President Donald Trump announced that former Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Ben Carson will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom during a White House event marking the 100th anniversary of Black History Month, as attendees at one point broke into chants of ‘four more years.’

‘Ben’s getting the Presidential Medal of Freedom,’ Trump said. ‘It’s the highest award you can have outside of the Congressional Medal of Honor.’

Trump said Carson would receive the nation’s top civilian honor at a future ceremony, telling him, ‘Ben, I’ll be seeing you back here pretty soon. I think you’re going to get the award.’

The announcement came as Trump mixed tributes and cultural references with policy and political claims including criminal justice reform, crime reduction and border enforcement while hosting what he described as ‘many exceptional African American leaders and patriots’ at the White House.

Trump opened the event by noting, ‘we celebrate the 100th anniversary of Black History Month.’

He then addressed the death of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, saying, ‘I wanted to begin by expressing a sadness that the passing of a person who was. I knew very well Jesse was a piece of work. He was a piece of work. But he was a good man.’

‘I just want to pay my highest respects to Reverend Jesse Jackson,’ Trump added, calling him ‘a real hero,’ and saying ‘he really was special, with lots of personality, grit and street smarts.’

Trump introduced HUD Secretary Scott Turner and brought Carson to the front of the room, noting Carson had recommended Turner. Carson praised Turner’s role in opportunity zones, saying ‘he was really the driving force behind the Opportunity zones,’ and described Trump’s approach as ‘public private partnerships, and had everybody with skin in the game.’

Moments later, Trump returned to Carson and elaborated on the award.

‘It’s better because, you know, a lot of people get the Congressional Medal of Honor, and they’re not around,’ Trump said. ‘But it’s the highest award [for] a civilian.’

After remarks from Leo Terrell whom Trump thanked, saying, ‘Leo, that was very good,’ the crowd assembled broke into a chant of ‘four more years.’

Later, while listing Black artists and athletes, Trump singled out rapper Nicki Minaj.

‘I love Nicki Minaj. She was here a couple of weeks ago.’

‘So beautiful,’ he added, before saying, ‘and she gets it. And more importantly, she gets it.’

Trump connected Wednesday’s celebration to a broader national moment, saying, ‘Black History Month is really all about American history,’ and referencing upcoming America250 programming.

The President outlined a series of policy accomplishments for the black community, saying he ‘single handedly secured record long term funding for’ historically Black colleges and universities and reiterated, ‘we got criminal justice reform done,’ adding, ‘Nobody thought it can be done.’

Trump tied those policies to electoral performance, saying, ‘it’s no wonder that in 2024, we won more African-American votes than any Republican president in history.’

Trump also cited economic indicators, saying, ‘Earlier this month the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose above 50,000 for the first time ever,’ and adding, ‘The S&P broke 7000.’

‘More Americans are working today than at any time in American history,’ he said, before stating, ‘Since I took office, African American employment has increased by 182,000.’

The president also promoted a tax proposal, inviting a small business owner from Arkansas to speak. She told the audience, ‘no tax on tips has been amazing blessing for me.’

Trump later pivoted to crime and border enforcement, arguing ‘we need order,’ and claiming, ‘Washington DC is amazing. It was a crime capital. It was a horror show a year ago. It was really dangerous. And now it’s one of the safest cities anywhere in the country.’

‘We have the lowest murder numbers in 125 years since 1990,’ he said, adding, ‘just one year ago, we had the absolute worst border that we’ve ever had, and now we have the safest border that we’ve ever had.’

He also said he had ‘deployed the National Guard to bring back safety to Memphis and to New Orleans and Washington,’ calling the Guard ‘incredible.’

Johnson credited Trump with the First Step Act, saying, ‘President Trump did something historic in his first term. He signed the First Step act into law,’ and adding, ‘Over 40,000 individuals have come home to their families early.’

Trump closed by calling the gathering ‘a very special group of people,’ and said, ‘So happy Black History Month, happy black history year, and happy black history century.’

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has reportedly been holding secret talks with the grandson of Raul Castro, the former President of Cuba. 

The talks between Rubio and Raul Guillermo Rodriguez Castro are bypassing official Cuban government channels, Axios reported. 

