In a recent development, the leading federal prosecutor in Chicago firmly dismissed claims that his office had launched a criminal investigation into E. Jean Carroll. Carroll is the writer who accused former President Donald Trump of sexual assault and successfully obtained millions in damages through her lawsuits against him.

Initial reports from CNN on Wednesday evening suggested the Department of Justice was looking into whether Carroll committed perjury during her testimony related to the civil cases against Trump.

Andrew Boutros, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, addressed these reports with a clear statement refuting them.

“Given the extensive media coverage and public interest regarding the E. Jean Carroll case in New York, the Chicago U.S. Attorney’s Office wants to clarify that it has not initiated—and has never initiated—a criminal investigation into E. Jean Carroll,” Boutros declared on the social media platform X. “Any assertions otherwise are entirely untrue.”

The alleged investigation reportedly centered on Carroll’s deposition to former Trump attorney Alina Habba in 2022, where she stated she did not receive external funding for her lawsuit. Subsequently, Carroll’s legal team disclosed that Reid Hoffman, the billionaire LinkedIn co-founder, had contributed through his nonprofit to cover some of her legal expenses.

Carroll, an author and columnist, successfully sued Trump for sexual assault and defamation, and two juries awarded her a total of $88.3 million in damages. 

Trump has denied the allegations and appealed, and a federal appeals court later allowed the president to hold off on making payments until the Supreme Court decides whether it will get involved.

Reports of the investigation into Carroll drew backlash from Trump critics. The hosts of ABC’s “The View” on Thursday ripped into Trump and the Justice Department.

“Why is the administration spending time trying to relitigate this case that was already decided by two juries? What the hell?” said co-host Whoopi Goldberg.

Trump’s former communications director Alyssa Farah Griffin, who is now a co-host on the show, said the probe would backfire from a public relations standpoint.

“I think he just wants his vengeance, but he’s putting something that’s horrible for him back in the headlines,” she said on the show.

It also threatened to further inflame tensions between the Trump administration and Senate Republicans, who will likely be forced to defend the controversial probe next month.

Democrats are allowed to offer unlimited amendment votes as part of a so-called vote-a-rama on the GOP budget reconciliation bill. Former Senate GOP aides say Democrats could force Republicans to vote on amendments to express disapproval of the DOJ’s prosecution of Carroll and other Trump administration enemies.

In a remarkable sighting in Los Angeles, a legendary actress from the 1970s film scene appeared almost unrecognizable yet strikingly youthful at 77 years old.

Known for her role opposite Clint Eastwood in the 1971 film “The Beguiled,” she seemed to defy time as she was spotted completing errands in a casual maroon top and white pants.

Her cinematic journey didn’t stop there; she captivated audiences further alongside Warren Beatty in the 1974 thriller “The Parallax View,” solidifying her reputation as a standout talent of the era.

Beyond the silver screen, she graced television with guest roles on iconic series such as “Adam-12,” “Dragnet,” and “Gunsmoke,” showcasing her versatility as an actress.

However, it was her electrifying on-screen connection with Eastwood—who was 40 and married at the time while she was just 20—that sparked enduring speculation about a possible off-screen romance, a topic often explored in biographies of the Academy Award-winning actor.

Can you guess the mystery star still turning heads all these years on? 

One of the most stunning screen stars of 1970s cinema stepped out in Los Angeles recently looking almost unrecognizable – and astonishingly youthful at the age of 77

The actress, who famously starred opposite Clint Eastwood in 1971’s The Beguiled, appeared to have barely aged a day as she ran errands in a simple maroon top and white trousers

With her signature blonde look, she also made memorable guest appearances on classic TV shows including Adam-12, Dragnet and Gunsmoke

If you guessed Jo Ann Harris, you know your Hollywood trivia.

In The Beguiled, Harris played Carol, a student at a secluded Southern girls’ boarding school whose character actively attempts to seduce Eastwood’s wounded Union soldier.

While the on-screen dynamic was intense enough, it is widely reported that the chemistry carried off camera as well, sparking a real-life relationship during filming.

At the time, Eastwood was married to his first wife, Maggie Johnson.

