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Vivian Ho (now) and Tom McCarthy (earlier)

Pelosi: Trump wants to 'make America white again' with census question – as it happened

Evening summary

Sir Kim Darroch, UK ambassador to Washington, was reportedly disinvited from dinner with the emir of Qatar. But Robert Kraft, the owner of the New England Patriots who was allegedly caught up in a Florida sex trafficking ring earlier this year, still got to keep his invite.

The Associated Press is reporting that the State Department is proposing the sale of $2.2bn in arms to Taiwan, including 108 Abrams tanks and 250 Stinger surface-to-air missiles.

The Chinese foreign ministry firmly opposes US arms sales to Taiwan, a self-governing island that China claims as its territory. Taiwan split from China in 1949.

The State Department says the arms will help Taiwan “meet current and future regional threats.”

President Trump tweeted about California governor Gavin Newsom declaring a state of emergency following two large earthquakes in southern California.

Clinton issues statement on Epstein

President Bill Clinton issued a statement on Jeffrey Epstein and the sex trafficking case against him:

Updated

Attorney General sees a way for census citizenship question

The Supreme Court blocked the Trump administration from asking about citizenship on the 2020 census. The Associated Press is reporting that attorney general William Barr sees a way to legally require 2020 census respondents answer the question.

However, he would not detail said plan.

If you’ll recall back to June, when the Supreme Court upheld a lower court decision to reject the commerce department’s justification for including the question, the court did not deem the question unconstitutional (though pro-democracy advocates have warned that a citizenship question would suppress participation among immigrant-aligned population and disenfranchise Democratic-leaning voters).

The court ruled that the justification was not credible. The justification, as stated by commerce secretary Wilbur Ross, was to obtain better data to enforce the Voting Rights Act, the civil rights-era legislation against voter discrimination.

From the Associated Press:

Barr said he has been in regular contact with Trump over the issue of the citizenship question.

“I agree with him that the Supreme Court decision was wrong,” the attorney general said. He said he believes there is “an opportunity potentially to cure the lack of clarity that was the problem and we might as well take a shot at doing that.”

Barr’s statement comes after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi accused the Trump administration of having a goal of “making America white again” with its census question.

Updated

Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are among a group of lawmakers proposing to declare climate change an official emergency. My colleague Emily Holden now has the text of that resolution:

Read more about the resolution here:

Remember Felix Sater? The Moscow-born businessman at the center of the Trump Tower Moscow project?

The United Nations’ human rights chief said she was “appalled” by the conditions migrants and refugees face in US detention facilities, the Associated Press is reporting.

Children stopped by border agents should never be held in immigration detention facilities or separated from their families, said United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, and “any deprivation of liberty of adult migrants and refugees should be a measure of last resort.”

A spokeswoman for the U.N. human rights office, Ravina Shamdasani, said Bachelet decided to speak out more forcefully than before after the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general issued a report last week warning of dangerous conditions in U.S. immigration detention facilities.

Many migrants and refugees set off on “perilous journeys with their children in search of protection and dignity and away from violence and hunger,” Bachelet said in a statement.

“When they finally believe they have arrived in safety, they may find themselves separated from their loved ones and locked in undignified conditions,” she continued. “This should never happen anywhere.”

President Donald Trump said Sunday that migrants were coming from “unbelievable poverty” and “those are people that are very happy with what’s going on because, relatively speaking, they’re in much better shape right now” in U.S. custody.

He went on to praise the work of the Border Patrol and other law enforcement officers on the U.S.-Mexico border, saying, “it’s incredible what they’re doing. They’ve had to become nurses. They’ve had to become janitors.”

The Homeland Security report was the second by the inspector general’s office to blast conditions at temporary detention centers in Texas where migrants are held.

The first, based on visits to Border Patrol facilities in western Texas in May, showed dozens of migrants packed into spaces so tight that some had to stand on toilets. It detailed how 900 migrants were in a 125-person facility at one point, with many held for weeks in violation of the government’s policy.

