'Operation Broken Blade' Knocks Out Another Sex Trafficking Ring in South Los Angeles

Feds Target Underage Sex Trafficking in Los Angeles

Child sex offender drops outrageous claim after California bill to ban him from office fails

Committee members argued the bill was too broad because California's three-tier sex offender registry includes offenders convicted of lower-level crimes.

CA Dems Kill Bill to Keep Child Sex Predators Off the Ballot — And Guess Who Led the Charge

WATCH: Angel mom turns tables on sanctuary politicians with basic question about their priorities

Jessica Gorman told lawmakers her daughter Sheridan “was not a talking point" as she accused sanctuary city leaders of failing to protect American citizens.

"Wake up call": House Democrats erupt in panic, anger after another socialist upset

House Democrats were staggered Wednesday by the loss of yet another one of their longtime colleagues to a democratic socialist challenger.Why it matters: Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) was a staunch progressive, not a moderate, these members are privately fuming. So why did she become a target of the left?"One more case in the growing dynamic of performative politics," one House Democrat, speaking on the condition of anonymity to share candid analysis on the results, told Axios."Diana was an excellent representative with seniority — but the style of someone younger and more outspoken has become more attractive to that cohort of motivated urban left voters."A senior House Democrat called the result a "wake-up call" for members of CongressDriving the news: DeGette was defeated decisively by 29-year-old Melat Kiros, an attorney and PhD student who led the incumbent by nearly 10 percentage points as of Wednesday morning.DeGette's loss in the Denver-based district came despite a deluge of outside spending in her favor from groups tied to the Democratic establishment and AIPAC.Progressive groups such as the Justice Democrats spent substantially in favor of Kiros as well, but their expenditures were greatly eclipsed by those of pro-DeGette outside groups.Between the lines: DeGette boosters sought to defend her progressive bona fides, touting her support for Medicare for All, her opposition to ICE and her time as a Trump impeachment manager.Pro-Kiros ads took aim at the 68-year-old incumbent's support from corporate PACs and votes in favor of Israel.DeGette's loss comes after challengers backed by New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani unseated Reps. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) and Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.) last week, which already had House Democrats on edge.What we're hearing: "Diana is a progressive. Sad to see her loss," a third House Democrat told Axios, adding that there is clearly "an appetite for newer, younger blood in some parts of the country."I told everyone that would listen in 2024, that Trump winning was like manna from heaven to DSA," said a fourth."That DSA is ... winning some safe seat primaries with these young white college educated voters is just no shock. It's literally their entire playbook."Yes, but: Some House Democrats aren't waiting too long to bring Kiros into the fold, with some even exulting in her win. "I'm grateful for all Diana has done ... as our region's dean," Rep. Emily Randall (D-Wash.) told Axios. "I don't know Melat yet, but I sent her a note of congratulations and look forward to welcoming her to the team."Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), who backed Kiros, told Axios: "The progressive movement is where the energy of our party is across the nation."What's next: The left isn't done yet. They're pinning their hopes on a slew of progressive candidates to knock off as many as half a dozen more Democratic incumbents this cycle.The candidates include Donavan McKinney in Michigan, Oliver Larkin in Florida, Mai Vang and Angela Gonzalez-Torres in California, Kai Newkirk in Arizona and Elijah Manley in Florida."A week after NYC," a fifth House Democrat told Axios, "there [is] momentum."

'Trust is broken': Expert says Supreme Court walks on eggshells as dissents get 'personal'

