Epstein files fight leads US House Republicans to start summer break a day early
WASHINGTON - The top Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives said on Thursday he would send lawmakers home a day early for a five-week summer recess to avoid a political fight over files on disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The move averts a push by Democrats and some Republicans for a vote on a bipartisan resolution to require the Justice Department and FBI to release all government documents on Epstein, who died by suicide in prison in 2019.
"What we refuse to do is participate in another one of the Democrats' political games. This is a serious matter. We are not going to let them use this as a political battering ram," House Speaker Mike Johnson, of Louisiana, told reporters.
Many of President Donald Trump's supporters who embraced a slew of conspiracy theories surrounding Epstein saw their hopes raised when the administration vowed to release a slew of new documents on the case, only to backtrack and say it had concluded that there was no evidence to support the theories.
That opened a rare breach between Trump and parts of his Make America Great Again base of support. Majorities of Americans and Trump's Republicans say they believed the government is hiding details on the case, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling.
On Monday, Democrats sought to use a House Rules Committee meeting to force a vote on the Epstein resolution introduced by Republican Representative Thomas Massie and Democratic Representative Ro Khanna. The panel serves as gatekeeper for floor-bound legislation. Republicans instead suspended the hearing, preventing the panel from approving bills for floor consideration this week.
The House had been expected to hold the week's final votes on Thursday. But House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, the chamber's No. 2 Republican, told reporters there would be votes on Tuesday and Wednesday for less important legislation considered under suspension of the rules.
A subcommittee of the House Oversight Committee voted to subpoena Ghislaine Maxwell, a British socialite and Epstein's longtime girlfriend, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence after being convicted of sex trafficking in 2021.
Under mounting pressure from Trump supporters for the release of material, Attorney General Pam Bondi has asked a federal judge to unseal grand jury transcripts in the cases of both Epstein and Maxwell, who was convicted in 2021 of five federal charges related to her role in Epstein's alleged sexual abuse of underage girls. REUTERS
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CNA
10 minutes ago
- CNA
Troubled waters: Chinese tycoon's US beverage plant bid sparks national security alarm
China's richest man, Zhong Shanshan, has come under scrutiny in the small northeastern US state of New Hampshire, home to just more than 1 million residents, over a plan to develop an industrial site in the state's second-largest city, Nashua. The controversy began in May when it emerged that a US subsidiary of Zhong's firm Nongfu Spring, NF North America, had quietly acquired a single-storey building on a 9.3ha industrial site in Nashua in January. The site had been abandoned for nearly 11 years, and the company planned to build a beverage plant and purchase the city's surplus water for its operations. 'Chinese billionaire wants NH water,' declared a local news headline that month. Zhong founded Nongfu Spring, now China's largest beverage company. His net worth is estimated at US$64 billion. Unlike earlier large Chinese investments that might have been unremarkable before China became synonymous with national security threats to US policymakers left and right, NF North America's prospects now appear uncertain. Likewise, similar deals, including battery giant Gotion, CATL's partnership with Ford, and agribusiness firm Fufeng, have been stalled entirely in recent years or face mounting scrutiny. As US President Donald Trump's trade team negotiates with Beijing in hopes of striking a deal by Aug 11 and easing tensions, the controversy over Nongfu Spring's property purchase in New Hampshire underscores the limits of such efforts. While a trade agreement may reduce tariff burdens, experts say it cannot resolve the deeper issue of political mistrust that continues to strain US-China relations. The US$67 million Nongfu purchase, more than four times the site's assessed value of US$15 million, quickly drew attention. The site's steep purchase price and location near critical infrastructure, including a watershed area that supplies drinking water for the city, defence contractor BAE Systems, and a federal aviation control centre, sparked concern among local residents and lawmakers. A bill restricting land sales near military installations to entities from 'foreign adversaries', including China, had previously stalled in the state's legislature. The Nongfu case, however, revived the issue's political momentum, spurring lawmakers to incorporate the measure into the state budget, which passed in June. The new law also grants the attorney general authority to seek forfeiture of any such property. Now, some state Republican leaders are calling for further scrutiny. They are pushing for both state-level enforcement and an investigation