‘All we want is full transparency’: Jeffries calls on DoJ to ‘comply with the law’ and release full Epstein files
House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries has called on the Trump administration to “comply with the law” and release the full Epstein files, adding that his party would continue to pressure the justice department to release the files by the congressionally mandated 19 December deadline.
A reminder that the 19 images shared by the House oversight committee in today’s drop are separate to the archive that the DoJ has been ordered to release, but they do add to the political momentum and pressure mounting on the Trump administration over the issue.
Jeffries told reporters earlier:
The so-called Department of Justice under the Trump administration needs to comply with the law.
These people who are part of the Trump administration, including Donald Trump and JD Vance himself, all said for years that they wanted to release the Epstein files.
Didn’t they come into office and do the exact opposite, obstruct and obfuscate, hide stuff from the American people?
All we want is full transparency so that the American people can get the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. That’s what the Epstein survivors deserve and have demanded and we are going to make sure that the Department of Justice complies.
Key events
Lauren Gambino
Arizona Senator Ruben Gallego joined striking Starbucks baristas on the picket line in Gilbert on Friday.
“This is the stuff that happens when corporate power does not want to give way to worker power,” the Arizona Democrat told a group of employees, some of whom carried signs that said “Stop Corporate Greed” and “No CEO is worth 6,666x its average workers”.
Gallego, according to videos from his office, encouraged the workers to “keep up the fight”.
“The only way we have any type of real power – any type of real chance for working class people to have any type of leverage against the rich and the powerful is when they unionize and they organize and they fight back together,” he said, before leading a “si se puede” chant.
Earlier this month, Senator Bernie Sanders appeared on the picket line with workers in New York, alongside the city’s mayor elect, Zohran Mamdani.
The Red Cup Rebellion began last month with thousands of workers walking off the job in a bid to ramp up pressure on the world’s largest coffee chain following months of stalled contract negotiations. The strike has grown, with thousands of baristas in more than 130 cities bracing for the “longest” industrial action in company history.
Ramon Antonio Vargas
The death of former US senator Mitt Romney’s sister-in-law in October has been ruled a suicide, the Los Angeles county medical examiner’s office said recently.
Carrie Romney, 64, was found dead next to a suburban Los Angeles parking garage. The medical examiner’s office concluded she died from blunt traumatic injuries after falling off the rooftop of the garage, as the Los Angeles news outlet KABC reported.
Carrie married Mitt Romney’s older brother, George “Scott” Romney, a prominent attorney in Michigan who is also the father of the former Republican National Committee chair Ronna Romney McDaniel. Scott Romney had reportedly filed to divorce Carrie – his third wife – in June.
Mitt Romney was Massachusetts governor from 2003 to 2007, and US senator for Utah for six years beginning in 2019. He unsuccessfully ran for the US presidency twice, losing the Republican nomination to the late John McCain in 2008 before clinching it four years later. Barack Obama, the last Democratic candidate to win consecutive presidential terms, ultimately won both of those elections.
We’re due to hear from Donald Trump at a bill signing ceremony in the Oval Office. That was meant to start at 3pm ET, but we’ll bring you the latest lines as soon as that begins.
After a hugely busy week of news, it was only days ago that Donald Trump described Europe as “weak” and “decaying” and warned of “civilizational collapse” on the continent due to immigration.
His administration also published its blueprint for national security, which suggests that democracy might not be as important to the Trump White House as it has been for previous administrations.
Jonathan Freedland speaks to the US military scholar Joseph Stieb about the Trump administration’s national security strategy in the latest episode of Politics Weekly America.
Joseph Gedeon
Donald Trump is facing a federal lawsuit seeking to halt construction on his $300m White House ballroom, with historic preservationists accusing the president of violating multiple federal laws by tearing down part of the iconic building without required reviews or congressional approval.
The legal challenge, filed on Friday by the National Trust for Historic Preservation in the US district court for the District of Columbia, represents the most significant attempt yet to stop Trump’s 90,000-sq-ft addition to the White House complex. The organization is seeking a temporary restraining order to freeze all construction activities until proper federal oversight procedures are completed.
“No president is legally allowed to tear down portions of the White House without any review whatsoever – not President Trump, not President Joe Biden, and not anyone else,” the complaint reads. “And no president is legally allowed to construct a ballroom on public property without giving the public the opportunity to weigh in.”
Here’s a recap of the day so far
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Democrats on the House oversight committee have published 19 new photos from the 95,000 they have received from Jeffrey Epstein’s estate today. In the latest drop, there are pictures of Bill Clinton alongside the late sex-offender and his accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell. There are also pictures of Donald Trump and Epstein at social events, pictures of billionaires like Richard Branson and Bill Gates, as well as several photographs of former Trump adviser Steve Bannon and film director Woody Allen.
