Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche advanced out of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, clearing a major hurdle in his bid to become the nation&#8217;s permanent attorney general after senators voted along party lines, 12-10, to send his nomination to the full Senate.
The committee vote came after weeks of scrutiny over Blanche&#8217;s tenure as acting attorney general and his previous role as President Donald Trump&#8217;s personal defense attorney. Senate Republicans are now expected to move toward a confirmation vote before lawmakers leave Washington for the August recess. 
A Senate Republican source told The Daily Wire that leadership&#8217;s goal is to hold a confirmation vote before senators depart Washington later this week.
The nomination drew heightened attention in recent weeks as several Republican senators sought additional assurances from Blanche on issues ranging from the Justice Department&#8217;s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein investigation to the administration&#8217;s abandoned &#8220;Anti-Weaponization Fund.&#8221;
Republican Sens. Thom Tillis (R-NC) and John Cornyn (R-TX), who had previously withheld their support while negotiating with the Justice Department over the fund, ultimately voted to advance Blanche after <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/key-gop-holdouts-agree-to-back-todd-blanche-for-attorney-general">receiving written commitments</a> that the department would formally rescind the Anti-Weaponization Fund. Tillis had also pressed Blanche to meet personally with victims connected to Jeffrey Epstein and work with lawmakers to ensure the controversial fund could not be revived.
Cornyn said the agreement provided the assurances he had been seeking. 
&#8220;They&#8217;ve been consistent about their assertion on behalf of the United States of America that the weaponization fund is dead, and of course I expect them to live up to that in any future litigation,&#8221; Cornyn said. &#8220;Given this agreement with Mr. Blanche, I expect the department to live up to this in future litigation, and I will vote to advance him out of the committee today.&#8221; Cornyn also argued that confirming a permanent attorney general would provide stability for the Justice Department.
Democrats remained unanimously opposed to Blanche&#8217;s nomination, arguing he would be unwilling to act independently from President Donald Trump. Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) said Blanche had failed to demonstrate he would be willing to stand up to the president when necessary. 
&#8220;Throughout the decades since the Watergate crisis, both parties have consistently recognized the importance of an attorney general who can and will stand up to the president and say no, and serve as an attorney general in defense of the Constitution, not just the agenda of any one president,&#8221; Coons said. &#8220;Will acting Attorney General Blanche meet that standard? We have clear evidence he will not.&#8221;
Coons also argued that Blanche&#8217;s agreement to eliminate the Anti-Weaponization Fund was insufficient, saying nothing would prevent him from reinstating it after confirmation.
The committee&#8217;s top Democrat, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), focused much of his criticism on the Justice Department&#8217;s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files. Durbin accused Blanche of overseeing efforts to review the files for references to Trump and criticized the department&#8217;s release of documents containing identifying information about Epstein survivors while, he argued, shielding powerful associates. 
&#8220;Mr. Blanche refused to tell me who gave this order, but former Attorney General Bondi made it clear, saying Blanche was in charge of the Epstein files,&#8221; Durbin said. Durbin also criticized Blanche&#8217;s recent meeting with Epstein survivors, calling it a &#8220;box-checking exercise&#8221; and accusing him of refusing to pursue investigative leads suggested by the victims.
Blanche has consistently defended the department&#8217;s handling of the Epstein investigation, arguing the Justice Department has been transparent and remains committed to prosecuting anyone found to have committed crimes connected to Epstein.
Earlier in the confirmation process, Blanche told lawmakers: &#8220;We have been extraordinarily transparent. There are no closed investigations. If we learn today, if we learn next week, if we learn next month that there&#8217;s an individual who we can investigate, indict, and prosecute out of the Epstein files, you better believe that we will.&#8221;
Republicans also questioned Blanche during his confirmation process on issues including mail-order abortion litigation and the Justice Department&#8217;s review of the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-republican-senators-make-big-demand-of-todd-blanche-ahead-of-confirmation-vote">D.C. Five case</a> involving five aborted babies recovered from a Washington abortion clinic in 2022.
Earlier this month, more than 50 Republican lawmakers urged Blanche to investigate whether the babies were victims of illegal partial-birth abortions or infanticide. The Justice Department has since said it is reviewing the matter and will investigate any credible allegations of criminal conduct.
President Trump strongly backed Blanche&#8217;s nomination throughout the confirmation process, praising his performance as acting attorney general. &#8220;Todd has done a PHENOMENAL job,&#8221; Trump wrote on <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116919780125305335">Truth Social.</a> &#8220;He is tough, brilliant, and 100% LOYAL to our Constitution, and the American People.&#8221;

US-POLITICS-TRUMP

Todd Blanche Advances To Full Senate Confirmation Vote After Heated Hearing

Abortion

Attorney General

Department of Justice

Donald Trump

Epstein Files

Jeffrey Epstein

John Cornyn

Politics

Senate

Senate GOP

Thom Tillis

Todd Blanche

Trump Administration

A French model recruiter who had ties to the late convicted pedophile and sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein was discovered dead in his home in France on Monday evening.
Daniel Siad, 69, was found dead in his home in Colombes — a suburb of Paris — Marie-Céline Lawrysz, the deputy public prosecutor at the Nanterre Judicial Court, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/22/europe/model-recruiter-epstein-dead-france-intl">said</a> in a statement to CNN. 
“An investigation to determine the cause of death was opened on Monday evening following the discovery,” said the Nanterre prosecutor&#8217;s office. An autopsy of Siad’s body will also be performed to determine his official cause of death.
Siad&#8217;s name was mentioned around 2,000 times ​in the Epstein files, which were released by the U.S. Department of ⁠Justice, Reuters reported. Despite the clear connection, Siad had denied any knowledge of Epstein’s evils. Previously, French media had reported that five women accused Siad of human trafficking and rape — accusations which he also denied.
Siad’s lawyer <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/french-modelling-scout-linked-epstein-found-dead-2026-07-22/">wrote</a> an emailed statement to Reuters, saying that he was never formally the subject of judicial proceedings.
In France, after a preliminary probe, suspects are then placed under formal investigation. The preliminary probe is done to help investigative magistrates determine whether there are reasonable grounds to believe a crime has been committed — at which point, a deeper investigation might be warranted.
&#8220;Daniel Siad never stopped proclaiming his innocence,&#8221; said his lawyer, Meyna Arab-Tigrine. She added that “Siad had died of a heart attack.” 
Anya, a victim of Epstein who used an alias, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp8en38vpd3o">told</a> the BBC that Siad had introduced her to the sex offender. “It was a complete set-up,” Anya said. She described Siad as “essentially a professional trafficker.”
Before his death, Siad was interviewed by CNN. He told the network that there was no reason for him to believe that two women he&#8217;d scouted for Epstein had been harmed — but the women told CNN a different story. Both women told CNN that they were abused by Epstein.
Siad continued doing business with Epstein even after Epstein&#8217;s 2008 conviction on sex crimes. He said he believed Epstein was a casting director for Victoria’s Secret and MC2, another modeling agency, but CNN did not find evidence of this.
“I trusted him and believed this guy was a professional person,” Siad told CNN. “I never heard anything from anyone I introduced to him who came back to me that they had a bad situation. I believed this guy is a professional person.”
In one email from the Epstein files, Siad wrote in bad English: “In This busyness I feel like fisherman some time I cache quick, some time no fish.”
The DOJ released files that revealed Epstein paid tens of thousands of dollars to Siad, according to CNN.
During his travels, Siad would send photos of young women to Epstein. Some pictures showed the women in very provocative poses, according to the DOJ.
“Cute French girl in Marrakesh … She said that she will [be] happy to meet you,” Siad said in one message.
Siad said that Epstein asked him to help find an assistant. Another message showed Siad sent Epstein a picture of a woman who was “very polite” and who had “potential” as a “model” or “assistant.”
“Too old,” Epstein replied.
Siad is the ​second man who died in France with a public relationship with Epstein, according to Reuters. Jean-Luc Brunel, a modelling agent, was arrested by French authorities in 2020 after allegedly acquiring women for Epstein. 
In 2022, Brunel was found hanged in his prison cell after spending 14 months awaiting his trial on charges of sexual harassment and rape of minors. Brunel had denied both involvement with Epstein and the charges against him.
In 2019, Epstein committed suicide in his New York prison cell while in custody, awaiting his trial for sex trafficking.

