Canada intends to recognize Palestinian state at UN General Assembly: Carney

Canada intends to recognize Palestinian state at UN General Assembly: Carney
Carney said his decision was informed by Canada’s “long-standing” belief in a two-state solution to the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict. (AFP)
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Canada intends to recognize Palestinian state at UN General Assembly: Carney

Canada intends to recognize Palestinian state at UN General Assembly: Carney
  • Carney positioned Canada alongside France, UK

OTTAWA: Canada plans to recognize a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly in September, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Wednesday, a dramatic policy shift he said was necessary to preserve hopes of a two-state solution.
“Canada intends to recognize the State of Palestine at the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in September 2025,” Carney said.
With Wednesday’s announcement, Carney positioned Canada alongside France, after President Emmanuel Macron said his country would formally recognize a Palestinian state during the UN meeting, the most powerful European nation to announce such a move.
Macron’s announcement drew condemnation from Israel, which said the move “rewards terror,” while US President Donald Trump dismissed the decision as pointless.
Carney said his decision was informed by Canada’s “long-standing” belief in a two-state solution to the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“That possibility of a two-state solution is being eroded before our eyes,” the prime minister told reporters in Ottawa.
He referenced Israel’s “ongoing failure” to prevent humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza amid its war against Hamas, as well the expansion of settlements in the occupied West Bank and Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem.
“For decades, it was hoped that  would be achieved as part of a peace process built around a negotiated settlement between the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority,” he said.
“Regrettably, this approach is no longer tenable.”


Ousted vaccine panel members say rigorous science is being abandoned

Updated 23 sec ago

Ousted vaccine panel members say rigorous science is being abandoned

Ousted vaccine panel members say rigorous science is being abandoned
  • Former panel members suggest having professional organizations working together to harmonize vaccine recommendations

NEW YORK: The 17 experts who were ousted from a government vaccine committee last month say they have little faith in what the panel has become, and have outlined possible alternative ways to make US vaccine policy.
US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. abruptly fired the entire Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, accusing them of being too closely aligned with manufacturers and of rubber-stamping vaccines. He handpicked replacements that include several vaccine skeptics.
In a commentary published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, the former panel members wrote that Kennedy — a leading voice in the anti-vaccine movement before becoming the US government’s top health official — and his new panel are abandoning rigorous scientific review and open deliberation.
That was clear, they said, during the new panel’s first meeting, in June. It featured a presentation by an anti-vaccine advocate that warned of dangers about a preservative used in a few flu vaccines, but the committee members didn’t hear from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention staffers about an analysis that concluded there was no link between the preservative and neurodevelopmental disorders.
The new panel recommended that the preservative, thimerosal, be removed even as some members acknowledged there was no proof it was causing harm.
“That meeting was a travesty, honestly,” said former ACIP member Dr. Yvonne Maldonado, a pediatric infectious diseases expert at Stanford University.
The 17 discharged experts last month published a shorter essay in the Journal of the American Medical Association that decried Kennedy’s “destabilizing decisions.” The focus was largely on their termination and on Kennedy’s decision in May to stop recommending COVID-19 vaccines for healthy children and pregnant women.
In the new commentary, the ousted committee members took it one step further and prescribed some steps that could be taken to maintain scientifically sound vaccine recommendations.
“An alternative to the Committee should be established quickly and — if necessary — independently from the federal government,” they wrote. “No viable pathway exists to fully replace the prior trusted and unbiased ACIP structure and process. Instead, the alternatives must focus on limiting the damage to vaccination policy in the United States.”
Options included having professional organizations working together to harmonize vaccine recommendations or establishing an external auditor of ACIP recommendations. There are huge challenges to the ideas, including having access to the best data, the authors acknowledged.
There’s also the question of whether health insurers would pay for vaccinations that are recommended by alternative groups but not ACIP.
They might pick and choose which vaccines to cover, said the University of North Carolina’s Noel Brewer, another former ACIP member.
For example, they might pay for vaccines that offer more immediate cost savings for health care, like the flu vaccine.
“But maybe not ones that have a longer-term benefit like HPV vaccine,” which is designed to prevent futures cancers, Brewer said.
Officials with the US Department of Health and Human Services did not immediately respond to a request for comment.


