President Trump was evasive about the possibility of pardoning Ghislaine Maxwell, the former girlfriend and accomplice of Jeffrey Epstein, when asked about the subject on Monday.
Speaking with reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said he would consult the Justice Department on the matter, the Washington Examiner reported.
"I haven’t heard the name in so long,” Trump told reporters of Maxwell. “I’d have to take a look at it. I would have to take a look.”
Controversy over Epstein was renewed this summer after the Justice Department affirmed that the financier died by suicide in jail and that he did not have an incriminating "client list."
The cut-and-dry conclusions sparked backlash from some in Trump's own base, where many have long believed that Epstein was part of a large and shadowy criminal conspiracy.
Theories about Epstein have since migrated leftward, as Democrats accuse Trump of a sinister effort to hide the so-called Epstein files.
Trump has been eager to put the Epstein firestorm to rest, although his own comments have at times fanned the flames.
“I’ll speak to the DOJ. I wouldn’t consider it or not consider it. I don’t know anything about it, but I’ll speak to the DOJ,” he continued Monday.
“I don’t know. I may not have to speak to the DOJ. I’ll look at it. I have a lot of people who have asked me for pardons.”
Maxwell is the only person other than Epstein to ever be charged for trafficking girls to him. She is serving a 20-year sentence for her role in recruiting "massage girls" for Epstein to abuse at his homes.
Trump has previously appeared to leave the door open to pardoning Maxwell. His latest comments on the matter came after the Supreme Court rejected Maxwell's appeal of her 2021 conviction for sex trafficking.
Any clemency for Maxwell would be certain to cause enormous controversy, including within Trump's own MAGA movement, which responded with consternation to the Justice Department's closure of the Epstein case in July.
But Trump has gone against his base before, previously disavowing "weaklings" on the right who remain focused on the Epstein matter. Trump has blasted the recent interest in the case as a cynical "hoax" being pushed by Democrats to distract from his achievements.
After she was thrust back into the spotlight this summer, Maxwell met with the Justice Department's No.2 official, Todd Blanche, for a controversial interview that fueled accusations that Maxwell was negotiating a pardon.
The Supreme Court will weigh a pivotal case this week on who has the right to challenge election laws.
The conservative watchdog Judicial Watch sued on behalf of Illinois congressman Mike Bost (R) who is challenging a state law that allows mail-in ballots to be accepted two weeks late, as long as they are postmarked by Election Day, Just The News reported.
The Supreme Court is not weighing the merits of the law itself, but whether Bost has the right to challenge it, a concept known as "standing."
Bost's legal challenge had been rejected by lower courts, which found he lacked standing to bring the case.
While it turns on a seemingly dry procedural question, the consequences of the case could be far-reaching.
That is because without legal standing, there is no way for a political candidate to challenge election rules that invite cheating, said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.
According to Fitton, the Supreme Court is deciding nothing less than whether candidates can "sue to stop an election from being stolen.”
Russ Nobile, a senior attorney for Judicial Watch, noted that "many cases didn't go anywhere" in 2020 because of standing.
More than four years later, the legal picture remains muddled, but Judicial Watch hopes the Supreme Court will finally provide some clarity.
Otherwise, "it could be a green light to the left to engage in the manipulation of election practices," Fitton warned.
Some left-wing groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and League of Women Voters are supporting Bost's challenge on procedural grounds.
"While the League and its state and local affiliates have fought to advance state laws like the one challenged here, and thus vehemently oppose Petitioners’ position on the merits, they often find themselves in the same position that Representative Bost does here: injured because a challenged election rule materially interferes with their pre-existing core activities and drains resources that would otherwise be deployed elsewhere,” the groups wrote.
The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the case, Rep. Michael J. Bost, Laura Pollastrini, and Susan Sweeney v. The Illinois State Board of Elections and Bernadette Matthews, on Wednesday.
Many believe that the person who plotted to assassinate Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh got off with an embarrassingly light sentence -- so much so that the Department of Justice is stepping in.
According to the New York Post, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi vowed over the weekend that she will appeal the "woefully insufficient" sentence handed down to what she described as a "profoundly disturbed individual.'
