Saturday, August 16, 2025

Chump spread his legs for Putin

 

That is Ben Meiselas reviewing Convicted Felon Donald Trump and his meet up with War Criminal Vladimir Putin yesterday.  It took place in Alaska though Mr. Chump apparently thought it was in Russia since he repeatedly said, earlier this week, that it would be in Russia.


I do not know what to tell you.


Mr. Chump got nothing from the meeting but gave all the goodies away. And looked like an idiot.  Travis Gettys points out:

Vladimir Putin's top diplomat appeared to be taunting President Donald Trump as the Russian arrived in Alaska for a high-stakes summit to discuss the war in Ukraine.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov arrived Friday morning for the talks wearing a sweater emblazoned with the inscription “CCCP" — the Cyrillic abbreviation for USSR — in an apparent reference to Russian propagandists fantasizing about reclaiming Alaska during negotiations to end the war, reported The Daily Beast.

Alaska had been part of the Russian Empire before the United States purchased it in 1867 for $7.2 million under President Andrew Johnson. It attained statehood in 1959, but many Russians have been taught the myth that the land was stolen through treachery.

 


He made a fool of himself.  And he got nothing.  Stephanie Ruhle went over that with her panel on her program THE 11TH HOUR (MSNBC) last night.



Nothing.  


Donald Chump spread his legs for Vladimir Putin and he got nothing out of it other than a few thrusts and probably a lot of sweat. 


This is C.I.'s "The Snapshot:"


Friday, August 14, 2025.  As Chump prepares to play footsie with Putin today in Anchorage, he still makes time to try to cover up for Epstein and do his best to give Maxwell everything she wants, and he makes time to declare war on the homeless, and he makes time to declare war on immigrants which no doubt inspired his groupie, shooter  Solomon Peña, to go on a violence spree that's now landed him 80 years in prison. 


Let's start with some good news before we get into Chump's entanglement with pedophiles and Chump's war on immigrants.  This is from yesterday's ALL THINGS CONSIDERED (NPR):


BOBBY ALLYN, BYLINE: He's standing in front of his house in Los Angeles, talking on the phone with one hand, Starbucks coffee cup in the other. This is Ben Meiselas.

What's up, man? Good to meet you.

BEN MEISELAS: Good to see you. How's it going?

ALLYN: Good, good.

MEISELAS: Come inside.

ALLYN: He's caffeinated and thinking about his YouTube schedule.

MEISELAS: We will have already had a video up at 4 a.m., 5:30 a.m., 7 and 8:30's coming.

ALLYN: As three Maltese terriers run around me...

(SOUNDBITE OF DOGS BARKING)

ALLYN: ...He takes me to his office behind glass doors - an elevated laptop on a desk, a camera on a tripod and bright lights on either side. This is where he does his daily dissections of President Trump's actions and words. It's all off the cuff, a talent he says he honed as a trial lawyer.

MEISELAS: The best opening statements that I've ever given were not scripted. The best closing arguments were never scripted.

ALLYN: He knocks out a 14-minute video of Trump-bashing commentary, sends it to his team to edit, then grabs his phone to workshop a title for the latest video from his media company MeidasTouch. They publish minutes after news happens, faster than most news organizations, and it's all planned in his group chats.

So you're in your group chat.

MEISELAS: I'm in the group chat right now.

ALLYN: This is the title that's going be on YouTube.

MEISELAS: This will be the YouTube title.

ALLYN: All right, what's title? What did you go with?

MEISELAS: I think I'm going with, seems like it's a disaster Thursday as the walls are closing in.

ALLYN: Disaster Thursday and walls closing in are in all caps, which he says adds to some urgency. And it's also like how someone else posts to social media, Donald Trump. They both look like they're screaming. Soon after, the video is up.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

MEISELAS: Donald Trump is having an awful Thursday morning. He is panic posting.

ALLYN: It gets more than half a million views. Meiselas, his two brothers and other contributors are publishing videos like this about every 90 minutes as part of MeidasTouch.


Here's Ben this morning breaking down the news.



Now before we get to the ongoing Epstein scandal, let's note that, yes, Donald Chump is sadly in the White House; however, a would-be Chump has just been sentenced to 80 years in prison.  MAGA boy Solomon Peña didn't get his way in an election.  What's a MAGA stooge to do?  Go on a shooting rampage like they feel their fearful and fat leader Donald Chump would do.  


A failed political candidate was sentenced to 80 years in federal prison Wednesday for his convictions in a series of drive-by shootings at the homes of state and local lawmakers in the aftermath of the 2020 election.

A jury convicted former Republican candidate Solomon Peña earlier this year of conspiracy, weapons and other charges in the shootings in December 2022 and January 2023 on the homes of four Democratic officials in Albuquerque, including the current state House speaker.

Prosecutors, who had sought a 90-year sentence, said Peña has shown no remorse and had hoped to cause political change by terrorizing people who held contrary views to him into being too afraid to take part in political life.


At THE INDEPENDENT, Anna Loren covers the story.  We need to touch on one more Chump lover.  
William Vaillancourt (THE DAILY BEAST) reports on E.J. Antoni whom Chump wants to install as the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics:


 On Thursday, an NBC News report identified Antoni in the crowd of Trump supporters outside the Capitol. Footage archived by ProPublica does not show him crossing any barricades or demonstrating.

The White House told NBC: “These pictures show EJ Antoni, a bystander to the events of January 6th, observing and then leaving the Capitol area. EJ was in town for meetings, and it is wrong and defamatory to suggest EJ engaged in anything inappropriate or illegal.”

Wait.  The White House said what?  Antoni didn't take part "in anything inappropriate or illegal" on January 6th?  I thought Chump pardoned all the insurrectionists and wasn't that because he didn't think they did anything inappropriate or illegal?  Oops.  Looks like the White House inadvertently admitted yesterday that Chump pardoned a bunch of criminals who should have gone to prison.  But not Antoni, the White House doesn't consider him to be part of that because he just observed -- unlike the crooks Chump pardoned. 

And now for the Epstein scandal.  Molly Byrne (OK! MAGAZINE) reports:

Donald Trump’s former friendship with Ghislaine Maxwell has Americans concerned over whether or not the president will issue a pardon for Maxwell and her 20-year prison sentence.

According to The Daily Beast, representatives from the publication submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to the Justice Department’s Office of the Pardon Attorney (OPA), where direct correspondence is made with the president about the mitigation of prisoners.

[. . .]

During the last week of July, Maxwell was relocated to Federal Prison Camp Bryan in Texas after serving three years at Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) Tallahassee in Florida.

Maxwell was transferred after she met with the deputy attorney general for two days of questioning about Epstein and his clientele. After her relocation, Trump claimed he had nothing to do with it.

During the last week of July, Maxwell was relocated to Federal Prison Camp Bryan in Texas after serving three years at Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) Tallahassee in Florida.

Maxwell was transferred after she met with the deputy attorney general for two days of questioning about Epstein and his clientele. After her relocation, Trump claimed he had nothing to do with it.


