2 injured in early morning Des Moines shooting
Sgt. Paul Parizek, spokesperson for the Des Moines Police Department, said it happened in the 1400 block of 10th Street just after 12:40 a.m. A resident said they were sitting outside when two people sneaked up on them and began shooting.
Iowa bill requiring parental consent for minors using tanning beds passed by House
Two men suffered minor gunshot injuries in the incident.
Police recovered about two dozen shell casings at the scene. Sgt. Parizek said the shooting is believed to be targeted and no arrests have been made.
The investigation is ongoing.
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2 injured in early morning Des Moines shooting
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Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Mike Johnson says Ghislaine Maxwell coming clean on Epstein case would be ‘a great service to the country'
Speaker Mike Johnson called on Jeffrey Epstein's accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, to come clean and told Americans that he "hoped" she could be trusted as he faces the growing uproar around the White House's handling of the investigation. Johnson appeared Sunday on NBC's Meet the Press, where moderator Kristen Welker asked him point-blank if the convicted sex-trafficker girlfriend of Epstein could be trusted to accurately testify about the crimes she and Epstein committed. Epstein was awaiting prosecution for sex trafficking underage girls after a previous conviction on similar charges when he died in federal custody. Maxwell has been thrust back into the spotlight as the MAGA base has grown frustrated with President Donald Trump and his administration's shutting down of the so-called Epstein files release. Last week, a top Department of Justice official met with Maxwell about the case. "Well, I mean, look; it's a good question. I hope so," Johnson told Welker in response. "I hope that she would want to come clean." "I hope she's telling the truth. She is convicted, she's serving a 20-year sentence for child sex trafficking. Her character is in some if she wants to come clean now, that would be a great service to the country. We want to know every bit of information that she has." The House Oversight Committee voted this week to issue a subpoena for Maxwell after the Justice Department announced its own plans to speak with her. Agency officials did so for nine hours between Thursday and Friday, after making a statement seeming to confirm that her testimony hadn't been aggressively sought before. Some have called Maxwell to testify and suggested she should be given a pardon for sharing what she knows about the Epstein case. She was convicted of sexual abuse against minors and sex trafficking for helping Epstein carry out crimes. Johnson touted the Oversight subpoena favorably Sunday, casting it as evidence that GOP leadership supported efforts aimed at transparency. The Trump administration turned speculation about Epstein's death and the so-called 'Client List' of his co-conspirators into a raging wildfire in early July. The Justice Department and FBI published a joint memo explaining that future releases from the files would not take place, and that the list of Epstein's accomplices was not found. Epstein was rumored to have cultivated personal relationships with many powerful men and institutions. Critics of the president have alleged that a cover-up is in the works regarding the Epstein files. Democrats have hammered the president for his reversal, and a pair of scoops from the Wall Street Journal have reported on the president's connections to Epstein, to Trump's fury. The newspaper reported the contents of a message allegedly penned by Trump to Epstein as part of a 50th birthday celebration in 2003, including allusions to a shared 'secret' between them. Trump firmly denied authoring the note, and sued the Journal and its reporters in response. A second article from the Journal days later reported that Attorney General Pam Bondi informed Trump in May that he was mentioned in the Epstein investigation multiple times, but it was not clear in what context. The White House called that story 'fake' and has repeatedly insinuated that Democrats including Joe Biden tampered with evidence while Trump was out of office. Being mentioned in the files does not mean wrongdoing, and hundreds of names are reportedly included. The lead GOP co-sponsor behind a House resolution that would force the Justice Department to release the entirety of its collected evidence related to Epstein said Sunday that his push was to help the convicted pedophile's victims and would only grow stronger in the coming weeks. Earlier on the same network, Rep. Thomas Massie appeared alongside the resolution's lead Democratic co-sponsor, Rep. Ro Khanna, as the two promoted a resolution that would force Attorney General Pam Bondi to release 'all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials' related to the Epstein and Maxwell investigations. Massie told Welker that 'the release of the Epstein files is emblematic of what Trump ran for' and explained that the president's MAGA base expected results. 'There seems to be a class of people beyond the law, beyond the judicial all thought that when Trump was elected, he would be the bull in the china shop and break that all up,' said Massie. Massie went on to say that the Trump administration had lost his trust on the issue after publicly supporting transparency around the investigation, then doing an abrupt about-face. The administration is now calling on its supporters to move on from the issue and focus on hashing out issues with the 2016 'Russiagate' investigation instead of Epstein. Top administration officials, including Vice President JD Vance, also spent months calling for the very releases the Justice Department says it won't authorize. 'People who were allegedly working on this weren't sincere in their efforts,' Massie said. 'Somebody should ask Speaker Mike Johnson, why did he recess Congress early so that he didn't have to deal with the Epstein issue?' 'Politics is the art of the doable. There's enough public pressure right now that we can get 218 votes and force this to a vote on the floor,' said Massie. He also firmly rejected a DOJ memo explaining the administration's position against further releases of information from the Epstein files, despite the very public promises of Bondi and others to do the opposite. In the memo, agency officials said that explicit imagery involving children was 'intertwined' throughout the files collected by the Justice Department. Some have said the files should not be released to protect sex-abuse victims of both Maxwell and Epstein. 'That's a straw man [argument],' Massie responded on Sunday, after Welker read part of the memo. 'Ro [Khanna] and I carefully crafted this legislation so that the victims' names would be redacted, and that no child pornography will be released.'
