Congress

Musk, Bannon and Thiel named in new Epstein estate documents

Published

9 months ago

September 26, 2025

New files turned over to congressional investigators from the estate of Jeffrey Epstein suggest the convicted sex offender, in the last years of his life, had ties with President Donald Trump’s former adviser Elon Musk.

The documents, which were delivered to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and published Friday by the panel’s Democrats, come in response to the committee probe into the Epstein case. In what appears to be a copy of Epstein’s itinerary, Musk had a tentative trip to Epstein’s island on Dec. 6, 2014. A note appended to that plan reads, “is this still happening?” At the time, Epstein owned a private island in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Another schedule notes a planned lunch with tech billionaire Peter Thiel on Nov. 27, 2017, and a breakfast with conservative political strategist Steve Bannon on Feb. 16, 2019 — just months before Epstein was charged with sex trafficking of minors. Bannon was Trump’s chief strategist, and Thiel is a prominent Republican megadonor.

These new files are notable in that they suggest all three powerful men had a relationship with Epstein after his controversial plea deal that forced him to register as a sex offender. Many people have argued that the non-prosecution agreement, which was signed in 2007, allowed Epstein to continue to prey on young women and girls for years before his subsequent 2019 arrest.

“It should be clear to every American that Jeffrey Epstein was friends with some of the most powerful and wealthiest men in the world,” said Sara Guerrero, a spokesperson for Oversight Democrats, in a statement. “Every new document produced provides new information as we work to bring justice for the survivors and victims.”

Musk, Bannon and a press contact for Thiel’s foundation did not immediately return a request for comment.

A GOP spokesperson for the Oversight panel blasted the Democrats’ decision to release information unilaterally.

“It’s unfortunate that Democrats continue to meaninglessly cherry-pick documents and politicize this investigation,” the spokesperson said. “They are intentionally withholding documents that contain names of Democrat officials, and the information they released today is old news.”

However, the person speaking on behalf of the GOP majority declined to name those Democratic officials, saying Republicans would wait to release the files in full once victims’ names were redacted.

Musk’s mention is also significant because he had previously broken with President Donald Trump in pushing for the release of further information in the Epstein case.

In the midst of his fallout with Trump earlier this year, Musk had accused the administration of failing to release the materials in the Epstein case because the files mentioned Trump. In a separate post on X, Musk also questioned, “How can people be expected to have faith in Trump if he won’t release the Epstein files?”

Also according to the newly released files, Microsoft founder Bill Gates had a tentative breakfast party in 2014 with Epstein.

A ledger for Epstein, which Oversight Democrats published Friday, lists massages for Prince Andrew, while what appears to be a record of a flight in 2000 details a trip with Epstein, his co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell, Prince Andrew and others from Teterboro, New Jersey, to West Palm Beach, Florida.

Epstein’s relationships with Gates and Prince Andrew have been extensively scrutinized.

The materials turned over by the Epstein estate include phone message logs, which had already been produced in earlier litigation; flight logs and flight manifests from 1990-2019; and ledgers detailing Epstein’s and businesses’ cash transactions, and schedules, from 2010-2019.

All told, the Oversight panel received 8,544 documents, according to committee Democrats.

Congress

Johnson says he will send housing bill to Trump on Monday

Published

16 hours ago

June 28, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

House Speaker Mike Johsnon said he plans to send President Donald Trump a bipartisan housing bill Monday, just days after the president abruptly canceled a signing ceremony for the legislation after Congress failed to pass his elections security act.

Speaking with Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures,” Johnson said the 21st Century ROAD To Housing Act is a Republican priority for lowering costs for Americans.

“I’m going to send the bill over to him on Monday, and it will become law,” the Louisiana Republican told host Maria Bartiromo. “I certainly want him to take the biggest, boldest marker that he has and do that big Trump signature proudly on that legislation because we’re delivering for the people, and that’s what he wants to do.”

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Johnson’s remarks.

The bill is the product of almost a year of back-and-forth between all four congressional corners and aims to increase affordability by boosting housing supply and home ownership. It passed both chambers of Congress with wide bipartisan support.

Trump was scheduled to sign the bill into law last week but canceled the ceremony “until such time as we pass the desperately needed SAVE AMERICA ACT, which I consider to be a National Emergency.”

Trump’s SAVE America Act would require voters to present a photo ID at the ballot box and effectively end mail-in voting. Trump has also said he would like the bill to include prohibitions on transgender athletes competing. But Republican leaders have repeatedly indicated the legislation does not have enough votes to pass.

Congressional leaders appeared taken aback by Trump’s signing cancellation, but Johnson on Sunday said he and the president have since met in the Oval Office to discuss the housing bill “in great detail.”

