Latest news with #GrandJury
Yahoo
13 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
House Oversight Committee issues subpoena for Ghislaine Maxwell
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer on Wednesday issued a subpoena to Ghislaine Maxwell, convicted associate of Jeffrey Epstein, for a deposition to occur at Federal Correctional Institution Tallahassee on Aug. 11. 'The facts and circumstances surrounding both your and Mr. Epstein's cases have received immense public interest and scrutiny,' Comer wrote in a statement Wednesday. Maxwell was convicted of sex trafficking and other charges and sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2022. MORE: GOP Sen. Thom Tillis says Epstein files could impact midterm prospects 'What we're talking about here is someone who's in federal prison on appeal, so our attorneys will have to communicate with her attorneys to see if there are terms, if she wants,' Comer said before the subpoena was issued. 'If there are no terms, we'll roll in there quick.' The situation will be similar to Comer's effort to interview Jason Galanis, a former business partner of Hunter Biden and Devon Archer, during the GOP's impeachment inquiry of then-President Joe Biden. 'I did that with [Jason] Galanis, and the Democrats were real offended that we would want to interview anyone in prison. But now you know they're, they're all they want to interview someone in prison,' Comer said. The committee has shown a propensity to record video of the interviews and release content afterwards -- as it did with several former Biden officials who invoked their 5th Amendment rights earlier this summer -- so it's possible there could be handout video from the deposition. Separately, Attorney General Pam Bondi said Monday that Deputy Attorney Todd Blanche will meet with Maxwell sometime in the "coming days." President Donald Trump last week said on his social media platform that he had ordered the Justice Department to "release all Grand Jury testimony with respect to Jeffrey Epstein, subject only to Court Approval." Comer has also signaled that the circumstances of a closed-door deposition at a federal prison could attract both Democrats and Republicans to attend the interview. 'There will be so many members of Congress that'll want to be in that prison,' Comer said. 'I would assume that there'll be a lot of members of the Oversight Committee on both -- in both parties that'll want to be there.' A Congressional subpoena is a formal legal order issued by a congressional committee or individual compelling their testimony.
Daily Mirror
2 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Mirror
MIKEY SMITH: 15 unhinged Donald Trump moments as he threatens to have Barack Obama arrested
In six months of unprecedented behaviour for a sitting president, threatening to jail his predecessor is one of the most troubling. And he's gone so hard on this one it might be difficult to walk back... Donald Trump was supposed to be taking a breather. This was supposed to be a nice easy week, leading up to his holiday to Scotland. But his misplaced sense of vengeance had other ideas. Instead of letting things settle down, letting the trail go a bit has been taking every possible opportunity to go on the attack. And ironically, by trying so obviously hard to try and distract people from the Epstein just made more people ask about the Epstein story Here's how that happened, plus some more things Trump did in the last 24 hours. Everything is fine. 1-9. All the ways he's tried to distract attention away from the Epstein story So we're going to start with something different today. A list within a list. Instead of going over the ways Donald Trump has tried to deflect attention away from the Epstein files in a lot of detail, which is what he wants the media to do, we're just going to do a little list. Here's everything Donald Trump has done since Friday that he'd rather you were interested in than the Epstein story. 1. Ordered the release of evidence given to the Grand Jury on Epstein, subject to Court approval. Which is not what people are asking for, and will likely take months if not longer 2. Threatened the Washington Commanders American Football team with interfering in their new stadium deal if they don't return to their old, racist name 3. The same with the Cleveland Guardians, but without the threat 4. Went after California Senator Adam Schiff, who led Trump's first impeachment over long-dismissed claims of mortgage fraud from more than a decade ago 5. Launched a new, largely nonsense conspiracy theory, pushed out by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, claiming a fairly normal sequence of intelligence briefings about Russia trying to influence the American people to vote for him, which they did, was some kind of attempted coup. 6. Made repeated suggestions that those behind said briefings - including former President Barack Obama - should be arrested 7. Posted an AI video of Barack Obama being handcuffed and jailed 8. Posted a video of a girl in a bikini catching a snake. Nobody knows why. 9. Released the files! No, not really. But he did release some files about the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr I think that's about everything. 