110719 Noon
Governor Kim Reynolds spoke this morning with the task force she’s assembled to come up with a series of criminal justice reforms, according to Radio Iowa.
The group’s first meeting comes in the same week as more than 400 inmates in Oklahoma were released after that state’s governor commuted their sentences. In 2016, Oklahoma voters approved a referendum that reduced the sentences for simple drug possession and low-level property crimes. Oklahoma’s governor signed a bill earlier this year that retroactively reduced the sentences for those already in prison for those offenses.
Sen. Chuck Grassley doesn't agree with calls from President Donald Trump and other Republicans to reveal the identity of the whistleblower who first reported concerns about Trump's dealings with the Ukrainian president.
Grassley, who wrote significant portions of federal whistleblower laws, says they ensure anonymity for whistleblowers and should be followed.
Grassley told reporters in a call Wednesday that it's important not to reveal the identity of intelligence agency whistleblowers because it could endanger them.
He says the whistleblower is less important now that documents have been released of the call that led the U.S. House to begin an impeachment inquiry into whether Trump sought favors from the Ukrainian president that would help Trump's re-election campaign.
Runoff into the Missouri River above Sioux City may no longer be expected to reach record levels, but releases from the river's reservoirs will continue an at above-normal rate.
