Hillary Clinton testifies in House Jeffrey Epstein investigation
This version of Trump Hillary Clinton Epstein Congress Immigration Iran Live Updates Rcna260177 - Politics and Government | NBC News Clone was adapted by NBC News Clone to help readers digest key facts more efficiently.
The interview with House Oversight Committee Republicans is taking place in Chappaqua, New York, where the Clintons own a house.
Highlights from Feb. 26, 2026
- CLINTON DEPOSITION: Members of the Republican-led House Oversight Committee questioned Hillary Clinton as part of their investigation into the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. After her testimony, she told reporters that she answered questions "as fully as I could" and reiterated that she never met Epstein.
- IRAN TALKS: The United States and Iran met in Geneva for talks aimed at a diplomatic resolution to their long-running nuclear dispute as President Donald Trump pressures Tehran with the threat of military action.
- MAMDANI MEETING: New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani met with Trump today at the White House in their second meeting since Mamdani was elected. During the meeting, Mamdani pitched Trump on a New York City housing project.
Coverage of this live blog has ended. For the latest news, click here.
U.S. military used laser to take down Border Protection drone, lawmakers say
The U.S. military used a laser to shoot down a Customs and Border Protection drone, members of Congress said today, and the Federal Aviation Administration responded by closing more airspace near El Paso, Texas.
It’s not clear why the laser was deployed. It’s the second time in two weeks that one has been fired in the area.
The earlier laser firing did not hit a target. It was conducted by the CBP near Fort Bliss, about 50 miles northwest, and prompted the FAA to shut down air traffic at the El Paso airport and the surrounding area. This time, the closure was smaller, and commercial flights not affected.
Unions privately urge Chuck Schumer and Democratic leaders to stay out of Maine's Senate primary
Union leaders in recent days have urged Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee to end their support for Gov. Janet Mills in Maine’s Senate primary, pointing to what they see as her weaker record with labor.
United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain had a conversation with Schumer this month to discuss the race, among other topics, two people familiar with the call told NBC News. The UAW is supporting Mills’ opponent, Democrat Graham Platner, while Schumer and the DSCC are supporting Mills.
A person familiar with the call said Fain discussed with Schumer what he views as the “shortcomings” in Democratic leaders’ approach to the 2026 midterms, “particularly their failure to adequately listen to working-class voters.” Fain cited the Maine contest as an example, this person said.
Separately, on Monday, Michael Monahan, international vice president of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers’ 2nd District, which includes Maine, sent a letter to DSCC leadership, obtained by NBC News, “to express our deep concern regarding the DSCC’s ongoing involvement in the 2026 Maine Democratic Senate Primary.”
“We strongly urge the DSCC to refrain from intervening further in this primary,” Monahan wrote, adding, “Your committee’s support for Janet Mills is troubling to our membership for several reasons.”
Top Democrat on House Oversight criticizes colleagues for 'pizzagate,' UFO questions they asked Clinton
The top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, Rep. Robert Garcia of California, called out his colleagues for asking Hillary Clinton questions about UFOs and the “pizzagate” conspiracy theory.
Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., at the Chappaqua Performing Arts Center in N.Y on Feb. 26, 2026. David Dee Delgado / Getty Images
“I just think it’s unfortunate that we began asking her questions about UFOs and aliens. I mean, let’s be serious at this moment. We have survivors that need answers and the truth. That’s where the focus should be,” Garcia said in an interview with CNN.
Garcia also criticized his Republican colleagues for attending Clinton’s deposition but not showing up for Les Wexner’s testimony.
“It’s just so interesting that Republicans were so obsessed with being there today, not making it public, yet not a single Republican, not a single one, would join us last week at the deposition of Les Wexner, who was the largest financier, the person that provided Jeffrey Epstein with almost all of his wealth. Not one could attend that deposition,” he said.
Idaho advocacy groups denounce state legislators who allowed man to testify while wearing brownface
Several advocacy groups in Idaho this week are condemning Republican members of the state House Business Committee for allowing public testimony from a man who appeared before the committee in brownface and has previously engaged in racist and antisemitic demonstrations throughout the state.
The man, far-right demonstrator David Pettinger, was initially stopped from testifying before the committee in broken Spanish while he was wearing brownface makeup and clothing appearing to stereotype Latinos, with handcuffs dangling from his wrist. He appeared at Monday’s hearing as the committee was evaluating HB 704, a bill that would require businesses in the state to verify employees’ legal status and work authorization.
Anthropic CEO refuses to bow to Pentagon ultimatum in new statement
In the latest volley in the weekslong spat between the Defense Department and leading AI company Anthropic over how the military can use its technology, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei tonight rejected the Pentagon’s loudest calls for the AI company to relax its usage policy.
