A registered sex offender has launched a Fresno City Council campaign to represent District 7, which includes Old Fig Garden, East Central Fresno, and parts of Southeast Fresno.

He would join a crowded field vying for the seat when Councilman Nelson Esparza's term runs out.

"I believe Fresno deserves leaders who are honest from the very beginning, not the end. Going into this, I am putting my life out there," says Rene Campos, potential City Council candidate.

Upfront about his status as a registered sex offender, Campos is not running from his past as he runs for office.

"I've been given a chance to rehabilitate through the courts and go back into the system," he said.

Charged with being in possession of child sex abuse material back in 2018, the Fresno native says he pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge.

Now launching his campaign to represent District 7 on the Fresno City Council, he says his focus is on safety.

"They say let's choose somebody outside the box, somebody who knows the system from the inside out, because me, I've experienced the laws that we are trying to reform right now," says Campos.

Fresno County Clerk and Registrar of Voters James Kus says state law does not prevent a registered sex offender from running for office.

"Once you leave prison, you're on probation, you actually are allowed in California to reapply and become a registered voter again, which would then make you eligible to run as long as you're living in the proper jurisdiction," says Kus.

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Campos looks to enter a growing field of people vying for the seat, while another candidate says he shouldn't join the race.

"I think it should be a disqualification to serve in public office. If I'm the next councilmember in District 7 and I can't show up to a school site, how can I best represent the people in the neighborhoods I want to serve?" says Nav Gurm, potential City Council candidate.

Each candidate brings a different background and focus to the race. AJ Rassamni, a businessman who says homelessness is his priority.

"I never thought I was going to be in politics. However, I'm a business owner. I'm a community advocate, and I'm a problem solver," says Rassamni.

Gurm, endorsed by Mayor Jerry Dyer and the firefighters' union, says he represents the next generation of leadership.

"There's a lot of basic amenities that our neighborhoods deserve, and quite frankly need, and that's why I'm running," says Gurm.

Ariana Martinez Lott, a mother, is calling for more investment in neighborhoods.

"I don't have political aspirations. I am running to continue the work that we have been doing here locally as residents in our city," says Martinez Lott.

Campos has not yet filed for the office. He and the other candidates have until March 6 to submit their paperwork.

The primary election is the first Tuesday in June.

For news and weather updates, follow Brisa Colón on Facebook, X and Instagram.

WASHINGTON — Republican Rep. Nancy Mace plans to force a House vote next week on her resolution to release sexual misconduct and harassment reports involving members of Congress, she told NBC News on Wednesday.

The South Carolina congresswoman’s resolution would require the House Ethics Committee to release all sexual misconduct or harassment reports involving members or their staffers.

She introduced it after numerous outlets, including NBC News, revealed that GOP Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, sent sexually explicit text messages to a former aide with whom he allegedly had an affair. The aide later died by suicide and an attorney for her husband confirmed the authenticity of the texts to NBC News.

Gonzales denied last year that he had an affair with the aide and has suggested he is a victim of blackmail by the widower and of a a political attack as he faces a competitive primary March 3 in Texas.

He has been defiant, telling reporters, “I will not resign.”

When asked Tuesday whether the affair allegations were true, he responded: “What you’ve seen is not all the facts and there’ll be ample time for all of that.”

Asked about the text messages, Gonzales did not address them, instead saying he would not resign.

Mace said that she has been in contact with the parliamentarian about her resolution and that she has one tweak to make before she can file it as “privileged.” She is planning to make that motion March 4.

Once she does, the House Republican leadership will have two legislative days before it must schedule a floor vote. That could be a vote on Mace’s resolution itself — which would put members on the record on releasing sexual harassment and assault reports involving colleagues — or another vote to table the legislation or send it to committee.

Mace expressed doubt about whether enough lawmakers would vote in support of her resolution.

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“When are we going to start policing our own? We haven’t done that yet because both sides protect each other from embarrassment,” she said.

