Of Course They Didn’t Release All The Epstein Docs. Released a photo of Clinton in a bath, though:
Lawmakers from both parties on Friday accused the Justice Department of failing to comply with a law requiring the release of all of its material on Jeffrey Epstein, citing extensive redactions and the department’s acknowledgment that it had not finished reviewing or making public some files.
Representative Thomas Massie, Republican of Kentucky and one of the lawmakers who wrote the statute, said in a social media post that the release of the files “grossly fails to comply with both the spirit and the letter of the law.”
Representative Ro Khanna, Democrat of California and the measure’s co-sponsor, said that he believed a number of documents were missing, particularly a “draft indictment” that he said implicated others who watched or participated in the “abuse of young girls.”
“It is an incomplete release, with too many redactions,” Mr. Khanna said, adding that he and Mr. Massie were weighing whether they might impeach officials, move to hold them in contempt of Congress or refer them for prosecution “for obstructing justice.”
Under the law, which Congress passed and President Trump signed last month, the Justice Department was required to release all of its investigative material on Mr. Epstein by Friday, though it was allowed to redact and withhold certain material.
But in a letter to Congress sent before the release, Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney general, acknowledged that the department was not done reviewing or redacting files.
Elise, We Hardly Knew Ye. And/or We Knew Ye Too Well:
Rep. Elise Stefanik is suspending her campaign for New York governor and will not seek reelection to her upstate House seat, she announced Friday.
“I am truly humbled and grateful for the historic and overwhelming support from Republicans, Conservatives, Independents, and Democrats all across the state for our campaign to Save New York,” she wrote in a social media post.
Long considered a rising star among New York Republicans, Stefanik was first elected a decade ago to a rural House district that borders Canada. Initially a Republican in the mold of former House Speaker Paul Ryan, Stefanik became a vocal Trump supporter and rose to prominence during his first impeachment as an ardent defender.
Stefanik was previously nominated by Trump to become United Nations ambassador. That nomination was yanked earlier this year amid concerns over House Republicans’ narrow majority. The 41-year-old Republican then turned her attention to the New York governor’s office — a seat her party has not held since George Pataki was elected three times.
Stefanik in recent days lambasted House Speaker Mike Johnson in a remarkable and public outburst, after months of simmering tension between the two. She accused Johnson of failing to lead the House GOP conference and argued at that point he didn’t have the support to win the speakership again.
Many Republicans in Johnson’s leadership circle are “not sad to see her go,” one senior Republican aide said.
Uh, she’s there for another year. Kinda stupid to diss her with such a slim majority. But what do I know?
A Snippet From Josh Marshall:
I’m not saying he’s toast or that everything is going to be fine. But he’s far from effectively locking everything down. And yet we’re rolling at full speed into what we what we might call North Korean aesthetics of power with triumphal arches that will soon enough be dusty, half-broken relics, renaming everything after the Maximum Leader. It’s all weird. And it is all of this very particular moment. In a way, the Susie Wiles drama is part of it. The person at the center of the White House power structure talked openly and disparagingly about the president. And the immediate reaction was for Wiles to issue what can only be called an intentionally absurd denial and for every Cabinet secretary to tweet out a post-struggle session-like emphatic defense of Wiles and pledge of fealty to Trump. In fact, by the end of the day Trump said in response to a question about Wiles that he agreed with what she said.
This is all deeply weird. But I think it tends to confirm everything I said above, as I noted in the post earlier this week about Wiles. It’s a sign of her power; it is a sign of the government’s weakness and unpopularity. (You don’t say the president is a weirdo who’s done a bunch of terrible things if everyone thinks things are awesome and the present is the future.) Finally, it is a sign of an emerging vacuum at the top — at the top of Trump’s body in his head, and at the top of the government in Trump. I’m not saying Trump is sick or dying or declining in cognitive terms. Those things are very possible. He may simply be bored and in need of distractions, which is of a piece with the sense enervation and fragmentation.
Homelessness: Philly Vs. Wilmington:
Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker unveiled her plans to tackle homelessness in Philadelphia on Friday during her annual State of the City address.
Parker signed an executive order following her speech at the Temple Performing Arts Center. The plan, which Parker has dubbed the One Philly Plan to End Street Homelessness, is a partnership with Jefferson Hospital to add 1,000 extra beds to provide shelter to those living on Philadelphia’s streets.
“I commit to you on this day, as mayor of this city, that we will bring 1,000 new beds online this winter to help end street homelessness in Philadelphia,” she said.
A sharp contrast with Carney’s Concentration Camp approach to homelessness. This is a legitimate question: Have any of you ever seen any display of empathy from Carney? If so, please share your experience.
What do you want to talk about?
I found this of interest.
https://www.rawstory.com/trump-small-crowds/
‘Disheartened merchandise vendors’.
Sad.
$550 mill of political ‘free speech’:
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/20/us/politics/koch-network-2024-election-trump.html
Carney? Empathy?