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Jeffrey Epstein saga continues as Congress returns from recess
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Congress wasn’t in session in August. But the Epstein files certainly were.
The Epstein files dominated Congress before the summer recess. But when lawmakers returned to Capitol Hill in recent days, the first thing lawmakers wrestled with were the Epstein files again.
Note: If you want something to go away, do not make it among the first orders of business.
The Epstein issue gurgled through the summer. And House Republicans did little to tamp down the embers by adjourning the body a day early in July – because they struggled to pass unrelated bills without delving into a complicated and sticky discussion of the Epstein files. Then, when the House returned, GOP leaders immediately prepped a resolution to formally bless an Epstein investigation by the Oversight Committee. The panel released some 32,000 pages of Epstein-related documents.
Just hours after returning to session, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and others met with Epstein accusers.
‘NOT GOING AWAY’: INSIDE THE EPSTEIN DRAMA THAT’S THROWN HOUSE GOP INTO CHAOS
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., speaks during a press conference calling for the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files outside the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday Sept. 3, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Matt McClain/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
That explains why the issue isn’t ebbing any time soon.
«It is very much a possibility that Jeffrey Epstein was an intelligence asset working for our adversaries,» declared Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., after talking to the Epstein victims at the Capitol. «I think this is going to be a criminal investigation for sure. I will say that what’s been released, obviously, the American people have wanted for a long time.»
Before the recess, Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Ro Khanna, D-Calif., teamed up to potentially bypass Johnson and compel the House to vote on releasing the Epstein files. The Epstein milieu quickly infected virtually every single legislative effort in Congress, effectively hamstringing the body. So Johnson cut everyone loose a bit early.
But the issue festered over the recess. Massie and Khanna were back with their parliamentary gambit to go over Johnson’s head and force an Epstein vote.
Lawmakers from both sides routinely convene press conferences at a spot just outside the Capitol called the «House Triangle.» Lawmakers often use this venue to feature non-members or people specific to the legislation they’re pushing at the news conference.
Sometimes members bring a throng of people with them. A crowd occasionally gathers, depending on the issue.
But I had never before witnessed the multitude of people who showed up at the House Triangle on Wednesday morning to hear Massie, Khanna and victims talk about their effort to pry open the files. People spilled out onto the walkways and plaza. That forced U.S. Capitol Police to restrict access to the area.
Some of the victims recounted their Epstein stories in harrowing detail.
«When I got into the massage room, Jeffrey Epstein undressed and asked me to do things to him, my eyes welled up with tears. And I have never been more scared in my life,» said Epstein accuser Haley Robson.
«I was even taken on a trip to Africa with former President Bill Clinton and other notable figures. In those moments, I realized how powerless I was,» said Epstein victim Chauntae Davies.
EPSTEIN VICTIMS SET TO BREAK SILENCE AMID BIPARTISAN PUSH TO RELEASE FILES: ‘PEOPLE ARE GOING TO BE OUTRAGED’
Anouska De Georgiou, right, gathers with other Jeffrey Epstein survivors during a press conference calling for the release of the Epstein files outside the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Matt McClain/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Massie and Khanna are deploying what’s called a «discharge petition.» It’s a rarely successful gambit to go over the head of the Speaker and force a debate and vote on your issue – provided one can engineer 218 House signatures. If Massie and Khanna cobble together enough signatories, they may be able to force a vote later this month.
House GOP leaders are concerned about this. That’s why Johnson hoped to intervene with his own measure to formalize the House Oversight Committee’s inquiry into Epstein. But Johnson designed the measure in a way that the House could approve it – without taking a direct vote on it. That way, Republicans could point to angry constituents that they were in fact taking the Epstein files seriously – without an actual roll call vote documenting their position and perhaps infuriating President Donald Trump. Or, they could tell other constituents who wouldn’t want them to cross the President on Epstein to say they never directly voted on it at all. After all, it was buried in an unrelated measure.
Make sense?
