White House continues to say new release of Epstein emails is a distraction and ‘hoax’
White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, has said that the latest release of emails from Jeffrey Epstein are part of “another Democrat + Mainstream Media hoax, fueled by fake outrage, to distract from the President’s wins”.
In a post on X, she added that “if not for the Jeffrey Epstein story, CNN would be forced to talk about how Chuck Schumer and the Democrats got shellacked by President Trump and Republicans in the government shutdown fight.”
Key events
Oliver Holmes
After House Democrats on the oversight committee released three emails that seemed to suggest that Donald Trump was aware of Jeffrey Epstein’s conduct, Republican representatives followed up by releasing a much bigger cache of files.
Epstein, who died by suicide in federal prison in 2019, had a sour opinion of Trump in the years before his death.
“I have met some very bad people,” Epstein wrote in a 2017 email. “None as bad as Trump. Not one decent cell in his body.”
In other messages, Epstein described Trump as a “maniac” showing signs of “early dementia”.
My colleague Joseph Gedeon has put together this timeline of all the critical moments from the longest ever government shutdown, which over the last 43 days has caused turmoil for thousands of federal workers, a bitter battle over food benefits for the poorest Americans, thousands of cancelled flights, and a rare Democratic stand against Trump’s second-term agenda that progressives had been demanding since the election.
Top officials present Trump with potential military options for Venezuela – report
Senior military officials yesterday presented Donald Trump with updated options for potential operations in Venezuela, including strikes on land, CBS News is reporting, citing multiple sources familiar with the meetings at the White House.
Defense secretary Pete Hegseth, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff Dan Caine and other senior officials, including from the US intelligence community, briefed the president on potential military options for the coming days, and no final decision has been made, according to CBS’s sources.
Earlier this week, the US deployed the world’s largest warship, the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R Ford, to the waters of the Caribbean and Latin America. The escalation of what is already the largest US military presence in the region since the 1989 invasion of Panama has led some to believe the risk of a US attack on Venezuela is growing.
In response, Venezuela’s dictator, Nicolás Maduro, announced what a “massive deployment” of land, sea, air, river and missile forces, as well as civilian militia, to counter the US naval presence off his country’s coast.
In the last two months, the US military has conducted strikes on at least 21 vessels allegedly ferrying drugs from South America to the United States, killing almost 80 people. As my colleague Tiago Rogero notes, so far there is no data to support the US’s claim. It is not even known how much or what kind of drugs were being carried on each boat targeted, or whether they were carrying drugs at all, as the US has released no evidence or details about the vessels or their occupants. The UN has described the killings as extrajudicial executions.
You can read Tiago’s latest piece on the situation here:
Robert Tait
As we’ve been reporting, Donald Trump is facing the prospect of a politically damaging congressional vote on releasing the Jeffery Epstein filesafter attempts to press two female members of Congress to withdraw their backing for it appeared to have failed.
The reported refusal of Lauren Boebert, a Republican representative from Colorado, and Nancy Mace, from South Carolina, to remove their names from a discharge petition to force a vote leaves Trump exposed on an issue that carries the possibility of turning parts of his Maga base against him.
Boebert reportedly stood firm on supporting the petition after being invited by Trump to the White House in an effort to persuade her to withdraw her signature, according to the New York Times.
The outlet reported that the meeting happened hours after Democrats on the House of Representatives’ oversight committee released a trove of emails from the files that suggested that Trump may have known more about Epstein’s underage sex-trafficking activities than he previously acknowledged.
The NYT reported that the White House sought to persuade Boebert to change her mind – enlisting Pam Bondi, the attorney general, and the FBI director, Kash Patel – before issuing “vague threats” when that did not work.
The paper, citing people “familiar with her thinking”, reported that the hardline approach had the counterproductive effect of persuading Boebert that there may be a conspiracy to conceal the contents of the files and caused her to dig in.
Trump was reported to have unsuccessfully tried to contact Mace, who is running for governor of South Carolina, by phone. She subsequently wrote him a letter explaining her history of sexual abuse and rape, and explaining that she could not change her mind on the petition.
She later wrote in a social media post that “the Epstein petition is deeply personal.”
Two other Republican representatives, the formerly fiercely-reliable Trump loyalist and Georgia representative, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Thomas Massie of Kentucky, have signed the petition.
White House economic adviser says shutdown cost ‘$15bn a week’
The director of the national economic council, Kevin Hassett, told reporters outside the White House today the government shutdown, which lasted almost 43 days, “cost about $15bn per week”.
Hassett added that the Council of Economic Advisers – a separate body – estimates that 60,000 non-federal workers lost their jobs because of the economic impact of the shutdown.
Kevin Hassett speaks with reporters at the White House, 13 November 2025. Photograph: Evan Vucci/AP
Republican Nancy Mace comes to Trump’s defense while committing to discharge petition
Congresswoman Nancy Mace, a Republican representative from South Carolina, explained why she signed the discharge petition to compel a vote on the House floor to release the full trove of justice department records on Jeffrey Epstein.
