Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), the chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, said in a Wednesday interview on NewsNation’s “The Hill” that the panel will compile its own Jeffrey Epstein “list,” a tally of powerful figures related to the deceased sex offender and financier.
“We’re going to compile a list from the victims. So at the end of the day, there’s going to be a list, whether or not there’s a list in an envelope that Epstein left behind. It doesn’t appear that there was, but I think we could put together a list,” Comer told host Blake Burman.
Comer, whose panel has been investigating the Epstein case, noted that sheer association with the late sex offender or his longtime associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, does not mean being guilty of a crime or that “you knew the crimes they were committing.”
“But we want to know everyone that was in the circle, as well as the people who were victimizing those young girls,” the Kentucky Republican told Burman.
The victims of Epstein said on Tuesday they are working on assembling a list of high-profile figures related to the disgraced financier after growing frustrated with the Trump administration’s handling of the case.
“A lot of us survivors know we’ve been compiling lists of our own, and we have so many other survivors. Please come forward, and we’ll compile our own list and seek justice on our own,” Epstein accuser Lisa Phillips said in an interview with NBC News.
The FBI and the Department of Justice (DOJ) faced blowback, including from some Trump supporters, after releasing an unnamed, early July memo stating that Epstein died by suicide in 2019 in New York while awaiting trial and that he did not keep a so-called client list.
“There was also no credible evidence found that Epstein blackmailed prominent individuals as part of his actions. We did not uncover evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties,” the memo said.
The officials also stated in the memo that the departments do not plan to release more information from the Epstein files in order to avoid publishing personal details about victims of the late sex offender.
The saga around the Epstein case has continued as lawmakers returned to the Capitol from the August recess. Some of the Epstein survivors testified during a closed-door meeting to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
So far, Comer’s panel has subpoenaed former President Clinton and ex-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to provide testimony.
Comer told Burman on Wednesday that the panel is waiting to hear back from the Clintons.
“Well, they’ll have to answer that subpoena, so they have a few more days before he’s supposed to show up,” Comer said. “I believe it’s in a couple of weeks, but we will hear from them, and I do expect them to testify.”
The DOJ has sent over thousands of pages of Epstein documents to the Oversight Committee. The panel released the files, although Democrats on the committee said the large majority of the material was already public.
Comer said on Wednesday that the panel deposed former Attorney General Bill Barr, who was the head of the DOJ during Trump’s first term.
“He answered every question, and when we do a deposition, it’s Republican and Democrat, we each get equal time, so it’s not a partisan investigation,” the Kentucky Republican said.
NEW YORK (Reuters) -The U.S. dollar fell against the yen and Swiss franc on Wednesday after economic data showed weakening labor market conditions, supporting investor expectations of U.S. monetary policy easing by the Federal Reserve.
The U.S. Labor Department said on Wednesday that job openings, a measure of labor market demand, fell more than expected to 7.181 million in July. Economists polled by Reuters had expected 7.378 million job openings in the JOLTS data.
With the Fed focused on the jobs market, the U.S. dollar will continue weakening materially if data continues to show deterioration in labor market conditions, said Eugene Epstein, head of structuring for North America at Moneycorp in New Jersey.
“Between (Fed Chair Jerome) Powell’s dovishness at Jackson Hole regarding the job market and the previous non-farm payrolls being weak and today’s JOLTS being weak, and if Friday’s jobs number is weak, it’s a big dovish dynamic going on. It’s very hard to see any options at all, especially given what’s going on politically with the Fed right now with the current U.S. administration,” Epstein said.
The dollar erased earlier gains against the Japanese yen and Swiss franc following the data. It weakened 0.2% to 148.09 yen and dropped 0.06% to 0.8042 Swiss franc.
The euro added to its gains against the dollar. It was last up 0.14% at $1.165850.
“The jobs openings data showed a further contraction in the number of openings and provided conviction to the labor market part of the equation for the Federal Reserve,” said Amo Sahota, director at Klarity FX in San Francisco. “We didn’t see a huge move in the currency market but I do think what’s notable is that the overnight swap market is now pricing in a U.S. rate cut at 95% for September.”
U.S. Treasury yields fell after the jobs data. The 2-year note yield, which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations for the Fed, fell 4.3 basis points to 3.615%. The benchmark U.S. 10-year note yield fell 6 basis points to 4.217%.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, fell 0.24% to 98.165.