But there was another motive behind the leadership’s unique parliamentary maneuver on Epstein: They wanted to give Republicans cover to say that the House was in fact addressing the Epstein issue. The move might coax fewer members to support the Massie/Khanna effort. That would prevent the House from taking a concrete vote tied to Epstein. But otherwise, the House may need to directly wrestle with it.
Massie called this a «political cover» to block his plan with Khanna to release the files.
Johnson fired back at Massie.
«I would not put much stock into what Thomas Massie says. The House Republicans have been very consistent about maximum disclosure and maximum transparency,» said Johnson.
Trump long promised to release the files. But Trump’s position this week was to blame Democrats.
«This is a Democrat hoax that never ends. You know, it reminds me a little of the [President John F.] Kennedy situation. We gave them everything over and over again. More and more and more and nobody’s ever satisfied,» said Trump. «But it’s really a Democrat hoax because they’re trying to get people to talk about something that’s totally irrelevant to the success that we’ve had as a nation since I’ve been president.»
Massie suggested that Johnson is just trying to stay on Trump’s good side by walking a political tightrope.
HOUSE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE RELEASES THOUSANDS OF EPSTEIN DOCUMENTS
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., left, and President Donald Trump shake hands during an Invest America roundtable in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on June 9, 2025. (Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
«The Speaker is wrestling with [whether] he’s going to have to choose between supporting Donald Trump’s new position that the files shouldn’t be released, or finding justice for these victims and survivors. The Speaker probably doesn’t appreciate that he’s going to have to choose one,» said Massie. «The Speaker’s position depends on him not just rubber-stamping but reinforcing anything Donald Trump wants, even if Donald Trump is wrong. So the Speaker is in a tough spot.»
The materials coughed up by the Oversight panel did include a new video of the so-called «missing minute.» It fills in absent footage from Epstein’s New York jail cell on the night he died.
But Massie insists on the release of more material.
«What’s clear is they’re not redacting, just to protect victims. They are redacting to protect the reputations of people,» said Massie.
One Republican aligned with the President threatened to out those linked to Epstein.
«I’m not afraid to name names,» said Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., at the press conference. «So if they want to give me a list, I will walk into that Capitol on the House floor, and I’ll say every damn name that abused these women.»
Khanna was buoyed by the support of Greene.
«I’ve never done a press conference with Marjorie Taylor Greene before,» said the progressive Khanna. «I don’t think Marjorie Taylor Greene would be part of a stunt against President Trump.»
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We’ll know soon if the House has the votes to thwart the GOP leadership and consider the Massie/Khanna resolution. And tangling with the Epstein matter could even start to impact the ability of the House to wrestle with routine legislation again.
And so, the Epstein saga continues. The same as it was before the August recess.
jeffrey epstein,congress,republicans,democrats,house of representatives politics
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President Donald Trump lauded Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio as «extraordinary» statesmen who complement each other’s strengths as they take the MAGA platform to the world stage.
Trump’s newly formed Board of Peace — an international forum aimed at funding Gaza’s reconstruction and coordinating a postwar stabilization force — convened its inaugural meeting in Washington, D.C., Thursday with delegations from more than 40 countries participating. Trump lauded the pair as he addressed the massive body of foreign leaders and representatives.
The meeting comes just less than a week after Rubio flew to Germany and delivered a speech before the Munich Security Conference, which earned applause from conservatives at home as he railed against unchecked mass migration and how it is destabilizing Western civilization.
JD VANCE CALLS AOC MUNICH MOMENT ‘MOST UNCOMFORTABLE 20 SECONDS OF TELEVISION’ HE HAS EVER SEEN
Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, as well as their wives, attended the Olympics opening together earlier in 2026. (Kevin Lamarque / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)
Vance led the U.S.’ delegation to the Security Conference in 2025, and delivered a speech that was viewed as a defining moment for the newly inaugurated Trump White House and for Vance himself on the world stage. Vance warned in his 2025 speech that European governments and institutions are drifting toward censorship, citing policies he said police speech, curb religious expression and pressure online platforms.