Epstein-Linked Model Recruiter Found Dead In France

France

modeling

Sex Trafficking

Vice President JD Vance told Joe Rogan he believes the White House &#8220;mishandled&#8221; the Epstein files in an interview that aired Wednesday, and claimed Epstein had connections at the &#8220;highest levels&#8221; of both American and Israeli intelligence.
&#8220;We absolutely screwed up the comms of the Epstein files,&#8221; Vance told Rogan as the two discussed the dramatic 2025 release of the files. &#8220;We just did. But do I think the reason we screwed up the comms is because we were trying to hide something? No.&#8221;
Vance pointed to former Attorney General Pam Bondi&#8217;s claim that the &#8220;client list&#8221; was sitting on her desk — a falsehood that drew massive backlash toward the administration once it was confirmed no such list existed. Bondi&#8217;s team then offered binders of &#8220;Epstein files&#8221; to right-wing influencers that held no new information and prompted even more scrutiny.
&#8220;The effect of it was to make people distrust the entire effort,&#8221; Vance explained. &#8220;Look, I know Pam, I like Pam.  I don&#8217;t think there was anything malicious going on. I think Pam was trying to respond to the political moment. I think she overstated what we have and what we didn&#8217;t have, and I think she got roasted for it publicly, by a lot of people, including me.&#8221;
The vice president maintained that he is one of the &#8220;OG Epstein conspiracy theorists,&#8221; and has gone down every possible rabbit hole on the subject. He&#8217;s convinced that the evidence showing Epstein blackmailed influential people was destroyed back in 2006 or 2007 — or that no one ever properly gathered that evidence.
<div id="attachment_1136427" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/vance-tells-joe-rogan-trump-team-mishandled-epstein-case-alleges-intel-ties/us-politics-justice-epstein-5" rel="attachment wp-att-1136427"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1136427" class="wp-image-1136427 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/GettyImages-2201631069-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/GettyImages-2201631069-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/GettyImages-2201631069-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/GettyImages-2201631069-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/GettyImages-2201631069.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" /></a>(Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP via Getty Images)</div>
&#8220;You go back to the original warrant back in 2008,&#8221; Vance said, pointing to Alex Acosta, who originally investigated Epstein. &#8220;What was he looking for? What was he allowed to look for? What were they collecting? It was not looking at a broader conspiracy.&#8221;
&#8220;So that happens, Epstein gets pinched. I think he goes to prison or maybe this is when he was on house arrest,&#8221; Vance explained. &#8220;Anything that existed from the 80s, 90s, up to 2006, 2007, anything that existed that we didn&#8217;t get back then, was disappeared.&#8221;
He added: &#8220;So when people say, has what you seen on the inside make you think that Epstein never blackmailed people or that Epstein never engaged in broader sex trafficking? No, absolutely not. What I have seen, and I&#8217;ve looked at most of the files, is that there just wasn&#8217;t dispositive evidence. And if that dispositive evidence ever existed, it was probably destroyed after 2006, 2007.&#8221;
Vance agreed with White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles&#8217; assessment that on this topic, he is a conspiracy theorist. When Rogan pointed out that many people think Epstein was a Mossad agent, Vance lent credence to the idea.
&#8220;Yeah, Mossad or CIA or some other deep state, whether in America or Israel or another country,&#8221; he reflected. &#8220;Or both! Look he clearly had connections to the highest levels of American intelligence. He clearly had connections to the highest levels of Israeli intelligence.&#8221;
Vance then admitted there was no actual evidence in the files for those claims.
&#8220;I&#8217;ve asked, were there like, were there documents connecting Jeffrey Epstein directly to our intelligence agencies or anybody else&#8217;s, and the answer is no. But if that sh*t existed, it wouldn&#8217;t exist in 2026,&#8221; Vance claimed.
&#8220;One of the reasons I&#8217;m always careful and I say there are some elements within the Israeli government who don&#8217;t like our peace process, because there are a lot of elements within the Israeli government that actually do like our peace process, they recognize that this indefinite campaign is not good for them either.&#8221;
&#8220;The Epstein thing is interesting,&#8221; he continued, &#8220;because as much as I know Prime Minister Netanyahu is not a particularly popular person in the United States of America right now, Epstein seemed to be connected to the elements of the Israeli deep state that were left of center. I&#8217;ve always found that fascinating. It wasn&#8217;t like he was super connected to the right of center of Israeli politics.&#8221;
In the United States, Vance pointed out, Epstein was connected &#8220;across the board.&#8221;
&#8220;He had Republican friends, he had Democratic friends,&#8221; the vice president said. &#8220;He had much deeper connections to the Israeli left of center than right of center, I don&#8217;t know what that means, but I find that interesting.&#8221;
<div id="attachment_1136425" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/vance-tells-joe-rogan-trump-team-mishandled-epstein-case-alleges-intel-ties/patrick-mcmullan-archives-43" rel="attachment wp-att-1136425"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1136425" class="wp-image-1136425 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/GettyImages-590696434-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/GettyImages-590696434-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/GettyImages-590696434-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/GettyImages-590696434-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/GettyImages-590696434.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" /></a>(Photo by Joe Schildhorn/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)</div>
&#8220;I also just think there&#8217;s an element of, he was a scumbag, he was a very sick person, he built relationships with a lot of other rich and powerful people who just didn&#8217;t have any real moral judgement about the fact that the guy was obviously a scumbag,&#8221; Vance noted, before telling Rogan that Democrats continue to accuse the president of wrongdoing related to Epstein without any evidence.
&#8220;Who was the guy who narc&#8217;d on Epstein to the Palm Beach police?&#8221; Vance asked. &#8220;That&#8217;s in the Epstein files. It was Donald Trump!&#8221;
Asked by Rogan how the administration should have handled the matter, Vance responded that &#8220;we should have just dropped everything at the very beginning.&#8221; He acknowledged that it does take time to redact the documents when victims are involved, but they should have done it as quickly as possible.
Vance also said that he believes Epstein was absolutely trying to influence people and compromise people.
&#8220;There is a story there — I will go to my deathbed believing there is a story there, but I can&#8217;t prove it,&#8221; he said. &#8220;And I promise there&#8217;s not some document, that at least I&#8217;m hiding, that allows us to prove exactly what was going on and how.&#8221;
Vance also used the interview to allege that opponents of his negotiations with Iran were being paid by Israel, referencing a <a href="https://time.com/article/2026/07/13/brad-parscale-israel-influence-operation/">TIME Magazine investigation</a> into former Trump campaign operative Brad Parscale&#8217;s paid lobbying efforts.
&#8220;I definitely think you have seen this very discreet, extremely well-funded campaign to try to derail the negotiation,&#8221; Vance told Rogan. &#8220;Those people are attacking me viciously for quite literally trying to accomplish the negotiation objective the president set for the country.&#8221;
&#8220;They&#8217;re leaking to reporters, they&#8217;re attacking me obsessively saying that we should not be negotiating with Iran, we should just keep the military campaign going indefinitely &#8230; people have come after me and said that I&#8217;m influenced by Qatar, that I&#8217;m influenced by foreign governments, that I take my marching orders from Tucker Carlson, there&#8217;s so much bullsh*t out there.&#8221;
&#8220;What I&#8217;m actually trying to do is accomplish what the president of the United States told me to accomplish,&#8221; Vance said.

