Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills)

Thursday, July 24, 2025

A racist and homophobe dies

That's Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "Tulsi Wants You To Help Save Our Girl"

Good news: Hulk Hogan has died. The wanna be celebrity was a liar from day one. Terry Gene Bollea was his name. He was a 'wrestler.' Not a real one. He was one of those 'entertainment' wrestlers -- meaning it's rigged and it's all pretend. In 2015, WWE kicked him out because of a tape that came out where he boasted of being a racist and used the n-word repeatedly. Months after the racist tape turned up, a tape of him making homophobic remarks turned up, this was followed by another tape of him making racist remarks. Here's THE HINDUSTAN TIMES on the racism aspect of the entertainer:

In July 2015, Hulk Hogan faced major backlash after a leaked transcript revealed him using racist language during a private conversation. The audio came from a sex tape recorded years earlier. It was made public as part of his legal battle with Gawker Media. In the clip, Hogan was heard making repeated use of the N-word while discussing his daughter Brooke’s dating life, expressing anger and discomfort about her reportedly dating a Black man.

The fallout was immediate. WWE ended its contract with Hogan on July 24, 2015, removing all references to him from their website, including removing his Hall of Fame profile (though not officially removing him from the Hall of Fame itself). As per People and other outlets at the time, WWE said it was "committed to embracing and celebrating individuals from all backgrounds."

His lies were so many throughout his life. WIKIPEDIA notes:

Hogan was accused multiple times of allegedly fabricating elements of his past, including that he was one of the last people to see Kerry Von Erich prior to his death, that an experience with a terminally ill child through the Make-A-Wish Foundation at SummerSlam in 1992 inspired the songs on his Hulk Rules album, that he was scouted by MLB teams prior to having suffered an elbow injury, that he played in the Little League World Series and finished with a batting average of .714, that The Undertaker injured his neck at the Survivor Series in 1991, that Elvis Presley was a fan of his, that both The Rolling Stones and Metallica wanted him to play bass for their bands, that André the Giant weighed over 600 pounds at the time of their match at WrestleMania III, and that he was offered the starring role in the film The Wrestler but turned it down.[363][364][365] During an appearance on Bubba the Love Sponge, Hogan claimed to have a 10-inch penis. During the Gawker trial, he admitted in court that this was not true, claiming he was speaking as the character Hulk Hogan, and not as Terry Bollea.[366]

He considered suicide more than once in his life but was too much of a coward to do the world a favor.

In October of last year, he was part of the Nazi hate rally for Chump at Madison Square Garden.

Some idiots are saying "he was America." If so, he was the worst of America -- the racist and homophobic side, the lying and corrupt side.

He was garbage. He was living garbage. Now he's dead garbage. One less racist in the world, one less homophobe.

Closing with C.I.'s "The Snapshot:"

Thursday, July 24, 2025. Chump's mess of lies only gets worse, his playing damsel in distress appear to be impacting his polling numbers, his war on immigrants now includes a snitch program, and much more.

Where are we this morning? Ben breaks it down.

Are you exhausted after all those developments? This isn't going away. Every day for three weeks now. Chump's been convinced that it's going away. It's not happening. Speaker of the Closet Mike Johnson might have called a Congressional recess to try to shut this topic down for six weeks but that didn't work. Nothing is working.

Johnson was called out today on MORNING JOE.

Chump gets exposed more and more each day. The conversation is not dying down, the talk is not going away.

Chump lies and tries to blame Barack Obama but he's the liar exposed. You saw it above yourself. Attorney General Pam Bondi told him in May that he was in the files and you saw him lying on camera saying that didn't happen. As Max Matza (BBC NEWS) notes, "That contradicts an account given earlier this month by the president, who responded 'no, no' when asked by a reporter whether he had been told by Bondi that his name appeared in the files."

Sadie Gurman, Annie Linskey, Josh Dawsey and Alex Leary (WALL STREET JOURNAL) reported yesterday on Bondi informing him in May. As Mike noted last night, "Chump was informed back in May that he was in the Epstein Files. That's why Pam Bondi went from February telling everyone in a FOX "NEWS" appearance that she was going to be releasing them shortly to not releasing them and then waiting until slow news day July 4th to try to sneak out an announcement claiming that she'd never had the Epstein files. "

It's one lie after another and they keep getting exposed for the liars that they are.

Today on NPR's MORNING EDITION, this was noted:

Michel Martin: Is it normal for the Attorney General to share that kind of information with the President?

Elie Honig: Not at all. And the question that this begs to me is why would the Attorney General go and tip off the President that, "Hey, you're named in these closed criminal, criminal investigative files"? Whatever "named" may mean. That is highly abnormal. And if we look back at the history of attorney generals through both parties that would be seen as a breach of the Attorney General's independence.

POLITICO hails the Bondi news as "the biggest story in Washington: the WSJ’s report that the Justice Department told President Donald Trump in May that his name was among many included in the Jeffrey Epstein files."

This is not going away. And grasp that there is so much more than what Ben covered above. Yes, even with all that he covered -- a ton -- in the video above, there is still more. Marcia, for example, noted that Epstein's brother is making the media rounds and she noted Ashleigh Fields (The Hill);s report:

Mark Epstein, the older brother of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, refuted the White House’s claims that President Trump never visited the disgraced financier at his office.

“That’s just another blatant lie,” the older Epstein said during a Tuesday appearance on CNN’s “Erin Burnett OutFront.”

“Because he was there. People that worked for Jeffrey in his office, they could testify that they saw Trump in Jeffrey’s office on numerous occasions,” he continued, “So for him to say he wasn’t there, all I can say is that’s just just another lie.”

Donald Chump plays the damsel in distress and lies to his supporters trying to get them to be the big brave men who'll stand up for his honor. He is not the victim. The victims are women and girls that Epstein exploited -- that maybe Chump exploited. On MSNBC, Lawrence O'Donnell tried to do a media rest there on his show last night.

"Real people were hurt here."

Donald Chump can play the victim all he wants, he can go coquettish and girlish to try to get others to defend his pathetic ass. But he is not the victim and he was not the victim.

He's someone credibly accused of assaulting multiple women.

But he's playing the victim yet again.

Question: When, if ever, does Donald Chump play a grown man?

Is that the only thing he can't pretend to be?

Is his non-stop wallowing in victimhood the reason men are turning against him in the polls? Martha McHardy (NEWSWEEK) reports:

President Donald Trump's approval rating among men has dropped to a second term low, according to one poll, marking a significant shift in a demographic long seen as a pillar of his political base.

According to new CBS/YouGov polling, just 47 percent of men said they approve of the job Trump is doing as president, while 53 percent disapprove—putting the president 6 points underwater among the key demographic.

The drop coincides with Trump's slipping in approval among the voting bloc on his handling of the economy, inflation and immigration—three central issues in his winning campaign in 2024.

Men have traditionally been one of the strongest bases of support for Republicans. And in 2024, 55 percent of male voters supported Trump.

Apparently, they don't like Chump lying or hiding behind the skirts of Pam Bondi and Trashy Garbage (Tulsi Gabbard). Apparently, that's not a look that screams "leadership."

Chump's an embarrassment who lies and lies and gets caught and then lies some more. D. Earl Stephens rightly notes:

The President of the United States posted a FAKE VIDEO TO THE ENTIRE WORLD Sunday night, of a kneeling Barack Obama being placed in handcuffs, and we are supposed to go along like it is just another day in America.

