WASHINGTON (AP) — A law professor known for his expansive views of presidential power and for decades-old memos that justified harsh interrogation techniques after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks says he will be advising a team of prosecutors investigating whether former law enforcement and intelligence officials conspired against President Donald Trump.
John Yoo confirmed in an email to The Associated Press on Monday that he would be assisting Joe diGenova in an ongoing investigation into whether officials who over the last decade scrutinized Trump participated in a criminal conspiracy against the Republican president.
“He’s a lawyer. He's going to be helping us,” diGenova said in a brief telephone interview about Yoo. diGenova served as the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia between 1983 and 1988 and was enlisted in April to return to government as a counselor to the attorney general.
A law professor at the University of California, Berkeley, Yoo was a senior Justice Department official in the George W. Bush administration who served as an author of the so-called “torture memos” that government officials used to justify using “enhanced interrogation” techniques on potential terror suspects. The Justice Department later rescinded the memos.
In the years since, he's remained a prominent proponent of broad executive authority, telling the AP in 2020 that he had told Trump administration officials that a Supreme Court ruling that rejected Trump’s effort to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, opened the door to enormous new presidential power.
The conspiracy investigation is being conducted in Florida, but the scope is unclear, as is whether any criminal charges will be brought.
Prosecutors have centered at least part of the probe on the long-concluded investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Investigators have issued a broad swath of subpoenas to former officials for records and conducted interviews related to the creation of an intelligence community assessment, released in January 2017, that found that Russia engaged in wide-ranging election interference to boost Trump over his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton.
A 2019 report by special counsel Robert Mueller affirmed that Russia interfered on Trump's behalf and that the Trump campaign repeatedly welcomed the assistance, but it did not find sufficient evidence to establish a criminal conspiracy between Moscow and the campaign.
Several subsequent investigations into the Russia probe have identified multiple errors into how it was conducted, and a former FBI lawyer pleaded guilty in 2020 to doctoring an email during the course of the inquiry. But none of the reviews have identified criminal misconduct by any senior law enforcement or intelligence official involved in the investigation.
Trump has nonetheless continued to demand retribution and has sought to punish top officials from that time at the FBI and CIA.
Asked in a Fox News Channel interview in May what the Justice Department had done to address claims of a long-running conspiracy to bring down Trump, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said, “That's exactly what we're investigating right now.”
Yoo's involvement in the investigation was earlier reported by Politico and CNN.
FILE - John Yoo, a law professor at the University of California at Berkeley, testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, June 26, 2008. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)
The NFL's Detroit Lions on Monday released cornerback Terrion Arnold, only days after his arrest over allegations that he orchestrated the abduction and beating of three men who prosecutors believe he wrongly suspected of having stolen luxury goods and $100,000 in cash from him.
The team made the announcement on the X social media platform. Arnold had two years left on his four-year rookie contract, worth $14.3 million.
The team did not give a reason, but the announcement came the same day that a Florida judge set Arnold's bail at $1 million. Prosecutors say the three victims, including a man who worked as a driver for Arnold, were robbed while being held at gunpoint in a Tampa apartment in February.
Prosecutors had wanted Arnold held without bond on the eight felony charges he faces. But Chief Circuit Court Judge Christopher Sabella granted bond to him.
The judge did not require Arnold to wear an ankle monitor because it would have prevented him from taking the field for games and training. The judge also said Arnold already has a “paparazzi monitor,” referring to the photographers who have been watching his movements.
“If he shows up on a beach in Tahiti, he’ll be on social media,” Sabella said at the end of the bond hearing in Tampa.
Sabella said that although the charges are serious — each could bring a life sentence if Arnold is convicted — prosecutors are “not there yet” in having a strong case for Arnold’s guilt.
The judge did order Arnold to remain at his home in Tallahassee except for when he’s playing, training and traveling with the Lions. He also said Arnold cannot have any contact with other people tied to the case and must surrender his passport within 48 hours.
Arnold, 23, was a first-round pick in the 2024 draft after playing at the University of Alabama. He had 31 tackles and an interception last season as part of the Lions’ defense.
According to prosecutors, the victims were abducted three days after cash and luxury items, including Rolex watches and Louis Vuitton bags, were reported stolen from Arnold at an Airbnb rental in the Tampa area. Prosecutors allege that six of Arnold’s associates actually carried out the crimes, holding, beating and pistol-whipping the victims, and that Arnold wasn’t there at the time.
None of Arnold’s co-defendants had bond set for them. Two female co-defendants have pleaded guilty and are cooperating with authorities. Their statements tie Arnold, who was not at the apartment, to the crimes, according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors argue that Arnold is as responsible for the crimes as his co-defendants because he told his associates that he thought he knew who had stolen from him and said he wanted to confront them, setting events in motion.
“Our office remains committed to seeking justice for the three victims in the case who were beaten, robbed, and held against their will,” said Erin Maloney, a spokesperson for the state attorney’s office.
But Harvey Steinberg, an attorney for Arnold, argued in court Monday that prosecutors are “not even close” to showing that Arnold that he knew or directed what his associates would do.
Denise White, the CEO of EAG Sports Management, which represents Arnold, said before the Lions announced they were releasing Arnold that the judge’s ruling “confirms that there is very little evidence to even suggest any criminal involvement by Mr. Arnold.”
This story was updated to correct that among the charges Arnold faces are four robbery-related counts, not four assault counts.
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL
Terrion Arnold, a Detroit Lions cornerback, takes his seat before his pretrial detention hearing at the Hillsborough County Courthouse on Monday, June 29, 2026, in Tampa, Fla. (Jefferee Woo/Tampa Bay Times via AP)
Friends and family members of Terrion Arnold, a Detroit Lions cornerback, listen in during his pretrial detention hearing iat the Hillsborough County Courthouse on Monday, June 29, 2026, in Tampa, Fla. (Jefferee Woo/Tampa Bay Times via AP)
Friends and family members of Terrion Arnold, a Detroit Lions cornerback, react, when bond is set for him during his pretrial detention hearing at the Hillsborough County Courthouse on Monday, June 29, 2026, in Tampa, Fla. (Jefferee Woo/Tampa Bay Times via AP)
Hillsborough County Circuit Court Judge Christopher Sabella presides during a pretrial detention hearing for Terrion Arnold, a Detroit Lions cornerback, at the Hillsborough County Courthouse on Monday, June 29, 2026, in Tampa, Fla. (Jefferee Woo/Tampa Bay Times via AP)
Terrion Arnold, a Detroit Lions cornerback, shakes hands with his attorneys R. Timothy Jansen, left, and A.J. Alvarez, during the conclusion of his pretrial detention hearing at the Hillsborough County Courthouse on Monday, June 29, 2026, in Tampa, Fla. (Jefferee Woo/Tampa Bay Times via AP)
