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Trump admin live updates: Judge releases Venezuelan couple accused of being gang members, rips government evidence
He headed to the new military immigration enforcement area without reporters.
A federal judge ordered a Venezuelan couple, accused by the Trump administration of being members of the Tren de Aragua gang, to be released, delivering a stinging rebuke of the government's evidence in the case.
Earlier this week, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Friday was making an announced trip to the southern border -- without reporters -- as he faces new scrutiny in Washington.
ABC News has confirmed that, in at least two separate meetings, Hegseth accused top-ranking military officers of leaking to the news media and threatened to polygraph them.
Hegseth also used the Signal app on a personal computer in his office that was connected to the internet on an unsecured commercial line, what's known as a "dirty line," two sources confirmed to ABC News Thursday. A Pentagon spokesman called that report "fake news."
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Trump-Vance inaugural committee reports raising $240M
The Trump-Vance inaugural committee raised a staggering $240 million for the second presidential inaugural of President Donald Trump, a new FEC filing shows, including millions from the cryptocurrency industry, cabinet members of the Trump administration and other corporate leaders.
The record-breaking $240 million dwarfs the $107 million that Trump's first inaugural committee had raised in 2017.
The filing only discloses donations and refunds, so it's not yet clear how much of that money was actually spent on inaugural events and how much of that money is left.
The biggest donor was multinational food company Pilgrim's Pride Corporation, which gave $5 million despite having very little political contribution history at the federal level in recent years.
A close runner-up was crypto company Ripple, which gave $4.9 million.
In all, the disclosure filing showed contributions from more than 800 donors to the inaugural committee.
--ABC News' Soo Rin Kim
White House defends Hegseth amid 2nd Signal chat scandal
The White House is defending Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth following recent revelations that he shared attack plans in a second Signal group chat thread that included sensitive information about strikes in Yemen.
“The President absolutely has confidence in Secretary Hegseth,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on the White House North lawn on Monday. “I spoke to him about it this morning, and he stands behind him.”
Leavitt blamed former Pentagon employees who were fired amid a sweeping leak investigation.
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“Unfortunately, there have been people at that building who don't like the change the secretary is trying to bring. So they are leaking and they are lying to the mainstream media. We've seen this game played before,” she said. “The Secretary is doing a tremendous job, and the President stands strongly behind him.”
She said no classified information was shared in the Signal chats.
--ABC News' Kelsey Walsh
Democrat lawmakers to travel to El Salvador amid deportation fight
Democratic lawmakers are traveling to El Salvador on Monday to advocate for the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia and other detainees who were deported to the notorious Terrorism Confinement Center prison, or CECOT, in Tecoluca.
The group, which consists of Reps. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., Yassamin Ansari, D-Ariz., and Maxine Dexter, D-Ore., plans to meet with U.S. officials at the embassy and then engage with human rights groups while there.
"The Congressional members are in El Salvador to bring attention to President Trump’s illegal defiance of the binding and unanimous Supreme Court decision in Noem v. Abrego Garcia that demands the Administration facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return and due process in the United States," a press release about the visit said.
-ABC News' Michelle Stoddart
Democrats react to Hegseth discussing Yemen strike in 2nd Signal chat
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth used a second Signal chat to discuss last month's airstrikes in Yemen with his wife, brother and personal lawyer, sources told ABC News on Sunday.
In response, Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois called for him to “resign in disgrace” in a statement on Sunday.
“How many times does Pete Hegseth need to leak classified intelligence before Donald Trump and Republicans understand that he isn’t only a f***ing liar, he is a threat to our national security?” Duckworth said.
Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, also issued a statement on Sunday, saying that he has “grave concerns about Secretary Hegseth’s ability to maintain the trust and confidence of U.S. servicemembers and the Commander-in-Chief.”
Reed called on the Department of Defense's Office of the Inspector General to include this incident in its ongoing investigation of Hegseth’s handling of classified information.
“If true, this incident is another troubling example of Secretary Hegseth’s reckless disregard for the laws and protocols that every other military servicemember is required to follow. He must immediately explain why he reportedly texted classified information that could endanger American servicemembers’ lives on a commercial app that included his wife, brother, and personal lawyer,” Reed said.
-ABC News' Allison Pecorin