Democrats release tranche of Jeffrey Epstein records, including diaries and flight logs – US politics live | Trump administration
Democrats on House oversight committee release new Epstein records, including diaries and flight logs
Democrats on the House oversight committee have released a tranche of partial records from Jeffrey Epstein’s estate, which include flight logs, diary appointments and a financial ledger.
In the partially redacted documents, there are several emailed schedules over the years, which include:
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A 2019 breakfast with former White House adviser Steve Bannon.
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Lunch in 2017 with billionaire and Trump ally Peter Thiel.
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A potential visit from Elon Musk to Epstein’s island in 2014.
There is also a flight log from 2000, which lists Prince Andrew as a passenger on Epstein’s private plane.
“It should be clear to every American that Jeffrey Epstein was friends with some of the most powerful and wealthiest men in the world,” said oversight spokesperson Sara Guerrero. “Every new document produced provides new information as we work to bring justice for the survivors and victims. Oversight Democrats will not stop until we identify everyone complicit in Epstein’s heinous crimes.”
However, the committee’s Republican leadership said the records were “old news”, and that the members in the minority were “conveniently withholding documents that contain the names of Democratic officials”.
“Once again they are putting politics over victims,” Republicans said. “We are releasing them all soon.”
Key events
Supreme court rules that Trump administration can withhold $4 billion in foreign aid
The US supreme court on Friday extended an order that permits the Trump administration to not spend more than $4bn in congressionally appropriated foreign aid money that it is seeking to cancel.
The unsigned order from the court’s conservative majority, over the objections of the court’s three liberals, Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson, lifted a lower court’s order that the administration was obliged to spend funds appropriated by Congress.
Late last month, Trump informed the Republican House speaker, Mike Johnson, that he would not spend $4.9bn in foreign aid that Congress had previously approved, decrying it as “woke, weaponized and wasteful spending”. The money was to go to United Nations organizations and peacekeeping operations, as well as development assistance and democracy-promotion projects.
The court’s majority wrote that Trump’s authority over foreign affairs weighed heavily in its decision, while cautioning that it was not making a final ruling in the case.
“The effect is to prevent the funds from reaching their intended recipients — not just now but (because of their impending expiration) for all time,” Kagan wrote in her dissent, joined by Sotomayor and Jackson. “Because that result conflicts with the separation of powers, I respectfully dissent.”
‘It’s hard to see how we get blamed for it,’ says Democratic congressman on looming shutdown
Shrai Popat
I’ve just spoken with Glenn Ivey, the Maryland Democratic congressman, who took part in the House Democrats’ virtual caucus meeting today. He noted that lawmakers were “resolute” on the call, but ultimately since both sides are “dug in” he expects a government shutdown next week.
However, Ivey said that he finds it “hard to see” how Democrats get blamed for it.
“What are the Democrats doing that they’re going to see as obstructing?” he said. “It’s holding out for healthcare … We’re trying to keep grandma in the nursing home, keep your monthly payments from tripling in January. I mean, they’re really going to be mad at us for that?”
Donald Trump and congressional Republicans have said, repeatedly, that since Democrats aren’t budging on accepting the GOP’s “clean” continuing resolution, they would be responsible for government shutdown at the end of September.
Currently, the Republican-written bill is languishing in the Senate, and the House speaker, Mike Johnson, has vowed to not call the lower chamber back until after funding lapses in just a few days.
After the office of management and budget sent out a memo this week to federal agencies, telling them to brace for more layoffs in the event of a government shutdown, Ivey (whose district borders Washington DC and includes many federal workers) said that many of his constituents have already felt the impact of reductions in force since Trump returned to the White House.
“[The administration] has done everything they can to get rid of as many federal employees as possible,” Ivey said. “So they’re not, they’re not really seeing how things would be different.”
New Arizona congresswoman suggests her swearing-in might be delayed because she is key vote to release Epstein files
Representative-elect Adelita Grijalva, an Arizona Democrat who just won a special election to replace her late father, Raúl Grijalva, in Congress, suggested on Thursday that her swearing-in might be delayed by Republican House leaders because she has promised to sign a discharge petition calling for the release of files on the federal investigation of Jeffrey Epstein, the late sex offender who socialized with Donald Trump for over a decade.
