The Justice Department on Friday released hours of audio and hundreds of pages of <a href="https://www.justice.gov/maxwell-interview">transcripts</a> of interviews it conducted with Jeffrey Epstein associate and convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell.
During her two days of interviews with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, Maxwell said she does not believe that Epstein, who was found dead in a Manhattan federal prison cell in 2019 while facing sex trafficking charges, killed himself.
&#8220;I do not believe he died by suicide,&#8221; Maxwell said, adding that she had no idea who could have been behind his death.
Maxwell confirmed her close ties to the rich and famous, but claimed she never saw any man do anything inappropriate with a woman of any age. She said that it was “a flat no” that any man, including President Donald Trump and former President Bill Clinton, did anything inappropriate.
“I never, ever saw any man doing something inappropriate with a woman of any age. I never saw inappropriate habits,” she <a href="https://www.justice.gov/storage/audio-files/Interview%20Transcript/Interview%20Transcript%20-%20Maxwell%202025.07.25%20(Redacted).pdf">told</a> Blanche. “Now somebody’s inappropriate and mine may be different.”
Maxwell also denied the existence of any Epstein client list and that anyone was being blackmailed. Blanche asked whether Maxwell had seen a variety of powerful men do anything inappropriate with women during her interactions with them.
“Absolutely never, in any context,” she said when asked if she had seen President Donald Trump do anything improper.
“Trump was always very cordial and very kind to me. And I just want to say that I find — I — I admire his extraordinary achievement in becoming the president now. And I like him, and I’ve always liked him. So that is the sum and substance of my entire relationship with him,” she said, according to the transcript.
“I actually never saw the president in any type of massage setting. I never witnessed the president in any inappropriate setting in any way,” she added. “The president was never inappropriate with anybody. In the times that I was with him, he was a gentleman in all respects.”
She said that she was unaware of any masseuses from Mar-a-Lago ever giving Epstein a private massage. 
She also complained about people linking her and Epstein together.
“Another thing is that everyone puts us together like a monolith,” she said. “He literally had a separate life from me. I literally had a separate life from him.”
During the interview, Maxwell discussed her relationship with the Clintons, recounting a trip she took to Latin America with President Bill Clinton. When asked what the purpose of the trip was, she said that she did not remember.
“And I thought it was an honor and a privilege to be part of something so amazing and to have an opportunity to spend time with a man that I found truly extraordinary. And please, I don’t mean it in any other way, other than as a former fantastic ex-president,” she said.
She also said that she had met powerful figures like Elon Musk, former CNN host Chris Cuomo, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, former Secretary of State John Kerry, former Democrat Senator Ted Kennedy, and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
According to Maxwell, RFK Jr. and Epstein took a trip in the mid-1990s to find dinosaur bones in the Dakotas. She said that she never witnessed anything inappropriate happen on the trip.
Shortly after the interview files were released, Maxwell’s lawyer put out a statement denying that she had ever committed any crimes.
“Ghislaine Maxwell is innocent and never should have been tried, much less convicted, in this case. She never committed or participated in sexual abuse against minors, or anyone else for that matter,” lawyer David Markus posted on X. “In fact, the government has admitted that it did not even consider her a conspirator during the extensive investigation into Epstein in the Southern District of Florida. The only reason she was ever charged is that she served as a scapegoat after Jeffrey Epstein died in prison.”
Maxwell was convicted in 2021 for her role in the Epstein scheme to sexually abuse and exploit minor girls. She is currently serving out a 20-year sentence and was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ghislaine-maxwell-moved-from-florida-prison-to-lower-security-facility" target="_blank" rel="noopener">moved</a> to a lower-security prison shortly after she met with Blanche.
Trump has been asked numerous times if he would consider pardoning Maxwell.
The full transcripts and audio files can be <a href="https://www.justice.gov/maxwell-interview">found here</a>.

Patrick McMullan Archives

Ghislaine Maxwell Reveals Whether She Believes Epstein Committed Suicide

Bill Clinton

Crime

Department of Justice

Donald Trump

Ghislaine Maxwell

Jeffrey Epstein

Sex Trafficking

U.S.

