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  • President Trump pardons 5 former NFL players for crimes ranging from perjury to drug trafficking

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    President Donald Trump on Thursday pardoned five former professional football players — one posthumously — for various crimes ranging from perjury to drug trafficking.The pardons were announced by White House pardon czar Alice Marie Johnson. Ex-NFL players Joe Klecko, Nate Newton, Jamal Lewis, Travis Henry, and the late Billy Cannon were granted clemency.“As football reminds us, excellence is built on grit, grace, and the courage to rise again. So is our nation,” Johnson wrote on the social media site X, as she thanked Trump for his “continued commitment to second chances.”Johnson said Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones “personally” shared the news with Newton, who won three Super Bowls with the team.The White House did not return a request for comment Thursday night on why Trump, an avid sports fan, pardoned the players.Klecko, a former star for the New York Jets, pleaded guilty to perjury after lying to a federal grand jury that was investigating insurance fraud. A defensive lineman, Klecko was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2023. He was a two-time Associated Press All-Pro player and a four-time Pro Bowler.Newton, an offensive lineman, pleaded guilty to a federal drug trafficking charge after authorities discovered $10,000 in his pickup truck as well as 175 pounds of marijuana in an accompanying car driven by another man. Newton was a two-time All-Pro player and six-time Pro Bowler.Lewis, formerly of the Baltimore Ravens and the Cleveland Browns, pleaded guilty in a drug case in which he used a cellphone to try to set up a drug deal not long after he was a top pick in the 2000 NFL draft. Lewis, a running back, was named an All-Pro once and was a one-time Pro Bowler. He was named the 2003 AP Offensive Player of the Year.Henry, who played for the Denver Broncos, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to traffic cocaine for financing a drug ring that moved the drug between Colorado and Montana. He was a running back for three teams and a one-time Pro Bowler.And Cannon — who played with the Houston Oilers, Oakland Raiders and Kansas City Chiefs — admitted to counterfeiting in the mid-1980s after a series of bad investments and debts left him broke.Cannon was a two-time All-Pro player and a two-time Pro Bowler. Cannon also won the 1959 Heisman Trophy while starring for Louisiana State University, where he had one of the most memorable plays in college football history: an 89-yard punt return for a touchdown against Ole Miss. He died in 2018.

    WASHINGTON —

    President Donald Trump on Thursday pardoned five former professional football players — one posthumously — for various crimes ranging from perjury to drug trafficking.

    The pardons were announced by White House pardon czar Alice Marie Johnson. Ex-NFL players Joe Klecko, Nate Newton, Jamal Lewis, Travis Henry, and the late Billy Cannon were granted clemency.

    “As football reminds us, excellence is built on grit, grace, and the courage to rise again. So is our nation,” Johnson wrote on the social media site X, as she thanked Trump for his “continued commitment to second chances.”

    Johnson said Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones “personally” shared the news with Newton, who won three Super Bowls with the team.

    The White House did not return a request for comment Thursday night on why Trump, an avid sports fan, pardoned the players.

    Klecko, a former star for the New York Jets, pleaded guilty to perjury after lying to a federal grand jury that was investigating insurance fraud. A defensive lineman, Klecko was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2023. He was a two-time Associated Press All-Pro player and a four-time Pro Bowler.

    Newton, an offensive lineman, pleaded guilty to a federal drug trafficking charge after authorities discovered $10,000 in his pickup truck as well as 175 pounds of marijuana in an accompanying car driven by another man. Newton was a two-time All-Pro player and six-time Pro Bowler.

    Lewis, formerly of the Baltimore Ravens and the Cleveland Browns, pleaded guilty in a drug case in which he used a cellphone to try to set up a drug deal not long after he was a top pick in the 2000 NFL draft. Lewis, a running back, was named an All-Pro once and was a one-time Pro Bowler. He was named the 2003 AP Offensive Player of the Year.

    Henry, who played for the Denver Broncos, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to traffic cocaine for financing a drug ring that moved the drug between Colorado and Montana. He was a running back for three teams and a one-time Pro Bowler.

    And Cannon — who played with the Houston Oilers, Oakland Raiders and Kansas City Chiefs — admitted to counterfeiting in the mid-1980s after a series of bad investments and debts left him broke.

    Cannon was a two-time All-Pro player and a two-time Pro Bowler. Cannon also won the 1959 Heisman Trophy while starring for Louisiana State University, where he had one of the most memorable plays in college football history: an 89-yard punt return for a touchdown against Ole Miss. He died in 2018.

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  • Top Trump officials’ reversal on Minneapolis shooting: Policy change or damage control?

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    Minneapolis — Key Republicans in the Trump administration are retreating from their blanket defense of Border Patrol agents who fatally shot a U.S. citizen Saturday on a Minneapolis street, part of a larger effort by the White House to turn down the temperature after the killing provoked widespread outrage.

    But it remains unclear whether the tamping down of Republican rhetoric is just damage control after the shooting, or whether it will usher in a more fundamental scaling back of President Trump’s hard-line immigration crackdown in American cities from Los Angeles to Chicago.

    In Minneapolis, there were few signs of a reduction in force on the streets, where tensions have been high since the shooting.

    On Wednesday morning, protesters gathered outside the federal Whipple Building, the epicenter of immigration activity in the city, as a steady stream of federal agents entered and exited.

    “Traitor!” one woman yelled out to a car driven by masked agents.

    “Murderers!” a man said.

    As Richi Mead, dressed in a neon vest that labeled him as a peaceful observer (“DON’T SHOOT”), tracked federal vehicles coming in and out, he said he did not believe there had been a reduction in the number of federal immigration agents in his city. The rate of cars he saw Wednesday, he said, was “business as usual.”

    “They’ve entrenched themselves here,” he said of federal agents. “There’s no end to this — and there’s no end to Minnesotans showing up.”

    As a growing number of Republicans have joined Democrats to protest Alex Pretti’s killing and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem faces increasing criticism, Trump has expressed a desire to “de-escalate a little bit.”

    Senior officials — such as Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff for policy and Homeland Security advisor — have backtracked on their initial defense of the federal agents who fired the fatal shots.

    Just a few hours after Border Patrol agents shot the 37-year-old intensive care unit nurse Saturday in Minneapolis, Miller said on X: “An assassin tried to murder federal agents.”

    But that statement, along with others made by Noem, were contradicted by cellphone videos showing Pretti was holding a phone, not a gun, when federal agents shoved him to the ground and shot him.

    On Tuesday, Miller issued a statement to CNN acknowledging that U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents may have deviated from protocol before the fatal shooting. The White House had provided “clear guidance” to the Department of Homeland Security on how to handle protesters, or “disruptors,” Miller said.

    “We are evaluating why the CBP team may not have been following that protocol,” Miller said.

    A White House spokesperson said that Miller was referring to general guidance given to Immigration and Customs Enforcement that extra personnel sent to Minnesota for force protection “should be used … to create a physical barrier between the arrest teams and the disruptors.”

    Officials will examine why additional force-protection assets may not have been present to support the operation, the spokesperson said.

    On Wednesday, a Customs and Border Protection spokesperson disclosed that two Border Patrol agents involved in the shooting had been placed on administrative leave Saturday.

    But top Republicans in the White House have yet to announce any major rollback of their aggressive immigration enforcement tactics.

    Kevin R. Johnson, a professor who specializes in immigration law at UC Davis, said it was too early to determine whether senior Trump officials are rethinking federal tactics or whether the shooting of Pretti will lead the president to scale back his immigration agenda.

    “We have seen a de-escalation in the last 24 hours, at least,” Johnson said. “But whether it’s going to stay with us, or be gone in 24 hours, it’s hard to say. I think it’ll stay around at least till the midterms.”

    After hearing Trump and Miller use harsh language for so long to refer to undocumented immigrants, Johnson said, it was impossible to predict how long a de-escalation of rhetoric would last.

    “They shift gears like they’re first-time drivers,” Johnson said of Trump’s senior officials. “They’re all over the place.”

    On Wednesday morning, Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi, who was visiting Minnesota, announced that 16 people whom she dubbed “rioters” were arrested and charged with assaulting, resisting or impeding law enforcement officers.

    “We expect more arrests to come,” Bondi said on X. “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: NOTHING will stop President Trump and this Department of Justice from enforcing the law.”

    Outside the Whipple Building in Minneapolis, it was hard to tell what, if anything, had changed. Hennepin County sheriff’s deputies continued to provide security in the area. Demonstrators still showed up across the street. Encrypted neighborhood group chats continued to circulate information about possible sightings of immigration agents.

    Before noon, one chat advised that observers were needed at an address where Homeland Security agents “have person trapped in home who went back to house for documentation.”

    Lucas Guttentag, a professor of law at Stanford University who specializes in immigration, said senior Trump administration officials appeared to be admitting things have gone too far and “killing people in the street is unacceptable.”

    “But that’s a low bar; the fundamental policy hasn’t changed,” he said, noting that the administration did not appear to be changing its policy on illegal detention, terminating people’s status or racial profiling. “This is a tactical retreat, but not a change of policy.”

    Still, even as arrests continued, Johnson said it was a positive sign that Miller and Noem had turned down their rhetoric on Pretti’s killing, and that border policy advisor Tom Homan had met with the Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey.

    “That’s what we need here: some communication and some discussion in an effort to bring down the temperature,” Johnson said. “Because it’s not surprising to me that when you have people at the highest levels, including the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, talking in harsh terms, then you have ICE officers on the ground engaging in very aggressive, maybe illegal tactics.”

    Johnson said he would like to see the Trump administration withdraw some ICE officers from Minneapolis. Beyond that, he said the administration should ramp up its training of federal immigration agents and rethink roving patrols that targeted people, regardless of their legal status, based on their skin color.

    “That tactic has terrorized communities,” he said.

    Johnson was skeptical that the move to apparently oust Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino and bring in Homan to lead the Minnesota operation would change much.

    “He’s a relatively aggressive immigration enforcement type as well,” Johnson said of Homan. “If he’s your peacemaker, it’s unclear to me whether he’s really going to make peace.”

    As Christine Hebl, 45, dropped off a handwritten note at a memorial erected at the site in south Minneapolis where Pretti was killed, she said she doubted that bringing Homan to Minnesota would lead to a reduction in immigration enforcement.

    The only change she had noticed so far had been an expansion outward toward the suburbs north of Minneapolis.

    “It’s a PR stunt in my mind,” she said. “I think that it’s going to continue or even potentially worsen. You cannot believe a single word that comes out of this regime’s mouths. It’s going to continue and I’m scared — I’m really scared.”

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    Jenny Jarvie, Andrea Castillo

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  • Tarrant County approves additional $60,000 for defense attorneys in jail death

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    The voting board at the Tarrant County Commissioners Court at the Tarrant County Administration Building in Fort Worth on Tuesday, May 6, 2025.

    The voting board at the Tarrant County Commissioners Court at the Tarrant County Administration Building in Fort Worth on Tuesday, May 6, 2025.


    Chris Torres

    ctorres@star-telegram.com

    Two outside legal counsels were contracted by Tarrant County Commissioners for two sheriff’s employees who were involved in the death of jail inmate Anthony Johnson Jr.

    The Tarrant County medical examiner’s office determined Johnson’s death was a homicide by asphyxiation.

    Johnson died on April 21, 2024 while in custody of the Tarrant County jail after being arrested within 48 hours prior, while enduring what his family says was a schizophrenic episode.

    A previous Star-Telegram article reported Johnson resisted jailers during a cell check and was pepper-sprayed before being handcuffed and held on the floor improperly with a detention officer’s knee on his back, according to partial video of the altercation released by the Sheriff’s Office.