The Office of Congressional Conduct, a nonpartisan and independent body, has conducted and completed an investigation into Gonzales, as NBC News previously reported. It is expected to send its findings to the House Ethics Committee next week. It’s unclear whether the House Ethics Committee has opened its own probe into the Gonzales allegations.

Mace has called for Gonzales to resign, joining a handful of other House Republicans in doing so — many of them fellow GOP women.

Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., told reporters that Gonzales was a “disgusting pig,” as she left the Capitol on Wednesday. She added that House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., “should do something about it.”

Johnson, who is contending with a razor-thin majority, has called the allegations “serious” but said it’s up to Gonzales to address the issue with his constituents.

Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, meanwhile, said that stepping down “would be the stupidest thing he could ever do” when asked by NBC News about the resignation calls.

“Does it look good? No. I don’t like the appearance of it,” Nehls said. “He’s got a problem here. Don’t get me wrong, the optics are horrible, but I would in no way ever resign right now.”

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., is among those backing Mace’s effort and said Tuesday: “I don’t think he brings honor to the House of Representatives and if I had the votes tomorrow, I’d kick him out of office.”

Luna has also taken aim at a congressional fund that members can use to cover sexual harassment or workplace discrimination claims, as allowed under the Congressional Accountability Act.

“Congressional ethics is a joke. They have so much dirt on members of Congress, and they do nothing,” she wrote on X. “There is even a slush fund they use to pay people off with your tax dollars. ... It pisses me off because while some of us are actually working and busting our asses, these clowns are sexually harassing their own staff, doing illegal crap, insider trading etc.”

Mace told NBC News she’d be “fine” with expelling Gonzales, but also said: “My problem is that we don’t do it for everybody.”

“This is a good old boys club, and women that come to work on the Hill need to be respected, whether you’re a member of Congress and a female or you’re a female staffer,” she said. “We all should be treated with respect and with dignity and professionalism, and it shouldn’t be about a quid pro quo or sexual advances. You can’t be doing that, and we’ve got to police our own in order to restore trust in the institution.”

Mace has shared personal stories about being sexually assaulted and was one of the Republicans who helped force the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files.

Last year, Mace tried to force a vote on censuring another Republican — Rep. Cory Mills of Florida — who was accused of misconduct against women.

Mills allegedly threatened to release sexually explicit videos and images of a former girlfriend, according to a police report obtained by NBC News. A federal judge granted a restraining order against Mills that was requested by the woman. Mills denied wrongdoing and the speaker has also stood by him.

Mace’s resolution against Mills failed, but eight Republicans voted in support of it; six of them women.

Johnson’s handling of these allegations surrounding some of the male lawmakers has deeply frustrated some of the Republican women in the conference.

“We sweep everything under the rug,” Mace told NBC’s Tom Llamas on Tuesday evening. “I understand due process and all of that, but at some point, people have to be accountable.”

“Everyone on the Hill has known this has been going on for months now,” she said of the Gonzales allegations, “and no action has been taken.”

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com

Two Republican congresswomen who viewed the unredacted Jeffrey Epstein files say the documents show that some of the names blacked out in the public files include co-conspirators “claiming to be victims.”

“Some of the people that are in the most egregious redactions are claiming to be victims, and I don’t think that they’re victims if you’re engaging in child sex trafficking,” Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Tex., told Pablo Manriquez of the anti-Trump media company MeidasTouch.

Luna, who sits on the House Oversight Committee investigating the Epstein case, said the files also revealed that Epstein co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell is a “monster.”

Maxwell, who was moved to a cushy prison camp over the summer, following an interview with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, declined to answer questions from House lawmakers in a deposition Monday.

She indicated that if President Donald Trump ended her prison sentence, she was willing to testify that neither he nor former President Bill Clinton had done anything wrong in their connections with Epstein.

“According to the files we all saw, she was engaged in trafficking and also rape of young women, and potentially children,” Luna said. “I don’t think she deserves special treatment. She’s a monster.”

Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., who also sits on the House Oversight Committee, came to the same conclusion as Luna after viewing the unredacted files.

“I think there are folks who are definitely implicated and co-conspirators … I don’t think everyone there that was talking about underage girls being trafficked are victims," she said.

Asked by Manriquez if she believes Maxwell deserves leniency, Boebert replied, “I do not. I think Ghislaine Maxwell should get more time and she should definitely be in a harsher prison than what she’s in. Absolutely disgusting.”

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California’s sanctuary policies are under renewed scrutiny after Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested nine previously convicted sex offenders in Los Angeles, accusing state officials of releasing thousands of criminal migrants instead of honoring federal detainer requests.

ICE said Wednesday the nine individuals – all convicted of sex crimes – were taken into custody during a targeted operation aimed at removing dangerous offenders from local communities.

All nine "will face justice for their crimes and will be removed from the United States, never to terrorize our communities again," the agency said.

Since Jan. 20, 2025, ICE said California has declined to honor 4,561 immigration detainers on criminal illegal immigrants, releasing offenders – including murderers and sex offenders – back into communities instead of transferring them to federal custody.

Ice Arrests Convicted Pedophiles, Violent Assailants As Trump Meets With Angel Families

The agency added that it currently has more than 33,000 active detainers lodged in California’s local, state and federal jails and urged officials to cooperate so dangerous offenders can be removed from the U.S.

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"ICE isn’t going to stand idly by while criminal illegal alien sex offenders roam Los Angeles or any other community," ICE Director Todd M. Lyons said. "We’re here to enforce the law so we can protect our families, friends and neighbors – and by taking child rapists and other sexual predators like these nine off the streets, we can prevent recidivism and make an immediate difference in public safety."

Trump’s ‘Total Elimination’ Strategy Paved Way For Fall Of Cartel Kingpin ‘El Mencho’

Local authorities released Juan Parra Gomez, 39, before ICE could lodge a detainer after he was sentenced to two years in prison for having sexual intercourse with a child, the agency said. Agents later arrested him in the community. He also faces a pending vandalism charge.

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In another case, ICE said it issued a detainer for Lucas Rendon-Hernandez, 37, who was convicted of arranging to meet with a child and sentenced to three days in jail. Officials declined to honor it and released him, requiring agents to arrest him at large.

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ICE also arrested Jose Montero Pena, 73, who was sentenced to 288 days in jail for lewd acts with a child under 14, and Amadeo Castellanos-Urbano, 50, who received 12 years in prison for lewd acts and continuous sexual abuse of a child.

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Among the others taken into custody were Andres Sanchez Ortiz, 53, sentenced to 16 years in prison for sexual abuse with additional convictions for attempted kidnapping and driving under the influence; Feliciano Olivares, 49, sentenced to 18 years for lewd acts with a child; Daniel Bran Rivas, 30, sentenced to nine years for rape and oral copulation by force; and Luis Alfonso Juarez, 60, sentenced to 18 years for continuous sexual abuse and lewd acts involving a child under 14.

Original article source: California sanctuary policies blamed after ICE arrests 9 sex offenders in Los Angeles

U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales said this week he will not resign as questions continue to swirl over sexually explicit text messages and an alleged affair with a former staff member.

“I am not going to resign. I work every day. I work every day for the people of Texas,” Gonzales said Tuesday, declining to answer questions about the messages.

The allegations involve Regina Santos-Aviles, a former staffer. Uvalde police have said Santos-Aviles died by suicide last year.

The controversy comes as several Republican members of Congress have called for Gonzales to step down. However, House Speaker Mike Johnson has not joined those calls.

“We don’t leap to conclusions whether you’re talking about Republicans or Democrats in regard to legal processes,” Johnson said Wednesday.

Jon Taylor, a political science professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio, said it is not surprising House leadership has refrained from urging Gonzales to resign, citing the GOP’s narrow majority.

“He thinks he’s not guilty, he thinks he has not done anything wrong,” Taylor said of Gonzales. Taylor added that Gonzales has pointed to an ongoing investigation by the House Ethics Committee and has urged critics to wait for its findings.