Our fat liar Donald Chump.  Of course he knew, of course he authorized it.  You can't be a sex offender and go to Camp Bryan.  It's Camp Fed.  It can't take sex offenders.  Chump's a liar and he gave convicted pedophile Maxwell what she wanted.  He wasn't protecting the American people when he did that, he was protecting his own ass.

He has refused to recognize how serious this issue is and he has refused to recognize the many survivors as well as the victims of Epstein.  One reason might be due to the fact that Chump's a liar and he lies even to himself.  Nikki McCann Ramirez and Asawin Suebsaeng (ROLLING STONE) report:

Donald Trump, Republicans in Congress, and the president's allies across right-wing media have been trying everything to make public backlash to their botched handling of the Jeffrey Epstein investigation go away, amid reports that Trump himself appears in the government's files pertaining to the convicted sex offender.

  The administration's attempts to bury the story have been complicated by some of Epstein's victims, and their families, speaking out as scandal has intensified. Trump hasn't engaged with them, but just because the president is publicly keeping his mouth shut about Epstein's victims and their family members doesn't mean he isn't annoyed by them.

In recent weeks, according to two sources familiar with his private remarks, Trump has repeatedly critiqued the string of media appearances by Epstein accusers and their families, arguing that some of them are just trying to make him look bad, or implying that he did something wrong during his time as one of Epstein's friends and party companions. At times, Trump has said that some of these people and family members speaking out are, in his words, clearly of a "Democrat" political affiliation, while wondering aloud if some of them are coordinating with prominent liberal attorneys or groups.


Yes, Chump is correct -- they are trying to make him look bad.  Whenever anyone tells the truth, it makes Chump look bad.  Erika McEntarfer released the unemployment figures last week, for example, and the actual figures demontrated that Chump is failing Americans.  That was the truth.  So Chump fired her from her position as the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).  This happens over and over, the truth is always against Chump because he's a known liar.  Earlier this week, Chump demanded that economist Jan Hatzius be fired by Goldman Sachs' CEO David Solomon for Hatzins' sensible analysis of Chump's tariffs and how they are increasing the prices of everything in the US (inflation).  The truth always makes Chump look bad, the truth will always make a non-stop lying con artist look bad.  We're talking about the man who, in his first term as president, was found by THE WASHINGTON POST to have lied 30,573 times.


Jess Michaels:  I have not heard the words "Epstein survivor" out of  the White House ever.  It's not just that they're ignoring survivors when they're having meetings, when they're discussing, when they're talking with the convicted sex pedophile trafficker. I'm really shocked -- and not -- that this woman has been able to weasel her way into working towards a pardon, working towards leniency.


That was Epstein survivor Jess Michaels speaking on MSNBC's THE BEAT yesterday and Ari also spoke with James Carville about Chump's never-ending Epstein scandal.







Last night on THE LAST WORD, Lawrence O'Donnell noted Senator Chris Van Hollen's townhall and how the constituents want accountability and answers regarding Epstein and Maxwell.





Days after the Blanche meeting, and without any explanation, Maxwell was surprisingly moved from her Florida prison to a minimum-security federal prison “camp” in Texas that is also known as “Club Fed.” This is a prison camp that does not house sex offenders, nor those with the 20-year sentence Maxwell has.

The unexplained move to this prison “camp” is extremely suspicious and has raised the appearance of a deal being made by Blanche and Maxwell’s attorney, a friend of Blanche. Sex offenders are basically barred from minimum‑security camps. Bureau of Prisons policy requires inmates convicted of sex offenses to be housed in low-security facilities at minimum, unless a waiver is approved. Such waivers for sex offenders are extraordinarily unusual.

On top of all this, public reports, video, and other evidence document that Trump was a longtime friend of Epstein. Trump reportedly took at least eight trips on Epstein’s private jet between 1993 and 1997. In 2002, Trump told New York magazine that Epstein was “a terrific guy” and “a lot of fun to be with.” Epstein has said that “I was Donald’s closest friend for 10 years.”

Trump was also a friend of Maxwell. Following her arrest and jailing, Trump said “I just wish her well, frankly.” Trump recently refused to rule out a pardon for Maxwell, and made sure to say that he has the power to grant a pardon.

Maxwell reportedly told Blanche that Trump had never done anything in her presence that would have caused concern. Assuming that this is all Maxwell said, it is a very limited statement. It does not extend to a myriad of things Maxwell might have known about what Trump did but that were not done in her presence. This statement certainly does not rule out the possibility that Maxwell may have some leverage over Trump. The DOJ is certainly acting as though she does.

Ultimately, Trump and the Justice Department have entirely ignored the victims of Maxwell and Epstein, showing no interest in or concern about the women who as minors were subject to horrific and traumatic sexual abuse crimes. It is hard to escape the conclusion that President Trump just wants the Epstein controversy to go away. Even if it takes a pardon of Maxwell or other actions, he appears ready and willing.


The scandal's not going away.  I saw the lie THE NEW YORK POST printed.  They're saying people don't really care.  They're such liars.  Holly Baltz (PALM BEACH POST) explains, "The public is clamoring for more information from the federal government about whether Epstein had co-conspirators protected by authorities in his sex trafficking ring of underage girls. The case began in Palm Beach County in 2006 when a grand jury indicted Epstein on a single charge of solicitation of prostitution."

This morning, the editorial board of THE LAS VEGAS SUN notes the kiss-kiss Chump's going to hold later this morning with despot and War Criminal Vladimir Putin:
 

Without Zelenskyy at the table, the only “peace” Trump could offer would be the peace of capitulation. U.S. capitulation to Putin would send a chilling message to every authoritarian with an eye on their neighbor’s borders: invade, hold on long enough and the world’s most powerful nation might eventually reward you.

Kremlin officials have also indicated that Putin hopes to broaden the talks to include trade, sanctions relief and other issues related to “economic cooperation” and opportunities for Putin to revive the failing Russian economy. Such negotiations would dilute the urgency of the crisis in Ukraine and should be rejected outright as long as Russia continues to point literal guns, rockets and missiles at our ally. Anything less is a moral disgrace and a strategic blunder.

Of course, none of this bothers Trump. He’s only concerned about shifting the political conversation away from his continued refusal to release the Epstein files and his Justice Department coddling convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell. Without those files (assuming they haven’t been altered by now), it’s difficult to draw conclusions about Trump’s possible role in Epstein’s child sex trafficking scheme. But what is clear is that Trump appears more concerned with keeping his “special” friendship with the convicted pedophile out of the spotlight than he is with protecting the lives of innocent people in Ukraine and beyond.


What Chump has done and is doing is outrageous.  David Atkins (WASHINGTON MONTHLY) observes:

Whatever he may or may not have done, Donald Trump and his minions in the Department of Justice are clearly so spooked by what is in the Epstein Files and what Ghislaine Maxwell knows, that they are willing to attempt an absurd and obvious dual cover-up: document suppression to prevent the release of the full files, and what seems to be an astonishingly transparent clemency-for-favors scheme with Maxwell. 

