US House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) speaks to members of the media following the passage of a funding bill in the US House of Representatives to bring the longest US government shutdown in history to a close, which now requires US President Donald Trump’s signature, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., US, November 12, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz/File Photo

US House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson said on Sunday he believed the approaching vote on releasing Justice Department files related to Jeffrey Epstein should help put to rest allegations that President Donald Trump had any connection to the late sex offender’s abuse and trafficking of underage girls.

“They’re doing this to go after President Trump on this theory that he has something to do with it. He does not,” Johnson, the Republican leader in the House, said on “Fox News Sunday.”

“Epstein is their entire game plan, so we’re going to take that weapon out of their hands,” Johnson said of Democrats. “Let’s just get this done and move it on. There’s nothing to hide.”

Although Trump and Epstein were photographed together decades ago, the president has said the two men fell out prior to Epstein’s convictions. Emails released last week by a House committee showed Epstein believed Trump “knew about the girls,” though it was not clear what that phrase meant.

Trump has since instructed the Department of Justice to investigate prominent Democrats’ ties to Epstein.

Representative Ro Khanna, a California Democrat and an original sponsor of the petition calling for a vote on the files’ release, said on Sunday that he expected more than 40 Republicans to vote in favor.

Republicans hold the majority in the House, with 219 seats, versus 214 for Democrats.

Khanna, speaking on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” said the measure is not about Trump but about accountability for all the powerful individuals who allegedly participated in abusing thousands of victims.

“This is not partisan. They all need to be held accountable. The Epstein class needs to go,” Khanna said.

The battle over disclosure of more Epstein-related documents, a subject Trump himself campaigned on, has opened a rift with some of his allies in Congress. Trump late on Friday withdrew his support for Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, long one of his staunchest supporters in Congress, following her criticism of Republicans on certain issues, including the handling of the Epstein files.

In an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union” program on Sunday, Greene said she did not believe the as-yet-unreleased files would implicate the president, but she renewed her call for further transparency.

“I don’t believe that rich, powerful people should be protected if they have done anything wrong,” she said.

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres speaks to members of the Security Council during a meeting to address the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question, at UN headquarters in New York City, New York, US, April 18, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz

i24 News – Reem Alsalem, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, sparked controversy over the weekend by publicly denying claims of sexual violence committed by Hamas during the October 7 massacre in Gaza.

In a statement shared on social media, Alsalem asserted, “No Palestinian cheered for rape in Gaza. No independent investigation has found that rape occurred on October 7.”

Her comments immediately drew strong criticism from Israeli officials. Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the UN, called the statement “a moral disgrace” and accused Alsalem of insulting the victims and their families. “Any UN representative who denies rape by Hamas must be removed from her position. Period. This is a stain on the UN’s reputation,” Danon said.

He further condemned Alsalem for what he described as a violation of “every basic international standard.” Danon emphasized that Israel would not tolerate any attempt to downplay or cover up the atrocities committed by Hamas, saying, “This is an insult to the victims and their families, and a violation of every basic international standard. Israel will not allow the covering up of Hamas’s horrific crimes.”

Danon also directly addressed UN Secretary-General António Guterres, urging him to respond to what he characterized as a dangerous and misleading statement. “António Guterres, your silence is complicity,” he wrote, signaling that Israel expects the UN leadership to publicly reject Alsalem’s remarks.

The dispute underscores ongoing tensions between Israel and UN human rights officials, particularly regarding how allegations of atrocities in conflict zones are investigated and reported.

Critics of Alsalem argue that her denial undermines the credibility of international human rights mechanisms and diminishes the suffering of victims, while supporters may point to the lack of independent, verifiable evidence as a basis for caution in making public accusations.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the plenum of the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, in Jerusalem, November 10, 2025. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday Israel remained opposed to a Palestinian state after protests by far-right coalition allies over a US-backed statement indicating support for a pathway to Palestinian independence.

Netanyahu spoke two days after Israel‘s key ally the United States and many Muslim-majority nations endorsed a draft U.N. resolution backing President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan, saying the process offered a route to Palestinian statehood.

The 15-member U.N. Security Council began negotiations on Nov. 7 on the draft, which would mandate Trump’s proposal for a “Board of Peace” transitional administration in Gaza to address issues including post-war reconstruction and economic recovery.

Trump’s 20-point plan includes a clause saying that if there were reforms within the Palestinian Authority, “the conditions may finally be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood, which we recognize as the aspiration of the Palestinian people.”

That point infuriated Israeli far-right leaders who had opposed the Trump-brokered October ceasefire in Gaza, testing Netanyahu’s awkward governing coalition of conservatives and ultra-nationalists.

On Saturday far-right ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich called on Netanyahu to denounce the idea of a Palestinian state. Ben-Gvir threatened to leave the governing coalition if the prime minister did not act.

‘OPPOSITION TO PALESTINIAN STATE NOT CHANGED’

Netanyahu said in a statement on Sunday: “Our opposition to a Palestinian state in any territory has not changed. Gaza will be demilitarized and Hamas will be disarmed, the easy way or the hard way. I do not need affirmations, tweets or lectures from anyone.”

A far-right walkout could bring down Netanyahu’s right-wing government well before the next election, which must be held by October 2026.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz and Foreign Minister Gideon Saar also issued statements on X against a Palestinian state on Sunday, without mentioning Netanyahu.

Trump’s Gaza plan ended major fighting between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas after two years of war that devastated the Palestinian enclave and triggered spillover conflicts across the Middle East.

Netanyahu embraced Trump’s plan during a visit to the White House in September but until Sunday had made no new statement on the Palestinian statehood issue.

WESTERN MOVES TO RECOGNIZE PALESTINIAN STATE

Ahead of his White House visit, Netanyahu said he would respond to a number of major Western nations including France that formally recognized a Palestinian state in September, angering Israel, but has not followed up with any diplomatic actions.

Smotrich had on Saturday accused Netanyahu of failing to live up to his promise and called on him to formulate a response immediately: “Two months have passed in which you have chosen silence and political disgrace.”

He urged Netanyahu to “make clear to the entire world (that) a Palestinian state will never arise on the lands of our homeland.”

The ceasefire came into effect on October 10 although there have been repeated, though scattered, outbreaks of violence since then.