The Latest: Justice Department to meet with Epstein's former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell
The meeting in Florida, which Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said on Tuesday he was working to arrange, is part of an ongoing Justice Department effort to cast itself as transparent following fierce backlash from parts of President Donald Trump's base over an earlier refusal to release additional records in the Epstein investigation.
A replica Oval Office on display near the White House just got a Trump makeover
The replica Oval Office now looks exactly like President Trump's. But it's not the blingy version he's currently using.
Visitors starting Thursday will experience the mock Oval Office as it was in the Republican president's first term, until it's redecorated again next year to incorporate the golden touches and other flourishes Trump brought to the workspace after he returned to power in January.
'Just like the White House itself, our Oval Office is a living space, so it changes and evolves as the actual Oval Office changes,' Stewart McLaurin, president of the White House Historical Association, said Wednesday as he led The Associated Press on a tour of the space as it was being revamped.
The mock-up is inside 'The People's House: A White House Experience,' an educational center the association opened last year one block west of the Executive Mansion.
House subcommittee voted Wednesday to subpoena Justice Department for Epstein files
A House subcommittee voted to subpoena the Department of Justice for files in the Epstein case after Democrats successfully goaded GOP lawmakers to defy Trump and Republican leadership to support the action.
The vote showed the intensifying push for disclosures in the Epstein investigation even as House Speaker Mike Johnson — caught between demands from Trump and clamoring from his own members for the House to act — was sending lawmakers home a day early for its August recess.
Meanwhile, Democrats on a subcommittee of the powerful House Oversight Committee made a motion for the subpoena Wednesday afternoon. Three Republicans on the panel voted with Democrats for the subpoena, sending it through on an 8-2 vote tally.
Democrats cheered the action as proof that their push for disclosures in the Epstein investigation was growing stronger. The committee agreed to redact information on victims, yet Democrats successfully blocked a push by Republicans to only subpoena information that was deemed to be 'credible' — language that Trump has also used when discussing what he would support releasing.
Bondi facing Democratic calls to testify following report she told Trump he was in Epstein files
Bondi is facing Democratic calls to testify before Congress after the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that she told Trump his name was among many high-profile figures mentioned in the files, which the Justice Department this month said it would not be releasing despite a clamor from online sleuths, conspiracy theorists and members of Trump's base.
Trump's personal ties to Epstein are well-established and his name is already known to have been included in records related to the wealthy financier.
Sen. Adam Schiff responded to the report by calling on Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The Justice Department declined to comment on the report but issued a joint statement from Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche saying that investigators had reviewed the records and 'nothing in the files warranted further investigation or prosecution.'
The mere inclusion of a person's name in Epstein's files does not imply wrongdoing and he was known to have been associated with multiple prominent figures, including Trump.
Senate Democratic Leader calls for closed-door briefing on the Epstein files
Democrats aren't letting up on their calls for disclosure from the Trump administration on the sex trafficking investigation into Jeffrey Epstein.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer started the morning off with a speech calling for a closed-door briefing for senators from the Trump administration on the Epstein files. While the administration is unlikely to comply with the New York Democrat's demand, Democrats are pouncing on the issue and have found some success this week by daring Republicans to join them in votes to demand disclosure of the files.
'A good number of people voted for Trump because he promised to be their voice against the so-called deep state. But now they've seen he's very much part of that deep state. He's right in the middle of it,' Schumer said.
Lara Trump says she's sitting out the North Carolina Senate race
The president's daughter-in-law formally made her decision public Thursday in a post on X, as news of RNC Chair Michael Whatley's expected entrance into the race emerged.
Lara Trump said she was 'deeply grateful' for encouragement to seek the open seat in her home state and appeared not to close the door to a possible future run, saying she looked 'forward to the future, wherever that leads.'
Lara Trump served alongside Whatley as RNC co-chair during last year's elections and had been seen as having the right of first refusal to seek the seat, which Democrats see as a top pickup opportunity in next year's midterms.
