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Tag: Case

  • 3 ways investigators could solve the Nancy Guthrie kidnapping

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    The throng of reporters camped out around Tucson is beginning to thin.

    It’s been nearly two weeks since Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos held a news conference updating the case.

    And despite more than 20,000 tips, the investigation appears to be cooling and the paths to solving the Feb. 1 kidnapping of Nancy Guthrie could be narrowing.

    Officials insist the investigation is still in full force and that they have some solid clues: Her blood drops on the doorstep. Her suspected abductor snatched the front door Nest camera, but not before it captured the ski-masked armed man with a backpack lurking on the porch and trying to cover the lens with his gloved hand. More than a dozen gloves have since been recovered in the surrounding community, including one authorities say matched that worn by the person in the video.

    Guthrie, the mother of “Today” show co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, vanished from her Arizona home more than three weeks ago and there is still no person of interest, no suspect or even a description of a kidnapper’s getaway car.

    But so far there have been no DNA matches with known criminals in the federal database.

    Ransom notes came after the Feb. 1 kidnapping, but no proof that the Guthrie was alive followed. Locals were detained and quickly released as investigative leads dried up.

    Still, experts say it’s far too early to call this a “cold case” and noted a break could come at any moment.

    But the paths to finding Guthrie and her abductor are limited:

    1. Forensic evidence

    Investigators could get a scientific breakthrough with DNA evidence.

    Sheriff’s investigators say they are still checking DNA from the gloves recovered in the area and Guthrie’s home, which was searched after the 84-year-old grandmother failed to show up on a Sunday to her church group and a missing person’s case became the nation’s biggest kidnapping drama in decades.

    Nanos and his department have said there are multiple DNA strands mixed from the home — meaning two or more persons — and “there can be challenges separating DNA.”

    A glove was found two miles from the scene that authorities say it appears to match the pair worn by the masked man. But the DNA found on the glove did not match any in the Combined DNA Index System, which has more than 19 million offender samples nationwide.

    Investigators haven’t said how much weight they are giving to specific pieces of evidence. Still, experts say anything with Guthrie’s DNA discovered outside the home may also contain her abductor’s DNA.

    “We believe that we may have some DNA that may be our suspect, but we won’t know that until that DNA is separated, sorted out, maybe admitted to CODIS, maybe through genetic genealogy,” Nanos told NBC News.

    2. Familial DNA

    Genetic genealogy is most famous for apprehending the Golden State Killer, Joseph James DeAngelo Jr., known for serial rapes and murders in the 1970s and 1980s in California. The technique, known as forensic investigative genetic genealogy, incorporates public genealogy websites with DNA analysis. The National District Attorneys Assn. heralded it as a “new era in crime solving.”

    With FIGG, authorities can compare DNA collected from Guthrie’s home with publicly accessible databases containing the genetic profiles of millions of people who have given them over for family history research and other reasons. From there, investigators can sometimes find distant relatives to help piece together a family tree that can point to a suspect, said CeCe Moore, a genetic genealogist and co-founder of DNA Justice.

    In the Golden State Killer case, investigators retrieved old DNA processed in the Ventura County crime lab connected to one of his crimes. Instead of processing it on CODIS, they used another part of the DNA to search for potential relatives of the unknown killer in ancestry databases.

    If the person has a long family history in the United States, it’s a bit easier for investigators to use genetic genealogy, Moore added, because there’s more representation in the databases that law enforcement can access.

    However, law enforcement does not have easy access to the roughly 50 million genetic profiles contained in Ancestry.com, 23andMe and MyHeritage databases. Those companies have barred authorities from accessing such information and said they would release it only if compelled by a court order or warrant.

    Databases GEDmatch, FamilyTreeDNA and DNA Justice are open to law enforcement use but contain fewer than 2 million genetic profiles, Moore said.

    “Cases with Latin American subjects are incredibly difficult,” she said. “Mexico is typically a little bit easier because we have more representation in the database from Mexico than any of the other Latin American countries. But still, because we’re limited to the smallest databases, which are less than 2 million profiles, it’s going to be quite difficult, unless they just get lucky.”

    Investigators can also run familial searches on the CODIS system, where relatives of the suspect may have been placed. Such a search is legal in Arizona.

    3. Evidence breakthrough

    Identifying the suspected kidnapper: FBI agents have already identified the masked man’s backpack as a 25-liter Ozark Trail Hiker Pack sold at Walmart, which is now working to assist investigators. The masked assailant’s gun holster, slung between his legs, is what law enforcement terms a universal fit holster and is ill-fitted for a much larger gun. Retired LAPD Capt. Paul Vernon, who oversaw homicide probes, said the style of carry may be familiar to some at a gun range, and investigators will be pursuing the carry method as a signature part of the man’s behavior. Once law enforcement identifies the man’s specific clothing, weapon, and the carry holster, it may trigger someone’s memory and generate a vital tip, Vernon said.

    On Monday, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department addressed reports that there may be video of the suspect at Guthrie’s door on a day prior to her abduction, saying it was inconclusive.

    “We are aware that doorbell images released earlier in the investigation depict a suspect in different stages of attire, including with and without a backpack,” the department statement said. “There is no date or time stamp associated with these images. Therefore, any suggestion that the photographs were taken on different days is purely speculative.”

    Cellphone pinging: Investigators, particularly those with FBI technical units, will use geo-fencing to scour the cell towers around Guthrie’s home for cellphone users. They will seek to separate out the phones that aren’t usually there. Even if a kidnapper carries a disposable phone with prepaid minutes, also known as a “burner,” investigators will want to identify the phone and see if they can trace its past movements. In a Los Angeles County jewelry heist, investigators last year linked a burner phone from a traffic accident to the heist location and to other crimes. Vernon said that if you identify a phone, it’s possible to see if it pings along a route, say, along the highway from Tucson toward the border.

    Cameras: The investigation is also continuing to try to retrieve other data from cameras around Nancy Guthrie’s home. Detectives have asked residents of the Catalina Foothills neighborhood where Guthrie lived to submit any suspicious behavior captured on security cameras for the entire month before the abduction. Initially, they asked specifically for any videos related to Jan. 11. Authorities haven’t said whether they have evidence that the perpetrator may have surveilled the home before the kidnapping. But it is not uncommon for burglars, robbers and home invaders to be seen on surveillance of a crime in the weeks before, law enforcement experts say.

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    Richard Winton, Hannah Fry

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  • Brevard family races clock to stop dad’s deportation decades after coming from Cuba legally

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    For the past five months, a Brevard County woman has been doing everything she can to get her father back home to Palm Bay.”He’s just completely and emotionally spent,” Sheena Allende-Smith said.Her father, 58-year-old Jose Manuel Allende, came to the United States legally from Cuba through the Freedom Flights, a large-scale operation that brought hundreds of thousands of Cubans to the U.S. He has an American driver’s license and a Social Security card.However, a decades-old criminal history and lack of citizenship led to a deportation order.WESH 2 first told you about his case in September, when Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained him in his driveway.Initially, he was held at “Alligator Alcatraz” for more than two weeks. Allende-Smith said ICE agents threw away her father’s dentures when he arrived, and he has not been able to get a replacement while detained.”‘Alligator Alcatraz’ has 24-hour LED lights on, so there’s no way to know what time of day it is,” Allende-Smith said. “There’s no way to know if it’s breakfast, lunch or dinner because they’re feeding you the same foods for every single meal.”Her father is now being held at the Federal Detention Center in Miami.”He is not allowed outside at FDC. ICE rents the 11th floor from the federal prison, and they are not allowed recreation time,” Allende-Smith said. “They are not allowed outdoor time.”Allende-Smith said she hired an attorney, and they were able to secure a motion to stay.”Which means the deportation order is removed from his record. We also got a motion to reopen his case approved. That included 375 pages of records — 20 years of tax returns, medical records, proof that he owns a business, proof that he owns his home and letters from the community,” Allende-Smith said.She said he should have been released by now, but he remains in custody.”He is now in legal status because they removed the deportation order and granted the motion to reopen his case,” Allende-Smith said. “We applied for his green card, and it’s pending. He can’t complete the green card process as long as he’s being detained. The judge says it’s not his jurisdiction. Homeland Security says they’re detaining him. Then the judge says if they continue detaining him, we’re deporting him April 6 if he’s not released by then.”The family is now up against the clock, hiring a federal attorney and working to obtain a signature for his release.”My dad is a good man. Of course, every daughter says that about their father, but I really mean it. My father is a man of faith, and he has helped this community so much, quietly. He has helped so many people — elderly, veterans, disabled. He’s done work on their houses for free,” Allende-Smith said. “There’s no reason for him to be there.”

    PALM BAY, Fla. —

    For the past five months, a Brevard County woman has been doing everything she can to get her father back home to Palm Bay.

    “He’s just completely and emotionally spent,” Sheena Allende-Smith said.

    Her father, 58-year-old Jose Manuel Allende, came to the United States legally from Cuba through the Freedom Flights, a large-scale operation that brought hundreds of thousands of Cubans to the U.S. He has an American driver’s license and a Social Security card.

    However, a decades-old criminal history and lack of citizenship led to a deportation order.

    WESH 2 first told you about his case in September, when Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained him in his driveway.

    Initially, he was held at “Alligator Alcatraz” for more than two weeks. Allende-Smith said ICE agents threw away her father’s dentures when he arrived, and he has not been able to get a replacement while detained.

    “‘Alligator Alcatraz’ has 24-hour LED lights on, so there’s no way to know what time of day it is,” Allende-Smith said. “There’s no way to know if it’s breakfast, lunch or dinner because they’re feeding you the same foods for every single meal.”

    Her father is now being held at the Federal Detention Center in Miami.

    “He is not allowed outside at FDC. ICE rents the 11th floor from the federal prison, and they are not allowed recreation time,” Allende-Smith said. “They are not allowed outdoor time.”

    Allende-Smith said she hired an attorney, and they were able to secure a motion to stay.

    “Which means the deportation order is removed from his record. We also got a motion to reopen his case approved. That included 375 pages of records — 20 years of tax returns, medical records, proof that he owns a business, proof that he owns his home and letters from the community,” Allende-Smith said.

    She said he should have been released by now, but he remains in custody.

    “He is now in legal status because they removed the deportation order and granted the motion to reopen his case,” Allende-Smith said. “We applied for his green card, and it’s pending. He can’t complete the green card process as long as he’s being detained. The judge says it’s not his jurisdiction. Homeland Security says they’re detaining him. Then the judge says if they continue detaining him, we’re deporting him April 6 if he’s not released by then.”

    The family is now up against the clock, hiring a federal attorney and working to obtain a signature for his release.

    “My dad is a good man. Of course, every daughter says that about their father, but I really mean it. My father is a man of faith, and he has helped this community so much, quietly. He has helped so many people — elderly, veterans, disabled. He’s done work on their houses for free,” Allende-Smith said. “There’s no reason for him to be there.”

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  • ‘That man is a monster,’ California serial child molester granted parole. Victims are outraged

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    A Sacramento man once described by a judge as “the monster parents fear the most” seemed destined to spend the rest of his life in prison after he was convicted of 16 counts of kidnapping and child molestation in 1999.

    Instead he is now set to go free after being granted elderly parole — much to the anger and horror of some of his victims, as well as the prosecutor who oversaw his case.

    “He shouldn’t be breathing the same air that we’re breathing at all,” one victim, who was kidnapped and assaulted when she was just 4 years old, told The Times in an interview. “I disagree with him getting paroled out because he’s a horrible person. That man is a monster.”

    David Allen Funston approached children playing outside their homes in the Sacramento suburbs and used candy and toys to lure them into his vehicle in 1995 and 1996, prosecutors said.

    Following his conviction, he was sentenced to 20 years and 8 months in prison, as well as three consecutive sentences of 25 years to life. Now 64, he is incarcerated at the California Institution for Men in Chino.

    Under California’s elderly parole program, inmates are generally eligible for a parole suitability hearing if they are over 50 years old and have been incarcerated for at least 20 continuous years. The individual can then be released if the parole board determines they do not pose an unreasonable risk to public safety.

    Funston was initially denied elderly parole in a May 2022 hearing, according to records from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. However, he was granted parole at a board hearing in September, and that decision was recently upheld in a review Wednesday by the full board, CDCR records show.

    CDCR did not respond to a request for comment Friday on Funston’s estimated release date or on the Board of Parole Hearings’ rationale for deeming him suitable for elderly parole.

    But those involved in Funston’s case struggle to understand how the program’s criteria could apply to him.

    “A lot of people get out of prison and I don’t scream about it, but this is one I’m screaming about,” said former Sacramento County Dist. Atty. Anne Marie Schubert, who prosecuted the case against Funston while serving as a deputy district attorney.

    Funston used a Barbie doll to lure the victim who spoke with The Times into his vehicle in Foothill Farms in 1995. He then took her to a house, bathed with her, put her on a bed, held a knife to her throat and threatened to kill her if she told her family, prosecutors said. He performed multiple sex acts on her, causing her to bleed.

    “He’s one sick individual,” the victim said. “What if he gets out and and tries to find his old victims and wants to kill us?”

    The Times generally does not name victims of sexual assault.

    Schubert used DNA evidence found on one of the victims to help prove that Funston had kidnapped and abused her. Schubert later rose to prominence for her role in the case against Joseph James DeAngelo — also known as the Golden State Killer — where she pioneered the use of DNA evidence in securing cold case convictions.

    Although the DeAngelo case attracted national attention, Funston’s always loomed large in her mind.

    “It was the worst child sexual predator [case] I’ve ever prosecuted, hands down,” she said.

    Eight children — seven girls and one boy, all of whom were under the age of 7 when they were victimized — testified in the case against Funston, according to reporting from the Sacramento Bee. Before these offenses, he had also been convicted of sexually assaulting a woman in Colorado.

    In one incident in 1995, prosecutors said Funston used candy to lure a 5-year-old girl into his car in Highland Hills, took her up into the hills and assaulted her.

    “He beat her. He took her underwear and shoved it down her throat because she was screaming. He then raped her to the point that she has vaginal trauma,” Schubert said.

    Afterward, Schubert said, he dumped the girl on the side of Highway 50, where she was found crying and walking barefoot.

    In November 1995, Funston took a 5-year-old boy into some bushes pulled down his pants, and orally copulated him, prosecutors said. Four days later, he kidnapped two sisters, ages 4 and 5, from outside their grandmother’s apartment by offering them candy and a ride home. A woman witnessed the girls getting in his car and called the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office.

    “He dropped us off after driving us a few hundred feet and we got out of the car, went home and there was already a sheriff questioning my mom,” one of the sisters told The Times. “We were the lucky ones. There were other victims who were not so lucky.”

