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Deputy AG says justice department will release ‘several hundred thousand’ Epstein files today with more to come
The deputy attorney general, Todd Blanche, has said the justice department will release “several hundred thousand documents” from the Epstein files today but hinted that some may be held back – at least temporarily – citing the need to protect victims.
“I expect that we’re going to release more documents over the next couple of weeks,” he added.
“We’re going to release several hundred thousand documents today, and those documents will come in all different forms, photographs, and other materials associated with all of the investigations into, into Mr. Epstein,” he told Fox & Friends.
Now, the most important thing that the attorney general [Pam Bondi] has talked about, that [FBI] director [Kash] Patel has talked about is that we protect victims. And so what we’re doing is, we are looking at every single piece of paper that we are going to produce, making sure that every victim – their name, their identity, their story, to the extent these are protected – is completely protected.
I expect that we’re going to release more documents over the next couple of weeks. So today, several hundred thousand. And then over the next couple weeks, I expect several hundred thousand more.
Key events
Trump to announce news deals to lower drug prices
On that announcement we said was coming at 1pm from Trump, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has confirmed that it will be about new agreements to lower drug prices. She wrote on X:
TODAY AT 1PM AT THE WHITE HOUSE: President Trump will be announcing more incredible deals that will lower prices of drugs and pharmaceuticals.
CNN reports that representatives from at least five companies will be present at the White House event, though “the attendee list remains in flux and could still change depending on which agreements the administration can finalize in time for the announcement”.
As part of his “most favored nation” push for more affordable drug pricing, Trump sent letters to the leaders of 17 major pharmaceutical companies in July demanding lower prices, and has since announced deals with five of them – Pfizer, Eli Lilly, AstraZeneca, Novo Nordisk and EMD Serono.
Among the 12 remaining companies that have yet to strike agreements with the administration, several outlets are reporting that the likes of Merck, Gilead, Roche, GSK, Bristol Myers Squibb, Novartis, AbbVie and Sanofi could be involved today.
Erika Kirk endorses JD Vance for president in 2028
Last night, Erika Kirk, Turning Point CEO and widow of the late Charlie Kirk, endorsed vice-president JD Vance for president in the 2028 election.
She told the thousands-strong crowd at the opening night of Turning Point’s annual AmericaFest conference in Phoenix, Arizona:
We are going to get my husband’s friend JD Vance elected for 48 [the number of the next president] in the most resounding way possible.
Vance hasn’t yet announced any plans to run in 2028, but Kirk’s endorsement is significant given Turning Point USA’s influence among young conservatives and in the Maga movement more widely.
The vice-president is widely considered to be Trump’s de facto heir apparent, with Trump himself acknowledging earlier his year that Vance will “most likely” be the one he passes the Maga torch to. Trump also suggested he should run on a joint ticket with secretary of state Marco Rubio.
Vance and Charlie Kirk were close friends until the Kirk’s death in September. Vance paid tribute to his “true friend” after he was fatally shot in Utah, calling him “a great family man”. Kirk’s casket was also brought back to Arizona from Utah on Air Force Two, the vice-president’s plane.
Vance also hosted an episode of The Charlie Kirk Show later that month from the White House. During that two-hour livestream, he spoke about Kirk’s political legacy, telling viewers:
If it weren’t for Charlie Kirk, I would not be vice-president of the United States.
And speaking at Kirk’s memorial service, Vance said the rightwing activist had changed the course of American history in helping Trump get elected last year. Noting the number of Trump administration officials at the service, he said of Kirk:
We know we wouldn’t be here without him.
Vance is due to speak at the AmericaFest conference on Sunday.
Trump says he’s not ruling out war with Venezuela and Maduro ‘knows exactly what I want’
In an overnight interview with NBC News released today, Donald Trump said he is not ruling out the possibility of war with Venezuela.
“I don’t rule it out, no,” he said in a phone interview, days after he ordered a “blockade” of sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving from Venezuela, and his administration’s strikes on 28 alleged drug boats in the Caribbean have killed at least 104 people.
The US also last week seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, an act the Venezuelan government decried as “an act of international piracy”. Asked whether more seizures of oil tankers should be expected, Trump told the reporter: “Yes.” Asked about timing, he said:
It depends. If they’re foolish enough to be sailing along, they’ll be sailing along back into one of our harbors.
Trump, who campaigned on a platform to keep the United States out of foreign conflicts, also refused to tell NBC News whether removing Nicolás Maduro was his ultimate goal – which experts widely agree it is. But he said the Venezuelan president “knows exactly what I want”. “He knows better than anybody,” Trump added.
On the president’s schedule today is an announcement at 1pm ET from the Roosevelt Room in the White House. If we get any idea what this could be about as the day progresses we’ll update you here.
Trump will then participate in a closed-to-press Christmas reception in the Grand Foyer at 5.45pm. He’ll then depart at 7.05pm for Rocky Mount, North Carolina, where he’s due to deliver remarks about the economy at 9pm.
Laura Loomer, the far-right activist and Maga influencer who has had the president’s ear on a number of occasions this year, has told Politico that she expects today’s release of the Epstein files to be “another big ‘get-Trump’ nothingburger”.
The Epstein issue has been the headache that won’t go away for the Trump administration, cutting through and prompting a full-blown revolt among his ultra-loyal Maga base – and eventually a U-turn from the president on their release.
A reminder that earlier this week, we learned that White House chief of staff Susie Wiles told Vanity Fair that attorney general Pam Bondi had “completely whiffed” her early handling of the Epstein files and failed to appreciate how much Trump’s supporters cared about the issue.
First she gave them binders full of nothingness. And then she said that the witness list, or the client list, was on her desk. There is no client list, and it sure as hell wasn’t on her desk.
Today, Loomer told Politico:
There’s no denying that binder-gate was a total fiasco and it was a big blunder that was really the first negative PR blunder for this administration thus far.
She added that she didn’t think today’s release would put the issue to bed.
Because there are people out there who are determined to use this as a way to get Trump. Remember, I said, this is the new Russia collusion hoax. They are going to use this messaging in the 2026 midterms and possibly into the 2028 presidential election.
As we await the release of the Epstein files, Ro Khanna, one of the Democratic lawmakers who sponsored the bill to force the release of the documents, said today was about “the survivors, justice, and truth. The Epstein Class has to go.”
Ro Khanna, one of the Democratic members of Congress who sponsored the Epstein Files Transparency Act that mandates the release of the files, has posted a video on social media threatening legal action in the event of “tampering or excessive redaction” of the documents.
“Let me be very clear, we need a full release,” Khanna said. “Anyone who tampers with these documents or conceals documents or engages in excessive redaction will be prosecuted because of obstruction of justice.
“We will prosecute individuals regardless of whether they’re the attorney general or a career or political appointee. We need full transparency and justice for the survivors tomorrow. Finally, rich and powerful men who raped underage girls or who covered up for this abuse will help be held accountable. The Epstein class needs to go.”
Deputy AG says justice department will release ‘several hundred thousand’ Epstein files today with more to come
The deputy attorney general, Todd Blanche, has said the justice department will release “several hundred thousand documents” from the Epstein files today but hinted that some may be held back – at least temporarily – citing the need to protect victims.
“I expect that we’re going to release more documents over the next couple of weeks,” he added.
“We’re going to release several hundred thousand documents today, and those documents will come in all different forms, photographs, and other materials associated with all of the investigations into, into Mr. Epstein,” he told Fox & Friends.
Now, the most important thing that the attorney general [Pam Bondi] has talked about, that [FBI] director [Kash] Patel has talked about is that we protect victims. And so what we’re doing is, we are looking at every single piece of paper that we are going to produce, making sure that every victim – their name, their identity, their story, to the extent these are protected – is completely protected.
I expect that we’re going to release more documents over the next couple of weeks. So today, several hundred thousand. And then over the next couple weeks, I expect several hundred thousand more.
Donald Trump will visit North Carolina on a campaigning trip on what is shaping up to be one of the most momentous days of his second presidency.
With the long-awaited Epstein files due to be released sometime before midnight under federal law, Trump will go to the city of Rocky Mount, amid reports that locals have been dissatisfied with the results of the administration’s economic policies.
The trip echoes the president’s recent visit to Pennsylvania, a battleground state in which he was supposed to persuade voters that he was addressing “affordability” concerns – but ended up dismissing the issue as a “Democrat hoax”.
With North Carolina home to a tight Senate race in the 2026 midterm elections, Trump needs to tackle waning Republican support reflected in a recent poll that showed 60% of local voters disapproving his performance on inflation and 52% disagreeing with his tariff policies.
Trump has carried North Carolina in each of the last three presidential elections.
Pentagon fails annual audit for eighth year in a row
For the eighth year in a row, the Pentagon has failed as annual audit, the Department of Defense said on Friday, continuing a pattern of financial accountability problems that have drawn bipartisan criticism and emerged as a campaign issue.
“The Department cannot resolve decades of war, neglect of America’s defense industrial base, and soaring national debt through unchecked spending.” Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said in a statement released with the audit.
The White House has consistently denied that Donald Trump has ever engaged in conflicts of interest while president. But experts have been tallying up examples of decisions made over the last 12 months which, they say, amount to corruption coming from the highest office.
Jonathan Freedland is joined by the anthropologist Prof Janine Wedel, as they wade through the most egregious allegations of corruption from Trump’s first year in office, in the Politics Weekly America podcast:
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