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Fox News
4 hours ago
- Politics
- Fox News
Dem governor's buried cocaine investigation docs hit with official inquiry as questions swirl over Senate run
More than three decades after Maine's Democratic Gov. Janet Mills avoided releasing approximately 6,000 pages of case files pertaining to the federal investigation into her alleged cocaine use, the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) is seeking those very documents. The NRSC submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in April 2025, attempting to release the files relating to her suspected cocaine use trial amid suspicion that Democrats were recruiting her to jump into the state's Senate race. While NARA initially told the NRSC they would review the request, they later claimed 3,000 pages of the files were under FOIA exemption, which preserves the secrecy of grand jury testimony. The NRSC is now appealing the denial of those records, citing public interest in the case. Fox News Digital first reported last month on the newly unearthed memo that contradicts Mills' claim that an investigation into her alleged cocaine use was politically motivated. Fox News Digital has learned that approximately 3,195 documents that did not fall under the FOIA exemption required a wait time of 11 years to process. However, in 1992, Mills submitted her own FOIA request for the same documents. A newspaper article from the Ellsworth American reported that Mills got a response that NARA was "too busy" to process her request at the time. When asked if she would make the documents publicly available if she received them, Mills told the outlet, "I'd first have to see what was in it." Fox News Digital has not found a record of Mills releasing those documents, and Fox News Digital reached out to Mills's office but did not receive a response. In early 1990, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Maine, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and Maine's Bureau of Intergovernmental Drug Enforcement (BIDE) investigated Mills, then a sitting district attorney in Maine, after a drug suspect accused her of using cocaine. The investigation was eventually dropped without charges being filed. Mills has maintained that the investigation never had any merit and that she was politically targeted for her Democratic affiliation and criticism of BIDE. In 1990, she and two other district attorneys in Maine criticized BIDE for inflating arrest numbers through excessive enforcement of low-level drug offenders. "It's scary," Mills told the Portland Press Herald in November 1991. "Maine apparently has a secret police force at work that can ruin the reputation of any who opposes it." A March 1995 memorandum from the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Professional Responsibility addressed to the deputy attorney general – Merrick Garland was serving as the principal associate deputy attorney general – and unearthed by Fox News Digital, refutes Mills' claim. It revealed that there was no misconduct by federal or state authorities investigating her case. According to the DOJ memo, WCSH-TV reported in December 1990 that Mills was being investigated by a federal grand jury for drug use, citing law enforcement sources. Mills later sued that reporter for libel and slander. The report also prompted Mills' attorney to demand a grand jury investigation, arguing that "the press received leaks from BIDE law enforcement officials." The results of the libel and slander suit are no longer available. The docket for the case showed that the records were disposed of in 2015 in accordance with policy. However, a 1991 Lewiston Sun-Journal article appears to state that the effort to "end drug probe rumors" was thrown out by a judge. Earlier this month, Mills was confronted in Washington, D.C., about her alleged cocaine use, Fox News Digital exclusively reported, in an exchange where she said, "What the f---?" when asked if "sniffing cocaine at work" is a "human right." Longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins is up for re-election in 2026, and with Mills' governorship term limited next year, she would be a competitive Democratic candidate to challenge Collins. Mills indicated in April that she did not "plan to run for another office," but admitted that "things change week to week, month to month," leaving the door open to a potential Senate bid.
Miami Herald
2 days ago
- Politics
- Miami Herald
Ex-Obama official files request for Epstein files. ‘People deserve the truth'
An ex-official from former President Barack Obama's administration is seeking the release of the Epstein files. Norm Eisen, who served as Obama's ethics czar, filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, asking the Department of Justice to turn over documents related to Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender who died in prison in 2019. 'The American people deserve the truth — not a government willing to refashion our democracy to shield one man from accountability,' Eisen said in a July 28 news release from the Democracy Defenders Fund (DDF), a watchdog group he founded, which submitted the requests. The appeal for disclosure comes as President Donald Trump's administration has been dogged by controversy surrounding Epstein. It began in early July, when the Department of Justice issued a memo stating that no so-called 'client list' exists and that Epstein died by suicide in his New York cell — a move that led many Americans to believe a cover-up had taken place, polls show. Since then, a number of news reports have shed light on Trump's past relationship with Epstein, who once described himself as Trump's 'closest friend.' On July 17, the Wall Street Journal alleged Trump wrote a 'bawdy' birthday letter to Epstein in 2003, in which he said, 'may every day be another wonderful secret.' And, on July 23, the newspaper reported that DOJ officials had previously told Trump he was named included in the Epstein files. In response, the president and administration officials labeled both stories as 'fake,' and Trump has sued the newspaper's publisher for defamation. Trump has also asserted he is being subject to a 'witch hunt.' Around the same time, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard accused Obama of orchestrating a 'treasonous conspiracy' involving the manipulation of intelligence on Russian interference in the 2016 election. Critics, including Eisen, described this as an attempt to distract from the Epstein controversy. Here is what to know about Eisen's FOIA request. The FOIA request filed by the DDF asks for the DOJ to disclose any documents related to Epstein that reference Trump. 'It is now widely reported that President Trump is indeed included in the Epstein files, and that he knows it,' Eisen said in the news release. 'That makes our request for these records more urgent than ever.' Specifically, the request calls for the release of any internal communications between DOJ officials concerning their handling of any references to the president. It asks for 'any communications…discussing or explaining the process of how department officials should approach or address references to Donald Trump or Mar-a-Lago appearing in any files related to the Jeffrey Epstein or Ghislaine Maxwell cases, including any communications that describe how to flag, categorize, or memorialize mentions of President Trump.' Sen. Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, previously said that his office had received information that FBI officials had been instructed to sift through thousands of Epstein-related materials and 'flag' any records that named Trump. This is also not the first time DDF has sought the disclosure of material related to Epstein. On July 22, the organization filed several similar FOIA requests. A FOIA request is a formal appeal made to a federal agency to access government documents or information that is not publicly available. The process was established by the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), enacted in 1966. Agencies are required by law to release any requested information, though there are some exceptions, including information related to national security and personal privacy. Processing times vary depending on the request, though some can be filed on an expedited basis — as the DDF's requests were. The DDF, the White House and the Justice Department did not immediately responded to requests for comment from McClatchy News. When asked by a reporter on July 27 whether a newly announced U.S.-E.U. trade deal was at attempt to move on from the Epstein controversy, Trump said, 'You got to be kidding me.'
