also trump, epstein, dershowitiz and how many others were considered assets by nyt. it took miami daily herald to break the epstein story, nydn to really cover giuliani, albany times-union to break the cumo story, etc. in each case, nyt actively worked to protect key assets.

Like I dunno, maybe the reason it took a lady to break open the story of all the men protecting the dude trafficking underage girls is because the male journos were all emailing him making jokes about it?

What the Epstein files show is the *solidarity* of many men-across class, race, religion, profession & party affiliation-in the global political project of keeping the boot on women's necks. People have no problem understanding class solidarity among the rich. Why can't they see gender solidarity?

Something absolutely perfect about Larry Summers riffing about the scourge of woke cancel culture being unfair to predatory men in a friendly email to his pal JEFFREY EPSTEIN.

Secretaries, period. Or, in modern parlance "Administrative Clerks." I'd get a "rough draft" that was little more than a glop of thoughts and a list. From that I'd have to assemble a letter, a report, and a summary. Then send it all back for approval and signature.

Legal secretaries used to cover for a lot of incompetence and illiteracy by their higher paid bosses.

I heard this described once as the "inverted pyramid of responsibility", and it's incredibly apt. Somehow, the people with almost no power are held to exacting standards (I knew of a fed who got fired for taking his kid to school in a g-car when his was in the shop)...

The crisis of elite impunity that is ruining our society cannot be more clearly or convincingly demonstrated than with the fact that all of these people wrote all this stuff into an email and hit Send.

Wherein Epstein says that Virginia Giuffre had sex with (read: was trafficked to) everyone but “Elvis.” King Charles plainly had a heads up about what was coming for his brother.

Far as I can tell, everyone's waiting to see if he can be tied to what he did in a way that is sufficiently clear & unambiguous that he can't avoid consequences. But again: it's already clear. Everyone already knows! And there are no consequences. Maybe if it's ... even clearer?

This Trump/Epstein stuff is so typical of a modern political "scandal," in that ... we know he did it. He knows he did it. Everyone knows he did it & everyone knows that everyone knows he did it. There is zero "did he do it?" involved here. The whole thing is about ... what, exactly?

Remember when Trump insisted that there were riots on the streets of Portland? It's because Fox News deliberately spliced footage of the 2020 riots into contemporary footage. It's kinda funny, but the fact that the most powerful man in the world can be so easily manipulated is a bit 😬

Earnest post: there is increasingly direct evidence that Trump participated in child sex trafficking or at least knew about it. He should resign, be impeached and removed from office, and prosecuted. Even if you don’t think that WILL happen it’s important to say publicly that it SHOULD happen.

I guess we know why Trump, Bondi, Patel and Mike Johnson have been covering up the Epstein files. I’m sure there is a whole lot more and a whole lot worse.

Hot take: This is a Ben Bradlee-type "holy shit" story times 1,000 even though it's completely unsurprising.

🚨BREAKING: Oversight Dems have received new emails from Jeffrey Epstein’s estate that raise serious questions about Donald Trump and his knowledge of Epstein’s horrific crimes. Read them for yourself. It’s time to end this cover-up and RELEASE THE FILES.

Jeffrey Epstein in an email to Ghislaine Maxwell in 2011 “Trump just spent hours at my house with an un named girl”

Epstein wrote in emails, at least one back in 2011 when there would have been little incentive to lie, that Trump knew about what he was doing with girls www.nytimes.com/2025/11/12/u...

In 2018 he agreed that “a man without a beard is like a lion without a mane” when Fox made him shave his vacation beard on air. A lot of the shave waiver animus is just racist dog whistle because many of the waivers are for Black men with skin conditions and ethnic minorities for religious obsv.

My favorite thing about the 50 year mortgage thing is that it suggests the famous real estate billionaire doesn’t understand mortgages

Neguse: This is one of the most shameful episodes in my view in the modern history of the congress. The decision that Speaker Johnson made to recess the house for 54 days, to send Republican members home on paid vacation for eight weeks, is disgraceful.

McGovern: Seriously, we were worried. We actually started handing out missing person posters. Nobody has seen you for eight weeks. But, hey, I'm glad that you are ok. I'm glad you survived your nice, two-month paid vacation

McGovern: Republicans are literally subsidizing an entirely different country instead of keeping families in North Carolina or Minnesota or Texas or Indiana from going bankrupt if they face emergency hospital bills.

McGovern: He would rather appeal to the highest court in the land to starve people than simply provide them with the food assistance that he is legally obligated to do. That is the Republican policy position. We will give you your food if you let us take away your health care.

