Latest news with #EpsteinFiles'
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Kash Patel has live ‘WTF' moment on Joe Rogan as he learns of Trump vs. Musk mid-interview
FBI Director Kash Patel first learned the world's richest man had just accused his boss of being in the so-called 'Epstein Files' while taping an episode of Joe Rogan's podcast on Thursday. Patel, who has come under fire from MAGA supporters in recent weeks for backing away from conspiracy theories about disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein now that he leads the FBI, appeared taken aback by Elon Musk's wild tweets about Donald Trump's lengthy past relationship with Epstein. 'That's way outside my lane,' Patel demurred while Rogan wondered 'what the f*ck' was going on between the president and his former 'first buddy.' With the bromance between the president and Musk – who funded Trump's campaign to the tune of a quarter-billion dollars and spearheaded DOGE's government-dismantling mission – blowing up in spectacular fashion on Thursday afternoon, Rogan interrupted his interview with Patel to break the news to the FBI chief. Roughly an hour into The Joe Rogan Experience taping on Thursday, Musk took issue with the president saying he was 'disappointed' about the Tesla CEO's ongoing criticisms about the 'Big, Beautiful Bill' that Republicans are trying to pass. Following Musk's exit from the administration last week as a 'special government employee,' the tech mogul had grown increasingly outspoken against the president's signature legislation, claiming it would 'bankrupt' the country. 'Time to drop the really big bomb,' Musk tweeted on Thursday afternoon. '@realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!' He followed up that tweet by adding: 'Mark this post for the future. The truth will come out.' Moments before Musk dropped his bombshell post, Patel had spent a significant portion of his Rogan interview attempting to convince the conspiracy-peddling podcast host that Epstein did indeed commit suicide. Patel and his deputy director Dan Bongino – both of whom had previously supported the theory that Epstein was murdered in jail – have taken heavy criticism from right-wing influencers for now insisting that all evidence suggests Epstein killed himself. While Rogan began wondering if Patel and the FBI had footage of Epstein's island residence, the show's producer jumped in to let them both know that Musk had just flung out his allegation about Trump. 'Jesus Christ,' Rogan gasped in shock. 'I'm not participating in any of that conversation between Elon and Trump,' Patel muttered. Reading from the tweets, Rogan then said 'someone should take his phone away' and that it was 'crazy' for Musk to accuse the president of being on the supposed client list of the deceased sex offender. 'How does he know? Does he know that Donald Trump's in the Epstein files? Does he have access to the Epstein files?' Rogan then asked Patel directly. 'I don't know how he would, but I'm just staying out of the Trump-Elon thing,' the FBI director shot back. 'That's way outside my lane.' As a shocked Rogan wondered 'what the f*ck are they doing,' Patel reiterated that he knows his 'lane and this ain't it.' Rogan, meanwhile, expressed concern over the amount of time that Musk spends posting to the social media platform he owns. 'I understand he owns Twitter, I think it's bad for your mental health,' the podcaster concluded. 'I think posting things publicly all day and arguing with people all day is bad for you.' Beginning in the 1980s, Epstein and Trump began hanging out in the same social circles and soon became friends, partying and dining together at their palatial estates. They posed together for photographs and were 'each other's wingmen' at one point in time. 'He's a lot of fun to be with,' Trump said about Epstein in a 2002 interview. 'It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.' The pair would have a falling out in 2004. According to one Trump aide, Trump banned Epstein from Mar-a-Lago after he asked a young female worker for a massage. Following Epstein's 2019 arrest on sex trafficking charges, Trump said he was 'not a fan of his' while one of the president's lawyers insisted they had 'no relationship.'
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Fox News rushes to Trump's defense after Elon Musk says he's ‘in the Epstein Files': What about Bill Clinton?!
