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Attorneys for Comey, James press judge to toss cases over Trump-installed prosecutor

November 13, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Attorneys for former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James have asked a judge to throw out their criminal indictments on the basis that the Trump-installed prosecutor who charged them was appointed unlawfully.

At a hearing Thursday, U.S. District Judge Cameron Currie pressed Justice Department lawyers on the government’s conduct in bringing indictments against Comey and James, which were brought just weeks apart at the direct urging of President Donald Trump after he removed a previous appointee overseeing the powerful U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of Virginia and replaced him with Lindsey Halligan, a White House aide and former insurance lawyer with no prior prosecutorial experience.

Lawyers for Comey, who has pleaded not guilty to allegedly making false statements to Congress, and James, who has pleaded not guilty to mortgage fraud-related charges, argued that the cases against them are “fatally flawed” because Halligan’s appointment violates the Constitution’s Appointments Clause.

Judge Currie said she would plan to rule before Thanksgiving.

The legal challenge comes on the heels of other successful efforts to disqualify prosecutors that the Trump administration had attempted to install in at least three other U.S. attorneys offices in Los Angeles, Nevada and New Jersey beyond the 120-day limit set by federal law.

Judge Currie, an appointee of former President Bill Clinton from South Carolina, was appointed last month to oversee the challenge to Halligan’s appointment.

In legal briefs, attorneys for both Comey and James pointed to the unusual series of developments leading up to Halligan’s eventual appointment to lead the office after the ouster of Erik Siebert, who judges in the Eastern District of Virginia had unanimously voted to lead the office on an interim basis after his 120-day appointment by Attorney General Pam Bondi had expired.

Siebert, as ABC News previously reported, had resisted bringing the cases against both Comey and James after career prosecutors in the office determined evidence against them would likely fail to convince a jury of their guilt.

But just four days after Halligan was installed to lead the office, according to sources, she dismissed recommendations of prosecutors and personally presented the charges against Comey before a grand jury, which voted to indict him on two of three counts sought by Halligan. Just two weeks later, Halligan again personally appeared before a grand jury to seek James’ indictment.

“The President and Attorney General appointed the President’s personal lawyer as interim U.S. Attorney in violation of a clear statutory command so that the interim U.S. Attorney could indict an outspoken critic of the President just days before the relevant statute of limitations was set to expire,” Comey’s attorneys said in a filing last month.

The Justice Department has argued that the legal challenge to Halligan’s appointment is based on a misreading of statutes that govern presidential appointments and have accused Comey and James of seeking to exploit a “paperwork error” related to the law cited by Bondi when she initially appointed Halligan to lead the office.

In a legal brief earlier this month, prosecutors revealed that over a month after Halligan was appointed to lead the office, Bondi signed an additional order that sought to retroactively appoint Halligan as a “Special Attorney” specifically authorized to seek the indictments of Comey and James.

“The Attorney General has ratified Ms. Halligan’s appointment as Special Attorney with the authority to conduct criminal litigation in this district,” prosecutors said. “Because Ms. Halligan now has the indisputable authority to proceed with this prosecution, prospective relief would be inappropriate.”

In a reply brief filed last week, Comey’s attorneys accused the government of seeking to “retroactively transform” Halligan into an “authorized government attorney” and said their efforts to bolster the validity of her appointment were “unpersuasive.”

Critics say the indictments are part of a campaign of retribution by Trump against his perceived political foes, but Vice President JD Vance has said any such prosecutions are “driven by law and not by politics.”

Both James and Comey have urged Judge Currie to dismiss their indictments with prejudice, which would restrict from the government from bringing charges against them again if Halligan’s appointment were to be invalidated.

Luigi Mangione takes aim at DA, NYPD over alleged comments made by his mom

November 13, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Accused killer Luigi Mangione is taking aim at the Manhattan district attorney and New York police chief of detectives over the way they characterized a statement purportedly made by Mangione’s mother that killing the United Healthcare CEO was something she could see her son doing.

Mangione is accused of gunning down CEO Brian Thompson outside a Midtown Manhattan hotel in December 2024. Mangione was arrested in Pennsylvania after a five-day manhunt.

