Shortly after announcing a strategy to go after deceptive direct-to-consumer advertising by the pharmaceutical industry, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the Department of Health and Human Services released a parody video of a drug advertisement – a pointed way of emphasizing the fact that the United States is largely unique in allowing drug ads.

‘Tired of endless drug ads promising quick fixes but leaving you sicker than you were before? That can change today. Ask your doctor about MAHA,’ the parody commercial begins, referring to Kennedy’s ‘Make America Healthy Again’ initiative. 

‘MAHA may cause healthier living, fewer chronic diseases, and lower drug costs,’ the video’s narrator continues. ‘Some Americans reported more time spent with family instead of at the pharmacy. Other side effects may include healthier children, a stronger nation, more transparency in healthcare, honest advertising, and accountability from Big Pharma.’

The drug advertisement parody comes after Kennedy and HHS laid out their plans to target direct-to-consumer drug advertising – something that isn’t widely allowed outside the United States – in a new children’s health strategy released earlier this month. 

The strategy said it will ramp up enforcement of current prescription drug advertising laws, with a priority on ‘egregious violations demonstrating harm from current practices.’ The strategy noted these violations could include the dissemination of ‘risk information and quality of life through misleading and deceptive advertising on social media and digital platforms.’

The strategy to go after direct-to-consumer drug ads will also include inter-agency cooperation to explore the development of potential new industry guidelines that limit direct-to-consumer advertising for certain ‘unhealthy foods’ to children. These efforts include ‘evaluating the use of misleading claims and imagery,’ the MAHA children’s strategy stated. 

Kennedy said alongside the release of HHS’s parody advertisement that the Trump administration plans to begin holding the pharmaceutical industry accountable for not sharing full safety information in their drug ads on television, radio and beyond.

‘No more hiding vital information in small print, or pushing it off to a website, or a 1-800 number,’ Kennedy said in a video released in conjunction with the parody advertisement. He also noted that regulators have been letting pharmaceutical manufacturers avoid providing complete warnings in their marketing materials.

Kennedy said in the accompanying video that, in the past, regulators let companies mention a vague ‘major statement’ of risk that required consumers to go elsewhere for important details about the drug. The secretary said this ‘loophole’ opened the door to a ‘tsunami’ of misleading advertisements.

‘Drug ads drove up prescription drug costs and distorted doctor-patient conversations. Patients saw glossy ads and often asked for new medications,’ Kennedy continued. ‘Big Pharma’s marketing hooked the country on prescription drugs. We’re taking action to end that practice.’

Senate Republicans rammed through dozens of President Donald Trump’s nominees on Thursday in their first flex of the Senate’s new rules for confirmations.

Lawmakers voted along party lines to confirm 48 of Trump’s nominees, many being for undersecretary or assistant secretary positions in a variety of agencies throughout the federal government and ambassadorships.

Senate Republicans went ‘nuclear’ last week to make the change after a last-minute deal with Democrats fell apart.

The change ushered in by the ‘nuclear option’ allows lawmakers to confirm an unlimited number of nominees in batches, also known as en bloc, with a simple majority vote in the upper chamber. However, the process is time-consuming, given that lawmakers must jump through procedural hoops and allow for 30 hours of debate.

‘Why has not a single nominee been confirmed by voice vote or by unanimous consent? We know why,’ Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., said on the Senate floor. ‘It’s Democrat obstruction.

‘The country has never seen anything like this,’ he continued. ‘Senate Democrats are freezing the Senate floor, freezing the federal government and freezing our nation’s progress. This harms America’s safety. It hamstrings the agenda that Americans voted for.’

Among this batch of nominees were Kimberly Guilfoyle, who Trump tapped to be the U.S. ambassador to Greece, and Callista Gingrich, who was picked to be the U.S. ambassador to Switzerland.

Republicans argued that the change would benefit both parties now and in the future and viewed the change as an option of last resort to break through Senate Democrats’ blockade of Trump’s picks.

Typically, subcabinet-level nominees, particularly those with bipartisan support out of committee, are sped through the Senate either by unanimous consent or through a voice vote, two fast-track procedural moves in the upper chamber. All the nominees in this first round made it out of committee on a bipartisan basis.

However, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and his caucus wouldn’t allow either to be used and caused a backlog of nominees to lower level positions in the Trump administration to pile up. As of Thursday, the list had swollen to 173.