Vice President Vance Speaks At TPUSA Event In Athens, Georgia

Vance Tells Joe Rogan Trump Team ‘Mishandled’ Epstein Case, Alleges Intel Ties

Israel

JD Vance

Joe Rogan

Pam Bondi

When the Washington Commanders tweeted out an &#8220;<a href="https://x.com/Commanders/status/2061447683416412212">All Are Welcome</a>&#8221; graphic to mark the beginning of Pride Month, it seemed like just another professional sports team going through the woke motions. But the NFL franchise&#8217;s embrace of gay pride and similar issues could point to a much deeper problem within the organization, a Daily Wire investigation found.
Commanders owner Josh Harris is a client of BerlinRosen, a massive public relations firm that has openly embraced leftist views. When Harris purchased the Commanders from the Snyder family in the summer of 2023, BerlinRosen was openly bragging about how it helped facilitate what it called “the biggest deal in U.S. sports history.”
“BerlinRosen supported Harris with strategy and messaging support as he communicated directly with Commanders fans,” the firm <a href="https://berlinrosen.com/recognitions/prweek-how-berlinrosen-helped-score-the-biggest-deal-in-u-s-sports-history/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote at the time</a>. “This achievement with Josh Harris and the Washington Commanders exemplifies how Sports PR can drive transformative change and elevate impactful ventures like this.”
Outside the arena, BerlinRosen spends a lot of time pushing leftist causes. In 2021, the firm came out in support for the Movement for Black Lives, a Black Lives Matter offshoot with a long history of anti-Israel activism. The group has shared <a href="https://x.com/Mvmnt4BlkLives/status/1965819074979496388?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1965819074979496388%7Ctwgr%5E40a4c1244f9a36f8cc61b53aab11d8c3e1522390%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Floomered.com%2F2026%2F05%2F17%2Fthe-berlinrosen-grift-how-a-major-left-wing-anti-israel-consulting-firm-is-quietly-profiting-from-jewish-and-zionist-clients%2F">posts</a> on X accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza and called for a &#8220;free Palestine.&#8221;
BerlinRosen does not seem concerned that its liberal bona fides will be hurt by its longtime relationship with Harris, who has extensive ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
In January 2026, the Department of Justice exposed communication between Epstein and Harris, <a href="https://www.inquirer.com/news/josh-harris-jeffery-epstein-latest-emails-20260130.html?query=epstein#loaded" target="_blank" rel="noopener">who became acquainted</a> on Wall Street. Between 2013 and 2016, the pair exchanged emails and phone calls and scheduled a meeting at Epstein’s Manhattan home. Harris reportedly attended the meeting alongside Bill Gates, another known Epstein associate.
Despite the emails between their client and the man charged with multiple counts of child sex trafficking, BerlinRosen stayed true to Harris, denying that there was an “independent relationship” between the Commanders&#8217; owner and the deceased pedophile.
BerlinRosen took a different tack with President Donald Trump, whom the firm worked to remove from the Colorado ballot in February 2024. On an internal call exposed by <a href="https://www.projectveritas.com/news/leaked-call-pr-firm-berlin-rosen-celebrates-efforts-to-remove-trump-from-ballot">Project Veritas</a>, staff boasted that they “save[d] democracy&#8221; and “knocked it out of the park” for getting Trump kicked off the state’s ballot as part of their work with Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a far-left activist group backed by George Soros.
While he is not their client, BerlinRosen has a direct relationship with Soros, who has contracted them to help elect progressive prosecutors over the years.
Nor are Soros-funded groups the only leftist organizations BerlinRosen has worked for. In 2014, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) paid BerlinRosen roughly <a href="https://freebeacon.com/issues/the-one-percenters-behind-fast-food-protests/">$3 million</a>, an organization that supports democrats and even organizes protests across the country. They followed this up seven years later, stating their continued work with SEIU on X.