It isn’t exactly shocking when a pimp turns out to be a rapist. It is a little shocking when the police deliberately protect him — and he gets elected to state office.
Welcome to Nevada, the only state in America that has legalized pimping. A&amp;E’s new docuseries, “<a href="https://www.aetv.com/shows/secrets-of-the-bunny-ranch" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Secrets of the Bunny Ranch</a>,” reveals the late Dennis Hof’s <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0472944" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HBO-featured</a> brothel empire for the cesspool of violence and exploitation that it (unsurprisingly) was, featuring powerful interviews from survivors and Hof’s former publicist.
But the series is not just an exposé of the crimes of the man who was once Nevada’s biggest legal pimp. It also brings to light the corrupt system underpinning and enabling the abuses, and the callous way that HBO profited off them with its nine-year run of “Cathouse.”
Prostitution is <a href="https://nevada.public.law/statutes/nrs_244.345" target="_blank" rel="noopener">legal in rural counties</a> in Nevada, but only if it occurs <a href="https://nevada.public.law/statutes/nrs_201.354" target="_blank" rel="noopener">within brothels</a>. In other words, prostituted women must be under the control of a brothel for legal status. If a woman receives a license for one brothel, she cannot simply leave and strike out on her own or <a href="https://nyecounty.municipalcodeonline.com/book?type=ordinances#name=9.20.140:_Requirement_And_Application_For_Work_Card" target="_blank" rel="noopener">even go to another brothel</a>. She must apply and pay for a new license, a process that also requires compulsory <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/nevada/NAC-441A-800" target="_blank" rel="noopener">STI </a><a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/nevada/NAC-441A-800" target="_blank" rel="noopener">testing</a>.
Prostituted women are thus not only forced to have pimps, but they are also discouraged from leaving them by law.
In “Secrets of the Bunny Ranch,” survivors detailed the fee system that kept them in debt to these brothels. The brothels took 50% of whatever the women made off the top, while also charging the women for room and board. Many women do not stay in the black.
These accounts dovetail with what dozens of survivors of Nevada’s legal brothels have told me. After the brothels take their cut, the women must still pay licensing fees, cover STI examination costs — which are mandatory for the women, but not for the men who visit the brothels — and whatever fines the brothels decide to dish out. Debt, of course, is one of the oldest means of enslavement, and was a <a href="https://repository.law.wisc.edu/s/uwlaw/media/39642" target="_blank" rel="noopener">prominent feature</a> of 19th-century American brothels.
In one case, the National Center on Sexual Exploitation Law Center <a href="https://endsexualexploitation.org/wp-content/uploads/2024.02.08.-Doe-v.-Lombardo-Complaint.pdf?sm_guid=NzcxOTIyfDc4MzA5NjAxfC0xfGNlc2VAbmNvc2UuY29tfDcyMDIwMTJ8fDB8MHwyMjU0MzA0NTd8MTEzMnwwfDB8fDc2NjM5Nnww0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">found</a> that women at the Chicken Ranch brothel were routinely subjected to searches of their emails, phones, and personal possessions, according to the NCOSE lawsuit. If they were caught with personal items or cash in their own rooms, they would forfeit all of the money in their Chicken Ranch accounts.
What’s more, survivors reported that women in the brothels were not allowed to leave at will, but were locked inside for weeks at a time.
Where is the law enforcement in this ostensibly regulated prostitution system, especially given these abuses? “Secrets of the Bunny Ranch” answers that too, describing how officials in Nye and Lyon counties, where Hof’s brothels were located, protected him. It is well established that slavery thrives where it enjoys official protection. This can be through explicit legalization, as in chattel slavery in the American South. It can also happen through corruption, where — as in most of the world today — slavery is illegal on paper.
A survivor — interviewed at length in the show — described how she was raped by Dennis Hof almost as soon as she arrived in the brothel. She went to the Nye County Police to report the rape. When she informed them of the perpetrator, they shrugged and didn’t even file a report. When she later attempted to leave the brothel, she was allegedly beaten on Dennis Hof’s orders until she began having seizures, and then was hospitalized with head injuries.
To be clear: engaging in prostitution because the pimp has said you cannot leave, and has repeatedly subjected you to violence from his own rapes and other abuses, and from ordering other people to beat you up, is textbook sex trafficking.
<a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1591" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sex trafficking</a> occurs whenever there is a commercial sex act and the victim is either under 18 or subjected to force, fraud, or coercion. <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/definitions/uscode.php?width=840&amp;height=800&amp;iframe=true&amp;def_id=18-USC-826895778-1007944208&amp;term_occur=999&amp;term_src=title:18:part:I:chapter:77:section:1591" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Coercion</a> includes abuse or threatened abuse of legal process, <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/definitions/uscode.php?width=840&amp;height=800&amp;iframe=true&amp;def_id=18-USC-908443408-1007944211&amp;term_occur=999&amp;term_src=title:18:part:I:chapter:77:section:1591" target="_blank" rel="noopener">threats</a> of physical restraint, or financial, psychological, or reputational harm — something the jurors in the Diddy case had trouble grasping.
The show details how a sheriff’s deputy would show up at the Moonlite Brothel in his squad car and uniform as a sex buyer. This seems to get disturbingly close to the line of “threatened abuse of the legal process,” when the police are not only failing to do their most basic job of protecting the community from the rapists, but are actively enabling the rapists.
When Hof was running for the Nevada Assembly, the survivor who had unsuccessfully tried to report him to the police spoke up in a public county meeting. She was silenced by the local officials and told to file a new report with the police department. The police never charged Hof, who was found dead in his bed the next month. Nevadans posthumously elected him to the state legislature.
It has become fashionable to defend legal prostitution. But the corruption and violence “Secrets of the Bunny Ranch” exposed in Nevada’s legal brothels are not bugs, but features of any legal system that permits human beings to be bought, sold, or rented. A reckoning is well past due.
Christen Price is senior legal counsel for the <a href="http://www.endsexualexploitation.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">National Center on Sexual Exploitation</a>, the leading national non-profit organization exposing the links between all forms of sexual exploitation, such as child sexual abuse, prostitution, sex trafficking, and the public health harms of pornography. On X: @NCOSE
<div>
<div id="post-body-text">
<div class="ep1tdco0 css-fgibv1">
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
</div>
</div>
</div>

File: Dennis Hof Nevada Brothel Owner And GOP Candidate Found Dead

‘Secrets of the Bunny Ranch’ Reveals The Deep Corruption In Nevada’s Legal Brothel System 

Nevada

Prostitution

Rape

The Justice Department on Wednesday fired the lawyer who prosecuted the 2019 sex trafficking trial against Jeffrey Epstein amid controversy over the Trump administration’s refusal to release files related to the case.
Maurene Comey, the daughter of former FBI Director and Trump opponent James Comey, was fired from her position at the Justice Department’s office in Manhattan, according to multiple reports. Comey prosecuted Epstein during the first Trump administration before he was found dead in his jail cell.
No official reason was given for the firing, but The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/16/nyregion/maurene-comey-prosecutor-fired-jeffrey-epstein.html">reported</a> a letter sent to Comey from the Justice Department cited the president&#8217;s executive powers. Comey was <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2025/07/15/pam-bondi-jeffrey-epstein-maga-base-00455207">reportedly</a> against releasing files associated with the case, arguing the disclosure could interfere with the case of Epstein&#8217;s accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell. Comey later worked on the prosecution of Maxwell, who was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/jeffrey-epsteins-ex-girlfriend-ghislaine-maxwell-sentenced-to-prison">convicted</a> in December 2021 on sex trafficking and conspiracy charges. 
In July 2019, Comey and the DOJ <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/jeffrey-epstein-charged-manhattan-federal-court-sex-trafficking-minors">alleged</a> that Epstein “worked with several employees and associates” to sexually abuse dozens of underage girls from 2002 to 2005. 
“In creating and maintaining this network of minor victims in multiple states to abuse and exploit sexually, EPSTEIN worked with others, including employees and associates who facilitated his conduct by, among other things, contacting victims and scheduling their sexual encounters with EPSTEIN at the New York Residence and at the Palm Beach Residence,” the Justice Department said at the time. 
That case never went to trial after Epstein died in his Manhattan jail cell in August 2019. His death was officially ruled a suicide.
Her termination comes as the Trump administration has faced heavy scrutiny after a memo from the Justice Department said that it did not find evidence that Epstein had a client list or that powerful co-conspirators were involved in his child sex crimes. The DOJ also maintained that Epstein killed himself. 
Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-says-epstein-story-is-kept-alive-by-pretty-bad-people-including-fake-news?author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=undefined&amp;elementPosition=29&amp;row=3&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+News&amp;rowType=Vertical+Carousel&amp;title=Trump+Says+Epstein+Story+Is+Kept+Alive+By+%E2%80%98Pretty+Bad+People%2C+Including+Fake+News%E2%80%99">said</a> Wednesday that he didn’t understand why people were upset and lashed out at his &#8220;past supporters,&#8221; claiming that they are going along with &#8220;the Jeffrey Epstein hoax&#8221; pushed by Democrats and &#8220;have bought into this bulls*** hook, line, and sinker.&#8221; 
“I don’t understand it, why they would be so interested, he’s been dead for a long time,” Trump replied. “He was never a big factor in terms of life. I don’t understand what the interest or what the fascination is, I really don’t. The credible information has been given.”
He also likened the questions about the case to the Russian collusion hoax.
“Don’t forget, we went through years of the Mueller witch hunt and all of the different things, the Steele dossier, which was all fake. All that information was fake,” he added. “I don’t understand why the Jeffrey Epstein case would be of interest to anybody. It’s pretty boring stuff. It’s sordid, but it’s boring, and I don’t understand why it keeps going. I think really only pretty bad people, including fake news, want to keep something like that going.”
RELATED: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-says-epstein-story-is-kept-alive-by-pretty-bad-people-including-fake-news">Trump Says Epstein Story Is Kept Alive By &#8216;Pretty Bad People, Including Fake News&#8217;</a>

