A US judge has denied a bid to unseal grand jury material from the investigation into the late convicted paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Judge Robin Rosenberg found that releasing files from his Florida case, a request that was made last week as the Trump administration faced mounting pressure over its handling of Epstein files, would violate state law.

The decision came as the Wall Street Journal published a story alleging President Donald Trump is among hundreds whose names appear in Epstein investigative documents held by the justice department.

A White House spokesman called the report “nothing more than a continuation of the fake news stories concocted by the Democrats and the liberal media”.

The paper reported Trump’s name appeared with many others, including other high-profile figures. Being named in these documents is not evidence of any wrongdoing.

The BBC has not been able to independently verify the report.

The Wall Street Journal reported the justice department had told Trump the documents included hearsay about many people who socialised with Epstein.

Attorney General Pam Bondi also told the president that child pornography and victim information that should not be publicised were among the records, according to the newspaper.

Trump had directed Bondi to seek the release of all grand jury materials, prompting the justice department to ask courts in Florida and New York to release files related to cases in both US states.

In her 12-page order on Wednesday, Judge Rosenberg ruled that the transcripts could not be released due to guidelines governing grand jury secrecy set by the federal appeals court that oversees Florida.

“The court’s hands are tied,” she ruled.

The judge said the government’s argument last week that the files should be released due to “extensive public interest” and “transparency to the American public” did not meet the requirements for documents to be unsealed under “special circumstances”.

The transcripts in question stem from Florida’s investigation into Epstein in 2006 that led to him being charged with soliciting a minor for prostitution.

She also declined to transfer the issue to New York, where two judges are separately deciding whether to unseal transcripts related to Epstein’s 2019 sex-trafficking probe. That request is still pending.

Judge Rosenberg also ruled that a new case be opened so lawyers could make additional legal arguments for why the transcripts should be released.

These court files precede the federal case that ended with Epstein’s death in a New York jail as he awaited trial in 2019.

The judge’s decision came just before the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump had been informed by justice department officials in May that his name appeared in investigative documents related to Epstein.

Last week, the president was asked by a reporter whether the attorney general had told him his name was in the files.

“No, no, she’s – she’s given us just a very quick briefing,” Trump responded.

Steven Cheung, a spokesman for Trump, called the report “nothing more than a continuation of the fake news stories concocted by the Democrats and the liberal media”.

The justice department similarly dismissed the report, calling it a “collection of falsehoods and innuendo” designed to push a false narrative and get clicks.

The ruling comes as interest has moved back to Ghislaine Maxwell, a convicted sex-trafficker who is serving 20 years in prison for helping Epstein abuse young girls.

A senior justice department official is planning to meet Maxwell to discuss her knowledge of the case, her attorney confirmed to the BBC, and she’s been subpoenaed to testify the case before a House of Representatives committee.

Republicans on the House Oversight Committee sent a subpoena for Maxwell to appear before the body remotely from prison on 11 August.

Her attorney, David Oscar Markus, told the BBC, that if she chooses to testify, rather than invoke her constitutional right to remain silent, “she would testify truthfully, as she always has said she would”.

“As for the congressional subpoena, Ms Maxwell is taking this one step at a time,” he added.

“She looks forward to her meeting with the Department of Justice, and that discussion will help inform how she proceeds.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson has warned that Maxwell could not be trusted to provide accurate testimony.

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

“I mean, this is a person who’s been sentenced to many, many years in prison for terrible, unspeakable, conspiratorial acts and acts against innocent young people.”

While campaigning last year, Trump, who at one time had been a friend of Epstein, promised to release files relating to the disgraced financier.

But Bondi said earlier this month the US justice department had uncovered no Epstein “incriminating client list” that could implicate high-profile associates, and that he did take his own life – despite conspiracies over his death.

The statement came after Bondi had previewed that she was about to reveal major disclosures in the case.

She said these would include “a lot of names” and “a lot of flight logs” – a reference to those who travelled with the financier or who visited his private islands where many of his purported crimes were said to have occurred.

Her reversal prompted furious response from scores of Trump’s most ardent supporters, who have called for Bondi to resign after failing to produce the list, which officials had previously claimed to have.

Democrats have seized on the Republican infighting to accuse the Trump administration of lying about its commitment to transparency.

On Tuesday, Speaker Johnson closed down congressional voting for summer break one day early, in an attempt to stall legislative efforts to force the release of documents related to Epstein.

But Republican rebels in the House Oversight Subcommittee on Federal Law Enforcement voted on Wednesday afternoon to force the justice department to release documents related to Epstein.

Three Republicans – Nancy Mace, Scott Perry and Brian Jack – joined five Democrats in voting for the subpoena. Two Republicans voted against it.

A ranking Democrat on the panel, Summer Lee, reportedly surprised Republicans by introducing the vote during an unrelated hearing on unaccompanied child migrants.

But James Comer, the Republican chairman of the House Oversight Committee, must sign it off in order for the legal summons to proceed.

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The House Oversight Committee on Wednesday reportedly voted in favor of subpoenaing two major names in U.S. politics: former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

That’s according to .

The said Rep. Scott Perry offered a motion during a subcommittee hearing to call on Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer to subpoena multiple people who might have connections to Ghislaine Maxwell, who was Jeffrey Epstein’s ex-girlfriend and co-conspirator.

While the Clintons were at the top of Perry’s list, the following names were also mentioned, per :

James Brian Comey

Loretta Elizabeth Lynch

Eric Hampton Holder, Jr.

Merrick Brian Garland

Robert Swan Mueller III

William Pelham Barr

Jefferson Beauregard Sessions the third

Alberto Gonzales

The subpoenas will be issued in the near future,” reported, citing an unnamed House Oversight Committee aide.

The subcommittee also voted to subpoena the Department of Justice (DOJ) to release files related to the ongoing investigation, according to .

noted Comer would have to sign the subpoena before it can officially be issued, as per committee rules.

The news comes just a few hours after . The deposition is set for August 11 at the Federal Correctional Institution Tallahassee, where Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison sentence for child sex trafficking.

The facts and circumstances surrounding both your and Mr. Epstein’s cases have received immense public interest and scrutiny. At the outset of the 119th Congress, on February 11, 2025, the Committee and the Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice requesting a briefing regarding documents in the Department’s possession regarding ‘the investigation into and prosecution of Jeffrey Epstein.’ On May 8, the Task Force sent another letter to the Department requesting the public release of ‘the entirety of the Epstein files’ and a briefing regarding the release of these files,” .

Earlier on Wednesday, The reported that .

Citing senior administration officials, the outlet said Attorney General Pam Bondi and her deputy met with the president for a meeting at the White House, where they told him his name appeared “multiple times” in the files, along with several other high-profile figures.

They told the president at the meeting that the files contained what officials felt was unverified hearsay about many people, including Trump, who had socialized with Epstein in the past, some of the officials said. One of the officials familiar with the documents said they contain hundreds of other names,” according to the .

They also told Trump that senior Justice Department officials didn’t plan to release any more documents related to the investigation of the convicted sex offender because the material contained child pornography and victims’ personal information, the officials said. Trump said at the meeting he would defer to the Justice Department’s decision to not release any further files,” the media outlet noted.

The Trump administration previously announced it would not be releasing additional files from the Epstein probe despite previously promising it would.

But Trump later authorized the DOJ to release grand jury testimony from Epstein’s case.

He said that “based on the ridiculous amount of publicity given to Jeffrey Epstein,” he asked Bondi to produce “any and all pertinent Grand Jury testimony, subject to Court approval.”

This SCAM, perpetuated by the Democrats, should end, right now!” he wrote on Truth Social.

