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‘All we want is full transparency’: Jeffries calls on DoJ to ‘comply with the law’ and release full Epstein files
House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries has called on the Trump administration to “comply with the law” and release the full Epstein files, adding that his party would continue to pressure the justice department to release the files by the congressionally mandated 19 December deadline.
A reminder that the 19 images shared by the House oversight committee in today’s drop are separate to the archive that the DoJ has been ordered to release, but they do add to the political momentum and pressure mounting on the Trump administration over the issue.
Jeffries told reporters earlier:
The so-called Department of Justice under the Trump administration needs to comply with the law.
These people who are part of the Trump administration, including Donald Trump and JD Vance himself, all said for years that they wanted to release the Epstein files.
Didn’t they come into office and do the exact opposite, obstruct and obfuscate, hide stuff from the American people?
All we want is full transparency so that the American people can get the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. That’s what the Epstein survivors deserve and have demanded and we are going to make sure that the Department of Justice complies.
Key events
Co-sponsor of legislation to release Epstein files says photo release shows late sex-offender’s ‘elite and powerful circle’
Congressman Ro Khanna, the California Democrat who co-led the legislation for the full release of all justice department files related to Jeffrey Epstein, said that today’s photos “document Epstein’s elite and powerful circle”.
Khanna added that the latest trove of photographs are “why we must push for more information”.
Donald Trump signed the Epstein Files Transparency Act into law last month, and it requires the Department of Justice (DoJ) to release the files by 19 December in a searchable format.
“Any redactions must be accompanied by a written justification published in the Federal Register and submitted to Congress,” Khanna said. “I will be watching closely for any attempts to delay or prevent the full release of the files.”
DHS ends family reunification program for immigrants from several countries
Today, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced it would terminate all family reunification parole (FRP) programs for immigrants from Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti and Honduras, and their immediate family members.
A reminder that FRP is a program whereby a US citizen or green card holder could, with an invitation, keep their family together while family members who are foreign nationals apply for permanent residency. They would have temporary parole in the US – allowing them to live and, in some cases, work while waiting for their case to be assessed.
“This administration is ending the abuse of humanitarian parole which allowed poorly vetted aliens to circumvent the traditional parole process,” US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said in a statement today. “The desire to reunite families does not overcome the government’s responsibility to prevent fraud and abuse and to uphold national security and public safety. The FRP programs had security gaps caused by insufficient vetting that malicious and fraudulent actors could exploit to enter the United States, which posed an unacceptable level of risk to the United States.”
USCIS added that parole would expire for any immigrant from the countries listed today by 14 January 2026, if it doesn’t expire sooner.
The exception would be for those who have filed for their change of residence and their case is pending. They would be able to stay in the US until a decision is made or their parole expires, whichever comes first.
Trump says Thailand and Cambodia have agreed to a ceasefire
Donald Trump said today that the leaders of Thailand and Cambodia have agreed to a cease fire in their ongoing border conflict.
In a post on Truth Social, the president said he spoke to Thailand’s Anutin Charnvirakul and Cambodia’s Hun Manet this morning. “They have agreed to CEASE all shooting effective this evening, and go back to the original Peace Accord made with me, and them, with the help of the Great Prime Minister of Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim,” Trump wrote.
A reminder that fighting erupted again on Sunday in the longstanding border dispute between the two countries. As my colleague Rebecca Ratcliffe notes, Thailand and Cambodia initially agreed to a ceasefire in July, and signed a formal agreement six weeks ago in Trump’s presence. However, the ceasefire arrangements have been precarious, and both sides have accused the other of violations. Since the fighting broke out last week, at least 20 people have been killed and almost 200 injured.
“Both Countries are ready for PEACE and continued Trade with the United States of America,” Trump added on social media today.
My colleagues have collated the 19 photographs from the Epstein estate, released today by Democrats on the House oversight committee.
You can see them all below. A warning that some contain sensitive material.
Inventor of Segway pictured with Branson and Epstein in latest tranche of Epstein estate photographs
Earlier, I reported that Richard Branson and an unidentified man were pictured in a photograph with Epstein. That man is Dean Kamen, inventor of the Segway.
According to the Boston Globe, Kamen did not respond to a request for comment after today’s pictures were published. The Globe reports that Kamen – a New Hampshire-based entrepreneur – is connected to Nadia Marcinko, a fashion model turned pilot, who was close with Epstein.
A quick note that the Trump condom appears to be part of the Smithsonian Institution’s collection, where it is described as “political satire”.
The packaging was designed by Fishs Eddy, a housewares and novelty shop in New York, and launched in 2015. “It’s been a runaway hit, that’s for sure,” shop owner Julie Gaines said in November 2016, a few days before the presidential election that Trump went on to win. “People get the joke and that’s why they buy it. They don’t buy it because it’s an homage to him.”
She said the inspiration for the package design came after Trump “started mouthing off [the word] ‘huge’ every five minutes”. “We’ve always been political, but it’s at a whole new level this year,” Gaines said. “We are very, very much for Hillary [Clinton] and we make that very clear. The only time we do Trump products is when we’re trying to get our two cents in, not to promote him.”
More Epstein photos will be released ‘in days and weeks ahead’, says top Democrat
In comments to reporters earlier, Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House oversight committee, said that just under 25,000 images had been examined out of the 95,000 photographs from the estate, and said that more photos from the Epstein estate would be released “in the days and weeks ahead”.
“Some of the other photos we did not put out today are incredibly disturbing,” he added.
So there’s an enormous amount of photos that we have not gone through. It’ll take days and weeks to make sure we have those photos and redaction is done in the appropriate way.
We will continue to put out more photos in the days and weeks ahead, but I caution folks at the redaction process, and ensuring we protect survivors and women abused by Epstein.
He accused the White House of a cover-up and implored the Trump administration to “release the files immediately”.
‘All we want is full transparency’: Jeffries calls on DoJ to ‘comply with the law’ and release full Epstein files
House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries has called on the Trump administration to “comply with the law” and release the full Epstein files, adding that his party would continue to pressure the justice department to release the files by the congressionally mandated 19 December deadline.
A reminder that the 19 images shared by the House oversight committee in today’s drop are separate to the archive that the DoJ has been ordered to release, but they do add to the political momentum and pressure mounting on the Trump administration over the issue.
Jeffries told reporters earlier:
The so-called Department of Justice under the Trump administration needs to comply with the law.
These people who are part of the Trump administration, including Donald Trump and JD Vance himself, all said for years that they wanted to release the Epstein files.
Didn’t they come into office and do the exact opposite, obstruct and obfuscate, hide stuff from the American people?
All we want is full transparency so that the American people can get the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. That’s what the Epstein survivors deserve and have demanded and we are going to make sure that the Department of Justice complies.
GOP-led oversight committee accuses Democrats of releasing ‘cherry-picked’ photos
Republicans who lead the House oversight committee lambasted Democrats for the images they released from the Epstein estate today, accusing them of “chasing headlines by releasing a handful of selectively censored and cherry-picked photos”.
They added:
Democrats’ hoax against President Trump has been completely debunked. Nothing in the documents we’ve received shows any wrongdoing. Ranking Member Robert Garcia and Oversight Democrats should be ashamed of this disgusting behavior of putting politics above justice for the survivors.
Photos include a picture of British billionaire Richard Branson
Also included in today’s trove of pictures is British billionaire and co-founder of Virgin group, Richard Branson.
Branson is seen smiling on a beach, sitting next to an unidentified man and holding up a pad of paper with indiscernible writing, as Epstein walks behind them.
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