Top Senate Democrat says he expects justice department to respond to Epstein demand by 15 August
At the Capitol, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer is outlining his attempt to force attorney general Pam Bondi to release the files related to the investigation of disgraced financier and accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
“We’re invoking federal law and using our authority as a check on the executive to compel transparency,” Schumer said.
“Today’s letter matters. It’s not a stunt, it’s not symbolic, it’s a formal exercise of congressional power under federal law, and we expect an answer from DoJ by August the 15th. That’s what accountability looks like. This is what oversight looks like, and this is what keeping your promises to the American people look like.”
He noted that both Bondi and Donald Trump had previously said they want the case file’s released:
This is not complicated. After promising full transparency for years, every single time Trump, his administration, Republican leaders have had a chance to be transparent about the Epstein files, they’ve chosen to hide. The evasions, the delays, the excuses, they are not just odd, they’re alarming. It begs the question, if there’s nothing to hide, why all the evasiveness?
Trump should stop hiding from the truth, he should stop hiding from the American people.
Key events
Democrats assail proposed Texas map: ‘A corrupt, racially-motivated gerrymander’
In response to the new congressional map released by Texas Republicans today, Democrats in the state and beyond have wasted no time rebuking it.
The Texas House Democrats said in a statement:
These maps are a corrupt, racially motivated gerrymander designed to steal the voices of Black and Latino Texans so Donald Trump can send five new hand-picked allies to Washington.
Similarly, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) said that it anticipates Texas will land itself a lawsuit, and believes “the map will get struck down”.
They added that they plan “to recruit aggressively to unseat every single newly vulnerable Republican who went along with this corrupt scheme”.
US imposes sanctions on Brazilian judge overseeing Bolsonaro case
The treasury department announced sanctions today against Alexandre de Moraes – the high court judge overseeing the investigation into disgraced former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro – who is on trial for allegedly attempting to launch a coup after losing the 2022 Brazilian election.
Earlier this month secretary of state Marco Rubio said on social media that he ordered a visa revocation for De Moraes.
The US accuses De Moraes of “arbitrary pre-trial detentions and suppress freedom of expression”.
In a statement treasury secretary Scott Bessent added:
De Moraes is responsible for an oppressive campaign of censorship, arbitrary detentions that violate human rights, and politicized prosecutions—including against former President Jair Bolsonaro.
First day of DC plane collision hearing begins
Today marks the first of three days of hearings investigating the plane collision in DC that killed 67 people in January.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is holding the hearings after an American Airlines passenger jet collided midair with a Black Hawk helicopter earlier this year. The crash killed all aboard both aircrafts. It is also the US’s deadliest air disaster since November 2001.
NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy said the three days will be a “fact finding proceeding”, and today’s hearing opened with a video animation of where both aircrafts were leading up to the collision.
At the press conference, when asked about whether Democratic senators would be comfortable with redactions, minority leader Chuck Schumer said lawmakers “wouldn’t force any agreements that have been broken”, but added that he believes “almost everything can come out”.
Schumer also said that he wants the files to be made available to the public and members of Congress, and that Democratic members are working to get some Republican colleagues on board to help make the files public. “It should be bipartisan,” he said. “But if not, there’s recourse in the courts. This is the law.”
Gary Peters, the top Democrat on the Senate homeland security committee, shared more about how the letter works, and what it demands.
“We are using very unique statutory authority that is granted only to our committee, to homeland security and government affairs. The statute that we are invoking requires the administration to hand over documents … requested by any five members of the Senate committee,” Peters said.
“This letter demands that the justice department produce documents that attorney general Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel have publicly already confirmed they have in their possession. We all know in fact that the attorney general said, quote, she said they’re sitting on her desk. It should be pretty easy to turn over documents that are sitting on the attorney general’s desk.”
Top Senate Democrat says he expects justice department to respond to Epstein demand by 15 August
At the Capitol, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer is outlining his attempt to force attorney general Pam Bondi to release the files related to the investigation of disgraced financier and accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
“We’re invoking federal law and using our authority as a check on the executive to compel transparency,” Schumer said.
