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What to cognize astir the Bondi proceeding today:
- Attorney General Pam Bondi is acceptable to attest earlier the House Judiciary Committee connected Wednesday arsenic the Justice Department continues to look questions astir its handling of the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files.
- The section has published millions of pages of documents related to Epstein, a convicted enactment offender who died successful national custody successful 2019. But extended redactions and the delayed quality of the merchandise person fueled allegations that the section has failed to fulfill its obligations nether the caller instrumentality that required the disclosures.
- The lawyer wide is besides apt to look questions astir investigations by the Justice Department and FBI into the shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good by national migration officers successful Minnesota past month.
- Other issues Bondi could beryllium pressed by lawmakers connected see the ineligible justifications for President Trump's actions successful Venezuela, probes into fraud successful federally backed public-assistance programs and the FBI's seizure of 2020 predetermination worldly from a installation successful Fulton County, Georgia.
- The proceeding is acceptable to statesman astatine 10 a.m. and volition beryllium live-streamed successful the video subordinate astatine the apical of this page.
Bondi's quality comes aft FBI's hunt of Fulton County predetermination facility
The lawyer wide volition attest aft the FBI executed a hunt warrant at an elections bureau successful Fulton County, Georgia, that sought material related to the 2020 statesmanlike predetermination successful Georgia, including carnal ballots.
Deputy FBI Director Andrew Bailey and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard were astatine the tract of the search, and Gabbard's engagement has raised concerns from Democrats. A spokesperson for Gabbard said Mr. Trump and Bondi asked Gabbard to beryllium contiguous for the search.
A FBI affidavit filed with a U.S. magistrate justice to warrant the warrant to hunt the Fulton County elections bureau revealed that the transgression investigation originated from a referral sent by Kurt Olsen, who works successful the White House. Olsen, a lawyer, worked to overturn the results of the 2020 statesmanlike election.
Olsen spoke aggregate times with Mr. Trump connected Jan. 6, 2021, erstwhile Congress met to reaffirm President Biden's triumph successful the 2020 race, according to a House prime committee that investigated the battle connected the U.S. Capitol.
Mr. Trump has repeatedly claimed without grounds that the 2020 predetermination was "rigged" and called for prosecutions stemming from that election.
The Justice Department has taken respective actions focused connected elections since Mr. Trump returned to the White House. Last year, it began seeking implicit elector registration lists from astir each 50 states, which includes commencement dates, addresses and partial Social Security numbers.
At slightest 11 states person turned implicit the elector rolls oregon said they program to. The Justice Department has filed lawsuits against 24 states and Washington, D.C., for refusing to manus implicit their elector registration lists. Suits against California, Oregon and Michigan person since been dismissed.
Democrats apt to property Bondi connected investigations into fatal shootings by migration agents
The FBI, which is simply a constituent of the Justice Department, is leading the national investigation into the Jan. 24 fatal shooting of 37-year-old Alex Pretti by national instrumentality enforcement offices successful Minneapolis. Blanche, the lawman lawyer general, besides said earlier this period that lawyers from the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division would beryllium participating successful the investigation.
Top Democrats connected the Judiciary sheet asked Bondi past period to crook implicit records related to Pretti's killing. They besides sought documents astir the Justice Department's determination to forgo an probe into migration agents for civilian rights violations related to the fatal shooting of Good connected Jan. 7.
Lawmakers person criticized Justice Department implicit merchandise of Epstein files
Members of Congress from some sides of the aisle and survivors of Epstein's crimes person criticized the Justice Department for the scope of redactions successful the millions of pages of documents made nationalist successful the past fewer weeks and the clip it took to merchandise the material.
The Epstein Files Transparency Act required the Justice Department to people its Epstein-related records by Dec. 19. While immoderate of the files were released by the deadline acceptable by the law, further tranches of documents were disclosed aft Dec. 19.
The Justice Department released an further 3 cardinal pages of files astatine the extremity of January and said it had fulfilled its obligations nether the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
But survivors said that the Justice Department failed to redact the identities of astatine slightest 31 radical who were victimized arsenic children.
Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche told national judges past week that it was moving to identify, reappraisal and redact imaginable victim-identifying information.
But Reps. Thomas Massie, a Republican from Kentucky, and Ro Khanna, a Democrat from California, besides said the Justice Department improperly redacted the names and emails of others who had ties to Epstein, including the names of six men who could beryllium incriminated by their inclusion successful the files.
Massie and Khanna co-sponsored the Epstein Files Transparency Act. They went to the Justice Department connected Monday to presumption unredacted versions of the documents.
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