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(WASHINGTON) — Recent court filings suggest the Trump administration “misled federal judges, Congress, and the American people” about a deal between the U.S. and El Salvador to detain over 200 Venezuelan migrants at the notorious mega-prison known as CECOT, four Democratic ranking members of House committees said in a letter.

The letter, reviewed by ABC News, was sent Thursday to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and calls on officials to turn over any and all agreements between the U.S. and El Salvador, which have not been made public.

The letter cites court filings that appear to contradict the administration’s contention that migrants sent to the prison are solely under the jurisdiction of the government of El Salvador.

According to those filings, submitted July 7 in a case challenging the removal of Venezuelan migrants from the U.S., the government of El Salvador told a United Nations working group that the men in CECOT deported from the U.S. remain the “legal responsibility” of the United States.

“In this context, the jurisdiction and legal responsibility for these persons lie exclusively with the competent foreign authorities, by virtue of international agreements signed and in accordance with the principles of sovereignty and international cooperation in criminal matters,” El Salvador officials said in a report to the U.N.

In their letter, the ranking members said the filing “indicates that the Department of Justice has misled federal courts in assertions regarding the agreement with El Salvador.”

ABC News has reached out to DHS and the State Department for comment on the letter.

The Trump administration has insisted for months that it is unable to return any of the migrants sent to CECOT because they’re under El Salvador’s authority.

In March, the Trump administration invoked the Alien Enemies Act, a wartime authority, to deport two planeloads of alleged Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador as part of a $6 million deal the administration struck with El Salvador President Nayib Bukele to house migrant detainees as part of Trump’s immigration crackdown.

The Trump administration argued that the men who were deported are members of Tren de Aragua which the government has deemed a foreign terrorist organization and a “hybrid criminal state” that is invading the country.

However, one ICE official said in a sworn declaration submitted in federal court that many of the noncitizens who were deported did not have criminal records in the United States because “they have only been in the United States for a short period of time.”

The Democrats’ letter also highlighted reporting by The New York Times that said the deal between the U.S. and Bukele, also included an agreement to return some top leaders of the MS-13 gang who allegedly had knowledge of a “corrupt bargain” between Bukele and the gang “that has played a significant role in the decrease in gang violence in El Salvador.” ABC News has not independently confirmed that reporting.

In addition to the U.S.-El Salvador agreement, the lawmakers are asking the Trump administration to provide information about how it screens migrants with valid asylum claims or withholding of removal orders, and Convention Against Torture protection claims before they’re removed from the country.

“Congress has the right and the obligation to conduct oversight over the executive branch and determine what deals our government has struck with a foreign dictator to imprison individuals seized in the United States in an effort to place them beyond the reaches of our courts,” they wrote.

The signers of the letter were Reps. Jamie Raskin, of Maryland; Bennie Thompson, of Mississippi; Robert Garcia, of California; and Gregory Meeks, of New York.

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(WASHINGTON) — Facing uproar in his MAGA base over the Jeffrey Epstein files, President Donald Trump has called for Attorney General Pam Bondi “to produce any and all pertinent Grand Jury testimony, subject to Court approval” related to the case.

Bondi responded on social media Thursday evening, saying, “We are ready to move the court tomorrow to unseal the grand jury transcripts.”

It’s not immediately clear the extent of the administration’s request to unseal the transcripts, which would be subject to the approval of a federal judge in the Southern District of New York, where Epstein was charged before he died by suicide in 2019.

This change of course comes after the Justice Department and the FBI released a memo earlier this month stating no evidence was found that Epstein kept a “client list” of associates or that he blackmailed any prominent individuals. The memo concluded no investigation into uncharged third party was warranted.

The brief memo put out by the DOJ and FBI last week stoked furor among Trump’s diehard supporters after years of prominent right-wing figures pushing accusations about Epstein and the “deep state” that’s protecting elites.

Trump’s since sought various ways to put out the political firestorm, coming to Bondi’s defense while also saying she should release what she deems “credible.”

In Trump’s call for Bondi to produce the grand jury testimony, he said it was a “SCAM, perpetuated by the Democrats,” and that it “should end, right now!”

Shifting from his previous statement of calling the Epstein files a “hoax” and those Republican supporters who are questioning his administration’s handling of it as “stupid” and “foolish.”

Trump, in a phone interview with “Just the News” on Real America’s Voice on Wednesday night, alleged without providing evidence that Democrats and former officials doctored files relating to the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender.

