3 Chinese nationals charged with smuggling Nvidia, HP chips to China

(WASHINGTON) — A group of Jeffrey Epstein survivors spoke out on Capitol Hill on Wednesday as part of a push to have all files related to the accused sex trafficker released.

“This is not a hoax. It’s not going to go away,” said Marina Lacerda, a central witness in Epstein’s 2019 indictment who spoke with ABC News.

Anouska De Georgiou, the first survivor of Epstein and his longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell to step to the podium, said the victims are coming together to have their voices be heard.

“The days of sweeping this under the rug are over. We the survivors say ‘no more,'” she said.

“I’m no longer weak, I am no longer powerless and I’m no longer alone. And with your vote, neither will the next generation,” she said. “President Trump, you have so much influence and power in this situation. Please use that influence and power to help us, because we need it now, and this country needs it now.”

Trump was asked about the press conference pushing for transparency on the Epstein files at the White House on Wednesday. He continued to insist it was a “hoax” distracting from his administration’s success.

“This is a Democrat hoax that never ends,” Trump claimed.

Survivor after survivor, however, implored lawmakers to back a bipartisan push from Republican Rep. Thomas Massie and Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna to compel the Justice Department to publicly release the Epstein files.

“Mr. President, Donald J. Trump, I am a registered Republican — not that that matters, because this is not political — however, I cordially invite you to the Capitol to meet me in person so you can understand this is not a hoax. We are real human beings. This is real trauma,” survivor Haley Robson said when asked by ABC News Capitol Hill Correspondent Jay O’Brien about Trump’s comments calling the matter a “hoax.”

At times growing emotional, some survivors also detailed the abuse they said they suffered at the hands of Epstein, some saying the abuse happened when they were teenagers.

“I hope my colleagues are watching this press conference. I want them to think, what if this was your sister? What if this was your daughter?” Massie said.

“Today we stand with survivors, we stand against big money, we stand to protect America’s children. That is really what this is about,” Khanna said on Wednesday.

So far, four Republicans have signed on to the Massie and Khanna discharge petition — a procedural tool to bypass GOP leadership and force a vote. Those signers include Massie, Reps. Nancy Mace, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert.

If all 212 Democrats sign the petition, only two Republicans are needed to reach the 218 needed to compel a vote on the House floor.

Attorney Bradley Edwards, who has represented more than 200 Epstein survivors, said the push should “pass with flying colors.”

“While we have seen the documents, you haven’t, and when you see the documents, you’re going to be appalled,” Edwards said at the press conference.

House Republican leadership, however, is opposed to the Massie and Khanna effort — as is the White House.

Speaker Mike Johnson urged Republicans to not support Massie’s discharge petition during a closed conference meeting Wednesday morning, according to multiple sources.

“It does not adequately protect the innocent victims, and that is a critical component,” Johnson said on Tuesday of the discharge petition. On Wednesday Johnson instead argued the ongoing investigation by the House Oversight Committee, which has subpoenaed records from the Justice Department and the Epstein estate, is the better path because committee investigators will pour over the files and redact any identifying or otherwise confidential information.

The House Oversight Committee on Tuesday evening released tens of thousands of pages related to Epstein, much of which was already publicly known.

“To the American people — don’t let this fool you,” Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, said after the release. “After careful review, Oversight Democrats have found that 97% of the documents received from the Department of Justice were already public. There is no mention of any client list or anything that improves transparency or justice for victims.”

Epstein was arrested in July 2019 and charged in a federal indictment with conspiracy and child sex trafficking. He died in custody a month later, while awaiting trial. His death was ruled a suicide by hanging.

Maxwell was convicted in 2021 by a federal jury on sex trafficking and other charges. She is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for aiding and participating in Epstein’s trafficking of underage girls, which involved a scheme to recruit young women and girls for massages of Epstein that turned sexual.

Ahead of the news conference with lawmakers, several of the survivors and their families held a rally outside the Capitol.

“It’s the voices of survivors of these crimes that are important, so we are here together to stand united,” said survivor Liz Stein.

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(WASHINGTON) — A federal judge has dismissed the criminal cases against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James on the grounds that the appointment of the U.S. attorney who brought the indictments was invalid.

The judge dismissed the charges without prejudice, meaning the cases could potentially be refiled by an appropriately appointed U.S. attorney. 

U.S. District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie concluded that the appointment of Interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan was unconstitutional and that her actions bringing the case were “unlawful” and “ineffective.”

“Because Ms. Halligan had no lawful authority to present the indictment, I will grant Mr. Comey’s motion and dismiss the indictment without prejudice,” she wrote. 

Halligan, President Donald Trump’s handpicked U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, sought the indictment of Comey and James over the objections of career prosecutors after Trump forced out previous U.S. attorney Erik Siebert who sources said had resisted bringing the cases.

Halligan, who had no experience as a prosecutor, sought the indictment after Trump, in a social media post, called on Attorney General Pam Bondi to act “NOW!!!” to prosecute Comey, James and Rep. Adam Schiff.

