4 days ago
Live updates: DOJ to continue interview with Epstein partner Ghislaine Maxwell; Trump heads to Scotland
The Justice Department is seeking the release of grand jury transcripts from the Jeffrey Epstein case. President Donald Trump visits the Federal Reserve in Washington, D.C., on Thursday. Julia Demaree Nikhinson / AP Updated July 25, 2025, 7:20 AM EDT
It was late afternoon on the last Friday in June, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Mike Gordon was in his office in Tampa, Florida, interviewing a victim for an upcoming trial via Zoom.
Alongside a special agent, Gordon was preparing the victim to be a witness in a Justice Department case against a lawyer who the Justice Department alleged had been scamming clients.
There was a knock at the door, Gordon later told NBC News, and he didn't answer; at the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Middle District of Florida, there was a culture of not just popping in when the door is closed. But the door popped open, and there stood the office manager, ashen-faced.
The office manager is in charge of security, and Gordon thought for a moment that something might have happened to his family. Gordon muted the Zoom call, and the office manager handed him a piece of paper.
It was a one-page letter signed by Attorney General Pam Bondi. He'd been terminated from federal service.
'No explanation. No advance warning. No description of what the cause was,' Gordon said in an interview. 'Now, I knew why. I knew it had to be my Jan. 6 work.'
Gordon had been senior trial counsel in the Capitol Siege Section of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Washington, which prosecuted alleged rioters involved in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. His title reflected some of the high-profile cases he'd taken on during the Jan. 6 investigation and the role he played in helping other federal prosecutors.
At the time of his firing, Gordon had long been working on other cases back home in Florida. He had recently been assigned to co-lead a case against two people accused of stealing more than $100 million from a medical trust for people with disabilities, as well as injured workers and retirees. Just two days before he was fired, he'd received an 'outstanding' rating on his performance review.
Now, along with two other recently fired Justice Department employees, Gordon is pushing back, suing the Trump administration late Thursday over their dismissals. The suit argues that the normal procedures federal employees are expected to go through to address their grievances — the Merit Systems Protection Board — are fundamentally broken because of the Trump administration's actions.
Read the full story here.
Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., today announced an immigration bill that would broaden pathways to obtain legal status and citizenship for longtime residents of the U.S, including Dreamers, highly skilled workers and asylum seekers.
The bill, called the Renewing Immigration Provisions of the Immigration Act of 1929, would make immigrants who have been living in the United States continuously for at least seven years eligible for permanent legal status. This would update an existing statute that was last amended in 1986, which set the cut off date for eligibility at 1972.
It would also provide a pathway for Dreamers, asylum-seekers and high-skilled workers with H-1B Visas to obtain green cards.
Padilla first introduced the bill in 2022 but it never got passed the Judiciary committee. A version was introduced in the House by Rep. Zoe Lofgren and similarly languished in committee. Both versions will be reintroduced on Monday, Padilla said.
'We believe this is the first step,' he said, adding that changing public opinion is the key ingredient this time.
According to a recent Gallup poll, 79% of Americans say immigration is a good thing compared to 64% in 2024. Support for allowing undocumented immigrants to become U.S. citizens has increased to 78% compared to 70% last year.
'What we're seeing in practice is not what people signed up for,' he said of Trump's immigration directives. 'The overreach, how extreme and cruel the administration has become about immigration enforcement, has shifted public opinion about Donald Trump and his policies.'
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said last night that he plans to continue his conversation with Epstein's longtime accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell today. The two spoke for several hours yesterday as the administration seeks to probe Maxwell for additional information about Epstein's case.
Attorney General Pam Bondi chose Blanche to speak with Maxwell in an attempt to 'pursue justice' after a decision by the Justice Department to no longer release information from the federal investigation into Epstein roiled Trump's base.
'President Trump has told us to release all credible evidence. If Ghislane Maxwell has information about anyone who has committed crimes against victims, the FBI and the DOJ will hear what she has to say,' Bondi said this week on X.
