Speaker Mike Johnson and other Republicans break with Trump on Epstein as Joe Rogan delivers scathing rant
Earlier this month, the DOJ and FBI said in a memo there was never any client list of high-profile names associated with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The Trump administration has faced backlash over this new development, as it had promised to release files about the federal investigation into the late financier.
Rogan ranted about the feds on an episode of his podcast, 'The Joe Rogan Experience,' released Tuesday.
'They've got videotape and all a sudden they don't,' Rogan said. 'You had the director of the FBI on this show saying, 'If there was [a videotape], nothing you're looking for is on those tapes,'' referring to Kash Patel 's interview with Rogan in June.
During his appearance, Patel indicated there was no video evidence of people committing crimes on Epstein's private island.
'Why'd they say there was thousands of hours of tapes of people doing horrible s***? Why'd they say that? Didn't [Attorney General] Pam Bondi say that?' Rogan said during Tuesday's rant.
Bondi told reporters in May, 'There are tens of thousands of videos of Epstein with children or child porn and there are hundreds of victims,' according to the Miami Herald.
The feds' July memo said there was 'a large volume of images of Epstein, images and videos of victims who are either minors or appear to be minors, and over ten thousand downloaded videos and images of illegal child sex abuse material and other pornography.'
But when it came to potential allegations against third parties, the memo stated: 'There was also no credible evidence found that Epstein blackmailed prominent individuals as part of his actions.'
Johnson, a Louisiana Republican and close ally to Trump, told conservative podcaster Benny Johnson in an interview Tuesday he supported the release of the Epstein files.
'I'm for transparency,' Johnson said, per The Washington Post. 'It's a very delicate subject, but we should put everything out there and let the people decide it.'
Despite his vocal support, Johnson opposed a procedural motion advanced by House Democrats Tuesday that would have allowed lawmakers to vote to release the Epstein files.
But Representative Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, wrote on X Tuesday he would force a House vote on 'releasing the COMPLETE files.'
'We all deserve to know what's in the Epstein files, who's implicated, and how deep this corruption goes. Americans were promised justice and transparency,' he said.
Earlier this month, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a prominent Georgia figure in Trump's base, told Real America's Voice network, 'I think the Department of Justice and the FBI has more explaining to do — this is Jeffrey Epstein,' per The Hill.
'This is the most famous pedophile in modern-day history, and people are absolutely not going to accept just a memo that was written that says there is no client list,' she said.
Trump on Tuesday claimed that former President Barack Obama and former FBI Director James Comey 'made up' the Epstein files.
Leaving for an event in Pennsylvania from the White House, the president was asked by a reporter if Attorney General Bondi had revealed whether his name appeared in any of the Justice Department's files on the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
'She's given us just a very quick briefing, and in terms of the credibility of the different things that they've seen,' Trump said. 'And I would say that, you know, these files were made up by Comey. They were made up by Obama.'
Obama, a Democrat, served in the White House from 2009 to 2017, while Comey led the FBI from 2013 until May 2017. Epstein died in prison in 2019.
When asked about the memo at a recent Cabinet meeting, Trump said, 'Are you still talking about Jeffrey Epstein? This guy's been talked about for years.'