Last week’s report, released July 2, said several Border Patrol facilities in south Texas were dangerously overcrowded. Detainees banged on cell windows, shouted and pressed notes to a window for inspectors, according to the report released July 2. A photo showed a man holding a piece of cardboard with one word: “help.”

Inspectors also warned that many children had no access to showers and were being detained long past the maximum of 72 hours. Five children have died in Border Patrol custody since December.

“As a pediatrician, but also as a mother and a former head of state, I am deeply shocked that children are forced to sleep on the floor in overcrowded facilities, without access to adequate health care or food, and with poor sanitation conditions,” Bachelet, a former president of Chile, said Monday.

“Detaining a child even for short periods under good conditions can have a serious impact on their health and development — consider the damage being done every day by allowing this alarming situation to continue,” she said.

Bachelet acknowledged the “sovereign prerogative” of countries to set the conditions under which foreigners are permitted to enter and stay but also highlighted their human rights obligations. Her office said she recognized the “complexity” of challenges faced by migrants’ countries of origin, the ones they travel through and destinations like the U.S.

“I’m not going to the fucking White House,” so says World Cup champion Megan Rapinoe, but what about the Senate?

The House Judiciary Committee has released the written responses from the former chief of staff to former White House counsel Don McGahn:

Downing Street responds to the statements from President Trump regarding UK ambassador Sir Kim Darroch and his leaked assessments of the administration:

If you need a quick memory jog, Sir Kim Darroch is the UK ambassador to Washington. Leaked memos revealed Darroch’s scathing assessment of the White House: “We don’t really believe this administration is going to become substantially more normal; less dysfunctional; less unpredictable; less faction-riven; less diplomatically clumsy and inept.”

For more on Darroch, read here:

Representative Justin Amash, the first Republican to back impeachment of President Trump, sent formal notification today that he is withdrawing his membership from the House Republican Conference and resigning from the House oversight and reform committee.

As House Democrats began issuing subpoenas for President Trump’s financial records, the Justice Department fought a federal judge’s decision to allow the lawsuit accusing Trump of profiting off the presidency to go forward, the Associated Press is reporting:

Justice Department lawyers want an appeals court to take the case instead.

They filed papers Monday seeking to move the case from federal court in D.C. to the U.S. Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia. They also want to stop subpoena requests seeking Trump’s business tax returns, and documents from Trump’s D.C. and New York hotels, Mar-a-Lago Club and Trump Tower.

Justice Department lawyers said answering the 37 subpoena requests by July 29 would cause Trump irreparable injury.

Our climate and environment reporter, Susie Cagle, listened in on President Trump’s speech about “maintaining a healthy environment.” Here are some choice quotes from the speech:

  • “I went to the fires in California. It’s also management. It’s a lot of things happening.”
  • “You can’t have dirty floors …. you can’t have 20 years of leaves.”
  • “I will say this, I spoke with the governor of California, and the process of cleaning is now really taking precedent. A lot of people are looking at forest management.”
  • “You don’t have to have any forest fires.” (This is false)
  • “I spoke to certain countries - well-known countries - that say, ‘We’re a forest nation.’ And they don’t have problems....Because they manage, they clean.”
  • “When I went to California, they sort of scoffed at me for the first two weeks, ... and after about five weeks they said, ‘He’s right.’”

There’s a lot to unpack there. First, take a read of this article, which will disprove many of the president’s points:

Fire management is important, but fires are also natural. Forest fires will happen, and experts say they’ll happen more often with the climate crisis going the way it’s going. The issue in California is that much of what is burning is not forest - it’s inhabited areas.

The top two Democratic presidential candidates weigh in on Representative Eric Swalwell dropping out of the race:

Eric Swalwell drops out of 2020 presidential race

Representative Eric Swalwell of California announced today that he will be ending his 2020 presidential bid.

Updated

Hey all, Vivian Ho with the west coast bureau taking over for Tom McCarthy. Happy Monday.

