The Most Disturbing Wikipedia Pages
Genie (feral child)
Genie (a pseudonym) was a girl discovered in 1970 in Arcadia, California, at age 13 after being brutally isolated and starved, strapped either to a potty chair or a crib, and forbidden to speak by her abusive father for almost her entire life. Her treatment resulted in severe physical and linguistic deprivation. She was subsequently placed under intensive study and gained some vocabulary and basic communication skills, but failed to acquire normal grammar. Her case became known as one of the "worst cases of child abuse" in the US, and ultimately raised ethical concerns about the treatment of vulnerable subjects and their rights.
Toy-Box Killer
David Parker Ray, who was given the moniker the "Toy‑Box Killer," was an American kidnapper, serial rapist, and suspected serial killer who abducted and brutalized women — primarily sex workers— in a soundproofed trailer he dubbed his 'Toy Box' near Elephant Butte, New Mexico. Though he never faced murder charges and no bodies were found, Ray claimed to have abducted 40 victims. He was convicted in 2001 of kidnapping and torture based on survivor testimonies, receiving a sentence of over 223 years, and died of a heart attack in prison in 2002.
Murder of Sylvia Likens
Sylvia Likens was a 16‑year‑old from Indiana who, over the summer of 1965, endured escalating torture at the hands of her caregiver, Gertrude Baniszewski (pictured above), Gertrude's children, and neighborhood kids. The abuse — which included beatings, burnings, starvation, and sexual humiliation — resulted in over 150 wounds and eventually led to her death from a subdural hematoma, shock, and malnutrition. In May 1966, Gertrude was convicted of first‑degree murder, and her daughter Paula received a second‑degree murder conviction; both were reportedly sentenced to life in prison.
Christine Chubbuck
Christine Chubbuck was a TV news reporter in Sarasota, Florida, who was the first person to die by suicide on live television. On July 15, 1974, during a live broadcast of the show Suncoast Digest, she announced, "In keeping with Channel 40's policy of bringing you the latest in 'blood and guts,' and in living color, you are going to see another first — attempted suicide," before pulling out a gun from under her desk and shooting herself in the head. Chubbuck died about 14 hours later, and her death sparked enduring discussions around mental health and ethical boundaries in broadcasting.
Murder of Junko Furuta
Junko Furota was a Japanese high school student who was abducted, raped, tortured, and then subsequently murdered in 1989 by four teenage boys over the course of 44 days. Some of the horrific acts she was subjected to included being repeatedly burned, beaten, forced to drink her own urine, and then fatally set on fire. Her case was often referred to as the 'concrete-encased high school girl murder case,' because her body was discovered packed in concrete inside a dumped oil drum. The case became widely known not only due to the extremely graphic nature of the repeated beatings and sexual assaults she endured, but also the belief from the public that the perpetrators received lenient sentences.
Hello Kitty murder case
The Hello Kitty murder case is one of Hong Kong's most infamous crime cases. In 1999, a 23-year-old nightclub hostess named Fan Man-yee was abducted by three men — Chan Man-lok, Leung Wai-lun, and Leung Shing-cho — after she stole a wallet from Chan, a member of a Chinese organized crime syndicate. They held her captive in an apartment for several weeks, where she endured horrific torture, including beatings, sexual assault, and burns, ultimately leading to her death from traumatic shock.
Fan's captors dismembered her body, sewing her skull into a Hello Kitty doll, which gave the case its name. The crime came to light when a 14-year-old girl involved in the case (who was being groomed by one of the perpetrators) reported it to the police. The three men were convicted of manslaughter in 2000 and sentenced to life in prison.
Unit 731
Unit 731 was a covert biological and chemical warfare unit of the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II, based in occupied Manchuria (present-day China). Operating under the guise of epidemic prevention, it conducted brutal human experiments on civilians and prisoners of war, including vivisection, forced infection with deadly diseases, and frostbite testing. These experiments led to the deaths of an estimated 300,000+ people.
After the war, the U.S. granted immunity to many Unit 731 members in exchange for their research data, allowing key figures like Ishii to avoid prosecution. The unit's atrocities remain one of the most horrifying examples of wartime human experimentation.
