The Justice Department is facing scrutiny after Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna named six men whose names were initially redacted from files related to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, raising questions about potential shielding of "wealthy, powerful" individuals. In other news, an Arizona sheriff defended sending DNA evidence in the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, the mother of "Today" show co-host Savannah Guthrie, to a Florida lab, and ICE announced that two officers may have lied under oath about a shooting in Minnesota.
Rep. Khanna, speaking on the House floor Tuesday, read out the names of the six men that the Justice Department had initially blacked out in the Epstein files, according to CBS News. The files, which have now been partially un-redacted, do not appear to directly implicate the men in any crimes, and Khanna did not allege any specific criminal wrongdoing. The Justice Department stated that some of the men were "completely random" and had no connection to Epstein. However, Khanna criticized the redactions as failures by the Justice Department, accusing them of protecting the names of "wealthy, powerful" people "for no apparent reason."
Meanwhile, the search for Nancy Guthrie, who was allegedly kidnapped from her Tucson, Arizona, home on February 1, is ongoing. Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos defended his decision to send DNA evidence to a lab in Florida instead of the FBI's lab in Quantico, Virginia. Nanos told CBS News that his agency has been sending evidence to the Florida lab for years and doesn't want samples sent to two different facilities. "It adds a step that's not needed," he said. "If you have two labs you're looking at, and one's bad or one's bet." The FBI released photos and videos of an armed person in a mask in front of Guthrie's home, appearing to tamper with a security camera, according to ABC News.
In a separate development, the acting head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced that two of its officers may have made "untruthful statements" about shooting a migrant in Minnesota. The officers have been placed on administrative leave pending an internal investigation, according to ABC News. Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons said a joint review by ICE and the Department of Justice (DOJ) of video evidence revealed the discrepancies in the officers' sworn testimony.
Also, a 10-year-old boy recounted fleeing an ICE operation near his school bus stop in Lindenwold, New Jersey. The boy, a U.S. citizen named Dylan, told CBS News that he and his classmates started shouting "ICE" and running. "We all were scared," he said. Dylan described being followed by agents and fearing they would enter his home. Doorbell video from an apartment complex showed children running through the parking lot on Thursday morning.
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