Here’s a summary of where things stand:

  • Wealthy sex offender Jeffrey Epstein pleaded not guilty in federal court in New York to two counts of sex trafficking. Prosecutors accused him of victimizing dozens of girls as young as 14 and requested that he be detained pending trial. A bail hearing was set for Monday.
  • Former friends hosted by Epstein at his homes or aboard his plane include Donald Trump, Bill Clinton, Prince Andrew and Allen Dershowitz. “Too often adults in our society have turned a blind eye to this type of criminal behavior alleged here,” an FBI official in the case said.
  • Epstein had earlier avoided prison by striking a sweetheart deal overseen by current labor secretary Alexander Acosta. The White House did not comment on Epstein’s arrest.
  • Trump tweeted that “we will no longer deal with” British ambassador Kim Darroch after cables by Darroch critical of Trump were leaked. Trump also blamed PM Theresa May for the Brexit “mess.”
  • Attorney general William Barr said he saw a legal way for the Trump administration to include a citizenship question on the US Census and said the Supreme Court was “wrong” to deny an earlier effort.
  • House speaker Nancy Pelosi said the intention behind the proposed Census question was “making America white again.”
  • Senator Elizabeth Warren’s presidential campaign raised $19.1m in the second quarter of this year, besting Bernie Sanders.

Donald Trump at the White House has just delivered a speech about “maintaining a healthy environment”. You can watch it here (skip to 3:00 for Trump):

Representative Eric Swalwell is holding a news conference. Earlier guidance was he would suspend his presidential campaign today to run again for congress. Update: that’s what’s happened. “Today ends our presidential campaign.”

Updated

Pelosi: Trump wants to 'make America white again'

“House Speaker Nancy Pelosi accused President Donald Trump’s administration Monday of having a goal of ‘making America white again’ with its plan to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census,” Bloomberg reports:

“You know his hat? ‘Making America white again.’ They want to make sure that people, certain people, are counted,” Pelosi said at a press conference on election security. “It’s really disgraceful and it’s not what our founders had in mind.”

Read further.

Epstein accusers cheer arrest

A last dispatch from Jeffrey Epstein’s day in court, via Victoria Bekiempis:

Several of Epstein’s accusers were present at court for the proceedings.

David Boies and Sigrid McCawley, lawyers for some of Epstein’s accusers, lauded the arrest.

Boies said “our clients are extremely gratified.”

McCawley read statements from two Epstein accusers, Giuffre and Sarah Ransome, during a brief presser after the proceedings.

In this statement, Giuffre said she was “deeply pleased” by federal prosecutors’ decision to arrest him, and said “it is time for Jeffrey Epstein, and those who participated in these sex crimes, to be brought to justice.”

Ransome’s statement, also read by McCawley, said “the news of my abuser’s arrest today was a step in the right direction to finally hold Epstein accountable for his crimes and restore my faith that power and money can’t triumph over justice.”

Ned Price, who served under Barack Obama as a special assistant to the president for national security affairs, said Trump’s tweets about UK ambassador to the US Kim Darroch only reinforced Darroch’s descriptions of Trump in private.

“The UK ambassador didn’t write anything that wasn’t already patently obvious to an informed observer,” Price said. “He spoke of Donald Trump as someone with thin skin, as someone with a delicate ego, as someone who would be receptive to pandering, and just look at Trump’s reaction.

“He has proved the ambassador right in every respect — by proving he is ego driven, by proving he is thin-skinned, and by proving he will quite literally refuse to deal with people who don’t say nice things about him.”

Barr: supreme court 'wrong' on citizenship question for census

Attorney General William Barr said Monday that he sees a legal path to adding a citizenship question to the 2020 census, despite a Supreme Court ruling that blocked its inclusion, at least temporarily, the AP reports:

In an interview with The Associated Press, Barr said the Trump administration will take action in the coming days that he believes will allow the government to ask the controversial question. Barr would not detail the administration’s plans, though a senior official said President Donald Trump is expected to issue a presidential memorandum to the Commerce Department instructing it to include the question.

