by Mychael Schnell | Jun 26, 2026 | Business, Congress, News
House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer subpoenaed billionaire investor Leon Black on Friday, saying he had refused to answer questions about allegations that he signed nondisclosure agreements with women tied to Jeffrey Epstein.
One subpoena is for Black to appear for a deposition under oath on July 16 and the other is for the NDAs he allegedly signed with women in Epstein’s orbit, said Comer, R-Ky.
The chairman announced the subpoenas during Black’s voluntary interview with the committee regarding his long relationship with Epstein. The announcement immediately derailed the interview, with Black departing just an hour into it.
Black told lawmakers he would not answer questions about the terms and substance of the NDAs, on the advice of counsel, according to a person familiar with the interview. Another person familiar with the details told MS NOW that, when he was asked about it, Black’s attorney said, “We are not going to get into NDAs,” noting that the interview was voluntary and not a subpoena.
The people spoke to MS NOW on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the closed-door proceedings publicly.
Black is one of several people believed to have signed NDAs with women who have accused Epstein and his associates of sexual misconduct. Comer said prior to Black’s interview that the committee was “pretty confident” that the financier signed NDAs with some of Epstein’s victims.
Black was handed the subpoenas near the end of committee Republicans’ first hour of questioning. He took an extended break, then departed the building shortly after, bringing the interview to an abrupt end before Democrats had their turn at questioning.
Afterward, Black’s attorney, Susan Estrich, dismissed
by The Associated Press | Jun 26, 2026 | Business, News, Science
California voters will consider a controversial proposal in November to temporarily raise taxes on billionaires after the labor union backing the measure announced Thursday it would forge ahead despite pressure from critics to withdraw it.
The proposal, backed by the Service Employees International Union Healthcare Workers West, would impose a one-time 5% tax on individuals whose net worth exceeds $1 billion and who were living in the state as of Jan. 1, 2026. The goal is to generate $100 billion in revenue, mainly to fund the state’s Medicaid system after federal cuts.
“I am all in on this,” union President Dave Regan said on a Zoom call, adding that opponents of the proposal are “totally out of touch.”
Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom and many traditional allies of the union oppose the measure. They argue it is a temporary fix for an ongoing problem and that it would push the ultrawealthy to leave the state, taking the money they would contribute in income taxes with them. Newsom, who is considering a presidential run as he prepares to leave office in January, has generally opposed tax increases during his time as governor.
A coalition of healthcare, education and housing groups — including the California Medical Association and California School Boards Association — banded together last week to fight the tax.
“The dangerous wealth tax directly threatens vital funding for education and schools, healthcare and clinics, public safety, and infrastructure projects by making California’s revenue even more volatile,” the coalition said in a statement.
Brian Brokaw, a Newsom political adviser who is leading a political committee opposing the tax, said it would “make California’s biggest challenges worse.”
“Driving away the
by Ja'han Jones | Apr 2, 2026 | Business, Congress, Opinion
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., has pressed the Trump administration for information on its efforts to strong-arm foreign nations into weakening tech regulations, particularly those designed to counter child abuse.
The problem of child predation on platforms operated by some top U.S. tech companies has been making headlines. So have the Trump administration’s threats against countries looking to regulate those companies. Earlier this year, President Donald Trump’s State Department attempted to shield Elon Musk’s social platform, X, from a British probe after X’s artificial intelligence tool, Grok, was used to generate nonconsensual pornography, including sexually exploitative images of kids. (In response to the probe, X has said “it takes action against illegal content on the platform.”)
Last year, Trump openly threatened to use tariffs to target the European Union over regulations that seek to hold powerful tech companies to account for their products and services. Trump’s ambassador to the EU told Politico last week that weakening tech regulations has been a key focus of trade negotiations with Europe.
That was the crux of Warren’s letter to U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on Wednesday, seeking answers on what role tariffs have played in trade negotiations attempting to water down Big Tech regulations.
“The White House’s trade negotiations appear to be focused on securing advantages for the President and his tech billionaire friends, rather than delivering the new manufacturing jobs and balanced trade he promised American families,” Warren wrote.
The letter makes specific reference to the Grok pornography incident and the people harmed by it.
The senator made a good point. Trump and his administration have falsely framed European laws meant to curb things such as child predation and violent
by David Rohde | Mar 14, 2026 | Business, News, World
The Trump administration’s failure to anticipate that Iran would close the Strait of Hormuz — the narrow channel, 21 miles wide at its narrowest, through which 20% of the world’s oil supply moves — is contributing to the largest oil supply disruption in history, according to former Navy officers and maritime experts.
Iran’s willingness to close the strait, in conjunction with an insufficient deployment of ships to the region, has resulted in the U.S. Navy’s reluctance to escort oil tankers through the strategic waterway for the past two weeks.
It’s a scenario that experts have warned of for decades, and one the administration ignored, said Sal Mercogliano, a maritime historian and professor at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and Campbell University.
“I’m kind of floored by the fact that the administration failed to plan or have any guidance in place for what to do with the commercial shipping,” said Mercogliano, who noted that multiple ships have requested Navy escorts. “It just appears that the U.S. does not have sufficient resources.”
“It’s just a lack of understanding fueled by Hegseth and Trump not having an understanding of how the military works.”Gen. Mark Hertling
The U.S. Navy has failed for years to prioritize its stock of ships to counter mines, despite decades of warnings that Iran could try to close the strait, said Jonathan Schroden, the chief research scientist at the Center for Naval Analysis.
The Navy recently decommissioned four aging mine sweepers based in the Persian Gulf in Bahrain, Schroden said, and these arrived back in the U.S. about a week ago. Three newer ships replaced them, but he said the Navy has underinvested in building more
by Ja'han Jones | Jan 20, 2026 | Business, Opinion
Happy Tuesday! Here’s your Tuesday Tech Drop, the week’s top stories from the intersection of technology and politics.
ICE gives Home Depot investors goosebumps
A group of Home Depot investors has raised concerns about the company’s work with a surveillance firm after a news report said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement used data acquired by the firm to aid Trump’s increasingly unpopular anti-immigrant crackdown.
Reuters reported last week that some investors, spearheaded by a group that advocates for sustainability, want a review of the company’s partnership with Flock Safety, which conducts anti-fraud and security measures for corporations, after 404 Media reported in May that local law enforcement agencies provided Flock’s license plate data to federal immigration officers. The investors want to understand Flock’s involvement with Home Depot for “assessment of privacy and civil rights risks, including discrimination or wrongful detention from misuse of customer data.” They say the practices “may expose the Company to financial and legal risks, including potential data breaches and enforcement of evolving state privacy laws.”
Home Depot, whose locations the Trump administration has targeted in its anti-immigrant crackdown, declined to comment on whether it would end its partnership with Flock Safety but told Reuters, “The company does not grant access to its license-plate readers to federal law enforcement.”
Read the Reuters report here.
Growing Grok backlash
Elon Musk’s social media artificial intelligence chatbot continues to face a backlash over a feature Musk and his team recently enabled that allowed X users to generate nonconsensual pornographic images, including images of children. Last week, California issued a cease and desist order to xAI, X’s parent company; Arizona opened a probe into the chatbot; and right-wing
by Ja'han Jones | Jan 14, 2026 | Business, Opinion
Happy Tuesday! Here’s your Tuesday Tech Drop, the week’s top stories from the intersection of technology and politics.
Social media MAGA-fication
Meta’s monthslong MAGA rebrand continued this week as the social media platform hired Dina Powell McCormick, a former adviser to Donald Trump, as its new president. McCormick worked on Trump’s National Security Council in his first term and was seen as a close ally to the president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. McCormick is married to Sen. Dave McCormick, R-Pa., whom Trump endorsed in his 2024 Senate race.
In recent years, prominent politicians have falsely accused Meta’s platforms of viewpoint censorship, and ahead of the 2024 election, Trump publicly threatened to throw CEO Mark Zuckerberg in jail. More recently, the company and its leaders have made efforts to ingratiate themselves with MAGA world. One might see McCormick’s hiring as another way for Meta to curry favor with the administration as it faces allegations that its platforms are harmful to children and society writ large — allegations the company disputes. Indeed, Trump celebrated the news, posting in part on his social media platform that McCormick is “A great choice by Mark Z!!! She is a fantastic, and very talented, person.”
McCormick represents yet another data point in the MAGA-fication of American social media. Meta, already cozying up to MAGA, is handing executive power to a former Trump administration official, joining TikTok (to be sold into the control of Trump donor Larry Ellison) and X (owned by Trump donor Elon Musk).
Read more on CNBC here.
Grok sparks global outrage
There’s a growing global push to ban Musk’s artificial intelligence tool, Grok, after a new feature allowed users to create nonconsensual
