The Contrarian paid subscription is THE best investment I’ve ever made: immeasurable heartfelt thanks Jennifer, Norm, et al. for your preeminent tireless efforts on behalf of our Democracy, Humanity & our beautiful Earth. 🤍🙏🏻
Indeed! Of course I also subscribe to HCR & Joyce Vance as well. Reading the 3 is really all that’s necessary to stay well informed. I find all Substack writers preeminent. The Contrarian provides the litigation bonus.
Beautifully said Kathleen! I agree completely! It's the best investment I've ever made too. I'm so grateful to both Jennifer and Norm for starting the Contrarian last January!
I can't agree more! I set my alarm on M, W, & Th for Coffee with the Contrarians. I like the other videos, columns, and articles, too, but especially Meredith Blake's reviews!
Will the money trail be investigated? I think this is at least as revealing and potentially more damaging than the documents on the immoral and disgusting acts.
The Epstein files are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to corruption between the wealthy and our political representatives. The non-sexual influence peddling doesn't get investigated enough or make the news, but there should be little doubt our system is corrupt and needs an overhaul.
Business interests and their lobbyists have had entirely too much influence over the legislative process. To paraphrase, it is high time to "kick the lobbyists out of the temples" of legislation and justice. A good start would be to eliminate Citizens United.
YES! Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), Ranking Democrat of the Senate Finance Committee, is on it. Wyden and his staff have been working for years to expose the financing of Epstein’s sex trafficking ring. Here are recent details:
US Senate Committee on Finance
Juiy 23, 2025
As Trump Sits on Key Epstein Files, Wyden Lays Out “Follow the Money” Investigation for DOJ
Years into His Own Epstein Investigation, Finance Ranking Democrat Recommends Seven Major Lines of Investigation for Trump’s Idle Department of Justice
Exactly! Raping teenagers is a horrific crime. Money laundering may not seem as bad, but if the money derives from arms smuggling and human trafficking, it's equivalently inexcusable. Follow the money!
I disagree with the assertion that Trump's relationship with Epstein is his "worst corruption scandal." It is fairly obvious that in the past he was friends with a man engaged in criminal sexual conduct, but absent evidence (or so far even a claim) that Trump himself was involved this is nothing that would support his impeachment. I believe that the repeated, continuing, and blatant misuse of the pardon power to reward those who he expects to benefit him both politically and financially and his continuing acts of murder on the high seas are far more egregious and would (and should) support the impeachment of any president who engaged in such conduct. The continuing focus on the "Epstein files" detracts from the current and continuing corruption of this administration and its enablers in Congress.
I agree and also think that his mind boggling self enrichment is grounds for impeachment. However, this may be his worse corruption scandal in the sense that it is easy for the public to understand. Many people have young daughters or nieces and would be outraged if they were sexually abused.
The next time our current President does something beneficial for the American people......will be the first. Don't hold your breath waiting for it to happen!
Compared to Trump's other actions, fiddling with our currency is a drop in the bucket. Consider its removal to be a minor ripple in inflation. With no pennies, there will be a concerted 'rounding up' of prices.
Technically, you are completely correct of course. The self-remunerations, the quid pro quo pardons, the daily violations of the Emoluments Clause should shock people far more. Yet they don't. For reasons that remain obscure, people believe that what he's been doing with women and girls (as though that hasn't been obvious for 10-15 years) is worse. I think they are hoping that the emails and FBI worksheets will be the undoing of the dark spell that holds his base together (since the GOP clearly couldn't give a rat's ass about his many High Crimes and Misdemeanors).
We may be talking about two different things -- what constitute impeachable offenses v. what his dumb base may at last find so icky that even *they* can't help themselves from tossing their cookies.
Ultimately I don’t think even his tag team involvement with Epstein bothers his base. It’s all about who else might be involved. Remember the Access Hollywood tape with the “Grab ‘em by the…” didn’t move the needle a bit with the base in 2016. Or the multiple victims of his abuse that came forward. I doubt his base has finally found a conscience. Still, help in any way, from any quarter is welcome if the Felon is brought to justice along with anyone else involved.