In April.
In April. Photograph: Andrew Harnik/AP

The Supreme Court’s June ruling was a blow to Trump , who has been pressing for the government to ask about citizenship on next year’s census. The U.S. Census Bureau’s experts have said a question asking about citizenship would discourage immigrants from participating in the survey and result in a less accurate census. That in turn would redistribute money and political power away from Democratic-led cities where immigrants tend to cluster to whiter, rural areas where Republicans do well.

Barr said he has been in regular contact with Trump over the issue.

“I agree with him that the Supreme Court decision was wrong,” said Barr. He said he believes there is “an opportunity potentially to cure the lack of clarity that was the problem and we might as well take a shot at doing that.”

What Barr calls an innocent-sounding “lack of clarity” on the administration’s part, chief justice John Roberts saw as a “contrived” “distraction” from the administration’s real reason for wanting the citizenship question, which Trump himself helpfully stated on Friday:

“Number one, you need it for Congress — you need it for Congress for districting,” he said. “You need it for appropriations — where are the funds going? How many people are there? Are they citizens? Are they not citizens? You need it for many reasons.”

“Districting.” The commerce department had argued before the supreme court that the question was needed to improve data for the administration of the Voting Rights Act.

Barr derides upcoming Mueller hearing as 'spectacle'

Attorney General William Barr says Democrats are trying to create a “public spectacle” by subpoenaing Special Counsel Robert Mueller to testify before Congress about the Russia investigation, the AP reports:

In an interview with The Associated Press, Barr says the Justice Department would support Mueller if he decides he “doesn’t want to subject himself” to congressional testimony. Barr also says the Justice Department would seek to block any attempt by Congress to subpoena members of the special counsel’s team.

There is no indication that Mueller is planning to skip his July 17 appearance before Congress. He’s said he will not go beyond his 448-page report released in April.

Mueller no longer works for the Justice Department, but the department could attempt to limit his testimony about decisions he made as special counsel.

Mueller’s last public outing, in May.
Mueller’s last public outing, in May. Photograph: Carolyn Kaster/AP

The department of homeland security has asked the defense department to authorize 1,000 additional Texas National Guard troops “to provide supplemental holding and port of entry enforcement support” to US customs and border patrol efforts within Texas, CNN reports.

A crisis of migrants detained in subhuman conditions at the border shows no signs of abating, writes Amanda Holpuch:

Hundreds of children at a migrant detention center in Texas are being held in “inhumane” conditions that amount to an “emergency public health crisis” and should be allowed immediate access to doctors, according to an attorney who gained rare access to the facility.

Elora Mukherjee, the director of Columbia Law School’s immigrant rights clinic, was one of six attorneys to visit the detention center in Clint as part of ongoing litigation about an agreement that states unaccompanied children can’t be held in US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) facilities for more than 72 hours.

The team found that children had no adequate access to medical care, had no basic sanitation, were exposed to extreme cold and did not have adequate access to drinking water or food.

“I’ve been visiting children detained in federal immigration custody for 12 years,” Mukherjee told the Guardian. “I have never seen anything like this before. I have never seen, smelled, had to bear witness to such degrading and inhumane conditions.”

Read further:

Trump: May 'created a mess'; 'most impressed' with queen

The president adds new reaction to the Kim Darroch telegrams. He blames Theresa May for creating a “mess” with Brexit, says Darroch “is not liked’ and “we will no longer deal with him”, and then predicts a new incoming PM and says the queen impressed him most.

Updated

Before a different judge in the Epstein case, Rossmiller, the assistant US attorney, is asked whether he anticipates “other defendants” (via Courthouse News):

Warren reports $19.1m raised, besting Sanders

Senator Elizabeth Warren’s presidential campaign raised $19.1m in the second quarter of this year, more than triple her total of the previous quarter. The number outran Bernie Sanders and was behind only the Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg campaigns – and she did it without holding fundraisers.