Murder of Shanda Sharer
In 1992, 12-year-old Shanda Sharer was abducted, tortured, and murdered by four teenage girls, Melinda Loveless, Laurie Tackett, Hope Rippey, and Toni Lawrence, in Madison, Indiana. The crime was driven by Loveless's jealousy over Sharer's relationship with her ex-girlfriend, Amanda Heavrin. Under the guise of taking Sharer to meet Heavrin, the girls lured her into their car and subjected her to hours of brutal torture, including beating, stabbing, strangulation, and sexual assault. Eventually, they set her on fire while she was still alive.
All four girls were tried as adults and accepted plea deals: Loveless and Tackett received 60-year sentences (paroled after 26 and 25 years, respectively), Rippey was sentenced to 35 years (paroled after 14), and Lawrence received 20 years (paroled after 9). As of 2019, all four girls, now women, have been released from prison.
Kidnapping of Jaycee Dugard
On June 10, 1991, 11‑year‑old Jaycee Lee Dugard was abducted while walking to a school bus stop in Meyers, California. Her captors, Phillip and Nancy Garrido, held Jaycee for the next 18 years in concealed tents and sheds in the backyard of their home in Antioch, California. Phillip, a convicted sex offender, repeatedly raped Jaycee during the first six years of her captivity, leading to the birth of her two daughters when she was just 14 and 17 years old. Over the years, numerous people actually saw Jaycee, and there were even several missed rescue opportunities.
Then, in August 2009, during a visit to UC Berkeley with Jaycee's daughters, campus police officers became suspicious of Phillip and ran a background check, which ultimately led to Jaycee's rescue and the arrest of the Garridos. Phillip Garrido was sentenced to 431 years to life, and Nancy to 36 years to life in prison. Since her return, Jaycee has written memoirs, founded the JAYC Foundation supporting trauma survivors, and focused on rebuilding her life with her daughters.
Tarrare
Tarrare was an 18th-century Frenchman who was said to have had an insatiable appetite and ability to eat nearly anything — live animals, stones, garbage. Despite his extreme eating habits, he remained slim. He served in the French Revolutionary Army and underwent medical experiments after eating enough for 15 people and swallowing a wooden box to test his use as a courier. Captured during a mission, he was eventually returned and expelled from the hospital after being suspected of eating a one-year-old child. He died of tuberculosis in 1798, and his autopsy revealed an abnormally large stomach and digestive system.
Anneliese Michel
Anneliese Michel was a German woman who, despite being diagnosed with epilepsy and psychiatric disorders, became convinced, along with her parents, that she was actually possessed. After years of failed treatment, two priests performed 67 exorcisms over 10 months during which Anneliese ceased eating and exhibited extreme self-harm. She died from malnutrition and dehydration in 1976. Her parents (pictured above with a photo of Anneliese) and the priests were later convicted of negligent homicide. The case led to changes in exorcism practices and inspired several films, including The Exorcism of Emily Rose.
Scaphism
Scaphism was an allegedly ancient method of execution — aka "the boats" — whereby a victim was trapped between two narrow boats, one inverted on top of the other, with their limbs and head left exposed, then force-fed and smeared with milk and honey. This would leave the victim exposed to insects and vermin that would eat them alive over several days.
Human radiation experiments
There were a number of human radiation experiments, mostly conducted in the U.S. from the 1940s to the 1970s, that exposed vulnerable people — including hospital patients, children, pregnant women, and prisoners — to radioactive substances without consent. These experiments, done by government agencies and universities, involved practices like directly injecting plutonium, feeding radioactive material to children, and even exhuming bodies from graveyards, and all of it caused serious harm or death. Public outcry led to a 1994 investigation by President Clinton's advisory committee, which confirmed ethical violations and led to official apologies and limited reparations.
Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris
Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris, given the moniker the "Tool Box Killers," were American serial killers who abducted, tortured, raped, and murdered five teenage girls in Southern California during 1979. They were given this name because they used everyday tools — like pliers and ice picks — in their brutal crimes. They sometimes made audio recordings or took photos of their crimes, which were so awful that they reportedly brought some jurors, lawyers, and court observers to tears when presented during their trial. Norris eventually turned informant, received life in prison, and died in 2020; Bittaker was sentenced to death and died in prison in 2019. Both died of natural causes.
