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      Protests in Charlotte as aggressive immigration arrests continue

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      Aggressive arrests by federal immigration agents continued in Charlotte on Monday after a weekend sweep in which authorities said they detained a total of at least 130 people in North Carolina’s largest city, as protests picked up.North Carolina’s governor, Josh Stein, on Monday warned that the crackdown was simply “stoking fear” and resulting in severe disruption.The Trump administration on Saturday sent border patrol agents to Charlotte to enhance operations by Customs and Immigration Enforcement.The White House has argued that its latest focus on the Democratic-run city of about 950,000 people is an effort to combat crime but the enforcement has been met with fierce objections from local leaders – amid declining crime rates in the city.Many residents were additionally outraged when there was a flurry of reported encounters with immigration agents near churches, apartment complexes and stores over the weekend, chasing and arresting people as part of anti-immigration measures but which included some US citizens.“We’ve seen masked, heavily armed agents in paramilitary garb driving unmarked cars, targeting American citizens based on their skin color, racially profiling and picking up random people in parking lots and off of our sidewalks,” Stein, a Democrat, said in a video statement late on Sunday.“This is not making us safer. It’s stoking fear and dividing our community.”Similarly, Charlotte mayor Vi Lyles said on Monday that she is “deeply concerned with many of the videos I’ve seen,” adding: “I urge all agencies operating here to conduct their work with respect for those values.“We are actively working with our partners to determine what more we can do to support our community while working within complicated legal boundaries,” Lyles continued.Over the weekend, a coalition of Muslim-American groups led by the Council on American-Islamic Relations issued a public warning to residents, saying: “We urge all our community members to stay safe during these times, especially as mosques and community spaces may be targeted.“Our city is strengthened by families who contribute to its neighborhoods, schools, businesses, and houses of worship. Charlotte, and North Carolina as a whole, has long been shaped by newcomers, and we refuse to allow anyone, local or national, to use xenophobia or Islamophobia to divide us or make our neighbors feel unsafe,” the coalition added.The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that border patrol officers had arrested “over 130 illegal aliens who have all broken” immigration laws.The agency said the records of those arrested included gang membership, aggravated assault, shoplifting and other crimes, but it did not say how many of such cases had resulted in convictions, how many people had been facing charges or any other details.Stein acknowledged that it was a stressful time, but he called on residents to stay peaceful. If people see something they feel is wrong, they should record it and report it to local law enforcement, the governor said.The homeland security department, which oversees Customs and Border Protection (CBP), has said it is focusing on North Carolina because of so-called sanctuary policies, which limit cooperation between local authorities and immigration agents.Meanwhile, North Carolina’s Republican party hailed the operations, with chairperson Jason Simmons saying: “Border Patrol is in Charlotte for one reason: the need is real.”He went on to point the blame at Democrats, saying: “When local Democrats – who control all aspects of local government – refuse to enforce the law, federal agencies have no choice but to step in and protect this community. This is no political stunt.”North Carolina’s Democratic representative Deborah Ross pushed back against claims that the operations are being conducted for the sake of public safety, saying: “The Trump administration is sowing fear in our communities. They are targeting people based on the color of their skin and the languages they speak. This is not public safety.”Echoing Ross was Roy Cooper, the state’s former Democratic governor who said: “Randomly sweeping up people based on what they look like, including American citizens and those with no criminal records, risks leaving violent criminals at large while hurting families and the economy.”Several North Carolina county jails honor “detainers”, or requests from federal officials to hold an arrested immigrant until agents can take custody of them. But Mecklenburg county, which includes Charlotte, does not.Also, the city’s police department does not help with immigration enforcement. The DHS alleged that about 1,400 detainers across North Carolina had not been honored and claimed this was putting the public at risk.US courts have repeatedly upheld the legality of sanctuary laws.On Saturday, some normally bustling commercial districts were described as being at a standstill as shoppers stayed home to avoid possible encounters with ICE or border patrol agents seeking undocumented residents to arrest.Manolo Betancur, owner of Manolo’s Bakery, a Latino-run bakery operating in Charlotte since 1997, closed his business temporarily because he said immigration enforcement officers were targeting customers.Some welcomed the Trump administration’s effort, however, including the Mecklenburg county Republican party chairman, Kyle Kirby, who said in a post on Saturday that the county GOP “stands with the rule of law – and with every Charlottean’s safety first”.The Associated Press contributed reporting More

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      What are the Jeffrey Epstein files, and will more be released?