It’s unclear why lawmakers felt those officials would be instrumental to hear from, though the federal probe into Epstein spans two decades and several presidential administrations.

Republicans believe Bill Clinton may be mentioned in the Epstein files and appear to be attempting to expose correspondence between the former president, lawyers, and law enforcement officials who may have had knowledge of the case.

The cracks starting to emerge in the GOP coalition signalled the firestorm over Epstein has far from abated and may intensify as Republicans hear from voters at home during their five-week August recess.

After a unanimous vote yesterday, Comer also issued a subpoena for Epstein’s former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell, a convicted sex offender who is in prison, for her testimony next month in Florida.

The furore may be further fanned by a new report in the Wall Street Journal that describes how Attorney-General Pam Bondi and her deputy informed the President in May that his name appeared “multiple times” in the files, along with those of “many people” who socialised with Epstein.

The officials said the files included “unverified hearsay” about these people and would not be released because they contained child pornography and victims’ information.

Last week, Trump said that Bondi told him his name wasn’t in the files. Being named in what is likely voluminous files is not evidence of wrongdoing.

“I don’t necessarily think that’s a surprise. He’s never denied knowing Epstein,” said Representative Kevin Hern (R-Oklahoma), who had not yet read the Journal article.

Asked if the meeting reported by the Journal took place, White House spokesperson Steven Cheung said: “The fact is that the President kicked him [Epstein] out of his club for being a creep. This is nothing more than a continuation of the fake news stories concocted by the Democrats and the liberal media.”

Laura Loomer, an influential pro-Trump blogger who has been calling for more disclosures in the Epstein case, blamed Trump’s opponents for exploiting his past association with Epstein.

“You can’t just go accusing everybody who knew Jeffrey Epstein or took a photo with him of being a paedophile,” she said.

“It’s absolutely absurd for people to be implying or insinuating for one second that Donald Trump is somehow implicated in some kind of a sex scandal.”

Before heading home to their districts, House Republicans were still figuring out how to position themselves on a topic that places them squarely between Trump and their most vocal constituents.

The action in the House Oversight subcommittee on federal law enforcement was supported by three Republicans: Nancy Mace (South Carolina), Scott Perry (Pennsylvania) and Brian Jack (Georgia).

Ten GOP lawmakers have signed a bipartisan petition to circumvent House leadership and send a measure to the floor to release the files; that won’t happen until September, however.

Representative Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky), who is leading the petition effort with Representative Ro Khanna (D-California), said everyone should be prepared to see names they may recognise in the files, if they’re released.

Massie said he expected the backlash to the Administration’s refusal to release the files “grow over the August recess”.

“I mean, I think that’s a thing about the files that everybody needs to understand is there are probably lots of names in there who haven’t done anything criminal,” Massie told reporters.

“There’s a reluctance to release these files because of the embarrassment of just having your name in the news in these files.”

He added: “And I always presumed that there were at least some of Trump’s friends, you know, named in this”.

Representative Byron Donalds (R-Florida) cast doubt on the Journal’s report, suggesting the Biden Administration would have released Epstein documents to incriminate Trump if the President was named in them.

“So if he was on that list, you mean to tell me that DOJ wouldn’t have put it out? Nobody buys that,” he said.

The White House has spent the last two weeks trying, with limited success, to get people – including many of Trump’s most fervent supporters – to stop talking about the Epstein case.

Trump has moved through a series of responses, urging supporters to focus on other issues and suggesting that continued interest in the Epstein case benefitted Democrats.

“Their new SCAM is what we will forever call the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax, and my PAST supporters have bought into this ‘bull****,’ hook, line, and sinker,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social last week.

Republican anger seems only to have grown since Bondi announced that the case was effectively closed in a memo released less than two weeks ago, confirming that Epstein died by suicide and there was no “client list” naming powerful people who may have abused teenage girls.

Trump had directed Bondi to ask the courts to unseal grand jury testimony. But today, a Florida judge denied the Justice Department’s request to unseal testimony from the investigation there into Epstein’s activities between 2005 and 2007, citing secrecy rules.

Justice is separately pursuing the release of testimony from New York, where Epstein was charged with sex trafficking in 2019 and where Maxwell was convicted in 2021.

Democrats are seeking to take advantage of the issue as they head home to meet with their constituents.

They plan to argue that Trump’s support for his Administration’s decision not to release the files this month – and GOP lawmakers’ leaving Washington without addressing the issue – means Republicans are protecting the rich and powerful at voters’ expense.

“The reality is that it’s all connected from the standpoint of Donald Trump. His Administration and House Republicans have delivered nothing more than a government of the billionaires, by the billionaires, and for the billionaires,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York) said today.

“It’s reasonable to conclude that Republicans are continuing to protect the lifestyles of the rich and shameless, even if that includes paedophiles.”

Several Democrats plan to continue forcing the matter on Capitol Hill.

Democrats who sit on the House Appropriations Committee – which is responsible for crafting legislation to fund the government – are planning to introduce amendments related to Epstein if Republicans decide to keep the panel in town tomorrow, according to two Democrats familiar with the plans.

Appropriators may continue to meet while the House is in recess in hopes of hitting a government funding deadline of September 30.

House Democrats’ campaign arm echoed Jeffries, while sounding ready to pounce on the Epstein fallout while lawmakers are home.

“The so-called Republican moderates prioritised their billionaire donors by enacting the largest cut to Medicaid in American history to pay for tax breaks for the wealthy,” Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesman Justin Chermol said.

“Now they’re protecting Donald Trump and billionaire elites by refusing to provide transparency into the Epstein files.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) sent the House home a day early because business had ground to a halt over the Epstein issue.

He was responding to Republicans on the House Rules Committee who were uncomfortable taking repeated votes on language introduced by Democrats to release the files.

His solution was to allow the panel to approve a nonbinding resolution asking for the files to be released within 30 days; that resolution doesn’t have the force of law, however, and may never come up for a vote.

Johnson insisted there was “no daylight” between Republicans and Trump on the issue and said a vote in the House would be premature because the President had directed Bondi to seek permission from the courts to release grand jury material. (This was before the Florida judge’s decision.)

“There’s no point in passing a resolution to urge the Administration to do something they are already doing, and so that’s why we’re going to let that process play out,” he said.

“This is not out of fear in any way. What we’re trying to do is maximise the transparency. And we want every single person who’s involved in any way in the Epstein evils to be called to swift justice.”

The speaker also argued that Republicans had a “legal” and “moral” responsibility to protect the names of Epstein’s victims from surfacing in the media, and excoriated Democrats for playing politics on the issue.

“The way Democrats have tried to weaponise this issue is absolutely shameless, and I just want to say this: Democrats said nothing and did nothing, absolutely nothing about bringing transparency for the entire four years of the Biden presidency,” Johnson said.

Jeffries, alongside minority whip Katherine Clark (D-Massachusetts) and Democratic caucus chairman Pete Aguilar (D-California), argued that there’s a connection between Epstein and other Republican policy priorities, including Trump’s tax and immigration bill.

“The Epstein case has helped their own base see what’s going on: that this is a con job and that they were never the centre of the work that they are going to do here,” Clark said.

The aggressive Democratic rhetoric is a departure from Democrats’ typical refusal to engage in pushing back on or even entertaining conspiracy theories from the Maga base. Several House Democrats began daring Trump to release the Epstein files on social media this month.

Representative Jimmy Gomez (California) was one of the first Democratic lawmakers to demand the Administration release the Epstein files because he noticed the matter trending online in right-wing circles. Other liberal lawmakers began pushing the issue, and the leadership listened as Democrats sought more forceful ways to respond to Trump.

“He said he was going to drain the swamp, and then he became the swamp,” Gomez said of Trump.