    That victim said she believes granting Funston elderly parole is “a huge disservice to all Californians,” saying that his sexual attraction to young children is “an illness that doesn’t go away.”

    Schubert sent a letter to CDCR on Friday asking that Funston be referred for screening as a sexually violent predator. Under California’s sexually violent predator program, offenders who are eligible to be released from state prison can be civilly committed to a state hospital and prevented from being released into the public.

    “The pattern of behavior demonstrates predatory intent, multiple victims, use of force, threats of lethal violence, and sexual offenses against prepubescent children,” she wrote, “precisely the category of offender for whom the SVP Act was enacted.”

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    Clara Harter

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  • Guthrie investigators turn to Mexico, genealogy, pacemaker amid fears the trail is going cold

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    As the search for Nancy Guthrie stretches into its third week, there is growing concern that the trail to find the missing 84-year-old is rapidly growing cold.

    Investigators have detained two people since Guthrie was abducted from her Tucson-area home in the early hours of Feb. 1. But both were released after questioning and no suspects have been publicly identified.

    Authorities insist the case is still very much active, with the FBI receiving more than 20,000 tips. But the case is branching off into some new directions.

    Look at Mexico

    Law enforcement sources told The Times that investigators have been in touch with Mexican authorities in the case given Tucson’s proximity to the border, but there is no evidence that the abductors crossed with Guthrie.

    The sources spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the case candidly.

    The Guthrie home near Tucson is only about an hour’s drive from the border. Sources stressed the request for help from Mexico was to exhaust all options but there is not any clear evidence suggesting either Guthrie or the kidnappers are there.

    State of the investigation

    DNA on a glove discovered two miles away from Guthrie’s home that matched those worn by a masked man seen on Nest camera footage didn’t return any matches in the national DNA database used by law enforcement, CODIS. Biological evidence that was found at Guthrie’s home is still being tested but did not produce a match in CODIS, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos told Fox News this week.

    An anonymous donor this week gave $100,000 to 88-CRIME for information that would lead investigators to arrest the individual involved in Guthrie’s disappearance. This is in addition to the $100,000 reward for information being offered by the FBI.

    Nanos has tried to dispel concerns that investigators are hitting nothing but dead ends, telling NBC News that “as long as we have the ability to chase a lead, it’s not cold.”

    “We have thousands of leads we’re looking at,” he said. “We’re going to find Nancy, and we’re going to find who did this.”

    So far, experts say investigators’ best bet to solving the case quickly would be if someone recognizes the suspect in Nest video footage, a masked man seen on Guthrie’s porch the morning she was abducted.

    At 1:47 a.m. Feb. 1, the individual appears at the door of Guthrie’s home. The man is wearing a balaclava, gloves and a backpack. A gun is holstered by the man’s waist, positioned at the front of his body and easily visible.

    At one point, the man, whom authorities describe as approximately 5 feet 9 to 5 feet 10 with an average build, notices the camera on the front porch and tries to cover the lens with his hand. The man scouts around the patio and yard area, apparently for something to obstruct the camera before settling on some greenery found in the yard.

    In the video, the man is wearing a black, 25-liter Ozark Trail Hiker Pack backpack that can be purchased at Walmart, according to the FBI. Investigators have been working with Walmart leadership to see if they can identify who purchased the backpack.

    Authorities are also canvassing gun shops, showing the video released by the FBI to see if anyone recognizes him, according to the sheriff’s department.

    Investigators employ genetic genealogy

    DNA found inside the Guthrie home could also prove fruitful in the case, experts say.

    Although law enforcement did not get any hits in the federal database, they are also employing genetic genealogy in an effort to identify a suspect in the case.

    “If they actually have the suspect’s DNA — Nancy’s kidnapper’s DNA — he will be identified through genetic genealogy,” said CeCe Moore, a genetic genealogist and co-founder of DNA Justice. “It’s just a matter of time.”

    Authorities can compare DNA collected from Guthrie’s home with publicly accessible databases containing the genetic profiles of millions of people who have given them over for family history research and other reasons. From there, investigators can sometimes find distant relatives to help piece together a family tree that can point to a suspect.

    The technology has helped solve some of the nation’s most high-profile cases in recent years. Investigators used genetic genealogy to identify Joseph James DeAngelo Jr. as the Golden State Killer who terrorized California in the 1970s and 80s. It was also used to secure the conviction of Bryan Kohberger, who was sentenced to life in prison for murdering four college students in Idaho in 2022.

    There are limits to the technology, but law enforcement sources told The Times it’s probably the best way forward.

    Law enforcement does not have easy access to the roughly 50 million genetic profiles contained in Ancestry.com, 23andMe and MyHeritage databases. The companies have barred authorities from accessing such information and said they would release it only if compelled by a court order or warrant.

    Databases GEDmatch, FamilyTreeDNA and DNA Justice are open to law enforcement use but contain fewer than 2 million genetic profiles, Moore said.

    With fewer genetic profiles to work with there is more legwork involved, but Moore said it will probably be key to identifying a suspect.

    “It could happen in minutes, hours, days, weeks, but I don’t think it’ll stretch much longer than that because of all the resources available for this case,” she said.

    Searching for her pacemaker

    Law enforcement has also deployed “signal sniffer” technology in the search for Guthrie.

    Parsons Corp confirmed this week that the Pima County Sheriff’s Department requested its help early this month deploying BlueFly units to search for Guthrie. BlueFly is a Bluetooth and Wi-Fi sensor that can be used on air and ground vehicles for search and rescue operations in challenging environments, providing authorities with a heat map to identify signals within a specific area, according to the company.

    BlueFly can detect medical devices such as Guthrie’s pacemaker.

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    Hannah Fry, Richard Winton

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  • Nancy Guthrie kidnapping investigation draws scrutiny as case drags on

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    Nancy Guthrie had been missing less than three days when family members and reporters, and even an Amazon delivery worker, could be seen wandering onto her property, with drops of her blood still staining the front entryway.

    It’s been nearly two weeks since the 84-year-old mother of “Today” host Savannah Guthrie was abducted. With no suspects in custody as of Saturday, scrutiny is growing over how authorities have handled the case.

    Some questions have focused on Pima County (Ariz.) Sheriff Chris Nanos and his department, which was the first to respond when Guthrie was reported missing from her Tucson home Feb. 1. Since then, Nanos has been the leading law enforcement communicator on the investigation, including after reports emerged of ransom notes demanding millions of dollars in cryptocurrency for Guthrie’s return.

    The global spotlight is now on him.

    “I’m not used to everyone hanging on to my every word and then holding me accountable for what I say,” Nanos said at a press conference early in the probe. “This is really, for me, pretty new.”

    Critics pointed out his department opened up the crime scene a day after Guthrie was reported missing and sent vital evidence across the country to be analyzed for free, and the sheriff was seen at a weekend college basketball game while a ransom deadline still hung over the family.

    President Trump has even weighed in on the issue.

    “It was a local case originally, and they didn’t want to let go of it, which is fine,” President Trump said when asked about the case at the White House on Friday. “It’s up to them, it’s really up to the community, but ultimately where the FBI got involved, I think, you know, progress has been made.”

    Guthrie was discovered missing after she didn’t show up at a friend’s house to watch a church service. She was taken from her home without any of her heart medication, and it’s unclear how long she can survive without it.

    Though she initially was considered missing, the urgency to quickly find Guthrie pulsed through the first days of media coverage because of her heart condition. So it came as a surprise to some observers that just a day after she’d been reported missing, Nanos declared the crime scene clear and released the home back to the family.

    Forensic workers had processed the ranch-style home for evidence, including DNA and fingerprints, but could not recover images from a Ring camera because the family did not pay for a subscription to back up the recordings, Nanos said.

    Afterward, as the home stood unguarded, reporters, photographers and others wandered the property, walking to the front door and capturing video of blood drops along the porch.

    The crime scene eventually was closed again so the FBI could conduct its own search, and Nanos told reporters opening the scene up the first time may have been premature.

    “Monday morning quarterback. Absolutely. I probably could have held off on that,” Nanos said at a news conference, with top FBI agents flanking him.

    Sheriff‘s deputies eventually were stationed outside home, but even so, a pizza delivery driver walked food that had been ordered for someone in the neighborhood up to the door of the Guthrie home. On Friday, a company showed up to service Guthrie’s backyard pool, which was accommodated at the “request of the Guthrie family,” the sheriff’s department said.

    Breaks in the investigation have come in fits and starts.

    After searching the home last week, FBI technicians have been processing evidence from in and around it. Testing revealed the blood drops outside the door belonged to Guthrie.

    Then, a series of ransom notes arrived in the tip boxes of two Tucson television stations and TMZ, seeking $4 million and $6 million in bitcoin, and included details about Guthrie’s home.

    The fact that law enforcement announced Guthrie disappeared and then publicly gave credence to reports she was being held for ransom put authorities at a disadvantage, said Adam Bercovici, who has worked multiple kidnappings as the former supervisor of the Los Angeles Police Department’s special investigations unit.

    “It is a debacle,” he said. “This kidnapping is one of the worst cases of incompetence I have seen.”

    With so much information floating around, Bercovici said, it would be difficult to verify a legitimate ransom demand. Indeed, not long after news about the ransom notes broke, officials said a man in Hawthorne sent an imposter demand to the Guthries. He has been charged with a federal crime.

    Much is still unknown about the details inside the investigation and exactly what evidence detectives have collected. Because of this, it will take time to fully assess their tactics and truly understand the complexity of the case.

    The first big break in the case came Tuesday, when the FBI released surveillance videos of someone approaching Guthrie’s door wearing a holstered gun, ski mask and backpack. The videos, recovered by Google engineers, provided the first look at Guthrie’s kidnapper and last less than a minute. More than 4,000 tips flooded law enforcement agencies in the 24 hours after the images were broadcast.

    By the following evening, sheriff‘s investigators were detaining a 36-year-old man after a traffic stop south of Tucson. Sheriff’s officials announced they obtained a court-approved search warrant for his Rio Rico home, immediately raising expectations among those closely watching the case.

    But those hopes soon were deflated.

    Surrounded by the throng of cameras and reporters, investigators and FBI forensic technicians swarmed the man’s home. His mother-in-law, under the glare of camera lights, declared him innocent, saying she didn’t know who Savannah Guthrie was, and told them “you won’t find anything here, we have nothing to hide.”

    By the next morning, the man was free and his house cleared of investigators. The Times is not naming him because he has not been arrested or accused of any wrongdoing.

    “I hope they get the suspect because I am not it,” the man told reporters. “And they better do their job and find the suspect that did it so they can clear my name.”

    On Friday night, authorities served a search warrant at a home in Tucson and swarmed a parked Range Rover. In the end, officials said no arrests were made.

    Investigators are casting an even wider net to find photos, videos and any other clues. Other people in the area should expect to be detained and questioned, Nanos told local station KOLD.

    On Thursday, authorities revealed a series of images of men in the dark with backpacks near cars and homes. About two miles from the Guthrie home, investigators discovered a glove on the ground, then several others farther from the home, the sheriff’s department announced Friday. They’ll all be analyzed for DNA in hopes it leads to the 84-year-old grandmother. The department said other DNA found at the home did not match Guthrie or anyone in close contact with her, and investigators are working to identify who it belongs to.

    Meanwhile, the FBI doubled its reward for information this week to $100,000 and released a description of the person seen at her front door.

    “The suspect is described as a male, approximately 5’9” – 5’10” tall, with an average build. In the video, he is wearing a black, 25-liter ‘Ozark Trail Hiker Pack’ backpack,” the bureau said. More than 13,000 tips have flowed into the bureau.

    On Friday, the sheriff’s department sought to quash rumors that there was a divide between local and federal investigators, centered around the handling of evidence and which lab it should be sent to.

    “Our strong partnership is critical, and we remain fully committed to this collaborative investigation. To ensure consistency and streamline testing, evidence requiring forensic analysis is being sent to the same out-of-state lab that has been utilized since the beginning of this case,” the Pima County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement. “This decision was discussed with and agreed upon by local FBI leadership.”

    But Nanos himself expressed frustration about the pace of the probe.

    “It’s exhausting, these ups and downs. But we will keep moving forward,” he told the New York Times. “Maybe it’s an hour from now. Maybe it’s weeks or months or years from now. But we won’t quit. We’re going to find Nancy. We’re going to find this guy.”

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    Richard Winton, Hannah Fry

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  • U.S. case dims hope in Mexico for extradition of alleged mastermind of journalist’s killing

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    MEXICO CITY — The imprisonment of a cartel member in the U.S. has dashed hopes in Mexico for justice in one of the country’s most notorious slayings — the death of acclaimed journalist Javier Valdez, who was gunned down in broad daylight two blocks from his newspaper office in the cartel-embattled city of Culiacán.

    The brazen assassination in 2017 of Valdez — a tireless chronicler of cartel violence and politicians’ links to organized crime — sparked international condemnation. The slaying dramatized the perils faced by journalists in Mexico, where scores have been slain in recent years.

    Valdez’s assassination remains the most notorious killing of a Mexican journalist in decades.

    While two gunmen are serving prison terms in Mexico, authorities here have long sought the extradition from the United Stares of the alleged mastermind: Dámaso López Serrano, a former Sinaloa cartel capo and the son of a close associate of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, the imprisoned co-founder of the Sinaloa syndicate.

    Mexican authorities and fellow journalists say López Serrano likely ordered the hit because the journalist had mocked the young narco mercilessly in Ríodoce, the weekly co-founded by Valdez.

    On May 8, 2017, Valdez wrote a scathing column dismissing López Serrano as a “junior” party-boy and fake “weekend” pistolero who moved around ostentatiously with 20 bodyguards, “excelled at chit-chat but not business,” and failed to fill the shoes of his father.

    One week later, on May 15, assassins forced Valdez, 50, from his car at midday and shot him at least a dozen times in downtown Culiacán, the capital of Sinaloa state. His body was left on the street amid shell casings; his signature Panama hat was streaked with blood.

    López Serrano, a godson of El Chapo, fled inter-mob bloodletting a few months later and surrendered to U.S. authorities along the border in Calexico, California. He later pleaded guilty to trafficking tons of cocaine and other narcotics into the United States. He was never charged in U.S. courts with the murder of Valdez.

    He is the son of Dámaso López Núñez, the El Chapo confidante known as El Licenciado, or The Lawyer. The son’s mob handle is Mini Lic. His father and El Chapo are both serving life terms in U.S. prisons.

    López Serrano served only five years in U.S. custody on the trafficking conviction. According to media accounts and Mexican officials, he agreed to become a cooperating witness for U.S. prosecutors pursuing other traffickers.