The comments came when Trump was asked if he wanted one prosecutor to look into the broad subject of political prosecution.

“Well, I think it’s in the case of Epstein, they’ve already looked at it, and they are looking at it, and I think all they have to do is put out anything credible,” Trump said.

“But you know, that was run by the Biden administration for four years. I can imagine what they put into files, just like they did with the others,” Trump continued. “I mean, the Steele dossier was a total fake, right? It took two years to figure that out for the people, and all of the things that you mentioned were fake.”

“So I would imagine if they were run by Chris Wray and they were run by Comey, and because it was actually even before that administration, they’ve been running these files, and so much of the things that we found were fake with me,” Trump said.
Despite Trump’s claims that Democrats “put” things in the files, many documents relating to Epstein, including those that mention Trump and several prominent Democrats, have been public for years.

And the White House on Thursday shut down the idea of appointing a special prosecutor in the Epstein case.

“The idea was floated from someone in the media to the president. The president would not recommend a special prosecutor in the Epstein case. That’s how he feels,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters at the briefing.

Asked to clarify what part of the Epstein saga is a “hoax” as Trump claimed, Leavitt only continued to criticize Democrats.

“The president is referring to the fact that Democrats have now seized on this as if they ever wanted transparency when it comes to Jeffrey Epstein, which is an asinine suggestion for any Democrat to make,” she said. “The Democrats had control of this building, the White House, for four years, and they didn’t do a dang thing when it came to transparency in regards to Jeffrey Epstein and his heinous crimes.”

Epstein was arrested in 2019 and died in prison by suicide while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges while Trump was president.

“Some of the naive Republicans fall right into line, like they always do,” the president said on “Just the News.”
Calls for transparency on Epstein came from several Republicans on Capitol Hill on Wednesday. And Trump’s own former vice president, Mike Pence, called for the administration to “release all of the files” regarding the Epstein investigation.

Leavitt on Thursday defended the administration’s handling of the Epstein files and attempted to distance Trump from further decision-making on the case.

Leavitt said it would be up to the Justice Department and Bondi to release any other “credible” evidence.

“In terms of redactions or grand jury seals, those are questions for the Department of Justice. Those are also questions for the judges who have that information under a seal. And that would have to be requested and judge would have to approve it. That’s out of the president’s control,” she said when asked why they wouldn’t release the files, with sensitive information redacted, in order to provide more transparency.

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(WASHINGTON) — In a major win for President Donald Trump, the Republican-led House narrowly passed a White House request to claw back $9 billion from the federal budget, including funding for foreign aid and public broadcasting.

The final vote was 216-213.

Trump requested the cuts, which include significant reductions to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), formalizing some of the cuts made by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency by striking $9.4 billion from the previously approved federal budget.

Two Republicans in the House voted against the measure: Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Mike Turner of Ohio.

The measure now heads to Trump’s desk for signature.

House Speaker Mike Johnson celebrated the passage of the $9 billion rescissions package and said there would be additional rescissions bills coming.

“This isn’t the end, it’s the beginning,” he said.

House passage came a day after the Senate narrowly approved the measure.

The vote in the Senate was 51-48 with Sens. Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski voting with Democrats against the rescissions bill.

A number of Republicans that represent states with rural communities — such as Murkowski of Alaska and Mike Rounds of South Dakota — have expressed concerns about cuts to public broadcasting that could affect the ability of certain communities to access emergency alerts.

The final vote in Senate happened after an hourslong and slow-moving vote-a-rama — or marathon voting session — during which Democrats offered numerous amendments to the bill. The bulk of Democratic amendments focused on trying to fight back against cuts to both public broadcast and global health that are in the bill.

The Senate’s process to advance the package began on Tuesday night when Republicans narrowly advanced the rescissions package with the assist of the tie-breaking vote of Vice President J.D. Vance.

Three Republicans crossed the aisle on Tuesday night to cast votes against the bill after raising concerns about the lack of detail in the White House’s rescission plan: Sens. Collins, Murkowski and Mitch McConnell.
 

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(WASHINGTON) — Maurene Comey told colleagues in a farewell email that she was fired as a federal prosecutor without being told a reason but urged them not to succumb to the “fear” she said her termination could cause.

“If a career prosecutor can be fired without reason, fear may seep into the decision of those who remain,” Comey said in her email, a copy of which was obtained by ABC News. “Do not let that happen.”