The vote came just hours before the House was scheduled to end its July work session and depart Washington for a monthlong break. House Speaker Mike Johnson has adjourned Major business in the House ahead of Congress’ August recess to avoid contentious votes on Epstein-related matters as the Trump administration faces intense public pressure to release more information about the sexual predator.

Three Republicans on the panel voted with Democrats for the subpoena, sending it through on an 8-2 vote tally. Republican subcommittee chairman, Rep. Clay Higgins of Louisiana, said that work to draft the subpoena was beginning.

A subcommittee of the House Committee on Oversight voted Wednesday to subpoena the Department of Justice for files in the sex trafficking investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, after Democrats successfully goaded GOP lawmakers to defy President Donald Trump and Republican leadership to support the action.

pinned A timeline of the Jeffrey Epstein investigation, now 20 years old Link copied By the Associated Press Interest in the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking investigation has exploded over the past month even as President Donald Trump urged the public and media to move on from a saga he sees as ” pretty boring.” Conspiracy theories and outrage have swirled around Epstein since 2006, when the financier first faced criminal charges related to sexual exploitation of underage girls. He killed himself after more charges were brought in 2019. Fascination with the case reached new heights after Attorney General Pam Bondi suggested she had an Epstein “client list” on her desk but then didn’t release documents with any new information. Here’s a timeline of of the criminal cases against Epstein. Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell attended the March 2005 Wall Street Concert Series benefitting Wall Street Rising. Patrick McMullan via Getty Images

US automakers say Trump’s 15% tariff deal with Japan puts them at a disadvantage — 9:45 p.m. Link copied

By the Associated Press

U.S. automakers have said the tariffs on Japanese vehicles at 15% would put them at a competitive disadvantage, saying they will face steeper import taxes on steel, aluminum and parts than their competitors.

Matt Blunt, president of the American Automotive Policy Council — which represents General Motors, Ford and Jeep-maker Stellantis — said in an interview that the U.S. companies and workers “definitely are at a disadvantage” because they face a 50% tariff on steel and aluminum and a 25% tariff on parts and finished vehicles. There are some exceptions for products covered under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement that went into effect in 2020.

The domestic automaker reaction reveals the challenge of enforcing policies across the world economy, showing that for all of Trump’s promises there can be genuine tradeoffs from policy choices that risk serious blowback in politically important states such as Michigan and Wisconsin, where automaking is both a source of income and of identity.

Deal between Columbia University and Trump administration goes beyond $220 million payment — 8:43 p.m. Link copied

By the Associated Press

Columbia University has said it will implement a series of changes previously announced in March, including reviewing its Middle East curriculum to make sure it is “comprehensive and balanced” and appointing new faculty to its Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies.

The university will also have to issue a report to a monitor assuring that its programs “do not promote unlawful DEI goals,” among other changes.

“The settlement was carefully crafted to protect the values that define us and allow our essential research partnership with the federal government to get back on track,” acting University President Claire Shipman said.

The school had been threatened with the loss of billions of dollars in government support after the Trump administration said the university failed to squelch antisemitism on campus during the Israel-Hamas war.

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Appeals court upholds block of Trump’s order ending birthright citizenship — 8:24 p.m. Link copied

By the Associated Press

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the order is unconstitutional, affirming a lower-court decision that blocked its enforcement nationwide.

The ruling puts the issue one step closer to quickly coming back before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Columbia University reaches a deal with Trump to restore federal research funds — 8:05 p.m. Link copied

By the Associated Press

Columbia University announced it reached a deal with the Trump administration to pay more than $220 million to the federal government to restore the federal research money that was canceled in the name of combating antisemitism on campus.

Under the agreement, the Ivy League school will pay the $200 million settlement over three years to the federal government, the university said. It will also pay $21 million to settle investigations brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

“This agreement marks an important step forward after a period of sustained federal scrutiny and institutional uncertainty, acting University President Claire Shipman said.

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Bondi facing Democratic calls to testify following report she told Trump he was in Epstein files — 7:34 p.m. Link copied

By the Associated Press

The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that Attorney General Pam Bondi told Trump his name was among many high-profile figures mentioned in the files.

Trump’s personal ties to Jeffrey Epstein are well-established and his name is already known to have been included in records related to the wealthy financier, though the mention does not imply wrongdoing.

“We need to bring Bondi and (FBI Director Kash) Patel into the Judiciary Committee to testify about this now,” Sen. Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, said in response to the report in a video posted on X.

The Justice Department issued a joint statement from Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche saying “nothing in the files warranted further investigation or prosecution.”

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What’s next for congressional action on Jeffrey Epstein — 7:09 p.m. Link copied

By the Associated Press

The House Oversight Committee subpoenaed Epstein’s girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, while a subcommittee voted to subpoena the Justice Department for documents related to Epstein. And senators in both parties have expressed openness to holding hearings on the matter after Congress’ August recess.

Rep. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, has introduced legislation with bipartisan support that would require the Justice Department to “make publicly available in a searchable and downloadable format all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials” related to Epstein and his associates.

House Speaker Mike Johnson and the Republican majority leader, Rep. Steve Scalise, have said they will address whatever outstanding Epstein-related issues are in Congress when they return from recess.

Republican leadership say they don’t want to stymie actions from the Trump administration or release information that may harm Epstein’s victims.

Democrats, meanwhile, have seized on Epstein as a talking point in their broader message against the GOP’s agenda they plan to take home to their districts during the August recess.

Josh Shapiro, a leading Jewish Democrat, says Mamdani left room for ‘extremists’ — 6:57 p.m. Link copied

By the Associated Press

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro criticized Zohran Mamdani for declining to condemn the phrase “globalize the intifada” during his winning primary campaign for New York City mayor.

Weighing in on the controversy for the first time, Shapiro told Jewish Insider Wednesday that during Mamdani’s campaign, he “left open far too much space for extremists to either use his words or for him to not condemn the words of extremists that said some blatantly antisemitic things.”

The issue has followed Mamdani as he campaigns for the general election in America’s most Jewish city. Last week Mamdani said he would not use the “intifada” phrase and discourages others from doing so, noting the pain the phrase engenders among Jews.

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Elected officials have an obligation speak out against harmful language, said Shapiro, who is seen as a leading candidate for president in 2028.

House subcommittee’s subpoena vote shows growing intensity for Epstein disclosure — 6:45 p.m. Link copied

By the Associated Press

House Speaker Mike Johnson wanted to get the House out of town. Democrats — and a few Republicans — had other plans Wednesday afternoon.

In the hours after the House took its last votes for several weeks and many lawmakers headed to the airport for their annual August recess, a subcommittee of the House Oversight Committee voted to subpoena the Department of Justice for records on the sex trafficking investigation into Jeffrey Epstein.

It exemplified the intensifying push for disclosures in the Epstein investigation even as Johnson — caught between demands from Trump and clamoring from his own members for the House to act — has repeatedly rebuffed calls for the full House to vote on release of the files.

The House Committee on Oversight also issued a subpoena Wednesday for Ghislaine Maxwell, a convicted sex offender and girlfriend of the late Epstein, to testify before committee officials in August.

Epstein-related records already made public included mentions of Trump’s name — 6:39 p.m. Link copied

By the Associated Press

According to news reports Wednesday, the Justice Department told Trump in May that his name was among high-profile people mentioned in government files of Epstein, though the mention does not imply wrongdoing.

The mention of the president’s name in the documents was previously known. Files that had already been released by the government included a 2016 deposition in which an accuser recounted she spent several hours with Epstein at Trump’s Atlantic City casino but didn’t say if she met Trump and did not accuse him of any wrongdoing.

Trump has also said he once thought Epstein was a “terrific guy” but that they later had a falling out.

