Attorney General Pam Bondi has been subpoenaed to answer questions from Congress about the Justice Department's sex trafficking investigation of Jeffrey Epstein and the agency's handling of millions of files related to the disgraced financier. Bondi was ordered Tuesday to appear for a deposition on April 14 by the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform after a vote earlier this month that was supported by five Republicans. The Justice Department's failure to fend off the subpoena from the Republican-led committee underscores widespread discontent among President Donald Trump's own base over Bondi's management of the review and release of a trove of documents from the criminal investigation into Epstein.
In a rare bipartisan effort for a deeply divided Congress, the Senate has passed a broad bill to make U.S. housing more accessible and affordable. The bill passed on Thursday would reduce regulations, regulate corporate investors and expand how housing dollars can be used to build affordable homes and rentals. It now heads back to the House, which passed a separate version earlier this year. It is unclear whether President Donald Trump would sign it after declaring last weekend that he won't sign any new measures unless Congress passes legislation that would require voters to show proof of citizenship.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom says there's no imminent threat to the state from Iran. ABC News says the FBI warned California that Iran had aspired to send drones to the West Coast in retaliation for war. The FBI later released text of the alert, which noted that the information was based on "unverified information." The White House now says, "No such threat from Iran to our homeland exists." Newsom says California and various agencies plan for worst-case scenarios. Police in Los Angeles and San Francisco say they are monitoring world events for any risks.
Democratic lawmakers say former President Bill Clinton has tried to answer every question during a deposition over his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. The Democrats said during a break after two hours of questioning Clinton had not invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. Clinton tells members of Congress he "did nothing wrong" and saw no signs of Epstein's sexual abuse. Clinton says by the time the abuse came to light with a 2008 guilty plea, he had long stopped associating with Epstein. Friday's closed-door deposition in Chappaqua, New York, marks the first time a former president has been compelled to testify to Congress. Republicans relish the opportunity to scrutinize Clinton under oath.
An FBI search of the elections hub in Fulton County, Georgia, is part of an investigation into possible "deficiencies or defects" in the vote count in the 2020 contest lost by President Donald Trump, according to an affidavit unsealed Tuesday. The allegations outlined in the affidavit are largely based on claims that have long been made by people who assert that there was fraud in the 2020 election. Audits, state officials, courts and Trump's own former attorney general have rejected the idea that there was widespread fraud in the 2020 election that could have altered the outcome.
Savannah Guthrie said in a video released Monday that her family is "at an hour of desperation" is the search for her missing mother Nancy Guthrie. That comes ahead of a looming ransom deadline set for Monday evening by the purported abductors. The "Today" show host didn't mention the deadline in the video, saying her family still believes their 84-year-old mother is out there. The mysterious disappearance and search has riveted the U.S., from President Donald Trump who spoke with Savannah Guthrie last week to the online sleuths who've flooded social media with tips, theories and rumors.
The Republican chairman of the House Oversight Committee is requesting records related to firms partially owned by the husband of Rep. Ilhan Omar. It's an extraordinary step of scrutinizing the spouse of a sitting House member. Rep. James Comer of Kentucky sent a letter to Timothy Mynett, a former Democratic political consultant who is married to Omar. Comer is requesting records related to a pair of companies that had a substantial jump in value between 2023 and 2024. Comer's request marked a highly unusual move by the chair of a committee with a history of taking on politically-charged investigations, but almost always focused on government officials outside of Congress.
Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have finalized an agreement with House Republicans to testify this month in a House investigation into Jeffrey Epstein. They bowed to the threat of a contempt of Congress vote against them. Hillary Clinton will testify before the House Oversight Committee on Feb. 26. Bill Clinton will appear on Feb. 27. It will mark the first time that lawmakers have compelled a former president to testify. The arrangement comes after months of negotiating between the two sides as Republicans sought to make the Clintons a focal point in a House committee's investigation into Epstein.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche says the Justice Department has opened a federal civil rights investigation into the death of Alex Pretti, the Minneapolis resident killed by Border Patrol officers. The Department of Homeland Security also said Friday that the FBI will lead the federal probe. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem first disclosed the shift in which agency was leading the investigation. DHS previously said that Homeland Security Investigations would lead the investigation. The change comes after other videos emerged of an earlier altercation between Pretti and federal immigration officers 11 days before his death.
The Justice Department says it's releasing 3 million pages of documents in the latest Jeffrey Epstein disclosure, along with 2,000 videos and 180,000 images. The documents were disclosed Friday under a law intended to reveal what the government knew about the millionaire financier's sexual abuse of young girls and his interactions with the rich and powerful. The files include some of the several million pages of records officials said were withheld from an initial release of documents in December. Hundreds of department attorneys have been reviewing files to black out material that could reveal the identities of victims. Epstein killed himself in a New York jail in 2019 while awaiting trial.