The Metropolitan Correctional Center As Epstein Judge Sets Tentative Trial Date

Justice Dept Fires Epstein Prosecutor Maurene Comey, Daughter Of Anti-Trump FBI Director

James Comey

Politics

Despite an early hiccup in the deliberation process, a federal jury has apparently reached a verdict on four of the five counts against disgraced rapper and music mogul <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/diddy-trial-on-pause-after-just-one-hour-of-jury-deliberations-note-reveals-problem-with-juror-25" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sean &#8216;Diddy&#8217; Combs</a>.
The jury sent a note to Manhattan Federal Court Judge Arun Subramanian on Tuesday, stating that they had <a href="https://www.cnn.com/entertainment/live-news/sean-diddy-combs-trial-07-01-25" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reached a verdict</a> on counts 2, 3, 4, and 5 — but were struggling to reach a consensus on the top charge, racketeering conspiracy.
Upon receipt of the jury&#8217;s note, Combs&#8217; attorney Marc Agnifilo asked the judge to recall the jury to the courtroom for further instructions, saying that the defense wanted the jury to continue deliberating. The prosecution also favored continued deliberations, CNN reported, adding that all parties were working to agree on &#8220;the wording of that instruction.&#8221;
Just about an hour after deliberations began on Monday, the trial hit a bit of a snag when the jury sent another note to Judge Subramanian. That note revealed that the majority of the jury had concerns about &#8220;Juror 25&#8221; and questioned whether or not he would be able to &#8220;follow Your Honor&#8217;s instructions.&#8221;
The foreperson requested the chance to speak with the judge personally — or, if that was not possible, suggested that the judge should interview Juror 25.
<a class="c-link" href="https://get.dailywire.com/freedom/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial&amp;utm_campaign=freedom&amp;utm_content=freedomeditorial" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="https://get.dailywire.com/freedom/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial&amp;utm_campaign=freedom&amp;utm_content=freedomeditorial" data-sk="tooltip_parent" aria-describedby="sk-tooltip-2388">JULY 4 SALE: Get Six Months Of DW+ Free</a>
A live report from CourtTV stated that during jury selection, the juror in question had revealed he’d seen the video of Combs attacking then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura and said that “he had formed an opinion about that particular video,” but said at the time that he would be able to “set his opinion aside” when it came time to discuss the case.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
JUST IN: Jury deliberating Diddy&#8217;s fate sends note to Judge
&#8220;We have a juror, No. 25, who we are concerned cannot follow your honor&#8217;s instructions.&#8221;<a href="https://t.co/XkHn2q4y3s">pic.twitter.com/XkHn2q4y3s</a>
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) <a href="https://twitter.com/Breaking911/status/1939760285184819411?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 30, 2025</a></blockquote>
At the time, the judge instructed the jury to continue deliberations.
Combs, who faces charges that include sex trafficking, transportation for the purpose of prostitution, and racketeering, could be facing life in prison of he&#8217;s convicted on any of the top three charges against him.

Sean “Diddy” Combs

Jury Reaches Partial Verdict In ‘Diddy’ Sex Trafficking Trial, One Charge Still Pending

Courts

Sean 'Diddy' Combs

Sexual Assault

trial

As a survivor of sex trafficking, I am following Sean “Diddy” Combs’ trial very closely.
It may seem obvious why this trial matters so much to survivors like me. But there’s more to it than simply bringing predators like Diddy to justice.
In the 1990s and early 2000s, as Sean Combs rose to fame as a hip-hop artist and producer, hip hop itself underwent a transformation — something oftentimes credited to Diddy himself. Lyrics shifted to more directly glamorize street life, often portraying pimps as powerful, enviable figures and the women and girls they exploited as mere accessories and products.
To many, these were just lyrics: hyperbole, fantasy, and entertainment. But for some of us, they were the soundtrack to our real-life horror.
Imagine growing up in a loving, stable family. Imagine meeting a man who is kind and generous, until he reveals, months later, that he’s a pimp. He forces you, just 21-years-old, to work as a prostitute.  Imagine being sold, night after night, against your will.
Can you hear the music playing in the background? I speak from experience when I say it’s music, some of it recorded and produced by Diddy himself, that glorifies violence against women as “pimpin’ hoes”. My trafficker would blare songs that celebrated beating women so they would “make more money.”
But this wasn’t just music to my sex trafficker: it was a blueprint. A reinforcement. By glamorizing men like him, this music made my trafficker popular in his community. That gave him power. And he used that power to make me a victim.
Did Diddy do it? The jury will decide that. But I can tell you this: his music, and the music of many like him, created a cultural safe haven for traffickers, where exploitation could be repackaged as power, where suffering could be rebranded as luxury, and where the victim in the back seat — terrified, traumatized, and praying to survive another night, is portrayed as loving her part in this game they call “the life.”
Diddy isn’t the only one on trial. It’s the sexual culture he represents and helped make possible.
To be sure, Diddy isn’t the only one who glorified “the life” in his music. Consider Andres Louis Hicks,“Mac Dre”, the late Bay Area rapper from Vallejo, California. He’s immortalized by a mural in his old neighborhood, where marginalized communities revere him as the artist who “put the Bay Area on the map.” Even after his murder in 2004, his music is remembered as music that depicts real-life pimpin’ that has reached and influenced global audiences in glamorizing the overt abuse, isolation, kidnapping, and sex trafficking of women and girls.
But what I remember most about Mac Dre is not his music, but how excited my sex trafficker was when one of his albums dropped. To him, it was more than music — it was instruction. A manual on how to control, break, abuse, exploit, terrify, and keep women and girls enslaved in prostitution.
I specifically remember the lyrics from the song, “Dollalalalots,” in which Mac Dre raps:
“I got a stable full of hoes and I’m breakin’ &#8217;em daily.”
This is one of those lyrics that may sound abstract to the casual listener, but is all too real for survivors. It calls to mind the trauma, isolation, psychological manipulation, and violence used systematically to strip away a person’s will to run, resist, or even ask for help.
Sex traffickers often refer to their victims as  their “stable.” Just like horses, these women are kept in isolation, subjected to brutal “training,” and then sent out to perform on the street, in hotels, in back alleys — so someone else can profit. That’s also why the areas where victims are forced into prostitution are called “tracks.” It’s not just slang. It’s a system, one built on dehumanization and sexual slavery.
Lyrics from Sean Combs’ music will not be a part of the upcoming trial, but his attorney, Brian Steel, brings extensive experience in similar cases. In 2024, Steel represented Jeffrey Williams, known as “Young Thug”, who faced multiple RICO charges, including racketeering, the same charges brought against Combs. In a surprising development during the Williams’ case, the judge permitted the use of lyrics as evidence. Williams ultimately accepted a plea deal that year, pleading guilty to firearms, drugs, and street gang charges.
For many survivors of sex trafficking, this trial isn’t just about Diddy. It’s about reckoning with a culture that lets artists hide abuse and sex trafficking behind popular beats. And it’s about whether we’re finally ready to listen to the women who miraculously survived the world they glorify.
For survivors, this trial isn’t just about one man’s guilt or innocence. It’s about the cost of glamorizing their enslavement.
Christina Rangel is the Director of Public Policy at Exodus Cry, where she advocates for legislation to combat sex trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Cassie and Diddy

