By STEPHEN GROVES

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican chair of the House Oversight Committee threatened Friday to begin contempt of Congress proceedings against former President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton if they refuse to appear for depositions as part of the committee’s investigation into Jeffrey Epstein.

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Rep. James Comer, a Kentucky Republican, said in a statement late Friday that the Clintons had “delayed, obstructed, and largely ignored the Committee staff’s efforts to schedule their testimony” for several months and said the committee would begin proceedings to try to force them to testify if they don’t appear next week or schedule an appearance in January.

Comer’s statement came just hours after Democrats on the committee had released dozens of photos they had received from Epstein’s estate, including images of Clinton and President Donald Trump.

Contempt is one of U.S. lawmakers’ politically messiest and, until recent years, least-used powers. But the way Congress has handled demands for disclosure in the investigation into Epstein has taken on new political significance as the Trump administration faces a deadline next week to release the Department of Justice’s case files on the late financier.

Bill Clinton was among a number of high-powered people connected to Epstein, a wealthy financier, before the criminal investigation against him in Florida became public two decades ago. Clinton has never been accused of wrongdoing by any of the women who say Epstein abused them.

One of Epstein’s victims, Virginia Giuffre, once gave a newspaper interview in which she described riding in a helicopter with Clinton and flirting with Trump, but she later said in a deposition that those things hadn’t actually happened and were mistakes by the reporter. Clinton has previously said through a spokesperson that while he traveled on Epstein’s jet, he never visited his homes and had no knowledge of his crimes.

Multiple former presidents have voluntarily testified before Congress, but none has been compelled to do so. That history was invoked by Trump in 2022, between his first and second terms, when he faced a subpoena by the House committee investigating the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, riot by a mob of his supporters at the U.S. Capitol.

By EDITH M. LEDERER and MARK BANCHEREAU

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United States accused Rwanda on Friday of violating a U.S.-brokered peace agreement by backing a deadly new rebel offensive in the mineral-rich eastern Congo, and warned that the Trump administration will take action against “spoilers” of the deal.

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The remarks by U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz came as more than 400 civilians have been killed since the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels escalated their offensive in eastern Congo’s South Kivu province, according to regional officials who also say that Rwandan special forces were in the strategic city of Uvira.

Waltz told the U.N. Security Council that the U.S. is “profoundly concerned and incredibly disappointed with the renewed outbreak of violence” by M23.

“Rwanda is leading the region towards increased instability and war,” Waltz warned. “We will use the tools at our disposal to hold to account spoilers to peace.”

He called on Rwanda to respect Congo’s right to defend its territory and invite friendly forces from neighboring Burundi to fight alongside Congolese forces. He also said the U.S. is engaging with all sides “to urge restraint and to avoid further escalation.”

M23’s latest push

The rebels’ latest offensive comes despite a U.S.-mediated peace agreement signed last week by the Congolese and Rwandan presidents in Washington.

The accord didn’t include the rebel group, which is negotiating separately with Congo and agreed earlier this year to a ceasefire that both sides accuse the other of violating. However, it obliges Rwanda to halt support for armed groups like M23 and work to end hostilities.

The rebels’ advance pushed the conflict to the doorstep of neighboring Burundi, which has maintained troops in eastern Congo for years, heightening fears of a broader regional spillover.

Congo’s ministry of communication confirmed in a statement Friday that M23 has seized the strategic port city of Uvira in eastern Congo, on the northern tip of Lake Tanganyika and directly across from Burundi’s largest city, Bujumbura.

Uvira was Congo’s government’s last major foothold in South Kivu after the provincial capital of Bukavu fell to the rebels in February. Its capture allows the rebels to consolidate a broad corridor of influence across the east.

M23 said it had taken control of Uvira on Wednesday afternoon, following a rapid offensive since the start of the month. Along with the more than 400 killed, about 200,000 have been displaced, regional officials say.

Concerns over an escalation

Civilians fleeing eastern Congo have also crossed into Burundi, and there have been reports of shells falling in the town of Rugombo, on the Burundian side of the border, raising concerns about the conflict spilling over into Burundian territory.

More than 100 armed groups are vying for a foothold in mineral-rich eastern Congo, near the border with Rwanda, most prominently M23. The conflict has created one of the world’s most significant humanitarian crises, with more than 7 million people displaced, according to the U.N. agency for refugees.

Congo, the U.S. and U.N. experts accuse Rwanda of backing M23, which has grown from hundreds of members in 2021 to around 6,500 fighters, according to the U.N.

Waltz said Rwandan forces have provided “logistics and training support to M23” and are fighting alongside the rebels in eastern Congo, with “roughly 5,000 to 7,000 troops as of early December.”

Congo calls for more pressure on Rwanda

Congo’s Foreign Minister Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner accused Rwanda of trampling on the peace agreement, which she described as bringing “hope of a historic turning point.”

