pam bondi

Feb. 27 (UPI) — The Justice Department has sued another five states, including three led by Republicans, for their unredacted voter registration lists, amid the Trump administration’s the information ahead of November’s midterms.

The Trump administration has now sued 29 states and the District of Columbia for voter information, heightening Democrats’ concerns that it is seeking to meddle in the elections.

The five states sued Thursday were Utah, Oklahoma, Kentucky, West Virginia and New Jersey. The litigation effort has so far disproportionately targeted Democratic-led states, with Utah, Oklahoma and West Virginia among the few GOP-led states sued for their voter registration lists.

Attorney General Pam Bondi argues she is charged by Congress with authority to request the sensitive election data under the Civil Rights Act of 1960, though courts have ruled against the government in the three cases that have reached decisions: California in mid-January and Michigan and Oregon earlier this month.

Courts that have so far rejected Bondi’s argument found either that she lacks the authority to compel disclosure of the unredacted voter lists, as in Oregon, or the laws she cites do not permit the government to obtain them, as in Michigan. The judge in the California case also ruled her demand “stands to have a chilling effect on American citizens like political minority groups and working-class immigrants” worried about how their information will be used.

“As several courts have already held, the Department of Justice’s request for voters’ personal information, including their driver’s license numbers and Social Security numbers, is baseless,” New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport said in a statement Thursday rejecting the Trump administration’s lawsuit.

“We are committed to protecting the privacy of our state’s residents, and we will defend against this lawsuit in court.”

Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson of Utah said the Justice Department sued her state after federal prosecutors declined Utah’s previous offer to share publicly available lists with them. The Trump administration’s lawsuit was expected, she said.

“Neither state nor federal law entitles the Department of Justice to collect private information on law-abiding American citizens,” she said in a statement. “Utahns can be assured that my office will always follow the Constitution and the law, protect voters’ rights and administer free and fair elections.”

Attorney General Gentner Drummond of GOP-led Oklahoma even responded to the lawsuit by stating that they are willing to “fully cooperate with any lawful requests related to voter fraud.”

“Oklahomans should have confidence that their state remains firmly committed to both election integrity and the protection of personal information,” he said in a statement.

The Trump administration has argued it requires the lists for election integrity purposes, raising concerns from Democrats already concerned about Trump attempting to interfere in the midterm elections as he has repeatedly expressed worries that he will be impeached if his Republican Party loses control of Congress.

Democrats and civil rights organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union, Common Cause and the NAACP, have each echoed warnings that the Trump administration wants to use voter registration lists to undermine the upcoming election.

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division acknowledged Thursday that many states are choosing to fight them in court, but they will not be dissuaded.

“We will not be deterred, regardless of party affiliation, from carrying out critical election integrity legal duties,” Dhillon said in a statement.

Feb. 15 (UPI) — The Department of Justice said in a letter to Congress that it has released all the files related to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The letter, sent to lawmakers on Saturday night, also included the names of more than 300 “politically exposed persons” who are mentioned in the overall Epstein files, which includes former presidents, politicians, business people and artists.

Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General sent the letter to inform the leaders of the House and Senate judiciary committees — Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Reps. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Jamie Raskin, D-Md. — that it has completed its review and release of the appropriate records related to Epstein.

The six-page letter is meant to confirm that the department has “released all ‘records, documents, communications and investigative materials'” in its possession, and includes lists of categories of records that have been released and withheld, a summary and basis for redactions, and a list of all government officials and politically exposed people in the documents that DOJ has released.

Congress in December passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act to require the Justice Department to release all unclassified records in a searchable and downloadable format.

While its deadline was Dec. 19, the department did not release the records until January, and when it did so, it was in a single release of a database that, while searchable, was not well-organized and or carefully redacted — including with the publication of the names of Epstein’s victims.

Congress has also been permitted to review unredacted versions of the documents.

The letter comes days after Bondi was grilled by members of both parties in a Congressional hearing that included shouting matches between the attorney general and some members of the committee holding the hearing.

Among the several hundred names included in Saturday’s letter are “all persons” whose names appear at least once in the released Epstein documents, Bondi and Blanche wrote.

