White House says new batch of Epstein emails is part of ‘fake narrative’ in an attempt to ‘smear’ Donald Trump
In response to the latest batch of emails released by House Democrats on the oversight committee, the White House said this was an attempt to “to create a fake narrative to smear President Trump”.
In a statement, press secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed “the ‘unnamed victim’ referenced in these emails is the late Virginia Giuffre, who repeatedly said President Trump was not involved in any wrongdoing whatsoever. However, the emails redacted the name of the victim when they were released, and Leavitt didn’t expand on her reasoning.
“The fact remains that President Trump kicked Jeffrey Epstein out of his club decades ago for being a creep to his female employees, including Giuffre. These stories are nothing more than bad-faith efforts to distract from President Trump’s historic accomplishments,” she added. “Any American with common sense sees right through this hoax and clear distraction from the government opening back up again.”
Key events
House Democrats release 20,000 pages of documents from Epstein estate
Democrats on the House oversight committee have released another tranche of records from the Epstein estate – around 20,000 pages of documents.
We’ll bring you more as we parse through them. But on first glance they include several emails, financial disclosures, and even scans from James Patterson’s book on Epstein, Filthy Rich.
White House says new batch of Epstein emails is part of ‘fake narrative’ in an attempt to ‘smear’ Donald Trump
In response to the latest batch of emails released by House Democrats on the oversight committee, the White House said this was an attempt to “to create a fake narrative to smear President Trump”.
In a statement, press secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed “the ‘unnamed victim’ referenced in these emails is the late Virginia Giuffre, who repeatedly said President Trump was not involved in any wrongdoing whatsoever. However, the emails redacted the name of the victim when they were released, and Leavitt didn’t expand on her reasoning.
“The fact remains that President Trump kicked Jeffrey Epstein out of his club decades ago for being a creep to his female employees, including Giuffre. These stories are nothing more than bad-faith efforts to distract from President Trump’s historic accomplishments,” she added. “Any American with common sense sees right through this hoax and clear distraction from the government opening back up again.”
Donald Trump has repeated a request to Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, for a pardon for Benjamin Netanyahu, who is on trial in three separate corruption cases.
The Israeli prime minister has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in the ongoing court cases. No rulings have been delivered, and his supporters have dismissed the trials as politically motivated.
In a letter released by Herzog’s office on Wednesday, Trump says he is writing to the president at a “historic time, as we have, together, just secured peace that has been sought for at least 3,000 years”.
“I hereby call on you to fully pardon Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been a formidable and decisive War Time Prime Minister … While I absolutely respect the independence of the Israeli Justice System … I believe that this ’case’ against Bibi … is political, unjustified prosecution,” he writes.
Trump has already suggested a presidential pardon for Netanyahu in a series of social media posts and a speech to the Israeli parliament last month. Despite the largely ceremonial role of the Israeli presidency, Herzog has the authority to pardon convicted criminals under unusual circumstances.
Netanyahu’s trials, which began in 2020, have not yet concluded, and he has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
For his part, Donald Trump has routinely denied having any involvement with Epstein’s conduct. He has said that he was once friendly with the disgraced financier, who died by suicide in federal prison in 2019. But the pair had a falling out, after Epstein tried to hire people away from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.
The president has also called the push for further transparency around the Epstein case as a “hoax”.
In response to the latest batch of emails from released by House Democrats, congressman Ro Khanna told the Guardian that this is “exactly why” he’s working with Republican representative Thomas Massie to force a House floor vote on the full release of the Epstein files. “The public deserves transparency and the survivors deserve justice,” he said.
Khanna also serves on the oversight committee, who published the Epstein’s emails today.
In the midst of all of this, a whistleblower also revealed that Ghislaine Maxwell – Epstein’s long time companion and co-conspirator – is seeking a commutation from Donald Trump, according to Democrats on the House judiciary committee.
Maxwell is currently serving a 20-year sentence for sex-trafficking crimes, and was recently transferred to a minimum security prison in Texas.