DA Alvin Bragg and Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny have referenced a tip the FBI received from a police sergeant in San Francisco, who had contacted the FBI after seeing a resemblance between the murder suspect and photos on Mangione’s social media.

During a December 2024 news conference, Kenny mentioned an alleged conversation between San Francisco police and Mangione’s mom.

“They had a conversation where she didn’t indicate that it was her son in the photograph, but she said it might be something that she could see him doing,” Kenny told reporters.

In a new court filing, Mangione’s defense attorneys said prosecutors turned over no evidence to substantiate the purported remark.

“To date, there has been no documentation provided in discovery that confirms the Chief of Detectives’ statement as to Mrs. Mangione’s alleged statement,” defense attorney Karen Agnifilo wrote. “If it is true that Mrs. Mangione never made this statement, then it is shocking and unconscionable that the District Attorney’s Office and the NYPD have never corrected this highly prejudicial false statement.”

If Mangione’s mother did, in fact, tell San Francisco police that shooting Thompson “might be something she could see him doing,” Agnifilo said the district attorney’s office should provide proof.

The defense asked the judge to declare the district attorney’s certification that it complied with discovery obligations insufficient. Prosecutors are expected to respond in a future court filing.

Mangione, who has pleaded not guilty to state and federal charges, is set to return to court next month.

Missing West Virginia coal miner found dead after nearly week trapped underground: Governor

November 13, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(NICHOLAS COUNTY, W. Va.) — A missing miner trapped in a flooded West Virginia coal mine for nearly a week has been found dead, according to West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey.

“At approximately 6:00 a.m. this morning, water levels inside the Rolling Thunder Mine in Nicholas County had receded sufficiently for rescue crews to safely enter. The team began their search, examining every section as they advanced underground. At 7:37 a.m., one two-man team located the body of the missing miner, foreman Steve Lipscomb,” Morrisey said in a statement posted on X.

Alpha Metallurgical Resources, the company that owns the mine where Lipscomb was trapped, also confirmed Lipscomb’s death in a statement obtained by ABC News.

“During routine operations, a crew in the underground mine encountered a sudden and substantial inflow of water. Tragically, Steven Lipscomb, 42, of Elkview, W. Va., was unable to reach safety. He was last seen attempting to ensure his crew made it out safely,” the statement reads.

“Our hearts are broken,” Andy Eidson, the CEO of Alpha Metallurgical Resources, said in the statement. “Steve joined our company in 2006 and was a dedicated employee, respected leader and friend to many. His actions to ensure the safety of his crew members were heroic. On behalf of the entire organization, we extend our prayers and deepest sympathies to his wife, two children and all who knew and cared for him.”

Rescuers had been searching for Lipscomb, whose name was not immediately released, since Saturday, when he became trapped in the flooded mine. Crews pumped 6,000 gallons of water per minute from the mine, Morrisey said earlier this week.

“The big strategic goal right now is to drain as much of the water as possible, so that can give the mine rescue individuals the opportunity to go in and further their search,” Gov. Morrisey said at a Wednesday press conference, adding that it was being drained at a rate of approximately one inch of water per hour. “Separately there’s an effort to open up a hole to be able to do the drill to ultimately have a capsule that goes down.”

Morrisey said on Monday that dive teams were working to find pockets of air where the miner might be located while the mine was being drained.

“This has been an around-the-clock response since Saturday, and we’re going to continue to do everything imaginable to help,” said Morrisey. “We’re going to continue to push, because we want to make sure that we give the miner every opportunity to live.”

Lipscomb’s death at Rolling Thunder Mine is the second mining fatality in West Virginia this month, following the death of another miner at a different mine last Thursday, according to Morrisey.

“Our coal miners are among the hardest-working and most courageous people in our state. They represent the strength, humility, and resolve that define West Virginia. We owe these men and women an enduring debt of gratitude for the sacrifices they make every day to power our communities and our nation,” Morrisey posted on Facebook earlier this month.

