committee

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan says Hamas is ready to transfer the governance of Gaza to a committee made up of Palestinians.

With the fate of President’s Trump’s right-wing agenda at stake, the California ballot measure crafted to tilt Congress to Democratic control has turned into a fight among millionaires and billionaires, a former president, a past movie-star governor and the nation’s top partisans.

Californians have been inundated with political ads popping up on every screen — no cellphone, computer or living-room television is spared — trying to sway them about Proposition 50, which will reconfigure the districts of the largest state congressional delegation in the union.

Besides opposing pleas from former President Obama and former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the state’s powerful, left-leaning labor unions are another factor that may influence the outcome of the Nov. 4 special election.

Unions representing California school teachers, carpenters, state workers and nurses have plowed more than $23 million into efforts to pass Proposition 50, according to an analysis of campaign finance disclosure reports about donations exceeding $100,000. That’s nearly one-third of the six-figure donations reported through Thursday.

Not only do these groups have major interests in the state capitol, including charter school reform, minimum wage hikes and preserving government healthcare programs, they also are deeply aligned with efforts by Gov. Gavin Newsom and his fellow Democrats to put their party in control of the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2026 election.
“There are real issues here that are at stake,” said veteran Democratic strategist Gale Kaufman, who has represented several unions that have contributed to Newsom’s committee supporting Proposition 50.

“There’s always a risk when making sizable donations, that you’re putting yourself out there,” Kaufman said. “But the truth is on Proposition 50, I think it’s much less calculated than normal contributions. It really is about the issue, not about currying favor with members of the Legislature, or the congressional delegation, or the governor. Even though, of course, it benefits them if we win.”

High stakes brings in big money from across the nation

Newsom’s pro-Proposition 50 committee has raised more than $116 million, according to campaign disclosure filings through Thursday afternoon, though that number is sure to increase once additional donations are disclosed in the latest fundraising reports that are due by midnight Thursday.

The multimillion-dollar donations provide the best evidence of what’s at stake, and how Proposition 50 could determine control of the House during the final two years of Trump’s presidency. If the Democrats take control of the House, not only could that derail major parts of Trumps agenda, it probably would lead to a slew of congressional hearings on Trump’s immigration crackdown, use of the military in American cities, accepting a $400-million luxury airliner from Qatari’s royal family, the cutting of research funding to universities and the president’s ties to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, among many others.

The House Majority PAC — the Democrats’ congressional fundraising arm — has donated at least $15 million to the pro-Proposition 50 campaign, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) was in Los Angeles to campaign for the ballot measure last weekend. Obama joined Newsom on a livestream promoting the proposition Wednesday, and Democratic National Committee Chairman Ken Martin hosted a bilingual phone bank in Los Angeles on Thursday.

“Make no mistake about what they’re trying to do and why it’s so important that we fight back,” Martin said. “We’re not going to be the only party with one hand tied behind our back. If they want a showdown, we’re going to give them a showdown and in just a little under two weeks it starts right here with Prop. 50 in California.”

Billionaire financier George Soros — a generous donor to liberal causes and a bogeyman to Republicans — has contributed $10 million. Others have chosen to fund separate entities campaigning in favor of Proposition 50, notably billionaire hedge-fund founder Tom Steyer, who chipped in $12 million.

On the opposition side, the largest donor is Charles Munger Jr., the son of the longtime investment partner of billionaire Warren Buffett, who has contributed $32.8 million to one of the two main committees opposing Proposition 50. The Congressional Leadership Fund — the GOP’s political arm in the House — has donated $5 million to the other main anti-Proposition 50 committee and $8 million to the California Republican Party.

Although Republicans may control the White House and Congress, the California GOP wields no real power in Sacramento, so it’s not surprising that Republican efforts opposing Proposition 50 have not received major donations from entities with business before the state.

The California Chamber of Commerce opted to remain neutral on Proposition 50. Chevron and the California Resources Corp., petroleum companies that have given to California Republicans in the past, also remain on the sidelines.

In contrast, Democrats control every statewide office and hold supermajorities in both houses of the California Legislature. The pro-Proposition 50 campaign has been showered with donations from groups aligned with Sacramento’s legislative leaders — with labor organizations chief among them.

Among the labor donors, the powerful carpenters unions have donated at least $4 million. Newsom hailed them in July when he signed legislation altering a landmark environmental law for urban apartment developments to boost the supply of housing. The California Conference of Carpenters union has become one of the most pro-housing voices in the state.

“This is the third of the last four years we’ve been together signing landmark housing reforms, and it simply would not have happened without the Carpenters,” Newsom said at the time.

Daniel M. Curtin, director of the California Conference of Carpenters, pointed to a letter he wrote to legislators in August urging them to put redistricting on the ballot because of the effect of Trump’s policies on the state’s workers.

“These are not normal times, and this isn’t politics as usual. Not only has the Trump administration denied disaster assistance to victims of California’s devastating forest fires, he’s damaging our CA economy with mass arrests of law-abiding workers without warrants,” wrote Curtin, whose union has 70,000 members in the state. “The Trump administration is now unilaterally withdrawing from legally binding union collective bargaining agreements with federal workforce unions. The President has made it clear that this is just the beginning.”

Proposition 50 was prompted by Trump urging Republican leaders in Texas to redraw their congressional districts to boost the number of GOP members in the House and keep the party in control after the 2026 election. Newsom sought to counter the move by altering California’s congressional boundaries in a rare mid-decade redistricting.

With 52 members in the House, the state has the largest congressional delegation in the nation. But unlike many states, California’s districts are drawn by an independent commission created by voters in 2010 in an effort to end partisan gerrymandering and incumbent protection.

The state’s districts would not have been redrawn until after the 2030 U.S. census, but the Legislature and Newsom agreed in August to put Proposition 50, which would give Democrats the potential to pick up five seats, on the November ballot.

Money from California unions pours in

Although much of the money supporting the efforts comes from wealth Democratic donors and partisan groups aimed at helping Democrats take control of Congress, a significant portion comes from labor unions.

The Service Employees International Union, which represents more than 700,000 healthcare workers, social workers, in-home caregivers and school employees and other state and local government workers, has contributed more than $5.5 million to the committee.

On Oct. 12, the union celebrated Newsom signing bills ensuring that workers, regardless of immigration status, are informed about their civil and labor rights under state and federal law as well as updating legal guidance to state and local agencies about protecting private information, such as court records and medical data, from being misused by federal authorities.

“Thank you to Governor Newsom for … standing up to federal overreach and indiscriminate, violent attacks on our communities,” David Huerta, president of SEIU California, said in a statement.

Huerta was arrested during the first day of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in Los Angeles in June and charged with a felony. But federal prosecutors are instead pursuing a misdemeanor case against him, according to a Friday court filing.

An SEIU representative did not respond to requests for comment.

The California Teachers Assn., another potent force in state politics, has contributed more than $3.3 million, along with millions more from other education unions such as the National Education Assn., the California Federation of Teachers and the American Federation of Teachers.

CTA had a mixed record in this year’s legislative session.

Newsom vetoed a bill to crack down on charter school fraud, Senate Bill 414. The CTA opposed the bill, arguing that it didn’t go far enough to target fraud in some of the schools, and had urged the governor to reject it.

Newsom signed CTA-backed bills that placed strict limits on ICE agents’ access to school grounds. But he also vetoed union-backed bill that would have required the state Board of Education to adopt health education instructional materials by July 1, 2028.

CTA President David Goldberg said their donations are driven not only by issues important to the union’s members, but also the students they serve who are dependent on federally funded assistance programs and impacted by policies such as immigration.

“It’s about our livelihood but it really is about fundamental issues … for people who serve students who are just incredibly under attack right now,” Goldberg said.

“The governor’s support for labor would be exactly the same with or without Proposition 50 on the ballot. But he would acknowledge this year is more urgent than ever for labor and working people,” said Newsom spokesperson Bob Salladay. “Trump is taking a wrecking ball to collective bargaining, to fair wages and safe working conditions. He would be backing them up under any circumstances, but especially now.”

Critics of Proposition 50 argue that these contributions are among the reasons voters should oppose the ballot measure.

“The independent redistricting commission exists to prevent conflicts of interest and money from influencing line drawing,” said Amy Thoma, a spokesperson for the Voters First Coalition, the committee backed by Munger Jr., who bankrolled the 2010 ballot measure to create the independent commission. “That’s why we want to preserve its independence.”

