The Latest: DOJ says it’s reviewing whether any Epstein-related records were mistakenly withheld

The Justice Department said Wednesday that it was looking into whether it had improperly withheld documents from the Jeffrey Epstein files after several news organizations reported that some records involving uncorroborated accusations made by a woman against President Donald Trump were not among those released to the public.

This comes as Bill and Hillary Clinton are slated to testify Thursday and Friday in a House investigation into Epstein, part of a deal with Republicans after it became clear that Congress — with the help of some Democrats — was on track to hold them in contempt if they refused to cooperate.

Here’s the latest:

White House drug czar is in Mexico following operation that killed powerful cartel leader

Sara Carter, who heads the administration’s Office of National Drug Control Policy, is in Mexico for talks with government officials following this week’s operation that killed Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, the country’s most powerful drug lord.

“The Mexican government is demonstrating a sincere ongoing commitment to the shared counternarcotics cause which has plagued both of our nations for decades,” Carter said in a statement. “Defeating the cartels is an ongoing mutual effort necessary for the safety and security of both our nations.”

U.S. intelligence officials provided support to the Mexican government for the operation that killed the cartel leader known as “El Mencho,” according to the White House.

The operation follows President Trump repeatedly pressing the Mexican government to more aggressively target the country’s illegal drug trade. The U.S. president has threatened to send U.S. troops to take out cartels, if Mexico’s government can’t.

Carter and U.S Ambassador Ronald Johnson have met with Mexico’s security cabinet and offered condolences to Mexico’s defense secretary, Gen. Ricardo Trevilla, for the deaths of 33 Mexican national guardsmen and three special operations members killed in the operation.

Led by new generation, Democrats prioritize transparency on Epstein over defending former party leaders

Several Democratic lawmakers joined with Republicans on the Oversight panel to advance the contempt of Congress charges against the Clintons last month. Several said they had no relationship with the Clintons and owed no loyalty to them.

Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the top Democrat on the Oversight panel, said both Republican and Democratic administrations “have failed survivors in not getting more information out to the public.” He also said he wanted to ask about Epstein’s possible ties to foreign governments.

Democrats are also coming off an effort this week to confront Trump about his administration’s handling of the Epstein files by taking women who survived Epstein’s abuse as their guests to Trump’s State of the Union address. Even senior Democrats, such as former Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, said it was appropriate for the committee to interview anyone, including the former president, who was connected to Epstein.

World Economic Forum head Børge Brende steps down following pressure over Epstein links

Brende, a former Norwegian foreign minister, said in a statement Thursday that he’d decided “after careful consideration” to step down as president and chief executive of the forum, known for its annual January summit in the Swiss Alpine resort of Davos.

“I am grateful for the incredible collaboration with my colleagues, partners, and constituents, and I believe now is the right moment for the Forum to continue its important work without distractions,” Brende said in a statement released by the WEF.

Brende was Norway’s foreign minister from 2013-2017 and is one of several prominent Norwegians who’ve faced scrutiny following the latest release of Epstein files.

He didn’t refer directly to that controversy in Thursday’s statement, but the WEF announced earlier this month that it was opening an internal review into Brende to determine his relationship with Epstein after files indicated the two had dined together several times and exchanged messages.

Iran would be outgunned in any war with the US but could still inflict considerable pain

As U.S. forces mass in the Middle East, Iran faces the threat of major strikes by the world’s most powerful military, potentially targeting its leaders, military, nuclear sites and critical infrastructure.

Iran has nowhere near the same capabilities, and is even more vulnerable after last year’s war launched by Israel and recent anti-government protests. But it could still inflict pain on American forces and allies, and may feel it has to if the Islamic Republic’s survival is at stake.

While Iran suffered major losses last June, it still has hundreds of missiles capable of hitting Israel, according to Israel’s estimates. Iran boasts a much larger arsenal of shorter-range missiles capable of hitting U.S. bases in Gulf countries and offshore American forces, soon to be joined by a second aircraft carrier.

Iran has previously threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for the global oil trade, and claimed to have done so partially during military drills last week.

Slightly more Americans now see Iran and the US as enemies: AP-NORC poll

Most Americans, 61%, say Iran is an “enemy” of the U.S., according to the new AP-NORC poll. That is up slightly from 53% in a Pearson Institute/AP-NORC poll conducted in September 2023.

Roughly 3 in 10 Americans currently say the countries are “not friendly, but not enemies,” and only about 1 in 10 Americans consider the two nations “friendly” or “close allies.”

At the same time, there’s a bit of an age gap on that perception. Only about half of U.S. adults under 45 say Iran is an enemy, compared with about 7 in 10 Americans ages 45 and older.

Most US adults have low trust in Trump’s judgment on military force: AP-NORC poll

Most Americans have significant reservations about Trump’s judgment on foreign conflicts, the AP-NORC poll shows.