The British pound gained against the dollar following a selloff in UK government bonds. In the gilt market, Britain’s 30-year borrowing costs rose to their highest levels since 1998.
Sterling strengthened 0.38% to $1.3442.
The euro fell 0.15% against the pound to 0.8675.
The 30-year Japanese government bond yield hit record highs on Wednesday, further pressuring the yen. The Japanese ruling party’s Secretary-General Hiroshi Moriyama, a close aide to Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, announced he intended to resign.
China’s Xi unveils new weaponry at parade attended by Putin, Kim
A major Chinese military parade debuted new missiles, drones and other high-tech equipment in a massive show of force attended by the leaders of Russia and North Korea.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, who presided over the “Victory Day” event intended to celebrate the 80th anniversary of Japan’s defeat in World War II, warned the world was facing “the choice of peace or war,” casting little doubt on the country’s aggressive posturing.
“Today, mankind is faced with the choice of peace or war, dialogue or confrontation, win-win or zero-sum,” Xi told a crowd at Tiananmen Square, adding that China was “unstoppable” and that its people “firmly stand on the right side of history.”
The parade marks the first time Xi, Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un have appeared together in public. All three later met formally at China’s State Guesthouse.
President Trump, whose tariffs have strained relations with China and who has grown frustrated with Russia’s resistance to ending its war in Ukraine, in a Wednesday post on Truth Social asked Xi to “give my warmest regards to Vladimir Putin, and Kim Jong Un, as you conspire against the United States of America.”
Trump later suggested China’s military parade was designed in part for him to view.
“I understood the reason they were doing it, and they were hoping I was watching — and I was watching,” he said from the White House while meeting with the Polish president.
“My relationship with all of them is very good. We’re going to find out how good it is over the next week or two,” Trump added, referring to Xi, Kim and Putin, the later of whom he met with in Alaska last month to attempt to broker an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
No U.S. delegation attended the grand military display, but more than 25 foreign heads of state or government, including international pariahs, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, were in Beijing for the event.
The parade, a 70-minute affair that included marching soldiers, formations of helicopters and fighter jets and an endcap release of 80,000 doves, showcased China’s latest military hardware such as missiles capable of delivering nuclear warheads.
Among them was the new intercontinental ballistic missile DF-61, reportedly capable of flying more than 7,500 miles while carrying multiple warheads, and the newest version of the silo-based DF-5, the DF-5C, the Associated Press reported. That missile has an estimated range of nearly 12,500 miles.
Welcome to The Hill’s Defense & National Security newsletter, I’m Ellen Mitchell — your guides to the latest developments at the Pentagon, on Capitol Hill and beyond.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said that the U.S. military’s campaign against drug traffickers in the Caribbean “won’t stop with just” the Tuesday strike that President Trump said killed 11 “terrorists” on a boat that departed Venezuela. “We’ve got assets in the air, assets in the water, assets on ships, because this is a deadly serious mission for us, and it won’t, it won’t stop with just this strike. …
A House task force on government transparency will hold a hearing next week on unidentified flying objects (UFOs), also known as unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP). “The American people deserve maximum transparency from the federal government on sightings, acquisitions, and examinations of UAPs and whether they pose a potential threat to Americans’ safety,” Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), who chairs the House …
Related video: US Navy Strikes Drug Cartel Vessel Off Venezuela, Rubio Confirms Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Tuesday shared a video of what President Trump described as the “kinetic” strike that allegedly took out 11 members of the Tren de Aragua transnational gang on a “drug vessel” in the Caribbean that morning. Trump announced the U.S. military strike in a post on his Truth Social platform. Hegseth reposted Trump’s …
Homeland Dems demand investigation into DHS’s potential ‘unlawful destruction’ of records
House Democrats are asking the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) to open an investigation into the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) after it told a watchdog group that it was no longer retaining text messages when the nonprofit sought communications about immigration enforcement …
Upcoming things we’re watching in and around the defense world:
Defense Strategies Institutewill hold Day 2 of its fourth annual AI For Defense Conference, at 8:45 a.m. tomorrow.
The Center for Strategic and International Studieswill have a virtual discussion on “China’s Military on Parade,” tomorrow at 9 a.m.
The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studieswill release a policy paper on “Homeland Sanctuary Lost: Urgent Actions to Secure the Arctic Flank,” with retired Air Force Gen. Glen D. VanHerck, former commander of U.S. Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command, at 10 a.m. tomorrow.