Comey pleaded not guilty in October to one count of false statements and one count of obstruction of a congressional proceeding related to his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2020, amid what critics call Trump’s campaign of retribution against his perceived political foes.

Vice President JD Vance has said any such prosecutions are “driven by law and not by politics.” 

James, who successfully brought a civil fraud case against Trump last year and leads multiple lawsuits challenging his administration’s policies, pleaded not guilty in October to charges that she committed mortgage fraud related to a home she purchased in 2020.

Prosecutors said she falsely described a property she purchased in Norfolk, Virginia, as a second home instead of an investment property in order to obtain a lower mortgage rate. James said she purchased the property for her great-niece and allowed her and her children to live in the house rent-free.”I am heartened by today’s victory and grateful for the prayers and support I have received from around the country,” James said in a statement following Friday’s ruling. “I remain fearless in the face of these baseless charges as I continue fighting for New Yorkers every single day.”

With the statute of limitations for Comey’s case set to expire, it is unclear whether the case could be refiled in time. Lawyers for Comey have argued that the statute of limitations has already run out. 

Unlike the case against Comey, the allegations against James appear to be well within the statute of limitations should the Department of Justice try to pursue the case again. 

Under federal law, the attorney general has the authority to appoint an interim U.S. Attorney for 120 days before the appointment power shifts to the judges in that federal district.  When U.S. Attorney Jessica Aber, who was President Joe Biden’s pick to lead the office, resigned on Jan. 20, Siebert was appointed as interim U.S. attorney.  

After 120 days, the power to appoint an interim U.S. attorney shifted from the attorney general to the judges in the Eastern District of Virginia, who used their authority to allow Siebert to continue serving in his role.  

“When that clock expired on May 21, 2025, so too did the Attorney General’s appointment authority,” Judge Currie wrote in her decision.

Siebert continued to serve lawfully in his position until September, when he resigned following a pressure campaign from the president. Within 48 hours of Trump’s social media post calling for the prosecution of his political foes, Bondi cited the same federal law that allows a 120-day interim appointment to authorize Halligan as the interim U.S. attorney. 

After both Comey and James were indicted, Bondi attempted to ratify Haligan’s appointment, but Judge Currie rejected that attempt to fix the issue after the fact. 

“The implications of a contrary conclusion are extraordinary. It would mean the Government could send any private citizen off the street — attorney or not — into the grand jury room to secure an indictment so long as the Attorney General gives her approval after the fact. That cannot be the law,” she wrote. 

According to Currie, the decision about who leads the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Eastern Virginia is now in the hands of the judges in that district, until Trump nominates and the Senate confirms a permanent U.S. attorney to take over.

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(WASHINGTON) — The White House fired all six members of the Commission of Fine Arts, which is slated to review President Donald Trump’s controversial construction projects, and will replace them with its own appointees, a White House official told ABC News.

The six members, who were appointed by former President Joe Biden, were removed Tuesday night by the White House, according to an administration official. The seventh seat on the commission had been vacated before Tuesday.

The official said the White House is “preparing to appoint a new slate of members to the commission that are more aligned with President Trump’s America First Policies.”

The Washington Post first reported the move Tuesday evening.

In replacing the members of the CFA, Trump has removed a potential obstacle to the massive $300 million ballroom he is building on the White House grounds after demolishing much of the East Wing, and the ceremonial arch he wants to build.

The arch — similar to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris — would be built in a roundabout in front of Arlington National Cemetery at one end of the Arlington Memorial Bridge across the Potomac River from the Lincoln Memorial.

The president said both construction projects would be paid for by private donations.

Trump has faced questions about the legality and review process for the projects but he has provided few answers.

The Commission of Fine Arts provides the federal government “expert advice” to promote the “the federal interest and preserve the dignity of the nation’s capital.” The group is composed of seven members appointed by the president. 

The CFA has the authority to review construction projects measuring whether they match the “design and aesthetics” of Washington, D.C., but does not have approval power on projects. 

The commission’s next meeting is scheduled for Nov. 20, but it is unclear if it will happen because of the ongoing government shutdown. According to the CFA website, the commission will begin accepting submissions for new projects once the government reopens. 

In addition to reviewing designs for federal construction projects, the CFA also provides feedback on coins, medals and private building projects. 

The president is not obligated to follow the CFA’s recommendation.

When President Harry Truman added a balcony to the White House, the renovation was completed over the CFA’s objections.

Federal projects in the D.C. area are typically overseen and approved by the National Capital Planning Commission, which is also led by Trump appointees. 

Will Scharf, the White House staff secretary, currently chairs the NCPC and has expressed enthusiasm for the ballroom project.

“I know the president thinks very highly of this commission, and I’m excited for us to play a role in the ballroom project when the time is appropriate for us to do so,” he said in a September meeting in which he brushed aside criticism of the White House construction from the media.

The Senate’s Energy and Natural Resources Committee is scheduled to meet on Wednesday to examine part of the National Historic Preservation Act, which requires federal agencies to consider the effects of projects on historic properties.

The hearing was scheduled to focus on guidelines that don’t apply to the White House, but the ballroom project is expected to come up.

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