Amodei wrote in a statement that the Pentagon’s threats to classify Anthropic as a supply chain risk or invoke the Defense Production Act to compel it to toe the Pentagon’s line “do not change our position: we cannot in good conscience accede to their request.” The Defense Department has given Anthropic until 5:01 p.m. tomorrow to agree to its rules, according to a senior Pentagon official.
In ongoing contract negotiations, Anthropic has maintained that the Defense Department should not be able to use its systems for domestic mass surveillance or direct use in fully autonomous weapons. The Pentagon wants to use Anthropic’s Claude systems for “all lawful purposes,” which might surpass Anthropic’s limits.
Earlier today, the Pentagon’s chief spokesperson, Sean Parnell, wrote on X that the Defense Department’s demand was a “simple, common-sense request that will prevent Anthropic from jeopardizing critical military operations and potentially putting our warfighters at risk.”
Anthropic was the first major AI company to deploy its systems on classified networks, which rolled out in 2024. Amodei said in his statement that the company has “worked proactively to deploy our models to the Department of War and the intelligence community” and that he believes “deeply in the existential importance of using AI to defend the United States and other democracies, and to defeat our autocratic adversaries.”
DOJ sues 5 more states in push for sensitive voter roll data
The Justice Department is suing five more states for access to their full voter registration lists, the latest effort by the Trump administration to force states to share personal data about voters ahead of the midterm elections.
Kentucky, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Utah and West Virginia were all named in lawsuits the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division filed today. With the new suits, the Justice Department has now sued 29 states and the District of Columbia for voter data.
Three federal judges have already ruled to toss out the lawsuits, most recently in Michigan, where U.S. District Judge Hala Jarbou said the voting laws the Justice Department cited do not require the state to turn over voter information.
The Justice Department has argued that Attorney General Pam Bondi has the authority to demand the production, inspection and analysis of statewide voter registration lists.
Most of the states the Justice Department has targeted in lawsuits have been Democratic-led. But three of the states named today — Oklahoma, Utah and West Virginia — are led by Republican governors. Other GOP-led states, like Nebraska, have turned over sensitive voter data to the Justice Department.
Gov. Abigail Spanberger gives House Democrats' campaign advice for the 2026 midterms
At House Democrats’ gathering in Virginia, Gov. Abigail Spanberger told her former congressional colleagues to campaign everywhere, even in conservative parts of their districts, and not to let Republican attacks define them.
Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger delivers the Democratic response to U.S. President Donald Trump's State of the Union address on Feb. 24, 2026 in Williamsburg, Va. Mike Kropf / Getty Images
Spanberger, a centrist former House member who flipped the governor’s mansion to Democratic control last year, delivered her party’s response to Trump’s State of the Union address Tuesday night. Last night in Leesburg, Virginia, she was the keynote speaker at Democrats’ annual issues retreat, where members are plotting their strategy for the November midterm elections and their legislative agenda if they take back the majority.
In the closed-door session with her former House colleagues, Spanberger discussed how she parried GOP attacks on her positions on ICE and immigration, as well as her support for LGBTQ rights. Spanberger talked on the campaign trail about how she is a mother of three children who supports law enforcement and cares about public safety, lawmakers told reporters.
Spanberger said that when her GOP opponent targeted her over her support for transgender rights, she talked to voters about how she wants to protect all children and people.
“She knew they were going to try to attack her on transgender issues. She didn’t abandon her values. She talked about wanting to protect all kids, right? ... Let’s actually take care and protect all kids. A lot of our kids are suffering. And if we talk about it in those contexts, I think most folks get it,” said Rep. Ami Bera, D-Calif., one of the leaders of the House Democrats’ campaign arm.
“They may not agree with us on LGBTQ issues, but they’re not going to disagree that we ought to take care of all kids,” Bera said. “She talked about how she talked about some of these divisive issues."
Republicans are “going to try to divide us, right? They’re going to try to pull us into some of the socially divisive issues, and we don’t have to go there,” Bera continued. “We don’t have to take the bait, and we don’t have to abandon our values as Democrats.”
Rep. Grace Meng, D-N.Y., who leads the caucus of Asian American lawmakers, said Spanberger's message to Democrats was also to campaign in areas the party has avoided in recent elections, to expand the party's tent.
"Gov. Spanberger showed and proved that she was campaigning everywhere. There was no room, no community that she wouldn’t go into and have those tough conversations," Meng told reporters. "And so showing up is half the battle, but also demonstrating empathy and kindness and willingness to listen."
Clinton says she answered all questions 'as fully as I could'
Clinton said she answered all of the House Oversight Committee’s questions “as fully as I could,” reiterating that she never met Epstein and knew Ghislaine Maxwell only casually, as an acquaintance.
Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the Chappaqua Performing Arts Center in New York on Feb. 26, 2026. David Dee Delgado / Getty Images
“It was disappointing that they refused to hold a public hearing so I wouldn’t have to be out here characterizing it for you. You could have seen it for yourself. We had asked for that,” Clinton said.
She later said she did not know when the video or a transcript of the deposition would be out, but she asked that it be released as quickly as possible. Speaking to reporters moments before, committee chair James Comer, R-Ky., said it would be available “as quick as we can get the video produced.”
Clinton commented on a disruption earlier after Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., shared a photo of the closed-door deposition with a right-wing influencer.
“We had a bit of a challenge in the beginning, because we agreed upon rules based on the fact it was going to be a closed hearing at their demand, and one of the members violated that rule, which was very upsetting, because it suggested that they might violate other of our agreements, so we had to cease the hearing for a period of time until we could get assurances that no rules would be broken going forward,” she said.
Clinton answered in the affirmative when she was asked whether she was “100% confident” that her husband, Bill Clinton, did not know anything about Epstein. She said their relationship ended years before anything about Epstein’s criminal activities came to light.
“I think it is fair to say that the vast majority of people who had contact with him before his criminal pleas in ’08 were like most people. They did not know what he was doing, and I think that that is exactly what my husband will testify to tomorrow,” Clinton said.
She added that Maxwell attended the wedding of her daughter, Chelsea Clinton, as an invitee’s plus-one.
Hillary Clinton said she was asked questions about the 'pizzagate' conspiracy theory and UFOs during Epstein deposition
Speaking to reporters in Chappaqua, Hillary Clinton said that her closed-door deposition with members of the House Oversight Committee veered off topic and that she was questioned on the “pizzagate” conspiracy theory and unidentified flying objects.
Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Chappaqua, New York, on Feb., 26, 2026. Charly Triballeau / AFP - Getty Images
“It then got at the end, quite unusual, because I started being asked about UFOs and a series of questions about pizzagate, one of the most vile, bogus conspiracy theories that was propagated on the internet that was serving as the basis of a member’s questions to me,” Clinton said.
Clinton gave testimony today as part of the House’s investigation into Jeffrey Epstein.
The false “pizzagate” conspiracy theory in 2016 resulted in a gunman's firing shots in a Washington pizza restaurant that conspiracy theorists alleged was home to a child sex-trafficking ring connected to prominent Democrats, including Clinton.
The questions about UFOs came a week after Trump directed the Pentagon and other agencies to release files about aliens, after he claimed that former President Barack Obama shared “classified information” when he said on a podcaster this month — which Obama later clarified — that he believed aliens were real.
More than 32 million people watched Trump's 2026 State of the Union address
Around 32.6 million people tuned in to watch Trump's State of the Union address Tuesday, according to Nielsen.
President Donald Trump deliving his State of the Union address during a Joint Session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol on Feb., 24, 2026. Andrew Harnik / Getty Images
The number lags behind the viewership for his address to a joint session of Congress in March 2025, which drew about 36.6 million viewers, according to Nielsen data. However, it was right around the 32.2 million viewers that former President Joe Biden's final State of the Union address drew received in March 2024.
The viewership for Trump's address this year fell behind viewership for those he gave during his first term, according to data from Nielsen.
In 2017, Trump's address to a joint session of Congress captured about 47.7 million views. His 2018 and 2019 State of the Union addresses came in around 45.5 million and around 46.7 million. Trump's final State of the Union address of his first term, in 2020, fell to about 37.1 million viewers, according to Nielsen.
Judge rejects request to block Trump White House from building its $400 million ballroom project
A federal judge today rejected a preservationist group’s request to block the Trump administration from continuing construction on a $400 million ballroom for which it demolished the East Wing of the White House.
U.S. District Judge Richard Leon ruled that the National Trust for Historic Preservation was unlikely to succeed on the merits of its bid to temporarily halt Trump’s project. He said the privately funded group based its challenge on a “ragtag group of theories” under the Administrative Procedure Act and the Constitution and would have a better chance of success if it amended the lawsuit.
“Unfortunately, because both sides initially focused on the President’s constitutional authority to destruct and construct the East Wing of the White House, Plaintiff didn’t bring the necessary cause of action to test the statutory authority the President claims is the basis to do this construction project without the blessing of Congress and with private funds,” Leon wrote.
The preservationists sought an order pausing the ballroom project until it undergoes multiple independent reviews and wins approval from Congress.
White House names Medal of Honor recipients for upcoming ceremony
Trump will award three people, two of whom will be honored posthumously, the Medal of Honor, the highest award for military valor in action, in a ceremony Monday at the White House.
Master Sgt. Roderick (Roddie) W. Edmonds and Staff Sgt. Michael H. Ollis, both of whom served in the Army, will be honored posthumously. Command Sgt. Major Terry P. Richardson, who retired from the Army, will be honored at the White House.
