
Trump directs Pam Bondi to release some Epstein files amid MAGA backlash
This directive follows weeks of public controversy surrounding the handling of the Epstein files and calls for increased transparency from prominent Republicans.
Trump announced his request via a Truth Social post, with Pam Bondi confirming her readiness to move the court to unseal the transcripts.
The request comes shortly after Trump declared his intention to sue The Wall Street Journal over a report detailing a bawdy birthday card he allegedly gave to Epstein.
Trump claims The Wall Street Journal's story about the birthday card is "FAKE" and "false, malicious, and defamatory".
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Daily Mail
11 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
BREAKING NEWS Trump delivers on promise to sue Wall Street Journal and Rupert Murdoch over Epstein birthday card
Donald Trump followed through on his promise to sue the Wall Street Journal and its owner Rupert Murdoch after the paper reported on his alleged involvement with a 50th birthday gift to Jeffrey Epstein. Court records show the libel suit filed in the Southern District of Florida against WSJ, Dow Jones and Rupert Murdoch, CNBC reported. A bombshell report in the Wall Street Journal on Thursday claimed Trump wrote a 'bawdy' 50th birthday card to Epstein which concluded: 'Happy Birthday - and may every day be another wonderful secret '. The newspaper said it had reviewed a typewritten letter bearing Trump´s signature, framed by the seemingly hand-drawn outline of a naked woman, that Ghislaine Maxwell included in a 2003 birthday album. Trump has denied writing the letter or drawing the picture, calling it 'false, malicious, and defamatory.' Trump specifically went after its owner, Murdoch, who also owns the Fox Corporation that controls Fox News. 'I look forward to getting Rupert Murdoch to testify in my lawsuit against him and his `pile of garbage´ newspaper, the WSJ,' Trump said on Truth Social. 'That will be an interesting experience!!!' has reached out to the White House for confirmation. In the text, the paper claimed Trump wrote: 'We have certain things in common, Jeffrey' and that both of them know that 'there must be more to life than having everything'. The message is said to have included an X-rated drawing of a naked woman, with Trump's famous signature squiggle written across her genitals to mimic pubic hair. Trump has vowed to sue the Wall St Journal and said the letter, written in 2003, is 'fake'. But it once again raises questions about the friendship between Trump and Epstein. But last week following the memo from his DOJ, which sparked a MAGA civil war, Trump became irate and said during a cabinet meeting that everyone should move on. He has now called his supporters 'weaklings' for believing a Democrat-run 'hoax'. This is a developing story.


The Independent
12 minutes ago
- The Independent
Border Patrol carries out raid at Home Depot parking lot 600 miles from US-Mexico border
Border agents arrested at least 11 people during a Thursday raid outside a northern California Home Depot — including a U.S. citizen who was volunteering as an observer, according to local activists. The operation, which took place in the Sacramento area, nearly 600 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border, is the latest show of force from the Border Patrol in the state, which joined a full-cavalry raid in a Los Angeles park earlier this month. 'There is no such thing as a sanctuary city,' Border Patrol El Centro sector chief Gregory Bovino said Thursday in a video filmed in front of the state capitol building, referring to jurisdictions that don't voluntarily assist with federal immigration enforcement. 'There is no such thing as a sanctuary state,' Bovino added in the clip, which features images of masked agents arresting men, soundtracked by the Kanye West song 'Power.' At least 11 people unlawfully in the U.S. were arrested in the early-morning operation, according to the Department of Homeland Security, including an immigrant man officials said was a 'serial criminal' with past charges including illegal entry, possession of marijuana for sale, and felony burglary. Bovino, in the video, said the arrests included a man who appears to have past fentanyl trafficking charges, and an individual arrested for impeding or assaulting a federal officer. However, Andrea Castillo said her husband Jose Castillo is a U.S. citizen and was among those arrested. Video shared with KCRA shows Andrea Castillo yelling at agents as a group of masked officers pile Jose into an unmarked black minivan. 'Leave him alone, he's a U.S. citizen!' she can be heard saying. In the footage, one of the agents threatens to mace Castillo, and later says, 'Google me,' when she asks for his badge number. During the exchange, agents say they are detaining Jose Castillo because they believe he slashed the tires on a federal vehicle. The activist group NorCal Resist said Jose Castillo was volunteering on behalf of the organization to document the operation, but did not impede officers. The group added that he has since been released. Local lawmakers are questioning whether the operation violated a recent court order. Assembly member Rhodesia Ransom, whose district includes nearby Stockton, has reportedly asked the state attorney general's office to investigate if federal officers are running afoul of state and federal laws or the U.S. Constitution with the operations. 'The Border Patrol should do their jobs – at the border – instead of continuing their tirade statewide of illegal racial profiling and illegal arrests,' Diana Crofts-Pelayo, a spokesperson for the governor's office, told Cal Matters. While the Border Patrol can operate within 100 miles of any U.S. border, including the California coast and nearby cities, a federal judge held in April that the agency cannot conduct warrantless immigration stops throughout California's Eastern District, which includes Sacramento. The ruling came in response to a series of operations at the beginning of the year targeting farmworkers in Kern County, which critics said were based on little more than the men's appearance. 'You just can't walk up to people with brown skin and say, 'Give me your papers,'' U.S. District Court Judge Jennifer L. Thurston said in court at the time. A separate ruling last week barred the Border Patrol from making similar raids in the district including Los Angeles, after a lawsuit accused federal agents of making indiscriminate arrests in locations like Home Depot parking lots. When asked about the alleged arrest of a U.S. citizen and the legal criticisms, federal officials pointed to a Homeland Security press release announcing the operation, which did not mention either subject. White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, the architect of much of the administration's immigration policy, has reportedly pressed immigration officials to reach 3,000 arrests per day, including by targeting hubs for day laborers like Home Depot parking lots. The Trump administration's recently passed ' Big, Beautiful Bill' domestic spending legislation contains about $170 billion in wider immigration and border funding, which officials say will fuel a surge in domestic immigration operations.


The Independent
12 minutes ago
- The Independent
Minnesota lawmaker convicted of felony burglary for breaking into estranged stepmother's home
A Minnesota state senator was convicted of burglary Friday for breaking into her estranged stepmother's home, allegedly in search of her father's ashes and other mementos. The jury found Nicole Mitchell, 51, guilty of first-degree burglary and possession of burglary tools. The Democrat from the St. Paul suburb of Woodbury has maintained her innocence and refused to resign since her arrest in the early hours of April 22, 2024, at her stepmother's home in the northwestern Minnesota city of Detroit Lakes. Mitchell insisted in her testimony that she went there purely to check on her stepmother, who has Alzheimer's disease. And she said she initially lied when she told police repeatedly the night of her arrest that she went there in search of her late father's ashes and other items of sentimental value. She testified that she didn't want to further upset her stepmother by expressing concern about her well-being.