In this photo illustration, collectible Pokémon cards are viewed in a store on January 23, 2026 in Pasadena, California. A surge in value for Pokémon cards in recent years has triggered a string of robberies in Southern California, along with New York, Texas, and Massachusetts in recent months. (Photo Illustration by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
(CALIFORNIA) — A California card store became the latest target in a string of Pokémon trading card thefts after suspects burglarized a location and made off with the collectibles in minutes.
Masked suspects were caught on surveillance cameras leaping over display cases at The Card Lab in Brentwood on Saturday night and stealing $15,000 worth of Pokémon cards in under 40 seconds, police said.
The suspects drove off in a Nissan Altima and are still on the loose, according to police.
Ronnie Hackett, The Card Lab’s owner who opened the store two months ago, told ABC affiliate KGO that the manager was on another level of the store when the theft went down.
“My first thought was ‘I hope that my employee was OK,’ and I was relieved to see that she was,” he told the station.
The store was closed for a few days to get additional security measures in place.
The Brentwood theft took place days after a similar threat went down on the other side of the country.
Masked thieves burglarized Big Pack Hobby Shop in Rochelle Park, New Jersey, on Thursday, smashing through a glass door and stealing $40,000 to $50,000 worth of cards and merchandise, according to police.
The burglary happened in under two minutes and was caught on camera, authorities said.
“This was like a dream of mine opening the card store, we just celebrated our three-year anniversary yesterday actually, this is a passion of mine, as much as it sucks and it could happen again, I’m just going to keep going because this is what I love,” Pablo Rancier, the store’s owner, told WABC.
Fast response cutter USCGC Glen Harris (WPC 1144) sails near a U.S sail drone explorer in the Gulf of Aqaba, during the International Maritime Exercise/Cutlass Express. Sgt. Deandre Dawkins/U.S. Naval Forces Central Command)
(WASHINGTON) — U.S. military officials said Tuesday that an unmanned drone boat rescued two crew members aboard a U.S. Army Apache attack helicopter that crashed in the waters nears the Strait of Hormuz, which President Donald Trump said Iranians shot down.
U.S. officials are describing the rescue as the first time that an unmanned surface drone has been used to successfully rescue crew members at sea.
The AH-64 helicopter crashed at 7:33 p.m. EDT on Monday, leaving the pilots in the waters off Oman, according to U.S. Central Command.
“The Soldiers were safely rescued within approximately two hours and are in stable condition,” according to a CENTCOM statement.
The Navy surface drone — described by a U.S. official as looking like a speedboat — located the two Apache crew members, who were then able to board the vessel, which transported them to another location on that water where they were then hoisted up to a helicopter for further transport, according to a U.S. official.
“The surface drone that assisted in last night’s rescue of the Apache crew off the coast of Oman was a U.S. Navy Corsair unmanned surface vessel operated by U.S. 5th Fleet’s Task Force 59. The task force began fielding these drones in theater in late March,” said Capt. Tim Hawkins, the spokesman for U.S. Central Command.
Trump said Tuesday afternoon that the military informed him Iran was to blame for the helicopter crash, vowing that the U.S. must “respond to this attack.”
ABC News has reached out to the White House on whether the weekslong shaky ceasefire with Iran is now over.
What is Task Force 59?
Task Force 59 operates a variety of autonomous surface drones in the waters of the Middle East, as well as aerial drones. The task force, established in 2021, uses its unmanned drones to provide quick reconnaissance capabilities and integrate artificial intelligence to share with crewed warships operating in the region, according to the Navy.
With not enough manned vessels to maintain a constant awareness of what is going on in the Middle East’s waters, the drones enhance the 5th Fleet’s capabilities to detect smuggling and Iranian malign activity, Navy officials said.
“For pennies on the dollar we can put unmanned platforms out there, we can couple it with artificial intelligence … and then, I think critically important, we can use our manned ships much more efficiently, much more effectively,” then-5th Fleet Commander Vice Adm. Brad Cooper told reporters in October 2022 following a regional exercise to highlight the task force’s capabilities. Cooper is now serving as the commander of U.S. Central Command.
