At UPI, Harlan Ullman raises an important issue regarding the Epstein scandal that I haven't heard anyone else raise so far:
The
sordid saga of the long dead and convicted predator Jeffrey Epstein not
only poses a threat to Donald Trump's presidency, but it also
conceivably threatens the credibility of the U.S. political system.
Yet,
an even more sinister and potentially dangerous threat lurks for the
United States and its friends. The two threats are linked, ironically,
by Epstein's ghost.
Trump's MAGA base is furious
that the promised Epstein files have not been released. What's worse is
that that Attorney General Pam Bondi apparently informed Trump his name
was in the file -- high-test fuel for that blaze.
And,
now, possibly to deflect attention, Trump and his director of National
Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, have accused former President Barack Obama
of treason by interfering in the 2016 election with Russian help.
In a nation as politically divided as America, any spark could ignite a political firestorm.
Beijing,
Moscow and others with malicious intent are intensely watching this
saga. One conclusion must be that even greater opportunities exist today
to interfere in United States and Western politics, not just exploiting
this debacle.
More importantly, creating new crises that manipulate and fracture political and social cohesion is a formidable danger.
Has Chump now given us a national security risk? There's a reason you don't vote for convicted felons. Jennifer Bowers Bahney reports on the harm coming to Chump's buddy Speaker From The Closet Mike Johnson:
The
Bulwark's Bill Kristol wrote Thursday that House Speaker Mike Johnson
and House Republicans were complicit in an "Orwellian" cover-up to
protect powerful people involved in the Epstein scandal.
Kristol
quoted Johnson telling CNN's Jake Tapper, "I want everything to come
out about the Epstein evils. . . . I’m pushing aggressively for the full
release of everything that is possible, and, by the way, so is the
president. We’re using every mechanism within our power to do that, and
to do it as quickly as possible."
And
yet, Kristol wrote, Johnson "panicked" and "recessed the House in order
to avoid a floor vote on a resolution calling for the release of the
files."
"This is Orwellian," Kristol wrote.
The
Epstein files reportedly include the names of President Donald Trump
and other powerful associates of the convicted sex trafficker who died
by suicide in his Manhattan jail cell in 2019.
But try as he might to enjoy his summer recess, Kristol wrote that the Epstein scandal has followed Johnson home to Louisiana.
"Earlier
this week, a state representative from Johnson’s own 4th district of
Louisiana, a fellow Republican, took the extraordinary step of issuing a
statement condemning Johnson," Kristol wrote.
"State
Rep. Danny McCormick of Oil City pointed out that Johnson 'shut down
Congress early to dodge the vote,'" adding, "It’s one thing to be
silent. It’s another to actively stand in the way of truth and justice.
That raises serious questions about who he’s really protecting.”
Mike Johnson is so inept and stupid. How that idiot ever got picked by the Republicans is a mystery.
President
Donald Trump's approval rating among white voters has slipped to its
lowest point, according to a new YouGov/Economist poll.
The
survey, conducted between July 25-28, puts Trump's approval among white
voters at 47 percent, with 49 percent disapproving, putting his net
approval rating at -2 points.
That
is down from last month, when 50 percent approved and 47 percent
disapproved. Overall, the poll showed Trump's net approval rating at an
all-time low of -15 among all voters, down from -14 last month, making
the survey one of several that have recently shown Trump's approval
rating at a low for his second term.
His base gets smaller and smaller with each passing day. Do you think he grasps that?
Do they lie to him at the White House? Of course. They flatter him and they all pretend that his popularity is actually increasing. But on some level, even Chump has to know that's a lie. Even he has to grasp that the number of people hating him just grows bigger with each passing day.
Thursday, July 31, 2025. Chump remains entangled with the late
pedophile Epstein, a victim's family calls out the way he speaks of
their late loved one, another Chump supporter is exposed as a pedophile,
Senator Ron Wyden actually works to end crimes against children, Loose
Lips Hegseth continues to flounder, and much more.
Agree 100% with Rebecca and her post "bobby scott's 78 and senile." Are there other issues beyond
Epstein and Chump? There certainly are. Here we are giving serious
attention to immigration. We put Loose Lips Hegseth on hold last week
-- might pick him up this snapshot, might not. We're also covering the
economy. It's all connected. Chump does not serve the American
people. He mocks them and makes fun of them. He only serves the super
wealthy. That's why the Epstein files are still not released. That's
why the big ugly bill attacks the poor, the working class and the middle
class while giving huge tax breaks to the super wealthy. His war on
immigration is about the super wealthy as well.