McGovern: He says food prices are way down. That's coming from a guy dines on caviar at mar-a-lago. He's never shopped for groceries a day in his life. He doesn't have to pick between plastic or paper.

McGovern: You don't even have a health care plan. You been promising one for over a decade and we've never seen it, because it doesn't exist.

DeLauro: The president went to the supreme court to deprive kids of food. Unbelievable. And now wants to deny their parents healthcare.

Neguse: The house since August 3rd has been in session for 12 days. Are you familiar with Steve Bannon? He compared the Congress to the Duma. Do you think that’s an apt comparison? Cole: No Neguse: Would it surprise you to know that the Duma has been in session this fall longer than the House?

Clark: So what are we doing here today? You have already voted to dismantle medicaid, the largest health care program in America. A program that covers 40% of all births in this country. 40% of children in this country. 40% of disabled people in this country.

Jeffries: We are not going to be lectured by anyone on the other side of the aisle about fiscal responsibility when the bill that you just passed is the most fiscally irresponsible piece of legislation ever…

Trump pardoned a drug dealer with ties to the Kushner family, and today that man was sent back to federal prison for threatening to kill a woman, groping his family's nanny, and several other crimes. Seems relevant, given Trump has admitted he has no idea who he's pardoning...

Good fucking morning to everyone except the January 6th rioters Donald Trump pardoned. Another one was arrested outside a Burger King in Illinois this week on charges of kidnapping and sexual assault. The law and order president, right?

Truth Social added AI and it's gone woke as hell 🤣

Goldman Sachs says the U.S. lost 50,000 jobs last month—which is why Trump’s refusing to release the jobs and inflation reports. They don’t want you seeing how bad the economy really is, but everybody knows.

José's crew spent a week in August battling the Bear Gulch fire, then a 9,000-acre blaze + largest in 70+ years in WA’s Olympic Peninsula. Border Patrol showed up to his remote forest location, surrounded the crew + ultimately arrested José + another immigrant firefighter. "It’s backstabbing.”

José worked as a firefighter since 2019 + ran a landscaping business in Monmouth, OR, the area where he grew up Cecelia Koontz, Monmouth’s mayor, who for years hired José for landscaping: “It hit ppl really hard. He cares so much about his work. Ppl respected that + were horrified he was detained”

NEW: The US has deported a longtime Oregon firefighter who was arrested by Border Patrol while deployed at a major wildfire in Washington state. José Bertin Cruz-Estrada, separated from his family, is speaking out from Mexico for the first time: “I feel betrayed ... What am I going to do now?"

Rick Scott "oversaw the largest Medicare fraud in the nation’s history." www.politifact.com/factchecks/2...

In a rare case of Substack notes usefulness, I just learned that Sarah Kendzior (author of They Knew and a brilliant writer) got bounced from Bluesky. What the hell? new @sarahkendzior.bsky.social

Pay attention to what Democratic candidates are saying right now. Find and support the fighters. Having a spine must be a litmus test issue in 2026 and beyond.

We’re not going to “fix the Democrats’ brand” by doing TikToks or launching pods. The brand is a direct reflection of our elected officials. If we want to purge our weak branding, we have to purge the weak Dems. I’m looking forward to a robust primary cycle and new Democrats who know how to fight.

@sanders.senate.gov: "We have already had 15 Republicans in the Senate defy Trump and say, 'Release the SNAP funds.' So I think that if we had held firm, it would be the Republicans who would yield. That was not the position of these 8 Democrats."

@sanders.senate.gov: "The message that came out last night is that some Democrats (remember, 47 people in the caucus, 8 voted, a small minority) that all over the country, people say, 'Stand up, fight, fight.' We had No Kings rallies, 7 million people coming out. And last night was a setback."

TY @dailykotzn.bsky.social @srosnato.bsky.social @angsty61.bsky.social @chuckfloyd.bsky.social @kelofchgo.bsky.social @pwhenilaff.bsky.social @mlipsitt.bsky.social @shelliesmith.bsky.social @kathyswords.bsky.social @6cats4adomino.bsky.social @pissedoffwoman.bsky.social @merlinmm.bsky.social

Top House Dem @raskin.house.gov says Jeffrey Epstein co-conspirator and convicted child sex offender Ghislaine Maxwell is receiving “Club Fed” treatment, room service in prison, as she asks Trump for commutation.

INGRAHAM: “Why are people saying they’re anxious about the economy?” TRUMP: “The polls are fake 🤥. The economy is the strongest ever 🤥. We have $20 Trillion coming in 🤥 . Largely because of the tariffs 🤥.” Every sentence is a lie.