By ERIC TUCKER

WASHINGTON (AP) — Ghislaine Maxwell, the imprisoned former girlfriend of disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, is open to answering questions from Congress — but only if she is granted immunity from future prosecution for her testimony, her lawyers said Tuesday.

A spokeswoman for the committee that wants to interview her responded with a terse statement saying it would not consider offering her immunity.

Maxwell’s lawyers also asked that they be provided with any questions in advance and that any interview with her be scheduled after her petition to the U.S. Supreme Court to take up her case has been resolved.

The conditions were laid out in a letter sent by Maxwell’s attorneys to Rep. James Comer, the Republican chair of the House Oversight Committee who last week issued a subpoena for her deposition at the Florida prison where she is serving a 20-year-prison sentence on a conviction of conspiring with Epstein to sexually abuse underage girls.

The request to interview her is part of a frenzied, renewed interest in the Epstein saga following the Justice Department’s July statement that it would not be releasing any additional records from the investigation, an abrupt announcement that stunned online sleuths, conspiracy theorists and elements of President Donald Trump’s base who had been hoping to find proof of a government coverup.

Since then, the Trump administration has sought to present itself as promoting transparency, with the department urging courts to unseal grand jury transcripts from the sex-trafficking investigation and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche interviewing Maxwell over the course of two days at a Florida courthouse last week.

In a letter Tuesday, Maxwell’s attorneys said that though their initial instinct was for Maxwell to invoke her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, they are open to having her cooperate provided that lawmakers satisfy their request for immunity and other conditions.

But the Oversight Committee seemed to reject that offer outright.

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“The Oversight Committee will respond to Ms. Maxwell’s attorney soon, but it will not consider granting congressional immunity for her testimony,” a spokesperson said.

Separately, Maxwell’s attorneys have urged the Supreme Court to review her conviction, saying she dd not receive a fair trial. They also say that one way she would testify “openly and honestly, in public,” is in the event of a pardon by Trump, who has told reporters that such a move is within his rights but that he has not been not asked to make it.

“She welcomes the opportunity to share the truth and to dispel the many misconceptions and misstatements that have plagued this case from the beginning,” he said.

By LINLEY SANDERS and AMELIA THOMSON-DEVEAUX

WASHINGTON (AP) — Support for Israel’s military action in Gaza has declined substantially among U.S. adults, with only about one-third approving, according to a new Gallup poll — a drop from the beginning of the war with Hamas, when about half of Americans approved of Israel’s operation.

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The new polling also found that about half of U.S. adults now have an unfavorable view of Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, the most negative rating he has received since he was first included in Gallup polling in 1997. The poll was conducted from July 7-21, while reports of starvation in Gaza led to international criticism of Israel’s decision to restrict food aid but before President Donald Trump expressed concern over the worsening humanitarian situation.

The findings underscore the Israeli government’s dramatic loss of support within the U.S. But not everyone is shifting — instead, the war has become more politically polarizing. The rising disapproval is driven by Democrats and independents, who are much less likely to approve of Israel’s actions than they were in November 2023, weeks after Hamas’ Oct. 7 surprise attack and after Israel expanded its ground offensive in Gaza. Hamas has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada and the European Union.

Republicans, on the other hand, remain largely supportive of both Israel’s military actions and Netanyahu.

Most Americans now disapprove of Israeli military action in Gaza

The new poll finds that about 6 in 10 U.S. adults disapprove of the military action Israel has taken in Gaza, up from 45% in November 2023.

Support for the war has been dwindling in Gallup’s polling for some time. In March 2024, about half of U.S. adults disapproved of Israel’s military action in Gaza, which fell slightly as the year wore on.

In a new low, only 8% of Democrats and one-quarter of independents say they now approve of Israel’s military campaign. Some of that decline may be attributed to the change in administration. While former President Joe Biden faced significant pushback from fellow Democrats on his handling of the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians, they may be even more frustrated by the approach of Trump, a Republican.

Young adults are also much more likely to disapprove of Israel’s actions. Only about 1 in 10 adults under age 35 say they approve of Israel’s military choices in Gaza, compared with about half of those who are 55 or older.

Gallup senior editor Megan Brenan says the latest figures reflect the enduring partisan divide. Even as Democrats grow increasingly unhappy with Israel’s military campaign, Republicans remain supportive.

“We’ve seen this drop in approval since last fall, and it’s really driven by Democrats and independents,” Brenan says. “Republicans are still willing to be in this for the time being.”

Netanyahu’s favorability among US adults is historically low

Views of Netanyahu have also grown less favorable over the past few years, with more viewing him negatively than positively in measurements taken since the war in Gaza began.

About half of U.S. adults, 52%, now have an unfavorable view of Netanyahu in the new poll, which overlapped with Netanyahu’s recent visit to the U.S. Just 29% view him positively, and about 2 in 10 either haven’t heard of him or don’t have an opinion.