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White House spokesperson Steven Cheung on Wednesday said the reports were “nothing more than a continuation of the fake news stories concocted by the Democrats and the liberal media.”

Trump signs three executive orders to wrap up his AI keynote speech — 6:36 p.m. Link copied

By the Associated Press

The first order seeks to streamline federal permitting of AI infrastructure projects to make it easier to construct the energy-hungry data center buildings needed to form and run AI products.

The second promotes the sale of American AI products abroad, a move Trump said would help make the U.S. an “AI export powerhouse.”

Trump’s third executive order appeals to allegations among his backers that leading AI chatbots have a liberal bias. He said the order declares that the federal government should not procure AI technology that has a partisan bias or an ideological agenda.

Trump said the orders will help America win the AI race.

Democratic representative faces possible House censure after visit to migrant detention center — 6:32 p.m. Link copied

By the Associated Press

A House Republican wants to censure Democratic Rep. LaMonica McIver over a skirmish with law enforcement during a congressional oversight visit to a new immigration detention facility in her home state of New Jersey. She has pleaded not guilty to assault charges stemming from the May 9 incident.

Rep. Clay Higgins of Louisiana pushed forward the measure, which also calls for removing McIver from her seat on the Homeland Security Committee.

Higgins says McIver violated the chamber rules that require a member “to behave at all times in a manner that shall reflect creditably on the House.”

The congresswoman said in a statement that “Clay Higgins is a bigot who wants to be back in the news.”

The prospect of censure used to be rare in the House but has become more frequent. House Republicans have been quick to punish Democratic lawmakers for transgressions large and small.

Trump offers industry-friendly takes in AI speech — 6:08 p.m. Link copied

By the Associated Press

In his AI speech, Trump is sharing some views on the technology that industry lobbyists are sure to appreciate.

Saying he wants the US to do “whatever it takes to lead the world” on AI, the president argued AI firms can’t be successful if they must pay for all the works they use to train their models. Publishers, authors, musicians and others have raised alarm about AI models using their works without permission, arguing it violates copyright law.

Trump also called for a federal standard on AI laws and denounced the patchwork of state AI laws that exists without meaningful federal legislation on the technology. Tech companies had fought for a 10-year moratorium on state AI laws in Congress, but the Senate voted it down earlier this month.

President Trump delivers remarks at the “Winning the AI Race” AI Summit at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington, DC, on July 23, 2025. ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images

House subcommittee votes to subpoena Justice Department for Epstein files — 5:57 p.m. Link copied

By the Associated Press

Democrats on a subcommittee of the powerful House Committee on Oversight made a motion for the subpoena Wednesday afternoon, just hours before the House was scheduled to end its July work session and depart Washington for a monthlong break.

Three Republicans on the panel voted with Democrats for the subpoena, sending it through on an 8-2 vote tally.

The Republican subcommittee chairman, Rep. Clay Higgins of Louisiana, said that work was beginning to draft the subpoena but that it would take some time for both sides to work out the final language.

State Department notifies Congress of $322m weapons sales to Ukraine — 5:42 p.m. Link copied

By the Associated Press

The State Department sent a congressional notification that it had approved a new slate of arms to Ukraine as it fends off escalating attacks from Russia.

The sales include $150 million for the supply, maintenance, repair and overhaul of US armored vehicles, and $172 million for surface-to-air missile systems.

The approvals come weeks after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth directed the pause on other weapons shipments to Ukraine to allow the Pentagon to assess its weapons stockpiles, in a move that caught the White House by surprise.

President Trump then said the US would continue to send weapons, with some on their way in early July. The Trump administration has gone back and forth about providing more vital military aid to Ukraine more than three years into Russia’s invasion.

Colleges face investigations over scholarship programs for immigrants — 5:40 p.m. Link copied

By the Associated Press

The Trump administration is investigating five universities for their scholarship programs that support students who were brought to the US illegally as children.

The Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights opened the investigations at the University of Louisville, the University of Nebraska Omaha, the University of Miami, the University of Michigan and Western Michigan University.

The administration argues the scholarships for immigrants in the country illegally discriminate based on where students were born.

Officials at several of the colleges say they are reviewing the claims.

GOP House members want to run in other races. Trump is telling them to stay in their seats. — 5:37 p.m. Link copied

By the Associated Press

Michigan Republican Representative Bill Huizenga was ready to launch a US Senate bid. All he needed was President Trump’s blessing.

But in a White House meeting last week, the president encouraged Huizenga to run for reelection rather than challenge former Rep. Mike Rogers for Senate in the battleground state, hoping to keep his west Michigan seat secure, according to two people with direct knowledge of the conversation.

On Wednesday, Huizenga announced he was skipping the Senate race.

“After careful consideration … as well as in consultation with President Trump, I have decided against a bid for US Senate in Michigan,” he said in a statement.

It’s the latest example of Trump’s increasingly heavy-handed efforts to keep incumbent House members in their seats and keep those seats in GOP hands as he and his political team try to avoid what happened in his first term, when Republicans lost the chamber after just two years.

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Trump appears at AI event touting trade deals — 5:30 p.m. Link copied

By the Associated Press

The president, speaking at an AI summit being held at an auditorium in Washington, opened his remarks focusing on one of his favorite subjects: tariffs.

Trump was supposed to discuss his AI action plan but instead launched into a recap of his trade deal announced Tuesday with Japan, along with a trade framework for the Philippines.

Trump said he’s making so many deals that “even if you’re like me, a deal junkie, that’s a lot of deals.”

Supreme Court rules Trump can remove 3 Consumer Product Safety Commission members — 5:15 p.m. Link copied

By the Associated Press

Trump had previously fired the three Democratic members, but they were later reinstated by a federal judge.

The justices acted on an emergency appeal from the Justice Department, which argued that the agency is under Trump’s control and the president is free to remove commissioners without cause.

The court provided a brief, unsigned explanation that the case is similar to earlier ones in which it allowed Trump to fire board members of other independent agencies, whom Congress protected from arbitrary dismissals. The three liberal justices dissented.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission helps protect people from dangerous products by issuing recalls, suing errant companies and more. Trump fired the three Democrats on the five-member commission in May. They were serving seven-year terms after being nominated by former president Joe Biden.

House Oversight Committee subpoenas Ghislaine Maxwell — 4:34 p.m. Link copied

By the Associated Press

The committee ordered that Maxwell, a convicted sex offender and girlfriend of the late Jeffrey Epstein, testify before committee officials on August 11. Lawmakers and staff will conduct her deposition at the Federal Correctional Institution in Tallahassee, where Maxwell is imprisoned.

The subpoena notes that Maxwell’s case has received “immense public interest and scrutiny” in recent years. The Trump administration has come under intense scrutiny to release documents related to Epstein after Trump vowed to do so on the campaign trail.

“While the department undertakes 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 and specifically its handling of the investigation and prosecution of you and Mr. Epstein,” reads the subpoena’s cover letter to Maxwell.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said during a press conference that he doubted if Maxwell can “be counted on to tell the truth” but said he supported Oversight Committee Chair James Comer’s investigation.

Experts said release of Epstein grand jury records was a long shot — 4:21 p.m. Link copied

By the Associated Press

Before a judge turned down a request to release grand jury materials about Jeffrey Epstein, experts had expressed doubt that transcripts would reveal much.

Federal grand juries hear evidence in secret and then decide whether there is enough for an indictment. Experts say the transcripts likely would not offer surprises because prosecutors typically don’t introduce the entire investigation.

US District Judge Robin Rosenberg in Florida said the Trump administration’s request to release grand jury documents from 2005 and 2007 did not meet any of the exceptions to make them public under federal law. She said no in a 12-page opinion Wednesday.

