By KATE BRUMBACK, Associated Press

ATLANTA (AP) — The head of a nonpartisan group that supports Georgia prosecutors said the new state law that President Donald Trump and others charged in an election interference case are using to seek millions in attorney fees and costs from the Fulton County district attorney’s office is likely unconstitutional.

The law has “serious and potentially unconstitutional deficiencies,” notably because it denies county governments any sort of due process when defendants in a case request reimbursement, Georgia Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council Executive Director Pete Skandalakis wrote in a court filing Wednesday.

Georgia state legislators last year passed a law that says that if a prosecutor is disqualified from a case because of their own improper conduct and the case is then dismissed, anyone charged in that case is entitled to request “all reasonable attorney’s fees and costs incurred” in their defense. The judge overseeing the case then is responsible for reviewing the request and awarding the fees and costs, which are to be paid from the budget of the prosecutor’s office.

Trump is seeking more than $6.2 million and the total amount sought by him and other people charged in the case is nearly $17 million, Skandalakis noted.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis obtained an indictment against Trump and 18 others from a grand jury in August 2023, using the state’s anti-racketeering law to accuse them of participating in a wide-ranging scheme to illegally try to overturn Trump’s narrow 2020 presidential election loss to Democrat Joe Biden in Georgia.

Related Articles

Trump administration restores federal funding for family planning after ACLU lawsuit

After Minnesota shooting, Democrats call for Kristi Noem’s impeachment

Trump administration lawyers blessed US operation to remove Maduro from power, memo shows

US apologizes for deporting a college student flying home for Thanksgiving surprise

From Minneapolis to Venezuela, Trump starts new year with fresh risks as he faces midterm verdict

Willis and her office were removed from the case after the Georgia Court of Appeals found that there was an “appearance of impropriety” created by a romantic relationship she had with the special prosecutor she chose to lead the case. Skandalakis took over the case late last year and dismissed it in November.

The new law “is probably unconstitutional because it leaves county governments — entities that are politically and practically separate from the elected District Attorney — responsible for paying costs that do not involve them, without any legal recourse to contest that responsibility,” Skandalakis wrote. That denies them due process under both the U.S. and Georgia constitutions, he argued.

A spokesperson for Willis declined to comment on Skandalakis’ filing. Willis had previously asked the judge to allow her to be heard on the matter of any claims for fees and costs filed in the case.

Steve Sadow, Trump’s lead attorney in Georgia, said in an e-mailed statement that the law is constitutional and “Mr. Skandalakis’ contentions are simply wrong.”

Due process requires notice and an opportunity to be heard, but the new law “treats the county government as a non-party entity subject to a money judgment it has no ability to contest,” Skandalakis wrote.

He also pointed out that the new law requires that the prosecutor be disqualified “due to improper conduct” and argues that there has been no finding of improper conduct in this case. Rather, the appeals court found an appearance of improper conduct. Therefore, to award Trump and others their legal costs, the judge “must find an appearance is the same as a completed act.”

Skandalakis also notes that the law doesn’t define a reasonable hourly rate for an attorney. The hourly rates paid to attorneys who step in when a district attorney or the state attorney general has a conflict are $66.57 and $125, respectively, Skandalakis wrote. Those rates are far below what some of the defense lawyers in the election case charged, but “they should be considered as part of what is reasonable,” Skandalakis wrote.

Defense attorneys sought Willis’ removal after one of them revealed in January 2024 that Willis had engaged in a romantic relationship with Nathan Wade, the special prosecutor she had hired to lead the case. The defense attorneys said the relationship created a conflict of interest.

The trial judge, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee, rebuked Willis, saying in an order in March 2024 that her actions showed a “tremendous lapse in judgment.” But he did not find a conflict of interest that would disqualify Willis. He ultimately ruled that Willis could remain on the case if Wade resigned, which the special prosecutor did hours later.

Defense attorneys appealed that ruling, and the Georgia Court of Appeals removed Willis from the case in December 2024, citing an “appearance of impropriety.” The Georgia Supreme Court in September declined to hear Willis’ appeal.

By JONEL ALECCIA, Associated Press

Whole milk is heading back to school cafeterias across the country after President Donald Trump signed a bill Wednesday overturning Obama-era limits on higher-fat milk options.

Nondairy drinks such as fortified soy milk may also be on the menu in the coming months following adoption of the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act, which cleared Congress in the fall.

