Month: August 2025

On Tuesday, House of Representatives Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., issued subpoenas to the Department of Justice, former President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and several top former Justice Department officials for documents and testimony in the probe of convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. Epstein was found dead by suicdie in his jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial.

The Committee announced Tuesday that it had sent the subpoenas to the Clintons, former Attorneys General Loretta Lynch, Eric Holder, Bill Barr, Merrick Garland, Jeff Sessions and Alberto Gonzales, and former FBI Directors James Comey and Robert Mueller “for testimony related to horrific crimes perpetrated by Jeffrey Epstein.” It also sent a subpoena to Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, but agreed last week to delay deposing her until after the Supreme Court considers her petition to overturn her conviction for sex trafficking. Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison sentence for her role in helping Epstein sexually abuse teenage girls.

In a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, Comer directed the Justice Department to deliver the documents on the Epstein subpoena by Aug. 19:  “While the Department undertakes efforts to uncover and publicly disclose additional information related to Mr. Epstein and Ms. Maxwell’s cases, it is imperative that Congress conduct oversight of the federal government’s enforcement of sex trafficking laws generally and specifically its handling of the investigation and prosecution of Mr. Epstein and Ms. Maxwell. The Committee may use the results of this investigation to inform legislative solutions to improve federal efforts to combat sex trafficking and reform the use of non-prosecution agreements and/or plea agreements in sex-crime investigations.”

The cover letter Comer sent to former President Clinton called for him to sit for a deposition on Oct. 14 to answer questions about his relationship with Epstein: “By your own admission, you flew on Jeffrey Epstein’s private plane four separate times in 2002 and 2003. You were also allegedly close to Ms. Ghislane Maxwell, an Epstein co-conspirator, and attended an intimate dinner with her in 2014, three years after public reports about her involvement in Mr. Epstein’s abuse of minors.”

A subcommittee had voted to subpoena the Justice Department last month for the “full, complete, and unredacted Epstein Files,” as well as subpoena 10 former officials in a motion led by Democrats, with three Republicans joining. The DOJ announced last month after reviewing Epstein’s case that no other people were expected to be charged and no further information about the case would be released.

Also on Tuesday, attorneys for Ghislaine Maxwell submitted a filing urging the judge not to unseal the transcripts, citing her pending appeal of her conviction to the U.S. Supreme Court.  The filing read in part: “Jeffrey Epstein is dead. Ghislaine Maxwell is not  nWhatever interest the public may have in Epstein, that interest cannot justify a broad intrusion into grand jury secrecy in a case where the defendant is alive, her legal options are viable, and her due process rights remain.”   

Editorial credit: Aashish Kiphayet / Shutterstock.com

Two people were killed and six others injured in a mass shooting in an area of downtown Los Angeles early Monday.

Authorities said that the shooting took place during a music festival after-party around 1 a.m. Monday in the area of 14th Place and Griffith Avenue, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. There were reportedly multiple parties taking place in the area at that time.

According to the Associated Press, police arrived at an event promoted on social media as an ‘unofficial after-party’ for Hard Summer, a weekend techno-music festival held at Hollywood Park, about 9 miles (14 km) away in Inglewood. More than 50 people were said to be at that afterparty when police arrived at 11 p.m. on Sunday to shut it down, at which time officers spotted a person possibly armed with a gun enter a building in the area’s warehouse district, located in the 1100 block of the 14th Place. Following that person’s arrest at the scene, officers cleared the area but were called back to the same area after reports of shots fired around 1 a.m.

One male victim was pronounced dead on the scene, with a number of people shot. Seven people were brought to the hospital, where a 52-year-old female victim later died; two others were listed in critical condition, with the victims ages ranging from 26-62 years old. Local ABC affiliate KABC-TV reported that a 29-year-old man was one of the two people killed. Judner Derisso, the father of the man who was killed, identified his son as 29-year-old Gregory Derisso.

The 2025 edition of the three-day HARD Summer festival took place at Hollywood Park at SoFi Stadium on Aug. 2-3 with headliners Feid, Dom Dolla, Kaytranada, hard-driving Gesaffelstein and Sara Landry.

The Los Angeles Times reported that there was no information about a suspect or a motive, and no arrests have been made as of press time. Sn investigation is still ongoing.

Editorial credit: Elliott Cowand Jr / Shutterstock.com

United States Representative Nancy Mace, R-S.C., announced her run for South Carolina governor Monday morning in a bid to succeed Republican Gov. Henry McMaster.

Mace, 47, said in an announcement Monday morning at The Citadel, where she became the first woman to graduate from the Corps of Cadets program in 1999: “This morning, I’m making it official. I am running to be your governor of the great state of South Carolina. I didn’t come to join the club. They don’t want me, and I don’t want them. I came to hold the line. They said stay quiet; I spoke up. They said sit down; I stood up. They said play nice, and I fought back. This isn’t about playing defense. This is about going on offense for you — for your family, for your freedom and for your future … I wasn’t built to kiss the ring. I just wear one. I don’t answer to the establishment. I don’t owe those in the back room a single thing. I answer to the people. And the people, let me tell you, are fed up.”