Washington Commanders v Green Bay Packers

How An Epstein-Linked PR Firm Helped The Washington Commanders Go Woke

Sports

Washington Commanders

Woke Culture

The suspects accused of plotting an attack on the UFC Freedom 250 event at the White House hoped their actions would “jumpstart” a revolution and were upset about the government’s handling of the Epstein files, according to an FBI complaint. 
A complaint from FBI task force officer Christopher Betts alleged that 19-year-old Tycen Proper of Knox County, Ohio, joined a group that wanted to unleash mass terror at the UFC event. The group wanted to target Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and other elected officials they said had compromised themselves by taking money from “pro-Israel PACs,” according to the complaint. 
In messages plotting the attack, the FBI alleges that Proper wrote, “I got a possible target Marsha Blackburn is senator for Tennessee” because &#8220;she&#8217;s taken money from the Israel pro Israel lobby and supports them.”
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Credit: Wired in Live
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The suspects planned to use explosive drones to drive a crowd in the direction of snipers, according to investigators.
Betts said that Proper, whom local law enforcement arrested last week, “admitted to planning with others a coordinated attack against the United States government during the UFC event scheduled to take place.”
Other elected officials seen as targets were Senator Jim Justice, Senator Shelley Moore Capito, Rep. Carol Miller, and Rep. Riley Moore — all of whom hail from West Virginia — Betts said a review of a chat planning the attack revealed. 
“The four images of these members of Congress appear to have been taken from the website ‘TrackAIPAC.com’ and appear to include information about how much money each Congressperson received ‘from pro-Israel PACS,’” Betts said. 
Proper joined a TikTok group called “Vanguard of the Old” in March 2026, where members discussed how they believed the United States needed to be destroyed and rebuilt from the ground up, according to the complaint. Proper allegedly told the FBI that he believed “many of the group members had prior military experience.”
“The members of that group stated that they wanted to protect the United States, which they believed was headed in the wrong direction,” the complaint said. “Members of that group believed that the United States needed to be torn down so that it could be rebuilt.”
“Some expressed a desire that people who were involved with Jeffrey Epstein should not govern the country,” the complaint said. 
The FBI said that local law enforcement first detained Proper after his parents flagged behavior they viewed as suspicious. During a subsequent investigation, law enforcement obtained a search warrant for Proper’s phone and interviewed him. 
The group was set to rendezvous in Fredericksburg, Virginia, in the days leading up to the UFC event before local law enforcement notified the FBI. Proper is set for a detention hearing June 17 and a preliminary hearing June 29, both in the Southern District of Ohio.

US-POLITICS-UFC-MMA-TRUMP

UFC White House Plot Targeted GOP Lawmakers, Planned To ‘Tear Down’ U.S.

terror

WASHINGTON — As President Donald Trump&#8217;s White House game-planned how to message the Jeffrey Epstein files during the summer of 2025, Dan Bongino was growing increasingly frustrated and angry.
He understood the vast interest in Jeffrey Epstein online, and he had repeatedly sounded the alarm to Trump&#8217;s team that the outcry over the DOJ&#8217;s bungling of the Epstein files was gaining momentum, as Jonathan Swan and Maggie Haberman reported for their book “Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump.”
Back in July 2025, the president wasn&#8217;t yet interested in releasing the files. The DOJ had briefed him on the contents of what they had, noting that much of it included child sexual abuse material and that a lot of the raw records contained unverified and unsubstantiated information, including about the president and some of his friends. The White House viewed the conversation as toxic and unnecessary (the president would later call out Democrats&#8217; new fixation on the files as a &#8220;hoax&#8221;).
Trump&#8217;s advisors argued at the time that the president had weathered every possible media storm — and he could weather this Epstein one as well. Ultimately, the House and Senate would vote to pass the Epstein Files Transparency Act in November 2025, and Trump would sign it into law the same month. The files would be released in massive dumps in December and January.
But during the summer of 2025, Bongino repeatedly told the White House that Team Trump wasn&#8217;t grasping how big of a deal the Epstein drama was, telling White House advisors, according to The New York Times: “It’s not an online story. You don’t understand.”
Things came to a head when the DOJ and FBI put out a memo saying that they had concluded that there was no evidence Epstein had a client list. It also said that Epstein&#8217;s death was a suicide, that the Trump administration wouldn&#8217;t be releasing any more information about the Epstein case, and that no further investigation was warranted.
At the same time, they also released 11 hours of video footage from the Manhattan jail where Epstein was found dead. That surveillance video actually made matters worse, since it was missing a pivotal minute, from 11:58:58 to midnight on the night that Epstein died. That missing minute was later released, but it had only fueled angry speculation about a coverup.
Bongino was enraged by the memo and by the handling of the entire situation. He had argued to Patel that it would not at all align with their transparency promises, the NYT reports, and he pushed hard for the FBI seal to be left off the letter. While Patel reportedly agreed with Bongino on many points, he ultimately went along with what the DOJ and White House wanted.
In what Haberman and Swan described as a &#8220;volcanic mood,&#8221; Bongino shouted at Bondi in a Justice Department meeting with FBI staff.
“You f*cked this thing up from the start,” Bongino allegedly yelled at the former attorney general. “The way you’ve been talking about this — that dumb f*cking charade with the Epstein files, the ‘They’re on my desk’ nonsense, all the promises to the folks out there.”
<div id="attachment_1113617" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/why-dan-bongino-stormed-out-of-the-situation-room-over-the-epstein-files/pipe-bomb-suspect-charged-over-devices-found-before-jan-6-riot" rel="attachment wp-att-1113617"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1113617" class="wp-image-1113617 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/GettyImages-2249306758-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/GettyImages-2249306758-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/GettyImages-2249306758-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/GettyImages-2249306758-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/GettyImages-2249306758.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" /></a>Photographer: Alex Kent/Bloomberg via Getty Images</div>
Bongino and Patel were reportedly called into a Situation Room meeting with Susie Wiles, Pam Bondi, Todd Blanche, and Taylor Budowich two days later. Wiles immediately asked Bongino if he had leaked a story about Epstein and Trump to ABC News, the New York Times reports.
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“I’ll tell you what,” Bongino reportedly replied. “I’ll give you $100,000 cash right now. I’m not kidding. Walk out to West Exec, put that reporter on speaker and get him to admit I leaked it. A hundred thousand dollars.”
When Wiles started to tell Bongino that &#8220;we all got ourselves into this,&#8221; he allegedly cut her off, saying, “No, no, no, no, no. We didn’t get ourselves into anything. I warned you guys about this the whole time, and you ignored me. And exactly what I said was going to happen happened. And now you’re pretending I was in on this. I was never in on this.”
His response startled the rest of the group, particularly given that Wiles was the White House chief of staff. Wiles reportedly pressed forward, telling Bongino, “Going forward, we’re all in. We’re all going to agree to move forward. Are you in or not?”
He reportedly responded: “No, I’m not. This is not my plan. I’m not part of this going forward. Forget it. I’m out of here.”
And, in an even more shocking move, Bongino &#8220;stormed out of the Situation Room and onto West Executive Avenue, where he climbed into the back of Patel’s armored SUV and directed the driver to take him to FBI headquarters.&#8221;
MAGA world lit up with rumors that Bongino would resign. Sources close to Bongino at the time <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bondi-or-bongino-bongino-wont-remain-at-fbi-if-bondi-keeps-job-source-says">told Daily Wire</a> that he was threatening to leave the bureau if Bondi remained on the job, effectively issuing an ultimatum.
Patel also wanted Bondi gone, sources close to the FBI chief told The Daily Wire, saying that Patel would consider leaving the FBI if Bongino left.
“Blondie f*cked this whole thing up,” Bongino told a confidant, The New York Times reported. He was using a nickname for the attorney general coined by outspoken Bondi critic Laura Loomer. “She was the one on TV saying over and over they had all this stuff. There was never anything.&#8221;
&#8220;We were always clear about that,&#8221; Bongino emphasized, according to the Times. &#8220;But now everyone thinks we did something wrong. And I gave up everything.”
He stayed on until January 2026, when he resigned from the bureau and returned to hosting his &#8220;Dan Bongino Show.&#8221;
&#8220;Dan did a great job,&#8221; Trump told reporters, as news of Bongino&#8217;s departure broke. &#8220;I think he wants to go back to his show.&#8221;
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Former Attorney General Pam Bondi had made things difficult for Patel and Bongino when she promised in a February 2025 Fox News interview that the Epstein list was &#8220;sitting&#8221; on her &#8220;desk right now to review.&#8221;
Her possibly greater misstep occurred during a White House briefing with influencers on the president&#8217;s agenda, according to the NYT. During that briefing, Bondi and her team walked into the Roosevelt Room carrying boxes and handed out binders to the influencers that she described as &#8220;The Epstein files.&#8221;
Swan and Haberman write that &#8220;the blood pressure of other officials in the room skyrocketed&#8221; — they did not know what was in the binders, and the binders hadn&#8217;t been vetted by the White House.
The president was about to meet with Prime Minister Keir Starmer before the press, and the news might possibly blindside him.
&#8220;One official, opening the binder, began flipping through pages to see if Trump’s name was mentioned anywhere,&#8221; they wrote. &#8220;A few pages in, right in the middle of the page, there it was.&#8221;
The binders didn&#8217;t actually contain anything meaningfully new, but after the influencers took photos in front of the White House holding them, word spread like wildfire on social media. Not only did the influencers feel duped by the lack of substance in the binders, but many of Trump&#8217;s supporters were seething on social media over what they saw as Bondi playing showman with the files without releasing anything meaningful.
The Epstein files, which will have all been released as of July 2026, include many mentions of Trump&#8217;s name but have not been found to include substantiated allegations against the president.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
NEW: Photo obtained by <a href="https://x.com/realDailyWire?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@realDailyWire</a> shows Bill Clinton and Jeffrey Epstein together. To my knowledge, this photo hasn’t been reported.
Massive trove of Epstein files are expected to be released tomorrow. <a href="https://t.co/OvFFbUQlXq">pic.twitter.com/OvFFbUQlXq</a>
— Mary Margaret Olohan (@MaryMargOlohan) <a href="https://x.com/MaryMargOlohan/status/2001876204299960657?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 19, 2025</a></blockquote>
The DOJ noted that the batch released in January contained numerous “sensationalist” claims submitted right before the 2020 election, in an apparent attempt to stop Trump from winning the presidential election. Many of those claims don&#8217;t even include callback numbers, such as one graphic claim that the president raped a 13-year-old girl.
“Just as President Trump has said, he’s been totally exonerated on anything relating to Epstein,&#8221; White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told The Daily Wire on Wednesday.
&#8220;And by releasing thousands of pages of documents, cooperating with the House Oversight Committee’s subpoena request, signing the Epstein Files Transparency Act, and calling for more investigations into Epstein’s Democrat friends, President Trump has done more for Epstein’s victims than anyone before him,&#8221; she added.