The action allows schools participating in the National School Lunch Program to serve whole and 2% fat milk along with the skim and low-fat products required since 2012.

“Whether you’re a Democrat or a Republican, whole milk is a great thing,” Trump said at a White House signing ceremony that featured lawmakers, dairy farmers and their children.

The law also permits schools to serve nondairy milk that meets the nutritional standards of milk and requires schools to offer a nondairy milk alternative if kids provide a note from their parents, not just from doctors, saying they have a dietary restriction.

The signing comes days after the release of the 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which emphasize consumption of full-fat dairy products as part of a healthy diet. Previous editions advised that consumers older than 2 should consume low-fat or fat-free dairy.

Earlier this week, the Agriculture Department sent a social media post showing Trump with a glass of milk and a “milk mustache” that declared: “Drink Whole Milk.”

The change could take effect as soon as this fall, though school nutrition and dairy industry officials said it may take longer for some schools to gauge demand for full-fat dairy and adjust supply chains.

Long sought by the dairy industry, the return of whole and 2% milk to school meals reverses provisions of the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act championed by former first lady Michelle Obama. Enacted more than a dozen years ago, the law aimed to slow obesity and boost health by cutting kids’ consumption of saturated fat and calories in higher-fat milk.

Nutrition experts, lawmakers and the dairy industry have argued that whole milk is a delicious, nutritious food that has been unfairly vilified, and that some studies suggest that kids who drink it are less likely to develop obesity than those who drink lower-fat options. Critics have also said that many children don’t like the taste of lower-fat milk and don’t drink it, leading to missed nutrition and food waste.

Related Articles

Trump administration restores federal funding for family planning after ACLU lawsuit

After Minnesota shooting, Democrats call for Kristi Noem’s impeachment

Trump administration lawyers blessed US operation to remove Maduro from power, memo shows

US apologizes for deporting a college student flying home for Thanksgiving surprise

From Minneapolis to Venezuela, Trump starts new year with fresh risks as he faces midterm verdict

Change affects nearly 30 million schoolkids

The new rules will change meals served to about 30 million students enrolled in the National School Lunch Program.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. described the new law as “a long-overdue correction to school nutrition policy.” Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said it fixed Michelle Obama’s “short-sighted campaign to ditch whole milk.”

Schools will be required to provide students with a range of fluid milk options, which can now include flavored and unflavored organic or conventional whole milk, 2%, 1% and lactose-free milk, as well as non-dairy options that meet nutrition standards.

The new dietary guidelines call for “full-fat dairy with no added sugars,” which would preclude chocolate- and strawberry-flavored milks allowed under a recent update of school meal standards. Agriculture officials will have to translate that recommendation into specific requirements for schools to eliminate flavored milks.

The new law exempts milk fat from being considered as part of federal requirements that average saturated fats make up less than 10% of calories in school meals.

One top nutrition expert, Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian of Tufts University, has said there is “no meaningful benefit” in choosing low-fat over high-fat dairy. Saturated fatty acids in dairy have a different composition than other fat, such as beef fat, plus different beneficial compounds that could offset theoretical harms, he added.

“Saturated fat in dairy has not been linked to any adverse health outcomes,” Mozaffarian said in an interview.

Research has shown that changes in the federal nutrition program after the Obama-era law was enacted slowed the rise in obesity among U.S. kids, including teenagers.

But some nutrition experts point to newer research that suggests that kids who drink whole milk could be less likely to be overweight or to develop obesity than children who drink lower-fat milk. One 2020 review of 28 studies suggests that the risk was 40% less for kids who drank whole milk, although the authors noted they couldn’t say whether milk consumption was the reason.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

By JULIE CARR SMYTH, Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A grand jury indicted the individual accused of vandalizing the Ohio home of Vice President JD Vance and causing other property damage on federal charges Wednesday.

The three-count indictment charges William D. DeFoor, 26, of Cincinnati, with damaging government property, engaging in physical violence against any person or property in a restricted building or grounds, and assaulting, resisting or impeding federal officers.

DeFoor faces up to 10 years in prison on each of the first two charges and up to 20 years on the third.