Some food banks see up to 1,800% surge in demand since SNAP benefits were halted

November 13, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Food banks and pantries have been experiencing historic demand since SNAP benefits halted on Nov. 1 for many Americans due to the federal government shutdown.

That halt affected nearly 42 million Americans, many of whom are older or low-income, and use benefits to help pay for groceries and other essentials.

President Donald Trump late Wednesday night signed a funding bill to end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, after White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt earlier said that full SNAP benefits will be paid out once the shutdown was resolved.

However, food assistance workers said the restoration of food assistance can’t come soon enough as they struggle to fill in the gap left behind by SNAP.

Cyndi Kirkhart, executive director at Facing Hunger Food Bank, said she’s been working at the food bank for 11 years and has never seen the surge in people she is seeing now, and that it is higher than what she saw during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Facing Hunger Food Bank — which serves 17 counties in West Virginia, Ohio and eastern Kentucky — said some locations in the southern part of West Virginia have seen a 1,800% increase in the number of families visiting.

“Typically, we do mobile pantry distribution, which are cars [lining] up [and] we load their car up with food,” she told ABC News. “At the most, we’ll see 250 families. The past week, solidly, we have seen 900 families at each distribution, at each site.”

Kirkhart said their mobile pantries have seen such demand that instead of sending large box trucks to load up supplies at the food bank, she has had to send tractor-trailers. She added that she only has two tractor-trailers, which puts a lot of pressure on drivers to load up and visit multiple distribution sites.

Kirkhart said her organization encourages individuals to go to the food pantries for food rather than the bank, but they will still serve people who visit the bank.

“We’ll still have maybe, over the course of a month, 50 people that will show up directly at the food bank for an emergency food box,” she said. “And these past two weeks at least, we have had 60 a day. … It’s non-stop.”

In Washington state, food banks are also seeing an exponential increase in visitors. Jordan Beaudry, development and communications manager at North Help Line — which provides emergency services including food aid — said there has been a surge at the two food banks the organization serves that has been years in the making.

Starting in 2022, “we saw our numbers practically double overnight, and it’s just been a steady increase since then,” he told ABC News. “We’re serving twice as many folks as we did three years ago, and that is sort of setting the stage going into this latest round of SNAP cuts and the government shutdown. … We’ve seen just a massive increase in the amount of folks accessing services, particularly since the pause on SNAP benefits.”

The most recent demand began in October, when it was first announced that SNAP benefits may be halted in November, Beaudry said.

From July through September, the banks saw an average of 1,086 visitors per week for the first two weeks of the month, according to data provided by Beaudry. In October, the average for the first two weeks was 1,136 per week. Last week, the banks saw 1,329 visits.

At one of the food banks, Beaudry said the last Thursday in October was the highest number of people the organization has ever seen on a Thursday, with about a 14% increase in households visiting to receive food.

Similarly, Kristen Wild, president and CEO of hunger relief organization Operation Food Search, which serves 25 counties in Missouri and Illinois, said the pantries, shelters and community sites where the organization’s supplies are distributed are seeing increases in people visiting between 30% and 50%.

She described a distribution event last week during which Operation Food Search had prepared 700 meals to issue starting at 10 a.m. CT. An hour before the event, the line of cars was 500 long and more than 200 families had to be turned away.

“We’ve had agencies report to us that they have had to shut down earlier than their typical operating hours because they have run out of food,” she told ABC News. “We’re seeing agencies are being approached by people looking for food who’ve never needed to use a pantry in the past because the SNAP benefits were sufficient enough for them to get the food resources that they needed.”

The organization also runs a metro market program, which is like a mobile grocery store, that has seen a surge in customers.

The program charges for food at or below cost but has recently started issuing $15 vouchers to customers due to the increase in demand, Wild said. Workers have also had to replenish shelves multiple times throughout a two-hour metro market stop due to the increase in traffic.

Wild added that 90% of food assistance comes from federal programs like SNAP and about 10% comes from food banks and food pantries. The halt in SNAP benefits has forced food banks to go into “overdrive” to make up as much of the gap as possible.

“We’ve had terrific community support, both in terms of more food donations, more financial donations, so we can purchase more food, but we can’t make up for the full SNAP gap,” she said.