    López Serrano was released from federal custody after serving his term and allowed to remain in the United States. However, the FBI re-arrested him in 2024 in connection with a scheme to distribute fentanyl, the deadly synthetic opioid.

    On Wednesday, a federal judge in Virginia sentenced López Serrano to five years in prison on the fentanyl rap, to be followed by five years of supervised release.

    The new sentence dismayed those who hoped López Serrano would soon be brought back to Mexico to stand trial.

    “It’s painful and outrageous to know that the person who ordered Javier’s murder will continue avoiding his deserved punishment in Mexico,” Griselda Tirana, the journalist’s widow, wrote on Facebook.

    She has long been at the forefront of efforts to pressure Washington to hand over López Serrano.

    But there is a serious hurdle: U.S. prosecutors have viewed López Serrano as too valuable a source on the Mexican underworld to ship him back south, according to Mexico’s former Atty. Gen. Alejandro Gertz Manero, who said he pressed the extradition demand with counterparts in Washington.

    “They said he was a protected witness of the government of the United States and he was giving them a lot of information,” Gertz Manero told reporters in December 2024, after López Serrano was arrested in the fentanyl scheme. “And, because of that, they couldn’t help us.”

    In May, journalists, human rights activists and others gathered in front of the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City on the anniversary of Valdez’s killing, demanding that López Serrano be sent to Mexico to face justice.

    That same month, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Mexican authorities would “insist” on the extradition of López Serrano.

    The U.S. Justice Department declined to comment on the case.

    Advocates say they plan to continue pressing the U.S. government, even though many lack optimism that Washington will ever relent.

    “We are going to keep demanding — as we have since the assassination of Javier — that everyone, including the mastermind of this crime, be punished,” said Roxana Vivanco, news editor at Ríodoce, Valdez’s former publication. “We hope that, this time around, once he finishes his sentence in the United States he will be returned to Mexico to be judged for the killing of Javier.”

    As casualties mount among Mexican media personnel — and their assailants go free — many in Mexico view the case as a litmus test. The central question: Will there ever come a time when justice will prevail — and impunity will recede — in cases of Mexican journalists targeted by organized crime, corrupt politicians and others?

    To date, the Valdez investigation has followed a distressing pattern: Hired trigger-men are sent to prison, their arrests lauded by Mexican authorities, while the “intellectual authors,” or masterminds, remain free.

    “If this, the most high-profile case isn’t solved, then we cannot hold our breaths for resolutions in less high-profile cases,” said Jan-Albert Hootsen, Mexican representative for the Committee to Protect Journalists, a New York-based press advocacy group.

    “So this is a really, really important case,” Hootsen added. “We really need for this man to be extradited to Mexico eventually and stand trial.”

    Special correspondent Cecilia Sánchez Vidal contributed to this report.

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    Patrick J. McDonnell

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  • In tearful video, Savannah Guthrie addresses possible kidnapper: ‘Ready to talk’

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    Savannah Guthrie and her two siblings posted a tearful video Wednesday in which they pleaded for the return of their mother, Nancy Guthrie, and asked her possible kidnapper to communicate with them.

    “We live in a world where voices and images are easily manipulated. We need to know, without a doubt, that she is alive and that you have her. We want to hear from you, and we are ready to listen. Please reach out to us,” Guthrie says in the video posted to Instagram.

    She says she is aware of reports of a ransom demand and that the family is ready to talk.

    Guthrie, the “Today” co-anchor, expresses concern for her mother’s health. “She lives in constant pain. She is without any medicine. She needs it to survive and she needs it not to suffer.”

    Guthrie describes her mother as “kind, faithful, loyal, fiercely loving.”

    “She loves fun and adventure. She is a devoted friend. She is full of kindness and knowledge. Talk to her, and you’ll see.”

    “Mama, if you’re listening,” Annie Guthrie says, “we need you to come home, we miss you.”

    Authorities have been looking for 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie for four days.

    There was evidence that someone had forced their way inside her Tucson home, and there was blood on the premises, according to law enforcement sources not authorized to speak about the case publicly. Images reviewed by The Times showed a trail of blood droplets near the front door of the home.

    On Wednesday morning, amid rumors swirling online about who could be involved, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said investigators still had not identified a suspect or person of interest.

    “While we appreciate the public’s concern, the sharing of unverified accusations or false information is irresponsible and does not assist the investigation,” the sheriff said in a social media post.

    The statement comes as details of the case have trickled out and after several news outlets reported receiving possible ransom notes requesting money in exchange for Nancy Guthrie’s release. The Sheriff’s Department said it was aware of those notes but did not verify their authenticity.

    “We have nothing else to go on but the belief that she is here, she’s present, she’s alive, and we want to save her,” Nanos told NBC during an interview Wednesday.

    On Tuesday, the sheriff said investigators still “don’t know where she is” and called for anyone who had had contact with her to come forward.

    Nancy Guthrie was last seen by family members around 9:30 p.m. Saturday, according to officials, when she was dropped off at her home in the Catalina Foothills, a community just north of Tucson.

    The following morning, family members were notified around 11 a.m. that their mother hadn’t shown up for church, prompting them to go to her house to check on her. She was nowhere to be found.

    Soon after, family members reported her missing.

    Local authorities said they immediately found “concerning circumstances” at the house, and later said Nancy Guthrie might have been forcibly taken in the middle of the night.

    “We do believe Nancy was taken from her home against her will,” Nanos said at a news conference Tuesday.

    In Wednesday’s Instagram video, Savannah Guthrie says, “Our mom is our heart and our home. She is 84 years old. Her health, her heart, is fragile. … We will not rest, your children will not rest, until we are together again.”

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    Richard Winton, Clara Harter, Grace Toohey

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  • Attorneys for man killed by off-duty ICE agent call on California A.G. to investigate

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    Attorneys for a Los Angeles man shot and killed by an off-duty federal agent on New Year’s Eve are asking the California Attorney General to take over the case, alleging recent comments by LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell show a bias toward the Trump administration.

    In a Tuesday afternoon news conference, attorneys Ben Crump and Jamal Tooson called on Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta to investigate the fatal shooting of Keith Porter at his San Fernando Valley apartment building.

    The request, they said, was based in large part on their lack of confidence in the LAPD and the U.S. Justice Department.

    A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security initially said an off-duty Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who lived at same apartment complex was responding to a suspected “active shooter” when he opened fire. Porter’s relatives have said they believe he had been firing a gun into the air to ring in the new year.

    Tooson said witnesses have come forward saying that Porter, 43, appeared to be walking back to his apartment when he was shot, and was not a threat to anyone. Tooson also pointed out that witnesses didn’t hear the federal officer identifying himself before firing three shots.

    “So, forgive us, if we have skepticism of any claims of self defense,”according to Tooson, who is representing Porter’s mother, Franceola Armstrong.

    Crump — who previously represented the families of Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown, among other high-profile civil rights cases — said he is supporting Porter’s family but not acting as their legal counsel.

    “The family has not been confident that LAPD, with their close relationships with the ICE officials, that there’s going to be a fair and transparent investigation,.” Crump said. “Because them trying to whitewash the investigation into the death of Keith Porter is a nonstarter. We’re not going to allow that to happen.”

    A Los Angeles police spokesperson responded to an inquiry about the remarks with a statement Tuesday afternoon that said: “The LAPD’s Robbery Homicide Division-Homicide Special Section, continues its investigation into the death of Keith Porter. At this time, there are no additional details available for public release.”

    The fatal incident occurred at the Village Pointe Apartments on Roscoe Boulevard around 10:30 p.m. on Dec. 31, 2025. Local police have refrained from using the Department of Homeland Security’s characterization of Porter as an “active shooter.” Nobody else was reported injured at the scene.

    Tooson and Porter’s relatives have repeatedly said that even if he was shooting a gun into the air — an activity that can bring felony charges and is discouraged as dangerous by city leaders — he was not threatening anyone and contended the agent who opened fire should have waited for LAPD to respond.

    Stacie Halpern, an attorney for the ICE agent, has said there is evidence that Porter shot first. A law enforcement source, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation, echoed those claims to The Times last month.

    Halpern didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment left after Tuesday’s press conference.

    In a statement, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office said it was confident that the LAPD was “conducting a thorough and independent investigation.”

    “Once the case is presented to our office, we will carefully examine the evidence, review the facts, and apply the law to determine whether criminal charges are appropriate,” the statement read. “This is the same rigorous, impartial process we use in every use-of-force case submitted to the District Attorney’s Office.”

    Porter’s death has become a rallying point locally for activists, who regularly invoke his name at Police Commission meetings and protests. Hours before the press conference, numerous speakers showed up to the Commission’s meeting to demand that the federal agent responsible be arrested.

    Last month, The Times identified the officer as Brian Palacios. Palacios lived in an apartment a short distance away from where Porter was killed, and has previously been accused during a custody dispute of child abuse and making racist remarks about Black and Latino men, according to court records reviewed by The Times. Records provided by Halpern show the child abuse allegations were deemed unfounded by police and the L.A. County Department of Child & Family Servies. Halpern also denied her client ever used racist language.

    In a statement issued in late January, a manager for the apartment complex said “the ICE agent is no longer a tenant and has permanently vacated the property.”

    In his call for an outside investigation, Tooson argued McDonnell is too cozy with ICE and other federal agencies to oversee an impartial investigation of Palacios’ conduct.

    Despite months of federal immigration raids causing chaos in and around Los Angeles, the chief has largely avoided criticizing the Trump administration, at times boasting about the strength of LAPD’s ties to federal law enforcement. He said last week he would not enforce a new California law — which is already being challenged in court — that bars ICE agents from wearing masks while on-duty.

    McDonell has stood by LAPD’s policy of not getting involved in civil immigration enforcement. When he served as L.A. County sheriff during President Trump’s first term, McDonnell took criticism for allowing ICE to access the jails when seeking inmates for deportation. His position on immigration was viewed a factor in the 2018 sheriff’s race, which saw McDonnell lose in an upset to Alex Villanueva.

    Addressing reporters on Tuesday, Armstrong, Porter’s mother, said she remained heartbroken by the thought of waking up everyday without her son, who was a Compton native and father of two.

    “I can’t bring my son back, but I want justice for him. I want justice for my child,” she said.

    Times Staff Writer Richard Winton contributed to this report.

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    James Queally, Libor Jany

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  • Trump officials have tried to justify ICE shootings. Is it backfiring in court?

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    Just a few hours after Border Patrol agents shot and killed Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued a statement that said, without evidence, that the 37-year-old registered nurse “wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement.”

    Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem would later imply Pretti had been “asked to show up and to continue to resist” by Minnesota’s governor.

    Multiple videos from the scene immediately undercut those claims, and there has been no indication in the days since that Pretti threatened or planned to hurt law enforcement.

    Several high-profile use-of-force incidents and arrests involving federal immigration agents have involved a similar cycle: Strident statements by Trump administration officials, soon contradicted by video footage or other evidence. Some law enforcement experts believe the repeated falsehoods are harming federal authorities both in the public eye and in the courtroom.

    The top federal prosecutor in Los Angeles, Bill Essayli, has taken five defendants to trial on charges of assaulting officers — and his office has lost each case. Court records and a Times investigation show grand juries in Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles have repeatedly rejected criminal filings from prosecutors in similar cases.

    Despite the repeated judicial rebukes, administration officials have continued to push for criminal charges against people at protest scenes, including the controversial arrest of former CNN anchor Don Lemon on Friday.

    “When top federal law enforcement leaders in the country push false narratives like this, it leads the public to question everything the government says going forward,” said Peter Carr, a former Justice Department spokesman in Washington who served in Democratic and Republican administrations. “You see that in how judges are reacting. You’re seeing that in how grand juries are reacting. You’re seeing that in how juries are reacting. That trust that has been built up over generations is gone.”

    The credibility concerns played out in a downtown L.A. courtroom in September, when Border Patrol Cmdr. Greg Bovino served as the key witness in the assault trial of Brayan Ramos-Brito, who was accused of striking a Border Patrol agent during protests against immigration raids last summer. Video from the scene did not clearly capture the alleged attack, and Bovino was the only Border Patrol official who testified as an eyewitness.

    Under questioning from federal public defender Cuauhtémoc Ortega, Bovino initially denied he had been disciplined by Border Patrol for calling undocumented immigrants “scum, filth and trash,” but later admitted he had received a reprimand. The jury came back with an acquittal after deliberating for about an hour. A juror who spoke to The Times outside court said Bovino’s testimony detailing his account of the alleged assault had “no impact” on their decision.

    Last year, a Chicago judge ruled Bovino had “lied” in a deposition in a lawsuit over the way agents used force against protesters and journalists.

    Spokespersons for Essayli and the Department of Homeland Security did not respond to requests for comment.

    Essayli’s prosecutors have seen four additional cases involving allegations of assault on a federal officer end in acquittals, a nearly unheard of losing streak. A Pew study found fewer than 1% of federal criminal defendants were acquitted throughout the U.S. in 2022.

    “The credibility of the prosecutor’s office and the credibility of the law enforcement officers testifying is key,” said Carley Palmer, a former federal prosecutor in L.A. who is now a partner at Halpern May Ybarra Gelberg. “That is especially true when the only witness to an event is a law enforcement officer.”

    Jon Fleischman, a veteran Republican strategist and former spokesman for the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, said federal law enforcement officials have a responsibility to be the “mature, responsible player in the room” and remain as apolitical as possible. While he is a firm supporter of President Trump’s immigration agenda and said the Biden administration shares some blame for politicizing federal law enforcement, Noem’s handling of Pretti’s killing was problematic.

    “What she said really doesn’t bear out in terms of what the facts that are available tell us,” Fleischman said. “I think it undermines the credibility of the justice system.”

    Fleischman added that he feared some of the government’s recent missteps could dull approval of the platform that twice carried Trump to the White House.

    “One of the main reasons I’ve been so enthusiastic about this president has been his stance on immigration issues,” he said. “When you see unforced errors by the home team that reduce public support for the president’s immigration agenda, it’s demoralizing.”

    Another top Trump aide, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, also spoke out after the Minnesota shooting, calling Pretti an “assassin.”

    Responding to a Times reporter on X, Miller said recent legal defeats in Los Angeles were the result of “mass judge and jury nullification, deep in blue territory, of slam-dunk assault cases.”

    Accounts from inside L.A. courtrooms paint a different picture.

    Carol Williams, a jury foreperson in the most recent assault trial which federal prosecutors lost in L.A., said the people she served with steered clear of conversations about the news or ICE raids.

    “We didn’t talk about the protests in L.A. and we didn’t talk about the protests that were in Minnesota or anything,” Williams said. “People, I’m sure, probably keep up with the news, but in terms of bringing that into the jury room, we did not.”