The simple truth is that Donald Trump is a convicted sexual abuser. He has been multiply accused of sexual misconduct by over two dozen women. He is also the longtime associate and friend of the world’s most notorious criminal pedophile, Jeffrey Epstein. And no wonder: Donald Trump is a man who bought the Miss Universe organization (really?), is credibly accused of walking in on Miss Teen USA contestants while they were changing clothes. He later bragged to shock jock Howard Stern generally about beauty pageant contestants that he would often walk in on them naked and “sort of got away with things like that.”  And, of course, we all know what he said on the Access Hollywood Tape. He has even said incredibly creepy things about his own daughter Ivanka, including when she herself was a child. 

Trump’s involvement with Epstein goes back for decades. Trump liked to joke about Epstein’s having predilections for women “on the younger side,” with hints of jocular admiration rather than disgust. He said that Epstein was a “terrific guy” and “fun to be with.” When Trump was recently asked why he and Epstein fell out, it wasn’t because Trump was offended by Epstein’s rape and abuse of children, but rather because Epstein “stole” underage female staff from Trump’s employ at Mar-A-Lago. Such conflicts over control of underage women seem to have been common between the two men: one victim, Maria Farmer, said that once when Trump and Epstein were together with her Trump was staring uncomfortably at her legs when Epstein said “no, she’s not here for you.” 

And now, of course, The Wall Street Journal has published a stunning story alleging that Donald Trump sent Epstein a letter on his birthday with a drawn line form of a naked woman and his own signature in the place of pubic hair, a number of suggestive comments and the sign-off “Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret.” Trump has furiously denied writing the letter and levied a lawsuit against Rupert Murdoch and the newspaper, but the Wall Street Journal stands by its reporting. 

There is understandably an environment of fear around the story, and a lawsuit-happy regime wants to intimidate everyone into silence. But all of these stories, while contested, are a matter of public record. And it certainly smells like one of the biggest cover-ups of one of the greatest crimes in American presidential history. 





Turning to Chump's war on immigrants, Jordan Rynning (LAIST) reports:


U.S. Border Patrol Sector Chief Gregory Bovino led agents in arresting at least one person Thursday outside a news conference held by top California Democrats today at the Democracy Center of the Japanese American National Museum in Little Tokyo.

About the event: The news conference was held by Gov. Gavin Newsom to call for a Nov. 4 special election to decide whether the state will redraw Congressional maps before the 2026 election. Newsom was joined by U.S. Senators Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla.

From the Border Patrol: Bovino spoke to reporters after the operation, calling it a “roving patrol.” When asked if the location of the patrol was a coincidence, Bovino replied that “breaking the law is not coincidental. Breaking the law is breaking the law.” Bovino said at least one undocumented person was detained during the patrol.



“BORDER PATROL HAS SHOWED UP AT OUR BIG BEAUTIFUL PRESS CONFERENCE! WE WILL NOT BE INTIMIDATED!” Newsom’s press team posted, purposely mocking Trump’s social media syntax as they have been for days now. The post also included a video showing mostly masked Border Patrol agents milling about in full tactical gear.

Newsom also acknowledged the raid during his speech.

“Right outside, at this exact moment, are dozens of dozens of ICE agents,” Newsom said, the crowd booing in response. “Donald Trump … you think it’s coincidental?”

“No!” the crowd fired back.

“We know what Donald Trump knows: He’s going to lose the midterms. He knows, de facto, his presidency ends in seventeen months, when Speaker [Hakeem] Jeffries is back in the House,” Newsom continued. “He’s a failed president. Who else sends ICE at the same time we’re having a conversation like this? Someone who’s weak. Someone who’s broken. Someone whose weakness is masquerading as strength. The most unpopular president in modern history.” 


Chump's war on immigrants is one horror story after another.  Julia Metraux (MOTHER JONES) reports one of the latest horror stories:

On Monday, a 15-year-old boy with disabilities was detained by the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement outside a Los Angeles Unified School District high school at 9:30 a.m., when he was registering for classes.

KTLA 5 reported that the boy was placed in handcuffs; he was only released after both school staff and the Los Angeles Police Department intervened. Latino students, who are more likely to be profiled by ICE, make up close to 75 percent of the student body at LAUSD.

“The release will not release him from what he experienced,” LAUSD Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said during a press conference. “The trauma will linger. It will not cease. It is unacceptable, not only in our community, but anywhere in America.”

California State Superintendent Tony Thurmond also said in a press release, referring to the actions of ICE agents, “these military-style actions against innocent children and their families on and near school campuses must stop now. Our children deserve to be protected and cared for at school, not terrified and traumatized.”


Shame on Chump and his jack-booted Storm Troopers.  This is not how adults treat children.  But, hey, it's how Chump does -- Chump who hangs around with pedophiles.  Ali Bauman (CBS NEWS) reports:

New York City leaders are demanding the release of another New York City public school student who was detained by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The student, a 20-year-old immigrant from Guinea known as Mouctar, is now in ICE custody at a Pennsylvania correctional facility.

City Comptroller Brad Lander, who was arrested at federal immigration court in June, and Council Member Lincoln Restler are expected to be at a rally Thursday

Mouctar attends Brooklyn Frontiers High School, a transfer school "serving students who are over-age and under-credited," according to its website.


Chump has brought so much shame on our country.  As Ruth observed earlier today, "He has brought so much shame to the office of president.  Sullied is too light of a term to apply to what he has done to the office."  The whole world sees this, they see how he attacks immigrants and, worst of all, immigrant children.  There is no excuse for it.  His actions are the actions we in the US call out when they happen in other countries.  But his corruption and his hatred and his criminal ways have dragged this inhumanity into the US government. 

This is why the cowards of ICE hide.  What they do is inhumane and inexcusable.  They know that.  The guilt eats at them -- and will destroy them in the coming years.  They can lie to themselves right now but their future is self-medication and/or suicide.  The lying NEW YORK POST -- you don't link to garbage, you drop it in the trash can -- offers, "Immigration agents who have long gone undercover to make arrests across the country will soon be rolling in vehicles boldly emblazoned with the agency’s logo -- leaving agents furious and scared for their lives."  They're scared all right, they're consumed with guilt which is killing them.  They know what they do is wrong.  They know what they do is evil.  Those ICE agents who pose as Christian certainly know there actions are against the teachings of Jesus Christ.  They live in fear of having to drive marked cars.


