AP Wire
  • Updated

Democratic lawmakers have stormed out of a closed-door briefing on the Jeffrey Epstein files by Justice Department leaders, and say they will push to force Attorney General Pam Bondi to answer questions under oath about the case. Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche went to Capitol Hill on Wednesday to try to quell bipartisan frustration over the Justice Department’s handling of millions of files related to Epstein’s sex trafficking investigation. Republicans on the committee dismissed the move by Democrats as political grandstanding, said Bondi and Blanche had been answering “substantiative questions,” and that Bondi said she would follow the law regarding her subpoena.

  • Updated

Three brothers, including two of the nation’s most successful luxury real estate brokers, have been convicted of charges that they conspired to drug and rape multiple women. The verdict in the five-week trial of Oren, Alon and Tal Alexander came on Monday, leaving all three brothers shaking their heads as “guilty” was repeated 19 times. The verdict followed weeks of testimony by 11 women who said they were sexually assaulted by one or more of the brothers at fancy locales, often after receiving a drink that they believed was laced with drugs. The brothers had pleaded not guilty to charges that carried a potential life prison sentence. A defense lawyer promised to appeal.

State investigators have begun searching of a secluded ranch in New Mexico where financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein once entertained guests amid allegations that the property may have been used for sexual abuse and sex trafficking of young women. The office of state Attorney General Raúl Torrez on Monday announced the search at Epstein's Zorro Ranch in cooperation with its current owners. Torrez last month reopened an investigation of the ranch. The state's initial case was closed in 2019 at the request of federal prosecutors in New York. Additionally, state legislators in New Mexico have launched a commission to investigate past activity at the ranch.

AP Wire
  • Updated

The House Oversight Committee has voted to subpoena Attorney General Pam Bondi to answer questions over the Justice Department’s handling of files related to the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking investigation. Five Republicans joined Democrats on Wednesday support the subpoena proposed by GOP Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina in a sign of continued frustration with the department’s review and release of a tranche of documents regarding the wealthy financier. The Justice Department had no immediate comment on the subpoena.

AP Wire
  • Updated

A House committee investigating Jeffrey Epstein labored for six months to question former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. But once they finally had a chance to sit down with some of the highest-ranked officials to ever be deposed by Congress, the sessions veered off track with a leaked photo, talk of the pizzagate conspiracy theory and questions about disclosing government information on UFOs. Videos released by the House Oversight Committee of depositions for both Bill and Hillary Clinton from last week showed how overall the former Democratic president distanced himself from Epstein. Hillary Clinton repeatedly told the committee she never even recalled meeting Epstein.