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Bill Gates tells Congress relationship with Epstein ‘error in judgement’: House Oversight Democrat

2 hours agoCenter Left

Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-Va.), a member of the House Oversight Committee, joins Meet the Press NOW to discuss what he heard from Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates during a congressional hearing over his relationship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

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WSJ exposes one detail Trump 'cannot' dispute about bawdy Epstein letter

Raw Story

22 minutes ago

WSJ exposes one detail Trump 'cannot' dispute about bawdy Epstein letter

The Wall Street Journal is arguing that one detail matches its reporting about President Donald Trump's connection to Jeffrey Epstein.In a new legal filing, lawyers for Dow Jones, the company that owns the Wall Street Journal, argued that Trump "cannot" dispute that a signature appearing on a typewritten note and a sketch of a naked woman sent to Epstein resembles his own.Trump sued the Wall Street Journal over an article about a book of letters compiled for Epstein's 50th birthday in 2003. He alleged that the paper defamed him by noting that the letter and sketch bear his signature. Earlier this year, a court accepted the Journal's motion to dismiss because Trump couldn't prove actual malice in the article. Trump was able to revive a defamation claim, but Dow Jones's lawyers are again seeking to dismiss Trump's lawsuit in their new legal filing.The defense lawyers are telling the court to throw out Trump's lawsuit because "the article is true." After the Journal reviewed the letter and sketch with Trump's signature, Epstein's estate released the "Birthday Book" to the House Oversight Committee in September."The article is true because the description of the letter 'bearing Trump's name' in the article is an entirely accurate description of the letter as it appears in the Birthday Book," the filing read. "The article states that the Journal 'reviewed' the letter before publication and described its contents in detail (which exactly match the contents of the letter released by Congress)," the legal filing argued, adding that Trump doesn't even dispute the resemblance of his signature to the one in the birthday book "because he cannot."

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GOP leader skips Trump’s bill signing — pins 3-year high inflation on his Iran war

Alternet.org

41 minutes ago

GOP leader skips Trump’s bill signing — pins 3-year high inflation on his Iran war

Senate Republican Majority Leader John Thune was noticeably absent from Wednesday’s Oval Office bill signing ceremony — but top House and Senate leaders — including Speaker Mike Johnson — were present, cheering on the president. Thune did take time to talk with reporters, where he tied Wednesday’s surging inflation numbers to Trump’s Iran war.The Washington Examiner’s David Sivak asked Thune directly why he wasn’t present at the president’s signing of the $70 billion reconciliation bill to fund ICE and the Border Patrol, or to talk about FISA legislation with Trump. Thune noted that Speaker Johnson is “down there anyway” and that he and Johnson “talk regularly,” Sivak reported. Thune appeared to suggest that there might not have been an invitation, adding, “I don’t know that we got asked, but I’ve got stuff going on here, as you know.”Thune spelled out the inflation connection to reporters, as Punchbowl News’ Andrew Desiderio reported. “The sooner we get the situation in Iran stabilized, the Strait [of Hormuz] opened up, those [inflation] numbers will trend in a better direction,” he said. “But obviously right now there are important national security objectives we’re trying to achieve.”“The American people realize that if we’re heading in the right direction and the trendlines are good and the confidence is good long-term — which I [think] it will be because of all the other things we’ve done on the economy — then obviously people will start to see improvement,” he also said. “It may not happen overnight, but it will. But at least for now, we’ve got to do everything we can to keep the pressure on [in] getting the situation in the Middle East resolved.”Getting the situation in Iran resolved was not how President Trump appeared to approach Iran on Wednesday. “Iran’s Military is a complete and total mess,” he wrote on Truth Social. “Much of it, like their Navy and Air Force, doesn’t even exist anymore – They have been completely defeated. Iran is all talk and no action. The Bully of the Middle East is dead!!! They’ve taken too long to negotiate a deal that would have been great for them, now they will have to pay the price!!!”In that Oval Office meeting, Trump also slammed Iran, saying that the U.S. would hit Iran hard again on Wednesday, and insisted the Iranian government is “playing us for suckers.”Thune has distanced himself from the president over time, refusing his repeated demands to pass the controversial SAVE America Act — legislation some call voter suppression — to kill the filibuster, and to fire the Senate parliamentarian. He has also opposed Trump’s intelligence nominee. Thune tried to persuade Trump to back Senator John Cornyn (R-TX), but the president endorsed Ken Paxton instead — and Paxton went on to defeat Cornyn in the May primary runoff.

