Evening Wire: Hillary Testifies & Iran Talks Resume | 2.26.26

Hillary Clinton testifies under oath on Jeffrey Epstein, the U.S. station's fighter jets in Israel amid talks with Iran, and newly appointed fraud czar J.D. Vance clearly understands the assignment. I'm Daily Wire executive editor John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Thursday, February 26th. This is Evening Wire. Hillary Clinton testified under oath today before the House Oversight Committee as part of its investigation into Jeffrey Epstein. Daily Wire reporter Lyndon Blake has the details. The closed-door deposition went off the rails briefly over a leaked photo from inside. The photo was reportedly shared by Representative Lauren Boebert, something that Clinton's advisers claimed violated House rules, prompting the proceedings to pause. Clinton has criticized the probe as partisan, while lawmakers from both parties say they are seeking answers about Epstein's connections to powerful people. Former President Bill Clinton is scheduled to testify Friday. Committee Chairman James Comer says video and transcripts will be released after members review them, calling it a potentially lengthy session. The Clintons had previously resisted appearing, but agreed after lawmakers moved toward holding them in contempt. Meanwhile, a Harvard math professor has been put on leave after his ties with Epstein were revealed in a recent Boston Globe expose. The Globe characterized Professor Martin Novak as Epstein's, quote, inside man at Harvard, facilitating over 40 visits to the university as well as contacts with other academics. That's even after his 2008 sex crimes conviction. In other Epstein news, the CEO of the World Economic Forum and organizer of the Davos Summit, Borgay Brenda, announced he's stepping down. He did not cite Epstein in his resignation letter, but his departure comes just days after it was revealed he took at least three dinner meetings with Epstein between 2018 and 19, including one at the pedophile's home. He also exchanged friendly texts, including one that said, missing you, sir. He's also under internal investigation by the WEF for the relationship. He previously denied having any contact with Epstein prior to the release of the documents. A fresh round of nuclear talks is underway between the U.S. and Iran. American Envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are in Geneva today hoping to hash out a deal that would neuter Iran's military nuclear capacity. Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke yesterday on the U.S. Perspective heading into the talks. After their nuclear program was obliterated, they were told not to try to restart it. And here they are. You can see them always trying to rebuild elements of it. If what they really wanted was energy from, they could do small modular reactors. But when you say we want to enrich and we want to enrich deep underground and you have a history in the past of enriching to 20 and even 60 percent, plus you building missiles that could potentially carry warheads that doesn sound to me like someone who a country that not interested in building weapons This is an unsustainable threat The talks come amid a massive military buildup in the Middle East the largest since the 2003 invasion of Iraq As part of that buildup and amid rising tensions with Iran, the U.S. will station fighter jets in Israel for the first time in history. Daily Wire Foreign Affairs reporter Cassie Akiva has more. For decades, the U.S. has avoided the appearance of deep military integration with Israel, but that posture appears to have shifted since the signing of the Abraham Accords. U.S. officials say the move strengthens defenses against potential Iranian retaliation, particularly in response to the U.S. action on Iran's nuclear or missile programs, and allows aircraft to be widely dispersed across the region rather than concentrated at a few bases. Although small numbers of American troops have operated in Israel in the past, The U.S. has never operated fighter jets from Israeli bases. It's also worth noting that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently departed Israel following a two-day visit. His presence may have served as a temporary constraint on military action, as it was unlikely that any party involved would risk endangering the leader of the world's most populous country. Secretary Marco Rubio addressed the deadly incident off the coast of Cuba. As we reported yesterday, Cuban authorities engaged a speedboat from Florida, leaving four dead and six injured in a reported shootout. Here's Rubio. As it stands now, the Department of Homeland Security, the Coast Guard, others are involved. The majority of the information we still possess is what Cuban authorities are providing both the public and the U.S. government. We have various different elements of the U.S. government that are trying to verify elements of the story based on what's been provided to us. The Cuban government claims that individuals on the boat opened fire on Cuban military personnel prompting a response. It's unknown at this time where the vessel originated and if there were any U.S. citizens on board. Federal agents executed search warrants Wednesday tied to the Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent. Daily Wire immigration reporter Jenny Tehr has the details. The searches targeted Superintendent Alberto Carvello's home in San Pedro, the district's downtown headquarters, and a Miami-area property connected to him. A spokesperson for the U.S. attorney's office confirmed that authorities have sealed the details of the investigation. Staff evacuated to LAUSD headquarters as agents arrived, and video showed investigators entering and leaving Carvalho's residence carrying boxes and a small suitcase. Carvalho came to the United States in the 1980s as an illegal immigrant. He worked construction and in restaurants for a few years, then attained a student visa, followed by citizenship. Before his current position, he headed Miami-Dade Public Schools, where he faced scrutiny in 2020 after helping secure a million donation from a company with a pending district contract for a nonprofit that he founded The LA Unified School District said it fully cooperating with law enforcement on the current investigation. As America turns 250 this year, we're going to hear a lot about the history and culture, but we'll probably forget the people who actually fed this country, America's ranchers. 