The only one of Trump’s nominees that easily moved through the chamber was Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was confirmed in January on a near unanimous vote. 

House Main Street Caucus Chairman Mike Flood, R-Neb., will refer Democratic colleague Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., for a House Ethics Committee investigation, he first told Fox News Digital.

It is the latest move in the GOP-led fallout over Omar’s response to the assassination of Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist who was shot and killed in Utah during a college campus speaking event last week.

‘I will be filing tomorrow … a complaint with the Committee on Ethics in the House of Representatives with 18 very concerning incidents and/or behaviors and/or statements that, on their face, reflect poorly on the House of Representatives,’ Flood said of Omar.

The top of the list of complaints will include the progressive Democrat’s ‘obnoxious, insulting and dismissive comments following the assassination of Charlie Kirk,’ he said.

‘Second, harboring illegal immigrants. I believe in February of this year that Omar hosted a workshop advising Somalians on how to avoid being deported after protecting the laws of the United States,’ Flood continued of his points. ‘No. 3, she’s used TikTok for mixed official and campaign content, which specifically violates other House rules.’

Flood was one of four House Republicans to help Omar narrowly avoid being censured by the House on Wednesday evening.

Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., moved to force a vote on censuring Omar over her reaction to Kirk’s killing, but the move was quashed when four Republicans and all Democrats voted to table the measure.

Flood said at the time of his vote, ‘Ilhan Omar’s statements and social media posts are reprehensible and should be referred to the Ethics Committee. The appropriate time to consider a censure motion would be after ethics reviews her conduct.’

He told Fox News Digital on Thursday that initiating an ethics investigation would make a censure ‘far more credible.’

Flood pointed out that he similarly voted to table a censure threat against Rep. LaMonica McIver, D-N.J., for her conduct outside a New Jersey ICE facility before the ethics committee could issue a report on the matter.

‘And so I have gathered enough information, starting yesterday, before I voted to table, understanding that this was an issue,’ Flood said.

He also disagreed with the other three House Republicans who all said Omar’s comments were protected by the First Amendment.

‘This isn’t a free speech issue. This is a ‘Have you demonstrated that you are behaving at all times in a manner that reflects credibly on the House?’’ Flood said.

Omar specifically faced backlash over an interview with progressive news outlet Zeteo, in which she criticized Kirk’s past commentary and Republicans’ reaction to the shooting. She later accused Republicans of taking her words out of context, and she called Kirk’s death ‘mortifying.’

She previously told Zeteo days after Kirk’s assassination that he had ‘downplayed slavery and what Black people have gone through in this country by saying Juneteenth shouldn’t exist.’

‘There are a lot of people who are out there talking about him just wanting to have a civil debate,’ the ‘Squad’ member said. ‘There is nothing more effed up, you know, like, than to completely pretend that, you know, his words and actions have not been recorded and in existence for the last decade or so.’

She later posted on X amid the backlash, ‘While I disagreed with Charlie Kirk vehemently about his rhetoric, my heart breaks for his wife and children. I don’t wish violence on anyone. My faith teaches me the power of peace, empathy, and compassion. Right-wing accounts trying to spin a false story when I condemned his murder multiple times is fitting for their agenda to villainize the left to hide from the fact that Donald Trump gins up hate on a daily basis.’

Omar also reposted a video on X, where others not associated with the congresswoman said, ‘Don’t be fooled, these people don’t give a single s— about Charlie Kirk. They’re just using his death to further their Christo-fascist agenda.’

The Minnesota Democrat’s colleagues have vehemently defended her against Mace’s censure and Republican criticism.

Fox News Digital reached out to Omar’s office for a response to Flood but did not immediately hear back.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., clashed with Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and former CDC Director Susan Monarez over recommending vaccines for infants on Wednesday.

The back-and-forth arose during a Senate hearing on Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s decision to oust Monarez last month. Monarez claims she was forced out for refusing to fire individuals responsible for the CDC’s vaccine recommendations, arguing there is no scientific support for removing certain vaccines from the list.

Paul sought to turn the tables on the former official during his questioning.

‘When we’re discussing the science here, we have to discuss what is the science in favor of giving the vaccine to a 6-month-old, and what are the benefits from that? And there is no benefit of hospitalization or death. And then what would the risks of that vaccine be? We have large population studies of the risks of the vaccine in younger people,’ Paul said.