Indian Supreme Court’s order seeks to take bite out of stray dog problem. Observers say it’s mostly bark.

November 13, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — The Supreme Court of India issued an order directing all states and union territories to remove stray dogs from public spaces — including schools, universities, hospitals, and transport hubs — sparking a debate about animal welfare.

The move came through a suo motu petition, where the court takes on a matter of public interest without any official petition, and was said to be in response to the alarming number of dog-bite incidents and the threat to human safety, particularly children.

The order called for dogs that are taken off the street for preventative medical treatments — including those related to rabies — to not be returned. They are meant to be shifted to a “designated shelter,” as per the judgement, because India’s 2023 law doesn’t allow culling.

The conditions and capacity of these shelters to host millions of India’s stray dogs has been questioned by activists and protestors.

Although some animal rights groups have noted a need for a solution to the problems caused by the dogs, some have also called the proposed approach into question.

The judgment announced on Nov. 7 cites several media reports and incidents, including one with a Welsh entrepreneur who was bitten by a stray dog during a morning run in Bengaluru, a city in India’s south.

India had an estimated 9 million dogs in their 2019 livestock census; other surveys done in 2021 estimated the number much higher, at 52 million. In 2024, the country recorded 3.7 million dog bite incidents and 54 human deaths from rabies. Estimated cases of rabies have declined by 75% between 2003 and 2023.

“These numbers have been falling steadily for two decades — the court orders do not seem to have taken this official and research data into consideration,” said Dr. Krithika Srinivasan, professor of political ecology at the University of Edinburgh.

Until now, India’s stray dog management was guided by the Animal Birth Control (ABC) Rules, under which stray dogs were to be sterilized, vaccinated and dewormed before being released back into the same locality.

Though the recent judgment calls for the dogs not to be released back at all.

“Stable dog populations are less likely to bite and transmit rabies,” Srinivasan said. “When you start removing them, you create what ecologists call a perturbation effect.”

Ayesha Christina Benn, founder of Neighbourhood Woof and a longtime partner of the local urban body in implementing the ABC program, warned that infrastructure simply cannot handle the court’s directive.

Benn says the order isn’t practical. Delhi alone has a million dogs, and almost 20 centers to house them. “These centers themselves lack compliance,” Benn said. “We had to tear ours down and rebuild it to meet the norms.”

Her NGO currently receives the equivalent of about $11 per dog for sterilisation and vaccination — which is about two-thirds of the actual cost per dog. The government doesn’t have the necessary funds.

A similar directive was issued by the same court, in August, but on a smaller scale in Delhi National Capital Region. This directive was rescinded after protests from animal-rights groups.

In the current judgment, the court wants adequate fencing, boundary walls and gates around education institutes and hospitals within eight weeks.

Akanksha Majumdar, a lawyer by training, said, “The judgment is a step in the right direction, but detached from the ground reality.”

She runs an organization called The Philanthropist and the Happy Dog, which assists in the rescue and rehabilitation of community animals, including dogs and cats. Her group is “taking steps to file a review petition against the said order,” she said.

Srinivasan said she agreed that while the ABC policy’s implementation needs improvement, it has nonetheless been instrumental in bringing down rabies and dog population numbers in some regions.

She attributed the country’s progress to two key factors: the widespread availability of post-exposure prophylaxis for bite victims and the 2001 decision to end mass culling in favour of sterilisation and vaccination programmes.

Yet, despite the long-term decline, controversies around stray dogs have grown. Srinivasan warned that such incidents, while tragic, cannot be effectively addressed by policy decisions that are not based on long-term, nation-wide data and evidence that show which strategies have been successful.

Srinivasan said officials should focus on what has worked: Ensure human anti-rabies treatment is available across the country, avoid regular mass feeding of complete meals to prevent increases in dog population density in particular locations, and, of course, the vaccination-sterilization program.

And, to make them more effective, she said, officials should take the help of grassroots groups that work in the community and understand the dogs better.