Grijalva told the MeidasTouch Network, a liberal podcast, that she intends to be in Washington on Monday but has been told that she will have to wait for official results to be certified before being sworn in. She noted that this is a departure from procedure, as just a few weeks ago another Democrat, James Walkinshaw, was sworn in the day after his election. Two Republicans who won special elections earlier this year were also sworn in the day after their victories.
“Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I’m number 218,” Grijalva said, meaning that her signature on the discharge petition would mean that a majority of the House backed the measure to compel the justice department to release all of the Epstein files, against the wishes of the president.
Senate Democrats say DoJ has been weaponized in letter to Bondi, demand information and interviews with officials
Democrats on the Senate judiciary committee sent a letter to the US attorney general, Pam Bondi, today, accusing the justice department of being weaponized by Donald Trump.
They cite recent examples, including Thursday’s indictment of James Comey, and the president’s move to force out Erik Siebert from his role as the US attorney for the eastern district of Virginia and replace him with a White House staffer and Trump ally.
“Our justice system operates on the principle that the president cannot demand the prosecution of an individual to settle personal scores, let alone when there is no credible evidence that a person engaged in any wrongdoing,” the lawmakers wrote.
The senators, led by the committee’s ranking member, Dick Durbin, are demanding that the Department of Justice provide documentation into several ongoing investigations, and interviews with several officials, including Ed Martin – a Trump loyalist who is now in charge of the DoJ group investigating the “weaponization” of the justice system.
Democrats on House oversight committee release new Epstein records, including diaries and flight logs
Democrats on the House oversight committee have released a tranche of partial records from Jeffrey Epstein’s estate, which include flight logs, diary appointments and a financial ledger.
In the partially redacted documents, there are several emailed schedules over the years, which include:
-
A 2019 breakfast with former White House adviser Steve Bannon.
-
Lunch in 2017 with billionaire and Trump ally Peter Thiel.
-
A potential visit from Elon Musk to Epstein’s island in 2014.
There is also a flight log from 2000, which lists Prince Andrew as a passenger on Epstein’s private plane.
“It should be clear to every American that Jeffrey Epstein was friends with some of the most powerful and wealthiest men in the world,” said oversight spokesperson Sara Guerrero. “Every new document produced provides new information as we work to bring justice for the survivors and victims. Oversight Democrats will not stop until we identify everyone complicit in Epstein’s heinous crimes.”
However, the committee’s Republican leadership said the records were “old news”, and that the members in the minority were “conveniently withholding documents that contain the names of Democratic officials”.
“Once again they are putting politics over victims,” Republicans said. “We are releasing them all soon.”
Coral Murphy Marcos
Nineteen people detained at an immigration detention center that the Trump administration opened within Louisiana’s infamous Angola prison were entering their fifth day on hunger strike on Sunday, according to advocacy groups.
Those striking at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) processing center set up at Angola’s former Camp J are demanding access to medical and mental health care – including prescription medications, according to the Southeast Dignity Not Detention Coalition (SEDND) and the National Immigration Project (NIPNLG).
A statement from both groups says that detainees at the facility the Trump administration has dubbed “the Louisiana Lockup” are also asking for basic necessities such as toilet paper, hygiene products and clean drinking water. Further, they seek visitation from Ice officers to raise concerns about conditions inside the facility.
People with chronic health conditions are not receiving prescribed medications, according to the SEDND and NIPNLG statement, and there is no access to services such as a law library or religious programming, which are required under federal detention standards.
Angola’s official name is the Louisiana state penitentiary. The strike there comes after Louisiana’s governor, Jeff Landry, declared a state emergency in July to address what he said is a lack of capacity to house offenders at the prison.
Sinclair says it will end Jimmy Kimmel Live! suspension
Sinclair – the company which owns more than 35 ABC affiliates– said today that it will “end its preemption of Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and the show will return tonight across its stations.
This comes after several lawmakers criticized Sinclair for deciding to keep the late-night show off the air, despite Disney’s decision to end the suspension earlier this week, following Kimmel’s criticism of the Trump administration in the wake of the Charlie Kirk shooting.