Fox News suddenly found itself in a pickle on Thursday when a high-stakes feud erupted between the two leading lights of the MAGA universe – President Donald Trump and the world's richest man, Elon Musk. While the breakup always seemed inevitable due to the egos involved, as well as Trump's history of shedding one-time loyalists and stabbing them in the back on the way out, the hosts at the conservative cable giant have appeared to be in mourning over their two heroes duking it out. Since the spat exploded, the network's top MAGA personalities have been careful not to fully take a side, especially considering the media power Musk wields due to his control of the social media platform X. They've also expressed hope that the president and his former 'first buddy' will eventually work it out, essentially saying the two are 'just blowing off steam' like a couple of college bros. At the same time, though, there was one Rubicon that Musk crossed that was a bridge too far for many of Fox's opinion hosts – the loaded accusation that Trump was in the so-called 'Epstein Files' and this was 'the real reason' why the administration has yet to release them in full. During his off-the-rails tweetstorm on Thursday that escalated the war of words to nuclear levels, the Tesla CEO brought up the president's previous relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financier who killed himself in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges. Considering right-wing media's long-standing obsession with Epstein's supposed client list, which they've speculated would include a number of high-profile Democrats and celebrities who engaged in sex crimes with Epstein, the Musk allegation seemed primed to sow division within MAGA world. This has especially been the case since many of the president's supporters are still bitter over Attorney General Pam Bondi's botched release of the FBI's documents on Epstein and the FBI's leaders – who were Epstein conspiracists themselves when they were MAGA media figures – now saying Epstein actually committed suicide and wasn't murdered in jail. Sean Hannity, the Trump confidant who also serves as the 'White House shadow chief of staff,' was crestfallen that the back-and-forth between Trump and the one-time DOGE chief had grown so 'personal,' specifically with Musk's Epstein claims. Hannity, meanwhile, decided the best way to address the accusation was to pivot to another famous friend of Epstein's. 'Wasn't it Donald Trump who booted Epstein out… because he was one of the first people to realize just how horrible Epstein really was?' Hannity wondered, referencing the falling out between the president and the deceased sexual predator. 'I guess if Donald Trump felt that Epstein had something on him, he probably wouldn't have kicked him out of his club.' After insisting that Trump was fully in the clear when it came to his past ties with Epstein, Hannity then fully pivoted to former President Bill Clinton, who also associated with Epstein in the past. 'Now, Democrats and the media – I'm just thinking out loud here – I truly wonder, is Bill Clinton in those files also? If I was a betting man, I know where I'd put my money,' the Fox News star openly speculated. Hannity's primetime colleague Jesse Watters, meanwhile, took a slightly different tack when it came to the billionaire's shot at Trump. 'Elon's calling the president a pedophile. Wow! I don't think Musk has seen the Epstein Files and if Trump was in them, Biden probably would have released them,' Watters declared on Thursday night. 'And everyone knows that Trump kicked Epstein out of his clubs and cooperated with the victims' attorneys,' he continued. 'But the silver lining is that now Democrats are demanding the release of the Epstein Files.' Watters went on to say that it's up in the air if Musk and Trump will 'patch it up,' acknowledging that if someone 'said I was on the Epstein list, it might take me a little while' to get over it. At the same time, he insisted that 'guys get over stuff' easily and that 'both men are patriots and hopefully they will do the right thing.' Elsewhere on the network, afternoon host Will Cain was a bit more critical of the SpaceX founder, taking issue with his abrupt about-face and wondering why Musk was such a supporter of Trump if he believes he had nefarious dealings with Epstein in the past. 'Elon Musk is — he seems to be unstable right now on X. He is talking about impeachment. He is talking about the Epstein files, if I were to believe that would be true, why would Joe Biden not have used them in trying to get elected over Donald Trump?' Cain asserted. 'I hate it when people say this, but it's not a good look for Elon Musk.'Later on in his program, Cain said he wanted to ask Musk about his suggestion that Trump is 'in the Epstein Files,' wondering if the billionaire would have remained silent on it if the 'Big, Beautiful Bill' had met his satisfaction. 'What is this truth-teller today exposing about the guy yesterday, if everything is true that Elon is saying?' Cain added. Meanwhile, on the president's favorite morning show on Friday, the hosts made sure to let Trump know where their loyalties lay, at least when it came to Musk's Epstein claims. 'The Epstein file thing was way over the top and just crazy to say that Trump was in the Epstein files,' co-host Brian Kilmeade exclaimed. 'I mean, sometimes when people get drunk. They do crazy things. But this is a total escalation by Elon Musk.' Still, as was the case with much of Fox News programming over the past 24 hours, the curvy couch crew was trying not to explicitly take a side in the spat, seemingly waiting to see how it developed throughout the day and weekend. Instead, they mostly expressed hope that the two would eventually smooth things over for the good of the Republican Party, adopting the role many of Trump's allies have taken in trying to broker a Trump-Musk peace. 'Maybe I am a little too optimistic, but they're both alpha males,' Lawrence Jones insisted. 'They fight. It's dirty. I got a friend like this. I love him to death. But when we fight – I don't know what gets over us. We don't do it publicly, but we love each other.' This was similar to how Watters explained the situation the previous evening, likening the feud to a pair of fraternity bros who got into a brawl because of a love triangle. 'Guys sometimes will punch you in the face, and the next night you're having beer; sleep with your girlfriend, and you patch things up,' Watters bizarrely proclaimed at one point. Kilmeade, meanwhile, went on to praise Trump for his 'measured' response to Musk, all while claiming that the spending bill at the center of this blowup 'might actually get better because of Musk.' For now, though, the network's MAGA hosts continue to be a bit despondent over the entire affair, urging the two to 'knock it off' for the good of the country and that the whole situation makes them sad. And though many express optimism that Musk and Trump will make up, Laura Ingraham is worried that they may have already gone past a point of no return. 'I talked to an insider today who said it is irreparable,' she sighed on Thursday night.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Fox News rushes to Trump's defense after Elon Musk says he's ‘in the Epstein Files': What about Bill Clinton?!