This has got to stop, before we wake up one day soon to find it is already too late.

No sentient being -- real or artificial -- believes Chump's lies about Barack. Rachel Raposas (PEOPLE) notes:

As Trump faces increasing pressure to publicize evidence in Jeffrey Epstein's child sex trafficking case, the administration has been looking for ways to change the conversation

Elon Musk's AI chatbot, Grok, has denounced Donald Trump's new allegations against Barack Obama as an "unsubstantiated" deflection.

Amid increasing pressure on the Trump administration to release all files related to Jeffrey Epstein's child sex trafficking case, the president and his national intelligence director, Tulsi Gabbard, have focused their attention on accusing Obama of conspiring against him in 2016, according to a report Gabbard released on Friday, July 18.

The next day, after a user on X asked Grok if the report was based in fact, or if the Trump administration is "just trying to distract from Jeffrey Epstein," the chatbot replied that none of the claims against Obama appeared to have merit.

"No credible evidence exists that Barack Obama committed any crimes; allegations of a 'treasonous conspiracy' in 2016 are unsubstantiated and refuted by bipartisan reports confirming Russian interference," Grok wrote in a reply. "Gabbard's claims appear politically motivated to distract from Epstein file scrutiny."

The cries to release the files only grow louder each day. Malcolm Ferguson (THE NEW REPUBLIC) notes:

Outgoing Republican Senator Thom Tillis just wants President Trump to “release the damn files” in regard to Jeffrey Epstein, the deceased pedophile and Trump’s former friend.

“The promise to release the files during the campaign was either overplayed and we got a nothingburger if the files get released, or it’s something really disturbing and that’s actually an even more compelling reason to release it,” Tillis said at an Axios event on Wednesday.

Last night on THE NEWSHOUR (PBS), guest Faiz Shakir talked about how this relates to Chump's actions as president:

And some of that narrative, I think that behooves Democrats at this point is, well, you did Medicaid cuts, you did tax cuts for the rich, you did some tariffs, you did all these things on DOGE, all these things you're doing, what's the narrative? What's the framework by which we should think about what you're doing? And Epstein provides it, a sense that, when it's wealthy and well-connected people, we go to the mat to protect them. And when it's not, oh, we go to war against them. And I think Epstein is going to help feed this narrative, help it make it clear to a lot of people who Donald Trump fights for most aggressively. It happens to be people like Jeffrey Epstein.

He works for the super wealthy. That's the boil down. He is not concerned with We The People. He is not bothered by girls being molested. He exists to be the biggest rat in the swamp and fight to protect the super wealthy.

Let's move over to immigration. Senator Ron Wyden's office issued this press release:

Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., slammed the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Justice for massively expanding the DNA collection of immigrant children and adults to permanently store in a national criminal database that could be weaponized by the Trump administration.

Wyden demanded answers from the Trump administration, which has failed to explain why it has vastly expanded DNA collection from immigrants by 5000%. Department of Homeland Security agents fail to clearly notify immigrants their DNA is being taken, fail to follow the department's own policies, and often threaten individuals with arrest or criminal charges if they refuse to give their DNA, according to reports.

“Governments exercising such broad discretion to involuntarily collect and retain DNA are repressive authoritarian regimes also engaging in gross human rights violations, such as genocide, ethnic cleansing, torture, and more,” Wyden wrote in a letter to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. “In fact, the U.S. Government has condemned the involuntary collection of DNA by the People’s Republic of China and has sanctioned entities engaged in this practice, yet this practice appears to be ongoing on our own soil.”

The collection of samples includes more than 133,000 children as young as four years old, whose DNA will be used by law enforcement for every potential future investigation.

Legal experts have warned that the Administration's secret, mass-collection of immigrant DNA may also violate constitutional due process rights. The Trump administration has green lighted DHS agents’ ability to detain and collect samples from immigrants without prior judicial authorization.

In order for Congress and the American people to understand the Trump administration’s collection of DNA from immigrants, Wyden requested answers to the following questions by August 1, 2025:

What is the United States Government’s interest in collecting and retaining DNA from noncitizens in the course of immigration detention and enforcement?
Which agencies, including DHS subcomponent agencies, has the Attorney General authorized to participate in the collection of DNA from noncitizens?
Please describe in detail how DHS is able to access and utilize DNA samples and related information collected in the course of immigration detention and enforcement once the samples and information are retained in CODIS and any other databases.
Please describe in detail how DOJ is able to access and utilize DNA samples and related information collected in the course of immigration detention and enforcement once the samples and information are retained in CODIS and any other databases.
When DHS or subcomponent agencies collect DNA material from individuals in immigration detention and enforcement, where are DNA samples stored following collection?
To date, how many adult noncitizens have DHS officials collected DNA from during immigration detention and enforcement activities? Further, how many DNA samples from adult noncitizens have been collected by DHS since January 2025?
To date, how many minors (18 years old and younger) have DHS officials collected DNA from during immigration detention and enforcement activities in the last five years?
Further, how many DNA samples from minors have been collected by DHS since January 2025?
What Department-wide guidance and/or agency-specific guidance is provided to DHS officials regarding the collection of DNA from noncitizens?
How often is DNA collected by DHS, without judicial authorization, being used in criminal investigations and prosecutions?
Does DHS policy prohibit intimidation, coercion, or the threat of criminal prosecution to compel a noncitizen to provide a DNA sample?
Does DHS or any subcomponent currently have a process in place to expunge DNA and related information stored in CODIS that were collected in the course of a noncitizen’s detention?
Does DHS by practice or policy notify individuals whose DNA and related information have been collected during immigration detention?
What information are DOJ and DHS, respectively, able to extract from the DNA they retain? Is DNA accessed to determine any ethnographic or racial information about the individual?

Wyden has consistently advocated in the Senate for humane immigration reform. In July, he criticized the Trump administration’s hostile immigration policies and joined colleagues to introduce a bill to require immigration enforcement agents to display clear identification. In March, he slammed the Trump administration for its resurrection of a draconian immigration order that requires immigrants to register with the federal government and carry proof of their registration at all times. In April, he reintroduced legislation to guarantee legal representation for unaccompanied children in immigration court. In June, he reintroduced legislation to protect TPS and DED recipients from Trump’s attacks on immigrants.

The text of the letter is here.

###

There remains no real oversight of what Chump is doing as he declares war on immigrants.

That Donald Chump would be known for a snitch program should come as no surprise. Snitching is what gutter trash like Donald will do when they get caught in their own crimes. Josh Marcus (INDEPENDENT) reports:

The Department of Homeland Security is encouraging Americans to report abusive ex-partners to immigration officials, touting the case of an individual who went “from domestic abuser to deported loser.”

The comments, shared in a post on X featuring a link to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement tip line, were in response to a previous post from Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier.

The Florida official, an outspoken backer of the Trump administration's immigration agenda and the force behind the state’s now-infamous “Alligator Alcatraz” migrant detention center, described taking a tip about an abusive individual who overstayed their visa and steering the accused toward deportation.

“We recently got a tip from someone whose abusive ex overstayed a tourism visa. He is now cued up for deportation,” Uthmeier wrote. “If your ex is in this country illegally, please feel free to reach out to our office. We’d be happy to assist.”

They're not helping survivors of abuse and they know it. They're liars. They are calling for anyone miffed at an ex to claim that he or she abused them. Then they will have their so-called 'probable cause' to terrorize someone. They're not investigate the claim, they're not going to put the accused in front of a court to determine guilt or innocence. They're just going to use the claim to terrorize more people.

