WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has given the crew of the USS Abraham Lincoln a high-level award during a visit to the aircraft carrier Wednesday, a day before the ship returns home to San Diego after a record-long deployment in support of the Iran war.The Presidential Unit Citation, the highest honor a unit can receive that is typically reserved for significant achievement in combat, was bestowed upon the Lincoln and accompanying ships for “40 days of combat operations and an ironclad maritime blockade against Iran in support of Operation Epic Fury,” Hegseth said, referring to the Trump administration’s code name for the Iran war.The carrier endured a record 265 uninterrupted days at sea, and its extended deployment drew national attention following reports of crew stress and poor mental health, as well as supply shortages, including food and hygiene products. After more than 10 months deployed, the Lincoln’s crew got a stop in Thailand early last month on the way back from the Middle East.Pentagon chief visits the crew and acknowledges long time at seaHegseth, who flew out to the ship before its arrival Thursday in San Diego, acknowledged to the crew that “I’m the only thing standing between you and home” and that his intention was “once they pull up to the dock, we’re getting out of the way.”Long deployments can tax service members who are away from their families for extended periods while facing threats, and can add wear to the aircraft carriers, which have been used for President Donald Trump’s military operations in the Middle East and South America.The Lincoln is the second carrier that has endured an unusually long and arduous deployment to support the war against Iran and the second to receive the top unit award afterward.Hegseth in May met the crew of the USS Gerald R. Ford during its return from a 326-day deployment — the longest for an aircraft carrier in the past 50 years and a record in the post-Vietnam War era.As for the Lincoln, it departed San Diego in late November, arrived in the Middle East in January and now will be back in its home port.Hegseth said Wednesday that Trump “tracked your activities from day one and couldn’t be more proud of what you executed.”Issues had been reported aboard the USS LincolnThe Navy initially played down early reports of supply problems on Lincoln and Trump said its lengthy deployment was “not nearly long enough,” Navy leaders, however, eventually acknowledged there were some issues aboard.In August, acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao said the Lincoln maintained adequate food supplies, but because combat operations limited resupply opportunities, meal options were reduced from two to one for a short time. He said in a letter to a Democratic lawmaker seeking information that four nutritionally balanced meals were served daily.Navy officials also said that while combat operations led to delays in scheduled resupply shipments, they prioritized the delivery of hygiene products and established a rotation to streamline distribution to different squadrons.More recently, the service told lawmakers that eight sailors attempted suicide while on the long deployment. Experts say that number is low in a strike group of 6,000 sailors over 10 months.Hegseth pushed back against what he said were efforts to turn the “Lincoln into some sort of a symbol, a symbol of dysfunction or a symbol of low morale or a symbol of a failed mission.”He said that “what makes the U.S. military and the U.S. Navy and all these sailors different is that you adapt and that you’re resilient and you overcome — you finish the mission nonetheless.”Aircraft carriers have been key to Iran war operationsAccording to the award that Hegseth read to the crew, the Lincoln and the strike group executed 3,693 combat missions, delivered 1.37 million pounds of ordnance, launched 450 Tomahawk cruise missiles, shot down 77 one-way attack drones, sank 64 Iranian warships, destroyed 21 anti-ship cruise missiles and defended against four fast attack craft and explosive-carrying ships.There are now two aircraft carriers assigned to the Middle East. The USS George Washington, though usually based in Asia, relieved the Lincoln in August.The other aircraft carrier, the USS George H.W. Bush, has been deployed for about six months, but it pulled into Phuket, Thailand, for a port visit several days ago.U.S. officials have said a third aircraft carrier, the USS Theodore Roosevelt, and thousands of troops aboard it and accompanying ships could join the Washington and the Bush as early as the end of October.This article originally appeared on Associated Press at https://www.yahoo.com/news/us/articles/hegseth-visits-long-deployed-uss-201924924.html

Christa Pike is feeling “angry and confused” after waking up in the hospital in the wake of a failed execution attempt that left her with severe physical health challenges that put her on a “long road to recovery,” her attorneys said on Wednesday. Pike had been unconscious and in critical condition in the days after two doses of pentobarbital failed to end her life on Sept. 30, they said. “On Monday night, it was our understanding that Christa was brain-dead and that life support would be removed the next day,” Randy Spivey, a member of her legal team, said during a press conference Wednesday afternoon. “But on Tuesday, to the shock of everyone … Christa woke up and began talking.”Spivey said the effects of the pentobarbital have caused her to develop a blood clot, pneumonia and left her arms and hands “tremendously swollen,” to the point where she’s not currently able to use them. He added that Pike is still dealing with significant “cognitive confusion,” but is “very aware” that the state had tried and failed to end her life. The press conference came shortly after a hearing in which a judge granted Pike’s attorneys’ request to order the state to preserve all evidence connected to the execution, including medical equipment, communications related to the decision to call off the procedure or related to her emergency care and “anything that was in the actual room.” The judge also ordered that any “barriers” that may prevent Pike from communicating with her attorneys while she’s in the hospital be removed.Pike’s lawyers have repeatedly asked for Pike’s death sentence to be commuted. During Wednesday’s hearing, a lawyer representing the state declined to answer when asked whether Tennessee might attempt to execute Pike for a second time in the future.Dr. Joel Zivot, a medical expert who has consulted with Pike’s legal team, told the Associated Press on Tuesday that Pike’s regaining consciousness “bodes well for a good recovery,” but said that the full picture of her long-term health won’t be clear for some time.”She has recovered to a certain degree that she’s able to be off a ventilator and able to speak, but in no way would I announce her free of further serious risk,” he said. “There’s still a lot of bad things that can happen here.”Fallout from the failed execution has brought intense scrutiny to Tennessee’s execution procedures. Gov. Bill Lee suspended the one remaining execution scheduled for this year and announced that the state’s top prison official, Correction Commissioner Frank Strada, would be stepping down at the end of October.Pike’s lawyers said the resignation was “justified, but it does nothing to help Christa now. What happened to her Wednesday reflects a systemic failure that goes far beyond any one person,” they said in a statement, according to ABC News.Pike, 50, was sentenced to death in 1996 for the murder of her classmate, Colleen Slemmer. Her execution was scheduled to be carried out after 30 years on death row, but was called off after the drugs she was administered did not kill her. She was taken to the hospital, where she received life-saving care. Both of Pike’s arms were “swollen, burned, and blistered” when she arrived at the hospital, her lawyers wrote in a legal filing. Her lawyers believe the IV lines were placed incorrectly or her veins burst, so that some or all of the drug went into the tissue of her arms instead of her bloodstream.Christa Pike, pictured in January 2023.Tennessee Department of Correction via AP”It was cruel, and it was torturous,” attorney Randy Spivey said the day after the execution attempt. “It was also predictable.”Spivey said Pike’s legal team warned the state of Tennessee and the courts that her medical condition of thrombocytosis “would cause her to suffer an agonizing death.” They said it could increase clotting and pain during the execution process and that her veins are difficult to access. Pike’s attorneys said the state and the court dismissed their client’s concerns.In audio recordings obtained by the New York Times, Pike had said two weeks before she was due to be executed that she was concerned about the lethal injection, citing a recent botched execution attempt in Tennessee of Tony Carruthers in May, when staff were unable to locate a vein. “Tony Carruthers lived out my worst nightmare,” Pike can be heard saying in the audio, which was shared by her lawyers.”I do not have good veins,’ she said. “And I don’t want to go through that.””She was not seeking to delay her execution,” attorney Stephen Ferrell told reporters on Oct. 1. “She was seeking to have that execution performed humanely and as quickly and as painlessly as possible.”Following the failed execution, Lee ordered “a comprehensive, third-party review to determine exactly what occurred” and said that another execution scheduled for Dec. 3 later this year had been paused.”This is a tragedy,” he said. “There is no one who wanted what happened last night to happen. It’s deeply disturbing to me that this has happened in this state.”Pike’s attorneys said in response that the governor’s independent review doesn’t go far enough after being in solitary confinement for more than 20 years and the botched execution attempt. “Christa has endured punishment greater than any other person in the history of the American death penalty,” Spivey said. “The governor must commute Christa’s sentence now.May Martinez, the mother of Pike’s victim, Colleen Slemmer, told NBC News the execution attempt had been a “mess,” adding, “They didn’t say anything, and then, all of a sudden, they asked all the victims to leave. We didn’t know anything until we got up to the office and saw the commissioner. And he said that it didn’t work … and she’s on her way to the hospital.”U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, the state’s Republican candidate for governor, said Tennessee should look at other forms of execution. “If it’s lethal injection, if it is electric chair, what we do know is we have to find a way to do this — and do it successfully,” she told The Associated Press. What happens next?Tennessee officials have not said whether they will try to execute Pike again, or explained what went wrong.Her condition could complicate any future attempt. Under Supreme Court precedent, a person can’t be executed unless they have a “rational understanding” of why they are being put to death, the New York Times reported. Dr. Joel Zivot, an Emory University anesthesiologist retained by Pike’s defense team, told the BBC it is “very possible” she suffered a brain injury because resuscitation was delayed.Pike’s lawyers have asked Lee to commute her sentence to life in prison. Lee had denied her clemency before the execution attempt.President Trump questioned how the execution could have failed, telling reporters it “shouldn’t be very difficult,” according to AFP. United Nations human rights chief Volker Türk urged Tennessee not to try again.What happened during the execution attempt?Pike had been scheduled for execution at 10 a.m. Wednesday for killing Slemmer in 1995, at the age of 18. She would have been the first woman executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years.An appeals court stopped the lethal injection just an hour before it was to start, a stay that was subsequently overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court.Media witnesses said officials raised the curtains to the execution chamber at 7:27 p.m., showing Pike strapped to a gurney. “I’m going to leave this world the way I spent most of my life, and that is in love,” she said in her “last” words.However, Pike remained conscious after the first dose. Nashville Banner reporter Steven Hale said she lifted her head off the gurney at 7:54 p.m. She also reportedly asked prison officials if her arm was supposed to feel that way.Tori Gessner, a journalist with WKRN News 2 in Nashville, said Pike was seen pointing at her arm and asking, “Does this happen like that?”By 8:26 p.m., witnesses reported that the second dose of pentobarbital had been administered.Pike continued to be heard snoring behind the closed curtain until the microphone was cut off at 8:53 p.m. At that time, an announcement was made to escort media witnesses out of the area.Pike’s legal team said in a statement to the Tennessean newspaper on Wednesday night, “We take no pleasure in being right, but the concerns raised by Ms Pike proved to be true: difficult vein access, blown veins, degraded pentobarbital, no emergency medical care available when things inevitably go wrong, all under a protocol that remains veiled in secrecy.”Robin M. Maher, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, said what Pike experienced was “singular and unparalleled.”Seven other people have survived medical problems caused by an execution team’s failure to access a vein to administer lethal injection drugs, but no one has remained alive after receiving the drugs used in such executions, she said.”I’ve witnessed, I believe, five executions in Tennessee,” Gessner said. “Nothing about today was normal, typical at all, and the court delay was just the tip of the iceberg.”A source told NBC News that there was no medical oxygen or mask in the execution chamber, meaning they had to be brought in from a prison clinic. Some of the medication had worn off by the third time staff checked on Pike, the source added.The Tennessee Department of Correction said that it “followed every step of the state’s lawful, established execution protocol approved by the attorney general’s office.”The state’s execution protocol calls for a secondary set of drug syringes to be administered “if the inmate is not deceased” after the first set. It does not specify what happens if the subject is still alive after the second set.Lawyers for Pike filed an emergency motion late Wednesday with the Tennessee Supreme Court seeking to immediately halt and stay the execution, saying she was in “unnecessary agony” and that the execution was violating her right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment. They also filed motions in the Sixth Circuit and a district court.Pike was sentenced to death in 1996 after being convicted of first-degree murder of Colleen Slemmer the previous year on the University of Tennessee Agricultural campus.According to legal documents filed with the Supreme Court, Pike “tortured, and killed Colleen Slemmer” on Jan. 12, 1995 because Pike “just felt mean that day.” Pike is reported to have cut Colleen’s throat multiple times and crushed her skull with a piece of asphalt.Pike was also convicted of attempted first-degree murder after trying to strangle fellow inmate Patricia Jones in 2001.How common are botched executions?According to the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC), there were 75 botched lethal injections between 1982 and 2010. Compared to other methods, lethal injections face complications at a significantly higher rate. There have been a number of botched executions since 2010 that don’t appear in the DPIC’s tally.Most of these were executions that went wrong in some way, but still ended in death. But there are seven known instances in which an execution failed entirely. One of them was earlier this year in Tennessee, when staff were unable to find a vein to administer the lethal drugs to inmate Tony Carruthers.Tony Carruthers was scheduled to be executed on May 21, 2026.Tennessee Department of Correction via APMore than 20 pharmaceutical companies have also refused to have their products used in executions, which has left states struggling to find the drugs they need to perform lethal injections. In some cases, they have experimented with unproven alternatives, with disastrous results.An Oklahoma prisoner named Michael Lee Wilson said he could feel his “whole body burning” as he was being executed using a controversial drug cocktail in 2014. There have also been instances of prisoners gasping for air, heaving and coughing, convulsing and being subjected to “three hours of pain” before finally dying.In April 2022, Tennessee called off the execution of Oscar Smith about an hour before it was scheduled to begin after the state discovered that its lethal injection drugs had not been properly tested. An independent investigation found that the state had repeatedly failed to follow its own drug-testing protocols between 2018 and 2022.Tennessee then revised its protocol, resuming executions in May 2025 and using a single, lethal drug: pentobarbital.There’s also growing evidence that lethal injection may not provide a peaceful death even when everything appears to go right.Difficulties with lethal injections have led some states to revive previously discarded execution methods. South Carolina carried out three executions by firing squad last year. There had been three total firing squad executions in the U.S. in the previous half-century combined.There were 47 executions in 2025, according to the DPIC, higher than the recent average of fewer than 30 per year. These included the lethal injection of South Carolina inmate Marion Bowman, who received twice the intended drug dose, and Tennessee inmate Byron Black, who reportedly showed sustained cardiac activity for nearly two minutes after prison staff pronounced him dead.This article originally appeared on Yahoo News at https://www.yahoo.com/news/us/article/christa-pike-feeling-angry-and-confused-after-waking-up-in-the-hospital-following-failed-execution-her-lawyers-say-081613268.html

Tropical Storm Isaias formed in the Gulf on Wednesday and is expected to become the first Atlantic hurricane of the season, forecasters say.According to the National Hurricane Center in Miami, the storm will strengthen as it moves toward the U.S. Gulf Coast later this week, becoming a hurricane by Thursday. It could peak as a Category 2 storm with maximum sustained winds of 110 mph by Thursday night before weakening as it approaches the coast.It’s unclear exactly where Isaias might make landfall. Current models show the center of Isaias coming onshore anywhere from eastern Louisiana to the western Florida Panhandle. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency for 25 counties ahead of its arrival.”Floridians should take this time to get disaster plans in place and ensure their hurricane supply kit is stocked,” DeSantis said.Emergency management officials in Mississippi and Alabama are also urging residents to begin preparing for the storm. The University of Alabama said that it is closely monitoring Isaias, but that the Crimson Tide’s home football game against Georgia in Tuscaloosa, Ala., scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, will go on as scheduled.Is the storm headed your way? Follow it in real time on the new Yahoo Weather app.The NHC said there was “an increasing risk of dangerous wind and storm surge impacts along portions of the northern Gulf Coast,” adding that floods will be possible due to heavy rainfall. Isaias is expected to produce rainfall amounts of 3 to 6 inches from far southeastern Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle. Some areas could see up to 10 inches of rain.The Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June to November, has not gone this late in the year without a hurricane since 1905, according to the Associated Press. A typical Atlantic hurricane season produces 14 named storms, of which seven become hurricanes. This year, there have been nine named storms, and no hurricanes.Where is Isaias now and what is its path?According to the hurricane center’s latest advisory, as of 2 p.m. ET on Wednesday:Isaias was located about 520 miles southwest of the mouth of the MississippiIt had maximum sustained winds of 50 mphIt was moving east-northeast at 8 mphAre there any watches or warnings in effect?Hurricane, tropical storm and storm surge watches have been issued across portions of the northern Gulf Coast.A hurricane watch is in effect for:Bay St. Louis, Miss., to Indian Pass, Fla.A tropical storm watch is in effect for:The Jefferson/Plaquemines Parish line in Louisiana to Bay St. Louis, Miss.Indian Pass, Fla. to Aucilla River, Fla.A storm surge watch is in effect for:The mouth of the Mississippi River to Yankeetown, Fla.What do they mean?A hurricane watch means that hurricane conditions are possible within the watch area, per NHC. It is typically issued 48 hours before the anticipated arrival of tropical-storm-force winds.A tropical storm watch means that tropical storm conditions are possible within the watch area within 48 hours.A storm surge watch means there is a possibility of “life-threatening inundation from rising water moving inland” during the next 48 hours.What does El Niño have to do with hurricane season?An unusually strong El Niño has contributed to the relatively quiet Atlantic hurricane season by increasing wind shear — rapid changes in wind speed or direction with height — which can disrupt tropical storms and make it harder for them to strengthen into hurricanes.By contrast, El Niño conditions have contributed to an unusually busy Pacific hurricane season. There have been 21 named storms and 10 hurricanes, both above historical averages. Last month’s Hurricane Polo became the third of the season to reach Category 5 intensity.This article originally appeared on Yahoo News at https://www.yahoo.com/news/weather-news/article/tropical-storm-isaias-tracker-first-atlantic-hurricane-of-the-season-expected-to-hit-us-gulf-coast-105030900.html

President Donald Trump announced a $6.6 billion investment with AI defense company Anduril Industries on Tuesday — the most recent government funding agreement into a company with investment ties to the president’s sons. The Trump administration announced the Navy will support $2.9 billion of the total cost to help create a new facility in Baltimore County, Maryland, that will manufacture critical parts for the Virginia-class nuclear-powered fast-attack submarine. “In a tremendous victory for our country and for the city of Baltimore, Anduril is investing $3.7 billion in a state-of-the-art shipyard that will be known forever as Arsenal-2,” Trump said at an event announcing the investment.Damien Eagers/PA Wire IRISH Press Association via AP Images – PHOTO: Donald Trump visit to Ireland”Right here in Sparrows Point, you’ll build the next generation of American submarines, including autonomous subs, torpedo tubes, and critical components for our cutting edge Virginia-class attack submarines,” Trump said.Republican senator calls for Judiciary Committee to subpoena Donald Trump Jr. and Hunter Biden1789 Capital — a venture capital firm that lists Donald Trump Jr. as one of six partners along with three founders — claimed a stake in Anduril in June 2025 from a $2.5 billion investment into the company.  Since that investment, Anduril has been awarded 135 other contracts with the U.S. government and to date has received around $1.8 billion from those agreements, according to active defense contracts posted to SAM.gov, the official system for government contracting. Anduril did not respond for comment on its contracts or investments from 1789 Capital, though the company has been awarded contracts dating back to 2019, according to USASpending.govThe company is one of the largest manufacturers to receive an investment from Donald Trump Jr. and his brother Eric Trump, but they are not the only one.Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP Photo – PHOTO: President Donald Trump speaks at an event for Anduril Industries, Inc., at Sparrows Point Shipyard, Oct. 6, 2026, in Sparrows Point, Md. An ABC News analysis found defense companies backed by the president’s sons, including Anduril, have now raked in more than $6 billion dollars in active or promised government contracts since those investments were made, according to the government’s official contract reporting. This comes as Congressional Oversight Democrats continue to demand the Pentagon’s inspector general investigate the approved deals. “Refusal to investigate these serious allegations will raise significant concerns about whether your office is able to perform its statutory duty as an independent watchdog over DoD,” lawmakers Richard Blumenthal, Elizabeth Warren, Robert Garcia and Tammy Duckworth wrote in a letter to Platte B. Moring, III, the Pentagon’s inspector general, in May. President Donald Trump announces creation of ‘Super Intelligence Force’ AI task forcePeter Morrison/AP Photo – PHOTO: Trump IrelandA Pentagon official told ABC News, “No company receives preferential treatment. The War Department always looks for solutions to benefit the warfighter, not any pre-selected entity. Outside affiliations, investors, or political connections play absolutely no role in the Department’s funding decisions.”A spokesperson for the Trump brothers denied any wrongdoing. “Don and Eric are experienced business leaders who have built and invested in businesses across a wide range of industries for decades, long before their father first ran for public office. Their investment decisions are based solely on their independent business judgment and personal convictions and they do not seek to influence, direct, or participate in any government decision, procurement, award, regulatory action, or other governmental process. Attempts to portray their ordinary investment activities as improper are a deliberate distortion of the facts,” the spokesperson said.The White House declined to comment.Drone investmentsShortly after Trump won the presidency, Donald Trump Jr. was named an adviser for Florida-based drone manufacturer Unusual Machines — a company which had not previously won any government contracts. In October 2025, Unusual Machines scored a direct U.S. Dept. of Defense agreement for 3,500 orders of National Defense Authorization Act-compliant motors, with a potential order of 20,000 on the way in 2026. The Trump brothers are also listed as “notable investors” for the U.S. drone company Powerus, the company announced in March 2026. Despite not having any government contracts previously, Powerus won its first Air Force purchase order just one month later for an undisclosed amount.  In July, Powerus was awarded up to $90 million for aerial-denial unmanned aircraft systems from the U.S. Air Force.ABC News asked Powerus if it was concerned at all about the involvement of the Trump brothers in the company, given its active contracts. “Defense procurement is merit-based. You can’t sell the government something that won’t protect a soldier, and nobody in the procurement chain risks their career routing a contract to a company whose equipment doesn’t work,” a spokesperson for Powerus said. “Neither Donald Trump Jr. nor Eric Trump is an advisor to Powerus, and neither is involved in the company’s day-to-day business,” the spokesperson continued. “Their interest is indirect, held through American Ventures, an investor in the company.”Manufacturing investmentsTrump-linked investments extend into the manufacturing industry, with the brothers combining for more than $1 billion across companies in mining, quantum computing and aerospace. Oversight Democrats in their letter to the DoD criticized Donald Trump Jr.’s portfolio in raw materials, citing an August 2025 investment into Vulcan Elements, a rare-earth mining company that harvests critical materials for defense manufacturing. That same month, the Office of Strategic Capital loaned Vulcan Elements $620 million to expand its operation.Alex Brandon/AP Photo – PHOTO: Election 2026 RepublicansVulcan Elements did not respond for comment when asked about these contracts and the investments from 1789 Capital. The firm also invested $60 million in Texas-based Firehawk Aerospace, according to firm portfolios provided by PitchBook. In the same month, Firehawk won a $4.9 million Air Force contract to “Advance Hybrid Rocket Engine Development,” according to a company press release. Firehawk would later secure tens of millions more — $3.2 million in May 2026, an undisclosed “multimillion-dollar” contract with the Air Force Research Laboratory in July and $24 million in Dept. of Defense munitions contracts in August, according to company press releases and active contracts.Firehawk Aerospace has been awarded government contracts across both the Biden and Trump administrations since the company’s founding in 2019. In a statement to ABC News, Firehawk said its award is “solely the product of engineering expertise and capacity.” Trump signs security agreement with Greenland and Denmark, but isn’t ‘complete’ change”We value the many investors who back that mission and share our conviction that the Nation’s arsenal must be built to last. Our focus is the duty in front of us, making the arsenal of the U.S. and our allies stronger,” a Firehawk spokesperson said. ABC News also found 1789 Capital raised $1 billion in revenue generation for California-based PsiQuantum in September of last year, with the company’s pre-existing contract with DoD expanding by more than $157 million since then, according to SAM.gov.PsiQuantum also signed a $100 million letter of intent with the Department of Commerce and another $125 million with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency in May and July of 2026. PsiQuantum did not respond when asked for comment on these investments. Anthony Behar/Sipa USA via AP – PHOTO: NJ: President Trump At 2026 LIV Golf New York – Round FourAutomation investmentsTrump-linked investments were found in the automation sector. Eric Trump said he was named chief strategy adviser for Foundation Future Industries, a humanoid robot startup with the stated aim to develop autonomous soldiers and workers.  Eric Trump touted a $24 million contract in April — the company’s first — according to Eric Trump and CEO Sankaet Pathal’s statements on Fox News. Pathal did not respond for comment on this contract or on Trump’s involvement with the company’s operations. ABC News found a $391 million 1789 Capital investment into Hadrian — a highly automated, AI-driven manufacturing company — in the early days of 2026.The company won its first public contracts a few months later in March — a $39.2 million agreement with the Army for machinery and manufacturing and a $900 million deal with the Navy to create highly automated submarine factories. Hadrian did not respond for comment when asked about these contracts.Congressional Democrats continue to sound the alarm over these investments, referring ABC News to their May demand to the Department of Defense to launch an investigation into the president’s family. “We hope that your office will take seriously these latest concerns about corruption in the DoD award process and fulfill your statutory responsibility by initiating a review,” the lawmakers wrote in their letter. This article originally appeared on ABC News at https://abcnews.com/Politics/trump-sons-investments-won-billions-pentagon-contracts-election/story?id=137049598

The badges of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are seen as they patrol the halls of an immigration court in New York in May. – Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images/File The Department of Homeland Security’s sweeping election-fraud operation has drawn on tens of millions of records, scrutinized dozens of nonprofit voter-registration groups and considered deploying undercover agents to investigate organizations suspected of helping noncitizens register to vote, according to newly obtained internal documents. The 166 pages of records, released on Wednesday by the advocacy group Democracy Forward, offer a detailed look inside one arm of the Trump administration’s escalating election-integrity campaign, which has marshaled federal investigators, immigration databases and voter records in an effort to identify noncitizens suspected of illegally registering or voting. They show the extensive infrastructure the administration has built within its immigration enforcement agency to pursue probes aligned with Trump’s election fraud beliefs, with multiple layers of data reviews, dozens of organizations investigated, primary elections tracked and weekly reports summarizing the progress of the various projects. Homeland Security Investigations, the investigative division of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, described the undertaking as a phased national initiative involving voter-roll acquisition, data analysis, investigative leads and field investigations. The operation drew on extraordinarily large pools of data. A June 1 HSI report said investigators had ingested 50.6 million records from a Justice Department dataset and another 48.4 million records that Heather Honey, a senior counselor to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, had obtained through what the report called “independent sources of information.” The document does not identify those independent sources, but the data may include public voter lists from California, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Nevada that DHS purchased and analyzed around this time. In July, Mullin announced that his department found roughly 250,000 noncitizens registered to vote in just those four states — claims that officials in those states have repeatedly challenged. The 50 million Justice Department records may include unredacted voter lists voluntarily handed over by more than a dozen Republican-led states in the months prior. DOJ has sued 30 other states to force them to share their unredacted rolls for audit. In a statement, a DHS spokesperson said: “DHS has been incredibly transparent about the acquisition and the analysis of publicly available voter files conducted by the Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate of USCIS. DHS and DOJ are laser focused on prosecuting and removing aliens who vote and preventing the dilution of the votes of US citizens.” Democracy Forward President and CEO Skye Perryman said in a statement: “It appears the president and his allies want to pick their voters, as opposed to the way things are supposed to function in a democracy where voters pick their leaders.” The documents suggest that the Trump administration is using data-review products offered by the controversial software company Palantir for its reviews of voter rolls. The agency is using a Palantir tool known as ELITE to process state voter rolls, according to a July election probe progress report in the trove. Palantir’s website describes ELITE as a “data integration” tool with the purpose of “identifying the location of known foreign nationals who meet criteria for removal.” CNN has reached out to Palantir for comment. Probing voter registration organizations The documents also show that investigators were looking well beyond individual suspected voters. An internal comparison said HSI was adopting a “network-based investigative approach, prioritizing organization and facilitation analysis over individual leads.” Investigators reviewed dozens of nonprofits and voter-registration organizations in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and other states and examined organizations linked to an Ohio company suspected by investigators of voter-registration fraud. Many of those reviews turned up no evidence of wrongdoing. Investigators said they found no derogatory information on dozens of New Jersey groups they examined, found no suspicious financial activity in another nonprofit review and closed a separate Ohio inquiry after exhausting its investigative leads. But the records show that by late May, HSI and the FBI were developing investigative plans involving seven Ohio companies that investigators described as “consolidation centers” associated with Black Fork Strategies, a progressive canvassing firm that HSI alleged was connected to several noncitizens registered to vote in Cuyahoga County. On June 8, ICE notified senior officials that agents planned to execute federal search warrants and interview more than 100 current and former employees as part of their investigation into fraudulent voter registration and illegal voting. The heavily redacted records do not explicitly identify Black Fork as the target of those warrants. But three days later, federal agents raided the Ohio Organizing Collaborative, a progressive organizing group with extensive ties to Black Fork. HSI contemplated more aggressive investigative tactics as well. A June report said officials were exploring whether to use undercover agents to engage with organizations suspected of encouraging or facilitating illegal voter registration by noncitizens. New Jersey and Pennsylvania were identified as areas of focus. The document said undercover agents could be used to gather evidence and trace financial backing if investigators determined an organization was actively recruiting noncitizens to register. The records show that HSI also monitored this year’s primary elections for “trends, vulnerabilities, or indicators” that agents believed “may impact election integrity.” Updates on voter fraud probes shared with White House The bulk of the documents contain status updates on HSI’s voter fraud-related investigations. Most of the details are redacted, but the documents offer insights into how HSI and other DHS components were focused on trying to find voter fraud cases to prosecute. In June, HSI officials wrote that their investigations were focused on five states: New Jersey, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Minnesota and Ohio. Among the various voter fraud topics, HSI was investigating “Counties with 2020 Results” and “Voter Machines,” according to a May update on the probes. It’s not clear what specifically was being investigated, though earlier this year, HSI agents contacted Arizona state officials with questions about the 2020 election in the state’s largest county, Maricopa. A set of DHS talking points included in the new trove described those interactions as “routine law enforcement coordination and information sharing.” Mullin sent letters in August to the White House and Justice Department arguing that foreign-made components in voting machines could “potentially compromise election infrastructure at any stage of the supply chain.” The investigative status updates were shared with White House officials beginning in July, according to emails from the documents. The records also reveal how immigration enforcement gave the administration another avenue to pursue suspected noncitizen voters when a criminal case could not be brought. Internal legal guidance distributed to ICE attorneys in December 2025 said that “in cases in which the evidence is insufficient to support a criminal prosecution,” suspected unlawful voting could nevertheless make a noncitizen subject to immigration consequences. The guidance noted that certain immigration-law provisions covering unlawful voting do not require a criminal conviction and, in some circumstances, do not require proof that the person knew the vote was unlawful. ICE’s Office of the Principal Legal Advisor sent out guidance about illegal voting following July reports that New Jersey mistakenly added 6,600 non-citizens to its voter rolls, and nearly 400 cast ballots. ICE officials wrote noncitizens who voted could be deported under the Immigration and Nationality Act. “There is no requirement that the alien have knowledge that he or she has illegally voted, and no conviction is required,” the guidance stated. “HSI is heavily working these cases,” ICE Deputy Director Charles Wall wrote in a July email. The records also detail separate investigations of “anti-ICE” groups in Minnesota, where a massive federal immigration-enforcement operation earlier this year sparked widespread protests, particularly after federal agents fatally shot two Americans. Internal reports describe undercover agents infiltrating and surveilling activist groups as HSI investigated alleged stalking, doxing and other activity targeting immigration officers. By late May, HSI had opened 418 voter-fraud cases and made 64 administrative arrests. But 318 of those cases had not been referred for prosecution. Investigators had also distributed more than 1,500 leads generated from immigration records to field offices across the country. This story has been updated with additional information. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.comThis article originally appeared on CNN at https://www.cnn.com/2026/10/07/politics/dhs-ice-voter-fraud-investigation-undercover