10. He has NO IDEA why his old lawyer is going to chat to Ghislaine Maxwell This afternoon, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche tweeted that he wants to have a chat with Ghislaine Maxwell - who was convicted and jailed for helping Epstein abuse underage girls. If Maxwell "has information about anyone who has committed crimes against victims, the FBI and the DOJ will hear what she has to say," Blanche said in a post on X, adding that President Donald Trump "has told us to release all credible evidence." A lawyer for Maxwell confirmed there were discussions with the government. Asked about it in the Oval Office, Trump said he didn't know anything about it, but it sounded like something they should do. He was also asked if he was concerned about the legitimacy of such questioning, given Todd Blanche ....used to be Trump's personal lawyer. He said he did not. 11. He accused Barack Obama, personally, of treason and urged the Feds to arrest him OK. We're going into this one a little bit. During a sit-down with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, Trump was asked about Tulsi Gabbard having submitted a criminal referral about the daft conspiracy theory she's been shopping round the Fox hosts. So who should the Department of Justice target for arrest, Mr President? "It would be President Obama. And Biden was there with him ... the leader of the gang was Obama. Barack Hussein Obama. He's guilty" He went on: "Barack Hussein Obama is the ringleader. "Hillary Clinton was right there with him and so was Sleepy Joe Biden, Comey, Clapper. "They tried to rig an election and they got caught. And then they did rig the election in 2020. "And then because I knew I won that election by a lot, I did it a third time and I won in a landslide." Ordinarily we'd take the "lock her/him up" stuff with a pinch of salt. But he's going so hard on this, it would be pretty hard to walk it back. 12. Bernie Sanders has weighed in on Epstein The Bern's response to Trump prevaricating over the Epstein files? "Mr President. Do it. "Do what you promised the American people you would do. And stop trying to deflect attention away from what you promised. Be transparent, the way you promised you would be. Tell the truth, like you promised. "Because hiding whatever he's hiding with the Epstein files is not the first time, to say the least, that he has lied to the American people." 13. He lashed out against a judge that ruled against him US District Judge Allison Burroughs appeared to side with Harvard in Trump's ongoing vendetta against the university. Trump branded her a "TOTAL DISASTER" and asked "how did this Trump-hating Judge get these cases?" It's worth noting if only to remind us all that the separation of powers usually prevents Presidents leaning on judges. "When she rules against us we will IMMEDIATELY appeal, Trump said. So we've got that to look forward to. Get Donald Trump updates straight to your WhatsApp! As the world attempts to keep up with Trump's antics, the Mirror has launched its very own US Politics WhatsApp community where you'll get all the latest news from across the pond. We'll send you the latest breaking updates and exclusives all directly to your phone. Users must download or already have WhatsApp on their phones to join in. All you have to do to join is click on this link, select 'Join Chat' and you're in! We may also send you stories from other titles across the Reach group. We will also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose Exit group. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. 14. Stephen Colbert told him to go f**k himself After Trump seemed to confirm his part in influencing CBS to fire Stephen Colbert, the veteran talk show host took a shot back... Colbert 1 Also in the intro of the show, Lin Manuel Miranda and Weird Al Yankovic played a Coldplay song while the camera revealed a series of his late-night TV host peers in the audience. At the end of the bit, the camera settled on an animated Donald Trump cuddling the logo of Paramount, the parent company of CBS. 15. Jimmy Kimmel is "NEXT", then Jimmy Fallon Trump took something of a victory lap this afternoon, basically confirming he got Colbert fired and gloating that he was going after the rest. "The word is, and it's a strong word at that, Jimmy Kimmel is NEXT to go in the untalented Late Night Sweepstakes," he wrote on Truth Social. "And, shortly thereafter, Fallon will be gone. "These are people with absolutely NO TALENT, who were paid Millions of Dollars for, in all cases, destroying what used to be GREAT Television. "It's really good to see them go, and I hope I played a major part in it!"
