By Emily Goodin, Miami Herald

The government shutdown is delaying proceedings in Congress’ investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, affecting a measure to require the release of files in the possession of the federal government and holding up testimony from key figures.

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Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, has kept the House of Representatives out of session for two weeks and counting as part of his party’s strategy to pressure Senate Democrats into voting for their resolution to fund the government.

That has slowed down the House Oversight Committee’s investigation into the late pedophile and held a petition demanding the release of the files at bay.

Bill and Hillary Clinton were expected to testify before the panel over the past few weeks but have yet to appear.

And Johnson has declined to swear into office Representative-elect Adelita Grijalva, a Democrat from Arizona who would be the crucial 218th vote on a discharge petition from Kentucky Republican Thomas Massie that would demand a vote on the release of the government’s Epstein files.

Republicans on the Oversight panel argue there are no delays and the Clintons will eventually appear.

“There are no delays and the postponement of the depositions has nothing to do with the government shutdown. We are in communication with the Clintons’ attorneys to schedule their appearance before the Committee,” a spokesperson for the Republicans on the committee told the Miami Herald.

Both Clintons were subpoenaed in early August by Republicans. Hillary Clinton had been expected to testify on Oct. 9 and Bill Clinton was scheduled for Tuesday.

Bill Clinton flew on Epstein’s private jet and was one of many figures who contributed a message to a “birthday book” for him. The former president has said he wishes he had never met Epstein.

A spokesperson for the Clintons didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Democrats on the panel fault the Republicans and the shutdown for the delay.

“House Republicans would rather keep our government shut down than further this Epstein investigation,” said Sara Guerrero, a spokesperson for Oversight Committee Democrats.

“The majority should be having hearings, enforcing subpoenas like the one they sent to [Epstein associate] Ghislaine Maxwell, and working day and night to get to the bottom of this. Oversight Democrats are here and ready to work for the American people.”

Other committee hearings have been affected due to the shutdown. Attorney General Pam Bondi was scheduled to testify before the House Judiciary Committee on Oct. 8, but that was postponed.

Meanwhile, Arizona is threatening to sue Johnson for not seating their newly-elected congresswoman. Grijalva’s victory was officially certified on Tuesday. She is replacing her late father in his House seat.

Johnson said he will swear her into office once the government reopens.

“She won her election after the House was out of session, so we’ve not had a full session,” the speaker told reporters on Capitol Hill on Tuesday.

“She deserves to have all the pomp and circumstances everybody else does. She deserves to have a full House of members and go down and do the speech and have her family and friends in the balcony. That hasn’t been scheduled because we haven’t had that session.”

Democrats argue Johnson, using his power as speaker, can swear her in at any time. They point out two Florida Republicans — Randy Fine and Jimmy Patronis — were sworn in during a pro forma session on April 2, the day after their special elections.

There is no formal rule requiring the House to be in session to seat a member of Congress.

“This is a massive White House coverup and now Mike Johnson is involved,” said Rep. Robert Garcia, the ranking Democrat on the Oversight panel.

Garcia is also demanding Republicans on the committee call in Maxwell to testify. She was subpoenaed by the panel but Committee Chairman James Comer allowed her to postpone her testimony until the Supreme Court decided whether to hear her case. Earlier this month the high court declined to add it to their docket.

Grijalva’s case may be in court soon.

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, a Democrat, said she will file suit if Johnson doesn’t swear Grijalva in over the next two days.

Grijalva would be the final signature needed on the procedural measure called a discharge petition. Once the petition hits the 218 mark, it will force a vote by the full House on a measure by Massie requiring the Department of Justice to release all its unclassified Epstein documents, bypassing party leadership, which typically decides what legislation is voted upon.

“Speaker Johnson is stalling because he knows I will be the 218th signature on the discharge petition to release the Epstein files,” Grijalva has said.

She and her supporters have enacted a pressure campaign on the speaker, including a march through the Capital on Tuesday to Johnson’s office, demanding a swearing-in ceremony.

“What is he afraid of? Epstein!” the group of Democrats sang during their march.

Fellow Arizona lawmakers are also piling on, holding a rally in front of the Capital on Wednesday morning.

“Speaker Johnson is protecting pedophiles, that’s what this is about,” Senator Ruben Gallego, Democrat of Arizona, said. “The only thing that’s been consistent the whole time is that Speaker Johnson is covering up for pedophiles.”

Both political parties, however, have dug in when it comes to the shutdown, each wanting the other to give.

Democrats are demanding protections for Obamacare subsidies to keep health insurance premiums from increasing.