Trump lauded both of the administration leaders in his remarks, explaining that while the pair approach diplomacy «very differently,» the «result is the same.»
The president first celebrated Vance, remarking that he is «brilliant» and an excellent student.
RUBIO SHINES ON GLOBAL STAGE WHILE AOC, WHITMER, AND NEWSOM TAKE HEAT
«JD graduated in a four-and-a-half-year college in two years, and then he went to Yale, and he graduated at the top of his class, went to the military. Great. But when he went to Yale, there was one person that was marginally ahead of him. So he married her. Can you believe it? He married the person that was ahead,» Trump said, referring to second lady Usha Vance.
Usha Vance is pregnant with her fourth child. (Getty images)
Trump continued that Vance is «a brilliant guy and a great guy, and he’s been my friend,» before noting that he can be a «little bit tough on occasion.»
LIZ PEEK: AT MUNICH SHOWDOWN AOC SERVES WORD SALAD AS RUBIO CHANNELS STRENGTH
«We gotta slow him down just a little bit on occasion,» Trump said. «He says his mind.»
As for Rubio, Trump called him «the opposite extreme» of Vance.
DAN GAINOR: FROM SECRETARY OF STATE TO SECRETARY OF MEMES, RUBIO WINS OVER MAGA
«Now then we have the opposite extreme,» he said. «We have your friend sitting in the back. Your best friend. Sitting in the back is Marco. Marco does it with a velvet glove, but it’s a kill, right? The result is the same. They do it very differently,» he said.
Vance has previously called Rubio his «closest friend in the administration» or «best friend in the administration» in public remarks, including in October while on a podcast and again while speaking with Fox News earlier in February.
Trump went on to joke that Rubio did such an excellent job delivering his speech before the Munich conference he considered firing him.
«Marco, you really did yourself proud two days ago in Munich. In fact, so proud that I almost terminated his employ because they were saying, ‘Why can’t Trump do this?’ I do, but I say it differently. But Marco, don’t do any better than you did. please. Because if you do, you’re out of here.»
Secretary of State Marco Rubio attends a bilateral meeting with China’s Foreign Minister (not in picture) in Munich, Feb. 13, 2026, on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference. ( Alex Brandon / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)
«I want my guys to do great. And the acclaim he’s gotten and they claim JD gets is, is great,» he continued.
The praise follows Rubio and Vance joining a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni earlier in February in Italy, and Vance leading a delegation that included Rubio during the Olympics’ opening ceremony in Milan.
Vance’s foreign policy profile became a point of media scrutiny earlier in 2026, when U.S. forces captured Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro. Vance did not join Trump at Mar-a-Lago in Florida to monitor the operation, while Rubio was with the president.
Vance’s office previously brushed off report over his absence, citing that Trump and Vance limit the «frequency and duration» of time they spend together outside the White House due to «increased security concerns.»
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«I think it’s so interesting the media wants to create this conflict where there just isn’t any conflict,» Vance told Fox News earlier in February of the media scrutiny.
«Marco’s doing a great job. I’m trying to do as good of a job as I can. The president’s doing a great job. We’re going to keep on working together,» he added.
donald trump,marco rubio,jd vance,germany
INTERNACIONAL
La administración tecnócrata de Gaza anunció el despliegue de 5.000 policías en 60 días para reemplazar a Hamas
REUTERS/Ramadan Abed
Alí Shaath, economista palestino y director de la Comisión Nacional para la Administración de Gaza (CNAG), anunció el jueves durante la reunión inaugural de la Junta de Paz en Washington el despliegue de una fuerza policial palestina de 5.000 agentes en un plazo de 60 días.
El anuncio se enmarca en la segunda fase del plan de 20 puntos del presidente Donald Trump para Gaza, que busca trasladar el control del enclave devastado desde el grupo terrorista Hamas hacia una estructura de gobernanza internacional supervisada directamente desde Washington.