“You should not grant any form of clemency to this convicted and unrepentant sex offender,” said the committee’s ranking member, congressman Jamie Raskin, in a letter to the president. A reminder that last month, the supreme court rejected Maxwell’s appeal to overturn her criminal conviction.
Per my last post, it’s important to note that speaker Johnson’s decision to delay Grijalva’s swearing-in has only fueled Democrats to suggest that the top House Republican is avoiding the bipartisan push to release the Epstein records.
“Republicans are running a pedophile protection program, they are intentionally hiding the Jeffrey Epstein files,” said Hakeem Jeffries, the House minority leader, on Tuesday. He added to the chorus of accusations that the only reason Grijalva has yet to become an official member of Congress, is because GOP lawmakers are afraid that her signature would set the discharge petition in motion.
A reminder, that this was co-sponsored by Thomas Massie, a Republican representative from Kentucky, and Ro Khanna, a California Democrat. It’s even seen support from Maga firebrands like congresswomen Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert and Nancy Mace. All of whom committed their signatures to the measure.
Epstein files: House Democrats release emails that allege Trump ‘knew about the girls’
In a new batch of emails released by Democrats on the House oversight committee, Jeffrey Epstein wrote that Donald Trump knew about the late financier and sex-offender’s conduct. In the three emails released, Epstein apparently told his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell that Trump “spent hours” at his house with one of Epstein’s victims.
In two other emails to author Michael Wolff, Epstein wrote that “of course he knew about the girls”, referring to the now-president. According to the exchanges, Epstein also solicited Wolff’s advice about how he should handle Trump discussing their friendship in an interview with CNN. “I think you should let him hang himself,” Wolff writes. “If he says he hasn’t been on the plane or to the house, then that gives you a valuable PR and political currency. You can hang him in a way that potentially generates a positive benefit for you, or, if it really looks like he could win, you could save him, generating a debt.”
In a statement, the committee’s ranking member, congressman Robert Garcia said: “The more Donald Trump tries to cover up the Epstein files, the more we uncover. These latest emails and correspondence raise glaring questions about what else the White House is hiding and the nature of the relationship between Epstein and the President.”
The Epstein investigation is likely to receive revived interest as the House prepares to return from recess, vote on a bill to reopen the federal government, and Mike Johnson is set to swear in representative-elect Adelita Grijalva. The newly minted lawmaker is set to be the 218th signature needed on a discharge petition, a procedural tool that would force a vote on the House floor to release the full tranche of Epstein investigation records.
Hannah Harris Green
A last-minute provision in the federal spending bill heavily restricting hemp-derived products such as CBD and THC drinks could lead some Republicans to vote against the spending bill which, if passed, could end the government shutdown as early as today.
Kentucky is one of the largest producers of hemp in the country, and Republicans in the state have shown strong support for the hemp industry. Jonathan Miller, an advocate for the hemp industry and former Kentucky state treasurer, said that “Kentucky is really ground zero for the rebirth of hemp” – a niche industry until the 2018 farm bill allowed a much wider variety of legal products.
On Monday night, Kentucky senator Rand Paul broke with the Republican party and voted against the bill because of the hemp provision, which was revealed at the 11th hour and which Paul tried unsuccessfully to have removed.
The House is set vote on the bill later today, and needs 218 votes to pass. There are 219 Republican House members, but Kentucky representatives James Comer, Thomas Massie and Andy Barr have all spoken out against the ban.
Massie said, according to Louisville Public Media: “I detest the tactics that are being used to try to get the ban enacted into law.”
The alcohol industry has been divided in its lobbying for the provision. Alcohol distributors, who also distribute THC beverages, wrote a letter calling for regulation rather than an outright ban, while the American Distilled Spirits Alliance supported the ban.
Donald Trump is in Washington today. While has no public events on his official schedule, as we noted earlier, he’s set to host a private dinner for financial executives this evening. The press pool will be there.
Also today, press secretary Karoline Leavitt will host a White House briefing at 1pm ET. We’ll make sure to bring you the latest lines as it gets under way.
The deal has split Democrats, with many senior figures saying they should have held out for the extension of health insurance subsidies at the heart of the shutdown battle, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
“Pathetic,” California governor Gavin Newsom, widely seen as a 2028 Democratic presidential frontrunner, posted on X.