Similar requests remain pending in New York federal court in separate grand jury investigations from 2018. Epstein, a wealthy financier, was arrested in 2019 on federal sex trafficking charges. He killed himself in a jail cell about a month later, authorities said.

House Democrats launch bid to subpoena Department of Justice for Epstein files — 3:40 p.m. Link copied

By the Associated Press

Congressman Summer Lee, a Pennsylvania Democrat, motioned for the committee to order the Justice Department release all files to the late sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein during a House Oversight subcommittee meeting.

“If our colleagues on this committee don’t join us in this vote, then what they’re essentially doing is joining President Donald Trump in complicity,” Lee said of Republicans.

The vote is still pending after the Republican majority took a brief recess in the meeting. Democrats have for several weeks been eager to highlight the Trump administration’s reticence to release information connected to Epstein.

Republicans have suspended most business in the House to avoid more contentious votes on the subject before Congress enters a month-long August recess. Some Republicans have repeatedly raised the subject as a matter of government transparency alongside Democrats, who are eager to tie the president to Epstein.

Trump campaigned on releasing more information about the late sexual predator, while Attorney General Pam Bondi said earlier this year that the Justice Department would release more documents without specifying what materials.

House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark speaks as House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries look on during a press conference at the Capitol on July 23, 2025 in Washington, D.C. Kevin Dietsch/Getty

Judge says law doesn’t allow her to release grand jury records in Jeffrey Epstein’s long-ago Florida case — 3:12 p.m. Link copied

By the Associated Press

A judge rejected a Trump administration request to unseal transcripts from grand jury investigations of Jeffrey Epstein years ago in Florida, saying the request doesn’t meet any of the extraordinary exceptions under federal law that could make them public. A similar records request is still pending in New York.

The Justice Department last week asked the judge to release records to quell a storm among Trump supporters who believe there was a conspiracy to protect Epstein’s clients, conceal videos of crimes being committed and other evidence.

Judge bans Trump administration from immediately taking Abrego Garcia into custody if he’s released from Tennessee jail — 3:10 p.m. Link copied

By the Associated Press

A federal judge in Maryland has prohibited the Trump administration from taking Kilmar Abrego Garcia into immediate immigration custody if he’s released from jail in Tennessee while awaiting trial on human smuggling charges, according to an order issued Wednesday.

US District Judge Paula Xinis ordered the US government to provide notice of three business days if Immigration and Customs Enforcement intends to initiate deportation proceedings against the Maryland construction worker.

The judge also ordered the government to restore the federal supervision that Abrego Garcia was under before he was wrongfully deported to his native El Salvador in March. That supervision had allowed Abrego Garcia to live and work in Maryland for years, while he periodically checked in with ICE.

Abrego Garcia became a prominent face in the debate over President Trump’s immigration policies following his wrongful explusion to El Salvador in March. Trump’s administration violated a US immigration judge’s order in 2019 that shields Abrego Garcia from deportation to El Salvador because he likely faces threats of gang violence there.

Brianna O’Keefe holds a sign in support of Kilmar Abrego Garcia outside the federal courthouse Wednesday, July 16, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. George Walker IV/Associated Press

White House doesn’t make it clear what kind of ‘accountability’ Trump wants of Obama — 2:52 p.m. Link copied

By the Associated Press

Trump has repeated baseless claims that Obama engaged in treason and Leavitt said the president wants his predecessor to be held accountable. But she had no details, when pressed, about how Trump wants to see Obama held accountable when the Supreme Court ruled last year in a case involving Trump that former presidents have absolute immunity from prosecution for official acts that fall within their constitutional authority.

Leavitt said that the White House would let the Justice Department decide what to do.

“It’s in the Department of Justice’s hands and we trust them to move the ball forward,” she said.

Musk’s AI company won’t get Trump’s blessing — 2:52 p.m. Link copied

By the Associated Press

White House press secretary Leavitt said President Trump will not support federal agencies contracting with Elon Musk’s AI company.

Trump issued an AI action plan Wednesday meant to put the US at the forefront of AI development, with recommendations including updated guidelines around federal contracting.

Asked at a press briefing if federal agencies would have Trump’s blessing to contract with xAI, Musk’s company, Leavitt said, “I don’t think so, no.”

Trump previously threatened to cut federal contracts with Musk’s companies as their relationship publicly flamed out in June.

Gabbard said she hasn’t seen a Jeffrey Epstein link to US or foreign intelligence — 2:49 p.m. Link copied

By the Associated Press

Asked to rule out that Epstein was connected to any kind of intelligence, Gabbard said she hadn’t seen any evidence or information to support that.

“I haven’t seen any evidence or information that reflets that,” Gabbard said.

She said if any information is found that “changes that in any way,” she supports “loud and clear” Trump’s statement that the American people should see “any credible evidence.”

Calls for retribution in Russia investigation run into reality of Supreme Court immunity ruling — 2:41 p.m. Link copied

By the Associated Press

As President Trump urges scrutiny of fellow commander-in-chief Barack Obama, it’s worth remembering a simple fact: Former presidents are immune from prosecution for official acts they take in office.

That’s thanks to a Supreme Court opinion issued last year that shielded Trump in a case charging him with conspiring to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

The topic has resurfaced thanks to efforts by the Trump administration to rewrite the history of the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Trump has suggested that investigators should look into Obama and other senior officials, though none of them have been accused of any wrongdoing and the Supreme Court ruling in any event would foreclose the possibility of a prosecution of Obama.

Gabbard calls Obama’s response a ‘disservice’ — 2:37 p.m. Link copied

By the Associated Press

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said former President Barack Obama did a “disservice to the American people” when his office attacked the government’s rehashed grievances over the Russia investigation that overshadowed President Donald Trump’s first term.

Obama’s post-presidential office issued a rare statement on Tuesday, condemning the Trump administration’s allegations as a “ridiculous and “a weak attempt at distraction.”

Asked about it at a Wednesday press briefing, Gabbard said Obama and others from his administration are “trying to deflect away from their culpability in what is a historic scandal.”

Gabbard doesn’t answer question about her motivations — 2:33 p.m. Link copied

By the Associated Press

The director of national intelligence didn’t address a question about those who suggest she is making the report public in order to improve her standing with Trump after she seemed to fall from favor earlier this year when he dismissed her assessments about Iran’s nuclear capabilities.

Instead, Leavitt opted to answer the question for Gabbard, who said the only people questioning Gabbard’s motives were news reporters “who constantly try to sow distrust and chaos amongst the president’s Cabinet.”

Gabbard lashes out at Obama administration officials on Russia investigation — 2:26 p.m. Link copied

By the Associated Press

Tulsi Gabbard, the Trump administration’s director of national intelligence, is touting from the White House podium the release of a House report that she claims helps undercut the reality of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

Gabbard made a surprise appearance just hours after she made public a declassified report from House Republicans that was produced during the first presidential administration.

The report does not dispute the intelligence community’s assessment that Russia interfered in the election, but alleges tradecraft failings in how intelligence officials reached the conclusion that Russian President Vladimir Putin intended to have Trump win.

The release of the report, as Trump is facing backlash from elements of his base over the handling of records from the Jeffrey Epstein investigation, is part of an ongoing effort by the Trump administration to rewrite the history of Russian election interference.

Gabbard lashed out during lengthy remarks at specific members of the Obama administration.

Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard takes questions from reporters during a press briefing in the Brady Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, D.C., on July 23, 2025. ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images

Gabbard appears at White House briefing — 2:09 p.m. Link copied

By the Associated Press

Leavitt brought Gabbard up to the podium as a surprise guest at the daily guest briefing.