It's the immigrants who are targeted. As he notes
repeatedly, he keeps hearing from farming corporations and other big
business about how they need immigrant workers. This doesn't lead him
to order an investigation or arrests for those employing undocumented
immigrants. No, they're free and remain free.
If you're apprehending immigrants when do you plan to
apprehend those knowingly hiring immigrants who lack the paperwork
needed to work in the US?
And
they're not being silent. Chump has yet again spoken of the farming
industry and how arrests might need to be paused on immigrant farm
workers. That's not to benefit the immigrants, that's to benefit Big Ag
which brings in millions and millions of dollars.
So they're all connected.
This is not a new development.
The
super wealthy have always benefited from GOP policies. And the poor
and uninformed have failed to grasp that reality. (Democratic leaders
also court the rich -- Socialists would insist that's all they do --
but they also tend to push measures that focus on lifting all boats.)
Chump
is the servant of the super wealthy. If you are an elected Democrat in
the US Congress and you can't make a case on that, you do need to
retire. Actually, you need to get to the ER immediately because if
you're a Democratic member of Congress and you can't make that case, I
think you're either dying or in a coma.
A
national poll of 1,777 respondents found that a significant portion of
voters believe President Donald Trump was involved in Jeffrey Epstein’s
crimes, along with a continuing trend of sliding approval numbers for
Trump.
In a July 25-28 poll from The
Economist/YouGov, Americans were asked, “Do you think that Donald Trump
was involved in crimes allegedly committed by Jeffrey Epstein?” Nearly
half of those said yes — 46% — while 32% said no; a further 23% said
they were not sure.
A
majority of voters think the Trump administration may be trying to
conceal evidence of the president’s association with the late Jeffrey
Epstein.
The latest Rasmussen Reports national
telephone and online survey finds that 60% of Likely U.S. Voters believe
it’s likely that Trump administration officials are engaged in a
cover-up to hide Donald Trump’s involvement with Epstein, including 45%
who consider a cover-up Very Likely. Thirty-four percent (34%) say it’s
not likely administration officials are engaged in a cover-up, including
16% who consider it Not At All Likely.
And Martha McHardy (NEWSWEEK) reports, "Donald
Trump's public approval has dropped to its lowest level in months,
according to newly released polling data. The latest Reuters/Ipsos poll
shows that Trump's approval rating has dropped to 40 percent, with 56
percent disapproving, giving him a net approval rating of -16 points."
A
new CBS News report alleges that the DOJ and FBI have copies of the
scrutinized security footage from just before Epstein's death without
the midnight time jump
[. . .]
Earlier
this month, the Department of Justice and the FBI released around 11
hours of footage from the security camera in New York City's
Metropolitan Correctional Center, in an attempt to assuage public calls
for transparency about the late billionaire and alleged predator.
However,
the footage immediately sparked new conspiracy theories, as viewers
noticed that, at 11:58 p.m. on Aug. 9, 2019, the footage jumped forward
one minute, to midnight. As the video was meant to show that no one
entered or exited Epstein's cell on the night before he was found dead —
thereby proving that he died by suicide — the gap in the tape made many wonder if the footage had been doctored to hide evidence.
CBS News cites
"a government source familiar with the investigation" in its new report
that claims the FBI, the DOJ and the Bureau of Prisons all have a copy
of the video that doesn't skip forward a minute. However, CBS' source
did not provide information on what may be on the missing footage.
Earlier this month, Attorney General Pam Bondi was asked about the missing minute, and she claimed it was a technical glitch.
"What
we learned from the Bureau of Prisons is every night they redo that
video," she told reporters on July 8. "So, every night the video is
reset, and every night should have the same minute missing."
Surveillance
and forensic video experts told CBS News that a daily reset, such as
Bondi described, "would have been unusual and was not something they
encountered in most video systems."
When
they released the footage, the DOJ and FBI claimed it was the "full
raw" security video, however, forensic video expert Jim Stafford
analyzed the released footage for CBS News and concluded that it was
"likely a screen capture, not an actual export" of the security file.
Additionally,
the metadata on the video showed that the file was created on May 23 of
this year and was actually two separate videos stitched together.