Other labor leaders argued that although they are not always in lockstep with Newsom, they need to support Proposition 50 because of the importance of Democrats winning the congressional majority next year.

Lorena Gonzalez, the head of the powerful California Labor Federation, said the timing of the member unions’ donations of millions of dollars to Newsom’s ballot measure committee for an election taking place shortly after the bill-signing period was “unfortunate” and “weird.”

“Because we have so many bills in front of him, we were gun-shy,” she said, noting that the federation has sparred with the governor over issues such as the effect of artificial intelligence in the workplace. “Never be too close to your elected officials. Because we see the good, the bad, the ugly.”

Times staff writers Andrea Flores and Brittny Mejia contributed to this report.

Proposition 50 would shift the state’s congressional district lines to favor Democrats. It is Gov, Gavin Newsom’s response to a similar effort in Texas designed to put more Republicans in Congress. The new district lines would override those created by the state’s nonpartisan, independent redistricting commission.

Supporters include Democratic politicians and party organizations and labor unions. Newsom has said that this is a needed step to counter President Trump and to protect Californians. Republicans oppose the measure, arguing that partisan maps would take the state backward.

Overall fundraising

The Times is tracking contributions to one committee supporting Proposition 50 and two committees opposing the measure. Many committees have contributed to these main committees.

How money has flowed in over time

Since the proposal was announced in August, donations supporting the measure have poured in.

Biggest supporters

The Times is tracking contributions to the main fundraising committee supporting Proposition 50, which is controlled by Newsom. George Soros’ Fund for Policy Reform is the top donor with $10 million. House Majority PAC, the second-largest donor, aims to elect Democrats to the U.S. House of Representatives. Labor unions are also major supporters.

The measure has received support from several business executive and philanthropist donors, including Michael Moritz, Gwendolyn Sontheim and Reed Hastings.

Almost 150,000 individuals gave $100 or more. More than $11 million, about 14% of the total raised, came from small-dollar contributors, or those who gave less than $100.

Biggest opposition

The Times is also tracking contributions to two main opposition committees. Most of the money to these groups has come from extremely large contributions from a handful of donors.

Charles Munger, Jr., son of the former Berkshire Hathaway vice chairman, contributed more than $32 million to the Hold Politicians Accountable PAC.

Small-dollar contributions have made up $7,500 of the total raised.

The Congressional Leadership Fund has given $5 million to the Stop Sacramento’s Power Grab committee.

Oct. 2 (UPI) — Jane Fonda and other Hollywood actors, directors, writers and producers relaunched the post-World War II Committee for the First Amendment to fight back against the Trump administration’s targeting of free speech.

Originally formed in 1947 by Hollywood heavyweights Gene Kelly, Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall and others, the Committee for the First Amendment pushed back against the so-called Red Scare political repression of left-wing individuals during the 1940s and 1950s.

In a statement Wednesday, the Committee for the First Amendment said it was relaunching at a time when it sees similar political oppression emanating from the Trump administration.

“The federal government is once again engaged in a coordinated campaign to silence critics in the government, the media, the judiciary, academia and the entertainment industry,” the more than 500 entertainment professionals said in a statement.

“We refuse to stand by and let that happen. Free speech and free expression are the inalienable rights of every American of afll backgrounds and political beliefs — no matter how liberal or conservative you may be.”

President Donald Trump and his second administration have faced repeated accusations of using executive authority to suppress opposition and dissent, both within the federal government and broader civil society.

Critics point to Trump’s use of executive orders and investigations targeting political adversaries; immigration enforcement measures, including deportations and visa revocations, which a judge on Tuesday ruled was used to squelch free speech of foreign students’ support for Palestine; executive orders that restrict the rights and recognition of transgender people and directives pressuring universities to abandon inclusive policies or risk penalties.

Following last month’s fatal shooting of conservative activist and provocateur Charlie Kirk, Trump — who campaigned on promises of retribution against his political opponents — also pleaded to intensify crackdowns on what it described as left-wing political violence, worrying critics he might use it to target peaceful protesters.

By the end of the committee’s launch day on Wednesday, Fonda said they had received “hundreds and hundreds of people” in the entertainment industry have called and emailed to join them.

“What it shows me is our industry is ready to mobilize, to resist autocracy, to resist attacks on our fundamental freedoms,” Fonda said in a recorded statement published to Instagram.

“We’re artists. We’re creatives. Freedom of expression is essential to what we do. Many of our fathers and grandfathers fought wars to defend this right and we can’t just sit back and let this happen.”

The White House responded to the launch by stating that Fonda is “free to share whatever bad opinions she wants.”

“As someone who actually knows what it’s like to be censored, President Trump is a strong supporter of free speech and Democrat allegations to the contrary are so false, they’re laughable,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement.

Trump “is focused on left-wing organizations that have fueled violent riots, organized attacks against law enforcement officers, coordinated illegal doxing campaigns, arranged drop points for weapons and riot materials, incited violence all across America.

UCLA’s five-member search committee for its next football coach that was revealed Thursday features heavy hitters from various corners of the professional sports world, including two who helped engineer a quick turnaround with the NFL’s Washington Commanders.

Commanders general manager Adam Peters and adviser Bob Myers — who will be joined on the committee by sports executive Casey Wasserman, former NFL star linebacker Eric Kendricks and UCLA executive senior associate athletics director Erin Adkins — were part of the team that hired Washington coach Dan Quinn, who took the Commanders to the NFC Championship Game in his first season.

They will hope to have similar success in selecting the successor to Bruins coach DeShaun Foster, who was fired earlier this month after his team started the season with three consecutive losses. Every member of the committee will be driven to find a winner given they either graduated from UCLA or work for the school’s athletic department.

“I want to thank the members of the search committee who have, out of their love for UCLA, agreed to contribute their time and expertise to this process,” Bruins athletic director Martin Jarmond, who will head the committee, said in a statement. “We will identify, recruit and invest in a leader who has the vision, the confidence, the attitude, and the proven ability to return UCLA football to national prominence, and we will provide the resources to compete and win at the highest level. That’s our commitment to our alumni, fans and supporters.”

One prominent figure with strong UCLA ties missing from the committee was Troy Aikman, the former Bruins quarterback and Pro Football Hall of Famer who was part of the committee that in 2017 landed Chip Kelly. That hiring of the hottest coaching candidate on the market was considered a coup, even if Kelly’s results in the six seasons that followed were largely disappointing.

The only holdover from the committee that hired Kelly is Wasserman, a UCLA megadonor who is also the founder and chief executive of the eponymous sports and media talent agency.

After Kelly left the Bruins in February 2024 to become Ohio State’s offensive coordinator, Jarmond used an internal search committee consisting of athletic department employees — including Adkins, who heads the department’s name, image and likeness strategy and initiatives — to select Foster in less than 72 hours.

UCLA will have considerably more time to select its next coach given that most hires are made in December.

Myers, a reserve forward on the Bruins’ last national championship basketball team in 1995, hired Steve Kerr in his role as general manager of the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors have won four NBA titles under Kerr, who was also selected the NBA’s coach of the year during the 2015-16 season.

After leaving the Warriors in 2023, Myers has worked as an ESPN basketball analyst and was appointed to the board of the University of California regents. Myers also assisted Peters, a former defensive end for UCLA’s football team, in the coaching search that landed Quinn.

Before he joined the Commanders, Peters enjoyed a successful career as vice president of player personnel and assistant general manager with the San Francisco 49ers, helping the team appear in four NFC Championship Games and two Super Bowls over his seven seasons with the franchise.

The youngest member of the committee is Kendricks, the former Butkus Award-winning linebacker with the Bruins who is currently a free agent after 10 NFL seasons that included a Pro Bowl appearance in 2019.

UCLA said it would have no additional comment on the search or candidates until a hire is announced.

Sept. 24 (UPI) — The Trump administration has terminated the nearly 75-year-old advisory committee aimed at encouraging and retaining women in the armed forces over accusations of promoting a “divisive feminist agenda,” Pentagon officials said.

The decision to disband the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services was made by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson said in a Tuesday statement on X.

“The committee is focused on advancing a divisive feminist agenda that hurts combat readiness, while Secretary Hegseth has focused on advancing uniform, sex-neutral standards across the department,” she said.

Joel Valdez, Department of Defense acting deputy press secretary, defended the decision to disband DACOWITS, suggesting online that the committee was no longer needed.

“The panel, DACOWITS, existed during the last administration’s recruitment and retention crisis,” he said on X.

