‘So dumb!’: Reporter who nailed Trump over Epstein unloads another thundering beatdown

Reporter Katie Phang recently nabbed a huge win against interim AG Todd Blanche and his crusade to keep the Epstein files under wraps. After months of stalling by the administration of President Donald Trump and ignoring the letter of a new law demanding the release of the sex-trafficker’s files, U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan opened the floodgates on Trump’s longtime friend. Sullivan sided with former MS NOW show host Katie Phang in her lawsuit demanding the Trump administration adhere to the Epstein Transparency Act.Now, fresh off her big win, Phang tells “Left Hook” podcaster Wajahat Ali that Blanche, Trump and his entire crew appeared to be a bunch of idiots who had no real plan to protect Trump from being implicated in the Epstein files.“They're damned if they do and damned if they don't,” howled Phang. “You either produce it and now we have information that I and others can track down and do more reporting on, or you don't … it means they're trying to hide s——.”“If I were them I'd comply,” Phang told Ali. “I'd say ‘here are the names of the co-conspirators. Here are the names of the bad people that sent these terrible f—— emails. Here are the names of possible perpetrators. Have a nice day.’ But they are so dumb the way that they play this game. They had no f—— strategy and p—— off a federal judge like Emmett Sullivan … [who] told [Trump conspiracist] Michael Flynn to his face ‘you are a traitor to this country.’”Sullivan’s ruling means Blanche now must explain to a court why he shouldn't be forced to release names redacted from emails and documents that reference potentially damning videos and allegations of abuse of minors. Also included in redacted info includes the potential names of Epstein’s co-conspirators, as well as potentially damaging FBI interview notes from a victim who claimed Epstein introduced her to President Donald Trump when she was only 13.Phang told Ali that she had no doubt Sullivan put Trump administration in terrible danger.“Starting last year right … in the spring of 2025 they convene in the situation room about the Epstein files and it's not just the vice president of the United States, JD Vance there,” said Phang. “It was also then-attorney general Pam Bondi. It was FBI director Kash Patel. It's the deputy director of the FBI, Dan Bongino. It was then-deputy attorney general Todd Blanche. … It's the White House chief of staff Susie Wiles. It's the White House council … and a slew of other people. If something [fatal] had happened to that situation room pretty much … the entirety of the trump administration upper echelon would be f—— exterminated.”“The fact that you convene all those people repeatedly in the Situation Room you don't have to be a Rhodes scholar to figure out that there is something politically toxically horribly bad for the President of the United States [in those files],” she said.Phang added that she deliberately targeted Blanche in the suit to make him the prime target.“Unlike in other lawsuits when the DOJ is being sued and they parade in some junior federal prosecutor who has to go hat-in-hand to sit there and explain what happened or why they didn't do it, I only sued one person,” Phang said gleefully. “So, Todd Blanche … is gonna have to show up. You can't just send in some lackey.”

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Trump’s State Fair dealt another blow as attendees asked to leave

The Great American State Fair on the National Mall closed early Friday as a dangerous, record-breaking heat wave gripped the nation's capital, forcing organizers to suspend the event with plans to reopen at 5 p.m., CNN reported.The shutdown comes as Washington, DC, braces for highs near or above 100 degrees for a second straight day, with a heat index expected to climb as high as 113 degrees. At least 20 locations broke or tied daily temperature records Thursday, with cities including New York and Newark registering hotter conditions than Phoenix, the desert city known for extreme heat.DC has activated an extreme heat alert through July 5 as hundreds of thousands of visitors descend on the capital for holiday events. Organizers of National Mall celebrations, including the fair, are adding water stations, cooling tents and air-conditioned buses in an effort to keep attendees safe.The fair isn't the only casualty of the heat. Philadelphia canceled its Friday Independence Day parade, one of the nation's largest, "due to extreme heat," while Norristown, Pennsylvania, and Haddon Township, New Jersey, also scrapped their parades.A new analysis published Friday by World Weather Attribution found that the intensity of the heat and humidity this week would have been "virtually impossible" without fossil fuel pollution driving climate change."When a historic 4th of July celebration is disrupted... it shouldn't take another scientific study to wake people up," said climate scientist Friederike Otto, per CNN.The heat is also straining the region's power grid. Energy Secretary Chris Wright ordered data centers in the Mid-Atlantic to switch to backup power this week to preserve capacity for residential air conditioning, as more than 19,000 Con Edison customers in the New York area lost power Thursday.Officials are urging anyone attending outdoor Fourth of July events to take frequent breaks in the shade, stay hydrated and watch for signs of heat-related illness, particularly among older adults, children and outdoor workers.

