Fairly Legal

2:21 PM PT -- We just obtained Timothy's mugshot ... and he's mostly expressionless.

12:47 PM PT -- Attorney Christina McGovern tells TMZ ... “I conducted an independent and thorough investigation of all allegations known to the Studio at the time. Warner Bros. gave me full discretion as to my investigation. Based on what was alleged, and all evidence gathered, including multiple witness statements, I found no corroborating evidence that Mr. Busfield engaged in inappropriate conduct or that he was ever alone with the twins on set.”

Timothy Busfield just surrendered to law enforcement in New Mexico after an arrest warrant was issued earlier this month and prosecutors charged him with child abuse and criminal sexual contact with a minor ... but he made it clear to TMZ -- he says he's innocent.

TMZ obtained video of Busfield at his lawyer's office in Albuquerque, shortly before turning himself in. He made it clear ... he will "confront these lies," adding, "I did not do anything to those little boys."

As we reported ... the award-winning film and TV actor and director was accused of sexually abusing two boys who were child actors on "The Cleaning Lady" while he was directing the show in 2022 in New Mexico. At the time, prosecutors say, the child actors were 7 and 8 at the times of the alleged contact, and their parents reported the alleged crimes to the Albuquerque police two years later, leading to a criminal investigation.

The Pentagon used a military aircraft painted to look like a civilian plane to attack a boat off the coast of Venezuela in September -- the Trump administration claimed the boat was transporting drugs -- and that deception violates international law, The New York Times reports.

This is one of the attacks that is already controversial -- after the initial bombing, a second strike was ordered, killing two survivors who were clinging to the hull of the destroyed boat. That is considered a war crime.

The bombing of unconfirmed criminal suspect boats and their occupants is also legally questionable in international maritime law.

The aircraft used in the Sept. 2, 2025 attack -- which killed 11 people -- reportedly flew low enough for the boat's passengers to see it ... meaning they would have been under the impression it was a civilian plane. The plane's munitions were also concealed, according to the report.

Legal specialists told the NYT that's vital ... as the laws of armed conflict prohibit combatants from pretending to be civilians to trick adversaries into lowering their defenses before attacking them, which is a war crime known as "perfidy."

The type of aircraft used in the attack hasn't been publicly revealed.

White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly issued a statement defending the strike -- President Donald Trump has called these attacks acts of war against drug cartels -- and described it as "fully consistent with the law of armed conflict."

NeNe Leakes is heading back to Bravo ... years after her exit, TMZ has learned.

Production sources tell TMZ ... "The Real Housewives of Atlanta" alum will appear on Bravo's newly announced working-title series, "The Real Housewives: Ultimate Road Trip," which Andy Cohen announced during BravoCon. While the series was announced, no cast members were named.

Our sources say NeNe -- who departed "RHOA" after Season 12 in 2020 -- will not be a full-time cast member, but will have a notable presence when the show makes its way to Atlanta. We're told she will appear only during the Atlanta leg of the trip.

NBC has yanked a new episode of “Law & Order: SVU” that was to air this week ... because it features Timothy Busfield, who's facing child sex abuse charges.

A source with knowledge confirmed to TMZ ... this Thursday's 'SVU,' titled "Corrosive," will be shelved ... and a new episode scheduled for next week has been bumped up.

It's unclear if Timothy's one-off episode -- in which he plays Judge Warren Fels -- will ever see the light of day.

1/13 -- 10:22 AM PT -- The arraignment has been continued and will now take place on February 6.

"Home Alone" star Daniel Stern has just been hit with a criminal charge in California for allegedly trying to hire a hooker.

A rep for the Ventura County District Attorney tells TMZ ... prosecutors just charged the actor with soliciting prostitution.

We're told Daniel's arraignment is set for Tuesday morning ... but it sounds like prosecutors aren't expecting him to be there. Instead, we're told Daniel's attorney could appear for him.

The Republican-led House Oversight Committee is looking to hold Bill Clinton in contempt of Congress, according to its chairman ... after the former president didn't show up for a deposition about his connection to Jeffrey Epstein.