“With female recruitment numbers soaring under President Trump @SecWar’s leadership, it is clear that DACOWITS is not the reason women are joining the military.”

The Pentagon added: “We are cleansing the Department of wokeness.”

The committee was established in 1951, making it one of the Defense Department’s oldest advisory bodies. According to its website, it is composed of civilian women and men appointed by the Defense secretary to advise on matters and policies related to the recruitment, retention, employment, integration and well-being of women in the military.

Its disbandment comes as the Trump administration conducts a cultural overhaul of the military, in an effort to remove so-called left-leaning ideology.

Among the changes imposed by Hegseth are grooming standards to be clean-shaven and “neat in presentation,” banning transgender Americans from serving in the armed forces, tightening restrictions on media coverage and eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, among others.

It has also signaled a cultural transformation through promoting a so-called warrior ethos as counter to a “woke” culture as well as renaming military bases after Confederate soldiers who fought against the United States in the Civil War.

He has also attempted to rename the Department of Defense the department of war, a change that requires congressional approval.

During his confirmation hearings, Hegseth came under Democratic criticism for sexual misconduct, which he denied, as well as for saying that women should not serve in combat roles in the U.S. military.

L.A. political leaders on Friday took what their own policy experts called a risky bet, agreeing to pour billions of dollars into the city’s aging Convention Center in the hope that it will breathe new life into a struggling downtown and the region’s economy.

In an 11-2 vote, the City Council approved a $2.6-billion expansion of the Los Angeles Convention Center, despite warnings from their own advisors that the project will draw taxpayer funds away from essential city services for decades.

The risks don’t stop there. If the Convention Center expansion experiences major construction delays, the project’s first phase may not be finished in time for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games, when the facility is set to host judo, gymnastics and other competitions.

That, in turn, could leave the city vulnerable to financial penalties from the committee organizing the event, according to the city’s policy analysts.

Those warnings did not discourage Mayor Karen Bass and a majority of the council, who said Friday that the project will create thousands of jobs and boost tourism and business activity, making the city more competitive on the national stage.

“If we’re not here to believe in ourselves, who’s going to believe in us?” said Councilmember Adrin Nazarian, who represents part of the San Fernando Valley. “If we don’t invest in ourselves today, how are we going to be able to go and ask the major investors around the world to come in and invest in us?”

Councilmember Traci Park, who heads the council’s committee on tourism and trade, voiced “very serious concerns” about the city’s economic climate. Nevertheless, she too said the project is needed — in part because of the looming 2028 Games.

“This project will be transformative for downtown, and I truly believe the catalyst for future investment and redevelopment,” she said. “We need to bring our city back to life, and with world events looming, we don’t have time to wait.”

Foes of the project say it is too expensive for a city that, faced with a daunting budget crisis, eliminated 1,600 municipal jobs earlier this year, and has also slowed hiring at the Los Angeles Police Department.

On the eve of Friday’s vote, City Controller Kenneth Mejia came out against the project, saying on Instagram that it won’t generate positive income for the city budget until the late 2050s.

“Due to the city’s consistent budgetary and financial problems with no real solutions for long-term fiscal health … our office cannot recommend going forward with the current plan at this time,” he said.

The price tag for the Convention Center expansion has been a moving target over the last four weeks, increasing dramatically and then moving somewhat downward as the city’s budget analysts sought to assess the financial impact.

On Friday, City Administrative Officer Matt Szabo said the cost had been revised downward by nearly $100 million, which he largely attributed to lower borrowing costs, additional digital billboard revenue and a less expensive construction estimate from the Department of Water and Power.

The project is now expected to cost taxpayers an average of $89 million annually over 30 years, even with the additional parking fees, billboard income and increased tax revenue expected as part of the expansion, he said.

The financial hit will be the largest in the early years. From 2030 to 2046, the project is expected to pull at least $100 million annually away from the city’s general fund, which pays for police officers, firefighters, paramedics and other basic services, according to the newest figures.

Szabo, while addressing the council, called the decision on the expansion “the ultimate judgment call that only you can make.”

“Will it provide substantial economic benefits? Yes. Can we afford it? Yes, but not without future trade-offs,” he said. “We will be committing funds not just in 2030, but for 30 years after that to support this expansion.”

Earlier this week, opponents of the Convention Center expansion attempted to seek a much less expensive alternative focusing, in the short term, on repairs to the facility. The council declined to pursue that option, which was spearheaded by Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky, the head of the council’s budget committee.

Yaroslavsky called the project unaffordable and unrealistic, saying it would lead to a reduction in city services.

“If you think city services are bad now — and I think all of us would agree that they suck — and you thought maybe one day we would have funding to restore service, I have bad news: It’s going to get worse,” she told her colleagues. “We aren’t going to be able to afford even the level of service we have right now.”

Yaroslavsky and Councilmember Nithya Raman cast the only opposing votes, saying the city is already under huge financial pressure, both at the local and the national levels. L.A. is already at risk of losing state and federal funding that support housing for the city’s neediest, Raman said.

“What I fear is that we’re going to have a beautiful new Convention Center surrounded by far more homelessness than we have today, which will drive away tourists, which will prevent people from coming here and holding their events here,” Raman said.

Friday’s vote was the culmination of a start-and-stop process that has played out at City Hall for more than a decade. Council members have repeatedly looked at upgrading the Convention Center, planning at one point for a new high-rise hotel attached to the facility.

Officials said the expansion project would add an estimated 325,000 square feet to the Convention Center, connecting the facility’s South Hall — whose curving green exterior faces the 10 and 110 Freeway interchange — with the West Hall, which is now an extremely faded blue.

To accomplish that goal, a new wing will be built directly over Pico Boulevard, a task that makes the project “extraordinarily complicated and extraordinarily costly,” Szabo said.

Southern California’s construction trade unions made clear that the Convention Center was their top priority, pressing council members at public meetings and behind the scenes to support it. The project is expected to create about 13,000 construction jobs, plus 2,150 permanent jobs.

Sydney Berrard, a retired member of Sheet Metal Workers’ Local Union No. 105, directed his testimony to Park — who had been undecided on the project for several weeks — telling her she needed to stand with her district’s construction workers.

“The only reason I was able to raise my family, buy a home and retire with security in your district is because of major projects like this,” he said.

Business and local community groups also backed the project, saying it will help a downtown that has struggled to recover since the height of the pandemic. By increasing the amount of contiguous meeting space, L.A. will be able to attract national events, accommodating tens of thousands of visitors at a single convention, they said.

“This is a model that can work,” said Nella McOsker, president and chief executive of the Central City Assn., a downtown-based business group.

Councilmember Bob Blumenfield, who missed Friday’s meeting because of an out-of-state trip planned several months ago, said he remains worried that the project won’t be finished in time for the 2028 Games.

“If that happens, not only is that a shame and embarrassing for the city of L.A. … but the financial risk of that is tremendous,” he said.

Earlier this week, Blumenfield joined Yaroslavsky and Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez in recommending the less expensive alternative plan. On Friday, Hernandez shifted her position to support the expansion.

Hernandez said she too is frustrated with the quality of city services, and will work on finding additional funding to pay for them.

“I know that we will find new money. And it will be OPM — other people’s money,” she said. “Because we can’t keep funding this on the backs of our constituents.”

Because of the tight timeline, construction is expected to begin almost right away, with crews starting demolition work next month.

Ernesto Medrano, executive secretary of the Los Angeles/Orange Counties Building and Construction Trades Council, said the project will be an investment in L.A.’s workers.

“Our members are ready to don their hard hats, their work boots, their tool belts and start moving dirt,” said Medrano, who began his career loading and unloading trucks at the Convention Center.

Sept. 19 (UPI) — Former U.S. attorney for Florida’s Southern District Alex Acosta testified before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee during a closed deposition on Friday.

Acosta arrived for the deposition hearing regarding the 2008 Jeffrey Epstein case on Friday morning and ignored reporters’ questions while entering the committee room in the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, according to ABC News.

“We want to know what went on during the prosecution, when many believe that Epstein was awarded a sweetheart deal,” Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., told media on Friday.

“We’re going to ask a lot of questions about this,” Comer added. “This is going to be a pretty hard-hitting deposition.”

Friday’s deposition hearing occurred after the House committee on Monday obtained files related to the case, including a “birthday book” note alleged to have been written by President Donald Trump decades ago.

The president has denied writing the note and said it is a forgery.