The cost for the boat drone used to rescue the Apache crew is estimateed to be about $1.2 million per drone, according to a report from Sacra, a market research firm. That cost is extraordinarily cheap relative to traditional, manned military vessels.
Artificial intelligence is used to analyze patterns of behavior detected by the sensors aboard the drones, which is then shared with commanders and ships operating in the region.
In addition to the Corsair used in the operation, Task Force 59 uses other notable unmanned surface drones including the T-38 Devil Ray and the Sail Drone.
The Devil Ray is a high-speed autonomously operated unmanned surface vessel that is mainly used to gather intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, according to its manufacturer.
In one exercise in 2024, it successfully fired live munitions at a training target.
The Sail Drone looks just like its name implies, it is an autonomous water platform topped by a sail that provides power through wind and solar energy, according to its manufacturer.
A network of Sail Drones can provide a clearer at-sea situational awareness in hostile environments, according to its manufacturer.
Jeffrey Epstein is seen in a photo released by the New York State Division of Criminal Justice. (New York State Sex Offender Registry)
(NEW YORK) — Jeffrey Epstein’s longtime executive secretary Lesley Groff told the House Oversight Committee Tuesday that the convicted sex offender was a “master manipulator” and that she was unaware of his crimes, according to multiple sources familiar with her closed-door testimony.
Groff is appearing as part of the committee’s ongoing inquiry into the federal government’s handling of investigations into Epstein and his alleged co-conspirators, which to date has included interviews with former Attorney General Pam Bondi, Epstein’s longtime personal assistant Sarah Kellen, and a prison guard who was on duty the night Epstein died in his jail cell.
Groff, who worked for Epstein in New York for more than 18 years, was once described by her boss as an “extension of my brain.”
Among her job requirements were scheduling Epstein’s frequent meetings with celebrities, scientists and politicians, booking Epstein’s daily massage appointments when he was in New York, and arranging travel for women linked to Epstein. She was one of four women listed as potential co-conspirators in Epstein’s controversial non-prosecution agreement in 2007.
According to federal prosecutors, “numerous victims [of Epstein] had indicated that she was responsible for scheduling massages during which they were sexually abused.”
Groff told lawmakers Tuesday that she never had a romantic or sexual relationship with Epstein and said the message appointments she scheduled for Epstein with young women and girls were with massage therapists, source said. Groff could not recall scheduling massages for anyone other than Epstein and former Goldman Sachs chief counsel Kathy Ruemmler at a spa, and said the masseuses were both male and female, sources said. She testified that she would receive the names of the massage therapists from Epstein, and that he instructed her to schedule the massages.
Sources said Groff told lawmakers that she scheduled most of the massages for Epstein’s New York residence. Groff testified that she never witnessed or knew of any sexual abuse.
Groff testified that she never met a single massage therapist in person and believes that Epstein — or Bella Klein, a one-time Epstein associate — would pay them with “petty cash,” sources said. Groff told lawmakers that she would occasionally send cash via couriers, said sources.
Groff testified that when Epstein was arrested in 2006, he told Groff that he was blackmailed, sources said. She told lawmakers that she did not know she was tied to the 2008 non-prosecution agreement as a listed co-conspirator, which she described that as a “scarlet letter” she wears to this day, according to sources.
Groff said Epstein told her again after the 2008 plea deal that he was blackmailed. Groff said she resigned in 2019 when Epstein was arrested again, sources said.
She described to lawmakers that her relationship with Epstein was strictly business, sources said. Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell told Groff that she should not associate with their friends or colleagues, and insisted their business was none of her business, sources added.
She told lawmakers that Epstein had a lot of people in his circle, and she did not find it odd that he had a “large” massage list for individuals across the world, sources said.
House Oversight Chairman James Comer said on his way in Tuesday morning that he believed Groff has “information that is very valuable to our investigation.”
“Hopefully, we’ll learn more today,” Comer said.
The chairman reiterated that the committee is conducting “the most thorough investigation ever of Epstein.”
