Briscoe Cain, Alex Mealer lead crowded pack vying for Houston’s new red congressional district
Cain, a state lawmaker, and Mealer, a former Harris County judge candidate, have consolidated much of the fundraising and endorsements in the 9th Congressional District’s Republican primary.
On the issues: a Q&A with the Texas Republicans running for U.S. Senate
GOP candidates John Cornyn, Wesley Hunt and Ken Paxton refused to participate in a candidate Q&A on major issues, ranging from foreign policy to artificial intelligence. We used their past statements and voting history to show voters where they differ.
Targeted for their faith overseas, persecuted Christians get a White House welcome under Trump
FIRST ON FOX: The White House is welcoming a cohort of persecuted Christians from around the globe on Thursday following President Donald Trump‘s speech at the National Prayer Breakfast, Fox News Digital learned. The White House Faith Office, led by senior adviser Pastor Paula White-Cain and faith director Jenny Korn, will welcome at least six Christians who have been persecuted in their home countries, such as China, Nigeria and Cuba, Fox News Digital learned. The White House meeting comes as Trump addressed the National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday morning, which draws hundreds of lawmakers from both sides of the political aisle, business leaders and foreign dignitaries each February to discuss faith and pray for the nation’s future. Trump said from the dais that “no administration in modern history has done more to confront the plight of persecuted Christians around the world than we have.” TRUMP RETURNS TO NATIONAL PRAYER BREAKFAST AS FAITH TAKES CENTER STAGE IN SECOND TERM “It’s a mission. It’s actually a mission. On Christmas Day and in close coordination with the government of Nigeria – we worked with them, but they got to get tougher — I ordered powerful airstrikes to decimate the ISIS terrorists who have been slaughtering Christians in that country by the thousands. It’s not even believable. We hit them so hard,” Trump said. Among the persecuted Christians attending the White House meeting are: Rev. Gideon Para-Mallam of Nigeria; Grace Drexel, who faced persecution in China; Pastor Andrew Brunson, who faced persecution in Turkey; Mariam Ibraheem, who faced persecution in Sudan; Mario Felix Lleonart Barroso of Cuba; and Y Phic “Jack” Hdok of Vietnam. Para-Mallam, a Nigerian pastor who founded the Gideon & Funmi Para-Mallam Peace Foundation, has worked with survivors of attacks on Christians in the nation and leads advocacy and humanitarian relief efforts in some of Nigeria’s hardest-hit communities. The U.S. launched airstrikes in northwest Nigeria on Christmas night targeting ISIS militants Trump accused of killing Christians, which Para-Mallam said led to “one of the most peaceful Christmas seasons for Nigerian Christians in recent history.” AFTER TRUMP STRIKES ISLAMIST TERRORISTS, US GENERAL TRAVELS TO NIGERIA WITH MILITANTS ‘ON THE RUN’ The group also includes Pastor Andrew Brunson, the American pastor who spent more than two decades ministering in Turkey before his 2016 arrest on what supporters said were false accusations. His high-profile case ended with his release in 2018 after Trump pushed for it. Grace Drexel is the daughter of Pastor Ezra Jin, who was detained in China on Oct. 10, 2025, alongside nearly 30 other church leaders in what supporters describe as a major crackdown on unregistered churches. Mariam Ibraheem drew global attention after a Sudanese Shariah court sentenced her in 2013 to 100 lashes and death by hanging for alleged apostasy after leaving the Islamic faith while she was pregnant. Cuban pastor Barroso, who said he was detained 21 times and sent to a labor camp for his faith before fleeing Cuba in 2016, and Y Phic “Jack” Hdok, a Montagnard Christian advocate who fled Vietnam in 2018, are also attending. NIGERIA NAMED EPICENTER OF GLOBAL KILLINGS OF CHRISTIANS OVER FAITH IN 2025, REPORT SAYS The meeting comes just ahead of the one-year anniversary of the creation of the White House Faith Office on Feb. 7, 2025. Trump launched the White House Faith Office via executive order, tasking it with leading the executive branch’s outreach to faith-based groups, community organizations and houses of worship. In honor of the anniversary and as lawmakers and others gathered for the National Prayer Breakfast, the Faith Office said there are “150 reasons why President Trump is the most pro-faith, pro-life and pro-religious liberty president in American history.” “He protected religious liberty and affirmed faith in America. He has fought anti-Christian, antisemitic, and other forms of anti-religious bias while ending the weaponization of government against all people of faith. He has expanded school choice, protected parental rights, restored biological truth, uplifted families, ended illegal and divisive DEI policies, stopped taxpayer funding for abortion, restored free speech, and stood side-by-side with Israel,” the Faith Office said of Trump.