Peter Kürten
Peter Kürten, known as "The Vampire of Düsseldorf," was a German serial killer active in 1929. He committed at least nine murders and numerous assaults, deriving sexual pleasure from violence and blood, once even drinking his victim's blood. Arrested in 1930, he confessed to dozens of crimes. After a high-profile trial, he was executed by guillotine in 1931.
Fritzl case
In 2008, Austrian police discovered that a man named Josef Fritzl had kept his daughter Elisabeth imprisoned in a secret cellar for 24 years, during which he repeatedly raped her and fathered seven children. Three of the children lived with her in captivity, three were raised upstairs as foster children, and one died shortly after birth. The case was uncovered when one of the children became seriously ill, prompting Josef to seek medical help, and then leading to Elisabeth's rescue and Fritzl's arrest. He was later sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to multiple charges, including rape, incest, and murder by negligence.
Carl Tanzler
Carl Tanzler was a German-born radiology technician in Key West, Florida, who became obsessed with his tuberculosis patient, Maria Elena Milagro de Hoyos, after her death in 1931. He would visit her mausoleum nightly and claimed he heard her spirit urging him to take her body home. He eventually exhumed her remains and spent seven years living with and preserving the corpse — using piano wire, wax, glass eyes, perfume, and clothing — until her sister discovered what he'd done. Charged only with grave-robbing, Tanzler avoided conviction due to the statute of limitations, later moving to mainland Florida, writing his autobiography, and reportedly keeping a wax effigy until he died in 1952.
Armin Meiwes
Armin Meiwes, known as the 'Rotenburg Cannibal,' was a German man who, in March 2001, killed and cannibalized a consenting victim, Bernd Brandes, whom he found via an online ad seeking someone willing to be eaten. The two even attempted to eat Brandes's severed penis before Meiwes eventually murdered him, dismembered his body, consumed some of his flesh, and stored the remainder in his freezer. Arrested in December 2002, Meiwes was initially convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 8.5 years, but after an appeal and retrial in 2006, he was ultimately convicted of murder with life imprisonment.
Murder of Kelly Anne Bates
Kelly Anne Bates was a 17-year-old from Manchester, England, who, over approximately four weeks in early 1996, was violently tortured by her boyfriend, 48‑year‑old James Patterson Smith. Some of the atrocities he committed included burning Smith all over her body, stabbing her, and even gouging both her eyes out. He ultimately drowned her in a bathtub and reported it falsely as an accidental death. Smith was convicted of her murder in November 1997 and given a life sentence with a minimum term of 20 years.
Murder of Skylar Neese
Skylar Neese was a 16-year-old honor student from Star City, West Virginia, who disappeared on July 6, 2012, after sneaking out of her home with two friends, Shelia Eddy and Rachel Shoaf. In January 2013, Shoaf confessed that the pair lured Skylar to a wooded area in Pennsylvania and stabbed her to death, over 50 times, simply because they 'didn't like her' anymore. Her body was found months later, buried under brush. Shoaf pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and received 30 years in prison, while Eddy pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, receiving a life sentence.
Finally, Waverly Hills Sanatorium
Waverly Hills Sanatorium, which is located near Louisville, Kentucky, opened in 1910 to treat tuberculosis patients amid a deadly local outbreak. It was expanded in 1926 to accommodate over 400 patients and became infamous for experimental treatments — like rib removal and lung collapse— and for secretly transporting bodies through a hidden 'body chute' to avoid alarming the living. After the discovery of antibiotics, it closed in 1961 and briefly reopened as a geriatric center. It is now a privately owned facility that people frequently say is haunted.