Oversight Committee Chair James Comer spoke to reporters Tuesday morning and announced he would move to hold the former President, who served from 1993 to 2001, in contempt next week, reports NBC News. If a panel vote moves it forward, the contempt would need a full House vote to proceed. Then the Dept. of Justice would decide whether to pursue it.

Bill and Hillary were scheduled by the committee to be deposed Tuesday and Wednesday ... but the Clintons sent a letter to Comer stating they would not show up, pointing out they've already made sworn statements.

The Clintons wrote they expected to be held in contempt for their decision ... and claimed the subpoenas they'd been sent were "invalid and legally unenforceable," reports The New York Times.

The House Oversight Committee announced it had sent the Clintons deposition subpoenas last August, and their depositions were originally scheduled for last October.

Bill's received scrutiny for his connection to Epstein over the years, and photos featuring the him have appeared in newly released photos from the Epstein Files. Other powerful political, business and entertainment figures, including President Donald Trump, have also been closely associated with Epstein, a disgraced financier and convicted pedophile. The Dept. of Justice has said less than 1 percent of the Epstein Files have been released, despite a December legal deadline.

Justin Baldoni says Blake Lively's request to seal the identities of the famous friends she confided in goes too far ... and she's only doing it because it paints her pals in a bad light.

The actor filed the objection to Lively's motion for sealing Monday ... arguing her motion goes well beyond what the law allows -- especially as it pertains to her husband Ryan Reynolds.

While Lively calls Reynolds an "innocent third party," Baldoni's team insists he involved himself with the production of "It Ends with Us" ... rewriting a scene of the film and arguing with Baldoni after he allegedly commented on Blake's weight.

Michael McKee, the Illinois surgeon charged with murdering his ex-wife and her husband inside their Ohio home, agreed to be shipped back to Ohio to face murder charges ... but he says he's innocent.

McKee appeared in court Monday after his Saturday arrest in Illinois and waived extradition back to Ohio, where he is accused of gunning down Spencer and Monique Tepe in the early hours of Dec. 30 with the couple's two young children in the home.

Check out this footage from inside an Illinois court room ... McKee is shackled and wearing a mustard prison jumpsuit. The only time he speaks is when he states his full name.

3:21 PM PT -- The TRO was denied by the court clerk because it's not an emergency order ... the judge will rule January 23 on the issue at the hearing.

Brittany Furlan says Ronnie Radke just won't leave her alone -- blasting him as "unhinged and obsessed" -- and is seeking court-ordered protection from him ... while denying she ever got catfished.

Brittany just beelined it to court and filed for a temporary restraining order against the Falling In Reverse frontman ... saying he's been harassing her online ever since last year's "secret relationship" that crumbled.

In new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Brittany says she was definitely communicating with Ronnie on Snapchat last year during a difficult time in her marriage to Tommy Lee, and they sent each other explicit pictures and videos and made plans to meet up.

Ronnie's claimed Brittany was chatting with a catfish ... but she says all of the comms were legit and could not have been A.I.-generated "due to the explicit nature of the content."

Brittany says Ronnie begged her to leave Tommy for him and they made plans to meet up in May ... she says Ronnie told her to go to his former address and she claims she showed up and got stood up ... and that's when he allegedly started intentionally humiliating and manipulating her.

A GoFundMe campaign benefiting Jonathan Ross -- the ICE agent who allegedly shot Renee Nicole Good to death last week in Minneapolis -- reached over $475,000 in donations as of the Monday after Good's death.

The campaign's organizer is a Michigan man named Clyde Emmons, according to the web page. He wrote he'd set up the GoFundMe, which has a goal of $550,000, "after seeing all the media bs about a domestic terrorist" -- referring to Good -- getting her own GoFundMe campaign.

Emmons wrote Ross' actions were "1000 percent justified" and said funds from the campaign were going to help the ICE agent.

Cooper DeJean's brother, Beckett, allegedly had a BAC well above the legal limit when he was arrested for operating while intoxicated over the weekend -- cops say he blew a .142 on a breath test.