“We made a lot of promises to the voters, and we’re fulfilling those every single day of this Congress,” Johnson said. “This is a big part of that because this will increase the availability, the access to more housing, bring down cost, cut regulations, do the things we know are very important for that market. The president and I talked about that at length. Of course he wants to do those things.”

But if Trump does not sign the housing bill into law within the next few days, it would still become law unless he were to veto it. Congress also has the power to override a presidential veto.

Congress

Sen. Thom Tillis rails against Trump’s fixation on voting legislation

Published

16 hours ago

June 28, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Sen. Thom Tillis on Sunday expressed frustration with President Donald Trump’s continued fixation on passing the SAVE America Act.

In an interview with BLN’s “Face the Nation,” the retiring North Carolina Republican lamented “the impossible task” of implementing the requirements of the legislation ahead of November’s crucial midterms.

“Why are we doing more things to undermine our confidence in elections, rather than getting the strong message out that will win for Republicans this year?” Tillis said.

Rather than promoting the bill — which would require voters to present a photo ID at the ballot box and effectively end widespread mail-in voting — Tillis said Republicans should tell voters about “the rise of the Democratic Socialists of America” while accepting the current voting laws.

“Win by the good results that Republicans have produced and stop undermining the confidence in the elections,” said Tillis. “This is a bedrock of our 250-year history of success as the democracy that changed the world. Let’s not mess with that between now and November.”

Trump has said the SAVE America Act is his “No. 1 priority” ahead of midterms, going so far as to abruptly cancel a bill signing for major bipartisan legislation on housing affordability until Congress passes his elections bill. But many Democrats are staunchly against the bill, arguing it could disenfranchise millions of voters, and Republican leaders in Congress have repeatedly indicated it does not have the votes to pass.

Tillis co-sponsored the original SAVE America Act but has objected to Trump’s version of the legislation, which would also bar transgender athletes from women’s sports.

It’s not the first time Tillis has clashed with Trump.

Earlier this year, Tillis blocked Trump’s Fed chair nominee, Kevin Warsh, until the Justice Department dropped an investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. He has also spoken out against the Justice Department’s $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund,” calling it a “payout for punks.” And he has emerged as a fierce critic of Bill Pulte, Trump’s interim director of national intelligence.

“Let’s try and figure out a way to completely and finally end these distractions so that we can focus on the damage Democrats could do if they take the House, if they beat incumbent Republicans in the Senate. That’s what Republicans need to be talking about between now and November,” Tillis said Sunday.

Congress

Sen. Bill Cassidy on Trump: ‘Sometimes he acts as if Congress is merely an appendage’

Published

17 hours ago

June 28, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Sen. Bill Cassidy appeared to question President Donald Trump’s view of Congress, saying in an interview that he is not sure Trump grasps that Congress “is a separate body, separate from the presidency.”

“Sometimes he acts as if Congress is merely an appendage, and, frankly, sometimes Congress acts like it’s an appendage,” the Louisiana Republican said in a pre-taped interview with CBS’ “Face the Nation” that aired Sunday.

The latest criticism in a public clash between the two leaders, Cassidy also told host Margaret Brennan that he would be focused on affordability, including the cost of health care and groceries, if he were president.

“If I were president, I would be focused on those people that they have, my people, our people, us at the kitchen table. How do you make their life better? And that’s what I think the president should be focused on,” Cassidy said.

The relationship between Cassidy and Trump has been rocky for some time. Cassidy was one of only a handful of Republican leaders who voted to convict Trump for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.

Trump and Cassidy recently clashed in a closed-door meeting between GOP leaders, with Cassidy admitting he raised his voice to “match” the president’s.

“The president said something negative about me. I received it as attempting to bully me from asking a question that I think the American people need to know, and I’m not going to be bullied,” Cassidy said at the time.

However, after receiving a special briefing from Vice President JD Vance and special envoy Steve Witkoff, Cassidy changed his vote on a resolution designed to rein in Trump’s power to wage war against Iran.

“They said right now the negotiations are delicate, and they could collapse if they’re not nursed along in the appropriate way. I can accept that,” Cassidy said.

“That’s the reason they said for their kind of lack of being forthcoming. I can accept that, but my goal was to be briefed, to have the truth in order to make a decision for the benefit of my country, and that was satisfied.”

Still, Cassidy’s stance against Trump has cost him: After serving more than a decade in the Senate, Cassidy lost his campaign for renomination after Trump endorsed against him. Rep. Julia Letlow will be the Louisiana Republican Senate candidate this fall.