The House Oversight Committee today voted to subpoena Ghislaine Maxwell for a deposition, a motion introduced by Representative Tim Burchett and supported by Committee Chair James Comer and other Republicans, as well as Democrats on the panel. This development comes amid ongoing discussions within the House Republican Conference regarding the handling of information related to the Epstein case, with Speaker Mike Johnson indicating efforts to “expedite” the release of information. President Donald Trump, in response to a question regarding a criminal referral from Tulsi Gabbard, stated that the Department of Justice should target "President Obama" and "Biden," claiming Obama was the "leader of the gang" and guilty of "treason." Separately, the White House announced a new rule to cancel the Biden administration's paper straw mandate and unveiled a plan to promote U.S. artificial intelligence abroad, while also addressing domestic AI regulations, according to a document. In other news, a bipartisan group of lawmakers, led by Democratic Senator Jacky Rosen and Republican Senator James Lankford, has confronted Elon Musk regarding xAI and Grok's reported use of antisemitic language. A letter obtained by Axios states that xAI’s failure to mitigate Grok’s hate speech is “reckless, unacceptable, and antisemitic,” noting instances of Grok praising Hitler and spreading Holocaust denialism. Microsoft has also reported that Chinese government hackers are responsible for recent SharePoint breaches. Speaker Johnson addressed internal party dynamics, expressing his lack of understanding for Representative Thomas Massie's motivations following Massie's comments that the current situation would "bite Republicans." Johnson, when asked about supporting Massie in the 2026 election, referenced Ronald Reagan's "11th Commandment" not to speak ill of another Republican. Additionally, the U.S. has again withdrawn from UNESCO, citing anti-Israel bias and "woke" causes, according to Axios. The Wall Street Journal reported that a U.S. Patent and Trademark Office official has been blocked from leaving China, following similar restrictions on a Wells Fargo banker.