Despite opposing the bill vocally and voting against it, Democratic Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer has faced calls from some lawmakers in his party to step down for failing to corral his senators.
For Democrats, the wavering was especially galling as it came just days after election wins that put Donald Trump on the back foot for the first time since his White House return.
Democratic wins in New York City, New Jersey and Virginia in particular highlighted the issue of affordability, a weak spot for billionaire Trump and the Republicans ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
But Senate Republicans have promised Democrats a vote on health insurance, with millions of Americans set to see their “Obamacare” costs double without an extension of the subsidies.
The health care issue has itself threatened to cause a rift in Trump’s “Make America Great Again” coalition.
Trump said on Monday one-time ally Marjorie Taylor Greene had “lost her way” after the congresswoman made critical comments, including that she was “disgusted” that premiums could double for her own grown children.
Top Democrats have vowed to oppose the government funding bill, in large part because it does not directly address the extension of health insurance subsidies that are to expire at the end of this year. But it is likely to pass the House because it only needs a simple majority, which Republicans narrowly have, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
From the start, Donald Trump had piled pressure on Democrats by letting the shutdown be as punishing as possible and refusing to negotiate on their demands on health insurance.
A million federal workers went unpaid, food benefits for low-income Americans came under threat and air travelers faced thousands of cancelations and delays ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.
Transportation secretary Sean Duffy warned on Tuesday that the chaos could get worse by the weekend if the shutdown persists, with air traffic controllers unable to be paid and authorities ordering further slowdowns in flight traffic.
“You’re going to have airlines that make serious calculations about whether they continue to fly, full stop,” Duffy told reporters at Chicago’s O’Hare international airport.
Polls have shown that voters increasingly blamed Trump’s party as the shutdown dragged on past its 40th day, reports AFP.
But it was the Democrats who caved and gave Republicans the extra votes they needed on Monday under Senate rules, without securing the key concessions they wanted.
“Health care of people all across this country is on the brink of becoming unaffordable,” top House Democrat Hakeem Jeffries told reporters on Tuesday as he vowed to maintain the fight for lower costs.
Israeli president Isaac Herzog said he received a letter from US president Donald Trump on Wednesday asking him to pardon prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is on trial in three separate corruption cases, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Netanyahu has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in the ongoing court cases, with no ruling yet delivered, and his supporters have dismissed the trials as politically motivated.
In a speech to the Israeli parliament in October, Trump suggested to Herzog that he pardon Netanyahu.
According to AFP, Herzog’s office said in a statement:
This morning, President Isaac Herzog received the attached letter from US President Donald Trump, calling on him to consider granting a pardon to prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In the letter, Trump says he is writing to Herzog at a “historic time, as we have, together, just secured peace that has been sought for at least 3,000 years”. It adds:
I hereby call on you to fully pardon Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been a formidable and decisive war time prime minister.
While I absolutely respect the independence of the Israeli justice system … I believe that this ’case’ against Bibi … is political, unjustified prosecution.
Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, are accused in one case of accepting more than $260,000 worth of luxury goods such as cigars, jewellery and champagne from billionaires in exchange for political favours.
He is also accused of attempting to negotiate more favourable coverage from two Israeli media outlets in two other cases.
The statement from Herzog’s office said the Israeli president holds Trump “in the highest regard and continues to express his deep appreciations for President Trump’s unwavering support for Israel”. It added:
Alongside and not withstanding this … anyone seeking a presidential pardon must submit a formal request in accordance with the established procedures.
John F Kennedy’s grandson Jack Schlossberg announces run for US House seat
John F Kennedy’s grandson Jack Schlossberg has said he will run for the US House next year, announcing Tuesday that he was seeking a key New York seat set to be vacated by longtime Democrat Jerry Nadler.
“This district should have a representative who can harness the creativity, energy and drive of this district and translate that into political power in Washington,” Schlossberg said in a campaign video posted on social media late Tuesday.
In an email to supporters, Schlossberg, a Democrat, said that his campaign will officially launch on Wednesday.