Edmonds served in World War II and was a prisoner of war in Germany. He will be recognized for such acts as protecting Jewish-American POWs from Nazis. Ollis, who served in Afghanistan, will be recognized for his bravery, as he was killed in action protecting a Coalition Forces officer.
Richardson served in Vietnam and was recognized for his "gallant and selfless actions," which the White House said "spared the lives of 85 fellow soldiers."
Mamdani and Trump met at the White House
New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani met with Trump at the White House today for the second time since Mamdani was elected in November.
“I had a productive meeting with President Trump this afternoon,” Mamdani wrote on X, accompanied by a photo of the pair. “I’m looking forward to building more housing in New York City.”
Ohio Sen. Bernie Moreno emerges as contender to lead NRSC in 2028
Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, is lining up support to chair the National Republican Senatorial Committee for the 2028 election cycle, two people familiar with his efforts told NBC News.
The sources, who were granted anonymity to share details of private conversations, said Moreno does not appear to have serious opposition.
Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., endorsed Moreno.
“I’m supporting Bernie for NRSC Chair,” Sheehy posted on X. “He will do a great job.”
Semafor and Politico first reported Moreno’s interest in leading the Senate GOP’s campaign arm, which underscores how quickly he has risen as a prospect in his caucus. He was elected in 2024, unseating longtime Democratic incumbent Sherrod Brown in one of the most expensive Senate races of that cycle.
Moreno, a Colombian immigrant who became a successful car dealer in Ohio, has established himself as a solid fundraiser and loyal Trump ally — two data points that could be key in locking down the NRSC chairmanship.
The 2028 Senate map could include competitive races in Georgia, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
There will also be a Senate race that year in Moreno's Ohio, where the winner of this year’s special election to fill the rest of Vice President JD Vance’s unexpired term will be up for re-election. Brown is seeking the Democratic nomination to face Sen. Jon Husted, the Republican appointed to fill Vance’s seat, in that contest.
Garcia says there should be 'repercussions' over leaked photo
Rep. Garcia said there should be "repercussions" after conservative influencer Benny Johnson posted a photo from inside the closed-door hearing that he said Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., shared with him.
"The repercussions should come from the majority and Chairman Comer," Garcia, D-Calif., told reporters.
"I mean, it was very clear that the leaked photo was sent out by a member. I think it's not hard to figure out what member that was by looking at the photo and the fact it was not just one photo, it was one photo and then a second post that also included a photo, as well," he said, adding that it's "completely against the rules."
Garcia, the panel's ranking member, said members were grateful that Clinton continued the deposition.
"Rep. Boebert gave me permission to post photo with credit," Johnson said on X after the deposition was paused. Boebert reposted Johnson's comment and added: "Benny did nothing wrong. Proceeding with deposition."
Garcia says Hillary Clinton is answering all questions during deposition
Hillary Clinton has been "answering every question, to be clear," Garcia told reporters outside after Clinton had testified for two hours. "She's answering all the questions," adding that he believed she had not invoked her Fifth Amendment rights.
He said some members are calling on Republicans on the committee to release the full transcript of the deposition within the next 24 hours.
Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., speaks outside the closed-door deposition today. David Dee Delgado / Getty Images
Democrats call on House Oversight to depose Trump in Epstein investigation
Democrats on the House Oversight Committee called on the House Oversight Committee to depose Trump in its investigation into Epstein.
Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., the panel's ranking member, made the demand as he spoke to the media outside the closed-door deposition with Hillary Clinton in Chappaqua, New York, two hours into the testimony.
"This committee has now set a new precedent about talking to presidents and former presidents, and we're demanding immediately that we ask President Trump to testify in front of our committee and be deposed in front of Oversight Republicans and Democrats. And that should happen immediately," Garcia said. "He is the person that appears almost more than anyone else in the committee, and it needs to happen right now."
Trump has not been charged in relation to Epstein and has denied any wrongdoing.
Hillary Clinton's deposition was paused after a photo from inside the room was posted on X
The House Oversight Committee's interview with Hillary Clinton was paused briefly after a photo from inside the room was posted on X, according to a source familiar with the situation. The deposition has resumed.
An aide to Clinton came out of the deposition room earlier to notify reporters that the deposition had been paused. Conservative commentator Benny Johnson posted the photo, which showed Clinton sitting at a long table with two other people seated beside her. Johnson said in his post that the photo was provided by Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo.
NBC News has reached out to both sides of the committee for comment.
What the polls say about how Americans are using AI
Americans are increasingly encountering and using AI technologies like Anthropic’s Claude, OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini. Most surveys now suggest more than two-thirds of the population is interacting with the technologies.