Warren’s campaign reported 384,000 donors, a $28 average donation and $19.7m cash on hand, the Washington Post said.

Earlier today Julían Castro, the former housing secretary, announced he had more than 130,000 individual donors, clearing a key threshold to qualify for future presidential debates.

Boom shake the room
Boom shake the room Photograph: Amy Harris/Invision/AP

Read our recent coverage of the Warren campaign:

“Our country’s in real trouble,” Warren said, pacing as she spoke. “A lot of trouble.

“So what’s it going to take to change that?” she continued. “Big, structural change.”

Alexandra Barker, the host of the event, couldn’t agree more. “If things don’t change, this is the home I’ll sell to send him to college,” she said, hugging her 11-year-old son, Ricky. “If there’s anyone who can actually get it done, I believe it’s going to be her.”

More than six months into her presidential campaign – after holding 105 town halls, answering nearly 500 questions from voters and taking more than 35,000 selfies – the Massachusetts senator has emerged as a top-tier contender, and increasingly as the top choice of the American left, in the crowded race for the Democratic nomination.

Updated

Epstein bail hearing adjourned

The hearing has adjourned to resume on Thursday, Courthouse News reports.

Update: in a second hearing before a different judge, the bail hearing was moved to Monday.

Updated

Epstein lawyer: 'we're dealing with ancient conduct'

Epstein’s lawyer, Reid Weingarten, is speaking in court, Courthouse News reports:

The report continues:

Rossmiller slams one of Weingarten’s statements: “Surely the concept of child prostitution is offensive” and outside federal law.

Rossmiller on Weingarten calling the conduct “ancient”: The prosecutor notes that it is not beyond the statute of limitations.

Weingarten then rose to assert that Epstein claimed “There’s no statutory rape” supplying graphic detail that might be triggering for some readers. Link to report here.

Updated

Assistant US attorney Alex Rossmiller is arguing in court that Epstein must be detained prior to trial, saying “he’s a man of nearly infinite means”, Courthouse News reports:

Epstein pleads not guilty

via Victoria Bekiempis in court:

When asked to enter a plea, Epstein told the judge “not guilty, your honor,” while maintaining an air of resigned stoicism.

Epstein ushered into court

“A fatigued-looking Jeffrey Epstein was just brought into the courtroom,” reports Victoria Bekiempis from federal court in Manhattan. “He sported navy blue jail scrubs and his silver hair was messy.”

And then there were... something like 26?

It looks like California Representative Eric Swalwell, who made combatting gun violence the central issue of his brief presidential campaign, will drop out of the race, the Los Angeles Times reports:

But elsewhere today there have been reports that Tom Steyer, the billionaire hedge funder turned progressive philanthropist and environmentalist, has told people he’s going to get into the race after all. Will it happen? For now let’s call it a wash.

In court documents, prosecutors describe “a vast trove of lewd photographs of young-looking women or girls” seized at Epstein’s Manhattan mansion.

The document states in part:

“The defendant, a registered sex offender, is not reformed, he is not chastened, he is not repentant; rather, he is a continuing danger to the community and an individual who faces devastating evidence supporting deeply serious charges”.

Another friend of Epstein: prominent Trump defender Allen Dershowitz:

Dershowitz is the author of The Case Against Impeaching Trump. Asked to comment Saturday on Epstein’s arrest, Dershowitz told the Daily Beast, “I’ll wait to see what the evidence is.”

Dershowitz also called the Miami Herald’s reporting on Epstein “Fake News” and mounted a public campaign against Pulitzer buzz for the reporting:

Updated

Also from the Epstein news conference, William F Sweeney of the FBI criticized adults who “have turned a blind eye to this type of criminal behavior,” reports legal analyst and professor Jennifer Taub:

Berman, the US Attorney in the southern district of New York (a Trump appointee, no less), praised the “excellent investigative journalism” that helped his team build their case against Epstein.

Dig into Julie K Brown’s reporting here.