In a statement the broadcast conglomerate said:
Over the last week, we have received thoughtful feedback from viewers, advertisers, and community leaders representing a wide range of perspectives. We have also witnessed troubling acts of violence, including the despicable incident of a shooting at an ABC affiliate station in Sacramento. These events underscore why responsible broadcasting matters and why respectful dialogue between differing voices remains so important.
According to Reuters, Sinclair’s ABC stations represent about 14% of US households. Another ABC station owner, Nextstar Media Group, has kept Jimmy Kimmel’s show off the air – after Federal Communications Commission chair Brendan Carr put pressure on ABC affiliates to suspend the show or risk losing their broadcast licenses.
Top House Democrat slams Trump for attending Ryder Cup with looming government shutdown just days away
In a quick press conference today on Capitol Hill, the House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, scolded the president for his trip to New York today. “Donald Trump, get back to Washington DC. Why are you at a golf event right now and the government is four days away from closing?” the congressman said. “That’s outrageous. And it speaks to the fact that these extremists could care less about the health, safety and economic wellbeing of the American people. They’re on vacation right now.”
Here’s a recap of the day so far
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Fewer than 24 hours after the indictment of James Comey, the president said that he hopes “more” political adversaries will be prosecuted. Speaking to reporters before he left DC to attend the Ryder Cup in New York, Trump maintained that the former FBI director’s prosecution was “about justice … not about revenge”. The president kicked off the day with Truth Social posts that called Comey “a dirty cop” and “destroyer of lives”.
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Meanwhile, Democrats and legal experts say the indictment is latest sign Trump is turning the justice system into weapon to silence critics, as my colleague Chris Stein reports.
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Trump also continued to blame Democrats for a looming government shutdown. A reminder that lawmakers have yet to pass a resolution to keep the government funded beyond 30 September. Today, the president held up his side of the blame game, telling reporters: “These people are crazy, the Democrats. So if it has to shut down, it’ll have to shut down, but they’re the ones that are shutting down.” For their part, House Democrats will meet virtually today for a caucus meeting, as they refuse to back any funding bill without several healthcare provisions.
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Democrats on the House judiciary committee are asking its Republican leader to allow victims of Jeffrey Epstein and his associates to testify about “the institutional failures that enabled these horrific crimes”. The letter, signed by 17 Democrats and led by ranking member Jamie Raskin and congresswoman Deborah Ross, a leader in the Democratic Women’s caucus and longtime champion of sexual violence survivors, comes amid continued pressure for the Trump administration to authorize the release of more files related to the disgraced financier.
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Congressman Raskin said that the indictment of James Comey is because the justice department is in “full cover-up mode” over the Epstein files. In an interview with CNN, the Democrat from Maryland called the prosecution an example of the “complete politicization of the Department of Justice”. He added: “We’re in the midst of trying to get this information with apparently real crimes. And we’ve got a strong, bipartisan majority saying, ‘Stop the cover-up of the Epstein files. Just go ahead and release them.’”
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An federal immigration officer has been “relieved of his duties” after a video showing him pushing a woman to the floor at an immigration court in New York City spread quickly on social media. Tricia McLaughlin, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson, said that the agent’s actions were “unacceptable and beneath the men and women of Ice”. McLaughlin added that the officer is “being relieved of current duties as we conduct a full investigation”.
George Chidi
An Arizona Republican state representative who has expressed support for January 6 insurrectionists on Wednesday called for a Democratic congresswoman to be executed, as a response to a video clip.
The comment on X by state representative John Gillette of Kingman, Arizona, first reported by the Arizona Mirror, was a reaction to a short clip drawn from a YouTube video in March by US representative Pramila Jayapal, a longtime Democratic congresswoman representing Washington state, titled The Resistance Lab. In the video, Jayapal discusses preparations for street protests against the Trump administration.
“Until people like this, that advocate for the overthrow of the American government are tried, convicted and hanged … it will continue,” he posted.
Nothing in either the clip or the longer video actually suggests Jayapal is advocating for the overthrow of the US government. The video carries explicit calls for non-violent protest and discussed with alarm a rise in political violence in the US.
Gillette’s comment is a continuation of a string of inflammatory far-right online invective by the Mohave county Republican and retired army reserve command sergeant major. Gillette has defended January 6 protesters, who were intent on violently overturning Trump’s defeat by Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election, as “political prisoners” and described Muslims as “terrorists”.