Flight reductions and delays could last another week, officials say

November 13, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Airline disruptions continued across the U.S. on Thursday morning, with at least 989 flights canceled before about 5 a.m. ET, according to tracker FlightAware, as officials warned that it may take days for airports to get back up to speed.

It could take up to a week for air travel to return to normal operations after the government shutdown ends, Airlines for America President and CEO Chris Sununu said at a press briefing Wednesday afternoon.

The Federal Aviation Administration froze flight reductions on Wednesday that were initially set to increase on Thursday, as the number of canceled flights in the United States has steadily decreased this week.

The FAA issued an emergency order on Wednesday evening freezing the flight reductions at its current level of 6%.

Under a prior order, airlines had been required to reduce operations at 40 “high-impact airports” by 8% by Thursday and by 10% by Friday. The new order means those reductions will no longer increase.

With Thanksgiving just two weeks away, Sununu said he doesn’t see any impacts lasting into the holiday season.

“I don’t think any flights over the Thanksgiving week have actually been canceled yet. I think the airlines have been pretty tight working with the FAA looking a few days out to be sure,” said Sununu. “We’re still a good week plus away from that Thanksgiving week. There’s still plenty of time to make sure that everything over the Thanksgiving week goes off as originally planned.”

However, consumer confidence in travel declined during the shutdown and a survey by the American Hotel and Lodging Association found that nearly 20% of Americans have canceled or changed their Thanksgiving travel plans.

“Our poll has shown that that consumer confidence has impacted travel, and concerns about that have led to some changes with what we’re seeing is that 75% have lost or spent money as a result, already because of being affected negatively by travel and future intentions,” President and CEO of American Hotel and Lodging Association Rosanna Maietta said.

The 6% flight reductions will remain in place “as the FAA continues to assess the situation and determines when airlines and systems can safely and gradually return to normal operations,” the Department of Transportation said.

The order comes after more than 900 flights were canceled Wednesday in the U.S. as of approximately 8 p.m. ET, with departures from the busy hubs of Chicago, Denver and Atlanta leading the list of the most cancellations, according to FlightAware.

Starbucks workers strike nationwide in ‘Red Cup rebellion,’ union says

November 13, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Starbucks baristas are set to walk off the job in dozens of U.S. cities on Thursday, aiming to galvanize public support and pressure the company on “Red Cup Day,” the coffee giant’s annual holiday promotion.

More than 1,000 Starbucks workers will go on strike at about 65 stores scattered across states as far-flung as California, Texas and Pennsylvania, Starbucks Workers United (SWU), the union representing the workers, told ABC News in a statement.

Union members say Starbucks has failed to make new proposals on key issues like staffing levels and pay since the labor group rejected a company offer in April. The workers also seek to resolve hundreds of allegations over illegal labor practices, including claims of retaliation targeting union members.

“We’re turning the Red Cup Season into the Red Cup Rebellion. Starbucks’ refusal to settle a fair union contract and end union busting is forcing us to take drastic action,” Amos Hall, a barista at a store in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, told ABC News in a statement.

In a statement to ABC News, Starbucks spokesperson Jaci Anderson downplayed the scale of the anticipated strike and faulted the union for what she described as a refusal to bargain with the company.

“We are disappointed that Workers United, who only represents around 4% of our partners, has voted to authorize a strike instead of returning to the bargaining table. When they’re ready to come back, we’re ready to talk,” Anderson said.

“Any agreement needs to reflect the reality that Starbucks already offers the best job in retail, including more than $30 an hour on average in pay and benefits for hourly partners,” Anderson added.

Anderson contested the union’s characterization of the impasse in negotiations, saying the union brought an incomplete proposal to its members for the ill-fated vote in April.

Starbucks Workers United said it represents more than 12,000 unionized baristas at over 600 stores. The company provided ABC News with a lower estimate, saying the union counts 9,500 members at about 550 locations.

In February 2024, Starbucks Workers United and Starbucks announced they would work on a “foundational framework” to reach a collective bargaining agreement for stores. Negotiations began in April of that year.

Within months, Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol took the helm of the company, vowing to rejuvenate performance after a years-long spell of sluggish sales.