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      Tens of thousands of documents have been released by members of Congress related to Jeffrey Epstein, the child sexual abuser, that shed light on his communications with and about powerful people, including the president.Last week, Democratic members of Congress released three emails pertaining to Trump and Epstein, then Republican members released more than 20,000 emails.But the issue is not over – and more documents could be coming soon.Trump has now reversed course on releasing the files, calling on the US House to vote on Tuesday to force the justice department to release more Epstein documents. He has previously fought against the idea and referred to the issue as the “Epstein hoax”.While campaigning, Trump said he would release the so-called “Epstein files”, the documents about criminal investigations into his former friend, who died in jail by hanging in 2019. But since taking office, Trump has appeared to have broken that promise, rankling ardent Maga allies who have spent years calling for the documents’ release.Epstein knew powerful people of all political persuasions and counted them as friends. Releasing the documents has become a rallying cry to reveal more details about Epstein, including how he made his money, and the extent of involvement by those who supported him in his criminal activity, especially those with wealth and political sway.Earlier in July, the US justice department said it would not be releasing more documents, saying it could harm victims and insisting there was not a “client list”.The refusal to release documents has roiled the right, with some Republicans pushing strongly to compel the files to be public as others downplayed the issue or sided with Trump. Democrats have seized on the schism, calling for Congress to compel the release of the documents and calling out Trump’s hypocrisy.What are the ‘files’? What kinds of documents?The federal government has a “truckload” of documents from and about Epstein related to his criminal cases, according to reported comments of Pam Bondi, the US attorney general. This includes his flight logs for private planes and contacts, which is sometimes referred to as his “black book” – which has already been publicly posted online.A memo released by the justice department in July said the agency searched through its databases, hard drives and physical areas to find Epstein-related information, locating “more than 300 gigabytes of data and physical evidence”.Within those files were images and videos of Epstein and his victims, some of whom are minors, and more than 10,000 downloaded videos and images of “illegal child sex abuse material and other pornography”.Some documents related to Epstein are under court-ordered seals. For instance, a federal judge this week denied a request from the justice department to unseal grand jury transcripts in a south Florida criminal investigation. Some of those that were once sealed have been unsealed, including some unsealed in early 2024 that identified names of people included in depositions and motions who previously were listed as John Does.“Much of the material is subject to court-ordered sealing,” the justice department memo said. “Only a fraction of this material would have been aired publicly had Epstein gone to trial, as the seal served only to protect victims and did not expose any additional third parties to allegations of illegal wrongdoing.”There are also serious concerns about identifying victims if some documents are released. The department said Epstein had harmed more than 1,000 victims, some minors, all of whom “suffered unique trauma”.“Sensitive information relating to these victims is intertwined throughout the materials. This includes specific details such as victim names and likenesses, physical descriptions, places of birth, associates, and employment history,” the memo said.Is there a ‘client list’?In its memo, the department says there was no “client list”, despite it being a longtime claim and rallying call for those embedded in the Epstein case, especially on the right.