White House says Trump won’t recommend special prosecutor in Epstein case and calls Democrats wanting transparency ‘asinine’ – live | Trump administration
Trump will not recommend special prosecutor in Epstein case
Trump’s allies have been pushing the president to name a special counsel in the Epstein case, but Leavitt says he’s not interested in doing that.
“The president would not recommend a special prosecutor in the Epstein case. That’s how he feels,” the White House press secretary says.
Asked why the administration can’t simply release more information from the files, Leavitt says that would be up to the justice department, but if it includes grand jury information, “a judge would have to approve it. That’s out of the president’s control.”
Key events
Trump supporters burn Maga hats after he dismisses Epstein files furor as ‘hoax’
Joseph Gedeon
As we’ve just heard from his press secretary, Donald Trump will not name a special counsel in the Jeffrey Epstein case. And asked to clarify what aspect of the case Trump believes to be a “hoax” Karoline Leavitt said he was referring to “the fact that Democrats have now seized on this”.
But Trump’s efforts to dismiss and deflect the criticism over his administration’s handling of the Epstein case has showed no sign of working today, with more prominent figures from across the political spectrum – including his own allies – have emerged to attack the president. Some of his supporters even recorded videos burning their signature Make America Great Again hats.
Days after the Republican speaker of the House and Trump loyalist Mike Johnson called for the release of all documents relating to the late financier, a convicted sex offender and longtime former friend of Trump’s, rebellion has continued to simmer within the president’s normally diehard base.
Trump’s former vice-president, Mike Pence, told CBS News yesterday: “I think the time has come for the administration to release all of the files regarding Jeffrey Epstein’s investigation and prosecution”. And far-right conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer, a frequent close adviser to Trump, called for the appointment of a special counsel to handle the Epstein files investigation.
“Obviously, this is not a complete hoax given the fact that [Epstein associate] Ghislaine Maxwell is currently serving 20 years in prison in Florida for her crimes and activities with Jeffrey Epstein, who we know is a convicted sexual predator,” Loomer said.
Trump called Netanyahu after strike on church in Gaza, White House says
Donald Trump called Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address an Israeli strike on Gaza’s sole Catholic church, Leavitt says.
Asked for Trump’s reaction to the news, Leavitt says: “It was not a positive reaction.”
The strike killed three people and injured 10 others including the parish priest, who used to receive daily calls from the late Pope Francis.
Leavitt dismisses concerns about cuts to NPR’s funding, saying “I’m not sure how NPR helps the public safety of our country”, calling the public broadcasting organization a “propaganda voice for the left”.
The European Union continues to be very eager in negotiating trade with the US, says Leavitt.
The bloc is seeking “ways to lower their tariff and their non-tariff barriers that we have long said harm our workers and our companies”, she said, adding that Donald Trump would not accept a postponement of the 1 August deadline when higher duties would come into effect.
Trump will not recommend special prosecutor in Epstein case
Trump’s allies have been pushing the president to name a special counsel in the Epstein case, but Leavitt says he’s not interested in doing that.
“The president would not recommend a special prosecutor in the Epstein case. That’s how he feels,” the White House press secretary says.
Asked why the administration can’t simply release more information from the files, Leavitt says that would be up to the justice department, but if it includes grand jury information, “a judge would have to approve it. That’s out of the president’s control.”
Democrats wanting transparency on Epstein is ‘asinine’, says White House
Leavitt is asked by a reporter to clarify what aspect of the Jeffrey Epstein case Donald Trump believes is a hoax.
Leavitt says he’s referring to “the fact that Democrats have now seized on this”.
She says the idea of Democrats wanting transparency on Epstein is an “asinine” suggestion, and claims that the Biden administration “didn’t do a dang thing” about the case.
She goes on, getting to the crux of Trump’s frustration:
The president has been transparent, he has followed through on his promises to the American people. What he doesn’t like to see is Democrats and the mainstream media covering this like it’s the biggest story that the American people care about.
Trump has ‘chronic venous insufficiency’ in his legs, White House says
Reading from a doctor’s letter, Leavitt says that an evaluation of swelling in the president’s lower legs have revealed chronic venous insufficiency, “a common condition, particularly in individuals over the age of 70”.
“Additionally, recent photos of the president have shown minor bruising on the back of his hand,” Leavitt says. “This is consistent with minor soft tissue irritation from frequent handshaking and the use of aspirin, which is taken as part of a standard cardiovascular prevention regimen.”
Trump will also travel to the UK from 17-19 September for his unprecedented second state visit and will meet with King Charles at Windsor Castle, says Leavitt. (Parliament will be in recess and therefore Trump will not be addressing MPs).
Confirming reports earlier in the week, Leavitt says Donald Trump will travel to Scotland from 25-29 July to visit Turnberry and Aberdeen (he has golf courses there), and on this trip he’ll meet Keir Starmer to “refine” the trading framework agreed with the UK.
White House press briefing
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt is currently briefing reporters. I’ll bring you any key lines here.
Emil Bove judge confirmation moves step closer despite Democratic walkout
Chris Stein
Republican senators have advanced through the judiciary committee Emil Bove’s nomination to serve as a judge on a federal appeals court, after Democrats walked out of the session in protest of the GOP’s refusal to call a whistleblower who alleged the nominee advocated for ignoring court orders.