‘You won’t fire the people who are saying we have to vaccinate our kids at 6 months of age. That’s who you refused to fire,’ he pressed.

‘That assertion is not commensurate with the experience that I had with the individuals who were identified to be fired,’ Monarez replied as Paul cut her off.

‘Did any of the people you refused to fire,’ Paul began before Sanders then interjected himself: ‘She’s about to answer the question.’

Paul then argued that ‘we should’ remove recommendations that infants receive the COVID-19 vaccine and others that he said are not relevant for children.

‘What is the medical reason to give a Hepatitis-B vaccine to a newborn whose mom has no Hepatitis?’ Paul asked.

Sanders then interjected again as Paul spoke over Monarez, who did not directly answer the question.

‘You had your time Bernie, I’ve got mine,’ Paul said testily before turning back to Monarez. ‘What is the medical, scientific reason and proof for giving a newborn a Hepatitis-B vaccine if the mom is Hep-B negative?’

Monarez again refused to answer the question directly, and Paul argued that ‘the burden should be on you’ to prove that vaccines recommended for infants are actually helpful.

‘You want to make all kids take this? The burden is upon you,’ he said.

Former President Barack Obama said conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s death was ‘horrific and a tragedy,’ while also taking a veiled shot at President Donald Trump with accusations of sowing political division in the country as the nation faces an unprecedented ‘political crisis.’ 

‘Regardless of where you are on the political spectrum, what happened to Charlie Kirk was horrific and a tragedy,’ Obama said Tuesday night at the Jefferson Educational Society’s 17th annual global summit in Erie, Pennsylvania. 

‘Obviously I didn’t know Charlie Kirk,’ Obama said. ‘I was generally aware of some of his ideas. I think those ideas were wrong, but that doesn’t negate the fact that what happened was a tragedy and that I mourn for him and his family.’

Obama, who said Tuesday that the nation is facing a ‘political crisis of the sort that we haven’t seen before,’ did not mention Trump by name in his remarks. 

Kirk, 31, was killed after suffering a gunshot wound in the neck during his American Comeback Tour at Utah Valley University Sept. 10. The shooting suspect, Tyler Robinson, was charged Monday with aggravated murder, along with other charges. 

The assassination comes a year after two attempts to take the president’s life.

While Obama admitted that extremists are present at both ends of the political divide, he distanced himself and his administration from far-left ideologues. 

‘Those extreme views were not in my White House,’ Obama claimed. ‘I wasn’t empowering them. I wasn’t putting the weight of the United States government behind them. When we have the weight of the United States government behind extremist views, we’ve got a problem.’ 

Additionally, Obama signaled that the current White House was seeking to ‘silence discussion’ in the aftermath of Kirk’s death, comments that come as Trump and administration officials have vowed to take action against those who have cheered for Kirk’s death on social media and cast blame on the ‘radical left’ for recent political violence. 

‘When I hear not just our current president, but his aides, who have a history of calling political opponents ‘vermin,’ enemies who need to be ‘targeted,’ that speaks to a broader problem that we have right now, and something that we’re going to have to grapple with — all of us,’ Obama said. 

In response, the White House said that Obama is the ‘architect’ for creating political division within America. 

‘Barack Hussein Obama is the architect of modern political division in America — famously demeaning millions of patriotic Americans who opposed his liberal agenda as ‘bitter’ for ‘cling(ing) to guns or religion,’’ White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in a Wednesday statement. ‘Obama used every opportunity to sow division and pit Americans against each other, and following his presidency more Americans felt Obama divided the country than felt he united it.’ 

‘His division has inspired generations of Democrats to slander their opponents as ‘deplorables,’ or ‘fascists,’ or ‘Nazis,” Jackson said. ‘If he cares about unity in America, he would tell his own party to stop their destructive behavior.’ 

Obama previously weighed in to express his condolences to Kirk’s family immediately after the shooting. 

‘We don’t yet know what motivated the person who shot and killed Charlie Kirk, but this kind of despicable violence has no place in our democracy,’ Obama said in an X post Sept. 10. ‘Michelle and I will be praying for Charlie’s family tonight, especially his wife Erika and their two young children.’ 

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said during a campaign event Tuesday evening that he stayed close with Charlie Kirk after he appeared as his debut guest on his podcast, ‘This is Gavin Newsom,’ in January.