FILE – Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Foreign Minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner attends a signing ceremony for a peace agreement between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo at the State Departmentin Washington, June 27, 2025. (AP Pho to/Mark Schiefelbein, File)

She warned, however, that the “entire process … is at stake,” and urged the Security Council to impose sanctions against military and political leaders responsible for the attacks, ban mineral exports from Rwanda and prohibit it from contributing troops to U.N. peacekeeping missions.

“Rwanda continues to benefit, especially financially but also in terms of reputation, from its status as a troop-contributing country to peacekeeping missions,” Wagner told The Associated Press.

Rwanda currently is one of the largest contributors of U.N. peacekeepers, with nearly 6,000 Rwandan troops.

Wagner also said economic agreements signed with the Trump administration as part of the peace deal will hinge on stability. “We have told our American partners that we cannot envision any path toward shared economic prosperity without peace,” she told the AP.

Eastern Congo, rich in critical minerals, has been of interest to Trump as Washington looks for ways to circumvent China to acquire rare earths, essential to manufacturing fighter jets, cell phones and more.

Wagner said the economic partnership is still at an early stage.

“Everything will start to take shape and become much more tangible once the joint governance mechanisms are put in place,” she said. “What we want is a win-win partnership … far beyond the single issue of minerals and their transfer,” she added.

Rwanda accuses Congo of ceasefire violations

Rwanda’s Ambassador to the U.N. Karoli Martin Ngoga accused Congo of repeatedly breaking the ceasefire. He also accused the Congolese government of supporting the mostly Hutu Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, which “threatens the very existence of Rwanda and its people.”

Nearly 2 million Hutus from Rwanda fled to Congo after the 1994 Rwandan genocide that killed 800,000 Tutsi, moderate Hutus and others. Rwandan authorities have accused Hutus who fled of participating in the genocide, alleging that the Congolese army protected them.

“Rwanda reiterates its full commitment to implement its part of the agreement,” Ngoga told the Security Council.

While Rwanda denies the claim that it backs M23, it acknowledged last year that it has troops and missile systems in eastern Congo, allegedly to safeguard its security. U.N. experts estimate there are up to 4,000 Rwandan forces in Congo.

Banchereau reported from Dakar, Senegal. Associated Press writer Jean-Yves Kamale in Kinshasa, Congo, contributed to this report.

A 59-year-old St. Paul man was sentenced to 17 years in prison Friday for committing two rapes about 12 years apart, the latest one while he was on probation for a 2019 sexual assault.

Thao Xiong, shown in January 2025 (Courtesy of the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office)

In January, Thao Xiong was charged in Ramsey County District Court with raping a 71-year-old St. Paul woman he met on Facebook. At the time of the offense, he was on probation for raping a 41-year-old woman six years earlier in St. Paul.

But he had a longtime secret, which came out in March through his DNA: He raped a woman at a Maplewood motel in 2013.

In July, Xiong pleaded guilty to first-degree criminal sexual conduct in connection with the 2013 assault and an amended charge of third-degree criminal sexual conduct in the January case.

“These are separate instances, many years between each other,” Assistant Ramsey County Attorney Andrew Johnson said at sentencing. “There are separate victims, and they absolutely deserve their own separate sentence.”

Judge Kellie Charles followed a plea agreement Xiong reached with the prosecution, giving him 13- and four-year sentences, to be served consecutively. He received credit for 399 days already served in custody.

After incarceration, he will be on lifetime conditional release and must register as a predatory offender.

2019 sexual assault

Xiong was charged with first-degree criminal sexual conduct in Ramsey County in July 2019.

Witnesses told police that a group of acquaintances had been drinking at Xiong’s St. Paul apartment and that a 41-year-old woman became drunk and ended up in his bed, the criminal complaint says. A witness later looked in the bedroom and saw Xiong on top of the woman, who was naked from the waist down.

She “finally escaped” to a different apartment, while still partially naked, the complaint says. She had scratches and bruises on her inner thighs, neck, shoulder, legs and arms.

Xiong reached a plea deal with prosecutors in February 2020 and admitted to fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct in exchange for the more serious charge being dismissed. He was sentenced to 231 days in jail, which was time that he had already served after his arrest, and put on supervised probation for 10 years.

January sexual assault

Police were dispatched to the 71-year-old woman’s apartment in St. Paul’s Summit-University neighborhood Jan. 28 after she reported she had just been forcefully sexually assaulted by a man, who was later identified as Xiong, the complaint says.

She told police someone must have given Xiong her phone number because he called, asking to meet. She agreed, and invited him over.

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When he entered the apartment, she told police, he pushed her into her bedroom, took off her clothes and raped her.

Xiong then left the apartment, although she was able to get a photograph of him, which she gave to police. She said he left in a black Jeep and gave police his license plate information.

The woman was taken to the hospital where she underwent a sexual assault examination. During the exam, she said Xiong had befriended her on Facebook a day before the assault.

Medical records show the woman was injured during the assault, and forensic samples were collected for the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension to analyze.

After his arrest, Xiong underwent a suspect sexual assault examination. While waiting to be booked into jail, he “spontaneously” said this was the second person who accused him of rape, the complaint says.