That’s a change — although not a huge one — since December 2023, when 47% of U.S. adults had an unfavorable view of Netanyahu and 33% had a favorable opinion. But it’s a reversal from as recently as April 2019, when more U.S. adults viewed him positively than negatively.

Republicans have a much more positive view of Netanyahu than Democrats and independents do. About two-thirds of Republicans view him favorably, which is in line with last year. About 1 in 10 Democrats and 2 in 10 independents feel the same way.

“This is the first time we’ve seen a majority of Americans, with an unfavorable view of him,” Brenan says. “All of these questions in this poll show us basically the same story, and it’s not a good one for the Israeli government right now.”

Trump is unlikely to face the same pressure on his approach to Israel

More than half of U.S. adults, 55%, disapprove of Trump’s handling of the situation in the Middle East, according to a July AP-NORC poll.

But the conflict has not weighed as heavily on Trump as it did on Biden, who watched Democrats splinter on the issue. That’s because of Trump’s solid support from his base on this issue, further reflected in Republicans’ continued approval of Israel’s military action. About 8 in 10 Republicans approve of Trump’s handling of the situation in the Middle East. By contrast, only about 4 in 10 Democrats approved of Biden’s handling of the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians last summer, shortly before he dropped out of the presidential race.

In an AP-NORC poll from March, Republicans were significantly more likely than Democrats and independents to say they sympathized more with the Israelis than with the Palestinians in the conflict.

And while Americans overall were more likely to say it was “extremely” or “very” important for the United States to provide humanitarian relief to Palestinians in Gaza than to say the same about providing aid to Israel’s military, Republicans said the opposite — more saw military aid to Israel as a higher priority than providing humanitarian relief to the Palestinians in Gaza.

SAN DIEGO — A rideshare driver allowed to live in the U.S. under a program for immigrants who arrived undocumented as children said that he mistakenly drove into Tijuana while transporting passengers near San Ysidro.

Now, Erick Alexander Hernández, a 34-year-old man originally from El Salvador, is in immigration custody in San Diego and being fast-tracked for deportation, despite his explanations that it was an honest mistake. He has lived in the United States for 20 years.

“It’s a horrible nightmare,” his mother, Elsa Hernández, said on Friday. “It was a mistake. It could happen to anyone.”

His mother said that Hernández is unfamiliar with the roads in San Diego because he lives in Los Angeles. He works installing air conditioners and drives for ride-sharing services to earn extra income.

On June 1, Hernández was driving two passengers from Los Angeles, who had attended a soccer match, to San Diego. However, he missed the last exit in San Ysidro and accidentally drove into Mexico, he said in a letter shared by his attorney. The case was first reported by NBC 7 San Diego.

Hernández explained what had happened to the Mexican border officials, who then guided him to the San Ysidro Port of Entry into the United States to turn around. He was later arrested.

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, began in 2012 under the Obama administration for individuals who arrived in the United States as children and met certain requirements. The program provides temporary protection from deportation and work authorization. His mother said that her son has been a DACA recipient from the beginning.

However, DACA recipients cannot leave the country without prior authorization.

While Hernández says he made a mistake — one that numerous southbound drivers in San Diego have made over the decades — the Department of Homeland Security has characterized his border-crossing differently.

DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said Hernández “self-deported and then tried to illegally re-enter the U.S.”

In the June 23 letter, Hernández said he told U.S. border officials at the port of entry that he crossed the border by accident and showed them documents proving he is a DACA recipient.

He also claimed that while detained at the port, an official asked him for $800 to allow him to return. McLaughlin said the matter is under investigation.

“CBP takes all allegations of misconduct seriously, investigates thoroughly, and holds employees accountable when policies are violated,” she said. “This matter has been referred to the CBP Office of Professional Responsibility for review.”

Hernández is married to a U.S. citizen, and they had begun the process of legalizing his status beyond DACA, the family said.

He is currently in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the Otay Mesa Detention Center, now facing expedited removal proceedings, a process that allows the government to quickly remove someone from the country without a full hearing before an immigration judge.

His attorney, Valerie Sigamani, said she requested a stay of removal because his wife is about to give birth and his family depends on him financially. He could also be a witness in a potential corruption case, she said.

A similar scenario occurred to another DACA recipient during the first Trump administration.

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In early 2018, a UC San Diego student accidentally crossed the border while returning from a shopping mall in San Ysidro. He was arrested at the border on his way back but was released from immigration custody days later.

Pedro Ríos, director of the U.S.-Mexico program at the American Friends Service Committee, said that amid the Trump administration’s current crackdown on immigration, anyone who is not a citizen could be subject to questioning or detention.

Last month, a DACA recipient who is deaf and mute was arrested during a federal immigration raid at the car wash where he worked, the Los Angeles Times reported. He was released on bond after being detained for weeks in Texas despite having proper documentation.