The actor-director has been described as unfaithful during his marriage, with various accounts in biographies alleging relationships with several of his leading ladies around that period, including Inger Stevens and Jean Seberg.

Despite the whispers of an affair, Harris’ Hollywood career continued to flourish throughout the late 1960s and 1970s.

She began acting as a teenager, landing her first role in the 1967 drama series Run for Your Life opposite Ben Gazzara at just 18.

She quickly became a steady presence on American television, securing guest roles across a wide range of popular series including The High Chaparral, The Virginian, Medical Center, The Mod Squad, The FBI, Barnaby Jones, and Hawaii Five-O.

Jo Ann Harris began acting as a teenager, landing her first role in the 1967 drama series Run for Your Life opposite Ben Gazzara at just 18 years old

It was her steamy on-screen chemistry in The Beguiled with Eastwood – then 40 and married, while she was just 20 – that fueled long-running romance rumors

At the time of The Beguiled, Eastwood was married to his first wife, Maggie Johnson; Above, with Shelly Novack in Most Wanted

She also landed spots on The Streets of San Francisco, The Love Boat, Fantasy Island and Laverne & Shirley

She also landed spots on The Streets of San Francisco, The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, and Laverne & Shirley.

Her film work also gained momentum during this period, with roles in Maryjane (1968), The Gay Deceivers (1969), The Sporting Club (1971), Act of Vengeance (1974), Cruise Into Terror (1978) and Deadly Games (1982).

She later appeared as a panelist on Match Game ’77 for a week and held a co-starring role in the short-lived 1977 series Most Wanted alongside Robert Stack.

Expanding into voice work, Harris portrayed Tina in the 1973 Hanna-Barbera animated series Goober and the Ghost Chasers, and later contributed to Oliver & Company (1988) as well as various characters in The Simpsons.

In later years, she returned to television with appearances on Tracey Ullman’s State of the Union, playing Candy Cantwell and Terri across eight episodes between 2008 and 2010.

According to counterterrorism specialists, any final agreement with the U.S. must receive approval from Iran’s supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, who remains hidden due to his status as a “designated target.” This approval process involves clandestine courier networks.

Experts describe this unusual situation as Washington engaging in negotiations with an unseen counterpart, where a significant agreement could be endorsed by a regime figure who must remain in the shadows.

Dr. Omar Mohammed explained to Fox News Digital, “As a designated target, every known location of Khamenei is a potential strike point.”

“The messaging system via couriers is not just a temporary measure; it’s integral to how he governs,” he added.

IRAN’S SUPREME LEADER OPERATES A ‘STATE WITHIN A STATE’ THROUGH A SECRET 4,000-STRONG NETWORK, REPORT CLAIMS

In this picture obtained from Iran’s ISNA news agency, Mojtaba Khamenei (C), son of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, walks along a street in Tehran on May 31, 2019. (Hamid FOROUTAN / ISNA / AFP via Getty Images)

“Any deal the United States signs will have to be designed for a permanently invisible counterparty whose enforcement depends on his continued survival. That is not arms control as it has been conventionally understood. It is a memorandum signed under American military pressure, with a regime whose leader cannot show his face.”

Mohammed’s remarks came after Secretary of State Marco Rubio explained to reporters in India why the deal was suffering delays.

“It’s just the response,” Rubio said. “I mean, when you get down on some of these things, you’ve got to hear back, and it takes the Iranians — takes them a little while longer to get back,” he explained.

“That is Secretary Rubio confirming the courier latency on the record,” said Dr. Omar Mohammed, director of the Antisemitism Research Initiative Program on Extremism at George Washington University. “Rubio is describing a structural feature of negotiating with a supreme leader no one can locate.

IRAN’S KHAMENEI STAYS AWAY FROM TALKS AS JD VANCE SAYS DYNAMIC MAKES DIPLOMACY ‘MUCH MORE COMPLICATED’

President Donald Trump monitors U.S. military operations in Iran following an Israeli strike in Tehran on Feb. 28, 2026. (White House)

“Mojtaba is in hiding, messages are moving by courier, and responses are arriving days late.