Axios
2 hours ago
- Axios
Some Republicans aren't backing down from Epstein transparency push
Amid bipartisan calls for transparency and a cascade of Epstein-related headlines, some GOP lawmakers are holding the line — while others are urging more sunlight from the Trump administration. The big picture: The case of the disgraced financier, who died in 2019, has taken on new life under the second Trump administration, creating splinters in the president's base and dominating conversations on Capitol Hill. While some Republicans are falling in line with President Trump and making calls to move on, others are defying leadership and joining in with Democrats by continuing to criticize the administration's handling of the case. Driving the news: Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), who are leading a bipartisan charge to force a House vote on releasing files related to Epstein, were optimistic on Sunday's political talk shows that their measure would succeed. "It will pass," Khanna said on NBC's "Meet the Press." Massie warned on ABC's "This Week" that if a vote doesn't come to the floor, the GOP could feel political punishment in 2026, cautioning voters could "check out" because "Republicans didn't keep their promise." And with the House breaking for its weeks-long recess, Massie predicts the pressure will only build: "I don't think it's going to dissipate like the speaker hopes that it will." Yes, but: House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) argued in a Sunday interview with NBC's Kristen Welker that the lawmakers' discharge petition is "not the right approach," contending it doesn't build in "adequate protections" for victims. "House Republicans insist upon the release of all credible evidence and information related to Epstein in any way, but we are also insisting upon the protection of innocent victims," he said. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), echoed Johnson on "Meet the Press," saying he's "on board" to "release as much as you can, protecting victims the best you can." The other side: Massie, responding to the DOJ's conclusion that releasing further materials could hurt victims, told Welker, "That's a straw man." He continued, "Ro and I carefully crafted this legislation so that the victims' names will be redacted and that no child pornography will be released, so they're hiding behind that." Catch up quick: Trump directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to "produce any and all pertinent Grand Jury testimony, subject to Court approval" earlier this month. But a federal judge on Wednesday struck down the administration's request to unseal grand jury transcripts in connection with an investigation into Epstein, writing that the court's "hands were tied." And while Trump has said Bondi should release"credible" information, he's repeatedly bashed what he has dubbed the "Jeffrey Epstein Hoax" and blamed his political rivals for "making up" the files. Zoom out: While some Republicans and MAGA-friendly figures have turned up the heat on the administration, other Trump allies have echoed the president's targeting of his predecessors. Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) sparred with CNN's Jake Tapper Sunday over Epstein's controversial plea deal with federal prosecutors in Florida, arguing the agreement was struck under the Obama administration.
Miami Herald
3 hours ago
- Miami Herald
House Democrats demand 'birthday book' from Epstein estate
House Democrats are demanding the release of a document held by Jeffrey Epstein's that allegedly contains a letter signed by President Donald Trump. The so-called 'birthday book' is said to contain information about the convicted sex trafficker's personal relationships and was put together by his convicted former associate Ghislaine Maxwell in 2003. Maxwell herself was given a 20-year federal prison sentence in 2021 for helping Epstein procure young women, and spoke Friday with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche about the late financier's criminal activities. 'Recent public reporting indicates that the Estate of Jeffrey Epstein is in possession of a document commonly referred to as 'the birthday book,' compiled by Ghislaine Maxwell in 2003 in celebration of Mr. Epstein's 50th birthday, which has clear relevance to this case,' Rep, Ro Khanna, D-Calif., wrote in a letter addressed to three lawyers at separate New York City law firms. 'Public reporting indicates that President Trump submitted a poem and drawing for the 'birthday book,' which contains messages and illustrations from wealthy and powerful friends and associates of Jeffrey Epstein.' The letter is co-signed by Khanna, ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, and Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif. 'The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has issued a subpoena to depose Ms. Maxwell, the book's alleged creator, and should be permitted to review its contents,' the letter reads. In the opening sentence, lawmakers accuse Trump of continuing 'desperate attempts to quell public interest in the release of files related to his longtime friend, convicted sex offender and child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.' Maxwell, who on Friday answered questions 'honestly, truthfully' over several hours according to her lawyer, is set to appear in front of the House Oversight Committee on August 11. The 63-year-old was given partial immunity during the meeting where she was 'asked about every single, every possible thing you could imagine. Everything,' her lawyer David Oscar Markus later told reporters. Maxwell's appearance Friday is unrelated to the subpoena issued by the House Oversight Committee, which is conducting its own investigation. The letter penned by Khanna and Garcia asks for the book to be released by August 10 so members can review its contents prior to Maxwell's scheduled deposition. 'The book is relevant for ongoing congressional oversight of the Department of Justice's handling of the Epstein investigation and prosecution, as well as the Trump Administration's decision to declassify and release only a handful of documents from its Epstein files while withholding others from the public,' the letter reads. 'Information gathered from this document may also inform the development of legislative reforms addressing sex trafficking networks, financial regulation, or other critical matters of public policy.' Epstein died in 2019 while in custody in the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York City. His death was ruled a suicide ahead of his scheduled trial on federal charges related to sex trafficking. Copyright 2025 UPI News Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