I’m A Survivor Of Sex Trafficking. Diddy’s Trial Matters More Than You Think.

As if being a country music star and successful businessman weren&#8217;t enough, John Rich has a new mission.
The singer is working to raise awareness about the dangers of child sexual extortion, or <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/dozens-of-teen-boys-take-their-own-lives-as-online-sextortion-cases-spike" target="_blank" rel="noopener">“sextortion”</a> – a form of harassment wherein an offender coerces or tricks a minor into sending them sexually explicit images or videos, and then threatens to release the content unless the child furnishes more sexual content or some form of payment. As The Daily Wire reported, sextortion has led dozens of young boys to commit suicide.
On Wednesday, Rich is teaming up with the Department of Homeland Security to host an X Space that he says is the most vital information he’s ever put out on social media. Rich will be joined by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Special Agent Dennis Fetting. It will air live at 8 p.m. Eastern on Rich’s X account, <a href="https://x.com/johnrich" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@JohnRich</a>. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
7CST tomorrow night, a livestream event with <a href="https://twitter.com/DHSgov?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DHSgov</a> and myself, right here on my <a href="https://twitter.com/X?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@x</a> channel for parents and teens. This is a VERY important presentation if you have kids. Please watch the video for details, and please repost🙏 <a href="https://t.co/Fl2RHduTdM">pic.twitter.com/Fl2RHduTdM</a>
— John Rich🇺🇸 (@johnrich) <a href="https://twitter.com/johnrich/status/1914807009355931693?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 22, 2025</a></blockquote>
Rich said he’ll be acting as the “sit-in parent on behalf of American parents,” asking all the important questions you’d want to know. 
“Spend 60 minutes watching it. It will change the way you perceive what&#8217;s going on around your kids,&#8221; Rich told The Daily Wire. &#8220;It can save your kid’s life. It could definitely save their future.”
Rich has been an advocate for children for years now, <a href="https://tennesseestar.com/news/country-music-star-john-rich-testifies-before-tennessee-house-criminal-justice-committee-on-pornographic-material-in-schools/klbaigert/2022/02/24/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">testifying</a> before the Tennessee House of Representatives in 2022 about removing pornography and obscene content from K-12 schools in the state. Asked if there was a specific moment he felt he had to do something about child exploitation and abuse, Rich replied: &#8220;When I became a dad.” 
Still, Rich only learned about child sextortion a few months ago, after his wife and 15-year-old son attended a talk on the subject by Homeland Security Agent Dennis Fetting.
Rich and his wife immediately changed the settings on their kids’ technology. Rich&#8217;s marketing mind also kicked in, and he got to work thinking about how he could spread the word to as many parents as possible
“I was astonished not only by what he said, but how my wife reacted to it and my son,” he recalled. “So I went into the DHS.gov site and looked up <a href="https://www.dhs.gov/know2protect" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Know2Protect,&#8221;</a> he said. &#8220;I read through that and went, &#8216;This needs to be seen by everybody.’”
Then, he shot Fetting an email.
“I do know Secretary Kristi Noem — but she’s rather hard to get on the phone these days, so I didn&#8217;t go to her with this,” he said with a chuckle. “I actually called the local DHS agency in Tennessee and said, ‘Hey, it&#8217;s John Rich. Here&#8217;s the idea: I wanna get with an agent, do a live stream on X, other platforms as well, where we can get this broad message out.’ I said, ‘I know you&#8217;ve got a website, but people are too busy. They&#8217;re not gonna go looking up a website. Let&#8217;s put it right in front of them and let&#8217;s have a conversation, more than a seminar.’”
The Trump administration listened to him, kicked it up the flagpole extremely quickly, and Noem signed on immediately.
“It&#8217;s one great thing about the Trump administration — on top of a lot of great things — they&#8217;re accessible,” he said, adding that “They want to have a positive impact.&#8221;
&#8220;They wanna work with you, and they&#8217;re listening. They&#8217;re listening to the general public.&#8221;
“I&#8217;m fully aware of the dangers that are out there for our kids right now — it&#8217;s totally different than when I grew up,” Rich said. “They are being targeted on apps, video games, social media — places you would never dream of, on innocent-sounding games like Roblox, Minecraft, things like that, where predators are acting like they&#8217;re another kid and they&#8217;re creating a relationship with your kid, and then they lower the boom, then they start to extort and extort.”
“They do everything from force the kids to send nude pictures of themselves, to take pictures of their parents&#8217; credit cards front and back so they can extort money,” Rich continued. “They threaten them with killing their family, burning their house down, posting the pictures all online.”
“It results in kids, some of them becoming suicidal — it’s a major, major problem,&#8221; he said. &#8220;So to me, millions of parents needed to hear about this.” 
Rich underscored how Homeland Security, in his experience, was eager and open to listening to him and put things into action. He encouraged others to use their platforms in this space. In particular, he called on celebrities to speak out — but he&#8217;s not optimistic that Hollywood will rise to the occasion.
&#8220;A lot of what Hollywood&#8217;s been about is the exploitation of children,” Rich said. “So, they would have to put something out that rebuts their own stances.”
“I mean, that&#8217;s just the truth. I&#8217;m sorry, that&#8217;s hard to hear, but that&#8217;s really what it is,” he said. “If you look at the way they sexualize children in Hollywood, that&#8217;s not theory anymore. That&#8217;s part of the ethos.”
It&#8217;s up to parents, Rich said, to educate their children on the dangers of sextortion.
“You put fear into your son or daughter about not playing in the street. Do you put fear into your son or daughter about not talking to strangers, or don&#8217;t take a pill if somebody hands you one, or whatever it might be? Of course you do,” Rich said. “That&#8217;s part of being a good parent.”
“Well, now it&#8217;s time to put fear into them, a healthy fear about what they&#8217;re dealing with online, and do not trust anybody that you don&#8217;t know personally online,” he added. 
Rich hopes that his livestream is just the beginning of a longer conversation, and a continued awareness campaign.
&#8220;This needs to be a viral moment in America,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Parents need to have a viral moment with what&#8217;s gonna happen tonight on this live stream. The livestream will be recorded and posted to YouTube and Rumble. It&#8217;s gonna live on forever and ever.&#8221;
You can watch the X Space tonight, live, at 8 p.m. Eastern, on <a href="https://x.com/johnrich" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rich&#8217;s X account</a>.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
A conversation about online child predators with Homeland Security and John Rich: PLS Repost! <a href="https://t.co/zChy4K5HQU">https://t.co/zChy4K5HQU</a>
— John Rich🇺🇸 (@johnrich) <a href="https://twitter.com/johnrich/status/1915190100058923202?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 23, 2025</a></blockquote>
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/dozens-of-teen-boys-take-their-own-lives-as-online-sextortion-cases-spike" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dozens Of Teen Boys Take Their Own Lives As Online Sextortion Cases Spike</a>