And Republicans want Democrats to accept their stopgap bill to fund the government through Nov. 21. The House has already passed the stopgap, which is why Johnson is keeping his lawmakers home — to increase the pressure on the Senate to approve it.

President Donald Trump is also weighing in and said on Tuesday he’ll use the opportunity the shutdown brings to close “Democrat programs that we want to close up or we never wanted to happen.”

“The Democrats are getting killed on the shutdown because we’re closing up programs that are Democrat programs that we were opposed to. So, we’re being and — and they’re never going to come back in many cases,” Trump said, when asked when he’d bring the parties together to negotiate.

The longest government shutdown on record was 35 days. It took place in Trump’s first administration.

©2025 Miami Herald. Visit at miamiherald.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

GRAND RAPIDS, Minn. — A northern Minnesota woman pleaded guilty Wednesday to voter fraud and was ordered to read a book and write a 10-page essay about the importance of democratic elections.

Danielle Christine Javorina, 51, of rural Nashwauk, admitted to filling out an absentee ballot in the name of her recently deceased mother ahead of the 2024 general election.

Javorina, according to court documents, later told an investigator her mother was an “avid Donald Trump supporter” who hoped to vote for the Republican presidential nominee. The fraudulent submission was flagged by election officials before it could be counted.

Under questioning from Itasca County prosecutor Courtney Beck, the defendant said she received ballots for herself and her mother in the mail just weeks after Rose Marie Javorina’s death.

“Did you also fill out your mother’s ballot?” the prosecutor asked.

“Yes, at her request,” Javorina replied. “That was the last thing she said to me.”

Javorina, however, asserted that she has no recollection of mailing the ballots back to the elections office due to intoxication. For that reason, she entered a Norgaard plea to a felony count of signing a false election certificate — acknowledging that the evidence would be sufficient for a judge or jury to find her guilty.

The Itasca County Auditor’s Office said it received sealed ballot envelopes containing signatures for both on Oct. 7, 2024. But a routine check of the Minnesota Vital Statistics death report showed that Rose Javorina had died Aug. 31.

Authorities noted the envelopes contained sections to be filled out by the voter and a witness. The voter must certify that they “meet all legal requirements to vote” as of Election Day, and the witness must provide their name and address and certify that the ballot was filled out by the voter.

The defendant, then named Danielle Miller, was listed as the witness on her mother’s ballot, and the deceased woman was listed as the witness on Miller’s, according to a criminal complaint. Both listed their street address as County Road 54, north of Nashwauk.

The Itasca County Sheriff’s Office reviewed the signatures and determined they appeared similar, as well as matching the signature on the daughter’s driver’s license. Absentee ballots had been mailed Sept. 20, about three weeks after Rose Javorina’s death.

Two additional charges were dismissed by the Itasca County Attorney’s Office under the terms of the plea agreement, which were accepted by Judge Heidi Chandler at a hearing conducted via Zoom.

Javorina will spend up to three years on supervised probation, undergo a psychological evaluation, and pay an $885 fine and any restitution.

She agreed to read the book “Thank You for Voting: The Maddening, Enlightening, Inspiring Truth About Voting in America” by Erin Geiger Smith and write a 10-page paper about “the importance of voting in a democracy and how election fraud can undermine the voting process.”

Successful completion of probation will result in the conviction being deemed a misdemeanor.

Javorina was tearful as she answered questions about the circumstances of the crime. She declined to make a statement before receiving her sentence.

Defense attorney Justin Braulick called it an isolated “lapse in judgment,” noting his client has no criminal history and is not a frequent drinker. He said she lost both parents in 2024.

“She’s taking full responsibility for her actions,” Braulick said. “She was obviously going through an emotional time, and oftentimes in these cases emotions can get the best (of someone). People don’t think clearly, and it sometimes makes it hard to remember all of what happened.”

Voter fraud has been a major talking point in recent elections, as Trump has pushed false and misleading claims of widespread impropriety since he first ran in 2016. However, experts say cases are exceedingly rare and there is no evidence of systematic fraud.

After the 2020 election, the Associated Press found fewer than 475 possible instances among 25.5 million votes cast in six swing states. The conservative Heritage Foundation maintains a database with just 1,600 “proven instances of voter fraud” nationwide over several decades — including 138 cases in Minnesota from 2004 to 2022.

By MEG KINNARD

The public release of a Young Republican group chat that included racist language, jokes about rape and flippant commentary on gas chambers prompted bipartisan calls for those involved to be removed from or resign their positions.

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The Young Republican National Federation, the GOP’s political organization for Republicans between 18 and 40, called for those involved to step down from the organization. The group described the exchanges, first reported by Politico, as “unbecoming of any Republican.”