‘Our position — the U.S. government’s position — is the regime has to go,’ a senior official told the news outlet. ‘But what exactly that looks like is up to [President Trump] and he has yet to decide. Rubio is still in talks with the grandson.’

‘I wouldn’t call these ‘negotiations’ as much as ‘discussions’ about the future,’ the official added.

Earlier this month, Cuban despot Miguel Díaz-Canel warned his country is ‘close to failing’ as the U.S. shuts off commercial valves vital to its survival, such as fuel and food, followed by nearly 70 years of one-party communist rule.

Cuba’s power grid is failing, hospitals are short of necessary supplies and garbage has piled up on the streets. 

The Trump administration has ratcheted up pressure on the communist-run island in recent weeks, following the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, a Cuban ally. The administration has accused Havana of cozying up to U.S. adversaries and terrorist groups. 

Fox News Digital has reached out to the State Department. The White House referred Fox News Digital to press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s remarks on Tuesday, in which she said Havana needs to make serious changes. 

‘They are a regime that is falling,’ she said. ‘Their country is collapsing, and that’s why we believe it’s in their best interest to make very dramatic changes very soon. And we’ll see what they decide to do.’

President Donald Trump praised civil rights activist Jesse Jackson as a ‘real hero’ during a White House Black History Month event Wednesday, just a day after Jackson’s death.

‘I wanted to begin by expressing a sadness that the passing of a person who was. I knew very well Jesse was a piece of work. He was a piece of work. But he was a good man. He was a real hero,’ Trump said on Wednesday, earning cheers from the audience. 

Trump hosted leaders from the Black community at the White House Wednesday to honor Black History Month in February. He remarked as the event kicked off that there was a ‘sold-out crowd’ and that the upcoming White House ballroom would accommodate far more people. 

Trump had lamented Jackson’s death in a prior Truth Social post Tuesday, elaborating on Wednesday that the pair’s relationship got ‘better and better all the time.’

‘A lot of people you get to know, they get worse and worse. Jesse got better and better. But I knew him well long before becoming president, and he really was special, with lots of personality, grit and street smarts,’ Trump continued. 

Jackson, 84, died Tuesday. His cause of death has not been identified, but he had suffered from health issues including living with a rare neurological condition.

Jackson was a two-time Democratic presidential candidate, and longtime civil rights leader who joined Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the 1960s before his assassination, and was the founder of civil rights group, Rainbow/PUSH Coalition. 

‘I will tell you, he was gregarious and someone who truly loved people and a force of nature, who is, somebody that we’re going to greatly miss. And on behalf of everyone here today, I know you join me in sending our condolences to the entire family,’ Trump continued. 

Wednesday’s event included celebrating the legacy of Black Americans, economic wins under the Trump administration, as well as Trump reigniting his 2025 announcement that former Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, who served under Trump’s first term, would receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom.  

‘Ben’s getting the Presidential Medal of Freedom. It’s the highest award you can have outside of the Congressional Medal of Honor,’ Trump said.

The president of a Florida insurance brokerage firm and the CEO of a marketing company were sentenced Wednesday to 20 years each in prison for leading a sprawling, $233 million Affordable Care Act fraud scheme that preyed on Florida’s most vulnerable residents — including homeless and jobless individuals and newly displaced hurricane victims — to pocket millions in unearned commissions.

Cory Lloyd, 46, of Stuart, Florida, and Steven Strong, 42, of Mansfield, Texas, were convicted of conspiracy and fraud for their roles in the scheme, which involved lying and falsifying government forms to obtain coverage for individuals and lying to or bribing would-be enrollees to sign up for plans even when they knew doing so would cost them their existing insurance coverage. In addition to their prison time, the pair were ordered to pay $180.6 million in restitution to their victims. 

Lloyd and Strong profited handsomely for years from the scheme, Justice Department officials said, using the proceeds to purchase luxury vehicles, an 80-foot yacht and an oceanfront home in the Florida Keys.

‘Preying upon medically compromised consumers to rob hundreds of millions of taxpayer-funded programs is evil and unforgivable,’ Attorney General Pam Bondi told Fox News Digital in a statement. 