“We’re bringing in the most important people in the whole Epstein criminal enterprise that are still alive, and hopefully we’ll get the truth to the American people. If there’s an opportunity for accountability, we sure want to see that happen,” he said.
Groff did not speak to reporters upon her arrival.
Last September at a press conference in front of the U.S. Capitol, Epstein survivor Marina Lacerda specifically called out Groff, alleging that Groff had called her so many times to go to Epstein’s place for a massage that she dropped out of high school before the ninth grade.
Lacerda — who was one of the key witnesses that led to Epstein’s 2019 indictment for child sex trafficking — told ABC News in an interview this week that Groff was the conduit to Epstein.
“Anything that had to do with Jeffrey Epstein,” Lacerda told ABC News in an interview, “had to go through Lesley Groff.”
Michael Bachner, a lawyer for Groff, declined comment in advance of her appearance on Capitol Hill. He previously told ABC News that Groff “never knowingly booked travel for anyone under the age of 18, and had no knowledge of the alleged illegal activity whatsoever.”
“Ms. Groff, a parent herself, is incredibly shocked and deeply upset about the alleged wrongdoings of Mr. Epstein,” Bachner said.
After Epstein’s arrest in July 2019, federal prosecutors included Groff in a list of potential co-conspirators and sent her a subpoena. Bachner informed the government, just four days after Epstein’s arrest, that his client “would invoke her Fifth Amendment privilege against compelled self-incrimination” if called to appear before a grand jury.
Groff, now 59, eventually interviewed with the investigators two years later, telling prosecutors that “making massage appointments was just another appointment she had to make” for Epstein, and said that scheduling massages was “around 1%” of her job.
Groff, who was hired by Epstein in 2001, told the FBI she was immediately struck by Epstein’s lifestyle and the company he kept, describing it as “pretty incredible to see all the people Epstein dealt with in politics, television, et cetera.”
“Groff felt, ‘Wow,'” according to an FBI account of her interview.
Groff was initially paid a salary of $60,000 a year, but saw it doubled to $120,000 by Epstein four years later, DOJ records show.
The New York Times reported in 2005 that Epstein bought Groff a new Mercedes and paid for a nanny to ensure she would keep working for him.
“There is no way that I could lose Lesley to motherhood,” Epstein said of Groff, according to the newspaper’s account.
Banking records included in the DOJ’s Epstein files indicate that Groff also received three payments of $100,000 and one for $110,000 from Epstein companies between 2016 and 2018, though the records do not indicate the reasons for the payments.
Bachner told the government that Groff stayed with Epstein after his first arrest in Florida in 2006 because she believed him when he said that “someone was trying to blackmail him.”
When he was again arrested in 2019, she resigned, her lawyer told prosecutors.
“She felt betrayed and disgusted once the indictment came out,” Bachner wrote.
According to documents released by the Justice Department in response to the passage of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, one victim — who was a minor at the time of her alleged abuse — told the FBI that she felt Groff “knew that the massage appointments were sexual” and “felt it was pretty obvious Lesley knew what was going on,” according to the DOJ records.
Banking records included in the DOJ’s Epstein files indicate that Groff also received three payments of $100,000 and one for $110,000 from Epstein companies between 2016 and 2018, though the records do not indicate the reasons for the payments.
Bachner told the government that Groff stayed with Epstein after his first arrest in Florida in 2006 because she believed him when he said that “someone was trying to blackmail him.”
When he was again arrested in 2019, she resigned, her lawyer told prosecutors.
“She felt betrayed and disgusted once the indictment came out,” Bachner wrote.
According to documents released by the Justice Department in response to the passage of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, one victim — who was a minor at the time of her alleged abuse — told the FBI that she felt Groff “knew that the massage appointments were sexual” and “felt it was pretty obvious Lesley knew what was going on,” according to the DOJ records.
Federal prosecutors in 2021 informed Groff that she would not be charged, according to a statement from her attorneys.