Lives are being destroyed over and over.  Eric Adler (KANSAS CITY STAR) notes what was done to Luis Diaz Inestroza and his family:


Besides entering the United States when he was 15, Diaz Inestroza had done nothing wrong. He had no criminal history. There was no previous warrant for his arrest. 
In fact, said Megan Galicia, Diaz Inestroza’s Kansas City attorney, when ICE agents first turned up outside of Diaz Inestroza’s home, they weren’t looking for Diaz Inestroza, who, in 2019, was featured in the Selena Gomez documentary “Living Undocumented.” 
“They were looking for someone else,” Galicia said.
 What happened next was legal. ICE ran Diaz Inestroza’s plates and pulled his name. They saw he had a history with ICE; he was in the U.S. illegally. That was enough. They obtained and printed a warrant. That day — although Diaz Inestroza hadn’t sped, he hadn’t run a red light, he hadn’t failed to come to a full stop — ICE officers stopped him in his truck and arrested him. 
Last week, having been turned down for release on bond, Diaz Inestroza chose to leave the country voluntarily, leaving his pregnant fiancée and three children (two of whom are U.S. citizens) behind.

Imagine an ICE agent right now trying to hide their actions a decade from now, trying to make sure their children don't learn what Daddy actually did, how he destroyed families.  Danielle J. Brown (MARYLAND MATTERS) reports:

What started as a discussion on the various arms of immigration enforcement nearly spiraled into a shouting match Thursday as advocates and some elected officials pleaded with a federal agent to “be kinder” when interacting with the immigration community.

“Your agents are terrorizing our communities,” said Baltimore City Councilmember Odette Ramos, “What you are doing is racial profiling.”

Ramos was addressing Nikita Baker, director of the Baltimore Field Office with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), who was part of a panel on immigration and deportation policy at the Maryland Association of Counties conference in Ocean City.

[. . .]

Ramos’ question lasted four minutes and raised concerns about how ICE agents were conducting business in her jurisdiction, including conditions in ICE detention facilities, frustrations about ICE agents wearing masks and detaining people from common community spaces such as grocery stores.

“Why is it that the agents are operating in this manner, very violent, picking up our people … masked and not identifying yourself?” she asked. “It is really abhorrent that this is happening.”

“I am asking you to resist. I am asking you to stop doing this,” Ramos said, to applause from the audience.


Gabrielle Canon (GUARDIAN) notes a horror story:

A man was hit by a vehicle and killed as he attempted to get away from federal immigration officers who were raiding a Home Depot in Los Angeles county on Thursday morning, according to authorities.

Little has been disclosed about the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) operation that led to the incident, but officials in Monrovia, a diverse LA suburb tucked into the foothills of the San Gabriel mountains, confirmed agents had been seen at the store by city police officers shortly before 10am local time. Shortly after, Monrovia fire & rescue responded to reports of a pedestrian struck on the 210 freeway, a large interstate with four lanes in each direction.

The man, who has not been identified, was transported to a local hospital, where he died from his injuries.

It is the most vulnerable that bullies like Chump target which explains his attacks on homeless people. From last night's THE NEWSHOUR (PBS)



  • Amna Nawaz:

    Federalizing the D.C. police force carries a 30-day legal limit. The president said yesterday he may extend that.

    And this morning, blocks from the White House, another part of the president's plan went into action, homeless encampments toppled, and the people who once sheltered there nowhere in sight. More visible in D.C., National Guard troops activated by the president as part of what he calls an anti-crime agenda.

    For more on the D.C. takeover, we're joined now by Juliette Kayyem, former assistant secretary at the Department of Homeland Security. She's now at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

    Juliette, welcome back. Thanks for joining us.

    Juliette Kayyem, Former U.S. Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary: Thanks for having me.

  • Amna Nawaz:

    I just want to ask you to react to some of those scenes we just showed. You have federal agents wearing Homeland Security gear running a traffic stop with Metropolitan Police, National Guard troops patrolling high-tourist areas like the National Mall.

    I mean, from your experience, is it clear what the intention and strategy is here?

  • Juliette Kayyem:

    So there's two different pieces of this.

    One is, federal law enforcement agencies, FBI, HSI, Homeland Security Investigations, working with, in tandem Washington, D.C., police. This is — it's unique. It is not clear what their — what the federal agents' authority is. It is not clear whether they have — they can arrest for a petty crime, since that's not a federal crime.

    And I think there's a lot of confusion about what their authority is. Right now, we just see them walking around. The second is what we call presence patrols that is being done by the National Guard. Presence patrols are, we are here. We're an army or a unit that is making its presence known.

    It is not generally used in the military because there's really no task or purpose for it. There's no mission for it. It's just simply that we are present. And, in both cases, the concern is, because the mission isn't clear — ending crime, getting rid of poverty, all of those things are sort of nebulous in terms of what are the tactics that would justify federal involvement — it is not at all clear whether the mission will maintain or you're going to get mission creep over the next couple of days and weeks.

  • Amna Nawaz:

    Juliette, when the president launched this effort, he talked about ramping up the use of force, right? He said that the D.C. police are now allowed to do, in his words, whatever the hell they want, promising forces would hit harder now.

    Does the presence of federal forces, federal agents somehow allow for more force in these interactions?

  • Juliette Kayyem:

    It doesn't.

    I mean, and, to be clear, there's nothing — there's no change in the laws of what engagement is. If someone spits at a police officer, they're not allowed to shoot them. That is not — that's not permissible. That is not an appropriate response.

    The president talks like this as a signal of authority, aggressiveness, and some would even say totalitarianism, or at least the usurpation of local control by the executive branch.

    Where I worry is, of course, with a undefined mission and unclear integration of these forces with these forces with now the National Guard, you will get mistakes. You will get people working and acting outside their authority. You will get responses to First Amendment activities, including lawful protests, that violate the First Amendment and undermines people's rights to free speech. You're allowed to criticize this activity.

    And let's just be honest here. This is a lot of people who are now not looking and not investigating fentanyl and domestic violence and terrorism.



  • On the 26-mile motorcade ride from the White House to his private golf club in Northern Virginia (one of 18 in his collection), President Donald Trump observed a few tents on public land and some garbage under an overpass. Perturbed by the imagery, he issued a sweeping demand via his social media site, Truth Social: “The Homeless have to move out, IMMEDIATELY.”

    “We will give you places to stay, but FAR from the Capital,” Trump continued in his Sunday post. “Be prepared!”

    The command came as he made plans to deploy 800 National Guard members to DC and temporarily federalize the city’s police department, which he announced in a rambling 79-minute press conference the next day.

    Advocates for homeless people immediately pointed to a fundamental problem (one of many) with Trump’s order: There aren’t enough shelter beds in the nation’s capital. Accordingly, how can homeless people prepare if they have nowhere to go?

    “We really don’t know what that looks like,” Andy Wassenich, the policy director of the local nonprofit Miriam’s Kitchen, which provides free food and social services in DC, tells me.


    Chump has no compassion.  He has no courage.  He's a petty hate monger who is attacking the most vulnerable.  From yesterday's MORNING EDITION (NPR):

    MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

    As part of President Trump's renewed focus on what he sees as disorder and lawlessness in the nation's capital, he has said he wants to remove homeless encampments and force unhoused people out of the city, or at least out of sight. This is what he said at a press briefing Monday.

    (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

    PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: There are many places that they can go, and we're going to help them as much as you can help. But they'll not be allowed to turn our capital into a wasteland for the world to see.