Trump punishes Brazil with tariffs, sanctions over trial of ally Bolsonaro

Trump punishes Brazil with tariffs, sanctions over trial of ally Bolsonaro
Updated 9 min 16 sec ago

Trump punishes Brazil with tariffs, sanctions over trial of ally Bolsonaro

Trump punishes Brazil with tariffs, sanctions over trial of ally Bolsonaro
  • Unlike the tariffs Trump is slapping on economies around the world, the measures against Brazil have been framed in openly political terms
  • Bolsonaro is facing up to 40 years in prison for allegedly plotting a coup to stay in power after losing the 2022 election to leftist Lula.

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump ordered massive tariffs on Brazil Wednesday and sanctions against the judge overseeing a trial of his far-right ally Jair Bolsonaro, who is accused of attempting a coup in Latin America’s biggest economy.
The announcement of tariffs totaling 50 percent saw Trump make good on his threat to wield American economic might to punish Brazil — and Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes in particular — for what he has termed a “witch hunt” against former president Bolsonaro.
Unlike the tariffs Trump is slapping on economies around the world, the measures against Brazil have been framed in openly political terms, sweeping aside centuries-old trade ties and a surplus that Brasilia put at $284 million last year.
The moves dramatically increased the pressure on Moraes, who has emerged as one of the most powerful oand polarizing people in Brazil — and a consistent thorn in the far-right’s side, after he clashed repeatedly with Bolsonaro and others over disinformation.
Trump signed an executive order implementing an additional 40 percent tariff on Brazilian products, bringing total trade duties to 50 percent, the White House announced.
The order said the new duties would not come into effect for seven days, and listed exemptions on some f Brazil’s major exports — including planes, orange juice and pulp, Brazil nuts, and some iron, steel and aluminum products.
The Brazilian government’s “politically motivated persecution, intimidation, harassment, censorship, and prosecution of (Bolsonaro) and thousands of his supporters are serious human rights abuses that have undermined the rule of law in Brazil,” the White House said in a fact sheet announcing the tariffs.
It also cited Brazil’s “unusual and extraordinary policies and actions harming US companies, the free speech rights of US persons, US foreign policy, and the US economy,” and singled out Moraes by name.
The new duties were announced shortly after the US Treasury slapped sanctions on Moraes, which followed a similar move by the State Department earlier this month.
The sanctions provoked a swift and furious response from Brasilia, where Attorney General Jorge Messias slammed them as “arbitrary,” “unjustifiable” and “a serious attack on the sovereignty of our country.”
There was no immediate reaction from Brasilia to the tariffs announcement, but President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva had earlier denounced Trump’s threats as “unacceptable blackmail.”
Bolsonaro is facing up to 40 years in prison for allegedly plotting a coup to stay in power after losing the 2022 election to leftist Lula.
Prosecutors say the plot included a plan to arrest and even assassinate Lula, his vice president Geraldo Alckmin, and Moraes.
Brazil has insisted it will proceed in its prosecution of Bolsonaro, and Trump’s intervention in the case has so far boosted Lula’s popularity, as the Brazilian leader appeals for national unity in the face of US “interference.”