However, a defining question is how far along we are in a transition from experimentation with AI to integration into daily personal and professional life. How many Americans are using it regularly? For what purpose? And what value are they extracting?
One compelling way to track the adoption of AI is via Gallup polling, which found that 12% of Americans now report using AI daily at work. While the rate seems modest, it is a threefold increase in just over a year, from 4% in mid-2024.
Gov. Walz slams White House move to pause federal money to Minnesota as more 'retribution'
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz slammed the White House’s move to pause federal Medicaid reimbursement to the state, accusing Trump and Vice President JD Vance of waging additional political “retribution” that he called “illegal.”
“It’s not meant to fight fraud,” Walz said at a news conference where he also announced a legislative package to fight fraud in his state. “Did you hear in there what specific steps they were going to take to stop the fraud or what the specific fraud they were talking about? The Trump administration is not serious about that. They’re continuing to try to wage this conflict against Minnesota.”
“I don’t know how to really express just the timing of this, the nature of it, the sense of retribution. No state has experienced this before. How does taking and punishing children and elderly have anything to do with fighting fraud?” he added.
Vance, whom Trump tapped this week to lead his administration’s “war on fraud,” said yesterday that the White House was pausing federal Medicaid reimbursements to Minnesota.
The move was the White House’s latest response to an ongoing fraud probe in Minnesota involving day care centers and allegations of misuse of funds. Earlier this year, the White House had dispatched more than 3,000 federal immigration officers to Minneapolis, an escalation that resulted in agents’ killing two U.S. citizens, sparking protests across the country.
Walz said both White House actions “fit the same pattern.”
“They used false information as a pretense to do Operation Metro Surge. They’re using false information, or no information, as a pretense to take our tax dollars from a state that has some of the best outcomes in the country on health care,” he said.
Walz’s proposal includes measures aimed at preventing, detecting and investigating fraud and holding people who commit fraud related to Minnesota’s state programs accountable.
“This is a solution,” he said. “The White House solution to this is to take health care from poor people.”
Vance criticizes Democratic lawmakers' reactions during State of the Union, calls them 'kind of crazy'
Vice President JD Vance today criticized congressional Democrats' reactions during Trump's State of the Union address on Tuesday.
Speaking at Pointe Precision Inc. in Plover, Wisconsin, Vance described his view of the House chamber during the president's speech.
"All I could think was, these people are kind of crazy," he said. "These congressional Democrats, if you think about all of the things that they were doing."
Vance brought up the case of a young girl Trump mentioned in his speech, who he said was assaulted by an undocumented immigrant.
"This 6-year-old girl, hurt by a human being who never should have been in this country in the first place, who was led into this country by Joe Biden the Democrats, and she's hugging her dad, and she's so excited," he said. "And then I look over the congressional Democrats, and they're just scowling. They cannot clap their hands for a 6-year-old who survived an attack from an illegal alien."
Vance continued, "The question of the next election is not do we want low taxes. And of course we do. It's not do we want a secure border. And of course we do. It's a more fundamental question than that. Do we want to give power back to the people who opened our border, who raised your taxes, who won't even cheer for a 6-year-old girl who was wounded because of their bad policies? And I think our answer that is hell no."
Hillary Clinton excoriates Republicans, says she has no new information in closed-door testimony
Hillary Clinton rebuked congressional Republicans today over their move to subpoena her for testimony in the Epstein investigation rather than key figures who had direct links to the late convicted sex offender.
In her opening statement for the House Oversight Committee's closed-door deposition in Chappaqua, New York, Clinton said the panel decided to subpoena her testimony "based on its assumption that I have information regarding the investigations into the criminal activities of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. Let me be as clear as I can. I do not."
"As I stated in my sworn declaration on January 13, I had no idea about their criminal activities," she said in the statement, shared on X. "I do not recall ever encountering Mr. Epstein. I never flew on his plane or visited his island, homes or offices. I have nothing to add to that."
Clinton accused the GOP lawmakers of conducting their investigation in a way that was "designed to protect one political party and one public official."
"A committee run by elected officials with a commitment to transparency would ensure the full release of all the files," she said, running through a list of additional actions that she suggested the committee take.
"Instead, you have compelled me to testify, fully aware that I have no knowledge that would assist your investigation, in order to distract attention from President Trump’s actions and to cover them up despite legitimate calls for answers," Clinton said.
"If this Committee is serious about learning the truth about Epstein’s trafficking crimes, it would not rely on press gaggles to get answers from our current president on his involvement; it would ask him directly under oath about the tens of thousands of times he shows up in the Epstein files,” she said.
Trump, like the Clintons, has never been charged with any wrongdoing connected to Epstein and has denied any wrongdoing.
House Oversight chair expects 'long' deposition with Clinton
House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., told reporters ahead of the panel's deposition of Hillary Clinton for its Epstein probe that he planned to release the video and transcript of what he expected would be a "long" interview with the former secretary of state.