“Rubio just confirmed the symptom, and the administration is being honest about the problem. The question is whether the framework can be designed to survive it,” Mohammed claimed.

Khamenei has spent nearly three months in hiding as tensions with the U.S. escalate.

He went underground as soon as a strike on Feb. 28 killed his father, amid reports that he was gravely injured.

He was struck in Operation Epic Fury — “wounded and likely disfigured,” according to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. His wife and son were killed in the same strike.

“Officials at the highest levels of the Iranian government do not know where he is,” Mohammed said, meaning every piece of information he receives is “dated, and his responses come with significant latency.”

The remarks come as Iran and the United States continue talks aimed at reaching a deal to end the war that began Feb. 28.

IRAN’S SUPREME LEADER MOJTABA KHAMENEI ‘MISFUNCTIONING,’ NOT CONTROLLING REGIME: SOURCES

Secretary of State Marco Rubio faced tough questions Sunday at a New Delhi, India, news conference about the Trump administration’s pressing India on trade, tariffs, visa and immigration reform. (Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AFP)

“If there’s going to be a deal, we’re going to have to work through that. But this is, you know, it’s either going to be a good deal or there isn’t going to be one,” Rubio said Tuesday.

A senior administration official said the U.S. is prepared to ease sanctions if Iran makes major concessions on uranium enrichment. Frozen Iranian assets have also emerged as a key hurdle.

Iran said Monday that no agreement with the United States was imminent, despite progress toward a framework in talks.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said the focus of talks remained ending the war on all fronts, including Lebanon, and that a possible memorandum of understanding did not include specific details on managing the Strait of Hormuz.

“The real question for Washington is not how fast the framework can be signed,” Mohammed added.

“It is also what enforcement looks like when the counterparty’s signature comes through a courier.”

A French woman has been arrested in Portugal on allegations of abandoning her two young children in a forest. The woman, Marine Rousseau, 41, was apprehended alongside her former law enforcement partner, Marc Ballabriga, 55, while they were dining at a café near Lisbon.

Authorities detained Rousseau and Ballabriga on Thursday, just two days after they allegedly left Rousseau’s 3- and 5-year-old children stranded in a remote wooded area. The incident has drawn significant attention from both Portuguese and French media outlets.

“They were just sitting there and didn’t appear nervous,” said Jorge Lopes, the café owner who witnessed the arrest. “They were searched and handcuffed without showing any signs of stress. I was shocked by how calm they seemed in front of the authorities, as if they were completely unfazed.”

The young boys were discovered alone and distressed, crying in the forest approximately 125 miles away from Lisbon, according to a report by MetroUK.

Related: Florida Mother Allegedly Leaves Daughter at Universal Studios to Drink at Bar

Marine-Rousseau and her boyfriend, Marc Ballabriga, were arrested after allegedly leaving her two young sons blindfolded in the woods alone in Portugal. (Getty Images)

“Given the situation of evident vulnerability, the children were taken to the home of a local resident, where they remained and received initial care in the presence of the officers until they were transferred to a hospital unit,” Portuguese authorities said in a statement.

The two boys were in good health and were discharged from hospital on Thursday,” Portugal’s Public Ministry said.

The couple face child endangerment and abandonment charges. Ballabriga — a former French policeman who quit the force in 2010 — faces an additional aggravated assault charge.

UTAH DOOMSDAY MOM ARRESTED ABROAD AFTER ALLEGEDLY ABDUCTING FOUR KIDS, DUMPING THEM IN EUROPEAN ORPHANAGE

Marine-Rousseau allegedly left her two young sons alone in a Portuguese forest while blindfolded in Portugal, authorities said. (Getty Images)

They were ordered held pending trial.

Rousseau’s sons were rescued by Artur Quintas, a local baker who spotted them “screaming and crying” while frantically stumbling along a main road on May 19, the New York Post reported.

They were carrying backpacks stuffed only with clothes, water and snacks.

Quintas recalled the older brother telling him that their mother and her boyfriend allegedly took them into the forest and covered their eyes as part of a “game.” When they removed their blindfolds, both adults had vanished.