I strongly agree that the emphasis on corruption and egregious conduct should NOT be focused on Epstein. The survivors and the legal world are the ones who should be investigating, charging and going to court on this matter, NOT the government. Our government should be focused on serving Americans by working on economy, health care, security, environment, taxation, etc. There is much too much time spent by both parties on "uncovering", on charging, on labeling, on retribution. It is a never ending swirling of a cesspool. We need a government whose main concern is to make life good for its constituents.
I am hoping that will be done by preserving fair elections, supporting civil liberties and human dignity, and then electing qualified and rational people to replace the current "regime".
The challenge is that there is an outrageous amount of corruption and moral decay in this man and his regime. He should be attacked on ALL fronts which takes focused energy and resources per offense. All of these issues are critical and deserve attention. I don't know how they can be prioritized but certainly justice for victims is high on the list.
The wanton destruction of the East Wing by the orange narcissist-felon did not, to quote your own exact word usage, "captivate" the nation. To captivate means to be charmed or delighted.
The nation was horrified, disgusted, outraged. You may consider this as nitpicking. It isn't. Words have consequences, and they are the lifeblood of skilled journalists.
Yes, words matter! As I just posted, Miles Taylor of Defiance.org just wrote that we should use the word "defiance" rather that "resistance," the latter sounding reactive. I agree that words matter!
While 'captivate' implies positve feelings, a general meaning is that it attracts the attention, (which can be positive or negative). In this case, the destruction attracted a lot of attention - almost all completely negative. Agreed, there are better word choices for this.
Steve, when I was stopped short by 'captivated' I looked it up. Its principal meaning is charmed, delighted. I agree that its root is 'capture' (as in the attention). Word phriques (guilty as charged) should debate this, perhaps?
"Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we purpose to deceive..."
Those files are about more than sexual crimes. Woven through the sex trafficking is international money laundering, bribery, and who knows what else. Dig out the other crimes, too.
"Trump’s grip on his party means the 60 votes needed to open debate in the GOP-controlled Senate are not there."
Republican legislators abdicate their duty: they do NOT work for the American people, as is the purpose they were elected for. They work for Trump! OUT with every one of them! Vote Blue!
The Republicans once ran on a promise to disclose the contents of the Epstein files. Now they're running to bury them, whipping out a series of lies that are in equal parts frantic and shameless.
The files are a hoax, we hear: but at the same time, they are real, and the Democrats are the real sinners. (Pam Bondi is coming for YOU, Bill Clinton.) Donald has never heard of Jeffrey Epstein, we hear: but at the same time he has spent the last decade plus working in secret with the FBI to expose Epstein and the international Jewish banker Democrat pedophile ring. The American people don't care about any of this, we hear, they just want Republicans to protect them from the horrors of affordable care and Social Security: but at the same time the American people can think of nothing but how ferociously they want Bill Clinton, Larry Summers and George Soros to be imprisoned for their crimes against Dear Leader and, oh yes, afterthought: those girls.
Meanwhile, Ghislaine Maxwell occasionally takes time out from playing with puppies and enjoying catered meals and spa days to sending out little signals that she really is getting bored with the whole "being in prison for sex trafficking and the corruption of children" thing, and that if Donald doesn't want to go the way of Prince Andrew he might want to play nice and arrange that pardon or clemency that Todd Blanche hinted at during their recent series of cozy little chats.
If the Republicans succeed in burying this hideous scandal, that will not be simply a final rupture with every code of civilization and honor and the rule of law we've ever professed to believe in: it will also be a validation for the richest, most powerful men on earth (of all parties and all nations) of their core belief: that they have a right to rape, to corrupt, to spoil, to torture, even to kill at will, either to promote their own wealth and power or simply because they happen to be in the mood.
"The Republicans once ran on a promise to disclose the contents of the Epstein files"
Bondi said at the outset that the list of names was on her desk -- until she said there wasn't one. 'Lying for Trump' should become a bumper sticker line for the GOP.
Late yesterday, in a brazen act of corruption of the US DOJ, Bondi did a 180 on her July pronouncement that in regards the FBI's Epstein files - "there's nothing to see here" and did Trump's bidding to start investigations into SOLELY DEMOCRATS who have been mentioned in the files released by the Epstein estate - DESPITE the FACT that Trump's name appears far more frequently. But this is NOT RETRIBUTION -it's worse. If Bondi opens these investigation into these 4 Democrats she can then -legitimately- state in response to the House demand for these files, "We can't comply because we are in the middle of an investigation." IT'S A POWERFUL DELAY TACTIC. Bondi could keep those investigations going for YEARS. Where is Norm Eisen when we need him? Norm, help us out here - is there any check on this despicably corrupt act by what was once the US DOJ and is now nothing more than Donald Trump's Legal Agency?