    Last year, Essayli and Tricia McLaughlin, the chief Homeland Security spokesperson, accused Carlitos Ricardo Parias of ramming immigration agents with his vehicle in South L.A., causing an agent to open fire. Video made public after the assault charges were dismissed last year, however, do not show the vehicle moving when the ICE agent opens fire, injuring Parias and a deputy U.S. marshal.

    After being presented with the body-camera footage, McLaughlin reiterated the claim that Parias weaponized his vehicle and said officers “followed their training and fired defensive shots.”

    McLaughlin also labeled Keith Porter Jr. — a Los Angeles man shot and killed by an off-duty ICE agent in Northridge on New Year’s Eve — an “active shooter” in initial media comments about the case, using a term that typically refers to a gunman attempting to kill multiple people.

    Los Angeles police said nobody else was injured at the scene and have not used the “active shooter” wording in statements about the case.

    Porter’s family and advocates have argued that force was not warranted. They said Porter was firing a gun in the air to celebrate the new year, behavior that is illegal and discouraged as dangerous by public officials.

    A lawyer for the agent, Brian Palacios, has said there is evidence Porter shot at the agent.

    Carr, the former Justice Department spokesman, said the Trump administration has broken with years of cautious norms around press statements that were designed to protect the credibility of federal law enforcement.

    “That trust is eroded when they rush to push narratives before any real investigations take place,” he said.

    In one case, the refusal of Homeland Security officials to back down may cause video footage that further undercuts their narrative to become public.

    Last October, Marimar Martinez was shot five times by a Border Patrol agent in Chicago who alleged she was following him in a car and interfering with an operation. In a statement, McLaughlin accused Martinez of ramming a law enforcement vehicle while armed with a “semiautomatic weapon.”

    Federal prosecutors in Chicago dropped the charges, but McLaughlin and others continued to describe Martinez as a “domestic terrorist.” As a result, Martinez filed a motion to revoke a protective order that has kept hidden video of the incident and other evidence.

    “While the United States voluntarily dismissed its formal prosecution of her with prejudice … government officials continue to prosecute Ms. Martinez’s character in the court of public opinion,” the motion read.

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    James Queally, Brittny Mejia

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  • Commentary: How’s Newsom doing at Davos? Just ask Trump

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    What’s the absolute best way to give Gov. Gavin Newsom free publicity and a worldwide audience?

    Freeze him out at Davos, where the rich and powerful are meeting in the snow-capped mountains of Switzerland. The Trump administration is learning the hard way, in real time, that petty comes with a price — in this case, being laughed at by, well, the world.

    And while Congress, Europe and law may hold no terrors for our president, we all know ridicule hits him in his soft, white underbelly.

    In case you missed it, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, the California governor has been banned from a scheduled media talk (allegedly under pressure from the White House) that was going to be a rebuttal to Trump’s ramble at the event, according to Newsom’s office.

    On Wednesday, Newsom’s team announced that he had been turned away from USA House, the privately run but official gathering spot of the United States. Newsom was scheduled to do a fireside chat with Fortune magazine, but apparently when he arrived at the church-turned-conference hall, he was politely told to beat it.

    “How weak and pathetic do you have to be to be this scared of a fireside chat?” Newsom posted on X.

    Cue the outrage. Cue the coverage.

    Fortune didn’t know the snub was coming, according to screen shots of private text messages reviewed by The Times, but within minutes it was world news. Except maybe on CBS.

    That’s a lot of focus on a guy who isn’t even a billionaire and doesn’t run a country, and supposedly isn’t even in the presidential race yet. In case you’re not personally familiar with the gathering at Davos, it’s pretty much the kings (and occasional queen) of the world coming together to think big thoughts. Getting cold-shouldered in that crowd is a big deal.

    But it’s the kind of big deal that makes Newsom look good. Blackballing him from USA House was akin to screaming in his face that he’s a big meanie and the president wasn’t going to take it any more. So there!

    It’s funny. It’s powerful. It gets him the kind of news coverage that other not-yet-candidates dream about.

    It makes it clear that far from the useful foil that the Newsom-Trump rivalry is often explained as, Newsom is hitting on points that are hitting home. With Trump, and with voters. And now, maybe with world leaders — which just makes him that much more viable as a candidate. Without a doubt, this is Trump quashing dissent.

    Earlier in the day, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent went after Newsom, calling Newsom “Patrick Bateman meets Sparkle Beach Ken.”

    That’s a reference to the overly suave serial killer in the film “American Psycho” crossed with a popular 1990s version of a male Barbie known for its pretty eyes and good hair. To be fair, Newsom does resemble both of them.

    That remark came in response to Newsom calling Bessent’s speech “smug” for suggesting that the average American couple was buying up homes as rentals for their retirements. Personally, like most of us, I can’t even afford an extra Barbie doll house, so to be fair, Newsom is right on that one.

    Newsom also scored points off Trump’s speech. He called it “boring,” the most vicious insult you can hurl at Trump. But it was.

    For more than an hour, Trump repeatedly called Greenland Iceland by mistake, while demanding it be turned over to him.

    Yawn.

    He went after windmills because “they kill the birds, they ruin your landscapes.”

    Wut?

    He went after Minnesota with a particularly rabid if overused bit of racism, because it “reminds us that the West cannot mass import foreign cultures, which have failed to ever build a successful society of their own.”

    Yuck.

    As Newsom pointed out in a press gaggle not too long afterward — right before being banned from his formal talk — for an American audience, it’s the same ugly drivel we’ve been subjected to for nearly a year. Absolutely none of it is fresh, though it remains awful and dangerous.

    “My God, there wasn’t anything new about that speech,” Newsom said. “It was remarkably insignificant.”

    It was certainly not a speech that won Trump credibility or support from those kings and queens. It certainly did not contain diplomacy or leadership, or frankly, even sense. Despite the laughter and applause from the audience, I doubt there are few if any outside of Trump’s team who would call it a success.

    But for Newsom, Davos is a win.

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    Anita Chabria

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  • ‘Doomsday Plane’ appearance at LAX sparks online worry

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    The federal government’s Boeing E-4B Nightwatch — a military aircraft known, somewhat alarmingly, as the “Doomsday Plane” — touched down at Los Angeles International Airport this week, in what may be the famed aircraft’s first-ever LAX landing.

    Aviation enthusiasts spotted the plane Thursday on its approach to LAX. It is billed by the U.S. Air Force as a “highly survivable command, control and communications center.”

    The plane is equipped to serve as an airborne operations center for the president, the Defense secretary and the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the event of a disaster that wipes out command centers on land.

    Its sudden appearance at a busy commercial airport sparked a flurry of online speculation.

    “WAR IMMINENT?” one X user posted, in one of several anxious social media responses to the plane’s appearance.

    In this case, the plane was ferrying Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to Southern California as part of his monthlong “Arsenal of Freedom” tour.

    Hegseth spoke Thursday at a Long Beach manufacturing plant, Rocket Lab, the second stop on what the Department of Defense described as a monthlong tour of U.S. industrial defense companies.

    The Defense Department later posted images on social media of Hegseth working out with the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps at UCLA.

    Far-right activist Laura Loomer, Breitbart News reporter Olivia Rondeau and media figure L. Todd Wood accompanied Hegseth on the trip and shared photos of themselves with the plane online.

    The E-4B is a militarized version of Boeing’s 747 aircraft, and is designed to withstand electromagnetic pulses and the heat of a nuclear attack. The Air Force keeps at least one at the ready at all times in case of an emergency.

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    Corinne Purtill

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  • Earlier 911 calls to Rob Reiner’s home could loom large in legal battle over son’s mental condition

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    In the years before Rob and Michele Reiner were killed, Los Angeles police made at least two visits to their home in Brentwood.

    On Feb. 25, 2019, officers conducted a welfare check after someone called 911 at 9:51 p.m. According to LAPD records reviewed by The Times, officers arrived at the address at 10:12 p.m., completed the call and reported the incident to an unidentified supervisor.

    Then on Sept. 27, 2019, police responded at 4:24 p.m. to a mental health–related call for service involving an unidentified man. Officers later informed a supervisor that they found “no indication of mental illness,” according to department records.

    The calls were fairly innocuous and typically would not raise eyebrows.

    But authorities now allege the couple’s son, who lived in the guesthouse on their property, fatally stabbed them in their master bedroom last month.

    The mental state of Nick Reiner, who struggled for years with substance abuse and had been prescribed a schizophrenia drug, has now taken center stage in his legal battle.

    Prosecutors have not detailed their case, and Reiner’s legal team has not provided his own story. It is still possible his defense could present compelling evidence that Nick Reiner did not commit the killings. But if the case is strong, the trial could revolve around Reiner’s mental state and the length of sentence.

    Prosecutors charged Nick Reiner, 32, with two counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances for the killings in the early hours of Dec. 14. Authorities have not offered a possible motive in the case.

    Reiner is back in court Wednesday and is no longer considered to be a suicide risk. He has not yet entered a plea.

    Legal experts say Reiner’s attorney, Alan Jackson, is likely now working to evaluate his client’s history of mental health and state of mind at the time of the crime. Those findings could be the basis for discussions of a plea deal or the beginning of an insanity defense, attorneys say.

    There are also other defenses that Jackson could pursue based on his mental history and possible changes in his medication and other factors that might not have been made public yet, including what might have triggered the killings, said Laurie Levenson, professor of law at Loyola Law School and a former federal prosecutor.

    “There’s a lot still to be done to work this case up,” Levenson said. “He can either try to go for a not guilty by reason of insanity, or he might have testimony that he wasn’t able to form the mental state for the crime because of his medication and his prior mental background.”

    If his defense can prove that Reiner couldn’t form the “intent to kill because of what’s happening with his medication or with his disease” then it could be a way to get a lesser charge such as second-degree murder, Levenson said. With first-degree murder charges, prosecutors must show that the accused acted with premeditation or malice.

    “It is just way too early to say that this is an all or nothing case — that he’s going to be found guilty of murder one or found not guilty. There are likely to be other options,” Levenson said.

    If convicted of first-degree murder, Reiner is facing possible life in prison without the possibility of parole or the death penalty. Prosecutors have not made a decision about whether they will seek capital punishment in the case.

    If Reiner is found not guilty by reason of insanity then he would likely be committed to a mental health facility. And he might at some point be able to show that his condition has improved and have outpatient status or be released, Levenson said.

    Saul Faerstein, a clinical and forensic psychiatrist and professor of psychiatry at UCLA, said doctors will likely try to piece together the days leading up to the killings to determine what kind of mental state Reiner was in at the time.

    “We’d want to know what was happening on Friday or Saturday. Was he beginning to decompensate? Was he acting out of character? Was he doing and saying things that surprised people or frightened people? Was he saying things that made no sense?” Faerstein said.

    Reiner’s ability to check into a hotel and travel across Los Angeles where he was seen at a gas station and ultimately arrested isn’t necessarily a sign that he was of sound mind, Faerstein said.

    “Those things don’t require a lot of cognitive function, and they can be done even in a delusional state,” he said.

    There have been a few examples of cases in California in which charges have been reduced because of mental health factors.

    In 2023, Bryn Spejcher was convicted of involuntary manslaughter for killing Chad O’Melia, a man she’d been dating, with kitchen knives inside his home in Thousand Oaks. They had been smoking marijuana out of O’Melia’s bong, which caused Spejcher to suffer from cannabis-induced psychosis.

    The Ventura County District Attorney’s Office had originally filed a murder charge against her, but reduced the charge to involuntary manslaughter after the prosecution’s experts agreed that she was in a psychotic state brought on by the marijuana intoxication. Prosecutors could not prove malice in the case.

    Spejcher was sentenced to probation and community service. She’s in the process of appealing her conviction, court records show.

    Michael Goldstein, a Los Angeles defense attorney who represented Spejcher, said that if Reiner attorneys can document a history of mental health issues, it could help his chances.

    “Based on facts that have been revealed publicly, [not guilty by reason of insanity] appears to be a viable defense,” Goldstein said. “If successful, that would result in long-term hospitalization. It is still early in the process and Mr. Jackson made it clear there are significant issues being explored. Time will tell.”

    In a case in 2010, Jennifer Lynn Bigham was found not guilty of murder and child abuse by reason of insanity after authorities said she drowned her 3-year-old daughter in a bathtub at a relative’s home in the Central Valley.

    Doctors had determined Bigham was suffering from severe mental illness at the time of her daughter’s death. After roughly three years of treatment in 2013, a judge ordered her to be released from custody because doctors said she was no longer insane.

    It’s possible, Levenson said, that the defense will be able to present compelling evidence of mental disorder to prosecutors to resolve the case before trial. It’s also possible the case will go to trial and he could be found not guilty by reason of insanity and committed as opposed to serving jail time.

    Even if he’s committed, one day any disorders he’s diagnosed with could be treated and he could be released, Levenson said.

    Though insanity defenses in many cases are not successful, based on the facts known at the time, this case could be an exception, experts say.

    “It’s a pretty classic of a situation where you have what looks like a really horrific, maybe premeditated murder, and then you start learning more about his background, that it doesn’t look like he’s making this up, that there seems to be some medical history of this, the change in medication, and all of a sudden you say, ‘Wow, this might be that rare case where mental defense, or an insanity defense, will succeed,” Levenson said.

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    Hannah Fry, Richard Winton

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  • Maduro indictment alleges long criminal past, promises lengthy legal battle ahead

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    Ousted Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro stood in a Manhattan courthouse Monday a captive criminal defendant: surrounded by heavy security, deprived of his power as a head of state and facing drug, weapon and conspiracy charges likely to keep him behind bars for years.

    “I was captured,” he said in Spanish, before pleading not guilty during a brief arraignment. “I am a decent man, the president of my country.”

    Just two days prior, more than 2,000 miles away in Caracas, Maduro was seated “atop a corrupt, illegitimate government that, for decades, has leveraged government power to protect and promote illegal activity, including drug trafficking,” according to a sweeping indictment unsealed Saturday.

    What preceded Maduro’s swift downfall was not just his weekend capture in what President Trump called “one of the most stunning, effective and powerful displays of American military might” in U.S. history, but decades of partnership with “narco-terrorists” from Venezuela, Colombia and Mexico to enrich himself and his family through “massive-scale” cocaine trafficking, the indictment claims.

    The allegations, built off a 2020 indictment, stretch back a quarter-century and implicate other Venezuelan leaders and Maduro’s wife and son. They suggest extensive coordination with notorious drug trafficking organizations and cartels from across the region, and paint a world Trump himself has long worked to instill in the minds of Americans — one in which the nation’s southern neighbors are intentionally flooding the U.S. with lethal drugs and violent criminals, to the devastation of local communities.