TMZ Sports has obtained 20-year-old DeJean's arrest affidavit ... with cops stating the former South Dakota defensive back was "unable to maintain lane" as he was driving his Chevy Malibu around 11:55 PM on Saturday. Once he was pulled over, the officer claimed "a strong odor of alcohol." was evident.

The cop said as they searched his vehicle for a source of the odor, a case of beer was present in the backseat ... and once questioned, DeJean admitted to drinking.

It's no secret Elon Musk is big on having kids ... and he's claiming Monday he'll file for full custody of his young son Romulus, after posts made by the boy's mother, Ashley St. Clair.

Elon posted on X Monday morning, writing "I will be filing for full custody today, given her statements implying she might transition a one-year-old boy" ... in response to a random X user's post commenting on St. Clair's recent reassessment of her stance on transgender issues.

FYI ... Ashley St. Clair, a right-wing influencer, appeared to change her tone on transgender individuals Sunday in an X post, writing about the "immense guilt" she feels about the "hurt" she's caused the trans community.

Ashley, who's been accused of being openly transphobic in the past, wrote Sunday she's been trying to "learn + advocate for those within the trans community."

Elon was revealed to likely be Romulus' father last April, when the Wall Street Journal reported a Labcorp test showed the tech mogul's chances of being the kid's dad are 99.9999% ... this after St. Clair sued Musk for sole custody of the child.

The Tesla CEO allegedly offered Ashley millions of dollars -- as well as monthly child support payments of $100,000 -- to keep quiet about his paternity.

Elon is estranged from his daughter Vivian Wilson, who came out as a trans woman in 2020 and has publicly trashed her dad on several occasions.

"The Real Housewives of Atlanta" star Phaedra Parks -- who is also a lawyer -- put her legal analyst hat on for us ... weighing in on just what is going on in Nick Reiner's murder trial in Los Angeles.

Remember ... Nick's high-powered attorney, Alan Jackson, dropped out and is being replaced by public defender Kimberly Greene.

So far, Jackson's withdrawal hasn't been fully explained, but Phaedra offered a plausible explanation when we caught her at LAX Friday.

Male model Christian Hogue has been arrested on a felony assault charge ... after allegedly putting a guy in a headlock at a Tennessee dog park.

Prosecutors in Davidson County say cops responded to Shelby Dog Park in Nashville back in August for a call about a fight ... and when they got there a man told them he got into a physical altercation with Christian.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, prosecutors claim Christian grabbed the man from behind, threw him to the ground and placed him in a headlock after their dogs got aggressive with each other and the man attempted to break it up.

XG's officially entering a new era ... because they just officially changed their name from Xtraordinary Girls to Xtraordinary Genes.

The group shared a message about their new moniker on its official website on Monday and began by thanking their ALPHAZ -- their fanbase, in case you were wondering -- for their love and support.

They said the change from Xtraordinary Girls to Xtraordinary Genes "represents the power and creativity that reside within our core, as well as our spirit of continuously creating new culture without being bound by conventional norms."

The group said they planned to "evolve more deeply and authentically" and concluded by sending their love to their fans.

The name change isn't the only big recent development for the group ... because one of its members, Cocona, came out as transmasculine and nonbinary last month.

Cocona posted the news about their gender identity on the group's official Instagram account and revealed they'd undergone top surgery, during which their breasts were removed, last year. They didn't reveal their updated pronouns in the post.

Cocona wrote, while they'd been born and perceived as a female for much of their life, they'd since chosen to live "in a way that feels more masculine and true to who I am."

Police have finally arrested a suspect in Dr. Spencer Tepe and Monique Tepe's murders ... with officials taking a man named Michael McKee -- Monique's ex-husband -- into custody.

The Winnebago County Jail in Illinois tells TMZ ... McKee was booked early today and is on an out-of-state hold.

We've obtained McKee's mug shot ... and, he's staring straight into the camera with no expression -- hair a mess and a pair of thick glasses on his face.