Shame on you if you lie on anyone. During Bully Boy Bush's first term occupying the White House, immediately after 9/11, a number of people offered 'tips' (lies) on people that they didn't like. A lot of those people got rounded up. There's a man that killed himself because he was responsible for 5 people being rounded up and he thought it was funny for about a year and a half. Then the guilt kicked in. They're counting on your desire for vengeance kicking in and overruling common sense.

ICE wants to be able to hide their faces and their names because they know what they're doing is shameful, inhumane and wrong. Trevor Hughes (USA TODAY) reports:

Immigration agents are increasingly hiding their faces behind masks, a move that is drawing new criticism as the White House ramps up detention and deportations and prepares to dispatch more officers.

A group of Democratic attorneys general have now asked Congress to pass a law forcing ICE agents to routinely operate without masks, arguing the policy of letting agents operate anonymously has sparked multiple police impersonators. Democratic members of Congress have also pushed the administration to make ICE agents more readily identifiable.

Federal authorities say U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents need to conceal their identities to protect their families from retaliation as they execute President Donald Trump's orders to conduct the largest mass deportation in history.

Bulls**t. Police officers patrol the streets every day and do so without hiding their faces.

Let's note reality via this press release from Senator Alex Padilla's office.

Highlighted testimony from Alejandro Barranco — a veteran and the son of Narciso, who was violently detained by masked CBP agents in Orange County

**WATCH: Padilla criticizes Trump and Republicans for backtracking on pledge to target violent criminals**

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee, joined a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee hearing to set the record straight on President Trump and Stephen Miller’s cruel mass deportation campaign, blasting the Administration for intentionally stoking fear and scapegoating immigrants.

Padilla emphasized that far from the Trump Administration’s stated plan to target violent criminals, less than 10 percent of immigrants whom Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has taken into custody have serious criminal convictions, and there has been a staggering 500 percent increase in the number of arrests of noncitizens without criminal records. He stressed that these ICE sweeps often illegally profile and target people based on their race, accents, or occupation, while hurting the economy by ripping away farm workers, service industry employees, and other essential workers.

Padilla called out Republicans for attempting to distract from the sharp turn in public opinion away from the President’s immigration policy by relitigating complaints from the Biden presidency more than six months into Trump’s second term. An all-time record 79 percent of Americans believe immigration is a good thing for the country.

He also criticized the $150 billion funding surge to carry out Trump’s enforcement agenda in Republicans’ billionaire-first reconciliation bill, underscoring that ICE’s budget is now larger than the budget of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF); Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA); U.S. Marshals Service, and Bureau of Prisons combined.

“It’s clear why we’re here today: we’re here because Donald Trump is scapegoating immigrants,” said Padilla in committee. “It’s always been his outlet. This is their break-glass-in-case-of-emergency option when public sentiment turns against them and their agenda. It hasn’t been about only targeting violent criminals and it’s certainly not about fixing or modernizing our immigration system.”

Padilla questioned three witnesses on the Trump Administration’s harmful immigration enforcement. He asked Deborah Fleischaker, a former ICE Acting Chief of Staff and longtime Department of Homeland Security official, to set the record straight that the Biden Administration encouraged ICE to do its job to detain violent criminals. He also highlighted the need for additional funding beyond immigration enforcement to support the hiring of more immigration judges and asylum officers.

Padilla heard further from Alejandro Barranco — a Marine veteran and the eldest son of Narciso Barranco, who was violently detained by masked Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents in Orange County — about the dangers of indiscriminate immigration enforcement, including sweeping up hardworking people with no history of violent crime.

PADILLA: The way they present it, the way they talk about President Biden’s administration and prior Democratic administrations is like it was never a priority for Democratic administrations to go after criminals, and that Democrats and Democratic administrations just didn’t care about the presence of dangerous people in our communities. Simply not true. … Ms. Fleischaker, you were in ICE leadership. In your view, in your experience, did the Biden Administration ever restrain ICE from pursuing serious criminals?

FLEISCHAKER: We absolutely did not stop ICE agents from enforcing the law and going after public safety threats. In fact, we encouraged them to do so. We very much want to want to find and arrest public safety threats in the community. […]

PADILLA: I don’t think anyone here would disagree with the idea of rooting out the ‘worst of the worst,’ even if we disagree over what immigration policy should be, but I believe it’s unacceptable that these raids are so indiscriminate that they end up sweeping up people with no history of violent crime, hardworking people trying to give their children a better life, like Alejandro’s father, Narciso. Alejandro, question is for you. … Is there anything else that you would like to share about the cruelty with which your father was treated or what your family’s gone through?

BARRANCO: I think that the way they treated him and the way they handled that situation was very unprofessional. It showed men who were not trained. It doesn’t seem like it. … They were running with guns in their hand, with fingers on the trigger, pointing it at civilian vehicles. And honestly, I don’t think that’s for the best of public safety, and I believe that they should have better training and go out and chase after the real criminals.

PADILLA: Well, I couldn’t agree more, and the more resources, personnel, funding, and otherwise that’s directed at again, just broad-based enforcement is less focus, less prioritization of those violent criminals that we know are out there, the Administration knows are out there, but they’re not the clear priority or focus.

Padilla also expressed concern about indiscriminate immigration raids creating widespread fear, keeping people home from work, businesses, church, and public spaces, while limiting the reporting of crimes. He heard from Dr. Giovanni Veliz, a retired Minneapolis Police Department Commander, about the importance of building trust with immigrant communities to combat crime and keep police officers safe.

Video of Senator Padilla’s opening remarks is available here, and his questions are available here.

More information on the hearing is available here.

###

Horror stories. If you follow the news, you seem over and over. Billal Rahman (NEWSWEEK) reports on theater teacher Fernando Alves-Rocha kidnapped by ICE in Monroe, Washington. The 48 y.o. had been in the US since 2018, gainfully employed, paying taxes. But, sure, let's pretend he's a criminal. Teo Armus, Samantha Schmidt, Helena Carpioa and Arelis R. Hernández (WASHINGTON POST) report on Julio González Jr.:

Julio González Jr. had agreed to be deported to Venezuela. When the 36-year-old office cleaner and house painter boarded the flight in Texas in March, he assumed it would take him back to his home country.

Instead, the plane landed in El Salvador.

“The horror movie started there,” González said Tuesday.

When the shackled men refused to get off the plane, González and two other detainees told The Washington Post that they were yanked by their feet, beaten and shoved off board as the plane’s crew began to cry. Dozens of migrants were forced onto a bus and driven to a massive gray complex. They were ordered to kneel there with their foreheads pressed against the ground as guards pointed guns directly at them.

“Welcome to El Salvador, you sons of b-----s,” a hooded figure told them, González recalled. They had arrived at El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center, known as CECOT. The United States has paid the Salvadoran government of President Nayib Bukele $6 million to hold hundreds of migrants rounded up in President Donald Trump’s mass removals — many without ties to El Salvador, many without criminal charges — at the world’s largest prison.

In the four months they spent there, the detainees said, they were beaten repeatedly with wooden bats. González was robbed of thousands of dollars, he said, and denied access to lawyers or a chance to call his family. Joen Suárez, 23, was taken several times to a dark room known as La Isla — or “the island” — and beaten, kicked and insulted. Angel Blanco Marin, 22, said he was hit so hard he lost half of a molar. He asked for painkillers and medical attention but was given none for more than a month.