We
noted that in yesterday's snapshot. I think it's an important
development because Pam Bondi lied to the American people again. I also
think it goes to why FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Director
Dan Bongino believe Bondi needs to go. That would be the second big lie
she's told the American people about the Epstein case as Attorney
General.
Here's one of the video reports on this issue from CBS NEWS.
On
THE LAST HOUR WITH STEPHANIE RUHLE (MSNBC) last night, Stephanie and
her guests discussed some of the latest developments in the Epstein
scandal.
Two
senior-level staffers from President Donald Trump's first
administration are now saying the president's constantly shifting
explanations on his relationship with convicted pedophile Jeffrey
Epstein suggest he's withholding significant details.
During the Wednesday episode
of Jim Acosta's Substack show, the former CNN host interviewed both
Olivia Troye and Miles Taylor, who served in the office of former Vice
President Mike Pence and the Department of Homeland Security,
respectively. Both agreed that Trump's continuously shifting story on
his association with Epstein raise a number of red flags that merit
further investigation.
"He's
getting really paranoid here," Taylor said. "There's no supporter of
his that's going to buy the idea that his name was simply planted in the
files given everything that's come out, given the revelations that
Trump was briefed by his own attorney general that his name was really found in the files. And so he's getting really anxious here."
Troye
agreed with Taylor's point, and made the argument that Trump wasn't
"behaving like someone who is innocent." She further suggested that
Trump's "lashing out" makes him look "really guilty."
And
he appears to assist the guilty, doesn't he? The Deputy Attorney
General goes to visit Maxwell for two days, visit her in prison, brings
her some form of a gift in a box, offers her limited immunity, etc,
etc. This is Epstein's partner. She's a pedophile. She engaged in the
sex with children. She's a pedophile. She's a sex trafficker. And
the administration goes out of their way to make nice with her but
they're not speaking to any of the victims or the victims' families.
The president told reporters on Tuesday that Jeffrey Epstein "stole" Giuffre,
one of Epstein's most well-known accusers, from his Mar-a-Lago club in
Palm Beach, Florida, where she worked in the summer of 2000 when she was
16. Giuffre died by suicide in April.
The president told reporters on Tuesday that Jeffrey Epstein "stole" Giuffre,
one of Epstein's most well-known accusers, from his Mar-a-Lago club in
Palm Beach, Florida, where she worked in the summer of 2000 when she was
16. Giuffre died by suicide in April.
Giuffre
and her family didn't have money. Maxwell was raised in the lap of
luxury. Who is Chump playing footsie with? The super wealthy. Always
and forever.
A
passionate supporter of President Donald Trump, who is married to a
prominent Republican operative in Wisconsin and publicly stated in 2024
that he was casting his vote to combat child trafficking, is now facing
ten counts of possessing images of exploited children.
Scott Soucek, from Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, was arrested last week, according to a report by The Daily Beast. He is accused of downloading hundreds of illicit images via a file‑sharing network.
Back in October, Scott posted on Facebook a list of roughly two dozen reasons why he intended to vote for Trump.
“I’m
voting to fight against human/child trafficking,” he wrote, adding that
he was voting “for my children and my grandchildren.”
More
than fifteen years prior to that post, in 2009, Door County
investigators examined his laptop after he admitted to downloading
illegal images involving children, but for reasons that remain
unexplained, the case was never sent to the district attorney’s office.
According
to the report, the newly filed 12‑page criminal complaint describes
graphic content that was allegedly downloaded in March of this year. It
linked to an IP address believed to be associated with Soucek.
Soucek's
wife, Stephanie Soucek, serves as chair of the Door County Republican
Party and was a delegate at the 2024 Republican National Convention, per
the report.
So instead of going to prison and being put on a
sex offender registry in 2009, Soucek's influence and money got him a
sweetheart deal. Just like Epstein's money and influence got him a
sweetheart deal in 2008. Something about Chump certainly attract the
pedophiles.
While Chump encourages the exploitation of children, Senator Ron Wyden works to end it:
Washington, D.C. — U.S.
Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., called for an immediate investigation of
reports the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has drastically
diverted resources away from investigations into serious crimes against
children, including child sexual abuse and human trafficking, in order
to devote more resources to rounding up immigrants.
“Instead of locking up rapists, child predators and other
violent criminals, Trump appears to be diverting investigators to target
cooks, farm workers and students. Congress and the American people will
not tolerate the Trump administration ignoring the ongoing sexual abuse
of vulnerable children,” wrote Wyden in the letter to DHS Inspector General Joseph Cuffari.
Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) at DHS is responsible for
investigating serious crimes, and is one of the leading agencies charged
with investigating child sexual abuse materials online. The 7,000 HSI
agents are supposed to focus on investigating drug smuggling, human
trafficking, and child sex trafficking, among other crossborder criminal
activities. According to DHS,
HSI arrested over 3,000 individuals for crimes against children and
rescued over 1,000 victims of child exploitation in 2020 alone.
Wyden’s letter cites a recent report published by the Atlantic,
which stated that HSI “supervisors have waved agents off new cases so
they have more time to make immigration-enforcement arrests,” and quoted
one agent describing the impact: “No drug cases, no human trafficking,
no child exploitation.”
Wyden has been a staunch advocate in the Senate for increasing
resources for investigating sex trafficking and prosecuting predators to
protect vulnerable children. In January 2024, Wyden introduced bipartisan legislation to protect children from online exploitation. In June 2024, he released
information from his investigation into child abuse and neglect in
youth residential treatment facilities across the United States. In
September 2024, he urged
existing authorities to protect and strengthen services for children
susceptible to abuse enrolled in Medicaid in the child welfare program.
This morning, Ben (MEIDASTOUCH NEWS) discussed the many, many ways in which Donald Chump is failing the American people.
As we speak to veterans groups
across the country, one thing is clear: No one thinks Pete Hegseth is
qualified to be Secretary of Defense. Guess what? That judgment call
apparently includes Loose Lips Hegseth himself. James Liddell (INDEPENDENT) reports:
Defense
Secretary Pete Hegseth is considering stepping down from his Pentagon
duties to pursue political office in his adopted home state, according
to a new report.
According
to Defense Department rules that prevent civilian employees from
seeking political office, Hegseth would need to resign his post to
launch a campaign.
If Hegseth were to follow
through, it would mark the biggest shake-up in Pentagon leadership since
the Trump administration ousted Joint Chiefs of Staff General Charles
Brown in February.
Since his confirmation, Hegseth has faced controversy over the abrupt firings of his top staff, accusations of chaos at the Pentagon
and questions about his handling of sensitive military plans after he
shared information about a military operation in Yemen on an unsecured group chat on Signal.
A Pentagon inspector general report on the Signal chat, including the
classification of the information Hegseth shared, could be released as
early as next month.
Trump
has said publicly that he maintains confidence in Hegseth, although
privately he has at times expressed frustrations with him, NBC News has reported.
We've
had to put Loose Lips Hegseth on hold for about three weeks so let me
toss out something before I forget. Gossip. Hadlima. I'm told that's
what caused Hegseth's facial outbreaks that look like psoriasis -- the
reason he wears foundation -- often wears foundation poorly.
Supposedly, his wife's been explaining that to her friends. Sad, when
you try to pose as mister manly man and your wife has to go around
explaining
why you're wearing women's make up. I have no idea why he's on Hadlima
-- Cron's disease? -- if he is on it. But that's what people are saying
his wife is relaying is that he was previously on Humira and didn't
have the facial spots but then he had to switch to Hadlima because the
VA dropped coverage of Humira. If this is true, I'll be kind and share
that two doctors I spoke with after I heard the gossip both
said TriDerma Psoriasis Control Face and Body Cream is the best and
fastest acting cream for the red spots.
Can't help him with his disclosure of classified secrets in a non-secure chat. Dan Lamothe (WASHINGTON POST) reports on the upcoming watchdog report:
It follows a report last week by The Washington Post
that revealed the inspector general’s team was in receipt of evidence
indicating the messages disseminated through Hegseth’s account on the
unclassified chat app originated from a classified email sent to senior
Pentagon officials by the top officer overseeing U.S. operations in the
Middle East, Gen. Michael “Erik” Kurilla.
The email was labeled “SECRET/NOFORN,” a classification level at which
unauthorized disclosure could be expected to cause serious damage to
U.S. national security. The “NOFORN” label means it also was not meant
for anyone who is a foreign national, including senior officials of
close allies of the United States.
Hegseth’s
account on Signal shared similarly sensitive details with at least one
other group chat that included his wife, Jennifer; his brother, Phil;
and a personal lawyer, Tim Parlatore, people familiar with the matter
have said previously.