The director of national intelligence was accompanied by her cinematographer husband, Abraham Williams, who was filming her appearance in the White House briefing room. Williams is a filmmaker and was often seen filming Gabbard during her 2020 presidential campaign.

Government Accountability Office issues impoundments decision on Head Start — 2:07 p.m. Link copied

By the Associated Press

The audit watchdog for Congress has found that the Trump administration earlier this year withheld funds for Head Start programs in violation of federal law.

The finding underscores Democratic lawmakers’ concerns that the administration is unilaterally canceling funding for programs it does not view as a priority.

The Government Accountability Office said that the Department of Health and Human Services between January 20 and April 15 significantly reduced the rate of disbursements for Head Start grants compared to the same period the prior year. Based on that evidence, it concluded the department was in violation of the Impoundment Control Act.

The GAO also said current data suggests that Head Start funds have since been made available at rates consistent with those from the year before.

Democrats said the damage was done, however.

“It does not matter how long these funds were frozen,” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee. “The chaos and uncertainty of illegally withholding these funds is costly and hurts the hundreds of thousands of families that depend on Head Start.”

Leavitt: Trump’s AI plan will ‘secure a brighter future for all Americans’ — 2:04 p.m. Link copied

By the Associated Press

Trump’s press secretary Karoline Leavitt praised Trump’s new AI plan, which incorporates familiar pitches from tech lobbyists, during her press briefing.

She noted Trump will speak on the plan at an event later in the afternoon and said he’ll also sign three executive orders there.

“Under president Trump’s leadership, our country will lead the world in AI to secure a brighter future for all Americans, massively grow our economy and protect our national security,” Leavitt said.

White House condemns Kohberger as ‘vicious and evil killer’ — 2:03 p.m. Link copied

By the Associated Press

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt started a press briefing 45 minutes late on Wednesday and addressed the sentencing of Bryan Kohberger that had just concluded.

Leavitt started the briefing with condolences to the victim’s family and called Kohberger a “vicious and evil killer.”

“If it were up to the president, he would have forced this monster to publicly explain why he chose to steal these innocent souls,” Leavitt said.

Kohberger was sentenced to serve four consecutive life sentences without parole for the brutal stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students nearly three years ago.

Trump’s new AI plan leans heavily on Silicon Valley ideas — 2:02 p.m. Link copied

By the Associated Press

An artificial intelligence agenda that started coalescing on the podcasts of Silicon Valley billionaires is now being forged into U.S. policy as President Trump leans on the ideas of the tech figures who backed his election campaign.

The “AI Action Plan” revealed by the White House on Wednesday includes some familiar tech lobby pitches: Accelerating the sale of AI technology abroad and making it easier to construct energy-hungry data centers in the US.

It also includes some of the AI culture war preoccupations of the circle of venture capitalists who endorsed Trump last year.

Former Australian PM urges strong alliances in face of China — 1:54 p.m. Link copied

By the Associated Press

Former Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison told a congressional panel Wednesday that US alliances and partnerships must be strengthened to push back against China’s economic coercion, including China’s chokehold on critical minerals.

“This is as true in the economic sphere as it is in the security sphere,” Morrison said in a rare appearance by a country’s former leader before Congress.

He shared with the House Select Committee on China his experience of coping with Beijing’s trade punishments — including restrictions on imports of Australian wine, barley and more — when his government called for an independent inquiry into the origin of COVID-19.

Morrison, who was prime minister from 2018 to 2022, said US allies and partners can be tapped to build an alternative supply chain of rare earths, used in technology such as smartphones.

For such alliances and partnerships to work, “there has to be a strong core, and that requires a strong America,” he said.

Australia’s former prime minister Scott Morrison speaks to media during a press conference in Sydney on August 17, 2022. STEVEN SAPHORE/AFP via Getty Images

FEMA acting chief defends response to Texas floods — 1:41 p.m. Link copied

By the Associated Press

The acting administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency is pushing back on criticisms of the federal response to the central Texas floods that killed at least 135 people.

“I can’t see anything we did wrong,” FEMA acting administrator David Richardson told a House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure subcommittee Wednesday morning, calling the relationship between state and federal agencies “a model for how disasters should be handled.”

Richardson denied reports that FEMA’s flood response was impaired by bureaucratic delays that slowed the deployment of urban search and rescue teams and left FEMA call centers unstaffed.

FEMA’s search and rescue leader, Ken Pagurek, resigned Monday.

The response “brought the maximum amount of capability to bear in Texas at the right time and the right place,” said Richardson.

Trump says he’s ‘solved the inflation problem.’ The economic data tell a different story. — 1:18 p.m. Link copied

By Jim Puzzanghera, Globe Staff

At least three times this month, President Trump has boasted about a past survey of him and dozens of economists, in which he bucked conventional wisdom and predicted his second-term policies would produce a booming US economy by this point, with no inflation.

“They called all of the great intellects and the great economists and all of the great everything,” Trump told reporters at the White House Tuesday. “It was 71 [economists] and only two got it right, me and another gentleman [who] happens to be very smart. Sixty-nine people got it wrong, and the [Federal Reserve] got it wrong, more wrong than anybody.”

There are two problems with Trump’s assertion. First, the White House has been unable to identify the survey he keeps referencing. And second, economic growth has slowed this year, and inflation has begun rising as the impact of Trump’s high tariffs starts kicking in.

President Trump speaks during a meeting with Filipino President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C. on July 22, 2025. ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images

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Harvard says State Department investigation is ‘another retaliatory step’ from Trump administration — 1:12 p.m. Link copied

By Aidan Ryan, Globe Staff

A Harvard spokesperson said that an investigation by the US Department of State into the university’s participation in a visa program is “yet another retaliatory step taken by the Administration in violation of Harvard’s First Amendment rights.”

“Harvard continues to enroll and sponsor international scholars, researchers, and students, and will protect its international community and support them as they apply for U.S. visas and travel to campus this fall,” the spokesperson said in a statement to the Globe. “The University is committed to continuing to comply with the applicable Exchange Visitor Program regulations.”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the investigation earlier on Wednesday, but did not specify why the department was reviewing Harvard’s compliance with the program that provides visas to international students, faculty members, and scholars. The inquiry is just the latest action taken by the Trump administration that targets Harvard’s international community.

Johnson says no need for House vote this week on Epstein records — 1:01 p.m. Link copied

By the Associated Press

Speaker Mike Johnson said the House doesn’t need to vote this week on releasing records related to the Jeffrey Epstein case because the Trump administration is “already doing everything within their power to release them.”

The comments come as Democratic repeatedly try to force votes on the matter, casting it as an issue of trust in the government. GOP leadership has also unveiled a resolution that has no legal weight but would urge the Justice Department to produce more documentation. None of those efforts will be brought before the House for a vote before lawmakers return home for the traditional August recess.

“There’s no point in passing a resolution to urge the administration to do something that they are already doing,” Johnson told reporters Wednesday. “That’s why we’re going to let that process play out.”

Johnson said that if the process for releasing the information stalls out, “then we’ll take appropriate action when everybody returns here, but we have to allow the court process to play out.”

US stocks tick toward another record high on US-Japan trade deal — 12:20 p.m. Link copied

By the Associated Press

The trade deal between the world’s No. 1 and No. 4 economies would lower proposed tariffs on Japanese imports coming to the United States to 15% from the 25% tax that Trump had said would kick in on Aug. 1.

The S&P 500 was 0.3% higher, coming off its latest all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 196 points, or 0.4%, as of 11 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.1% higher. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 rallied 3.5%.

“It’s a sign of the times that markets would cheer 15% tariffs,” said Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management. “A year ago, that level of tariffs would be shocking. Today, we breathe a sigh of relief.”