New York Marks 24th Anniversary Of September 11 Terror Attacks

Why Dan Bongino Stormed Out Of The Situation Room Over The Epstein Files

Dan Bongino

kash patel

White House

“Masters of the Universe” is on target to be a gigantic flop despite a massive production budget and huge marketing effort, and now the film’s producer Steve Tisch is under scrutiny again for his reported ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
Tisch, who is also co-owner of the New York Giants, denied that he was ever close with Epstein despite frequent email exchanges, including conversations about a 20-year-old Ukrainian woman Epstein was allegedly trying to convince to date the NFL owner. Tisch <a href="https://www.wsj.com/us-news/inside-nfl-owner-steve-tischs-brief-association-with-epstein-0f3f407a">said</a> that he only had a “brief association” with the convicted sexual predator.
“As we all know now, he was a terrible person and someone I deeply regret associating with,” he said.
Interestingly, the filmmakers didn’t hide the association with Tisch as producers. They did appear to downplay Leto’s involvement despite him being one of the film’s stars. This comes at a time when the NFL is being <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7012707/2026/02/01/steve-tisch-giants-epstein-files-nfl-owners/">criticized</a> for remaining quiet on Tisch’s ties to Epstein while Hollywood isn’t coming under the same kind of scrutiny. 
Blame is already being placed on one of the movie’s stars, Jared Leto, due to sexual assault allegations. <a href="https://gizmodo.com/masters-of-the-universe-knows-its-got-a-skeletor-problem-2000762641">Rumor has it</a> he was banned from promoting the movie at all, which has movie fans questioning why he was selected to play the main villain, Skeletor, in the first place.
“Scary Movie” took top spot at the box office over the weekend while “Masters of the Universe” slid into second with a lackluster $29.3 million opening weekend in North America and just $25 million overseas. It’s nowhere near close to recouping the amount spent to make and promote the film.
“This is a soft opening for an action adventure with franchise and series potential,” industry expert David A. Gross <a href="https://variety.com/2026/film/box-office/box-office-scary-movie-franchise-best-opening-masters-of-the-universe-flops-1236765638/">told</a> Variety of the box office results. “[R]ight now, the only fantasy heroes doing strong business are the biggest and most established superheroes, like Spider-Man, Deadpool, Wolverine, and Superman.”
Horror movies continued to dominate, including “Scary Movie” and runaway hits “Obsession” and “Backrooms,” which were both produced on small budgets. Both films have been showcased as examples of how moviegoers are hungry for original stories and not franchise films.
“Masters of the Universe” is an adaptation of the popular He-Man franchise featuring the hero Prince Adam (Nicholas Galitzine), alter ego He-Man, attempting to defeat the evil Skeletor (Leto) on the planet Eternia.