Attempted killer Nicholas Roske, who later claimed he was transgender, was only sentenced to eight years in prison and lifetime supervision, which is exactly what his defense attorney was hoping for.
The light sentencing sparked outrage, with many immediately demanding that Bondi get involved and work to make it a much tougher punishment.
Bondi held nothing back in her statement, vowing to appeal the ruling, which was handed down by Maryland US District Judge Deborah Boardman, a Joe Biden-appointed judge.
"The attempted assassination of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh was a disgusting attack against our entire judicial system by a profoundly disturbed individual,” Bondi wrote on X.
She added, "@TheJusticeDept will be appealing the woefully insufficient sentence imposed by the district court, which does not reflect the horrific facts of this case."
Prosecutors from the Justice Department sought a much tougher sentence.
The Post noted:
DOJ prosecutors sought a prison term of 30 years to life for the man who targeted the high court justice in June 2022, arriving in a taxi outside Kavanaugh’s Chevy Chase, Md., home with a Glock 17 pistol, ammunition, a tactical light, zip ties, pepper spray and burglary tools.
"The defendant’s actions and intent — which were determined, focused, and undeterred for months — were extremely dangerous to the lives of multiple sitting judges, their family members, and the Constitutional judicial order," DOJ prosecutors wrote in their sentencing memo.
They added, "The sentence imposed in this case must send the powerful message, both to the defendant and to others who contemplate committing assassination to obstruct judicial independence, that these ends never justify the means and that the consequences are not worth engaging in these acts."
The would-be killer apologized for his actions, claiming he made a grave mistake and said he felt remorse for his decisions.
“I can see now how destructive and misguided such acts are, and am ashamed to have not recognized these things sooner," he wrote in a court declaration.
Sadly, the judge fell for it, and with any luck, the ruling will be strengthened on Bondi's watch.
There's simply no way around it -- the "tolerant" left's seemingly never-ending supply of violent rhetoric is a problem, and we've seen that play out at every level over the past year, and especially the past month.
According to Fox News, Virginia Democratic attorney general candidate Jay Jones, once made a disgusting remark involving shooting the Virginia House speaker.
The nasty texts were revealed this week and were obtained by Fox News Digital. They show that the "politics of rage" is a real thing on the left, and it's not only dangerous, but life-threatening.
The texts, which were between Jones and Del. Carrie Coyner, R-Chester, were referencing the death of Del. Joe Johnson, D-Bristol.
Jones' texts were absolutely disgusting and disrespectful.
Fox News noted:
At the time, several House Republicans — including leadership — offered eulogizing words for Johnson, who had been known as an aisle-crossing, friendly moderate. One of those who had kind words for Johnson was then-House Speaker Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah.
Jones apparently wasn't happy with the late Democratic delegate's ability to cross the political aisle and actually do what's right for the people of the state.
Jones told Coyner in a text that Johnson "leaked everything to your [Republican] caucus. It’s why Gilbert gave him such a glowing tribute."
"If those guys die before me, I will go to their funerals to piss on their graves," Jones continued. "Send them out awash in something."
Fox News added:
At that point, Coyner appeared to attempt to rein in the conversation, texting, "Jay Jones."
But Jones continued, adding, "Three people, two bullets. Gilbert, Hitler and Pol Pot. Gilbert gets two bullets to the head."
"Spoiler: put Gilbert in the crew with the two worst people you know and he receives both bullets every time," Jones continued.
Coyner had tried to get Jones to stop with the rhetoric several times, finally texting back, "Jay. Please stop."
According to the outlet, it was then that Jones made a phone call to Coyner, reportedly to lighten the mood after the nasty texts regarding putting bullets in the men he referenced.
Coyner's spokesperson confirmed the texts, and clearly knew to distance from Jones as a result.
"Jay Jones wished violence on the children of a colleague and joked about shooting Todd Gilbert. It's disgusting and unbecoming of any public official," the spokesperson said.
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is warning that thousands of Americans will die unless Republicans agree to healthcare demands at the center of the ongoing government shutdown.
Democrats have refused to fund the government without an agreement to extend enhanced Obamacare subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year.
While speaking on MSNBC, Sanders blamed the shutdown on Republicans and accused them of abandoning Senate norms -- even though Republicans have put forward a routine bill to fund the government that Democrats refuse to even consider.
“Republicans need 60 votes -- that’s been the case for decades. The point of that rule is bipartisanship, negotiation. You need eight Democratic votes. OK. How do we work together to keep the government open? Republicans, for the first time in modern history, have chosen not to negotiate. They are saying it’s their way or the highway. That is not acceptable,” Sanders said.
Sanders then dropped a dramatic prediction, warning that thousands of Americans will die without the Obamacare subsidies Democrats are demanding.
"And I want everybody to understand that if we do not make changes and fight back effectively, you’re going to see 15 million Americans lose their health insurance through cuts to Medicaid and the ACA. According to studies, 50,000 Americans die each year. That’s what’s at stake,” Sanders said.
We don't like saying this, but Bernie does have one small point beneath all of his hysterical rhetoric: the fact is that these tax credits are necessary for millions of Americans to afford Obamacare, thanks to the insanely high premiums on the exchanges.
According to one analysis, premiums will more than double next year unless the tax credits are renewed.
You would think there's a lesson there about the failures of government healthcare, but Democrats want to double down on federal spending.
Nevertheless, Republicans, such as Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), are willing to discuss extending healthcare subsidies in the future.
Republicans understand that these subsidies are popular, which is why Democrats are making such an issue out of them.
GOP lawmakers say that negotiations over Obamacare should happen later, once the government is back open. Democrats are doubling down on emotional manipulation, as usual.
We always knew that Bernie was a hysterical demagogue, but this rhetoric about Republicans wanting to usher in mass death is on another level.
Either he's just being cynical, or the old man is really starting to lose his marbles.
Vice president J.D. Vance accused Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) of shutting down the federal government to protect his job, saying Schumer caved to pressure from his liberal base in order to stave off a primary challenge.
On the first full day of the shutdown, Vance told reporters at the White House that Schumer is afraid of being replaced by progressive upstart Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Fox News reported.
"But the reality here, and let’s be honest about the politics, is that Chuck Schumer is terrified he’s going to get a primary challenge from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez," Vance said. "The reason why the American people’s government is shut down is because Chuck Schumer is listening to the far-left radicals in his own party because he’s terrified of a primary challenge."
The federal government shut down on Wednesday night after Democrats refused to pass a Republican-backed "clean" continuing resolution.
Democrats, led by Schumer and House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-Ny.), have refused to budge until Republicans agree to extend enhanced Obamacare subsidies. Republicans say they are willing to discuss the issue once the government is back open.
Schumer's new, confrontational approach is a shift from earlier this year, when he bucked his own party to help Trump pass a funding bill in March.
At the time, Schumer was criticized by the left-wing base, which accused him of handing leverage over federal spending to Trump, but Schumer said shutting down the country would give Trump even more power.
Schumer's fears may be coming true as Trump uses the new shutdown to fire federal workers and withhold funding from blue cities and states.
For years, Democrats opposed shutdowns and criticized Republicans who used them as leverage to demand spending cuts. But now it's the Democrats who are embracing a strategy of brinkmanship, while Republicans lament all of the government services that have been suspended.
"Our troops are not getting paid starting today because of the Chuck Schumer wing of the Democratic Party," Vance said.
"We have people who require food assistance, low-income Americans who require food assistance, who will not get it unless we reopen the government, thanks to Chuck Schumer and his wing of the Democratic Party."
Vance and other Republicans have also knocked Schumer for prioritizing healthcare for illegal aliens, a claim Democrats have vehemently denied.
While Democrats insist that illegal aliens cannot receive federal health benefits, Vance has argued that federal dollars indirectly subsidize Medicaid programs in blue states that cover illegal aliens.
"When the government gives billions of dollars to New York for Medicaid, that frees up state money in New York that can then be spent on illegals," he wrote on X.
An Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent has been reinstated, days after he was suspended over a widely publicized incident outside a New York City court.
As reported by CBS News, the ICE agent has returned to duty after a preliminary review of the matter.
The agent was filmed shoving a distraught Ecuadoran woman to the ground as she struggled to block her husband's arrest.
Videos of the confrontation went viral on social media, as critics used the footage to assail Trump's immigration crackdown as cruel and excessive.
The Department of Homeland Security initially relieved the agent of duty, saying his behavior was "unacceptable and beneath the men and women of ICE," but the administration has apparently reversed course after an investigation.
The woman's husband, Ruben Abelardo Ortiz-Lopez, is a "criminal illegal alien" who ICE became aware of after he was arrested for "assault and criminal obstruction of breathing or blood circulation," officials told CBS News.
"President Trump and Secretary Noem are not going to allow criminal illegal aliens to terrorize American citizens," a DHS official said. "If you come to our country illegally and break our laws, we will arrest you and you will never return."
Ortiz-Lopez was arrested after a scuffle outside the immigration court at the 26 Federal Plaza building in New York. The man's family clung to him as ICE struggled to detain him in a hallway.
The man's wife continued to confront ICE after he was taken away. In one video of the incident, the woman is seen telling an agent to "take me too" in Spanish.
The woman is seen touching the agent, who tells her to stop before pushing her to the floor moments later.
The confrontation sparked debate, with some condemning the officer's response as excessive, while others said the woman instigated the conflict.
The woman and her husband are both living in the United States illegally.
Democrats have made resisting immigration enforcement a focus of their opposition to President Trump's agenda, as Trump ramps up arrests of illegal immigrants at courthouses, worksites, and other target-rich locations.
The aggressive approach has sparked backlash, even as Democrats continue to use rhetoric toward ICE agents that many consider extreme.
Republicans have blamed the left for a recent deadly attack at an ICE facility in Texas, where two detainees were killed by an anti-ICE sniper.
The Senate rejected a bill that would permanently end government shutdowns, just hours before funding was set to lapse at midnight Wednesday.
As reported by the Washington Examiner, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) introduced the "Eliminate Shutdowns" Act to end the familiar spectacle of lawmakers squabbling over policy priorities until the last minute.
It's happening again this year, with Democrats sending the government into a shutdown after rejecting a GOP funding bill that did not meet their healthcare demands.
Republicans have pushed for a "clean" stopgap spending bill, while Democrats want immediate extensions to Obamacare subsidies and a reversal of the Medicaid cuts in Trump's sweeping domestic policy law, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
As Congress hurtled toward a shutdown this week, Senator Johnson proposed ending the routine fiscal brinkmanship on Capitol Hill once and for all, but his proposal was rejected 37-61.
Johnson's bill would keep the government afloat with automatically renewing stopgap bills while the regular appropriations process continues.
“This simple bill could be a game changer,” he wrote in the Wall Street Journal. "With government funding and functioning assured, Congress would no longer have to spend weeks and months arguing over how to keep government departments open after failing to pass appropriation bills.”
14 Republican senators joined every Democrat to vote no on Johnson's bill, including Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Ak.), and Sen. Susan Collins (R-Me.).
Ultimately, just three Democrats in the Senate voted to approve a GOP-backed bill to avoid a government shutdown on Tuesday night.
Senators Catherine Cortez-Masto of Nevada, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, and Angus King voted for the continuing resolution (CR) to keep the government operating at current funding levels. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) also voted no.
Republicans pointed to the Democratic defections as a sign that the party will break sooner or later. But Democrats, under pressure from their base to fight President Trump, have so far refused to blink as Trump threatens to fire federal workers after funding lapses at midnight on October 1.
Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought blamed the shutdown on Democrats' “insane policy demands," adding it’s “unclear how long Democrats will maintain their untenable posture, making the duration of the shutdown difficult to predict.”
“[I]t is now clear that Democrats will prevent passage of this clean [continuing resolution] prior to 11:59 pm tonight and force a government shutdown,” Vought wrote in a memo to government agencies.
The last government shutdown lasted for 35 days from December 2018 through January 2019 after Congress refused to fund Trump's border wall. The shutdown was the longest ever at the time.
Missouri's Republican governor has approved a new legislative map giving the GOP an additional seat in the House of Representatives, escalating a redistricting arms' race ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
The new map could be a gamechanger, with Democrats needing just three seats to take power back in the House, Fox News reports.
Currently, Missouri Republicans have six out of eight House districts, but the new map signed by Governor Mike Kehoe (R) chops up the district currently represented by Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver and adds rural Republican voters.
"I was proud to officially sign the Missouri First Map into law today ahead of the 2026 midterm election," Kehoe said in a statement.
"We believe this map best represents Missourians, and I appreciate the support and efforts of state legislators, our congressional delegation, and President Trump in getting this map to my desk."
Cleaver, who was the first black mayor of Kansas City before becoming a congressman, has condemned the redistricting push as a return to Missouri's segregationist past. The map uses a historical racial boundary in the city, Troost Avenue.
"I want to warn all of us that if you fight fire with fire long enough, all you’re going to have left is ashes," Cleaver said earlier this month as he testified in front of a Missouri Senate committee.
Left-wing groups like the NAACP and American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) have already filed lawsuits, arguing the state constitution does not permit mid-decade redistricting.
“It was not prompted by the law or a court order; it was the result of Republican lawmakers in Missouri following partisan directives from politicians in Washington, D.C.,” said Marina Jenkins, executive director of the National Redistricting Foundation, a nonprofit affiliate of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee.
Liberals are also working on a voter referendum to block the measure from taking effect.
If the petition gets 110,000 valid signatures before December 11, the map would be frozen until a public vote.
President Trump has touted Missouri's effort as "FANTASTIC," adding it "will help send an additional MAGA Republican to Congress in the 2026 Midterm Elections."
It is the latest salvo in a mid-decade redistricting battle that kicked off in July when Texas Republicans moved to add up to five GOP seats at President Trump's urging.
Democrats in California have forwarded their own plan to wipe out the state's Republican minority. The proposal asks voters to temporarily put the state's Democrats directly in charge of redistricting.
Democrats on the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform are working overtime to do whatever they can to keep the Epstein situation open and connect as many Trump-aligned people to the disgraced, deceased financier as possible.
The latest to be named by the committee was Elon Musk, who didn't take kindly to the Sky News article that noted Musk's name was mentioned in the newly released papers by Democrats on the committee.
According to the Daily Mail, Musk hit back quick and hard, writing on his X account, "Shame on Sky News for this utterly misleading headline."
Musk went on to explain that he had, in fact, been invited to Epstein's mysterious island, but refused the invitation, unlike many other power brokers and high-profile people at the time.
Musk immediately responded to the article, denying that he had any connection to Epstein or his island, unlike Prince Andrew, who had actually gone there.
Shame on Sky News for this utterly misleading headline. Anyone pushing this false narrative deserves complete contempt," Musk wrote.
He added, "Epstein tried to get me to go to his island and I REFUSED, yet they name me even before Prince Andrew, who did visit."
Shame on Sky News for this utterly misleading headline. Anyone pushing this false narrative deserves complete contempt.
Epstein tried to get me to go to his island and I REFUSED, yet they name me even before Prince Andrew, who did visit. https://t.co/9Pd3LXFeFm
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 27, 2025
The documents released dropped Musk's name, but it was clear that he wasn't involved, as the report noted that Epstein or his secretary had never confirmed Musk was going to take the offer.
The Daily Mail noted:
The documents, which included phone messages, flight logs, financial ledgers, and Epstein's daily schedule, including mention figures such as Musk, billionaire Peter Thiel, Trump ally Steve Bannon, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, and Prince Andrew.
One of the documents revealed Epstein's schedule for the first week of December 2014 with a reminder that read: 'Elon Musk to island Dec. 6 (is this still happening?)'.
Musk's supporters were not happy with the way the story was reported.
"Total garbage headline. Elon said no to Epstein, but Sky News makes it sound like he was involved. Meanwhile, Prince Andrew actually went — but somehow Elon’s name comes first? Pure smear job," one X user wrote.
Another X user wrote, "You and Trump are friends again, so of course these headlines are coming back. Hilarious how it all works."\
It'll be interesting to see what the left and their media allies try next.