“After a more than two-year investigation by the Department of Justice into Jeffrey Epstein’s conduct, which included lengthy interviews of witnesses and a thorough review of relevant communications, we have been informed that no criminal charges will be brought against Lesley Groff,” the statement said.
Lacerda said she hopes the congressional investigators press Groff for answers.
“I just think that she should be honest about it so that we can have some accountability here,” she said.
An Arabian Fox MAST-13 unmanned surface vessel, attached to U.S. Naval Forces Central Command’s Task Force 59, conducts surveillance in the Arabian Gulf, Nov. 21. (Pfc. Tyrin Saunders/U.S. Naval Forces Central Command)
(WASHINGTON) — U.S. military officials said Tuesday that an unmanned drone boat rescued two crew members aboard a U.S. Army Apache attack helicopter that crashed in the waters nears the Strait of Hormuz, which President Donald Trump said Iranians shot down.
U.S. officials are describing the rescue as the first time that an unmanned surface drone has been used to successfully rescue crew members at sea.
The AH-64 helicopter crashed at 7:33 p.m. EDT on Monday, leaving the pilots in the waters off Oman, according to U.S. Central Command.
“The Soldiers were safely rescued within approximately two hours and are in stable condition,” according to a CENTCOM statement.
The Navy surface drone — described by a U.S. official as looking like a speedboat — located the two Apache crew members, who were then able to board the vessel, which transported them to another location on that water where they were then hoisted up to a helicopter for further transport, according to a U.S. official.
“The surface drone that assisted in last night’s rescue of the Apache crew off the coast of Oman was a U.S. Navy Corsair unmanned surface vessel operated by U.S. 5th Fleet’s Task Force 59. The task force began fielding these drones in theater in late March,” said Capt. Tim Hawkins, the spokesman for U.S. Central Command.
Trump said Tuesday afternoon that the military informed him Iran was to blame for the helicopter crash, vowing that the U.S. must “respond to this attack.”
ABC News has reached out to the White House on whether the weekslong shaky ceasefire with Iran is now over.
What is Task Force 59?
Task Force 59 operates a variety of autonomous surface drones in the waters of the Middle East, as well as aerial drones. The task force, established in 2021, uses its unmanned drones to provide quick reconnaissance capabilities and integrate artificial intelligence to share with crewed warships operating in the region, according to the Navy.
With not enough manned vessels to maintain a constant awareness of what is going on in the Middle East’s waters, the drones enhance the 5th Fleet’s capabilities to detect smuggling and Iranian malign activity, Navy officials said.
“For pennies on the dollar we can put unmanned platforms out there, we can couple it with artificial intelligence … and then, I think critically important, we can use our manned ships much more efficiently, much more effectively,” then-5th Fleet Commander Vice Adm. Brad Cooper told reporters in October 2022 following a regional exercise to highlight the task force’s capabilities. Cooper is now serving as the commander of U.S. Central Command.
The cost for the boat drone used to rescue the Apache crew is estimateed to be about $1.2 million per drone, according to a report from Sacra, a market research firm. That cost is extraordinarily cheap relative to traditional, manned military vessels.
Artificial intelligence is used to analyze patterns of behavior detected by the sensors aboard the drones, which is then shared with commanders and ships operating in the region.
In addition to the Corsair used in the operation, Task Force 59 uses other notable unmanned surface drones including the T-38 Devil Ray and the Sail Drone.
The Devil Ray is a high-speed autonomously operated unmanned surface vessel that is mainly used to gather intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, according to its manufacturer.
In one exercise in 2024, it successfully fired live munitions at a training target.
The Sail Drone looks just like its name implies, it is an autonomous water platform topped by a sail that provides power through wind and solar energy, according to its manufacturer.
A network of Sail Drones can provide a clearer at-sea situational awareness in hostile environments, according to its manufacturer.
NYPD SRG officers push back a crowd outside of a watch party at Bryant Park for Game 3 of the NBA Finals between New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs on June 8, 2026 in New York City. (Adam Gray/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — While most New York Knicks fans remained peaceful following the home team’s first loss to the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Finals, police said some were arrested in clashes with law enforcement officers and for other rowdy behavior.
