Latest news with #Oversight
Sky News AU
a day ago
- Politics
- Sky News AU
Ghislaine Maxwell will plead the Fifth in Epstein House testimony - unless these demands are met: defence lawyer
Ghislaine Maxwell will plead the Fifth Amendment in response to a congressional subpoena to testify about deceased sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein — unless several demands are met, according to a Tuesday letter from her attorney obtained by The Post. Defense lawyer David Oscar Markus told the Republican-led House Oversight Committee that his client's statements under oath 'could compromise her constitutional rights, prejudice her legal claims, and potentially taint a future jury pool.' 'Accordingly, our initial reaction was that Ms. Maxwell would invoke her Fifth Amendment rights and decline to testify at this time,' Markus wrote to Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.). 'However, after further reflection, we would like to find a way to cooperate with Congress if a fair and safe path forward can be established.' The demands listed in the letter include two items that Markus deemed non-negotiable: a grant of immunity for Maxwell and testifying outside the Florida federal prison where she's been serving a 20-year sentence since 2022 for conspiring with Epstein to abuse young girls. Before that, the 63-year-old had spent nearly two years in a Brooklyn detention facility, which her attorney called 'one of the worst' prisons in the US. The committee should also provide copies of its questions in advance, Markus said, 'to identify the relevant documentation from millions of pages that could corroborate her responses.' And Oversight lawmakers were asked to meet with Maxwell only 'after the resolution of her Supreme Court petition and her forthcoming habeas petition.' 'Of course, in the alternative, if Ms. Maxwell were to receive clemency,' Markus hinted, 'she would be willing—and eager—to testify openly and honestly, in public, before Congress in Washington, D.C.' 'The Oversight Committee will respond to Ms. Maxwell's attorney soon, but it will not consider granting congressional immunity for her testimony,' a committee spokeswoman said in a statement to the Post. Maxwell is currently appealing her 2021 conviction and sentencing, as the Trump administration seeks to fend off criticisms from both the left and the right on its handling of a 'systematic review' into Epstein's crimes, his influential 'clientele' and the mysterious circumstances surrounding his death. Epstein, 66, was found dead in his Manhattan lockup on Aug. 10, 2019, after having been charged with abusing dozens of minors — some as young as 14 years old. Multiple investigations — including by the DOJ's Office of Inspector General and independent medical examiners — have ruled Epstein's demise a suicide, while laying out what former Attorney General Bill Barr referred to as a 'perfect storm of screwups' allowing it to happen. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche peppered Maxwell with questions for two days last week during which she was reportedly granted limited immunity. The UK-born convict could have been charged with lying for any false statements she made, Markus revealed to reporters after the sitdown at the Talahassee, Fla., US attorney's office, apparently pointing to the limits of that immunity. Maxwell was given a shield from future prosecution based on her interview responses, a concession known as proffer immunity, sources told ABC News last week. The Department of Justice expressed skepticism about Maxwell's truthfulness during her prosecution, writing in court filings in 2022 that she displayed a 'significant pattern of dishonest conduct' and didn't take responsibility for her sickening crimes. Markus maintains that Epstein's attorneys were told that 'no potential co-conspirators would be prosecuted' based on his statements to prosecutors following his July 2019 arrest on sex trafficking charges. Maxwell still discussed '100 different people' linked to Epstein and was 'asked about every possible thing you could imagine — everything,' her attorney added. 'This was the first opportunity she's ever been given to answer questions about what happened,' he said. 'The truth will come out about what happened with Mr. Epstein and she's the person who's answering those questions.' 'No one is above the law — and no lead is off-limits,' Blanche had posted on X July 22, when he announced plans to interview Maxwell. Originally published as Ghislaine Maxwell will plead the Fifth in Epstein House testimony - unless these demands are met: defence lawyer
New York Post
16-07-2025
- Politics
- New York Post
Jill Biden's ‘work husband' Anthony Bernal takes the Fifth in House GOP probe of Biden health cover-up
WASHINGTON — Jill Biden's 'work husband' Anthony Bernal became the second former White House aide to take the Fifth Amendment when hauled before a congressional committee Wednesday to answer questions about the 46th president's cognitive decline. Bernal — who, like Joe Biden's former personal physician Kevin O'Connor, appeared for a deposition — invoked his right against self-incrimination and departed without taking reporter questions. Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) said he only got to ask two questions of the Biden family confidant: 'Was Joe Biden fit to exercise the duties of the president?' and 'Did any unelected official or family member execute the duties of the presidency?' 3 Anthony Bernal, aide to former first lady Jill Biden, arrives to testify before the House Oversight Committee Wednesday, July 16, 2025, on Capitol Hill in Washington. AP 3 Bernal became the second former White House aide to plead the Fifth Amendment when questioned about former President Biden's cognitive decline. AP 'I think that the American people are concerned,' Comer added. 'They're concerned that there were people making decisions in the White House that were not only unelected but no one to this day knows who they were.' Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) said Bernal's hasty retreat implicates him in 'corruption at the highest level.' 'If you cannot, say, answer a simple question about Joe Biden's capabilities, then that further demonstrates that he was not in charge of his administration,' Donalds told reporters. 'And if he was not in charge of his administration, then every order, every bill that was signed, every memorandum, as far as I'm concerned, are null and void.' 3 Bernal departed without taking reporter questions. AP Donalds, who is running for governor of Florida next year, added that Jill Biden herself should 'come in here and answer questions' after her deputy declined to do so. The Oversight chairman noted that his panel would continue with its transcribed interviews and depositions of key Biden White House aides to determine the scale of the purported cover-up of the president's mental decline, as well as potential 'illegal use of the autopen' to grant pardons.