Comey, daughter of former FBI director James Comey, was fired Wednesday after President Donald Trump vented to subordinates about having a Comey working in his administration, sources told ABC News.

“Yesterday was unexpectedly my last day in the Office. I was summarily fired via memo from Main Justice that did not give a reason for my termination,” Comey wrote in the email.

Comey was a highly regarded assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, where she worked on cases against Jeffrey Epstein and his convicted associate Ghislaine Maxwell.

“Every person lucky enough to work in this office constantly hears four words to describe our ethos: Without Fear or Favor. Do the right thing, the right way, for the right reasons without fear of retribution and without favor to the powerful,” she wrote in the email.

“For the majority of my nearly ten years in SDNY, fear was never really conceivable. We don’t fear bad press; we have the luxury of exceptional security keeping us physically safe; and, so long as we did our work with integrity, we would get to keep serving the public in this office. Our focus was really on acting ‘without favor.’ That is, making sure people with access, money, and power were not treated differently than anyone else; and making sure this office remained separate from politics and focused only on the facts and the law,” the email read.

Comey urged her colleagues to continue to fight abuses of power, seek justice for victims and dedicate themselves to “truth above all else.”

“Fear is the tool of a tyrant, wielded to suppress independent thought,” Comey’s email said.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt didn’t answer questions on the firing of Comey at the press briefing on Thursday.

Leavitt referred reporters to the Justice Department, saying that it was their decision to fire her.

The press secretary was later asked whether the White House had knowledge of the firing and whether Trump signed off on it. She again sidestepped, saying only that it was a decision from the DOJ.

ABC News’ Michelle Stoddart contributed to this report.

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(WASHINGTON) — Former Vice President Mike Pence joined the chorus of Republicans calling on the Trump administration to release files about the case of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, telling CBS News in an interview that he believes the administration should release all of the files about Epstein — breaking with the president he once served under.

“I think the time has come for the administration to release all of the files regarding Jeffrey Epstein’s investigation and prosecution,” Pence said in the Wednesday interview.

Asked if he believes there should be an inquiry into if accomplices to Epstein should be exposed to criminal prosecution, Pence said, “I just think we ought to get the facts to the American people. I’ve always believed in transparency.”

“It’s important that we protect the names of the victims. They should be excluded from any disclosure. But whether or not the facts justify charges, I think that anyone who participated or was associated with this despicable man ought to be held up to public scrutiny.”

In recent weeks, many of President Donald Trump’s most prominent supporters and congressional Republicans continue to demand answers about the files.

Pence is more moderate ideologically than many of the high-profile names calling for the files to be released. More broadly, Pence has threaded a needle over the first six months of Trump’s second presidency, occasionally critiquing and occasionally praising the second-term policies or opinions of the president who he once served under.

Trump continued Wednesday to dismiss calls within his own party for more transparency into the Epstein investigation and made claims, without evidence, that the controversy was designed to undermine him.

In a lengthy social media post, which included references to the president’s previous claims about the 2017 Russian election interference probe, Trump blamed Democrats for creating what he called a “scam” and “hoax.”

Asked what Trump means when he says the Epstein controversy is a “hoax,” Pence didn’t answer directly, but said Epstein’s prosecution began during the Bush administration and continued during the Obama administration.

“I know of no reason why this administration, once the victims’ names are protected, should not release all the files on Jeffrey Epstein,” Pence added.

The Justice Department and FBI earlier this month stated they found no evidence the deceased financier kept a “client list” of associates whom he blackmailed or conspired with to victimize dozens of women.

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(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump underwent vascular testing after he had swelling in his legs, with all results within normal limits, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday.

Leavitt said Trump noted “mild swelling in his lower legs,” which prompted the White House medical team to evaluate him.

“The president underwent a comprehensive examination including diagnostic vascular studies, bilateral lower extremity intravenous doppler ultrasounds were performed and revealed chronic venous insufficiency, a benign and common condition, particularly in individuals over the age of 70,” Leavitt said in the Thursday White House press briefing.

There was no evidence of deep vein thrombosis or arterial disease and an echocardiogram showed normal cardiac structure and function, Leavitt said, adding that all results from testing were “within normal limits.”

Leavitt also address photos circulated online that show minor bruising on the back of the president’s hand, attributing the bruising to “with minor soft tissue irritation from frequent handshaking.”

“The president remains in excellent health,” Leavitt said.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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