Days after an explosive meeting at the White House Situation Room last July to address a crisis threatening to engulf the Trump administration, FBI Director Kash Patel sought clarity on how the scandal might implicate powerful men linked to Jeffrey Epstein.Addressing Patel as “Boss” and citing a prior discussion between the two, an FBI official from the bureau’s Information Management Division responded by sending the director an email with a collection of spreadsheets named “Flagged Items Lists.” Based on guidance calling on FBI personnel tasked with redacting materials from the Epstein files to “flag items of interest for discussion with DOJ attorneys,” the FBI official informed Patel that “the list included public figures, potentially classified information, potential CSAM [child sex abuse material], etc.”The guidance to flag these sensitive items from the Epstein files came from the Department of Justice, Assistant Director Shannon Parry informed Patel. Heading the effort for the Department of Justice was Todd Blanche, then the deputy attorney general and formerly President Donald Trump’s criminal defense lawyer. Blanche is now awaiting confirmation as attorney general from the U.S. Senate.The email from Parry and other documents about sensitive items flagged for review by the DOJ, including references to public figures, was quietly released by the FBI last week and are being reported here for the first time.The materials in the “Flagged Items List” had already been turned over to the Department of Justice four months earlier, Parry told Patel in the July 21, 2025 email.“These items were produced as part of the approved Project Plan per DOJ’s guidance to flag items of interest for discussion with DOJ attorneys as we redacted."The internal discussion at the FBI about public figures potentially implicated in the scandal was starkly different from an awkward public memo jointly released with the DOJ exactly two weeks earlier that cited “an exhaustive review of investigative holdings relating to Jeffrey Epstein” and the federal agencies’ “commitment to transparency.”The materials, the agencies said, “did not expose any additional third parties to allegations of illegal wrongdoing” and “did not uncover evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties.”A DOJ spokesperson told Raw Story that “any guidance on how or what to flag was given for the purpose of general awareness in preparation for disclosure.”The spokesperson’s statement is jarringly at odds with the July 7, 2025 memo that was a product of the document review. The memo specifically stated that it was the “determination” of the DOJ and FBI “that no further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted.”The DOJ did not respond to a request for clarification on the statement. Email from FBI Information Management Division Assistant Director Shannon Parry to Director Kash Patel, July 21, 2025Courtesy FBITwo weeks after the release of the DOJ and FBI memo attempting to put concerns about Epstein to rest, Parry was forwarding Patel materials specifically flagged so top administration officials could scrutinize possible links between powerful men and the notorious sex trafficker’s most heinous crimes.The email included a list of six criminal cases linked to Epstein, among them an FBI investigation launched by the Miami Field Office in 2006. That case file includes a video file capturing a 2009 FBI sting operation resulting in the arrest of Alfredo Rodriguez, the former house manager for Epstein’s home in Palm Beach, Florida, on suspicion of selling a so-called “black book” containing phone numbers of young women and girls that Epstein abused.A description of the video capturing the conversation between Rodriguez and an FBI undercover employee that was flagged for the DOJ’s review contains just the sort of details about potential involvement by Epstein associates that Trump’s supporters had avidly sought.“The two talked about the girls (victims), others employed by Epstein and Epstein’s associates,” the description reads. “The two discussed things that happened between the girls (victims) and Epstein’s associates. There are associates named during the conversation.”Aside from Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s partner who was convicted of sex trafficking in 2021, the description does not name any of the associates cited by Rodriguez. But when the video was released along with millions of other records through the Epstein Files Transparency Act in January 2026, the associates mentioned by Rodriguez were revealed to be former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and attorney Alan Dershowitz, among others.“Here, Mr. Epstein says, ‘Mr. Barak, I’ll fly you to New York.’ And some of the girls that came along the way,” Rodriguez says in the video, which Raw Story reviewed.
The Justice Department suffered its 18th straight loss on Wednesday in its nationwide campaign to obtain unredacted state voter rolls, as a federal judge dismissed the Trump administration‘s lawsuit against New Jersey despite the state’s recent disclosure that thousands of noncitizens were illegally registered to vote. U.S. District Judge Zahid Quraishi, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, granted New […]
The Senate Judiciary Committee is delaying the vote to advance Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, according to breaking news.Andrew Desiderio, the senior congressional reporter for Punchbowl News, shared the news on a post on X alongside a copy of a Senate Judiciary Committee agenda with Blanche's nomination on it. The copy also had the red letters "POSTPONED" across the top.The committee was initially scheduled to vote on Blanche's confirmation on Thursday, which is a key procedural hurdle the acting attorney general needs to cross before he is confirmed. The news comes after speculation swirls about whether Blanche will secure the job as President Donald Trump's attorney general, with some GOP senators leaving it uncertain how they'll vote. Blanche can't afford to lose even one GOP vote on the Judiciary Committee if every Democrat votes against him.Fox News chief congressional correspondent Chad Pergram wrote in a post on X that a spokesperson for Sen. Chuck Grassley, the Judiciary Committee chair, said, "Chairman Grassley works to set President Trump's nominees up for success in committee, not failure." The statement from Grassley's office mentioned Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), who left it unclear whether they'll vote to advance Blanche."Senators Cornyn and Tillis want written assurances from the Department of Justice regarding the Trump-IRS settlement," according to the statement shared by Pergram. "Tomorrow’s markup is postponed as work continues to secure sufficient support in committee to favorably report Attorney General-nominee Todd Blanche, who is highly qualified for the job."
Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Department of Finance Commissioner Richard Lee faced pointed questions about the botched rollout of the city's new pied-à-terre tax on wealthy homeowners, neither able to explain how massive tax bills landed in the mailbox of everyday New Yorkers.
Sen. Rand Paul is moving to hold Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress after he invoked his Fifth Amendment rights. And, the Trump administration has announced a new rule for the asylum process.
