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US Attorney Tasked To Probe Clinton In Epstein Case Has 'No Prosectorial Experience'

US Attorney Tasked To Probe Clinton In Epstein Case Has 'No Prosectorial Experience'

Jay Clayton, Attorney General Pam Bondi's most recent appointment to investigate Democrats involved with late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein after President Donald Trump's sudden reversal, has been chosen for what The New Republic's Michael Tomasky says is a "political task that has nothing whatever to do with justice."

Clayton, a corporate lawyer who is "mostly a high finance guy," Tomasky notes, chaired the Security and Exchange Commission during Trump's first term.

"One thing that impressed me, and that was at odds with the standard Trumpian flouting of rules of any kind governing the behavior of appointees and their families, is that his wife, a Goldman Sachs official, resigned her position when he took the job," Tomasky notes.

"What? People in the Trump solar system acting ethically of their own volition? Hard to imagine how Trump tolerated that," he adds.

However, Clayton has "no prosecutorial experience at all" Tomasky writes.

When Trump named Clayton to run the Southern District of New York earlier this year, Sen. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) blocked his nomination, but Trump appointed him on an interim basis for 120 days. After that the federal court for the district decides whether his appointment should go forward, and Manhattan's federal judges gave him the green light.

Clayton has been quiet in that position, Tomasky writes, saying "critics noted that when Bondi fired Maurene Comey, the daughter of James Comey who had overseen the prosecutions of Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, Clayton said nary a word."

"The Aaron Sorkin-movie version of Clayton would have told Bondi to stuff it Saturday and resigned—I do not hold this public trust to go on politically motivated fishing expeditions. But that’s not real life, especially in Trumpworld," Tomasky writes.

It would be "brave" if Clayton comes back and says there's no evidentiary basis to indict his targets—former Democratic President Bill Clinton, Democratic presidential adviser Larry Summers, and Democratic donor Reid Hoffman, but if he does bring indictments, Tomasky says, there are only two plausible reasons.

"One might that there’s actually evidence sufficient to an indictment. In which case, let justice be done. But in Donald Trump’s, and Pam Bondi’s, America, we would be quite justified in suspecting a second explanation: That Clayton did what he was ordered by the White House to do," he writes.

"The Trump era is a time of learning what people are made of. I’m guessing that in six months’ time, we’ll know a lot more about Jay Clayton than we know today," he adds.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet

Trump Reportedly Implores Boebert And Mace To Drop Epstein Files Discharge

Trump Reportedly Implores Boebert And Mace To Drop Epstein Files Discharge

As explosive emails emerged Wednesday from late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, CNN reports that top officials in President Donald Trump's administration were setting a meeting to discuss a petition in the House of Representatives that would force a vote on releasing Justice Department case files as soon as the government reopens.

That meeting was to include Attorney General Pam Bondi, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, FBI Director Kash Patel, and Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO), who has wanted the Justice Department to release the files and has signed onto the House's effort to force the vote compelling their release.

While CNN can't confirm whether or not the meeting has taken place, they note that "intention of a meeting underscores the Trump administration’s concerns around the Epstein saga, which roared back Wednesday morning when the House Oversight Committee released more documents it had obtained from Epstein’s estate."

Boebert has been particularly vocal about releasing those files, saying, "Every associate of Jeffrey Epstein deserves to be punished to the fullest extent of the law. There should be no safe haven for them."

Boebert was one of only four House Republicans, along with Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), and Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC), to sign the bipartisan discharge petition in September 2025 to force a floor vote on a resolution that would require the full release of all unredacted Justice Department files related to Epstein.This put her at odds with Trump, who had downplayed the issue and asked his allies to "move on."

Rumors emerged Tuesday night that Mace may have been planning to remove her name from the petition, setting it back to 217 after Arizona Democrat Adelita Grijalva's swearing in scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.

New York Times congressional correspondent Annie Karni reports on X that "Trump himself called Boebert, regarding her signing onto the Epstein petition and spoke to her yesterday, I am told. Trump playing phone tag with [Nancy] Mace. So far, they are not planning to remove their names from the petition."

Reprinted with permission from Alternet

Leaked Document Reveals Maxwell Escalating Trump Pardon Effort

Leaked Document Reveals Maxwell Escalating Trump Pardon Effort

A new document obtained by House Judiciary Committee Democrats shows that Ghislaine Maxwell, serving 20 years in a country club prison, is preparing to ask President Donald Trump to commute her sentence, Politico reports.

According to Politico, Maxwell wrote a message to her lawyer Leah Saffian, "provided to Judiciary Democrats by an unidentified whistleblower, that she would send [commutation] application materials through the warden."“I am struggling to keep it all together as it is big and there are so many attachments,” Maxwell wrote in the message with the subject line “RE: Commutation Application.”

"“More coming to replace others..hopefully it will all make sense," Maxwell wrote.

While the Supreme Court rejected hearing Maxwell's conviction appeal, Trump has not officially ruled out a pardon for Maxwell.