The three men returned to their family’s homes in Venezuela this week, among the 252 Venezuelans released from CECOT and taken to the South American country in a deal between the U.S. and Venezuelan governments. They arrived on two flights in exchange for the release of 10 American citizens and permanent U.S. residents imprisoned in Venezuela.

These are the crimes committed by our government. I didn't vote for the piece of crap, but he's president of the United States and he's responsible for these War Crimes.

Let's note this CNN video.

Yes, classified material was shared. We're going to pick up the topic tomorrow hopefully. If not, let me just note that Marc Short's a damn liar.

Winding down, Senator Elizabeth Warren's office issued the following:

“The Paramount payoff is part of a corrupt pattern of Trump exploiting the power of the presidency both to profit personally and to punish his perceived enemies.”

“The moment we turn a blind eye to these deals is the moment we start to lose our democracy.”

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) published an op-ed in Variety making the case that the Late Show with Stephen Colbert’s cancellation may be another one of Donald Trump’s attempts to get big corporations to buy his favor and bow down before him.

Senator Warren has been leading the charge to determine if Paramount is bribing President Trump in exchange for approval of its multi-billion-dollar megamerger with Skydance, and has fought relentlessly across the board against President Trump's corruption.

Read the full op-ed here and below:

Variety - Elizabeth Warren on Colbert's 'Late Show' Cancellation: Is the Paramount Trump Payoff a Bribe?
July 23, 2025

President Donald Trump and CBS parent company Paramount want you to think that The Late Show with Stephen Colbert was canceled for “purely financial” reasons. Really?

During the 2024 election, Donald Trump sued CBS, making claims CBS called “meritless.” Legal experts could see from a mile away that Trump’s claims were bogus. Paramount seemed ready to fight the allegations, and it looked like they’d win that fight handily. Then Trump took office in January 2025.

From the first moments of his presidency, Trump quickly made it clear that he was happy to use his executive power to enrich himself. He was eager to hand out favors — for the right price — and threaten punishment for those who pushed back. There’s a reason that billionaire CEOs paid millions of dollars to get front-row access to his inauguration.

This is where questions about a Paramount payout to Trump come in. Right now, Paramount is trying to merge with Skydance, another huge media company. This deal is worth $8 billion – and, by the way, it could raise prices for millions of viewers. But here’s the kicker: this merger can only go through if it’s approved by the Trump administration.

Instead of fighting Trump on his “meritless” lawsuit, Paramount settled, handing $16 million to Trump’s presidential library. This looks like bribery in plain sight, and that’s exactly what Stephen Colbert said on his show: “This kind of complicated financial settlement with a sitting government official has a technical name in legal circles: it’s 'big, fat bribe.’” Three days later, Paramount-owned CBS canceled Colbert’s show. And Trump didn’t waste a moment before celebrating the news.

Was it a coincidence that CBS canceled Colbert just three days after he spoke out? Are we sure that this wasn’t part of a wink-wink deal between the president and a giant corporation that needed something from his administration? If CBS made this decision for "purely financial" reasons, why the timing? And why did Trump say "I hope I played a major part in" getting Colbert fired? These are fair questions, and ones that I have asked Paramount and Skydance.

The Paramount payoff is part of a corrupt pattern of Trump exploiting the power of the presidency both to profit personally and to punish his perceived enemies.

ABC News handed over $15 million to Trump’s presidential library in a settlement for another questionable defamation lawsuit. Trump was even more direct with Mark Zuckerberg, reportedly telling him that the price for being “brought in the tent” of the new Trump administration was to settle another doubtful lawsuit. Zuckerberg immediately bowed down, ending Meta’s fact-checking program and dumping $22 million into the Trump library. And Trump is running the same play again: immediately after Paramount folded, Trump sued the Wall Street Journal over an article that exposed details about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.

As Trump works to dampen any criticism in the media, he has also launched attacks on other independent institutions. In his first few months in office, Trump has aggressively threatened both universities and law firms in an effort to force them to bend to his will. The pattern is the same: Trump threatens to bring down the weight of the federal government on a single institution, and, too often, the targets feel they have no option but to bow down to an all-powerful Trump.

And for everyone in the free press, the academic world and the legal system, Trump has delivered his message with ruthless bluntness: If you criticize him, you could be forced to pay dearly.

The wealthy and well-connected have long had outsized influence in Washington, but Donald Trump is the most corrupt president in American history. He is using that corruption to gain control over independent organizations and people who might hold him to account. Every threat, use of intimidation, and potential bribe undermines our democracy as it moves Trump closer to absolute control.

I recently introduced my Presidential Library Anti-Corruption Act to close at least one bribery loophole. This bill would block anyone from dumping tens of millions of dollars into a president’s library slush fund while that president still sits in the Oval Office. It would mean Paramount couldn’t funnel nearly $16 million to Trump’s library while it seeks favors from his administration. It would mean Qatar couldn’t “gift” Trump a $400 million private jet destined for some future library. This is a basic, common-sense reform that would help ensure that the government works for the American public, not just for people willing to pay for presidential favors. But that’s just Step One.

Trump and his billionaire friends may think they can turn the power of the federal government into a tool they can deploy to make themselves richer while the rest of us stand quietly by. But we understand that the moment we turn a blind eye to these deals is the moment we start to lose our democracy.

In the coming weeks, months, and years, all of us must show Trump that we see his march toward authoritarianism and we will not be silenced. Democrats need to embrace the fight against corruption as a top priority. Republicans need to grow a spine and get behind common-sense anti-corruption measures. All Americans need to speak up. Because yes, it’s a shame that CBS canceled The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, but it is a threat to all of us that the top late-night show in the country may have been canceled in order to curry favor with a wannabe king.

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The following sites updated:

Wednesday, July 23, 2025

Kelly Clarkson, Adam Levine, John Legend, Tom Jones

Good news from Hannah Dailey (BILLBOARD):

The Voice is getting the band back together, with former coaches Kelly Clarkson, Adam Levine and John Legend set to return to their spinning chairs for season 29 as part of a major revamp for the NBC singing competition series.

As announced Tuesday (July 22), the three Voice veterans are coming back to the judge's panel for a special cycle of the show dubbed "Battle of Champions," which will find the trio competing against each other with a few notable changes to the long-running competition format. For starters, the show's famous blind auditions will have the added component of coaches competing against each other for the most triple turns in season 29, with the winner securing a "Super Steal" that blocks any other coach's attempt to swipe a singer from another team in the battle round.

They need them. And I have no idea why they ever let Adam Levine go in the first place. By the way, Maroon Five drops their new album August 15th. I wasn't planning on reviewing it but Liza wrote an impassioned e-mail that I read yesterday and I'll give it a lesson to see if there's anything there that speaks to me. If so, I'll review it.

Tuesday, I was watching WILL & GRACE as I often do. It was the episode where Karen gets kicked out of the Palace Hotel and moves in with Will. And this is from a transcript of that episode:

KAREN: Ah... listen, kids. I need your help. I'm in a little bit of a pickle. You know how I'm into Aerosmith, right?

[WILL AND JACK LOOK AT EACH OTHER CONFUSED.]

JACK: [SHRUGS] Yeah.

WILL: [SHRUGS] Sure, go ahead.

KAREN: I went to see 'em play at Madison Square Garden and invited 'em back to my suite at the Palace Hotel to party with me.

JACK: Aerosmith?

