Bondi to face closed-door questioning from House committee over Epstein files – US politics

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Louisiana House approves congressional redistricting to benefit Republicans

Republicans in Louisiana are poised to eliminate a majority-Black congressional district that elected a Democrat in response to a recent US Supreme Court ruling that its map constituted an illegal racial gerrymander.

A redistricting plan passed on Thursday by the state House would give Republicans a chance at picking up an additional seat in this year’s midterm elections, AP reports.

It also would protect House speaker Mike Johnson from facing a more difficult reelection. The plan needs only a final Senate vote, which could come on Friday, to go to Republican governor Jeff Landry.

“We drew this map in an effort to safely maximize Republican strength,” said state representative Beau Beaullieu, a Republican who chairs the chamber’s redistricting committee.

Since the Supreme Court’s decision in late April, several other Southern states already have seized upon a weakened federal Voting Rights Act to try to redraw their own congressional districts.

Bondi to face closed-door questioning from House committee over Epstein files

Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog.

Former attorney-general Pam Bondi is testifying before the US House oversight and reform committee, a long-awaited appearance that brings fresh scrutiny of the administration’s release of the Epstein files.

The committee announced in late April that Bondi would be appearing before the panel as part of its investigation, shortly after Democrats on the committee filed a civil contempt resolution against her.

Bondi’s appearance comes as the justice department has faced criticism in recent months over its compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act, after the department failed to meet the act’s 19 December deadline to release the relevant files, instead releasing what it claimed were the full files on 31 January.

Bondi was bullish in previous public testimony when confronted by lawmakers and it is unclear whether she will bring the same approach today. The session will be held behind closed doors.

The transcribed interview will give lawmakers a chance to dig for information on the Trump administration’s handling of the Epstein files and other related matters, including the prison sentence of his former girlfriend and confidant, Ghislaine Maxwell.

“I think she absolutely could clear up many missing pieces if she wanted to,” said Rep. Yassamin Ansari, an Arizona Democrat on the House Oversight Committee. “Now it’s a question of whether or not she is willing to be transparent.”

Survivors of Epstein’s abuse have also raised concerns that sensitive personal information was improperly disclosed in the files, while several lawmakers have also criticized some of the redactions in the documents. The department has maintained that it acted in accordance with the law.

In other developments:

• A jury in Spokane, Washington found an Afghanistan War veteran and two others guilty of federal conspiracy charges on Thursday for their part in a protest last June outside the city’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility.

• New Jersey’s governor, Mikie Sherrill, said that state health inspectors were denied full access to the privately run Delaney Hall immigration detention center in Newark, where detainees are staging a hunger and labor strike over health and sanitary conditions, and protesters rallying outside have been tased, pepper-sprayed and detained.

• At least six of the nine featured musical acts recruited to play on the National Mall in Washington DC this summer, in a concert series planned by the Trump administration to mark the nation’s 250th anniversary, have dropped out of the concert series, just one day after the lineup was announced.

• US vice-president JD Vance on Thursday told reporters that Washington was “not there yet” with Iran but he said the parties were close, adding that the US was in a position where it could substantially set back Tehran’s nuclear program. Earlier, Iran’s Tasnim news agency, citing a source close to the negotiating team, said the text of a potential memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the two countries had not yet been finalised or confirmed.