Acosta was Trump’s Labor Department secretary for more than two years during the president’s first term.

He resigned amid controversy over his handling of the Epstein case as new charges were entered for alleged sex trafficking and other related offenses in 2019, CNN reported.

While he was a U.S. attorney, Acosta negotiated Epstein’s 2008 plea deal that resulted in the former hedge fund manager pleading guilty to state charges in Florida in exchange for avoiding potential federal charges.

The plea deal required Epstein to serve 13 months in thePalm Beach County jail and register as a sex offender, but he had work release.

Although Epstein did not face federal charges, Florida officials had asked Acosta to review the case after accusing a state prosecutor of mishandling the matter, according to a 2020 NPR report.

Epstein committed suicide in a New York City jail ahead of his federal trial on sex trafficking charges in 2019.

The House committee recently released more than 33,000 pages of Epstein file documents and said more will be released.

The documents released so far are redacted to protect witnesses and block child abuse materials.

A $2.7-billion plan to expand the Los Angeles Convention Center is in jeopardy after a narrowly divided City Council committee opted on Tuesday to recommend a much smaller package of repairs instead.

Amid mounting concerns that the expansion could siphon money away from basic city services, the Budget and Finance Committee voted 3 to 2 to begin work on a less expensive package of upgrades that would be completed in time for the 2028 Olympic Games.

Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky said the expansion proposal — which would add an estimated 325,000 square feet to the facility, spanning both sides of Pico Boulevard — is too risky for the city, both in terms of the tight construction timeline and the overall cost.

“The risks to the city’s finances are too great — and risks us having to cut our city workforce to offset the costs of this project for years to come,” said Yaroslavsky, who heads the committee.

Yaroslavsky proposed the less expensive alternative plan, drawing “yes” votes from Councilmembers Bob Blumenfield and Eunisses Hernandez. Councilmembers Tim McOsker and Heather Hutt voted against the proposal, saying it was a sudden and huge departure from the original expansion plan.

“I’m not comfortable voting on these recommendations today,” Hutt said. “The substantive changes have not been circulated to the committee members, staff and public — and the public hasn’t been able to give public comment on these last-minute changes that are very significant.”

Both proposals — the expansion and the less expensive package of repairs and upgrades — are set to go before the full City Council on Friday.

Council members have spent the last year trying to find a way to expand the size of the Convention Center, doubling the amount of contiguous meeting space, without also creating an excessive burden on an already stretched city budget. They have received increasingly dire warnings as Friday’s deadline for making a decision approaches.

Chief Legislative Analyst Sharon Tso, who advises the council on policy matters, told the committee Wednesday that she fears the project’s first phase won’t be done in time for the 2028 Games, when the Convention Center will host several competitions, including judo, wrestling and fencing.

Tso also warned that the ongoing cost of the project would make it much more difficult for the city to hire more firefighters, recruit more police officers and pay for such basic services as street repairs. Four months ago, the council approved a budget that closed a $1-billion financial gap, requiring cuts to city personnel.

“We just completed a budget process that was very brutal,” she said. “If you’re happy with the level of service that we have today, then this is the project for you.”

At City Hall, the Convention Center is widely viewed as a facility in need of serious repair, including new elevators and escalators, up-to-date restrooms and overall cosmetic upgrades. Expanding the Convention Center would allow the city to attract much larger national conferences, exhibitions and meetings.

The project, if approved, would connect the Convention Center’s South Hall — whose curving green exterior faces the 10 and 110 freeway interchange — with the West Hall, which is a faded blue.

The council has already pushed for several cost-cutting measures, including the removal of a plaza planned on Figueroa Street. Mayor Karen Bass and the council also have hoped to generate new revenue by installing digital billboards — two of them within view of drivers on the 10 and 110 freeways.

Even with the freeway-facing digital signs, the cost of expanding and operating the Convention Center could reach $160 million in 2031, according to City Administrative Officer Matt Szabo, a high-level budget analyst.

The cost to taxpayers is expected to average about $100 million per year over three decades, according to updated figures prepared by Szabo.

The Convention Center expansion has become a top priority for business groups, labor leaders and community organizations who say that downtown L.A. desperately needs an economic catalyst — one that will creates thousands of construction jobs and spark new business activity.

After the pandemic, office workers never fully returned to downtown, and dozens of stores and restaurants shut their doors. Homelessness and drug addiction also continue to plague portions of downtown.

“We want to see downtown recover. We want it to be a place Angelenos can be proud of, and this is the solution,” Cassy Horton, co-founder of the DTLA Residents Assn., said at the committee hearing.

Labor and business leaders told the council members that the city has a long track record of developing plans for upgrading the Convention Center, only to shelve them once it’s time for a decision.

“For more than a decade, we’ve studied this project, we’ve debated it, we’ve delayed it,” said Nella McOsker, president and chief executive of the Central City Assn., a downtown-based business group. “We’ve been deciding whether or not we are a city that can maintain and invest in this essential asset, and every time we make that delay, the cost increases.”

McOsker is the daughter of Councilmember Tim McOsker, who voted “no” on the repair proposal. An outspoken supporter of the expansion, he argued that the city took on a similar financial burden 30 years ago when it financed the construction of the Convention Center’s South Hall.

Yaroslavsky, in turn, said she was concerned not just about the project’s cost but the potential for it to pull resources away from the Department of Water and Power.

Dave Hanson, senior assistant general manager for the DWP’s power system, told the committee that deploying his workers at the Convention Center could result in delays on utility work elsewhere, including a San Fernando Valley light rail project and the installation of underground power lines in the fire-devastated Pacific Palisades.

“DWP may — we don’t know for sure yet, because they don’t know for sure yet — may have to sideline other critically important projects, including reconstructing the Palisades and all these other projects,” said Yaroslavsky, who represents part of the Westside.

Yaroslavsky’s alternative proposal calls for the city to regroup in four months on strategies for requesting new proposals for expanding the Convention Center, as well as other strategies to “maximize the site’s positive economic impacts.”

Hernandez, whose district includes part of the Eastside, said council members remain open to the idea of the Convention Center expansion as the project heads to a final vote.

“So it’s not that we’ve ruled out any options,” she said. “We’ve added more options to the conversation.”

WASHINGTON — FBI Director Kash Patel touted his leadership of the nation’s premier federal law enforcement agency at a congressional hearing likely to be dominated by questions about the investigation into Charlie Kirk’s killing and the recent firings of senior FBI officials who have accused Patel of illegal political retribution.

The appearance Tuesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee represents the first oversight hearing of Patel’s young but tumultuous tenure and provides a high-stakes platform for him to try to reassure skeptical Democrats that he is the right person for the job at a time of internal upheaval and mounting concerns about political violence inside the United States.

Patel rattled off a series of what he said were accomplishments of his first months on the job, including his efforts to fight violent crime and protect children. Nodding to criticism from Democrats, he closed his remarks by saying: “If you want to criticize my 16 years of service, please bring it on.”

Patel returned to the committee for the first time since his confirmation hearing in January, when he asserted that he would not pursue retribution as director. He’ll face questions Tuesday about whether he did exactly that when the FBI last month fired five agents and senior officials in a purge that current and former officials say weakened morale and contributed to unease inside the nation’s premier federal law enforcement agency.

Three of those officials sued last week in a federal complaint that says Patel knew the firings were likely illegal but carried them out anyway to protect his job. One of the officials helped oversee investigations into the Jan. 6 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, and another clashed with Justice Department leadership while serving as acting director in the early days of President Donald Trump’s administration. The FBI has declined to comment on the lawsuit.

Republican lawmakers, who make up the majority in the committee, are expected to show solidarity for Patel, a close ally of Trump, and are likely to praise the director for his focus on violent crime and illegal immigration.

Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, the committee’s Republican chairman, signaled his support for Patel at the outset of the hearing, praising the director for having “begun the important work of returning the FBI to its law enforcement mission.”

“It’s well understood that your predecessor left you an FBI infected with politics,” Grassley stated.

The panel’s top Democrat, Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, described Patel as “arguably the most partisan FBI director ever.”

“Director Patel has already inflicted untold damage on the FBI, putting our national security and public safety at risk,” Durbin said.

Republicans are also likely to try to elicit from Patel fresh details about the investigation into Kirk’s assassination at a Utah college campus last week, which authorities have said was carried out by a 22-year-old man who had grown more political in recent years and had ascribed to a “leftist ideology.”