It also reflects a widening call among Republicans to criminalize protest and speech critical of the Trump administration.
Gillette has not yet responded to a request from the Guardian for comment.
Ice agent ‘relieved of duties’ after widely circulated video shows him pushing a woman to the floor
An federal immigration officer has been “relieved of his duties” after a video showing him pushing a woman to the floor at an immigration court in New York City spread quickly on social media.
Tricia McLaughlin, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson, said that the agent’s actions were “unacceptable and beneath the men and women of Ice”.
“This officer is being relieved of current duties as we conduct a full investigation,” McLaughlin added.
The video shows a woman, and a young girl who appears to be her daughter, pleading to officers to not take away her husband at 26 Federal Plaza. In the video, they are crying as officers take him into custody. ProPublica identified the woman as Monica Moreta-Galarza, from Ecuador.
The video captures Moreta-Galarza pleading with the now-suspended officer. He tries to dismiss her by saying “adios”. When Moreta-Galarza touches his shoulder, he grabs her, pushes her across the hallway, against the wall, and on to the floor.
After the incident, Democratic congressman Dan Goldman, of New York, said that Moreta-Galarza “fled” to his office with her two young children. ProPublica also reported that Moreta-Galarza was later taken to hospital after being pushed to the ground.
I’m Till Eckert, a ProPublica reporter. For the past 2 weeks, I’ve been going to the same NY immigration courthouse.
Nearly every time, I see ICE agents arresting immigrants. Today, a woman was slammed to the ground after begging officials not to take her husband away.
Thread👇 pic.twitter.com/elTzcoskS9
— ProPublica (@propublica) September 26, 2025
Ahead of House Democrats’ meeting today, as a government shutdown looms, Donald Trump continued to blame lawmakers across the aisle for any lapse in government funding earlier today.
“These people are crazy, the Democrats. So if it has to shut down, it’ll have to shut down, but they’re the ones that are shutting down,” the president said.
A reminder that Congress is in recess this week, and only the Senate is set to return on Monday – before funding expires at midnight on 30 September. A continuing resolution to keep the government open stalled in the upper chamber last week.
DoJ is in ‘full cover-up mode’, says top House Democrat on judiciary committee following Comey indictment
Per my colleague Chris Stein’s reporting earlier, that Democrats on the House judiciary committee are calling Republican leadership to allow survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse to testify, congressman Jamie Raskin – the committee’s ranking member – said that the indictment of James Comey is because the justice department is in “full cover-up mode”.
“They’re doing the bidding of President Trump with respect to Mr Comey, they’re doing the bidding of President Trump with respect to covering up cases,” Raskin said in an interview with CNN News Central.
He added:
What we see is the complete politicization of the Department of Justice. But we’re in the midst of trying to get this information with apparently real crimes. And we’ve got a strong, bipartisan majority saying, ‘Stop the cover-up of the Epstein files. Just go ahead and release them.’”
‘Dangerous abuse of power’: lawmakers sound alarm over Comey indictment
Chris Stein
For Donald Trump, the indictment of former FBI director and longtime foe James Comey was “justice in America”. Legal observers and lawmakers see something far more troubling.
A former Republican appointed to lead the bureau by Barack Obama and kept on by Trump until he was fired in 2017, Comey was indicted Thursday on charges related to allegedly lying to Congress five years ago during a hearing on the FBI’s investigation into Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election.
The charges were filed in the eastern district of Virginia only after Erik Siebert was forced out as US attorney for reportedly finding no grounds to indict Comey. The justice department replaced him with Trump loyalist with little prosecutorial experience, Lindsey Halligan, and shortly after, a grand jury indicted Comey on one count of making a false statement to Congress and one count of obstruction of a congressional proceeding.
The indictment is the latest sign that the president is making good on his promise “to turn our justice system into a weapon for punishing and silencing his critics”, said Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Senate intelligence committee.
“This kind of interference is a dangerous abuse of power. Our system depends on prosecutors making decisions based on evidence and the law, not on the personal grudges of a politician determined to settle scores,” Warner said.
Democratic senator Adam Schiff, a former federal prosecutor who played a lead role in Trump’s first impeachment, said on X he had “never witnessed such a blatant abuse of the” justice department, calling it “little more than an arm of the president’s retribution campaign”.