The Hill
15-07-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
How China — and even US taxpayers — are funding the left's climate lawfare campaign
Congressional hearings come and go, but some are supremely useful in terms of casting light on egregious efforts at ideological circumvention or subversion of democratic processes. One such important hearing occurred last month in the Senate Subcommittee on Federal Courts, Oversight, Agency Action, and Federal Rights, titled 'Enter the Dragon — China and the Left's Lawfare Against American Energy Dominance.' In the words of the subcommittee chairman Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), the problem is 'a systematic campaign against American energy,' driven by a 'coordinated assault by the radical left backed and paid for by the Chinese Communist Party, to seize control of our courts, to weaponize litigation against U.S. energy producers, all in order to undermine American energy dominance.' Cruz explained that foreign money from entities tied to Chinese Communist Party fund efforts by climate advocacy groups to litigate against American energy producers. This litigation is pursued by 'activist lawyers' filing lawsuits designed to bankrupt energy producers and to dismantle energy infrastructure 'through sheer attrition.' Cruz argued as well that the judiciary is being quietly captured and brainwashed as 'left-wing nonprofits host closed-door training that indoctrinates judges to adopt the ideological goals of the climate lawfare machine.' Cruz' narrower argument about judiciary being captured has a few holes, in that the climate lawfare campaign is in a slow-motion collapse. Such litigation has been rejected in courtrooms virtually without exception — in a Bucks County, Pa. Court of Common Pleas decision, a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, a dismissal by New Jersey Superior Court Judge Douglas Hurd, a dismissal by Anne Arundel County Circuit Court Judge Steven Platt, a dismissal by Judge Videtta Brown of the Baltimore City Circuit Court, a dismissal by Delaware Superior Court Judge Mary M. Johnston, the dismissal of the San Francisco and Oakland case, and in a unanimous dismissal by the U.S. Supreme Court in American Electric Power vs. Connecticut. But the nearly universal failure of the climate lawfare campaign in court is not for want of trying, and this poses problems all of its own. Consider the Climate Judiciary Project of the Environmental Law Institute. No objective reading of its legal theories and propositions could fail to conclude that their efforts represent a blatant ideological campaign of litigation against fossil energy producers. Their climate science arguments — presented as settled science to judges — are uniformly alarmist, ignoring the evidence on climate phenomena, the failure of the climate models to predict the temperature record, the impossibility of the assumed greenhouse gas scenario, the distinction between natural and anthropogenic influences on climate phenomena, and much more. But in the view of the Climate Judiciary Project, it cannot hurt to keep trying — in particular given that its funding stream from various foundations is substantial. Who knows? at some point some judge might rule in its favor, and then who knows what the appellate courts might do? Cruz's larger argument about the perverse nature of the lawfare waged against U.S. energy producers is correct and crucial. His 'sheer attrition' point is illustrated well by the longstanding leftist effort to block the construction of new pipelines and other energy infrastructure, in substantial part by suing on grounds based in the National Environmental Policy Act. NEPA, as applied by the courts, has been deeply perverse for decades, although a recent decision by the Supreme Court narrowed it somewhat. Cruz's warnings about the lawfare campaign against U.S. energy producers and its connections to the Chinese Communist Party remain highly relevant, as detailed in the hearing testimony by Scott Walter, president of Capital Research Center. 'America's enemies, especially Russia and China, are pleased when we hobble our energy sector,' Walter said. 'They want to be in a stronger economic position, whether selling Russia's natural gas in Europe or selling China's 'green' technology in America. This fact shouldn't be controversial.' Walter continued: 'Many environmentalist groups funded by the multitude of left-wing billionaires have disturbing foreign ties. For example, the Rocky Mountain Institute, best known for its notorious study attacking gas stoves, now has a China program set up by its current CEO.' 