Biden's former chief of staff appears on Capitol Hill for House Republican age inquiry
Ron Klain, who served as former President Joe Biden's first chief of staff, entered the House Oversight Committee's hearing room just before 10 a.m. for testimony as part of House Republicans' probe into Biden's age and alleged cognitive decline.
Klain took no questions as he entered the room.
UnitedHealth stocks dip
The stock price dropped 2%, or $6.13, to $286.50 on Thursday morning. Company shares have mostly shed value since December, when UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was fatally shot in midtown Manhattan on his way to the company's annual investor meeting.
What to know about UnitedHealth Group
The company's business covers more than 8 million people as the nation's largest provider of Medicare Advantage plans. The business has been under pressure in recent quarters due to rising care use and rate cuts.
UnitedHealth also runs one of the nation's largest health insurance and pharmacy benefits management businesses. It also operates a growing Optum business that provides care and technology support.
UnitedHealth says it is under a federal investigation and cooperating
Shares of UnitedHealth Group dove early Thursday after the health care giant said it was under a Department of Justice investigation.
The company said it has started complying with both criminal and civil requests from federal investigators and it was working cooperatively with them.
'(UnitedHealth) has a long record of responsible conduct and effective compliance,' the company said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
Earlier this year, The Wall Street Journal said federal officials had launched a civil fraud investigation into how the company records diagnoses that lead to extra payments for its Medicare Advantage, or MA, plans. Those are privately run versions of the government's Medicare coverage program mostly for people ages 65 and over.
RNC Chair Michael Whatley plans to run for an open Senate seat in North Carolina
That's according to two people familiar with his thinking, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't permitted to speak on the record.
President Trump, according to one of the people, asked him to make the run after Trump's daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, mulled the seat.
Politico first reported news of Whatley's plans.
Democrats see North Carolina as their top pickup opportunity next year after Sen. Thom Tillis announced his surprise retirement after clashing with Trump.
While Lara Trump had been seen as having the right of first refusal, Whatley is considered by national Republicans to be a strong contender for the seat, thanks, in part, to the large fundraising network he's cultivated as RNC chair and his perceived loyalty to the president. He's a well-known name in the state, having served as GOP chair there, and has no voting record that could be used against him by Democrats.
— Jill Colvin
Trump's trip to Scotland highlights his complex relationship with his mother's homeland
President Trump's trip to Scotland this week will be a homecoming of sorts, but he's likely to get a mixed reception.
Trump has had a long and at times rocky relationship with the country where his mother grew up in a humble house on a windswept isle.
He'll be met by both political leaders and protesters during the visit, which begins Friday and takes in his two Scottish golf resorts. It comes two months before King Charles III is due to welcome him on a formal state visit to the U.K.
'I'm not proud that he (has) Scottish heritage,' said Patricia Sloan, who says she stopped visiting the Turnberry resort on Scotland's west coast after Trump bought it in 2014. 'All countries have good and bad that come out of them, and if he's going to kind of wave the flag of having Scottish heritage, that's the bad part, I think.'
Trump's schedule, according to the White House
3 p.m. ET — Trump will sign executive orders
4 p.m. — Trump will visit the Federal Reserve
Man accused of attempting to assassinate Trump returns to court and hopes to represent himself
The man charged with attempting to assassinate Trump last year at his Florida golf course will return to court Thursday to once again explain why he wants to fire his court-appointed lawyers and represent himself.
Ryan Routh previously made the request earlier this month during a hearing in Fort Pierce before U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon. She didn't rule during the hearing but said she would issue a written order later. But now Routh, 59, is set to be back in front of Cannon, a day after his court-appointed federal public defenders asked to be taken off the case.
Routh is scheduled to stand trial in September, a year after prosecutors say a U.S. Secret Service agent thwarted his attempt to shoot Trump as he played golf. Routh has pleaded not guilty to charges of attempting to assassinate a major presidential candidate, assaulting a federal officer and several firearm violations.
