Today in Politics, Bulletin 274. DOJ plays games with the Epstein files, and everything else you need to know about what happened today in politics. open.substack.com/pub/meidasto...

DOJ broke the law today by refusing to produce all the Epstein files. It also broke the law by redacting information other than to protect victims. Yet, the corporate media is acting that DOJ did us a huge favor. Now, more than ever, help build independent, pro-democracy media. hubs.ly/Q03CbHTt0

BREAKING: RFKJr directs that the US instantly stop recommending all vaccinations for children. www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

Hitler vows no more territorial demands in Europe if Western allies give him Sudetenland.

The White House has been caught. The administration inserted a photo of Bill Clinton, Michael Jackson, and Diana Ross into the Epstein files and falsely implied it showed them with victims. In reality, it’s a publicly available fundraiser photo featuring Jackson and Ross’s own children.

Nobody works this hard for this long to cover up something this bad unless they are guilty.

It is utterly catastrophic that RFK Jr. plans to end CDC recommendations for most childhood vaccines. It’s a betrayal of science, ethics, compassion, and the people of the United States. And it was also a specific goal of Project 2025 (page 254).

“.. The Trump administration has transformed the release of the Epstein files into the 2025 version of WikiLeaks: a slow-drip document dump that could threaten a long list of Washington power players.” @politico.com www.politico.com/news/2025/12...

Jack Smith's information belongs to the US public. This government belongs to us. Information about this government belongs to us. This government exists at the behest of the US public. It's infuriating that they have these investigations and yet they're secret These people serve us. It's ours.

Trump's Workshop and his deplorable elves

What in the world??

You are either on Team Release Everything (except for victim info), or you are a pedo protector. And everyone satisfied with this obvious cover up is on Team Pedo Protector. There is no middle ground. That is who you are.

2024 MAGA: Release the Epstein files! Lock them up! Expose the Deep State cabal! 2025 MAGA: I’m good with the Clinton hot tub pic. Time to move on.

Trump’s Affordability Tour is going about as I expected. He really understands what people care about.

By 1:30pm today, Democracy Docket had already published that the DOJ files release was incomplete and violated federal law. Why did it take so many legacy media outlets until this evening to come to the same conclusion?

They ignored a lawful subpoena, recycled public records, and conveniently left out Donald Trump. This is not transparency.

December 19, 2025

one of four in a week www.nytimes.com/2025/12/19/n...

I don’t think the law passed by Congress said that DOJ has to release less than 1% of the materials by Dec 19.

First, Trump and Bondi pledged to release the files. Then Bondi gave ridiculous binders to ridiculous people. Then Trump/Bondi said no more files. Then Johnson refused to swear in Grijalva for months to block the bill. When it finally becomes law, they release less than 1%.

They really think everyone else is as stupid as they are.

🚨BREAKING: The Department of Justice will fail to publicly release all of its files on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein by a Friday deadline, violating a new federal law explicitly mandating that the trove of documents be turned over for public scrutiny. www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...

Walz: "It's very clear that the entire federal government is weaponized against Minnesota. They're threatening us. And this is what happens when you have a floundering presidency and it's about those ballrooms. Now we're back on transgender folks."

" Instead, internal reports suggest that the White House’s violent boat-smashing operation in the Caribbean was merely a backup plan when a potential war on Mexico fell through." A reckless, criminal administration. newrepublic.com/post/204619/...

Great news that won’t be reported by American mainstream press. Russia’s Black Sea fleet has nowhere to hide.

In China, they are openly stating that Russia will collapse, and they need to seize at least a third of its territory. “China should prepare for the worst: if Russia collapses, this territory of 7 million km² cannot be lost”, - such an article was published on the popular Chinese resource NetEase

Allegedly, there is a super-secret, secure bunker under the site where the East Wing once sat. If the Supreme Court hadn't handed Trump the freedom to act as criminally as he wants, he should be indicted for treason for intentionally weakening a national security structure.

* Number of additional unemployed Americans since January: 982,000. * Number of federal government job losses: 271,000. 🤡

Trump’s DOJ and AG Pam Bondi are now breaking the law to protect powerful pedophiles. #TrumpEpsteinCoverup

A Trump-appointed judge was so upset with the living conditions in which ICE detained an immigrant in Long Island, New York, that he threatened to hold the government in contempt. “I have never encountered anything like this." trib.al/2LMHIj6

🎯 @crampell.bsky.social : “No question this wave of deportation operations hurt workers just trying to do their jobs. But it’s also terrible for contractors & construction companies that employ them. So why hasn’t the construction industry, ya know, done anything?” open.substack.com/pub/thebulwa...

Once again, government jobs are real jobs & you can't treat 16% of the workforce as a cancer on society & expect to not drive the economy into a ditch. bsky.app/profile/mcop...

The Epstein Files Transparency Act is clear: while protecting survivors, ALL of these records are required to be released today. Not just some. The Trump administration can't move the goalposts. They're cemented in law. thehill.com/policy/natio...

A 17-year-old worker died at a pork producer in Nebraska run by the governor’s family. Two investigations later, the boy’s mother is still searching for answers.

Everything’s fine…

Patel celebrated apprehending a person of interest too soon, only to let them free, and then have the FBI wander around until local police found the suspect days later—all thanks to a user on r/Providence subreddit. trib.al/Gi3rTay

Every day Trump has to remind people that he is an obnoxious ass who only cares about himself and has no consideration for others, in case anyone forgot that. bsky.app/profile/atru...

TAPPER: “Trump’s statements have been fact-checked so often, he must know by now they’re just lies… inflation was 3% when he took office, not 9… 1 million more Americans are unemployed…”

Pentagon says it fails eighth audit, targets 2028 to pass reut.rs/4s7T594

Jack Smith still wants to speak in public: In a new letter, Smith says he wants the American public to "hear the facts" about his two criminal cases against Trump — asking the House Judiciary Committee to release video of his closed-door deposition and schedule an open and public hearing.

NYT: “.. it would not officially change the name of the center, which is by law designated the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.” 🤡 @nytimes.com www.nytimes.com/2025/12/18/u...

The City Bar has released a report examining a broad pattern of conduct by President Trump and his Administration that reflects an ongoing abuse of presidential power and a grave breach of the public trust, and calls on Congress to reclaim its power as a co-equal branch: bit.ly/49jfeKj

It gets even more pathetic— x.com/RepBeatty/st...

On yet another week where gun violence has claimed far too many lives, a gun advocacy group and Michigan Republicans are trying to repeal my commonsense Red Flag Law, a law that is **saving** lives. Not on my watch.

The science behind gender-affirming care has been endorsed by every major medical organization. This isn't about science or medicine. It's about the discomfort many non-trans people feel over the *existence* of trans people.

In less than a year, Trump’s administration has unraveled decades of U.S. foreign policy. Steve Cook breaks down the humanitarian cuts and global fallout reshaping the world: https://contrarian.substack.com/p/americas-global-power-is-flickering

Thanks @visibilitybrigade.bsky.social for this great edit of our day today… and for all you do. @indivisiblewestsidela.com @jesscraven101.bsky.social @hcrichardson.bsky.social @jerilryan.bsky.social @rbhubbell.bsky.social www.VisibilityBrigade.com

Just to be clear. It’s the John F Kennedy center legally. Just like it’s still the department of defense