KAREN: No, Madison Square Garden. Anyhoo-- Some things may have... been set on fire. A bellboy may have been stripped and shaved. A young girl may have become a mother. Bottom line... They kicked me out. And no hotel in New York will have me. And I need a place to stay. A-ha-ha-ha!

JACK: Well, you know, I'd let you bunk with me, but they're gonna be shooting "Sex and the City" in my apartment all week! Yeah, in fact, I gotta go baby-proof it. In case Sarah Jessica brings little James Wilke Jessica Broderick Parker.

KAREN: So, I guess that leaves--

WILL: No, no, no. No, you cannot stay here. Why don't you move in with one of your hallucinations?

KAREN: All right, okay. I see what this is gonna take.

[KAREN UNBUTTONS HER TOP AND BEGINS SHIMMYING HER BREASTS AT WILL.]

KAREN: Ooh, yeah. It's good to be bad, isn't it, daddy? Whoo!

WILL: Karen, I'd ha-- What-- Okay, all right, all right. Stop it! You can stay here--

KAREN: Ha!

WILL: But just till we work things out with the Palace.

WILL: I don't know if you hypnotized me with those things or what, but I'm not afraid of flying anymore.

SCENE III: Will's Apartment
(WILL is sitting at the dining room table working when KAREN enters from her bedroom.)

KAREN: Hey. [WHISTLES "Yoo-Hoo"] What time does the gal come by to turn down the bed?

WILL: Karen, this is not a hotel. No one will be turning your bed down. And I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't keep filling up my answering machine with complaints about room service.

KAREN: Well, since you bring it up, when I checked in, the soaps had all been opened, and the shower cap had been used.

WILL: Karen, I am trying to catch up on some work here. Okay? I've got an SEC filing that's months overdue, a product liability case that's going to trial, and, most importantly of all, the firm's annual potluck dinner is coming up, and I don't want three people bringing salads, like last year's fiasco.

KAREN: Okay, okay. Fine, I'll leave you alone.

[KAREN WALKS OVER TO THE STEREO AND TURNS IT ON. "IT'S NOT UNUSUAL" BY TOM JONES BEGINS PLAYING LOUDLY. KAREN BEGINS SWAYING AND SNAPPING HER FINGERS, SINGING ALONG QUITE LOUDLY.]

KAREN: [LOUDLY SINGING] It's not unusual to be loved by anyone. It's not unusual to be loved by...

WILL: Karen! Quiet!

[WILL RUNS AND TURNS OFF THE STEREO.]

WILL: Quiet.

KAREN: Jeez Louise! It's just a little top 40.

WILL: Well, if you must do that, put the headphones on.

KAREN: Oh, fun.

[WILL SITS BACK DOWN.]

[KAREN PUTS ON THE HEADPHONES AND TURNS THE MUSIC BACK ON.]

KAREN: [SINGING LOUDLY] If you ever want to be loved by anyone.

KAREN: [SINGING LOUDLY WHILE GRINDING ON THE BOOKCASE] It's not unusual, it happens every day. No matter what you say, you see it happens all the--

[WILL IS PACKING UP HIS STUFF AND IS LEAVING.]

KAREN: Where you going? I'm just about at the bridge.

WILL: I can't believe I sacrificed my gift-wrapping room for you. And right around the holidays!

[WILL EXITS INTO THE HALLWAY, SLAMMING THE DOOR.]

So Will leaves and meets up with Grace at the candy store. Then the two of them go back to his place and it is demolished, Karen's passed out and the stereo is stuck on Tom Jones singing "It's not unusual - [skip] - it's not unusual [skip] - it's not unusual" -- back to the transcript:

[WILL OPENS THE DOOR TO HIS APARTMENT. IT'S A COMPLETE MESS. KAREN IS ASLEEP ON THE COUCH'S BACK CUSHIONS.]

[TOM JONES IS LOUDLY PLAYING ON THE STEREO, BUT THE CD IS SKIPPING.]

TOM JONES: "It's not unusua-- it's not unusua-- It's not unusua-- it's not unusua-- It's not--"

[WILL TURNS THE MUSIC OFF.]

GRACE: Well, this is unusual.

WILL: What the hell happened here?! Karen?!

KAREN: [SITTING UP] Grace Adler Designs.

WILL: I don't remember giving permission for a party!

KAREN: It wasn't a party. You guys know how I'm into gangsta rap, right?

WILL: Sure, go on.

GRACE: Yeah.

KAREN: All I did was invite Ol' Dirty Bastard over to watch Masterpiece Theatre. [SIGHS] And he brought along his whole posse. And some bomb-ass chronic. Heh-heh!

WILL: Would you look at this place? These cushions are ruined. There's beer rings all over the coffee table. [PICKS UP A PEN FROM THE COFFEE TABLE.] Great, they broke my novelty pen from last year's Gay Games. Now when you turn it, the high-diver's Speedo doesn't come off. What am supposed to do with this pen now?

KAREN: I have a suggestion.

WILL: I heard that!

GRACE: All right, calm down.

WILL: Hey! Don't you tell me to calm down!

GRACE: [QUIETLY] Hey, can we please not do this in front of the D-R-U-N-K?

KAREN: Can I have my martini now?

WILL: No! No dessert!

GRACE: Will, she's hungry.

WILL: Tough! She's gotta learn that there are consequences to her actions! [TO KAREN] So you are gonna sit there, on this couch, and look at Grace's honeymoon pictures!

KAREN: I hate you!

[GRACE SITS DOWN NEXT TO KAREN AND OPENS UP THE PICTURES.]

GRACE: Roll one. My luggage.

[KAREN GASPS AND BEGINS CRYING.]

So I was watching that and thinking what's my favorite Tom Jones' song? "It's Not Unusual" was a big hit around the world. In the UK, it went to number one and is his biggest hit. In the US, it went top ten. "What's New Pussy Cat?" did not go top ten in the UK -- it made it to number eleven but it's his second biggest hit in the US going to number three. His biggest hit in the US is "She's A Lady" which made it to number two here but only to number 13 in the UK. He's had 19 top forty hits in the US. In addition to those 19 songs, he had 9 other songs go top forty on the US country charts (in the 80s). And in the 90s and the 00s, he had three songs go top forty on the US dance charts. So that's 31 songs he put out that charted in the top forty on one of three BILLBOARD charts.

Then today, Tom Jones is in the news. Roisin O'Connor (INDEPENDENT) reports:

Sir Tom Jones has cancelled a show just hours before he was due to go onstage after falling ill.

The Welsh crooner, 85, told fans he was “very sorry” to have to postpone the gig in Bremen, north Germany, as part of his ongoing tour.

However, the Grammy-winning “She’s a Lady” star revealed he has contracted an upper respiratory infection that requires treatment and rest.

As a result, the show – which was due to take place tonight (Tuesday 22 July) – will now be pushed back to Monday 28 July.

“Hello to all the fans in Bremen. Unfortunately, I must postpone my show this evening, as I've contracted an upper respiratory infection that needs treatment and rest.

“I know this is really disappointing and will cause inconvenience to you all, and I'm very sorry about that. But the show will now go ahead on Monday 28 July, so I look forward to seeing you then. All tickets will remain valid for the re-scheduled date.

Weird to think of Tom Jones' health. He's always been a ball of fire onstage. Hope he gets well soon.

