By STEPHEN GROVES, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House Oversight Committee subpoenaed the estate of the late Jeffrey Epstein on Monday as congressional lawmakers try to determine who was connected to the disgraced financier and whether prosecutors mishandled his case.

The committee’s subpoena is the latest effort by both Republicans and Democrats to respond to public clamor for more disclosure in the investigation into Epstein, who was found dead in his New York jail cell in 2019. Lawmakers are trying to guide an investigation into who among Epstein’s high-powered social circle may have been aware of his sexual abuse of teenage girls, delving into a criminal case that has spurred conspiracy theories and roiled top officials in President Donald Trump’s administration.

A board outlining the case against Ghislaine Maxwell is seen during a news conference to announce charges against Maxwell for her alleged role in the sexual exploitation and abuse of multiple minor girls by Jeffrey Epstein, July 2, 2020, in New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)

The subpoena, signed by Rep. James Comer, the Republican chair of the oversight committee, and dated Monday, demands that Epstein’s estate provide Congress with documents including a book that was compiled with notes from friends for his 50th birthday, his last will and testament, agreements he signed with prosecutors, his contact books, and his financial transactions and holdings.

Comer wrote to the executors of Epstein’s estate that the committee “is reviewing the possible mismanagement of the federal government’s investigation of Mr. Jeffrey Epstein and Ms. Ghislaine Maxwell, the circumstances and subsequent investigations of Mr. Epstein’s death, the operation of sex-trafficking rings and ways for the federal government to effectively combat them, and potential violations of ethics rules related to elected officials.”

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The Justice Department, trying to distance Trump and Epstein, last week began handing over to lawmakers documentation of the federal investigation into Epstein. It has also released transcripts of interviews conducted with Ghislaine Maxwell, his former girlfriend. But Democrats on the committee have not been satisfied with those efforts, saying that the some 33,000 pages of documents they’ve received are mostly already public.

“DOJ’s limited disclosure raises more questions than answers and makes clear that the White House is not interested in justice for the victims or the truth,” Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, said in a statement.

Pressure from lawmakers to release more information is likely to only grow when Congress returns to Washington next week.

A bipartisan group of House members is attempting to maneuver around Republican leadership to hold a vote to pass legislation meant to require the Justice Department to release a full accounting of the sex trafficking investigation into Epstein.

By MELISSA GOLDIN, Associated Press

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday threatening to withhold or revoke federal funding to local and state governments that offer cashless bail, arguing that it is a threat to public safety.

“No cash. Come back in a couple of months, we’ll give you a trial. You never see the person again,” he said, moments before signing the order.

Attorney General Pam Bondi must submit a list of jurisdictions that have “substantially eliminated cash bail as a potential condition of pretrial release from custody for crimes that pose a clear threat to public safety and order” within 30 days, as stipulated in the order.

Proponents of eliminating cash bail describe it as a penalty on poverty, suggesting that the wealthy can pay their way out of jail to await trial while those with fewer financial resources have to sit it out behind bars. Critics of the cashless route have argued that bail is a time-honored way to ensure defendants released from jail show up for court proceedings. They warn that violent criminals will be released pending trial, giving them license to commit other crimes.

Here’s what to know:

What it is

Cashless bail refers to policies that allow people to be released from jail without paying any money while they await trial. It is an alternative to the traditional cash bail system in which which people pay money to be released and get their money back if they return to court when they are supposed to. The Eighth Amendment of the Constitution prohibits excessive bail.

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Where it’s offered

In 2023, Illinois became the first state to eliminate cash bail when the state Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the law abolishing it. The move was part of an expansive criminal justice overhaul adopted in 2021 known as the SAFE-T Act. Under the change, a judge decides whether to release the defendant prior to their trial, weighing factors such as their criminal charges, if they could pose any danger to others and if they are considered a flight risk.

A number of other jurisdictions, including New Jersey, New Mexico and Washington, D.C., have nearly eliminated cash bail or limited its use. Some have used practices such as court date reminders, transportation vouchers, flexible scheduling and on-site child care to increase court attendance for people who have been released without bail.

When it’s offered

Policies vary by jurisdiction, but many exclude the use of cashless bail for more serious crimes such as murder and other violent offenses. Cashless bail might also be denied if there is concern an individual might flee before trial. In some cases, it is granted automatically for misdemeanors and nonviolent felonies.

The impact on crime

Studies have shown mixed results regarding the impact of cashless bail on crime. Many focus on the recidivism of individual defendants rather than overall crime rates.

Loyola University of Chicago’s Center for Criminal Justice published a 2024 report on Illinois’ new cashless bail policy, one year after it went into effect. It acknowledges that there is not yet enough data to know what impact the law has had on crime, but that crime in Illinois did not increase after its implementation. Violent and property crime declined in some counties.

A 2024 report published by the Brennan Center for Justice saw “no statistically significant relationship” between bail reform and crime rates. It looked at crime rate data from 2015 through 2021 for 33 cities across the U.S., 22 of which had instituted some type of bail reform. Researchers used a statistical method to determine if crime rates had diverged in those with reforms and those without. The report found that “put simply” there was no “significant difference in crime rates between cities that reformed their bail policies and those that did not.”

Asked last month what data Trump was using to support his claim that cashless bail leads to increase in crime, the White House pointed to a 2022 report from the district attorney’s office in Yolo County, California, that looked at how a temporary cashless bail system implemented across the state to prevent COVID-19 outbreaks in courts and jails impacted recidivism. It found that out of 595 individuals released between April 2020 and May 2021 under this system, 70.6% were arrested again after they were released. A little more than half were rearrested more than once.

By MARK SHERMAN, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Public schools reopened Monday in the nation’s capital with parents on edge over the presence of thousands of National Guard troops, some armed, and federal law enforcement officers.

Even as President Donald Trump again touted a drop in crime that he attributed to his extraordinary effort to take over policing in Washington, D.C., the district’s mayor was lamenting the effect of Trump’s actions on children.

Armed members of the South Carolina National Guard are positioned outside of Union Station in Washington, Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

“Parents are anxious,” Mayor Muriel Bowser said at a news conference, noting that some might keep their children out of school because of immigration concerns.

“We know that our schools are the safest places for our students. And we invest a lot in their learning. And if they’re not at school, they can’t take advantage of that learning. So, I would just call on everybody to leave our kids alone, let them get a great start to their school day and school year and the rest of their lives,” she said.

Members of the Louisiana National Guard patrol Union Station, Monday, Aug. 25, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)

The week began with some patrolling National Guard units now carrying firearms. The change stemmed from a directive issued late last week by his Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

About a half dozen National Guard troops walked by the district’s main convention center early Monday morning with pistols on their hips, according to an Associated Press reporter. But an AP photographer said none of the roughly 30 troops he saw on the National Mall was carrying a weapon.

A statement from the joint task force that has taken over policing in the nation’s capital said units began carrying their service weapons on Sunday and that the military’s rules say force should be used “only as a last resort and solely in response to an imminent threat of death or serious bodily harm.” It said the force is committed to protecting “the safety and wellbeing” of Washington’s residents.

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Bowser reiterated her opposition to the National Guard’s presence. “I don’t believe that troops should be policing American cities,” she said.

Trump is considering expanding the deployments to other Democratic-led cities, including Baltimore, Chicago and New York.

In June, roughly 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines were sent to Los Angeles to deal with protests over the administration’s immigration crackdown. California’s Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, and other local elected officials objected.

By MARK SHERMAN, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Public schools reopened Monday in the nation’s capital with parents on edge over the presence of thousands of National Guard troops, some armed, and federal law enforcement officers.

Even as President Donald Trump again touted a drop in crime that he attributed to his extraordinary effort to take over policing in Washington, D.C., the district’s mayor was lamenting the effect of Trump’s actions on children.

Armed members of the South Carolina National Guard are positioned outside of Union Station in Washington, Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

“Parents are anxious,” Mayor Muriel Bowser said at a news conference, noting that some might keep their children out of school because of immigration concerns.

“We know that our schools are the safest places for our students. And we invest a lot in their learning. And if they’re not at school, they can’t take advantage of that learning. So, I would just call on everybody to leave our kids alone, let them get a great start to their school day and school year and the rest of their lives,” she said.

Members of the Louisiana National Guard patrol Union Station, Monday, Aug. 25, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)

The week began with some patrolling National Guard units now carrying firearms. The change stemmed from a directive issued late last week by his Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

About a half dozen National Guard troops walked by the district’s main convention center early Monday morning with pistols on their hips, according to an Associated Press reporter. But an AP photographer said none of the roughly 30 troops he saw on the National Mall was carrying a weapon.

A statement from the joint task force that has taken over policing in the nation’s capital said units began carrying their service weapons on Sunday and that the military’s rules say force should be used “only as a last resort and solely in response to an imminent threat of death or serious bodily harm.” It said the force is committed to protecting “the safety and wellbeing” of Washington’s residents.

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Bowser reiterated her opposition to the National Guard’s presence. “I don’t believe that troops should be policing American cities,” she said.

Trump is considering expanding the deployments to other Democratic-led cities, including Baltimore, Chicago and New York.

In June, roughly 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines were sent to Los Angeles to deal with protests over the administration’s immigration crackdown. California’s Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, and other local elected officials objected.