Both Marco Rubio, America’s top diplomat, and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent issued statements Wednesday announcing the new sanctions against Moraes.
“Moraes has taken it upon himself to be judge and jury in an unlawful witch hunt against US and Brazilian citizens and companies,” Bessent said.
Rubio, the secretary of state, accused Moraes of “serious human rights abuses, including arbitrary detention involving flagrant denials of fair trial guarantees and infringing on the freedom of expression.”
Moraes, 56, has played a controversial role in fighting disinformation.
He was an omnipresent figure during the polarizing 2022 election campaign, aggressively using his rulings to fight election disinformation on social media.
Last year, he ordered the shutdown of tech titan Elon Musk’s X network in Brazil for 40 days for failing to tackle the spread of disinformation shared mainly by Bolsonaro backers.
Bolsonaro has called Moraes a dictator, while his son Eduardo had lobbied for US sanctions against the “totalitarian” judge.
On Wednesday Eduardo Bolsonaro said the US action was “not about revenge, it’s about justice.”
“Abuses of authority now have global consequences,” he wrote on X.
The US Treasury cited the Magnitsky Act for the sanctions. It freezes US-based assets and bars travel to the country for foreign officials accused of human rights abuses or corruption.
 


French university rejects Gaza student over ‘hateful’ online posts

French university rejects Gaza student over ‘hateful’ online posts
Updated 36 min 48 sec ago

French university rejects Gaza student over ‘hateful’ online posts

French university rejects Gaza student over ‘hateful’ online posts
  • The woman had been offered a place at the Sciences Po Lille university following a recommendation by the French consulate in Jerusalem

LILLE, France: A top French university said Wednesday it canceled the enrolment of a woman student from Gaza because of her social media posts that the country’s interior ministry called “hateful.”
Authorities did not release the content of the messages but screenshots shown on social media indicated the young woman had reposted messages calling for the death of Jewish people.
Israel is seeking to crush the Islamist militant movement Hamas through a devastating offensive in Gaza after the group launched deadly attacks on Israel in 2023.
The woman had been offered a place at the Sciences Po Lille university following a recommendation by the French consulate in Jerusalem, the establishment said.
Sciences Po Lille said that after consultations with the education ministry and regional authorities it “has decided to cancel this student’s planned registration at our establishment.”
Some of the posts “come into direct contradiction with the values upheld by Sciences Po Lille, which fights against all forms of racism, antisemitism and discrimination, as well as against any type of incitement to hatred, against any population whatsoever,” the university added in a post on X.
Accounts in the woman’s name have been closed.
Following the recommendation by French diplomats, the woman initially lived at the home of the university’s director while she waited for permanent lodgings, Sciences Po said.
French ministers have demanded an investigation into the case.
“A Gazan student making antisemitic remarks has no place in France,” said Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, who added that he had ordered an internal inquiry.
“The screening carried out by the relevant departments of the ministries concerned clearly did not work,” he added in a post on X.
Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said he had demanded the closure of the “hateful” account and ordered local authorities to take legal action.
“Hamas propagandists have no place in our country,” Retailleau said on X.


The growing wave of celebrities who have endorsed a two-state solution and condemned Israel over the Gaza catastrophe

The growing wave of celebrities who have endorsed a two-state solution and condemned Israel over the Gaza catastrophe
Updated 37 min 26 sec ago

The growing wave of celebrities who have endorsed a two-state solution and condemned Israel over the Gaza catastrophe

The growing wave of celebrities who have endorsed a two-state solution and condemned Israel over the Gaza catastrophe
  • Creative professionals across continents are using their platform to spotlight the unfolding humanitarian crisis
  • Cultural figures worldwide have signed open letters and used award ceremony speeches to condemn Israel’s actions

RIYADH: As Israel’s assault on Gaza continues, a growing number of cultural figures are using their global platform to demand a ceasefire, speak out against alleged war crimes, and support Palestinian civilians.

Almost 22 months since the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel triggered the war in Gaza, artists, writers, musicians, and actors who once remained silent have joined growing calls for a ceasefire and condemnation of what many now openly describe as genocide.

This year alone, open letters signed by hundreds of artists, authors and filmmakers have made headlines, demanding action from political leaders and calling out what they describe as the dehumanization of Palestinians.

From high-profile actors to music stars and children’s entertainers, here are just some of the well-known figures who have taken a stand.