Shaath, ex viceministro de la Autoridad Palestina, reconoció que la CNAG opera en condiciones extremadamente difíciles. Gran parte de la Franja resultó gravemente dañada tras dos años de guerra que dejaron al menos 70.000 palestinos muertos, según cifras de organismos palestinos confirmadas también por Israel.
La nueva fuerza policial responde a la primera de cuatro prioridades definidas por la comisión tecnócrata: restaurar la seguridad bajo una sola autoridad, una sola ley y una sola arma. Las otras tres áreas prioritarias incluyen reactivar la economía, garantizar ayuda humanitaria sostenible y restablecer servicios básicos como electricidad, agua, salud y educación.
El director de la Junta de Paz, el diplomático búlgaro Nikolai Mladenov, informó que unas 2.000 personas ya solicitaron unirse a esta fuerza de transición, que será entrenada en Egipto y operará bajo la autoridad civil de la CNAG. Mladenov estableció como condición esencial que todas las facciones armadas en Gaza sean desmanteladas y que las armas queden bajo control de una autoridad civil única. Para ello, afirmó, resulta imprescindible la implementación completa del plan de 20 puntos de Trump.
La Junta de Paz, presentada por Trump como una alternativa a Naciones Unidas, celebró su primera reunión con la participación de casi 50 países, superando los 27 miembros fundadores. Sin embargo, la ausencia de potencias europeas occidentales y el rechazo del Vaticano, México y varios países latinoamericanos evidencian las fisuras en el respaldo internacional al mecanismo impulsado por Estados Unidos.
La junta está dirigida por una estructura ejecutiva que incluye al secretario de Estado Marco Rubio, el yerno de Trump Jared Kushner, el exprimer ministro británico Tony Blair y el enviado especial Steve Witkoff, entre otros.
El plan de 20 puntos, presentado por Trump en septiembre de 2025 junto al primer ministro israelí Benjamín Netanyahu, establece un alto el fuego condicionado al desarme completo de Hamas, la liberación de rehenes israelíes y la creación de una zona libre de terrorismo en Gaza.
REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa/Fotografía de archivo
El documento contempla la formación de un gobierno de transición bajo supervisión internacional, un programa masivo de reconstrucción y, eventualmente, la posibilidad de avanzar hacia un Estado palestino, aunque Netanyahu ha rechazado categóricamente esta última perspectiva.
El principal obstáculo para la implementación del plan radica en el desarme de Hamas, que mantiene el control efectivo de Gaza desde 2007. Israel fijó un plazo de 60 días para que el grupo terrorista entregue todas sus armas, incluidas las ligeras como fusiles AK-47. El Departamento de Estado estadounidense reconoció que la desmilitarización constituye el desafío central del proceso.
Sin embargo, Khaled Meshaal, alto dirigente de Hamas, rechazó el desarme total y propuso únicamente un congelamiento de las armas, argumentando que desarmarse equivaldría a despojar al pueblo palestino de su alma.
La tensión se agrava por las continuas violaciones del alto el fuego. El ejército israelí mantiene el control de más del 50% del territorio gazatí y ha dejado claro que no renunciará al objetivo de desmilitarización total de la Franja. El ministerio de Salud de Gaza, operado por Hamas, reportó al menos 601 palestinos muertos por fuerzas israelíes desde el inicio de la tregua en octubre de 2025.
(AP Foto/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Mladenov advirtió que enviar al comité tecnócrata mientras persisten los enfrentamientos solo garantizará su inefectividad. El diplomático búlgaro anunció la creación de una Oficina del Alto Representante para Gaza, que él mismo encabezaría provisionalmente, con el objetivo de eliminar los obstáculos que enfrentará la CNAG al asumir el control civil y administrativo del enclave.