2 days ago
- Business
Trump admin updates: Trump wants Senate to cancel August recess to work on nominees
Trump also suggested the Senate cancel long weekends. 1:27 President Donald Trump continues to face backlash from his MAGA supporters over his administration's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files, calling on Attorney General Pam Bondi "to produce any and all pertinent Grand Jury testimony, subject to Court approval" related to the case. On Friday, Trump signed the GENIUS Act -- the first major federal cryptocurrency bill -- into law. Latest headlines: Jul 20, 2025, 5:24 PM EDT Trump threatens NFL's Commanders over name change Jul 20, 2025, 4:12 PM EDT Trump rejects WSJ story on Bessent warning against firing Powell Jul 20, 2025, 1:45 PM EDT Lutnick confident US will make tariff deal with EU Here's how the news is developing. 16 Updates Jul 17, 2025, 9:01 AM EDT Attorney General Pam Bondi visiting Alcatraz: Officials Attorney General Pam Bondi and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum are in California Thursday making a visit to the notorious former federal prison Alcatraz, officials confirmed to ABC News. It's unclear whether they will open up their visit to any media, but Bondi is being accompanied by a Fox News correspondent on the visit. The visit comes on the heels of President Donald Trump's directive to reopen Alcatraz as a prison 60 years after it was shuttered, a move Democrats have attacked as a massive waste of money and resources at a time where the federal Bureau of Prisons is already under major strain to maintain existing facilities. Jul 17, 2025, 4:58 AM EDT Senate narrowly approves $9 billion budget clawback for foreign aid and public broadcasting The Senate narrowly approved a White House request to claw back $9 billion from the federal budget, including funding for foreign aid and public broadcasting. The final vote on Thursday morning was 51-48. Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, voted with Democrats against the rescissions bill. Sen. Tina Smith did not vote after being admitted to the hospital. The bill would rescind funding allocated for the Department of State, the U.S. Agency for International Development, related agencies and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The bill now returns to the House with a deadline for final passage by Friday. -ABC News' Justin Gomez Trump says he's ending funding for California high-speed train In a post on his social media platform, Trump announced he is ending federal funding for California's High-Speed Rail project. 'The railroad we were promised still does not exist, and never will,' Trump wrote. "Thanks to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, not a SINGLE penny in Federal Dollars will go towards this Newscum SCAM ever again," Trump continued. In a statement, Duffy said the Federal Railroad Administration terminated approximately $4 billion in unspent funding for 'California's High Speed Rail Boondoggle,' saying the $135 billion projected cost of the project could buy every San Francisco and Los Angeles resident nearly 200 round trip flights between the cities. 'This is California's fault. Governor Newsom and the complicit Democrats have enabled this waste for years. Federal dollars are not a blank check -- they come with a promise to deliver results,' Duffy said. 'It's time for this boondoggle to die. President Trump and I will always fight to ensure your tax dollars only go to projects that accomplish great, big, beautiful things.' -ABC News' Hannah Demissie and Sam Sweeney Jul 16, 2025, 4:42 PM EDT Mike Flynn pushes back against Trump on Epstein 'hoax' claims One of President Donald Trump's staunchest supporters pushed back against the president over his claims that the Epstein controversy was a "hoax." Michael Flynn wrote a lengthy post on X imploring the president to be more transparent and reveal more details. "All we want at this stage is for a modicum of trust to be reestablished between our federal government and the people it is designed to serve," Flynn wrote. "With my strongest recommendation, please gather your team and figure out a way to move past this. The roll out of this was terrible, no way around that. Americans want America to be successful, therefore, WE NEED YOU TO BE SUCCESSFUL," he added. -ABC News' Will Steakin
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Opinion - Epstein's ghost is haunting Trump, and America's enemies could summon more
