House panel subpoenas the Clintons and the Justice Department for Epstein files

House panel subpoenas the Clintons and the Justice Department for Epstein files

Israel’s military leadership pour cold water on Netanyahu’s plan to annex Gaza.

The Republican-led House Oversight Committee has issued subpoenas for testimony relating to the late disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, his relationships with powerful individuals, and the investigation into his underage sex trafficking. Subpoenas were issued for Bill and Hillary Clinton; six former Attorneys General, Alberto Gonzales, Eric Holder, Loretta Lynch, Jeff Sessions, William Barr, and Merrick Garland; and two former FBI Directors, Robert Mueller III and James Comey. Bill Clinton has a well-documented associated with Epstein, although he has never been accused of any wrongdoing by Epstein’s victims.

The committee also issued a subpoena calling for the Department of Justice to hand over documents to the committee related to the Epstein investigation, with victims’ names redacted.

The move by the committee is seen as an act of defiance against Speaker Mike Johnson, who adjourned the House early for August recess to block a vote on a resolution calling for the release of the Epstein files. It is also unlike to please President Trump, who has been under increasing scrutiny for his own ties to Epstein and has repeatedly lambasted fellow Republicans and his own MAGA base for demanding transparency.

Late last month, the Oversight Committee also issued a subpoena for Epstein’s convicted accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, but have agreed to delay her testimony until after Maxwell’s appeal to the Supreme Court to throw out her 2022 conviction and 20-year prison sentence. Days after the House panel subpoenaed Maxwell, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche conducted two days of interviews with Maxwell at the prison where she was being held in Florida. Maxwell has since been approved for transferred to a much more comfortable minimum security prison in Texas. The Trump administration is now reportedly debating releasing transcripts from Blanche’s interviews with Maxwell.

Israel’s military leadership pour cold water on Netanyahu’s plan to annex Gaza

Yesterday, an Israeli media source close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said that Netanyahu has decided on a plan to militarily occupy the entire Gaza Strip. This plan has apparently received a seal of approval from President Trump.

Today, Netanyahu was to meet with his cabinet to discuss the plan further. That cabinet meeting has been delayed, reportedly because Israel’s security establishment and military leadership oppose the plan. In particular, Israel Defense Force Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir has cast doubts on the feasibility of the plan, causing some in the government to call for his ouster. Zamir himself replaced former IDF Chief of Staff Herzl Halevi in March of this year. Halevi repeatedly and publicly decried Netanyahu’s demands for unrealistic and unachievable military targets in Gaza.

Occupation, annexation, expulsion

Occupying Gaza would please Netanyahu’s far-right coalition partners, who have made no secret of their desire to re-establish illegal Jewish settlements in Gaza. It would also facilitate Israel’s plans to transfer of most of Gaza’s population to a third country, which human rights organizations say would amount to ethnic cleansing.

However, it is questionable whether the IDF has the manpower and the resolve to maintain a prolonged military occupation amid a hostile population. Nearly 22 months into Israel’s intensive military campaign in Gaza, IDF forces still face considerable losses due to ambush attacks by Palestinian resistance fighters. The IDF is also facing serious morale and mental health problems, including a number of recent suicides, and thousands of reservists are reportedly refusing service.

Additionally, Netanyahu’s plan involves moving Israeli forces into areas of Gaza where they believe the 20 or so living hostages are held. Last week, Hamas and one of its affiliates released videos of two hostages, appearing emaciated. Israel’s policy of allowing in only a tiny trickle of aid into the Strip each day has now begun affecting the hostages. Netanyahu’s plan is to conduct raids to try to rescue the remaining hostages. However, since a rescue operation in June last year in which the IDF recovered four hostages alive and killed at least 276 Palestinians in the process, Hamas and the other militant groups have adopted a policy of killing hostages if any rescue attempt is mounted.

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