‘Fraud schemes like this rob citizens and shake faith in our institutions. Today’s sentencing is the latest example of this DOJ’s commitment to fighting fraud nationwide,’ Bondi said.

An estimated 35,000 individuals were fraudulently enrolled in Affordable Care Act plans during the years-long scheme led by Lloyd and Strong, Justice Department officials with knowledge of the case told Fox News Digital. The two sought more than $233 million in fraudulent payments, including about $180 million in federal Affordable Care Act funding.

‘These defendants were sophisticated, licensed insurance brokers,’ Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division said in a statement. 

‘They had everything and intentionally took advantage of people who had nothing. The message from these sentences is simple: Those who seek to line their own pockets with taxpayer dollars, victimize our most vulnerable and deplete federal programs will be held accountable.’

The two intentionally targeted people in the state who were experiencing homelessness and people experiencing mental health disorders, including addiction to opioids or other drugs, according to materials reviewed by Fox News Digital. 

Prosecutors said at trial that Lloyd and Strong conspired to circumvent federal income and eligibility verification safeguards. They also intentionally submitted Medicaid applications designed to trigger denials, allowing them to steer those same individuals into fully subsidized Affordable Care Act plans outside the open enrollment period, maximizing commissions year-round.

Their lavish lifestyle contrasted starkly with that of the individuals they lied to and scammed. 

‘One of the really awful things about the case is that it’s not only a scheme that’s taking money from the elderly and the disabled and defrauding the taxpayers, but that it actually resulted in real harm to the patients as well,’ one Justice Department official said in an interview.

That harm included individuals losing access to life-saving treatments for opioid use disorders, mental health disorders and serious infectious diseases.

Text messages introduced at trial showed Strong and Lloyd discussing sending ‘street marketers’ into Florida hurricane shelters to recruit enrollees.

In one text exchange, Strong suggested sending their team of ‘street marketers’ into Florida hurricane shelters to recruit enrollees. Lloyd responded enthusiastically, stating, ‘It’s a killer idea, if we could pull it off!’

Prosecutors said the efforts were particularly harmful because they disrupted existing coverage plans and jeopardized access to treatment for serious conditions.

Many of the victims were experiencing homelessness or unemployment or qualified for Medicaid coverage — an insurance option for low-income or vulnerable populations that, in many cases, best suited their needs.

Jurors heard from a Jacksonville-based psychiatrist who treats homeless individuals and testified about the harm some of his patients suffered as a result of the fraud, which caused them to lose their Medicaid coverage.

This included an individual ‘living in the woods behind Walmart’ who was suffering from schizoaffective disorder, a person familiar with the case told Fox News Digital.

Like others, this individual had previously been enrolled in Medicaid, which covered the entirety of a $2,000 shot used to treat the schizoaffective disorder. Enrollment in an Affordable Care Act plan caused the individual to lose that coverage.

The sentencing comes as the Justice Department has moved aggressively to crack down on healthcare fraud, including through its ongoing ‘strike force’ program that operates across 25 federal districts and has resulted in criminal charges against about 5,000 individuals, according to information shared with Fox News Digital.

It also comes as the DOJ’s Health Care Fraud Unit secured the largest national healthcare fraud takedown in its history in 2025, officials said, charging more than $15 billion in alleged losses and forfeitures and returning more than $560 million to the public.

Justice Department officials noted the amount is ‘many, many, many times our annual budget.’

The debate over U.S. missile defense is increasingly focused on space, and defense experts argue that stopping threats in the earliest moments after launch could determine whether the homeland remains protected against Russia and China’s expanding arsenals.

At a policy discussion marking roughly a year since the rollout of the ‘Golden Dome’ homeland defense initiative, former senior defense officials said the United States can no longer rely primarily on deterrence and retaliation to shield the country from missile attacks.

‘I think geography is no longer’ a shield, former Air Force Undersecretary Kari Bingen said during a C-SPAN panel Friday. ‘There are different types of threats that can reach the homeland.’