The Middle East Institutewill host a conversation on “What are Iran’s Options After the 12-Day War?” tomorrow at 12:30 p.m.
The Hudson Institutewill discuss “The Digital Front Line: Building a Cyber-Resilient Taiwan,” with Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.), at 2 p.m. tomorrow.
The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europewill hold a virtual briefing on “The Impact on Central Asia of Russia’s War on Ukraine: Opportunities for U.S. Engagement,” tomorrow at2 p.m.
What We’re Reading
News we’ve flagged from other outlets:
Immigration detentions of military family members spark lawmaker probe (Military.com)
Survivors of Maine mass shooting and victims’ relatives sue US government alleging negligence (The Associated Press)
Opinions in The Hill
Op-eds related to defense & national security submitted to The Hill:
Tiah-Mai Ayton, 19, has set her sights on becoming the youngest ever undisputed champion in the four-belt era across both genders in boxing.
America’s Gabriela Fundora was just 22 when she held all the world titles in the flyweight division in November 2024.
Ayton clearly isn’t shy when laying out her ambitions, but why should she? In over 300 fights across Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, kickboxing, jiu-jitsu and boxing, just three of those have been defeats – which she later avenged.
She will contest her second professional boxing bout against Lydie Bialic on Saturday.
When the Bristol fighter was told about Fundora’s achievement, her eyes lit up: “I could do that. I can definitely do that.
“That’s going to be a new challenge for me. I’ve got a long time.”
Ayton is right. She does have a long time, but women’s boxing also moves fast – just look at compatriot Nina Hughes.
She won a world title in just her fifth fight as a professional.
Not only is Ayton setting her sights on records, but she’s got her eyes on gold and plenty of it.
“I want to be undisputed in bantamweight and super-bantamweight and then it goes featherweight and super-featherweight,” said Ayton.
“I want to do those four categories, and I want to be undisputed in all four. It’s high expectations but I think I can do it.”
Only one boxer, Claressa Shields, has won all four world titles in three different weights, no one yet has managed it in four.
The likes of Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano have paved the way for women boxers to earn millions of pounds but Ayton isn’t getting carried away despite her youth.
When asked what she would purchase with her first healthy fight purse, the teenager opted against a flash car.
“I want a farm. I want cows, sheep, goats and chickens. That’s my dream,” Ayton said.
“I’ll just live a quiet life on my farm and then when I train, I’ll go into camp, and then go back and be peaceful.”
House Democrat Gwen Moore (Wisc.) took a hit at Republicans over their plan to rebrand President Trump’s mega spending bill, comparing the decision to the recent uproar over Cracker Barrel’s temporary logo change.
“Republicans ‘One Big, Beautiful Bill’ is so unpopular they’re being instructed by Donald Trump to start calling it the ‘working families tax plan,” Moore wrote on X. “I thought rebranding is woke?”
Many Republicans, and the Trump administration, expressed outrage after Cracker Barrel revealed a new branding strategy that included doing away with its “Old Timer” logo. Cracker Barrel announced later last month that it would reverse course and restore its original logo.
Moore’s comments reference Trump’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill” (OBBB), which Trump’s top political and messaging lieutenants told House Republicans on Wednesday to now refer to as the “working families tax cut.”
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) put the term into practice quickly, saying Wednesday that Republicans “were talking about the ‘one big, beautiful bill,’ which has also become known as the ‘Working Families Tax Cut Act,’ because that’s what it principally represents.”
The change in messaging comes ahead of the midterm elections and as the OBBB is facing low polling.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) slammed the change in a Wednesday statement.
“The so-called rebrand of the Big, Ugly Law is an admission that the GOP’s signature legislative ‘achievement’ is a toxic failure. Only Republicans seem surprised that ripping away health care and gutting rural hospitals just to hand billionaires a massive tax break is completely out of step with what the American people want,” DCCC spokesperson Justin Chermol said in a statement to The Hill.
Baxter Holmes (@Baxter) is a senior writer for ESPN Digital and Print, focusing on the NBA. He has covered the Lakers, the Celtics and previously worked for The Boston Globe and Los Angeles Times.
The LA Clippers and team owner Steve Ballmer reportedly have been accused of circumventing the NBA’s salary cap by paying $28 million to Kawhi Leonard for a “no-show job.”
Pablo Torre, a podcaster and former ESPN contributor, reported Wednesday that the Clippers paid Leonard through a now-bankrupt company owned by Ballmer.