Only about 3 in 10 of U.S. adults have “a great deal” or “quite a bit” of trust in Trump’s judgment on the use of military force, relationships with U.S. adversaries or the use of nuclear weapons. More than half trust him “only a little” or “not at all.”

On each measure, Republicans are more likely than Democrats and Independents to trust that the president will make the right decisions. About 6 in 10 Republicans have a high level of trust in Trump, while roughly 9 in 10 Democrats have a low level of trust in him.

Most Americans see Iran as an enemy but doubt Trump’s judgment on military force, AP-NORC poll finds

As the U.S. and Iran head into their next round of nuclear talks in Geneva, a new AP-NORC poll finds that many U.S. adults continue to view Iran’s nuclear program as a threat — but they also don’t have high trust in Trump’s judgment on the use of military force abroad.

About half of U.S. adults are “extremely” or “very” concerned that Iran’s nuclear program poses a direct threat to the United States, according to the new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. About 3 in 10 are “moderately” concerned and only about 2 in 10 are “not very” concerned or “not concerned at all.”

The survey was conducted Feb. 19-23, as military tensions built in the Middle East between the United States and Iran. The U.S. is seeking a deal to limit Iran’s nuclear program and ensure it does not develop nuclear weapons, while Iran says it is not pursuing weapons and has so far resisted demands that it halt uranium enrichment on its soil or hand over its stockpile of highly enriched uranium.

FBI fires agents who worked on Trump classified document investigation, AP sources say

The FBI has fired additional agents who worked on an investigation into Trump, this time terminating employees who participated in the probe into the Republican’s hoarding of classified documents, people familiar with the matter said Wednesday.

The firings are part of a broader personnel purge under the leadership of Director Kash Patel, a Trump appointee who, over the last year, has pushed out dozens of employees who either contributed to investigations of the president or who were perceived as not in alignment with the administration’s agenda. The Justice Department has engaged in similarly sweeping firings of prosecutors since Trump took office last year.

The FBI Agents Association condemned the firings as unlawful and endangering national security.

“These actions weaken the Bureau by stripping away critical expertise and destabilizing the workforce, undermining trust in leadership and jeopardizing the Bureau’s ability to meet its recruitment goals — ultimately putting the nation at greater risk,” the association said in a statement.

Witkoff and Kushner are in Geneva for indirect talks with Iran

Iran and the United States began indirect talks Thursday in Geneva over Tehran’s nuclear negotiations viewed as a last chance for diplomacy as America has gathered a fleet of aircraft and warships to the Middle East to pressure Tehran into a deal.

Trump wants a deal to constrain Iran’s nuclear program, and he sees an opportunity while the country is struggling at home with growing dissent following nationwide protests last month. Iran, meanwhile, has maintained it wants to continue to enrich uranium even as its program sits in ruins, following Trump ordering an attack in June on three of the Islamic Republic’s nuclear sites, part of a bruising 12-day war last year.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi again is passing messages to Steve Witkoff, a billionaire real estate developer and friend of Trump who serves as a special Mideast envoy for the president.These latest talks are again being mediated by Oman, a sultanate on the eastern edge of the Arabian Peninsula that’s long served as an interlocutor between Iran and the West.

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Bill and Hillary Clinton, battle-tested, gear up for another Washington fight

The Clintons are slated to testify Thursday and Friday in a House investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, part of a deal with Republicans after it became clear that Congress — with the help of some Democrats — was on track to hold them in contempt if they refused to cooperate. For the battle-hardened couple, it amounts to one more Washington brawl. And like so many of the battles that came before, this one is another mix of questionable judgment, sexual impropriety, money and power.

For those who have long watched the Clintons, this moment is a reminder that the couple — weaned on the politics of the Vietnam War and Watergate — has never been far from the heat of a cultural fight. And with the Epstein case unfolding unpredictably around the world, the Clintons are once again ensnared in the scandal of the moment.

Justice Department says it’s reviewing whether any Epstein-related records were mistakenly withheld

The Justice Department said that it was looking into whether it had improperly withheld documents from the Jeffrey Epstein files after several news organizations reported that some records involving uncorroborated accusations made by a woman against Trump were not among those released to the public.

The announcement followed news reports saying that a massive tranche of records released by the Justice Department did not include several summaries of interviews that the FBI conducted with an unidentified woman who came forward after Epstein’s 2019 arrest and claimed to have been sexually assaulted by both Trump and Epstein when she was a minor in the 1980s.

“Several individuals and news outlets have recently flagged files related to documents produced to Ghislaine Maxwell in discovery of her criminal case that they claim appear to be missing,” the Justice Department said in a post on X.

It said that if any document is found to have been improperly withheld and is responsive to the federally enacted law mandating the files’ release, “the Department will of course publish it, consistent with the law.”

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