The Golden Dome initiative stems from a January 2025 executive order signed by President Donald Trump directing the Pentagon to accelerate development of a next-generation homeland missile defense architecture. The order calls for integrating existing ground-based interceptors with advanced tracking networks, new space-based sensors and potentially space-based interceptors capable of detecting and defeating ballistic, cruise and hypersonic missile threats earlier in flight.

Administration officials have framed the effort as a response to rapid modernization by Russia and China. 

Russia has fielded new intercontinental ballistic missiles and hypersonic glide vehicles designed to penetrate missile defenses, while China has expanded its nuclear arsenal and constructed hundreds of new missile silos in recent years. 

Both countries have invested heavily in maneuverable reentry vehicles and countermeasures intended to complicate U.S. interception efforts.

Stopping missiles early

Supporters of a stronger space layer argue that intercepting a missile early in flight — before it can deploy warheads or countermeasures — simplifies the defensive challenge and reduces the strain on systems closer to U.S. territory.

‘It gives the ability to neutralize before they manifest here at home,’ missile defense expert Thomas Karako said, referring to space-enabled capabilities that could track and potentially intercept threats sooner in their trajectory.

Karako said there is ‘a compelling case’ for space-based interceptors ‘not just against nonnuclear attack but even limited nuclear attacks,’ arguing that raising the threshold for adversaries contemplating a strike strengthens deterrence overall.

‘If you raise the threshold for having enough capability to meaningfully invest in enemies … there’s goodness in there,’ he said.

Panelists emphasized that the objective is not absolute protection against thousands of intercontinental ballistic missiles, but improving the odds of defeating smaller or more limited attacks, including those that could involve large salvos or advanced countermeasures.

Threats are evolving

Melissa Dalton, a former senior Pentagon official, said missile and drone use has become increasingly normalized in recent conflicts, lowering the perceived threshold for employment.

‘They don’t respect the boundaries,’ Dalton said, noting the growing frequency of missile and drone attacks.

Bingen argued that the U.S. historically leaned heavily on the threat of retaliation to deter attacks but that changing technologies and adversary capabilities require a broader approach.

‘Americans would be surprised how reliant we have been on vulnerability and retaliation,’ she said.

Space and integration challenges

While space-based missile defense once drew skepticism due to cost and technical hurdles, Karako said advances in commercial launch and satellite technology have changed the feasibility calculus.

‘This is not the Soviet Union in the ’80s or the ’90s,’ he said. ‘The technology has evolved quite a bit.’

Still, experts acknowledged that integration — linking sensors, interceptors and command-and-control systems at machine speed — may be the most difficult challenge.

‘We have to remember this is a layered defense system,’ Bingen said. ‘We’re not asking the space layer to do it all.’

Participants also stressed that any major expansion of homeland missile defense will require bipartisan political support to endure through election cycles and shifting budget priorities.

‘If you don’t persuade people what it’s about, it will never be built,’ Karako said.

Officials have floated an aggressive timeline — including a three-year push to stand up initial capabilities — but the Golden Dome is still in early development, with much of the work focused on planning, prototypes and initial contracts. Significant technical and acquisition hurdles remain, particularly for any space-based interceptor layer, which defense officials acknowledge would take years to fully field.

The effort marks a broader shift in how the U.S. approaches homeland defense. Rather than relying mainly on midcourse interceptors and the threat of retaliation, Golden Dome is designed to push defenses earlier in a missile’s flight — and further into space — with the goal of stopping threats before they can deploy countermeasures or overwhelm existing systems.

A pair of House Republicans could soon mount an effort to force a chamber-wide vote on sanctioning Russia for its war in Ukraine after months of back-and-forth between the House, Senate and White House yielded little movement on the issue.

‘This coming week, Brian Fitzpatrick’s sanctions bill…ripens, so we can actually submit it as a discharge petition on Monday or Tuesday, and I’ll sign that,’ Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., told Fox News Digital. 

‘But it’s got to start from scratch,’ he added. ‘We’ve got to get 218 signatures on it, and so that has a lot more work to do there, but it’s a really good bill that Brian has worked on both sides of the aisle to get it right. And I think it’s one that could have support in the Senate.’

