Critics Say Trump's Distracting From Epstein Scandal: Here's How
President Donald Trump on Tuesday said 'it's time' for the Justice Department 'to go after people' and accused former President Barack Obama of treason, among a series of moves widely viewed as efforts to distract from the Epstein backlash.
President Donald Trump calls on a reporter during a meeting with Philippine President Ferdinand ... More Marcos Jr. in the Oval Office at the White House on July 22, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by) Getty Images
Key Facts
Trump said 'I don't follow it too much' when asked Tuesday about the Epstein backlash, and claimed he 'didn't know' about the Justice Department's announcement earlier in the day that it would seek an interview with Epstein co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell.
Trump said the public should instead focus on findings from Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard released Friday claiming Democrats includingObama staged a 'yearslong coup' to manufacture Russian interference in the 2016 election she claims didn't exist, contradicting bipartisan findings.
Among other apparent Epstein deflection efforts: On Monday, the Justice Department released files related to its probe into the death of Martin Luther King Jr. and said it had amended findings in its probe of Hillary Clinton's private email server.
Trump on Sunday went on a Truth Social posting spree that did not mention the Epstein documents controversy, but touched on several issues that appeal to his base, including artificial intelligence images and videos of Obama being arrested and a threat to block construction of the Washington Commanders football stadium in Washington, D.C., if the team doesn't change its name back to the Redskins.
The Justice Department has announced a series of moves in recent days stopping short of Trump supporters' demands to release the Epstein documents: Earlier Tuesday, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche announced his office was seeking an interview with Maxwell, and the GOP-led House Oversight Committee also voted to advance a subpoena to depose Maxwell.
Last week, Trump instructed the Justice Department to release grand jury testimony in its Epstein probe as he sought to quell the backlash to the agency's decision announced earlier this month not to release any additional documents on its Epstein investigation.
Chief Critics
King's daughter, Bernice King, called out Trump for releasing files related to his administration's investigation into her father's death in a tweet that said 'Now, do the Epstein files.' Some Republicans in Congress have also accused Trump of a diversion attempt. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., on Monday, without mentioning Trump, warned 'the base will turn and there's no going back' in a tweet that also said 'dangling bits of red meat no longer satisfies. They want the whole steak dinner and will accept nothing else.' Greene, along with several other Republican co-sponsors, is also charging ahead with an effort to compel Congress to vote on whether to release the Epstein files, prompting House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to call an early recess to avoid voting on the motion. Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., accused Republican House leadership of 'stalling' on the bill, tweeting 'the American people deserve action, not excuses.'
Key Background
Trump's personal life has been the latest casualty of the fallout surrounding his administration's handling of the Epstein files, with a series of new reports about his ties to the convicted sex offender. The Wall Street Journal last week revealed Trump allegedly sent Epstein a sexually suggestive birthday card in 2003 that referenced a 'wonderful secret,' prompting Trump to sue the paper and deny he wrote the letter. The New York Times unearthed new details about accusations Epstein accuser Maria Farmer made against Trump to the FBI, alleging she had a disturbing encounter with Trump in Epstein's Manhattan office in 1995.
Further Reading
Here's Every Known Link Between Trump And Epstein: From 'Little Black Book' To Plane Rides (Forbes)
Marjorie Taylor Greene Issues Warning To Trump Over Epstein — Here's What Other Republicans Are Saying (Forbes)
Republicans Take Steps To Depose Ghislaine Maxwell (Forbes)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
15 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Boyfriend charged with fatally shooting DC cop nearly 30 years ago
The boyfriend of a police officer who was found shot to death in her Maryland apartment nearly 30 years ago has been charged with her murder again, decades after the case against him was previously dropped, authorities said Wednesday. Officer Denna Fredericka Campbell, 24, was found dead in the White Oak apartment she shared with her boyfriend on Sept. 16, 1995, according to police. The four-year veteran of the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department had been shot five times, police said. Her department-issued handgun was missing from the apartment and was never found, police said. Her boyfriend, Amir Jalil Ali, told police that he found Campbell unresponsive upon returning from a store, according to the Montgomery County Department of Police. He called 911 to report that his girlfriend had been shot during a burglary, police said. Ali -- who was known by the name Kenneth Burnell Wonsom at the time -- was initially charged with murder in 1995, though the case was dropped two months later, police said. MORE: Cold case murder solved 40 years after Utah teenager killed after hitchhiking to work: Police The 62-year-old Ali has been newly charged with first-degree murder in her death, according to Montgomery County Department of Police Chief Marc Yamada. He was taken into custody on Tuesday in Laurel, police said. "This arrest closes one of the longest-standing cold cases for our department," Yamada said during a press conference on Wednesday. "While this arrest won't erase the pain of losing Denna, we hope that it does bring some resolution or sense of peace," he added. Ali is being held in the Montgomery County Detention Center, police said. Montgomery County State's Attorney John McCarthy said he doesn't know why his predecessor initially dropped the case against Ali. "The decision was made not to proceed in that matter," McCarthy said during Wednesday's press briefing. "I was not privy to, nor do I know, what the conversation was regarding why the charges were dropped at that point in time." McCarthy did say there has been "a lot more detail" developed by the police department's cold case unit since Ali was initially charged, that "fleshes out this case." The state's attorney was unable to go into the specifics of the case ahead of the suspect's bond hearing. Montgomery County Detective Paula Hamill said investigators have been reexamining the cold case for the past year or so, including conducting new interviews. Detectives spoke to people who were able to shed light on Campbell's life and the "fear that she felt at that time and the concerns that she had" about her boyfriend, Hamill said. Ali's attorney, Richard Finci, countered in a statement that "little has changed" since the initial case against Ali. "The prior Indictment was dismissed by the State due to lack of evidence after Mr. Wonsom was detained for a lengthy period of time and little has changed," Finci said. MORE: Cold case solved over 50 years after a young mom was killed, her 3-year-old daughter left alive Hamill said she was able to speak with Campbell's father on Tuesday about the arrest. "The only words that he could get out were, 'Thank God,'" Hamill said. Her mother died several years after the deadly shooting, Hamill said. Campbell had a "promising career" with the DC police department and was already a "hero in the community" before she was killed, D.C. Metropolitan Police Executive Assistant Chief Andre Wright said Wednesday. "In 1993, she selflessly pulled four victims out of a burning van on Pennsylvania Avenue," he said. "Her actions that day earned her commendation from MPD leaders and praise from her community." Her colleagues remembered her as being "energetic and full of life," Wright said. "We recognize that today's news doesn't bring Officer Campbell back to her family, our community or our department, but we hope this news can bring some form of closure to all of those who have carried the burden of this tragedy for over three decades," he said.