    It is a portrait of drugs, money and violence every bit as dramatic as the nighttime raid that sent jets and helicopters into Venezuelan airspace, U.S. special forces into Maduro’s bedroom and Maduro and his wife into U.S. custody and ultimately to their arraignment in court Monday.

    It appears to rely on clandestine intelligence and other witness testimony gathered over the course of decades, which Maduro’s defense team will undoubtedly seek to discredit by impugning the cast of characters — some drug traffickers themselves — whom prosecutors relied on.

    Legal experts said it could take years for the case to reach trial, slowed not only by the normal nuance of litigating a multi-defendant conspiracy case but the added complexity of a prosecution that is almost certainly predicated in part on classified intelligence.

    “That’s very different than a typical drug case, even a very high-level drug case, [where] you’re not going to have classified State Department cables the way you’re going to have them when you’re actually prosecuting a head of state or a former head of state,” said Renato Stabile, an attorney for former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández, who was convicted in a similar cocaine trafficking case in 2024 before being pardoned by Trump last month.

    Joe McNally, the former acting U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, which includes Los Angeles, said he expects the case will take at least a year to get to trial, after prosecutors “show their cards” and Maduro’s attorneys review that evidence and seek out their own witnesses.

    He said he expects a strong case from prosecutors — despite it being “not easy to prove a case that involves high level cartel activity that’s happening thousands of miles away” — that will appropriately play out entirely in public view.

    “He’ll have his day in court. It’s not a military tribunal,” McNally said. “His guilt or innocence will be decided by 12 people from the district [in New York where he’s been indicted], and ultimately the burden will be on the prosecutor.”

    The case against Maduro

    According to the indictment, Maduro and his fellow indicted Venezuelan leaders have since about 1999 “partnered with some of the most violent and prolific drug traffickers and narco-terrorists in the world” — including the FARC and ELN groups in Colombia, the Sinaloa and Los Zetas cartels in Mexico and the Tren de Aragua gang in Venezuela.

    Among the others indicted in the case is Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, aka “Niño Guerrero,” a purported leader of Tren de Aragua.

    Trump has accused Tren de Aragua of committing violence in the U.S. and used alleged ties between it and Maduro to justify using a wartime statute to deport Venezuelans accused of being in the gang to a notorious Salvadoran prison. However, Maduro’s links to the group have been heavily questioned in the past — including by U.S. intelligence agencies — and the indictment doesn’t spell out any specific links between Maduro and Guerrero Flores.

    The indictment alleges Maduro and his co-conspirators “facilitated the empowerment and growth of violent narco-terrorist groups fueling their organizations with cocaine profits,” including by providing “law enforcement cover and logistical support for the transport of cocaine through Venezuela, with knowledge that their drug trafficking partners would move the cocaine north to the United States.”

    It specifically alleges that between 2006 and 2008, when he was foreign affairs minister, Maduro sold diplomatic passports to people he knew were drug traffickers, specifically so they could move drug proceeds from Mexico back to Venezuela “under diplomatic cover” and without military or law enforcement scrutinizing their flights.

    It also alleges that between 2004 and 2015, Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, “worked together to traffic cocaine, much of which had been previously seized by Venezuelan law enforcement, with the assistance of armed military escorts.”

    It alleges the couple “maintained their own groups of state-sponsored gangs known as colectivos to facilitate and protect their drug trafficking operation,” and “ordered kidnappings, beatings, and murders against those who owed them drug money or otherwise undermined their drug trafficking operation, including ordering the murder of a local drug boss in Caracas.”

    The indictment references a half-dozen other criminal cases already brought in the U.S. against others with alleged ties to Maduro and his alleged co-conspirators, several of whom have been convicted.

    What’s ahead

    Stabile said the legally questionable nature of Maduro’s capture will no doubt be a factor in the criminal proceedings ahead, with his defense team likely to argue that his detention is unlawful. “That’s going to be front and center, and I assume it’s going to be the subject of a motion to dismiss,” he said.

    Whether anything will come of that argument, however, is less clear, as courts in the U.S. have in the past allowed criminal proceedings to continue against individuals captured abroad, including former Panama dictator Manuel Noriega. Part of the U.S. argument for why Noriega could be prosecuted was that he was not the legitimate leader of Panama, an argument that is likely to be made in Maduro’s case, too.

    Beyond that, Stabile said how the case plays out will depend on what evidence the government has against Maduro.

    “Is his case just gonna be based on the testimony of sources and cooperators, which is pretty much what it was in President Hernandez’s case?” Stabile said. “Or are there recordings? Are there videos? Are there bank records? Are there text messages? Are there emails?”

    McNally said he will be watching to see whom prosecutors have lined up to testify against Maduro.

    “In most of the high-level narcotics trafficking cases, international narcotics trafficking cases that have been brought and go to trial, the common thread is that you end up with cooperators — individuals who were part of the conspiracy, they were the criminal partners of the defendant, and they ultimately decide, hey, it’s in my self-interest to come forward and testify,” McNally said.

    “They obviously are cross-examined, and they’ll frequently be accused of … lying for their own self-interest,” he said. “But in my experience, cooperators in these types of cases are especially valuable, and the key is to then corroborate them with other witnesses who tell the same story or documentary evidence.”

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  • Trump’s DOJ hires voting rights lawyer behind L.A. case cited by conspiracy theorists

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    Eric Neff’s tenure at the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office ended after he was placed on administrative leave in 2022 over accusations of misconduct in the prosecution of the CEO of Konnech, a software company that election conspiracy theorists said was in the thrall of the Chinese government.

    Now, three years later, Neff is serving as one of the Trump administration’s top election watchdogs.

    Late last year , his name began appearing on lawsuits filed by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, listed as “acting chief” of the voting section.

    Neff’s appointment, first reported by Mother Jones, has prompted renewed scrutiny of his work at the L.A. County district attorney’s office.

    The Times interviewed several of Neff’s former colleagues, who revealed new details about claims of misconduct that emerged from the Konnech case, and said they were alarmed that someone with almost no background in federal election law was named to a senior position.

    Neff led the 2022 investigation of Konnech, a tiny Michigan company whose software is used by election officials in several major cities. In a criminal complaint, Neff accused the company’s CEO, Eugene Yu, of fraud and embezzlement, alleging the company stored poll worker information on a server based in China, a violation of its contract with the L.A. County registrar’s office.

    Six weeks after a complaint was filed, prosecutors dropped the case and launched an investigation into “irregularities” and bias in the way evidence was presented against Konnech, the D.A.’s office said in a 2022 statement.

    The county paid Konnech $5 million and joined a motion to find Yu factually innocent as part of a legal settlement.

    The internal probe was focused on accusations that Neff misled supervisors at the district attorney’s office about the role of election deniers in his investigation, according to two officials with direct knowledge of the case who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it publicly.

    Neff also allegedly withheld information about potential biases in the case from a grand jury, according to the two officials.

    In a civil lawsuit filed last year, Neff said the internal review by the D.A.’s office cleared him of wrongdoing. The two officials familiar with the probe who spoke on the condition of anonymity disputed Neff’s characterization of the findings.

    A spokesman for Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman declined to comment or provide the results of the investigation into Neff, which the officials said was conducted by an outside law firm that generated a report on the case. Neff’s attorney also did not provide a copy of the report.

    A Department of Justice spokesman declined to comment.

    Neff’s attorney, Tom Yu — no relation to the Konnech CEO — said his client had no obligation to provide background information about the origins of the case to the grand jury.

    Neff’s appointment comes as President Trump continues to remake the DOJ in his own image by appointing political loyalists with no criminal law background as U.S. attorneys in New Jersey and Virginia and seeking prosecutions of his political enemies, such as former FBI Director James Comey.

    Trump has never recanted his false claim that he won the 2020 election.

    When then-L.A. County Dist. Atty. George Gascón announced the charges against Konnech in 2020, Trump said the progressive prosecutor would become a “National hero on the Right if he got to the bottom of this aspect of the Voting Fraud.”

    The Konnech case was centered on contract fraud, not voter fraud or ballot rigging. Six weeks after the charges were filed, the case disintegrated.

    The D.A.’s office cited Neff’s over-reliance on evidence provided by True the Vote, the group that pushed the unfounded Chinese government conspiracies about Konnech and also appeared in a film that spread claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen.

    Gascón initially denied that True the Vote was involved in the case, but weeks later, a D.A.’s office spokesman said a report from the group’s co-founder, Gregg Phillips, sparked the prosecution. Phillips testified in court in July 2022 that it was Neff who first contacted him about Konnech.

    The two officials who spoke to The Times said that Neff withheld True the Vote’s role from high-level D.A.’s office staff, including Gascón, when presenting the case.

    Gascón declined an interview request, noting he is named in Neff’s pending lawsuit, which is slated for trial in early 2026.

    Neff’s attorney insisted the case against Konnech was solid.

    “He was let go because Trump tweeted a statement of ‘Go George Go’,” the attorney said. “That’s why Eugene Yu was let go. Because Gascón was so scared he was going to lose votes.”

    Calls and emails to an attorney who previously represented Eugene Yu were not returned.

    In his lawsuit, Neff claimed he had evidence that “Konnech used third-party contractors based in China and failed to abide by security procedures” to protect L.A. County poll worker data. The evidence was not attached as an exhibit in the lawsuit.

    A DOJ spokesperson declined to describe Neff’s job duties. His name appears on a number of lawsuits filed in recent months against states that have refused to turn over voter registration lists to the Trump administration.

    Neff is also involved in a suit filed against the Fulton County clerk’s office in Georgia seeking records related to the 2020 election, records show.

    “We will not permit states to jeopardize the integrity and effectiveness of elections by refusing to abide by our federal elections laws,” Asst. Atty. Gen. Harmeet Dhillon, the California conservative who now leads the civil rights division, said in a recent statement. “If states will not fulfill their duty to protect the integrity of the ballot, we will.”

    Dhillon declined to comment through a DOJ spokesman.

    The voting section “enforces the civil provisions of the federal laws that protect the right to vote, including the Voting Rights Act,” according to the DOJ’s website.

    It does not appear that Neff has any background working on cases related to federal election law. He first became an L.A. County prosecutor in 2013 and spent years handling local crime cases out of the Pomona courthouse. He was promoted and reassigned to the Public Integrity Division, which investigates corruption issues, in 2020, according to his lawsuit.

    While there, he handled only two prosecutions related to elections. One was the Konnech case. The other involved allegations of election rigging against a Compton city council member.

    In August 2021, Isaac Galvan, a Democrat, was charged with conspiring to commit election fraud after he allegedly worked to direct voters from outside his council district to cast ballots for him. Galvan won the race by just one vote, but was booted from office when a judge determined at least four improper ballots had been cast.

    Galvan’s criminal case is still pending; he recently pleaded guilty to charges in a separate corruption and bribery case in federal court. A spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles said there was no overlap between the D.A.’s election rigging case and the bribery case against Galvan. Federal prosecutors are not reviewing the Konnech case, the spokesman said.

    Court filings show Neff was involved in Galvan’s L.A. County case, but the prosecution was led by a more senior attorney.

    Justin Levitt, a constitutional law professor at Loyola Law School who served in the civil rights division during the Obama administration, said section chiefs normally have decades of experience in the area of law they’re meant to supervise.

    “The biggest problem with somebody with Neff’s history is the giant screaming red flag that involves filing a prosecution based on unreliable evidence,” Levitt said. “That’s not something any prosecutor should do.”

    Neff’s attorney, Yu, scoffed at the idea that his client was not experienced enough for his new role in the Trump administration, or that he was selected due to his involvement in the Konnech case.

    “Eric got the job because he’s qualified to get the job. He didn’t get the job for any other reason. He got the job because he’s an excellent advocate,” Yu said. “I think the Justice Department is very fortunate to have Eric.”

    Times Staff Writer Seema Mehta contributed to this report.

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    James Queally

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  • California has lost more than a quarter of its immigration judges this year

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    WASHINGTON — More than a quarter of federal immigration judges in California have been fired, retired or quit since the start of the Trump administration.

    The reduction follows a trend in immigration courts nationwide and constitutes, critics say, an attack on the rule of law that will lead to yet more delays in an overburdened court system.

    The reduction in immigration judges has come as the administration scaled up efforts to deport immigrants living in the U.S. illegally. Trump administration officials have described the immigration court process, in which proceedings can take years amid a backlog of millions of cases, as an impediment to their goals.

    Nationwide, there were 735 immigration judges last fiscal year, according to the Executive Office for Immigration Review, the arm of the Justice Department that houses immigration courts. At least 97 have been fired since President Trump took office and about the same number have resigned or retired, according to the union representing immigration judges.

    California has lost at least 35 immigration judges since January, according to Mobile Pathways, a Berkeley-based organization that analyzes immigration court data. That’s down from 132. The steepest drop occurred at the San Francisco Immigration Court, which has lost more than half its bench.

    “A noncitizen might win their case, might lose their case, but the key question is, did they receive a hearing?” said Emmett Soper, who worked at the Justice Department before becoming an immigration judge in Virginia in 2017. “Up until this administration, I had always been confident that I was working in a system that, despite its flaws, was fundamentally fair.”

    Our government institutions are losing their legitimacy

    — Amber George, former San Francisco Immigration Court judge

    The administration intends to fill some judge positions, and in new immigration judge job listings in Los Angeles, San Francisco and elsewhere seeks candidates who want to be a “deportation judge” and “restore integrity and honor to our Nation’s Immigration Court system.”

    The immigration judges union called the job listings “insulting.”

    Trump wrote on Truth Social in April that he was elected to “remove criminals from our Country, but the Courts don’t seem to want me to do that.”

    “We cannot give everyone a trial, because to do so would take, without exaggeration, 200 years,” he added.

    The National Assn. of Immigration Judges said it expects a wave of additional retirements at the end of this month.

    “My biggest concern is for the people whose lives are left in limbo. What can they count on when the ground is literally shifting every moment that they’re here?” said Amber George, who was fired last month from the San Francisco Immigration Court. “Our government institutions are losing their legitimacy.”

    Because immigration courts operate under the Justice Department, their priorities typically shift from one presidential administration to the next, but the extreme changes taking place have renewed longtime calls for immigration courts to become independent of the executive branch.

    The Trump administration recently added 36 judges; 25 of them are military lawyers serving in temporary positions.

    This summer, the Pentagon authorized up to 600 military lawyers to work for the Department of Justice. That took place after the department changed the requirements for temporary immigration judges, removing the need for immigration law experience.

