Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi wants answers from the Justice Department about internal communications regarding a possible pardon for Jeffrey Epstein’s co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell.

In a letter sent Wednesday to acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, the Illinois Democrat pointed to a recent POLITICO story where Maxwell’s attorney, David Oscar Markus, said there was “a good chance and for good reason that [Maxwell] would get a pardon” from President Donald Trump.

Maxwell is currently serving a 20-year sentence for her role in the sex trafficking scheme. The Supreme Court recently denied a bid to review her case, leaving presidential clemency the only obvious reprieve that could be available to her. Trump has not ruled out granting her clemency.

As Blue Light News reported earlier this month, Markus said in an extensive interview he had reached out to Blanche last year to set up a meeting for his client to answer questions about the Epstein case. They met in Tallahassee for a two-day meeting in July, and Maxwell was moved to a minimum security prison camp in Texas shortly afterward. Blanche and Markus have both maintained that she was transferred because she was unsafe at her former facility.

“It is unacceptable that DOJ would be engaging at all with such an outrageous request,” Krishnamoorthi wrote to Blanche, who has known Markus for years.

Krishnamoorthi asked Blanche to promise he would not engage with the convicted sex offender around a pardon and requested to view communications with Maxwell or Markus related to a pardon.

DOJ did not immediately return a request for comment.

Senate Democrats want to use a marathon voting session this week to hammer Republicans on cost-of-living issues.

As part of the amendment free-for-all known as “vote-a-rama,” Democrats can force a vote on any proposal they want before the Senate votes on the GOP’s budget blueprint for an immigration enforcement bill. They are vowing to try to show a “contrast” that hits at the heart of their midterms message.

“Republicans want to shell out billions of dollars to Donald Trump’s private army without any common sense restraints or reforms. Democrats want to put money in people’s pockets by lowering their costs,” Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters Wednesday.

“We’re going to keep at it, and keep at it, and keep at it,” Schumer added.

The Senate could move as soon as Wednesday to kick off the hourslong voting marathon. Republicans have to adopt the budget resolution before they can take up a subsequent bill they expect will provide roughly $70 billion for immigration enforcement.

Republicans decided to go it alone on funding for ICE, Border Patrol and other agencies after they were unable to get a deal with Democrats to impose new restrictions on the funding in the wake of federal agents fatally shooting two people in Minneapolis in January.

Few, if any, of the Democratic amendments are likely to be adopted. But they could provide fuel for campaign season attacks as Republicans unite to keep their party-line funding plan intact.

Schumer declined to offer specifics on his caucus’ amendments, but he said they will relate to reducing costs on issues like housing, health care, food costs and child care. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), the No. 3 Senate Democrat, indicated that Democrats will force amendment votes related to local law enforcement funding, lapsed Obamacare subsidies and housing costs.

“Those are the choices we are going to present to them over these next few days,” she added.

Virginia just delivered the moment Hakeem Jeffries has been waiting for.

Voters approved a new congressional map that adds up to four Democratic-leaning districts, handing the party a stronger chance of retaking the House. The minority leader is leaning in, taunting Republicans and vowing “maximum warfare, everywhere, all the time.”

“Democrats defeated Donald Trump’s gerrymandering scheme in Virginia tonight,” Jeffries said in a statement Tuesday evening. “We will crush the DeSantis Dummymander in Florida next.”

Jeffries has staked much of his credibility as a party leader on the effort, pouring time, money and political capital into a nationwide push to create new blue districts as Republicans rush to do the same in red states.

Tuesday night’s narrow win marks a major feather in Jeffries’ cap that will help burnish his reputation in the Democratic caucus as an operator and foil to Trump. It’s also a signature win for a rising leader who is often compared to his iconic predecessor, Nancy Pelosi.

Democrats are reading the success as a promising bellwether ahead of the midterms and a sign of mounting voter frustration with Trump and the GOP trifecta.

Yet Tuesday night’s buzz could quickly become a political hangover, as a handful of Democratic primaries spring up in new seats and Republicans take a fresh look at other newly competitive districts.

“We don’t take anything for granted,” Democratic Rep. James Walkinshaw said in an interview. “All of the districts will get a little bit more competitive.”

Walkinshaw listed five districts, including his own in Northern Virginia, that he thinks could require renewed attention from Democrats to hold. He said Democrats are bracing for the likelihood that “strong Republican candidates” may be waiting in the wings.

But House Republicans aren’t exactly projecting confidence about sudden pick-up opportunities, and they seem to be more focused on the sudden need for defense. All five Virginia Republicans — Ben Cline, Morgan Griffith, Jen Kiggans, John McGuire and Rob Wittman — skipped votes Tuesday.

Notably, Wittman serves as vice chair on the Armed Services Committee. A loss in his new district — which Kamala Harris would have won by over 17 points in 2024 — throws a wrench into his not-so-secret plan to become the panel’s next top Republican.

NRCC Chair Richard Hudson said in an interview Tuesday that he hopes the state Supreme Court “will step in and stop” the new map.

Pressed on whether NRCC strategy or funding will change at all, Hudson did not offer any specifics — just that he believes Kiggans, who Republicans saw as their most vulnerable Virginia member, “can win either map.”

What else we’re watching:

— Vote-a-rama time? Senate Republicans are preparing to start a marathon voting session as soon as Wednesday to kick off consideration of Trump’s $70 billion immigration enforcement funding bill. It may slip to Thursday.

— FISA latest: House GOP leaders are exploring bipartisan options for extending Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, as Republican hard-liners dig in over privacy concerns with the spy program. Speaker Mike Johnson met Tuesday evening with Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick and Darin LaHood, who have been talking with Democrats including Rep. Jim Himes, the ranking member on House Intel.

Jordain Carney, Jennifer Scholtes and Mia McCarthy contributed reporting.