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New York Post
15 minutes ago
- New York Post
Trump admin fires back at claims Clinton plan to ‘smear' prez with Russia ties was disinfo: ‘No one is buying your bulls–t anymore'
WASHINGTON — Trump administration officials ripped skeptics of newly released intelligence files detailing a purported Hillary Clinton campaign plan 'to tie Donald Trump to Russia' in 2016 — after the detractors claimed the sensitive documents were themselves the product of another disinformation campaign by Moscow. 'Are we really doing this?' asked Alexa Henning, deputy chief of staff to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, after the New York Times characterized the intelligence released Thursday as a likely fabricated product of Russian espionage. 'The Russia Hoax was concocted against President Trump by Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, James Clapper, John Brennan, James Comey, Loretta Lynch, etc. by funding a FAKE Dossier and putting into a 'real' intelligence product briefed to Congress, the WH and leaked to the public by the spineless, gutless shills in the media. Where's that headline??' asked Henning on X Friday after posting screenshots of the Times piece alongside nearly decade-old articles from the Washington Post and NBC News bringing the same charge. Advertisement 'Not to mention it says in the recently released Durham annex and [House Intelligence Committee] report it says multiple times the Clinton emails were corroborated as authentic by the CIA,' added Henning. 'No one is buying your bulls–t anymore.' CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Attorney General Pam Bondi declassified the 24-page annex to special counsel John Durham's 2023 report on Thursday, emphasizing it showed coordination between Clinton's team and former President Barack Obama's administration to push a narrative that the 2016 Trump campaign was in cahoots with Russia during the election. 8 The files showed coordination between Clinton's team and former President Barack Obama's administration to push a narrative that the 2016 Trump campaign colluded with Russia in the election. Bloomberg via Getty Images Advertisement Ratcliffe — who referred former CIA boss Brennan to the Department of Justice for possible criminal prosecution related to Russiagate — said in a statement Thursday the files revealed 'a coordinated plan to prevent and destroy Donald Trump's presidency.' CIA spokeswoman Liz Lyons added Friday that 'the Hillary Clinton campaign worked to plant the Trump–Russia narrative in the press—with her direct approval.' A report by the Times initially published Thursday tried to counter the administration, saying that 'a key piece of supposed evidence for the claim that Mrs. Clinton approved a plan to tie Mr. Trump to Russia is not credible: Mr. Durham concluded that the email from July 27, 2016, and a related one dated two days earlier were probably manufactured.' 8 Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) released special counsel John Durham's 24-page annex of the materials Thursday. AP Advertisement The annex, which Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) released Thursday, does not show that. In 2017, the CIA determined intelligence on 'the purported Clinton campaign' — which included messages from operatives in the George Soros-founded Open Society Foundations — 'to not be the product of Russian fabrication.' Brennan also prepared a memo based on the intel to defensively brief Obama, then-Vice President Joe Biden, then-Attorney General Lynch, then-FBI Director Comey and then-Director of National Intelligence Clapper. Emails from Open Society's regional director Leonard Benardo — which laid bare a plan from the Clinton campaign to boost messaging 'about Trump and Russian hackers hampering U.S. elections' in order to 'distract people from her own missing emails' probe — was also considered 'likely authentic' by the FBI. Advertisement 8 '[I]t will be a long-term affair to demonize Putin and Trump,' Benardo was quoted as writing in a July 25 email. Chairman Grassley '[I]t will be a long-term affair to demonize Putin and Trump,' Benardo was quoted as writing in a July 25 email. 'Now it is good for a post-convention bounce. Later the FBI will put more oil into the fire.' On July 27, Benardo apparently authored another email stating: 'HRC approved Julia's idea about Trump and Russian hackers hampering U.S. elections. That should distract people from her own missing email, especially if the affair goes to the Olympic level,' in seeming reference to a state-sponsored doping campaign by Russia following the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi. 