First Thing: Todd Blanche says review of Jeffrey Epstein sex-trafficking case ‘is over’ | US news

Good morning.

Assistant U.S. attorney Todd Blanche told ABC News yesterday that prosecutors’ review of the Jeffrey Epstein-Ghislaine Maxwell sex trafficking case is “over” and said in a separate interview with CNN that he “wants the victims to be made whole.” “That’s what we want,” said Blanche. “But that doesn’t mean we can just create evidence or uncover a case that isn’t there.”

But victims’ attorney Jennifer Freeman said the justice department’s “handling of the Epstein files has been chaotic from the beginning.”

He said surviving victims and their advocates “will not allow the federal government to throw away several million documents and wash its hands of one of the greatest law enforcement failures in U.S. history.” He also accused the justice ministry of “withholding the names of the perpetrators while exposing the survivors.”

• What are the latest revelations that emerged from Friday’s massive dump of 3.5 million documents related to Epstein? Some documents suggest other men were involved in her sexual abuse, raising questions about the authorities’ investigation. strife that there was no evidence to investigate third parties for potential involvement in the late financier’s crimes.

Bad Bunny and Kendrick Lamar win big at Grammy ceremony filled with anti-ICE sentiment

Bad Bunny and Kendrick Lamar picked up major Grammy awards on a night when musicians responded to Donald Trump’s ICE invasion.

Artists from Justin Bieber to Carole King wore anti-ICE pins, while others spoke during their speeches. Bad Bunny, who will perform at the Super Bowl next weekend, took home three awards, including album of the year (the first Spanish-language artist to win that award), and used his time onstage to call out anti-immigration sentiment.

Billie Eilish, who won the song of the year award with Wildflower, also used her speech to touch on the same subject. “No one is illegal on stolen land,” he said on stage.

• What did the Bad Rabbit say? “I’m going to say ICE out before I thank God,” he said. “We are not savages, we are not animals, we are not aliens, we are humans and we are Americans… The only thing stronger than hate is love, so please we need to be different.”

Two federal agents reportedly identified in Alex Pretti shooting death

According to ProPublica, government documents identify the two federal officers who fatally shot Alex Pretti in Minneapolis as Border Patrol agent Jesus Ochoa and Raymundo Gutierrez, an officer with Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

According to those records, Ochoa, 43, and Gutierrez, 35, were the agents who fired their weapons during the shootout that resulted in Pretti’s death last weekend. The conflict sparked widespread demonstrations and renewed demands for criminal investigations into federal immigration enforcement actions. In the immediate aftermath of Pretti’s killing, the Trump administration repeatedly made false claims about the shooting.

• What else do we know about the agents and what happened? CBP, the agency that employed both men, has refused to publicly release the names of the agents involved and has released little additional information about the shooting.

In other news…

• John Lithgow calls JK Rowling’s views on transgender rights ‘ironic and inexplicable’He said the backlash to his decision to play Albus Dumbledore in the upcoming Harry Potter series “saddened me.”

• Democrat Taylor Rehmet won a special election for Texas state Senate on SaturdayIt flipped the reliably Republican district that Donald Trump won by 17 points when he wins his second presidency in 2024.

• John F Kennedy Center entertainment activities will be stopped for two years During the 4th of July renovations, Donald Trump posted on Truth Social yesterday. Trump’s effective takeover of the institution caused dozens of artists to withdraw.

Building power: How Mormon women fought and won a Republican-led redistricting effort in Utah.

Mormon Women for Ethical Government started as a Facebook group in 2017, when mostly conservative Mormon women were looking for a safe, faith-based space to discuss Donald Trump’s policies. This safe space of interaction and belonging quickly turned into one of the most effective civilian forces of the state. MWEG’s first major action: suing the Utah state legislature over redistribution of congressional seats in favor of Republicans.

Status of the day: Melania movie earned $7 million in its opening weekend in the US against costs of $75 million

Amazon’s Melania Trump documentary is reportedly off to the strongest start of any documentary in over a decade; It earned $7 million at the US box office in its generously promoted opening weekend, but it also cost much more than a typical documentary: $40 million to produce and $35 million to promote.

Don’t miss this: Lisa Bloom on fight for Epstein’s victims – ‘So many powerful men made this fight possible’

In an exclusive interview, the US attorney reflects on his fearsome reputation, the criticism he faced for advising Harvey Weinstein and how his 40 years of legal experience did not prepare him for the Epstein files. “I was truly stunned and shocked to have prosecuted these cases for so long,” he says.

…or this: Why TikTok’s first week under American ownership was a disaster.

A little over a week ago, TikTok stepped onto US shores as a naturalized citizen. Since then, the video app has been fighting for its life. TikTok’s fateful exodus began when its Chinese parent company ByteDance finalized a deal to sell the app to a group of US investors. Since then, the app has undergone a major outage and faced backlash from users for perceived censorship. Now he faces an investigation by California’s governor and a rising rival.

Climate control: Fossil fuel firms could be forced to pay for climate damage under proposed UN tax

If new tax rules are agreed at the UN, fossil fuel companies could be forced to pay some of the cost of climate damage and the ultra-rich could be subject to a global wealth tax. Negotiations on the planned global tax agreement will restart today.

Latest Thing: Restored angel’s resemblance to Giorgia Meloni triggers investigations in Rome

The Italian Minister of Culture and the Diocese of Rome launched an investigation following allegations that the angel in a church, one of Rome’s symbolic structures, was restored to resemble the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni.

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