“Names appear in the files released under the Act in a wide variety of contexts,” they wrote. “For example, some individuals had extensive direct email contact with Epstein or [Ghislaine] Maxwell while other individuals are mentioned only in a portion of a document, including press reporting, that on its face is unrelated to the Epstein and Maxwell matters.”

Among the names are Beyonce, Bill Cosby, Fidel Castro, Bruce Springsteen, Alyssa Milano and Diana Ross, Ben Shapiro and a host of other politicians, artists and business people and their spouses.

Feb. 13 (UPI) — The Department of Justice sued Harvard University on Friday for failing to hand over documents for an investigation into whether its admissions process discriminates against white people.

The Justice Department said its investigation is to determine if the Ivy League school is complying with the 2023 Supreme Court decision to ban affirmative action in higher education admissions. The investigation was launched in April and was to determine if the school’s admissions process for its undergraduate, law and medical schools follows the decision.

Harvard has said it follows the Supreme Court ruling.

“Under President [Donald] Trump’s leadership, this Department of Justice is demanding better from our nation’s educational institutions,” The Hill reported Attorney General Pam Bondi said. “Harvard has failed to disclose the data we need to ensure that its admissions are free of discrimination — we will continue fighting to put merit over DEI [diversity, equity and inclusion] across America.”

The university responded that it is responding to the government according to the law.

“Harvard has been responding to the government’s inquiries in good faith and continues to be willing to engage with the government according to the process required by law,” a Harvard spokesperson said. “The University will continue to defend itself against these retaliatory actions which have been initiated simply because Harvard refused to surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights in response to unlawful government overreach.”

The Trump administration had been working with Harvard to arrange a deal after the administration was seeking $500 million and reforms from the school, to end the pressure campaign, which included a freeze on more than $2 billion in funding, a civil rights investigation and regulatory changes.

On Feb. 2, The New York Times published a story that said Trump had agreed to drop a demand for $200 million to finalize the deal. That night, Trump made a series of posts on Truth Social saying he wanted a criminal investigation of the university and increased the demand to $1 billion.

On Feb. 7, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced that the Pentagon would end its academic partnership with Harvard, calling it a “woke” institution that is not welcoming to the U.S. military.

The nation faces some tough questions following the unwittingly hilarious performance of U.S. Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi when she testified before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday about the Justice Department’s handling of the Epstein files, among other things.

Viewers were left asking themselves if the over-the-top dramatics they witnessed were in fact a midweek “SNL” comedy sketch, with Amy Poehler playing Bondi. But on second thought, no one is better at playing the Entitled Mean Girl than Bondi herself.

Deflecting from questions about the DOJ’s mishandling of the Epstein files, Bondi for nearly five hours interrupted, scoffed and yelled at her bipartisan interrogators. She rolled her eyes at questions that annoyed her (i.e. most of the questions asked by Dems), praised President Trump at the weirdest of times, and hurled personalized insults she’d noted ahead of time in a “burn binder” (more on that later).

U.S. Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi appears before the House panel Wednesday as, behind her, survivors of sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein respond to a question from the committee with a show of hands.

(Tom Brenner / Associated Press)

Bondi reserved her most dramatic how dare you! bellows for Democrats but did lash out at a few Republicans. Anyone who pressed her for transparency on the many questionable redactions in the Epstein documents risked a spiteful dressing down, including those who inquired if the DOJ was actively investigating any of the rich and powerful men involved in the disgraced financier’s sex trafficking enterprise.

She called Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) “a washed-up loser lawyer,” referred to Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) as “a failed politician” and accused Jewish House member Becca Balint (D-Vt.), who lost her grandfather in the Holocaust, of being antisemitic.

When Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) asked how many of Epstein’s accomplices she had indicted, rather than tell the truth — which is none — she launched into a non-sequitur talking point about the Dow Jones Industrial Average topping 50,000, the S&P 500 nearing 7,000 and the Nasdaq “smashing records” under President Trump. “You all should be apologizing,” Bondi said. “You sit here and you attack the president. I’m not going to have it. I’m not going to put up with it!”

Poehler is talented, but how does anyone top that performance?

If only the hearing were a comedy skit. The hundreds if not thousands of young women who were victimized by Epstein deserve justice, and the many rich, powerful men involved in his criminal enterprise deserve to be held accountable. Bondi claimed there were “pending investigations” into the case but gave little more detail.