'We now know from the recent declassification that just days before the FBI launched Crossfire Hurricane, Russian intelligence reported on Clinton allies accurately predicting that FBI would 'put more oil into the fire,'' said Lyons on Friday. 'That's no coincidence, and any objective observer can see that.' FBI analysts and officers interviewed by Durham's office 'who were well versed in the Sensitive Intelligence collection, stated that their best assessment was that the Benardo emails were likely authentic,' the annex assessed, adding that investigators were 'unable to locate' identical copies. Some FBI analysts also said 'it was possible, however, that the Russians might have fabricated or altered purported U.S. emails.' 8 On July 27, Benardo apparently authored another email. Chairman Grassley But Comey's FBI never fully vetted the accuracy of the information because it wasn't deemed 'credible' enough. Advertisement Comey later testified to Congress that the conclusion prompted his July 2016 announcement of the closure of a probe into Clinton's deletion of more than 30,000 emails from a private server. In 2020, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence informed Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) that it did not 'know the accuracy' of the files. 8 In 2017, the CIA determined the intelligence was 'not be the product of Russian fabrication.' REUTERS Durham's 'best assessment' was that the 'emails that purport to be from Benardo were ultimately a composite of several emails that were obtained through Russian intelligence hacking of the U.S.-based Think Tanks, including the Open Society Foundations, the Carnegie Endowment, and others.' Advertisement His office could not 'determine definitively whether the purported Clinton campaign plan … was entirely genuine, partially true, a composite pulled from multiple sources, exaggerated in certain respects, or fabricated in its entirety.' Benardo told Durham's team that 'to the best of his recollection, he did not draft the emails.' 8 Brennan prepared a memo based on the intelligence to defensively brief Obama. AP A rep for Open Society Foundations said in a statement: 'We are a nonpartisan organization and do not engage in political campaign activity. These accusations are not just reckless, they are dangerous.' Advertisement Biden's future national security adviser Jake Sullivan, when consulted by Durham's team, said he 'could not conclusively rule out the possibility' of a Clinton plan to spread claims of Russian collusion with Trump's campaign team. Clinton's former foreign policy adviser Julianne Smith, who told The Post, 'I don't have any comment,' when reached by phone Thursday, told Durham's team that 'she neither drafted nor recalled receiving' the information. Smith added it was 'possible someone proposed an idea of seeking to distract attention from the investigation into Secretary Clinton's use of a private email server, but she did not specifically remember any such idea.' 8 Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has said 'the Obama Administration sought to delegitimize the 2016 election … subverting the will of the American people and enacting essentially a years-long coup.' AP Advertisement Texts and emails unearthed by Durham showed that Smith had communicated with other Clinton campaign foreign policy advisers about whether the FBI or other Obama agencies would 'aid that effort … by commencing a formal investigation of the DNC hack.' The former secretary of state and 2016 Democratic presidential contender, whose office did not respond to a request for comment, didn't deny the existence of such a plan and told Durham's office the files 'looked like Russian disinformation to [her].' FBI Director Kash Patel found the intel files — along with thousands of others — stored in 'burn bags' at the bureau's headquarters in Washington, DC, a source told The Post, and said the highly classified contents contained 'evidence that the Clinton campaign plotted to frame President Trump and fabricate the Russia collusion hoax.' 'They're trying to cover their hind end,' Grassley charged on Fox News' 'America's Newsroom' Thursday of the parties privy to the so-called 'Clinton plan.' 8 FBI Director Kash Patel found 'burn bags' at the bureau's HQ that contained the 'evidence that the Clinton campaign plotted to frame President Trump and fabricate the Russia collusion hoax.' Ron Sachs/CNP / 'The cover up was so bad,' the Iowa Republican later said on Newsmax's 'The Record with Greta van Susteren.' 'Some of these documents, emails and thumb drives were in trash bags, or what you call 'burn bags.' That's where the FBI found them,' he added. 'So doesn't that tell you something about the deep state here in this city of Washington — an island surrounded by reality — that they'd do anything to cover up and [avoid] embarrassment?'