    The Department of Justice did not respond to specific questions, but said judges must be impartial and that the agency is obligated to take action against those who demonstrate systemic bias.

    Former judges say that, because terminations have happened with no advance notice, remaining court staff have often scrambled to get up to speed on reassigned cases.

    Ousted judges described a pattern: In the afternoon, sometimes while presiding over a hearing, they receive a short email stating that they are being terminated pursuant to Article II of the Constitution. Their names are swiftly removed from the Justice Department website.

    Jeremiah Johnson is one of five judges terminated recently from the San Francisco Immigration Court.

    Johnson said he worries the Trump administration is circumventing immigration courts by making conditions so unbearable that immigrants decide to drop their cases.

    The number of detained immigrants has climbed to record levels since January, with more than 65,000 in custody. Immigrants and lawyers say the conditions are inhumane, alleging medical neglect, punitive solitary confinement and obstructed access to legal counsel. Requests by immigrants for voluntary departure, which avoids formal deportation, have surged in recent months.

    Many of those arrests have happened at courthouses, causing immigrants to avoid their legal claims out of fear of being detained and forcing judges to order them removed in absentia.

    “Those are ways to get people to leave the United States without seeing a judge, without due process that Congress has provided,” Johnson said. “It’s a dismantling of the court system.”

    A sign posted outside the San Francisco Immigration Court in October protests enforcement actions by immigration agents. The court has lost more than half of its immigration judges.

    (Jeff Chiu / Associated Press)

    The judges in San Francisco’s Immigration Court have historically had higher asylum approval rates than the national average. Johnson said grant rates depend on a variety of circumstances, including whether a person is detained or has legal representation, their country of origin and whether they are adults or children.

    In November, the military judges serving in immigration courts heard 286 cases and issued rulings in 110, according to Mobile Pathways. The military judges issued deportation orders in 78% of the cases — more often than other immigration judges that month, who ordered deportations in 63% of cases.

    “They’re probably following directions — and the military is very good at following directions — and it’s clear what their directions are that are given by this administration,” said Mobile Pathways co-founder Bartlomiej Skorupa. He cautioned that 110 cases are a small sample size and that trends will become clearer in the coming months.

    Former immigration judges and their advocates say that appointing people with no immigration experience and little training makes for a steep learning curve and the possibility of due process violations.

    “There are multiple concerns here: that they’re temporary, which could expose them to greater pressure to decide cases in a certain way; and also they lack experience in immigration law, which is an extremely complex area of practice,” said Ingrid Eagly, an immigration law professor at UCLA.

    Immigration courts have a backlog of more than 3 million cases. Anam Petit, who served as an immigration judge in Virginia until September, said the administration’s emphasis on speedy case completions has to be balanced against the constitutional right to a fair hearing.

    “There are not enough judges to hear those cases, and this administration [is] taking it upon themselves to fire a lot of experienced and trained judges who can hear those cases and can mitigate that backlog,” she said.

    Complementary bills introduced in the U.S. Senate and House this month by Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Rep. Juan Vargas (D-San Diego) would prevent the appointment of military lawyers as temporary immigration judges and impose a two-year limit of service.

    “The Trump administration’s willingness to fire experienced immigration judges and hire inexperienced or temporary ‘deportation judges,’ especially in places like California, has fundamentally impacted the landscape of our justice system,” Schiff said in a statement announcing the bill.

    The bills have little chance in the Republican-controlled Congress but illustrate how significantly Democrats — especially in California — oppose the administration’s changes to immigration courts.

    Former Immigration Judge Tania Nemer, a dual citizen of Lebanon and the U.S., sued the Justice Department and Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi this month, alleging that she was illegally terminated in February because of her gender, ethnic background and political affiliation. In 2023, Nemer ran for judicial office in Ohio as a Democrat.

    Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi speaks at the White House in October.

    Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi, seen here at the White House in October, has dismissed complaints by a former immigration judge who alleged she was fired without cause.

    (Evan Vucci / Associated Press)

    Bondi addressed the lawsuit in a Cabinet meeting.

    “Most recently, yesterday, I was sued by an immigration judge who we fired,” she said Dec. 2. “One of the reasons she said she was a woman. Last I checked, I was a woman as well.”

    Other former judges have challenged their terminations through the federal Merit Systems Protection Board.

    Johnson, of San Francisco, is one of those. He filed his appeal this month, claiming that he was not given cause for termination.

    “My goal is to be reinstated,” he said. “My colleagues on the bench, our court was vibrant. It was a good place to work, despite all the pressures.”

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    Andrea Castillo

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  • Barry Manilow reveals lung cancer diagnosis, reschedules shows for surgery

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    Barry Manilow has revealed that he has been diagnosed with lung cancer. The singer shared a statement on Instagram revealing his diagnosis and that he needs to reschedule his January shows in order to have surgery to remove a spot. Manilow shared that doctors found the spot after a doctor ordered an MRI over his case of bronchitis. “As many of you know, I recently went through six weeks of bronchitis followed by a relapse of another five weeks. Even though I was over the bronchitis and back on stage at the Westgate Las Vegas, my wonderful doctor ordered an MRI just to make sure that everything was OK,” Manilow said in his statement. “The MRI discovered a cancerous spot on my left lung that needs to be removed. It’s pure luck (and a great doctor) that it was found so early. That’s the good news.” “The doctors do not believe it has spread, and I’m taking tests to confirm their diagnosis. So, that’s it. No chemo. No radiation. Just chicken soup and I Love Lucy reruns,” Manilow continued.Manilow shared that while his January shows will be rescheduled, he plans to be back performing in February in Las Vegas. He ended his message encouraging everyone to get tested if they ever feel like something is wrong.

    Barry Manilow has revealed that he has been diagnosed with lung cancer.

    The singer shared a statement on Instagram revealing his diagnosis and that he needs to reschedule his January shows in order to have surgery to remove a spot.

    Manilow shared that doctors found the spot after a doctor ordered an MRI over his case of bronchitis.

    “As many of you know, I recently went through six weeks of bronchitis followed by a relapse of another five weeks. Even though I was over the bronchitis and back on stage at the Westgate Las Vegas, my wonderful doctor ordered an MRI just to make sure that everything was OK,” Manilow said in his statement. “The MRI discovered a cancerous spot on my left lung that needs to be removed. It’s pure luck (and a great doctor) that it was found so early. That’s the good news.”

    “The doctors do not believe it has spread, and I’m taking tests to confirm their diagnosis. So, that’s it. No chemo. No radiation. Just chicken soup and I Love Lucy reruns,” Manilow continued.

    Manilow shared that while his January shows will be rescheduled, he plans to be back performing in February in Las Vegas.

    He ended his message encouraging everyone to get tested if they ever feel like something is wrong.

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  • At least 16 files have disappeared from the DOJ webpage for documents related to Jeffrey Epstein

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    At least 16 files disappeared from the Justice Department’s public webpage for documents related to Jeffrey Epstein — including a photograph showing President Donald Trump — less than a day after they were posted, with no explanation from the government and no notice to the public.Related video above: Justice Department’s partial release of Epstein files frustrates lawmakersThe missing files, which were available Friday and no longer accessible by Saturday, included images of paintings depicting nude women, and one showing a series of photographs along a credenza and in drawers. In that image, inside a drawer among other photos, was a photograph of Trump, alongside Epstein, Melania Trump and Epstein’s longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell.The Justice Department didn’t answer questions Saturday about why the files disappeared but said in a post on X that “photos and other materials will continue being reviewed and redacted consistent with the law in an abundance of caution as we receive additional information.”Online, the unexplained missing files fueled speculation about what was taken down and why the public was not notified, compounding long-standing intrigue about Epstein and the powerful figures who surrounded him. Democrats on the House Oversight Committee pointed to the missing image featuring a Trump photo in a post on X, writing: “What else is being covered up? We need transparency for the American public.”The episode deepened concerns that had already emerged from the Justice Department’s much-anticipated document release. The tens of thousands of pages made public offered little new insight into Epstein’s crimes or the prosecutorial decisions that allowed him to avoid serious federal charges for years, while omitting some of the most closely watched materials, including FBI interviews with victims and internal Justice Department memos on charging decisions.Scant new insight in the initial disclosuresSome of the most consequential records expected about Epstein are nowhere to be found in the Justice Department’s initial disclosures, which span tens of thousands of pages.Missing are FBI interviews with survivors and internal Justice Department memos examining charging decisions — records that could have helped explain how investigators viewed the case and why Epstein was allowed in 2008 to plead guilty to a relatively minor state-level prostitution charge.The gaps go further.The records, required to be released under a recent law passed by Congress, hardly reference several powerful figures long associated with Epstein, including Britain’s former Prince Andrew, renewing questions about who was scrutinized, who was not, and how much the disclosures truly advance public accountabilityAmong the fresh nuggets: insight into the Justice Department’s decision to abandon an investigation into Epstein in the 2000s, which enabled him to plead guilty to that state-level charge, and a previously unseen 1996 complaint accusing Epstein of stealing photographs of children.The releases so far have been heavy on images of Epstein’s homes in New York City and the U.S. Virgin Islands, with some photos of celebrities and politicians.There was a series of never-before-seen photos of former President Bill Clinton, but fleetingly few of Trump. Both have been associated with Epstein, but both have since disowned those friendships. Neither has been accused of any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein, and there was no indication the photos played a role in the criminal cases brought against him.Despite a Friday deadline set by Congress to make everything public, the Justice Department said it plans to release records on a rolling basis. It blamed the delay on the time-consuming process of obscuring survivors’ names and other identifying information. The department has not given any notice when more records might arrive.That approach angered some Epstein accusers and members of Congress, who fought to pass the law forcing the department to act. Instead of marking the end of a yearslong battle for transparency, the document release Friday was merely the beginning of an indefinite wait for a complete picture of Epstein’s crimes and the steps taken to investigate them.”I feel like again the DOJ, the justice system is failing us,” said Marina Lacerda, who alleges Epstein started sexually abusing her at his New York City mansion when she was 14.Many of the long-anticipated records were redacted or lacked contextFederal prosecutors in New York brought sex trafficking charges against Epstein in 2019, but he killed himself in jail after his arrest.The documents just made public were a sliver of potentially millions of pages of records in the department’s possession. In one example, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said Manhattan federal prosecutors had more than 3.6 million records from sex trafficking investigations into Epstein and Maxwell, though many duplicated material already turned over by the FBI.Many of the records released so far had been made public in court filings, congressional releases, or Freedom of Information Act requests, though, for the first time, they were all in one place and available for the public to search for free.Ones that were new were often lacking necessary context or heavily blacked out. A 119-page document marked “Grand Jury-NY,” likely from one of the federal sex trafficking investigations that led to the charges against Epstein in 2019 or Maxwell in 2021, was entirely blacked out.Trump’s Republican allies seized on the Clinton images, including photos of the Democrat with singers Michael Jackson and Diana Ross. There were also photos of Epstein with actors Chris Tucker and Kevin Spacey, and even Epstein with TV newscaster Walter Cronkite. But none of the photos had captions, and no explanation was given for why any of them were together.The meatiest records released so far showed that federal prosecutors had what appeared to be a strong case against Epstein in 2007, yet never charged him.Transcripts of grand jury proceedings, released publicly for the first time, included testimony from FBI agents who described interviews they had with several girls and young women who described being paid to perform sex acts for Epstein. The youngest was 14 and in ninth grade.One had told investigators about being sexually assaulted by Epstein when she initially resisted his advances during a massage.Another, then 21, testified before the grand jury about how Epstein had hired her when she was 16 to perform a sexual massage and how she had gone on to recruit other girls to do the same.”For every girl that I brought to the table, he would give me $200,” she said. They were mostly people she knew from high school, she said. “I also told them that if they are underage, just lie about it and tell him that you are 18.”The documents also contain a transcript of an interview Justice Department lawyers did more than a decade later with the U.S. attorney who oversaw the case, Alexander Acosta, about his ultimate decision not to bring federal charges.Acosta, who was labor secretary during Trump’s first term, cited concerns about whether a jury would believe Epstein’s accusers.He also said the Justice Department might have been more reluctant to make a federal prosecution out of a case that straddled the legal border between sex trafficking and soliciting prostitution, something more commonly handled by state prosecutors.”I’m not saying it was the right view,” Acosta added. He also said that the public today would likely view the survivors differently.”There’s been a lot of changes in victim shaming,” Acosta said.Associated Press journalists Ali Swenson, Christopher L. Keller, Aaron Kessler and Mike Catalini contributed to this report.

    NEW YORK (AP) —

    At least 16 files disappeared from the Justice Department’s public webpage for documents related to Jeffrey Epstein — including a photograph showing President Donald Trump — less than a day after they were posted, with no explanation from the government and no notice to the public.

    Related video above: Justice Department’s partial release of Epstein files frustrates lawmakers

    The missing files, which were available Friday and no longer accessible by Saturday, included images of paintings depicting nude women, and one showing a series of photographs along a credenza and in drawers. In that image, inside a drawer among other photos, was a photograph of Trump, alongside Epstein, Melania Trump and Epstein’s longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell.

    The Justice Department didn’t answer questions Saturday about why the files disappeared but said in a post on X that “photos and other materials will continue being reviewed and redacted consistent with the law in an abundance of caution as we receive additional information.”

    Online, the unexplained missing files fueled speculation about what was taken down and why the public was not notified, compounding long-standing intrigue about Epstein and the powerful figures who surrounded him. Democrats on the House Oversight Committee pointed to the missing image featuring a Trump photo in a post on X, writing: “What else is being covered up? We need transparency for the American public.”

    The episode deepened concerns that had already emerged from the Justice Department’s much-anticipated document release. The tens of thousands of pages made public offered little new insight into Epstein’s crimes or the prosecutorial decisions that allowed him to avoid serious federal charges for years, while omitting some of the most closely watched materials, including FBI interviews with victims and internal Justice Department memos on charging decisions.

    Scant new insight in the initial disclosures

    Some of the most consequential records expected about Epstein are nowhere to be found in the Justice Department’s initial disclosures, which span tens of thousands of pages.

    Missing are FBI interviews with survivors and internal Justice Department memos examining charging decisions — records that could have helped explain how investigators viewed the case and why Epstein was allowed in 2008 to plead guilty to a relatively minor state-level prostitution charge.

    The gaps go further.

    The records, required to be released under a recent law passed by Congress, hardly reference several powerful figures long associated with Epstein, including Britain’s former Prince Andrew, renewing questions about who was scrutinized, who was not, and how much the disclosures truly advance public accountability

    Among the fresh nuggets: insight into the Justice Department’s decision to abandon an investigation into Epstein in the 2000s, which enabled him to plead guilty to that state-level charge, and a previously unseen 1996 complaint accusing Epstein of stealing photographs of children.