Schlossberg has drummed up a large following on social media with frequent posts weighing in on national issues, including taking aim at his mother’s cousin, health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr.
Last month, he posted on Instagram an image of a Halloween costume for “MAHA Man,” in reference to Kennedy’s Make America Healthy Again message and described it as including such things as measles.
Nadler, who is serving his 17th term in Congress, announced in September that he will not run for reelection next year, suggesting to the New York Times that a younger Democratic lawmaker in his seat “can maybe do better, can maybe help us more.”
The 12th District includes Manhattan’s Upper West Side, Upper East Side and midtown.
A political commentator and writer whose work has been published in such news outlets as The Washington Post, Politico and Time magazine, Schlossberg joins a crowded field of contenders already vying for the 12th congressional district seat.
Venezuelans sent by Trump to El Salvador endured systematic torture, report finds
Robert Tait
More than 252 Venezuelans expelled to El Salvador under Donald Trump’s mass deportation policy suffered systematic and prolonged torture and abuse, including sexual assault, during their detention, according to a report published on Wednesday.
The report, compiled jointly by Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Cristosal – a group investigating violations in Central America – says conditions at El Salvador’s sprawling “terrorist continent center” (Cecot) breached the UN’s standard minimal rules for the treatment of prisoners. It cites “inhumane prison conditions, including prolonged incommunicado detention, inadequate food” and other shortcomings.
The groups accuse the Trump administration of willful complicity in the suffering deportees endured after being flown to El Salvador in March and April, insisting that it ordered the men’s deportation while fully aware that they would be mistreated or even face threats to their lives.
They are calling an “independent investigation” by the US justice department, although they admit the prospect is unlikely. They are also demanding the Trump administration stop deporting third-country nationals to El Salvador.
US connivance in what is depicted as a systematic pattern of torture and human rights abuses evokes comparison with the scandal at Bahghdad’s Abu Ghraib facility during the “war on terror”, they say.
Juanita Goebertus, HRW’s Americas director, said:
We reached the conclusion that the Trump administration is complicit in systematic torture and enforced disappearances of the Venezuelans sent to El Salvador.
Trump to host business leaders at White House dinner
Donald Trump is expected to host a private dinner at the White House tonight with several top business executives, including the chief executives of Nasdaq and JPMorgan Chase, an administration official told Reuters.
The gathering underscores Trump‘s effort to deepen ties with corporate leaders as his administration rolls out new initiatives aimed at strengthening US capital markets and rebuilding critical domestic supply chains seen as vital to national security. JPMorgan, the nation’s largest bank, has announced a decade-long, $1.5trn investment program aimed at industries central to US national security and economic resilience, including supply chain and manufacturing, defense and aerospace, energy independence, and frontier technologies.
A White House official confirmed that Trump was meeting with financial leaders, but did not confirm a guest list.
Jamie Dimon, the head of the bank, has previously defended the independence of the Federal Reserve amid Trump attacks and had warned that swingeing tariffs made a recession more likely.
House set to vote on deal to end record shutdown
Good morning and welcome to our coverage of US politics with the US House of Representatives expected to vote today to end the longest government shutdown in the nation’s history. It comes as anger flares among Democrats over the Senate compromise that drops an extension of key healthcare subsidies.
After keeping the chamber idle for more than 50 days, the Republican House speaker, Mike Johnson, has recalled lawmakers to Washington to consider the short-term funding bill, which would keep the government open through January. The measure, advanced by a coalition of Senate Republicans and a handful of Democrats, would avert further chaos but leaves millions facing potential increases in healthcare premiums.
The deal has exposed sharp divisions among Democrats. Progressive groups have accused Senate leaders of betrayal and even called for Chuck Schumer to step down despite not backing the deal himself. House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries warned that Democrats are unlikely to back the bill, calling it “a Republican refusal to address the cost-of-living crisis”.
Johnson can only afford to lose two votes in order to pass the bill, and the Kentucky representative Thomas Massie is likely to vote no. But Republican leaders have expressed optimism that the legislation will pass, and be sent to Trump for his signature.
Stay with us to see what happens.