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Obama Official Files Bombshell Demand for Epstein Files and Secret Trump Messages
One of President Donald Trump's most persistent legal foes is going after the Epstein files. Norm Eisen—the former White House ethics chief under former President Barack Obama and a longtime critic of Trump—has filed a sweeping Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request demanding the Justice Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation hand over any files related to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein that may reference the former president. 'The govt's credibility is hanging by a thread—& now they're pushing a lie the MAGA base isn't even buying!' Eisen wrote on X. 'We filed FOIAs to find the truth, because the Epstein files are real, & so is the Trump regime's threat to democracy.' 'The public needs to know what these files say about the most powerful man in the world—and what Trump's appointees in government, such as Bove, Bondi, and FBI Director Kash Patel, knew and when they knew it," Eisen added in a Substack post. The president has faced a revolt among his conspiracy-minded supporters since the Justice Department and FBI concluded in a July 6 memo that Epstein died by suicide while awaiting trial in prison, rather than being murdered, and that no 'client list' of wealthy co-conspirators exists. The news has sparked a backlash and calls for Attorney General Pam Bondi to resign. 'Trump, of course, wants us to talk about anything but this,' he said. Earlier this month, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard accused Obama of cooking up intelligence on Russian election interference in a 'treasonous conspiracy' against Trump, which critics have assailed as a thinly veiled attempt to distract from the controversy. Filed through Eisen's watchdog group, the States United Democracy Defenders Fund, the bombshell request requests any Epstein-related documents that have been reviewed by Bondi, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, FBI Director Kash Patel, and FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino. Eisen's FOIA filing also asks for any internal communications between Bondi and associates that discuss how to 'approach or address references to Donald Trump or Mar-a-Lago' and materials produced in any meetings in which the case was discussed. Bondi told Trump earlier this year that his name appears in the materials. Trump has denied she did so. The DOJ has so far refused to comment on the matter. Eisen has been a persistent Trump foe: He filed one of the first emoluments lawsuits against the president and served as special counsel for the Judiciary Committee during his first impeachment, writing an insider account about the proceedings, A Case for the American People. Eisen, a co-founder of the nonpartisan watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), has spent years scrutinizing Trump's business entanglements, foreign profits, and alleged abuses of power. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The DOJ declined to comment.
Washington Post
5 days ago
- General
- Washington Post
Ukraine cat memorizes route from bomb shelter to apartment
Everything you need to know about FOIA: How to be a journalist December 14, 2017
Fox News
6 days ago
- Politics
- Fox News
Trump DOJ sues New York City over long-standing sanctuary immigration policies
The Justice Department is suing New York City over its sanctuary policies, as the Trump administration targets jurisdictions that refuse to cooperate with immigration authorities as it continues to ramp up deportation raids. The lawsuit filed in a New York federal court names New York City Mayor Eric Adams and several other city officials as defendants. The lawsuit claims the city has enacted policies with the intent of impeding the federal government's ability to enforce immigration laws. "New York City has long been at the vanguard of interfering with enforcing this country's immigration laws," the lawsuit states. "Its history as a sanctuary city dates back to 1989, and its efforts to thwart federal immigration enforcement have only intensified since." The Justice Department cited New York's policy that prohibits its Department of Corrections from honoring U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainers, which requests that federal immigration authorities be notified upon the release of a criminal illegal immigrant from jail. The New York Police Department was subject to a similar provision, the lawsuit states. In 2014, the city further resisted cooperation with ICE, including adding an amendment to its sanctuary city policy that immigration detainers would not be honored without a warrant issued by an Article III judge (or magistrate judge) and unless the subject of the detainer had been convicted of a "violent or serious" crime within the past five years or was a possible match on the federal terrorist watch list. The lawsuit said crimes committed by illegal immigrants in the city have prompted several city leaders to call for cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Attorney General Pam Bondi said the federal government was left with no choice but to protect New Yorkers. "If New York's leaders won't step up to protect their citizens, we will," she wrote on X. U.S. Rep. Nicole Malliatakis, R-N.Y., applauded the move, calling sanctuary polices "misguided," "costly and dangerous." "Restoring public safety in our communities starts with New York City cooperating with ICE's detainer requests. Failing to do so keeps dangerous criminals on our streets," she wrote on X. The lawmaker said she filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request that showed more 16,000 crimes were committed by thousands of people who were living in hotels and shelters at taxpayer expense. Fox News Digital has reached out to the Adams and the White House. In June, the Justice Department filed a lawsuit against Los Angeles over its sanctuary policies. The city has become embroiled in a feud with the Trump administration over its deportation raids and anti-ICE protests.