It's the irony of all ironies: How could President Trump put his credibility on the line with his hard core MAGA supporters over Jeffrey Epstein? Trump has survived a felony conviction and was twice impeached and acquitted. He was found liable by a judge of sexual assault, owes potentially millions of dollars in libel suits for his actions and avoided possible prosecution and considerable jail time for gross mishandling of highly classified material. None of these mishaps prevented Trump from being reelected as America's 47th president. Yet, despite this graphic history, Trump is now threatened by the ghost of a convicted sexual predator. How can this be? As Epstein's attorney Alan Dershowitz wrote in the Wall Street Journal on July 16, Trump was free and clear of any and all entanglements with his client. And it was reported that Trump had once barred Epstein from Mar-a-Lago. Extreme elements of his MAGA constituency have turned against Trump. For what seem to be irrational reasons, they have accused the president of a cover-up and lying about not providing full transparency on the Epstein saga and releasing the so-called 'client's list' that Dershowitz asserted was nonexistent. Conspiracy theories sprouted like mushrooms: for example, that Trump was obviously hiding his relationship with Epstein or protecting others in his administration and circle of friends from the Epstein stain. Shrill calls reverberated through Washington's political gasosphere for Attorney General Pam Bondi to resign over this failure to release the Epstein files. Having bragged that he could shoot someone dead on Park Avenue and be absolved, it is incredible that Trump could be attacked by his MAGA allies on such an extraordinarily trivial matter, given the magnitude of obstacles he has previously faced and overcome. Worse, so far, the explanations of why part of his base is incensed make little sense. That Trump has somehow now become part of the 'deep state' that he vowed to eliminate is nonsensical. Promising to release all 'any and all pertinent Grand Jury testimony' on Epstein (and, for that matter, JFK's assassination) and not following through has been part of Trump's lifelong pattern of deception and disinformation, if not outright lying. It is quite possible — again, quoting Dershowitz — that there simply was no there there regarding the Epstein files, and that Trump simply exaggerated or distorted that possibility to play to his base. Then he got caught. And now Trump is lashing out against this base. Whether this is a minor tempest and will dissipate soon or has tsunami-like consequences remains to be seen. Why has this brouhaha over Epstein been so explosive? Is this the state of American politics today when a leader's credibility among his followers fractures over literally nothing, as occasionally happens in marriages? Has Trump violated some mythical bond or unspoken oath with this base? Or is the MAGA movement's instability or irrationality causing such a backlash? The timing is not helpful to Trump. In the midst of what could be a major global tariff war, the conflict in Gaza still blazing and Vladimir Putin given 50 days to put up or shut up on a cease-fire and peace negotiation in Ukraine, how do these outside players react? Do all or many shake their heads believing that this is simply the vulgarity of U.S. politics and ignore this display? Or do others, probably in Beijing and Moscow, see this as a fatal weakness in American culture and society to be exploited? Despite Trump's refusal to believe Russia interfered on his behalf in the 2016 election, make no mistake: Chinese and Russian, as well as other intelligence services, are exploring how these flaws and cracks in American politics can be exploited. For example, assuming that ex-KGB officer Putin wanted to alter the 2016 election, imagine how he could have exploited the so-called Steele dossier that alleged Trump's sexual misconduct in Moscow. The internet would have been filled with torrid stories and deep fake shots of Trump in compromising positions. With AI and other technical means, identifying seemingly minor issues that could have otherwise profound political consequences would not be difficult for an adversary or for anyone wishing to meddle in politics. This happened during Brexit. With social media as a force multiplier, it is easy to see how political fractures could be generated. As a thought experiment, suppose the resurrection of Epstein's ghost originated in a certain building in the Kremlin or inside Beijing's Forbidden City. That, I am sure, did not happen. But it could. Harlan Ullman, Ph.D., is UPI's Arnaud deBorchgrave Distinguished Columnist, a senior advisor at Washington, D.C.'s Atlantic Council, the chairman of two private companies and the principal author of the doctrine of shock and awe. He and David Richards are authors of a forthcoming book on preventing strategic catastrophe. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump Orders Bondi to Unseal Epstein Grand Jury Transcripts After Exposé
