Ghislaine Maxwell ready to talk ‘unfiltered reality’ about Epstein if Trump grants clemency, lawyer says
Earlier, we reported that Ghislaine Maxwell invoked her fifth modification rights whereas showing at a digital deposition earlier than the Home oversight committee. Her lawyer, David Oscar Marcus, later stated that if the American public “really wish to hear the unfiltered reality about what occurred” his consumer can be ready to “communicate totally and actually” if Donald Trump grants her clemency.
“Some might not like what they hear, however the reality issues,” Marcus added. “For instance, each President Trump and President Clinton are harmless of any wrongdoing. Ms Maxwell alone can clarify why, and the general public is entitled to that clarification.”
After Maxwell refused to reply questions at this time, James Comer, the oversight committee’s Republican chair, stated that it was “very disappointing”.
“We had many inquiries to ask in regards to the crimes she and Epstein dedicated, in addition to questions on potential co-conspirators. We sincerely wish to get to the reality to the American individuals, and justice for the survivors,” Comer added.
Key occasions
Raskin says Epstein’s declare that he was by no means requested to depart Mar-a-Lago by Trump was redacted by justice division
After privately viewing unredacted information from the federal investigations of Jeffrey Epstein, the late youngster intercourse offender, Jamie Raskin, the senior Democrat on the Home judiciary committee, accused the justice division, which blacked out the names of potential co-conspirators within the public launch, of a canopy up.
“I feel that the Division of Justice has been in a cover-up mode for a lot of months and has been making an attempt to comb the whole factor beneath the rug”, Raskin informed Chad Pergram of Fox Information and different reporters. “There’s no method you run a billion-dollar worldwide youngster intercourse trafficking ring with simply two individuals committing crimes.”
After Raskin described seeing a redaction of an e-mail by which Epstein had claimed that it was not true that he had ever been requested by Donald Trump to depart his Mar-a-Lago membership, as Trump just lately claimed, the Fox Information correspondent requested him: “What did you see particular to President Trump or President Clinton, and had been there particular redactions to them?”
Raskin replied: “Properly I simply gave you an instance of 1 redaction associated to President Trump; I didn’t see any redactions associated to President Clinton.”
“We wish all the info to come back out,” Raskin added. “And the one redactions ought to be the names of the victims and the figuring out info. Sadly, they violated that principle by releasing the names of a variety of victims, which is both spectacular incompetence and sloppiness on their half or, as a variety of the survivors consider, a deliberate risk to different survivors who’re interested by coming ahead, that they should be cautious as a result of they are often uncovered and have their private info dragged by way of the mud as nicely.”
Members of Congress to assessment un-redacted Epstein paperwork
Later at this time, Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie, the Democrat and Republican who led the congressional push to launch information from the federal investigations into Jeffrey Epstein will handle the press after their non-public viewing of copies of the information with out redactions.
In an episode of the Shawn Ryan Present podcast launched on Monday, the California congressman informed the previous navy Seal: “There are clearly individuals who should be prosecuted and investigated. They haven’t launched the names of the co-conspirators nonetheless.”
“Each single one that is in these information who says, ‘I went to Epstein’s island’… or ‘I went to Epstein’s residence and I do know that there have been younger women there’… any a type of individuals should be investigated, they should be hauled in entrance of Congress they usually should be held accountable,” Khanna informed the conservative podcaster.
Here is a recap of the day thus far
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Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein’s longtime companion and confederate, invoked her fifth modification rights whereas showing at a digital deposition earlier than the Home oversight committee at this time. Her lawyer, David Oscar Marcus, later stated that if the American public “really wish to hear the unfiltered reality about what occurred” his consumer can be ready to “communicate totally and actually” if Donald Trump grants her clemency.
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Lawmakers from each side of the aisle decried Maxwell’s refusal to reply questions. James Comer, the Republican chair of the oversight committee, referred to as her look “very disappointing”. In the meantime, rating member Robert Garcia stated that Maxwell’s silence seemed to be a part of a “cover-up” by the White Home.“Who’s she defending? And we have to know why she’s been given particular remedy at a low safety jail by the Trump Administration,” Garcia stated.
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James Comer additionally didn’t rule out deposing commerce secretary Howard Lutnick, when talking to reporters at this time. Lutnick is going through mounting calls from lawmakers to resign for his ties to Jeffrey Epstein, together with a deliberate go to to the disgraced financier on his non-public island in 2012 – 4 years after Epstein was sentenced to 13 months in jail for soliciting a minor for prostitution.
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Congress is going through a shutdown of the Division of Homeland Safety (DHS) if doesn’t move a full yr funding invoice by Friday. Lawmakers handed a stopgap funding invoice to maintain the division working till 13 February, whereas Democrats negotiate with GOP colleagues and the White Home over additional guardrails for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Customs and Border Safety (CBP).