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Atlantic
an hour ago
- Atlantic
No One Was Supposed to Leave Alive
One night in mid-May, some of the Venezuelan migrants deported from the United States to a prison in El Salvador tried to break the locks on their cells with metal rails from their beds. It was a futile gesture of rebellion; no one thought they could escape. Still, punishment was swift. For six consecutive days, the inmates were subjected to lengthy beatings, three inmates told me. On the last day, male guards brought in their female colleagues, who struck the naked prisoners as the male guards recorded videos on their phones and laughed. The female guards would count to 20 as they administered the beatings, and if the prisoners complained or cried out, they would start again. Tito Martínez, one of the inmates, recalled that a prison nurse was watching. 'Hit the piñata,' she cheered. When the government of El Salvador opened the prison complex known as CECOT in 2023, the country's security minister said the inmates would only be able to get out ' inside a coffin.' This promise has largely been kept. The Salvadoran human-rights organization Cristosal has documented cases of prisoners being transported out of the jail for urgent medical care, but these inmates died soon after, before anyone could ask them what it was like inside the prison. What little is known about life in CECOT (the Spanish acronym for Terrorism Confinement Center) comes from the media tours staged by President Nayib Bukele, which show men crammed into cells with bare-metal bunkbeds stacked to the ceiling like human shelving. In most of the videos posted online, the men—some with the facial tattoos of the country's gangs—stand in silence. The Salvadoran government has encouraged CECOT's terrifying reputation, turning the prison into a museum where Bukele's tough-on-gangs tactics can be exhibited for the press. But media visits are also strictly controlled. Interviews with prisoners are rare and tightly supervised. On Friday, for the first time, a group of prisoners walked out of CECOT's gates as free men. They were 252 of the Venezuelans that the Trump administration had deported to El Salvador in March when it alleged—while offering little to no evidence—that they were gang members. This month, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro negotiated a prisoner swap with the United States, releasing 10 American citizens in his custody and dozens of Venezuelan political prisoners. In return, the Venezuelans in El Salvador were put on a plane and sent to Caracas. They brought with them detailed accounts of beatings and harsh treatment. (The government of El Salvador did not respond to a request for comment about their claims.) Four former prisoners told me they were punched, kicked, and struck with clubs. They were cut off from contact with their families, deprived of legal help, and taunted by guards. All recalled days spent in a punishment cell known as 'the island,' a dark room with no water where they slept on the floor. Those days, the only light they could see came from a dim lightbulb in the ceiling that illuminated a cross. I talked with Keider Alexander Flores over the phone yesterday, just a few hours after Venezuelan police officers dropped him off at his mother's house in Caracas. Flores told me that he and his brother left Venezuela in 2023, trekking through the jungles of Panama's Darién Gap and riding buses all the way to Mexico. They applied for an appointment to cross into the United States legally and arrived in Texas in August. Flores soon settled in Dallas and started an asylum application, but he didn't complete the process. He found work laying carpet. His real passion was music: He DJed under the name Keyder Flower. In one of his Instagram posts, he flexes his teenage muscles as he plays tracks by a pool. From the September 2024 issue: Seventy miles in hell In December, after a DJ gig at a house party in Dallas, Flores was riding in the passenger seat of a friend's car when they were pulled over. Flores told me they had smoked marijuana, and the police took them to the station. Later he was sent to ICE detention. At an immigration hearing, the judge told him that he wouldn't be able to return to the United States for 10 years, because he had broken U.S. law. When asked what country he wanted to be deported to, Flores said Venezuela. While in ICE detention, Flores learned that he had been flagged as 'an active member' of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. Federal agents showed up to interview him, he said. They had seen his pictures on Instagram and said his hand signals looked suspicious. 'I was doing a cool sign, but they said it was a gesture of Tren de Aragua,' Flores told me. Flores knew about CECOT. He had seen videos at the ICE detention center in Texas, where the TV sometimes showed cable news. In mid-March, he called his brother from detention to say that he was about to get deported to Venezuela; two days later, he was put on a plane. ICE guards didn't let the passengers open the window shades during the flight. Flores and his fellow detainees found out they were in El Salvador only after they had landed. Another newly released Venezuelan prisoner I spoke with, Juan José Ramos, told me he'd entered the United States legally, with an appointment for an asylum hearing, and had barely settled down in Utah when ICE agents stopped his car on the way to Walmart, arresting him with no explanation. He said that when the men arrived at CECOT, they saw inmates wearing white T-shirts and shorts, heads completely shaved. Ramos asked a Salvadoran guard who these men were and why they were crying. The guard replied: 'That's you. All of you will end up like that. We will treat you all the same.' Flores, Ramos, and others I spoke with shared similar accounts of what happened next. The Venezuelans were taken to a wing of CECOT known as Module 8, with 32 cells, and didn't interact with the rest of the prisoners. The inmates communicated with one another via hand signals, because when they spoke, they were beaten. They slept on metal bunks, often without mattresses. Soap and juice bottles were luxuries afforded prior to visits by representatives of the Red Cross, who came twice during their four-month stay. Sometimes, the guards gave the prisoners better meals than usual, took pictures with their phones, then took the food away, Ramos, Flores, and others told me. A riot broke out in April, after guards beat one of the inmates to the point that he started convulsing, Flores told me. The incident convinced the Venezuelans that they had to do something. 'If your friend was being beaten, would you leave him alone as they beat him?' Flores asked me. Adam Serwer: Trump's Salvadoran Gulag Seven of the Venezuelans arrived days after the rest, deported from Guantánamo, where a hunger strike had broken out. They suggested doing the same at CECOT. Flores, Ramos, and others I spoke with said every inmate they knew joined the hunger strike, which lasted for several days. Some took their protest further by cutting themselves on the corners of their metal bunks. They called that a huelga de sangre: 'blood strike.' Three or four days after the strike started, two prison directors came to negotiate. The inmates agreed to end the strike in exchange for an assurance that the beatings would stop. 'They let us live for a while,' Flores told me. But in mid-May, when a few inmates refused to have their cells inspected, the guards beat them. That's when a second riot broke out. The guards responded by shooting the inmates with pellets. Then came the six days of beatings. Martínez, 26, told me he was pulled over while driving in El Paso, Texas, in February because his license plate had expired. The officer was ready to let him go with a warning, but asked Martínez to remove his shirt. Martínez had tattoos of Bible verses and the name of his wife. The officer called ICE. Martínez, who fell ill after the hunger strike, had to be taken to a clinic, where a nurse told him he had suffered serious liver damage. After the beatings, Martínez told me, some inmates vomited blood, and others couldn't walk for days. 'If they're going to kill us, I hope they kill us soon,' he said he told himself. The guards told him he would spend the rest of his life in CECOT. Until early Friday morning, when Martínez was sent home as abruptly as he'd arrived, he had believed them.
USA Today
3 hours ago
- USA Today
Jeffrey Epstein lawyer Roy Black dies in Florida at age 80, firm says
Florida lawyer Roy Black, widely known for representing several high-profile clients including William Kennedy Smith in his 1991 nationally publicized rape trial as well as Jeffrey Epstein, has died at age 80, his law firm confirmed. The renowned defense attorney died on July 21 at his home in Coral Gables, located around 5 miles west of Miami, according to the Black Srebnick firm. 'Roy Black is widely recognized as one of the greatest criminal defense attorneys in American legal history,' the law firm said in a statement shared with USA TODAY. The firm applauded Smith for his decades-long career and 'reputation for relentless preparation, courtroom mastery, and unwavering ethical standards.' The New York native has represented celebrities ranging from Justin Bieber to race car driver Helio Castroneves, but is arguably best known for securing the acquittal of Kennedy Smith, a former physician and nephew of the late President John F. Kennedy. Smith was implicated but not charged in the sexual assault of a Florida woman in Palm Beach. The case received national attention largely due to its live television coverage. 'Roy's absence will be deeply felt throughout the legal community, but his legacy — defined by fairness, diligence, compassion, and winning spirit — will continue to shine through the countless lives he impacted,' the firm added. He is survived by his wife and 'Real Housewives of Miami' alum Lea Black, with whom he shared their son RJ, as well as his daughter Nora, from a previous marriage. In 1994, he married Black, who had previously served as a juror in the Kennedy Smith case. 'Thank you for all the blessings,' Lea Black wrote on an Instagram post. 'We will be announcing details for a tribute and celebration of life in a few weeks.' Who is Roy Black? Black was a prominent Florida defense attorney known for several high-profile clients, including Epstein and Kennedy Smith. He is also widely recognized as a legal analyst appearing on television to offer his insights. He was born in 1945 in New York but raised in both Connecticut and the Caribbean, according to Black Srebnick. As an adjunct professor, Black taught criminal evidence courses at his alma mater, the University of Miami School of Law, as early as 1973. He is the published author of the 1999 book 'Black's Law: A Criminal Lawyer Reveals His Defense Strategies in Four Cliffhanger Cases.' 