Fossil fuel execs Robert Pender and Michael Sabel deny wrongdoing after report on potential conflict of interest

Two more senior Democrats have called for an investigation into a share-buying spree by two fossil fuel billionaires with close ties to the Trump administration, after a Guardian investigation raised questions about potential wrongdoing.

Robert Pender and Michael Sabel, the founders and co-chairs of Venture Global, a liquefied natural gas (LNG) company headquartered in Virginia, bought more than a million shares worth almost $12m each in March. The trades took place just days after a meeting with senior White House officials, who then issued a key regulatory permit that helped expand the company’s business in Europe.

Notable figures in batch of images include Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, Woody Allen and Bill Gates

• The latest tranche of Epstein evidence – in pictures

House Democrats have published a new tranche of what they called “disturbing” photographs from the estate of the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, featuring among others Donald Trump, Bill Clinton and the British former royal Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.

The 19 photographs in the initial drop – some of which have been seen before – plus another 70 released later Friday afternoon represent a small number of the almost 100,000 images released to the House oversight committee, which is looking into the conduct and connections of Epstein, the disgraced financier who died by apparent suicide in a New York jail cell in 2019 after he was charged with sex-trafficking offenses.

Exclusive: Congress members seek answers after Guardian revealed data to be shared for immigration enforcement

More than 20 members of Congress are demanding answers from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and homeland security officials after the Guardian revealed the VA is compiling a report on all non-US citizens “employed by or affiliated with” the government agency that will then be shared with other federal agencies, including immigration authorities.

The lawmakers, led by Illinois congresswoman Delia Ramirez – along with congressman Mark Takano of California and US senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, the top Democrats on the House and Senate veterans affairs committees – have written a group letter to be sent to the VA secretary, Doug Collins, and the secretary of homeland security, Kristi Noem, on Friday.

In recent months, it has begun dawning on US lawmakers that, absent significant intervention, China will land humans on the Moon before the United States can return there with the Artemis Program.

So far, legislators have yet to take meaningful action on this—a $10 billion infusion into NASA’s budget this summer essentially provided zero funding for efforts needed to land humans on the Moon this decade. But now a subcommittee of the House Committee on Space, Science, and Technology has begun reviewing the space agency’s policy, expressing concerns about Chinese competition in civil spaceflight.

During a hearing on Thursday in Washington, DC, the subcommittee members asked a panel of experts how NASA could maintain its global leadership in space over China in general, and more specifically, how to improve the Artemis Program to reach the Moon more quickly.

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The Cybersecurity Coalition, an industry group of almost a dozen vendors, is urging the Trump Administration and Congress now that the government shutdown is over to take a number of steps to strengthen the country's cybersecurity posture as China, Russia, and other foreign adversaries accelerate their attacks.

The post Cybersecurity Coalition to Government: Shutdown is Over, Get to Work appeared first on Security Boulevard.