by the federal Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, also known as CFIUS - a US Treasury Department-led body able to review and possibly cancel this purchase on national security grounds. Meanwhile, plans to build a beverage plant on the site appear stalled. Some locals argue that selling surplus city water to a private company could lower public water bills. But the conversation in social media and local news reports has shifted to speculation over why a Chinese billionaire is interested in an abandoned property, fuelling rumours of a Chinese takeover of local water resources. According to Chris Pereira, CEO of iMpact, a New York-based consultancy that helps Chinese firms in their global operations, 'the fact that Zhong is China's richest man makes this story far more politically charged'. He said that in the current geopolitical environment, 'linking a major land acquisition to a prominent Chinese billionaire, especially one in a strategic sector like water, adds fuel to public scepticism and political posturing'. 'The price paid for the land only adds to the perception that 'something must be going on', even if the purchase is commercially justified,' Pereira added, saying these elements 'create an optics problem more than a substance problem'. The Nashua Planning Department told the South China Morning Post (SCMP) that the company's application to establish a beverage-manufacturing facility was withdrawn in late May, and no active or open application is under consideration. The city has emphasised that it was neither involved in nor informed about the property sale, as it was a private transaction. John Boisvert, CEO of Pennichuck Corp, a semi-private water company controlled by the city that serves about 40,000 customers using water from the Pennichuck watershed and the Merrimack River, said routine due diligence meetings were held by local authorities on the company's proposal to set up a plant and buy water from Pennichuck between October and December. After saying yes, though, Pennichuck has not heard back from NF North America on 'the next steps'. Boisvert said there has been a lot of misreporting on the issue, especially some claims about Nongfu trying to take over the Pennichuck water system. 'It was reported that, which is completely inaccurate, that we are selling ourselves to this company. It's not the case,' he told SCMP in an interview. Boisvert said Pennichuck has the capacity to sell surplus water to private investors who pay for necessary infrastructure, which could lower consumer costs, although there is no guarantee of bill reductions. The cost, 'in theory, could go down', he said. However, state Republican lawmakers argue that Nongfu has yet to address a number of unresolved questions. In a joint statement released on Jul 17, state Senators Kevin Avard and Regina Birdsell, co-sponsors of the bill to block Chinese entities from purchasing land near military installations, vowed to continue opposing the Nongfu deal. Birdsell said the latest case shows that 'our foreign adversaries are very interested in acquiring US land', adding that had her bill been passed last year, 'this purchase in Nashua would never have happened'. She pledged to 'continue bringing attention to this important matter so that our critical infrastructures are not compromised' and that all New Hampshire residents are 'safe from foreign threats'. Avard said 'there are many unanswered questions about this deal', and that he found it 'disconcerting that city officials in Nashua allowed this deal to be approved so quickly without a public conversation'. 'The land purchase is close to a number of defence contractors in our state, such as BAE in Nashua, and within 14 miles of the New Boston Space Force station,' he said, adding that military personnel from the US Space Force had come to 'Concord this year to testify about real attempts to steal intelligence in New Hampshire'. Avard appeared, in an opinion piece run by a local publication in June, to link the deal with possible agriculture terrorism, citing the arrest of two Chinese nationals in Michigan that month for allegedly smuggling what the US Justice Department called a 'dangerous biological pathogen'. 'Nashua is the first city to grant a domestic water contract to Nongfu Spring, with Nongfu announcing plans to expand aggressively in America by gaining access to our tap water for bottling operations,' he asserted. Avard also called on CFIUS 'to abrogate this contract that potentially threatens our national interests'. 'Any company subject to CCP (China's Communist Party) influence that has access to America's food or water supply ought to qualify for debarment,' he said, adding that he has not heard back from the investment review board. Avard has also criticised US Representative Maggie Goodlander, a Democrat who represents New Hampshire's Second District, which includes Nashua. Goodlander is married to Jake Sullivan, former US President Joe Biden's national security adviser. 'Goodlander is intent on criticising Trump's China tariffs and Trump's revocation of visas for Chinese students. Concern over selling access to our water supply? Crickets,' he wrote in his opinion piece. Neither Birdsell nor Avard responded to a request for comment from SCMP. Nongfu also did not respond over these concerns. No official website could be found for NF North America, though public records show the company is registered in Delaware. Last week, the Hodge twins, brothers Keith and Kevin Hodge - conservative commentators known as the 'Conservative Twins' with nearly 6.5 million followers on Facebook - also weighed in on the case through their social media channels. 