'a book given to Epstein for his 50th birthday contained a note allegedly from Trump that depicted the figure of a nude woman containing statements like “We have certain things in common, Jeffrey” '
It doesn't appear to be the figure of a nude woman. It appears to be that of a young teenage girl. A woman can vote, sign legal papers, join the army. She has autonomy and power. A girl in her early teens can't get a driver's license.
Like OJ, Trump & his capos are determined to hunt down the real perpetrators...the gaslighting & propaganda never stop.
The Epstein hoax that’s not a hoax; photos & video of Trump with Epstein adolescents shouldn’t be released as it’s a distraction from Trump’s accomplishments lowering prices, increasing affordability, stopping wars, feeding the needy & delivering the “best” healthcare?
The most interesting and telling parts of Maxwell's interview are that she always refers to Trump as "the President" - except that, when all that was happening, he wasn't the President......so she may be able to say she didn't see The President acting inappropriately, but that doesn't mean TRUMP didn't!
I don’t understand why people assume that the bill to require DOJ to release the Epstein files will die in the Senate. It seems to me that if you make this about protecting pedophiles who raped and sexually abused children that it is hard to vote against releasing the files and hard for Thune to refuse to bring the bill to the floor. Don’t make it about Trump; sexually abusing children should not be a partisan issue. And, please, don’t refer to the victims as women, young women, underage women or anything else other than young girls or children.
Yes! Focus on sexual abuse of minors. That's horrible! And follow the money. On Friday, Nov. 14, Jay Kuo blogged, "It bears noting that many women who have accused Trump of sexual crimes and misconduct have issued contrary statements or recanted, either because of alleged threats or because of NDAs and settlement agreements. A woman who alleged Trump and Epstein raped her when she was 13 ultimately dropped her suit. Stormy Daniels made a public statement that nothing had happened between her and Trump, only to explain later that she felt compelled to say so due to an NDA." Look at this article that Jay Kuo cited, for example: https://www.politico.com/story/2016/11/donald-trump-rape-lawsuit-dropped-230770
1. The big thing is the House vote. Will Republicans vote with victims or preverts?
2. Some of us hope that the vote on the Trumpepstein discharge petition next week can lead to a complete restructuting ala a variation on the Jerry Weiss scenario. https://jerryweiss.substack.com/
The real issue is whether Dems can hold hearings, call witnesses, as a predicate to show even right wing Republicans how bad it is. At least in theory Congressional Republicans would not want to implicate themselves in crimes.
When the House managers brought the 2 impeachment cases during # 45, they did not ask for permission to voir dire senators who might have been material witnesses and maybe even accomplices to Trump's "crimes and misdemeanors." It was possible that many of them were involved and if they had lawyers, the advice would have been to take the 5th and recuse from voting to avoid dire consequences.
Last night Meidas and others posted interviews with many House Republicans who say they will vote to open the records despite Trump's sometimes personal threats. E.G. NYT this morning. Trump Cuts Ties With Marjorie Taylor Greene, Calling Her ‘Wacky’. "The rupture exposed the divides within President Trump’s MAGA base over the Epstein files and more."
Before the it's sent to the senate for a vote, during "discovery" the House can call witnesses, including senators if they are "material". Turns out that Murkowski, whose deciding vote killed the measure in the Senate, had some connection to Epstein/Maxwell!
Following the vote, an investigation by reporter Tara Palmeri highlighted alleged ties between Murkowski and Ghislaine Maxwell (Epstein's convicted associate) and Maxwell's then-husband, Scott Borgerson.
Arctic Circle Events: The connections reportedly stem from elite "Arctic Circle" forums and events, where Murkowski and Borgerson were both involved in discussions about expanding the Arctic's economic development, which could benefit Borgerson's maritime business.
Donor Connections: The investigation also mentioned a shared connection to a wealthy Murkowski donor and Maxwell's friend, Alice Rogoff, who previously owned the Alaska Dispatch newspaper.
