On Dec. 12, Buffalo Mayor-elect Sean Ryan sat for an interview with Investigative Post’s Jim Heaney and Geoff Kelly before a live audience at the Burchfield Penney Art Center. Here, he discusses revitalizing programming at the city’s community centers and getting public works employees the equipment they need.
President Donald Trump is under renewed impeachment scrutiny after admitting he alerted oil companies — but not Congress — ahead of the U.S. attack on Venezuela, an extraordinary disclosure critics say exposes the true beneficiaries of the operation. Speaking aboard Air Force One, Trump openly touted oil executives’ eagerness to “go in” and secure Venezuela’s massive oil reserves, even as lawmakers confirmed they were left in the dark, including members of Congress traditionally briefed on such actions. The admission stunned critics, who warned U.S. service members were effectively deployed to advance donor interests, not national security, and drew sharp accusations that Trump is running an oligarch-driven, authoritarian-style government as oil stocks surged in the aftermath of the assault.
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Trump admits he told oil companies, not Congress, before Venezuela attack Trump admits he told oil companies, not Congress, before Venezuela attack
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said on Sunday that Venezuelans living in the U.S. with temporary protected status should self-deport following the capture of the country's dictator.
On Saturday morning, the Trump administration sent military forces to Venezuela to detain dictator Nicolás Maduro. Maduro and his wife were then swiftly brought to the U.S., where they will stand trial for narco-terrorism and gun charges. Some legal experts have said the move exceeded Trump's authority as president, and calls for the president to be impeached began to grow following the move.
Tricia McLaughlin, DHS assistant secretary for public affairs, offered a different take during an appearance on Fox News's "The Big Weekend Show" on Sunday. She said Maduro's arrest gives Venezuelans living in the U.S. protected status a reason to "go home."
"I think the great news for people from Venezuela who are here on temporary protected status is that they can now go home with hope for their country that they love," McLaughlin said.
The Trump administration has sought to end temporary protected status for multiple ethnicities during his second administration. However, courts have mostly blocked the administration from ending the status. Most recently, a judge in San Francisco ruled that the administration's efforts to end TPS for people from Honduras, Nepal, and Nicaragua were illegal.
McLaughlin claimed there has been a "loss of integrity" in the program.
More than a dozen survivors of Jeffrey Epstein are demanding immediate congressional action Monday following the Justice Department’s botched release of files on the disgraced financier — a release they said failed to comply with a newly enacted law.
“We call upon Congress to stand up for the rule of law. We urge immediate congressional oversight, including hearings, formal demands for compliance, and legal action, to ensure the Department of Justice fulfills its legal obligations,” reads the joint statement signed by 18 Epstein survivors, released on Monday.
“This is not a partisan issue. Just as the Epstein Files Transparency Act was supported across party lines, we now ask elected officials from both parties to take decisive action to enforce the law, compel full compliance, and ensure meaningful transparency without further delay.”
The DOJ has faced scrutiny over its release of the Epstein files, which were mandated by law to be released, in full and with limited redactions, on Friday. Instead, the DOJ released only a small percentage of its files on Epstein, withholding hundreds of thousands of files, and made redactions outside the scope of what the Epstein Files Transparency Act permitted.
The DOJ has also been accused of accidentally exposing the identity of one of Epstein’s victims, with growing calls among lawmakers and survivors for Attorney General Pam Bondi to be held in contempt and forced to fully comply with the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
“Survivors deserve truth,” the joint statement reads. “Survivors whose identities are private deserve protection. The public deserves accountability. And the law must be enforced.”
One Epstein survivor, Jess Michaels – who also signed the joint statement – said recently that she and other victims have knowledge of Epstein-related files that they believe should be in the DOJ’s possession, but were not included in the agency’s file release on Friday.
When asked Sunday whether she and other survivors were prepared to publicly identify potential Epstein co-conspirators themselves, Michaels said that, at least for now, they are withholding that information in order to demonstrate “negligence” by the DOJ.