At least 21 people were arrested following Monday night’s Game 3 of the championship series played at Madison Square Garden, according to the New York Police Department (NYPD).
After the game, in which the Spurs broke the Knicks’ 13-game playoff winning streak, fans spilled out of a watch party in Manhattan’s Bryant Park and onto 42nd Street, where some allegedly turned violent.
The NYPD said that in the immediate aftermath of the game, several people allegedly threw beer bottles at or punched police officers, climbed on light poles and scaffolding, got into fistfights, and jumped on top of cars and taxi cabs.
Eight people were arrested on charges of assaulting police officers, criminal possession of a weapon, menacing, resisting arrest, and obstructing governmental administration, according to the NYPD. Thirteen others were issued criminal court summonses for disorderly conduct, the NYPD said.
Videos shared on social media showed some fans clashing with police officers, and other videos captured apparent Knicks fans attacking San Antonio fans on the streets, ripping off their Spurs jerseys.
One video showed NYPD officers wearing riot helmets escorting several people wearing Spurs jerseys to a taxi cab to protect them from a crowd yelling at them.
With President Donald Trump attending Monday night’s game, the NYPD and the Secret Service put Madison Square Garden on lockdown, creating a security perimeter around the Garden and only allowing fans with game tickets or a legitimate excuse to get close to the arena.
Earlier on Monday, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch announced that a fan watch party scheduled to occur outside of Madison Square Garden on Monday night was canceled, but other watch parties were scheduled around the city, including the one in Bryant Park.
Tisch said the watch party outside the Garden will resume for Game 4 on Wednesday night.
The Knicks lead the best-of-seven series two games to one in the team’s quest to win its first NBA championship since 1973.
“We will have no tolerance for violence, particularly violence against police officers, destruction of property, climbing on light poles or structures, blocking emergency vehicles or other chaotic behavior,” Tisch said at a Monday morning press conference.
An Air Canada plane is seen at Pearson International Airport on August 14, 2025 in Toronto, Canada. (Cole Burston/Getty Images)
(TORONTO) — An Air Canada pilot was arrested Monday after a probe discovered he had been allegedly flying hundreds of flights for at least 17 years without a proper license.
Canadian police officials outlined Geoffrey Wall’s alleged fraud, which they said, “read like a movie script.”
Since 2009, when Wall was promoted to captain, he has been flying with a fraudulent airline transport pilot license, the credential that would allow him to fly commercial airplanes as a captain, Peel Regional Police said.
Authorities compared Wall to a doctor who is licensed to practice family medicine marching into a hospital to perform brain surgery.
“Licensing requirements exist for a reason. They exist to keep people safe,” Deputy Chief Nick Milinovich of the Peel Regional Police said.
Wall’s arrest was part of a fraud investigation dubbed “Project Icarus,” which started after a random certification check done last year at Pearson International Airport in Toronto turned up “anomalies,” investigators said.
Wall, 59, of Barrie, Ontario, is no longer working with Air Canada, the airline said Monday night.
In a news release, Air Canada said it “takes this matter with utmost seriousness.”
“Safety was not compromised by this incident because all pilots at Air Canada undergo mandatory recurrent training every six months to validate their flying competency, including a flight check with a certified Transport Canada check-pilot every 12 months,” the airline said in a statement.
“However, appropriate licensing is an essential layer of the airline industry’s multi-layered approach to safety, so Air Canada takes this matter with utmost seriousness,” it added.
Wall is charged with fraud, public mischief and other offenses. He was released on his own recognizance and is due back in court later this month.
U.S. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) attends a press conference at the U.S. Capitol on May 20, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson are meeting at the White House on Tuesday as the deadline nears for Congress to reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
Their huddle comes as Trump’s choice of Bill Pulte to be acting director of national intelligence slows efforts on Capitol Hill to renew the controversial spy program by end of day Friday, or face the first-ever lapse in the program’s legal authorization.
Democrats in both chambers have signaled objections to Pulte, contending the director of the U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency does not have any national intelligence experience.