Steve Tisch

Box Office Bust Puts Spotlight On Film Producer’s Epstein Connections

He-Man's $29M Bust Puts Spotlight On Steve Tisch's Epstein Connections

Box Office

Entertainment

Hollywood

Movies

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent laid into Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) on Wednesday over the senator&#8217;s son&#8217;s ties to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The viral moment came while Bessent testified before the Senate Finance Committee about the 2027 budget. While questioning Bessent, Wyden accused the Trump administration of illegally shielding President Donald Trump and his family from IRS audits. Bessent cited ongoing litigation and then unloaded on Wyden over his family&#8217;s Epstein ties.
&#8220;I did want to keep this focused on the economy, [but] Senator Wyden has mendaciously slandered the Treasury building in an attempt to cover up his son having an investment meeting with Jeffrey Epstein to ask for funding,&#8221; Bessent said.
&#8220;Let&#8217;s be clear here. Nobody is interested in the ramblings of a capo in the most corrupt regime in American history,&#8221; Wyden responded. &#8220;We want to get some facts about this deal. That&#8217;s what we&#8217;re here for.&#8221;
&#8220;We would like to hear what Adam Wyden and Jeffrey Epstein talked about,&#8221; Bessent pushed back. &#8220;Your son&#8217;s largest investment position was Rick&#8217;s Cabaret [a series of strip clubs]. So did your son and Jeffrey Epstein talk about pole dancing, as he begged him for money using your limited credibility?&#8221;
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Adam Wyden met with Jeffrey Epstein in 2016 and sought financial backing for his hedge fund, ACM Capital Management. Emails released from the Department of Justice show Adam Wyden thanking Epstein for a meeting and expressing interest in having him invest in the fund.
“Jeffrey, I wanted to thank you for taking the time to meet with me. I thoroughly enjoyed our conversation and hope my passion and dedication for my business came through in the meeting,” Adam wrote in an email dated April 28, 2016. “I intensely appreciate like minded individuals and would very much look forward to having you join us at the fund.”
The moment between Bessent and Wyden went viral online, racking up millions of views.
Another moment during the hearing that&#8217;s garnered attention was when Bessent confirmed the reported clash between himself and Bill Pulte, the Federal Housing Finance Agency director who Trump just tapped to become the acting Director of National Intelligence.
&#8220;I actually said I was going to kick his a**,&#8221; Bessent said about the incident. The secretary added that he and Pulte are now on good terms.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/fight-over-climate-chapter-exposes-tensions-between-judicial-neutrality-and-activist-lawfare">Fight Over Climate Chapter Exposes Tensions Between Judicial Neutrality And Activist Lawfare</a>

Scott Bessent, Ron Wyden

The Pole-Dancing Question That Blew Up A Senate Hearing

Democrats

Scott Bessent

The loudest Democratic critics of the “Epstein class” continue to carve out exceptions for Senate candidate Graham Platner, despite new revelations that he exchanged sexually explicit text messages with many women and maintained an active profile on a platform notorious for enabling sexual predators.
Over the weekend, The Daily Wire exclusively <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/see-it-graham-platner-has-active-profile-on-predators-paradise-messaging-app">reported</a> that Platner created an account on the Kik platform, which the National Center on Sexual Exploitation has described as a “predator’s paradise.” The revelation followed another weekend disclosure that his wife, Amy Gertner, previously flagged messages that her oyster farmer husband exchanged sexually explicit texts with as many as a dozen women.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hostage-video-platners-wife-attempts-damage-control-over-creepy-sex-scandal?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;author=Jacob+Wheeler&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;title=%E2%80%98Hostage+Video%E2%80%99%3A+Platner%E2%80%99s+Wife+Attempts+Damage+Control+Over+Creepy+Sex+Scandal">The one-two punch</a> sent national Democrats — who view Maine as their best shot to flip the U.S. Senate — into defense mode.
“I’ve not followed this story as others have, but Graham Platner is somebody who served our country, he’s served his community; he’s also made mistakes and he’s admitted that,” Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) said when asked about Platner’s character. 
“Character also involves standing up to people who are bankrupting and corrupting this country. And this race is going to be a contrast between somebody who has put his life on the line for this country, against somebody who is literally empowering the moral hollowing-out of our nation from the White House,” he added.  
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
When asked whether Democratic Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner passes the “character test,” after CBS confirmed reporting that Platner&#8217;s wife told his campaign about sexually explicit texts he sent to other women, Sen Chris Murphy (D-CT) says Platner has lived a life of… <a href="https://t.co/coKBizY1aD">pic.twitter.com/coKBizY1aD</a>
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) <a href="https://x.com/FaceTheNation/status/2061122039591673970?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 31, 2026</a></blockquote>
Murphy’s deflection of Platner’s misconduct follows months of the Connecticut Democrat railing against the &#8220;Epstein class&#8221; as a pretext to oppose the Trump administration.   
“The Epstein class&#8217;s kids won&#8217;t die in this war. Poor families&#8217; kids will. Billionaires won&#8217;t suffer. Middle class families will pay more for everything,&#8221; he said in March. 
In November 2025, a more definitive Murphy accused President Donald Trump of being in “daily panic mode” over the release of the Epstein files, calling it the “biggest scandal in presidential history.” 
“Clearly, Donald Trump was at the center of a child sex ring. That is heartbreaking that the president of the United States was involved in that kind of gross, craven immorality,” <a href="https://x.com/BulwarkOnline/status/1989380599124046297?s=20">he said to The Bulwark’s Sam Stein.</a> 
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.<a href="https://x.com/samstein?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@samstein</a>: “What is your take on how this is playing out and why he’s acting in an incredibly guilty fashion?”<a href="https://x.com/ChrisMurphyCT?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ChrisMurphyCT</a>: “He wouldn’t be acting this way if he wasn’t so deeply worried about what sits in those files…Clearly, Donald Trump was at the center of a child sex… <a href="https://t.co/EuRUKMEh36">pic.twitter.com/EuRUKMEh36</a>
— The Bulwark (@BulwarkOnline) <a href="https://x.com/BulwarkOnline/status/1989380599124046297?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 14, 2025</a></blockquote>
California Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna, who teamed up with defeated Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) to push for Epstein-related disclosures, doubled down on his support for Platner.
“I am proud of<a href="https://x.com/grahamformaine"> @grahamformaine</a> for having the character to stand up against the war in Iran, against genocide, and against an unfair &amp; lopsided economy,” he posted on social media. “I am proud of him for having a vision for a new deal for our time. Excited to campaign with him June 5!”
Platner’s scandal-ridden campaign, which has already faced intense scrutiny over his Nazi tattoo, his mocking of a wounded American soldier, and derogatory social media posts about women, doesn’t appear to be worrying other progressives down the ballot. 
A smiling Matt Dunlap, the Democrat running in Maine’s red-leaning 2nd congressional district, said Monday that he still backs Platner. 
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GROSS: Maine Democrat Matt Dunlap says he still supports Graham Platner, exposed for his Nazi tattoo, cheating on his wife &amp; using a notorious &#8220;predator&#8217;s paradise&#8221; app.<a href="https://x.com/dunlap4congress?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@dunlap4congress</a> says he thinks this makes for “a good senator.” <a href="https://t.co/KQ2yM445r7">pic.twitter.com/KQ2yM445r7</a>
— NRCC (@NRCC) <a href="https://x.com/NRCC/status/2061474963110981773?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 1, 2026</a></blockquote>
<a href="https://spectrumlocalnews.com/me/maine/public-safety/2026/04/02/dunlap-picks-up-khanna-s-endorsement-in-maine-2nd-cd-race">Khanna endorsed Dunlap</a> in April, calling him a “progressive champion” who supports “holding the Epstein class accountable.”
On CNN, Rep. John Garamendi (D-CA) dismissed concerns that Platner is suitable to serve in the upper chamber. 
“Well, he certainly has many good attributes. He has a great background. He comes to this issue with strength, both of personality and determination, as well as history. But, like most everybody, there are stumbles along the way, and there&#8217;s some things that he regrets having done, and I&#8217;m sure the public will hear about them,” <a href="https://x.com/RNCResearch/status/2061446597720912089?s=20">Garamendi said.</a> 
A strategic divide appears to be deepening between elected Democratic officials eager to take back power and a left-leaning commentary class focused on the party’s broader brand.
“And I will say, as a Democrat, I find it really problematic when we stand by people who do not pass muster when it comes to some basic judgment and moral values. We stand by them because they&#8217;re on our side. How is that different than Republicans doing the same thing? I find it really problematic,” Democratic activist Lauren Leader-Chivee said. 
Leader-Chivee appeared to predict defeat before the November matchup between Graham Platner and Susan Collins began.
“It was a long shot to begin with, to think that Democrats are going to take out Susan Collins. She&#8217;s been there since 1996. The polls are wrong every single cycle. She [has] extraordinary resilience,” she said. “And now you have this very problematic guy.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
Democratic activist Lauren Leader-Chivee (<a href="https://x.com/laurenleaderAIT?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@laurenleaderAIT</a>) on Graham Platner: &#8220;How are we different than Republicans&#8221; if we stand by him &#8220;just because he’s on our side?&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/EGIcb4OExq">pic.twitter.com/EGIcb4OExq</a>
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) <a href="https://x.com/tomselliott/status/2061449971862274317?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 1, 2026</a></blockquote>