President Donald Trump has ordered Attorney General Pam Bondi to unseal Jeffrey Epstein-related grand jury transcripts in a desperate Truth Social post, hours after The Wall Street Journal alleged the president was pen pals with the convicted sex offender. 'Based on the ridiculous amount of publicity given to Jeffrey Epstein, I have asked Attorney General Pam Bondi to produce any and all pertinent Grand Jury testimony, subject to Court approval,' Trump posted. 'This SCAM, perpetuated by the Democrats, should end, right now!' Bondi, who has been under equal scrutiny regarding the administration's perceived Epstein secrecy, quickly posted a statement to confirm that she would request the unsealing on Friday. It is unclear whether those documents would contain any of the bombshell claims or supposedly secret documents that critics are demanding to see. 'President Trump—we are ready to move the court tomorrow to unseal the grand jury transcripts,' she wrote. The MAGA faithful may be hesitant to take Bondi at her word, however. She claimed in February that Epstein's so-called 'client list,' rumored to implicate many of the rich and powerful, was sitting on her desk ready for review. She defended herself Tuesday after a DOJ memo last week claimed there was no such list. 'In February, I did an interview on Fox that is getting a lot of attention because I was asked a question about the client list. And my response was, 'It is sitting on my desk to be reviewed,' meaning the files, along with the JFK, MLK files as well. That is what I meant by that,' Bondi said. Critics expressed concerns that the declassification of grand jury transcripts may not be as groundbreaking as the proposal sounds. Rep. Daniel Goldman, a Democrat from New York, noted that the testimony will only relate to Epstein and Maxwell. He suggested Trump's call for declassification may make him appear transparent while shielding him from potentially damning information. 'Nice try,' he wrote on X. California Dem. Rep. Ro Khanna also expressed concern during a House Rules Committee on meeting on Thursday night, where Republicans voted down a Democratic-led measure to advance the release of Epstein documents in place of a non-binding resolution. It's unclear if the measure will make it to a floor vote. 'Here's the problem. The grand jury testimony is largely about Epstein and Maxwell. Not about all the rich and powerful men… those people are still being protected. And by the way the courts usually don't release grand jury testimony." Meanwhile, Maryland Dem Rep. and ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee Jamie Raskin appeared on CNN's Laura Coates Live, where he said, 'Everybody can see through it, it's slicing the baloney extremely fine.' He added, 'Grand jury testimony is a tiny fraction of what's in there. We're interested in the emails, the correspondence, the phone calls, the interviews and so on. The grand jury testimony... is a very small part of it.' 'If you look at this fraudulent transparently deceitful, Swiss cheese resolution that the Republicans have put in as a fig leaf cover story on the Rules Committee, which they plan maybe to bring to the floor sometime next week or the following, it's just riddled with all of these loopholes and exceptions just mirroring what it is that Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi are saying.' The Trump administration has already been accused of playing a game of smoke and mirrors regarding Epstein in recent months. One stunt, as many inside MAGA labeled it, saw a horde of Trump sycophants receive an invite to the Oval Office in February to be gifted a binder titled, 'The Epstein Files: Phase 1.' The group of MAGA influencers smiled and posed with the binder as they exited their meeting with Trump. They were slammed for parading a cache of details about an accused sex trafficker. Later, Trump and Bondi were also criticized after it became clear that 'Phase 1' of the Epstein files contained no new information about the case. Trump's order to Bondi was one of seven frantic posts he made in an hour-and-a-half span Thursday night. The 79-year-old also wrote a screed against what he described as the 'filthy rag' Wall Street Journal and its owner, Rupert Murdoch. His appeal to Bondi followed that rant. He then made a string of posts celebrating his self-described 'wins' as president. Trump strongly denied ever writing a letter to Epstein, let alone one that included a sketch of a naked woman and a 50th birthday wish, as The Journal alleged he did Thursday. Trump said bluntly that the report was 'FAKE.' He also alleged that The Journal's decision to publish 'defamatory lies like this' showed its 'desperation to remain relevant.' Trump said he personally warned the right-leaning paper's editor-in-chief, Emma Tucker, not to publish the Epstein letter. The Journal did anyway, and Trump responded with a promise to sue the storied broadsheet and the 93-year-old Murdoch, who Forbes reports is worth $24.2 billion. 'The Wall Street Journal printed a FAKE letter, supposedly to Epstein,' Trump said. 'These are not my words, not the way I talk. Also, I don't draw pictures. I told Rupert Murdoch it was a Scam, that he shouldn't print this Fake Story. But he did, and now I'm going to sue his a-- off, and that of his third-rate newspaper. Thank you for your attention to this matter!'