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"Wake up call": House Democrats erupt in panic, anger after another socialist upset

House Democrats were staggered Wednesday by the loss of yet another one of their longtime colleagues to a democratic socialist challenger.Why it matters: Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) was a staunch progressive, not a moderate, these members are privately fuming. So why did she become a target of the left?"One more case in the growing dynamic of performative politics," one House Democrat, speaking on the condition of anonymity to share candid analysis on the results, told Axios."Diana was an excellent representative with seniority — but the style of someone younger and more outspoken has become more attractive to that cohort of motivated urban left voters."A senior House Democrat called the result a "wake-up call" for members of CongressDriving the news: DeGette was defeated decisively by 29-year-old Melat Kiros, an attorney and PhD student who led the incumbent by nearly 10 percentage points as of Wednesday morning.DeGette's loss in the Denver-based district came despite a deluge of outside spending in her favor from groups tied to the Democratic establishment and AIPAC.Progressive groups such as the Justice Democrats spent substantially in favor of Kiros as well, but their expenditures were greatly eclipsed by those of pro-DeGette outside groups.Between the lines: DeGette boosters sought to defend her progressive bona fides, touting her support for Medicare for All, her opposition to ICE and her time as a Trump impeachment manager.Pro-Kiros ads took aim at the 68-year-old incumbent's support from corporate PACs and votes in favor of Israel.DeGette's loss comes after challengers backed by New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani unseated Reps. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) and Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.) last week, which already had House Democrats on edge.What we're hearing: "Diana is a progressive. Sad to see her loss," a third House Democrat told Axios, adding that there is clearly "an appetite for newer, younger blood in some parts of the country."I told everyone that would listen in 2024, that Trump winning was like manna from heaven to DSA," said a fourth."That DSA is ... winning some safe seat primaries with these young white college educated voters is just no shock. It's literally their entire playbook."Yes, but: Some House Democrats aren't waiting too long to bring Kiros into the fold, with some even exulting in her win. "I'm grateful for all Diana has done ... as our region's dean," Rep. Emily Randall (D-Wash.) told Axios. "I don't know Melat yet, but I sent her a note of congratulations and look forward to welcoming her to the team."Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), who backed Kiros, told Axios: "The progressive movement is where the energy of our party is across the nation."What's next: The left isn't done yet. They're pinning their hopes on a slew of progressive candidates to knock off as many as half a dozen more Democratic incumbents this cycle.The candidates include Donavan McKinney in Michigan, Oliver Larkin in Florida, Mai Vang and Angela Gonzalez-Torres in California, Kai Newkirk in Arizona and Elijah Manley in Florida."A week after NYC," a fifth House Democrat told Axios, "there [is] momentum."

CBS News effort called a 'blatant sham' by expert: 'Yet another embarrassment'

A veteran journalist and former New York Times public editor called out CBS News' gesture toward public accountability as a "blatant sham."The network's Donald Trump-aligned new owners tapped Kenneth R. Weinstein, a former chief executive of the right-leaning Hudson Institute, to review complaints about its coverage as ombudsman, but media expert Margaret Sullivan wrote on her "American Crisis" Substack that he had failed to be independent or transparent as promised."From the get-go, there was no reason to think this would be a real thing — a person whose first responsibility was to the CBS audience and whose first interest was fairness in the public interest," Sullivan wrote. "First off, Weinstein had no background in supervising news coverage. He was a denizen of the right-leaning think tank, the Hudson Institute, a vocal champion of Israel, a critic of the Biden administration and a big donor to Republican and pro-Trump political groups.""I’m not sure how this amounts to independence," she added.Weinstein had been "notably unresponsive" to viewer complaints about CBS News, which has seen "60 Minutes" stars like Anderson Cooper and Scott Pelley flee and ratings collapse, and Sullivan said the network's ombudsman had done remarkably little to respond to the tumult."Despite the lip service to 'transparency,' his role was never meant to face outwards, as is the norm with news ombudsmen; rather, if he saw a problem, he’d report it to his corporate bosses," Sullivan wrote.The Times recently reported on Weinstein's public silence, noting that he hadn't issued any statements about the CBS News controversies or issued any guidance to staffers, and employees say he's told them he is scheduled to work only one day a month."It’s absurd," Sullivan wrote."I know something about this because I was the fifth 'public editor' at the New York Times, a role dedicated to making sure the news organization was fair and was serving the public interest," she added. "The way the Times’s position was structured created actual, not fake, transparency."Sullivan compared her workload – several blog posts each week and a more formal column every other week, in addition to fielding hundred of emails and calls – to Weinstein's duties, and she suggested five topics the CBS News ombudsman could look into during his seemingly singular workday.For example, Sullivan urged him to investigate editor-in-chief Bari Weiss delaying Alfonsi's El Salvador prison report amid a pending merger; mass departures of top talent like Cooper, Pelley and "60 Minutes" executive producer Tanya Simon; CBS Evening News' ratings collapse under Dokoupil; CBS Mornings' steep audience drop post-Pelley; and whether Weiss's pro-Israel views compromise Gaza coverage independence."I could go on, but you get the picture," Sullivan said. "So does the public, if comments on the Times article are any indication. It’s (yet another) embarrassment to CBS News."