Oversight chair does not rule out deposing commerce secretary
James Comer, chair of the Home oversight committee, didn’t rule out deposing commerce secretary Howard Lutnick, when talking to reporters at this time.
Lutnick is going through mounting calls from lawmakers to resign for his ties to Jeffrey Epstein, together with a deliberate go to to the disgraced financier on his non-public island in 2012 – 4 years after Epstein was sentenced to 13 months in jail for soliciting a minor for prostitution.
On Monday, Comer famous that his committee is concentrated on the 5 upcoming depositions as a part of their ongoing investigation into the dealing with of Epstein’s crimes. These embrace former president Invoice Clinton and secretary of state Hillary Clinton. “We don’t wish to do something to jeopardize the 5 that we’ve on the e-book. So we’ll see what occurs right here, and we’ll transfer ahead,” Comer added.
Lutnick stated final yr in a podcast interview that he had no relationship with Epstein after 2005. However e-mail exchanges within the newest trove of paperwork launched by the justice division present that the pair did change a number of emails and correspondence within the years following – typically by way of assistants and intermediaries.
Ghislaine Maxwell ready to talk ‘unfiltered reality’ about Epstein if Trump grants clemency, lawyer says
Earlier, we reported that Ghislaine Maxwell invoked her fifth modification rights whereas showing at a digital deposition earlier than the Home oversight committee. Her lawyer, David Oscar Marcus, later stated that if the American public “really wish to hear the unfiltered reality about what occurred” his consumer can be ready to “communicate totally and actually” if Donald Trump grants her clemency.
“Some might not like what they hear, however the reality issues,” Marcus added. “For instance, each President Trump and President Clinton are harmless of any wrongdoing. Ms Maxwell alone can clarify why, and the general public is entitled to that clarification.”
After Maxwell refused to reply questions at this time, James Comer, the oversight committee’s Republican chair, stated that it was “very disappointing”.
“We had many inquiries to ask in regards to the crimes she and Epstein dedicated, in addition to questions on potential co-conspirators. We sincerely wish to get to the reality to the American individuals, and justice for the survivors,” Comer added.
Michelle R Smith
Three members of Congress say US well being secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr lied throughout his Senate affirmation hearings in response to newly revealed emails that undermine his testimony {that a} journey he took to Samoa forward of a lethal measles outbreak had “nothing to do with vaccines”.
The governor of Hawaii, a medical physician who responded to the disaster, additionally spoke out – saying that the disclosure of the emails by the Guardian and the Related Press present Kennedy misled the Senate and that he ought to step down.
Kennedy, a lawyer and longtime anti-vaccine activist earlier than his appointment as well being secretary, was requested in regards to the journey a number of instances throughout two days of affirmation hearings final yr. He repeatedly denied that his cause for going there in June 2019 had something to do with vaccines. However the information present workers on the US embassy and the United Nations wrote emails shortly earlier than Kennedy’s go to saying he was visiting due to his issues about vaccine security.
Samoan officers later stated Kennedy’s journey bolstered the credibility of anti-vaccine activists forward of the measles outbreak that sickened 1000’s and killed 83 individuals, largely kids beneath the age of 5.
The brand new reporting comes after a yr by which Kennedy has used his energy as well being secretary to remake federal vaccine suggestions and insurance policies to align along with his anti-vaccine views and to sow doubts about vaccine security. In the meantime, measles has gained a foothold in communities throughout the US.
Epstein survivors urged lawmakers to deal with Maxwell’s testimony with ‘the utmost skepticism’ and to indicate her no leniency
In a letter despatched to the Home oversight committee earlier than Ghislaine Maxwell’s deposition, a gaggle of Jeffrey Epstein survivors, together with a number of Jane Does and relations of the late Virginia Giuffre, urged lawmakers to be skeptical of any info she supplied (after all, as we’ve been reporting she ended up offering none).
We urge the Committee to strategy Ms Maxwell’s testimony with the utmost skepticism, to rigorously scrutinize any claims she makes, and to make sure that this course of doesn’t turn into one other automobile by way of which survivors are harmed or silenced. Fact, accountability, and transparency should be the precedence – not the rehabilitation of a convicted trafficker’s narrative.
Within the letter, the group criticized Maxwell’s refusal to determine “the numerous highly effective males” concerned in Epstein’s trafficking community and her refusal to “meaningfully cooperate” with legislation enforcement. Additionally they slammed the choice to switch Maxwell to a low-security jail final yr, a transfer they stated “seems to be preferential remedy”.
