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By Devan Cole, CNN

(CNN) — A Secret Service official involved in the construction of President Donald Trump’s massive new White House ballroom said Monday that any temporary pause on the project could hamper the agency’s ability to carry out its protective mission.

The warning – made in a sworn statement by USSS Deputy Director Matthew Quinn – comes a day before a federal judge in Washington, DC, is set hold an emergency hearing to consider whether to order the White House to pause work on the ballroom pending a lawsuit challenging how the project has unfolded thus far.

Quinn, who oversees USSS’ role in the ballroom project, said a contractor involved in the construction is still working to provide temporary security and safety measures around the site and that “any pause in construction, even temporarily, would leave the contractor’s obligation unfulfilled … and consequently hamper the Secret Service’s ability to meet its statutory obligations and protective mission.”

The lawsuit filed last week by the nation’s top historic preservation group claims Trump is pursuing the project unlawfully because he hasn’t gotten approval from Congress or submitted his plans to the National Capital Planning Commission and the Commission of Fine Arts for review, which would give the public a chance to weigh in.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation is asking Judge Richard Leon, an appointee of former President George W. Bush, to issue a temporary restraining order that would pause any further work on the ballroom until Congress authorizes it, the commissions review it and environmental assessments are completed.

In a separate sworn statement filed by the government in the case on Monday, an official with the National Park Service, which is a named defendant in the case, revealed that above-ground work on the ballroom would not begin until at least April and said that efforts were underway for the White House to coordinate with the pair of commissions.

That official, John Stanwich, noted that the Commission on Fine Arts does not currently have a quorum but that “plans are underway to appoint new members” to it. The White House fired all six members of the commission in October, CNN previously reported, amid Trump’s push to impose his style on the nation’s capital through a slate of construction projects, including the ballroom.

The declaration

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By Annie Grayer, CNN

(CNN) — The House Oversight Committee is offering former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton new deposition dates in January as part of the panel’s investigation into Jeffrey Epstein – and threatening the possibility of contempt proceedings if they do not comply.

In a letter obtained by CNN, Chairman James Comer writes that the Clintons’ did not provide sufficient justification to forego in-person depositions, even though the panel has allowed some other individuals who have been subpoenaed to provide written statements in lieu of appearing in person before the committee.

The letter states that those individuals either “lacked any relevant information” to the investigation or had “serious health issues” preventing their testimony.

“Your clients are not similarly situated and therefore your argument that they are receiving unfair treatment—which you continue to repeat—is baseless. For example, unlike these other individuals, President Clinton and Secretary Clinton had a personal relationship with Jeffery Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell,” Comer wrote.

Comer stated that the panel is now offering January 13 and 14 as new deposition dates for the former president and former secretary of state, respectively, as part of an ongoing negotiation and in a final attempt to avoid contempt of Congress proceedings. Comer had initially scheduled depositions for the pair this week and said the Clintons’ attorney shared the couple could not attend those dates due to a funeral but did not offer alternatives.

CNN has reached out to a legal representative for the Clintons regarding the letter.

The Clintons were first subpoenaed in August and have been going back-and-forth with the Republican-led panel over their interviews.

On Friday, Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released photos from Epstein’s estate showing the many powerful figures in the late sex offender’s orbit, including Bill Clinton.

Bill Clinton has never been accused by law enforcement of any wrongdoing related to Epstein, and a spokesperson has repeatedly said he cut ties with Epstein before his arrest on federal charges in 2019 and didn’t know about his crimes.

None of the images released last week depict any sexual misconduct nor are they believed to depict underage girls. It was not immediately clear when or where they were taken, or by whom.

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Por German Padinger, CNN en Español

El presidente de Belarús, Alexander Lukashenko, dijo este lunes que las puertas de su país “están abiertas” si el presidente de Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, decide renunciar al cargo.

“Maduro nunca fue nuestro enemigo ni adversario. Nunca. Si él deseara venir a Belarús, las puertas están abiertas. Pero de esto nunca se habló”, dijo el mandatario a la cadena Newsmax, de acuerdo con un comunicado de la agencia estatal Belta.

En la entrevista se le preguntó a Lukashenko, quien gobierna Belarús desde 1994 y arrasó con casi el 87 % en las últimas elecciones, si recibiría a Maduro en caso de que el líder venezolano abandonara el poder.

CNN contactó al Gobierno de Venezuela para conocer su posición ante estas declaraciones, y está esperando una respuesta.

Lukashenko insistió en la misma entrevista en que “Maduro no es la persona que lo dejará todo y se irá, huirá”, y dijo que el Gobierno de Belarús “habla más con los estadounidenses sobre Venezuela, que con Maduro sobre su renuncia y cualquier acción”.

El viernes, Lukashenko recibió en Minsk al enviado especial de Estados Unidos, John Coale, tras lo cual se anunció la liberación de 123 prisioneros —uno de ellos estadounidense— así como también el levantamiento de algunas sanciones de EE.UU. sobre Belarús.

“Estamos levantando las sanciones, liberando prisioneros. Nos comunicamos constantemente entre nosotros”, dijo Coale, quien aseguró que la normalización de las relaciones entre Belarús y EE.UU. era un objetivo del Gobierno de Donald Trump.

En las conversaciones también se habló de Venezuela, según el comunicado de Belta.

En tanto el jueves, un día antes del encuentro con Coale, Lukashenko se reunió con el embajador de Venezuela en Rusia —principal aliado de Belarús y Venezuela—, Jesús Rafael Salazar Velásquez, para coordinar “algunas cuestiones” con Maduro.

Lukashenko y Salazar Velásquez ya se habían reunido en noviembre, cuando el presidente de Belarús invitó a Maduro al país.

“Se lo ruego mucho: transmita a mi amigo Nicolás Maduro, que nosotros lo esperamos siempre en Belarús. Ya es hora de que él esté aquí, en Belarús”, dijo.

Los dichos de Lukashenko llegan en un momento tensión extrema entre EE.UU. y Venezuela, debido al creciente el despliegue militar de Washington en el Caribe en medio de una campaña de presión sobre el Gobierno de Maduro.

Al momento, Maduro no ha sugerido que esté pensando en dejar la presidencia de Venezuela.

La Casa Blanca, sin embargo, está evaluando en forma discreta planes de contingencia en caso de que Maduro sea derrocado, según dijeron fuentes del Gobierno a CNN.

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