    MARTIN: We've been trying to understand more about what such an operation would actually look like, so we've called Amber Harding. She's executive director of The Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless. That's a nonprofit here in the district that provides legal services to people affected by homelessness and works on policy reform. And she's with us now. Amber Harding, thanks so much for joining us.

    AMBER HARDING: Thank you for having me.

    MARTIN: So how many people are we talking about, and where do they tend to be?

    HARDING: I think we have around 800 or 900 people who are unsheltered, who are living outside. We do not have any large tent cities. We do not have large groups of homeless people in any sort of concentrated way. We have people who, you know, haven't been able to access shelter housing resources making do where they can.

    MARTIN: White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told our correspondent Tamara Keith that people will be given the option to leave their encampment, taken to homeless shelters or offered addiction or mental health services. And that if they refuse, quote, "they will be susceptible to fines or jail time," unquote. And she cited what she said were preexisting laws that haven't been enforced. First of all, what's your understanding of this?

    HARDING: If I say to you, Michel, you have to go to shelter or take these services or, you know, some sort of involuntary treatment even though you don't qualify for involuntary commitment, and you say no, there's nothing in the law that says I get to arrest you. That is not something that exists in our law.

    MARTIN: Does the District of Columbia have shelter space for 800 people at the moment?

    HARDING: No, they do not. When this increased federal enforcement notice came out, there was not a single shelter bed available. But D.C. government opened 60 additional beds and are looking now to try to find even more beds.



    The following sites updated:


  •  
  • Thursday, August 14, 2025

    Chump has brought so much shame to the office of president

    Amanda Clark (COLUMBUS LEDGER-ENQUIRER) notes:

    President Donald Trump has called the Jeffrey Epstein case a “hoax" pushed by Democrats, fueling concerns over his administration's handling of related documents. Comedian Jon Stewart suggested that Trump is attempting to obscure the legitimacy of the files due to possible personal implications.

    We are still talking about Convicted Felon Chump and his friendship with dead pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and living pedophile Ghislaine Maxwell. 


    /p>

    He really is the trashiest person to ever occupy the Oval Office.  I have no idea if our country will ever truly recover from his lies, crimes, hate, and greed.  Nikki McCann Ramirez (ROLLING STONE) reports:


    Even before Donald Trump officially began his second term in office, his family businesses were beginning the race to milk the presidency for every cent they could. Now, a new analysis from The New Yorker has put a potential dollar figure on how much Trump's crypto ventures, real estate deals, licensing agreements, and other grifts have netted America's first family over the course of Trump's time in politics: a staggering $3.4 billion.

      The total is an estimate, as the Trump Organization and its various auxiliary companies and ventures - which are largely under the control of the president's adult children - have not been entirely transparent regarding their finances.

    The New Yorker estimated that the president's various cryptocurrency had generated at least $2.37 billion in value, financial investments coordinated by Donald Jr. and Eric Trump have generated $339.6 million, and Trump's flagship Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, has raked in $125 million in extra profits.

    Tack onto that $127.7 million in legal fee collection and merchandise sales and a media empire estimated to be worth $116 million, and it becomes clear that the Trumps have built themselves a corporate empire on the back of their patriarch's public office. 

    Just last month, the president took a detour from a state trip to Scotland, for which millions of taxpayer dollars were spent on travel and security, to inaugurate a new Trump golf course near Aberdeen, Scotland. On that same trip, Trump hosted British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at his private Turnberry golf club - which (as was the practice during Trump's first term) will likely profit off of the president's choice to use it as a venue. The same week, it was reported that Trump has privately discussed hosting the G20 summit of world leaders at his Doral golf club.


    He has brought so much shame to the office of president.

    Sullied is too light of a term to apply to what he has done to the office. 

    It is so depressing.  If you need a lift, read the group humor post from a few hours ago:

    This is C.I.'s "The Snapshot" for today:


    Thursday, August 14, 2025.  Chump's efforts to cover up his Epstein connection have made things even worse for him -- politically and legally -- while Loose Lips Hegseth continues to self-embarrass and this time he might take down Joni We're All Going To Die Ernst with him.


    Starting off with the never ending Epstein scandal, Travis Gettys reports:


    President Donald Trump has reportedly been frantically calling aides and allies seeking a “big thing” to distract from the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, and he's purportedly considering a major geopolitical move to turn the page politically.

    Trump biographer Michael Wolff told The Daily Beast's new podcast "Inside Trump's Head" that the president has been making "relentless" phone calls demanding ideas to get him past questions about his longtime relationships with the late sex offender and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell.
    “Let me go back about a week or so, or 10 days, when Trump started to say to everyone who would listen — and everyone listens to Donald Trump — to staffers and on the phone calls, the relentless phone calls that he’s constantly making, he said, ‘I need a big thing, I need a big thing,'" Wolff told the podcast. ”What’s the ‘big thing?’ And everyone understood that this was code for I need a distraction from Epstein. What’s the thing that will move us beyond that?”


    He's such an idiot.  He's such an idiot, in fact, that he could be Harry Enton on CNN.  This isn't going away.  The media rarely seems to get it and politicians never do.  This is the sort of event that creates a genderquake but it's so much more than that.  I'm not explaining while he's flailing -- not explaining here, I explained six weeks ago in piece for the gina & krista round-robin why this story was going to blaze like a fire.  Chump doesn't get it and I'm not going to help him by explaining it to him.  But it's not going away.  He's a good con artist but he's rather stupid when it comes to people and human nature.  


    Yesterday the Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee issued the following:



    Judiciary Democrats Demand Answers Following Trump DOJ’s Sudden Transfer of Convicted Child Abuser and Epstein Accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell After Interview with Top DOJ Official
    August 13, 2025
    Press Release
    Democrats Seek Release of Maxwell Interview Transcript and Related Materials and Note That Trump Administration May Have Violated DOJ, BOP Policies to Transfer Epstein’s Accomplice to Minimum-Security Prison Camp

    Washington, D.C. (August 13, 2025)—Rep. Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, led Committee Democrats in sending a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi and Bureau of Prisons (BOP) Director William K. Marshall III pressing for answers regarding the unusual and abrupt transfer of Ghislaine Maxwell from a more restrictive BOP facility to a minimum security facility in Texas, amid concerns that the Trump Administration may be attempting to coax favorable testimony or strategic silence from Maxwell—Jeffrey Epstein’s accomplice and co-conspirator—in order to cover up the full extent of the relationship between Trump and Epstein.  

    “These actions raise substantial concerns that the Administration may now be attempting to tamper with a crucial witness, conceal President Trump’s relationship with convicted sex offenders, and coax Ms. Maxwell into providing false or misleading testimony in order to protect the President. The transfer also appears to violate both DOJ and Bureau of Prisons (BOP) policies. We write to demand DOJ and BOP provide all documents and information related to Deputy Attorney General Blanche’s interview of Ms. Maxwell and the sudden decision to transfer her to a facility with lower security and greater freedom for inmates, which was, prior to this extraordinary transfer, categorically off-limits to sex offenders,” wrote the Members.