“There was also no credible evidence found that Epstein blackmailed prominent individuals as part of his actions,” the memo says. “We did not uncover evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties.”Julie K Brown, an investigative journalist with the Miami Herald who has been uncovering the Epstein case for years, said earlier this year that there was “no Jeffrey Epstein client list. Period. It’s a figment of the internet’s imagination – and a means to just slander people.”In an interview with the Atlantic, Brown said the list idea was a “red herring” that seems to have been born out of a phone directory Epstein’s girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, compiled, often referred to as the “black book”. People such as Trump and other celebrities were in the directory, but so were Epstein’s gardeners, barbers and others, Brown said.What has Trump said about the files?After Epstein’s death by suicide, Trump shared a tweet that claimed the Clintons were involved in his death. He also told reporters at the time that he had questions about whether Bill Clinton went to Epstein’s infamous island.While campaigning for the 2024 election, Trump said, when asked, that he would declassify the Epstein files, though he prioritized them below files about September 11 and the John F Kennedy assassination. “You don’t want to affect people’s lives if there’s phoney stuff in there, because there’s a lot of phoney stuff with that whole world,” he said then.Bondi said earlier this year that the justice department would be releasing a list of Epstein’s clients, telling Fox News that it was “sitting on my desk right now to review” – though she later said she was talking about case files and not a client list. The department released some information, dubbed a “first phase of files”, to rightwing influencers, though those files did not contain much new information.Trump has grown increasingly angry at those calling for the files to be released, and dismissed the entire controversy as “boring” and a “hoax”, something that “nobody cares about”.“I have had more success in 6 months than perhaps any President in our Country’s history, and all these people want to talk about, with strong prodding by the Fake News and the success starved Dems, is the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax,” he wrote on Truth Social on 16 July.On 16 November, Trump said the files should be released.“House Republicans should vote to release the Epstein files, because 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, including our recent Victory on the Democrat ‘Shutdown,’” he wrote on Truth Social.Is Trump named in the files?Yes. Trump is known to be a one-time friend of Epstein’s. His name’s inclusion in the documents does not mean he was a party to any of Epstein’s criminal activity.Documents released by Democratic members of the House oversight committee included an email from Epstein to Trump biographer Michael Wolff in which Epstein said of Trump: “Of course, he knew about the girls as he asked Ghislaine to stop.” In another, he called Trump the “dog that hasn’t barked”.Epstein emailed people about Trump regularly, usually derogatorily. “I have met some very bad people,” he wrote in one email. “None as bad as Trump. Not one decent cell in his body.”What questions could these files help answer?There are many legitimate questions that the files could shed light on about Epstein and his circle.How Epstein made his money is still of much interest, as is how he financed his extensive sex-trafficking operation. Often referred to as a financier, he had vast wealth, owning expensive real-estate including two private islands, and a private jet.Ron Wyden, the Democratic senator from Oregon who is the ranking Democrat on the Senate finance committee, told the New York Times that four major banks had “flagged more than $1.5bn in transactions – including thousands of wire transfers for the purchase and sale of artwork for rich friends, fees paid to Mr Epstein by wealthy individuals, and payments to numerous women”.Questions still swirl over potential ties to the intelligence community. Bondi told reporters: “To him being an agent, I have no knowledge about that. We can get back to you on that.” The former Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett denied Epstein was an Israeli agent, a frequent claim made without evidence. “The accusation that Jeffrey Epstein somehow worked for Israel or the Mossad running a blackmail ring is categorically and totally false,” Bennett said.And suspicion over the manner of Epstein’s death is still in the mix. The justice department released an 11-hour video of jail footage in the hours before and after his death, though there seems to be almost three minutes of footage missing, leading to further scrutiny. Bondi has said that missing footage is because the Bureau of Prisons was resetting video.There is also much to be discovered on how Epstein was able to evade justice for so long. Brown, the Miami Herald reporter, told the Atlantic her “one nagging question” goes back to 2008, when the justice department decided not to fully go after Epstein after local and state authorities first were looking into his crimes.“Who were the people behind that in the beginning?” Brown said. “Because if they had done their jobs, of all these people in 2006, 2007, and 2008 – if all those people working for us, the American public, had done their jobs, we wouldn’t be sitting here right now. A lot of those victims would’ve never been victimized.” More