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Also included in this latest batch of pictures from the Epstein estate are explicit photos of sex toys. One appears to show a black latex glove with ridges on the fingers, and another features ropes, restraints and a book on “shibari” – a type of Japanese bondage. Another picture features a bowl of “Trump condoms” selling for $4.50. On the parody packaging it makes fun of the president’s style of speech, reading: “I’m HUUUUGE!”
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Upon releasing the most recent trove of photos from the Epstein estate, the oversight committee’s top Democrat – Robert Garcia – said “it is time to end this White House cover-up and bring justice to the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein and his powerful friends”. Meanwhile, Republicans on the committee, along with the White House, accused Democrats of “selectively releasing cherry-picked photos with random redactions to try and create a false narrative”.
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In other news today, Donald Trump said today that the leaders of Thailand and Cambodia have agreed to a cease fire in their ongoing border conflict. In a post on Truth Social, the president said he spoke to Thailand’s Anutin Charnvirakul and Cambodia’s Hun Manet this morning. “They have agreed to CEASE all shooting effective this evening, and go back to the original Peace Accord made with me, and them, with the help of the Great Prime Minister of Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim,” Trump wrote.
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Today, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced it would terminate all family reunification parole (FRP) programs for immigrants from Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti and Honduras, and their immediate family members. A reminder that FRP is a program whereby a citizen or green card holder could, with authorization, keep their family together in the US while members who are foreign nationals apply for permanent residency. They would have temporary parole in the US – allowing them to live and, in some cases, work while waiting for their case to be assessed.
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The navy has sent a report to the Pentagon about Senator Mark Kelly’s role in a video published to social media last month, where six Democratic members of Congress urged active service members to “refuse illegal orders”, according to multiple outlets. According to the New York Times, the Pentagon’s office of general counsel is “providing a legal review and input” of the navy’s report, per a Department of Defense official, who spoke to the Times on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the investigation.
Chris Stein
Democrats on the House judiciary committee on Friday will ask Aileen Cannon, the judge who presided over the case against Donald Trump for allegedly hiding classified documents, to release the portion of special counsel Jack Smith’s report concerning his prosecution.
Smith is scheduled to appear next week for a behind-closed-door deposition with the Republican-led committee, where he may discuss his investigation into allegations that Trump took classified materials to his properties and then hid them from federal authorities. The special counsel dropped that case against Trump, as well as another concerning his meddling in the 2020 election, in the aftermath of his re-election victory last year.
Cannon earlier this year ruled that the classified documents portion of Smith’s report stay unreleased, citing ongoing proceedings against two co-defendants in the case. However attorney general Pam Bondi dropped charges against those co-defendants earlier this year, and in a motion to Cannon shared with the Guardian, the Democrats will argue that there is now no reason to keep the second portion of Smith’s report from being released.
White House responds to latest Epstein estate photos from oversight Democrats
In response to the latest trove of photos from the Epstein estate, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said that oversight Democrats are “selectively releasing cherry-picked photos with random redactions to try and create a false narrative”.
“Here’s the reality: Democrats like Stacey Plaskett and Hakeem Jeffries were soliciting money and meetings from Epstein AFTER he was a convicted sex offender,” she added in a statement. “The Democrat hoax against President Trump has been repeatedly debunked.”
Co-sponsor of legislation to release Epstein files says photo release shows late sex-offender’s ‘elite and powerful circle’
Congressman Ro Khanna, the California Democrat who co-led the legislation for the full release of all justice department files related to Jeffrey Epstein, said that today’s photos “document Epstein’s elite and powerful circle”.
Khanna added that the latest trove of photographs are “why we must push for more information”.
Donald Trump signed the Epstein Files Transparency Act into law last month, and it requires the Department of Justice (DoJ) to release the files by 19 December in a searchable format.
“Any redactions must be accompanied by a written justification published in the Federal Register and submitted to Congress,” Khanna said. “I will be watching closely for any attempts to delay or prevent the full release of the files.”
DHS ends family reunification program for immigrants from several countries
Today, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced it would terminate all family reunification parole (FRP) programs for immigrants from Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti and Honduras, and their immediate family members.
A reminder that FRP is a program whereby a US citizen or green card holder could, with authorization, keep their family together while members who are foreign nationals apply for permanent residency. They would have temporary parole in the US – allowing them to live and, in some cases, work while waiting for their case to be assessed.
“This administration is ending the abuse of humanitarian parole which allowed poorly vetted aliens to circumvent the traditional parole process,” US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said in a statement today. “The desire to reunite families does not overcome the government’s responsibility to prevent fraud and abuse and to uphold national security and public safety. The FRP programs had security gaps caused by insufficient vetting that malicious and fraudulent actors could exploit to enter the United States, which posed an unacceptable level of risk to the United States.”
USCIS added that parole would expire for any immigrant from the countries listed today by 14 January 2026, if it doesn’t expire sooner.
The exception would be for those who have filed for their change of residence and their case is pending. They would be able to stay in the US until a decision is made or their parole expires, whichever comes first.