“DACA does not confer any form of legal status in this country,” McLaughlin said in her statement. “Any illegal alien who is a DACA recipient may be subject to arrest and deportation.”

By LORNE COOK

BRUSSELS (AP) — France’s prime minister described it as a “dark day” for the European Union, a “submission” to U.S. tariff demands. Commentators said EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen’s handshake with President Donald Trump amounted to capitulation.

The trouble is, Europe depends mightily on the United States, and not just for trade.

Mirroring Trump, Von der Leyen gushed that the arrangement she endorsed over the weekend to set U.S. tariff levels on most European exports to 15%, which is 10% higher than currently, was “huge.” Her staff texted reporters insisting that the pact, which starts to enter force on Friday, is the “biggest trade deal ever.”

A month after NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte ingratiated himself with Trump by referring to him as “daddy,” the Europeans had again conceded that swallowing the costs and praising an unpredictable president is more palatable than losing America.

“It’s not only about the trade. It’s about security. It’s about Ukraine. It’s about current geopolitical volatility. I cannot go into all the details,” EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič told reporters Monday.

“I can assure you it was not only about the trade,” he insisted, a day after “the deal” was sealed in an hour-long meeting once Trump finished playing a round of golf with his son at the course he owns in Scotland.

The state of Europe’s security dependency

Indeed, Europe depends on the U.S. for its security and that security is anything but a game, especially since Russia invaded Ukraine. U.S. allies are convinced that, should he win, President Vladimir Putin is likely to take aim at one of them next.

So high are these fears that European countries are buying U.S. weapons to help Ukraine to defend itself. Some are prepared to send their own air defense systems and replace them with U.S. equipment, once it can be delivered.

“We’re going to be sending now military equipment and other equipment to NATO, and they’ll be doing what they want, but I guess it’s for the most part working with Ukraine,” Trump said Sunday, sounding ambivalent about America’s role in the alliance.

The Europeans also are wary about a U.S. troop drawdown, which the Pentagon is expected to announce by October. Around 84,000 U.S. personnel are based in Europe, and they guarantee NATO’s deterrent effect against an adversary like Russia.

At the same time, Trump is slapping duties on America’s own NATO partners, ostensibly due to concerns about U.S. security interests, using Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act, a logic that seems absurd from across the Atlantic.

Weaning Europe off foreign suppliers

“The EU is in a difficult situation because we’re very dependent on the U.S. for security,” said Niclas Poitiers at the Bruegel research institution in Brussels. “Ukraine is a very big part of that, but also generally our defense is underwritten by NATO.”

“I think there was not a big willingness to pick a major fight, which is the one (the EU) might have needed with the U.S.” to better position itself on trade, Poitiers told The Associated Press about key reasons for von der Leyen to accept the tariff demands.

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Part of the agreement involves a commitment to buy American oil and gas. Over the course of the Russia-Ukraine war, now in its fourth year, most of the EU has slashed its dependence on unreliable energy supplies from Russia, but Hungary and Slovakia still have not.

“Purchases of U.S. energy products will diversify our sources of supply and contribute to Europe’s energy security. We will replace Russian gas and oil with significant purchases of U.S. LNG, oil and nuclear fuels,” von der Leyen said in Scotland on Sunday.

In essence, as Europe slowly weans itself off Russian energy it is also struggling to end its reliance on the United States for its security. The Trump administration has warned its priorities now lie elsewhere, in Asia, the Middle East and on its own borders.

That was why European allies agreed at NATO’s summit last month to spend hundreds of billions of dollars more on defense over the next decade. Primarily for their own security, but also to keep America among their ranks.

The diplomacy involved was not always elegant.

“Europe is going to pay in a BIG way, as they should, and it will be your win,” Rutte wrote in a private text message to Trump, which the U.S. leader promptly posted on social media.

Rutte brushed off questions about potential embarrassment or concern that Trump had aired it, saying: “I have absolutely no trouble or problem with that because there’s nothing in it which had to stay secret.”

A price Europe feels it must pay

Von der Leyen did not appear obsequious in her meeting with Trump. She often stared at the floor or smiled politely. She did not rebut Trump when he said that only America is sending aid to Gaza. The EU is world’s biggest supplier of aid to the Palestinians.

With Trump’s threat of 30% tariffs hanging over European exports — whether real or brinksmanship is hard to say — and facing the prospect of a full-blown trade dispute while Europe’s biggest war in decades rages, 15% may have been a cheap price to pay.

“In terms of the economic impact on the EU economy itself, it will be negative,” Poitiers said. “But it’s not something that is on a comparable magnitude like the energy crisis after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, or even COVID.”

“This is a negative shock for our economy, but it is something that’s very manageable,” he said.

It remains an open question as to how long this entente will last.

Mark Carlson in Brussels contributed to this report.