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      Trump is turning the US military into a political prop | Jan-Werner Müller

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      Of all the reasons Americans have been losing sleep recently – hunger, canceled flights, Democrats betraying them – the most ominous has to do with an institution usually absent from discussions about the fate of our democracy: the military. No need to be starry-eyed about US imperialism and what has long been criticized as an ever-expanding “national security state”; one can still appreciate that it is a good thing if generals do not take sides in politics – just ask anyone from the many countries around the world where they do. But a pattern is becoming clear: Donald Trump is purging the higher ranks based on his prejudices and demands for loyalty; the military is being turned into a partisan instrument and a political prop; more dangerous still, the president is instilling the logic of impunity that has come to characterize his entire approach to governance.Figures deemed too close to Trump critics, such as Gen Mark Milley, have seen promotions delayed or canceled; those targeted by far-right influencers might face professional backlash. Trump used Maga-fied soldiers as background to a Fort Bragg speech, violating longstanding norms against instrumentalizing state institutions for partisan purposes. Every violation becomes a test of who will be loyal: critics – the potentially disloyal – will identify themselves.With every illegal order, such as attacking boats in the Caribbean, he manages to have those who carry them out compromise themselves morally and potentially render themselves liable for criminal prosecution, thereby generating an incentive for members of the military to make sure Trumpists stay in power. At the same time, prominent pardons – most recently of those trying to steal the 2020 election – establish the promise of impunity. As plenty of observers have pointed out, under Trump, law will protect the Maga faithful but will not bind them; those declared the president’s enemies will be bound by the law, but not be protected by it. It is not an accident that Pete Hegseth’s first 15 minutes of fame consisted of passionate pleas on Fox to let those accused of war crimes go unpunished.Hegseth has carried the primacy of the performative from TV into the Pentagon. Just think of his self-branding through dress and over-the-top speeches littered with alliterations – suggesting that words drive thinking, as opposed to thinking leading to choosing the right words (most prominently, there is “lethality” having to replace “legality”). The great 18th-century writer and feminist Mary Wollstonecraft drew a surprising parallel between stereotypes about women and a certain type of soldier in standing (and largely underemployed) armies. She observed that soldiers might acquire manners before morals: “Like the fair sex, the business of their life is gallantry. They were taught to please, and they only live to please.”The point is not that Hegseth’s ideal soldiers are effeminate; rather, it is that the song and dance about a “warrior ethos” is pure made-for-TV-affectation, as if hand-to-hand combat were the essence of 21st-century warfare. Central Command becomes subject to the logic of “central casting” (Trump’s own words when looking at the officers Hegseth assembled in Virginia in September). The Prussian general Carl von Clausewitz’s memorable dictum that war is the continuation of politics by other means is replaced with something like “war is the continuation of fitness and fashion by other means” (as Hegseth made it a priority to remove personnel deemed fat).Yet sending soldiers into Democratic cities should not be dismissed as purely performative. It serves to normalize the image of soldiers on the street; it blurs the distinction between military and civilian life, and, as the Israeli scholar Avishay Ben Sasson-Gordis has argued, it sends a message that citizens can be treated as enemies. In the process, it is also becoming increasingly unclear which uniformed personnel belong to which unit and who is really authorized to do what, since the Pentagon and homeland security are explicitly encouraged to be in “lockstep” as part of a shared “homeland mission”. Trump is merging everyone into something the political scientist Dan Moynihan terms the “omniforce”, the kind of omnipresent army, combined with what James Madison called an “overgrown executive”, which the American founders rightly dreaded.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionThe effect is twofold: impunity is made more likely, since those who cannot be identified will not be held accountable, and the omniforce will feel like Trump’s personal creation and loyal guard (as one investigation revealed, at least six of Trump’s political appointees now live in military housing). The image of Trump as padrone was reinforced by his trying to grab funds appropriated by Congress for other purposes in order to pay soldiers during the shutdown – not to speak of having a pro-regime oligarch fund the military with private wealth. Other aspiring autocrats have made similar moves, though at a much smaller scale: Viktor Orbán has instituted a special counter-terror unit, headed by his former bodyguard and aide, that is widely seen as primarily loyal to the Hungarian prime minister.Many remember the great democratization wave of the 1970s and 1980s, forgetting how easily things might have turned out differently. We are often oblivious to how critical the role of the military was in transitions to democracy. Not only because juntas were willing to relinquish power but also because individuals made the right moral choice. Augusto Pinochet, after losing a plebiscite in 1988, had been ready to declare an emergency and keep himself in power by force. One general, Fernando Matthei, rejected the plan and told journalists that Pinochet had lost the plebiscite. The US is not Chile, but the question of what those in uniform will do in pivotal moments for democracy is, alas, becoming more relevant by the day.

