Washington Examiner

The friends of Jeffrey Epstein

Feb 20, 2026Center Right

Sing, Muse, of Jeffrey Epstein, the man of many twists and turns who wandered full many ways until his odyssey came to an end in a cell in the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York, where, despite being the most famous suspect in the land, no one was watching as he did or did not […]

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Justice Department defends decision not to release, unredact more Epstein files

NewsNation

9 hours ago

Justice Department defends decision not to release, unredact more Epstein files

The DOJ’s response came in the final hours of a court-ordered deadline to remove redactions in at least a dozen documents.

Center

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The Hill News

9 hours ago

Justice Department defends decision not to release, unredact more Epstein files

The Justice Department (DOJ) declined on Thursday to release additional unredacted records from its investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, telling a federal judge that it has already adequately complied with the law. The DOJ’s response came in the final hours of a court-ordered deadline to remove redactions in at least a dozen documents…

Center

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

Alternet.org

23 hours ago

‘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.”

Left

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Family friend charged year after ‘nightmare’ illegal July Fourth fireworks killed 8-year-old girl

New York Post

Yesterday

Family friend charged year after ‘nightmare’ illegal July Fourth fireworks killed 8-year-old girl

“It happened so quick. A fun day of friends turns into a nightmare,” the girl's grieving mother said.

Right

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'Fox & Friends' ditch Trump’s fair after days of 'bare lawns and thin crowds'

Alternet.org

2 days ago

'Fox & Friends' ditch Trump’s fair after days of 'bare lawns and thin crowds'

One of President Donald Trump’s favorite shows, “Fox & Friends,” is pulling up stakes after just days of promoting his Great American State Fair, a 16-day event to celebrate the nation’s 250th birthday.According to The Daily Beast, the conservative morning TV show “is back in the studio” after two days, which “it spent talking up over live shots of empty grass.”One of President Donald Trump’s favorite shows, “Fox & Friends,” is pulling up stakes after just days of promoting his Great American State Fair, a 16-day event to celebrate the nation’s 250th birthday.According to The Daily Beast, the conservative morning TV show “is back in the studio” after two days, which “it spent talking up over live shots of empty grass.”Wednesday morning, the “Fox & Friends” studio was packed with “an audience of first responders, veterans, and their families” as the hosts returned to the indoor set, The Daily Beast noted.“We’ve been away for 48 hours. They’ve been waiting for us to return. We appreciate it,” co-host Brian Kilmeade declared.Trump had claimed that 45,000 people turned out for his kickoff speech, but Fox News’ cameras “blew apart the president’s boasts.”As did photographs from Reuters, The Daily Beast reported, with them “showing nowhere near the numbers the president had touted.”“The network’s live shots from the Mall repeatedly framed wide stretches of empty grass behind its anchors, The Daily Beast added. “On other mornings, the walkways and booths behind the set sat all but empty. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, 28, turned up on the show Monday to gush about the fair with a bare lawn.”On Tuesday, USA Today opinion columnist Rex Huppke wrote, “I love President Donald Trump’s Great American State Fair. I love its emptiness. It’s expensive food. Its ability to confound Trump-friendly media outlets that keep pretending it’s going great.”“I love seeing Fox News broadcasting from the fair, its hosts claiming the place is filled with excited patriots while the scenes behind them show a vast expanse of untrod-upon grass with an occasional few humans milling along the fringes.”Huppke said it was “like watching your high school bully host a party that no one attends. It’s a daily humiliation for a wildly unpopular president who coopted what should be a unifying national celebration and turned it into repellent schlock.”

Left

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Experts flag new legal woes for Trump in Epstein case: 'It's become a big problem'

Raw Story

5 days ago

Experts flag new legal woes for Trump in Epstein case: 'It's become a big problem'

President Donald Trump has had a hard time distancing himself from the Jeffrey Epstein saga, and a new development in the case might prove to be more of a headache than he wants, according to two legal experts. Earlier this month, convicted sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein's assistant, Lesley Groff, testified before Congress about her relationship with the disgraced financier and his crimes. The transcripts of that interview were released late last week, and some of the details Groff shared with investigators raised red flags for attorneys Brian Kabateck and Shant Karnikian, who co-host the "Civil Action" podcast on the Legal AF Network. For instance, Kabateck pointed out in a new episode on Sunday that Groff testified she began working for Epstein in 2001 and that Epstein and Trump were in contact for at least a decade. That seems to contradict Trump's previous claim that he cut off communications with Epstein in 2004 or 2005, well before Trump became president, Kabateck noted. Another issue is that those dates extend beyond Epstein's 2008 felony conviction for soliciting a minor, which is another "problematic" aspect of the timeline, Kabateck said. Karnickian said the transcript showed that Trump "has something to hide" in the case. "Early on, we talked about Epstein, and we thought this is a sideshow, and maybe Trump's deliberately putting it out there," Karnikian said. "It's become a big problem for him, and it's clear that he has something to hide here."

Far Left

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US Air Force pilot struck by Iran was also shot down by friendly fire 1 month prior in Kuwait

New York Post

6 days ago

US Air Force pilot struck by Iran was also shot down by friendly fire 1 month prior in Kuwait

A US Air Force pilot survived being shot down twice during the Iran War -- first by friendly fire from a Kuwaiti jet, then by an Iranian surface-to-air missile.

Right

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The friends of Jeffrey Epstein

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More Headlines From February 20, 2026

The friends of Jeffrey Epstein

Compare Perspectives

Justice Department defends decision not to release, unredact more Epstein files

Justice Department defends decision not to release, unredact more Epstein files

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

Family friend charged year after ‘nightmare’ illegal July Fourth fireworks killed 8-year-old girl

'Fox & Friends' ditch Trump’s fair after days of 'bare lawns and thin crowds'

Experts flag new legal woes for Trump in Epstein case: 'It's become a big problem'

US Air Force pilot struck by Iran was also shot down by friendly fire 1 month prior in Kuwait