Murkowski's Stance: Murkowski has stated publicly that she has encouraged the release of the files and that the amendment was a "political stunt" by the Democrats. She has also stated she does not find Maxwell a credible witness.
It's actually very useful for the things which induced me to bbuy a subscription. It along iwth the several others I tried is capable of spinning out a response which is based on nonsense it found on the web inlcuding things I poste 15 years ago. It's strength is it prints the sources.
Get back to us by Thursday. On other sites we've been discussuing that the Bubba issue goes directly to the purient interests expressed by most MAGATs. In my discussion group, the MAGATS universally wanted to out William Jefferson Clinton. Those MAGATS love Trump "border policy," love sending innocents to prisons like the ones in El Salvador, don't mind seeing Trump steal the national treasury, but fuck with their MAGA macho could be Trump's Achilles Heel.
The Contrarian paid subscription is THE best investment I’ve ever made: immeasurable heartfelt thanks Jennifer, Norm, et al. for your preeminent tireless efforts on behalf of our Democracy, Humanity & our beautiful Earth. 🤍🙏🏻
I would also add another best investment, namely a subscription to HCR Letters from an American.
Yes indeed! Heather Cox Richardson is a national treasure!
Indeed! Of course I also subscribe to HCR & Joyce Vance as well. Reading the 3 is really all that’s necessary to stay well informed. I find all Substack writers preeminent. The Contrarian provides the litigation bonus.
Agree 100%!!
Beautifully said Kathleen! I agree completely! It's the best investment I've ever made too. I'm so grateful to both Jennifer and Norm for starting the Contrarian last January!
Yes, I agree 💯
Totally agree!
I can't agree more! I set my alarm on M, W, & Th for Coffee with the Contrarians. I like the other videos, columns, and articles, too, but especially Meredith Blake's reviews!
Will the money trail be investigated? I think this is at least as revealing and potentially more damaging than the documents on the immoral and disgusting acts.
The Epstein files are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to corruption between the wealthy and our political representatives. The non-sexual influence peddling doesn't get investigated enough or make the news, but there should be little doubt our system is corrupt and needs an overhaul.
Business interests and their lobbyists have had entirely too much influence over the legislative process. To paraphrase, it is high time to "kick the lobbyists out of the temples" of legislation and justice. A good start would be to eliminate Citizens United.
YES! Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), Ranking Democrat of the Senate Finance Committee, is on it. Wyden and his staff have been working for years to expose the financing of Epstein’s sex trafficking ring. Here are recent details:
US Senate Committee on Finance
Juiy 23, 2025
As Trump Sits on Key Epstein Files, Wyden Lays Out “Follow the Money” Investigation for DOJ
Years into His Own Epstein Investigation, Finance Ranking Democrat Recommends Seven Major Lines of Investigation for Trump’s Idle Department of Justice
https://www.finance.senate.gov/ranking-members-news/as-trump-sits-on-key-epstein-files-wyden-lays-out-follow-the-money-investigation-for-doj
Exactly! Raping teenagers is a horrific crime. Money laundering may not seem as bad, but if the money derives from arms smuggling and human trafficking, it's equivalently inexcusable. Follow the money!
I disagree with the assertion that Trump's relationship with Epstein is his "worst corruption scandal." It is fairly obvious that in the past he was friends with a man engaged in criminal sexual conduct, but absent evidence (or so far even a claim) that Trump himself was involved this is nothing that would support his impeachment. I believe that the repeated, continuing, and blatant misuse of the pardon power to reward those who he expects to benefit him both politically and financially and his continuing acts of murder on the high seas are far more egregious and would (and should) support the impeachment of any president who engaged in such conduct. The continuing focus on the "Epstein files" detracts from the current and continuing corruption of this administration and its enablers in Congress.
I agree and also think that his mind boggling self enrichment is grounds for impeachment. However, this may be his worse corruption scandal in the sense that it is easy for the public to understand. Many people have young daughters or nieces and would be outraged if they were sexually abused.
Yes, rape and sexual abuse are much easier to understand -- and they are reprehensible acts, especially when of children.
The next time our current President does something beneficial for the American people......will be the first. Don't hold your breath waiting for it to happen!
The best thing he could do for the American people is permanently disappear - like 6 feet under.