    Sheriff’s employees Royce Moody and Kimberly Nobles are named defendants in a lawsuit filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas by Johnson’s family. Two other sheriff’s employees have been indicted on murder charges.

    Tarrant County Commissioners approved two contracts for legal counsel not to exceed $30,000 in order to continue using attorneys Darrell Noga and Thomas Brandt in the defense of Moody and Nobles. Both attorneys now work for different law firms when they were first procured for the case but have since moved to other firms.

    Noga has been paid $21,161.16 and Brandt has been paid $28,919.75 so far for their representation of the two sheriff’s employees. Both now have a renewed contract not to exceed $30,000 as of the 3-2 approval along party lines given by county commissioners Tuesday.

    The county is statutorily obligated to pay for the representation of Moody and Nobles, but many of the residents who spoke at the commissioners court meeting asked the county to settle the case so the Johnson family may find peace.

    “At some point, an elected official has to take a stand instead of hiding behind legal obligations and pretending their hands are tied,” Jacqueline Johnson, the victim’s mother, said to the commissioners on Tuesday. “This trial is being pushed closer to election season, and everyone can see the timing. There is a video that shows exactly what happened. There is no reason this should take years, unless the goal is delay, protection and political convenience.”

    Related Stories from Fort Worth Star-Telegram

    Rachel Royster

    Fort Worth Star-Telegram

    Rachel Royster is a news and government reporter for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, specifically focused on Tarrant County. She joined the newsroom after interning at the Austin American-Statesman, the Waco Tribune-Herald and Capital Community News in DC. A Houston native and Baylor grad, Rachel enjoys traveling, reading and being outside. She welcomes any and all news tips to her email.

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    Rachel Royster

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  • NBA roundup: Paolo Banchero bankshot lifts Magic past Nets in OT

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    (Photo credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images)

    Paolo Banchero banked in a 3-pointer at the buzzer in overtime off an inbounds pass from Anthony Black as the Orlando Magic eked out a 104-103 victory over the Brooklyn Nets after blowing an 18-point lead Wednesday night in New York.

    Rookie Egor Demin banked in a 3 with 5.3 seconds left over Wendell Carter Jr. to put Brooklyn up 103-101 in the extra period after the Nets rallied from a 10-point deficit with 4:02 left in regulation.

    Banchero finished with 30 points and 14 rebounds, Carter added 20 for the Magic, who shot 42.7% and were outscored 29-14 in the fourth.

    Michael Porter Jr. led all scorers with 34 points and hit eight of Brooklyn’s 17 3s. Demin scored all of his 18 points after the third quarter but the Nets shot 41.9% and lost for the fourth time in five games.

    Thunder 129, Jazz 125 (OT)

    Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 46 points to lift host Oklahoma City past Utah and end a brief two-game losing streak.

    Gilgeous-Alexander forced overtime with a tying basket at the buzzer to end regulation, then Chet Holmgren made perhaps the biggest play in the extra period, slamming home Gilgeous-Alexander’s miss with 30 seconds left to break a tie. Gilgeous-Alexander then grabbed the rebound off Svi Mykhailiuk’s missed corner 3-pointer and sank both free throws to make it a two-possession game with less than 10 seconds remaining.

    Holmgren finished with 23 points and 12 rebounds, while Jalen Williams had 17 points and eight assists. Lauri Markkanen led Utah with 29 points and added 13 rebounds. Keyonte George had 25 points and 11 assists in the loss.

    Nuggets 114, Celtics 110

    Peyton Watson scored 30 points and Jamal Murray added 22 points, eight rebounds and a career-high 17 assists to lead visiting Denver over Boston for the Nuggets’ NBA-best 15th road victory.

    Watson made 6 of his 7 3-point attempts, including a 3-pointer that put Denver up 106-93 with 2:24 to play. Watson has scored at least 20 points in each of his last five games. Denver’s Nikola Jokic missed his fifth straight game with a knee injury. The Nuggets have a 3-2 record without him.

    Boston received a game-high 33 points along with seven rebounds and four assists from Jaylen Brown, who also committed seven turnovers. Neemias Queta had six points and a career-high 20 rebounds for the Celtics. Ten of Queta’s 20 rebounds came at the offensive end.

    Trail Blazers 103, Rockets 102

    Deni Avdija scored 41 points and Portland held off visiting Houston as Tari Eason’s would-be game-winning tip-in was ruled to come after time expired.

    Portland led in the final seconds when Houston’s Kevin Durant missed a jumper with 0.8 seconds left. Eason got his hand on the ball and tapped it into the net. But the officials reviewed the call and ruled that Eason’s fingertips were still in contact with the ball when the red light on the backboard came on and waved off the hoop.

    Durant matched his season high of 37 points and Amen Thompson added 24 points, 12 rebounds and six assists, as the Rockets lost for just the second time in seven games. Durant needs just 15 points to pass legendary Wilt Chamberlain (31,419) and move into seventh place on the all-time scoring list.

    Hawks 117, Pelicans 100

    Zaccharie Risacher knocked down seven 3-pointers and scored a season-high 25 points to lead Atlanta over visiting New Orleans, ending the Hawks’ two-game losing streak while handing the Pelicans their second nine-game losing streak of the season.

    Four-time Atlanta all-star Trae Young was on the bench in street clothes with a right quad contusion when reports surfaced during the fourth quarter that he had been traded to Washington. Young left the area for a few minutes, returned to the bench and stayed there until seconds remained.

    With Onyeka Okongwu out with an illness and Kristaps Porzingis on restricted minutes, Atlanta started reserve Mouhamed Gueye at center. Porzingis still wound up with 13 points, while Gueye contributed 10 points, 11 rebounds and six assists, finishing the game at plus-27.

    Knicks 123, Clippers 111

    Karl-Anthony Towns scored nine points during a decisive 30-13 run spanning the third and fourth quarters as host New York snapped a season-long four-game losing streak with a win over Los Angeles.

    Towns finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds while adding seven assists for the Knicks, who avoided their first five-game losing streak since December 2022. Jalen Brunson had 26 points and seven assists while OG Anunoby finished with 20 points.

    Ivica Zubac (22 points, 11 rebounds) and John Collins (18 points, 10 rebounds) each posted double-doubles for the Clippers, who lost for just the second time in nine games. Kawhi Leonard scored 25 points while James Harden finished with 23 points following a one-game absence due to a shoulder injury.

    Raptors 97, Hornets 96

    Immanuel Quickley’s 3-point basket at the buzzer lifted Toronto past host Charlotte as the Hornets were unable to build off their win over NBA-best Oklahoma City on Monday.

    Quickley’s basket, which was launched just left of the top of the 3-point arc, delivered the final points in a back-and-forth sequence down the stretch. LaMelo Ball’s drive for a basket with 1.6 seconds left broke a tie and gave the Hornets a 96-94 lead. Each team called a timeout before the Raptors inbounded the ball for the last shot, which was the seventh successful 3-pointer of Toronto’s 34 long-range attempts, with Quickley going 3-for-11.

    RJ Barrett led the Raptors with 28 points, Quickley finished with 21 and Scottie Barnes scored 15 of his 17 points in the first half. Collin Sexton’s 22 points off the bench led the Hornets while Ball added 15.

    Pistons 108, Bulls 93Isaiah Stewart poured in a career-high 31 points and host Detroit pulled away from Chicago.Stewart made 14 of 17 field-goal attempts while easily surpassing his previous high of 26 points. Duncan Robinson had 12 points, while Javonte Green, Ron Holland and Ausar Thompson contributed 11 apiece. Daniss Jenkins dished out 15 assists in Detroit’s third straight win.Ayo Dosunmu led the Bulls with 24 points. Nikola Vucevic had 20 points with 16 rebounds and Matas Buzelis also scored 20 for Chicago.

    76ers 131, Wizards 110Joel Embiid, Paul George and Tyrese Maxey all scored more than 20 points for the first time in 1 1/2 seasons together, guiding Philadelphia to a comfortable win over visiting Washington.Embiid (28 points), George (23) and Maxey (22) led seven players in double figures for the Sixers, who used a 16-0 run spanning the final two quarters to post their fourth win in five games. VJ Edgecombe chipped in with 13 points, seven assists, six rebounds and five steals.Tre Johnson scored 20 points and Bub Carrington made five 3-pointers in an 18-point effort for Washington, which had won five of its previous seven games. The Wizards played without CJ McCollum (quad) and Kyshawn George (hip), among others.

    Suns 117, Grizzlies 98

    Dillon Brooks scored 21 points and Grayson Allen added 19 off the bench as Phoenix ended a six-game losing streak to host Memphis, winning for the seventh time in nine games.

    Brooks, who spent his first six seasons in the NBA with the Grizzlies, had 18 points in the first half. Allen, who spent two seasons with the Grizzlies, was playing in his second game after returning from a nine-game absence because of a knee injury.

    The Grizzlies, playing the second game of a back-to-back, lost for the fifth time in six games. Memphis swept the series (4-0) last season and won the only meeting between the two early this season in Phoenix. Jaren Jackson Jr. led the Grizzlies with 19 points.

    Spurs 107, Lakers 91

    Keldon Johnson scored 27 points and San Antonio’s balanced attack overcame Luka Doncic’s individual excellence as the Spurs defeated visiting Los Angeles in the second game of a back-to-back for both teams.

    Victor Wembanyama came off the bench for the second straight game and racked up 16 points, 14 rebounds and four blocked shots in 26 minutes of court time for San Antonio. Castle scored 15 points, De’Aaron Fox had 14 and Julian Champagnie added 11.

    Doncic amassed 38 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for the Lakers, who played without LeBron James (out for rest on the second game of a back-to-back). Doncic also had seven turnovers. Jake LaRavia added 16 points and Jaxson Hayes scored 10 for Los Angeles.

    Warriors 120, Bucks 113

    Stephen Curry had a team-high 31 points, De’Anthony Melton added a season-high 22 and Golden State opened an eight-game homestand with a victory over Milwaukee in San Francisco.

    Melton, who hadn’t scored more than 16 points or made more than three 3-pointers in a game this season, bombed in 5 of 9 from beyond the arc. Al Horford came off the bench to contribute eight points, a game-high-tying 10 rebounds, six assists and two blocks for the Warriors, while Jimmy Butler III chipped in with 21 points.

    Giannis Antetokounmpo put up a 34-point, 10-rebound double-double in just 31 minutes, but it wasn’t enough for the Bucks to pick up a third straight win. Kevin Porter Jr. had 15 points and a game-high nine assists, while Ryan Rollins added 16 points.

    –Field Level Media

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  • Buoyed by Nikola Jokic, Nuggets open 7-game trip at Orlando

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    (Photo credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images)

    The Denver Nuggets finished up a tough slate of games and now start a season-high seven-game road trip when they face the Orlando Magic on Saturday night.

    Denver played the Houston Rockets twice, went on the road against the Dallas Mavericks and won a thriller over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday night to wrap up a six-game stretch over 11 days. The Nuggets won four of those six contests.

    The Nuggets won’t have three starters for Saturday night after Cameron Johnson went down with a hyperextended right knee in a loss at Dallas on Tuesday.

    Johnson joins Aaron Gordon (hamstring) and Christian Braun (ankle) on the sideline, but the team’s depth is paying off. Tim Hardaway Jr. moved into the starting lineup against the Timberwolves, and Peyton Watson and Spencer Jones continue to fill in for Gordon and Braun.

    ‘We’ll just reinvent ourselves as we go here,’ Denver coach David Adelman said. ‘I’m looking at this as just another chapter in the season. It’s what it is.’