CNN
15 minutes ago
- CNN
Trump: I Have Not Been Briefed On What Maxwell Told Blanche - The Source with Kaitlan Collins - Podcast on CNN Podcasts
Trump: I Have Not Been Briefed On What Maxwell Told Blanche The Source with Kaitlan Collins 45 mins A look at what is happening behind the scenes at the White House and what the survivors are saying about this administration's handling of the fallout from the Jeffrey Epstein files.
CNN
17 minutes ago
- CNN
Rep. Nancy Mace touts ties to Trump in campaign-style town hall
Republican Rep. Nancy Mace, fresh off an announced bid for South Carolina's governor's mansion, jockeyed for an endorsement from President Donald Trump and sought to tie herself closely to him in a public meeting with a friendly crowd Wednesday. While members of her party have been encouraged to hold town halls over their August break from Washington to sell Trump's agenda out in the country, Mace's event – billed as 'The Mother of All Town Halls' – more closely resembled a campaign event. Mace spoke at length about her plans for governor and answered some questions from a crowd of supporters at a venue outside of South Carolina's First Congressional District, which Mace has represented since 2020. She teased plans to hold similar events across the state. The three-term congresswoman spent much of her remarks aligning herself with Trump and touting what she's done for the president, specifically citing her 2024 interview with ABC's George Stephanopoulos that resulted in a $15 million defamation settlement, paid toward Trump's presidential library. 'Trump won that defamation suit, right, and how Nancy Mace will not back down, and Nancy Mace will hold the line,' Mace said. She continued, 'I haven't told the president this, but my one ask, I just want one ask, because the $15 million is supposed to be used to build his presidential library. I just want my name over a women's bathroom,' she continued, nodding to her pushes to ban transgender women from women's restrooms. Mace lobbied for an endorsement from Trump, one that will be critical in a crowded GOP gubernatorial primary that includes fellow Trump ally and South Carolina Rep. Ralph Norman and state Attorney General Alan Wilson, who was the target of multiple Mace jabs Wednesday. 'I'm just saying, I've done a lot for the president,' Mace said. 'If you talk to him, I would really like his support for governor.' In her speech, the congresswoman also continued to claim credit for a $195 million infrastructure grant in the Palmetto State, a grant only possible because of former President Joe Biden's infrastructure law. 'One of the things the press will not tell you: I am one of the leading members of Congress who's gotten resources for our state,' Mace said. 'In fact, our office assisted in getting the largest infrastructure grant in South Carolina history, at $195 million earlier this year. The press won't tell you that.' Mace at the time joined some of her House Republican colleagues in voting against the measure. Asked by CNN about her ability to tout the grant as an accomplishment despite having not voted for the bill, Mace said she 'absolutely' could. 'We fight over how we spend the money, how we appropriate it, but once the appropriations happen, I'm gonna make sure that South Carolina, that we get our fair share, because that money's getting spent and our tax dollars in South Carolina is equal to anybody else's in California, New York, Tennessee,' she said. She later continued, 'Just because we disagree on how the money's spent means we shouldn't get money for our roads and bridges? Isn't that kind of hypocritical, that's ironic?' Mace on Wednesday also backed Texas' efforts to redraw its congressional map, telling reporters she 'would arrest the Texas Legislature' and supports '[Texas GOP Gov. Greg] Abbott in the Texas Legislature to do what's fair, what's right.' The congresswoman set herself apart from Norman, who pushed Wednesday for the South Carolina State Assembly to redraw the Palmetto State's congressional lines. 'I think our lines are good. We did a great job. The state. Congress doesn't do anything with drawing the lines. We don't have any legal authority, alright? It's done by the state legislature, the judiciary specifically. But the lines were drawn.' Mace later further separated herself from Norman, who singled out Democratic Rep. Jim Clyburn's district as one to target. 'Well, constitutionally, there has to be a seat for a Democrat in a Black, you know, census for Jim Clyburn for a Democrat seat,' Mace said. 'So that's constitutionally, civil rights that exists. It's always going to be a Democrat seat.'