“This is going to be a long video and a long deposition,” Comer said, speaking to reporters in Chappaqua, New York. Comer added that the questioning of former President Bill Clinton tomorrow will be “even longer.”
The Clintons had volunteered to testify at a public hearing, but Comer said the committee’s practice is to conduct closed-door interviews with witnesses before it holds hearings.
“We’re going to release the transcripts, release the video as soon as everyone approves it,” Comer said.
A motorcade believed to be carrying Hillary Clinton makes its way toward the Chappaqua Performing Arts Center today. Charly Triballeau / AFP - Getty Images
The committee initially scheduled the Clintons’ depositions for October. Comer has accused them of having given the panel the runaround since then.
“We worked for six months to get the Clintons to come in,” he said.
The Clintons have repeatedly denied wrongdoing related to Epstein and have not been accused of any crimes in connection with him.
“No one has accused the Clintons of wrongdoing,” Comer said, but we’re “trying to understand many things” about how Epstein operated.
Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee who lost the presidential election to Donald Trump in 2016, has said they have little information to offer the panel about Epstein, who died in jail in 2019 as he was awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges. She has accused the committee of using her and her husband to try to distract from Trump’s ties to Epstein.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis leans into AI skepticism, seeking a contrast with Vance
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis isn’t sold on the massive expansion of AI.
And that belief might be his way back to national political relevance.
The Republican governor is appealing to a growing number of people who have concerns that AI’s rapid build-up, fueled in part by taxpayer dollars, could displace jobs, increase energy costs and hurt the environment. DeSantis’ positions stand in direct contrast to the embrace of the AI industry by Trump and the two likeliest potential candidates to snag his 2028 presidential endorsement: Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
“We don’t want to see them building a massive data center and then sending you the bill,” DeSantis said this month when asked about AI companies. “Data centers take up the power equivalent of a half a million-person city. We feel very, very strongly about protecting the consumer.”
Redistricting pits Democratic colleagues and allies against each other in Texas
The new Texas congressional map that kicked off a nationwide redistricting fight last year was designed to boost Republicans in the midterm elections. First, in the primaries, the map is pitting the newest Democrat in Congress against one of his longest-serving colleagues in a primary.
Rep. Christian Menefee took office this month after he won a late January special election to fill the Houston-based seat of Rep. Sylvester Turner, who died last year. But because of the new congressional maps, Menefee is running for a full term in a district composed of a mostly new group of voters. Meanwhile, Rep. Al Green is running in the same district after the Legislature redrew his longtime seat to lean more Republican.
It’s not the only awkward primary matchup forged in part by redistricting. Democratic former Rep. Colin Allred, who endorsed current Democratic Rep. Julie Johnson to succeed him in a Dallas-based district in 2024, is now challenging Johnson after a redistricting shuffle that led two other Democrats from the metro area to leave their seats and Allred to leave the Senate race to seek election to the House once again.
Trump asks Supreme Court to end protected status for Syrian immigrants
The Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court to immediately allow it to remove protected status from thousands of Syrian immigrants.
Lower courts blocked the move, similar to others the administration has taken as part of its hardline immigration policy.
The Supreme Court last year allowed the administration to remove protected status for people from other countries, including Venezuela.
In the filing, Solicitor General D. John Sauer criticized lower courts for repeatedly blocking the administration’s effort to remove what is officially called Temporary Protected Status from various immigrant groups.
People accepted into the humanitarian program have legal status to stay in the United States and can get work authorization. About 6,000 Syrians would be affected if the Trump administration policy goes into effect.
If the Supreme Court does not intervene, judges will “continue to impede the termination of temporary protection that the Secretary has deemed contrary to the national interest, tying those decisions up in protracted litigation with no end in sight,” Sauer wrote.
Cindy McCain to step down as the head of the World Food Programme
Cindy McCain announced today that she is stepping down as head of the World Food Programme, citing health issues and expressing that the work has been “the honor of a lifetime.”
“I had truly hoped I could finish out my term, but my health has not recovered to a level that allows me to fully serve the enormous demands of this job,” McCain, 71, said in a statement. “This is one of the most difficult decisions I have ever had to make.”
McCain has served as the executive director of the humanitarian organization, which provides food assistance to more than 100 million people around the world.
The widow of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., she made the decision experiencing in October what her office described as a mild stroke. She resumed her role after weeks of recuperation.
Former Surgeon General Jerome Adams says it's 'incomprehensible' for the Senate to consider Casey Means
Former Surgeon General Jerome Adams, who served during the first Trump administration, said in a post on X that it was "incomprehensible" that the Senate was considering Dr. Casey Means to be the next surgeon general.