Ariana Grande

Pop singer Ariana Grande joined a growing number of artists speaking out about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. On Sunday, July 17, she posted two Instagram stories backing the Red Line for Gaza campaign, which demands unrestricted access to humanitarian aid.

In one story, Grande shared a message that read: “Starving people to death is a red line. The Israeli government is crossing this red line before our eyes.”

Angelina Jolie

In April this year, American actress Angelina Jolie, who spent over 20 years as a goodwill ambassador and special envoy for the UNHCR, reaffirmed her support for Gaza by sharing a Medecins Sans Frontiers report on Gaza in an Instagram story.

The report described the situation in Gaza as a “mass grave for Palestinians and those helping them.”

But Jolie has been an advocate for Palestinian people’s rights since the conflict began in October 2023. She wrote in an Instagram post on Oct. 28 that year: “What happened in Israel is an act of terror.

“But that cannot justify the innocent lives lost in bombing a civilian population in Gaza that has nowhere to go, no access to food or water, no possibility of evacuation and not even the basic human right to cross a border to seek refuge.”

Susan Sarandon

In an Artists4Ceasefire post on Instagram in February, American actress Susan Sarandon was quoted as saying: “Palestinians have the right to return, rebuild, and live in freedom on their land. 

“Gaza was destroyed with our weapons — now Trump wants to ethnically cleanse Palestinian survivors to create resort properties for his developer friends and family.

“We must rise up together, use everything we have, to finally end the suffering our government inflicts. Peace and justice are for all of us, or for none of us. What we allow in Gaza, we allow everywhere.”

Mark Ruffalo

In February 2024, at the Directors Guild of America Awards in Beverly Hills, American actor Mark Ruffalo called for a ceasefire in Gaza. He wore two pins on his jacket and told the entertainment news website Deadline that the pins represented “peace lilies and Artists for Ceasefire.”

Ruffalo said: “We’ve come to understand this bombing isn’t working, we’re not going to bomb our way to peace, and all we’re saying is, what’s wrong with giving a ceasefire a chance?”

Piers Morgan

British journalist Piers Morgan has publicly called on US President Donald Trump to intervene and demand Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu end the war in Gaza.

In a post on X in June, Morgan wrote: “Now is the time for you to tell (Netanyahu) to end this terrible war … and stop the incessant daily slaughter of civilians.”

Once a staunch defender of Israel’s right to retaliate after the Oct. 7 attack, Morgan has since shifted tone. Speaking with Mehdi Hasan on his show, he said he could “resist no more” in criticizing Israel’s actions, describing them as the “starvation of the people.”

Gigi and Bella Hadid

Supermodel sisters Gigi and Bella Hadid have donated a combined $1 million to support Palestinian relief efforts. The funds were to be equally distributed among four organizations: HEAL Palestine, Palestine Children’s Relief Fund, World Central Kitchen, and UNRWA.

The Hadid sisters, whose father is Palestinian, have been outspoken advocates for the Palestinian cause, with Gigi expressing deep empathy for Palestinians living under occupation and emphasizing her hopes for peace that exclude harm to any Jewish person.

“I have deep empathy and heartbreak for the Palestinian struggle and life under occupation, it’s a responsibility I hold daily,” Gigi said in a statement following the Oct. 7 attack.

“I also feel a responsibility to my Jewish friends to make it clear, as I have before: While I have hopes and dreams for Palestinians, none of them include the harm of a Jewish person.”

Dua Lipa

British-Kosovan singer Dua Lipa publicly condemned Israel’s military operations in Gaza, calling them “Israeli genocide,” The Guardian reported in May 2024.

Sharing a graphic from the Artists4Ceasefire campaign alongside the widely used hashtag #AllEyesOnRafah, Lipa wrote: “Burning children alive can never be justified. The whole world is mobilizing to stop the Israeli genocide. Please show your solidarity with Gaza.”