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), the House Judiciary Committee's top Democrat, sent a six-page letter to Trump Sunday, demanding answers to questions about her cushy prison digs after she was moved from a low-security Florida prison to a much lower one in Texas following a day-long meeting with Trump Deputy U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche.

The letter, a follow-up to a 12-page letter Rep. Raskin sent to Trump in August, demanded that Blanche testify before the Judiciary Committee immediately to "answer for this corrupt misuse of law enforcement resources and potential exchange of favors for false testimony exonerating you and other Epstein accomplices," according to ABC News.

"You should not grant any form of clemency to this convicted and unrepentant sex offender,” Raskin wrote to Trump. “Your Administration should not be providing her with room service, with puppies to play with, with federal law enforcement officials waiting on her every need, or with any special treatment or institutional privilege at all.”

Young GOP Leaders Joked About 'Gas Chambers,' Slavery And Black 'Monkeys' On Telegram

Young GOP Leaders Joked About 'Gas Chambers,' Slavery And Black 'Monkeys' On Telegram

In an exclusive story, Politico got access to thousands of private messages revealing young GOP leaders joking about gas chambers and slavery, among other "insensitive and inexcusable" topics.

The chats took place on the Telegram app, Politico reports. In them, they "referred to Black people as monkeys and 'the watermelon people' and mused about putting their political opponents in gas chambers."

Kansas Young Republicans vice chair William Hendrix, former vice chair of the New York State Young Republicans Bobby Walker and Chairman of the Association of New York State Young Republican Clubs Peter Giunta were among the Republican leaders named in the report.

“Can we fix the showers?” Joe Maligno, who previously identified himself as the general counsel for the New York State Young Republicans, replied.

“I’m ready to watch people burn now,” Annie Kaykaty, New York’s national committeewoman, said.

The 2,900 pages of chats shared among young Republicans between January and mid-August also featured members talking "about the pressure to cow to Trump to avoid being called a RINO."

Giunta, Politco reports, apologized, saying “I am so sorry to those offended by the insensitive and inexcusable language found within the more than 28,000 messages of a private group chat that I created during my campaign to lead the Young Republicans."

“While I take complete responsibility, I have had no way of verifying their accuracy and am deeply concerned that the message logs in question may have been deceptively doctored," Giunta said.

Social media, however, wasn't so accepting of the apology, nor were they surprised about the context of the messages.

"Shocked. Shocked I tell you. Who could have expected this from them?" wrote veteran Kirk Wolff on X.

"This is Charlie Kirk's legacy," wrote Drew Smith on X.

"They can't even scream liberal 'fake news!' cause it was leaked by Republicans," wrote Profiteroles Carmichael on X.

"This is sickening, the rhetoric needs to be toned down on both sides, and even though I voted for Pres Trump 3 times, he needs to stop it too, we need a calm leader who wants to unite the country, not childish memes and name calling," wrote Sherri Twigg on X.

More MAGA Violence? Miller Rages Over Blame For Arson Attack At Judge's Home

More MAGA Violence? Miller Rages Over Blame For Arson Attack At Judge's Home

In the wake of widespread outrage following a violent fire at a South Carolina judge's house that sent three people to the hospital, critics blamed MAGA, causing White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller to melt down, according to The Daily Beast.

South Carolina Judge Diane Goodstein, who ruled against the Trump administration in a high-profile voter registration case, was out walking her dogs Sunday when her beach house exploded in flames.

Judge Goodstein issued a temporary restraining order to block the Trump administration’s Department of Justice from getting access to the South Carolina Election Commission’s voter registration data, The Daily Beast reports.

Reports say Goodstein was already receiving death threats before the fire, which is being investigated as arson. Her husband Arnold, a former Democratic state congressman and state senator, , was forced to jump from the first floor to escape the blaze and was hospitalized with multiple broken bones.

Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) posted on his X account pointing his finger at Miller, saying, "Stephen Miller and MAGA-world have been doxxing and threatening judges who rule against Trump, including Judge Goodstein. Today, someone committed arson on the Judge’s home, severely injuring her husband and son. Will Trump speak out against the extreme right that did this??”

MIller immediately melted down on X, calling Goldman "deeply warped and vile," saying, “There is a large and growing movement of leftwing terrorism in this country. It is well organized and funded. And it is shielded by far-left Democrat judges, prosecutors and attorneys general. The only remedy is to use legitimate state power to dismantle terrorism and terror networks."

Miller continued his rant, saying, “While the Trump Administration has launched the first-ever government-wide effort to combat and prosecute illegal doxing, sinister threats and political violence you continue to push despicable lies, demented smears, malicious defamation and foment unrest. Despicable."

But Goldman had the last word.

"If you are trying to combat political violence, why don’t you condemn the political violence against a judge who ruled against you and your admin? It’s pretty simple: do you condemn all political violence or only that against your supporters?”

Reprinted with permission from Alternet