The company recently reported U.S. same-store sales over three months ending in September had been flat, snapping a streak of six consecutive quarters of decline. Same-store sales is a measure of revenue generated at existing locations over time.

“The plan is working,” Niccol said on a conference call with analysts last month. “We have more work to do, we’re building momentum.”

Meanwhile, the company and the union have yet to strike a deal on a contract. The average length of time before a new union signs its first contract is 409 days, according to a Bloomberg Law analysis in 2021. Roughly 625 days have passed since Starbucks and the union announced a mutual commitment to reach an agreement.

Kate Bronfenbrenner, a labor relations professor at Cornell University, said the strike on Thursday marked an effort to pressure Starbucks and jumpstart negotiations.

“Starbucks workers are striking and engaging customer support to get Starbucks back to the table. They may also need to again mount a large campaign with investors and other stakeholders to convince Starbucks that reaching a first contract is in the company’s best interest,” Bronfenbrenner told ABC News in a statement.

Epstein offered reporter photos of ‘donald and girls in bikinis in my kitchen’: Email

November 13, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Among the more than 20,000 Epstein documents released by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Wednesday are several email exchanges disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein had in 2015 and 2016 with friends, attorneys and reporters about the prospect of a Donald Trump presidency.

In some instances, Epstein offers suggestions to reporters about leads they might pursue.

One notable example is an email conversation between Epstein and then-New York Times reporter Landon Thomas, Jr. in December 2015.

Thomas initiated the exchange on Dec. 8, 2015, with an email to Epstein referring to a 2002 New York magazine article Thomas had written, in which Trump was quoted calling Epstein a “terrific guy” who “likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.”

“Now everyone is coming to me thinking I have juicy info on you and Trump. Because of this,” the reporter wrote, referring to that article.

Epstein then replied to Thomas in a series of emails over the next two hours — in his typical error-ridden style — first suggesting that Thomas look into Trump’s finances before pivoting to more personal subjects.

In one email, Epstein writes: “would you like photso [sic] of donald and girls in bikinis in my kitchen.” Thomas replied, “Yes!!”

It’s unclear whether Epstein possessed such photos or if he ever sent the reporter any photos.

In another email, Epstein suggested that reporters “ask my houseman about donad [sic] almost walking through the door leaving his nose print on the glass as young women were swimming in the pool and he was so focused he walked straight into the door.”

ABC News has reached out to the White House about Epstein’s claims in the email exchange with the New York Times reporter.

The Republican-controlled House Oversight and Government Committee released the thousands of pages of new Epstein documents on Wednesday after House Democrats released three emails in which Epstein discussed Trump.

The documents were obtained after the committee subpoenaed the Epstein Estate over the summer.

The White House accused Democrats on the committee of releasing “selectively leaked emails to the liberal media to create a fake narrative” about President Trump,” including one in which Epstein wrote that Trump “spent hours at my house” with someone the Democrats alleged was a victim.

“These emails prove absolutely nothing, other than the fact that President Trump did nothing wrong,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.

In Epstein’s exchanges with Thomas, the New York Times reporter, Epstein sent a link to a feature story about a woman that Epstein claimed had been his girlfriend who later dated Trump.

“my 20 year old girlfriend in 93 ,, that after two years I gave to donald,” Epstein wrote.

During Trump’s first campaign for the presidency, Epstein was also in frequent contact with author Michael Wolff, who was working on a book about Trump.

In many messages, Wolff appeared to be encouraging Epstein to speak publicly about his previous relationship with the candidate, noting that many reporters and his political rivals were investigating the issue.

“NYT called me about you and Trump,” Wolff told Epstein in February 2016. “Also, Hillary campaign digging deeply, Again, you should consider preempting.”

In October 2016, after the “Access Hollywood” tapes had been made public and just days before the presidential election, Wolff sent Epstein another message, with “Now could be the time” in the subject line.

“There’s an opportunity to come forward this week and talk about Trump in such a way that could garner you great sympathy and help finish him. Interested?”

It’s unclear if Epstein responded to that message.

Other emails include exchanges Epstein had during Trump’s first term in office.