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Again, use our code WIRE at checkout for this exclusive offer. Goodranchers.com, American meat delivered. New York City police have arrested a 27-year-old man after officers were pelted with snowballs in Washington Square Park. Authorities arrested Guzmaine Koulibaly and are still on the lookout for three others connected to the mayhem. According to police, Koulibaly was arrested just weeks ago for attempted robbery. Two police officers suffered lacerations to their faces as a result of what Mayor Zoran Mamdani has dismissed as a snowball fight. The New York City Police Benevolent Association condemned Mamdani for giving cover to assault police officers for doing their job. Mayor Momdani and Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez released a video this week in Spanish encouraging illegal immigrants to enroll in the city's free child care programs. Hola. Mi español no es el mejor. No, no te preocupas, alcalde. AOC tells New Yorkers that, quote, any New York parent, regardless of your occupation, income, or immigration status is eligible to sign their child up for, quote, free, full-day, high-quality education for three-year-old children. Parents are generally required to provide proof of the child's age and verification of New York City residency. However, the residency requirement can be waived if a parent indicates the child is living in temporary housing. On Wednesday, a federal judge in Boston challenged the Trump administration's use of third countries to speed up removals of illegal aliens. Daily Wire senior editor Joel Needler has the story. Along with helping to speed up the deportation process third countries also helped clear hurdles such as home countries refusing to take back their nationals In an 81 ruling U District Court Judge Brian Murphy declared the Trump administration has used the process too liberally and violated due process by moving too quickly to remove aliens Murphy said that the government must give meaningful notice before removal to any third country and time for an alien to challenge their removal on grounds that they could be in danger. Homeland Security defended the practice, expressing confidence that the administration would win in the Supreme Court. An illegal immigrant the Biden administration did not deport after he served just three years in prison for killing an eight-year-old boy is now in the custody of ICE. Daily Wire investigative reporter Luke Rosiak has the story. In 2019, Karmjit Singh was driving drunk in his BMW when he hit another vehicle at more than 100 miles an hour and then tried to flee the scene. The crash killed Maverick Martson, an eight-year-old star baseball player and severely injured his parents, Scott and Megan. But Singh, an Indian national who'd overstayed his visa and already had a separate felony DUI conviction, served just three years in prison. After he was released, he got two more DUIs. He went back to prison for another short term, and on January 30th, he was released by California again, Scott Martson told the Daily Wire. A search of ICE's detainee database shows Singh is now being held at the California City Correction Center, one of ICE's new facilities. And vice president and newly appointed fraud czar J.D. Vance announced on Wednesday that the Trump administration would withhold nearly $260 million in Medicaid funding for Minnesota following the state's massive fraud scandal. Here's Daily Wire reporter Zach Jewell with details. President Trump tapped Vance to lead the administration's anti-fraud crackdown. Vance said at a press conference yesterday that the administration is withholding reimbursements for Medicaid services that Minnesota already paid for out of the state budget. What we're doing is we are stopping the federal payments that will go to the state government until the state government takes its obligations seriously to stop the fraud that's being perpetrated against the American taxpayer. Dr. Mehmet Oz, the current administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, also spoke at the press conference delivering a clear warning to the North Star State. If Minnesota fails to clean up the systems, the state will rack up a billion dollars of deferred payments this year. Governor Walz has 60 days, 60 days, sir, to respond to our letter. Those are your drive home updates this evening. To learn more about these stories, go to dailywire.com. And in case you missed it earlier today, we covered some major stories, including America's political parties setting their sights fully on the midterms, Bill and Hillary Clinton testifying about Jeffrey Epstein ties, and New York's Democratic Socialist mayor coming under fire from his own police force. Thanks for tuning in. We'll be back tomorrow morning with another full edition of Morning Wire.