'For more than 30 years, Roy was my teacher, mentor and friend. Roy was the greatest criminal lawyer of our generation, perhaps in American history, achieving acquittals over a span of 50 years in some of the most challenging and notorious cases of all time,' Black's friend and law partner Howard Srebnick said in a statement. When did Black represent Epstein? Black was among the team of attorneys who handled the infamous Epstein case when the prominent financier was accused of sexually abusing children for more than a decade, the Associated Press reported. While Epstein never sat for trial, he pleaded guilty to the solicitation of prostitution and solicitation of a minor for prostitution in Florida in 2008. Following Epstein's 2019 death in a New York jail cell, Black aimed to prevent his victims from reopening a non-prosecution agreement that allowed Epstein to plead guilty to a lesser state charge, according to AP. Who else has Black represented? Black has represented several other high-profile clients, including the following: Contributing: Kinsey Crowley and Holly Baltz, USA TODAY NETWORK
Politico
3 hours ago
- Politico
Tucker Carlson's view of the Epstein saga
PROMISES MADE — The Jeffrey Epstein saga has President Donald Trump 'furious' and House Republicans sprinting away from Washington for an early recess. Trump has tried everything in an attempt to distract attention from the matter — calling the entire affair a 'hoax,' releasing thousands of files related to Martin Luther King Jr., even diving back into the settled issue of the name of Washington's NFL team. But the issue is showing no signs of burning out. CNN reported Tuesday on newly uncovered archived video footage and photos of the president's ties to the deceased financier. Just today, The Wall Street Journal published a piece alleging that the Justice Department told Trump in May that his name appeared multiple times in the so-called Epstein files. Some of Trump's biggest backers — and many of the most important conservative influencers — have been at best unenthusiastic, and at worst antagonistic, about how Trump has handled the situation. One such figure is the former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who has fashioned himself into something of a kingmaker among the new right, a more libertarian-leaning segment of MAGA that's concerned with immigration and the end of American involvement in wars overseas. From his home in Maine, Carlson wields significant cultural cachet and attracts a wide audience to his web-based interview show, enabling him to establish something of an intellectual vanguard for the movement. He's an avowed Trump supporter, but on Epstein, he thinks the White House is missing something. Carlson sat down with Paul Ronzheimer of the German newspaper Bild — which, like POLITICO, is owned by Axel Springer — for a wide ranging interview at his home in Maine on July 17. He discussed everything from the war in Ukraine to his family to why he thinks many journalists are bitter and jaded. He also expounded on Epstein — while the interview took place almost a week ago, many of Carlson's answers illuminate the forces that have given the controversy such staying power. Below is an excerpt from their discussion, edited for POLITICO Nightly. The German version of the interview can be found here. Ronzheimer: I want to talk about the Epstein case. Carlson: I didn't know him, thank heaven. So what is going on inside the MAGA movement right now? Oh boy, I have no idea. What we do know is there was this guy who got indicted twice, convicted once, of sex crimes, and he was a sex weirdo. Lots of those. I worked in television. I know quite a few. So we know that. What we don't know is what was he doing and how did he get hundreds of millions of dollars? He didn't apparently execute any trades on Wall Street. He was not a trader. Didn't work on Wall Street. So where did the money come from? And what was the point of this? He had heads of state and ... high-level political leaders in his house all the time and there was sex involved and there are a lot of allegations which may or may not be true. I can't assess what he was doing and why and we don't have answers on that. But I think we know enough that people are insistent on getting answers. And then there's a question of: How did he die? It's pretty clear he did not kill himself, sorry. Do you think Trump is nervous about it? I don't know, I can't say. But I can say that normal people, non-crazy people, have a great desire to know these answers, and I think have an expectation that they're due these answers. It's their right to know. Their government was involved. And I also think bigger than that — and this is something that maybe not everyone at the White House understands, though I think they will — it's a metaphor. It represents something bigger than it is. I personally don't think the fate of nations rises or falls on the questions of Jeffrey Epstein. I just don't. Okay? But I do think the fate of nations rises and falls on the question of who's really in charge, who's making these decisions and why. So there is a widespread belief in the United States and it's true, it's rooted in reality, that a lot of [what we hear from the government] is fake. It's an illusion. Why can't we know? In our system, the people rule. We have a representative democracy in which we elect people to work on our behalf. They work for us. We own this country. We're shareholders. We're not just passing through, we're not renting it, we own it. That's the American system. And so if you can't get a straight answer from your government about what the government's doing, and there's clearly no national security implications — some pedophile, how is that a national security question? It's not. Then you start to wonder, what the hell is this? Who's running it? Donald Trump ran for president on the promise that he would tell us, and that he'd end corruption in Washington. Now, that's a big promise. Every large organization is corrupt by its nature. D.C. is the largest organization, therefore it's the most corrupt. That's just a fact. Can one man fix that? No. But you have to make a good faith effort. And so people understood that when Trump got there and they voted for him for this reason, that they would learn what their government was doing. Not just about Epstein, and not just about JFK or RFK or MLK or the historic murders that are still unsolved, but about like, where does all the money go? Why is the Pentagon getting a trillion dollars? Where does that money go exactly? So, are Trump supporters disappointed? I don't know, Trump, look, I think my impression is that — I'm trying to be diplomatic here. I can feel that. With Trump, you're diplomatic, with other topics, not so much. Yeah, that's true, because I know Trump. I know him well enough to know that and have known him for so long and I've talked to him so much that I know that he agrees fundamentally with the idea that the system is corrupt and the way that it continues to be corrupt is through secrecy. And that you have to air this stuff. You have to tell people what's going on and take the hit, and that's okay. You know, we all screw up. There are things about me I seek to hide. I love pizza, or whatever. That's okay, but you have to be honest at a certain point, or it doesn't get better. That's just kind of a basic human principle, and I know that Trump agrees with that. I don't mean to be cagey. I don't really understand what the hell is going on, if I'm being honest, I really don't. And I haven't talked to him about it. I haven't called over there and asked, 'what the hell's going on?' By the way, I don't think Trump had anything to do with Epstein, he knew Epstein. But I would be sincerely shocked if there was some weird sex stuff with Trump. I just don't believe that. I've talked to Trump about it, I know him well. What did he say? I think he said this publicly. He said Epstein was always in Mar-a-Lago freeloading and hitting on the massage therapist and he kicked him out. Does that sound realistic to you? It does. Whatever Trump's sins, I have never gotten a creepy vibe off him at all. And you ask any woman who's been around him — because women know, they get the creepy vibe way better than men do, or at least than I do. And I've asked a number of women, do you get a creepy vibe off of him? You could smell it if someone's got weird sex shit going on underneath the surface. I've never gotten that vibe off Trump at all. And every woman I've ever asked didn't get that at all [Ed note: over 25 women have accused Trump of sexual misconduct.]. So I could be completely wrong, but I would be shocked. And by the way, this information, if it exists, would have been in the hands of the Biden administration during the last presidential campaign. You think they wouldn't have leaked it? Again, I could have been wrong, but I just don't believe it. And so what is this [situation with Epstein]? I don't really know. You do get in a vacuum when you're at the top of whatever pyramid, and I don't think they fully understand how this is being read on the outside. We're a few days into this, get back to me in a month and I'll have a better sense. We will all have a sense of what this is, but I think it's a big deal. Not because of Epstein, but because of what he represents. Welcome to POLITICO Nightly. Reach out with news, tips and ideas at nightly@ Or contact tonight's author at cmchugh@ or on X (formerly know as Twitter) at @calder_mchugh. What'd I Miss? — Florida judge denies DOJ request to unseal Epstein grand jury transcripts: A federal judge in Florida has rejected one of the Justice Department's bids to make public secret grand jury transcripts from the investigation of disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. U.S. District Judge Robin Rosenberg concluded she was required to dismiss the department's request because of longstanding grand jury secrecy rules that include only a few narrow exceptions — none of which she said the Justice Department met in this case. — The firing of a veteran prosecutor in New Jersey escalates Trump administration's war with the courts: The Trump administration opened a new front in its war with the courts this week — and fired a veteran federal prosecutor in the process — in a dramatic tussle over the