Patel drew scrutiny when, hours after Kirk’s killing, he posted on social media that “the subject” was in custody even though the shooting suspect remained on the loose and was not arrested until he turned himself in late the following night.

Patel has not explained that post but has pointed to his decision to authorize the release of photographs of the suspect, Tyler Robinson, while he was on the run as a key development that helped facilitate an arrest. A Fox News Channel journalist reported Saturday that Trump had told her that Patel and the FBI have “done a great job.”

Robinson is due to make his first court appearance in Utah. It’s unclear whether he has an attorney, and his family has declined to comment.

Another line of questioning for Patel may involve Democratic concerns that he is politicizing the FBI through politically charged investigations, including into longstanding Trump grievances. Agents and prosecutors, for instance, have been seeking interviews and information as they reexamine aspects of the years-old FBI investigation into potential coordination between Russia and Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.

Patel has repeatedly said his predecessors at the FBI and Justice Department who investigated and prosecuted Trump were the ones who weaponized the institutions.

Tucker writes for the Associated Press.

WASHINGTON — The House Oversight Committee on Tuesday publicly posted the files it had received from the Justice Department on the sex trafficking investigations into Jeffrey Epstein and his former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell, responding to mounting pressure in Congress to force more disclosure in the case.

Still, the files mostly contain information that was already publicly known or available. The folders — posted on Google Drive — contained hundreds of image files of years-old court filings related to Epstein, who died in a New York jail cell in 2019 as he faced charges for sexually abusing teenage girls, and Maxwell, who is serving a lengthy prison sentence for assisting him.

The files also included video appearing to be body cam footage from police searches as well as recordings and summaries of law enforcement interviews with victims detailing the abuse they said they suffered.

The committee’s release of the files showed how lawmakers are eager to act on the issue as they return to Washington after a monthlong break. They quickly revived a political clash that has flummoxed House Republican leadership and roiled President Trump’s administration.

House Republican Speaker Mike Johnson is trying to quell an effort by Democrats and some Republicans to force a vote on a bill that would require the Justice Department to release all the information in the so-called Epstein files, with the exception of the victims’ personal information.

What’s in the released files

If the purpose of the release was to provide answers to a public still curious over the long concluded cases, the raw mechanics of the clunky rollout made that a challenge.

The committee at 6 p.m. released thousands of pages and videos via the cumbersome Google Drive, leaving it to readers and viewers to decipher new and interesting tidbits on their own.

The files released Tuesday included audio of an Epstein employee describing to a law enforcement official how “there were a lot of girls that were very, very young” visiting the home but couldn’t say for sure if they were minors.

Over the course of Epstein’s visits to the home, the man said, more than a dozen girls might visit, and he was charged with cleaning the room where Epstein had massages, twice daily.

Some pages were almost entirely redacted. Other documents related to Epstein’s Florida prosecution that led to a plea deal that has long been criticized as too lenient, including emails between the defense and prosecutors over the conditions of his probation after his conviction. Barbara Burns, a Palm Beach County prosecutor, expressed frustration as the defense pushed for fewer restrictions on their client: “I don’t know how to convey to him anymore than I already have that his client is a registered sex offender that was fortunate to get the deal of the century.”

Some of the interviews with officers from the Palm Beach Police Department date to 2005, according to timestamps read out by officials at the beginning of the files.

Most, if not all, of the text documents posted Tuesday had already been public. Notably, the probable cause affidavit and other records from the 2005 investigation into Epstein contained a notation indicating that they’d been previously released in a 2017 public records request. An internet search showed those files were posted to the website of the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office in July 2017.

Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, chided Republicans on the panel for releasing material that he said consisted almost entirely of already available information.

“The 33,000 pages of Epstein documents James Comer has decided to ‘release’ were already mostly public information. To the American people — don’t let this fool you,” Garcia said in a statement.

The disclosure also left open the question of why the Justice Department did not release the material directly to the public instead of operating through Capitol Hill.

Survivors meet with lawmakers

On Capitol Hill onTuesday, the House speaker and a bipartisan group of lawmakers met with survivors of abuse by Epstein and Maxwell.

“The objective here is not just to uncover, investigate the Epstein evils, but also to ensure that this never happens again and ultimately to find out why justice has been delayed for these ladies for so very long,” said Johnson, R-La., after he emerged from a two-hour meeting with six of the survivors.

“It is inexcusable. And it will stop now because the Congress is dialed in on this,” he added.

But there are still intense disagreements on how lawmakers should proceed. Johnson is pressing for the inquiry to be handled by the House Oversight Committee and supporting the committee as it releases its findings.

Push for disclosure continues

Meanwhile, Democrats and some Republicans were still trying to maneuver around Johnson’s control of the House floor to hold a vote on their bill to require the Justice Department to publicly release files. Democrats lined up in the House chamber Tuesday evening to sign a petition from Rep. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, to force a vote. Three other Republicans also supported the maneuver, but Massie would need two more GOP lawmakers and every Democrat to be successful.

If Massie, who is pressing for the bill alongside Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), is able to force a vote — which could take weeks — the legislation would still need to pass the Senate and be signed into law by Trump.

The clash suggests little has changed in Congress since late July, when Johnson sent lawmakers home early in hopes of cooling the political battle over the Epstein case. Members of both parties remain dissatisfied and are demanding more details on the years-old investigation into Epstein, the wealthy and well-connected financier whose 2019 death has sparked wide-ranging conspiracy theories and speculation.

“We continue to bring the pressure. We’re not going to stop until we get justice for all of the survivors and the victims,” Garcia told reporters.

Groves writes for the Associated Press. AP writers Eric Tucker, Kevin Freking and Alanna Durkin Richer in Washington, Mike Sisak in New York and Meg Kinnard in Chapin, S.C., contributed.

Committee on Oversight and Government Reform publishes thousands of page on Epstein case but two lawmakers still pushing for ‘full release’ of files.

A Republican-led US House of Representatives committee said it released 33,295 pages of files on the late high-society sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, as a pair of lawmakers continued to push for the “full release of the Epstein files” by the administration of President Donald Trump.

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform said on Tuesday that the thousands of pages on the Epstein case were provided by the Department of Justice and that the documents had been redacted to remove “victim identities and any child sexual abuse material”.

The mass document release comes as Republican Representative Thomas Massie and Democratic Representative Ro Khanna continued to call for what Khanna described as “the full release of the Epstein files and justice for the survivors.”

Massie and Khanna’s “full release” proposal would require Attorney General Pam Bondi to make public all unclassified Epstein records in the possession of the Justice Department, including the FBI and US attorneys’ offices.

Massie and Khanna were scheduled to hold a news conference with some of Epstein’s victims on Wednesday morning to support their call for the full release of files in the high-profile case.

Republican House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters that he believed Massie’s petition was “inartfully drafted”, because it lacked language that would protect the identities of victims who were sexually abused by Epstein.

Johnson also claimed the petition for the full release of the Epstein files was “moot” due to the work of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which had released thousands of pages of files on Monday.

“It’s superfluous at this point, and I think we’re achieving the desired end here,” Johnson said.

The committee subpoenaed the Justice Department and Epstein’s estate for documents and took a deposition from convicted Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell.

In July, the Justice Department and the FBI released a memo stating that a “systematic review” of Epstein-related files “revealed no incriminating ‘client list’”, and said that no credible evidence had been found that Epstein had blackmailed prominent figures.

That announcement surprised many people, including prominent conservatives among Trump’s support base, who had been pushing for all Epstein-related documents to be released, a promise Trump had made during his re-election campaign.

A poll in July by Reuters/Ipsos found that a majority of Americans, including among Trump’s Republicans, believe his administration is hiding details on the Epstein case.

Epstein was linked to a sizeable number of high-profile politicians and businesspeople through his financial dealings and charitable contributions.

He was found dead in his New York City jail cell on August 10, 2019, where he was being held while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide.

Some of Epstein’s victims were girls as young as 14.

The Los Angeles City Council stopped short on Wednesday of giving another $5 million to a law firm hired to defend the city in a long running homelessness case, sending the question to a committee for additional vetting.

City Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto had asked the council to provide a nearly sixfold increase in her office’s contract with Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP, taking the cost up to $5.9 million.

The council voted in May to provide Gibson Dunn $900,000 for up to three years of work. Over the following three months, the law firm blew way past that amount, racking up $3.2 million in bills.