Mac first came to Congress in 2021. and has since developed a reputation as a GOP firebrand in recent months.  She will run against fellow Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., state Attorney General Alan Wilson, R, state Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette and state Sen. Josh Kimbrell, R, in the primary. A poll released by the South Carolina Policy Council showed Mace narrowly leading Wilson in the primary among Republican voters.

Mace told Fox News last week that she was leaning toward running for state-wide office, citing economic issues, crime and “gender-bending ideology” at colleges in the state. She also said if she launched a gubernatorial bid, she and Wilson would run a “two-man race… If I get in, I will fight to the finish, and I will take out South Carolina’s attorney general, because he’s turned a blind eye on women and on children and on the state for a lot of reasons. He might force me to do this. South Carolina is tired of the politicians who smile for the cameras, lie to your face, and then vanish when it’s time to lead.”

Editorial credit: Philip Yabut / Shutterstock.com

Officials said on Sunday that two men have been arrested in connection with the murders of the parents, grandmother and uncle of an abandoned infant found alive in Tennessee, while the manhunt continues for the suspected killer, identified as 28-year-old Austin Robert Drummond.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) charged Tanaka Brown, 29, and Giovonte Thomas, 29, with accessory after the fact to first-degree murder. Investigators allege both men “assisted” Drummond in the murders. The bureau said in a Saturday news release announcing charges against Thomas that “hee should be considered armed and dangerous,” while Brown, who also faces one count of tampering with evidence, was arrested one day earlier.

Authorities have not disclosed how the men allegedly helped Drummond, how the relatives were killed and how the baby ended up in a car seat in the Tigrett area, roughly 40 miles from the bodies. Thomas was in custody at the Madison County Jail on an unrelated charge and would be transferred to the Lake County Jail to be arraigned on the new charges; while Brown was booked into Lake County Jail.

Authorities earlier reveled that they located the vehicle Drummond was believed to be driving, a white 2016 Audi, which was found unoccupied in Jackson, Tennessee. A second vehicle sought in the hunt for Drummond, a 1988 white Ford pickup truck with a red stripe, has been located in Dyer County, the TBI said Saturday.

The TBI said they are continuing their search for Drummond in connection with the deaths of James M. Wilson, 21; Adrianna Williams, 20; Cortney Rose, 38; and Braydon Williams, 15, whose bodies were found Tuesday in Tiptonville, a town in northwest Tennessee’s Lake County. Drummond is described as 5 feet 10 inches tall, weighs 190 pounds, and has brown hair, blue eyes and a goatee, according to the TBI.

TBI Director David Rausch said authorities believe it was a targeted attack by Drummond, who had a relationship with the family. The baby is safe and being cared for, authorities have said. Wilson and Adrianna Williams were the infant’s parents, and Rose was Adrianna and Braydon Williams’ mother.

Authorities obtained warrants for Drummond, charging him with four counts of first-degree murder, one count of aggravated kidnapping and weapons offenses. His criminal history includes prison time for robbing a convenience store and threatening to go after jurors. He was also charged with attempted murder while behind bars.

The TBI and the U.S. Marshals are offering a combined reward of up to $17,500 for information leading to Drummond’s arrest.

Editorial credit: Chad Robertson Media / Shutterstock.com

Authorities said on Sunday that the search for the man accused of killing four people at a Montana bar on Friday morning has expanded.

Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest said that more than 16 square miles of parkland is closed through Aug. 16 to facilitate the search for the suspect, Michael Paul Brown, 45. Brown is a former U.S. Army soldier who allegedly gunned down a bartender and three patrons at the Owl Bar next door to his Anaconda home. A motive for the shooting is still unknown.

The national forest’s Pintler Ranger District ordered the area about 8 miles west of Anaconda to be closed through the end of Aug. 16 “to ensure public health and safety during the ongoing law enforcement investigation and search efforts to locate the suspect for the Anaconda murders,” with the Anaconda-Deer Lodge County Law Enforcement Center stating that the closure includes “Barker Lake and surrounding area.”

Montana State Attorney General Austin Knudsen said at a news conference on Sunday “This is a dangerous individual who has committed an absolutely heinous crime against this community and these victims.” Knudsen also announced an initial $7,500 reward for information leading to the capture of the suspect.

Knudsen identified the shooting victims as 64-year-old Nancy Lauretta Kelly, who was the bartender at the time of the shooting; 59-year-old Daniel Edwin Bailey; 70-year-old David Allen Leach; and 74-year-old Tony Wayne Palm. He said Baillie, Leach and Palm were all patrons of The Owl Bar. Knudsen said investigators believe that Brown was familiar with most of the victims, including the bartender: “From what I gather, it sounds like he was a regular at this establishment. He literally lives next door. I think it’s likely that he knew the bartender and these patrons, which even makes it more heinous.”

Brown is believed to be armed and dangerous, according to the Anaconda-Deer Lodge County Law Enforcement Center. Authorities said he was wearing a tie-dye shirt, blue jeans and an orange bandana on Friday. However, a picture released Saturday by the Montana DOJ showed him fleeing the scene, apparently stripped down to just his boxers.

Anyone with information on Brown’s whereabouts are urged to call a hotline that has also been established through the U.S. Marshals Service: (877) WANTED2.

Editorial credit: Ian Dewar Photography / Shutterstock.com