El Salvador’s Bukele says violent gang bangers are literal Satan worshippers in sharp immigration warning
El Salvador President Nayib Bukele joined the annual National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, warning attendees that violent gang members in his country have a documented history of worshiping Satan — and that some of those gang members have crossed into the U.S. “Many people don’t know that our enemy was not just the flesh and blood, but spiritual as well. The gangs didn’t just murder, rape, extort. They also worship Satan,” Bukele said on Thursday morning from the U.S. Capitol. “It’s straight up. Literally. When we went to their homes to arrest them, we discovered altars that were used for satanic rituals.” “This is well documented. We put up the pictures, the videos right away. But for some reason, the global mainstream media didn’t think it was worth it to cover it. But we know gangs in El Salvador were satanic and they worshiped Satan,” he continued. TRUMP SAYS CRIMINAL ILLEGAL ALIENS ‘MAKE HELLS ANGELS LOOK LIKE THE SWEETEST PEOPLE ON EARTH’ He warned the body of bipartisan lawmakers and business leaders: “Some of those gangs are here in the United States.” Bukele has previously warned that El Salvador’s security forces found alleged MS-13-linked “satanic” altars and ritual materials during raids. Bukele is a Trump ally who struck a deal with the U.S. government in 2025 to accept hundreds of Venezuelan gang members, who were illegally living in the United States, into El Salvador’s notoriously no-nonsense, high-security prison. TRUMP DISCUSSES EXPANSION OF DRUG CARTEL CRACKDOWN, ISSUES GRIM WARNING TO IRAN Bukele said crime has cratered in his country after snuffing out violent gang syndicates with prison time and law-and-order policies. “El Salvador was the murder capital of the world. That was our nickname, murder capital of the world. The most dangerous place in the whole wide world. And now it’s the safest country in the whole continent,” he said Thursday. BUKELE CHALLENGES HILLARY CLINTON TO TAKE EL SALVADOR’S ENTIRE PRISON POPULATION AFTER CRITICISM President Donald Trump also addressed the prayer breakfast, reflecting on the administration’s mission to protect religious liberty. “They declared that all of us are made free and equal by the hand of our creator,” Trump said of the Founding Fathers. “A lot of presidents refuse to say that.… Some major politicians refuse to say the word God. They don’t want to say it. I say it, that we are endowed with our sacred rights to life, liberty, and not by government, but by God Almighty himself.”
House Republicans sound alarm over CCP-linked fake research threatening US taxpayer-funded science
FIRST ON FOX: House Republicans are sounding the alarm over what they say is a growing threat from China-linked “paper mills” that may be injecting fake scientific research into U.S. government-funded programs, potentially compromising taxpayer-funded science and American scientific leadership. In oversight letters sent this week and obtained by Fox News Digital, House Science, Space, and Technology Committee Chairman Rep. Brian Babin, R-Texas, and subcommittee chair Rep. Rich McCormick, R-Ga., are demanding answers from federal agencies about what safeguards they have in place to prevent falsified or plagiarized studies tied to CCP-backed publishing operations from influencing federal grants and research. The letters warn that fraudulent academic papers, produced by so-called paper mills that manufacture or sell research for profit, are increasingly appearing in U.S. journals and may already be shaping federally funded science, despite originating from operations linked to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). “These operations are becoming major sources of falsified and plagiarized research,” the committee wrote, cautioning that U.S. research grants could be awarded to individuals who rely on compromised studies or collaborate with CCP-affiliated funding sources, undermining the integrity of taxpayer-funded programs. CHINESE SCHOLARS CHARGED WITH SMUGGLING BIOLOGICAL MATERIALS INTO US UNDER RESEARCH COVER In the letters, the committee asks the Department of Energy, Environmental Protection Agency, National Science Foundation, NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to provide information on how agencies vet published studies used in funding decisions, whether they screen for ties to foreign adversaries or paper-mill activity, and what steps are taken when fraudulent research is identified. The committee also requests briefings on how agencies plan to strengthen oversight and protect taxpayer-funded science from compromised or manipulated findings. Fox News Digital has asked the five agencies to provide a response. CHINESE NATIONALS ARRESTED AT TOP SCHOOL SHOWS HOW CCP VIEWS US UNIVERSITIES AS ‘WEAK LINK,’ EXPERTS WARN The committee pointed to a 2006 Alzheimer’s disease study, which helped popularize the so-called “amyloid hypothesis,” and was later revealed to have relied on fabricated data — yet the findings were used for years to justify research priorities and funding decisions at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). According to the committee, NIH continued to fund research based on the faulty hypothesis for roughly 16 years, culminating in the approval of an experimental drug aimed at stabilizing amyloid proteins in the brain — before the underlying research was exposed as fraudulent. Lawmakers warn the case illustrates how fake or manipulated studies can embed themselves into the scientific ecosystem, misdirecting funding, delaying legitimate breakthroughs, and eroding trust in federally supported research. The committee also cites massive retractions by major academic publishers as evidence that fraudulent research tied to paper-mill operations has already flooded Western journals. In one example highlighted in the letters, Wiley, a prominent U.S. academic publisher, retracted more than 8,000 fabricated papers in 2023 alone after uncovering widespread manipulation linked to paper mills. The scandal ultimately forced the collapse of one of Wiley’s journal subsidiaries. Lawmakers say the scale of the retractions underscores how paper mills have been able to exploit peer-review systems and push fake research into respected publications where it can be cited, relied upon, and reused long before problems are detected. US UNIVERSITIES TRAINING CHINESE MILITARY SCIENTISTS ON TAXPAYER DIME, COMMITTEE WARNS Investigations cited by the committee estimate that individual paper mills can generate hundreds of fraudulent studies per year, and that hundreds of thousands of suspect papers worldwide may already be contaminating scientific databases. Analyses of the scientific literature suggest that thousands of fake or suspicious papers have already entered legitimate journals, particularly in fields like biomedical research and engineering, undermining confidence in academic publishing and scientific credibility. In some cases, publishers have been forced to retract thousands of articles linked to suspected paper-mill activity, and entire journals have been shut down after fraud was uncovered. Public trust in science and federal research institutions has already been shaken — a trend exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic — raising concerns that further revelations could deepen skepticism toward taxpayer-funded science. The committee ties much of the paper-mill activity to Chinese Communist Party–linked academic incentives, arguing that China’s centralized “publish or perish” system has fueled demand for fabricated research. According to sources cited in the letters, Chinese researchers face intense pressure to continually publish in order to secure jobs, promotions, and funding — a system that lawmakers say has encouraged widespread abuse, including ghostwriting, data fabrication, and the purchase of authorship slots. The letters cite surveys showing that nearly half of medical residents at some Chinese hospitals admitted to buying or selling papers or hiring ghostwriters, while other investigations found that Chinese institutions have historically offered large cash rewards for publication in elite Western journals. Although Beijing announced reforms aimed at curbing cash-for-publication incentives, the committee argues those efforts have been poorly enforced and riddled with loopholes, allowing paper mills to continue operating at scale.
Trump defends Noem at National Prayer Breakfast, rejects calls to fire DHS secretary: ‘Why would I do that?’
President Donald Trump completely rejected the idea of firing Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem despite mounting criticism over the administration’s immigration enforcement tactics. While addressing the National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday, Trump said that he had been asked about firing Noem during his interview with “NBC Nightly News” anchor Tom Llamas. The president dismissed the notion entirely. “Why would I do that?” Trump said. “We have the strongest border in the history of our country. We have the best crime numbers we’ve ever had going back to the year 1900.” NBC released a transcript of the interview ahead of time, giving a look at the moment Trump was asked whether he still believes in Noem. GRAHAM PUSHES BACK ON TILLIS’ CRITICISM OF NOEM, MILLER FOR LABELING MAN KILLED BY BORDER PATROL A ‘TERRORIST’ “Look, look, she was in charge of the border. The border’s closed. I mean, everybody gives me A+ on the border. The border was a disaster. People were pouring into our country,” Trump said, according to the NBC transcript. When Llamas pressed the president on the issue of enforcement, Trump doubled down on his confidence in his administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration. “They don’t even try and come up now. . . We have very good — you just — you just asked me a — Kristi. We have the best crime numbers that we’ve had in 125 years. I think she’s doing a very good job. Again, public relations. She’s not getting credit for the job that she does,” Trump is quoted as saying in the transcript. REP JEFFRIES ESCALATES RHETORIC AGAINST NOEM, SAYS DHS LEADER SHOULD BE ‘PUT ON ICE PERMANENTLY’ During his speech on Thursday, Trump defended several members of his administration, while taking swipes at former presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama. He called Biden the “world’s worst president” and said Obama was “a terrible divider of our country.” The president joked that his most recent predecessor, Biden, would not take it personally that he called him the “world’s worst president” because “he had no idea he was president.” “He had no idea he was president, so he doesn’t take it personally. I don’t want him to take it personally. Fortunately, he has no idea what the hell I’m saying,” Trump said. Turning his criticisms to Obama, he said that the 44th president was “very bad.” “He was a divider, and — believe it or not — we’re bringing the country together,” Trump told the crowd, adding that the “tremendous success” of his administration was uniting Americans. Trump, who has not shied away from insulting his opponents, has repeatedly made clear his disdain for Obama and Biden, even going so far as to put it in writing on the new White House “Presidential Walk of Fame.” The walk of fame, which was unveiled in September 2025, features photos of presidents along with plaques featuring facts about America’s past leaders. For Biden, rather than using a photo of the 46th president, the Trump administration used a picture of the autopen, a device that was used during his administration to sign important orders, including pardons. Both Biden and Obama’s “Walk of Fame” plaques feature digs at their presidencies. Biden’s plaques include the nicknames Trump gave him, including “Sleepy Joe Biden” and “Crooked.” Meanwhile, Obama’s plaques refer to him as “one of the most divisive political figures in American History.”
House GOP rips ‘insane’ Democrat demand to ‘unmask’ ICE agents as DHS shutdown looms
House Republicans are unsure if Democrats are negotiating in good faith on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), with the chances of a partial shutdown growing larger by the day. Congress has until the end of Feb. 13 to produce a bipartisan plan funding DHS for the remainder of the fiscal year. A DHS funding bill will need at least some Democratic support in the Senate, where bipartisan cooperation is critical to the 60-vote threshold to advance most legislation. But in the House, which governs by a simple majority, Republicans are balking at some of the key demands made by Democratic leaders in exchange for their support. SCHUMER, JEFFRIES MEND RIFT, PRESENT UNITED FRONT ON DHS REFORMS AS DEADLINE NEARS “I’m surprised that they didn’t just say the quiet part out loud, that they want to abolish [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] altogether, which is what some of the members are actually saying,” Republican Study Committee Chairman August Pfluger, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital. “So I think those demands are ridiculous.” He and other conservatives have also said they do not believe Democrats are negotiating for a legitimate compromise — a lack of trust that puts any potential deal on shaky ground with only nine days until a possible DHS shutdown. “We had four years of anything but good faith, and they really put our country into a really bad situation,” Pfluger said. DEMS’ DHS SHUTDOWN THREAT WOULD HIT FEMA, TSA WHILE IMMIGRATION FUNDING REMAINS INTACT Rep. Riley Moore, R-W.Va., a member of the House Appropriations Committee, said he had similar concerns about trust when engaging with Democrats on the topic. And Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., said, “I think it’s kind of hard to negotiate with legislative terrorists.” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., rolled out a list of four key asks for the White House during a press conference on Wednesday — a ban on ICE agents wearing masks, mandatory body cameras for federal officers, requiring judicial warrants for arrests, and a ban on deporting and detaining U.S. citizens. SHUTDOWN AVERTED FOR NOW, BUT SENATE WARNS DHS FIGHT COULD TRIGGER ANOTHER IN DAYS While there is considerable bipartisan agreement on body-worn cameras, demands like forcing ICE agents to remove masks and getting judicial warrants have been largely criticized by Republicans. “The ban on masks is insane. No, that’s a non-starter. This idea of this ban on deporting U.S. citizens thing, is a ruse. They’re trying to get us to admit this is happening in some type of systematic manner or something like that. Americans are getting deported out of the country, so that’s fake,” Moore said. “This is all political, and it’s all messaging on their part.” Rep. Beth Van Duyne, R-Texas, whose state was on the front lines of the recent border crisis, told Fox News Digital, “Let law enforcement do their job. They wouldn’t need to wear a mask if they weren’t getting doxxed.” NEW DEM PROPOSAL WOULD RESTRICT ICE’S KEY TOOL TO DETAIN CRIMINAL ILLEGAL ALIENS Moore pointed out that another ask on that list, mandatory body-worn cameras for ICE agents, was part of an initial DHS funding compromise that Democrats walked away from in droves. “That was in the bill that they don’t wanna pass — the homeland bill that we had negotiated, that was in the bill. So if they want body cams so bad, vote for the bill,” he said. Other Republicans, like Reps. Tom Barrett, R-Mich., and Troy Downing, R-Mont., said they were not as familiar with Democrats’ demands but were more hopeful about possibly striking a deal with the other side. “I would hope that they are [negotiating in good faith], but I’ll withhold judgment until we see a little bit more of how that goes,” Barrett said. Downing noted, however, that Democrats did not always agree with each other, either. Jeffries notably voted against the bipartisan compromise that Schumer struck with President Donald Trump last week to reopen the federal government after the left rejected the initial deal. “It sounds like they’re not always speaking amongst themselves, so I don’t even know how to categorize good faith, because it seems like they don’t have good faith amongst the two chambers there,” Downing said. Democrats, meanwhile, have accused Trump of empowering ICE to abuse the law in Minneapolis, where federal agents’ killing of two U.S. citizens during demonstrations against Trump’s immigration crackdown has led to sky-high tensions. Since the press conference, they’ve also released a list of six additional demands before they agree to a full DHS funding deal. “Federal immigration agents cannot continue to cause chaos in our cities while using taxpayer money that should be used to make life more affordable for working families. The American people rightfully expect their elected representatives to take action to rein in ICE and ensure no more lives are lost,” Jeffries and Schumer wrote in a letter accompanying those demands.
Watchdog releases scathing report on Tlaib’s alleged ties to terrorist groups, warning of ‘potential risks’
FIRST ON FOX: A comprehensive new briefing document from a prominent nonpartisan research and policy group is sounding the alarm on “serious ethical and national security concerns” related to Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib and her affiliations with individuals and organizations linked to designated foreign terrorist entities. “The conduct of Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, including her rhetoric, affiliations, campaign infrastructure, and ideological alignment with certain individuals and organizations, raises serious concerns about potential risks to the ethical and institutional integrity of the United States government,” the report, released by the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy’s advocacy and policy-oriented arm, states. The report details a “recurring pattern” of behavior that it says suggests an ideological affinity for radical movements, ranging from participation in conferences featuring convicted terrorists to significant campaign payments made to activists linked to Hamas and Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-aligned networks. The briefing covers Tlaib’s financial history and says her campaign apparatus poured large sums of cash to anti-Israel activists, including almost $600,000 between 2020 and 2025 to Unbought Power, a consulting firm headed by Rasha Mubarak. MEET THE RADICAL ANTI-ISRAEL ACTIVISTS JOINING ‘SQUAD’ DEM TLAIB AT DETROIT CONFAB Mubarak has faced scrutiny for her past affiliations with the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), an unindicted co-conspirator in the 2009 Holy Land Foundation terror-financing trial, and the Alliance for Global Justice (AFGJ), which has been investigated for ties to the PFLP-linked group Samidoun. Tlaib, according to the briefing, has shared the stage with a variety of questionable figures highlighted by a conference alongside Wisam Rafeedie, a convicted PFLP operative, who defended the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack as “resistance.” “Through public endorsement, co-sponsorship, and amplification, Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib has consistently engaged with a range of organizations known to maintain operational or ideological ties to terrorist networks,” the briefing states. “Tlaib has engaged with and disseminated the messaging of these groups and has shared related content on social media platforms, has participated in events organized by these groups, and has referenced their terminology and conceptual frameworks in official congressional communications.” FORMER BIDEN AIDE ACCUSES ‘SQUAD’ REP. TLAIB OF ABANDONING CONSTITUENTS FOR ‘ACTIVIST’ AGENDA Tlaib is no stranger to being accused of promoting hostile foreign actors, and the House of Representatives has already taken formal action against the Michigan Democrat twice. She was first censured in November 2023 for promoting alleged false narratives regarding the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks. A second resolution was introduced in September 2025 following her appearance at the “People’s Conference for Palestine,” where speakers allegedly “whitewashed” convicted Hamas financiers. Tlaib’s language made another appearance in the briefing as ISGAP Action described antisemitic “tropes” used by the Michigan congresswoman on multiple occasions. The report cites an August 2021 event where Tlaib referenced “people behind the curtain” making money off “racism” from “Gaza to Detroit.” The briefing goes further than issuing warnings about Tlaib’s record and calls on government agencies to take specific action. The briefing calls for a formal congressional inquiry into Tlaib’s conduct that specifically reviews her public statements that allegedly align with terrorist organizations, her attendance at events honoring convicted terrorists and a thorough review of her campaign fundraising sources. Additionally, the briefing asks the Department of Justice’s National Security Division to conduct a legal review to determine if Tlaib or her affiliates have violated 18 U.S. Code §2339B, which prohibits providing material support to foreign terrorist organizations. The Federal Election Commission, according to the briefing, should perform a forensic audit of Tlaib’s campaign finances focusing on donations from individuals tied to terror networks. “Tlaib’s conduct demonstrates how extremist ideologies can infiltrate mainstream democratic institutions,” the report concludes. “If left unchecked, her actions will continue to legitimize hate.” Last year, Tlaib’s name came up in another ISGAP Action report that highlighted what it called a multi-generational campaign by the Muslim Brotherhood to “transform Western society from within” and covertly infiltrate the United States. “The election and re-election of congresswomen such as Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), who have openly defended positions aligned with Brotherhood perspectives on Israel, counterterrorism, and international relations, demonstrates the intersection of identity politics and Brotherhood narratives,” the report stated. “While neither congresswoman has a documented formal affiliation with the Muslim Brotherhood, both have appeared at events organized by Brotherhood-aligned organizations, have received campaign support from Brotherhood-aligned donors, and have consistently advocated positions aligned with Brotherhood objectives.” Fox News Digital reached out to Tlaib’s office for comment.
Lawmakers escalate Epstein probe with possible Bill Gates subpoena
Bipartisan lawmakers are voicing support for Rep. Nancy Mace’s, R-S.C., push to subpoena Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates over what she called “sick” allegations tied to Jeffrey Epstein — accusations his ex-wife, Melinda Gates, said he must answer for. Those calls come as lawmakers wrestle with what Congress can do to responsibly work through the 3.5 million newly disclosed Epstein files. “I did write a letter to [Chairman James Comer, R-Ky.] today requesting that we subpoena Bill Gates,” Mace told Fox News Digital on Wednesday. “Epstein was sending emails about how he had contracted an STD, may have been involved with various women, allegedly — all allegedly. I’m not saying he did anything, but I’d like to bring him in,” she said. GHISLAINE MAXWELL TO TESTIFY BEFORE HOUSE COMMITTEE INVESTIGATING HANDLING OF EPSTEIN CASE Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., the top Democrat on the committee, said he supported the idea and hinted the committee’s work could go further. “I’ve had conversations with Chairman Comer today on some additional folks we want to talk to, and so I think there’ll be some announcements pretty soon on that,” Garcia said, declining to elaborate further. Mace’s calls for bringing in Gates for questioning come as the DOJ released a new tranche of files in compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act last week. Since then, lawmakers have struggled to make sense of the deluge of images, messages, documents and files. Questions remain about how Congress can manage its focus to bring about accountability for the names that prompt the most questions. Mace said she was left wanting answers about Gates from recent interviews about his personal life. “I watched Melinda Gates’ interview last night. I’m deeply disturbed. I want to bring Bill Gates in and question him about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein,” Mace said, referring to an interview Bill Gates’ ex-wife did with NPR. Melinda Gates was married to Bill for 27 years before the couple parted ways in 2021. The files imply that Epstein may have helped Gates conceal sensitive information from his wife during their marriage. In an email that Epstein sent to himself, Epstein claimed Bill Gates had asked for help slipping antibiotics to Melinda in connection to a sexually transmitted disease (STD) he had contracted. Epstein claimed Gates had also asked him to delete messages about that STD. Bill Gates has denied any misconduct. His foundation did not respond to a request for comment about Mace’s subpoena demands. ‘AWAY FROM ALL THE MUCK’: MELINDA FRENCH GATES SAYS EX-HUSBAND MUST ANSWER FOR EPSTEIN FILE ALLEGATIONS Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., another