Fox News suddenly found itself in a pickle on Thursday when a high-stakes feud erupted between the two leading lights of the MAGA universe – President Donald Trump and the world's richest man, Elon Musk. While the breakup always seemed inevitable due to the egos involved, as well as Trump's history of shedding one-time loyalists and stabbing them in the back on the way out, the hosts at the conservative cable giant have appeared to be in mourning over their two heroes duking it out. Since the spat exploded, the network's top MAGA personalities have been careful not to fully take a side, especially considering the media power Musk wields due to his control of the social media platform X. They've also expressed hope that the president and his former 'first buddy' will eventually work it out, essentially saying the two are 'just blowing off steam' like a couple of college bros. At the same time, though, there was one Rubicon that Musk crossed that was a bridge too far for many of Fox's opinion hosts – the loaded accusation that Trump was in the so-called 'Epstein Files' and this was 'the real reason' why the administration has yet to release them in full. During his off-the-rails tweetstorm on Thursday that escalated the war of words to nuclear levels, the Tesla CEO brought up the president's previous relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financier who killed himself in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges. Considering right-wing media's long-standing obsession with Epstein's supposed client list, which they've speculated would include a number of high-profile Democrats and celebrities who engaged in sex crimes with Epstein, the Musk allegation seemed primed to sow division within MAGA world. This has especially been the case since many of the president's supporters are still bitter over Attorney General Pam Bondi's botched release of the FBI's documents on Epstein and the FBI's leaders – who were Epstein conspiracists themselves when they were MAGA media figures – now saying Epstein actually committed suicide and wasn't murdered in jail. Sean Hannity, the Trump confidant who also serves as the 'White House shadow chief of staff,' was crestfallen that the back-and-forth between Trump and the one-time DOGE chief had grown so 'personal,' specifically with Musk's Epstein claims. Hannity, meanwhile, decided the best way to address the accusation was to pivot to another famous friend of Epstein's. 'Wasn't it Donald Trump who booted Epstein out… because he was one of the first people to realize just how horrible Epstein really was?' Hannity wondered, referencing the falling out between the president and the deceased sexual predator. 'I guess if Donald Trump felt that Epstein had something on him, he probably wouldn't have kicked him out of his club.' After insisting that Trump was fully in the clear when it came to his past ties with Epstein, Hannity then fully pivoted to former President Bill Clinton, who also associated with Epstein in the past. 'Now, Democrats and the media – I'm just thinking out loud here – I truly wonder, is Bill Clinton in those files also? If I was a betting man, I know where I'd put my money,' the Fox News star openly speculated. Hannity's primetime colleague Jesse Watters, meanwhile, took a slightly different tack when it came to the billionaire's shot at Trump. 'Elon's calling the president a pedophile. Wow! I don't think Musk has seen the Epstein Files and if Trump was in them, Biden probably would have released them,' Watters declared on Thursday night. 'And everyone knows that Trump kicked Epstein out of his clubs and cooperated with the victims' attorneys,' he continued. 'But the silver lining is that now Democrats are demanding the release of the Epstein Files.' Watters went on to say that it's up in the air if Musk and Trump will 'patch it up,' acknowledging that if someone 'said I was on the Epstein list, it might take me a little while' to get over it. At the same time, he insisted that 'guys get over stuff' easily and that 'both men are patriots and hopefully they will do the right thing.' Elsewhere on the network, afternoon host Will Cain was a bit more critical of the SpaceX founder, taking issue with his abrupt about-face and wondering why Musk was such a supporter of Trump if he believes he had nefarious dealings with Epstein in the past. 'Elon Musk is — he seems to be unstable right now on X. He is talking about impeachment. He is talking about the Epstein files, if I were to believe that would be true, why would Joe Biden not have used them in trying to get elected over Donald Trump?' Cain asserted. 'I hate it when people say this, but it's not a good look for Elon Musk.'Later on in his program, Cain said he wanted to ask Musk about his suggestion that Trump is 'in the Epstein Files,' wondering if the billionaire would have remained silent on it if the 'Big, Beautiful Bill' had met his satisfaction. 