eNewspaper | Crosswords | Horoscopes

On Politics

Mon Dec 22 2025

Kathryn Palmer | Politics Reporter

@KathrynPlmr

Hello, readers. Kathryn Palmer here again. Thank you to Zachary Schermele for taking over the last few days! It's a holiday week for many, so I'll be in your inbox with the usual roundup for the next few days before taking a Christmas Day break. Here's today's politics news.

Epstein accusers slam file redactions

More than a dozen people who say they are victims of accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein criticized the Justice Department's release of documents about the late financier as "riddled with abnormal and extreme redactions with no explanation." One example was a grand jury document that a federal judge allowed to be released, but all 119 pages were blacked out. No financial documents were released and hundreds of thousands of pages remain unreleased, increasing criticism over the department's handling of the documents. Two House members who wrote the bill that directed the department to release its records last week accused Attorney General Pam Bondi of "breaking the law" through the partial release of documents.

Annie Farmer, a victim of late financier Jeffrey Epstein and sister of another victim, Maria Farmer, speaks on the day of a rally in support of Epstein's victims, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., September 3, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

Evelyn Hockstein, REUTERS

A politics roundup:

•	Bernie Sanders will swear in NYC Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani at a public ceremony on Jan. 1
•	"I promise you victory." JD Vance rallies support at Turning Point USA event, in honor of the late Charlie Kirk
•	The U.S. is pursuing another oil tanker near Venezuela, reports say, following a second vessel seizure on Saturday
•	"We pulled that photo down." Justice Department defends removal of Epstein photos from public database

Gallery: What do the Epstein files show? See the photos released by the DOJ

Officials offer $3k self-deport incentive

The Department of Homeland Security is tripling its payments to undocumented immigrants who deport themselves during the holidays to $3,000 per person, as the administration continues to step up its aggressive immigration crackdown. Under Trump, the department has been offering $1,000 and free travel to persuade people without legal authority who remain in the United States to leave. An estimated 1.9 million undocumented immigrants have left the country this year, according to DHS officials, although the figure is difficult to corroborate because of people leaving voluntarily.

Denmark furious over Trump's new envoy to Greenland

Denmark is not happy about Trump's latest move toward its Arctic island territory, Greenland. The president is once again ruffling feathers in the Nordic nation after he appointed Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry as the United States' special envoy to Greenland . He said Landry intended to "make Greenland part of the U.S." Denmark, a NATO ally of the U.S., has repeatedly said Greenland is not for sale, since Trump began expressing his interest in taking control of the resource-rich territory. Earlier in December, Denmark's intelligence services described the U.S. as a potential threat to its national security because of the administration's apparent willingness to use coercion and pressure "to enforce its will."

Thanks for reading! Scroll for more stories. You can reach me at kapalmer@usatoday.com, and on on X @KathrynPlmr.