member of the Oversight Committee, said he supports Mace’s calls for Gates to testify. But with millions of documents and thousands of names in the mix, he also believes Congress should use some sort of process for who the committee decides to call in — and who it doesn’t. He doesn’t have a clear-cut test that lawmakers can use to make those calls, but pointed out that some names are riper for scrutiny than others. He thinks former President Bill Clinton is one of them. “I think that’s why the first step in our committee is with the former president,” Donalds said, referring to a scheduled deposition for Clinton later this month. Lawmakers have demanded testimony from Bill Clinton and his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, after new pictures placing Bill Clinton repeatedly with Epstein surfaced in the DOJ’s disclosures. None of the files implicate wrongdoing on their own, but Donalds believes they should prompt some level of congressional response, given Bill Clinton’s status. “Bill Clinton was the president. [Epstein] was visiting his house, the president was on his plane,” Donalds said. “It’s different from somebody in the private sector. They don’t have access or influence over agencies the way a former president does.” Hillary Clinton is scheduled to testify before the committee on Feb. 26, and Bill Clinton is scheduled to appear on Feb. 27. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., believes there is some sort of process behind the scenes that the committee uses to determine who it may want to interview. “With a number of witnesses, both Republicans and Democrats — they have a certain procedure that was agreed to,” Krishnamoorthi said. He did not expand on what that process looks like. When asked about the Oversight Committee’s work, Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., said he’s not opposed to bringing in witnesses one by one if it means going beyond the work that’s already been done. “You know, I look at Comer, who’s subpoenaing the Clintons, but nobody else. But look, we’re looking for the truth. I’m on the Rules Committee, I tried nine times to get them to vote to release the files,” McGovern said, referring to the committee that safeguards what bills reach the House floor. “I’m for full transparency. Anybody who’s involved should be questioned,” he said. Comer did not respond to a request for comment on whether he would support calls from Mace or when the committee might send out additional subpoenas in connection to Epstein.
Trump jokes why he can’t sleep on planes, sparking laughter during National Prayer Breakfast
President Donald Trump quipped during his speech at the National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday, “I don’t sleep on planes. I don’t like sleeping on planes. You know. I like looking out the window, watching for missiles and enemies, actually,” Trump said on Thursday, drawing laughter from the crowd. Trump joined the National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday morning, which pulls together bipartisan lawmakers, business leaders and foreign dignitaries to reflect on faith and prayer for the nation. It was the sixth time Trump has attended the event since his first administration in 2017. The president has long been known to avoid sleeping while flying on Air Force One. His quip about looking for missiles came as he recounted first meeting Daniel “Raizin” Caine, who now serves as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, about defeating ISIS during his first term. TRUMP RETURNS TO NATIONAL PRAYER BREAKFAST AS FAITH TAKES CENTER STAGE IN SECOND TERM Caine told Trump that an area had been prepared for him to nap during the 20-hour journey, which Trump refused so the pair could discuss strategies to wipe out ISIS. “I said, ‘What’s your first name?’ ‘Raizin, sir. They call me Raizin.’ And I say, ‘what the hell kind of a name is that? Right?’” Trump joked. HEGSETH SAYS DEPARTMENT OF WAR ‘WILL BE PREPARED TO DELIVER’ WHATEVER TRUMP WANTS FOLLOWING IRAN WARNING “He’s brutal. Just ask Venezuela. Ask Iran. They’re negotiating now. They don’t want to. They don’t want us to hit them. You know, we have a big fleet going over to Iran. But so Razin was there at the bottom of the plane,” he said. Trump continued his speech by taking a victory lap for the strength of the U.S. military under his second term, including capturing Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and striking Iran’s nuclear facilities. “Two years ago, you couldn’t get anybody to go into the military. They laughed at you and they said they didn’t respect our country. They didn’t respect our president. They thought he was a joke. They thought our country was a joke,” Trump said. “Other countries laughed at us and took advantage of us with tariffs. And we weren’t allowed to charge, and they were allowed to charge. But we are allowed to charge, and I hope we get that Supreme Court decision, because we have taken in hundreds of billions of dollars of money.” AIR FORCE ONE GLITCH REVIVES REPLACEMENT PUSH AS WHITE HOUSE SAYS IT ‘PROVES TRUMP WAS RIGHT AGAIN’ Trump also reflected on his faith and administration’s mission to protect religious liberty. “They declared that all of us are made free and equal by the hand of our Creator,” Trump said of the Founding Fathers in 1776. “A lot of presidents refuse to say that. They refuse to say that. . . . Some refuse. Some major politicians refuse to say the word ‘God.’ They don’t want to say it. I say it, that we are endowed with our sacred rights to life, liberty, and not by government, but by God Almighty himself.”