Donald Trump nominated Bove, his defense attorney who he appointed as a top justice department official in the early weeks of his new administration, for a seat on the third circuit court of appeals overseeing New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and the US Virgin Islands. Bove’s advancement through the judiciary committee clears the way for his confirmation to be voted on by the full Senate.
His nomination for the lifetime position has faced strident opposition from Democrats, after Erez Reuveni, a former justice department official who was fired from his post, alleged that during his time at the DoJ, Bove told lawyers that they “would need to consider telling the courts ‘fuck you’ and ignore any such court order” blocking efforts to remove immigrants to El Salvador. In testimony before the committee last month, Bove denied the accusation, and Reuveni later provided text messages supporting his claim.
At today’s hearing, the New Jersey senator Cory Booker attempted to formally delay the vote on confirming Bove, citing Reuveni’s whistleblower complaint as well as letters from state and federal prosecutors opposing his nomination. “There is no need to vote on this nominee today. It is a false urgency,” Booker said.
His request was rejected by the committee’s Republican chair, Chuck Grassley, and Democratic senators then walked out as the committee voted on Bove’s nomination.
Booker, who remained in the committee’s chambers and continued speaking as Republican senators called out their votes on Bove and other judicial nominees, continued:
What are you afraid of about even debating this, putting things on the record, hearing from every senator? Dear God, that’s what our obligations are.
This is outrageous that you’re not allowing senators to have their fair say before a controversial nominee is being done. This is unbelievable. This is unjust. This is wrong. It is the further deterioration of this committee’s integrity with a person like this. What are you afraid of?
Trump administration hands over Medicaid recipients’ personal data to Ice – AP
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) officials will be given access to the personal data of the nation’s 79 million Medicaid enrollees, including home addresses and ethnicities, to track down immigrants who may not be living legally in the US, according to an agreement obtained by The Associated Press.
The information will give Ice officials the ability to find “the location of aliens” across the country, says the agreement signed on Monday between the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Department of Homeland Security. The agreement has not been announced publicly.
The extraordinary disclosure of millions of such personal health data to deportation officials is the latest escalation in the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, which has repeatedly tested legal boundaries in its effort to arrest 3,000 people daily.
Lawmakers and some CMS officials have challenged the legality of deportation officials’ access to some states’ Medicaid enrollee data. It’s a move, first reported by the AP last month, that health and human services officials said was aimed at rooting out people enrolled in the program improperly.
But the latest data-sharing agreement makes clear what Ice officials intend to do with the health data. “Ice will use the CMS data to allow Ice to receive identity and location information on aliens identified by Ice,” the agreement says.
Such disclosures, even if not acted upon, could cause widespread alarm among people seeking emergency medical help for themselves or their children. Other efforts to crack down on illegal immigration have made schools, churches, courthouses and other everyday places feel perilous to immigrants and even US citizens who fear getting caught up in a raid.
Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson Andrew Nixon would not respond to the latest agreement. It is unclear, though, whether homeland security has yet accessed the information. The department’s assistant secretary, Tricia McLaughlin, said in an emailed statement to the AP that the two agencies “are exploring an initiative to ensure that illegal aliens are not receiving Medicaid benefits that are meant for law-abiding Americans”.
Pam Bondi and Doug Burgum to visit Alcatraz today
Two months after Donald Trump floated the farfetched idea of reopening Alcatraz as a federal prison, his attorney general Pam Bondi and interior secretary Doug Burgum are expected to visit the tourist site today, KQED reports.
Burgum, whose department controls the land, and Bondi, who oversees the Bureau of Prisons, plan to visit the shuttered prison before it opens for the day for tours, Nancy Pelosi’s office confirmed to KQED.
“The planned announcement to reopen Alcatraz as a federal penitentiary is the Trump administration’s stupidest initiative yet,” the California Democratic congresswomen and former House speaker said in a statement.
“Make no mistake: this stupidity is a diversionary tactic to draw attention away from this administration’s cruelest actions yet in their Big, Ugly Law,” she said, referring to Trump’s sweeping tax and spending bill.
The Trump administration cannot simply reopen Alcatraz. Current legislation places the island under the control of the Department of the Interior and designates it as part of a national park. Therefore, a member of Congress would need to propose a bill to change things.
“Should reason not prevail and Republicans bring this absurdity before the Congress, Democrats will use every parliamentary and budgetary tactic available to stop the lunacy,” Pelosi said.
Johnson says chance House vote on rescissions package could end up being tomorrow
Further to that, House speaker Mike Johnson has said that while the vote is still planned for tonight, it could end up taking place tomorrow.
“We’re just looking at all the moving parts and the calendar and the timetable and all that,” Johnson said. The House is trying to fit all of the legislation planned for the entire week into one day after a group of Republicans blocked any action on crypto bills for two days.
“We know we’ve got a short fuse on rescissions for tomorrow, so we’re figuring it out,” he said. Per my last post, Congress faces a deadline tomorrow to approve the rescissions package if the Trump administration is to avoid having to spend the money.
“It may be tomorrow, but we’re doing it,” Johnson said when asked if the House could get it done tonight as planned. “We’re moving as fast as we can.”