My favorite Tom Jones' song is either "She's A Lady" or his cover of Prince's "Kiss" which he took to 37 on the US pop chart in 1988 and to number 3 on the UK charts. The episode of WILL & GRACE I was noting is entitled "The Honeymoon Is Over" and is the tenth episode of season five. It has a surprise guest star at the end of the episode -- a music legend: Elton John.

Closing with C.I.'s "The Snapshot"

Wednesday, July 23, 2025. Chump's caught lying about drug prices, his drug 'plan' may actually increase prices, he and his finger puppet Mike Johnson try to shut down questions about his dead pal Jeffrey Epstein, Chump's mental condition is as questionable as his physical condition, and gutter trash Chump needs to stop using the presidency to attack other people.

Waking up with Ben (MEIDASTOUCH NETWORK) breaking down the news almost makes it palatable.

Love Ben's mocking of Donald Chump and his "Russia Russia Russia" nonsense. I do have a question though. First though, let's note this from last night's THE 11TH HOUR WITH STEPHANIE RUHLE.

At some point with Donald these days, the question is always one of how much is this him lying as usual and how much of this is his dementia?

Ben unpacked several issues with Donald mad ravings yesterday. Pay attention to the stuff on former President Barack Obama.

I am tired of people in the media treating this raving lunatic as normal.

Reagan didn't slam Ford or Carter. Bill Clinton didn't give speeches attacking Poppy Bush.

This behavior is gutter. This is why Chump had to move to Florida. He was always gutter and Manhattan was not willing to embrace him. The fact that gutter is in the Oval Office is not a good thing. The raving lunatic and his conspiracy talk causes violence.

He has no proof about Barack Obama. He's making reckless charges and doing so as the head of the executive branch. He needs to be brought to heel and I'm not the only one outraged by his antics. The office of the president is not a bully pulpit to attack people with.

I think people need to start suing him. I mean Rosie O'Donnell, I mean Barack Obama, I mean everyone he goes off on. This is not presidential behavior and it is not acceptable.

Barack's response is this statement from his spokesperson Patrick Rodenbush:

Out of respect for the office of the presidency, our office does not normally dignify the constant nonsense and misinformation flowing out of this White House with a response. But these claims are outrageous enough to merit one. These bizarre allegations are ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction. Nothing in the document issued last week undercuts the widely accepted conclusion that Russia worked to influence the 2016 presidential election but did not successfully manipulate any votes. These findings were affirmed in a 2020 report by the bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee, led by then-Chairman Marco Rubio.

Chump is slandering people. He's slandered Rosie, he's slandered Barack. This is nothing about official duties because the president is not judge and jury and is actually supposed to say things like, "I cannot comment on that issue due to litigation."

He needs a gag order again. Rosie should sue him for one. Everyone he is slandering should be suing him.

As Ben notes in the video we posted immediately above (not the one at the top), Chump is also lying like crazy.

It's 100%.

That's all you've got with costs.

If you come in my store and want to buy whatever, a necklace, and it's $500 dollars, I might be giddy and happy about something else and give it to you for free. That would mean you got a 100% discount.

Chump's lies about medicines? Chump's lying that he's reduced it by 1,000%?

That would mean that Eli Lily was not only giving you the product for free, it would also mean that they were paying you to take it.

He is a damn liar.

Again, I get it. Is it the lying or the dementia?

There's no 1000% discount. He's a liar and he's a loon.

Ben and Ewan Palmer (DAILY BEAST) are not the only media voices who should be pointing out that Chump's math is wrong and that Chump's lying. Here's Ewan this morning:

President Donald Trump has promised to reduce American drug prices by mathematically impossible figures of up to “1400 percent.”

Speaking during a White House event attended by Republican members of Congress and his Cabinet, Trump said he would tackle the long-running issue of high medication costs in the U.S.

But Trump did not set any achievable targets for that aim, instead outlining a range of percentages which would yield negative prices, meaning drug companies would have to pay people to take their medications.

“We will have reduced drug prices by 1,000 percent by 1100, 1200, 1300, 1400, 700, 600,” Trump said. “Not 30 or 40 or 50 percent, but numbers the likes of which you’ve never even dreamed of before.”

Trump added that his numbers were previously “not even thought to be achievable,”—mainly because they aren’t—but he believes he can somehow pull it off because “I’ve used a certain talent that I have and convinced the drug companies that you have no choice.”

Trump’s threat involves warning European countries that they will no longer be able to sell cars in the U.S. unless their pharmaceutical companies lower their drug prices.

“You’re no longer allowed to have Mercedes, BMW, Volkswagen or any of the other many cars and they will say, ‘Oh, I love the idea of lower drug prices for America.’”

Grasp that Chump's not just lying and not just wrong. He's on camera telling Republicans going home to their districts to repeat this nonsense. If they do? I hope their constituents boo them.

On top of that, his 'plan' may result in higher drug prices. Lyndon Haviland (THE HILL) argues:

President Trump recently announced his intent to impose a 200 percent tariff on pharmaceuticals to lure drug manufacturing back to the U.S. This action, if implemented, will come at great cost to millions of Americans already struggling to cover their medical bills and force them deeper into health care debt.

A vast number of Americans today rely on prescription medications. Over 60 percent of adults have at least one prescription filled every year.

These statistics rise dramatically as we grow older. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found an estimated nine out of 10 people over the age of 65 rely on these drugs to maintain their long-term health.

Many adults admit to not taking their medications due to fears over cost. Almost half of adults age 50 and older “have either skipped filling a prescription due to costs or know someone who has,” according to research by the American Association of Retired Persons.

U.S. prescription drug prices are almost three times higher than those of other countries. The U.S. “pays higher prices for prescription drugs than any other country in the world,” notes the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

In part, that’s because some of the most widely used drugs in America are imported from other countries.

Pharmaceutical imports have more than doubled in recent decades, rising from $65 billion in 2006 to $151 billion in 2019. They include many popular drugs that treat diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis, cancer, blood clots, schizophrenia and obesity, among others.

The long-term goal of boosting U.S. drug manufacturing to make America less reliant on pharmaceutical production from other countries, lower drug costs and increase medication access is an important endeavor.

But the policies we enact to try and achieve this desired outcome must be weighed carefully to avoid creating short-term price spikes and drug shortages that could hurt millions of people.

Trump initially said his tariff proposal wouldn’t go into effect for another year. He has since changed this view by indicating the U.S. may “start off” with a lower tariff as early as Aug. 1, and raise it to a “very high tariff” in a “year or so.”

But experts have issued warnings about the possible impact these tariffs will have on public health, saying even a year isn’t enough time for the U.S. drug industry to build the required infrastructure necessary to meet U.S. supply demands.

That does not paint a pretty picture for the future of America. And Chump's math, again, does not add up.

It is a lie, an outright lie. Now it may be the lie of a criminally insane man, but it's a still a lie.

Jordan King (NEWSWEEK) reports this morning:

More than 8,000 people have signed a petition calling for President Donald Trump to release all his medical records.

On July 17, the White House confirmed Trump had been diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency following growing concerns about visible swelling in the president's legs and bruises on his hands.

Newsweek has contacted the White House for comment via email.

Historically, U.S. presidents and presidential candidates have released their medical information to build public trust and reassure voters. The issue has become more urgent as the median age of presidents in the U.S. has risen, with cognitive and physical decline becoming pointed campaign topics.

[. . .]