      Jan-Werner Müller is a Guardian US columnist and a professor of politics at Princeton University More

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      US attacks another alleged drug boat in Pacific, killing three, as Trump signals possible talks with Maduro

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      The United States conducted another attack on an alleged drug trafficking boat in the eastern Pacific on Saturday, killing three people aboard, the Pentagon said on Sunday.“Intelligence confirmed that the vessel was involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, transiting along a known narco-trafficking route, and carrying narcotics,” the US Southern Command announced in a post on social media.It came as Donald Trump said the US may open talks with Nicolas Maduro, the Venezuelan president, who faces escalating pressure from Washington amid a huge US military buildup in the Caribbean.“We may be having some discussions with Maduro, and we’ll see how that turns out. They would like to talk,” the US president said on Sunday, in one of the first signs of a possible path to defusing the increasingly tense situation in the region.The US has accused Maduro of ties to the illegal drug trade, which Maduro denies.The US Southern Command’s post on Sunday said the boat was in international waters when it was struck by the Southern Spear joint taskforce. It did not give details on where the vessel was traveling from or what organization it was associated with.The latest operation was the 21st known attack on drug boats by the US military since early September in what it has called a justified effort to disrupt the flow of narcotics into the US.The strikes have killed more than 80 people, according to Pentagon figures. Lawmakers in Congress, human rights groups and US allies have raised questions about the legality of the attacks.The Trump administration has said it has the legal authority to carry out the strikes, with the justice department providing a legal opinion that justifies them and argues that US military personnel who carry out the operations are immune from prosecution. The administration also has not publicly explained the legal justification for the decision to attack the boats rather than stop them and arrest those on board.The latest deadly strike came as the US navy announced its most advanced aircraft carrier had arrived in the Caribbean Sea on Sunday in a display of power that raised questions about what the new influx of troops and weaponry could signal for the Trump administration’s intentions in South America.The arrival of the USS Gerald R Ford and other warships rounds off the largest buildup of US firepower in the region in generations. With its arrival, the “Operation Southern Spear mission includes nearly a dozen navy ships and about 12,000 sailors and marines.The carrier strike group, which includes squadrons of fighter jets and guided-missile destroyers, transited the Anegada Passage near the British Virgin Islands on Sunday morning, the navy said.Rear Adm Paul Lanzilotta, who commands the strike group, said it would bolster an already large force of American warships to “protect our nation’s security and prosperity against narco-terrorism in the western hemisphere”.Adm Alvin Holsey, the commander who oversees the Caribbean and Latin America, said in a statement that the American forces “stand ready to combat the transnational threats that seek to destabilize our region”.Holsey, who will retire next month after just a year on the job, said the strike group’s deployment was “a critical step in reinforcing our resolve to protect the security of the western hemisphere and the safety of the American homeland”.In Trinidad and Tobago, which is only 7 miles (11km) from Venezuela at its closest point, government officials said troops had begun “training exercises” with the US military that would run through much of the week.Trinidad and Tobago’s minister of foreign affairs, Sean Sobers, described the joint exercises as the second in less than a month and said they were aimed at tackling violent crime on the island nation, which has become a stopover point for drug shipments headed to Europe and North America. The prime minister has been a vocal supporter of the US military strikes.The exercises will include marines from the 22nd expeditionary unit, who have been stationed onboard the navy ships that have been looming off Venezuela’s coast for months.Venezuela’s government has described the training exercises as an act of aggression. It had no immediate comment on Sunday on the arrival of the aircraft carrier. More

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      Trump news at a glance: Another Republican challenges Trump over Epstein files