Sen. Chris Murphy

Epstein-Obsessed Democrats Carve Out Exceptions For Graham Platner

Chris Murphy

graham platner

News

Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) told reporters on Wednesday that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick was not &#8220;100% truthful&#8221; about his past relationship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Lutnick arrived on Capitol Hill Wednesday morning for a closed-door deposition before the Oversight Committee to answer questions on his relationship with Epstein. Before the deposition began, Comer took questions from reporters and said the Commerce secretary has not been fully honest in some of his past statements on Epstein.
Lutnick claimed last year that he vowed never to go near Epstein after a strange encounter with the financier in 2005. Photos released by the Justice Department in its trove of Epstein documents, however, show Lutnick with the disgraced financier on his infamous private island in 2012 — four years after Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting a minor for prostitution.
&#8220;We&#8217;ll let the American people judge whether the credibility was damaged,&#8221; Comer <a href="https://x.com/cspan/status/2052041254582497381">said</a> before the Oversight Committee hearing began. &#8220;But at the end of the day, I haven&#8217;t seen wrongdoing in the email correspondence. But he wasn&#8217;t 100% truthful with whether or not he had been on the island.&#8221;
<div id="attachment_1053025" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1053025" class="wp-image-1053025 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/Untitled-design-2026-03-03T151929.602-1024x576.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/Untitled-design-2026-03-03T151929.602-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/Untitled-design-2026-03-03T151929.602-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/Untitled-design-2026-03-03T151929.602-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/Untitled-design-2026-03-03T151929.602.jpg 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Credit: Justice Department</div>
Comer added that the Oversight Committee would ask Lutnick more questions about his visit to Little Saint James.
&#8220;We haven&#8217;t talked to too many people that have admitted they&#8217;ve been on the island,&#8221; he <a href="https://x.com/cspan/status/2052041606396563913?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2052041606396563913%7Ctwgr%5Eaf21514ed8f52cc35fd510d98c61f2c482bcb7a4%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mediaite.com%2Fmedia%2Fnews%2Fjames-comer-hits-lutnick-ahead-of-epstein-testimony-he-wasnt-100-truthful-about-island-visit%2F">said</a>. &#8220;It&#8217;s my understanding he wasn&#8217;t on the island very long. He was there with his wife and kids, but we&#8217;ll see what he says.&#8221;
The Oversight Committee chairman promised to release the full transcript of Lutnick&#8217;s deposition in the coming days.
During a Senate hearing in February, Lutnick <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-cabinet-secretary-confirms-he-visited-epsteins-island-with-wife-and-children-in-2012">confirmed</a> he visited Epstein&#8217;s Little Saint James Island and said he was accompanied by his wife and four children, as well as another couple and their children. Lutnick told senators that he had lunch with Epstein on his island for around an hour while he was on vacation with his family. He has not been accused of any wrongdoing related to Epstein&#8217;s sex crimes.
The Commerce secretary has been ripped by Democrats and some Republicans who expressed concern about his previous storyline.
“It’s now clear that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has been lying about his relationship with Epstein. He said he had no interactions with Epstein after 2005, yet we now know they were in business together. Lutnick must resign or be fired. And he must answer our questions,” Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the ranking Democratic member on the House Oversight Committee, said in February.
Lutnick is the first Trump administration official to be questioned under oath before the Oversight Committee on the Epstein investigation. The Commerce secretary went in for a closed-door deposition voluntarily.
&#8220;I&#8217;ve been on the Oversight Committee 10 years, and there&#8217;s never been a chairman [who has brought] in Cabinet secretaries of their own party,&#8221; Comer added.
Former U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi is also slated to appear before the committee for questioning on the Epstein case in the coming weeks. Bondi was fired as attorney general in early April as President Donald Trump was frustrated with the lack of criminal prosecutions of Democrats who committed lawfare against him. Bondi also faced scrutiny over how she handled the Epstein investigation.

Howard Lutnick

House Oversight Chair Says Lutnick ‘Wasn’t 100% Truthful’ About Epstein Ahead Of Hearing