NBA spokesman Mike Bass said in a statement later Wednesday that the league was “aware of this morning’s media report regarding the LA Clippers and [is] commencing an investigation.”
In the latest episode of his “Pablo Torre Finds Out” podcast, Torre cited a trove of internal documents from the company Aspiration, which Ballmer partially funded with a $50 million investment through his personal LLC on Sept. 14, 2021.
Later that month, on Sept. 27, 2021, the Clippers announced a $300 million partnership with the now-bankrupt Aspiration, including sponsorship in the team’s new arena and on the team’s jersey patch.
According to Torre, Leonard agreed to a four-year, $28 million endorsement deal in April 2022 through his LLC, KL2 Aspire. The endorsement deal came nine months after Leonard signed a four-year, $176.3 million contract to remain with the Clippers — the maximum allowed at the time under the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement.
A clause in one of the documents purportedly obtained by Torre states that the deal between Aspiration and KL2 Aspire would be voided if Leonard left the Clippers. According to Torre, Leonard also could “decline to proceed with any action desired” by Aspiration and continue to be paid.
An unnamed employee who purportedly worked for Aspiration told Torre that the payment to Leonard “was to circumvent the salary cap.”
“Neither Mr. Ballmer nor the Clippers circumvented the salary cap or engaged in any misconduct related to Aspiration,” the Clippers said. “Any contrary assertion is provably false: The team ended its relationship with Aspiration years ago, during the 2022-23 season, when Aspiration defaulted on its obligations. Neither the Clippers nor Mr. Ballmer was aware of any improper activity by Aspiration or its co-founder until after the government instituted its investigation. The team and Mr. Ballmer stand ready to assist law enforcement in any way they can.”
Aspiration filed for bankruptcy in March 2025. The company is under federal investigation for fraud, and Aspiration co-founder Joe Sanberg, 46, pled guilty to two counts of wire fraud in late August to defrauding investors and lenders of more than $248 million.
Under the circumvention rules of the NBA’s 2023 collective bargaining agreement, teams can be punished for circumventing the league’s salary cap. Penalties can include fines up to $7.5 million, direct forfeiture of draft picks, voiding any player contract and a suspension — up to a year — for any team personnel found to have engaged in such a violation.
The Clippers, in a second statement later Wednesday that reiterated many of the same points, said, “The notion that Steve invested in Aspiration in order to funnel money to Kawhi Leonard is absurd.”
“… There is nothing unusual or untoward about team sponsors doing endorsement deals with players on the same team. Neither Steve nor the Clippers organization had any oversight of Kawhi’s independent endorsement agreement with Aspiration. To say otherwise is flat-out wrong,” the team said.
“The Clippers take NBA compliance extremely seriously, fully respect the league’s rules, and welcome its investigation related to Aspiration.”
In 2000, it was discovered that the Minnesota Timberwolves engaged in an illegal secret agreement with Joe Smith by allegedly promising to pay him a future multimillion-dollar deal if he signed with the team on a shorter contract for less money.
The NBA penalized the Timberwolves by removing five first-round draft picks, fining the team $3.5 million and banning head coach Kevin McHale and owner Glen Taylor for a season, along with voiding the contracts for Smith.
The NBA fined the Clippers $50,000 in May 2019 for violating tampering rules after then-Clippers head coach Doc Rivers made public remarks comparing Leonard, who was then with the Toronto Raptors, to Michael Jordan.
The NBA investigated the Clippers after allegations emerged that Leonard and his camp, led by his uncle Dennis Robertson, made improper requests of teams during his free agency in the summer of 2019. Such requests, The Athletic reported at the time, included part ownership of the team, access to a private plane, a house and guaranteed off-court endorsement money.
The NBA again fined the Clippers $50,000 in November 2019 for comments that Rivers made that “were inconsistent” with Leonard’s health.
The NBA investigated allegations involving the Clippers’ free agent pursuit of Leonard following a December 2020 lawsuit filed by a man named Johnny Wilkes, who alleged that he helped the Clippers acquire Leonard in exchange for a $2.5 million payment from Clippers consultant Jerry West. The Clippers denied the allegations, and the lawsuit was dismissed. No penalty was issued by the league.
Leonard, 34, most recently signed a three-year, $153 million deal in January 2024 to remain under contract with the Clippers through the 2026-27 season.