Republican Vice President JD Vance, however, has weighed in several times to speak out against what he characterized as “pearl clutching” over the leaked messages.

Politico obtained months of exchanges from a Telegram conversation between leaders and members of the Young Republican National Federation and some of its affiliates in New York, Kansas, Arizona and Vermont.

Here’s a rundown of reaction to the inflammatory group chat, in which the operatives and officials involved openly worried that their comments might be leaked, even as they continued their conversation:

Vance

After Politico’s initial report on Tuesday, Vance posted on X a screen grab from 2022 text messages in which Jay Jones, the Democratic candidate for Virginia’s attorney general race, suggested that a prominent Republican get “two bullets to the head.”

“This is far worse than anything said in a college group chat, and the guy who said it could become the AG of Virginia,” Vance wrote on Tuesday. “I refuse to join the pearl clutching when powerful people call for political violence.”

Jones subsequently said he took “full responsibility” for his comments and offered a public apology to Todd Gilbert, who then was speaker of Virginia’s House of Delegates.

Vance reiterated his initial sentiment Wednesday on “ The Charlie Kirk Show ” podcast, saying when asked about the reporting that a “person seriously wishing for political violence and political assassination is 1,000 times worse than what a bunch of young people, a bunch of kids say in a group chat, however offensive it might be.”

Vance, 41, said that he grew up in a different era where “most of what I, the stupid things that I did as a teenager and as a young adult, they’re not on the internet.”

The father of three said he would caution his own children, “especially my boys, don’t put things on the internet, like, be careful with what you post. If you put something in a group chat, assume that some scumbag is going to leak it in an effort to try to cause you harm or cause your family harm.”

“I really don’t want to us to grow up in a country where a kid telling a stupid joke, telling a very offensive, stupid joke is cause to ruin their lives,” Vance said.

Republicans

Other Republicans demanded more immediate intervention. Republican legislative leaders in Vermont, along with Gov. Phil Scott — also a Republican — called for the resignation of state Sen. Sam Douglass, revealed to be a participant in the chat. A joint statement from the GOP lawmakers termed the comments “unacceptable and deeply disturbing.”

Saying she was “absolutely appalled to learn about the alleged comments made by leaders of the New York State Young Republicans,” Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York called for those involved to step down from their positions. Danedri Herbert, chair of the Kansas GOP, said the remarks “do not reflect the beliefs of Republicans and certainly not of Kansas Republicans at large.”

In a statement posted to X on Tuesday, the Young Republican National Federation said it was “appalled” by the reported messages and calling for those involved to resign from their positions within the organization. Young Republican leaders said the behavior was “disgraceful, unbecoming of any Republican, and stands in direct opposition to the values our movement represents.”

Democrats

Democrats have been more uniform in their condemnation. On Wednesday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom wrote to House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, asking for an investigation into the “vile and offensive text messages,” which he called “the definition of conduct that can create a hostile and discriminatory environment that violates civil rights laws.”

Speaking on the Senate floor, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York on Tuesday described the chat as “revolting,” calling for Republicans including Trump and Vance to “condemn these comments swiftly and unequivocally.”

Asked about the reporting, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul called the exchanges “vile” and called for consequences for those involved.

“Kick them out of the party. Take away their official roles. Stop using them as campaign advisers,” Hochul said. “There needs to be consequences. This bulls—- has to stop.”

Associated Press writer Michelle L. Price contributed to this report.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The body of a Minnesota radio station owner who has been missing since an avalanche during a March ski trip in Alaska has been recovered.

The Alaska State Medical Examiner’s Office on Monday, Oct. 13, said it has identified the remains of David Linder, 39, of Florida. Linder was one of the owners of Subarctic Media LLC radio group and Lakeland Media LLC of Willmar.

On March 4, Alaska authorities were notified of a large avalanche near the West Fork of 20 Mile River near Girdwood. Using avalanche beacons, the guides identified a probable area where skiers were buried, estimating it to be between 40 feet and nearly 100 feet deep.

On March 6, the Alaska Department of Public Safety identified the missing persons from an Alaska heliskier’s trip: Charles Eppard, 30, of Montana; Jeremy Leif, 38, of Minnesota, and Linder.

On Friday, Oct. 10, the Alaska Mountain Rescue Group and the Girdwood Volunteer Fire Department traveled to the slide area of the avalanche. The team recovered the remains of an adult male who had become caught in a log jam in the river flowing underneath the avalanche slide area, according to a news release from the Alaska Department of Public Safety.

The bodies of Eppard and Leif have not yet been found and the search for the missing men continues.

Linder leaves behind a wife and three children, Radio Mankato official Matt Ketelsen told Minnesota Public Radio.

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