“Obviously, we are not happy, and not ready to pay that bill that we didn’t bargain for,” said Councilmember Bob Blumenfield. “We were supposed to have been notified when they were exceeding that amount. It’s written in the contract that we were supposed to be notified at different levels. We were not notified.”

On Wednesday, after meeting behind closed doors for more than 90 minutes, the council sent Feldstein Soto’s request to the powerful budget committee for more review.

Blumenfield, who sits on that committee, did not offer a timeline for taking up Feldstein Soto’s request. However, he said he wants the city attorney to go back to Gibson Dunn to ensure that “taxpayers are better served.”

The L.A. Alliance sued in 2020, saying the city was doing too little to move people homeless people indoors and address the concentration of encampments in Skid Row and elsewhere. The group eventually reached a settlement with the city that required, among other things, the construction of homeless housing beds and the removal of encampments.

As part of the settlement, the city must provide 12,915 homeless beds or other housing opportunities, such as rental vouchers, by June 2027. L.A. also must remove 9,800 homeless encampments, such as tents or recreational vehicles, by June 2026.

Lawyers for the L.A. Alliance contend the city has repeatedly fallen short of the obligations spelled out in the settlement. In May, the group attempted to persuade U.S. Dist. Judge David O. Carter to seize control over the city’s homeless initiatives and turn them over to a third-party receiver.

Gibson Dunn waged an aggressive defense of the city’s actions, issuing hundreds of objections and working to undermine key witness testimony.

Carter ultimately rejected the request to appoint a receiver, but also concluded that the city had breached the settlement agreement in several ways.

Feldstein Soto did not immediately comment on the council’s action. She has previously praised the law firm, saying through a spokesperson that it “delivered exceptional results and seamless representation.”

The city is now planning to appeal portions of the judge’s order. Feldstein Soto said some of the additional $5 million would go toward work on that appeal, with Gibson Dunn representing the city through June 2027, according to a confidential memo reviewed by The Times.

In her memo, Feldstein Soto commended Gibson Dunn for preserving the city’s control over its homeless programs and preventing several elected officials from being ordered to testify.

Blumenfield also offered praise for Gibson Dunn, saying he appreciates the firm’s “good work for the city.” Nevertheless, he also wants Feldstein Soto to look for ways of cutting costs.

“Sending it to committee sends a message — which is, we don’t like what was put before us for lots of reasons,” he said.

Matthew Umhofer, an attorney representing the L.A. Alliance, said after the meeting that he was “heartened that the city didn’t give this misadventure a blank check.”

“I’m hopeful the City Council committee scrutinizes this,” he said, “and asks the important question of whether spending $6 million on an outside firm to avoid accountability is a good use of taxpayer funds.”

WASHINGTON — The House Oversight Committee subpoenaed the estate of Jeffrey Epstein on Monday as congressional lawmakers try to determine who was connected to the disgraced financier and whether prosecutors mishandled his case.

The committee’s subpoena is the latest effort by both Republicans and Democrats to respond to public clamor for more disclosure in the investigation into Epstein, who was found dead in his New York jail cell in 2019. Lawmakers are trying to guide an investigation into who among Epstein’s high-powered social circle may have been aware of his sexual abuse of teenage girls, delving into a criminal case that has spurred conspiracy theories and roiled top officials in President Trump’s administration.

The subpoena, signed by Rep. James Comer, the Republican chair of the oversight committee, and dated Monday, demands that Epstein’s estate provide Congress with documents including a book that was compiled with notes from friends for his 50th birthday, his last will and testament, agreements he signed with prosecutors, his contact books, and his financial transactions and holdings.

Comer wrote to the executors of Epstein’s estate that the committee “is reviewing the possible mismanagement of the federal government’s investigation of Mr. Jeffrey Epstein and Ms. Ghislaine Maxwell, the circumstances and subsequent investigations of Mr. Epstein’s death, the operation of sex-trafficking rings and ways for the federal government to effectively combat them, and potential violations of ethics rules related to elected officials.”

The Justice Department, trying to distance Trump and Epstein, last week began handing over to lawmakers documentation of the federal investigation into Epstein. It has also released transcripts of interviews conducted with Ghislaine Maxwell, his former girlfriend. But Democrats on the committee have not been satisfied with those efforts, saying that the some 33,000 pages of documents they’ve received are mostly already public.

“DOJ’s limited disclosure raises more questions than answers and makes clear that the White House is not interested in justice for the victims or the truth,” Rep. Robert Garcia of Long Beach, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, said in a statement.

Pressure from lawmakers to release more information is likely to only grow when Congress returns to Washington next week.

A bipartisan group of House members is attempting to maneuver around Republican leadership to hold a vote to pass legislation meant to require the Justice Department to release a full accounting of the sex trafficking investigation into Epstein.

Groves writes for the Associated Press.

MINNEAPOLIS — Ken Martin is in the fight of his life.

The low-profile political operative from Minnesota, just six months on the job as chairman of the Democratic National Committee, is charged with leading his party’s formal resistance to President Trump and fixing the Democratic brand.

“I think the greatest divide right now in our party, frankly, is not ideological,” Martin told The Associated Press. “The greatest divide is those people who are standing up and fighting and those who are sitting on the sidelines.”

“We’re using every single lever of power we have to take the fight to Donald Trump,” he said of the DNC.

And yet, as hundreds of Democratic officials gather in Martin’s Minneapolis hometown on Monday for the first official DNC meeting since he became chair, there is evidence that Martin’s fight may extend well beyond the current occupant of the Oval Office.

Big Democratic donors are unhappy with the direction of their own party and not writing checks. Political factions are fragmented over issues such as the Israel-Hamas war. The party’s message is murky. Key segments of the Democratic base — working-class voters and young people, among them — have drifted away.

And there is deep frustration that the Democratic Party under Martin’s leadership is not doing enough to stop the Republican president — no matter how tough his rhetoric may be.

“There are no magic fixes,” said Jeanna Repass, the chair of the Kansas Democratic Party, who praised Martin’s performance so far. “He is trying to lead at a time where everyone wants it to be fixed right now. And it’s just not going to happen.”

At this week’s three-day summer meeting, DNC officials hope to make real progress in reversing the sense of pessimism and frustration that has consumed Democrats since Republicans seized the White House and control of Congress last fall.

It may not be so easy.

Confidence questions and money trouble

At least a couple of DNC members privately considered bringing a vote of no confidence against Martin this week in part because of the committee’s underwhelming fundraising, according to a person with direct knowledge of the situation who was granted anonymity to share internal discussions. Ultimately, the no confidence vote will not move forward because Martin’s critics couldn’t get sufficient support from the party’s broader membership, which includes more than 400 elected officials from every state and several territories.

Still, the committee’s financial situation is weak compared with the opposition’s.

The most recent federal filings reveal that the DNC has $14 million in the bank at the end of July compared with the Republican National Committee’s $84 million. The Democrats’ figure represents its lowest level of cash on hand in at least the last five years.

Martin and his allies, including his predecessor Jaime Harrison, insist it’s not fair to compare the party’s current financial health with recent years, when Democratic President Joe Biden was in the White House.

Harrison pointed to 2017 as a more accurate comparison. That year, the committee struggled to raise money in the months after losing to Trump the first time. And in the 2018 midterm elections that followed, Harrison noted, Democrats overcame their fundraising problems and won the House majority and several Senate seats.

“These are just the normal pains of being a Democrat when we don’t have the White House,” Harrison said. “Ken is finding his footing.”

Martin acknowledged that big donors are burnt out after the last election, which has forced the committee to turn to smaller-dollar donors, who have responded well.

“Money will not be the ultimate determinant in this (midterm) election,” Martin said. “We’ve been making investments, record investments, in our state parties. … We have the money to operate. We’re not in a bad position.”

Gaza debate could get ugly

While Martin is broadly popular among the DNC’s rank and file, internal divisions may flare publicly this week when the committee considers competing resolutions about the Israel-Hamas war.

One proposed resolution would have the DNC encourage Democratic members of Congress to suspend military aid to Israel, establish an arms embargo and recognize Palestine as a country, according to draft language reviewed by the AP. The measure also states that the crisis in Gaza has resulted in the loss of over 60,000 lives and the displacement of 1.7 million Palestinians “at the hands of the Israeli government.”

The DNC leadership, led by Martin, introduced a competing resolution that adds more context about Israel’s challenges.

One line, for example, refers to “the suffering of both Palestinians and Israelis” and notes the number of Israelis killed in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel. Martin’s version calls for a two-state solution, but there is no reference to the number of Palestinians killed or displaced, nor is there a call for an end to military aid or an arms embargo.