'I mean, I can't believe you're asking a question on Epstein at a time like this, where we're having some of the greatest success and also tragedy with what happened in Texas. It just seems like a desecration,' Trump said, referring to the July 4 flooding disaster along the Guadalupe River.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
10 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Man, 61, dies after being sucked into medical imaging machine by his metallic necklace
A man died after he was sucked into an MRI machine by his necklace. The 61-year-old, identified as Keith McAllister, succumbed to his injuries a day after the freak accident at a clinic in Westbury, New York, on Wednesday. Police said the man was dragged into the medical machine by his 'large metal chain' after reportedly defying orders to stay out of the room. The Nassau County Police Department said the man walked into the MRI room at the Nassau County Open MRI facility while a scan was in progress and was pulled into the machine. One witness told CBS News he had defied orders to stay out of the room after he heard his relative screaming from inside and got concerned. His wife, Adrienne Jones-McAllister, had just completed an MRI on her knee and asked a technician to bring her husband in to help her off the table. When McAllister entered the room - still wearing the 20lb metal chain his wife said he 'used for weight training' - the machine's powerful magnetic force suddenly pulled him in. 'I saw him walk toward the table and then the machine just snatched him,' Jones-McAllister recalled to News 12 Long Island. 'He went limp in my arms - and this is still pulsating in my brain.' She alleged that the technician allowed her husband into the room despite the visible chain, which had been worn on previous visits to the same facility. 'That was not the first time that guy had seen that chain. They'd had a conversation about it before,' she said. After the incident, McAllister suffered multiple heart attacks and later died from his injuries, she said. McAllister's stepdaughter, Samantha Bodden, echoed her mother's sentiment, blaming the technician for her stepfather's premature death. 'While my mother was laying on the table, the technician left the room to get her husband to help her off the table. 'He forgot to inform him to take the chain he was wearing from around his neck off when the magnet sucked him in,' Bodden wrote on Facebook Friday. She also pushed back against claims reported by 'several news stations' that McAllister was not authorized to be in the room. 'Several news stations are saying he wasn't authorized to be in the room, when in fact he was because the technician went and brought him into the room,' she wrote on a GoFundMe page organized to help cover burial expenses. Jones-McAllister told News 12 that she had called out to her husband after asking the technician to get him. She said the technician summoned him into the room, despite his wearing the heavy chain - an item they had even joked about on a previous visit, saying things like: 'Ooooooh, that's a big chain!' When he got close to her, she said, 'at that instant, the machine switched him around, pulled him in, and he hit the MRI.' 'I said: "Could you turn off the machine, call 911, do something - turn this damn thing off!"' she recalled, as tears ran down her face. 'He went limp in my arms.' She added that the technician tried to help her pull McAllister off the machine, but it was impossible. An investigation is continuing, but police have said there is no criminality involved and it appears to have been an accident. An official cause of death has yet to be released in the incident, but one staff doctor at North Shore University Hospital speculated on a potential cause. Dr Payal Sud told CBS: 'If this was a chain that was wrapped around the neck, I could imagine any kind of strangulation injuries that could happen. Asphyxiation, cervical spine injuries.' When undergoing an MRI procedure, patients are generally asked to remove all jewelry and piercings to remain safe. The machine generates strong magnetic fields and radio waves to create detailed internal images of the human body. The magnetic pull is so strong that it is capable of throwing a wheelchair across a room, according to the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering. When undergoing an MRI procedure, patients are generally asked to remove all jewelry and piercings to remain safe. Injuries and deaths from MRI machines, while rare, have happened in the past. In 2001, a six-year-old boy was killed at Westchester Medical Center in New York when an metal oxygen tank was pulled into the machine while he was being scanned. And in 2018 a man died in India when he entered an MRI room holding an oxygen tank.