Seated in the audience behind Bondi were survivors and families of late survivors of the sex trafficking ring operated by Epstein and his accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell. The women were recognized, with their permission, at the start of the hearing.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) later addressed the group of women: “To the survivors in the room, if you are willing, please stand.” All of them stood up.

“And if you are willing, please raise your hands if you have still not been able to meet with this Department of Justice.” All of the women raised their hands.

Jayapal then addressed Bondi: “Attorney General Bondi, you apologized to the survivors in your opening statement for what they went through at the hands of Jeffrey Epstein. Will you turn to them now and apologize for what your Department of Justice has put them through with the absolutely unacceptable release of the Epstein files and their information?”

Bondi did not face the survivors, instead replying: “I’m not going to get into the gutter with this woman doing theatrics.”

The committee repeatedly asked about numerous problems they’d found in the DOJ’s redactions of the Epstein files, including redacting the names of his suspected co-conspirators while not redacting the names or photos of some of the victims.

She snapped back at them, reminding the room that her DOJ had released more than 3 million documents, and proclaiming loudly, “Donald Trump is the most transparent president in the nation’s history!”

It was all those other guys who dropped the ball, according to Bondi. Why hadn’t former Atty. Gen. Merrick Garland or President Biden investigated the disgraced financier? Rep. Massie cut her off at the knees.

“This goes over four administrations,” he said. “You don’t have to go back to Biden. Let’s go back to Obama. Let’s go back to George Bush. This cover-up spans decades, and you are responsible for this portion,” he said.

She accused Massie of suffering from “Trump derangement syndrome.”

Many of the personal attacks she launched at House members were prewritten in what’s become known as Bondi’s “burn binder,” a notebook filled with unflattering factoids about her inquisitors (she used a similar binder at a Senate hearing). Bondi referenced the guide with such frequency, Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) joked that he’d like to see her “flip to the Jared Moskowitz section of the binder. I’m interested to see what staff provided on the [opposition research] on me.”

If “SNL” does decide to spin a sketch out of the most unprofessional testimony ever by a U.S. attorney general, how can it ever top the show we just saw?

Feb. 11 (UPI) — About 90,000 undocumented students reach the end of high school each year and researchers say their opportunities to pursue higher education are rapidly shrinking.

The President’s Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration and the Migration Policy Institute found that about 75,000 students without legal status graduate annually. It is a milestone that has been encouraged by state and federal policy for decades as migrants seek citizenship in the United States, but rollbacks on tuition equity and other policies are making it harder for many of them to continue their education.

The study is based on U.S. Census Bureau and National Center for Education Statistics data from 2023, prior to President Donald Trump‘s return to the White House.

However, his more aggressive immigration enforcement tactics and pressure to end birthright citizenship and temporary protected status have made the future of these students one with even more challenges, Corinne Kentor, senior manager of research and policy with the President’s Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, told UPI.

“We’re seeing a lot of institutions who are trying very hard to retain services for students and also comply with a bunch of very confusing directives coming at the federal level,” Kentor said. “There’s a fear about keeping programs and services that are particularly geared toward the immigrant-origin students available because the institution wants to make sure that they’re in compliance with federal directives.”

Prior to 2024, 25 states and the District of Columbia had policies guaranteeing undocumented immigrant students access to in-state tuition. This granted a path for those students to receive financial aid services and made enrollment in local colleges and universities possible for many.

Kentor said these policies helped these students not just enroll in their degree programs but also finish them.

In the past year, that has begun to change.

Florida’s legislature repealed its in-state tuition policy that had been in place for 10 years. The Department of Justice followed with a lawsuit to repeal the Texas Dream Act after its state legislature shot down numerous similar attempts. A permanent injunction blocking in-state tuition access for an estimated 12,000 students each year was granted.

The Justice Department was also successful in a lawsuit against Oklahoma.

The Trump administration has filed similar lawsuits against California, Virginia, Illinois and Minnesota. Kentucky officials settled such a lawsuit by agreeing to end their tuition policy in September.

Texas, Florida, California and New York account for nearly half of all undocumented immigrants graduating each year. California has about 11,000 who graduate annually, Florida has about 8,000 and New York, about 4,000.

The lawsuits by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi claim that offering in-state tuition to non-citizen students is “illegally discriminating against American students.”

Kentor said this is a common misconception that leads people to oppose opportunities for immigrants in education as well as other places in society like the workplace.

“There’s this sense that if one person gets a spot, then another person doesn’t,” she said. “The reality is that welcoming immigrant students into higher education, into workplaces, into the communities that they’re already a part of, creates more opportunities for U.S. citizens. There’s this scarcity mindset that moves into a competition mindset when actually providing opportunities just opens up more spots.”

As legal battles and policy decisions play out in courtrooms, statehouses and government offices, the effects are being felt in classrooms, at bus stops and in homes.

The population of undocumented students reaching the end of high school has continued at similar levels each year but this year’s class is in a particularly precarious position. Immigration raids across the country have not just seniors but all immigrant students, regardless of legal status, facing fears of losing family members to detention and physical harm.

Jeanne Batalova, senior policy analyst and data manager for the Migration Policy Institute and its Data Hub, authored the organization’s report “Graduating into Uncertainty: Unauthorized Immigrant Students in U.S. High Schools.” She told UPI that current immigration crackdowns are also affecting the education students are receiving in K-12 schools.

Batalova said California reported a 22% increase in absences in January and February 2025 over 2024.

This was as Trump returned to office and issued a slate of executive orders directing ramped up immigration enforcement. Among his executive orders was a day one order to end the sensitive locations policy that barred immigration officials from doing enforcement activities at schools, hospitals, churches and community event sites.

“This fear that anyone knocking on the door could be an [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] team busting through the door, I can only imagine the impact it is having on the entire family,” Batalova said. “When immigration enforcement ramped up at work sites during the first Trump administration, the impact on mental health was very noticeable. There was difficulty focusing on studying for children whose parents or family members were affected. At that time, kids themselves were not in the line of fire, so to speak.”

Ending policies like the sensitive locations policy and reversing course on pathways to higher education mark a change in direction from more than two decades of bipartisan support for paths to citizenship.

“For this particular population, education, both secondary and post-secondary education, has always been closely tied to their opportunity to legalize their status,” Batalova said. “A status that they themselves had no control over when they were first brought here as young children, and second, by policymakers in the United States.”

Batalova said education has been a “major engine for social and economic mobility” because it opens doors to new career opportunities and self-improvement. At a time when the president is offering a “gold card” for wealthy migrants to buy their way into U.S. citizenship, closing doors to undocumented children is a stark contrast.

“At a time of anti-immigrant rhetoric and stepped-up enforcement on the part of this administration, the future for the students is uncertain,” Batalova said. “Not only in terms of if they can go on to pursue a college degree because of state tuition. It’s if they can go outside to the library, to the university, as well as the mental impact of studying.”

Feb. 2 (UPI) — U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced the arrest of two more people on Monday in relation to an anti-ICE protest at a church in Minnesota last month.

Ian Davis Austin and Jerome Deangelo Richardson are the latest to be arrested for protesting during a church service at Cities Church in St. Paul, Minn., on Jan. 18. They are among nine people that the Justice Department has indicted for the protest.

“If you riot in a place of worship, we will find you,” Bondi posted on X.

U.S. code describes a riot as a “public disturbance involving an act or acts of violence by one or more persons part of an assemblage of three or more persons.”

The indictment of the protesters does not describe any acts of physical violence but mentions protesters “intimidated the church’s congregants and pastors by physically occupying most of the main aisle and rows of chairs near the front of the church.”

The protesters are charged with conspiracy against the right of religious freedom at a place of worship and conspiracy to injure, intimidate or interfere with the exercise of religious freedom at a place of worship.

On Thursday, federal officials arrested journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort who were at the scene covering the demonstration. Both have been released from custody.

Protesters interrupted the church service in response to the ongoing immigration raids by federal agents in the Minneapolis area. Two U.S. citizens were killed by federal agents in Minneapolis last month, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, both 37 years old.

Cities Church was the site of this demonstration due to its pastor, David Eastwood, being an acting field office director for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

President Donald Trump referred to the church protesters as “agitators and insurrectionists” in a social media post last month.