Visa ban is about national security, not against any religion: US

Agencies

June 13, 2017

Washington, Jun 13: The visa ban is about national security and not against any religion, US Attorney General Jeff Sessions has said after a US appeals court upheld a decision blocking President Donald Trump's revised executive order imposing a travel ban on six Muslim-majority nations.

"President Trump knows that the country he has been elected to lead is threatened daily by terrorists who believe in a radical ideology, and that there are active plots to infiltrate the US immigration system - just as occurred prior to 9/11," Jeff Sessions said in a statement yesterday.

He was reacting to the yesterday's ruling by a three-judge bench of the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit against the revised travel ban.

The bench had unanimously ruled against the ban, saying the executive order signed by Trump "exceeded the scope of the authority delegated to him by Congress" to oversee immigration.

"The President is committed to protecting the American people and our national security, and we are proud to support his mission to put America first by defending his right to keep us safe," Sessions said, adding : "This is the reason why the Department of Justice will continue to seek further review by the Supreme Court."

Sessions said that the president's executive order is "well within his lawful authority to keep the nation safe".

"We disagree with the Ninth Circuit's decision to block that authority," he said.

The recent attacks confirm that the threat to the nation is immediate and real, he said.

"Certain countries shelter or sponsor terrorist groups like ISIS and Al-Qaeda, and we may be unable to obtain any reliable background information on individuals from these war-torn, failed states," he said.

Sessions cautioned against placing "our nation at risk until we have the have the ability accurately and responsibly to vet those seeking entry here".

"The president was clear in his landmark speech in Saudi Arabia: this is not about religion; it is about national security. In fact, he called upon leaders in the Muslim world to join the United States in protecting religious freedom for all, including the freedom to be free from violence and terror," Sessions said.

He said that the executive branch is entrusted with the responsibility to keep the country safe under Article II of the constitution but "unfortunately, this injunction prevents him from fully carrying out his Article II duties and has a chilling effect on security operations overall."

Yesterday's ruling was the latest in a string of judicial blows to Trump's efforts to prohibit the entry of citizens of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen for 90 days while the US government reviews their screening procedures.

The executive order also called for a 120-day ban on all refugees.

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Explosive new Epstein files reveal Donald Trump raped 13-year-old girl, murdered newborn

News Network

January 31,2026

The US Department of Justice has released millions of new documents linked to the case of convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, before removing some pages that contained complaints mentioning President Donald Trump.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said on Friday that approximately 3.5 million files were published to comply with the Epstein Transparency Act, following criticism that the administration had missed a December 19 deadline set by Congress.

The documents include FBI communications and complaints submitted as tips, some of which list comments mentioning Trump and others who had social or professional ties to Epstein.

Trump has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in relation to his past association with Epstein.

Pages removed from DOJ website

After their publication, pages containing complaints that mentioned Trump were removed from the DOJ website and now return a “page not found” message. Copies of the documents, however, have circulated widely on social media. CNN anchor Jake Tapper was among those who publicly noted that the pages had been taken down.

One complaint, filed by a friend of a victim, says Trump forced a girl aged 13–14 to perform “oral sex” approximately 35 years ago in New Jersey. The document states that an investigator was sent to Washington to conduct an interview.

Another complaint says Trump regularly paid an individual to perform sexual acts and adds that he was present when her newborn child was murdered by a relative. The paperwork notes that there was “no contact made” with the complainant.

A separate complaint, which provided no contact information, said “calendar girls” parties at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago involved children and sexual abuse. The document also names several public figures as present at such events.

In another account, a complainant said they witnessed a “sex trafficking ring” at Trump National Golf Club in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, in the mid-1990s. The person noted “threats” from Trump’s head of security if she spoke publicly about what she had seen.

Other figures mentioned in the files

The latest release also includes a draft email Epstein wrote to himself in 2013, referring to Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. In the message, Epstein said Gates asked him to delete emails and referenced “personal matters.”

The DOJ has not provided a detailed explanation for why certain pages were removed after publication. The department said the document release was ongoing.

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