“The Epstein petition is deeply personal,” Mace said, going on to chronicle the several instances of abuse and domestic violence she had endured over the years. A reminder that Mace accused four men – including her former fiance – of rape, physical abuse and sexual misconduct during a nearly hourlong speech earlier this year on the House floor.
The lawmaker, who has become a staunch ally of the president in recent years, also came to his defense, as he faces questions about his knowledge of Epstein’s conduct following the release of the latest batch of emails by the House oversight committee. “As a survivor I will defend every last attack on President Trump to the death, everywhere … And all this fake news, well, it’s just noise. I will NEVER abandon other survivors,” she added. Mace is one of four Republicans who signed the discharge petition – joining Thomas Massie,Lauren Boebert and Marjorie Taylor Greene.
White House continues to say new release of Epstein emails is a distraction and ‘hoax’
White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, has said that the latest release of emails from Jeffrey Epstein are part of “another Democrat + Mainstream Media hoax, fueled by fake outrage, to distract from the President’s wins”.
In a post on X, she added that “if not for the Jeffrey Epstein story, CNN would be forced to talk about how Chuck Schumer and the Democrats got shellacked by President Trump and Republicans in the government shutdown fight.”
Newly released Jeffrey Epstein emails have cast further doubt on Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s account of when he cut ties with the child sex offender and his denials about meeting his accuser Virginia Giuffre.
In March 2011, four months after he later claimed to have ended his relationship with Epstein, the former prince told him and the convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell: “I can’t take any more of this,” in response to allegations put to him by the Mail on Sunday.
Another email from Epstein in 2011 appears to confirm the veracity of a photograph of the then Prince Andrew holding a then 17-year-old Giuffre by the waist in 2001.
In the email Epstein said: “Yes, she was on my plane and yes, she had her photo taken with Andrew, as many of my employees have.”
Mountbatten-Windsor, who denies any wrongdoing, suggested in a 2019 BBC Newsnight interview that the photograph may have been doctored and that he had “absolutely no memory” of it being taken.
The latest emails were among thousands of documents from Epstein’s estate published by the US House oversight committee on Wednesday.
One email shows Mountbatten-Windsor asking Epstein how he planned to respond to the Mail on Sunday’s inquiry. Epstein said: “Im [sic] not sure how to respond, the only person she didn’t have sex with was Elvis.”
The former prince appeared to take up the issue with Maxwell in a separate chain, saying: “Hey there! What’s all this? I don’t know anything about this! You must SAY so please. This has NOTHING to do with me. I can’t take any more of this.”
Another email from Mountbatten-Windsor about the press query said: “Please make sure that every statement or legal letter states clearly that I am NOT involved and that I knew and know NOTHING about any of these allegations.”
It’s worth highlighting that under the discharge petition’s rules, the vote normally requires a seven-day waiting period after it receives the necessary 218 signatures to force a vote on the House floor. In this case, House speaker Mike Johnson is working expeditiously to get it before members before Thanksgiving recess.
Yesterday, we reported on press secretary Karoline Leavitt appearing to confirm CNN reporting that senior Trump officials meeting with Republican congresswoman Lauren Boebert, one of the few Republicans in the House to sign the discharge petition that has forced a floor vote on the full release of the Epstein files.
“That’s a defining factor of transparency,” Leavitt said. “Having discussions with members of Congress about various issues. I’m not going to detail conversations that took place in the Situation Room, in the press briefing room.”
Boebert later took to social media to thank the administration for meeting with her. “Together, we remain committed to ensuring transparency for the American people,” the Colorado lawmaker wrote. CNN also reported that Boebert told the outlet that Trump did not pressure her to take her name off of the discharge petition, and that while Epstein came up, other topics were also covered.
As Mike Johnson moves to schedule a vote on the House floor to release the full tranche of Epstein files, Democratic congressman Ro Khanna and Republican Thomas Massie, who co-led the discharge petition, will hold a press conference on Capitol Hill on Tuesday.
They’ll be joined by Epstein survivors who are set to discuss why releasing the records is so important. Also speaking, congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Maga firebrand who has notably broken from her party on the issue, seemingly defying Donald Trump’s claims that the continued focus on Epstein is a “hoax”.
Lawyers for Trump’s political enemies to argue that US attorney prosecuting them was unlawfully installed
As we posted earlier, we’ll be keeping an ear on arguments at a federal court in Virginia today. Lawyers for former FBI director James Comey and New York attorney general Letitia James – two of Donald Trump’s most prominent political adversaries facing indictments – will appear before a judge to make the case that the interim US attorney prosecuting their clients, Lindsey Halligan, was unlawfully appointed to her role.
A reminder that Halligan was installed in her position after Trump put pressure on her predecessor, Erik Siebert, to resign, after he told the justice department that there wasn’t sufficient evidence to charge Trump’s foes. Attorneys for Comey and James will argue that Halligan’s appointment violates a federal law they said limits the appointment of an interim US attorney to one 120-day stint.
If is deemed to be unlawfully appointed, then the charges against Comey and James could be invalidated since Halligan was the only federal prosecutor to present evidence to the grand juries in both matters.
Thursday’s arguments are before Cameron Currie, a South Carolina-based federal judge appointed by former Democratic president Bill Clinton, who was assigned to decide the issue given the role federal judges in Virginia played in Siebert’s appointment. A decision is not expected on Thursday.
Grijalva says her swearing-in ‘highlighted the corruption’ of Trump administration
Shortly after being sworn-in as an official member of congress, representative Adelita Grijalva spoke to MSNBC about her decision to vocally commit to signing the discharge petition that forces a vote on the House floor to compel the justice department to release all files on Jeffrey Epstein.
“I think it’s so much about what is going on with this administration, and the obstruction of me getting sworn in has highlighted the corruption, has highlighted the cover-ups have highlighted the cracks and what we need to do as American people, as elected people in these positions, Grijalva said. “What people want to see me doing, specifically, and really Democrats in general, is fight for us. Don’t just fight. Don’t just throw mud for nothing. Stand up and do something for working people.”
Donald Trump is in Washington today, per his official schedule. He doesn’t have any public events until 2pm ET, when he’ll sign an executive order in the East Room. On Wednesday, press secretary Karoline Leavitt noted that this would be related to helping “young people transitioning from foster care to adulthood”. The president will be joined by the first lady, Melania Trump, for the signing.
Adam Gabbatt
The New York City mayoral election may be remembered for the remarkable win of a young democratic socialist, but it was also marked by something that is likely to permeate future elections: the use of AI-generated campaign videos.
Andrew Cuomo, who lost to Zohran Mamdani in last week’s election, took particular interest in sharing deepfake videos of his opponent, including one that saw the former governor accused of racism, in what is a developing area of electioneering.
AI has been used by campaigns before, particularly in using algorithms to target certain voters, and even, in some cases, to write policy proposals. But as AI software develops, it is increasingly being used to produce sometimes misleading photos and videos.
Read how the use of AI-generated campaign videos – labeled or unlabeled – are likely to permeate future US elections:
Compared to earlier in the year, a new Reuters/Ipsos poll has shown a little less self-doubt among Democrat voters.
The latest poll showed 39% of Democratic voters said they agreed with a statement that the party “has lost its way,” compared to 49% in an August poll. Among Republicans, 22% said their party has lost its way, little changed from 19% in August.
The poll found that Democrats viewed New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist, just as favorably as they viewed Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom, at 67% compared to 65%, respectively.
The latest Reuters/Ipsos poll surveyed 1,200 US adults nationwide online.
The dollar eased on Thursday after US President Donald Trump signed a deal to end the government shutdown, while the yen hit a record low against the euro after Japan’s new prime minister said she wanted the central bank to go slow on rate hikes.
The pound briefly touched a session low, before recovering, after a report showed the UK economy barely grew in the third quarter of the year.
The Australian dollar, meanwhile, hit a two-week high thanks to official data that showed a steeper drop in the unemployment rate from a recent four-year high, reducing the possibility of further rate cuts.
Federal workers told to return to office after shutdown ends; travel issues also set to improve
Several federal agencies, including the Justice Department and the Department of Health and Human Services, told their staff to return to the office on Thursday after Trump signed the spending bill, according to US media.
Travel delays looked set to improve but not disappear with almost 1,000 flights cancelled on Thursday, according to tracking website FlightAware. Authorities said air traffic controller shortages were easing and the transportation secretary on Wednesday released a fresh order for six percent of flights to be frozen – lower than the eight to 10 percent expected under the previous emergency directive.
The deal also restores federal workers fired by Trump during the shutdown, while air travel that has been disrupted across the country will gradually return to normal.
Travelers wait for their flights amid nationwide cancellations and delays at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, USA, 07 November 2025. Photograph: Shawn Thew/EPA
Stock markets wavered on Thursday after President Donald Trump signed the spending bill to end a record-long US government shutdown.
Paris rose and Frankfurt fell in European midday deals. London dropped after data showed the UK economy slowed in the third quarter, dealing another blow to the Labour government ahead of its annual budget this month.
Shares in luxury fashion label Burberry jumped around five percent on London’s top-tier FTSE 100 index after the British group narrowed first half losses thanks to sizeable cost-cutting.
In Asia, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Seoul, Singapore, Mumbai, Manila, Bangkok and Jakarta all rose. Sydney, Wellington and Taipei fell.
Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor: “The ending of the US government shutdown has sparked risk-on sentiment with US futures pointing to a higher open.”