Credit where credit is due: he is getting rid of the penny. Whoo hoo!
Compared to Trump's other actions, fiddling with our currency is a drop in the bucket. Consider its removal to be a minor ripple in inflation. With no pennies, there will be a concerted 'rounding up' of prices.
Perhaps 3.99 will become 4.00. If that costs me a penny, I'm fine with it.
Look farther to the matter of sales tax collected over the whole country. There will be more than the $3.99 -> $4.00 rounding-up on everything.
3.95 sounds better. Round Down- for the People!
That decision was made quite a while back, I think it was other forces who made that decision.
Technically, you are completely correct of course. The self-remunerations, the quid pro quo pardons, the daily violations of the Emoluments Clause should shock people far more. Yet they don't. For reasons that remain obscure, people believe that what he's been doing with women and girls (as though that hasn't been obvious for 10-15 years) is worse. I think they are hoping that the emails and FBI worksheets will be the undoing of the dark spell that holds his base together (since the GOP clearly couldn't give a rat's ass about his many High Crimes and Misdemeanors).
We may be talking about two different things -- what constitute impeachable offenses v. what his dumb base may at last find so icky that even *they* can't help themselves from tossing their cookies.
Ultimately I don’t think even his tag team involvement with Epstein bothers his base. It’s all about who else might be involved. Remember the Access Hollywood tape with the “Grab ‘em by the…” didn’t move the needle a bit with the base in 2016. Or the multiple victims of his abuse that came forward. I doubt his base has finally found a conscience. Still, help in any way, from any quarter is welcome if the Felon is brought to justice along with anyone else involved.
Yes. He has ignored all the rules and guidelines related to the right to pardon federal criminals.
I strongly agree that the emphasis on corruption and egregious conduct should NOT be focused on Epstein. The survivors and the legal world are the ones who should be investigating, charging and going to court on this matter, NOT the government. Our government should be focused on serving Americans by working on economy, health care, security, environment, taxation, etc. There is much too much time spent by both parties on "uncovering", on charging, on labeling, on retribution. It is a never ending swirling of a cesspool. We need a government whose main concern is to make life good for its constituents.
Getting Trump out of our government is good for America's constituents!
I am hoping that will be done by preserving fair elections, supporting civil liberties and human dignity, and then electing qualified and rational people to replace the current "regime".
The challenge is that there is an outrageous amount of corruption and moral decay in this man and his regime. He should be attacked on ALL fronts which takes focused energy and resources per offense. All of these issues are critical and deserve attention. I don't know how they can be prioritized but certainly justice for victims is high on the list.
The wanton destruction of the East Wing by the orange narcissist-felon did not, to quote your own exact word usage, "captivate" the nation. To captivate means to be charmed or delighted.
The nation was horrified, disgusted, outraged. You may consider this as nitpicking. It isn't. Words have consequences, and they are the lifeblood of skilled journalists.
Yes, words matter! As I just posted, Miles Taylor of Defiance.org just wrote that we should use the word "defiance" rather that "resistance," the latter sounding reactive. I agree that words matter!
Thank you, Nancy. I love your 'defiance' suggestion. I can't think of a more apt or more powerful word.
What journalist or author among us has not agonized over a word choice, attempting to discover le mot juste for its precise application?
j2
Thanks to Joyce Vance’s recent “Five Questions” with Miles Taylor, I just joined de finance.org.
While 'captivate' implies positve feelings, a general meaning is that it attracts the attention, (which can be positive or negative). In this case, the destruction attracted a lot of attention - almost all completely negative. Agreed, there are better word choices for this.
Steve, when I was stopped short by 'captivated' I looked it up. Its principal meaning is charmed, delighted. I agree that its root is 'capture' (as in the attention). Word phriques (guilty as charged) should debate this, perhaps?
j2
"Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we purpose to deceive..."
Those files are about more than sexual crimes. Woven through the sex trafficking is international money laundering, bribery, and who knows what else. Dig out the other crimes, too.
"Trump’s grip on his party means the 60 votes needed to open debate in the GOP-controlled Senate are not there."
Republican legislators abdicate their duty: they do NOT work for the American people, as is the purpose they were elected for. They work for Trump! OUT with every one of them! Vote Blue!
