You don’t have time for three hours of doomscrolling, twenty half-baked takes, and some guy online screaming READ THE THREAD. We are Front Page Detectives, this is your morning Drive-By, and here is what is real.
LOS ANGELES: Newsom Says Trump Directed DOJ to Investigate Him and His Wife
The governor says this is not law enforcement. He says it is a hit list with subpoenas.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom says Donald Trump directed the Department of Justice to investigate him and his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, as the president’s political war with one of his loudest Democratic critics escalates into something uglier. Newsom said federal agents have recently knocked on doors of family friends and former employees, demanding records and using what he called an abusive grand jury process.
Newsom framed the investigation as political retaliation, saying Trump is coming after him because he has repeatedly called out the president and is considering a run for the White House. His office has filed a Freedom of Information Act request demanding records about who ordered the investigation and how far it reaches. The Justice Department and FBI declined to comment.
A source familiar with the matter told The Guardian the administration has been conducting several investigations connected to Newsom for roughly a year, including matters involving his wife’s taxes, his former chief of staff Dana Williamson, and potentially current staff. The source said the probes originated in California, not Washington, and are being run by the U.S. attorney’s office for the eastern district of California.
Newsom did not sound surprised to be in Trump’s sights. He pointed to other Trump rivals who have faced investigations and said he now “proudly” joins that list. But he drew the line at his wife and family, saying Trump can subpoena him, investigate him and put his name on any enemies list, but should leave them out of what he called a personal vendetta.
Hot Take
A mad king never sends the guards for the throne first. He sends them to the family door at dusk and calls it procedure.
NEW YORK: Judge Dismisses Dawn Richard’s Bombshell Lawsuit Against Diddy
For once, the legal smoke around Combs thinned instead of thickened.
A federal judge has dismissed former Danity Kane singer Dawn Richard’s civil lawsuit against Sean “Diddy” Combs, handing the imprisoned music mogul a significant legal win. Richard’s lawsuit had accused Combs of years of abuse, intimidation, sexual misconduct, and retaliation during her time working under his Bad Boy empire.
U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla dismissed most of Richard’s claims with prejudice, meaning those allegations cannot be refiled in the same form. The judge did not bless the alleged conduct, describing the accusations as disturbing if true, but found that the law barred most of the claims because they were filed too late.
One claim under New York City’s Gender-Motivated Violence Act was dismissed without prejudice, meaning Richard may still attempt to pursue it in revised form or in state court. Her attorney said they were disappointed by the ruling but encouraged that the gender violence claim survived enough to keep fighting.
Hot Take
The courthouse is not a confessional. Sometimes the ugliest story in the room still dies on the clock, and the clock never apologizes.
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FLORIDA: Epstein Aide Says He Paid Palm Beach Deputy for Special Jail Treatment
The old sweetheart deal just got a fresh whiff of cash and favors.
Sarah Kellen, Jeffrey Epstein’s longtime assistant, told House Oversight investigators that Epstein may have secured special treatment in Palm Beach County jail by arranging cash and Disneyland tickets for a sheriff’s deputy. Kellen identified the deputy as Michael Fox and said she learned about the alleged delivery through Epstein’s paralegal, who complained about making the trip.
The claim adds a new layer to the long-running scandal over Epstein’s 2008 and 2009 jail arrangement, which allowed him to leave custody for up to 12 hours a day, six days a week, under work release. Kellen also testified that Epstein once used a jail computer to contact her on Skype and told her to undress on camera.
The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office said the allegation was not uncovered in prior investigations and noted a 2021 state review found no wrongdoing by its members. But former jail supervisor Michael Gauger said he had worried at the time that Epstein might try to influence deputies.
Hot Take
Epstein’s jail sentence already looked like a velvet rope with bars painted on it. Now somebody is asking whether the doorman got tipped.
FLORIDA: Teen Accused of Killing Stepsister on Carnival Cruise Ordered Into Custody
The cruise ship murder case just moved from house arrest to locked doors.
Timothy Hudson, the teenager accused of sexually assaulting and killing his 18-year-old stepsister Anna Kepner aboard a Carnival cruise ship, has been ordered into custody after his case was moved to adult court. Hudson turned himself in after a federal judge revoked his pretrial release.
Hudson had previously been allowed to live with an uncle under electronic monitoring while the case proceeded. But prosecutors argued that once adult charges were filed, the risk calculus changed sharply because Hudson now faces a possible life sentence if convicted. The judge agreed that no release conditions could reasonably protect the community.
Kepner’s body was found concealed under a bed in a cabin she shared with Hudson and another teen. Prosecutors say she died from mechanical asphyxia and allege forensic evidence points to sexual assault before her death. Hudson has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and aggravated sexual abuse.
Hot Take
A ship can cross into international waters, but it can’t sail away from evidence. The ocean keeps secrets. Cameras, autopsies, and federal judges do not.
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MASSACHUSETTS: Prosecutors Say 911 Calls Show Lindsay Clancy’s ‘Extreme Atrocity’ in Killing Her Children
The trial is heading toward the darkest question in the house.
Massachusetts prosecutors want jurors to hear the 911 call made by Patrick Clancy after he found his wife injured outside and their three children with exercise bands around their necks in the basement. Lindsay Clancy is charged with killing Cora, Dawson, and baby Callan before jumping from a second-story window.
Prosecutors argue the call is necessary to show deliberateness, cruelty, and what they call the “extreme atrocity” of the killings. They also want to explore whether Clancy tied the bands and walked away or stood there and strangled each child with the ligatures. Her defense is expected to pursue an insanity argument tied to postpartum depression and mental health treatment.
The state is also seeking permission to show jurors photos of the children, autopsy images, and crime scene evidence, and to bring the jury to the family home, the pharmacy, and the restaurant tied to the timeline. The trial is scheduled to begin in July.
Hot Take
There are crimes that leave no clean angle, no soft landing, no mercy in the margins. Three children died in that basement, and the jury is going to hear exactly how the house sounded afterward.