Abel ‘The Weeknd’ Tesfaye

In April 2024, Canadian singer and songwriter and UN World Food Programme Goodwill Ambassador Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye allocated another $2 million from his XO Humanitarian Fund toward WFP’s humanitarian response efforts in Gaza. 

The funding built on the original $2.5 million that Tesfaye directed to WFP’s Gaza response in December 2023.

Amir Khan

In the days after the Oct. 7 attack, British-Pakistani former boxer Amir Khan said people are often “scared” to come out in support of Palestine, fearing backlash. He took to X to say that “Palestinian lives matter” and that he has “never been scared to speak” his mind.

“My entire career, my aim was to become a world champion and use my fame and influence to make a positive change in the world,” he said. “I’ve never been scared to speak my mind and stand up for the downtrodden.

“Recently when Ukraine was attacked by Russia, I personally flew to Poland to support the Ukrainian refugees who had been displaced by the effects of war.  

“So many people spoke up about these atrocities, but as the world watches what is unfolding in Palestine, I see so many of my peers, friends and colleagues who are remaining silent. Why?” 

Renee Rapp

American singer and actress Renee Rapp used her acceptance speech at the 35th annual GLAAD Media Awards in Los Angeles to call for an “immediate” and “permanent ceasefire” in Gaza. She urged the audience to use their voices to advocate not only for themselves but also for their friends and those who cannot advocate for themselves.

Nicola Coughlan

Irish actress Nicola Mary Coughlan regularly shares posts on social media showing support for Gaza. In one post from November 2023, she wrote: “Let no one — no person, no news organization, no government gaslight you into thinking that basic human empathy is controversial.”

In another post in May 2025, she called for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and wrote: “I think it deeply important that people speak up in this moment. No child, no matter where they are from, their religion, anything should be starved to death by a government.

“This is a war crime, plain and simple. The US and UK governments who are aiding and abetting this need to be held to account. This is happening with our tax money and we have a moral obligation to tell them we will not let this happen.”

Riz Ahmed 

In October 2023, British-Pakistani actor and musician Riz Ahmed called Israel’s strikes “morally indefensible war crimes.”

He urged the public and leaders to urgently speak out to prevent further loss of innocent lives, highlighting the deep pain and suffering experienced by both Israelis and Palestinians under long-standing occupation and ongoing violence. 

Ahmed has been part of movements and public letters urging respect for human rights and coexistence, implicitly supporting peace initiatives like a two-state solution.

He has been involved in calls for peace in the Middle East alongside other celebrities, referencing “a two-state solution for peace-loving Israelis and Palestinians” as part of broader advocacy.

Zadie Smith

A year after publishing an essay in The New Yorker critical of campus protests, British novelist Zadie Smith became one of the most prominent signatories of an open letter by UK and Irish authors condemning Israel’s actions.

“The use of the words ‘genocide’ or ‘acts of genocide’ to describe what is happening in Gaza is no longer debated by international legal experts or human rights organizations,” the letter stated.

Benedict Cumberbatch

The British actor was among 300 UK public figures who signed an open letter to UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, urging the UK to end its “complicity in the horrors in Gaza.”

The letter, organized by campaign group Choose Love, stated: “Right now, children in Gaza are starving while food and medicine sit just minutes away, blocked at the border. Words won’t feed Palestinian children — we need action. Every single one of Gaza’s 2.1 million people is at risk of starvation, as you read this.”

Steve Coogan

After signing the UK entertainment industry letter, British actor Steve Coogan publicly read the names of children killed in Gaza at a Westminster vigil. He told Sky News: “They’re all children who had lives, who had nothing to do with the conflict … this has to stop.”

As the “mass, indiscriminate killing of innocent people” has continued, he added, “more and more people are realizing that this has to stop.”

Juliette Binoche

Initially reluctant to sign a Cannes Film Festival letter denouncing genocide in Gaza, Binoche faced backlash for her silence. After dedicating her festival opening remarks to a slain Gazan journalist — without naming Israel — she reversed course and signed the letter the next day. 