'The California China Climate Institute is another troubling environmentalist group,' he said. 'Housed at UC Berkeley, [it] partners with the Institute of Climate Change and Sustainable Development at China's Tsinghua University, the alma mater of Xi Jinping.' Nor is it only the Chinese, whether directly or indirectly, that fund the energy lawfare campaign. American taxpayers are doing so as well. In earlier testimony before the House Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency, Walter had noted that the Environmental Law Institute has received awards from the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Homeland Security. This public funding is utterly perverse, both directly and because taxpayer dollars ought not be used to bias the ongoing development of climate science. In the larger context, it represents an attack on our democratic institutions, as a political movement attempts to attain through litigation what it cannot achieve in Congress. Even more fundamentally, it represents an assault on the Constitution, which is a framework to protect unpopular individuals, groups, and businesses from the whims and passions of ideological attacks. The climate litigation game thus represents a real pollution, so to speak, of our constitutional principles.
7NEWS
10-07-2025
- Health
- 7NEWS
Former US President Joe Biden's ex-doctor refuses to answer Congress queries
Former US president Joe Biden's White House physician has refused to answer questions as part of a House of Representatives Republican investigation into Biden's health in office. Dr Kevin O'Connor invoked his rights under the fifth amendment during a closed-door interview with the House Oversight Committee, his lawyer and politicians said. Republicans on the Oversight Committee subpoenaed O'Connor last month as part of a sweeping investigation into Biden's health and his mental fitness as president. They assert some policies carried out during Biden's term through the use of the White House autopen may be illegitimate if it is proven the Democrat was mentally incapacitated for some of his term. Biden has strongly denied that he was not in a right state of mind at any point while in office, calling the claims 'ridiculous and false'. David Schertler, one of O'Connor's lawyers, said the doctor had 'no choice' but to invoke his fifth amendment rights in testimony before the committee. Schertler cited both O'Connor's responsibilities to protect patient privacy as a doctor and the Justice Department's ongoing investigation into Biden's use of the autopen. Representative James Comer of Kentucky, the Oversight chair, said O'Connor's refusal to testify made it 'clear there was a conspiracy'. 'The American people demand transparency but Dr O'Connor would rather conceal the truth,' Comer said in a statement. Witnesses routinely invoke their fifth amendment rights in testimony to Congress. Other Biden aides approached Allies of President Donald Trump, for example, invoked their rights when refusing to testify to the committee that investigated the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol by a mob of his supporters. Comer has sought testimony from nearly a dozen former Biden aides as he conducts his investigation, including former White House chiefs of staff Ron Klain and Jeff Zients; former senior advisers Mike Donilon and Anita Dunn. Testimonies were also sought from former deputy chief of staff Bruce Reed, former counsellor to the president Steve Ricchetti, former deputy chief of staff Annie Tomasini and a former assistant to the president, Ashley Williams. He has also issued a subpoena for Anthony Bernal, the former chief of staff to former first lady Jill Biden. Trump's White House has waived executive privilege, a right that protects many communications between the president and staff from Congress and the courts, for almost all of those senior staffers. That clears the way for those staffers to discuss their conversations with Biden while he was president. Representative Robert Garcia of California, the top Democrat on the Oversight panel, dismissed the Republican investigation as a waste of time. 'Oversight Republicans could be working to lower costs for American families and conducting oversight of President Trump's corruption but instead are obsessed with the past,' he said. Comer has said his committee will release a report of all its findings after the probe is complete.
The Advertiser
09-07-2025
- Health
- The Advertiser
Biden's ex-doctor refuses to answer US Congress queries
Former US president Joe Biden's White House physician has refused to answer questions as part of a House of Representatives Republican investigation into Biden's health in office. Dr Kevin O'Connor invoked his rights under the fifth amendment during a closed-door interview with the House Oversight Committee, his lawyer and politicians said. Republicans on the Oversight Committee subpoenaed O'Connor last month as part of a their sweeping investigation into Biden's health and his mental fitness as president. They assert some policies carried out during Biden's term through the use of the White House autopen may be illegitimate if it is proven the Democrat was mentally incapacitated for some of his term. Biden has strongly denied that he was not in a right state of mind at any point while in office, calling the claims "ridiculous and false". David Schertler, one of O'Connor's lawyers, said the doctor had "no choice" but to invoke his fifth amendment rights in testimony before the committee. Schertler cited both O'Connor's responsibilities to protect patient privacy as a doctor and the Justice Department's ongoing investigation into Biden's use of the autopen. Representative James Comer of Kentucky, the Oversight chair, said O'Connor's refusal to testify made it "clear there was a conspiracy". "The American people demand transparency but Dr O'Connor would rather conceal the truth," Comer said in a statement. Witnesses routinely invoke their fifth amendment rights in testimony to Congress. Allies of President Donald Trump, for example, invoked their rights when refusing to testify to the committee that investigated the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol by a mob of his supporters. Comer has has sought testimony from nearly a dozen former Biden aides as he conducts his investigation, including former White House chiefs of staff Ron Klain and Jeff Zients; former senior advisers Mike Donilon and Anita Dunn; former deputy chief of staff Bruce Reed, former counsellor to the president Steve Ricchetti, former deputy chief of staff Annie Tomasini and a former assistant to the president, Ashley Williams. He has also issued a subpoena for Anthony Bernal, the former chief of staff to former first lady Jill Biden. Trump's White House has waived executive privilege, a right that protects many communications between the president and staff from Congress and the courts, for almost all of those senior staffers. That clears the way for those staffers to discuss their conversations with Biden while he was president. Representative Robert Garcia of California, the top Democrat on the Oversight panel, dismissed the Republican investigation as a waste of time. "Oversight Republicans could be working to lower costs for American families and conducting oversight of President Trump's corruption but instead are obsessed with the past," he said. Comer has said his committee will release a report of all its findings after the probe is complete. Former US president Joe Biden's White House physician has refused to answer questions as part of a House of Representatives Republican investigation into Biden's health in office. Dr Kevin O'Connor invoked his rights under the fifth amendment during a closed-door interview with the House Oversight Committee, his lawyer and politicians said. Republicans on the Oversight Committee subpoenaed O'Connor last month as part of a their sweeping investigation into Biden's health and his mental fitness as president. They assert some policies carried out during Biden's term through the use of the White House autopen may be illegitimate if it is proven the Democrat was mentally incapacitated for some of his term. Biden has strongly denied that he was not in a right state of mind at any point while in office, calling the claims "ridiculous and false". David Schertler, one of O'Connor's lawyers, said the doctor had "no choice" but to invoke his fifth amendment rights in testimony before the committee. Schertler cited both O'Connor's responsibilities to protect patient privacy as a doctor and the Justice Department's ongoing investigation into Biden's use of the autopen. Representative James Comer of Kentucky, the Oversight chair, said O'Connor's refusal to testify made it "clear there was a conspiracy". "The American people demand transparency but Dr O'Connor would rather conceal the truth," Comer said in a statement. Witnesses routinely invoke their fifth amendment rights in testimony to Congress. Allies of President Donald Trump, for example, invoked their rights when refusing to testify to the committee that investigated the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol by a mob of his supporters. Comer has has sought testimony from nearly a dozen former Biden aides as he conducts his investigation, including former White House chiefs of staff Ron Klain and Jeff Zients; former senior advisers Mike Donilon and Anita Dunn; former deputy chief of staff Bruce Reed, former counsellor to the president Steve Ricchetti, former deputy chief of staff Annie Tomasini and a former assistant to the president, Ashley Williams. He has also issued a subpoena for Anthony Bernal, the former chief of staff to former first lady Jill Biden. Trump's White House has waived executive privilege, a right that protects many communications between the president and staff from Congress and the courts, for almost all of those senior staffers. That clears the way for those staffers to discuss their conversations with Biden while he was president. Representative Robert Garcia of California, the top Democrat on the Oversight panel, dismissed the Republican investigation as a waste of time. "Oversight Republicans could be working to lower costs for American families and conducting oversight of President Trump's corruption but instead are obsessed with the past," he said. Comer has said his committee will release a