‘He was gracious enough, to not only say, yes, he flew out, to do it in person,’ Newsom said to progressive political commentator Bryan Tyler Cohen. 

‘And I spent not just the hour plus, in a very civil conversation with Charlie, I spent time with him after, and we stayed in touch, including my team, stayed in touch pretty consistently,’ the liberal governor said.

Kirk and Newsom clashed over transgender athletes in women’s sports on the podcast, but Newsom — breaking with his progressive base — sided with Kirk, calling it ‘an issue of fairness’ and ‘deeply unfair.’ He also noted that his own children watch Kirk’s videos.

‘Obviously, we have deep differences of opinion,’ Newsom said Tuesday. ‘Obviously, he was very offended by positions I hold dear, and I, in turn, very offended by things that he said in positions he held. But the fact is, we had that opportunity to engage.’

‘It’s all at stake,’ the governor continued. ‘This is a profound and consequential moment in American history. We can lose this republic if we do not assert ourselves. And stand tall at this moment and stand guard, to this republic and our democracy.’

The comments came during a three-hour livestream rebranded as a Voter Registration Day Rally after Kirk’s death. Newsom framed his ‘FAFO 50’ (F— Around and Find Out) redistricting measure as part of a broader battle against what he called a ‘code red’ threat to American democracy. Joined by Democrat politicians, celebrities and influencers, Newsom claimed President Donald Trump and his allies are undermining institutions from universities to the Justice Department, and pushing to redefine dissent as ‘hate speech.’ 

Newsom urged Democrats to wield their ‘moral authority’ with ‘muscularity’ to counter Republican redistricting efforts.

‘We need to win this,’ he said, ‘or we lose this republic, we lose this democracy.’

Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA — the nation’s largest grassroots conservative youth movement — was assassinated last week at Utah Valley University during his ‘American Comeback Tour,’ where he invited liberal students to challenge him in open debate and ask questions.

Suspect Tyler Robinson was formally charged by the state of Utah on Tuesday. Robinson espoused far-left ideology and had a ‘hatred’ for Kirk’s views, according to an indictment.

Ahead of Charlie Kirk’s memorial service, his organization, Turning Point USA (TPUSA), added new commemorative merchandise to its online store this week. 

The 11 new items are available ahead of Kirk’s celebration of life ceremony, which is scheduled for Sunday at State Farm Stadium in Arizona. President Donald Trump will speak at Kirk’s memorial service along with Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.

One T-shirt features a line-art illustration of the Kirk family walking hand in hand, with a halo above Charlie Kirk’s head. Under the image, in bold block letters, the shirt reads ‘NEVER SURRENDER,’ and beneath, in script, it says ‘Love, An American Mother.’ A black shirt dubbed as the memorial tee, features a bold distressed graphic with the words ‘This Is Our Turning Point.’ The new merchandise also includes baseball hats and stickers.

In addition to the new merchandise, Kirk’s books are charting in Amazon’s top 20, and his podcast has soared to the No. 1 position in multiple categories. Meanwhile, millions have gravitated to Kirk’s social media presence in the wake of his assassination. The spike has been especially pronounced on YouTube, where subscriber growth has translated into higher view counts and a jump in estimated earnings.

Kirk was assassinated on Sept. 10 during an outdoor event at Utah Valley University. The gathering was the first stop on TPUSA’s planned ‘American Comeback Tour,’ and, at first, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The charismatic founder of TPUSA gained recognition for his signature political debates on college campuses. Before the shot that killed him was fired, Kirk sat under a white tent marked with the slogan ‘Prove Me Wrong,’ fielding open-mic questions from thousands. 

After his death, TPUSA has seen a massive surge in inquiries for new college chapters as the organization works to advance Kirk’s vision. Andrew Kolvet, executive producer of ‘The Charlie Kirk Show,’ said the organization has received more than 54,000 requests to establish new campus chapters, adding to its current network of 900 official chapters. 

He also told Fox News Digital that he has ‘personally received hundreds of offers to work’ for TPUSA.  

The House of Representatives voted along bipartisan lines on Wednesday to table a resolution to censure Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., over comments about Charlie Kirk.

Four House Republicans voted with Democrats to table the legislation, effectively blocking it from receiving its own House-wide vote. A vote to table is a procedural mechanism allowing House members to vote against consideration of a bill without having to vote on the bill itself.