52nd Academy Of Country Music Awards – Arrivals

How Country Star John Rich Teamed Up With Kristi Noem To Combat Child Sextortion

Department of Homeland Security

John Rich

Kristi Noem

Morning Wire

Former Abercrombie &amp; Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries and two of his associates were reportedly arrested on Tuesday morning on federal sex trafficking charges.
Prosecutors out of the Eastern District of New York charged the men with more than a dozen counts for alleged criminal activity that happened between 2008 and 2015, CNN <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/22/business/abercrombie-ceo-mike-jeffries-arrested-sex-trafficking/index.html">reported</a>.
The men allegedly engaged in a scheme where they recruited young aspiring male models and then pressured them into performing sex acts at parties, sources told the network.
Prosecutors are expected to hold a press conference later on Tuesday when they will release details on the case.
All the defendants are expected to make their initial court appearances on Tuesday with two of the defendants, including Jeffries, scheduled to appear in federal court in Florida and the third scheduled to appear in federal court in Wisconsin.
The identities of the two other men were not immediately known.
Brian Bieber, the lawyer representing Jeffries, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/abercrombie-fitch-ceo-jeffries-sex-charges-f95f6b480dcb41e5365fa9b49f6206bd?taid=6717b12d56474d000110b28b&amp;utm_campaign=TrueAnthem&amp;utm_medium=AP&amp;utm_source=Twitter">told</a> the Associated Press that he would “respond in detail to the allegations after the indictment is unsealed, and when appropriate, but plan to do so in the courthouse — not the media.”
<a href="https://www.amiracist.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amiracist.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1729077615157000&amp;usg=AOvVaw17Kprl74oE9DYOLREdiBPU">MATT WALSH’S ‘AM I RACIST?’ COMING TO DAILYWIRE+ OCT. 28</a>
The FBI <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-67991750">opened</a> a criminal investigation into Jeffries after a report from the BBC was published last October that alleged: &#8220;Jeffries and his partner Matthew Smith had exploited young men for sex at events they hosted in their New York residences and worldwide in luxurious hotels.&#8221;
Eight men told the publication that they attended these sex parties in cities around the world where they were &#8220;direct[ed]&#8221; to engage in sexual activity with them or with each other.
After the report was published about Jeffries, who was with the company for two decades, Abercrombie &amp; Fitch was &#8220;accused in a civil lawsuit of funding a sex-trafficking operation led by Mike Jeffries and Matthew Smith between 1992 and 2014.&#8221;
The lawsuit alleged that there were more than 100 male victims.