The Republicans once ran on a promise to disclose the contents of the Epstein files. Now they're running to bury them, whipping out a series of lies that are in equal parts frantic and shameless.
The files are a hoax, we hear: but at the same time, they are real, and the Democrats are the real sinners. (Pam Bondi is coming for YOU, Bill Clinton.) Donald has never heard of Jeffrey Epstein, we hear: but at the same time he has spent the last decade plus working in secret with the FBI to expose Epstein and the international Jewish banker Democrat pedophile ring. The American people don't care about any of this, we hear, they just want Republicans to protect them from the horrors of affordable care and Social Security: but at the same time the American people can think of nothing but how ferociously they want Bill Clinton, Larry Summers and George Soros to be imprisoned for their crimes against Dear Leader and, oh yes, afterthought: those girls.
Meanwhile, Ghislaine Maxwell occasionally takes time out from playing with puppies and enjoying catered meals and spa days to sending out little signals that she really is getting bored with the whole "being in prison for sex trafficking and the corruption of children" thing, and that if Donald doesn't want to go the way of Prince Andrew he might want to play nice and arrange that pardon or clemency that Todd Blanche hinted at during their recent series of cozy little chats.
If the Republicans succeed in burying this hideous scandal, that will not be simply a final rupture with every code of civilization and honor and the rule of law we've ever professed to believe in: it will also be a validation for the richest, most powerful men on earth (of all parties and all nations) of their core belief: that they have a right to rape, to corrupt, to spoil, to torture, even to kill at will, either to promote their own wealth and power or simply because they happen to be in the mood.
"The Republicans once ran on a promise to disclose the contents of the Epstein files"
Bondi said at the outset that the list of names was on her desk -- until she said there wasn't one. 'Lying for Trump' should become a bumper sticker line for the GOP.
TY. But you left off the list of horribles this doozy reflecting not well on Kristi Noem and her besties:
https://www.propublica.org/article/kristi-noem-dhs-ad-campaign-strategy-group
Late yesterday, in a brazen act of corruption of the US DOJ, Bondi did a 180 on her July pronouncement that in regards the FBI's Epstein files - "there's nothing to see here" and did Trump's bidding to start investigations into SOLELY DEMOCRATS who have been mentioned in the files released by the Epstein estate - DESPITE the FACT that Trump's name appears far more frequently. But this is NOT RETRIBUTION -it's worse. If Bondi opens these investigation into these 4 Democrats she can then -legitimately- state in response to the House demand for these files, "We can't comply because we are in the middle of an investigation." IT'S A POWERFUL DELAY TACTIC. Bondi could keep those investigations going for YEARS. Where is Norm Eisen when we need him? Norm, help us out here - is there any check on this despicably corrupt act by what was once the US DOJ and is now nothing more than Donald Trump's Legal Agency?
'a book given to Epstein for his 50th birthday contained a note allegedly from Trump that depicted the figure of a nude woman containing statements like “We have certain things in common, Jeffrey” '
It doesn't appear to be the figure of a nude woman. It appears to be that of a young teenage girl. A woman can vote, sign legal papers, join the army. She has autonomy and power. A girl in her early teens can't get a driver's license.
He didn’t say”stop recruiting young girls”. He said - stop recruiting them from Mara-Lago. Big difference!!
Like OJ, Trump & his capos are determined to hunt down the real perpetrators...the gaslighting & propaganda never stop.
The Epstein hoax that’s not a hoax; photos & video of Trump with Epstein adolescents shouldn’t be released as it’s a distraction from Trump’s accomplishments lowering prices, increasing affordability, stopping wars, feeding the needy & delivering the “best” healthcare?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjLshwwCEXk
The Trump regime is plagued by scandal, corruption, chaos, and cruelty.
Avoid circular firing squads; Eyes on the Prize. Resist the authoritarians. #VoteBlue
The most interesting and telling parts of Maxwell's interview are that she always refers to Trump as "the President" - except that, when all that was happening, he wasn't the President......so she may be able to say she didn't see The President acting inappropriately, but that doesn't mean TRUMP didn't!
I don’t understand why people assume that the bill to require DOJ to release the Epstein files will die in the Senate. It seems to me that if you make this about protecting pedophiles who raped and sexually abused children that it is hard to vote against releasing the files and hard for Thune to refuse to bring the bill to the floor. Don’t make it about Trump; sexually abusing children should not be a partisan issue. And, please, don’t refer to the victims as women, young women, underage women or anything else other than young girls or children.