“Today’s letter matters. It’s not a stunt, it’s not symbolic, it’s a formal exercise of congressional power under federal law, and we expect an answer from DoJ by August the 15th. That’s what accountability looks like. This is what oversight looks like, and this is what keeping your promises to the American people look like.”
He noted that both Bondi and Donald Trump had previously said they want the case file’s released:
This is not complicated. After promising full transparency for years, every single time Trump, his administration, Republican leaders have had a chance to be transparent about the Epstein files, they’ve chosen to hide. The evasions, the delays, the excuses, they are not just odd, they’re alarming. It begs the question, if there’s nothing to hide, why all the evasiveness?
Trump should stop hiding from the truth, he should stop hiding from the American people.
Newsom warns California ‘won’t sit back’ if Texas Republicans redo congressional maps
California’s Democratic governor Gavin Newsom has indicated he may push to redraw his state’s congressional maps if Texas Republicans approve new maps that could net the GOP five more House seats.
Writing on X after Texas Republicans released their proposal for redistricting the state’s House seats, Newsom said:
Donald Trump asks for 5 seats and Greg Abbott automatically bends the knee. The 2026 election is being rigged. California won’t sit back and watch this happen.
If California Democrats want to redraw their congressional maps in the party’s favor, they will first have to ask voters to cancel a constitutional amendment that created an independent redistricting commission – potentially a tall ask.
Senate Democrats to make case for legal motion that would release Epstein files
Top Senate Democrats will hold a press conference in a few minutes about their attempt to use a rarely-invoked law to force attorney general Pam Bondi to hand over the Epstein files.
Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer is due to speak, as well as Gary Peters, the ranking member of the homeland security committee, and other Democrats on the panel. We will let you know what they have to say.
The day so far
Here’s a rundown of the news so far today:
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We’re preparing for an interest-rate decision from the Federal Reserve at 2pm, and a press conference with chair Jerome Powell 30 minutes after the announcement. It comes as Donald Trump continued to urge Powell to cut the rate on social media.
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Trump also announced a 25% tariff on India, writing on Truth Social that the US has done “relatively little business” with the country. Trump also said that India would be subject to a further penalty for buying substantial amounts of Russian military equipment and energy.
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Senate Democrats will at noon hold a press conference after writing a letter to attorney general Pam Bondi to release the full and unredacted Epstein files. They’re invoking a rare and obscure law known as “rule of five”, which states that a government agency must provide information if five or more Senate committee members request it.
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Beyond Washington, Texas Republicans released a proposed new congressional map for the state. This comes at the urging of Trump, and much earlier than usual. Typically, the state redraws their map every 10 years.
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House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries is talking with Democratic legislators in Texas amid the redistricting battle ensuing in the state. He’s expected to hold a press conference tomorrow as Democrats try to stave off a rewritten map that would cost them a House majority.
Texas GOP issue new proposed congressional map
Texas Republicans have released their new proposed congressional map today. It could add up to five Republican seats if passed.
Donald Trump has pressured lawmakers in the state to redraw the map in order to protect the slim majority that Republicans hold in the House as the 2026 midterms loom.
Currently, Republicans hold 25 of Texas’s 38 congressional seats, while Democrats hold 12.
Democratic strongholds like California and Maryland have threatened to redraw their maps in response.
Democratic Texas congressman Greg Casar, chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, has responded to a proposed redistricting map published by Punchbowl News.
He issued the following statement:
Merging the 35th and the 37th districts is illegal voter suppression of Black and Latino Central Texans. By merging our Central Texas districts, Trump wants to commit yet another crime— this time, against Texas voters and against Martin Luther King’s Voting Rights Act of 1965.
United, we will fight back with everything we’ve got.
Democratic leadership in Texas for redistricting strategy talks
While Senate Democrats are on Capitol Hill and pressing for the Epstein files release, House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries is in Austin, Texas, for closed-door meetings with state Democrats, according to Politico.
This comes as Donald Trump pushes Republican legislators in Texas to redraw their congressional district map earlier than usual. Normally, Texas would reconfigure its map every 10 years – aligned with the census.
Per Politico, Jeffries will hold a press conference in Texas tomorrow, along with a number of media appearances across cable TV.
Later today we’ll find out the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate decision, and we can also expect to hear from chair Jerome Powell shortly after.
Earlier today, Donald Trump pushed again for the Fed to lower the interest rate on Truth Social: “No Inflation! Let people buy, and refinance, their homes!”
US hits India with 25% tariff and further penalties
Announcing the tariff on Truth Social today, Donald Trump said that “while India is our friend, we have, over the years, done relatively little business with them.”
Trump added that India will also pay a “penalty” for their role as a substantial buyer of Russian military equipment and energy. “At a time when everyone wants Russia to STOP THE KILLING IN UKRAINE,” he wrote.
Our colleagues are providing live updates here.
US GDP growth exceeds expectations
The US GDP grew at a faster rate than expected this quarter – 3%. That’s higher than the 2.3% Dow Jones estimate for this April to June period.
For more up-to-date news, follow our Business Live blog here.
Ed Pilkington
Transcripts of the grand jury proceedings that led to the sex trafficking indictments of the sex abuser Jeffrey Epstein and his accomplice, British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, include the testimony of just two law enforcement witnesses, the Department of Justice (DoJ) has said, as it argues for the documents’ release.
Top DoJ officials disclosed in a filing late on Tuesday in Manhattan federal court that separate grand juries convened to consider the criminal investigations of Epstein and Maxwell, and had heard from only two witnesses.
The revelation was made in the course of court wrangling over whether the transcripts of the proceedings should be unsealed, amid the continuing furor over the Epstein scandal which has roiled Donald Trump’s second term.
The Trump administration is urging the two federal judges who presided over the Epstein and Maxwell grand juries, Richard Berman and Paul Engelmayer, to release the testimony, in an attempt to calm the uproar.
The Trump administration has come under intense pressure from the president’s own base of supporters who were infuriated by the DoJ’s decision not to release any additional Epstein files about the late, disgraced financier’s crimes involving the sex trafficking of girls.
The decision jarred with the previous stance of senior administration figures, including Trump himself and the US attorney general, Pam Bondi, who had hyped the expected release of more details of the New York financier’s businesses, travels and associations, including a possible list of his financial clients, which all further stoked conspiracies around the well-connected Epstein.
Tuesday’s submission states that the grand jury tasked with considering the criminal case against Epstein heard only from an FBI agent when it met in June and July, 2019. A similar grand jury for Maxwell heard from the same FBI agent and a New York Police Department detective when it met in June and July, 2020 and in March, 2021.
The memorandum was signed by Jay Clayton, US attorney for the southern district of New York, and included the names of Bondi and deputy attorney general Todd Blanche.
Epstein took his own life in a federal jail in August 2019, weeks after his arrest on federal sex trafficking charges, officials say, but his case has generated endless attention and conspiracy theories because of his and Maxwell’s links to famous people, such as royals, presidents and billionaires, including Trump.
Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison sentence for conspiring with Epstein in the sexual trafficking of minors. She was convicted in December 2021 on charges that she lured teenage girls to be sexually abused by Epstein.
Last week, she sat for two sets of interviews with Justice Department officials, including Blanche, in Florida, where she is serving her time in a federal prison, and answered questions “about 100 different people,” her attorney said.
Trump has denied prior knowledge of Epstein’s crimes and claimed he had cut off their relationship long ago. But he faces ongoing questions about the Epstein case.
On Tuesday Trump spoke about connections between Epstein and the president’s Mar-a-Lago club in Florida. He claimed he evicted the financier from the resort because Epstein “stole” young female staffers from him, including Virginia Giuffre who went on to be a key witness against Epstein and Maxwell. Giuffre died in April.
Maxwell has offered to testify before Congress but with conditions, including being granted immunity. Her lawyer has written to the House committee which has subpoenaed her saying that a deposition without immunity would be a “non-starter”.
The DoJ memorandum says unsealing the transcripts is “consistent with increasing calls for additional disclosures in this matter.”