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      Republican congressman Thomas Massie has challenged Donald Trump over whether the US president is making a “last-ditch effort” to keep the full files on the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein from becoming public by ordering a fresh investigation.Massie and Democratic congressman Ro Khanna, the two US representatives leading the bipartisan push to make all the files held by the government public both raised fresh concerns about the latest actions by the White House.Speaking on ABC’s This Week, Massie criticized Trump for ordering attorney general Pam Bondi on Friday to examine Democrats with ties to Epstein.Massie’s comments come after Georgia Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene demanded the release of all the Epstein documents, despite it causing a rift with Trump.Here are today’s top stories:Trump’s investigation into Epstein ties to political foes might be ‘smokescreen’, Republican says“The president’s been saying this is a hoax,” Republican congressman Thomas Massie has told ABC’s This Week, referring to several claims Trump has made in reaction to repeated calls for full disclosure of the files. “He’s been saying that for months. Well, he’s just now decided to investigate a hoax, if it’s a hoax. And I have another concern about these investigations that he’s announced. If they have ongoing investigations in certain areas, those documents can’t be released.“So, this might be a big smokescreen, these investigations, to open a bunch of them, as a last-ditch effort to prevent the release of the Epstein files,” he added.Read the full storyMarjorie Taylor Greene says Trump’s remarks hurtful Marjorie Taylor Greene on Sunday called Donald Trump’s remarks labeling her a traitor and a lunatic “hurtful” but said she hopes she and the US president can “make up”, despite stark differences over policy and the release of documents about Jeffrey Epstein.Greene, a longtime ally and fierce defender of Trump and the “Make America great again” (Maga) base, pushed back against his name-calling in her first interview since Trump withdrew his support for her on Friday.She told CNN’s State of the Union show: “His remarks, of course, have been hurtful … the most hurtful thing he said, which is absolutely untrue, is he called me a traitor and that is so extremely wrong.”Read the full storyTrans air force members sue Trump administration over denied pensionA group of 17 transgender US air force members has sued the Trump administration for denying them early retirement pensions and benefits.The complaint, submitted in federal court, describes the government’s move against them as “unlawful and invalid”.The legal action follows the air force’s confirmation it would deny early retirement benefits to all transgender service members with 15 to 18 years of military experience, a decision that effectively pushes them out of the military with no retirement support at all.Read the full storyUS military attacks another alleged drug boat in eastern Pacific, killing threeThe United States conducted another attack on an alleged drug trafficking boat in the eastern Pacific on Saturday, killing three people aboard, the Pentagon said on Sunday.“Intelligence confirmed that the vessel was involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, transiting along a known narco-trafficking route, and carrying narcotics,” the US Southern Command announced in a post on social media.The announcement said the boat was in international waters when it was struck by the Southern Spear joint taskforce. It did not give details on where the vessel was traveling from or what organization it was associated with.Read the full storyWhat else happened today:

      A top border patrol commander touted dozens of arrests in North Carolina’s largest city on Sunday as Charlotte residents reported a surge of encounters with federal immigration agents near churches and apartment complexes.

      The BBC should not pay any money to Donald Trump, the former BBC director general Tony Hall has said.

      The White House has made it a top priority to return the rare-earth industry to US shores. But is it really feasible?
      Catching up? Here’s what happened 15 November, 2025. More

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      Trump’s investigation into Epstein ties to political foes might be ‘smokescreen’, Republican says