A few days after Trump’s first inauguration, on Feb. 8, 2017, Epstein, in conversation with Larry Summers, who was the treasury secretary under President Bill Clinton and former president of Harvard University said, “Recall ive told you,, — i have met some very bad people ,, none as bad as trump. not one decent cell in his body.. so yes- dangerous.”

In August 2018, Kathryn Ruemmler, who previously served as White House counsel during part of President Barack Obama’s administration, emailed Epstein a link to an opinion piece published by The New York Times that made the case for Trump’s impeachment, following the guilty pleas of Trump’s former personal lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen.

“you see , i know how dirty donald is,” Epstein wrote to Ruemmler. “my guess is that non lawyers ny biz people have no idea. what it means to have your fixer flip.”

In a Dec. 3, 2018 exchange over iMessage, someone whose name is redacted wrote to Epstein, “It will all blow over! They’re really just trying to take down Trump and doing whatever they can to do that…!”

The context of this message is unclear.

“yes thx,” Epstein responded. “its wild. because i am the one able to take him down.”

Alexander brothers, luxury real estate brokers, must face sex trafficking charges, judge rules

November 12, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — A federal judge in New York decided the wealthy Alexander brothers must face charges they conspired for more than a decade to drug, sexually assault and rape dozens of women, rejecting the luxury real estate brokers’ attempt to dismiss the indictment by arguing it is legally deficient.

The judge, Valerie Caproni, agreed to dismiss one of the charges, attempted sex trafficking, ruling it falls outside the statute of limitations.

She ruled the rest of the charges in the sex trafficking case must stand.

“As much as Defendants want to characterize the charged conduct as just men behaving badly, that is not what the Indictment charges,” Caproni wrote in her order, entered on Wednesday. “The charges are that three grown men conspired to entice women and girls to travel in interstate and foreign commerce, to provide things of value to those women and girls, and to use force and drugs in order to have sexual contact with those victims.”

Former luxury real estate brokers Tal and Oren Alexander and their brother Alon have pleaded not guilty. They argued, in part, that the indictment should be dismissed because the federal government was seeking to prosecute a local crime of sex trafficking. The judge rejected the argument.

“This is far from a ‘local’ crime; it stretches from Martha’s Vineyard to New York to Florida to Israel and involves the movement of women and girls from various Points A to various Points B where they would be, as planned by Defendants, sexually assaulted. Prosecuting this case federally simply does not run afoul of the balance between federal and state authority,” Caproni wrote.

The brothers are next due in court on Nov. 24.

Oren and Tal Alexander gained notoriety in New York’s luxury real estate market through their company, Alexander Group, and have been under federal investigation alongside Oren’s twin, Alon, since late 2024.

They have been accused of luring women to nightclubs and parties, then drugging and sexually assaulting them.

Oren Alexander’s lawyer, Richard Klugh, said earlier this year the charges were misguided and lacked merit. Defense attorney Deanna Paul, who is representing Tal, called the allegations “speculative” earlier this year.

Alon Alexander’s attorney, Howard Srebnick, said in response to the May superseding indictment that Alon “passed a lie detector test, administered by a former, senior FBI polygraph examiner, establishing his innocence to the accusations in the earlier version of the indictment.”

The brothers are being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn awaiting trial, which is currently scheduled for January.

White House says new Epstein emails referencing Trump ‘prove absolutely nothing’

November 12, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — The White House on Wednesday flatly dismissed the release by House Democrats of emails from sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, including one in which he wrote that President Donald Trump “spent hours at my house” with someone the Democrats alleged was a victim.

“These emails prove absolutely nothing, other than the fact that President Trump did nothing wrong,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said as she faced questions on the latest developments at her Wednesday afternoon press briefing.

President Trump weighed in directly for the first time in a social media post shortly after Leavitt wrapped the briefing.

“The Democrats are trying to bring up the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax again because they’ll do anything at all to deflect on how badly they’ve done on the Shutdown, and so many other subjects,” Trump wrote. “Only a very bad, or stupid, Republican would fall into that trap.”

Notably, Leavitt seemed to contradict Trump today when she said Trump kicked Epstein out of his Florida club for being a “pedophile” as well as a “creep.”

“What President Trump has always said is that he was from Palm Beach, and so was Jeffrey Epstein. Jeffrey Epstein was a member at Mar-a-Lago until President Trump kicked him out because Jeffrey Epstein was a pedophile and he was a creep,” she said.

When asked later by ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Mary Bruce if she was implying Trump knew what Epstein was doing with young women, Leavitt clarified in a statement: “No, Jeffrey Epstein was a pedophile. That’s a fact that has now come out. The president kicked him out of his club because he thought Jeffrey was a creep to his female employees. The president has said this himself many times.”

In one message released by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee, Epstein appeared to touch on his relationship with Trump and whether he’d been banned from membership at Mar-a-Lago years earlier.

“Trump said he asked me to resign, never a member ever,” Epstein wrote in a message to author Michael Wolff, “Of course he knew about the girls as he asked ghislaine to stop.”

After Epstein was arrested in 2019, Trump said he hadn’t spoken with him since 2015 because of a falling out. This summer, as momentum picked up in Congress to release all the Epstein files, Trump said Epstein “stole” young women (including prominent Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre) from his Mar-a-Lago club, but that he didn’t know why.

Democrats push for release of all Epstein files; GOP says Dems trying to ‘slander’ Trump

The release of the Epstein emails referencing Trump have added fuel to a renewed push on the Epstein discharge petition.

“We won’t stop until we end this White House cover-up. Release the files, NOW,” Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia, the ranking member on the House Oversight Committee, wrote on X.

Many Democrats issued similar calls.

“It’s clear as day: Trump is in the Epstein files,” New York Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler wrote on X. “The American people deserve the full truth.”

“The public deserves to know who enabled Epstein, who looked the other way, and who’s still being protected. Survivors have waited long enough. Release the Epstein files NOW,” wrote Minnesota Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar.

ABC News’ Bruce, at Wednesday’s briefing, pressed Leavitt: “In the interest of transparency, why not just go ahead, release the full files on Epstein, get this all over with?”

“This administration has done more with respect to transparency when it comes to Jeffrey Epstein than any administration ever. In fact, this administration, the Department of Justice, has turned over tens of thousands of documents to the American people. We are cooperating and showing support for the House Oversight Committee,” Leavitt said.

Though ABC News reported that top Trump administration officials met with Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert Wednesday morning in an effort to get her to change her vote on a discharge petition that would compel the Justice Department to release all the files related to Epstein.

Republicans on the House Oversight Committee accused Democrats of “trying to create a fake narrative to slander President Trump.”

In a social media post, Republicans on the panel claimed in the 2011 email between Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell that said Trump spent “hours at my house” with an alleged victim, Democrats redacted the name “Virginia” — a likely reference to Giuffre, who had made extensive public comments about her exploitation by Epstein, but had never accused Trump of any wrongdoing.

“Democrats continue to carelessly cherry-pick documents to generate click-bait that is not grounded in the facts,” a House Oversight Majority spokesperson said in a statement. “The Epstein Estate has produced over 20,000 pages of documents on Thursday, yet Democrats are once again intentionally withholding records that name Democrat officials.”

After the release by House Democrats, House Republicans on the Oversight panel released an additional 20,000 pages of documents they received from the Epstein estate.

Republican Rep. Nancy Mace, one of a handful of Republican women backing the effort to compel the release of all Epstein files, defended Trump and said the focus should be on the victims.

“How pathetic that Democrats are using Epstein’s victims to bury headlines on their vote against reopening the government,” Mace wrote on X.

Republican Rep. Thomas Massie and Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna are leading the discharge petition to force a vote on compelling the Justice Department to release all the Epstein files.

Democratic Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva, set to be sworn in on Wednesday, is expected to become the decisive 218th signature needed for the petition.

“Why did Justice or the FBI not get & release these?” Khanna wrote on X about the Epstein emails made public by House Democrats. “Today, [Massie] & my petition gets 218!”

ABC News’ Lalee Ibssa contributed to this report.

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