Pam Bondi spars with Democratic senator over Epstein ‘client list’ and national guard deployments in tense hearing – live | Trump administration
Bondi spars with Democratic senator over Epstein ‘client list’
Democratic senator Dick Durbin, of Illinois, grilled Pam Bondi as to why she made a public claim that the Epstein ‘client list’ was “sitting” on her desk for review earlier this year, only to “produce already public information and no client list”.
Bondi pushed back, saying that she actually said she had “yet to review” the documents, and reaffirmed that there was no Epstein client list.
The attorney general went on to spar with Durbin, questioning why he “refused repeated Republican requests to release the Epstein flight logs in 2023 and 2024”. Durbin said Bondi’s claims were not accurate.
“I did not refuse. One of the senators here wished to produce those logs, and I asked her to put it in writing, and she never did,” Durbin pushed back, apparently referring to his Republican colleague, senator Marsha Blackburn.
“I would really appreciate the opportunity to correct the record, because Senator Durbin knows I repeatedly asked for those flight logs, I brought up the subpoena. You even shut down the committee because you didn’t want that, I submitted that in writing, and you continue to misrepresent that,” Blackburn later chimed in.
Durbin, for his part, maintained that Blackburn failed to commit this to writing.
Key events
Bondi says ‘national guard is on the way’, as she blames ranking member for government shutdown
In a heated exchange with ranking member Dick Durbin, Bondi refused to answer the senator’s question about whether she was consulted about the president’s decision to send national guard troops to Illinois – the state which Durbin represents.
“You voted to shut down the government, and you’re sitting here. Our law enforcement officers aren’t being paid. They’re out there working to protect you,” Bondi said, after declining to discuss internal conversations with the White House. “I wish you loved Chicago as much as you hate president Trump. Currently the National Guard are on the way to Chicago. If you’re not going to protect your citizens, president Trump will.”
Bondi says operation Arctic Frost was an ‘undemocratic abuse of power’
Pam Bondi said that operation Arctic Frost – which was an intelligence gathering effort that led to special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into the efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election by president Trump and his allies – was “an unconstitutional, undemocratic abuse of power”.
On Monday, several Republican lawmakers said that the FBI gathered phone records from GOP senators. These records were obtained through a grand jury. Republicans have called this move part of the wider pattern of political weaponization of the previous administration.
“This is the kind of conduct that shattered the American people’s faith in our government,” Bondi said today. “Our FBI is targeting violent criminals, child predators and other law breakers, not sitting senators who happen to be from the wrong political party.”
In her opening statement, Pam Bondi said that her work at the justice department was to remedy the “historic betrayal of public trust” of the previous administration.
“We will work to earn that back every single day, we are returning to our core mission of fighting real crime while there is more work to do, I believe in eight short months, we have made tremendous progress towards those ends,” Bondi said.
She also cited the federal law enforcement surges in Washington DC and Memphis, Tennessee, as examples of how the justice department has worked with local leadership. “We are replicating that tough on crime approach throughout this country,” she added.
Durbin says attorney general Bondi has ‘left an enormous stain on American history’
The committee’s ranking member, Democratic senator Dick Durbin of Illinois, is summing up several of the criticisms that lawmakers have made of the Trump justice department in recent months.
“Our nation’s top law enforcement agency has become a shield for the president and his political allies when they engage in misconduct,” Durbin said, before repeating the allegations of border czar Tom Homan, accepting a $50,000 in exchange for promising immigration enforcement prior to the president returning to office.
Durbin went on to call Lindsey Halligan, the new US attorney for the eastern district of Virginia, part of a “network of unqualified mega loyalists masquerading as federal prosecutors”.
Halligan was installed after Trump pressured her predecessor, Erik Siebert, to resign, after Siebert said there was insufficient evidence to indict the president’s political adversaries, like former FBI director James Comey and New York attorney general Letitia James.
“Attorney general Bondi in eight short months, you have fundamentally transformed the Justice Department and left an enormous stain on American history. It will take decades to recover,” Durbin said.
Senate judiciary chair begins Bondi hearing by calling out ‘weaponization’ of Biden DoJ
Chuck Grassley, the Republican senator who chairs the judiciary committee, has kicked of Pam Bondi’s hearing by criticizing the “political weaponization” of the Biden administration.
“We’re pointing this all out because we can’t have this repeated in the United States,” Grassley said, addressing Bondi. “It’s time for accountability, and I look forward to hearing about your success in that regard.”
Bondi appears before Senate judiciary committee
Attorney general Pam Bondi is facing senators on the judiciary committee now. She’ll face questions lawmakers about her tenure at the justice department (DoJ) so far, particularly as Democratic senators have called out the Trump administration for weaponizing the DoJ to investigate and prosecute political enemies.
Democratic senator Adam Schiff, of California, sits on the judiciary committee, but has also been the target of Donald Trump’s ire, as he’s sought to target his political adversaries. A reminder, Schiff was part of the House committee which investigated the 6 January insurrection at the US capitol.
Before we turn our attention to Capitol Hill, we’re also keeping an eye on Illinois today. On Monday, a federal judge did not immediately block the president’s move to deploy national guard troops, including hundreds from Texas, to Chicago.
Instead, the judge set a hearing for Thursday, leaving room for the military to make their way to the windy city as soon as today.
For his part, Trump said that he’s considering invoking the Insurrection Act, a 19th-century law which would allow him to federalize the national guard, on the grounds of an “invasion” or “rebellion”.
Supreme court hears arguments in case to decide whether ‘conversion therapy’ bans violate free speech rights
Also today, the supreme court will hear arguments in a precedent-setting case, where a Colorado-based therapist is arguing that the state’s ban on conversion practices – which attempt to change a patient’s sexual orientation or gender identity – violates her free speech.
Kaley Chiles, a licensed counselor who is Christian, contends the 2019 ban violates her first amendment rights to discuss her faith with patients. Chiles is represented by the conservative legal group Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), who have brought several anti-abortion and anti-LGBTQ+ cases to the court in recent years.
What’s notable is that the supreme court will essentially weigh in on whether talk therapy is subject to the same regulation as other medical practices, or if it’s protected speech and not subject to the same standards as other treatments.
Important to note that conversion practices are condemned by the American Psychological Association, American Medical Association, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and other major groups, with experts noting the techniques are linked to increased depression and suicide attempts.
You can also read more about the case below, including my colleague Sam Levine’s investigation into the evidence presented to the court.
Donald Trump will welcome the prime minister of Canada, Mark Carney to the White House today at 11:30am EST. They’ll have a bilateral meeting where we’ll bring you the latest lines.
Later, the president will meet with Edan Alexander, the American-Israeli hostage who was released by Hamas earlier this year. This is set to be closed to the press, but we’ll let you know if that changes.
Brazilian finance minister Fernando Haddad said on Tuesday that presidents Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Donald Trump are determined to “turn the page” on recent events, in a reference to the tariff dispute between Brazil and the United States.
In an interview with state-owned TV channel Canal Gov, Haddad said he believes Lula’s negotiating strategy with the US will yield the best result for Brazil and that the successful strategy won’t change.
Lula and Trump held a call on Monday to discuss tariffs and agreed to meet in person soon.
Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson said on Tuesday that there were many details to be worked out on US president Donald Trump’s 20-point plan for the Gaza Strip.
The plan has received widespread international backing and Trump told reporters on Monday that he thought there was a “really good chance” of a “lasting deal.”
“This is beyond Gaza,” he said. “Gaza is a big deal, but this is really peace in the Middle East.”
Pam Bondi to testify before Senate amid Trump’s troop deployments
Chris Stein
Pam Bondi, the US attorney general, will face senators on Tuesday, as Donald Trump ramps up his crackdown on political opponents, Democratic-run cities and alleged drug traffickers.
Bondi’s appearance before the Senate judiciary committee will give lawmakers from both parties the opportunity to question her about the president’s high-profile interventions into the justice system, including the indictment last month of the former FBI director James Comey, a longtime foe.
“No one is above the law,” Bondi wrote on social media after the charges against Comey were announced – an echo of rhetoric used by Democrats after Trump was indicted during Joe Biden’s presidency.
Though the charges were filed against Comey only after a top federal prosecutor was dismissed, reportedly for not moving forward with the case, Bondi said: “Today’s indictment reflects this Department of Justice’s commitment to holding those who abuse positions of power accountable for misleading the American people. We will follow the facts in this case.”
The attorney general is also likely to be questioned on the legal underpinnings of the Trump administration’s deadly strikes on boats believed to be carrying drugs off the coast of Venezuela, as well as the brewing controversy over the release of documents related to alleged sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
Bondi’s appearance comes as Trump ordered national guard troops into Chicago over the objections of the city’s leaders, and is sending the California national guard to Portland after a federal judge blocked him from sending Oregon’s forces.
Sam Levine
A career federal prosecutor in Virginia has told colleagues she does not believe there is probable cause to file criminal mortgage fraud charges against New York attorney general Letitia James, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The prosecutor, Elizabeth Yusi, oversees major criminal cases in the Norfolk office for the US attorney for the eastern district of Virginia and plans to soon present her conclusion to Lindsey Halligan, a Trump ally, who was installed as the US attorney for the eastern district of Virginia last month. Yusi’s thinking was first reported by MSNBC on Monday.
The justice department declined to comment. The US attorney for the eastern district of Virginia did not return a request for comment.
The case sets up another high-profile confrontation between the justice department and Trump, who has fired attorneys who have refused to punish his enemies. Halligan, who has no prosecutorial experience, was put in the role at the urging of Trump after her predecessor concluded there wasn’t probable cause to file criminal charges against James Comey, the former FBI director. Halligan personally presented the case against Comey to a grand jury after she was appointed and secured a two-count indictment.
Trump has openly asked Pam Bondi, the US attorney general, to prosecute James, who led a civil fraud case against the president that led to a $500m fine, which was recently overturned by a New York state appellate court.
William Pulte, the Federal Housing Finance Agency head and a staunch Trump ally, made a criminal referral of James to the justice department in April, alleging she may have committed mortgage fraud. Pulte pointed to mortgage documents related to a 2023 Norfolk, Virginia, home James helped purchase for her niece in which James appeared to indicate on a document she intended to use the home as her primary residence. James was serving as the attorney general of New York at the time.
Prosecutors empaneled a grand jury in May to investigate, but struggled to build a case against James, despite pressure from Trump allies. Emails from the time of the home purchase and other mortgage documents show James clearly indicating that she did not intend for the home to be her primary residence. That evidence makes it difficult for prosecutors to prove that James knowingly lied on the mortgage documents.
President Donald Trump’s administration is mulling options to sell off parts of the federal government’s $1.6 trillion student loan portfolio to the private market, Politico reported on Tuesday, citing three people familiar with the matter.
Reuters could not immediately verify the report.
The White House, the Treasury and the Department of Education did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.
The discussions are said to have taken place among senior Department of Education and Treasury officials, and have focused on selling high-performing portions of the government’s massive portfolio of student debt owed by about 45 million Americans, the report added.
The discussions also involved industry executives, including potential buyers of the debt, the report said.
Chris Stein
The US government shutdown entered its second week as the Senate again rejected rival bills to restart funding and Donald Trump suggested he might be open to negotiating with Democrats over the healthcare subsidies they have put at the heart of the stalemate.
A fifth Senate vote to advance a Republican-written bill that would reopen the government failed on a 52-42 tally – well below the 60-vote threshold needed for advancement. The Democrats’ proposal was defeated in a 50-45 party-line vote. No lawmakers changed their votes from recent days, though there were a handful of absences.
Many agencies and departments closed their doors and told employees to stay home last Wednesday, after Congress failed to approve legislation to continue the government’s authority to spend money. The Trump administration warned it was prepared to move forward with plans to slash the federal workforce.
“After five failed votes, Republicans should understand that they cannot go forward unless we come to a bipartisan agreement to address the healthcare crisis,” Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader, said in a statement after the afternoon votes.
Democrats have refused to back any bill that does not include an array of healthcare-centered concessions, among them, an extension of premium tax credits for people covered by Affordable Care Act health insurance. So far, Congress’s Republican leaders have refused to negotiate over their demands until government funding is restored.
Trump threatens to invoke Insurrection Act as Bondi faces Senate
Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of US politics as Donald Trump threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act to deploy more troops into Democrat-led cities.
“We have an insurrection act for a reason. If I had to enact it I would do that,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday, adding, “if people were being killed and courts were holding us up or governors or mayors were holding us up, sure I would do that.”
It came after a federal judge in Oregon temporarily halted a National Guard deployment in Portland although troops from Texas could be deployed in Chicago as soon as today despite a lawsuit from Illinois against the move.
Meanwhile, Pam Bondi is likely to grilled over troop deployments as she faces the Senate judiciary committee. The attorney general is also likely to face questions over the indictment last month of the former FBI director James Comey, deadly strikes on boats believed to be carrying drugs off the coast of Venezuela, as well as the brewing controversy over the release of documents related to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Trump is also due to welcome the Canadian PM, Mark Carney, to the White House with trade talks expected to be the main focus of discussions.
Later, he will meet American-Israeli former hostage Edan Alexander as the world marks the two-year anniversary of the 7 October attacks. In Egypt, indirect talks are taking place between Israel and Hamas over Trump’s 20-point plan for Gaza.
And, of course, this all comes amid the backdrop of the ongoing government shutdown, now entering its second week. Stay with us for all the latest developments.
In other news:
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A career federal prosecutor in Virginia has told colleagues she does not believe there is probable cause to file criminal mortgage fraud charges against New York attorney general Letitia James, according to a person familiar with the matter. The prosecutor, Elizabeth Yusi, oversees major criminal cases in the Norfolk office for the US attorney for the eastern district of Virginia and plans to soon present her conclusion to Lindsey Halligan, a Trump ally, who was installed as the US attorney for the eastern district of Virginia last month.
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The US supreme court has declined to hear an appeal from Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell of her sex trafficking conviction. Maxwell in 2022 was sentenced to 20 years in prison for sex trafficking and related crimes.
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The Trump administration said that funds from a US government program that subsidizes commercial air service to rural airports are set to expire as soon as Sunday because of the government shutdown.
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Jimmy Kimmel emerged as more popular than Donald Trump after a spat with the president’s administration temporarily left the talkshow host off the air in September, according to a recent poll.
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Brazil’s Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has urged Donald Trump to scrap tariffs on his country’s imports and sanctions against its officials, as the two men held what the Brazilian presidency called a “friendly” video call.