Support Our Journalism

Smart. Sharp. Funny. Fearless

Politics National News World Economy Lifestyle Store

Tag: jeffrey epstein

Republicans Spouting Absurd Claims To Deflect Trump's Epstein Letter

In yet another sign that GOP lawmakers have no shame when it comes to defending their Dear Leader, multiple Republican members of Congress made the insane claim this week that President Donald Trump’s vile birthday message to Jeffrey Epstein was forged.

The lawmakers were taking cues from the White House, which claimed that Trump's signature on the birthday note is not real—suggesting that someone nearly 25 years ago had the foresight to forge Trump's signature.

"From what I've seen, it's not his signature," Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida said, even though it is very clearly Trump's signature.

And, in true Republican fashion, Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee used it as an opportunity to turn attention back to President Joe Biden’s use of an autopen.

"I don't know. I mean, anyone can do a signature. We’ve seen autopens been used quite a bit by the Biden administration,” he said.

“The president says he did not sign it. So I take the president [at] his word,” House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer told CNN.

Comer, who spent two years investigating Biden, added that he has no plans to investigate Trump over the letter.

“You asked if I'm going to be trying to figure out whether that, you know, fake or not, probably not. We're going to be trying to get justice for the victim,” he said.

Similarly, Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio told CNN that he doesn't "buy" that the signature was Trump's, and that he doesn't think that the House should investigate Trump's ties to Epstein. But what else would you expect from someone accused of refusing to protect sexual assault victims when he was a wrestling coach at the Ohio State University?

Rep. Eric Burlison of Missouri tried to pull the notorious "I haven't seen the letter" cop out when asked about it by CNN's Manu Raju. But when Raju pulled out a copy of the birthday message, Burlison refused to look at it.

"I don't want to see it,” he said while laughing.

House Speaker Mike Johnson also ridiculously claimed to have not seen the note.

"I’ve heard about it. But no," Johnson told reporters. "And the White House says it’s not true."

Meanwhile, Democrats are mocking Republicans for their blatant lies.

“So let me get this straight … 20 years ago, Democrats forged Trump’s signature on a creepy birthday card to a pedophile … planted it in Epstein’s estate before Trump even ran … and then waited to release it until *after* Trump got reelected? Got it,” Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts wrote on X.

"I have two eyes. You have two eyes,” Rep. Eric Swalwell of California told CNN. “Anyone who looks at that letter which was provided by the Epstein estate knows whose signature that was.”

Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos

Trump Has Intimidated MAGA Outlets As Epstein Scandal Boils Over

President Donald Trump has succeeded in getting his media supporters to stop talking about his old friend Jeffrey Epstein, the deceased sex offender and financier. Prominent MAGA media figures ignored a wave of Epstein news on Tuesday, signaling that Trump’s pressure campaign has paid off with their silence — even as (or, perhaps, because) his own corrupt involvement in the story has grown.

The initial resistance but eventual submission of Fox stars, Newsmax hosts, and MAGA influencers demonstrates that the Trumpist right’s only defining principle is that the president is good and his position at any time is the correct one — everything else can be tossed over the side at his command.

MAGA media figures lashed out at the Trump administration in July after the FBI and Justice Department released a memo which debunked foundational claims of the right’s Epstein narrative. Trump, who has a host of connections to Epstein, responded to that criticism by demanding his allies move on from the story and offering up new common enemies for them to focus on instead.

Meanwhile, Trump’s DOJ made a series of shady moves related to the case. First, the DOJ attorney who successfully prosecuted Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell in 2022 was fired. Then the department’s No. 2, former Trump personal lawyer Todd Blanche, interviewed Maxwell in prison with clemency from her old friend the president all but dangling over the conversation. The Trump administration subsequently transferred Maxwell to a minimum-security prison camp and released transcript and audio from the interview, in which the convicted sex trafficker asserted that she never saw Trump “in any inappropriate setting.”

Nothing to see here!

On Tuesday, members of Congress returned to Washington following the summer recess and brought with them a passel of Epstein news:

The House Oversight Committee met behind closed doors with six women who say they were sexually trafficked by Epstein.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) filed a discharge petition to force a vote on his bill with Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) requiring the release of files related to Epstein that have not been publicly released.
House Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-KY), in an apparent effort to forestall momentum around the bill, put 34,000 pages of Epstein files online — but as reporters and committee Democrats quickly noted, the documents included redactions and the overwhelming majority had already been released.
Massie accused Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) of orchestrating a cover-up of the Epstein story.

The influx of Epstein news, combined with a press conference on Wednesday featuring 10 of the disgraced financier’s victims, led Politico’s Playbook to declare this “the story Trump can’t kill.”

But while mainstream news outlets are providing plenty of coverage of the Epstein case, many Republican voters are likely not hearing about any of it. The propagandists they listen to prioritize remaining in Trump’s good graces over everything else, and they are largely following his command to sweep Epstein and his victims under the rug.

Fox host Laura Ingraham signaled she planned to cover the Epstein story, teasing the Oversight Committee’s document release at the top of her Tuesday broadcast. “We'll bring you any breaking details as they come,” she said.

But Ingraham never returned to the story. And her prime-time colleagues Jesse Watters, Sean Hannity, and Greg Gutfeld did not mention Epstein that night. On Wednesday, while CNN, MSNBC, and a host of other networks carried the press conference with Epstein’s victims live, Fox instead aired a few minutes of remarks from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) before cutting away. The Trump administration even helped the network counterprogram, providing an appointee for Fox to interview.

Fox isn’t the only MAGA outlet giving the Epstein story short shrift.