More than 370 actors and filmmakers, including high-profile Hollywood figures such as Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, and Guillermo del Toro signed the May open letter condemning the film industry’s silence on what they described as “genocide” in Gaza.

Naima Abu Ful poses for a photo with her 2-year-old malnourished child, Yazan, at their home in the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City on July 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Malala Yousafzai

The Nobel laureate wrote on X: “It makes me sick to my stomach to see Israel’s cruelty and brutality in Gaza … I call on every world leader to put maximum pressure on the Israeli government to end this genocide and protect civilians.”

Thom Yorke

The Radiohead frontman, once criticized for performing in Tel Aviv, posted on Instagram to denounce Netanyahu for the “horrific blockade of aid to Gaza,” adding that the “excuse of self-defense has long worn thin.”

Rachel Accurso

The children’s entertainer behind the successful YouTube brand, Ms Rachel, told NPR in May: “I would risk everything, and I will risk my career over and over to stand up for (Gazan children). It’s all about the kids for me.”

Dan Reynolds

During a Milan concert, Imagine Dragons’ Reynolds wore a Palestinian flag after a fan tossed it on stage. The act drew renewed attention to the band’s controversial earlier decision to perform in Israel — and highlighted shifting stances within the music world.

Paloma Faith

Faith delivered a speech at a protest outside the Israeli Embassy in London in March, vowing she “won’t fall silent until Palestine is free.”

She said: “When the ceasefire was called, like all of you I was relieved but fearful that it would not last.

“I know that Israel has violated every ceasefire agreement it has ever signed, but even with that knowledge and that fear, even after watching months of that genocide, I wasn’t prepared for these new depths of brutality to which Israel has descended.”

She added: “A child is slaughtered every eight minutes, we should stand in silence for a minute for every child killed in Gaza in this genocide but if we did that, we’d be silent for over 300 hours so I won’t fall silent.”

She has also appeared in a campaign urging boycotts of Israeli goods.

Naima Abu Ful poses for a photo with her 2-year-old malnourished child, Yazan, at their home in the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City on July 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Hannah Einbinder

While accepting a Human Rights Campaign award in LA in March, the Hacks star said: “I am horrified by the Israeli government’s massacre of well over 65,000 Palestinians in Gaza.”

“I am ashamed and infuriated that this mass murder is funded by our American tax dollars. It should not be controversial to say that we should all be against murdering civilians.”

Andrew Garfield

On the Happy Sad Confused podcast in October 2024, American actor Garfield was blunt: “We should be putting our energy towards something that actually matters — maybe the lives of Palestinians in Gaza right now.

“Maybe that’s where we put our hearts and our energy in, and oppressed, anyone suffering under the weight of the horrors of our world right now, anyone who doesn’t have a choice in living lives of dignity. That’s where our energy should be going right now.”

Marcia Cross

The “Desperate Housewives” actress has consistently called for a ceasefire on social media. “It’s about the land. And extermination of the Palestinian people. Sick,” she wrote in October 2024. 

In February, she posted a quote from Iraqi-American lawyer and poet Tina Al-Khersan on Instagram, which read: “I’m struggling to comprehend how to live among people with eyes that don’t water, hearts that don’t flinch, and voices that remain silent.”

John Legend

Speaking to Mehdi Hasan in October 2024, Legend criticized US aid to Israel. “We shouldn’t be writing blank checks to any country … It makes me very frustrated at how we easily dehumanize certain people.” He has long linked racial justice in the US to Palestinian liberation.

Palestinians struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen, in Gaza City, northern Gaza Strip, Saturday, July 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Javier Bardem

In 2014, Bardem denounced Israeli attacks in the Spanish newspaper El Diario, facing backlash that lasted years. In 2024, he returned to the issue at the San Sebastian Film Festival, criticizing the Oct. 7 attack, as well as the “massive punishment that the Palestinian population is enduring.”