Gonzales is facing three Republican challengers in the primary: Brandon Herrera, Francisco “Quico” Canseco and Keith Barton.

Taylor said Herrera appears to be Gonzales’ strongest challenger and predicted the race could head to a runoff.

“Brandon Herrera has raised a decent amount of money, a lot more money than he raised in 2024, when he only lost to Gonzales in a runoff by a little over 400 votes,” Taylor said.

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Taylor said the controversy could also create an opportunity for Democrats if the Republican nominee emerges weakened.

“Whoever wins that nomination, I think is poised — especially if Gonzales ends up being so damaged he’s not viewed as electable — when you now essentially have an open seat, that becomes a Democratic pickup opportunity and they will take advantage of that,” Taylor said.

Still, Taylor said Gonzales could survive the scandal, even depending on what the ethics investigation reveals.

“Could he survive this scandal? The answer is he could,” Taylor said. “This is not 20 or 30 years ago where if something similar like this happened, he’d be gone instantly and we’d never hear from him again.”

The Republican Party of Bexar County declined to comment on the allegations, saying it would wait until the investigation is complete.

Gonzales’ office did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A North Dakota judge has said he will order Greenpeace to pay damages expected to total $345 million in connection with protests against the Dakota Access oil pipeline from nearly a decade ago, a figure the environmental group contends it cannot pay.

In court papers filed Tuesday, Judge James Gion said he would sign an order requiring several Greenpeace entities to pay the judgment to pipeline company Energy Transfer. He set that amount at $345 million last year in a decision that reduced a jury's damages by about half, but his latest filing didn't specify a final amount.

The long-awaited order is expected to launch an appeal process in the North Dakota Supreme Court from both sides.

Last year, a nine-person jury found Netherlands-based Greenpeace International, Greenpeace USA and funding arm Greenpeace Fund Inc. liable for defamation and other claims brought by Dallas-based Energy Transfer and subsidiary Dakota Access.

The jury found Greenpeace USA liable on all counts, including conspiracy, trespass, nuisance and tortious interference. The other two entities were found liable for some of the claims.

The lawsuit stems from the pipeline protests in 2016 and 2017, when thousands of people demonstrated and camped near the project’s Missouri River crossing upstream of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s reservation. The tribe has long opposed the pipeline as a threat to its water supply.

Damages totaled $666.9 million, divided in different amounts among the three Greenpeace organizations before the judge reduced the judgment. Greenpeace USA's share of that judgment was $404 million.

Energy Transfer previously said it intends to appeal the reduced damages, calling the original jury findings and damages “lawful and just.” The Associated Press emailed the company for comment on the judge's Tuesday action.

In a financial filing made late last year, Greenpeace USA said it doesn’t have the money to pay the $404 million ordered by the jury “or to continue normal operations if the judgment is enforced.” The group said it had cash and cash equivalents of $1.4 million and total assets of $23 million as of Dec. 31, 2024.

Greenpeace declined to comment on the judge's Tuesday filing, but Greenpeace USA interim general counsel Marco Simons reiterated that the organization couldn't afford the judgment.

“As mid-sized nonprofits, it has always been clear that we would not have the ability to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in damages," Simons said Wednesday.

Simons added that the case is far from over and expressed optimism about the group's planned appeal.

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“These claims never should have reached a jury, and there are many possible legal grounds for appeal – including a lack of evidence to support key findings and valid concerns about the possibility of ensuring fairness,” Simons said.

Greenpeace has said the lawsuit is meant to use the courts to silence activists and critics and chill First Amendment rights. The pipeline company has said the lawsuit is about Greenpeace not following the law, not free speech.

At trial, an attorney for Energy Transfer said Greenpeace orchestrated plans to stop the pipeline’s construction, including organizing protesters, sending blockade supplies and making untrue statements about the project.

Attorneys for the Greenpeace entities said there was no evidence to the company's claims and that Greenpeace employees had little or no involvement in the protests and the organizations had nothing to do with Energy Transfer’s delays in construction or refinancing.