Meanwhile, another proposed resolution would reaffirm the DNC’s commitment to “diversity, equity and inclusion.” Many Democrats, businesses and educational institutions have distanced themselves from DEI programs after Trump and other Republicans attacked them as Democrats’ “woke” policies.

Ultimately, Martin said the party needs to focus its message on the economy.

“There’s no doubt we have to get back to a message that resonates with voters,” he said. “And focusing on an economic agenda is the thing that brings all parts of our coalition and Americans into the conversation.”

“We have work to do for sure,” he added.

Presidential prospects on the agenda

The DNC is years away from deciding which states vote first on the 2028 presidential primary calendar, but that discussion will begin in earnest at the Minneapolis gathering, where at least three presidential prospects will be featured speakers: Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar.

Martin said the DNC is open to changes from the 2024 calendar, which kicked off in South Carolina, while pushing back traditional openers Iowa and New Hampshire. In recent days, Iowa Democrats have publicly threatened to go rogue and ignore the wishes of the DNC if they are skipped over again in 2028.

The DNC’s Rules and Bylaws committee this week is expected to outline what the next calendar selection process would look like, although the calendar itself likely won’t be completed until 2027.

“We’re going to make sure that the process is open, that any state that wants to make a bid to be in the early window can do so,” Martin said.

Peoples writes for the Associated Press.

A bipartisan congressional committee is investigating whether California’s High-Speed Rail Authority knowingly misrepresented ridership projections and financial outlooks, as alleged by the Trump administration, to secure federal funding.

In a letter sent to Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on Tuesday, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform chair James Comer (R-KY) requested a staff briefing and all communications and records about federal funding for the high-speed rail project and any analysis over the train’s viability.

“The Authority’s apparent repeated use of misleading ridership projections, despite longstanding warnings from experts, raises serious questions about whether funds were allocated under false pretenses,” Comer wrote.

Comer’s letter copied Congressman Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the committee who has also voiced skepticism about the project. Garcia, whose districts represent communities in Southern California, was not immediately available for comment.

An authority spokesperson called the House committee’s investigation “another baseless attempt to manufacture controversy around America’s largest and most complex infrastructure project,” and added that the project’s chief executive Ian Choudri previously addressed the claims and called them “cherrypicked and out-of-date, and therefore misleading.”

Last month, the Trump administration pulled $4 billion in federal funding from the project meant for construction in the Central Valley. After a months-long review, prompted by calls from Republican lawmakers, the administration found “no viable path” forward for the fast train, which is billions of dollars over budget and years behind schedule. The administration also questioned whether the authority’s projected ridership counts were intentionally misrepresented.

California leaders called the move “illegal” and sued the Trump administration for declaratory and injunctive relief. Gov. Gavin Newsom said it was “a political stunt” and a “heartless attack on the Central Valley.”

The bullet train was proposed decades ago as a way to connect Los Angeles and San Francisco in less than three hours by 2020. While the entire line has cleared environmental reviews, no stretch of the route has been completed. Construction has been limited to the Central Valley, where authority leaders have said a segment between Merced and Bakersfield will open by 2033. The project is also about $100 billion over its original budget of $33 billion.

Even before the White House pulled federal funding, authority leaders and advisers repeatedly raised concerns over the project’s long-term financial sustainability.

Roughly $13 billion has been spent so far — the bulk of which was supplied by the state, which has proposed $1 billion per year towards the project. But Choudri, who started at the authority last year, has said the project needs to find new sources of funding and has turned focus toward establishing public-private partnerships to supplement costs.

WASHINGTON — The House Oversight Committee subpoenaed the Justice Department on Tuesday for files in the Jeffrey Epstein sex-trafficking investigation and is seeking depositions with the Clintons and former law enforcement officials, part of a congressional probe that lawmakers believe may show links to President Trump and former top officials.

The Republican-controlled committee issued subpoenas for depositions with former President Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and eight former top law enforcement officials.

The committee’s actions showed how even with lawmakers away from Washington on a monthlong break, interest in the Epstein files is still running high. Trump has denied prior knowledge of Epstein’s crimes and claimed he cut off their relationship long ago, and he has repeatedly tried to move past the Justice Department’s decision not to release a full accounting of the investigation. But lawmakers from both major political parties, as well as many in the Republican president’s political base, have refused to let it go.

Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, the Republican chair of the Oversight Committee, noted in letters to U.S. Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi and the former officials that the cases of Epstein and his former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell “have received immense public interest and scrutiny.”

“While the Department undertakes efforts to uncover and publicly disclose additional information related to Mr. Epstein and Ms. Maxwell’s cases, it is imperative that Congress conduct oversight of the federal government’s enforcement of sex-trafficking laws generally, and specifically, its handling of the investigation and prosecution of Mr. Epstein and Ms. Maxwell,” Comer said.

Epstein’s circle

Since Epstein’s 2019 death in a New York jail cell as he awaited trial on sex-trafficking charges, conservative conspiracists have stoked theories about what information investigators gathered on Epstein — and who else knew about his sexual abuse of teenage girls. Republican lawmakers on the House Oversight Committee nodded to that line of questioning last month by initiating the subpoenas for the Clintons, both Democrats, as well as demanding all communications between President Biden’s Democratic administration and the Justice Department regarding Epstein.

Bill Clinton was among a number of luminaries acquainted with Epstein, a wealthy financier, before the criminal investigation against him in Florida became public two decades ago. Clinton has never been accused of wrongdoing by any of the women who say Epstein abused them.

One of Epstein’s victims, Virginia Giuffre, once gave a newspaper interview in which she described riding in a helicopter with Clinton and flirting with Trump, but she later said in a deposition that those things hadn’t actually happened and were mistakes by the reporter. Clinton has previously said through a spokesperson that while he traveled on Epstein’s jet, he never visited his homes and had no knowledge of his crimes.

The committee is also demanding interviews under oath from former attorneys general spanning the last four presidential administrations: Merrick Garland, William Barr, Jeff Sessions, Loretta Lynch, Eric Holder and Alberto Gonzales. Lawmakers also subpoenaed former FBI Directors James Comey and Robert Mueller.

However, it was Democrats who sparked the move to subpoena the Justice Department for its files on Epstein. They were joined by some Republicans last month to successfully initiate the subpoena through a subcommittee of the House Oversight Committee.

“Today was an important step forward in our fight for transparency regarding the Epstein files and our dedication to seeking justice for the victims,” said Democratic Reps. Robert Garcia of Long Beach, the top Democrat on the committee, and Summer Lee of Pennsylvania, who initiated the subpoena, in a joint statement. “Now, we must continue putting pressure on the Department of Justice until we actually receive every document.”

Will the subpoenas be enforced?

The subpoenas give the Justice Department until Aug. 19 to hand over the requested records, though such requests are typically open to negotiation and can be resisted by the Trump administration.

The committee is also asking the former officials to appear for the depositions throughout August, September and October, concluding with Hillary Clinton on Oct. 9 and Bill Clinton on Oct. 14.

Multiple former presidents have voluntarily testified before Congress, but none has been compelled to do so. That history was invoked by Trump in 2022, between his first and second terms, when he faced a subpoena by the House committee investigating the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, riot by a mob of his supporters at the U.S. Capitol.

Lawyers for Trump resisted the subpoena, citing decades of legal precedent they said shielded an ex-president from being ordered to appear before Congress. The committee ultimately withdrew its subpoena.

The committee had previously issued a subpoena for an interview with Maxwell, who had been serving a prison sentence in Florida for luring teenage girls to be sexually abused by Epstein but was recently transferred to a Texas facility.

However, Comer has indicated he is willing to delay that deposition until after the Supreme Court decides whether to hear an appeal to her conviction. She argues she was wrongfully prosecuted.

As the Justice Department has tried to appease demands for more disclosure, it has turned attention to Maxwell. Officials interviewed her for 1 1/2 days last month.

But Democrats stressed the importance of gaining direct access to the investigative files, rather than relying on Maxwell’s words.

“We need these files now in order to corroborate any claims she makes,” Garcia and Lee said, adding: “This fight is not over.”

Prosecutors say there’s not much new in grand jury transcripts

Another way the Trump administration is trying to address the public clamor for more transparency is by asking federal judges to unseal grand jury transcripts in the cases against Epstein and Maxwell. But prosecutors indicated Monday the public already knows a lot of what’s in the documents.