Mike Zamore, national director of policy and government affairs at the American Civil Liberties Union, said Trump “has yet again proven his disdain for the principles that have actually made America great”.
Read the rest of Chris’s piece here:
Bryan Graham at Bethpage Black
Donald Trump’s arrival dominated the opening day of the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black, about 37 miles south-east of Manhattan, where fans had begun lining up outside the gates as early as 3am.
Helicopters circled constantly overhead, while spectators navigated TSA-style checkpoints and Secret Service patrols around the main grandstand.
Shortly after 11am, Air Force One made a low, close flyover of the grounds as it approached Farmingdale, drawing gasps from the crowd and reminding everyone of the president’s imminent appearance.
Officials had urged spectators to budget extra time, wary of the sort of disruption seen at the US Open tennis tournament earlier this month, when Trump’s visit delayed entry and thousands of spectators missed the start of the men’s final between Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.
🚨 HOLY CRAP! The crowd at the Ryder Cup went WILD when President Trump did a flyover on Air Force One
And this is in NEW YORK!
“USA! USA!”
47 will be on the ground shortly! pic.twitter.com/Oh9NogzFoV
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) September 26, 2025
At Bethpage, Trump’s presence was no less inescapable. The early carnival atmosphere – fans chanting “U-S-A” as the American pair of Bryson DeChambeau and Justin Thomas won the opening hole – quickly dulled as Europe seized control.
By midday, the sport itself had receded. What lingered was the sound of choppers, the roar of Air Force One overhead, and the heavy security presence behind the 18th green and near the first tee that turned golf’s biennial matchplay carnival into a backdrop for presidential theatre.
Responding to James Comey’s indictment last night, Matthew Miller, who was the director of public affairs at the justice department during the Obama administration, wrote on X:
The Justice Department we have long known is dead. As in many authoritarian states, it now exists as an arm of the government to punish the president’s enemies, regardless of the law. A tragedy for the country with lasting implications, even if this case is dismissed.
The chair of the House select committee on China has said he will conduct full oversight over a deal for Chinese-based ByteDance to sell the US assets of TikTok that was approved by Donald Trump under a 2024 law.
“The law also set firm guardrails that prohibit cooperation between ByteDance and any prospective TikTok successor on the all-important recommendation algorithm, as well as preclude operational ties between the new entity and ByteDance,” said the Republican representative John Moolenaar.
He said he would host the leadership of the new TikTok entity at a hearing next year.
Immigrants with no criminal record now largest group in Ice detention
José Olivares
Immigrants with no criminal record are now the largest group in US immigration detention, according to data released by the government. The number of people with no criminal history arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) and detained by the Trump administration has now surpassed the number of those charged with crimes.
Ice, the federal agency most heavily relied upon by Donald Trump to carry out his mass deportation campaign, released its latest numbers on Thursday.
According to the official data, 16,523 people in immigration detention with no criminal record were arrested by Ice, compared with 15,725 who do have a criminal record and 13,767 with pending criminal charges.
There are now a total of 59,762 people in Ice detention across the US. The remaining number of people in Ice custody were brought in by border officials.
The numbers released by Ice mark the first time under the second Trump administration that the total number of immigrants with no criminal history in detention has surpassed that of people convicted of a crime or with pending charges.
The agency’s data also contradicts Trump administration officials’ repeated narrative that the chief focus of the White House’s agenda and the Department of Homeland Security dragnet is dangerous criminals.
Read my full report with Will Craft below.
Comey’s son-in-law resigns as federal prosecutor – reports
James Comey’s son-in-law, Troy Edwards, has resigned as a federal prosecutor for the eastern district of Virginia, following his father-in-law’s indictment.
According to his resignation letter, seen by multiple outlets, Edwards sent his resignation notice to Lindsey Halligan – the newly minted US attorney for the district – and wrote that he was quitting “to uphold my oath to the constitution and the country”.
A reminder that Halligan was appointed after Trump fired her predecessor, Erik Siebert, after Siebert said there was insufficient evidence to prosecute Comey and other Trump adversaries.
Edwards was on the team of attorneys who charged participants in the January 6 attack on the US capitol.