'What is this truth-teller today exposing about the guy yesterday, if everything is true that Elon is saying?' Cain added. Meanwhile, on the president's favorite morning show on Friday, the hosts made sure to let Trump know where their loyalties lay, at least when it came to Musk's Epstein claims. 'The Epstein file thing was way over the top and just crazy to say that Trump was in the Epstein files,' co-host Brian Kilmeade exclaimed. 'I mean, sometimes when people get drunk. They do crazy things. But this is a total escalation by Elon Musk.' Still, as was the case with much of Fox News programming over the past 24 hours, the curvy couch crew was trying not to explicitly take a side in the spat, seemingly waiting to see how it developed throughout the day and weekend. Instead, they mostly expressed hope that the two would eventually smooth things over for the good of the Republican Party, adopting the role many of Trump's allies have taken in trying to broker a Trump-Musk peace. 'Maybe I am a little too optimistic, but they're both alpha males,' Lawrence Jones insisted. 'They fight. It's dirty. I got a friend like this. I love him to death. But when we fight – I don't know what gets over us. We don't do it publicly, but we love each other.' This was similar to how Watters explained the situation the previous evening, likening the feud to a pair of fraternity bros who got into a brawl because of a love triangle. 'Guys sometimes will punch you in the face, and the next night you're having beer; sleep with your girlfriend, and you patch things up,' Watters bizarrely proclaimed at one point. Kilmeade, meanwhile, went on to praise Trump for his 'measured' response to Musk, all while claiming that the spending bill at the center of this blowup 'might actually get better because of Musk.' For now, though, the network's MAGA hosts continue to be a bit despondent over the entire affair, urging the two to 'knock it off' for the good of the country and that the whole situation makes them sad. And though many express optimism that Musk and Trump will make up, Laura Ingraham is worried that they may have already gone past a point of no return. 'I talked to an insider today who said it is irreparable,' she sighed on Thursday night.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Musk declares war on Trump as split over ‘big, beautiful' bill gets personal
A stunning day of insults traded between two of the world's most powerful men followed the public division between Musk, formerly head of the DOGE initiative, and the president who saw the Tesla chief off with an Oval Office goodbye just one week ago. As the tweets and posts kept coming, stunned watchers from across the political spectrum were breaking out the popcorn. By the end of the afternoon, the pair's myriad assortment of friends and political allies were desperately (and publicly) calling for a truce. It may already be too late. Elon Musk, known for his ability to dial every interpersonal conflict up to 100 at the drop of a hat, did so on Thursday. In multiple tweets, he insinuated that the US president was in the 'Epstein Files' — the so-called investigation into sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein, who died by suicide in a Manhattan detention center. That was the reason, Musk said, the unredacted investigation into Epstein's death was not released, and for so many questions remaining about the wealthy pedophile and the activities he and his network of influential friends got up to. Musk sent more than 50 in total throughout Thursday. In one, he acknowledged that Trump's tariffs were projected by some economists to have put the US on course for a recession by the end of the year. In another, he groused that Trump was 'ungrateful' for his help in winning the 2024 election. By the end of the day, it was clear that Musk had blown far past the point of retaining any allies in the Republican caucuses on Capitol Hill. His rapid descent into personal attacks and insinuations of darker conspiracies afoot was sure to lose even the unhappiest critics of the 'one big, beautiful bill' who were originally thrilled to see Elon in their camp. Especially after Musk responded 'yes' to a tweet from Malaysian Twitter troll and political commentator Ian Miles Cheong, stating that Trump should be impeached and JD Vance should take over. Trump, for his part, fired back occasionally but was clearly satisfied to sit back and watch the world's richest man spin out. Declining to address any of his former ally's insinuations, Trump wrote: 'I don't mind Elon turning against me, but he should have done so months ago. This is one of the Greatest Bills ever presented to Congress.' Musk may have unknowingly ceded ground in the dispute by devolving into personal attacks — particularly one most frequently uttered by left-leaning critics of the president on Twitter. It was hard to see the feud as anything but the result of bruised egos: at one point, Musk posted a 'raised-eyebrow' emoji in a quote tweet of grainy, years-old MSNBC footage showing Morning Joe discussing Trump appearing on camera at a party with the disgraced financier and accused sex trafficker. Whatever the case, the bromance between Trump and Musk is now officially over and would take a miracle — or a rewriting of immediate history — to repair. Don't expect to hear the word 'DOGE' out of Trump's mouth any time soon. This feud is likely to get worse before it gets better, as there are few men the two respect sufficiently who could moderate efforts to repair the growing rift. Instead, this is likely to be the end of Elon Musk's politicking for the Republican Party. Already publicly having committed to taking a step back, Musk comes out of the first half of 2025 having been burned in ways that few people in human history can really say they've experienced. After spending a record sum to elect Trump and Republicans in 2024, Musk devoted significant time and energy to DOGE, only to see the results loudly denounced by vast swaths of the electorate and torn apart by the press. His personal brand, and that of his company, were tied to the effort only to see his reputation torn to shreds, Tesla's profits plummet, and his relationship with the president end in tragedy. In a way, the real winner of Thursday's social media brawl was Mike Johnson. The Speaker of the House just watched someone who was poised to become the biggest obstacle to further progress on the budget reconciliation plan seemingly self-destruct in record time. There are many still publicly hoping that the bill will undergo changes in the Senate. Some want to divide it up, while several members of the House Freedom Caucus have lamented that more cuts to Medicaid and other programs were not included. 'I'm all in for more cuts to the bill. It's big, but it's not beautiful yet,' wrote Rep. Andy Ogles in an X post Thursday morning, which would be reposted by Musk. By the end of the day, Ogles was trying to put lipstick on a pig. 'Some are focused on the big beautiful brawl — but everyone in Congress should be focused on making the Big Beautiful Bill better,' he wrote later in the day. If Musk doesn't reverse course over the next few hours or days, the conservative holdouts against the 'big, beautiful bill' in the House and Senate may see much of their political cover evaporate.
Scottish Sun
10-05-2025
- Politics
- Scottish Sun
Bombshell footage taken by Jeffrey Epstein ‘which shows Prince Andrew with Virginia Giuffre' is set to be released
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) FOOTAGE taken by paedophile Jeffrey Epstein which could show Prince Andrew with Virginia Giuffre is set to be released in the US. Attorney-General Pam Bondi said the FBI was 'reviewing tens of thousands of videos' of the billionaire financier 'with children or child porn'. 3 Footage that could show Prince Andrew with Virginia Giuffre is set to be released in the US Credit: AFP 3 The FBI is in possession of secret recordings taken from Jeffrey Epstein's homes Credit: Jae Donnelly Unpublished tapes of an interview with Giuffre have also emerged in which she reveals a 'specific personal detail' about the shamed Duke that would be 'highly embarrassing'. Epstein, who killed himself in jail in 2019 awaiting trial for sex trafficking, is understood to have had secret cameras in all his homes. The FBI seized a number of them two days after his death. They contained material believed to form part of the 'Epstein Files' which US President Donald Trump has vowed to make public. A source said: 'Andrew will be sweating over their release. 'If there's anything in there that involves him, it would pile more misery and humiliation on him.' Giuffre, who killed herself last month at her home in Western Australia, claimed she was 17 when she was trafficked to Prince Andrew for sex on three occasions, allegations he vehemently denies. In legal papers, she said she believes US authorities hold footage of her having sex with powerful associates of Epstein. Meanwhile, it is understood that interviews she gave before suing the Duke reveal more details of what allegedly happened between them at Ghislaine Maxwell's London home. Journalist Barry Levine, who wrote a book on Epstein and Maxwell — serving 20 years for sex trafficking — said: 'Virginia talked about her alleged sexual abuse by Prince Andrew, much of which wasn't ever published. Prince Andrew bid to rejoin royals would have been 'upsetting' for Virginia before death, says Epstein victims' lawyer "And there was a specific personal detail she mentioned. "It would be highly embarrassing for the Duke if it ever got out.'