    The releases so far have been heavy on images of Epstein’s homes in New York City and the U.S. Virgin Islands, with some photos of celebrities and politicians.

    There was a series of never-before-seen photos of former President Bill Clinton, but fleetingly few of Trump. Both have been associated with Epstein, but both have since disowned those friendships. Neither has been accused of any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein, and there was no indication the photos played a role in the criminal cases brought against him.

    Despite a Friday deadline set by Congress to make everything public, the Justice Department said it plans to release records on a rolling basis. It blamed the delay on the time-consuming process of obscuring survivors’ names and other identifying information. The department has not given any notice when more records might arrive.

    That approach angered some Epstein accusers and members of Congress, who fought to pass the law forcing the department to act. Instead of marking the end of a yearslong battle for transparency, the document release Friday was merely the beginning of an indefinite wait for a complete picture of Epstein’s crimes and the steps taken to investigate them.

    “I feel like again the DOJ, the justice system is failing us,” said Marina Lacerda, who alleges Epstein started sexually abusing her at his New York City mansion when she was 14.

    Many of the long-anticipated records were redacted or lacked context

    Federal prosecutors in New York brought sex trafficking charges against Epstein in 2019, but he killed himself in jail after his arrest.

    The documents just made public were a sliver of potentially millions of pages of records in the department’s possession. In one example, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said Manhattan federal prosecutors had more than 3.6 million records from sex trafficking investigations into Epstein and Maxwell, though many duplicated material already turned over by the FBI.

    Many of the records released so far had been made public in court filings, congressional releases, or Freedom of Information Act requests, though, for the first time, they were all in one place and available for the public to search for free.

    Ones that were new were often lacking necessary context or heavily blacked out. A 119-page document marked “Grand Jury-NY,” likely from one of the federal sex trafficking investigations that led to the charges against Epstein in 2019 or Maxwell in 2021, was entirely blacked out.

    Trump’s Republican allies seized on the Clinton images, including photos of the Democrat with singers Michael Jackson and Diana Ross. There were also photos of Epstein with actors Chris Tucker and Kevin Spacey, and even Epstein with TV newscaster Walter Cronkite. But none of the photos had captions, and no explanation was given for why any of them were together.

    The meatiest records released so far showed that federal prosecutors had what appeared to be a strong case against Epstein in 2007, yet never charged him.

    Transcripts of grand jury proceedings, released publicly for the first time, included testimony from FBI agents who described interviews they had with several girls and young women who described being paid to perform sex acts for Epstein. The youngest was 14 and in ninth grade.

    One had told investigators about being sexually assaulted by Epstein when she initially resisted his advances during a massage.

    Another, then 21, testified before the grand jury about how Epstein had hired her when she was 16 to perform a sexual massage and how she had gone on to recruit other girls to do the same.

    “For every girl that I brought to the table, he would give me $200,” she said. They were mostly people she knew from high school, she said. “I also told them that if they are underage, just lie about it and tell him that you are 18.”

    The documents also contain a transcript of an interview Justice Department lawyers did more than a decade later with the U.S. attorney who oversaw the case, Alexander Acosta, about his ultimate decision not to bring federal charges.

    Acosta, who was labor secretary during Trump’s first term, cited concerns about whether a jury would believe Epstein’s accusers.

    He also said the Justice Department might have been more reluctant to make a federal prosecution out of a case that straddled the legal border between sex trafficking and soliciting prostitution, something more commonly handled by state prosecutors.

    “I’m not saying it was the right view,” Acosta added. He also said that the public today would likely view the survivors differently.

    “There’s been a lot of changes in victim shaming,” Acosta said.

    Associated Press journalists Ali Swenson, Christopher L. Keller, Aaron Kessler and Mike Catalini contributed to this report.

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  • At least 16 files have disappeared from the DOJ webpage for documents related to Jeffrey Epstein

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    At least 16 files disappeared from the Justice Department’s public webpage for documents related to Jeffrey Epstein — including a photograph showing President Donald Trump — less than a day after they were posted, with no explanation from the government and no notice to the public.Related video above: Justice Department’s partial release of Epstein files frustrates lawmakersThe missing files, which were available Friday and no longer accessible by Saturday, included images of paintings depicting nude women, and one showing a series of photographs along a credenza and in drawers. In that image, inside a drawer among other photos, was a photograph of Trump, alongside Epstein, Melania Trump and Epstein’s longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell.The Justice Department didn’t answer questions Saturday about why the files disappeared but said in a post on X that “photos and other materials will continue being reviewed and redacted consistent with the law in an abundance of caution as we receive additional information.”Online, the unexplained missing files fueled speculation about what was taken down and why the public was not notified, compounding long-standing intrigue about Epstein and the powerful figures who surrounded him. Democrats on the House Oversight Committee pointed to the missing image featuring a Trump photo in a post on X, writing: “What else is being covered up? We need transparency for the American public.”The episode deepened concerns that had already emerged from the Justice Department’s much-anticipated document release. The tens of thousands of pages made public offered little new insight into Epstein’s crimes or the prosecutorial decisions that allowed him to avoid serious federal charges for years, while omitting some of the most closely watched materials, including FBI interviews with victims and internal Justice Department memos on charging decisions.Scant new insight in the initial disclosuresSome of the most consequential records expected about Epstein are nowhere to be found in the Justice Department’s initial disclosures, which span tens of thousands of pages.Missing are FBI interviews with survivors and internal Justice Department memos examining charging decisions — records that could have helped explain how investigators viewed the case and why Epstein was allowed in 2008 to plead guilty to a relatively minor state-level prostitution charge.The gaps go further.The records, required to be released under a recent law passed by Congress, hardly reference several powerful figures long associated with Epstein, including Britain’s former Prince Andrew, renewing questions about who was scrutinized, who was not, and how much the disclosures truly advance public accountabilityAmong the fresh nuggets: insight into the Justice Department’s decision to abandon an investigation into Epstein in the 2000s, which enabled him to plead guilty to that state-level charge, and a previously unseen 1996 complaint accusing Epstein of stealing photographs of children.The releases so far have been heavy on images of Epstein’s homes in New York City and the U.S. Virgin Islands, with some photos of celebrities and politicians.There was a series of never-before-seen photos of former President Bill Clinton, but fleetingly few of Trump. Both have been associated with Epstein, but both have since disowned those friendships. Neither has been accused of any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein, and there was no indication the photos played a role in the criminal cases brought against him.Despite a Friday deadline set by Congress to make everything public, the Justice Department said it plans to release records on a rolling basis. It blamed the delay on the time-consuming process of obscuring survivors’ names and other identifying information. The department has not given any notice when more records might arrive.That approach angered some Epstein accusers and members of Congress, who fought to pass the law forcing the department to act. Instead of marking the end of a yearslong battle for transparency, the document release Friday was merely the beginning of an indefinite wait for a complete picture of Epstein’s crimes and the steps taken to investigate them.”I feel like again the DOJ, the justice system is failing us,” said Marina Lacerda, who alleges Epstein started sexually abusing her at his New York City mansion when she was 14.Many of the long-anticipated records were redacted or lacked contextFederal prosecutors in New York brought sex trafficking charges against Epstein in 2019, but he killed himself in jail after his arrest.The documents just made public were a sliver of potentially millions of pages of records in the department’s possession. In one example, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said Manhattan federal prosecutors had more than 3.6 million records from sex trafficking investigations into Epstein and Maxwell, though many duplicated material already turned over by the FBI.Many of the records released so far had been made public in court filings, congressional releases, or Freedom of Information Act requests, though, for the first time, they were all in one place and available for the public to search for free.Ones that were new were often lacking necessary context or heavily blacked out. A 119-page document marked “Grand Jury-NY,” likely from one of the federal sex trafficking investigations that led to the charges against Epstein in 2019 or Maxwell in 2021, was entirely blacked out.Trump’s Republican allies seized on the Clinton images, including photos of the Democrat with singers Michael Jackson and Diana Ross. There were also photos of Epstein with actors Chris Tucker and Kevin Spacey, and even Epstein with TV newscaster Walter Cronkite. But none of the photos had captions, and no explanation was given for why any of them were together.The meatiest records released so far showed that federal prosecutors had what appeared to be a strong case against Epstein in 2007, yet never charged him.Transcripts of grand jury proceedings, released publicly for the first time, included testimony from FBI agents who described interviews they had with several girls and young women who described being paid to perform sex acts for Epstein. The youngest was 14 and in ninth grade.One had told investigators about being sexually assaulted by Epstein when she initially resisted his advances during a massage.Another, then 21, testified before the grand jury about how Epstein had hired her when she was 16 to perform a sexual massage and how she had gone on to recruit other girls to do the same.”For every girl that I brought to the table, he would give me $200,” she said. They were mostly people she knew from high school, she said. “I also told them that if they are underage, just lie about it and tell him that you are 18.”The documents also contain a transcript of an interview Justice Department lawyers did more than a decade later with the U.S. attorney who oversaw the case, Alexander Acosta, about his ultimate decision not to bring federal charges.Acosta, who was labor secretary during Trump’s first term, cited concerns about whether a jury would believe Epstein’s accusers.He also said the Justice Department might have been more reluctant to make a federal prosecution out of a case that straddled the legal border between sex trafficking and soliciting prostitution, something more commonly handled by state prosecutors.”I’m not saying it was the right view,” Acosta added. He also said that the public today would likely view the survivors differently.”There’s been a lot of changes in victim shaming,” Acosta said.Associated Press journalists Ali Swenson, Christopher L. Keller, Aaron Kessler and Mike Catalini contributed to this report.

    NEW YORK (AP) —

    At least 16 files disappeared from the Justice Department’s public webpage for documents related to Jeffrey Epstein — including a photograph showing President Donald Trump — less than a day after they were posted, with no explanation from the government and no notice to the public.

    Related video above: Justice Department’s partial release of Epstein files frustrates lawmakers

    The missing files, which were available Friday and no longer accessible by Saturday, included images of paintings depicting nude women, and one showing a series of photographs along a credenza and in drawers. In that image, inside a drawer among other photos, was a photograph of Trump, alongside Epstein, Melania Trump and Epstein’s longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell.

    The Justice Department didn’t answer questions Saturday about why the files disappeared but said in a post on X that “photos and other materials will continue being reviewed and redacted consistent with the law in an abundance of caution as we receive additional information.”

    Online, the unexplained missing files fueled speculation about what was taken down and why the public was not notified, compounding long-standing intrigue about Epstein and the powerful figures who surrounded him. Democrats on the House Oversight Committee pointed to the missing image featuring a Trump photo in a post on X, writing: “What else is being covered up? We need transparency for the American public.”

    The episode deepened concerns that had already emerged from the Justice Department’s much-anticipated document release. The tens of thousands of pages made public offered little new insight into Epstein’s crimes or the prosecutorial decisions that allowed him to avoid serious federal charges for years, while omitting some of the most closely watched materials, including FBI interviews with victims and internal Justice Department memos on charging decisions.

    Scant new insight in the initial disclosures

    Some of the most consequential records expected about Epstein are nowhere to be found in the Justice Department’s initial disclosures, which span tens of thousands of pages.

    Missing are FBI interviews with survivors and internal Justice Department memos examining charging decisions — records that could have helped explain how investigators viewed the case and why Epstein was allowed in 2008 to plead guilty to a relatively minor state-level prostitution charge.

    The gaps go further.

    The records, required to be released under a recent law passed by Congress, hardly reference several powerful figures long associated with Epstein, including Britain’s former Prince Andrew, renewing questions about who was scrutinized, who was not, and how much the disclosures truly advance public accountability

    Among the fresh nuggets: insight into the Justice Department’s decision to abandon an investigation into Epstein in the 2000s, which enabled him to plead guilty to that state-level charge, and a previously unseen 1996 complaint accusing Epstein of stealing photographs of children.

    The releases so far have been heavy on images of Epstein’s homes in New York City and the U.S. Virgin Islands, with some photos of celebrities and politicians.

    There was a series of never-before-seen photos of former President Bill Clinton, but fleetingly few of Trump. Both have been associated with Epstein, but both have since disowned those friendships. Neither has been accused of any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein, and there was no indication the photos played a role in the criminal cases brought against him.

    Despite a Friday deadline set by Congress to make everything public, the Justice Department said it plans to release records on a rolling basis. It blamed the delay on the time-consuming process of obscuring survivors’ names and other identifying information. The department has not given any notice when more records might arrive.

    That approach angered some Epstein accusers and members of Congress, who fought to pass the law forcing the department to act. Instead of marking the end of a yearslong battle for transparency, the document release Friday was merely the beginning of an indefinite wait for a complete picture of Epstein’s crimes and the steps taken to investigate them.

    “I feel like again the DOJ, the justice system is failing us,” said Marina Lacerda, who alleges Epstein started sexually abusing her at his New York City mansion when she was 14.

    Many of the long-anticipated records were redacted or lacked context

    Federal prosecutors in New York brought sex trafficking charges against Epstein in 2019, but he killed himself in jail after his arrest.

    The documents just made public were a sliver of potentially millions of pages of records in the department’s possession. In one example, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said Manhattan federal prosecutors had more than 3.6 million records from sex trafficking investigations into Epstein and Maxwell, though many duplicated material already turned over by the FBI.

    Many of the records released so far had been made public in court filings, congressional releases, or Freedom of Information Act requests, though, for the first time, they were all in one place and available for the public to search for free.

    Ones that were new were often lacking necessary context or heavily blacked out. A 119-page document marked “Grand Jury-NY,” likely from one of the federal sex trafficking investigations that led to the charges against Epstein in 2019 or Maxwell in 2021, was entirely blacked out.

    Trump’s Republican allies seized on the Clinton images, including photos of the Democrat with singers Michael Jackson and Diana Ross. There were also photos of Epstein with actors Chris Tucker and Kevin Spacey, and even Epstein with TV newscaster Walter Cronkite. But none of the photos had captions, and no explanation was given for why any of them were together.

    The meatiest records released so far showed that federal prosecutors had what appeared to be a strong case against Epstein in 2007, yet never charged him.

    Transcripts of grand jury proceedings, released publicly for the first time, included testimony from FBI agents who described interviews they had with several girls and young women who described being paid to perform sex acts for Epstein. The youngest was 14 and in ninth grade.

    One had told investigators about being sexually assaulted by Epstein when she initially resisted his advances during a massage.

    Another, then 21, testified before the grand jury about how Epstein had hired her when she was 16 to perform a sexual massage and how she had gone on to recruit other girls to do the same.

    “For every girl that I brought to the table, he would give me $200,” she said. They were mostly people she knew from high school, she said. “I also told them that if they are underage, just lie about it and tell him that you are 18.”