Related Articles

Trump administration restores federal funding for family planning after ACLU lawsuit

After Minnesota shooting, Democrats call for Kristi Noem’s impeachment

Trump administration lawyers blessed US operation to remove Maduro from power, memo shows

US apologizes for deporting a college student flying home for Thanksgiving surprise

From Minneapolis to Venezuela, Trump starts new year with fresh risks as he faces midterm verdict

Defense attorney Paul Laufman, listed as representing DeFoor, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Laufman has previously said that the situation represents “purely a mental health issue” and that his client was not motivated by politics.

Court records show that separate vandalism, criminal trespass, criminal damaging and obstruction charges initially brought against DeFoor in state court, mostly misdemeanors, were dropped on Friday.

Federal prosecutors allege that the Secret Service saw someone run along the front fence of Vance’s residence in Cincinnati’s upscale East Walnut Hills neighborhood just after midnight on Jan. 5 and then breach the property line. The person later identified as DeFoor was armed with a hammer and tried to break out the window of an unmarked Secret Service vehicle on the way up the driveway before moving toward the front of the home and breaking 14 historic window panes, according to a federal affidavit.

Damage done to security enhancements around the windows was valued at $28,000, according to the filing.

A federal judge ruled on Tuesday that DeFoor must remain incarcerated pending trial.

On social media and in interviews, Vance has thanked the Secret Service and Cincinnati Police for their work on the case. He has also declined to speculate on a motive, while calling the suspect “clearly a very sick individual.”

By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN and MORGAN LEE, Associated Press

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Emmy Award-winning actor Timothy Busfield is due in court for an initial appearance Wednesday, a day after turning himself in to authorities to face charges of child sex abuse stemming from allegations that he inappropriately touched a minor on the set of a TV series he was directing in New Mexico.

Albuquerque police issued a warrant for his arrest last week on two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor and one count of child abuse. A criminal complaint alleges the acts occurred on the set of the series “The Cleaning Lady,” which was filmed in Albuquerque.

Busfield, who is married to actor Melissa Gilbert and is known for appearances in “The West Wing,” “Field of Dreams” and “Thirtysomething,” has vowed to fight the charges. In a video shared before turning himself in, Busfield called the allegations lies.

Related Articles

NASCAR driver Greg Biffle’s North Carolina home burglarized weeks after plane crash, officials say

Is Verizon down? Nationwide mobile service outage reported

US overdose deaths fell through most of 2025, federal data reveals

Sales of a powerful Nvidia AI chip to China gets the greenlight, with conditions

Maui braces for possible end to FEMA rental assistance and more housing strain for fire survivors

Prosecutors are seeking to keep Busfield in custody pending trial. They filed a motion early Wednesday detailing their reasons for the request, pointing to what they described as a documented pattern of sexual misconduct, abuse of authority and grooming behavior by Busfield over two decades. They also said witnesses have expressed fear regarding retaliation and professional harm.

The motion states that research and experience show that offenders are uniquely positioned to evade accountability and circumvent safeguards designed to protect children when they wield authority, status or influence.

“In light of the defendant’s demonstrated disregard for boundaries, authority and compliance, no condition or combination of conditions of release can reasonably protect the victims or the community,” the motion states.

It will be up to a judge to determine whether to grant the request. A detention hearing has yet to be scheduled.

Prosecutors also took issue with Busfield disseminating a video to the media outlet TMZ on Tuesday, suggesting he was prioritizing “personal narrative control and public relations” over compliance with the court process.

According to the criminal complaint, an investigator with the police department says the child reported that he was 7 years old when Busfield touched him multiple times on private areas over his clothing. Busfield allegedly touched him on another occasion when he was 8, the complaint said.

The complaint also says the child was reportedly afraid to tell anyone because Busfield was the director and he feared he would get mad at him.

The boy’s twin brother told authorities he also was touched by Busfield but did not specify where. He said he didn’t say anything because he didn’t want to get in trouble.

The mother of the twins reported to Child Protective Services that the abuse occurred between November 2022 and spring 2024, the complaint said.

In an interview with police last fall, Busfield denied the allegations and suggested that the boys’ mother was seeking revenge for her children being replaced on the series. The argument was echoed by Busfield’s attorney Tuesday.

The investigation began in November 2024 after a call from a doctor at the University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque. The boys’ parents had gone there at the recommendation of a law firm, the complaint said.

Busfield’s attorney said an independent investigation by Warner Bros. was unable to corroborate allegations of inappropriate behavior by Busfield. But prosecutors in their filing argued that the investigator failed to talk to key witnesses.

Lee contributed from Santa Fe, New Mexico.