As he left the Capitol on Tuesday, Johnson told ABC News Correspondent Jay O’Brien that it’s up to the president to choose whoever he wants to run the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, rebuffing pressure to change course.
“Is it time for the president to change his mind on Bill Pulte as acting DNI?” ABC’s O’Brien asked Johnson.
“It’s the president’s prerogative,” Johnson answered. “I’m going over there right now to visit with him and his team about a number of items.”
At the top of that list is FISA’s Section 702, which allows the federal government to collect communications of foreigners abroad without a warrant, including when those people are communicating with Americans. The program has been fully reauthorized by Congress three times since the intelligence tool was created by law in 2008.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise told reporters that Trump and Johnson are meeting “to finalize this agreement on FISA.”
“FISA has been used time and time again to stop terrorist attacks here on our homeland on American soil to prevent terrorist attacks, and that’s a critical, critical tool that we need to renew,” Scalise said.
Johnson signaled that the House is waiting for the Senate to act on FISA, a feat that will require the bipartisan support of at least 60 senators.
“We passed FISA reauthorization in the House in April. It’s still sitting over in the Senate. They’re working on another compromise bill,” Johnson told ABC News. “We’ll pass what they send.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters on Tuesday that he believes Trump is “weighing seriously” naming a permanent nominee to serve as director of national intelligence as Pulte’s appointment stalls FISA movement on the Senate floor. Pulte can only serve on an acting basis for up to 210 days without Senate confirmation.
Thune said he has not spoken directly to Trump about Pulte but that he’s “been in contact with somebody over there that cares a lot about this.”
“I don’t think [it’s] about replacing Pulte,” Thune said when asked about what the White House might be considering as a next step. “I think they’re weighing seriously making a long-term pick.”
Pulte is best known in the Trump administration for launching probes into several of the president’s perceived political enemies over allegations of mortgage fraud and possible misuse of authority. Targets of the investigations include Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, New York Attorney General Letitia James, Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff and former Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell. They’ve all denied wrongdoing.
Before the president announced he was tapping Pulte to lead ODNI in the wake of Tulsi Gabbard’s resignation, a bipartisan group of lawmakers was coalescing toward passage of a three-year FISA reauthorization. But Democrats are now balking at a long-term extension over their objections to Pulte.
“This was a bipartisan, bicameral, four-corners deal that everybody had pretty much signed off on, and the naming of Pulte to that position, although the timing arguably wasn’t the best, I still don’t think it ought to derail something that’s this important,” Thune said last Friday.
Nick Reiner appears with Deputy Public Defender Kimberly Greene during his arraignment in Los Angeles County Superior Court on February 23, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Chris Torres-Pool/Getty Images)
(LOS ANGELES) — Nick Reiner says he needs money from his trust fund to help pay for his defense team, specifically to rehire famed defense attorney Alan Jackson, according to a new court filing. The petition alleges that Reiner is entitled to the funds in his trust, which were required to be released to him when he turned 30, something he claims did not happen.
Reiner, 32, was charged with the murders of his parents, renowned director Rob Reiner and his wife Michele Reiner, in December.
Reiner was previously represented by Jackson, but Jackson abruptly resigned from the case in January for reasons that were not shared at the time.
The petition alleges Reiner’s siblings, Jake and Romy Reiner, had initially agreed to pay Jackson’s fees, but in January, “Nick learned that Jackson and his firm were forced to withdraw because the anticipated funding did not materialize, and the Public Defender was appointed to take over Nick’s defense.”
It is not known why funding from Reiner’s siblings was unavailable.
“Since then, Nick has repeatedly asked that Jackson’s firm resume its representation if funds become available,” the petition states, adding that Jackson “has reaffirmed not only that he ‘stands ready, willing, and able to resume [his] representation,’ but that he is ‘committed to representing’ Nick and ‘willing to consider reasonable alternatives to the original fee arrangement.'”