House Oversight Committee

James Comer

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) said on Wednesday that some lawmakers on the committee are in favor of a pardon for Jeffrey Epstein&#8217;s associate Ghislaine Maxwell in exchange for Maxwell answering questions on her and Epstein&#8217;s sex trafficking scheme.
Maxwell appeared for a virtual deposition before the committee in February, but she <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ghislaine-maxwell-will-only-testify-on-epstein-if-trump-gives-her-what-she-wants-lawyer-says?author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Ghislaine+Maxwell+Will+Only+Testify+On+Epstein+If+Trump+Gives+Her+What+She+Wants%2C+Lawyer+Says">pled</a> the Fifth Amendment and said she would only testify on Epstein&#8217;s crimes if she was granted clemency. Maxwell&#8217;s demand has caused some debate in the Oversight Committee over a potential pardon, which would have to be granted by President Donald Trump.
“My committee’s split on that,” Comer told <a href="https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2026/04/22/congress/to-pardon-maxwell-or-not-00887823?nname=playbook&amp;nid=0000014f-1646-d88f-a1cf-5f46b7bd0000&amp;nrid=5c65d8fa-b7c7-44e5-98d0-43e6086e71cd">POLITICO</a>. “I don’t speak for my committee.”
He did not name any of his colleagues who have voiced support for pardoning Maxwell, but he clarified that he is not on the side of lawmakers who want Trump to offer her the deal.
&#8220;I think it looks bad. Honestly, other than Epstein, the worst person in this whole investigation is Maxwell,&#8221; he said.
The lawmakers who support a pardon for the convicted sex trafficker appear to be on the Republican side of the aisle. Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee, said that Democrats are united in their opposition to a pardon for Maxwell.
“That would be a huge step backwards, and, quite frankly, so disrespectful to the survivors. She is a known abuser. She is a known liar,&#8221; Garcia said. “If the DOJ or Oversight Republicans are out there trying to negotiate some sort of pardon that is … not only a huge slap in the face to this investigation, to anyone, to the American public, it&#8217;s a part of a massive cover up.”
Maxwell, who is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for helping Epstein acquire underage girls for sex, has been pushing for a pardon from Trump for nearly a year. The president was <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5541645-maxwell-pardon-trump-review/">asked</a> last October if he was considering a pardon for Maxwell and said he wasn&#8217;t aware that she had requested clemency. Trump added that he would &#8220;take a look at it&#8221; and &#8220;speak to the DOJ.&#8221;
After Maxwell refused to answer questions before the Oversight Committee in February, Trump was asked again if he would consider a pardon for her.
&#8220;It&#8217;s something I haven&#8217;t thought about,&#8221; he said again. &#8220;I&#8217;m allowed to do it, but it&#8217;s something I have not thought about.&#8221;
Last week, Maxwell&#8217;s lawyer, David Markus, told POLITICO that he remains optimistic that Maxwell will receive a pardon.
“I don’t know what the percentages are,” he said. “There’s a good chance and for good reason that she would get a pardon.”
Markus added that he has not yet spoken directly with the administration about Maxwell&#8217;s request.
&#8220;I don’t think now is the best time to do it, with everything going on,” he said, referring to the ongoing backlash to the Trump administration&#8217;s handling of the Epstein investigation. “We’re not on a full court press right now.”
The Oversight Committee, which has been conducting its own probe of the Epstein case, has interviewed multiple high-profile people connected to the convicted pedophile. Last month, former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were grilled by the committee over their relationship with Epstein.
The Oversight Committee plans to interview Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates in the coming weeks.

House Republicans/Ghislaine Maxwell

Behind Closed Doors, Some Top Republicans Want A Ghislaine Maxwell Pardon

Congress

Ghislaine Maxwell

U.S.

A federal judge has dismissed President Donald Trump’s $10 billion defamation lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal and media mogul Rupert Murdoch, dealing a significant setback in his legal fight over reporting tied to Jeffrey Epstein.
In a ruling Monday, U.S. District Judge Darrin P. Gayles found that Trump failed to plausibly allege that the Journal acted with “actual malice,” the high legal standard required in defamation cases involving public figures. The judge dismissed the complaint without prejudice, allowing Trump to amend and refile the lawsuit.
Trump’s lawsuit was filed in July, just days after the Journal <a href="https://www.wsj.com/politics/trump-jeffrey-epstein-birthday-letter-we-have-certain-things-in-common-f918d796?mod=hp_lead_pos7">published</a> a report describing a sexually suggestive letter it said bore Trump’s signature and was included in a 2003 birthday album compiled for Epstein by Ghislaine Maxwell. According to the report, the letter featured a drawing of a naked woman and included the message, “Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret.”
Trump has forcefully denied authoring the letter, insisting no such authentic document exists and calling the report “false, malicious, and defamatory.” In his original complaint, Trump argued the paper failed to provide proof of authenticity, did not include the full document at the time of publication, and could not verify how it was obtained.
Judge Gayles, however, wrote that Trump’s legal team did not meet the burden required to proceed with a defamation claim. Specifically, the complaint did not adequately show that the Journal knowingly published false information or acted with reckless disregard for the truth. The judge also pointed to the paper’s reporting process, noting that it sought comment from Trump prior to publication and included his denial in the story — a key factor in undercutting claims of actual malice.
Importantly, the court did not resolve whether the letter itself is authentic. Gayles made clear that questions about whether Trump authored the note or the nature of his relationship with Epstein are factual disputes that cannot be determined at this stage of litigation.
Separate forensic linguistic analysis previously reported by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/wsj-epstein-letter-polar-opposite-of-trumps-writing-style-3-forensic-analyses-reach-same-verdict">The Daily Wire</a> has raised significant questions about the letter’s authenticity. Three independent AI systems, analyzing decades of Trump’s speeches, books, and written communications, concluded there was an “extremely low probability” that Trump authored the note. One report described a “fundamental and pervasive mismatch” between the letter and Trump’s known writing style, pointing to its abstract phrasing, theatrical dialogue format, and structured narrative elements.
The analyses found that the letter’s tone, including phrases like “may every day be another wonderful secret,” diverges sharply from Trump’s typically direct, blunt communication style. The presence of a scripted, almost stage-like format featuring imagined dialogue between “Donald” and “Jeffrey” was also flagged as highly inconsistent with Trump’s known patterns of speech and writing.
Even when prompted to argue in favor of Trump’s authorship, the AI systems were unable to produce strong linguistic evidence supporting that conclusion. Instead, they pointed primarily to circumstantial factors, such as Trump’s past association with Epstein, while maintaining that the writing itself did not match his established idiolect.
Despite those findings, the Journal has stood by its reporting, and its legal team argued in court that the article was accurate and therefore not defamatory. Attorneys also contended that the claims described in the report were not inconsistent with Trump’s public persona, further weakening the defamation argument.
The letter itself later became public after congressional investigators obtained Epstein’s so-called “birthday book” from his estate, adding another layer of scrutiny to the controversy. The White House has pushed back aggressively, with Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt <a href="https://x.com/PressSec/status/1965146390348398627">stating</a> that it is “very clear” Trump neither drew nor signed the image described in the report.
Looking ahead, Trump has made clear he intends to continue the legal fight. In a <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116398354806956903">post</a> on Truth Social, he emphasized that the ruling was procedural rather than final, writing: “Our powerful case against The Wall Street Journal, and other defendants, was asked to be re-filed by the Judge. It is not a termination, it is a suggested re-filing, and we will be, as per the Order, re-filing an updated lawsuit on or before April 27th.” His legal team has similarly indicated plans to submit an amended complaint, setting up the next phase of what could become a prolonged legal battle.
The dismissal marks a notable moment in Trump’s broader effort to challenge media coverage through the courts, particularly as Epstein-related disclosures continue to reverberate through political and legal circles. While Trump’s legal team has vowed to refile what it called a “powerhouse lawsuit,” the ruling underscores the steep legal hurdles public figures face when attempting to prove defamation against major news organizations.

Trump Epstein 2

Federal Judge Throws Out Trump’s Lawsuit Against WSJ. Why And What’s Next?

Wall Street Journal

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