Morning Announcements

Today’s Headlines: Billionaire retail mogul Les Wexner testified before Congress about his ties to Jeffrey Epstein — but instead of appearing on Capitol Hill, lawmakers traveled to his Ohio mansion, where the 88-year-old was deposed with family members present. Notably, no Republicans on the House Oversight Committee showed up. Wexner, who once granted Epstein power of attorney, said he was “naive...

Today’s Headlines: New Mexico has approved a bipartisan “truth commission” to investigate alleged sexual abuse and trafficking at Jeffrey Epstein’s Zorro Ranch near Santa Fe. The commission will have subpoena power, a $2 million budget funded by a Deutsche Bank settlement, and will operate through 2026. Meanwhile, Epstein’s former benefactor Les Wexner is set to testify before the House Oversight...

Today’s Headlines: The fallout from the Jeffrey Epstein files escalated after the Department of Justice released a letter signed by Deputy AG Todd Blanche outlining redactions and listing “politically exposed” names — mostly celebrities and public figures already publicly referenced. Attorney General Pam Bondi said no additional files will be released, despite reports that millions of pages remain...

Today’s Headlines: Early voting is officially underway for North Carolina’s March 3 Senate primary — your reminder that primary season is here and checking your state’s election dates is now mandatory civic behavior. The timing matters, because Washington is doing the most: the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is likely to shut down after Senate Democrats blocked a funding bill that didn’t in...

Today’s Headlines: Attorney General Pam Bondi’s House Oversight testimony devolved into a chaotic shouting match, yielding few answers about the DOJ’s handling of the Epstein files. Bondi repeatedly deflected, bizarrely citing stock market highs as a more appropriate topic, and accused Rep. Thomas Massie of having “Trump Derangement Syndrome.” The most notable takeaway: Bondi appeared to confirm t...

Today’s Headlines: Congress is scrambling to keep up with Europe’s Epstein accountability push. Rep. Ro Khanna publicly named six men he says were “likely incriminated” in the Epstein files, including retail billionaire Les Wexner, UAE hotel developer Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, an Italian politician, a Russian author, a former NYPD detective tied to an escort ring, and one largely unknown figure. L...

Today’s Headlines: Ghislaine Maxwell invoked the Fifth during her House Oversight testimony, but her attorney said she would testify publicly if President Donald Trump grants her a pardon — claiming she could conveniently clear both Trump and Bill Clinton. The White House says a pardon isn’t being discussed “at this time,” which is doing a lot of work. Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie were allowe...

Today’s Headlines: This weekend was a lot. The Seattle Seahawks won the Super Bowl, the Winter Olympics kicked off in Milan, and Vice President JD Vance managed to make himself the main character by getting booed at the opening ceremony and delaying U.S. figure skater Alysa Liu with his massive motorcade — after reportedly flying a plane full of food to Italy, of all places. Embarrassing, but not...

Today’s Headlines: The Epstein files continue to ripple outward. Hillary and Bill Clinton are pushing back on House Republicans by agreeing to testify about Epstein only if the hearing is public, after being subpoenaed for a closed-door session. House Oversight Chair James Comer wants the testimony recorded but not publicly aired, while Epstein’s longtime benefactor Les Wexner is expected to give...

Today’s Headlines: While U.S. officials continue to shrug at the Epstein files, Europe is once again doing the most. Lithuanian prosecutors announced a human trafficking investigation after reviewing information tied to the Epstein documents, citing connections to Lithuanian models and artists and urging potential victims to come forward. Back stateside, DHS said it will pull 700 federal immigrati...

Today’s Headlines: Europe was unusually productive yesterday. French authorities raided Twitter’s Paris offices as part of a cybercrime investigation, summoned Elon Musk and former CEO Linda Yaccarino (voluntarily, lol), and announced France is ditching Zoom and Microsoft Teams in favor of its own platform. Spain followed up by unveiling plans to crack down on social media algorithms and hold tech...

Today’s Headlines: The Wall Street Journal reported that a whistleblower complaint about Tulsi Gabbard is considered so sensitive it’s been locked away by an inspector general for eight months due to concerns it could cause “grave damage to national security,” even as Gabbard has remained in her role. The report landed just days after her unusual involvement in an FBI raid on a Georgia election of...

Today’s Headlines: The federal government is currently shut down after Congress failed to pass a spending bill by Friday’s deadline, though Speaker Mike Johnson claims the shutdown could end as soon as tomorrow. Even so, the funding lapse barely registered amid a flood of other major news. On Friday morning, journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort were arrested following their coverage of an anti-I...

Today’s Headlines: Democrats and the White House cut a last-minute deal to stop a government shutdown, temporarily boosting ICE funding while they argue over whether the agency should at least identify itself. The deal keeps most of the government running through September. ICE says it’s “drawing down” operations in Minnesota, but the damage is already done. Lawmakers visited a Texas detention fac...

Today’s Headlines: Secretary of State Marco Rubio testified before the Senate this week, defending the administration’s so-called “non–regime change” operation in Venezuela while calling the abduction of Nicolás Maduro a “strategic necessity.” Rubio said Trump doesn’t currently plan further military action but refused to rule it out, warning that Venezuela’s transition will be slow despite what he...

Today’s Headlines: U.S. immigration enforcement is under intense scrutiny after another person was shot and critically injured during a Border Patrol–involved incident in southern Arizona. Details remain limited, with officials declining to identify the victim or explain how the shooting unfolded. Meanwhile in Minnesota, Rep. Ilhan Omar was attacked during a town hall after a man lunged at her and...

Today’s Headlines: The Trump administration is facing growing bipartisan backlash over aggressive ICE enforcement following recent shootings in Minnesota. Texas Governor Greg Abbott said the federal government needs to “recalibrate” its approach, while Republican Minnesota gubernatorial candidate Chris Madel dropped out of the race, calling the immigration operation an “unmitigated disaster” and c...

Today’s Headlines: Things escalated fast in Minnesota this weekend after ICE officers fatally shot 37-year-old Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse and veterans’ affairs worker, during a chaotic confrontation caught on multiple videos. Witnesses say Pretti was directing traffic and filming on his phone while trying to help someone else, and that his legally owned firearm had already been taken by agents befo...

Today’s Headlines: At Davos, Trump hosted the signing of his new “Board of Peace,” a pay-to-play lineup including Belarus, Hungary, Egypt, Qatar, and Kazakhstan, with countries reportedly paying about $1 billion to join. Several European nations declined, warning the board looks like an attempt to sideline the UN. Jared Kushner also floated a vague, zone-based plan for rebuilding Gaza. Back home,...

Today’s Headlines: President Donald Trump remains in Davos, where he delivered an 80-minute speech packed with familiar grievances, questionable claims — including that “Canada lives because of the United States” — and repeatedly mixed up Iceland and Greenland. For now, he’s pulled back threats of military action and additional tariffs on Europe, claiming instead that he’s reached a vague “framewo...

Today’s Headlines: President Donald Trump kicked off a fresh round of global chaos with late-night posts about the U.S. taking over Greenland, plus screenshots of flattering texts from French President Emmanuel Macron and NATO’s Mark Rutte. The posts landed as world leaders gathered in Davos, where Canada’s Prime Minister warned the global order is facing a “rupture, not a transition.”  Macron lat...

Today’s Headlines: Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado visited the White House and handed Donald Trump a symbolic Nobel Peace Prize — only to walk away with Trump merch, zero U.S. backing, and confirmation that the administration will continue supporting remnants of the Maduro regime. The Nobel Foundation quickly clarified that Nobel Prizes can’t be transferred, even symbolically. Tr...

Today’s Headlines: President Donald Trump claims Iran has stopped killing protesters and is reportedly delaying potential U.S. military strikes after warnings from Israel and other allies. Instead, the administration announced new sanctions targeting Iran’s Supreme National Security Council chief and 18 others tied to its shadow banking network. The U.S. Coast Guard seized a sixth oil tanker accus...

Today’s Headlines: We’re starting in Iran, where airspace has been shut down as the US appears to be preparing for a possible strike — even though Trump says (with zero real verification) that the regime has stopped killing protesters. The internet remains mostly offline, US troops are being evacuated from bases across the Middle East, and Iran is threatening retaliation if Trump gives the green l...

Today’s Headlines: Six federal prosecutors in Minnesota resigned after the DOJ pushed them to investigate the widow of Renee Good — while still refusing to treat the ICE officer who killed Good as a civil rights case. The DOJ is now probing alleged ties between Good’s wife and local ICE protest groups, a move prosecutors called a blatant inversion of justice. At the same time, Rep. Jamie Raskin is...