by liberal japonicus
A searchable database of the Epstein emails is here. Comment on any interesting ones you find.
"This is the Voice of Moderation. I wouldn't go so far as to say we've actually SEIZED the radio station . . . "
"This is the Voice of Moderation. I wouldn't go so far as to say we've actually SEIZED the radio station . . . "
by liberal japonicus
A searchable database of the Epstein emails is here. Comment on any interesting ones you find.
I posted this on People and Politics, which might now be a kind of defunct thread. But since lj has luckily now posted a thread specifically about the Epstein email releases, I am copying it here. Now that lj has helpfully given us the link, there may be other worthwhile finds.
I guess this is the closest thing we have to an open thread at the moment? I find it hard to know for sure.
Anyway, I just wanted to say that on the Epstein emails release, I think the most interesting thing so far is the correspondence between Bannon and Epstein. It’s an astonishing illustration of moral bankruptcy on Bannon’s part, and to the extent that he is such an integral part of MAGA world I do think it really keeps the heat on.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/15/steve-bannon-jeffrey-epstein-text-messages-publicity
I see this morning that Trump is now encouraging the House to vote to release the Epstein files. I’ve gotten really paranoid over the last 10 months, so I simply assume that’s posturing, and Pam Bondi has already told him that her response will be, “There’s an ongoing investigation and the DOJ never releases evidence in an ongoing investigation, not even to Congress.”
Whether or when that is Bondi’s response depends on whether the Senate gets around to a vote on the resolution. Not to mention if they make some kind of amendment which then requires it go back to the House for concurrence. Lots of ways to slow walk the whole thing.
But yeah, once the whole thing is done, Bondi can claim “ongoing investigations.” Put one extremely junior and ultra-
MAGATrumpist staffer to work reading thru the whole file. Could easily be “on-going” for years.Does this mean Marjorie Taylor Greene is no longer a traitor? And is Cambodia no longer at war with Albania?
Any explanation which depends on Trump’s having a cunning plan is unlikely to be right, unless he’s hired Baldrick as his latest advisor.
Is the client list no longer on Pam Bondi’s desk? Or was it never there, which is why she never actually said it was (wink, wink)?
Is it still a Democratic hoax? Or does it incriminate a slew of prominent Democrats and their donors? What if it it’s BOTH? That would be wild!
every PDF i open is some kind of encyclopedic article with short bios of rich and powerful people.
Treating this as an open thread, because there always is one:
“the Court is finding that the government’s actions in this case – whether purposeful, reckless, or negligent – raise genuine issues of misconduct, are inextricably linked to the government’s grand jury presentation, and deserve to be fully explored by the defense.”
This from the magistrate judge’s findings in the Comey case. If it weren’t a Trump-directed prosecution, my gob would be comprehensively smacked.
This from the magistrate judge’s findings in the Comey case. If it weren’t a Trump-directed prosecution, my gob would be comprehensively smacked.
I understand that this is the first time the assigned DOJ attorney has ever done a prosecution. Her previous experience appears to have been as a real estate lawyer who did work for Trump previously. What would be more surprising would be if she was wonderfully competent and didn’t make any procedural errors.
I understand that this is the first time the assigned DOJ attorney has ever done a prosecution.
Well, as I understand it, the reason she got assigned is that DOJ professionals looked at the case and concluded that there was nothing to it. So they declined to prosecute. The Attorney General had to find someone inexperienced enough (or foolish enough) to try to take the case forward.
Her previous experience appears to have been as a real estate lawyer who did work for Trump previously.
Well, sure, but she looked really good doing it. That’s the most important thing.
Maybe she could be put on the next case:
According to the administration the rise in beef prices is due to illegal immigrants smuggling herds of sicks cows into the US. Somone has to go to the bottom of that (all the BS should make enough of a stink to make it easy).
The Larry Summers thing is interesting. First, he can go piss up a rope for all I care (or, as my mother used to say, “sh*t in his hat”). I have no interest in defending him. That said, in his communications with Epstein after Epstein’s conviction for soliciting prostitution from a minor, he told Epstein he didn’t want to be within a million miles of Donald Trump.
Because Summers worked for two Democratic presidents, was president of Harvard, and was a fellow at the Center for American Progress, he’s easily associated with Democrats and “The Left.” That likely will make him a target for Trump, the GOP, and MAGA.
The wrinkle is that he preferred associating with a known pedophile than with Donald Trump. That’s not exactly flattering.
Also treating this as an open thread: this is an piece from today’s NYT, about the Tucker Carlson – Nick Fuentes interview and more importantly the Heritage Foundation’s reaction, and on to Vance’s response to so much of what has been happening around the tolerance of Nazi/fascist opinion among the right:
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/18/opinion/tucker-carlson-trump-groypers-fuentes.html?unlocked_article_code=1.2E8.dcFB.iS10t8lip43s&smid=url-share
The wrinkle is that he preferred associating with a known pedophile than with Donald Trump. That’s not exactly flattering.
To be perdatic, Epstein wasn’t a pedophile. His thing was underage teenage females, not preteen females.
How enlightening, Charles. Sheesh…
Why not simply call him a girl defiler?
His Orangeness probably wishes that Epstein had de-filed all the evidence and sooner or later will try to get Bondi to do it for him (and then claim that Hillary did it).
speaking of reckless prosecution:
https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:t4x2ruk2qmob2b2cx55h4v7r/post/3m5yoqty6k22w
DOJ straight up lied to the court about what the GJ said
I guess what happened is that the Grand Jury indicated it had voted, narrowly, for two of the three counts, and Halligan assumed she could just replace the three-count indictment with a two-count one, without checking back with the whole Jury. If so, it’s a procedural error rather than actual fraud. But still, I guess, sufficient to get the indictment thrown out.
It seems the indictment should fail also because Halligan misrepresented the law to the Jury. And, separately, because her appointment was invalid.
And, separately, the whole case is a crock.
There’s a general sense that the Trump mob think they can do anything they want, and the far-right six on SCOTUS will make it work. Not, I think, this time.
Pro Bono: FYLTGE
They screw up and, in trying to fix or cover up their screw-up, they screw up even further. But I suppose it all starts with Pro Bono’s “And, separately, the whole case is a crock,” which is the original screw-up.
On another somewhat related subject, I wonder if there’s such a thing as MAGA fatigue. By that, I don’t mean the fatigue that I would guess most of the people commenting here feel after dealing with all the bullsh*t the MAGAts produce. I mean fatigue among the MAGA faithful.
Being in that state of mind has to be exhausting, doesn’t it?
I wonder if there’s such a thing as MAGA fatigue
doesn’t look like it: https://ustvdb.com/networks/fox-news/
the faithful remain observant
Josh Marshall thinks that the MBS/Khashoggi issue will play badly in the light of Vindman’s intervention because it will demonstrate that Trump outright lied to the press and public in that oval office meeting. I hope he’s right, but personally I doubt it. Trump’s well established as an outright liar, and I can’t see, even if the call were to prove that MSB conceded to him that he knew about the murder, that MAGA or Trump’s base would give a damn. And it really looks like that’s all that Trump cares about.
I wonder if there’s such a thing as MAGA fatigue. By that, I don’t mean the fatigue that I would guess most of the people commenting here feel after dealing with all the bullsh*t the MAGAts produce. I mean fatigue among the MAGA faithful.
I suppose they are more Heritage-faithful than actual MAGA-faithful. But quite a few of the negative rulings lately seem to be coming from judges who were appointed by Trump. Which probably mostly speaks to the level of incompetence of the new bozos at DoJ.
the faithful remain observant
That Fox-viewing data doesn’t support my speculation, but TV-viewing habits don’t necessarily reflect whether motivation/enthusiasm has waned.
I continue to watch my favorite sports teams even when they aren’t doing so well, but I don’t care as much.
Still, I’d prefer that Fox viewership was dropping, so … crap.