When a reporter asked how Epstein could be prosecuted here given his non-prosecution agreement in the Southern District of Florida, Berman explained that the Florida non-prosecution agreement was only binding there, Victoria Bekiempis reports.

Asked why the public corruption unit was investigating Epstein – potentially indicating the involvement of a government official at some level – Berman answered, “I’m not getting into staffing decisions at the US Attorney’s Office.”

“I have confidence that the public corruption unit is able to handle...as it has so many other matters.”

“I will again urge you not to read into the unit assignment anything one way or the other.”

Prosecutors on Epstein: 'We think he's a significant flight risk'

“Nude photographs of what appeared to be underage girls” were seized at Epstein’s residence, prosecutors say.

Then they make the case for Epstein’s detention:

“We think he’s a significant flight risk and that is why we are seeking detention pending trial.

“He has enormous wealth.. and [the charges] carry with them a maximum sentence of 45 years in jail, which given Epstein’s age is an effective life sentence.”

They note Epstein has two airplanes and lives much of the year abroad. It all adds up to a flight risk, they say.

Prosecutors in Manhattan note that other high-profile individuals have been associates with Epstein in the past and there has been speculation about their potential involvement in the case.

Prosecutors say they won’t be commenting on any such speculation and that unwillingness to comment should not be taken one way or another.

Epstein conduct 'shocks the conscience', prosecutor says

Maurene Comey, former FBI director James Comey’s daughter, is among the prosecutors pursuing the case against Epstein, Victoria Bekiempis reports. She is present at the Manhattan US Attorney’s press conference on Epstein’s indictment.

Berman said prosecutors will ask for Epstein to be detained pending his case.

“The alleged behavior shocks the conscience and while the charged conduct is from a number of years ago, it is still profoundly important to the many alleged victims, now young women,” Berman said at a press conference. “They deserve their day in court, and we are proud to be standing up for them by bringing this indictment.”

Epstein news conference begins

Manhattan US attorney Geoffrey Berman is addressing reporters.

He says Epstein was arrested at Teterboro airport in New Jersey at 5:30pm Saturday. He says Epstein is suspected of exploiting and abusing “dozens of victims” “as young as 14 years old at time of recruitment.”

He describes the victims as “children who were asked to engage in direct or indirect sex acts in exchange for money” while Epstein was two or three times their age.

He says people, unnamed, failed to confront Epstein’s criminal behavior. They “turned a blind eye,” Berman said.

To the victims, Berman asks them “to take a good look at this man.”

“If you have been victimized in any way, or if you are somebody who has additional information... we want to hear from you,” Berman says.

He walks potential victims through the phone tree they will navigate if they call the 1-800 number.

“The Jeffrey Epstein case is number one on that list of major cases in the country.”

“There never was, nor will there be, an excuse for this kind of behavior.”

Epstein news conference shortly

Victoria Bekiempis (vicbekiempis) is outside federal court in Manhattan awaiting a news conference expected to follow an appearance in court by accused child molester Jeffrey Epstein.

The FBI has made a callout for potential victims.

Manhattan US Attorney Geoffrey Berman issued a statement on Epstein’s indictment on two charges of sex trafficking:

“Epstein exploited girls who were vulnerable to abuse, enticed them with cash payments, and escalated his conduct to include sex acts, often occurring at his residence on the Upper East Side of Manhattan,” Berman said. “While the charged conduct is from a number of years ago, the victims – then children and now young women – are no less entitled to their day in court.

“My Office is proud to stand up for these victims by bringing this indictment.”

The FBI has made a callout for potential victims.
The FBI has made a callout for potential victims. Photograph: Victoria Bekiempis/THE GUARDIAN

Updated

Flash floods in Washington DC affect subway, White House, Congress

This is not far from the White House:

Only three weeks to wait before the next Democratic presidential debate.

This one will be hosted by CNN, which has announced, in a reality show twist worthy of the age of Trump, that the candidate lineup will be decided by live draw. Once again, the debate will be held over two nights, July 30-31, with half the field onstage each night.