Yes! Focus on sexual abuse of minors. That's horrible! And follow the money. On Friday, Nov. 14, Jay Kuo blogged, "It bears noting that many women who have accused Trump of sexual crimes and misconduct have issued contrary statements or recanted, either because of alleged threats or because of NDAs and settlement agreements. A woman who alleged Trump and Epstein raped her when she was 13 ultimately dropped her suit. Stormy Daniels made a public statement that nothing had happened between her and Trump, only to explain later that she felt compelled to say so due to an NDA." Look at this article that Jay Kuo cited, for example: https://www.politico.com/story/2016/11/donald-trump-rape-lawsuit-dropped-230770
1. The big thing is the House vote. Will Republicans vote with victims or preverts?
2. Some of us hope that the vote on the Trumpepstein discharge petition next week can lead to a complete restructuting ala a variation on the Jerry Weiss scenario. https://jerryweiss.substack.com/
The real issue is whether Dems can hold hearings, call witnesses, as a predicate to show even right wing Republicans how bad it is. At least in theory Congressional Republicans would not want to implicate themselves in crimes.
When the House managers brought the 2 impeachment cases during # 45, they did not ask for permission to voir dire senators who might have been material witnesses and maybe even accomplices to Trump's "crimes and misdemeanors." It was possible that many of them were involved and if they had lawyers, the advice would have been to take the 5th and recuse from voting to avoid dire consequences.
Last night Meidas and others posted interviews with many House Republicans who say they will vote to open the records despite Trump's sometimes personal threats. E.G. NYT this morning. Trump Cuts Ties With Marjorie Taylor Greene, Calling Her ‘Wacky’. "The rupture exposed the divides within President Trump’s MAGA base over the Epstein files and more."
Before the it's sent to the senate for a vote, during "discovery" the House can call witnesses, including senators if they are "material". Turns out that Murkowski, whose deciding vote killed the measure in the Senate, had some connection to Epstein/Maxwell!
Murkowski? How?
It's a shame your Google doesn't work:
Alleged Connections to Maxwell:
Following the vote, an investigation by reporter Tara Palmeri highlighted alleged ties between Murkowski and Ghislaine Maxwell (Epstein's convicted associate) and Maxwell's then-husband, Scott Borgerson.
Arctic Circle Events: The connections reportedly stem from elite "Arctic Circle" forums and events, where Murkowski and Borgerson were both involved in discussions about expanding the Arctic's economic development, which could benefit Borgerson's maritime business.
Donor Connections: The investigation also mentioned a shared connection to a wealthy Murkowski donor and Maxwell's friend, Alice Rogoff, who previously owned the Alaska Dispatch newspaper.
Murkowski's Stance: Murkowski has stated publicly that she has encouraged the release of the files and that the amendment was a "political stunt" by the Democrats. She has also stated she does not find Maxwell a credible witness.
I posed the question to Perplexity which did not report most of the above. I asked about Epstein-Murkowski links and for the most part came up dry.
Interesting.
Hope you don't pay for it.
https://www.tarapalmeri.com/p/sen-murkowskis-ghislaine-maxwell
It's actually very useful for the things which induced me to bbuy a subscription. It along iwth the several others I tried is capable of spinning out a response which is based on nonsense it found on the web inlcuding things I poste 15 years ago. It's strength is it prints the sources.
"Will Republicans vote with victims or perverts?"
I think you know the answer to that one. And......it isn't good.
2 of the 3 MAGAT house members here in Baghdad By the Sea say they will will. Many others.
They SAY a lot of things. E.g. Susan Collins: “I’m so concerned!”
But, the next time they act FOR the American people’s benefit….will be the first!
Get back to us by Thursday. On other sites we've been discussuing that the Bubba issue goes directly to the purient interests expressed by most MAGATs. In my discussion group, the MAGATS universally wanted to out William Jefferson Clinton. Those MAGATS love Trump "border policy," love sending innocents to prisons like the ones in El Salvador, don't mind seeing Trump steal the national treasury, but fuck with their MAGA macho could be Trump's Achilles Heel.
Hurry!