Justice Dept. official accuses FBI chief of ‘insubordination’

WASHINGTON (AP) — A top Justice Department official has accused the FBI’s acting leaders of “insubordination” in a memo in which he sought to soothe anxiety inside the bureau over the potential for a broad purge of agents involved in investigating the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. The memo Wednesday from acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove said agents “who simply followed orders and carried out their duties in an ethical manner” while investigating the Capitol attack face no risk of being fired. But it also provided no reassurances for any agents found to have “acted with corrupt or partisan intent” and suggests those employees, if there any, are at risk of discipline or even termination as part of a highly unusual review process the Trump administration Justice Department is embarking upon.

Thousands protest Trump administration policies in cities across the US

(AP) — Thousands of demonstrators have gathered outside a federal courthouse in Philadelphia and at state capitols in Michigan, Texas, Wisconsin and Indiana to protest the early actions of President Donald Trump’s administration. Protesters waved signs decrying Trump; billionaire Elon Musk; and the hard-right playbook for American government and society known as Project 2025. The protests were a result of a movement that has organized online under the hashtags #buildtheresistance and #50501, which stands for 50 protests, 50 states, one day. Websites and accounts across social media issued calls for action, with messages such as “reject fascism” and “defend our democracy.”

Suspect arrested in fatal shooting at a cosmetics warehouse in Ohio, officials say

NEW ALBANY, Ohio (AP) — Officials say a suspect in the fatal shooting that left one co-worker dead and five others wounded at an Ohio cosmetics warehouse has been arrested. Chief Deputy U.S. Marshal Dan Deville says Bruce Reginald Foster III was located in an apartment in Columbus and arrested around 10 a.m. Wednesday. New Albany Police Chief Greg Jones says all of the victims also worked at the facility. Five of them were taken to hospitals for treatment. The sixth victim died in the building. Licking County court records did not immediately list a defense attorney for the aggravated murder case opened under Foster’s name.

Trump’s birthright citizenship order is put on hold by a second federal judge

GREENBELT, Md. (AP) — A federal judge in Maryland has ordered a second nationwide pause on President Donald Trump’s executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship for anyone born in the U.S. to someone in the country illegally. Trump’s inauguration week order was already on temporary hold nationally because of a separate suit brought by four states in Washington state. In total, 22 states, as well as other organizations, have sued to try to stop the executive action. U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman heard arguments in Maryland federal court on Wednesday.