“These are not estate assets, and Nick does not seek them from his parents’ estate,” the petition adds. “They are his own funds. Nick has no other means — to pay for his legal expenses, or for his basic support needs while incarcerated.”
The petition specifically notes that the trust in question was created for Reiner by his parents “more than 30 years ago, when Nick was an infant,” and that similar “children’s” trusts were also created for his siblings.
The petition argues that these children’s trusts were “funded independently” of the larger family trusts that hold the Reiner family’s estate, and that the terms of the independent trusts required one half to be paid out when the beneficiary turned 30, with the other half disbursed when they turned 35.
“Nick turned 30 on September 14, 2023 — more than two and a half years ago — at which point his right to one-half of the Trust vested and became due to him as a matter of right. But he did not receive his Mandatory Age-30 Distribution then, and he has not received it since,” the petition alleges.
The petition claims the “Current Trustee” overseeing Reiner’s independent trust “has offered a shifting series of excuses and justifications, none of which can be reconciled with the Trust’s plain terms — most recently, unsubstantiated ‘concerns’ about Nick’s so-called competence to ‘manage a trust.'”
It adds, “Nick loved his parents, and he is devastated by their deaths. But the facts about what did and did not happen to them are not at issue in this Trust litigation.”
Jackson told reporters in January that he “had to withdraw as Nick Reiner’s counsel” due to “circumstances beyond our control, but more importantly, circumstances beyond Nick’s control.”
“Sadly, it’s made it impossible for us to continue our representation of Nick,” Jackson said at the time.
Rob Reiner and Michele Reiner were found stabbed to death in their Brentwood home on Dec. 14, 2025. The night before their deaths, Nick Reiner — who had been living on his parents’ property at the time — got into an argument with Rob Reiner at a holiday party and was seen acting strangely, sources told ABC News in December.
Nick Reiner was taken into custody in downtown Los Angeles hours after the bodies were discovered. He was subsequently charged with two counts of first-degree murder with the special circumstance of multiple murders, to which he pleaded not guilty.
He remains in jail on no bail. His is scheduled to appear in court for a pretrial hearing in September.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct the description of the trust fund in question, which is an individual “children’s” trust and not a family trust.
Jeffrey Epstein is seen in a photo released by the New York State Division of Criminal Justice. (New York State Sex Offender Registry)
(NEW YORK) — The House Oversight Committee is conducting a closed-door interview Tuesday with a woman so ubiquitous in Jeffrey Epstein’s life that a search for her name in the Justice Department’s Epstein files returns more than 160,000 results.
Lesley Groff worked as an executive secretary to Epstein in New York for more than 18 years, and was once described by her boss as an “extension of my brain.”
Among her job requirements were scheduling Epstein’s frequent meetings with celebrities, scientists and politicians, booking Epstein’s daily massage appointments when he was in New York, and arranging travel for women linked to Epstein. She was one of four women listed as potential co-conspirators in Epstein’s controversial non-prosecution agreement in 2007.
According to federal prosecutors, “numerous victims [of Epstein] had indicated that she was responsible for scheduling massages during which they were sexually abused.”
Groff is appearing as part of the committee’s ongoing inquiry into the federal government’s handling of investigations into Epstein and his alleged co-conspirators, which to date has included interviews with former Attorney General Pam Bondi, Epstein’s longtime personal assistant Sarah Kellen, and a prison guard who was on duty the night Epstein died in his jail cell.
House Oversight Chairman James Comer said on his way in Tuesday morning that he believes Groff has “information that is very valuable to our investigation.”
“Hopefully, we’ll learn more today,” Comer said.
The chairman reiterated that the committee is conducting “the most thorough investigation ever of Epstein.”
“We’re bringing in the most important people in the whole Epstein criminal enterprise that are still alive, and hopefully we’ll get the truth to the American people. If there’s an opportunity for accountability, we sure want to see that happen,” he said.
Groff did not speak to reporters upon her arrival.
Last September at a press conference in front of the U.S. Capitol, Epstein survivor Marina Lacerda specifically called out Groff, alleging that Groff had called her so many times to go to Epstein’s place for a massage that she dropped out of high school before the ninth grade.