Trump’s presidential job approval holding steady — 11:57 a.m. Link copied

By the Associated Press

Although it’s been an eventful year, the percentage of US adults who approve or disapprove of the way Trump is handling his job has been steady in AP-NORC polling since the beginning of his second term.

There was a similar pattern during his first White House stint, when his approval in AP-NORC polling never exceeded 43 percent, and never fell below 35 percent.

Our latest survey shows Trump’s unfavorable rating at 54 percent, and his favorable rating at 43 percent.

President Trump speaks to members of the media on the South Lawn of the White House before boarding Marine One in Washington, D.C. Al Drago/Bloomberg

Trump’s favorability drops among Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders — 11:54 a.m. Link copied

By the Associated Press

A small but fast-growing group of people in the United States is souring on Trump as they worry about high costs and fear new tariff policies will hike their personal expenses, a new poll finds.

The percentage of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders with an unfavorable opinion of Trump rose to 71 percent in July, from 60 percent in December, according to a national survey by AAPI Data and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

The poll is part of an ongoing project exploring the views of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, whose views are usually not highlighted in other surveys because of small sample sizes and lack of linguistic representation.

Trump cancels loan guarantee for renewable energy transmission line — 11:47 a.m. Link copied

By the Associated Press

The Trump administration has canceled a $4.9 billion federal loan guarantee for an 800-mile, high-voltage transmission line for delivering solar and wind-generate electricity from the Midwest to the eastern US.

The US Department of Energy declared that it “is not critical for the federal government to have a role” in the first phase of Chicago-based Invenergy’s planned Grain Belt Express. The department also questioned whether the project could meet the financial conditions required for a loan guarantee and asserted that multiple loan commitments were “rushed out the door” during the final days of the Biden administration.

Invenergy has said the project will create 4,000 jobs and that transmission efficiencies would save consumers $52 billion over 15 years. The project’s route had been approved by regulators in Kansas, Missouri, Illinois and Indiana, and it had bipartisan support. But some Republicans were opposed, including Missouri Senator Josh Hawley and Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey.

Here’s what to know about Judge Allison D. Burroughs, federal jurist overseeing Harvard-Trump case — 11:33 a.m. Link copied

By Tonya Alanez, Globe Staff

Who is US District Judge Allison D. Burroughs, the jurist overseeing Harvard’s case against the Trump administration’s federal funding freeze and who called the government’s arguments “a bit mind boggling”?

Burroughs hasn’t yet ruled, but Trump already has taken to social media to criticize her as a “TOTAL DISASTER.”

Here’s some things to know about the judge.

State Department launches investigation into Harvard’s participation in international program — 11:20 a.m. Link copied

By Aidan Ryan, Globe Staff

The US Department of State said Wednesday it has launched an investigation into Harvard’s eligibility as sponsor for a visa program open to international students, faculty, and scholars.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio did not give an explicit reason for the investigation in a statement released by the department. He said “sponsors must comply with all regulations, including conducting their programs in a manner that does not undermine the foreign policy objectives or compromise the national security interests of the United States” and that the investigation would “ensure that State Department programs do not run contrary to our nation’s interests.”

Spokespeople for Harvard did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The investigation is just the Trump administration’s latest action targeting Harvard’s international community. The government has tried to bar the university from hosting international students, arguing that it has failed to comply with records requests showing “misconduct and other offenses that would render foreign students inadmissible or removable,” including from protests, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem previously said.

Harvard sued the Trump administration over the efforts in May, and a judge blocked the government’s efforts until the case is decided. Earlier this month, the Trump administration formally subpoenaed Harvard for records related to its ability to host international students.

The Trump administration canceled nearly $3 billion in research funding and threatened the university’s accreditation ever since Harvard rejected a series of demands to overhaul its admissions, hiring, and governance. Harvard has said many of the Trump administrations’s actions are an unlawful attempt to exert influence over a private university.

Widener Library prior to the inauguration of Harvard University’s 29th president, Larry Bacow, in Harvard Yard in Cambridge. Craig F. Walker/Globe Staff

Japan’s autos will be tariffed at a lower rate than the rest of the world — 11:08 a.m. Link copied

By the Associated Press

Trump’s trade framework with Japan would dramatically curb his new 25 percent tariffs on autos to 15 percent, according to a social media post by Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. “With the idea of ‘prioritizing investment over tariffs,’ Japan and the U.S. have reached a deal that will benefit both sides,” Ishiba posted on X.

The Trump administration has separately placed a broad 25 percent tariffs on autos, which would hit German and Korean producers that compete against Japanese companies such as Toyota, Honda, Nissan and Subaru.

The lower tariff rate could give Japanese automakers an advantage against their competitors.

New vehicles are parked at Daikoku Pier in Yokohama, south of Tokyo on July 23, 2025. PHILIP FONG/AFP via Getty Images

Link copied

By the Associated Press

The United States and Russia, both of whom are major petroleum-producing states, are staunchly opposed to the court mandating emissions reductions.

But those who cling to fossil fuels could go broke doing it, the UN secretary-general told The Associated Press in an exclusive interview this week.

Simply having the court issue an opinion is the latest in a series of legal victories for the small island nations:

Earlier this month, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights found that countries have a legal duty not only to avoid environmental harm but also to protect and restore ecosystems.

Last year, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that countries must better protect their people from the consequences of climate change.

The UN ruling could be a catalyst for lawsuits — 10:54 a.m. Link copied

By the Associated Press

The panel of 15 judges was tasked with answering two questions:

What are countries obliged to do under international law to protect the climate and environment from human-caused greenhouse gas emissions?

What are the legal consequences for governments when their acts, or lack of action, have significantly harmed the climate and environment?

“The survival of my people and so many others is on the line,” Arnold Kiel Loughman, attorney general of the island nation of Vanuatu, told the court during a week of hearings in December.

Now, activists can sue their governments for failing to comply.

“What makes this case so important is that it addresses the past, present, and future of climate action. It’s not just about future targets — it also tackles historical responsibility, because we cannot solve the climate crisis without confronting its roots,” Joie Chowdhury, a senior attorney at the Center for International Environmental Law, told AP.

Teens turn to AI for advice, friendship and ‘to get out of thinking’ — 10:22 a.m. Link copied

By the Associated Press

Teenagers are increasingly interacting with AI as if it were a human companion, according to a new study and interviews with The Associated Press.

“Everyone uses AI for everything now. It’s really taking over,” said Kayla Chege, who wonders how AI tools will affect her generation. “I think kids use AI to get out of thinking.”

Concerns about cheating at school have dominated the conversation around kids and AI, but artificial intelligence is suddenly playing a much larger role in many of their lives — as a go-to source for personal advice, emotional support, everyday decision-making and problem-solving.

More than 70 percent of teens have used AI companions and half use them regularly, according to the study from Common Sense Media, a group that advocates for using digital media sensibly.

China to dispatch team to Sweden for trade talks with US — 10:20 a.m. Link copied

By the Associated Press

China has announced that Vice Premier He Lifeng will travel to Sweden from Sunday to Wednesday for trade talks with the US side.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also has said he will be in Stockholm for trade talks with his Chinese counterpart next week.

Bessent has indicated that two sides are likely to extend the Aug. 12 deadline, set three months earlier in Geneva when Beijing and Washington agreed to walk back from sky-high tariffs. Bessent and He are taking the leads for their governments in the negotiations.

Americans are paying more for electricity and losing drinking water for AI — 9:48 a.m. Link copied

By the Associated Press

The tech industry has pushed for easier permitting to get huge data centers connected to power and water — even if it means consumers losing drinking water and paying higher energy bills.

On Tuesday, 95 groups including labor unions, parent groups, environmental justice organizations and privacy advocates signed a resolution opposing Trump’s embrace of industry-driven AI policy and calling for a “People’s AI Action Plan” that would “deliver first and foremost for the American people.”

Amba Kak, co-executive director of the AI Now Institute, which helped lead the effort, said the coalition expects Trump’s plan to come “straight from Big Tech’s mouth.”

“Every time we say, ‘What about our jobs, our air, water, our children?’ they’re going to say, ‘But what about China?’” she said Tuesday. She said Americans should reject the White House’s argument that artificial intelligence is overregulated, and fight to preserve “baseline protections for the public.”

Blocking tech contractors from using ‘woke AI’ — 9:33 a.m. Link copied

By the Associated Press

David Sacks, a former PayPal executive and now Trump’s top AI adviser, has been criticizing “woke AI” for more than a year, fueled by Google’s February 2024 rollout of an AI image generator that, when asked to show an American Founding Father, created pictures of Black, Asian and Native American men.

Google quickly fixed its tool, but the “Black George Washington” moment remained a parable for the problem of AI’s perceived political bias, taken up by X owner Elon Musk, venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, Vice President JD Vance and Republican lawmakers.

“The AI’s incapable of giving you accurate answers because it’s been so programmed with diversity and inclusion,” Sacks said at the time.

Elon Musk’s xAI, pitched as an alternative to “woke AI” companies, had to scramble this month to remove posts made by its Grok chatbot that made antisemitic comments and praised Adolf Hitler.

Trump’s artificial intelligence plan unveiling to be co-hosted by a podcast — 9:31 a.m. Link copied

By the Associated Press

The All-In Podcast is a business and technology show hosted by four tech investors and entrepreneurs including Trump’s AI czar, David Sacks.

The plan and related executive orders to be announced late Wednesday afternoon are expected to include some familiar tech lobby pitches — including accelerating the sale of AI technology abroad and making it easier to construct the energy-hungry data center buildings needed to run AI products, according to a person briefed on Wednesday’s event who was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

It might also include some of the AI culture war preoccupations of the circle of venture capitalists who endorsed Trump last year.

The Epstein files — delayed, but far from forgotten — 8:57 a.m. Link copied

By the Associated Press

House Speaker Mike Johnson rebuffed pressure to act on the investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, instead sending members home early on Wednesday for a month-long break from Washington after the week’s legislative agenda was upended by Republican members who are clamoring for a vote.

Johnson decided to end the House’s legislative business after he essentially lost control of the powerful House Rules Committee, which sends bills to the floor for debates and votes.

The speaker’s early adjournment did little to alleviate Republican turmoil. Many Trump supporters are demanding a full accounting of the sex trafficking investigation into Epstein, who killed himself in his New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial. Right-wing online influencers and Republican voters back home are demanding House intervention.

“The public’s not going to let this die, and rightfully so,” said Representative Ralph Norman, a South Carolina Republican.

Global markets rally on Trump’s Asian trade deals — 8:46 a.m. Link copied

By the Associated Press

Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index gained 3.5% after Japan and the US announced a deal: a 15% U.S. import duty on goods from Japan, apart from certain products such as steel and aluminum that are subject to much higher tariffs. That’s down from the 25% Trump had threatened.

“This Deal will create Hundreds of Thousands of Jobs — There has never been anything like it,” Trump posted on Truth Social. He said Japan is investing $550 billion into the US and would “open” its economy to American autos and rice.

Trump also announced a 19% tax on goods from Indonesia and the Philippines. These deals are “likely to keep market sentiment propped up despite deals with the likes of the EU and South Korea remaining elusive, for now at least,” wrote Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at Kohle Capital Markets.

Trump’s schedule, according to the White House — 8:29 a.m. Link copied

By the Associated Press

1 p.m. ET — Press secretary Karoline Leavitt will host a press briefing

5 p.m. — Trump will attend and sign executive orders at AI summit

From tech podcasts to policy: Trump’s new AI plan leans heavily on Silicon Valley industry ideas — 1:05 a.m. Link copied

By the Associated Press

An artificial intelligence agenda that started coalescing on the podcasts of Silicon Valley billionaires is now being forged into US policy as President Trump leans on the ideas of the tech figures who backed his election campaign.

Trump on Wednesday is planning to reveal an “AI Action Plan” he ordered after returning to the White House in January. He gave his tech advisers six months to come up with new AI policies after revoking former president Joe Biden’s signature AI guardrails on his first day in office.

The unveiling is co-hosted by the bipartisan Hill and Valley Forum and the All-In Podcast, a business and technology show hosted by four tech investors and entrepreneurs who include Trump’s AI czar, David Sacks.

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Trump’s favorability has fallen among AAPI adults since last year, new poll finds — 12:29 a.m. Link copied

By the Associated Press

A small but fast-growing group in the United States has soured somewhat on President Trump this year, as they worry about high costs and fear that new tariff policies will further raise their personal expenses, a new poll finds.

The percentage of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders with an unfavorable opinion of Trump rose to 71 percent in July, from 60 percent in December, according to a national survey by AAPI Data and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

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The House Oversight Committee on Wednesday reportedly voted in favor of subpoenaing two major names in U.S. politics: former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

That’s according to .

The said Rep. Scott Perry offered a motion during a subcommittee hearing to call on Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer to subpoena multiple people who might have connections to Ghislaine Maxwell, who was Jeffrey Epstein’s ex-girlfriend and co-conspirator.

While the Clintons were at the top of Perry’s list, the following names were also mentioned, per :

James Brian Comey

Loretta Elizabeth Lynch

Eric Hampton Holder, Jr.

Merrick Brian Garland

Robert Swan Mueller III

William Pelham Barr

Jefferson Beauregard Sessions the third

Alberto Gonzales

The subpoenas will be issued in the near future,” reported, citing an unnamed House Oversight Committee aide.

The subcommittee also voted to subpoena the Department of Justice (DOJ) to release files related to the ongoing investigation, according to .

noted Comer would have to sign the subpoena before it can officially be issued, as per committee rules.

The news comes just a few hours after . The deposition is set for August 11 at the Federal Correctional Institution Tallahassee, where Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison sentence for child sex trafficking.

The facts and circumstances surrounding both your and Mr. Epstein’s cases have received immense public interest and scrutiny. At the outset of the 119th Congress, on February 11, 2025, the Committee and the Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice requesting a briefing regarding documents in the Department’s possession regarding ‘the investigation into and prosecution of Jeffrey Epstein.’ On May 8, the Task Force sent another letter to the Department requesting the public release of ‘the entirety of the Epstein files’ and a briefing regarding the release of these files,” .

Earlier on Wednesday, The reported that .

Citing senior administration officials, the outlet said Attorney General Pam Bondi and her deputy met with the president for a meeting at the White House, where they told him his name appeared “multiple times” in the files, along with several other high-profile figures.

They told the president at the meeting that the files contained what officials felt was unverified hearsay about many people, including Trump, who had socialized with Epstein in the past, some of the officials said. One of the officials familiar with the documents said they contain hundreds of other names,” according to the .

They also told Trump that senior Justice Department officials didn’t plan to release any more documents related to the investigation of the convicted sex offender because the material contained child pornography and victims’ personal information, the officials said. Trump said at the meeting he would defer to the Justice Department’s decision to not release any further files,” the media outlet noted.

The Trump administration previously announced it would not be releasing additional files from the Epstein probe despite previously promising it would.

But Trump later authorized the DOJ to release grand jury testimony from Epstein’s case.

He said that “based on the ridiculous amount of publicity given to Jeffrey Epstein,” he asked Bondi to produce “any and all pertinent Grand Jury testimony, subject to Court approval.”

This SCAM, perpetuated by the Democrats, should end, right now!” he wrote on Truth Social.