Lest you wonder why I haven’t posted on more primary races lately, it’s because the 30-day filing deadline is Tuesday (which makes it 27 days, but who’s counting?). Just want to double-check who has raised enough money to at least be competitive.
Covid Day 2 is better than Covid Day One. That paxlovid stuff really works.
But enough about me.
Man–This DOJ cover-up of the Epstein Files Is Right There In Plain Sight:
Last week Federal Judge Emmet Sullivan issued a court order to Todd Blanche to appear today, August 13, with Katie Phang, who brought the successful lawsuit demanding the release of the Epstein files, which the Epstein Transparency Act required. Judge Sullivan made it very clear that enforcing the Act should be DOJ’s top priority. He ordered Blanche to appear today to fulfill two requirements he did not address in a previous court order.
Blanche originally said the redacted names in the Epstein files were victims, but when pressed he said attorneys for people mentioned in the files contacted DOJ and requested that their clients be treated as victims. For example, in one email that Katie Phang describes in an earlier video (9:30), the sender’s name is redacted, but in the email the sender complains that he’s being called a “sexual pervert” because he said 14 and 15 year old girls are fair game. That person’s attorney claims he’s the victim, and Todd Blanche is protecting this predator and other co-conspirators who say they are the victims here. Blanche was ordered to appear again today to explain these redactions.
The Judge had also ordered that the hand-written notes from four FBI interviews with a woman who said she was sexually assaulted by Donald Trump when she was 13 years old be turned over last week, as the Transparency Act required. Blanche blew off that order because, he said, the notes were “duplicative” of the final FBI report and therefore not necessary. Again, last week Judge Sullivan said you, Todd Blanche, were ordered to turn over the notes, and you, Todd Blanche, don’t get to decide what is duplicative and exempt from the court order. Blanche was ordered to appear again today with the hand-written notes.
Not only did Todd Blanche not bring his redaction log today, which explains where and why names were redacted, and not only did he not bring the hand-written FBI notes as ordered … Todd Blanche did not appear. Katie Phang did but late last night DOJ sent a “Notice of Appearance” memo saying Blanche wouldn’t be appearing and instead another DOJ lawyer, Andrew Block, would. It did not go well for him.
Check out this video:
Let’s be straight–The Epstein Files have Trump dead to rights here. Which is why they can’t now, and will never, release the material the court has demanded.
Donald Trump’s use of his second presidency to grow his personal fortune has alarmed legal and ethics experts and congressional Democrats as he has reaped an “unprecedented” $2.2bn in 2025 revenues by amassing big cryptocurrency holdings, benefiting from wealthy foreign interests, expanding his Truth Social business and more, while federal oversight of his actions has waned.
Trump last year raked in at least $1.4bn from his crypto ventures according to financial disclosure forms he filed in June. Simultaneously, about one million investors in a Trump crypto scheme suffered almost $3.8bn in losses as their volatile crypto holdings tanked in value. Cue P. T. Barnum.
Monetizing his presidency further this summer, Trump’s Truth Social media business is pushing a new scheme that offers wealthy buyers special early access to his posts for a fee of $100,000 a month, which top Democrats and public interest groups say pose serious conflict of interest and corruption issues.
On another monetization front, critics raised red flags about how Trump tapped his justice department to forge a potentially lucrative and sketchy deal to settle a $10bn lawsuit by Trump against the IRS about a leak of his tax returns that gives him and his family immunity from IRS audits of prior tax returns and could save him $100m.
Likewise some analysts are troubled by how Trump has circumvented the constitution’s prohibition on foreign emoluments by accepting a $400m plane as a gift from Qatar, and how other wealthy foreigners have backed some Trump family hotel and golf deals abroad.
Beyond his personal enrichment, Trump’s monetizing his office and transactional governing style has proved lucrative to his sons, some top advisers, billionaire buddies, big donors and other allies, say critics.
But, you already knew that. It’s the normalization of it that is beyond my comprehension:
While previous presidents have occasionally elevated the unqualified, offered preferential treatment to political allies and personal friends, and rewarded wealthy supporters for their generosity, Trump has taken “pay to play” to an entirely new level. As documented by the Campaign Legal Center (CLC) in Trump’s Corrupt Transactions: How the 47th President Has Brazenly Traded Official Benefits for Personal and Political Gain, the Trump administration has on more than three dozen occasions allowed political donations or financial deals—several of which personally enriched the Trump family—to inform major personnel and policy choices. In doing so, the administration has trampled over legal restrictions, deeply established norms of presidential behavior, and important ethical guidelines.
The adverse effects of this pay-to-play presidency range from the individual to the international. Trump’s biggest political donors have been given cabinet or senior executive branch appointments, as well as plum ambassadorships. Trump has issued pardons and commutations to those who supported his re-election effort or who have helped put money directly in his family’s coffers. The Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have dropped federal cases or investigations into companies willing to spend generously on Trump’s political operation. Trump has courted major corporations to provide financial support for his pet projects, offering, in return, policy perks, as well as direct access and influence in his administration. Even America’s foreign policy can apparently be bought, as Trump accepts foreign governments’ money and gifts with open arms in exchange for concrete policy action.
None of this is normal, and viewed as a whole, it presents a clear threat to American democracy. By repeatedly abusing his power to supply benefits in exchange for financial support of his personal or political interests, Trump has made corruption a cornerstone of his presidency. The ultra-wealthy individuals, corporations, and foreign governments benefiting from this corrupt arrangement are setting the Trump administration’s policy priorities in favor of their private interests at every turn. The costs, of course, are borne by everyday Americans, whose government is working not for them but for the select few who have sufficient wealth to afford an advocate in the Oval Office.
Democratic senators have begun raising concerns about the extended deployment of the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln, amid reports about poor living conditions and a lack of downtime for the crew after more than eight and a half months at sea.
The Lincoln, a San Diego-based aircraft carrier with a crew of about 5,000 sailors, is supporting U.S. operations in the Middle East against Iran.
In a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Hung Cao, the acting Navy secretary, Senator Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut, described a list of reported problems on the ship.
“There have been widespread reports of shortages of basic supplies, water contamination, plumbing issues, deteriorating mental health, deck safety concerns and disruptions in the mail system, which have caused many care packages in route to the ship to be lost in transit for months,” he wrote about the problems, many of which were reported earlier by Navy Times and Stars and Stripes.
Mr. Hegseth pushed back on the reports of poor conditions aboard the Lincoln.
“We make sure that every ship, every crew, every captain has everything we can provide them at every single moment,” he told reporters during a visit to Panama on Thursday. “Some deployments are longer than others, and I have more respect and gratitude for those sailors than anybody. What they do in those high seas in those austere conditions with less port calls — it’s incredible.”
If Hegseth speaks, you know he’s lying. Besides, parse those weasel words: ““We make sure that every ship, every crew, every captain has everything we can provide them at every single moment.” Allow me to translate: ‘We just can’t provide them what they need.’
Going out on a limb here–the overseas ballots from the USS Lincoln will be lost at sea.
What do you want to talk about?
As a Vietnam era Navy vet (fortunately, it was all shore duty in the nation’s capital). I am appalled by the reported conditions on the USS Lincoln. 5000 sailors are practically being held hostage by Hegseth and his Orange Overlord. To hear that some of them are literally jumping ship should be devastating to any person of sane mind and body.
The Department of Stupid War is not giving its servicemen the provisions and supplies they need to carry out their responsibilities — responsibilities that they wouldn’t have to worry about if we didn’t engage in such follies.
Hegseth and Trump must go — but we all knew that already. Just had to speak my piece.