Lacerda — who was one of the key witnesses that led to Epstein’s 2019 indictment for child sex trafficking — told ABC News in an interview this week that Groff was the conduit to Epstein.
“Anything that had to do with Jeffrey Epstein, ” Lacerda told ABC News in an interview, “had to go through Lesley Groff.”
Through her attorneys, Groff has denied any knowledge of, or participation in, Epstein’s crimes.
Michael Bachner, a lawyer for Groff, declined comment in advance of her appearance on Capitol Hill. He previously told ABC News that Groff “never knowingly booked travel for anyone under the age of 18, and had no knowledge of the alleged illegal activity whatsoever.”
“Ms. Groff, a parent herself, is incredibly shocked and deeply upset about the alleged wrongdoings of Mr. Epstein,” Bachner said.
After Epstein’s arrest in July 2019, federal prosecutors included Groff in a list of potential co-conspirators and sent her a subpoena. Bachner informed the government, just four days after Epstein’s arrest, that his client “would invoke her Fifth Amendment privilege against compelled self-incrimination” if called to appear before a grand jury.
Groff, now 59, eventually interviewed with the investigators two years later, telling prosecutors that “making massage appointments was just another appointment she had to make” for Epstein, and said that scheduling massages was “around 1%” of her job.
Groff, who was hired by Epstein in 2001, told the FBI she was immediately struck by Epstein’s lifestyle and the company he kept, describing it as “pretty incredible to see all the people Epstein dealt with in politics, television, et cetera.”
“Groff felt, ‘Wow,'” according to an FBI account of her interview.
Groff was initially paid a salary of $60,000 a year, but saw it doubled to $120,000 by Epstein four years later, DOJ records show.
The New York Times reported in 2005 that Epstein bought Groff a new Mercedes and paid for a nanny to ensure she would keep working for him.
“There is no way that I could lose Lesley to motherhood,” Epstein said of Groff, according to the newspaper’s account.
Banking records included in the DOJ’s Epstein files indicate that Groff also received three payments of $100,000 and one for $110,000 from Epstein companies between 2016 and 2018, though the records do not indicate the reasons for the payments.
Bachner told the government that Groff stayed with Epstein after his first arrest in Florida in 2006 because she believed him when he said that “someone was trying to blackmail him.”
When he was again arrested in 2019, she resigned, her lawyer told prosecutors.
“She felt betrayed and disgusted once the indictment came out,” Bachner wrote.
According to documents released by the Justice Department in response to the passage of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, one victim — who was a minor at the time of her alleged abuse — told the FBI that she felt Groff “knew that the massage appointments were sexual” and “felt it was pretty obvious Lesley knew what was going on,” according to the DOJ records.
Federal prosecutors in 2021 informed Groff that she would not be charged, according to a statement from her attorneys.
“After a more than two-year investigation by the Department of Justice into Jeffrey Epstein’s conduct, which included lengthy interviews of witnesses and a thorough review of relevant communications, we have been informed that no criminal charges will be brought against Lesley Groff,” the statement said.
Lacerda said she hopes the congressional investigators press Groff for answers.
“I just think that she should be honest about it so that we can have some accountability here,” she said.
Oversight Committee member Rep. Suhas Subramanyam (D-Va.) said he’s heading into the interview with Groff already skeptical of her denials.
“She will argue that she didn’t know anything, but I find that to be hard to believe,” he said. “I think at best she was blissfully trying to be ignorant, but probably wasn’t.”
A vehicle belonging to Vance Boelter is towed from the alley behind his home on June 14, 2025 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Federal prosecutors will not seek the death penalty against Vance Boelter, the man charged in the 2025 fatal shooting of a Minnesota state representative and her husband, and another attack that left a second lawmaker and his wife wounded, according to a Department of Justice spokesperson.
Prosecutors declined to pursue the ultimate punishment against 58-year-old Boelter because a federal judge ruled earlier this year in an unrelated murder case that interstate stalking charges do not rise to the level to support a capital crime, officials said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