A discharge petition is a mechanism for forcing a vote on legislation over the objections of House majority leadership. Historically, they’re a rarely used measure, given the petition needs signatures from a majority of House lawmakers — and most members of the party in power are traditionally wary of crossing their leaders in that way.

But for Bacon, it’s a matter of right versus wrong that he believes will be remembered for years to come.

‘Someday in the history books, it’s going to read which leaders stood up, which ones were [Winston Churchills] and which ones were [Neville Chamberlains]. Chamberlain gave away land in Czechoslovakia to appease Hitler. And Hitler said all he wanted was the Sudetenland, and then a year later, he invaded the rest of Czechoslovakia. Then a year later he invaded Poland,’ Bacon said.

‘We’ve got to know a bad guy when we see one, and [Russian President Vladimir Putin] is a bad guy. He’s made clear, it’s not just about Ukraine. He wants to regain the rest of what the Soviet Union had. And so history is being written, and I want to be on the right side. I hope every Republican does.’

Fitzpatrick introduced a bill in December aimed at sanctioning the Russian Federation if it refuses to negotiate a peace agreement with Ukraine or violates any existing peace agreement that may have been instituted.

The latest congressional record, dated Tuesday, appears to show Fitzpatrick introduced a resolution geared toward fast-tracking that bill onto the floor. His office did not respond to requests for an interview.

A source familiar with the lawmakers’ planning told Fox News Digital, however, that he and Bacon would give House GOP leaders ‘one last chance’ to hold a vote on Russia sanctions. The source said Fitzpatrick was also directly communicating with the White House regarding a House vote on the measure.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment.

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has said on multiple occasions that he supports sanctioning Russia for its war on Ukraine but that any sanctions bill must originate in the Senate. However, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said earlier this year that the process must start in the House.

The Trump administration has already imposed some sanctions on Russian entities, primarily targeting its vast oil and gas sector, but Ukraine advocates have said it’s not enough to significantly hamstring Moscow’s war machine.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who is leading the sanctions effort in the Senate, told Semafor that Congress was still waiting on the green light from President Donald Trump himself.

Bacon also acknowledged that a discharge petition is inherently an uphill battle, telling Fox News Digital, ‘There’s two things working against us.’

‘One, you know, it’s not normal for members of the majority to do a discharge petition because we have the majority, but I also know the political realities that Mike Johnson is under,’ Bacon said, noting the slim House GOP majority and Trump’s influence. ‘Second, I know a lot of folks don’t want to get in front of President Trump, but I think he’s failing in this area.’

‘I mean, [former President Joe Biden] was weak on Ukraine-Russia. I mean he sent a lot of aid. It was always late, tardy…and they had rules of engagement. He was trying to make Ukraine fight with one arm tied behind its back, but I find Trump has done even less. When you look at the amount of aid that we’ve provided, it’s like 1% of what we were doing under Biden. Now, granted, I know he’s selling weapons to NATO countries, and they’re giving it to Ukraine, but we should be doing so much more.’

But he sounded optimistic that their discharge petition — and another similar measure on sending more aid to Ukraine that both he and Fitzpatrick have joined Democrats on — will get enough GOP support to prevail. The Democrat bill, led by Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., needs just one more GOP signature to force a vote.

‘We’ve got one [Republican] on the fence, thinking about it, and we have one that wants to wait until the primary is done. So we’re talking a month or two months. But I wish we had it tomorrow. Ukrainians are dying every day. And so, to me, the necessity of getting this done soon is very clear to me,’ Bacon said.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Wednesday pushed back on a reporter who asked for examples of when the president had been ‘falsely called racist.’

‘Yesterday, in his statement about Jesse Jackson, the president said ‘despite the fact that I’m falsely and consistently called a racist by the scoundrels and lunatics and the radical left Democrats all, it was always my pleasure to help Jesse along the way.’ Where or when does the president believe he’s been falsely called racist?’ the reporter asked.

Leavitt responded to the reporter in disbelief and asked if he was ‘kidding,’ to which the reporter replied that he was not.