    Denver has kept winning — eight of the past 10 — and has thrived on the road. The loss to the Mavericks snapped the Nuggets’ 11-game road winning streak.

    A big reason is the play of Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray. Jokic had 56 points, 16 rebounds and 15 assists against Minnesota, making him the first player in NBA history to have a 55-15-15 triple-double. He is leading the NBA in rebounds (12.1 per game) and assists (11.0) and is fifth in scoring (29.8).

    ‘We can’t just continue to dismiss what this guy does on a night-to-night basis,’ Watson said. ‘Bro, it’s unbelievable. There’s no way that we can take for granted or it should go over people’s heads what Jok did (Thursday). And every night honestly.’

    Murray is averaging career highs in points (25.4 ppg) and assists (7.0 per game).

    Orlando is also dealing with significant injuries and is playing the second game of a back-to-back. Jalen Suggs (hip) has not played since Dec. 13, and Franz Wagner (ankle) missed his seventh straight game on Friday as the Magic fell 120-105 to the visiting Charlotte Hornets.

    Wagner, the team’s leading scorer at 22.7 points over 24 games, is starting to increase his activity while working his way back to action.

    ‘He’s just able to do spot shooting right now,’ Orlando coach Jamahl Mosley said Friday. ‘Not a lot of pressure on the foot, but being able to walk around again is very important for us.’

    The Magic sit sixth in the Eastern Conference after losing six of their past 10.

    Paolo Banchero, who is second for Orlando in scoring at 20.1 points a game and leads in rebounding (8.3), and Desmond Bane, third on the team at 19.1 points per game, both had rough shooting nights on Friday. Banchero hit 4 of 13 from the floor and scored 13 points while Bane went 7 of 19 en route to 15 points.

    Bane and Banchero combined to finish 0-for-8 from 3-point range.

    The teams met Dec. 18 in Denver, a 126-115 win for the Nuggets. Jokic set the all-time assists record for centers in the win and had one of his 15 triple-doubles this season.

    Jokic has 179 career regular-season triple-doubles, two behind Oscar Robertson for the second-best total in NBA history. Russell Westbrook is the all-time leader with 207.

    –Field Level Media

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  • House expected to vote on bill forcing release of Jeffrey Epstein case files

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    The House is expected to vote Tuesday on legislation to force the Justice Department to publicly release its files on the late financier Jeffrey Epstein, the culmination of a monthslong effort that has overcome opposition from President Donald Trump and Republican leadership.When a small bipartisan group of House lawmakers introduced a petition in July to maneuver around House Speaker Mike Johnson’s control of which bills see the House floor, it appeared a long-shot effort, especially as Trump urged his supporters to dismiss the matter as a “hoax.” But both Trump and Johnson failed in their efforts to prevent the vote.Now the president has bowed to the growing momentum behind the bill and even said Republicans should vote for it. His blessing all but ensures that the House will pass the bill with an overwhelming margin, putting further pressure on the Senate to take it up.Trump on Monday said he would sign the bill if it passes both chambers of Congress, adding, “Let the Senate look at it.”Tuesday’s vote also provides a further boost to the demands that the Justice Department release its case files on Epstein, a well-connected financier who killed himself in a Manhattan jail while awaiting trial in 2019 on charges he sexually abused and trafficked underage girls.A separate investigation conducted by the House Oversight Committee has released thousands of pages of emails and other documents from Epstein’s estate, showing his connections to global leaders, Wall Street powerbrokers, influential political figures and Trump himself.Trump’s reversal on the Epstein filesTrump has said he cut ties with Epstein years ago, but tried for months to move past the demands for disclosure. On Monday, he told reporters that Epstein was connected to more Democrats and that he didn’t want the Epstein files to “detract from the great success of the Republican Party.”Still, many in the Republican base have continued to demand the release of the files. Adding to that pressure, several survivors of Epstein’s abuse will appear on Capitol Hill Tuesday morning to push for release of the files. They also met with Johnson and rallied outside the Capitol in September, but have had to wait two months for the vote.That’s because Johnson kept the House closed for legislative business for nearly two months and also refused to swear-in Democratic Rep. Adelita Grijalva of Arizona during the government shutdown. After winning a special election on Sept. 23, Grijalva had pledged to provide the crucial 218th vote to the petition for the Epstein files bill. But only after she was sworn into office last week could she sign her name to the discharge petition to give it majority support in the 435-member House.It quickly became apparent the bill would pass, and both Johnson and Trump began to fold. Trump on Sunday said Republicans should vote for the bill.Rep. Thomas Massie, the Kentucky Republican who sponsored the bill alongside Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna, said Trump “got tired of me winning. He wanted to join.”How Johnson is handling the billRather than waiting until next week for the discharge position to officially take effect, Johnson is moving to hold the vote this week. He indicated the legislation will be brought to the House floor under a procedure that requires a two-thirds majority.“I think it’s going to be an important vote to continue to show the transparency that we’ve delivered,” House Republican leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said Monday night.House Democrats celebrated the vote as a rare win for the minority.“It’s a complete and total surrender, because as Democrats we made clear from the very beginning, the survivors and the American people deserve full and complete transparency as it relates to the lives that were ruined by Jeffrey Epstein,” said House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries.What will the Senate do?Still, it’s not clear how the Senate will handle the bill.Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has previously been circumspect when asked about the legislation and instead said he trusted the Justice Department to release information on the Epstein investigation.But what the Justice Department has released so far under Trump was mostly already public. The bill would go further, forcing the release within 30 days of all files and communications related to Epstein, as well as any information about the investigation into his death in federal prison. Information about Epstein’s victims or continuing federal investigations would be allowed to be redacted, but not information due to “embarrassment, reputational harm, or political sensitivity, including to any government official, public figure, or foreign dignitary.”Johnson also suggested that he would like to see the Senate amend the bill to protect the information of “victims and whistleblowers.”But Massie said the Senate should take into account the public clamor that forced both Trump and Johnson to back down.“If it’s anything but a genuine effort to make it better and stronger, it’ll backfire on the senators if they muck it up,” Massie said.___Associated Press writers Kevin Freking and Matt Brown contributed to this report.

    WASHINGTON —

    The House is expected to vote Tuesday on legislation to force the Justice Department to publicly release its files on the late financier Jeffrey Epstein, the culmination of a monthslong effort that has overcome opposition from President Donald Trump and Republican leadership.

    When a small bipartisan group of House lawmakers introduced a petition in July to maneuver around House Speaker Mike Johnson’s control of which bills see the House floor, it appeared a long-shot effort, especially as Trump urged his supporters to dismiss the matter as a “hoax.” But both Trump and Johnson failed in their efforts to prevent the vote.

    Now the president has bowed to the growing momentum behind the bill and even said Republicans should vote for it. His blessing all but ensures that the House will pass the bill with an overwhelming margin, putting further pressure on the Senate to take it up.

    Trump on Monday said he would sign the bill if it passes both chambers of Congress, adding, “Let the Senate look at it.”

    Tuesday’s vote also provides a further boost to the demands that the Justice Department release its case files on Epstein, a well-connected financier who killed himself in a Manhattan jail while awaiting trial in 2019 on charges he sexually abused and trafficked underage girls.

    A separate investigation conducted by the House Oversight Committee has released thousands of pages of emails and other documents from Epstein’s estate, showing his connections to global leaders, Wall Street powerbrokers, influential political figures and Trump himself.

    Trump’s reversal on the Epstein files

    Trump has said he cut ties with Epstein years ago, but tried for months to move past the demands for disclosure. On Monday, he told reporters that Epstein was connected to more Democrats and that he didn’t want the Epstein files to “detract from the great success of the Republican Party.”

    Still, many in the Republican base have continued to demand the release of the files. Adding to that pressure, several survivors of Epstein’s abuse will appear on Capitol Hill Tuesday morning to push for release of the files. They also met with Johnson and rallied outside the Capitol in September, but have had to wait two months for the vote.

    That’s because Johnson kept the House closed for legislative business for nearly two months and also refused to swear-in Democratic Rep. Adelita Grijalva of Arizona during the government shutdown. After winning a special election on Sept. 23, Grijalva had pledged to provide the crucial 218th vote to the petition for the Epstein files bill. But only after she was sworn into office last week could she sign her name to the discharge petition to give it majority support in the 435-member House.

    It quickly became apparent the bill would pass, and both Johnson and Trump began to fold. Trump on Sunday said Republicans should vote for the bill.

    Rep. Thomas Massie, the Kentucky Republican who sponsored the bill alongside Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna, said Trump “got tired of me winning. He wanted to join.”

    How Johnson is handling the bill

    Rather than waiting until next week for the discharge position to officially take effect, Johnson is moving to hold the vote this week. He indicated the legislation will be brought to the House floor under a procedure that requires a two-thirds majority.

    “I think it’s going to be an important vote to continue to show the transparency that we’ve delivered,” House Republican leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said Monday night.

    House Democrats celebrated the vote as a rare win for the minority.

    “It’s a complete and total surrender, because as Democrats we made clear from the very beginning, the survivors and the American people deserve full and complete transparency as it relates to the lives that were ruined by Jeffrey Epstein,” said House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries.

    What will the Senate do?

    Still, it’s not clear how the Senate will handle the bill.

    Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has previously been circumspect when asked about the legislation and instead said he trusted the Justice Department to release information on the Epstein investigation.

    But what the Justice Department has released so far under Trump was mostly already public. The bill would go further, forcing the release within 30 days of all files and communications related to Epstein, as well as any information about the investigation into his death in federal prison. Information about Epstein’s victims or continuing federal investigations would be allowed to be redacted, but not information due to “embarrassment, reputational harm, or political sensitivity, including to any government official, public figure, or foreign dignitary.”

    Johnson also suggested that he would like to see the Senate amend the bill to protect the information of “victims and whistleblowers.”

    But Massie said the Senate should take into account the public clamor that forced both Trump and Johnson to back down.

    “If it’s anything but a genuine effort to make it better and stronger, it’ll backfire on the senators if they muck it up,” Massie said.

    ___

    Associated Press writers Kevin Freking and Matt Brown contributed to this report.

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  • Trump says House Republicans should vote to release Epstein files

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    President Donald Trump said House Republicans should vote to release the files in the Jeffrey Epstein case, a startling reversal after previously fighting the proposal as a growing number of those in his own party supported it.“We have nothing to hide, and it’s time to move on from this Democrat Hoax perpetrated by Radical Left Lunatics in order to deflect from the Great Success of the Republican Party,” Trump wrote on social media late Sunday after landing at Joint Base Andrews following a weekend in Florida.Video above: Congressman: ‘Let’s just release’ Epstein filesTrump’s statement followed a fierce fight within the GOP over the files, including an increasingly nasty split with Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who had long been one of his fiercest supporters.The president’s shift is an implicit acknowledgement that supporters of the measure have enough votes to pass it the House, although it has an unclear future in the Senate.It is a rare example of Trump backtracking because of opposition within the GOP. In his return to office and in his second term as president, Trump has largely consolidated power in the Republican Party.“I DON’T CARE!” Trump wrote in his social media post. “All I do care about is that Republicans get BACK ON POINT.”Lawmakers who support the bill have been predicting a big win in the House this week with a “deluge of Republicans” voting for it, bucking the GOP leadership and the president.In his opposition to the proposal, Trump even reached out to two of the Republican lawmakers who signed it. One, Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert, met last week with administration officials in the White House Situation Room to discuss it.The bill would force the Justice Department to release all files and communications related to Epstein, as well as any information about the investigation into his death in federal prison. Information about Epstein’s victims or ongoing federal investigations would be allowed to be redacted.“There could be 100 or more” votes from Republicans, said Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., among the lawmakers discussing the legislation on Sunday news show appearances. “I’m hoping to get a veto-proof majority on this legislation when it comes up for a vote.”Massie and Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., introduced a discharge petition in July to force a vote on their bill. That is a rarely successful tool that allows a majority of members to bypass House leadership and force a floor vote.Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., had panned the discharge petition effort and sent members home early for their August recess when the GOP’s legislative agenda was upended in the clamoring for an Epstein vote. Democrats also contend the seating of Rep. Adelita Grijalva, D-Ariz., was stalled to delay her becoming the 218th member to sign the petition and gain the threshold needed to force a vote. She became the 218th signature moments after taking the oath of office last week.Video below: Epstein emails falloutMassie said Johnson, Trump and others who have been critical of his efforts would be “taking a big loss this week.”“I’m not tired of winning yet, but we are winning,” Massie said. The view from GOP leadershipJohnson seems to expect the House will decisively back the Epstein bill.“We’ll just get this done and move it on. There’s nothing to hide,” adding that the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has been releasing “far more information than the discharge petition, their little gambit.”The vote comes at a time when new documents are raising fresh questions about Epstein and his associates, including a 2019 email that Epstein wrote to a journalist that said Trump “knew about the girls.” The White House has accused Democrats of selectively leaking the emails to smear the Republican president.Johnson said Trump “has nothing to hide from this.”“They’re doing this to go after President Trump on this theory that he has something to do with it. He does not,” Johnson said.Trump’s association with Epstein is well-established and the president’s name was included in records that his own Justice Department released in February as part of an effort to satisfy public interest in information from the sex-trafficking investigation.Trump has never been accused of wrongdoing in connection with Epstein and the mere inclusion of someone’s name in files from the investigation does not imply otherwise. Epstein, who killed himself in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial, also had many prominent acquaintances in political and celebrity circles besides Trump.Khanna voiced more modest expectations on the vote count than Massie. Still, Khanna said he was hoping for 40 or more Republicans to join the effort.“I don’t even know how involved Trump was,” Khanna said. “There are a lot of other people involved who have to be held accountable.”Khanna also asked Trump to meet with those who were abused. Some will be at the Capitol on Tuesday for a news conference, he said.Massie said Republican lawmakers who fear losing Trump’s endorsement because of how they vote will have a mark on their record, if they vote “no,” that could hurt their political prospects in the long term.“The record of this vote will last longer than Donald Trump’s presidency,” Massie said.A MAGA splitOn the Republican side, three Republicans joined with Massie in signing the discharge petition: Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Nancy Mace of South Carolina and Boebert.Trump publicly called it quits with Greene last week and said he would endorse a challenger against her in 2026 “if the right person runs.”Greene attributed the fallout with Trump as “unfortunately, it has all come down to the Epstein files.” She said the country deserves transparency on the issue and that Trump’s criticism of her is confusing because the women she has talked to say he did nothing wrong.”I have no idea what’s in the files. I can’t even guess. But that is the questions everyone is asking, is, why fight this so hard?” Greene said.Trump’s feud with Greene escalated over the weekend, with Trump sending out one last social media post about her while still sitting in his helicopter on the White House lawn when he arrived home late Sunday, writing “The fact is, nobody cares about this Traitor to our Country!”Even if the bill passes the House, there is no guarantee that Senate Republicans will go along. Massie said he just hopes Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., “will do the right thing.”“The pressure is going to be there if we get a big vote in the House,” Massie said, who thinks “we could have a deluge of Republicans.”Massie appeared on ABC’s “This Week,” Johnson was on “Fox News Sunday,” Khanna spoke on NBC’s “Meet the Press” and Greene was interviewed on CNN’s “State of the Union.”Associated Press writer Michelle L. Price contributed to this report.

    WASHINGTON —

    President Donald Trump said House Republicans should vote to release the files in the Jeffrey Epstein case, a startling reversal after previously fighting the proposal as a growing number of those in his own party supported it.

    “We have nothing to hide, and it’s time to move on from this Democrat Hoax perpetrated by Radical Left Lunatics in order to deflect from the Great Success of the Republican Party,” Trump wrote on social media late Sunday after landing at Joint Base Andrews following a weekend in Florida.

    Video above: Congressman: ‘Let’s just release’ Epstein files

    Trump’s statement followed a fierce fight within the GOP over the files, including an increasingly nasty split with Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who had long been one of his fiercest supporters.

    The president’s shift is an implicit acknowledgement that supporters of the measure have enough votes to pass it the House, although it has an unclear future in the Senate.

    It is a rare example of Trump backtracking because of opposition within the GOP. In his return to office and in his second term as president, Trump has largely consolidated power in the Republican Party.

    “I DON’T CARE!” Trump wrote in his social media post. “All I do care about is that Republicans get BACK ON POINT.”

    Lawmakers who support the bill have been predicting a big win in the House this week with a “deluge of Republicans” voting for it, bucking the GOP leadership and the president.

    In his opposition to the proposal, Trump even reached out to two of the Republican lawmakers who signed it. One, Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert, met last week with administration officials in the White House Situation Room to discuss it.

    The bill would force the Justice Department to release all files and communications related to Epstein, as well as any information about the investigation into his death in federal prison. Information about Epstein’s victims or ongoing federal investigations would be allowed to be redacted.

    “There could be 100 or more” votes from Republicans, said Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., among the lawmakers discussing the legislation on Sunday news show appearances. “I’m hoping to get a veto-proof majority on this legislation when it comes up for a vote.”

    Massie and Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., introduced a discharge petition in July to force a vote on their bill. That is a rarely successful tool that allows a majority of members to bypass House leadership and force a floor vote.

    Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., had panned the discharge petition effort and sent members home early for their August recess when the GOP’s legislative agenda was upended in the clamoring for an Epstein vote. Democrats also contend the seating of Rep. Adelita Grijalva, D-Ariz., was stalled to delay her becoming the 218th member to sign the petition and gain the threshold needed to force a vote. She became the 218th signature moments after taking the oath of office last week.

    Video below: Epstein emails fallout

    Massie said Johnson, Trump and others who have been critical of his efforts would be “taking a big loss this week.”

    “I’m not tired of winning yet, but we are winning,” Massie said.

    The view from GOP leadership

    Johnson seems to expect the House will decisively back the Epstein bill.

    “We’ll just get this done and move it on. There’s nothing to hide,” adding that the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has been releasing “far more information than the discharge petition, their little gambit.”

    The vote comes at a time when new documents are raising fresh questions about Epstein and his associates, including a 2019 email that Epstein wrote to a journalist that said Trump “knew about the girls.” The White House has accused Democrats of selectively leaking the emails to smear the Republican president.

    Johnson said Trump “has nothing to hide from this.”

    “They’re doing this to go after President Trump on this theory that he has something to do with it. He does not,” Johnson said.

    Trump’s association with Epstein is well-established and the president’s name was included in records that his own Justice Department released in February as part of an effort to satisfy public interest in information from the sex-trafficking investigation.

    Pablo Martinez Monsivais

    Protest art representing President Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein is seen outside the entrance to Bustboys and Poets restaurant in the U Street neighborhood of Washington, Thursday, Nov., 13, 2025.

    Trump has never been accused of wrongdoing in connection with Epstein and the mere inclusion of someone’s name in files from the investigation does not imply otherwise. Epstein, who killed himself in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial, also had many prominent acquaintances in political and celebrity circles besides Trump.

    Khanna voiced more modest expectations on the vote count than Massie. Still, Khanna said he was hoping for 40 or more Republicans to join the effort.

    “I don’t even know how involved Trump was,” Khanna said. “There are a lot of other people involved who have to be held accountable.”

    Khanna also asked Trump to meet with those who were abused. Some will be at the Capitol on Tuesday for a news conference, he said.

    Massie said Republican lawmakers who fear losing Trump’s endorsement because of how they vote will have a mark on their record, if they vote “no,” that could hurt their political prospects in the long term.

    “The record of this vote will last longer than Donald Trump’s presidency,” Massie said.

    A MAGA split

    On the Republican side, three Republicans joined with Massie in signing the discharge petition: Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Nancy Mace of South Carolina and Boebert.

    Trump publicly called it quits with Greene last week and said he would endorse a challenger against her in 2026 “if the right person runs.”

    Greene attributed the fallout with Trump as “unfortunately, it has all come down to the Epstein files.” She said the country deserves transparency on the issue and that Trump’s criticism of her is confusing because the women she has talked to say he did nothing wrong.

    “I have no idea what’s in the files. I can’t even guess. But that is the questions everyone is asking, is, why fight this so hard?” Greene said.

    Trump’s feud with Greene escalated over the weekend, with Trump sending out one last social media post about her while still sitting in his helicopter on the White House lawn when he arrived home late Sunday, writing “The fact is, nobody cares about this Traitor to our Country!”

    Even if the bill passes the House, there is no guarantee that Senate Republicans will go along. Massie said he just hopes Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., “will do the right thing.”

    “The pressure is going to be there if we get a big vote in the House,” Massie said, who thinks “we could have a deluge of Republicans.”

    Massie appeared on ABC’s “This Week,” Johnson was on “Fox News Sunday,” Khanna spoke on NBC’s “Meet the Press” and Greene was interviewed on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

    Associated Press writer Michelle L. Price contributed to this report.

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  • Cameron Carr nets 27, as Baylor holds off pesky Tarleton State

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    (Photo credit: Chris Jones-Imagn Images)

    Cameron Carr scored 17 of his 27 points in an efficient first-half, and four other players reached double figures for Baylor, as the Bears defeated Tarleton State 94-81 in Waco, Texas.

    In staking the Bears to a 55-42 lead at the break, Carr made seven of his eight shots from the field, scoring a point per minute as the Bears shot 57.6% as a team.

    Isaac Williams scored 16 for Baylor (3-0), Dan Skillings Jr. contributed 13 points, seven rebounds and five assists, Obi Agbim scored 14 and Tounde Yessoufou added 12.

    Dior Johnson was a constant source of pain for Baylor, keeping Tarleton State (2-3) in the game with a sensational 42 points to lead all scorers.

    The Texans’ Freddy Hicks reached double digits in scoring for the fifth straight game to open the season, scoring 13.

    Carr got going early, scoring five straight at one point to give Baylor a 15-9 advantage 4:45 into the contest.

    The Bears opened up their largest lead in the opening stanza, 48-30, when Carr punctuated a 9-2 run with a slam-and-one, 3-point play with 4:27 left.

    Agbim (11) and Skillings (10) joined Carr in reaching double digits in the first half. Johnson paced the Texans with 14.

    Tarleton State twice got the lead down to single digits early on in the second half, with Johnson cutting it to 65-56 with 13:09 to play on a short jumper.

    Baylor quickly answered with back-to-back 3-pointers from JJ White and Carr to regain control. A Williams’ 3-pointer with 10:14 left gave the Bears their largest lead at 77-58.

    But the Texans remained pesky, twice more getting the margin down to single digits via Johnson scoring plays.

    A Skillings’ 3-pointer with 4:16 left to make it 84-72 essentially shut the door.

    Johnson hit 17 of 24 shots from the floor, 2 of 3 from behind the arc and 6 of 7 from the charity stripe. The junior competed at UCF in 2024-25.

    –Field Level Media

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  • House is poised to approve measure to end longest government shutdown in U.S. history

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    WASHINGTON — The longest government shutdown in U.S. history was poised to come to an end Wednesday as the House finalized a vote on a spending package that President Trump was ready to sign into law as soon as it reached his desk.

