesting strain on the economy as a months-long bout of elevated price hikes weighed on shoppers.

The Iran war drove up gasoline prices and catapulted inflation to a three-year high in May. A preliminary peace agreement in June offered up some relief, but a burst of on-again, off-again fighting over ensuing weeks caused crude prices to climb.

Global oil prices stood at about $89 a gallon on Wednesday morning, keeping them well above pre-war levels.

The national average price of a gallon of gas registered at $4.03 on Wednesday, AAA data showed, marking a 35% rise since the outbreak of war in late February.

A prolonged bout of elevated inflation has raised the chances of an interest rate hike, futures markets show. Investors peg the odds of a quarter-point rate hike next month at nearly 50%, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch Tool, a measure of market sentiment.

The odds of a rate increase have ticked lower since last week, however, when a lackluster jobs report showed the labor market had shifted into reverse.

The U.S. lost 23,000 jobs in July, according to the federal government’s monthly jobs report, which marked a decline from 57,000 jobs added in June.

The unemployment rate fell slightly from 4.2% in June to 4.1% in July. Unemployment remains low by historical standards.

A government report issued last week showed a steeper slowdown in gross domestic product than expected over three months ending in June, indicating softness in the underlying economy over the early months of the war.

The Fed could raise interest rates in an effort to cool off prices, but the move risks an economic slowdown that may pinch hiring.

Fed Chair Kevin Warsh, who took the helm of the central bank this summer, has repeatedly vowed to dial back inflation.

“The committee remains resolute — you’ve heard this before — that we will deliver price stability,” Warsh told reporters in Washington, D.C., last month.

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — Prosecutors and defense lawyers in Luigi Mangione‘s federal case are expected to discuss a possible plea deal during a conference scheduled for federal court on Friday, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.

Prosecutors and defense lawyers are not commenting.

Negotiations for a possible guilty plea had also occurred prior to a hearing in June, sources said, though a deal was not reached.

If Mangione ends up pleading guilty to federal charges in connection with the 2024 killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, prosecutors in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office have said they are prepared to lobby the federal judge presiding over the case for a stiff sentence.

Mangione has pleaded not guilty to federal and state charges stemming from the assassination-style killing and is scheduled to stand trial beginning Sept. 8 in New York State Supreme Court and Jan. 5 in Manhattan federal court. 

In its letter, the district attorney’s office said it is aware of public reporting by ABC News and other outlets about Mangione’s earlier contemplation of a guilty plea in the federal case. 

“If a proposed federal guilty plea would operate to defeat a just outcome in the state prosecution, the People could advise the federal district court if that consequence, and the court should consider that fact in deciding whether to accept the plea, as well as any opposition by the victim’s family to such a resolution,” the letter said. 

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.