‘I will pull you [a] plethora of examples. I’m going to get my team in that room to start, going through the Internet of radical Democrats throughout the years and who have accused this president falsely of being a racist. And I’m sure there’s many people in this room and on network television across the country who have accused him of the same. In fact, I know that because I’ve seen it with my own eyes,’ Leavitt said.

The press secretary noted that the president was scheduled on Wednesday to hold an event marking Black History Month. Additionally, she listed a number of policy accomplishments aimed at benefiting both the Black community and Americans as a whole, such as the administration’s commitment to funding Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and the establishment of Trump accounts.

‘So, there is a lot this president has done for all Americans, regardless of race, and he has absolutely been falsely called and smeared as a racist. And I’m happy to provide you those receipts, and we gladly will right after this briefing,’ Leavitt added.

The reporter was referring to President Donald Trump’s post regarding the death of Reverend Jesse Jackson, who died on Tuesday at the age of 84. The president, who posted several pictures of himself with Jackson, remembered the late reverend as a ‘good man with lots of personality, grit and ‘street smarts” before making the remarks about being falsely labeled as a racist.

Trump noted that he supported and ‘provided office space’ for Jackson and the reverend’s civil rights organization, the Rainbow PUSH Coalition. Additionally, Trump said that he had responded to Jackson’s ‘request for help getting criminal justice reform passed and signed, when no other president would even try.’ The president also touted his own work to secure long-term funding for HBCUs.

‘Jesse was a force of nature like few others before him,’ Trump said before seemingly taking a swipe at the reverend over his support of former President Barack Obama’s candidacy.

‘He loved his family greatly, and to them I send my deepest sympathies and condolences. Jesse will be missed!’ Trump added.

The president has often faced accusations of racism from prominent Democrats, including his most recent predecessor, former President Joe Biden. Trump has long pushed back against the notion, highlighting his relationships with prominent Black figures during his celebrity days and his policy moves during his time as president.

The U.S. took aim at Nicaragua’s regime over alleged human rights violations, announcing a designation against a prison official.

‘Today I’m designating Nicaraguan Prison Director Roberto Clemente Guevara Gómez for his involvement in gross violations of human rights,’ Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a post on X. ‘We continue to call for accountability for the crimes committed by the Murillo-Ortega dictatorship and urge for the immediate, unconditional release of all unjustly detained political prisoners in Nicaragua.’

The U.S. Embassy in Nicaragua also announced the designation, clarifying that it was done under Section 7031(c) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2024 ‘for his involvement in a gross violation of human rights of a political prisoner.’ The embassy added that the U.S. was calling for ‘the immediate, unconditional release of all unjustly detained political prisoners in Nicaragua.’

In December, the embassy announced actions taken by the United States Trade Representative (USTR) under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 in response to ‘Nicaragua’s acts, policies, and practices related to abuses of labor rights, abuses of human rights and fundamental freedoms, and dismantling of the rule of law.’ In making the decision, the USTR considered more than 2,000 public comments and consulted with government agency experts and USTR cleared advisors.

The move meant that starting Jan. 1, 2026, the U.S. would impose a phased-in tariff over the course of two years that would impact all Nicaraguan goods that ‘are not originating under the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR).’ The tariff started at 0% on Jan 1., 2026, and is set to grow to 10% by Jan. 1, 2027 and then 15% by Jan. 1, 2028, the embassy said, adding that any tariff would be imposed in addition to the existing 18% reciprocal tariff.

‘Should Nicaragua show a lack of progress in addressing these issues, this timeline and these rates may be modified,’ the embassy added.

The Trump administration has taken tougher action in the Western Hemisphere in recent months, starting with the Jan. 3, 2026, capture of Venezuela’s dictatorial leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. 

Fox News Digital reached out to the State Department for comment.

The House Oversight Committee is hearing from a billionaire on Wednesday who was named one of Jeffrey Epstein’s co-conspirators by a 2019 FBI document.

Les Wexner is the latest person to be deposed in the House’s investigation into the federal government’s handling of Epstein’s case. 

He told House investigators that he was ‘conned’ by the late pedophile and that he had no knowledge of or participation in his crimes, according to an opening statement obtained by Fox News Digital.

‘Let me state from the start: I was naïve, foolish, and gullible to put any trust in Jeffrey Epstein. He was a con man. And while I was conned, I have done nothing wrong and have nothing to hide. I completely and irrevocably cut ties with Epstein nearly twenty years ago when I learned that he was an abuser, a crook, and a liar,’ Wexner’s statement read.

‘I was never a participant nor coconspirator in any of Epstein’s illegal activities. To my enormous embarrassment and regret, I, like many others, was duped by a world-class con man. I cannot undo that part of my personal history even as I regret ever having met him.’

He also said his ‘heart goes out’ to the young women and girls who fell victim to Epstein over the years.

The billionaire fashion mogul painted himself as a husband, father, and grandfather who sought to live ‘in an ethical manner in line with my moral compass, devoting time and energy to my faith, my community, my business, my L Brands associates, and my family and friends.’

Unlike most previous depositions, committee staff and lawmakers traveled to Ohio on Wednesday morning to depose Wexner in his home state.

A spokesperson for Wexner declined to comment on whether he would invoke his Fifth Amendment right to avoid answering questions. But his insight is likely to be key to unlocking information on just how Epstein obtained his vast wealth before dying by suicide in a Manhattan jail in 2019.

The 88-year-old businessman is the founder of L Brands, formerly called The Limited, through which he acquired well-known companies Victoria’s Secret, Bath & Body Works, Express, and Abercrombie & Fitch, among others.

He was also one of Epstein’s first major clients as a financial advisor, with Epstein being granted power of attorney over Wexner’s vast wealth.

Wexner also sold his Manhattan townhouse to Epstein, which was later discovered to be one of the locations where federal authorities accused Epstein of abusing young women and girls under 18.

He told House investigators that he was introduced to Epstein in the 1980s by a fellow executive, and that two subsequent people at his former employer Bear Stearns ‘endorsed Epstein without hesitation’ as a financial advisor.

Wexner said Epstein was also ‘highly recommended’ by Elie de Rothschild for work Epstein did for his family.

‘At first, Epstein was unwilling to take me on as a client. In fact, for the first few years I was acquainted with him, Epstein offered me advice here and there while explaining that giving individual financial advice was not his focus and refusing to accept compensation. He said he was assisting me as a favor. Little did I realize that, from the very start, Epstein was conniving to gain my trust,’ Wexner said.

Wexner also claimed he began paying Epstein for his work as his wealth grew and signed over power of attorney to him while his own work was largely occupied by running his businesses. But he maintained he knew nothing of what he called Epstein’s ‘double life.’

‘He was clever, diabolical, and a master manipulator. He was meticulous in revealing to me only glimpses into the life in which he was a sophisticated financial guru who consulted with heads of state, high-ranking politicians, royalty, university presidents, professors, CEOs, musicians, and other luminaries,’ Wexner said.

‘While I did not socialize in Epstein’s social circle, he often told me about his famous acquaintances and important positions he held, and at times I experienced what seemed to be random chance encounters, probably orchestrated by Epstein, with prominent individuals who said they knew Epstein. Over the course of many years, he carefully used his acquaintance with important individuals to curate an aura of legitimacy that he then used to expand his network of acquaintances, and apparent credibility, even farther.’

Wexner said Epstein ‘fully hid’ his crimes and ‘knew that I never would have tolerated his horrible behavior,’ nor did he ever see Epstein in the company of a minor.

Wexner has never been criminally accused nor charged in relation to the late pedophile’s crimes.

A letter from Wexner to his Wexner Foundation charity dated Aug. 7, 2019, said he ended his relationship with Epstein sometime after the first federal investigation into his crimes emerged nearly 20 years ago.

Wexner also accused Epstein of misusing his vast wealth.

‘As the allegations against Mr. Epstein in Florida were emerging, he vehemently denied them. But by early fall 2007, it was agreed that he should step back from the management of our personal finances. In that process, we discovered that he had misappropriated vast sums of money from me and my family,’ read the letter, obtained by Fox News Digital on Tuesday.

‘This was, frankly, a tremendous shock, even though it clearly pales in comparison to the unthinkable allegations against him now. With his credibility and our trust in him destroyed, we immediately severed ties with him. We were able to recover some of the funds.’

Wexner is the fourth person appearing before the House Oversight Committee in its Epstein probe.

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., previously oversaw the panel through the depositions of former Trump administration Attorney General Bill Barr, ex-Trump Labor Secretary Alex Acosta, who was the U.S. attorney in Florida who signed off on Epstein’s infamous 2008 non-prosecution agreement, and convicted Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell.

Maxwell’s deposition lasted less than an hour after she invoked the Fifth Amendment, refusing to answer questions unless she was granted clemency by President Donald Trump.

As U.S.-backed negotiations between Russia and Ukraine in Geneva ended without a breakthrough, Kyiv made gains on the battlefield, recapturing territory at its fastest pace in years through localized counterattacks along the southeastern front.

The advances come as analysts point to disruptions in Russian battlefield communications and shifting operational dynamics, developments that could strengthen Ukraine’s leverage even as talks remain stalled.

Ukrainian forces retook about 78 square miles over five days, according to a report by Agence France-Presse based on an analysis of the Institute for the Study of War battlefield mapping. The gains represent Kyiv’s most rapid territorial advances since its 2023 counteroffensive in the Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions.

Retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Richard Newton said Ukraine’s battlefield performance should not be underestimated. ‘As this war grinds on, the world too often forgets that Ukraine’s determination, innovation and moral clarity are force multipliers. Its ability to defend against a larger, better-resourced enemy should never be counted out,’ Newton told Fox News Digital. ‘There are growing signs that Russia’s supposed invincibility is no longer a safe assumption, particularly as pressure increases on the Kremlin and its partners.’

The fighting has centered east of Zaporizhzhia, where Russian forces have steadily advanced since mid-2025. Open-source battlefield monitoring and mapping indicate Ukrainian troops pushed forward around Huliaipole and nearby settlements, though analysts caution the front remains fluid, and some areas are not fully secured, The Telegraph reported.

The Institute for the Study of War assessed in mid-February that the counterattacks appear to be exploiting disruptions in Russian command-and-control. ISW said Ukrainian forces are likely leveraging limits affecting Russian battlefield communications, including reported restrictions tied to the use of Starlink satellite terminals and messaging platforms cited in open-source reporting.

Analysts say reduced connectivity can create short windows for Ukrainian units to move through contested zones that are typically dominated by drone surveillance and electronic warfare. ISW and other observers emphasize that such opportunities are temporary and do not signal a broader collapse in Russian defenses.

The evolving fight is also shaped by the growing role of drones. In a Feb. 10 special report, ISW said Russia’s expanding use of first-person-view drones reflects a campaign to ‘weaponize and institutionalize intentional civilian harm as a purposeful tool of war,’ warning the tactic is becoming embedded in operational doctrine and could influence future conflicts.

Despite the recent gains, analysts caution against viewing the developments as a decisive shift in the war. Newton argued that sustained Western military support remains essential. ‘Putin responds to force,’ he said. ‘The United States and Europe should continue providing Ukraine with both defensive and offensive capabilities, including long-range systems capable of striking deep inside Russia.’

Retired Vice Adm. Robert S. Harward said battlefield gains are increasingly tied to diplomacy. ‘Both sides are trying to use battlefield advances to strengthen their position at the negotiating table,’ Harward said. ‘It’s a sign neither side is ready to strike a deal yet.’

Harward pointed to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s stated willingness to hold elections following a ceasefire as evidence Kyiv is signaling flexibility, while Moscow continues to press its demands. ‘If a lasting and fair diplomatic agreement is achievable, the current U.S. team is well-positioned to help deliver it,’ he said. ‘But negotiations must be paired with sustained pressure on Russia and its partners.’

Nearly two years after Ukraine’s last major offensive stalled, the war remains defined by incremental territorial changes rather than sweeping breakthroughs. Both sides continue to rely heavily on drones, artillery and electronic warfare, with front lines shifting village by village.

‘As U.S.-led talks continue, it is critical to increase pressure on Putin to end the war on terms that restore deterrence and prevent further aggression,’ Newton said.