    “President Trump looks forward to finally ending this devastating Democrat shutdown with his signature, and we hope that signing will take place later tonight,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a press briefing earlier on Wednesday.

    The president’s signature will mark the end of a government shutdown that for 43 days left thousands of federal workers without pay, millions of low-income Americans uncertain on whether they would receive food assistance, and travelers facing delays at airports.

    The vote, which began Wednesday evening, also was a cap to a frenetic day in Capitol Hill in which lawmakers publicly released a trove of records from Jeffrey Epstein’s estate and welcomed the newest member of Congress, a Democrat from Arizona who was key in forcing a vote to demand the Justice Department release all the Epstein files.

    The spending package, when signed by the president, will fund the government through Jan. 30, 2026, and reinstate federal workers who were laid off during the shutdown. It will also guarantee backpay for federal employees who were furloughed or worked without pay during the budget impasse.

    The package does not include an extension to Affordable Care Act healthcare tax credits that are set to expire at the end of the year — a core demand Democrats tried to negotiate during the seven weeks the government was shut down.

    Ahead of the floor vote, House Democrats were steadfast in their opposition to a deal that did not address the lapsing healthcare subsidies.

    “We are not going to support a partisan Republican spending bill that continues to gut the healthcare of the American people,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said.

    If the tax credits expire, premiums will more than double on average for more than 20 million Americans who use the healthcare marketplace, according to independent analysts at the research firm KFF.

    Another point of contention during the floor debate was a provision in the funding bill that will allow senators to sue the federal government if their phone records are obtained without them being notified.

    The provision, which is retroactive to 2022, appears to be tailored for eight Republican senators who last month found their phone records have been accessed as part of a Biden-era investigation into the attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters on Jan. 6, 2021.

    If they successfully sue, each violation would be worth at least $500,000, according to the bill language.

    Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), one of the senators whose phone records were accessed, said Wednesday he will “definitely” sue when the legal avenue once it becomes available.

    “If you think I’m going to settle this thing for a millions dollars? No. I want to make it so painful, no one ever does this again,” Graham told reporters.

    Several Democrats slammed the provision on the House floor. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York said it was “unconscionable” to vote in favor of the spending bill with that language tucked in.

    “How is this even on the floor? How can we vote to enrich ourselves by stealing from the American people?” she said.

    Some House Republicans were caught off guard by the provision and said they disagreed with the provision. The concern was enough to get Speaker Mike Johnson to announced that House Republicans will plan to fast-track legislation to repeal the provision next week.

    Epstein files loomed large over vote

    The House began voting on the bill after Johnson swore Adelita Grijalva (D-Ariz.) into office, after refusing to do so for seven weeks.

    When Grijalva walked into the House floor and was greeted with applause by colleagues cheering her name, she immediately called out Johnson for delaying her taking the oath of office.

    “One individual should not be able to unilaterally obstruct the swearing in of a dully elected member of Congress for political reasons,” Grijalva said, while equating the decision to “an abuse of power.”

    After finishing her remarks, the Democrat immediately signed a petition to force a House floor vote demanding the full release of the Justice Department’s files on Jeffrey Epstein.

    Her signature was the final action needed to force a floor vote. The move is sure to reignite a pressure campaign to release documents tied to Epstein, just hours after House Democrats and Republicans released a trove of records from the Epstein estate.

    The documents included emails from the late sex trafficker that said Trump had “spent hours” with a victim at his house and Trump “knew about the girls.”

    “Justice cannot wait another day,” Grijalva said.

    In a social media post Wednesday, Trump accused Democrats of trying to use the “Jeffrey Epstein Hoax” as a distraction from their failed negotiations during the government shutdown.

    “There should be no deflections to Epstein or anything else, and any Republicans involved should be focused only on opening our Country, and fixing the massive damage caused by the Democrats!” Trump wrote.

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    Ana Ceballos

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  • Republicans take a victory lap as House gathers to end shutdown

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    WASHINGTON — President Trump and Republican lawmakers took a victory lap on Tuesday after securing bipartisan support to reopen the government, ending the longest shutdown in U.S. history without ceding ground to any core Democratic demands.

    House members were converging on Washington for a final vote expected as early as Wednesday, after 60 senators — including seven Democrats and an independent — advanced the measure on Monday night. Most Democratic lawmakers in the House are expected to oppose the continuing resolution, which does not include an extension of Affordable Care Act tax credits that had been a central demand during the shutdown negotiations.

    The result, according to independent analysts, is that premiums will more than double on average for more than 20 million Americans who use the healthcare marketplace, rising from an average of $888 to $1,904 for out-of-pocket payments annually, according to KFF.

    Democrats in the Senate who voted to reopen the government said they had secured a promise from Majority Leader John Thune, a Republican from South Dakota, that they would get a vote on extending the tax credits next month.

    But the vote is likely to fail down party lines. And even if it earned some Republican support, House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, has made no promises he would give the measure a vote in the lower chamber.

    An end to the shutdown comes at a crucial time for the U.S. aviation industry ahead of one of the busiest travel seasons around the Thanksgiving holiday. The prolonged closure of the federal government led federal employees in the sector to call out sick in large numbers, prompting an unprecedented directive from the Federation Aviation Administration that slowed operations at the nation’s biggest airports.

    Lawmakers are racing to vote before federal employees working in aviation safety miss yet another paycheck this week, potentially extending frustration within their ranks and causing further delays at airports entering the upcoming holiday week.

    It will be the first time the House conducts legislative work in over 50 days, a marathon stretch that has resulted in a backlog of work for lawmakers on a wide range of issues, from appropriations and stock trading regulations to a discharge petition calling for the release of files in the Jeffrey Epstein investigation.

    “We look forward to the government reopening this week so Congress can get back to our regular legislative session,” Johnson told reporters Monday. “There will be long days and long nights here for the foreseeable future to make up for all this lost time that was imposed upon us.”

    To reopen the government, the spending package needs to pass the House, where Republicans hold a slim majority and Democrats have vowed to vote against a deal that does not address healthcare costs.

    Still, Trump and Republican leaders believe they have enough votes to push it through the chamber and reopen the government later in the week.

    Trump has called the spending package a “very good” deal and has indicated that he will sign it once it gets to his desk.

    At a Veterans Day event on Tuesday, Trump thanked Thune and Johnson for their work on their work to reopen the government. Johnson was in the crowd listening to Trump’s remarks.

    “Congratulations to you and to John and to everybody on a very big victory,” Trump said in a speech at Arlington National Cemetery. “We are opening back our country. It should’ve never been closed.”

    While Trump lauded the measure as a done deal, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, the top Democrat in the chamber, said his party would still try to delay or tank the legislation with whatever tools it had left.

    “House Democrats will strongly oppose any legislation that does not decisively address the Republican healthcare crisis,” Jeffries said in a CNN interview Tuesday morning.

    Just like in the Senate, California Democrats in the House are expected to vote against the shutdown deal because it does not address the expiring healthcare subsidies.

    Rep. Nancy Pelosi said the shutdown deal reached in the Senate “fails to meet the needs of America’s working families” and said she stood with House Democratic leaders in opposing the legislation.

    “We must continue to fight for a responsible, bipartisan path forward that reopens the government and keeps healthcare affordable for the American people,” Pelosi said in a social media post.

    California Republicans in the House, meanwhile, have criticized Democrats for trying to stop the funding agreement from passing.

    “These extremists only care about their radical base regardless of the impact to America,” Rep. Ken Calvert of Corona said in a social media post.

    Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-Rocklin) publicly called on Johnson to negotiate with Democrats on healthcare during the shutdown. He said in an interview last month that he thought there was “a lot of room” to address concerns on both sides of the aisle on how to address the rising costs of healthcare.

    Kiley said Monday that he was proposing legislation with Rep. Sam Liccardo (D-San José) that proposed extending the Affordable Care Act tax credits for another two years.

    He said the bill would “stop massive increase in healthcare costs for 22 million Americans whose premium tax credits are about to expire.”

    “Importantly, the extension is temporary and fully paid for, so it can’t increase the deficit,” Kiley said in reference to a frequent concern cited by Republicans that extending the credits would contribute to the national debt.

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    Michael Wilner, Ana Ceballos

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  • Senate approves shutdown deal as Democrats balk at lack of healthcare relief

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    WASHINGTON — The Senate gave final approval Monday night to a deal that could end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, sending it to the House, where Democrats are launching a last-ditch effort to block the measure because it does not address healthcare costs.

    Senators approved the shutdown deal on a 60-40 vote, a day after Senate Republicans reached a deal with eight senators who caucus with Democrats. The movement in the Senate prompted Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) earlier on Monday to urge House members to start making their way back to Washington, anticipating that the chamber will be ready to vote on the bill later in the week.

    The spending plan, which does not include an extension of the Affordable Care Act subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year, has frustrated many Democrats who spent seven weeks pressuring Republicans to extend the tax credits. It would, however, fund the government through January, reinstate federal workers who were laid off during the shutdown and ensure that federal employees who were furloughed receive back pay.

    Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) also promised senators a vote in December that would put lawmakers on record on the healthcare subsidies. Thune said in a speech Monday that he was “grateful that the end is in sight” with the compromise.

    “Let’s get it done, get it over to the House so we can get this government open,” he said.

    Senate Democrats who defected have argued that a December vote on subsidies is the best deal they could get as the minority party, and that forcing vulnerable Republicans in the chamber to vote on the issue will help them win ahead of next year’s midterm elections.

    As the Senate prepared to vote on the deal Monday, Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader of the chamber, continued to reiterate his opposition to what he called a “Republican bill.” Schumer, who has faced backlash from Democrats for losing members of his caucus, said the bill “fails to do anything of substance to fix America’s healthcare crisis.”

    House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) speaks to reporters about the government shutdown.

    (Mariam Zuhaib / Associated Press)

    Thune’s promise to allow a vote in the Senate does not guarantee a favorable outcome for Democrats, who would need to secure Republican votes for passage through the chamber. And the chance to address healthcare costs will be made even harder by Johnson, who has not committed to holding a vote on his chamber in the future.

    “I’m not promising anybody anything,” he said. “I’m going to let the process play out.”

    House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), meanwhile, told reporters that House Democrats will continue to make the case that extending the subsidies is what Americans are demanding from elected officials, and that there is still a fight to be waged in the chamber — even if it is a long shot.

    “What we are going to continue to do as House Democrats is to partner with our allies throughout America is to wage the fight, to stay in the Colosseum,” Jeffries said at a news conference.

    Some Republicans have agreed with Democrats during the shutdown that healthcare costs need to be addressed, but it is unlikely that House Democrats will be able to build enough bipartisan support to block the deal in the chamber.

    Still, Jeffries said the “loudmouths” in the Republican Party who want to do something about healthcare costs have an opportunity to act now that the House is expected to be back in session.

    “They can no longer hide. They can no longer hide,” Jeffries said. “They are not going to be able to hide this week when they return from their vacation.”

    Democrats believed that fighting for an extension of healthcare tax credits, even at the expense of shutting down the government, would highlight their messaging on affordability, a political platform that helped lead their party to victory in elections across the country last week.

    If the tax credits are allowed to lapse at the end of the year, millions of Americans are expected to see their monthly premiums double.

    In California, premiums for federally subsidized plans available through Covered California will soar by 97% on average next year.

    Two men.

    Senate Majority Leader John Thune answers questions Monday about a possible end to the government shutdown after eight members of the Democratic caucus broke ranks and voted with Republicans.

    (J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press)

    California’s U.S. senators, Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla, were among the Democrats who voted against the deal to reopen the government because it did not address healthcare costs.

    “We owe our constituents better than this. We owe a resolution that makes it possible for them to afford healthcare,” Schiff said in a video Sunday night.

    Some Republicans too have warned that their party faces backlash in the midterm elections next year if it doesn’t come up with a more comprehensive health plan.

    “We have always been open to finding solutions to reduce the oppressive cost of healthcare under the unaffordable care act,” Johnson said Monday.

    Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, for one, supported an expeditious vote to reopen the government but insisted on a vote to eliminate language from the spending deal he said would “unfairly target Kentucky’s hemp industry.” His amendment did get a vote and was eventually rejected on a 76-24 vote Monday night.

    With the bill headed to the House, Republicans expect to have the votes to pass it, Johnson said.

    Any piece of legislation needs to be approved by both the Senate and House and be signed by the president.

    Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Monday, President Trump said he would support the legislative deal to reopen the government.

    “We’re going to be opening up our country,” Trump said. “Too bad it was closed, but we’ll be opening up our country very quickly.”

    Trump added that he would abide by a provision that would require his administration to reinstate federal workers who were laid off during the shutdown.

    “The deal is very good,” he said.

    Johnson said he spoke to the president on Sunday night and described Trump as “very anxious” to reopen the government.

    “It’s after 40 days of wandering in the wilderness, and making the American people suffer needlessly, that some Senate Democrats finally have stepped forward to end the pain,” Johnson said. “Our long national nightmare is finally coming to an end, and we’re grateful for that.”

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    Ana Ceballos, Michael Wilner

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  • For California delegation and its staffers, here’s what shutdown life looks like

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    WASHINGTON — Twenty-two days into the government shutdown, California Rep. Kevin Kiley spent an hour of his morning in Washington guiding a group of middle school students from Grass Valley through the empty corridors of the U.S. Capitol.

    Normally, one of his staff members would have led the tour. But the Capitol is closed to all tours during the shutdown, unless the elected member is present. So the schoolchildren from Lyman Gilmore Middle School ended up with Kiley, a Republican from Rocklin, as their personal tour guide.

    “I would have visited with these kids anyway,” Kiley said in his office after the event. “But I actually got to go on the whole tour of the Capitol with them as well.”

    Kiley’s impromptu tour is an example of how members of California’s congressional delegation are improvising their routines as the shutdown drags on and most of Washington remains at a standstill.

    Some are in Washington in case negotiations resume, others are back at home in their districts meeting with federal workers who are furloughed or working without pay, giving interviews or visiting community health centers that rely on tax credits central to the budget negotiations. One member attended the groundbreaking of a flood control project in their district. Others are traveling back and forth.

    “I’ve had to fly back to Washington for caucus meetings, while the opposition, the Republicans, don’t even convene and meet,” Rep. Maxine Waters, a longtime Los Angeles Democrat, said in an interview. “We will meet anytime, anyplace, anywhere, with [House Speaker Mike] Johnson, with the president, with the Senate, to do everything that we can to open up the government. We are absolutely unified on that.”

    The shutdown is being felt across California, which has the most federal workers outside the District of Columbia. Food assistance benefits for millions of low-income Californians could soon be delayed. And millions of Californians could see their healthcare premiums rise sharply if Affordable Care Act subsidies are allowed to expire.

    For the California delegation, the fallout at home has become impossible to ignore. Yet the shutdown is in its fourth week with no end in sight.

    In the House, Johnson has refused to call members back into session and prevented them from doing legislative work. Many California lawmakers — including Kiley, one of the few GOP lawmakers to openly criticize him — have been dismayed by the deadlock.

    “I have certainly emphasized the point that the House needs to be in session, and that canceling a month’s worth of session is not a good thing for the House or the country,” Kiley said, noting that he had privately met with Johnson.

    Kiley, who represented parts of the Sacramento suburbs and Lake Tahoe, is facing political uncertainty as California voters weigh whether to approve Proposition 50 on Nov. 4. The measure would redraw the state’s congressional districts to better favor Democrats, leaving Kiley at risk, even though the Republican says he believes he could still win if his right-leaning district is redrawn.

    The Senate has been more active, holding a series of votes on the floor and congressional hearings with Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi and CIA Director John Ratcliffe. The chamber, however, has been unable to reach a deal to reopen the government. On Thursday, the 23rd day of the shutdown, the Senate failed to advance competing measures that would have paid federal employees who have been working without compensation.

    The Republicans’ plan would have paid active-duty members of the military and some federal workers during the shutdown. Democrats backed a bill that would have paid all federal workers and barred the Trump administration from laying off any more federal employees.

    “California has one of the largest federal workforces in the country, and no federal worker or service member should miss their paychecks because Donald Trump and Republicans refused to come to the table to protect Americans’ health care,” Sen. Alex Padilla said in a statement.

    Working conditions get harder

    The strain on federal employees — including those who work for California’s 54 delegation members — are starting to become more apparent.

    Dozens of them have been working full time without pay. Their jobs include answering phone calls and requests from constituents, setting the schedules for elected officials, writing policy memos and handling messaging for their offices.

    House Speaker Mike Johnson speaks about the shutdown at a news conference Thursday with other Republican House members.

    (Eric Lee / Getty Images)

    At the end of October, House staffers — who are paid on a monthly basis — are expected to miss their first paycheck.

    Some have been quietly told to consider borrowing money from the U.S. Senate Federal Credit Union, which is offering a “government shutdown relief loan program” that includes a no-interest loan of up to $5,000 to be repaid in full after 90 days.

    The mundane has also been disrupted. Some of the cafeterias and coffee carts that are usually open to staffers are closed. The lines to enter office buildings are long because fewer entrances are open.

    The hallways leading to the offices of California’s elected officials are quiet, except for the faint sound of occasional elevator dings. Many of their doors are adorned with signs that show who they blame for the government shutdown.

    “Trump and Republicans shut down the government,” reads a sign posted on the door that leads into Rep. Norma Torres’ (D-Pomona) office. “Our office is OPEN — WORKING for the American people.”

    Rep. Ted Lieu, a Democrat from Torrance, posted a similar sign outside his office.

    A sign is posted outside of the office of Rep. Ted Lieu, a California Democrat, in Washington.

    A sign is posted outside of the office of Rep. Ted Lieu, a California Democrat, in Washington on Wednesday.

    (Ana Ceballos / Los Angeles Times)

    Rep. Vince Fong, a Republican who represents the Central Valley, has been traveling between Washington and his district. Two weeks into the shutdown, he met with veterans from the Central Valley Honor Flight and Kern County Honor Flight to make sure that their planned tour of the Capitol was not disrupted by the shutdown. Like Kiley’s tour with the schoolchildren, an elected member needed to be present for the tour to go on.

    “His presence ensured the tour could continue as planned,” Fong’s office said.

    During the tour, veterans were able to see Johnson as well, his office said.

    Shutdown highlights deep divisions

    California’s congressional delegation mirrors the broader stalemate in Washington, where entrenched positions have kept both parties at a negotiation impasse.

    Democrats are steadfast in their position that they will not agree to a deal unless Republicans extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits expiring at the end of the year, while Republicans are accusing Democrats of failing to reopen the government for political gain.

    Kiley is one of the few Republicans who has called on Johnson to negotiate with Democrats on healthcare. Kiley said he thinks there is a “a lot of room to negotiate” because there is concern on both sides of the aisle if the tax credits expire.

    “If people see a massive increase in their premiums … that’s not a good thing,” he said. “Especially in California, where the cost of living is already so high, and you’re suddenly having to pay a lot more for healthcare.”

    Rep. Robert Garcia, the chair of the House Democratic Caucus, in a press event Wednesday with five other California Democrats talked about the need to fight for the healthcare credits.

    Garcia, of Long Beach, said he recently visited a healthcare center in San Bernardino County that serves seniors with disabilities. He said the cuts would be “devastating” and would prompt the center to close.

    “That’s why we are doing everything in our power to negotiate a deal that reopens the federal government and saves healthcare,” he said.

    As the shutdown continues, many Democrats are digging their heels on the issue.

    At an Oct. 3 event outside of Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, for instance, Rep. Laura Friedman held a news conference with nurses and hospital staff and said she would not vote for a bill to reopen the government unless there is a deal on healthcare.

    Last week, the Glendale Democrat said her position hasn’t changed.

    “I will not support a shutdown deal that strips healthcare from tens of thousands of my constituents,” she said.

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    Ana Ceballos

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  • Commentary: She won a landslide election. But Trump and Jeffrey Epstein have her stuck in limbo

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    Last month, in a special election, voters in southern Arizona chose Adelita Grijalva to succeed her late father in Congress.

    The outcome in the solidly Democratic district was never in doubt. The final tally wasn’t remotely close.

    Grijalva, a Tucson native and former Pima County supervisor, crushed her Republican opponent, 69% to 29%.

    The people spoke, loudly and emphatically, and normally that would have been that. Grijalva would have assumed office by now, allowing her to serve her orphaned constituents by filling a House seat that’s been vacant since her father died in March, after representing portions of Arizona for more than 20 years.

    But these are not normal times. These are times when everything, including the time of day and state of the weather, has become politically charged.

    And so Grijalva is residing in limbo. Or, rather, at her campaign headquarters in Tucson, since she’s been locked out of her congressional office on Capitol Hill — the one her father used, which now has her name on a plaque outside. She’s been denied entry by Speaker Mike Johnson.

    “It’s pretty horrible,” Grijalva said in an interview, “because regardless of whether I have an official office or not, constituents elected me and people are reaching out to me through every social media outlet.

    “‘I have a question,’” they tell Grijalva, or “‘I’m afraid I’m going to get fired’ or ‘We need some sort of assistance.’”

    All she can do is refer them to Arizona’s two U.S. senators.

    House members are scattered across the country during the partial government shutdown and Johnson said he can’t possibly administer the oath of office to Grijalva during a pro forma session, a time when normal business — legislative debate, roll call votes — is not being conducted. “We have to have everybody here,” Johnson said, “and we’ll swear her in.”

    But, lo, dear reader, are you sitting down?

    It turns out there were two Republican lawmakers elected this year in special elections, each, as it happens from Florida. Both were sworn in the very next day … during pro forma sessions!

    Shocked? Don’t be. In the Trump era, rules and standards are applied in flagrantly different ways, depending on which political party is involved.

    But partisanship aside, what possible reason would Johnson have to stall Grijalva’s swearing-in? Here’s a clue: It involves a convicted sex trafficker and former buddy of President Trump, whose foul odor trails him like the reeking carcass of a beached whale.

    Yes, it’s the late Jeffrey Epstein!

    “On my very first day in Congress, I’ll sign the bipartisan discharge petition to force a vote on releasing the Epstein files,” Grijalva said on the eve of her landslide election. “This is as much about fulfilling Congress’ duty as a constitutional check on this administration as it is about demanding justice for survivors.”

    Jeffrey Epstein. Gone but very much unforgotten.

    For years, his perversions have been an obsession among those, mainly on the right, who believe a “deep state” cover-up has protected the rich and powerful who partnered with women procured by Epstein. After Trump’s marionette attorney general, Pam Bondi, suggested a client list was sitting on her desk, awaiting release, the Justice Department abruptly reversed course.

    There was no such list, it announced, and Epstein definitely committed suicide and wasn’t, as the conspiracy-minded suggest, murdered by those wishing to silence him.

    Trump, who palled around with Epstein, urged everyone to move along. Naturally, Johnson fell into immediate lockstep. (Bondi, for her part, tap-danced through a contentious Senate hearing last week, repeatedly sidestepping questions about the Epstein-Trump relationship, including whether photos exist of the president alongside “half-naked young women.”)

    Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie, a GOP lawmaker and persistent Trump irritant, and Democratic California Rep. Ro Khanna have led the bipartisan effort to force the Justice Department to cough up the government’s unclassified records related to Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, his former girlfriend and fellow sex trafficker.

    The discharge petition, overriding the objections of Trump and Johnson and forcing the House to vote on release of the files, needs at least 218 signatures, which constitutes a majority of the 435 members. The petition has been stalled for weeks, just one signature shy of ratification.

    Enter Grijalva.

    Or not.

    Johnson, who may be simply delaying an inevitable House vote to curry Trump’s favor, insists the Epstein matter has “nothing to do with” his refusal to seat Grivalja.

    Righto.

    And planets don’t revolve around the sun, hot air doesn’t rise and gravity doesn’t bring falling leaves to Earth.

    More than 200 Democratic House members have affixed their signatures to the petition, along with four Republicans — Massie and Reps. Lauren Boebert, Nancy Mace and Marjorie Taylor Greene. The latter three are all MAGA stalwarts who have bravely broken ranks with Trump to stand up for truth and the victims of Epstein’s ravages.

    “Aren’t we all against convicted pedophiles and anyone who enables them?” Greene asked in an interview with Axios.

    Most are, one would assume. But apparently not everybody.

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    Mark Z. Barabak

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  • Johnson faces escalating pressure as House GOP prepares for Epstein vote

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    On his first full day back in Washington, House Speaker Mike Johnson sat for hours in a closed-door interview with six women who say they were abused by the late Jeffrey Epstein.Johnson’s presence in the room on the first day of a frenetically busy September on Capitol Hill underscores how significant the issue of Epstein’s past crimes has become within the GOP.Within days, House Republicans are expected to take their first major floor votes on forcing President Donald Trump’s administration to release more records related to the case. And Johnson — like his members — is under intense pressure to meet the base’s demands for transparency without going against the wishes of the president, whose inner circle has attempted to quiet this summer’s political firestorm over Epstein.“The fact that Mike Johnson sat there for two and a half hours — we’re serious about this,” House Oversight Chairman James Comer told reporters after leaving the meeting Tuesday. “We’re going to do everything we can to make this right.”Johnson himself told reporters the testimonials he heard were “heartbreaking and infuriating” and said “there were tears in the room. There was outrage.”Five weeks ago, Johnson and his leadership team had hoped that sending lawmakers home early to their districts for their August recess would defuse tension around the issue. But the return of Congress to Washington showed that the pressure on GOP leaders has only continued to build.That pressure on Republicans will dramatically increase on Wednesday, when Rep. Thomas Massie and his Democratic counterpart in the effort, Rep. Ro Khanna of California, will hold a press conference in which some of Epstein’s survivors are expected to speak publicly for the first time.Massie and Khanna are leading a push to force the full House to vote on a resolution that would require Trump’s Justice Department to turn over all documents related to Epstein or his crimes. Under their maneuver, known as a discharge petition, Massie would need just five more Republicans to force the bill to the floor since every Democrat is expected to sign on.So far, two other Republicans have signaled they’ll support it: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado. Other Republicans who have supported the bill itself — including Reps. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, Eli Crane of Arizona and Tim Burchett of Tennessee — were either noncommittal or suggested they would not support the discharge petition when asked by CNN on Tuesday.The House Oversight Committee has been leading an investigation into Epstein after some Republicans joined with Democrats to compel a subpoena to the Justice Department for records. The panel on Tuesday night released more than 33,000 pages related to the case – all of the subpoenaed documents the panel had obtained earlier this summer.But the public release of information has not stopped the push for more transparency that has ratcheted up the pressure on Johnson. Massie and Democrats said nearly all of those documents had already been made public as part of various court cases and that it did not alter their push for their own Epstein measure.As part of its investigation, the Oversight Committee hosted a meeting on Tuesday with several survivors who are planning to speak at Wednesday’s press conference. In that closed-door meeting, several of them shared chilling stories of abuse. GOP Rep. Nancy Mace, one of the lawmakers in the room who has spoken out about being raped at age 16, left the meeting in tears.Inside the room, one survivor said the women had been told by Epstein that they were disposable and threatened against coming forward, according to a person in the room who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a private meeting. The women were told if they went to police that Epstein had powerful friends, that person said.If the bipartisan Epstein resolution does pass the House, its fate is unclear in the Senate. But it would be an extraordinary move by a GOP-controlled Congress to take against a president of its own party.To prevent such an escalation, Johnson and the White House are attempting to sell their GOP members on an alternative path. They have backed a non-binding resolution that encourages the Oversight Committee’s investigation. And Johnson stressed the importance of the work of that panel, in part by sitting in on one of the sessions himself.“I sat by him in our meeting and listened to his compassion for these survivors. I listened to his questions,” Greene said of Johnson as she left the meeting. “I’ve listened to some of his plans that he has going forward. I do think he’s doing a great job there.”Even so, Greene is one of the three Republicans so far willing to buck her leadership on the discharge petition. She said it was nothing against Johnson personally, but that she decided: “I just think we need to do everything we can to bring it out.”Inside the House GOP conference, some Republicans are privately dreading weeks of questions about the Epstein matter and would rather move onto issues like appropriations, tariffs or Russian sanctions, according to multiple lawmakers and senior aides. But many of those GOP lawmakers also realize that there is a small but vocal faction of their party that is deeply invested in getting more answers on Epstein and that they can’t be seen as dropping the issue.Democrats, meanwhile, are accusing Johnson of attempting to stonewall further investigations in Congress.Rep. Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico told reporters after the meeting that Johnson was advocating that the investigation should remain within the Oversight panel — rather than expanding the probe to include more committees.“In the room with six victims of sexual violence by Jeffrey Epstein, it was suggested by Democrats that this be investigated using the full force of every committee here in Congress. And the speaker ended by saying he didn’t think that was necessary. He’d like to just keep it in the Oversight Committee,” Stansbury said. “That is where the speaker actually chose to end this conversation.”Johnson, speaking after the Tuesday meeting, vowed “transparency” in releasing information to the public, and said that Trump shares the same perspective.“That’s his mindset. And he wants the American people to have information so they can draw their own conclusions. I’ve talked with him about this very subject myself.. He also, just as we do, is insistent that we protect the innocent victims, and that’s what this has been about,” he said.

    WASHINGTON —

    On his first full day back in Washington, House Speaker Mike Johnson sat for hours in a closed-door interview with six women who say they were abused by the late Jeffrey Epstein.

    Johnson’s presence in the room on the first day of a frenetically busy September on Capitol Hill underscores how significant the issue of Epstein’s past crimes has become within the GOP.

    Within days, House Republicans are expected to take their first major floor votes on forcing President Donald Trump’s administration to release more records related to the case. And Johnson — like his members — is under intense pressure to meet the base’s demands for transparency without going against the wishes of the president, whose inner circle has attempted to quiet this summer’s political firestorm over Epstein.

    “The fact that Mike Johnson sat there for two and a half hours — we’re serious about this,” House Oversight Chairman James Comer told reporters after leaving the meeting Tuesday. “We’re going to do everything we can to make this right.”

    Johnson himself told reporters the testimonials he heard were “heartbreaking and infuriating” and said “there were tears in the room. There was outrage.”

    Five weeks ago, Johnson and his leadership team had hoped that sending lawmakers home early to their districts for their August recess would defuse tension around the issue. But the return of Congress to Washington showed that the pressure on GOP leaders has only continued to build.

    That pressure on Republicans will dramatically increase on Wednesday, when Rep. Thomas Massie and his Democratic counterpart in the effort, Rep. Ro Khanna of California, will hold a press conference in which some of Epstein’s survivors are expected to speak publicly for the first time.

    Massie and Khanna are leading a push to force the full House to vote on a resolution that would require Trump’s Justice Department to turn over all documents related to Epstein or his crimes. Under their maneuver, known as a discharge petition, Massie would need just five more Republicans to force the bill to the floor since every Democrat is expected to sign on.

    So far, two other Republicans have signaled they’ll support it: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado. Other Republicans who have supported the bill itself — including Reps. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, Eli Crane of Arizona and Tim Burchett of Tennessee — were either noncommittal or suggested they would not support the discharge petition when asked by CNN on Tuesday.

    The House Oversight Committee has been leading an investigation into Epstein after some Republicans joined with Democrats to compel a subpoena to the Justice Department for records. The panel on Tuesday night released more than 33,000 pages related to the case – all of the subpoenaed documents the panel had obtained earlier this summer.

    But the public release of information has not stopped the push for more transparency that has ratcheted up the pressure on Johnson. Massie and Democrats said nearly all of those documents had already been made public as part of various court cases and that it did not alter their push for their own Epstein measure.

    As part of its investigation, the Oversight Committee hosted a meeting on Tuesday with several survivors who are planning to speak at Wednesday’s press conference. In that closed-door meeting, several of them shared chilling stories of abuse. GOP Rep. Nancy Mace, one of the lawmakers in the room who has spoken out about being raped at age 16, left the meeting in tears.

    Inside the room, one survivor said the women had been told by Epstein that they were disposable and threatened against coming forward, according to a person in the room who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a private meeting. The women were told if they went to police that Epstein had powerful friends, that person said.

    If the bipartisan Epstein resolution does pass the House, its fate is unclear in the Senate. But it would be an extraordinary move by a GOP-controlled Congress to take against a president of its own party.

    To prevent such an escalation, Johnson and the White House are attempting to sell their GOP members on an alternative path. They have backed a non-binding resolution that encourages the Oversight Committee’s investigation. And Johnson stressed the importance of the work of that panel, in part by sitting in on one of the sessions himself.

    “I sat by him in our meeting and listened to his compassion for these survivors. I listened to his questions,” Greene said of Johnson as she left the meeting. “I’ve listened to some of his plans that he has going forward. I do think he’s doing a great job there.”

    Even so, Greene is one of the three Republicans so far willing to buck her leadership on the discharge petition. She said it was nothing against Johnson personally, but that she decided: “I just think we need to do everything we can to bring it out.”

    Inside the House GOP conference, some Republicans are privately dreading weeks of questions about the Epstein matter and would rather move onto issues like appropriations, tariffs or Russian sanctions, according to multiple lawmakers and senior aides. But many of those GOP lawmakers also realize that there is a small but vocal faction of their party that is deeply invested in getting more answers on Epstein and that they can’t be seen as dropping the issue.

    Democrats, meanwhile, are accusing Johnson of attempting to stonewall further investigations in Congress.

    Rep. Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico told reporters after the meeting that Johnson was advocating that the investigation should remain within the Oversight panel — rather than expanding the probe to include more committees.

    “In the room with six victims of sexual violence by Jeffrey Epstein, it was suggested by Democrats that this be investigated using the full force of every committee here in Congress. And the speaker ended by saying he didn’t think that was necessary. He’d like to just keep it in the Oversight Committee,” Stansbury said. “That is where the speaker actually chose to end this conversation.”

    Johnson, speaking after the Tuesday meeting, vowed “transparency” in releasing information to the public, and said that Trump shares the same perspective.

    “That’s his mindset. And he wants the American people to have information so they can draw their own conclusions. I’ve talked with him about this very subject myself.. He also, just as we do, is insistent that we protect the innocent victims, and that’s what this has been about,” he said.

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  • Jayden Hibbert, Atlanta United play Toronto FC to scoreless draw

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    (Photo credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images)

    Goalkeeper Jayden Hibbert made two saves in his second career MLS start, as Atlanta United tied visiting Toronto FC 0-0 on Sunday.

    Sean Johnson made one save for Toronto (5-13-9, 24 points), which posted its third straight draw and saw its winless stretch extended to five straight games. Toronto hasn’t won a match since July 16 against San Diego FC.

    Atlanta (4-12-11, 23 points) mustered just one shot on target and was outshot 12-6 in the tie. Atlanta picked up points by way of a draw for the third time in four games, but hasn’t posted a victory in 11 outings, last beating Orlando City 3-2 on May 28.

    Hibbert, 21, started in place of veteran Brad Guzan, who had allowed 11 goals in the last five games. Hibbert’s only other MLS start came on July 12 in a 1-1 tie against Toronto.

    Atlanta’s first shot on goal came in the 57th minute, as Miguel Almiron’s left-footed attempt from the center of the box was saved by Johnson. Toronto then had a flurry of chances, including Theo Corbeanu’s two shots that were blocked by Enea Mihaj and Pedro Amador in the 58th minute.

    In a scoreless first half, it wasn’t until the 33rd minute that the game saw its first shot on goal, as Toronto’s Maxime Dominguez took a left-footed shot from outside the box that was saved by Hibbert. Each side totaled five shots before halftime, but just the one on goal.

    Atlanta United racked up 17 fouls to Toronto FC’s nine and were issued three yellow cards, all in the second half.

    Atlanta will look to snap its winless skid next Saturday at Nashville SC, while Toronto returns home to host CF Montreal.

    –Field Level Media

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  • L.A. mom charged with murder in death of her 3-month-old baby

    L.A. mom charged with murder in death of her 3-month-old baby

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    A mother from Porter Ranch has been charged with murder in the death of her 3-month-old baby, authorities said Friday.

    Jalyn Simone SmithJermott, 21, faces one count of murder and one felony count of assault on a child causing death, according to the L.A. County district attorney’s office. She is scheduled to be arraigned Monday and faces a maximum sentence of 25 years to life if convicted, prosecutors said.

    Authorities said the baby was found not breathing in his bassinet on Sept. 10 and was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.

    Eric Shannon Johnson, 35, who authorities said is the baby’s father, has also been charged with one felony count of child abuse. He pleaded not guilty Monday and his next court appearance is scheduled for Thursday. If convicted as charged, he faces up to six years in prison.

    “Children, especially babies, depend on their parents and loved ones for care and nurturing. It is a profound betrayal when that trust is shattered,” Dist. Atty. George Gascón said in a statement.

    During Johnson’s arraignment on Monday, prosecutors said that the baby suffered third-degree burns and a 4-inch head fracture in August — causing blood to collect between the skull and the surface of the brain, ABC7 reported. Prosecutors alleged that Johnson failed to seek medical help for the baby due to fear of repercussions from the Department of Children and Family Services, according to the station.

    The case is being prosecuted by the district attorney’s Family Violence Division’s Complex Child Abuse Section and investigated by the Los Angeles Police Department.

    “I want to assure the community that we will prosecute these offenders to the fullest extent of the law,” Gascón said. “We owe it to the victim and to all children who deserve a safe and loving environment.”

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    Clara Harter

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  • #BHM Blessings: All Three Seasons Of The Black Brotherhood Series ‘Johnson’ Are Now Streaming On Hulu

    #BHM Blessings: All Three Seasons Of The Black Brotherhood Series ‘Johnson’ Are Now Streaming On Hulu

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    Source: Johnson

    A TV series starring, created by, and produced by Black men is now streaming on Hulu!

    In honor of Black History Month, Hulu is announcing that it’s continuing to highlight Black stories and storytellers through its refreshed “Black Stories Always” hub throughout February and all year round.

    With that in mind, Johnson, the popular Bounce Network dramedy that focuses on four lifelong best friends, all of whom share the same last name is now streaming all 3 seasons on Hulu.

    As previously reported, the series from co-star and creator Deji LaRay, tells the story of four friends navigating love, friendship, heartbreak, and personal growth together.

    Together the characters; Greg (Deji Laray), Omar (Thomas Q. Jones), Keith (Philip Smithey), and Jarvis (Derrex Brady) share similar experiences and confront and find humor in controversial social issues from the Black Man’s perspective, ranging from fatherhood, classism, and the “ever-evolving” relationship dynamics between Black men and women.

    The show also stars D.L. Hughley, Terri J. Vaughn, Khalilah Joi, and Earthquake, with guest appearances by co-producer, Cedric The Entertainer.

     

    Johnson is produced in partnership with Eric C. Rhone and Cedric The Entertainer’s A Bird & A Bear Entertainment as well as Deji LaRay (the show’s creator), and Thomas Q. Jones’ Midnight Train Productions. LaRay and Jones serve as showrunners and executive producers; Rhone, Cedric The Entertainer, and Reesha L. Archibald serve as executive producers.

     



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    Danielle Canada

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  • The 2024 Movie Auction. Plus: Jake Johnson!

    The 2024 Movie Auction. Plus: Jake Johnson!

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    Sean, Amanda, and Chris gather to auction draft the movies they’re most excited for in 2024, including both Zendaya vehicles, Dune Part 2 and Challengers; Bong Joon-ho’s Mickey 17; Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis; and more (1:00). Then, Sean is joined by first-time feature director Jake Johnson to talk about his movie Self Reliance (1:17:00) and how he views it as fitting in the larger arc of his career on and off the screen.

    Hosts: Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins
    Guests: Chris Ryan and Jake Johnson
    Senior Producer: Bobby Wagner

    Subscribe: Spotify / Apple Podcasts / Stitcher / RSS

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    Sean Fennessey

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  • Scottie Scheffler: World No 1 named PGA Tour Player of the Year for second consecutive season

    Scottie Scheffler: World No 1 named PGA Tour Player of the Year for second consecutive season

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    Scottie Scheffler has been voted PGA Tour player of the year over Masters champion Jon Rahm; a new season of golf begins on Thursday with The Sentry – live on Sky Sports Golf from 6pm on Thursday

    Last Updated: 03/01/24 7:54pm

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    Scottie Scheffler explained that he was thankful and relieved to win the 2023 Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass but added he was very tired following the tournament

    Scottie Scheffler explained that he was thankful and relieved to win the 2023 Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass but added he was very tired following the tournament

    Scottie Scheffler has been named PGA Tour Player of the Year as he won the Jack Nicklaus Award for a second consecutive year.

    Scheffler is the first player to win Player of the Year honours in back-to-back seasons since Tiger Woods won the award in three straight years from 2005-2007.

    The 27-year-old won twice during the 2022-23 season, successfully defending his title at the WM Phoenix Open and winning The Players Championship by five strokes.

    In 23 starts, Scheffler recorded 13 top-fives and 17 top-10s, both high marks for any player in a single season on the tour since 2005.

    He also set the PGA Tour record for most Official Money earned in a single season at $21,014,342, breaking his own record set last season ($14,046,910).

    The Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year awards are determined by a member vote, with PGA Tour members who played in at least 15 official FedExCup events during the 2022-23 season eligible to vote.

    Scheffler received 38 per cent of the vote for the Jack Nicklaus Award and was selected over four other nominees: Wyndham Clark, Viktor Hovland, Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm.

    Scottie Scheffler sunk a 20ft putt to win the 2023 Players Championship to return to the top of the world rankings

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    Scottie Scheffler sunk a 20ft putt to win the 2023 Players Championship to return to the top of the world rankings

    Scottie Scheffler sunk a 20ft putt to win the 2023 Players Championship to return to the top of the world rankings

    Eric Cole, the only rookie to advance to the 2023 BMW Championship, has been announced as the PGA Tour Rookie of the Year, receiving the Arnold Palmer Award.

    Cole recorded two runner-up finishes on the season, including the 2023 Cognizant Classic (lost in a play-off) and the 2023 Zozo Championship.

    Cole received 51 per cent of the vote for the Arnold Palmer Award and was selected over three other nominees: Ludvig Åberg, Nico Echavarria and Vincent Norrman.

    New season of golf begins on Thursday

    The 2024 PGA Tour season begins with The Sentry from January 4-7, held on the Plantation Course at Kapalua, Hawaii – live on Sky Sports Golf with the first round starting at 6pm.

    World No 1 Scheffler leads the field which includes Team Europe Ryder Cup stars Viktor Hovland, Matt Fitzpatrick, Ludvig Aberg, Tyrrell Hatton, Tommy Fleetwood and Justin Rose.

    Watch the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and all of the majors in 2024 exclusively live on Sky Sports. Stream the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, LPGA Tour and more with a NOW Sports Month Membership – just £21 a month for six months.

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  • Rory McIlroy concedes ‘mistake’ in being ‘too judgemental’ of initial players who joined LIV Golf

    Rory McIlroy concedes ‘mistake’ in being ‘too judgemental’ of initial players who joined LIV Golf

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    “I was probably judgemental of the guys that went at the start and I think that was a bit of a mistake on my part,” concedes Rory McIlroy; McIlroy hopes “this division” in golf ends soon amid continuing extended talks between established tours and Saudi’s PIF over framework agreement

    Last Updated: 03/01/24 11:42am

    Rory McIlroy has expressed regret at being “too judgemental” on the tranche of players who initially defected to LIV Golf.

    McIlroy, who had been initially outspoken in his criticism of the players who joined the Saudi-funded series in 2022, admitted he “basically went through the last two years with this altruistic approach of looking at the world in the way I’ve wanted to see” but had now “accepted reality” and that LIV is “part of our sport now”.

    “I was probably judgemental of the guys that went at the start and I think that was a bit of a mistake on my part because I now realise not everyone’s in my position or in Tiger [Woods]’ position,” McIlroy told the Stick to Football podcast with Sky Bet.

    “You get this offer and what do you do?

    “We all turned professional to make a living playing the sports that we do and I think that’s what I realised over the past two years, I can’t judge people for making that decision.

    “So if I regret anything it was probably being too judgemental at the start.”

    Asked how his relationship was with the players who had switched from the established tours, McIlroy replied: “Most things are cool, the one thing that has bothered me is I think we have all grown up and played on European Tour, PGA Tour and that has given us a platform to turn in to who we have and give us the profile.

    Rory McIlroy say its 'certainly strange' not having Ryder Cup veterans Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter around and it'll really hit them this week.

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    Rory McIlroy say its ‘certainly strange’ not having Ryder Cup veterans Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter around and it’ll really hit them this week.

    Rory McIlroy say its ‘certainly strange’ not having Ryder Cup veterans Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter around and it’ll really hit them this week.

    “So when people have played that for, say, 15 or 20 years and then they jump to LIV and then they just start talking cr** about where they’ve come from, that’s what bothers me because you wouldn’t be in this position if you didn’t have what you had coming up.”

    McIlroy added: “I don’t begrudge anyone for going and taking that money and doing something different but don’t try and burn the place down on your way out.

    “That’s sort of my attitude towards it because some people are happy playing in the existing structure, and that’s totally fine too. But I think it’s just created this division that hopefully will stop in the near future because I think it’s the best thing for golf.”

    Relive Rory McIlroy's two wins, which saw him claim a fifth Race to Dubai title, and his starring role in Europe's Ryder Cup triumph.

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    Relive Rory McIlroy’s two wins, which saw him claim a fifth Race to Dubai title, and his starring role in Europe’s Ryder Cup triumph.

    Relive Rory McIlroy’s two wins, which saw him claim a fifth Race to Dubai title, and his starring role in Europe’s Ryder Cup triumph.

    The 34-year-old, a four-time major winner and current world No 2, said he had “never had an offer” from LIV to switch himself.

    “I just didn’t engage,” he added. “At this point I’ve pretty much set my stall out.”

    More to follow…

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