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      Republican congressman Thomas Massie challenged Donald Trump on Sunday over whether the US president is making a “last-ditch effort” to keep the full files on the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein from becoming public by ordering a fresh investigation.Massie and Democratic congressman Ro Khanna, the two US representatives leading the bipartisan push to make all the files held by the government public both raised fresh concerns about the latest actions by the White House.Speaking on ABC’s This Week, Massie criticized Trump for ordering attorney general Pam Bondi on Friday to examine Democrats with ties to Epstein.This despite emails released last week by the House of Representatives’ oversight committee that suggest Trump was aware of Epstein’s conduct and that Epstein had also advised Steve Bannon, a key figure in Trump’s Make America Great Again (Maga) base.“The president’s been saying this is a hoax,” Massie said, referring to several claims Trump has made in reaction to repeated calls for full disclosure of the files. “He’s been saying that for months. Well, he’s just now decided to investigate a hoax, if it’s a hoax. And I have another concern about these investigations that he’s announced. If they have ongoing investigations in certain areas, those documents can’t be released.“So, this might be a big smokescreen, these investigations, to open a bunch of them, as a last-ditch effort to prevent the release of the Epstein files,” he added.ABC anchor Jonathan Karl asked Massie about what the Epstein records might contain and why Trump appears afraid of what they might reveal.“You know, I’ve never said that these files will implicate Donald Trump,” Massie replied. “And I really don’t think that they will. I think he’s trying to protect a bunch of rich and powerful friends, billionaires, donors to his campaign, friends in his social circles. That’s my operating theory on why he’s trying so hard to keep these files closed.”Massie also said it was possible that more than 100 House Republicans may vote in favor of releasing the Epstein files, documents currently held by the justice department related to the alleged crimes and alleged clientele of the late financier and sex offender, when the measure reaches the House floor for a vote this week. He urged skeptics to rethink their position.“I would remind my Republican colleagues who are deciding how to vote: Donald Trump can protect you in red districts right now by giving you an endorsement. But in 2030, he’s not going to be the president, and you will have voted to protect pedophiles if you don’t vote to release these files, and the president can’t protect you then. This vote, the record of this vote, will last longer than Donald Trump’s presidency,” Massie said.Meanwhile, Khanna of California said moments later on NBC News’ Meet the Press that the effort was “not about Donald Trump” and encouraged the president to meet with the victims who have survived Epstein’s alleged sex-trafficking ring and have since spoken out.“What we’re asking for is justice for the survivors,” Khanna said. “So, it’s not about Donald Trump. I don’t even know how involved Trump was. There are a lot of other people who are involved who have to be held accountable.”He also noted that many survivors who have spoken publicly about their abuse will be in Washington on Tuesday, where they plan to request a meeting with Trump.Epstein killed himself in prison in 2019 while awaiting federal trial in New York on sex crimes, having previously served time in Florida for sex offenses after negotiating a plea deal there in 2008. His associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, is currently in prison.Mike Johnson, the Republican speaker of the House, said on Sunday he believed the approaching vote would help put an end to allegations that the president had any ties to Epstein’s abuse and trafficking of underage girls.“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 of critics, on the Fox News Sunday program.“Epstein is their [Democrats] entire game plan, so we’re going to take that weapon out of their hands,” Johnson said. “Let’s just get this done and move it on. There’s nothing to hide.”The Senate is thought unlikely to produce the necessary support to advance the legislation, however, and Senate majority whip John Barrasso, speaking on NBC on Sunday, declined to commit to holding a vote even if the pending bill passes in the House.Georgia Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene has also demanded the release of all the Epstein documents, despite it causing a rift with Trump. More

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      Dozens reportedly arrested in Charlotte, North Carolina, amid immigration crackdown