Newsmax’s prime-time hosts — including Greg Kelly, whose show took a bizarre pro-Maxwell turn last month — also did not mention Epstein on Tuesday.

And several MAGA commentators who initially criticized the Trump administration’s handling of the Epstein story after the release of the DOJ/FBI memo did not mention Epstein on Tuesday on their X accounts, including Tim Pool, Laura Loomer, Charlie Kirk, and Jack Posobiec.

Trump told them to stop caring about Epstein and his victims, and after some initial resistance, they’ve done it. Instead, the MAGA right’s most prominent figures are focusing on stories the president wants covered in the way he wants them discussed. They are spending their energy greasing the skids for Trump’s federal invasion of Chicago and praising the military strike he ordered on a vessel the administration claims was carrying Venezuelan gang members and drugs.

Perhaps the stories Epstein’s victims tell at Wednesday’s press conference will force these people to find their consciences. But for now, it appears any effort to inform Republican voters about developments in the Epstein story will run up against the reality that their preferred news providers have dropped the story at Trump’s insistence.

Reprinted with permission from Media Matters.

'Very Hostile': White House Bullies Republicans Over Epstein Files Release

The House of Representatives is weighing a bipartisan effort to force a vote on the full release of documents pertaining to convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, but President Donald Trump is actively discouraging Republicans from backing it.

That's according to a statement the White House released Tuesday evening, which was tweeted by NOTUS reporter Daniella Diaz. An unnamed administration spokesperson cautioned House Republicans against signing on in support of a discharge petition by Reps. Ro Khanna (D-CA) and Thomas Massie (R-KY) that Massie announced Tuesday.

"Helping Thomas Massie and Liberal Democrats with their attention-seeking, while the DOJ is fully supporting a more comprehensive file release effort from the oversight committee, would be viewed as a very hostile act to the administration," the spokesperson said.

The threat from the White House comes as Massie and Khanna are planning a Wednesday morning press conference in which several Epstein victims — including some speaking out for the first time — are planning to share their stories with Capitol reporters. And should Congress and the Trump administration continue to stymie efforts to release the files, some victims have indicated they plan to possibly name additional accomplices who allegedly helped Epstein exploit young girls.

Massie told MSNBC on Tuesday that Reps. Lauren Boebert (R-CO), Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Nancy Mace (R-SC) have already signed the petition. This means that, assuming all Democrats sign the petition, the full House could vote on releasing the Epstein files if just two more Republicans add their names.

If the bipartisan petition gets 218 votes, it would circumvent House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and bring a vote directly to the floor on whether to compel the Department of Justice (DOJ) to release all of the remaining Epstein-related files that have yet to be seen by the public. The New York Times reported in July that the DOJ is sitting on an estimated 100,000 pages of unreleased materials.

According to ABC News, the unreleased Epstein evidence categorized by the FBI includes several notable items, including a logbook of visitors to Epstein's "Little Saint James Island," which housed his private compound. The FBI also reportedly indexed "a document with names," which may be the rumored "client list" that Attorney General Pam Bondi has insisted doesn't exist.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

As Congress Returns, GOP Majority Will Confront Big Trouble

As Congress heads back to Washington this September with more at stake than ever, the GOP faces several challenges.

In an article published in The Hill on Monday, political analyst Juan Williams noted that when the House abruptly adjourned in July, Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) early recess granted Republicans a temporary escape from the fallout over the Trump administration’s refusal to release files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. But that pause is ending, and the pressure is back, full force.

And this is just one of the GOP's challenges.

A government shutdown looms less than a month away, demanding immediate solutions and likely bipartisan cooperation for funding. Republicans, despite holding majorities, have stalled on passing next year’s appropriations — even as government debt climbs to record levels.

The piece noted that a deal will probably require Democratic votes, in exchange for restored funding to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act, which were deeply cut by President Donald Trump’s controversial tax and budget reconciliation bill. Without action, millions face higher premiums, and voters across party lines are already siding with Democrats on this issue. Republicans across the country have faced backlash from their constituents during town halls, particularly when it comes to the president's signature legislation.

The writer notes that Trump’s approval ratings are sagging — especially on healthcare and inflation — adding to the pressure.

Williams further observed that with Trump not on the 2026 ballot, GOP lawmakers can’t rely on MAGA momentum to shield them from political fallout anymore. As Trump pollster Tony Fabrizio warned back in July, midterms are always “a slog” for the majority party, and Republicans still bear the scars of losing 40 seats in their first midterm under Trump.

"Epstein remains a problem for Republicans as Congress returns. But there are fires everywhere. And should Democrats take control in 2026, a third Trump impeachment will be on the table," the article said.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Shop our Store

Headlines

Editor's Blog

Corona Virus

World

        About The National Memo
    
The National Memo is a political newsletter and website that combines the spirit of investigative journalism with new technology and ideas. We cover campaigns, elections, the White House, Congress, and the world with a fresh outlook. Our own journalism — as well as our selections of the smartest stories available every day — reflects a clear and strong perspective, without the kind of propaganda, ultra-partisanship and overwrought ideology that burden so much of our political discourse.
TAGS

Created By

RebelMouse

About Masthead Terms of Service Privacy Statement Advertise Contact

Smart. Sharp. Funny. Fearless

Republicans Spouting Absurd Claims To Deflect Trump's Epstein Letter

Trump Has Intimidated MAGA Outlets As Epstein Scandal Boils Over

'Very Hostile': White House Bullies Republicans Over Epstein Files Release

As Congress Returns, GOP Majority Will Confront Big Trouble

Shop our Store

Constitution Cork Coaster

Democracy Mug

Make America Think Again Hat

Constitution Rocks Glass

Headlines

Danziger Draws