    Reports on August 1 revealed that Maxwell, who had been serving a 20-year prison sentence in Florida for exploiting and sexually abusing underage girls, was transferred to an all-women prison camp in Texas, which is listed as one of the “Best Jails in America to Serve Time.”


    The unexplained transfer of Maxwell to a lower-security and more comfortable facility came amid the Trump Administration’s refusal to release the Epstein files and less than a week after Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, President Trump’s former criminal defense lawyer, met with Maxwell and her attorney behind closed doors with no line prosecutors present. DOJ’s decision to arrange multiple private meetings with Maxwell raises concerns of conflicts of interest, witness tampering, and suborning of false testimony.


    The transfer also appears to violate BOP policy, which mandates that a person of convicted of sex trafficking, like Maxwell, universally warrant a Public Safety Factor (PSF) designation as a “Sex Offender” and are ineligible to serve their sentence at a minimum-security facility like the one in Texas that allows “access to the community.”

    Judiciary Democrats demanded the DOJ and BOP provide information, documents, and communications regarding Maxwell’s transfer and her interview with Deputy Attorney General Blanche.

    “It is imperative that the Administration come clean regarding the full scope of Mr. Blanche’s interview of Ms. Maxwell and the sudden decision to transfer her to a minimum-security prison camp. The Committee must have access to all documents and information regarding these actions to assess whether DOJ officials and the President have abused prosecutorial and law enforcement resources to shield the President and mislead the public,” concluded the Members.

    Click here to read the letter.


    That release follows one earlier this week from Senator Ruben Gallego's office:


    WASHINGTON – Senators Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) condemned the recent transfer of convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell from FCI Tallahassee, a low security federal prison, to FPC Bryan, a minimum-security prison camp in Texas.

    The transfer occurred shortly after Maxwell met privately with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche – Trump’s former personal lawyer – to discuss individuals associated with Jeffrey Epstein. The Senators note that the Department of Justice has yet to provide any clear explanation for the decision, raising serious concerns about whether Maxwell is receiving preferential treatment.

    “Given the serious nature of Ms. Maxwell’s crimes, which include a conviction and 20-year sentence for the sex trafficking of minors, this transfer raises deeply troubling questions,” the Senators wrote in a letter to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi. “The lack of transparency surrounding the decision, particularly following her closed-door meeting with the Deputy Attorney General, undermines public confidence in the Department’s impartiality and raises concerns about whether she is receiving preferential treatment.”

    The letter cites Bureau of Prisons policy requiring that anyone who, like Maxwell, had “sexual contact with a minor,” be housed in at least a low security-level institution without exception unless granted a waiver, which there has been no indication Maxwell obtained. The Senators also note that victims were not notified of her transfer, in apparent violation of the Crime Victims’ Rights Act.

    “Moreover, at a time when the Department has pledged greater transparency regarding Epstein-related matters, this unexplained transfer sends the opposite message,” the Senators continued. “To date, there has been no clear explanation for why the transfer was made, suggesting the administration has simply been paying lip service to repeated calls for transparency.”

    The Senators are calling on the Department to produce all documents and communications related to the transfer, any records of Maxwell’s communications with DOJ officials in the 30 days preceding the move, and documentation of victim notification efforts.  

    Read the full letter HERE.




    56% of Republicans think that Chump "knew some or a lot about the sex crimes committed by Jeffrey Epstein," explained Lawrence O'Donnell on MSNBC last night.  The number jumps to 71% when you bring in non-Republicans.




    Lawrence O'Donnell: 71% of Americans think Donald Trump knew some or a lot about the sex crimes committed by Jeffrey Epstein against children before the investigations into Epstein even began.  We've had 45 presidents of the United States and only one -- only one of them was friends with a rapist of children  who claimed to be that president's best friend for ten years. 

    In the video above, Lawrence discusses the issue with US House Rep Jamie Raskin and, of course, the sweetheart deal that administration has made with convicted pedophile Ghislaine Maxwell is only the freshest layer of Chump's crimes.  

    Yesterday's snapshot noted that Senator Sheldon Whitehouse discussed Maxwell with Lawrence on Tuesday night's show but that MSNBC hadn't posted it to YOUTUBE.  It's now posted on the senator's YOUTUBE channel




     

    The timeline of Jeffrey Epstein and Donald Trump’s friendship is not adding up.

    Despite doing everything within his power to distance himself from the pedophilic financier, interviews conducted prior to Epstein’s death suggest that the pair were close long after Trump claimed to have thrown him out of Mar-a-Lago for being a “creep.” A new timeline compiled by CNN reveals just how long the two men were entwined.
    Their friendship spanned three decades, but in a 2019 interview, Epstein described Trump as his “closest friend for 10 years.” That would have been 15 years after they had a falling out over a bidding war on a Palm Springs oceanfront mansion, and 11 years after Epstein was first convicted on child sex offenses.

    Three other individuals who knew the men have also described them as best buds. They include Maria Farmer, a visual artist hired by Epstein who provided the first criminal complaint of sex abuse to law enforcement; Stacey Williams, a model who referred to Trump as Epstein’s “wing man” after the Manhattan real estate mogul allegedly groped her: and Jack O’Donnell, the former president and chief operating officer of Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, who recalled scolding Trump in the late 1980s after he arrived at the gambling floor with Epstein and three underaged girls.


    His lies -- his many, many lies -- don't kill the story or the interest.  In fact, it's just adding kindling to the fire.  

    Meanwhile, FOX "NEWS" harridan Jeanine Pirro was slurry beside Chump this week (were her dentures slipping?) and railing against DC and what she saw as the injustice of not trying 14 year olds as adults and later she whined on TV about people being "rehabilitated with ice cream socials and yoga."  Sarah K. Burris explains the problem with Pirro's ranting in a semi-lucid state:

    Pirro's comments come at an awkward time for the Trump administration after the Justice Department intervened to change the rules for Jeffrey Epstein's accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, who was recently moved to what some describe as a kind of "country club" prison.

    Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in prison after being found guilty of "facilitating and participating in the sexual abuse of children" and other crimes, the DOJ said in a 2021 release.
    Due to the severity of the crimes, Maxwell was ineligible to serve her 20-year sentence in the minimum-security camp, Federal Prison Camp Bryan, near Houston, Texas. However, after speaking with Trump's former personal attorney, Maxwell got to move.

    Legal analyst and podcaster Allison Gill was the first to report a Bureau of Prisons source who called the move "such obvious corruption."

    Gill questioned whether it was part of a deal made between Trump's ex-attorney, Todd Blanche, and Maxwell.

    "The unit that approves waivers for sex offenders to be moved to minimum security camps is the Designation and Sentence Computation Center near Dallas. Currently, the senior deputy assistant director is Rick Stover, a career BOP employee who speaks frequently with White House officials," Gill wrote.