report of all its findings after the probe is complete. Former US president Joe Biden's White House physician has refused to answer questions as part of a House of Representatives Republican investigation into Biden's health in office. Dr Kevin O'Connor invoked his rights under the fifth amendment during a closed-door interview with the House Oversight Committee, his lawyer and politicians said. Republicans on the Oversight Committee subpoenaed O'Connor last month as part of a their sweeping investigation into Biden's health and his mental fitness as president. They assert some policies carried out during Biden's term through the use of the White House autopen may be illegitimate if it is proven the Democrat was mentally incapacitated for some of his term. Biden has strongly denied that he was not in a right state of mind at any point while in office, calling the claims "ridiculous and false". David Schertler, one of O'Connor's lawyers, said the doctor had "no choice" but to invoke his fifth amendment rights in testimony before the committee. Schertler cited both O'Connor's responsibilities to protect patient privacy as a doctor and the Justice Department's ongoing investigation into Biden's use of the autopen. Representative James Comer of Kentucky, the Oversight chair, said O'Connor's refusal to testify made it "clear there was a conspiracy". "The American people demand transparency but Dr O'Connor would rather conceal the truth," Comer said in a statement. Witnesses routinely invoke their fifth amendment rights in testimony to Congress. Allies of President Donald Trump, for example, invoked their rights when refusing to testify to the committee that investigated the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol by a mob of his supporters. Comer has has sought testimony from nearly a dozen former Biden aides as he conducts his investigation, including former White House chiefs of staff Ron Klain and Jeff Zients; former senior advisers Mike Donilon and Anita Dunn; former deputy chief of staff Bruce Reed, former counsellor to the president Steve Ricchetti, former deputy chief of staff Annie Tomasini and a former assistant to the president, Ashley Williams. He has also issued a subpoena for Anthony Bernal, the former chief of staff to former first lady Jill Biden. Trump's White House has waived executive privilege, a right that protects many communications between the president and staff from Congress and the courts, for almost all of those senior staffers. That clears the way for those staffers to discuss their conversations with Biden while he was president. Representative Robert Garcia of California, the top Democrat on the Oversight panel, dismissed the Republican investigation as a waste of time. "Oversight Republicans could be working to lower costs for American families and conducting oversight of President Trump's corruption but instead are obsessed with the past," he said. Comer has said his committee will release a report of all its findings after the probe is complete. Former US president Joe Biden's White House physician has refused to answer questions as part of a House of Representatives Republican investigation into Biden's health in office. Dr Kevin O'Connor invoked his rights under the fifth amendment during a closed-door interview with the House Oversight Committee, his lawyer and politicians said. Republicans on the Oversight Committee subpoenaed O'Connor last month as part of a their sweeping investigation into Biden's health and his mental fitness as president. They assert some policies carried out during Biden's term through the use of the White House autopen may be illegitimate if it is proven the Democrat was mentally incapacitated for some of his term. Biden has strongly denied that he was not in a right state of mind at any point while in office, calling the claims "ridiculous and false". David Schertler, one of O'Connor's lawyers, said the doctor had "no choice" but to invoke his fifth amendment rights in testimony before the committee. Schertler cited both O'Connor's responsibilities to protect patient privacy as a doctor and the Justice Department's ongoing investigation into Biden's use of the autopen. Representative James Comer of Kentucky, the Oversight chair, said O'Connor's refusal to testify made it "clear there was a conspiracy". "The American people demand transparency but Dr O'Connor would rather conceal the truth," Comer said in a statement. Witnesses routinely invoke their fifth amendment rights in testimony to Congress. Allies of President Donald Trump, for example, invoked their rights when refusing to testify to the committee that investigated the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol by a mob of his supporters. Comer has has sought testimony from nearly a dozen former Biden aides as he conducts his investigation, including former White House chiefs of staff Ron Klain and Jeff Zients; former senior advisers Mike Donilon and Anita Dunn; former deputy chief of staff Bruce Reed, former counsellor to the president Steve Ricchetti, former deputy chief of staff Annie Tomasini and a former assistant to the president, Ashley Williams. He has also issued a subpoena for Anthony Bernal, the former chief of staff to former first lady Jill Biden. Trump's White House has waived executive privilege, a right that protects many communications between the president and staff from Congress and the courts, for almost all of those senior staffers. That clears the way for those staffers to discuss their conversations with Biden while he was president. Representative Robert Garcia of California, the top Democrat on the Oversight panel, dismissed the Republican investigation as a waste of time. "Oversight Republicans could be working to lower costs for American families and conducting oversight of President Trump's corruption but instead are obsessed with the past," he said. Comer has said his committee will release a report of all its findings after the probe is complete.