Abercrombie & Fitch Store Opening on 5th Avenue in New York City

Former Abercrombie CEO Mike Jeffries Arrested On Federal Sex Trafficking Charges

Business

As Somali refugees in Minnesota waged gang wars and engaged in child sex trafficking, Governor Tim Walz pushed for even more refugees to be resettled in his state.
Walz, whom Vice President Kamala Harris tapped as her running mate this week, petitioned the Trump administration to send more refugees to Minnesota in 2019, even though the state already had the <a href="https://www.ilcm.org/latest-news/refugees-in-minnesota-quick-facts/">highest number of refugees</a> per capita in the United States. The call came as Somali refugees, a large and growing population in Minnesota, engaged in gang warfare, child sex trafficking, and later, hundreds of millions of dollars of fraud.
“Minnesota has a strong moral tradition of welcoming those who seek refuge. Our state has always stepped forward to help those who are fleeing desperate situations and need a safe place to call home,” Walz <a href="https://mn.gov/governor/assets/EO%2013888_MNGovernorConsent_tcm1055-413054.pdf">wrote</a> in a letter to then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. “I offer my consent to continue refugee resettlement in the State of Minnesota.”
Walz&#8217;s request was a response to former President Donald Trump&#8217;s move to <a href="https://www.mprnews.org/story/2019/12/13/inn-is-not-full-in-minnesota-walz-backs-continued-refugee-settlement">allow states</a> and localities to deny increased refugee resettlement in their communities. Walz, who had previously pushed for Minnesota to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tim-walz-pushed-for-minnesota-to-become-sanctuary-state-gave-illegal-immigrants-drivers-licenses">become a sanctuary state</a>, has a long record of supporting unfettered immigration. His record on immigration has come under increased scrutiny after Harris named him to the Democratic presidential ticket.
“Refugees strengthen our communities. Bringing new cultures and fresh perspectives, they contribute to the social fabric of our state,” Walz said in his letter to Pompeo.
But Somali refugees brought more than fresh perspectives to Minnesota. Since at least <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/rise-of-somali-gangs-plagues-minneapolis/">2009</a>, members of Minneapolis&#8217;s Somali refugee community have <a href="https://www.mprnews.org/story/2009/05/29/young-somali-men-escape-homeland-but-not-violence">formed</a> gangs along the same clan lines that plunged Somalia into civil war. Members of the gangs — many of whom fled Somalia to escape clan warfare — engaged in what appeared to be targeted murders against one another. In 2008 the Minneapolis Police Department <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna32010471">created</a> a special Somali Liaison position in an attempt to stem the violence.
In 2012, authorities uncovered a <a href="https://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2012/04/05/sex-trafficking-trial-faces-series-of-delays/">Somali child sex trafficking ring</a> operating out of Minneapolis and St. Paul, as well as Columbus, Ohio and Nashville, Tennessee. Multiple girls under the age of 14 had been forced into prostitution by three different Somali gangs, resulting in the 30 different defendants — many of whom were allowed into the United States as refugees — being charged by federal authorities.
Violence between rival Somali gangs has continued to plague Minnesota in recent years, particularly in Minneapolis’ Cedar-Riverside neighborhood, now referred to as “Little Mogadishu.” Violent crime in the area soared <a href="https://tennesseestar.com/news/minneapolis-little-mogadishu-sees-56-percent-increase-in-violent-crimes-caused-by-somali-gangs/agockowski/2019/01/02/">a whopping 56 percent</a> in 2018, with authorities attributing the rise to gangs like the Somali Outlaws, the Somali Mafia, the Hot Boyz, and Madhibaan with Attitude.
A YouTube personality <a href="https://alphanews.org/youtuber-goes-inside-a-somali-gang-war-in-minneapolis/">visited</a> Minneapolis this year to document the gang warfare interviewed a bail bondsman and bounty hunter who said that &#8220;Somali gangs are taking over.&#8221;
During Walz&#8217;s tenure, Somali migrants in Minnesota <a href="https://www.breitbart.com/2024-election/2024/08/06/tim-walzs-dept-of-education-let-somali-migrant-fraudsters-steal-250-million-from-needy-kids/">defrauded the government</a> out of a quarter of a billion taxpayer dollars intended to feed impoverished children. Nearly 50 defendants created a fraudulent organization called “Feeding Our Future,&#8221; and multiple subsidiary organizations that defrauded $250 million from a coronavirus relief program. Only $50 million of those funds have been recovered.
Somalis were the <a href="https://www.startribune.com/increase-in-refugees-resettling-in-minnesota-with-more-on-the-way-biden-obama-trump-immigration/600331694#:~:text=Somalis%20make%20up%20the%20largest,Minnesota%20in%20fiscal%20year%202023.&amp;text=Minnesota%20saw%20a%20surge%20in,up%20from%20258%20in%202021.">largest refugee population</a> in the North Star State as of 2023. The overall number of refugees set to be resettled in 2024 is expected to surge from 1,500 to 2,400. Over 13,000 Somali refugees were accepted into Minnesota <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/minnesota-somali-american-population-good-question/">between</a> 2005 and 2018, and the state had 69,000 Somali residents as of 2019, accounting for about 40 percent of all Somalis residing in the entire United States.
Recent public opinion surveys have found that immigration is one of the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/voters-say-immigration-is-top-issue-facing-country-biden-faces-widespread-disapproval-on-immigration">most important issues</a> for voters heading into the November election, and that an increasing share of Americans are in favor of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/majority-of-americans-want-fewer-immigrants-poll-finds">slashing immigration</a> and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/majority-of-americans-support-building-border-wall-increasing-deportations-penalizing-businesses-that-hire-illegal-immigrants">ramping up mass deportations</a>.

Tim Walz

As Somali Gangs Waged War and Trafficked Children In Minnesota, Tim Walz Asked for More Somali Refugees