The
situation could mark a test of whether Hegseth will follow through on
past promises to allow the inspector general’s office to carry out its
work independently. During his bruising confirmation process, Hegseth
promised Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) that, if confirmed, he
would commit to “protecting the DoD IG’s independence,” according to a
copy of the questionnaire reviewed by The Post.
Days after Trump returned to office, he fired the Defense Department inspector general,
Robert Storch, and at least 14 other leaders with similar watchdog
responsibilities at other government agencies in a purge. Steven A.
Stebbins, who took up the case against Hegseth, was selected as Storch’s
replacement on an acting basis. A onetime Army officer like Hegseth,
Stebbins retired from the military in 2015 and joined the inspector
general’s office later that year, according to his official biography.
Let's wind down with this from Senator Patty Murray's office:
***WATCH: Senator Murray’s remarks on Senate Floor***
Washington, D.C. —Today,U.S.
Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations
Committee, spoke out on the Senate floor against the nomination of Joe
Kent to lead the National Counterterrorism Center. Senator Murray
slammed Kent for his lack of experience and long history of promoting
conspiracy theories and white supremacist views, and urged her
colleagues to vote against his nomination.
Senator Murray’s remarks, as delivered on the Senate Floor, are below:
“Thank you, M. President.
“The National Counterterrorism Center plays a crucial role keeping
our country safe. The agency is responsible for collecting and analyzing
intelligence to help protect our nation from terrorist threats. It is
sober, serious work that requires a level head and a commitment to
putting the mission before politics.
“Which is why I am deeply alarmed that Republicans are charging ahead
to put it under the thumb of a conspiracy theorist who espouses white
supremacist views, and is patently unqualified for this important role
in just about every way imaginable. You are supposed to pick people with
qualifications, but just about everything we know about Joe Kent is
disqualifying for this role and alarming.
“There’s his track record chumming it up with white supremacists,
from discussing campaign strategy with avowed white supremacist Nick
Fuentes, to giving an interview to a guy who has defended Hitler, to
rallying with the founder of a far-right paramilitary group, and let’s
not forget the Proud Boy that he hired as a consultant!
“And it’s not just his connections, there’s his own deeply bigoted
statements like: claiming Islam is ‘based on conquest at its core,’ and
pushing racist ‘replacement theory’ rhetoric.
“That is alarming stuff. Let’s be frank here: These are white
supremacist views—and they should have absolutely no place in our
federal government.
“And then there is his track record of politicizing intelligence,
like when he was caught red handed pushing to change intelligence
reports—facts be damned—so they would agree with Trump and attack Biden.
“Joe Kent also has a track record of peddling conspiracies and
attacking law enforcement, from saying our country is at war with
‘leftist cabal,’ or calling to completely defund the FBI and ATF,
agencies that keep Americans safe from foreign and domestic threats, or
pushing the offensive and false conspiracy that the January 6th
insurrection was somehow a deep state plot.
“You want to know who in the federal government was behind the
insurrection? How about we start with man in the White House who
promised to march to the Capitol with them? How about we start with the
President who calls rioters patriots? How about we start with the guy
who pardoned violent cop beaters—en masse?
“If you cannot be honest with the American people about January
6th—you have no business being trusted with protecting our democracy. It
should be that simple.
“And let’s not forget—Joe Kent was on the infamous Signal-gate
chat—where classified attack plans were discussed with no regard for
security, or law, not to mention the safety of our servicemembers.
“You know what he had to say about that? He said no classified
information was discussed. That was the answer he gave at his Senate
confirmation hearing.
“Now it’s obvious that answer was a complete lie. Last week, the
Pentagon’s watchdog confirmed there was classified information in that
Signal chat.
“So, was Kent being intentionally dishonest? Or does he not understand what classified information is?
“Either way—it is completely disqualifying. Which—as I think I’ve made clear—is pretty much the pattern here.
“So here is my warning to Republicans, confirming someone like Joe
Kent to lead the National Counterterrorism Center makes about as much
sense as putting Donald Trump in charge of releasing the Epstein files
after all that we have learned.
“We have all the evidence we could ever need—in the public record,
right now—that he is not going to do the right thing. And we have no
reason to believe he will do this important, high-stakes, work in a
serious, impartial manner—let alone a competent one.
“So, M. President, I am here to urge all of my colleagues to join me
in doing exactly what people back in Washington state have done each
time they were asked to trust Joe Kent, vote no.”