Marine Rousseau is charged with child endangerment. (Getty Images)

The pair have since been placed in temporary foster care.

Their biological father — who reported them missing on May 11 — is working to bring them back to France.

“It’s only a matter of days before I get my children back,” he told French broadcaster Ici Alsace TV on Monday. “I think about them every second since the Colmar police station contacted me to tell me they were missing. My children will have to rebuild their lives, just as I rebuilt mine.

“And they don’t need to be constantly reminded of this tragedy.”

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The aerospace firm at the heart of a chemical crisis that led to the evacuation of thousands of California residents over the Memorial Day holiday weekend is now facing yet another lawsuit.

This legal challenge accuses the UK-based GKN Aerospace of negligence, trespass, and nuisance. It claims the company neglected to uphold safety protocols, despite receiving prior regulatory warnings and having a history of environmental infractions.

The lawsuit is one of many filed in the aftermath of a malfunctioning storage tank that contained flammable methyl methacrylate. The tank overheated and was compromised, leading to evacuation orders across multiple cities in Orange County, California, during the holiday period.

Officials reported that a crack developed in the tank, which unexpectedly released pressure and helped prevent a catastrophic explosion, allowing most of the displaced residents to return home.

In response to the crisis, Governor Newsom declared a state of emergency in Orange County as the failing chemical tank threatened to cause a devastating explosion.

Gov. Gavin Newsom proclaimed a state of emergency in Orange County as California continues to respond to the hazardous chemical incident in Garden Grove. (Ethan Swope/AP)

The plaintiffs’ “trespass” claim is particularly notable, arguing that the chemical vapors, odors and airborne contaminants migrating into their community constituted an invasion of their property.

The plaintiffs are seeking unspecified compensation and punitive damages for emotional distress, the temporary loss of property use and the long-term diminution of property value caused by chemical stigma.

During the emergency, authorities ordered some 50,000 people living in parts of Anaheim, Buena Park, Cypress, Garden Grove — where the GKN facility has been located since 1966 — Stanton and Westminster to leave their homes.

DISNEYLAND REMAINS OPEN AS EVACUATION ZONE SHRINKS AROUND CHEMICAL TANK SCARE

Evacuees from an aerospace chemical plant tank leak moved to another shelter after the Garden Grove Sports and Recreation Center closed for the night in Garden Grove, Calif., on May 22, 2026. (Ethan Swope/AP)

President Donald Trump granted a federal emergency declaration on Monday in response to the incident.

The lawsuit claims that GKN “consciously disregarded the rights and safety of Plaintiffs and other nearby residents by failing to implement, fund, maintain, inspect, repair, and enforce adequate safety systems despite the known risks associated with MMA and the facility’s hazardous materials operations.”

The Garden Grove facility, which manufactures windows and canopies for commercial and military aircraft, as well as spacecraft, had a prior regulatory history concerning environmental and air quality compliance, the lawsuit states. Specifically, it points to a reported 2025 settlement involving air quality violations that resulted in a substantial civil penalty.

20 CHEESE FACTORY WORKERS INJURED AFTER CHEMICAL SPILL AT NEW MEXICO FACTORY RELEASES TOXIC GAS: POLICE

Water is sprayed on a tank that overheated at an aerospace plant in Garden Grove, Calif., on May 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

“Plaintiffs are informed and believe that this prior history placed Defendants on additional notice that their hazardous materials operations required strict compliance, careful monitoring, and conservative safety practices,” the complaint states.

Exposure to MMA can cause serious respiratory problems, neurological issues and irritation to the skin, eyes and throat, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

At least 44 lawsuits have been filed related to the incident, the Orange County Register reported.

Evacuees move to another shelter after an aerospace chemical plant tank leak forced the closure of the Garden Grove Sports and Recreation Center in Garden Grove, Calif., on May 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

Fox News Digital has reached out to GKN for comment.

In a statement issued earlier in the week, the company apologized for the emergency.

“I recognize how challenging this has been, particularly over the Memorial Day holiday,” said GKN Senior Vice President Steve Carlin, who oversees the Garden Grove site’s programs. “We are committed to understanding what occurred and identifying ways we can support those affected.”

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