    The documents also contain a transcript of an interview Justice Department lawyers did more than a decade later with the U.S. attorney who oversaw the case, Alexander Acosta, about his ultimate decision not to bring federal charges.

    Acosta, who was labor secretary during Trump’s first term, cited concerns about whether a jury would believe Epstein’s accusers.

    He also said the Justice Department might have been more reluctant to make a federal prosecution out of a case that straddled the legal border between sex trafficking and soliciting prostitution, something more commonly handled by state prosecutors.

    “I’m not saying it was the right view,” Acosta added. He also said that the public today would likely view the survivors differently.

    “There’s been a lot of changes in victim shaming,” Acosta said.

    Associated Press journalists Ali Swenson, Christopher L. Keller, Aaron Kessler and Mike Catalini contributed to this report.

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  • Rob and Michele Reiner’s son appears in court on murder charges while siblings speak of their loss

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    Nick Reiner made his first court appearance Wednesday in Los Angeles on two counts of first-degree murder in the killing of his parents, actor-director Rob Reiner and his wife Michele Singer Reiner, while the couple’s other two children made their first public statement on their crushing loss.Nick Reiner, 32, did not enter a plea as he appeared from behind glass in a custody area in the large Los Angeles courtroom where newly charged defendants are arraigned. He was in shackles and wearing a blue, padded suicide prevention smock used in jail.His arraignment was postponed until Jan. 7 at his attorney’s request. He spoke only to say “yes, your honor” to agree to the date. He is being held without bail.Jake and Romy Reiner talk about their ‘unimaginable pain’His older brother Jake Reiner and younger sister Romy Reiner released their statement through a family spokesperson.“Words cannot even begin to describe the unimaginable pain we are experiencing every moment of the day,” they said. “The horrific and devastating loss of our parents, Rob and Michele Reiner, is something that no one should ever experience. They weren’t just our parents; they were our best friends.”The brother and sister said they are “grateful for the outpouring of condolences, kindness, and support we have received not only from family and friends but people from all walks of life. We now ask for respect and privacy, for speculation to be tempered with compassion and humanity, and for our parents to be remembered for the incredible lives they lived and the love they gave.”Medical Examiner says ‘sharp force injuries’ killed coupleAlso Wednesday, the LA County Medical Examiner listed the primary cause of death for both Rob and Michele Reiner as “multiple sharp force injuries” as the office released its investigators’ initial findings.The office said more investigation is needed before further details will be revealed, but the bodies can now be released to the family.The cause of death was consistent with police describing the couple as having stab wounds.Nick Reiner’s attorney urges cautionAfter the court hearing, Nick Reiner’s attorney, Alan Jackson, called the case “a devastating tragedy that has befallen the Reiner family.” He said the proceedings will be very complex and asked that the circumstances be met “not with a rush to judgment, not with jumping to conclusions.”Jackson declined to answer shouted questions from dozens of reporters surrounding him and has not addressed the guilt or innocence of his client.Nick Reiner was charged Tuesday with killing Rob Reiner, 78, and Michele Singer Reiner, 70.They were killed sometime in the early morning hours of Sunday, the District Attorney’s Office said. They were found dead late in the afternoon in their home in the upscale Brentwood neighborhood on the west side of Los Angeles, authorities said.Nick Reiner did not resist when he was arrested hours later in the Exposition Park area near the University of Southern California, about 14 miles from the crime scene, police said.The two counts of first-degree murder come with special circumstances of multiple murders and an allegation that the defendant used a dangerous weapon, a knife. The additions could mean a greater sentence.District Attorney Nathan Hochman said at a Tuesday news conference that his office has not yet decided whether to seek the death penalty.Meg Ryan and others remember the ReinersRob Reiner was the Emmy-winning star of the sitcom “All in the Family” who went on to direct films including “Stand by Me,” “The Princess Bride,” and “When Harry Met Sally …,” whose star Meg Ryan paid tribute to the Reiners on Wednesday.“Thank you, Rob and Michelle, for the way you believe in true love, in fairy tales, and in laughter. Thank you for your faith in the best in people, and for your profound love of our country,” Ryan said in an Instagram post. “I have to believe that their story will not end with this impossible tragedy.”Rob Reiner met Michele Singer Reiner during the shooting of the classic rom-com, and he said the meeting inspired him to change the film to have a happy ending.Ryan’s co-star Billy Crystal, a close friend of Rob Reiner for decades, was part of a group that also included Albert Brooks, Martin Short and Larry David that released a statement mourning and celebrating the couple Tuesday night.“They were a special force together — dynamic, unselfish and inspiring,” the statement said. “We were their friends, and we will miss them forever.”Rob Reiner has another daughter, Tracy Reiner, from his first marriage, to actor-director Penny Marshall.The lawyers on the Reiner caseNick Reiner’s attorney Jackson is a high-profile defense attorney and former LA County prosecutor who represented Harvey Weinstein at his Los Angeles trial and Karen Read at her intensely followed trials in Massachusetts. He was a central figure in the HBO documentary on the Read case.On the other side will be Deputy District Attorney Habib Balian, whose recent cases included the Menendez brothers’ attempt at resentencing and the trial of Robert Durst.Authorities have not said anything about a motive for the killings and would give few details when asked at the news conference.

    LOS ANGELES —

    Nick Reiner made his first court appearance Wednesday in Los Angeles on two counts of first-degree murder in the killing of his parents, actor-director Rob Reiner and his wife Michele Singer Reiner, while the couple’s other two children made their first public statement on their crushing loss.

    Nick Reiner, 32, did not enter a plea as he appeared from behind glass in a custody area in the large Los Angeles courtroom where newly charged defendants are arraigned. He was in shackles and wearing a blue, padded suicide prevention smock used in jail.

    His arraignment was postponed until Jan. 7 at his attorney’s request. He spoke only to say “yes, your honor” to agree to the date. He is being held without bail.

    Jake and Romy Reiner talk about their ‘unimaginable pain’

    His older brother Jake Reiner and younger sister Romy Reiner released their statement through a family spokesperson.

    “Words cannot even begin to describe the unimaginable pain we are experiencing every moment of the day,” they said. “The horrific and devastating loss of our parents, Rob and Michele Reiner, is something that no one should ever experience. They weren’t just our parents; they were our best friends.”

    The brother and sister said they are “grateful for the outpouring of condolences, kindness, and support we have received not only from family and friends but people from all walks of life. We now ask for respect and privacy, for speculation to be tempered with compassion and humanity, and for our parents to be remembered for the incredible lives they lived and the love they gave.”

    Medical Examiner says ‘sharp force injuries’ killed couple

    Also Wednesday, the LA County Medical Examiner listed the primary cause of death for both Rob and Michele Reiner as “multiple sharp force injuries” as the office released its investigators’ initial findings.

    The office said more investigation is needed before further details will be revealed, but the bodies can now be released to the family.

    The cause of death was consistent with police describing the couple as having stab wounds.

    Nick Reiner’s attorney urges caution

    After the court hearing, Nick Reiner’s attorney, Alan Jackson, called the case “a devastating tragedy that has befallen the Reiner family.” He said the proceedings will be very complex and asked that the circumstances be met “not with a rush to judgment, not with jumping to conclusions.”

    Jackson declined to answer shouted questions from dozens of reporters surrounding him and has not addressed the guilt or innocence of his client.

    Nick Reiner was charged Tuesday with killing Rob Reiner, 78, and Michele Singer Reiner, 70.

    They were killed sometime in the early morning hours of Sunday, the District Attorney’s Office said. They were found dead late in the afternoon in their home in the upscale Brentwood neighborhood on the west side of Los Angeles, authorities said.

    Nick Reiner did not resist when he was arrested hours later in the Exposition Park area near the University of Southern California, about 14 miles from the crime scene, police said.

    The two counts of first-degree murder come with special circumstances of multiple murders and an allegation that the defendant used a dangerous weapon, a knife. The additions could mean a greater sentence.

    District Attorney Nathan Hochman said at a Tuesday news conference that his office has not yet decided whether to seek the death penalty.

    Meg Ryan and others remember the Reiners

    Rob Reiner was the Emmy-winning star of the sitcom “All in the Family” who went on to direct films including “Stand by Me,” “The Princess Bride,” and “When Harry Met Sally …,” whose star Meg Ryan paid tribute to the Reiners on Wednesday.

    “Thank you, Rob and Michelle, for the way you believe in true love, in fairy tales, and in laughter. Thank you for your faith in the best in people, and for your profound love of our country,” Ryan said in an Instagram post. “I have to believe that their story will not end with this impossible tragedy.”

    Rob Reiner met Michele Singer Reiner during the shooting of the classic rom-com, and he said the meeting inspired him to change the film to have a happy ending.

    Ryan’s co-star Billy Crystal, a close friend of Rob Reiner for decades, was part of a group that also included Albert Brooks, Martin Short and Larry David that released a statement mourning and celebrating the couple Tuesday night.

    “They were a special force together — dynamic, unselfish and inspiring,” the statement said. “We were their friends, and we will miss them forever.”

    Rob Reiner has another daughter, Tracy Reiner, from his first marriage, to actor-director Penny Marshall.

    The lawyers on the Reiner case

    Nick Reiner’s attorney Jackson is a high-profile defense attorney and former LA County prosecutor who represented Harvey Weinstein at his Los Angeles trial and Karen Read at her intensely followed trials in Massachusetts. He was a central figure in the HBO documentary on the Read case.

    On the other side will be Deputy District Attorney Habib Balian, whose recent cases included the Menendez brothers’ attempt at resentencing and the trial of Robert Durst.

    Authorities have not said anything about a motive for the killings and would give few details when asked at the news conference.

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  • Rob Reiner’s son Nick set to appear in court on 2 counts of murder in killing of his parents

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    Rob Reiner’s son Nick Reiner is expected to make his first court appearance Wednesday on two counts of first-degree murder in the killing of his parents.Nick Reiner, 32, was charged Tuesday with killing the 78-year-old actor and director Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced at a news conference with LA Police Chief Jim McDonnell.“Their loss is beyond tragic and we will commit ourselves to bringing their murderer to justice,” Hochman said.Along with the two counts of first-degree murder, prosecutors added special circumstances of multiple murders and a special allegation that the defendant used a dangerous weapon, a knife. The additions could mean a greater sentence.Hochman said his office has not yet decided whether to seek the death penalty in the case.“This case is heartbreaking and deeply personal, not only for the Reiner family and their loved ones but for our entire city,” McDonnell said.The announcement came two days after the couple was found dead from apparent stab wounds in their home in the upscale Brentwood neighborhood on the west side of Los Angeles. Nick Reiner did not resist when he was arrested hours later in the Exposition Park area near the University of Southern California, about 14 miles (22.5 kilometers) from the crime scene, police said.Rob Reiner was the Emmy-winning star of the sitcom “All in the Family” who went on to direct films including “When Harry Met Sally…” and “The Princess Bride.” He was an outspoken liberal activist for decades. Michele Singer Reiner was a photographer, movie producer and advocate for LGBTQ+ rights. They had been married for 36 years.Several of those closest to them, including actors Billy Crystal, Albert Brooks, Martin Short and Larry David, released a statement mourning and celebrating the couple on Tuesday night.“They were a special force together — dynamic, unselfish and inspiring,” the statement said. “We were their friends, and we will miss them forever.”Nick Reiner had been scheduled to make an initial court appearance earlier Tuesday, but his attorney Alan Jackson said he was not brought from the jail to the courthouse for medical reasons and the appearance was postponed.At Wednesday’s hearing, Reiner may enter a plea, a judge may schedule an arraignment for later or the same issue that prevented him from coming to court Tuesday could cause further postponement. He is being held without bail.Jackson is a high-profile defense attorney and former LA County prosecutor who represented Harvey Weinstein at his Los Angeles trial and Karen Read at her intensely followed trials in Massachusetts. He was a central figure in the HBO documentary on the Read case.On the other side will be Deputy District Attorney Habib Balian, whose recent cases included the Menendez brothers’ attempt at resentencing and the trial of Robert Durst.Authorities haven’t said anything about a motive for the killings and would give few details when asked at the news conference.

    LOS ANGELES —

    Rob Reiner’s son Nick Reiner is expected to make his first court appearance Wednesday on two counts of first-degree murder in the killing of his parents.

    Nick Reiner, 32, was charged Tuesday with killing the 78-year-old actor and director Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced at a news conference with LA Police Chief Jim McDonnell.

    “Their loss is beyond tragic and we will commit ourselves to bringing their murderer to justice,” Hochman said.

    Along with the two counts of first-degree murder, prosecutors added special circumstances of multiple murders and a special allegation that the defendant used a dangerous weapon, a knife. The additions could mean a greater sentence.

    Hochman said his office has not yet decided whether to seek the death penalty in the case.

    “This case is heartbreaking and deeply personal, not only for the Reiner family and their loved ones but for our entire city,” McDonnell said.

    The announcement came two days after the couple was found dead from apparent stab wounds in their home in the upscale Brentwood neighborhood on the west side of Los Angeles. Nick Reiner did not resist when he was arrested hours later in the Exposition Park area near the University of Southern California, about 14 miles (22.5 kilometers) from the crime scene, police said.

    Rob Reiner was the Emmy-winning star of the sitcom “All in the Family” who went on to direct films including “When Harry Met Sally…” and “The Princess Bride.” He was an outspoken liberal activist for decades. Michele Singer Reiner was a photographer, movie producer and advocate for LGBTQ+ rights. They had been married for 36 years.

    Several of those closest to them, including actors Billy Crystal, Albert Brooks, Martin Short and Larry David, released a statement mourning and celebrating the couple on Tuesday night.

    “They were a special force together — dynamic, unselfish and inspiring,” the statement said. “We were their friends, and we will miss them forever.”

    Nick Reiner had been scheduled to make an initial court appearance earlier Tuesday, but his attorney Alan Jackson said he was not brought from the jail to the courthouse for medical reasons and the appearance was postponed.

    At Wednesday’s hearing, Reiner may enter a plea, a judge may schedule an arraignment for later or the same issue that prevented him from coming to court Tuesday could cause further postponement. He is being held without bail.

    Jackson is a high-profile defense attorney and former LA County prosecutor who represented Harvey Weinstein at his Los Angeles trial and Karen Read at her intensely followed trials in Massachusetts. He was a central figure in the HBO documentary on the Read case.

    On the other side will be Deputy District Attorney Habib Balian, whose recent cases included the Menendez brothers’ attempt at resentencing and the trial of Robert Durst.

    Authorities haven’t said anything about a motive for the killings and would give few details when asked at the news conference.

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