In the first debate pundits were split on whether Senator Elizabeth Warren’s accidental exile in the land of also-rans – she was on a separate stage from Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris and Pete Buttigieg – helped her or hurt her.

The second debate will be moderated by CNN journalists Dana Bash, Don Lemon and Jake Tapper.

Caucus-by-phone coming to Iowa and Nevada, state Democrats say

Democrats in the early presidential contest states of Iowa and Nevada will be able to cast their votes over the telephone instead of showing up at their states’ traditional neighborhood caucus meetings next February, according to plans unveiled by the state parties, the AP reports.

Only a handful of states are using caucuses to settle on a Democratic presidential candidate this year. Allowing voters to access caucuses by phone could change the dynamics of the process, which in the past has favored candidates with particularly enthused (not to mention able-bodied) followings because voters must show up in person and remain on-site, sometimes for hours, as the candidate is selected.

AP:

The tele-caucus systems, the result of a mandate from the Democratic National Committee, are aimed at opening the local-level political gatherings to more people, especially evening shift-workers and people with disabilities, whom critics of the caucuses have long said are blocked from the process.

The changes are expected to boost voter participation across the board, presenting a new opportunity for the Democratic Party’s 2020 candidates to drive up support in the crucial early voting states.

“This is a no-excuse option” for participation, said Shelby Wiltz, the Nevada Democrats’ caucus director.

Read further.

Top Republican fundraiser allegedly sought to cash in on inauguration post

A federal grand jury in New York is investigating top Republican fundraiser Elliott Broidy, examining whether he used his position as vice chair of President Donald Trump’s inaugural committee to drum up business deals with foreign leaders, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press and people familiar with the matter.

Last year it was revealed that Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s lawyer at the time, arranged for a $1.6m payment to a Playboy playmate in 2017 to keep secret her sexual relationship with Broidy.

Elliott Broidy in New York in 2008.
Elliott Broidy in New York in 2008. Photograph: David Karp/AP

Trump’s inaugural committee, which took money from shell companies tied to foreign donors, was already under investigation in New York for allegedly harvesting money from donors and transferring it to friends and associates of the Trump family who had relatively small roles in the inauguration.

The event took in and disbursed $107m.

But the new investigation scrutinizes an alleged scheme by Broidy to capitalize on his post in another way, AP reports:

A wide-ranging subpoena the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn recently sent to Trump’s inaugural committee seeks records relating to 20 individuals and businesses. All have connections to Broidy, his investment and defense contracting firms, and foreign officials he pursued deals with — including the current president of Angola and two politicians in Romania.

Prosecutors appear to be investigating whether Broidy exploited his access to Trump for personal gain and violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which makes it illegal for U.S. citizens to offer foreign officials “anything of value” to gain a business advantage. Things of value in this case could have been an invitation to the January 2017 inaugural events or access to Trump.

A statement released to the AP by Broidy’s attorneys said that at no point did Broidy or his global security firm Circinus have a contract or exchange of money with “any Romanian government agency, proxy or agent.” It also said that while Circinus did reach an agreement with Angola in 2016 there was no connection whatsoever to the inauguration or Broidy’s role on the inaugural committee.

“Any implication to the contrary is completely false,” the statement said.

Read further.

Court documents unsealed Monday show that Jeffrey Epstein is charged with creating and maintaining a network that allowed him to sexually exploit and abuse dozens of underage girls, the Associated Press reports [update: read the indictment here]:

The alleged victims were as young as 14 at the time.

Epstein was taken into custody on Saturday.

Authorities say he paid underage girls for massages and then molested them at his homes in Florida and New York in the early 2000s.

Read earlier. Epstein was expected to appear in Manhattan federal court later Monday.

Updated

Melania Trump is headed to West Virginia for meetings about the opioid epidemic:

In other first lady news, in case you missed it over the holiday weekend:

Epstein charged with two sex trafficking counts

A new indictment against Jeffrey Epstein, the wealthy financier and erstwhile friend of luminaries including Bill Clinton, Donald Trump, Prince Andrew and others, has just been unsealed in New York, Victoria Bekiempis (@vicbekiempis) reports for the Guardian.

