The Latest: Federal judge grants request to unseal Ghislaine Maxwell case records

A federal judge said Tuesday that the Justice Department can publicly release investigative materials from a sex trafficking case against Ghislaine Maxwell, the longtime confidante of Jeffrey Epstein.

Judge Paul A. Engelmayer ruled after the Justice Department in November asked two judges in New York to unseal grand jury transcripts and exhibits, along with investigative materials that could amount to hundreds or thousands of previously unreleased documents.

He's the second judge to allow the Justice Department to publicly disclose previously secret Epstein-related records.

Last week, a judge in Florida granted the department’s request to release transcripts from an abandoned federal grand jury investigation into Epstein in the 2000s.

A request to release records from Epstein’s 2019 sex trafficking case is still pending.

The Justice Department said Congress intended the unsealing when it passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which President Donald Trump signed into law last month.

Here's the latest:

Judge grants Justice Department request to unseal Ghislaine Maxwell records in sex trafficking case

A federal judge said Tuesday the Justice Department can publicly release investigative materials from a sex trafficking case against Ghislaine Maxwell, the longtime confidant of Jeffrey Epstein.

Judge Paul A. Engelmayer ruled after the Justice Department in November asked two judges in New York to unseal grand jury transcripts and exhibits from Maxwell and Epstein’s cases, along with investigative materials that could amount to hundreds or thousands of previously unreleased documents.

The ruling, in the wake of the passage last month of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, means the records could be made public within 10 days. The law requires the Justice Department provide Epstein-related records to the public in a searchable format by Dec. 19.

▶ Read more about the Jeffrey Epstein case

Trump is dismissive of Leo XIV’s criticism of the US immigration agenda, saying he hasn’t seen it

President Trump dismissed Pope Leo XIV’s criticisms of his aggressive immigration agenda, saying he’s not seen the pontiff’s remarks.

Leo recently offered strong support for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops criticizing the “vilification” of migrants and raids that have sown fear in immigrant communities.

Leo said the U.S. should use its justice system to handle immigration violations, “treating people humanely, treating people with the dignity that they have.”

In a Politico interview, Trump responded: “You know, they didn’t like the wall. The wall turned out to be great.”

Pope Francis, Leo’s predecessor, criticized Trump’s first-term immigration policies, including expanding the U.S-Mexico border wall.

Trump told Politico he’d still be interested in meeting Leo, the first U.S.-born pontiff, and the president noted without prompting that he especially likes one of Leo’s brothers who’s a Trump supporter. “Do you know his brother is serious MAGA?” Trump said.

On health care worries, Trump says ‘don’t be dramatic’

Questioned about how Republicans’ delay on addressing Affordable Care Act subsidies might affect U.S. households’ budget, Trump twice told a Politico reporter: “Don’t be dramatic.”

It was the president’s push back to a question about how ACA premium holders might be struggling around the holidays facing steep health insurance premium spikes if the GOP-run Congress doesn’t address expiring subsidies.

Trump loosely explained Republicans’ pitch to steer money directly to policy holders rather than subsidize premiums with tax credits that can be paid directly to insurance companies or claimed on policy holders’ tax returns.

“I’m giving them money. I want to give the money to the people to buy their own health care,” Trump said. “That’s a good thing, not a bad thing.”

Trump says the economy is ‘A-plus-plus-plus-plus-plus’

Ahead of a planned speech on the economy, Trump is giving the U.S. market a sterling grade despite continued inflation, wealth gaps, layoffs and consumer angst.

“A-plus,” he told Politico when asked how he’d rate the economy, before adding, “A-plus-plus-plus-plus-plus.”

Told of concerns even from one of his supporters, Trump shifted blame to his predecessor, Democrat Joe Biden.

“I inherited a mess. I inherited a total mess,” he said, seemingly brushing off the idea of “affordability” that has become a buzz word ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

“Everything is coming down,” he insisted.

The latest federal analysis, using data from September, found that overall prices rose 2.8% over the previous year, up slightly from 2.7% in August. Core prices also rose 2.8% from a year earlier, a small decline from the previous month’s figure of 2.9%.

Trump wants Thomas and Alito to stick around on the Supreme Court

The president says he hopes the two eldest members of the Supreme Court, who were nominated by Republican presidents, don’t leave the bench.

He was asked during a Politico interview whether he would want Justices Clarence Thomas, 77, and Sam Alito, 75, to retire so Trump could tap their younger successors.

Trump dismissed the idea.

“I hope they stay ’cause I think they’re fantastic, OK?” Trump said in the interview published Tuesday morning. “Both of those men are fantastic.”

Trump says he’s fixing affordability problems. He’ll test out that message at a rally

Trump will road-test his claims that he’s tackling Americans’ affordability woes at a Tuesday rally in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania — shifting an argument made in Oval Office appearances and social media posts to a campaign-style event.

The trip comes as polling consistently shows that public trust in Trump’s economic leadership has faltered. Following dismal results for Republicans in last month’s off-cycle elections, the White House has sought to convince voters that the economy will emerge stronger next year and that any anxieties over inflation have nothing to do with Trump.

The president’s reception in the county hosting his Tuesday rally could give a signal of just how much voters trust his claims. Monroe County flipped to Trump in the 2024 election after having backed Biden in 2020, helping the Republican to win the swing state of Pennsylvania and return to the White House after a four-year hiatus.

▶ Read more about Trump’s upcoming rally

Federal Reserve set to cut rate but may signal a pause to come

The Federal Reserve faces an unusually contentious meeting this week that will test Chair Jerome Powell’s ability to corral the necessary support from fellow policymakers for a third straight interest rate cut.

The Fed’s 19-member rate-setting committee is sharply divided over whether to lower borrowing costs again. The divisions have been exacerbated by the convoluted nature of the economy: Inflation remains elevated, which would typically lead the Fed to keep its key rate unchanged, while hiring is weak and the unemployment rate has risen, which often leads to rate cuts.

Some economists expect three Fed officials could vote against the quarter-point cut that Powell is likely to support at the Dec. 9-10 meeting, which would be the most dissenting votes in six years. Just 12 of the 19 members vote on rate decisions. Several of the non-voting officials have also said they oppose another rate cut.

▶ Read more about the potential rate cut

Supreme Court weighs Republican appeal to end limits on party spending in federal elections

The Supreme Court is considering a Republican-led drive, backed by Trump’s administration, to overturn a quarter-century-old decision and erase limits on how much political parties can spend in coordination with candidates for Congress and president.

A day after the justices indicated they would overturn a 90-year-old decision limiting the president’s power to fire independent agency heads, the court is revisiting a 2001 decision that upheld a provision of federal election law that is more than 50 years old.

Democrats are calling on the court to uphold the law.

The limits stem from a desire to prevent large donors from skirting caps on individual contributions to a candidate by directing unlimited sums to the party, with the understanding that the money will be spent on behalf of the candidate.

The Federal Election Commission and the GOP argue that the court should cast a skeptical eye on the limits, in line with recent high court decisions. Led by Chief Justice John Roberts, a conservative majority has upended a variety of congressionally enacted limits on raising and spending money to influence elections.

▶ Read more about the decision

Trump approves sale of more advanced Nvidia computer chips used in AI to China

Trump said Monday that he would allow Nvidia to sell an advanced type of computer chip used in the development of artificial intelligence to “approved customers” in China.

There have been concerns about allowing advanced computer chips to be sold to China as it could help the country better compete against the U.S. in building out AI capabilities, but there has also been a desire to develop the AI ecosystem with American companies such as chipmaker Nvidia.

Nvidia said in a statement that it applauded Trump’s decision, saying the choice would support domestic manufacturing and that by allowing the Commerce Department to vet commercial customers it would “strike a thoughtful balance” on economic and national security priorities.

But a group of Democratic senators objected to the chip sales.

▶ Read more about the sales