DNA match

According to the May complaint, a woman reported to police on July 15, 2013, that she had just been sexually assaulted at a motel off U.S. 61 in Maplewood by a man she knew as “Chue Lee,” identified in November 2020 through a DNA match as Xiong.

The woman said she had been talking with “Chue” for two days over the phone, that she did not know him previously and had assumed he got her number from someone she knew.

She said he called her on July 15 and said he was coming to Minnesota from Wisconsin and wanted her to show him around. They met in the parking lot of a St. Paul grocery store, where he suggested they get something to eat. Rather than going to a restaurant, he brought her to the motel, saying he wanted to get some rest before eating.

Xiong rented the room and once inside, locked the door and began “ripping her clothes apart,” the complaint says. She said he “overpowered” her and raped her.

She went to a hospital for a sexual assault examination the same day. A nurse examiner noted bruising to the woman’s body and she complained about areas where she said Xiong had bitten her.

The complaint says motel video shows Xiong arriving with the woman in a Toyota Prius, and leaving 45 minutes later.

An investigator in late July 2020 discovered the sexual assault kit, which had not been tested. It was brought to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and four months later an unidentified male DNA profile taken from swabs of the woman was entered into the state’s DNA databases and the National DNA Index System.

The BCA notified St. Paul police on Nov. 4, 2020, that Xiong’s DNA, obtained from his 2019 sexual assault case, matched the DNA in the 2013 assault. Police tried to contact the woman but were unsuccessful, the complaint says.

Last March, police were told DNA collected from Xiong in the January case matched the DNA found on the swabs taken from the 2013 victim, the complaint says.

Police again tried to reach the woman and were successful on April 10 after her son called to ask why they were trying to contact his mother who does not speak English. She told police through an interpreter she “had been waiting for a very long time for an update on her case and wants him prosecuted for sexually assaulting her,” the complaint says.

‘It was not my fault’

At sentencing, prosecutor Johnson told the judge that Xiong’s 2013 victim did not want to submit an impact statement. Johnson said she asked him to convey that shortly after the incident, she had a small stroke that she believed was due to stress from the sexual assault.

Johnson then read a statement from Xiong’s latest victim, who said she was still afraid of Xiong and wondered why he targeted her. “I never met him before, and do not understand why this happened,” she wrote.

Over time, she wrote, “I have come to see that it was not my fault.”

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The Transportation Security Administration is renewing Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s push to end a collective bargaining agreement with airport screening officers — the second such attempt this year and one that comes just a month after the longest government shutdown on record.

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The agency said Friday the move is based on a September memo from Noem that says TSA screeners “have a primary function of national security” and therefore should not engage in collective bargaining or be represented by a union.

The American Federation of Government Employees swiftly vowed to fight the decision, calling it illegal and a violation of a federal judge’s preliminary injunction issued in June that blocked Noem’s first attempt to terminate the contract representing 47,000 workers. Emailed requests for comment were sent to TSA and Homeland Security.

TSA said it plans to rescind the current seven-year contract in January and replace it with a new “security-focused framework.” The agreement was supposed to expire in 2031.

Adam Stahl, acting TSA deputy administrator, said in a statement that airport screeners “need to be focused on their mission of keeping travelers safe.”

“Under the leadership of Secretary Noem, we are ridding the agency of wasteful and time-consuming activities that distracted our officers from their crucial work,” Stahl said.

The announcement also comes weeks after Noem held a news conference in which she handed out $10,000 bonus checks to TSA officers who she said went “above and beyond” during the 43-day shutdown, when thousands of airport screeners continued reporting for duty despite missing more than six weeks of pay during the lapse in funding.

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, right, shakes hands with Transportation Security Administration Officer Monica Degro at a news conference at Harry Reid International Airport, Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ronda Churchill)

“Merely 30 days ago, Secretary Noem celebrated TSA officers for their dedication during the longest government shutdown in history,” AFGE National President Everett Kelley said in a statement. “Today, she’s announcing a lump of coal right on time for the holidays: that she’s stripping those same dedicated officers of their union rights.”

AFGE entered into the collective bargaining agreement with TSA last May. But Noem issued a memo on Feb. 27 rescinding that agreement, and TSA notified the union a week later that the contract had been terminated and all pending grievances would be deleted.

The union sued, claiming the move was retaliation for AFGE’s resistance to the Trump administration’s attacks on federal workers. A trial is currently scheduled for next year.

The Trump administration has been laying the groundwork to weaken or eliminate protections for federal workers as it moves swiftly to shrink the bureaucracy.

In granting a preliminary injunction in June, U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman of Seattle said the order was necessary to preserve the rights and benefits TSA workers have long held under union representation.

Pechman wrote that AFGE had shown in its lawsuit that Noem’s directive “constitutes impermissible retaliation,” likely violated the union’s due process, and was “arbitrary and capricious” — findings that the judge said make it likely AFGE will ultimately prevail.