'One of China's richest men, Zhong Shanshan, just bought US$67 million worth of New Hampshire land at FOUR TIMES its assessed value,' the post said. It asked why the 'CCP' was 'buying up land near critical US utilities and sensitive sites.' Their post lauded Avard and Birdsell for 'raising the alarm'. Some New Hampshire residents have been posting their concerns on social media groups as well, raising similar concerns about the company's alleged links to the CCP and calling for a reversal of the deal. This is not the first time a Chinese company has found itself at the eye of a storm in the US. In 2022, a Chinese agribusiness project was cancelled despite CFIUS clearance because it was close to a military facility. Two battery plants by a US subsidiary of China's Gotion have been mired in legal troubles because of public and political opposition in Michigan and Illinois. The battery plants became an election issue last year, with then-vice-presidential candidate JD Vance himself conducting a rally in the town where the plant is proposed to be built. Trump has also opposed the project despite telling foreign companies to build factories in the US to avoid tariffs. 'I think it's possible that Nongfu becomes the next casualty in a pattern that's becoming more common. Even if there's no wrongdoing, the risk of politicisation alone can delay, derail, or discourage a project entirely,' Pereira said. For Nongfu, he added, 'this could mean shelving or re-routing its US expansion plans, or rethinking how it enters foreign markets more broadly.' 'Companies like Nongfu will increasingly need to invest not just in factories, but in local trust-building, public engagement, and strategic communications; otherwise their investments may never get off the ground, no matter how commercially viable they are,' Pereira said. A survey of 100 Chinese companies by the China General Chamber of Commerce in April found widespread pessimism about future investment in the US under the second Trump administration. The companies identified a wide range of expected challenges to their US operations this year and next, with 90 per cent citing the stalemate in bilateral political and cultural relations, 73 per cent pointing to frictions in economic and trade ties, and 60 per cent flagging restrictive US foreign investment policies. Even as the US and China agreed at trade talks in Sweden this week to seek an extension of their 90-day tariff truce while pledging to continue to talk to address their differences, Pereira said that 'a trade deal may help ease tariff burdens, but it's unlikely to solve the deeper issue, which is political trust, or lack thereof'. 'What we're seeing now isn't primarily about trade policy', he added, saying the Nongfu case 'illustrates that the challenges are now more reputational and political than transactional'.

Straits Times
40 minutes ago
- Straits Times
Thailand accuses Cambodia of second ceasefire violation in two days
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Soldiers load supplies onto a vehicle after a relief donation ceremony in Oddar Meanchey province on the day military negotiations are set after the leaders of Cambodia and Thailand agreed to a truce effective midnight Monday, ending their deadliest conflict in more than a decade after five days of fierce fighting, in Cambodia, July 29, 2025. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY BANGKOK - Thailand's military accused Cambodian forces on Wednesday of breaching a ceasefire agreement at three separate locations along the disputed border, warning that continued aggression could compel Thai forces to respond more decisively. The allegations come less than two days after both governments agreed to a ceasefire brokered in Malaysia, which came into effect at midnight on Monday, aimed to stop fighting and prevent escalation of their deadliest conflict in more than a decade following five days of intense fighting that has killed at least 43 people and displaced over 300,000 civilians on either side. The truce came after a sustained push from Malaysian Premier Anwar Ibrahim and U.S. President Donald Trump, with the latter warning Thai and Cambodian leaders that trade negotiations would not progress if fighting continued. Thailand and Cambodia face a tariff of 36% on their goods in the U.S., their biggest export market, unless a reduction can be negotiated. After the ceasefire deal was reached, Trump said he had spoken to both leaders and instructed his trade team to restart tariff talks. On Wednesday, Thailand said Cambodian forces fired on positions in northeastern Thailand's Sisaket province on Cambodia's northern border. "Cambodian forces used small arms and grenade launchers, prompting Thailand to respond in self-defence," Thai army spokesman Major-General Winthai Suvaree told reporters. "This was the second incident since the agreement and reflects a behaviour that does not respect agreements, destroys de-escalation efforts and hampers trust between the two countries." Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Business S'pore's Q2 total employment rises, but infocomm and professional services sectors see more job cuts Singapore Fewer than 1 in 5 people noticed suspicious items during MHA's social experiments Business Seatrium to pay $168m to Brazilian authorities, $73m to Singapore authorities to settle corruption case Singapore Migrant workers who gave kickbacks to renew work passes were conservancy workers at AMK Town Council Asia Japan issues tsunami warning after 8.8-magnitude earthquake strikes off Russia Singapore Man charged with having 320 vape pods and over 70 vapes meant for sale in car at Bugis mall Business MAS keeps Singapore dollar policy unchanged amid US tariff risks to economy Singapore Escape, discover, connect: Where new memories are made Cambodia rejected the allegations, saying it was committed to the ceasefire and called for observers. "Cambodia strongly rejects the ceasefire accusations as false, misleading and harmful to the fragile trust-building process," Cambodian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Chum Sounry told reporters at a press conference, adding the government supports a monitoring mechanism and independent observation. The ceasefire, which also agreed to halt troop movement, paves the way for a high-level military meeting that includes defence ministers on August 4 in Cambodia. There have been no reports of any exchange of heavy artillery fire but also no reports of troop withdrawals by either side. REUTERS


AsiaOne
an hour ago
- AsiaOne
Trump administration asks judges to release Epstein, Maxwell grand jury transcripts, World News
NEW YORK — Donald Trump's administration urged two judges on Tuesday (July 29) night to release testimony heard by the grand juries that indicted the late financier Jeffrey Epstein and British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell on sex trafficking charges as the president seeks to calm an uproar over his administration's handling of the matter. The Justice Department first sought court permission on July 18 to make public transcripts of the confidential testimony given by witnesses years ago in the two cases, but Manhattan-based US District Judges Richard Berman and Paul Engelmayer asked the government to flesh out the legal bases for the requests. In a pair of court filings just before midnight, prosecutors said unsealing the materials would be appropriate given the "abundant public interest" in the Epstein case and persistent scrutiny of how it was handled by federal law enforcement. The Epstein case has been at the centre of conspiracy theories for years. Trump has faced pressure in recent months to make public documents from the federal investigations into Epstein and Maxwell. Epstein hanged himself in jail in 2019, an autopsy concluded, while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges brought by federal prosecutors. He had pleaded not guilty. Maxwell, Epstein's longtime girlfriend, was convicted in 2021 on sex trafficking charges and is serving a 20-year prison sentence in Florida. Maxwell had pleaded not guilty and is now asking the US Supreme Court to overturn her conviction. Trump said this month he had asked Attorney General Pam Bondi to seek the release of grand jury transcripts in the two cases. The president did so after the Justice Department said it concluded that Epstein died by suicide and that there was no incriminating list of his clients. The Justice Department's announcement angered some of Trump's conservative supporters who believe the government is covering up Epstein's ties to the rich and powerful and that the financier was murdered in jail. Grand juries are convened by prosecutors and meet in secret to hear witness testimony and decide whether to indict people suspected of crimes. Records of their proceedings usually remain sealed. There are only limited circumstances under which such transcripts can be disclosed. Even if one or both of the judges allow the transcripts to be made public, it is not clear whether the public would learn anything new or noteworthy. Maxwell's four-week trial in 2021 included public testimony from alleged sex trafficking victims, associates of Epstein and Maxwell, and law enforcement officers. The transcripts also would not represent all the previously unreleased material in the government's possession. Investigators and prosecutors may pursue leads that they cannot substantiate or interview potential witnesses whom they do not ultimately call to testify before a grand jury. US District Judge Robin Rosenberg in Florida on July 23 denied the administration's request to unseal records from grand jury investigations in 2005 and 2007 in that state into Epstein. The judge found that the request did not fall into any of the limited exceptions that may allow for the release of such material. Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to a prostitution charge brought under Florida law and was given a 13-month sentence in a deal with prosecutors now widely regarded as too lenient. Deputy US Attorney General Todd Blanche, Trump's former personal lawyer, last week met with Maxwell for two days to see if she had any information about others who had committed crimes. Maxwell's lawyer David Markus and Blanche have not provided detailed accounts of their discussions. [[nid:720547]]