Ms Maxwell was not a peripheral determine. She was a central and indispensable architect of Jeffrey Epstein’s intercourse trafficking enterprise. Regardless of this, she has refused to meaningfully cooperate with legislation enforcement or present credible, full details about the scope of the trafficking community.
They added:
Any try and grant Ghislaine Maxwell leniency, whether or not by way of sentencing aid, particular remedy or credibility afforded to her testimony, can be catastrophic for survivors.
Democrats decry Maxwell’s determination to invoke fifth modification
Democrats have condemned Maxwell invoking her proper to silence and refusal to reply any questions. California Democrat Ro Khanna posted on X:
Right here is my conclusion after sitting by way of Maxwell’s deposition along with her refusing to reply a single query in regards to the males who raped underage women, saying she would solely achieve this for clemency. She should instantly be despatched again to the utmost safety jail the place she belongs.
Consultant Suhas Subramanyam, of Virginia, stated:
She is campaigning time and again to get that pardon from President Trump, and this president has not dominated it out. And so that’s the reason she is constant to not cooperate with our investigation.
In the meantime New Mexico Democrat Melanie Stansbury stated Maxwell’s determination to not reply questions was “an effort to basically attempt to safe her pardon by holding her mouth shut, and we is not going to enable this silence to face”.
‘Who’s she defending?’ Garcia calls for solutions to Ghislaine Maxwell’s ‘cover-up’ after she invokes fifth modification throughout committee deposition
Robert Garcia, the highest Democrat on the Home oversight committee, issued a pointy rebuke following Ghislaine Maxwell’s digital deposition earlier at this time.
Maxwell, a convicted co-conspirator of Jeffrey Epstein, invoked the fifth modification and “supplied no details about the lads who raped and trafficked girls and women”, in accordance with Garcia.
“After months of defying our subpoena, Ghislaine Maxwell lastly appeared earlier than the oversight committee and stated nothing,” he added in an announcement.
“Who’s she defending? And we have to know why she’s been given particular remedy at a low safety jail by the Trump administration. We’re going to finish this White Home cover-up.”
Dharna Noor
Dangerous Bunny’s remedy of Puerto Rico’s grid disaster in his Tremendous Bowl efficiency has sparked social media dialog from students.
Towards the tip of his efficiency, Dangerous Bunny carried out his track “El Apagón,” which interprets to “blackout.” Dancers enjoying staff hung from electrical poles because the singer lambasted the vitality instability going through Puerto Rico.
“The ability strains second was kinda extraordinary,” historian Adam Tooze stated on X, previously generally known as Twitter.
In 2016, a controversial Obama-era legislation created an oversight board to handle Puerto Rico’s longstanding debt disaster, which critics stated infringed on the island’s financial autonomy. The board really useful that the island’s publicly owned electrical grid be privatized, sparking fury from opponents.
The next yr, the longest blackout in US historical past started in Puerto Rico within the wake of the lethal Hurricane Maria. Some residents, left with out electrical energy for nearly a yr, had been pressured to study electrical abilities themselves, climbing up energy strains in an try and rig up selfmade options to the outage.
After the harrowing outage, the island’s then-governor introduced he would certainly privatize the grid, promoting it to Canadian firm Luma Power. Puerto Ricans had been promised their vitality woes had been behind them, however greater than 1 million had been affected by energy outages simply days later, and blackouts have remained a persistent challenge.
“Maldita sea, otro apagón,” Dangerous Bunny sang in “El Apagón” – “Rattling, one other blackout.”
A staunch opponent of grid privatization, the artist in 2024 spent a whole lot of 1000’s on billboards criticizing Puerto Rico’s New Progressive Social gathering for corruption and its hyperlinks to Luma Power.
Historian Greg Grandin referred to as Dangerous Bunny “our social democratic second’s reply to Lin-Manuel Miranda’s [neoliberal] Hamilton”, noting that Miranda, the composer, supported Promesa, although he later expressed opposition to harsh austerity measures carried out by the board.
Disgraced former congressman, George Santos, has additionally weighed in on Dangerous Bunny’s Tremendous Bowl efficiency.
“I anticipated just a little extra vitality and sassiness from Dangerous Bunny,” he wrote on X. “Girl Gaga was out of no the place or just the token white lady?”
A reminder that Santos, a Republican, was sentenced to greater than seven years in jail after he pleaded responsible to id theft and wire fraud. Nonetheless, Donald Trump commuted Santos’s sentence final yr.
“I communicate fluent Spanish and I nonetheless can’t decipher what Dangerous Bunny says when he ‘sings’… lol but it surely does make you at the least wish to transfer your physique and dance lol,” Santos added, in a collection of feedback in regards to the half-time present watched by tens of millions.