Much of the information “was made publicly available at trial or has otherwise been publicly reported through the public statements of victims and witnesses,” prosecutors wrote in court papers Monday.

The prosecutors also made clear they’re seeking to unseal only the transcripts of grand jury witnesses’ testimony, not the exhibits that accompanied it.

Groves writes for the Associated Press. AP writers Jennifer Peltz and David Caruso in New York and Eric Tucker in Washington contributed to this report.

WASHINGTON — A key House committee is looking into the investigation of the late Jeffrey Epstein for sex trafficking crimes, working to subpoena President Trump’s Department of Justice for files in the case and hold a deposition of Epstein’s jailed accomplice and former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell.

The Republican-led House Oversight and Government Reform Committee acted just before House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) sent lawmakers home early for a monthlong break from Washington, a move widely seen as attempt to avoid politically difficult votes for his GOP caucus on the Epstein matter.

The committee’s moves are evidence of the mounting pressure for disclosure in a case that Trump has unsuccessfully urged his supporters to move past. But they were also just the start of what can be a drawn-out process.

Here’s what could happen next in the House inquiry as lawmakers seek answers in a case that has sparked rampant speculation since Epstein’s death in 2019 and more recently caused many in the Trump administration to renege on promises for a complete accounting.

Subpoena for the files

Democrats, joined by three Republicans, were able to successfully initiate the subpoena from a subcommittee just as the House was leaving Washington for its early recess. But it was just the start of negotiations over the subpoena.

The subcommittee agreed to redact the names and personal information of any victims, but besides that, their demand for information is quite broad, encompassing “un-redacted Epstein files.”

As the parameters of the subpoena are drafted, Democrats are demanding that it be fulfilled within 30 days from when it is served to Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi. They have also proposed a list of document demands, including the prosecutorial decisions surrounding Epstein, documents related to his death, and communication from any president or executive official regarding the matter.

Ultimately, Republicans who control the committee will have more power over the scope of the subpoena, but the fact that it was approved with a strong bipartisan vote gives it some heft.

The committee chairman, Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), said he told the speaker that “Republicans on the Oversight Committee were going to move to be more aggressive in trying to get transparency with the Epstein files. So, we did that, and I think that’s what the American people want.”

Depose Maxwell?

Comer has said he is hoping that staff from the committee can interview Maxwell under oath on Aug. 11 at or near the federal prison in Florida where she is serving a lengthy sentence for child sex trafficking.

In a congressional deposition, the subject typically has an attorney present to help them answer — or not answer — questions while maintaining their civil rights. Subjects also have the ability to decline to answer questions if they could be used against them in a criminal case, though in this instance that might not matter because Maxwell has already been convicted of many of the things she is likely to be asked about.

Maxwell has the ability to negotiate some of the terms of the deposition, and she already conducted two days of interviews with Justice Department officials this past week.

Democrats warn that Maxwell is not to be trusted.

“We should understand that this is a very complex witness and someone that has caused great harm and not a good person to a lot of people,” Rep. Robert Garcia of Long Beach, the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee, told reporters this week.

Other subpoenas

Committee Republicans also initiated a motion to subpoena a host of other people, including former President Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as well as former U.S. attorneys general dating back to Alberto Gonzales, who served under President George W. Bush.

It’s not clear how this sweeping list of proposed subpoenas will play out, but Comer has said, “We’re going to move quickly on that.”

How will Bondi comply?

Trump has often fought congressional investigations and subpoenas. As with most subpoenas, the Justice Department can negotiate the terms of how it fulfills the subpoena. It can also make legal arguments against handing over certain information.

Joshua A. Levy, who teaches on congressional investigations at Georgetown Law School and is a partner at Levy Firestone Muse, said that the results of the subpoena “depend on whether the administration wants to work through the traditional accommodation process with the House and reach a resolution or if one or both sides becomes entrenched in its position.”

If Congress is not satisfied with Bondi’s response — or if she were to refuse to hand over any information — there are several ways lawmakers can try to enforce the subpoena. However, that would require a vote to hold Bondi in contempt of Congress.

It’s practically unheard of for a political party to vote to hold a member of its party’s White House administration in contempt of Congress, but the Epstein saga has cut across political lines and driven a wedge in the GOP.

Calls for disclosure

Ultimately, the bipartisan vote to subpoena the files showed how political pressure is mounting on the Trump administration to disclose the files. Politics, policy and the law are all bound up together in this case, and many in Congress want to see a full accounting of the sex trafficking investigation.

“We can’t allow individuals, especially those at the highest level of our government, to protect child sex traffickers,” said Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pa.), a committee member.

The Trump administration is already facing the potential for even more political tension. When Congress comes back to Washington in September, a bipartisan group of House lawmakers is working to advance to a full House vote a bill that aims to force the public release of the Epstein files.

Groves writes for the Associated Press.

July 23 (UPI) — The U.S. House Oversight Committee on Wednesday subpoenaed Ghislaine Maxwell as a subcommittee sought subpoenas for President Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton and the Justice Department.

A House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee also approved subpoenas to obtain Department of Justice records related to the Epstein files and deposing former President Bill Clinton and other Democrats.

Rep. Summer Lee, D-Pa., introduced the motion to subpoena the DOJ’s “full, complete [and] unredacted” Epstein files, which passed with an 8-2 vote.

Republican Reps. Nancy Mace of South Carolina, Brian Jack of Georgia and Scott Perry of Pennsylvania joined Democrats in voting in favor of the subpoena motion.

House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., said he will sign the DOJ subpoena for the Epstein files, ABC News reported.

The subcommittee also seeks former President Clinton’s and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s depositions.

Others targeted for subpoenas include James Comey, Eric Holder, Loretta Lynch, Robert Mueller, Alberto Gonzales and Jeff Sessions.

House speaker questions Maxwell’s credibility

The Oversight Committee wants to depose Maxwell on Aug. 11 at the Federal Correctional Institution in Tallahassee, Fla.

Maxwell, 63, was an associate of former financier and convicted sex offender Epstein, who killed himself while jailed in New York City and awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges that included minors in 2019.

She also is the daughter of former British media mogul Robert Maxwell and is serving a 20-year prison sentence in Florida after a jury found her guilty of sex trafficking in 2021.

“The facts and circumstances surrounding both your and Mr. Epstein’s cases have received immense public interest and scrutiny,” Comer said in the subpoena.

Comer said the Justice Department also is undertaking “efforts to uncover and publicly disclose additional information related to your and Mr. Epstein’s cases.”

“It is imperative that Congress conduct oversight of the federal government’s enforcement of sex trafficking laws generally,” he added, “and specifically its handling of the investigation and prosecution of you and Mr. Epstein.”

Comer submitted the subpoena a day after a House Oversight subcommittee approved a motion that directed him to seek Maxwell’s testimony before the Oversight Committee.

The Justice Department on Tuesday also announced it will interview Maxwell soon to provide greater transparency in the case against Epstein.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., on Wednesday questioned the credibility of Maxwell’s testimony.

“Could she be counted on to tell the truth?” Johnson asked reporters. “Is she a credible witness?”

He called Maxwell “a person who’s been sentenced to many, many years in prison for terrible, unspeakable conspiratorial acts and acts against innocent young people.”

Federal judge denies Epstein grand jury files access

A federal judge on Wednesday denied one of three DOJ requests to release grand jury records from Epstein’s case there.

U.S. District of Southern Florida Judge Robin Rosenberg refused to unseal the grand jury testimony and records from cases against Epstein in 2005 and 2007.

Rosenberg said the Justice Department did not sufficiently outline arguments to unseal the court records.

She also denied a request to transfer the matter to the U.S. District Court for Southern New York.

Two federal judges there similarly are considering DOJ motions to unseal grand jury files from the former Epstein cases.

Bondi said Trump’s name is in the files

While those rulings are pending, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi told Trump his name appears in the Epstein files, The New York Times reported on Wednesday.

Bondi did not state the context in which Trump is mentioned, and White House Communications Director Steven Cheung said Trump did not engage in any wrongdoing.

Instead, Trump expelled Epstein from his Mar-a-Lago club because the president thought Epstein was a “creep,” Cheung added.

Bondi earlier suggested she would release files related to the Epstein case, but recently said they don’t contain anything noteworthy.

Her announcement regarding the files triggered controversy, including among Republican congressional members.

Johnson canceled Thursday’s House session and said the chamber will recess until Sept. 2.