The Supreme Court has always insisted that the justices are good friends and get along well, despite the bitter partisan nature of many of the issues they decide. But with many of the justices sniping at each other over concurrences and dissents in Tuesday's landmark decision blocking President Donald Trump from revoking birthright citizenship, that has never been deeper in doubt, court observer Dahlia Lithwick told MS NOW's Nicolle Wallace on "Deadline: White House."Wallace called Lithwick's attention to the "personal nature" of what some justices were saying. "I mean, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, making no secret about how she sees the dissent. Samuel Alito is calling the majority, quote, 'wrong.' What stands out to you?"Jackson, said Lithwick, put on "a clinic on how to do constitutional text and history and originalism and how to do it right ... but she's very clear, this is a direct response to what she thinks Justice Thomas has just gotten woefully wrong in his dissent, and in a sense, that feeling that she has to take him on on his own terms."This sort of exchange spilling out in public is not unheard of, Lithwick continued, "but I think you're right to say, aggregated over the last few weeks ... there just seems to be a sense that trust is broken among the justices, and that there is a feeling that the skin is very thin and that everything is personal and everything is expressed personally."Wallace then noted a passage from Jackson's concurrence, specifically calling out Thomas' double-talk in claiming the 14th Amendment was a race-conscious reparation as an argument for why it doesn't confer birthright citizenship, after he spent years tearing down every race-conscious program for minorities he could get his hands on, from voting rights to college admissions."She seems to be getting at something that kind of hovered over the voting rights decision as well," said Wallace. "What is this about?"Jackson, replied Lithwick, is the closest thing the court has to a "progressive originalist" and is "very committed to the principle that if you are going to say you're a textualist, an originalist, that the meaning of the drafters of the Reconstruction amendments matters, then be true to that.""I think that for her again, the only word I can keep using is gaslighting," she added. "That this very cramped, very forced, utterly ahistoric, utterly indefensible reading of the Reconstruction Amendments — to her, she experiences it like a wound." - YouTube www.youtube.com

CBS News effort called a 'blatant sham' by expert: 'Yet another embarrassment'

A veteran journalist and former New York Times public editor called out CBS News' gesture toward public accountability as a "blatant sham."The network's Donald Trump-aligned new owners tapped Kenneth R. Weinstein, a former chief executive of the right-leaning Hudson Institute, to review complaints about its coverage as ombudsman, but media expert Margaret Sullivan wrote on her "American Crisis" Substack that he had failed to be independent or transparent as promised."From the get-go, there was no reason to think this would be a real thing — a person whose first responsibility was to the CBS audience and whose first interest was fairness in the public interest," Sullivan wrote. "First off, Weinstein had no background in supervising news coverage. He was a denizen of the right-leaning think tank, the Hudson Institute, a vocal champion of Israel, a critic of the Biden administration and a big donor to Republican and pro-Trump political groups.""I’m not sure how this amounts to independence," she added.Weinstein had been "notably unresponsive" to viewer complaints about CBS News, which has seen "60 Minutes" stars like Anderson Cooper and Scott Pelley flee and ratings collapse, and Sullivan said the network's ombudsman had done remarkably little to respond to the tumult."Despite the lip service to 'transparency,' his role was never meant to face outwards, as is the norm with news ombudsmen; rather, if he saw a problem, he’d report it to his corporate bosses," Sullivan wrote.The Times recently reported on Weinstein's public silence, noting that he hadn't issued any statements about the CBS News controversies or issued any guidance to staffers, and employees say he's told them he is scheduled to work only one day a month."It’s absurd," Sullivan wrote."I know something about this because I was the fifth 'public editor' at the New York Times, a role dedicated to making sure the news organization was fair and was serving the public interest," she added. "The way the Times’s position was structured created actual, not fake, transparency."Sullivan compared her workload – several blog posts each week and a more formal column every other week, in addition to fielding hundred of emails and calls – to Weinstein's duties, and she suggested five topics the CBS News ombudsman could look into during his seemingly singular workday.For example, Sullivan urged him to investigate editor-in-chief Bari Weiss delaying Alfonsi's El Salvador prison report amid a pending merger; mass departures of top talent like Cooper, Pelley and "60 Minutes" executive producer Tanya Simon; CBS Evening News' ratings collapse under Dokoupil; CBS Mornings' steep audience drop post-Pelley; and whether Weiss's pro-Israel views compromise Gaza coverage independence."I could go on, but you get the picture," Sullivan said. "So does the public, if comments on the Times article are any indication. It’s (yet another) embarrassment to CBS News."

Ex-Alaskan mayor once named ‘parent of year’ charged with dozens of child sex crimes

An ex-Alaskan town mayor once named “parent of the year” has been charged with child sex crimes, authorities revealed this week.