The author of the Care2 petition titled "Release Trump's FULL Medical Records NOW" wrote: "After everyone with eyes was able to plainly see Trump's swollen legs, discolorations, and other troubling symptoms, the White House FINALLY released a snippet of health information—Trump has 'chronic venous insufficiency.' In tones normally reserved for a hangnail, they said this was no big deal, very common, nothing to see here...

"Except that this can indicate a very serious heart condition, possibly life-threatening, along with a range of other very dangerous ailments. But we don't have the full records, so we have to take the word of chronic liars.

"Add your name, and demand that ALL Trump's medical records be released, as has been common practice for presidents for decades.

"This also must include cognitive, memory, and related tests, given the rapidly worsening symptoms Trump has been showing on that front as well (including an utterly bizarre public rant about the Unabomber and Trump's uncle).

"This man has his finger on the nuclear button, which is already frightening. But if he's falling apart physically and mentally, that takes it to a whole other level. And we need to know that, so we can act accordingly."

The White House announced Trump's diagnosis in a memo from Sean Barbabella, the president's physician.

He needs to release the medical records and do so immediately. And the press needs to call him out for lying. Is Rebecca the only one who caught the lie in the 'new' condition the White House now admits Chump has?

Here's Rebecca from Friday night:

now onto chump. and i'm talking about his health lies, to clarify. he lies about everything, yes, but i'm talking about his health lies. this is from 'morning edition' ('npr') this morning:

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

The White House has acknowledged that President Trump has a chronic condition affecting the veins in his legs. The administration disclosed this after people online called attention to photos showing the president with swollen ankles, among other symptoms. NPR's Will Stone is here to tell us more. Will, good morning.

WILL STONE, BYLINE: Good morning, Steve.

INSKEEP: OK, so what does the White House now say is the president's diagnosis?

STONE: Well, the president has what's called chronic venous insufficiency. And put simply, this is when the blood in your veins has trouble getting pumped back up to the heart. And as a result, the blood can start to accumulate. It can start to pool in your legs, causing swelling, as we've seen with President Trump. And specifically, this has to do with the valves in your veins not working all that well. Here's how Dr. Niten Singh described it to me. He's a vascular surgeon at the University of Washington.

NITEN SINGH: The veins, particularly in the lower extremity, are very thin-walled structures. And they have valves so that when you stand up, all the blood doesn't rush to your feet. These valves close. But over time, these valves can become dysfunctional.

STONE: And this dysfunction most often happens just as a result of getting older. The condition can also be due to a blood clot, what's known as deep vein thrombosis. And of course, a clot can be serious. Although, it's also possible the clot happened years earlier. And that ends up damaging the valves and causing problems later on. The president's doctor did check for a blood clot using an ultrasound and found no evidence of that. They also did not see any signs of arterial disease. And his doctor concluded President Trump remains, quote, "in excellent health."

he's at risk because he's obese and because he's old. 79 y.o. in fact and it's 1 more reason he can't get an erection anymore. but here's what i want to zoom in on - from 'all things considered' ('npr') today:

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

As many as 30% of all adults in the U.S. have some form of chronic venous insufficiency. So let's learn more about it. We've called Dr. Thomas Maldonado for this. He is a vascular surgeon at NYU Langone Health in New York. Good morning, Dr. Maldonado. Thanks for joining us.

THOMAS MALDONADO: Good morning. Good to be here.

MARTIN: So what are some of the early indicators for this? What should people be looking for?

MALDONADO: Well, you know, this is a progressive disease, so there's a spectrum of symptoms and signs. And, you know, early on, this is something that can present with some mild swelling. Oftentimes, people feel some heaviness, some itching in the legs, believe it or not. And then varicose veins is sort of what is the common presentation. People come in with sort of unsightly veins.

They want to look better in the summer. They want those treated. But those are actually a tip-off that there's a problem with the veins and the venous circulation.

MARTIN: You know, the White House released the results of the president's latest physical in April, which is just about three months ago. It showed there was, quote, "normal blood flow and no swelling," unquote, in his extremities. So is it possible that this condition came on that quickly in just a few months?

MALDONADO: Well, probably unlikely. I mean, there are - this is a chronic disease and it's - thus the name chronic venous insufficiency. So it happens really over a lifetime, although it's more common, as we know, in older adults, especially women. But the best way to understand this is that circulation is really simple plumbing. You know, we have a pump, the heart. It kind of propels blood through the arteries which deliver it to the organs, the extremities, and the veins return it.

do you get it? this is not an overnight condition. the white house has been lying about his health and falsifying medical records.

chump lies about everything.

We can't afford a president lying about their health. One more time, key passage:

The health condition did not just pop up. That's highly unlikely. Far more likely is that Chump and his doctor knew of it months ago, maybe even more than a year ago, and they have conspired to lie about it to the American people.

Meanwhile, he's not just attacking Barack with lies or Rosie with lies. He's also attacking Senator Adam Schiff. He's accusing him of criminal actions. That's not acceptable behavior for a sitting president -- or a former president.

Adam Schiff has responded on Twitter:

Since I led his first impeachment, Trump has repeatedly called for me to be arrested for treason.

So in a way, I guess this is a bit of a letdown.

And this baseless attempt at political retribution won’t stop me from holding him accountable.

Not by a long shot.

This is just Donald Trump’s latest attempt at political retaliation against his perceived enemies.

So it is not a surprise, only how weak this false allegation turns out to be.

And much as Trump may hope, this smear will not distract from his Epstein files problem.

There is no distracting from Chump's ties to Epstein. Greg Sargent (THE NEW REPUBLIC) writes this morning:

A few days ago, as the Jeffrey Epstein scandal gripped Washington, Senator Ron Wyden offered a striking revelation in an interview with The New York Times. The Oregon Democrat said that his investigators had discovered that four big banks had flagged to the Treasury Department $1.5 billion in potentially suspicious money transfers involving Epstein, much of which appeared to be related to his massive sex trafficking network.

The revelation—which emerged via Wyden’s work as ranking Democrat on the Finance Committee—ratified widespread suspicions that there is still much we don’t know about Epstein’s relations with some of the most powerful and wealthy elites in the world in the lead-up to his 2019 arrest on sex trafficking charges.

Now Wyden is ratcheting things up once again. Wyden’s office just sent a new letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi—which The New Republic obtained—suggesting seven potent lines of inquiry that the Justice Department could follow, right now, to dig more deeply into Epstein’s web of financial relations with global elites.

“I am convinced that the DOJ ignored evidence found in the U.S. Treasury Department’s Epstein file, a binder that contains extensive details on the mountains of cash Epstein received from prominent businessmen that Epstein used to finance his criminal network,” Wyden writes in the letter.

The Treasury Department has this information because that’s where banks file Suspicious Activity Reports, or SARS. Wyden’s letter says his staff has documented that Epstein-related filings by banks contain “information on more than 4,725 wire transfers involving Epstein’s accounts, all of which merit further investigation.”

