Attorney General Pam Bondi launched into a wide-ranging, passionate defense of President Donald Trump, repeatedly shouting at Democrats during a combative hearing in which she postured herself as the Republican’s chief protector. Bondi's remarks came at a House Judiciary Committee hearing as she tried to turn the page from persistent criticism of the Justice Department’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files. Bondi sought to deflect from criticism of the Epstein files in an extraordinary speech in which she mocked her Democratic questioners, praised Trump over the performance of the stock market and openly aligned herself as in sync with a president.

A review of public documents by The Associated Press has found that at least two dozen U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement employees and contractors have been charged with crimes since 2020 — and their wrongdoing includes patterns of physical and sexual abuse and corruption. Most cases happened before Congress gave ICE $75 billion to hire more agents and detain more people. But experts say these kinds of crimes could accelerate given the volume of new employees. An ICE spokesperson says officials take allegations of misconduct "extremely seriously” and that ICE thoroughly vets new applicants.

The FBI pored over Jeffrey Epstein’s bank records and emails. It searched his homes. It spent years interviewing his victims and examining his connections to some of the world’s most influential people. But while investigators collected ample proof that Epstein sexually abused multiple underage girls, records released by the Justice Department show they found scant evidence he led a sex trafficking ring serving powerful men. Investigators wrote in one memo reviewed by The Associated Press that they were unable to substantiate one victim's highly public claim that he “lent her” to his rich friends, and found no other victims telling a similar story.

While FBI investigators collected ample proof that Jeffrey Epstein sexually abused multiple underage girls, records released by the Justice Department show they found scant evidence he led a sex trafficking ring serving powerful men. Investigators wrote in one memo reviewed by The Associated Press that they were unable to substantiate one victim's highly public claim that he “lent her” to his rich friends and found no other victims telling a similar story. Videos and photos seized from Epstein’s homes in New York, Florida and the Virgin Islands didn’t depict victims being abused or implicate anyone else in his crimes, a prosecutor wrote in one 2025 memo.

An Ohio man has been charged with threatening to kill Vice President JD Vance while he was visiting his home state last month. But the man's lawyer said his health makes it unlikely he would have been able to carry out the threat. In addition to the charge for threatening Vance, prosecutors also charged Shannon Mathre with possessing digital files depicting child sexual abuse that were uncovered during the investigation. Lawyer Neil McElroy said that Mathre’s mental and physical health challenges would have been apparent to anyone in the courtroom Friday when he pleaded not guilty to the charges, so he doesn’t think the threat charge makes sense.

The Department of Justice will allow members of Congress to review unredacted files on the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. That's according to a letter obtained by The Associated Press says that lawmakers starting Monday will be able to review unredacted versions of the more than 3 million files that the Justice Department has released. To access the files, lawmakers will need to give the Justice Department 24 hours advance notice. They will be able to review the files on computers at the Department of Justice. Only lawmakers and not their staff will have access to the files.

The chairman of prestigious law firm Paul Weiss has resigned from that position after emails revealed his exchanges with Jeffrey Epstein. Brad Karp will remain at the firm where he's practiced for 40 years and has served as chairman since 2008. He said in a statement from the firm that “recent reporting has created a distraction and has placed a focus on me that is not in the best interests” of Paul Weiss. Emails recently released by the Department of Justice as part of its Epstein investigation show Karp thanking Epstein for hosting an unforgettable evening in 2015. Karp also sought Epstein's help in 2016 for Karp's son's film career.

A California appeals court's decision to overturn the sex abuse conviction of former University of California, Los Angeles, gynecologist James Heaps has left his victims devastated and legal experts puzzled by the type of judicial error that transpired. The panel's ruling Monday hinged on a note sent by the foreperson to the judge expressing concern that one of the jurors did not have sufficient English to carry out his duties that was never shared with the defense. Some legal experts say this kind of error is unheard of. Lawyers representing Heaps' victims say their clients are devastated by the ruling.

French prosecutors have raided the offices of social media platform X as part of a preliminary investigation into allegations that include spreading child sexual abuse images and deepfakes. They have also summoned owner Elon Musk for questioning. The investigation, which began in January last year, is looking into alleged complicity in possessing and spreading pornographic images of minors, among other charges. X and Musk's AI company xAI face scrutiny from Britain's data privacy regulator over their handling of personal data. The chatbot Grok, developed by xAI, sparked outrage after generating sexualized deepfake images. The investigation continues with support from Europol.