Trump anunció que Estados Unidos contribuirá con 10.000 millones de dólares para la reconstrucción de Gaza, mientras que nueve países árabes comprometieron otros 7.000 millones. Indonesia, Marruecos, Albania, Kosovo y Kazajistán ofrecieron tropas para la Fuerza Internacional de Estabilización prevista en el plan, aunque ningún gobierno ha formalizado compromisos definitivos sobre el número de efectivos ni el alcance de su mandato.
El modelo propuesto recuerda experiencias de administración internacional en Timor Oriental, Kosovo, Bosnia e Irak. Sin embargo, la ausencia de representación palestina en la junta ejecutiva internacional y la imposición vertical de estructuras de gobernanza han generado escepticismo sobre la viabilidad del proyecto. La historia demuestra que cuando el diseño es excesivamente vertical y la legitimidad local resulta limitada, la estabilidad suele ser precaria.
La CNAG, integrada por 15 tecnócratas palestinos, carece de función política y se limitará a la gestión logística y administrativa civil.
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INTERNACIONAL
Top US military commander visits Venezuela, meets new leader following operation to capture Maduro
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The head of the U.S. Southern Command traveled to Venezuela to meet with the country’s acting president just weeks after U.S. forces captured former leader Nicolás Maduro.
The trip on Wednesday, described as a surprise visit, was the first to Venezuela by a U.S. military delegation since the Jan. 3 raid to retrieve Maduro, according to Reuters.
«The commander of U.S. Southern Command, Marine Gen. Francis L. Donovan, Chargé d’Affaires to the Venezuela Affairs Unit, Ambassador Laura F. Dogu, and U.S. Acting Assistant Secretary of War for Homeland Defense and the Americas Joseph M. Humire met with Venezuelan interim authorities in Caracas,» U.S. Southern Command said in a statement.
«During the meeting, the leaders reiterated the United States’ commitment to a free, safe and prosperous Venezuela for the Venezuelan people, the United States, and the Western Hemisphere,» it added.
VENEZUELAN OPPOSITION LEADER MACHADO PRAISES TRUMP FOR DELIVERING ‘BERLIN WALL’ MOMENT FOR THE AMERICAS
Marine Gen. Francis L. Donovan, commander of U.S. Southern Command, engages with Marines assigned to stand watch at U.S. Embassy facilities in Caracas, Venezuela, on Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026. (U.S. Southern Command/Venezuela Affairs Unit )
«Discussions focused on the security environment, steps to ensure the implementation of President Donald Trump’s three-phase plan – particularly the stabilization of Venezuela – and the importance of shared security across the Western Hemisphere,» U.S. Central Command also said.
The U.S. Embassy in Venezuela added in a post on X that it was a «historic day» in a push to «advance the objective of a Venezuela aligned with the United States.»
TRUMP SAYS US PILOTS WERE ‘HIT PRETTY BAD IN THE LEGS’ DURING MADURO CAPTURE MISSION
Gen. Francis L. Donovan, Ambassador Laura F. Dogu, the chargé d’affaires to the Venezuela Affairs Unit, and Joseph M. Humire, acting assistant secretary of war for homeland defense and the Americas, pose for a photo in Venezuela, on Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026. (U.S. Southern Command/Venezuela Affairs Unit )
Venezuela’s government said the U.S. delegation met with interim President Delcy Rodriguez, Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino and Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, with the two sides agreeing to coordinate on drug-trafficking, terrorism and migration, Reuters reported. The Associated Press also confirmed that Donovan, who is the head of American military operations in Latin America, met with Rodriguez.
Venezuela’s acting president, Delcy Rodriguez, waves after bidding farewell to U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright following their meeting in Caracas, Venezuela, on Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026. (Ariana Cubillos/AP)
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«The meeting reaffirms that diplomacy should be the mechanism for resolving differences and addressing issues of bilateral and regional interests,» it also cited Venezuela’s Communications Minister Miguel Angel Perez as saying on X.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
venezuelan political crisis,military,us marines,south america,us
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