Epstein faces two counts: sex trafficking conspiracy and sex trafficking, for alleged encounters between 2002 and 2005.

Epstein is being prosecuted in the southern district of New York. He avoided a prison sentence on similar charges in the early 2000s in a lenient plea deal that required him to pay restitution to victims and register as a sex offender. That deal was overseen by former Miami US Attorney and current Trump labor secretary Alexander Acosta.

Undated Epstein photo from the Palm Beach County, Florida, Sheriff’s Departmant.
Undated Epstein photo from the Palm Beach County, Florida, Sheriff’s Departmant. Photograph: HO/AFP/Getty Images

The White House has not commented on Epstein’s arrest. In 2002, Trump called Epstein a “terrific guy” and mentioned his love of girls on the “younger side.”

There’s buzz – unclear how much substance to it – about whether, as part of this new prosecution, Epstein might end up spilling stories about one or another of his powerful former friends.

Updated

Hello and welcome to our live politics coverage. Hours after the USA triumphed in the Women’s World Cup on Sunday, Donald Trump told reporters that the White House had not thought to invite the team for a visit, but would “look at it”.

A couple weeks ago, however, the president invited the team to the White House in a tweet.

On Sunday, Trump said: “We haven’t really thought about it. We’ll look at that,” Voice of America reports.

In June, Trump slammed team co-captain Megan Rapinoe, who had vowed never to visit Trump at home, and said: “I am now inviting the TEAM, win or lose.”

Rapinoe, 34, repeated her vow not to visit the White House on Saturday. Asked about it by Agence France-Presse, she said: “I haven’t spoken to everyone about it, obviously not myself, not Ali Krieger, and I suspect not many, if any, of the other players [would attend the visit].”

Trump has hosted many men’s championship teams at the White House including minor division college football champions the North Dakota Bisons, whom Trump served fast food.

Now the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, has invited the team to the US Capitol:

There’s a lot of politics news out there this morning. Thank you for joining us ... perhaps from your office?

To be fair, many of these elected officials will be busy running for president.

Updated

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Gen Z is Addicted to Social Media? Seniors Are Worse, Study Says
For years, social media addiction has been framed as a “Gen Z problem”- a generation endlessly scrolling through reels, chasing notifications, and living online. But new research is quietly rewriting that narrative. The reality now emerging is both surprising and deeply human: older adults are not just catching up- they…
MyLifeXP
MyLifeXP
Police video of Justin Timberlake's 2024 drunken driving arrest released
Police have released body camera footage from Justin Timberlake's drunken driving arrest in New York’s Hamptons in 2024
The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Brand New Day's Tom Holland Explains Why Spider-Man And Punisher Might Be His 'Favorite Dynamic' For Peter Parker Yet
I can't wait to see these two together!
Cinemablend
Cinemablend
43 Years Before It Was Trending, Steven Spielberg's Living Room Was a Jewelbox of Vintage Style – Recreate His Look With Tiffany Lamps, Butter Yellow, and Dark Wood
All the chicest people are decorating with antiques in 2026, but Steven Spielberg was ahead of the curve – experts discuss the trend
Homes & Gardens
Homes & Gardens
Does Zendaya Only Hold Tom Holland's Hands? 'Euphoria' Star Rejects Other Men's Sweet Gesture
Explore the rumours surrounding Zendaya and Tom Holland, including claims that they have already tied the knot.
International Business Times UK
International Business Times UK
“I wound up in a place that I needed to stop and sit with myself”: Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl addresses infidelity and social media fallout in new interview
The singer/multi-instrumentalist says he’s had 430 therapy sessions in the past 70 weeks and suggests that fathering a child with a woman outside of his marriage in 2024 is part of the reason why
Metal Hammer
Metal Hammer
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