2024 Election

Kamala Harris

Refugees

The strongest accusation against King George in the original draft of the Declaration of Independence never made it into the final copy, but this July 4th it is more important than ever. It read:
<blockquote>He has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating its most sacred rights of life &amp; liberty in the persons of a distant people who never offended him, captivating &amp; carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere, or to incur miserable death in their transportation thither.</blockquote>
Our nation has come a long way since Thomas Jefferson, himself a slaveholder, penned these words. Nearly 250 years later, though, we remain one of the top destinations for modern slavery — human trafficking. As they were then, many of the victims today are innocent children.
To understand how bad things are, recall that just ten years ago, on June 20, 2014, then-Vice President Biden <a href="https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2014/06/20/remarks-press-qa-vice-president-joe-biden-guatemala" target="_blank" rel="noopener">expressed</a> alarm that 24,000 unaccompanied minors were apprehended at the Southern border in a single year, calling it a “startling number” that was “untenable and unsustainable.” “Between 75 and 80 percent” of these vulnerable children, he estimated, were sold into forced labor or prostitution by smugglers.
Now consider more than <a href="https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/southwest-land-border-encounters" target="_blank" rel="noopener">130,000 unaccompanied minors</a> have arrived at our Southern border every single year since President Biden took office, more than four times the number of arrivals a decade ago. By the President’s own estimation, nearly 100,000 children are trafficked in the United States every year.
Americans on both the Left and the Right are eager to change this.
Last Fourth of July, when the independent film &#8220;Sound of Freedom&#8221; debuted, its compelling story about the prevalence and horror of child-sex-trafficking resonated with millions of Americans. Soon, the film was <a href="https://www.boxofficemojo.com/year/2023/?grossesOption=calendarGrosses" target="_blank" rel="noopener">outgrossing</a> major productions such as &#8220;Indiana Jones,&#8221; &#8220;Mission: Impossible,&#8221; and &#8220;The Hunger Games&#8221; at the domestic box office.
<div id="attachment_574759" style="width: 873px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-574759" class="size-large wp-image-574759" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/06/S704317-e1687445635961-863x576.jpg" alt="Sound of Freedom" width="863" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/06/S704317-e1687445635961-863x576.jpg 863w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/06/S704317-e1687445635961-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/06/S704317-e1687445635961-768x513.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/06/S704317-e1687445635961.jpg 1200w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 863px) 100vw, 863px" />Sound of Freedom | Angel Studios</div>
In places like Alabama, the outpouring of public support for the film was so great that it inspired the “Sound of Freedom Act,” making the penalty for first-degree human trafficking mandatory life imprisonment when the victim is a minor.
In Congress, Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ), worked with us to introduce the SECURE Act, which requires the federal government to investigate and report on potential trafficking of the approximately 85,000 unaccompanied migrant children released by DHS into the U.S., but whose whereabouts remain unknown.
But in Hollywood, and in most of Washington, the &#8220;Sound of Freedom&#8221; was met with skepticism and scorn.
Countless pundits and reports attempted to connect the movie to the QAnon conspiracy theory. Biden’s own Department of Defense, despite the president’s expressed concerns about this issue, canceled screenings of the film at U.S. Southern Command Headquarters in Doral, Florida. And, of course, the SECURE Act hasn’t even been passed out of the Republican-controlled House.
It is a shame the film was politicized in this manner. Protecting kids and stopping traffickers shouldn’t be a partisan issue. Among voters, it’s not — only in Washington and Hollywood could it become one.
Child sex trafficking, like any market, relies on supply and demand. In this case, the supply comes from a steady stream of innocent children being bought, sold, and abused. Demand is driven by depraved adults.
The simplest and most effective way the White House could immediately reduce supply would be to secure the Southern border, thus undermining the cartels’ business.
Unfortunately, border security doesn’t fit into today’s liberal priorities. So late last month, the president opted instead to give amnesty to nearly 500,000 illegal aliens to “keep American families together.” This may sound nice, but it only further incentivizes desperate people to send their children into the arms of human traffickers.
Even fewer people in Washington are willing to do what it takes to reduce demand for sex-trafficking: Take on the billion-dollar porn industry.
Porn drastically increases the size and scope of the sex-trafficking industry. According to <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10277752/#:~:text=There%20was%20an%20additional%2019,to%20the%20COVID%2D19%20pandemic." target="_blank" rel="noopener">researchers</a> at the University of Massachusetts at Boston, “teen porn” was the “fastest-growing genre” of pornography between 2005 and 2013. By March of that year, it was the “largest single genre… in terms of search frequency,” accounting for “500,000” searches.
Since then, things have only gotten worse. The National Institutes of Health <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10277752/#:~:text=There%20was%20an%20additional%2019,to%20the%20COVID%2D19%20pandemic." target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> that COVID-19 brought a 19% increase in pornography consumption, and a drastic increase in the number of URLs confirmed as containing child sex abuse imagery <a href="https://www.statista.com/chart/30964/total-number-of-urls-confirmed-as-containing-child-sexual-abuse-imagery/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">followed</a> thereafter, increasing from 132,676 in 2019 to more than 255,000 in 2022.
Our leaders could address this problem if they wanted to. In 2020, a single story exposing the overt child porn and trafficking videos on Pornhub was enough to force the company to <a href="https://www.kcrw.com/news/shows/press-play-with-madeleine-brand/coronavirus-schools-epa-august-wilson-zodiac-killer/pornhub-users-verification-abuse-money#:~:text=The%20website%20Pornhub%20has%20taken,their%20cards%20on%20the%20site." target="_blank" rel="noopener">delete</a> 10 million videos — 80% of the site’s total content — almost overnight.
Imagine what would happen if Republicans and Democrats in Congress worked together to require porn companies to put warning labels on their sites about porn’s relationship to child trafficking or its negative effects on mental health. Or better still, if Biden encouraged Democrats to support Senator Mike Lee’s SCREEN Act, which requires all commercial porn websites to adopt age verification technology to ensure a child cannot access its pornographic content.
With an election approaching, these issues can no longer be dismissed. The &#8220;Sound of Freedom&#8221; may have come and gone from the headlines, but the scourge of human trafficking has only gotten worse under President Biden, and it could prove to be a serious vulnerability for his campaign come November.
Why? The answer is simple.
Because the millions of Americans that &#8220;Sound of Freedom&#8221; spoke to aren’t QAnon conspiracy theorists. Nor are they enemies of America’s freedom and democracy.
They’re patriotic voters on both sides of the aisle who want to see their country live out its founding ideals, most especially the Declaration of Independence’s insistence that God’s children should never, ever be for sale.
* * *
Kevin Roberts, Ph.D., is the president of The Heritage Foundation and Heritage Action for America. 
Eduardo Verástegui produced and acted in “Sound of Freedom.”
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Freedom and Love in the USA

This Independence Day, We Should Remember Those Still Enslaved

4th of July

Children

Heritage Foundation

Readers Pass

Sound of freedom

For 16 years, the grand jury documents behind Jeffrey Epstein’s 2006 prosecution for sex trafficking have been sealed, but on Monday, a Palm Beach, Florida, judge unsealed the transcripts.
Epstein killed himself in 2019 while in federal custody awaiting trial for sex-trafficking, but a decade earlier he was given a sweetheart deal on similar allegations and served just 13 months in a work-release program after pleading guilty. That deal was reached in 2008, two years after a grand jury was assembled to determine whether Epstein would be indicted on charges he solicited and procured minors for prostitution.
The <a href="https://www.mypalmbeachclerk.com/home/showpublisheddocument/4194/638554423710170000" target="_blank" rel="noopener">176-page grand jury document</a> released this week contains new information about Epstein’s crimes, Fox News <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/epstein-grand-jury-records-released-describe-traffickers-network-grooming-underage-girls" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>, including specifics about how he paid teenagers who recruited other teens for his sex crimes, the testimony of his victims, and detailed allegations of his rapes.
Circuit Judge Luis Delgado, in his order releasing the grand jury documents, said the contents would be disturbing.
&#8220;It is widely accepted that Epstein is a notorious and serial pedophile,&#8221; the order says. &#8220;The testimony taken by the Grand Jury concerns activity ranging from grossly unacceptable to rape – all of the conduct at issue is sexually deviant, disgusting, and criminal. The details in the record will be outrageous to decent people.&#8221;
Palm Beach County court clerk and comptroller Joseph Abruzzo <a href="https://www.mypalmbeachclerk.com/Home/Components/News/News/734/16" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> the release of the documents just before 3 p.m. Monday, noting that a new Florida law had just gone into effect that allows the release of grand jury documents in certain cases.
“It is our hope that the release of these records gives peace of mind to our community and gives Jeffrey Epstein’s victims the closure they deserve,” Abruzzo said in the statement, which also included a graphic content warning above the PDF file of the documents.
The documents were released in response to a motion from the Palm Beach Post and other news outlets seeking to unseal the grand jury testimony, ABC News <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/newly-released-grand-jury-documents-epstein-case-reveal/story?id=111599027">reported</a>. The documents are meant to provide answers to how a grand jury could return an indictment on just one count of solicitation of a minor, yet the documents don&#8217;t reveal what charging options were presented to the grand jury.
Epstein’s crimes began to unravel in the early part of the millennium when two girls at a local Palm Beach high school got into a fight after one called the other a prostitute, the documents revealed. A school official later found $300 in the accused girl’s purse, which was given to her by Epstein, according to the grand jury documents.
The girl, 14, testified before the grand jury that she had been told to lie about her life story and say she was 18 years old in order to get $200 after giving Epstein a massage. The girl described how, for the massage, she was asked to strip down to her underwear and was then sexually abused by Epstein.
Before long, more victims would be revealed.
Epstein’s suicide in 2019 has been the subject of questions and conspiracy theories, with some suggesting he couldn’t have killed himself and was possibly murdered.

Jeffrey Epstein Grand Jury Documents Released

A <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/california" target="_blank" rel="noopener">California</a> bill that would make purchasing child sex a felony up from a misdemeanor moved forward on Tuesday, but not before Democrats made significant changes.
The bipartisan <a href="https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB1414" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bill</a> would raise solicitation of a minor from a misdemeanor to a felony punishable by up to four years in prison, and a fine of up to $25,000. The bill would also require a person convicted of soliciting a minor to register as a sex offender for 10 years.
However, the new version of the bill would only allow prosecutors to level felony charges if the minor was under 16, meaning those who attempted to buy sex with a 16-year-old or 17-year-old could still only be charged with a misdemeanor.
On Tuesday, Democrats on the Senate Public Safety Committee <a href="https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billVotesClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB1414" target="_blank" rel="noopener">passed</a> the bill after making this and several other changes.
The bill&#8217;s author, Republican State Senator Shannon Grove, reacted with dismay to the new amendments, her voice <a href="https://www.kcra.com/article/california-sb-1414-passes-changes-made-groves/60515287" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shaking</a> as she responded.
&#8220;To force these amendments on me in front of survivors, to water this down to avoid 16 and 17-year-olds,&#8221; Grove said.
In a statement after the committee hearing, Grove criticized the &#8220;hostile amendments&#8221; to her bill.
Under the new version, buyers would still be &#8220;ineligible for prison&#8221; even if the child they solicited was 15 or younger, she <a href="https://sr12.senate.ca.gov/content/sen-groves-measure-make-purchasing-child-sex-felony-rejected-senate-public-safety-committee" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>.
<a href="https://onelink.to/dwapp" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" aria-describedby="sk-tooltip-9096" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://onelink.to/dwapp&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1700760801843000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2PQrVSrJfhxNb4LcARqniG">CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP</a>
“I’m incredibly disappointed that not only did my colleagues reject my proposal to make the buying of children for sex a prison felony, but that I was blindsided when they amended my bill without my consent,&#8221; Grove said.
“Unfortunately, the members of the public safety committee continue their soft on crime approach at the expense of California’s most vulnerable, our children,&#8221; she added.
Last week, Grove explained that she spoke to sex trafficking survivors last year who told her, “You’ve got to go after the buyers” in order to really crack down on the child sex trade.
“I want to make the solicitation, the person who’s going out there going, ‘Hey little 13-year-old, 14-year-old, 15-year-old, I want to get that person. I want that person to face felony charges. That’s what the bill does,” Grove said during a phone interview with The Daily Wire.
The Democrat who moved to amend the bill was State Senator Nancy Skinner, who represents the Berkeley area. Two other Democrats, Scott Wiener and committee chairwoman Aisha Wahab voted to move forward with the amendments against Grove&#8217;s will.
Wiener, who represents the San Francisco area, previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/newsom-signs-bill-making-california-sanctuary-for-child-gender-surgery" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sponsored</a> a law in 2020 that says adults who have oral or anal sex with a child ten years younger than them may not have to register as sex offenders, leaving that decision to a judge. The law supposedly addressed discrimination against LGBT people.
In 2022, Wiener sponsored another law that made California a sanctuary state for child transgender surgery, prohibiting doctors and officials from cooperating with out-of-state attempts to stop a child from getting puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, or gender surgery.

Lonely boy and his shadow

California Dems Water Down Bill To Make Buying Child Sex A Felony

California

Child Abuse

Child Sex Abuse

Scott Wiener

Recording artist <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/celebrities">Sean “Diddy” Combs</a> posted on <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/instagram">Instagram</a> on Easter Sunday, just days after his mansions in Los Angeles and Miami were raided by federal agents in connection with a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/sex-trafficking">sex trafficking</a> investigation.
The 54-year-old rapper and music mogul posted a photo carousel featuring images of his 17-month-old daughter, Love, dressed up for the holiday. &#8220;HAPPY EASTER from Baby Love,&#8221; Diddy wrote in the caption.
<blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/C5MeEg2vbRM/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14">
<div style="padding: 16px;">
&nbsp;
<div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;">
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div>
<div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;">
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div>
</div>
</div>
<div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div>
<div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div>
<div style="padding-top: 8px;">
<div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div>
</div>
<div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"></div>
<div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;">
<div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"></div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"></div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"></div>
</div>
<div style="margin-left: 8px;">
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"></div>
<div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"></div>
</div>
<div style="margin-left: auto;">
<div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"></div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"></div>
<div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"></div>
</div>
</div>
<div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"></div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"></div>
</div>
&nbsp;
<p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/C5MeEg2vbRM/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by LOVE (@diddy)</a>
</div>
</blockquote>
<script async src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script>
The recording artist has more than 20 million followers on the platform. Commenting was turned off on the post. 
Diddy shares his youngest daughter with Dana Tran. He also has six other children with various women. 
The Bad Boy Records founder has been making headlines all week following the Department of Homeland Security serving search warrants at Combs&#8217; multiple homes. He also faces sexual assault lawsuits from five different people dating back to last year. Two of the complaints also include sex trafficking allegations.
TMZ <a href="https://www.tmz.com/2024/03/28/diddy-feds-subpoenas-companies-sex-trafficking-investigation-raids/">reported</a> last week that companies doing business with Combs, including a private charter jet firm, phone provider, and computer specialists, were being issued subpoenas during the investigation. 
Diddy’s lawyers condemned the raids on his properties. &#8220;There was a gross overuse of military-level force as search warrants were executed at Mr. Combs’ residences,&#8221; lawyer Aaron Dyer said in a statement, per <a href="https://people.com/diddy-returns-to-instagram-after-home-raids-with-easter-photo-of-daughter-love-8621850">People</a>. &#8220;There is no excuse for the excessive show of force and hostility exhibited by authorities or the way his children and employees were treated.&#8221;
&#8220;This unprecedented ambush — paired with an advanced, coordinated media presence — leads to a premature rush to judgment of Mr. Combs and is nothing more than a witch hunt based on meritless accusations made in civil lawsuits,&#8221; Dyer continued, adding that “there has been no finding of criminal or civil liability with any of these allegations. Mr. Combs is innocent and will continue to fight every single day to clear his name.&#8221;
<a href="https://onelink.to/dwapp" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" aria-describedby="sk-tooltip-9096" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://onelink.to/dwapp&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1700760801843000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2PQrVSrJfhxNb4LcARqniG">CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP</a>
Diddy had also declared his innocence at the end of last year when the sexual assault lawsuits were initially filed. 
“For the last couple of weeks, I have sat silently and watched people try to assassinate my character, destroy my reputation and my legacy,” Combs said in December.
“Sickening allegations have been made against me by individuals looking for a quick payday,” he said. “Let me be absolutely clear: I did not do any of the awful things being alleged. I will fight for my name, my family and the truth.”

Menu