Trump says Thailand and Cambodia have agreed to a ceasefire
Donald Trump said today that the leaders of Thailand and Cambodia have agreed to a cease fire in their ongoing border conflict.
In a post on Truth Social, the president said he spoke to Thailand’s Anutin Charnvirakul and Cambodia’s Hun Manet this morning. “They have agreed to CEASE all shooting effective this evening, and go back to the original Peace Accord made with me, and them, with the help of the Great Prime Minister of Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim,” Trump wrote.
A reminder that fighting erupted again on Sunday in the longstanding border dispute between the two countries. As my colleague Rebecca Ratcliffe notes, Thailand and Cambodia initially agreed to a ceasefire in July, and signed a formal agreement six weeks ago in Trump’s presence. However, the ceasefire arrangements have been precarious, and both sides have accused the other of violations. Since the fighting broke out last week, at least 20 people have been killed and almost 200 injured.
“Both Countries are ready for PEACE and continued Trade with the United States of America,” Trump added on social media today.
My colleagues have collated the 19 photographs from the Epstein estate, released today by Democrats on the House oversight committee.
You can see them all below. A warning that some contain sensitive material.
Inventor of Segway pictured with Branson and Epstein in latest tranche of Epstein estate photographs
Earlier, I reported that Richard Branson and an unidentified man were pictured in a photograph with Epstein. That man is Dean Kamen, inventor of the Segway.
According to the Boston Globe, Kamen did not respond to a request for comment after today’s pictures were published. The Globe reports that Kamen – a New Hampshire-based entrepreneur – is connected to Nadia Marcinko, a fashion model turned pilot, who was close with Epstein.
A quick note that the Trump condom appears to be part of the Smithsonian Institution’s collection, where it is described as “political satire”.
The packaging was designed by Fishs Eddy, a housewares and novelty shop in New York, and launched in 2015. “It’s been a runaway hit, that’s for sure,” shop owner Julie Gaines said in November 2016, a few days before the presidential election that Trump went on to win. “People get the joke and that’s why they buy it. They don’t buy it because it’s an homage to him.”
She said the inspiration for the package design came after Trump “started mouthing off (the word) ‘huge’ every five minutes”. “We’ve always been political, but it’s at a whole new level this year,” Gaines said. “We are very, very much for Hillary (Clinton) and we make that very clear. The only time we do Trump products is when we’re trying to get our two cents in, not to promote him.”
More Epstein photos will be released ‘in days and weeks ahead’, says top Democrat
In comments to reporters earlier, Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House oversight committee, said that just under 25,000 images had been examined out of the 95,000 photographs from the estate, and said that more photos from the Epstein estate would be released “in the days and weeks ahead”.
“Some of the other photos we did not put out today are incredibly disturbing,” he added.
So there’s an enormous amount of photos that we have not gone through. It’ll take days and weeks to make sure we have those photos and redaction is done in the appropriate way.
We will continue to put out more photos in the days and weeks ahead, but I caution folks at the redaction process, and ensuring we protect survivors and women abused by Epstein.
He accused the White House of a cover-up and implored the Trump administration to “release the files immediately”.
‘All we want is full transparency’: Jeffries calls on DoJ to ‘comply with the law’ and release full Epstein files
House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries has called on the Trump administration to “comply with the law” and release the full Epstein files, adding that his party would continue to pressure the justice department to release the files by the congressionally mandated 19 December deadline.
A reminder that the 19 images shared by the House oversight committee in today’s drop are separate to the archive that the DoJ has been ordered to release, but they do add to the political momentum and pressure mounting on the Trump administration over the issue.
Jeffries told reporters earlier:
The so-called Department of Justice under the Trump administration needs to comply with the law.
These people who are part of the Trump administration, including Donald Trump and JD Vance himself, all said for years that they wanted to release the Epstein files.
Didn’t they come into office and do the exact opposite, obstruct and obfuscate, hide stuff from the American people?
All we want is full transparency so that the American people can get the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. That’s what the Epstein survivors deserve and have demanded and we are going to make sure that the Department of Justice complies.
GOP-led oversight committee accuses Democrats of releasing ‘cherry-picked’ photos
Republicans who lead the House oversight committee lambasted Democrats for the images they released from the Epstein estate today, accusing them of “chasing headlines by releasing a handful of selectively censored and cherry-picked photos”.
They added:
Democrats’ hoax against President Trump has been completely debunked. Nothing in the documents we’ve received shows any wrongdoing. Ranking Member Robert Garcia and Oversight Democrats should be ashamed of this disgusting behavior of putting politics above justice for the survivors.
Photos include a picture of British billionaire Richard Branson
Also included in today’s trove of pictures is British billionaire and co-founder of Virgin group, Richard Branson.
Branson is seen smiling on a beach, sitting next to an unidentified man and holding up a pad of paper with indiscernible writing, as Epstein walks behind them.