    Maxwell's new home doesn't require the typical orange jumpsuit. Instead, inmates are given "khaki pants and a khaki shirt," the BBC reported. The women can use a gym facility and take yoga classes, the Daily Telegraph said in one report. Some are also allowed to participate in a puppy training program for service animals, but the program's leader barred Maxwell.


    That's the kind of scandal that gives meaning to the phrase: It's not the crime, it's the cover up.

    A sitting president made a deal with a convicted felon.  The deal was to give her what she wanted.  Didn't matter that she exploited and assaulted thousands of girls and young women.  

    Chump gave her what she wanted and lied about it.  Lied to the American people.  He didn't talk to Todd Blanche about what Maxwell was offering.  He didn't know why Maxwell got a prison transfer.

    He's a liar whose actions on this alone rise to the level of high crimes and misdemeanors and, yes, are impeachable offense.

    Maxwell is someone who, when she gets out of prison, will be required to register as a sex offender.  And she has been moved to Camp Fed where, as we noted yesterday, she apparently will be able to come and go on a 'work' release program as well.  That's the kind of sweetheart deal that Alex Acosta gave Jeffrey Epstein remember.  And then Chump brought Acosta into his cabinet.  And when news of the sweetheart deal emerged, Acosta had to resign. WIKIPEDIA:


    In 2007–2008, as U.S. attorney, Acosta approved a plea deal that allowed child-trafficking ring-leader Jeffrey Epstein to plead guilty to a single state charge of solicitation, in exchange for a federal non-prosecution agreement.[2] After Epstein's arrest in July 2019 on sex trafficking charges, Acosta faced renewed and harsher criticism for his role in the 2008 non-prosecution agreement, as well as criticism and calls for his resignation as Secretary of Labor; he resigned on July 19 and was replaced by Eugene Scalia

    So Chump knew this deal with Maxwell was wrong -- grasp that.  He knew.  He knew because it's so similar to the deal Acosta made which, when exposed, forced Acosta to resign from Chump's first administration.   Chump knew this was wrong but he gave it to her and betrayed everyone when he did.  He betrayed the survivors, he betrayed the legal system, he betrayed his office, he betrayed the MAGA delirious who saw him as someone fighting against the abuse of children and he betrayed all the American people by lying to us and pretending that (a) nothing out of the norm happened and that (b) he wasn't involved in any of it (when, in fact, he had to sign off on these things with at least verbal consent).

    And Acosta isn't the only one in Chump's orbit that worked to give Epstein a sweetheart deal.  There's Attorney General Pam Bondi.  Last month, Holly Baltz (PALM BEACH POST) noted:

    When U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi was the chief legal officer for Florida, could she have prosecuted fellow resident Jeffrey Epstein for child sex crimes?

    Legally, yes, she could have, legal experts say. The bigger question, however, is whether she should have felt compelled to do so.




     A Florida Republican serving on the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform insists a key figure in the Jeffrey Epstein prosecution scandal can still "be called to testify" on Capitol Hill.

    U.S. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, who represents a St. Petersburg district, said the fact that former U.S. Attorney Alex Acosta is not among those presently on the panel's witness list does not rule him out.

    "This does not take Alex Acosta off the table," said Luna, one of three Floridians on the high-profile congressional committee, in a statement emailed to The Palm Beach Post. "At any time, he can be called to testify."


    At any time?  Why not right now?  Because there's far too much to hide.   Jack Royston (NEWSWEEK) reports:

    Ghislaine Maxwell's transfer to a minimum security prison "reeks of a coordinated protection racket run at taxpayer expense to shield the president," a senator said.

    Maxwell was jailed for 20 years in 2022 for various crimes related to sex trafficking over her role in grooming girls for Jeffrey Epstein to abuse.
    Questions have been asked after she was moved to a minimum security prison in Texas shortly after meetings with the Deputy U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche over two days in July.

    Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, former Rhode Island attorney general, asked for all documents relating to the transfer as he raised concerns about Maxwell's potential "access to the community" from a minimum security facility despite being a convicted sex offender.


    Some (liars) are insisting that Maxwell isn't going to be eligible for a 'work release.'  But just being at Club Fed means she is eligible.  Laerke Christensen (SNOPES) explains:

    • In August 2025, a claim circulated online that a federal prison in Texas cleared Jeffrey Epstein associate and convicted sex offender Ghislaine Maxwell to leave the facility on work release. The claim came from a Substack blog post by Allison Gill, the owner of an independent podcast network and a former government employee.

    • Gill's blog post included screenshots of what she claimed was Maxwell's Bureau of Prisons (BOP) record that showed a "custody level" that implied Maxwell was allowed to leave prison to work. Snopes could not independently verify Gill's screenshots because the blog post used an anonymous source. A BOP spokesperson said the agency could not vouch for the screenshots' authenticity..

    • However, according to BOP guidelines, minimum security prisons like FPC Bryan, to which Maxwell transferred on Aug. 1, 2025, can only house inmates with custody levels that allow them to leave the facility's secure perimeter for work. Therefore, according to the BOP's own guidelines, Maxwell would have such a custody level.


    Stacy M. Brown (SACREMENTO OBSERVER) points out the latest findings in THE ECONOMIST-YOUGOV poll,  "The recent transfer of Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell to a minimum-security Texas prison is opposed by 47 percent of Americans, with just 14 percent in favor and 38 percent unsure. Nearly half say they are not sure whether Trump ordered the move; 36 percent believe he did."

    It's not going away and there's so much more coming.  Rhian Lubin (INDEPENDENT) reports:


    GOP rebel Thomas Massie and Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna plan to bring survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse to Washington, D.C., in a bipartisan push to get Congress to release the controversial “files” in the case.

    Massie of Kentucky, who has created a headache for President Donald Trump this year after rebelling against the “One Big, Beautiful Bill,” said that he will host a joint press conference at the Capitol with the California congressman, several survivors and their attorneys.
    “I will be hosting a press conference at the Capitol, joined by survivors of Epstein and Maxwell's abuse — several of whom will be speaking out for the first time,” Massie and Khanna announced Monday in a post on X. “The survivors deserve justice and Americans deserve transparency.”

    The Epstein case engulfed the Trump administration in controversy for weeks following a Justice Department and FBI memo in early July that said no further files in the case would be released, contrary to the president’s previous pledges to do so. That sparked fury among the Trump base, which has long sought their release. Trump has defended the move even as politicians on both sides of the aisle call for their release.



    To rebuild trust, we need transparency, accountability, and a bold anti-corruption agenda. Progressives must lead the way and show Americans that our government can be good and effective.

    One place to start is calling for the release of the Epstein files. The administration’s refusal to release them is just the latest example of how a lack of transparency fuels distrust.

    For at least a decade, Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell trafficked and abused young women and children. There are more than 1,000 victims, according to the Justice Department. Lawsuits allege Epstein’s criminal abuse of minors spanned over 30 years. These victims deserve justice, and the public deserves to know who was involved and who is still being shielded today.
    Americans on both the left and the right are outraged by the government’s failure to fully release this information; 79 percent of the public wants the files to be released, and a majority thinks the government is covering up evidence.