"As a former U.S. Surgeon General who held an active medical license and practiced medicine while in the role (at Walter Reed and aboard the USS Comfort) it is incomprehensible that the Senate is even considering a nominee for this role who lacks any active license and has never practiced unsupervised," he wrote after Means' testimony yesterday at her confirmation hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.
In a separate post, Adams said he and every prior surgeon general was held to the standard of holding an active medical license. Means' medical license lapsed in January 2024.
"If the administration lowers (or creates a back door around) those standards, and the Senate confirms Casey Means (who has let her license go inactive and didn’t complete residency), they undermine every argument they’ve made about merit, standards, and opposing 'DEI' shortcuts," Adams said in the post.
Former Surgeon General Richard Carmona, who served in the George W. Bush administration, has also criticized Means. In an op-ed last May, Carmona argued that Means' "professional qualifications raise significant concerns."
"Leadership in the Public Health Service must remain merit-based and above politics," he wrote at the time. "Appointing a nominee who lacks the credentials expected of even entry-level officers in the corps threatens the credibility of this proud institution."
What to expect at the House Oversight Committee's deposition of Hillary Clinton in its Epstein probe
The House Oversight Committee will conduct depositions with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton this morning and former President Bill Clinton tomorrow as part of its probe into the case of the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Here’s what you need to know:
Where are the depositions?
The Clintons’ depositions will both be held in Chappaqua, New York, “as an accommodation for their schedules,” the committee spokesperson said. The committee can hold depositions outside of the Capitol.
Police officers stand in the road Thursday near the Chappaqua Performing Arts Center where Hillary Clinton's deposition was held. Charly Triballeau / AFP - Getty Images
Who will be there?
With the House done with votes for the week, members of the committee and their staff will be in Chappaqua. Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., and ranking member Robert Garcia, D-Calif., have both said they plan to be in attendance. Other members have posted that they are planning to attend. Garcia said Democrats have a “good group going up to New York.”
What will we see?
The depositions will be behind closed doors, so we won’t see anything in the moment. The depositions will be filmed and the committee has been releasing the full videos of depositions soon after they happen.
How do depositions work?
Committee rules require that witnesses shall be under oath in depositions. The depositions are transcribed, according to rules.
Depositions proceed in one-hour rounds of questioning, alternating between the Republicans and Democrats. So Republicans in the majority will get to ask questions for the first hour and then Democrats in the minority get the second hour. Typically, lawyers for committees lead in asking questions, but members of Congress may ask questions as well.
How did the committee and the Clintons get to this point?
The effort by the Oversight Committee to question the Clintons as part of the Epstein investigation started in July, when during a hearing of the Federal Law Enforcement Subcommittee, Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., made a motion to subpoena the Clintons along with others like former FBI Director James Comey and former Attorneys General Eric Holder and Merrick Garland as part of the panel’s Epstein probe.
As is the case for voting on motions in hearings, the vote was done by asking for yeas and nays. Democrats in the room, including Garcia, were seen on camera responding “no,” but because no one requested a recorded vote, there is no actual tally.
Comer issued the subpoenas Aug. 5. Both Clintons were scheduled for October depositions originally, but those were moved to December and then to January after the Clintons said they had a funeral to attend that conflicted with the December dates.
Both Clintons failed to appear at their Jan. 13 and 14 depositions. Then on Jan. 21, the committee voted on a bipartisan basis to recommend that the House find the Clintons in contempt of Congress for failing to comply with the subpoenas.
As the House was moving forward with a contempt vote on the floor earlier this month, the Clintons agreed to testify.
The Clintons have repeatedly denied wrongdoing related to Epstein and have not been accused of any crimes in connection with him.
Memorial services for Jesse Jackson begin at Chicago headquarters of his civil rights organization
Cross-country memorial services for the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. are set to begin today in Chicago, the city the late civil rights leader called home.
The protégé of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and two-time presidential candidate will lie in repose for two days at the headquarters of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition before events in Washington, D.C., and South Carolina, where he was born.
“The outpouring of love and support received from around the globe has been abundant and deeply felt,” Jackson’s family members said in a recent statement.
Jackson, who died last week at age 84, had been diagnosed with a rare neurological disorder that affected his mobility and ability to speak in his later years.
Supreme Court litigator convicted of tax evasion over income from high-stakes poker
A prominent Supreme Court litigator who also published a popular blog about the nation’s highest court was convicted yesterday of tax evasion and related charges stemming from his secretive lifestyle as an ultra-high-stakes poker player.
A federal jury found SCOTUSblog co-founder Thomas Goldstein guilty of 12 of 16 counts after a six-week trial in Greenbelt, Maryland. Jurors deliberated for approximately two days before convicting Goldstein of one count of tax evasion, four of eight counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false tax returns, four counts of willful failure to timely pay taxes, and three counts of false statements on loan applications.
Goldstein was charged with failing to pay taxes on millions of dollars in gambling income. Justice Department prosecutors also accused him of diverting money from his law firm to pay gambling debts and falsely deducting gambling debts as business expenses.
Trump said Iran will ‘soon’ have missiles able to hit America. A 2025 intel report said it will take 10 years.
In his State of the Union address, Trump seemed to offer another rationale for possible military action against Iran, saying it was working to develop missiles that could “soon” be able to strike the U.S.
“They’ve already developed missiles that can threaten Europe and our bases overseas, and they’re working to build missiles that will soon reach the United States of America,” he said.
It was the first time the president or any other U.S. official has portrayed Iran as poised to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile, or ICBM. Until now, U.S. intelligence agencies and European governments have said Iran could eventually build an ICBM under the cover of its military space program if it chose to.
But U.S. intelligence and military commanders have not publicly warned of an imminent threat due to a possible ICBM program.
A Defense Intelligence Agency report released last year said Iran “has space launch vehicles it could use to develop a militarily-viable ICBM by 2035 should Tehran decide to pursue the capability.”
A U.S. official told NBC News that Iran has been building toward an ICBM for years and making advances but that there was no indication of dramatic new progress.
Kash Patel fires at least six FBI agents tied to 2022 Mar-a-Lago search
The FBI, at the direction of Director Kash Patel, has fired at least a half-dozen agents tied to the 2022 search of Trump’s home in Florida, six people familiar with the matter told NBC News.
Three of the sources said at least 10 employees overall were dismissed, from support personnel to agents and supervisors.
The FBI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump had faced federal charges in two criminal cases: one over his handling of classified documents found at his Mar-a-Lago estate and another in connection with his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results. A Trump-appointed judge dismissed the classified documents case, while Jack Smith moved to drop the election case when he was special counsel after Trump won a second term in 2024. Trump pleaded not guilty in each case and denied any wrongdoing.
Minneapolis woman whom Ilhan Omar took to State of the Union needed medical care after arrest
Aliyah Rahman, a Minnesota woman whom Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., took as her guest to the State of the Union address Tuesday, needed hospital treatment after she was arrested during the speech, Rahman and Omar said.
Rahman silently stood up during the part of Trump’s speech in which he called on Democrats to restore funding for the Department of Homeland Security. The people around her remained seated. When U.S. Capitol Police approached and asked Rahman to sit down, she refused.
During her conversation with Capitol Police officers, the crowd around her gave a standing ovation, which Rahman tried to explain to the officers was a reason she should not be forced to leave.
Capitol Police took Rahman, who was walking with the help of a crutch, and started pulling her toward the exit — a move that faced protest from one of the other guests in the gallery, who called on the police to be less aggressive with Rahman.
Hong Kong court overturns fraud conviction for pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai
A Hong Kong appeals court overturned Jimmy Lai’s 2022 fraud conviction and sentencing today in a rare legal victory for the pro-democracy activist.
Lai, 78, a media tycoon and longtime critic of China’s ruling Communist Party, remains in prison under a 20-year sentence he received this month in a separate national security case.
Though the national security case was the biggest one against Lai, he has faced multiple prosecutions that critics say are part of a broader effort to stamp out dissent in the Chinese territory, a former British colony, after mass pro-democracy protests in 2019.
Lai, a British citizen, had been serving five years and nine months in jail after he was found guilty in October 2022 of violating the lease for Apple Daily, his now-defunct pro-democracy tabloid, by concealing the fact that he was operating a consulting firm on the premises.
U.S. and Iran hold new talks as Trump raises pressure for nuclear deal
The United States and Iran were meeting in Geneva today for talks aimed at a diplomatic resolution to their long-running nuclear dispute, as Trump pressures Tehran with the threat of military action.
The talks — a third round of indirect negotiations — had begun as of early this morning, Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency reported.
In his State of the Union address on Tuesday, Trump declared that Iran was working to develop missiles that could “soon” reach the U.S. — his clearest case yet for a possible attack after overseeing a sweeping military buildup in the region.
Iran has consistently denied seeking to develop a nuclear weapon, and has warned of an intense response to even a limited attack by the U.S. or Israel.
Hillary Clinton set for deposition with House Oversight Committee in Jeffrey Epstein probe
Members of the Republican-led House Oversight Committee are scheduled to question former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton this morning as part of their investigation into the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The closed-door interview, which will be videotaped, is set to take place in Chappaqua, New York, where the Clintons have a house. The committee will meet with former President Bill Clinton the next day for a similar deposition.
The in-person interviews come after months of bitter back-and-forth between the former first couple and the committee, which at one point threatened to hold the Clintons in contempt of Congress for failing to comply with a subpoena it issued in August.