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Todd Blanche may have torpedoed his own AG nomination with Epstein stunt: analysis

Raw Story

1 hour ago

Todd Blanche may have torpedoed his own AG nomination with Epstein stunt: analysis

A damning New York Times report released on Wednesday raised new concerns about Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and his involvement with the Epstein files.Blanche has come under fire over his role in "attempting to kill off the Epstein firestorm," just days after President Donald Trump formally nominated his former personal lawyer for permanent attorney general, The Daily Beast reported. Now, doubts were raised over whether he could be the top leader of the Justice Department ahead of his Senate confirmation hearing — and whether he could maintain his independence."Opponents argue he is not fit for the job, pointing to his handling of the Epstein files, which identified numerous victims but kept the names of potential co-conspirators hidden, as well as other controversies, such as Trump’s $1.8 billion 'anti-weaponization' slush fund and the backroom deal giving the president immunity from continuing IRS audits," The Beast reported.The bombshell reporting from Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan is part of an upcoming book and includes multiple revelations about what happened within the Trump administration and includes Blanche's involvement as the then-deputy attorney general under former Attorney General Pam Bondi."Blanche and other Trump aides—including Vice President JD Vance, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Communications Director Steven Cheung and Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt—held a panicked meeting in the Situation Room in July last year, desperate to quell the MAGA civil war that had erupted over the administration’s failure to release the Epstein files," according to The Beast.In the meeting, Blanche reportedly offered two potential options."The first was to petition Federal District Courts in Florida and New York to unseal grand jury testimonies related to Jeffrey Epstein’s heinous sex trafficking crimes, as these were unlikely to contain any new information, and therefore, releasing them was unlikely to damage Trump," The Beast reported.Blanche likely knew that getting a federal judge to unseal grand jury material would be a tough move, The Beast reported."The second option was to have a Justice Department official interview Epstein’s accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, and release the transcript," according to The Beast.Blanche apparently volunteered to sit down with Maxwell. He has described her attorney, David Oscar Markus, as "a friend."

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House to vote on short-term spy powers extension Thursday amid Pulte clash

The Hill News

1 hour ago

House to vote on short-term spy powers extension Thursday amid Pulte clash

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) announced that the House will vote Thursday morning on extending the nation’s foreign spy powers through July 2, a move that comes amid a partisan clash over President Trump naming Bill Pulte to be the acting director of national intelligence (DNI). The expected vote comes after Democrats in the Senate largely…

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Opinion | Democrats and the Platner Standard

WSJ.com : U.S. News

1 hour ago

Opinion | Democrats and the Platner Standard

The Maine Democrat is the left’s equivalent of Republican Ken Paxton.

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Bill Gates says Jeffrey Epstein tried to use extramarital affairs as ‘leverage’

Washington Examiner

1 hour ago

Bill Gates says Jeffrey Epstein tried to use extramarital affairs as ‘leverage’

Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates testified about his ties to Jeffrey Epstein in a closed-door House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing Wednesday, claiming that Epstein tried to use extramarital affairs to pressure him into maintaining their relationship. Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA), the top Democrat on the oversight committee, told MS Now that as part of […]

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Dershowitz wants ‘complete transparency’ if called to testify in House Epstein investigation

The Hill News

1 hour ago

Dershowitz wants ‘complete transparency’ if called to testify in House Epstein investigation

Lawyer Alan Dershowitz on Wednesday said he wants “complete transparency” if he testifies before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee as part of its probe into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The committee’s chair, Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), said earlier in the day that he would like to have Dershowitz and Acting Attorney General…

Center

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“Free and Fair Election” Nonprofit Criticizes Former Trump Election Attorney to Democrat Lawmakers

The Gateway Pundit

2 hours ago

“Free and Fair Election” Nonprofit Criticizes Former Trump Election Attorney to Democrat Lawmakers

F Kurt Olsen, the former lead adviser to President Trump on election security, is being criticized by a "catalyzing leader in the country" who proclaims to be "fighting for free and fair elections" in a letter sent to Democrat lawmakers. The organization, Free Speech For People (FSFP), sent the letter to 11 Democrat lawmakers "to address the deeply troubling, corrosive, and unlawful employment of Kurt Olsen" and his former role as a Special Government Employee. Specifically, FSFP points to "activities with respect to voting systems" and Olsen's "access to copies of election system software." FSFP co-founder and President, John Bonifaz, has previously expressed concern about that same voting software coming from a "foreign-controlled company" that has "ties to the Venezuelan government" in a letter still available on nist.gov, the National Institute of Standards and Technology website. The post “Free and Fair Election” Nonprofit Criticizes Former Trump Election Attorney to Democrat Lawmakers appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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