    Releasing the full Epstein files -- while protecting the privacy and safety of victims -- must be a top priority. It is a simple question of whether our leaders stand with America’s children and victims of abuse or with the wealthy and powerful who are being protected.

    That is why I have spoken out since 2019 about this issue and supported then–House Oversight Committee chairman Elijah Cummings’s investigation into Epstein’s death. It’s also why I am leading the current effort in Congress to release the files, first with an amendment that was blocked in the House Rules Committee and now with a bipartisan bill being co-led by Representative Thomas Massie.


    Let's move over to Loose Lips Hegseth.  The TV personality who now plays Secretary of Defense just can't seem to do his job.  Carla Babb (NAVY TIMES) reports:


    Democratic congresswomen, including several military veterans, are demanding Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth apologize and resign after reposting a video about a Christian nationalist church with pastors who advocate for the repeal of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote, and feel women should not serve in certain combat and leadership positions.
    Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), an Army helicopter pilot who lost both of her legs during combat in Iraq, told Military Times, "these views are antiquated, flat out wrong and - more dangerously - designed to justify discrimination and mistreatment of women, including those who sacrifice in uniform to defend Americans."

    "He is the least qualified secretary of defense in our nation's history - despite commanding tens of thousands of women who actually are qualified and earned their jobs, unlike him," she added. "Hegseth's incompetence and outright idiocy continue to put our troops and national security at greater risk every day he remains in office, and he should resign in disgrace immediately."

    In the CNN video, the pastors also said they want the United States to be a Christian republic. They call for the criminalization of homosexuality and expect women to submit to their husbands.
    [. . .]
    Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-Penn.), an Air Force veteran who has called for Hegseth's resignation before, told Military Times that Hegseth's "recent post promoting a Christian Nationalist theology that is opposed to women's suffrage and calls for homosexuality to be criminalized is unacceptable political-religious advocacy for a cabinet member."

    "Sadly it is just one more example of the many ways he and the Trump administration are undermining and sidelining women and the LGBTQ community, erasing their accomplishments and stripping rights that were hard-fought and fully deserved," she added.


    When I saw the headline, my immediate thought was, "What's Phoney Joni going to say?"  

    Turns out nothing.  Joni Ernst did not provide a comment when asked.  If you've forgotten, the We're All Going To Die Senator was initially not going to vote for Loose Lips Hegseth to become Secretary of Defense; however, all it took were a few threats to frighten Phoney Joni and she was all on board.

    She betrayed her belief system, she betrayed her constituents.

    I guess if I were her, I'd try to slither away and hope no one noticed.  But people will notice and this is a really time for Phoney Joni.  Malcolm Ferguson (THE NEW REPUBLIC) reports:

    Two-time Paralympic gold medalist and Iowa State Representative Josh Turek used current Iowa Senator Joni Ernst’s infamous “Well, we’re all going to die” comment against her in a new ad announcing his candidacy for her Senate seat.

    Turek uses a wheelchair full-time after his father’s exposure to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War caused him to develop spina bifida, forcing him to get 21 surgeries before the age of 12. He received gold medals in wheelchair basketball in 2016 and 2020. 

    “I wouldn’t have gotten that far without VA health coverage for my dad’s service, free summer lunch programs when my parents were struggling, and the local AEA that made sure that I had access to a good education. When I was a kid, it was a Senator from Iowa that made sure that the doors were open for kids like me,” Turek said. “Now the senator from Iowa is just closing doors, taking away health care, making it harder for parents to feed their kids—all just to give tax breaks to billionaires. And her explanation? ‘Well, we are all going to die.’”

    The clip cuts to footage of the town hall in which Ernst made her cruel, fateful comments.

    “I’m tired of Iowans being taken for granted. I wasn’t supposed to be able to win a state House seat that Trump won twice, but I campaigned just like I played basketball: outworking everyone,” Turek continued. “A whole lotta folks are gonna look at a guy like me and say, ‘Man, that is a real long shot.’ Well, in Iowa, we love an underdog. So if you are ready to push for change, join me.”

    Ernst’s comments have seriously tainted her political reputation, and while she’s yet to confirm or deny her 2026 reelection campaign, a slew of challengers have already arisen from both sides of the aisle (for what it’s worth, Ernst has hired a campaign manager). Republican Jim Carlin and former Libertarian presidential candidate Joshua Smith have already declared, while Ernst and Iowa Congresswoman Ashley Hinson are still deliberating. Meanwhile Turek joins a crowded Democratic primary field including state Senator Zach Wahls, state Representative J.D. Scholten, Des Moines school board chair Jackie Norris, and local radio station market director Nathan Sage. 


    Let's note Ben breaking down the morning on MEIDASTOUCH.



    And let's wind down with this from Senator Mazie Hirono's office:


    WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) introduced four bills that would institute a moratorium on reductions in force (RIF) at federal science agencies under the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation’s jurisdiction, including the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the National Science Foundation (NSF).

    This comes after President Trump’s mass layoffs of over 3,000 employees at federal science agencies, including over 2,000 employees at NASA last month, over 150 employees at NSF in February, around 800 employees at NOAA, and over 70 employees at NIST.

    “Our federal science agencies do critical work to keep our communities safe, while also promoting and fostering innovation, conducting important research, and encouraging exploration in various fields,” said Senator Hirono. “These reductions in our federal workforce will cause irreparable damage to this country and this regime’s blatant disregard for these agencies, as well as the well-being of the federal workers employed by them, is unacceptable. I am proud to introduce these bills to help protect our federal workforce and the crucial work that these agencies do.”

    “The Trump Administration’s purge of federal employees from our science agencies is not only hurting thousands of hard-working public servants, it is threatening key engines of innovation that benefit the American people and our economy. With this legislation, we’re fighting to stop Trump from laying waste to our federal science agencies and their workforce as Congress works to fund their missions for the next year – and ensure they can continue making life-changing discoveries,” said Senator Van Hollen.

    Trump has claimed that these mass layoffs are part of his administration’s agenda to cut “government waste.” Meanwhile, he has taken advantage of these cuts to give his political appointees preferred treatment. In June, the administration made an abrupt decision to move the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) into the NSF’s office building in Alexandria, Virginia, without giving NSF’s 1,833 employees advanced notice or presenting a plan for where these employees would relocate to accommodate HUD workers.

    Specifically, Senator Hirono and Van Hollen’s bills would prevent RIFs at these four agencies, essentially pausing mass layoffs or demotions, until Fiscal Year 2026 appropriations for those agencies are signed into law.

    The full text of the legislation for the Saving NIST’s Workforce Act is available here.

    The full text of the legislation for the Saving NASA’s Workforce Act is available here.

    The full text of the legislation for the Saving NOAA’s Workforce Act is available here.

    The full text of the legislation for the Saving NSF’s Workforce Act is available here.

     

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    The following sites updated: