SETTING PRECEDENT: House Democrats are eyeing precedent being set Friday when former President Clinton testifies in the Oversight and Government Reform Committee's investigation into Jeffrey Epstein.
While it's unclear how much Clinton will have to say about the investigation itself, Democrats have not hidden the fact they believe receiving testimony from a former president will help pave the path to eventually bring Trump before Congress, especially under a future Democratic House majority.
Democrats aren't wasting any time in making the argument.
"This committee has now set a new precedent about talking to presidents and former presidents," Rep. Robert Garcia (Calif.), the top Democrat on the Oversight panel, told reporters Thursday. "We're demanding immediately that we ask President Trump to testify in front of our committee and be deposed in front of Oversight Republicans and Democrats."
Trump was subpoenaed in the investigation of the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, but the subpoena was later withdrawn. Democrats, many of whom supported requiring Clinton to testify, hope Friday's testimony will help compel Trump to testify in future investigations whenever Democrats retake the House and get subpoena power again.
A former president testifying before Congress is not entirely unprecedented, but is extremely rare. The last president to do so was Gerald Ford, who appeared for the noncontroversial topic of celebrating the bicentennial of the Constitution in the 1980s.
Clinton's agreement to sit for a deposition came after an extensive back-and-forth that he and his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, had with committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.).
Although the Clintons said they didn't have any additional information to share relevant to the panel's investigation, Comer and the committee went forward with a threat to hold them in contempt to compel their testimony.
After it became clear that the full House was likely to pass the contempt resolutions, the Clintons reversed course and agreed.
Though Bill Clinton's name has appeared in some documents from the Epstein files, he hasn't been accused of any wrongdoing.
Hillary Clinton said during her testimony before the committee Thursday that she had no information to share about the criminal activities of Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell and doesn't remember ever meeting Epstein.
Meanwhile, Republican senators are pressuring the Department of Justice (DOJ) to release all the files related to Epstein following multiple reports that some documents have remained concealed, The Hill's Alexander Bolton reports. This is despite top DOJ leaders saying last month that they released all documents required under the law.
The documents seemingly include FBI interviews with a woman who accused Trump of sexually assaulting her decades ago.
▪ The Hill: The new Epstein files controversy, explained.
▪ The Hill: Comer says Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick may be called to testify.
▪ The New York Times: World Economic Forum head steps down over Epstein ties.
▪ The New York Times: Cooperating witnesses exposed in Epstein files.
ANOTHER DRONE SHOT DOWN: The U.S. military has shot down a Customs and Border Protection drone with a laser in Texas, causing the closure of airspace near the U.S.-Mexico border.
This is second such incident involving a laser fired in Texas that prompted the closure of nearby airspace after an instance earlier this month in which the air traffic from the El Paso airport was briefly shut down for a few hours.
PROGRESS MADE? Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi said U.S. and Iranian officials made "significant progress" in their talks to avoid a military conflict and reach a deal on Iran's nuclear program.
The officials met Thursday for the most recent round of discussions in Geneva, Switzerland, as the Trump administration considers the possibility of a strike on Iran if diplomacy fails. Oman has served as a mediator in the talks.
Al-Busaidi said both sides will consult with their respective capitals, but technical discussions are expected to continue next week in Vienna. Trump has said he would prefer a diplomatic solution while refusing to take the possibility of a military strike off the table.
House Democrats will force a vote next week to curb Trump's authority to attack Iran without congressional authorization. But the resolution is expected to fail in the face of widespread opposition from most Republicans and a handful of Democrats.
▪ The Hill: Senate GOP leader says any strike on Iran should cause regime change.
WALTZ ON: A federal judge declined to pause the president's construction of a ballroom in the East Wing of the White House, ruling against preservationists who sued to block it, at least for now.
U.S. District Judge Richard Leon ruled against the National Trust for Historic Preservation on the grounds that it didn't properly challenge the $400 million project, but he said he would reevaluate if the organization amended its complaint.
The trust and the government originally focused on Trump's authority to tear down the East Wing and construct a new one, but Leon ruled the preservationists failed to bring the proper claim to test Trump's authority to proceed without congressional approval.
"To be fair, the President's source of legal authority to construct the ballroom was not apparent before the National Trust brought its motion," Leon wrote.
Trump praised the ruling in a post on Truth Social, calling it "great news" for the country and White House.
▪ The Hill: Admin asks court to end temporary protections for Syrians.
MORTGAGE RATE DROP: Mortgage rates fell below 6 percent for the first time in more than three years, giving homebuyers a key opening.
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.98 percent on Thursday, a drop of 0.03 points from last week, according to Freddie Mac. The development comes as inflation also fell to 2.4 percent last month, slightly lower than economists were expecting.
Trump touted falling mortgage rates in his State of the Union address Tuesday.
Housing sales remained at a 30-year low last year, continuing a steady annual decline dating back to 2022.
▪ The New York Times: Housing market tilting back toward buyers.
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