US Speaker of the House Mike Johnson is an embarrassment and an enabler. Stephen Groves and Lisa Mascaro (AP) note, "House Speaker Mike Johnson is rebuffing pressure to act on the investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, instead sending members home early for a month-long break from Washington after the week's legislative agenda was upended by Republican members who are clamoring for a vote." Alex Henderson observes, "Johnson's announcement is drawing a lot of discussion on X, formerly Twitter -- some of it downright scathing." Chris Hatler (ESQUIRE) opines:

Suddenly, it seems, the Republicans have gone to DefCon 2 protecting the president on the whole Epstein business. Speaker Moses has joined the defense team, as has his caucus, as well as the Department of Justice. And Steve Bannon has The New York Times, the Washington Post, and CNN all conned into believing that MAGA has repaired all its divisions and is united in one great counter-attack against the forces of the Deep State. And the Steiner army should be here any minute. From the NYT:

Speaker Mike Johnson on Tuesday announced he was cutting short the week’s legislative business and sending the House home early for the summer on Wednesday to avoid having to hold votes on releasing files related to the accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

He made the move to deny Democrats the chance to try to force procedural votes on measures that would call on the Justice Department to make the information public. It reflected how deep divisions among Republicans on the matter have now paralyzed the House, as Republicans seek to avoid a politically perilous vote on a matter that is confounding President Trump and roiling their MAGA base.

At TALKING POINTS MEMO, Nicole Lafond explores Mike Johnson's turn around:

His rationale for all of this is two-fold. He says that after conversations with the White House and President Trump, he believes that lawmakers need to give the executive branch “space” to do the work they are already doing to release the files. This supposed work to make the documents public is only a few days old. Trump only directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to look into unsealing grand jury material in the case (a maneuver that will likely yield little) after a week of bad-for-Trump headlines — spurred by his own Justice Department’s decision to not release any more info to the public. A growing rift began to emerge last week not just among Trump’s MAGA base of conspiracy theorist influencers, but within the Republican Party as well.

At least 10 House Republicans had indicated they would join Democrats in supporting a bipartisan resolution sponsored by Reps. Ro Khanna (D-CA) and Thomas Massie (R-KY), which calls for releasing a lot more from the Epstein investigative files than the Trump administration is currently looking into unsealing. Massie and Khanna planned to use a procedural move, a discharge petition, to compel a vote on the matter. Per CNN:

That procedural maneuver requires seven legislative days before House lawmakers can formally collect the necessary signatures. Once they prove they have support from 218 members, it would force party leaders to bring it to the floor.
Trump’s attorney general has asked for grand jury material to be made public – which also is likely to be a slow-moving effort, and one that requires court approval. But the Massie and Khanna measure goes significantly further, requiring the Trump administration to release “all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials” related to Epstein within 30 days.
It would also require the White House to release a “list of all government officials and politically exposed persons named or referenced in the released materials” — a list that Trump’s base has been demanding.

Meanwhile House Republicans on the Rules Committee are blocking any legislation from reaching the House floor for a vote this week in order to block Democrats from introducing Epstein-related amendments. When Johnson decided to close down the House as early as Wednesday afternoon and shut down a vote on a non-binding resolution that would’ve allowed some House Republicans to vocalize their concerns over the Epstein matter before heading home for recess, he defiantly declared, “we’re done being lectured on transparency.”

He then went on to paint the issue as a moral dilemma that involved protecting the identity of Epstein’s victims — his second reason for packing things up early. Here’s Johnson’s quote in full, part of remarks he made during a press conference Tuesday when he also ridiculed Massie:

What I know about the president’s heart on this is that he agrees with everything I’ve said here today. He wants maximum transparency but he is also very insistent that we do not subject people, who have already been victims of unspeakable crimes, to further public scrutiny. It would be a very dangerous thing to put those people’s names out or to do a release of information in a way that is haphazard, where they could easily unmasked. And so you have to be very careful about how you do that. I think we have a moral responsibility to do that. We have a moral responsibility to expose the evil of Epstein and everybody that was involved in that, absolutely. And we’re resolved to do it, but we also have an equal moral responsibility to protect the innocent. And that is a fine needle to thread.

It’s a change in tone from what we heard from the House speaker last week, when he broke with the White House and aggressively advocated for more “transparency.”

“I’m for transparency,” Johnson told right-wing influencer Benny Johnson. “It’s a very delicate subject but we should put everything out there and let the people decide it.”

“We’re done being lectured on transparency,” Mr. Johnson said at a news conference, where the typically unflappable speaker appeared frustrated. He complained about “endless efforts to politicize the Epstein investigation” and added: “We’re not going to play political games with this,” as he wrapped up his final news conference before September.

Mercy me, Speaker Moses got him a mad on. So he’s sending his troops home so that the Democrats can’t remind him to do his duty, and his membership can refuse to hold town halls with their constituents. And what freak shows those would be. Speaker Moses is no fun at all.

While Chump and Johnson and all the other losers and liars try to evade responsibility, grasp that the people being hurt the most are the survivors of Epstein and Chump and his motely crew don't give two s**ts about those women and never have.

We're in the third week of Chump trying to bury the Epstein story and it's not working. Sarah K. Burris notes:

A new CBS News poll found that most Americans want the files related to the Jeffrey Epstein investigation released in their entirety. Instead, on Monday, President Donald Trump's administration announced files around the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

Speaking about the matter on CNN to Kasie Hunt, New York Times reporter and podcast host Lulu Garcia-Navarro noted that the public is infatuated with the story. The Netflix documentary and books on Epstein have gained significant attention over the month of July, CNN reported Sunday.

Let's wind down with this from Senator Patty Murray's office:

Senate Veterans Affairs Committee Democrats also launch new website to track Trump VA’s responsiveness to oversight letters from Congress

Washington, D.C. – In a letter to Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Doug Collins, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a senior member and former Chair of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, and Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee Ranking Member Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), called out Secretary Collins for his failure to be transparent and accountable to veterans, Congress, and American taxpayers around his cuts and recent policy changes at VA.

“Congress and this Administration should be working together to provide the best possible care, benefits and services for our nation’s veterans and their families, and your failure to be transparent about your actions at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is wholly unacceptable,” the senators wrote in a letter to VA Secretary Collins. “As you are aware, Congress has a constitutionally-mandated obligation of oversight over executive agencies. However, VA under your leadership has been historically secretive and partisan, and overtly adversarial to any attempts at such oversight.”

The senators delivered a searing review of Collins’ leadership and lack of communication with Congress: “…[Y]our communications lack timeliness, facts, and adequacy…Since your confirmation, the Department has also reduced or cancelled regular briefings on numerous topics, including homelessness, caregiver support and community care. And you have refused to allow members of Congress and staff to conduct roundtables and town halls at VA facilities to hear directly from employees and veterans about their concerns – violating years of precedent.” In an unprecedented move in April, the Trump administration refused to allow VA Puget Sound to participate in a roundtable discussion Senator Murray held in Seattle on women veterans’ health care.

The senators also slammed Collins’ denial of basic Freedom of Information Act requests and insistence that media outlets change evidence-based reporting with no substantial proof to support those requests: “This vindictive secrecy is unprecedented, and demonstrates your consistent unwillingness to allow anyone to hold you accountable for your actions…This blatant obstruction of Congress, and lack of transparency and accountability to America’s veterans and taxpayers must not continue. ” The senators concluded their letter by demanding Collins commit to new timeliness and oversight parameters, including allowing members of Congress and staff to visit VA facilities and ensuring VA answer Congressional Requests for Information with 45 calendar days.

The text of the senators’ letter is available HERE.

In an effort to publicly track Trump VA’s responsiveness to Congress, Democrats on the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee recently rolled out a new website page website to track responses to oversight letters Ranking Member Blumenthal has sent since the beginning of the Trump administration, January 18, 2025. This web page reveals the majority of oversight letters to VA either get no response or responses with minimal or inaccurate information.

This oversight website page can be found HERE and will be updated regularly.

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The following sites updated: