{"id":172300,"date":"2025-11-18T15:20:12","date_gmt":"2025-11-18T15:20:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/live-updates-house-to-vote-on-release-of-epstein-files-trump-to-meet-with-saudi-crown-prince-nbc-news\/"},"modified":"2025-11-18T15:20:12","modified_gmt":"2025-11-18T15:20:12","slug":"live-updates-house-to-vote-on-release-of-epstein-files-trump-to-meet-with-saudi-crown-prince-nbc-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/live-updates-house-to-vote-on-release-of-epstein-files-trump-to-meet-with-saudi-crown-prince-nbc-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Live updates: House to vote on release of Epstein files; Trump to meet with Saudi crown prince – NBC News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hundreds of federalized National Guard members sent to Illinois and Oregon will return to their home states as soon as this week, a defense official told NBC News.
Sky Roberts, the brother of Epstein survivor Virginia Giuffre, delivered emotional remarks about his late sister, saying that she became “a beacon of hope” for other survivors of sexual assault and that tactics to silence his sister “did not work.”
“Virginia’s story is one that should have been filled with promise,” Roberts said. “But instead, it became a harrowing tale of exploitation and survival.”
Giuffre, who by suicide earlier this year, was one of the most prominent survivors of Epstein\u2019s abuse. Since her death, her brother has become an advocate for his sister’s legacy.
“The most destructive wound they inflicted was that of forced complicity, a betrayal of self that was crafted by her abusers,” Roberts said, who paused at times during his remarks to hold back tears. “But I stand here today declare that their tactics of fear and intimidation did not work.”
“Virginia\u2019s spirit could not be broken,” Roberts said. “She became a beacon of hope, a warrior, fighting not just for herself, but for every survivor who suffered in silence.”
Epstein survivor Jena-Lisa Jones strongly criticized Trump for directing the Justice Department to investigate Epstein\u2019s connections to prominent Democrats.
\u201cI beg you, President Trump: Please stop making this political,\u201d Jones said. \u201cIt is not about you, President Trump. You are our president. Please start acting like it. Show some class, show some real leadership, show that you actually care about the people other than yourself.\u201d
Jones said she voted for Trump, but added \u201cyour behavior on this issue has been a national embarrassment.\u201d
<\/span>Jena-Lisa Jones holds up a photo of her younger self at the Capitol today.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Heather Diehl \/ Getty Images<\/span>
\u201cIt is time to take the honest, moral ground and support the release of these files, not to weaponize pieces of the files against random political enemies that did nothing wrong, but to understand who Epstein\u2019s friends were, who covered for him, what financial institutions allowed his trafficking to continue, who knew what he was doing but was too much of a coward to do anything about it,\u201d she said.
NBC News has reached out to the White House for comment on the criticisms over Trump\u2019s initial refusal to support the effort to release the Justice Department\u2019s case files and other actions related\u00a0to the files.
Haley Robson, a survivor of Epstein, began her remarks by noting that while people see the survivors as adults, she emphasized they were fighting for themselves and other victims as the children who were left behind, showing a picture of herself as a child.
Robson thanked the lawmakers championing the effort, saying that to watch Republicans going against their party and risking their careers was “unbelievable to watch.”
Robson said that if Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., who supported the vote to release the Justice Department’s Epstein case files, decided to read names of people connected to Epstein on the House floor, she would stand next to her.
<\/span>Robson reacts during a news conference outside the Capitol today.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Heather Diehl \/ Getty Images<\/span>
Robson delivered a message to Trump, saying she was “skeptical” of his “agenda,” even though he flipped his stance on the House vote.
“I am traumatized, I am not stupid,” she said in her message to Trump. She said he had put them through “so much stress.”
NBC News has reached out to the White House for comment on the Epstein survivors’ criticisms of his previous opposition to releasing the files.
Reps. Ro Khanna, Thomas Massie and Marjorie Taylor Greene each thanked Epstein survivors and lawmakers who supported efforts to release the Epstein files.
Greene, who had a public rift with Trump over the files, talked about being called a “traitor” by the president. She emphasized that a traitor is someone who serves foreign countries and themselves, but a patriot serves the country and people like “the women standing behind me.”
She predicted a unanimous vote in the House to release the files, but said “the real test will be will the Department of Justice release the files,” or would the files be “tied up” in investigations.
Trump says he has not ruled out putting American forces on the ground in Venezuela, but he\u2019s also holding out the possibility he\u2019d speak with the country\u2019s leader, Nicol\u00e1s Maduro, whom the administration accuses of running a cartel, an allegation Maduro denies.
The House is set to vote at around 2 p.m. on the bill that would compel the Justice Department to release files related to the Epstein case.
The bill needs the support of two-thirds of the House members because the legislation is being considered under suspension of the rules, an expedited process typically used when a measure is expected to have enough votes to advance. Typically, a discharge petition like the one a majority of House members used to force the vote on the bill would require seven legislative days of waiting.
\u201cAlmost everybody\u201d will vote for the legislation, House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., told NBC News last night, adding that leaders aren\u2019t telling members how to vote.
If passed, the bill would head next to the Senate.
Jonathan Ocampo has called this Southern city home for six years, but, after immigration enforcement descended here over the weekend, the American citizen of Colombian descent said he doesn\u2019t leave the house without his U.S. passport.
\u201cI\u2019m carrying it here right now, which is sad,\u201d he told NBC News. Ocampo said he worries that his father, a citizen who has been in the country for 40 years, could be targeted because of being Hispanic-looking and speaking what he described as very broken English.
\u201cIt\u2019s just scary,\u201d he said.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, more than 130 people have been arrested since Border Patrol began an immigration enforcement push it calls \u201cOperation Charlotte\u2019s Web\u201d on Saturday, putting many residents and business owners of the state\u2019s largest city on edge. A popular\u00a0Latino bakery<\/a>\u00a0was closed Monday over fears of Border Patrol activity. Several small businesses in a shopping center also shut their doors Monday after immigration authorities were\u00a0seen smashing the car window<\/a>\u00a0of a Honduran-born U.S. citizen, Willy Aceituno, over the weekend.
Read the full story here.<\/em><\/strong><\/a>
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., who spearheaded the Epstein discharge petition, suggested last evening that new Justice Department probes Trump directed to explore Epstein\u2019s ties to other high-profile figures could block the release of more documents.
\u201cI\u2019m concerned that now he\u2019s opening a flurry of investigations, and I believe they may be trying to use those investigations as a predicate for not releasing the files. That\u2019s my concern,\u201d Massie told reporters outside the Capitol.
\u201cI\u2019m afraid they\u2019re going to try to use a provision of the law that allows you not to release these materials if they\u2019re subject of an ongoing investigation and would harm, the release of which would harm the ongoing investigation,\u201d he added.
Trump directed the Justice Department<\/a>\u00a0on Friday to investigate Epstein\u2019s ties to notable Democrats.
Asked about Trump encouraging Republicans to vote for Massie\u2019s measure \u2014 a sudden reversal of his position on releasing the Epstein files \u2014 Massie said it\u2019s because \u201cfor four months, [Trump] thought the best thing for him was to keep the file secret, and somebody convinced him that the best thing for him was to release the files.\u201d
\u201cIf they\u2019re serious about it, they should release them right now. It\u2019s that simple,\u201d he said.
Trump encouraged House Republicans over the weekend to pass the measure, saying, \u201cWe have nothing to hide.\u201d
As for how the vote today will go, Massie predicted his bill will pass with a veto-proof majority.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said today that he will travel to Turkey this week in an attempt to jump-start negotiations on ending\u00a0Russia\u2019s invasion<\/a>, which began nearly four years ago.
U.S. special envoy\u00a0Steve Witkoff<\/a>\u00a0will join him in Turkey, a senior Turkish official told The Associated Press, but the Kremlin said that Russia won\u2019t be sending anyone.
Turkey provided a setting for\u00a0low-level talks<\/a>\u00a0between Ukraine and Russia earlier this year, though the only significant progress in Istanbul was on exchanging prisoners of war. U.S.-led\u00a0international peace efforts<\/a>\u00a0have brought no breakthrough, either.
Zelenskyy said that he would be in Turkey tomorrow, a day after visiting Spain, where he hoped for pledges of new support today.
\u201cWe are preparing to reinvigorate negotiations, and we have developed solutions that we will propose to our partners,\u201d Zelenskyy said on social media, without providing details. \u201cDoing everything possible to bring the end of the war closer is Ukraine\u2019s top priority.\u201d
Heavy new American sanctions<\/a>\u00a0on Russia\u2019s all-important oil industry, devised to push Putin to the negotiating table, are due to take effect Friday. The sanctions against oil companies Rosneft and Lukoil seek to starve Putin\u2019s war machine of cash and halt its grinding war of attrition, which has claimed tens of thousands of lives in Ukraine.
Larry Summers, who was treasury secretary under President Bill Clinton, said yesterday that he will be stepping back from public commitments following the recent publication of his\u00a0correspondence with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein<\/a>.
\u201cI am deeply ashamed of my actions and recognize the pain they have caused. I take full responsibility for my misguided decision to continue communicating with Mr. Epstein,\u201d Summers said in a statement.
The House Oversight Committee last week released\u00a0more than 20,000 emails from Epstein\u2019s estate<\/a>, which included extensive correspondence between the disgraced financier and Summers. The most recent one was from the day before Epstein was arrested in 2019.
\u201cWhile continuing to fulfill my teaching obligations, I will be stepping back from public commitments as one part of my broader effort to rebuild trust and repair relationships with the people closest to me,\u201d Summers added in his statement.
Read the full story here.<\/em><\/strong><\/a>
Hundreds of federalized National Guard members sent to\u00a0Illinois<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Oregon<\/a>\u00a0will return to their home states as early as this week, a defense official told NBC News yesterday.
The official said that 200 California National Guard members activated for the greater Portland area will head back home, leaving 100 members of the Oregon National Guard in place. In Illinois, 200 Texas National Guard members will depart the state, leaving 300 Illinois Guard members there.
The remaining guards will be conducting training, but are not on mission to protect federal property or personnel.
Read the full story here.<\/a>
Whether viewed as a visionary reformist or a murderous despot, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman<\/a>, Saudi Arabia\u2019s de facto leader, will be taking a huge step toward rejoining the international community when he meets with Trump at the White House today.
Bin Salman, 40, became an international pariah after the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a fierce critic of his government, in 2018, though Trump defended the Saudi government even after the CIA concluded<\/a> that the crown prince himself ordered the killing.
Then-President Joe Biden<\/a> traveled to Saudi Arabia in 2022 and controversially fist-bumped bin Salman, an image that went viral, at a time when most leaders had shunned the crown prince. Bin Salman said in 2019 that he took \u201cfull responsibility\u201d for the Khashoggi killing since it happened on his watch, but denied ordering it.
But it is bin Salman\u2019s trip today, his first during Trump\u2019s second term, that will be seen more broadly as a move toward acceptance back into the diplomatic fold.\u00a0
Read the full story here.<\/em><\/strong><\/a>
The House is poised to vote overwhelmingly today for legislation to compel the Justice Department to release all its records related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a major victory for the lawmakers in both parties who\u2019ve been leading the push for months.
The measure, which last week secured enough bipartisan support to head straight to the House floor, got another boost over the weekend, when Trump reversed his position<\/a> and urged Republicans to support it.
The bipartisan duo who co-authored the legislation \u2014 Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Ro Khanna, D-Calif. \u2014 are working to secure a veto-proof majority in the House, and they predict that as many as 100 Republicans could vote for it. The number could climb even higher now that Trump has given his blessing.
\u201cAlmost everybody\u201d will vote for it, House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., told NBC News, adding that leaders aren\u2019t telling members how to vote.
Read the full story here.<\/em><\/strong><\/a>
NBC News<\/p>\n

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Hundreds of federalized National Guard members sent to Illinois and Oregon will return to their home states as soon as this week, a defense official told NBC News. Sky Roberts, the brother of Epstein survivor Virginia Giuffre, delivered emotional remarks about his late sister, saying that she became “a beacon of hope” for other survivors […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":172301,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-172300","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-us","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172300","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=172300"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172300\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/172301"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=172300"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=172300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}