New York Post
15 minutes ago
- New York Post
Trump fires Biden-appointed Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner after bad jobs report: ‘Numbers were RIGGED'
President Trump ordered the dismissal Friday of the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), hours after the economic data collection agency released a report showing unemployment ticked up last month. Now-former BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, triggered Trump's fury after her agency announced lower than expected employment gains in July and revised the numbers for May and June downward by a total of 258,000 jobs. The president accused McEntarfer of manipulating the data and charged that she had done so in the past. McEntarfer was nominated by Biden to head BLS in 2023. She was confirmed by the Senate for the post last year after previously serving in the Biden White House. Bureau of Labor 'I believe the numbers were phony, just like they were before the election,' Trump told reporters as he left the White House to spend the weekend at his Bedminster, NJ club. 'So you know what I did? I fired her.' A BLS spokesperson confirmed McEntarfer 'was terminated today' and Deputy Commissioner William Wiatrowski will take over on an acting basis. McEntarfer, a career federal employee, was confirmed by the Senate to lead BLS in January 2024 after previously serving as a senior economist at the White House Council of Economic Advisors under Biden. Trump explained in a Truth Social post that he was 'just informed' that the nation's employment reports were 'being produced by a Biden Appointee' and charged that McEntarfer 'faked the Jobs Numbers before the Election to try and boost Kamala's chances of Victory.' 'This is the same Bureau of Labor Statistics that overstated the Jobs Growth in March 2024 by approximately 818,000 and, then again, right before the 2024 Presidential Election, in August and September, by 112,000,' the president wrote. 'These were Records — No one can be that wrong?' Last August's revision of job growth for the 12 months ending in March 2024 – the largest downward revision to US payroll figures since 2009 – drew outrage from some Republican lawmakers, who suggested the numbers were intentionally fudged to boost the Harris-Biden administration. 'We need accurate Jobs Numbers,' Trump wrote, noting that McEntarfer would be 'replaced with someone much more competent and qualified.' 'Important numbers like this must be fair and accurate, they can't be manipulated for political purposes,' he continued. 'McEntarfer said there were only 73,000 Jobs added (a shock!) but, more importantly, that a major mistake was made by them, 258,000 Jobs downward, in the prior two months.' 'Similar things happened in the first part of the year, always to the negative.' Trump argued the numbers were 'rigged' to make him and Republicans 'look bad.' AP Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), who demanded testimony from McEntarfer last year over the Biden-era job stats revisions, praised Trump for removing her from the top BLS post. 'I have been raising concerns for the past year about inaccurate job numbers put out by Dr. Erika McEntarfer,' Marshall wrote on X. 'Her cooked-up numbers have misled the American people for too long.' 'Glad President [Trump] is going to clean this up.' Trump doubled-down in a separate social media post, arguing that the July BLS report was 'RIGGED in order to make the Republicans, and ME, look bad.' Trump told reporters Friday he has 'about three' people in mind to replace McEntarfer. 'I have a lot of good candidates. I will say, everybody wants it,' he said. 'We're gonna put someone in who can be honest.'
The Hill
15 minutes ago
- The Hill
Trump rages over bad jobs report
Trump claimed without evidence on Truth Social that the commissioner, Erika McEntarfer, had 'faked the Jobs Numbers' before the 2024 election in order to boost former Vice President Kamala Harris's White House bid. Trump cited labor statistics revisions during the Biden administration that boosted job numbers ahead of the election. The jobs report released Friday showed a significant downturn during Trump's administration in May and June, indicating the U.S. added 258,000 fewer jobs over those months than had initially been reported. The move was met with outrage from Democrats. 'That's some weird Soviet s‑‑‑,' Sen. Martin Heinric h (D-N.M.) said. 'Blaming the messenger? Nothing's ever his fault.' Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) posted on social media that, 'Instead of helping people get good jobs, Donald Trump just fired the statistician who reported bad jobs data that the wanna-be king doesn't like.' McEntarfer was nominated by Biden in 2023 and confirmed by the Senate in 2024 as the 16th commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which is part of the Department of Labor. She was confirmed in the Senate in a bipartisan 86-8 vote. Notably, Vice President J.D Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who were both senators at the time, voted in favor of her nomination. The Hill's Alex Gangitano has more here.