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Criminals hired as cops in major Democrat city 'after rogue officer lets them through the net'
Criminals wound up working as officers for the New York City Police Department after the commander overseeing recruitment ignored their checkered past, according to court filings. Up to 31 unfit officers were allowed to serve as cops due to 'unauthorized unilateral actions' by former commanding officer NYPD Inspector Terrell Anderson, the complaint states. The recruits were allowed in despite failing psychological tests and background checks and in multiple cases, criminal records, according to the document. One aspiring officer was even found to have three arrests to their name, but was recruited anyway, the filing states. Offenses included everything from drug use to prostitution, and a number of driving violations, per the New York Post. However they were allowed to serve after being granted admission by Anderson, according to the filings, which state he did not have the authority to keep them on the force. And in a stunning twist, many of the officers remain employed and cannot be sacked after the NYPD Police Benevolent Association filed a restraining order to temporarily halt the city's actions, keeping them on the payroll. 'His actions, therefore, were a nullity,' the city said. Anderson was reassigned following the scandal and is now facing departmental charges, law enforcement sources told the Post. The court filing singled out one rookie cop who was permitted into the NYPD academy, despite having never been employed in any capacity before. That cop, who was not named, was found to have an 'extensive history of poor decision-making and recklessness', but was allowed to serve anyway by Anderson, the filings said. That history with the law included multiple driving convictions for speeding at upwards of 50mph over the speed limit, and an arrest for driving with eight suspensions on his license. The officer was also found to have struck a pedestrian with his car on another occasion. A different officer also reported a number of serious driving offenses including involvement in eight car crashes and driving with a suspended license, alongside multiple arrests for marijuana. That officer slipped through the net because he 'exploited his father's status as an NYPD detective in order to circumvent personal responsibility', according to his reported disqualification notice. Another officer who was allowed into the NYPD had 'reported using LSD and marijuana to cope with stress', the filing said. One of the cops was also found to have allegedly paid a stripper for sexual intercourse in 2017, and then the next year paid a female masseuse to masturbate him, the filings said. One female officer failed a psychological examination after she 'openly discussed arguments and conflicts with other people in a boastful manner.' She reportedly told a psychiatrist that 'what you do to me I'm going to do to you twice and I hope you feel worse than the way you made me feel', but was still allowed in per the filing. Anderson was in charge of screening the candidates as the NYPD's chief of Candidate Assessment Division, but was promptly moved to the housing unit when the scandal was discovered in May. He alleged that NYPD top brass pushed him to keep non-qualified officers in the academy. Anderson's defenders have pointed out that NYPD recruitment numbers have struggled in recent years. Chris Monahan, the president of the Captains Endowment Association, the union representing Inspector Anderson, said the inspector was always 'open and above board' in his role. The Daily Mail has contacted the NYPD for comment. Efforts to reach Inspector Anderson were unsuccessful. NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch previously decided to relax some qualifications in the academy earlier this year in an attempt to beef up numbers. NYPD Capt. Chris Monahan, president of the Captain's Endowment Association, told the New York Post that Anderson was. 'under tremendous pressure to fill NYPD recruit classes.' 'He had a careful review process and didn't place candidates with diagnosed mental health issues in many classes,' he said. 'Inspector Anderson had the authority under previous administrations to hire candidates.' Despite some of the cops' lengthy rap sheets, the city's move to fire them was halted after the NYPD Police Benevolent Association filed a restraining order to temporarily halt the city's actions. A judge then granted an extension for 60 days. Explaining the move to defend the officers, NYPD Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Hendry said: 'These are 31 police officers' lives — their livelihood.' (The judge) understands they have families, bills, rent,' he continued. 'They were just told, 'You're not entitled to any process. You're fired, 24 hours. That is wrong. The entire method — how it was done — is wrong. 'They were deemed qualified New York City police officers. They were called back. They completed what they were asked to complete... These police officers were deemed qualified by the NYPD.'
Scotsman
3 hours ago
- Scotsman
Huge policing operation for Trump's Scotland visit - 'Few if any cops will not be impacted'
Strict airspace regulations will also be in place as part of vast security operation Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... The head of the Scottish Police Federation has said all officers in Scotland could be affected by the visit this week of US president Donald Trump. David Threadgold, who chairs the body that represents rank and file officers, said some may be expected to work 12-hour shifts, posing a 'challenge' for how they eat, sleep and rest. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Strict airspace restrictions will also be in place over Mr Trump's inaugural Scottish golf resort as part of a vast security operation. Donald Trump has spoken fondly of his links to Scotland (Picture: Andy Buchanan) | AFP via Getty Images Speculation mounted about a potential visit of the president this month when Police Scotland confirmed it was in the early stages of planning for such an event. In Washington DC on Thursday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed Mr Trump will visit both of his golf courses in Scotland - Turnberry in Ayrshire and Menie in Aberdeenshire - between July 25 and 29. Mr Threadgold told Scotland on Sunday: 'This is a huge policing event for Scotland and we will require mutual aid because of the huge demand on my colleagues. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'Very few if any cops will not be impacted by next week's visit and beyond. 'I suppose the natural comparison in terms of scale is previous presidential visits and COP26. 'We are talking about bespoke workforce plans because although this is a well-established workforce we are cognisant we cannot deliver this without impacting on individual officers across the country. 'What that means in simple terms is some may be required to work 12-hour shifts for example, which normally wouldn't happen. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'That is the type of change cops will see during this event. 'We also need to consider how officers will eat and drink and rest during this policing which will be a challenge.' He stressed that despite the added pressures the public should be reassured officers will continue to deliver community policing. 'This is already a difficult time for Police Scotland as they are trying to organise and deliver this at short notice during a period of high annual leave,' he said. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Time off 'very unlikely' 'We are not going to be telling officers they cannot go on holiday, but those who ask for time off at short notice are very unlikely to get it. 'Operation Roll is a very high demand event but we will continue to deliver community policing. 'Inevitably there will be an impact on our ability to do that, but the public should be reassured that emergencies will still be responded to, there just might be an impact on service delivery. 'There are so many people committed to this event but the public should be confident that we are excellent at what we do and our experience of policing things like Operation Unicorn and the Commonwealth Games should we can deliver.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Police Scotland is reported to have requested extra officers from across the UK to support the upcoming visit by Mr Trump. Assistant Chief Constable Emma Bond said a policing plan will be in place to 'maintain public safety, balance rights to peaceful protest and minimise disruption,' adding: 'The visit will require a significant police operation using local, national and specialist resources from across Police Scotland, supported by colleagues from other UK police forces as part of mutual aid arrangements. "Officers make sacrifices every day to keep people safe, and their dedication and professionalism is the reason we manage to deliver significant operations." Flying regulations Notices filed by the Civil Aviation Authority reveal that sweeping flying regulations will be put in place over the Aberdeenshire site for nearly two weeks. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad While Mr Trump's visit - his first to his mother's homeland since 2023 - will begin on Friday, the CAA restrictions began today, and will remain in place until 10 August. It means that over that 22 day period, no unmanned aircraft will be allowed to fly below 1,000 feet within a one mile radius surrounding Trump International Golf Links. The ban not only covers drones, but parachutes, paramotors, small balloons, and any kites, according to the documentation drawn up by the CAA's regulators. During Mr Trump's visit to Scotland in his first term in office, widespread protests included a paraglider who descended on his Turnberry resort in South Ayrshire brandishing a banner which read 'Trump: well below par'. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad In the wake of the incident in July 2018, Police Scotland warned the paraglider that they had put themselves in 'grave danger,' given armed officers from the US and the UK were protecting Mr Trump, who had arrived at Turnberry shortly beforehand. A 55-year-old man was subsequently arrested, charged and released pending further inquiries, while that November, Police Scotland said a 35-year-old man had been reported to the procurator fiscal in connection with the incident. However, the Crown Office announced the following year that no criminal proceedings would be brought. Series of upcoming tournaments Mr Trump's Aberdeenshire resort is set to host a series of tournaments in the coming weeks. The Legends Tour Staysure PGA Seniors Championship, an event featuring veterans including Colin Montgomerie, Paul Lawrie, and José María Olazábal will be staged between 31 July and 3 August. It will be followed by the DP World Tour Next Championship, which takes place between 7 August and 10 August. But the CAA restrictions will be in place for ten days before the first of the two tournaments begin. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The Balmedie resort is also set to welcome players to its new course come 13 August. Mr Trump is expected to take part in the opening ceremony for the recently constructed links, named after his mother, when he visits. It has already been confirmed Mr Trump will meet Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer while in Aberdeen, while plans are being put in place for the president to meet First Minister John Swinney, according to the Scottish Government. The president will return to the UK in September for his second state visit. Last week, Mr Trump told the BBC the north-east of Scotland - the oil and gas capital of Europe - should "get rid of the windmills and bring back the oil". Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The US president has long been an opponent of wind farms, objecting to a development off the coast of Aberdeen which can be seen from his golf course. There had also been speculation the King would host the American leader in Scotland after Charles suggested the meeting, at Balmoral or Dumfries House, in a letter he wrote to Mr Trump in February inviting him to make the state visit.