The measure was blocked in a narrow 214 to 213 vote. The four Republicans who voted to table the measure are Reps. Mike Flood, R-Neb., Tom McClintock, R-Calif., Jeff Hurd, R-Colo., and Cory Mills, R-Fla.

Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., moved to force a vote on the resolution Tuesday by introducing it as ‘privileged,’ a mechanism that requires House leaders to deal with a measure within two legislative days. 

It’s part of the continued fallout from Omar’s remarks made days after Kirk’s assassination, which conservatives have accused of disparaging the conservative activist’s legacy.

She specifically faced backlash over an interview with progressive news outlet Zeteo, where she criticized Kirk’s past commentary and Republicans’ reaction to the shooting. She later accused Republicans of taking her words out of context, and she called Kirk’s death ‘mortifying.’

She previously told Zeteo days after Kirk’s assassination that he had ‘downplayed slavery and what Black people have gone through in this country by saying Juneteenth shouldn’t exist.’

‘There are a lot of people who are out there talking about him just wanting to have a civil debate,’ the ‘Squad’ member said. ‘There is nothing more effed up, you know, like, than to completely pretend that, you know, his words and actions have not been recorded and in existence for the last decade or so.’

She later posted on X amid the backlash, ‘While I disagreed with Charlie Kirk vehemently about his rhetoric, my heart breaks for his wife and children. I don’t wish violence on anyone. My faith teaches me the power of peace, empathy, and compassion. Right-wing accounts trying to spin a false story when I condemned his murder multiple times is fitting for their agenda to villainize the left to hide from the fact that Donald Trump gins up hate on a daily basis.’

Kirk was shot and killed during a college campus speaking event in Utah. 

Mace introduced her resolution on the House floor Tuesday by reading it on the House floor.

‘Charlie Kirk was a lifelong advocate for freedom of speech, civil political discourse and the political engagement of youth,’ Mace read aloud. ‘One day after the assassination of Charlie Kirk, Representative Ilhan Omar gave an interview on Zeteo’s town hall with Mehdi Hassan, in which she smeared Charlie Kirk and implied he was to blame for his own murder.’

Mace also accused Omar of reposting a video that said, ‘Don’t be fooled, these people don’t give a single s— about Charlie Kirk. They’re just using his death to further their Christo-fascist agenda.’

Other progressives leaped to Omar’s defense, including Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Ill., who posted on X, ‘Babe, those are not direct quotes from Ilhan Omar. According to the APA, if you use a direct quotation, it must sustain your claim. The quotes you used are not Ilhan’s words, they are not in context and do not prove your point. Read before you tweet.’

It’s one of several measures targeting Omar over her comments.

Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Ga., who is running for Senate, introduced his own measure to strip Omar of her committee assignments on Monday.

The House voted Wednesday to advance a resolution honoring slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk, clearing the way for floor debate later this week.

Lawmakers voted in favor of advancing the measure and a bill to avert a government shutdown in a joint mechanism known as a ‘rule vote.’

The rule was adopted in a 216 to 210 vote along party lines. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., who is known to be opposing the federal funding bill, was the lone lawmaker from either side to vote ‘present.’

Massie explained to Fox News Digital that he vehemently supports the Kirk resolution, but opposed an unrelated provision in the rule that blocks Congress’ ability from weighing in on tariff policy.

‘I’m a cosponsor of the Kirk resolution, and obviously I will vote for it, but shamefully they turned off Congress’s ability to vote on tariffs with this rule,’ Massie said.

Rule votes are procedural hurdles that commonly tie together unrelated pieces of legislation that, if adopted, allow House lawmakers to debate each measure individually before respective votes. 

The current rule’s adoption means House lawmakers could vote on the resolution to honor Kirk on either Thursday or Friday.

A vote on the measure to avert a government shutdown – a short-term extension of current federal funding levels called a continuing resolution, or CR – is expected Friday morning.

It is not surprising that no Democrats supported the rule’s adoption on Wednesday; rule votes traditionally fall along party lines and have rarely seen bipartisan crossover, even if the legislation they include has wide support from both Republicans and Democrats.

And while Democrats are largely expected to buck the GOP-led government funding patch, the resolution to honor Kirk’s legacy is expected to get healthy bipartisan support.

The Turning Point USA founder was assassinated last week during a college campus speaking event in Utah.

The resolution to honor him, led by Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., lauded Kirk as ‘one of the most prominent voices in America, engaging in respectful, civil discourse across college campuses, media platforms and national forums, always seeking to elevate truth, foster understanding and strengthen the Republic.’

It also said Kirk’s ‘commitment to civil discussion and debate stood as a model for young Americans across the political spectrum, and he worked tirelessly to promote unity without compromising on conviction,’ and it called his killing ‘a sobering reminder of the growing threat posed by political extremism and hatred in our society.’

Both Democrats and Republicans have released statements condemning political violence in the wake of Kirk’s killing.

The latter measure that advanced on Wednesday evening, the CR, will keep government agencies funded at current levels through Nov. 21 of this year – if it’s passed by the House and Senate and signed into law by President Donald Trump.

That bill includes a combined $88 million in added security funds for Congress, the judicial branch and the executive branch.

Conversations about boosting lawmaker security, in particular, had been ongoing but took on new urgency after Kirk’s death.

Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., sharply criticized Kash Patel’s tenure as FBI director Wednesday, telling reporters that he viewed Patel’s leadership as deeply partisan and a ‘terrible tragedy’ for the nation’s sprawling law enforcement agency. 

Speaking at a news conference alongside former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and other House Democrats, Schiff took umbrage at Patel’s testimony one day earlier before the Senate Judiciary Committee, which Schiff said further crystallized his concerns about politicization within the bureau.

The FBI ‘has been the premier law enforcement agency in the country, and the world, because they’ve been constantly professional and non-partisan,’ Schiff said Wednesday, noting the close working relationship he had with FBI agents during the years he spent as a federal prosecutor. 

‘It is a terrible tragedy, I think, for the men and women of the bureau to have such poor leadership that is replacing expertise with incompetence, that is replacing non-partisanship with the most rabid partisanship,’ Schiff told Fox News Digital. ‘And this is not unrelated to why we’re here today.’

His remarks come as Patel appeared on Capitol Hill Wednesday for a second day of testimony before the Senate and House Judiciary committees.

Both hearings were marked by sharp lines of questioning from Democrats, who grilled Patel on issues ranging from a flurry of FBI firings, the bureau’s handling of the Epstein files and concerns of politicization, among many other topics.

Schiff, in particular, pressed Patel on his tenure at the FBI, saying the bureau’s agents — mostly assigned to its 52 field offices across the country and loath to see their work politicized — wanted to know what, if any, marching orders Patel had received from President Donald Trump.

The heated back-and-forth devolved into a shouting match between the two as Schiff pressed Patel repeatedly on the firings of FBI agents and whether those individuals were removed for political reasons.

Patel, for his part, described Schiff as a ‘political buffoon.’ 

Speaking to reporters Wednesday, Schiff said Patel’s appearance did little to assuage his broader fears of weaponization within the bureau.

‘You can’t have a vibrant democracy without the rule of law,’ he told Fox News Digital. ‘You can’t have the rule of law if you have a weaponized FBI and a weaponized Justice Department, and, sadly, that’s what we have here today,’ Schiff said.

He also weighed in on Patel’s remarks yesterday on the Epstein files, another issue that sparked intense criticism from lawmakers, after Patel claimed Tuesday that there was ‘no credible evidence’ that Jeffrey Epstein was trafficking women other than for himself. 

Schiff said it was a ‘startling claim,’ particularly from someone who had previously promoted the belief that Epstein maintained a vast client list of powerful people.

‘So, it was completely contradictory to everything he said in the past,’ he said. He also noted Patel’s ‘refusal’ to answer his questions on why Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche declined to press Ghislaine Maxwell further on the Cabinet members she identified as being ‘close’ to Epstein or having a relationship with him during a two-day interview in July.

‘Blanche refused to ask who they were and just ignored her comment,’ Schiff added. 

‘And this is, again, the kind of incompetence we’re seeing,’ he said. ‘Incompetence is probably the most polite thing I can describe, but it certainly looks like a cover-up.’

The Justice Department and FBI have struggled to quell the mounting public pressure on them to release more information related to the Epstein investigation, underscoring the story’s sticking power in a fast-moving news cycle and among Trump supporters, who have been some of the leading voices in demanding the information be released.