Speaking to AP after the event, Bardem said: “I believe that we can and must help bring peace. If we take a different approach, then we will get different results.

“The security and prosperity of Israel and the health and future of a free Palestine will only be possible through a culture of peace, coexistence and respect.”

Palestinians carry the bodies of people who were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a school in Gaza that has been used as a shelter, during their funeral near the Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Friday, July 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

JJ (Johannes Pietsch)

After winning Eurovision 2025, JJ criticized Israel’s inclusion in the competition. “It’s very disappointing to see Israel still participating. I would like Eurovision to be held without Israel in Vienna next year,” the Austrian-Filipino singer told Spanish newspaper El Pais.

“But the ball is in the European Broadcasting Union’s court. We, the artists, can only speak out on the matter.”
 

 


Democrats use obscure law to seek release of Epstein files

Democrats use obscure law to seek release of Epstein files
Updated 30 July 2025

Democrats use obscure law to seek release of Epstein files

Democrats use obscure law to seek release of Epstein files
  • The White House has been facing increasingly intense demands to be more transparent about the case of the disgraced financier
  • Lawmakers have also been seeking testimony from Epstein’s accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell

WASHINGTON: Democrats moved Wednesday to force Donald Trump to release files from the investigation into notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, invoking an obscure law to keep up the pressure on an issue that has roiled the US president’s administration.
The White House has been facing increasingly intense demands to be more transparent about the case of the disgraced financier, who died in federal prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges.
The president raised further questions about his past relationship with Epstein on Tuesday when he told reporters he fell out with his former friend after he “stole” female employees from the spa at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
The Justice Department angered Trump supporters earlier this month when it confirmed that Epstein had died by suicide and had no secret “client list” — rebuffing conspiracy theories held by Trump’s far-right supporters about supposedly high-level Democratic complicity.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and the Democrats on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee wrote to the Justice Department asking for the materials under a section of federal law known as the “rule of five.”
“The public has a right to know who enabled, knew of, or participated in one of the most heinous sex trafficking operations in history,” Schumer told reporters at the Capitol.
“Let me remind everyone of what’s happened in recent months. Donald Trump campaigned on releasing the Epstein files. He broke that promise.”
The measure — introduced a century ago but rarely used — requires government departments to provide relevant information if any five members of the Senate’s chief watchdog panel request it.
Epstein’s accomplice Maxwell
It is not clear if it could be enforced in court, but even if the effort fails it keeps the spotlight on an issue that has upended Trump’s summer, dividing Republicans and leading to the early closure of the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.
Trump has urged his supporters to drop demands for the Epstein files, but Democrats in Congress — with limited Republican support — have also been seeking a floor vote to force their release.
House Oversight Committee Democrats, backed by some Republicans, approved a subpoena last week for the Justice Department to hand over the documents, although the demand has yet to be sent.
Lawmakers have also been seeking testimony from Epstein’s accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving 20 years in prison for her role in his alleged crimes.
Maxwell’s lawyer has said she would speak to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee if granted immunity for her testimony.
“The Oversight Committee will respond to Ms Maxwell’s attorney soon, but it will not consider granting congressional immunity for her testimony,” a spokesman for the panel said.
Democrats have tried to attach votes on the Epstein files to unrelated bills multiple times, prompting Speaker Mike Johnson to send lawmakers home for the summer a day early last week, shutting down the efforts.
Senate Democrats launched a separate effort to get the files released via a bill called the Epstein Files Transparency Act, but this cannot even be taken up until the House reconvenes in September.
Meanwhile the Supreme Court’s justices are expected to consider at a September 29 conference ahead of their October term whether to hear an appeal by Maxwell of her sex trafficking conviction.
“This crime by Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell was not a victimless crime.... It was about exploiting women, in fact, girls — girls who were mercilessly and repeatedly subject to abuse and trafficking,” said Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut.