Border Patrol chief Michael Banks is stepping down

(NEW YORK) — The House Oversight Committee is set to depose Jeffrey Epstein’s longtime accountant on Wednesday, potentially shedding light on how the disgraced financier was able to manage his multimillion-dollar fortune.

Richard Kahn served as Epstein’s accountant for over a decade, and some of Epstein’s victims allege he played an instrumental role in creating the “complex financial infrastructure” that enabled the financier’s crimes.

Kahn has consistently denied any wrongdoing and says he was unaware of Epstein’s crimes while serving as his accountant. The closed-door deposition — a recording of which is expected to be released by the committee — could provide a rare window into how Epstein paid for his lavish lifestyle and funneled thousands of dollars to his victims.

While some of the recent witnesses deposed by the House Oversight Committee — including Bill and Hillary Clinton and retail billionaire Leslie Wexner — have drawn immense publicity, the interviews have largely left unchanged the public’s understanding of Epstein’s life and crimes.

By turning to Epstein’s former inner circle with Kahn and his longtime lawyer Darren Indyke — who is set to be deposed next week — the congressional investigation could offer a broader window into Epstein’s life, legal troubles and the complex web of bank accounts and shell companies that comprised his fortune.

Kahn began working as Epstein’s in-house accountant in the mid-2000s and worked for Epstein until his death in 2019. Kahn and Indyke served as the co-executors of his will, and Epstein planned to give Kahn $25 million, according to documents released by the Department of Justice earlier this year.

Following Epstein’s death, his estate was valued as much as $650 million, though the fortune has decreased over the last decade as the estate has paid out multiple settlements to Epstein’s victims.

Last month, Kahn and Indyke agreed to settle one of the last class-action lawsuits filed by victims of Epstein for at least $25 million without an admission of wrongdoing. The estate was last valued at approximately $127 million, according to a court filing last October.

The class action complaint alleged that both men were “personally essential” for Epstein by helping structure his back accounts, managing cash withdrawals, and creating a complex financial infrastructure “created to simply facilitate the illegal sex-trafficking venture.” The lawsuit also alleged that the men helped Epstein facilitate at least three “sham marriages” to obtain immigration status for Epstein’s victims.

“Knowing that they would earn millions of dollars in exchange for facilitating Epstein’s sex abuse and trafficking, Indyke and Kahn chose money and power over following the law,” the complaint said.

The settlement did not include an admission of wrongdoing and still needs to be approved by a federal judge. While both men were named as defendants in the case, the settlement will also be paid through Epstein’s trust, rather than by them directly.

“Neither of the co-executors has made any admission or concession of misconduct,” said Dan Weiner, an attorney for both men said in a statement to ABC News last month. “That is not surprising — not a single woman has ever accused either man of committing sexual abuse or witnessing sexual abuse, nor claimed at any time that she reported to them any allegation of Mr. Epstein’s abuse.”

Lawmakers last year began increasing their scrutiny of both Kahn and Indyke following a report in the Wall Street Journal that both men were never questioned by law enforcement investigating Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.

“In light of the work Indyke and Kahn performed for Epstein and the outsize role they played in his personal and financial affairs; it is inexcusable that the DOJ and the FBI never questioned these individuals in connection with investigations into Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell,” a group of five Democratic Senators wrote in a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel last year. “A failure of this magnitude cannot be attributed to simple oversight or misunderstanding, and it is incumbent on Congress to understand why such a failure occurred.”

Documents released earlier this year offered some new details about Kahn’s role, managing expenses for Epstein and serving in roles in some of the companies that comprised the complex web of Epstein’s finances. According to a 2020 lawsuit against the Epstein estate filed by the U.S. Virgin Islands government, Epstein paid Kahn more than $10 million dollars between 2011 and 2019 for his services.

Ahead of the deposition, Daniel Ruzumna, an attorney for Kahn, declined to comment.

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(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump on Monday continued to lash out at the Supreme Court, days after a majority of justices, including two of his conservative nominees, struck down most of his global tariffs as illegal.

In a series of social media posts on Monday, Trump wrote he had a “complete lack of respect” for the nation’s high court and that “they should be ashamed of themselves.”

“The supreme court (will be using lower case letters for a while based on a complete lack of respect!) of the United States accidentally and unwittingly gave me, as President of the United States, far more powers and strength than I had prior to their ridiculous, dumb, and very internationally divisive ruling,” Trump wrote.

“The court has also approved all other Tariffs, of which there are many, and they can all be used in a much more powerful and obnoxious way, with legal certainty, than the Tariffs as initially used,” Trump added.

Trump will face some of the Supreme Court justices in person on Tuesday night when he delivers his State of the Union address. Justices are typically seated in front of the president in the first few rows, though their attendance is voluntary and several have skipped the event in recent years.

The court’s 6-3 ruling on Friday, which marked a rare rebuke on his administration, deemed that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) does not give Trump the power to unilaterally impose the sweeping tariffs he issued on most U.S. trade partners.

Trump has since sought to revive the tariffs, which were a longtime political goal of his and a centerpiece of his economic agenda in his second term.

Over the weekend, Trump announced he was imposing a 15% global tariff under a different legal authority: Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974. But that authority is more limited, allowing the tariffs to last only for 150 days without congressional approval.

Trump’s repeatedly signaled he won’t seek additional action from Congress on tariffs.

“As President, I do not have to go back to Congress to get approval of Tariffs. It has already been gotten, in many forms, a long time ago!” Trump wrote in a social media post on Monday.

In addition to Section 122 tariffs, Trump said his administration would open Section 301 investigations into unfair trade practices to secure additional levies. Those investigations can take weeks or months.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, during an appearance on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday, said the administration’s “policy hasn’t changed” despite the Supreme Court setback.

“We found ways to really reconstruct what we’re doing. Now, it doesn’t have the same flexibility that the president had under the previous authority that he was using, but it gives us very durable tools,” Greer said.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, said other tools will get the administration back to the tariff levels it had before the Supreme Court’s decision.

“We have been in touch with our foreign trading partners, and all of them want to keep the trade deals that have been set,” Bessent said.

Trump on Monday, in another social media post, threatened a “much higher Tariff” if any country decides to “‘play games’ with the ridiculous supreme court decision” that struck down most of his global tariffs — though he didn’t elaborate on how he would impose such levies.

Trump, while criticizing the Supreme Court’s tariff decision, also predicted the justices the could rule against him in other cases, specifically on the 14th Amendment guarantee of birthright citizenship.

The Supreme Court will hear an expedited appeal of Trump’s case seeking to effectively end birthright citizenship by executive order. Federal courts have so far blocked Trump’s order nationwide.

“But this supreme court will find a way to come to the wrong conclusion, one that again will make China, and various other Nations, happy and rich. Let our supreme court keep making decisions that are so bad and deleterious to the future of our Nation — I have a job to do,” Trump wrote in a social media post.

When asked after Friday’s tariff ruling if the justices were still invited to his State of the Union address, Trump said “barely.”

“Honestly, I couldn’t care less if they come,” Trump said.

In that news conference, Trump called the conservative justices who ruled against him an “embarrassment to their families” and the liberal justices a “disgrace to our nation.” Trump’s also heaped praise on the three conservative justices that sided with him on tariffs, on Monday referring to them as “the Great Three!” in a social media post.

ABC News’ Fritz Farrow and Hannah Demissie contributed to this report.

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(WASHINGTON) — Construction on the Ultimate Fighting Championship Octagon is underway on the White House South Lawn ahead of President Donald Trump’s planned fights this summer to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the United States.

The event, dubbed “UFC Freedom Fights 250,” will take place on June 14 — coinciding with the president’s birthday and Flag Day — and feature a lightweight title matchup between undisputed champion Ilia Topuria and interim title holder Justin Gaethje alongside four other fights.

“Selected fighters” will take home prize money — some of which will come from Crypto.com, according to UFC.

The scaffolding — which will frame and light the cage where the fight is occurring, according to renderings shared by UFC — is visible from the White House North Lawn, cresting over the historic West Wing and Oval Office. 

Trump has repeatedly touted the popularity of the fight, claiming at the congressional picnic earlier this month that he had “never seen anybody want anything so much as people want those tickets.”

In an Oval Office event featuring some of the fighters earlier this month, including Topuria and Gaethj, Trump claimed that tickets would be free to attendees and that tens of thousands of people would be able to congregate on the South Lawn and surrounding parks to witness the event.

“Our country is invited to this, it’s free,” Trump told reporters, claiming that the Ellipse would be able to house 75,000 to 100,000 fans beyond the main stage on the South Lawn. “They’re going to set up eight big screens and they’re going to have the fight. And then out here, we’re going to have 4,000 seats right in front of the front door of the White House.”

On Saturday, UFC shared new renderings to social media of what the event is expected to look like. The images featured a large fighting cage surrounded by stadium seating as well as an overview of the “UFC Freedom 250 Fan Fest” in Ellipse Park.

In a statement, White House spokesperson Davis Ingle said the event “will be one of the greatest and most historic sports events in history.”

“President Trump hosting it at the White House is a testament to his vision to celebrate America’s monumental 250th anniversary,” he said.

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