Por Annie Grayer, CNN

Bill y Hillary Clinton se negaron a testificar este martes en el Capitolio ante la Comisión de Supervisión de la Cámara de Representantes en el marco de la investigación sobre Jeffrey Epstein, pese a la amenaza de legisladores de declararlos en desacato.

“Usted dirá que no es nuestra decisión. Pero ya la tomamos. Ahora le toca tomar la suya”, escribieron los Clinton en lo que parece ser un desafío al presidente republicano de la comisión, James Comer, quien fijó un plazo final esta semana para que comparecieran.

Comer dijo a periodistas este miércoles que la comisión se reunirá la próxima semana para avanzar con los procedimientos contra Bill Clinton, aunque dejó abierta la posibilidad de que la exsecretaria de Estado aún pueda cambiar de opinión.

La medida supone una escalada en los esfuerzos del panel por llevar al expresidente a una entrevista a puerta cerrada como parte de su investigación sobre Epstein. Los votos favorables a la acusación de desacato por parte de la Cámara de Representantes, controlada por el Partido Republicano, serían tanto simbólicos —como reprimenda a los Clinton— como una herramienta para obligarlos a testificar. También podría tener consecuencias legales si el expresidente sigue resistiéndose a cooperar y los tribunales o el Departamento de Justicia deciden tomar cartas en el asunto.

“Es importante señalar que esta citación fue votada de manera bipartidista por esta comisión. No fue algo que yo emitiera unilateralmente como presidente de la comisión. Fue aprobada por toda la Comisión de Supervisión de la Cámara en una votación unánime para citar al expresidente Clinton y a la exsecretaria de Estado, Hillary Clinton”, dijo Comer. “Ahora se supone que Hillary Clinton debe presentarse mañana. Veremos qué sucede”.

Los Clinton expusieron sus objeciones personales y legales a la solicitud en una serie de cartas, obtenidas por CNN, firmadas por ellos y por sus abogados.

La pareja afirmó en las cartas que estaban siendo señalados de manera injusta y señalan que se han eximido siete comparecencias presenciales citadas previamente. Al calificar las citaciones de la comisión como “inválidas y legalmente inexigibles”, describieron lo que, según ellos, eran perjuicios sin precedentes impulsados por el Gobierno.

“Cada persona tiene que decidir cuándo ya ha visto o tenido suficiente y está lista para luchar por este país, sus principios y su gente, sin importar las consecuencias. Para nosotros, ese momento es ahora”, escribieron.

Más adelante añadieron: “De hecho, paralizar la cruel agenda de los republicanos mientras ustedes se esfuerzan más por aprobar una acusación de desacato contra nosotros que por investigar durante el último año sería nuestra contribución a la lucha contra la locura”.

Después de que el panel se reúna la próxima semana, el liderazgo republicano de la Cámara tendría que programar una votación en el pleno. Una votación de la Cámara en pleno para declarar a Clinton en desacato penal al Congreso implicaría una remisión al Departamento de Justicia, que tendría que decidir si procede penalmente.

El panel emitió citaciones de manera unánime a los Clinton en agosto para declaraciones y ha estado negociando de forma privada con sus abogados para intentar fijar una fecha para que ambos comparezcan a entrevistas a puerta cerrada.

Los Clinton afirmaron que “han intentado dar toda la poca información que tienen”.

“Lo hemos hecho porque los crímenes del señor Epstein fueron horribles”, dijeron a Comer. “Si el Gobierno no hizo todo lo posible para investigar y procesar estos crímenes, por la razón que sea, ese debería ser el foco de su trabajo: aprender por qué y evitar que vuelva a ocurrir. No hay evidencia de que usted esté haciendo eso”.

Comer, sin embargo, no se ha mostrado impresionado.

El presidente de la comisión ha señalado que Epstein visi

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By Sean Lyngaas, CNN

(CNN) — Elon Musk’s SpaceX is now providing free internet access via its Starlink satellite service to users in Iran as the country’s regime continues its bloody crackdown on anti-government protests, according to a tech expert in touch with Iranian Starlink users.

Starlink accounts in Iran that were previously inactive now have connections and their subscription fees have been waived as of Tuesday, said Ahmad Ahmadian, executive director at the technology nonprofit Holistic Resilience. “It’s plug and connect … just put [the satellite terminal] somewhere that has access to a clear view of the sky, and you’re good to go,” he told CNN.

The news follows a phone call earlier this week between US President Donald Trump and Musk in which the two men discussed Starlink access in Iran. Neither SpaceX nor the White House responded to requests for comment.

For several days, the Iranian government has choked off internet access for its population while reportedly killing over 1,800 protesters in what observers say is one of the regime’s largest ever digital blackouts. The death toll could be much higher because the communications shutdown has made it harder to tally, according to human rights groups.

Providing free access will be a welcome step for activists, but it’s only likely to help a small percentage of Iran’s 92 million population get online and the regime has the ability to jam Starlink, experts told CNN.

‘The only way to get the information out’

The scale of the information blackout means that Starlink in some cases has been “the only way to get the information out” to the world about the protesters being killed, Ahmadian told CNN. With thousands of low-orbit satellites worldwide that communicate with ground equipment, Starlink has become a crucial arm of US soft power in closed societies or war zones like Ukraine.

Trump has told the protesters to keep resisting the Iranian regime while claiming that all options for US support for the protesters, including military action, are on the table.

Iran’s rulers have “created their own Great Firewall that blocks everything but approved traffic,” Doug Madory, who works at network monitoring firm Kentik, told CNN. Blocking internet access for Iranians is relatively straightforward for the regime, Madory said, because there are only two companies that connect Iran to the internet.

The Iranian government is building on decades of experience in surveilling its population and exporting that surveillance to other countries, like Syria, according to experts. Right now, Iranian authorities are using various tactics to jam or degrade Starlink signals within Iran, according to Ahmadian. Some of that is “military-grade” jamming similar to what Russia has done to Starlink terminals on the front lines in Ukraine, he added.

To get around the regime’s firewall, digital rights activists have pleaded for more access to Starlink for Iranians. Although Starlink is not officially licensed to operate in Iran, Musk previously stated that the service is active and available in the country. Iranian authorities criminalized use of Starlink after the 12-day war between Israel and Iran last year.

Despite the risk of being executed for usin

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By Haley Britzky, Natasha Bertrand, Zachary Cohen, Jennifer Hansler, CNN

(CNN) — The aircraft used in the US military’s first strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean, a strike which has drawn intense scrutiny and resulted in numerous Congressional briefings, was painted as a civilian aircraft and was part of a closely guarded classified program, sources familiar with the program told CNN. Its use “immediately drew scrutiny and real concerns” from lawmakers, one of the sources familiar said, and legislators began asking questions about the aircraft during briefings in September.

Two sources familiar with the matter told CNN the plane is largely used for reconnaissance and surveillance missions and wasn’t painted the usual grey applied to military planes. Administration officials told lawmakers the aircraft wasn’t pretending to be a civilian aircraft and pointed out the fact that it was using a military transponder and had a military tail number, a source said.

While lawmakers raised concerns in the fall, it’s not clear that the use of the aircraft would violate the law of war which prohibits military personnel from pretending to be civilians to attack an enemy.

Pentagon officials told lawmakers during the briefings that the operation was hurried and that the aircraft was the most available at the time. But one of the sources familiar with the matter said the reasoning didn’t hold up given the intensive planning that supposedly went into the operation and the months-long buildup of US military assets in the region.

“There were unlimited assets available to use, but they chose this one,” the source familiar with the matter said. The New York Times first reported concerns about the aircraft.

“The U.S. military utilizes a wide array of standard and nonstandard aircraft depending on mission requirements,” Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson said in response to questions from CNN about the use of the aircraft. “Prior to the fielding and employment of each aircraft, they go through a rigorous procurement process to ensure compliance with domestic law, department policies and regulations, and applicable international standards, including the law of armed conflict.”

The intentional disguising of a military aircraft as civilian in order to trick enemy combatants would be an act of perfidy, defined in the Defense Department’s Law of War Manual as an act that invites the confidence of the enemy to believe they are entitled to protection, with the intent to betray that confidence. One of the examples that falls under prohibited actions of killing or wounding the enemy through perfidy is feigning civilian status and then attacking the enemy.

But the situation in September is not so clear cut, according to legal experts. The operations in the Caribbean – which have killed at least 115 people – have not been legally defined as a war, as Congress has not declared such a conflict.

The head of the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel told lawmakers last year that the activities in the Caribbean and Pacific Ocean do not require a declaration of war from Congress and don’t meet the definition of hostilities. Still, a Pentagon notice provided to Congress in October said President Donald Trump determined the US was in an “armed conflict” with the drug cartels.

“Perfidy rules apply in war, and this was no