New Jersey U.S. Attorney's Office. Now it's not clear who is in charge. Federal judges exercised a 160-year-old power to select a temporary prosecutor on Tuesday to lead the office, following President Donald Trump's failure to win quick Senate confirmation for his pick: his former personal lawyer Alina Habba. Within hours, Attorney General Pam Bondi and her deputy Todd Blanche unloaded on the group of mostly Democratic-appointed judges and their pick, Desiree Leigh Grace, a registered Republican who was, until this week, the top career prosecutor in the office. — Gabbard declassifies new docs in latest push to cast doubt on Russia assessment: Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard declassified documents today she claims prove intelligence officials in the Obama administration lied about Russia's efforts to influence the 2016 election. The 44-page review of how U.S. spy agencies under then-President Barack Obama arrived at their conclusions was led by Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee and ordered in the aftermath of Donald Trump's win over Hillary Clinton in 2016. The move comes days after Gabbard released a separate tranche of documents on the 2016 election that she claimed showed evidence that senior intelligence officials under Obama had mounted a 'years-long coup' to undermine Trump and were guilty of a 'treasonous conspiracy.' — State Department launches new investigation into Harvard: The State Department will investigate Harvard University's eligibility to sponsor international students and researchers, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced today, the latest attempt by the Trump administration to pressure the Ivy League university. 'The American people have the right to expect their universities to uphold national security, comply with the law, and provide safe environments for all students,' Rubio said in a statement. 'The investigation will ensure that State Department programs do not run contrary to our nation's interests.' The State Department is probing the Exchange Visitor Program at Harvard, which allows the school to bring international students, researchers and faculty to the university for temporary periods. — Judge orders Kilmar Abrego Garcia released from criminal custody: One of the Trump administration's highest-profile deportation targets, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, must be released from criminal custody in Tennessee and returned to Maryland and cannot be immediately redetained by immigration authorities, a pair of federal judges ruled Wednesday. The rulings are victories for Abrego, a Salvadoran man who entered the U.S. illegally and has lived in Maryland for about a decade. But they may be short-lived: Immigration enforcement officials signaled that he's likely to be re-detained when he arrives in Maryland. AROUND THE WORLD ILLEGAL INACTION — Governments can be held legally responsible for climate inaction, the world's highest court said in a landmark decision today, opening the door to a cascade of lawsuits. In the first decision of its kind, the International Court of Justice held that existing international law obliges all countries — whether they are party to the 2015 Paris climate accord or, like the United States, quitting the treaty — to fight global warming. MACRONS SUE OWENS — French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte Macron, have sued American hard-right podcaster Candace Owens for defamation, alleging that the influencer profited off of spreading a false rumor that the French first lady was born a biological male. In their suit, filed in Delaware state court, the Macrons allege that Owens has 'used this false statement to promote her independent platform, gain notoriety, and make money,' including launching an eight-part podcast series called 'Becoming Brigitte,' in which she pushes various conspiracy theories about the Macrons and their relationship. EU WARNS UKRAINE — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has put his country's EU ambitions in jeopardy, top European politicians warned today. Zelenskyy signed a controversial bill into law Tuesday that critics say nixes the independence of Ukraine's anti-corruption watchdogs, sparking protests around the country for the first time since Russian tanks rolled over the border in February 2022. Top EU leadership has now urged Zelenskyy to prove he is still committed to European democratic values after signing the inflammatory law, which European allies said threatens to fatally undermine Ukraine's ongoing bid to join the bloc. Nightly Number RADAR SWEEP LEGOLAND COMES TO CHINA — Earlier this month, the first Legoland in China opened in Shanghai. The theme park is the latest attempt by the Chinese government to boost domestic and international tourism and consumer spending, which has been lagging since the pandemic. Local government officials hope that Legoland and planned Harry Potter and Peppa Pig theme parks will be able to compete with dominant Disney and Universal Studios. Tax breaks and new public transportation lines are being used to draw fans and investors to the new attractions. Osmond Chia reports on theme park expansion for BBC News. Parting Image Jacqueline Munis contributed to this newsletter. Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here.
