• Hillary Clinton set to lie to Congress: Bill Clinton is mentioned in the “Epstein files” — really just a collection of any emails or files even vaguely related to Jeffrey Epstein, the notorious sex trafficker — tens of thousands of times. He flew on Epstein’s private jet and is pictured with various young women in skimpy swimsuits along with Epstein, but he won’t be appearing for the interview with the House Oversight Committee today; his wife will. Hillary has little to no connection to Epstein, although she does have some history with his sex-trafficking accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell. Hillary’s appearance before Congress comes only after the former first couple ignored a subpoena and were threatened with contempt-of-Congress proceedings. Today, House members will have the chance to privately question Hillary, although her answers will likely prove unhelpful.

• Larry Summers resigning, other Epstein fallout: After months of stepping back and avoiding the spotlight at Harvard, Larry Summers is giving in and resigning his professorship at the university where he was once president. After some emails from the Epstein files were released in November confirming that Summers continued his close relationship with Epstein right up until his arrest in 2019, Summers had stepped back from some roles and his teaching positions. Now, at the end of this academic year, he will leave the university entirely. Meanwhile, Bill Gates, who developed a relationship with Epstein in 2011 after the pedophile pleaded guilty to child prostitution, has issued an apology to his staff at the Gates Foundation. Gates maintains that he neither participated in nor was aware of illicit activities, but that his ex-wife, Melinda, was always skeptical of Epstein, to her credit.

• More judicial activism to protect illegals from deportation: Judge Brian Murphy has ruled against President Donald Trump several times in his efforts to deport the tsunami of illegals allowed into the country by the Democrats, and now he’s attempting to stop deportation to “third countries.” The Trump administration has been deporting illegals to willing third countries when the home country of an illegal is unwilling to accept their return, usually due to criminality. Judge Murphy argues that illegal immigrants have insufficient time to argue against their deportations in court. Holding up immigration proceedings for as long as possible seems to be the Democrats’ preferred strategy for a group they hope to turn into lifelong Democrat voters. Homeland Security points out that Murphy’s ruling would allow adversarial countries to wield veto power over deportations. The administration has 15 days to appeal.

• Kash Patel fires 10 involved in Trump docs case: Ten FBI agents and analysts who were involved in Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation of Trump’s handling of classified documents were fired on Wednesday. The reported reason was that while FBI Director Kash Patel and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles were private citizens, the FBI had secretly subpoenaed their phone records as part of Smith’s investigation. Patel said the subpoenas used “flimsy pretexts” and buried the “entire process in prohibited case files designed to evade all oversight.” The FBI Agents Association called the firings a violation of FBI employees’ due process rights, “destabilizing the workforce.” This follows last year’s Arctic Frost controversy in which the FBI had secretly subpoenaed several Republican lawmakers’ phone records. The FBI fired agents implicated in that investigation, too.

• Expanding government-run retirement plans: President Trump is not a small-government conservative. He proved that again during his State of the Union on Tuesday night, promising to give Americans without employer-sponsored retirement benefits access to government-run plans. He also promised to match up to $1,000 in annual contributions. How Trump intends to make the government-run plans available or meet his contribution-matching promise is unclear, and Congress would almost certainly need to pass legislation to support the initiative. The state of retirement planning for many Americans is certainly abysmal, with the average worker having less than $1,000 saved for retirement. The philosophy behind Trump’s promise makes some sense, as 401(k)s and similar plans are tied to the stock market, which is the best way to protect investments against inflation. The administration believes tying more average Americans to the stock market will boost the economy overall.

• VP targets Minnesota fraud: At the State of the Union, President Trump charged Vice President JD Vance with leading the “War on Fraud” across the country. On Wednesday, Vance took action, announcing that a quarter of a billion dollars in Medicaid funding for Minnesota would be withheld until the state proves that it can be a “good steward” of national funds. This funding was appropriated by Congress but is under the executive’s purview to divvy out to the states, allowing Vance to halt it for now. Vance explained that this funding was specifically a reimbursement to the state after healthcare providers had already been paid. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz explained that Minnesota has 60 days to provide a corrective action plan, after which the funds will be unfrozen.

• “Free” childcare for illegals: In a comical display of communism caught on camera, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez released an ad to New Yorkers illegal aliens, encouraging them to sign up for “free” childcare. The two comrades teamed up to take taxpayer money — not to make life better and more affordable in New York, but to hand it to noncitizens. To add insult to injury, they spoke entirely in Spanish. Apparently, the “warmth of collectivism” only applies to non-Americans. This won’t go over well with already incensed New Yorkers after Mamdani announced new property and other tax hikes to cover the city’s massive deficit. But somehow they have money to cover illegal aliens’ expenses? Something doesn’t add up. No wonder Bill Maher called Mamdani “a walking commercial for the Republican Party nationally.”

• Don Lemon sued: “Journalist” Don Lemon is in more hot water following his recent “protest” stunt that disrupted a church service in Minnesota. One of the church attendees, Ann Doucette, is suing Lemon for “severe emotional distress, fear, anxiety, and trauma” when he interfered with her First Amendment right to freely exercise her religion. Lemon caught himself on camera admitting, “It’s uncomfortable and traumatic for the people here, but … that’s what protesting is about.” Protesting is not about breaking the law. Lemon already faces charges from the DOJ of violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act and the Ku Klux Klan Act. The lawsuit alleges that Lemon was a party to the “clandestine operation” called “Operation Pullup,” where he and the other conspirators “oppressed, threatened, and intimidated” the church congregants and the pastor. An “act of journalism” is not a get-out-of-jail-free card.

Headlines

• Trump admin sues UCLA for creating “antisemitic hostile work environment” (WFB)

• Ex-Air Force pilot arrested for allegedly training Chinese military pilots without authorization (Fox News)

• Kim Jong Un hands teenage daughter control of North Korea’s missile forces (Fox News)

The Executive News Summary is compiled daily by Jordan Candler, Thomas Gallatin, Sterling Henry, and Sophie Starkova. For the archive, click here.