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      A top border patrol commander touted dozens of arrests in North Carolina’s largest city on Sunday as Charlotte residents reported a surge of encounters with federal immigration agents near churches and apartment complexes.The Trump administration has made the Democratic-led city of about 950,000 people its latest target for an immigration enforcement crackdown it says will combat crime, despite fierce objections from local leaders and the fact that crime rates in the city are steadily declining.Some businesses in Charlotte chose to stay closed at the weekend and many areas that would often be bustling on a Saturday afternoon were quiet as people stayed home in fear of anti-immigration raids and sweeps.Gregory Bovino, who led hundreds of US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents on a similar operation in Chicago, took to social media to document some of the arrests he said had reached more than 80. He posted pictures of people the Trump administration commonly dubs “criminal illegal aliens” as a damning characterization for people living in the US without legal permission who have alleged criminal records. That included one of a man with an alleged history of drunk driving convictions.“We arrested him, taking him off the streets of Charlotte so he can’t continue to ignore our laws and drive intoxicated on the same roads you and your loved ones are on,” Bovino wrote on X.The latest effort by federal law enforcement has been labeled “Operation Charlotte’s Web” as a play on the title of the children’s book but conjuring an image of people caught in a trap.At Camino, a nonprofit group that offers services to Latino communities, some said they were too afraid to leave their homes to attend school, medical appointments or work. A dental clinic the group runs had nine cancellations on Friday, spokesperson Paola Garcia said.“Latinos love this country. They came here to escape socialism and communism, and they’re hard workers and people of faith,” Garcia said. “They love their family, and it’s just so sad to see that this community now has this target on their back.”Recent operations led by Bovino in Chicago and Los Angeles triggered a flurry of lawsuits and investigations over questions about use of force, including wide deployment of chemical agents against protesters.Democratic party leaders in both cities said that agents’ presence inflamed community tensions and actually led to violence.Bovino and other Trump administration officials have called the use of force appropriate, citing a growing threats on agents’ lives.The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees CBP, did not respond to inquiries about the Charlotte arrests. Bovino’s spokesman did not return a request for comment on Sunday.DHS has not offered many details about who it has been arresting. For instance in Chicago, the agency only provided names and details on a handful of its more than 3,000 arrests in the metro region from September to last week.By Sunday, reports of CBP activity in Charlotte were “overwhelming” and difficult to quantify, Greg Asciutto, executive director of the community development group CharlotteEast, said in an email.“The past two hours we’ve received countless reports of CBP activity at churches, apartment complexes and a hardware store,” he said.City council member-elect JD Mazuera Arias said targeting houses of worship was “just awful”.“These are sanctuaries for people who are looking for hope and faith in dark times like these and who no longer can feel safe because of the gross violation of people’s right to worship,” he said.

      The Associated Press contributed reporting More

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      Trans air force members sue Trump administration over denied pension

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      A group of 17 transgender US air force members has sued the Trump administration for denying them early retirement pensions and benefits.The complaint, submitted in federal court, describes the government’s move against them as “unlawful and invalid”.The legal action follows the air force’s confirmation it would deny early retirement benefits to all transgender service members with 15 to 18 years of military experience, a decision that effectively pushes them out of the military with no retirement support at all.“The Air Force’s own retirement instruction provides that retirement orders may only be rescinded under very limited circumstances, none of which were present here,” the lawsuit says.Among the named plaintiffs are Logan Ireland, Ashley Davis, Kira Brimhall and Lindell Walley.Glad Law, one of the advocacy groups behind the lawsuit who is representing the affected service members, said the revocation of early retirement support had ripped away financial support and benefits these families were counting on after long years of excellent service to their country.“These service members will lose $1-2m in lifetime benefits, jeopardizing their families’ economic security,” Glad Law said in a statement. “The action also strips the airmen and their families of access to TRICARE, the military health insurance program, which would have provided access to civilian health care providers beyond VA [Veterans Administration] facilities.”The lawsuit came amid the latest escalation by the Trump administration to prohibit transgender people from joining the military and to remove those already serving. The Pentagon has argued that transgender people are medically unfit, something civil rights activists have pushed back on and say constitutes illegal discrimination.In March, a federal judge blocked Trump’s executive order banning transgender people from military service. US district judge Ana Reyes in Washington DC ruled that the order likely violated their constitutional rights. Pentagon officials have said in the past that 4,200 service members were diagnosed with “gender dysphoria”, which they use as an identifier of being transgender.The air force, however, has stood apart in its enforcement of policies that go beyond just separating troops from military service. As well as rescinding early retirement benefits, the service rolled out a new policy in August to deny transgender members the right to argue before a board of their peers for the right to continue serving.The most recent lawsuit, the latest in a string, is challenging that.According to the court documents, the “plaintiffs’ retirement orders remain valid and effective”. Their legal team are calling for these “orders to be reinstated” and pushing for “their military records be corrected accordingly”. The lawsuit also says “interest, costs and attorney’s fees” must be accounted for and “further relief as the court deems just and proper.”Ireland, a master sergeant in the air force with 15 years of service, told the Associated Press: “The military taught me to lead and fight, not retreat.“Stripping away my retirement sends the message that those values only apply on the battlefield, not when a service member needs them most.” More