The Clippers also are fighting a 2024 lawsuit by former strength and conditioning coach Randy Shelton, who sued the team and president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank, alleging wrongful termination in part for raising concerns about the management of Leonard’s health and injuries.
Angela Rayner admits she didn’t pay enough tax on her second home and has alerted HMRC
Angela Rayner initially consulted three people about the purchase of her £800,000 flat in Hove, which she has admitted to underpaying stamp duty on, the BBC understands.
It is understood that the deputy prime minister consulted one individual experienced in conveyancing and two experts on the law around trusts before the purchase.
However, it is unclear if any of those people were experts in complex tax law and it is not known if they knew about the full details of the trust.
Rayner has denied she tried to dodge the full tax rate on the apartment and blamed the “mistake” on initial legal advice that failed to “properly take account” of the situation.
She has been under mounting pressure in recent weeks after reports emerged she had saved £40,000 in stamp duty on her East Sussex flat by not paying the higher rate reserved for additional home purchases.
She says she acted on the expert advice at the time, but has in recent days learned that arrangements involving her family home in Greater Manchester meant she should have paid a higher rate.
Technology Secretary Peter Kyle told the BBC Sir Keir Starmer continues to have full confidence in Rayner, but he said it will be up to the Independent Adviser on Ministers’ Interests, Sir Laurie Magnus, to decide whether she took appropriate advice.
If precedent is a guide, the investigation by Sir Laurie that may decide Rayner’s future could be done in a matter of days.
Speaking on the BBC’s Newsnight programme, Kyle said he had “full confidence” that the investigation process “will get to the bottom of things” and reassure the public.
Kyle conceded that while mistakes were made, he believed the deputy prime minister acted in good faith by consulting legal advice.
“This is somebody who’s striving to be upfront and do the right thing,” he said.
He added the question would be whether Rayner took enough precautions when making the purchase.
“At the end of the day, people will be looking at Angela based on the outcome of this report and what they want to see is, did she strive to make the right decision?”
“Did she try and avoid scrutiny? No. Did she take legal advice and try and understand the intricacies of the complex family situations she was in and the purchase of a property? Yes,” he said.
Former Tory chief whip Mark Harper told Newsnight he thought Rayner should resign and that “there were a lot of holes” in her story.
Harper said asking ministers to defend her publicly if she knew she might be liable for extra tax would be a breach of the ministerial code.
“Up until yesterday, ministers were going out saying it was all fine. The prime minister on Monday said it was all fine. She must have known at some point before then, because she sought this extra advice, that it wasn’t all fine.”
“So she’s had people going out for her basically not being straight with people and that’s not acceptable,” he added.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch and Reform UK’s Nigel Farage have also called for Rayner’s resignation.
The deputy prime minister said she has contacted His Majesty’s Revenue And Customs (HMRC) to work out the tax she needs to pay and referred herself for investigation by the prime minister’s standards adviser.
The Conservatives have also written to HMRC calling for it to launch its own investigation on whether she tried to evade tax.
If the department decides her actions were careless, Rayner will have a £12,000 penalty to pay on top of the £40,000 tax shortfall.
If her actions are found to be deliberate, then the fine would be 100% of the tax underpaid.
Sean Randall, an independent stamp duty expert, said the key question will be whether Rayner had a reasonable excuse for making the error in the stamp duty.
“It’s not enough just to say that she relied on advice. I think she also needs to explain what it is that she told her lawyer and what advice that she received from her lawyer,” he added.
On Wednesday, Sir Keir stood by his deputy at Prime Minister’s Questions, saying he was “very proud to sit alongside her”.
In a statement, Rayner said she part-funded the purchase of the flat in May by selling her remaining stake in her family home in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, which she shares with her ex-husband and family.
Some of her interest in the home had already been sold following her divorce to a court-instructed trust previously set up to help fund the care for her son, who has lifelong disabilities, she said.
The arrangement had been designed to give him “security of knowing the home is his, allowing him to continue to live in the home he feels safe in,” she added, and was “a standard practice in circumstances like ours”.
But fresh legal advice revealed “complex deeming provisions” in the trust meant she should have paid the higher stamp duty rate on the purchase of the Hove flat, she said.
Rayner acknowledged her “reliance on advice on lawyers” did not take into account all the provisions of the situation.
“I deeply regret the error that has been made. I am committed to resolving this matter fully and providing the transparency that public service demands,” she said.
