In our news wrap Wednesday, the House Oversight Committee voted to subpoena Attorney General Pam Bondi in its Jeffrey Epstein investigation, Minnesota’s governor told lawmakers that the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown hurt the state’s efforts at fighting fraud and the U.S. launched a joint military operation with Ecuador targeting crime groups.
Geoff Bennett:
In the day’s other headlines: The congressional investigation into files related to Jeffrey Epstein is widening. The Republican-led House Oversight Committee has voted to subpoena Attorney General Pam Bondi for what the “News Hour” has learned would be a closed-door taped deposition. Five Republicans voted with Democrats in favor of the measure.
Bondi will be the highest-ranking sitting official to appear before the panel. She had already fielded Epstein-related questions during a combative appearance before a separate committee last month. It comes soon after lawmakers requested interviews with seven other people, including the billionaires Bill Gates and Leon Black.
Separately, the Justice Department says that tens of thousands of Epstein files that were recently taken down will be reposted soon, telling the “News Hour” — quote — “More than 47,000 files were offline for further review and should be ready for reproduction by the end of the week.”
Minnesota’s governor and attorney general told lawmakers today that the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown hurt their state’s efforts at fighting fraud. Tim Walz and Keith Ellison appeared at a House Oversight Committee hearing today. The committee chair, James Comer, accused them of, in his words, not being good stewards of the taxpayer dollars.
They, in turn, tried to put the hearing’s focus on the surge of federal agents to Minnesota in recent months, calling it political retribution at an unparalleled scale.
Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN):
I’m with you. I want your help on fraud. Why would I not want money to go to the programs I care deeply about, feeding people, clothing people, housing people? But what ICE did disrupted everything that we were doing. It disrupted our federal partners.
Geoff Bennett:
That testimony comes as Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem faced a second day of questioning over her oversight of the administration’s immigration crackdown, including in Minnesota.
Republican Committee Chair Jim Jordan praised what he called her amazing record on immigration, while Democrat Jamie Raskin accused her of a smear campaign against Alex Pretti and Renee Good, two Minnesota residents killed by federal agents, whom Noem had claimed had links to domestic terrorism.
The U.S. says it launched a joint military operation with Ecuador targeting organized crime groups in the country. U.S. Southern Command posted this video alongside the announcement, saying it’s focused on combating narco-terrorism, though further details about the mission are still unknown.
It’s just the latest escalation of military involvement by U.S. forces in the region, following months of strikes against suspected smuggling vessels that have killed more than 150 people.
Cuban officials filed terrorism charges today against six suspects who were aboard a Florida-flagged speedboat that engaged in a shoot-out with Cuban forces last week. Prosecutors say they’re being held in pretrial detention and said they will receive “due process in defense of our people and the country’s institutions.”
The incident took place in the waters off Cuba’s north coast. Officials say the group opened fire as they tried to infiltrate the island to commit acts of terrorism. Four suspects were killed, including one U.S. citizen. Last week, authorities unveiled items they say were seized from the boat, including a dozen high-powered weapons.
On Wall Street today, stocks rebounded as a bit of calm returned to the markets. The Dow Jones industrial average added nearly 240 points on the day. The Nasdaq saw a jump of nearly 300 points. The S&P 500 also posted a decent gain.
And legendary college football coach Lou Holtz has died. Holtz was a giant of the sport, and especially during his time at Notre Dame, where he led the Fighting Irish to an unbeaten championship season in 1988. Holtz coached 11 seasons. Holtz coached 11 seasons there, racking up 100 wins.
Over his five-decade career, Holtz was known for turning around losing programs and he was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 2008. His death was announced by Notre Dame, which shared a statement from his family, who cited his unwavering belief in the potential of others. Lou Holtz was 89 years old.
