DOJ seeks to unseal exhibits from grand jury probes into Epstein, Maxwell
New York State Sex Offender Registry
(NEW YORK) — The Justice Department is seeking to unseal the exhibits shown to the federal grand juries in New York that indicted Jeffrey Epstein and his former companion Ghislaine Maxwell in addition to the transcripts of testimony, according to a court filing Friday.
Justice Department officials have conceded that much of what is in the transcripts is already publicly known, but the exhibits contain names that did not appear in the transcripts, the filing said.
The government is now trying to notify those individuals “to the extent their names appear in grand jury exhibits that were not publicly admitted at the Maxwell trial,” the filing said.
The Justice Department asked the court to give it until Aug. 14 to make the necessary notifications. The filing did not say how many individuals needed to be contacted.
The Trump administration has been seeking to release materials related to the investigation into Epstein, the wealthy financier and convicted sex offender who died by suicide in jail in 2019, following the blowback it received from MAGA supporters after it announced last month that no additional files would be released.
Attorneys for victims of Epstein and Maxwell have criticized the administration’s approach to transparency, saying in a letter to the court that it “reinforces the perception that the victims are, at best, an afterthought to the current administration.”
The victims say they are generally supportive of transparency, but that they want the chance to review the records and propose additional redactions.
Maxwell, a longtime associate of Epstein, is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for sex trafficking and other offenses in connection with Epstein.
(MOSCOW, Idaho) — The father of University of Idaho murder victim Kaylee Goncalves is blasting the plea deal offered to Bryan Kohberger, accusing the prosecutors of mishandling and rushing the deal.
“We were not prepared for this — we had no idea that this was going to happen,” Steve Goncalves told ABC News hours after the plea deal was announced.
Kohberger — who was charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary in connection with the Nov. 13, 2022 killings of roommates Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen and Xana Kernodle and Kernodle’s boyfriend, Ethan Chapin — will be sentenced to four consecutive life sentences on the murder counts and the maximum penalty of 10 years on the burglary count, according to the plea agreement.
The plea comes just weeks before Kohberger’s trial was set to begin. Opening arguments were scheduled for Aug 18.
In advance of Kohberger’s acceptance of the proposed deal, prosecutors met late last week with some of the victims’ relatives and got their input on whether such a plea deal should be proposed to the defense team, sources told ABC News.
Steve Goncalves told ABC News the subject of a possible plea deal was first broached at the end of their Friday meeting.
“Up until that point, we had never even considered it,” he said. “It was described to me as, like, due diligence. We’re going to, like, look at this option, see if it could fit.”
“At the least, justice starts with an interview of the families to ask them what justice is. And we didn’t get that,” he said.
Over the weekend, Latah County prosecutors said in a letter to the families that they were planning to make an offer that would take the death penalty off the table in exchange for guilty pleas to all four murders and an agreement to serve life in prison without the possibility of parole, according to the letter reviewed by ABC News. Idaho law requires the state to afford violent crime victims or their families an opportunity to communicate with prosecutors and to be advised of any proposed plea offer before entering into an agreement, but the ultimate decision lies solely with the prosecution.
In explaining their decision to make the offer, the prosecutors cited the risks of going to trial even in a case where the state was confident in the strength of its evidence. Among those concerns were a mistrial, a hung jury or the potential for an acquittal. The state also referenced the heavy toll a monthslong trial could impose on the families as well as the possibility of lengthy appeals even if Kohberger were to be convicted and sentenced to death, according to the letter reviewed by ABC News.
But Steve Goncalves slammed the prosecutors for being willing to negotiate with Kohberger.
“We can’t just let people come from other states and come in here and kill our kids while they’re sleeping, getting an education, and then just negotiate with those types of people,” he said. “It’s sad, it’s disgusting, and I can’t pretend like I feel like this is justice.”
The prosecutors acknowledged that some of the family members may disagree with resolving the case via a plea deal, but contended that the most realistic path to closure is through the entry of guilty pleas. On Monday, prosecutors sent another letter to the families informing them that Kohberger had accepted the proposed terms of the deal and would enter guilty pleas at a change of plea hearing on Wednesday.
“All of a sudden,” Steve Goncalves said, “the trial’s over. Two-and-a-half years of your life is over.” “It’s the opposite of what we wanted and it’s the opposite of the majority of what the families wanted,” he said.
The Goncalves family is also frustrated with how little time they were afforded to mentally prepare — and make travel arrangements — for Kohberger’s Wednesday hearing.
“A miracle has to happen in 24 hours for me to get justice,” Steve Goncalves said.
In Monday’s letter to the families, prosecutors called the deal a “sincere attempt to seek justice for your family.”
“Your viewpoints weighed heavily in our decision-making process, and we hope that you may come to appreciate why we believe this resolution is in the best interest of justice,” prosecutors wrote.
Prosecutors anticipate sentencing to take place in late July, as long as Kohberger enters the guilty plea as expected on Wednesday, according to the letter.
As a part of the deal, Kohberger — a Pennsylvania native who was a criminology Ph.D. student at Washington State University at the time of the crimes — will waive all right to appeal, the agreement said. The state also will seek restitution for the victims and their families for funeral expenses and crime victims compensation reimbursement, according to the agreement.
(NEW YORK) — As parts of the Midwest continued to experience catastrophic flooding overnight and into Monday, dangerous heat and humidity are expected to set in this week.
Overnight, a flash flood emergency was declared in central Illinois for catastrophic flooding as rain fell at rates of 2 to 3 inches per hour. The area in and surrounding Brownstown, Illinois, seems to have taken the brunt of the rapid rainfall that made streets impassable.
That flash-flood emergency has since expired, and light rain continued to fall across central Illinois early Monday morning.
The St. Louis, Missouri, metro area was also under a flash flood warning overnight, with rainfall rates of 2 to 3 inches per hour. The rainfall total as of 5 a.m. was around 1.25 inches, but additional heavy rain is possible on Monday.
A slew of “considerable” flash flood warnings were issued in the east-central Missouri region on Monday morning — including for Montgomery City, where 3 to 6 inches of rain had fallen and more was expected.
Around 8 million people from northeast Missouri to western Kentucky and West Virginia were under a flash flood watch on Monday.
Heavy rain also fell Sunday in Dover, Maryland, where the finish of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Dover Motor Speedway was delayed for 56 minutes.
Extreme precipitation events jump 60% in the Northeast
This summer has been one of extreme flooding throughout much of the United States with multiple 100-year rainfall events.
While meteorologists cannot say for sure what is causing this summer’s record rainfall, scientist have surmised that human-amplified climate change is causing extreme rainfall events to become more frequent and more intense.
Human-amplified climate change has contributed to increases in the frequency and intensity of the heaviest precipitation events across nearly 70% of the United States, according to the U.S. Fifth National Climate Assessment.
In the Midwest, extreme precipitation events have increased by about 45% in recent decades, the second largest regional increase in the nation, according to the assessment. Extreme precipitation events are very rare, defined as the top 1% of daily extreme precipitation events.
In the Northeast, extreme precipitation events have increased by about 60% in recent decades, the largest regional increase in the United States. And in the Southeast, extreme rainfall events have jumped about 37% in recent decades, according to the assessment.
90 million people bracing for dangerous heat
Meanwhile, 90 million people in the Midwest and South are bracing for widespread high levels of heat and humidity this week that is potentially dangerous to human health.
Multiple days of extreme heat warnings are in place from Kansas to Missouri and down the Mississippi River Valley to Mississippi. This includes St. Louis, Tulsa, and Memphis where heat indices, which factor in humidity, could make it feel 111 degrees on Monday.
In Kansas City, the heat index could climb to 107 through Thursday.
From South Dakota to Nebraska, heat indices could reach 102 to 108 on Monday and Tuesday.
Much of the South, from Louisiana to Florida and up through the Carolinas, are under a heat advisory as the heat indices are expected to range from 108 to 112 on Monday.
This heat and humidity will continue through much of the week for the Midwest and South.
Chicago, where an extreme heat watch is in place, could feel like up to 110 on Wednesday and Thursday.
For the Northeast, the week will start on the cooler side with seasonal or below-average temperatures on Monday and Tuesday — but heat from the Midwest is expected to surge east later this week.
On Friday, near-record high temperatures are possible along the I-95 corridor from Philadelphia to Boston, including New York City, with possible highs in the mid to upper 90s.
New York City could break a daily temperature record on Friday of 97 degrees, set in 1999.
A heat wave consisting of at least three consecutive days of temperatures in the 90s is expected to invade New York City from Thursday to Saturday. Nighttime low temperatures will only cool to the upper 70s, making it more dangerous for those without access to air conditioning.
(ATLANTA) — Nearly 400 flights were canceled into and out of Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport on Saturday after severe weather and hail fell overnight.
Weather so far has forced 380 Delta flight cancellations at the airport, with additional delays and cancellations expected.
Around 100 Delta Airlines aircrafts were inspected overnight for possible damage from the hail that fell last night, with nearly all having returned to service Saturday, according to a spokesperson for Delta.
“Delta people are working as safely and quickly as possible to recover flights impacted by thunderstorms, lightning, hail and winds at our Atlanta hub Friday night. We thank our customers for their continued patience and understanding,” the airline spokesperson said.
“Intense thunderstorms, including one that brought reports of microburst winds and quarter-inch hail to our hub at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, drove more than 90 diversions to other airports in the U.S. Southeast and a pause in airport operations for safety reasons the evening of June 27,” the spokesperson added.
Severe weather conditions in the area led to ground stops and flights being diverted at the airport on Friday.
The air traffic control tower that manages aircraft around the Hartsfield-Jackson Airport in Atlanta was briefly evacuated Friday evening due to “strong winds,” according to the FAA. The tower was not unstaffed during this time as few controllers stayed back to handle the air traffic in the area, the agency said.
In ATC recordings, controllers can be heard telling pilots that they evacuated due to weather and there are three personnel in the tower — controller, supervisor and traffic management.
Delta said it is performing inspections on its aircraft for any potential hail damage.