Richard Luscombe
Tom Homan – the Trump administration’s “border czar” despatched to Minnesota in January after federal brokers fatally shot two US citizen protesters – warned final yr that the federal government’s aggressive, widespread strategy to immigration enforcement would value it public assist.
Homan made the commentary in an interview with NBC in June for the forthcoming e-book Undue Course of, by the community’s homeland safety correspondent, analyzing the immigration coverage of mass deportation that Donald Trump has pursued throughout his second presidency.
“I feel the overwhelming majority of the American individuals assume legal unlawful aliens want to depart,” Homan informed creator Julia Ainsley, reported by NBC Information on Monday. “And if we follow that prioritization, I feel we preserve the religion of the American individuals.
“And I feel the extra we do this, the extra the American individuals will assist what President Trump’s doing. We bought to do it and we’ve bought to do it in a humane method.”
As an alternative, the homeland safety division (DHS) has rounded up a whole lot of 1000’s of individuals, together with US residents, in an aggressive and sometimes violent method, prompting protests in quite a few cities and punctuated by the capturing deaths in Minneapolis in January of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by immigration officers.
And figures launched on Monday, reported by CBS, reveal that lower than 14% of just about 400,000 immigrants arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) within the first yr of Trump’s second presidency had prices or convictions for violent legal offenses – discrediting the administration’s typically repeated insistence it was focusing on solely “the worst of the worst”.
Present and former Trump officers echoed the president’s criticisim of Dangerous Bunny’s broadly acclaimed Tremendous Bowl efficiency.
Harmeet Dhillon, the assistant legal professional normal for the civil rights division on the Division of Justice, wrote: “My mom: ‘who is that this Dangerous Bunny?’ Don’t fear mother, we aren’t watching him.”
Podcast host Dan Bongino, who served for a brief interval because the deputy director of the FBI, wrote “Child Rock > Unhappy Bunny” in reference to Turning Level USA’s counter programming through the half-time present.
In the meantime, conservative activist Laura Loomer, agreed with Trump’s evaluation of the efficiency, however went additional. “Not a single white particular person or English translation on the Tremendous Bowl,” she wrote. “This isn’t White sufficient for me. Cant even watch a Tremendous Bowl anymore as a result of immigrants have actually ruined all the things.”
Miranda Bryant
US senator Lisa Murkowski stated “it hurts my coronary heart” that the belief between Greenland and the US, constructed up because the second world warfare, has been damaged by “only a few sentences and phrases”. This comes after Donald Trump’s insistence that the US ought to purchase the autonomous territory, towards the desire of its individuals, Denmark, and the remainder of Nato.
Addressing Greenlandic individuals, the senator for Alaska appeared at a press convention alongside three different lawmakers who made the go to – Impartial senator Angus King of Maine, and Democratic senators Gary Peters of Michigan, and Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire.
Talking in Nuuk, the delegation appeared alongside Pipaluk Lynge and Erik Jensen, members of Greenland’s international and safety coverage committee, and the actor Viggo Mortensen, a vocal Donald Trump critic.
The go to, which noticed them go to the US area base in Pituffik, meet with Greenlandic politicians and a helicopter tour of the Greenland ice sheet, comes after a US senatorial delegation visited Copenhagen final month.
“To the residents of Greenland, it hurts my coronary heart to know the way a lot nervousness and fear you’re feeling in these instances of uncertainty,” Murkowski added. “In only a few sentences and phrases, the belief that has been constructed because the second world warfare has been eroded and degraded.”
The Republican senator added:
I wish to remind you that no matter what our president says, we’ve an enormous position in Congress. And I consider there’s a widespread curiosity that we should work collectively on, and it begins and ends with respect and dialogue.
Congress braces for DHS shutdown as funding invoice negotiations stall
Congress is going through a shutdown of the Division of Homeland Safety (DHS) if doesn’t move a full yr funding invoice by Friday.
Lawmakers handed a stopgap funding invoice to maintain the division working till 13 February, whereas Democrats negotiate with GOP colleagues and the White Home over additional guardrails for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Customs and Border Safety (CBP), amid the continuing use of drive by officers – which has resulted within the deadly shootings of two Americans in Minneapolis.
Democrats argue that federal immigration enforcement officers are conducting indiscriminate raids, brutalizing individuals, and hiding their identities within the course of. They’ve issued checklist of calls for which embrace the necessity for judicial warrants, and for brokers to not put on masks. Republicans, by and enormous, have pushed again – saying these are non-starters. As an alternative they’ve floated one other short-term spending invoice to increase negotiations within the midst of one other coverage deadlock.
Democrats, nonetheless, appear deeply reluctant for one more stopgap, and would favor a shutdown to make their factors clear.
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